With avenging fire burning in their souls, the felines attacked AREA 99.
Fire engulfed the entire perimeter of the base for even the alarms went off. Mech's and guard robots posted around the edge turned to see what was going on before precise slices cut them down with one swipe. Blaze was leading the charge, her sword drawn with the hilt held tightly in both hands. They moved with such speed they were inside the second defence line before bullets starting flying and these were easily deflected. Picking each of them telepathically out of the air with only her mind Blaze left all her warriors immune to attack. Missiles however tended to detonate if you so much as touched them so all Blaze could do to keep her warriors safe from their explosions was tell them to scatter. Responding to the alarm several Yahger Mech's raised out of lifts in the ground, their missile platforms already as the ready as they lifted up.
"Halt in the name of G.U.N." One of the pilots declared from a loud speaker but none of the felines weren't listening to him. They only had one thing on their minds right now. Jack threw himself through the air and landed with a thud against the glass covered cockpit of the mech, driving one thick arm through it and grabbing the pilot's shirt. The human screamed as the feline tossed him violently outside to a twenty foot fall to the ground. Jack disliked these machines of war but he was not a fool, he was aware of the damage they could cause and their potential for battle situations. Managing to get his muscle bound body inside the cockpit; he quickly scanned through the rows of buttons and levers until he located the weapons systems.
The Yahger turned sharply and fired two missiles into the Raptor Mech at its left hand side. The Walker's armoured leg exploded in a spray of fiery debris and metallic fragments.
Impressed by her first officers initiative Blaze carried one, slicing two Laser Hunter robots in half as they rose up to challenge her advance. They were close now, very close; she could literally feel the Arcanum from here. She didn't need the glowing stone on her forehead to remind her anymore.
Several machine-gun turrets on the outer edge of the base itself rotated around and opened fire on her, the air suddenly thick with a barrage of bullets. Blaze used her shield to block most of them and dodged the rest. Reaching out with her mind she tore those weapons apart with her telekinetic abilities and one a suitable gap had been punctured in the defences, she alone leapt through leaving her warriors to keep the Apes distracted.
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" Two searchlights lanced out of the darkness and locked onto her, leaving the feline exposed. Her ears flicked forward at the sound of guns cocking before she ducked under streams of gunfire. Somersaulting up, she threw her weight along a wall and started running; the momentum keeping her horizontal she darted across the courtyard towards the buildings in the centre; several thick metal doors rising to bar her progress. Robots chased after her, lasers and bullets filling the air like angry wasps.
"Be gone metal beings!" She announced, drawing occult runes in the air two fingers and unleashing a spell; elemental fire burning through the sky before crashing into two Beetles scorching the paint off them before they melted together, collapsing to the ground.
Five laser hunters charged her from her right and the solider Apes at her left. She went for the soldiers first as they were weaker and using one of them as a shield against the laser fire from the robots Blaze, carved her way through the protective body armour of the others before sliding to the left of the robots. They tried to attack her but she was inside their effective range of fire too quickly ramming her sword through their chest plates before they could move. Swinging her body about in mid air she brought her blade across their middles sharply slicing them in half across the waist.
Without warning a dark shadow began to bloat out the light from the sky above. Glancing up sharply she was meet with the sight of another of those loud, although admittedly impressive looking, flying ships she had seen the Apes using. All she could see was the hull and it was completely white, curving in around the mid section before branching out in a huge engine at the back. The front was cone shaped and gold, a triple runway lining the top.
Jack noticed it as well, turning his captured Mech around to see the colossal ship floating there. A second later something rammed hard into the walker's legs and it toppled over landing with a loud thud, Jack was thrown clear of the cockpit, rolling roughly along the ground until he came to a stop. Glaring up angrily he saw a slim figure standing over him with its arms crossed in front of itself. Long blue fused quills lanced down from the back swaying gently in the wind. A pair of emerald green eyes in the middle of a grinning face stared down at the feline.
