Chapter 12: The Cries of Lost Souls

Tangle woke up and checked the chronometer, and saw it was 0712 hours, and heard everyone gathering for breakfast in the mess hall. She leaped down from her somewhat cramped bunk-bed and started walking towards the mess hall, stretching her limbs and tail as she did. When she entered the mess hall, she saw all the Freedom Fighters gathered together at the tables. Tangle looked and found herself a seat in between Sonar and Spike.

"Morning, Tangle," said Spike.

"Morning, yourself, Spike," said Tangle.

"Li Moon, Bunker, Friar Buck, and Guru Emu have been busy with this meal, you gotta try out this stuff," said Sonar.

"Especially this tea, Li Moon says it's her old family recipe," said Spike.

"Sure!" said Tangle.

As Sonar served some food on Tangle's plate, Tangle noticed Lupe in the back of the room, sitting on a large hatch.

"What's Lupe doing? I haven't seen that hatch before," said Tangle.

"It was hidden behind some crates. She's been sitting there ever since she got up, it's like she's waiting for something," said Sonar.

"Or someone," said Bill Platypus.

Then, everyone heard knocking below the hatch, but it sounded like someone was knocking on different places of the hatch. Lupe then got up, and she pulled a lever, and the hatch began to open up. Lupe lifted it open, and grabbed a hand. She pulled the person up, revealing him to be a male Mobian Goat.

"Griff, I'm glad you could come on such short notice, my friend," said Lupe.

"No problem, Lupe. I'm glad to see you all made it in one piece," said Griff.

"Everyone, for those of you that haven't met him, this is Griff, Leader of the Lower Mobius Settlement, located deep beneath the city. He also helped us locate this bunker and provide much of the supplies and equipment you see here," said Lupe.

"For those of you I know; good to see you all again, and for those I don't know; great to have you with us," said Griff.

"Now, let's get down to business," said Lupe.

"If I may, Lupe?" said Li Moon.

"Go ahead, Li Moon," said Lupe.

"Bunker, myself, and Guru here have been going over our supplies, and we may only have enough to last us-"

"Three months, twenty-five days," said Guru.

"How can you be certain?" said Reynard.

"He's real good at math," said Wombat Stu.

"I'm never wrong about these things, dude," said Guru.

"Maybe less if we're careless," said Bunker.

"Unless we conceive a plan, this bunker will be our tomb, brothers & sisters," said Bow.

Lupe sat in her chair and rubbed her face in stress.

"Anyone have any ideas?"

Munch raised his hand.

"I got an idea, mate! We take the fight to those Imperials and hit 'em where it hurts! Like we always did!"

"Don't be a fool, these Imperials are far better equipped and organized compared to Robotnik and his armies, and I feel very cold and dark chi guiding them," said Bunker.

"Come on, don't let that mystical mumbo-jumbo fool you all! We can take these guys! We got the means and numbers to do it!" said Augustus.

"Yes, 'tis what our fallen friends would be wantin' us to do!" said Alan Quail.

"...Yes, they would," said Barby.

"That's recklessness! That'll get us killed!" said Thorn.

"And staying here praying someone happens to come along to rescue us is a better option?" said Jian.

"I agree with Thorn, our resources will deplete quicker if we try to fight. And we endanger our safety in this place if we keep attacking the Empire. If the Empire could find Knothole, they can surely find this place," said Friar Buck.

"Come on, don't get all worked up 'ere, mates! We got to use our heads for this!" said Walt Wallabee.

"That's not the issue here! If we don't retaliate against these Imperials, then all the people we've lost died for nothing!" said Reynard.

"Why, do you have a better plan, then?" said Munch.

"I am believing we should be diverting ze resources into escaping ze planet while we can," said Sealia.

"I am in agreement with Sister Sealia, why must we bring harm upon ourselves by fighting further when we can be finding safe haven?" said Bow.

"Yeah, right, the Empire will catch us trying to escape, we're all dead," said Erma.

"And besides, who are we gonna trust to get us off this planet in the first place? We got nothing to offer!" said Flip.

"That's besides the point!" said Bow.

