Unwelcome Revelation

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 Readying for War.

* * *

Bandit awoke suddenly and wished he hadn't. He had an awe-inspiring headache and the edges of his vision were fuzzy. There were vague memories at the top of his mind, those of a beautiful vixen priestess about to cut him to pieces, and he thought he had seen Digger's face but after that he had not recollection, no dreams, no visions. After his nightmare back at the Palace he was grateful he was out cold enough to not have dreams.

"Bandit, you're awake!"

Bandit then realized that he was lying in a bed in a brightly-lit room surrounded by the Rowdies. Rad, Claire, Digger, and Gyro were all around him and seemed happy that he was all right. Another person, an eagle in a labcoat, was looking Bandit over critically and there was a squirrel over with the rest of the Rowdies dressed in a blue jumpsuit who regarded him coolly.

"So, feeling better?"

Bandit rubbed the side of his throbbing head. "Oh yeah, just waiting 'til somebody stops that stupid drum."

The eagle nodded and smiled, obviously satisfied. "The anesthesia is wearing off normally. You'll be fine in about an hour."

Bandit raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Anesthesia? I just got stabbed in the shoulder, that's all."

The eagle gave him a serious frown. "And you had been out without proper shelter for about two days without food or warmth and the stress of the stab overloaded your nervous system. You have been out for all of yesterday and up to about mid-morning. You needed the rest."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks Doc."

The eagle's neck feathers ruffled. "I will thank you to refer to me as Dr. Reiner from now on." He turned to the others and said, "While he has recovered a lot he still has that shoulder to heal and he needs rest to do that. You will have to leave in ten minutes but you can visit again every day for an hour.

"But now it is time for me to see about my other patients since we are fighting a war. If you will excuse me."

Dr. Reiner glided out of the room grumbling about how many times he had been called "Doc" within the last ten hours, but Bandit's attention was drawn back to his friends.

Rad gestured a hello. "So, Bandit, how's it been the last three-and-a-half months? You like the Palace?"

"Yeah, real nice 'cept for the last two weeks. You know what it's like to spend that much time watching a madman at work?"

The still-unidentified squirrel stepped forward and eyed him carefully. "You know who is behind all of this?"

"Yeah. It's the Royal Head of Science, Marty Kreaton."

Everyone took that in. Gyro looked completely flabbergasted. "W-what? Kreaton, the guy who invented the neurosis therapy device? The man who created a universal hub joint that was actually universal? The guy who generously designed new hospital equipment in his spare time? That Marty Kreaton?"

"Yeah, that sounds like the same guy to me."

Gyro was forced into speechlessness and the squirrel had a thoughtful look on her face. "From what I know about him Kreaton will be a dangerous opponent. But at least we know who is running the show now. I'll have to ask more questions later but I think it's time for us to leave Bandit to his rest."

With that she blinked out. Bandit squinted his eyes then opened them wide, then closed them again. "Man, maybe that anesthesia is messing up my eyes 'cuz I thought I saw this squirrel chick just disappear."

Rad stood up. "Sorry, you haven't met Nicole yet. She's the administrator here at Freehome. But she does have a point, you will need your rest. We have a long fight ahead of us."

Bandit's eyes snapped back open. "So I'm back in the group? Even after I left you guys for the Palace?"

Rad smirked. "You were never out of the group, Bandit. We'll catch you later."

He got up and left. Digger helped Gyro along as the feline still couldn't believe what he had just heard. Claire stayed behind and walked up to the side of his bed.

"Hey Bandit."

"Hey Claire. Good to see you."

She handed him a small metal slab with a viewscreen and toggle switches. "Here's a portable information terminal. It'll help you get caught up on what's been going on recently and it'll help to explain what we're going to do. I thought you'd need it since you've been out of the mode for a while."

Bandit took the viewer and smiled at her as she got up and turned to leave. "Thanks. You were always there for me."

She reached the doorway, looked back at him with a gentle smile and then closed the door behind her as she left.

