Author's Notes:
Well. Here it is. The final chapter of COA:ACO.
There isn't much to say, really. Hopefully there's a good number of people who have stuck with the story and followed it through all these long chapters! I know it's not exactly a quick story to read through. I hope you find the ending to your liking.
After this, there's "New World Order" - I need to do a few retcons and fixes there, too, to reflect the new Reload story continuity.
Let it begin...
"Failures are usually the most conceited of men."
- D. H. Lawrence
THE CYCLE OF AGES
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
A Flawed and Imperfect World
Sonic and Tails raced above the surface of the Great Forest at Mach Three.
The high speed Assault GEARS attached to their feet had already taken them most of the way back to Eastern Mobius, topping Sonic's own normal maximum speed of just over Mach One. While each one also sported a protective shield that made the ride bearable for flesh and blood, it also made normal conversation impossible. Even if one of them yelled to another, they would actually physically outrun the sound waves their voices made.
Instead, Tails had given the blue hedgehog hero an earpiece that could be used to receive and transmit radio signals. He hadn't used it much in the trip, taking the opportunity to think things over a bit. He thought briefly back to the makeshift graves the two of them had dug back in that lost forest clearing. By the time they'd finished moving the remains and then washing their hands off in a nearby stream, the GEARS had been waiting for them for a few minutes.
"This place… Sonic…" Tails had muttered, before they left. "Do me a favor, and never mention it again. To me or anyone."
What was stranger was that Sonic was certain now how they had gotten there.
Chaos Control.
Tails had used Chaos Control and unconsciously taken them to that place. Sonic had used Chaos Control before, having copied the technique from Shadow a year ago... but it required a Chaos Emerald and it wasn't normally very accurate over long distances. They were nearly a thousand miles from where they had started. It was an insane distance to cover accurately in just one teleport and without an Emerald.
"Sonic?" it was Tails' voice over the radio.
Sonic used his pinky to poke the earpiece and activate the microphone.
"What's up?"
A pause.
"A problem," the kitsune hesitated to explain for a few seconds. "Something's happened back at the battle. We're going to have to change course and head for Knothole."
Nicole-Typhoon and Nicole-Knothole watched the battle together.
The former was not exactly pleased about sharing her visual and sensory feeds directly with the other her, but the latter had been insistent. Since this immediately involved the safety and welfare of the city of Knothole, Nicole-Typhoon had allowed it. Thus, the two holographic lynxes, nearly identical to one another, stood side by side on the deck of the HMS Blue Typhoon.
"Strange," Nicole-Knothole observed.
"Indeed," Nicole-Typhoon agreed.
Sally Acorn stared at the… cloud - for lack of a better word – that now obscured the burning hulk that was Helios, and that had once been the majority of the city of Robotropolis. Watching it on the main screen of the Nor'easter's Flag Bridge sent an involuntary chill down her spine; it didn't just look strange, it felt wrong, even from so far away. It felt evil, almost.
" -- having problems with the radio…"
"Sensor readings within the anomaly are indistinct. We can't get a clear signal."
"Captain! Emergency burst from Mercenary Company Two. Just… screams and cries for help."
"Third Marine Detachment is in that area. They're reporting nothing unusual, just a handful of Eggman robots."
Aya Florentine mulled over the recent turn of events in her Captain's chair.
Just minutes ago, a strange cloud, what had initially assumed to be the product of a chemical fire, had started to spread over the surface of the nearby destroyed Flying City. It had rapidly engulfed most of the quarters of the city and then spread out over the superstructure. Within minutes, it merged with the shattered shield matrix and formed a murky shell that served to block weapons fire and disrupt communications.
That was a problem.
The city was accelerating rapidly and computer projections on its course indicated that it was going to land just short of the existing city of Knothole. To be more exact: it was going to crash into the southern section of Knothole at around four times the speed of sound, utterly annihilating everything for miles. Computer projections of the impact indicated a resulting crater more than nine miles wide and half a mile deep and an impact measuring more than three thousand megatons of TNT.
"Mobian Fleet Intel is informing us that they have lost contact with multiple squads in Sector Four…"
"The Tomahawk is moving to reinforce that sector…"
"Detecting launch signatures within the city! Above and below! Too large to be escape pods…?"
"Magnify!"
A secondary screen shows what looked like a giant egg, launching from the underside of the flying city. Unable to keep pace with its mothership, the egg shaped craft immediately started falling behind. It was also losing altitude.
Sally watched them with trepidation, thinking much the same as the captain of the Nor'easter and her crew. They couldn't be escape pods. Why so many? Why so large? Why falling to the ground in a controlled descent and not flying away? Bombs also seemed likely, but there would be no reason to drop bombs directly below the city.
They had to be some sort of weapons system.
"Fleet Command to Captain Seelye. Direct fire to the nearest drop pod," Aya commanded, obviously suspicious. If they were bombs, it was best not to try and set them off in the middle of the Fleet. "Don't let it hit the ground."
Immediately, one of the GUN Destroyers turned towards the new target.
Seconds later, a beam of light carved into one of the giant white eggs. To everyone's surprise, the egg wasn't cleaved in two. It was, however, shot off course by the kinetic energy and sent into an uncontrolled tumble. A second later, additional flak and the explosions of rockets and missiles filled the air with superheated gas and fragmentary death. Faint silver lines and mechanical looking imperfections marred the surface of the egg, and small reentry rockets adjusted the path of their fall, directing them out from under Helios' massive shadow.
"Have Destroyer Wing Theta come about and destroy those things," Aya order, and then she saw something new appear on another screen.
The pods that had launched from the top of Helios had ejected ports from their sides, and were taking off at a much greater speed. They seemed to be headed along the same course as the flying city itself, but accelerating even more rapidly. A map appeared in a corner of the screen, as the computer projected their course.
Knothole.
"Captain!" Sally yelled over the dim of voices. "I would request that you let me go to Knothole. I need to oversee the evacuation of the city."
Aya's light blue eyes settled on the troublesome Mobian Princess.
"After breaking onto my ship with the intention of crippling it, you want me to let you go?" she asked, and turned her attention back to the battle. "How amusing."
Sally tried to rally some kind of counterargument, but knew she didn't really have one. While she could claim that the Chaos Emerald belonged to the Kingdom of Acorn, Miles had defected with it for all intents and purposes. They were under no obligation to return it. If a human defected with something the Kingdom needed or wanted, they certainly wouldn't return it without a fight. Aya had every right to hold her as a prisoner of war, and nothing to gain by letting her go.
"I thought, with our recent cooperation…" Sally started to argue.
"That good-will only goes so far," Aya cut her off. "I suggest you don't test it."
"Do you think you can stop the city before it crashes?" Sally asked. If they could, then that was all that mattered.
"Perhaps. We will try." Aya tapped a finger on the armrest of her chair. "Beyond that, who can say?"
Sally frowned – those weren't exactly very reassuring words.
"Take her to the conference room," the Captain of the Nor'easter ordered. "You can have your say from there while you remain our… guest, Princess."
