9. Attack!
The bulging balloon flew through the air and burst on impact. The liquid within sizzled and burned away at the metal like a hot knife through butter.
"This stuff is really impressive."
"Sure is, Sugar-hog."
Sonic tossed another balloon from hand to hand. "You wanna come closer and say that, Bunnie?"
"I'm fine over here, sugar. Them balloons make me mighty nervous." She threw her own at the remains of the SWATpod. "I think I'll practise with plain ol' water until I'm certain I can hit a target without splashin' myself."
"You're missing out on all the fun, though."
"I'll cope."
"You gotta be able to use these babies when we go into Robot-town."
"I know. Baby steps, sugar-hog."
Sally surveyed their handiwork. "This certainly makes cleaning up this wreck a lot simpler."
"What we need is one giant balloon and a way to drop it on Buttnik's fat head," Sonic opined. "Let's see Robotropolis operate like that."
"If only things were that simple."
Sally was a pretty good shot by now. They'd all started out with water, though when they were surer of their aim she and Sonic had progressed onto the small bundle of metal-eating missiles Rotor prepared especially for this task. Their density was slightly different, but both she and Sonic felt more confident in the planned raid now they'd had some practise – plus the wreck was almost gone. For Sally, seeing it dissolve was like seeing evidence of her own failures melt away. When it was no more, she'd have a chance to make up for them.
"Why can't they be that simple?" Sonic asked.
"Logistics?" Sally tossed her last balloon. "Resources?"
"Besides that."
"Mayhap we should make it that simple," said Bunnie. "These here thingies give us an edge, sure enough. Why not use 'em to our full advantage? Robotnik's no pushover, but I ain't never seen a bird fly so high that it didn't have to come down sometime."
"I like your thinking, Bunnie."
"'Preciate the compliment, sugar."
Sally considered this. Perhaps they were right. Perhaps she was thinking too small. She was so used to making strategic strikes against Robotnik that she'd gotten out of the habit of thinking otherwise, but maybe now was the time for a decisive move. It was true that Robotropolis would still stand, but an empire was easier to dismantle when the tyrant at its head was gone. Likewise, a tyrant was easier to remove if the seat of his empire crumbled.
She opened her mouth to reply, but stopped as a gust of wind suddenly burst upon them. Sally covered her face to stop her eyes from drying out as leaves tore from their branches and swirled around them, and the sound of familiar wingbeats filled the air.
"Hey, it's Dulcy!" Sonic cried. Then his voice changed. "Whoa, it's Dulcy! Quick, take cover, she's coming in for a landing!"
Bunnie cannoned into Sally, knocking her aside as something huge rocketed out of the sky. It rolled over and over across the clearing in which they stood and crashed into the trees on the other side. Branches cracked, mud was flung into their air, and Dulcy's recognisable grunts emanated from the dragon-sized hole in the undergrowth.
"Oh my gosh!" Sally scrambled to her feet and dashed across. "Are you all right, Dulcy? That one was pretty nasty."
"It was gnarly!" Sonic appended, zipping to her side. "At least a 9.5 on the Dulcy Scale of Rotten Landings."
She elbowed him in the ribs and hissed, "Sonic!"
"Ow! What? It was." Raising his voice to call through the hole, he added, "I guess spending so long away made you rusty, Dulce. Welcome home."
Dulcy's head appeared, followed by the rest of her, covered in leaves, dirt and other debris. Yet instead of happy to be home, or even embarrassed at her poor display, she looked alarmed. "I flew as fast as I could," she panted. "I cracked the whip and … everything. You guys … you gotta … oh man, I got a stitch." She held her side. "They're headed this way … hundreds of them …"
Her alarm transferred itself to Sally. "Who's headed this way?"
"I don't know! Lots of tiny … metal … things. Little planes or something, but round. I was headed home when I … when I saw them. I tried to … outrun them, and … and …"
"And what?" Sonic demanded, impatient.
"They shot at me!" Dulcy gestured at the long, angry red burn that traced a line across her chest to her abdomen. The tough scales that formed a dragon's near-impenetrable hide had melted around the wound, and for the first time Sally realised how drawn Dulcy looked in addition to her anxiousness.
Dread gripped her. "Dulcy, quickly, tell us exactly what you saw."
