Sally Acorn stood just outside the gate to the Junk yard. Massive walls had been erected here that made the location look more like a prison's gated entryway. Security cameras scanned the entrance gate like great, ever-vigilant eyes. Robotnik had been gone for years, and the Freedom Fighters had been facing a new threat. Resistance fighters. The Self-proclaimed "new generation of heroes" whom had vowed to destroy every remaining trace of Robotnik's regime and influence over the world, no matter the consequences.
One such consequence, should the city of Robotropolis fall, would be nuclear fallout on an unprecedented scale. Such a disaster would irradiate the entire region for hundreds of miles, should such a disaster be allowed to occur. But the New Resistance didn't care.
Just after the despicable despot had been defeated, several of his outlying bases of operations had been raided and destroyed. What they had thought was a grand victory over industrialism had turned into a nightmare of tragic proportions. The new factions of Freedom Fighters had managed to destroy power grids and infrastructure that was vital to keeping reactors within their cities from going critical, and these power plants, with no power or personnel to keep the reactors from going critical, had exploded, irradiating the regions they were built in for hundreds of miles around, rendering once habitable regions inhabitable for at least the next 100 years. In their zeal to destroy and remove Robotnik's influence, they'd only managed to make things worse for themselves, displacing thousands of residents of the surrounding regions and rendering them homeless. Julian had made certain that, even in death, this world would not be able to escape his influence for generations to come.
The influx of many of these refugees had made Knothole over-crowded, and left law enforcement, and infrastructure upkeep underfunded, leading to poverty and loss of quality of life. They made do with the resources they had available, as they were resilient and resourceful people.
Sally had learned a hard lesson from what had transpired in those cities, and she halted her own faction's efforts to destroy Robotropolis, and instead turned her efforts toward keeping the refineries running until a viable solution could be found to dispose of the technology and pollutants that were a detriment to the surrounding environment. Sadly, Robotnik had been three steps ahead of the Freedom Fighters, even in his supposed death. The city's were built to run on in his absence, and should any attempt be made to sabotage the city, should he ever be ousted, the city would undergo a catastrophic cascade failure event. If the city lost power for even a few minutes, a hydrogen-nuclear event would occur, much like in the cities that had been irradiated, only, since this was the heart of Robotnik's Empire, it would render much of the continent it sat on uninhabitable..It was Robotnik's last "Screw you" to the Freedom Fighters, ensuring that some part of him would live on in his absence or death.
Sally had, thus, decided to keep the city running, and several individuals who'd been displaced from the other cities that had been destroyed had been tasked with helping to keep the city running, so that such an event would not occur. These individuals had already seen what could happen in their own cities, and they vowed not to let it happen to anyone else, if they could help it.
However, that didn't stop the naivety of younger generations who believed they were still fighting this battle, and were hell-bent on destroying every influence left behind by Robotnik.
As such, they didn't trust Robians…A war had broken out between the Robians and the Mobians, despite Sally and the Council's efforts to quell doubt and fear. The argument was that they were still Roboticized, and therefore could not be trusted, because it could never be ascertained as to whether or not Robotnik had some failsafe trigger waiting in the wings to activate and take control of the Robians again. Sally and the council opted to let the Robians who wished to live in the city of Robotropolis return, to help maintain the reactors and other dangerous technologies that required constant maintenance. Because they were roboticized, they were immune to the effects of radiation poisoning and other environmental hazards within the city. Eventually, these citizens would have upgraded themselves as their bodies began to break down, retro-fitting themselves with new components and weaponry to defend the city against terrorists and activists..This made them a target for the resistance. Sally visited the city regularly at first, but as the years passed, she began to visit less frequently, leaving the city to be governed by it's own council, whom she and the remaining Freedom Fighters had put in position in order to make the most of the situation, and govern the city justly.
Over time, Cyborgs and artificial lifeforms began to populate the city, finding it to be a safe haven from the ravenous, bloodthirsty resistance factions who were hell-bent on their destruction. Sally had seen, first-hand, what could happen to Robians who didn't have the protection of the Knothole Council…Jules Hedgehog had been targeted early on…all they found of him was his severed head, impaled on a pike outside the main gate of the city. Nobody knew who'd done it, but the words "Robians must die" was scrawled in paint across his crushed muzzle. They'd torn out both of his eyes…that wasn't the worst part of it…he was still conscious after it had all happened, but his memory receptors had been torn out, and all the poor hedgehog could do was squawk weakly in fear and darkness, as they'd severely damaged his vocal processors. When Sonic had found out, he was furious. He went on a personal hunt for the people responsible, and had not returned since…He gave his father the only mercy anyone had shown him in the aftermath of Robotnik's reign, and, telling his father that he loved him, deactivated him before racing off with an almost bloodthirsty look in his eyes. Sally could not talk any sense into him, nor reason with him…she hadn't had the time. He was there, and then gone, in an instant. The last she saw of him was a trail of dust and wind trailing off into the distance.
Uncle Chuck had disappeared shortly after the coupe, and the only clues that he was still alive were cryptic messages left behind in specific computer terminals throughout the city of Robotropolis, from his various spy-rooms that he'd used to help the Freedom Fighters against Robotnik that alluded to his whereabouts, and they were clues that only Sally, or someone who knew her family, would be able to decipher.