Deep within the wilds of the Great Forest stood a building of mortar and wood built in the old style. Obscured by the tallest trees on the planet, it hid from prying eyes. It was a relic of the past, this secluded estate. Past the ramparts, and the main gate, past the armed sentries and the royal guards, and deep in a bunker carved out of the bedrock below, lay a hall. Over it hung the black-on-white heraldic crest of the House St. John. This was, for the moment, the Court of the Kingdom of Acorn, the once proud duchy now in exile.
Here sat its King.
The throne was carved wood; a deep mahogany shaped so perfectly that it almost looked like the chair had grown into its shape instead of being cut to it. It was the seat of a Noble Lord, however, not a Great King. Nearby, a smaller throne was left empty, its royal occupant away in quarters. From where he sat, King Maximilian Acorn felt uneasy and overly anxious. In the hall, far from where their liege brooded, minor mobians of the court whispered and conversed, their tones quick and hushed.
They were waiting… for the news.
Then, all conversation ceased, as hurried footsteps became distinct from some distance off. The great wooden doors to the hall swung open, and a skunk entered, a paper held tightly in his violet-gloved right hand. This was one of House St. John's retainers, tasked with the honor of relaying messages to and from the Court. He slowed to a brisk walk as he entered the hall and quickly kneeled before standing back up and clearing his throat.
"My King, this coded message was just received from Knothole General Command," the skunk raised his voice so that he could be heard by all present. "It reads: numerous attacks repulsed on-ground and in-air south of city. Massive explosions. Fortress Helios under fierce fire from elements of Royal Air Force. Enemy in retreat!"
On his throne, Maximilian nodded, once, as the room erupted into cheers.
"It continues: Helios damaged, but not destroyed. Pursuing all targets. Seeking total annihilation of enemy forces. Helios continues towards city. Fearless ground forces have engaged the enemy and are driving towards control room and navigation controls. Will attempt safe deceleration and capture of city."
The skunk then concluded:
"General staff requests orders regarding human invaders and the Crown Princess, presumed captured and held on overlander flagship."
The Court muttered and whispered amongst themselves at the scandal and disgrace of being captured by the enemy. Many took the opportunity to place blame on her two would-be protectors and escorts, who had promptly been beaten off or incapacitated. Others pointed out how it had been a mistake to place the Kingdom's faith in a two tailed mutant with dubious ties and loyalty to the Crown. Some gleefully observed that the Princess was as reckless as ever, and had put her own desire for adventure and confrontation above the needs of the Family Royal.
The King held out his hand, and the other mobians bowed his head in silence.
"I do not believe my daughter is in any more danger where she is, than where she would run off to be," he wisely observed. "Have the Generals watch the humans for any mischief, but do not oppose them if their battle against Helios carries them deeper into Our Lands. For the time being, our majesty will give them leave to trespass."
The court muttered its consent and agreement (as always).
"As to My city of Knothole," the King continued. "We are entrusting its defense to our charge, Miles Prower, whose renegade actions were taken with our approval. We have forgiven the boy any transgressions committed in our name."
It was a complete fabrication, of course, but Max didn't let that get in the way of appearances. As always, the court 'oooh'ed and 'aah'ed at his wisdom and foresight this time perhaps being genuinely impressed by what they took at face value to be the Source honest truth. It would only take a stray word from Miles to completely ruin the illusion that everything had gone according to plan, but that had already been smoothed over.
The boy wanted to make sure Knothole was saved, and he was willing to compromise to do it. That was fine, as far as His King was concerned. If he did manage to save Knothole somehow, then the King would be able to claim another great victory. If Miles failed, then he would be properly censured and punished for failing His Lord and King.
Even if Knothole was destroyed, it was only an inconvenience. After all, it wasn't as if any of the Royal Family were there at the moment. King Maximilian smiled to himself. The other mobians of the court were still celebrating and speaking loudly among themselves.
"Go now," he dismissed the messenger. "Monitor the situation and keep me informed."
The skunk bowed, and quickly made his exit.
'The only potential problem is if the boy continues to run about like a rogue,' the old King thought. 'We haven't had time to find a way to restrain his potential ambition… that blue fool was harmless enough but this boy is a potential threat to the throne...'
Shifting in the dais, King Maximilian did not feel as comfortable on a kingly, or even noble, throne as he had in the past. He knew the weight of history would not judge him kindly, and that, in the annals of the Acorn Line, his legacy would be fifty years of war and death. Even his economic and political reforms were quietly criticized, though never publicly. Perhaps that was why he felt so small; perhaps that was why he felt like he was only filling in the title of King for someone greater.
At one point, he had hoped that would be his son.
But Elias was a weakling of a Prince, without the fire or the steel to properly rule. The boy would likely cave in when faced with the first crisis to land at his feet. Maximilian sighed at that. He knew that Sarah – his dear Princess Sally - could have made an excellent queen. She could've made a peerless King, too, and a credit to her line… if only she had been male. If only she had taken her responsibilities to the Line of Kings more seriously.
No: in his daughter, he saw the fracturing of his Kingdom.
She was strong, and she was intelligent, but Princess Sally Acorn was not wise in the ways of kingly governance and she was not a pragmatist. Her ideals would be the undoing of the empire founded over eight hundred years previous, by the First Acorn – her great ancestors – Xerxes the Golden and Alexander the Founder. The weight of history weighed heavily on King Maximilian… was he truly to be the Last of the Acorns?
No: he vowed. No!
He would not be the last! His reign may be known, in future years, as one of fire and pain, but it would not be the last. Even as he sat, not in the Golden Hall of Kings in the Grand Palace but in the Wooden Hall of a Minor Noble of the former court, Maximilian had pride in his lineage, and in his Dynasty. What it needed was strength. What it needed was respect. What it needed was power.
An Alliance, with the Devil, if need be.
The Devil Fox.
The Barbarian from the north that his great ancestors had warred against could, in turn, be beaten and absorbed by diplomacy. It had been proven in the past. Maximilian's own most esteemed ancestor, Melchoir the Mighty, had proven it when it annexed the Southern Barbarian Tribes after the Final Northern Border War. Yes: that would be a fitting legacy!
It would have been better if General D'Coolette still lived, for his wisdom in the designs of the barbarian fox were always enlightening, but the Acorn King of Mobius knew he could get by without his old friend's advice. He smiled at the thought. From the moment he had seen the youngster called 'Tails,' the King had a feeling that the boy was destined for greatness – the sage words of the old Court Hierophant, Merlin, confirmed it. Merlin was well versed in the Old Religion and the Old Ways, and his prophecies never failed, even if most of his supposed magic was, in fact, mere parlor tricks and not the equal of a true mage like Ixis Naugus.
The fox, Miles Prower, would develop into a leader and warrior.
He would be a wonderful pawn.
The Kingdom of Acorn as a whole would benefit from it and grow stronger through it. The kitsune foxes would be drawn, slowly but steadily, into mobian society, just as their one-tailed brethren and cousins had. They would be assimilated and strengthen the whole of the Acorn Demesne. Their numbers, he knew, were small enough not to dramatically affect a political change in the Dynasty, though it would require a restructuring of the House of Nobles.
And a few sacrifices.
Sitting on his throne, King Maximilian scoffed under his breath. Indeed, sacrifices were the bread and butter of politics, weren't they? Sadly, that was something his daughter, in her naive idealism, didn't recognize. She refused to put aside her relationship with that blue hedgehog for the good of the lineage and the strength of the Kingdom. She did not court the support of the remaining noble houses, preferring to deal with her group of anarchist "Freedom Fighters" directly.
