Chapter Nine – Armada
What!? Robotnik. But he's dead. Sally and Sonic themselves destroyed him more then eight years ago. Sally was stunned. There was no way that he could have survived. Silence filled the Great Hall until there were interrupted by Charlie, who came running in at full pelt, seriously out of breath. He was doubled over.
"City's all clear. Lordship." He proclaimed. Sonic nodded in acknowledgement.
"Thank you, Charlotte!" He said, but was then rather put out. "Don't you mean 'My Liege'. I thought you said I was King of the Mutant Movement!" He snapped.
What! Both Charlie, Elise and Sally, looked at each other. The arrogance was so thick you could have sliced it. Whom ever they were talking to, it wasn't Sonic. He would never say something like that, let alone forget Charlie's name. If it wasn't Sonic, then who was it. They had to test him. One of them had to speak, then Charlie had an idea.
Sonic was standing by the window, his arms folded, towering over everyone in that Great Hall. Charlie spotted the Armada thought the window besides him. He gulped, asking the question they all wanted to know. He took a deep breath.
"Are you sure thats 'him'?" He stammered, indicating the window. Was it really Robotnik?
Sonic sighed. He'd never been more sure about anything. He gritted his teeth.
"When I was in that coma, my mind was separated from my body, and I ended up on the R.I.N. (The Robotnik Intelligence Network). For years, I travelled the network, to the far reaches of the planet, until I felt it. A presence." He paused, clenching his fists. "There was no mistaking it, it's him alright. The thing is, we did destroy him. His body that is. His mind must have escaped to the R.I.N. at the point of destruction. He body was three-quarters roboticised at the time. So if I can do, so could he. The Mutant Movement took some convincing when I awoke that Robotnik was still alive, but when I personally took Uncle Chuck and showed him, then they believed me. I knew when I realised his mind was alive on the R.I.N. that it would simply a matter of time before he built himself a new body and army and come back for Robotropolis. I know that the city is dead, but we have to stop him, right here, right now, because if he takes back the city, they the rest of Mobius is at risk. I knew he was coming today, I'd felt it, when Uncle Chuck was working on these." He said, pointing at his integrated wires. He was eager to get moving.
They all looked at each other. That was incredibly convincing. He was doing the right thing, helping the people, but was definitely more to it. A hidden agenda. He looked like Sonic, hell, he even sounded like Sonic, but there was something about him that just wasn't right. But none of them could put their finger on it. Looking very pleased with himself, he looked up at Geoffrey St. John.
"That is!" He added. "If the King here is willing to surrender the city to the Mutant Movement." He smirked, evilly. "I'm won't defend a city thats not mine." He grinned.
Sally's jaw dropped at that comment. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. How could he be so arrogant? She was completely stunned into silence. Sally looked into Sonic eyes. They were different. Properly as a result of the surgery. Instead of being completely emerald green as they were, they were now had a red ring around them, with red streaks running through them. Also the sparkles within them were gone. Sonic was not behind those eyes. Sally feared that the Power Rock had completely corrupted him. But the more she looked at him, the more she was convinced that was not the case. But more worryingly, if Sonic wasn't inside his body, then who was, and where was her beloved? Yes, she did still love him.
It seemed that all three of them, Sally, Elise and Charlie had all come to the same conclusion. Sonic was not inside the Sapphire Dragon. The question was, who was? But that now made him very dangerous. They had to get out and warn the others. But looking at Robotnik's Armada, the human was definitely coming straight for them. They didn't have much time.
Geoffrey St. John looked between Sonic and Robotnik's oncoming Armada. He was completely on his own, against this monster of a Sapphire Dragon. Trapped between a rock and a hard place. He had no choice but to surrender. Sonic evilly smirked and began to grill Geoffrey. Sally ignored this and proceeded to grab both Elise and Charlie by the arms. She silently sidled them backwards against the wall, and out of sight. They had to get back to the Mutant Movement before Sonic did.
But it was too late, because as the Blue Blur looked up, he realised that they were gone, and swore. He then proceeded to take off crashing through another window out into the city, seriously struggling to control those mighty wings.
Very frightened, Sally, Elise and Charlie, proceeded to run out of the main doors of the Palace, and round to the side, where Sonic had exited the building. But to all of their complete surprise, the mighty Sapphire Dragon had been grounded. He'd flown straight into a trap. He was utterly surrounded by the well-oiled machine that was the Mutant Movement Army. All of a sudden, Uncle Chuck appeared, projecting from what looked like a portable holographic projector.
