Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect and/or Sonic the Hedgehog.
Advance notice: This chapter contains the horror of... phonetically consistent English. When you get to those sentences, I advise you read out loud (or mouth it) to better understand what they're saying.
Chapter 2: There is a lot to unpack here…
Beneath the starry sky raining down Star Fragments, above the wet grass, among inactive machinery, twisted metal and pieces of the ones once living, Tails collapsed on his knees. The green lights of whatever system was still active in the vessel and the Star Fragments brought in here cast an unnatural glow to everything around him, of a quality Tails found familiar but not quite used to.
Around him the Koco gathered on his lap, and Tails felt a pang of gratefulness laced with guilt. For how long had they been struggling to keep him alive with what little means they had? Did they see the others here die or was it already too late when they found the crash site?
And here he had not even thought of checking up on the Koco once. Perhaps Amy did after all and he was wrong to think that she did not return to this place. He would not be surprised if that was actually the case, because Sonic was right, she was the kindest of them, always had their safety to the forefront of her mind even at the worst and most urgent of situations. Just like she did everything in her power to defend that one little Flickie back when the rest of them fought what they found out was a god, because to her the little picture was just as important as the big one.
He should better too.
"Thank you, everyone… I really couldn't have saved him without you."
"The pleasure is all ours!" "I'm so glad you came here Tails!" "We were really worried." "I was afraid he would…"
The voices leaped all over from his Miles Electric. They were really good people, the Koco. Reminded him of the Restoration in a way, a bunch of people just trying their best.
"I'm going to put him in one of the rescue pods, to get him to a doctor. The Egg Carton is equipped with those. I'm going to have to haul the ship too… What are you going to do?"
The Koco anxiously looked around. Right. The dead. He could not leave them here. Undoubtedly this alien would want to know what happened when he woke up.
"I'll… put them in the rescue pods too. Is that alright?"
Various affirmations came from the Koco, appropriately somber. They knew loss better than anyone on Earth, probably.
Tails got up. The floating ruins cast light and shadow on the sleek rock formations and the rich grass. The seagulls' cries echoed from the distance, a somewhat different sound from the one Tails was used to. In the distance, he could make out a SQUID flying in front of the moon, its "tail" leaving a long glowing purple trail towards the ARK. One of the many eternal guardians of this place, protecting something that was no longer there. It was such a beautiful, lonely sight.
Tails suddenly felt very, very tired, and it had little to do with the multi-hour flight.
Once again, they failed to catch someone from falling on time. Just… how many people were here? Tails could not bring himself to count them, even now that he was able to save this last alien. Just that last alien.
Some of those people who fell had only be rescued by miracles.
Tails was tired of counting on miracles.
"I will come back."
He looked up at the ARK.
"I won't run away anymore!"
With fists clenched, he leaped back to the controls to activate the rescue pods.
He had a multi-hour flight and a few calls to make.
Bright light, again, coming through closed eyelids – this one clearly mechanical, He could hear a machine making a steady beeping sound, at a rhythm he recognized as a heartbeat – his own, most likely. Something really thin, made of plastic, covered his mouth and nostrils, with fabric straps around his head – it smelled sterile. He could feel a needle in his left arm, secured with bandages, carefully placed so the needle would cause no pain or additional injury. He felt so, so tired, his very bones here in pain, and the rest of his body felt like it had been turned into paste.
With the pain came a sense of relief. He was alive. He was in a medical ward, most likely. He would be fine.
Wait… how?
"Yur sur abaut this?"
"Absolutli. Saiberspeis kanot aktiveit withaut the kaos emeralds. Atherwaiz it steiz on standbai mod. Bat nau it waz aktiv! At list uan of them HAS tu bi on starfol ailands."
All the relief vanished in an instant. He had no idea what was just said.
Vilmis was STG. More importantly, he was a communications officer. He knew all standard languages used in the Citadel just in case the communications were encrypted or his omnitool was disabled for whatever reason.
This was not a language he recognized, nor voices he recognized. Not even the quality was familiar. One of them sounded like a less raspy Drell or what male Quarians probably sounded like without masks, as it was significantly deeper than the typical Salarian voice, and lacked the dual quality of the Turians and Batarians or the bizarre rhythm of the Volus; not to mention a Volus would also sound mechanical due to their suits. And the other one sounded ridiculously young! That was the voice he would expect on a three year old Salarian!
He also noticed that even though he was laying down on a bed, the voices sounded particularly low. Was the bed very high, were the speakers sitting, or were they very short?
He was in a medical facility belonging to what so far appeared to be a pre first contact alien race.
This was the extent of information he could obtain by listening to them. He had to wait for them to leave the room. It would best if they did not know he was awake. Going back to the last of him memories, he…
By the wheel…How many had died? The crimson barrier, Anhur, the two satellites, the fading coughs of his fellow crewmates… There was a bizarre colourful glow in the dark at one point, had he dreamed that?
It was through pure training that he suppressed his outward reaction.
Someone had found him, obviously. He was not laying on the ground for one; his armor had been removed and he was in a bed.
The sound of the monitor stuttered, but he did not stir.
"Wi suld probabli let him rest. So… wat ar wi goin tu du abaut him? Suld wi tel sonik?"
"Not yet. Ai dont wont that feiker jamping tu konkluzons."
"Hiz going tu faind aut eventualy. And ar yu going tu report this tu gan?"
"Finis the transleitor en disern his intentions first. Wil si if hiz e thret or not. Aim going tu pik ap ruz from the mol."
The younger voice let a tired sigh. "Ai hop si dident rob evriuan blaind…"
Two steps of footsteps – no sound of chairs moving or indication of furniture be affected by the movement, which meant that either the bed was tall of they were very short. The lights lowered, and the door opened and closed.
He was essentially a prisoner, but…
The bed was too comfortable for a prisoner. He heard no sound of a lock engaging, and he could not hear anyone in this room… Though there was a distant bustle and hustle coming from a bit further. Was this a hospital? Why did they not at least try to restrain the obvious alien who came here through mysterious means? Did they not think he was a danger now that he was unconscious and unarmed or were they that good-willing?
Vilmis had never been in a first contact scenario before, but based on his history lessons they usually involved far more bullets.
And didn't I have broken bones…? Nothing feels broken…
Well, it was now or never. He had to obtain more information. He opened his eyes and with severe difficulty – broken bones or not he was tired – he managed to turn to his side.
