Chapter 11: Friends
It was another day for the citizens of Robotropolis, as they went about their day with the sight of Imperial and Robotnik forces watching over their every move, and the rain pounding them. Robotnik's voice soon broadcast over the city's PA system.
"Citizens of Robotropolis: The Military Forces of the Galactic Empire have arrived for your own protection. You will provide them with whatever they need to accomplish their objectives of hunting down and eliminating the terrorist 'Freedom Fighters' that plague our fair planet. Failure to assist will be considered treasonous."
A gray female Mobian lemur had scoffed at the PA announcement as she walked through the marketplace.
"Yeah, right. Like that's true. Just keep it together, Tangle, remember what you were taught..."
Looking around, she saw there wasn't much that appeared appetizing for her. She walked up to a walk-up cafe and sat down.
"What can I get you, miss?"
"A friend of mine suggested the Chun-nan imported noodle dish. He says it's a real sleeper," said Tangle.
"Comin' right up."
Tangle looked around, observing the citizens go about their daily routine, all she could hear was the usual sales pitching by the merchants. She then pulled out her datapad, and started checking it, namely her emails and other messages, but saw there was nothing new, and the news was all the usual Imperial-biased propaganda. Soon, a bowl of noodle soup was placed in front of her, and Tangle placed her datapad down and placed a few credits on the counter, which were taken by the server. Tangle started eating her food, it was still a bit hot, but it definitely had better taste than the other stuff that was being sold.
"You know, I've only sold that dish once before you today, almost nobody is even remotely aware of this import, you know," said the server.
"Really?" said Tangle.
"Yes, I could've sworn I saw a familiar face order it earlier today. One I haven't seen in over a year," said the server.
"What did she look like?" said Tangle.
"Dragon, looked like she'd just flown in, said she missed this place," said the server.
"I think I know who you're talking about, friend of a friend from outta town, maybe I'll run into her," said Tangle.
"I think so," said the server.
"Thanks for that," said Tangle.
As Tangle continued eating, she saw an Imperial Officer and several Stormtroopers arguing with a fruit vendor at the edge of her sight line.
"But, but I've already paid my vendor fees!"
"Your products lack the proper tax stamps, they're only local tax stamps," said the officer.
"But that means I'll be making less!"
"That's of no concern to us, if you fail to place the proper tax stamps, then we can strip your distribution licensing and arrest you for tax evasion, and confiscate your goods," said the officer.
"Please! I have a family!"
"Then you should consider their wellbeing in this case," said the officer.
Tangle felt disgust at what was going on, but she then saw a few hands grabbing a few of the fruits from behind the shelf. She quickly finished the last of her food and got up to go check it out. She stepped in some refuse, getting it all over her shoe, and she gagged at the stink.
"Ugh...disgusting," said Tangle.
She rubbed her shoe against the surface of the sidewalk as she saw what appeared to be a small girl running across the street towards an alley.
"Probably an urchin, I should at least try to keep her out of trouble…"
Tangle followed the girl into the alleyway, and slowly walked through until she felt the barrel of a blaster to her head.
"Hold it."
Tangle saw a white female Mobian Tiger to her left, holding the blaster. The girl took Tangle's blaster out of its holster and Tangle held her hands up, trying to keep calm.
"Easy there, I just was following a girl who took some fruit from that vendor, that guy was being shaken down, I didn't think that was…"
"Right, and I'm a-"
"Stop! There's no need for that, Jian. She's definitely one of ours."
Tangle turned around, and saw the girl she saw earlier, with a female Mobian dragon and a female Mobian tortoise, as well as a female Mobian fox.
"Dulcy? Is that really you?"
"Wait, you know this girl?" said Jian.
"Course I do, she's Sonic's prospect, Tangle," said Dulcy.
Tangle was excited at the sight of Dulcy.
"Aw, man, am I glad to see you! That guy at the cafe said he saw someone like you. I remembered Sonic said you were the one to suggest that noodle dish," said Tangle.
"Heh, always good to have something that reminds you of home. Glad to see you're still in one piece, kid," said Dulcy.
"I'll say," said Tangle.
"Anyway, that's Jian, she's the one who gave you the warm welcome. And this is Cinder, Bunker, and Li Moon," said Dulcy.
"Tangle the Lemur, I take it you're all Dulcy's team?" said Tangle.
"Oh, yes! Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi!" said Cinder.
"I can see good chi emanating from within, it's good to know we have an ally here in the city, especially one trained by Sonic," said Bunker.
