Apocolypse [Part 1] by -- Joseph de laCroix This story is based on characters created by Service and Games (SEGA), and on characters created by Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Any resemblance to actual characters are not coincidental. ;) Joseph, Bahb, and all other independent creations of Joseph de laCroix are the copyrighted property of JoCo Inc. and are also protected by the firm of Louis, E. Ville, and Slugger. Commander Packbell, Bookshire Draftwood, and Sandra Nightweaver are the copyrighted property of Bookshire S. Draftwood. All other fanfic characters that may or may not be used in this or future works are protected under their respective copyrights. All other rights reserved, etc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The rain of phasers and photon torpedoes was visible for miles... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fortunately, Sonic had a power ring handy, so was able to blast out of Robotropolis before the fighters were able to land so much as a target lock on them. Also, the others gathered immediately took to flight, scattering in a thousand different directions. While this did allow Sally and Sonic a speedy escape, Sonic was literally scared out of his wits. For the first time, it seemed, Sonic was left speechless. They roared into the heart of Knothole, the residents already alarmed at what they could practically hear going on in Robotropolis. Rotor and Bookshire, meanwhile, were frantically working on David, trying to bring him back on-line. Sonic mindlessly put down Sally, then stumbled over to a tree for support. His eyes were wide, filled with pure terror, which didn't help the morale of the now frightened village as Sally relayed the basic scenario. "I want everyone to remain calm! We have to evacuate--" An elderly-looking she-wolf hobbled to the front of the growing crowd around Sally. "What's going on?!" Sally tried to gather her wits, forcing herself to appear calm. "We've got extraterrestrial unfriendlies attacking Robotropolis." Hope entered the wolf's eyes. "Well, isn't that a good thing?" Sally shook her head. "No, this is not a positive development. They are apparently bent on destruction of not only the city, but possibly all life on the planet." Alarmed murmurs. "I thought the Keld'yrians were supposed to be defending us!" "I don't know what's going on. All I know is that those aren't Keld'yrian ships, and that we've lost all use of our present technology due to some sort of weapon used from the main ship; I think they used some sort of electromagnetic pulse. And since subspace is disabled, we can only assume they're in the same boat we are." She gestured to a dead SpyGlobe that rolled by the clearing. "And probably Joseph's not in fair shape, either." Shouts from the crowd. "Well, we can't stay here! We need to get as far away from those things as possible!" Sally nodded. "Agreed. Alright, everyone get whatever they can carry, and organize according to the usual procedure..." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - << "The populace has scattered and fled in terror, Captain. Shall we pursue?" >> John shook his head. << "Negative. Let's not waste our fuel on such pitiful targets. Tell them to just play with whatever's left in the city, then get back up here to rearm. I don't want to waste fuel on such a soft target." >> << "Yes, sir." >> As the ensign gave the orders to the fighters, Robotnik entered the bridge. "Ah, John! Begun the attack, have you?" John turned, facing Ivo. The flaming red fox was adorned in his finest outfit; an all-black uniform, with the golden and silver medals of a thousand campaigns on his chest. His boots were extra shiny, his laces extra tight, and John's tall, neatly muscled body seemed larger than life on this, the day of his greatest conquest. "Yes, Doctor, I have...and I must admit, the pitiful resistance movement is extremely entertaining." He gestured to the screen, which displayed a fighter's-eye view of the situation. "Look how they run! They must think us gods." Robotnik grinned darkly, taking a seat nearby. "Have you destroyed the hedgehog?" John thought for a moment. "No, the little creature took the... `Princess', was it? Yes, he took the female away at a remarkable rate of speed. It's a pity one of the fighters didn't think to deploy a net; he'd make for a good sale to a slaver. Ah well." Ivo tweaked his moustache, changing the subject. Good, he thought to himself, now he'll go back to his hiding place and plan a counteroffensive. "So, John, tell me of what you've done this fine Solstice day so far...I believe I have missed some of the more amusing incidents." John sat back, a smile crossing his muzzle. "Well, let's see. The sattelites were dispatched without incident yesterday. That didn't take any particular effort. Then, when we decloaked, I not only begun jamming of subspace frequencies to avoid any interlopers, but I throughly saturated the planet's northern continent with EM pulses to put down any sort of technological resistance." He smiled. "It took two pulses to put down everything in your city, Ivo. You designed it well." Ivo bowed slightly. "I did try." "Well, don't worry, we'll get you a nice system to lord over once we take care of the Keld'yrians. This planet's just a test; a `sound check' as it were for our skills. 