Chapter 11
Armadi
11:41 AM
As the hovercraft jerked to a standstill within the hangar, Seltic watched Kyros kick the passenger door open without pause or a word. The echidna stormed out of the hatch and ripped his body armor off, letting the battered and hole-ridden suit of kevlar and metal rest where it clanged to the floor. He felt the urge to speak up, but he had learned long ago from prior experience that Kyros would be better off alone for a while. Without Maya returning, it could be a very long while.
He weakly filed out of the craft after his sister and Kaplain, and carelessly dropped his own equipment pack in a convenient open spot against the wall of the garage. As he and Kaplain stepped outside, Kyros met them at the door.
Kyros glared at the two with a scowl and raised his finger at Seltic. "You two, meet me at the workshop," he said with an eerily cool tone. Without a further word, he stepped off.
"Uh, okay," Seltic stammered after him.
"I think I know what he wants," Kaplain said with a sigh. "He thinks that I betrayed Maya, and I'm sure that he's going to do something about it."
Seltic watched Kyros continue down the path towards Maya's old building and replied, "I know, but he's not thinking clearly right now. I know that you didn't do it, and I'm not going to let him blame you for this."
Kaplain followed Seltic as the tenrec walked out of the hangar and towards his workshop. "It is my fault though. If I had been watching her more closely, this might not have happened."
"Maybe not, but who knows? Maya knew what she was doing, and if there really were that many robots I don't know if you would have made a difference. None of us would."
Kaplain opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. He followed Seltic as he stepped inside of the workshop and flicked the lights on. The light dimly reflected from his soot and dust covered body, reminding him of the battle the night before. "I guess it's just a matter of time before Robotnik gets us all," he spoke at last.
"I try not to think about it," Seltic added. "It's too depressing. I mean, if he was able to conquer most of the world, what good can the few of us do?"
"Plenty," the grim voice of Kyros answered. Seltic jumped and spun to face him with a surprised expression. "I don't plan to give up, not so long as I can still get revenge," he continued, strolling into the room with the same blank expression.
Seltic stepped between Kyros and Kaplain and asked, "What exactly did you want?"
"I think you know. I want Kaplain restrained and deactivated."
"But, I didn't do anything!" the deer pleaded.
Kyros cut his eyes to him and said, "Don't give me that. You were the only one with her when she was captured. How do we know that you weren't the one who handed her over to Robotnik?"
"Why would I? After all you've done for me?"
"Because, that would be the perfect guise for a spy. For all we know, you've given Robotnik our position and he's on the way to finish us off right now!" Kyros shouted.
Kaplain backed away and opened his mouth before being interrupted by Seltic, "Yeah, like you said, for all we know! Besides, that's all circumstantial, what other reasons do you have for believing that?"
"For starters, don't you think that it was convenient that we weren't attacked by any more robots after we ran into Kaplain? Or, how about Robotnik knowing exactly where we were when he fired that laser? How about the convenience of the whole situation? Why didn't Robotnik recover Kaplain's destroyed body and recycle him into scrap? Why was he the only robot around when Sissera fought him? Huh?" he demanded.
Seltic thought for a moment but wasn't given a chance to respond. Kyros stepped over to Seltic and leaned towards his face. "Exactly. I don't care what your excuses are, right now he's too much of a liability. If you don't shut him down, then I'm going to do it with a plasma cannon. You've got your choice."
Kaplain staggered backwards and tried to shake the terror from his face and stuttered, "I-I'll do whatever you want. I'm not a spy or a traitor."
"Good," Kyros directed to him. He looked at Seltic and continued, "I mean it. Don't make me have to do it."
Seltic frowned and nodded. "Fine."
Kyros handed him a computer memory stick and added, "Alright then. After you've taken care of that, I need you to decrypt these files for me. Maya never told me the security key, and I think we're going to be needing all of the information that she's squirreled away that we can get."
Seltic sighed and looked down to the little-trodden path in front of the recreation room door. He clutched the data stick in his hand and forced himself to pull the handle on the door and confront Kyros. Under normal circumstances, Seltic would be busy working on something personal instead of decrypting Maya's personal files, but after the display Kyros made less than an hour before he decided that it had much higher priority than anything else.
The acrid smell of cigarette smoke surrounded Seltic as he pushed the door open, followed by the tell-tale white whirls of smoke pouring from the crack in the door frame. He shunned the initial urge to criticize Kyros for his habit, and slipped inside.
Kyros sat on a weight bench braced against the wall to his right. Seltic stepped towards the echidna, taking care to dodge a pile of carelessly discarded cigarette butts. Kyros cut his eyes to him and said, "Don't even think about it."