Dulcy took a breath. "They're coming from Robotropolis. I don't know who they are, I've never seen anyone like them before, but they're leading a whole bunch of SWATbots and they're all making a beeline for the Great Forest."
"Robotnik and Snively?"
"No! That's the thing, I don't know who they were, but they have Robotnik's SWATbots with them and they were riding … well, I've never seen craft like them before – like little floating discs with handrails. They're so flimsy looking, they shouldn't even be able to fly, but they're nippy. Boy, are they nippy. Each one has a laser or something – that's what got me."
Bunnie peered with concern at the burn. "You need to sit a spell an' get that tended, sugar."
"There's no time, we need to move fast!"
"But you're hurt - "
"You don't understand – I think they're going to Knothole!"
Sally's dread vanished like someone had flipped a switch, shutting it off at the mains. Instead, all she felt was cold. The practical part of her mind came online and she snapped out instructions. "How far away are they now?"
"Out in the wasteland between the forest and Robotropolis. It'll take them about half an hour to reach Knothole if they fly straight - which they're doing."
"Sonic, take Bunnie and get back to Knothole. Dulcy, I'll fly with you. Can you crack the whip again?"
"They hit my chest, not my tail."
"Can you fly with that injury?"
"Hop aboard."
"Sal - " Sonic started.
"Don't argue, Sonic. Get back as fast as you can. Raise the alarm. The villagers know what to do in the event of Robotnik ever discovering Knothole. They've done the drills. I want you to make sure they get away safely and don't panic or stampede. If these strangers don't find Knothole then we can return afterwards, but I want everyone out of Knothole as soon as possible. Get them to the shelters we built in the Great Forest and make sure they stay there until I give the all clear."
"And what're you gonna do?"
"I'm going to try and head these threats off at the pass. Maybe I can lead them away, if Dulcy's up to it."
"Of course I am!" Dulcy replied. "But we've got to hurry."
Without further comment, Sally clambered onto the dragon's harness. "What're you both waiting for? Go!"
Sonic scowled at her. "I'm leader too, you know. Don't I get a say in this?"
"Do you have a better plan? You can reach Knothole faster. The safety of the villagers is paramount, or are you also going to argue about that?"
"Your safety's important, too - "
"Sonic, please don't do this now."
He looked like he wanted to argue more, but scowled and took Bunnie's hand.
Bunnie's expression was pained. "This sounds a few cards short of a flush, Sally-girl. You're takin' an awful risk -"
"And so are you. The longer we wait, the bigger the gamble, and the stakes are the lives of everyone in Knothole. Now will you two please just go?"
Sonic placed Bunnie's hands around his waist, but he was looking at Sally. "You get yourself killed, Sal, and I'll be real mad at you. Hang on, Bunnie, we're going super-sonic."
"Let's do it to it, Sugar-hog."
He revved and blazed away towards the village.
Sally watched them go and tried not to think about how this might be the last time she saw either of them. Crises were defined by how little time they left for the important things to be said.
"C'mon, Dulcy. Let's see if we can't slow them down."
Sonic skidded into the centre of Knothole in a flurry of dust and loose leaves. Bunnie thumped to her feet a few seconds later, shaking off the wooziness that always followed switching from fast to stationary so abruptly.
"Everybody up an' out," she hollered. "Code Red Alert! This ain't no drill!"
The warning bell rang out, and a second later the rush of dust from Sonic's passing to reach it hit Bunnie full in the face. She coughed and squinted, grit in her eyes, but her acute hearing picked up the sound of doors opening and voices edged in panic.
"Is it really a Code Red?" someone asked. "Has Robotnik really discovered Knothole's location?" The face was all blurry as Bunnie blinked dust from her eyes. She thought it might be Cornelius, but if so he was channelling one of his meeker personalities.
Good, Bunnie thought grimly. We don't need no panic right now. The village needed to be evacuated completely and fast, and the best way to do that was by being efficient. She was extremely glad for all the times Sally insisted they do drills of this sort of thing – even at three in the morning and in the pouring rain.
"Yo, Ant!"
"My name is not being such an insect," Antoine said snippily.
"Whatever." Sonic grabbed his hand and curled the fingers around the Warning Bell's rope. "Keep ringing this. I'm gonna go hustle everybody."
