What was left of the Dark Legion Grandmaster known as Dimitri considered himself an excellent judge of character. True, in the past he had been arrogant and overconfident in his powers, and in the Dark Legion he commanded, and he had made miscalculations and blunders. But, barring outside intervention, he had never had trouble maintaining control over the Dark Legion and playing his subordinates against each other. Really, it saddened him that he even had to.
The upper echelons of the Legion had become corrupt in his absence, and lacking in a purity of vision. It was really his own fault for being away for so long and falling victim to those pathetic Fire Ants. His example had been diluted over the generations, until his descendants reached their current pitiable state.
He watched Lien-Da, his current successor, with knowing eyes (even if they were, by now, cybernetic). She was a sycophant, and while she had the occasional good idea, she was overly treacherous, petty, and short sighted. Her brother Kragok, when he had been alive, hadn't been much better. He was competent, but too much a slave to brutality and single minded bloodlust.
Neither had a Vision for the future.
That was what Dimitri respected: clarity of Vision or Purpose, and a staunch dedication to that ideal. He had seen those things in Knuckles back when they first met. His great nephew had his Purpose in life, and he was married to it against all temptation and opposition. He had also seen a similar Vision in the young kitsune, Tails, when they had talked after he gave his last lecture in Echidnapolis, last year. It was a pity they hadn't been able to make closer ties, if only because they had so much to learn from each other.
Dimitri had always hated his intellectual isolation. His heirs were comparative idiots, and the Guardians were his enemies. The Eggman had been technically brilliant, but not one for productive conversation. The boy - Tails, though… he had loved to talk, and in him, Dimitri saw a mind that put all others to shame. In a more convenient world, he would have joined a new and fresh Dark Legion, willing to look for promising non echidnas to bolster its ranks.
Now, after so long, Dimitri found himself growing… weary.
The Dark Legion had, in essence, succeeded in bringing the glories of technology back to the echidna race, and pulling them out from the depths of fascist luddite philosophy. However, it had failed at assuming political control, and creating a proper meritocracy based on intellectual achievement. That goal had been lost when the Dark Legion stagnated, and replaced by a more petty design for simple power, which they had also lost.
Where was the Legion to go when he finally died?
It was this thought, this lingering worry, that troubled Dimitri more and more. Mogul's visit and attempted corruption had only driven home the problem. Lien-Da had practically been drooling at the thought of getting her hands on the corrupted Emerald, and a fraction of Mogul's power. If Mogul had been an echidna, he had no doubt his grand-daughter would have tried to seduce him into giving her the gemstone. He almost laughed at that disgusting thought.
Lien-Da was simply not what he needed to revitalize the Legion, and she had proven that over and over again. It would take a firm hand to just keep her in her place. But what was to be done about it? He'd looked within the Legion, and not found a proper successor, and he didn't have the time to train one from childhood. Looking outside the Legion had possibilities, but an outsider like that would have a real uphill battle simply being accepted…
Then, Knuckles had asked to meet.
Knuckles had entered her office with Julie-Su, another of Dimitri's grandchildren. He walked with his usual confidence, but there was something else there too. Something Dimitri couldn't immediately place or identify. While he sat, Julie and Lien glared at each other. Dimitri wanted to sigh at the two of them, and the bad blood between the half-sisters.
"Uncle," Knuckles began, and instantly threw Dimitri for a loop. Uncle? And to say it so casually!
"How can I help you, Guardian?" Dimitri asked, composing himself.
"Well, first you can stop calling me that," still, Knuckles spoke like they were old friends instead of enemies. "There are no Guardians anymore."
Dimitri leaned back in his chair, slightly amused now. "Oh?"
Knuckles just nodded and shrugged. "Well, Haven is a smoking crater and Brotherhood of Guardians are all dead. The Master Emerald is gone and I really don't care what happens to it. I'd say I'm not a Guardian anymore, not really."
For once, Dimitri had no idea what to say.
"I should add," Knuckles continued, after a second. "That with no Guardians, the Dark Legion has really lost its purpose, don't you think? No one to get revenge on. No new ideology to promote."
It was essentially true, and Dimitri found himself almost glad he had been said. "Well, we still have some purpose I think. We do employ several thousand echidna in a variety of legitimate fields of research and manufacturing."
"We also took three local seats in last elections," Lien-Da interrupted, as if three out of a hundred and fourteen seats was a huge victory. "The People's Progressive Reform Party grows more popular every month."
"Do you even listen to yourself?" Julie replied with undisguised condescension. "The Social Justice Party took more seats than you!"
"Julie has a point," Knuckles quickly spoke up before Lien-Da could reply. "If the Dark Legion really still wants power, actual political power, then it will have to prove itself to the people in a big way."
"What are you proposing?" Dimitri out and asked. "Ex-Guardian?"
"As you know, Charmy has turned on the Chaotix. I can't just let that be." Knuckles cracked his knuckles and grinned like a shark. "While meeting out his punishment personally, I'm going to save the city. This city. To do that, I'm going to need the Dark Legion."
"You're asking for our help?" Lien-Da asked, and chortled at the idea.
"No. You misunderstand." Knuckles looked up at her with violet, violent eyes. "I plan to take over the Dark Legion, and use it to get my revenge. In return for serving me, I will give you the power over Echidnapolis you've always wanted."
"Huh," Dimitri scoffed. "You expect us to just roll over for you?"
Lien-Da, for her part, was too shocked to even speak.
"Uncle…" Knuckles turned his eyes on his ancient relative. "Think about it. Think about what is to come. Do you have a choice?"
Lien-Da finally recovered, and slammed her fist on Dimitri's desk. "You've lost what passes for your mind if…!"
