Hello all! Yes I am still alive though sometimes even I wonder...
Anyway new chapter, so read and enjoy.
Sally Acorn breathed a sigh of relief as she sat down for what felt like the first time in hours. The day had seemed to just go on and on with little signs of slowing down.
"Hey Sally." The exhausted squirrel looked up at the hedgehog who had been a solid and dependable friend all day long. "I'm heading home, and by the looks of things you should be doing the same."
Sally smiled.
"You're right, Megan." She stifled a yawn. "And anyway, I'm leading the relief effort tomorrow."
"Not quite the family reunion you were expecting, eh?" Megan said with a grin, one which Sally mirrored.
"No, not really." A short spell of silence drifted through the once hectic and noisy, but now deathly silent panic room.
"Come on, let's get out of here before something else happed."
With an unladylike grunt, Sally pushed herself to her feet and stretched her arms above her head. Catching her sleeveless blue jacket which Megan tossed over, she turned her back on the now blank screen and followed the flip-flop wearing hedgehog out.
As they walked through the staff room towards the lockers and freedom, the sight of a half dozen black armoured anthro made them pause. Each wore a featureless helmet which concealed their faces and species from view, but by the way they held themselves it was clear they weren't the type to be trifled with. The one with the most intricate armour, and who Sally assumed was the leader, was speaking in harsh tones with one of the night officers about meeting the Commander. The four GUN guards were clearly nervous about being in the same room as them with one of them twitching towards his holstered weapon every time one of the armoured strangers made a move.
"Don't get involved." Megan whispered urgently and swiftly ushered Sally from the room before they were noticed.
"What do you think that was about?" Sally asked once they had left the room behind.
"I don't know, and I don't really want too." Although extremely curious, Sally had a distinct feeling that whatever was going on, she couldn't afford to get involved, not with New Mobotropolis in need of her help. But knowing her luck and how she was GUN's second in command, she'd be dragged in sooner or later.
-0-
Losis's eyes followed the two retreating anthro until they fled around the corner.
"Look at these fools." He turned to face Kalimbre who was eying up the GUN guards nearby. "They are meant to be the best this world has to offer? Please! How haven't they been destroyed or enslaved yet?"
Losis had never worked with Kalimbre before and was swiftly seeing him as a frontline soldier who was just sneaky enough to make it as a scout. In other words, he was Shade's attack-dog of the squad. Losis on the other hand was much more reserved, known by others for his remarkable accuracy with the pulse rifle, which was currently holstered across his back, and his self reliance.
He had been part of the failed first invasion against the N'rrgal, when the strike force he was in got practically annihilated, leaving very few survivors including Losis himself. They had gone in full of bravado, certain that they would easily defeat a race of glorified slugs, but numbers proved otherwise, and in terrifying clarity. If it hadn't been for Losis and his shear stubbornness to give up, those few survivors would have perished in that Chaos-forsaken slime hole.
"This is just one small part of a large world Kalimbre." He replied sagely, drawing a glace from the nearby Renaile. "There is still much we do not know. Don't be so quick to judge."
The Nocturne were speaking via their internal communication system, meaning that no-one else could hear them, but body language and the gestures Kalimbre was making were easily understandable.
"Maybe, but they're obviously more advanced than those pulsating blobs were." Kalimbre then snorted in sadistic amusement. "They're frightened; you can almost smell their sweat."
"Wouldn't you be?" Renaile chimed in. "I mean, we're secretive, demanding, obviously well trained and armed, not to mention the way High Praetorian Shade is making that one quiver in his boots. We're clearly a force to be reckoned with."
Losis smiled, although his helmet hid it from view. Kalimbre snorted again but that was one of his main means of communicating agreement, via indifference. He looked back over to his commander, who was flanked by their scout leader on one side and Imrain on the other.
Imrain. The youngest and least experienced of the squad, but she had shown an almost natural affinity to melding with the shadows. Losis was good, he was very good, but Imrain made him look like a new inductee when it came to not being seen.
"You can't just walk in here making demands to speak with the Commander!" Scolded the GUN officer, trying to sound more brave and confident than how he was feeling, those expressionless helmets made his skin crawl.
"I go where I please! And if you will not send for your Commander, then we will find him for ourselves!" As her words reverberated around the small room, the GUN officer and his guards drew their pistols and pointed them at the armoured echidnas.
"I can't allow that, and if necessary we'll-" He never got the chance to finish his sentence as Shade's clenched fist connected rather forcefully with his nose. In a flash, the Nocturne leapt forward, they disarmed the guards and had them unconscious on the floor in moments, before any of them had even managed to get off a shot.
Shade squatted down next to the stricken GUN officer who was holding his bleeding nose whilst staring dumfounded at the unconscious forms of his guards.