The arguing got louder and louder, causing much distress amongst the few who were not talking, and Lupe simply groaned in annoyance, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath, stood up from her seat.

"SILENCE!"

And sure enough, everyone did. Everyone slowly sat back down, and as soon as Lupe was satisfied with the situation, she sat back down and took another breath.

"Now...I know you all feel strongly about our options here, but the fact remains that we're in no position to attempt either, but that does not mean we should fight amongst ourselves over who's right. Our priority should be trying to survive this. Griff, what do you know about the fate of Sonic and the others from Knothole? Have you heard anything?"

"Well, Lupe, my scouts and gatherers in the city have been listening to the Imperials. One group overheard some troops talking about how Sonic and the others were captured."

"Captured?!" said Leeta & Lyco together.

"Yeah, but they also heard that they escaped. But to where, they didn't say, probably 'cause they don't know, which is a good thing," said Griff.

"Yes, if they indeed have escaped...they must be somewhere safe. And don't any of you speak to what some of you may think. We don't know if they're dead, until we know that for sure, we act as though they're alive," said Lupe.

"But where would they go? Who would take them in?" said Guntiver.

"What about that Raccoon and his associates? You know, the one who supplied us with all those weapons?" said Augustus.

"Jericho Raccoon? That's a possibility. It would also explain why we haven't heard from them since this ordeal started," said Dulcy.

"Would you know how Sonic & Sally contacted them?" said Wombat Stu.

"No. That information was stored in NICOLE, and we don't have her," said Dulcy.

"It also may explain why they've been arming and training us, they must have known eventually the Imperials were coming," said Lupe.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I heard the troops talking about some off-world underground resistance movement they've been fighting, the...Rebellion, or something. If Jericho Raccoon and his associates have Sonic, they must be hiding somewhere," said Griff.

"But where?" said Tangle.

"Probably one of the off-world colonies, likely Sapphyrus or Sol. Not Stell Viridius, that place is a mess," said Griff.

"Probably," said Lupe.

"So why not just call them?" said Spike.

"Oh, I didn't think of that! Why not send a transmission, have it detected by the Empire, and they hunt us down and kill us!" said Diablo.

"Diablo. Stop," said Lupe.

"Senorita, we can't do that! Even if we could, our communication equipment is not able to send interstellar transmissions! This was designed for planetary comms!" said Diablo.

Tangle thought for a moment and then excitedly raised her hand.

"There's an uplink tower across the river that's not too far from here!"

"That one near the water treatment plant?" said Dulcy.

"Yeah! That one!" said Tangle.

"Yeah...if we can tap into that uplink tower, we may be able to piggyback our signal off the ones transmitted, that way it'll mask it if anyone's listening," said Sonar.

"How do you know about that?" said Erma.

"I worked with a lot of communication equipment back home, I know a few things," said Sonar.

"But what if the Empire detects our signal? They'll be able to track it," said Friar Buck.

"Not if we can scramble it. Maybe if we can rig up some kind of scrambler, just in case, cause this signal was not intended for interstellar communication…now lemme see…what if…yeah, the city's transmission towers! If we can rig up some of them, we can use them to scramble our signal amongst the many local transmissions that they process. I...uh...I worked with a lot of communication equipment too, I learned a few tricks back home. It's got to work," said Flip.

"I think if we check our stock, we may have the right equipment we need for this," said Sonar.

"But we must be cautious, the cold chi is very strong here...we may wish to do this discreetly," said Bunker.

"Agreed. We'll divide into teams for this. I'll take Sonar, as well as Tangle, Bow, Spike, Jian, and Guntiver. Let me see… Dulcy, would you be willing to go with Flip on his mission?" said Lupe.

"You betcha, Lupe. I'll have Leeta, Lyco, Erma, Canus, Trevor Burrow, and Thorn come with me; the rest of you stay here and protect this place from anyone sniffing around," said Dulcy.

"Oh, come on, why do I have to play babysitter?" said Munch.

"Because we need the strong fighters to protect this place," said Lyco.

"Alright! Some real action! This is gonna be awesome!" said Tangle.

"I'll go with your group, Lupe. I know the quickest way to that tower," said Griff.

