'Tomorrow is the day.'
Grunting with exertion I flexed my legs and pushed against the weights as I both pondered and dreaded the thought. Tomorrow would be the end of my promised week off to train and prepare myself for duties in Robotnik's Empire as one of his enforcers.
It had been a self imposed grueling week of honestly desperate effort to prepare myself for my duties to come. It didn't help that I had no real guidelines for what said duties would entail, probably just whatever Robotnik thought to give me. Which meant that when I had to prepare myself I basically had to train and study in as many subjects as possible. Spending all of my budget I had filled my room with what I hoped was useful tools and equipment. I also expanded out into the next room to turn it into a workout chamber. Finally I had selected a trio of badniks to serve as my personal bodyguards and aids, slating them for refit and remodeling as much as my budget allowed.
Whenever I physically worked my body I also studied and when I worked my body to exhaustion I continued my studies. Nothing was more clear to me than the fact that a mere week to prepare myself for whatever Robotnik had in store for me was not nearly enough. Still I had to try! My life was literally on the line so I blindly studied subjects. I assumed it would help if I was familiar with the computer systems the Empire ran on so I studied them. I'd probably find myself fighting against the likes of GUN so I combed over the network for recordings and stolen data. Publicly available maps had mostly blank spots when it came to territory long held by the Doctor, dotted with the locations of settlements that hopefully still existed. My security clearance allowed me the complete map of the Empire's territory, destroyed settlements, rehoused populations, statistics and updated topography to account for landscaping projects.
If only my studies could have been far more specific but trying to specialize my knowledge would just likely blindside me. There was no choice but to stick to generalized topics and hoped I'd at least be partially informed in whatever I'd have to handle.
With a sigh I let the thousand kilogram weights slam down and got up from the leg press. I began my cooldown stretches while considering my physical progress. It was decent I suppose, I hope. It was honestly the first time I put effort into exercising, hiking and camping in the wilderness typically kept me slim and fit, not that I had any real inclination towards overeating or even gathered enough food to do so. So I didn't really have much idea of how I compared against anyone. I mean sure I'd kick a human in two but that was not a metric worth measuring against.
With the drugs I was using to maintain my effort my progress better be great.
Even for a mobian constant physical exercise every day wasn't normally possible, especially when you went right back to it the moment you finished resting. What I was using to allow this effort was a form of steroid but not of the muscle enhancement kind. Bigger muscles would just slow me down and get in the way, what I wanted was to bring what I already had closer to my peak and no amount of muscle in the end would stop a bullet. No, the drugs I was using was supercharging my body's ability to heal itself, allowing me to rapidly recover from heavy exercise.
As a side note my ears were almost fully recovered! All that were left of the larger holes were pink skin and some far smaller openings. So I owed that at least to Robotnik's medicine.
It was also extremely likely I had something along the lines of nanobots or even cybernetic implants put in me while I was under. All to maintain my loyalty and punish me if I ever show signs of falling short of expectations or perhaps if Robotnik felt like it no doubt. Sure it was essentially putting on an explosive collar of my own volition but the alternative was not being able to put in two hundred percent effort in my week off.
'For all intents and purposes… I am a slave.'
I found myself clutching at my neck at the thought. There was no shackle and chain to be felt but its weight could not be denied nonetheless. And worse of all it was all my fault it was there in the first place, in my arrogance I had assumed much, thought I could just be a silent witness on the sidelines as the tale of heroes and villains played out before me.
'Now look at me, taking the stage, supporting cast of the villain…'
…
Enough depressing thoughts! It wasn't changing anything or helping me!
Finishing my stretches I left my workout room and returned to my original quarters. My room had been fully furnished now, the bed shoved to the corner and as much equipment as my current budget could allow was placed in here. A desk with a large computer screen dominated one side of the room, much of my studies took place there, when they didn't there was a holoprojector in my workout room to allow me to continue them anyway. In a more central position was a large table, not for dining but for working. There a number of advanced tools lay hanging to the side or tucked away beneath, all of them I was barely proficient with despite constant practice. At this table I did my best to familiarize myself with Robotnik's machines and the new weaponry I had requisitioned.
