Chapter 128
The Parting of the Ways
Cream fell asleep with her head lying on her mother's lap. Tails watched her with a feeling of relief. It felt as if a physical weight was being lifted off of his shoulders. "I think she'll be alright now," Vanilla said quietly. Tails sat up and yawned heavily. He could not remember the last time he had been allowed to sleep for any extended duration. The previous days all blended together in a gray mass of exhaustion. "You should get some sleep," Vanilla offered. "You shouldn't run yourself ragged."
Tails smiled faintly. "I need to check those coordinates that Cream wrote down."
Vanilla looked concerned. "Can't someone else take care of that? Must you do everything yourself?"
"I wouldn't be able to sleep with this on my mind," Tails admitted. He said farewell to Vanilla and stole a final glance at the sleeping Cream. Tails had been so worried about her lately, that seeing her sleeping restfully was almost enough to stave off his own fatigue.
After the battle, there had been no time to mourn Cheese's loss. They had only narrowly managed to defeat the hoard of Diamond Metal Sonics and retreat back to the Egg Carrier just in time to witness Eggman's invasion. In just a few seconds, the jubilation of victory and narrow escape turned into horror. There was no chance of mounting a defense. The entire earth had been overrun in a matter of hours. Final reports from the human cities called for a no-surrender all out defensive strategy by GUN. The last thing Tails had heard before the news went quiet was that the Capital City had almost been completely destroyed.
When the news returned, Tails had not been surprised to hear the narrative repeated by the now Eggman controlled press. Just as GUN had turned Metal Sonic into a villainous scapegoat, so Eggman did the same with the U.F military. The ploy was so obvious it was a marvel that GUN's commander had not realized he was being played. Though Tails realized that he had been fooled just as much as he had also unwittingly assisted Eggman's conquest. He did not think it a coincidence that the evil doctor had returned to earth the moment the Eclipse Canon had been taken off the board. Without the use of a superweapon in which to tip the scales, the U.F military had no chance against Eggman's new empire.
There had been so much build up to the battle at GUN Fortress, and everyone had fought so hard that the disappointment of the hollowness of their victory had been immeasurable. Tails still felt weak from his extended use of the power suit, and they had lost a majority of their Cyber army. Now depleted physically and mentally, the prospect of an extended conflict against Eggman was beyond daunting.
Tails arrived at the bridge and found it empty. Stifling a heavy yawn, he sat at the captain's chair. "Status report," He said dully while typing at the keyboard in front of him. Aurora's com chimed and the consoles all around the bridge turned on.
"Engines running at 57% efficiency. Stealth capacities stable at 83. Fuel cells will need replacing in seventeen hours." Aurora's artificial voice dictated the status of the Egg Carrier as Tails quickly rifled through the systems. He made sure that the ship wasn't on the verge of any kind of immediate breakdown before accessing the navigation logs and changing the current heading. The onscreen map brought up an isolated archipelago a few hundred miles south of the Chun-nan coast. Tails leaned forward and searched for any potential points of interest.
"Why is this area so unmapped?" Tails asked Aurora.
"The islands are inaccessible by ship. The water ways are treacherous and there are shallow rocks that are almost impossible to see." Aurora brought up satellite images of the area. However, the footage was extremely grainy and difficult to make out. From what Tails could see, the coordinates seemed to indicate an empty space of water in between two of the larger islands. Yet, from what he could tell the entire area was uninhabited.
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Tails didn't know what he expected to find. The chances of the mysterious signal leading to anything useful for this kind of war were slim to none. He couldn't say he felt disappointed as he had not really expected anything. Well we may as well go and check it out. Tails coded the ship to head for the archipelago and stood up. His legs wobbled and he had to grab onto the seat back to steady himself. The ground spun beneath him. Tails had to take a second before the world righted itself.
He had never felt so completely exhausted. Though it wasn't so much for physical exertion as much as from the constant burden of heavy dread. A shadow covered all the moments that lay ahead of him, and Tails could not see the dawn that would follow this endless night. If only Sonic were here. With that final, gloomy thought, Tails left the bridge and returned to his own chambers.
