Another Strike

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: A few hours after Unwelcome Revelation.

* * *

Rad grumbled to himself as he piloted his tank into the region called the Great Unknown. The Salamanders were adequately fast and only a few hours before he and the rest of his battlegroup had been walking through the trees of the Great Forest. Now the metal feet of his walking tank stomped on hard rocky ground and the going was bumpy.

Man, I am gonna get back at Kreaton for this, I swear. First he blows up our home, then he takes over Mobotropolis and now he's attacked the Wolf Den. If he hadn't done all of that I could be sleeping right now. When I get the chance, I'm going to punch him once for every hour of sleep I'm missing. Hard. Where it hurts.

Despite such happy thoughts he felt miserably tired. The haggard schedule that Nicole had set them was grueling at best. How did she expect him to perform his fighting best when he was half-asleep?

Rad knew that as a tank pilot he needed the extensive training to stay alive. The heavier artillery that Kreaton had sent against the Wolf Den included a couple of Dracobots, the capabilities of which were still more-or-less unknown. Rad hadn't even known they were called Dracobots until Digger and his scout group had returned with the comm traffic that they had recorded and the holopics that they had taken from the outpost. Dracobots were smaller than Salamanders but big enough to be a match for one. According to what they knew so far the Dracobot was designed to counter the Salamander chassis. Essentially Kreaton's answer to their own tanks.

But still, the least Nicole could do was let him sleep an hour or two.

"Alley Cat One, this is Troop Leader. You read?"

Rad turned on his side of the communications network. "Yeah, I roj. What's up?"

"E.T.A. to battle zone in fifteen minutes. Just for review, I'd like to go over the plan again."

Rad fumed internally. This Troop Leader had to be the worst excuse for a soldier that the Mobian jackal had ever met. But at the same time he had been voted to Troop Leader and Nicole had approved it. Fortunately this guy was temporary until final training could be finished with the future leaders of the various patrols, troops and squads, which had to do with light infantry, heavy infantry, and tank piloting, respectively. But Rad masked his frustration as he replied, "Okay, let's give everybody a final rundown then.

"Alley Cats One through Four and Troop Temp have been assigned to this op. Due to the need for speed we had to pack you ground-pounders into Alley Cat Four's baggage compartment. Once we reach the designated location Alley Cat Four's gonna drop you to the ground while the rest of us cover his butt. Then under our cover fire you'll head into the tunnels using the encoder signal that the runner gave us to disable the traps. Remember, the traps will only be inactive as long as you have that thing active so watch it until you can confirm a way out. Then using the extra weapon packs that you're carrying, you will brief any fighting-fit members of the Pack on how to use the guns and then you'll bust out, giving us the additional firepower. Although by that time we should be done, but if there are any leftovers then it'd be nice to clean 'em up faster."

"Roj, Alley Cat One. Just wanted to make sure everyone was clear on that. Out."

Rad turned off his comm and sat in silence. He was only glad that they had been able to paint up their Salamanders to their specifications before this op came up. The Rowdies (the original ones, not the hundred-plus group) had decided to call their squad the Alley Cats, signifying their origin on the streets. Their tanks were painted with cat symbols and claw marks but the overall color makeup was blue with gray. Blue to honor the accomplishments of the Freedom Fighters and gray to represent their own past. Claire came up with the design while the others actually did the work.

The other squads hadn't decided yet but Rad had heard that one of the squads was scoring as high as he and his friends had in the sims. They would probably be a contender for the number one squad slot but Rad knew that the original Rowdies couldn't be beat. He'd check up on them later as well as the other squads. Later.

Ten minutes left until they arrived.

* * *

"Professor Kreaton."

Kreaton turned toward the control console near his bed in response to the sound of the silky computer voice. He was awake instantly. "What is it, Winona?"

"Assault group one has detected incoming hostiles. Four Salamander-class tanks are approaching at flanking speed. Calculations suggest that the Wolf Pack runner that escaped earlier today has managed to contact the Rowdies. The enemy will reach the assault group in five minutes."

Kreaton mulled that over for a second. "Winona, confirm assault group one's weapon status and prep them for combat. Have them get into the predesignated formation and standby until the enemy reaches weapon range. Oh, and prepare a cup of some warm cocoa, I'm coming up to the control center."

"Acknowledged, Professor."

