MerendinoEmilano: I'm not doing too much more with chaos energy…or will I? I will work on some of the animals, although I am finding it hard to adjust to Sonic's naming conventions (Flickies for birds and stuff). People… I have the core cast out, I guess I can work on some side characters.
John Victor Foxfire: I would like to say something about how I reviewed your last comment. I realize it was very short, but I was kind of in a corner. I don't want you to think I just skimmed your review and wrote a bare minimum paragraph. I could have taken an entire chapter to comment on what you posted, but the problem is that you are a reader. I can talk all about the story, but I don't want to risk spoiling anything that might be new or surprising and ruining your first read of the story. I also don't like lying, so I just remained quiet about stuff that would have been spoiled if I talked about it too much.
/*-*/
Sonic stood on a grassy plain. The area around him was battered and broken, shattered from explosions. Behind him was a stone city, with thick walls and further was a yellow sandy beach. Several metal… cannons stood on the outside of the walls.
"I will not leave them." Sonic heard, and turned his head. He saw… a figure, with brown hair and brown eyes, shorter than the men that surrounded him.
"Grand Chief Johan, we must pull out. They are moving a large force into the city." One large Soldier growled, his face obscured by the mask.
"Let the Teskans send ten times that number, I will not move!" Johan shouted, "Our Prubian brothers have pulled their weight, we agreed to help them!" He balled a fist, and sighed.
"We can not hold this position. It does us no benefit to die here with them." Another One of his soldiers stated, her feminine voice wincing.
Johan slammed a fist onto the grassy plain, before looking up.
A blonde haired man with a short beard approached, "We will cover your escape. We could not hope to keep this up. Our resistance will continue, even after you have fled."
Johan stood up, "Prepare to open a route to the sea. We are leaving here!"
The Warriors stepped back, "Sir, we can't hope to evacuate-"
"We will live together or die together!" Johan growled. The message was clear.
Sonic watched them all scramble to lay out their needs to the rest of the armies. Sonic followed them, he followed Johan as explosions sounded in the distance.
Johan climbed in a large metal bunker with treads, and a large canon. It was rather boxy, but it rode out of the city.
Sonic saw a large line of light strike the front of it, and cabin turned fired at other, smaller metal bunkers.
All around him, he saw blonde and brown haired men rushing out with weapons, to face their attackers.
Rapidly sounding gun fire emerged from the mountains to the north of city came around and several grey metal bunkers moved fast for something that wasn't him. They quickly broke up the attackers as they moved around the backs. After they finished the encircling move, they moved quickly into the city.
Sonic felt himself dragged through a wall as the armored bunkers seemed to retreat. He saw concrete roads and sidewalks as people made their way to the beach… then… Everything was quiet.
Sonic looked up and saw himself on a ship, a massive one. It had four turrets, two on each side of the ship. Johan stood on the edge of the ship, looking back at the smoking walled city.
"We got seven hundred thousand of them, my king." One of the large burly brown haired men stated.
"We WILL return, and I will have vengeance for every man we lost!" Johan growled turning back to the front of the ship.
Suddenly, Sonic was jerked into the sky. As he rose, he saw a bright light in the sky, getting closer. It wasn't the sun. It took on a shape, human, but nothing distinguishable from the amount of light that cast from it.
"You… are you showing me this? Why?" Sonic asked, amazed that he actually had a voice.
The glowing figure gestured down. Sonic turned, only to find himself plummeting through the clouds. Sonic saw the ground rapidly approaching, and instinctively braced. Through the corner of his eyes, he saw a triangular shaped cannon shell falling with him.
Sonic hit the ground, and it exploded… but it didn't hurt… right, because this was a dream. Sonic sat up as the patting of feet. He saw haired man in a very fine officer uniform running across the now rusty plains, with grass long gone. He drew up a pistol.
Sonic saw the entire world around him set ablaze from the fighting. He saw hundreds of armored bunkers moving into the mountain, across the fields, spreading out in every direction with thousands of men walking with them.
The Officer was breathing heavily within his crater. Then a shadow cast over the Officer, he raised his pistol and fired. The bullet soared into Johan, but Johan didn't even react. He walked closer, and drew a long knife.
The Officer fired again and again, before Johan closed the distance and Smacked the weapon aside.
