Chapter 2 – Plans
As dawn broke over the area, Tails was already up and about. He sat in the cockpit of the Earth fighter staring at the controls. He had completed his repairs apart from tuning it up but one problem remained. That problem was the fighter's computer system. By the look of things it required not only a correct password but also a retinal eye scan to activate it. If this wasn't enough security the control sticks in the fighter had sensors in to detect finger prints. To say the least it really had Tails puzzled. Whatever he did he couldn't get the system to let him in. He was currently trying to hack into the computers mainframe to remove the blocks but as of yet he hadn't had much luck. Presently Jet appeared at his side.
"Yo Tails." he said cheerfully, "How's it going?"
"Not good. This thing has more protection on it than Robotnik's central computer." replied Tails growling at the console.
Jet leaned over more into the cockpit and took a good look.
"As I though it's a mark twelve." he said almost to himself.
"A what?" asked Tails looking up.
"A mark twelve, latest Earth fighter class. I wasn't too sure until recently but I think it is."
"So what does that mean?"
Jet shook his head.
"Means you're gonna have a hard time getting in. The mark twelve is a beast for security. Jeremy showed me one just before we left Earth. All previous Earth fighters have been straight get in and go but this one is way more advanced. When they are made the security systems are reset and then when the first person gets in the system tunes itself to that pilot. It saves all their data into a central core and from then on only they can pilot that fighter. I guess it was because the thing was so advanced they only wanted certain people to pilot them."
"Hah! Not advanced enough for my Hurricane." sneered Tails, "But that's interesting none the less. You said the system resets, can that be done again?"
"I don't know. Jeremy didn't mention any more details to me. Guess it was classified. Why? What you thinking?"
"Well if the system resets right at the start maybe I can reset it again and then register myself as the pilot. Not only could I fly it then but we can also get access to the Earth Alliances database."
"It's an idea Tails but I'm not sure. You don't have much experience with systems like this."
"And you do I suppose."
"Actually…"
Jet's head disappeared from the cockpit side and Tails leaned over to see him standing on the floor. Jet was fiddling with a small panel as Tails jumped down beside him. As he did the panel opened much to the pleasure of Jet.
"Hehe…still got the nack." he said to himself, "There you go Tails."
Tails looked inside the small opening. A little way back into the opening sat a large dome shaped object. Lines of green ran around it and there was a steady humming sound coming from it. Tails looked back at Jet.
"What's that?" he asked.
"That's the central computer core." replied Jet.
"I had a feeling it was important." said Tails reaching into the opening.
"No Tails stop. Don't…"
It was too late though. The humming sound became louder and there was a flash from inside the opening. Tails' eyes went wide and he quickly pulled his hand out.
"Yaaaaaaaaaargh!" he screamed dropping to his knees.
"….do that." finished Jet.
Tails looked at his hand. It was glowing softly but the glow was already starting to fade.
"What the hell was that?" asked Tails as he blew air at his hand, "It felt like my hand was on fire."
"Plasma defense screen. They are standard issue for protection sensitive areas of various things. It looked like that was only a sixty terra hertz blast. Most of the fighters energy has no doubt faded away during the time you've been repairing it. Good thing too."
"Why?"
"If that blast had been full strength it would probably have melted your hand."
Tails suddenly looked like he was about to be sick.
"You sure know how to make me feel better. So what do we do?"
"Well if you wanna get at the core you have to deactivate the screen. That's normally done with a special keycard that can be swiped through that slot." said Jet pointing to a slot just inside the opening, "But as we don't have one it will be tricky."
"Great." said Tails throwing up his arms, "Then this has been pointless."
"Well…" started Jet.
"Tails? You here?" said Links' voice from the undergrowth.
"Right here." replied Tails as a blue fox emerged from behind a bush.
Links looked from Tails to Jet and finally to the fighter.
"I see you have made some progress." he said.
"Kinda but we got another problem with a defense screen now." replied Tails with a groan.
"Defense screen? Let me see." said Links.
"Right in there." motioned Tails.
Links stepped forwards and looked into the opening. Without warning he put his hand in and started to feel around.
"No Links don't…." started Tails.
"Huh!" said Links suddenly putting his other hand on hip, "Most interesting."
"What is? Why aren't you screaming like me?" asked Tails.
"Interesting use of plasma technology. Using two similarly charged plated to hold a sheet of oppositely charged plasma between them. Heh…that tingles slightly."
"Tingles?!" said Tails totally astounded, "That thing could have melted my hand apparently."
"I can see how. I take it you want rid of it correct?" said Links.
"Well yeah." replied Tails.
"No problem."
Links removed his hand and raised his staff to the opening. It wouldn't fit in but it didn't matter. Links closed his eyes and muttered a couple of words. The ring substance in his staff glowed and seconds later Links removed his staff.
