The Oil Ocean Zone. This was the heart of the economy of Robotnik's
Empire. Built in the time of Kintobor by the Mobians, this facility was
designed to extract fossil fuels from Planet Mobius' deepest oil well,
using clean and safe equipment and procedures approved by the good doctor
himself. The ocean around was clean and pollutant-free, a big difference
from when Robotnik took over. After seizing South Island and constructing
his fortress, Scrap Brain, he descended on the facility to use its oil for
his army of robots. After installing himself as ruler of the Zone he began
to transform the Zone for his own ends. Spike traps were added in, gas
mains were re-directed to form flame traps, cooling systems were replaced
to form impassable barriers of winds. Even worse, he had the oil mains
destroyed, allowing the oil to seep into the bay and pollute the ocean for
miles around. After installing his own Badniks he was distracted by events
unfolding at his Scrap Brain fortress and left the Zone. After driving
Robotnik from South Island, Sonic went straight to the heart of Oil Ocean
and defeated Robotnik's forces, returning the Zone to the people of Mobius.
After this, Sonic assisted a team of Environmental Control personnel in
disarming the Zone, and putting out a blaze that could have lit up the
entire Zone! However, before the ocean could be cleaned up Sonic was
imprisoned in the Omni-Viewer and Robotnik retook the Zone.
After Robotnik's defeat, the Oil Ocean was cleaned up and became an essential part of the Mobian economy. A little known fact to casual researchers, is that after that it became Mobius' main port.
"Hey Sonic!" shouted the lion-like Mobian, rushing towards him in an ironed black business suit.
"Hey Red!" shouted Sonic. "What's with the suit?" The lion smiled and shrugged.
"Well, could be because I'm the new Oil Ocean Zone Leader!" Sonic gaped, then laughed.
"You? Zone Leader? How did you get that job?" Red laughed with him, then his face became serious again. Sonic attempted to ignore Porker's inspections of just about everything in the surrounding area as Red explained. One of Porker's little bad habits was a magnetic attraction to anything that had at least one wire in it, which usually appeared at the most inopportune times. Sonic was secretly glad that Tails had taken over as the Team's mechanic after Porker left after the whole Metallix incident. The poor pig had been stuck on the Miracle Planet for an entire month with the Brotherhood of Metallix, as their 'Alpha Device' transformed the entire world into an industrial nightmare. Sonic shuddered. He had seen what that think could have done to Mobius.
"Well, after Robotnik's defeat, and the introduction of the Zone Leader system, I was given the job of cleaning up the Oil Ocean." Sonic looked over the side at the now crystal clear waters under the rig. It hadn't been like this 2 years ago he reflected. Red had really done a good job. "Then, after the Floating Island fell out of the sky, the old Zone Leader resigned. He'd had enough and didn't think he could keep up the good work that his position required. So, they appointed me as Zone Leader." Sonic snapped his head back and realised he hadn't been paying attention. E had been looking at the shipping platform. The same shipping platform where 5 years ago, he had almost killed Red, Tails and an innocent Mobian. Or rather, Super Sonic had.
"Yeah, well that's great Red. Tell me, what's the ship that we're taking out like?" Red smiled and gestured towards the metallic behemoth drifting lazily in the bay.
"All you need to know is that it's seaworthy, and it'll get you to where you want to go!" Porker leapt up and began wandering towards the ship. Sonic laughed as his friend advanced towards the ship.
"Yeah? By the time Porker's finished 'inspecting' it, it won't be able to float, let alone get us across the Mobian Sea!" Red laughed jovially. Well then, you'd better get going. As Sonic ran towards the ship, Red shouted something to him.
"Oh yeah! I picked up that diving equipment you wanted from the Aquatic Ruins. It's in the bridge!" Sonic gave him a thumbs-up, before dashing up the gangplank and onto the vessel.
The Mobian Sea is a very strange area of the Planet, for the sheer number of scientific discoveries made about it. The area of the Planet's oceans designated the Mobian Sea, holds many of the most important areas of Mobius. South Island drifts in the northern part of the Sea, while on the main continent lies Metropolis City and the surrounding areas. Possibly the strangest event in recent times concerning the Mobian Sea, was the startling revelation that it tasted of lemon! The researcher who had discovered this had later been found to have a bizarre sense of taste and the whole theory was dismissed as 'codswallop', though not before the release of many other bizarre theories involving the flavour of the Planet's oceans. Including the most recent one, which was that the Mobian Sea tasted of chicken.
Sonic spat out a stream of seawater as he realised that this theory too was 'codswallop' as the Mobian Board of Science had dubbed it. Rubbing the salty taste from his tongue he got up from his kneeling position at the stern of the ship and walked up to the bridge. As he passed Knuckles he noticed that the Echidna once again had that box of old scrolls and parchments out and was rifling through them, paused to take out one, glance at it then replace it. Sonic shook his head. Knuckles had acquired that box off of Captain Plunder, the most incompetent pirate on Mobius. How, Knuckles had never said.