"Now, I'll only ask nicely one more time. Take me to your Commander, I need to speak with him."
-0-
Knuckles rolled his shoulders and slowly released his breath. In, out, in, out. Listening to nothing else except his own heart beat, he meditated.
He had no idea what the time was, how long he had been in that cell, whether Julie-Su had managed to contact his friends, what was in store for him. Hundreds of questions looped through his mind, all beaten back by his slow, methodical breathing.
Slowly, slowly, over the course of unknown hours he gathered and pooled tiny amounts of Chaos Energy from the still concealed Master Emerald. Knuckles was thankful that Dr. Zachary hadn't risked entering the cell with him, keeping to the safety of using laser and projectile based experiments on the captured Guardian.
Soon he'd have enough to attempt a long thought out and discussed escape attempt. Tikal's presence was a constant reminder of the importance of his escape and subsequent freedom away from this dark fortress.
He knew that Julie-Su and her sister, Shade might well be trustworthy, but he had lived his entire life relying on no-one but himself. Could he now trust complete strangers? No. Not since Robotnik's trickery many years ago. Still, he was willing to trust those who disliked Dr. Zachary or Imperator Ix. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And in this prison, friends and allies were in short supply.
"*Lord Chaos suggests that we move swiftly. It is unlikely that we will remain hidden much longer.*" Tikal's ghostly voice had within it a tinge of panic. The Master Emerald and the spirits within became filled with unrest when kept away from the open sky for a long period of time.
"*Not much longer.*" The Guardian breathed, mainly in an attempt to keep Tikal calm.
Although he could feel the build up of energy coursing through his being, he couldn't be sure it would be enough to destroy the energy barrier keeping him cage in, for although he had a vast knowledge on the powers of Chaos, only hedgehogs and their natural abilities could utilise the teleportation powers of Chaos Control. Echidna's could only channel the power of Chaos in the manipulation of the elements, fire being the most predominant.
After a few more moments of preparation, Knuckles stood, focussing all his absorbed energy to the palms of his hands, his quills began waving wildly, almost like they were caught in a heavy gust of wind. Small sparks began to flash between his fingers before a ball of bright flame erupted in the air between his hands. Forcing his palms together against the raging flames, Knuckles slowly compressed the energy, causing the flames to grow hotter and hotter until the heat haze began to melt away thin layers of rock around him. His fur began to singe and sweat poured down his body, but still he held on. The white fabric of his gloves began to blacken and burn away, his eyes squeezed closed in concentration.
Finally, with an exasperated cry, he thrust his palms towards the bars of his cell. The energy field stood defiant for a brief moment before it was overwhelmed by the ferocious power that crashed against it, the metal bars swiftly melting away to congeal on the floor. Almost immediately an alarm sounded and Knuckles raced to the stairs and left behind a cell of melted and blackened stone with a perfect circle melted into the stone floor where he had been standing just moments before.
Up the steps he went, three at a time, slowing as he reached the precipice. The alarm echoed along the obsidian hallway he found himself in, and the sound of hurried footsteps was steadily getting louder. He darted across to a small alcove and remained there in silence as half-a-dozen Nocturne soldiers rushed passed and down the steps towards his jail cell.
Quickly and quietly, Knuckles slipped from his hiding place and jogged the way the soldiers had come. He kept low, scanning everywhere for any signs of a Nocturne or a way out. Twice he had to duck into a shadowy corner to avoid being seen, he felt unusually drained from channelling Chaos energy, it felt like he had been using his own natural energy to escape, not the power of the Master Emerald. It was almost like it wasn't, whole.
"*Tikal, the Master Emerald. Is it still, whole?*" He asked cautiously.
"*If it wasn't surely Lord Chaos and I would've been released. Why do you ask?*" Knuckles crept forward, sticking close to the walls.
"*It's nothing.*" He said quickly, slipping into an alcove as a pair of Gizoid's rushed passed followed by another half-a-dozen cloaked, gun-toting Nocturne.
It wasn't nothing. It was an odd feeling that wasn't too dissimilar from what he felt when the Master Emerald was shattered and the shards scattered across the GUN Federation.
"*It's something that's clearly troubling you.*" Knuckles gritted his teeth. Now was not the time.
"*I'm sorry Tikal, but I need to concentrate if we're going to get out of here without being caught.*"
"There he is!" Knuckles looked back as five cloaked and masked Nocturne aimed their pulse-rifles at him.
"Bloody typical…" The crimson furred echidna turned and ran as bolts of energy streaked passed him, several bolts slammed into and dissipated against the stone as Knuckles raced away, leaving behind blackened marks and sending chips of stone flying.