Sonic averted his eyes as a shriek filled the air, prolonging itself.
"I Swore I'd make you pay, you'll all pay for every broken oath, for every alliance betrayed, for every greedy exploit." Johan's shouts filled the air, harmonizing with the man's shrieks.
Then… quiet. The world seemed to… shimmer, like it was glitching. Sonic slowly turned around. Johan was looking at him. Sonic looked down. He was still in his dream state, nothing had changed. Something was-
"You… you aren't supposed to be here, are you?" Johan growled balling a fist, his head turned to face Sonic.
Sonic bolted awake; his chest was pounding… but he couldn't remember why. His dream was… scary, but it was also vague in his mind. He couldn't place it, but he had a feeling that he saw something important.
Sonic looked around in his room for the danger, just like a small child looking for his nightmares in the room. Nothing. Sonic was still in his… Rocketship sheets. He was at his parents house.
Sonic sighed, somewhat from relief, and somewhat from being embarrassed. Here he was, grown enough to be a nobleman, still running home to mommy when things got tough. He really was pathetic.
Sonic stood out of bed, and stretched. He slipped on his shoes, and walked over to the circular window by his bed. His parents were living in a hollowed-out tree. They didn't deserve that. Sonic's dad wasn't always nice, but he had his reasons. His mom was the sweetest woman in the world. Sonic was… building a mansion.
Sonic opened his light blue curtains and looked out. There were two children playing what appeared to be hide-and-seek. Sonic smiled as a bear and a goat hid behind bushes while a green fox walked around, examining every flower pot and box.
He found himself smiling. Things were so much simpler when they were kids… the freedom fighters. Sonic heard a knock at his door. He turned around and answered it.
"Good Morning Honey, how are you feeling." His mother smiled at him. Her eyes wandered to the now pink, scab-eroded mark on his belly.
Sonic smiled back, "Mom, I'm fine. I'm healthy and good. You don't have to worry."
"Oh… ok," She frowned softly, "I'm your mom, it's my job to worry. Jules worries too…even if he cant express it." Bernadette smiled at Sonic, and hugged him tightly, "I made breakfast." She whispered in the hug, still holding on to him. She held her tight hug on Sonic for a few more moments.
Sonic cleared his throat, "Uh… I guess I'll go… eat before it gets cold." Sonic smiled, feeling his mother pull away.
She nodded, "Right, let's go eat."
They walked down the stairs and Sonic saw what she had laid out. Sausage gravy, Eggs, biscuits, sausage links, fried steak, fruits.
"Mom… are we expecting the army?" Sonic asked nervously. That was a lot of food. There wasn't even any room for their plates. His dad wasn't going to help.
Bernadette frowned, "I did go a little overboard. But I heard beef is good for healing, sausage and eggs have good protein to help healing, fruits help blood flow, and biscuits help heal cuts.
Sonic laughed, a little, and his father came in.
"Bernie, I warned you this was too much." Jules spoke through his voice box.
"Oh, what do you know." She jabbed back, in a playful manner.
Jules remained silent. The implication stood in the air.
Sonic's mind wandered.
He sat behind the big chair. Sonic knew it was well past his bed time, but the adults were talking. Or rather, his father who was back from Uncle Chuck's "Operation".
Sonic was… terrified of the blue machine. It was clunky, and cold. His large red eyes seemed to scan Sonic whenever he was close by. His voice was even colder than his hugs, empty and rigid.
Despite the outcome of the "Operation", Jules still found his green chair to still be comfortable… or maybe nostalgic.
"So Jullie, how's life been." Chuck laughed at his brother nervously. The fire crackled, seeming to match the mood of Sonic's father.
"Life has been… difficult." Jules voice stated with a flat tone.
"Yeah… I knew you would have couple of little issues." Charles tried to joke.
Jules remained silent.
Uncle Chuck shifted nervously, "Are you mad, or thinking."
Jules voice replied, "Both."
"Come on, it was the best I could do." Chuck pleaded, "I wish I could have discovered a fountain of magical healing, or a magic plant to fix your wounds. I just tried-" he was cut off.
"My own son thinks I am a monster. My wife will not sleep in the same room as me." Jules voice remained flat, with only the volume increasing.
"I don't know what to tell you." Charles sighed slumping down.
