Sanctuary Defense, Pt. II
At this point, Espio's team had arrived at the engine room, him, Terv, Gen, Corvin, and Fuchsia stepping through the doorway onto a walkway overlooking the room. Fuchsia looked around for a moment before pointing around and saying, "Those giant machines are providing the fuel for the ship's engines, and those lines of smaller machines connected to it must be processing it along the way. It's like an assembly line, just for fuel."
Terv noted, "Considering how reinforced the metal on those back machines appears to be, I would say you are correct."
Gen looked down at the bag of explosives at his side, "I don't know if I packed enough explosives in here to take those things out."
Espio said, "That won't be necessary, Gen. Breaking the lines leading to them should be enough. And destroying those large machines might cause a large enough explosion to destroy the entire ship. We don’t want that.”
Gen grunted, "I know. I have no intention of convincing myself I’m some sort of hero like you lot, and I am definitely not going to die for this cause."
While he opened the bag's zipper and began digging through it, Corvin said to him, "You really ought to be ready to do that, you know. None of us wants to die either, but in a war, we need to be ready to."
Gen ignored him and pulled out a packet of explosives a little bigger than a cereal box. "I've got eight of these in here, so depending on how we want to split this up, someone might not get any charges," he said. Espio walked over to him and reached into the bag with his right hand, digging deep. "Hey, what are you doing?" Gen asked.
Espio pulled his hand out a few moments later, his fingers curled around a small silver cylinder that had a red button on top. "I will be the odd one out. You're all better trained with these explosives than I, so you'll place them. Set the timers for five minutes. If need be, we'll use this detonator to set them off," he explained.
"And what are you gonna do?" Gen demanded.
Espio gave him a small smile as he brought his hands together in front of his chest, his index and middle fingers sticking up. "I'll make sure no uninvited guests get in," he said before he began to camouflage himself, becoming a silhouette right in front of them. He moved to stand by the doorway, so Gen gave Terv, Fuchsia, and Corvin each two charges, keeping two in the bag for himself. When they split, Terv and Corvin went left and Fuchsia and Gen went right.
Although there were signs that the engine room was normally occupied and there were doors in the side walls, the Resistance members didn't encounter anyone as they moved around the room. They could sort of hear grunts and groans mixed in with the sounds of blows hitting from the entrance as Espio dealt with birds trying to get in, but there were no surprises waiting for them. This allowed them to take their time deciding where to place the explosives, picking places where they would be harder to spot.
After planting their charges, Corvin, Terv, and Fuchsia met up with Gen near the center of the engine room as he was placing his second charge on a long machine in a slightly less cramped area. He heard them approaching him, but his suit's display had already identified them as allies so he didn't look up, instead focusing on applying the final touches. He leaned his head back when the digital display read '5:00' and said, "Final charge is set. I'm starting the countdown." Before anyone could say anything, he pressed one of the buttons on the front of the charge and it started counting down.
Corvin shook his head and reached for his Mobile. He radioed Espio and spoke, "Espio, sir. The explosives are set. We're coming back up." As they turned to make their way back to the entrance, they all noticed when Espio didn't respond. Corvin raised his Mobile again and asked, "Espio? Are you there?" There was still no response from the other end, but after a moment, they could faintly hear the sound of fighting coming from the direction of the entrance. They began to run, but they had only taken a couple of steps when they heard yelling that was getting louder followed by something hitting the ground. They ran towards the sound and found Espio lying on his front, looking beat up.
They all ran towards him, Fuchsia, Corvin, and Terv gathering around him while Gen stood a little further back. Corvin shook the chameleon while Fuchsia spoke, "Espio? Espio, get up! What happened?"
Espio grunted and raised his head up a little after a moment, his eyes darting up to look at them. "We have to leave…!" he managed to say before a cough interrupted him.
"What? What happened?" Corvin asked. Before Espio could say any more, they all heard a sharp laugh followed by the sound of something heavy landing behind them. They all turned to look, Terv's blood suddenly going cold at what he saw.
The bird that had landed behind them wore the same standard blue uniform and mask as the other members of the Armada, but he was noticeably taller and more burly-looking than anyone the group had seen thus far. The arms of his uniform were open on the sides, allowing his light-blue feathers to stick out, and he clutched the remote detonator in his left hand. “You pipsqueaks think you’re going somewhere?” he asked.
A flash of anger crossed Terv’s face, his hands shaking as he tightly balled his fingers into fists, the rest of his body beginning to heat up as well. “Ben!” he growled, Gen, Corvin, and Fuchsia glancing over at him in surprise.
The bird turned to look at Terv, staring at him for a moment before his slight smirk grew into a grin. “Terv?” he asked, his voice smooth. He held up the detonator, “I figured the Resistance was made up of fools, but you? You think you can stop the Armada?” And with a sudden tightening of his fingers, he crushed the detonator, the pieces falling to the floor.
"No!" Terv, Corvin, and Fuchsia cried as he dropped what was left in his hand and crushed the remaining bits underneath his boot.
He then looked up at the Resistance members and smirked, "Oops. That wasn't important, was it?" After a moment, Terv raised his White Wispon to shoot at him, but before he could pull the trigger, Ben suddenly shot forward in a glide that was faster than one might expect for someone with his build and seized him by the neck. One brief squeeze was enough to get the smaller bird to drop his Wispon and he turned and threw him at the wall.
"Terv!" Fuchsia and Corvin exclaimed as he dropped to the floor, his Blue Wispon popping out of his belt when the tip of its handle pressed against the floor and landed nearby.
Fortunately, he was not knocked out, but it did take him a moment to lift his head up and when he did, he saw Ben landing in front of him. "So nice to see you one last time, little brother," he remarked.
Corvin raised his White Wispon and yelled, "Take him down!" Fuchsia and Gen raised their Wispons as well, opening fire moments after he did. Their shots hit him in the back, but there wasn’t any noticeable reaction from Ben. The shots didn’t even seem to do anything to his uniform.
Ben glanced back at them and grinned, "What are you shooting, ping-pong balls? My suit's got some additional armor in it; you'll have to do better than that! Here, fight something that maybe your girly weapons will have an effect on." At his words, the door near him and the one on the opposite side of the room slid open and Armada members started pouring into the room. In total, a dozen birds came in to provide reinforcements.
Espio, who had gotten up by this point, called, "Scatter! Find cover!" While speaking, he held up a throwing star in each hand and threw them to the sides as he finished, the stars exploding when they hit the walls. While the birds were disoriented, Espio, Gen, Corvin, and Fuchsia ran to find a place to hide.
Terv would've gotten up and run too, but Ben pressed his boot against his chest as he was trying to, the larger bird kneeling down to keep him pressed against the floor. He looked at the birds near him and ordered, "Find them, deal with them! This one is mine!" They moved past him to find the others while he returned his attention to Terv. The smaller bird was able to reach out with his hands and grab at his feathers, plucking them. Ben gave him a bored look and brought his right hand down after a moment, grabbing him by his neck and stepping off of him as he brought him up to his face. "Really, little brother? Plucking feathers is the best you can do after all these years?" he asked. He raised him up a little higher, "Here's what you should be doing!" He then slammed him down against the floor, knocking the wind out of him. "There, you see? Do you see the difference between you and me? Do you see what you should've been doing all this time?" he asked as he let him go. He heard Terv muttering, so he brought his head down closer, "What was that?"
Terv's eyes were fixed on his Blue Wispon on the floor next to him. "I said you're right, Ben," he muttered. Knowing it was now or never, he reached for it with his right hand and activated it. He felt Ben's hand on his back, but he managed to reach around and hit him in the side of the face. It was enough to stagger him and he let go of Terv. He stood up and turned to face Ben with both hands clutching the handle, "I need to step up my game with you!" He ran at Ben and dealt a more solid blow across his face, knocking him onto his back.
Ben leapt to his feet after a moment and grinned, "Well, it's about time you learned to grow a spine. Come at me, bro!" Terv growled and charged at him again, though this time Ben blocked his strike with his arm, his suit reducing the impact. They continued their fight while Espio and the other Resistance members worried about the Armada birds searching for them.
