-----

Far below the lone transport plane, a landscape of greens and browns stretched for hundreds of miles. This was a different kind a Sea. This was a Sea of vegetation, thicker and richer than that of the infamous Great Forest of Mobius Major, sealing the land below off from the rest of the world. Only the most brave, or foolhardy, looked for trouble in this untamed land. History's greatest conquerors had either done their best to avoid the jungles of Mobius Minor, or had met their doom in them, as had those of the Dingo Hegemony centuries ago.

Here, even an apparent victory soon turned into miserable defeat, as one threat melted away into the jungle sprawl, only to be replaced by another. Above this land, the transport flew onward, seemingly aloof and far removed from the chaotic land below. Inside, comfortable within the forward cabin, Rouge sat, and thought. Glancing out of a nearby window, she could see what was below, and she could feel the apprehension that worked its way into her very core.

This was Cat Country.

It was also the land of her people as well.

Her father had hated the land of his birth, and had taken her mother to foreign lands in search of opportunities for their infant daughter. Rogue had never had reason to seek to return home. Her father's stories were ones of depravation, squalid conditions, and strange rituals. It had all seemed so... primitive.

So backward.

Then, one day, Rouge's mother had taken her hand, told her to pack some of her clothes, and to get ready for a long trip. She had wondered, then, why they were leaving without Father, who was at work. Bur, like a good girl, Rouge had played along, and did as her mother asked. They left the city that very day, and took a train west. During the trip, her mother had seemed very nervous, and had insisted that Rouge listen as she told stories about the Old Country.

"Why? What does all that have to do with me?" Rouge had asked, back then.

"I'm taking you home, Rouge – back where you belong," her mother had said, and took her young daughter's hand. "Back where we belong."

"What about Daddy?" She then asked.

"Daddy won't be coming... at least not at first..." Mother had mused. "But when he learns where we are, he will come home, too."

"But I don't want to leave," Rouge had finally said, after a few stunned seconds. "What about my friends?"

"They aren't your people, Rouge." Mother's eyes had glowed when she said that. "And they aren't your friends..."

"But..."

"Sssh!" Mother silenced her, just like that. "You'll understand when you're older. I promise."

'I promise...'

I promise.

Rouge frowned at the memory. Her mother had planned to sneak away. She had never grown accustomed to life in the Kingdom of Acorn, and she had tried to take Rouge away from a life – a civilized life – that her father had given so much to create. Fists clenched, Rouge silently cursed her mother to Hell. She had almost ruined everything.

Two days into the trip, Mother had been unable to find any easy transport further west, and on the third day, Father finally caught up. He had always been cunning, and intelligent, and he tracked Mother down single handedly. Rouge had a rather hazy recollection about the argument they had had that night, but she remembered that Father had saved her from Mother. He had taken her back to civilization. Back to warm sheets, and warm water, and her friends.

And Mother...?

Rouge didn't know. She generally didn't even waste time thinking about it. Now she did. Now she wondered.

'Are you out there somewhere, Mother?' Rouge wondered. 'Or did you die trying to make it back to whatever mud hut you crawled out of?'

The plane shook slightly, but leveled off.

Rouge sighed.

Across from her, two of her Dingo Guards were asleep, another was intently reading a book, and the fourth was cleaning his rifle. Rouge watched, glad for the distraction, as the soldier took his weapon apart with practiced precision, placed the pieces on the seat next to him, and cleaned the inside of the firearm. The look on his face... it reminded her of the look Miles had had when he worked on his mechanical toys. A sort of easygoing determination.

A sort of love.

"Ms Rouge?" The Dingo asked, looking at her and noticing that she had been staring. "Ma'am?"

"Oh! Nothing! Nothing!" Rouge held up her hand and smiled pleasantly. "I was just watching you work. It all looks so easy for you..."

"Well," The dingo grinned, a bit embarrassed. He was obviously not very old, probably only seventeen or sixteen. The youngest in the Platoon stationed to this Transport. "It wasn't very easy at first. But, ah, practice makes perfect, I guess. I got the hang of it eventually. Now... it kinds helps me feel better sometimes. Relieves stress, ya know?"

Rouge nodded, understanding. "Keep at it, soldier."

"Yes ma'am!" He replied, enthusiastically. "Ma'am? Do you think we'll be here long? I've never been to a jungle before, 'cept for the one we just left, I mean. And that wasn't as ... thick as this mess out there."

"We'll only touch down for an hour or two, I think," Rouge said, and gave him a reassuring smile. "After all, we've got His Majesty's Finest chasing after us. St. John's fighters may have pulled back for lack of fuel, but I have no doubt he'll chase me as far as he can without violating Mercian airspace. We'll land, do our business here, and be off before he gets within three hundred miles."

Rouge sounded confident, but inwardly, she had her doubts. Not only was the mission risky, but it came from an extremely dubious source. And, as if on cue, that source emerged from the door leading to the Transport's rear storage compartment. Fiona 2.0 not so much walked into the cabin, as she sauntered, her long perfectly manicured tail weaving back and forth sinuously. Her onyx hair, tinted by a highlight of extremely dark blue, bobbed perfectly in time with other parts of her artificially flawless anatomy.