"Don't suppose you're gonna just surrender?" Sonic the hedgehog asked. The Blue Typhoon had been monitoring the excess communication chatter from G.U.N and picked up the distress call from the base. Determined to stop this before it got out of hand, here they were.
The large feline lunged at him throwing a punch forward. The blue hedgehog easily dodged it, a simply sweep of his leg knocking Jack's feet out from under him. "Didn't think so." Sonic sighed as Jack drew a long hunting knife from his armour and with a loud battle cry lunged forward.
Several felines went running over to his aide but were blocked by the shaft of a war hammer, the hilt in the hand of a pink hedgehog barring their path. One of them tried to push past and Amy trapped his arm skilfully in her twirling weapon before spinning him back over her head to slam him into the ground.
Others charged at her with swords. Their swings she parried away with simply reflexes of her hammer before darting past them with a sudden arch of her weapon that sent them both flying up into the air. One tried to grab her from behind by anticipating the movement she ducked under the lunge and brought the blunt end of her hammer back sharply into the groin of her attacker. There was a loud yelp and the feline backed off, his eyes wide and legs crossed.
"Hey not bad Amy." Sonic commented dodging Jack's dagger with ease. She smiled and made a 'V' sign with her fingers at him. Another feline armed with a war axe made a lunge at Amy, only to have his attack stopped as Hare grabbed him by the shoulders and tossed him back across the ground to slam directly into the ruined remains of a Mech.
"You should watch your back in a fight." The rabbit like mobian commented dryly before throwing himself into the fray with his large hands held aloft.
"Watch your own." The pink hedgehog replied with a frown, more embarrassed with herself for letting that attacker get so close than at Hare for his quip. Explosives flew through the air and Bean and Bark arrived on the battlefield, the duck already armed with his almost legendary arsenal of things that went boom. Bark's physical strength a match for any feline, the polar Bare tore his way through their warriors. But the felines were more resilient than the robots they were used to fighting. Driven on by some fanatical impulse they kept getting back up and no matter how hard they hit them they refused to back down. Jack was the worst of them; his attacks were guided by anger and extremely powerful. Slow, but powerful. One time as he threw his dagger forward his entire arm embedded itself in the side of a collapsed Nova mech before he yanked it free tearing the metal.
Several laser hunters rose up looking around. They were on orders to destroy all intruders and at the moment those intruders numbered many. Their rifles rose into firing positions and unloaded their ammunition straight at them. Sonic looked back in time before hitting the deck. Jack on the other hand had been too focused on his opponent and blind to all else around him, let the volley hit him directly in the back. Yelling out loudly he dropped to his knees, the dagger flying from his hand.
Blaze watched unmoving and silent as another of the Metal Giants, or as the Apes called them: Mech Walkers descended from the flying ship to land directly in front of her. It was the same shape as the one Jack had commandeered, but was blood red opposed to the usual desert gold. A large blue star had been painted on the side.
"Ok, that's far enough." The pilot announced; the search lights on the top locking onto her as the two missile platforms on the robot's shoulder moved forward ready to fire. Major Okida studied her target from inside the Mech. She looked mobian but he had never seen this breed of cat before.
With the Arcanum so close Blaze was not about to suffer any interference, not from anyone. With swiftness that deified Okida's own gunslinger instincts Blaze shot forward and landed a kick into the searchlights on his Mech leaving him in the dark. His Yahger Mech staggered back and around trying to see where his target had been a moment ago. Suddenly he heard a shunting sound and looked up in time to see a sword start peeling back the armoured plating above the cockpit. Grabbing his gun in time, Okida fired several shots up through the opening hole nearly hitting Blaze in the face. The feline shot back as Okida soared out with a kick that hit her across the chin nearly knocking her off the side. Her hand lashed out at the last moment, grabbing the edge and leaving her dangling there. Angrily, she sheathed her sword across her back and using the now free hand grabbed Okida's foot and dragged him off the edge with her. His large wings unable to keep him aloft the major toppled down towards the ground; facing a painful crash the wings opened just in time and his landing was cushioned. Now with her enemy on the ground, Blaze dropped down, rebounding off the side of the Mech to slow herself down.