While they were trying to get their situation under control, Tails, F-T Sonic, and the Rookie arrived at the ship's bridge. It took a little work from Tails, but they were able to get through the door without much difficulty. They stepped inside and stopped when all the birds on the bridge turned and looked up at them from their stations. Sonic held his hands up and spoke, "At ease, everyone. There's been a change in management on this ship, and our first act is to make break time mandatory. Like, permanent break time. So, you can all just go down to the hangers, grab a ship, and leave. You guys all deserve a break."
There was a bit of shuffling off to the left after he finished talking. He looked and saw a shorter bird seemed to have wanted to heed his words, but the bird in the next seat over was forcing him to sit back down. All the birds save for that one then stood up, all of them picking up their blasters and pointing them specifically at him. He shrugged, “Eh, worth a try. Don’t say I didn’t try to be nice.” In the blink of an eye, he shot forward, going towards the right side of the room and slamming his elbow into the first bird in his path. The sudden movement threw them all off, giving Tails and the Rookie time to go to the left and deal with the birds on that side while they were, for the moment, focused on Sonic. Tails noticed the one bird who tried to leave getting down to hide under his workstation as he ran past, the fear on his face evident under his mask.
With the exception of that one bird, it wasn't long before everyone on the bridge had been knocked around, birds splayed out on consoles and groaning as they lay on the floor. Tails walked over to the center of the bridge where there was a raised circle with a pair of monitors on both sides. He looked them over, fiddling with the keyboards as Sonic and the Rookie came up behind him. "This must be the Battle Lord's station. I think I can shut down the shield from here. I just need a minute or two," he said after a moment.
"All right, do your thing, Tails. We'll watch your back," Sonic replied. He then turned his head to the left, "Hey, where's that one bird who wanted to leave?" He turned around to look, but he hadn't taken more than three steps when the door to the bridge slid open and the Battle Lord stepped in flanked by more than a dozen bird guards. Sonic briefly paused in mid-step, but he resumed walking with a smile, "Hey, Coocoo. Found a way back inside the birdcage, huh?"
The Battle Lord was clearly not in the mood for his witty remarks, a deep scowl on his face as he marched directly towards the hedgehog. "You disgusting rat!" he snarled, closing the distance between them and grabbing Sonic by his neck, surprising him. He lifted him up over his head, "You vandals have sullied my ship enough! Relinquish it at once!"
Sonic found it difficult to speak with the hand around his throat, but he managed to say, "Don't listen, Tails! Keep working!" He tried kicking his legs, but he couldn't reach the Battle Lord's face.
"You're persistent, but your unruly, primitive efforts will not save you!" he said. He began to tighten his grip on Sonic's neck, causing him to gag a little. A blaster shot rang out suddenly and the Battle Lord let out a shout at the sudden feeling of heat on his back, Sonic falling from his grip. He turned to his left and saw the lone bird standing, pointing his blaster at him with shaky hands. The Battle Lord's glare deepened, "You… traitor! Seize him!"
While his attention was turned, the Rookie fired his grappling hook, the tip hitting the floor next to Sonic. The hedgehog grabbed the rope and the wolf pulled it, sliding him backwards. By the time the Battle Lord turned back after two of his guards had grabbed the bird and dragged him over, the Rookie had pulled Sonic back all the way and the hedgehog was sitting on the floor next to him. “You got some really nice floors here,” he remarked. He then leapt to his feet and placed his left hand on the Rookie’s shoulder, both of them beginning to back slowly towards Tails.
The Battle Lord only looked at them with a steel gaze. “Take aim,” he commanded his guards. Sonic and the Rookie moved back a little quicker at that, the Rookie readying his grappling hook while Tails’ typing became a little more frantic.
Back in the engine room, the situation was not looking any better. The troops that had come in with Ben had been efficient, honing in on Espio and the others and forcing them out into the open. The Resistance members had been trying to avoid giving away the location of their explosives and so had tried to not stay in one place for very long, but they realized too late they had been herded like cattle into the middle of the room, where there was no cover. Terv, meanwhile, had been fighting Ben, the Blue Wispon allowing him to stand up to him, but once word came that the others were cornered, Ben went full-on offensive and quickly overwhelmed him. He then carried the smaller bird over and threw him over the heads of his troops to Espio and the others while holding onto his Wispon.
Espio and Fuchsia helped Terv get up, the bird still dazed from being beaten down against the floor. As he was getting up, Ben laughed, "Ha! Did you really think you could come in our nest and drive us out? Weaklings like you don't belong in the skies! Too bad you won't get to share this with anyone else!" He raised the Wispon over his head, "Troops, raise your weapons!" The bird troopers raised their blasters, the Resistance members looking around at all the birds surrounding them. "Take aim! And- Gah!" He was cut off when something struck him on top of the head, his hand releasing the Wispon as he dropped to one knee.
Espio and the others saw a light blue ball bounce up, a hand reaching out to grab the Wispon as it dropped down. As soon as it hit the floor, it shot forward, knocking all the troopers in its path off of their feet. As it reached the end of the troopers and they saw it again, the ball uncurled to reveal O-T Sonic, who swung the Wispon down on the ground as he slid to come to a stop and turn himself around, creating a blue shockwave that made everyone shake. “Old-Timey Sonic!” Espio said as he kept himself balanced. He looked up to his right and saw that a few of the troops on top of the machine Gen had planted the last charge on had fallen off due to the shockwave and the ones that were still on it were off balance. He ran and jumped towards it, climbing the short remaining distance to get on top of it. The troops tried to shoot him, but he was faster than they were and he kicked their legs out from under them. He then turned and called to the others, “Up here, everyone!”
Terv took his Wispon back from Sonic before moving to join Corvin in helping Gen up onto the machine. Fuchsia used her claws to climb up the same way Espio did, Sonic waiting to see if she needed any help getting up before making his way over, but before he could follow her up, a blaster shot hit the floor next to his foot. He looked to his left and saw that it came from one of the troopers. He’d already regained his balance and the others and Ben were not far behind him. Ben glared at the hedgehog, “You’re gonna pay dearly for that.” He ordered his troops, “He dies first!” As they began to take aim again, Sonic looked to his right and spotted the explosive on the machine. He quickly ran over and yanked it off, turning and holding it out towards the birds, who immediately held up their blasters, hesitating. “What are you all doing?! Shoot him!” Ben yelled.
"He has a bomb, sir!" one of the troopers exclaimed.
"Then make him put it down!" Ben yelled before reaching forward and grabbing him. He then shifted the bird around until he was holding him like a spear. Sonic flinched a bit, realizing he was actually going to throw him.
"Sonic, come on!" Corvin called and the blue hedgehog glanced up to see Espio was lowering a rope for him. He grabbed the end with his right hand and ran up the side a little, avoiding the trooper that Ben threw at him. Espio gave the rope a sharp yank to give him the boost he needed. He let go of the rope and placed both of his arms on top, Corvin and Fuchsia helping him get on top.
They looked back down at Ben when he spoke, “So what if you’re high up. This doesn’t change anything! None of you are leaving!” Sonic pointed the explosive down at them again as he continued, “Get them already! And don’t fear that tiny hedgehog; fear what the Battle Lord will do to you if you don’t do your job! The only thing to be afraid of…”
He was interrupted again, this time by a mechanical voice that sounded like it was speaking over a loudspeaker, “ALERT! Loss of power to the ship’s shields. Shield levels at eighty percent and dropping rapidly.”
Looking down, Espio noticed Ben and the troopers were still distracted by the sudden announcement. Even if it was only for a moment, it gave them an opening, an opening they had to take advantage of. Hearing a groan from below, he remembered the troops he'd knocked down and looked down to see them trying to get up. "Quick, push them over!" he said as he crouched down behind the closest one. Sonic set the explosive down before doing the same as Espio, Corvin, Gen, Terv, and Fuchsia, each throwing a bird off the machine to the flock below. It threw off the birds save for Ben, but there were other birds that were on their level. Fortunately, Espio knew what to do. "Now, down here!" he ordered, jumping down on the other side of the machine. The others followed him, Sonic grabbing the loose explosive as he leapt down.