"There you go." he said removing his staff.
Tails slowly put his hand back into the opening. Slowly he crept it forwards a few millimeters at a time until finally his hand met something dome shaped. He looked into the opening quickly to find it resting on the computer core. He looked over at Links.
"You are amazing." he said as he turned back to the core.
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There was a crack and Petya found herself hurtling across the room with a scream. She landed with a heavy thud and looked up slowly. A hot feeling was spreading down her left side and she cringed against it. She looked up at the military soldier standing above her. He held a long baton like object in one hand and was hitting it slowly against his free hand. Petya glared at him and growled slightly.
"Still resisting eh? We'll see about that!" said the soldier taking a step forwards.
He swung the baton to his side and then with a clean swipe brought it straight up past his head in an arc. The strike didn't hit Petya, the soldier was too far away for that, but she suddenly felt a hot surge down her front and with another crack found herself spinning lengthways through the air. She landed with in a heap on her front. She didn't look up this time. Her entire body stung from the surge and her front and side hurt from where she had hit the floor.
"Now I will ask again." said the soldier threateningly, "What are the commands for the encryption systems on the Robotropolis computer system?"
"I already told you!" cringed Petya angrily, "I don't know them! I didn't install them!"
"Bah!" cried the soldier.
There was another crack and Petya found herself again sailing through the air. This time she hit the wall, bounced off it and landed with a crunch. She let out a stifled scream as a surge of pain shot through her left wrist. She slowly turned her head to look at it. Her left wrist was bent completely flat against the top of her arm. As she stared at it she could feel her stomach retching. She started to breathe louder until she let out a howling scream.
"And there's more where that came from." said the soldier approaching Petya again.
He raised the baton behind him again and Petya curled up into a ball.
"That's enough." said a voice.
The soldier stopped and turned round. Morgan had just appeared through a door at the far end of the room. He was leaning against the wall looking a little angry.
"Commander sir?" asked the soldier.
"You're dismissed." replied Morgan.
"Sir!"
The soldier saluted and walked from the room. Two more soldiers walked in after him. They walked over to Petya, roughly picked her up and carried her over to Morgan. Petya slowly raised her head to look at him. The pain in her wrist was intense but she still managed to glare at the man through her gritted teeth.
"I'll be dealing with you next time. You better be more co-operative or a broken wrist will seem like a tea party." said Morgan.
"What should I care?" replied Petya with a slight growl, "You don't care what happens to me or anyone else? You're gonna kill us all in the end."
Morgan's hand shot out and he grabbed hold of Petya's jaw. He pulled her head to one side and looked at her directly.
"Whoever said anything about killing you? I got other ways of dealing with you." he replied before letting go and looking up at one of the soldiers, "Escort this one to medical and get that wrist bound. Then take her back to her cell and bring me that hedgehog Miles."
Petya's head snapped up and she starred at Morgan. She started to shake her head frantically.
"No, no not Miles!" she said.
"Take her away." said Morgan not listening.
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Tails crossed his fingers and looked back at everyone else. He stood on the edge of the fighter's cockpit with an arm reaching inside the cockpit. Bunnie, Links, Lavender and Jet stood around at the base of the fighter looking up at him.
"Cross your fingers guys." he said.
Lavender quickly produced her hands from behind her with her fingers crossed.
"Thanks Lavender. Here goes."
Tails reached forwards slightly and pushed a button. There was a moment of silence and then a number of clicking sounds. Tails looked into the cockpit to see a small cursor flashing on the display screen. As he watched it, it flashed and darted across the screen leaving a message as it went. Tails quickly read it and smiled.
"Yes!" he cried.
"What is it sugar?" asked Bunnie.
"It worked. I was able to reset the computer core. It's asking for a new user." replied the fox.
Tails quickly hopped over the cockpit edge and landed in the seat. As he did the cursor started to flash frantically across the screen. Finally it stopped and a voice spoke.
"New pilot details confirmed. Security measures activation required." it said.
"Security measures?" said Tails.
"It mean the eye scan and finger prints." said Jet as his head poked over the cockpit edge.
"Oh yeah those things." said Tails slightly embarrassed.
He placed his hands on the controls and he suddenly felt them heating up slightly. Not a lot but it was noticeable.
"Control prints now set. Stand by for retinal scan." said the voice.
Tails waited and a small hatch opened in the console. Out of it extended a small tube with a rubber eye piece on the end.
"You gotta…" started Jet.
"I think I understand this bit Jet." interrupted Tails.
He lowered his face to the tube and placed his right eye on the eyepiece. There was a bleep and the voice spoke a final time.
"Retinal coding complete. All security checks now complete. User locked into database. Initiating start up."