"Quiet," her great grandfather silenced her with a word.
She closed her mouth, albeit reluctantly. "But…"
"I said: quiet," he repeated, and turned to his great nephew. "Tell me your plans to save the city. Then, I'll decide whether to adopt you… or kill you."
The Catacombs under Mobotropolis were not exactly Sonic's preferred hideout. Sprawling for miles under the west side of the city, they had originally been the royal tombs, but several hundred years ago rising flood waters had exhumed several other cemeteries outside the city. The bodies had hastily been moved and reburied in a rather macabre fashion, while the dead royals were moved to the current Royal Tombs. Only later had the city grown to the point where entire sections covered the old burial site.
Sonic repressed feeling of dread, as his flashlight highlighted the hollow sockets of hundreds of skulls, lined up in neat rows and patterns along the walls. Whoever had decided to line the walls with bones obviously had been possessed of a very liberal interpretation of the phrase 'respectful burial.' The place was creepy, and that was a conclusion coming from someone who had been deep in the depths of Sandopolis.
Up ahead, Antoine and Sally came to a fork in the tunnels.
"Which way now?" Bunnie asked quietly from next to him.
Sally checked with the communicator she had with her from before, and motioned over to the left. They moved as quickly as they could, but also silently. There were Secret Service and Royal Guard patrols, not to mention Police units, in other parts of the labyrinthine Catacombs.
Supposedly, St. John himself had tracked them here, and set up a base somewhere. Learning that, Sonic had been sorely tempted to go out and find the skunk himself, but his loss of powers, and the fact that he knew he had to stick with the others until they could make a plan, kept him in place. Besides, the real problem wasn't St. John, it was the King.
Sally kept leading them, following the directions sent to her from Nicole. Sonic thought about the mini-computer, and what it now seemed to be capable of. Despite working with Nicole for years, he couldn't help feeling uncomfortable about 'her' now. He didn't trust the sort of power and influence she now had, having infiltrated so many of the Kingdom's computer systems, to any robotic intelligence, no matter how friendly.
Sonic was no technophobe, or at least he didn't think of himself as one, he was just… cautious around this sort of thing. Too many, like Tails and Rotor and Chris, for example, had a blind faith in technology. He'd heard that Nicole had entire automated factories under her control, and that she was producing an army of robots to help them retake the Palace and the Kingdom.
That, especially, made Sonic uneasy.
Deeper into the Catacombs, Sonic noted the rise in moisture, as droplets fell from the ceiling, and ran down neatly arranged skulls like tears. The deeper one went, the more cramped and convoluted the maze seemed to become. What had been wide halls in the first sublevel had gradually turned into twisting tunnels, barely a few feet wide. Sonic's flashlight started to die out, and he gave it a few hard shakes, recharging the internal batteries. The last thing he needed now was to be stuck in this hellish place in the pitch black darkness.
Ducking low under a stone overhang decorated by twisted mockeries of faces, Sonic saw that Sally had led them into a large alcove. Here, too, the walls were lined with bones, making intricate patterns. An unadorned section near the ceiling and running across three of the walls had a sort of writing, like modern script, but written in a very old style of lettering. On the wall opposite where they entered a stone altar rise out of the ground, flanked by pools of water.
"Alright," Sally said and turned to face the three of them. "This is the place. Right, Nicole?"
"Correct, Sally," the communicator responded in a chipper tone. "Sections of the Catacombs were designed by the Alchemicalists Cabal to harness the chaos energies of the deceased, and this is one of the focal points aligned with the planet's axis. The Order of Ixis used to conduct rituals in these places."
"What kinds of rituals?" Antoine dared to ask.
NICOLE seemed happy to answer, "According to my documents, the ceremony for these rooms involved restraining the sacrifice, and then removing his or her liver, kidneys, heart and genitals, representing the four humors of the body. Once the humors were removed, the energies of the sacrifice were considered purified and fit for consumption by the Masters of the Order."
All four mobians paled at the thought of it.
"Had ta ask, didn't ya, Ant?" Sonic crossed his arms and made a disgusted sound. "So, what now?"
"Just wait a few minutes, if you please," NICOLE replied. "We made better than expected time getting here."
Exchanging looks, the four settled down to wait. Bunnie carefully lowered herself to the ground, folding her legs beneath her. Sally also sat, crossing her legs. Sonic preferred to stand, rather than lean against the wall, lined as it was by old bones. Antoine, too, stood for a time, before settling down, his back to the wall close to the entrance.
"I wonder what's happened to everyone else," Sonic thought out loud, looking in Sally's direction at Nicole.
But the computer didn't reply.
"After all, you broke us out, so maybe Rush and Uncle Chuck and Rotor are loose, too?" He asked, pressing a bit more.
Nicole didn't respond, but Sally did. "Sonic? Is there something you'd like to say?"
"I'm just wonderin' …" he looked away, his arms crossed. "If someone is just stringing things along. Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, cause I know Nicole here saved our asses back there, and it isn't like I know a lot about all this tech stuff… but if she's had some of this capability since before the war ended, why hasn't she used it?"
"He is making a good point," Antoine agreed, and also crossed his arms as he thought about it. "The timing, eet ees not looking like a coincidence."
Bunnie shook her head. "Are you sayin' Nicole set us up, sugah?"
"No…"
"I am," Sonic interrupted. "Maybe not in a bad way, but this is all a set up, isn't it? What I want to know: is for what? Why?"
"Sonic," Sally started to chastise him. "Nicole wouldn't…"
"No. He's right," NICOLE admitted, finally. "I waited because I had to, because I was ordered to. I acted because it was what I was supposed to do. If you were supposed to have been executed, then I don't think I'd have set you free, even if I did like to approximate our relations as friendship. Don't forget that I am an AI from the future. It is naive to assume I was not given orders from that time as well."