On the bridge, the Battle Lord glared up at Sonic, Tails, and the Rookie as they hung from the ceiling, the Rookie having used his grappling hook to pull them up out of harm's way. The consoles that Tails had been working sparked and fizzled below, the troopers having shot them instead of the trio. It didn't matter, though; Tails had managed to get far enough that he was able to finish shutting down the ship’s shields. His screen was currently showing the shield's power alongside a display of it around the battleship. The shield was currently at seventy percent and still dropping, the shield on the display appearing as open at the top and moving downward.
His attention was redirected when the Battle Lord spoke, "Clever maneuver, but luck is the only thing that saved you. And luck and primitive gadgets will not continue to spare you from our wrath!" The birds once again took aim, Sonic, Tails, and the Rookie tensing up in response.
Outside, Rainbow and Trish were still locked in their aerial duel with Speedy. Rainbow had had a few close calls so far, but her maneuverability was undeniably the reason he hadn't managed to hit her yet. Trish wasn’t quite as lucky; the side of her plane had six spots marking where his shots hit and the end of her right back wing had been taken off, making it more difficult to remain stable. Even if it suffered no further damage, it was safe to say the plane was not going to hold together much longer.
As she was flying, Rainbow looked to her right and saw the shield around the battleship changing, shifting from dark green and heavily opaque to a lighter green that was more transparent. "Hey, what's happening to that thing?" she asked.
"The energy readings on the shield are changing. They're going down! The Sonics and the others must have shut it down!" Amy responded over the radio.
"Great! Now- Agh!" Trish was cut off as a mini explosion came from one of her engines. She glared back at Speedy's plane behind her. She'd landed some shots on him, sure, but his plane was nowhere near as damaged as hers. He had some flight skills that made it hard to really get a good shot on him, but she had a feeling there was something special about his plane as well.
Rainbow saw the explosion from Trish’s plane and knew she was done. Looking back towards the battleship, she saw that the shield had almost finished powering down, the green surrounding it barely perceptible at this point and it gave her an idea. "Get outta here, Trish, before you take any more damage! I'm gonna give that jerk a big surprise!" she said. Although she was confused and concerned about leaving the pegasus on her own, Trish turned her plane back towards the Sky Sanctuary.
“Go on, run away! It doesn’t matter; the Armada will hunt you down and destroy you!” Speedy laughed as he watched her fly away. He then returned his attention to his controls, “Now, where’s the freak?” Rainbow shot up past him on an angle a second later, causing him to jerk the stick to the side and briefly lose control. He then turned his head to figure out what she was doing and saw her still flying upwards, soon disappearing from his sight. “Trying to see how high you can fly? Well, you can die of oxygen starvation or have your wings burn up like Icarus. I don’t care; I don’t need to get every kill,” he shrugged. He turned to look towards the Sky Sanctuary, adjusting his flight path towards it as well. “Although it certainly doesn’t hurt to, especially since we’ve given these Resistance fools a chance to regroup. I should be able to find some prey while avoiding the battleships that are in the air, maybe even cause some damage to them as well. This stalemate is coming to an end soon, and…” He was cut off by the sound of a double boom behind him followed by him being literally knocked for a loop.
His plane began spinning end over end in the direction it had been going, Speedy’s entire upper body plastered to the back of the seat as he was forced to watch the world outside spin uncontrollably. Amidst his screaming, he was able to make out a rainbow-colored shockwave outside, which his plane was being pushed along, and very briefly he saw Rainbow Dash turning up from flying downwards to fly back up, a rainbow trail following behind her. She had unleashed a Sonic Rainboom, the source of the double boom he heard, and he was temporarily unable to move because of it, unable to try to get his plane back under control. He wasn’t the only one affected; the shockwave reached to the Armada’s battleship, the ship tilting slightly when the shockwave hit it.
Although it didn’t look like it had much effect, the effect on the inside was more pronounced as the tilt was noticed by everyone on board and a number of electronics went haywire, panels shooting off sparks and lights flickering. In a hallway near the hangers, Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Pinkie, Tempest, and the Babylon Rogues nearly lost their balance from the shaking caused by the shockwave and had to grab onto anything on the walls they could get a grip on. "What was that?!" Jet exclaimed as he held onto a metal bar.
Wave, who was holding onto a different bar, looked at the flickering lights and wondered, "An EMP? Some kind of shockwave?"
While she and Applejack held onto a red box and Spike held onto her, Twilight realized what must have happened. "This has to be Rainbow's doing. She must've unleashed a Sonic Rainboom. I didn’t know something like this could happen," she said.
"It's not much farther to the hangers. We still have time to get off this ship," Tempest told the others while leaning against the wall to her right.
Pinkie let go of the bar she and Storm were clinging to and sat down, saying, "Whee! Let's slide the rest of the way!" She began sliding down the middle of the hall in the direction they were going, happily exclaiming as she held her forelegs out. The others looked at each other for a moment before following her lead, though they remained standing and close to the walls.
On the bridge, Sonic, Tails, and the Rookie were still hanging from the ceiling when the tilt occurred, so they didn't feel it quite as much as the Battle Lord and his troops. Many birds, including the ones that had been knocked out earlier, lost the balance they had and went sliding towards the front of the bridge while the Battle Lord and some of the troops with him managed to remain mostly in place. The Battle Lord looked at the birds that ended up at the front and yelled, "What are you all doing?! We are far from defeated! Get up and right the ship! Now!"
While he was yelling, Tails looked up at Sonic and the Rookie and said, "I think it's time to leave." They both nodded in reply.
As Tails started spinning his tails and the Rookie let go of Sonic so he could cut himself loose, Sonic looked down and saw the renegade bird below, still being held by a pair of birds who were still behind the Battle Lord, though they were struggling to stay there. He pointed to him and looked up at Tails, saying, "Let's give him a hand." Although Tails wasn't sure if this was a good idea, he nodded since they had to go that way. He descended a little bit before swinging Sonic forward a little bit and letting him go, giving him a little momentum. Sonic curled up and started spinning as he went down, launching forward when he hit the floor. He knocked the Battle Lord's left leg out from under him and bowled over the guard behind him, which threw the other one off and sent him sliding into the Battle Lord's back. The renegade started sliding too, but Tails quickly swooped down and grabbed him by the shoulders before flying up after Sonic as he cleared the way. The Rookie used his grappling hook to follow them, the bridge door sliding shut behind him.
Outside, Tails continued to hover while Sonic and the Rookie pressed back against the wall next to the door due to the tilt. He looked down at the bird he was carrying and asked, "Are you okay?"
He quietly replied, "Y-Yes. Thank you for… for not leaving without me…" He reached over with his right hand and pulled the hood over his head off, revealing he was a light gray owl with yellow eyes.
Sonic said, "Well, we're all about helping people who don't like being oppressed. What's your name, pal?"
They suddenly heard the Battle Lord's yelling from the other side of the door. Tails looked down at the owl, "Is it all right if we continue this conversation later?" He received a nod in reply, so he started flying down the hall while holding onto him, Sonic taking the Rookie's hand and following him.
In the engine room, Espio, Sonic, and the others were able to grab onto the side of the machine next to them when the tilt happened and avoid sliding much. The birds on the other side weren't quite as fortunate, judging from the shouts, grunts, and groans they heard, but they had other things to worry about at the moment. "What just happened?!" Corvin exclaimed.
"That doesn't matter right now. We need to get out of here before the explosives go off," Espio said. He looked up, focusing on the walkway railing. “We just have to reach the stairs.” He looked back at the others, saying, “Corvin, Terv, go high and cover us! Sonic, Gen, Fuchsia, follow me!” He faced forward and ran a short distance before jumping, grabbing onto the edge of the top of the machine and using his momentum to help him on top of it. Sonic, Fuchsia, and Gen followed his lead and Terv and Corvin flapped their wings to take flight. Gen was having a little trouble getting up due to his suit, prompting Sonic to plant the explosive on top of the machine before he helped Fuchsia get him up. The two birds fired their White Wispons at the birds below to scatter the ones that had gotten up while Espio led everyone across the machine tops towards the stairs. Even as the battleship began to tilt back to normal, things were going well.
After less than a minute, they reached the stairs and ran up them. Seeing this, Corvin turned to Terv and said, “Come on, Terv, let’s go!” The blue bird nodded, both of them putting their Wispons away and flying after the others.