Sighing, Sonic mounted the steps up to the bridge. Pausing with his hand on the door he prepared himself to see Porker dismantling the ship pieces by pieces before his eyes, then trying to put it back together again. Sighing, he walked in. Surprisingly Porker had been remarkably restrained on this trip. He had only destroyed one console. And, Sonic noted, this time it was not the steering console.
"Hi Sonic," mumbled the pig, not bothering to look up as the hedgehog entered. The pig was crouched low over the tangled remains of a small console near the back of the bridge deck. He was at that moment fiddling with two loose wires and appeared to be trying to either mate them, or practice his Boy Scouts knots. Sonic coughed, then frowned, as Porker seemed not to hear. Sonic coughed again, louder this time and Porker appeared to hear him, as he turned round to face the hedgehog.
"Yes?" he muttered, still fiddling with the wires. Inwardly Sonic sighed again. Porker could be polite most of the time, but try to take him away from a new machine and he was like a child with candy: he would not let go.
"Are we there yet?" asked Sonic wearily. The trip seemed to be taking forever, and Sonic did not feel like going down and finding Chaos, or something like him, on the Island. Porker glanced over at the electronic chart n the wall, then dropped the wires and walked over to the command console. As Sonic gingerly stepped over the severed ends he scowled at Porker. "Look buddy. I appreciate your interests an' all, but would you mind reassembling the parts of the ships after you've finished with them. I'd like to get this thing back to Red in one piece." Porker scowled back as he traced his finger along the console's dusty surface.
"We're there Sonic," he mumbled. Suddenly he sprang into life, leaping towards the steering controls and shutting down the propellers. "Go and tell the others. We'll meet in the North Cargo Hold."
Sonic smiled and punched the air. The trip had taken long enough already, and he didn't look forward to another hour on the ocean. Now they would see some action! Rushing outside he grabbed the rail and vaulted over and down onto the deck. Knuckles leapt up from his sitting position, almost knocking the valuable chest over the side, just saved by Tail's new modification to the Tornado II, a grabbing arm. Sonic sighed again. Why they would need that thing he didn't know. They'd done well enough without it on the Tornado I.
"Are we there yet Sonic?" the echidna shouted. Sonic winced and held up one hand.
"I can here you! There's no need to shout!" Immediately Sonic cursed himself for those words. Knuckles had not seen his home in two years, he had a right to be excited. Heck, he was excited too! However, Knuckles seemed not to notice, for which Sonic was grateful.
"I'll take that as a yes then," said the echidna. "Where do we meet?"
Sonic smiled. Same old Knuckles. "The North Cargo Hold," he said, before speeding up to the announcements post. Glaring at the elaborate cup-holder that Red called a microphone; he knelt down at picked up a normal loudspeaker. No need to use something that complicated when there was a simpler solution.
"All crew, report to the North Cargo Hold. Yes, all four of you!" Sonic smiled, then vaulted off the lookout post and almost squashed a very surprised Tails on his descent. Helping his friend up, Sonic dusted the dust off his friend's face. "Sorry 'bout that little bro. Over excited." Tails smiled, and then Sonic was off, out of sight in the vast Cargo areas of the ship.
This was it. Today was a new beginning. A world without Robotnik, without his creations, and without Chaos. Sonic grinned. He was going to enjoy this.
After Robotnik's defeat, the Oil Ocean was cleaned up and became an essential part of the Mobian economy. A little known fact to casual researchers, is that after that it became Mobius' main port.
"Hey Sonic!" shouted the lion-like Mobian, rushing towards him in an ironed black business suit.
"Hey Red!" shouted Sonic. "What's with the suit?" The lion smiled and shrugged.
"Well, could be because I'm the new Oil Ocean Zone Leader!" Sonic gaped, then laughed.
"You? Zone Leader? How did you get that job?" Red laughed with him, then his face became serious again. Sonic attempted to ignore Porker's inspections of just about everything in the surrounding area as Red explained. One of Porker's little bad habits was a magnetic attraction to anything that had at least one wire in it, which usually appeared at the most inopportune times. Sonic was secretly glad that Tails had taken over as the Team's mechanic after Porker left after the whole Metallix incident. The poor pig had been stuck on the Miracle Planet for an entire month with the Brotherhood of Metallix, as their 'Alpha Device' transformed the entire world into an industrial nightmare. Sonic shuddered. He had seen what that think could have done to Mobius.
"Well, after Robotnik's defeat, and the introduction of the Zone Leader system, I was given the job of cleaning up the Oil Ocean." Sonic looked over the side at the now crystal clear waters under the rig. It hadn't been like this 2 years ago he reflected. Red had really done a good job. "Then, after the Floating Island fell out of the sky, the old Zone Leader resigned. He'd had enough and didn't think he could keep up the good work that his position required. So, they appointed me as Zone Leader." Sonic snapped his head back and realised he hadn't been paying attention. E had been looking at the shipping platform. The same shipping platform where 5 years ago, he had almost killed Red, Tails and an innocent Mobian. Or rather, Super Sonic had.
"Yeah, well that's great Red. Tell me, what's the ship that we're taking out like?" Red smiled and gestured towards the metallic behemoth drifting lazily in the bay.
