Sorry to leave you folks on such an evil cliff-hanger, but before the ass-whopping can commence, we must first do some more plot stuff, sit tight, things are building fast now.
A Visitor From Afar
Ch 11. Best Laid Plans
Sonic raced through the trees of the Great Forest at a terrifying pace, yet though his feet raced forward his mind raced backwards, pondering the recent events. "That creep Slasher's gotta lotta nerve to say what he did. How can Tails stand that guy? We're s'pose to be best buds, how can he want to hang with him more then me? Maybe we'd be better off I we let Robotnik turn him into a bot" Sonic screeched to a stop realizing what he said and looked around the forest, still in deep thought. "(Groan) What am saying! I may not like that guy much, but nobody deserves that. I need ta talk ta Sal, maybe that'll make me feel better."
Satisfied with this course of action Sonic burst off again into the forest heading back to Knothole. "Besides, I need ta get somethin' ta eat, I left all my chili dogs back with Tails and ole' 'Blade Boy'." Sonic joked to himself as he streaked though the forest.
Ten seconds later….
Sonic came to a halt just outside of Princess Sally's hut and checked his wrist watch. "Ten seconds! Man, I must be gettin' slower; either that or I should'a takin' that left at those boulders back there!" Sonic shrugged his shoulders and approached the wooden door and gently knocked on the door. "Sal, ya home?" No reply. "Must be out; no problemo this hedgehog is the master a' hide 'n seek." With that Sonic raced of to check all of Sally's usual hang-outs.
At that moment….
Rotor toiled away with the sniper rifle he had shown Sally last night, not because he wished to disobey the Princess; rather he hated leaving a project incomplete. With a satisfied sigh Rotor placed the last piece of the rifle into position and closed the small opening in the now complete weapon. He just finished securing the rifle and the many spare ammo clips he had custom built into the cabinet and pulled up another project he had been working on when he heard a gentle rapping on his door.
"C'mon in…"
With that the d the door opened on it's well oiled hinges, and Sally Acorn entered the hut. "Hi Rotor." The Princess greeted with a friendly wave.
"Hey Sally, what brings you here?" Rotor turned around on his bench stool to face Sally.
"Nothing urgent, I'm just curious how that new cargo plane is coming along." Sally folded her hands behind her back innocently.
"Just about ready, once I finish a few minor tweaks we'll be able to transport our heavy equipment and deploy them a lot faster." Rotor reported feeling a rush of pride for his newest creation.
"That's great Rotor! How much will the plane be able to carry at a time?" Sally's face lighted up in delight at the good news.
Rotor scratched the back of his head as he tried to remember the information. "Um, let's see… I figure we should be able to carry about 30 tonnes or so."
"Excellent, Rotor; that will make it a lot easier to set up our signal jamming towers and deliver supplies to the out-lying Freedom Fighter groups." Sally was absolutely beaming; normally they would have to lug the materials needed to build the jamming towers the Freedom Fighters used to disrupt Robotnik's scanners on foot; through the typically rugged terrain of the great forest. Because of that they could only transport some of the materials at a time and that meant in took longer to set them up and maintain them. With this new transport they could carry all the materials at once, set the tower up and be gone in half the time.
"By the way, Sally; after the meeting, when you left to talk with Tails, I took a look at your plan for tonight's raid and… well…" It seemed to Sally that Rotor seemed a bit hesitant to say what was on his mind to.
"You have a suggestion Rotor?" Sally rested her hand on her hip inquisitively raising an eyebrow.
"Um, does Nicole have a map of the objective?"
"Sure thing Rotor." Sally lifted Nicole by her strap and flipped her open. "Nicole, display tactical hologram for tonight's mission." As ordered, the computer spewed out a three-dimensional holographic, partly cut-away image of the factory..
"Well, …" After a moment of orientating himself with the hologram and analyzing the planned movements of their forces, he finally built up the courage to say what was on his mind. "…the plan was to enter through this skylight here…" Rotor pointed to the skylight on the top of the building that was highlighted by yellow glow and a red arrow that moved through it to indicate troop movement. "…then spread out and plant the demolition charges on the manufacturing machines and get out the same way." He traced out the path the arrows follow to the array of machines that built what the factory produced and back to the skylight.