"Thank you." He panted. "You created the perfect distraction we needed to get him." He grinned.
Sally looked at Uncle Chuck, and then to Sonic, who was struggling against his restraints. Sally was relived, they all were. The Mutant Movement knew. Uncle Chuck shrugged.
"Do you honestly think I wouldn't build in a way to control my own nephew. I am well aware of how dangerous he is. We persuaded you to come here, because we knew it was you, and knew that you couldn't resist taking Robotropolis when you had the chance, especially if the Queen was there." He paused. They all looked at Sally. Uncle Chuck continued. "So we followed you with our own Armada, knowing that yours was on the way. However with the Queen here, you quickly realised that you had to act like Sonic otherwise, you'd be find out. Nice try by the way. Very convincing except your arrogance let you down." He smirked. "You've failed, Julian! You can't win." He sneered at Sonic. But the Sapphire Dragon hissed in return.
"I am not giving this body up, Charles. I don't care what you do. It's indestructible." The Blue Blur growled. Uncle Chuck rolled his eyes.
"Yes, that body may be indestructible, but you, on the other hand, are not." Hissed the hologram and there was a look of fear on Sonic's face and several people came round the back of him.
Sally frowned. Who was Julian? Her mind was swimming and as she and a few others were desperately trying to figure it out. The people behind Sonic grab him and held his head steady, while he struggled to break free. Uncle Chuck's temper began to flare.
"Julian!" He spat. "Where's my nephew?" He growled. Sonic bared his teeth at him.
"Where you'll never find him!" He leers, but was immediately cut across by a voice coming from the holographic projector itself.
"Guess again, Buttnik!" It hollowed. Uncle Chuck was thrilled.
"Hey, you made it!" He squealed. Sonic sighed. The real Sonic. His mind on the R.I.N. just like Uncle Chuck's, but he couldn't be seen, just heard.
"Yeah, sorry for the delay. Old Buttnik here swapped bodies with me while I was on the operating table. He must have got into mine, through the corrupted Power Rock and those integrated wires to my brain you installed to try and control it. He then proceeded to software locked me inside his gruesome body. The codes and passwords took some breaking even at the speeds I work at. It's taken weeks. Only just got free, ran here as fast as I could. Glad you've managed to catch me before I did any damage." He paused, sounding confused. "Buttnik has access to all of my memories. How did you know it wasn't me?" He frowned.
A few people giggled, there was a simple answer to that. The arrogance. The ego-centric non-caring selfishness that just wasn't the famous Blue Blur, but very much Robotnik. It seemed like the incredible powers within Sonic's body, had gone straight to his head, and he simply just couldn't control them. Sally stared, at the Sonic's body. So it was Robotnik in there, and had been the whole time. Sally had been partially convinced, but she knew her beloved to much, despite the changes. Robotnik used Sonic's body to growl at them all.
"You got out." He hissed, icy cold. "No matter. I will have take back what's mine!" He sniggered, and with that he quickly grabbed the Direct-Neuro Interface from behind him and before anyone could stop him, slammed it into the back of his head, and fled to the R.I.N., leaving Sonic's body limp and lifeless, as it collapsed to the ground.
Sonic swears and proceeds to chase after him. But too late, Robotnik was long gone. He built the R.I.N. and had been in there longer, he properly knew every nook and cranny to hide. The Blue Blur returns empty handed back to the others.
Suddenly, an extremely loud, drawn out horn sounded from Robotnik's Armada, which was still coming for them.
The Horn of War. Battle stations. The Mutant Movement Army began to scramble into combat mode. Uncle Chuck took command, his hologram looking around.
"Sonic!" He shouted. "Get back in there." He spat, pointing to his body. "I need you in the air." He ordered. Sonic didn't speak but his heavy breathing could be heard through the speakers of the holographic projector. He was exhausted, and now he as a battle to fight. But Uncle Chuck was right. He would be of more use in the air, rather then trapped in the R.I.N. Right now though, he really didn't want to return to his body, considering who had just occupied it. But as Robotnik's Armada began attacking, he didn't have a choice. Laser were being fired in all directions, forcing the Mutant Movement to fire back.