As she entered, she batted her eyes at the Dingo soldier Rouge had been talking to before, and when she winked, Rouge felt her frown deepen. The dingo dogboy had a goofy grin on his face, and he fumbled with the ammunition clip in his hands. With a clatter, it fell off his knees and hit the ground, spilling its contents all over the floor. While he scrambled to catch all the rolling rounds of ammunition from scattering everywhere, Rouge saw Fiona turn away with hardly a care.

Rouge wasn't sure whether to be jealous, or just plain angry.

"I hope all your men aren't so nervous around me," Fiona said with a purr as she sat down next to the she-bat, and crossed her legs. "It could lead to all sort of accidents."

"He..." Rouge motioned to the dingo soldier on all fours, trying to recover the parts for his weapon. "Should have minded his rifle, and not his gun."

Rouge had been making mention an old military saying, and wasn't sure Fiona would have gotten it. In fact, she had been hoping that the phrase would go over the damnable android's head.

But it didn't.

"Too true," Fiona answered, politely, and covered her mouth as she laughed.

"Why are you up here for, anyway?" Rouge asked, cutting to the heart of things.

Fiona feigned shock. "Am I not allowed to come and go as I please?"

"That..." Rouge answered. "Is up to me to decide. Not you."

Fiona raised a delicate eyebrow, but didn't disagree.

"I came to see you, Rouge," Fiona said, and smiled.

"To see me?" Rouge was suspicious, and didn't hide it. "What about?"

Fiona's deep blue eyes lowered slightly. Rouge wondered for all of a second what they were settling on, before she made the connection. A little too quickly, she covered her midsection with her right hand. It likely would do any good, but she did it anyway. For a second, she saw in Fiona the unblinking eyes of a Tails Doll as it scanned her.

-----

-----

"Initiating Punishment."

For a second time, a tidal wave of pain swept her away. This time, this time Rouge did scream. It seemed to last forever, this time: one endless stream of mind numbing agony. And then, just as soon as it had come, it was gone. The Doll still looked up at her, expressionless.

"Punishment was administered for exactly 4.0 seconds. Repeating Question: What is the numerical and technological extent of the Freedom Fighter Army?"

"I... I don't know..."

"Answer is insufficient. Initiating Punishment."

Rouge writhed; her whole body felt like it was going to melt away. No screams escaped her parted lips, only a low gurgle as her throat muscles spasmed wildly. Nothing in her life had ever come close to the all-encompassing anguish that defined her existence at that moment. Worse still, as the pain reached a fever pitch, she found that she couldn't black out, no matter how much she wished she could. It seemed like an eternity before; finally, mercifully, it was all over.

"Punishment was administered for exactly 6.0 seconds. Repeating Question: What is the numerical and technological extent of the Freedom Fighter Army?"

Rouge's mouth took a few seconds before any real words formed, as small tremors of pain shot through her. "I... I don't know..."

"Answer is insufficient. Initiating..."

"Wait!" She yelped, tears in her eyes. "Several... thousand...mobians and dingo. Maybe two thousand in all. I'm... I'm not sure... I... I really don't know what kind of technology they have..."

The Doll looked at her for a long, terrible second.

"Answer is insufficient. Initiating..."

"Wait! Wait, please! Let me think!"

-----

"Punishment was administered for exactly 2.0 seconds," The Doll said, as if nothing unusual had occurred. "Continuing Examination. Subject appears healthy and in excellent physical condition. Analysis also indicates secondary life form gestating within subject – genetic analysis will be conducted following subject autopsy."

Rouge gasped at that. "W... what?"

-----

Rouge opened her eyes. She hadn't dreamed, something for which she was thankful. No screaming. No nightmares. No soul-less Doll eyes haunting her from behind closed eyelids. Just peaceful sleep. Blinking a few times, she heard voices...

"...awake. Don't put any stress on her..."

Followed by a grunt of acknowledgement. She knew that sound anywhere. Trying to prop herself up with her elbows, she saw him walk over to the side of her bed, and place a large hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back.

"Relax, Rouge," he said, voice a comforting medium timbre. "Don't push yourself..."

"Miles... I can hear..."

"I had the doctors install the finest cybernetics they had..."

Rouge looked up at him. He had been hurt – there were scratches on his face, and his hands were bandaged tightly. His entire right arm was wrapped up as well. But there was something else... something else about him...

"You... you look like a mummy..."

"Thanks a lot." He cracked a smile. "I don't know what those Dolls did to you, but I'll take it out of Eggman's hide, I swear..."

"Miles..." She saw it, just then: his eyes. There was a bluish tinge to them. A little faded, but it was there, almost overshadowed by the black. "Don't... I'm ok..."

"You could have been killed. I almost killed you." His brow furrowed, and he looked down at her with a sad expression she had never seen before. "And... and I don't know... if I would have stopped myself, if I had to do it all over again."

She reached out, and took his bandaged hand in hers. "I understand."

"Do you?" He grinned, and his hand gently squeezed her own. "Maybe you do. I've gambled everything on this. On myself. I'm starting to wonder..."

"You'll do what it takes to win, Miles." Rouge tried to smile bravely. "And I'll help you, if you'll let me. I don't know about love... but I need you Miles. I need you."

He looked at her for a few seconds, and nodded.

