GOLLY GEE. Happy new year everybody! I hope 2011 is a great year for everybody, and for this story! It's about to get even crazier.

Apparently I do my best writing in the car, I wrote this chapter during the 5 hour drive back to North Carolina.

I love all of the reviewers. Uchiha, Jayden, Ragnarok, TE. I've got a favor to ask: If you want to, write a full review: criticize my work, give advice, go all out, attack my work, it's how I'll improve.

If you know any good stories, point 'em out, I'll definitely read 'em.

OK, enough header.

Next two chapters are simultaneous; the second one will go farther.

Elias was lucky. The shell that smacked into the hood exploded late, propelling the APC into the air. It slammed windshield first into the hard desert ground. Elias should have been crushed, but the sturdy build, coupled with his seatbelt, saved his life. He escaped with a few scratches and some trauma. The bandages on his left arm a reminder of how close he was to serious injury. He didn't know how the others fared. After the shelling stopped, some D.E.L troops rushed out of the nearby fort and dragged them inside. He was immediately separated from the others, mainly because he was quickly identified. Ant and the royal guard were thrown in the brig, and Elias was left to have an Audience with the Baron, the local name for the D.E.L grandmaster.

He was sitting on a simple chair, guards on either side, outside of a large door. The simple décor was unappealing to the Prince, who was used to ornate halls and jewel encrusted doors. Elias observed himself in the reflection of a robotic limb, he looked okay. The guard noticed and quickly drew his arm away, muttering something under his breath. Robians personally disgusted Elias; he considered them freaks, unnatural things. How Ant could actually marry one was beyond him. He always associated Robians with the D.E.L, and the one he was about to meet was familiar to him.

He was nervous about meeting Beauregard, who was outspoken in his hatred for the Royal family, or 'the oppressors'. The Grandmaster blamed all of his people's woes on the action, or inaction of the Kingdom and its rulers. To him, the greatest threat to his people wasn't the maniac Eggman, but the Acorns. His reluctance to have Elias immediately executed was a mystery.

Elias' thoughts were interrupted. He was violently seized by the arms, and hoisted up. The large door swung open, and he was carried inside, protesting the whole way. "Don't you dare! Hey! Put me down this instant!"

"That's enough boys, let's show some respect to our guest." The voice came from the other end of the room, seething with contempt. It was a tall, long and narrow space, with a solitary desk at the very end. There wasn't much in the way of decorations, and the only other object was a cane resting lazily against the wall. Elias was gently lowered; he brushed himself off and glared at the figure behind the desk. They stood up and motioned for him to approach. "I do apologize for their rudeness; they're a little sore about this whole war business, understandably." A light came on from overhead; it illuminated the figure, revealing an elderly Rabbot.

Elias took a few steps forward, confident in his abilities. He extended an arm, a gesture of respect. When the Grandmaster responded by extending his metal appendage the young Prince cringed, and pulled back slightly. He gulped and grabbed the shiny hand. It was cool to the touch, and fortunately his hand survived without being crushed. He sat across from Beauregard.

"I would normally expect better discipline from your men, Beauregard, but it seems that I may expect too much." The Rabbot sat down.

"And I would normally expect a warning before receiving a diplomatic envoy, but it seems I overestimated your competence, whatever there may be." A quick retort from the Grandmaster, he'd been around too long to put up with a punk like Elias. "Give me a reason I shouldn't just have you killed where you stand right now.

"I'm sure my father wouldn't be pleased to know I was killed on a diplomatic mission. He might just bring the full force of the Kingdom down on you."

"This is not your precious Kingdom, you have no power here; and I hope you do understand that this meeting is a gift. I could easily have you and your men permanently detained as P., or worse, at any time. Especially since you just drove out here with no advanced notice."

"We had a white flag; it was obvious that we aren't here for war." Elias' argument was grasping at straws.

"Obvious? Boy, if you live to be as old as I am, you'll learn to shoot first, ask questions later." The Prince resented being called 'boy', he wanted to continue the banter, but he had business to get to, first he had to check on something.

"Where are my men?"

"In the brig, they're mostly ok."

"Mostly?"

"One of 'em got knocked in the noggin pretty hard." His voice was a mix of pleasure and sorrow. "It was my nephew-in-law, the D'Coolette, I hope he's ok..." he paused. "…For Bunnie's sake." He tapped himself on the head. "Doc says he's got p'tentially severe brain trauma and a concussion. Basically he got some brain damage from that nasty crash." He didn't sound sorrowful any more. "After what that guy did I'm worried he might not survive treatment."

