Disclaimer: This story contains characters and situations of essentially two varieties: those the author created and owns, and those he didn't and doesn't. Essentially, everyone on the Southern Continent is an original creation; everything and everyone on the Mainland is owned by one or more of the following: Sega, Dic, and Archie Comics. This story and the creations of this author are copyright Sam Durbin, a.k.a. Bryon Nightshade.
The Difference a Day Makes
At approximately 5 a.m., the alarm went off.
They let me sleep in, thought Jan Matra idly.
Then she was out of bed, grabbing at her armor vest and reaching for her blaster. The vest was simply too hot and bulky to sleep in, but it was always necessary to keep it close at hand. It had become almost a second skin, and more and more Jan found herself too tired to take it off.
The vest was a composite of materials designed to absorb and disperse heat. Developed by the Kingdom of Acorn's researchers during the Great War, it was mass-produced as armor for the Kingdom's soldiers. That mass-production had occurred here on the Southern Continent, where the Kingdom kept the majority of its manufacturing bases.
The Southern Continent was almost on the other side of the world from the Mainland, and the Kingdom had always controlled the sea. Much as they'd wanted to, the enemies of the Kingdom—the Northern Cabal—had never managed to invade the Southern Continent during the war, so the Kingdom had used the Continent as a giant factory.
All of these things had made the Continent very desirable for Robotnik—and very difficult for him to handle.
As Jan ran, she checked her two weapons. Her blaster was low on energy, as usual. It could never seem to hold a charge for long. She'd have to try and salvage a newer one. Her other weapon, a small welding torch, had a few canisters of gas left. These torches had been common tools for forging and manufacture, and the citizens who still lived on the Continent had a fair supply of them. At close range, they could slice apart Swatbot armor with ease.
The rough walls of her cave soon led to a door. She passed through the door into the Hive's command room.
"What do we have?"
Her voice betrayed more of her fatigue than she wished, but it was assertive enough to get the responses she needed. Tosul, the tireless rat whom practically lived in the command room and whose reliability Jan depended upon, spoke to her without turning from his monitors.
"Looks like a standard column of twenty. Correct that. They have one of those new class F tanks, and a vanguard of twenty-five Swatbots. Formation: 5, 10, 5, tank, 5."
Jan's mind was so attuned to the meanings of the numbers she had no need to add meanings in her mind. Five Swatbots as scouts, ten shoulder-to-shoulder as a firebase, five reserves, the tank, and five rearguards.
Aside from the tank, it was as normal a formation as the shape of a blaster. They only made blasters according to one mold.
"Tosul," Jan said, "why isn't Gaunt here yet?"
"Not sure, but I've got someone headed to fetch him. They should be back soon."
Good old Tosul, Jan thought. She set about reacting to the situation; she'd be ready when Gaunt arrived. "What's their location?"
"Grid 3, block A. Speed is about 5 kliks, headed up the canyon to the North. We detected them about five minutes ago. They took some time to begin moving, but they're making steady progress now."
Jan took Tosul's information as it came, quickly fitting it into her stream of thoughts. Robots don't need time to 'organize', she thought. They were waiting five minutes, for… what? Something isn't right.
"Any word from Observatory?"
"Nothing. They haven't responded in any way."
Jan cursed. If Observatory was saying "Nothing", that was safe. But if they didn't say anything, that had the potential to be very, very bad.
"We've got to know what's up there. Send a message to Observatory requesting information."
Now more animals began to enter the command room. All bore firearms and some amount of armor. Jan turned to her runner, a lizard known as Skink. She always thought the name derogatory, but he didn't respond to anything else. "Skink, move to Observatory. We may have lost contact with them, and I need to know what's in the sky right now."
Skink nodded quickly, then took off, gone almost before she could turn her head to follow him.
"Tosul, is it possible there's a problem with our connection to Observatory?"
"Of course it's possible. I'm getting no readings on the comm. If it were just Observatory keeping quiet, I'd hear something."
She turned and barked her order. "Comm team, move out!"
