Chapter 3
Armadi
6:22 PM
In the instants following the SWATbot pod touching down next to the infirmary, the pent up energy of everyone inside was unleashed. Unlike the lethargic pace from the day before, the group thundered outside of the pod as the hatch slid open, bursting into the evening dusk. Seltic nervously paused a few meters away from the ship and shifted about as he watched Sissera and Vladimir unload Tantalus from the other pod, the two carefully but hurriedly carrying the blood-plastered stretcher down the ramp of the ship and hustling off. He glanced around as the others began to congregate around the downed pods, his eyes meeting Maya's briefly. He watched as she began to follow after Tantalus but hesitated charging after himself.
She removed her glasses and covered her eyes with her hand, fighting back tears and muffled crying. As he tried to think of something to say, she replaced her glasses and took a few shallow breaths. "Everyone, j-just stay here for a second." She wiped her eyes and looked away from the group before continuing, "Sissera doesn't need all of us crowding her."
As she trotted off toward the infirmary, Seltic caught sight of Kyros. Seltic hadn't been anywhere near Tantalus when he was shot, but Kyros might would know something. He wrung his hands and stepped toward Kyros.
He looked the echidna over and tried to think of something to ask, but was interrupted as he took notice.
"What?" Kyros asked as he pulled his attention away from the scene unfolding a short distance away.
"I... I didn't see what happened to him, I was just wondering if you did," he answered after an awkward pause.
Kyros raised an eyebrow. "The SWATbot, remember?"
"Yeah, I know, I mean... how bad was it? Everything happened so fast."
Kyros sighed and looked down before answering, "I don't know. I wasn't with him when it happened. It looked like the beam went right through... if he lived long enough to get back here I guess he wasn't hit anywhere vital."
"But the blood? It was a SWATbot laser, right?"
"I don't know," Kyros said with another sigh. He crossed his arms and looked away with a scowl. "There was some solid slug fire too... I just don't know what happened. Vlad carried him back." He looked up and added, "I just can't believe I left him there like that. If I hadn't charged off to distract that stupid hyena I could have stopped the SWATbot."
"Maybe..." Seltic replied, looking down. "How was he when you got back... was he responsive?"
Kyros shook his head. "Nope, he was out cold when I got there. It's the first time he's been shot like that."
"I can't imagine..."
"No, you can't. Not until it happens," Kyros reiterated, nervously rubbing the scar beneath his shirt where he had first been seriously injured years ago. "If I made it through that, he can make it through this." He looked off toward the infirmary once more and continued, "But I guess I was lucky. I'm going to see if I can find anything out."
Seltic mulled over Maya's request to leave them alone but decided not to stop Kyros. Given the circumstances he could hardly be blamed, and he too desperately wanted to know everything as it developed. As Kyros disappeared into the building, Seltic leaned up against the hover pod behind him and thrust his hands into his pockets. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. The events over the last few hours had been very unusual and he was finding it hard to process them as his thoughts raced.
Tantalus being injured was certainly just a coincidence, but the events surrounding it were very strange. The significant armed security presence at the sight surely meant that there was something of importance there, and the combat robot at the site meant that Robotnik wasn't taking chances with it. Then there was the matter of the robots all being Sahrians, and seeing SWATbots so far from Robotropolis was unusual...
Seltic stared blankly at the dirt around his boots as he pondered the circumstances around the SWATbot they had encountered. Something was strange about it too, but he couldn't decide exactly what. SWATbots were normally so inferior that their weapons couldn't penetrate the sort of armor Tantalus wore, and he couldn't understand why Tantalus' own weapons hadn't demolished it at such a range. Surely it was all just chance. They had to be unlucky sometimes, and even Robotnik had his moments.
His thoughts were interrupted by Stanley strolling toward the pod, a solemn expression etched onto his face. As he drew near he said, "Maya wants me to move the ships back to the garage."
"Alright," Seltic replied, pushing off from the pod and making room for Stanley to pass by. As the porcupine ascended the boarding ramp and shut the door, Seltic stepped away from the pod and began trudging toward his half of the building that he shared with his sister.
The others around him had all begun to cluster around the door of Sissera's side of the building or head back to their own houses, hushed conversations intermixing too haphazardly for him to make anything out. He punched the password key into the pad on the side entrance of the building and pulled the door open as quietly as possible to avoid disturbing the work going on a few rooms away.
With a sigh he pulled off the heavy coat he customarily wore on missions and placed it on the rack next to the door, and began to make his way up the stairs. He had no idea when he would know anything new about Tantalus, and he needed something to take his mind off of the situation. He hated feeling helpless like this... there was nothing he could do to help Tantalus or his sister and he was going to worry himself sick. If nothing else, the computers would be monitoring radio traffic from Robotropolis like usual. Perhaps if he was lucky Robotnik would get careless and send something important over the radio to let them know something about what was going on.
After the events surrounding the satellites over a year ago however, he wasn't hopeful. If nothing else, Robotnik did fix glaring mistakes. Even then the transmissions of importance were encrypted so that it was impossible to decipher them, but right now he didn't care. He just needed to feel like he was doing something important, since he wouldn't be of any use at all to Sissera.
From the top of the stairs, he could already hear the distinct chime that the computers made when they encountered a problem. As he pushed the door open and entered the room, a series of dark red computer screens stared back. He let out an irritated groan and slumped into the nearest seat.
The computers surrounding him barraged him with the same error, "Power brownout detected. System halted to prevent hardware damage."
