The New Age Chronicles 06 New Alliances

by MTP

What does a trip to space hold in store for the group? Going out on their own can they really form a new alliance or is it all a trap?

5. Blazing Angels

Chapter 5 - Blazing Angels

The days ticked by and the preparations were slowly completed. Not much was said by anyone to anyone and an air of seriousness floated around the whole ship. The time soon arrived and the group joined up again in the main launch bay. They arrived to find their suits being loaded onto a small transport and were quickly ushered onboard as well. Silvia was there and handed each of them a small electronic pad as they boarded. She didn't say anything but gave each of them a firm nod and a salute as they passed by. The shuttle soon lifted from the bay and took off, flying the short distance to a waiting ship nearby. Once onboard the new ship turned away from the Saratoga and flashed out of sight heading towards its destination at it's best speed.

The group left the shuttle to explore the new ship. It wasn't that big, a standard Coalition corvette that was based on the Alliance designs, although it was fast and that's what was needed. Everyone passed the time in their own way. Sally found a quiet spot and started singing, Alicia sat quietly almost looking like she was asleep, Sonic paced back and forth across the bridge of the ship much to the officers annoyance, Chalk remained in the landing bay as the ship's passages were a bit too small for her and the attached suit and Jet didn't even leave the transport. The flight took a few hours but soon everyone had met up in the landing bay again and were busy preparing their own suit.

"You ready Sally?" asked Sonic fixing the boots to his feet.

"Not really but then there's no time for are you ready, we have to be ready." she replied.

"Quite true Sally." said Chalk stepping up next to her.

"Ready." inform Alicia as she stepped forwards, now fully fitted up in her suit.

"Good, Jet you ready?" asked Sonic.

"Almost." replied Jet as he slipped the headband over his head.

"Everyone clear on the plan?" asked Sally.

Each of them nodded in turn. The plan had been on the data pad Silvia had given them before they left. The ship would drop out of Star Drive for just enough time so they could launch and then make a hasty retreat. The corvette wasn't outfitted for fighting and wouldn't stand five seconds against the Ring or an Alliance ship. It would retreat and wait in a safe place until it was needed again. After that the plan was pretty much up to them, nobody had any real idea on how they would destroy the Phantom 2 but if they didn't try it would be worst.

"Nearing drop off point." came a loud boom over the bay, "Angel squad to ready status. Thirty seconds to Star Drive cut off."

"Ok everyone lets move!" said Sonic finishing with his suit and stepping forwards.

The entrance to the landing bay was much like the one on the Saratoga, a large force field separating the outside from the inside, but right now a large metal door was covering the exit. Each of them moved to stand next to it.

"Fifteen second." boomed a voice.

"Activate thrusters." ordered Sonic flicking a switch.

Each of the five suits powered up, lifting slightly off the ground as their thrusters activated.

"Ten second."

The group held their breath and waited. They could feel the ship starting to slow around them, it wouldn't be long now. Alicia could feel herself starting to shake slightly, she was definitely the most nervous in the group.

"Five seconds, prepare space doors for opening, Star Drive shut down in three, two, one."

The ship gave a brief shake signifying the cutting of the Star Drive and then the space door swung open. As the group looked out they could see the huge form of Jupiter hanging in the endless blackness. The ring was clearly visible around the centre of the planet and a small section stuck out at the mid point, which was evidently the port.

"Angel Launch! NOW!"

"GO!" cried Sonic.

He leaned forwards as his thrusters flared sending his hurtling from the bay quickly followed by Sally and Alicia. Chalk came next and finally, with a bit of hesitation, Jet. As they cleared the ship its engines flared and with a streak of light it disappeared into Star Drive again.

"Ok folks heads up, we're on our own now. Everyone activate cloaks and move to assigned positions." ordered Sonic.

Each of the five suits slowly shimmered and disappeared from view before fanning out hidden from view. Jet was hanging back looking at the ring as he assumed a covering position.

"You think they saw us?" he asked.

"No idea Jet but to be safe maintain radio silence." replied Sonic, "I'll give orders when and if they're needed, we all know what has to be done anyway."

"Roger." replied the cat.

Chalk was now moving forwards, straight towards the dock. Her job was to be the main attacking force whilst the other covered and her and created a distraction. Alicia was moving forward with Chalk before breaking off slightly and flying ahead to get in a better firing position. Sally and Sonic had broken off to the opposite Alicia had gone too and together they all moved forwards.

Sonic was thinking hard, had they been seen, it didn't look like it but you could never tell. He flashed his vision all over the place, getting threat data from his Eye. So far everything was green, not a single threat warning from anywhere and it was worrying him.

"I'm in position." informed Alicia.

Sonic looked over the whole ring structure again and nodded to himself.

"Ok everyone, wait for it." he said.

The group waited, the seconds slowly becoming minutes. Finally it happened, a massive explosion ripped across part of the ring quite a distance from the port.

"That's it! That's our decoy! Alicia go!" cried Sonic.

A sudden bright spot of light appeared out the darkness followed by a stream of energy beams tearing across space and slamming into a part of the ring structure. Alicia's Beam Harmonica was active and causing trouble already as it ripped through several defence turrets before they had a chance to activate. Moments later Sonic and Sally fired, sending a set of three stronger beams into another turret from a different position. Jet joined in the fun as he fired his sniper, sending a further turret into a smoking wreck. All, however, were put to shame as Chalk fired. Her particle cannon ripped straight across the hull of the Phantom itself, tearing of the outer layer of armour and a total of three turrets along the way.

The first attack had gone without a hitch but now the trouble started. All of them watched their displays as the Eye tracked every turret as it came alive and started to target them. Red warning cursors started to flash up all over, so many that they started to overlap and get confusing.

"Everyone break!" cried Sally.

Moments later the cannons fired filling the area with energy. All of them could see what Silvia was talking about when she said the ring had the fire power to take out the Saratoga.

"Disengage cloaks and move in." ordered Sonic, "Our weapons fire will give away our firing position anyway so there's no need wasting energy."

"Roger." replied Chalk and Jet together.

Sally and Alicia replied with a firm noise and moments later all five suits shimmered into view. Chalk immediately pushed forwards, spiralling through the oncoming fire as if it was nothing, heading for her target, the ship itself. The Phantom 2 was as large as its predecessor and at least as heavily armed although for the moment it seemed to be doing nothing. Chalk was glad of this, a target that didn't fight back was a sitting duck and she was going to take full advantage of it. Swinging her cannon round she made ready to fire but was interrupted by a very near miss from one of the rings cannons.

"You little…." she growled to herself as she swung towards the oncoming fire.

Swinging her left arm up her Jackhammer glistened in the darkness as the suns rays caught the diamond coated tip. She pointed it directly at the turret and a flurry of rocket engines ignited around the base of the unit. The point flew off flying through the space between her and the target and finally connected with the turret. The sharp point ripped into the turret smashing it to pieces in the process and Chalk activated the recoil, using the attached cable to reel it back in. Turning to face the Phantom again she was interrupted by yet another turret.

"Don't these bastards ever learn?!" she screamed.

Sonic and Sally were making little progress too. The pair was so close they could have been glued together and wouldn't have noticed. Sally was in front with Sonic taking a covering position behind her. Sally's suit not only had a physical shield but thanks to Nicole the mechanics on the Saratoga had been able to get an energy shield working also. Together these two barriers were allowing the pair to ignore most of the incoming fire.

"Talk about up close and personal." said Sonic passing one of his guns under Sally's arm to fire.

"Can the comedy blue boy and just fire!" roared Sally as she too aimed and fired.

Sonic was surprised, he'd never seen Sally this energised in a long time and frankly it felt good. The old girl wasn't loosing her touch after all. Sonic obeyed Sally's roar and shut up quickly, now wasn't the time for jokes as she had said. Turning his head back towards the Phantom he saw a whole new problem they hadn't anticipated.

"Oh….holy sweet Mobius." he said slowly.

"What now Sonic?" asked Sally.

"The Phantom, we got company."

Sally looked and gasped at the sight. Her Eye instantly registered the targets and highlighted them, a squad of Earth fighters.

"Since when was that thing armed?" she asked.

"Since Silvia's brilliant covert operatives missed them." replied Sonic.

"I've got them covered Sonic." came Jet's voice.

"Me too." added Alicia.

"Ok then, good luck you two." said Sally.

"Got it."

Jet turned his attention away from the ring and focussed on the fighters. So far he hadn't had to dodge any shots, he was too far away and hadn't fired that much, yet. Aiming his sniper forward he waited, his finger resting lightly in the trigger. On his HUD display two green circles were moving closer together towards the lead fighter. They started to blink faster and finally locked together over the fighter going red as the did.

"Got ya."