The two opponents faced each other, Okida armed with a one handed shotgun and Blaze with a claymore. Both were skilled with the weapons they held; the major an accomplished gunslinger and the feline an expert swordsman. This they each sensed of their opponents and they began circling each other carefully.
"You are not an Ape." Blaze stated looking the vampire bat over. With his large leathery wings, large pointed ears and chestnut brown fur he was clearly not one of her enemy. "Yet you fight for them. Why?"
"Ape?" Okida repeated. "You mean the humans?" The feline hissed at him in response.
"Humans, mankind, humanity; whatever they call themselves but my question still stands, why do you fight for them?" The major managed a small smirk at her.
"Why are fighting against them?" Blaze shut her mouth and fixed her yellow eyes on him.
"My reasons are personal." She replied, telekinetically wrenching the sword from its sheath to her hand; gripping the hilt tightly. The major stopped suddenly, putting himself between her and the lock down doors to the centre of the base.
"This little jihad's hurting more people than the G.U.N pilots you put in the emergency ward." Okida explained, hoping that perhaps for once he could simply persuade an enemy to stop instead of having to resort to violence. Besides, this cat had ripped her way through dozens of robots and guards to get this far and against her skills his Mech would prove useless. The major feared that he wouldn't fare much better than the guards had.
"I'll do worse to those trying to stop me." Blaze snarled back. "I'm here to take back something that does not belong to them. Now get out of my way!" Okida was the one to act first, firing several shots at her. Blaze blocked them with the blade of her sword before darting in. Using his wings to push him around in mid air the vampire bat dodged the slashes flying up into the sky and using the vantage point fired several shots in succession all her. This one was not like the guards who simply pointed their weapons and pulled the trigger, Blaze was quick to realize that when he found his shots tired her out as she defended herself. He was just a good a marksman as she was.
Okida suddenly found that his arms and legs no longer obeying his requests. Blaze had grabbed him out of the air using telekinesis before slamming him hard into the ground. Tears forming at the edge of his eyes, Okida glanced up to see a sword blade come right at him. Rolling to the side the claymore struck the ground to his left. Shooting back up to his feet the major swung his leg around sharply striking Blaze across the chest. The feline shoot backwards, recoiling from the blow. No one had ever recovered from her telekinetic grip that quickly before.
"Hey why are they shooting at us?" Bean asked out load, running away from a horde of Laser hunters charging after him firing lasers that struck the ground around the duck, the dirt exploding into a shower around him.
"Who cares? They just are so keep your head down!" Hare replied, ducking behind a collapsed Yahger Mech as the bullets and lasers started flying. The felines quickly took covered as well as Laser Hunter reinforcements from the base began pouring out onto the perimeter.
"Surrender in the name of G.U.N." One of the robots declared loudly as their numbers began swelling to over fifty; all lined up a firing squad trying to hit those who had not already taken cover. Some of them had already starting opening fire at the Blue Typhoon above the base but with its shields not a single blast made it through to the vessel itself.
"No thanks; but have this in the name of Whoop-ass!" Hare cried over, grabbing one of Bean's explosives and tossing it through the air to land behind the robot's lines. The resulting explosive threw five of them out into the firing range of the others to be riddled with holes by their friendly fire. Hare managed a smirk but that faded under the glare of Bark beside him.
"Whoop-ass?" The Polar Bear asked sceptically.
"Hey I'm under pressure here I couldn't think of a better retort." The rabbit like mobian replied with a shrug.
"Hate to break up this little conversation…" Bean began, looking out from behind their shoulder. "But we've got incoming!" Hare glanced out as well to followed the duck's gaze. Within seconds he didn't even need to search the skies for what he was talking about as the loud whirring of chopper blades was quickly increasing in volume. There were dozens of them, large military carrier style ones with two sets of blades; one at the front and one at the back. They all had G.U.N's logo on the side.
