Chapter 96

Mutually Assured Destruction

Rouge lounged comfortably against the far wall of her cell. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be in the midst of a comfortable afternoon nap. Neither the harsh light above her nor the cold narrow walls of her cell seemed to bother her. Argus Smith approached the glass and tapped it with the edge of his finger. "You can stop pretending now," He growled.

Rouge lazily opened one eye. She took a brief glance at her former commander before yawning and stretching her arms over her head. "Morning already?" She said in a false sleepy voice.

"You won't know. Time will have no more meaning to you."

Rouge shrugged. "I always preferred an open schedule."

"You'll be surprised what timelessess does to the mind." Argus gestured to the white lights at the roof of her cell. "These never turn off. We've had people break in just a few days."

Rouge frowned. Her mask of innocent ease fractured and she glared venomously back at Argus. "You're demented."

"And you are a traitor. Do you suppose that you deserve less? I have half a mind to just let you rot down here. I wondered what would become of that attitude of yours after a few years."

Rouge kept up her defiant stare, but Argus could see the shimmer of fear swimming beneath the surface. "Don't worry," He said slowly. "You won't be here long. You did murder the president after all, the public deserves justice."

"Did you come here to see me beg?" Rouge snapped. "Because if you did, you'll be disappointed."

Argus laughed. "Never, I expect you'll meet your fate with the same attitude that you've carried throughout your service."

"Then why are we talking?"

"I was curious," Argus admitted. "Did you really expect you could betray me? Surely you must know how I feel about disloyalty?"

Rouge didn't meet his gaze. She stared bitterly at the floor. "I knew…"

"So why? What turned your cold heart? GUN is your child after all, you've helped make it what it is today. So why, why on the edge of our ultimate victory did you turn your back?"

Rouge shook her head. "Victory? Is that what you call this? The world is in chaos, thousands have died."

"But how many more will live? Is it not better that a few should suffer so that the rest can have peace?"

"I've seen the peace that you intend to have," Rouge argued. "You cannot build peace upon a lie."

"A lie?" Argus repeated incredulously. "You would dare speak to me of lies? You are a creature of deceit, of shadows and darkness. I do not need to tell you that the truth is only a matter of perspective. When all those who could say contrary are dead, who can possibly defy my truth?"

"I thought GUN wanted to make the world a safer place," Rouge said quietly, almost in a whisper. "I thought you understood the way of things. Innocent idealism would get us nowhere, we needed something real. But you never wanted that. You don't want peace."

Argus did not argue. "True peace is beyond us. It is not aligned with human nature. In centuries past, this fact was understood and lamented. We knew that freedom allows for the constant possibility for war. It was a trade we were willing to make. However, now, civilization has advanced to the point where further conflict will lead to the ultimate destruction of our world. Earth cannot afford a free humanity. Our world is a decaying husk, and if it is ever going to be set straight it must be done from the top. Whatever crimes you may think I commit, what I do prevents an even worse catastrophe."

"You keep telling yourself that," Rouge replied. "But it doesn't change what you've done."

"I do not look for gratitude. My actions will ensure the survival of the U.F for generations to come. That is enough for me. Sacrifices had to be made. Yet when one knows the good result that he intends, any deviation from that path is itself an evil. Already the world has changed for the better. Nearly all the remaining independent nations have joined the U.F, Shamar, Spagonia, they've each traded their autonomy for our protection. Chun-nan has even agreed to certain privileges in exchange for the shield barriers. The new world order will be one of peace and security."

"It doesn't matter how powerful you think you are, someone will stop you."

Argus paused and looked down at her in genuine confusion. "Who? Sonic the Hedgehog is gone, his friends are dead. We have taken the plans of Doctor Robotnik's Metal Sonic and created an army of replicas that are ten times more powerful. The Eclipse Canon is ours, and there is not a power on earth that can rival it." A twisted smile spread across Argus' face. He could not deny that he was greatly enjoying this. "Perhaps you mean your friends? The band of degenerates who tried to destroy the Eclipse Canon? Have you imagined that they escaped? That even now they are planning your rescue?" Argus laughed cruelly. "They are dead."