After another groan he leaned to the side and place his face in his hand. As if things weren't bad enough already, it looked like he had rewiring or generator repair work to do. He thought for a moment more and switched all of the computers off. He didn't feel like sorting the problem out now, and if nothing else the significance of the computers' malfunctions really didn't compare to what was going on downstairs.
He sat in silence for a few seconds, trying to calm the queasy feeling in his stomach. He had a very bad feeling about Tantalus. They had been inexplicably lucky to have been fighting Robotnik for nearly eight years and having never had any be killed. The thought of a possible funeral service sent a chill through his body, and he could no longer fight the urge to go back downstairs. He had to know what was going to happen, or at least whatever Sissera knew.
He pulled himself to his feet and nervously began making his way back downstairs. At the base of the stairwell, he could hear the excited voices of Sissera and Maya coming from the other side of the building. Determined to understand what they were saying, he began creeping toward and through the hallway separating their halves of the building.
As he leaned up against the door to listen, he heard Maya weakly utter, "Alright then... I suppose I should tell the others."
Seltic felt his heart begin to race and the nausea return at the revelation about to unfold. He began to backtrack and leave the building before Maya found him eavesdropping, but hesitated as the doorway slid open. Even in the dust choked darkness of the hallway, the tear-matted fur around her eyes was evident and her tired posture spoke volumes. Had he... died?
She stammered for a second at seeing Seltic so suddenly, but went on, "Seltic... where are the others?"
He swallowed hard and squeaked, "Outside. H-how is he?"
She paused again and sniffled. "Not good. But he is alive." She wiped her eyes and looked away before adding, "Go get the others... tell them to meet in the cafeteria as soon as possible."
Maya paused at the entrance of the cafeteria. She wiped her eyes and nose once more and adjusted her glasses before weakly forcing the swinging door open. Sissera's words and expression told her everything she needed to know about Tantalus' condition, and she didn't know how she could find the heart to tell the others. They had to be worried to death as it was, even if they had managed to keep it together so far.
Despite the silence that fell on her ears as the door swung open, she made out the images of everyone sitting in the auditorium area. As the door's aging hinges groaned shut behind her, a dozen eyes turned and fixated on her. She took a few uneasy breaths and began shuffling toward the stage, sparking a number of hushed conversations. She felt the strength leave her body as she ascended the stage and looked out over the group.
She shook off the crippling uneasiness at the sight of everyone's worried
expressions and spoke, "Everyone... I have something... difficult to say." Immediately the talking ceased, every member of the group now staring at her with wide eyes.
Again she fought for the will to go on and choked out, "Tantalus... Sissera doesn't think he's going to make it."
"What happened?" Kyros demanded. "I thought he wasn't hit as bad as she first thought."
Maya shook her head and slumped onto the podium before her. "No, you're right. I... don't remember exactly what she said... but the heat mostly cauterized the wound." She wiped new tears from her eyes and muttered, "But it didn't matter... she said it hit his kidney, and that he was beginning to bleed too much. There isn't much she can do... we don't have the medical supplies that she needs."
Silence fell over the room for a few seconds before Stanley chimed in, "But... what about Princess Acorn? Maybe they have something that could help."
Maya shook her head again and looked up. "They might... but we can't get them on the radio. It was the first thing that I tried."
"Wait, so it is something we could get from them and Tantalus would live that long?" Kyros asked, leaning forward in his seat.
Maya sighed. "Well... the biggest problem is that we don't have any artificial blood supplies or something. We don't have the technology to test anyone's blood to try donating, and if we got it wrong it would certainly kill him." She looked away and added, "Sissera didn't know how long he will live without it, but she thought it would be at least a day or so."
Kyros stood up and exclaimed, "Then why are we still here? Why aren't we on the way to Robotropolis to steal some?"
"I-I don't know. I hoped that Princess Sally would be able to bring the supplies to us... I didn't want to leave Tantalus like this..." She trailed off and shut her eyes, whimpering, "If he didn't make it..." She placed her face in her hands and stifled a few tears. "And if this happened to another one of you right now... I don't think I could take it."
"Forget it," Kyros replied. "If there's a chance we can save him by doing it, then I don't care about the risk." He cut his eyes across the group and he asked, "Anyone else with me? If I have to go alone I will."
Kaplain stood and said, "I'm in. I owe it to you all." Moments later, everyone else in the room stood and let out an incomprehensible chorus of agreement.
Maya stood erect and blinked a few times before saying, "A-Alright then. I agree too, let's do whatever we can to save him." She hopped down from the stage with renewed energy and added, "Let me go check on him and tell Sissera. We'll work out the search plan on the way."
"Are we not wasting time being here?" Vladimir asked Kyros as he emerged from the SWATbot pod.
Kyros glared through the dark night at the storage containers a few meters away. He stepped off toward the nearest one and motioned for Seltic to approach. "Maybe, but it wasn't far off course, and I think a few minutes is worth getting revenge for Tantalus." Not to mention the others were headed to Robotropolis separately and would be there soon. With any luck they would find what they needed.
"I doubt the time will make much of a difference," Seltic added as he removed a clay explosive from a crate. "We're either going to find the supplies we need quickly and be back well before we need to... or not find them at all."
"If you insist," the badger replied, removing another pack of explosives. "Robotnik doesn't appear to have replaced the security detail yet."