Okida's shot nearly struck Blaze as she spun sideways to dance around them. Deflected off her sword blade, he sent them rocketing back. Okida soured through the air, rebounding off the side off his Mech before coming down hard with a flying kick. His boot never made it to it's intended target as Blaze seized him out of the air with her mind and tossed violently against the ground. A pounding thump repeated itself several times inside her head as he let go. She had used telekinesis too many times to day and it's nasty side effects were beginning to show.
Okida just seemed to bounce off the ground like a spring, rocketing back with an upper cut across her jaw sending her flying. Adrenaline running through his body the major darted forward as he landed with several kicks before pinning her arms by her sides.
"Now…are we…gonna talk or what?" He asked out of breath. The tip of his fangs glinted brightly in the partial light, sending the wrong message. Blaze growled angrily tying to force herself free. With surprisingly strength she whirled out of his grip, took hold of him by the shirt and tossed him over her head to slam him directly into the floor. Acting on utter instinct, Okida's hand whipped out at the last second and he grabbed her sword. Before she could duck or dodge, the blade wiped around and sank itself into her left shoulder.
Blood flew everywhere, splattering down Okida's front and all over Blaze's armour. Rearing her head back she screamed out load, the tip of the sword embedded deep in her flesh. The rush of adrenaline fading, the major finally realizing what he'd done and panicking wrenched the sword free. Blaze tore backwards collapsing to the ground, a deep wound thick with blood that stained her fur stood out. Her hand pressed against it, the feline lay there struggling for breath. "I…I didn't…mean…" Okida began, dropping the sword with a loud clatter. Blaze's eyes shot open, pulsating with a thick yellow glow. Instantly the major's body was picked up off the ground, hovered in the air for a single moment before being thrown violently against the side of his mech. His bones striking metal, the major felt muscles twist impossibly and bone fracture before he was dropped like a stone to the ground.
Blaze hoisted herself up, blood running through the fingers she held to her shoulder. Silently, she forced a healing spell upon herself. But her strength was waning. She hadn't enough to fully heal the wound, only keep it from killing her. The blood kept running. Picking up her sword she turned towards the entrance to the base. Despite the injury she would keep going. The Arcanum was so close now, she would be damned if she let this stop her now.
"What the hell are they?" Chuck asked in bewilderment from the Blue Typhoon staring out at the choppers landed a short distance away from the base, their back doors opening and they began unloading their strange looking cargo. Dozens of soldiers went out to form ranks first, followed by something none of them had ever seen before. They were defiantly Mechs of some kind but not or a sort any of them were familiar with. They were four legged and each leg had a ten foot protective shield attached at the joint. It looked like an insect, with a small central body in the middle. On the back of the walking machine, like all G.U.N Mech's, were two missile launcher pads. Their feet were large and fat, with three curving segmented toes branching out left and right. They each landed on the ground with thuds that trembled for miles before moving forward, marching like some bizarre metal ant. They reinforced the soldiers as they climbed into jeeps lowered from the choppers, their numbers now far exceeding anything those fighting on the ground could cope with.
"Creepers." Topaz stated suddenly gaining everyone's attention. "They were in the experimental stage when I left G.U.N. They were made from the same technology used to create the Metal X Spiders." Chuck blinked and looked back. Now that he thought about it, their design did remind him of Metal Sonic's large destructive walkers. As they charged missiles began firing from their launcher pads, dozens at a time; riddling the ground before the base with holes as fire spread out through the air. Several of them broke off from the main group, herding themselves into a tight circle they rotated their large bulks around until they were facing the Blue Typhoon directly. One after the other they anchored their back legs down before launching an intense missile barrage into the shield surrounding the ship. It held, but just barely; the inertia from the attack shaking the entire vessel. "I think we had better go." Topaz added, gripping a chair to stop herself from falling over.