This was the group of animals responsible for the upkeep of the communications gear and the relays that connected this particular Hive to Observatory. Each knew only a portion of the connection, so that their capture wouldn't reveal too much and their death wouldn't hurt too much. Of course, the full schematic of the gear was available to all. Few held any desire to inquire about it.
Next she turned to the armorer. "Is that cannon repaired yet?"
He shook his head. "Negative. We just don't have the parts…"
The laser cannon was a field piece from the Great War days, and one of the few things the Hive had that could hurt a tank at range. Unfortunately, it hadn't been operational for… come to think of it, Jan wasn't quite sure. For a moment, she tried to remember what year it was. Then she shook her head, discarding those thoughts. She had more urgent matters at paw.
She dispatched three animals to monitor the enemy directly. Only one would be actually observing; the others would use tight-beam, low powered transmitters to relay the information to the Hive without being detected. It helped to conceal everyone's position, and the Hives had learned that even the most heavily armed Hive also depended upon secrecy for its defense. However, given that there was no word from Observatory, she gave them the order to stand by until she signaled them to move out.
Her fatigue slowed her, interfered with her operations. How many times have I done this? She wondered hopelessly. Far too many. Why don't those bots just give us a break? One day without Swatbots would be a relief. One week would be a vacation. One month would be paradise.
About then Gaunt arrived. Jan wasn't sure of the moment, because he never announced himself; she simply turned around after giving an order and saw him standing there. "Gaunt!"
"What do you have?" he said, unrushed and unperturbed.
She was unsettled, as always, but turned to talk to him. He was almost worthless for his own tactical mind, but talking helped to order her thoughts. "A group of Swatbots and a class F tank, moving through grid 3, into block F now. I've dispatched monitors to check up on them. We have no word from Observatory, so I dispatched the comm. team and Skink to be sure. As standing assets in the area we don't have much, though if we were desperate we could lure them back to the trump card."
"Would you want to use the trump card?"
"It's not a big enough force to warrant it, but that doesn't mean this isn't bad. It's not the bots that worry me, it's the tank. It can't get to any of our entrances or vulnerabilities, since it's a tracked vehicle, but it can provide support to any bots that want to. Those new class F's have much better turret systems. They can turn all the way around and have good firing arcs. There's very little we can do about it. We've got fuel grenades and torches, but that's it."
Fuel grenades meant concentrated fuel cells that were then shot by a marksman, igniting the fuel. Their use was always tricky, and their numbers limited.
"Thoughts?"
"We can't do much until we get word from Observatory. Even then, I think we should sit still for a while. This could be just another joy ride." Joy rides were simple provocations, a probe by Swatbots to see what the Hive would do to them, forcing the Hive to react and wearing it down.
"Even so, the prudent thing would be to prep for combat in case it isn't."
"I agree, but we shouldn't deploy out of the Hive until we've got more information. Specifically, from Observatory."
"You know what to do."
"Right." She turned. "Combat team two, get to entrance 5b. Team one, come with me. Tosul, keep in contact with me. The other teams should finish assembling soon. I want to know when they do."
"Gotcha."
All the animals were moving before Jan finished talking to Tosul. At least they're on their toes, she thought.
At approximately 8 a.m., the sun woke Sally up.
The warmth of the sun slowly worked into her fur, warming her skin nicely and causing her to smile contentedly with her eyes closed.
Oh, to stay there! Some day, Sally thought, I'll sacrifice a day and just lay in the sun. I'll bring food so I can snack occasionally. I'll just lie out in the grass and warm myself in the sun.
It was such an appealing thought that Sally very nearly got started on her plan right then. As it was, she flipped the covers back and slowly pulled herself away from her bed.
She walked around and stretched a few moments to get the blood flowing. Then she reached for Nicole and opened her.
"Nicole, today's agenda, please."
The computer began immediately. "Supervision of new hut construction to accommodate Knothole's growth. Two wind-gens have broken, you and Rotor must investigate. Breaking out food from storage so the kitchen stores are full. Final stage planning for tonight's raid. A nap."