Rouge wanted to tell him... But she couldn't break the silence of that moment. It was the first time he had ever embraced her... that made her feel not just desired, but wanted. The first time he had shown vulnerability. Slowly, he lowered his head to her shoulder, and just held her with a sort of quiet intensity. Like a drowning man holding onto flotsam in the middle of the sea. Like a madman holding desperately onto the last shreds of sanity.

-----

-----

"I... am only curious," Fiona said, softly. "I did not mean to intrude."

The look Rouge sent Fiona's way would've frozen most mobians in their seat. But, as much as Fiona understood nuance and intention, she could plainly not grasp them fully. She had not been programmed to be intimidated in anything but a physical manner, and certainly never from someone in Rouge's position. So the android girl just cocked her head slightly, as if not understanding the unspoken threat Rouge was projecting.

"I am not a Tails Doll. My sensor systems are not nearly powerful enough to make any comprehensive scans of..."

"Is this why you came here?" Rouge asked, less than pleased. "To examine me? To study her?"

"Her?" Fiona's eyes widened a fraction, and then returned to normal. "Ah! I see! You are giving it a preferential gender to empathize with it. Why a Her and not a Him? Surely Darling Miles would want..."

"Don't tell me what Miles would want!" Rouge snapped. "Don't you dare!"

"I was only making an observation. Were my conclusions incorrect... or simply ill timed?" Fiona's unblinking eyes betrayed no emotion. None whatsoever.

"The problem lies not with the message, but with the messenger."

Fiona didn't take insults badly. She didn't take them at all.

"Yes," was her answer, for what it was worth.

In front of the two females, the dingo soldier had finally finished collecting the ammunition and was almost done putting it back into the proper magazine. He still seemed flustered, though a large part of his embarrassment was now due to his little blunder. With a relieved sigh, he went back to his business, but Rouge saw him look up every so often. At first, Rouge thought he was stealing looks at her, and then she realized his eyes were a little too much to the side.

Fiona.

She wanted to tell the young soldier that he was ogling a robot, but decided not to make a scene. Instead, she looked to her right, and saw that Fiona seemed to be playing a similar game. It hardly occurred to Rouge that, just a few months in the past, she would likely have acted similarly. Rouge's already shortened temper reached a near boiling point.

What kind of a... a... whore... had Miles wasted his time rebuilding?

"Fiona..." Rouge said the name slowly, and Fiona turned slightly to face the she bat. "Just what are you doing? Didn't you tell me, and about a dozen other mobians, that you loved 'Darling Miles?'"

"I do love Darling Miles," Fiona replied, without a hint of deception in her artificially sweet voice.

"Then what were you doing, oh, ten seconds ago?"

Fiona blinked. Finally. Then she seemed to get what Rouge was talking about.

"Oh!" She laughed, again covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "I see what you mean. Please, let me explain: Contrary to what you may think, I was not built specifically for Darling Miles. My model of Doll was designed to ... work... on nearly any Mobian male. It was chance that the Doctor decided to use me against Miles, instead of some other male Freedom Fighter."

"So you were programmed to act like a tramp?"

Fiona shook her head, and then shrugged. "Yes. And no. I do not have the offensive weapons of most of the Doctor's creations. In fact, I am rather vulnerable to damage. As such, I must use other means to ensure the success of my mission in potentially hostile situations. When I first met Darling Miles, he could easily have destroyed me, and likely he would have, had I not endeared myself to him first. Thus, to survive, I must be, as the Doctor used to say, 'crafty.' And so I am."

Fiona's eyes briefly looked over to the dingo soldier. Her voice became slightly softer, but Rouge could still easily hear her as close as the two were sitting to each other. "Look at that male and the reaction I was able to achieve with him. By endearing myself to him, I plant the seeds of hesitation should he be ordered to destroy me. Even if he realized exactly what I am, this form, and the attention I gave him, will remain in the primitive part of his organic brain."

Rouge blinked, surprised. Was that condescension she heard?

"His hesitation, no matter how small, increases my chances of survival. That is all." Fiona managed a sly look. "I believe, Dear Rouge, you would do something similar in my shoes. You are, after all, quite an attractive female – I find it hard to believe you never used that fact to your advantage."

Rouge turned away, annoyed by the android's (accurate) statement.

"But no matter how I act, no matter what I say," Fiona said to Rouge's back. "My heart and soul belong to Darling Miles."

"You don't have a heart," Rouge grumbled. "Or a soul."

"I was not speaking literally, of course," the Doll replied, apparently not insulted. "Though, in truth, my whole body belongs to Darling Miles..."

"You'd have liked that, wouldn't you?" Rouge looked over her shoulder at the faux Fiona. "For Miles to give you what he gave me?"

Fiona's eyes narrowed for the first time. "More than anything."

"Hmf!" Rouge went back to looking away from the creature built in the image of a vixen fox, and made little effort to hide a small smile that found its way to her lips. "I want you to remember something, Fiona. If you betray us, if you've lied to me about Miles being down there..."

"You won't have to worry about him," Rouge inclined her head towards the dingo soldier.

"Or him." And the one still reading his book.

"Or Them." And the ones sleeping.

"Because, Fiona..." Rouge turned, slightly, the look in her eyes sharp and dangerous. "I'll destroy you myself."

To Rouge's surprise, the Doll drew back slightly, a somewhat shocked look to her features. Then, she got up off the seat next to the former government spy.