"I think you may be right there." Chris replied, running his fingers running instantly over the console of the intercom system; opening a communications channel to the small devices everyone on the ground had to keep themselves informed. "Ok guys, I think now would be a good time to leave."
"Gee." Hare remarked into his ear piece as missile and laser fire exploded around him eroding his shelter down to nothing. The ground exploding all around as bullets and explosives flew through the air. "Ya think?"
Jack hoisted himself up, his back burning as more the tired muscles underneath the skin strained with him. All around was chaos, his feline companions deciding to take after their leader and make for the base. Once the Arcanum was back in their hands they could simply transport back home away from the Apes and their blasted war machines. Refusing to let himself get left behind he broke into a run, ignoring the screaming pain his body forced on him in protest.
Blocking his path were several laser hunters and a Zeus robot, the latest robot Hexagon had off the production lingered; a behemoth of metal with twice the fire armaments of the previous models. Despite his large size Jack moved with agility and speed that dazzled their targeting systems and reaching them, he ripped them apart with his bare hands before carrying on.
A missile streamed through the air after him and looked back, Jack afforded himself just enough time to dodge it but the explosion took place to near to him and the resulting shockwave hit him hard. He yelled out as the inertia threw him back through the air to smash his body into the ground. The feline hit his head hard against something and his sight began to blur. Furiously he tried to remain conscious but eventually fatigue and injury won out and he collapsed onto his front. The last thing he saw before he faded away as a Polar Bear and a green duck running towards him. Then there was only darkness.
Sonic shot through the ruined entrance to the base, finding the shattered remains of robots and even human guards lying everywhere. There had been some fighting here alright. Glancing up, the blue hedgehog sighted the top of Okida's red Yahger Mech sticking over a wall. His legs a blur, Sonic shot forward dodging around walls and through a large arched entrance that used to have a large metal door covering it. The Major was hoisting himself up a ladder that ran all the way from the bottom of his Mech to the cockpit at the top. His movements were slow and twice he stumbled. It didn't have a genius to work out that he was injured in someway. That and the trail of blood leading from a point on the ground to the bottom of the ladder was a dead give away.
"Hey Okida, you ok?" Sonic called up. Okida looked back and the blue hedgehog staggered back at the sight of him. His shirt and brown jacket were darkened with blood; his fur freshly stained.
"I'm fine." The major replied, tightening his grip on the ladder. He noticed Sonic staring at the blood running down his front. "Don't worry, not of it's not my own." Of course, that was the part of it that made Okida himself fell so bad. Blaze had no weapon, armed only with her bare hands. Yet he'd struck her with her own blade
His body ached from the abuse it had taken, protesting passionately against him as he forced it up into the ladder. "Go, one of them went into the base." He jabbed a finger off towards the entrance. Sonic followed his gaze to the base's main entrance, the large lock down doors had been sliced in half their remains scattered inside the corridor within. A trail of bloody footprints led inside and from their pattern Sonic could tell whoever made them had run like a bat out of hell. "Get her before she gets what they came for." Okida added reaching the top of his mech.
"Her?" Sonic repeated. "You got whipped by a girl?" Okida did not take the jest with the intended humour and growled at the blue hedgehog. "Easy, easy." Sonic added with a short smile. "I'll check it out; you get yourself back to the Typhoon." The major nodded once and dropped down through the carved hole in his Mech's cockpit. As the Yahger's jets took the war machine up into the air, Sonic shot off for the bases entrance; darting past the lockdown doors all of which had been systematically ripped off their hinges, the scorched remains of security camera hung on the walls slowly turning to ash. The trail of bloody footprints lead on, heading deep into the base; some of the tracks still quite fresh. Whoever it was had been juried badly, that Sonic could tell with his eyes closed and yet they'd still managed to do extreme damage to anything that got in it's way. Sonic glanced down briefly at the torn remains of a Laser Hunter robot lying in a crumbled pile by a wall.
