Chapter 3 – A Rise To Power
Tails touched the Tornado 2 down on the runway just outside Mobotropolis. He taxied into a hanger and jumped out. Bunnie was there to meet him.
"Hi there sugah fox." she called.
"Hi Bunnie. Any news on Sonic." he asked as he removed his flying helmet.
"'Fraid not sugah. Sally girl is really worried now."
"I bet. How long has it been?"
"Two days. He's been missing two days."
Bunnie wiped away a tear.
"I'm sure he's alright." said Tails.
Tails and Bunnie walked off the airfield and headed for the palace.
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Knuckles was in trouble. He had made it to the mainland but was now in too much pain to continue gliding. He had landed, well crashed, a few miles in land and had spent the rest of the time clawing his way through the forest between the coast and Mobotropolis. He had been able to bandage up most of his cuts with bits of twigs and brush but was still weak. He just hoped he could get to Mobotropolis in time to warn them.
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Sally was now quite flustered. She was running around the palace with a worried look on her face snapping at anyone who got in her way. She was worried sick. Even when Sonic was younger he always told her where he was going before he took off. He never just disappeared. She was pacing up and down the throne room when Tails and Bunnie came in.
"Oh Tails. Good to see you."
"Yeah. Look I'll take the Tornado out as soon she is fuelled up again and look for him."
"Thanks Tails. I wish Knuckles would hurry back though."
"Where did he go?" asked Tails.
"He all went back to that Floating Island of his to get Espio." replied Bunnie.
"But he should have been back last night. I hope something hasn't happened to him too." said Sally getting flustered again as she resumed her pacing.
"I better get back to the airfield." said Tails and left.
Bunnie went over to Sally and put an arm around her. She handed her a tissue.
"Thanks Bunnie." said Sally taking the tissue, "I hope he's ok."
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"We are ready to precede my lord." said Sonic.
"Excellent. Make ready to lift off." replied Sarath.
"Yes my lord." said Sonic.
The small craft that Sarath had arrived in slowly rose into the air. Inside were Sarath, Sonic, Espio and the Master and Chaos Emeralds.
"Activate portal sequence." commanded Sarath.
"Activating." said Espio.
He pressed a control. There was a hum and a large cannon like device appeared from the bottom of the ship.
"Portal cannon in position my lord." said Sonic.
"Good. Activate it."
Sonic pressed another control. The Master Emerald behind them glowed and a steady stream of energy started to flow into the cannon.
"It will take thirty minutes to charge my lord." said Sonic.
"Very well. Inform me when we are ready." said Sarath and he walked away.
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Tails flew low over the forested area to the west of Mobotropolis. He was looking for any sign of Sonic but also Knuckles. He switched on the new heat detector he had installed in the plane. A green display lit up on the console. The display showed up heat as little red dots but it was designed not to pick up wildlife or heat signatures as small as that. The plane approached the coast and he banked the plane round to have a final check of the forest. He flew on for a fair while before the sensor blipped. Tails glanced at the display. It showed a small red signature a few miles to the north. He banked the plane to investigate. He glanced around looking for a place to land but couldn't find anywhere large enough.
"Time to test the new landing mode." said Tails to himself as he pressed a button.
The Tornado's engine rocked and the then suddenly rotated through 90 degrees so they pointed downwards. Tails started to decrease the thrust and the Tornado 2 slowly sunk down into the forest.
The plane landed and Tails took a final look at the heat radar. He jumped out and headed in the direction of the source. He walked for a few minutes until he came to the area. He couldn't believe his eyes. There was Knuckles lying on the ground looking pretty battered up. Tails ran to his side.
"Knuckles! Knuckles! Are you alright?"
Knuckles groaned in response.
"Hold on a sec." said Tails.
He quickly ran back to the Tornado 2 and took out a small med kit from the cockpit. He ran back to Knuckles. He had now managed to lift his head up.
"Hey Tails." he said feebly.
"Don't talk Knuckles. Just let me see to you."
Tails quickly checked Knuckles over. Though it looked bad it wasn't really. He had a number of cuts and bruises but he was mostly ok. Tails quickly cleaned him up and gave him some painkillers. Knuckles started to come round more.
"I have to get you back to Mobotropolis." said Tails helping Knuckles to his feet.
