(I do not own Sonic…etc.)
S.O.N.I.C GO!
S.O.N.I.C GO!
GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!
Episode 10: Data Memories
"Main thrusters back on line, beginning launching sequence." The low rumble echoed across the jungle before the thick canopy of leaves was ripped aside as the jungle broke forth as the massive bulk of the Egg Carrier 3 rose up once again into the air. On hover mode, the great battleship waited in mid air for a single moment before with a sudden burst the back engines roared to life, pillars of blue flame spouting outwards. The loud booming sent birds flying from the jungle below. As the great battleship began to move forward once again, Dr. Eggman's mood was slightly better than it had been a few hours ago.
Tau had been discovered at the bottom of a cliff, serious damage sustained to his metallic frame and he had lost the Chaos Emerald Eggman had ordered him to track. He was currently in the robotics lab receiving repair work. Someone had really done a number on him.
Theta, the last remaining E1000 robot that was still operational had sent a distress signal stating that he had a Chaos Emerald in hand but Sonic had turned up. As such, Eggman had ordered the Egg Carrier to head out as fast as it could go. Decoe hesitated only for a minute, remembering that Eggman might do to him if he disobeyed orders and then pressed the button. As it flew through the air, gently gathering speed, the Egg Carrier 3 rotated its wings as it transformed into Jet mode. Now in his form, the output by the engines increased ten fold and the entire ship went rocketing forward. Decoe and Becoe were thrown back into their chairs, pressed against the seats, their optics nearly pulled back inside their frames.
Fire dancing all around them, Sonic speed through the flames veil and landed another kick directly on Theta's shoulders. That was the second blow the robot had sustained there and it had serious weakened that arm, the other one however was still quite usable. Swinging his left arm around, Theta fired a stream of hit hot fire at Sonic, who slid to the side to avoid it, the edge of his quills charged back.
Sonic knew already that close range combat was the only option with this root. With those nasty flame throwers of his he could roast the blue hedgehog easily from any sort of distance. Close up however, he noticed that Theta was reluctant to use them for fear that the backlash might it him, and that could play to his advantage drastically. Not letting Theta draw back to any kind of distance, he flew in close, trying another kick.
Theta blocked the blow with his flamethrowers blunt side, before retaliating by using his free arm to blast Sonic with another torrent of flames. Sonic twisted his body, narrowly avoiding it again, using the momentum of the twist to land another punch before he somersaulting backwards, already racing off.
E1004 watched the hedgehog race away, before sliding to a stop, then rocketing forward with a fist drawn back. Theta prepared himself for an attempted punch, only to have a kick catch him off guard. Swaying, Sonic spun his body around, knocking his feet out from under him.
Nearly instantly, Theta was on his feet again, backing off to try and blast the hedgehog from a distance, Sonic avoided every shot, before leapt through the air, poised for another attack.
Theta swung to the side, avoiding the punch, before trying to kick Sonic was he shot across. Luckily for the blue hedgehog, Theta's body was not build for close range combat and the attack was slow and clumsy, gaining the hedgehog two valuable advantages. One, the time he needs to double back at super speed and two, the knowledge that not only did Theta not like using his flamethrowers at close range, but the robot couldn't defend himself if he got in close.
Blow after sourcing blow was exchanged and as the fight wore on, Sonic's strategy became clear. He was wearing Theta down with his speed, avoiding the flames before coming in close to attack him where he was most vulnerable. The robot quickly realized that he would have to outthink the hedgehog strategically if he was going to win the fight.
Sonic shot across the walls of the mountain, his speed keeping him parallel with the near flat vertical surface, before he shot forward with a flying kick.
Theta was ready for it this time, pausing for a moment before stepping back out of reach of the kick and swung one of his heavy flamethrower hands down, smacking the hedgehog across the chest and onto the ground. Sonic rebounded, somersaulting into the air before coming back down with a spin attack that scored a direct hit straight into Theta's head.
Staggering back a few feet, the robot looked almost enraged as it brought both flame throwers around to his front and fired a rapid spread of flames into the air in a desperate bid to hit the blue hedgehog. All the blind attempts missed Sonic; he was far too fast for any kind of melee attack to work. And while Theta was firing enthusiastically at anything he thought moved, Sonic slid across the back and within moments the robot was dealt a kick from behind, knocking him straight down into the ground.
"No comparison." Sonic said smugly as Theta pushed himself up, elevating one flame thrower in an instant, frying at the spot were Sonic had been only a split second before. Theta had been given far greater AI than any of the E1000 save Emerl of course and he could easily see that Sonic was greatly underestimating his intelligence. Like he regarded him like any Eggman Empire robot.