Kyros dropped a can of liquid explosive next to a bomb placed by Seltic and said, "It makes me wonder if this place was really of any importance at all. If Robotnik cared about it there would have been enough bots in the area to have replaced them immediately."
"All the more reason to make sure we make it worth everything I guess," Seltic said. He inspected another explosive charge and went on, "Either way, there won't be anything left of this place when we hit the button. I wish we had the time to study what was here though."
"Don't get distracted," Kyros replied. "I wish we didn't have a reason to be in such a hurry either, but we really do need to make this quick."
"I know, I know. Just a couple more."
Kyros stepped over the ruined remains of a roboticized zebra and hurled a pack of explosives at the furthest container. As the bomb clanged against the metal cylinder, he backtracked to the pod and watched as the other two placed a few more explosives. "That all?" he asked as Seltic trotted over to him and closed the crate at the entry ramp to the pod.
Seltic shot him a sarcastic expression and said, "No need to use all of them, this should be extreme overkill like it is." His expression changed to concern. "Especially if the stuff is explosive in the first place."
As Vladimir returned too, Kyros said, "Great then, let's hurry out of here."
"Okay, just make sure we're a kilometer from here before the bombs are set off," Seltic replied. "It would really suck to have the pod be damaged in the explosion and get stranded out here."
Kaplain shifted into a more comfortable position atop the pile of rubble that was once a building, taking care to not lose his footing and noisily tumble into the alley next to them. From a short distance away, he could make out the motions of Stanley edging them onward. He carefully navigated his way down the sloping pile of debris down to the intersection where Stanley waited.
As he helped Maya down to his level he said, "It's a good thing we left Marcus with Sissera, we can move a lot faster without him."
"I know... I just hope I'm not holding us up too much," she replied, inching her way to the relative cover of the next building over. She awkwardly leveled a laser pistol down the alley and watched for a moment for any movement. "At least Robotnik's robots don't seem too interested in this area."
As the two stepped into the dark street, Stanley motioned for them to move up. He glanced at Maya and said, "You sure there was a hospital in this area before Robotnik took over?"
"No... I'm not certain, but I have a feeling this is where one of the larger ones was in Mobotropolis." She looked around briefly and added, "I've been there a few times over my life... but everything looks so different now."
"Every other building is in ruins or completely gone, it's nothing like I remember," Kaplain added. "But then again, I didn't go into Mobotropolis that often."
As they moved along Stanley spoke up, "I take it that you weren't stationed anywhere near here while you worked for the good doctor then."
He shook his head. "No, this is probably fifty kilometers from where I typically patrolled."
"Do you know anything about this area at all? Did you ever hear of Robotnik demolishing any hospitals or anything?" Maya asked.
Kaplain continued to follow Stanley, carefully checking every alley they passed for movement or glowing eyes. He sighed and answered, "I don't know... my memories from my time as a robot are hazy at best. Some things I remember well, mostly important things like where to patrol... and fights. Other things like passing conversations from Robotnik or Snively are hard to remember."
"I see." Maya slowed to a stop at three way intersection. She looked down the two possible paths and groaned in frustration. "I wish Seltic was here right now, we don't have a map to work from."
"Are we going to meet up with them?" Stanley asked.
"Yes, eventually. They were coming in from the west and were going to check another possible hospital site before meeting up with us halfway back. Until then though, I don't want to risk raising them on the radio, if it would even reach them."
Kaplain stared down one of the paths and studied their surroundings. He glanced at the other path and said, "Well, if my memory serves at all, if we head west then we'd be leaving Robotropolis, right?"
After receiving confirming nods from his companions he went on, "I doubt an important hospital would be near the outskirts of Mobotropolis, so shouldn't we try going north instead?" He paused in thought for a moment. "Then again, if the hospital was very much further into Robotropolis Robotnik would probably have leveled it by now and replaced it with something more productive."
Stanley eyed Maya and asked, "Alright then, so, which way?"
"I don't know, either way could be the right way." She stared into the pavement for a second before adding, "I guess we should head west. I don't distrust you Kaplain, it's just that you're probably right about Robotnik destroying anything further in. Plus, if we head west, then we can meet up with the others faster if we need to."
He shrugged and strolled off after Stanley, raising his particle rifle in readiness. "It's your call, like you said either way could be it."
Further up the road, Stanley suddenly crouched and waived to the two. They jogged to his position as quietly as possible and threw themselves down next to him. "I saw a spy-eye up ahead. I think it was alone."
"Where at?" Kaplain whispered, studying the maze of roads around them. An almost imperceptible hum met his ears as he scanned the horizon, his ears settling at a building on the corner of an intersection ahead. "There?"
Stanley nodded, raising his weapon in the direction of the interloper. Kaplain pushed Stanley's weapon down and offered his own. "Wait, use the particle rifle. If you just shoot it, the radio might still work long enough to alert local security."
With a nod, Stanley took the rifle and took aim. An instant later as the small spherical robot left its cover, a faint blue pulse flashed at the barrel of the particle rifle. An incredible flash of light filled the streets for an instant as the charged particles fried and overloaded every circuit in the machine, showering the street in sparks and bolts of electricity. As it clanged to the ground below, bathing its surroundings with light from small internal flames, Stanley returned the rifle and led the two into an adjacent alley.
As they dove into the pitch black cover of the alley and took up positions to watch for other robots, Kaplain said, "Perfect. The local security computers probably didn't catch that, the bot won't go missing for a few hours."