He led Knuckles back to the Tornado and helped him into the passenger seat he had installed in the plane. He leapt into the pilot seat and took off.
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"Portal systems at full strength my lord." said Sonic to Sarath over the comm.
"Very good. Start the procedure. Target following co-ordinates." came a reply.
Sonic looked at the display and smiled as the co-ordinates appeared. For the portal to open it required a mass equally to the energy needed to open it. Sonic looked out of the command deck window at the Floating Island. Too bad he thought. He pressed a control and the ship turned to face the island.
"Espio if you please." said Sonic.
"Of course." replied Espio and pressed a few controls on his console.
The Master Emerald glowed brightly as its remaining energy was drained. Outside the cannon like structure on the ship lit up. It glowed a dark green as it made ready to fire. The cannon exploded in a massive beam of dark green energy. It shot towards the Floating Island and stopped a little way from it. The energy built and then the cannon shut off. The discharged energy suddenly flashed yellow and began to spin in a giant sphere. The sphere began to grow slowly approaching the island. A few seconds later it struck the island. The area it struck disintegrated in a split second. After a few more seconds the sphere glowed a deep orange and then expanded encasing the entire island before shrinking down to a pin prick size taking the island with it.
Sonic watched on as the Floating Island was completely destroyed. He continued to watch as the prick slowly began to grow again to form a large purple portal where the Floating Island had once been. Sarath appeared on the bridge.
"Hmm……very good. Signal the battle group!"
"Yes sir." said Espio turning to the comm panel.
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Tails flew over Mobotropolis with the afterburners blaring. There was no time to land on the runway because if what Knuckles had told him was true then they were all in trouble. He flew low over the city and cut the afterburners. The Tornado 2 was fast approaching the palace now. Tails quickly activated the vertical landing jets and descended into the Royal Gardens leaving a huge scorch mark on the grass. He quickly opened the canopy and leapt out. He turned to help Knuckles down as Sally, Bunnie and Sir Charles came running up.
"Tails?! What are you doing?!" screamed Sally before she saw Knuckles, "OH MY! What happened?!"
"Oh ma stars! You ok sugah?" said Bunnie to Knuckles.
Knuckles grunted painfully and said nothing else.
"He's ok. Just a lot of pain." said Tails, "We got trouble."
He quickly explained what Knuckles had seen at the Floating Island.
"Wha….what do you mean by this?" stammered Sally.
"I'm not sure. I know as much as you guys. But it looks like Sonic has betrayed us." replied Tails sadly.
"No! That's not true! It can't be!" screamed Sally, "There has to be another explanation."
"What do you think that light Knuckles was nearly hit by was?" asked Bunnie.
"Hmm…I've been thinking about that. It sure seems strange." said Charles, "Tails."
"Yes."
"I think you should go back to the Floating Island and find out what's going on." said Charles.
"Hmm….good idea." said Tails turning towards the Tornado 2, "I'll be back before you know it."
"Be careful Tails." said Sally.
"I will."
Tails turned and made for the Tornado 2. The others watched as Tails took off and flew away.
"So what now?" asked Bunnie.
"I don't know Bunnie. There is nothing we can do until we know what's going on." replied Sally.
"I'll go and power up the old city defences. We might need them." said Charles.
Sally's eyes filled with fear.
"You…..you…you don't think we'll need them do you?" she said.
"I hope not but it is better to be safe than sorry." said Charles and turned left.
Sally watched him leave. She couldn't believe what was happening it was all too much. She fell on Bunnie with a sob.
"Oh Bunnie. What's going on?" she said.
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Tails kicked in the afterburners as the Tornado 2 shot off the western coast of the continent and headed for the Floating Island. The recent events were running through his mind like fury. Who was this Sarath? What was wrong with Sonic and Espio? What was the light that had come from Sarath's amulet? He shook his head. He needed to find out. About an hour later he was approaching the area of the Floating Island. Tails flew above the cloud looking puzzled. Where was it? The Floating Island was usually right here. He flew a bit lower below the clouds and was shocked at the sight. Where the Floating Island should have been was this deep purple circle of light. It looked like some kind of vortex. In front of it hovered a small craft. Tails flew in for a closer look.
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"My lord, we have an object approaching." said Sonic.
"Tell the battle group to proceed." said Sarath.
