Disclaimer:
    Sonic the Hedgehog, and all related characters are trademarks of SEGA.
    © 1999 SEGA, Archie Comics Publications Inc, Sega of America, and/or DIC
    cartoons
The Black Company, Michala Hellbore, Azarlan, The Emperor (Sanguintus
Hellbore)and the Empress (Tatayana Hellbore) characters are property of Mark
Whickman (contact Markwhickman@blackfortress.freeserve.co.uk)
Any and all similarities between any characters and actual persons, or
    other characters by other authors (Living or dead)in name or in
    personality are completely coincidential.
No one may use any of the
    characters Mark Whickman has created, without written permission
    of the author.
    All rights reserved
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This story is rated PG-13 by the author, due to:
Violence
Harsh Language
The Questioning of the world as we know it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary: You are not alone!

Part1: Intro etc.

Part 2: Creepy Stuff!

Author: Mark Whickman A.K.A. Bodysnatcher

Enjoy, and don't get too many nightmares!
(The undead rise in part3...)


The Origin of Mobius

This is an attempt to explain the existence of the Mobian diversity of
high intelligence species and the origin of the Chaos Emeralds.

Chapter 1. The Sky Burns.

	In Knothole, Rotor pulled himself out from under the bot and tossed
his spanner into his workbox. The sun slid gently down into the southern sky 
and the vast constellations became visible. A chill wind blew up and the 
last of the clouds scudded away. Rotor hauled himself up into a tree, 
opened a book and aimed a telescope at the heavens. He checked the 
constellations in the well-thumbed book and noted their positions on a 
grubby slip of paper in the back.
 	Then he spotted something unusual. The entire eastern sky was black 
and utterly starless. Training the telescope onto this patch he saw many 
faint red points of light. Then he saw something incredible: the entire 
black area was suddenly covered with a blaze of light and was revealed 
to be a starship of gargantuan proportions.
Frozen in place Rotor noticed movement on the underside as two huge 
doors swung open. The telescope shaking in his grasp Rotor watched as 
small bright points moved out of it. The few points became many and they 
increased in size until they entered the upper atmosphere and became 
bright streaks.
	Rotor leapt off the tree, the telescope nearly crushed in his grip
as he ran towards Sonic's hut. Out of breath he pounded on the door, 
ignoring the splinters that now studded his hand. "Sonic," he yelled! 
"Get yourself out here!"
"What's all the racket?" a sleepy tails asked from his door.
"L-l-look up in the sky."
"Rotorr, whaaa iiiis itt?" groaned a near catatonic sonic.
Rotor could only jab his finger at the eastern sky and suddenly sonic 
didn't look so tired any more.
"I think we'd better tell the others," whispered tails.

  Chapter 2: A Rude Awakening

"Sonic, do you know what time it is?" croaked Sally from behind the door 
of her hut.
"Yes and there is something you have gotta see!" replied sonic.
"Can't it wait."
"NO!"
Sally opened the door, her eyes bleary and her hair not its usual self.
"Okay sonic, what do I have to see?" she said with a sarcastic tone in 
her voice.
"Look up there."
Sally's jaw dropped and she stood motionless looking at it.
"Wh-where did it come from?" she stuttered.
"Ask rotor," said sonic before he continued in his round of awakenings.
	Sally rushed over to rotor and grabbed one of his shoulders.
"Where did it come from?"
"What?"
"That thing?"
"It only appeared this night, it cannot be of Robotnik design?"
"Why not?"
"I would have seen something that size before and we would have had a
pretty nasty earthquake if it had taken off."
"Who made it then?"
"I think we may find out soon. LOOK"
	One of the fiery trails had grown larger and was right on course to
impact in the centre of Knothole.
There was a scream of "RUUUUNNNN" as the fireball hurtled towards them.
The villagers scattered in panic.
	Suddenly, there was a roar of rocket boosters and the fireball's
descent slowed. The fireball was a large metallic sphere about 10 Metres
across and five high.
It hit the ground and threw up a shower of dirt and clods of earth.
The villagers stopped and looked at the craft. There was the sound of
metal contracting after the great heat of its descent.
	Without warning there were 10 small explosions on the side of the craft
as explosive bolts flew free. The sphere opened like the petals of a
great flower. The villagers stood silent. The petals rested on the
ground and abruptly two doors slid open on the side. Out of the doorways
poured humanoids that were completely covered in black armour. They
stood about eight-foot tall (at least twice the size of the average
villager) and were massively shouldered. They carried ugly snub-nosed
guns that they themselves seemed massive.
	Sally moved her hand to grab Nicole out of her belt when one of the
figures aimed his gun at her and snarled: "Freeze!"
	Sonic, worried for Sally's safety, grabbed a power ring out of his
backpack and felt the power fill him. He hurtled towards the figure that
had threatened sally and spin-attacked him. The figure saw sonic long
before he was hit and swung the butt of his gun to connect with Sonic's
head. Sonic hit the ground, one sided of his face agonisingly warm and
stars fizzed before his eyes. Sonic was too dazed to avoid the
gauntleted fist that smashed into his ribs and the second blow of the
gun butt that set his head ringing and his eye bleeding. The armoured
figure grabbed him by the neck and squeezed gently. Sonic felt his
vision swim as he slipped into comfortable blackness.
	The other figures kept their guns trained on the villagers who stood
petrified before them. Then out of the craft strode another figure, he
wore no helmet and sally could see his face behind the respirator. It
was clearly human but deeply tanned and four studs were screwed into the
left forehead.
"Unless you scum want some of what he got," rumbled the helmetless one
who know stood in front of the others. "Group yourselves together in
front of the craft. This area is under Bioscan and any of you trying to
escape will be shot on site. Do you understand?"
	Sally nodded weakly and told the others to do what they had said.
She bent down to get sonic whom was now out cold. She turned him so she
could see his face. A livid bruise covered one side of his face and
blood trickled out of his nose. Sally felt the cold metal of a gun in
her back and stood up.
"You and another can carry him," a voice said behind her.
Sally beckoned to Bunnie.
  "One of them told me to carry him." She told Bunnie.
"Where to?"
"I I don't know," sobbed sally.

Chapter 3: The flight of a hawk

Rotor sat in the clearing the pod had landed in trying to understand
what was going on. The Humans that had come out of the craft were
clearly not of the sort that the outlanders were. Rotor heard faint
rumblings and looked over towards Robotropolis.
The large orbiting craft was pouring fire into the centre of the city.
Huge laser bolts made the sky flare electric-blue, drowning out the slim
red lasers of the Robotropolis defences.
	Looking into the sky he saw another point of light heading towards
them. It was different from the first. A long trail of exhaust steam
followed it and the craft had stubby little wings. It flew low overhead
and showered out a cloud of blue gas.
As the gas settled on the plants they shrivelled up and collapse into
black powder.
Rotor was now looking at a large landing strip. The ship arced about and
made a second approach. This time there was some form of landing gear
underneath and it made a perfect landing on the newly made strip. The
craft appeared to be a large aircraft that had a far larger body than it
appeared its wings would support. The front folded open and more of the
armoured figures strode out. Out of the craft a large tank rolled. Its
back half was clearly a large container of some kind. As soon as it hit
the ground another just like it followed suit. The back of the container
trucks opened and the men gestured for them to get on board. A figure
with a strange clump of tanks with a nozzle attached stood to the side
of each truck. As the villagers climbed in, the contraption fired a
sticky mass of threads that tightly bound them. They did not have to be
warned against struggling as the first villager to get sprayed was very
nearly crushed as he struggled against the web of fibres.
	Lastly Bunnie hefted sonic onto her shoulder and carried him into the
truck before she was sprayed with the chemical. The doors of the trucks
swung shut with a resounding clang. The villagers were jostled as the
trucks reversed back into the belly of the craft. The children began to
whimper and the parents sat glassy eyed, rocking backwards and forwards.
Rotor looked at Sally and in an effort to cheer her up said.   " At
least it's not Butnik who did this." "We are not going to be
roboticized."
"What will happen to us then?" cried Sally.
	The roaring of the craft's engines drowned rotor's reply out. The
Villagers covered their ears and the youngsters began to scream. They
were thrown back towards the rear of the truck and a sensation in their
stomach told them that they were rising quickly.
	The upward journey seemed like an eternity of noise until the engines
suddenly cut out and the whole craft was silent. There was only the
slightest sensation of movement as the craft swung towards the great
doors beneath the Mothership.
There was no longer much gravity and the villagers often floated an inch
or two off the floor.
	As the craft entered the mighty doors the sensation of gravity
returned. It was far higher than Mobian gravity and Sally had to
struggle to stand up. The whole craft shook as it landed in the vast
ship and immediately the front opened and the trucks rolled out.
	The trucks travelled along wide steel-floored corridors amongst the
bowls of the ship for what seemed to the villagers like hours. They
finally stopped and the back of the truck holding sonic swung open.
Outsides were a medical team comprised of four unarmed humans who were a
lot shorter than their armoured counterparts. Another armoured figure
stood behind them except his armour was white and bore a double helix
emblem in red on the left shoulder. Two of the humans climbed into the
truck and gingerly lifted sonic onto a stretcher, being careful not to
touch his spines.
The white armoured figure signalled the driver of the truck, the back
slammed shut and it carried on.
"What are they going to do to him, what are they going to do." Blubbered
Sally.
"Please Sugar, you must hold together for the other villager's sake.
They depend on you to keep your head in a crisis like this."  Bunnie
said in an attempt to comfort Sally.
"You're right," Sally sobbed. "But I don't think I can solve this
Problem."

Chapter 4: Imprisoned

The trucks stopped for a second time and the backs swung open. "Out!"
ordered another black armoured human. He gestured with his gun and the
villagers filed out. "Single File!" barked the Human as they were led
towards a large steel door set into the wall of the corridor. The human
pushed a crystal he had on a chain around his neck into a slot in the
wall. 'ACCESS GRANTED' appeared on a LCD above the door. There was a
sound of hydraulics as the locking mechanism opened and the door slid
silently open.
"In!" the human growled, again gesturing with his gun. The villagers
were herded into
a large room beyond. In fact the room wasn't large it was huge. The
walls had many small doors set into them on all three of the other
sides. A huge window out of which all they could see was a vast expanse
of space dominated the ceiling. The walls were made of what appeared to
be highly polished white marble but a closer inspection showed it was a
form of super hard ceramic.
The door slid silently shut behind them and the hiss of hydraulics
returned. The LCD display now read 'DOOR LOCKED'. The gravity here was
more like normal Mobian levels and the villagers were able to stand
comfortably.
"R-Right," croaked Sally. "I think it would be best if we look around
and find out what we have here." The other villagers nodded, too stunned
by their ordeal to answer. They investigated the doors on the sides of
the large central atrium and found that they opened easily when a button
to the side of them was pressed. Each room was identical. The rooms were
large and well equipped with about four beds, a kitchen and a shower
each. There was a strange device on the wall that very closely resembled
a microwave but had a large digital clock above it. Rotor was the first
have a closer look at it. There was only one large button set centrally
below the device. When Rotor pressed it he nearly jumped out of his skin
when a computerised voice said. "Good Morning, what would you like for
Breakfast?"
"Err Fresh Fish?" rotor replied hesitantly.
"Please wait"
There was a strange slurping sound and bits of blue lightning flickered
inside the door. A minute later the door slid open and there was a fresh
fish platter in there.
"Enjoy your meal sir, Lunch is served from 1200 hours to 1500 hours.
Current time is 8:50."
Rotor stuck his head out of the door and shouted to Sally "Press the
button on the funny microwave thing!"
"Why, what does it do?"
"Gives you breakfast."

Chapter 5: Poor Sonic

Sonic began to come round. As he came round and his vision cleared he
saw that he was in a hospital room of some sort. The walls were a shiny
white plastic and the ceiling had been painted a light blue. Sonic tried
to roll over but he was tightly secured with heavy straps and his neck
was in a spinal collar. One side of his face was agonisingly warm and
his ribs ached. As he moved they made a grating noise and a bolt of pain
shot up his side. He stifled a scream and instead let out a low moan. At
that a nurse walked in holding a syringe. Sonic had never seen a female
human before and was astonished how unlike the males they were. The
nurse rolled back the cover and pressed the syringe into his arm.
"This will take away the pain dear, but you may fall asleep again." The
nurse whispered gently into his ear as she pressed home the plunger.
Sonic mouthed 'thankyou' to her and allowed himself to slip back to
sleep.
	He awoke later to find an ice pack attached to the side of his face
and the pain in his ribs gone. The straps had been removed but the spinal
collar was still firmly strapped round his neck. He swung his legs round
and tried to get out of bed. Barely able to keep his balance he sat back
down on the bed and tried again. He managed to stand up finally and
walked over to a small hand basin and looked at himself in the mirror.
One side of his face had gone a purple yellow colour and his eye was
red. The eye socket was still black and ached. Unable to bend his neck
he looked in the mirror to see his chest. His ribs were only a little
tender and were losing their angry colour.
	As he sat back down on the bed another nurse came in and said to him:
"Well, at least you're able to get up now. Feeling any better?"
"Yes thanks," Sonic said. "Can I have something to eat I'm starving."
"I suppose you are you've been out cold for three days but I'll have to
check with the doctor." The nurse left the room and Sonic's sensitive
hearing could just pick up the murmur of voices outside. One was the
nurse's and the other sounded like one of the armoured figures. He could
not hear what they were saying as the roar of blood in his ear drowned
it out.
	The nurse came back in about five minutes later and explained to sonic:
"We are only allowed to give you fluids and liquidated meals for a day
or two to see how you are recovering and anyway, I don't think you will
be able to chew very well."
She took a small bowl of brown liquid off her trolley and placed on a
tray that she swung across his bed. Sonic wrinkled his nose and sniffed
the bowl; it smelt quite strongly of chilli.
"We thought we'd better give you something you liked for you first
meal."
"How did you know?" enquired sonic.
"You were having a dream about it and were talking in your sleep about
chillidogs"
Shocked into silence sonic tasted the brown goo. It tasted okay so he
ate it.
"Hey slow down you'll make yourself sick"
Sonic belched and asked for a drink. The nurse poured him a glass of
water and took his bowl away. Sonic made himself comfortable again and
managed to doze off again.