"Yea, so what do you suggest?"
"Well, there's an airshaft on the side of the building here…" Rotor pointed to the airshaft; it was barely distinguishable from the dark coloured wall, but it looked just the right size to be able to allow several Mobians loaded with explosives to fit inside without having to remove the backpack they'd be carrying. "It would be a lot easier to gain access from here."
"One problem with that Rotor; Nicole, display Swatbot patrol routes." Sally folded her arms in front of her chest sceptically. "Acknowledged." The computer reported as several red dots appeared on the image representing Swatbots. The dots moved about the map following the interior corridors and the outside on regular intervals. The spot Rotor had specified happened to be the same spot where two Swatbots going in opposite directions went past right in front of the airshaft Rotor was pointing to. But even as the two passed each other and were no longer able to watch the shaft's opening a two other 'bots rounded opposite corners of the building. "You see Rotor, there's no way we can sneak past the guards without being spotted."
"I know that Sally, but see, this one on the left corner pauses at that corner while the other walks along the wall. We can take that one out, then take the second one out right after and sneak in before the other two come back. Once we get in the shaft it will take us right to the factory machines we're shooting for, unlike going through the skylight. Not to mention it doesn't leave us as exposed to being spotted like trying to repel down from the skylight." Rotor's enthusiasm for such a risky plan struck Sally as rather odd; it wasn't like him.
"True Rotor, but as soon as we pop out of the airshaft there a large group of Swatbots patrolling right next to the airshaft." Sally said trying to sound dissuasive. "Still he does have a point; the airshaft would be safer and more covert then going in through the skylight. The skylight only gains us access to an operations office, not the factory itself, they would have to sneak out of the office and along some dangerously exposed catwalks to reach the target, and then they'd have to repel down to the factory floor to reach the manufacturing machines. The route Sally had chosen would allow them to avoid the majority of the patrols and the skylight was not defended at all compared to the airshaft. But if they could get past the guards patrolling outside it would cut the risk of detection in half. And even though there were more guards around Rotor's path, there were enough places to find cover" Sally pondered Rotor's suggestion long and hard and after some minutes there was only one thing that troubled her about this revised attack plan.
"I don't know, Rotor, it sounds like a good idea, but… how are we gonna' take the guard at the airshaft out?" Sally asked pointing her hand at the tiny red dot denoting the Swatbot she referred to.
"I had a couple of ideas on that, Sally. My first idea was to have Sonic take him out, he's fast enough to take them out before they could report an intruder."
"No good, I had to change the attack plan because of recent events. Me and Sonic are going after that crystal Robotnik took from Slasher tonight, we'll be breaking into Robotnik's lab while you Bunnie and Antoine hit the factory." Sally explained, much to the walrus's surprise.
"A crystal…! You're going after some crystal!" Rotor could not believe what Sally was saying. "This factory we're hitting makes the circuitry that Robotnik uses in all of his weaponry, shouldn't hitting the factory be more important then retrieving some trinket Robotnik took from someone we don't even know we can trust?"
"Rotor, retrieving that crystal could very well be just as important as taking out that factory." Sally breathed out a sigh; she had hoped to not have to start yet another argument about Slasher today.
"(Hmph) I fail to see how." Rotor scoffed, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
"That's not important right now, Rotor; I'm more interested in hearing your other idea for getting past the guard tonight."
"Oh, right…" Rotor muttered realizing they were off topic. "Well, I wasn't sure if you'd approve of the other idea…"
"Oh, come on, Rotor; out with it. You know I value your input." Sally coaxed putting her fists on her hips in annoyance.
"(sigh) Alright, Sally… Well, I thought… since there are so many guards protecting the shaft, maybe we could… Nicole, could you back the image up a bit…" Nicole zoomed the image of the factory back, allowing the two of them to see some of the surrounding buildings.
On the hologram they could see that it was quite a distance from the nearest building to the airshaft Rotor was planning for. The other troubling thing Sally noticed about set up was that there was no cover between the gap; no way could anybody get close enough to take the guard down without being spotted.
