Chapter 10: Fallout
July 9th, AD 2169, About 11:30 AM.
Location:ARK Space Station, orbiting the planet Earth, somewhere above North America.
Commander O'tara, commanding officer of the GUN forces stationed on the ARK, and the commanding officer of GUN Special Forces, watched the invasion of the hidden base with a feeling of pride. His forces had invaded the facility with almost no casualties, and had successfully killed off all enemy soldiers.
To his astonishment, his Special Forces had found creatures in the base that no man outside the facility had seen before. Short creatures, not much taller than 3 feet on average, that looked to be some kind of cross between animals and humans. There were over 100 or so of the creatures on base, and it looked almost as if they were having some kind of ceremony...
He shuddered. Just thinking about them made his blood run cold. Such abominations were thought to exist only in myth, and his soldiers just stumbled onto something bigger than any of them had imagined. References to a creature similar to these things were made to this in Professor Gerald's records, but anything noted was sketchy at best; most of the information in the ARK's database on Project Shadow was erased or damaged during the invasion by GUN forces. All that was mentioned was that Shadow was a genetically engineered creature, designed to be a weapon. If these Mobians were anything like Shadow, then he would have to gather as much information about them as possible; they would probably be dangerous, and may allow his scientists to recreate Project Shadow through reverse engineering.
Despite his initial revulsion, he ordered his soldiers to capture the things. He was sure that they would prove interesting to Fidel, and if the enemy was breeding these... Mobians - as they seemed to be called - then, it wouldn't hurt to experiment on them. Know your enemy, was his philosophy, and studying these creatures would do just that. After all, it was in the name of Science and Defense, and these things were probably supposed to be some kind of super soldier, as judging by the surprisingly militaristic ceremony.
The communication officer's console beeped, shaking him out of his private thoughts.
"Who's that?" Commander O'tara asked irritatingly.
"Its... Fidel, Sir," The comms officer said, haltingly.
"Well, don't just sit there soldier," O'tara ordered, eyes flashing, "Patch him through to my chair!"
"Y-yes... Sir," The comms officer stammered, pressing the button.
There was another beep, and the gruff voice of the dictator seemed to pierce the room, although an anti-eavesdropping field had immediately cloaked the Commander's chair. O'tara was sure that It had that same effect on anyone who heard it.
"Report, Commander," Fidel said flatly, without any attempt at formality, or camaraderie.
"I sent a Recon team in a little over an hour ago, sir..." Commander O'tara replied, "Like you ordered, all humans within the base were killed, and the database is being downloaded now."
"And what did you find?" he interrupted, casually.
"From what we can tell at first glance, It appears to be some kind of military training center-"
"For who?"
"We don't know, Lord Fidel-"
"You don't know who owns the base, or what their intentions are?" Fidel cut in, his voice assuming a cold tone.
"We don't know yet, your supremacy," O'tara corrected himself hastily, "We managed to upload the entire database to the ARK, but the files are heavily encrypted, and it may take some time to decipher. All we know at the moment is guesswork based on what we have seen and observed..."
"And that is?" Fidel asked impatiently, interrupting O'tara when he paused to take a quick breath.
"I was getting to that, sir."
"Well then, continue."
O'tara suppressed the desire to let out an exasperated sigh; showing any kind of impatience with the Dictator could easily prove... dangerous. With a deep breath, he told Fidel about the Mobians, silently crossing his fingers for luck.
There was a very long moment of silence when Commander O'tara finished. He felt beads of sweat pop up on his forehead as he waited for Fidel's response.
"Very interesting, Commander," Nicholas Fidel finally said, "These... Mobians... are they intelligent?"
"They seem to be," He answered, relieved that Fidel actually seemed pleased. "Although, I am not one hundred percent sure."
"And you have captured them?" Fidel asked.
"Yes, sir," O'tara responded, "I thought that I may be able to shed some additional light onto what was going on at that facility by studying them. "
"Very well, Commander," Fidel said in satisfaction."I have sent you further instructions on what to do concerning that base. Once I have terminated the communications, and you have gathered as much information as you can, carry out them out immediately..."
"Yes, Lord Fidel."
There was a brief moment of silence, and then Fidel spoke once more.
"Oh, and one last thing Commander," He said, "when those animal-creatures arrive on the ARK, make sure to send me a few of them."
"I will see to it, my Lord" O'tara said, smiling at the thought.
"Good. Your report has left me a little bit curious, and i wish to satisfy curiosity... and amusement... personally."
And with that, the communication line to the surface broke off with an audible click.
O'tara turned to his console, and opened up his messaging box. He scanned through it, noting that there was a report from the ground sent a few minutes ago, in addition to the orders just sent from Lord Fidel.
He opened the report and scanned through it with an audible grunt. All it really said was that all troops had convened at the parade ground in preparation for evac and as extra security for the Mobians. Other than a faint energy fluctuation detected near the parade grounds, everything seemed normal.
Commander O'tara closed the report, and then opened the orders. He scanned through the brief message, then turned his chair back to the front so he could see the younger officers stationed on the bridge.
"Have we finished downloading the data from the bunker?" He asked his comms officer.
"Yes, sir."
"What about the loading of the mobians into the airship?"
"Fifty or so have been loaded already, and the third group is about to be loaded into a drop pod."
"Very well then," O'tara said, "Give orders to divert power from the energy reserves to the Eclipse Cannon. Have it charged to 10% power, and order the EC team to target the base; they are not to fire until I give the order. Once the prisoners are loaded, have the airship fly out of range. I think it is time we have a little impromptu weapons test."