"If you'll excuse me," Fiona said, lowering her head a little. "I must check on Omega."

"Do whatever you have to," Rouge answered, coldly. She did notice, however, that Fiona's hips swayed more than was necessary on her way to the rear of the cabin. And the dingo soldier from before... his eyes weren't on the half assembled rifle in his lap.

In the rear storage compartment, three dingo soldiers were tending to Omega. They had jury-rigged a large storage crate to hold the robot in place, while they loaded it (him?) with ammunition. Both of Omega's massive forearms had been opened – a trick hatch provided access for reloading, and had been unlocked. A string of ammunition was being slowly belt fed into his forearms, each bolt loading with a small 'click.'

Fiona walked around to Omega's side.

"How are you, my friend?" She asked with seemingly genuine concern. "You seem somewhat sad."

One of the dingo soldiers monitoring the feed of ammunition looked at her curiously, as if to ask, 'How can you tell?'

"There is not enough ammunition here for my chainguns." Omega replied, tilting his head a little to 'face' Fiona. "I will not be operating at full capacity. It is possible that the achievement of my mission objectives may be impaired by this deficiency."

"I'm sure you'll do your best, Omega.' Fiona smiled up at the robot, and then turned to the other mobians present. "I want you to do your best, Omega. You have to."

Her next words were spoken so low even Omega never heard them.

"Dear Rouge didn't bring as many troops as I had hoped." The Doll then smiled, mysteriously. "But nothing is certain in this endeavor. Not even betrayal."

-----

The transport was, unlike a more conventional plane, STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) capable. Still, simply finding a place to land had been difficult. The pervasive jungle looked thick and intimidating from above in part because it was so unbroken. A small clearing had eventually been found, however, and enlarged after a few passes with the transport's self defense guns.

On the ground, entering the jungle was like entering another world.

Even compared to the semi-jungle they had left behind earlier, this was a strange place. Massive irregularly shaped trees reached dizzying heights, and twisted and gnarled vines snaked up every titanic trunk. It was oppressively wet, and loud with the sounds of insects and amphibians. Up in the branches of a tree, strange creatures hooted and growled and jumped, occasionally raining down bits of chewed fruit or leaves.

Rouge grimaced, as she stepped in another muddy puddle.

The ground was soft, almost porous, on the route Fiona led them. Omega had a difficult time, but slogged forward in the middle of their group. The she bat noticed that the dingo soldiers behind her tended to follow in the large robot's footsteps, where the ground had been nicely compacted. Those in front were less fortunate, and their black boots ended up half brown. At the head, Fiona stepped more lightly, keeping her knee high dark blue footwear from becoming too dirtied.

Up ahead, another of those strange creatures hooted and howled. It, and its fellows, danced among the trees above, happy to announce to the entire jungle the presence of strangers far below. Stepping over a long line of ants, marching tirelessly forward to some unknown end, Rouge held out a hand to the nearest dingo.

"Borrow your helmet for a moment, soldier?"

He nodded, and took off his helmet. She was the boss, after all. Handing it over a little reluctantly, she saw his grip on his rifle tighten. No doubt, he felt a little more vulnerable without his headpiece. Dingo, she knew, felt very protective about their equipment. The helmet she held in her hands had a little personalized picture of a female on it, in a rather risqué pose. She smiled, and put it on her own head. It squished her ears (which were, after all, much larger and differently shaped than those of any dingo), but she resigned herself to the momentary discomfort.

Flipping down the right eyepiece attached to the helmet, she saw the HUD activate. The contrast adjusted quickly, scanning through green, and then black and white, and then a normal hue. Looking upwards at the strange sounds, Rouge reached up to the side of the helmet, flipped open a small panel, and adjusted the HUD sight. It started to zoom, at first just a little, and then by a larger increment. At maximum zoon, (36x) she finally saw what was making all the noise.

Monkeys.

Or apes... at this distance, it was difficult to tell the difference.

Watching them, she tried to picture the relation they had to humans, and found it impossible. Most mobians looked very much like their wild cousins. Dingo, and all mobian canines, looked basically like wild dogs. Mobians squirrels and foxes looked like wild squirrels and foxes. Mobian bats were one of the few breeds that proved the exception rather than the rule. They had separate wing structures, and faces far closer to 'mobian standard' than those of her wild cousin species. In the same vein, the humans she knew bore little resemblance to the creatures in the trees.

Zooming out, she reset the HUD and handed the helmet back over to its rightful owner. The dingo soldier (a corporal, by the markings on his collar and shoulder) nodded silently, but gratefully, and put it back on his head. Lowing the eyepiece in place for his own use, he visibly looked less tense as he scanned the jungle for threats. Rouge noted with some surprise that the dingo had armed himself with a shotgun, instead of the standard assault rifle. She had heard of shotguns, of course (one of MilesTech's newest contracts had been to produce and sell several shipments to the overlanders and humans), but she had never seen one fire.

As the group continued walking, Rouge kept her eyes on her watch.

They still had plenty of time.

After a few more minutes, one of the dingo she recognized by face and name slowed his walking, so that he was right in front of them. He was a big fellow, with a craggy black goatee under his chin, and a bit more extra hair below his nose. He wore the same combat fatigues as all the other members of the rather hastily assembled MilesTech Security Force. The uniform was essentially identical to that of the Dingo Hegemony field dress (with an armband displaying the letters MTSF), by virtue of the fact that all of the dingoes were former military, anyway.