He dived in, and opening his eyes, with a large intake of breath. He was lying on the floor, still surrounded and he had the world worse headache around his Neuro Interface, and very unpleasant smell in his nostrils. Sonic flinched. He could still smell that revolting human. His eyes were beginning to clear, but his body felt very strange. He hadn't been in his body in weeks, not since Uncle Chuck had yanked him out at Tower City, when he went to visit with Sally and Bunnie. Still sat on the floor, he looked up at Uncle Chuck, who had come forward to examine him. Sonic didn't say anything, he didn't need to. His beautiful pure emerald greed eyes said it all. Uncle Chuck took a good look at them, and gave the all clear signal, when he'd seen what he was looking for.
The sparkles. Relieve. Sonic was back. The Mutant Movement let him go. He got to his knees and was immediately embraced by Sally, Elise and Charlie. All of whom were thrilled to have him back, after they had just witnessed. But Sonic felt so guilty.
"I am so sorry." He whimpered. He must have put them through hell. Elise grabbed him, looking deep into those green eyes, seeing the sparkles for himself. He smiled.
"Forget it." He spat. "It wasn't you. Come on, we have a war to win." He declared. Then he had a thought. "If Robotnik had access to your memories, then you should have had access to his." He thought. But Sonic flinched. Yes, he did and he wished he hadn't. They were all that gross. But Elise grabbed him to keep his concentrated.
"But did he slip any plans about Mobotropolis?" He asked, desperate for information. Sonic frowned and thought deeply, trying to remember.
"Yes." He whispered. "He'd planned on sending his six strong battleship Armada here to flatten Robotropolis, and move off to the rest of the planet." He sighed. But Elise looked around.
"But there is only five battleships here, where's the sixth?" He stammered. The it hit Sonic hard. Extremely hard. Somehow Robotnik must have still had control of his Armada while still inside Sonic's body. A genius in robotics, its no surprise really. He swears and put his hand over his mouth is absolute horror.
"The Mutant Movement." He gasped. The others looked at each other.
"What!" They all said together. Sonic grabs Elise. He was panting like crazy.
"The Mutant Movement." He said again. "With the army here, the floating cities are undefended. He had access to my memories. He knows where they are. All he has to do is blow out all of the propellers that keep the cities afloat, and they'll crash to the ground, killing everyone." He heaved. Tears fell down Sonic's face, he was exhausted. It was more then he could bear.
Elise instantly took charge.
"Charlie!" He barked. "Scramble the Sky Petrol and get back there. Take out that battleship!" He ordered. The Chestnut Hedgehog didn't argue and immediately vanished. Then he turned to Sally. "Come on, we have to go. It's safer on a battleship, then it is down here." He growled. Lasers had been raining down all around them. A transport had been waiting for them to leave for one on the Mutant Movement Armada battleship's. It had been getting heavily bombarded. It has to leave now. But Sally seriously objected.
"But what about Sonic?" She screamed as Elise began dragging her away. Elise looked at her.
"Look." He spat. "Remember, Sonic's a professional soldier and indestructible. He'll survive down here but we won't. We have to go. We have to leave him." He stammered, biting his lip. He wasn't happy about leaving his Lordship behind either, but they didn't have a choice. Sally was in tears as Elise dragged her onto the transport ship, which immediately took off towards an allied battleship and safety.
Sonic watched them go. He didn't argue. Elise was right. But it left him in absolute tatters. He sat back on the floor, his mind and body completely broken. Robotnik had all but ruined him. Did he still have the strength left to fight? As battleships from both sides clashed above him, he had to do something. Otherwise Robotnik would win. Millions would die. Sonic gritted his teeth.
'Robotnik win?' He thought. Not in all Sonic's years fighting Robotnik had the human ever won anything against him, and now was not the time to start. He may have been battered, yes, broken, yes, to would be submit to Robotnik. Hell no. If old Buttnik wanted a fight, then Sonic was going to give him one. He got up to his knees and looked up. He could feel his highly trained professional soldier instincts kicking in. Lasers were still raining down all around him, but Sonic just didn't care. He moved up from his knees to the launch position, with one foot in front of him, the other beneath, flexing his neck and wings as he went. Still looking up, he closed his eyes. He let the tension build. He was beginning to feel like himself again, after far so long, because fighting is what the Blue Blur was born to do.
He flexed his wings still further and opened them out in full. He took a deep breath, and launched. Time to fight. A single flap of his enormously powerful dragon wings was all that was needed to get Sonic's eminence weight off the ground. Despite his extreme tiredness, he proceeded to beat his wings, to push his speed beyond the sound barrier, to produce his namesake. A Sonic boom, to the cheers of the Mutant movement. The sounds of those cheers lifted Sonic's heart sky-high and the powerful Sapphire Dragon, now back in his full glory, was ready to take down the enemy, whatever it took.
