Chapter 06: Braving the Conquering Storm

Sapphire Corridor, Corundum Nebula, Lapis System

The Freedom Fighters' starfighters exited hyperspace outside a large nebula on both sides of their path. The Salvation, Andromeda, and the captured freighter exited soon after.

"Welcome to the Lapis System, home of our peoples' third colony world, Sapphyrus," said Jericho.

"Now that's a thing of beauty," said Sonic.

"What could possibly be beautiful about zis…junkyard of a path?" said Antoine.

"Can it, Antoine! You're ruining my mood!" said Sonic.

"He…does have a point, Sonic. What's beautiful about all this junk floating around?" said Knuckles.

"That nebula. It's as blue as me," said Sonic.

Sally rolled her eyes.

"We're preparing to enter the Sapphire Corridor. It's the best path through the nebula without risking a crash. But it goes by another name it earned in the Clone Wars; Derecho Alley," said Jericho.

"For the starfighters we were using in ze days of old?" said Antoine.

"Yep," said Jericho.

"I remember reading about the Battle of Sapphyrus during the Clone Wars. Lot of engagements in this sector when the Separatists occupied the planet," said Sally.

"Why go through here? Can't we just go straight through the nebula?" said Tails.

"That nebula is dangerous enough as it is. It messes with sensors and there's so much ionized gasses and asteroids in there, large ships steer clear of it. It's hard enough to navigate in a smaller ship," said Jericho.

"That makes sense, better this way than through the nebula," said Sally.

"We're gonna run on sublight power for the rest of the way to Sapphyrus, debris makes Hyperspace travel too dangerous," said Jericho.

"You guys know where we're going. Lead the way," said Sally.

"Aw man…I hate going this slow. Boring," said Sonic.

"Sonic, if you're not gonna contribute anything useful, then please spare us your complaining," said Sally.

"Hmph."

Raiju Clan Fortress, Dragon Kingdom of Chun-nan, Mobius

Imperial Troops were amassing within the fortress' walls, as Landing Craft and other shuttles delivered more troops and equipment. Atop the main tower of the fortress, a female Mobian lynx, the Bride of Conquering Storm was watching over the effort, but her face reeked with contempt.

"Hmph. Imperial scum, defiling our sacred lands! They think they can reach the Shijin Warriors before I can? Raiju Clan!"

The ninjas bowed.

"Yes, master?"

"I want you all to find the Shijin Warriors before the Imperials do. I want them, dead or alive! Do you understand?"

"Yes, master."

"Then move!"

"What of the Imperials? What if they find and capture them first?"

"Then you'd better make sure that you find them first. Surely you remember what happens to those who disappoint me," said the Bride of Conquering Storm.

The ninjas looked nervously at one another as another rushed in.

"Now go! Get out of my sight! What do you want?!"

"Sorry, master…but the Bride of Constant Vigil to see you. She is unarmed and alone," said the ninja.

The Bride of Conquering Storm shrugged.

"Bring her here, then."

Soon, the Bride of Constant Vigil, a female purple Mobian chameleon, walked calmly into the room, where the Bride of Conquering Storm gave a venomous stare.

"You have gall coming here," said the Bride of Conquering Storm.

"I see the off-worlders have not dulled your sense of honor," said the Bride of Constant Vigil.

"Is that what you call it? You forget that *I* am the Bride here, not you!"

"That may be so. But I've come to ask that if you succeed in capturing the Shijin Warriors, in the name of honor, you will not summarily execute them. Do not let these off-worlders smear our traditions."

"I will decide their fate! Don't tell me how to uphold our traditions! If they must be executed, then I will order their execution!"

"Do I have a word of honor? Or has your alliance with Dr. Robotnik blinded you?"

"The real question is...do you think you're in a position to negotiate with me now?"

"I could do so without any violence upon our sacred shrines. But you are correct when you say I am in no position to contest you."

The Bride of Conquering Storm glared into the other's eyes but did not lay a hand on the Bride of Constant Vigil.

"I will protect our land from these off-worlders, but they have agreed to snuff out the last of our enemies, if not any resistance. After today, no one will dare to challenge us! Robotnik has promised us that!"