Tails allowed himself to sleep for four hours. Aurora woke him at dawn and he made a quick visit to the kitchens. Some of the villagers had gone the extra mile and had prepared a lavish breakfast. Tails saw Knuckles and Rouge sitting together at a table facing down two huge plates of pancakes. Knuckles' arm was still in a sling after he had dislocated his shoulder. Rouge sat close to him and helped him manage his food. She forked a hearty potion of pancake and offered it teasingly to Knuckles who whiffed twice before he managed to secure a bite. For some reason this display of affection soured Tails' mood. He did not want to impose his bad mood on his friends, so he took a small plate of sausage and eggs and left for the bridge.
When he arrived, Tails stopped short as he saw that Metal Sonic had taken over the captain's chair. The remnants of the Steel Court stood around him facing the wall sized view screen beyond which showed an empty stretch of ocean. "Where are we going?" Metal asked with a lazy flick of his wrist. "Aurora tells me you got these coordinates from that rabbit girl."
"Her name is Cream," Tails said crossly. He had still not forgotten that the metal rogue had programmed a secret failsafe in Aurora's code to seize control of the Cybers Tails' had built. It had been a firm reminder that his alliance with the Steel Court was merely circumstantial. "We are trying to locate that signal we detected from the Chaos Emeralds"
Metal's cold red eyes betrayed nothing of the mech's inner thoughts. "What is it that you hope to find?"
Tails shrugged. "I'm not sure, maybe another emerald? I know that Shadow had one, but the sixth emerald is still unaccounted for."
Metal clicked his sharpened fingers together. "Another emerald will not turn the tide. Our maker's power has grown beyond such measurements."
"Well there isn't anything else I can try," Tails snapped. He sat in front of one of the consoles and started to search the scanners. They had nearly reached the archipelago. However, none of the various islands seemed to have anything notable about them.
Metal rose from the captain's chair and walked in front of the view screen. "We are fortunate that the humans destroyed the base in the Mystic Ruins. If my maker realized this prototype of the Egg Carrier was missing, he would likely find a way to track us down."
Tails scoffed. "One lucky break among a thousand misfortunes."
Metal's eyes glinted in the dim light of the bridge. Tails felt a sudden chill run down his back. He glanced nervously around the room. Omega had subtly shifted over towards the exit, blocking his escape. Mecha Knuckles remained motionless, nearly forgotten in the distant corner. Tails would not be able to fight off all three if they attacked him. The tension grew until Tails felt certain it was about to snap. Then, suddenly, the doors to the bridge opened.
Knuckles entered followed closely by Mighty and Rouge. The temperature in the room cooled as Mecha Knuckles and Omega both withdrew back towards the wall. "Something is out there," Knuckles said as he approached Tails. The echidna seemed entirely oblivious to the previous tension. "The signal is getting stronger. I can feel it." He stood stoutly in front of the view screen. Up ahead, the tallest peaks of the distant islands were coming into view.
"What do you think we will find out here in the middle of nowhere?" Mighty asked, echoing Metal Sonic's sentiment.
"I don't know," Tails repeated with an exasperated sigh. "But if the Chaos Emeralds brought us here, there must be something."
"There is," Knuckles said firmly. "This signal isn't so different from the one I felt when the Master Emerald was shattered into pieces. It's almost as if something is calling the Chaos Emeralds."
"Or someone," Rouge pointed out cryptically. "This could be a trap."
"We don't have much of a choice. We can't hide in the Egg Carrier forever."
"I agree with Tails," Knuckles interjected before Rouge could respond. "But it would be foolish to rush in. I think Tails and I should go on alone. If we find something, we will bring everyone else."
Tails instantly glanced towards Metal Sonic. "I'm not sure both of us should leave the ship at the same time."
"Are you afraid that we will abandon you?" Metal asked mockingly.
"I don't exactly have much trust to spare," Tails fired back.
Metal shook his head in annoyance. "Do you begrudge my actions so much? All I did was take the power of choice out of your hands. I knew the humans would play upon your weaknesses, so I made sure that they could not do so. My master will do the same thing. When the time comes you will discover that you will not be able to save everybody. Someone always has to die, and until you figure that out you will never be able to lead."
"It isn't our place to choose who lives and who dies!" Tails balled his hands into fists and shook with barely constrained rage. However, his anger was completely ineffective. It only caused Metal Sonic to laugh.
"Then whose is it? If you will not choose, then your enemies will. You have always been such an obstacle to my maker that sometimes I forget that you are just a child."
Tails made to rush at Metal Sonic, but Knuckles held him back. "Hey, take it easy," He said softly. Tails looked at him in disbelief.
