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Next part of the Origin of Mobius series

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

chest gripped by a freezing chill and his heart hammered against his ribs. The figure

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.

"Fuck 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 light s 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 fiancée, 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 rosé. 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 damned 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 fucker."

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 shit 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 bitch, 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 piss," 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 fuck 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.