"You keep telling yourself whatever helps you justify it. I will take my leave."

The Bride of Constant Vigil then left the fortress, not making eye contact with anyone as she walked out.

"Raiju Clan."

"Yes, master?"

"I want you to keep an eye on her. I don't trust her nor the other houses," said Conquering Storm.

"Yes, Master," said the Ninjas.

Outside the fortress, the Bride of Constant Vigil walked down the path, but soon, several more Mobian Chameleons revealed themselves. Without even looking at them, the Bride spoke.

"Shadow the Shijin Warriors...discreetly."

"What if we encounter resistance? Especially from the Raiju Clan?"

"Remember your training, and we will survive this," said the Bride of Constant Vigil.

"Yes, master."

Near the Shijin Temple, Dragon Kingdom of Chun-nan, Mobius

Meanwhile, outside the Fortress, atop an old bell tower, we see a white female Mobian Tiger with a pair of macrobinoculars, observing all the activity going on within the fortress.

"This is even worse...than what we've heard…"

She then rappelled down from the tower and started running down a stone path. Eventually she reached a set of steps, and hustled up them, until eventually reaching a temple. Soon, she met with a female Mobian Dragon.

"What's going on out there, Jian?"

"The Imperial Military is setting up camp in the Raiju Fortress. Lots of soldiers, walkers, and mobile artillery."

"Oh boy...Are you sure? How many are 'lots'?"

"Enough to take down all four houses and still have room for the rest of the entire kingdom, Dulcy."

"Oh no... Let's gather the others & tell them what we need to do. Quickly."

Inside the shrine, a female Mobian turtle and a female Mobian Pheasant were meditating, but the latter was looking like she was trying not to fall asleep in the process.

"The cold Chi is getting closer…"

"I think I'm about to sneeze..."

"Bunker, Cinder, I hate to be blunt, but...it's time," said Dulcy.

"Yeah, we gotta clear out," said Jian.

"Is it time?" said Cinder.

"Jian just reported that there's an army out there that outnumbers us 100 to 1, and they're definitely the people she told us about," said Dulcy.

Did I say that? More like a thousand to one," said Jian.

"...Now you see why we need to leave? If we stay, it's likely we'll end up in a prison...or worse…"

"Be executed by the Raiju, which almost seems merciful compared to what these off-worlders will do to us," said Bunker.

"So take only what you gotta. We gotta travel light. I hope you gotta plan of somewhere to hide out, Dulcy," Jian said.

"Actually, we do have a place to go. That's the good news. But the bad news is, getting there won't be easy."

"What is it?" said Bunker.

"Oh, are we gonna travel? I get the window seat!" said Cinder.

"Sally had a contingency in place should Knothole & other Freedom Fighter hideouts be compromised. There's a hideout in Robotropolis that we built as a safehouse, I remember, because we built it during my time with the Knothole group. I've arranged for a transport shuttle to pick us up from the fishing village at the bottom of the mountain," said Dulcy.

"Wait...we gotta go into Robotropolis?"

"We have to, Jian; it's our best chance, if not our only one," said Dulcy.

"I heard Robotropolis is scary..." said Cinder.

"It is, Cindy, but we don't have a choice," said Dulcy.

"I hope your years over there will help us," said Jian.

Bunker than felt a cold chill down her spine.

"The cold Chi is growing colder. They're almost here! We need to leave!" she said.

"Are you sure of that?" said Jian.

They then heard several small explosions, & suddenly they saw blaster fire and throwing stars striking several areas nearby. Several smoke bombs were thrown into their home.

"AMBUSH!" said Dulcy.

Jian engaged the ninjas, stabbing one with her tail dagger, while shooting a few with her blaster pistols. Dulcy dusted off her clothes & body & saw a familiar face approaching them through the door, with several Raiju Clan Ninjas following.

"The Shijin Warriors. Time to meet your doom! Savor your pathetic lives...while you still can," said the Bride of Conquering Storm.

"You think we, let alone I, are gonna give up so easily, Connie?" said Dulcy.

"How DARE you insult my presence!"