The four were silent at this admission.
"Oh my! What a dispirited atmosphere!" a voice came from the entrance, and a second later a vixen emerged. She was reddish in color, with dark blue-black hair, and a jagged pattern to the coloring halfway up her forearms. It took a few seconds, but both Sonic and Sally recognized her, though only the latter remembered her name.
"Belladonna!" Sally snapped her fingers. "You were one of Tails' assistants and pilots!"
"I suppose I was at that…" She bowed her head politely. "But that was only a cover for my real job, Princess. It is a pleasure you meet all of you. Please. This way."
She turned, and headed out. The others followed, but instead of ending up in the Catacombs from before, they were in a totally different place, with different architecture. After passing through, Sally looked behind her, as Bunnie came through, and she saw a shimmering field suspended in a monolithic stone archway.
"Zut alors!" Antoine gasped, reaching for the strange stone walls. "Where are we?"
"This is Sandopolis!" Sonic remembered it all too well. "We're halfway across the world?"
"Impossible!" Sally couldn't imagine it. "How…?"
"This is Sandopolis," Belladonna confirmed. "You were brought here by passing through a sort of tesseract. The effect is similar to the phenomenon of Chaos Control."
"You did this?" Sally asked.
Belladonna chuckled. "No. You'll see who I work for in a moment. Follow me, please."
The Sandopolis Ruins were the same as Sonic remembered, but without the ghosts. They walked over a bridge, a river of sand flowing beneath it, and passed through and under more monolithic halls and arches. The Old Dingo City ruins were some of the oldest and most impressive Sonic had ever seen in his many travels around the world. It was a shame there were so inaccessible, but at least it kept them undisturbed as well.
Past one last arch, and into a large courtyard, they met someone else: an echidna girl with a guardian mark on her chest, just like the one Knuckles had but a little slimmer. The fact that she had a small chaos emerald implanted in her chest, just above the collarbone, did not go unnoticed, nor did the sheer volume of chaos energy that flowed through her. He assumed, instantly, that she had brought them here.
"Princess Sally! Sonic the Hedgehog!" Lara quickly gave them both a quick bow before turning to Bunnie and Antoine, "Bunnie Rabbot and Antoine D'Coolette! It is an honor to meet you! You're all quite famous where I come from!"
"Well, we have saved the world a couple times," Sonic replied with his best confident tone.
"Are you the one Nicole mentioned…?" Sally began.
"Oh, no! I'm just another hired hand, I guess," Lara said with a bashful grin.
"Mah stars!" Bunnie gasped and covered her mouth. "Is that…?"
Almost the same color of the pillar he had been leaning against, Miles came out from behind it, and gave them a little wave. "Hey."
"Tails?" Sonic and Sally asked in stereo.
Bunnie finished for them. "Is that really you, sugah?"
"I'm real, for the most part," he answered, with a wayward smile. Tears in her eyes, Sally ran up to him, and embraced him in a crushing hug. He looked a little different from the last time they had seen him, especially his eyes and his height, but his voice, his posture, it brought them all back. Sally rested her forehead on his, and kissed him on the nose, and he chuckled at the gesture.
"It's been a while since you gave me the Funny Kiss," he remarked.
Sally nodded, but it was a very small motion. "It was when you left for Station Square."
"So, where've you been the last few months?" Sonic asked, walking up with a sly grin. "Picking up chicks?"
"Among other things," Tails replied, and took the hedgehog's hand, giving it a firm shake. "It's good to see you in person again, Sonic."
"We had thought, everyone had thought, that you were being deceased!" Antoine had also come forward, hand in hand with Bunnie, who seemed to be wiping away tears with her organic hand.
"Well, I didn't do much to prove otherwise," Tails noted Bunnie's stance, and moved towards her, and out of Sally's arms. This surprised the Princess, and she watched as the kitsune placed his hand on the other girl's shoulder.
"Let me take care of this, first. I know it hurts more than you're letting on." His index finger moved, and entered the metal of Bunnie's shoulder. A second later, he pulled it out leaving no damage behind. In fact, almost instantly, Bunnie stood straighter, as she made a few shallow gasps and then took a long breath.
"My word! What… what was…?" She started to ask, but Tails just chuckled.
"I took care of the killswitch. Both of them. I'm sorry I had to install them in the first place, but it was the Law." He smiled, as Bunnie carefully reached out to hug him, always careful with her strength. It wasn't strictly an issue this one time, but she didn't know that, and he briefly hugger her back, when he heard her whispered "thank you."
Behind him, Sonic smirked and made a loud 'hmm.' "So you're the one behind Nicole, eh?"
"Yes, and no," Tails extradited himself from Bunnie's hug, and walked to where Lara and 'Belladonna' stood, watching. "Things have become rather complicated for me recently. It is unfortunate, but I can not see any way to keep you out of the mess my life has become. Which is a shame, since I'd hoped to spare you of it and let you live out some semblance of a peaceful life. I think you've all earned it."
"But…" His back was to them, his arms crossed behind his back. "I guess that, too, was just my idealism. I freed you, and you alone, because I wanted to keep this to a minimum. I will also be honest with you, and in as much as I can, treat you fairly and justly."
"What do ya mean?" Bunnie asked, not understanding what he meant.
"Lara. Fiona. Show them."
Lara, for her part, just tapped the ruby Emerald in her chest. "This is one of Miles' Emeralds. His Chaos Emeralds."