"That is what I will have to tell Olgilve. He still wants a little brother." Jules stated rigidly.
Charles sighed again in frustration, "Would you have rather died? Did you want me to just leave you to bleed out?"
Jules took a moment and answered, "Maybe… maybe."
Sonic shook himself out of that memory. He couldn't blame himself for feeling so scared, but he still felt bad.
Sonic quickly finished eating, before making his offer, "So… are you two happy here?" Sonic asked smiling.
"This is our home. It's nice." Bernadette smiled looking up at the wood walls, with every growth mark and scratch.
"But… wouldn't you want to live somewhere with more room?" Sonic asked, hopefully.
"Sonic, what are you getting at." His father asked, flatly, but Sonic imagined the curiosity in his voice.
"I'm a noble and I'm expected to have a mansion. So it's being built, even now. So I'll have plenty of room for you guys to come live." Sonic tried.
"Sonic…" Bernadette smiled at him, but there was a more behind the smile.
"We appreciate the offer." Jules stated, looking at Bernadette, who nodded, "But this our home. My father raised me here, and I raised you here."
"But you deserve more, not just some old hollowed out tree like a beggar. You deserve castles, mansions, entire kingdoms." Sonic pleaded.
"Someone has to be poor. We live happily, and that's enough. I would not mind coming to visit you, however." Jules proposed.
Sonic frowned, but knew he wasn't going to get anywhere, "Alright… I guess I'll come tell you or send someone to tell you when it's ready. But you two have to have a good time when you come, ok?"
Bernadette laughed, "Be careful what you wish for, you might get embarrassed."
Sonic laughed hesitantly, "Alright, I'm heading out… thanks for your advice… both of you."
"Sonic, don't forget to visit us." Jules stated.
"We love spending time with you." Bernadette smiled, "SO please, comeback soon, and hopefully in better spirits."
Sonic walked over to the door, "Alright, I'll see you soon." He bolted up the hill of their village, and turned back one last time. His mom had carried out the baskets of food for the kids, and adults were all coming out.
Sonic turned back around, and headed straight for Roja, now that his chest was healed.
Even as he ran, Sonic saw a fresh row of destroyed branches. They made him uncomfortable.
Still, his feet hit the ground and he ran to Roja as fast as he could. There was snow in the surrounding areas, which was to be expected, but a lot of it.
When He got to the walls of Roja, Sonic walked in. He needed to talk with Sally and hope for the best. Sonic saw Hunter, standing outside the foundation of his new mansion. It was actually coming along nicely. Stones were laid and walls were mostly complete. Some glass was all that was needed.
"So, I guess we need to get a guard house built up." Sonic proposed smiling. He did not want to do any work, he just wanted to talk with Sally. Still he had made a promise. Sonic approached the carpenter's guild, ruining straight to the mill.
/*-*/
Fiona stayed in the house of the city. They were waiting for the Wolverine to come back. He sure was taking his time, and Fiona wasn't happy about it. Still, if she wasn't out fighting Eggman, she wasn't risking her life, which was a plus in a weird way.
She walked out and grabbed a bowl of "Chocolate soup". Apparently, it was beef stew with cocoa powder in it. They were eating the food stores from the city, but Fiona had a feeling that the people who lived there weren't going to need them.
She put a spoonful of the soup in her mouth. It was…acceptable. Fiona did not want to eat it again if she could avoid it. Still, they were trying to make everything last while rations came in. The time to reorganize and resupply was good.
She ate the repulsive soup, inside the house she was staying in. She looked down at her rifle. Fiona had spent so much time training with the rifle, but she hadn't really used it. Instead she had been useless in the last couple of battles.
It was a sad and scary thing to admit, but Fiona was pretty sure that without Johan, they wouldn't have won the battle. He was a monster, but a useful one at that. That was what the Princess saw in him, a necessary evil. Then again, Fiona was evil.
She had been, she'd admit it. Despite how much she was angry at Sonic, and a part of her still was, Fiona knew she had done a lot of terrible things. She had punished several people because one person upset her.
Fiona slumped down. That was a painful, sorry thought that she would like to avoid. She really was terrible, perhaps she would always be terrible?
"Enemy spotted!" The cry filled the air. Fiona grabbed her rifle and some ammo and ran out.
