main chapter finished 10 /01 /03;
reformatted: 12 /14 /03;
revised/reformatted: 08 /04 /04
Antipode Evangel Presents:
Freedom Fighters of Mobius
Sonic the Hedgehog Neo Redux
Year 3235, Day 330
Circuit
Story (c) 2003 by the author. Based on characters created by Sega, DiC Productions, and/or Archie Comics Group, used without permission, but protected by applicable copyright laws... So there.
Other characters:
Kara, Grease, and Cornelius (c) Antipode Echidna / Adam Czech. Please ask permission before using any of my charas, thanx!
The Blue Blur streaked through the Great Forest of Mobius, his mind focused solely on the mission at hand. He was solo this time; Sally had finally agreed to his pleading when she considered that he wasn't going anywhere near Robotropolis. Tails had wanted to come, too, of course, but he had to be turned down. Again. Some day, Sonic thought to himself as he ran, T2 'n I are gonna go someplace, all by ourselves. That'd be way past cool!
The hedgehog skidded to a stop as he passed into the clearing, readjusting the straps on his day pack as he look up Green Emerald Hill, and the imposing structures cleft into it. Actually it was just one structure, as all of the facades were interconnected with tunnels in the hill. "The Elder Fortification," he whispered to himself as he started up. "This's the place all right."
He pulled the radio from his belt. "Hey, Rote. The hedgehog has landed! How're you guys doin', over?"
Rotor's voice came back amid the static. "Great, Sonic. We're almost ready to start the power test. Better stay outside till we're ready; the radios may not work in the catacombs, over."
"Gotcha, Rote. Over'n out."
Sonic sat down in the grass beside one of the entrances, resting in the moist grass in the shaded side of the hill. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax, taking a breath of the clean morning air. Then he heard the clicking of a pistol hammer above him.
"Sonic Hedgehog?"
His right eye clicked open, and he looked up to see an elderly field mouse standing over him. He wore a white robe that hid most of his face, and he had a pistol in his hands, pointed at him. Sonic raised his eyebrows. "You must be Cornelius."
The Elder's hand slid out from under his robe to pull back the hood. "You have a firm psyche, agent," he replied in his low gravelly voice as he replaced the weapon within the folds of his robe. "Most would be disturbed to be awakened from their sleep by a weapon."
Sonic got to his feet. "Eh, Sal told me you might do something kooky. You Elders like to keep a close eye on things round here, right?"
He nodded sagely. "Indeed. Robotnik's scouts have not yet found our sanctuary, and it would be best for the cause if it stayed that way. Tell me, how is the Princess?"
He shrugged. "Fine, I guess. The war's been tough on everybody, but on her the most. She takes it a little personal, bein' the leader 'n everything."
"Understandable. Well, Sonic, tell me what brings you to our humble encampment?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, the message!" he reached into his pack to produce the paper that Sally had given him. He looked over the scrawling before handing it over. "Big news, Corny."
Cornelius' eyes grew wide as he read Sally's message. "Surely? This is indeed 'great news.' But the message is not complete..."
Sonic nodded. "We're gonna do a power test before we let anybody know. Don't wanna get their hopes too high, right?"
"No..." he replied, occupied. "Well, in any case this is a great step toward a free Mobius. The potential for having a de-Roboticizor in every resistance cell is quite staggering!"
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
The walrus's great hand reached to the back of the machine, sticking the wire where he hoped it belonged. He pulled it back and got to his feet, brushing off his pants for the dust on the floor of the lab. "That's the last one," Rotor reported, lifting the welding goggles from his eyes. "Final checklist time. Tails?"
The young fox appeared, his own goggles in place and Rotor's clipboard in his hands. "Ready!" he squeaked, excited as everyone else but without mature inhibition.
"Okay, go ahead."
Tails looked down at the printout in his hands, speaking the first item on the list precociously. "Um... Main Power Cable?"
Rotor looked to make sure is was connected securely. "Check."
Tails scratched it off with a flourish. "Power Trans... Transformer?"
"Check."
Another pencil swipe. "Main operating room?"
Rotor's head came up. "What?"
Sally looked over Tails' shoulder, then chuckled. "Operating ROM, Tails."
"Oh. Sorry."
"No problem, buddy," Rotor groaned as he went back behind the machine. "Yeah, that's in here."
They went through the rest of the list, Sally helping with the long, technical words, which was most of them. It took almost a dozen minutes, and at the end the anticipation in the room was thick enough to feel. "Enough with tha' checklist, Rotor," Bunnie spoke up from the corner. "Let's get this show on tha road!"
"All right..." he crossed the room to the lab electrical panel. "Main power on..." His hand threw the massive switch that controlled all power to the laboratory; the lights flickered to life, along with some of his computers. He went to one of the keyboards and tapped in the startup sequence for the diagnostics devices he had hooked up to the de-Roboticizor. Rotor paused for dramatic silence, then flipped the switch.
Everyone held their breath as the indicator lights on the platform began to blink, then stayed solid as a powerful hum echoed through the room. A cheer went up from the lab and from outside, as those Freedom Fighters who couldn't get in watched through the windows. Rotor slumped in his chair with disbelief as Tails jumped onto his back to congratulate him. From the back of the room Sally, wide grin on her beaming face, took the radio and pressed the button. "Sonic? Do you read me, Sonic?"
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Sonic held the radio at arm's length, still able to hear the whoops and hollers of the Mobians on the other end of the line.
"It appears as though the procedure was a success," Cornelius offered, his usually monastically neutral expression broken by a smile.
"Yeah, guess so," Sonic winced.
The sounds of celebration faded as whoever was holding the radio moved away from the crowd. "Sonic, come in?"
Sonic smiled. "Geez, Sal. You'd think we'd beaten Ro-buttnik already with all the racket those guys're makin'."
Sally let the comment slide; she was too overjoyed to think about engaging in a sparring match with the hedgehog at the moment. "Tell Cornelius the power test was successful."
"Like we didn't know that already," he mumbled.
"Proceed with the message."
"All right, Sal. Over'n out." He turned to face the elder. "Looks like we did it. Let's let 'em know."
Cornelius agreed and motioned for Sonic to follow him into the catacombs, but they stopped short when they heard Sally's voice again. "Son-... -on't sen-... -ome in, Sonic!"
The message was broken up by static, and most of it was unintelligible. Sonic snatched the radio off his belt. "What whazzat, Sal, you're breakin' up!"
"Don't send the-... -oblems with the-..." Static overpowered the transmission, and the princess's voice was lost.
"Problems?" Sonic echoed what he thought he heard. "Crap. Better hold off on the transmit, Corny. Sounds like the guys hit a snag."
"They'd better hurry," the elder replied slowly. "After sundown a message cannot be sent."
Yeah, I know, I know, he thought to himself. Just hope nothing too bad happened to the guys back home.
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Rotor coughed and sat up on the floor, looking around through the smoke. "Hey, everybody okay?"
"Yeah," came Tails' voice from across the room.
Bunnie opened her right eye and lifted herself from the floor. The transistors in her brain immediately assessed the situation, modifying the implant at her throat to begin scrubbing the smoky air, and switching her right eye's view to infrared. Damned implants are good for something, I guess, she thought dryly as the changes were executed. "What the hoo-ha happened, Rotor?"
He coughed again. "Blew a fuse I think. This thing takes up way too much power; even the startup sequence blew out our generator."
Sally ran into the room from outside; she had been wondering why the radio didn't work, then she looked back at the lab and saw the extent of the damage. Most of it was superficial; something exploded inside the lab and thin smoke filled the small room. "Rotor? Bunnie? Everyone all right?"
"We're fine, Aunt Sally," Tails assured her, brushing off his jacket and shorts. "Somethin' popped."
"I think that 'something' was the power converter," Rotor reported from behind the platform. "It tried to draw in too much energy and wasted the fuse on the main generator, but not before the converter blew."
"What does that mean?" Sally asked, concerned.