-0-
Vector waited, hunkered down between a thick tree trunk and a fern bush. A few feet to his right was Espio, hidden so expertly that Vector couldn't be sure if he was still there while Julie-Su, and Guardian Spectre were hidden in the cover of the undergrowth on his left. Some way behind them were Charmy and Guardian Athair with two dozen Brotherhood warriors, all waiting for a signal to move forward.
They had all been surprised when Guardian Hawking had agreed to help them in freeing Knuckles, Spectre had been rather vocal in his opposition to the idea but was quickly silenced. Now they had gathered just south of the Nocturne fortress, where Julie-Su said they'd be able to sneak in through the soldier billets, with Hawking, Guardian Thunderhawk and Mighty taking a further two dozen warriors to cause a distraction with hit-and-run tactics on the main gate.
"Can you hear that?" He called to Julie-Su in a hushed voice. Just on the edge of hearing was an odd wailing sound ghosting through the air.
"It's the alarm!" Julie-Su was suddenly up and running, but what caught Vector flatfooted was that Spectre was running with her.
"Wait up!" Vector clumsily crashed after them, not even noticing Espio running next to him.
"What's happening Vector?" The usually calm chameleon shouted as they chased after the two echidna's ahead of them.
"I dunno Espio! Why don't you ask them?" The crocodile growled back. Espio gave Vector a cursory glance before darting ahead, easily catching up to Spectre and leaving his leader far behind in no time. "Hey!"
"What is that sound?" Espio asked as he came shoulder-to-shoulder with Julie-Su.
"The alarm! Hawking shouldn't have started his distraction yet, something's wrong!"
This was good wasn't it? If the alarms were already sounding it either meant a riot, meaning they could sneak in and save Knuckles while the soldiers rebuked the rioters, or that Knuckles had managed to escape, which meant all they had to do was find him and get out before the Nocturne found him. If it was all so easy and simple then why was her heart thumping so hard in her chest?
They sprinted through the courtyard entrance, there were no guards to stop them and the only Nocturnus around were running back and forth for houses too handcarts, carrying various belongings. One of them saw Julie-Su and jogged towards her holding what appeared to be a bundle of clothing in her arms.
"Julie!" The pink furred echidna turned with a look of surprise.
"Perik? What's going on?" Espio and Spectre dashed over to the entrance of the great obsidian tower, taking up positions at the sides.
"Whatever's happening, we're using it to get out of here." The terracotta furred echidna waved on hand at a small group who were loading up a large cart which usually was loaded with food stuffs, but was at the moment housing piles of cloths and furniture.
"We?"
"Well, a lot of us are taking this opportunity to leave the island. We're going to start a new life wherever we can." Julie-Su was about to ask something else when another echidna called Perik over and she jogged away.
Just then, Vector finally caught her up. As soon as he stopped near her he doubled up in a fit of wheezes, clutching his hand to his chest.
"Vector, did you hear that?" Julie-Su asked, a hint of excitement betraying her nervousness. The exhausted crocodile could only look up as his lungs heaved. "Perik and the others are leaving Nocturne."
"So?" Vector managed to say in-between gasps.
"So that means the echidnas will rejoin society! Shade and I have always wanted something like this to happen! It's fantastic!" Julie-Su jumped up and down in excitement.
"But what happens when they run into Athair and those Brotherhood warriors then, eh?" Vector's grin bordered with the sinister and his words caught the joyful pink echidna short.
"You're right; someone should go with them to make sure the Brotherhood doesn't attack them." She suddenly looked at the reptile with her own smile that unnerved Vector greatly.
Moments later the leader of the Chaotix Detective Agency was walking at the head of a train of Nocturnus echidna's and their belongings with his shoulders hunched and a miserable expression on his face.
"Why did I open my big mouth…?"
"Standing here does nothing to aid our mission." Spectre growled as he and the chameleonic ninja watched the last of the escaping Nocturnus fade into the trees. Espio could understand the echidna's point of view, having felt the same way on many missions with the Chaotix, but even though he understood Spectre's standing, he couldn't bring himself to agree, instead opting for silence. When he didn't get a response, Spectre grunted and slipped into the foreboding obsidian fortress.
Julie-Su continued to wave off the people she had known as neighbours and friends for several years until they were far beyond her sight. She wiped a stray tear from her eye before facing back to the task at hand.
"Where's Spectre?" She asked wide eyed. Espio answered with a nod through the entrance.
"He's gone on ahead. And we'd better catch up; it won't be too long before Hawking begins his assault." Having said that, the Chameleon followed in Spectre's footsteps. Julie-Su took a deep, shuddering breath before drawing her twin-barrelled photon blaster and diving into the place she once called home.
As you've probably guessed it, next chapter is going to have some good ol' fashioned violence in it.
So... yeah um... Minds gone blank...
Till next time!
-Corrupt TE-