Don't own Sonic etc, Sabre and Bingo are mine; Mars is currently nobody's property.
Bingo explained the situation while Sonic, Sabre and the rest listened while putting on their colour-coded Mars suits.
"Basically, it's a free-for-all revolution with the prize being the entire planet, and its moons. It started with a lot of people sick of the colonial rule- can't blame them, really- and now there's several groups who all want the planet for themselves. The goons we just beat belonged to the Ares League. I was sent by G.U.N. when things first started to get dangerous."
"Let me guess," ventured Sabre. "The government pencil-pushers want things exactly back to how they were, no rebellion, no independent Mars, no problems with relations and labour unions and such. So they sent you in, hoping you would do your one-man-army thing just for them."
"Bingo," said Bingo, smiling. "Too bad I only do my one-man-army thing when ordered specifically not to, eh?"
Sabre laughed. "You haven't changed a bit."
Shadow, having finished putting on his suit his only the helmet to go, walked up. "But this revolution… it's none of our business, really. I only came here to find Maria."
"Hey, wherever there's oppression, fear, ignorance and despair, it's my business to come and get rid of it all!" said Sabre.
"Same here!" said Sonic. "Didn't Maria herself say, 'Bring hope to humanity'?"
Shadow looked around, and then shook his head, but smiled. "Everyone around me wants to be a hero. All right… but who are we supposed to fight for? You said all the groups just want the planet for themselves…"
"I think our best choice of action is to get all the leaders together to talk it over, by force if necessary, which it probably will be. They could all be united by their plans of independence and their hate for the marshals." said Bingo. "And, if my guesses are correct, someone probably already found Maria and has her capsule in storage somewhere."
"Then we'd better start looking!" said Sonic.
"Good idea," said Sabre, "But we've got a lot of ground to cover. I suggest we split up, stick with who you fight best with. I'm with Wildkid and Teepo."
Sabre's friends ran over to him. "All right then," said Sonic, "Tails and Knuckles are with me."
"I'm going with Cream." said Amy.
"I'll stick with Shadow." said Rouge.
"All right…" said Bingo. "Four teams of three. I'll go with Shadow and Rouge, I owe it to him- if that's all right with you?"
"Fine." said Shadow.
But then Sonic looked at Amy. "But Amy… she only has Cream, and no offence but Cheese hardly counts. Big isn't here…"
Cream and Cheese looked at each other while Amy said "We can handle anything by ourselves!"
"I don't think we could have fit the cat in the ship if we tried." said Sabre.
"This is hostile territory, I'm not about to let two young females go around unguarded, even if they're with Sonic… I know!" said Bingo.
The agent pulled out his communicator and patched in his mission partner.
A few minutes later, the crew were requisitioning transport.
Now, Mars just isn't compatible with your conventional Earth vehicles- cars, all-terrain vehicles, and aircraft and such- due to many factors, including the dangerous weather, uneven ground, different gravity and atmosphere and such. But colonists need transport more than anyone. To solve this, special vehicle types were designed and built that would move far more easily around the planet- first on Earth and airdropped near the colonies, then later constructed on Mars itself. The Martian vehicles are roughly based on recognisable Earth designs, but with different materials and builds many vehicles have a tough, outlandish look that Martians just love. All are usually grey or white- paint is worn off overnight by the harsh conditions.
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were content to run to wherever they would go- no vehicle yet made could overtake them, on any surface. Most of the others were not as gifted, and commandeered various vehicles from the dome garage.
Sabre's eyes lit up when he saw the large Mars ATV that looked unlike any vehicle known. Made of mostly a large, curved rollbar, six large wheels and an open cockpit with space for one pilot and two passengers, it perfectly suited his needs. Sabre leapt in and gunned the engine, his buddies jumping in the back seat, and did a 'Martian Wheelie' lifting the front wheels off the ground as he roared off.
Shadow was designed partly for space exploration, and had no problem navigating through the rocky desert, but his companions were another story. Rouge was unable to fly due to the Mars suit she was wearing- although it was custom made and state-of-the-art, most suits were suited mostly for humanoids without additional powers. Bingo solved this by hotwiring a Martian three-wheeler motorcycle, and Rouge hopped on the back and held on for dear life as Bingo roared off after the dark hedgehog disappearing over the horizon.
That left Amy, Cream and Cheese- and their new companion. Bingo had called in his mission partner, a young female rookie by the codename of Scratch. "Well all right you two- uh, three." said the female agent. "We'd better get some transport of our own."
"All right!" said Amy, taking command of the situation. "We'll take…" Amy pointed over the several remaining vehicles. "That one!"
Amy's finger had landed on a heavy enclosed rover resembling a small tank, or the experimental Batmobile. "Uh… looks like a good choice." said Scratch, running after the others over to the rover. They managed to damage several other vehicles while trying to figure out the controls to get out of the garage.
"Isn't this stealing?" asked Cream as they drove off.
"After what they put us through, I think those creeps owe us this ride!" said Amy.
"Most vehicles on Mars are classified as public property anyway." said Scratch, clearing up the matter.
Team Sonic bolted across the landscape of Mars, leaving a trail of dust in their wake. This was their element- an open plain, a crazy landscape, a quest to follow and a damsel in distress to save. Their Mars suits, acquired by Sabre by means they cared not to know, were very ergonomic and allowed them to use most of their latent abilities unimpeded. The lower gravity and different atmosphere also allowed the team to do things they wouldn't normally have dreamed they could do- super-high speeds, literally gravity-defying aerial tricks and pulling suicidal moves on the mountains, rock formations, valleys and canyons that make Devil's Canyon look like a sandpit. Sabre had briefed them on the basics of Mars travel- they had three day's worth of oxygen, refillable usually for free at any colony, watch for the weather- if they feel so much as a gust of wind, get the hell to shelter- and stay relatively close to an oxygenated settlement. The rule of 3s applied double on this planet- 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water or 3 weeks without food means death. That just added to the risk, and the risk just added to the fun.
They were so absorbed in the thrill that they did not notice the hover-probe chasing after them, tracking their movements.
A similar probe had locked on to Amy and the other girls in their rover, though not the other two teams. Ironically, they had chosen the two teams who were not heading anywhere in particular, just following the winds or 'women's intuition'. The crews navigated by Sabre and Bingo, on the other hand, had access to maps and knew where they were going, which happened to be the same place.
The large colony of Carabineer Hills, headquarters to the Sons of the Dust.
Ah, I just gotta luuurve those Mars wheels. Anyone with an artist's impression of the various vehicles, feel free to draw them and email 'em to me!
Like my fanchars? Sabre is, of course, my own avatar who weaves in and out of various stories, but Bingo is another matter…I gotta write more fics about this intriguing secret agent. Let me just tell you one thing- if you hadn't figured it out, Bingo and his team members are all named after gambling games, and have signature logos and combat styles to match. Scratch of course means Scratchies (or Scratchers as you call them in America) for one. I actually got the inspiration for Agent Bingo when I was playing Bingo Highway in Sonic Heroes! Want to know other character names? Think casino.
Hah, Word's asking me if I want to display a map to Bingo Highway. There it goes again! The world's gone nuts, and other worlds will soon follow. R&R, people!