"Which is all the time we have any way," Maya replied. "Is the coast clear?"
Stanley nodded and stepped into the street. "Let's get moving then. We know Robotnik has surveillance in the area at least."
"There's no way to know if there's going to be more, best we keep wary," Kaplain added. He trotted after Stanley, keeping an eye out to make sure that Maya wasn't falling behind. The three passed through half a dozen more crossways and intersections as they traversed the maze of streets in the general direction of west. As they picked their way along, the dour burnt out and decaying buildings around them began to be replaced by newer buildings of various sizes and varieties.
"It looks like we're getting close to a storage area or something," Kaplain said as he studied a nearby building.
"There doesn't look like much security is around," Maya replied. "Are you sure?"
He nodded and replied, "Yeah, but it might be abandoned too. Robotnik was notorious for doing that... he'd demolish something and build a garage or warehouse, then figure out that he didn't need it or couldn't defend it." He glanced over the dim windows of a number of buildings. "Yeah, probably abandoned. Doesn't look like anything is going on."
"Unidentified voices, possible contacts," the team heard something call from out of sight.
They immediately scrambled for cover, barreling toward one of the supposedly empty storage sheds. The unmistakable glow of a robot's eyes appeared from within the shelter, snapping open in surprise as it noticed the three. It tossed aside a crate and pointed in their direction before shouting, "Intruders! Halt in the name of Lord Robotnik and surrender yourselves!"
Maya froze momentarily at the sudden change of events. She fumbled with the pistol in her hands before dropping it clumsily onto the asphalt pavement below. The roboticized coyote dove at her, grabbing at her limbs in an attempt to subdue her.
She gasped as its immense weight plowed into her, slamming her from her feet and sending her sprawling onto the ground. As it pursued after her, a dozen red shafts of light pierced its body, knocking it off balance. It stumbled a few steps before turning to face its attacker, pausing a moment in confusion as noxious fumes poured from the rents in its armor. "Robotnik will have your head," it growled, raising its arm in Stanley's direction.
Kaplain raised his own weapon and snapped off a few shots, hitting the robot's arm squarely and grazing its face. The machine howled in pain and drew its arm back. It staggered backward and covered the damaged spot on its face in an imitation of its previously organic nature. The fumes pouring from its body began to intensify after a moment, followed by the robot collapsing to its knees.
"Generator damaged... battery failure," it muttered weakly. "Shutting down..."
As it slumped to one side and let out a final muffled sigh, Stanley and Kaplain rushed to Maya's side and helped her to her feet. She leaned against Stanley and gasped a few times to catch her breath, covering her face with one hand.
She embraced the two and let out a nervous chuckle. "Thank you... I thought it had me for sure."
Stanley nodded and said, "Don't worry about it. Now, come on, with two bots down it's not going to be long before Robotnik takes interest."
As a light breeze rolled through the woods and rustled the fallen leaves, something stirred. At the edge of the beach, partially buried in mud and fragments of ceramic and metal, the form of a robot twitched. Artificial joints groaned and grit-choked gears ground as its body shifted slightly, revealing the ravaged remains of a robotic meerkat.
"Thermo-dynamic battery charge cycle complete," it blurted out into the darkness around it. "Critical damage detected, generator off line. Should I reboot?"
After an eternal silence it continued, "Command not received. Reverting to autonomous operation. Please wait."
Its tense, unnatural pose went limp as its eyelids slid shut, followed by a weak groan as its systems came back on line. Its eyes tracked across the sky and treetops around it as it scanned its surroundings, its view limited by its position on its back. It flexed its joints and called out, "Squad mates, report."
Its radio was inoperative, and the silence it received back told it everything it needed to know. With a determined thrust it rocked onto its feet, followed by the sound of damaged metal in its hip and knee snapping or grinding aimlessly. The damaged joints instantly collapsed under its weight, spraying the area around it in particles of shattered gears and sparks. Its damage was more severe than it thought, and its battery would only sustain it for a few more minutes.
From its prone position it dug its clawed hands into the dirt and pulled itself clear of the woods, revealing the annihilated remains of the storage facility it had been tasked with guarding. Small fires dotted the landscape around it, highlighting the darkness-shrouded chunks of debris remaining. Its enhanced vision scoured the devastated beachhead, picking out the destroyed husks of the security forces and workers. Dr. Robotnik would need to know about this.
It tried its radio again, once more receiving only incomprehensible static. Its mind was filled with repeated damage warning and possible system failures, and it knew its ruined body wouldn't be able to carry it back to Robotropolis. It surveyed the area once more, its vision blurring for a moment as the lens motors in its eyes began malfunctioning.
The crumpled remains of a fallen SWATbot laid atop the shattered body of the roboticized hyena, obscuring the image of a SWATbot pod partially submerged in the ocean. Its internal radio might have been damaged by its power failure, but the pod's radio should still function.
It hauled itself along, ignoring the warnings in its head about the electrical damage to its arm joints. Its own well being was irrelevant at this point, all that mattered was Robotnik knowing about the destruction of the facility. The robot forced itself onward, pausing intermittently to rest the overheating motors in its elbows and shoulders, and to refocus its worsening eyes. Phantom sounds and static filled its ears, and impossible shifting shapes clouded its vision. It clambered forward at the double as it neared the pod, realizing that it wouldn't be long before its damaged systems gave out completely.