Fiona smiled, and her arms slid out of their sockets, revealing metal and circuitry. Then, her chest parted down the front, and slid out and forward, while parts of her middle torso came forward, and slid down. Nestled among tubes and wires and intricate machinery, rested an aquamarine sapphire gem that glowed with an inner light.
"I have given birth to a new set of Chaos Emeralds, ones I have been hesitant to use. Not out of fear or jealousy, but because they alter the minds of those who are subjected to them. Fiona here, or Belladonna as you may know her, is an android I rebuilt, and she was already completely loyal to me before I empowered her."
"Lara, here, however… even if she calls it a worthwhile trade, I have stolen something from here I can never repay." Tails sighed at this, and next to him, Lara offered him a small smile. "My dilemma is thus to help you, but not to change you. I believe, thanks to an… old friend, I have a way to do that."
Tails, or Miles, held up his right hand.
"Behold!" He yelled, and bits of sand fell from high above. "His Last Work, His Loyalty made Manifest, his Body and Soul! The Spear of Rhadamanthus!"
With a sound like the crack of lightning, something flashed by with incredible speed, striking the kitsune's gloved hand. A silvery discus of energy coalesced and grew dimmer, forming into a staff, and then one end of it flattened and grew wider. The staff became a mighty glaive, and with a great thunderclap a violet amethyst jewel appeared within the metal blade head.
Slowly, Tails lowered his arm, and rested the blunt end of the spear on the ground. It crackled with energy and power, and Sonic couldn't help but be in awe of the display. This was not some reckless use of chaos powers, this was a vulgar and obscene display of them, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on edge as he saw the tight and refined control his old friend, his protégé, had over Chaos Control.
And then he turned, and airily tossed the weapon over towards them.
Sally reached up, almost without thinking, and seized it in midair. For a second, there was a silence and a stillness, and then Sally gasped, as coils of purple and white energy ran down her arm and along her body. Her vest became gold along the edges, and up along her back, the upper parts over the shoulders growing larger, and turning into bronze colored pauldrons, with an elaborate birdlike motif. Cannon vambraces enclosed her forearms, wrapping them in steel embroidered with bright brass. Likewise, an electrum ring formed around her left middle finger. Finally, a circlet of white gold, electrum and amethyst gemstones appeared around her head.
"Wow…" Sally breathed.
"The Sword, the Crown, the Ring. These were the covenant your ancestors had with the Source." Miles pivoted so his left side was towards them, one eye dull, and the other brilliant like a heart of a star. "I offer you a New Covenant. I ask only for your companionship and your loyalty. I will not change how you feel or how you think. I want friends and comrades, not servants."
Sally lowered her arm like he had, to rest the end of the Spear on the ground. Except, when she did it, it thundered, and the ground shook. Sand fell from the cavern ceiling, and the stonework at her feet cracked. The kitsune formerly known as Tails chortled, a wide smile on his face.
"Are you with me?"
Charmy watched, as he unleashed the greatest assembled Armada in the world against the most heavily fortified piece of land on or off the planet. A dozen screens on the bridge of the Manifest Destiny played out what was to come. To the echidna, he had no doubt that his Combined Fleet looked like the hand of Aurora herself, reaching out to darken the horizon.
Fully fourteen Carriers and forty Destroyers were committed to the attack, leaving eight Destroyer craft to guard the slower supply lines and the trailing armored column. Those Princes who had decided to participate in the campaign were commanding from their personal flagships, leaving the most secure and powerful vessel in the Fleet as its indestructible core. This was the Destiny, and Charmy found the name all too appropriate. Already, the second phase of the battle was underway, now that the Fleet was properly positioned.
The first wave of attack craft were on approach to Echidnapolis, comprised of almost four hundred fighters. It was less than half the projection capacity of the Fleet, but it was still more than double the effective strength the echidna could muster. Their drone fighters, though plentiful, would not be enough to turn the tide.
Still, the echidna launched them by the hundreds, in a dark cloud that rose from the besieged city. Echidnapolis itself was located at the north shore of Angel Lake, with sprawling property and suburbs extending for miles along the east west axis that followed the shoreline. The heart of the city housed the main theater city shield generator, which was able to project over the inner city, the docks, and a fair way out into the Lake as well. Beyond that, there were four smaller city shields that partially overlapped along the outside of the primary.
The Combined Fleet had to breach the smaller shields, as well as the major one. It also had to rout the echidna Fleet that had rallied to the desperate defense of their capitol. It was not a pitiful force, but it was only a fraction of the size of the Combined Fleet. Charmy was confident that they could be destroyed swiftly, and the shields brought down by concentrated firepower. Then, finally, they could storm the heart of the city, and deal with the twenty four thousand or so soldiers and milita defending it. With them defeated, it would decisively decapitate the Echidnapolis government.
And then, at the last, there would be peace.
On a master display, Charmy could see, in addition to the great masses of fighters steadily closing in on each other, that the Southern Element of the Combined Fleet was almost in position to engage the echidna fleet over the waters of Angel Lake. Under the command of Prince Mello, it was a formidable force, and when the echidna broke and ran, it would be his great contribution to the war effort, in a command capacity. His biggest concern was that the Echidna Fleet be lured away from the shields and guns of Echidnapolis, which was why he kept Center Fleet in reserve.
In the distance near the city, it began.
Far off explosions filled the air from hundreds of missiles, the dying contrails of aircraft spiraling amid the dancing and dueling drones and Xiajyet fighters. The city shields themselves lit up from sporadic crashes and impacts. There was no radio chatter, however. The echidna drone craft were pilot less, and the Xialjyet soldiers in the fighters generally fought in silence.