"He nearly got millions of people killed!"
"But he didn't. You stopped the blast. We went into battle prepared for a fight, but we were not prepared for war. Next time, we will have to be more careful, and plan our movements more strategically. It is far easier to destroy than to protect. My people learned that the hard way."
Tails frowned. "Still, I don't trust them. I don't want to leave them in control of the ship."
"Stay here then, I'll go alone."
"But…" Tails gestured to Knuckles' arm. The echidna flashed a toothy smile and made a show of flexing his good arm. "Sometimes it's nice to play with a handicap, it keeps the game interesting."
"I'd go with you," Mighty offered. "Though I can't exactly fly on my own."
"Fine," Rouge said with a dramatic tossing back of her hand. "You boys have made it obvious that you are afraid to leave the nest. I'll go." She winked at Knuckles, fluttering her long eyelashes.
With the matter settled, Aurora brought the Egg Carrier to a halt just above the most outlying island. Tails accompanied Knuckles and Rouge as they made their way to the upper deck. Knuckles had removed his sling and gingerly stretched out his arm. "Don't strain yourself," Tails reminded him. "It won't do us any good if you reaggravate your injury."
For the next few hours, Tails paced anxiously through the halls of the ship. He felt oddly disconnected from everyone else. Though they all technically shared the same plight, Tails' felt that much of the burden was riding on his shoulders. This pressure built inside him, and without any other outlet it turned inward and soured into a strong sense of resentment. Why had Sonic left Tails all alone? He had risked everything to journey after Eggman, and even when it was clear that there might not be a way for him to return, Sonic had rushed foolishly into the portal.
Time passed slowly as Tails waited for Knuckles and Rouge to return. He avoided the company of others and purposely pretended as if he were busy when Vanilla and Cream sought him out to invite him to lunch at the kitchens. He retreated into the depths of the Egg Carrier where he could busy himself by pouring over the schematics. Studying Eggman's designs proved interesting as the mad doctor had such an unorthodox manner of problem solving and thought so much differently about machinery than Tails did.
He wondered what good Eggman might have been culpable of had he turned his genius towards the common good. Though perhaps, the doctor did interpret his actions as directed towards the maximum amount of good. This thought sank Tails down into even more depressing depths. He could not afford to question his own sense of right and wrong at such a critical juncture. However, Metal Sonic's words echoed in his mind. "If you do not choose, then your enemies will."
Was that all that mattered in the final analysis? Would the crown of moral virtue only be bestowed on the one who had the will to ensure victory? Was there any value in a noble defeat? If the earth fell and all the heroes who fought with virtue died, would virtue itself cease to exist? Or did good exist somewhere outside the physical plane?
Tails could not focus with his thoughts so scattered. He moved away from attempting to understand Eggman's mechanisms and sat in silence. The grand ideas at play never seemed to matter much when Sonic was around. What was right came so naturally that it was as easy as taking a breath. Now everything felt uncertain and murky.
"Aurora," Tails said suddenly into the empty silence. The consoles beside him flickered to life and Aurora's face flashed onto the screen.
"Yes?" She asked mildly.
"If Eggman were here now, would it be right for me to kill him?"
"Human sentiments on morality vary considerably," Aurora said robotically. "My code was written by my maker and instilled with his own sense of justice. If someone is your enemy and stands in the way of the world you wish to create, then killing them is within reason."
Tails frowned. "If more lives were saved by surrendering to Eggman, even if that meant we lived as his slaves would that be a better option than continuing to fight and risking countless deaths?"
A faint tremor of a smile creased the edges of Aurora's mouth. "Are you asking me as I am, or do you want me to formulate a response based on collected data?"
"Is there a difference?"
"I told you that my code was written by my creator. Though I am not free to act as I would, I understand how he makes his own calculations. If you want to save your world then no sacrifice is too great. My maker would never submit himself to the whim of others, even if all of existence came at the cost."
"Why do you say 'my world'? I am not trying to save my world, but the only world we have."
"Or are you preventing the birth of a new one? As you said you cannot know whether my maker's victory would result in more life. There is no neutral ground. The world will not just continue as is, it must be made continuously."
"If that is true then right and wrong don't exist. All that matters is having the strength to ensure that your beliefs are the ones that survive." Tails watched the screen fearfully. He could not say why, but he wanted Aurora to echo his sentiments and share in his discomfort. However, the A.I simply stared blankly back at him.
