Chapter Six – The Resistance Intelligence Network
A few days later, when everything had calmed down, Sukko was standing alone, on one of the balcony's watching the world go by. He liked it here. It was slightly out of the way and had a excellent view of the Great Hall. Sukko liked being alone. He enjoyed his own company, his calm and quiet nature, infinite patience, and deep inner peace catered for it. The complete opposite of his brother, though they both enjoyed playing, as and when they were together. He loved his brother's company and relished every chance they had to spend time with him. But no one had said a word to him, but it did leave Sukko wondering where this path was now on going to take him.
He was not in disguise. He didn't need to hide anyone, so didn't bother, especially where he was stood. He was largely ignored, which suited him at that very moment. He stood there in his identical twin glory, his royal blue fur and quills moving slightly in the breeze. His emerald-green eyes surveyed the room below. Despite introductions not being the best, Sukko had noticed that no one had ratted out of him. The Mobian Authorities still knew nothing about him. It showed how much they cared for his brother, otherwise they would have. Sukko gritted his teeth. He now hated himself for loosing control, these people deserved better then that. He was never doing that again.
He thought back to the Wisps. What did they mean? Blue Saviour? Did that mean him as the first born? Or both of them, as they came from the same embryo? Sukko got the impression that once the fight with Eggman was over, and possibly after rebuilding, the Wisps would leave and go home. He frowned.
'To help other worlds.' Sukko thought. 'Does that mean that if Mobius doesn't accept me, and the Mobian Authorities still want me dead, then I could go with them.' He paused. 'Leave.' He sighed.
It would meant leaving Sonic behind. He gritted his teeth. No, his brother meant to much to him. However he was willing to do whatever was needed. That was something Sonic did teach him. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, not noticing someone coming up to him. She sounded huffed.
"So." She spat. "Which one are you then?" She grilled. But her friend intervened before Sukko could answer.
"Tangle, be nice." She squealed.
Sukko instantly recognised the voices. It was Tangle and Jewel. At least they hadn't backed out on him. He turned around and both the girls silenced. Tangle's jaw dropped. She wondered up to Sukko, staring at him, their noses almost touching. Sukko grinned, he knew what had gotten to her. Identical twins were rare, and very disconcerting at first sight. Sukko was Sonic.
"Whoa!" She gasped. "That is amazing. This better not be a trick, you said you had Illusions." She hissed. Sukko was not offended.
"No trick." He smiled. "Check the birth certificates, check the DNA, it's genuine. There are only a hundred markers, out of trillions in the DNA that can tell me and Sonikku, sorry, Sonic, apart. Look, I know it's not quite the end of the war with Eggman as I promised, but I hope your not too disappointed. You understand now why I couldn't tell you." He shrugged. Jewel giggled. She nodded, completely forgiving him. It had obviously been a tough decision. She smiled.
"You may be identical but dress sense is different." She added. Sukko looked down at his brown and beige boots and silver bracelets. He giggled. She did have a point. They were not Sonic's famous red shoes. Then Tangle got very excited.
"Please, tell me you've pretended to be him." She hyped, jumping up and down. Sukko may have been the quieter of the twins but he did have a sense of humour. It was incredibly sarcastic. He raised both his eyebrows, grinned and nodded. Both the girls giggled, causing Sukko to put both is hands up.
"But..." He added. "Not recently. In fact, not in the last few years. I had other projects to do." He sighed. Jewel perked up.
"Like what, Arthur?" She asked. Sukko grinned.
"It's Sukko." He corrected. But Tangle cut it.
"Wait, so it's Sukko and Sonikku." She fumbled. Struggling to pronounce the names. Sukko laughed. His sarcastic humour suddenly getting very thick.
"Oh, it gets worse, if I ever decide to go full Sonic again, you'd have no chance." He giggled, pointing out Tangle's inability to tell between them apart. Sukko was not being cruel, it was meant in good taste. She huffed, but then smiled, getting the joke. Jewel pondered.
"So what projects have been working on?" She asked. Sukko looked up.
"Project." He huffed. "Singular." He added. "One that I'm hoping will turn the tide for the Restoration, as and when they're ready for it." He sighed. The girls were about to press as to what, but Sukko's mind was immediately distracted elsewhere. He turned out towards the balcony again. He felt a presence on the Psychic Link again. Sonic was back in the Restoration again, after some successful mission. He wasn't hearing his name being called, and only came round when Tangle physically thumped him. He looked at them, blinking.
"Sorry." He stammered. Tangle growled.
"What happened?" She blasted. Sukko stared.
"Sonic's back!" He said, holding his ground. There was nothing to see. This silenced Tangle but intrigued Jewel.
"How do you know?" She asked. She was genuinely interested. Sukko decided to humour her. He pointed to his head.
"Sonic and I are identical. Literally. Twins born from the same embryo. We have this link between us. It's always been there, even before either of us learned to use our powers. I can hear his thoughts and he can be hear mine." He shrugged. Jewel giggled.
"Your not completely identical, you have different powers, different personalities.." She said, but Sukko cut across her.
"Yes, but the Psychic Link is always there." He heaved. But before he could say anything else, the Chaos Sorcery suddenly surged, causing him to double over, grabbing his head, his eyes glowing bright blue. He heard his name being called again, but he held up his hand, showing he was still in control. He looked up, something was triggering it, his powerful Telepathy or more specificity, someone. He knew exactly who.
{SONIC!}
Sukko ran forward and jumped off the balcony. It was almost two stories up, and as Tingle and Jewel watched him land perfectly with a bang, he didn't bother to use Magic to break his fall. The girls looked at each other. Wow. But Sukko's sudden decent and Magic use immediately brought a crowd into the Great Hall. A Sonic Boom and a cloud of dust, announced his brother's arrival. He heard Sukko's shout. He came running because Sukko doesn't call like that for him unless he's got something major. He could see Sukko was in full Sorcerer mode, and with the crowd there, he immediately took charge of the situation, standing side-by-side with his brother.