Kreaton got out of bed and threw on a bath robe as he rushed to the command center. Winona was working impeccably considering that he had just designed the program only a few hours before to handle situations that might arise when he was asleep. However she was given orders to wake him up if any Salamander tanks were detected as any engagement with them would be critical. The tank pilots were good, very good, and it would take Kreaton's intellectual strength to coordinate his forces.

Winona was an automated program with some limited intelligence. The female voice was designed to be soothing but awakening at the same time. In some ways Winona resembled Nicole from the Great Struggle but Winona had no free will and she would not develop any quirks. Not while Kreaton was still capable of reprogramming her.

But now he needed to focus. The Wolf Den had been under assault for only a little while now. The two Dracobots were the heaviest 'bots at that location, the others being mostly Strikerbots, and there was one swarm of Spiderbots. Against four Salamanders it would be a difficult battle. But he could afford to let them have access to the Wolf Pack if he was defeated. For due to their lack of supplies the Wolf Pack had been getting weaker and weaker. It was unlikely that many were ready to fight immediately and it was likely that the Rowdies would have to transport the Wolf Pack to their secret hideaway until they could nourish the weakened members of the Pack. It could take weeks for the Wolf Pack to recover but Kreaton could do much in that time.

He reached his control chair where a cup of steaming cocoa had been placed by a robotic arm that came from the ceiling. "Thank you Winona. You may shut down now, I'll handle this one."

"Acknowledged, Professor."

He turned to the control board in front of him and he began analyzing the tactical situation. This could get interesting.

* * *

"Alley Cats, pop the lid off!"

Rad pulled the triggers that activated his auto-cannons and sent a storm of metal slugs at the amassed enemy forces. His friends also fired their auto-cannons and soon the Strikerbot lines were torn to pieces.

It looked like the Strikerbots were rushing up at them in parade formation just as the Rowdies got within visual range. Rad wasn't able to figure out why they were being so stupid. Didn't Kreaton have anything better to do than lose? The way they were now they would be easily destroyed. And since he couldn't see the Dracobots he could only assume that they were covering different exits from the Wolf Den.

But at the same time something bugged him. Kreaton had been credited as being one of the smartest people on Mobius. His scientific accomplishments were more than most people cared to admit, which was especially impressive when considering he was raised in a foster home with little education. So how come the guy was doing a textbook example of a stupid mistake?

Something didn't smell right.

Digger was finished unloading the troop of heavy infantry that had been sent with them and soon the way was clear for them to enter the Wolf Den. The heavy infantry hopped toward the entrances and they began filing into one of them, their identification beacons activated to allow them past the traps. Rad, Digger, Claire and Gyro began to form a semi-circle around the side of the canyon wall where they were. They would need to be ready to cover the entrance.

Rad took a look at his scanners. There wasn't anything there. And yet something buzzed at the edge of his mind, like a small detail he missed. Nicole would kick him out of the Rowdies completely if he messed up at this critical point. Think! Where are those bad 'bots?

Then his eyes happened to pass over the landscape again and he saw them. Several small forms glittered in the light of the moon against the desert sand. They looked like big insects or spiders but they were obviously mechanical and they weren't very big when compared to the Salamanders. They weren't even all that big when compared to normal Mobians. But they were big enough, and there were hundreds!

"Bug 'bots on the ground! Open fire!"

Rad swivelled the torso and began pelting the 'bots with auto-cannon rounds. Unfortunately the rounds missed more often than they hit and the 'bots were getting closer to his tank. If he had any inkling of their purpose they were meant to swarm over their target and tear it to pieces. He would need to destroy them fast.

Then a missile came tearing out from nowhere and took out a huge patch of the 'bots. Rad glanced to his left to see that Claire had taken the initiative to open her missile rack.

Claire called through her comm, "Bullets won't hit, but explosions will!"

Rad got her idea and he ordered everyone to open their racks and fire more missiles. The large explosions of the missiles took out several of the 'bots at the same time and severely damaged others. After a few missles the 'bots were reduced to a few solitary creatures that were soon crushed by metal fists or feet.

Rad got his Salamander to a standing position after punching a lone 'bot into the ground. Just as he thought it was clear the sand flew up on either side of their position and the two missing Dracobots opened fire with their leg-mounted auto-cannons. Rad heard a roar from the one nearest to him as it charged forward with open mouth.

