EFS White Base, bound for Earth

September 22, UC 0079

0844 Hours (GMT)

"Attention all hands!" Bright announced over the loudspeaker. "We have departed Luna II. We will reach low orbit over Earth in approximately thirty hours."

Amuro was finishing his breakfast as the announcement was made. It wasn't anything fancy: a sausage biscuit, a Granny Smith apple, scrambled eggs, and grape juice. The mess hall was far from a five-star dining establishment as well. An alchemy of surviving crew, civilian recruits, and refugees had gathered around to eat. It was like a cross between a family reunion and a school cafeteria. Chatter filled the air. Some of the refugees were excited to be going back to Earth in their lifetimes, others made it known that they wanted to go back to Side 7. An impossibility, as far as he was concerned. After all the damage done to the bunch the other day, it was doubtful that any trace of oxygen remained in it.

Amuro dumped his scraps and left the tray for cleaning. He proceeded out the room his destination, the starboard hangar. Outwardly, nothing seemed to be bothering him. In the back of his mind, though, his thoughts were running around in a maelstrom. Thoughts about the battle in the colony and all the mayhem surrounding it. Thoughts about his struggle against that red Zaku the same day.

Char's Zaku.

Was the guy who nearly shot him in the hangar Char?

How did he even know Char was coming to attack the base? As if all the planets aligned and he hit the bull's-eye dead center with a blindfold on, with the weirdest, most alien sensation he'd ever felt up to that point to boot.

The ambiance of beams and machine guns over a speaker greeted Amuro as the elevator opened. Someone was using the simulator. He also noticed a familiar little kid in Daisy Dukes hunkered against the wall, pouting. "What are you doing down here, Kikka?"

"Katz and Letz are playing that space game," said Kikka, obviously steamed "and won't let me have a turn."

"Space game?" Amuro asked, kind of confused. Could she mean the simulator?

In a nearby alcove, he laid eyes on Katz standing on the left-hand side of the chair in the simulator. Letz was at the controls, trying to shoot down a Zaku. Unfortunately for him, he struggled to lock onto the mobile suit. It all ended with a direct hit from a bazooka.

"Dang it!" Letz growled. "I almost had him!"

"Let me try again," said Katz.

"C'mon, Katz! It'll just be the same thing again!"

"What are you boys up to?" Amuro asked.

"Playing this video game," Katz answered. "Letz can't get past the first enemy."

"Dude, you always fly into an asteroid as soon as you start," Letz countered.

"Let me get a turn," said Kikka.

"Kikka, you're too little," both boys told her.

"Guys, guys, guys, knock it off," said Amuro. "This isn't a video game, it's a cockpit simulator we use it for training purposes."

"Training purposes?" Letz asked.

"You boys come out here and I'll tell you," he told them. I'd love to show you instead, but Bright would probably stomp me flat, that old sourpuss.

Katz and Letz did so.

Kneeling down, Amuro looked squarely at the two. "You know those big green metal soldiers who attacked Side 7? We have our own machines we use to fight them. The simulator helps teach people how to fly them."

Another party was nearby. "There you boys are!" It was Fraw Bow. "Amuro, what are you doing bringing the kids down here? You know the hangars are off-limits to civilians."

"I didn't bring them down here," he told her. "I'd just finished breakfast and was going to do a few more odds and ends with the Gundam. They were already down here playing around on the sim."

"You boys shouldn't have wandered down here," she said. "Only soldiers can be down in this area. Mr. Bright specifically told all non-fighters to stay in the living block. That means you guys. What if you'd gone into the hangar and got hurt?"

"Uh, Fraw, what happened to Kikka?" Amuro asked.

Two of the Three Musketeers were accounted for, but one of them wasn't present.

Gunfire and explosions resumed. Someone was running the sim. While everyone's backs were turned, little Kikka had climbed into the chair which had earlier been traded between the two boys. She was finally getting her turn.

Where Letz couldn't get past a Zaku and Katz a mere asteroid, Kikka was the only member of the trio to score a kill.

The two boys were dumbfounded by the sight.