There was a moment of silence and then a light hum. Suddenly a blast of air shot from the fighter causing Bunnie and Links to stagger back and Lavender to yelp slightly. Jet just smiled and clung to the fighter's side. The blast died off and then the fighter moved. It rose in the air by a few feet and then stopped. It started to hover above the ground emitting a faint whine as it did. Tails looked over the side of the cockpit with a look of amazement on his face. Jet smiled at him and laughed slightly.
"When Lavender said you were the man for machines she wasn't lying." he said.
"Uh huh." replied Tails still fairly amazed.
"Well done sugah!" cried Bunnie from below.
Tails looked down over the cockpit to see Bunnie standing there with her arm extended in a thumbs up gesture. Links stood grinning at him in his own quiet kind of complementing. Lavender was just staring up at the fighter with her jaw hanging loose.
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It was later that night when they all sat around a camp fire talking.
"So what now?" asked Bunnie staring at the flames.
"What you mean?" asked Links.
"Well what do we do now? We've been hiding out here for a good week now. We have no idea what's happened to the others at all."
"Uh huh." mumbled Tails as he ran a piece of wood through his hands before throwing it at the fire, "Well I've been thinking on that."
"Really?" asked Jet looking up.
"Thinking what?" asked Links.
"Well we have a working Earth fighter now. Why not use it?" replied Tails.
"Use it? How?" asked Bunnie.
"Listen you guys. Those Earth guys had to have a ship to get here right? Why not use this fighter to get to it? Who knows what we'll find out." answered Tails.
"Absolutely not!" cried Links jumping to his feet, "For start off you've never piloted that thing before. Secondly you don't even know where the ship is, if it even exists! Third, what if they have codes to get onboard? They almost certainly will considering the security on that fighter memory core. And if you got the codes wrong, what then? What if they blasted you out of the sky?"
"Links I understand that! I don't pretend to ignore the dangers but what if we can find some stuff out? What if…"
"What if you die?!" finished Links.
"Links calm down." said Bunnie standing up.
"No Bunnie. This is suicide at best!" said Links.
"Links I have an idea about it!" protested Tails.
"No Tails." insisted Links.
"For lords sake Links, calm down." screamed Bunnie.
Away to the side Lavender and Jet stood side by side. Lavender was breathing slightly uneasily and Jet watched her with concern. Lavender could sense feeling through the planets energy and just like a feeling of joy and happiness made her feel like she was wrapped in a warm blanket a concentration of anger also gave a feeling. Lavender felt like she was being poked by a thousand sharp needles.
"Lav? Lavender you ok?" asked Jet.
Lavender didn't respond. Instead she bowed her head and gritted her teeth. Her fists clenched and she started to breath heavily. Suddenly she raised her head quickly.
"SHUT UP!!!!!" she cried at the top of her voice.
The sound echoed around the forest disturbing birds and rustling the leaves on the trees. The arguing adults stopped dead and turned to look at her. Lavender still had her fists balled up and the look on her face made her look like she was going to kill someone. The three adult looked nervously at the small kitsune. For a short time the only sound was the rustling of the trees. Eventually Lavender expression started to soften. A tear formed in her eye and she suddenly collapsed to her knees and started sobbing. Jet quickly knelt down and put an arm around her. Seconds later Tails was at her side and was about to do the same when Lavender did something unexpected. She brought her arm up and knocked his away before turning back to Jet. Tails looked startled for a moment before a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to see Bunnie standing behind him. She indicated back towards the camp fire and Tails slowly nodded. He got up and walked back to the fire with Bunnie. Links sat on a log now looking a bit glum. Tails and Bunnie sat down and for a while nobody said anything. Eventually Bunnie spoke.
"Well things have really gone well tonight haven't they?!" she said slightly irritated.
Links grunted and Tails hmmed in response.
"Oh for lords sake!" said Bunnie standing up, "Will you two stop being so morbid!"
Links and Tails looked up at her and then at each other.
"I guess it could have gone better." admitted Links.
"Uh huh." agreed Tails.
"Well if we feel like TALKING now I think it would be a good thing." said Bunnie sharply, "Now before all this Tails you were saying something."
"Uh huh, yeah I was." replied Tails.
"Well?" insisted Bunnie.
Tails looked at Links who looked back with a hard expression.
"I won't interrupt again." he said.
"Well ok then." said Tails, "Well as I said they have to have a ship. If we can onboard we are sure to find some stuff out. And if we can destroy it then it'll be a major blow to them. Thing is that fighter is only a single seater. I'd have to go alone."
Bunnie watched as Links physically held himself back from yelling out. Tails continued.
"But then I've been thinking. There has to be an Alliance base around here somewhere. We've seen a fair few fighter flying overhead and a couple of big transports while we have been hiding." said Tails.