"Sergeant!" The Corporal next to Rouge saluted. The name on his uniform said: 'Crp. von Mass, Conrad.' Rouge figured he was second in command in the unit they had assembled, and decided to commit the name to short term memory. The other dingo she knew. He was Master Sergeant Heinrich von Elbe. She knew him because he was, after all, the mobian in charge of her personal security.

"Corporal," von Elbe answered. "According to the little lady at the front, we're approaching our destination. I want you to take a three dingo squad around to our right flank and scout out that area and to provide suppression fire if necessary."

"Why that area, Heinrich?" Rouge asked, not feeling out of place interrupting. She was paying everyone present, after all. "Why not the left?"

"Our left Flank is covered by a swamp, Boss," The Master Sergeant responded, his tone respectful. "If we're dealing with Combots, and it looks like we will, they'll be slowed moving through it, and their cloaks won't function when they get wet."

Rouge nodded.

"How about Simons, Kelly and Grant?" von Mass asked.

"That's fine, but keep a tight leash on Grant. She has an itchy trigger finger." Sergeant von Elbe inclined his head to Rouge. "Boss, would you come with me?"

Rouge did so, and followed him ahead of Omega. Behind her, she heard Corporal von Mass get his three privates together, and head off. Brushing past some hanging vines, with leaves as large as her head, Rouge came up alongside Fiona and the dingo that had been assigned as her temporary bodyguard. It was the same young dingo from the plane that had been drooling over her, and he seemed pleased by the position he'd been put in.

"Stay behind me, if you would, ma'am." Heinrich had a large weapon in his hands, and it wasn't an assault rifle. Rouge had never seen it before, actually. The dingo guarding Fiona had a rifle, and the one next to Omega has one of the team's two Squad Automatic Weapons (or SAWs).

It struck her as a little odd.

Normally Heinrich used the same dingo assault rifle as his men, though he was perfectly capable with a SAW, shotgun or sniper rifle. Then again, most security threats now-a-days were flesh and blood mobians, not the vanquished legions of robots that had supposedly been exterminated months ago.

They entered a very small clearing, and there Fiona paused.

At the opposite end of the glade floated one of Them. Rouge shuddered at the sight of it – she still had nightmares of them capturing her, torturing her... And sometimes they did things they hadn't had the time for in real life. In some of her nightmares, they opened her up, recording her screams with emotionless curiosity. Always, they were looking for something. Looking for something:

Fascinating.

This Tails Doll, however, was not floating eerily, as the ones she remembered did. Instead, it was using the long silver tendrils that came out from its shoulders to hold itself up. Rouge watched them warily. She knew all to well what those things could do. At least, this time around, if it tried its Sonic Scream she would remain unaffected. Her inner ears were cybernetic, now, and immune to that sort of attack. The tendrils, despite their terrible power, could be avoided. She'd proved that on board the Egg Carrier.

Behind Rouge, Omega straightened up and scanned the area.

"I find it unlikely you came here alone." Fiona said, raising her voice to be sure that the Doll could hear her. The Tails Doll didn't answer, but to its sides, four Combots de-cloaked. Rouge looked quickly to Heinrich, and saw him smiling.

'Good," Rouge thought, 'He knew they were there.'

Combot cloaking mechanisms had been broken well over a year ago. While nearly invisible to the unaided mobian eye, they were relatively easy to spot using the right equipment. Still, Combots were nearly invisible to thermal imagining, which was the only thing allowing a soldier to see an enemy through all the jungle foliage. Where high tech camouflage failed, low tech would likely succeed.

"Fiona," the Tails Doll finally spoke, but its voice seemed... off, somehow, to Rouge. Almost emotional. Eager! Eager was what it was. "Fiona. Come to me. We have much to discuss."

Fiona did take a few steps forward, then stopped. "Where is Miles? You said you found him."

"He is safe." The Doll's body swayed slightly as it spoke. "I will take you to him."

"Very well." Fiona took a single step forward, pivoted, and ran back towards the group. "IT'S A TRAP!!!"

"WHAT?" Rouge gasped, before a heavy body slammed into her, and forced her to the ground. She heard someone yell, "FIRE AT WILL" and recognized the voice as Heinrich's. Face in the muddy ground, she realized that he had probably thrown himself over her. He was easily large enough to shield her entire body with his own.

And then all hell broke loose.

The jungle roared with the sounds of an intense firefight. Close by, Rouge heard the steady burst fire of rifles, and the more sustained 'rat-a-tat-tat' of the heavy automatics. Moved occasionally was a heavier 'ka-chunk' of what she assumed to be the occasional shotgun. Further away, something exploded – though whether it was a grenade or a Combot she wasn't sure. Harder to hear were the pulses of plasma fire, that hissed quietly though the air before finding their target.

And then the screams started.

Above her, Heinrich was propped up on one elbow, firing at a target Rouge couldn't see. Feeling her move, he shifted slightly to let her get out from under him and run for cover. She knew the drill. She had been in combat before. Her close combat skills were impressive, and she carried a knife and a pistol for emergencies, but in this sort of firefight her best option was to fall back. She just didn't have the equipment to exchange fire with the sort of opposition they had in front of them.