She saw Sally and the uniformed soldiers scrambling with their weapons. They seemed to be quite comfortable in the cold. Still Fiona ran over to their ammo cache, and filled up the small pouch for ammo that she carried around.
Then it was off to the gate, which was still destroyed because no one wanted to rebuild it. They were approaching from the east, several metal figures.
Simple swat bots? Fiona readied her rifle against the side of the gateway and lined up her sights. The badniks appeared to be walking up the snow covered road in five-by-ten formations. There was also a low humming in the air.
Fiona fired down the road, and struck one of the swat-bots in the chest area. It didn't stop. Fiona turned the rifle slightly and fired again, more shots joining the volley. The swat-bots started to fall, but they seemed to be hard to take down. Fiona's mind set to work. They were machines, which meant they only needed certain modules to function. They didn't bleed, at least not normally.
Fiona called out, "Aim for the centers!" She reloaded while more volleys fired off.
Sally called out, "Stand your ground, Bunnie, try to bust up their lines. If they get close, Antoine and I will take care of them! Elias, Get some men on those walls!"
Fiona let out her rounds and fired as a mechanical rabbit flew overhead. She fired beams down as the badniks closed in. The Swatbots quickly bent back almost comedically to shoot at Bunnie.
Fiona opted to go to the walls, since the gate was getting crowded. Every so often a badnik would make it past the killzone, and Sally would surge forward and slash them to pieces. The Coyote would… try to help.
Fiona got onto the walls, and stood behind the battlements. She reloaded and peaked around the corner, firing two shots as laser struck the walls. Despite the damage, Fiona was glad that the wall were hit and not her.
She reloaded and fired again, striking two more Swatbots. The weird lady-bug badniks came forward, and that presented an issue. Elais Acorn called out, "Walls, fire on the Motorbugs."
Fiona knew how to lead her shots, but most of the others didn't. Fiona really hoped Sonic would show up and save the day.
Suddenly, the humming in the air got louder. It turned into a roar. A jet engine Roar.
Fiona barely had time to look up before a blue and brown blur flashed past the flying rabbit, seeming to miss her barely, and crashed into the ground.
Fiona really wished Sonic would show up. Metal Sonic had crashed into the gate frame work. He was not slowed down at all. To add to the complications, he had a hilariously large brown arm, which replaced his left arm. This brown arm was considerably thick, and had silver blades on the end where a hand would be. The arm appeared to be messing with Metal's mobility. Each Segment seemed to be made of a larger box making the arm as long as Metal Sonic himself. It must have been heavy, certainly not designed for the blue copy. Fiona wondered why he had it then?
Sally ran back as a wave of morale loss kicked in, "I'll handle Metal, just keep the badniks out!"
Fiona gave her props, and tried to go back to shoot at swatbots, but heard the swooshing of energy blades and the crashing of a giant fist. Her eyes drifted back as Sally rolled behind Metal Sonic's swinging arm, to where the city was behind her.
A feeling of aid came into Fiona's heart. She readied her rifle to shoot Metal Sonic. She had a feeling something bigger was going on with the blue copy.
Sally slashed at Metal's chest, but he twisted back, resulting in barely a graze. Sally saw what was coming, and Fiona saw it as well. Metal's new arm swung, ready to smash Sally's skull against the gate frame. Sally rolled out of the way as Metal's body flew with the arm into the gate frame. The impact struck.
Fiona heard cracking and rumbling from the walls. She suddenly lost faith in their integrity, and ran to edge. She jumped off onto the nearest roof, and fell through the thatch top. When she finally calmed herself down, Fiona stood up and looked at where the wall had been. There was now just a pile of rocks for a good thirty meters. Those were solid stone walls.
Fiona saw Sally slip in close to Metal Sonic. Metal tried to use his new metal arm to pull her in tighter, but something stopped the arm. The Arm stopped the arm. Its outer segment was pressed up against the inner piece. Sally had a nice cubby to do as she pleased… or rather sit there. She didn't have enough room to swing her blade.
Fiona readied her rifle, and fired at Metal's head. The bullet smacked the head back, which stopped his engine from coming alive.
Sally slashed at Metal's torso, and cut into it. Metal's engine came to life… before stopping. Sally froze, her blades ready, her breath panting. She mumbled something, probably a taunt.