"Uh huh sugah. Good job they haven't been looking for us eh." replied Bunnie nodding.
"But what you said is a good point Links." said Tails looking at his uncle, "If they do have codes and such, which they almost certainly will, we'll have to find out what they are before we can do anything."
"So what's this idea Tails?" asked Bunnie.
"I was thinking of…borrowing a transport." he replied.
Both Links and Bunnie blinked and then looked at each other. They looked back at Tails and blinked again.
"I can tell this is no ordinary use of the word 'borrow' Tails." said Links with a smirk.
"No it's not. We'd have to break in, neutralize the base, steal the transport and get up to the ship before the incident was reported." replied Tails with a nod.
Bunnie looked over at Links.
"You know what sugar?" she said.
"What?" replied Links.
"You were right, this IS suicide." she said with a small giggle.
"Come on you guys!" insisted Tails, "Think about this seriously for a moment. Since the initial attack the Alliance had appeared to settle into a bit of a rut. If you ask me they look as if they have settled and think all resistance has been nullified. If not they'd be combing the landscape like hawks and we would have been found. This forest is no cover to anything but the naked eye. The Alliance would pick us up in a second."
"You're right Tails." agreed Links.
"It's now or never guys. They will never be expecting an attack! We have the upper hand." continued Tails.
"It's still risky." said Bunnie.
"Less risky of staying here." answered Tails, "Look. I know this sounds dangerous and I know it's a huge stab in the dark. As Links said there might not even be a ship. It might have left! But if we don't do something what will happen? They'll suck this planet dry of its resources and then leave us to our fate. Personally I can't imagine Mobius becoming a wasteland, but if we don't do something it will happen."
The group fell silent for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. Off to one side Lavender still sat on her knees on the ground with Jet comforting her. Ever since their first encounter Jet had felt odd about Lavender. At first he had thought it was love and he still kept thinking it was. She was very pretty but Jet was unsure. He knew what love felt like. He loved his mother and there had been a young airman's daughter back on Earth he had had feeling for. What he was feeling was something else but he couldn't track it down. Lavender was also having thoughts about Jet. After she had stared at him the first time when they found him something had snapped. There was a link between them, something close too, but what? Slowly Lavender looked up at Jet. He smiled back down at her.
"Thank you." she said quietly.
"Hey it's ok Lav." replied Jet with a nudge.
"Things have been going so fast recently. I have been so confused. The whole planet has been screaming at me to do something. Down to the last blade of grass."
"Lavender, I in no way try to understand what you are. This whole transformation thing you told me about still runs circles around me. But if you ever need anyone to talk to I'll be free."
"Thanks Jet. This last week you've been almost like a brother to me."
Jet smiled at this. Just then the feeling came back to him. Brother. Could he be….no that's stupid. Totally impossible. He shook his head slightly and looked back at Lavender. She was shivering slightly.
"What you say we go sit by the fire Lav? Looks like the grownies have calmed down." he said.
"Don't call my father and uncle that." moaned Lavender looking back at the fire, "Yeah lets go. I need some warmth."
"Sure thing."
The pair stood up and walked back towards the fire.
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Links slowly lowered a pair of binoculars and thought for a moment.
"What is it sugah?" asked Bunnie.
Links handed her the binoculars. Bunnie took them and looked where Links pointed. A large military base was visible in the viewer. It wasn't more than half a mile away in distance but the binoculars made it really clear. She scanned the various towers, runways and defensive structure before lowering the binoculars. Jet quickly snatched them and looked too.
"Woah!" he exclaimed still looking.
"That covers it sugah." replied Bunnie.
Links shook his head.
"You still don't like this plan do you." said Bunnie.
"The risks seem too much for the goals." he replied.
"Explain." said Bunnie.
"Well even if we accomplish what we are about to do and get a transport, what are the possible outcomes? We could find no ship, find one and get blown up, find one and get onboard only to be shot…"
"Or we could finds one, get on, find out a load of stuff and escape." suggested Bunnie.
"Maybe, but it's only one possibility out of many. And who is to say we will accomplish the first step? What will Tails loose if he fails here? His life."
"Links don't think such dark thoughts it gives me chills." said Bunnie rubbing her arm.
"Sorry but its true." answered Links.
"Well if what Lavender has told me about Tails is true he can do it." said Jet turning round, "Besides he managed to shoot down half of an Earth Alliance fighter squad in one plane. That takes some skill."
"You're right Jet." said Bunnie.
She put a hand on his shoulder and then glared slightly at Links. Links just closed his eyes and nodded slowly. Bunnie started looking around.
"Speaking of that girl, where'd she go?" she asked.
"I'm here." said a nearby bush.
"Lavender!" said Bunnie slightly annoyed, "Come out at once."
Slowly the bush shimmered and changed to a white colour as the form of Lavender appeared.