"No!" Rouge rushed the glass and smacked her hands against it.

"Yes, the ninja and the two others. All dead. No one will rescue you, and no one will mourn you." Argus shook his head. "We have that in common. We both gave up the pretenses of a normal life in order to serve a greater cause. It is a shame that you stumbled at the threshold. Now you will have to wonder whether or not it was all worth it. You will wait here, your mind steadily consuming itself until we find time to drag you into the light where you can die for your crimes. There is no redemption for you."

For once, Rouge had nothing clever to say back to him. Her eyes glossed over with tears and rage, but it was all impotent feelings. She slunk down to her knees with her hands still pressed against the glass. Argus felt a twinge of pity for her, but he suppressed it. She did not deserve it. She had betrayed him, betrayed GUN.

Suddenly, the door behind him slid open. He heard the rush of heels as one of his secretaries raced over to him. "Sir, there has been an incident," She whispered faintly.

Argus stiffened. He half glanced back at Rouge, but he decided he did not care whether or not she heard. "What is it?"

"The arctic base was attacked sir, the entire thing has been buried beneath the glacier. Metal Sonic has escaped."

The bones in Argus' hands cracked as he flexed his fingers. "Were the alarms at the mystic ruins base triggered?" The only ones who would have dared to try and rescue Metal Sonic were the remnants of Eggman's old empire.

His secretary could not meet the ferocity of his glare. She stared down at the report. "No sir, it seems that they found a way to block our scanners, we are trying-"

"Enough!" Argus snapped. "Tell the relay team at Delta Base to get ready. We will fire the weapon at once."

His secretary made a little squeak sound and rushed to obey his orders. Argus sighed and turned back to Rouge. A sly smile played across her face. "The tighter you squeeze the more that will slip through your grasp. Without your little boogeyman, the world will turn against you."

Argus straightened himself up to his full height and laughed in her face. "Do you think I have no contingencies in place? Metal Sonic is but the first of a number of rebels, terrorists, messiahs, and revolutionaries who must all be propped up and then destroyed. They will play their part, stir the people into frenzy and into fear, and in their fear they will turn to us, more completely and devoutly each time. We will give them victory after victory, each one more brutal and more complete than the last. Once they feel that their government is unstoppable, all powerful, another rebel will rise, this one more ferocious, more animalistic, more inhumane than any that had come before. And the cycle will repeat forever. Fear and victory will become the new ideals to replace freedom and equality."

Argus straightened out his coat and took a deep breath. "Enjoy this little sliver of hope, may it preserve you against the endless days to come. Soon you will pray for these lights to turn off and for the shadows to cover you." He turned aside and marched out of the prison cell.

Commander Smith hurried to the command center set up within his own office. One wall was dominated by a dozen screens which provided him live footage from the various GUN bases throughout the world. Dim blue light buzzed in his face as he sat down. A console opened upon the flat desk and a computer screen greeted him. Argus tapped a button and said in a commanding voice. "Argus Smith, Clearance code, Alpha, Victor, Tango, Sierra, Romeo, Oscar, nine, nine, ninety-nine." The screen flashed and pulled up his private desktop.

"Contact Delta base." At his command, the screen turned and brought up a view screen of a dimly lit command center. GUN officers in dark uniforms rushed over to the screen. They saluted Argus.

"Sir, the weapon will be ready to fire in five minutes."

"Have we received any more word from the base?"

"Negative sir, recon teams near the Mystic Ruins aren't picking up anything on their scanners."

"What about the cameras?"

"They've been sabotaged sir, they are repeating footage from several days ago."

"Hold off firing. Wait until 0300." Without another word, Argus closed the screen. He sat back in his chair and scratched his chin. Argus had expected that Metal Sonic might escape. Capturing him had been difficult enough, and there was always a risk to keeping him alive. Alive? Argus thought grimly. Eggman's former general had been a fitting scapegoat, but GUN could not use him forever. However, it was essential that Metal Sonic not be allowed to go free. His death needed to be a public victory for GUN.