So that was the deal! The Strikerbots were a distraction and those bugs were another fakeout. The Dracobots were hiding in the sand all the time! Looks like Kreaton's making the most of his stuff.

Rad ran his Salamander forward at the rampaging Dracobot, auto-cannons blazing with bullets. It only roared louder and ran faster. The jackal didn't know what the others were doing but he didn't really care at that point. The damage from the Dracobot's guns was starting to annoy him and he wanted to finish this up where he could get close, personal, and messy.

He readied the hands of his tank for hand-to-hand combat and threw a punch. It collided with the side of the Dracobot's head, pushing it to the left and almost forcing it to its knees.

Rad was about to throw another punch when the Dracobot turned its head and opened its toothy maw, releasing a stream of fiery breath. Rad tried to block the flame but he couldn't do it successfully and fire washed over his cockpit. Warning indicators flashed and beeped and he felt thankful that the cockpit was reinforced.

A trickle of sweat ran down his face. Firing weapons now would make build up too much heat and cause his tank to explode. But if he didn't shoot then he'd go critical anyway and that would burst him just as fast. But how to solve the problem?

He pressed forward through the flame and used the Salamander to grab the Dracobot's jaws with the tank's hands. Forcing them apart as far as he could, the titanic strength of his tank tore them off and the Dracobot slumped over to the ground, brown liquid leaking from the discharge point that was at the base of its mouth. He threw the halves down and turned around to see that the three other Alley Cats had concentrated their auto-cannons onto the other Dracobot, pummeling it from three sides until a leg snapped and it fell to the ground. A few more shots blew it to oblivion.

Rad walked over to the rest of them. "Stats?"

"Okay, Rad."

"Untouchable! These Salamanders can take a lot, can't they?"

"I'm in one piece."

"Good. Let's take a breather while we wait for our troopers to get the Wolves outta there." Rad let out a breath of air. "Good job, too. But next time we'll have to be more careful. We never saw those bugs before."

"Nicole will be interested to know about them. They evaded our sensors almost completely."

"Right, Gyro. As soon as we can we're gonna report about that. But only after I get some sleep and not one second before, got it?"

* * *

Kreaton viewed the screens carefully. The trap had succeeded, up to a point. The Strikerbots had been mostly a distraction to keep up the appearance of the obvious enemy force. The Spiderbot swarm was supposed to do enough damage for the Dracobots to have an easy time of finishing off the Rowdies. Unfortunately they had seen them somehow. Their size made them hard to detect on sensors and stealth-enhancing materials made their shells even harder to see unless someone noticed their movement.

At that point the trap had failed. If the Spiderbots had been located nearer their feet then it would have been more successful. But then again the Dracobots succeeded in surprising them and they had done a decent amount of damage. But the unusual tactics of the Rowdies made the attack that much harder. Instead of splitting up so that two Rowdies were shooting at each Dracobot three of them had concentrated their firepower on a single Dracobot while the fourth used close-range tactics on the other.

If the Dracobots had jumped out of the sand a few moments before they could have caught the Salamanders in awkward positions. But they had gotten up by the time that the Dracobots launched their attack and so they were able to react with reasonable speed.

So many things wrong...but at the same time he had learned much from his mistakes. The Rowdies would not have such an easy time the next time. While unpredictability was always present in combat situations he could note his mistakes and make sure not to be repetitive.

"Winona, I'm going back to bed."

"Affirmative. Good night, Professor."

He got up from his chair, stretched his back, and walked over to the black crate. He made a random attempt to open it and received the usual PASSWORD INCORRECT message, and then headed off to bed.

Perhaps the key to the defeat of the Rowdies laid in that crate, asleep, but waiting...

* * *

A pair of transport trucks came to pick up the Wolf Pack and get them to Freehome quickly. Many of them suffered from lack of food and needed to be carried out of the Wolf Den. Rad rested on the foot of his Salamander looking on as the transport personnel carried weak Wolves on stretchers. Some of them looked so thin that he was amazed they were still breathing.

The other Alley Cats came over to him. Claire took a look over the cratered desert that they had left in their destructive wake. "We really hurt the landscape. It'll take a little while for the wind to cover up what happened."

Rad took off his bandanna and scratched his head. "I'm just glad we survived. Kreaton almost got us with that one. And we still need to cover these transports. Even though they're weak, the Wolf Pack can be useful and Kreaton might try another shot at us."