She refused to be used.
She didn't understand that to be used was not a bad thing, so long as it strengthened and perpetuated something greater than the individual. Something like the Kingdom. Something like the Name and Dynasty set down by her ancestors. That was what was of paramount importance! Growing up outside of the court for so long… had dulled her senses and turned her from what she was born to be. If Elias could not be brought around to become the King he was born to be, then Sally would become the Queen she was bred to be.
Yes.
Through her blood.
Three generations removed from the youngest generation of Royals, from their mother's side, there had been a fox. Alicia's mother had been carefully chosen from the northern nobles not for her beauty, or her mind, but for her bloodline. They had the Princess tested at birth, and though that fox blood did not flow in her as strongly as it did her brother (with that tail of his), it was there. She was compatible. She was fertile. D'Coolette's "Last Resort" plan would work where all the others failed!
She would further the Kingdom.
The old King smiled at the thought. With a new empire stretching across Mobius Major, and even coming to assimilate the northlands, the Kingdom would once again straddle the planet as it was meant to be. The humans were weaker than they had been in centuries, their numbers and resources depleted. They, too, would be crushed and brought to heel. Then the echidna, and even the wayward dingo. It was the inevitable triumph of the Acorn Dynasty to rule over all the lands of Mobius, from horizon to horizon.
Through her, through them, that conquest was a possibility.
'Let the boy taste power and authority. Let him find it to his liking. If he can save this city and prevent this disaster, he may well be… the son I never had… an heir to remake the world!'
Yes, such a future was worth any sacrifice, even that of his daughter's happiness. Even his own pride took back seat. The Kingdom, the Empire, the Source… demanded it! If it meant the children of the Royal Family had two tails for a few generations, then that too, was a small price to pay for power and glory.
'Impress me, boy,' he thought, brooding on his throne. 'Prove yourself worthy, and conquer the world by my side!'
Knothole
This was not what Sonic had expected when they got back home.
Tails, on the other hand, did not look surprised. He walked right up to the three dingo dressed in military fatigues, no hesitation in his movements. Sonic watched, ready to intervene if need be, but was instead stunned when the three dingo saluted and stood at attention. Miles stood face to face with the foreign mobians, and Sonic felt oddly… out of place.
"Lieutenant," Miles said, crisply. "Good to see you and the others are here. I never doubted the word of the dingo."
"You'll want to see the General." The dark furred dingo, with bars on his shoulder replied in a respectful tone. "This way, sir."
Sonic, not anticipating trouble, caught up to Miles and the dingo as they started to walk into the town. There were dingo and wolves and foxes everywhere, and virtually all of them were armed. To Sonic's silent relief, he saw the regular town militia and Freedom Fighters were also around, though the situation was obviously a tense one.
"Yo, what the Hell is going on here?" he finally growled, elbowing Tails in the side to get his attention. Miles held up his hand in response, and inclined his head.
"One moment, please. I'll explain everything in just one moment."
Sonic gritted his teeth, but accepted what the kitsune said. Tails had to know how he hated being kept out of the loop. If there was something going on of this level of importance, he should have at least heard passing reference to it. Some of the animals looked like Freedom Fighters, at least, though their uniforms were slightly different, but the dingo… Sonic had seen some of them before. Not outside Angel Island anyway.
They were old enemies of the echidna. Knuckles had told them of the problems that had been caused both by the old Echidna-Dingo Wars, and more recently, by the destruction of Dingo City's pocket universe. Shortly after a nuclear exchange between the two, both Dingo city and Echidnapolis had been saved by being shunted into two separate parallel pocket universes adjacent to the Special Zone. However, a few years ago, the universes had become unstable and started to merge, both into each other and into the real world. In the end, only one could survive the transition, and circumstances had favored the echidnas. So the dingo had left their city for Echidnapolis, and it had returned to the floating Island.
All was not harmonious between the dingo and echidna, however.
Far from it.
More to the point: the dingo had never gotten involved in the fight against Robotnik. Like the echidna, they considered it an 'off-island' problem. What were they doing here, now? He'd never heard anything to suggest they had given their allegiance to the Freedom Fighters or the Kingdom of Acorn. After a few minutes, the three mobians came to a large green and brown camouflaged tent set up in the old part of Knothole, near the Ring Pool and the Founding Freedom Fighter housing. The area, more than the rest of the city was swarmed by dingo, but before Sonic even got the chance to worry about that further, the ground shook, and something large and robotic stomped out from behind the large tent.
His eyes widened, and his body tensed to…
"Sonic!" Miles' voice stopped him before he could instinctively jump. He looked quickly to the two tailed fox, and then back at the robot, colored green and gunmetal.
"Don't sweat it." The fox chuckled softly. "That's one of ours."
"One of ours?" Sonic eyed the walking war machine suspiciously. It was only slightly humanoid, and as Sonic looked at it more closely, he made the connection. Aside from a few structural differences…
"It looks sort of like the Tornado Two. In its second transformation."
"Exactly." The kitsune called Tails grinned. "One of many."
"Miles?" A gruff voice interrupted them, and both mobians turned to its source: a large dingo in green and gray fatigues and close cut blonde hair contrasting brown fur. He was a massive animal with arms as thick as small trees. The dingo that had let them to the tent immediately saluted at this new dingo's approach.
"General!" He snapped, back ramrod straight.
"At ease, Lieutenant. I'll take it from here." General Helmut von Stryker dismissed his subordinate, and walked up to his apparent comrade in arms.
"Good of you to come to promptly, General." Miles held out his hand, and Stryker grasped it in a rough handshake.
"Yes. You know, when I arrived I thought the other two tailed fox was you. But his tails were…"
"Yes. Yes. Tempest has black tips. He's also still a good head taller than me."
Miles gave the General's hand one last shake, and the two let go. The dingo leader then turned to Sonic, and inclined his head respectfully. He then motioned for them to follow him inside the tent, past busy mobians carrying machinery and boxes. Deeper inside, they came to a small conference room. The assembled (remaining) Freedom Fighters were waiting there, and so was Tempest, surprisingly, along with the City Representative.
Miles noted that they didn't look happy.
Well, Tempest looked indifferent, and the others seemed more surprised than anything. That pig, Hamlin, the representative for the City Nobility looked like he wanted nothing more than to leave. It was Sally who didn't look happy. Unfortunately for her, she was only present via vid-screen. Nicole-Knothole appeared serenely calm. As General Stryker and Sonic stepped to the side, Miles scratched his chin.
Finally he spoke. "I suppose you think I owe you all an explanation."
Sally glared at him through the conference screen. "That would be very considerate of you, Miles."
She was angry, it seemed.
"Ok. I get it. You're pissed off. Not to be rude, but you're just going to need to get over it," The fox began, sweeping his hand and motioning to all those present.
"I'm not going to apologize for doing what I felt, and still feel, needs to be done. I'm not here to argue with any of you. I'm not here to debate. I'm here to deal with the situation. After that, you're free to do whatever you want." Tails looked at each of them in turn. "Understood?"
Some of the assembled mobians grumbled, but acquiesced.
"As, um, as the, uh…" Hamlin tried to speak up.