Charmy didn't even need to give new orders. Everything was going to plan. The second wave began approaching, consisting of seventy four corvette type craft, super heavy fighters designed to attack ground targets and provide an offensive punch under fighter cover. Just behind them were the first two swarms of flying Xiajyet soldiers, dropped from rapid assault craft. All Xialjyet could fly, but it was tiring over long distances, so the closer they deployed the better.
The anti-air defense batteries around the city opened up in response. They had been saving their stores of lighter SAMs for this wave, and several thousand flurry launched to saturate the area. Behind that screen, triple-A flak filled the sky with radar guided explosions and shrapnel. The Swarms were decimated, but penetrated, and behind them came more Xialjyet. And then more.
The Destroyers were supposed to be the next major step in taking the city. They were much smaller than the carriers, being only in the three thousand ton displacement bracket of light capital ships. Fully one in four in Center and North Fleets were the modified Commando or Assault type Destroyer. When the time came, they would rush forward, and land troops at the shield boundary, creating penetrations for troops to attack the city and the generators themselves.
But first, the Echidna Fleet had to be engaged.
He turned his attention to another screen, where statistics were being relayed for the initial round of fighter engagement between the South Fleet and the Echidna. Both had gone for near alpha launches, sending half their fighters out for combat air patrols in defense of their fleets, and the other half on the attack. The air battle there looked savage, but manageable.
The echidna, after all, could only muster six of their Cruisers and eighteen Destroyers. Mello had, on the other hand, six carriers and eighteen Destroyers. While North Fleet inched towards the city, Center under Prince Taji turned south to support.
"My Prince, the echidna are launching their manned fighter craft from Echidnapolis Air Force Base." The voice came from the speakers, amplified so it could be heard by everyone on the bridge. This signified that it was something vitally important. "The fighters are vectoring south, to relieve their Fleet!"
Charmy leaned forward in his seat. "What?"
He looked up, and saw that the entire Echidna fleet was now making full burn forward, under their new fighter umbrella, for the South Fleet. Were they willing to sacrifice the western flank of Echidnapolis itself for a mad gamble at a ship to ship knife fight? No! NO!
"Radio Taji!" Charmy yelled, realizing they'd fallen into a trap. "Tell him to make best time to assist Mello! Order South Fleet to fall back! NOW!"
Special Agent Taggart brooded over the events relayed to him. Flipping through the report that had just been faxed over the secure channel, he shook his head in dismay. The entire country seemed to be determined to tear itself apart. First, there had been the notification last week about the 'new status' of the Royal Household, and the unofficial war against Mercia, which seemed to be ongoing despite the outright revolts in the south.
The Royal Fleet reflected this disarray. It was being sent out piecemeal, a few to the border with the humans, a few to the southlands, a few to Mercia, even one to the capitol city itself… until the effect of the ships themselves was probably negligible. Not that they had a great fleet to begin with, having to make due with repatriated Battle Bird ships and Eggman built craft seized in dry docks and shipyards.
The problems in Mercia and the Southern Revolt were bad enough news, but now there was chaos in Mobotropolis itself. The Princess and a few of her cohorts had escaped, and now new robot forces were rising out of nowhere and engaging Royal troops, under the command of some new AI calling itself NICOLE. According to the latest reports, they were at the very gates of the Palace itself, and a state of emergency had been declared throughout the Kingdom.
Taggart wondered if there would be a Kingdom left to serve, by the time the negotiators finished butting heads over who would get the Nor'easter. The garrison was substantial, over 500 personnel divided between Baker and Charlie Company, detached from the Third Royal Marines and attached to the First Fleet. It was two Assault Destroyer's worth of troops, and as far as he knew, the humans had actually been decreasing their marine commitment to the Nor'easter garrison. Would they ever see any action, or would they wait out the entire Fall of the Kingdom here?
"Major, sir?"
Taggart put down the distressing report from Central Command, and spared one of his military attaché's a curious look. For political reasons, after the war, there were no military officers over the official rank of Lieutenant. Instead, men and women of the Secret Service were given command positions if they had also benefited from military experience. It ensured loyalty above the Company level, but Taggart knew it was causing a lot of grumbling among the young officers who wanted advancement and respect.
"There a problem, Lieutenant?" He asked, and also took a look around at the main bridge. The humans held the battle bridge, deep in the ship, but the mobians held the command deck at the top of the ship. Taggart found some amusement sitting in the same chair that the Eggman had once used; it was surprisingly comfortable.
"Sir," the Lieutenant, a sharp eyes young raccoon who reminded Taggart of a younger him, lowered his head slightly. "Cobra Squad hasn't reported in to their duty station. We sent Badger Squad to investigate, and now their comms are down."
"Interference in that sector?" Taggart asked. "The humans said they'd be running sensor jamming exercises around this time."
"We think that's it, sir." the Lieutenant nodded his head. "Except… well, we lost contact with Badger Squad before they could enter the jamming field."
"Did we just underestimate the size of it, then?" Taggart asked and rested his chin on his closed fist. "Maybe they're improved their technology?"
"We've lost contact with Python Squad!" Another officer yelled, from his post at one of the duty stations. "They were there a second ago and now… nothing! Nothing!"
Now, Taggart was starting to get worried. "All active squads report in immediately! I want to know what's going on out there! Seal emergency bulkheads to command deck!"
"Sir!" "Yes sir!"
Taggart listened, as the twenty active squads reported in – or the seventeen remaining ones did anyway. Each was a ten man unit, larger than the traditional fire teams used by the dingo or human armed forces. There were thirty two squads on the Nor'easter, half named for animals (Baker Company) and half for colors (Charlie Company).
"Gold Squad hasn't reported in, sir!" Another aide yelled; a note of panic in his voice.