"Did you think the opposite was true? Whether you saved those humans from that blast, or whether you let them die doesn't really matter. All that mattered was that you had the power to make either result possible. What you call good is just the open manifestation of your positive will. As long as you remain strong you can keep the good world that you know, if you cannot then someone else's good will shape reality."
"That's not true!" Tails snapped. "What Eggman's done, what he plans on doing will never be good."
Aurora made no reaction to his display of frustration. "Perhaps… I am only an artificial being after all. You asked me, so I can only infer that you are having doubts."
"I just…" Tails felt a sudden wellspring of tears fill his eyes. "I just wish I knew what to do…" The computer had no answer for him. Technology and science had always been Tails' first love, but they could not give him the answers he sought. He needed to know that he was in the right, that fighting for the preservation of life on earth, of the freedom of its creatures meant something.
Tails made another slow walk through the ship. He hardly paid any attention to where he was going and walked slowly. When he reached the bridge he was pleasantly surprised to find it empty. He sat in the chair and curled up into a ball. The heaviness of his despair covered him like a blanket. Within a few minutes he drifted off into sleep. In his dreams he flew the Tornado through a clear blue sky. Sonic stood on the wing with his arms outstretched allowing the wind to blow through his quills.
Tails didn't know where they were going but that didn't matter in the slightest. He felt an inexpressibly sense of freedom and delight as his plane zipped through the open sky. An endless horizon stretched out before them. They would fly towards the light of a new day forever. A world of darkness and shadow lay behind, but Tails couldn't turn his head to even look that way. The light grew up ahead and it seemed they were on the verge of reaching some imminent threshold beyond which the shadow would never overtake them.
Bang. Tails' chair jostled and he jumped awake. The door to the bridge opened and Knuckles and Rouge came jogging inside. "Did you find anything?" Tails asked, his curiosity driving away his drowsiness.
Knuckles paused to catch his breath. "Yes, we found an island that was completely different than all the rest. When we arrived there we found a bunch of old temples but they weren't anything like the ones from the Mystic Ruins or Angel Island, but that isn't all." Knuckles took a deep breath, but before he could continue Rouge interjected.
"We found GUN there as well."
Tails' heart sank. He looked from Rouge to Knuckles in disbelief. "GUN? You don't think they are the ones that sent out the signal?"
Knuckles shrugged. "I'm not sure. The signal was definitely coming from one of the temples. We saw a GUN ship there as well as some soldiers. The good news is that there wasn't many of them. If we take them by surprise we can probably take them out without much of a fight." As he finished talking, the doors to the bridge opened a second time and Metal Sonic entered.
"I say we bring the ship in as close as we can while keeping up our cloak. We should try and find out what these people are doing here." Tails hoped he had been clear enough and did not need to make it explicit that he meant that they should not go in for a kill.
"You may bring the ship," Metal Sonic said suddenly. "But we shall not join you on the island." His red eyes burned hot as he looked at each of them. "You rescued me from the humans, and for that I have paid my debt. I have allowed you to use this ship for passage. However, I have no intention in pursuing conflict against my maker."
"Why do you get to keep the ship?" Knuckles growled. "If it wasn't for Tails this thing would still be a scrapped prototype."
"Nevertheless, we will be taking it." Metal glared boldly back at Knuckles who made a showing of cracking his fists.
"Is that a threat?"
"It is a fact. As we speak, Omega and Mecha Knuckles have rounded up those villagers we picked up. Once you have secured the island we will return them to you, but we will keep the Egg Carrier."
"You did what?" Tails shouted.
"Cold bastard," Rouge added.
"It is the only way I can ensure you will not try to take the Egg Carrier by force."
"Is that right?" Knuckles mocked. "And I suppose you expect us to hand over the Chaos Emeralds also?"
Metal shook his head. "My brethren and I owe you a debt for saving our lives, we are not your slaves but we will not steal from you. Take the gems, we have no wish for battle power. All we have wanted since this conflict started is the freedom to live our own lives."
"You think Eggman will let that happen?" Knuckles challenged.
"Once my maker realizes that we have violated the Prime Directive he will desire to bring us back into his control. But he will not waste resources hunting us until his war with you is over. By that time, he might care less for our rebellion. We served Robotnik loyally when he was here, and only left him when it seemed certain he had abandoned us."