-
The last door fell inward and Blaze was met with a most welcome sight. The chamber beyond had several advanced security systems the Apes insisted on coating everything they pilfered with, but through them Blaze caught sight of the Arcanum. At last, there it was! A giant crystal shaped jewel twice as big as herself; glowing softly yellow; kept in place by several metal straps that held to the wall. The jewel in the middle of her forehead nearly blinded her with its light as it so near the source of its own power. The stinging feeling of fatigue caught up to her again as she began painfully aware once more of the wound in her shoulder and neck.
The strike had left her weakened and the excessive use of magic and telekinesis she had employed to get her had left her near collapsing point, yet if she could just get to the Arcanum then all would be well. She tried to call its power from this distance but she was still too far away, she had to be closer still in order to use it. Growling she called upon whatever power she had left, mustering it into one last destructive spell. Her eyes glowed brightly flaxen yellow as one by one, the laser security reds tore themselves up, gun turrets exploded and the electrified floor rippled before her and became immobile.
That jolt nearly cost her dearly and she collapsed to her knees, blood falling from her wound to collect in a small puddle below. You are a leader, some voice within Blaze's mind shouted at her; you can not show weakness. Defying pain she hoisted herself up and staggered forward across the ruined floor, using her sword as a walking stick to prop herself up. As she neared she felt the Arcanum's warming presence, feeding her magical and telekinetic powers; the two puncture wounds on her neck closing up.
Someone whistled from behind her and sharply Blaze shot round to face their disturber. A blue hedgehog stood there, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded; a set of fused quills hanging out behind him.
"Hey there." Sonic greeted with a simple nod of his head. Blaze shot forward and found herself slicing through thin air as Sonic dodged her swing with ease, sliding to a stop across the room next to the Arcanum. "Don't tell me this is what you came here for?" He gestured towards the crystal above, completely oblivious to its true significant. "All those attacks and you're a bunch of jewel thieves?"
"I'm not the thief." Blaze snarled, driving her sword forward trying to impale Sonic on the blade. Sonic slapped the point of the weapon aside with a sharp flick of his wrist and as Blaze drew level, he smacked her down with a blow to the back of her head. In her weakened state the feline toppled forward and hit her face against the wall.
"Trust me girlie, you're outclassed." Sonic muttered tapping his foot impatiently. Suddenly the feline hoisted herself back up and whirled around, her face a pit of utter darkness and her eyes glowing bright yellow.
"That I doubt!" She snarled, calling forth the power of the Arcanum. The crystal glowed with her eyes, its energy channelling itself through the air and into her body. Before he could even speak Sonic was picked up by her enhanced telekinesis and slammed repeatedly against any solid surface available before Blaze brought him close to her and smashed several punches into his face and finishing it with one finally kick that sent him crashing to the floor. The hedgehog rolled for a distance before coming to a stop. All that had happened in the space of a few seconds and after it was over Sonic was left lying there stunned.
"Ow…." was all he managed to mutter with his face down on the floor.
"Now… for the last time..." Blaze began, her breathing drawn out and hard. "Will you all please stay out of my way?" Turned with carried on back towards the Arcanum and upon reach it, she raised a hand to her forehead and removed the small jewel. Clasping it firmly between two fingers, she simply pressed it against the side of the Arcanum.
Outside even the robots stopped and stared as a beam of solid light lanced up from the centre of the base to strike the sky, clouds swirling around it.
Deep within the base however, something stirred. The power surging above it could feel; a silent call to the dinner table. A large yellow eye slid open with a loud wet slap, the pail contracting at the light. All its fellows were dead, having been forced to feed off each other to survive being coped up inside here. It was the only one left. Heaving its large bulk up, it turned towards the large bulk head door baring its way. Blaze nearly lost her foot when it rammed the door, forcing it back; and then again each time it did the ground for miles shook like an earthquake.
"What the hell is going on?" Hare demanded looking around in bewilderment. Even the Creeper Mech's had stopped their attacks, their pilots equally as confused. The felines stopped on the battle field, the ground beneath their feet trembling. Suddenly a loud screech broke the air, a screech more than familiar to them.