They were almost to the walkway when there was a shout from below. When they looked down, Ben shooting up towards them, targeting Terv. He wasn’t able to react fast enough and received an uppercut under his chin. He started to fall, but Ben gave one strong flap of his wings and launched into him before he could fall past, slamming into the wall. As they reached the floor, the bigger bird spoke, “You think you can escape from me, brother? It’s not going to happen!” He pinned him against the wall, but Corvin flew up behind him and grabbed him with Espio joining him after a moment. They weren’t able to pull him much until Sonic ran over and jumped up, hitting him on the head and dazing him again. As he was released, Terv grabbed his Blue Wispon and activated it before swinging it diagonally upwards, both Corvin and Espio falling to the floor while Ben was knocked back to the railing, crashing through it and falling.
Terv dropped to the floor to catch his breath before saying, “I’m okay! Let’s go!” Fuchsia and Sonic helped Espio and Corvin get up before they and Gen ran out the door. Terv followed them, but before he exited the room, he heard the sound of wings flapping and stopped. Turning to look towards the railing, he saw Ben fly up into view. He glared, “You always had to be the only one who gets the easy way out, Ben.”
The larger bird grinned, “Nothing’s changed, Terv. If you, Mom, and Dad had been smarter, we could’ve all been living the best life together, but no. I’m the only one who knows how to seize an opportunity and get things done. I never thought I’d see you again, but it is the last time we’ll ever see each other. It’s like I said: you’re not going to escape from me.”
Terv turned and walked towards him as he said, “I’m going to have to disagree AND agree with you, brother.” He stopped as he reached the railing and drew his White Wispon, “This is the day both you and the Armada fall.”
As he looked at the Wispon pointed at him, Ben laughed and said, “You can’t beat me! You may have a fancy hammer, but all it’s done is made it take longer for me to pound your beak into the floor! As for the Armada, well, that’s not happening either! Your detonator’s broken and we’ll locate the bombs before they explode! No matter what, you’ve lost!”
While he was talking, Terv looked around, trying to find something to help him. When he looked down towards the machinery, his eyes fell on the explosive Sonic had planted. He looked up at Ben and gave him a smirk. “You think so? Well, I’m going to do something you couldn’t be bothered to think of, brother.” He turned and pointed his Wispon towards the explosive, “I’m taking a third option!” Ben realized what he was doing far too late and his smile fell and his eyes started to widen as the shot he fired sailed through the air and hit the box.
Rainbow had flown back up after unleashing the Sonic Rainboom and was flapping her wings to stay in place, watching Speedy try to fly away from the Resistance battleships when she heard a massive explosion behind her. She whirled around and saw a large burst of flames coming out near the battleship’s engines, rocking it but not destroying it. As she was wondering what happened, she heard an engine behind her and looked back to see Speedy’s plane flying in her direction, but he wasn’t looking to engage her again. His plane was now badly damaged, much like Trish’s, and it was shaking as it flew. It was clear he was heading back to the battleship.
"-erv! Terv, wake up! Come on!" Terv could hear and distinguish the words he was hearing, but it was all happening slowly. All of his senses were out of tune, the information trickling in slowly. He had no idea how long it took, but he finally managed to open his eyes. He opened them only a little bit before squeezing them shut and shaking his head due to everything looking very blurry. When he opened them again, his vision was considerably clearer and he could make out Corvin and O-T Sonic in front of him. "Terv, you in there?" Corvin asked.
A groan escaped Terv's beak before he uttered, "Somewhat." He was able to discern that he had his back against the wall and he moved to climb to his feet, only to immediately stop and let out a pained groan as he felt a surge of pain starting at his back and moving to his left arm. Looking down confirmed what he already knew; his wing was a mess.
He looked up at Corvin when the other bird said, "Yeah, it looks like you hit the wall pretty hard. You didn't break your arm, but your wing's in pretty bad shape." He turned to look towards the engine room, "You're really lucky if that's the worst of it. You're crazy, you know. What made you think this was a good idea, especially while you were in the room?" Terv followed his gaze and saw that the engine room had basically been turned into an inferno. The fact that they were having this conversation meant that the engines were still running, but there was no doubt in Terv's mind that they were crippled and that could get worse at any minute.
"It was a… spur of the moment thing," he said, grunting as he shifted his legs, trying to get up. Sonic grabbed his right arm to help him and he was soon standing, though he bent forward and placed his hands on his knees afterwards, panting. He looked himself over and saw the front of his suit was burnt and ripped in several places, and his Blue Wispon was still attached to his hip. His holster was empty; no doubt he’d dropped his White Wispon at some point during the explosion and the chain reaction that followed. He tilted his head up to look at Sonic and, seeing the concerned look on his face, stated, "I'm all right. I just need a second."
Corvin said, “Well, shake it off quick! We gotta get outta here!” Terv stood up straight a second later and swung his arms a little bit to get the blood circulating through them, checking his wing again as he did so. He looked off to the right and noticed a large lump near where the stairs had been, which he guessed was Ben. He was lying on his side turned away and his uniform seemed to have been entirely burnt away, leaving him with burnt patches of feathers. He looked back at Corvin when the bird spoke, “Come on! Let’s get to the hangers!” He ran for the door, not bothering to wait. Sonic followed him, but turned back to check on Terv before he left. The blue bird took a few unsteady steps forward before taking a few steps in place to make sure he was good before nodding to the hedgehog. He then started to follow him as he left the room as well.
Once again, though, before he could leave, he came to a stop, this time when he heard a loud shout come from Ben. He turned to see he had rolled onto his front and was struggling to push himself up. In spite of everything, Terv felt a bit of sympathy at seeing him in such a state and turned fully towards him. He’d taken a few steps towards him when Ben suddenly turned his head to glare at him, anger and hatred burning in his eyes. “You…!” he growled. That seemed to give him strength as he suddenly quickly climbed to his feet and began to stagger towards Terv, limping. “You little…! I’m going to kill you! You think you can make a fool of me?!” Terv stepped back a little. Ben sounded unhinged, his words coming out in a snarl. It almost sounded like he was becoming savage.
Terv reached for his Wispon, clutching it tightly as Ben came closer. The larger bird pounced at him and he quickly backed away to avoid it. He landed face first on the floor and looked up to snarl at Terv, who struck him in the side of the face with his Wispon, rolling him onto his back. While Ben was reeling from the hit, Terv took a few steps towards his legs, still holding the Wispon at his side. “I’m sorry, brother… but this is the end,” he said, not turning to face Ben.
The larger bird was still winded from the strike and couldn’t get up quite yet, but his head was clear enough for him to raise his head and look at Terv. “You think you’re the one who’s going to get away? Think again! Even if you do manage to escape, so will I! I don’t need a ship; I can fly out of here myself! I WILL walk away from this!” he boasted.
Terv turned towards Ben’s legs while his eyes moved to look at his face. He had a dark look on his face that Ben didn’t seem to notice. “No, you won’t,” he stated in an emotionless tone. “I can see your wings. Any feathers I didn’t pluck off earlier got burned in that explosion, so you’re not flying anywhere.” He then shifted his eyes to look down at Ben’s legs, “And as for walking…” He took the Wispon in both hands, “We’ll see how well you walk,” he activated it and raised it above his head, “with a LIMP!”
Over the sounds of the flames and the alarms ringing, a piercing, bloodcurdling scream rang out in the engine room.
In one of the battleship’s hangers, Twilight and Spike were looking over a control panel on a raised walkway off to the right side of the room, trying to figure out the best and quickest solution to their problem. The hanger had plenty of single-seat fighters along the sides of the hanger, but it was clear most of the space in the large room was reserved for a large, dome-shaped aircraft on a large square platform in the center of the room. It had a long wing on each side as well as two engines and a rudder between them in the back, and it was gray and black in color. Everyone agreed that it was the best option for getting everyone off the battleship, but there was one problem: the platform had four locks on it that kept it from moving. Releasing the locks would be the easiest way to commandeer the ship and fly it out, but the panel was asking for a passcode and they didn’t know what it was.