As it reached the edge of the ocean and the pod itself, it grasped a guardrail on the pod and tried to pull itself over to the half-closed entry hatch. It snarled in response to simulated pain wracking its body from the electrical shorts caused by its already useless legs dragging through the water. With the last of its strength it forced the hatch open and threw itself inside.
A damaged SWATbot slumped over the console from the pilot's seat, likely destroyed in the crash. The meerkat pulled itself into the copilot's seat and slumped onto the wall of the pod. Its battery was nearly drained, and powering the pod's radio would take the last of its energy. It weakly reached up and swiveled a monitor to face it, and extended a connector from its fingertip.
It felt a surge of power leave its body as it plugged its finger into a receptacle on the console, and for a moment its consciousness began to dim. As it forced itself to remain awake, it began to search the radio waves for Robotropolis. It paused at an active frequency and opened a communication link, resulting in a dim image lighting up on the monitor.
"Yes, what is it?" Snively's nasally voice spoke over the connection. His face soon filled the screen, a demanding expression plastered on it. He raised an eyebrow as he caught sight of the extensive damage covering the robot. "What happened?"
"We were attacked, my lord," the meerkat replied with difficulty.
"I can see that," Snively snapped. "By who? What's your status?"
"Kyros the echidna was among them, I don't know the others." The robot blinked and tried to focus its vision on the overlander before continuing, "All other units were destroyed. The facility appears to be a total loss."
Snively said something over the radio, but his words were lost among the static and garbled sounds plaguing the robot's hearing. "Forgive me lord... my processor network is damaged, I'm having trouble understanding you."
"I said, shut down and await recovery. I'll send a team out to investigate the damage as soon as possible, but I don't now when Robotnik will get around to it. If the freedom fighters show up again, burn your memory."
The robot nodded weakly and answered, "I understand." After Snively cut the communication link, it slumped to the side and shut its eyes again. It felt the last drops of energy leave its body as its battery discharged completely, and the distorted world around it faded into blackness.
"You're sure you know where we're going, right?" Kyros asked Seltic as they slipped into the cover of a nearby building's doorway. Vladimir followed behind them, taking up a position to watch for robots from outside.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. This is the way to the nearest hospital that was in Mobotropolis," he replied, peering through a shattered window. He pointed to the personal computer stored at his side and shrugged. "At least that's what was on the map. As always, Robotnik could easily have remodeled since then."
Kyros grunted and led the three outside through another exit. "I can't imagine Robotnik keeping something as healthy as a hospital around if he needed the space. He probably took everything he thought he might need and stored it in the main facility." He eyed the buildings around them as they went on, contemplating their situation. "Anyway, how long would the stuff have been lying around by now? Would what we need keep fresh this long?"
Seltic shrugged again and said, "Probably been there as long as Robotnik's been in power. Real blood wouldn't have lasted a day without refrigeration, but I think artificial blood isn't susceptible to microbes or anything. I don't know for sure, but I think it lasts practically forever."
"Good, because I'd really hate to be here and not really have any chance." Kyros ducked a low pipe and sidestepped a pile of discarded machinery, and added, "If nothing else, maybe we should have stopped by Knothole first."
"Well, Maya said they weren't answering the radio. They might be here right now too, which would be helpful if we knew where they were." Seltic chuckled and went on, "Besides, Knothole would have been too far out of the way, and I doubt they'd appreciate us looting stuff from their supplies while they weren't there."
Kyros aimed his rifle down an alley and ensured it was clear before entering. "Hey, I didn't say all of that now..."
"No, but I have the feeling you were thinking about it. If it means the difference between life and death, then even I'd consider it."
"Yeah, I guess." Kyros grit his teeth and scowled. "It's just one more thing Robotnik's going to answer for. I only wish we'd have taken him out when we had the chance."
Seltic raised an eyebrow and asked, "You mean when we were roboticized?" After receiving a nodding confirmation, he continued, "I guess we could have. If we didn't deroboticize ourselves we could probably have taken him out when he came looking for us... but I don't know about you, but I couldn't think of anything else but being me again the whole time I was a robot." He looked up as they reached an intersection and stared at the myriad of highways now visible. The colossal twisting roads that once served as the main roadway into Mobotropolis now laid dormant, silent and collapsing. A flickering street lamp across the intersection highlighted an on-ramp leading to a raised roadway above them.
"Which way now?" Kyros asked without need.
Seltic pointed to the ramp and said, "If we take the highway we can save some time. Of course, we'd be exposed to any surveillance in the area."
Kyros set off toward the ramp. "We're on a time budget here, so I'll take the chance." The three cautiously traversed the exposed intersection and wound their way past a dust coated destroyed vehicle to reach the ramp.
Vladimir took point with a terse, "Allow me." Kyros and Seltic crouched behind the raised guard rails and watched as the badger picked his way up to the highway. Vladimir silently scanned the roadway and skies around them with his eyes, followed by a careful scrutinizing of the roofs of nearby buildings with his rifle's scope. "All clear," he called to his comrades.
The two hurried up the slope to join him at the top. From their vantage point, they could make out a sea of destroyed and wrecked vehicles littering the roadways around them, still there even after nearly a decade of abandonment. Kyros imagined how the scene must have looked the day Robotnik's coup started, with freshly roboticized people swarming the area and killing or dragging others off to their dooms. "At least we'll have some cover."
"Yeah, and I think I can see the hospital up ahead," Seltic added, pointing off toward a particularly large building set apart from the others around it. "Let's just hope the road doesn't collapse under us or something.