"Hi," said Li Moon.
"Yep. Introductions are all well and good, but what are you guys doing here? No, wait, lemme guess...Empire chased you out of Chun-nan, right?" said Tangle.
"Yep, we just arrived in town, hadn't had a bite to eat since we left," said Dulcy.
"Dulcy is taking us somewhere safe, prospect," said Jian.
"Good luck with that, nowhere is safe with the Empire running the streets now," said Tangle.
"Don't worry about it. As Sally would say, 'I have the old plan.' We're going to the junkyard," said Dulcy.
"The one by the river?" said Tangle.
"Yep. Can you accompany us? We could use someone with a more...up-to-date knowledge on Imperial activity in the city," said Dulcy.
"Sure thing! Ever since...Knothole went dark, I've been doing what I was told to do, keep an eye on things, be ready to help out. I know where all the checkpoints are between here and there. Follow me, but stay close. And don't start something, there are troops and droids everywhere, they'll be on top of us in minutes," said Tangle.
Tangle saw Jian hand back her blaster, and Tangle took it back as she turned back towards where she came and looked around. She saw the Imperial patrol from earlier had moved on. She then gestured the Shijin Warriors to follow her onto the street. They walked down the street, blending into the crowd as best they could.
"I had heard this place used to be a beautiful city...this is nothing like the stories," said Li Moon.
"Yep. Hard to believe this was once a shining city. Sally and the others told me all about this city when they were kids. It was a nice place then, until Robotnik happened. Now it's more dirty than the junkyards," said Dulcy.
"Follow me, we'll cross the 4th Citadel Main Street and hopefully cut past the spaceport, we can avoid the Citadel grounds. We don't wanna be near the Citadel, they got patrols so concentrated around that place, even the traffic jams are organized," said Tangle.
"That big giant tower over there?" said Cinder.
They all glanced at the massive dark tower that seemed to pierce the sky above.
"Yep. Sad, too. It was supposed to be a symbol of peace. It was to show our achievements with the Old Republic, that is, until the Empire and Robotnik took over and they finished it. Now it's hard for even Sally to look at," said Dulcy.
"Okay, this way is good. Let's go," said Tangle.
The group crossed the street as they looked both ways at the checkpoints in both directions. Bunker observed the many pedestrians walking the streets.
"They all appear so rugged. The chi here is...faint."
"Yeah, they're miserable." said Jian.
"'Miserable' is putting it lightly. Here, we're gonna pass by the planetary transport docks," said Tangle.
They passed by a few buildings before reaching the docks, as they heard the PA again.
"This is a friendly reminder to all citizens of Robotropolis that the walls of the Citadel Tower are off-limits to anyone. Do not attempt to approach the wall or respective entrances. Failure to comply will be met with force."
Tangle and the Shijin Warriors simply rolled their eyes at the sound of Robotnik's voice. They rounded a corner and they passed by a cargo loading area, where they overheard two transport pilots appearing to be arguing with an officer.
"The droids say you're a few pounds light on your containers."
"That's not right! The containers were within assured weight on the register!"
"Foodstuff is easy to sneak off, but within a single pound? You two have either been stealing or you've been indulging yourselves. Please report to personnel management for reassignment."
"But, sir-"
"Do I need to report you two to Dr. Robotnik and the Admiral?"
"No, sir."
"Then get going, then."
"Yes, sir."
"Carry on."
Tangle and the Shijin Warriors were walking by and Tangle turned a corner before slamming into someone.
"OW!"
"OW!"
"Hey, watch it, will you? I could've heard you coming a mile away!"
"Sorry," said Tangle.
Tangle saw three Mobians, the one she hit was a female Mobian Fennec Fox, the others were male, a Mobian Porcupine, and a Mobian Mole. The Porcupine took a look at them, and seemed curious when he saw Dulcy.
"Hey, have we met before?"
Dulcy looked at the Porcupine, she was sure they had.
"I believe so. Spike, right? Desert Raiders?"
Spike's eyes widened.
"Yeah, now I remember! Dulcy, right? From the Shijin Warriors?!"
"Shhh! Geeze, you trying to get us killed here?" said Jian.
"Sorry," said Spike.
"Yeah, I remember you too, now. We met once before during meets with Sally! Good to see you guys made it. Everyone, this is Spike, he's the leader of the Desert Raiders Freedom Fighters from Shamar. Spike, this is my team, Jian, Cinder, Bunker, and Li Moon. And that's Tangle, one of Sonic's proteges," said Dulcy.