"What?"
"The cigarettes," Kyros answered, returning his attention to a weight in his hand.
Seltic scratched the itching gauze patch strapped over his arm and innocently replied, "Oh, I wasn't planning on it." He stopped beside Kyros and placed the memory stick on the weight bench. "All done. From the looks of it though, it's mostly personal journal entries. Not a whole lot of useful information."
Kyros dropped the weight into a rotting wooden box and said, "That's fine." He stood with a slump and continued, "As long as it's something."
Seltic puzzled over the comment and asked, "Were you looking for anything in particular?"
"No, just anything. If no tactical information, memories at least. It's going to be hard getting used to her not being around," he replied, avoiding Seltic's eyes.
"We may never get over it, but... it was bound to happen to one of us eventually, you know?" Seltic paused before adding, "I guess it just hasn't hit me yet... I'm trying not to think about it... there's too much to think about now."
Kyros glared at him and said, "How can you say that? What's more important than what happened to her?"
Seltic's eyes grew wide and he stammered defensively, "N-nothing! It's just like I said, there's so much going on right now it's chaos in my head."
"Well, I can't stop thinking about it. There has to have been something I could have done."
"Gotten yourself caught too? You know that there was no way to get close to her. We did all that we could."
Kyros scowled and replied, "But it wasn't enough. I just can't get Robotnik's face and words out of my mind." He growled and said, "One day... I'm going to-" Without finishing his sentence he slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a fist-shaped depression in the soft foam board interior. "Kill him..." he finished.
"And that's why we had to leave! If we stayed it would have been over right then and there."
Kyros glanced at the blood smeared across his knuckles and said, "I just can't believe that you're saying it like that. Didn't Maya mean anything to you?"
"Of course she did! But, what could we do? It was too late when we got there, and there's nothing we can do now!"
Kyros growled and looked away in thought. "Well, I'm not taking this. I'm going to do something, whether you help or not."
"What? She's surely been roboticized by now."
"Remember Kaplain? I'm willing to take my chances to get her back, no matter the risks." He grasped the data stick and added, "And I've got a plan. I'll talk with you later."
Seltic swallowed and nervously replied, "If you say so."
"Is he actually off?" Sissera asked her brother as she studied Kaplain's comatose body.
Seltic took a breath and removed his trench coat before answering, "Yeah. As much as he's going to be anyway."
"His eyes are still glowing, is that normal?" she questioned further, staring into the robot's half closed eyes.
"I really wish I knew. I'm afraid to just cut him off, since I might not be able to cut him back on. So, to make Kyros happy I sort of put him in suspended animation. As far as I can tell he's unconscious, but he's still on."
She offered a quiet, "Oh."
"I really wish Kyros wasn't so adamant about this, but without Maya..."
"He's in charge?" she finished for him.
He smirked and nodded. "I guess so. Heaven knows I wouldn't want the job, but I was talking with him earlier... well, actually he was more lecturing me than anything, and I'm not so sure that he can think clearly enough right now."
"He does have a point about Kaplain though I guess. If nothing else Robotnik can probably track him if he thinks to."
"I know, and I wish there was a way I could prove to Kyros that Kaplain isn't a threat. But, I guess even I don't know that."
Sissera crossed her arms and asked, "Don't you have some sort of way of viewing his memories or something? That would be a way."
"I wouldn't know where to begin. I don't even know if that's possible, since I haven't had much of a chance to study him. I doubt I'll ever have the time though."
She raised and eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Seltic picked up the neural chip that he had worked on a few days before and stared blankly into it. "Well, the way I figure it, if Robotnik doesn't level us out here with another laser shot from space, Kyros is going to lead us on a suicide mission into Robotropolis bent on revenge or something."
"Did he say that?"
"Not in those words specifically, but that's what I gather from him. He's taking this very badly, but I guess that's normal. He said he had some sort of plan, but didn't tell me what it was."
Concern clouded Sissera's face. "This is hard on us all, but charging back into Robotropolis and getting killed won't solve anything."
"Tell that to him. I'm not going to say anything, this is Kyros after all."
Sissera sighed and added, "Kyros is so unpredictable at times. You'd never know that he cared that much about Maya, but...," she trailed off, fighting back a tear, "I guess she meant so much to us all."
"I don't want to think about it," Seltic muttered.
She paused in thought. "You're going to have to eventually. I mean, what about tomorrow morning when there's no breakfast? Or dinner tomorrow night?"
"I know... but it's so much more than that. She's been... like our mom... all of these years. How can we go on?"