"No…" Blaze muttered with wide eyes. "It can't be!" The buildings above broke open as a colossal pair of wings spread out into the sky, leathery like a bats only scaled on the outside. Okida slammed his Mech's thrusters on full and managed to rise up to the Blue Typhoon in time before the bellowing gust of wind struck the vessel. A long whip like tail crashed across the runway, any fighter planes unlucky to get its way were torn to scrap instantly.
"DRAGON BLOOD!" One of the felines yelled out in abject terror as finally a large wedge shaped, reptilian head the size of a truck heaved itself up into the air, a pair of yellow eyes shielded by a row of bony plates going down it's back and between it's wings.
"Whoa momma!" Hare began with wide eyes, his arms dropping by his sides as the beast tore itself up out of the base's interior in a spray of brick dust and flying mortar. The dragon was hungry; very hungry. Its last meal had been one of its own kind and their own taste was vile. So when it looked down at the base below and saw all those staring up at it in horror, all it saw was a very large buffet table.
"One of the creatures is loose!" The leader pilot the Creeper Mech's yelled. "Take it down! OPEN FIRE!" Bullets, missiles and lasers filled the air as all the gathered G.U.N forces turned to face the Dragon and opened fire; the intense barrage striking the giant lying lizard down the flanks. Swiftly it raised its right wind to block the incoming projectiles and as if it were made of steal, all of it either impacted on the surface or bounced away.
"I think we're in over our heads here." Chuck remarked as the Dragon pulled it's had back and then arched it forward, a thick glob of chemicals flying out behind its teeth. Reacting with the oxygen in the air it burst into flames, becoming a deadly ball of fire that hurtled down on top of a Creeper reducing it to cinders within moments; the pilot ejecting clear of the Mech an instant before.
"Those stupid, stupid APES!" Blaze declared, anger burning within. They had brought the Dragon Blood back to their own world. Now this realm was damned as well as hers all because of their utter stupidity. The horror that was the Dragon Blood was here and now all would burn before it.
Well, so be it. Any species that dumb deserved a free fall down the food chain. Turning, she faced the Arcanum again; it's soft crystallised outline glowing brightly. Calling upon more of it's power she began to invoke a travelling spell; carving the gate between her world and this one open. Like someone had taken a hammer to the fabric of reality itself, the air rippled around her bending impossible until finally it tore open with a sickening twist.
Sonic, despite the nagging pain spreading through his body pushed himself to his feet, watching the walls, ceiling and even the floor around him twist suddenly; swirling together like the centre of a vortex towards the crystal and Blaze. Like the water down a plug hole, any physical object stretched before being yanked downwards into it. The blue hedgehog glance dup towards the feline. Her body was surrounded by a white glow, a pulsating light that was growing stronger with each passing moment.
Outside all the felines within range of the Arcanum's magic began to glow with the same light, their outlined highlighted by pulsating white. Dimensional displacement was taking place, and channelling the energy through the jewel on her forehead, Blaze was forcing the gate open.
"Hey, knock it off!" Sonic yelled out, but the feline ignored him, her efforts concentrating themselves solely on opening the gate.
The Dragon threw its colossal tail around, smacking two Creeper Mech's off their feet and back to collide into the walkers following behind them; one could not take impact and exploded in a ball of fire. Beating it wings, the beast rose up into the air as it pried its legs clear of the buildings. Taking flight, its wing span had to be well over sixty foot or more, the long neck arching down as it flew.
The secretion it spat from its mouth catching fire in the air, brining an unquenchable fire down on the soldiers. Swinging hard to the left to stay out of its flight path, the Blue Typhoon nearly capsized in mid air as the winds created by the beating of its wings slammed hard against the hull. Seeing the ship as the only thing bigger than itself, the Dragon screeched and turned about in mid air; heading right towards the flying vessel. In its eyes, the Typhoon was a threat to its territory.