Firing the cannon would serve to keep the other world powers terrified, but the threat would grow less as GUN extended its borders of protection. It was already threatening to make itself seem incompetent by allowing another attack within its own territory. We will have to fire it twice. Argus decided. One blast would hit its target, while another tested the durability of the new shields.

Argus reached into his pocket and drew out a small black device. It looked almost like a pocket watch, but instead of a clock face it had a small pink gem. His soldiers had stolen the device out of Jeffrey Goldstone's safe during the attack on the Goldstone corporation. Jeffrey's father had died in the firefight, but the son was supposed to have been taken captive. Somehow, GUN's officers had failed to secure Jeffrey, a loss that Argus greatly regretted.

He knew this device was some kind of transceiver, but he wasn't sure how it worked. Argus pressed his palm against the gemstone and whispered faintly. "Mesto.." Suddenly, the device blinked and started to whine. Argus dropped it in surprise and pushed it to the far end of his desk. After beeping a few times, Argus heard a voice call out of it.

"I can meet now."

There was a brief pause and then suddenly a flash of white light. A swirling wind of grey and black steadily focused into the form of Mesto the Sly. He looked around the room before turning his gaze onto Argus. Whether or not, Mesto was surprised to see him, the fox gave no indication. Mesto inclined his head in a sign of respect. 'Mr. President." He said softly.

Argus stood and stiffened his back. One arm instinctively reached behind him and took hold of the pistol he had strapped to his belt. "You know about that already?"

Mesto flashed a set of razor sharp teeth as he grinned sardonically. "My master maintains many eyes."

"As do I," Argus growled. "You and Robotnik have been trying to go behind my back."

Mesto's eyes flashed with rage. "Do not speak that name," he hissed. "You will refer to him as the emperor."

Argus swallowed the temptation to curse. "Very well, your emperor has gone behind my back. I know all about your little deal with Goldstone. You were funneling Sol Gems into our public markets."

Mesto did not deny it. "The emperor was not sure he could trust you."

"The feeling is mutual, so let's not get caught up on trust."

Mesto sat in the chair opposite Argus and motioned for the commander to do the same. "Then let us speak candidly. I assume that this Goldstone fellow is dead?"

Argus nodded. "We've taken his supply of Sol Gems as well as his transporters. He was sending teams into your planet."

This time, Mesto did seem taken back. "This was not apart of our arrangement. I did not believe your planet had such technology."

"Goldstone employed some of the best scientists on the planet. But it seems that I have information that you lack."

Mesto smirked. "And I assume you want something in exchange?"

"Yes, simply put I want something that can prevent travel between our planets. Baring that, I at least want something that can track any transporting that is done. Is that possible?"

"The first is not, but the second can be. My liege is already hard at work on such a device. Is that what you want?"

Argus nodded. "I'll take you at your word that you will bring me the schematics."

"Very well, and what is this information you have for me?"

"While you were giving Sol Gems to Goldstone he was sending teams back into Arvana, to trade weapons for more Sol Gems. They made contact with a criminal underground that has access to a supply. Goldstone has now armed these criminals with human weapons."

"Impossible!" For the first time, the cloak of mystery and power that shrouded Mesto was pulled back. He had the same angry expression that a child gets when it finds out its sibling was playing with its favorite toy. Mesto resumed his mask a second later, but the damage was already done. Argus smiled and leaned back.

"We have stopped this nefarious exchange, and in return I want certain assurances from your emperor."

Mesto motioned for Argus to continue.

"Firstly, he should honor his previous pledge. You told my predecessor that you were only giving Sol Gems to us. I don't know who else you've been trading with, but that stops today. From now on, any contact your emperor has with the earth needs to be through myself."

Mesto frowned. "My lord fashions himself the emperor of the entire cosmos. The Sun Monarch, and the Eternal Emperor, shall do as he pleases."

"Not anymore."

"Shall we speak of deceit?" Mesto ventured. "Last time we spoke, you assured me that Sonic the Hedgehog was still on earth and that you had captured Amy Rose. Imagine our surprise when Sonic appeared in Arvana at the head of a rebel army."

Argus dismissed the accusation with a hand wave. "Your emperor has not been operating on good faith. He must interact with us as equals, or we will be forced to undermine him with even the bases of tricks."