"Gold Squad?" Taggart looked up at the main display screen, which showed different levels of the ship, and the positions of active teams. "That's close to the C Company barracks. Sent notification to be on alert and to arm themselves!"
"Get your weapons!"
"Hurry up and get that armor on, damnit!"
"You three! Watch the door!"
C Company barracks was a flurry of activity as troops threw on their combat vests and flak jackets, and opened up weapons lockers. It almost went unnoticed in the confusion when one of the doors to the barracks opened.
"Sir! I'm… I'm not sure what to make of this…" the young lieutenant from before seemed to be listening hard into his earpiece. "There's sporadic fire coming from inside the C Company Barracks!"
The lieutenant suddenly turned pale. "By the Source… something's killing them…!"
Taggart reached over to the controls on the side of his armrest, and put it on the general speakers. A second later, he wished he hadn't.
"NONONONO!" "HELP HELP HELP!" "TOO FAST! I CAN'T…!"
Gunfire punctuated the words as they turned into screams, and then there was only gunfire and agonized howling and the sound of something cutting through the air, like a buzzsaw. A high pitched squeal and the sound of something tearing made Taggart cringe, and he fumbled for a second before terminating the connection.
Deep within the Battle Bridge, the same sounds played without interruption.
Behind the Captain's chair, Mya Florentine reached down and patted the man Aya had appointed to run 'her ship' in her absence on the shoulder. She could see that his face was slightly scrunched up in distaste, and yes: a little fear. She couldn't help but laugh lightly at that. It was only natural, she supposed.
"What on Earth is going on out there?" he asked, as the screams died down.
Mya's glasses glinted above her smile. "We're taking back our ship, Captain."
Back on the Command Deck, there was a long pregnant silence.
"S… send two squads to… no. Wait. Have. Ah." Special Agent Taggart was breathing heavily now, and he quickly wiped the perspiration from his brow. "Have Violet and Black Squads fall back to Junction Three. Reroute Blue Squad, too! Send all available troops to Junction Three! Cut this thing off!"
On the overhead screen, blips began to coordinate and move together. Taggart allowed himself a smile at the sight. More and more troops were moving, mobilizing, getting into strategic positions.
"Forward all comms to the main speakers," Taggart ordered, and cursed the nervousness in his voice.
Again, there was a long silence.
Broken by the sound of a new voice, "This is Black Squad. Blue, Violet and Black are all in position. No sign of the enemy."
And so they waited, but not for long.
"Wait. I see something. It's… what the hell?" The officer's voice suddenly became droned out by massed gunfire. "It's not working! It's deflecting the… OHGAAAHHH!"
Taggart cringed. "Cut communications!"
The screams and the cutting sound ended as quickly as it began. On the screen, the 'active' status of Black Squad terminated, followed closely by Violet and Blue. Only seconds later, White Squad, which had been en route to the area, disappeared.
"C…. close the blast doors. Close them!" Taggart gasped, and watched eagerly as the massive doors sealed, cutting off the Command Deck from the rest of the ship. Only when the doors were sealed shut did he breathe a sigh of relief. Without warning anyone else, he quickly went to his next duty, arming the explosives set throughout the ship, in case the humans attacked and overran the garrison.
And then he watched, as more and more troops marched out to try and contain this new threat. To Taggart's relief, none reported any contact. The good fortune, however, only lasted a minute or so. And then, suddenly, Mongoose Squad, one of B Company's Elites, blinked out. Followed by Bison Squad, and then Rhino Squad, both of which were - or had been - guarding the route to the Command Deck.
Half the eyes on the room turned to the Blast Doors, not sure whether to expect them to provide refuge, or to disintegrate like everything else. They weren't indestructible, but they were made of capital ship grade armor plate. Normally, it would take over an hour and specialized equipment to cut through them. They waited, and watched, but nothing happened.
Tap. Tap.
Taggart turned at the sound, away from the door and towards the armored glass that allowed the Command Deck to look out over the Nor'easter. What he saw filled him with confusion, then hope, then fear. For all intents and purposes, what stood just outside the window was another mobian, no more than twenty or so years old. He seemed almost normal, except, of course, for the two long vulpine tails that waved in the wind, soaked red the color of blood.
The mobian, the kitsune, casually brushed his two long bangs back behind his ears and out of his eyes. He wore a simple military uniform, oddly also stained completely red. It seemed like some kind of joke or hoax, at least until the kitsune's tails shot forward, into the glass, and began to cut through it.
Mya walked into the Command Deck, careful to avoid stepping into any of the pools of coagulating blood. Behind her followed a man of Captain rank, and two soldiers in GUN uniforms. All three took in the carnage with wide eyes. Only Mya seemed unperturbed. She took a long step around a body that had been cut in half at the waist, the entrails uncoiled and spilt out onto the floor.
Approaching the elevated chair in the center of the room, she smiled as it swiveled around. What greeted her was the kitsune fox, whose eyes (for just a fraction of a second) seemed to glow a hellish red. Then he grinned, and his manner became casual to the point of friendly. He promptly reached down to the floor and picked up Special Agent Taggart by the back of his uniform, alive and intact, if unconscious.
"As promised," he finally spoke, in a light and playful tone. "I didn't kill this one."
He let go, and the body returned to the floor.
"You've done a wonderful job," Mya replied, and clapped her hands in a show of appreciation. The three behind her just watched, stunned. "I'm so proud of you!"
"I'm glad you approve," the kitsune replied warmly. "I wanted to be sure they wouldn't be able to set the bombs off, so I disabled them physically, and then hacked the security codes."
Mya nodded, just once. "Why don't you go and wash up, and change clothes?"