So far with just a week of study and effort I was currently aware of both how poorly educated I was and that I was incredibly out of my depth. Still at the very least I was familiar enough with the internals of the common badnik to know the best way to break one, seeing the dormant mobini in a deathly slumber in each examined badnik never failed to send a chill down my spine. The man had somehow harnessed raw lifeforce to power his machines and I kept wondering if he would one day do the same with mobians and humans.
With partial access to Robotnik's tech and industry I upgraded my current arsenal. I needed better firepower but had to keep in mind the fact I wasn't terribly experienced with firearms just yet. So while I moved on from the revolver I kept it simple and easy, according to the database the glock was beginner friendly so I settled for that. Part of me wanted to retain the sawn off for the sheer simplicity of it, however the fact I had run out of ammo while in the fight for my life had convinced me otherwise. The pump action I had replaced it with only had one extra bullet over the sawn off so it wasn't that much of an upgrade, that one extra bullet however would have quickly ended the threat I faced in my last fight. As opposed to what had happened leaving me scrabbling for space and time to reload.
There was so much technology at my disposal now, I had been incredibly tempted to just replace everything with energy weapons. But the sheer amount of moving parts and sophistication inherent in such weapons had me hesitating. What if some small fragile part broke when I dropped it? And I would inevitably drop it or land atop it while tumbling and such, sure such weapons were good enough for the badniks but the badniks were also expendable warmarchines. It wouldn't matter all that much if a badnik's laser weapon failed in the middle of a fight, it can and would be replaced with ten others.
Not so much the case for me now was it?
'Don't overthink it, keep it simple.'
Didn't think I'd be reciting one of dad's various sayings here of all places… no, let's keep all thoughts of home out of my mind, no distractions!
Though at the very least I had a number of different ammo types to use in response against different threats. From simple things like hollow points and slugs to full on fantastical alchemical ammunition. I had been tempted to forgo these in favor of keeping things simple but I needed personal answers against threats that would be bullet resistant. So special bullets strapped to my person it was.
Looking away from the table I regarded the mannequin standing by another wall. It was wearing the final upgrade in my equipment.
The limbless mannequin by the wall had on my new armor. I now had a custom made helmet, no more pinches from the rough spots in the helmet where I punched in holes for my ears. I also had a chest piece with a pair of study boots, reinforced gloves and a pair of goggles. Every piece of armor was made from a special alloy plate, not the kevlar weave vest that GUN soldiers wore. From what I had learned it was actually the same material GUN used for the armor issued to their commando units. I could have worn better armor plate, Robotnik had many different forms of alloy to get it in. The problem with that was that it was the same materials used for the armor in badniks. Badniks didn't really care about how their armor sat on their body or how much it weighed, so long as they had power and functional mobility they kept on moving. Not so much the case when you were a mere flesh and blood mortal like I was. I wanted to be mobile, not to sit in place soaking fire.
The boots were great! Quite honestly brutal weapons and tools of comfort both. Their armor plating and internal cushioning meant I'd be able to kick with a level of force I'd normally wouldn't to avoid breaking toes or my feet in general. In regards to my feet at least I could now afford to be a bit more reckless. As for the gloves, well…
"Ugh…" The disgusted noise came out of me the moment I tried on the gloves again.
They were… decent. Hardy leather like material, reinforced knuckles and some plating on the back of my hand and fingers. It was a middling and acceptable, quite honestly better then every other example of human made gloves I'd ever come across.
It also didn't compare to the kind of gauntlets traditionally made for mobian warriors.
'Note to self, see if I can find a loose pair of proper gauntlets lying around.'
I wasn't sure when or where I'd find them but I'd be on the lookout.
Flinging the shoddy gloves back to the base of the mannequin I looked at one final piece of equipment. My modified mobian short spear sat leaning against the wall by the mannequin. It was nearly unchanged, the work on all counts was great and the thing had saved my life three times. The only thing I did was make sure to sharpen the edge, sand the jagged break down and cap it with a bit of metal.
