Chapter 4

Somewhere outside Robotropolis

12:03 AM

Seltic nervously fiddled with the latch on the restraint surrounding him as he glanced around the drop ship's cabin. Through the dim red lighting scarcely illuminating the room to a visible level, he tried to pick out the faces of his comrades. Across from him he could make out a number of bodies devoid of uniforms, and imagined that he could make a glint on Maya's glasses. Being thrust into the cramped ship with so many strangers was slightly unnerving, even if they were infinitely less likely to want him dead than Robotnik.

A chime rang out from an unseen speaker, and the dim red lighting was replaced by flood lamps powering up above them. He blinked involuntarily as his eyes adjusted to the brighter lighting, and immediately picked out Kyros and Maya's faces. Around him, half a dozen anonymous soldiers raised the crash restraints on their seats and began removing parts of their armor. The corporal from before snatched off his helmet and breastplate, propped his weapon up in a vacant seat and jumped to his feet. Seltic briefly met his eyes before the donkey hurried off toward an exit.

The corporal stopped short with a jolt at the doorway and backed up, throwing up a sloppy salute and uttering, "Sergeant."

Seltic could barely make out another soldier entering the cabin, still in armor. The two conversed briefly before approaching the center of the cabin, the corporal's eyes fixed on the metal deck plating below and his ears drooping. Seltic studied the other soldier briefly and instantly noticed the distinctive sergeant's chevrons painted onto their layered metal armor.

The sergeant removed its helmet, revealing a blue and white furred female horse underneath. She relaxed her stance and spoke aloud, "Everyone, I have bad news. Despite our best efforts, Private Wilson died half a minute ago. He took a serious hit to his lung, and with the supplies we have available Private Jackson wasn't able to do much."

She fingered the clasps on her chest armor and said, "We should be arriving back at base in a little over twelve minutes. I've already radioed ahead to the major and informed him of the situation, and he's making the necessary preparations." She lazily dropped her armor onto the floor and weakly added, "I'm sorry."

As she stepped off, the corporal cut his eyes to Seltic before following her. Across the cabin, Seltic noticed Maya's shocked expression. She stared off blankly for a few moments before sinking back into her seat and glancing down. Kyros said something inaudible and raised his crash restraint before hopping up and following after the sergeant.

From somewhere beside him, Stanley asked, "Wait, we're twelve minutes away from where?"

"Huh?" he replied, looking over to find Stanley leaning past a row of vacant seats to match his gaze.

"We're twelve minutes away from where? What about our ship, or Tantalus?"

"I don't know..." Seltic trailed off in response. "I'm just glad to be out of Robotropolis, but maybe we should have gotten them to drop us off at the ship on the way out."

"Yeah, who knows when we'll be able to get back to Armadi. I just hope Tantalus..."

Seltic nodded. "I know. Maybe Kyros went to find out something."

"I hope so, the sooner we get back, the better."

From across the cabin, Maya weakly looked up. She sighed and said, "It's not like it would matter anyway. We didn't find what we were looking for in Robotropolis."

Seltic bit back the responses that came to mind. He couldn't find anything appropriate to say given the situation, and decided that it was probably best if he stayed true to history and kept quiet. Maya could hardly be blamed for her pessimism given the situation, and Seltic felt a distinct uneasy queasiness beginning to form in his stomach. At this point, he wasn't sure if there was anything that could be done for Tantalus. Even if they were back in Robotropolis right now, there wouldn't be enough time to look anymore.

One of the other soldiers in the cabin looked over in their direction and removed its mask. The gerbil raised an eyebrow and meekly offered, "Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear. What were you guys looking for in Robotropolis?"

Seltic prepared to respond before being interrupted by Maya saying, "Medical supplies." She propped her cheek in her hand and sniffled for a second before looking up. "I-I suppose you're experiencing worse than us right now... but one of our friends was badly hurt by one of Robotnik's robots and was going to die if we didn't bring back some artificial blood." She wiped her eyes and added, "For all we know it's too late already."