Something big, in black, red, and yellow was right at the corner. With two glowing lights. Where… a head would be. The eyes, to be precise.
Vilmis blinked.
"Du yu cam in pees?"
Vilmis blinked again. A voice came out from the something. The very metal something. That he could now see had the general build and body-plan of a somewhat small Krogan. The voice was even toned and mechanical.
"Pliz sei no."
…He was so fucked.
Running.
The light thump of his footsteps, the soft grass that cushioned his step, the dry weeds that crinkled beneath, the rocks and sticks that made his shift his balance just a tiny bit, the tinny pebbles that almost pierced through his shoes. The wind that entered through the holes and cooled his feet, that glided over his fur or pierced right through to chill him to the bone, that danced through his quills carrying tiny leaves and feathers and the seeds of who knew how many flowers, either to carry them away or to entangle them and leave him carrying a tiny piece of the forest within him. The burn was good, he could hear his heart thumping in his ears, steady, strong and fast, like the beat of a hummingbird, almost drowning away the wind, the very wind that filled his lungs so full, so many scents from so far away, the salt of the ocean greeting him from somewhere in the distance, the echo of a seagull's cry.
The world went by in a blur, nothing but pure colour, like a painting, blues and grey and greens and so many tiny splashes of colour that came and went like droplets hit by the sunlight, reds and pinks and yellows and so so many shades.
He leaped and for a moment time ceased to exist. The wind carried him and he let it take him along, laughing as even gravity itself would not shackle him to the ground.
But he had to land eventually, and his landing echoes far and wide.
Exhale.
A moment.
And then he was motion.
Inhale.
A cloud of dust was the only thing that betrayed his presence. He was gone, like an echo.
He twisted through the bushes and the tress, millimeters from scraping them alone, the aroma from the berries and the bark barely reaching his nostrils, the birds not interrupting their song, a thousand different melodies coming and fading quickly, just like the shadows of the leaves became a cloud above. Most animals would scramble away, others tried to keep up for a few breaths before they were left behind.
He broke through the covering of the forest and ran along the river, on the river, fast enough that the soles of his shoes barely got wet, the sun casting a golden road beneath his feet.
At moments like these, he felt like he was one last push from catching it.
One last push, eh?
He pushed. The wind broke. And all sound but his heartbeat faded away.
Sonic loved running.
A blue flash in the distance, brighter than the sky. He knew that colour – a colour mostly seen in screens and machines but there was nothing mechanical about it-
Sonic slowed his pace just so. He knew the other could keep up.
"Yo, Silver! What brings you here?"
The silver-furred hedgehog was a streak of blue and white as he took a turn, flying like a bird before lowering himself to Sonic's level.
Man, Silver was not usually in racing mood, but who was Sonic to say- wait.
Something was not right.
Silver was not matching his path for a race. He was turning to face him. To talk.
Shit.
Sonic got off the surface of the river and back on land, before slowing down. A few seconds later, Silver was on his knees before him, panting heavily. He did not look hurt, and Sonic could not smell any fire on him, but he looked… beyond spooked.
"Hey, what's up Silver? You look real freaked out there."
"Everything…" His breath was too short. His eyes were blown wide. The bad feeling became really bad.
"Silver? What happened?"
"Everything's… the ground… it turned to glass!"
For the second night in a row Captain Kelir Rogs was unable to sleep.
He sent the reports containing the updates on Operation MIRAGE to his higher-ups, as was protocol. As well as his urging to find alternative methods to obtain more data. Perhaps use more drones, try and force them through that strange barrier – perhaps it would alert whoever or whatever group did… that, but he reasoned that with all the ships try to make their way through they would be alerted enough already. At least they could obtain more images with brute force as opposed to losing more agents to it.
As a Salarian, Captain Kelir did not need nearly as much sleep as other races – not that this meant much when everyone around you was a Salarian – but it meant that insomnia did not really have as much of a negative impact as it did with other species.
Normally. Because just like with the whole "Salarians don't take long to process their emotions" thing, this too felt like a damn lie. He was feeling slightly dizzy from the lack of sleep.
He had lost agents under his command before. Feeling helpless was new. This situation was now completely out of his hands – sending a search party was not an option, and it was up to the higher-ups to figure out what their next move would be. As one of the higher-ranking officers in Operation MIRAGE, he would soon be informed, but while he was able to question the decision and offer his own advice – they were no Turians – eventually there were minds more qualified than his own mapping out the steps.
As he was making his tea, trying to get his nerves back into places, he was not surprised to hear his omnitool reveal an obscured caller ID. He knew who it was. Or rather, where it was from. He opened it.
"You are to report in person at the Citadel office at the earliest time possible."
Captain Kelir replayed the message, just to make sure he heard that right.
He was to report where?
Normally, he would be certain they would have reached a decision, but these were… extremely unusual circumstances. Aside from the drone suggestion he could not think of anything they could-
They were going to inform the Council. And the Batarians.
They would have to openly admit that they were spying on Batarian space and meddled in their internal affairs because someone or something stole a planet and turned in invisible and a beacon of light pollution at once.
And they were supposed to figure out what to do about this, because openly admitting to such a thing – as in, spying in the territory of other Citadel member races – was unthinkable, unless…
Unless whatever solution they came up with would have extremely severe consequences. The kind they could not hide afterwards.
He was not going to like this.
He scalded his tongue on his tea for yet another time in the last few days and set to soak some water in and get dressed. The trip and preparations would take around four days, he could not afford to waste time.
Vilmis was in the worst stand-still of his life. No question. He never had a worse "face your enemy" moment than this and he was pretty sure there would not be another one in the future and that all the efforts of his so-called-rescuers would go to waste because there was an battle mech built like a KROGAN standing right in front of him. With its gun pointed at him. It did not even hand a proper hand, just guns with a truly excessive amount of barrels. What kind of gun needs that many barrels? It had one per finger, and it had five fingers which was unusual but right now that just meant he would die faster. Actually now that he took a closer look that thing was not build like a Krogan at all, its arms and hands are far too big and the knee joints bared superficial resemblance to the Asari more than anything. How did that affect its speed? Did that even matter in such a tiny room?
And he still could not understand a word.
Why was a battle mech in this room?
Suddenly, a slow, horrible thought descended upon him.
"Um… hello?"
Yes, this was extremely against protocol but he was in alone in a hospital room against a battle mech, unarmed.
"Respons sims tu bee non hostail. Seim."
