Sonic the Hedgehog - " Tides of War " - By Aaron Lye

E-mail : vicl@pacific.net.sg

Sonic the Hedgehog , Miles Tails Prower and other related characters are based on the characters created by SEGA , Archie Comic Publications , and the Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning series created by DIC and Sega of America . Other characters that appear or are mentioned in this story are original creations of their respective authors.

"Cast" of characters used in this story ( in random order )

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Sally
Sonic
Tails
Rotor
Antoine
Bunnie

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NOTE : IF I HAVE CREDITED THE WRONG PERSON(S) HERE , DO LET ME KNOW AND THE MISTAKE WILL BE RECTIFIED.
ALL INFORMATION ABOVE IS CORRECT TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE.

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READ ON TILL YOU SEE THE WORDS " THE END " , THE STORY'S INCOMPLETE UNTIL YOU DO

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WARNING : THIS STORY CONTAINS ONE REFERENCE TO AN ADULT THEME.

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TIMELINE : One month since the declaration of the Race Wars

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"You sure about this , Sal ?" Sonic asked his wife for the third time today . " I'm not sure if it's a good idea , what with the war and all that ... " he trailed off .

"Sonic , stop worrying ... It's just a community tour ! I have to keep relations with the general populace on good terms , show that we're still in control , assure them . And what better way than for me to go on a walkabout around Mobotropolis ? " Sally assured Sonic . " Besides , Antoine's arranged adequate security precautions , and the defensive shield around Mobotropolis is up 24 hours a day ... " She added .

With a bit more persuasion , Sonic reluctantly agreed . " Promise me you'll be alert to your surroundings . "

"Ok , you big worrier !" Sally teased him . " See you tonight ! " kissing him as she left . As she went out the door , she called out to her daugther. "Bye , Jess ! " A muffled "Bye , Mommy ." came through Jessica's door .

Not having any meetings scheduled for that day , Sonic spent it at home with his daughter . Lately , because of the Race War , he hadn't been able to spend as much time as he wanted to with his daugther .

*****

The blue hedgehog had just finished feeding Jessica and had tucked her into bed . Looking at the wall chronometer , he noted that Sally should be on the final lap of her walkabout . He turned on the visual display and switched to the news network . He then walked over to the wall replicator and scrolled through the list of wines available . as he looked down the list , he overheard the reporter on the screen .

"...of the Mobian News Network , reporting live from Eastern Central Park ,where Queen Sally Alicia Acorn , president of the Federated Races of Mobius , is conducting the last leg of her day-long Mobotropolis walkabout .

The reporter paused , presumably to let the camera switch views . Sonic ;ook a quick glance at the screen , and saw Sally talking to a few squirrels and their kids , surrounded by civilians and reporters only held back by police officers who were cordoning off the area . He was pleased to note that in addition to the police , Antoine had arranged for a number of Council Guard officers , who were flanking Sally , to watch over his wife .

The reporter droned on , " Queen Sally's public appearance is intended to allay the general public's fears on the first civil war in Mobius's history. " The reporter droned on for a while describing the war .

Sonic's attention drifted back to the wine list , scrolling through to select a wine he thought Sally would enjoy . Just as he found the right one, he heard some phased energy shots from the screen . Alarmed , he focussed on the display . The reporter was frantic . " We have just been informed that the shield generator has malfunctioned , and several sections of Mobotropolis is now unshielded . " The view panned to Sally , or actually , a view of Sally being surrounded by Council Guard Officers . The CGOs were shooting at targets beyond the scope of the camera . The reporter continued off-camera , sounding like she was lying on the ground . " The minute the shield collapsed , several people in the crowd started firing at the Queen , taking out three guards . " Sonic could hear people screaming and the sound of running was also very prominent .

Without any notice , Sally was enveloped in a sparkling beam , and she dissapeared . The reporter seemed relieved . " Queen Sally has been transported out of the danger zone . With the Queen's escape , the shots from the crowd has diminished , and the police and CGOs are apprehending the assailants . "

Sonic tapped his communication device . " Transporter room , do you have her ? "

The reply he recieved sent a chill down his spine . " Who , sir ? "

Sonic snapped , " Sally ! Do you have her ?! "

"No , sir . The Queen is on a walkabout and we did not recieve any orders to transport her . "

It was then that Sonic realized the truth .

The tide of war had just turned against them .

Queen Sally Alicia Acorn , ruler of the Federated Races , his wife , had just been abducted by the Alliance of Races ....

*****

Sally felt the stinging blow lance across her cheek , the latest in a series of injuries that her captor had deemed necessary to inflict on her .

" Not feeling cooperative are we now ? " her captor , a large-sized tiger spoke in a gruff voice . " You will tell us the defense preparations of Mobotropolis !! "

Sally gave the standard response . " I am Sally Alicia Acorn , of the Federated Races of Mobius . " She had said that to every single question she had been asked .