"Yes, Mother," The two tailed fox hopped down off the chair, and primly saluted the Captain behind her. "Sir! You have my apology for making such a mess on your ship. Please excuse my methods."
"Ah… of course," The Captain replied, and raised his hand to salute. "It's no problem at all."
"Good!" The fox slowly walked past them to the door, stepping on the skull of one of the slain with a loud crunch. In a few seconds, he was gone, leaving bloody footprints behind. The Captain repressed a shiver.
Mya just chuckled, edging up her glasses with her middle finger.
"We'll be leaving tomorrow, Captain," Mya said, and her voice was also light, but far from friendly. "Please remember what we did for you, today, when the time comes."
She started to leave, when the Captain spoke up.
"And when will that be, Colonel Florentine?"
Mya looked over her shoulder with a smirk. "Soon. Very soon."
And then she and her Demon were gone.
Prince Mello clenched his teeth, as he watched the QA-DD Flores split in half and explode, raining debris for a thousand meters in every direction. Things were not going well. Radio communication was being jammed, and their fighter deployment was still tied up with their echidna counterparts, in an almost one on one battle.
Below his feet, the QA-CVN Cuirassier, his flagship, rumbled, as its light missile launchers unleashed another salvo at the closing enemy. Charmy had ordered them to fall back, but doing so at half commitment, by the time the order had been relayed. Turning the carriers was no easy task, especially since they had different maximum speeds and accelerations. If he ran, the fleet could be picked apart piecemeal. Better to wait, to hold out for Taji and reinforcements.
Outside his ship, heavy laser beams cut through the air, between blazing spheres of plasma, fired from the echidna cruisers. They had finally closed to knife fighting range, though the Xialjyet missiles had drawn blood. The Frigates Autumn Moon and Tropic Clouds were burning as they fell from the sky, and the assault frigate Half Moon, pressed into combat duty it wasn't suited for, was already in pieces sinking to the bottom of Angel Lake.
But now, the Echidna had the advantage.
A Detachment of Xialjyet Destroyers angled in flight to meet the enemy face on and cover the maneuvering of the carriers behind them. The LMLs and their heavy flak cannons were their only real capship class weapons, and they concentrated fire on two echidna frigates and an attack cruiser. The echidna, despite being outnumbered, opened fire, red beams lancing from their sides. The Cruiser, Auspicious Heron, turned to keep its aim, and crimson bolts of superheated gasses shot out from its frontal dual plasma turret.
One of the Xialjyet Destroyers, the Zakynthios, caught the bolts straight on. The left prong of the bow simply snapped off, before a laser added to the carnage, hitting a plasma-weakened part of the hull, and blowing a hole right through. It careened to the side and fell out of the air. Nearby, another Destroyer in the attack wing, the Zizais, was hit in the engines, and disappeared into a fireball. A few seconds later, the burning skeleton of a ship fell towards the waters below.
Elsewhere, the echidna cruiser Divine Heron, flanked by the Frigates Evening Clouds, Morning Clouds, and Pale Moon, came about for an attack run through enemy lines. On the way, it met up with the Black Ops Frigate, Cherry Blossom. Picking up their approach towards the carriers, the Xialjyet fleet rapidly shifted to direct forces to block their path.
Massed fire from a half dozen Destroyers buffeted the shields of the Morning Clouds and Divine Heron. The latter's shields held, but the former's collapsed under the strain. In panic, it fired wave after wave of chaff and decoys, before two waves of missiles crashed into the charging airships. Though the clouds of smoke and ash, the Divine Heron flew on, leaving the blasted and burned down husk of the Morning Clouds behind.
Behind the cruiser, the other Frigates also blasted through the smoke, firing with abandon at any targets of opportunity that more than two of them could get lock on. Blasts tore into the Xialjyer Destroyers, Casse and Blake, mauling the former and hitting the ammunition supply of the latter. It exploded, breaking into flaming pieces.
And then, the echidna were free to hit the carriers.
As if in rage for all the lives lost already, the Divine Heron locked onto the QA-CVN Cuirassier, one of two Nickelhive carriers side by side. The massive vessels, partly damaged by long range fire and attacks by fighter craft, tried to angle to present a smaller face to the enemy… eight heavy Flak cannons turned on the approaching ship, and their heavy fire finally caused the Heron's shields to flicker and die. Shells raked its hull, sending bits flying into the air.
Finally, the Divine Heron and her escorts opened fire, a terrible alpha strike from all their weapons at once. The QA-CVN Ranger, sister ship to Prince Mello's flagship, moved up to partially cover its sibling. Repeated laser blasts caused the shields to flare up and expend themselves, before plasma bolts impacted, sending cascades of explosions along her hull. The Cuirassier fared no better, as parts of its structure were sheared off, and a plasma round hit the open hangar built into the side. Fires broke out all along its length, and behind it, the Ranger snapped in two, the forward section tumbling like a torn kite, and the rear section blowing to hell a second later.
Back aboard the Manifest Destiny, Charmy watched, pale faced, as the status of the QA-CVN Cuirassier turned from active, to damaged, to critical, to destroyed.
"Cuirassier has been destroyed," a voice said, in monotone. "Blair is damaged. Isis reporting critical condition…."
"Scan… scan debris for lifepods." Charmy realized his voice was barely a whisper, and he took a few shallow breaths before purposefully raising his voice. "Scan for lifepods from the Cuirassier!"
A few seconds later, the grim reply came.
"No life pods detected, my Prince. Emergency Frequencies are silent."