...Damn it. Without understanding the language I can't understand if this is a pre-programmed response or not. Because if his suspicions were correct and this mech really was an AI…
"Thi alien iz aweik. It canot anderstand as. It olso apirs tu bi veri wari."
What…?
The robot seemed to wait for a moment? Had it called someone?
A few moments later, the door opened and the lights turned on, revealing three people entering the room.
His first thought, completely ill-fitting of the situation, was wow, they're VERY short.
In fact, all three of them were barely over one meter tall, maybe even shorter, which would put them at the same approximate height with the Volus. Normally sentient races in similar gravity and atmospheric conditions developed similar average heights, so this species being so short in conditions that felt normal to Vilmis was highly unusual. A biologist would have to look into that.
His second thought was good, they're all organics, which was an odd thing to think after mentally making a height analysis but clearly his brain was still not processing information properly.
The next… Hold on…
"Different species…?"
One of them, the one who resembled an Asari the most – and the only one fully dressed – had wings, but the other two… one had two tails almost as tall as they, he?, was tall, but the other's tail was practically non-existent – though he had very prominent thorns – quills, if he remembered the correct term – covering the back of their head. And those were far from the only individual features standing out; fur distribution, ear shape, eye orientation – were the black one's eyes conjoint? – were all different.
"Ai si hiz ap…" said the black one. He recognized the voice from before, it was the older one from when he was pretending to be unconscious.
Their eyes were bright red. They appeared to be taking in every single detail, assessing him. Somehow Vilmis had a feeling that they were not very impressed with him. Vilmis would be more offended that a pre-contact first alien barely more than half his height did not find him a threat if he was not in a severe disadvantage right now.
"Hi dazent apir tu anderstand as…" Those were the same words the mech had used just now… What were they talking about?
The mech scoffed. The alarm bells that screamed "this is an AI" became a hundred times louder.
The winged one also examined him, in a very different light. "Wel wuld u luk at that. Hi luks laik hi keim tu stil aur katl." Alright, that voice was definitely female. So the other two were most likely male.
"Ruz!" yelled the yellow one, and shit, they really did sound like a child. How old were they!?
She said something offensive, didn't she. The lady was not very impressed with him either.
Wait, that outfit… that drew all the attention in the chest area… Great, she's like THOSE Asari. Why was she here?
Oh, right. AI in a battle mech. He should assume none of these people were law-abiding citizens. Which made the fact that he was in what appeared to be a legitimate medical facility even weirder.
The black one turned to the child. "Hau iz that transleitor going?"
It was only now that Vilmis noticed the child holding a bright yellow device shaped like a rectangle with rounded corners, and a few antennas. It actually looks like an extremely old handheld game console. It made him… concerned for the level of technology on this planet.
Especially with… those satellites…
Wait, was that logo shaped like the child's tails? Why would they add something themed after a body part on their device?
"Its stil kaind of raf ai think, bat wi suld giv it e trai."
The child pressed a few buttons and tapped the screen a few times, then approached him with the device.
"Helo! Du yu anderstand mi?"
A second later the same voice came out of the device.
"Hello! Do you understand me?"
Oh. Oh.
"By the wheel, you're a genius."
His own voice came back from the device, repeating the sentence in the same language he had been hearing so far.
The child beamed.
"Thank you! I'm Miles Prower, but you can call me Tails!"
He offered his right hand, holding the device with his left. Vilmis stared at it. Was this… a greeting?
With hesitation, and a small nod from the winged woman, he took hold of it. "I'm Padmin Vilmis."
"Nice to meet you!"
A few minutes later Vilmis found himself in what was a very bustling cafeteria. Miles, who he now knew was a boy, and yes he was indeed as young as he suspected, had been talking almost non-stop about this place called "the Restoration" – almost, because the translation program he made had many hilarious hang ups. Like the translator first calling the Restoration "refurbishing" of the food court "edible judgement hall". Apparently their language became very weird at points.
Vilmis tried to appear relaxed, especially since nobody seemed to want to attack him for now. Sure, he attracted a lot of stares as would be expected if an alien suddenly showed up, but the people here seemed oddly… unbothered. They would barely have a double take and then see who was walking with him and return to their business.
It was bizarre.
Then again…
Vilmis' earlier hypothesis about the presence of multiple species had been proven true. The majority of species were like the three that accompanied him, short, covered in either fur or "feathers" – a word he had never heard before – with the males wearing only clothes or shoes and the females being fully dressed. It was most likely a cultural thing. There was also a significantly smaller amount of a different species that was nearly identical to the Asari in terms of height and body structure; their females at least. The males were quite different especially on the hips and torso. They only had fur covering their heads and maybe faint hints in their faces and limbs, and unlike the rest both males and females were fully dressed. Probably came with not having fur for protection against the environment, but it made him wonder why the furred females really had to wear clothes. Vanity?
The presence of multiple sentient species native to a single homeworld was near unheard of. The closest he could think of were their own Lystheni, but this was far more extreme. Perhaps some of the species were of alien origin? Or something completely different? Or maybe he was unreasonably paranoid about this. He was no biologist.
Another reason he could not truly relax was his entourage.
The AI was obvious. His initial impression of "Krogan" had not been proven wrong so far; from the first moment it became obvious it was just itching for something to shoot, and it was probably only its programming that held it back. Ironically, Vilmis found the presence of the AI to be the most comforting thing here; it was something he could make sense out of. If this was a planet that had no issue with the usage of AIs, then placing a mech next to an alien prisoner they knew nothing about, had arrived through suspect means and could be incredibly dangerous was the reasonable response.
Miles Prower was another enigma – his genius was obvious, if the fact he managed to put together a mostly functional translator in what he was told was a day or so was any indication. However, he was insanely young (not that he knew what the lifespan for his species was yet, and there was a whole lot of variation between the different species here), and other than the other two in the group he appeared to be under no supervision whatsoever; at the very least, absolutely nobody questioned his presence. Not to mention the fact that he was allowed to be near an alien. The whole situation of just… letting him walk around the base full of civilians was one thing, but most of said civilians sounded like they were in the mid and late stages of puberty or were adults. Miles was clearly a child, yet he almost seemed to have… authority in this place. It was alarming.
