With my pre-departure check now complete I slammed the doors of Lady's trunk closed. I walked towards the head of my personal transport badnik and knocked on its 'shell'. Smoothly metal plates retracted and revealed my seat aboard the customized motobug. Hoisting myself onto the seat I briefly got a feel for the antenna handles before looking over my shoulder. Behind me was the convoy that would accompany me to each settlement.
On the ground were formations of motobugs, buzz bombers and other various badniks that would be able to keep pace with me. Beyond them were the utilitarian variants of the caterkillers. Of a scale rivaling road trains the 'cargokiller' badniks were machines built entirely for transportation of material and had a body shape more akin to a centipede, their flat heads so large that Dessy comfortably sat coiled atop one. Alongside them were the idling dropships, packed to the brim with badniks, ready to defend me and unleash hell at my command.
The mere thought of having to order the sack of a village, town or spirits forbid, a city for having the temerity to short Robotnik sent shivers down my spine.
It was a feeling that remained potent no matter who I imagine having to do this cruelty to. I've already had a near miss with nearly raiding the home of fellow mobians, now I'd be going to several mobian settlements with intent of essentially looting them of resources. How likely would it be that it would all go smoothly? These were people who likely were long used to Robotnik's reign but would they remain compliant in the face of me? Logically speaking it shouldn't matter who'd they be dealing with in regards to tax collection, not to mention the small army of badniks reinforcing me. But then if people acted logically all the time I wouldn't even be here acting as Robotnik's enforcer in the first place.
'And that's just the mobians! I'll be collecting taxes from human settlements as well and who knows how they'll take a mobian in a position of power over them. It's surprising to me, shocking even, but I don't want to be doing this to even humans.'
I had much to worry about in regards to the humans in Robotnik's territory. Mobians were spread out amongst towns and villages in accordance to ancient tradition, balanced with nature and their needs. But while there were also human towns and villages, there were human cities as well. Cities of the thousands, hundreds of thousands. Surely I was overthinking the danger, despite their numbers the humans would certainly be kept in check by local badniks. Combined with my own escort detail no one would dare push their luck… no one not an idiot anyway.
Anxiety spiked and it felt like a ball of ice had appeared in the core of my torso. My hands shook and clenching them barely helped. Taking a deep breath I held tightly onto Lady's antenna and that seemed to help.
This wasn't good. My first day on the job and I was on the verge of being paralyzed by fear. I was under no delusion that I was truly in any better standing with Robotnik. This was all some kind of test, I've proved myself an amusing distraction and now he wanted a greater show. The stakes and expectations would rise to ever greater heights with me having no choice but to fulfill them. It was utterly unsustainable and eventually I'd fail and I could only hope I'd survive both defeat and Robotnik's wrath… surviving in one piece would probably be too much to hope for.
'No!' I barely held back the urge to hammer my fists atop Lady's armored shell. 'I'm just going in circles! Doom mongering myself into defeatism! I MUST survive! I WILL survive!'
"ALRIGHT LET'S GET MOVING!" I bellowed before twisting Lady's antenna.
Lady shot forward in a burst of speed, quickly followed by companies of speedy badniks. In the air Saffron led a swarm of flying badniks in a defensive formation around the rising dropships. Dessy revved its shredding maw in an approximation of a roar as the cargokillers lurched forward after us.
Normally leading from the front was anathema to me when my "troops" were mostly unfeeling and highly expendable war machines. Seeing that we were deep in Eggman Empire territory however I felt safe to do so.
Well… about as safe as anyone can ever think of being when they were in the heart of Robotnik's Empire.
'Logically speaking I should be safer than other living beings stuck in the Empire and yet I can't help but feel threatened by the weapons I am supposed to command.' Frowning in consternation I directed Lady up a ramp onto a highway. 'This is something I'm just going to have to get used to aren't I? The fact that I'm at equal risk of being victimized by the badniks I am supposedly leading as the people I'm going to be oppressing.'
Suddenly I felt myself lift up into the air and gasped in surprise when I abruptly fell back into my seat. Apparently I had Lady going faster then I had thought and ended up making a slight jump at the end of the ramp. It was a good thing our convoy had absolute right of way otherwise I might have immediately crashed into the various vehicles on the highway.