Jet fired, a hyper fast needle of energy streaking across space. The fighters had yet to actually take up any formation and the sudden weapons fire coming their way startled them. Jet's shot connected perfectly, passing straight through the lead fighter and turning it into a large fireball. The other fighters split up sharply but not before a cloaked Alicia had sneaked up behind them and blown away a second fighter with a blast from her shotgun. Now it was their turn to be targeted as the remaining fighters banked round, two heading for Jet and the rest tracking the cloaked squirrel. Jet immediately shot upwards as the fighters approached him. His suit wasn't equipped for close combat and his sniper took too long to aim in this situation. Saying that he still had a few things he could do. Pointing his left arm forward he activated his missile pod before pointing it at the approaching fighters and fired twice. His Eye quickly got a lock on the fighters and tracked the missiles towards their targets. The fighters banked away, letting off a few random volleys of fire as they did but Jet didn't have to dodge any of them. The missiles turned to follow the fighters and then suddenly split up. Each missile fragmented into ten smaller ones and shot off in all directions before the main missile detonated. Although one fighter managed to dodge the other was caught in the spray of fire and ripped apart.

"YES!" cried Jet happy with the result.

He suddenly yelped and swung to the side as the second fighter came round on an attack run. Without a second though Jet punched at the controls forcing the missile pod on his left arm to fold away and be replaced by a long beam of energy, a beam saber. He dodged the oncoming fire and then flew straight at the oncoming fighter. Startled by this sudden rush, the fighter banked and attempted to pull away from the crash course but this only made things worst. As Jet and the fighter passed each other the cat stuck his saber out in front of himself forcing it deep into the fighter's hull. The saber passed along the fighter's hull like a hot knife through butter and moments after they had passed each other it exploded violently. Jet came to a sudden halt and let out a loud scream. His ankle felt like it was on fire. Slowly he turned back to look at the fight and his Eye picked up everything. Alicia was quickly highlighted in green as she darted back and forth across the hull of the Phantom pursued by a couple of fighters. It was then that Jet's eyes widened. A single red target appeared on the hull of the Phantom followed by a second and then a third. Suddenly red targets started to appear all over the hull and Jet panicked.

"Alicia! Alicia the Phantom it's…"

His calls came too late. The Phantom's weapon banks were already charged and without a pause they fired. Jet caught Alicia's scream over the comm and screamed himself.

"Alicia? Alicia are you ok?!" he cried.

"ARGH! JET HELP!" came a reply before the sound of weapons fire cut the air.

Jet didn't wait a second longer and surged forward, baring the pain from his ankle for now. His beam sword was still out as he screamed into the battle zone and started to take wild slashes at everything. He landed on the hull of the Phantom with a crash and jumped towards one of the turrets. Swinging his saber round he drove it right into the top of the turret.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" he screamed jumping back as the turret exploded.

"JET!" cried Alicia.

"ALICIA! You alright?"

"Now…watch out!"

Jet spun to see a second turret now tracking him and had no time to react to it. Seconds later thirteen beams of energy flew in from above and ripped the turret to pieces. Jet looked up to see Alicia holding her Harmonica out in front of her and watched as she swung it over the hull taking out a further two turrets.

"Leave my Jet alone!" she cried.

"My?" asked Jet to himself.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as the remaining fighters came in at him. Switching off his saber, his missile pod folded back onto his arm. A scowl crossed his face he pointed upwards and fired. The three remaining missiles in the pod soared from their launcher and split almost immediately. The ensuing spray of missiles tore apart the oncoming fighters in a second as well as a turret on the Phantom's surface, it also flung Jet backwards into a spin. The cat wrestled to regain control but couldn't, red targets appeared all over his HUD as he spun and he closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt something impact him in the side and he stopped spinning. Opening his eyes he was met with Alicia's face staring back at him.

"Jet you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah but…ALICIA!" cried Jet.

Alicia spun just in time to see a flurry of energy beams heading straight for them and spun to the side, dragging Jet with her. However she wasn't fast enough and one of the beams struck the back of her suit ripping off one of the flight wings. The sudden loss of two engines sent Alicia into a spin herself and smashed her into the Phantom's hull face first.

"Alicia!"

"Jet! What's happening?!" cried Sally's voice.

"Sally Alicia is….oh god!"

"Jet?!"

Jet didn't have time to answer though as a second volley headed straight for him. He dodged also but still caught two of the beams, one vaporising the end of his sniper rifle and the other ripping off the two secondary fins on his backpack. From a distance Sonic and Sally watched the scene.

"Jet? Alicia? Answer me!" cried Sally frantically.

"Chalk! Can you see what's going on?" asked Sonic quickly.

"They're down. I repeat Angel four and five are down!" replied Chalk quickly, "I can't see either of them now."

"NO!" cried Sally.

Sonic had to grab her quickly before she raced onto the scene herself.

"Sally no! You can't do anything!" said Sonic.

"Sonic let go of me! We have to Sonic! We can't leave Alicia…"

"SALLY!" barked Sonic.

Sally was so startled she stopped struggling and looked at him. Sonic looked angry but also sad at the same time.

"Sally you can't do anything, they're probably already…."

"No…"

Sonic looked away back towards the Phantom.

"We're pulling out, Chalk!"

"I heard Sonic." replied Chalk.

"No…"

"Sally we have to go, we can't stay any longer."

Sonic leaned over and flicked a few of Sally's controls, activating her cloak before he activated his. He turned Sally away from the battle but the ground squirrel refused to leave. She ripped herself from Sonic's grasp and ignited her boosters. Sonic quickly flung himself in front of her and ignited his own boosters. The two suits sat in space, pushing into each other not moving.

"Sonic let me go! I have to go back for them!" cried Sally.

"Sally I know how you feel but…if you go back for them YOU'LL GET KILLED TOO!" replied Sonic.

Sally looked at Sonic and their gaze met. Sally understood what Sonic was saying but couldn't bring herself to accept leaving them behind. Just then they both felt a jolt from behind.

"Let's go." said Chalk's voice sadly.

The rabbits suit soon pushed through the cloaking field around the pair and appeared beside them. Chalk took a hold of Sally and leaned over to cut her thrusters. Slowly Sonic and Chalk ignited their own thrusters and began to retreat away from the battle pulling Sally along backwards as they did. Sally looked back at the huge planet and half built colony with shaky eyes.

"No…" she murmured to herself.

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Alicia slowly started to come round. Her vision was hazy and blurred but it didn't feel like she was in space. She couldn't move that well and her entire body ached from top to toe. Finally she managed to open her eyes slightly but all she could see was metal plating and rivets. With a groan she pushed down with her arms and lifted her head up. She blinked a few times and slowly the room came into view. What she saw sent her scuttling backwards until her back met a solid wall. She curled up and started shaking.

"No, no, no, it can't be, not again!" she said quickly, panic and fear filling her voice.

"Alicia!" said a familiar voice.

"Jet?" she replied lifting her head slightly.

"Alicia are you ok?"

Alicia looked up at the room again. The bars of her cell stared back at her but off to one side in the next cell she saw him. Jet was on his knees pushed up close to the bars looking directly at her. Summoning her strength, Alicia shuffled over to where he was and flung her arms through the bars pulling him into a hug.

"Jet!" she said slowly.

"Hey Alicia." replied Jet sadly, putting his arms round Alicia.

"Jet where are we?"

"I don't know but my instincts say…"

"…the Phantom 2?"

Jet nodded slowly causing Alicia to pull him closer.

"No not again…not again. Tell me it's not true Jet."

Jet didn't know what to say. Alicia had been an original captive onboard the Phantom and here she was, a captive on the Phantom 2.

"I'm…sorry Alicia."

Alicia just made a high pitched whine and continued to hold Jet tightly. Just then a door at the far end of the room opened causing Jet to look up sharply. A man was walking towards them alone. The lights in the room were good enough to allow the cat to see his face long before he reached the cell, he looked different to the other humans he's seen. Stopping the man looked at them both with his eyes crossed.

"When we first picked you up I thought the queen had shrunk and grown a tail." he said looking at Alicia, "You're a long way from home little furries."

"Who are you?" growled Jet.

"Me? My name is Chen…Chen Tanaka." replied the man.

Alicia looked up sharply, her ears pulled back in fear as she stared at him.

"T…Tanaka…?" she stuttered.

"Oh g…" said Jet trailing off.

Jet remembered the name well enough. He was the same man that had nearly dissected Sally. Even Jet pulled his ears back in fear as Tanaka continued.

"I see you know me, thought you might. Well as I was denied the pleasure of the queen the princess will have to do…oh and you too."

Tanaka gave a smirk at Jet causing the cat to growl and push his ears forwards.

"Over my dead body." he said sharply.

"Well if that's how you want it." replied Chen, "I'll be back later and then we'll begin. I have to go get ready now."

Chen gave them both a smile and walked off leaving the pair in silence. Jet could feel Alicia trembling beneath him now.

"Alicia, it's ok, everything will be fine." he said giving her a small squeeze.

"How Jet? How will it be ok?" asked Alicia pulling back from him slightly.

Jet looked into Alicia's brown eyes and then looked down towards the floor. He didn't have an answer for her but just then something else caught his attention.

"Alicia…you're…"

Alicia looked down also and for a split second Jet caught a look of embarrassment spread across her face. Alicia's dress was missing, for that matter so were the rest of her clothes and Jet's too. Furries were used to being naked for the most part but Alicia was rather sensitive about it. She didn't mind too much if it was just family but she was very conscious of it around anyone else. Jet didn't mind either way, he liked wearing a jacket as it kept him a bit warmer than his fur would but he normally didn't bother with anything else. This was the first time he'd seen Alicia like this and she looked absolutely beautiful, more so that normal. Her two tone light brown fur countered her dark brown eyes and her crimson hair just added that final "wow" factor. He couldn't help but stare slightly.