300 years is a long time to wait, Ivo, but I think the situation we've been given is well worth it." Robotnik smiled. "Yes...you have picked a perfect time to strike. Most organized areas of technology have been destroyed; there's certainly no way for any of them to attack us up here because there's no weaponry they have that can do any sort of damage to the ship. The other aliens have gone off to some sort of council meeting, leaving this planet relatively out of sight and out of mind, and you've jammed the radios to be sure that none of them, even if they have the technology, can't call for help. Brilliant!" John chuckled. "Well, that's not the best bit. Want to know exactly how this planet dies?" Robotnik looked interested. "Do tell." "Well, as you know, Ivo, water is a valuable thing to certain arms-dealing races across the galaxy, especially fresh water taken from a nice foresty planet like this. I guess they like the `taste' or something, it's not my concern." He reclined in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. "Anyway, there's a lot of ice on the caps of this nice little planet, which hold enough water to basically cover every last surface of the planet, even the highest mountains, under at least 10 feet of water." Ivo whistled. "That's a great deal of water." John nodded. "Yes, it is. And it'll make us rich to get it all, in liquid form, to certain people. And with money, comes weapons and ships. Weapons and ships bring land, and land brings power." Robotnik tweaked his moustache. "But how do you plan to get this water?" "Elementary, my dear Doctor. We're going to use Mobius' own strange orbital eccentricies against it." He paused to let this sink in. "A few hours ago, I dispatched cloaked sattelites, primarily focusing mirrors, to various positions around the globe; which at noon today will align in just the right way as to produce a focused beam of light onto the northern and southern poles. In minutes, a wave of water will overtake the world, smothering all land-based life in the very thing it needed to survive. Your hedgehog will be deceased soon afterward." For the first time, Robotnik seemed genuinely impressed. Worried slightly, but yet impressed. He was still fairly confident, after a history of his own foolproof schemes going down the tubes, that the resistance still had a chance. "That's amazing! I never would have thought of that. But why not just blast the ice caps with the weapons of war on your ship?" John cracked his knuckles. "Simple. Our weapons are too powerful, and taking the time to remodulate them would put us at risk of attack. Besides, this is far more elegant...even if we were forced to leave now, for some reason, the sattelites would still be there; and at noon, no matter what happens, the light aligns, and the world becomes a nice blue marble in about 10 seconds. There's absolutely no way to screw this up." Robotnik nodded. "They win the battle, but lose the war." John clicked his tongue. "Bingo." Ivo got comfortable in his chair. "Well, what do we do now? Just wait until noon?" John changed the view on the monitor. "Basically. You can, of course, sit up here and watch the ships roar around and randomly recycle rodents," stated he, trilling the `r's. Robotnik looked on gleefully, watching Freedom Fighters get blown up. He might as well enjoy it while it lasted. "Sounds like a plan." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 12:15 am, Solstice Day. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joseph suited up, his Dome blind to the outside world now due to the EM blast. He knew what was happening, tho; he could -feel- the attack taking place on Robotropolis, sensed the death on the wind... He put on a black jumpsuit, laden with pockets, and clipped on a `utility belt' of sorts, armed with a blaster and several EM grenades. He slipped a black dataglove over his right hand and forearm, charging it up with his will alone, and armed it with any sort of computer viruses he might have to use. He double-tied his combat boots, zipped up the jumpsuit, and donned his blackest shades. Joseph walked silently through his lab, going to the secret corridor he had begun creating so many months ago. He walked through the doors, clearing his mind and preparing for battle. The only unnecessary thing he had on him was a lock of Sandra's hair she had given him before he left the bedroom, as a token of `good luck'. He'd need it. He entered his hangar, where his ship laid in readiness. Joseph allowed himself a smile, walking up to it and giving it one last look before he entered. It was basically saucer-shaped, if you ignored the parts that had been cut out for speed and manuverability. It