This series of clues had led her to Robotropolis. She recalled that he had a secret hide-out, used during the resistance, and this had led her to the Junk yard, which was the original location of his hidden listening-base. She'd been here before, shortly after the city had been all-but-abandoned by Robotnik, and spoken with him. At the time, he was already showing signs of aging, as he had begun to stutter as a result of memory failure. His memory had reached capacity, and he'd begun to stutter as a result of a slow-moving cascade failure in his memory matrix. It was something they'd feared would eventually happen, as his systems were growing outdated, and it was getting difficult to find large enough memory nodes to add to his limited motherboard components. He was essentially a computer that had run out of expansion space, and was still trying to store more memory than he readily could. He would shunt some of the memory to his RAM, but this, too, failed him regularly, and he would walk around as if in a daze, unable to remember his own name, or even Sonic and Sally's, from time to time, trying to constantly swap out RAM memory for HD memory to keep himself functioning.
It wasn't long until he disappeared altogether, leaving no trace behind, except for a handful of cryptic clues for Sally and Sonic to later find..But now it was just Sally who had returned to the city, following the trail of clues.
She made her way through the Junk Yard…it was a forlorn place, and just entering it left Sally with an uncomfortable, cold feeling in her heart. So many childhood memories here, of playing with Sonic and the others Freedom Fighters, her aunt Rose, and Sir Charles. The Junk yard was relatively quiet this time of night, with few recon drones on patrol. She had to play it quiet and cool, flitting between piles of junk here and there when the cameras panned away. She passed old statues, torn down, with their heads removed, many of which were of the King and the Royal Family, and statues of angels and other mythical beings…This had once been a vast park within the city, which housed "Uncle Chuck's Chili Dog Stand", which was now just a pile of broken, decaying debris.
Throughout the Junk yard were the discarded remains of Robotnik's failed robots, and machines that she and the other Freedom Fighters had destroyed over the years. Crocbots, Caterkillers, Orbinaughts, Egg-robo's, E-series failures, worker drones, and others littered the junk yard. In the distance, A Dinobot went about it's re-programmed duty of gathering, crushing, and piling junk in order to try and clear some of the debris and take it to recycling centers. Any parts that were still intact and usefule were piled elsewhere in the Junk Yard…Robians would periodically come to this place to find replacement parts for their own failing bodies.
Tails had begun working here to help repair damaged Robians, giving them upgrades and managing to help many Robians regain their autonomy..As such, he, too, was an exile in the eyes of the New Resistance, whom hated Robians and anyone who worked to rebuild or repair them, so much of the time, he was guarded by combat units, including several Neo-Robian Assault units, whom had once been echidna's that were once Legionnaires Whom had been Roboticized. He'd weaponized them as defense forces for the city against the New Rebellion.
The worst of the Junk yard were the Robian bodies strewn about..half-destroyed, crushed, or otherwise damaged, they were discarded, and other Robians had scavenged parts from them, regardless of whether or not they were still functioning…It was a bleak reminder to Sally that even those who were already suffering were not above stealing parts from other Robians to survive.
Tails had since gone back underground, utilizing a mobile field base that could be disguised using a cloaking mechanism that would allow his vehicle to look like a boulder, or pile of junk, so nobody who didn't have connections would be able to locate him or his base without the aid of someone close to him.
Right now, Tails was not on Sally's mind, however. Uncle Chuck was. She made her way through the Junk Yard and to the old hidden spy-shack. Pressing a switch hidden in a wall of debris, she watched as bits of junk fell away from the door as it rose, creaking and squeaking on it's hinges. It barely made a difference above the din of the rest of the Junk Yard, what with the Dinobot still doing it's rounds and crunching up junk through the night.
A second, round door rolled off to the side, and Sally entered the darkened corridor beyond. A single fluorescent light flickered faintly overhead. Inside the room, lights and computers flickered to life, giving a faint green glow to the surrounding walls and ceiling. The whirring of computer fans lit a nostalgic light in Sally's mind, and she smiled faintly. They'd planned so many raids on Robotropolis from here. It was fortunate that only she and a small handful of Freedom Fighters ever knew the place existed. The floor was covered in a millimeter layer of dust, as were the consoles and computer hardware. She looked over the screens. One in particular caught her eye, and she wiped the greenish layer of dust off of the monitor. "Enter Password: the monitor read. Sally input the code she'd deciphered at another location. "B-E-A-N", and hit enter. The screen went dark, then a messaged scrolled across it. "Hello, Princess.." It read. "I've been expecting you. …Look for the false wall near the fountain of the Fallen. You will find what you seek. My time is short..I am taking drastic measures to preserve myself…Will contact with further instructions soon..Take care, Kiddo.."
The message was part of an old telnet service that was still running throughout the city. It was outdated, but it was a perfect means of communication, because it was a system Robotnik had never bothered monitoring, if he had been aware of it at all.
Sally sat down in the old swivel-chair, which creaked beneath her. What did all of this mean? Where was Chuck? She had so many questions, and so far, had gotten few answers.
All that she knew, as she pondered the cryptic message, was that she felt that this was a sign of positive changes ahead.
"'The Fountain Of The Fallen'?" She thought to herself. "Does he mean...?"
And with that, she was off in search of the answer to this new riddle, a sense of renewed hope gave her a vigor she hadn't felt in years. It felt like the old days, even if Sonic wasn't around anymore to quickly get her from point A to point B.
"Oh, yeah, The Freedom Fighters are back in action!" She thought to herself, a smile crossing her face as she made her way back across the junk yard.