The rest of the group was looking up in their direction from the hanger’s ground floor, waiting for them to release the ship. Jet called up to them, “Get a move on, you two! We don’t have a lot of time to be standing around here!” Before anyone could say anything to him, Tempest and Wave noticed F-T Sonic, the Rookie, and Tails still carrying the owl enter the hanger, the others noticing as well as they approached. “Sonic!” Jet said.
They came to a stop by the group, Tails setting the owl down while Sonic replied, “Hey, Jet. Good to see you. Guess we picked the right hanger.”
Tempest remarked, “I take it you saw the mess we made trying to get inside before the emergency unlocked the doors.”
Sonic nodded, “Pretty much.” He glanced around, “So, what are we doing here?”
Wave answered, “This ship should be big enough for all of us.” She pointed up at Twilight and Spike, “Your friends up there just need to release it.”
The owl spoke up, “That ship belongs to the Battle Lord. He won’t like that…”
Jet noticed him as well as the Rookie and raised an eyebrow, “Who are these guys?” Before he could get an answer, the owl spread his wings and started flying up towards Twilight and Spike. “Hey, what’s he doing?” Jet asked as everyone watched him.
The owl reached the walkway after about ten seconds, flying up over the railing and landing a short distance behind Twilight and Spike. Spike noticed him first, his startled shake and cry causing Twilight to notice him too. At this, the owl held up his hands and cried, “Wait, calm down! I don’t want to be part of the Armada anymore! I’m here to help!”
Twilight relaxed a little and said, "I don't know the passcode for the release, and I don't think anyone else has it either."
The owl replied, "Here, let me see it." Twilight and Spike moved to the side to make room for him and he stepped to the panel. He saw it was an eight-character code and the panel had a number pad below the screen. He put his index fingers on the sides of his forehead and murmured, "Okay, I just need to think. There were a lot of these…" He blinked a few seconds later as a code popped into his head and he moved his hands down to the number pad, typing '04281995'. The panel processed the numbers and a few seconds later, the screen turned green and displayed the words 'ACCESS GRANTED -LOCKS RELEASING-'.
Everyone heard a loud clicking sound when the locking mechanisms deactivated a second later, the platform the ship was on beginning to lower down afterwards. Spike looked at the owl and asked, "How do you know the code?"
The owl gave him a shy smile, "Keeping track of day-to-day operations and internal information like that is, or I suppose was, my job. For once, I can say I'm glad it's what I was forced to do."
Down on the ground, everyone else watched the platform come down, noticing a set of stairs in the left side leading up to the top of it. "Come on, get a move on! We want to leave already!" Storm yelled up at the platform.
"I'm afraid that's out of the question!" Everyone turned around at that to see the Battle Lord walking towards them, alone and pointing a blaster at them. "I must thank you plebeians for getting my ship ready for me, but there's no room for any of you!" he said. He pointed his blaster at the Babylon Rogues. "Except perhaps you three, if you've achieved enlightenment!" he added.
"Please! Give it up already! We knew you were crazy the first time you came to 'offer us a glorious new purpose'! We didn't want any part of the Armada then, and we definitely don't want it now that Eggman's telling you what to do! You don't have anything we want; that's why you can't buy us out like Eggman bought you!" Jet retorted. He let out a pained shout a moment later as he fell back, his right hand clutching his left side where the blaster shot hit him.
"JET!" Wave, Storm, Sonic, Tails, Applejack, and Pinkie all exclaimed, all of them gathering around him as he grimaced and propped himself up on his left elbow.
"I warned you I would not let your slights stand for much longer, Babylonian," the Battle Lord said as he held up the blaster. "I gave you so many chances to mature, yet you still refute me. A shame, because that was your last chance. Now your final moments- Ack!" He was cut off when a magenta beam hit his side, throwing him off balance. He turned to look up at Twilight; when he pointed the blaster up at her, the Rookie fired his grappling hook at it and it flew out of his hand and slid across the floor while he let out a shout.
Wave helped Jet to his feet, his left arm draped over her shoulders as he got to his feet. When he was mostly steady, he glared at the Battle Lord and said, "You shouldn't have come without your army! The tables are turned now and you're the one who's going to learn a lesson!" Storm thumped his fists together at that, the albatross looking forward to flattening more than the Battle Lord's beak.
"Cut it out, you two! We don't have time for that!" Wave chided, even though she wanted to make him pay too.
Tails looked up at the platform, "The platform's almost fully down! We need to…" He paused mid-sentence as his hearing picked up the roaring of a jet engine, which sounded like it was getting closer.
Everyone else heard it as well; even the Battle Lord turned his head curiously as the sound got louder. "What's that?" Tempest asked as she turned around to look towards the open hanger doors, moving around the platform to look. Sonic, Storm, and Pinkie did the same, all of them peering around the platform, which was now almost on the floor, to look outside. They could see the Sky Sanctuary, which was dropping out of sight due to the battleship losing altitude, but they could also a fighter plane coming towards the hanger at full speed.
"Look out!" Sonic exclaimed as he suddenly turned to Storm and spun him around before pushing him back behind the platform, Tempest and Pinkie running/pulling back behind it as well. Sonic kept pushing Storm into Tails, Applejack, the Rookie, Jet, and Wave, pushing them all up towards the wall. They ended up staying there as seconds later, Speedy's plane entered the hanger, hitting the floor and bouncing up, the tip of its right wing hitting one of the docked fighters and breaking off part of the wing as it was going up. The fighter was knocked loose and it hit another fighter, setting off a chain of explosions while Speedy's plane spun clockwise as it kept going forward. It bumped the left side and wing of the Battle Lord's ship, which got turned around partway from the impact while Speedy's plane lost the rest of its right wing and part of the left before it finally, noisily, came to a stop past the platform.
The Battle Lord had dived to the side when the plane started crashing, but as he looked up at the wrecked remains of Speedy's plane, all thoughts that had been going through his head at the time vanished. "SPEEDY!" he screeched as he shakily got up and ran towards it. The plane had ended up on its side and the cockpit canopy popped open as he got closer. Speedy rolled over a few moments later and fell out, the Battle Lord too far to catch him. Before he hit the floor, a magenta-colored bubble appeared under him, breaking his fall. Everyone else looked up to their right to see Twilight, Spike, and the owl flapping their wings as they descended, Twilight's horn still glowing with magic.
As the Battle Lord reached Speedy and scooped him up off of the bubble, Espio, Fuchsia, and Gen entered the hanger. They stared at the flaming wreckage for a moment before Espio noticed the others off to the side and ran over to them, Gen and Fuchsia following. He came to a stop in front of the group and asked, “What happened?!”
Before anyone could answer, Rainbow flew into the hanger and flew up to the ceiling, looking around quickly for someone she recognized. She spotted everyone after a few seconds and flew straight down to them, saying as she came to a stop near them, “Are you guys okay?! The Resistance ships messed up that plane and I followed him here!”
Twilight answered, “We’re fine, Rainbow. We were very lucky.” She looked over and saw the Battle Lord setting Speedy down on his feet, the smaller bird looking a bit shaky even as he stood up straight. “And it looks like Speedy is okay after that crash.”
Jet spoke, “So what are we still wasting time here for?!” He pointed up at the ship, “Someone get this ship started so we can leave!” Tails and Twilight glanced at each other for a moment before they flew up to the top of the platform, the owl flying up behind them and Spike hurriedly flying up after Twilight. Fortunately, the ship’s entrance was already open, so they entered and started searching.
Espio looked over at the Battle Lord and Speedy, the former looking up now and glaring daggers at them. He walked over to them, the rest of the group following him. When they were standing a short distance from them, Espio said, “If you agree to surrender, we’ll let you leave with us.”
The Battle Lord was silent for a moment; there was no change in his expression. Then he simply said, “Never.” He let go of Speedy and stood up straight, “I will concede this time, but I refuse to accept defeat. Next time we meet, you will all pay for this humiliation with your lives.” He turned to look at Speedy, “Come, my son. There are still ships that will fly. As long as we live, so too does the Armada.”
Speedy quietly replied, “Yes, Father.” He fell into step behind the Battle Lord, staggering a bit and holding his right arm.
As they were walking away, Jet grunted, “He really thinks he can rebuild after losing everything and ditching his followers? I doubt it.”