That was easier said then done. A extremely heavily armoured, Armada battleship is incredibly difficult to destroy, but there had to find a way. He ascended vertically past all of the battleships until he finally levelled off several hundred metres above them. He'd had the idea of taking them out by dive bombing them at speed with a super-spin. Would have highly effective but as he looked down, he saw a major problem. All thirteen battleships, (The five belonging to Robotnik and the eight of the Mutant Movement with no hospital ship.), all looked completely identical from directly above, and with the battle now in full swing, they were all jumbled up. He just couldn't tell which was which. There was just no way of knowing. If he dive-bombed the wrong battleship, it could be devastating as well as embarrassing.
Sonic swore. He couldn't use his number one weapon. Not until he was absolutely certain it was one of Robotnik's battleships. This would make things awkward. He now had to take out the battleships either from the sides or underneath. He could still dive-bomb the battleships to some degree and level off just before hitting the ship, attacking it from the side. It was no where near as effective as a lot of speed and momentum is lost, then going straight for the roof. But as Sonic watched the battle rage below him, he had to do something. Robotnik has released hundreds of flying robots, all of them armed, and they were causing havoc with the Mutant Movement. He could hear both Tails' and Elise's voices over the radio, barking orders, and screaming for help from him. Quite simply, the Mutant Movement couldn't do this alone. They may have had more battleships and soldiers, but Robotnik had more weapons and armour. On paper, they were even.
Sonic sighed. He was pivot. He was that powerful, and for the first time, he was beginning to truly understand that. It really frightened him. How one person could make such a difference. But he had to shake that off. He had to help. Flapping his wings steadily to hovering so that his head was completely still, he stared at the battleships. Concentrating, he was looking for any signs of one of Robotnik's. He thought he saw something, a symbol maybe, but he was too high up for a clear view. So he took a deep breath and dived anyway, pointing his head straight down, folding his wings back. The ground and the battle came rushing towards him, and Sonic concentrated on the battleship he'd chosen for any further signs of identity. He turned out of his near virtual dive, in the hope of aiming for the side of the correct battleship. As he got closer, he immediately had to completely pull out of the dive, as the battleship he'd aimed for was one of his own. Swearing, realising that this was a lot more difficult that thought, he immediately noticed that the battleship next to it was one of Robotnik's.
Sonic had lost a huge amount of speed, but he still had just enough to go for that battleship. He curled into a very large spinning ball and landing directly through the side of the battleship ship at a forty-five degree angle. He wasn't fast enough to punch straight through the battleship as attacking from above would have done, but sliced through it's armour plating like butter. Sonic came to a abrupt stop in the centre of the battleship and unfurled himself.
Everything was very dark, grey and extremely cramped on Robotnik's battleship, the completely opposite to the Mutant Movement, which were relatively spacious. He was immediately shot at with lasers, and Sonic was forced to use his wings painfully as shields, as they were getting ripped to pieces. Surrounded by robots, be quickly became overwhelmed. He needed to shoot back. They were to far way for his knives. He needed another weapon. Then he hit him hard. In this body, he was part-dragon. He had a weapon.
Fire!
Behind his wings, he took a enormous intake a breath and felt his dragon instincts take over. The could feel the intense burning in his lungs, he was ready. Pointing in the direction towards the nose of the ship and the bridge, he quickly lowered his wings and let his flames rip. Beautiful but intensely hot blue and yellow flame exploded from his mouth, burning his tongue and immediately tore through the robots and interior of the battleship, explosions everywhere. It instantly melted everything insight and seeing that the battleship was struggling, Sonic immediately turned around and with another huge intake of breath, sent fire down the barrel of the battleship towards the tail. Immediately the battleship suffered complete failure and began crashing to the ground, still with the Blue Blur on board.
Sonic dived for the hole he'd created to gain entry, just as the battleship hit the ground and began rolling. He only just managed to get himself and his enormous wings free before it slid to a halt exploding. He stood on the ground heaving. He'd never breathed fire twice in such quick succession before and his mouth and tongue were now painfully badly blistered. Above him, he could see the Mutant Movement had surrounded another one of Robotnik's battleship's, and were in the process of sending it too crashing to ground.