"I'm sorry to hear that," the gerbil replied, raising his crash harness and getting to his feet. "But we might be able to help. We don't have much aboard the ship here, but we've got plenty of stuff like that back home. Let me ask Sergeant Morgan about it."

As he neared the exit, he was blocked by the sergeant returning with Kyros. She looked around and cleared her throat. "Alright everyone, we're still a little ways off, but because of the possibility of Robotnik tracking us, Major Simmin wants us to go to radio silence and low power. So, everyone back to your seats and secure your restraints. We'll be touching down in about ten minutes."

Snively nervously fiddled with his shirt's collar as he watched his massive uncle descend the boarding ramp of his personal transport. A dozen combat specialist roboticized creatures flanked him, vigilantly observing their surroundings for any possible intruders.

"Good morning, sir," he customarily offered as Robotnik stepped forward.

Robotnik grunted in response and glared down at him. "I'll be leaving again soon Snively, it would appear that the freedom fighters in Sahria have managed to cause some serious damage that I need to personally see to." He looked up and watched a series of SWATbots approach. "I'm only here to check up on things for a moment."

"Oh, very well sir. Things are still going well."

"I hope for your sake that you're telling the truth," Robotnik replied, staring down the first SWATbot to approach the two.

The machine saluted its masters and turned to address Snively. "My lord, we have managed to perform temporary repairs of the damage caused earlier. We have not performed a complete survey of the area, but it appears that nothing of significance was stolen or damaged."

Robotnik sneered at Snively. "Damage, Snively? I thought you said things were going well?"

Snively loosened the neck on his shirt and stammered, "Th-things are still fine, sir. We detected some intruders about an hour ago. We don't know what they were doing, but we drove them off without allowing them to cause much trouble."

"Where did this happen?" Robotnik demanded from the robot.

"Near the abandoned hospital in district V-73. The new facilities were not harmed."

Robotnik took a deep breath and glowered at Snively before saying, "You're fortunate, Snively. Had you allowed something to befall the new research facilities in the one week I left you in charge..."

Snively waited for him to finish and set off toward the command center's entrance before adding, "Yes, sir, I'm quite aware. I made a number of alterations to the local security to make sure that they wouldn't be threatened. Unfortunately, I suppose that opened up holes in security elsewhere."

"I'm willing to overlook this mishap for now, I'm in too big of a hurry," Robotnik replied as he stepped into the building. "I'll just take the report with me. I trust you can follow my orders by radio if the need arises."

"Of course, sir. I haven't compiled the details into a report yet, but the information should be in the main computer."

The cavernous expanse of the primary control room flooded with light in response to the two entering. Robotnik sank into his mechanical throne and activated the main computer, resulting in the massive screen fixed to the wall across from him flickering to life. "Retrieve the information, Snively."

Without a word, Snively raced over to his console and searched through the mounds of archived information for the details of the engagement earlier that day. As he came across the most recent security report, he patched the images through to the main monitor. "Sorry sir, right now all I have available are the images taken by spy-eyes."

Robotnik groaned as the images of obliterated buildings and robots cycled across the screen. The damage might have been to unimportant and abandoned buildings, but the destroyed workers and infrastructure would take longer to deal with. "I thought the damage was minor, Snively. It looks like quite a lot of buildings were destroyed."

Snively turned to face his uncle and cleared his throat. "Well, sir, we were attacked by this group of freedom fighters," he began, switching the screen to show a number of heavily armored soldiers engaging hopelessly outclassed worker robots.

"The army... I see." Robotnik leaned forward in his chair and gave Snively an evil look. "They absolutely cannot be allowed near the research facilities."

"Of course, sir. There is some good news though." Snively switched the image again to show a SWATbot firing upon a group of the soldiers mixed with other unarmored intruders. "One of the soldiers was badly injured in the engagement. I suspect he was killed."