"Yes. You're free to leave the city," Tails answered the question he knew the pig had been hesitant to ask. "You and the rest of the nobility will be shipped out by air carrier."
The speaker for the city nobles nodded quickly. "But…"
"There will be room for personal effects as well. The evacuation won't inconvenience the noble houses any more than it has to." Miles gave the pig a stare that resembled nothing so much as a man forced to pick his way through garbage. "Just nod your head throughout the rest of the meeting if you understand."
Hamlin frowned at the insult, but didn't make a scene.
"You see?" Tails asked. "This is how you handle the nobility. Very easy. Now: let's get to what's important. Rotor - Bunnie and Antoine?"
The walrus shook his head sadly. "Still in critical condition. We - we could probably try and plug Bunnie back into a refitted body, we do have a spare, but I don't think she could fight in her condition. She's totally withdrawn. It was pretty terrible back there."
Tails nodded at the bad news.
"We'll do what we can for them. Make sure they're evacuated as soon as they're stable." He quickly moved onto the next issue. "Sally, Captain Florentine tells me you want to leave the ship."
"You're damn right I do!" Sally growled, finally given an opportunity to vent her fury.
"I can understand your request, and if it were up to just me, I'd let you go," Tails replied, ambivalent. "But the King has already requested that you remain where you are, for your own safety. GUN also wants to hold onto you until the situation resolves itself."
"You can't keep me here!" Sally yelled, shaking the video feed for a moment. "I should be in Knothole! It's my responsibility!"
"I'm sorry. The matter is out of my hands," Tails concluded.
"Tails, listen to me -- "
"Please drop the subject," he stated, calmly. "Or I will cut your communications link with this meeting. I'd rather not do that, but I will not allow disruptive behavior. The situation is tense enough as it is."
Sally menaced the screen with a scowl, but nodded once.
"Fine."
"Good," Tails moved on. "Nicole. Status of the Combined Fleet?"
The holographic lynx spoke up, succinctly relaying the latest information, "Twelve Cruisers Operational, four heavily damaged. Twenty Seven Destroyers Operational, Five lightly damaged, Two heavily damaged. Nor'easter Dreadnaught still eighty four percent functional."
"They've been fighting for hours," he noted. "Robots don't tire, but Aya has reported that her men are on the verge of exhaustion. Has there been any success in shooting through that new black shield?"
"No," Nicole answered crisply. "All excited particle beam attacks, even the main gun of the Nor'easter, have been repulsed. Missiles have also proven ineffective. Commando-class destroyers can still penetrate, but sensors indicate that the shield is growing thicker and stronger. My estimates are that it will become effectively impenetrable in forty two minutes."
"Hold on," Sonic choose that moment to speak up. "I thought that trick of yours took out the city shield around that thing? And why's it still a problem, anyway?"
Everyone stared at him like he'd been under a rock (or lost in the woods) for the last three hours. Sonic looked around at them.
"What?" he asked.
Tails quickly tried to explain, "Shortly after we used Chaos Control, Shadow took the trap Emerald back to Helios. As planned, this caused an uncontrolled reaction within the Eclipse chamber. The shields went down, and the fleet began bombardment. However, before the city could be knocked out of the air some sort of anomaly appeared. This is the 'black shield' I mentioned."
"I see," Sonic said. "But… why are we meeting here, then? We should have gone to meet up with the ships."
Miles frowned and crossed his arms. "Unfortunately, Helios also accelerated away from the battle. It has already reached Mach One and is continuing to speed up, completely out of control. We have a little more than an hour before it crashes into Knothole."
"An hour before…!" Sonic whistled. "Wow."
"That's putting it lightly," the kitsune agreed. "Nicole, have the Blue Typhoon sortie and bring up the Royal Air Force. Continue bombardment and have them get more boots on the ground inside the city. Focus on taking out the navigation arrays."
"You're sending more men onto that thing?" Sally asked, speaking up. Unlike before, she seemed to have mostly buried her indignation and frustration with the situation.
"Let me clear up what I plan to do," Miles cleared his throat and faced the assembly. "We have no way to stop the city's momentum or destroy it entirely. Controlling the arrays will only but us more time. As you know, the Chaos Emerald I left exposed on the Nor'easter was a fake – an elaborate forgery I made, using one of the Angel Island Super Emeralds. I still have the seventh Emerald, and with it, I intent to gather the six Emeralds that still reside within Helios."
"A Super transformation?" Sonic asked, brightening up at the chance to cut loose (and contribute to the fight).
"Yes and no," the former sidekick explained. "We have three options. The first is to use Chaos Control to teleport pieces of Helios down to the ground safely, in sections, and over an uninhabited area. The second option is to move it, whole cloth, into space. However, it must also be moved into a precise orbit that won't decay and bring it back down onto our heads."
"Can't you just move it into deep space or something?" Sonic asked. "That doesn't sound hard."
"Momentum is still conserved, even when transported using Chaos Control. If you move it into deep space anywhere within thousands of miles of Mobius, it could well end up crashing back down with many times the force it would have now."
"Ah. That would be bad."
"Very. The third option," Tails took a deep breath. "If Chaos Control fails, we will need to force the city down with an explosion. Only four gigaton rated warheads were ever produced, and all four were used against the Black Arms comet years ago. No one has the facilities to produce that much antimatter anymore. However… with enough Chaos Energy, I can convert that into Ring Energy, and then into a Ring Bomb of sufficient magnitude."
"Sounds like trading one gigantic explosion for another slightly smaller one," Sonic observed, and quite keenly, too.
"Sadly, that's actually very accurate." Miles concluded. "Given either of these three scenarios, I'm the only one who can make them work. Even though Sonic can use Chaos Control, he would have no ability to calculate the projected reentry or orientation of the city, either into a stable orbit or into a controlled landing. I'll need to be in a transformed state to Chaos Control that much mass."
The magnitude of the problem, and the only solution anyone had, was daunting.
"I'll help, of course," Sonic spoke up. "You need guys gathering the Emeralds, right?"
"Yes. Also…" for the first time, Miles hesitated to speak. "Also, Rouge is somewhere in the city. She may be near the Emeralds, or buried in rubble. I haven't heard from her. Finding her is also a priority."
"She was acting on my orders," he quickly reminded them. "And she risked her life for us working on the inside like she did."
"What about city defenses?" von Styker asked, speaking practically. "We have reports of incoming assault craft: those egg shaped things. Several have landed outside the city and are unloading troops."
"They can't be allowed to interfere with the evacuation," Sally said, and Tails nodded in silent agreement.
"Why are all these dingo here, anyway?" Sonic asked, too curious to let it pass. "Knux would be totally freaking out if he saw them swarming over the place like this."
General Stryker scowled at the tone of 'these dingo.'
"Early this year, I took a trip to the Floating Island," Tails answered. "One of several such visits. I had already finished modifications on my Tornado Two and secured a sizeable amount of funds and favors from your father, Sally. What I required, then, was a source of labor to begin mass production of a version of my Tornado Two, called the Cyclone. Those are the war machines you have seen assembled outside."