Bandit sighed. The sound was very depressing as it bounced off the bright white walls. He turned to the viewer and flipped the switch to the "on" position. After he had learned all of the plans on one side of the war he'd need to start learning about the other side.

* * *

Kreaton was amused.

The team that he had sent to transport the mysterious crates had finally arrived and they had unpacked everything. It was obvious that this was a store of extra machinery left from the Great Struggle although he couldn't be sure if it had been Robotnik or Snively who had actually stored it. The crates had contained several unique robots with their blueprints. Kreaton knew that each one would have failed due to their specific design philosophy that did not allow them to be used for other purposes. Sonic Hedgehog would have torn through these just as he had torn through some of the best designs that Robotnik had ever built.

It seemed like a waste of time. These machines were merely another resource to draw upon for parts but nothing else. Perhaps they could be used to give Kreaton the inspiration for newer models of robots but at the moment they were not very inspiring.

Then he noticed that the Worker 'bots had failed to open one of the crates. It was approximately nine feet tall and it was more of a containment unit than a crate. The sides were completely sealed up under a black metal skin. There was a small terminal set into one side that seemed unpowered. On the side was a spray-painted inscription that warned "Open at your own risk."

"Why didn't you open this crate?" he asked the nearest Worker 'bot, a sturdy stallion.

It answered, "UNABLE TO COMPLY. CRATE IS ELECTRONICALLY SEALED. REQUIRES PASSWORD."

"That makes sense. Robotnik was like that. Even after his death he remains a crotchety fellow." Kreaton walked over to the terminal and pressed the ON switch. A small green screen with black letters came up and it prompted him to give the password.

Kreaton immediately typed in several key phrases that he thought would work but none of them did. He thought for a moment and then turned to the Worker 'bot that he had addressed before and commanded, "Pack up the other crates and transport them to the main production facility. They are to be scrapped for parts. Leave this one here. I'll tend to it."

"YES SIR." After this brief reply the Worker 'bot and his roboticized comrades went backwards through the motions that they went through to open the crates.

Kreaton turned to the ominous black crate and stared hard at it. The spray-painted red letters gave a clear warning that this was something that even Robotnik considered important and dangerous. And that meant that Kreaton wanted it.

He reached over to his command terminal and started up a search program for any references that Robotnik might have left. He had to open this crate!

* * *

Bandit shifted in the virtually-created seat of the Salamander that he was riding in. He didn't feel comfortable in this huge hunk of metal even if it was equipped with a powerful electronic countermeasures system to prevent him from being detected by hostile sensors. It also had an enhanced scanner suite that could reach farther than other Salamanders and that could help him dodge out of harm's way before the enemy knew he was even there although that didn't comfort him much either.

But he had to admit that Marty Kreaton's newer designs were too monstrous to be fought by infantry. So he had accepted the fifth slot in the squad of Salamanders along with his friends. And that meant he needed to seriously catch up in terms of training.

He lifted the arms of his tank and started pouring out streams of auto-cannon rounds. The virtually-created Strikerbots in this simulator scenario were coming in squads and firing their weapons at him. This sim-session was designed to see how far a pilot could take their Salamander before they got blown up. Nicole and Gyro hadn't completed their program to simulate the capabilities that the Dracobots, Quasibots and Mobots presented so Strikerbots were still being used as the sim's antagonists.

The Salamander's left arm tore off as the result of a carefully-aimed salvo of missiles. Bandit slapped fire control switches and opened up his own missile racks. "My rocket launcher's bigger!"

He triggered the missiles to launch and he saw several streams of smoke flow out of his shoulders before the rockets impacted in the middle of the Strikerbot squad with the missile launchers. That gave him a little more time to think as he blew away some individual Strikerbots that had survived the blast.

Nicole seemed like a nice enough person for a computer. She came in again the day after he woke up and he informed her of all the details that he had seen in the Palace. Then the rest of the Rowdies came in and he told them the same story. In between the visits for the next few days he had been studying all of the information on the viewer that Claire gave him. When Dr. Reiner said that he could begin his training the raccoon was glad to finally get out of bed and stretch his legs.