"Kikka!" Fraw's voice snapped the little girl back into reality. "Come on, Kikka, we need to get kitchen. We're going to have a bunch of trays to wash."

Four figures—a Hedgehog, a Chipmunk, a cyborg Rabbit, and an Armadillo—stood in the desert, near a refinery built around an above-ground lake of petrol which had been left derelict after the hectic events of the previous day. A mound of sand and rocks stood before them, with a steel girder serving as a marker. It was the final resting place of the former Grandmaster of the Great Desert Chapter of the DEL.

Bunnie knelt before the mound and lowered her head. "Uncle Beau," she said, "thank you for everything. I wish I could hang around longer, but I really need to go home."

Sonic said nothing. Nobody, not even Sally, needed to know about the carnage she wreaked on Sand Blast the night before. He'd grilled her enough and rubbing salt to this wound wasn't a smart move. Especially now.

"It's been a rough couple of days," said Sally. "I'd have to say we'd need to head back to Red Rock and rest up before going back to Acorn tomorrow."

"I really can't guarantee that, Sal," said Sonic. "After seeing those guys turn Sand Blast into a smoking ruin, I'm kind of scared they might come after them. After the red-ass beat down Sapper gave them yesterday, they probably won't fare even remotely as well."

"Did somebody call me?" A fifth person was among them and his voice brought Sonic's blood to a boil. He was seated on a rock, Indian-style with his hands folded, watching the four mourners. It was old "Death From Below".

Sonic sneered upon seeing the Mole and began revving up his legs for a dash. He was so mad he could have strangled him. The Hedgehog dove forward, hands ready to grab him, but he wouldn't.

Sapper quickly jumped backwards and his assailant hit the sand face-first.

The Hedgehog was left spitting out the mud unintentionally created by his saliva.

"I know you're not happy to see me," said the assassin, "but I thought I might find you here."

"Why the hell would you come?" said Sonic "Did you come to say you're sorry about killing Beau? Well you ought to apologize to her, but even that won't cut it!"

Sapper took a look at the "her" in question. He smiled, intrigued.

"You… You're the one who killed Uncle Beau?" Bunnie asked, her bloodlust from last night slowly returning.

Sally had to run over to her friend and try to hold her back.

"Bunnie, chill," Sonic told her. "I'll be the one to pound this douchebag flush against the ground."

"I didn't come to fight any of you," Sapper told them. "Even though Jack placed a death mark on her head as well as yours, Sonic, the deal was voided last night. The only money I ever got from him was for the Baron."

"Let me guess, 'it was just a job'," Sonic said in a somewhat mocking tone.

"What do you mean by your deal being voided?" Sally asked.

"I'm going to be direct with you," the Mole explained. "I'm a former Patriot, now a mercenary. Jack Rabbit hired me to kill Baron Rabbot. After I'd succeeded in doing so, his niece attacked Sand Blast City. In desperation, Jack paid me to kill her and then Sonic when he showed up. I had almost caught up with them when an unidentified force attacked the city. At first, I thought they were DEL reinforcements called in to avenge the Baron, but they weren't."

Sonic scoffed. "We already know most of that," he said. "I was there, but what are you doing here?"

"Apart from telling you that Jack is dead and his hit died with him," he explained. "I came to see the daughter of the Patriot who trained the infamous 'Death From Below'. His name was Francis Rabbot."

An awkward silence followed and Bunnie was the first to break it. "That's… That's the name of my Pa!"

"Your Dad was a masterpiece of a soldier," the Mole told her. "My parents died early on in the Great War and he took me in when there was nowhere left for me to go. Taught me how to be strong, too. During the latter days of the Great War, he started up the Patriots and we hit Acorn hard deep behind their lines on numerous occasions."

These words, delivered as coldly as they were, made Sally shudder.

The Mole took note of the Chipmunk's reaction and her leer accompanying. "Well, well! Princess Sally Acorn! Small world, isn't it?" He noticed Sonic, too. He had a similar look. "I strike a nerve in you, too, Blue?"

"What happened to Pa?"