A malicious glint sparkled in Mesto's eyes. "You are not equals.

Argus rose to his feet. "Follow me, there is something I wish to show you." Argus walked to the only blank wall in his office. He placed his hand against an empty panel and waited. Soon he felt a warm sensation on his palm and a computerized voice called out. "Identity confirmed." The wall panel drew back as did the rest of the wall. A deep metal staircase led down into a hidden bunker.

Mesto feigned impression and gave Argus a mocking bow. The commander ignored him and descended the staircase. After a few minutes of walking, the staircase leveled off. Argus placed his palm upon the scanner in front of a steel door several inches thick. The computer confirmed his I.D a second time and the door opened. Argus led the way into a massive underground control room. Dimly lit computers dominated the space in front of a giant view screen. Projected on the screen was a live feed of the Eclipse Canon.

"Impressive," Mesto said in a bored voice. "Your missiles are quite large, but they are cumbersome, don't you think?"

Argus sneered. "This is no mere missile." He strode forward to the center terminal. There was nobody else inside the control room. All the computers were remote operated, as Argus did not trust anyone but himself with the control of the Eclipse Canon. On the screen, Argus could see a team of officers preparing the weapon to fire. Argus pressed a button and he spoke over the intercom. "Are we ready to fire?"

An officer rushed over to the camera. "Yes commander. We are just waiting to confirm the coordinates."

"We will be firing at the Mystic Ruin base as well as the capital."

The officer went ghostly pale. "The….the capital sir?"

"Yes, tell the shield team to ready the energy shield. It is time we put it to the test."

"But sir…couldn't we try somewhere else…somewhere less…."

"We do it at the capital." Argus said with a final note in his voice that offered no argument. The officer swallowed and saluted Argus.

"Yes sir." He turned around and rushed out of frame.

"What is this?" Mesto asked perspectively.

"This is the Eclipse Canon, the earth's silver bullet. Tell your emperor what you see today, he will know what this means."

Mesto said nothing and the two of them waited for the final preparations to be made. The large view screen was divided into thirds with the middle screen now showing a large flat satellite hovering in the atmosphere. The screen furthest to the right, displayed the forest that covered Eggman's base in the Mystic Ruins.

"We are beginning the firing sequence." A voice called out.

"Do it."

The Eclipse Canon roared to life like a great beast suddenly disturbed from its slumber. Pink light flashed as a beam of pure energy was shot out of its top. Argus turned to the middle screen and watched as the beam of energy struck the flat satellite and rebounded back towards the surface. A second later the pink beam of energy came thundering down atop the Mystic Ruins. Upon impact, the third screen flashed pink and faded to black.

"We are ready to fire again," The voice returned, this time sounding far more doubtful.

Again, the screen divided into thirds, but this time, the one on the far right depicted the skyline of the U.F capital. "Fire."

The Eclipse Canon fired a second time. The blast was reflected by the satellite and descended upon the city. At the last moment, the beam of energy struck an invisible shield several hundred feet above the tallest city. Argus flexed his fingers as he watched the brief struggle. For a second, it seemed the shield would break, but soon the pink energy blast dissipated, leaving only a scar in the air above the city.

Argus exhaled slowly. "That show only required a single Sol Gem. We can outfit this weapon with almost a dozen, and in that capacity the Eclipse Canon can destroy entire planets." He turned and towered over Mesto. "With the transporters we salvaged from Goldstone, we could fire this weapon at you. Your emperor knows what this weapon is, he also knows that he cannot build one himself. From now on, the emperor must consider us equals, supreme powers who would gain nothing from conflict."

Mesto frowned. He dropped his noble diplomat act, and stomped his feet in frustration. "You think you can threaten us?"

"It is not a threat. You have technology that far surprasses us, so I am sure that even conflict between us would only lead to mutual destruction. Tell your emperor to renounce any dreams he had of returning to earth and conquering it. Those days are over. However, that doesn't mean we have to be enemies. I am not as foolish as Alexander, I know you did not bring us the Sol Gems to help us. You intended to cause division, to weaken the earth to make invasion easier. I understand this, but now things have changed."