Chapter 6: Always testing.

The other villagers were awoken the next morning at the unreasonable
hour of 6.30. There was a voice over the intercom which announced that
they would undergo a range of tests today and it is important that they
co-operate at all times. They were filed out of the doors and into
another truck where they were given a number that was made as a bar code
on their left wrist. As they approached the first test they were
separated into groups to undergo different tests.
	Sally's first test was a machine about the size of a large TV set with
a hole in the side. Sally was ordered to place her arm in the side. As
she did the device grabbed her arm and held it firmly. Sally screamed as
she felt a sharp stab in the side of her arm. The machine released her
arm and she found a small hole just above the elbow.
She was given a dressing to cover it. After her wound had been dressed
she heard the machine say "Analysis of skin, hair, blood, bone and
muscle tissue complete." Sally heard similar shrieks from the other
groups as Bunnie steeped up behind her. The villagers next passed
through a bank of green energy bars. When they reached the other side
they saw a picture of themselves in full 3D scan.
Ahead four human scientists dressed in full-length medical gear were
quibbling over some data. All Sally was able to catch was "notify the
Emperor" before they dispersed.
	Sally felt a tap on her shoulder, she turned round and found Sonic
grinning lopsidedly at her.
"Sonic! What happened to your face?"
"I think it was some maniac with the butt of a gun but most of it's just
bruising and I've lost a tooth."
"Thank the stars!" cried Sally as she hugged him. "I thought they would
have hurt you."
"Well, trying to eat liquidised chillidogs is torture enough." Sally
laughed and kissed him on the nose. It was a short moment as the guards
soon took them back to the trucks.
"Where are we going now?" Sally managed to ask the guard.
"You have been granted an audience with their high Excellencies the
Emperor and Empress of the great galactic empire."

Chapter 7: An audience

The back of the truck opened and released the Mobians into a vast marble
plaza that was surmounted by a vast crystal dome that gazed into space.
They walked down a long pavement made of black stone. Flanking the
pavement were more of the armoured humans who stood rigidly to attention
carrying vast halberds with a gun muzzle poking out of the end of it. As
they approached the end of the pavement the villagers saw two guards
standing either side of an adamantium gateway. The site of these guards
shocked the villagers: they were large and heavily built like the others
and wore the standard black armour. But they wore no helmets and they
were not human but were black furred hedgehogs that bore a striking
resemblance to Sonic.
They stood rigidly to attention but Sonic could have sworn they looked
puzzled when they saw him.
	The Villagers were ushered into a small hall by a short fussy little
man with a ginger moustache like ol' Butnik and yellow teeth. They were
told that a select group of four would be able to meet the Royal couple.
Sally volunteered herself, Sonic, Tails and Bunnie. The foursome were
walked into a vast chamber very similar to the entranceway and sat in
four very plush chairs. A door slid open and the great rulers walked in.


Chapter 8: Enough surprises

Sonic was getting quite used to being shocked but nothing had prepared
him for this. The Emperor was a huge man wearing highly ornate black
armour with a lion rampant on the shoulder. The Empress, however, was
the most beautiful female hedgehog Sonic had ever seen. Her skin was a
deep pink in colour and she was dressed in layered silks. The strangest
thing was that, unlike the emperor who strode strongly across the floor,
she floated gently about a foot up in the air. Like the rest of the high
ranking persons aboard she was much bigger than Sonic and could be seen
to be close to six foot tall, although she was dwarfed by the vast
Emperor.
Sally, trying her best not to gawk, curtsied in the way she had been
taught when she was a young girl. Bunnie followed suit although it was
difficult with steel legs. Sonic and Tails tried their best to bow
formally but it was not quite right.
"Please be seated," the pink hedgehog whispered her voice sounding like
a choir of a hundred angels. "I am Empress Tatayana of the Great
Galactic Empire and this is my husband Sanguintus."
"Thankyou Empress," Sally said while trying to glare at Sonic out of the
corner of her eye as he crossed and recrossed his legs with a pained
expression on his face. "May I be so bold to ask why our Village was
captured and why you are firing on our cities?"
"We are attempting to capture a member of a large rebel band who
disappeared in this sector about fifty years ago along with the rest of
his group. They are wanted for great crimes against the empire and for
damage to the space time continuum. We have discovered through our
research that the leader of the group is long dead in a war against his
own splinter group aided by the Mobian peoples."
Sonic could hold it no longer, he barged in with a question: "How comes
the Emperor is a human and you are a hedgehog," he asked.
The Emperor sank into a chair and said, "It's a long story."

Chapter 9: Project Genesis

"Long ago," the Emperor began. "When faster than light travel was still
in its infancy, Human scientists devised a project to house people who
were being driven off ancient Terra by the heavy pollution. They could
find no suitable planets nearby so they embarked on a project now known
as genesis 2. There was a large moon orbiting a gas giant known as
Saturn in the Sol system. The moon had the perfect ingredients for life
but was too cold. Its name was titan. Using their knowledge of the
galaxy gathered by the vast telescopes on the dark side of earth's moon
we found a solar system on the far edge of the galaxy, deep in the
eastern spiral arm. All that was missing was a planet in the primary
biosphere. The scientists buried four huge chunks of rare material known
to you as chaos emeralds under the surface. They then used the power
contained within to warp space-time and move titan to the desired
location. The planet was then seeded with algae to terraform the
atmosphere. Once the biosphere had stabilised we fired capsules
containing highly modified human DNA into the primordial swamps. The
project appeared to be successful until we found we had underestimated 
the warping power the Emeralds would have."
The Emperor made a strange gesture with his hands and a hologram of a gene
strand appeared in front of him.
"The modified DNA was human with an extra sequence lying alongside as a
natural data bank of DNA. The DNA was that of many earth animals so that
the species could be recreated at a later date. However, the warping
power of the emeralds caused the two gene strands to fuse forming a
hybrid of human and the animal DNA carried on the strand."
"What, you mean we're mutant humans?" Sonic asked.
"To put it bluntly, yes."
"But why take a hedgehog as a wife?"
The Emperor gestured and the gene strand changed again. "The pure breed
human is still genetically compatible with the animal hybrid due to the
form the mutation had, generally the dominant part being the human
strand, especially amongst mammals. The scientists interbred with the
first creatures to emerge and founded a race of hybrid human and
marsupial spiny anteaters that are also known as Echidnas. They dug the
emeralds out of the surface and used them to build the floating island.
Then a great warp storm closed the space-time tunnel between Mobius and
earth. The echidnas panicked and prepared a fleet of ships to leave the
planet. Knowing the power of the emeralds they left a guardian dynasty
of red skinned Echidnas to protect the emeralds."
Sonic sat wide-eyed listening to the Emperors tale. He found it hard to
shake off the feeling that because of this he was not natural, he felt
like a thing.
"The tunnel between the worlds had closed but from time to time it would
open and pluck a female hedgehog from the surface and transport her to
earth. The tunnels opening always coincides with the death of the
previous Emperor and therefore the hedgehogs chosen husband becomes the
next Emperor."
Sally looked at Empress Tatayana and asked her "So you are a Mobian like
me and Sonic?"
She replied "Not quite, before I was taken through the great divide I
was a warrior princess of a tribe in the area now covered by that city.
When the tunnel seized me I found myself on a strange metal planet that
I was to later find out was Earth. I did not understand why I was
receiving so much attention. I tried to hide but fell from a starscraper
balcony. Sanguintus caught me and he explained to me the Terran custom
of the Mobian Empress. I agreed to marry him and we became the Ruling
couple. We had to undergo intense surgery and gene manipulation to
become what we are today. All the armoured humans aboard this craft are
the Emperor's guard and are heavily modified to make them perfect
soldiers. The effect of the surgery on humans is a massive increase in
bulk, strength, speed, resilience and the speed of their reflexes. The
effect on the female Hedgehog is to unlock the incredible psionic powers
contained within the hedgehog gene strand."
"So that's how you were able to levitate over here."
"One of my lesser talents," she shrugged. "I was also the one who told
the medical department that you like chilli."
"But they said I spoke about it in my sleep." Spluttered sonic.
"No I read your mind and soothed your troubled spirit, I also lent a
hand in healing that broken rib of yours."
 "I wondered how that happened so quickly."
"But you still haven't answered why you attacked the planet."
The Emperor altered the hologram once again. It showed a strange device
made of Gold rings inside which six of the chaos emeralds orbited.
"This is the R.O.C.C., the Retro Orbital Chaos Compressor. It was
designed and built by an eminent young scientist called Dr Julian Ovi
Kintobor. It was built to protect Mobius from warp storms that had
recently been gathering. It used chaos emeralds as devices in which to
store the evil energy in a warp storm. The device was efficient but
unstable. In an unknown accident while the Dr was holding a rotten egg
the power of the Emeralds were able to damage the normally immune human
gene strand and entirely reversed his physical and mental
characteristics, whilst combining them with an egg. He became known as
Dr Julian Ivo Robotnik and joined a band of rebels who had been
pillaging areas in the Eastern spiral. Robotnik developed the main
designs for the Roboticizer whilst the rebels were fleeing from the
navy. They then used a new design of Sub-Light drives to outpace us and
hide in the Mobian nebula cluster. The intense warp storms prevented us
from using our warp drives to follow them and we could not find where
they had hidden. The band, later to become known as the 'Outlanders'
used the Mobian cluster to raid nearby systems. Our fleets slowly
whittled them down until they no longer emerged from the cluster."
The Emperor paused and rolled his broad shoulders.
"We then found that Robotnik used contacts to cause the assassination of
my father by warping time so he was far back in the past when he
organised his assassination. My father was found with a poison blade in
the back of his head and, as I am now Emperor, it is my unfortunate task
to bring the punishment onto him."
Tatayana suddenly clutched her head and screamed before she collapsed on
the floor.
The Emperor caught her as she fell. "What's wrong my dear?!?"
The door at the end of the room burst open and two of the black
Hedgehogs raced in at a speed sonic would be impressed with.
"What is wrong father?" asked one.
"What is wrong with mother?" asked the other. "Is she not well?"
"Call a medical team and prepare the resus room."
The two hedgehogs raced to the door where they bolted out past the
guards.
Suddenly Tatayana's eyes flickered open and she started breathing again.
"Robotnik's gone," she said breathlessly. "I can't find him, he just,
just, vanished."
"How could he escape again after I had found him!" Howled the Emperor.
"No, he has not escaped nor met his fate," she whispered. "He is no
longer part of the Universe but he did not leave it. The quest for our
vengeance will be eternal."
With that she fainted again although she carried on breathing.
"What happened?" asked sonic.
"Psychic feedback from an impossibility will do that to you."
"Were those two hedgehogs really your sons?" asked Bunnie wide eyed now.

"Yes, that is why they are marked with black fur and spines."
Sonic slumped into his chair, Robotnik had gone but who would replace
him.
" You will have to find your leader from amongst you." Professed the
Emperor. "Tell the guards that you have direct permission to be taken to
the planetary surface and released. You have a whole world to rebuild.

Epilogue

The villagers returned to find Robotropolis a smouldering ruin of
twisted metal and molten concrete. The forests nearby had incinerated in
the vast fires. Most of Knothole was still standing and plants had
covered the landing strip already. The Mobians finally realised that
they had a Universal Purpose and it was their duty simply to survive

To be continued? 