Rolling and then getting up on all fours, Rouge started to scurry. Her dingo guards were shouting orders to each other from every side, and two more explosions shook the jungle foliage. Amid them, Rouge heard a loud whirring, and then the sounds of metal sheering and breaking. Nearby, plasma fire splashed against a tree, leaving a charred blackened crater large enough to put a fist in. Just a foot from her right hand, a plasma blast turned the mud and leaves of the jungle floor into a burned streak.

Pushing through a bush and past wet leaves, Rouge grew bolder and stood upright. Running, she took a second to look over her shoulder. Without even thinking, her eyes focused on the Tails Doll at the far end of the clearing. It had several holes blown in it, including a gaping hole in its face, but it seemed unconcerned. Then, with eerie ease and grace, the Doll leaped up into the trees, silver tendrils finding purchase in bark and branches.

'Oh god! It saw me!' Rouge faced forward and kept running. Before she realized it, she was headed for the swamp Heinrich had mentioned, and in no time she was knee deep in muck. Through the firefight that was still raging relatively nearby, Rouge's sensitive cybernetic ears heard movement. Slowing down, and crouching, she saw shapes moving through the swamp. At first, the she bat thought they were dingo – maybe the Corporal von Mass's group, somehow?

But they weren't.

The shapes were too lithe to be dingo, too small. Too nimble. And some looked like they were armed with melee weapons: javelins and spears of some sort. Many had long thinly furred tails.

'Felines!' Rouge cursed and backed up against a tree. 'What the HELL are they doing here?'

And then she frowned. 'Stupid question. This IS Cat Country after all. But what are they doing here, and now?"

And then something snapped. Looking at her offending elbow, Rouge saw that it had broken a rotted old branch that had fallen from the tree to lean against the trunk. A couple dozen irate insects were scurrying out of their broken home at her feet. Gritting her teeth, she heard the formerly silent felines begin to speak. One of them barked words in a strange language.

It didn't take a degree in linguistics to get the gist of what he was saying.

Making a quick decision, Rouge's hand passed over the pistol holstered around her right leg to rest on the tree trunk. Sinking her finger claws into the wood, Rouge briefly tested the material, before she began to climb. As she did so, she felt herself breathing heavily, and reasoned she was slightly out of shape. Still, she managed to gain a fair amount of height quickly. Looking down, she saw three Panthers looking around, (one with some sort of submachine gun) but not up.

Rouge sighed in relief.

Still, she was exposed at her current height. Climbing on, she finally got to the canopy of branches near the top of the massive tree. Far below, she could see the occasional flash of a rifle, and the less frequent explosion of a grenade going off. What truly worried her, however, was that she had last seen the Tails Doll heading for the trees. That thought, more than any other, made her decide to get back on the ground as soon as possible. Jumping from the tree, she glided through the air.

Luckily, she didn't provoke any gunfire from below. 'Perhaps,' she began to wonder, 'they didn't know I was coming.'

Jumping off another tree, Rouge paused, and reached up with one head to her right ear. Behind the ear itself, where it met the back of her head, she unlocked and pushed back a small flap of artificial skin. Having cybernetic ears gave her a few more options that she had had in the past. Adjusting a small dial that the flap had exposed, she heard crackling, and then finally, voices.

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!!"

"Kelly's down! We need a medic!"

"Fall back to the Transport! Omega here will provide covering fire!" That was Heinrich's voice. "Von Mass – I'm leaving you in command! I'm heading around the left to find the Boss! I don't think the Robot will leave without her, either, so you'll likely have to take off without us!"

"Heinrich!" Rouge spoke, and trusted in the ear-radio to work properly. "Heinrich, this is Rouge! Do you copy, over?"

"Boss?" He responded. "Where are you?"

"Trees." Rouge looked around, still nervous that the Tails Doll would come up from behind at any moment. How had it stayed so mobile with the damage it had taken?

"Heinrich," Rouge said, and took off in flight. "I'm coming in from above. Do NOT fire at anything coming down from the trees."

"Right, Boss. I'll tell the grunts. Good timing, too. That thing's Combots have fallen back. It doesn't look like they're eager to pursue."

Rouge gasped, as she realized exactly why that was. "Heinrich – you're going to be hit from the swamp!"

"What?" The dingo sergeant sounded incredulous. "But no Combot would..."

"Not Combots!" Rouge winced, as another explosion came from below. "Natives! Panther Tribe!"

"What? Natives!?" Heinrich's voice became cut off by gunfire. "God Damn it, you're right! There's hundred of..." More gunfire. "We've got to..."

"Heinrich?" Rouge yelled, then quickly reset her audio feed. Normal noises became easier to hear, and she maneuvered off another tree, towards where her men were. Back flipping off a large trunk, Rouge angled her wings and streaked in low and fast, but managed to land on her feet near where Omega was firing into the forest. The large robot had one arm pointed in one direction, and the other at a perpendicular angle.

Omega had several scorch marks on him, but he was largely none the worse for wear. Fiona looked a lot muddier then before, but intact (to Rouge's annoyance). The Doll was currently hiding behind Omega, arms crossed in apparent contemplation. Rouge forced herself to ignore the damned android. Omega was none the worse for wear, but her security force was in far worse shape.