Two battleships down, three to go. Sonic was exhausted. The Mutant Movement was exhausted. But this battle was a marathon, not a sprint, they couldn't quit now if they wanted to win. Lasers were still being fired in all directions, from both sides. Bombs were now being dropped from Robotnik's remaining battleships and Sonic was forced to take to the wing to avoid narrowly being hit. He flew in between the battleships, swaying back and forth, ducking and diving avoiding lasers and slicing flying robots as he past. Sonic let loose his three Adamantium foot long knives sticking out of his knuckles and with his fist clenched, used them to destroy as many flying drones as possible. He even swiped down the side of two of Robotnik's battleships but didn't do that much damage. He slides through the armour but not much more. He needed something with more power.
Sonic flew down the side of one of his own battleship's to see Tails piloting and saw that he was struggling. Sonic didn't have the strength to single-handedly take down another battleship, however he could severely cripple Robotnik's three remaining one's to give the Mutant Movement the edge they so desperately needed. To do this meant literally swallowing the pain, especially in his mouth.
Sonic immediately twisted his tail and sent his body upwards, ascending but this time not quite as high. He was still in range of laser so Sonic was forced to dodge. He was still high enough to dive the battleships but not to penetrate through the armour. Sonic smirked, that wasn't the plan. He also made sure that he was close enough to tell between the battleships.
Singling out his target, he dived. Certain of the correct battleship, he aimed straight for the bridge. Concentrating hard mid-dive, he took another enormous intake of breath and felt the burning. Lining himself up on target, he let his flames loose, the pain horrendous. The enormous explosion told him his aim had been true as he was immediately forced to pull from his dive, otherwise he'd hit the ground. Flapping his wings hard, he shot skywards, dodging lasers as he went. The Mutant Movement immediately took advantage of Sonic's move. By destroying the bridge, it had left Robotnik's battleship badly damaged and very disorientated. They quickly moved in with the fleet and attacked. Very soon, another one of Robotnik battleship's went crashing to the ground.
Sonic was delighted, but he was also getting dizzy, and his wings were struggling to remain airborne. The lasers had been ripping them to pieces. Though they couldn't kill him, it was extremely painful. Even with his spontaneous regeneration, his wings were getting damaged faster then they could heel. He desperately needed a 'time out' but couldn't afford it as the battle could be lost in that time, no matter now short. Shaking off his tiredness, he went high in the sky again and lined himself up for a second dive to fire-bomb a bridge of the forth of Robotnik's battleships. Gritting his teeth and swallowing his pain, and launched his fire at the bridge, again his aim remaining true. But this time, he slightly misjudged the dive and couldn't quite pull up out of it, and went crashing to the ground. Thankfully, he was able to quickly fold his wings and roll out of it, but it did leave him in a heap on the ground, but relatively unharmed.
He quickly got to his feet, and looked up, and saw the Mutant Movement move in with five or even six battleships to take it out. Sonic realised he couldn't stay on the ground long, it was too dangerous. Robotnik's battleship could land directly on top of him. But then on the ground, he looked around, and realised that he barely recognised where he was. Mobotropolis had taken such a beating from the aerial battle that it was all but destroyed. Sonic was disheartened. Mobotropolis had meant a lot to him. He had spent a large chuck of his life in or near the city and began to wonder what Robotnik's true motives really were. If he was really here to take back the city, then an aerial battle just above city would destroy it. Great, if that was Robotnik's intention, but Sonic wasn't to so sure. He was much more strategic then that, and to be this brutal after six years of waiting was just not his style. Now this whole battle was beginning to scream to Sonic of a diversion.
He gritted his teeth. But from what? Sonic had no idea as he was forced into the air again, flying vertically, through the fight to above the action. He still had a fifth and final battleship whose bridge needed taking out. After having a very quick breather, he lined himself up for the dive. The angle better this time. He didn't want to crash into the ground again. He dived for the battleship's bridge, sending flames straight for it, a panicked voice come over the radio, screaming for his aid. It was Charlie.
"Sonic. SONIC! HELP!" He screamed. "The battleship at the Floating Cities, we can't take it out. It's too powerful. It's already taken out three sets of propellers, another set and were done for." He heaved.
Sonic's mind was racing. Anger swelled up inside him. He hit the battleship's bridge with a huge barrage of fire and immediately pulled out of the dive. He didn't stick around to find out the results of his dive, but Immediately got out of there. Low to the ground, he sped away from the battle towards the floating cities. Home. His mouth was so sore from the fire-breathing that he couldn't speak, but he raced as fast as he could. Increasing his height towards the sky, he beat his wings and broke barriers. Severely battered, badly bruised and now extremely tired, Sonic was now utterly gut determined.
Robotnik was NOT going to win.