The winged woman was more suspect the longer Vilmis was around her. Between the blatantly distracting outfit the style of which was typically seen among Asari Commandos and dancers, the overall sultry tone, the warnings directed towards her to "behave" or the occasional snide remarks from her companions, and some bystanders checking their purses and pockets when they spotted her, she sounded at best like a mercenary – more like a criminal on a leash. A very loose lease. And yet there was something that Vilmis knew he was missing. If Laran or Birs were alive they would be able to figure her out – but for now he would have to endure her constant stare that felt like she was picking him piece by piece.
And speaking of terrifying stares, Shadow had one of the worst he had ever seen. For starters, "Shadow" sounded like a code name instead of something one would name their child, and his overall appearance made him stand out. Sure, everyone here had bright and bold fur colours, but this guy… something was off. The pattern was different. And those glowing red eyes appeared to be calculating his exact body stance at all times. It was almost paralyzing. With the stiff stance and intense gaze he was reminiscent of Turian military, especially how he only uncrossed his arms when walking. There was something stiff yet horrifyingly smooth about him that was not normal. Not to mention how standing too close to him made his skin itch, quite literally. At first he thought it was static electricity, but the longer it went on the more Vilmis was doubting it.
It was incredibly obvious, he knew, but Vilmis stayed two steps further away from him than was necessary, just in case. He seriously doubted he would be able to escape if he ran, but if he stayed close he would probably vibrate out of his membranes.
And finally, there was how they told him nothing.
He did not know who found him. How they found him. Where. How was he brought here. What happened to the Letos, to the rest of the crew. He had yet to see his omnitool, weapons or armor – he was wearing a set of clothes he was given along with what appeared to be a hastily made specialized pair of shoes that while soft were unusual on his feet. He could only speculate that Miles made the translator based off his omnitool translation programs, but this would mean he hacked the omnitool.
Vilmis knew nothing. And for all he knew, those people knew everything.
This overall friendliness was little more than a façade. Or maybe it was genuine, which was a significantly more horrifying thought – that they were actually good people or that they were that certain that he was of no threat to them.
Was this what facing the STG felt like? No wonder most of the galaxy thought they were plotting something.
Miles had assured him that he could eat whatever was on the cafeteria, he checked – they also took DNA samples, he was sure of it – so he should just fill his stomach and regain his strength for now. A Levo species then – expected.
Miles' translator could not quite handle text yet, so instead he opted to basically describe to him what each item on the menu was. Vilmis asked for a "safe" option, so he ended up with a sandwich – which turned out to be bread with slices of a variety of vegetables and some thin slices of meat – and tea from a plant local to this place.
It was not bad, the tea especially resembled some Asari and Elcor ones, but it would definitely need getting used to.
Meanwhile Rouge had ordered something decorated enough to be desert, while Miles ordered himself a warm drink that smelled really sweet, and Shadow had briefly gotten into an argument with the waitress before being given… a cup full of brown beans and a spoon? Vilmis had the distinct feeling that he was witnessing a crime.
"So…" started Vilmis. "Why have you brought me here?"
They all exchanged glances, the semi-pleasant mood from earlier dropped.
Shadow turned to him. "We detected your ship entering the atmosphere and calculated the location of the crash site. I asked Tails to find it."
Finally.
"Why send Miles? Alone by the sound of it?"
"Because I'm the only one who's been on Starfall Islands before." The young alien looked at him straight in the eye, and while he was not quite as intense as Shadow, Vilmis felt like he misstepped somehow. "Starfall Islands are very special. If anyone who isn't recognized by their systems tries to enter the islands, bad things happen. We don't know how you showed up over Earth, but if you tried to land in Starfall Islands, the barrier would have hacked and destabilized all of your systems the second you made contact with the airspace."
A barrier?
He expected the image to reappear in his mind; the dark red and pink glitches and hexagons just as everything went wrong.
Why had a child travelled to an island with a barrier that apparently tried to kill intruders?
"So the Letos crashed."
The determined stare in Miles' eyes faded in regret. "I'm sorry… I found it in pieces. I managed to bring everything, and everyone, back here at the base, but… I don't think I can fully restore it yet."
"Wait- everyone?" No. "They did not survive the crash, did they." It was easy to tell. He remembered the others breathing their last.
"I'm sorry… When I got there the Koco told me you had been unconscious when they found you."
"It's… alright. I'm surprised I'm alive." Damn, the child looked devastated. Everyone's first time seeing the dead was like that, but from the sound of it he had to handle the cleanup on his own.
Wait. "Who are the Koco?"
Miles brought up a new image on his device. Vilmis stared. It was tiny and round and had holes for eyes and mouth. It was also made of stone. "That's a toy."
"It's a… long story. But they patched you up as much as they could."
"I see."
He still had basically no answers. He still knew next to nothing about what this "Restoration" was or anything about this planet and the people accompanying him, or how he had even been healed from what he was certain was several broken bones and smashed cartilage. And this was just the most recent of the long list of questions that sprung in the scant few hours he had been awake on this planet. But at least he now knew what happened to the Letos.
Pressing for more information was risky at this stage. However…
"I want to see them."
Rouge raised a brow. "Are you sure you want to see them on a full stomach?"
Huh? "What do you mean?" Did they have some kind of reflex?
They briefly looked at each other again before shrugging. Their expressions and body language was eerily similar to that of the Asari, with a few more Drell and Turian-leaning hints, and something that was unique to this place, as far as he could tell. It made it easy to read their current mood, but he had to be careful or he could be thrown off at any moment.
"Let's finish up here" said Shadow.
Vilmis took another bite from his sandwich.
One step at the time. He had to tread carefully.
Sonic checked the skin on the freshly caught fish he just caught right from the very river he was running on the surface of a couple of hours ago. Silver was listlessly poking on some of the river's pebbles with a stick, idly doodling without actually having anything in mind.
Nothing than whatever news he just came to tell Sonic.
In reality, for all that Sonic was playing relaxed, alarm bells were still ringing in his head. Silver showing up pissed off or in a panic was never good news. Ever. Sonic remembered all too well what happened the previous times.
Eventually deeming the fish good enough, Sonic handed one of them to Silver. "Careful, that's a little-"
He spat the piece right out, a startled and even slightly offended look on his face.
"…hot. At least the heat knocked you out of your funk!"
"Yes… thanks for that."
Sonic leaned back against a large rock. He made sure he lit his impromptu campfire in a place where the wind would not take any spare embers to the plants nearby, but that meant the seating was a little uncomfortable. Silver had no issue with nor the heat or the stone hard seating – he was used to it.
"So…" Better rip the bandage quick. "What do you mean by "turned to glass"? As in, transformed or…"
"Intense heat."