As far as I knew there were no publicly available high transit roads in the Empire. Not that there was much in the way of legal travel. You needed permission to go any significant distance and even greater allowance for resettling to another place within the Empire. No one liked living in the Eggman Empire and Robotnik knew that any great amount of leeway in travel within his territory would have people constantly trying to make a break for the border. It still happened according to the man's own records but it was in no great numbers.
Thus all highways in existence were purely for Robotnik's logistical benefit and the only traffic on them were various types of cargo badniks.
Traffic slowed and parted at my approach, allowing the convoy to speed through unhindered. Below I could make out the rumble of passing cargo trains running along rails attached to the bottom of the highway. After a few minutes of travel I decided to let go of Lady's antenna. The badnik knew where our first destination was and besides I couldn't help but be distracted by something.
'Why the hell does Robotnik need taxes?'
Initially I hadn't been at all curious at the Doctor's assignment. He was the absolute ruler of the Empire, of course he'd be collecting taxes and tribute! But the more I thought about it the more wrong that statement felt. Going over what data I could recall in regards to various resource outputs of the Eggman Empire I knew my suspicions were correct.
Compared to the sheer industrial output of Robotnik's badnik based automation the taxes collected from his "citizens" were something in the three percent range. I didn't have the experience or the reference to really comprehend the numbers I had been reading, but there were a lot of zeroes involved and they were always in tonnages. The impact taxes had on Robotnik's bottom line was absolutely negligible, especially when you considered the idea that the people would be collecting their "taxes" inefficiently compared to a badnik workforce.
'So why even bother with it all?'
Well there was an easy answer to that, ego. The human's pride could probably be seen from orbit if it took physical form. Yet such said ego could be confoundedly fragile or resilient at times. It was part of the reason I kept firm control of myself at all times when interacting with the man, one errant quip could potentially sign my death sentence at worst and assign me a deeply regrettable punishment detail at best. The ambiguity of it all did wonders for my self control. Of course the tradeoff for that was the immense anxiety I was experiencing with ever greater regularity.
'What does he do with the taxes though? Just mix it in with everything else?'
It was rare that I bemoaned my traditional mobian upbringing but considering my life was on the line I did so now. If only I had the sort of education one got in the cities or at least the larger communities closer to such places. With such learning I'd have a far easier time comprehending the immense statistical data I had no choice but to glance through. As it was I just had the titles of various statistical readouts and vaguely remembered numbers to go off of. I knew the taxes were incredibly small compared to Robotnik's other sources of raw material but where said taxes went? No clue.
'For all I know the man just collects them all in some big vault to stare at, taking in the fact it was given up out of desire to placate him.'
I didn't know why I was so hung up about this. The man probably recorded the use for the taxes and doubtlessly there would be some use. Things did not exist in Robotnik's Empire simply to sit and do nothing. Whether that was simply being combined into the greater collection of raw materials or used for vanity projects it would be recorded. There, it was one of those two answers.
'I'm probably not even exaggerating here. In some ways, Robotnik is incomprehensible, in others you can predict him a mile away.'
The mission assigned to me was simple as can be, gather "taxes" from a number of settlements in his territory. I didn't even really feel in danger. It was clearly nerves acting up over my first assignment. All I had to do was be firm and not fall for any excuses or sob stories.
… No matter how truthful they probably would be.
Would I be willing to bring whole towns to heel? My boot to their neck, gun to their family? It honestly was my own life on the line here. Would I be willing to risk it to do the right thing by perfect strangers?
I could only hope I wouldn't find out by the end of this.
Several hours of driving later found me bumping along far more unkempt roads.
The presence of a thickly grown pine forest should have been both family and comforting to my eyes. But the knowledge of where exactly this forest was kept the enjoyment of such sights to minimum. As it was I simply stared down along the wide dirt road, holding tightly onto Lady's antenna out of fear of being launched by an errant pothole.
I can't believe I forgot to add a seatbelt…
Our first stop was the collection point for many nearby human settlements, an open pit mine. There was going to be a month's worth of processed ore to pick up so chances were I was going to have to head back to the highway after this. I'd unload the cargo bots onto a train if one happened to be available or just switch them out for empty bots.
Before much longer I could see the path widen out into the vast deforested clearing made for the mine. At the center of this clearing was the structures built by local humans and a few of their mining machines.
The mine wasn't too terribly recent, that much was clear. Once churned up earth from the clear cutting had settled and was green with grass. There was plenty of sapling about though none beyond neck height of the average mobian. Working for Robotnik tends to inundate you with sights of reckless environmental devastation. Still the irritation I felt at so much forest being ripped up just to make a big hole in the ground bubbled up.