Metal's engine then roared to life, and he flew… up. He flew up and away. Fiona turned and saw the badniks had turned around and were retreating.
Fiona walked down outside the building. There had been forty soldiers on the wall that had collapsed including Fiona. Thirty nine of which didn't see the danger coming.
Sally frowned, even as the soldiers were celebrating. She turned and saw Fiona walking up, "Thanks for the save back there."
"Tell your friends." Fiona smirked, debating on how much to taunt the princess.
"I won't." Sally was so serious. She wasn't even arguing with Fiona, which told her how worried she was.
"Alright, you think something is up?" Fiona asked, trying not to sound concerned. What she had just seen shook her confidence, and confused her. Metal probably could have wiped them out.
"I have a feeling that Eggman never thought the attack was going to win. I feel like he was after something else." Sally growled in frustration.
Fiona didn't answer. Deep down, she felt the same way. Something was up, and they didn't know what.
/*-*/
Johan dragged the sled full of destroyed machines to his flying fortress. The repairs seemed to be going along nicely. As he walked inside, the hallway had its lights replaced. Johan did not need those lights, but they served as a nice touch.
He could feel something was off as he walked inside the hole. Johan could feel his slaves' tension, even through the walls and barriers. Johan walked around the corner, and saw her.
Ezra was sitting next to the chair which sat in the middle of the control room. Her eyes were closed, but her face twitched with trouble.
Johan growled, "Why are you here, and not over seeing the other slaves." Johan felt her fear. He could taste her pheromones which screamed of how terrified she was.
"I am here to take full punishment for our actions, and give these as a gift to you." She gestured to two large boxes, about as large as one of these Red Garden Defenders. " I hope that with these gifts, you'll be appeased to not hurt the others?"
Johan was concerned with her words, "What punishment do you speak of?" He wasn't aware of any thing that warranted a fresh aggression.
Ezra gulped, "The Camera… on your helmet." She steeled herself. An Admirable display of valor.
"Indeed, placed by you, correct?" Johan asked, still waiting to see why she was ready to die.
"Yes. We placed it there-" She started, but Johan didn't need to hear anymore.
"-to find a weakness, a secret, a hidden aspect to my strength, Correct?" Johan growled, growing tired of this already.
Ezra bowed her head, "You said that if we betrayed you again, we'd suffer…die. I will take full responsibility." A single strike and Johan could tear her head off. But that would be a waste.
"I find your ability to admit fault admirable." Johan started as his memory from his throne room came back.
Odacer stood to Johan's right. He seemed eager, ready to fling himself into battle. A true Ulfheidnar.
The rich oak doors opened ever so slightly, slowly and drearily. Gewis Rohdansson stood, or rather crawled before him. Johan licked his lips, knowing full well his general's stature bore terrible news.
"My… My Grand chief… I have failed." He lowered his head and presented his axe before Johan. Odacer stepped forward, ready to punish the fool for his incompetence.
Johan grunted, and Odacer restrained himself. "How did you fail?"
Gewis took a deep breath, clearly hating to describe his shame, "I sent out my scouts to look for the Barbar camps. We received word that they resided in the Grosse woods. I marched my army into the woodlands, and we were engaged on all sides. They used tunnels and trees to hide their movement. My entire force was lost, and I only escaped due to my lack of will to continue fighting. I know my defeat has cost good Saxons their lives. I will bear the full punishment, as is just."
Johan steeled his face.
The memory became fuzzy with details, but the words remained the same.
"What did you learn?" Johan growled down at his broken general.
Gewis growled, "Fine! I am a fool, are you appeased now?" he clearly did not understand.
"What did you learn about our enemy?" Johan growled, rising from his throne. He had been injured, which was why he was at home, but that did not make Johan any less intimidating.
Gewis remained starring at the ground, before sighing, "Our enemy has been using tunnels to ambush us. They hide in trees to avoid our scouts, are able to spring traps effectively because we can't react in time."
"And how can you prevent these from succeeding?" Johan asked, smiling somewhat.
Gewis looked up, "My scouts will need to search the trees. The Barbars in the trees signal the others. If they are gone, we can march into the enemy camps."
"Then you won't fall for that trick again." Johan growled, "Odacer, Summon the Gesithas. Gewis, you have been defeated, but you had the courage to face me, and the wisdom to learn from your failure. You will not return to me in defeat again."