Sonic opened his mouth but Silver frantically waved him off. "Not that kind, not that kind! I think. Nothing's on fire!"
"Oof. Well, then what kind? You wouldn't be that freaked out over some new weird future décor fad."
"The ground was… onyx for the most part. Obsidian."
"What, the volcanic glass? You sure nothing was on fire?"
Silver nodded. "Yes. I couldn't smell any sulfur so I know it's not volcanic, and I didn't find burned ruins or anything. Besides, normal fires aren't that hot. The weird thing is… I couldn't find anything."
Well that's not ominous at all.
"What, no sign of who the bad guy is? There's no way that happened naturally."
"You're right, I don't think it's natural. But I don't just mean "bad guys". I couldn't find any ruins, or plants, or just… life. It's like it had never been inhabited. And trust me, I looked."
Even with all the things Sonic had seen, this was new. "Doesn't sound like our good ol' Egghead."
Silver shrunk into himself. "I didn't look everywhere, but as far as I could tell…"
"Hey, no blaming yourself here."
Sonic got up, spun the fish around to cool it (he knew what happened when he shook roasted food – it usually ended up flung to the distance) and took a large bite, ignoring the tiny thorns. "If you say there's a problem, there's a problem. And we're going to fix it like we always do."
Silver grinned. "Yeah! You're right! Let's get to the Restoration, we must tell the others!"
"And check up on your veggie garden while you're at it."
Silver "glared" at him. "I swear if I have to spend a whole day de-weeding it again…"
"You're telling me? You know I'm no gardener. Anyway, race ya."
"WAIT SONIC-"
Anyone watching would have only seen two streaks of blue.
After a few minutes of walking through increasingly emptier corridors, Vilmis came to the slow realization that the bodies of his fellow agents were not placed in a morgue. It probably came to him when instead of going back to the medical ward, they instead headed towards what appeared to be the food warehouse. Did hospitals in this world not have morgues, or were accidents and crime in this location so rare than no investigations of mysterious deaths was required?
Or most likely, the morgue can't fit such a large number of corpses.
He still had not been told what the "Restoration" was, only that he was currently in their headquarters. He had yet to be introduced to whoever was in charge of this place, even though Miles made it sound like this Shadow was in charge of the rescue mission. Yet on the other hand it was Miles that the various members of the Restoration greeted, all but confirming his suspicion that despite his youth, Miles had some form of authority here – more so than his current companions, at any rate. Even the name was incredibly generic. It gave absolutely no indication of any form of allegiance, and it was definitely not a brand or company name of any kind. And most importantly, restoration of what exactly?
From what little Vilmis had seen so far, the Restoration appeared to be a large underground town with extremely advanced facilities. Not as advanced as anywhere on the galaxy, no. But the spaces were absolutely massive, well-lit, left plenty of natural sunlight in, there was a lot of vegetation, and it hosted facilities like the hospital, a shopping mall, and what he could only guess were residential areas. This place had not been designed as a base, but rather as a permanent place of residence that was interconnected to a degree that he had simply not seen outside of a space station. It was the underground equivalent of a space colony, made to mimic the surface conditions as much as possible.
Which brought him to the members – and very likely residents – of this place.
So far his previous estimation of everyone's age – mid-puberty to adulthood appeared to be accurate, though he would not be surprised if there were children or elderly here. Many people just seemed to be living normal lives, like the staff at the café or the other customers, like the shoppers who were side-eying him before going back to their business.
If Vilmis had not been told this was supposed to be an organization's headquarters, he would have thought that this was simply how people built their cities on this planet. Which made the double function of urban area and HQ even more curious, and they brought him to this place because they did not want an alien in one of their actual bases.
Vilmis had to admit that their insidiousness was a stroke of brilliance; they kept the prisoner in a location full of civilians, where he would not dare to hurt anyone if he was friendly, and would get instantly killed by the AI if he was not.
Either way, it would have made a massive scene.
In fact, he had already made a scene. Or rather, he was supposed to make a scene. Were most species here alien or something?
Why was Miles the only person with authority he had spoken to so far? Why was Miles a figure of authority in the first place?
They passed through the massive warehouse which contained far more supplies than he thought this place needed, and the workers – most of them fully dressed in protective gear regardless of species and gender – made way when they saw them coming.
He caught a few horrified glances. Pitying. Somebody took off their hard hat in what was obviously a gesture unique to this planet.
They know. They saw Miles bring in the bodies.
It brought all thoughts of investigation to a grinding halt.
They stood before an, even by his own standards, large door made of thick metal. It featured two handles in different heights, one around Vilmis' elbow height and the other significantly lower, a little over his knee. Large handles, but neither too heavy or complex. There was a probably a mechanism to let the shorter workers retrieve the contents.
An industrial fridge.
Shadow was assessing him again, before bowing his head. It only lasted for a moment before he grabbed the handle and opened the door with surprising ease.
Vilmis was met with hanging meat of varying types; on one side many that were obviously of fish, on the other side obviously quadrupedal terrestrial animals, skinned and shoved right before their faces. He noted the red blood, like the Batarians and the Quarians. The others ducked beneath them, aided by their short height, while Omega opted to stay outside. Vilmis briefly debated weaving through them before deciding to follow the lead of his entourage and crouch as much as he could. He was not eager to get covered with blood again, regardless of its colour.
The fridge was massive. Of course it was, when taking the size of the warehouse into account. The people here had fur and gear protecting them, but here Vilmis only had his metabolism to rely on, and even though he was not warm-blooded it was not the best of protections. He did not voice this though. It was too late to go back and request an extra layer.
Even so, the slow crawl seemed to last forever. The meats were tucked together so closely, this was terrible hygiene-
The reason struck him the second he made eye contact with it.
A large curtain, haphazardly hang in the middle of the fridge, to prevent contact between what was behind it and the products.
Shadow slowly lifted it, careful not to drop it from its makeshift cord.
Before Vilmis, absolutely cramped, were countless metal beds and benches, moved here from who knew were and stacked or shoved into every corner that could fit them.
And beneath white sheets, he could make out the shapes of his crewmates.
"Hey, guys!"
"Oh, hello Sonic! Tails is in the warehouse, with a new… visitor."
"Sounds interesting…"
They all stood still, the only sound the machinery powering the fridge.
Miles shoved his device in Shadow's hands and dashed out, gone before in the span of a blink. It shattered the stasis.