Next part of the Origin of Mobius series

All is foreseen

Sonic sat chewing a chillidog, Sally was looking over a map of one of
Robotnik's new facilities, and Rotor was out front repairing a
hover-board. Life was as normal for Knothole.
"Nicole, scan map into holographic format." Said sally as she tugged the
small machine out of her belt.
"Accessing. , Commencing scan now."
A thin band of light flickered over the map a few times and a building
layout appeared above in a ghostly green hologram.
"Hey Nicole, you got any other colours there, I'm trying to eat here."
Sonic said. The hologram immediately flicked into blue. "Perfect!"
"Sally, receiving external transmission from unknown source. Message
download time estimated at five minutes. All systems shifting to receive
mode."
Sonic looked quizzically at the little grey box. The hologram had
flicked out and a complex series of numbers scrolled across the screen.
"Odd," said Sally. "Nicole doesn't usually shut down to receive
messages. On second thoughts, where is the message coming from."
" I think this is going to be a rare occasion where I say we are just
going to have to wait." Said Sonic as he lazily stretched out onto the
couch.
	Sonic and Sally sat quiet for what seemed like an eternity as figures
shot past on Nicole's screen. Nicole bleeped and made Sally jump.
"Message download complete Sally. Preparing playback.."
There was a crackle of static and suddenly a deep voice rang out of
Nicole's speakers.
"Freedom fighters of Mobius, this is a priority one message from his
Excellency the Lord high emperor of man."
A second voice came in now, it was the voice of the Emperor they had met
previously aboard his Star cruiser.
"Your highness Alicia and Sonic Hedgehog. Do not question how I know you
will be the ones to hear this message as you will find out soon enough.
Robotnik has returned as you already know and he is once again becoming
a threat. I have discovered that it is not possible for us to mount a
full-scale invasion so I have sent a small unit of five of the Black
Company to aid you in your efforts. They also carry with them sufficient
munitions to arm your village. They will find you themselves. The
Empress and I myself will join them in our spirit forms as we have many
additional problems to attend to. This message will be logged in memory
until further requirement. May fate be with you."
The message abruptly ended and Nicole beeped again. The previous map
reappeared.
Sonic and Sally looked at each other wide-eyed. Sally was the first to
break the silence:
"Umm, what do you think?"
"This is too screwy for words," said Sonic as he shook his head. "I
mean, it was enough that he knew it was gonna be us in the room but I'm
sure you didn't say your Royal name was Alicia."
"Search me," replied Sally.
Sonic's hearing suddenly picked up the far distant sound of gunfire.
"Hear that?"
"What?" replied Sally.
"Sounds like automatic fire on the other side of South Island. I'm gonna
check it out!"
He left in a cloud of dust as he finished.
"Sonic., unnnnnnhhh".

Sonic reached his destination in a few minutes. The sound of gunfire had
stopped but now he could hear heavy rapid footfalls and heavy breathing
as something large crashed through the forest. Suddenly a human burst
from the trees to the left of him and stumbled over a tree branch. He
looked into a patch of empty space. His eyes wide in terror he aimed a
machine pistol into it and emptied off a clip. He stood up and backed
away screaming insanely, "get away from me!" He promptly turned tail and
ran further into the forest towards knothole. Sonic decided to follow
behind him. The nutcase did not stop running until he ran straight into
the centre of Knothole about two hours later. Light was fading fast and
the sun cast a red shadow on the horizon.
"Help me, please help me!" the man gasped as he ran into the village
clearing.
"Yo,  crazy dude, what for?" said Sonic as he jogged up beside him.
"From that!" He pointed towards the edge of the forest where there was a
patch which was darker than the rest. It seemed to flicker gently in the
wind and Sonic swore he saw two pinpoints of red light staring at him.
The sun finally slid out of sight and dusk appeared to come all too
quickly.
"I'll take you inside." Said Sonic. He followed him but kept his eyes on
the dark patch, he was certain it had become more solid. He closed the
door behind him and locked it. The man was shaking and had gone a
deathly white. His eyes bulged out of his head and his pistol slipped
out of his grasp to clatter onto the floor.
"We're doomed," he said. "Once it gets dark he will come for me."
"Look, calm down dude there was nothing out there, and it won't be dark
for another hour yet." Said Sonic
"I wouldn't be so sure," said the man. "Look!" The sky was already dark
and covered
with thick clouds that hadn't been there before. A thick mist crept
across the ground
and coiled around the houses. A deathly silence fell over the village
and Sonic
 felt his skin crawl as tiny ice crystals formed on the window panes.
The man stared
fixedly at the door, his lower jaw was trembling now. He picked up the
pistol and slid
another clip into place. Suddenly, Sonic heard a footstep and the clank
of armour. The footsteps approached the door and stopped. Sonic tried to
ready himself but
found he was frozen in fear. From outside came a sudden bestial roar.
The windows
exploded inwards and the door shattered into tiny splinters of wood
which hung in
mid air for a second before raining to the floor. The door frame was
filled by an
immense patch of pure blackness which billowed like a cloak. Two
hate-filled red
eyes stared piercingly at the man. He was burbling now. The figure
strode forward,
the cloak vanishing like mist on a sunny day as it entered the room.
Sonic felt his
chest gripped by a freezing chill and his heart hammered against his
ribs. The figure
was an immense skeleton clad in rusting armour and carrying a vast black
axe. It
spoke to the man and Sonic felt icy nails scrape his skin.
"You are deluded to think you can escape me Andras, no one can escape me
when I
seek justice for the crimes you have committed."  The voice sounded like
a nest of angry snakes but was a whisper like the rustling of sere
leaves.
"Noooooo!" screamed Andras as he levelled his pistol and emptied the
clip once again. The bullets passed right through the ghostly figure and
made large hole in the wall. The figure strode forward again and reached
out with one hand. The hand passed into the Andras' chest and he gave a
muted squawk He was lifted up to eye level with the beast and he stared
right into his glowing eyes.
"Andras, look at me. Do you know what it is like to be tortured to death
Andras? To be flayed alive on the altars of evil gods? To be cast into
pits of boiling metal? You must have some knowledge of this as you
expected the billions of souls on Calahrax primus to undergo this and
since you have killed many more than anything is worth I will send you
so that the souls may have their revenge upon you."
With that Andras screamed and began to writhe. His hair fell out and his
skin shrivelled. He carried on screaming until only a fleshless skeleton
remained and that too crumbled to dust. The figure turned to look
directly at Sonic, its eyes had dulled and it cloaked itself again. It
spoke to him :
"I presume you have received the message Sonic," it whispered. "The
Black company will arrive tomorrow. Tell Alicia that you have seen the
spirit form."
The figure faded and disappeared, the clouds rolled back and the
temperature returned to normal. Sonic looked at the door and found that
it and the windows were intact again. The only sign that anything had
happened was a set of smouldering clothes, an empty pistol and some
bullet holes in the wall. Sonic shook himself and found his hands
trembling. He sat down on a chair and clutched his head, it was beaded
with cold sweat. His heart was now slowing down but it was still jumpy
and his breathing was fetch and miss. He tried to get his head round
what had just happened.
"Okay Sonic, get a grip. It said something about the message and"
Suddenly Sonic twigged. He stood up quickly and walked over to the sink.
"So that's a spirit form huh?" he said to his reflection. "I just hope
the female of the species is less deadly." He joked to himself. He
studied himself and splashed cold water onto his face. His spikes were
nearly vertical on the back of his head and he smoothed them down with a
trembling hand. He grabbed a towel and wiped off the sweat and water. He
was still quite pale and his eyes were still wide. He opened the door
and tried to walk as calmly as possible over to Sally's hut. He knocked
gently on her door.
"Door's open." Sally said from within. Sonic pushed the door open and
walked in. Sally sat at her dresser and noticed Sonic in the mirror and
she spun round to face him.
"Sonic!" she exclaimed. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."
"I think I have," he said. "Remember the last part of the message about
the spirit form?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"I just had one walk in and make some nutcase dissolve into dust and
leave his clothes behind."
"Who?" Sally said as she gripped the edge of her chair.
"I saw a human running away from something in the far woods. He ran
straight into knothole and I took him inside. Then suddenly the whole
sky goes dark and there is a major temperature change."
"I thought it had got a bit chilly." Said Sally.
"I had ice on my windows! But anyway this massive skeleton blows the
door away and walks in. He starts talking to this guy about torture and
crime and then he put his hand right into him and the guy just
disintegrated. Then he started talking to me about the message and said
the Black company will arrive tomorrow and that I should tell you about
it. He said to tell you that I had seen a spirit form. This is too
confusing."
Sally took Sonic's hand and looked him straight in the eye.
"You're sure about all this Sonic?"
"Surer about this than anything else."
"What do you think we should do about tomorrow, do you think we should
tell the others?"
"Naw, keep them in suspense." Sonic joked.
"Very funny, but I don't think it will be an ideal welcome if we all
hide from them or someone starts shooting them."
"I'll just have to keep a good lookout then won't I."
"Go get some sleep Sonic, you look tired."
"But.."
"Don't argue with me and go, you're too tired to argue properly."
Sonic shrugged and walked out.
"Goodnight Sonic."
"G'night Sal."

Sonic woke early the next morning after a terrible nightmare. He had had
a vivid dream where he had seen a young female fox tortured to death.
The dream had seemed so vivid and everything had appeared real and
solid. The worst part were her pleading eye's and the way she had begged
him for help but he was unable to give it.
Sonic looked around himself and felt reassured that it was only a
nightmare. As Sonic stood up he noticed a folded piece of red paper on
his bedside table. He picked it up and unfolded it. His blood was
chilled when he read it:
"The dream is not merely a nightmare but a vision of the past, you will
find out why later." The lettering was a gothic script in blue ink and
as he watched it faded before his eyes and disappeared.
"I'm losing it, really losing it." He said to himself.
The sun was just rising over the horizon and a pale band of sunlight
filled the northern sky. Sonic pulled on his gloves and sneakers and
walked outside. The air was still moist from the night before. He
noticed a strange pile of leaves in the middle of the clearing. Sonic
was compelled to look at them and saw that they spelt out listen before
being blown away on a gentle wind Sonic strained his hearing and heard
the distant whine of turbojets. He could not pinpoint the location but
could see they came from the mountains. He waited and the sound became
louder as they approached. Sonic's impatience got the better of him and
he ran towards the source of the sound. He had only just run through a
short patch of wood when he saw a strange black craft barrelling through
the woods. The craft was pointed at the front but quite wide at the base
and had the appearance that it was seriously streamlined. It was almost
featureless apart from a tinted cockpit at the front which sat flush
with the body. It hovered well above the ground and an electric blue
exhaust trail roared out of the back. It seemed to spot Sonic as it
abruptly made a near right angled turn and sped towards him. Sonic
watched it approach and was almost ready to jump out of the way when it
suddenly halted right in front of him. He now saw that it was nearly
eighty feet long and thirty feet at the base. He was surprised to see
the cockpit pop up and an armoured figure stand up. The figure flipped a
catch on the side of his helmet and lifted it up. It was one of the
black-furred hedgehogs he had seen previously.
"You Sonic Hedgehog?" It shouted.
"How many of you are there?" he shouted back.
"Five as in the message you should have got."
"Then yeah I'm Sonic."
"Knothole is over there then, am I correct?"
"Yep"
"Need a ride?"
"No thanks, I'd rather walk." Said Sonic as he looked suspiciously at
the sleek black craft. "And I have to warn the other villagers about you
coming so they don't start shooting you."
The figure nodded and leant down into the craft and said something to
someone in the craft.
"You've got ten minutes until we arrive so I suggest you hurry."
Sonic had left before he finished.

"Rise and shine everybody!" shouted Sonic as he ran to every house in
Knothole.
Various villagers opened their doors whilst still dressing or otherwise.

"Yo Sal!" Sonic shouted. "We got visitors!" There was no answer. "Sal up
and at 'em!" he shouted as he pounded on the door. Still nothing. "Sal,
open up!"
Sonic tried the handle, it was unlocked and he pushed the door open.
Sally was lying twisted in her bed as if she was in pain and she twisted
and rolled. Sonic went to touch her but she suddenly woke up, her eyes
wide.
"Wh-where am I?" she said.
"Welcome to the land of the living."
"I think I was having a terrible nightmare about being burnt alive."
"Explain later, for now we have more pressing business in the form of
that Black company unit. We got ten minutes until they arrive, no sorry,
make that eight."
Sally jumped out of bed and began running around like a headless
chicken. Sonic resolved himself to waking the others.
As the craft slid slowly into Knothole clearing the villagers had
hastily gathered into a group with Sonic and Sally at the front. Tails
was hiding behind Sonic, cradling a Laser Blaster in his trembling paws.
With a hiss of compressed air the craft came to rest in the centre of
the clearing. A door unfolded down the side and four armoured figures
strode out. As Sonic had seen before they were huge and wore black
armour but they had removed their helmets and Sonic could see what they
were. There were two of the black-furred hedgehogs and two humans. They
were followed by an obviously female hedgehog who only stood about six
foot tall and wore a fully covering black shiny catsuit, she was
different also in that she was a warm pink coloration. The armoured
members carried the easily recognisable snub-nosed guns but the female
carried a slim rifle. One of the black hedgehogs had gold trim on his
black armour and he strode forward and took Sally's hand. He dropped to
one knee to kiss it and stood up again.
"Greetings free peoples of Mobius. We have been sent here to aid you in
your quest to overthrow the evil Robotnik. Your highness," he said
directly to Sally. "I present to you the first unit of the Black
company. I am captain Michala."
"Thank you," said Sally, not used to all the attention. "I presume you
have met Sonic and these are the villagers of Knothole." Sally proceeded
to introduce some of the more important village members.
"The supplies are in the kestrel. It is vital that we hurry with the off
load."
"Okay." Said Sally.
The four armoured figures walked towards the kestrel. The back opened,
ramp dropped and they went inside. They came out a few minutes later
carrying a huge crate each which they carefully put down at the end of
the ramp. The female walked along lifting the tops off with a crowbar.
After twenty four crates had been unloaded, Michala beckoned the
villagers over.