"You're right about Knuckles, Sonic, but whatever history the dingo have with the echidna is completely irrelevant. The echidna have already made their decision to sit out the war, and while I would like to be able to call Knuckles and the Chaotix my friends, that doesn't mean I share their allegiances or priorities. If the devil was willing to help us win this war, then I would gladly make a deal with him."
"The devil?" Stryker asked, raiding an eyebrow.
"Just a figure of speech," Miles replied. "The dingo are here to help, and they're here at my request."
"And what did they get in return for all this?" Sally asked, on the ball as ever. Favors rarely came without a price tag, somewhere along the line.
"Part of the Southwestern Continent and Cat Country," Stryker answered.
"What? Those are the lands of Mercia," Sally began to say. "You can't…"
"I did not promise them all of Mercia," Tails corrected her. "Only the fringe lands west of Albion. I mostly just ceded Cat Country. The King found it a good deal, trading away land he didn't even own."
"But how?"
"We were given the Underboss codes for that region," Stryker responded. "They appear genuine. We now have all the forces we need there to make it our new homeland. For that, there is no dingo who would not be willing to fight and die."
Sally seemed, at least for a moment, truly shocked silent.
"Just…" she stammered. "By the Source…"
"General," Tails said with a sigh. The conversation was obviously wearying. "Protect the evacuation transports. I will have all available MAF and Freedom Fighter forces transferred to your battlefield command. Rotor and Nicole can assist you with anything you need."
The two nodded; for them, the meeting was mostly formality.
"Except for the nobles, and those on the proscribed list, feel free to conscript as many of the citizenry as you feel necessary," he added, eyes closed. He didn't sound either happy or sad about giving the order.
"Conscription?" Sally gasped. "Most of Knothole's population is civilian! They don't know how to fight!"
Miles gave her a sidelong look. "I've arranged for enough weapons - guns, grenades, anti-tank rockets - to arm even the women and children of Knothole to the teeth… I'm sure the General here will only need a couple thousand men to assist the Dingo Legion. After all, if I fail and if those transports can't take off, they'll die anyway."
"Tails," Sally said, her voice much softer than before.
The fox frowned, detecting pity in those dulcet tones.
He growled low in his throat and narrowed his eyes. "As I said, this isn't up for vote or debate. Knothole is hereby placed in a state of martial law while we evacuate. Sonic and I will join the assault on the Helios platform with the seventh Chaos Emerald."
"You may do as you please; the Council of Nobles consents. Can we go now?" Hamlin asked, anxious to be dismissed so he could join the evacuation of the city nobility. Tails nodded, and the former Freedom Fighter made an exit, trying vainly to preserve some shred of his dignity.
"Tempest," Tails turned to the one mobian present who had not yet spoken at all. "Are you going to leave, or fight?"
The older kitsune scratched the back of his neck and yawned.
"What these southerners do isn't really my business," he said, bluntly, honestly. "But I think fighting still has some appeal. It could make for an interesting story."
Tails smirked. "Good to hear. Sonic?"
"Gimme a minute," the blue blur replied, motioning over to Sally's image on the communications screen. Rotor took that moment to stand up.
"I'll have my staff keep the transports running as long as we can," he said.
"I will provide assistance around the city." Nicole simply winked out, her holographic image dissolving.
"We leave for Helios in five minutes," Tails told them as they filed out. Without another word, he and General Stryker left the room.
"Do you think they will cooperate?" The dingo commander asked, walking alongside the kitsune. "And what you do if they don't? Even one of them could stir up trouble among the local Freedom Fighters. Especially the Princess, if she can get an outside line."
"I'm well aware of that," Miles replied in a low, dangerous tone of voice. "Appropriate measures have already been taken."
"There have also been some reports of looting in the city."
"Shoot them, arrest them, whatever. Handle it however you see fit," Tails said, not sparing it a second thought. "Just remember, while I am free to do as I please, you are technically a mercenary captain in the Army of the Kingdom of Acorn."
"I will keep that in mind," the General paused a moment, then asked, "Rouge. Do you really think she's alive?"
Miles expression turned introspective. "I know she is."
Stryker looked less than convinced. "Really?"
"Absolutely."
-----
"Targets painted!"
"Missiles away!" Konya thumbed the fire button, and to his left, six mini-missiles launched from their missile pack like a swarm of angry hornets. He quickly flipped another switch to detach the external missile packs. Seated below him, a female lupine named Karie did most of the piloting, letting him focus on gunnery and systems management. Most of the Mecha that had been manufactured by the dingo under Miles' agreement were single seat versions: the Cyclone-B series. A few, though, were in the older two-seat arrangement: the Cyclone-A series.
These were used for fire support.
Something that Konya was silently glad for. He didn't exactly relish the idea of getting in closer to the ranks of enemy Combots, which now seemed as thick as grass on a field. Still, their role was vital: to defend the approach the reinforcements would take to arrive at the battlefield, as well as fill in for anti-air and anti-armor as needed. Konya looked around at the controls and felt intimidated… but also anxious. Excited.
He was destroying Combots!
He… they… were winning!
"We're out of missiles." Karie whistled softly at the number of vectors and targets on her displays. "And it's still a target rich environment. Looks like more incoming. Warm up the Ion Cannon."
"Charging!"
Konya let Karie set their mecha into position, as he raised and adjusted the aim of the Cyclone mecha's shoulder mounted particle cannon. It charged up with a soft hum before a blue light signaled its readiness to fire. On his Heads up Display, numerous inward bound Shadowbots were painted by targeting lasers and radar, each one framed by a box and a pair of brackets.
"Firing!" He barked, and held down the trigger.
The heavy ion cannon fired in extremely short pulses, making it appear almost like a solid beam. Charged particles erupted from the cannon assembly at over ten kilometers per second, as the 'beam' auto-traced from one of the painted targets to the next, drawing a line in fire and destruction across the sky. The Shadowbots had been descending to try and gain a foothold behind the scattered, but advancing, units of Cyclone-B mechas.
They failed.
Time and time again.
In the distance, the great landed bulk of one of the Egg Factories (as they'd been dubbed in the field) continued to churn out robots and hastily constructed legions of badniks. Two of them seemed to be mass producing a new Combot Legion practically on the spot. Two others were further back, working on larger assault robots.
On queue, a gigantic spider-mech reared up, firing missiles and beams up into the sky. Answering bolts blasted down from above, shattering the giant robot and reaping a terrible toll on the countryside. A dark shadow passed over Konya' and his Cyclone: one of the many circling airships. This one was a mere destroyer, and its design and markings indicated it was part of the Mobian Royal Air Force.
Fire shot up at the destroyer, painting it with orange and red explosions.
"Cannon cells are discharged," Karie confirmed. "Restarting charging cycle… you ready to move out? We're hitting the next hill."
"Right…" Konya saw another bright blue stream of fire to his left, and let it distract him for a second or two. "Ready!"
Unlike the lieutenant, this was all quite new to him. He had hours of simulated combat, but nothing real. One of the air corps fresh recruits, his only field experience was in a handful of live fire training exercises. His pilot, Karie, was a veteran who had been with the program for months.
Konya checked the scanners. There was more inbound. Much more inbound!
"Painting targets!"
"An aerial flank attack. Cannon is only thirty three percent charged. Better strap yourself in nice and tight!" As Karie spoke, the mecha shifted position. Konya watched as the experienced Cyclone pilot activated the secondary weapons systems, and maneuvered the war machine into a different position. As it broke into a run, he heard Karie activate the Comm. System.