"Good idea, Griff. You do have first-hand knowledge of the sewers," said Lupe.

"Correct," said Griff.

"I'm starting to like this guy," said Tangle.

"Yeah, me too!" said Spike.

"Good. We'll start as soon as it's dark," said Lupe.

Sonic was running at full speed across the grassy fields of Sapphyrus, blowing seeds off the dandelions with the gust of wind he left in his wake. He then raced onto the runway at the base, before screeching to a stop.

"Nothing like a brisk 200 kilometer jog to start the day! Ah, it feels good to not have to smell Robuttnik's fumes," he said.

Sonic then saw Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor standing nearby looking at two large hills to the north of them.

"Ze hills over zere, Numbair 7 on ze right and Numbair 9 on ze right, zose were ze key spots during ze second battle," said Antoine.

"Ah can't even imagine what it was like," said Bunnie.

"I'm amazed those hills look green again after all that," said Rotor.

"Ashes can be ze nurturing to ze plant life," said Antoine.

"Ah can still see what's left of them craters over theah ...and over theah. Hey, wasn't Jericho's father on one of them hills during the battle?" Bunnie said.

"Oui, he commanded ze defense of Numbair 7, and Tails' fathair, Amadeus Prower, commanded ze defense of Numbair 9," said Antoine.

"I'm surprised you knew all that, Ant. Considering most of us weren't even born yet," said Sonic.

Antoine stuck his nose in the air.

"My fathair told me about ze battles of ze wars he served in. He had me read about zem. At least I know I can beat you in one thing; knowledge," he said.

"Really Ant? That's the best you got for me? And you say Tails' dad was on that hill?" said Sonic.

Sonic was pointing at Hill #7, which made Antoine facepalm and Bunnie giggle.

"Not zat hill, you imbecile, he was on the ze one on ze left, not ze right. If ze Raccoon saw you pointing at ze wrong one, he'd be breaking your legs," said Antoine.

Bunnie giggled again.

"Not funny, Bunnie! And Jericho'll have to catch me first!" said Sonic.

"You'll actually get a head start on that, Sonic. Tails was asking for you," said Rotor.

"Really? Why?" said Sonic.

Rotor pointed to one of the hangars.

"He's in that hangar, he's working on something he wanted you to see," said Rotor.

"Alright, be back in a flash!"

Sonic ran off towards the hangar, and Antoine continued his "history lesson". Sonic then walked into the hangar, which happened to be where the Star Tornado was parked. Sonic looked around, seeing nothing but a few Loratus TC9 Hover Transports parked nearby.

"Tails? Yo, where you at, buddy?" said Sonic.

"Hey, Sonic! Over here!" said Tails.

Sonic turned and saw Tails flying atop one of the TC9s.

"There you are. I heard you wanted to show me something," said Sonic.

"These are TC9 Hover Transports, they're used as troop carriers by the Alliance. These four were in storage for future missions. I took a look at them and got an idea," said Tails.

"What kind of idea, Tails?"

"I thought that when we're out on a mission, we may need some ground transportation to take us places the Star Tornado can't. Of course, the problem we always have is you prefer to run at your own pace. So I saw a bunch of these old decommissioned Derecho starfighters around the base, and I decided to improve the engines on these transports. With some work...I think we can keep up a good pace with you," said Tails.

"Tails, do we really need these?" said Sonic.

"Yeah! Besides, we're gonna need all kinds of equipment for our missions. One advantage about joining up with the Rebellion….we get access to cooler toys. Besides, I want to put my new tool set to use! They're at least in better shape than the ones I had back in Knothole… but I still miss my old Hydrospanner," said Tails.

Sonic looked around, and found a box that Tails failed to notice, and then opened it. When Tails turned to see it, he looked like he was in heaven, there was a hydrospanner, among a few other tools he didn't have yet.

"Aw, look at all of you...all clean...and needing to get your grips dirty...," said Tails.

Sonic simply rolled his eyes, but then he looked in the direction of the ammo bunkers on the far side of the base, noticing that one of them was covered by a fence and lasers. He started running towards it, and Tails noticed, flying after him.

"What's wrong, Sonic?" said Tails.