Kyros cut him an evil expression. "Shut up..."
Stanley stared up at the unintelligible fragments of the sign hanging over the entryway to the building before them and shrugged. "No telling what that used to say," he directed to Maya. He glanced over the remnants of the building and surrounding structures connected to it. "But it's definitely big enough to be the hospital, and it doesn't really look like an office or factory."
"Alright then, let's check it out," she replied. She peered into the darkness drenched interior and sighed. "I don't feel too hopeful though."
Stanley slung his weapon over his shoulder and examined the ruined sliding doors blocking their path. With a determined thrust, he smashed the remaining glass from the door with his boot and stepped inside. "Careful, that might be real, sharp glass."
As the three stepped into the reception area, Kaplain said, "I hope someone brought a lamp or something. I doubt the power still works here."
"Yep," Stanley replied as he fetched a light from his belt and switched it on. He looked back to Maya again and asked, "So, where do we start?"
She rubbed her eyes and said, "I have absolutely no idea. I don't even know where or if they even store that sort of stuff." She looked up and eyed the twilight filtering into the room from cracks and holes in the ceiling. "I doubt they'd store it upstairs anywhere though, and I'd be afraid to risk going up there now."
"This building might fall apart any time now," Stanley added. "Not to mention the elevators certainly don't work, and running up to the tenth floor doesn't sound like a great idea to me."
"Is there a basement?" Kaplain asked. "That's where I would store anything like that if it was in this particular building."
Stanley noted a few signs on the wall and stepped off in the supposed direction of the nearest stairwell. "There's only one way to find out. Any chance of security bots?"
"I don't know, no way of telling," Kaplain answered. "There's always the possibility."
"Then take no chances," Maya added. "Like I said before, I'd hate for another one of us to be in the situation Tantalus is in."
Stanley grabbed his weapon again and forced his way into the stairwell. He began down the stairs and noticed the various warning signs around them. As they reached the floor below them, he paused at the large notice, "Staff Only."
"This looks like we're headed in the right direction," he told the others. A biohazard warning sign caught his eye as he went for the door, and he traced it back to another flight of stairs leading down. "But, that sounds even more promising."
After receiving confirming nods, he started down the stairs, flashing the light in his hand across the pitch black walls with every step. Eventually, the dust-choked cone of light settled on a large metal door adorned with biohazard and radiological hazard signs. As he examined the door he noticed that it was slightly ajar, and with surprisingly little force he managed to slide the door open far enough to squeeze through.
"I don't like the sound of these hazard signs," Kaplain spoke up as he managed to twist his antlers through the gap in the door.
"Me neither, but we don't have much choice," Maya replied. "I just hope we can find something useful here." She flashed her own light across a large container marked with various indicators of discarded needles and let out a weak sigh. "There's no telling how large this storage area is."
"Or even how many floors down it goes," Stanley added. He studied the markings on the walls and pointed down an anonymous hallway leading into the hospital's campus. "Consumables is this way, whatever that means. It sounds the most promising of anything."
The trio headed down the hall at a hurried pace, lights dancing across the walls as they trotted onward. As they rounded a corner, Maya nearly ran over Stanley as he jerked to a sudden halt. Her flashlight tracked over glinting metal as she bumped into him, and for a moment she felt her heart skip a beat.
"It's alright," Stanley said after a second, motioning for the other two to back up a step. He examined the motionless robot sprawled out in the spacious hallway before them, and prodded it with his weapon. "I'm pretty sure it's dead."
Maya approached the fallen machine and squinted through the dim lighting. A thick layer of dust covered every part of its body, and small weapon impacts riddled its armored body. She took a final look at its blank expression and asked, "What happened to it?"
Kaplain stepped up beside her and answered, "Probably been here since the beginning. One of the bots sent in to capture people. One that didn't make it back out." He blinked and frowned, "Let's keep going, this is bringing back some bad memories."
"I heard that," Stanley added as he stepped over the robot and continued down the hall. He waited for the others to take up positions behind him at a door at the far end before forcing it open as he did the one before it. Dim red light spilled into the hallway around them as the door ground open, and the three took a moment to take in the scene. Row after row of enclosed shelves filled the room, bathed in the poor lighting, surrounded by dozens of cabinets and desks.
Kaplain stepped over a pile of indiscernible electronics and computer parts and said, "Wow, looks like there's plenty of something here. I'm kind of surprised the emergency lighting still works though. Robotnik must have never disconnected the building from the power grid."
"Yeah. At least we'll have some light then," Maya said as she shut off the flashlight in her hand. She stepped into the room and went on, "Let's get looking. I think all we need is some sort of artificial blood, but I have no idea what it looks like."
"I wish Seltic was here, he might have a clue," Stanley said as he began searching the nearest shelf.
"With any luck they've already found another place to look. If we can't find anything maybe they can," she replied. She brushed some dust from a label on a vial and added, "Even if we don't find the blood here, maybe we should take some of this other stuff with us. You never know if we'll need it."
"It couldn't hurt I guess," Kaplain said as he plucked a carton from a shelf and read its label. "Just make sure whatever it is didn't need refrigeration. I doubt the refrigerators have worked in years." He tossed a box aside and grumbled, "It looks like there's nothing but medications around here. They probably kept most of the more important stuff in another dedicated building."
Stanley righted an overturned box and peeked inside. "Actually, I wish Sissera was here. She'd probably know more about what all of this stuff is." He looked up and spotted a few racks of fluid-filled plastic bags hanging on the far wall and said, "Wouldn't something like blood probably be in a bag like that?"