Robotnik's foundries could probably make a decent melee weapon but I doubt anything would truly compare to a mobian made weapon in that regard. I'd go to him any day of the week for a gun but we mobians have been making swords, spears and other such weapons for eons. Humans probably would try to say the same but mobian smiths had to take into account that the wielder of their weapons would have various abilities and traits unique to their race.
If you wanted a sword that would last the ages you bought from a mobian smith, end of discussion.
Suddenly I heard my computer beep from a received message. Walking over I shoved the chair aside and quickly looked up my inbox. Looking up the singular unread message I scrolled through its contents.
'Ah, the refit for my badniks is done.'
Quickly I turned away and immediately began the twenty minute walk to the workshop they'd been slated for. The fact that beyond the time I'd spend in the workshop going over final details it would take a further twenty minutes to get back had me stressing. I was beginning to wish I had saved enough of my budget to get some kind of scooter made, traversing the megastructure on foot would be an irritating timesink.
One pointlessly anxious twenty walk later and I had arrived.
The workshop was one of countless many and had massive counterparts in the factory sprawl of the Mother Egg. This smaller one was meant for smaller and personal projects. Which was great because I'd been in the larger ones and the noise was hell on my ears. It was honestly still rather noisy as no factory in the Mother Egg was ever really quiet but it was bearable.
Ovoid badniks with collar patterns that made me think of a coverall wearing mechanic manned the workshop. They were at constant work with tools both built into their arms and held in their hands. Twelve gantries filled the center of the workshop, seven of which currently held badniks in various states of disrepair and completion. Upon my entry into the workshop three badniks detached themselves from the gantries and were led to me by one of the mechanic bots.
"Underboss Reginald!" The badnik greeted with a wave.
Underboss?
"It's a bit loud in here, let's talk outside." I said in reply and it quickly bowed in agreement before following. "Also… what's with the title?"
"It is what Doctor Eggman decreed you were to be referred to by!" The bot replied with another bow. "It is also stated that Sub-Boss and Boss Rabbit were also acceptable!"
"Oh." Well that's that I guess. At least it seemed like a respectable title and not something like 'Animal'.
Once the doors to the workshop eased closed behind us my three badniks lined up as neatly as their differing shapes allowed. Looking over them I could not help but nod in satisfaction.
"Would you like me to go over their refit in detail sir?" The mechanic bot asked.
"Go ahead."
The bot strolled to a stop next to a heavily modified and formally dark blue buzz bomber
"This badnik, classified as buzz bomber mk2.19 and as ordered, newly designated as Saffron." The mechanic bot waved one metal hand in the air towards said badnik with the other behind its back. "According to your specifications we have resized the unit, adjusted its faceplate and used the greater surface area to install a set of six legs. The singular pair of boosters and wings have been replaced with a pair of much more powerful omnidirectional boosters to allow strafing and quicker changes of momentum. The 'thorax' has been resized and adjusted to allow greater flexibility, while the onboard laser remains the same power it can now be properly aimed. Finally we have painted it red as requested."
Saffron rose up into the air at my considering gaze, its boosters flaring to life and giving it the illusion of having 3 pairs of rapidly beating wings. It now had a red and black color scheme which I felt added to its threatening feel. The face plate had been adjusted to have a bit more pronounced mandibles but they were only marginally more practical than the original set. The biggest change was giving it a wider head with long narrow grills that glowed red in place of its eyes. The reason why I had them add the legs was because of the fact I had them make Saffron much larger. Now that the badnik was half again larger than me it had the size and flying power to comfortably hold me in its grip and fly at a decent pace.
'Having a bot capable of grabbing me and fucking off out of danger will likely save my life in the days to come.' I thought before looking at the next bot in line.