They were dead. All of them. He was the only one left.
For all their expertise in stealth and espionage, loses were not a strange thing in the STG. He had seen a number of his fellow soldiers being moved around after a while, units left too thing to stand on their own after high-risk operations.
But this… this…
Vilmis had never been in this situation before.
He run the symbol with his fingers, to the wheel of life and the next. The proper way was to touch it upon the forehead, but the crew was a small frigate. It was just so many…
Rouge slowly slipped out, something he only noticed when he turned and the corner of his eye took in the sudden absence of pink. Shadow remained vigil, stone-still and looking like a statue, arms held to his sides with the fists clenched, those horrible eyes far too bright in the cramped space of the mildly lit fridge.
In the back he could make out Miles' voice and someone unknown, male, too far for the device in Shadow's hands to translate the conversation or to really pick up the tone.
His fingers had actually grown cold now, and he was so glad they thought to cover everyone with sheets. Not all bodies were shaped as they should be, and it was a different thing to be told and to actually see it.
He was alone here. In a place he knew nothing about surrounded by an AI – one of many undoubtedly – and people that were nothing but mysteries, even his omnitool taken from him, in a place he knew nothing about. Surrounded by people who had him cornered in every possible way, his body altered – healed – in a degree that should be impossible by a literal child, he could not move in any meaningful way at all. There were those moons above mocking as if a hallucination and here he was only given scraps of answers by this child who shoved his crewmates in a warehouse fridge – a child that had beyond a shadow of doubt hacked his omnitool and now controlled his only means of communicating with anyone, before handing it to… Shadow, who still stood still as a statue, making his skin crawl, piercing him with that glowing glare, had he even blinked the entire time they were here?
Vilmis took a deep, measured breath. He finished the prayer, then saluted them. Somehow he could feel Shadow looking at his direction, he could feel it the entire time actually, and now he felt it getting sharper the moment he saluted.
He figured I'm in the military he noted in an idle corner of his mind.
He returned the glare with one on his own.
"You said you were the one who sent him to retrieve me."
"I did."
Why. Wouldn't he. Blink. "Why him?"
"As I said, he was the only one who had been on Starfall Islands before. Do you have a problem with that?"
"A problem? Yes, several actually."
The growl that followed was almost animalistic. "Like saving your life is a "problem"?"
There was no way Vilmis would get an actual answer out of… whoever and whatever Shadow was.
The voices came again from the outside, Miles included. Shadow's ear twitched, the first sign of movement other than his mouth in a while.
"I think I'll tell him myself."
Shadow somehow glared harder, before moving from his position, translator in hand. "Be my guest."
Some part of Vilmis marked this as alarming.
But he had words to say.
He marched out of the warehouse fridge, this time paying much less mind to the hanging produce. Shadow matched him step for step.
Here was Miles, along with Rouge and two other furred males he did not see earlier, one a shocking blue and the other a light grey. Vilmis briefly catalogued their ears, tails and quills that closely matched Shadow's own as far as species designation went. Omega was still standing guard in the corner, but Vilmis paid it no mind.
Normally turning his back on an AI would be completely unthinkable, but right now Vilmis did not find him in himself to particularly care.
Everyone turned to him as he exited, but he did not take stock of their reactions.
"Oh, you're here Vilmis…" Miles' voice sounded a little ill.
"Say, Miles…"
"…Yes…?"
"You mentioned you were the one to retrieve my ship and my crewmates…"
The blue one shifted.
Miles looked at him with mild confusion, before stiffening. "…Yes. I did."
Vilmis could no longer hold back.
"Do your parents know you're dragging alien corpses around?"
You could hear a pin drop.
It took Miles a full breath to process what he heard. He recoiled.
"I'll take that-"
"Hey."
The "hey" was as sharp as the knife you could cut the tension with. Vilmis stared down to the blue furred stranger, with bright green eyes and a grin full of teeth, a hint of fangs peeking through. A stance open and casual, a hand on his hip.
"You didn't introduce yourself. Let me go first. Name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."
He's dangerous.
Not like Shadow, not quite, for even though there was none of the unnatural stiffness his eyes still pierced through, there was still a faint hint of static, nothing like Shadow but present nonetheless, and he was bright, the colours an assault to the senses. That was all he was able to process before he followed up with his introduction.
"I would say nice to meet you, but… it looks like you got some problem with my little bro here."
Sonic was pissed.
When the guys at the entrance said Tails had a visitor, he did not expect them to tell him it was an alien he picked up from a nasty crash. They did not want to talk about it but Sonic could read people well enough. The crash ended badly.
He wished Tails had at least requested some backup, even if he did not call him specifically. However, Sonic was according to many the epitome of recklessness and planning in advance never came naturally to him, so he could not exactly point fingers at Tails on this one. And besides, he knew why Shadow went to Tails instead of Sonic; even if Sonic could drag a whole ass ship and its whole crew from Starfall Islands, which he did not because he only really knew how to pilot the Tornado, Shadow would only ever approach Sonic if the world was ending again.
If Silver's warning was any indication, the world was ending again.
It was no big leap in logic to assume the alien's dynamic entry had something to do with that. The guy – or gall or neither, whatever – probably had the crappy day to end all crappy days.
He found Tails out of the warehouse fridge heaving.
Tails really should have brought backup. But Sonic did not tell him that. It would have made no difference, and they both knew it. No, Tails was blaming himself for being too slow.
"You went as fast as you could, little bro. You got there just in time. Next time you'll be faster."
"YOU ACTED WITH MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY" said Omega, which was as close to comfort as could come out of the E-Series robot.
Silver just told him he knew what that felt like, that he felt like he was always late for the most important things, and Rouge walked out right then and teased him for somehow managing to be late at stuff when he was a time traveler, like Amy's birthday party. Her attempt at taking some of the tension away worked, as Tails cracked a thin smile at that bit.
Then the alien walked out. The first impression was "wow, he looks like he's come to rob the farmhands blind".
The second impression was the bad vibe he was getting from the dude.
Which was proven correct immediately afterwards when he spat that question.
To his credit, the alien seemed to realize he had screwed up big time. He worked his jaw, but Sonic kept grinning at him.
Come on. Just try. I'm already in a bad mood.
He said nothing.
The salamander-looking alien swallowed back whatever he was going to say and settled for glaring.
That's what I thought.