That mistake would prove his undoing. Theta's thrusters came on and the android flew into the air, making it look like he was attempting a standard tactic employed by all the other Dreadnaughts in Dr. Eggman's service. Fly through the air and fire at targets on the ground. Sonic would have undoubtedly seen it before and by the hedgehog's reaction, it was plainly obvious he had fallen for the ploy. He was attempting to gain sufficient room to try a leaping spin attack. As soon as Sonic left the ground, Theta fired a stream of fire straight at the ground, causing a complete veil of fire the shielded the robot from view. Sonic had to cover his eyes fore a moment and in that second, Theta flew around him and hammered the hedgehog from both sides with each flame thrower, sending him straight into the ground with a loud thud, leaving a hedgehog imprint in the dirt.
Theta didn't stop there, while Sonic was twitching on the ground, he stamped on him with both of his heavy metal feet, flattening him into the ground. To finish the deal off, the robot aimed the large metal barrel of the flame thrower on his right arm straight at his head.
The second before the white hot fire left the weapon; Sonic pushed himself out of the dirt and rolled to the side. The fire flew across the ground, blinding Theta completely, allowing Sonic to easily take advantage of the robot's mistake; first laying a rapid series of punches across the robot's shoulders before finding time to land another super strong kick into his chest plate. Send spiralling out of the air, Theta crashed directly into the side of a double, cracking it in half.
The robot rolled across the ground for a short while before impact the side of a mountain wall, his right arm finally giving way under the strain and snapping off in a shower of metal sparks. "Are we going to do this all day or are you just going to hand over the Emerald now?" The blue hedgehog asked as he paused to catch his breath, leaning on his knees. His blue fur full of small rocks and solid clumps of dirt, a great deal of nasty looking scratches on his arms and legs and the ends of each quill scorched black. Theta pushed himself up as best he could with a missing limb, his second flamethrower lying a few feet away from him. Completely crushed underneath the shattered remains of the rock he'd ploughed through.
Suddenly, a long never ending shadow crept over the battlefield and Sonic looked up. The tip of the Egg Carrier 3 blocking out the sun as the giant battleship flew in from behind him the metallic edges of the super ship gleaming in the intense sunlight from above. Now in perspective with the near equally large mountain range, Sonic could see exactly how large the Egg Carrier 3 was. It's size rivalled that Flag Ship that Eggman had built for his deceased Egg Fleet. The air seemed to shake and rumble in it's presence, the loud hum from the battleship's engines vibrating across the mountains.
"Looks like my ride's here." Theta stated and before Sonic could stop him, his jets reactivated and he flew up into the air towards the Egg Carrier. Sonic cursed, he wasn't about to let the Chaos Emerald away from him that easily. Darting to the side, he raced up the side of the mountain ridge, using the near ninety degree angle to propel his entire body into the air. Theta, who wisely had kept an eye on the Hedgehog as he ascended towards the pair of cargo bay boors on the Egg Carrier's underbelly that were pulling themselves slowly open, turned in mid air and fired a weak line of flame straight at him. Sonic saw it coming and threw his weight forward, going into a super spin. While spinning, the speed at which he moved formed a protective barrier around his entire body, shielding himself from the flames. But the attack had already served its purpose.
Theta was too weak now to muster anything stronger than that, but the drag on the shield had slowed Sonic down just long enough for his propulsion to run down, causing the blue hedgehog to fall back towards the ground, with no more time to attempt to the shot again.
"Damn it!" Sonic swore as Theta disappeared from sight within the belly of the Egg Carrier. He knew Eggman could see him through some sort of surveillance device and he was sure the –would-be-dictator- was laughing insanely too. So he turned to look at the ship's centre and stuck his middle finger up at it. There was a brief pause and the laser turrets on the underside of the ship opened fire at him, but by then Sonic was gone, a brief blue blur on the horizon.
"Here you go doc." Theta stated, handing Eggman the Red Chaos emerald, the insane scientists fingers curling around the fist size jewel, a greedy glint in his eyes.
"Ah you've done well Theta." He said between chuckles, before handing the Emerald to one of his smaller technician robots for it to store it with the other two they'd already collected. "While you're in the workshop, have a battle upgrade, on me." Theta bowed respectfully, before leaving the bridge, oil leaking from the stub where his second flamethrower had been. "Before too long," Eggman began, rubbing his hands together with relish. "All seven will be mine."
"We already have a fix on a fourth one." Decoe announced, he and his robotic comrade Becoe still in their seats surrounded by two dozen terminals each. "And the Atlantis base says their own patrols may have isolated an area that may have a Chaos Emerald hidden within it."
"Tell them to speed up the search." Eggman replied, seating himself back down in his commander chair. "We beat Sonic to the Emerald this time, but next time we may not be so lucky."
With the X Tornado still in the shop, Tails took the old Cyclone out. There was something very friendly about this craft and although it couldn't fly as fast or as high as the X tornado, Tails had a history with it. It was the first plane he owned. It had been red, but when he met Sonic in an act of what can only be described as unlimited fandom he painted it blue. Standing on the wings, Shadow watched the ground far below with his arms crossed. He could sense no Chaos Emerald in the immediate radius, so he knew that radar they'd constructed was defective. His senses were far more effective than any device.