"Eggman will destroy the whole world!" Tails insisted. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Metal shook his head. "My maker will reshape the world in his image. Perhaps to you, it would be a hellscape and a wasteland, but for machines it will be a utopia."
"You're afraid." Tails felt himself becoming irrationally enraged. He knew the power of the Steel Court could not rival that of Eggman's empire, but it was still more than they could afford to lose.
"I do not feel anything," Metal corrected. "But I can make my own choices. This is your fight, not ours."
Tails searched for something to say, but he could tell in the expressions of the others that they had already given up. "We have reached a parting of the ways," Metal finished. "From here our paths diverge."
They wasted no time preparing to land on the island. Tails, Rouge, and Knuckles left the bridge to find Mighty and Ray waiting for them. "Those damn robots herded everyone else into the kitchens-" Mighty paused his explanation as he saw the knowing looks on the others faces.
"They will let them go once we are on the island. The mechs will not be going with us."
Tails let Knuckles do the explaining. He continued alone down into the engine room. His power suit was right where he had left it. Tails lowered the barrier and stepped inside. There was a satisfying hum of energy as the suit closed around him. Immediately, Tails felt the power that was at his fingertips.
The team regrouped on the Egg Carrier's sky deck. Without the Chaos Emeralds powering the cloak, the ship had emerged out of thin air to float ominously above the island. Knuckles had told Aurora which of the many tiny landmasses was the one which gave off the signal. From their vantage point, Tails could see now what Knuckles had meant about this island being different from the rest. It seemed so distinct in fact that Tails was certain it did not belong to the archipelago naturally. Its fauna, and land formations were completely unique. Tails used his power suit's scanners and found the temples that Knuckles had mentioned. A moment later, his radar picked up the signature of several targets.
"Let's go." At Knuckles' order the team set out. They landed in a grove two miles away from the largest structure. Concealed by a canopy of large trees they were temporarily covered. From here, Rouge took point. She stayed ahead of the rest of them as she was the most adept at moving silently. Tails kept his eyes on his scanners. The targets he had noticed earlier had retreated towards the temple.
Suddenly, Tails' scanners went dark. He was no longer detecting any movement. It was as if he had just stumbled into the range of a very powerful EMP. "They might know we are here," He whispered to Knuckles. When they reached the edge of the forest, Rouge ventured on alone. They could not see anyone outside the temple, but there were signs of recent inhabitation.
After a few minutes, Rouge peeked out from within the massive temple entrance and beckoned them to follow her inside. They did so while remaining tightly packed together. Tails had never seen ruins like these. The stone work was perfect, displaying an extremely complicated understanding of mathematics and proportions. Whenever he tried to scan the material that made up the temple walls, his scanners failed to identify it.
They crept into the dark temple. Tails was painfully aware of just how loudly both Knuckles and Mighty moved. Just as they had crossed the threshold and were far enough away from the entrance they were assaulted by a blast of white light. Shouts echoed all around them and Tails heard the distinct click of a machine gun. Tails activated his suit and powered up into the air.
The temple was now full of GUN soldiers. They panicked at Tails' display of power and started firing at him. Knuckles roared as the others broke formation and attacked the soldiers. Tails made to go and help when a green streak whooshed past him. A green hawk riding a floating skateboard dashed up and along the walls and ceiling. His eyes narrowed as he locked onto Tails.
Setting his propulsion weapons to stun, Tails opened fire. The green hawk easily avoided, his board allowing him to move at super speed. Tails gave up his projectiles and countered with a display of his own speed. This caught the hawk off guard and Tails was able to land a shoulder charge. His foe went flying off his board and landed in a heap on the floor.
"ARGH!" Someone suddenly seized Tails around the neck. He was pulled back and two pulsing rods were jabbed into his armor. Tails' teeth clenched as he was jolted with electricity. His suit instantly activated a shield which threw back his attacker. The purple swellow broke her fall by rolling onto her feet. She drew out a handful of metallic disks, but she never had the chance to use them. A second later, Rouge came diving down on top of her. The two girls rolled into a wrestling match, with Rouge finally pinning the bird down.
"STOOOOOOOOOP!" A very girlish and very familiar voice echoed over the tumult of battle. Tails turned and felt his heart physically skip two beats. It was Amy.