"This is Hotel Six to Hotel Platoon. We have incoming at T minus Thirty seconds! Hold position and Guard Golf Platoon! Hotel Three and Two – find defilade and provide suppression fire!"
Konya heard sounds of affirmation from the other members of their Five Mech platoon and felt bit out of place. They had worked together before, trained together before, and he was the new guy. He was also the only feline in what was an all-lupine group. The fact that canine breeds dominated the Militum air corps had not gone unnoticed by some.
He suddenly wondered something.
"Lieutenant?"
The mech's pace didn't slow. "Yeah?"
"You were one of the first volunteers, right? he asked, having known that much already. "Is it alright if I ask why you signed up?"'
Karie didn't answer immediately.
"I was a member of the Silver Moon Pack." she paused again, but decided to finish while they had the chance. "Like most of the Wolf Packs, Silver Moon was… well, after that… I kind of drifted. Went to a few Freedom Fighter groups but didn't fit in anywhere. I had some piloting experience from before, so the corps singled me out for recruitment. They said it would be a chance to take the fight to the heart of the enemy."
"Any one of you could get a shot at the Eggman himself?"
"That was the sales pitch."
Konya could understand that: he'd been pulled in by the very same promise.
"Heads up! I'm bringing us into close quarters!"
Karie kept the mech running, even as she leveled the left arm and began to fire with the 30mm autocannon. From nearby, other members of the Platoon also opened fire on the incoming wave of robots, and a second later; explosions shook the ground as the enemy returned fire. Wanting to contribute something, Konya grimly activated and took control of the small machine gun mount on the left shoulder of the war machine.
The swarm of robots came in viciously, strafing the ground and circling before trying to find cover of their own. Wielding a lighter weapon, Konya concentrated on picking off the E-1002 series 'sniper' robots that got in range. Other mecha, also moving as they fired, started to put up a smoke screen and broadcast electronic jamming, trying to fool the robot sensors. Suddenly, the frame of the mech shuddered, as it passed through an explosion that would have turned an entire squad of mobians into so much kibbles and bits.
Then, before Konya could draw another breath, a fireball erupted from behind and to the right. He heard a strangled cry from one of the mech pilots over the open communications system, followed by a half second of transmitted static. Panning his view using the HUD – his best connection to the world outside the armored cockpit – he saw the mangled husk of a Type-A Cyclone smoldering and burning, little blue sparks occasionally flickering from broken wires.
"Hotel Four. Lieutenant Dirk and Sergeant Hanley," Karie said, as if reading his thoughts. "They're dead. We'll be too, if you let yourself get distracted…"
'She's right,' he reminded himself.
"Just keep us moving," Konya said, as he refocused on the fight at hand. "And I'll keep shooting!"
Suddenly the entire mech whirled, and Karie fired, picked off a charging Shadowbot. Under the hail of autocannon fire, it broke apart and fell to the ground in pieces. Immediately she switched to another target, an E-series robot, leading her fire until the robot spun, burning, into the ground where it crashed and exploded. Looking up, Konya saw just what they had tried to prevent.
"They're massing to attack the transports!"
Above them, the low flying robots were joining formation to rush forward and seize the airspace behind the teams of mechs. Lightly armed and armored personnel carriers carried the mobian troops into the battlefield. Most were unloading their troops before heading into Knothole to assist in the evacuation. They could hold their own for a little while with their self-defense armament, but against concentrated firepower, they wouldn't last long.
"We need to break up those formations!" Konya yelled.
"This is Hotel Leader to Golf Leader! Open fire on painted targets! We don't have time to wait for an Alpha strike with the ICans! You have to disrupt them now!"
A second later, a reply came over the radio: "Roger, Hotel Leader."
No sooner had Konya heard the words than he saw bright blue lines of light draw out from assorted locations. They cut across the sky, bisecting robot formations with a trail of explosions. Three of them, followed a few seconds later by two more. Then, one and then another, from individual mecha in Hotel Platoon. The damage done was terrible, and the robots circled, making themselves less attractive targets for beam weapon attack.
"They're starting to learn," Konya said, softly.
Karie apparently heard him. "What's that?"
"They're staggering their formations, grouping themselves less tightly then before," the feline explained. "It's making attacks with the ion cannons less effective."
Karie frowned, realizing the truth of his observation. The cannons relied on the ability to paint a line from one target to the next. The beam itself generally only lasted a few seconds, or several thousand pulses. It was extremely effective against dense clusters of the enemy, where the wasted time drawing the beam from one target to the next was minimal. Wide formations, however, made it far less effective.
"This is Hotel Leader to Golf Leader," Karie began. "Recharge your ICans, but change the firing settings. Lower the pulse frequency by a half… to about 300 or 200 per second. Or even 100 per second. Don't have the entire platoon set their beams to the same pulse frequency. Keep breaking up those formations!"
After receiving acknowledgement from Golf Leader, Karie allowed herself a smirk.
"That aught to keep those bastards guessing! Good eye, cadet."
They were in the thick of things now as the last two waves of the enemy descended. Konya heard another yelp over the communications system, as another two lives were snuffed out.
"Hotel Five," Karie said, her voice slightly strained, "Louis and Marko. Good men. That leaves just three… against at least seventy. Hotel One and Two are damaged, but functional. Golf Two and Five are also damaged, but functional. Golf Three looks to be intact, but heavily damaged."
Konya checked the arrival date for the reinforcements. "Five minutes, twenty seconds. I'm queuing up an airstrike!"
"This is… gonna be tough…!" Karie admitted, as the mecha as it stomped on the ruins of a fallen Shadowbot. A second later, a whole wing of the enemy barreled in, firing at the mobian war machine. Konya could hear the telltale ding-ding of blaster bolts hitting armor as the assault bore more heavily on the mostly undamaged Cyclone. Several of the robots didn't survive the frontal attack and the exchange of fire, but as they regrouped and came around again, coupled with enemy fire from other sides, Konya began to feel the cold grip of terror constricting around his throat.
"Here they come!" Karie growled. "Watch it!"
Konya wasn't going to answer, but then, suddenly, a bright beam shot down from above, mauling the ranks of the enemy. A geyser of ash and debris leapt up into the air, followed by a cacophony of explosive shells. Moments later, a swarm of drone fighters descended from one of the ships overhead.
Karie gasped. "It's…!"
"All units find cover!" the radio blared. "Torpedo salvo inbound! Repeat: torpedo strikes are inbound! Duck and cover!"
The Cyclone shot back and hunched low behind the rise of a crater. They'd cleared enough of the area's defenses to let more of the low flying Destroyers get in range and calculate targeting solutions. Without proper ground cover, at this altitude, the flying bricks were easy targets, especially since only the humans had shields on their ground attack destroyers.
A distant explosion, like a dozen cracks of thunder, shook the ground.
In a minute, the battlefield was quiet.
The bittersweet fruits of the battle were the littered remains of hundreds of destroyed robots, and the weary pride of a job done under extreme duress. In the distance, two of the giant Egg Factories lay in ruins. One was blown apart so thoroughly as to be unrecognizable. Another was half molten: a glowing yellow orange that refused to cool. Blocking the view of the horizon, the vast bulk of the descending Flying City loomed.