"His task force was sent on a sabotage operation in Mobotropolis just hours prior to Charlemagne's push against the city," said Sapper. "By that point, an Overlander named Julian Kintobor had defected to Acorn. He ultimately thwarted the mission and your father was killed in the crossfire. He was aware of Francis' assignment ahead of time and he betrayed them to Maximillian. You know what happened next. Kintobor screwed over both winner and loser, using the hellish process of roboticization to create mechanized slaves."

"My Uncle Chuck invented roboticization for medical reasons!" Sonic said in an offended tone. "My Dad got wounded by an Overlander and he would have died if it wasn't for him! Robotnik was the one who used it to ruin everyone's lives!"

Sapper wasn't fazed by the Hedgehog's defense. "I suppose your uncle was okay with everyone undergoing the process becoming mindless drones, or was that Kintobor, too?"

"It was!" said Sally. "At one point, Robotnik captured Sonic and roboticized him. He almost destroyed Knothole. Our friend Knuckles agreed to let us roboticize him in order to save it, and he didn't lose his senses."

"Knothole," Sapper uttered with a tone of contempt. "I know about the Knothole Freedom Fighters farting around in the Great Forest for ten years and getting little done. After Kintobor's Rebellion, the Patriots set up shop in Efrika and kept hitting him constantly."

"Then why was he wasting so much time on a bunch of kids playing in the woods instead of a bunch of salty old guerillas in the fringes?" Sonic said, sensing an opening to jab at.

"That was just our HQ," said the Mole. "We had agents in Efrika, Eurish, Soumerca, Downunda… wherever, whenever. The Nuclear Missile Base in the Southern Tundra? Duke Hosei took care of that. The destruction of the Combot Mk. II project? Taxan Irem. Who brought down the Red Czar, Kintobor's original Holoska Sub-Boss? Me. You all were the closest to him and I'm sure you had plenty of opportunities to take him down, or at least Snively. Did you not?"

Sonic struggled to reply. There was that one time he almost roboticized Robotnik with a tank during the original Combot incident, but other times it was him rubbing defeat in his face.

"I knew about all of that," said Sally. "The Patriots did their part in fighting Robotnik, but Snively was the one who finally killed him."

"But what about him? He was Kintobor's direct subordinate. Why did you spare him? And what about Dr. Eggman? When he was up against a corner, what did you do stamp him out? I'm pretty certain you've had such situations."

Sonic couldn't say anything. It wasn't just Robotnik he'd let off the hook too much, but Eggman as well. After Eggman levelled Knothole and everyone attacked the Egg Beater at once, they could have offed him right there, but they didn't and the war continued. Later on, he'd broken the doctor psychologically, reducing him to a babbling mess. Pity kept him from killing him there as well. Then he recovered, to some extent. He was aware of what he was doing, but had a blatant disregard for literally everyone. The World Roboticizer incident which caused the whole Mecha Sally ordeal was proof enough.

All because he didn't kill him.

"Snively may be cunning," Sally told him "but he's a coward. He'll support one person at one time and then defect as soon as things look bleak. Sonic?"

Sonic had fallen on his hands and knees in a state of shock. "I could have stopped it all…"

Seeing Sonic reduced to such a state wasn't something Bunnie and Sally were used to.

"You get it now?" asked Sapper, his inflection like cold steel. "My killing Beauregard wasn't simply for profit. He worked for Eggman. Yeah, he was like family to me, and I didn't want to shoot him, but he worked for the heir to the man who brought untold suffering to Mobius. I lost my family to the Great War as it started. I was only eight. Eight. When you three Freedom Fighters were still pissing yourselves on a regular basis, I had already seen hell itself and I've been at war ever since. It's not about the Baronies versus Acorn. It's Mobius versus Eggman. You aren't going to win by stealing pesticide bombs or challenging your enemy to some sort of athletic competition. The point of war is to kill your enemies."

"Beauregard didn't have a choice," said Sally, her eyes welling up with tears. Tears of frustration and yet pity. "They were all damaged goods to Jack. Would you kill them, too, after knowing that? Where would you draw the line? If you did kill Eggman and everyone who worked for him, what then? You'll be just as bad as him!"