Sissera finally lost her resolve and let a tear out. She slumped into a nearby chair and whimpered, "I'm going to miss her..."
Seltic closed his eyes and replied after an awkward pause, "Me too..."
The depressingly large pile of supplies still packed in the holding bays of the two hovercraft sent a numbing wave through Tantalus' body. Before setting out the night before, Maya had assigned him the duties of unloading the bulk of materials after the mission had ended. The thought of her innocently handing him the instructions with a smile before setting out sent an icy chill down his spine and a queasy feeling in his stomach.
He grabbed the pile of damaged laser rifles and tossed them into a growing mound of damaged or worthless equipment. The stinging smell of fried electronics and ruptured energy cells brought back the memories of narrowly evading the energy cannon shots from earlier that day. He let out a long sigh and plopped himself onto the exposed floor of the hovercraft. Another icy feeling engulfed his body as he realized that Maya could well have been but one of many to not return.
A sudden and intense itch ran through his arm, stemming from the scab forming over his previous injury. He anxiously scratched it with a whimper, trying to concentrate on the swirling thoughts clouding his mind. The unpleasant thoughts of a possible funeral ceremony for Maya crept into his head, and he uneasily mulled over any possible comments he might be called on to make. The thoughts prompted a nauseous feeling in his stomach. He placed his hand over his face and pondered how the others were taking the tragedy, especially Marcus.
Over the years he had occasionally imagined himself in Maya or Kyros' places of authority, but he was now extremely thankful for his more menial duties. The difficulty of dealing with the loss of Maya was tough enough by itself without the added grief of ordering her to her doom.
He shifted himself and tried to shift his thoughts to Kyros. Tantalus had regarded Kyros as a sort of older brother and mentor ever since the early years of the battle against Robotnik, regarding his confidence and leadership as things to strive for. The sight of Kyros shaken to his core at the loss of Maya completely sapped his own energy and strength. He rarely saw Kyros so silent and withdrawn, and tried to avoid picturing him sulking alone in his room.
He tried to force himself to his feet and resume his work but lacked the will. Unless something unexpected happened, there would be no need for the hovercraft for the rest of the day, and the equipment still inside of the hovercraft could stand to wait a few more hours. With his apathy growing into a feeling of grogginess, he began to welcome the idea of slipping into his bed and staying there for the rest of the day. He continued to think over the idea before realizing that his house was several blocks away, and he couldn't bring himself to stand.
He instead slowly slumped back into the empty hold of the hovercraft, and despite the uncomfortable feeling of lying against the flat metal he stretched out and stared into the ceiling. He knew he would regret sleeping there when he woke up, but could only bring himself to shut his eyes and try to shun the negative thoughts from his mind.
After lying silently in the hovercraft for an indeterminate amount of time and trying to find a marginally comfortable position, he heard the distinct sound of boots scraping against the concrete floor of the hangar. He tried to ignore the sound, hoping that whoever it was wasn't looking for him. His hopes were tossed aside as he heard Vladimir gruffly shout, "Tantalus, are you in here?"
He tried to ignore the badger calling him, and continued to pretend that he was fast asleep. Vladimir persisted though, and walked around the hovercraft to find him hanging partially out of the opened door. He peered into the hovercraft and grunted, "Tantalus?"
Tantalus thought about continuing to pretend to not be able to hear him, but knew that Vladimir wouldn't leave until he told him whatever he was sent to and so gave in and asked sleepily, "Yeah?"
"Kyros wants you to hurry and finish unloading the ships. He wants us all to meet shortly."
Tantalus perked up and replied, "Uh, alright." He groaned and forced himself up, already beginning to feel the tight mild pain in his lower back from lying on the floor. Vladimir took a moment to ensure that he was awake before marching off.
Instantly, the thoughts from earlier began to flood back to Tantalus. As he pulled himself out of the passenger bay, he began to wonder about what Kyros might have to say to them. Whether it was going to be an awkward moment of Kyros breaking down in front of them all, or ordering them all back into Robotropolis on a suicide mission, he was worried that it wasn't going to be pretty.
The sight of Stanley sitting quietly at the end of the row of chairs in the dining hall sent Marcus into a sprint. He dashed over to Stanley and embraced him with a cry of joy. "I miss Ms. Maya," he whimpered.
Stanley returned the hug and replied, "Me too buddy. It's going to be alright, you'll see."
Marcus smiled and backed away. "Is that what Kyros wants us for? Are we going to go save her?"
"Well..." Stanley started, buying time to think up an acceptable answer. "We'll see. There might still be time to get her back," he continued, despite what he really believed. By now, it was almost certain that it was too late, but he couldn't think of anything else that Kyros would need to bring to their attention.