"Well, at least you got the SWATbots right this time." Robotnik studied the image for a moment further and added, "I see that blasted Kyros with them... are they working together? I may have to reschedule my appointment in Sahria if both threaten Robotropolis." He slammed his fist into his chair's armrest and snarled. "Oh how I hate that accursed echidna."

Snively let out a nervous chuckle and scratched a nonexistent itch. "Funny you should mention the echidna, sir." He flinched at Robotnik's demanding expression and relayed another series of images to the main view screen. A handful of images of trashed robots tangled among ruins lying on a beach faded into view. "Unfortunately, he and his friends attacked a storage plant along the coastline yesterday. The facility and all of the security detail were lost in the attack, I'm afraid."

Robotnik stood and approached his nephew. "I thought that none of the research facilities were damaged, Snively..."

"Well, sir, strictly speaking the damage is irrelevant. No research was done there," Snively replied with a nervous smile. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that one of the attackers was killed by a SWATbot." He displayed another image, this time depicting a gray squirrel sprawled out in a pool of blood. "These images were taken by buzzbombers and spy-eyes some time ago... I-I don't know the situation right now."

Robotnik blinked and growled. "Well, at least one of the fetid little monsters won't be troubling me anymore." He towered over Snively and added, "I meant what I said earlier though, Snively. I'm too busy to deal with things right now, but if you allow them to do any more damage while I'm gone..." He motioned as if to wring Snively's neck and said, "I'll have to invent a new word to describe what torture you'll go through..."

After being jolted about by the ship lurching beneath his feet, Kyros snapped to attention and glanced up at the small grainy infrared monitor hanging across from him. He could feel the ship slowing as if on approach to its landing site, and he hoped to gather some information about their destination. The badly obscured and garbled image gleaned absolutely no familiar landmarks, and the only thing visible was the slowly approaching shape of a large dark pyramidal building. As they drew close, he could make out what appeared to be hangar doors built into the ground sliding open, and landing lights beginning to flicker in a definite pattern.

"We're on approach, everyone make sure your crash harnesses are secured and brace for landing," an anonymous female voice called over the ship's intercom.

Kyros looked over to Maya and gave her harness a quick visual observation to make sure it was locked. He stared at the monitor for a few more moments before asking her, "Any idea where we are right now?"

She blinked in thought and shook her head. "No... I really don't know. None of this looks familiar and I don't know which way we went." She raised an eyebrow and went on, "If I didn't know better though, I'd say we're in overlander territory."

Across from them, one of the soldiers looked up and chuckled. The iguana took a close look at them before saying, "Yeah, actually we are. How did you know?"

Maya looked down and replied, "I used to travel a lot. We went by a lot of overlander cities, but never went inside."

"Well then, looks like you'll get the chance today."

Kyros studied the screen again and asked, "What do you mean? Looks like just one building to me."

The iguana nodded. "Yeah, that's right. Ever hear of an arcology?"

The word was vaguely familiar to Kyros, but certainly wasn't one that he'd use often. He thought for a moment, hoping Seltic would butt in and answer it for him, but after an awkward pause he merely shook his head. "Yeah, but no idea what it is."

"It's a city in a building. Really advanced tech that the overlanders perfected a long time ago. They didn't want to share it or anything, so I don't think they were built for anyone else."

Now that the soldier had mentioned it, Kyros could recall hearing about the structures some distant time in the past, not that it mattered now. He muddled over his thoughts for a moment before coming to a pressing question.

He prepared to speak before being beaten by Maya questioning, "Wait, so what about the overlanders who built it?"

The soldier shrugged and said, "I don't know really. Far as I know they abandoned it during or before the war. Turns out it's a really nice place on the inside, not sure why they'd leave it behind."

"How long have you all been here?" Kyros asked.

"The whole time, I guess that makes about eight years now." The iguana leaned forward in his harness and said, "I'm kind of amazed that Robotnik hasn't found us out here yet. Then again, I guess we do take precautions. For one, the building still looks abandoned."