"Do you mind?" asked Alicia sharply.

"Sorry Alicia." said Jet looking away.

"It's ok I guess."

Alicia turned away and placed her back against the bars, her tail sticking into Jet's cell. Jet turned back towards her and placed an arm round her shoulder.

"You think they'll come back for us?" she asked.

"They better or we don't stand a chance." replied Jet.

Alicia glanced back at Jet and looked into her eyes. It seemed things weren't going well at all. How she wished that she was back on Little Planet, better yet back in Mobotropolis before it had been destroyed again. Why did their lives have to be so difficult? Alicia started to shiver slightly and she suddenly felt Jet's grip round her shoulder tighten.

"Don't worry Alicia. They'll have to go through me first if they want you." he said.

"You…you mean that?" she asked.

Jet gave her a look that said everything and she turned away. He really meant it. Before now she hadn't really been too sure of Jet, he was loving and caring but she didn't know if it was simply that no-one else was available or if he really did care for her.

"Alicia?" asked Jet.

Alicia didn't respond for a moment, she was thinking of past event and pondering. Looking back she spoke.

"Jet, do you remember earlier, I mean back on Little Planet before Basanda came? That one morning that…that you made me pancakes?" she asked.

Jet blinked and then looked away slightly.

"Yes." he replied, "Why?"

"I…I never got to answer your question properly. Would you…ask me again?"

"Ask…"

Jet thought for a moment and then blushed looking away as he did.

"I…I dunno if I should…I mean at this time."

"Please Jet."

"Well….ok I guess so." he replied looking back at her, "Alicia…do you…"

Jet coughed sharply and blushed again before continuing.

"Do you…have a boyfriend?"

"No." replied Alicia shaking her head, "But I was hoping that someone would like to be."

Jet and Alicia looked at each other for a moment, a message passing between them without them even having to say anything. Slowly the pair pulled closer to the bars and leaned forwards. Time slowed around them and the situation seemed to fade away as their lips slowly met. It was only a light kiss, a mere peck, but it made them both feel alive for a split moment before they parted. Alicia turned and leaned against the bars as Jet did the same, his arm snaking round Alicia's back and fiddling with Alicia's hair.

"Please come for us." said Alicia softly.

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"We shouldn't have left them!" cried Sally slamming her hands on the table top.

"Sally we have no idea if they're even alive!" countered Sonic.

Sonic and Sally stood at opposite ends of a small table with Chalk standing on another side. The pair had been arguing ever since they had been picked up by the ship and Chalk was getting very irritated by it. Slowly she leaned forwards and pushed her arms out to each side.

"Ok you two stop it. You already know what I saw." she said.

Sally closed her eyes and looked down at the table, a single tear fell from her eyes. Sonic gave a sigh and looked at Chalk as Chalk looked at him.

"Now can we get back to this?" she asked.

Sonic gave a small nod and sighed again as Sally looked up wiping her eye.

"Very well Chalk, it's all we can do I guess." she said.

"Sally, don't think I don't feel for you, I do! But we have to face the facts, Jet and Alicia are probably gone or if they aren't then they will be soon enough." replied Chalk.

"I know Chalk, it just…just hard to let go."

"I know Sally but let's get back to business. We can't let their memory die."

Sally nodded and looked back at the table, Sonic and Chalk doing the same. On the table were scattered images recorded from their HUD displays. Chalk picked up one in particular and passed it to Sonic.

"That's what I was talking about." she said.

"What's this?" asked Sonic.

"While all of you were busy I was trying to get into a good firing position to shoot the Phantom. I never got there but I did notice this. This is where the ring colony attaches to the port."

Sonic looked at the picture. He could see two large metal walls connected together by a number of thin metal beams.

"As far as I could tell a total of seven beams hold the two structures together and also act like bridges between the port and ring." said Chalk.

"You worked this out from a photo?" asked Sally.

"It didn't take much thinking Sally."

"So what's your idea?" asked Sonic.

"Most of the cannon fire was coming from the ring right? The Phantom let off a few blasts in the end but the port around it blocked most of its turrets. If we can separate the ship from the ring we'll have a better chance of taking it out." said Chalk.

"And if we sever those connecting beams the two parts will slowly move away from each other." finished Sally catching on.

"You got it Sally, it's worth a shot yes? If we let them complete that thing and launch it we won't stand much of a chance and neither will Silvia and her rebellion." replied Chalk.

"I agree Chalk, it's risky and they'll definitely be looking for us now but we came this far didn't we." said Sonic.

Chalk gave him a nod.

"One hour?" she asked.

"Try as soon as the suits are ready, tell them to get their rears in gear."

"You got it Sonic."

Chalk turned and jogged from the room as Sonic turned towards Sally. The ground squirrel was now leaning against the table biting her finger and looking at the ceiling. Sonic sighed and walked over to her, putting an arm round her shoulder as he did. Sally rolled over into his arm closed her eyes.

"I'm sure they'll be alright Sally." he said looking down.

"But what if they aren't?" replied Sally looking up at him, "What if they're dead like you said."

"Sally…"

"I should never have allowed them to come with us."

"Sally you can't talk like that. None of us knew something like this would happen."

"Yes but we knew whatever happened would be dangerous right. Three of us out here with only Miles at home. What if we all fall? What's going to happen to the Royal Family?"

"Sally, don't start worrying about that. We won't fall and if Alicia and Jet are alive we'll find them. If they've hurt my girl in any way I'll make them pay and then some."

Sally looked up at Sonic slowly. The hedgehog was looking away at the far wall now lost in thought. His face was tense and that was that oh so familiar glint in his eye.

"Sonic, always coming to people's rescue." she said.

"I just hope I'm not too late this time." he replied.

"Why not let me do it this time?"

"Huh?"

Sonic looked back at Sally as she pulled herself out of his arms and stood up on her own.

"What ya mean Sal?" he asked.

"I want you to let me handle that side of things."

"You mean…the rescue?"

"Yes Sonic, the rescue. Chalk's going to need someone to act as a distraction so she can sever those connections between the port and the ring and I'm better suited to a stealth search and rescue mission."

"Hang on a minute Sal, where'd this rescue mission suddenly come from?"

"You said it yourself a minute ago, if Alicia and Jet are alive we'll find them. Well I want to find them Sonic. Besides I'll be able to create a few additional distractions for you and Chalk."

"Got it all planned out I see."

"What do you expect from me Sonic?"

"Exactly that Sally, ok I guess there's no stopping you anyway."

"You're right Sonic, now let's go see how the preparations are going shall we?"

"Lead the way."

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Chen Tanaka slowly walked onto the Phantom 2's bridge. The area was a hive of activity, more so than normal after the latest incident. As he entered one of the officers turned towards him and saluted.

"Sir."

"What have you to report?" asked Chen.

"We've completed a complete sensor sweep of the entire area and found no trace of the other three units."

"I see, so they retreated. What's the damage?"

"Negligible sir. Both this ship and the Ring lost a few defence turrets during the attack, we lost a squad of fighters and the hull plating on B deck will need replacing."

"How long until those repairs are completed?"

"Shouldn't take more than a few days to replace the hull and turrets but the fighters are another matter."

"Yes I'm aware of that. What about those…things they were piloting?"

"They are currently being investigated on the ring sir. So far they've been able to determine that it's definitely Earth based tech and is similar to those fighters that burst in on us a few weeks back."

"Hmm…it appears our furry friends might have found themselves some inside help."

"It would appear that way sir."

"Ok I want those things taken apart and every little scrap of information pulled out of them. What about my preparations?"

"Nearly complete sir. Your room is almost ready for those two."

"Good good, when it's ready escort them and get everything set up. I'll be in my quarter relaxing for a while."

Chen turned to leave but gave one final order before he did.

"Put the scanners on full power. I've got a sneaking hunch that our furry friends might try again."

"Yes sir."

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"Everyone set?" asked Sonic.

"Stop asking that and let's go." replied Sally.

"Too right." agreed Chalk.

"Ok ok just checking."

The trio were now flying under cloak towards Jupiter from the rear. The ship had yet again jumped in, dropped them off and left again leaving them to do what they had to do. They all hoped that approaching from their blind side would not only surprise them but allow them to sneak in even closer than they would have otherwise. Slowly as they rounded the planet the large ring started to come into view.

"Head up people, here we go." said Sonic.

Sally and Chalk nodded and split up, Sally heading straight towards the ring as Chalk came to a stop. Swinging her particle cannon round a quick charge built on the gun before it fired. The beam streaked past Sally, missing her by mere inches, and carried on towards the ring finally slamming into the outer hull with a bang. Sally quickly swung her gun round and fired at the same spot Chalk had hit adding more damage to the hull plating. A further blast from Chalk hit the hull again and with a crackle it buckled, exploding and creating a hole in the armour.

"There's your way in Sally, good luck." said Chalk.

"Thanks Chalk, you two take care, I won't be long." replied Sally.

"Go give it to em Sally." added Sonic.

Sally didn't reply, instead she turned her attention towards the colony and shot into the hole at break neck speed.