"Badnik, classified motobug mk2.94, new designation: Lady." The mechanic bot recited with the wave at the much larger badnik. "Lady has been made larger with greater armor plating and a more powerful engine. As was ordered it was further modified with an ergonomic retractable seat with antenna designed to stiffen and operate as manual controls. A small section at the rear has been hollowed out at no loss of armor integrity to serve as a small trunk. Lady's color scheme has also been changed as ordered, the blue replaced with black and the color scheme reversed."
Lady revved its engine, exhaust expelling a rush of flames as it did so. The badnik was now taller than I was, its face just looming slightly above mine. The reversed color scheme made it a matte black with red spots on its shell, asides from the increase in size and color change its general appearance was in line with the more modern lines of motobugs. The seat was currently nowhere to be seen. However when needed several panels would retract and reveal a seat and stirrups much like a motorcycle.
'Lady will be my form of transport out in the field after deployment from airships. Kinda wish I could have added some weaponry into it but I only had so much budget to work with. I'll just have to settle with my own guns if I need to do some shooting while mounted. Spirits knows it'll not be impossible this time with an actual seat.'
"And the final badnik, classified caterkiller mk3.18, new destination: Dessy." Because, Destroyer was a bit too on the nose. "The most heavily refurbished of the three units. Heavier armor, more powerful servos, larger frame, dual mobini core power supply, an extra six segments bringing it up to a total of nine not counting the head and an upgraded sensor suite. The side horns have been removed and replaced with laser emitters to take advantage of the greater power flow. Three of the segments have suites dedicated to drone control and deployment with internal capacity for three drones each. Finally the paint job is a matte gunmetal gray as ordered."
Dessy clanked as its mass rose and loomed over everything in the immediate vicinity. Certainly wasn't the largest badnik I'd ever seen, those metal giants could be seen and felt coming a mile away, not to mention immensely out of my budget. In fact getting Dessy fully refitted to my specifications had taken up two thirds of my allotted budget. The machine had a purposefully dull color scheme, a mouth that was more like a shredder and a single large cyclopion red eye. Not that taking out the eye would diminish it's capacity to see. Its single eye was almost something of a purposeful target to draw fire as even in the event of losing its eyes, Dessy had a significant sensor suite that could easily compensate, not to mention the far more inconspicuous and numerous tiny eye lenses dotting the bot. Its appearance would certainly make it stand out much more amongst the mostly cute animal like appearances of the common badnik. Dessy looked more like an industrial serpentine mining machine as opposed to a warmachine. With its new mouth it could probably do a decent job as both.
'If Saffron is my escape pod and scout, Lady my transportation, then Dessy is definitely my muscle. Heavily armored, heavily armed and most importantly, eye-catching. With Dessy rampaging and causing havoc in any fight it would draw every eye and all the fire, thereby allowing me to freely maneuver as I see fight without getting pinned down.'
Lady to get me to places, Saffron to get me out of places and Dessy to keep me in one piece. With these three my time as Underboss would hopefully be a decently long lived one… it was difficult to feel hopeful. Robotnik made custom bots like this all the time, didn't stop them from being brought back as scrap eventually. The cause of that was obvious, as was the fact I'd eventually have to meet that cause in my new position as Robotnik's enforcer.
I took a deep calming breath and suddenly wished I hadn't burned through my cigarettes.
'One life threatening disaster at a time, just focus on the now.'
"You do good work!" I said with a pat on the mechanic bot's shoulder and saw it preen from the compliment. "These three are definitely the very badniks I asked for?"
"Oh yes, Underboss!" The mechanic saluted cheerfully. "We went through the mission records and these three were the ones to accompany you into the ruin. In fact do you recall that secondary request you made? In the event those had been destroyed to look up the two specific badniks you noted in your pursuit of the human and mobian? The motobug that carried you and the buzz bomber that blocked the shot are the very same ones that went into the ruin with you! What a coincidence isn't it?"
"Really?" I looked at the two machines and found myself patting them on the head. "Well it's a good thing I made it easier to pick you two out from the crowd didn't I?"
