Embedded Files
It was early evening in the Great Forest. The building operations had been going incredibly smoothly for the last few days since Sally was able to recruit the skilled labourers Robotnik had previously had on work duty in the Green Hill Zone. Now, everyone was housed and comfortable, even if not to perhaps the same level they had been before. If nothing else, they weren’t going to freeze if it turned cold at night.
As the rest of the refugees turned in for the night and turned out the lights, Sally called a meeting of the Freedom Fighters. The group waited with baited breath to see what their leader had to report.
“I call to order this first official meeting of the Freedom Fighters,” Sally announced before pausing. “Sorry, just wanted to make it sound official.”
“It was very good,” Flicky nodded. Chirps gave a light applause.
“Thanks,” Sally said somewhat sarcastically, “I want to start things off by reporting N.I.C.O.L.E. and the Kintobor Computer have managed to link up with the relay network left by the original Doctor Kintobor. It wasn’t easy, Robotnik has got all sorts of firewalls flying around Mobius’ online networks now. But we’re in. What this means is we have access to all kinds of reports of Robotnik activity.”
“Which means,” Sonic interjected, “we know where to strike. Right?”
Sally nodded, “Right. And first order of business is the Aquatic Ruin Zone.”
Rotor scratched his forehead, “Not somewhere I figured Robotnik would have much interest in. I know he installed some traps there last time we all paid a visit but I don’t think there’s too much there to catch his eye, is there?”
“Ordinarily, no. The Roaming Romans make the Zone their home but they’re no real threat to Robotnik as they have no designs on moving outside the Zone. I can’t imagine he’s that bothered if they live there or not. But what he is bothered about is money.”
Johnny tutted, “Imagine taking over the planet and still thinking about your bank account.”
“It’s not just that simple,” Sally explained, “If Robotnik controls the planet’s wealth, he controls the planet’s economy. Food, homes, clothing, transportation, pretty much every aspect of life would be Robotnik’s to control- and that’s arguably even worse than him simply seizing the land. Make no mistake about it, guys: if we can stop Robotnik from amassing wealth, then we owe it to the planet’s inhabitants to do so.”
Bunnie furrowed her brow, “Sally-girl, mah family always said there ain’t no money in the Aquatic Ruin Zone. And they’d know- they’re old money! So what kin Robotnik have found there worth a bean?”
“I’m glad you asked. True, the Zone does house the odd rare treasure, but nothing which would make Robotnik sit up and take particular note. But he’s heard there’s an oil reserve buried underground and he’s got his minions setting up machinery on the site- including an oil rig in the middle of the water.”
“But the pollution!” Porker sputtered, “If Robotnik strikes oil in that Zone, he’ll ruin its natural beauty.”
“Something tells me he doesn’t care,” Sally admitted.
“Well I do,” Sonic stood up, “So what’s the plan, Sal?”
“You and Tails need to head to the Aquatic Ruin Zone with Porker,” Sally began.
“Oh dear,” Porker mumbled.
“It’s alright, Porker, you don’t have to get involved in the fray. But we need you to go over these schematics. You’re a genius when it comes to gadgets and mechanical stuff. Sonic and Tails will enact the dirty work, so to speak.”
“Yeah, well, hopefully not literally dirty, eh, pal?” Sonic motioned at Tails, “I’m sure you don’t want oil in your fur any more than I want it in my quills.”
“No thanks,” Tails shook his head.
“I hope you two got plenty of rest last night,” Sally continued, “because we’re putting the plan in motion right now.”
***
The Aquatic Ruin Zone was peaceful. Of course, it was always peaceful, it was a quiet, beautiful Zone (except for when the Roaming Romans were marching, in which case it was a somewhat noisy but still beautiful Zone). But the starry night sky, with no cloud coverage on this particular evening, gave the Zone an extra layer of serenity.
The Aquatic Ruin Zone’s Star Post had been forgotten many decades ago, hidden among an overgrown patch of foliage. This was good for Sonic for two reasons. Firstly, not that he would know this at the moment, it meant Robotnik’s Badniks would struggle to find the Star Post. Secondly, it meant that he, Tails and Porker could arrive in the Zone unseen. The trio arrived through the portal from the Great Forest in an instant and remained hidden in the leaves for the moment.
Porker looked at N.I.C.O.L.E.’s screen, with Sally having entrusted the handheld computer to the pig. The screen displayed technical looking layouts that were beyond Sonic. Porker suspected this may be the case but he was too polite to say anything, lest it seemed like he was calling Sonic unintelligent. Porker pointed at the screen, “Alright, Sonic, these points are where you need to make the necessary changes.”
Sonic committed the images to memory, “Got it. Do you have a spanner with you?”
Porker raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, “Sonic, really, what kind of question is that?” He shook his head, fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a spanner, “Of course I have a spanner.”
Sonic took the tool from his friend, “Thanks, pal! Tails, are you ready to do your part?”
Tails was a little nervous but put on a brave face, “I think so. I’ll do my best, Sonic. Anything to help out, right?”
“Right. Come on, let’s get moving.”
Sonic and Tails stepped out of the undergrowth and into a clearing, doing their best not to trip over errant vines along the way. Following a worn path, they eventually spotted tyre treads in the ground.
“I have a feeling I know who those belong to…” Sonic noted.
“Grounder Badniks?” Tails enquired.
“Good eye, kiddo. I think that means we’re getting closer.”
The two best friends followed the trail. Sonic’s hunch proved correct as, soon enough, they found a gathering of Grounders all heading towards a huge drill. Visible in the water was Robotnik’s oil rig. If he activated that, geysers of oil would destroy everything that made the Aquatic Ruin Zone a place of beauty forever. It was too horrible to think about. Sonic and Tails couldn’t allow it to happen.