The two took their seats as the others began to silently filter into the meeting area. Each took their typical chair without much comment, filling the dining hall with an almost tangible sense of tension. Tantalus ended the procession by staggering into the room and plopping into the nearest chair, careless of who normally filled it.
Stanley felt himself growing sleepy just watching Tantalus fight to stay awake. His grogginess instantly faded a few minutes later as Kyros slipped inside, using the side entrance that Maya normally would during such meetings. The tension engulfing the room multiplied itself as Kyros mounted the stage, devoid of his normal trench coat and weapons. He clomped over to the microphone rack in the center of the stage and set it aside. Everyone stiffened as his blank stare passed over them, eventually finding its place in the blank seat at the center of the crowd.
He took a deep breath and looked over to an empty part of the room before beginning, "I don't suppose that the reasons for calling this meeting are much of a secret."
At the silence that responded, he resumed, "I think that, especially after the events in Robotropolis last night, we can all say that times are grim and it's tempting to just give up in the face of what we're dealing with. We've had to deal with the loss of someone we loved and cared for, and we will probably never get over it." He looked away again and paused for a moment. "But, as we found out in Robotropolis, Robotnik must be getting close to finishing his plans, and we don't have time to sit around here and feel sorry for ourselves."
The group began to murmur lowly among themselves before Kyros interrupted, "I'm worried that we might not be able to handle things alone this time though, and especially with the loss of... Maya... I think we might just get ourselves killed. So, I've called in for some help."
He pulled the remote for the overhead projector hanging from the ceiling from his pants pocket and thumbed the switch. A vague image flickered across the screen beside Kyros for a moment before focusing into the concerned face of Princess Sally. "I found the radio channel to communicate with them in Maya's files, and asked for some assistance. This is a recording the princess made for us." He hit another button on the remote and stepped back.
The frozen image of Sally shimmered once before coming to life. "Uh, hello everyone. Kyros told me about what happened, and I'd like to say how sorry I am for your loss. But, he's also told me something else that scares me. We too have seen several energy beams falling from the sky, apparently aimed at random places for testing purposes."
She stepped away from the camera slightly and continued, "Our own experiences probably coincide with yours, and we've come to the pretty obvious conclusion that these weapons are some part of whatever it is that Robotnik has been working on, and the fact that he's firing them now means that he's probably close to finishing. We were getting worried too that something would have to be done soon, and were planning on setting out tomorrow to do what we can to stop Robotnik.
"It's going to be a long and tough fight, so we welcome working together with you however we can." She smiled and added finally, "And, I'm still thankful that you helped me out when I was a prisoner in Robotropolis, so I'm willing to help any way I can to save Ms. Morceaux. Let's hope there's still time."
Kyros shut off the projector and addressed the crowd again, "As you just saw, Princess Sally is going to help us, and she's bringing some of her other friends along. I don't think I have to stress enough how important it is that we don't fail to stop Robotnik tomorrow. If things are nearly as bad as they look like they might be, this could well be the end of Mobius if we do."
He hesitated for a moment before saying, "And, as you've probably figured out, I told the princess that we're going to try and save Maya, and she's going to help. I don't care what the risks are, or if she has been roboticized already. I'm going to get her back from Robotnik, one way or another, and I hope that you all agree.
"But, I'm not going to beg any of you to come with me. I know how tough this is on all of us, and I don't want you there if you're only going to be a liability."
Marcus tugged on Stanley's sleeve and energetically whispered to him, "See, we are going to go save her."
Stanley nodded in a surprised manner and replied, "Yeah, I guess so."
Kyros took the center of the stage and spoke once more, "Everyone who wants to help, meet at the usual place tomorrow at sun up. I'm not letting Robotnik get away with this without a fight."
The midday sun spilling through the breach of the opening hovercraft door soothed Seltic's mind slightly. He had never felt enthusiastic about setting out on a mission to Robotropolis, but the goals at stake and reassuring feeling of the entire team disembarking form the ships overrode his natural pessimism. The newly energetic expression that Kyros wore from across the passenger bay both worried and calmed him.
He followed Kyros through the door as the ship sputtered to a halt and took in a deep breath of fresh cool air. "So, this is where we're supposed to meet them?" he asked.
Kyros scanned the horizon and replied, "Yeah, almost half an hour ago. I wasn't expecting to have to use both ships."
"You really didn't expect us all to come? What you said was true, you know."
"Yeah, like I said, this is a tough time. I figured that someone would stay behind, but I appreciate all of the help I can get."