"I don't know Rotor, that's an awful lot of ground to cross." Sally said pessimistically. "I don't think anyone could get across the gap without being spotted. It's a lot easier to get to the skylight…" Sally had Nicole rotate the image so they could see the back of the factory. Unlike the side the airshaft was on, the nearest building was much closer; in fact only a small alleyway, a short jump across, separated the abandoned building from the factory. "All we have to do is gain access to this abandoned warehouse, get on the roof and get across the gap between the roofs and we're there."
"I know, but if we're able to take out the guards at range it would be six whole minutes before the first two bots returned. Plenty of time to cross the open area, break in, plant the bombs and get out."
"But we don't have something that can take a Swatbot down from that range." Sally made certain to point that out.
"Well, actually we do…" Rotor corrected meekly. "Remember that sniper rifle I showed you last night…"
"Rotor! You were wanting to bring a rifle on a covert operation!" Sally exclaimed, completely shocked that Rotor would even conceive of using a rifle.
"Look Sally, if it's noise you're worried about, that's not a problem." Rotor backed away raising his hands defensively towards the vexed princess.
"I fail to believe that! You know how loud a rifle is, even with a silencer!" Sally was now shouting.
"But my rifles aren't ballistic, I designed them to use magnetic coils, they're practically silent."
"That's not the point Rotor! I can't believe you of all people would suggest such an aggressive change in our tactics!" Sally was bordering on furious now, and Rotor becoming increasingly frustrated with Sally's attitude.
"I'm only trying to cut down the risk we take on missions and maximize how much we hurt Robotnik's operations! Think about it Sally, my idea takes fewer risks then doing the old skylight routine! Robotnik's no doubt caught on to that tactic by now; he might even have it wired to alarms!" Rotor's shouting caught Sally completely off guard; Rotor was never prone to such outbursts.
An uneasy silence fell on the room for a few moments as Sally regrouped from Rotor's outburst, but Nicole broke the silence first. "Rotor does have a point Sally; by using Rotor's new sniper rifle, and perhaps using the assault rifle to take out the guards inside, the probability of detection is decreased by nearly forty-nine-point-one-three percent."
"Now don't you start too, Nicole!" Sally warned to the sassy computer.
"Look, Sally, I didn't mean to burst out like that… but even Nicole agrees; it would be much safer to go with my suggestion."
"I know, but… my great-great grandfathers banned the use of any gun-like weapon ever since that Overlander killed my ancestor; it's a royal doctrine, I just can't go throw that to wind that easily." Sally turned herself away from Rotor to hide her tears and lowered her head in defeat. All the stress had finally gotten to Sally, all the effort of convincing the other Freedom Fighters to trust her about Slasher, whether she herself was doing the right thing regarding him, this gun issue, it became too much stress in such a short time.
Rotor could see Sally crying, despite how she tried to hide it, Rotor suddenly realized that how much stress he had been causing her her. And he suddenly felt of pang of regret for forcing this weapon issue onto her.
"I'm sorry Sally, I didn't mean to upset you." Rotor apologized, placing his webbed hand on her chest comfortingly, his voice much more like the calm collected inventor she knew so well. This helped calm Sally down immensely and she stopped sniffling, though a few tears still streaked down her cheeks. "It's just that… Sally, when your ancestors made that decree, they weren't at war." Rotor placed his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.
"(sob) But my father didn't have to resort to using guns against the Overlander's during the Great war."
"That's not entirely accurate, Sally…" Nicole butted into the conversation. "When Warlord Julian took command of the royal army, your father, King Acorn, approved the creation of early versions of the Swatbot robots that were armed with more advanced laser weapons. These robot soldiers turned the tide of the war and in truth, ended the conflict."
"See, it's not like you'd be disgracing the family name, but I'm not going force you to make a call on this, alright Sally?" Rotor smiled, exposing more of his large tusks, in turn creating a very goofy grin on his face that Sally couldn't help but smile at. Somehow that always managed to make everyone grin.
"Thanks, Rotor." Sally hugged the big lug softly which Rotor returned.
Moving apart, Sally closed Nicole up and looped the computers strap onto her shoulder and let it rest upon its usual spot on her hip. Something still bothered Rotor however, and he needed an answer. "Sally, I still don't understand why it's so important to retrieve that crystal from Robotnik."