“Ready, pal?” Sonic asked.
Tails gulped and took a deep breath, “Ready.”
The workforce of robots found themselves distracted by the sudden appearance of an orange fox with two tails. In most other stories, that would be an unusual sentence but if you’ve read this far you’re probably pretty well on board with it.
“Hey, you metal, um, idiots!” Tails tried his best to sound intimidating but didn’t quite stick the landing, “I’m here to stop you! So you might as well pack up now and go home!”
Go home?! Tails questioned himself internally. Gordon Bennett…
It wasn’t the most threatening battle cry he could have asked for, but it certainly got the attention of the Badniks. The Grounders began to roll towards Tails. Tails became instantly aware that the inside of his mouth was very dry indeed. There was no turning back now. Tails glanced over his shoulder. Sonic was nowhere to be seen. Tails’ heart thumped extra hard and snapped him back to focus on the deadly robots drawing ever closer.
There was nothing for it but to fight. Tails crouched and revved up a Spin Dash attack. As the Grounders got closer, their drill hands and nosecones whirring, Tails let loose with the attack, bouncing off of and into each successive Badnik, shattering their casings, bouncing about between them like a rubber ball. It wasn’t doing Tails’ head much good, admittedly, but at least he’d be able to tell the tale afterwards, unlike the smashed robots.
Most of the Grounders were empty, clearly production line models whipped together to help construct Robotnik’s machinery, but the occasional ones did host a Mobini prisoner, who hopped away to freedom. Tails hoped that freedom would last for them.
A buzzing sound filled Tails’ ears as he got to his feet. He looked to his left to see a Whisp Badnik zooming at him at top speed. He look to his right to see another one doing the same. Turning quickly, a third Whisp greeted Tails, also rocketing towards him. The three Badniks closed in on Tails and only one option presented itself- Tails leapt into the air, whirring his tails like a rotor blade to fly. The Badniks were unable to stop in time and crashed into one another in a three-way heap of crumpled metal parts. Tails gave an impressed nod, almost congratulating himself on doing something very cool which, unfortunately, nobody had seen and nobody would likely believe if he relayed it.
“Tails! Let’s go!” Sonic rushed past his friend at top speed. Not wanting to waste another moment, Tails angled himself to allow his namesakes to propel himself forward after Sonic, too fast for the Badniks to keep up with. By the time any of the Grounders had caught up to where Tails had been, he, Sonic and Porker were long gone and the Star Post remained hidden.
***
The next morning, a foreman Badnik arrived, control in hand. He raised it, slowly and flicked the “Activate” switch.
A loud groaning emanated from the drill and the oil rig. That was to be expected, of course, where pieces of heavy duty machinery like these were concerned.
What happened next, however, was assuredly not expected.
A geyser erupted from the ground near the drill. The foreman Badnik turned rather too slowly to prevent being caught in the blast. A similar eruption spurted from the top of the rig. But there was no oil to be seen. Instead, tonnes upon tonnes of icy-cold water shot into the air and rained down on all the Badniks present. As land- and air-based Badniks, the Grounders, Whisps and foreman were ill-equipped for this level of soaking and summarily malfunctioned. Any Badniks containing an “organic battery”- as Robotnik liked to dub hostages powering a Badnik- enacted emergency procedures and opened up, freeing their captives.
“As you can see, sir,” Snively reported, “accounts suggesting there was an oil reserve in the Aquatic Ruin Zone have been conclusively proven inaccurate. Several dozen Badniks were lost in the incident this morning, as were a number of organic batteries. I’m afraid the whole operation is a write-off.”
Robotnik massaged his temple. Sonic had returned and now this- were they connected? Or was it just that he was having a run of bad luck? Robotnik didn’t usually believe in coincidences, but he couldn’t see how Sonic could have been involved. He’d have destroyed the machines outright. There was nothing in the morning report from the Aquatic Ruin Zone about any appearance from enemies of Robotnik the night before… but, then again, all Badniks in the area had been wiped out before the morning report could be filed.
Robotnik decided to chalk this one up to coincidence after all. If Sonic was involved, there was precious little he could do now anyway so it didn’t make sense to worry about it.
“Very well, Snively,” Robotnik growled, “Grimer, see to it that the machines are dismantled. We can melt the parts down and use them elsewhere.”
***
It was a cause for celebration in the Great Forest. Cheers rose up as word had got back through the relay system that Robotnik’s search for oil had been a bust.
“Seems you played your part perfectly, Sonic,” Johnny commended his friend.
Sonic raised his hands, “Credit where it’s due, Tails was the one keeping the Badniks at bay. And I couldn’t have done it without Porker… but I guess I was pretty terrific, wasn’t I?”
Tails gave a look of mock-nervousness, “When I turned around and you were gone, that was one of the most frightening moments of my life!”
The gathered inhabitants of the newly formed Knothole Village laughed. Antoine chuckled, “If even you couldn’t see Soneek, ze Badniks will have had no chance!”
Sonic grinned, “I still say it would’ve been fun to smash that machinery!”
Sally nudged him, “Yeah, well, if we’d done that, Robotnik would only have rebuilt the drill and rig. But thanks to Porker, you were able to ensure they could only pump water, not oil- Robotnik will be convinced there’s nothing of value in the Zone now and he might just leave it alone!”
Dulcy smiled, “I’m sure the Roaming Romans are happy about that!”
“Oil think they are!” Sonic quipped. His friends groaned and dispersed. Sonic scrunched up his mouth, “No sense of humour, you lot…”
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