"I don't know how much help I'm going to be, but I can always turn Kaplain back on. I'm sure he would help," Seltic joked.
Kyros cut him a wary eye and said, "I don't think so. I brought him along so Robotnik wouldn't be able to track him back to Armadi while we were gone, but I still don't want him awake. He's staying here with the ships."
"Yeah, I know. Let's just hope Robotnik doesn't find the ships."
"I hope that our friends can though, they might have left us behind."
Stanley interrupted the conversation by jogging over to them from where the second hovercraft stopped and spouting, "Hey Kyros, we've got company."
Kyros instantly reacted to the statement by drawing his laser rifle and deactivating the safety. "Where?" he demanded, a mixture of eagerness and irritation crossing his face.
"Over here," the distinctive voice of Princess Sally called from behind atop an outcropping to his left.
Kyros lowered his weapon and replied humbly, "Oh." He raced to meet her as she began to descend the small pile of rocks, flanked by two others he didn't recognize. "Thanks again for helping us out," he said to her, helping her down to ground level.
"Like I said, we're all in this together. This endangers us just as much as you," she replied, stepping down to his level. "So, I brought some of my friends to make sure we get this right"
She raised her hand towards a middle-aged female wolf to her right and said, "Kyros, this is Lupe. She's been a friend of ours for a while now, helping take the fight back to Robotnik. The rest of the Wolf Pack is around here somewhere."
Kyros shook Lupe's hand customarily and said, "Nice to meet you, thanks for coming."
She returned the handshake with a smile. "Pleased to help anyone who doesn't like Robotnik."
Sally pointed to the goat on her left and said, "And this is Griff. We've had a few differences in the past, but have come to be good friends. He normally tries to avoid combat, but I convinced him to join us."
Kyros started to shake his hand too but stopped himself as he noticed the goat not making the same move. "Glad you could come."
"Believe me, this isn't my idea of a good time, but the possibility of giant laser cannons raining down on us sounds much worse. The lesser of two risks, I suppose."
"Yeah, I know," Kyros agreed, trying to maintain an amicable relationship. He turned to the princess and continued, "Well then, do you have any ideas? I'm getting the impression that you normally lead your people."
"Most of the time. I really don't have a whole lot of intelligence on the situation though, so I think we'd be best off working alone, but keep in contact with each other."
Kyros nodded in understanding. "Okay, sounds good. Do you have any idea what we should do though? All we know is that Robotnik demolished the launch pads from before. We still don't know exactly what we're up against, or what other tricks Robotnik might pull out of his sleeve."
Sally frowned and placed her fingers on her temple. "I know, it's all getting very complicated. The only break we have is that Lupe here has found the location of the control center where Robotnik seems to be directing everything. With any luck, if we destroy or cripple it, he won't be able to fire the weapons any more." She half smiled and added, "For a while anyway. It feels incomplete, almost like Robotnik is hiding something important."
Kyros paused in thought for a few awkward seconds before saying, "Well, it's the best we can do. Where should we start?"
The sound of nearly a score of people defiantly slogging through the toxic swamps on the outskirts of Robotropolis filled Kyros with both reassurance and dread. He knew the relative skills and strengths of his own squad, but the peculiar bunch headed by Sonic and Sally worried him. Their experience might prove useful in a combat situation, but keeping even five people concealed in the heavily patrolled and monitored streets of inner Robotropolis was difficult. With their numbers, something was bound to go wrong, but Kyros felt it best to not mention it at the moment.
He watched quietly as Sonic exchanged a few excited words with Sally before darting off ahead of the pack with impossible speed and a thunderous sonic boom. After wiping the astonishment from his face he realized why the team didn't have any apparent weapons on them. Between Sonic's incredible speed and the other's skills, there wasn't much need.
Sally looked back to him and slowed her pace so he could catch up. As he neared her, she broke the silence with a low tone, "Sonic's gone on ahead to distract the security forces while we find a way inside. We haven't been to this section of Robotropolis in at least a year, but I think that there's a few ways still left open."
Kyros smiled, mostly at the lack of Sonic. He wasn't in the mood to deal with a jealous and cocky teenager at the moment. "Alright, are we going to split up once we get inside?"
"That's probably a good idea. Sneaking around is probably going to be hard enough in small groups." She glanced aimlessly over the horizon in the general direction of the other two teams. "I just hope this works out. Griff and Lupe are leading some diversions around the power plants, and since we haven't been around there in a while either Robotnik might just buy it."
"So, what are we going to do?" Kyros asked the obvious, trying to dodge a particularly unpleasant puddle of waste.