"Sukko, what you got?" He asked, firmly and confidently. This silenced to crowd and put Sukko at ease. He smirked. This is what he did best. Intelligence.
"Eggman on the grape vine." He grinned. There were gasps around the room. They had been unable to find Eggman for weeks. Sonic growled.
"Show me!" He hissed, and Sukko was more then happy to oblige. He extended out his hands from which the luminescent vapour of bright blue hue, expertly controlled, exploded and Sukko used it to create the a giant globe of the planet of Mobius in front of them. Completely blue, exquisitely detailed, showing land, water, every village town and city, forest and mountain range. Sukko was in his element. He hadn't enjoyed being cooped up in the Restoration for the last few days, he been desperate to flex his Magical muscles. A hexadecimal grid was covering the entire planet, and Sukko seemed to using it to track something, sending what looked like electrical signals down it. Soon a beacon showed on the globe, pinpointing Eggman's exact location. The only Human on Mobius was easy for a Telepath to find. With each species having it's own individual Telepathic signature. Sonic growled.
"Sunset City?" He huffed. "What he doing there?" He asked. But before Sukko could answer, someone cut in. It was Tails.
"What's that?" He asked, pointing to the planet. "That hexadecimal grid. It looks like some kind of network." He frowned. So did Sonic, who had no idea. Soon all eyes were on Sukko. He smirked. It seemed that the interest in the Intelligence far outweighed the fear in the Magic.
"You know my project I was working on." He jibbed, the sarcasm thick. Sonic rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, the one you wouldn't tell me about!" He spat. "What about it?" He huffed. Sukko smiled.
"Well, Eggman's empire is global..." He said, but Sonic cut across him.
"Yes, we all know that. What's your point?" He spat, getting impatient. Sukko rolled is eyes, and manipulated the globe, so several hundred further beacons showed themselves dotted throughout the entire globe. Sonic stared, and several people gasped.
"Ok." He stuttered. "I didn't know his Empire had extended that far." He admitted. Sukko sighed.
"Well, I did." He spat. "So I decided to do something about it. To fight a fight on a global scale, we ourselves have to go global." He sighed. This time, Tails cut across him. He sighed, he was beginning to get fed of this. He rolled his eyes again and he let the Fox talk.
"We do, sort of. There are pockets of Resistance scattered throughout the planet, fighting Eggman side-by-side with us, but we haven't had the means of effectively communicate with them to be more efficient with our efforts." He sighed. Sukko giggled. Everyone looked at him.
"You do now." He announced, and activated the grid. All of a sudden, beacons started appearing on the planet linked by the hexadecimal grid, as more and more pockets of Resistances came online. Tails' handheld device started going bonkers. Sonic's jaw dropped.
"What did you do?" He gasped. Sukko heaved, maintaining this high-level of Magic was beginning to drain him.
"Its the Resistance Intelligence Network, a global communication network, completely wireless and made entirely by Magic. Stable and now fully functioning. It took me years to build." He panted. "Plus, Eggman had no idea it even exists." He added. Now he was really struggling, but he was still strong. Suddenly he found himself be embraced by Sonic, a whisper of 'You beauty!' in his ear. But before Sukko could acknowledge this, there was a sudden shot of pain, cause Sukko to scream, and Sonic to let go. The drain was getting worse. Sonic looked worried. But Sukko growled at him and indicated to the planet, as if to say, finish the job. Sonic was the Hero and Sukko the Intelligence. Sonic always took the lead. This was his fight. He gritted his teeth.
"Right." He sighed. "Eggman. What's he doing at Sunset City?" He asked again. Sukko moved to globe back round to the original beacon, and began flexing the Resistance Intelligence Network. The a screen appeared in front of the globe showing Eggman red symbol on a dark grey background. Sonic grinned in excitement.
"Wait, have you just used the R.I.N. to hack the Eggnet?" He giggled. Sukko nodded. It was seriously impressive. It was far beyond anything they could do at the Restoration. Sonic took a deep breath.
"Show me." He asked. Immediately a video showed on the screen of Eggman, indeed at Sunset City. He was on the outskirts ordering platoons of robots into position, all around the edge. It looked at though he was planning an invasion, to capture the city, within the month. Sonic knew why. Strategically, it was a major trading port, and absolutely vital for the Resistance as a whole. If Eggman took Sunset City, completely and utterly, it would a devastating blow for them. They couldn't let it happen.
Suddenly, the video began to flicker.
Sukko!
Immediately Sonic was by his side. He panicked.
"Sukko, please stop, you've done enough." He squealed. But Sukko through him off. He wasn't done. He pushed more Magic through his hands and down the R.I.N., to get every single pocket of Resistance on the planet online. Once the system was stable, able to fully function without him, then he was done. They all watched in awe as he finished the job, as more and more came online. Sukko pushed himself and the Magic further then ever, but having his brother by his side, made an enormous difference to his core strength. It boosted it. One final Magical signal down the R.I.N. and the system was done. But as he finished, Sukko was got the extremely strange and weird feeling that there were something in the room, like a presence. He quickly looked round and saw nothing but the crowd. He knew that Eggman didn't have cloning technology. But Sukko was extremely tired, and just simply put down being over-drained. He shrugged and finally let go.
The globe vanished, and Sukko collapsed into Sonic's arms. Tails, Amy, Rouge and Knuckles had already disappeared to the Main Control Room, to discuss tactics with the other pockets of Resistance, but Sonic stayed put. As Sukko passed out in his arms, the drain finally claiming him, Sonic had decided he was going nowhere, incredibly proud of what he just seen.