"But I am being needful of evacuating also-"
"Ring, Ant, or we're all dead!"
The bell was in the very centre of Knothole, while smaller bells fringed the outskirts. The Warning Bell was something the Freedom Fighters once brought home from a raid in Robotropolis. It used to sit in a small chapel in the poorest district, where kits were named and creatures gathered for Winter Solstice. Now it was a symbol for everything they fought for – except at times like this, when it was used for a more practical purpose.
Sonic was a blue blur as he raced between the huts, chivvying villagers and making sure nobody wasted any time. The biggest worry turned out not to be beasts insisting they rescue all their worldly possessions, but the terrapods, who lumbered around honking anxiously and raising their snouts in an unmistakable gesture of fright.
"If we ain't careful, one o' them critters'll hurt somebody by accident," Bunnie said to Antoine over the bell's clang.
He only nodded in reply, arms pumping and feet periodically leaving the floor as the swing of the giant bell tugged him up like a marionette.
"Mayhap I should go an-" She got no further, as at that moment a higher whine cut across the terrapods' hooting and silenced them.
Baby T appeared from around a hut, tail vertical and legs rigid like one wolf alpha challenging another for territory. It was a clearly identifiable show of leadership, and the other terrapods lowered their heads, fell into line behind him and trooped carefully out of Knothole. Along the way, at pips and beeps from Baby T, several of the giant animals scooped up the oldest and youngest Mobians, sitting them high on their backs so the Mobians could cling to their neck-armour and proceed to safety even faster.
As they passed, Bunnie spotted two such passengers on Baby T's back. "Tails?" she said incredulously. "Rosie?"
"Hello, dear," Rosie waved, as though going on a picnic instead of fleeing her home. "Isn't it marvellous? And quite comfortable, too. I don't know why I never tried anything like this before."
"Hey, Aunt Bunnie," Tails called, not waving since his eyes were still bandaged and he could tell which direction she was in. Rosie's arms were linked around his waist and both clung on doggedly. "I asked Baby T to help out. Is everything going okay?"
"Uh, like clockwork, sugar."
"Where are Sonic and Aunt Sally?"
Hot guilt stabbed through Bunnie's chest like a knife through butter. "Sonic's around, getting' everybody's skates on. Sally-girl's … bein' Sally-girl. She's with Dulcy."
"Dulcy's back?"
"That's how we knew to get everybody outta this here homestead. Now y'all move along, sugar, an' make sure you get nice an' comfy in the shelters. Do me a favour an' settle any folk who're panicky. Last thing we need right now is some cotton-pickin' hoo-hah of a barney. Don't move 'less one of us Freedom Fighters comes to give y'all the all-clear, y'hear?"
"Right, Aunt Bunnie." For once, Tails didn't argue about staying to fight. It wasn't just his injuries – Tails knew about the escape plans and survival codes. Code Red there would be no fight. Code Red meant survival was paramount as Knothole was already lost unless a miracle happened. A village could be rebuilt with time. Lives could not.
Bunnie thought of this as she looked to the horizon and wondered whether Sally and Dulcy had met the enemy yet.
Dulcy was right. The tiny craft numbered in the hundreds, at least, and were accompanied by at least as many SWATpods, each piloted by two SWATbots. It was like the entire population of Robotropolis had emptied out for the sole purpose of destroying knothole. If the certainty of their flight path had already verified Sally's suspicions, their numbers would have. Robotnik would never leave his stronghold so unguarded unless he was certain of the location of the Freedom fighters' base.
Yet how had he learned their location? They were always so careful, eradicating any scrap of information that might lead the tyrant to their home and keeping even the briefest mention of knothole's we=hereabouts under wraps once they crossed over the safety borders of the Great Forest. And who were the extra pilots on the hover-board-craft? Had Robotnik gained allies while they weren't looking?
"What do you wanna do, Sally?" asked Dulcy, peering quizzically over her shoulder. They were still far enough away to turn back and still be out of range of any laser-fire.
Sally squared her jaw. "We have to slow them down. That means finding the leading craft. If I know Robotnik, he'll want to see knothole's destruction for himself."
"So we have to find him in all those?"