Kyros looked at the monitor and caught a final glimpse of the building as they flew by. "I see what you mean." The building appeared to be literally falling apart on the outside, with hundreds of sheets of surface material missing or degraded, pipes and cabling exposed, and apparently burnt out windows. He felt the ship sway once more and leaned back in his seat.

"Hang on everyone, setting down now," the voice said again over the loudspeaker in the cabin.

As the soldiers around him leaned back and braced themselves, Kyros followed suit. The deafening sound of the ship's landing thrusters flooded the room and he could feel the ship rocking slightly as their altitude dropped. At last, the ship was shaken by a massive jolt as it set down, and the interior lighting immediately shifted from its deep red to bright white. Once more, Kyros followed the soldiers around him by raising his harness and rising to his feet.

"Well, we're here. I guess the major has a plan on getting you guys home."

Kyros gave a half smile as he thought about Tantalus. Whatever they did, they needed to get back to Armadi as soon as possible, and preferably with something of use from here. He began thinking over the possible trades he might be able to negotiate but was interrupted by the sergeant approaching him.

She sighed and looked between Maya and him before saying, "Alright, we're here. It's probably best if we go ahead and introduce you to the major so you can work something out." She collected the armor she had dropped to the floor earlier and said, "So, Private Webb tells me that you were looking for some medical supplies in Robotropolis."

Kyros followed her down the open boarding ramp, followed by Maya and an assortment of others. "Yeah, that's right."

"Anything specific? We might be able to help."

Kyros thought over other possible supplies Sissera might could use to help Tantalus, or possibly just to keep for future use. He winced involuntarily as he caught sight of two soldiers carrying a covered stretcher down the ramp and decided to ask for as little as possible. "Blood. It was a long shot looking in Robotropolis, but we thought that maybe there was some artificial blood left in the hospitals or something." He watched the two continue off into a nearby doorway and asked, "Do you have anything like that?"

The sergeant smirked and led them toward the deceptively large arcology a short distance off, silhouetted by numerous floodlights piercing through the midnight darkness. "Of course. A surgical ward wouldn't be of much use without it."

Kyros felt a surge of hope well up within him and eagerly pressed, "Would you be willing to trade something for it?"

She shrugged as she continued to lead them up a flight of stairs to higher ground. "It's not my call, actually. The major pretty much runs everything here, it's his decision."

Maya ran up beside him and questioned, "Do you think he would allow it? We're pretty desperate."

The sergeant sighed again and looked down as she fiddled with her hair. "Yeah, I think he'd be willing to work something out with you. After all, we're both in this together against Dr. Robotnik." She removed a card from her pocket and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what do you need it for?"

Maya looked back at the door where the dead soldier had been taken and said, "We... one of our friends was badly injured in an attack on Robotnik. He's back at our... base... under the care of our doctor." She looked down and continued, "We left them over twelve hours ago. As far as we know, it could be too late already."

Sergeant Morgan crested the flight of stairs and led them to one of the dozens of doors lining the closest side of the arcology. She swiped the card through a reader on the side and said, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, you're experiencing worse right now I guess," Kyros offered as he followed her inside.

"Yeah, I suppose. I didn't really know Private Wilson personally, so it's not so bad. Not that it's ever easy."

He stumbled along the dark hallway after her for a short distance before arriving at another secured doorway. He suddenly realized that this might well be only one of many squads remaining, and he asked, "So then, how many of you are there here?"

As the doorway slid open, spilling yellowed light into the hallway, his question was answered. Over two dozen individuals of all species and origins stared back at them. The sergeant stepped inside and waved briefly at the creatures milling about in the room. "I don't know exactly, but I think there's about three hundred of us here." She raised her hand and motioned over the group again and said, "Civilians mostly."

Beside him, Maya mouthed a subtle, "Wow." She eagerly pursued after the horse as she strode through the crowd to another door at the far side of the room and asked, "You mean you've been protecting all of these people all of this time?"