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Alicia felt more helpless than a boiled vegetable. All she could do was stare up at the ceiling above her and wait. She was bound to an examination table with Jet in a similar state beside her. She had earlier tried to break the bonds but they were too secure for her to slither out of. The sound of someone humming filled the air and, looking up as much as she could, Alicia could see Chen moving around a little way off. The human seemed to be enjoying whatever he was doing and frankly it was freaking Alicia out. No-one had told her what was going to happen but she remembered her mother's story, she remembered Chen and what he had nearly done to Sally. And now he was going to do it to her instead, and Jet too. As Chen turned to look at them Alicia gave a gulp.

"Now then should we get started?" he asked, "I think we should, you both comfy."

"I'm gonna enjoy ripping your face off when I get out of these restraints!" growled Jet fiercely.

"Such bad manners, is that any way to talk to your host?"

"Host?" scoffed Alicia trying to swallow her fear, "Some host!"

"My isn't the princess a feisty little thing, reminds me of her mother."

"My mother is going to tear you to pieces!" screamed Alicia at the ceiling as she shut her eyes tight.

She couldn't keep her fear in, she was completely struck by it. Chen waved his finger back and forth making tut tut sounds.

"But your mother isn't here is she. Yes I think I'll start with you my dear. I was most interested in your mother but you'll do as a substitute."

"You lay one finger on her and I'll…" cried Jet.

"You'll what? Strain at your bonds?" laughed Chen, "No little cat this is what you get for going against us I'm afraid. Accept it."

Jet strained against his bonds, growling as he did, he wasn't going to get away with this. Looking over at Alicia he suddenly stopped, the squirrel was looking straight at him, lying completely still as she did. Jet could tell from her face that she was terrified and sad but he hardly seemed to notice this over another aspect. Her face was…lifeless, Alicia wasn't even trying to stop Chen as he set about his preparations. Jet couldn't believe it, had she given up? No! She couldn't have! He began to pull at his restrains again frantically as Chen started to humm once more. Just then a small alarm started to sound, it wasn't that loud but it was clearly audible. Chen looked up and frowned.

"What now?" he asked himself moving away from Alicia to a large screen on the wall. He pressed a few controls and another mans face appeared.

"What's going on?" asked Chen calmly.

"Sir we've detected those three units again, they are moving in from the blind side of Jupiter." replied the man.

Jet instantly went rigid, three units? Could it be?

"Looks like they're trying to sneak by our scanners. Alert the ring and activate all cannons."

"Aye sir….there's something else too."

"What?"

"It appears one of the units has already entered the ring."

"What?"

"Just before we caught them on scanners we registered a massive energy burst and then lost reading from section beta 12 on the ring. It appears the outer armour has been breached and an unidentified object is moving into the ring."

"Damn…alert all troops. I want that unit stopped now. I'm returning to the bridge to over see things."

"Yes sir."

The screen went blank and Chen looked back at the restrained pair.

"I'll just deal with this irritation and then I'll be back to finish what we started, don't go away."

He chuckled slightly and then left the room, the door slamming shut and locking as he left. Jet watched the door for a moment and then looked over at Alicia. The squirrel didn't look so lifeless now but was still shaking.

"They've come for us." she said slowly.

"Yeah, hang in there Alicia, this isn't over yet." replied Jet.

-----------------------------------------

Chen arrived on the bridge and looked around. The bridge was already busy and things seemed to be very alive.

"Report." he said quickly.

"Sir we have confirmed that one unit is inside the ring. We've got all available troops waiting to ambush the unit in the rings main cargo bay. The other two units have moved in. One is sticking close to the colony making targeting very difficult and the other seems to be heading this way."

"I see, is the ring ready to fire yet?"

"Yes sir, batteries are all online."

"And our cannons?"

"Charging now sir."

"Ok, use our target data and feed it to the ring computers, target the unit closest to the ring and open fire."

-----------------------------------------

Chalk was heading at full speed towards the connecting struts. Skimming the colony close, she hoped that she'd be a more awkward target than Sonic who was acting as a decoy. However as she got closer to her target it appeared she had been wrong. Red targets started appearing all over her HUD and moments later she found herself in the middle of a barrage of fire. She came to a sharp stop and flew straight up and away from the colony. As she did she aimed her cannon and fired, hitting one cannon in the process. She then had to dodge quickly as a second lot of fire came her way.

"I'm getting hammered! Sally!" she cried.

"Yes Chalk?" replied Sally.

"Anyway you could shut down these defence turrets from in there?"

"I'll try."

Sally turned her attention back to her situation. Flying down the tight colony corridors at full speed was not an easy task. So far nothing much had stopped her but she was on her guard. She hit a few commands on Nicole and spoke.

"Nicole scan for the biggest power source."

"Scanning Sally."

"We have to try and give those two a chance out there. How far to the connection struts?"

"Estimate one point five kilometres."

"Still a long way to go, what's the next room?"

"Plans indicate main cargo bay."

Even if Silvia's covert intelligence hadn't been completely up to scratch her operative had been able to get hold of a plan of the colony and Sally was now using this to navigate through the maze of corridors. Just then Nicole started bleeping.

"Warning, numerous human life signs detected in main cargo bay."

Sally flung her feet forwards, cutting her thrust as she did, and sunk to the floor. Turning her attention to Nicole she looked at the scan data. Sure enough a large number of signals were being displayed in the cargo bay ahead.

"Nicole is there anyway round?" she asked.

"Negative Sally."

"A bottle neck! They're waiting for me, hmm. Nicole fire up the EMP."

"EMP charging Sally."

"Good, we're going to hit them with everything we have. Activate the communication jammer and ready the energy shield. Cross shield systems with incoming threat tracker. I'm putting the shield in your command Nicole, deflect anything coming our way."

"Confirmed Sally….EMP ready Sally."

"Good here we go."

Sally turned back towards the way she was going and flew down the corridor, although a lot slower than before.

"Activate jammer and stand by EMP Nicole."

Sally edged closer and closer to the cargo bay entrance until she was standing in front of it.

"Jammer on Nicole."

A faint crackle filled the air as the communication jammer attached to the suit came to life. It would block her own communications with Sonic and Chalk but she needed to confuse her enemy right now. Reaching out she pushed the door release button next to her and stepped into the bay. The bay was massive and filled with more boxes and crates than Sally had seen in her life, most of them filled with construction parts for the rest of the colony. Sally continued to advance into the bay slowly looking from left to right and back again over and over. Her HUD was picking up every single bio sign and labelling it red as she continued. Then as she reached the middle of the bay a shout went up.

"Now!"

"Nicole EMP!" cried Sally in response.

A spherical field of energy appeared around the entire suit and then suddenly exploded. The crackling energy swept across the bay, blowing out lights and computers as it went. Sally wasted no time and raised her physical shield to defend against any incoming shots as she opened fire, spraying the bay in laser fire. A few shots came in from behind her but Nicole activated the energy shield causing them to bounce off to one side. Sally soon spun and laid down a spray of fire towards where the shots had come from and then spun back. Activating her thrusters she took off, shooting towards the other end of the bay hoping the confusion she had caused was enough to give her enough time to get out of the bay. Luckily it was and although a few stray shots did head her way she was able to dodge them easily. Sally didn't even bother to stop to open the door at the other end of the bay, she just raised her gun and blew it to pieces instead.

Flying down the new corridor she continued to follow Nicole's directions until she came to her target. Flying through and open door she flew into a giant room nearly as big as the cargo bay. In the centre of the room was a giant spherical looking machine that was lit up with various colours and creating a steady humming sound.

"That's it?" she asked.

"Confirmed Sally."

"The central power core, time to shut this place down."

She tapped a command and the missile pod on her left shoulder folded into position. She looked back at the generator and then turned her attention to the control panel again. She entered the target data and was about to press fire when she stopped, suddenly remembered something Silvia had said earlier.

"Nicole if this generator was to explode what would the damage be?"

"Estimate complete destruction of ring colony."

"That's not good….Silvia said no civilian casualties. Nicole would an EMP work?"

"Calculating Sally.

Sally began too look round the room. She was high up on a gantry and was for the moment alone but she had a feeling that would change any second.

"Hurry up Nicole." she urged.

"Chill Sal you're stressing me out." replied Nicole in an agitated tone.

"You'll be more than stressed out if…"

"Freeze!"

Sally spun towards the cry. The corridor she had come down was now blocked by a group of men wielding rifles. Sally's shield was in front of her in a second and her thrusters flared into life sending her shooting off the gantry. She flew backwards away from the gantry and over the huge reactor room. Glancing down she could see the floor a few hundred meters below her. She had to remember that in here they had artificial gravity and she couldn't turn her thrusters off without plummeting to the ground. As being spread across the floor was not her idea of fun, Sally decided to try and locate somewhere to land. She was however cut short as the men moved onto the gantry she had been on and started shooting in her direction. Nicole activated her energy shield that deflected a few shots and Sally's physical shield held back the rest. Even so she had to take her eye of her steering to do this and thus crashed straight into a large set of pipes running up to the ceiling. The jolt stunned her and she lost control of her thrusters. With nothing holding her up gravity took over and she dropped towards the steelwork below. Sally quickly shifted her attention to the controls and activated her thrusters moments before hitting the deck. She cut the thrust and landed with a thud on the ground. Looking around she noticed the astonished faces of the mechanics and plant operators around her. They weren't soldier's just ordinary men and women and Sally's sudden entrance surprised them.