"This ammo bunker here...notice anything...unusual?" said Sonic.

Tails looked at the bunker.

"That's a lot of security for a few Proton Torpedoes, and what's with that power generator on the outside?" said Tails.

"Ammo bunkers don't need generators, do they?" said Sonic.

"They usually are connected to the power grid, but yeah, that's odd, especially with a fence around it," said Tails.

"Let's find out," said Sonic.

"I can fly us over the fence, those lasers won't reach us," said Tails.

"Good idea, let's move quickly and quietly," said Sonic.

Tails began flying, and took Sonic's hand, carrying him over the fence. They then went inside the bunker, and began walking down a dark ramp, noticing the lights were not functional. Tails turned on his flashlight and they looked around. They walked until they reached a blast door. Tails worked the control panel, and it opened to reveal a force field.

"That explains what the generator is powering," said Tails.

"A force field? The blast door isn't enough?" said Sonic.

But suddenly, out of the pitch-black darkness, several Robians appeared, growling like feral creatures. Sonic & Tails jumped in shock.

"GAAH! What the-?"

Tails cowered a bit behind Sonic, and he gasped. The Robians appeared to be unable to get through the Force Field as they pounded against it.

"Whoa...those are…."

"Robians… but what are they doing down here?" said Sonic.

"This is what we call 'The Pit of Lost Souls.'"

"GAAAH!"

Sonic jumped to see Jericho had appeared behind them, as if he'd teleported there.

"Firstly, you gotta stop doing that. Secondly, where did you come from? And thirdly...WHEN WERE YOU GONNA TELL US ABOUT THIS?!" said Sonic.

"You didn't ask before, did you?" said Jericho.

"I just did now!" said Sonic.

"I told Sally about it, but you'd rather go eat chili dogs than listen to stuff. This place is where we keep those who've been roboticized. It's basically a prison, but it's the humane thing to do for these people. We don't have your endless supply of Power Rings that only temporarily restore them, Sonic. And until we find a way to fix their minds or deroboticize them, we have to keep them down here, where they can do no harm," said Jericho.

"Aw, man, there's gotta be a way to deroboticize these people!" said Sonic.

"You got any ideas?" Jericho said.

Sonic & Tails were silent, which Jericho took as their answer.

"That's what I thought. Now let's go. The next guard shift will be here soon. We put a lot of effort to keep them from escaping," said Jericho.

Sonic and Tails sighed sadly, as they followed Jericho out of the bunker as a set of Rebel soldiers came to guard the bunker.

It was late at night in Robotropolis, and beneath the near-desolate city streets, Lupe was leading Tangle, Sonar, Spike, Jian, Bow, Guntiver, and Griff through the sewers. Spike and Sonar were barely able to breathe through the stench.

"Ugh...geeze, it stinks down here!" said Spike.

"I'll say!" said Sonar.

"That's normal...for this town anyway," said Lupe.

"How do you handle it?" said Spike.

"You get used to it after a while," said Tangle.

"May as well get used to it, this is gonna be our road for a while," said Griff.

"Aye, been in worse situations," said Bow.

"Me too," said Jian.

"Yeah, I've only been working with the Freedom Fighters for a few months now, and already I've been through some real action," said Tangle.

"Your enthusiasm is appreciated, indeed, Tangle," said Griff.

"Yeah! Glad to see Sonic is a good judge of character," said Spike.

"Please, she's still a prospect. Personality doesn't mean much if we don't finish this mission," said Jian.

"Lady Jian speaketh the truth," said Bow.

"Hey, I can-"

"Hush," said Lupe.

The Freedom Fighters went silent, but Sonar jumped back when some sludge dropped down from a pipe on the ceiling.

"Ewww….I just bathed too," said Sonar.

They heard marching footsteps through the grates above them, and they knew what that was.

"Robian workforce. Probably en route to the factory district," said Lupe.

"We ran into some last night, I've never seen so many in one place," said Spike.

"It's like that in all the cities, Robians mindlessly working in the factories and mines, many a loved one was lost to the Roboticizer," said Lupe.