Charmy watched, as South Fleet flew into disarray without their leader. He watched, and he saw Prince Mello, his first friend, his oldest friend. He saw, in his mind's eye, that day when his father took him to visit Nickelhive, and to meet the other young Prince. Staring down at his lap, Charmy saw tears pooled on his uniform.
"Send… send following to Center Fleet," Charmy spoke, and paused for a few seconds, gathering his thoughts. "Sent following: Counter attack. Pursue. Destroy Echidna Fleet. All of Them. That is all."
Slowly getting up out of his command chair, Charmy balled his fists, and let the tears flow down his face. Nicklehive was now without its Prince. Another would be bred by Mello's mother, an exact clone in fact, but it wouldn't be him. Wouldn't be Charmy's old friend. In the back of the Prince's right hand, golden energy flared, and with a howl he turned and swing at the back of his chair, tearing it to pieces.
Elsewhere, Echidnapolis' outer regions burned, as warships landed and swarms of troops descended on the suburbs. One of the outer city shields faded and died, when its generator fell prey to Xialjyet engineers. Screams and the sound of weapons filled the streets, while smoke and explosions darkened the mid day skies.
Even higher above, Merlin watched the ebb and flow of the carnage below.
"This will do," he muttered, looking past his feet with an approving grin. "This will do quite nicely."
He alone could see the power, the delicate strands of energy, weaving like a web over Echidnapolis. It swirled and built up, more and more, like an invisible hurricane or tornado rooted in place. And in the eye of that tornado, a power was getting ready to play its surprise trump card. But not yet. It needed more.
More lives for the fire.
More lives for the sacrifice.
The eyes of the Devourer, however, were elsewhere…
Half a world away, Mobotropolis, too, was in turmoil. Over the last few days, the press had taken to calling the new enemy the "Nicole Legion" after the notorious Combot Legion of the Eggman Empire. With martial law in place, the populace had only to look out their windows or listen closely at night to hear the sounds of fighting that grew daily closer to the Palace.
The Nicole Legion came in a variety of forms, all more suited for urban combat than a proper battlefield. Legionaries, the humanoid robots modified from combot designs, moved slowly forward, finding cover behind walls and vehicles. More mobile spider-like robots transversed rooftops or sped down roads. With military forces committed to so many regions and theaters, what was left, and the conscripted local police and militia, tried to make a stand on the three avenues of attack that led to the Grand Palace.
A blue streak sped by, past the advancing robot forces, and into the ranks assembled to stop them. A cluster of soldiers and police went flying in total disarray, and just as quickly as it had came; the blue streak disappeared, racing up a wall and onto a rooftop. An ad-hoc pillbox tried to fire up at him, but he was gone again, moving along the side of the wall, down and around the small concrete structure.
A second later, the pillbox guns fell silent.
Sonic walked around the side and waited, tapping his foot impatiently, for Nicole's troops to keep pace with him. On his feet, he wore new shoes, high tops; more stylized than his old ones, though still the same red and white color scheme. Rather than a single white band of color, however, these had the white as a trim around the soles and face. A light blue half-emerald was emblazoned on each one on the front of the lip, behind the dual buckles the kept them secured to his feet.
Bunnie landed nearby, the rockets in her bionic legs and feet roaring. A second later, two ranks of Nicole robots, spiders and humanoids, marched past. Several broke off to round up the wounded and disarm them. Sonic nodded in approval at that. He wasn't about to kill anyone, just because they were being tricked into fighting for the wrong side. Then, finally, Sally and Antoine showed up, the former in her new royal battle attire, and the latter looking his normal self except for a new sword strapped to his waist.
"We're almost there…" Sonic said, turning his head to look up at the imposing Grand Palace that was just two blocks away.
"Then this is where we break up," Sally replied, and nodded to them all in turn. "Bunnie. You know what to do. Hit the hangar and make sure the shuttle stays grounded. No one escapes to fight another day. This ends here."
"No problem, Sally girl!" Bunnie held up her left hand, the disruptor cannon popping out and back into its housing in her forearm.
Sally smirked, and faced her Royal retainer. "Antoine. While Bunnie secures the hangar, head into the Royal Quarters and find my brother and sister-in-law. If you can, disable the security firewalls for Nicole."
"Oui!" Antoine replied, then in English, "I mean, yes."
"Sonic. That leaves us."
"Full frontal attack. Sounds fun. Let's get to it!" Sonic and his friends spent just a few more seconds in each other's company, before Bunnie picked Antoine up, and took to the air. When he and Sally were left alone, he turned his eyes back to the Palace.
"Reminds me of that time with the Deep Power Stones," he mused. "You remember that, Sal?"
"How could I forget?" Sally asked, and reached for the Spear strapped to her back. "You ready?"
Sonic barked out a laugh. "Just try and keep up!"
King Max was not amused.
"St. John," he said, looking down at his servant from his seat on the Golden Throne. "We are receiving news that the Palace itself is under attack. Is this true?"
Geoffrey had his head lowered, and was on one knee.
"My Lord, it is true. However, I have set up the finest defenses… our best troops!" He dared to look up, and then remembered it was no longer possible to see approval on his King's face, or gauge his moods. "The Secret Service and Royal Guard are fresh, and ready to defend this place. I have also personally designed and set up defenses to stop them!"
The King said nothing for a few seconds.
"Very well." King Max grumbled. "However, I would like the following precautions taken."
"My Lord?"
"Ready my personal shuttle, and…" Max rested his hand on the Sword of Acorns. "Have the R-7 neurotoxin protocol ready for activation. I intend it to be my deadman's switch."
"But, My Lord, we have not evacuated… that will kill everyone in the Palace, and…" St. John swallowed his words, and bowed his head. "Yes! My Lord! I will see to it immediately."