"Well, I know that one of the main things on your mind is Maya, so I figured that we would stick as close together as possible while you check the holding cells. The control center is a little ways off from them, but should be close enough for us to help if you run into trouble."
"Sounds good," Kyros replied with a little reservation. Despite his efforts to think otherwise, he preferred the idea of Griff's team helping over Sally's. Even though the goat seemed a little too indifferent, he at least had the mind to bring weapons. Sally seemed confident enough, so he dismissed the idea. "Any plans for what to do if we do get into trouble? After all, we are going to be pretty much in the middle of the city."
Sally chuckled and replied, "Don't get caught? Really, the only thing you can do is make a break for the sewers or something."
"I'm glad you've still got a sense of humor about this. I don't have a good feeling at all."
"Me neither, but that's the feeling you get charging into Robotropolis."
Kyros sighed and said, "True, I suppose." He silently tagged along behind the chipmunk and her friends as the entire mob crested the top of a hill. From the peak of the hill, he could make out the putrid clouds of ash and smog billowing from processing plants in Robotropolis. Around the base of the perimeter walls he made out the faint image of Sonic dancing about armies of SWATbots, easily dodging an astonishing amount of weapon fire.
"Here we go again..." Kyros heard Stanley mutter to himself as the remainder of the team reached the vantage point.
"So, what is the princess's team doing?" Tantalus whispered to Kyros as the team cautiously took cover behind a dumpster.
"They're going to try and infiltrate the new control center. She hopes that if they wreak a little havoc they can either stop Robotnik completely, or at least buy us some time," he replied, taking a moment to peek around the corner of their cover.
Tantalus stared back in confusion and asked, "Then... what are we doing?"
Kyros motioned for the team to leave their cover and move on before answering, "Doesn't this area look familiar?"
The squirrel said dryly, "Not really, everything looks the same here."
"We're heading to the holding cells where we found the princess earlier. I'm hoping against my better judgment and the odds that Maya will be there."
Vladimir crept up to a corner and checked it quickly. After angling his plasma cannon down the alley he called to the others, "All clear."
The others crouched and slipped over to the badger before darting into the alley. Debris from a recently dismantled launch silo littered the street, intermixed with incinerated chunks of foam insulation and cabling. Kyros stepped over a large hunk of twisted steel and commented, "I guess Robotnik blasted all of the silos."
"I still don't get why though," Tantalus added. "What's the point?"
Seltic stepped up behind them and said, "He was probably just testing the orbital weapons. There's certainly better ways of doing it, but Robotnik does get impatient."
"Clearing space for more stuff then?" Sissera asked.
"Probably."
"I'm not sure I want to know what for," Kyros commented, studying the debris for a second before proceeding in the general direction of the jail cells. "How close are we exactly?" he asked Tantalus.
The squirrel stared at the buildings around them for an instant before replying, "I'm not sure. Like I said, I don't really recognize the place. You'd probably better ask Stanley."
"We're almost there," the porcupine answered without being asked.
"Then you get up here and lead the way," Kyros said to him impatiently.
After following Stanley through the twisting streets of Robotropolis for several minutes without encountering any resistance, Kyros was beginning to get worried. No matter how many times he had to sneak through the streets, he always encountered at least something. The situation felt too much like a typical setup, but like he told everyone earlier, he was prepared to face anything. Backing down now would also destroy the team's already fragile morale, and he wasn't sure if even he would be able to stand abandoning their last chance of saving Maya.
The sight of the aging and grime coated bulkhead-like doors gave Kyros pause. A slight feeling of doom and dread washed over him as he stepped up to the door controls, and he pictured himself dying a slow agonizing death trapped behind the bars of a cell. Despite the princess' presence only days before, the entire complex looked as though it had been abandoned for decades.
"The door's locked, of course," he directed to the others after a brief examination. "Seltic, is there anything you can do?"
Seltic stepped over to the protruding key pad and answered, "I don't think that there's much that can be done. I think these doors are designed to be resistant to tampering. You're actually probably best off blowing your way through the door."
Kyros turned a curious eye to Stanley. "How did you guys get in before?"
"The door was open for some reason," Stanley replied, shrugging.
Kyros groaned and stared at the heavy set metal doors. "That would make too much noise... how are we going to get inside?"
Seltic waved for Vladimir to approach, puzzling over the possibilities. "If we adjust the field focus on the plasma cannon, it can just spray plasma instead of launching it. That's hot enough to evaporate anything."
"Great, do it," Kyros said without thought.
Seltic accepted the order without a word and proceeded to remove his portable computer from his coat. He plugged a cable into a free port on the plasma cannon's side and set the computer down. "Alright, it's going to take a minute or two."
