Sonic the Hedgehog - " Clouds of Grey " - 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
David Prower - Shawn Wolski
Dulcy
Tasha - Aaron Lye
Tayla - Aaron Lye
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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Timeline It has been two years since the declaration of the Race Wars , the first civil war in the history of Mobius . After several early victories , the war effort has gone downhill for the Federated Races of Mobius since then ,with Sally's government slowly losing ground day by day to the forces of the Alliance of Races . 10% of the planet's surface has been rendered uninhabitable , ever since the Alliance of Races abandoned the treaty stipulating the non-use of weapons of mass destruction , and bombarded several major Federated Races population centers with medium-radius biological weapons . Many Federated and Alliance cities have been bombedout of existence , including 3 of the Forest Rim cities , several from the mountainous regions and several from the Southlands . Ground , naval and lower atmosphere combat still rages on , but both governments now concentrate funds and efforts on space combat . The orbiting spacedock operated by the Federated Races was sabotaged and destroyed five months into the War , taking along with it 40% of the starships owned by that government . Since then , the Federated Races has been covertly building a massive starbase to take it's place , their last chance of turning the tide of the war back into their favor...

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THE STORY

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The council viewed the holographic projection of the most expensive project they had ever funded , and listened to Rotor give a summary report on it .

"Starbase Victory Alpha will be activated in five hours and will be fully operational within six ..."

Sally gazed at the hologram . The station was vaguely oblong in shape , and was built vertically , and to the layman , would have looked like a bunch of spheres and cubes of varying sizes connected to each other .

"Victory Alpha can house at any time , up to half of the entire fleet . It measures 5 kilometers in radius , and 12 kilometers in length . It requires 30000 personnel stationed at all times to operate smoothly , although it can manage with 25000 . The station is powered by 15 matter-antimatter reactors situated in the center of the station , as well as 5 backup generators and 3 batteries ."

Sonic questioned , "What about defenses ?"

To which Rotor replied , "I was just getting to that . Thanks to the large surface area of the station , we were able to lay a deflector matrix much more elaborate than that was possible on a normal starbase , thereby increasing shield power by ten times that of our current maximum for starbases . There are vertical and horizontal phaser arrays covering all 720 degrees and 20 torpedo bays flanking all sides , with an arsenal of 15000 quantum torpedoes . In addition , it has 4 fighter wings , 5 Freedom-class starships and 4 light cruisers . This base was built for combat ."

Sally took over , "Thank you , Rotor . Now , we have to decide who is to officiate the ceremony . I will be going as guest of honor , of course ,but we'll need at least four others with me ."

She stood up , and walked over to the large windows overseeing Mobotropolis . The city was once beautiful , but the ongoing war and lack of funds had left the buildings in a general state of disrepair and the parks unkempt and overgrown .

She continued , "Tails has already volunteered to come , and I'd like Sonic to stay here as Acting President while I'm gone ."

It didn't take long for people to volunteer , especially those who were eager to see the station . In the end , Rotor , David and Bunnie were to follow Sally and Tails .

"Very well , the presidential shuttle departs Bay One in three hours ."

*****

The party officiating Victory Alpha's activation met on time at Shuttlebay One , and boarded the large presidential shuttle . Just as they seated themselves in the lounge area , the pilot started up the engines and took off into space .

Bunnie spoke , rather excitedly , "Y'know , this is the first time Ah'm going inta space ."

Sally smiled ,"It's probably the first time for most of us here ."

Tails had a question . "How long will it take the shuttle to reach the station ?"

To which his brother replied ," About half an hour , since the shuttle only uses impulse drive ."

"Then why didn't we just take the transporter ?"

Sally had the answer for this . "They wanted us to make a grander entrance than materializing on a transporter pad."

The group chatted amiably for the majority of the duration of the trip , until they left the atmosphere , and entered into orbit .

They were awed by the sight . Bunnie spoke softly , "It's so beautiful..."

She was , of course , referring to the sight of Mobius against the black backdrop of space .

Sally nodded , "You'd never know a war was going on down there ... you can't even tell where the Black Zones are ..." referring to the areas of the planet that had been hit with bio-weapons .

That sentence brought about an uncomfortable silence , and Sally chided herself for spoiling an otherwise perfect moment . Tens of thousands had died when the bio-weapons impacted in the Black Zones , and even now , thousands more were falling ill with sicknesses brought about by those weapons .