The crates were full of weapons, ammunition and medical supplies. The
first crate contained about fifty short barrelled silver guns. Michala
pulled one out and gestured for Sally to look at it.
"This is an AV50 Mk 9 laser assault rifle, one of the toughest and most
versatile weapons we make. It's powered by thermal rechargeable energy
cells and has respectable power and rate of fire. It's easy to use and,
having no moving parts, very unlikely to jam in the middle of a
firefight."
  He took a power pack and slotted it into the bottom of the gun.
"Stand back please."
He aimed the gun at a tree and squeezed the trigger. A short burst of
red laser bolts jumped to the tree and blew a sizeable hole in it.
Michala tossed the gun over to Sonic and said:
"Your turn."
Sonic sighted up on the same tree and fired. He was surprised at the
lack of recoil compared to the destruction it had caused.
"I would have thought that this would have more recoil on it."
"Of course it has no recoil. It's not firing anything, just shining an
albeit powerful beam of light at the target."
Rotor butted in:
"What did you mean by thermal cells?"
Michala unclipped the power-pack and showed him the side. It was covered
in a fine black mesh.
"This is a 95% efficient absorber of heat and light energy. You just
leave the pack in strong sunlight for a few hours and it'll be fully
charged. In desperate situations you can speed up the charge time by
putting it in a fire, although I wouldn't recommend it."
"Cool!"
Michala looked over to another crate and said:
"Ah! The medical supplies, I'd better deal with those, Azarlan will help
you distribute these. Ho! Meathead."
The larger of the two humans walked over. "I've told you not to call me
that rich boy, anyway what do you want me to do?"
"Make sure every villager gets a rifle and two power packs, oh and show
them how to use them."
The human nodded and began handing out the weapons to people nearby.
Michala strolled over to the medical crate, picked up a small object
made of metal and glass and held it up to the light to look through. He
replaced it and picked up a phial of blue liquid which he again looked
through. He turned around to see Sally walking up to him from behind.
"Do you have a Doctor or a medic in your village?" he asked.
"Yeah, but Doctor Quack is on an expedition to find some replacement
purple clary sage for something, he'll be gone for another week at
least."
"Good job I can fill in for him then."
"What? You trained?"
"Full class battle medic and cardio-surgeon. I chose to do it as my
secondary skill."
"Why?"
"Got the hands for it," he said, pulling off his gloves to show that he
had quite long thin fingers compared to the size of his palm. "Most of
us have got short stubby fingers so they go in for mechanics and
communication."
"What is all this stuff?"
"This is enough equipment and supplies to run a full surgery for six
months under heavy patient load. Most of it is far beyond your medical
knowledge but some is just your basic hormones like adrenaline and your
plasters and dressings, right up to   nano-tech self repair drones."
"What are they?"
"They're injected into the bloodstream, these microscopic robots and
they remove damaged tissue, replace missing tissue and synthesise
chemicals to aid the immune system."
"How do they work?"
"How am I supposed to know? I'll just take this lot into.. where did you
say the surgery was?"
Sally laughed. "Over there."

Later on, when the sun was past its zenith and the day had begun to
cool, four of the black company, Sonic and Bunnie were standing in the
kestrel near two large padded chairs which were tilted back at 60.
The chairs were wired into a small computer console with thick armoured
cables.
"Umm, so what are these supposed to do then?" Bunnie asked.
"They are a neural network combat training device. It allows fully
immersing virtual reality combat simulation using your abilities to the
full without causing yourself damage. Care to give it a go?"
"Yeah okay," said Sonic. "How do I use it?"
"Get into the chair and the process is fully automated."
Sonic jumped into the chair and laid back. His ankles, wrists and neck
were immediately secured by metallic straps which coiled out of slots on
the side.
"Hey!!!"
"Prepare yourself for a little prick in the neck."
Sonic felt a needle slide into his neck and then he felt as if he was
passing out. He heard a sharp whistling and opened his eyes to see he
was in a large white room with a padded floor. He heard a crackle of
static and Bunnie appeared beside him, although her robotic parts were
missing.
A voice came over them:
"Sorry about that Bunnie, I'll just correct that for you."
Bunnies robot parts materialised and she flexed them contentedly.
 The voice over came again:
"Okay, your first training session will be mid range shooting. You will
have to attack a large group of SWATbots with prisoners. They will fight
back and your goal is to destroy as many bots as you can in two minutes
without causing damage to the prisoners."
A laser rifle appeared in their hands.
"Sounds easy enough."
	There was a computerised whistling sound and a crackle of static. Then
50 SWATbots appeared in front of them. Some of the bots were holding
chains which were connected to collars around the necks of chains of
prisoners.
"Time to fry some bot but!" shouted Sonic. He aimed the Laser rifle and
pulled the trigger. The first blast of bolts cleaved straight through
the chests of two bots and knocked down one bot standing behind him.
Bunnie sighted up carefully and took the head off a bot who was holding
one of the chains. The prisoners immediately began running towards them.

"No don't!" screamed Sonic.
The SWATbots aimed a salvo of laser bolts at Sonic and Bunnie. But
instead their shots piled into the back of the fleeing prisoners. They
screamed and fell down, the other prisoners trying to drag them along
suffered the same fate and Sonic's nose was assaulted by the stench of
burning flesh. Sonic took a second to glance at Bunnie who took a shot
full in the chest and exploded.
"Player Two dead." Came a metallic voice.
"F*ck this" Sonic muttered under his breath.
Sonic ran behind the advancing bots and firing a long burst from the
rifle into their backs. As they turned Sonic jumped onto the back of one
and flipped it's firing arm around to shoot at its comrades. Four
dropped to the ground. Sonic smashed the bot's head in with the butt of
his rifle. Sonic then back-flipped out as two of the robots ran into
each other and exploded in a shower of sparks.
"How many left!?"
"About twenty bots and 60% of the prisoners."
Sonic dodged a bolt of light and ran behind a bot which was promptly
shot by the others. He ran full circle round the bots, firing off short
bursts as he went. He then ran off away from them. He dropped to one
knee to take aim. He hit two bots with the first salvo. Another five
dropped to the next. Sonic ran back towards the bots dodging laser bolts
and firing off short blasts. Sonic jumped into a spin attack and hit the
last bot full in the chest. It promptly exploded. Sonic stood panting
for a moment as the destroyed bots and prisoners vanished. The lights
dimmed to black and a score screen appeared in front of Sonic. It gave
his score, 42 bots, 25 casualties Training passed at demerit.
Suggest trainee attempts course again.
"What, I iced those bots!"
"Yeah but you let 25 people die. That's why it passed you as you're
pretty good at taking out bots. I'll move you on to the next session to
save time." Came the voice.
"Oh, what's that then?"
"Unarmed hand-to-hand combat."
"I don't have to fight more bots do I?"
"Nope,  you fight me."
Michala materialised beside Sonic in a black Judo kit. The room had
become a large pagoda. Sonic looked at himself, he was wearing a blue
robe.
"Firstly," Michala said. "We have to insert a fighting style into your
mind."
"Come again?"
"Saves you learning it. Computer, calculate suitable fighting style for
subject Hedgehog Sonic."
"Drakghan wasp fighting is considered to match ability." Said a metallic
female voice.
"Insert bio program."
"Whoa!" cried Sonic as he felt a powerful shock in the back of his neck.
He writhed in mid air for a moment before landing on his feet.
"Cool, I know some weird fighting moves now!"
"Okay Sonic, I want you to relax for a minute to allow the bio program
to initialise. I was surprised when the computer selected this style as
I learn a different version myself."
"What's that then?"
"Drakghan bear claw fighting. It's similar but a bit more defensive and
reliant on a fair amount of strength. It uses the upper body most of the
time, the legs being used for stability and low kicks."
Sonic flexed his arm and suddenly he began to learn moves and reflexes
that he had never seen before. He flipped himself upright and said:
"Shall we begin?"
"If you insist."
They walked to the centre of the pagoda where two white bars had
appeared on the floor. Michala stood behind one and Sonic stood behind
the other. A small set of digits appeared in the air between them.
"Three.Two.One.Begin!" Came the voice.
Sonic drew back a little, jumped into the air, and aimed a double footed
kick at Michala. Michala dropped to all fours and sprang up to headbut
Sonic in the side. Sonic felt the wind knocked out of him but he was
able to land on his feet at the end of his jump. Michala had dropped low
and rushed him, one hand held above his head with fingers spread. Sonic
just avoided the sweeping hand and jumped away as his other thudded deep
into the floor. Sonic jumped into the air again and flailed with his
legs. He caught Michala in the side of his head. Michala growled and
lashed out with his left hand Catching Sonic a wicked blow on the side
of his head. Sonic saw stars dance before his eyes and was hard pressed
to avoid an overhead blow which shattered a floor-board. Sonic jumped up
and kicked Michala square in the face. It was enough to knock him over
backwards. Sonic jumped into the air for another two footed kick. As he
shot towards him, Michala grabbed his legs and flung him hard against a
wall. Sonic was temporarily stunned and Michala elbow dropped him. Sonic
felt a sharp burst of pain and then everything went black. Sonic woke
with a start back in the chair. He felt the needles retract from his
spine and he sat up. Michala was sitting in the other chair.
"I think I died." Sonic said.
"You did, but you did well enough for a novice so I'll pass you on that
one as well."
"Do I still remember what I learnt in there?"
"Of course you do, that's what this things for."
"Oh"
"Next!"
Bunnie sat into the chair Sonic had just got out of and Michala laid
back into his chair.
"Watch over here." Said one of the Black Company, pointing to a
Holographic display on the side of the Computer. He watched what seemed
an incredibly fast play of what happened. Michala pounced as soon as the
fight started and tore Bunnie into two halves.
"Ouch, that has gotta hurt." Said Sonic.
"Shows how well you did then doesn't it," said Michala as he sat up.
"Most trainees don't even hit me before I get them."
"Oww, what hit me?" Said Bunnie as she sat up in her chair.
"I think it was me."
"So much for me supposedly knowing that fighting style thing."
"You just got beaten by someone with a lot more experience and
strength."
"Oh goody!"
Sonic walked outside to see a pile of Laser power packs lying in the
sun. Some villagers were examining their new toys. Some were shooting
them at target set up against the trees. Azarlan was cleaning his gun
and was in the process of putting it back together. He slid the end of a
belt of ammo into the bottom of it and looked down the kick sight. Sonic
sauntered over to him.
"What are the guns you armoured dudes have got?"
"This is a Wyvern assault gun. Very powerful, very expensive and very
rare."
"Why is that?"
"It's all to do with the bullets, they are self propelled and contain
mass reactive plastique. The ends are tipped with einsteinium held in
thrall by a micro-stasis field so the einsteinium undergoes total
radioactive decay when it hits the target. It melts its way through a
lot of armour."
"What are they like to use."
"They are very difficult to learn to use and the recoil can shatter your
ribs if you're not careful. But when you need it, this baby never lets
you down. It also packs a hell of a punch, watch."
He aimed the gun at the tree and squeezed off a single round which blew
a tree trunk into match-wood.
"Cool! Can I have a go."
"I don't think so, you might jerk the gun round and kill somebody."
"D'oh!"