Her jailer gave her another slap . She winced , but still refused to give in . She would have hit back , but being tied to a chair usually hinders such actions .

The tiger walked away from her and looked outside the interrogation room . When he turned back to face her , a lustful look seemed to appear in the eyes of the tiger . " If physical injury doesn't make you talk , I can think up ... better ways to get the job done ... "

He started walking menacingly towards her , at the same time unbuttoning his shirt . Sally was too horrified at the thought of what this tiger wanted , and she was rooted to the spot . The tiger towered over her as he got close, untied her , grabbed her by her cloak and picked the comparitively small squirrel off her chair . " Last chance , squirrel . You gonna talk ? "

Sally promptly kicked the tiger hard in a *sensitive* spot , causing the afore-mentioned mammal to double over in pain and drop her . She scrambled up and raced to the other side of the room . With the immediate danger gone, her thought processes returned to normal , and she knew that the tiger now posed not much of a threat . If he tried something again after he recovered , she could easily outrun the silly creature .

"Why you .... " The tiger had a glazed look in his eyes , indicating pain .

Not enough pain , however , for him to not try to catch the squirrel .

The tiger was faster than Sally expected . Before she could react , the tiger had her by the scruff of her neck . He raised a paw , as if to strike her . Sally braced herself for yet another blow .

"Leave her alone ." came a voice from the door . The tiger turned , as did Sally , to see Ari standing there . The tiger growled a bit , but obeyed Ari .

The ram continued , " How nice of you to pay us a visit Sal . I trust the .... accomodations meet your approval ?"

Sally spoke vehemently , " If you think you can get away with this , you're sadly mistaken . "

Ari rebutted with , "Is that so ? We'll see ... in the meantime , Sal , sit tight . We're not finished with you yet .... "

The ram shut the door , leaving her in the dark room .

Sally Alicia Acorn never felt this alone before .

*****

Things in the Great Hall of the Council was chaotic , to say the least . Sonic was literally yelling at the rest of the Council . " How did this happen ?? WE HAVE TO GET HER BACK ! "

Knuckles , Sonic's long time "opponent" countered , " I suppose you have a plan , Mr. Hero ? "

Sonic glared at echidna , but said nothing . He looked around the Council Chambers . "Where's Rotor ? He was supposed to give a report on the shield generator . "

David Prower spoke up . "He's still looking into it . It's not that easy , you know . "

Bunnie added , " Where do ya think she could be ? And how do we get ta her?"

Sonic was at a loss . " Mr. Z'bar , can the Union ships detect anything from orbit ? " The reply came . "We've already tried that , Sonic . During the transport , they scrambled her combadge , and redirected it to the southern region . Without that device , we can't really locate her . "

The blue hedgehog was stumped , when Tails spoke up . " I will attempt to locate her , and if possible , retrieve her from the Alliance . "

Sonic agreed . " No harm done . Give it a shot , bro . "

The two-tailed fox disappeared in a haze of yellow . In his absence , the remaining Council members attempted to ascertain a plan of action .

One hour later , Tails reappeared in the chambers . To the surprise of the rest , he seemed injured in some fashion .

Tails paused a moment to catch his breath , then updated the rest on what had happened . " Ari has more supporters than we thought . He has somehow managed to rope in a society of mages into his Alliance , as well as a few rogue telepaths ... I managed to locate Sal , but the mages detected me before I could help her . I had to fight my way out of there ... but Sally seems fine , other than several bruises and such . "

He continued , "There's no way I can take on the mages and the telepaths by myself ... and while they're on the loose , any rescue attempt you make could be severely jeopardized . "

A voice at the Chamber's entrance interrupted Tails . "Well then , Tails-sugar ,it appears that we've come at just the right time ... "

The group turned to see Tasha and Tayla , once apprehensive of each other ,now standing at the entrance . Tails greeted the pair , as did Bunnie .

Sonic smiled . Things were turning out better than he thought ....

*****

Sally paced around the interrogation room . She had to escape ... but how ?

She didn't even know where she was ... let alone what kind of security had been *provided* for her . The only clue she had was that every so often , a cloaked figure would look through the glass section of the door . She could only assume that that creature was some sort of mage . Her meals were provided for her via a transporter beam ... she had limited contact with other people ... she was about to give up hope when she suddenly saw a blaze of yellow outside her door and saw Tails standing there . She had cried out , warning him of the mages , but he could not hear her . He could see her, though . She saw him get struck by a magic green bolt , saw him get injured , saw him retaliate with his signature magical wave . But , she knew that Tails was easily outnumbered ....

She tried to help him , picking up speed recieved from using the Deep Power Stones all those years ago , she leaped in a Sonic-esque fashion and smashed through the glass . Before she could even raise a paw to help her friend ,she felt immense pain searing through her mind . She screamed in agony ,remembering the last time she witnessed this first-hand . She managed to turn , and saw a raccoon staring directly at her . She knew instantly that the raccon was a telepath , and that it was doing to her what Tayla did to Angela all those years ago .