Then the training began and he wished he could go back to being a helpless invalid.

"Basic" training forced him through more torturous contortions of his body than he had ever wanted to think about. Then they started him on his Salamander training since Rad was anxious to have the fifth slot filled up. And that had only been a couple of days ago.

The simulation finally ended when a group of Strikerbots teamed up and fired their weapons at his legs and he didn't get out of the way in time. He felt himself floating down to the floor as the simulator started shutting down, which took away the colorful images of the simulator and left him in the dark-tiled room.

He shook his head gently to make sure he was clear of virtual shock and then he left through the door. Bed sounded good right now.

* * *

Kreaton was not amused.

He had been working at the password for the black crate for the past week and still he had no results. There was no clue in any of the records that Robotnik left behind and it was obvious that he had not wanted this crate to be opened casually.

But Kreaton wasn't giving up. His curiosity was too strong to leave this possibility closed to him and he was certainly not going to overlook any advantage he could gain.

He stared hard at the black crate again. It had not given any indication that anything was actually inside and it might be Robotnik's idea of a sick joke. An empty black crate. But that didn't fit in with Robotnik's personality. Something that was especially important was always highlighted in some way or the other by Robotnik such as the Doomsday Project that had almost succeeded in wiping out the Freedom Fighters. That was a part of Robotnik's downfall since all the Freedom Fighters had to do was see what Robotnik considered important and then smash it.

Kreaton hoped not to have such glaring weaknesses. But he saw that his curiosity was certainly a weakness and he would have to work on controlling it.

Later.

The black crate had not occupied all of his thoughts within the last week. He had started sending squads to the Southern Continent where news of his takeover was scanty and misinformed at best. The squads consisted of Strikerbots since he did not want to waste any of his newer designs on the initial strike. Once the Strikerbots had softened up the Southern Continent and wiped out most of the defenses the Mobots and Dracobots would sweep in and take the rest out.

During the Great Struggle the Southern Continent had been ravaged badly. Resistance to Robotnik's rule was very open and fighting was constant open warfare. Several veterans of the Great War who were serving down on the Southern Continent just shrugged their shoulders and kept fighting. Heroes were made every day. The waste was magnificent.

But Kreaton had taken over most of the Northern Continent. The Wolf Pack had been tenaciously fighting a guerilla war against the Strikerbots that had been sent to surround the Wolf Den. But the Strikerbots would soon be reinforced by squads of Mobots and Spiderbots, which would maintain such a tight guard that the Wolf Pack would soon starve or surrender.

The Wolf Den was too deep and had too many narrow passages to infiltrate easily. Spiderbots could do so easily but they didn't have the armor to survive the traps that the Wolf Pack had laid as initial forays by Strikerbots into the tunnels proved. But the stubborn wolves and their relations would be starved out and Kreaton would have them transported to a nearby outpost for roboticization.

The Lower Mobius area had been completely taken over. The inhabitants were being processed for roboticization even as he sat thinking. It had been rather easy since they had not maintained very good contact with the surface and were now paying for their ignorance. And unlike Robotnik, Kreaton carefully began mapping out the underground tunnels and securing them.

Many other pockets of Mobians were being drained as expendable Strikerbots were sent in waves to weaken the population. It was surprisingly difficult to ferret out some of the groups left but it would only be a matter of time.

Now Kreaton could begin his invasion of the Southern Continent, which would certainly be a major campaign. After the Great Struggle the Southern Continent had strengthened defenses and maintained several garrisons with the determination not to be caught off their guard again. Even now the stereotypical Southerner was overly suspicious and fiercely proud of their ancestors. This would have to be done strategically and swiftly.

But the black crate remained firmly in his mind.

