Chapter Five
An Oil-full Afternoon
There is only one industry on the island that is recent, the oil refineries. This area was set up by the infamous Dr. Robotnik (aka Eggman). The oil on the island was unknown to the inhabitants until Robotnik (Eggman) came by with his demented plan for world domination, the Death Egg. He set up the refineries to drill for the oil he had found and at the same time; he started to pollute the area. The factories were shut down by Sonic and Tails when they attempted to halt Robotnik's plan for world domination. Currently, the Battle Bird Armada has taken over the refineries and enslaved the workers to drill for oil nonstop. The works strived to keep the environment clean, but the Armada just wants all the oil and they don't care over what happens to the environment.
On a hill that was overlooking the refineries, our heroes stood overlooking the refineries.
"Are you sure it is here?" the armadillo asked the young twin tailed fox.
"Positive," he replied.
"Looks like we need to first free any hostages and stop the Armada from polluting the environment," the blue hedgehog said as he peered through a set of binoculars.
"I think this mission will require stealth," the squirrel said.
"Great," the armadillo sarcastically said.
"Mighty," the hedgehog said warningly, "we don't want to end up fighting their guards while we are trying to free the workers."
They slowly made their way down the hill and into the industrialized area as they dodged the added security. The air was contaminated by the byproducts of the factories, the place seemed to have been damaged due to acid rain, and the water was polluted by the oil due to the containers the oil was in began to overflow. They had to dodge spotlights, security cameras, and patrols as they moved to keep in the shadows. They had some close calls, but they were lucky not to be seen by the passing patrols.
They found the central control center of the compound where they infiltrated it by going through the air ducts. They stayed up in the rafters of the complex as they scanned the scene. They saw the leader of the Armada and he had his elite guard with him. There was something glittering in the leader's hands and the hedgehog's heart sank.
"At last," he said with triumph in his voice, "I have the seven Chaos Emeralds to power my fortress."
"What about the Emerald the brat took, sir?" one of his elite guard asked.
"That's not important; as long as I have seven Emeralds. We can power our fortress, and, according to legend, a miracle should happen when all seven Chaos Emeralds are collected."
"So he now has seven Emeralds and he must have had one hidden away that we didn't know of," the hedgehog whispered.
"I say we pound them right then and now," the armadillo named Mighty said as he cracked his knuckles before he dropped from the rafters before anyone can stop him.
He dropped on the top of one of the guards; shattering the armor and knocking the guard unconscious. Chaos soon erupted as an alarm was sounded and the guards started to open fire on Mighty. The leader escaped while he was escorted by his elite during the commotion.
"Nice going," the hedgehog sarcastically remarked at Mighty's actions. "Tails, you try to disable and shut down the factory and get the workers out of the area. Ray and I will help Mighty out. After that, we meet back at the way we came in.
"Sure thing, Sonic," the fox named Tails replied as he made his way on the rafters until he made it over to where the main mainframe was while Sonic and Ray jumped down to help Mighty.
Mighty had started punching the guards and sending them into the walls and into one another. As soon as Ray landed, he started using his prehensile-like tail to grab the guards and used them as a bat others away and to knocks others down. Sonic used his speed to disable the guards without them even noticing that he was coming as the captive workers began to exit the compound to avoid the melee going on around them.
Tails entered the now empty mainframe room as the fighting down below escalated. He started to hack into the system as he tried to shut down the factory. More guards entered the complex as Tails finally shut down the factory causing the power to shut down. He was also able to shut down the auxiliary power to the complex before it had even started up.
"Okay, let's get out of here before more reinforcements arrive," Sonic yelled after noticing that the power to the compound had been disabled.
Mighty and Ray followed Sonic outside the complex and they met Tails, who had climbed out of an air duct that led to the roof from the mainframe room. They quickly made their way toward the exit as they passed the scared workers as they too attempted to exit the compound. Our heroes had to fight several guards as they made their way toward the exit of the refineries.
"Nice job Mighty," Sonic said with a hint of sarcasm, "we could have shut down the compound without having to fight them."
"You know that I dislike using stealth," Mighty replied angrily.
"It was a good thing he did that," Tails said and they all looked at him. "There were guards in that room and if Mighty hadn't caused that confusion; I would have to disable those guards so that I could work without being distracted."
"For one thing," Ray said, "your rash actions came in handy today."