Suddenly , she felt herself get up and walk back into the room , without her control . It felt strange to be moving without wanting to . There was no need to question why this occurred . The telepath was mind-controlling her . As she walked back into the room , she saw out of the corner of her eye , another blaze of yellow . Tails had managed to escape .

In front of her eyes , the broken glass of the door seemed to reform , this time reinforced with steel , courtesy of the mages . A blue energy field suddenly enveloped the room , and she felt out of breath . She tried to move , but each step was agonizingly slow and required a lot of effort . The field brightened , and she haplessly fell to the ground , unable to move . She was alarmed at first , but soon realized what they had done .

they had artificially increased the gravity in the room ....

*****

The Council Chambers was abuzz with action . Sonic spoke , " Since we cannot reveal the fact that Sally was captured , we cannot use the military to retrieve her . Besides , I think a small force would have better chances than a large scale military strike . So , you all ready for some action again , or have you forgotten how to ? "

"Ready and willing , sugar !" came from Bunnie .

"What do you think ? " This from Tails .

Tasha and Tayla just nodded .

Knuckles replied , "Always ready , willing and most certainly ABLE." waving a spiked fist in the air .

David Prower answered , "I don't forget."

Antoine said the expected , "I is never ready."

Finally , the ex-Freedom Fighters had something to do other than sit behind desks and give orders ....

Sonic asked a few questions . " Tasha , you sure you can handle the mages by yourself ?" Tasha replied , "No prob , Sonic . Being promoted to Guardian of the First Emerald of Control also gives enhanced abilities . The mages will prove to be no more than a minor nuisance . "

Sonic turned to Tayla , "What about you ? Tails said there were at least two telepaths ." Tayla replied , " The rogues usually have less abilities than normal telepaths . I can handle them . "

Sonic continued , "OK , I'll run through the plan . Tayla will hold the telepaths , Tasha , the mages , Bunnie , Tails and Antoine will take out the normal guards while David , Knuckles and I rescue Sal . "

Since Alliance Central , the Mobotropolis of the Alliance of Races , was protected by a similar forcefield to the one around Mobotropolis , they had to rely on Tails' and Tasha's teleportation capability . The yellow blazes dropped the ex-Freedom Fighters down in an alley just next to the Chambers of Rehabiliation (the Alliance's main prison ) , where Sally was kept prisoner . Sonic gave the final command , and with a raise of their paws , Tails and Tasha teleported the group to their respective destinations . As predicted , the mages of the Alliance were of a low caliber , and could not stand up to the Control Guardian . Fighting a short battle , all the mages had either been subdued or fled . Tayla , however had more trouble with the rogues than she originally expected . They were better than she had thought . They bore down on her , intent on destroying her mind . They would have succeeded , if Tasha had not appeared in time to send them flying . Tayla gave the other rabbit a look that said thanks .

Bunnie and Antoine were shooting the guards from behind a magic forcefield provided by Tails . The field absorbed all incoming fire , yet allowed the phased energy beams from Antoine and Bunnie to stun the guards with pin-point precision ...from Bunnie that is . More than one smouldering hole in the surrounding walls belonged to Antoine. The fox in question never had much training with directed energy weapons .

Meanwhile , Sonic , Knuckles and David had taken care of the guards outside Sally's interrogation room cum holding cell . The echidna smashed the door and they entered the room . Immediately , Sonic and Knuckles both collapsed to the ground , unable to withstand the higher gravity that the room had been set too . Noticing the dilemma , David looked around for the gravity generator . After a few seconds of scanning , he detected it embedded in one of the walls . Bringing his phased energy emitters to bear , the cyberfox melted the required sections of the wall and deactivated the generator , not wanting to destroy it for fear of bringing even more attention to themselves .

The three stood up , glad to be free of the restraining gravity . Sally had some difficulty at first , since she was the one who had been in it the longest , but she soon recovered . Sonic gave her a big hug , and she reciprocated likewise . Sonic spoke , "C'mon , let's go home before Ari finds out that you've given him the slip . "

*****

The next day , all was once again normal in the Great Hall of the Council . The Council of the Federated Races once again gathered for it's daily meeting . Z'bar was just running through the status of the Union fleet orbiting Mobius when Rotor entered hurriedly .

Sonic seemed annoyed . "Where have you been ? We didn't see you at all since the generator malfunctioned ."

Rotor spoke , "It was no malfunction . The generator was sabotaged ."

Sally gasped , "Sabotaged ?"

The walrus nodded , " What's worse , access to the generator is restricted to only Council members and key military staff . I've checked up on the military staff , they were all out on missions at the time . That leaves us with only one other possibility .... "

Rotor didn't have to say anything else . It was obvious what had transpired . Someone in the Council of the Federated Races ... the highest lawmaking body in their government... was the saboteur , a traitor ...

There was a traitor in their midst ....

TO BE CONTINUED...

THE END