For real though, Mr. Cattle Thief skipped the first stage of grief right into anger, huh. Or maybe it worked different for aliens, Sonic was no expert. Perhaps he went through the denial phase while he was still stranded on Starfall for all he knew.
That matter settled, Sonic turned to the others.
"So, Silv here has some pretty big news, so how about we all gather up at Jewel's office? Patch in Amy too."
The tension came back, but it was the familiar kind, for all that it was laced with weariness. Another big fight coming. When? Who knew. Could be now, could be tomorrow, could be in ten years or fifty.
Sonic was willing to bet next month's supply of chilli dogs that it was coming real soon.
"Omega" said Shadow. "Take Vilmis back to the hospital room."
"AFFIRMATIVE. I WILL ENFORCE HIS BEHAVIOR WITH BULLETS IF NECESSARY."
"Sheesh Omega, some threats are supposed to stay implied, you know."
"IMPLICATIONS ARE UNNECESSARY."
Vilmis muttered something under his breath that Sonic the Miles Electric did not quite catch, but seemed to be directed to the robot. But from the looks of it he would not try anything funny – and between Shadow, Rouge and Tails, he was definitely thoroughly disarmed so he could not try anything even if he wanted to.
Shadow handed the Miles Electric back to Tails, who took it gratefully.
The seven of them, alien included, walked in silence out of the warehouse before Omega practically dragged Vilmis to the direction of the hospital.
"Oh, Sonic, I forgot."
"What's wrong, Tails?"
He smiled, a little guilty-not-guilty grin. "I told Jewel to take a few days off so she's not in her office right now."
Sonic matched the "totally not guilty" grin with one of his own. "About time she has some fun!"
"I think she's just sleeping it off."
"Well every girl needs her beauty sleep" said Rouge.
"Is that what you're calling your breaking and entering routine?" piped Shadow.
Rouge faked outrage and Tails openly laughed at that.
Yeah, his little bro would be fine.
It did not take long before they all gathered at Jewel's office. In her absence, the piles of paperwork had only gotten taller, but someone had taken the time to straighten them up and organize them in neat piles. With labels about what each thing was. On top of the vacuuming, an overall cleaning, airing the space out and adding a new potted plant in it – primroses. About time – the office was in dire need of some clean-up.
Not wasting any time, Tails immediately made a beeline for Jewel's computer to contact Amy – not that his own Miles Electric could not do it, but with so many people a larger screen and louder speakers were always more convenient. Silver sat cross-legged on the desk next to the monitor, but he was obviously fidgeting – a little more and he would float off the desk. Shadow as usually went to brood in a corner but still in view of the monitor, while Rouge found herself a perch and Sonic stuck by Tails' side.
It could surprisingly long for Amy to pick up, but once she did it became obvious why – she was in a nightgown at a hotel somewhere, clearly in a different timezone, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "…Hi, Tails…"
"Oh, hey Amy…" Tails rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I guess it's a bad time…"
"Nah, it's fine, I'm on vacation anyway. What's up?" Then she noticed the background. Her expression shifted instantly. "What's going on?"
"I have… some bad news…"
"We have a lot of news, actually" added Sonic.
"…Oh. Um, is Knuckles there? Shouldn't we be calling him too?"
"Yeah, but it's not like that Knucklehead would pick up a phone or anything."
"Does Knuckles even have a phone?" asked Tails. "I gave him one once but I don't think he keeps it on him…"
"He doesn't" confirmed Rouge.
"Wait" said Silver "You can not have a phone?"
"Weren't you without a phone for a good while?" asked him Sonic.
"Well yes, but-"
"And besides, Rouge will fill him in when she flies back to Angel Island to see him, right Rouge?"
Amy grinned. "So you DO visit Knuckles often!"
"Please, I'm only ever bother with such a long and tiresome flight for my dear Master Emerald!"
"She doesn't" said Shadow.
"Now, Shadow-"
"But she DOES fly there, doesn't she."
"She does."
"Oooh, I see how it is" said Sonic.
"And the plot thickens!"
"Guys, can we please get back on topic" said Silver.
The teasing mood dissipated. Now all eyes were on Silver.
"What happened?"
"I told a bit of it to Sonic, but…" he took a deep breath. "When I went back to the future…"
The first thing that struck him was… "Huh? Where did the city go?" The horizon was just… flat. Perhaps he landed on the wrong spot and needed to walk a bit more.
The second thing he noticed was how hard it was to breathe. Not impossible. But he had not breathed in air of such bad quality in a while. There was no smoke – he was not choking, the sky was bright and blue, but something was… wrong.
The sun was painful. The wind was so strong, there was so much dust, but barely carrying any scent.
Silver landed and the soil was dark.
From the surface… It was not just the city missing. He spun around a bit and… the horizon was just flat. Not entirely. There were hints of hills. But nothing steep. No skyscrapers to cut the view and hide him from the sun.
The wind was howling.
It was so quiet.
His eyes hurt a bit too much… the sky was blue but something was wrong.
Silver walked and realized that something was wrong with the ground.
Silver knew soil, he knew concrete. This was neither of those things.
It felt like rocks the size of his foot or smaller, and there was sand, so much sand. Why had he not noticed the sand before? No, it was mixed with…
He kneeled down. The ground was hard and the sand was barely sinking.
The sand was black and sparkling. It was so, so bright, it reminded him of the sparkle of the emeralds. There was some bare hints of dirt in it, and beneath that was the hard ground, too hand, nothing like the porous concrete and soil he knew.
The sun was painful and breathing was hard.
The wind died down and he could hear his heartbeat.
Silver reactivated his psychokinesis, going a good one hundred meters up in height, to get some perspective, a wider view.
It was just… black. Everywhere.
No grey concrete. No greenery and plants. Just the sparkle of the black sand, and… was that a lake? There was not supposed to be a lake there. Its surface was rippling from the unforgiving wind yet the reflection from the clouds was as clear as a mirror.
Silver flew a little bit lower to inspect it. He expected to see… a river, a stream, something. There was nothing of the sort he could spot from the distance, so he flew closer, to the lake's shore.
He kneeled down and it was no longer just sand. There were pebbles, but not truly, they had not yet been completely smoothened out. Stones normally smoothened out from water exposure, right? Due to friction. These ones did not really have jagged edges, but they were still too square…
Wait… that shine…
Silver deactivated his powers, making the blue glow around him vanish, and took a closer look.
This was not a stone.
It was glass. Obsidian.
The sand was glass. There was no soil here. The moisture was miniscule, all gathered around the lake, and the stones were still too rough, too jagged.