Later in the day, as the sun was setting and splaying red beams across
the horizon. Sonic was beginning to feel hungry, although he had
demolished a plate of chillidogs only half an hour ago. Sally was
reading something and chewing on the end of a pencil as she laid on her
bed. There was a knock at the door. Sally rolled of her bed to answer
it. Michala was at the door.
"Greetings your highness, we would like to invite you and Sonic for a
meal in our craft."
"Oh yes we'd love to," said Sally. "Just give me a while to sort myself
out."
Sonic pricked up his ears at the prospect of food and turned round in
his chair.
"Okay, we'll see you later Sally." Replied Michala.
Michala walked out and closed the door behind himself.
"Just at the right time, I was just starting to get hungry."
Sally grabbed a pillow off her bed and threw it at Sonic.
"You're always hungry, no wonder you're a Hedge Hog!"
"Well I can't help that can I." Smirked Sonic.
"I must go and get myself sorted," said Sally. "So do you Sonic. Out,
out!"
"Hey!" protested Sonic.
"Go clean your sneakers or something." Said Sally as she closed the door
behind him.
"Fine!" shouted Sonic.
Sonic just finished smoothing down his spines and cleaning his sneakers
when Sally knocked at the door. Sonic was impressed by what he saw.
Sally had found a dress which actually fitted and was looking stunning.
"Puts me to shame." Sonic muttered.
"It'd better," she replied. "It took me ages to find this, I hope this
impresses." She said as she gave him a quick twirl.
"I think you look wonderful."
"At last, a compliment."
Sonic laughed and put his arm around Sally's shoulder to kiss her.
"Get off! You'll smudge the blusher!"
Sonic pretended to look hurt and was rewarded with a pinch on the arm.
"Come on, Sonic. We've spent long enough keeping them waiting as it is."
Sonic and Sally walked over to the kestrel. Two of the black company,
Azarlan and the other hedgehog were standing outside on guard. They
shouldered their heavy guns easily and they acknowledged the two as they
went inside.
Inside, a dining table set for four people was laid out in the centre of
what they presumed had been the cargo hold. It was covered in a deep red
rich cloth and had two glow sticks as a light source.
"Please be seated," said Michala as he walked in through the bulkhead.
"Dinner is almost ready."
Sonic and Sally took the two seats closer to the door. The seats were
made from a strange metal which was slightly spongy to the touch, but
was very comfortable. The cutlery was laid out formally and Sally could
see it was real silver (having experience in these things), although
they seemed a little large.
"Umm what's this one for?" said Sonic as he picked up a strange looking
fork.
"That's a cake fork you barbarian. Now remember your manners Sonic, I
don't think it would be wise to insult them."
"I'm cool."
Then Michala walked in. He was wearing a large charcoal grey formal suit
which barely contained his huge frame. He was followed by the female
hedgehog, who was wearing a tight-fitting metallic blue dress.
"Your Highness, Sonic. I would like you to meet my fiance, Miss Amy
Rose."
Sonic and Sally froze, whilst a smile crept onto Amy's face.
"But-but you got roboticized two years ago, and you were only eight. I
felt terrible for not being able to save you in time."
"It was lucky I was able to save myself then. Come I'll explain over
dinner."
As Michala and Amy sat down, a small pod flew into the room. It stopped
in the middle of the table and a screen lit up on the side. Michala and
Amy each keyed in a few buttons and then the pod turned round to face
Sonic and Sally.
"So, what do we do?"
"Just choose what you want for your starter, main-course and dessert and
you should get them. Oh, and there's a drinks list too."
 Sally chose what she wanted but stopped on the drinks list.
"Anything you recommend?"
"Try the M50 vintage, it's a quite powerful red wine. If you want a
white or something lighter try one of the Martian wines."
Sally pressed a button and the pod turned to face Sonic. Sonic pondered
for a moment before pressing a couple of buttons in quick succession.
The pod shot out through the door.
"Now Amy, can you explain to me how someone who got roboticized as an
eight year old can come back nearly twice as tall and twelve years
older?"
"It's a long story.

If you remember, that was one of the last patrols the HK bots made. I
was captured and put into one of those big prison air ships. As we were
leaving the great forest the ship developed a mysterious engine fault.
We were chained up and led away on foot. As the bots took us four of us
managed to escape. I don't know how it happened, but I just remember the
chains suddenly just loosened for no reason. We ran together for about a
day, pursued by bots until we found a small cave. We hid in it and the
bots left us alone. Then we realised the cave was not a cave, but was an
ancient temple of some kind. It was carved out of an ancient obsidian
volcanic plug, and there was a sphere of strange metal which levitated
at chest height. Set into the side of this sphere was four hand holes.
For some strange reason the holes perfectly matched our own hands. We
were compelled to touch this sphere. When we all did this everything
went black and I found myself on board a Human battle-cruiser called the
Indomitable.

Just then four large plates were carried in by a hovering droid. It used
its many arms to hand out plates and glasses. It shot off to be followed
by another which served up the starters. A third came in and filled
their glasses. Michala and Amy had both chosen the M50 vintage, which
was a thick, dark red wine which appeared to look very much like blood.
Sally's glass was filled with a light aromatic white which made the room
smell of flowers. Sonic's glass was then filled with a light ros.
Sonic looked at his starter. It was a little small, but that was to be
expected. The smell of warm cheese and garlic was pleasurable to Sonic's
nose and he picked up the outermost pair of cutlery to use. He tried a
piece of the potato skins and found them to his liking. Sally started on
hers after waiting for everyone else to start. Amy then continued with
her tale.

We had all been separated and I was aboard this giant battleship which
was doing cadet training. I was teleported onto the main bridge and
immediately everyone who has a gun has it pointed at me. I was so
terrified I just started screaming. Then I heard one of the cadets shout
something to the captain. By now I had just collapsed into a wailing
wreck on the floor. Then the cadet comes over, he must have only been a
year or two older than me, and he put his arm around me to try and calm
me down. I was hysterical now. The crew had re-holstered their guns and
were staying back to allow this little cadet to look after me. He tried
to make me stand up but I couldn't. The gravity was crushing and it was
hard work to sit up. I told him I couldn't and he almost jumped out of
his skin when he heard me speak. He lifted me onto his shoulder and
carried me to a medical lab. I had all these tests done on me and enough
needles stuck in me to last forever. I was talking to this cadet, his
name was Svaason Jericho, when he told me that I was allowed to become a
cadet also as I was technically an Imperial citizen. I accepted and took
up a rigorous training program, coupled with hormone therapy to bulk me
up. It was a whole year before I could join the cadets. I was a fast
learner and I was soon beating the other cadets in a lot of their skill
fields. I became captain of the cadet shooting and unarmed fighting
teams. I had my first taste of real battle when we were attacked by a
rebel pirate fleet. We had to fight ship to ship battles and we were
lucky enough to win. I did suffer though, I lost my best friend,
Svaason, who I had fallen in love with and I also lost my right eye.

Sonic interrupted: "It looks fine to me."
Amy sighed and pushed her right hand against her eye. She bent her head
down and pressed with her right hand. Michala grimaced. Amy looked back
up with a hole where her eye was and a complex piece of machinery in her
hand which was a little slimy.
"Amy, why did you have to do that at the table?" groaned Michala.
"He asked for it." She grinned.
Sonic had gone a little off colour.
"Anyway"

After that we called at a spaceport and I was able to have my face
reconstructed and a bionic implant to be used to replace my eye. I was
on leave when I was spotted by a big black armoured human. He asked me
for identity and I showed him my military papers. He checked them and I
returned to the ship. When I was there I spoke to the captain about it
and he told me about the emperor, the empress and the black company.
When we had left port a priority message came addressed to me and the
captain. It instructed to send me to a major space port where I would be
collected by a covert craft to be taken to a secret destination. I took
a scout craft and flew to this nearby planet. I was taken to a tall
building in the centre of the city. When I got there I was
electronically tagged and moved into a strange teleporter room. I was
then teleported to Earth. I was then taken to meet the emperor and
empress themselves!

"We've met them as well, when the ship came down here last and levelled
Robotropolis. Tatayana is very attractive if I remember rightly." Said
Sally.

I was then told that I had been selected to join the black company as an
assassin. I accepted and took up a training program which lasted another
five years, I was seventeen when I had finished my training. I met
Michala when I was attached to a black company unit. It was near enough
love at first sight and we became engaged two years later. During this
time I had been used as an expert sniper and assassin of high-ranking
rebels. I also had a pretty good sideline in modelling for a military
clothing company. When I heard of the Mobius expedition I requested
transfer to go on it, and here I am.

"Did you ever find out what had happened to the others?" Sonic asked.

"I have only ever met one of them. He was a white tiger, Vladimir Frost,
from North  Island. He joined the black company also. He's got quite a
reputation for efficiency and he is quite feared by new recruits who
quickly learn not to call him Mr Frosty."

"Hmm, sounds a little chilly to me."

Then the pods returned and scooped up the empty plates and refilled the
glasses. The pods brought in a selection of aromatic dishes. Sonic was
puzzled to see that Michala seemed to have chosen what looked like a
hunk of raw meat covered in herbs.

"It's ash-clam meat," he said, noticing the strange way Sonic was
looking at him. "It can only be eaten raw otherwise it becomes toxic."
Sonic grimaced and looked at his. It was a very fancily presented chilli
meal, unfortunately missing the hot dog parts. The smell, however, was
delightful and Sonic found it difficult to stop himself from drooling.
Sally and Amy had both chosen a salad, although Sonic had no idea what
half of it was.

"The real reason I have asked you both here is to offer you a
proposition," said Michala as he finished his first mouthful of clam
meat. "I ask you, your Highness, to become Planetary Governor of
Mobius."
Sally put down her cutlery and finished chewing.
"Umm, what exactly is that?"
"You become an official ruler of the planet you govern over, you become
an imperial official and you get access to certain arcane rituals etc.
which you couldn't otherwise. But really it gives us a reason for being
here in the first place."
"Do you need a reason?"
"Unfortunately, we do." Said Michala as he put his glass down. "The
Emperor does not rule alone, he has a senate of one hundred high lords
who are elected from amongst the planetary governors of each sector.
They provide the final ruling and, as any sensible person would say, to
them Mobius is a lost cause with no reason to send troops here. But, if
you become an Imperial planet then we come in defence of an indigenous
population against rebel oppression."
"Just one more question."
"Yes?"
"What the hell is this?" said Sally as she held up a straggly orange
leaf.
"I think it's Phaladasian rock creeper, try it, you might like it."
"I think I'll give it a miss, but this offer has got to come with some
strings attached hasn't it?"
"The only condition is that Mobius pays a small amount of tax to the
Imperial government. As the living population of Mobius is so low, the
tax would be tiny, say, about 200 tonnes of refined iron a century as an
example."
"That's not bad, where do I sign?"
"We will induct you tonight at midnight."
"Isn't it a bit short notice?"
"No, the sooner we have this done the better. Tonight is an ideal night
as the alignment of the planets has calmed the warp-storms enough for
psychic transmission. You must, however, keep this secret from everyone
else until it is safe to reveal it."
"What time is it now?" asked Sonic.
"Ten thirty." Replied Amy.
"Well Sal, in an hour and a half you'll be up there with the big wigs.
Just don't leave me behind."
Sally giggled:
"No, I won't, you're too persistent for that!"

Sonic suddenly let out a gasp and dropped his knife. He had just seen
Michala open his mouth to take the last piece of meat and saw that his
teeth were sharply pointed and of exaggerated length.
"What? My teeth scare you? Sorry I didn't tell you, but it's a side
effect of one of the growth hormones we have. Amy's got the same
problem, although as she wasn't born with it she still looks a little
normal."
Amy grinned, showing off perfect white teeth that were viciously sharp
at the ends.
"Only real problem is it d*mned hurts when you bite your tongue."
"At least You aren't vampires or something."
"Really." Said Michala, whilst putting on a fake accent.
Amy slapped him on the back and he nearly spat out the piece of meat he
was chewing.
"Thanks for that."

Dessert was then served. Michala and Amy both had what looked like a
banana split although neither Sonic nor Sally had seen blue bananas
before. Sonic had chosen an oversize ice-cream sundae which rewarded an
icy look from Sally. Sally had a strangely coloured sorbet (the ice, egg
white and sugar variety.) which seemed to have a life of its own.

"Whilst we were landing, we intercepted a transmission on one of
Robotropolis' secure lines. It was the blueprints of a new type of
SWATbot, Robotnik calls them TrooperNiks. They use improved power
systems, thickened armour, improved CPUs and more powerful weaponry.
Basically, they are a lot nastier than your usual bot. The design is
also more robust and less prone to outbreaks of stupidity. For example,
you couldn't get two bots to shoot each other and they don't explode
when you push them together."
"When are they going to be built?" said Sally, her voice raised slightly
in anxiety.
"Production is scheduled to begin in three days time at eighteen-hundred
hours. That is, of course, if we don't become involved."
"Where is the factory situated?"
"As far as we have been able to work out, it is buried deep under the
older part of Robotropolis, the old Mobotropolis tenements. The only way
I believe you can get there is to either use the sewers or knock on the
door."
"Oh gross, sewers!" moaned Sally.
"Well, we only need send a small party to plant some positron bombs."
Michala picked something off the side and showed it to them. It was a
small metallic sphere about an inch across with a red line down the
side.
"These are one megaton devices. Two or three of these should hold up the
production lists for a while."
"Okay, who do you think should go then?"
"From what I have seen we will need you and Sonic, perhaps Bunnie. All
of the black company will come as well."
"So are we in with a chance?"
"Definitely, you are working alongside five of the most highly trained
soldiers in the empire, and you have plenty experience in Robotropolis."
"Why do we need five of you?"
"We believe Robotnik has already built some prototype models and we
think he has them guarding the factory. Also, due to the position of the
factory, it will be difficult to mount a surprise raid and if we have to
go in, guns blazing, we might just come out alive."
"Oh great!" moaned Sonic. "Remind me to shoot myself in the foot while
I'm at it."
"Nonsense, you've got Sally and Amy to protect you this time."
Sonic raised one eyebrow in reply.

Sally tried to get a decent bit of sorbet, but it flew across the table
and was deftly caught by Amy.
"I don't think it was a good idea choosing rubber sorbet if you've never
eaten it before."
"Sorry about that Amy. I think I'll give the rest a miss."
"I think we had better finish now," said Michala. "It is nearly time for
us to begin the induction ritual."
"Where do we go for it?"
"Amy knows, it is the teleporter cave that she was transported from."
"Come follow me." Said Amy.