"Calculation complete Sally. Affirmative on EMP." said Nicole.

"If you don't want to get hurt run." said Sally flatly.

The people around her looked at her, then at each other and finally fled screaming to their colleagues to run too. Sally looked up sharply, flinging her hair back as she did. Glancing up at the gantry far above her she smirked.

"Do it Nicole."

"EMP online."

A crackling sphere appeared around Sally and started to build in power. Sparks started to fly off in all directions, shorting out various pieces of equipment around Sally. Sally herself was looking around, the charge was much larger than any she had seen Nicole perform so far.

"Nicole how big is this charge?" she asked.

"Estimate charge of thirty thousand kilovolts Sally."

"What?! But that's into the overload region!"

"Affirmative Sally."

Sally looked around her sharply, a slight touch of fear on her face. The sphere around her was now so intense it was causing her own fur to stand on end. A high pitched whine filled the air and Sally shut her eyes and curled up slightly. Moments later a bang filled the air and the sphere expanded around her. Passing by all the equipment in the room it left a trail of sparks and fizzling in its wake. As the wave slowly faded out the machinery it had passed by exploded, sparks of red and orange flying into the air as things overloaded all round her. Sally wisely took off moments after the EMP went off and was now hovering above the mayhem below. Looking over towards the main reactor Sally could see it sparking also and as she continued to watch the top of the giant machine exploded. Seconds later the lights in the room went out and a deadly silence filled the air. Nicole activated a couple of lights around the suit so that Sally could see. She quickly checked the suits status and spoke.

"Nicole? Nicole you ok?" she asked.

"All systems running at 80% efficiency, EMP offline." informed Nicole.

"Well at least it did its job."

Just then Sally's radio gave a crackle.

"Thanks Sally, much appreciated." came Chalks' voice.

"No problem Chalk, how is it out there?" replied Sally.

"Not too bad now. We have the Phantom shooting at us but the ring is dead. You found those two kids yet?"

"Not yet Chalk, I'm still looking. Just keep them busy a little bit longer."

"Roger."

Sally cut the radio and looked back at her display.

"Let's get moving Nicole. We need to find the kids, have you detected their signals yet?"

"Negative Sally, they do not appear to be on the ring but…"

"Huh? What is it Nicole?"

"Scanners indicate Angel units four and five are on the ring."

"Alicia's and Jet's suits?! What are they doing on the ring?"

"Unknown Sally."

"Lock their positions. We'll need them to get those two away from here should we find them."

"Position locked Sally."

"Good, if they aren't here they must be on the Phantom…"

Sally quickly flicked on the radio again.

"Chalk? Chalk have you severed the joining struts yet?" she asked.

"Negative Sally, I was just about to." replied Chalk.

"Hold on Chalk, I'm going onboard the Phantom."

"What?!" came Sonic's voice, "Are you insane Sally?"

"They aren't here Sonic, they must be on the Phantom."

"Sally if you board that ship we can't destroy it." urged Sonic.

"I know Sonic but I have to find them." she replied.

"Alright." sighed Sonic, "Stay low huh."

"Will do Sonic. Chalk stand by, as soon as I get onboard the Phantom sever the connection."

"You got it Sally."

Sally cut the radio and glanced upwards. She took a firm grasp of the controls and turned her suit upwards, flying back towards the entrance she had come in through. The soldiers were still there and they opened fire as she approached but they couldn't do much in the dark. Letting off a few distraction shots, Sally flew straight past them and onwards into the ring. It didn't take her long to reach the joining struts and a swift laser blast turned the door into fragments. She quickly took flight along the connecting tunnel and blew apart the opposite door. Entering the Phantom she radioed Chalk.

"Ok I'm clear Chalk, do it."

"You got it Sally."

Sally only had to wait a few moments before the sound of the explosion ripped through the air. She felt the corridor jolt around her even though she was in the air as the ship port was flung outwards by the colony's spin.

"Nicole, are you picking them up?" she asked quickly.

"Scanning Sally."

Sally waited with baited breath, where they here? If they were, were they alive? Her answer came quickly.

"Confirmed Sally." said Nicole, "Reading bio signs for Alicia and Jet."

"Are hey alive?"

"Confirmed."

Sally nearly cried out with joy, tears quickly came to her eyes but she shook them off.

"Ok Nicole let's do this! Let's show them what they get when they mess with us."

-----------------------------------------

Warning sirens started to blare loudly as the entire ship gave a jolt. Chen was thrown from his feet and fell with a crash to the floor. Grabbing the edge of a console he pulled himself to his feet.

"Report!" he screamed.

"Sir the connection struts between the colony and the port have been severed. We are now free of the colony and….sir! We have an intruder onboard."

"Who?!"

"Registering one of those units sir…it's the same one that we detected in the ring colony. Moving across deck F…no, now it's on deck E! No deck D! Unit is moving directly upwards through the floor work, detecting heavy weapons fire."

"Get some men down there!"

"Sir the unit has stopped on C deck, moving towards the examination room."

"It's heading for the prisoners! Where are those other two units?"

"The other units are following just outside of weapons range."

"Keep an eye on them and shoot them down the moment they come into range. Start preparations to separate the ship from the port."

"Sir?"

"There's no point in this ship being tided up in this port if the thing isn't even attached to the colony. It's complete enough to survive on its own. Get two squads down to the examination rooms, I'm going down myself."

"Sir!"

-----------------------------------------

Sonic and Chalk followed along behind the Phantom as it moved further and further from the ring. Because of the ring's rotation the huge port was now spinning end over end slowly as it moved away from the planet behind them. Sonic was looking at the ship with a worried expression as they followed.

"I hope she's ok." he said.

"She'd call if she wasn't." replied Chalk, "Besides I've never known Sally to give up ever."

Sonic gave a glance at the rabbit to see that she was smiling. She gave him the thumbs up and grinned at him. Sonic couldn't help but grin too.

"Funny you know, I've known Sally since I was a kid and I'm still worried about her even when I know she'll be ok."

"That's what love is all about Sonic." replied Chalk, "If it wasn't there wouldn't be much point in it."

"Since when have you been having thoughts like that?"

"Since I started remembering things. Sally was wrong about the time frame, it might take years instead of weeks or months but there's one thing I do remember. A person's love for someone else is the strongest force in the universe, I learned that from my mother."

Sonic smiled.

"Darn right Chalk, darn right."

-----------------------------------------

A massive blast reduced a door to pieces moments before Sally passed through it. The men waiting behind it didn't stand a chance as the explosion sent them hurtling backwards, knocking them all unconscious. Sally passed by them and then came to a sharp stop. A metal double door sat in front of her.

"Here Nicole?" she asked.

"Yes Sally."

"Got it!"

Sally raised her weapon once more and held it steady. Charging a shot she let it fly at the door reducing it to a pile of smoking metal. Quickly she stepped through and froze, an old memory coming back to her. She shuddered and her fur stuck up in fright. Taking a step backwards she began to breathe quicker, her heart racing.

"No….no not again." she whispered quietly.

"Mother?"

Sally snapped out of her memories and looked towards the voice. What she saw made her freeze again. The eyes of her daughter starred back at her like huge saucers. For a moment neither of them spoke before a second voice split the air.

"Damn Sally! Hell am I glad to see you! Get me off this thing before I get turned into cat food!"

Sally snapped her head round and this time finally took note of the situation around her. Both Jet and Alicia were tied down to metal tables and it didn't look like they went voluntarily. Sally quickly jumped forwards coming to a stop next to the bound pair. Taking a firm grip of the belt around Jet's waist she gave it a tug and it came loose. She then quickly undid the straps round his wrists and spoke.

"You ok from there?"

"Fine Sally, thanks." replied Jet.

As Jet sat up to undo the restraints around his feet Sally turned to Alicia. She quickly pulled back the belt around her middle and undid her wrist straps before Alicia sat up quickly and flung herself at Sally. She hugged her tight and started to cry softly into her shoulder.

"There there Alicia, its ok, calm down." cooed Sally trying to calm her daughter.

"I was so scared mom. I thought…"

"Hush dear, you're safe now."

"No that's not exactly true." said a familiar voice.

Sally froze solid and squeezed Alicia even tighter. It couldn't be…not him. Slowly Sally turned to face the voice. In the doorway stood Chen Tanaka surrounded by at least twelve men. Each was armed with a rifle and each of them was aiming directly for her.

"Well well well, we meet again your highness. How nice of you to drop in but I'm afraid you won't be leaving how you planned." said Chen slowly.

Sally pulled Alicia even closer, almost cutting off her breathing, and turned into a defensive position over her.

"You can have me if my daughter and Jet and allowed to leave." she said.

Neither Jet nor Alicia made a sound. Alicia was too busy shaking in Sally's grip and Jet was looking out from behind Sally with a worried look on his face.

"I don't think so." replied Chen, "You're in no position to be making deals. Now power down that suit or we'll be forced to open fire."

"No Sally don't." said Jet quietly looking up at Sally.