Clenching my hands tighter I accelerated towards the mine.
As we closed in I began to notice some more details. There was now a flurry of activity going on throughout the buildings in the mine, humans were running about and vehicles were rushing dangerously between sprinting figures. I slowed my approach somewhat and scratched at my ears in thought. I doubt anyone would ever be happy at the sight of Robotnik's robotic hordes but…
'They seem oddly panicked.' I mused. 'It's not like this isn't a regular thing that happens on a schedule. Isn't this one of the oldest held regions of the Eggman Empire? Why are they running about like headless chickens? Surely they'd be used to this by now.'
Maybe it was the fact I've nearly lost my life about half a dozen times already but my hackles were immediately up. Already I had thoughts that I was going into another dangerous situation running through my mind. But was it an actual worry or was I being paranoid?
This was deep in Empire territory, what guns would these people have? Maybe the odd hidden hunting rifle from before Robotnik took over but I doubted they'd pose much danger even against my armor. Weapons stolen from Robotnik? Of what possible kind? Every weapon a badnik used was built into them and didn't have conventional triggers.
'Maybe… maybe they are just short this time?' I tried to settle my worries with that thought. 'Guess I'll find out in a minute.'
A few minutes later we were entering the mining compound. Dump trucks seemed to be making last minute deliveries to machines that packed processed ores into large cargo containers. There was a mass of humans milling about the front of what was clearly the headquarters for the mining operation. All of them were wearing high visibility clothing and safety gear. A man in a white hardhat, differencing him from the others, paced in front of them. Likely he was their leader and I directed Lady to slow to a stop before him.
As I dismounted Lady I was able to hear the murmurs of the crowd through the noise of the nearby machines.
"The hell-"
"Why is a mobian-"
"Is Eggman conscripting people now?"
"Of course a fucking animal would take whatever scraps-"
"Wait, it's not a machine! Maybe we can negotiate this time…"
I scoffed at that one.
There was no possible way in hell I could give any kind of ground whatsoever. I wielded a certain amount of authority now certainly, but only in that Robotnik's edicts and commands were absolute and I was free to deal with anything that got in the way of that. Perhaps I could be clever in going about that. But It would mean potentially angering Robotnik though and risking my life for someone who would probably be killed anyway in spite of my hypothetical actions on their behalf.
Having said that… What face should I wear for this?
Just talking to them like this was a regular situation was out of the question. How I interacted with them now should be how I interact with the citizens of the Empire going forward. Should I try to project myself as the charming, gentler silk clad iron fist complementing Robotnik's unyielding tungsten one? On the opposite end of that, should I do away with all pretense? Be as unyielding in the fulfillment of my orders as Robotnik no doubt expects of me?
'Hmm… I don't think I have the face to pull off a convincing thuggish personality.' Also the temperament but my life was on the line here so… 'Right let's try something a bit on the genial side.'
"Good day! Are you the supervisor for this mine?" My tone was polite with only a hint of cheer, it wouldn't do to add too much friendliness as this very much wasn't a meeting of peers.
"Er, yes… Siiiiir?" The human said in an unsure tone.
"I am Reginald, Underboss to Doctor Robotnik." Despite the affability I was putting up it did little to truly put the human at ease. Likely to do with the swarms of badniks just overhead and Saffron closing to hover behind me if that telltale sound of boosters constantly flaring was any indication.
"O-oh… and what does that mean, sir?"
I was treated with the sight of a human being rather uncomfortable with the fact he was so much taller than me, trying to lower himself as subtly as he could and utterly failing to pull it off naturally. My spirits were buoyed by this and the faked geniality started to become rather genuine. I had no business getting an ego boost from this but it was hard not to, it was rather rare after all nowadays that a mobian was in a position of power over a human that they had no choice but to respect.
"Unless the Doctor says otherwise you are to take my words and actions as his." I answered readily. "Now, I am here to collect your dues to the Empire. I trust everything will proceed smoothly?"
"Yes, Underboss… but, well you see…"
Tilting my head I looked up at him with my eyes and withheld a sigh. Here it comes…
"Eggma- Err, Doctor Robotnik had raised the amount of ore he took as his dues since the last time." The man explained, wringing his hands in clear anxiety. "We were particularly industrious last time you see. So he decided that our dues did not reflect our output and made them higher. But last time our output was because we hit a really rich part of the ore vein and now our output has returned to the previous amount. The amount of ore we could send back home for our own uses was small enough as it is but with the new taxes…"
"You want me to lower your dues to the previous levels." I stated.