"And so they have." Mesto shook his head. "If the earth wants to stay outside the grace of the empire, then why should we continue to help you? Why should my emperor provide you with more Sol Gems?"

"He shouldn't," Argus said, clearly to the surprise of Mesto. "I propose a one time trade. A final agreement. Ask your emperor what it would take for him to leave the earth alone for good."

"I already know what he would say," Mesto snarled. "If you would have brought him Sonic's head then you would be in a better position to bargain. Yet you failed to even capture his little girlfriend."

Argus stiffened. "My officers are searching for her as we speak. She will not remain free for long."

Mesto drew up his cloak and pulled a Sol Gem out of his pocket. "Very well. I will speak to the emperor and return with his proposal. Yet, I wonder if you have considered your position fully. Why not join the empire? The earth is nearly under your control, you could hand it over to the emperor. He would reward you."

Argus took a step forward. He shot Mesto with a withering look of disgust. "GUN will never serve a foreign enemy." To his surprise, Mesto smiled. In a flash of white light, Mesto vanished.

The rest of the day passed in a frenzy of activity. As the president, Argus had to face the public and deal with twin firings of the Eclipse Canon. He decried the attack on the ancient preservation of the Mystic Ruins, and spoke glowingly of GUNs shield barrier that had protected the capital. His public remarks were interrupted by the airing of the final Metal Broadcast using footage they had captured a few weeks ago. The public mood was on high alert as everyone feared Metal Sonic's next attack.

After the press conference, Argus spent the next few hours in stiff negotiations with other world leaders. Shamar's president was so desperate for shield barriers around its major cities, that they had easily agreed to having their military absorbed into GUN. By the end of the night, GUNs position in the world have never been more secure. Yet Argus knew all this progress would fall apart if GUN failed to destroy Metal Sonic in public.

Teams had been sent to inspect the aftermath of the firing on the mystic ruin base, but they had not found much. Argus had not expected them to find Metal Sonic's destroyed frame, but he hoped that he had managed to kill it. Any one of the Diamond Sonic's would serve to fool the public, but Argus could not play that card until he was sure the original was dead.

Argus leaned back in his chair. A dull ache had formed behind his temple. He could not remember the last time he had slept or showered. Argus had already lost ten pounds since he had killed Alexander, and what little hair he had left had fallen out. Stress will kill me before long. He thought dryly. However, Argus could not let that happen. He did not have a successor in place, and no one else had a strong enough will to see things through to the end. But no one will thank you for it.

Before his work began the world had been divided into conflicting nations, and terrorized by powers beyond human comprehension. A deranged scientist threatened to blow up the planet every other day, and the only one who could stop him was a blue hedgehog. That was the world of yesterday. The world of tomorrow, the world Argus was literally dying to build, was one of order. There would be no nations, no deranged scientists, no super powered hedgehogs. There would be the state, and beneath the state there would be safety.

Argus sighed and poured himself a tall glass of whisky. He took a small sip and felt his teeth clench. At that moment there was a flash of white light. Mesto the Sly appeared and inclined his head. "You're back already?" Argus growled.

"My emperor wishes to see this matter settled." Mesto reached into his cloak and pulled out a red scroll. "Emperor Robotnik gives you his solemn vow that, so long as the threat of the Eclipse Canon lays between you, he shall henceforth renounce all claim over the earth, and no longer directly nor indirectly influence its goings." Mesto rolled up the scroll and placed it on Argus' desk. He then reached back into his cloak and drew out a few sheets of blue paper. He spread them out on Argus' desk.

"This is a design for a machine that will track energy signatures. It is calibrated to track energy specifically related to transportation. This will give you the ability to track anyone coming to earth from Arvana."

Mesto stepped back and adjusted his cloak. "As a final word. The emperor offers you one thousand Sol Gems, if you bring him any of Sonic's friends."

Argus glanced over the schematics and smiled. "Very well."

"One more thing. My emperor pays little attention to the doings of lesser mortals. But he wanted to know your name."

"Argus Smith."

Mesto smiled and vanished in a burst of white light.