Escapade

Mobius: The Second Saga

by Tergonaut

Sonic the Hedgehog and all other related characters and themes are © SEGA and DiC, Mobius: The Second Saga and all related characters and themes are © of Tergonaut.

Setting: The day after First Strike! takes place.

* * *

BOOM!

The explosion could be heard throughout the Palace and Bandit knew the first part of his plan had worked when all of the lights became dark with lack of power. He heard a great amount of shuffling as Strikerbots began running this way and that in an ant-like way. Waiting in a duct above the cramped corridor he needed to get into he tried to place the events as they happened so that he could stifle the anxiety which was choking his stomach.

He had gotten into the kitchen early in the morning, grabbed some food to survive on, and when he left he had enough chemical products (cleaners and detergents, mostly) to create the distraction he needed in the form of a bomb. He had worked his way through the ducts and had entered the generator room. Pouring all of the various name-brand sanitizers together in one big bucket he ran a small string from the bucket to the ducting, one end of the string in the chemical combination, the other at the end of a match he had "borrowed." The string lit nicely and he escaped through the ducts to this place where all he would have to do was go down the corridor and get into a separate ventilation system which had been designed to keep fresh air in the Palace while filtering any airborne chemical agents that could be introduced to the system as sabotage or terrorism. The fact that the Palace could be entered easily from that location had been overlooked and an insufficient patrolling of that area had led him to explore the possibilities. Now he needed to get out and warn the others.

Despite everything that had happened he knew that the Rowdies were still alive. They couldn't have been caught off-guard like everyone else, after all. How they would welcome him was another matter. He hadn't really told them about the entrance to the Palace that he had found and he hadn't even left a note when he had left to infiltrate the Palace. The only reason he hadn't left sooner was because some Royal Guards always seemed to be passing by just as he tried to leave.

The Rowdies could welcome him with open arms. He had been a comrade through thick and thin. And the information he could provide would be invaluable to any efforts to invade the Palace.

Then again they could be ticked that he had left them a streeter short of five and he might have to go it on his own. He had not even confided when he was going and was not willing to tell them about the location of the entrance until he had tested it out himself.

And that was how he had gotten himself into this mess.

The flow of Strikerbots slowed below him as the stragglers passed by and then there was only the sound of their feet clanging on the floor, and then nothing. He flipped the grate up and grabbed the edge of it just as he dropped to the floor below. It flipped down into place and he was jerked as he clung to the bars but it held his weight while closing it against inspection. Wouldn't do to have a grate left open for everyone to see.

He maneuvered so that his back pressed against one wall of the tight corridor and his feet pushed against the other. Then he let go of the grating and he slowly slid down to the floor, careful once again not to make too much noise. With a mad dash he ran down the corridor, turned left, opened the grating that was in the wall a few yards from the ceiling grating and ducked in, closing the grating behind him.

He slid forward on hands and knees until the duct turned sharply down and then he rolled over and used his feet to grab onto the bar that was built into the wall. He let himself down slowly, just barely letting his eyes past the edge of the opening, which made him tingle as he did so. Weak force fields were used to screen out any additives but could only make the skin tingle on contact. Peering out carefully he saw the Royal Park, a huge floral achievement that had many walkways for people to walk and enjoy the trees, bushes, flowers, and other plant life that flourished, with the occasional pool of water or lawn of grass to break up the trees.

Bandit could see that there were Strikerbots in the twilight of evening as the bomb had been set near nighttime so he could use the cover of darkness to escape from the Palace and the many patrols that would easily pick him up during the daylight hours. He plotted a perfect path to the nearest bits of cover and raised himself back into the duct, pulling back into the horizontal section.

He let himself get used to having blood flow more evenly throughout his head before he turned around and dropped to the ground. The grass bent under his weight but it sprang back up as he made sprints to the tree he had selected as his first piece of visual protection.

Air! It felt invigorating to breathe non-recycled air for a change. It was warm, although it was certainly getting cooler as night approached and as autumn came closer into being a chill would soon tinge the darkness. The gnarled bark of the tree helped him to find handholds as he climbed up to get a view of his surroundings and a general idea of how to get out.

He looked out from the branches as the last patches of sunlight began fading from view. Strikerbots traveled in pairs going down irregular paths and occasionally stopping to scan their current location. This was going to be hard but if he traveled among the treetops to the wall surrounding the Park he would be okay. Outside the wall and in the city streets he could ditch almost any pursuer.

He just hoped that this next jump wouldn't be a lulu.

* * *

Kreaton had been surprised when the lights went out and even more so when the cause had been discovered. A mixture of chemical elements had been used in an explosive that had been placed in the generator room, thus causing enough damage to create a power outage.