Maya and Kaplain glanced over to the racks and hurried over. Stanley jumped over a crate lying haphazardly in the middle of the room and stepped over behind them.
"Saline... just saline," Maya uttered. She looked up and surveyed the room before continuing, "Are there any other rooms nearby that we could check?"
Stanley shrugged and pointed at the nearest doorway. "Only one way to find out, I don't think we're going to find what we're looking for in here." He readied his weapon and cautiously pushed the swinging door open, revealing another innocuous hallway covered in the dim red emergency lighting. He prepared to step into the hallway moments before being interrupted by a faint rhythmic sound emanating from further down.
"Step back, I hear something." He raised his weapon and pressed himself up against the wall as he crouched down. The infrared scope on his rifle illuminated the far side of the hallway, revealing another pair of swinging doors. As the sound continued and increased in volume, the distinct sound of footfalls and scuffing against the tiled floor became evident.
He tensed his finger around the trigger and braced to fire. A second later, he recoiled as his vision was blinded by intense light pouring into the hall and being amplified by the scope. The sound of others taking up firing positions and metal strap clasps clacking against rifle bodies met his ears, and he desperately tried to ready himself to dodge the volley of fire sure to follow.
"Stanley?" he heard someone call from across the hall.
He blinked a few times in an attempt to flush the daze from his vision, and pulled himself up. As his vision cleared, the blurred figure coalesced into Seltic, who was lowering his plasma gun.
"Seltic?" Maya asked from behind. "What are you doing here?"
Seltic looked past Stanley to meet her gaze before checking behind him. "Uh, maybe Kyros should explain."
Behind him, Kyros thundered into the hallway, nearly tripping as he tried to avoid running over Seltic. He opened his mouth to speak but paused as he noticed the three at the opposite side of the hall. "What the..."
"Kyros? Is Vladimir with you? What are you three doing here?"
He looked about briefly and put his weapon down. "I could ask the same question." He looked down to Seltic and went on, "This is where he led us, I guess we just ended up at the same hospital."
Maya blinked blankly. "So... this is the only hospital left in Robotropolis..."
"I guess so. Did you guys find anything?" Seltic asked.
She frowned and shook her head before answering, "No. It doesn't look too good here. I was hoping you'd found something somewhere else."
"This is the only place we've been, and we haven't had a chance to look around," Seltic replied.
Kaplain stepped further into the hallway and said, "Well then, let's not waste any more time. We need to search this place as well as we can if it's our only hope."
Kyros shook his head and placed his face in his palm. "This isn't good then. We don't have much time."
"What do you mean?" Maya asked nervously. "Have you talked to Sissera somehow or something?"
"No," he replied. He pointed at burnt patch of quills on the side of his head and continued, "Worse. We pretty much ran in here to get away from whatever is going on outside. I don't know if Robotnik is after us, but whatever is going on, there's probably a couple hundred bots swarming the area."
Maya slumped against the wall and stared at the floor. "So what do we do now? If we don't find the blood here..."
Kyros stepped forward, leveled his rifle and said, "We can check a few rooms really quickly, but if we stay here much longer, the bots are sure to check this building out, and I really don't want to be holed up in here with hundreds of them pouring in. We'll all be in worse straits than Tantalus if that happens."
Maya reluctantly hurried after Kyros as he darted down the final hallway and back into the reception area of the former hospital. Overcast light once more filtered into her vision as they entered the room, and the distinct acrid odor of burnt metal and smoke filled her nostrils. A clap of thunder rolled through the room as something detonated in the distance, and for a moment she reconsidered leaving the hospital. They hadn't had time to find anything to help Tantalus yet... they had to stay and keep looking...
"Come on, we've got to get out of here before it gets too crowded," Kyros called back to her as he noticed her lagging behind.
Vladimir moved up beside her and gave her a smirk. "Don't worry, I'll cover you."
She slipped up behind Kyros as he checked the exit for security. As he cautiously moved into the street outside, she followed, backed by the other four members of their team. Vladimir immediately took up position behind some fallen debris and checked for moving targets. "All clear," he called after a cursory examination.
"Which way?" Kyros directed to Seltic.
The tenrec nervously searched the streets around them and pointed off in the direction of the previous explosion. "That way, unfortunately."
"Perfect..." Kyros groaned.
Maya slowly retrieved the laser pistol from her holster and trotted off after Kyros, Vladimir and Stanley as they charged toward the next piece of cover available. Her eyes darted across the desolate sea of smashed and upturned buildings, trying to pick out movement. Overhead, the relative silence of the scene was broken by missiles and SWATbot pods roaring overhead in the direction of their escape.
She nervously stumbled into position behind the others and tried to catch her breath after the sudden shock. "What's going on, can you tell?" she managed to speak between pants.
Kyros raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "No, but man it must have Robotnik worried if he's sending all of this stuff out to stop it."
"At least it doesn't look like he's after us," Seltic added. He glanced to Kaplain and asked, "Any insight you'd like to share?"
The deer shrugged, eyes wide and fixated on the scene of flames and explosions extending off into the horizon. "I've never seen anything this large before. Not even Sonic ever managed to garner this much of a response."
"How far are we from the pods?" Maya asked as she tried to plot their position in her mind, distracted by the constant rumble of distant weapon fire and explosions.