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The Tornado 2 flew in and shot past the small craft letting Tails get some sensor readings. Sonic and Espio were definitely aboard along with some other people. He didn't have time to investigate further though as a large missile flew past him narrowly missing the port wing. Tails spun to see where it had come from. His face fell. Coming out of the portal was a large warship of some kind. It was at least half a mile long and had hundreds of missile pods mounted on the side. On the top there were several very large and powerful looking cannons. Tails watched as it emerged followed by another and another. Eventually ten of the things sat there in front of the portal. Tails screamed as a volley of missile shot towards him. He quickly spun the Tornado 2 and banked sharply as the missiles shot past him and fell into the ocean.
"Alright you wanna play rough huh?!" growled Tails, "Try this!"
He pressed a button. The Tornado 2 suddenly changed shape. The double wings folded together to made one and four missile racks folded out of each one. The engines folded away to be replaced by a large rocket booster on the bottom and the tail fins folded into an x shape. On the nose four laser batteries folded out.
"OK! HAVE SOME OF THIS!" screamed Tails depressing the fire button.
Two racks of missiles fired sending four missiles screaming towards one of the ships. They all hit there mark blowing a huge hole in the hull. The other ships opened fire again sending another volley of missiles his way. He dodged them easily and fired again sending another four missiles into the same ship hitting the same spot. The ship suddenly erupted in a huge fireball, split in two and fell into the ocean miles below.
"Alright!" said Tails and started to fire with the laser guns on the nose.
It was then he noticed one of the ships powering up one of the cannons mounted on the top of it.
"Oh no you don't!" he said and launched his remaining racks of missiles at the ship.
Most of the missiles hit the hull but two of them hit the charge that was building on the cannon. This caused a massive explosion that vaporised the ship and sent another two next to it crashing into the ocean where they exploded.
"That's four down." said Tails to himself as he watched the two ships hit the ocean and explode. That was a critical mistake.
He looked up just in time to see another volley of missiles approach him. They were too close to dodge. Tails screamed and shut his eyes. Most of the missiles missed but two hit the plane, tearing off part of the port wing and sending the Tornado 2 plummeting towards the ocean.
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"We have hit him." said Sonic.
Sarath only growled, "That blasted plane still took out four of my battleships!"
He slammed his fists down on the console.
"Set course for Mobotropolis." he snarled and walked off.
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Tails shook himself awake to see himself falling towards the ocean. He screamed and pulled back hard on the joystick. The plane didn't respond. He looked at the port wing. Most of it had been blow away and oil and hydraulic fluid was leaking from it. He quickly shut off the pumps to the left wing and the leaking stopped. He looked down. The plane was now only a few short seconds from crashing into the ocean. He looked at the gauges in front of him.
"I hope this still works." he said as he pressed a button.
The Tornado 2 quickly shifted back into its normal mode and the engines started up. Tails pulled back as hard as he could and hit the afterburners. The plane shot towards the ocean and then slowly started to pull up but not quick enough. The plane hit the ocean belly first ripping off the starboard engine and virtually flipping the Tornado 2 over onto its top. Tails held it together and finally got the Tornado to rise out of the ocean and fly a few feet above it. He sighed heavily and looked at the console. Virtually every dial had gone red. He had a fire in the starboard engine, the port one had only 10% of its fuel left, the port wing controls were not responding and the console itself looked like it was going to explode. Tails pulled back as much as the controls would allow him and he managed to get a bit more altitude. He slowly turned the plane and headed for Mobotropolis.
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"When is dad coming back?" asked Alicia quietly.
Sally turned to look at her. In all her panic about Sonic she had nearly forgotten about her children. Alicia and Miles stood there looking a bit sad and worried. Sally knelt down beside them.
"Soon I hope." she said comfortingly.
"Where did he go?" asked Miles.
Sally closed her eyes for a second. How should she answer this?
"He went away for some time by himself. He will be back soon."
"But where did he go?" asked Alicia.
"Now don't you worry about that." said Sally, "He's ok. Now you two go outside and play."
Alicia and Miles slowly walked outside followed by Sally. She sat down on a bench and closed her eyes. Everything was going wrong.
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"Ok try that." said Rotor.
Charles flicked a switch and the machinery started to hum.
"Alright Rotor." said Charles, "It's working."
Rotor rolled out from under a console and smiled.
"I can fix anything."