"It means, ma'am, that our generator won't cut it anymore," Rotor shook his head. "It was fine when all we had to power were lights and computers, but this a high-end piece of Robotnik's hardware. We'll need something bigger."
"How much bigger?"
The techie thought a moment, almost hesitant to answer. "Six... maybe seven times."
She thought through the situation analytically. "How long would that take, if we got everyone with technical experience to help?"
"From start to finish... Depending on how often we can get parts from Robotropolis... The better part of a year or two."
Sally sighed. After all the work so far, they still weren't out of the woods, literally and figuratively. "Tails, do you know how to turn on the emergency backup generator?"
He blinked his big blue eyes and frowned. "Not really."
"It's the big switch on the front. Just flip it to 'on.'"
"Okay, Aunt Sally," he answered and scampered out the door.
It was a moment before the lights in the lab flickered back to life. Sally walked outside and tried the radio again. "Sonic, do you read me, over?"
There was the crackling of static, then the hedgehog's voice issued back. "I copy ya, Sal. What happened, over?"
She sighed. "We just blew a fuse. Rotor says we'll need a new generator to power the de-Roboticizor, over."
"That'll take some doin'. Does that mean we don't have a de-Roboticizor yet, over?"
Sally sighed. "That's right. We have the plans, and that's about it." She pondered. "Go ahead with the message to the rest of the cells. At least a little news is good news, over."
"Gotcha, Sal. Be back to camp as soon as it's sent! Sonic Hedgehog, over'n out."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. He was so full of himself. Sally returned to the lab as everyone was starting to clean up a little. She told everyone that Sonic was delivering the message, then asked Rotor what he would need to continue working on the Roboticizor, besides another power generator.
"Well, have to replace this, for one thing," he answered, tossing the charred remains of the power converter to the floor of the lab. "Other than that, there's still a lot of parts that we don't have yet."
"Well, my schedule's clear. How about yours, Bunnie?"
Bunnie stared at her. "Ya serious, Sally-girl? Right now?"
She shrugged. "Why not? Just a quick supply mission. We can handle that, can't we?"
The other thought for a moment, then shrugged as well. "Guess so. All right, let's go."
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Sonic was led by torchlight down into the catacombs that wound under Emerald Hill and the surrounding area. It had been a while since he had been down in there, and he found himself again marveling at the strange etchings on the walls they passed. No one knew just how long the Elder Fortification had been around, not even the monks who inhabited it now. Just before Robotnik's takeover it had been little more than a sanctuary for the heavy-laden traveler. But now that more and more of those 'travelers' were refugees and freedom fighters, the monks had decided to slightly modify their job description.
The two finally made it to the end of a passage, where Cornelius shifted the torch to his left hand and pressed his right into a stone on the wall. The panel shone a bright red, then beeped as the print match was confirmed and the wall before them slid aside. Beyond was a chamber that had been lined on all sides with computer detection, surveillance, and transmission equipment, a stark contrast to the ancient architecture they had been previously passing through.
A squirrel acolyte approached them and bowed. "Elder Cornelius. You have news?"
"Yes, Thomas. This is Sonic Hedgehog, from the Knothole cell," he motioned and Sonic waved passively. "We need to inform the other groups that the blueprints for the de-Roboticizor have been deciphered, and construction is underway. Also let them know that the power strain for such a device is immense; all cells that are able must prepare for instituting a larger generator."
Thomas looked up from the notepad he had been scribbling on. He repeated his notes for accuracy, then bowed and retreated to one of the terminals to enter the message. Sonic watched him go. "Well, that's that."
"Hopefully it will be enough, for now," Cornelius replied solemnly.
"Thanks for your help, guys," Sonic gave them a two-fingered salute.
"Thank you, Sonic. Do you need help getting back to the surface?"
He waved him off. "Nah, I can handle it. See ya!" Sonic took Cornelius' offered torch, then exited back into the corridor. He went as far as he could before reaching a fork, deciding to follow his "hedgehog sense" and go left.
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
He quickly woke, aware of the foreign presence. His eyes snapped open, rolling off the cot into a defensive crouch, left hand reaching for the sword hidden beneath. The presence didn't feel like any of the monks; the footfalls didn't land on the stones as quiet as they should have, and his constant muttering echoed off the passage walls.
The echidna crept to the edge of his door, peeking around the corner in time to see a blue hedgehog crossing an intersection nearby, torch held aloft. If they've followed me this far, he thought to himself, frowning, desecrating a monastery wouldn't be that far to go. These monks were kind enough to take me in and heal my wounds, but could they possibly cooperate with the Rogues, essentially hand me over to them?
He resisted the urge to track the hedgehog, easy as it may have been. If he had been a Rogue there would have been more with him, and he didn't fit with their style, at any rate. He returned to his bed, replacing the blade in its hiding place. Under normal circumstances he would have asked where he was from; possibly from the camp he was trying to reach? He sighed and closed his eyes once more. No, I need more strength first. Need rest...
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Even in broad daylight the pollution from the factories of Robotropolis made the city look dark and gloomy. It had gotten so bad during Robotnik's ten-year reign that the noxious fumes had created a perpetual fog that blanketed the once-proud capitol, cutting down visibility and posing a breathing hazard to the Mobians sent to infiltrate the area. Sally often wondered if such a high amount of air contamination could ever be reversed; in any case, an emergency oxygen canister would remain as standard field equipment for a long time.
The two freedom fighters made their way down a dark passage between two warehouses, employing the tactics of stealth honed by years of subterfuge. Sally pressed her right shoulder against the mouth of the alley, peeking around the corner for any sign of Robotnik's SWATbots. She saw only two, standing guard at the entrance to a warehouse twenty-five meters down the street.
"They out there, Sally?" Bunnie whispered, blinking her right eye.
"Yep. Two of them," Sally smiled. "Just as we thought."
She tapped the fingers of her left hand together, producing a sharp metallic clicking. "We goin' fer 'quiet' or 'not so quiet?'"
"I think we'd better stick to stealth," the princess answered, doubling back into the alley and searching the walls. "It should be... here." She stopped, placing her hands on a discolored one-meter square close to the ground. "This could be our way in. Bunnie, if you please?"
"No problem," the rabbit answered, coming forward to place her left hand on the square, fingers hydraulically tightening and digging into whatever material it was of. Her arm contracted, ripping the entire air vent out of the wall. Bunnie carefully set it aside to make as little noise as possible, then followed Sally into the warehouse.
The interior lights were off, but a torch wasn't necessary from the moonlight coming in the windows. The two carefully descended the metal stairs that went to a catwalk built all around the edge of the room. Sally spotted a ladder that led to a roof hatch; she suggested her plan and they crossed over.
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
It was about this time that Sonic streaked into Knothole, seeing as he entered the thin cloud of smoke hanging over the lab. He went over, pushing the door open to see Tails and Rotor picking up the results of their power test.
"Botnik's bloated butt! What'd you guys do!"
"Take it easy, Sonic," Rotor replied calmly, pushing aside a pile of parts to sweep out a corner.
"Yeah," Tails giggled. "You act like you never seen a 'splodie before."
"Never in our lab," Sonic replied, crossing his arms and taking a look around. "This is just from the de-Roboticizor blowin' up?"
"Most of it," the techie replied. "Some's just from me and Tails taking it apart to get at the melted bits." He motioned to the platform sitting at one side of the lab, most of its metal plates removed and several components ripped out of it.
"As long as you know what you're doin'..." Sonic mumbled, shaking his head. Techies.
"Hey," Sonic suddenly spoke up. "Where're Bunnie and Sal? I didn't see them on my way in."
"They went to Robotropolis to get parts!" Tails shouted quickly. Rotor slapped his forehead.
"They did what!" Sonic shouted. "Just the two of them?"
"They didn't think it was that big a deal," Rotor replied.
"What... But they..." Sonic fumbled for words. "Just the two of them. Not even Antoine?"