On the ship, Tails, Twilight, Spike, and the owl stepped through a pair of sliding doors onto the bridge, which was a circular room that had the controls directly in front of the doors with a pair of seats on both sides as well as a computer console with six screens in the wall off to each side. There was also a central seat in front of the controls set down in the floor like a bowl, a small set of stairs on each side leading down to it. And in front of it all was a large window for seeing outside.
The owl pointed to the two seats, “This is where the pilots sit. The chair in front is for the, ah… captain.”
Tails moved to the seat on the left, saying, “Okay, uh… I just need to figure out the controls and then I’ll get it started.” He sat down and eyed the panel in front of him. In addition to the buttons and lights, there was a ‘W’ shaped yoke in the center on both sides. He began pressing buttons and the panel lit up as did the lights in other rooms on the ship. He heard tapping sounds to his right after a few seconds and looked up to see Twilight had taken the other seat and was pressing buttons as well. “Do you know how to fly an aircraft, Twilight?” he asked.
Twilight looked up at him and replied, “Yes. I was given some lessons recently. Lessons I had to make good use of, actually.” She looked back at her panel, “This panel is a little more complicated than the one in the plane I flew, but if you can sort of help me with this part, I can be your co-pilot.”
Tails turned back to the controls and said, “Okay. Well, we’re pressed for time, so we’ll skip the pre-flight check. Now… huh?” He looked up hearing a noise coming from outside as did Twilight, Spike, and the owl. They saw two of the Armada’s fighter craft pulling out from the wall to their left and turning to fly out of the hanger.
Outside, Jet, Wave, Storm, Applejack, Pinkie, and the Rookie ran up the stairs to get to the ship, ignoring the ships exiting as they boarded. Gen and Fuchsia were about to do the same when they all heard something behind them and turned to see a large number of birds enter the hanger. It didn’t take them long to look at the situation and determine that the Battle Lord and Speedy were both alive and had abandoned ship. The ones already in the hanger went into a panic and all the ones that came in after them did the same, all of them scrambling to get to a working ship and do the same. Sonic, Espio, Rainbow, Tempest, Gen, and Fuchsia waited at the bottom of the ramp, watching them. By the time the ship’s engines began to roar to life, all the remaining fighter craft had a pilot, leaving over a dozen without a way to leave.
As they were staring up at the evacuating ships with dread, Gen and Fuchsia came up behind them and pointed their White Wispons at them, the birds turning at the sound of them warming up. There was a tense moment as the two Resistance members stared them down before Espio stepped between them and addressed the birds, “Perhaps you’ll be more amicable than your leader was. We can take you with us if you agree to come without a fight.” It only took a few seconds before the birds were down on their knees in front of them, begging them to save them. Espio glanced between Gen and Fuchsia as he quietly said, “Find a room on the ship for them and keep an eye on them. We’ll determine their motives once we get back to base.” They both nodded and gestured to the birds to follow them to the ship, which they were all too happy to do.
Fuchsia and Gen led the birds up the stairs with Espio and Tempest bringing up the rear. As they were following them up, Sonic and Rainbow looked back at the entrance, both wondering where O-T Sonic, Terv, and Corvin were. The younger blue hedgehog came running in after a couple of seconds with Corvin coming in a second later. The former ran straight over to F-T Sonic and Rainbow while the latter stopped to watch everyone going up the stairs before running over and asking “What’s going on?! Those guys running for the hanger slowed us down! What are they doing with them?!”
Rainbow answered, “They surrendered. There are no more ships for them to take, so Espio offered them a room on that ship we’re taking if they agreed to give up.”
Corvin calmed down a little as he said, “Okay, I guess that makes sense.”
F-T Sonic looked around and asked, “Where’s Terv?!”
Corvin simply replied, “He should be here in a second. Broke his wing in that explosion, so maybe that slowed him down a little. I’m getting onboard!” He ran up the stairs, boarding the ship behind Tempest and Espio. True to his word, Terv ran into the hanger a couple moments later, stopping in the doorway as if he was hesitating. He was still holding his Blue Wispon in his hand, holding it close to his chest.
“I’ll get him. We gotta go!” F-T Sonic said, O-T Sonic turning to run up the stairs at that. He looked at Rainbow, “You might as well fly out of here on your own, Rainbow. We’ll be right behind you.” She nodded and watched him run over to Terv, grabbing him and turning to run back to the stairs. Rainbow turned to leave at that, but as she was turning, she noticed out of the corner of her eye the haunted expression on Terv’s face and the fact that he had his left palm placed tightly on top of the head of the Blue Wispon, causing her to wonder what happened as she flew out of the hanger. Sonic ran into the ship and noticed a few buttons next to the door. He reached over and pressed one to close the door before calling out, “We’re all here! Let’s go!”
Up on the bridge, the owl was sitting at the computer console to the right of Twilight and Tails, the screens displaying footage from the ship’s security cameras. He saw on one of the monitors that Sonic had shut the doors followed by him disappearing off the screen and reappearing with Terv on the monitor displaying the meeting room that the Babylon Rogues and most of the others were in. He saw all the birds that had been brought on board were still in an empty room with Gen and Fuchsia standing guard at the door, so he turned and said, “Ready for takeoff!”
Tails said, “Okay!” He turned back to his controls and he and Twilight began to pull back on their yokes to take off. As they lifted up a little and began to turn the ship back around towards the hanger opening, though, explosions began to erupt across the battleship, causing it to shake heavily. They caught sight of the sky outside and realized the battleship was plummeting even faster now. “This is bad! I don’t know if we can get out now without hitting something on the way out!” Tails exclaimed.
Twilight nervously looked around for a moment before she looked up at her horn and she got an idea. She placed her hooves on the control panel for support and said, “Pull up the landing gear, Tails, and get ready to fly!” Tails looked over at her and saw her close her eyes, her horn beginning to glow brightly with magic. Heeding her words, he pulled back more and flicked the switch to retract the landing gear. Twilight’s horn continued to glow brighter as the explosions became louder and got closer and the battleship fell faster and faster.
Rainbow had stopped flying away from the battleship when she heard the explosions and turned to see them erupting from inside. It made her worried, especially since it started falling faster and she couldn’t see the ship. Her worry continued to grow until a massive explosion blew the battleship apart. “No…” she uttered when she looked back and saw the debris plummeting. Suddenly, a bright magenta flash made her look away again and when she looked back, the ship had appeared out of thin air and was flying forward. She breathed a sigh of relief and flew towards it. She flew in front of the bridge window and looked inside, seeing Tails and Twilight, who looked slightly dazed, at the controls, the owl still sitting at the computer console, and Spike waving to her from the captain’s chair. “Way to go, Twilight,” she breathed, giving a hoof pump.
Soon…
“I don’t know. Just fix that wing a little, buff out that dent, and it should be good as new. You can probably handle that yourself, Shorty,” Wave was saying as she and Tails walked out from underneath the stolen ship, now sitting in one of the available buildings in the Sky Sanctuary.
“Could probably stand to have a new paint job too,” Tails remarked.
“Yeah, it is kind of boring right now,” Wave agreed. They continued walking over to where Storm and Jet were. Storm was standing and Jet was sitting on a small crate while Fluttershy tended to his blaster wound. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he had a bored expression on his face.
Jet tilted his head to the side to look and saw Fluttershy had put a patch on his side and was almost finished wrapping bandages around his torso to hold it in place. Once she had finished, he held his arms out and said, “All right, we’re done here!” He stood up and took a few steps to make sure he got his point across.
“But Jet…” Fluttershy started.
Jet turned around to look at her and said, “Look, you’re finished! You cleaned it, you treated it, you bandaged it. What else is there to do?” By this time, Tails and Wave had finished walking over and were standing nearby.
F-T Sonic, Knuckles, Rarity, and the owl came over from the other direction, also stopping near the little gathering. “Heh, guess prison time doesn’t change guys like us, huh Jet?” Sonic remarked, the hawk sharing a look with him.
“So, you’re sure about this?” Knuckles asked.
Jet nodded, “Yeah. We don’t like Eggman either, but I stand by what I told the Battle Lord: we’re not gonna be bought or forced into joining something. We either join on our own or we’re not doing it at all.”