"Sending the orders now, sir," the comm officer sounded off.
One minute later, the comms officer reported that the Eclipse cannon was at 5 percent power and rising steadily. It was only moments after that declaration when alarming reports began flooding in from the surface.
In a matter of seconds All his soldiers on the ground were brutally killed, struck down by a mysterious force in less than thirty seconds.
Commander O'tara stood up, his normally calm face now showing a hint of anger and irritation.
"Get that airship out of range of the cannon!" He shouted.
"Yes, Sir!"
"What's the charge in the Eclipse Cannon?" he asked the comms officer, as he struggled to control his temper.
"It just reached 6 percent, sir!"
"That will have to do. Time to show these dissidents what happens when you mess with GUN."
O'tara watched the airship fly out of range rapidly, then personally hailed the Eclipse Cannon team.
"This is Commander O'tara..."
"Yes, sir?" The EC Lieutenant responded through the intercom.
"Fire!" Commander O'tara said.
The four pincer like jaws of the Eclipse Cannon opened up, revealing a small ball of concentrated energy with a faint greenish tinge. With a whirring hum the beam condensed and intensified, as the beam reached the peak of its charging.
With a lurching blast, the ball of energy exploded from the ARK,as an arc of intensely hot bar of pure death. It hurtled downward at speeds that would boggle the mind of any human, and entered the atmosphere. At just over 6% power, the Eclipse Cannon just sealed the fate of the military base known as Facility Bravo.
Suddenly There was a rushing surge accompanied by a flash of green light, and Sally, Knuckles, and the other Mobian Officers were thrown to the ground as it shuddered and lurched violently under the force of an enormous explosion or impact. Pieces of the bunker roof fell from the ceiling, knocking dust particles into the air, and the lights flickered as if being affected by a huge power surge.
She huddled in her corner, covering her head to prevent injury and praying to some unknown God that they wouldn't die.
Sonic carried Amy over to where Cream and Tails were standing close together. When Sonic approached, They hurriedly stepped away from one another, giving each other guilty looks.
"We need to gather everyone together," he said, "I think that there are more GUN forces aboard the ship, and it won't take long for them to organize a counterattack."
With a glance, Sonic noticed that Tails had an embarrassed look on his face, and looked as if he had been crying; Cream on the other hand was flat out blushing, almost as if she had just said something intimate to him...
"I understand", Miles said, turning hurriedly so Sonic couldn't see his face.
With a brief burst of speed, the fox ran in the direction of the remaining recruits, his twin tails spinning.
But before Tails could get very far, Sonic saw the airship pull away from above Facility Bravo.
Dammit, He thought. I cannot save the recruits already on the ship if it moves away! I thought they would counterattack, not retreat.
"Why would they retreat?" Sonic muttered, thoughtfully.
This doesn't seem right... He thought.
"What is it?" Amy asked him.
But the blue hedgehog didn't air seemed silent. Too silent. He looked up, not knowing what he would see...
... and then there was a flash of green light.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Sonic yelled.
For the third time that day, he tapped into the energy within and began to channel it. But it was not enough to save many of the recruits. They were just too spread out!
He drew in more of the Chaotic Energy, but it still wasn't enough. He combined it with the energy he could naturally manipulate, amplifying and strengthening his power with the Chaos Emerald, and straining his body to its limits. The emerald in his pocket glowed brighter than when he had last used it, forcing as much of the energy within it as he possibly could. Time seemed to slow down, and his mind felt like it was squeezed between a rock and a hard place…
With a yell, Sonic wove the energy around himself, Amy, Tails, Cream, and pushed the sphere out as far as he could, trying to enclose as many mobian recruits as he possibly could. Even with the Chaos Emerald amplifying his abilities , he didn't seem to have enough power to spread the protective barrier any further! He still… wasn't strong enough…
"CHAOS... SHIELD!" He thundered, transforming the energy into a barrier.
Then the beam of green light hit the shield, and for a few glorious moments, Sonic was able to stand toe to toe with a concentrated beam of pure energy, Pushing back with equal force against the wave of death. He struggled, fighting the beam of energy head on, but the pressure the beam put against the shield was increasing, and he couldn't keep this up for much longer. If they stayed here, they would all die…
I... Just...Cannot let them all die, Sonic thought, gritting his teeth as the additional strain on his body struggled to tear him body apart.
He drew in even more energy and then used the one ability that had not failed yet…
"CHAOS CONTROL!" He shouted.
Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, and all the mobian recruits within the Chaos Shield vanished in a flash of white light.
Moments later, the entire area that had been Facility Bravo was consumed and decimated by the impact of a brilliant beam of green energy from the Eclipse Cannon, killing everyone that was still alive within the base.
"Target destroyed, sir!"
"Excellent," O'tara replied with a cold smile; whatever had killed that battalion was sure to be dead now.
"How much power reserve is left in the Eclipse Cannon?" He asked.
"A little less than 1%, sir!" An officer replied.
If a single blast consumes that much energy just for one attack that devastates a small area of land, He thought, then this weapon truly is a monster. How much destruction could the Eclipse Cannon cause when fully charged?
He shuddered at the thought. Professor Gerald was just pure evil to design a weapon of this magnitude, but never the less, he would use it.
"Good work, gentlemen." He said, taking a moment to compose himself, "Set the Eclipse Cannon to standby, and divert all unnecessary power from the generator to recharge it. I want that thing to have at least a 25% charge within the next hour. It should be ready to give off more than a single blast if the need arises."
"Yes, sir!" the engineer replied, and with an audible click, the connection terminated.