"Sorry, I was nervous." she said.
"Now is not the time to be shifting Lavender." said Bunnie.
"Ok." replied Lavender.
"Its time." said Links slowly.
Just then the air filled with a soft roar. Gradually the noise increased and an Alliance fighter shot over head.
"I just hope he knows what he's doing." said Links.
"Come on you lot, we still have to get nearer the base. We got a bit of cross country running ahead." said Bunnie waving to the others.
She started to jog off at a fair pace with Links in pursuit. Jet scrambled to his feet and joined Lavender as they ran after the two adults.
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"Tower one this is flight 668345 requesting take off clearance." said the radio.
"Roger flight 668345. Permission granted." replied the radio man.
Outside the huge glass windows a huge forty foot cargo transport roared into life on its landing pad. Slowly, and rather awkwardly, it rose into the air and slowly moved off into the sky. The radio man leaned back in his chair and yawned.
"Lazy day huh." he said to his colleague next to him.
"Yeah lazy day." replied his colleague.
"So when the next transport due?"
"Next one is….flight 004921 from the Phantom."
"Another cargo drop probably."
"Probably."
"Quit your talking and get back to work." cried a voice across the room.
Both men turned to see a large thin man walking into the room. He had a cigar in his mouth and a small scar on his cheek. Both men went rigid.
"Yes sir!" they both cried as they turned back to their displays.
The man made a small grunt. He was of course the bases commander and tolerated no amount of slacking. The way he saw it they were here to do a job and if they didn't do it they should be kicked out without question. He grunted again and turned to walk from the room. As he left the first man leaned over to the second.
"What's wrong with old slave driver?" he asked.
"Missed out on a promotion to a younger officer." replied the second.
"No wonder he's been storming around recently."
"Yeah."
Just then the second mans console bleeped followed by the firsts moment later. They both looked at their radar screens. A small green dot was approaching on the screen.
"We got no more flights until 004921. Wonder who this is." said the second.
"I'll find out." said the first.
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Tails cleared the forest and headed for the open plain ahead. The rest of the group had headed off a few hours earlier and should be nearing the base by now. Even so he would beat them there. He had spent the last few hours figuring out the fighter's controls. Much of it was pretty standard and it had freaked him out at first. Then he remembered how alike the humans and his fellow furries were. The fighter had a standard thrust lever and control stick. The rest of the controls were spread out across two panels that ran along either side of the cockpit. In front of him were a number of large screens. One showed the fighters status, another the remaining weapon payload, another the fuel status, another a radar screen…the list went on. Tails had narrowed down the most important controls and discarded the rest. Firing controls, counter measures and flight controls were top of his list then radio and sensors. The rest he didn't even bother with. Jet had said this particular fighter had a transformation mode like the Tornado 2 but as yet he had been unable to figure it out. Just then a voice broke his concentration.
"This is Royal Edwards base to unidentified fighter." it said, "Please identify yourself."
Tails smiled, now for some fun. He picked up the radio and answered.
"Hello." he said.
There was a moment of silence before a reply.
"I repeat identify yourself."
"This is Tails." replied the fox.
"Transmit recognition code immediately."
"What code?"
"Who the hell is this?!"
"Your worst nightmare."
Tails pressed his finger down on the trigger. It only needed a light touch to work but Tails depressed it roughly. Outside on the fighter a number of small missiles detached and fell backwards and downwards for a moment. Suddenly their motors fired and they shot forwards leaving a stream of white tail smoke. Covering the distance within seconds they locked onto the radio source and impacted on the bases control tower completely leveling it. Tails quickly banked the fighter to avoid a volley of fire from the defensive turrets. Tails could only imagine the total shock this attack would have caused. Spinning the fighter he quickly fired a bolt of laser fire at a turret blowing it to pieces.
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The bases commander walked slowly down a long corridor. After leaving the control tower he had made his way into the underground tunnels of the base. He might have missed out on his latest promotion but he was still pleased to have his current post. Not as pleased as having the other post but this one was still not bad. Not only was the base a place for cargo drops and troop movements but it was also a research centre. A lot of the militaries research was into weapons and because of this most people on Earth had a great dislike for it. However since arriving at Mobius the military had quickly set up a number of new research centers in secret away from the nagging Earth. This bases lab's focuses primarily on weapon research but also on resource extraction and processing techniques to better fund its weapon research. With no worries of scarce resources on Mobius the research had come along in leaps and bounds. The commander was, to say the least, very pleased at this.
Just then he was knocked off his feet by a huge explosion. The walls around him shook slightly and a bit of dust fell from the ceiling. The explosion was flowed by a number of smaller ones. He slowly pulled himself to his feet and grabbed a nearby comm unit mounted on the wall.
"Report!" he screamed.