"Great to meet you all! This is my team, Sonar and Trevor Burrow!"
"Yeah! Glad to see you all made it here," said Sonar.
"Likewise," said Bunker.
"I guess we're all heading in the same direction, right?" Spike said.
"You betcha. Tangle knows the way there, and where the Imperials are most concentrated," said Dulcy.
"Yeah, it's a little further, but we'd better move fast, we don't wanna be out on the streets after dark, curfew goes into effect," said Tangle.
"Let's keep moving, then," said Jian.
The group continued on their way, crossing alleyways, streets, and listening to another PA announcements.
"Curfew is strictly enforced by Droid Security and Imperial Forces. Being out during curfew hours will be considered an act of subterfuge and anyone caught will be summarily detained and imprisoned."
"That's a cliche," said Trevor.
"Yeah...whatever that means," said Cinder.
"Coming up on 3rd Citadel Main...wait! Get back! Stay out of sight!" said Tangle.
"What? Why?" said Bunker.
"I hear something too! Down!" said Sonar.
They all crouched down as the sound of marching became clearer. Soon, they saw a group of SWAT Bots escorting a group of what appeared to be droids. But upon closer inspection, they almost looked like people.
"Those droids look...really strange," said Cinder.
"Those aren't droids, Cindy. Those used to people," said Dulcy.
"What?" said Cinder.
Tangle nodded.
"Yeah, 'used to' be people. Until Robotnik fed them to his Roboticizer and turned them into droid slaves to work in his factories and mines. Don't let 'em fool you, kid. They may look like someone you know on the outside, but on the inside…"
"They mindlessly serve him as though he was some sort of deity," said Bunker.
"Yeah, I can't even begin to imagine how many more people we know may be amongst them after the last few weeks," said Spike.
"Yeah," said Sonar.
The column of Robians made their way down the street, and when they finally passed, Tangle looked out and scanned both directions.
"Okay, we're good. Let's move."
The group made their way across the street and onto the other side.
"Junkyard isn't much further now, we'll be there soon. We just gotta cut through the slums," said Tangle.
"Great. Lead the way," said Dulcy.
They continued down through the slums, which were becoming less populated with foot traffic due to the impending curfew. Sonar then heard something.
"I hear something, maybe it's...a scout walker?"
Dulcy flew up into the air for a better look, and she looked around, spotting an AT-ST's head sticking out from behind a building.
"She's right! Find some cover, fast!" said Dulcy.
Dulcy landed on the ledge of a building and hugged the side of it to hide, while everyone else scattered behind any cover they could think of. The AT-ST turned the corner and walked slowly past them. The Freedom Fighters then slowly snuck around the corner as Dulcy flew up into the air and looked around for a bit. She then flew back down and spoke.
"Okay, these guys are all over this place. We need some cover."
"Not a lot of cover in these streets," said Tangle.
"There's a lot of troop carriers and walkers patrolling these streets, so we gotta stay off 'em," said Dulcy.
"Not to mention those hover units sweeping the rooftops," said Tangle.
"Hold on! I hear footsteps coming from the alley," said Sonar.
"Imperials?" said Bunker.
"Can't tell…" said Sonar.
"Get ready," said Jian.
The group slowly pulled their blasters and took aim at the dark alleyway as they heard footsteps approach, and then a can fell onto the alley's ground.
"Who's back there? Show yourselves!" said Dulcy.
"Wait, Dulcy? Is that you? I'm coming out! Don't shoot!"
Soon, a male Mobian wolf appeared from around the corner with his hands in the air.
"Guntiver? Take it easy, guys, he's the leader of the Arctic Freedom Fighters," said Dulcy.
"Ha, I knew it was you, Dulcy! Come out, guys! More Freedom Fighters are here!" said Guntiver.
The rest of the Arctic Freedom Fighters came from out of the shadows, excited to see their allies.
"All right!" said Flip.
"Magnifique!" said Sealia.
"Yeah, what she said," said Augustus.
"Indeed," said Erma.
The Freedom Fighters exchanged hugs and greetings with each other as they took cover back in the alleyway.
"Any word on the other Freedom Fighter groups?" said Guntiver.
"Not yet, but we're going the same way you guys are, I believe," said Dulcy.
"You betcha!" said Guntiver.
"But man, this place is hot...and it stinks!" said Flip.
"You're telling me, definitely gone are the days when you could see the moon clearly," said Jian.