"They left as soon as we checked the de-Roboticizor after the power test. Antoine wasn't even here, I don't think. Wonder if he even knows now...?"
Sonic threw up his hands. The organization they had going on at Knothole was great. "And I suppose they told you to tell me not to try and follow them, right?"
Rotor grinned. "You got it."
"Fine," Sonic mumbled as he left the lab and started for his own hut. "I've got better things to do then worry about those two girls."
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Getting into the adjacent warehouse had been the easy part; now Bunnie and Sally had to get across the street to the one they wanted, the one with the computer hardware. They had gotten to the roof unhindered, but now faced the task of passing right over the heads of the two SWATbots below without being seen. Several suggestions were batted back and forth until, finally, Sally decided on creating a diversion, then zip-lining across the power lines that stretched from each of the buildings. As the two SWATbots went to check on the disturbance down the street, the two slid over to the roof, which was a metallic hatch wide enough for one of Robotnik's cargo pods to enter.
Wary of detection systems, they found the door to the interior and sneaked in, allowing their eyes to adjust to the darkness and not risking the light from a torch. Sally relied more on Bunnie here, who had learned to somewhat control her false eye's alternate modes, one of which was night vision. Sally used Nicole to guide them to the sector of the warehouse they needed, and were able to find Rotor's power converter in no time.
"So what now?" Bunnie asked once they had acquired. "We just go back?"
"What's the rush?" Sally answered. "As long as we're here we might as well get some of the other stuff we need, too. Nicole, please bring up Rotor's supply list."
[Accessing, Sally.]
A text file was scrolled onto the screen, and the two girls started looking. They were able to find another half-dozen of the parts needed for the de-Roboticizor before Sally decided they should start back to Knothole. They were half-way to the door when...
"Sally-girl, ah hear somethin'."
The princess stopped to listen, and could barely pick up the faint whine of a repulsor-drive engine. A big one.
"Take cover," she suggested, and they found adequate hiding spots behind two packing crates. They watched as the retractable hatch on the roof was slowly drawn back, and one of the cargo pods Sally had thought about earlier descended to the floor of the warehouse. The main door slid aside and two SWATbots emerged, flanking the hatch and ordering two roboticized Mobians to come forward, carrying a large shipping container.
[...and when you're finished with that one,] Bunnie could hear the metallic voice of one of the SWATbots, who was obviously in charge of the detail, [get started on the H-units. Everything in that pod must be unloaded.]
The Robian answered something she couldn't make out, then the two set the box down and returned to the hold. Sally and Bunnie looked at each other, Bunnie's face showing concern. The princess replied with the hand motion that signified that they should split up and circle around to the door. She nodded her understanding, then hustled to the right wall of the warehouse, keeping her eye on the SWATbots near the pod. When she was in position she looked over to see Sally in the shadows, back to the wall.
Bunnie tried to keep herself as hidden as possible as well. Sally tried to use Nicole on panel for the door, but they must have locked it before lowering the pod in. She turned to face Bunnie, pointing toward the pod. She immediately understood, and shook her head forcefully. Sally frowned and held up five fingers. Four.
Sally-girl, you're nuts, Bunnie thought to herself as she got ready to move. Three.
The Robians were coming out of the pod again, carrying another box that looked like it weighed a ton. They came down the ramp, moving to place it near the others they had brought out. Two.
The two 'bots set the box down on the floor of the warehouse, making hardly a sound except the echoing whirr of the servomotors in their limbs. One.
The SWATbots weren't paying attention to the things around them, only to the workers. Sally gave the signal to act, and Bunnie ran for the hatch of the cargo pod, worrying more about herself than for Sally at the moment. Sally knew that Bunnie didn't use weaponry, and took that into account in her quick-thought plan. As the rabbit made for the pod, she provided cover with her pistol, waiting only a moment before laying strafing fire as she ran herself.
When they were both inside and in relative safety, Sally slapped her hand on the panel to close the hatch. "Let's get out of here," she suggested, moving into the adjacent cockpit and taking a seat in the pilot's chair. Bunnie followed, finding a place in the co-pilot's seat. With Nicole's help she was able to find the correct switches for the pre-flight sequence. "Bunnie, try to find the remote control for the roof hatch. We'll need it open."
"All right, ah'll try," she replied through gritted teeth. The SWATbots had started firing on the pod by now, and the craft rocked with each hit.
Sally finished the pre-flight sequence, and yanked down on the lever that controlled the repulsor engines. The cargo craft bucked as it rose into the air. "Well, that's something. Bunnie, does this thing have weapons?"
"Ah'm kinda busy, Sally-girl!" she retorted, her voice almost quivering from their predicament.
Sally turned to her computer. "Nicole, switch to flight vocabulary and establish voice-command link with the pod."
[Working, Sally...]
Another hit which slid the pod backward, scraping the hull against the wall of the warehouse and overturning a stack of crates. The two girls screamed; Sally recovered and tried to stabilize the craft from dropping.
[...Link established.]
"Nicole," Sally shouted, then winced as they got hit again, "open the door to the warehouse!"
[Complying, Sally... Security software encountered; attempting bypass...]
"We don't have that kinda time, Nicole!" Bunnie screamed.
Sally frowned and concentrated on flying, swiveling the pod around to face the SWATbots, manipulating the lever for the repulsors and dropping the craft almost to the ground. The four 'bots on the ground dove for cover, giving them the time they needed.
[Security disabled; opening roof.]
Sally craned her neck to look out the window and saw the retractable hatch on the roof slowly being pulled aside. The SWATbots saw it, too, and one of them talked into a wrist-mounted comm unit. "Hold on, Bunnie!" Sally shouted, gripping the controls. "This is going to be close!"
Before the hatch had slid aside all the way she pulled back on the control yoke and hit the accelerator. The engines flared and the pod rocketed upward, juking from side to side as Sally tried to position their flight path between the two halves of the door. She ignored Bunnie's calls to her, putting all her focus into the task of getting them out of harm's way. She succeeded only in part: the right side of the hull gently bounced off the roof as they passed, forcing Sally to slightly correct her course. When they were a good distance from the warehouse the two of them allowed a sigh of relief, and Bunnie even a slight chuckle.
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
"They took what?"
"A cargo pod, sir. I thought you might want to be informed of the situation."
Doctor Robotnik sat back in his elaborate command chair, the fingers of each hand pressed together. "Unfortunate, but not unforeseen," he rumbled. "Did we pick up any telemetry from the cyborg?"
"Very little, sir," Colin admitted. "Not enough that would be worth seeing, at any rate. We seem to be having a problem with the transmitter."
"It's not yet fully developed," he mused, "but no matter. It will grow with time."
"So you're... not concerned about the pod, sir?" he swallowed.
"It will make them easier to detect, Snively," Robotnik answered, using his new nickname for his nephew. Colin hated it, but why would he dare to correct him? "Let them take their prize back to their base, enjoy their little plaything. It will have a cost much greater than they can see."
Snively scowled. Robotnik usually didn't have much foresight concerning the "freedom fighters," which is probably why he hadn't struck any decisive blows against them yet. If only he would think it through for a half-minute he would realize that now they could probably sneak through the entire perimeter grid by scrambling the pod's IFF signal, then take as much equipment as could fit in the hold. The Mobians now had virtually unbridled access to the whole of Robotropolis.
"How goes the progress on Project: Doomsday?"
"All the main ventricles have been completed and are being moved into place as we speak. Fifty seeker pods have been finished with another dozen by the end of the year. Perfectly on schedule, sir."
"Very good, Snively. Have the workers who had been constructing the ventricles reassigned to the western coal fields. There have been too many attacks there recently; I'm losing miners."
"Yes, sir," Snively replied, then turned and left the room, muttering under his breath.
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Sonic sat on the branch, leaning against the trunk of the tree and catching a nap during his turn at lookout duty. He never worried about what he might miss with his eyes closed; his hearing was better than perfect. And besides, Buttnik never tried anything, anyways.