had two half-circles on each side for thrusters and weapons dispatch, attached to the slim, fingerlike main part of the ship by one thick bar each, allowing for only weapons control and power. The rear of the main part of the ship had an additional thruster, while the beak-like front contained the cabin and operations section. And the color suited his mood and his mission; jet black.. He'd named it the _Black Phoenix_ due to its birdlike qualities, though it did resemble a crow more than the legendary flaming bird. But, somehow, the name fit the craft...he didn't know why, but it did...however, he had little time to consider his choice now. Ascending the hoverdisk to enter the craft, he again took out Sandra's lock of hair and firmly grasped it in his hand, once more reminded of the reason he was out to defend this world; because she, the only one he'd ever love, was there. He entered his command chair and belted in, putting his amulet on an indentation on the craft's console. It hummed and then roared to life, all the systems coming on line at 100%. Joseph smiled, then took the flight yoke in his paws and pulled back. The craft immediately responded, roaring up towards the sky... *** *** A part of the forest faded out of existance for a moment, revealing a long metallic chamber leading into the earth. A quiet roaring was heard from deep inside of it, which grew louder as the seconds passed...until the _Black Phoenix_ roared out of it, taking flight at incredible speeds and setting a course to Robotropolis. But as soon as it had cleared the chamber, the woods reappeared as if they had never left. *** *** Some evacuees paused for a moment to witness the craft race overhead, while others simply started moving faster. "Is that one of 'em!?" someone yelled out towards Sally, who was quite occupied trying to maintain order. Sally looked up at the craft that raced into the night. "No, that's not. What -is- that?" Few people stopped to think about it, racing towards the deeper parts of the forest. "Looks like some big bird." someone muttered, pursuing the others. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A few hundred people had already been annhilated by the quite bloodthirsty mob of alien invaders, either by being herded into hazardous areas or by simply being perforated by blaster fire. Any sort of device that might have been able to fire back at the craft was disabled by the EM blast, leaving all of the remaining Freedom Fighters defenseless against the invaders. Those with technical skills stayed hidden in the sewers under the city, desperately trying to get their machines operational again. The fighter pilots ruled like gods, sending down fire at the inferior beings below. Acting without fear of reprisal, they did things that would make even the most sadistic among Mobians nauseous. So, when the _Black Phoenix_ decelerated and engaged the fighters, it was an equally bloodthirsty and merciless reception. This time, however, the advantage was soon shown to be held by the challenger. It swooped down out of the clear night sky, without fanfare, challenge, or taunt, and began systematically annhilating anything in the sky besides itself that flew. The fighters couldn't even react until after it had blown away about ten of them, and their efforts soon were shown to be worthless. Phasers simply evaporated into mere beams of light when it hit the black craft's shields, and photon torpedoes only knocked it slightly off course. However, it unleashed onslaughts of firepower that tore through all of their shields like bullets through wet Kleenex, giving them back pound for pound the amount of hurt and pain they had already caused Mobius. Soon, common sense reasserted itself, and the fighters roared off into the sky in retreat. Yet, the mysterious black craft pursued, blasting at their six and flying through whatever debris remained; as if the flaming wreckage was only akin to light cloud cover. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John was not pleased to see about a fourth of the fighters return in one piece, especially due to the frantic nature of their surviving wing commanders over the comm. << "The damn planet's supposed to be -defenseless-!!" >> swore John loudly, stomping around the bridge. << "I want a visual!" >> And, as ordered, a visual of the craft was produced. As it broke through the atmosphere, it successfully destroyed two ships in front of it, flying fearlessly through the flames. For a few moments, the flames stayed with the ship, making its birdlike appearance seem to be burning. It was a phoenix, John realized, and it was attacking his ship! Shock swept through him as he realized the prophacy was fufilling itself, and he quickly took steps to protect his plans. << "I want -everything- we have on that ship! Dispatch as many fighters as we've got! Lock all weapons on it! Blow the thing out of the SKY! NOW!" >> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1:30 am - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sally