Wave said, “Besides, we have to get back to our airship and see what we can salvage. Hopefully, our Extreme Gear wasn’t too badly damaged. We’re going to need them to get around and get the parts we need to repair the airship.”
Storm added, “Yeah! And when we find out where that Battle Lord went, we’re gonna make him pay for this!”
Knuckles nodded, “I understand. That’s why I already called in a transport to take you guys to Adabat. They’ll take you right to your airship.” He turned to Rarity, “Rarity, can you show them to their ship?”
The unicorn nodded, “Of course. I’d be happy to help send them on their way.” She turned around, “Right this way, please.” Jet, Wave, and Storm started to walk after her.
Wave stopped before completely walking past Knuckles and turned to him, asking, “What are you going to do with those Armada birds?”
Knuckles answered, “Rainbow, Tempest, Espio, and Amy are spreading them out and putting them on other transports. We’re gonna see if we can convince a few of them to join the Resistance.” Wave turned to continue walking, seemingly satisfied with this answer. Jet had stopped to wait for her and after she caught up with him, he shared a look with Sonic for a moment before he turned and resumed walking as well.
“I hope I put enough bandages on Jet. He didn’t let me check to make sure,” Fluttershy said after a moment.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine, Fluttershy. Terv and Windra have told me you’ve been doing good work in the infirmary, so I don’t doubt your abilities,” Knuckles replied.
“I wonder where Terv went. He left the ship as soon as we docked and then disappeared,” Tails remarked.
“I think I heard Rainbow and Twilight talking about him earlier. They’ll probably go looking for him,” Sonic shrugged.
Knuckles nodded and then turned to the owl, saying, “That was a very brave decision you made, deciding to leave the Armada on your own. What’s your name?”
The owl turned his gaze downward, “I don’t have one…”
Tails asked, “You don’t?”
The owl explained, “I was taken in and trained by the Armada when I was very young. I don’t remember my parents or what name they gave me. I was never given any sort of identifier by the Armada. I was just another head behind a computer to them.”
Fluttershy gazed at him sadly, “My goodness, that’s horrible.”
Knuckles said, “Well, at least you managed to keep your head straight under all that. They didn’t mess up the way you saw things.”
Sonic nodded, “Yeah. So, let’s fix that.” He turned to the side and closed his eyes, thinking. He opened them after a few seconds and asked, “How about ‘Harvey’? You seem like a Harvey to me. Can we call you Harvey?”
The owl said, “Harvey.” His face began to light up and his voice started to sound more ecstatic, “Yeah. Yeah, I like that name.”
Knuckles replied, “Well, I don’t see any reason to argue with it.” He held out his right hand, “Nice to meet you, Harvey.” Harvey took his hand after a moment and shook it warmly.
Not too far away, in another building where one of the Resistance battleships that had survived the attack was sitting, Terv was sitting on the ground on the starboard side near the front of the ship. He sat hunched over, his knees pulled up a little. He seemed to be staring straight ahead at nothing, his left arm bandaged up and his expression troubled. He stayed like this for several moments before turning to his right to look down at his Blue Wispon. More specifically, he was looking at the head, the end of which was marked by an uneven red streak and several splotches. He stared intently at the marks, as if he was still trying to process them.
He was jarred out of his thoughts suddenly when he heard, "Terv!" He sat up suddenly and looked straight ahead, seeing Twilight turning towards him and fluttering down to land about half a dozen feet away from him.
"Oh, hello, Princess Twilight," he stammered. He eyed her legs, noticing she appeared to be standing fine, though upon closer inspection, he saw they were still a bit shaky. "It would appear that battle has helped get you back on your hooves, huh?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from himself.
Twilight took a few steps towards him as she said, "That's not important right now." She gave him a concerned look, "What are you doing here by yourself, Terv? There are a lot of injured who still need help; why aren't you helping?"
Terv looked to his left and sighed, "I'm… really not in a proper state of mind to help right now. Those patients deserve a real doctor."
Twilight replied, "Fluttershy's not a certified doctor and she takes care of all sorts of animals. And what do you mean by 'real doctor '?" Terv didn't answer, so after a couple of seconds of silence, she said, "Okay, I get it. You, uh… You'd rather not… I'll leave you alone." She turned to leave.
"Wait!" Terv suddenly exclaimed, Twilight stopping a couple of steps away from where she'd been standing. She looked back and saw him lowering his right hand and moving it the side of his head. "Come back," he said, sounding like he said it with a great degree of effort. She walked back over and stood in front of him. After a moment, Terv asked, "Did anyone tell you what happened on the battleship?"
Twilight sat down as she answered, "I heard something about you knowing someone in the Armada."
Terv said, "Ben. He's… He was…" He sighed, "That's my brother's name."
Twilight blinked, "Your brother is in the Battle Bird Armada? …Did you know he was with them?"
Terv answered, "I had a feeling he was. I wasn't entirely sure, but my thoughts were supported by information the Resistance received from spies watching the Armada. I can easily imagine him getting involved with them; it's the kind of thing he'd do. I know that all too well."
Twilight tilted her head, "So, he's done things like this before?"
Terv's head fell, preferring to look at his knees rather than Twilight. "I used to live with my family in a village on West Side Island. This was long before Eggman came to the island. It wasn't too glamorous, but we were happy. Everyone in the village was. I never thought anything was amiss, that anyone was unhappy."
Twilight asked, “So, what happened?”
Terv said, “One day, Ben disappeared for nearly a whole day before coming back with a lot of money. When we asked him, he said he was doing contract work outside the village so that he could make life better for our family. Mom and Dad were proud that he was willing to take on extra responsibilities, but they didn’t really hear any of his talk on moving out of the village to somewhere with a lot more potential. I found out after the fact that he’d actually been spending all his time away from the village at the Casino Night, gambling and later stealing and making enemies, which is why it happened.”
Twilight questioned, “‘It’?”
Terv took a few deep breaths before starting, “It started out a normal day. Ben had left for ‘work’ and I was at home with Mom and Dad. We’d tried to talk him into staying for family time, but he insisted he had to go into work that day. We were just sitting around the house when the door suddenly burst open and Ben ran in, slamming it shut behind him. He looked like he’d been running for a long time. When we asked him what was wrong, he said everything was fine and we should keep doing what we were doing. He started to head to the back of the house when we started hearing a commotion outside.”
He paused, closing his eyes and pressing his right hand against them before sliding it up to wipe off his forehead. “It was a raid, basically. I still don’t know what exactly he did, but he made a lot of people angry and they were looking for him. They broke into homes, knocked down anyone in their path, and set fire to everything. I remember running through the house looking for Ben while Mom and Dad tried to keep them out. The ceiling came down not long after.” He clenched his eyes shut, “I had some injuries from being buried, but Mom and Dad were…” He trailed off, tears beginning to leak from his eyes.
Twilight stared at him, “Sweet Celestia… And… Ben?”
Terv managed to say, “I saw him off in the distance through an opening in the rubble before I lost consciousness, running away, never even glancing back. The last thing I remember is reaching out for him, begging and pleading for him to come back, to help us…” He began to sob, the memories overwhelming him and making him unable to continue.
Unsure of what else to do, Twilight moved closer and sat next to him, wrapping her right wing around him, letting him cry into her side. After several minutes, he seemed to calm down a little, so she softly ventured, “So… you survived that.”
Terv nodded, "Yeah… I did. After I got out of the hospital, I was sent to the orphanage along with other kids who had lost their families."
Twilight started, "Did Ben ever…?"
Terv shook his head, "No. He never came back. Until today, that was the last time I saw him. I eventually just got used to living in the orphanage." He paused for a moment before continuing, "The time in the hospital was often on my mind those days. Eventually, I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I didn't want to be like my brother; I wanted to be someone that people could count on to be there to help. I studied as hard as I could, I volunteered when I was able to, and with more of our kind beginning to get out in and be accepted by the world, I applied to Spagonia University and was accepted. I didn't know how I was going to pay for it, but I was determined to continue my education. I was all set to leave when Dr. Eggman's takeover started and the war broke out."
Twilight asked, "So, you… you never got to go to medical school?"