"Hotel. Fall back to landing zone Sierra Four for redeployment!"
"Roger that," Karie said, taking a moment to savor the view. "That's two more down. Only twenty two more to go."
Konya smirked at what passed for a joke in this unit.
"Twenty two?" he asked. "Is that it?"
"Yep! We'll be able to bunk up early tonight for once!"
The mech turned and took off straight upwards, transforming back into a jet and blasting off. They're hit up a depot at Sierra Four, resupply, and then dive back into the fray. In tragedy or triumph, this was the End of the War. Who wouldn't do their part?
Rouge rested against the rubble, trying to catch her breath.
Things weren't looking too great at the moment. She'd made a quick escape as soon as she could, heading for the surface of Helios, but the corridor she had expected to take topside had… well, it isn't collapsed so much as it imploded. Along with what appeared to be hundreds of square meters of steel and concrete. There was no way she could dig through it, not in a hundred years. That left finding alternate routes.
Just her luck almost all of them were guarded or locked down.
A directed explosion blew the door out of its supports and sent it rocketing down the hallway beyond. Rouge's super-sensitive ears heard it smash into something, and then a small explosion. Running down past the remains of the door, she quickly delivered a coup de'gras to the barely functional E-series mech that had been guarding the corridor. Kicking its head off was easy enough; avoiding the laser fire slightly less so.
Getting her bearings, Rouge looked around for a way to get up another level. There was little point in running around on the same floor. She needed to get higher. Once she was on one of the higher levels, or at least close to it, she could get a signal out to Miles and the Fleet. Once he had her location, she knew he'd send someone to pick her up.
Hell, after all she'd gone though, he'd better pick her up himself!
Prying loose a door, Rouge confirmed that it led to an elevator shaft. It was one of the best breaks she'd had since sneaking out of the control room. Checking to make sure it wasn't running she tilted her head upward and tried to guess how far up it went and whether it was totaled up at the top. It was one of the maglev transport tubes, definitely off line, and as far as she could tell it was intact up top.
Slipping on a pair of clawed gauntlets, Rouge leapt for the side of the transport shaft, finding an easy handhold on one of the rails. Bracing herself, she started to climb. Based on what little she could get from her echolocation, there was maybe a hundred-something meters until she reached the uppermost level. That had to be just beneath the armored shield layer of the city above.
"Almost there," she told herself, climbing steadily upwards.
At least she didn't have to run through a maze of spinning giant gears and twirling electrical conduits and exposed gas pistons to get where she needed to go. No badniks or bounce springs even. Just a plain old elevator shaft. Of course, thinking that, Rouge couldn't help but wonder if she had jinxed herself. Any moment now there would be a rumble, and it would either collapse in on her or the maglev train would shoot out of the darkness and try and squish her.
Climbing up another floor, she sighed.
There was something to be said for monotony after all she'd been through over the last day or two. With no obvious dangers, and only hundreds upon hundreds of feet of sheer wall to climb, she found her mind wandering a bit. For some reason, she thought about Shadow, and how she had left him. Finding the Emeralds with him had reminded her of a strange side of the black hedgehog that no one else really saw. Getting the last two Emeralds had been hard enough that he had acted almost… well. It was unnerving, whatever it was.
If he had been a normal guy, it might have even been nice to share the adventure. But she couldn't forget how he had killed all those guards, nearly murdered a helpless man, and then beheaded someone. He was scary, and she had hung around a lot of scary guys over her lifetime. Then there were all the not so subtle things he said about this Maria girl, and her dream of burning the world down or something.
What kind of little sick girl wants to destroy the world?
Then again, knowing Shadow, it was more likely that he was simply fobbing that part of the story. It was impossible to tell now what happened back on the ARK, and in the end, whether Maria was an omnicidal maniac or not was irrelevant. Shadow was. Thank the Source Miles' plan had actually worked and the fake Emerald had destroyed the Eclipse Chamber. Something like that didn't belong in either Eggman or Shadow's hands.
Rouge tucked her fingers into a groove in the wall and rested a second. Looking up, she could see that there was still a long way to go. She was tempted to just try and fly up, but there wasn't a lot of room in the shaft, and the attempt would wear her out pretty quickly. Fifty meters straight up was probably doable, though. Rouge decided on it. She'd get about halfway, then try and fly the rest. It would be a tight squeeze for her wings, but it was worth a try.
When she got back on solid land, she'd really have some 'words' with her so called partner. Miles owed her big, and now that she thought about it, a couple gems (nice as they were) and a measly million credits just weren't cutting it. Since they were pretending to be a couple anyway, the least he could do was splurge a little on some stuff for her.
A villa in the mountains would be a nice start, and maybe a high rise apartment in Echidnapolis. At least a full set of psuedo Chaos Emeralds, too. Sure they were technically fake, but given the trouble the originals always caused, they'd do in a pinch. She'd make them the centerpiece of an entire room and bathe in their super-shiny ultra-expensive glow for at least a couple minutes every night. Yes. That would go a long way to making up for all this trouble.
Maybe she'd even let him have the pleasure of her company for a little while longer, too. They'd had a good thing for a while back there, even if it had just been for show, and the little trip to Chemical Planet had been interesting. He'd grown up to be a cute enough guy to boot. Sticking close to him for a while would also help to clear her own name and even earn back a bit of the credibility she had lost over the last year or so. Being some kind of hero wasn't really her thing, but cashing in on saving the world had its appeal!
Shaking her head, trying to dispel those thoughts, Rouge began to focus again on the task at hand. But even in it, she thought about him. The money and gems… were nice. Very, very nice! But she knew she wasn't doing this for money or even for treasures, though Miles had hoarded plenty of both. No. Helping her remaining friends in GUN was only part of it, too.
She wanted to help him, too.
Not that Rouge felt affection in that sense for the kitsune; it was a matter of respect and camaraderie. She agreed with and respected what he wanted to do, and even grudgingly admired him for what he could do. Rouge had met both Sonic and Knuckles a few times, and while she did admire their heroism and resolve, they were both so typically dull, always running off to right the world's wrongs with their fists. Miles, though, could change the world with his mind.
There was a potential there that the world had missed out on so much over the last century. So many great minds had come and gone, and so many had been lost. Some, like Gerald, had become obsessed and divorced from reality and practicality. Some, like Nate Morgan, had been lost to prejudice. Others had simply become madmen or potential tyrants, like the current Robotnik, the echidnas Enerjak and Finitevus, or that horrible witch Mya Florentine.
Miles was different. He had that spark of genius, and that ambitious drive, and even a bit of ruthlessness, but also a grounded nature that made him appealing. Here was a mobian – she was sure – who could change the world for the better. More importantly, he was also someone who would be worth wrapping around her little finger…
Either way, it was certain that she could do more for him than any of those other girls he'd had the misfortune of running into: that psycho, Fiona, or that wall flower, Cream. Miles Prower was a potentially invaluable asset and Rouge never had been that happy sharing her toys.
Licking her lips, she could almost taste his blood, like sweet nectar.
That was a bonus, too.