"I guess I do owe you an explanation don't I? Uncle Chuck contacted me not too long ago." Rotor's arms fell from his chest in surprise; Uncle Chuck rarely called and when he did it was only when he needed to tell them something important, and most of the time it was bad news.
"He said that Robotnik has been trying to unlock whatever powers the crystal possesses, probably to put to use in some kind of weapon. Tails has already seen the crystal transform Slasher when he first found him; who knows what else the crystal can do. If Robotnik finds out whatever sort of power is locked within it, he might create a weapon that could destroy us all."
"Why don't we just ask him what it can do?" Rotor suggested while rubbing his chin.
"Unfortunately Tails took Slasher on a picnic in the forest; no telling when they'll be back."
"Oh, well I guess…" Rotor was cut short when the he heard voices approaching the door outside.
The door swung open and in stepped Bunnie carried by an exasperated Antoine, though by the scowl on her face she obviously didn't want to be carried. "Oh foah the last time Sugar-'Twan, I can walk just fine, mah legs are fine!" she groaned, pushing herself out of Antoine's grip so she could stand on her own.
"But Mademoiselle Bunnie, your legs, they could be how you zay: chilling up; like your arm did." Antoine protested trying to pretend he wasn't s exhausted from carrying Bunnie. Bunnie quickly got a safe distance away from the overprotective coyote guard.
"That's freezing up Antoine…?" Rotor corrected instinctively, then did a double take as what Antoine said finally sank in. "Wait, did he say your arm froze, Bunnie!"
"Ah'm afraid so Sugar…" Bunnie lowered her head sadly, disliking the prospect having to sit here in Rotor's shop, bored out of her skull while he repaired her left arm.
"Really? Let me take a look at that Bunnie…" Sally reached her hand out to inspect the limb, and now heavy robotic limb; but Bunnie pulled it away before Sally was able to spot the holes Slasher's tail spikes created when they penetrated her arm.
"Oh it's nothin' Sally-girl, just a quick fix and Ah'll be back 'n kick'n."
"A quick fix! You zis a quick fix!" Antoine said in disbelief lifting the limp arm up so that Sally and Rotor could plainly see the damage.
"Oh my gosh, Bunnie. How did this happen to you?" Sally exclaimed as she and Rotor gasped in shock at the deep, oil stained holes in her arm.
"Zat fiend Slashaire'!" Antoine spoke out before Bunnie could defend Slasher and explain what happened.
"What! Slasher did this to you?" Sally's eyes bulged out from Antoine's remark.
"Oui, he should be…Mffff…" Antoine was cut short by Bunnie when she slapped her hand across Antoine's mouth to silence him.
"Hush Antoine…" Bunnie's tone was harsh.
"What's going on Bunnie, did Slasher really do this to you." Sally looked at Bunnie with curiosity from her behaviour.
"What 'Twan didn't say was that this happened when we were in a friendly sparin' match." Bunnie pushed Antoine back with her hand still over his mouth.
"Doesn't look like it was all that friendly to me." Rotor added pointing at the damaged arm.
"Oh, it's nothin', it's just a lil' ole' accident." Bunnie waved her hand dismissively. "Those tails spikes a' his pack quite the wallop…" Bunnie quickly slapped her real hand over her mouth as she realized what she had blurted out. "Me and mah big mouth!"
"Slasher did this to you with those little spikes on his tail!" Rotor wasn't sure if he had heard her right, that couldn't be possible; those spikes couldn't have punched through nearly a centimeter of metal plating.
"He shore' did Sugar, even went through mah shield too."
"What? How could he do that, Rotor built that energy sheild to withstand one of Sonic's spin-dash attacks!" Sally baffled as much as Rotor, this just didn't make sense.
"Well, he rolled into a little ball and swung that tail out like a whip down onto mah arm, Sally-girl." Bunnie was grateful that Rotor and Sally were too focused on figuring out what happened rather then blaming Slasher for doing something that had just been an accident.