One of the medical techs came over and saluted to Rad. "Sir! We're almost finished loading up. There haven't been any casualties but if we don't get these people to Freehome then some might die. We'll need you to cover us, tight."

Rad got to a standing position and returned the salute. "Good. Get moving as soon as you're finished, we'll be ready then."

"Yes, sir!"

The tech jogged off and Rad turned to the others. "The Wolf Den isn't going to be useful anymore. The only reason it was a good bet before was because Robotnik didn't know exactly where it was. So Freehome's going to remain our main base of operations until we can talk to Nicole about a secondary base."

Gyro asked, "What would be the purpose of the other base? The Wolf Pack isn't going to add more than another hundred to Freehome and we can still have another two hundred more people."

Rad nodded. "You're right, but at the same time at least half of the people that we have right now can't fight because they're too old, too young, or are disabled. The secondary base would be to keep the noncombatants out of Freehome if Kreaton discovers where it is. That way at least we'll have some hope for the future."

Digger looked like he agreed but then he froze, turned, and drew his blaster from the hip holster. He shot a Spy-Eye that had just been listening to them. Putting the weapon back into the holster he remarked "Cripes! Kreaton's heard all that! We'll have to be more careful about what we say out of Freehome."

Rad was a little surprised that there had been a Spy-Eye left after the battle but then again Kreaton probably used it to help coordinate the battle. He cooly wrapped his bandanna around his head. "You're right. But right now it looks like the convoy is going to start moving. Let's get back to our tanks and get going."

Rad climbed up the ladder that extended from the cockpit, which had opened at a halfway point to allow quick pilot exit. He tumbled into his seat, started up the reactor, and closed the cockpit. His HUD projected status and other indicators clearly in yellow, indicating that he was damaged but not severely enough to be worried.

Kreaton, how much craftier can you get? This has only been our first true encounter and you have proven to be difficult to defeat. What shall you do this next round? Whatever it is, I'm not dingin' around either. We'll hit you hard, you Cretin. Big time!

* * *

Kreaton smiled in his room as he reviewed the recording of the Spy-Eye's final moments. The Spy-Eye had provided him with more information than he could have hoped. Freehome was obviously the Rowdy equivalent of Knothole. If he could find that then he could crush the entire rebellion once and for all! But how could he find it?

He tried to calculate the trajectory of the convoy but it seemed like they had activated some sort of sensor jammer. His figures were being thrown off by several miles and he gave up in disgust. It appeared that he was not the only one who was prepared.

But there was something else that caught his attention. That jackal had mentioned the name of the handcomp that Sally had used during the Great Struggle, NICOLE. Was he talking about another Nicole or was he speaking of the same NICOLE?

Kreaton didn't like the latter possibility. But it didn't make sense for this jackal, who was obviously a leader, to just follow under the command of just anyone named Nicole. And so he could only deduce that sometime after the Great Struggle someone had either built a new NICOLE or had upgraded the old NICOLE and had installed her into a specially-hidden area prepared for a future Freedom Fighter force.

Kreaton thought of the black crate. Perhaps Robotnik had devised a similar plan and the black crate was the key to that plan. It was an interesting parallel. And Kreaton saw a small irony in that.

"Both sides are still fighting each other even at this time when their conflict is over. They are fighting through us. The Freedom Fighters use the Rowdies as their vehicle of revenge and Robotnik is using me."

He chuckled to himself. He didn't care, really. He only wanted to win this war because it would be better for Mobius. Didn't they know that the current king had been illegally polluting the environment without their knowledge? Didn't they know he was a raving idiot who used a mask of nobility to hide his dirtier activities? But that didn't matter now that the king had been roboticized. Now he was a productive member of Kreaton's new society rather than a hidden tyrant.

But there were other thoughts playing at the edges of Kreaton's mind as he laid himself to sleep. There could easily be other strongholds of weaponry hidden beneath the ground. And then there were the Deep Power Stones, the Time Stones, and the Chaos Emeralds as well as other artifacts of power. What were their place in the whole scheme of things?

Kreaton knew naught of magic but he did know that it had an integral part in the Great Struggle. Could the Chaos Emeralds influence this battle as well? Only time could tell and Kreaton hoped to make time run out for the Rowdies.

The convoy could go free. The hospitals of Freehome would waste their resources on the weakened Wolves and that would allow himself more time to figure everything out.

And there was always the black crate...