"What do you mean?"

"We had to sedate the bastard, when he came too he started going crazy, swingin' at everyone and trying to kill 'em. Once he was out things got interesting."

"How so?"

"Well the men were puzzled by all the blood on his jacket, they thought he might have some kind of wound that went untreated, so they took it offa him. And lo and behold we found some interesting things in it." His smile faded. "They belonged to a couple of soldiers who were K.I.A not too long ago." He leaned in, closer to the Prince. "We also found his sabre. We put two and two together and realized he was the one who done it." He leaned back, and crossed his legs. "That made him none too popular with the troops, but I s'pose that will sort itself out." He grinned. "But you didn't come here just to hear about that, did ya?" His contempt was obvious in his voice.

Elias wasn't worried, his man could handle themselves. "We want to negotiate terms with you."

"Givin' up already?" Beauregard Joked, futilely trying to mask his hatred for the royal in front of him.

"You've got it backwards." Elias didn't see the humor. "We want to give you a chance, let you back out now and save face, and lives."

"Now why in hell would I want to do that?"

"We don't have to fight this war, you can just take your men and go."

"Son, I do believe you've got rocks for brains." Elias gritted his teeth, resentful of the insults. Beauregard sighed, took off his ten gallon, rested it on the table, and stood up. "Walk with me." He walked over behind his desk and grabbed his cane, Elias came following after. The old Rabbot snapped his fingers, and the wall immediately behind the desk slid upwards, revealing a bird's eye view of the encampment. Elias realized that they were in a large tower, overlooking the whole base.

"My God…"What he saw awed him. Huge machines were swarmed by hundreds of troops, each one armed to the teeth with advanced weaponry. Some were standing rank and file, their rigid formation a truly intimidating sight. The D.E.L might have less numbers, but Elias was aware that the tech gap would sink his war effort. This was the whole reason he came here, to get a glimpse at what he was up against, he regretted it. Elias turned to Beauregard. "Why are you showing me this?"

"It's a warning, son. You might not believe this, but I don't want to annihilate you and your men. I'm giving you a chance to skedaddle. I know that you can't handle this kind of tech, so go back to your tyrant, admit you're licked, and I won't blow the hell outa everybody and everything you have."

"I… I-" Elias was flustered, how could he possibly fight this?

"Now we know that those damn sand-blasters built some sort of EMP device to counter our technology…" Elias didn't know that, another thing they withheld from him. "… but I assure you, what you see here is just a taste. We are more than capable of completely overwhelming any defense you might have. Either you leave, or we decimate you, your men, and eventually your Kingdom."

"We will defeat you." Elias tried to get a word in.

He was patted on the shoulder. "I don't know about that, you can't even trust your own countrymen. There are some people you just don't want to piss off." The comment hung in the air for a few moments. Elias was about to comment, but he was too slow. "Just something to think about." The window abruptly closed, leaving Elias staring at the wall. Beauregard continued. "Unless you have anything else to say, you just run along and pick up your little friends, and be on your way. You'll find that we repaired your vehicle, don't worry, we would never dream of snooping in a diplomat's escort" And with that he ended the conversation early¸ sending the Prince off shattered.

The Prince was frozen in place; he had no idea what to do. The plan was crumbling to pieces. If he accepted defeat and ran, he would have to face his father later, but if he tried to fight, he would be annihilated; it seemed he was between a rock and a hard place. Elias was led out of the room by some guards, all the while being watched by Beauregard, who was also whispering instructions to a subordinate. Upon his exit, Elias was greeted by even more guards, who escorted him outside, where his APC sat good as new. There were dozens of D.E.L surrounding them, the only exit was in front of the vehicle, and they had to leave in the APC.

His men were nearby, in line, with Antoine at the lead. His jacket was clean, and he stood at attention, the only things that were off were the bandage covering Ant's head and the blood on his hands. Upon further inspection, it seemed that the royal guards were standing as far from Ant as possible, as if something disturbed them. Elias walked up to him.

"Are you all right?"

"Ouimacapitaine Neverbeenbetter yeahimgoodreadytogo" His words were slightly slurred. He had a blank expression in his eyes, as if someone else was there too. Elias had more important things to worry about, like what the hell he was going to do.

Elias was too focused on his own problems to notice a figure in the background, clutching a remote in one hand, and slowly approaching the APC, waiting for the Prince to get inside.

WOAH. Crazy Ant with Brain Damage? HOLY FUDGE, this is gunna be great. ALSO, who can guess the mystery figure? Stay tuned, I hope the next chapter doesn't suck!