Sally adjusted the hologram to get a closer look at the factory. She said, "Nicole, show plan for deployment for the next three minutes."

Sally watched as the colored icons, each representing a Freedom Fighter or a Swatbot, moved around the hologram. So far, so good, she thought.

Sonic let himself in. "I put Tails to bed. The sun's not even down, but with a day of exercise and a full stomach, it was easier than a kilometer sprint."

"Speak for yourself," Sally said.

"I was."

"As always. I forgot."

"No prob. Forgiven." He walked over to the table. "So, how's it comin'?"

"I almost have it down. My secondary mission I've planned already."

"Sure you wanna do this? C'mon, just one of us can help cover you."

"Sonic, I've already decided." Her voice was firm.

"I don't want you going alone. You're goin' straight down Buttnik's throat!"

"If someone else comes, it'll…"

"It'll only get harder, I know, Sal, but it scares me."

"For someone who's always itching to go solo, you worry about other people going solo a lot. It's flattering, but awkward."

"Yeah, I know, but that's 'cause I can't help someone else who goes solo. When I go solo, I can manage it, but…" he shrugged. "Besides, we don't know what Robotnik'll have defending there. I know you've got two diversions, but what if he's got something…"

"I understand, Sonic. I'm glad you care so much, but I really think it's a risk worth taking. To make it work, we need you to do what you do best, and whether it works or not, I have to try."

"Gotcha. I gotcha, an' I agree, but I don't have to be happy 'bout it. Hey, who's that icon?" he asked, pointing at the hologram.

Sally abruptly put Nicole down. She paused a few moments. "Sonic, if there's a God, do you think he'd damn someone who put their children into battle?"

It took Sonic a few seconds to answer. "I donno," he said. "Do you think that what the kid wants matters?"

"I don't," she answered. "It's the responsibility of the parents to know better. That's why the parents have the authority over the kids."

"But Tails has no parents," Sonic said with a smile, "so you're clean."

"Don't joke about this, Sonic!" Sally snapped. "I'm not kidding. I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm not."

"So we're Tails' parents?"

"The closest things he has."

This time Sonic paused. "Look at it this way," he said. "If we don't use him, Robuttnik wins, right?"

"Maybe not," said Sally.

"If he's not gonna make a difference, why are we usin' him?" Sally didn't answer, so Sonic plunged forward. "Well, why's it bad to use him?"

"Because we're sacrificing his happiness, and maybe his life. We're plunging him into a world of despair and fear, and because we're his parents, it's our fault." She extended her hand in a Mobian gesture meaning 'give an answer'. "Is it right to sacrifice all that for any reason?"

"Can we win without him?"

"So you're saying that all that matters is how much of an impact he'll have? It's like that old joke. Instead of arguing about whether whoring is good or bad, we're just haggling over price."

Sonic knew how deep Sally was disturbed, because she was getting positively vicious. Sonic answered her. "Yeah, that's what matters. 'Cause if we can win without him, it's bogus to use him. But if we need him an' don't use him, we'll all end up dead anyway."

"But if we need him and use him, he's got the chance to be happy later, and we can beg his forgiveness then."

Sonic's head snapped up. "You… you'd already thought all this out!"

"Some, yes. But I didn't trust my own reasoning. I had to have your thoughts, because Tails' future is too big a thing to entrust just to me."

Sonic smirked. "Sal, everyone entrusts their future to you. Every day."

She managed to grin-grimace back. "Scary, isn't it?" She shrugged helplessly. "I love Tails too much. It scares me. How am I supposed to lead him into danger if I can't even bring myself to train him?"

"Sal, it's because we love him that we're doin' this, right? We've gotta do it right."

She nodded. "Which puts the onus back on us, his parents, to do it right. How any species reproduces successfully is beyond me." She shook her head, then looked back at Sonic. "Is the training going well?"

Sonic laughed. "He's scarfin' it like a plate of chili dogs!"

"Good. Because that icon is Tails."

Sonic's jaw dropped to the floor. "Woah, Sal, you can't be serious!"

"I am. We have to have him."

"But… but…"

"Sonic, is he ready?"

"No," said Sonic immediately. Then he grimaced and looked down. "Well… what would he have to do?"

"Nothing much. Just help out Bunnie. I wanted him to get a little experience at this."

"Sal, every part of me says no..."

"But?"

"But he can do it. He's not juicin' at top speed, but he can cruise."

"I'm sorry for springing that on you, but I only finished deciding it myself a few minutes ago. It… it wasn't easy." Now that Sonic looked, he could see that her eyes were still watery, and knew that it was true. "Sonic, see if you can take a nap. I'll go down myself. In two hours, meet back here with Tails. I'll get Rotor, Bunnie, and Antoine."

"Got it, Sal."

Gaunt was shaken up. Never had Jan required so much effort. As if Tosul's inability to see sense without help wasn't bad enough, Jan's resistance to her duty was on a level Gaunt had never seen before.