She laughed slightly. "I put a nap on my agenda?"
"Yes, Sally."
"I guess it would be the best way to be ready for tonight." She stared longingly at her bed in the sun, but then closed the shutters. No need to tempt myself, she thought. Quickly she changed out of her nightgown and donned her vest and boots.
Tonight would be a raid, and compared to it, sun bathing was a greater temptation than ever.
Tosul's voice over the intercom was clear. "Swatbots are still advancing."
Anxiety no longer caused Jan to sweat. Instead, her insides began to burn. "How long has it been since I dispatched Skink?"
"Fifteen minutes."
Skink might be starting on his way back then. Or he might be dead. There had been no word from Observatory; Tosul would know to tell her if such word came.
His voice came again. "Enemy units are now crossing into block U."
So close! Not just to this entrance, but to many things!
"Gaunt, I think…"
"No, Jan."
"But…"
"You thought your plan through. You knew then what might happen, and then you had a clear head. Don't start second-guessing now."
His words cut through her like ice. Her panic began to subside, but her stomach continued to burn.
Of course the reason for not leaving had been to not give away their location. Now the enemy was so close, they were sure to find the cave if the attack group left it. But if the enemy climbed the path, they would find the cave anyway. The only hope was to turtle, to hole up and not draw attention. Perhaps if they'd hit the Swatbots earlier… but without word from Observatory, how could they be sure if THAT wouldn't be a disaster?
They couldn't. She'd made the right choice.
The right choice in a deck of nothing but rotten choices.
Why wouldn't her stomach stop burning? It wasn't as if she'd eaten something bad. The gunk they had to serve now was nutritious but utterly bland, with the taste of flour and the consistency of brick mortar. It wasn't known for being hard on the stomach, just the palate.
She wondered if any of the other animals had problems with their stomachs.
Once again, her day had barely started, and she just wanted to go back to sleep and forget it all. Yet even that was a rotten choice.
Minutes crawled by with agonizing slowness. The only disruption was Tosul's voice, occasionally relaying reports and updates. Most of those were bad news, too.
The comm. team reported that there was nothing wrong with the gear on their end. Three of their members were checking the line between the Hive and Observatory, and they would get back later than Skink. The implication was clear: don't expect anything from Observatory until Skink gets back.
Where was Skink? Despite herself, she depended so heavily on Skink. She needed him to come through, but more importantly, she needed him alive.
At last Tosul's voice brought good news. "The Swatbots have turned around. They're heading back up the canyon. Looks like it was a joy ride after all."
She gave a sigh of relief and heard it echoed by at least one other animal in the attack team. "Thank you, Tosul, best news I've had today. We'll stay on alert a while longer, just in case something funny happens." She briefly considered pursuing the enemy and catching them, but she was so tired, and there were risks involved with that. Besides, there was still no word from Observatory.
She relaxed against the cave wall. It is common for someone to relax by passively thinking about something, or letting their thoughts flow freely. For someone in Jan's situation, where all thoughts were about war and flame and death, relaxing meant thinking nothing. A moment of non-existence was a relief when your existence was always your foremost concern.
"Jan! Problem here! New contacts!"
Oh no.
"Entering the sector, Grid 3, block A!"
No, no, no.
"Twenty… no… fifty… a hundred… cripes! There's no way to tell, they're overloading the scanners!"
No. No. No.
Tosul's voice controlled his panic and tried to help Jan examine the situation. "Of course. The twenty-five Swatbots were scouts. They were supposed to draw us out—a more serious joy ride. Once we commit, the main force arrives and wipes us out. Metronome is getting cleverer."
Of course, I can see that, damn you and damn Metronome and I just want some sleep…
Gaunt's voice, cold as bedrock, took over. "Jan. Take charge."
"The trump card," said Jan, instantly. Her attention was shattered. These thoughts were purely from her subconscious. "The Swatbots will retreat and join the main force. We pretend to harass the scout patrol and draw the main force into the canyon. Once there, we play the trump card."