"But that still shouldn't of had enough force to break through the energy shield and drive themselves this deeply into your arm!" Rotor experimentally placing a finger into one of the larger holes and was surprised as half his finger disappeared into its depths.
"Well, those blades 'a his drained a good deal 'a mah shields power supply." Her tone sounding dismissive of the fact.
"What!" Sally and Rotor said in unison from shock.
"Oh, he had excellent control a' those blades a' his, he's a really good fighter. Neither of us were hold'n back, it was the best match Ah've eve'a had." Bunnie casually waved her hand with a coy grin on her face.
"But why were you sparring at all?" Sally sounded exasperated from all these half answers.
"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Bunnie innocently explained. "Maybe Ah was just so plain tired 'a have'n nobody will'n ta practise with me I jumped at the lil 'ole dragons offer. We both just got a lil' too int'a the fight and then this happened."
"Let me get this straight Bunnie: you and Slasher were practising, and Slasher held his own, even though you weren't holding back?" Rotor crossed his arms in front of his chest waving one finger absent-mindedly as though his finger's motions were sorting his thoughts as he spoke.
"Yep, he even took a stun shot from mah pulse cannon, and he still kept comin'. Up close even!" Bunnie nodded her head affirmatively.
"Wow, this guy is one tough customer…" Sally rubbed her chin in thought of such strength.
"He might be a bit too tough Sally…" Rotor piped up, feeling a bit anxious about the prospects this new development might mean. "I mean if this guy really is working for Robotnik, or even if he decides to take us out for his own reasons, we might have a really tough time beating him. Maybe we should think of placing him someplace safe until we know for sure?"
"True, but if he is in fact on our side, would you really want to help someone that locks you up just because of paranoia."
"I suppose you have a point there Sally." Rotor confided seeing Sally's logic.
"We'll keep an eye on him, but I would like you all to give him the benefit of the doubt for now."
"Alright Sal." Rotor nodded his head sincerely.
"As you wish your highness." Antoine grumbled trying to sound sincere.
Suddenly everyone present turned their heads as they heard a loud noise somewhere off in the distance. "What the hoo-hay was that?" Bunnie asked turning to face the others.
"I don't know, the weather report did mention there could be thunder showers later tonight, but not this early." Sally responded with equal curiosity as Bunnie. "I wonder what that could have been?"
At that exact moment + half a second….
"LOOK OUT!" Slasher screamed as he grabbed Tails by the shoulder and hauled him over the log. Together they bolted away from the log as fast as they could; just in the nick of time. The grenade went off with a massive blast splitting the log at the point of detonation, sending the two halves flying head over-heels in opposite directions and splintered wood in every direction away from the blast point.
Tails and Slasher only managed to run a meter or so before they were caught in the shock wave of the blast; launching them forward. "Whhhoooooaaaa…!"
"Ugh!" both hit the ground simultaneously, instinctively covering their heads to protect themselves from the debris that the blast had picked up with it. After the majority of the large chunks of earth returned to the ground Slasher and Tails bravely looked up and shook their heads clear of their disorientation. Miraculously, they had not been injured from the blast, seeing as the log absorbed most of the shrapnel and the greater part of the concussion force of the blast.
Slasher looked behind him and widened his eyes to see just how lucky they had both actually been. In place of the large, almost scenic, decaying log was a massive, flaming crater that attested to the power of the device. Leaves that had been knocked off their branches fluttered daintily to the ground. The sheer destructive power of that tiny round object left Slasher in an awed stupor.
Suddenly, something moving beyond the blazing crater broke Slasher's concentration. A dark silhouette just beyond the flames and smoke walked towards them, through the flames and smoke, and moved without the slightest signs of the fire or smoke bothering it whatever so ever. What emerged from the haze and smoke made Slasher's jaw drop.
Slasher was barely audible, shocked by the figure that emerged from the flames. "Impossible…!"
End Ch 11
On no! what could it be, will our hero's be able to fight off Scratch and Grounder, and who is this new combatant? (As if you can't guess) maybe its time I stopped talking and perhaps write the next chapter already? Well, everything takes time to sit tight you'll be seeing lots of action soon so don't even think of changing stories now, we're just getting to the good stuff! Especially since you just sat though all the more boring chapters.