"Yeah, nothing but smelly water and sludgy streets," said Cinder.
"Reunion's all well and good, but we still got problems, namely, the Empire," said Erma.
"Which brings me to this; we were doing some reconnaissance to plan our route, it seems the road leading to the junkyard has a checkpoint in place," said Guntiver.
"Probably getting ready for curfew soon," said Tangle.
"Is there a way around it?" said Spike.
"Nothing that will get us there any faster, the other ways though are either blocked by force-fields or roadblocks," said Augustus.
"Oui, and we do not have ze time nor luxury to be taking alternatives," said Sealia.
"No way we're fighting through there, that'll draw too much attention, and likely get us killed in the process," said Dulcy.
"So what are we gonna do now?" said Cinder.
"There may be a way to do this that'll get their attention," said Guntiver.
"Like what?" said Spike.
"We talked to some of the locals, and they say the Empire has really been cracking down on this sector. If there was something going on, they'd be on the scene quickly," said Erma.
"What did you guys have in mind?" said Sonar.
"There's an empty apartment tower a few blocks over. Maybe if we could...light it up? That would make them have a bigger problem to deal with than a few fugitives," said Flip.
"That's a bit of a risk, you know we can't risk the civilians," said Dulcy.
"Most of these buildings are empty anyway, and this building is isolated from the others. We did a sweep of it, nobody appears to be living there, and maybe some of you could go around and make sure any of the neighbors get out of harm's way," said Guntiver.
"And there's no other way?" said Bunker.
"Unless you guys brought some missile launchers with you," said Augustus.
"Besides, the locals say these buildings are in bad shape anyway. The Empire won't look too closely at this," said Guntiver.
"Best to overheat the power couplings. That way you won't need accelerant. Won't cause too big a fire, at least it'll be controlled. I just learned a bit of demolition tricks from my time in the Shamar Chapter," said Jian.
"Good idea, Jian. In the meantime, Spike, take a few and warn some of the locals. Given how the Empire has been treating them, I think they'll be glad to allow us to do this," said Dulcy.
"Sure, Dulcy. But let's move fast before the patrols come back," said Spike.
The Shijin Warriors and Arctic Freedom Fighters made their way towards the abandoned apartment tower, while the Desert Raiders and Tangle spread out to some of the occupied buildings to warn people to stay clear. The rest entered the building, and Jian directed them towards several boxes on the walls.
"Power regulators. Disable them and raise the flow of power, that'll overheat the couplings on the floors above," said Jian.
"Right," said Augustus.
Augustus and Sealia approached one of the regulators. Sealia reached in and turned a switch, setting the power level higher. Augustus, using a piece of pipe, swung at the regulator and hit it, and then again, and then again, damaging it, which in turn, disabled it. Jian and Bunker approached another one, and did the same, only Jian used the blade at the tip of her tail to stab the regulator, causing it to short out and fail. The others were doing the same to the various regulators on the ground floor and basement.
"...and you better not look at it, okay?"
Tangle was just finishing up warning a mother and her children of the impending action. She then reached into her pocket and handed the mother a few credits.
"Here. Compliments," said Tangle.
"Thank you, miss. Bless you."
"No prob, ma'am."
Tangle left the door and walked back as Spike, Sonar, and Trevor Burrow rejoined her. Soon, the other Freedom Fighters exited the building. They quickly hustled into a side alley, as smoke began to emit from the open windows of the building. Soon, several small explosions took place on various floors of the building. The commotion caught the attention of the Imperials on patrol as they rushed to the scene, including several from the checkpoint.
"Now's our chance, go!" said Spike.
Several Stormtroopers, AT-PTs, AT-STs, and TX-255s approached to cordon off the area as the Freedom Fighters hustled down the side alleys towards the now sparsely occupied checkpoint, which now had one AT-ST and a few Stormtroopers, who were now on task with keeping the traffic clear of the scene. The Freedom Fighters crouched behind some walls and crawled past the distracted troopers, and then disappeared into the crowd of people gathering to see what was going on. They soon regrouped once they were clear of the crowd.
"Nice work, that'll keep 'em occupied for a while," said Dulcy.
"Yep! Told ya it would work!" said Guntiver.
"The junkyard isn't far now. Follow me," said Tangle.
The Freedom Fighters continued walking down the street until they saw the junkyard's fence, and began looking for the entrance. It didn't take long for them to find it further down the street.
"We're here, what's next?" said Tangle.
"Me, Guntiver, and Spike know where our destination is," said Dulcy.
