The Robotnik Complex
Chapter 22
Brian, Robert, and Sarah all walked into the hanger facing out over the entire city. The hanger door was open and a fleet of 17 helecopters were lined up for launch. "Wow, we get to use those, sir?" Brian asked Robert. He just smiled. "No, Captain, we get to ride in that!" General Robert pointed across the hanger to it's center where the floor was sliding clear of a elevator rising up through the center. Sitting on it was a blimp, or so it looked like. The 'blimp' was 150 feet long from tip to tip, 25 feet wide at it's center. Attached to each side was a 60 foot wing with twin turbine engines. "Wow..." was all Brian could say. "The helecopters are a cleanup crew. Each one holds a load of explosive that will be dropped onto the city once we are evacuated and our technicians secure the reactors inside the city. That airship is capable of holding all 300 survivors, plus 75 infantrymen and the crew of four. Ready?" A tall man in a black stealth suit walked up to them. He directly saluted Brian. "Captain, Corporal Bridges reporting to brief you on all aspects of our mission, sir!" Brian saluted the man back. "Brief me on the ship, Corporal. We have to go." He nodded. "Yes, sir. But I have been asked to give this to you sir!" The Corporal handed Brian a katana. Brian looked at General Robert for a answer. "It's a tradition in our military that all ranks Captain and above carry a sword weapon of some sort into battle. Brian grunted and clipped the katana next to his holster. "Lot of good this'll do me. I have no idea how to use one." Robbert shrugged. "Neither did I the first time. But when my gun jammed, I learned pretty goddamn quick. Captain, Corporal, Private, board the ship if you will." They all saluted him. "Yessir!" The prisoner transport landed without incident and the rear doors opened to revel a large hallway with cells on both sides. As Sally walked out of the transport, she looked left and right through a small gap around where the building and the ship almost, but not quite, meet. She could see countless other ships docked the same way around the building, whick appeared circular. Inside the transport, the front access door opened and a swat-bot shoved Bunnie into the transport and shut the door. She walked forward and met the group. "They loaded the transport wrong, I guess..." was all she said. Sally continued walking into the large hall with the others. When they were all out of the transport, a large steel door dropped from thr ceiling to block their escape. They all heard the transport take off. "Each cell will have two prisoners at the maximum. No exceptions." A metallic voice informed them as all the cell doors slid open. Sally looked suddenly amused. "They expect us to just get into the cells?!" Two guns came to life near both ends of the cells. "Comply or we will shoot." Sally looked grim again. The anger flushed her face. "You'll have to come down here and drag us into these cells! You hear me you fat fuck!" One of the guns took aim at Antoine's head and fired. As it fired, Bunnie reached her metal arm in front of his head. The bullet bounced off of her arm harmlessly. Bunnie glared at Sally and took Antoine into the nearest cell. The door to the cell shut behind them. Sally turned to look at them. "What are you doing?" Sally asked, disbelieve in her voice. Antoine looked up at her. "Living to fight another day, Sally." Sally spun to the rest of them. "And you?" Tails shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sally." He took Amy's hand and lead her into the cell next to Bunnie's. Sally spun and looked at Sonic. "I suppose your just going to roll over and die also?" Sonic just looked at her. "Sally, there is nothing we can do now...not right now..." Sally shook her head. "I'm not going in there..." The metallic voice returned. "You have 5 seconds to comply...4...3...2...1..." Brfore Sally even knew what had happened she was inside the nearest cell with Sonic. The door slid shut. She turned toward Sonic, hatred in her eyes. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Sonic just looked at her for a moment, then turned away from her and went to one of two beds inside the small cell. "Your not yourself right now. I'll talk to you in the morning...Good night Sally..." Sonic layed down. "Sonic, I hate you..." Sally said through gritted teeth. She layed down on the other bunk. "You just killed us..." She shut her eyes and went to sleep after about 15 minutes. Long after that you could still see the tears in the hedgehog's eyes. Brian was sitting next to the corporal that had talked to him on the ground earlier. The airship had lifted off an hour ago and the corporal had just finished briefing him. Brian was still confused. "Let me get this straight. You have a robotisization upgrade ready for me through tech you stole from the fat man. I recieve the upgrade, and drop into the Proteus. I distract Robotnik long enough for your tech guys to gain access to the mainframe that controls everything in the city. From there they'll shut down the reactors, issue a evac order to all Robotisized Mobians, and open the Proteus tubes. They the infantry moves in, evacuating the prisoners in the Proteus and destroying all oposition, and then we get the hell out of dodge before the helicopters drop thermite plasma over the entire city, vaporizing everything inside city limits. And all in 17 minutes, no less." Brian stopped and looked at the corporal. "Am I correct so far?" The corporal shook his head. "We also have to recover the main system board from Zik, the AI that controls Robotnik's operations over the entire planet. With that, we will have total control over all his networks. But we have a seperate team for each task. In the simulator, the entire mission took 15.35 minutes, best time." Brian looked slowly at the corporal. "And the worst time?" The corporal blushed. After a moment he answered. "...21 minutes..." Brian sat back in the seat and closed his eyes. He brought up his comm display. NOT IN RANGE OF OTHER UNITS flashed over his eyelids. He disabled the system and whispered to himself. "Don't worry guys, I'm coming for you..."