The silence was broken when the pilot activated a comm link to inform the passengers that they were approaching their destination. A live comm link to the cockpit let them listen in on the communication between the pilot and the station .

"Victory Alpha Control , this is shuttle Council 001 , approaching station . Request docking clearance." The pilot spoke as he deftly manuveured the shuttle towards the station .

From the shuttle's windows , the passengers got their first actual glimpse of the project that had cost their government 20 billion credits .

The passengers gaped at the sheer size of the station . None had even imagined an artificial object of that magnitude.

The compartment's speaker came to life again . "Council 001 , this is Victory Alpha Control . You are clear for docking . Please assume approach vector and velocity and proceed to Port 21 , Bay Epsilon ."

"Roger , Control . Assuming approach vector and velocity ."

The pilot swung the shuttle around to the other side of the station , and flew it into the huge opening that was the door of Bay Epsilon . Once inside the bay , they saw all the seperate ports , each holding several ships . The ports on the left contained fighters , presumably Epsilon Wing , while the ones on their right contained commercial vessels . They quickly made their way to port 21 , and soon were passing through the one-way shield that kept the port's atmosphere in , yet allowed the shuttle to pass through . They saw through the windows that a full honor guard dressed in the red and blue uniform of the Mobian Space Defense Fleet was in attendance , as well as numerous reporters .

The shuttle landed slowly , and the door opened . The honor guard saluted as Sally and her companions walked out . Almost immediately , a fox walked up to her and nodded . "Queen Sally , it is an honor to meet you personally. I am Captain Katya , commander of Victory Alpha ."

They were led out of the bay and given a brief tour of the station . They covered the habitat areas , the commercial sections , the defenses and other key areas of the station .

Before long , they were led to the control center of the station , which was a thriving hub of activity . Orders of all kinds were been given , and officers of the MSDF were hastily doing their jobs , and even the reporters present seemed busy .

Upon seeing the commander and Sally's group , they snapped to attention .

Katya spoke . "This is the moment we have been waiting for . The President of the Federated Races of Mobius will now officially declare Victory Alpha operational ."

*****

Back on Mobius , Sonic was watching the proceedings on the screen in the Council Chambers , and listening to the reporter speak .

"In a few seconds , Queen Sally Acorn will issue the command that will activate Victory Alpha properly . Up till now , the station is functioning at minimal levels ."

*****

Sally stood up , and addressed the reporters with a short speech . That over with , she turned to a console and spoke .

"Victory Alpha . Identify Sally Alicia Acorn , President ."

"Sally Alicia Acorn identified." the console responded.

"Deactivate security locks , command of station handed over to Captain Katya , MSDF."

"Locks deactivated , Captain Katya recognized . Victory Alpha now running at full capacity"

True enough , a low hum started emitting from around the station , signifying that the antimatter reactors were charging up , and the lights and consoles brightened .

A round of appluase ensued , only to be quickly silenced by an insistent beeping from the tactical console . A MSDF lieutenant glanced at the console and reported . "Captain , sensors have detected a strange energy fluctuation . Distance .. 0.1 light years ."

"On screen." Katya responded , as all eyes turned to the viewer . The captain frowned , "There's nothing ther-" and stopped herself when she saw the previously empty space warp and ripple as a large blue ship faded into view .

Katya ordered , "Full scan."

The officer at tactical shook his head . "No success . The ship is generating a massive power signature that is preventing our sensors from getting any readings ."

"Dispatch one of the cruisers . Tell them that the ship may be hostile."

Everyone watched as one of the Mobian ships intercepted the newcomer , and gasped when it was fired upon the minute it got into the weapons range of the unknown vessel . The blue beam enveloped the Mobian vessel , penetrated the shields and left the vessel hanging in space .

The tactical officer reported on the status of the disabled cruiser ."Shields are drained , power drained . No hull damage or casualties ."

Katya had a grim look on her face . "We can't take any chances . Raise shields , launch all fighters and dispatch the remaining cruisers . Tell them to not fire unless fired upon ."

Within two minutes , the entire fleet protecting Victory Alpha had been sent to meet with the threat .

The first ship to approach the vessel was deactivated in the same manner .

Katya spoke through the comm system . "All ships , fire at will!"

All the Mobian starships opened fire with both phasers and torpedoes , and the fighters barraged the vessel with phasers alone , the best weapons Mobius had to offer .