Griff peeked through the manhole, looking around, but he quickly lowered himself when he saw a patrol of Stormtroopers and SWAT Bots. The Freedom Fighters listened as they marched past them.

"Okay, this way is good! Come on!" said Griff.

Lupe climbed up after Griff.

"Come, the river is this way," she said.

"One at a time, hurry!" said Griff.

The Freedom Fighters climbed out, one by one, heading towards the path to the river, with Griff keeping an eye out. When the last person got out, Griff closed the manhole, and followed the group down to the river.

"Whoa...that's the Silvanus River?" said Jian.

"It looks calm, we could swim across," said Sonar.

"Oh no, you're not swimming in that stuff," said Tangle.

"Why not?" said Spike.

"Here, take a look at this."

Tangle grabbed a stick from off the ground, and stuck it in the water, and a loud hissing sound and steam emitted from the water, and when Tangle pulled it back out, the tip of the stick had effectively melted off. Spike, Sonar, and Jian felt their stomachs twist at the sight.

"You see that? You don't wanna know what that stuff does to you," said Tangle.

"We'll have to cross on these pipes, it's the only way across that doesn't involve dealing with those checkpoints on the bridges," said Lupe.

"Wait a sec...Lupe, look," said Griff.

Lupe and Griff looked closely at the pipes, seeing lots of water and condensation.

"The pipes are wet, probably from the rains and temperatures we've been having. We'll have to be extra careful and take it slow," said Lupe.

"Aye, everyone, line up, take hands," said Bow.

"And move slowly; baby steps," said Guntiver.

The Freedom Fighters took each others' hands with Lupe in the lead, and they slowly began walking onto the pipe, but felt their feet slide a bit on the wet pipe.

"Easy...no sudden movements, now," said Lupe.

The group slowly and carefully began crossing the pipe, trying not to look down. They felt sweat from their brows as they tried to keep their balance on the pipe. It was also hard to keep their feet from sliding a bit. Sonar slowly began to slip a bit and lose her balance, but felt Guntiver hold her in place.

"Thanks!" she said.

"Don't mention it. And don't make too much noise, if they see us, we're sitting ducks," said Guntiver.

Suddenly, Spike slipped and began to stumble, he tried to regain his balance, but he slipped off the pipe and started to fall towards the river. He shut his eyes, but felt himself stop. He opened his eyes and saw he was just a foot from the river. He looked back up, and saw Tangle's tail had caught him.

"Whatever you do, do not shake!" said Tangle.

Spike nodded as the group continued on across the pipe, with Tangle carrying Spike. Sonar and Jian held on tightly to Tangle to help her keep her balance while carrying Spike. Soon, they reached the other side and began dropping down one by one. Tangle gently turned Spike upright again and placed him on the ground before dropping down herself.

"You saved me, thanks," Spike said.

"No prob! We're all in this together," said Tangle.

"We're almost there," said Lupe.

The group walked up from the river as the uplink tower loomed over them, with it's dish pointed at the sky. They began walking up a drainage ditch, eventually climbing up some steps. They then paused as they looked at the uplink tower above them.

"So, Sonar, where do we plant that device you have there?" said Jian.

Sonar pointed to the dish.

"There should be a junction box right on the dish assembly. This will ensure it bypasses the security protocols in the uplink's systems."

"So we need only get atop," said Bow.

"Won't be easy getting up there," said Lupe.

"I know how we can get up there fast," said Griff.

He pointed to a fire escape on a nearby building.

"Good idea, we can avoid dealing with the guards inside the tower," said Lupe.

Griff crouched down and Lupe walked up, allowing Griff to boost her up to grab the ladder and pull it down, allowing the Freedom Fighters to climb up the fire escape. They moved slowly as to not attract any attention. Soon, Lupe gestured them to stop.

"Something's coming!" she said.

The Freedom Fighters hugged the wall of the building, as a Hover Unit flew past them. Lupe then gestured Sonar to listen. Sonar's ears twitched back and forth, and she looked up as two TIE Fighters flew overhead. She then gave a thumbs-up to Lupe. Lupe nodded, and they continued climbing up to the rooftop of the building, which was still below the dish. Lupe looked up.

"We'll have to rappel the rest of the way. Ascension launchers."