"Sir!" came a reply, "We are under attack! The control tower has been completely destroyed."
"What's the force attacking?"
"One Alliance fighter."
"WHAT?!"
"We have checked its registry. It looks like it was part of the original Alpha flight that lead the initial invasion. The fighter was though to have been shot down by the enemy."
"Looks like one of those furries rebuilt it!" cried the commander, "Transfer all controls to lower station and activate all defenses."
"Aye sir!"
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Another white streak shot from the Alliance fighter and hit a large building which exploded violently.
"That's the bases power generator down." smiled Tails to himself.
At the moment he was the only thing in the air, and it would stay like that. After his initial strike his first target had been the runway and fighter hangers. With no fighter launched before his attack the base had no aerial support. Avoiding the defense fire had been fairly easy too. A few near misses and one hit on the port wing was all he had suffered. The base was now in flames and virtually ready for the others to storm in and commandeer a transport. Once they did he would cover then against any further attacks until they were out of range. At least that was the plan, and so far it was going well.
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The commander was running full pelt along a corridor as the lights went out. The emergency lights came on but not before he had run into a wall. Staggering into the secondary control room he barked at the assembled group.
"Status report now!" he roared.
A man quickly saluted and complied with a report.
"SIR! The runway and fighter hanger have been hit, we have no operational fighter available. Fifty five percent of our defensive turrets have been knocked out, the main generator has been hit, command tower is out, we have lost long range communication and…"
"Enough!" roared the commander.
The group seemed to shrink backwards. The commander was bad enough when he was calm.
"So what you're telling me is this base has been rendered virtually helpless by ONE FIGHTER!" screamed the commander.
Nobody answered. The commander slammed his fist down on a console in anger.
"Fine I'll deal with this myself! Ready the Alliance Cannon!" he said.
The room suddenly fell deadly silent. The only sound was the explosions caused by the attack above ground.
"Do I have to repeat myself?!" screamed the commander.
"Sir the Alliance Cannon is still in the test phase. It's not even BEEN tested yet." said a man in a lab coat.
"Shut up! The Alliance Cannon is safe! You designed it you nitwit!"
"And I say we shouldn't use it until we test it. The energy output hasn't been stabilized yet!" argued the man.
"Get that man out of here." cried the commander.
The man in the lab coat soon found himself being dragged from the room by two soldiers. The commander turned back to the room.
"Now ready the cannon!" he barked.
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Above ground Tails had almost finished his attack. He had found the defenses power source and destroyed it rendering the remaining turrets useless. He smiled to himself. Things were going very well indeed, but in his eyes it was too easy. An Alliance base shouldn't be this weak after what their fighter squadrons were like.
"Have I missed something?" he said to himself.
Just then the screen in front of him blinked. A meter appeared and it suddenly filled and peaked at an incredible number.
"What the hell kind of device puts out that kind of energy?!" said Tails his eyes widening.
He looked out of the cockpit to see a large set of metal doors swing open on the ground below. Out of it rose a large structure. It had a cannon like barrel in the middle of it with some sort of focusing device mounted on the end. Around it, virtually fixed to the barrel they were so close, were about eight large missiles. As Tails watched the missiles activated and opened outwards in a fan around the barrel.
"This is NOT good." said Tails.
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"Alliance Cannon ready sir." said an officer.
"Very good." said the commander.
He inserted a small key into a console and turned it. A number of lights lit up on the console and a panel opened. Under it was a large red toggle switch.
"Final safety lock disengaged sir." said the officer.
"And now…it ends." said the commander.
He reached forwards and flicked the switch.
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Without warning the eight missiles flew from their launcher and headed straight for the fighter. Tails screamed and banked heavily to avoid them. The missiles however veered away. As Tails watched they passed by him and didn't even look as if they were on a direct path him at all. Tails was instantly puzzled.
"Why fire missiles if you plan to miss?" he said.
It was then he noticed a strange gas filling the air around the fighter. He looked back at the fleeing missiles to see a vapor was being emitted by them as they flew along. Looking back at the mist he saw it was now sticking to the surface of the fighter.
"This is definitely not good." he said to himself.
Just then the computer screen flashed with another energy surge. He looked back at the cannon to find it was tracking his flight pattern. He gasped in horror and started to frantically survey the control looking for the…..ejector seat! He hadn't looked up where the ejector seat was when he had surveyed the controls! Before he had a chance to react it fired. A thin beam of energy shot from its tip striking the fighter with a hard hit. Tails fought the controls but it wasn't enough as the fighter disintegrated into nothing around him. He screamed as he felt his body almost melt around him.
-----------------------------------------
The commander watched the monitor as the fighter disintegrated.
"I told you it would work!" he cried.
A low murmur spread round the room. The commander looked back at them and then at the screen again. He rubs his hands together and smiled.