"That's right," she replied proudly. "We evacuated most of them during the initial battles against Robotnik. They stayed at our main base near the border of Mercia until we had to abandon it before a missile strike destroyed it."

As the small group began to crowd around the exit waiting for her to open it, Kyros noticed a number of the civilians beginning to wander near them. Among the approaching group, a turtle stepped forward and asked, "Sergeant, are these people going to stay with us?"

She shook her head and offered a smile. "No, I don't think so. We're going to talk to the major, maybe you'd just better talk with Corporal Fields."

Kyros watched the group turn their attention to the donkey tagging along behind them and break off to bother him instead. As Sergeant Morgan entered the doorway and directed them to a large elevator, he followed.

"The major would normally be asleep right now, but he's probably busy preparing things for Private Wilson. But, I don't think this is going to take long," she said as she followed them into the massive freight elevator and pressed a button.

"I wish we didn't have to bother him, then," Maya said. "If there was someone else we could talk to..."

Sergeant Morgan leaned against the wall of the elevator and stared at the level indicator. "We may could have talked to the quartermaster instead, but I need to get permission to get you some transport back home anyway. Major Simmin has to approve of that personally, his orders."

"Trying to keep unnecessary travel to a minimum?" Kyros asked, mulling over the risk of discovery that every leaving ship could present.

As the elevator slowed to a jerky halt with a series of clanks and clangs, she replied, "Yeah. The major is always concerned that Robotnik could be monitoring the area. It looks abandoned, but if he sees a ship leave or enter, then it'd only be a matter of time before something came to investigate." She stepped through the open door and waited for her two companions to follow. "Alright, he's right through here."

Kyros followed her through a short hallway leading into a fairly unimpressive room. Every interior part of the arcology looked to be in very bad disrepair, with cracking walls and dust everywhere. He studied the unusual wooden floor and walls and tried to picture the room as the office of some important overlander before the building was abandoned.

The sergeant stepped over to an intercom on the wall and pressed a button. "Major, I have someone who needs to talk to you."

"Come in," a voice replied through crackling static. After a moment, the clank of an electronic lock on the door sliding open echoed through the room. Sergeant Morgan gently pushed the door open and motioned for the two to follow her.

Inside, Kyros caught sight of dozens of filing cabinets and hundreds of papers scattered about haphazardly across a number of wooden desks. Overbearing white light flooded the room from lamps dangling precariously from the ceiling, and the ever present dust glinted as it floated through the beams. Across from them, an aged raven pushed aside some papers he had been diligently studying and looked up.

The sergeant saluted him and said, "Major, these are the leaders of the group we found in Robotropolis."

Major Simmin nodded and replied, "At ease." He looked Kyros and Maya in the eyes and waved them over to his desk. "Come on over and have a seat, it's not often we meet another resistance group."

"We're honored," Maya replied as the two nervously sat in front of his desk.

He chuckled and said, "Oh, don't worry about the formalities. I'm not much of a major anymore, really." He leaned forward across his desk and offered his hand to Kyros. "I suppose you've met Sergeant Carrie Morgan. I'm Major Gregory Simmin, and you are?"

Kyros reciprocated the handshake and said, "Kyros Flyno, and this is Maya Morceaux."

The raven shook her hand as well and returned to his seat. "So, what can I do for you? Are you planning on staying for a little while before you leave?"

Kyros looked over to Maya and decided to let her continue the conversation. After all, she was better at speaking than he was. She half smiled and replied, "We appreciate the gesture, but we really don't have time to stay. We need to get back as soon as possible."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that but if you need to go I can arrange for a drop ship to take you home."

"Thank you, we really appreciate it," Maya replied. She looked down and opened her mouth as if to speak, but hesitated.

The major looked over to her and leaned back slightly. "Was there something else you wanted to ask?"

Behind them, Sergeant Morgan stepped forward and answered for her, "They wanted some of our medical supplies. One of their friends was injured and needs it."

He rocked back in his chair and nodded. "Oh, I see. Like what?"