The Freedom Fighters grabbed ascension launchers from their pockets and placed them on their blasters, except Bow, who simply latched the end of a wire to one of his arrows, and then attached a small grappling hook to the tip of the arrow. The Freedom Fighters took aim, and Lupe counted down.

"One ...two...three."

They fired their grappling hooks and they latched onto the ledge of the uplink tower's rooftop. They then leapt off and swung towards the tower, and then they began zipping up their lines towards the top of the uplink tower. When they reached the top, they climbed up the ledge.

"Ooh, we're way up high now," said Tangle.

"Indeed. Sonar, time to work that magic you said you were able to do," said Griff.

"Right away," said Sonar.

She walked towards a small junction box attached to the side of the dish's base, and she opened it up. She then produced her device and started working on wiring it to the box. Everyone else looked around for signs of trouble.

"Was it 'red, red, green,' or 'red, green, red'?" said Sonar.

"And she claims she's the communication expert?" said Jian.

"I heard that!" Sonar said.

Sonar worked hard, connecting several wires to her device, and when she turned her device on, it lit up.

"And...we're in business," said Sonar.

"Good. Assuming Flip was successful on his end, let's head back," said Lupe.

"YOU THERE! FREEZE!"

They looked up and saw a Stormtrooper atop a building nearby. He took aim at them, and before the Freedom Fighters could fire back, they saw a blue shot snap above their heads and strike the trooper as a bolt of lightning struck in the distance. The trooper fell forwards over the ledge and fell to the alleys below. The Freedom Fighters looked around for the source of the shot. Tangle looked and saw a figure jump off another building and disappear.

"Hey, did you see that?"

"See what?" said Guntiver.

"There was someone on that building over there," Tangle said.

"I didn't see anyone," said Jian.

"Tis a good point of vantage for a shot, though. Twas that the 'Guardian Angel'?" said Bow.

"Maybe...maybe it was," said Lupe.

"Too bad we can't thank him, that was a close call," said Griff.

"We can't let the Empire know about this. Griff, can you go down and get rid of the body?" said Lupe.

"Sure. I'll dump him in the river, they won't find him again," said Griff.

"After that, you go back to Lower Mobius, we'll be okay on our own from here on," said Lupe.

"Alright. Take this datacard, it has a map of the sewers and underground that Sally gave me some time ago. And Lupe...good luck," said Griff.

"You too," said Lupe.

Griff then rappelled down off the tower to where the dead Stormtrooper was, while Lupe led the rest down another way.

"I just hope Flip succeeded," said Spike.

Back at the bunker, the Freedom Fighters regrouped with the rest of their group.

"How did it go, guys?" said Dulcy.

"Went smoothly, all things considered," said Lupe.

"What about you guys?" said Sonar.

"Piece of cake. Those guys were sloppy, they didn't pay much mind to a dragon and some others climbing atop the buildings and making a few adjustments to the transmitter towers," said Flip.

"Good work, now comes the next part," said Sonar.

Sonar and Flip then began working on the communicator, making sure everything was plugged in and it was powered up.

"I think we're ready, Lupe. What should we transmit?" Sonar said.

"One word: 'Haven,'" said Lupe.

"Haven?" said Sonar.

"Yes. If Sally or NICOLE is listening…they'll know what it means," said Lupe.

Sonar input the message and began to transmit. There was silence from everyone for a few minutes.

"Well?" said Leeta.

"Is it working?" said Lyco.

"We won't know for sure," said Sonar.

"Wait, what?" said Munch.

"It's working, but...we won't know if they got it or not," said Flip.

"Oh, come on! We run all over the city on a mere possibility they won't hear us?" said Augustus.

"It's a leap of faith, everyone. It's the kind of thing Sally would do if she were in this situation. I know you all want something fast, but for now...all we can do is wait, and hope for the best. We can survive for a while down here. I am weighing options as alternatives, but for now, this is the best thing we can do."

Everyone sighed and groaned in disappointment, but said nothing else. They all dispersed to various parts of the bunker. Lupe stood near the communicator, and placed her hand atop where her heart was.

"If you're out there, I know you'll come."