"If you want something done right, do it yourself." he chuckled to himself before walking from the room.
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Links, Bunnie, Jet and Lavender almost fell over as they saw Tails fighter vanish into thin air.
"My god!" said Links quietly.
The others said nothing as they stood and stared. Lavender suddenly began to shake.
"Father! What happened to Tails!" she said a hint of panic slipping into her voice.
"Come on!" cried Bunnie springing forwards.
Lavender and Jet quickly followed her but Links stood where he was for a moment. He looked at the dying explosion and then at the cloud of vapor in the sky. It wasn't falling but it was slowly dispersing into the air. Links looked at it funny and then ran after the others. Lavender and Jet were now running at full pelt alongside Bunnie. The base wasn't far now but as they neared it Lavender broke off to the side.
"Lavender! Where you going?" cried Jet.
"I can feel him! I can feel him!" replied Lavender frantically.
Bunnie and Jet changed their path to follow her and soon caught up. Lavender was now darting from one side to the other in a fluster. She was glancing all over the place. Bunnie caught hold of her shoulder.
"Lavender! Lavender calm down sugah." she said holding her still.
Lavender stopped and looked at her.
"That's better. Now you said you felt him. Take a deep breath and think where." continued Bunnie.
"O….ok." replied Lavender swallowing.
Bunnie let go and Lavender stood still. She closed her eyes and sighed. Bunnie and Jet waited for her all be it nervously. As they waited Links arrived behind them.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Lavender can feel Tails but she's so panicked she can't pinpoint it." replied Bunnie.
Links nodded slowly. Just then Lavender opened her eyes and looked to the right. She suddenly tore off in that direction leaving the other to scramble after her.
"I have a very bad feeling about this Bunnie." said Links as he ran beside her.
"Why's that?" she asked.
"That cloud…it's not normal…"
Bunnie glanced over her shoulder and nodded but then looked back at Lavender ahead of them. They had gained on her now and ran alongside. Jet was still lagging behind looking a bit tired. Lavender suddenly skidded to a halt almost making Links crash into her. She looked to the side quickly and pointed.
"There! There! THERE!" she cried.
Bunnie quickly took a few steps forwards and gasped. A limp looking orange tail was sticking up over a lip in the ground. She quickly leapt towards him only to have Links grab her arm. He spun her round quickly causing her to fall to the ground. She looked up, fairly astonished, to see Links holding back both Lavender and Jet.
"What on Mobius are you doing Links?!" she screamed.
"For the love of Mobius don't touch him! Whatever you do don't touch him!" said Links straining against the two children.
"What are you talking about?!" screamed Bunnie, "He needs our help!"
"Lemme go Links! LEMME GO!" cried Lavender.
The small kitsune was now on the verge of tears as she pushed against Links grip. Suddenly Jet made a sharp push, pulled back and ducked under Links arm. He was so busy concentrating on Lavender he was unable to stop him as ran over to the tail. He suddenly stopped and screamed. Bunnie leapt to her feet and joined him.
"Oh my god!" she said quietly.
Tails was lying face down on a small bank with one tail over the lip and the other shredded beyond recognition. One arm was twisted backwards behind him at an odd angle and he was covered in bruises, cuts and grazes. This however wasn't the most disturbing thing though. His whole body glowed with a strange green light. It was now that Lavender and Links appeared next to them. Lavender face seemed to go an even whiter colour than normal as she collapsed to the ground.
"T…Tails…father…." she whimpered slowly reaching out her hand slightly.
Quickly Links reached out and grabbed her hand.
"No! Don't touch him!" he said again.
"Links what's wrong?" asked Bunnie finally.
Links looked back over his shoulder at the virtually dispersed cloud of gas in the sky and then back at Tails.
"It's the same colour." he said.
"You mean….what is it? That gas?" asked Bunnie.
"I have no idea but it's not good. I know that."
"What you mean not good?" asked Lavender, "What is happening to father?"
Meanwhile Jet was staring at Tails. He watched as the glow around him dimmed slightly.
"No…." he said slowly.
"What is it Jet?" asked Bunnie.
The group had now moved in all around Tails with one on each side of him but nobody had touched him yet.
"Don't hold me to this but I think this might be anti proton technology." said the cat.
"Anti proton?" asked Bunnie.
"Who cares what it is?!" sobbed Lavender, "He needs help."
Lavender made a move toward Tails only to have Jet grab her hand. She looked over at him with a face of confusion.
"Jet?" she asked.
"Lavender, we best do as Links says." replied Jet.
"Why?"
"If this anti proton technology then it's too late anyway."
"What is this technology?" asked Links, "And how do you know of it."