* * *

Rad rubbed his temples as he headed toward his quarters in Freehome. He was very tired after a long day of instructing the newer recruits on weapon use and military procedure. Actually he didn't run the show but he helped Nicole handle the recruits. That on top of problems with some more refugees that had been found, basic training, advanced training, and handling a few dozen newbies who didn't know what was going on made him very tired. He couldn't wait to get some shuteye.

His eyes ached. His throat felt dry. His legs were almost too weak to carry him. And he felt a whole lot older than he should have.

Maybe I'm trying to do too many things at once. I'm not the leader of this deal, Nicole is. She was placed in Freehome for the purpose after all.

He opened his door, walked in, and closed it behind him. Giving a sigh of relief as he slid his bandanna off of his head, he hung it on a nearby hook where he also placed his high-collared jacket. He sat down on his bed and took his boots off, glad to be free of the extra weight. He then laid back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling and wondering about what had been going on recently.

Reports say that Kreaton's been getting new 'bots like those Dracobots and Quasibots that Gyro keeps babbling about. Some of 'em even say he's started sending his extra Strikerbots down into the Southern Continent, spreading his forces south and taking it over, too. It'll just be a matter of time until the Southern Continent starts a war with Kreaton just like it did back in the Great Struggle. Dang but that'll be murder! I just hope that some of those Southerners got our beamed messages before the Strikerbots start rolling in.

His thoughts were likely to continue along that vein but suddenly he saw a flash of something appearing in his shack and leaned himself up on his elbows to see that Nicole had materialized in his room.

He jumped out of bed and felt a little embarrassed. Even though most Mobians didn't really need clothes for modesty (and he didn't personally) he was annoyed that Nicole hadn't knocked or beeped or something first before barging in. He grabbed his jacket off of the hook and quickly got it on. "Jeez, Nicole, try not to do that, 'kay?"

Nicole looked him up and down in a neutral way. "You do not usually wear pants so I did not think that it would matter if I came in at this time."

Rad grabbed his bandanna and jammed it onto his head. "Yeah, well maybe I like a little privacy at night, y'know? So," he said in an attempt to change the subject, "what was so important that you needed to bust in on me when I was getting ready to go to bed?"

"The Wolf Pack. They sent a runner and she had the luck to find one of our scouting parties. She reported that the Wolf Den is being barricaded by Kreaton's forces. They are beginning to run out of food stores and the runner was only barely able to get out herself. She is in Medical right now."

Rad quickly got his boots on with the suspicion that he wasn't going to get any sleep for the next week at this rate. "So what are we going to do about it?"

"We must assemble a strike force. Since the other squads are not finished with their training it looks like you and your friends are selected for the main assault. Infantry support will slip into the Den while you cover them and they will make sure that the Wolf Pack is properly armed before they all come out and support you with their hand-held arsenal."

Rad shook his head. "Look Nicole, if you're joking please tell me right now 'cuz I need sleep, and if I don't get sleep then I'm going to be very grumpy. And you don't want to see me grumpy."

Nicole considered him for a moment then walked over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know that this is a hard thing to ask, but I can't run Freehome and send holograms of myself out to battle. Spreading myself out too much might make me lose my individuality. That's why I need good soldiers and right now you are one of the most experienced soldiers in the Rowdies."

She withdrew her hand, walked a short distance away, then turned her head slightly. There seemed to be a slight smile at the edge of her lips but Rad couldn't be sure. "By the way, the runner wanted to talk to you personally."

Rad raised an eyebrow. "Eh? What for? And how'd she know what to look for?"

Nicole turned to face him and shook her head. "She did not ask for you specifically but did ask for the commander of the Rowdies. She was determined to tell you about the problem directly but she talked when I persuaded her that I was in the command structure."

Rad raised his other eyebrow in astonishment. "I'm not the leader of the Rowdies! I'm not even eighteen! There are a lot of guys out there who are older than me, better choices than me..."

"...Who have not had much, if any, combat experience. Some of them have not even played simulator games before so they do not even have that as an advantage. You took charge of your Rowdies before you came here. Now you just have a few more Rowdies."