They lad left with five troops, not including Omega or Fiona, and now were down to three. Heinrich was still mobile, and (with Omega) was covering their retreat. Another dingo, whose name Rogue didn't know, was assisting the two with his SAW. Behind them, a female dingo (who looked to have a bullet wound through her left ear) was trying to treat another dingo, a male, with two plasma burns – one on his left leg that was already covered with gauze, and another much messier blast that had hit his collar and burned his face.

"AFRAMMU!!" Several Panther warriors crashed out from the bush, screaming and snarling in their native language. This time, in the company of others, Rouge did reach for and draw her pistol. It was not a particularly powerful model, but when the little blue ball of plasma it fired hit the closest Panther square between the eyes, the lack of punch proved to be a moot point. All it changed was that he fell forward, dead, instead of backwards, crumpling like a deflated balloon.

Next to the heavily injured dingo, the female quickly raised her rifle, and sprayed. Caught slightly off guard, her accuracy was far from perfect, but at such a close range it hardly mattered. Two more Panthers fell, screaming strange words. The last, the band's apparent leader, had a gun but didn't think to use it until he was just a few feet from his targets. In the second it took him to get his gun ready to fire, a shotgun shell met his chest, and sent him flying back against a tree in a spray of crimson blood.

Intermittent gunfire clattered, mixed with the occasional snipe by circling Combots. Another group of Panthers emerged from the foliage soon after, also screaming some sort of war cry. They made the mistake of charging Omega. Two were mowed down instantly, including the leader, and the other three hastily ran back from where they came. At a seemingly abyssal pace, the group of survivors fall back. Nearly at the clearing where the transport had landed, the dingo with the SAW simply fell backward, half his head missing.

He had been hit in the eye by a plasma round, and his helmet had simply been blown clear off. Rouge suddenly felt sick, staring into the cooked remains of the soldier's head. It was a feeling she had been well acquainted with for a few months (if Miles had been around, she would have made sure to 'thank' him for it), and had dearly hoped never to experience again. Now it came with a vengeance. Finding some measure of privacy behind a tree, she threw up what little she had recently eaten.

No one seemed to care.

Heinrich kneeled down next to the body as they kept falling back, reached into the dead soldier's body armor, and pulled out a pair of dogtags. They may as well have been the dingo soldier's soul, because the rest of the team had no problem leaving the dead body behind. Or maybe it was simply because they couldn't afford to be weighed down. Rouge was not sure which. For all she had learned of the dingo over the last quarter year, she had little notion of what religious beliefs, if any, they had.

"AFRAMMU!!"

The war cry brought yet another savage attack from out of the jungles, this time from every side. Panthers melted from out of the foliage, hooting and howling. Some threw their spears, and others fired wildly with semiautomatic weapons. It was inaccurate fire, but it made the small group slow and take cover. Rouge stuck close to Omega, who seemed to be overwhelmed by the number of targets present. The big robot swiveled on his torso, firing all around him. The tactic worked.

Until he ran out of ammunition.

The heavy 'click ka-click' of his now empty ammunition reserves precluded a charge from the remaining Panthers. Several of them swarmed near Omega, serving only to keep the robot occupied. Others passed by the half bandaged wounded dingo, and leapt at Private Grant (Rouge was amazed she remembered the name). She shot at least one, but he fell forward, and may still have been breathing. Rouge lost sight of her as she struggled, hand to hand, with the remaining two.

One reached for Rouge, but his upper body disappeared in a bloody fountain, soaking the she bat with blood. Strong hands – gloved hands – grabbed her left shoulder and lifted her to her feet. Yet another Panther rushed towards her, past the bloody body of his comrade, only to receive the butt of a rifle to the face. He fall back, hissing.

Next to her, Sergeant von Elbe lowered his assault shotgun, useless now that he was out of ammo, and took out two pistols. They were big mean looking Dingo models, and Rouge's body shook when they fired, sending large brass shell casings through the air in front of her. Heinrich kept her close so she couldn't be grabbed by any of the Panther warriors, but Rouge wasn't about to sit back and do nothing.

Ducking under his left arm, she snap kicked a Panther in the chest, before shooting him twice. He hissed as he fell, his rifle shooting harmlessly into the air. Looking around, Rouge saw Fiona struggling with a Panther warrior who was obviously trying to subdue her. For all of a second, she contemplated letting her be dragged off (like poor Private Grant had been), but quickly decided against it. Rouge just wasn't that sort of mobian.

Taking aim, she dropped the Panther with a single shot to the back of the head.

Fiona turned to see where the shot had come from, and smiled when she saw who had saved her. "Dear Rouge. You have my thanks."

"Don't thank me yet." Rouge pointed to the wounded dingo on the muddy ground. The Panthers seemed to have completely overlooked him, likely assuming he would die in a few hours anyway. "Now: Pick him up and fall back to Sergeant von Elbe!"

Fiona looked at her curiously, as if disbelieving, and then at the wounded mobian. "But... his wounds are too great. He will not survive more than ten hours."

Rouge just narrowed her eyes. "Do it."

Fiona probably wanted to argue, but given where they were there was no time. With a huff, she ran over, took the dingo by his uninjured shoulder, and dragged him back and out of the fray.