There was a groan of metal and a low rumble of ramping up engines. Looking side eyed I saw Dessy coil its body and rise up even taller as its cyclopean eye glowed. It seemed to stare at me or maybe the machines I was patting. Why? Was it… jealousy? Damn Robotnik was making his machines have the capacity for such awareness. I didn't want to have to juggle drama of all things in bots meant to keep me in one piece! Little point in getting too worked up about it, I was stuck with it now and would have to deal with it.
Hoping that Dessy was jealous of the bots and not angry at me specifically, especially since I had just made the fucking thing a spirits damned tank and didn't want to deal with a warhead slinging tantrum, I it gave it the best sly smile I could under the circumstance.
"Jealous are we?" Keep that tone light and cheerful, no condemnation or mockery. DO NOT insult the death bot bristling with lasers! "Don't you worry, tomorrow I'm starting properly in my new position as Underboss to Doctor Robotnik. I doubt he'd have me doing boring and mundane things so plenty of chances for you to demonstrate your worth."
That seemed to do it as the glow faded from Dessy's eye and its engines ramped back down. There was more groaning of metal as the floor flexed under the bot's weight as said badnik uncoiled itself and lowered in a more calm seeming position.
'Already dodging disasters! Great…'
With that aggravated I ordered the machines to go on standby in a hanger until needed. I wanted to get more training and studying in. Today was my last "free" day and I couldn't afford to waste it.
Tomorrow the real work began.
Pausing a moment to straighten my freshly painted and polished armor I stepped into the Mother Eggs command center.
Upon my entry I found myself staring at what floated in the central holo emitter. It was a sight I was familiar with as did anyone who lived on or visited the west coast of central Arcadia. A holographic image of Angel Island floated.
'The Doctor has plans for Angel Island again.' I thought with discomfort.
Everyone knew about the last time Robotnik had meddled with Angel Island. The thing fell out of the sky and the ensuing wave from it hitting the ocean flooded the entire western coastlines of central and south Arcadia. It rose back up again but people had been damned curious about what exactly he had done there and had wanted some kind of force placed on the island to keep it from happening again. As far as I was aware the proposed Angel Island Defense Force idea had petered out in the aftermath of the flooding, too much money and resources being pooled into reconstruction work.
'Though maybe everyone in a position of power just didn't feel confident about being able to stop a second drop? What would be more politically embarrassing? Failing to stop Robotnik or not having tried at all?'
For once Doctor Robotnik immediately took note of my presence.
"Ah my new Underboss! Fresh off a week of relaxation are we?" He said with an all too knowing smirk. "Come here and let me get a look at you."
I quickly walked over to stop before his pod and saluted smartly.
"Underboss Reginald the Rabbit, reporting for duty Doctor!"
"Indeed you are!" Robotnik nodded, visibly pleased at my words as he took in the sight of my armor. "Dressed in the colors of the Empire as well, good! Everyone who sees you should immediately know the power you represent."
What little remained of my budget I had spent on getting my armor painted last night. It was done in the bright red, gold and black Robotnik had favored in his clothes and personal mechs. On the left breast of my chestplate I had made sure was his ever grinning icon to further mark me.
"Happy to wave the flag, Doctor!" Maintaining the salute I awaited orders.
"I'm sure you are deathly curious about what I've got planned." Robotnik said with a leisurely wave at the hologram. "Unfortunately you'll have to go on wondering, I've yet to finish my plans."
With another leisurely motion he pressed down on a button on his pod and the image was replaced with one of his main territories in North Arcadia. The various settlements and cities of people subjugated and trapped within his borders were highlighted.
"Alas I'm afraid I'll be having you attend to some mundane, boring matters of state." Robotnik leaned back in his pod with a sigh. "It is that time of year after all."
"Doctor?"
"You'll be collecting taxes."
-TBC-
Author Note: And so starts the second arc! Not the most exciting of events to transpire but it's a quiet start to what Reginald is hoping will be a quiet task. After all, why would anyone hate a tax collector!
In any case it's time to explore what goes on for the common person stuck under Robotnik's thumb and how such a society actually works.