All the weapons unleashed found their target , and impacted with no effect whatsoever .

The tactical officer spoke up , "Enemy vessel has absorbed the weapons fire."

Katya whispered , "Impossible..."

All this time , Sally kept quiet . Something about that ship seemed familiar ...

The unknown vessel was now making a beeline towards the station , leaving in it's wake a fleet of deactivated starships .

Katya was now yelling orders . "Tactical , fire all weapons!" She turned around to face a comm console . "This is the captain speaking to all civilians on board . Evacuate Victory Alpha , repeat evacuate Victory Alpha . This is NOT a drill . I repeat , abandon Victory Alpha immediately .

Katya faced Sally . "Queen Sally , I think you should leave while you can."

Sally however ,was not paying attention , not even to Tails or Bunnie . Somehow , she knew that ship ...

*****

Meanwhile , on Mobius , Sonic was yelling at the viewscreen . "SAL ! Get out of there ! NOW !"

But to no avail , of course . The ruler of Mobius seemed rooted to the spot.

*****

A barrage of 100 quantum torpedoes and a similar number of phaser pulses streaked towards the blue ship , and all had the exact same effect as the weapons fired by the starships a while ago .

Katya was now yelling at Sally . "You must leave NOW ! Guards , take the Queen and her entourage back to the shuttle !"

She waited long enough to see Sally and company put in the turbolift and turned to face the viewscreen , and incidentally , her enemy .

She thought to herself as she depressed the button that would unleash another useless barrage of weapons at the enemy vessel .

"Fight to the end ..."

*****

Sonic's viewscreen switched to a space shot , presumably since the reporter would have evacuated the station .

"The enemy vessel is now 10000 kilometers away from Victory Alpha and we have no confirmation as whether Queen Sally's shuttle has depar...oh my..."

The screen showed the station firing at the vessel , with no effect , and showed the alien ship returning fire with a bright red pulse .

The pulse moved towards the station and passed through it's shields , as though it wasn't there ... and impacted with the station's hull .

Within microseconds , a fiery explosion erupted from the impact point and spread across the station . When the explosions had subsided , there was no trace of Victory Alpha or the alien vessel ...

*****

Sonic stared at the viewscreen , unable to speak . His mind raced . There was still hope , Sally could have escaped . She had to have escaped ...

The reporter spoke from the viewscreen . "We have recieved confirmation .... that Sally Alicia Acorn's shuttle was not one of those that escaped before the station exploded .... the President of the Federated Races of Mobius is dead ."

*****

One day later , the Acting President of the Federated Races walked into the Council Chambers , summoned by Z'bar .

The Union ambassador spoke . "Sonic , I'm sorry about your recent loss ..."

"Get on with it."

The ambassador continued . "I know this is a bad time , which makes this even harder to bring up...."

"I said GET ON WITH IT !" Sonic yelled .

"I just recieved this statement from my government . I'm afraid the Union can no longer support your war effort . We are now in direct conflict with the Ghrakel ourselves , as well as with some of our more unfriendly neighbours , and we can no longer afford to send troops or resources to this war ... I'm sorry , but you're now on your own . I wish there was some way we could work this out , but-"

As far as Sonic was concerned , this discussion was over . "Get out , Z'bar. Get out ! I don't ever want to see you in here again ! Go fight your war and ignore us ! If it were up to me , I would just remove Mobius from your Union right now ! But , I have to respect Sally's wishes and keep this planet in ! So , just get out , before I do something I'll regret .."

He didn't need to say more , as Z'bar activated his combadge and beamed out of the room .

Sonic sat down and shook his head . Was this their best chance for victory ?

Sally , Tails , Bunnie , David and Rotor dead , Victory Alpha destroyed ,Union support terminated , millions dead ... And now the baton had been handed to him . So many had been lost already , but he could save those who had not yet been killed .

He touched a companel . "Contact the heads of the military forces."

Within seconds , he had been patched through . "I am hereby ordering a ceasefire . Withdraw our troops from the front lines and set up a defense perimeter along our border . Take no provocative action , but defend as you see fit ."

He spoke to the computer again . "Patch me through to Alliance Central ,President's Office."

A secretary appeared on the com screen . Sonic paused , then spoke slowly . "Put me through to President Ari . Tell him I wish to discuss the terms of our surrender ..."

TO BE CONTINUED