It was getting hot. So hot. The sun was unbearable.
Silver dove in.
The water was so clear. So incredibly clear, light had no issue piercing through. It was still so warm, and the sand below practically shone.
There were no fish. No algae. No plants of any kind or insects.
This was not right.
Silver dove deeper, his psychokinesis unimpeded even underwater, and he went to scrape at the bottom of the lake to find something-
It was solid. It was rock solid and reflective and as black as everything else and Silver used all his speed to emerge before he could gasp, because that was glass. That was crystal. Obsidian. Rock solid obsidian, smooth and unbroken.
He flew up above, even higher, the unforgiving sun drying him quickly, his breath hard, like he was running out of air.
He had not seen a single plant.
He was not sure how high he went, but it was enough for the temperature around him to drop – at least that was some relief.
He saw the lake.
The perfectly symmetrical lake.
There were other lakes like it in the distance. Smooth and circular and round, ovals and lines that were far too straight for any natural formation. There were no rivers to be found, save for some jagged cracks, absolutely massive in size, connecting some of them.
There was no green anywhere. No concrete. The only edges in the land were those of the lake. Everything else was just so flat.
The wind was unforgiving.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but water and black glass.
"I explored a little more after that, but it got too hard to breathe under a while… I didn't find anything new."
Silver finished his story, and looked at the others for their reactions.
For a while, nobody said anything. They were just staring at him, in utter… bafflement was too light a word. Bewilderment? Confusion? Definitely alarm. Not quite shock, but it was there.
"Silver. Was there ANY clue about who could have done this? Any clue at all?"
He shook his head.
"It can't be Egghead" said Sonic. "He likes to leave his signature."
Sonic could not exactly say that Eggman was not the world annihilation type. Many times he would help them something went completely rogue – he tried to fight Perfect Chaos, he helped them with Gemerl and The End. Other times it seemed that there was no low he would not stoop to, with Dark Gaia and especially the Metal Virus being prime examples, when Eggman just barely helping them only when Starline and the Deadly Six stole his whole operation from under his ugly noggin; and even then, he still took as many potshots at them as possible. His desire for destruction seemed to be changing with the phase of the moon.
However, whatever it was that Eggman did, he loved to flaunt it. He would spam his face on everything. Eggman was not subtle, not by a long shot.
"So what do we do now?" asked Rouge. "Any of you has any idea what did this?"
Tails frowned. "Going by Silver's description of the shape of the lakes, as well as the high presence of glass, it would appear that the vitrification process-"
"Vitrification?" asked Sonic.
"Glassification."
"Oh."
"Anyway, it would appear that the vetrification process was caused by artificial means. In order to convert matter to glass you need a bare minimum of 1400 degrees Celcius – a forest fire is only 800!"
"Wait, what do you mean, the shape of the lakes?"
"Oh, I know that" said Amy. "Basically, water pools, right? Normally it pools in areas that are really deep and between hills or mountains, so they have some pretty interesting shapes. They only lakes that are perfectly round are those formed in craters, like impact craters or volcanic craters."
"Exactly" said Tails. "And the area Silver was exploring has no volcanic activity."
Silver nodded. "I could not smell anything like sulfur. Actually, there weren't that many scents at all."
"So wait" said Sonic "you guys think this was, what, some kind of weapon?"
"It's not impossible" said Shadow, speaking up for the first time. All eyes turned in him. His expression twisted a little but otherwise he did not move. "The Eclipse Cannon can do it in lower settings."
"Well we only ever saw the Eclipse Cannon fire at about full settings so we'll have to take your word for it" said Rouge.
Sonic crossed his arms. "Well, I think our cattle thief knockoff may have heard of something."
Rouge snorted.
"Your what now."
Tails let out a sigh. "That's… the second bit of news."
"An alien aircraft crashed on Starfall Islands yesterday" said Shadow. "I sent Tails to investigate." Mercifully, Shadow did not add more. However, Amy had a front row view to Tails' expressions.
"Oh, Tails… That's it, I'm coming there right now!"
"Wait, what about your travels?"
"Don't worry, I'm mostly just winging it anyway. I'm ready to go whenever!"
Sonic and Tails exchanged a smile at that. "Gotta say Ames, I missed you a bit there. Good to know you got our backs."
Amy's muzzle turned as pink as the rest of her. The rest just stared wide-eyed at Sonic.
"R-Right! I'll catch the first flight! Just you wait, Amy Rose is here to save the day!"
"Wait, don't you have your car?"
And she disconnected.
The rest continued to stare at Sonic.
His brow twitched, in an expression remarkably similar to Shadow. "What?"
"Who are you and what did you do to Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Oh, come on guys!"
"Anyway" interrupted Shadow, not in the mood to deal with that headache "what makes you think Padmin Vilmis has anything to do with this?"
"That's his name?"
Shadow glared.
Sonic raised his hands. "OK, OK just because he was an a- a butthole to Tails that doesn't mean he'll blow the planet, I know. But don't you think the timing's weird? Like what, Eggman vanishes for way too long and that's making me itchy and suddenly an alien ship crashes and Silver pops up with tales of doom on the same day? And now we're talking about laser cannons? Come on, I know "space-class weapon" when I see it. You only use cannons that powerful when you fight something in space. You know, like the Eclipse Cannon was made to fight the Black Arms, or those cannons on Chaos Island that the Ancients tried to use against The End."
Shadow looked like he knew Sonic had a point but admitting to it would actually succeed in poisoning him. Silver and Rouge exchanged uneasy stares.
Tails frowned. "Well, I still haven't finished analyzing every piece of equipment I found, I was focused on making a working translator as fast as possible first. And there is so much STUFF to go through!"
Sonic, never one to get overly angsty or let anyone else be sad for long, saw the opportunity for what it was.
"Find anything cool there, little bro?"
Tails lit up.
They were going to be here for a while, but Sonic did not mind that at all. Even if he could never quite catch everything Tails was saying, he was glad to see him happy.
Author notes: And this is the end of the chapter! It got much darker at points than I intended it to be, but I feel that it needed to happen. This chapter went under a fair bit of minor and major edits, and there are some parts I wanted to include here but I'll include in the next chapter instead. Yes, the next chapter will also be Sonic focused. Sorry about that I guess, but I did shove Captain Kelir in a shuttle for three or four days so the Citadel will have to wait.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I look forward to seeing what you think of it!