He sighed, his mind wandering to Sally and Bunnie. What were they trying to prove, going off on a mission without telling anyone? Without telling him? It's kind of hard to stay the main hedgehog with so many people going over your head.
Sonic opened his eyes and looked around, if only to give the false impression that he was actually doing his job. Not seeing anything peculiar he went back to his rest, trying not to let the tumultuous events of the past month get to him. First Bunnie getting hit with that... whatever it was from Buttnik, then finding Uncle Chuck, only to lose him again. He sighed. Sometimes it could be too much, but what was he going to do, quit the war?
The hedgehog smiled at his inner thoughts, then heard the faint humming coming from the north. He stood up on the branch to look down the path to Robotropolis, and what he saw made his blood turn cold: one of Robotnik's cargo pods, apparently battle damaged, heading straight to Knothole.
"Oh, man, SWATbutts? I gotta juice!" He jumped to the ground and sped off in the direction of the camp. He reached the warning bell only moments before the pod was visible from the clearing, ringing it loudly enough to rally the freedom fighters to arms. Several Mobians were wielding pistols and rifles by the time the pod came to the compound, hovering over the center of the area before slowly setting down.
Sonic watched nervously as the engines slowly shut down, then the hatch on the side of the craft slid open. There was a long pause before its occupants emerged, and not the squad of SWATbots that everyone had been expected. Instead came Sally and Bunnie, at first shocked from the weapons pointed in their direction, then laughing as they realized for themselves the absurdity of the situation.
"Stand down, guys," Sally waved at them. "It's only us."
"Sal, what's the deal?" Sonic laughed. "We thought... well, you know what we musta thought!"
"We were stuck in the warehouse, this was the only way out. Didn't seem like a smart idea at the time, but we were out of options."
Antoine came forward, sheathing his sword, fuming. "My princess, I must object to your lack of dedication to proceduaire concerning this mission."
Bunnie came up to take him aside as Sally issued commands to those around. "Aw, relax, Antoine," she soothed. "B'sides, there's only two seats. If you woulda come with us, you'd have been bounced around in the cargo hold all the way back!"
He scowled. "Oh, t'ank you for thinking of me."
She planted her hands on her hips. "Antoine, darlin', yer not gonna be sore over a little thang like this, are ya?"
His eyes still showed contempt, but his body slackened slightly. After a second a smile formed on his lips. "I am being ridiculous, non?"
She nodded, a smile crossing her face as well.
"I am sorry, Bunnie," he replied, hanging his head. She was always fascinated when he said her name, his accent emphasizing the second syllable instead of the first like most people. "I am just being fyoolish."
"Not foolish, Antoine. Overprotective." He looked up at her. "Obsessively overprotective."
He smiled even more. "Need to work on that, I guess, non?" He breathed deeply.
"Antoine, if ya'll wanna help, c'mere an' give us a hand with gettin' this pod to the garage, all right?"
Antoine agreed, and the two went off to help the others.
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
The rhythmic tapping of pencil on wood was the only sound to keep time in the vehicle garage of Knothole; all the tools were away, and the floor was empty. It had been years since the garage had last seen work, and their souped-up battle rover had seen its last battle long ago. It had been dismantled for parts -- parts which had never been needed since. The pencil stopped its metronome, furiously moving to rub out a section on the blueprint, then feverishly replacing the blank area with new lines. Kara Kincaid looked over the amendments, decided them satisfactory, then resumed her hitting the desk with the writing utensil.
She still came to the garage, enjoying the feel of the place, the smells of the various motor fluids, the dynamic echoes of sound in the large room. Forget her hut, this was her real home. She had occupied her time of late with an idea, actually building an airplane that she could use to make up for the current lack of work. Hey, if Rotor could get all these parts for the de-Roboticizor, why couldn't she get some stuff to build a plane? It would help the cause just as much, if she could convince Princess Sally of it.
Kara put the pencil down, leaning back in the desk chair and sighing. Oh, the life of a freedom fighter... One of these days she would apply for field training, maybe get something to do. As of now she was bored stiff. She got to her feet and headed outside, pulling her cap down over her long ears. She had heard a warning bell being sounded earlier; maybe she would go see what it had been all about. What she saw made her giddy as a schoolgirl.
She waved to them, nodded, then ran back into the garage. "Grease!" she shouted, opening the box for the main door controls. "Hey, Grease, get your butt out here!"
"Eh, whaddya want?" came the disgruntled reply.
"We actually got something to do, that's what!" she yelled back, slapping the switch to slowly raise the door and let the sunshine in.
Without waiting, she went to the storage closet to get the pylons that could support the giant cargo pod being floated into the garage. She grabbed one in each hand, quickly hurrying to set them up. Grease soon saw the pod as well, arming two traffic control wands and waddling out.
The two mechanics were able to get the cargo pod to come to rest perfectly in the vehicle bay, and they greeted Sally as she stepped out of the hatch. "Princess Sally," Kara greeted and bowed, "this is a pleasant surprise."
"Hello, Kara," she replied and gestured to the pod. "This is a new toy we just got from Robotnik, without him giving it to us, of course. I need you to learn everything you can from it, repair the damage, and possibly outfit it with weapons for later use."
"No problem," she gave a gloved thumbs-up. "Grease and I will take this thing apart and put it back together better than it was!"
Sally nodded. "Glad to hear it. If you need any parts, just make up the list. We'll try to get them as soon as we can. Here are the keys."
Kara took the control key ring from Sally and put it in her overalls pocket, watching her go. Not exactly field work, but it was something to do. She turned to look at the pod, seeing not a tool of destruction from Robotnik's empire, but an object of mechanical efficiency, one that she would soon rip open to see what makes it tick.
"Whatta piece-a junk!"
The rabbit frowned and turned to see Grease Monkey, hands on his hips, staring at the craft with a dissatisfactory scowl. "What do you mean, 'junk?'"
"Just look at it!" the stout chimp-Mobian answered, gesticulating. "It looks like an overgrown egg with hover engines!"
"I guess... But think of what it could look like, after we're through with it!"
"Oh, I like the way that sounds," he nodded. "A lean, mean, fightin'... egg with hover engines."
"And a minigun."
His eyes grew wide. "Oooh, minigun."
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Tails helped Rotor clean up the lab for the better part of the day, then went to the hut he shared with Sonic to find him lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The fox doffed his jacket and through it in a chair. "Hey, Sonic, what's up?"
"Nothin', little bro," he answered tiredly. "Just got a lot to think about."
"Really?" Tails asked, jumping up on the bed. "Like what?"
Sonic rolled over on his side. "Crazy stuff. You remember me tellin' you 'bout Uncle Chuck, right?"
Tails nodded. "You said he got Roboticized, and that you guys saw him last week."
"Yeah. I can't help but think that's there's somethin' we can do to bring him back to Knothole or somethin'."
"Sonic, you can't bring a Robian to Knothole. That's just stupid."
"That's what I keep tellin' myself. We could have used the Roboticizor, but it'll be a while before we build that generator."
Tails pondered. "Maybe you can give him his mind back. Aunt Sally says that Roboticizing doesn't take away someone's mind, just the ability to make decisions. If you could do that to Uncle Chuck..."
Sonic's face lit up. "That's a great idea, little bro! I'll talk to Sally about it, then first thing tomorrow, you n' me are going to find him!"
Tails looked shocked. "Ya mean it, Sonic? I'm goin' with ya?"
He shrugged. "I don't see why not. We got in n' out of there pretty easy before, there should be no prob."
The cub jumped up to embrace his friend. "Oh, Sonic! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"All right, buddy. But there's one condition... You gotta get a good night's sleep to be fully rested for tomorrow."
It was the fastest Tails had ever willingly gone to bed. Sonic smiled, then leaned back on the bed. Uncle Chuck, you're finally comin' home...