"My friend Jeremy on the base gave me access to lots of information. He didn't care much for classified stuff because I was so interested. He only showed me this once though and I can't remember much. Mind you there wasn't much to look at. The technology was only in the theoretical stages and had been discontinued due to funding. It uses anti proton's to…"
"What are anti protons?" asked Bunnie.
"Everything is made up of atoms and protons, along with neutrons, make up the central core of all atoms. Then you got electrons circling around the core. Protons have a positive charge and electrons a negative one. Neutrons don't have a charge. Now anti protons have a negative charge, the opposite of normal protons. The idea was to introduce them into a normal atom and have them react with the normal protons. This would destroy both the anti and normal proton and destabilize the core making it collapse. The electrons around it would then fly off and help to destabilize further atoms causing a cascade effect. The technology was very dodgy and only theoretical as I said."
"But if it was only theoretical then how'd it end up here?" asked Links.
"I guess they got the funding since they came here and finished it." said Jet slowly.
"Then….then….." stuttered Lavender.
Jet was still holding her hand as he looked over and nodded at her.
"Yes Lav. If I'm right about this he has been exposed to the anti proton technology." said Jet.
"What was that cloud?" asked Links.
"Probably just a catalyst to make it work faster. It was that cannon that did it if I'm right." replied Jet.
Lavender was leaning over Tails now. He looked so calm and peaceful, it didn't seem right.
"Father…?" she asked slowly.
Suddenly Tails gave a small twitch. Lavender was so shocked she yelped and toppled over backwards.
"Father!" she cried leaping at him only to be intercepted by Bunnie this time.
Tails gave a small weak cough and opened one eye slightly. He gave them a weak smile and coughed again. Links kneeled down next to him.
"Tails?" he said.
Tails coughed again and spoke. It was so quiet Links had to lean right up to him to hear.
"Links…..I…..I heard what Jet….said." he said.
"It'll be alright Tails. It was only an idea. It doesn't mean.."
"Yes…it…it does….I know science Links….I know…..I can feel….feel me body tingling…"
"Father!" cried Lavender kneeling down next to Links.
"Lav…ender…don't give up. Be strong…for me. Please." replied Tails.
Lavender raised her arm to her eyes and sniffed slightly. She gulped and wiped away a tear.
"You'll be ok Tails. Tell me he'll be ok!" she said looking up.
Bunnie was looking sadly at Tails, Links had his eyes closed and his head bowed and Jet was looking at the sky.
"No…" said Lavender softly.
Bunnie slowly looked over at her and placed an arm around her shoulder. Lavender collapsed into Bunnies chest and burst out into tears.
"It's just like the last time in that alternate dimension!" she wailed.
"Hush there sugah. It's not like last time. We're here with you." said Bunnie running a hand through Lavender's hair.
Meanwhile Jet and Links were looking at Tails again. His breathing had slowed now and his eyes were shut again. The glow around him had nearly faded now and small electric charges could be seen jumping across his burnt fur. Jet sighed slowly.
"I was right, I hate being right." he said slowly.
"It's ok Jet. It wasn't your fault." replied Links.
"Jet…don't feel bad…..it was…my fault…" coughed Tails.
"Don't be stupid Tails! You weren't to know!" said Links.
"You were right…Links….this was a mistake….it was…suicide..."
"Father!" cried Lavender.
Tails gave another small cough and his eye opened a slight amount. He looked around the group and smiled slightly.
"I'll….I'll miss you all….tell Amy….that I'm sorry…for not being there…for her….or you Lavender….good bye…." he said.
"Tails no!" cried Bunnie.
"Father!" wailed Lavender.
Jet and Links just stared as the jolt of electric across Tails fur stopped. His head slowly sunk to the floor and he stopped breathing. The glow around his body slowly faded to nothing. For a moment nobody said a word. All stood in silence trying to come to terms with what had just happened.
"That's it." said Jet slowly, "The glows gone and the effect with it."
Without warning Lavender leapt at Tails' body.
"Lavender no!" said Links.
"It's ok Links. The effects have gone…" began Jet before trailing off.
Lavender bent down over Tails and threw her arms around him. She buried her head in his shoulder and shook him.
"Tails! Tails no! Don't do this! Come back! Please!" she cried.
Tails didn't respond. Lavender pulled back and looked into his eyes, now closed and lifeless.
"Tails…" she whimpered softly.
Links looked up and away from the scene. His gaze fixed on the military base.
"You did this. You did this to him and her." he growled under his breath.
He felt something stir inside him. Something he had only felt a few times. Complete and utter anger and hatred. It started to bubble up inside him, consuming his mind. He raised his staff slowly as his eyes flashed a red colour. A black wind surrounded him, followed quickly by a huge tornado. The tunnel of wind was also black in colour and was emitting sparks. The others watched in horror as the tornado tore off towards the military base.