"Omega! Turn around!" Rouge heard Heinrich yell, and watched as the robot did so. There were still four Panthers trying to tie Omega up, but they ceased to be a problem in a handful of seconds. One by one, they dropped as the dingo sergeant unloaded two clips from his pistols. The remaining shots bounced harmlessly off Omega's hide.

Expertly reloading both pistols, without even letting them leave his hands, Heinrich motioned for the group to run the rest of the way before the remaining Panthers regrouped or the Combots advanced. Rouge and Fiona went past him, Rogue leading the way as she was the only one with a weapon. Omega followed, and quickly took the lead. He had no ranged capability, not anymore, but he was confident and powerful in a melee. Von Elbe held back, his gunshots keeping any pursuers at bay.

In what seemed like seconds, they reached the clearing.

And saw the Transport they had flown in on in flames.

Staring at the damage in shock, Rogue didn't even have time to curse, before concealed Combots and Panthers opened up with plasma and gunfire. For a second, she wondered how they had managed to wreck the parked Transport, and then her unspoken question was answered by a small gray contrail headed in her direction.

"RPG!!" Rouge dove for the ground.

Before she knew it, a large black and red shape was in front of her. The RPG exploded against it with a sound like thunder, kicking up smoke and blasted mud. Burning bits of foliage fell to the ground, and Rouge quickly realized that Omega had taken the blast himself, protecting herself and Fiona. The robot slowly rose off his knees and to his feet.

Pivoting, Rouge saw that his arms were blackened and one was slightly damaged.

"We can not stay here," Omega said to the two, and then faced the other side of the clearing again. Footsteps from behind then caught Rouge's attention, and she saw Heinrich, still wielding both pistols. He had a long cut across his neck, but it didn't look life threatening. He looked at the smashed Transport, the front half of which was on fire, and frowned deeply.

"I think they look Grant alive. The others..." He shook his head. "We're all that's left. What're your orders, Boss?"

"We... we have to... to find somewhere to hide..." Rouge licked her lips. Her mouth felt dry – so dry. "Radio for help..."

"My topographical database shows a small network of caves northeast of here." Fiona looked down at her left arm. There was a hole just below her wrist, a little more than a centimeter in diameter. "Hmm. I seem to be damaged."

"Omega,' Rouge said to the robot, ignoring Fiona's seemingly inconsequential injury. "How fast can you move?"

The robot didn't have facial expressions, but his voice was almost... amused.

"Fast."

"Good. Grab Fiona and Private..." Rouge looked at the wounded dingo's nametag. "Cramer, and get ready to move out."

Omega quickly scooped up the injured private, while Fiona climbed up his arm to sit on his shoulder. She kept her head down, however, as occasional fire from across the clearing still presented a tangible danger. From behind, they could hear shouts and snarls from the native Panther Tribe.

"Are you in any condition to run, Boss?" von Elbe asked, eyeing her for any injuries.

"I'm fine, Heinrich." Rouge thought of her men, and women, who were now dead or dying. 'But I'll be better when I see that Tails Doll's head on a spit! Nobody kills my people and gets away with it!'

'Miles... They used your name to lure us here.' She then looked at Fiona, who still seemed disturbed by the turn of events. 'I'll make them pay for that, too. I swear it!'

-----

Geoffrey St. John watched the smoldering hulk on the high definition screen of a plasma monitor. Hershey stood behind him, and tried to read the expression on his face. He was looking intently at the display, as if through willpower alone he could deduce all that had transpired below. He had his hands clasped behind his back, and looked ready to give some sort of order, even though he had said nothing in over five minutes.

The entire flotilla continued its holding pattern over the area.

Waiting.

"Geoff." Hershey prompted. "Geoffrey?"

"I know." His voice was low, almost a whisper. "I can't go back. Not without something for the King. Not without my Sword. But..."

'That damn knighthood thing," Hershey thought bitterly. 'People respect you, Geoff. Those that don't won't suddenly change their minds because you're Sir. St. John. I always knew you wanted to have a high title, but I never knew how badly it gnawed at you. Let it go, Geoff. Take us home.'

Slowly, the head of the Royal Secret Service raised his right hand to the screen.

"Hershey..." He said, a little louder. "Get your things. We're going down there."

"But Geoff..." She tried to argue, but he cut her off.

"NO!" He turned on her, suddenly very angry. "She is down there, and my orders are to BRING HER IN! I have my orders, and YOU HAVE YOURS! Now follow through with them!!"

"Yes, sir!" Hershey snap saluted, even though the Secret Service was ostensibly a civilian organization and not a part of the Mobian Armed Forces. "How many of the Transports will you be landing?"

"All of them!" St. John smiled savagely, and pointed at a nearby map. "Here. Here. And Here. We'll sweep this entire Source Forsaken wilderness if we have to. Rouge will NOT escape me!"

"What if she's dead?" Hershey asked.

St. John shrugged. "I'll forge a confession, and tell everyone she committed suicide. The King won't care as long as I give him his fair share of MilesTech."

"And..." she pressed. "What if the natives have her and won't trade?"

"If they won't hand her over, well..." He smirked, smugly. "That's what we brought His Majesty's finest across the world for. Now: Go! I'll expect you to play diplomat with these savages, should it come to that."

Hershey kept her face impassive and saluted again.

"Yes, sir."

-----