The party walked under the stare of the full moon, the air was chilly
and the night as silent as a crypt. They walked through a copse of trees
which shuddered along their whole length when they approached. None of
them spoke, but an icy breeze whispered malevolently about them. They
approached a small cave under the roots of an ancient tree, roots hung
thick about the entrance and cobwebs glittered in the silvery moonbeams.
As they approached closer to the cave, the darkness inside seemed to
deepen until it was as black as jet. Amy walked into the darkness,
followed by the others. She was silent as she pressed a strange rune
inscribed on a thick root. Then, in front of her, there was a hiss of
ancient hydraulics as part of the wall slid up to reveal a  passage way
which glowed with an eerie green wytchlight. They entered the passage,
Michala having to duck only slightly under the door. The passage
descended rapidly into the earth, the gradient visible. The floor was of
polished obsidian which, despite its antiquity, was unmarked by dust.
This made walking extremely difficult, as even Sonic's sneakers were not
gripping well.
"Ahead of here, there is a small slide which takes us down to the main
hall." Said Amy. "You must be careful to slide straight down or you will
take the wrong path."
Amy sat on the edge of a hole in the floor which emanated green light.
She folded her arms across her chest and leant back. She suddenly
disappeared as she shot into the green below. The others followed suit.
They landed in a huge hall, its ceiling over fifty feet above them. What
the hall contained lay ahead of them. It was what appeared to be a large
stone altar carved out of the black rock that the rest of the maze was,
its surface was covered in thousands of tiny shifting runes which glowed
with blue fire. Above the altar were two polished black globes between
which chained lightning flared, striking a green crystal which provided
the light. Along the walls were colossal statues of armoured skeletons,
green crystals illuminating their empty eye sockets. The party were
over-awed for a moment but walked towards the altar. As they approached
they could here the distant sound of chanting in a strange tongue. With
each step the light pulsed brighter. With each footstep the lightning
became more violent. Until they stood within a pace of the altar.
Suddenly there was a terrible wailing sound. Out of the crystal a
glowing white shape flowed. It congealed into a humanoid form and began
to take form. It contracted to form a shape which to Sonic was very
familiar, he looked just like knuckles, right down to the white
necklace.
"Greetings, guardian of the shrine of eternity of Mobius. I am Captain
Michala Hellbore of the black company and I wish to perform the
initiation rites."
The figure stared at him for a moment. Then it turned and beckoned to
them. They followed it to the edge of the altar where steps had now
formed along the edge. As the last of them stepped onto the altar it
unexpectedly sunk into the ground. Its speed increased until it stopped
gently far below. The room they were in now was smaller than the room
above, but it was still colossal. Set into the walls were eight huge
chunks of green crystal, set at regular intervals and pointing to a dais
in the centred which rose up in three tiers. Upon the uppermost tier was
a throne of highly polished silver which glowed with an internal
lambency. The guardian approached Sally and reached out his hand. His
hand touched her on the side of the head and she gave a short gasp. Her
head lolled back, her eyes rolled into their sockets. Sonic wanted to
defend her but he could not, again his body felt as if it had turned to
ice. Sally floated into the air, guided by the guardian, still
unconscious. She was seated gently into the throne and immediately sat
bolt upright. Her eyes flicked open but were pupilless. Her fur stood on
end as if by static. Her fingers had turned white where she gripped the
arms of the chair. Her mouth hung open, and spittle collected at the
corners. The crystals burnt with a black flame now, the edge forming a
blue haze throughout the room. Sonic could here the whispering chant of
hundreds of voices now. The chant was in an alien tongue, in alien
syllables which would be unpronounceable with the mouth of a mortal.
Around the silver throne a host of tiny specks of white light appeared.
They circled Sally, slowly drawing closer as if attracted to the strange
light that emanated from her. As the white things circled closer the
chant became louder, more insistent. The fire on the crystals blazed
stronger. The light of the throne became brighter. The white wisps span
faster as they approached, circling as a ring of light about Sally's
head. Suddenly, the ring touched her and poured into her eyes, nose and
mouth. Sally screamed, high pitched and long. The fire on the crystals
blazed towards her, forming a nexus of fire with her at the centre. The
fire formed a huge column of white light above the throne. Varied pulses
of colour rushed to meet her. Her screaming had subsided and she had
begun to chant along with the strange voices. The light blazed brighter,
brighter. Nothing became visible except the pure whiteness, nothing
could be heard except the infernal chanting which had reached a
crescendo of babbling voices.
Suddenly it stopped, the whiteness flicked out and the chanting ceased.
The room was dark now as the crystals only glowed feebly with internal
light. Sally panted in the centre of the room, her eyes wide and glassy.
She moaned as if in pleasure and then collapsed. Sonic, as if freed from
a spell bind, rushed to her and lifted her out of the chair. Her
breathing was shallow and fast, and Sonic could feel how fast her heart
hammered in her chest.
"Wow!" whispered Sally.
"How do you feel? Are you okay?" Asked Sonic urgently.
"Yeah, fine."
"What happened?"
"I, I don't remember," said Sally. "I remember that guardian thing
touching me and then suddenly you're over here trying to pick me up."
"She won't remember anything," said Michala as he reached them.
"Sometimes the things they learn are best left to the subconscious, but
she will know of them when she needs it."
"I want to get out of here" moaned Sally.
"Exit right over there." Said Michala as he pointed to a door in the
wall.
The party walked through. On the other side was a pulsing blue crystal.
Amy reached out and touched it, disappearing as she did.
"Go on, touch it."
Sally touched it and disappeared. Sonic did the same. As he did so he
felt a rush of incredible speed, his eyes filled with images of flares
of light and his ears with a hideous wailing. Suddenly he was standing
in knothole clearing along with the two girls. Michala appeared in a
flash of azure light.
"I hate these old style teleporters."
"What, the new ones any better?"
"None of that annoying wailing, anybody got the time?"
"It's two am." Said Sally looking at her watch.
"Better get some sleep, see you in the morning." Michala turned and put
his arm around Amy. The two of them walked towards the kestrel, Amy
leaning against Michala's chest.
"Come on Sonic, stop staring at the lovebirds," said Sally grabbing his
arm. "I want some attention from you now."
Sonic grinned and gave her a long kiss.
"That do?"
"For now, but I want something a bit stronger later.."
Sonic looked pleased with himself, kissed her again and walked away
towards his hut.

Sonic woke in a cold sweat. He had had the dream about the fox again, it
had been the same, but more intense and vivid. Sonic caught his breath
and walked over to the mirror to look at himself. He was pale and his
eyes red rimmed and sore. He splashed some water into his face and
grabbed a towel to dry off. He nearly tripped over his carelessly flung
sneakers and caught his shin on the side of his bed. Sonic doubled up
and cursed under his breath. The skin had gone red already.
"Little f*cker."
  Sonic was about to kick the bed but decided against it, his legs had
taken enough punishment for one day. Sonic drew back the curtains to see
that it was already late morning and most of Knothole was active. Sonic
stretched and yawned, the warm air feeling good on his face after the
sweats of the night. Sonic's stomach rumbled loudly.
"Patience my pet."
Sonic had dressed and preened himself in little over a second.
"Ahhh, breakfast!"
Sonic shot out of his front door and screeched to a stop by the dog
stand.
"Little late today aren't we?" said the large warthog who was selling
the hot-dogs.
 "Yeah late night, five extra spicy chillidogs with mozzarella. And make
it snappy."
The warthog scooped out the chillidogs and breakneck speed, only for
them to be eaten faster by Sonic.
"That'll be seven Mobiums."
Sonic shoved a crumpled note and some coins into the vendors hand.
"Keep the change, bye." As he shot off on a morning run.
As Sonic arrived back in Knothole a matter of minutes later he noticed
the two black company hedgehogs, Michala and the other, duelling with
large archaic weaponry. Michala wielded a black-bladed double ended
scythe and the other had black battle claws strapped to his gauntlets.
The two fought with a fluid grace which belied the true power of the
strokes, each parrying the others lightning fast strikes. Blue sparks
flared where the blades touched. Suddenly the other hedgehog feinted
rather well and brought his claws up to the side of Michala's neck. The
fight stopped and the two shook hands. Sonic raced up to Michala:
"What was that all about then?"
"Just practising armed combat."
"Why, you've got that machine haven't you?"
"It's not quite the same, sometimes that makes you careless and you need
the realism of actual practice. Helps keep the muscles toned as well."
"Anything I could do?"
"Yeah, Amy's hooked in to the training machine at the moment, go fight
her."
"Is she any good?"
"Moves a lot faster than you and hits nearly as hard as me."
"Oh great, and she used to get around by charm alone."

Sonic kicked dust as he walked towards the kestrel. Other villagers with
disappointed looks on their faces were walking out of the main doors.
Rotor was amongst them.
"Oh hi Sonic."
"Yo dude, why the long face?"
"We all clubbed together and bet Amy fifty golds that she couldn't beat
us all at once, but she did and now I'm ten Mobiums out of pocket."
"Wow! How fast she beat you?"
"Within a minute she had us all unconscious and a little after that we
were all dead."
"So she's good."
"Bravo Sonic, you win the understatement of the Year award."
"I should make you hurt for that Rotor, but I've got a certain little
upstart girlie to beat ten rounds of sh*t out of."

Sonic walked through the kestrel doors to see Amy sitting up in one of a
row of seats.
"Hi Sonic," she said. "Care to have a try against me?" Her voice taking
a sarcastic tone.
"Yeah, okay. Prepare to suffer horrible pain at my hands evil wench!"
"You do go on." Said Amy as she pulled on a pair of eye covers.
Sonic laid back in a chair and entered into the virtual world.