Metronome was pushing them all to their limits. Gaunt himself was drained by his contest with Jan. That iron will of hers may end up our undoing, thought Gaunt with disgust.

Now the battle was not going so well. By Tosul's count, maybe a dozen Swatbots had gone down in the initial burst, but several soldiers were hit, and now the Swatbots were pressing them back. The soldiers needed to cause more damage before they got to the entrances, because only so many Swatbots could be destroyed at once.

As the Swatbots neared the soldiers' original positions, Jan ordered a brief counterattack. Gaunt was disbelieving, but his faith in Jan's tactical mind was renewed. She'd ordered her troops to leave fuel grenades where they began the battle; now they set them off, causing much damage amongst the Swatbots.

"Good job, Jan!" called Tosul. She doesn't care about your opinions right now, thought Gaunt. She's focused on the job.

Again she ordered a fighting withdrawal, trying to keep her forces intact as they fell back to the sacrificial entrances. More Swatbots went down, but they made up for it, as two more soldiers took hits.

Even if we stop this, thought Gaunt, we may be hard pressed to keep it up. I desperately hope my source at Metronome is wrong. Many more attacks like this and there will be no one left to fight.

Tails hadn't believed Sonic when he woke him up. Go to Robotropolis? On a raid? Tails had trouble wrapping his mind around it. And now here he was, staying all but on top of Bunnie, trying to keep from sneezing or coughing or any number of other natural reactions to the rancid Robotropolis environment.

It wasn't like he'd imagined. This was the first time he'd gone so deep into Robotropolis. Sure, he'd been to the edges every once in a while, but he was in the heart of the industrial sector now; it was a far different thing.

Particles of filth stuck in his fur. The combination of poor lighting and noxious fumes was hurting his eyes. All manner of pollution and chemicals burned his nostrils. The city looked like a prison and felt like a living monster, patiently sapping its victims' strength before devouring them.

The city itself seemed to rise up against them. All its properties made it unfit for animal life. The city defied them, antagonized them, ate away at them. There was a palpable malevolence in the air. The city seemed to declare to them, with smog and fog and dirt and grime, You're not welcome here!

Tails understood why everyone cared so much about restoring Mobotropolis. They remembered what it was like. They told Tails it was kind of like Knothole. If that was true, then Tails felt a part of their motivation: such a perversion of that city to this THING was a violation of every value they had.

Bunnie was moving too quickly to give Tails much of a chance to get scared, but the city was still overwhelming. It was a never-ending blot of shadow and smoke. Tails was completely disoriented. Every street looked and smelled the same, dark and rancid.

Bunnie stopped suddenly. Tails had the presence of mind to freeze behind her. Her ears twitched for a few seconds, then she turned back to Tails. "Y'all okay, sugar?"

"I'm okay," said Tails, not sure he believed himself.

"Ah'm not sure you should be here, but Sally-girl says you need some experience, so we're gonna bring you in."

Sally, you wanted to do it right, thought Tails. You wanted to make me a real Freedom Fighter, a scared one. Well, it's working.

"Y'all remember what we need to do?"

"N-no," sputtered Tails. He was doing all he could to try and keep up with Bunnie, and do so quietly. As if he'd been able to hold any coherent thoughts in this place!

"Somethin' about knockin' out alarms for Sonic?"

"That's right," he babbled. Is that right? How should I know?

She shook her head. "Sally-girl was right. It's too much yer first time out here. You just stick close to me, honey. We're the tail-end of this, anyway."

"The tail-end?"

"Sure."

"But Sonic's gonna hit here, right?"

"Yeah," said Bunnie, "but the real action is Sally-girl. That's why Rotor an' 'Twan are headin' for the HQ."

"So we're the diversion."

"Sally-girl is gettin' mighty smart, sugar, an' so are you!"

Bunnie started moving again, and Tails once more struggled to keep pace. I thought I was fast, he thought ruefully. Well, I am; I'm just not fast and quiet at the same time. And I've never had to run in Robotropolis before.

I've never had to run in a city that wants to eat me.

Bunnie slowed down, then paused behind a shattered building. "Okay, sugar, one Swatbot to clear," she said. She pointed around the corner. Tails couldn't see the bot, but could see the alleyway the bot was down.

"I'll clank the bot," Bunnie offered. "You get his attention fifteen seconds after Ah leave. Then it's lights out. Got it?"

"How do I get his attention?"

She shrugged. "Make somethin' up. Okay, start countin'!"

Tails was amazed. His counting to himself was louder than Bunnie dashing down the street. He almost counted past fifteen, but he caught himself saying "Fourteen," and started moving.

There was the bot! It was pointing its blaster at him!

"Hey!" Tails shouted. "Sonic's got your number, pal!"