"Blood, we don't have any, and he'll die soon without it," Kyros replied.

Major Simmin sighed and looked to the side, revealing graying feathers on the back of his head. "We do have a lot of spare medical supplies, left here by the overlanders. Naturally I'd like to help anyone who fights against Robotnik, but we need all of the medicine and such we can keep as well. We keep watch over nearly a hundred soldiers and two hundred civilians."

Kyros felt the hope from before beginning to fade, and looked over to Maya to see her expression changing to mild disbelief. "Y-you won't help us then?" he asked.

"Now I didn't say that," the major replied with a smirk. "It's just that I'd like some reassurance that we can be long term allies against Robotnik. Would you be willing to help us out for it in exchange?"

Both Kyros and Maya eagerly nodded in response. Kyros beat Maya to asking, "What do you want?"

The raven pointed vaguely behind him and went on, "Did you notice the nasty storm a few days ago?" After receiving confirming nods, he continued, "Our water pumping facility was hit by a tornado spawned from the storm, and it's no longer delivering water to the arcology. We've got emergency stop-gap measures in place to keep everyone with reasonable amounts of water, but morale is starting to suffer, and I'm not sure how long we'll be able to keep it up.

"That's what the sergeant here and her squad were doing in Robotropolis. We've concluded that we need a new water pump and controller computer, but didn't have the necessary replacement parts here. Unfortunately, she didn't locate anything there either."

Kyros raised an eyebrow and thought about Seltic and Kaplain's possible experience with similar electronics and mechanics. "So, if we help you fix the pump you'll let us have the blood we need?"

He nodded and said, "That's right. We're getting pretty desperate, and I'd consider it a more than fair trade, if you're willing to help out."

"Of course, we'll do what we can," Maya answered. "Our tech specialist might be able to do something."

The major smiled broadly and said, "Excellent. Since I imagine your friend can't wait for that, we'll let you take what you need up front. We'll get back with you soon about how you can help us."

"Thank you very much, sir," Maya eagerly replied, ecstatic joy evident on her face.

"There is one more thing though," he went on. "We're going to have a funeral service for Private Wilson shortly. If you could attend, we'd all appreciate it. Your flight out will be at 0200 hours."

Sissera blinked wearily at the text book in her hands and tried to continue reading. She peeked up at the handful of medical computers connected to Tantalus and watched the rhythmic peaks of his pulse flicker by. Despite his injuries, his vital signs were still remarkably strong, and the once unstoppable bleeding from the coin sized hole in his abdomen had finally begun to slow. He still had no chance on his own, but at least with the machines hooked up to him, he might survive long enough for the others to return with the things she needed.

Her heart sank again as she thought over what would happen when they returned. Even if they did have the blood she needed to help him, it would still be up to her to repair the wound. The eight years that had passed since her time in medical school had certainly dimmed her already incomplete knowledge, and something as delicate as surgery would allow for no mistakes. The thoughts returned her attention to the book in her hand, and she once again studied the diagrams and notes left there for surgical procedures in the abdomen.

She had already used the few computerized tools she had to stem blood flow to the destroyed kidney, but removing it and closing the wound would be completely different. She closed the book and lethargically placed it onto the counter next to her and pulled herself to her feet. An unusual chime from the monitoring equipment caught her attention, and she jogged over to the computer terminal in charge of it.

His body temperature was now slightly above normal, and enough to warrant careful attention. She turned to face him and pondered the thought. As he laid on the makeshift hospital bed, his face twitched periodically and he occasionally made a small gesture. She imagined that he would normally have awakened hours ago, and she was immensely thankful that there was a fairly substantial amount of sedatives still in storage. At least this way he wouldn't feel the pain for now.

Her eyes caught the glint of polished metal in a tray beside the bed, and her mind returned to the imminent surgery. Although she would never tell the others that it had crossed her mind, perhaps it would be better if he did die now. If he died during the surgery or after it due to a mistake on her part, she would never be able to live with herself, and in all likelihood, that was what was probably going to happen. She grasped a scalpel from the tray and slowly stepped over to the bedside. The diagrams in the book filled her thoughts as she looked down at the blood-matted fur covering his body, and she tried to picture herself performing the operation. She closed her eyes and set the scalpel back into its tray, and stepped back.