::END OF CHAPTER::
Revision history:
08 /04 /04 :: added HTML formatting, revised Bunnie's accented dialogue (I was getting complaints from my southern girlfriend )
reformatted: 12 /14 /03;
revised/reformatted: 08 /04 /04
Antipode Evangel Presents:
Freedom Fighters of Mobius
Sonic the Hedgehog Neo Redux
Year 3235, Day 330
Circuit
Story (c) 2003 by the author. Based on characters created by Sega, DiC Productions, and/or Archie Comics Group, used without permission, but protected by applicable copyright laws... So there.
Other characters:
Kara, Grease, and Cornelius (c) Antipode Echidna / Adam Czech. Please ask permission before using any of my charas, thanx!
The Blue Blur streaked through the Great Forest of Mobius, his mind focused solely on the mission at hand. He was solo this time; Sally had finally agreed to his pleading when she considered that he wasn't going anywhere near Robotropolis. Tails had wanted to come, too, of course, but he had to be turned down. Again. Some day, Sonic thought to himself as he ran, T2 'n I are gonna go someplace, all by ourselves. That'd be way past cool!
The hedgehog skidded to a stop as he passed into the clearing, readjusting the straps on his day pack as he look up Green Emerald Hill, and the imposing structures cleft into it. Actually it was just one structure, as all of the facades were interconnected with tunnels in the hill. "The Elder Fortification," he whispered to himself as he started up. "This's the place all right."
He pulled the radio from his belt. "Hey, Rote. The hedgehog has landed! How're you guys doin', over?"
Rotor's voice came back amid the static. "Great, Sonic. We're almost ready to start the power test. Better stay outside till we're ready; the radios may not work in the catacombs, over."
"Gotcha, Rote. Over'n out."
Sonic sat down in the grass beside one of the entrances, resting in the moist grass in the shaded side of the hill. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax, taking a breath of the clean morning air. Then he heard the clicking of a pistol hammer above him.
"Sonic Hedgehog?"
His right eye clicked open, and he looked up to see an elderly field mouse standing over him. He wore a white robe that hid most of his face, and he had a pistol in his hands, pointed at him. Sonic raised his eyebrows. "You must be Cornelius."
The Elder's hand slid out from under his robe to pull back the hood. "You have a firm psyche, agent," he replied in his low gravelly voice as he replaced the weapon within the folds of his robe. "Most would be disturbed to be awakened from their sleep by a weapon."
Sonic got to his feet. "Eh, Sal told me you might do something kooky. You Elders like to keep a close eye on things round here, right?"
He nodded sagely. "Indeed. Robotnik's scouts have not yet found our sanctuary, and it would be best for the cause if it stayed that way. Tell me, how is the Princess?"
He shrugged. "Fine, I guess. The war's been tough on everybody, but on her the most. She takes it a little personal, bein' the leader 'n everything."
"Understandable. Well, Sonic, tell me what brings you to our humble encampment?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, the message!" he reached into his pack to produce the paper that Sally had given him. He looked over the scrawling before handing it over. "Big news, Corny."
Cornelius' eyes grew wide as he read Sally's message. "Surely? This is indeed 'great news.' But the message is not complete..."
Sonic nodded. "We're gonna do a power test before we let anybody know. Don't wanna get their hopes too high, right?"
"No..." he replied, occupied. "Well, in any case this is a great step toward a free Mobius. The potential for having a de-Roboticizor in every resistance cell is quite staggering!"
The walrus's great hand reached to the back of the machine, sticking the wire where he hoped it belonged. He pulled it back and got to his feet, brushing off his pants for the dust on the floor of the lab. "That's the last one," Rotor reported, lifting the welding goggles from his eyes. "Final checklist time. Tails?"
The young fox appeared, his own goggles in place and Rotor's clipboard in his hands. "Ready!" he squeaked, excited as everyone else but without mature inhibition.
"Okay, go ahead."
Tails looked down at the printout in his hands, speaking the first item on the list precociously. "Um... Main Power Cable?"
Rotor looked to make sure is was connected securely. "Check."
Tails scratched it off with a flourish. "Power Trans... Transformer?"
"Check."
Another pencil swipe. "Main operating room?"
Rotor's head came up. "What?"
Sally looked over Tails' shoulder, then chuckled. "Operating ROM, Tails."
"Oh. Sorry."
"No problem, buddy," Rotor groaned as he went back behind the machine. "Yeah, that's in here."
They went through the rest of the list, Sally helping with the long, technical words, which was most of them. It took almost a dozen minutes, and at the end the anticipation in the room was thick enough to feel. "Enough with tha' checklist, Rotor," Bunnie spoke up from the corner. "Let's get this show on tha road!"
"All right..." he crossed the room to the lab electrical panel. "Main power on..." His hand threw the massive switch that controlled all power to the laboratory; the lights flickered to life, along with some of his computers. He went to one of the keyboards and tapped in the startup sequence for the diagnostics devices he had hooked up to the de-Roboticizor. Rotor paused for dramatic silence, then flipped the switch.
Everyone held their breath as the indicator lights on the platform began to blink, then stayed solid as a powerful hum echoed through the room. A cheer went up from the lab and from outside, as those Freedom Fighters who couldn't get in watched through the windows. Rotor slumped in his chair with disbelief as Tails jumped onto his back to congratulate him. From the back of the room Sally, wide grin on her beaming face, took the radio and pressed the button. "Sonic? Do you read me, Sonic?"
Sonic held the radio at arm's length, still able to hear the whoops and hollers of the Mobians on the other end of the line.
"It appears as though the procedure was a success," Cornelius offered, his usually monastically neutral expression broken by a smile.
"Yeah, guess so," Sonic winced.
The sounds of celebration faded as whoever was holding the radio moved away from the crowd. "Sonic, come in?"
Sonic smiled. "Geez, Sal. You'd think we'd beaten Ro-buttnik already with all the racket those guys're makin'."
Sally let the comment slide; she was too overjoyed to think about engaging in a sparring match with the hedgehog at the moment. "Tell Cornelius the power test was successful."
"Like we didn't know that already," he mumbled.
"Proceed with the message."
"All right, Sal. Over'n out." He turned to face the elder. "Looks like we did it. Let's let 'em know."
Cornelius agreed and motioned for Sonic to follow him into the catacombs, but they stopped short when they heard Sally's voice again. "Son-... -on't sen-... -ome in, Sonic!"
The message was broken up by static, and most of it was unintelligible. Sonic snatched the radio off his belt. "What whazzat, Sal, you're breakin' up!"
"Don't send the-... -oblems with the-..." Static overpowered the transmission, and the princess's voice was lost.
"Problems?" Sonic echoed what he thought he heard. "Crap. Better hold off on the transmit, Corny. Sounds like the guys hit a snag."
"They'd better hurry," the elder replied slowly. "After sundown a message cannot be sent."
Yeah, I know, I know, he thought to himself. Just hope nothing too bad happened to the guys back home.
Rotor coughed and sat up on the floor, looking around through the smoke. "Hey, everybody okay?"
"Yeah," came Tails' voice from across the room.
Bunnie opened her right eye and lifted herself from the floor. The transistors in her brain immediately assessed the situation, modifying the implant at her throat to begin scrubbing the smoky air, and switching her right eye's view to infrared. Damned implants are good for something, I guess, she thought dryly as the changes were executed. "What the hoo-ha happened, Rotor?"
He coughed again. "Blew a fuse I think. This thing takes up way too much power; even the startup sequence blew out our generator."
Sally ran into the room from outside; she had been wondering why the radio didn't work, then she looked back at the lab and saw the extent of the damage. Most of it was superficial; something exploded inside the lab and thin smoke filled the small room. "Rotor? Bunnie? Everyone all right?"
"We're fine, Aunt Sally," Tails assured her, brushing off his jacket and shorts. "Somethin' popped."
"I think that 'something' was the power converter," Rotor reported from behind the platform. "It tried to draw in too much energy and wasted the fuse on the main generator, but not before the converter blew."
"What does that mean?" Sally asked, concerned.