Kyros left him to his work and passively asked Stanley, "Do you remember which way the princess's holding cell was?"
"I think so, it shouldn't be hard to find anyway. Of course, that doesn't mean that Maya is going to be in the same cell."
Kyros fidgeted about for a moment and said, "Yeah, I know. There's hundreds of cells in this building alone, but it's the best place I know to start. We might be wasting our time anyway."
Stanley let out a long sigh and nodded with a slight frown. From behind them, Seltic suddenly stood and removed the cable from the cannon with a triumphant chuckle.
"I guess that's it actually, didn't take as long as I thought," he said to Kyros. "Alright Vlad, just step back and hold the trigger down. If the gun gets too hot it'll shut itself off for a minute to cool."
Vladimir offered a grunt of understanding and hefted the large and awkward weapon into an appropriate firing position. He braced his legs in position and squeezed the trigger, sending a fountain of incandescent energy into the doors. Intense heat bleeding from the barrel of the weapon began to singe the strap of the cannon as the flow of swirling plasma ate away at the door. Flecks of molten metal sparked from the door as the material began to bubble and melt away like ice. After several seconds of coating the doors with super-heated plasma, the weapon gurgled to a halt, dripping condensation from the coolant cowling.
Kyros gave the liquefied slag of a door several seconds to cool before inspecting the gaping hole now open before them. He squinted to shield his eyes from the stinging heat and forced himself through the breach. "Okay everyone, inside. Hurry up too, that thing's insanely hot."
The others complied immediately and squeezed past the red hot remains, assembling a step behind him. Stanley read Kyros' expression and took the lead with the unneeded statement, "This way guys."
Everyone fell in line behind Stanley, carefully following him as he darted around corners and hurried down the lengthy hallways leading to their previous encounter. Kyros caught a breath between strides and asked Tantalus, "Did you guys meet any security in here last time?"
Tantalus gasped and huffed, "No, not even cameras."
"I really don't like this," Kyros mumbled to himself. As he looked up, he nearly collided with Stanley who had suddenly stopped at a corner. "What?" he whispered.
"A SWATbot ahead. It hasn't spotted us yet."
Kyros smirked. "I knew there would be some security, they're guarding someone."
"Or waiting for us," Tantalus added nervously.
"Well, either way we're here and not going anywhere," he replied. "Did anyone bring any ion charges with them? I'd like to do this without being discovered if possible."
Seltic pointed at the plasma cannon in Vladimir's hands and said, "This thing is pretty much a charged particle cannon too, if Vlad can get close enough he'll never see it coming."
"Very well then," Vladimir spoke up, priming the weapon for use again. He slipped over to the corner and waited for the SWATbot to come near. The moment the robot spun around to patrol in the opposite direction, he stepped into the hallway and hammered the trigger, spewing unfocused plasma down the hallway.
The SWATbot turned to face him an instant before the cloud of glowing gas and energy engulfed it, evaporating part of its body and instantly destroying its electrical systems. It clanged to the ground with what sounded like a deafening roar in the silence.
Kyros entered the hallway and inspected the fallen robot before commenting, "Great. We've just got to hope none of them heard that." He stood and continued, "No time to wait though, let's go."
Stanley complied and set off down the hallway again, making a final turn to proceed down a slope into the priority holding area. The change of lighting felt like a warning sign to Kyros, the brighter bulbs overhead glaring down on them like Robotnik himself. Stanley jogged down the row of cells for a few seconds before slowing to a disappointed stop. He stared into the cell next to him and announced, "Well, she's not in here."
Kyros took in a breath and said, "Then let's get looking, if she's in this building she's in here somewhere."
He readied himself to begin searching through the dozens of visible cells moments before a weak voice called, "Kyros? Is that... you?"
The entire team fell silent except for Marcus who immediately jumped up and charged in the direction of the voice. "Ms. Maya? Where are you?" he shouted, much to Kyros' concern.
The group slowly worked their way towards the source of the voice, piling around a cell at the far end of the wing in a stupor. Kyros forced his way past the others to get a view, and found himself similarly shocked. Maya's battered face weakly looked back at him, squinting through a pair of cracked glasses. She cradled a bruise on her shoulder, and winced as she moved to try to stand.
"Hold on, we'll get you out of there!" Kyros shouted, oblivious to possible interlopers. He angled his laser rifle at the base of the bars blocking her exit and opened fire. The bolts of light energy exploded against the weak metal, twisting the bars and freeing them from the floor. He smashed two aside with his foot to open a path and entered the cell. "I'll kill Robotnik with my bare hands for this," he growled as he crouched beside her.