Sally just smirked to herself and then looked sadly towards Chen.

"Slowly now." replied Chen.

As if to back up his statement all the men behind him aimed their rifles directly at Sally. Sally herself slowly moved her hand towards the controls. Flicking a switch the thrusters on the suit, before glowing slightly, faded and went out. On Sally's control console Nicole gave a single bleep.

"Good now the weapons." said Chen.

Sally moved to power down the rifle, the lights along its length going out. As this happened Nicole gave another bleep and a small charge bar started to glow on her display. Sally then went about shutting down the other systems one by one, communication jammer, energy shield, radio, each one making Nicole bleep and the bar to increase in size. Finally it turned green and Sally smiled, there was just one more system to shut down but she wasn't about to shut this one down. Slowly she looked up and faced Chen and smirked back at her.

"Ok move in and secure them men." ordered Chen.

"Before you do that can I say one thing?" interrupted Sally.

Chen put his arm up and the men around him stopped.

"It is the least I can do for you." he said with a small smile.

Sally put her arm out and pushed Jet, who was standing beside her, behind her. At the same time she released Alicia and pushed her behind her also, taking a few steps forwards as she did. Standing in front of the two children she pulled herself funny upright and smirked.

"Well?" insisted Chen eager to get on with it.

Sally just gave a small sharp laugh and flung her head back. She batted her eye lashes at him and replied.

"Being in this position kinda makes you feel all nostalgic doesn't it." she replied, "Kinda makes you want to say…theta 12."

"What?!" asked Chen.

"Theta 12 active Sally!" responded Nicole.

"Alicia get down!" cried Jet leaping at the squirrel and knocking her to the floor.

A split moment later a massive energy pulse erupted from the suit, knocking Chen and his men clean onto their backs and sending various items flying. Seconds later the room went black and was then filled with light as Nicole activated the suits lights. Jet slowly helped Alicia to her feet and then turned to Sally.

"How'd you do that?" he asked, "I thought you shut the suit down."

"Well he said shut the suit down, he didn't mention Nicole. I used the EMP a little while back and it wasn't fully charged but Chen sealed his own fate when he asked me to shut down."

"How so?"

"Nicole needed more power to charge the EMP and as I shut down each of the suits systems the energy from the reactor only had one place left to go…into Nicole. There was a chance it would fry her circuits but it didn't and the extra power allowed Nicole to charge the EMP in a much quicker time."

"Impressive."

Alicia pushed past Jet and flung herself at Sally.

"You were amazing mom!" she cried happily nearly crying.

"Thank you honey but let's save that for later. Right now we have to get off this ship." replied Sally.

Alicia pulled back slightly and looked up at Sally. She nodded once and let go of her. Sally looked at Jet, who nodded also.

"Ok then let's get moving, grab hold of the suits arms." said Sally.

Jet and Alicia did so, Jet grabbing the gun arm and Alicia the shield arm. Sally's hand flew across the control pad, activating the suits systems again one by one. As the thrusters came to life she turned and took off slightly. Because of the added weight the suit was not as manoeuvrable or as quick as it should be but it managed to lift the three from the ground.

"Now you two are gonna have to hold on tight, things could be tricky."

Jet and Alicia nodded and Sally pushed the throttle open. The suit flew from the room and Sally turned heading back along the route she had come in through.

-----------------------------------------

Chen groaned slowly and opened his eyes a crack. He couldn't see anything, it was all black, but he could hear the quiet groans of his men around him.

"Damn them….she did it again!" he cursed under his breath.

"Attention! Attention! Emergency backup power generator now activated. System reboot in five, four, three, two, one….system online."

As the computer finished its speech the lights in the room flickered and fizzled giving a few brief bursts of light before they finally lit up. Moments later a steady hum filled the air as all around the room various ships systems came back online. Chen propped himself up slightly and looked around the room.

"Good thing we installed a dormant secondary backup system." he growled pulling himself to his feet and leaning against a wall.

A monitor next to him blinked, crackled and slowly shimmered into life. The picture was fuzzy but just about visible.

"Sir….fzzt….e you alright?" came a crackled question.

"Yes I'm fine but the prisoners are gone. What's going on?"

"Unit detected...fzzt…F deck…fzzt…heading…fzzt...port hatch."

"Stop it now! I want every hatch off this ship sealed! Lower the bulkheads now! What about the other units?"

"Still following….fzzt…orders?"

Chen thought for a moment and then nodded to himself.

"Prepare ship for disengagement. Bring the ion cannons online and prep for full battle mode."

"Confirmed."

The screen fizzled out and Chen looked back around the room. He gave an angry growl and then left the room, pushing past his men as they were standing up.

-----------------------------------------

Sally came to an abrupt stop as a large metal door slammed down in front of her.

"Nuts!" she cried flying back a few feet.

"They're definitely onto us." said Jet.

"Well no freaking way Mr Intelligent." replied Alicia.

"Now kids don't argue, I've got it covered, both of you let go."

Alicia and Jet quickly let go of the suit and stepped backwards. Sally swung the right leg of the suit back and brought her rifle up to bare on the door. It hummed sharply and erupted, the shot striking the door with a massive flash. As the glare faded they all stood completely shocked, the door wasn't even dented.

"Not good." said Alicia.

"Well no la di da!" replied Jet.

Sally just frowned at them, and then looked back at the door. This was definitely not good, how were they going to get through that door? Bingo! Sally ran her hand along the control pad causing several lights to blink. Until now she had not used her rocket pod much and was now glad of it. The pod had absorbed enough matter to form three rockets in quick succession and if that didn't brake the door she didn't know what would. As the pod folded down over her left shoulder she spoke to the children.

"Better take cover kids, this could get messy."

Jet and Alicia both nodded and took cover behind round a corridor intersection. Sally watched them for a moment and then turned to face the door. No-one had arrived yet but she wasn't about to wait around for them. Her Eye now had a target lock on the door and Sally braced herself for the oncoming explosion.

"Fire in the hold!" she cried.

A flare of light erupted from the back of Sally's missile pod as the missile shot from it. Striking the door in a massive explosion it was not a second before the second missile was created inside the pod and was fired. This was quickly followed by a third and followed the second one to its target. The explosion virtually knocked Sally over but the missiles did their job, smashing the entire door to pieces. As fragments fell all around her and the smoke began to clear, Jet and Alicia stepped out of their hiding place and walked forward.

"Boy mom, you certainly know how to redecorate." stated Alicia.

"Shouldn't we save the jokes for later?" said Jet.

"You're right Jet, let's get moving, the air lock isn't far." replied Sally.

Sally extended her suit arms and Jet and Alicia once again took a hold. The suit took off, heading through the broken shutter and along the next corridor. Quite suddenly Sally came to an abrupt stop and landed.

"We're here."

Jet and Alicia let go and looked around. In front of them was a large circular door with a small glass window in it. Jet suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, he knew what this type of door was and he had bad memories of it.

"An…air lock?" he asked slowly.

"Yes Jet, it's the only way off this ship." replied Sally.

"What about the connection tunnel?"

"Once I was aboard Chalk severed it. This is the only way now."

"But…but our suits! What about those?"

"They're on the ring Jet. You'll have to hang onto my suit."

Jet had now backed up and was pressed against the back wall. His eyes were fixed on the air lock and shook with fear.

"No…no I can't. I can't go in there." he said slowly.

"Jet either we go in there or we wait around here to be captured! What do you prefer?" urged Sally.

"I don't care…I can't go in there. I just can't." whimpered Jet, "I don't want to be alone in the dark again."

"But Jet…you won't." said Alicia calmly stepping up and taking a hold of one of his hands, "You'll never be alone again."

Sally looked puzzlingly at Alicia, what did she mean? What had been going on in her absence? She looked back at the pair to find them looking into each others eyes. Neither was moving and they hardly looked like they were breathing. It was almost as if time was standing still for them. Sally continued to watch and slowly Jet's fur started to lie flat again. His shaking eyes stopped shaking and his breathing returned to a fairly normal rate. Alicia still had a firm grip of his hand and gradually she coaxed Jet towards the air lock.

"We're ready." she said.

Sally just nodded and pressed a few controls by the airlock. The outer door gave a hiss and swung open, revealing the chamber inside. Alicia could feel Jet's hand tighten around her own but she squeezed back reassuringly. Slowly the pair stepped into the airlock followed by Sally who quickly activated her suits atmospheric bubble. As she did the inner hatch slammed close and Jet physically jumped. He turned quickly and threw his arms around Alicia, pulling her into a tight embrace. Alicia could feel the cat shaking as she hugged him.

"I don't wanna die Alicia." he said starting to sniff.

"Jet it's ok, you won't. Sally's here and she won't allow it." she replied.

Alicia pulled herself closer and whispered in his ear softly.

"I won't allow it."

Alicia felt Jet's hold on her tighten slightly at her words.

"Thank you Alicia." he replied softly his tail flicking behind her and wrapping round Alicia's tail.

"Ok you two ready?" said Sally breaking the moment, "Come here."

Alicia and Jet looked round at Sally. She had her arms spread wide as if she was going to hug them, in fact this was exactly right. As they stepped towards her she stepped towards them and flung her arms round them, pulling them both close to her.