"At least thirty blocks. I don't know how we're going to make it out of here without getting spotted," Kyros replied.
"We're not," Stanley added with a gesture at the sky. Above them a pair of spy-eyes hovered silently, staring down at them.
The small spherical machines were eradicated by a volley of fire from their weapons moments later. Maya watched as their burning husks clambered to the street before weakly muttering, "Dr. Robotnik knows we're here..."
From an undetermined direction, the sound of robotic voices met her ears. "Local security detected intruders this way!" one of the unseen machines shouted.
She grasped the pistol in her hands and tried to calm the shaking in her body. As the others took up positions to defend themselves, she sank into a corner and took several deep breaths. She stared back at the hospital and paused as her thoughts raced, and for a moment she considered bolting back to its relative safety. As her thoughts continued to twist and mingle together incoherently, movement caught her eye.
From behind them, half a dozen robots poured from the hospital into the street. As their leader's eyes met her own, she let out an involuntary gasp and raised her pistol. She knew that the others wouldn't see them in time, and her own feeble weapon couldn't possibly stop them. Her heart sank in despair as she shut her eyes and squeezed the trigger.
As she waited for the inevitable return fire that would surely kill her, an explosion filled her ears and buffeted her body with fragments of debris and wind. She collapsed to her hands and knees as the scene settled, and she clenched her teeth in an attempt to weather the pain wracking her ears. Time blurred as she tried to make sense of the ringing in her hearing and dull pain covering every part of her body.
She felt a firm grip help her to her feet, and as she opened her eyes she stared blankly back into the street where the robots were. Instead of six homicidal machines staring back, she saw only unrecognizable fragments of metal and concrete now littering the intersection, obscured by a thick cloud of swirling dust. "Wh-what?" she managed to grunt.
Kyros immediately turned his attention to the intersection and observed the results of the momentary carnage. "We didn't do that..."
The team all turned their attention to the scene of the explosion and raised their weapons. As the dust began to settle, several pairs of red glowing eyes began to become visible, tracking about the area. Kyros led the team in taking aim at the new targets, but wasn't given an opportunity to fire before shots began to pour into their vicinity.
A dozen blue-white beams of energy stabbed at them through the dust cloud, and Maya felt her blood run cold as she watched two of the beams slice through Kaplain's and Kyros's bodies. She waited for what felt like an eternity for them to fall dead before her eyes, but the two only grunted and doubled over for a moment before staring at each other in confusion.
As the others took aim and prepared to fire, they halted as their targets became obvious. Where Maya expected to see more robots charging toward them in a frenzied rage, she instead stared on in a stupor. Standing in the intersection were what appeared to be three living beings, draped in body-length environmental cloaks, and wearing fully enclosed armored suits and helmets with piercing red eyes.
"Who in the..." Kyros trailed off as he took notice.
The three looked at each other for a second before one said, "The particle rifles didn't do anything, sir."
The center member stepped forward and said, "That's because they aren't robots..."
"Then who are they?" the other member blurted out.
"I don't know, but we don't have much time," the middle member continued as it put down its weapon. It led the other two in a quick trot toward Maya and her companions, calling out to them, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Maya stepped forward to meet them partway and replied, "We... we're a resistance group fighting against Robotnik. We were looking for medical supplies when the battle started."
One of the other members of the trio said, "One of the paramilitary resistance groups stationed in this area?"
Kyros stepped up and replied, "Yeah, you know about us? Who are you?"
The center member raised his face mask, revealing a grim-faced donkey underneath. "Corporal Samuel Fields. We're with the remnants of the Royal Army of Acorn."
"Army? I guess that explains all of the commotion Robotnik is making," Seltic added.
The corporal went on, "We were here looking for something too but were discovered by Robotnik. Apparently we drew a little too much attention, so now we're on the way out. We've got a drop ship incoming to evac us as soon as possible."
Kyros said, "We're on our way out too, it's getting too intense to hang around."
Corporal Fields opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a burst of lasers pelting the area. As the corporal retrieved his mask and whirled to face their assailants, Maya watched one of the beams smash into one of the other soldiers. The laser blast drilled a hole through his body and detonated against a building across the street.
Without flinching, the other two soldiers opened fire. The SWATbot approaching them was caught in a barrage of particle beams, followed by a salvo of laser shots from Kyros and Vladimir. Astoundingly, the machine marched on despite the massive damage to its body. It stammered a garbled message as it trudged forward, raising its arm laser in the corporal's direction. Once again it was hammered by automatic particle rifle fire and laser beams, and its shot went wild as its arm was sheared off.
The SWATbot clambered a further step before collapsing in a mangled heap of smoldering metal. As the corporal and his remaining subordinate scrambled to their fallen ally, Seltic stared at the fallen robot and said, "I've never seen one take that much punishment before..."
His commentary was interrupted by another wave of explosions down the street and the sound of a large hovercraft approaching. Overhead, a craft appeared from behind a wall of skyscrapers, suspended by a pair of massive ducted fan engines. It fired off a salvo of rockets in the direction of the distant fighting before slowing to a halt over a nearby warehouse.
From his position over the fallen soldier, Maya noticed Corporal Fields stand and activate a radio built into his helmet. He shouted over the roar of the engines, "Sergeant, the ship is here and we're loading up. Private Wilson has been hit and needs medical evac right now. We've found some civilians and may be bringing them along. We'll pick you up on the way out."
He turned to face her and asked, "Need a ride?"