"Just what in the world is that thing?" Sam Speed asked in horror staring at the winged reptile coming right at them. Without evening thinking about it, Chuck hit the missile fire controls. Several dozen projectiles shot forth from the ship and each impacted upon the dragon's scaled thick.
Its hide was so thick not a single one of them hurt the thing. It just kept flying through the smoke coming right at them. Okida's Yahger Mech landed with a loud thud on the tip of the bow, its two missile laugher pads already primed and instantly they fired; a concentrated barrage of laser, bullets and missile fire striking the Dragon directly on the tip of the nose. With all that flying into his eyes the beast retreated several wing beats out of the Mech's range, shaking its long neck vigorously with smoke trailing from between its scales.
"Is everyone back onboard?" Topaz asked, seeing that the major had bought them a little time.
"Everyone accept Sonic." Chris replied glancing up briefly from the controls up front. By now the Dragon seemed to have recovered from the strike and Okida was out of options. His missile supply was empty and his laser batteries needed another minute to recharge. Forced to rely on bullets alone he opened fire, but they seemed as is insignificant as pin pricks to the creature, each projectile rebounding off its thick scales.
Its neck reared back before he threw itself head forward sending a thick dose of chemical spray at them which combusted mid way becoming a burning ball of flames that soured at them. The Egg shield flew up and the fire struck the projective barrier so hard the ship actually tilted backwards at the blow. It was like being struck by a concentrated round of focused artillery.
"Sonic'll just have to take care of himself." Topaz remarked, seeing that this beast was too much for the ship to handle. "Get us outta here."
"Gladly." Chuck replied taking hold of the controls. The ship lurched to the side and shot off towards the horizon at full speed, the dragon following close behind trying to get close enough to launch another fiery payload at them.
Sonic's reaction was gut instinct. Curving himself into a ball he started spinning, going faster and faster on one spot before rocketing forward. Blaze looked back just in time to see the oncoming attack before it struck. The two of them collided and in that instant the light from the Arcanum expanded swallowing them both whole. It carried on, spreading outwards at a rate that consumed the entire base within moments. From a distance it looked a Chaos Control warp, a rising hall sphere of light that kept expanding out. All the feline warriors and even a few G.U.N Creeper Mech's on the ground were swallowed one by one, vanishing into the light. The Dragon was the last to go. It glanced back as beams of light lanced past it before its body was taken over slowly; inch by inch before finally the end of its snout disappeared completely.
The Blue Typhoon would have followed had Chuck not thrown the engines into overdrive, the ship rocketing forward at a tremendous rate outpacing the expanding light. Finally the glow had stopped expanded, remaining a silent shell of light before finally it began to receded back over the ground.
"Oh my…" Chuck began glancing out the window. Everyone on the bridge followed his gaze. To their utter astonishment the entire Area 99 base had vanished. Not a single building was left, nor any signs there had ever been any. All that greeted their eyes now was an empty patch of desert. Even the shattered remains of Mech's and G.U.N robots had vanished. All that remains of the militaries presence were those helicopters and several Creepers that had been outside the perimeter of the warp.
Amy raced onto the bridge, her hammer in hand. Her quills were messed up as the sudden thrust from the engines had caused her to fall over and ruin her style.
"What just…" She began, but even as she did her gaze was attracted down to the empty space below them. Silence passed, a brief few moments of it. "Where's Sonic?" The pink hedgehog asked all of a sudden, her eyes wide.
"Hey, can someone give me a hand?" Hare called out as he entered the bridge, dragging something after him. "This guy is heavy." Topaz looked down from the captains seat to see what the rabbit like Mobian was hauling after him. It was one of the felines they had been fighting down on the desert floor. This one was larger than his fellows had been and by the way he was hanging limp as Hare dragged him, he was clearly unconscious.
The feline's fur was mostly white, with several patches of black upon his forehead down his back and along the thick tail. Armour, damaged in battle, was strapped across his forearms and shins.
Momentary stirs in Jack's consciousness were enough for the large feline to realize one thing. His comrades were gone. He had been left behind.