"I... tried to escape. One of the robots... did this," she uttered weakly as Kyros helped her to her feet. She grunted quietly as she stood and motioned for Kyros to hold a moment for her to catch her breath.
"Seltic, get Sally on the radio, tell her we've found Maya," Kyros directed to the tenrec.
As Seltic complied with the order, Kyros helped Maya hobble out of the cell. She coughed several times and wiped clotted blood from her nose before shutting her eyes and letting a tear roll down her cheek. "I... was so scared... I thought that... I'd never see you again," she whimpered between tears and sniffles.
Kyros gently embraced her and replied meekly, "Me too. We're getting out of here, the princess is handling the rest."
"O-okay."
Kyros turned his attention to Seltic to find him confused and fiddling with the tuners on the radio. Seltic flicked a switch on the main unit to activate the loud speaker and said, "Uh, Kyros, you need to hear this."
"It's a trap! We're surrounded!" Griff's unmistakable voice screeched over the radio. It was followed by confused radio traffic from the Wolf Pack, and a male voice that Kyros recognized as Rotor the Walrus from Sally's team. "Fall back and regroup!" Griff shouted again.
"He's going to get us all caught like that," Kyros droned, deeply in thought.
"What about Kyros' team?" an unrecognized wolf demanded over the radio.
"We haven't heard from them, let's hope that they're alright," Rotor answered.
Kyros dashed over to the radio and grabbed the handset. "We're fine at the moment, and we've found Maya. What's the plan?" he spoke into it, trying to keep a level voice.
As he listened for a reply, an enormous ominous shadow began to overtake the group. Kyros dropped the radio set after a second of studying the outline of the shadow, and whirled around to confirm his worst fears. He felt his knees grow weak as his eyes tracked up the wall of the cell pit and to the second floor. Standing at the guard rail of the second story was Dr. Ivo Robotnik, flanked by several dozen roboticized creatures and SWATbots.
The overlander tweaked the end of his long bushy mustache and bellowed, "Plan, you say? Why don't you surrender yourselves to me and make things easy?" Cluck, who had been silently resting on his shoulder, let out a low hiss as it glared down at them.
Kyros felt Maya suddenly grow heavy as she lost her strength. He glanced over to see her face fixed in terror and her hand clasped over her chest. Kyros scowled and shouted back, "Never! I'll die before I see you do this to one of us again!" He recovered his laser rifle and aimed it at Robotnik.
"Not very nice manners you have there, Kyros. But, I'm not going to hold that against you! Normally I'd either torture or execute someone who's caused so much trouble to me over the years, but I recognize your potential. Instead, I'm going to have you roboticized, so you can serve as my personal body guard. How does that sound, my friend?"
Kyros clenched his teeth and opened fire at his rotund target. His laser fire was followed by Stanley and Tantalus joining in, and the tenrecs firing bursts of plasma at the army above. Vladimir finally joined the volley, spraying the entire upper deck with withering heat from the modified plasma cannon. As their weapons ran out of energy and overheated, the intense salvos faded out to reveal the completely devastated deck above. Many destroyed and gutted robots slumped over the guard rails or clambered to the floor below, forming a morbid pile in front of the group.
As the smoke and floating debris cleared, Kyros felt his mouth drop involuntarily. The silhouette of an extremely overweight overlander formed in the dust cloud, covered in the shimmering protective field of a shield generator. A green-tinted sphere of energy crackled and flickered off, revealing the sickening toothy grin on Robotnik's face.
"Now that's the spirit I'm talking about!" he boomed once more. "But, I can't let such a flagrant disregard of my person go unpunished." Robotnik turned to a robot beside him and commanded, "Fire."
The maimed robot nodded and stuttered, "Y-yes Lo...rd." It raised its arm as high as it could, throwing sparks and metal debris from its damaged shoulder.
Kyros felt his stomach lurch at the unmistakable sound of a grenade launcher discharging, but found himself paralyzed. The entire group watched in astonishment and disbelief as the metal cylinder bounced harmlessly across the floor and came to rest at his feet. He instinctively shoved Maya back, away from the certain death only steps away.
The others just managed to take off as the explosive detonated, throwing them all to the ground or nearby wall. Kyros felt an indescribable mixture of burning, pain, and numbness wrack his body as the flames from the explosion engulfed his body, followed by hundreds of shards of twisted shrapnel.
"Oh my, it looks like you won't be going anywhere now, will you Kyros?" he heard Robotnik spout before cackling. His eyes grew heavy as the strength drained from his body, and Kyros welcomed the loss of consciousness that followed.