"Well at least the city shields are working now. I just hope we don't need them."
"Me too. But as you said better safe than sorry."
"You're right. Come on lets get back to the palace."
Rotor and Charles left and made there way back to the palace.
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Sally was awakened by a loud roar. She shot upright in her seat. She had fallen asleep in the Royal Gardens. Miles and Alicia had run over to her at the sound.
"Mother? What is that sound?" asked Alicia nervously.
"I don't know sweetie. It sounds like a jet engine."
Just then the sound grew louder and a blue dot flew over head leaving a trail of flames and smoke behind it. Sally knew what it was.
"Oh no! Tails!" she screamed leaping from her seat.
Alicia started to cry.
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Tails was in trouble. He had just reached Mobotropolis but didn't have the fuel and power to land. The entire rear of the plane was now on fire and the controls had frozen solid. He could do nothing as the plane started to fall from the sky towards the small wooded area on the east side of the city. He pulled the ejector seat handle but nothing happened. He pulled it again, still nothing. All the hydraulic fluid had now been lost from the plane and the ejector systems wouldn't fire without hydraulic pressure. Tails released his straps and stood up in the cockpit. He bashed his shoulder against the cockpit lid trying to get it to move. It didn't and he hit it again. He tried the emergency release but it was jammed. He picked up a spanner from under the seat and hit the lock. Nothing happened and he looked out of the cockpit to see the trees approaching.
"Come on you stupid thing!" screamed Tails as he bashed the release again.
It creaked and with a jolt the canopy released. Tails launched himself out of the plane and quickly spun his tails to avoid hitting a tree. He spun round to see the Tornado 2 crashing into the forest and exploded in a huge orange fireball. He turned and landed on the ground. He dropped to his knees. He was exhausted and terrified. He looked up at the sky and howled.
"TAILS?! It that you?!" said a voice.
Tails looked to his left as Sally, Bunnie and Charles came into view.
"Oh ma stars sugah fox." cried Bunnie as she ran to Tails.
She picked him up and gave him a hug.
"You ok sugah?" she asked.
"I'm……..ok." said Tails slowly, "But we have problems."
He turned to Charles.
"Are the city shields online?!" he asked quickly.
"Yes they are ready." said Charles.
"Raise them! NOW! For the love of god! RAISE THEM!" he cried.
"What's wrong?!"
"Sarath! He has a battle fleet! Six huge ships! We must get the city ready!"
Sally and Bunnies face hit the floor.
"Ah…….ah……..ah…….ah WHAT!" cried Bunnie.
"Quickly. There is no time to waste." cried Tails as he charged off at a run back towards the city.
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"All systems at full power." said Rotor.
"OK raising shielding grid." replied Charles as he pressed a button.
Around the city several hatchways opened in the ground and out of each came a small cylindrical object. They opened up to reveal a large dish and several aerials. The dish glowed and then all of them erupted sending a beam of energy into the air. The beam stopped a few hundred meters up and then expanded outwards joining the other beams from the other generators creating a large dome over the city.
"Shields operating at 100% efficiency." said Rotor.
"Good. Activate the defence batteries. If Tails is correct we are going to need them."
"Check that."
Rotor pressed another control. Outside a series of hatches open to reveal a selection of missile pods, laser cannons and interceptor cannons.
"All defence systems have been activated." said Rotor.
"Good. I just hope it's enough."
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On Little Planet, Amy was having her own problems. She knew nothing of the events that were happening around her but she had her own. The Time Stones had continued to act funny since Tails had left but it was getting worse. If it continued Little Planet was going to disappear again. Amy was currently in the Time Stone Sanctuary with her parents trying to find out what was wrong.
"Any luck dear?" said Marian.
"No mother. I don't know what is happening. This has never happened before." said Amy nervously.
"What is wrong?" asked Patrick.
"I'm not sure on that either dad. It feels like I should know. Like it's something that has happened before but…..I don't know. I feel a strange presence. It feels familiar but I've never felt it before."
"Maybe it's something from the past. The Acolytes did have and in-built sense of sensing things." said her mother.
"Maybe. I just wish I wasn't the only one left. If I had someone to talk to it may become clearer."
"How long do you think we have before Little Planet disappears again?" asked her father.
"A few days, tops. The Time Stones are way too unstable and I haven't been able to figure out why." said Amy, a tear welling in her eye.