"Let's go." she said.

Seconds later three red lights lit up on the display beside her and the outer door slid open. Space flooded in and Jet shut his eyes tight, holding his breath as she did.

"Angel two launching!" cried Sally engaging her thrusters.

The suit's motors flared and sent the three hurtling from the air lock like a giant flare. As they left the radio crackled into life.

"Sally?!" cried Sonic panicked voice.

"I'm here Sonic and feeling fine." replied Sally.

"What about the kids?"

"I'm here too dad, Jet too." replied Alicia.

"Thank god, I'm so glad you three are ok."

"What do we do next?" asked Chalk.

"Simple we finish what we came here to do." replied Sally.

"Destroy the Phantom? That might be easier said than done." replied Sonic.

"Yes a lot easier said than done." said a voice.

"Huh?!" cried Chalk.

"Who's that?" asked Sonic.

"Chen!" growled Sally.

"The ever observant queen strikes home again." replied Chen, "You're comm channel was not difficult to hack, you ought to get a better radio."

"Chen? Wasn't he the guy…" started Sonic before fading out.

"Yes Sonic he was." replied Sally.

"Correct, you escaped me that time and have done the same again this time but I'm afraid you're luck has run out. Behold the full power of the Phantom 2."

The comm went quiet and everyone waited for a moment. Slowly they all looked back towards the Phantom and watched. The huge clamps holding the Phantom inside the port were slowly disengaging from the ship. As the last of the clamps broke free of the hull the entire port gave a shudder and one side of it broke apart throwing fragments off into space. The other side of the port slowly fell away as several thrusters on the side of the Phantom ignited and pushed it away. The full form of the Phantom came into view. It was long and slender, pointed at the front and blocky towards the front. The ship basically looked like a giant cone in its shape but as they continued to watch several long web like struts extended from the side of the ship forming a giant set of sails on both side of the ship. As they continued to watch the front of the ship opened up to reveal two very large cannons. The sails started to glow a dull green colour as sparks started to fly around the tips of the guns.

"This is not good!" said Chalk.

"Everyone break formation and evade. Sally get those two out of here! You can't do anything with them in your arms." ordered Sonic.

"Got it Sonic." replied Sally.

Sally turned her suit towards the ring and started to head towards it. If she could get the kids back there she could get their suits back and then they'd fair up better. Sonic and Chalk immediately split and headed in opposite directions firing everything they had at the Phantom. The huge ship replied by firing everything it had at them as it turned to follow Sally. The huge cannons on the front of the ship started to glow brighter and brighter, the charge building steadily on the tip.

"Sally look out!" cried Sonic into the radio.

Sally looked over her shoulder just in time to see the ship fire. A twin beam of energy flew across the darkness towards her making her bank heavily. She evaded the shots but the immense amount of energy hurtling past her caused the suits power source to over load. With a bang her rifle exploded sending her spinning off to one side. At the same time the engines in her boots spluttered and cut out. The combined effect of this sent her spinning off to one side and threw Jet and Alicia from her grip. The pair, still holding onto each other, flew from the protective bubble and into space. Jet immediately tried to cry out, releasing what air he had and causing him to panic even more. He tried to cry to Alicia for help but she was already there. She pulled him closer and planted her lips squarely on his. Forcing his mouth open slightly she exhaled, sharing her air with him. Jet in turn pulled her closer and tightened his grip on her.

"I'll never let go Jet." thought Alicia.

"Thank you Alicia, for everything." thought Jet.

Sally meanwhile was going ecstatic. Without her boot thrusters her suit was responding sluggishly and she couldn't really move in a chosen direction, she had no control at all.

"Alicia! Jet!" she screamed tears quickly coming to her eyes.

"Sally! Are you alright?!" cried Sonic.

"Yes but…"

"Oh god!" interrupted Chalk.

All three of them had now spotted Jet and Alicia, wrapped in each others arms, floating off into space. Sonic immediately opened his thrusters and shot after them but he was a long way off and constant shots from the Phantom were stopping his progress. Sally was now trying desperately to regain control of her suit.

"Come on you piece of shit! Dammit work! Nicole? Nicole can you hear me?!" she cried.

The computer just made a few random bleeps in response. The energy of the beams had fired many of Nicole's systems rendering her out of it. Glancing back she caught sight of the Phantom turning in her direction. The two large cannons were once again glowing and she quickly turned back to her controls trying to get them to do something. Sonic couldn't believe what was happening. To come this far and fall at the last hurdle, no it couldn't be, there had to be a way. Just then he remembered something he had discussed with Silvia what seemed like a lifetime ago. A certain button on his control pad marked "WC".

"The Wing Cannon!" he said slowly to himself.

"What Sonic?" said Chalk, "You got an idea or something?"

"Might do Chalk, stand by, I need to try this out."

Sonic looked back towards the console, his finger hovering over the button. Silvia's words came back to him, "I haven't told you about it because I don't want you to use it, it's too risky. As you asked about it I told you about it, but promise me you won't use it. For all we know it could blow up in your face."

"Blow up in my face…but it's our only shot. CHALK!"

"Here Sonic." replied Chalk.

"Get out of here, go! Help Sally and the children."

"What?!" cried Chalk.

"Sonic?" came Sally's voice.

"I mean it! Go now!"

"Sonic…"

"Dammit! NOW! I don't want to tell you again! Go now!"

Sonic's voice was shaky and nervous but full of authority. Sally and Chalk both knew what Sonic was saying. It would only end one of two ways for him, total victory or total defeat. With a heavy heart and enough hesitation to fill a space port Chalk turned and engaged her thrusters, flying off towards Jet and Alicia.

"Good luck Sonic." said Sally softly before Sonic switched his radio off.

Turning to face the oncoming ship he sneered.

"Ok you human scum this is endgame! You and me! Let's see how good Silvia's Wing Cannon really is."

With that he pushed the small red button on his console. With a shake the suit around him began to move. The wings both shook and moved upwards, the left one spinning round so that it was facing in front of him. A crack appeared along the end of the wing and the sides split off revealing the inner structure of the wing. A long cylindrical cannon was easily visible. A number of small antenna like devices extended from the barrel and the entire thing began to hum softly. At the same time the right hand wing swung up behind him, splitting into three slightly as it locked into position in a fan like shape behind him. Sonic was quite amazed by the transformation but didn't have time to ogle at it. The Phantom was still firing in his direction and without the wings to help him he had to rely on his boots. As the shots came in he slowly dodged them but with the oncoming barrage he had no hope of aiming or firing.

"Dammit! I need a distraction! Anything!" he cursed.

"You call Sonic?" said a voice.

"Huh? Who's that?"

Sonic recognised the voice but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"Who's this? You don't recognise a member of your group when they show up?"

This time Sonic recognised it, he couldn't believe it for a moment.

"Andrew?!" he cried.

"The one and only!" replied the human, "Heads up Sonic we have incoming."

Sonic's HUD display blinked at him causing him to turn his head. A fine white streak of light was visible to one side as something dropped out of star drive. His Eye quickly zoomed in on the target and labelled it in green with its own ID tag. Sonic was amazed.

"Angel six!" he said.

"Not only me Sonic, the Calvary is here." replied Andrew.

Just then three more white streaks appeared in the blackness but Sonic didn't need his Eye to zoom in on them, the objects were clearly visible without the need for that. Three large Coalition frigates slowed and pulled alongside the Phantom. The barrage of fire suddenly stopped as if the ship was trying to figure out what was going on. Seconds later the frigates opened fire, multiple energy shells striking the side of the Phantom creating massive explosions along its length. The Phantom soon opened fire again itself, spraying the frigates with fire, but for now seemed to have forgotten about Sonic.

"If you're going to do something you better do it now!" cried Andrew.

Just then a huge explosion ripped across the hull of one of the three frigates. Armour plating went everywhere and the ship veered of steeply to one side, obviously out of control. They had come to help him even though they knew they couldn't stop the Phantom. Sonic quickly swung the large cannon around and pointed it at the Phantom.

"Ok let's see here, Wing Cannon is online and…ah ha! Firing control right here….the charge is….at zero. Dammit, how do I charge this thing?!"

Sonic looked all over the console but saw nothing. Out of desperation he pressed the red button again. Almost instantly a targeting cursor lit up on his HUD and a charge bar flashed up on the console. Glancing over his shoulder he saw the wing's behind him were now starting to glow. The charge soon passed fifty percent and the fan behind him gave a spark moments before a huge circular disk of energy flared behind him. As the charge grew so did the brightness of the disk until finally it reached one hundred percent. Sonic glanced back at the Phantom as a small targeting symbol turned red over it.

"Ok then, let's see how tough you really are!"

With that he pressed the trigger. The disc behind him gave a flash and suddenly sunk into the fan and then all went silent. A point of light appeared at the tip of the cannon and suddenly the whole thing came alive. Lights flashed all along its length and seconds later it fired, a huge swirling beam of energy heading straight for the Phantom. For a split second Sonic could imagine the look on Chen's face as he saw the beam approaching. He had never seen the man but had a good enough description from Sally to piece together a picture. What would he be thinking? What would his reaction be? Sonic was snapped out of his thoughts as the cannon burst struck the front of the Phantom. For a moment it appeared not to have done anything, the beam had stopped upon impact, but it soon became clear otherwise. A sudden bright explosion erupted from the impact point and a second large explosion sprung from the hull further along the ship as the beam left it. The energy had ripped straight through the Phantom's hull as if it was nothing and now other smaller explosions were erupting from the hull. The frigates continued their barrage of fire although it looked like they were now trying to gain some distance. Shots impacted the ship from all sides, tearing into its armour and causing even more explosions along its length.