"Yes, sir… we- I hope… well…"
Maybe how impossible his request was had showed on my face a little because he suddenly got incredibly nervous. Well good on him for belatedly realizing he had stuck his foot in his mouth because like hell I was going to be doing him any favors, especially since it wouldn't be doing me any favors. I've said it before but it's important enough to repeat time and again, my life was on the line here.
I… suppose I could do something clever here. Perhaps I could take the time to record some hard numbers from the mine's current output and call in to argue taking the previous levels of taxes to account for drops in production. However there was the rather large risk that Robotnik would take this as me questioning his orders. It was hard to say as the man could be rather mercurial at times. At the very least this was a minor, mundane task he had given to me. Here I am at my very first stop and I'm already calling in because apparently I have a better idea of how to run his Empire?
No, not going to do that thank you very much! Especially since I am the one at the handle end of the gunpoint here.
"Doctor Robotnik will not be shorted of his dues." I stated firmly and his expression fell. Honestly it was a bit disappointing in some way, I had at least been expecting some anger but I guess such things were long since stamped out of people here in the Empire.
But… there was no need to be pointlessly cruel.
"I shall make a note of your lowered outputs." Turning I motioned to the convoy which spring into action and began the process of loading up the cargokillers. "If the Doctor deems it the correct course of action he shall lower your dues, unfortunately as he made no such action this time you'll have to bear with what ore you can keep."
"Right, of course." The supervisor nodded, his gaze averted. "Thank you for doing this for us, sir."
Wow, Robotnik really cowed these people. Looking over at the middling crowd I could only see a few angered expressions. Most were just confused and resigned. Thinking about it I could start to see some logic in demanding a tax of resources from people. The fact the taxed amount was so little compared to how much his other sources of material income were didn't matter. No, what mattered was keeping people down and incapable of building themselves up. If people only had enough basic resources to maintain what they had they couldn't grow beyond their means, making them dependent on Robotnik's generosity and mercy. If people only had enough for themselves they couldn't sneakily set aside surpluses for an insurrection.
A faint noise caught my attention through the sound of heavy machinery. Looking up I saw a flock of pigeons suddenly taking off from the roof of the garage for the mine's vehicles. The supervisor noted my gaze before taking a look himself.
"We have a bit of a bird problem." The man grumbled. "A whole flock of the flying rats are roosting up in the rafters. I've had to assign a man to scare them out pretty much every day. Then they come back every morning and shit all over everything."
I nodded at that, feeling rather uplifted at having someone voice mundane problems at me. Compared to being ordered to attack armed positions I'd take being the shoulder to complain on any day of the week.
'Shouldn't take the badniks long to fully load the cargokillers.' Watching badniks work could be rather mesmerizing at times, the way they synchronized perfectly to thread movements amongst themselves could be something of a dance at times. 'Once they're finished we'll head back to the highway and switch cargo badniks. Our next stop will be an isolated settlement.
Settlement M1993, from the name alone I could tell it was going to be a place made up of forcefully resettled people. At the very least this mine was the collection point of many local settlements and offered valuable raw materials as their taxes. What the hell did a singular settlement have that would be worth taxing?
'Well going back to the logic I thought up it would probably be something like whatever food they've been hunting or farming.' The thought had my stomach churning.
If these people were merely grumbling at not getting to have as much iron ore as they needed I could only imagine what the reaction would be to me taking food. You couldn't eat ore, so going without that would be a pain but livable. Taking away a surplus of your food however? Something that could potentially lead to people deciding who got to eat and who had to do without?
'I'm going to have to actually put my foot down at the next stop aren't I?'
That was going to suck but if they were anything like this lot it couldn't be that bad could it?
-TBC-
Author Note: Sorry about the long wait. I have a number of excuses both good and bad. I was playing Eggman SimulatorFactorio: Space Exploration for a while. Then Hogwarts Legacy came out and I had to try that out and I ended up finishing it in days. Then my computer's GPU decided to die for no reason even though it was the one that was sent in via warranty to replace another broken GPU.
I just have the worst luck with the 3090s for some reason. My 2080 Ti is like five years old now and still runs perfectly.