Silence. Sally was still supporting the frail Bunnie, Tilly's mind was struggling to keep up with the debates and history lessons, Sonic catatonic, and Sapper staring down Sally.

"Eggman's death is the only one I would celebrate," Sapper stated. "A world no longer plagued by Julian Kintobor's ghost is my goal and I'll get it by any means necessary."

The noise of an aircraft could be heard. High above the grave site a lone green plane could be seen.

"Judging by the color of the thing, it's with the guys who visited Sand Blast last night," said Sapper. "I don't know what their plan's going to be, but I don't plan to stick around to find out. I'm leaving now. Remember everything I said, all of you, and take care of yourselves. If I ever cross paths with Eggman, I will kill him." On that note, Sapper turned toward the ruins of the refinery and walked away, leaving three girls and a mentally-rocked Hedgehog behind.

The Saturday Council meeting seemed to go no differently than normal, save for the fact the Geoffrey was on the throne in place of Naugus. Little did anyone there realize that the Skunk was a nightmarish matryoshka doll containing their king and the three wizards comprising him.

The big topic of the moment was Eggman. Since the Mecha Sally incident, he hadn't been seen. But as much a Naugus was trying to listen in on the discussion, all noise seemed to wash out. Soon, all had gone silent. Not again, was the only thing going through his head.

The laughter of Suguna could be heard. "My, my, my! Your prolonged tenure inside the Skunk is exacerbating the decay of his body."

"Indeed," Nusgau chimed in, "the question is whether or not you'll escape it or if you'll let the mutations bring your apprentice down with you."

Naugus wouldn't dare respond. Not in front of the Council.

"Is something wrong, Geoffrey?" asked Arlo.

"At Council's permission," said Naugus, "may we adjourn for a thirty-minute recess?" The AI. I need to speak to that accursed AI!

Though a bit perplexed by the Skunk's move, they agreed.

Naugus was the first to leave the chamber. Most of the Council, however, remained behind, the new discussion being about him.

Naugus only got about halfway through the anteroom before veering to the right and slumping against the wall. Geoffrey's body was running out of steam. Next thing he knew, he was on his knees. After that, flat on the floor.

Finally, Agunus mocked him: "The hour draws nearer."

Everything went blurry and then black.

Sonic reclined on the adobe parapet of Beauregard's townhouse in Red Rock, torso against the wall and his eyes on the clear skies above. The building was the late Grandmaster's home outside of Oil Ocean, as well as Tilly's. If what Sapper said a while ago was any indication, it would probably go the way of Sand Blast.

Sapper. His words haunted the Hedgehog's mind like a phantom.

Brooding was more Shadow's specialty, but right now he couldn't avoid it.

Not that long ago, when Eggman was still a blithering wreck, Monkey Khan questioned why Sonic never just put the guy out of his misery. All the Hedgehog could say was "I just do what's right at the time", taking revenge just wasn't in him.

Sapper, though, seethed vengeance. He shot Beauregard without a second thought, and tried to blow him up as well. At that point, Sonic was willing to dismiss him as a sick, ruthless SOB who would literally kill for money. Even after he crashed the visitation, he didn't repudiate anything he did. When he said he'd kill Eggman, the Mole's tone of voice seemed to chill his blood. Under most circumstances, Mobians had a natural aversion to killing. The Paladin incident was a clear example of this in-born respect for life, but Sapper seemed to have lost it at some point.

Footsteps approached.

"Hey, Sal," said Sonic.

"I warned everyone about what you and Bunnie saw at Sand Blast last night," Sally told him, "but nobody's willing to leave Red Rock. I guess that since the Baron's dead and Eggman's disappeared, the Chapter feels rudderless."

"Wanting to make one last stand, huh?" Sonic remarked.

"They want us to take Matilda with us when we leave," she added.

"Can't blame them," said the Hedgehog. "With only fifty-something guys left against the kind of stuff I saw last night? Their odds are slim and none, and slim ain't around. You should have seen those giant machines of theirs, Sal. The only things we've ever come across that would have a chance of fighting them would be stuff like the Giant Borg, Giga-Bot Prime, and Car-Heem. What can we do to fight these guys?"