"It shouldn't be far." Tails stated, looking down briefly at the small device around his wrist. The wind blowing in his face would have blown his quaff into his eyes if he hadn't bee wearing a pair of pilot's goggles. "So keep your eyes open." Shadow simply sighed in annoyance.
"Forget it, that little machine of yours is a waste of time and effort." He looked down towards the ground again, an expanse of swamp land that stretched from horizon to horizon in every direction. Most of the land masses gained from Mobius were untamed wildness like this. "There isn't a Chaos Emerald for miles." Tails simply shook his head at the black hedgehog's statement.
"Chuck's inventions have never let me down before." Shadow narrowed an eye at him.
"There's a first time for everything."
"I'm sure it'll work soon." A voice from the back of the plane stated and Tails and Shadow looked back to see Cream sitting in the rear seat, Cheese on her lap.
"Cream? What are you doing here?" The rabbit girl simply gained a nervous smile.
"I snuck on while no one was looking." She replied with a large proud grin. Shadow slapped his forehead.
"Your mother is going to have a cow when she realizes you're here." Tails snapped. "I should turn us around and take you home right now."
"Ah please?" Cream pleaded. "Just let me stay, you'll hardly know I'm here." Tails simply rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his piloting.
"Fine." He began, knowing he was going to regret this not very soon. "But if your mom asks, you stayed hidden for the length of the trip." Cream gave him a thumbs up with a large grin.
"Chao!" Cheese went in agreement.
One of Shadow's ears twitched and he looked down towards the ground.
Without warning there was a suddenly blast from the trees below. Shadow stared to see a flying metal fist coming roaring upwards and smashed into the underside of the plane. The sudden jolt from the extremely long ranged punch forced Tails to loose control of the craft for a second, sending them spiralling down towards the ground. The fox tried to pull the plane up into a safe guild, but found that something had been damaged during the blow, he could right the Cyclone. There was another loud bang and a second fist metal hand from the hidden depths of the swamp, tore through one of then planes wings, destroying any hopes Tails had of saving the plane from a nasty crash. Cream screamed as the plane neared the thick collection of trees and vines that marked the near unending canopy above the swamp.
Grasping the planes remaining wings with both hands, Shadow cried out…
"CHAOS CONTROL!" A short flash of green light followed and the entire Cyclone disappeared.
As Emerl's hands returned to their proper arms, the robot knew that his target had not been destroyed. He was well aware of Shadow's chaos Control teleport ability so they had just been transported somewhere else. Probably not very far tough, Shadow did not have a Chaos Emerald with him to lengthen the distance he could jump through space. His prime orders were to track down a Chaos Emerald for Dr. Eggman, but he had also been ordered to intercept and destroy anyone on the Eggman Empire's most wanted list.
There was a short emerald flare and the Cyclone came crashing down out of Chaos Control, through a thick clump of overhanging vines and then straight into a thick pond of stagnant water that was slowly being absorbed by the thick tree roots all around. The engine hissed angrily as it was cooled down super fast, a thick cloud of steam escaping from it.
"Well, I've conducted better landings than that." Tails commented, pulling his goggles back over his head. Shadow, who's Chaos Control had slowed the planes decent just enough for the crash to escape fatal classification, paused to look around at the thick, green and yellow world around him. "Cream, are you ok?" The fox asked, looking back at the rear seat, only to find that neither the rabbit nor the Chao was there. Fearing something nasty for a moment, Tails looked around frantically until he saw the two of them climbing a large rock that lanced out of the stagnant water. There was a cold mist in hung in the air, as well as a potent near unbearable smeel that lead Shadow to think something had died here recently.
"We're not alone." Shadow said so quiet he was the only one who heard himself. The others would near be able to hear the distinctive ripples in the air and the tearing of foliage that suggested movement, but not that of any local wildlife. His black ears twitched as he heard heavy footsteps. Footsteps far to low pitched to belong to anything else than something with metal feet. It seems whatever had shot them out of the sky was already hunting them down.
That was fast, especially for an Eggman Empire robot.
"Well, here's another plane I need to repair." Tails said, interrupting Shadow's trail of though as the fox overlooked the engine, which by now was completely soaked. "I think I might be able to get the radio working so we can call Chuck for a tow of something."
"Don't bother." Shadow said, almost whispering, sliding down from the ruined wings of the craft landing in the water, sinking in up to his knees. "You can the kid should probably get moving." Tails looked up in surprise.
"Why?" Answering his question, something punched a tree over with a single blow and as it crashed down, forming a natural bridge, this newest arrival strode out to a new vantage point.
Despite the change in colour and the extra body arm, Cream recognised this figure at once.
"Emerl?!"
Flip Card 1:
Name: Emerl
Sex: (Male, sort of)
Species: Eggman Empire battle android
Age: (Unknown, some believe he was created on ARK fifty years ago along with Shadow)
Job description: Also known as the Gizoid, Emerl is a robot capable of copying the battle data of Sonic and his friend and then use that information to increase is own fighting potential.