It didn't take half of his intellect to realize the danger of his situation but he kept his calm disposition as he ordered more Strikerbots to patrol the Garden and to make sure the way to the wall was blocked. After sending a few Spy-Eyes into the ventilation shafts he found enough evidence to believe that someone had been living in them for at least a week and that there had been a spy there to watch several of the crucial points of time in which he founded his new empire. If the "Rowdies" managed to find this spy they would have invaluable inside information on how his empire worked as well as a way to get inside of the Palace.

Kreaton had a few Worker 'bots on standby in the Palace for just such an occasion and he had them repair the generator while he used a Strikerbot's spotlight to examine a detailed schematic of the Palace. Yes, the shafts were vulnerable...but his factories were now beginning to churn out the deadlier forms of war machines that he had designed and one design, the Spiderbots, would be able to defend the insides of the shafts due to their small size. They were designed to be small and to be used in swarms, which was perfect for the cramped confines of the ventilation shafts where enemies could not defend themselves well.

And then if the Rowdies ever showed up again, he had just begun to ship enough of his new Quasibots and Dracobots to outlying outposts for a rapid response to any further attacks. The Quasibot design was meant to excel at climbing mountains, using heavy claws on its hands to grip into rock, and the shoulder-mounted laser cannons could angle upward to fire directly above it which would mean that it would be an excellent robot for use against aerial assault. The Dracobot was his answer to the Salamander chassis, a hulking tank in its own right but smaller than the Salamander, designed to be used in numbers. In addition to the missile rack on their backs and the two auto-cannons attached on gyro-mounts on the sides of the legs they had a monstrous looking appearance, much like a large lizard, and a flamethrower in their mouths could overheat a Salamander to critical levels quickly, forcing them to shut down, at which point they would be helpless as the Dracobot finished off the pilot with accurate shots from the auto-cannons.

There was an infantry design that he was also proud of, one that would replace the Strikerbots eventually. His Mobot design was incredibly mobile, hence the name. Instead of legs they levitated on hoverjets, allowing them to jet quickly out of the way of enemy fire, and their arms contained enough weapons to make them adequate snipers, crowd controllers, infiltrators, and a variety of other functions. In a pinch they could even help repair a damaged base. An elegant design he would be sure to make full use of.

Until the newer units filtered out to his outposts the Strikerbots would have to be the main unit of offense and defense. But the Rowdies would still have trouble with them, and Kreaton chuckled as he saw the lights come on.

His victory would be achieved. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

Bandit made another leap, another life-risking grab at a branch, and just barely lifted himself into the tree before a pair of Strikerbots passed by, not heeding his presence.

A bead of sweat ran down his face. Another close one! It was as if the number of Strikerbots had increased since he started and even though he was practically at the wall now he still felt a gut-wrenching fear of being discovered by the Strikerbots. After all this work he had better not get caught!

There seemed to be an unusual amount of clattering to his left and he looked to see something he had been fearing. A whole row of Strikerbots stretching from the Palace all the way to the wall was making a huge pass around the Garden. Kreaton knew that he was out here! He was gonna be toast!

Cool it, guy, he told himself, if he knew where you were you would've been 'boticized by now. Just make a run for the wall, it's right there in front of you.

That and about twenty feet of nice wide open space. Great place to be discovered and consequently shot.

He noticed the line of Strikerbots was getting closer. They were going to find out he was there one way or the other and there was no use in stalling any further. He would just have to-

He dropped out of the tree in a heartbeat before his mind could steel itself. Stumbling and falling he rolled to his feet and was halfway to the wall when he heard a "HALT!" and the sound of weapon fire from the Strikerbots. This was a fine mess he had gotten himself into, that was for sure.

A patch of grass in front of him got burned by a red laser bolt and he leaped over it and grabbed onto the vine-covered wall. Shots whizzed by his ear but he knew he was going to make it. His hand grabbed the top of the wall and dragged himself up to it.

Suddenly he felt a shot connect! He fell over the edge of the wall shouting something loud (he didn't remember exactly, although "YEEE-OUCH!" did fit the general feeling of pain) and he hit the pavement below with a dull thud.

There was a moment of stillness but then he sat straight up and pulled his tail up to where he could see it. He saw the smoke rising from the very tip of it and realized that they had only hit the fur on the end of his tail. He began laughing as he realized that he had not been injured beyond surgical repair and he sat there for a few moments, feeling the tension rush out of his body as he laid on the sidewalk adjacent to the wall and the city street.

Man, but it felt good to be back where he belonged!

* * *

Kreaton observed the raccoon quietly through the Spy-Eye that hovered at the corner of a nearby building. He didn't seem like professional thief material and he certainly was no military specialist. In fact the probability was very high that this was a teenage punk who had managed to make his way into the Palace through a backstroke of luck.