"It means, ma'am, that our generator won't cut it anymore," Rotor shook his head. "It was fine when all we had to power were lights and computers, but this a high-end piece of Robotnik's hardware. We'll need something bigger."
"How much bigger?"
The techie thought a moment, almost hesitant to answer. "Six... maybe seven times."
She thought through the situation analytically. "How long would that take, if we got everyone with technical experience to help?"
"From start to finish... Depending on how often we can get parts from Robotropolis... The better part of a year or two."
Sally sighed. After all the work so far, they still weren't out of the woods, literally and figuratively. "Tails, do you know how to turn on the emergency backup generator?"
He blinked his big blue eyes and frowned. "Not really."
"It's the big switch on the front. Just flip it to 'on.'"
"Okay, Aunt Sally," he answered and scampered out the door.
It was a moment before the lights in the lab flickered back to life. Sally walked outside and tried the radio again. "Sonic, do you read me, over?"
There was the crackling of static, then the hedgehog's voice issued back. "I copy ya, Sal. What happened, over?"
She sighed. "We just blew a fuse. Rotor says we'll need a new generator to power the de-Roboticizor, over."
"That'll take some doin'. Does that mean we don't have a de-Roboticizor yet, over?"
Sally sighed. "That's right. We have the plans, and that's about it." She pondered. "Go ahead with the message to the rest of the cells. At least a little news is good news, over."
"Gotcha, Sal. Be back to camp as soon as it's sent! Sonic Hedgehog, over'n out."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. He was so full of himself. Sally returned to the lab as everyone was starting to clean up a little. She told everyone that Sonic was delivering the message, then asked Rotor what he would need to continue working on the Roboticizor, besides another power generator.
"Well, have to replace this, for one thing," he answered, tossing the charred remains of the power converter to the floor of the lab. "Other than that, there's still a lot of parts that we don't have yet."
"Well, my schedule's clear. How about yours, Bunnie?"
Bunnie stared at her. "Ya serious, Sally-girl? Right now?"
She shrugged. "Why not? Just a quick supply mission. We can handle that, can't we?"
The other thought for a moment, then shrugged as well. "Guess so. All right, let's go."
Sonic was led by torchlight down into the catacombs that wound under Emerald Hill and the surrounding area. It had been a while since he had been down in there, and he found himself again marveling at the strange etchings on the walls they passed. No one knew just how long the Elder Fortification had been around, not even the monks who inhabited it now. Just before Robotnik's takeover it had been little more than a sanctuary for the heavy-laden traveler. But now that more and more of those 'travelers' were refugees and freedom fighters, the monks had decided to slightly modify their job description.
The two finally made it to the end of a passage, where Cornelius shifted the torch to his left hand and pressed his right into a stone on the wall. The panel shone a bright red, then beeped as the print match was confirmed and the wall before them slid aside. Beyond was a chamber that had been lined on all sides with computer detection, surveillance, and transmission equipment, a stark contrast to the ancient architecture they had been previously passing through.
A squirrel acolyte approached them and bowed. "Elder Cornelius. You have news?"
"Yes, Thomas. This is Sonic Hedgehog, from the Knothole cell," he motioned and Sonic waved passively. "We need to inform the other groups that the blueprints for the de-Roboticizor have been deciphered, and construction is underway. Also let them know that the power strain for such a device is immense; all cells that are able must prepare for instituting a larger generator."
Thomas looked up from the notepad he had been scribbling on. He repeated his notes for accuracy, then bowed and retreated to one of the terminals to enter the message. Sonic watched him go. "Well, that's that."
"Hopefully it will be enough, for now," Cornelius replied solemnly.
"Thanks for your help, guys," Sonic gave them a two-fingered salute.
"Thank you, Sonic. Do you need help getting back to the surface?"
He waved him off. "Nah, I can handle it. See ya!" Sonic took Cornelius' offered torch, then exited back into the corridor. He went as far as he could before reaching a fork, deciding to follow his "hedgehog sense" and go left.
He quickly woke, aware of the foreign presence. His eyes snapped open, rolling off the cot into a defensive crouch, left hand reaching for the sword hidden beneath. The presence didn't feel like any of the monks; the footfalls didn't land on the stones as quiet as they should have, and his constant muttering echoed off the passage walls.
The echidna crept to the edge of his door, peeking around the corner in time to see a blue hedgehog crossing an intersection nearby, torch held aloft. If they've followed me this far, he thought to himself, frowning, desecrating a monastery wouldn't be that far to go. These monks were kind enough to take me in and heal my wounds, but could they possibly cooperate with the Rogues, essentially hand me over to them?
He resisted the urge to track the hedgehog, easy as it may have been. If he had been a Rogue there would have been more with him, and he didn't fit with their style, at any rate. He returned to his bed, replacing the blade in its hiding place. Under normal circumstances he would have asked where he was from; possibly from the camp he was trying to reach? He sighed and closed his eyes once more. No, I need more strength first. Need rest...
Even in broad daylight the pollution from the factories of Robotropolis made the city look dark and gloomy. It had gotten so bad during Robotnik's ten-year reign that the noxious fumes had created a perpetual fog that blanketed the once-proud capitol, cutting down visibility and posing a breathing hazard to the Mobians sent to infiltrate the area. Sally often wondered if such a high amount of air contamination could ever be reversed; in any case, an emergency oxygen canister would remain as standard field equipment for a long time.
The two freedom fighters made their way down a dark passage between two warehouses, employing the tactics of stealth honed by years of subterfuge. Sally pressed her right shoulder against the mouth of the alley, peeking around the corner for any sign of Robotnik's SWATbots. She saw only two, standing guard at the entrance to a warehouse twenty-five meters down the street.
"They out there, Sally?" Bunnie whispered, blinking her right eye.
"Yep. Two of them," Sally smiled. "Just as we thought."
She tapped the fingers of her left hand together, producing a sharp metallic clicking. "We goin' fer 'quiet' or 'not so quiet?'"
"I think we'd better stick to stealth," the princess answered, doubling back into the alley and searching the walls. "It should be... here." She stopped, placing her hands on a discolored one-meter square close to the ground. "This could be our way in. Bunnie, if you please?"
"No problem," the rabbit answered, coming forward to place her left hand on the square, fingers hydraulically tightening and digging into whatever material it was of. Her arm contracted, ripping the entire air vent out of the wall. Bunnie carefully set it aside to make as little noise as possible, then followed Sally into the warehouse.
The interior lights were off, but a torch wasn't necessary from the moonlight coming in the windows. The two carefully descended the metal stairs that went to a catwalk built all around the edge of the room. Sally spotted a ladder that led to a roof hatch; she suggested her plan and they crossed over.
It was about this time that Sonic streaked into Knothole, seeing as he entered the thin cloud of smoke hanging over the lab. He went over, pushing the door open to see Tails and Rotor picking up the results of their power test.
"Botnik's bloated butt! What'd you guys do!"
"Take it easy, Sonic," Rotor replied calmly, pushing aside a pile of parts to sweep out a corner.
"Yeah," Tails giggled. "You act like you never seen a 'splodie before."
"Never in our lab," Sonic replied, crossing his arms and taking a look around. "This is just from the de-Roboticizor blowin' up?"
"Most of it," the techie replied. "Some's just from me and Tails taking it apart to get at the melted bits." He motioned to the platform sitting at one side of the lab, most of its metal plates removed and several components ripped out of it.
"As long as you know what you're doin'..." Sonic mumbled, shaking his head. Techies.
"Hey," Sonic suddenly spoke up. "Where're Bunnie and Sal? I didn't see them on my way in."
"They went to Robotropolis to get parts!" Tails shouted quickly. Rotor slapped his forehead.
"They did what!" Sonic shouted. "Just the two of them?"
"They didn't think it was that big a deal," Rotor replied.
"What... But they..." Sonic fumbled for words. "Just the two of them. Not even Antoine?"
