Chapter 16: Plans

Location: Government House

Five minutes later…

Reuniting with their companions, they entered the grand dining area that they had dined in earlier. The floors were wooden with an elegant Sunwood dining table imported in from the Chau Sara Province, while a massive crystal chandler hung from the ceiling. Limping himself to the head of the table, the Prime Minister slowly lowered himself into a wooden chair. With his family entering the dining room, the Prime Minister saw fit to introduce them to their guests.

"I'd like you to meet my family," Carmichael said.

"Hello, I'm Miranda," the blonde-haired woman greeted.

"I'm Molly," a teenage girl with blue eyes and orange hair introduced.

"I-I'm Leon," the boy with dark brown hair with a reddish hue, olive-coloured eyes, stammered nervously.

The Mobians and two Humans introduced themselves and soon sat down to a selection of breakfast items laid out before them.

"I'm sure that you have questions concerning the Terran Republic," the Prime Minister stated.

"I do," Tails piped up instantly, "How is it that your technology is so advanced? Your cousins in the United Federation don't have technology as advance as what we saw onboard the Daedalus."

"Ah! Now that's quite a tale. While we have many brilliant minds here in the Terran Republic, our technology is actually derived from advance Pre-Xorda War technology that our ancestors discovered housed within a large underground Armory," the Prime Minister explained, "It's been theorized that the structure was one of the doomsday vaults that were built during the early 21st century. In the event of some sort of worldwide catastrophe, the survivors could open the vaults and retrieve whatever was inside to help rebuild society."

"So, what type of weaponry was found inside," Tails asked, "How many other vaults are out there?"

"To answer your second question; I simply don't know. Without access to the Cloud we aren't able to determine their contents, let alone their locations."

"What's a Cloud?" Sticks asked, confused.

"It's a type of data storage," NICOLE answered from her handheld.

"Regarding your first question; there was a large number of projectile-base weaponry inside as well as a small number of energy-base weaponry. Our attempts to develop our own energy-based weapons was met with failure, either because they were much too large to be wielded effortlessly or required far too much energy to be reliable. That technology was ultimately used for the ship-based weaponry of our vehicles and aircraft."

"Did you locate other vaults?" Sally inquired.

"As a matter of fact, we did. We stumbled across one called 'Ice Zoo' which contained various frozen animal embryos and eggs which we used for agricultural purposes. The other was an archive which held all of humanity's collective history as well as a vast collection of literature, which you're all more then welcome to look at in the library."

"I'm eager to check out what you have," Muttski commented.

A moment of silence descended upon the dining table, finally broken when the Prime Minister's wife spoke.

"What's everyone's plans for this afternoon?"

"I was gonna head into town and do a little shopping," Amy announced.

"Told you," Sonic whispered to Sally.

The Chipmunk rolled her blue eyes, but otherwise willingly refrained from saying anything aloud.

"I was going to head over to the airport to retrieve the X-Tornado," Tails announced, "I want to conduct some maintenance to ensure that everything is in working order."

"You'll need to reframe from flying within the city," Carmichael warned, "I'll contact my Military Advisor and see about getting a hold of an IFF Beacon for you."

"Well that changes my plans," Tails muttered, "Perhaps I'll take you up on that offer to check out the estate's library."

"Think I'll stare at the box that slowly devours my soul day-by-day," Sticks stated.

"You mean the TV?" Sonic questioned.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Ah think we might go for a walk later on," Bunnie stated, hooking her arm inside that of her husband.

"I think exploring the city would be a good use of time," Chuck said, glancing in his grandson's direction.

"I would very much like to discuss our ancestral homeland with you," the Prime Minister said, "There's a great deal that needs to be discussed."