When he arrived Sonic found he was dressed as normal. Across the room
from him Amy was dressed in a black, shiny catsuit that ended in wicked
stiletto heels. Her spikes were concealed under a fully covering face
hood which had two green eye-pieces in.
"Come on then," Amy said, her voice muffled by the mask. "Go for it
slowcoach."
Sonic leapt into the air and curled into a ball. He hurtled towards Amy,
his spines outstretched. Amy back-flipped away and landed behind Sonic
as he stopped on the floor. As Sonic turned Amy round-housed him in the
ribs with the heel of her boot. Sonic gasped as he was flung back and
felt a trickle of blood. Amy cart-wheeled towards him and grabbed his
neck between her feet. She passed over his head and landed on her hands
behind him. Sonic was lifted into the air and passed over the top of
Amy. Stars appeared before his eyes as his head impacted into the floor.
Amy gave him a straight fingered jab to the neck. Sonic was fast enough
to catch her wrist and swing her against the wall. Amy yelped and lashed
out with her foot, catching Sonic hard between the legs. Sonic gasped
and gulped for air as he slid down the wall. Amy jumped back and aimed a
sharp heel at Sonic's head. Sonic rolled out of the way, only for Amy's
other heel to land right on his hand. The heel pierced the palm and
pinned it to the floor. Sonic screamed as the heel went in.
"Call yourself a hero," sneered Amy, although not in a nasty way. "I've
seen humans fight better than you." She raised her other foot and
planted it on Sonic's forehead.
"Say goodbye, blue wonder." Amy leant on that leg and the heel sunk in.
Sonic's vision went blank for a moment before he sat up in the chair.
Amy was grinning at him from the other.
"You're a real sadistic b*tch, you know that."
"I know," said Amy, pretending to be offhand about it. "It's a necessary
qualification for the job I do."
"Huhn?"
"I'm an assassin, Sonic. It pays to have a bloodthirsty temperament and
an utter contempt for life. I don't know why I became one now."
"Why's that?"
"I don't have a contempt for life, unless I'm told to."
"What's with the catsuit?"
"Oh that, it's a synthetic spray on over skin. Whether you call it
Synskin or nasty black smelly goo."
"What's it for?"
"It does a hell of a lot of things. It is heat-resistant, acid and
alkali proof, very difficult to cut, stops toxins reaching the skin,
feeds chemical stimulants directly into the bloodstream, can change
colour so you can hide and also it contains armour plate to stop the odd
bullet."
"So a lot then."
Amy pointed her index fingers at him as if she were shooting two
pistols. "Bingo!"
"How do you put it on?"
Amy gave a sly smile. "I'll show you."
"What? Now?"
"Why not? Come on."
Sonic followed Amy to a small door that hissed open when they
approached.
Amy's room was quite small, the bed was an untidy mess and there was a
menagerie of various mouldering coffee cups on her bedside table. The
walls were covered in notice-boards and posters of what Sonic presumed
were various famous people. One particularly large poster was of a huge
starship with the name 'Indomitable' written across the bow in huge red
lettering.
"Is this the starship you spent your time on?" Asked Sonic.
"Uh, yeah. I've just gotta take a shower Sonic. Try and amuse yourself
for a few minutes okay."
"Cool."
Sonic heard the splash of running water and carried on looking around
the room. He looked for a chair and found it covered in clothes, so he
pushed the quilt on the bed back and sat there. Not one for sitting
still for long Sonic got up and went to look at the notice-board. Most
of what was on there were various magazine cuttings and newsletters. One
read 'Learn basic fusion physics, lesson one.' The reply slip to end the
lessons had been torn off the bottom. Another interesting object was a
thick manual on air-sled maintenance, attached to the board be a length
of frayed string punched into one corner. Next to it was a clothing
catalogue, attached by a board pin. Sonic idly pulled the pin out and
flicked through the catalogue, it seemed to be full of military clothing
and equipment. Sonic reached the last section on 'casual' clothes
(although they still looked pretty formal to Sonic ) and noticed two
pictures of Amy modelling the dress she had worn at the dinner, and also
one of her wearing a very skimpy crop-top and mini-skirt. Hearing the
water stop in the shower, Sonic pinned the catalogue back on the board
and sat back on the bed.
Amy breezed back in, wearing a white bathrobe, her head spikes wrapped
in a green towel. She rubbed vigorously behind her left ear and then
pulled the towel off her head. She gave her head a flick to set her
spikes straight behind her.
"Not too bored are you?" she asked.
"No, I'm fine."
"Well, I'm just gonna dry myself off. I see you've had a good look at
that catalogue, see my picture?"
"Uh, yeah." Said Sonic, slightly embarrassed at this point.
"Have a look through this," she said, passing him a battered photo album
from one of her draws. "It's got some early pictures of me that you
might recognise."
She walked out again, leaving Sonic to flick through the album. The
first two pages were empty apart from three pictures. One was a crumpled
picture of Sonic, of the size that would fit inside a novelty plastic
key-ring. Another was of the Mobian royal family, quite an old picture
judging by the very young Sally that looked out of the photo at him. The
last was a picture of Amy's parents, the picture was even more crumpled
than the rest and had a tear almost right across the middle. Sonic
recognised the imprint of a bot finger in the picture, perhaps Amy had
tried to hold on to it as a bot tried to take it away. Sonic flicked the
page. The next page showed an Amy as Sonic remembered her, looking
vulnerable and frightened, in a hospital bed attached to a drip.
Standing next to her was a human boy, whom Sonic guessed was the Svaason
she had talked about earlier. Although he was only a boy of about, Sonic
guessed, ten, he was already quite muscular across the shoulders and
quite tall, in fact he would only be a little shorter than Robotnik. If
Sonic had been a human, he would have realised that Svaason looked very
Nordic, with close cropped blonde hair, blue eyes and wide white teeth.
Even in the picture Sonic could see his eyes glittered with an internal
energy. The next page had a picture of Amy surrounded in her bed by a
large group of humans that pulled faces at the camera. Amy looked happy
here, she was pulling a hideous face along with the others. The next
page showed Amy standing on what Sonic presumed was the bridge of the
ship, her legs in metal callipers and leaning on crutches. She was
wearing a pressed grey uniform that had been clumsily re-sewn to
accommodate her spikes. Standing next to her was Svaason, who had his
arm around her, and a commanding officer to the other.
Sonic flipped through various pages of pictures. He stopped at one which
showed Amy in a rather embarrassing position, trying to cover herself up
whilst grabbing for the camera, Sonic chuckled to himself. The next page
was a picture of Amy attacking the voyeuristic photographer with a
bottle of chilli sauce. The frozen howl of agony on the boy's face was
so comical Sonic spluttered with laughter.
Sonic turned the page, it had a professional photograph of Svaason in
his uniform. He had signed the picture: 'Dearest Amy, I love you until
the stars flicker out, Svaason.' The writing was streaked with the
tracks of tears. Sonic flipped a few more pages, there were no more
pictures of Svaason, and Amy looked greatly depressed. In two pictures
she had a pad across her eye and a deep scar across her face. One of the
pictures was of her being presented with a medal, she tried to look
happy, but her eye was dead. Later the pictures showed her with her
complete eye, she had begun to get over the death of Svaason. Her eyes
had some trace of happiness in them, although her depression had been
great. Sonic flipped the page again. The next picture showed Amy being
presented with a trophy. The picture was sub-scripted with 'Cadet long
range shooting specialists competition winners Indomitable M23 =
524'
Amy obviously did well in her competitions as many of the pictures
showed. Later pictures showed that her uniform was now a deep Navy blue
and had a double chevron on the left shoulder, it was also better cut.
Amy by now stood at close to the height of the other cadets, she must be
about fourteen now Sonic thought. Another picture showed her dressed in
casuals, she was in a bar and quite obviously drunk, her arm around a
female human in the same state of intoxication. The next picture showed
Amy trying to arm-wrestle a female human? No, it wasn't human, the
pointed ears, oval eyes and high cheekbones showed this could not be
human. The next picture showed Amy triumphant as she pushed her
opponents hand into the table. There followed a series of pictures
showing Amy and her comrades on leave getting into various forms of
mischief. Amy shoved one of the larger boys into a river and got pulled
in behind him. Another showed them running away from what Sonic presumed
for Imperial law enforcement, large men in combat armour and carrying
night sticks was chasing them, and the picture was jogged and out of
focus. Whoever had the camera had had the decency to take a few decent
pictures, one of the cityscape was breathtaking. Tall elegant buildings
of glass and chrome stretched high into the atmosphere, many of them
green with lush foliage that hung in great strips down the sides.
Vehicles soared about between the levels and monorails interconnected
the buildings in a spider-web of silvery threads. Another was a picture
out of what Sonic presumed to be a zoo, it was a picture of a great
rain-forest inside a huge enclosure. Various tropical birds flitted
between the trees and the canopies were full of monkeys.
Sonic flipped further on into the album, he reached a picture which
showed Amy bidding her ship and comrades farewell. She was wearing a
full regimental uniform now, her shoulders covered by a weighty crimson
cloak and her full chest covered with stripes and medals. Then there was
a picture of her ship as Amy left it, hanging like a great leviathan in
space. The next picture was of another cityscape, this time the planet
must have been larger as the horizon had less of a perceptible curve to
it. The sun was setting and the blue sky was tinged with pink and red.
The buildings in the picture were all works of great beauty, their
shapes reaching in harmony to the sky. The next picture showed Amy with
the Emperor and Empress. Tucked behind the picture was a slip of paper,
Sonic pulled it out. It read 'I have the strangest feeling that I have
come home, that the rest of my life has been a lie.' Sonic looked
through a few more pictures, most of Amy at various training camps. One
showed Amy with a small tattoo of a red hourglass on her left arm where
the fur had been shaved. The pictures ended as did the book then.
Amy walked back in, wearing what looked like a sports bra and long
knickers that clung tightly to her. Sonic eyed her up quickly: she was
very firmly muscled and her stomach was tight and showed the muscles
clearly.
"Wassamatta, Sally not work out then?"
"Yeah, but not as much as you do."
Amy laughed gently. "Pass me that airgun please."
"What? This thing?" Said Sonic handing her an injection device with an
exceedingly long needle on the end.
"Yeah, and that capsule and the pack of swabs."
Sonic passed her the bundle of stuff. Amy slipped the capsule into the
back of the airgun and swabbed the needle.
"You squeamish?"
"No."
"Good," she replied. "But you may want to look away anyway."
Amy pulled her bra down a little revealing a metal-rimmed hole. She
lined up the needle and pushed it right in, all five inches. Sonic
shuddered. Amy pressed the trigger on the gun, it hissed and the capsule
emptied.
"What is that for?" Said Sonic, trying not to gag as Amy pulled a
slightly slimy needle out of her chest.
"All black company members have an emergency adrenaline reservoir next
to the heart. As I wasn't born with one, I have to make do with an
artificial one that I fill from an exterior source."
"Ich!"
"Right, you wanted me to show you the 'catsuit' as you call it, so I am
going to do just that. Pass me the blue aerosol on the cupboard please."
Sonic tossed her the can and Amy gathered some pieces of electronic
equipment from a draw. Amy sprayed a layer of thick black goo onto the
back of one of the equipment pieces and stuck it firmly next to her
heart, over the metal hole. She continued to place about five pieces
around herself, each stuck with the black goo. She flipped a switch on
each of them and they made a short bleep.
"Hold your breath now, the fumes from this can make you go into a
coughing fit."
Amy sprayed a black line across her chest, covering the bra and piece of
equipment there with a shiny black swathe. Amy proceeded to cover her
whole body up to the neck and down to the ankles. Amy then pulled a pair
of short, stiletto heeled boots on and covered over the join with more
spray.
"Now for the difficult part." She said.
Amy pulled what looked like a fine mesh covered in bits of white plastic
out of a bag. She held it up and laid it onto her front. The plates
lined up with the corresponding parts of her body, forming an armour
plate system. She pulled another set of plates out and laid them onto
her back. She then sprayed another layer of black stuff over them. She
took a headpiece off the sideboard.
"This is a respirator and survival mask," she said holding the mask up
to Sonic. "It contains a re-breather and a weeks supply of concentrated
food. The eye pieces allow visual communications and battle map
display."
She grabbed a comb from the sideboard and raked her spikes close back to
her head. She then pushed the helmet on. It was not much larger than her
head on the outside and so it was quite tight. Sonic looked at Amy's
face, most of which was hidden by the large respirator which was almost
flat against her face and the green eyepieces. She sprayed a final layer
over her head where it covered everything but the eyepieces. "Pass me
the green can please." She said to Sonic, her voice muffled by her mask.
Sonic gave it to her. She then gave herself a liberal coating of a clear
mist which settled on the surface and caused it to tighten slightly.
"And that," she said. "Is how you put on a Synskin."
"Now, said Sonic. "Show me that chameleon thing."
"If you insist."
Amy immediately faded from black to the cream of the walls with a grey
patch where the chest of draws was behind her.
"Cool!"
"Now," Amy said. "I'm going to get this head piece off so I can speak
properly." She rummaged in a bag next to her bed and brought out a red
can. She wrapped a towel around her shoulders and sprayed a fine orange
mist over her head. The Synskin promptly evaporated and Amy wrenched off
the head-piece. "What a relief."
"Is it uncomfortable then?"
"No, in fact it's a bit more comfortable than wearing clothes, but the
head-piece is a little claustrophobic."
"One question Amy,"
"Yes?"
"What do you do in your spare time? I haven't seen much in this room and
there seems to be little in the way of music or other."
"Well actually, I play a psi-flute. I've gotten quite good with it."
"What's a psi-flute?"
"It's a flute that produces a note that can bring on a psychic trance,
but you need to play it well."
"Are you any good?"
"Pretty, I'll show you."
Amy pulled a black, slim case out from under her bed. She unpacked a
long silvery flute which had a long strip of red metal down each side.
"If it works it's a better trip than any other."
She began to play. The flute gave a haunting melody, the notes long and
sombre. Then she quickened the pace, Sonic's vision blurred. Amy's tune
became a complicated series of scales and octave jumps. Sonic felt his
lower lip curl over but was unable to wipe the drool off his chin. Then,
suddenly the music stopped. Sonic found himself in a field of tall
grass, the air was warm and the sky blue, flecked with puffy white
clouds. Trees on the edge of the field bowed and sighed in the wind and
small birds twittered to one another in the air. Sonic looked at
himself, he was floating a good half metre above the ground and he was
invisible.
"Good, aren't I?" said a voice beside him.
"Amy?"
"Yep, so where did this come from?"
"Where did what come from?"
"The field you idiot."
"I don't know, it doesn't look like anything on Mobius."
"Yes! A result!"
"What?"
"I've succeeded in opening part of your racial memory, this is something
your hedgehog and human forebears remember."
"Where are we?"
"I think this is an English city common in the middle of summer, on
earth before the Great War."
"How did you know that?"
"My race memory is the same, and you can tell if you look around."
"What for?"
"Smell the air."
"Ugh, traffic fumes."
"See, also the sign post over there is written in English."
"Can you read it?"
"You can as well dummy, Mobian is English with a few word changes over
time."
"How do the humans read it then, hasn't their language changed?"
"No, they are keen to preserve their heritage, they speak a language
called Anglish now."
"What's that?"
"Well, you've got three levels: High, which comes from areas like this
and is easy to understand but the accent is very difficult to get
right."
"Who speaks that?"
"It's the language used by the rulers and high officials, most people
try to learn to speak it as it is considered a sign of education."
"What are the other languages then?"
"You've got common Anglish, which sounds similar to Mobian dialect,
although a bit coarser, almost everyone speaks this. There is another
form which descends from old earth Afrikaans in accent, but uses the
English language."
"What's the third?"
"Low Anglish, some forms sound like Bunnie, others like Antoine.. 
Basically everything else. Most people speak that during childhood."
"Thanks for the lecture, any reason for being here?"
"You get to see what a purestrain Hedgehog looks like."
"Oh goody."
"Look, there's one!" exclaimed Amy.
Sonic looked to see a small brown snuffling creature covered in spikes
push through the undergrowth. It looked around with shiny black eyes and
scrabbled at the ground. Pulling out a large beetle it crunched it in
its small mouth and wiped its face with it's short front legs. It
waddled past them and disappeared again in the undergrowth.
"Oh gross, I used to eat beetles, ugh!"
"And there's worse, hedgehogs used to be covered in more fleas than
anything else."
"I was born the wrong animal!" lamented Sonic.
"Well, at least you're not a fox."
"Why?"
"Some people used dogs to hunt them."
"That's horrible!"
"The whole of earth was a lot more violent naturally than Mobius was.
The humans created many planets to be used as copies of earth, Mobius
was the first attempt."
"What other planets?"
"Some of the outlanders claim to come from earth. They are mistaken,
they come from one of the auto colonies."
"Auto what?"
"Colonies to precisely reproduce human civilisation, saved lots of long
range transport."
"Know of any?"
"I've been to one. The others I know of are one on the opposite side of
the Mobian sun and one which was destroyed by the outlander group in a
system close to Mobius."
"Bogus."
Sonic turned his head to look at the trees, a small grey shape shot up
one.
"Whassat!"
"It's a grey squirrel."
"What type is Sally?"
"I think she's a squirrel/chipmunk cross, a red squirrel perhaps."
"How do we get out of this place?"
"Simple."
Sonic found himself back in Amy's room. Amy was folding the flute away
and packing it into the case.
"Well that was enlightening." Mused Sonic.
"Too true."
"Where did you learn to play that?"
"When I was on earth I was shown how to play by the Empress. I 'spose
it's an advantage if you get on with your mother-in-law."
Sonic stood up and went to go out.
"Hold on, there's one more thing I've got to show you."
Sonic walked back.
"What?"
"I have learnt how to read peoples minds to a limited fashion."
"What do you see, O learned one."
"Don't take the p*ss," Amy said firmly. "It does require you are
willing."
"Okay, so how does it work."
"I'll show you." Amy picked a small needle out of a box on the side
board. She took a lighter and held the flame over the tip for a few
seconds.
"Take off your glove."
Sonic did as he was told, pulling the glove off his left hand. Amy took
his hand and spread out his fingers, she held the needle to the tip of
his index.
"Whoa you're not going to stab me with that YOW!"
The needle sunk in and a drop of bright red blood appeared at the end.
Amy gripped the base of the finger and squeezed hard, the droplet
enlarged. Amy carefully drew the finger up to her lips where she kissed
it, letting the blood flow into her mouth. She sat back and raised her
hand to touch Sonic's temple. She shuddered quickly then released.
"You done? Or are you gonna bite my neck now?"
"Once!"
"What?"
"You've been with Sally all these years and you've only scored once!."
Sonic's jaw dropped, he began to mumble.
"Uh, well yeah, sort of, maybe.."
"And I thought you were a regular Casanova!"
 "Shut it!"
"Okay, okay, no need to get stroppy."
"Anything else revealed?"
"Yeah, you have a dark secret."
"What?"
"You used to play Dungeons and Dragons as a kid."
"Noooo! The evil spirit comes back to haunt me."
"Hmm, I think Tails would like to hear that, get some ammunition against
you."
"It's not fair, please don't tell."
"Don't worry, I won't." She said slyly.
"I don't like the way you said that."
"Why?"
"You're scheming aren't you?"
"Well"
"Please don't, we've got enough to worry about as it is."
Then there was a crackling noise as a speaker came on. Michala's voice
came out.
"Amy could you report to the flight deck please, we wish to discus your
duties in the raid."
"All right if I bring Sonic?"
"Yes, and get Sally acorn too."
"Okay."
"I'll go get Sally." Said Sonic, leaving rather too quickly and catching
his injured shin on the corner of the bed.