"They left as soon as we checked the de-Roboticizor after the power test. Antoine wasn't even here, I don't think. Wonder if he even knows now...?"
Sonic threw up his hands. The organization they had going on at Knothole was great. "And I suppose they told you to tell me not to try and follow them, right?"
Rotor grinned. "You got it."
"Fine," Sonic mumbled as he left the lab and started for his own hut. "I've got better things to do then worry about those two girls."
Getting into the adjacent warehouse had been the easy part; now Bunnie and Sally had to get across the street to the one they wanted, the one with the computer hardware. They had gotten to the roof unhindered, but now faced the task of passing right over the heads of the two SWATbots below without being seen. Several suggestions were batted back and forth until, finally, Sally decided on creating a diversion, then zip-lining across the power lines that stretched from each of the buildings. As the two SWATbots went to check on the disturbance down the street, the two slid over to the roof, which was a metallic hatch wide enough for one of Robotnik's cargo pods to enter.
Wary of detection systems, they found the door to the interior and sneaked in, allowing their eyes to adjust to the darkness and not risking the light from a torch. Sally relied more on Bunnie here, who had learned to somewhat control her false eye's alternate modes, one of which was night vision. Sally used Nicole to guide them to the sector of the warehouse they needed, and were able to find Rotor's power converter in no time.
"So what now?" Bunnie asked once they had acquired. "We just go back?"
"What's the rush?" Sally answered. "As long as we're here we might as well get some of the other stuff we need, too. Nicole, please bring up Rotor's supply list."
[Accessing, Sally.]
A text file was scrolled onto the screen, and the two girls started looking. They were able to find another half-dozen of the parts needed for the de-Roboticizor before Sally decided they should start back to Knothole. They were half-way to the door when...
"Sally-girl, ah hear somethin'."
The princess stopped to listen, and could barely pick up the faint whine of a repulsor-drive engine. A big one.
"Take cover," she suggested, and they found adequate hiding spots behind two packing crates. They watched as the retractable hatch on the roof was slowly drawn back, and one of the cargo pods Sally had thought about earlier descended to the floor of the warehouse. The main door slid aside and two SWATbots emerged, flanking the hatch and ordering two roboticized Mobians to come forward, carrying a large shipping container.
[...and when you're finished with that one,] Bunnie could hear the metallic voice of one of the SWATbots, who was obviously in charge of the detail, [get started on the H-units. Everything in that pod must be unloaded.]
The Robian answered something she couldn't make out, then the two set the box down and returned to the hold. Sally and Bunnie looked at each other, Bunnie's face showing concern. The princess replied with the hand motion that signified that they should split up and circle around to the door. She nodded her understanding, then hustled to the right wall of the warehouse, keeping her eye on the SWATbots near the pod. When she was in position she looked over to see Sally in the shadows, back to the wall.
Bunnie tried to keep herself as hidden as possible as well. Sally tried to use Nicole on panel for the door, but they must have locked it before lowering the pod in. She turned to face Bunnie, pointing toward the pod. She immediately understood, and shook her head forcefully. Sally frowned and held up five fingers. Four.
Sally-girl, you're nuts, Bunnie thought to herself as she got ready to move. Three.
The Robians were coming out of the pod again, carrying another box that looked like it weighed a ton. They came down the ramp, moving to place it near the others they had brought out. Two.
The two 'bots set the box down on the floor of the warehouse, making hardly a sound except the echoing whirr of the servomotors in their limbs. One.
The SWATbots weren't paying attention to the things around them, only to the workers. Sally gave the signal to act, and Bunnie ran for the hatch of the cargo pod, worrying more about herself than for Sally at the moment. Sally knew that Bunnie didn't use weaponry, and took that into account in her quick-thought plan. As the rabbit made for the pod, she provided cover with her pistol, waiting only a moment before laying strafing fire as she ran herself.
When they were both inside and in relative safety, Sally slapped her hand on the panel to close the hatch. "Let's get out of here," she suggested, moving into the adjacent cockpit and taking a seat in the pilot's chair. Bunnie followed, finding a place in the co-pilot's seat. With Nicole's help she was able to find the correct switches for the pre-flight sequence. "Bunnie, try to find the remote control for the roof hatch. We'll need it open."
"All right, ah'll try," she replied through gritted teeth. The SWATbots had started firing on the pod by now, and the craft rocked with each hit.
Sally finished the pre-flight sequence, and yanked down on the lever that controlled the repulsor engines. The cargo craft bucked as it rose into the air. "Well, that's something. Bunnie, does this thing have weapons?"
"Ah'm kinda busy, Sally-girl!" she retorted, her voice almost quivering from their predicament.
Sally turned to her computer. "Nicole, switch to flight vocabulary and establish voice-command link with the pod."
[Working, Sally...]
Another hit which slid the pod backward, scraping the hull against the wall of the warehouse and overturning a stack of crates. The two girls screamed; Sally recovered and tried to stabilize the craft from dropping.
[...Link established.]
"Nicole," Sally shouted, then winced as they got hit again, "open the door to the warehouse!"
[Complying, Sally... Security software encountered; attempting bypass...]
"We don't have that kinda time, Nicole!" Bunnie screamed.
Sally frowned and concentrated on flying, swiveling the pod around to face the SWATbots, manipulating the lever for the repulsors and dropping the craft almost to the ground. The four 'bots on the ground dove for cover, giving them the time they needed.
[Security disabled; opening roof.]
Sally craned her neck to look out the window and saw the retractable hatch on the roof slowly being pulled aside. The SWATbots saw it, too, and one of them talked into a wrist-mounted comm unit. "Hold on, Bunnie!" Sally shouted, gripping the controls. "This is going to be close!"
Before the hatch had slid aside all the way she pulled back on the control yoke and hit the accelerator. The engines flared and the pod rocketed upward, juking from side to side as Sally tried to position their flight path between the two halves of the door. She ignored Bunnie's calls to her, putting all her focus into the task of getting them out of harm's way. She succeeded only in part: the right side of the hull gently bounced off the roof as they passed, forcing Sally to slightly correct her course. When they were a good distance from the warehouse the two of them allowed a sigh of relief, and Bunnie even a slight chuckle.
"They took what?"
"A cargo pod, sir. I thought you might want to be informed of the situation."
Doctor Robotnik sat back in his elaborate command chair, the fingers of each hand pressed together. "Unfortunate, but not unforeseen," he rumbled. "Did we pick up any telemetry from the cyborg?"
"Very little, sir," Colin admitted. "Not enough that would be worth seeing, at any rate. We seem to be having a problem with the transmitter."
"It's not yet fully developed," he mused, "but no matter. It will grow with time."
"So you're... not concerned about the pod, sir?" he swallowed.
"It will make them easier to detect, Snively," Robotnik answered, using his new nickname for his nephew. Colin hated it, but why would he dare to correct him? "Let them take their prize back to their base, enjoy their little plaything. It will have a cost much greater than they can see."
Snively scowled. Robotnik usually didn't have much foresight concerning the "freedom fighters," which is probably why he hadn't struck any decisive blows against them yet. If only he would think it through for a half-minute he would realize that now they could probably sneak through the entire perimeter grid by scrambling the pod's IFF signal, then take as much equipment as could fit in the hold. The Mobians now had virtually unbridled access to the whole of Robotropolis.
"How goes the progress on Project: Doomsday?"
"All the main ventricles have been completed and are being moved into place as we speak. Fifty seeker pods have been finished with another dozen by the end of the year. Perfectly on schedule, sir."
"Very good, Snively. Have the workers who had been constructing the ventricles reassigned to the western coal fields. There have been too many attacks there recently; I'm losing miners."
"Yes, sir," Snively replied, then turned and left the room, muttering under his breath.
Sonic sat on the branch, leaning against the trunk of the tree and catching a nap during his turn at lookout duty. He never worried about what he might miss with his eyes closed; his hearing was better than perfect. And besides, Buttnik never tried anything, anyways.