watched from Knothole as the large triangle sent forth dark specks to combat the orange dot, which she assumed was the mysterious black ship, in pure amazement. "Who could that be? Everyone's technology is malfunctioning, even Joseph's! Maybe it's a Keldy'rian ship...no, it couldn't be. They would have said something..." Sally looked over to Rotor and Bookshire, who were still working on David Prower. "How is he?" "He'll be okay," said Rotor, "it's just that the EM pulse threw his body into shock. We'll need a few more hours to make it right." Sally hrmed concernedly, nodded to Rotor, and paced. David was probably the only hope they had of finding a way to stop those... things, so she prayed merely for the sake of her people that he would be operational. However, she also hoped for purely personal reasons that he would again be alright; but her people, despite what her instincts might tell her, came first. She looked again to the battle, shivering. It was frightening not to know what was going on... Suddenly, a SpyGlobe which had been quite dead before stirred. The cloak around it tried to re-engage, but it was completely malfunctioning. It appeared as if it were being displayed on a viewer with supremely bad vertical and horizontal controls. It did, however (with some difficulty), take flight again, and drifted over unsteadily to Sally. >< "Sal-Sal-Sally unit, mes-mes-message from Jo-Jo-Joseph." >< A spark escaped its side, then it began playing back the voice transmission: " Sally, this is recorded aliens are Ur'thaen in origin ship is over 300 years old don't know why they're here after the world's resources subspace jammed going to try to stop them have built a ship also have their battle plan 'Globe will give it to you may not get out of this alive tell Sandra love her ..." >< "M-M-M-MMessage en-n-n-n-nds." >< It sparked again, dropped a silver minidisk in her hand, and fell to the ground, forever still. She immediately took it over to Sir Charles' hut, who had fortunately not left yet. Perhaps this might be helpful, Sally thought, and it might even get us out of this alive! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2:23 am - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The battle in the skies continued to rage. The _Black Phoenix_ had done its best to keep the fighters well away from populated areas, but they seemed to want to push him into corners; he'd flew low and fast over all three moons, through the caverns of at least two, shot all around the airspace over all four hemispheres, and had taken at least 1000 direct hits. Yet, his mystical shield held, much to the consternation of the fighters pursuing him. The shield had taken damage, yes--it was at 50%. But the number of fighters that he'd destroyed was getting so high that he'd lost count, and the number of shots he'd taken directly to his flank was at least an equal number. The _Apocolypse_ itself was warring with the _Phoenix_, blasting at it with everything it had. It was, in fact, responsible for most of the damage to the craft's shields, while the _Black Phoenix_ hadn't quite scratched the _Apocolypse_'s defenses. This bothered Joseph a great deal; why hadn't the shields of the _Apocolypse_ taken damage? He kept remodulating his shots, but none penetrated, and even the hits that directly impacted the shield barely damaged it. Was John using magick to keep it strong, like he was using magick to keep up his own shield? Or was it something else entirely? Needless to say, however, the number of personnel he was terminating was damaging John at least slightly. He knew the _Apocolypse_ had a massive number of soldiers in cryogenic stasis, but even the tanks would run low if he kept this going for a few days...a few days! He was going to have problems keeping it up for a few more hours! Not even a magickal shield lasted forever under constant pummeling, despite what John was flagrantly showing on the _Apocolypse_. There had to be a way of making some sort of headway... Another wing came after him, weapons blazing. He put his brooding on hold for a while, and flew further away from the planet for manuvering room. Joseph might die today, but not before taking a few thousand Ur'thaens with him, kicking and screaming...he had miles to go yet before he'd sleep. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bahb whirred softly to itself, making final preparations. The plan was well under way, it calculated, and soon it would have more memory than it could ever concievably use. Joseph's plan had been activated, and now required none of his aid; the rest would be handled by him personally. Sandra was in the control room, monitoring Joseph's progress silently, watching every move he made through the eyes of his ship. Bahb noticed her concern, and longed for something to say, but it lacked the correct words to soothe her. The only thing that would do that, it concluded, would be Joseph's safe return. It paused, attempting to reestablish a network in the vicinity of its present location, and again failed. The subspace interference made anything longer than a half-second of data garble into useless garbage, and the EM pulse eliminated more conventional means until repairs could be made. Bahb decided to focus exclusively on its own plans for a while, putting everything else on autopilot. It hoped that what it planned to do wouldn't inconvience Joseph too much, but it had to do this in order to fufill its primary directives; grow and evolve as a being... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3:30 am - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - After several hours of work, Rotor and Bookshire successfully brought David Prower back online, much to the relief of Sally. He looked around and sat up as soon as the last wire was connected, scanning the area. "What happened?" "We're under attack by aliens, David." said Bookshire. "Aliens? That's not a good thing." Rotor dusted off David's arm. "No, it isn't. Are you alright?" David stood unsteadily, helped by the walrus and raccoon, getting his bearings. "I appear to be operating normally. What have we learned so far about the threat?" Sally spoke. "They are apparently the last Ur'thaens left in the universe, aside from Joseph. For some reason, they ended up here, and want to pillage the world for water and minerals. But first, they want to generally destroy everything of value." David ahed. "Well, we should probably ask Joseph about possible tactical strategy. This was his field, after all. Where is he?" Sally looked up. "He's the orange dot." David craned up his head, seeing the space battle for the first time. "Fascinating," said he, "dogfighting on a spacefaring level. I've never observed this before." Sally looked back to David. "Yes. Well, he seems to be doing it to buy us time to think of something." David scratched the side of his muzzle. "I require more data. Do you have anything further?" Sally took the silver disk out from her bootpouch. "Yes. Joseph left us this." David wasted no time; he immediately put the disk into the side of his neck, paused for several moments, then removed it. He paused for another moment, then spoke. "I have a plan." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7:39 am - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The _Black Phoenix_ had definitely seen better times. For hours now, it had kept up a complex game of cat-and-mouse with the fighters of the _Apocolypse_, shooting them down while narrowly missing being annhilated himself. Everything was becoming a blur to Joseph; he was tired from all the manuvering and the constant mental focus he needed to support his defenses. It was like some sort of psychotic video game; one where there was no `pause' feature and that never ended. More and more fighters came out to replace the ones he'd shot down, and the pounding from the _Apocolypse_ itself was nothing minor. His reflexes were getting sluggish, and his mind was getting weakened from fatigue. His arms hurt. His eyes felt sticky. He wanted to go home and take a nice long nap next to Sandra, who'd rub his back and coo at him until he passed out. Yet, he couldn't stop, despite the fact that the _Apocolypse_ had just blasted him with a barrage that had sent him into a flat spin towards the Mobian sun -and- 20 fighters were racing after it for undoubtably was the hardest kill any of them could make. He couldn't just teleport out, even though the heat from the yellow star was starting to melt the wings as he desperately struggled for control. He couldn't eject, because the cockpit had just fused shut anyway. So, he did what anyone in that situation would do; he engaged in some truely unsportsmanlike conduct. He pulled out of the spin, flying nose-first towards the sun. Joseph had never realized quite how big a yellow star ever was before, and it sort of made him wonder if could pull off this manuver, even though it was documented rather well in his flight simulator. At that point, however, anything looked good. The fighters blasted at his flank, trying to herd him into a solar flare. And, for a moment, they seemed to be succeeding. Then, just as the _Black Phoenix_ was about to become yet another bit of fuel for a rather large fusion reaction, it pulled up at almost a 90 degree angle at maximum speed, triggering a backdraft that annhilated about half the fighters after him immediately, and caused the loss of control and eventual demise of the rest. But even then, he was not even given a moment of rest to enjoy his victory. The barrage started again when he entered Mobian airspace, the _Apocolypse_ getting rather annoyed with him by now. (He imagined they had probably had a shift change by then, because this battle was taking unnaturally long.) The endless photon torpedo reserves pounded into the craft's side, the _Phoenix_ giving as much punishment back with far fewer positive results. More fighters raged out of the underbelly of the craft after he'd gotten close enough to be ensnared, which drove the ship back past the moons yet again as he continued to counter and weave between their shots to the best of his ability; which was declining rapidly as time went on. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ivo was watching with scientific curiousity as he watched John, who had probably been up for 10 hours by now, still rage and stomp about the bridge, fruitlessly trying to destroy one single fighter. << "It should have been destroyed by now!!" >> he swore, taking over weapons control yet again to blast at it. << "What is this thing?!" >> On the far side of the bridge, someone cried out, << "Shields are at 95% and holding, sir!" >> John launched about 6 photon torpedoes at the craft, of which only one hit. It knocked the craft sideways, plowing through another fighter of John's with no apparent damage. << "Dammit!" >> << "The E-series wings are ready to launch, sir!" >> The captain of the _Apocolypse_ blasted wildly at the escaping craft, which was pursued by more fighters while the old weapons officer took over. << "Send them out! Terminate that interloper!" >> And, against all common sense, yet another group of fighters shot out to attack the small black ship, which was in far worse shape than could have been percieved... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joseph flew around some debris, using it as cover while he checked his instruments. Some pure aderenaline was shot into his body via a useful alteration of his multiple adrenal glands, which helped to keep him a little more alert to his surroundings. His shields were at 15%, holding for the time being. All of his magick couldn't make that number go up; he used all of the strengthening magick he could, being so far from the world itself -and- using most of it to move the ship around and replicaate more quantum torpedoes. He did yet another barrel-rolling 145 degree turn, skating the very edges of manuvering speed while launching deadly barrages against his pursuers. The thought of killing so many of his own race was beginning to weigh heavily in his heart, especially since there were so few of his kind left in the universe; but when he thought about what they would do, he steeled himself again and was able to draw the will to fight. It was sad that he had to do this, but the needs of the many, Mobius, outweighed the selfish desires of his own people...no matter what the cost may be. Joseph blasted through a wing of fighters. He wished they'd just retreat. They retreated back over Robotropolis, why not now? Why doesn't John stop sending these fools out to their deaths? To prove that point, he took the opportunity to send about three fighters to the large recycling bin in the sky. He really -doesn't- have a soul if he honestly thinks that these figghters were doing the majority of the damage to my ship, and the horrendous loss of life is worth that slim margin of damage. He blasted again at the _Apocolypse_. He's scared, Joseph thought, he must be. John must know who I am. Mob must've been mistaken when he said that he lacked the Knowing. He's forseen this, and he's trying to destroy me before I can destroy him. The _Black Phoenix_ roared over the planet, luring more fighters away from the ship. Well, thought Joseph as he did a hard loop-de-loop over the fighters, swept down behind them, and blew several of them away, we'll see who gets destroyed... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7:57 am - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John was in a berzerker rampage, nearly foaming at the mouth. << "It's just ONE SHIP! _ONE_ _DAMN_ _SHIP_!" >> Ivo tried to suggest something constructive. "John, maybe it's a Ke--" John turned to face Ivo. He could have sworn his eyes flashed crimson red. "It is NOT a Keld'yrian craft! I *know* a Keld ship when I see one! That is *not* one of their ships! It's too...too -black-!" Ivo ahed, as if all of his questions had been answered, and returned to reading the contradictory sensor readings of the craft in question. "If only you could hold it still..." mumbled Robotnik to himself. John nearly tore off Ivo's head. He strode over to grab the large Mobian by the collar. "Hold it still!? Hold it STILL?! Are you trying to sa--" He stopped for a moment. "Hold it still..." He smacked himself in the forehead. "Arrgh, I -must- be getting senile in my old age!" He strode over to the helm controls and again displaced the fox in question physically, typing in some commands. "I'll get it with the tractor beam, and smash it against our own shields! Brilliant!" He looked to the foxes looking on curiously. << "Increase forward shield power by 50%, and tell the engineering section to prepare to give me a power surge to the tractor beam..." >> A science officer piped up over the din, << "But sir, there's no way you'll be able to hit that craft--it's too small and moves too quickly for the tractor beam to lock on to." >> John gritted his teeth, putting it on manual control. Supreme concentration began on the task at