That set Kreaton's mind working on the Rowdies. They were young and certainly not important people themselves. Was all the resistance merely a gang of teenagers that had somehow gotten a hold onto military technology?

They were young. Impulsive. And yet something had tempered the ones in the Salamanders, or perhaps someone. Intriguing. This one, however, had no such training. It was safe to assume that this raccoon had not been in contact with the Rowdies for any amount of time during his stay inside the Palace and was, therefore, to be disposed of immediately to prevent trouble.

It was interesting, the drive and energy of these younger people. Perhaps he could somehow write a computer program that would take full advantage of that gusto.

But now was not the time for sentimental thought.

"Strikerbots, converge and kill. Leave no trace save for his smoking entrails."

* * *

Bandit had no sooner gotten up from his sitting position than a laser bolt had hit the ground directly between his feet. He knew that his period of relative peace was over and he ran out of the street and deeper into the urban terrain. The alleyways and back streets were his territory and he could dodge the 'bots there.

Right, left, right, right, up these stairs, over that fence, past an intersection, dang but that was close! Two Strikerbots with missile launchers had been on either side of that intersection and if he had turned to the left or right he would have been very dead. But he had managed to go straight and now the Strikerbots lay in heaps of scrap, destroyed by their partner's ordinance.

Bandit reached a corner and skidded to a halt. Looking carefully around it he could see another intersection, where undoubtedly another ambush was in wait. Not again! This should cross their wires.

He grabbed the lid of a garbage can nearby and tossed it down the alleyway toward the intersection, and it bounced off the brick walls several times making a horrible clatter and providing a visual target. At the same time he leaped up and grabbed at the fire escape for the building he was at and he climbed as fast as he could, hoping the few seconds of confusion would buy him the time he needed.

He reached the roof and he jumped across to the next building. It had crossed his mind that this was a great workout when several Spy-Eyes popped up from the alleyways to his sides and they began ramming at him with a vengeance. He hopped this way and that and before he knew it he had jumped to the next building and was running for his life!

Then he could hear Strikerbots climbing up ladders and he added a boost to his speed. The edge of the city wasn't that far away (one hundred years isn't a really long time to rebuild a great city like Mobotropolis) and he knew the area better there. There would be no way that he would fail now!

He jumped one last time and he fell between two buildings, the one he had been trying for a few stories lower than the first one. The Spy-Eyes had not been able to see where he had dropped to and they began splitting off to locate Bandit wherever they could.

Bandit let out a breath of air. They hadn't seen him. And there was no way for them to know that there was a huge pile of old mattresses in this particular alleyway. Good thing Crazy Joe collected them in the alleyway behind his house. Bandit realized that Crazy Joe had probably been roboticized with the rest of Mobotropolis and he gave silent thanks to the old coot as he threaded his way through the alleyways to the old warehouse that the Rowdies had called home.

* * *

Kreaton had only realized too late what the raccoon had done. A Spy-Eye had checked that alleyway a few minutes later and Kreaton ordered them all to head for the outskirts. The spy was heading towards the Great Forest where he could dodge away and be lost for good.

But then the chase ended. Even after a good forty minutes of searching there were no more traces to follow.

Kreaton knew that he had let a dangerous enemy slip through his fingers and he chided himself for that. But at the same time the spy had revealed himself, thus causing security to be intensified and strengthened as well as holes to be filled. The ventilation shaft would not be penetrated so easily again. And there would certainly be a new construction effort made to remove all of the empty buildings that were not necessary anymore. New factories would be needed and this would provide more space for them.

He chuckled. The spy had done more harm to himself than to Kreaton. The war would merely take a little longer as both sides

assessed each other and then he would push against them, a push that would fling them off the brink into oblivion.

* * *

Bandit flopped down against a tree, panting heavily. The chase had begun again more enthusiastically than before and Bandit had barely enough time to shake them off and enter the secret escape route before they reached the warehouse. It might be useful to the Rowdies to know that their secret entrance was still a secret.

The Strikerbots seemed to come out of every hole in the wall and the Spy-Eyes were worse. And he had seen the designs Kreaton was putting into mass production, some of them even worse than anything Robotnik could have dreamed of! At this rate there was no way that his info on Kreaton would do much good except maybe to inform them that it was the former Royal Head of Science that was running the show.

Lady Luck had been good to him this far. If she would only remain benevolent for a little longer maybe he could repay her by freeing Mobius with the help of his friends.

If he could find them.

If they would accept him.

If Kreaton didn't find and slaughter either him or them first.

Too many ifs without sleep is unhealthy for a growing 'coon. This tree looks comfy enough, and I'll probably find them tomorrow.

With that comforting thought he climbed the tree, found a good place to lodge himself into and fell asleep from the backlash of the adrenaline he had enjoyed during his daring escape.