Brian, Robert, and Sarah all walked into the hanger facing out over the entire city. The hanger door was open and a fleet of 17 helecopters were lined up for launch. "Wow, we get to use those, sir?" Brian asked Robert. He just smiled. "No, Captain, we get to ride in that!" General Robert pointed across the hanger to it's center where the floor was sliding clear of a elevator rising up through the center. Sitting on it was a blimp, or so it looked like. The 'blimp' was 150 feet long from tip to tip, 25 feet wide at it's center. Attached to each side was a 60 foot wing with twin turbine engines. "Wow..." was all Brian could say. "The helecopters are a cleanup crew. Each one holds a load of explosive that will be dropped onto the city once we are evacuated and our technicians secure the reactors inside the city. That airship is capable of holding all 300 survivors, plus 75 infantrymen and the crew of four. Ready?" A tall man in a black stealth suit walked up to them. He directly saluted Brian. "Captain, Corporal Bridges reporting to brief you on all aspects of our mission, sir!" Brian saluted the man back. "Brief me on the ship, Corporal. We have to go." He nodded. "Yes, sir. But I have been asked to give this to you sir!" The Corporal handed Brian a katana. Brian looked at General Robert for a answer. "It's a tradition in our military that all ranks Captain and above carry a sword weapon of some sort into battle. Brian grunted and clipped the katana next to his holster. "Lot of good this'll do me. I have no idea how to use one." Robbert shrugged. "Neither did I the first time. But when my gun jammed, I learned pretty goddamn quick. Captain, Corporal, Private, board the ship if you will." They all saluted him. "Yessir!" The prisoner transport landed without incident and the rear doors opened to revel a large hallway with cells on both sides. As Sally walked out of the transport, she looked left and right through a small gap around where the building and the ship almost, but not quite, meet. She could see countless other ships docked the same way around the building, whick appeared circular. Inside the transport, the front access door opened and a swat-bot shoved Bunnie into the transport and shut the door. She walked forward and met the group. "They loaded the transport wrong, I guess..." was all she said. Sally continued walking into the large hall with the others. When they were all out of the transport, a large steel door dropped from thr ceiling to block their escape. They all heard the transport take off. "Each cell will have two prisoners at the maximum. No exceptions." A metallic voice informed them as all the cell doors slid open. Sally looked suddenly amused. "They expect us to just get into the cells?!" Two guns came to life near both ends of the cells. "Comply or we will shoot." Sally looked grim again. The anger flushed her face. "You'll have to come down here and drag us into these cells! You hear me you fat fuck!" One of the guns took aim at Antoine's head and fired. As it fired, Bunnie reached her metal arm in front of his head. The bullet bounced off of her arm harmlessly. Bunnie glared at Sally and took Antoine into the nearest cell. The door to the cell shut behind them. Sally turned to look at them. "What are you doing?" Sally asked, disbelieve in her voice. Antoine looked up at her. "Living to fight another day, Sally." Sally spun to the rest of them. "And you?" Tails shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sally." He took Amy's hand and lead her into the cell next to Bunnie's. Sally spun and looked at Sonic. "I suppose your just going to roll over and die also?" Sonic just looked at her. "Sally, there is nothing we can do now...not right now..." Sally shook her head. "I'm not going in there..." The metallic voice returned. "You have 5 seconds to comply...4...3...2...1..." Brfore Sally even knew what had happened she was inside the nearest cell with Sonic. The door slid shut. She turned toward Sonic, hatred in her eyes. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Sonic just looked at her for a moment, then turned away from her and went to one of two beds inside the small cell. "Your not yourself right now. I'll talk to you in the morning...Good night Sally..." Sonic layed down. "Sonic, I hate you..." Sally said through gritted teeth. She layed down on the other bunk. "You just killed us..." She shut her eyes and went to sleep after about 15 minutes. Long after that you could still see the tears in the hedgehog's eyes. Brian was sitting next to the corporal that had talked to him on the ground earlier. The airship had lifted off an hour ago and the corporal had just finished briefing him. Brian was still confused. "Let me get this straight. You have a robotisization upgrade ready for me through tech you stole from the fat man. I recieve the upgrade, and drop into the Proteus. I distract Robotnik long enough for your tech guys to gain access to the mainframe that controls everything in the city. From there they'll shut down the reactors, issue a evac order to all Robotisized Mobians, and open the Proteus tubes. They the infantry moves in, evacuating the prisoners in the Proteus and destroying all oposition, and then we get the hell out of dodge before the helicopters drop thermite plasma over the entire city, vaporizing everything inside city limits. And all in 17 minutes, no less." Brian stopped and looked at the corporal. "Am I correct so far?" The corporal shook his head. "We also have to recover the main system board from Zik, the AI that controls Robotnik's operations over the entire planet. With that, we will have total control over all his networks. But we have a seperate team for each task. In the simulator, the entire mission took 15.35 minutes, best time." Brian looked slowly at the corporal. "And the worst time?" The corporal blushed. After a moment he answered. "...21 minutes..." Brian sat back in the seat and closed his eyes. He brought up his comm display. NOT IN RANGE OF OTHER UNITS flashed over his eyelids. He disabled the system and whispered to himself. "Don't worry guys, I'm coming for you..."