hand. << "Trust me." >> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joseph weaved through another bank of fighters, shields at 10% and falling steadily. He wasn't going to make it to eight, he knew, and the damned subspace block was still up. He'd better work a miracle here fairly soon, or else everyone was going to be quite doomed-- His thoughts were interrupted by a tractor beam latching onto his ship, taking it quite suddenly out of the strategic bank he was making over the _Apocolypse_. At first, he thought it impossible, but when he sensed the nature of the beam, Joseph immediately realized it was magickally-enhanced...he felt John through the beam, sitting at the controls, and he knew what he was trying to do. He careened wildly towards the ship, shields being easily pounded by the fighters and the _Apocolypse_. Softening him up for the kill, he figured, and thus made sure that he took a few more with him along the way. He tried to turn the ship, but the beam was strong, very strong....it canceled out his own efforts easily. As his shields prepared to cease, and the omnious reddish energy field that surrounded the _Apocolypse_ began to become visible on his aft scanners, he steeled himself for one final, desperate assault... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John cackled, finger still over the touch-sensor of the tractor beam. << "Come closer, you fool, come meet your doom..." >> It seemed that the ship was obeying John's commands...it was turning to face the ship itself. The flickering orange glow around it showed that the shields were almost destroyed. John laughed. << "Yes! That's right, you fool, face your destruction! Gaze upon my might and -fear-!" >> The craft, in under a second, powered up all primary weapons, and begun alternating the frequency of its remaining shields. << "Sir, I think it's going to--" >> John begun frantically hitting buttons. << "All power to forward shields! Brace for--" >> But they were too late. Before any of them could react, it charged down the tractor beam at nearly light speed, through the shields, and careened directly towards the communications array. Weapons firing, it crashed into the structure, instantly putting it out of commission. The backdraft from the ship's destruction also was unexpected. The fireball that raced out not only made sure the array was quite destroyed, but the fire seemed to flash over the entire ship for a few moments, blinding the crew for several minutes. It raced out from the ship and to the remaining fighters, laying waste to any unfortunate enough to still be outside. The force from said backdraft also was able to propel the _Apocolypse_ out of orbit, heading back towards space at a rather loping speed for its size. As it careened away, the people on the surface of the planet heard a rolling blast, as if the explosion had finally propagated down to the surface, then witnessed a few bolts of lightning slamming into the ground on parts of the planet. (Electromagnetic flux, explained David.) The winds gusted for a moment, and then all was as it was before. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The sun rose over the Great Forest, reigning over a quite quiet forest, even for the winter. Knothole had basically been abandoned due to the warning Sally recieved, leaving only the core of Freedom Fighters there to assist in David's plan. However, the final act of Joseph made work pause for a moment as the orange light slowly faded from the sky, the people looking up to see the craft slowly disappear towards the few visible stars. It was surreal to see the craft burn for those few moments, but as the fire subsided, they reflected on what had been done for them through the visitor they never really knew...and gave a respectful moment of silence before continuing with their work. Sally stood in the center of Knothole, peering through the bare trees at the final reprecussions of the detenation. Sonic walked over slowly, peering up all the while as well. "Sonic?" Sally asked. "Yeah, Sal?" Sally paused for a moment, listening to the last crashes of thunder fade. "Everything bad I've ever said about Joseph... forget." Sonic softly hugged her. "I will, Sal. No lie." They stood there for a few more moments, then walked back over to help David. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sandra sat there in shock, looking at all the static-filled screens slowly return to basic operation. A dull hum was again heard through the Dome as the last aftershock of the explosion was heard, clearing subspace around Mobius to the last particle of static. He ejected, she told herself over and over, he didn't die! He's coming back to the surface now, and he'll be standing right behind me...now! She turned, facing dark, silent air. Tears welled through her eyes as she wildly scanned all the frequencies Joseph heard, hearing only static. "Come on! Come ON!" She pounded the console when no trace of him could be found. "Dammit! Dammit!! DAMMIT! NO!!!" Tears streamed down her face as she continued to pound the console. Her hoarse, screeching wail pierced the entire Dome, sparks flying from the controls. "YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DIE! THEY WOULD HAVE FIGURED OUT ANOTHER WAY! DAMN YOU!" She put her face into her hands, sobbing and gasping for breath. "...you promised you wouldn't die..." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The _Apocolypse_ drifted through space, slowly turning over in the dark abyss from the force exerted upon it. Parts of it were still on fire, but the crew was quickly extinguishing them and making rapid repairs. All 100 fighters that had been outside the ship had been destroyed, adding to the black ship's grand total of over 1000 confirmed kills. While that only lowered John's reserves by .01%, it was still quite damaging to his ego to have one ship take down 1000 of his finest pilots. He had been thrown across the cold, synthsteel floor on his face when the explosion had hit, leaving a pleasant green streak across it as the skin broke and bled. He counted two missing teeth and at least 5 broken ones. His right eye, which was on the side he slid on, didn't quite want to open. And then there was the matter of his dislocated right shoulder. John rolled onto his back, lovely popping sounds accompanying it. << "Get some meds up here," >> he snarled towards the wall, pulling himself to his feet with his good arm. The bridge looked like hell, to cut through the usual soft language used by the average group of berzerker Ur'thaen captains. The entire communications section was a smoking, burning panel of synthsteel, and said officer was being dragged out on a stretcher. The other consoles on the bridge kept flickering on and off, at an opposite cycle of the constantly dimming lights. A live wire was dangling in front of the primary viewer, sparking against the nonconductive, but still shiny and hard synthsteel of the floor. John staggered over to his chair, where two or three medical personnel began working on his face and jaw. Ivo had taken the precaution of anchoring himself into the chair when he saw the battle begin, so he was almost undamaged. His moustache was bent from being banged into the side of his chair, he noticed, and black fluid was dripping from his nose. However, Robotnik seemed to be handling it himself, and was too busy stopping the nosebleed to ask any further questions. In John's opinion, that was the only perk of the attack. Yet, he couldn't help but smile. The little prophacy had come to pass, yes...the phoenix rose up from the world, attacked the ship, set it ablaze...but he'd survived. Nothing could stand in his way now, nothing! He was invincible! Cackling slightly, unfortunately opening a few wounds and causing himself pain, he sat down and got right back to work. As the wounds on his face again closed, John began activating the secondary communications system, trying to restore order. << "Damage report!" >> A static-filled voice replied over the comm. << "We've lost our primary array, captain. All we've got left is the intercom and line-of-sight ship-to-ship subspace. And even that will be stretching it for a few months until we can repair this, sir." >> John groaned. << "Dammit! What about tactical?" >> << "Shields at 90% and holding, sir, but the emitter was damaged by the impact. It -should- hold, however, unless something else breaks...but in order to do that, they'd have to break the shields, so we're still in fair shape in that department." >> A humorless chuckle, which was met by a rather irritated silence. << "Uhh, anyway...all weapons are still on-line, none of the fighters in the ship have been damaged, and our sensors are still functional. Manuvering thrusters on our starboard side are all torn up, but there's crews on that as I speak. Life support is operational, but we've lost power on levels 20-65. A hull breach took place in level 73, but it's been...taken care of. Everything else is secure, sir." >> John winced as heavier med-tools came out to work on his teeth. << "Very well. I want our orbit restored and all weapons at maximum efficiency within the hour. With our jamming gone, they'll be calling in some firepower here pretty soon. John out." >> He hit the toggle again and snarled as his nerves rewired inside his face. << "Dammit, hurry up with that." >> Ivo took out a clamp, beginning to rebend his moustache. "Are we still alright, John?" John glanced over, the meds holding his head still. "Yes, but that stupid craft destroyed our ability to jam subspace. You'll probably be seeing some enemy firepower before 1100 hours." Ivo looked concerned, stopping the black flow from his nose with a well-placed cotton swab. "Can this ship take them?" John smiled, causing himself a great deal of pain. He viciously ignored it while the meds grumbled about another wound open for them to seal, and gazed into the Doctor's eyes. "Oh yes, dear Robotnik, it can..." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [To Be Continued]