"Now we must stop the Armada before they complete their fortress," Sonic said, "but we don't know where they are."
"If I were their leader," Tails started, "where would I hide something that big?"
"Probably in an old… abandoned… base," Sonic's voice trailed off then he and Tails looked at each other.
Sonic grabbed both Mighty and Ray before they could ask any questions and took off with Tails following him. They crossed over several hills as they made a wide arch around the oil refineries to the other side. They could see several members of the Armada exiting the refineries as the started to retreat.
An old abandoned base that was once the headquarters of the infamous Dr. Robotnik (Eggman) when he was one Westside Island. Currently, it is now abandoned and a cleanup effort was organized to clean up the area. However, the Battle Bird Armada is now using it as a hideout to complete their flying fortress. All of the islands' inhabitants that failed to escape the Armada are used as slaves to complete their fortress. It was a dismal site as the Armada treated their slaves as something below them. Only those who could fly have not been captured, but those who had tried to free the captured slaves became slaves themselves. The slaves suffered from fatigue and signs of malnourishment.
Our heroes were now just outside the edge of their temporary base in the ruins.
"What's the plan?" Ray asked.
"We need to first free the hostages before we even attempt to destroy their fortress," Sonic replied. "Tails, you head back and get the Tornado prepped in case they take off while the rest of us free the hostages."
"Sure thing," Tails replied and left silently.
Sonic, Mighty, and Ray slowly, and stealthy, entered the ruins as they kept to the shadows of the wreckage. They came across an area that held several guards over slaves that were twice in their numbers. Sonic quickly disarmed the guards while Mighty and Ray jumped them. Since they had no armor like their counterparts, they fell quickly like their predecessors. An alarm was sound by one of the guards they had thought they had knocked out. The freed slaves, as if by instinct, fled the scene to make their escape.
They quickly retreated to the shadows as they tried to free the rest of the slaves. More and more slaves were freed since the alarm sounded as their guards tried to find and subdue the intruders. Down in one of alleyways, three foxes were cornered by two guards. Sonic recognized them as the same foxes from the casino during the aviator competition the previous day. They all looked petrified with fear; no longer were they playing the "tough guy." They were actually begging their captures to spare their lives, but the guards had orders to shot anyone who attempts to make an escape. Sonic had no choice but to save them; even if he didn't know what he was saying to Tails. He quickly knocked both of the guards out without anyone, including the foxes, seeing him.
Sonic and friends quickly left the area since more guards would arrive to that location. They then came across one of the guards and he was talking to his leader, who had his elite with him.
"Sir, all of the prisoners have escaped and the intruders are nowhere to be seen."
"Never mind them. We will pay them back. Now, have all units return to the fortress so that we can set our plan in motion," their leader angrily replied.
"Yes sir!"
They all left in separate directions with the leader being followed by his elite.
"We must stop them before they get too far with their fortress!" Sonic said with his usual determined voice.
"Right!" Mighty and Ray replied in unison.
They quickly found the fortress and hid in the cargo bay while they hid out until it was safe to attack. After all of the Armada's soldiers have boarded, they enormous engines of the fortress ignited and it made a slow assent as it cleared the ruins of the former demented scientist's base, Dr. Robotnik (Eggman). Now they must halt the fortress before they can set their plan in motion.
Now, the Battle Bird Armada has all seven Chaos Emeralds from Westside Island, and now their plan for world domination is set into motion. Can Sonic, Mighty, and Ray cause enough chaos on the fortress to cause it to make an emergency landing on one of the chains of islands that are not far from Westside Island? Can Tails get the Tornado ready to assist them by attacking the fortress from the outside while Sonic and his friends recover the Chaos Emeralds that powers the fortress? The fate of the world now lies in the hands of our heroes. Can they succeed?
Preview:
Yo, this is Sonic! Mighty, Ray, and I stealthy make our way out of the cargo bay and attempt to find the Chaos Emeralds that powers the fortress. However, Mighty, being rash, jumps a nearby guard and we are discovered. Now we must fight our way to the Emeralds while we are dodge enemy fire. Tails uses the Tornado to assault the fortress on the outside while the rest of us cause enough damage from enemy fire on the inside. Can we succeed in halting their plans? Find out next time!
Copyright: Sonic, Tails, Mighty, Ray, and the Battle Bird Armada are all copyrighted by Sega.
Post Author's Note: May be short, but (again) I don't want to go too fast in the action.