Gewis nodded and stood up, "I will not fail."
Johan gave him a respectful nod.
Johan glanced down at his slave, "What have you learned?"
Ezra looked up, "Nothing…. I learned nothing from the video. You don't have any weaknesses to exploit."
Johan nodded, "Then you are no more dangerous or treacherous to me now than the day you were born. Now return to fixing my fortress."
Johan opened the boxes, "What are these?"
They appeared to be firearms. Johan knew that much. They looked kind of familiar.
"They are spring rifles. Old world tech. They contain a ten round storage, loaded by clips of five. The rifle reloads itself with a spring and bolt. Pull the bolt back, and push it back in, the weapon is ready to fire." Ezra explained, smiling somewhat.
Johan had no need for these rifles… but they might improve the army's fighting ability. He would deliver them along the gift he had planned for the soldiers.
"Hmmm, Finish repairs." Johan growled.
"We can't." Ezra blurted out.
Johan felt his anger boil up. He slammed his fist into the wall, tearing through it, "I Said-"
She interrupted him, "The Engine Schematics were damaged in the crash. We need new blueprints."
Johan panted in anger. It wasn't just to punish them for something beyond their control. He had to repeat these thoughts to himself, "Very well. I have a new task for you." Johan growled.
"What will it be?" Ezra asked nervously. Johan felt a presence enter his home. He decided to quickly lay out his needs.
"I need metal plate armor big enough for the average man of this world." Johan stated.
Ezra nodded, "I'll get on that right away." She ran past Johan, and he heard some crashing, like many of them running into each other.
Johan turned to his entrance, "Come forth, before I-"
"Ah, my friend." The troll king grinned, "I came to tell you the Penal program was a resounding success."
Johan growled, but nodded, "I am not your friend. We mere share an interest. When I am done with you, I will dispose of you."
Nagus snickered, "You don't seem to realize who you speak to. I am king, you need me far more than I need you."
Johan snorted at the man's arrogance, "You will see. The Huscarl Brigades began as a simple means for me to get rid of prisons. I gave the criminals a chance to redeem themselves in our lands, to held with honor and esteem, while they paid for their sins in the blood of their enemies. I expanded the program to include the eager slaves who desired early freedom, though your lands seem to baren of those."
Nagus smirked, "Your savage and simple solutions are hilariously primitive, but I suppose effective. Indeed, some time long ago, the king abolished slavery for being "Immoral"."
Johan almost laughed at the idea. How else was a man going to pay his debts? Selling his children?
"Why are you here?" Johan asked finally, tiring of the Trolls presence.
"I merely came to congratulate you on the victory. The papers are certainly praising me for my wisdom in allowing the scum of society to serve in the army." Nagus grinned.
"And yet, you are no more powerful than you were before." Johan stated, allowing the next event to fall in place.
The troll's smile turned into a frown, "Well that's because… I … grrrr. Shut up! Shut you fools I will speak!" He appeared to be a fit of madness.
Johan cocked his head.
"I am very powerful. I will show you just how-" The Troll started, frothing at the mouth.
Johan raised his palm, "If you wish for more, I have a solution."
The Troll seemed to calm down, "Alirght… I'll listen to your savage solution. Then I'll laugh at you for being the stupid animal you are."
Johan almost sighed. This troll was an imbecile and a fool. "Allow the army you have created to continue its reconquest. Prepare a great feast while the Army reclaims the lost lands."
"How will that help me? Feasts are nothing more than displays of wealth and the illusion of power. I want the real thing!" The Troll growled.
Johan found the irony in that statement hilarious. He was a sorcerer, yet he claimed to want real power. The contradiction was laughable, but not nearly as much as the ignorance behind the statement.
Johan shook his head, "Perhaps. This feast, however, will contain the most critical person to this kingdom: its king. And what he says during this feast, the announcement he makes, can change the world."
The troll seemed to ponder what he was saying. His mind was visibly at work. Finally, Nagus asked, "Let's say I heard this from a smarter citizen. What would I do at this feast?"
/*-*/
Alright… Masters level courses are…not too much harder than regular classes. That being said, I think they are particularly painful to do when they are all late-night classes. I might end up taking an unregulated hiatus to work on these classes. I hope not, but life comes before fun.
Please leave a review and tell me what you think.