"Won't we have to wait for Skink?" said Tosul.
Her conscious mind wailed at the words she now said, but she was in no condition to stop them. And, as far as the practical issue of living was concerned, they were the most correct. "It's irrelevant. If that main force starts moving before we're ready to destroy them, it won't matter if there's a Spy Eye in the air or not. If Skink doesn't return in the next minute or two, we'll have to assume he's dead and/or Observatory has been torched."
Tosul's voice, while shaky, kept her updated. "The main force has slowed to two kliks. Scouts report that they are doing a thorough search of all mountains along the path."
"Obviously looking for something," said Gaunt.
"Us," replied Jan.
"Jan, you know what to do."
"Yes," she whispered.
"Take charge."
"Second group, on my command, move to block F. Three minutes after deployment, begin decoy operations. First group, with me. Kal."
"Yes?"
"You will take the shot. We're using the trump card. All others: protect Kal at any cost, up to and including self-sacrifice. Tosul."
"Yes?"
"Skink."
"Hasn't… correction. He just came in the North entrance."
"Very well."
Fifteen seconds later, an amazing pace for any animal, let alone one who'd just sprinted cross country, Skink was speaking. "Observatory reports no Spy Eyes present. However, with large force mobilizing, they believe one will launch soon."
Jan didn't thank him. She couldn't. "All units, we're clear. Move!"
Sally, Rotor, and Bunnie inspected the windgens. "Well, Rotor?"
Two of Knothole's wind-powered generators had broken, and no one was really sure why. Inspecting them was Rotor, sitting on Bunnie's shoulders. "I'm not sure I can tell you why. But I can tell you what broke."
"That might be good enough. We should be able to figure out why from the what."
"Darlin', if you know what, can Ah let you down? Ah'm not all-robot, you know what Ah'm sayin'?"
"Oh, sure. Sorry Bunnie."
She kneeled down, and the walrus climbed off her shoulders. Bunnie stood, kneading her shoulder muscles. "Oh don't apologize, you'll embarrass me. C'mon, it's not like you're Robotnik, right?"
"Thank goodness," said Sally, ending the conversation in a stroke.
Bunnie couldn't respond for several seconds. "Somethin' botherin' you, Sally-girl?"
"Nothing I can't work through."
"That's a no-good answer!"
"It works for me," said Rotor.
"Rotor, honey, you don't need to defend Sally-girl's right to suffer!"
"I'm not suffering." Her tone of voice meant she would brook no argument. "Rotor, take Nicole. She has all the data on the windgens and my opinions. Bunnie, let's go to the new hut construction."
"Right," said Rotor, and scurried off immediately, talking to Nicole.
"Sally-girl, you can tell me."
Sally sighed. Well, what good would it do to keep this all to herself? If she had to tell someone, Bunnie was her best bet. "This raid tonight… it has two purposes. One I've told you. The other… do you know what day it is?"
Bunnie grasped it instantly. "The anniversary."
Sally nodded. "Today is the anniversary of Robotnik's takeover. And I wanted to give Robotnik something special to remember it by."
"Oh, Ah'm sure you'll do that. But Sally-girl, if it makes you sick the whole day, then what's the point?"
"What?"
"Oh, come on, Sally-girl! What good'll worryin' do? Unless you're plannin' to drop the ball when it's time, you don't need to worry your little ol' head so much. Just think how mad you'll make that old rustbucket when you knock him a new one!"
She had to smile. "I guess you're right, Bunnie."
"Ah know Ah am. Now c'mon, Sally-girl, we don't wanna miss the fun!" The rabbot had started running, and Sally had to jog to keep up.
"The fun of building a new hut?"
"Of course, Sally-girl! It means we're doin' well!"
Sally thought about it. She measures success here at Knothole by how many people are safe. Come to think of it, that's probably just as important as how ragged I can run Robotnik. Maybe I'm the one who gives him too much thought.
"You're a wise animal, Bunnie."
Bunnie just blushed.
To be continued…