"You can still go back, Dulcy. I'm not going to force anyone to fight." Not after Tails. Not after what the raid did to him. His face seemed etched onto the back of Sally's eyelids whenever she closed them.
"Are you kidding? How the heck would you cope without me? Nope, I'm here to stay, Sally, I just need you to tell me what I should do next."
Sally flipped open NICOLE. "NICOLE, can you scan those SWAtpods from this distance to find the one containing organic matter?"
"INTEGRATION WITH ONBOARD SENSORS NEEDED FOR SUCH A TASK. POSSIBILITY OF REMOTE COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN MY SYSTEMS AND SWATPOD'S ARE … 95 PER-CENT, SALLY. HOWEVER, RANGE NEEDED FOR SUCH REMOTE INTEGRATION … TWENTY-TWO POINT FIVE FEET, MINIMUM."
"So we gotta get a lot closer to find Buttnik." Dulcy sucked in a breath. "Good thing I've been practising my ducking and weaving as well as my landings."
Somehow, this didn't fill Sally with as much confidence as Dulcy obviously hoped it would.
"Once we've identified Robotnik's pod, you freeze it with your ice breath. Aim for the engines and landing struts. With any luck, it'll drop like a stone and he'll be stranded away from Knothole. It may not stop the invasion, but a serpent without a head is easy to kill."
"Hey!"
"Sorry, Dulcy."
"Naw, I'm just messing with you. Now let's get started. Here goes nothing!"
They powered forward. Actually, Dulcy's ducking and weaving had gotten markedly better, Sally noted, as the SWATpods opened fire. She avoided the clumsy strikes like they were slowly tumbling feathers rather than beams of ionic death, spiralling down and then opening her wings to soar up inside their phalanx.
"Scan, NICOLE, scan!" Sally yelled, holding the computer out with one and hand and gripping desperately to Dulcy's harness with the other. NICOLE beeped and buzzed, but three near-misses later they still hadn't located Robotnik and the lasers were firing with more accuracy than before.
Which was when the new craft joined in.
A blast of green laser fire severed the harness pommel Sally gripped. She pitched backwards, gripping frantically with her knees, but lost her balance and tumbled from Dulcy's back.
"Sally!" the dragon bellowed, turning a loop-de-loop in an attempt to catch her, but a second blast of green laser punched into her hindquarters. The accuracy was incredible. In two shots, the green lasers had done what dozens of red lasers failed to accomplish. Dulcy shrieked as she spun off-course trailing smoke and the smell of burnt scales.
Sally continued to fall unchecked. She was clutching NICOLE like the little computer might save her, but without Dulcy there was nothing to stop her meeting her death on the ground far below. Air rushed past her ears, masked only by the pounding of her own heartbeat and frenetic thoughts of the loved-ones she'd never see again if she didn't survive this. Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, Rosie, Sonic -
Sonic…
"You get yourself killed, Sal, and I'll be real mad at you."
She couldn't die like this, not after everything she'd worked so hard to achieve-
Suddenly something blew past, flying faster even than she was falling. Sally caught the barest hint of dark green, and then Dulcy's arms were around and stuffing her into her pouch. It was warm and sticky in the pouch, and smelled a lot like old cheese and unwashed laundry, which was why nobody much liked riding in it, but at that moment it was the most wonderful sensation in the world to Sally. Even the marks Dulcy's claws had left on her arms weren't enough to dull the rush of relief that surged through her.
"Thanks, Dulcy."
Dulcy didn't reply, too choked up with pain to do more than fly without also dropping from the sky.
"Stay away from the green lasers. They're far more accurate and powerful than the average SWATpod."
Sally poked her head and right arm out of the pouch, still conscious of their mission to eradicate, or at least halt Robotnik's craft. NICOLE droned as she tried to find a wavelength that matched that of the SWATpods' internal and external sensor arrays, and Sally looked up for a moment to see where they were in the melee. What she saw took her breath away for a second out of sheer astonishment.
"Sally, head down!" Dulcy commanded, veering a sharp left. "Aaaah!"
Three shooters, mounted on the strange new craft, converged on dragon and passenger. With a sound like distant thunder mixed with static, they simultaneously let loose bolts of green laser so intense it lit the surrounding landscape like the brightest halogen light bulbs from Mobotropolis's heyday.
To Be Continued…