The flight deck was, Tardis like, a lot bigger on the inside than it
appeared outside. The four black company had pulled swivel chairs
together to form a ring of seven seats. Sally, Sonic and Amy entered
through automatic doors at the far end of the deck. Michala stood up and
offered a gauntleted hand to Sally and Sonic in turn. He gestured to the
empty seats and they sat down. They began to talk.
"As you already know," Michala began. "Robotnik is preparing to put a
new form of SWATbot, called the Troopernik, into production. If the
design is successful, he will be able to muster a force capable of
destroying any efforts to counter him. Therefore it is imperative that
we destroy the main factory facility and put his plan back on the shelf
for a long while. Azarlan would you please continue."
The bulky human stood up and unfolded a pointing stick. "Computer,
display file on Robotropolis factory system code alpha-four-seven."
A large hologram file appeared in the centre of the chairs, it showed
various coloured pipes and conduits, as well as important machines
picked out in red.
"Computer, show main sewer piping of at least two metre bore."
The Hologram changed, leaving only some thick piping highlighted in a
ghostly green.
"These are the main sewer pipes that will allow us to access the
factory. They are used to carry floods of caustic effluent from the
factory to the surface. The effluent floods every two hours and the
journey time is estimated at an hour thirty. Another difficulty we have
is that the sewers contain a high concentration of explosive gases, it
will be necessary to remove the gas before we go down. When we reach the
factory," The holographic display changed and enlarged to show the
factory. "We will have to destroy a large blast door to get through."
The door was highlighted on the map. "The door is three feet thick and
made of a titanium alloy to resist almost all attempts to penetrate it.
We have brought along a plasma gun which should deal with it."
Sally interrupted:
"But I have used a plasma gun before, they can hardly scratch armour."
Azarlan turned and sighed.
"What you call a plasma gun, we call an E.M.P. gun."
"A what?"
"Electro Magnetic Pulse Gun, we use them for destroying force fields."
"So what does your plasma gun do different?"
"It fires superheated plasma compressed into a liquid form in a blast.
When it touches any solid or liquid the target is vaporised and the
hydrogen reacts explosively with the air, creating a powerful
shockwave."
"Will it take down the door?"
"Is Robotnik smelly, large and shaped like an egg?"
Michala stood up again and Azarlan sat down, the hologram flickering
out.
"When we get into the factory complex we will plant the bombs in any
inaccessible areas. They are small enough to avoid standard detectors
and SWATbot scanners. The bombs will be detonated remotely once we get
to the surface."
"What if the SWATs find them?"
"I doubt very much they will recognise them as bombs, but we have added
an electron shield around them to short out circuitry."
"Anything else we should know about?"
"Whilst we make our assault on the factory, we will perform a
diversionary air raid on the Roboticizer plant in the north of
Robotropolis."
"Where will you get the pilots and aircraft to do that?"
"We have a base on the dark side of the larger of the two moons, it
carries an entire fleet of intra-system craft which we will use to
destroy surface bases."
"What part do we play in all this?"
"I want Sally and Amy to destroy this bot control centre, located in the
far south east of Robotropolis. Amy, I want you to get Sally suited up
and show her how to pilot an air-sled in case you don't make it."
"Will do." Amy replied.
"The rest of us will take the sewer route, we have some biohazard suits
for you and Bunnie, Sonic. We plant the bombs, destroy any bots we
encounter, and then get the f*ck out."
"What if we get captured or worse?" asked Sally.
"We have located all nearby prison camps, they are far enough away not
to be affected by the bast. All of us will be fitted with diquartzide
emitters. They transmit our exact location, as long as we stay alive."
"But, what about a rescue mission?"
"There is another force to aid us.." Said Michala.
"What?"
"My Father, the Emperor, is capable of manifesting himself at night. He
has powers beyond your understanding."
"What, powers?"
"He has Necroscopic abilities, he is able to summon legions of dead to
aid him."
"What! He's gonna animate skeletons like some evil Necromancer thingy."
Shouted Sonic.
"No, no. The difference is that he does not bind the dead to his will,
he just asks them too and they will."
"And there is no evil magic stuff involved?"
"None."
"Well, at least it'll give old walrus chops a scare."
"Okay people, it is seventeen fifty now. If Amy takes Sally and Azarlan
takes Sonic and Bunnie, we meet up here at twenty-three hundred ready to
begin at midnight, agreed?"
The rest of the room nodded approval.

Sally and Amy both went to Amy's room. The girls quite quickly found a
common ground to chat on.
"So what's Michala like?" Sally asked.
"He is wonderful, a real catch. He's got a great body, is as smart as
anything and best of all.."
"What?" Sally giggled.
"He's a great cook."
"Do you know if he loves you?"
"He'd better!" Amy exclaimed. "After we get married we live for up to
one thousand years, but his parents decide whether I was suitable or
not."
"And what are they like?"
"The Emperor does suffer from a little bit of a foul temper, but
normally he is really nice to me, he introduced me to Michala so I think
he does the match-making."
"And the Empress?"
"Well, she is indescribable, you know how beautiful she is, but she is
wonderfully sweet and she seems to want to help you with all your
problems yet she never seems to interfere with anything."
"Anything else?"
"No, enough about my man, lets hear about yours, so then, what's Sonic
like now?"
"Well, he's still as smug and self confident as ever. But.."
"Yes?"
"Shall I let you in on a little secret?"
"Come on lets hear it." Amy giggled
"Well, Sonic is not what you'd call, how shall I put it, well endowed?"
Amy stifled a laugh and snorted through her fingers.
"Sonic has a terrible complex about it, every time we went to start it
off he would get embarrassed and,"
"Yeah, I want all the gory details!"
"Well, it was as stiff as a strand of cooked spaghetti!"
Amy guffawed loudly, tears rolled down her cheeks and she almost choked
on her laughter. "So Sonic may be stiffly upright at all times except
when it's important!"
Sally was giggling feverishly now. "It was so funny when we first tried
it, he was so embarrassed that his spikes were firmer."
"Poor guy, well I suppose you can't be perfect."
"Too right!"
Amy looked at the digital display on the wall.
"I'd better get you suited up and show you how to fly an air sled."
"Okay."
Amy quickly kitted Sally out in a Synskin. She handed her a large
multi-barrelled rifle and explained that it was a customised laser
rifle. She took Sally to the Air sled.
The air sled resembled a bike, but instead of wheels it had a large flat
base which floated above the ground and a huge jet exhaust stuck out
from underneath two comfortably padded seats.
"I suppose you've been given the Sonic high speed express treatment
then?" Amy asked Sally.
"Yeah I have, I still find it fun though."
"Well be prepared to have the most fun you've had for a long while."
"Why?"
"Sonic can reach about Mach 1.5, this baby's top speed is Mach 8."
"Won't the G-force kill us?"
"No, the sled contains an inertial dampener, allows you to pull off high
speed manoeuvres without going red-out. But, you have to experience it
to believe it."
"Come on then," said Sally jumping onto the back seat. "Show me."
Amy climbed on to the front. "One word of advice, do not put anything
near that exhaust, this is powered by a fusion ram-jet, and it gets
mighty hot. Hold on tight!"
The air sled rose higher into the air, a panel in the side of the
kestrel slid open and the air-sled shot out.
"Wheeehoo!" screamed Sally, the awesome acceleration pushing her hard
into her seat, she was glad of the respirator/mask which covered her
face.
"This is your captain speaking," said Amy in a falsetto nasal voice. "We
will be experiencing TURBULENCE!"
Amy spun the craft 360, Sally felt her stomach turn inside out. Amy
whipped the craft sideways and shot between two thick trunked trees. The
craft pulled an almost vertical ascent without losing speed, the white
hot plasma trail erupting from the back dissipating rapidly.
"Urgh, wipeout!" moaned Sally. She swallowed the bile that was rising in
her throat.
"Don't be silly, we haven't tried a sudden vertical drop and stop yet!"
The air-sled suddenly halted in mid air and dropped like a stone.
Sally's stomach was now just above her head. The 'sled suddenly stopped
dead mere inches from the ground. Sally now let go with a force ten
vomit comet, although she was able to remove the mask in time.
"Ooh, that looks nasty, you okay Sally?"
Sally gulped in the cool evening air. "Will be, just, a, few, seconds."
She said breathlessly. When Sally recovered the craft took off.
"Not bad," said Amy. "Most people puke at least twice on their first
flight."
"Thanks."
"Okay, I want you to take the controls now." Said Amy lifting Sally over
herself. "The controls are quite simple, the red button is ignition, the
green is cut out, the stick is aviator style and the throttle's like a
motorbike."
"Okay," said Sally. "What should I do?"
"Fly us two kilometres north at quarter speed, make a turn and spin,
then come back."
The craft shot forward, Sally kept the throttle on the quarter mark, she
made a perfect turn followed by a neat barrel roll.
"Very good!" exclaimed Amy. "I think that's the first time I've seen
someone make a barrel roll without losing control. You're a natural!"
"Thankyou, what weapons does this thing have?"
"It has a defensive shield matrix and a particle beam cannon on the
prow."
"What's a particle watchamacllit?"
"I think it best if I demonstrate." Amy lifted Sally back over her head
and took the controls. "See that old transporter?"
"What, one of the ones we trashed a while back?"
"Yeah, watch carefully."
The front of the 'sled made a piercing whistle and a bolt of orange
energy blasted out, the transporter was reduced to a smouldering ruin.
Sally whistled.
"Now, all I've got left to show you is your H.U.D., your right eye
carries a targeting matrix and the left a locational map, hit that small
button on the side of your helmet to turn them on."
Sally did so and she quickly got the hang of having two different images
in each eye.
"Anything else I need to know?"
"Keep your head down if we get into trouble and if I say jump, say a
little prayer."

Sonic and Bunnie were kitted out in similar Synskin suits except they
were given a fire retardant layer. The soldier prepping them only said
one thing: "Just remember, it's not just your arse on the line, it's all
of ours, got it sulphate?"

The time approached eleven, the night was exceptionally chilly for the
time of year and the moons were hidden behind a pall of thick black
smog. As the party arrived they remained silent except for someone over
a comm-link: "Well, the night is black and our blades are sharp, let's
kick some bot butt!"

Continued in part three.              

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