"All you need to know is that it's seaworthy, and it'll get you to where you want to go!" Porker leapt up and began wandering towards the ship. Sonic laughed as his friend advanced towards the ship.
"Yeah? By the time Porker's finished 'inspecting' it, it won't be able to float, let alone get us across the Mobian Sea!" Red laughed jovially. Well then, you'd better get going. As Sonic ran towards the ship, Red shouted something to him.
"Oh yeah! I picked up that diving equipment you wanted from the Aquatic Ruins. It's in the bridge!" Sonic gave him a thumbs-up, before dashing up the gangplank and onto the vessel.
The Mobian Sea is a very strange area of the Planet, for the sheer number of scientific discoveries made about it. The area of the Planet's oceans designated the Mobian Sea, holds many of the most important areas of Mobius. South Island drifts in the northern part of the Sea, while on the main continent lies Metropolis City and the surrounding areas. Possibly the strangest event in recent times concerning the Mobian Sea, was the startling revelation that it tasted of lemon! The researcher who had discovered this had later been found to have a bizarre sense of taste and the whole theory was dismissed as 'codswallop', though not before the release of many other bizarre theories involving the flavour of the Planet's oceans. Including the most recent one, which was that the Mobian Sea tasted of chicken.
Sonic spat out a stream of seawater as he realised that this theory too was 'codswallop' as the Mobian Board of Science had dubbed it. Rubbing the salty taste from his tongue he got up from his kneeling position at the stern of the ship and walked up to the bridge. As he passed Knuckles he noticed that the Echidna once again had that box of old scrolls and parchments out and was rifling through them, paused to take out one, glance at it then replace it. Sonic shook his head. Knuckles had acquired that box off of Captain Plunder, the most incompetent pirate on Mobius. How, Knuckles had never said.
Sighing, Sonic mounted the steps up to the bridge. Pausing with his hand on the door he prepared himself to see Porker dismantling the ship pieces by pieces before his eyes, then trying to put it back together again. Sighing, he walked in. Surprisingly Porker had been remarkably restrained on this trip. He had only destroyed one console. And, Sonic noted, this time it was not the steering console.
"Hi Sonic," mumbled the pig, not bothering to look up as the hedgehog entered. The pig was crouched low over the tangled remains of a small console near the back of the bridge deck. He was at that moment fiddling with two loose wires and appeared to be trying to either mate them, or practice his Boy Scouts knots. Sonic coughed, then frowned, as Porker seemed not to hear. Sonic coughed again, louder this time and Porker appeared to hear him, as he turned round to face the hedgehog.
"Yes?" he muttered, still fiddling with the wires. Inwardly Sonic sighed again. Porker could be polite most of the time, but try to take him away from a new machine and he was like a child with candy: he would not let go.
"Are we there yet?" asked Sonic wearily. The trip seemed to be taking forever, and Sonic did not feel like going down and finding Chaos, or something like him, on the Island. Porker glanced over at the electronic chart n the wall, then dropped the wires and walked over to the command console. As Sonic gingerly stepped over the severed ends he scowled at Porker. "Look buddy. I appreciate your interests an' all, but would you mind reassembling the parts of the ships after you've finished with them. I'd like to get this thing back to Red in one piece." Porker scowled back as he traced his finger along the console's dusty surface.
"We're there Sonic," he mumbled. Suddenly he sprang into life, leaping towards the steering controls and shutting down the propellers. "Go and tell the others. We'll meet in the North Cargo Hold."
Sonic smiled and punched the air. The trip had taken long enough already, and he didn't look forward to another hour on the ocean. Now they would see some action! Rushing outside he grabbed the rail and vaulted over and down onto the deck. Knuckles leapt up from his sitting position, almost knocking the valuable chest over the side, just saved by Tail's new modification to the Tornado II, a grabbing arm. Sonic sighed again. Why they would need that thing he didn't know. They'd done well enough without it on the Tornado I.
"Are we there yet Sonic?" the echidna shouted. Sonic winced and held up one hand.
"I can here you! There's no need to shout!" Immediately Sonic cursed himself for those words. Knuckles had not seen his home in two years, he had a right to be excited. Heck, he was excited too! However, Knuckles seemed not to notice, for which Sonic was grateful.
"I'll take that as a yes then," said the echidna. "Where do we meet?"
Sonic smiled. Same old Knuckles. "The North Cargo Hold," he said, before speeding up to the announcements post. Glaring at the elaborate cup-holder that Red called a microphone; he knelt down at picked up a normal loudspeaker. No need to use something that complicated when there was a simpler solution.
"All crew, report to the North Cargo Hold. Yes, all four of you!" Sonic smiled, then vaulted off the lookout post and almost squashed a very surprised Tails on his descent. Helping his friend up, Sonic dusted the dust off his friend's face. "Sorry 'bout that little bro. Over excited." Tails smiled, and then Sonic was off, out of sight in the vast Cargo areas of the ship.
This was it. Today was a new beginning. A world without Robotnik, without his creations, and without Chaos. Sonic grinned. He was going to enjoy this.