"What's wrong dear?" asked her mother.
"I'm just worried. Not only is this happening but Sonic has gone missing and Tails hasn't sent me any news since he left."
Amy's expression dropped and she looked at the floor.
"I hope he's alright."
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"Tails, what's going on?" asked Miles.
Tails looked down at the blue hedgehog.
"It's ok Miles. It's just a drill. Nothing to worry about." he said.
"Do you know where Sonic is?" he asked.
"He has gone off for some time on his own. Now come on we have to find your sister."
Tails led Miles down the corridor.
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"My Lord. We are approaching Mobotropolis." said Sonic.
"Good." said Sarath and looked out of the window, "What is that dome around the city?"
"It is the shielding grid. They must have been alerted to our presence." replied Sonic.
"It appears that little fox friend of yours is more resilient than we thought." said Sarath, "All ships open fire."
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"Here they come." said Rotor looking at the radar screen.
"Ready all batteries." said Charles, "They will never get through…"
"INCOMING MISSILES!" cried Rotor as the approaching ships opened fire.
"All interceptor systems fire!"
Several pods outside rose and tracked a target before sending a volley of small guided rockets into the air. The rockets all homed in on one incoming missile exploding it in the air before it reached the shield.
"Excellent!" cried Charles, "Ready the proton cannons and missile turrets. Time to fight back."
Outside several large cannons pointed upwards and targeted a ship. The tips glowed yellow and then erupted in a large beam of energy accompanied by a volley of missiles from the pods. The beams hit a ship tearing into its armour and slicing it in two. The missiles hit another ship, rocking it to the side and causing it to catch fire.
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"Sir one of our ships has been destroyed and another is heavily damaged." said Espio.
Sarath gritted his teeth in frustration.
"My Lord. I have an idea." said Sonic.
"What?!" growled Sarath angrily.
"I was king here before my Lord arrived. I know the overrides for the defence systems." said Sonic with a smile as he pressed a button.
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"What the?!" cried Charles as he was suddenly locked out of the system.
"The overrides! They've been tripped!" said Rotor as he ran into the room.
"What?! How? The only ones who know the codes are you, me and………oh no, Sonic!"
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Sarath watched as the dome covering the city slowly faded.
"My Lord. All shielding systems are off line and the defences have been neutralised." said Sonic.
"All ships target generators and turrets. Fire!" commanded Sarath.
The remaining ships launched a pin point strike and eliminated the now vulnerable shield generators and defence turrets. The ships moved in over Mobotropolis.
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Tails watched in horror from a palace window as the shields dropped and the ships attacked. Miles and Alicia were with him and they both started crying.
"We have to get out of her kids." he said and grabbed both of their arms.
He dragged them down the corridor at a run.
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"Our ships are now in position sir." said Espio.
"Excellent. Target the palace and fire!"
The four remaining ships launched a salvo of missiles at the palace.
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Sally screamed as the palace shook from the force of the hit. Around her pieces of ceiling were collapsing and cracks were appearing in the walls. She ran. A chunk of ceiling collapsed in front of her and she jumped over it tearing her dress as she went. She didn't care about that though. All she cared about was getting out of here alive. She continued to run on. Ahead of her the doorway collapsed sending up a cloud of dust. She screeched to a halt and turned around making for a different exit. She ran back down the corridor. A large candelabrum fell from the ceiling and smashed on the floor to her side sending metal debris flying. A piece of it hit Sally in the head sending her crashing to the floor. She didn't get up.
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Tails screamed as a section of the bridge gave way in front of him. He grabbed Alicia and Miles tighter and whirled his tails, flying over the gap and landing on the other side still running. Alicia and Miles were both still crying and Tails was lost. What was he going to do? Where should he go? Then it clicked, Little Planet! He whirled his tails again and leaped off the bridge over the waterfall. He dropped a few feet before he gained sufficient speed to keep them in the air. He flew off across the city which was now in complete chaos.
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Charles opened his eyes slowly. He looked around him. He was lying on the floor of the control room. The room must have taken a direct hit. The ceiling was completely caved in and everything was smashed. He glanced around and saw Rotor lying half buried under a pile of rubble. He crawled over to him and shook him. There was no response. He checked his pulse but couldn't find one. Charles's heart sunk. This wasn't good he thought as he passed out again.