Terv answered, "No. I only have past experiences to rely on. I've been lucky that I haven't had to deal with any really complicated cases yet."
Twilight said, "I’m guessing it was a shock then when you ran into Ben." After a couple of seconds without an answer, she leaned forward to look at Terv and asked, "Terv?"
He turned his head to the right to look away. "Twilight," he started in a low voice. "Am I a terrible person?"
Twilight blinked, entirely unprepared for that question. "Wh-What do you mean?" she questioned.
Terv looked at the Blue Wispon, his voice sounding numb when he spoke, "I don't know what came over me. He was still coming in spite of everything, but why did I do it?" He grabbed the handle and picked it up. He held it in front of him, which allowed Twilight to see the red on the head. "I didn't kill him, but I might as well have. He'd lost a lot of feathers, so he couldn't fly on his own, but then I… I left him unable to walk. And I panicked and ran, leaving him like that… It's highly unlikely that he managed to escape, and it's because of me…" He hung his head, the Wispon falling from his grasp, "I always said I wouldn't turn out like him, yet I did that… I intentionally injured and left my brother to die… How can I possibly say that I'll uphold the Hippocratic Oath after doing that…?"
Twilight was at a loss for words. Between what he said and the evidence on the Wispon, she was pretty sure she knew what he had done. She didn’t know what to say; she’d done a lot of things since she moved to Ponyville, but not something like that. Even if she had, was there really anything that she could say to make Terv feel better? It was clear he was deeply ashamed and regretted what he’d done. Shame, regret… she was familiar with those feelings, especially having to live with them. It was a long shot, but it was the only thing she could think of.
She started, "Terv, I…" She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "I'm not going to say that I know what you're going through simply because I haven't done anything like that… yet. But in the short time since I've regained consciousness, I've seen what you usually do and how you seem to act towards others, so I feel like I have an understanding of who you are."
Terv murmured, "An understanding? Doesn't sound like you really know me, then…"
Twilight said, "No, but we did just meet the other day. Not that length of time necessarily equals a fuller understanding. I've known my best friends for a long time and I'm still learning things about them that I had no idea about. What I mean to say is, you're not like your brother. The fact that we're talking about this is proof of that."
Terv turned to look at her, "What does one have to do with the other?"
Twilight answered, "You're upset. You can't believe you did what you did. You're regretful over what happened. Based on what you've told me about Ben, what happened years ago doesn't bother him. He wanted to kill you, right?"
Terv nodded, "Yeah…"
Twilight said, "Well, it's a terrible thing to say, but I don't think your brother really wanted to make amends. As for what happened… well, that's not something with an easy answer. You got caught up in doing one thing and now you regret it, something I know very well. As I said, I haven't done that, but I have done some terrible things. Brainwashing an entire town over something that was ultimately trivial, trying to steal something valuable to another nation and potentially damaging relations, getting angry at my niece… I know I haven't been as good a princess or a pony as I wish I was and I regret losing control like that, but I think having regrets is important. I realize my mistakes and try to learn from them to be a better pony. You can do the same, Terv. You are a good person; don't throw who you are and the good you've done so far over this. Learn from it." Terv didn’t say anything or move for a moment, but then he suddenly turned and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, his face pressed into her shoulder as he sobbed. Twilight returned the hug, rubbing his back with her hoof. Of course it was going to take time before he might be able to say he was ready to move on, but she could only hope this was a step in that direction.
Unbeknownst to either of them, Gen was sitting around the corner against the front of the battleship, the burnt hedgehog having caught most of their talk. He’d just been curious what it was they were talking about, but to say he was surprised by Terv’s backstory and what he’d done was a bit of an understatement. “Well, Doctor, it seems we have a little more in common than I thought,” he whispered to himself.
Cozy Glow floated down to Eggman in her cloud form, her muzzle materializing when she was behind him to his side and moving as though she were saying something, though it came out as a series of growls and snarls. While she was communicating with him, Infinite entered the control room and spoke without waiting to be addressed, “Doctor, it would appear the Battle Bird Armada finally did something useful, only to prove their worthlessness against the Resistance.”
Both Eggman and Cozy Glow turned to look at him, the former saying, “Yes, I’ve just learned this. It doesn’t matter.” He turned back to his computer, “The Resistance saved me the trouble of having to remind their cluck of a leader who’s really in charge. No treachery is occurring under my watch, and even if he came crawling all the way here, I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of allowing to serve the Eggman Empire again. Their time will come along with the Resistance’s.”
Infinite asked, “So, this development means nothing to you?”
As Cozy Glow floated back up, Eggman replied, “Quite the contrary; this is a very intriguing development. It’s unfortunate that the Armada failed to defeat the Resistance despite taking them by surprise, but it’s not a complete loss. I know where their battleship was when it was destroyed, so we know where exactly the Resistance’s battleships are hidden. This attack has also left the Resistance weakened, vulnerable, so we can make up for the loss of the Armada with a spot of revenge.”
Infinite asked, “By launching another attack on the Sky Sanctuary?”
Eggman answered, “Why go to the trouble of invading their space when we can bring them into ours? It will be so easy to do with the right manipulations.” He turned to look back at Infinite, “And I believe said manipulations will greatly appeal to you and your preferences as well.”
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How many of these Sonic games are you going to adapt?
Wow great chapters of the sanctuary battle, and the Jet and his comrades are now free, and Twilight and Trev shared a friendly moment and wow Trev had it rough, and Jet still the same as ever and things just got a whole lot more interesting, awesome job, keep up the great work
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You don't like?
11457868
Just ignore that buddy, I heard others ask the same thing from other stories, like mines from time to time, but hey, great new chapters and great stories.
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And hey, if you wanna see another mlp x sonic crossover story if you are interested, check this out when you can, it’s a g5 mlp crossover with sonic
https://www.fimfiction.net/user/514897/AnotherSonicMLPFan/stories
11457868
Great to see your back in the grove again pal. How’s things in your town right now cause my home state is cover in snow.
I hope Sonic Frontiers gets adapted and see how Sonic handles that.
It’s great to hear from you again
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Well, the game isn't quite finished yet, so maybe by the time I get to the end of this story, Sega's roadmap will have played out and I can more accurately determine how my roadmap is going to be affected.
This story seems to have some rather dark subject matter, but I guess in a story centered around war, I guess it doesn't hurt to fling fictional characters into real-world scenarios. It was quite the spectacle.
We haven't seen the last of Battle Lord Kukku XV have we?
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I've got, like, some headcanon stuff that, realistically, will not be committed to pages for a long time, if ever. Since I have no way of knowing how many of these OCs will get a lot of focus after this story, I'm trying to flesh them out to try to make at least some of these normies not be Mary Sue types. Results are obviously pending.
He'll probably be out of action for the rest of this story, but I wouldn't rule out a possible return.
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Ok. I wonder who will appear in the story? Sonic is a big give away with Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Eggman, and Sage, but I wonder who else like the children of the Main 6 when their parents go visit something wrong and Sonic has to not only save his friends, but also Twi and her friends who are trapped in Cyberspace.
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What games not finished? I thought you’d be done with Sonic/MLP stories after Forces and now that MLP:FiM wrapped up. I would love to see a story based on “Frontiers” but I’m not sure what your aims are afterwards.
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I was referring to the Frontiers roadmap that Sega put out. I'd like to get a better idea of what the new storylines involving Tails, Knuckles, and Amy are going to be about before I really get into it.
All I can say is it’s a Christmas miracle, I am very happy to hear from you again and you did excellent work on these new chapters. Thank you for not giving up. I also wanted to wish you and your family a merry Christmas! Great work as always!
Well, this was a nice early Christmas present. I have been missing this story.
Whoa!!! Did not see that coming. That guy isn’t leaving.
Good to see Twilight help Terv out a bit over his baggage and help save the day with teleportation.
The armada got plucked and are not making a comeback. Eggman has a plan to flush the resistance out and I just realized that the Cozy phantom is still around.
Great to see another chapter and a good amount of action happened in it. Great job!!!
Question: Who is Harvey
Answer: That’s correct
You are online, but you're not uploading new chapters in this year. Is it hard to turn animated scenes into literatures?