"Zeon seems to have a full-fledged military," said Sally. "I really don't think the tactics used in the first two Robotnik Wars and the Great War are going to do any good in light of all this."

"The Great War." Sonic sighed when he heard the term. "I never imagined what a bum deal Sapper had with his life; I'd assumed he was just a greedy rent-a-murderer. Even still, I can't believe he'd kill somebody and think nothing of it. It's not normal."

"War changes people," the Chipmunk said, solemnly. "Sapper was orphaned and grew up in an atmosphere of death and violence. It's not too surprising that he turned out the way he did."

"I agree. I went through the same kind of stuff," Sonic admitted "but whether it was Robotnik or Eggman, I could never off either when they were down. Sapper would pull the trigger on either if he had the chance. He thinks we're soft because we don't."

Sally hummed to herself. The Mole's sermon definitely implied that.

"I keep asking myself if he's right."

The calm was broken by the sound of engines in the sky. Small green fighters and large purple bombers were flying overhead. They were here.

Fortunately, Sonic didn't see any of those green behemoths from last night fall yet. Instead, a trail of white puffs fell out of the larger aircraft, drifting down like flowers in a river. They all came down in the desert, here a column of red smoke from a flare wafted up from the sand. "Sal, get Tilly and Bunnie. We have to get out of here, now!"

A large, green egg-like vehicle rose speedily above Florida. Within a matter of minutes, the craft had escaped Earth's gravity. Apart from standard raw material and contraband the ZEEF had confiscated, it contained three particular items: two strange prisoners and a gemstone they had in their possession upon capture.

Snively peered out as the planet's curvature became more and more prominent.

"Still moping over Regina, Snively?" an embittered Eggman asked.

"You'd better watch what you say, dear uncle," he told him, indicating the guards outside. "If not, you won't have a chance at rebuilding your empire."

"Oh, I may be down," Eggman shot back, "but I'm not out. You plan on defecting to Zeon once we get there like you did with the Freedom Fighters?"

Somebody banged on the door. "You fellas had better pipe down," the man on the other side said. "Commissar Garma may have been able to tolerate your bickering, but I won't. It would be a damn shame if you never reach Zeon."

"'Zeon' this, 'Zeon' that! I've heard that name tossed around so much the past few days. Where is it anyway?" Eggman asked.

"The other side of the Moon," the guard answered. "The Zozulya will dock with us in one hour and she'll transport you to A Baoa Qu. If you two can behave yourselves, we might find something for you to do after you get there."

Eggman frowned. I'm liking these people less and less. He moved to the window for a look at the planet that would eventually become Mobius. Soumerca and Northamer were connected and the Central Sea was much, much bigger. "It truly is a different world."

Another tough one, and once again I thank HyperionGM and SonicEvan for their support. Normally the Gundam bits are the easiest bits for me, but in this instance the situation was completely manufactured for this story. Given the heavy situations going down with Sonic and friends at the moment, we needed a little bit of levity and I thought of a cute little bit between him and the kids. Little did I know, it one head cut off of a hydra.

After that, the issue became the graveside debate between the Freedom Fighters and the Patriot. That gave way to Geoffrey-Naugus at the council meeting. Having little political background, I wasn't totally sure about how to go on about it and it ultimately ended with him collapsing. After that, it was Sonic contemplating Sapper's words and the battle between keeping it from going too emo. Finally, Eggman and Snively on their trip to Zeon.

TRIVIA:

+ Duke Hosei is a name given to a Ryu Jose-equivalent in an FMV Gundam game. Hosei, being a strange variant on his name's standard romanization.

+ Most of the Patriots' exploits against Dr. Robotnik were influenced by the NES game GI Joe: A Real American Hero, which had a mission to destroy a Cobra ICBM base in Antarctica. The Combot Mk. II mission, was influenced by the Dark Trooper Project from the game FPS game Star Wars: Dark Forces.

+ There's also a bit of an Easter Egg in here for most of you Gundam vets reading this. I won't say where it is, but you'll see it. Trust me.