"Ok!" She figured she was about halfway up. More than halfway, even. Pushing off from the wall, Rouge flapped her wings and tried to steady herself. The maglev shaft was too tramped to maneuver much, and the tips of her wings sometimes hit the wall painfully, but he was doable. Carefully ascending, she built up a bit of speed. Up ahead in the darkness, she could just barely see the end.
Grabbing onto the end of the transport shaft and the cushioned breaker there, Rouge kicked the door, forcing it open a crack. Shimmying over and flipping upside down, so she hung by her feet, Rouge reached into the gap in the door and slowly pried it open. Once she got it open a few inches, it hissed open completely and compliantly. Jumping through the doorway, Rouge smiled as she recognized where she was.
"Blue sector!" she said, remembering it from before. There was a hangar to the east. Blue would be guarded, but only by obsolete models like SWATbots. Running down the open hallway, Rouge retrieved a radio communicator out of a pocket strapped to her belt.
The coded frequency Miles had given her was a bit broken, but clear.
"This is Black Sheep to Handler," Rouge tried. With the Eggnet down, the nethack she had been using to communicate was worthless. The radio and the coded signal were the best bet by this point.
"Repeat: this is Black Sheep to Handler. Anyone out there?"
The response was nothing but static.
Slowing her pace, Rouge remembered something: there was an Eggnet terminal to the west somewhere. She had scoped it out before but never actually needed to use it. It was a small detour, but possibly worth the risk. It would help to know what was going on outside. Turning a corner to a T-junction, Rouge ran into her fist bit of resistance since coming to the sector.
Three old Type-30 model SWATbots nearly bumped into her. They were Great War clunkers dating back to Robotnik's original coup. Barely slowing down, Rouge jump kicked the first one and then spun a hundred and eighty degrees, beheading the other two in one easy motion. The old and frankly obsolete robots came apart like chaff. They were notoriously vulnerable to physical impacts. Their armor was supposed to protect them from energy weapons only. Even a regular mobian or human could wreck one in close quarters if they knew what they were doing.
And Rouge knew what she was doing.
Heading down the hall, Rouge saw another group of three, and promptly trashed them as easily as the last bunch. A final group actually saw her coming, and started to open fire, but the trained spy easily slipped through, smashing them one by one. The enemy fall apart before her. Three Combots would have been a challenge at once, and three Type-36 SWATbots would've been a bit tough, but three Type-30s? Not a problem. The obsolete models were probably just garrison troops tasked with maintenance duties.
Rouge checked the digital mini-map she had downloaded earlier.
"Almost there," she said, heading towards the Eggnet terminal.
She turned another corner and was immediately met by the staccato roar of a heavy weapon. Red pulses of plasma cut through the air, forcing Rouge to slide and find cover on the other side of the room's doorway. She didn't have to look to guess that the SWATbots in there were the upgraded models: a Type-36 and two Type-34s, probably. They also knew she was coming.
Reaching into a pocket, she quickly rolled a grenade through the door. This one wasn't an EMP or explosive. It wouldn't do to fry the Eggnet terminal, after all. This was a modified flash grenade, designed specifically to fry optical circuitry and confuse close range radar with hundreds of reflective aluminum strips. The room disappeared in a bright light, and Rouge ducked inside.
Type-34s and 36s were smarter and had better weapons than Type-30s, but they weren't any tougher. Rouge grabbed the closest one, still stunned by the grenade, and threw it into one of its teammates. She then brought down her heel in one of the robot's many softer spots, nearly cracking it in two. Another of the black humanoid robots tried to open fire on her position, but Rouge spun, grabbed it by the arm, and flipped it onto the floor. A quick twist and the arm came right out of its socket. She then finished the helpless robot by crushing its head.
Her iron boot techniques were perfectly tailored to deal with this kind of fighting.
With the room cleared, Rouge walked up to the vacant Eggnet terminal. It still seemed intact and functional, unlike every other one she had run across. Sabotaging Eclipse had fried a lot of core systems. Powering it up, an alcove in the wall opened up, revealing the holographic display and controls. They flickered a bit but still worked. Stepping inside, Rouge reactivated the nethack program.
The holographic display flickered again, and indicated that the program was running and processing her request. After a second, it confirmed her host status, and started searching for free pathways. The nethack was Miles' programming, designed to find holes in the Eggnet and reroute and conceal their private communications using backdoors in both hijacked and loyalist satellites. Since Eggnet secure communications were always point to point encrypted, that meant bouncing the signal around a bit and hiding it as background noise.
CONNECTED
Miles didn't answer.
"Come on, now," Rouge glanced over her shoulder, half expecting a Combot squad to burst in. "The least you can do is pick up the phone when I call, come on!"
Finally, his face appeared on the holographic screen.
"Rouge!" he said, surprised and happy. Something was causing his bangs to whip by around the side of his forehead. Behind him, she could almost see clouds and explosions.
"I knew you'd find a way to contact me," he added. "Where are you?"
"Blue Sector, quadrant Five, southeast," she quickly replied. He nodded, knowing where that was, having memorized much of Helios' interior layout.
"You were heading for Hangar Eleven?" he guessed, smiling. "Good. I have two units making a push towards it. They'll be there in a few minutes. I can be there personally in… maybe five minutes.
"How are things out there? It sounds like Hell. Looks bad, too. And why are the marines taking so long to get here?"
"You didn't notice?" he asked and blinked in shock. "There was some kind of black cloud. It enveloped the entire city. It's causing communications problems and preventing fire support from the Fleet."
"Black cloud?" Rouge cocked her head in confusion. "I… didn't see anything like that, and I've been running around in here for a while now."
"It doesn't matter. Sonic and I will take care of things from here. I'm just glad you made it out in time."
"I'm pretty hardy, you know. It'll take more than an imploding city to do me in!"
"Good to…" he trailed off, staring at her.
"What?" Rouge asked, and then glanced over her shoulder.
Shadow's hand caught her left arm like a vice, and with a swift tug, he ripped her out of the Eggnet terminal's alcove. Rouge yelped in pain and tried to swing her free arm at him, but he twisted and threw her to the ground. Rouge hit the floor face first.
"Damnit!" she heard Tails yell. "It's over, Shadow! Let her go!"
"Over?" Shadow sneered, and yanked her arm out of its socket. It was a cruel parody of the move she had used against a SWATbot in the same room, just a few minutes before. Rouge managed to fight the urge to cry out in pain, but tears and stars filled her vision.
"This isn't over," Shadow declared, kicking his former partner in the stomach and sending Rouge crashing hard into an unyielding steel wall. The bat girl curled up into a fetal ball. It felt like he had kicked her insides into her wings. She couldn't recall ever being hit so hard.
He stood over her; she could literally feel his shadow looming over her.
"You betrayed me, Rouge," his voice was smooth and filled with hate. "You betrayed and sabotaged Maria's dream! Her dream, Rouge!"
"Shadow!" Miles yelled again, his image blurry within the terminal. "I did it, not her! You want someone to pay? The whole thing was my idea! I used you to destroy Eclipse. It was me!"
Shadow's red, burning eyes wandered over to the kitsune's image.
"I will make those you cherish suffer as Maria's dream has suffered," the black hedgehog said the words softly, slowly. "Now, watch, helplessly. Reflect on this moment…"
Rouge cringed as he reached for her.
"…and curse yourself."