He saw Bunnie landing behind the Swatbot. It began to drone out, "Freeze, Freedom-Fighter," but it was interrupted by a heart-stopping crunch. A fist-shaped indentation lunged towards Tails from the Swatbot's chest. Tails jumped back in surprise; the sudden noise had caused every hair in his body to puff out. Bunnie let the bot fall, dead.

"Sonic's got his number, but Bunnie Rabbot'll do fer now!" she said. "Now Tails, keep a look out. Ah'm gonna do the black out."

Tails could hardly think; his pulse was extremely high, and if he'd been scared before, he was terrified now. He knew, in a remote sector of his mind, that she was on a clock; he also knew that even when they were done here, it wouldn't be the end of the mission. Although they were supposed to move position, they had to stay in the city in case something strange happened.

He tried to drown his fear with concentration. Bunnie said to be a lookout; that, then, was his job. With utmost care, he looked around, watching for anything. He was concentrating so hard on staying alert that he heard it way too late: a second Swatbot was almost on top of him!

Tails backed up the alley and dropped to the all-fours position Sonic had taught him. He wasn't thinking consciously; it was all instinct. They'd given Tails a knife to carry in his backpack; he drew it now and waited.

The Swatbot came around the corner and aimed a shot. Tails was moving, so the shot just missed him, scorching some leg fur but not hitting him. Now Tails was in range. He dashed past the Swatbot on its left. As he passed, he slashed the knife across the back of the Swatbot's left knee.

Just as an animal has tendons and ligaments in its leg, and when those are cut, it's crippled, so did Swatbots have rods and wires that allowed them to move, and Tails cut these. Oil spurted from the joint as the bot fell. It was still dangerous, Tails knew, so before it fell he had already turned around for another pass. He leaped and stabbed the knife down, plunging it into the Swatbot's right wrist.

Now the Swatbot had two limbs inoperable and its blaster hand pinned. Tails had immobilized it, but it could still call for help. Before it could, though, Bunnie finished it off.

With a screech of tortured metal, Bunnie jumped and planted both metal feet on the dome of the Swatbot's head. The blow pulverized the bot, smashing its head in. It would never call for anything.

"That's mah Bunnie hop," joked Bunnie, seeing Tails at his wit's end from surprise. "C'mon, sugar, let's get somewhere where they're more friendly. Ah don't like their kind."

"Yeah," said Tails. He was preoccupied. He rubbed his leg where his fur was scorched by the near-miss of the blaster shot. He tried to guess just how close it had been. Way past close.

This wasn't like training.

This wasn't cool.

They fought for every centimeter of the entrance. They were extremely convincing. The Swatbots clumped together and pressed the attack in very high volume. They were falling right into the trap.

Fuel grenades were effective at first, but they were too dangerous to use this deep in the cave, so the soldiers lost their ability to take out numerous Swatbots at once. Without this, they just kept getting pushed back—and taking casualties.

This was the final corner. Jan shouted, "Team 1, fall back!" Half of her remaining soldiers ran for the elevator behind them. She kept firing, nailing another Swatbot in the eye.

Three seconds later, she called, "Team 2, fall back! Sprint!"

They could outrun the Swatbots if the bots weren't expecting it, and team one had been carrying the wounded.

As they ran, she heard that terrible cry of someone getting shot. She couldn't turn to investigate; she just kept running. Most of combat team 2 arrived with her at the elevator, but two of the animals were missing. Jan looked back up the corridor and saw one animal trying to drag another towards the exit.

"Wait for us! Please! Jan!" They were fifteen meters from the elevator.

"Run!" shouted Jan. The Swatbots were running, now, and Swatbots could run quickly.

The animals were ten meters away. The bots rounded the corner. Jan's tactical mind knew they were out of time. "Hurry!"

"Jan! Please!" She could make out the terror and desperation on their faces, could see their plaintive and trusting eyes. One with hand outstretched, as if trying to reach into Jan and find something to pull on. Jan's heart leaped in her chest, but there was nothing it could do; her mind was firmly in control.

How many battles have these animals been in? How many times have I led them out of danger?

I couldn't this time. And quickly as that, I've written them off.

I hate myself!

The bots were close now, almost as close as the wounded. Jan couldn't wait any longer. She twisted the lock. The animals screamed in denial, but it was too late. The elevator doors slammed shut, and the elevator dropped quickly. It took all of Jan's strength, but she pushed the small button on her detonator.

Everyone in the elevator felt the tremor. It was the death cry of two souls as they collapsed the cave, annihilating Swatbots with their deaths.

The pain and terror of the slain was wrought ad infinitum over the bots. Not one survived.

I've made the sacrifice, Jan thought.

Then, abruptly, her control snapped. Her sorrow swept in like a wave, crushing all her faculties and focus. She dropped to the floor and let out a mournful wail the likes of which combat teams two and one had never heard.

To be continued…