There was no way she would be able to do it. No one performed such an operation as their first invasive surgical procedure, and she had virtually no experience doing anything other than treating cuts and burns. The only other member to take such a serious injury was Kyros years before, and even then both were lucky that his rib absorbed most of the underpowered SWATbot laser. A slight deflection either way and she could have been staring him down like this years ago. She tried to imagine how life would have been different those next five years if he hadn't been there, and how life might be different if Tantalus wasn't with them a year from now.

The computer chimed again, signaling that his body temperature was still slightly too high. She sighed and hoped against reason that it wasn't already too late to help him. She vaguely recalled some of the lessons she had learned, and tried to reassure herself that things would be alright. As she leaned back against the desk behind her, movement outside her window caught her eye. Moments later, her door slowly opened to reveal a young raccoon.

"What is it?" she asked as he stepped inside. Maya had told him not to enter the room unless something important came up.

Marcus reflected a bright smile and offered her a small radio. "Miss Maya wants to talk with you."

She accepted the handset and said, "Okay, run along, I'll take care of this." As Marcus complied and left, she raised the speaker to her ear. "Yeah?"

"Sissera?" a distinct female voice replied, scarcely audible over radio interference and environmental noise she couldn't identify.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Good, how is Tantalus?" Maya asked.

She checked the monitors out of the corner of her eye and quickly responded, "Still stable. He's doing marginally better, but I know it won't last."

"Oh, thank heavens," Maya replied again, relief abundantly evident in her voice. "We've got what you asked for and we're almost back home now. With any luck we should be arriving within a minute."

Sissera felt an unusual feeling of relief and dread wash over her. "G-good. I'll be waiting for you when you get here. At least now he has a chance."

"Right. I've got to cut off the radio now, be ready for us when we get there."

"Okay." She waited for the typical click and cessation of static to signal that the link was closed then set the radio down. With one last look at the computer screens, she left the room and stepped out into the brisk premorning air. She closed her jacket and tried to ignore the low temperatures as she stared into the skies. After so many years of watching the old hovercraft enter and leave, the stolen SWATbot pods had taken some getting used to.

"Are they on the way back?" Marcus asked from beside her, startling her slightly.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, she said that they would be here within a minute. I don't see anything yet though."

As soon as she shut her mouth, a low unusual hum began to roll through the valley. She looked about again, trying to spot something through the coronas of the street lamps still blaring in the darkness. From above the low waterfall at the far end of the valley, an obviously artificial craft she didn't recognize was beginning to approach. Her first instinct was to run for cover and find a weapon, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that it was no ship Robotnik had ever used.

She swallowed her fear and began approaching the only landing pad in the town. As the ship began to draw near, she confirmed that it bore no resemblance to Robotnik's ships, and the fact that it hadn't already opened fire on her or the buildings put her at some ease. She stopped a dozen meters or so away from the pad and covered her ears as the massive turbines of the ship began to grow uncomfortably loud. The ship slowed to a stop in midair above the pad and rocked for a few seconds before inching toward the ground, finally settling on extended landing struts with a deafening clang.

Even before the engines could completely die down the boarding ramp on the side of the ship lowered to the ground, and she could make out a number of people leaving the ship. She stared in confusion at the scene for a moment before Maya triumphantly trotted over to her and gave her a strong hug.

"We finally made it back, and we've got the blood," she said, loosening her grip. She pointed back at a pair of unfamiliar armor-clad individuals carrying a crate down the ramp.

Sissera stammered and looked back at the ship. "Wh-what's all of this? Where are the others?"

Kyros stepped up and smirked. "They're back at Robotropolis retrieving our pods. Trust me, it's a long story that'll have to wait."