"You hate off-worlders, yet you side with them just to get to us. Talk about hypocritical."

"You won't be able to accuse one of hypocrisy if you're dead!"

"Bring it, Connie."

The Shijin Warriors and Raiju Ninjas promptly engaged each other in combat.

"The Dragon is mine!" said the Bride of Conquering Storm.

Dulcy, grabbing a sword nearby, assumed a defensive stance.

"You want me? Come & get me!"

Dulcy and the Bride got into a fight as their forces fought on. They exchanged blows with their blades, sparks flying as metal met metal. The Bride slashed at Dulcy, grazing her torso, but Dulcy simply swiped at the Bride's own torso. The Bride & Dulcy engaged in a blade lock, gnashing their teeth.

"You have interfered with my plans for the last time!" said the Bride.

"Your plans? Those involve oppressing the good people of this kingdom?" said Dulcy.

"The Clans must be united by a strong leader!"

"By who? An outsider like Robotnik?"

"He gave us strength!"

"At the cost of your honor!

RRRARRGGGH!

Enraged, she pushed Dulcy & tried to slash but Dulcy blocked it, barely before it reached her neck. The Bride then did a sweeping kick to knock Dulcy down and held her under her foot and put her blade in Dulcy's face. The rest of the Shijin Warriors were surrounded by Raiju Ninjas.

"Surrender and swear fealty & I might let you live long enough to be my servant."

Dulcy glared defiantly at the Bride, but suddenly, the room shook violently. The Bride was almost thrown off balance.

"What-?!"

"They're firing artillery at us!" said one of the ninjas.

"It's not them, you idiots, it's the Imperials! Not that they know we're here, you know! Get out of here! Kill them-WHAT?! THEY'RE GONE!"

Sure enough, during the confusion from the Imperials' artillery barrage, the Shijin Warriors were gone like smoke. As soon as the Artillery stopped, Imperial Stormtroopers stormed the temple, seeing the dead ninjas all around. They also saw the Bride, clutching her earlier wound from her fight with Dulcy.

"You showed up late, they escaped and killed my best men in the process!" said the Bride.

The Stormtroopers looked all around the shrine.

"There's no trace of them, sir," said one of the Stormtroopers.

"They escaped here," said a Death Trooper.

The Death Trooper tapped the floor he was standing on and pulled open a secret trapdoor.

"Entrance to secret tunnel," said a ShadowBot.

"Conduct a scan of this mountain," said the Death Trooper.

Dulcy and the Shijin Warriors crawled through the small tunnel, with only boards for a floor and the scratchiness of the rocky walls against their sides, with only a lantern for light. They held each other's tails to ensure they didn't get separated.

"Next time we dig a tunnel, make it wider so we don't scratch up our arms here," said Jian.

"Well, it's a lot better than no tunnel at all, right?" said Dulcy.

"The cold Chi is still close," said Bunker.

"Where did you find her? Oh, wait...don't answer that," said Jian.

"We're almost to the end, once there, it's all downhill from there," said Dulcy.

"Yay! We can get out of the dark!" said Cinder.

They eventually reached the end of the tunnel, where Dulcy opened a small door, revealing a blinding light from outside, but their eyes slowly adjusted, but when they crawled out, several Stormtroopers emerged from the trees and trained their blaster rifles on them.

"Well…shoot," said Dulcy.

"On the ground, Rebel Scum!"

Dulcy took a slow, deep breath, but before she could do anything, one trooper was struck dead by a throwing star.

"What the—ACK!"

Another trooper then went down by a throwing star.

What's going-ACKKK!"

Dulcy developed a smug grin on her face as the Stormtroopers went down one by one. She then saw in one of the trees, one of the chameleon members of the Shinobi clan faintly reveal himself to Dulcy and gave an acknowledging nod before disappearing again.

"Here's our chance! Let's move! Quickly!" said Dulcy.

"We have silent guardians, yay!" said Cinder

"The cold Chi is slowly getting warmer. There is still hope."

"C'mon, the road to the fishing village shouldn't be far," said Dulcy.

The Shijin Warriors headed towards the nearby road down the mountain.