-----------------------------------------

"Report!" cried Chen.

"Sir we've got an unstable reading in the forward weapons array."

"What?!"

"That cannon blast sir, it's disrupted the charging sequence for the main cannons."

"Disrupted the….oh god! Eject the reactor core!"

"Ejection subsystems are gone sir. We've suffered heavy damage on all sides, ships systems are failing all over. Reactor temperature at seventeen thousand Kelvin."

"It's going to breach! Everyone abandon ship!"

"Sir it's too late!"

Chen looked out of the main viewing window. A faint prick of light was now visible on the nose of the ship. As he watched the prick became a burst and the burst an explosion.

"Seems we took our furry opponents too lightly again…" he murmured to himself.

-----------------------------------------

Sonic had to shield his eyes as in a massive flash of light the Phantom vanished in a huge explosion. Debris was thrown off everywhere, some of it narrowly missing him. One of the frigates was caught in the blast but was not destroyed although it would need some serious work doing on it afterwards. Looking back Sonic watched the pieces of the Phantom float outwards slowly as the explosion died.

"Woah!" he exclaimed slowly.

"That is one mighty fine cannon Sonic." replied Andrew.

"Thanks but what are you doing here?"

"There'll be time for that later, right now I think you have another matter to deal with."

"The kids!"

-----------------------------------------

Chalk reached the pair mere seconds after Sonic had yelled at them. Scooping them up she tried to shake them awake but to no avail. Sally had regained some control now and had flown up beside her.

"Chalk!" she cried, "Are they…?"

"Don't know Sally, they need air." replied Chalk.

"The ring! Get to the ring."

"But that's enemy territory."

"I don't care! Go Chalk, get them to a safe place! Now!"

Chalk could tell how upset Sally was, it was plain in her voice without having to look at her expression. Chalk didn't argue and simply turned and flew towards the ring. Sally followed on close behind repeating the same word over and over, no. As they flew they felt the light from the explosion behind them. Chalk glanced over her shoulder as they flew.

"Mission accomplished Sally." she said slowly.

"No Chalk, not mission accomplished. It'll never be mission accomplished until those two are safe again. Can't these things go any faster?!" replied Sally tears now forming in her eyes.

Chalk didn't reply, she didn't know how to answer Sally right now. She looked down at the two children in her arms. Their grip had relaxed now and a pale whitey blue colour filled their faces. It didn't look like Jet and Alicia at all, it looked more like a set of stuffed dummies, lifeless and limp in her arms. She began to wonder if they would be too late, would they make it in time?

"Come on, come on." she started to chant to herself as they drew nearer.

The ring was still offline thanks to Sally's EMP and the huge hanger was clearly visible. The space doors were open, leaving only the force field to keep space out. Chalk wasted no time and headed straight for the opening. Flying in like a madman she came to a sharp stop and fell to her knees, dropping Jet and Alicia to the ground as she did. Sally wasn't too far behind, landing in a crumpled pile on the hanger floor. She quickly disengaged herself from the suit and jumped to the floor, collapsing to her knees and crawling over to where Jet and Alicia were. She took a hold of both of them and shook them sharply.

"Come on you two! Come on don't give up now! Please!" she cried.

She bent double over Alicia and planted her lips squarely on her daughters. Exhaling sharply she pulled back and looked at her. There was no response from the squirrel, her eyes were distant and slightly frozen from the cold and her face had gone a light blue colour like a frozen lake. Sally squeezed her eyes tight, forcing her tears away, and shook her daughter once more.

"Alicia no…" she whimpered, "Don't leave…please."

"Sally, Jet!" cried Chalk behind her.

Sally had almost forgotten about the cat, her grief for her daughter had taken over her mind. She quickly spun round and shook Jet, trying to stir him, but like Alicia he looked blue and lifeless. Sally couldn't believe it, after all she had done and gone threw to fail now.

"No, dammit no! Don't you even think about it!" she screamed.

Raising her hand she slapped Alicia around the cheek hard. The strike left a perfect imprint of her hand in red but slowly the blue colour began to return. Sally growled and shook Alicia again. Leaning over she began to breathe into her again combining it with heart pumps as she went.

"Come on Alicia! Come on! I'm not giving up on you so don't you dare give up on me. Come on!"

"Ok don't move!"

Sally looked up slowly to see a group of soldiers standing around her. They were all pointing their weapons directly at her and a few other had Chalk covered also. Sally felt her anger starting to boil.

"Are you blind?!" she screamed tears now streaming from her eyes, "Shut up and leave us alone dammit!"

"Not a chance, now on your feet."

Sally slowly stood, her entire coat bristling like it was electrified. She took a step forwards and then sprung at the human soldier, knocking him cleanly to the ground with a powerful punch to the face. Sally made no move to back down as she stood over the fallen human. All the other soldiers were now watching with interest and were making no move to interfere.

"Don't you have one feeling in your entire body?!" screamed Sally, "My daughter and her friend are…no! No they're not dead! Never!"

Sally turned quickly and fell to her knees next to Alicia again. She pounded on her chest a few times and then resumed her CPR.

"Come on girl, come on." she said as she resumed her chanting.

The soldier slowly started to pick himself up, rubbing his bruised chin.

"Damn furries! I said hands up." he said.

"Somehow I think you'll be the one putting your hands up." said a new voice.

Sally and Chalk immediately glanced round and gasped.

"Andrew?!" they cried completely astonished.

They watched as an objects curved into view and then headed straight for the hanger. With a thud it slowed and came to rest on the deck plating. Sally and Chalk continued to look astounded at the sight. It was Andrew, and not only that but he was piloting an Angel suit! The suits looked just like theirs but its weapons consisted of four large tubular pods mounted one above and below of each arm. Out of each pod stuck two large guns which were now being aimed at the soldiers.

"Hand up everyone." he said slowly.

"Ha! You think one of you can take us all?" retorted the soldier.

"No but maybe two can." said Sonic's voice as his suit landed with a thud next to Andrew's.

Sonic's suit looked like it had seen better days. It was charred black in various places and the left wing looked like it had been torn apart but amazing the thrusters still appeared to be working. Sonic soon had his own beam rifles trained on the soldiers and, seeing the possibility of defeat, they decided to back down and put their weapons on the ground.

"I'll leave the covering to you and Chalk Andrew." said Sonic.

"Got it." replied Andrew not taking his eyes off the soldiers for a moment.

Chalk stepped up beside him, her particle cannon now fully active and humming as if to make a point, as Sonic disengaged from his own suit and ran to Sally's side.

"Sally how are…oh god!" he said.

"Sonic!"

Sally stood up and flung her arms around Sonic, bursting into floods of tears as she did.

"Sonic they're…they're….and it's all my fault! I let go of them." she cried.

"Sally it's not you're fault, and if I can help it I'm not going to let them die!" replied Sonic breaking away from Sally.

He got to his knees next to Jet and started to rub him all over, trying to get the circulation back. Checking his pulse he found a very weak one after a good few seconds of searching.

"He's alive Sally! Dammit Jet's alive!" he cried almost going ecstatic.

"What?! Then maybe…"

Sally crumpled next to Alicia and scrambled to find her pulse. In all this time she hadn't checked for her pulse, how could she forget such a simple thing? She checked a few places before she finally found a faint thumping feeling. Her eyes went wide as if she had just been given the best thing in the world, in a way she had her daughter was still alive.

"Alicia too Sonic! She's still with us!" cried Sally more tears flowing down her face.

"Get to it Sally." replied Sonic as he started CPR on Jet.

Sally didn't need to be told again and renewed her earlier activities with new found strength. Slowly over the next few minutes she began to notice a slight change in colour of Alicia's face. The blue colour was slowly fading and going a white colour. Sally's breathing was now coming in short sharp gasp as she continued and much the same was happening to Sonic. He didn't really know Jet as well as he would like too, granted he wasn't part of the family but then the group on Little Planet was like a family anyway, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let the kid die. Not here in this situation. Sonic now wished he had taken his cape with him, he could have used it to warm Jet up but as he hadn't he didn't want to worry about it and continued to rub Jet with his hands. The cat was now starting to regain a bit of colour in his cheeks but Sonic was getting tired. He had no idea how much longer he'd have to do this but he wasn't going to stop until he collapsed. He leaned over to give Jet a few breathes and then suddenly stopped. He could feel a small rustle of air brushing against his cheek and as he leaned closer to Jet he found it was coming from him. Sonic almost cried out in joy, Jet was breathing again all be it very faintly. He sat up and looked at Sally.

"Sally?" he asked.

Sally looked back at him, her face still full of fear and panic.

"I think she's breathing Sonic but I'm not too sure." she replied going back to her work.

Sonic looked over at Andrew and Jet and shouted.

"Dammit where are those transports? We need an evac now!"