He sighed, his mind wandering to Sally and Bunnie. What were they trying to prove, going off on a mission without telling anyone? Without telling him? It's kind of hard to stay the main hedgehog with so many people going over your head.
Sonic opened his eyes and looked around, if only to give the false impression that he was actually doing his job. Not seeing anything peculiar he went back to his rest, trying not to let the tumultuous events of the past month get to him. First Bunnie getting hit with that... whatever it was from Buttnik, then finding Uncle Chuck, only to lose him again. He sighed. Sometimes it could be too much, but what was he going to do, quit the war?
The hedgehog smiled at his inner thoughts, then heard the faint humming coming from the north. He stood up on the branch to look down the path to Robotropolis, and what he saw made his blood turn cold: one of Robotnik's cargo pods, apparently battle damaged, heading straight to Knothole.
"Oh, man, SWATbutts? I gotta juice!" He jumped to the ground and sped off in the direction of the camp. He reached the warning bell only moments before the pod was visible from the clearing, ringing it loudly enough to rally the freedom fighters to arms. Several Mobians were wielding pistols and rifles by the time the pod came to the compound, hovering over the center of the area before slowly setting down.
Sonic watched nervously as the engines slowly shut down, then the hatch on the side of the craft slid open. There was a long pause before its occupants emerged, and not the squad of SWATbots that everyone had been expected. Instead came Sally and Bunnie, at first shocked from the weapons pointed in their direction, then laughing as they realized for themselves the absurdity of the situation.
"Stand down, guys," Sally waved at them. "It's only us."
"Sal, what's the deal?" Sonic laughed. "We thought... well, you know what we musta thought!"
"We were stuck in the warehouse, this was the only way out. Didn't seem like a smart idea at the time, but we were out of options."
Antoine came forward, sheathing his sword, fuming. "My princess, I must object to your lack of dedication to proceduaire concerning this mission."
Bunnie came up to take him aside as Sally issued commands to those around. "Aw, relax, Antoine," she soothed. "B'sides, there's only two seats. If you woulda come with us, you'd have been bounced around in the cargo hold all the way back!"
He scowled. "Oh, t'ank you for thinking of me."
She planted her hands on her hips. "Antoine, darlin', yer not gonna be sore over a little thang like this, are ya?"
His eyes still showed contempt, but his body slackened slightly. After a second a smile formed on his lips. "I am being ridiculous, non?"
She nodded, a smile crossing her face as well.
"I am sorry, Bunnie," he replied, hanging his head. She was always fascinated when he said her name, his accent emphasizing the second syllable instead of the first like most people. "I am just being fyoolish."
"Not foolish, Antoine. Overprotective." He looked up at her. "Obsessively overprotective."
He smiled even more. "Need to work on that, I guess, non?" He breathed deeply.
"Antoine, if ya'll wanna help, c'mere an' give us a hand with gettin' this pod to the garage, all right?"
Antoine agreed, and the two went off to help the others.
The rhythmic tapping of pencil on wood was the only sound to keep time in the vehicle garage of Knothole; all the tools were away, and the floor was empty. It had been years since the garage had last seen work, and their souped-up battle rover had seen its last battle long ago. It had been dismantled for parts -- parts which had never been needed since. The pencil stopped its metronome, furiously moving to rub out a section on the blueprint, then feverishly replacing the blank area with new lines. Kara Kincaid looked over the amendments, decided them satisfactory, then resumed her hitting the desk with the writing utensil.
She still came to the garage, enjoying the feel of the place, the smells of the various motor fluids, the dynamic echoes of sound in the large room. Forget her hut, this was her real home. She had occupied her time of late with an idea, actually building an airplane that she could use to make up for the current lack of work. Hey, if Rotor could get all these parts for the de-Roboticizor, why couldn't she get some stuff to build a plane? It would help the cause just as much, if she could convince Princess Sally of it.
Kara put the pencil down, leaning back in the desk chair and sighing. Oh, the life of a freedom fighter... One of these days she would apply for field training, maybe get something to do. As of now she was bored stiff. She got to her feet and headed outside, pulling her cap down over her long ears. She had heard a warning bell being sounded earlier; maybe she would go see what it had been all about. What she saw made her giddy as a schoolgirl.
She waved to them, nodded, then ran back into the garage. "Grease!" she shouted, opening the box for the main door controls. "Hey, Grease, get your butt out here!"
"Eh, whaddya want?" came the disgruntled reply.
"We actually got something to do, that's what!" she yelled back, slapping the switch to slowly raise the door and let the sunshine in.
Without waiting, she went to the storage closet to get the pylons that could support the giant cargo pod being floated into the garage. She grabbed one in each hand, quickly hurrying to set them up. Grease soon saw the pod as well, arming two traffic control wands and waddling out.
The two mechanics were able to get the cargo pod to come to rest perfectly in the vehicle bay, and they greeted Sally as she stepped out of the hatch. "Princess Sally," Kara greeted and bowed, "this is a pleasant surprise."
"Hello, Kara," she replied and gestured to the pod. "This is a new toy we just got from Robotnik, without him giving it to us, of course. I need you to learn everything you can from it, repair the damage, and possibly outfit it with weapons for later use."
"No problem," she gave a gloved thumbs-up. "Grease and I will take this thing apart and put it back together better than it was!"
Sally nodded. "Glad to hear it. If you need any parts, just make up the list. We'll try to get them as soon as we can. Here are the keys."
Kara took the control key ring from Sally and put it in her overalls pocket, watching her go. Not exactly field work, but it was something to do. She turned to look at the pod, seeing not a tool of destruction from Robotnik's empire, but an object of mechanical efficiency, one that she would soon rip open to see what makes it tick.
"Whatta piece-a junk!"
The rabbit frowned and turned to see Grease Monkey, hands on his hips, staring at the craft with a dissatisfactory scowl. "What do you mean, 'junk?'"
"Just look at it!" the stout chimp-Mobian answered, gesticulating. "It looks like an overgrown egg with hover engines!"
"I guess... But think of what it could look like, after we're through with it!"
"Oh, I like the way that sounds," he nodded. "A lean, mean, fightin'... egg with hover engines."
"And a minigun."
His eyes grew wide. "Oooh, minigun."
Tails helped Rotor clean up the lab for the better part of the day, then went to the hut he shared with Sonic to find him lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The fox doffed his jacket and through it in a chair. "Hey, Sonic, what's up?"
"Nothin', little bro," he answered tiredly. "Just got a lot to think about."
"Really?" Tails asked, jumping up on the bed. "Like what?"
Sonic rolled over on his side. "Crazy stuff. You remember me tellin' you 'bout Uncle Chuck, right?"
Tails nodded. "You said he got Roboticized, and that you guys saw him last week."
"Yeah. I can't help but think that's there's somethin' we can do to bring him back to Knothole or somethin'."
"Sonic, you can't bring a Robian to Knothole. That's just stupid."
"That's what I keep tellin' myself. We could have used the Roboticizor, but it'll be a while before we build that generator."
Tails pondered. "Maybe you can give him his mind back. Aunt Sally says that Roboticizing doesn't take away someone's mind, just the ability to make decisions. If you could do that to Uncle Chuck..."
Sonic's face lit up. "That's a great idea, little bro! I'll talk to Sally about it, then first thing tomorrow, you n' me are going to find him!"
Tails looked shocked. "Ya mean it, Sonic? I'm goin' with ya?"
He shrugged. "I don't see why not. We got in n' out of there pretty easy before, there should be no prob."
The cub jumped up to embrace his friend. "Oh, Sonic! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"All right, buddy. But there's one condition... You gotta get a good night's sleep to be fully rested for tomorrow."
It was the fastest Tails had ever willingly gone to bed. Sonic smiled, then leaned back on the bed. Uncle Chuck, you're finally comin' home...
Revision history:
08 /04 /04 :: added HTML formatting, revised Bunnie's accented dialogue (I was getting complaints from my southern girlfriend )