At the tunnel exit, Imperial reinforcements surveyed the scene, as a Death Trooper removed a throwing star from the neck of a dead Stormtrooper.

"How did this happen?"

"Massive amount of casualties. Cause of death: ninja throwing stars, unknown origin," said a Shadowbot.

Nearby, the Bride of Conquering Storm was having her wounds tended to by another ninja.

"Master, you know we cannot definitively prove it was the Shinobi," said a ninja.

"And why can't we? It's obviously them!" said the Bride.

"Word of honor, master, we swore to honor the rules of combat here," said a ninja.

"If the off-worlders find out, they will kill us & the other Brides if they find out. And all our traditions will be destroyed. It's all we have left," said another ninja.

The Bride simply snarled indignantly.

The Shijin Warriors were walking down the road as the fishing village came into view ahead.

"I've heard the stories...but the Empire's brutality far outweighs Robotnik's," said Jian.

"Just what is the Empire capable of? How much worse are they than Robotnik?" said Dulcy.

"Lead by a being... cold Chi...pure evil... elsewhere...elusive," said Bunker.

"... That quote sounds familiar, for some reason," said Dulcy.

"It is true. The Empire is capable of many terrible things; they have many resources at their disposal, resources that even Robotnik couldn't get," said Bunker.

"Scary stuff?" said Cinder.

"Yeah. They have the largest military in the whole galaxy. That was only a small fraction,"

"Back there….is it just me or has the Bride of Conquering Storm got a bit more bloodthirsty?" said Dulcy.

"She has been consumed by the cold Chi; she is determined to uphold her own honor. She must despise the Empire if she tried to get us ahead of them, it's a miracle she still follows word of honor," said Bunker.

"Ah, there it is! Our transport! An air shuttle from the city!" said Dulcy.

"I hope our friends from Knothole are okay..." said Jian

"I hope so; that blackout was so sudden, I just hope they managed to escape. With luck, they're probably all waiting for us at that hideout as we speak. If not them, other Freedom Fighters," said Dulcy.

The shuttle pilot soon approached the Shijin Warriors.

"About time you showed up. You look like you just got out of a warzone,"

"We did. They arrived shortly after I sent the message," said Dulcy.

"Was expecting more luggage from you," said the pilot.

"What you see is all we have left. Now, is the shuttle ready for the trip to Robotropolis?" said Dulcy.

"They increased security recently but I think we can get there without any hiccups. It won't be a smooth ride but I think we'll be fine," said the pilot.

Dulcy turned around, and she saw a red female Mobian fox approaching them, waving.

"You're all safe! Thank goodness!"

"Li Moon! I almost thought you were gone! Where's your grandfather?" said Dulcy.

"My grandfather is not coming…"

"What? Oh no...you don't mean...?"

"The Raiju came by our village last night, they demanded he give you up...when he refused, some Imperial soldier in black armor shot him on the spot..."

"The Empire," said Dulcy.

"There was a black SWAT Bot variant too…"

"ShadowBots too? They executed him? Just like that?!"

Li Moon nodded and sniffed.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Li Moon...we should've been there…"

"But it's lucky they didn't get these…"

Li Moon pulled out a few small cards.

"Transit cards! At least these are safe," said Dulcy.

But where is Monkey Khan? Surely he would've helped to fight against the Imperials," said Bunker.

Li Moon lowered her head.

"They got him."

"What?! How?!" said Dulcy.

"I don't sense his Chi anywhere...it's cold...like death."

"The Imperials….they ambushed him and overpowered him….but they didn't kill him. I saw them load him up onto a transport,"

"But...'cold like death?' I don't...Ohhhh. Oh no. It's worse than death, is it?" said Dulcy.

Jian then saw a few Imperials and SWAT Bots down the street.

"Last call. We leaving or not? Li Moon?" she said.

I'm better off with you than here…" said Li Moon.

"It'll be alright. Your grandfather will rest easily when the Empire is defeated. Now let's get on board & get out of here," said Dulcy.

Everyone quickly boarded the shuttle and as soon as they were seated, their pilot took the controls and the shuttle departed for Robotropolis.