Rad felt overwhelmed. "Just a few more? Gimme a break, there's at least two hundred people in Freehome right now! I can't take command of that many people!"

Nicole shook her head. "Yes you can. But we cannot stand here arguing about this. The runner did want at least one word with you before you went out on the rescue op and it will take about a half-hour to prep your Salamander."

The jackal felt as though he had been set up. "Okay, I'll go see her. I'll be ready to ride in an hour," he said grudgingly.

He walked out of his residence and went to the medical facility which was now being used to full capacity. Several refugees had survived run-ins with 'bot patrols and were now being treated. He walked in, managed to find out where the runner was being roomed and went to the proper door. After he knocked he heard a cheerful voice calling, "Come in!"

He opened the door and he walked in to see that he was not the only visitor here. Claire's friend Tracy was here, sitting in a chair next to the runner's bed. She beamed a smile at him in her energetic way. "Hi, Rad! How's it been?"

The Wolf Pack runner turned her head to look at Rad and he immediately saw that she had several bandages wrapped around her face. She couldn't really see but her mouth was free to talk. She was apparently wearing one of the hospital's gowns under the blanket. Rad saw that she was pretty good-looking and wondered if that was what Nicole was smirking about earlier.

Tracy gestured toward Rad, then realized how silly that was seeing that the runner couldn't see it anyway. "Azy, this is Rad. Rad, this is Azrael of the Wolf Pack."

Rad bowed a little, knowing full well that Azrael couldn't see him. "Nice to meet you, Azrael."

Azrael looked toward his voice. "Are you the commander of the Rowdies?"

Rad was a little hesitant but he decided that he might as well play along with it for now. "Yeah, I was one of the original Rowdies."

Azrael leaned herself on her elbows looking almost intently at Rad's face. Almost, because her eyes were covered by the bandages on her head. "Then you know about the Wolf Den?"

"Yeah, Nicole told me. We're going to head out now and break up that barricade."

Azrael let out a sigh of relief as she fell back onto the bed with a soft thud. "Then I have done my duty. Now I can rest..."

For a few moments Tracy and Rad were a little worried that she had meant death, but then a gentle snoring could be heard issuing from Azrael's mouth. They looked at each other and then Tracy got up and walked out the door, Rad close behind. Tracy gently closed the door and giggled. "Azy's a couple years older than I am, and she's pretty cool. She managed to get past the barricade of 'bots that Crouton's got around the Wolf Den then escaped a close encounter with a squad of Strikerbutts. She was trying to be modest but she really did a good job, don't you think?"

Rad could only nod thoughtfully and smirk at Tracy's dismemberment of Kreaton's name. Azrael was pretty, and he knew that Nicole had other motives aside from duty when she pushed Rad to see Azrael in person. But Nicole trusted him enough to be the leader of the Rowdies. It looked like she was pushing him to become the main man, the head honcho. He felt a little queasy at the prospect, remembering the large population of Freehome. Was talking to Azrael in person a way for Rad to clear up his anxieties about commanding? And how was he going to tell Nicole that he didn't want to lead?

He said a polite farewell to Tracy and ran off to the Salamanders, which were being prepped in front of the secret door that led outside. The secret door was the other exit from Freehome and it was big enough to admit a Salamander through without trouble. It emptied out into the Great Forest between a great clump of trees that were perfect for screening out the cave's opening and closing while allowing Salamanders to get out of the forest.

Rad climbed up into his Salamander's cockpit and began flipping switches and reading gauges. He wanted to be free of command, to be another common joe, and to be asleep right now. But there was no way that he could catch any sleep until the main stretch of the Great Unknown that led to the Wolf Den, and that was using autopilot. The barricade would probably be in a wide circle around the Wolf Den so it was unlikely he would get much sleep even then.

He grumbled to himself as he began heading out into the night in the walking tank. Getting sleep was a number one priority for him, and he would take out his anger on the robots that Kreaton had built. Time to take the hassle to the limit!