"Hard to believe we're hiding out here," said Erma.
"Robotnik's droids never really come out here, cause they don't understand the concept of 'one man's garbage is another man's treasure'," said Dulcy.
They had just walked through the gate when….
"HALT! Who is it who stands down there?"
They looked up and saw a male Mobian sparrow with a bow and arrows at the ready, aiming right at them from atop some wreckage.
"Easy, we're not here to fight, buddy. We're just looking around here," said Spike.
"Art thou…Freedom Fighters?"
"They are Freedom Fighters, Bow. You may stand down."
They looked in the direction of a female Mobian wolf standing atop another pile of junk.
"Lupe! It's you!" said Dulcy.
"Yes, Dulcy, and I'm glad to see you and many others join us," said Lupe.
It didn't take long for more people to reveal themselves along the piles of junk, which brought smiles to everyone's faces.
"It's the Wolf Pack, Downunda, and Mercia Avalon Freedom Fighters! This is awesome!" said Dulcy.
"All right! The Desert Raiders, Shijin Warriors, and Arctic Freedom Fighters!" shouted Walt Wallabee.
Everyone ran up to each other and exchanged hugs and greetings with each other as Lupe and Dulcy shook hands and hugged for a bit.
"How did you guys get here?"
"Me and the Wolf Pack hiked down from our lands after the Empire attacked us. We met up with the Mercia-Avalon Group a few days ago, and then shortly after, we met up with the Downunda group, they had just arrived in the area, and we decided to go together. I'm guessing it was the same situation for you and the others," said Lupe.
"Yep, and Sonic's Prospect, Tangle, was there to help us, too," said Dulcy.
"Oh, yes. I believe we've met before," said Lupe.
Tangle nodded.
"Yeah, I remember you, I saw you a few times in Knothole," said Tangle.
"This place is hardly the place for chat. Shall we?" said Lupe.
"Everyone! This way!" said Dulcy.
The group walked through the junkyard until they reached one particular pile.
"Here we are," said Lupe.
"We're hiding out here?" said Tangle.
"One thing you oughta learn, Prospect. The best place to hide is in plain sight," said Guntiver.
Lupe walked over to a wrecked speeder and inside it, was a keypad, and Lupe entered a code, which made the keypad glow green. Everyone then heard a loud creak as beneath some scrap metal, a door opened, which had been masked by the scrap metal.
"Everyone inside, quickly," said Lupe.
Tangle was in awe by what she was seeing before her as everyone walked past and entered the bunker. Lupe then turned back as the last person passed.
"Are you coming, Tangle?" she said.
"Uh, yeah, sure. I'm coming," said Tangle.
Tangle then walked inside, and Lupe closed the door behind them, and the two of them followed the group down a long set of stairs, until they reached a large room.
"This was an idea of Sally's when we started coming together as a unified group. She and Sonic discovered this old bunker under all this scrap. She then gathered every Freedom Fighter leader in secret and told us that if anything went wrong in our homes, we could come here to hide until things resolved," said Lupe.
"Aye, and no records were to be made...and had to take an oath to secrecy even upon threats of death," said Bow.
"So each leader has their own code to open this place up, but we had to commit it to memory, as we could not risk this place's secrecy," said Dulcy.
"Look at all this! There's food in this storeroom!" said Thorn.
Cinder walked over and operated a faucet, and to her surprise, there was clean water.
"Look, look! Clean running water!" she said.
"Good thing we installed that filtration system in our water source," said Lupe.
"And look, man...beds," said Guru.
Reynard took a look, and began counting the beds.
"Senorita, there may be enough beds for only half of us," he said.
Lupe inspected the beds.
"You may be right, Reynard. This was never intended for such a large group. We may have to improvise," she said.
"We'll figure it out, mate. Everyone's gonna sleep here, one way or another," said Walt.
"Verily!" said Bow.
"Speakin' of...I'm ready to sleep in a real bed 'bout now," said Munch.
"Yes.." said Barby.
Bunker noticed Barby seemed to be paying very little attention to anyone, and was curious, but soon, Thorn approached her.
"Lady Bunker, might I ask you for assistance in preparing accommodations?" said Thorn.
"Of course, Thorn," said Bunker.
"We'll rest up tonight, and then tomorrow, we will discuss our next steps; you all have had long journeys, and need rest," said Lupe.
Everyone nodded in agreement as the night fell outside, leaving only a barely visible moon through the smog and cloud cover.
