This entire story, characters, and artwork are all protected under copyright law. I (the author) grant permission to distribute this story, but only in it's complete, unaltered form, and never for profit. All other use is prohibited. Sonic, Sally, and related characters are copyrighted by Service and Games, Archie Comics, and DIC Entertainment, except for the following: Bookshire, Sandra Nightweaver, and Packbell: David Pistone SYmechs, Sonac, and Kain: John Macfarlane The Beginning of the End (Part 2: The Seige) A Sonic the Hedgehog story Written by John Macfarlane Temporal / Spacial Note: This story picks up EXACTLY when part one ends (with the leader mech speaking to his soldiers). They are presently inside the void room, after crossing dimensions from a parallel Mobius, one where Packbell is dead, and the freedom fighters battle the last 36 SYmech warriors (all that remains of the evil empire). This story starts on the "real" Mobius, where Packbell watches the new arrivers from the control room. "By a great fortune we have been spared from our old world," Leader began, "In this dimension Packbell lives, and our city still stands! He is right above us in the control room, and he needs our help to destroy the freedom fighters!" "But they out-number us!" one SYmech protested. "The freedom fighters in this dimension are few, and not as powerful! Our master has shown me proof of this, that even their Sonic the Hedgehog is no match for us!" "What will we do after we destroy these rebels?! What then?!" "In exchange for helping in the destruction of this world's rebels; Packbell will send us back with enough equipment and ammunition to lay seige to Mobitropolis, and achieve our primary objective to retake the planet which we rightfully own!" Leader shouted. "So we are mercinaries?" "Affirmative. THIS Packbell will be our commander until we are returned home with our, compensation." Packbell watched the mood lighten in the void room. He was amazed at how sophisticated the mechs must have been, how powerful they were, and what secrets they held. He noticed their emotions were very human-like, and they seemed to have very distinctive personalities, to go along with their varying distinctive technical traits. Not every mech looked the same. Leader was a few feet taller and generally larger than the rest of the mechs, and other mechs had different markings on their shoulder cannons. One had a telescopic surveilence sensor (camera) on top of it's head, and another had a greatly larger cannon resting on it's shoulder. "I can only imagine their destructive potential," Packbell laughed, "I must find out every aspect of their design and extract every bit of technical knowledge from them!" "Oh-no!" Sally said, looking at Nicole, "There's a major dimensional force coming from Robotropolis. It's incredibly strong." "That's bad--right?" Sonic questioned. "It means exactly what I said earlier," she sat down, "Packbell has brought something over into our dimension from an alternate one." "AHHH!" Bookshire yelled in frustration, "I hate not knowing what's happening over there! I feel powerless!" "Keep working on the satellite system Bookshire, we all know you can break it." Sandra reassured him. "Sandra's right. Nothing can keep YOU out of there!" "I'm gonna need some quiet, and alot of time to figure out how to get through this system. It could take me a while to get to know the new system well enough to break through." "Gotcha man, we'll leave ya to do the computer thing!" Sonic, Sandra and Sally left Bookshire's hut as he stared blankly at the screen, presently filled with lines of computer code. He typed a few keys and over the course of many hours, ran several descrambler programs through the satelite network. By the time dusk set in the computer had run every decripter sequence it could create, thanks to a general increase in processing speed after the Robotropolis Main Computer Core was repaired. Codes were passing through thrice as fast, and the computer's system was exhausted of all possible combinations of decription. Bookshire stared angrily at the computer screen, almost blaming it for not being perfect like all computers should be. He hadn't a clue as to what could be the problem with the decription search programs it chose. "Computer," he asked, "Evaluate transmissions to and from the target satellite." The computer paused for a few moments and began to process the request. A few moments afterward a graphic represent- ation of the microwave transmission bandwidth being processed by the satellite was displayed on the screen. "Evaluate--frequency, and wavelength." he elaborated as the computer responded. "No set frequency. No set wavelength." "That's how he's doing it!" he slapped his hands together, "He's rotating his broadcast frequencies, so I can't tune into the channel for more than a split second!" He worked on the computer feverishly for the remainder of the night, mapping out the varying frequencies of the satellites, attempting to find a pattern of rotation among them. The signal was processed for an hour, with no repetition of any frequency. It wasn't until 94 minutes had passed that a wavelength repeated, staying constant for over five seconds. Bookshire woke quickly as he slept in his chair, from a buzz that the computer was programmed to make, should the signal repeat. He quickly saved the information and recalled it on his signal analization software, showing it was an advanced programming language. It was very different from any program he had in his computer, and would be difficult to decipher, but was similar to a programming language called RTurbo+. Using the RTurbo+ to open the file he smiled and jumped out of his seat as the first line of code read , stating the transmission frequencies for the next 24 hours. He routed the saved information into the freedom fighter's satellite dish and finally established communication between the system and Knothole again. His cheers were abruptly halted when the opening screen to the network displayed a diagram of the system structure, having the appearance of a badly criss-crossed series of points, representing communication paths zig-zagging across the globe. "It looks more confusing than it is," the reasoned to himself, "If I were Packbell, I'd leave a 'back door' to my program in order to give me a direct communications route to any of the other conquered territories. Well, I can keep a comm link with their daily updates, now all I have to do is find out what the code is and it'll be like old times." He worked for what seemed an eternity that night, and collapsed on his bed. An hour or so later Sonic had checked up on him, finding him dead-asleep in his hut, the computer working endlessly, attempting to break Packbell's personal code. Sonic turned back around and returned to the center of the village, meeting up with Sally. "How is he doing?" she asked as she finished drinking her coffee. "He's dead tired," Sonic yawned, "Let him sleep in today, I think he deserves it." "Did you see where Sandra disappeared to?" "The spy said she'd be back tonight," Sonic replied, "Said somethin' about goin' to borrow some software," "I want to know everything about you and your soldiers, from a technical aspect." Packbell stood alone in the war room, his back towards the seemingly unimportant monitors as he spoke with the Leader. The Leader made no movement, and began to recite the many technical features that he and his company possess. "I have downloaded our hardware statictics into your network, they are on your monitor sir." Leader booned in his low tone. "Yes!" Sandra quietly cheered, "Thanks Leader! I'd kiss you, if you weren't a giant mechanized mercinary out to kill us all." Sandra placed a small device similar to Nicole back onto her belt and crawled out of the air duct, and out of the city. Packbell knew there were alot more to them than emotions and voice stresses. He now realized that the Leader had penetrated his network and had access to his files. His processing power was unmatched. He turned toward his monitors and reviewed the statistics. SYMECH WARRIOR: MODEL #SMW1000 POWER SYSTEM: 70 GIGAWATT TERMAL-INFUSION CORE 20 GIGAWATT D. CANNON CHARGER WEAPONS: SHOULDER-MOUNTED DEVISTATOR CANNON TWIN FOREARM LASER CUTTERS / BLASTERS TWIN ROCKET PORTS (VARIABLE AMMUNITIONS) DEFENSIVE: MAX-FIELD OMNIBAND THERMAL-OPTICAL CLOAK TITALINIUM-REENFORCED OUTER SHELL PROPULSION: TWIN SEQUENCE PULSE BOOSTERS (3 MILLION P.S.I.) VARIABLE-DENSITY OVERMASS SINUSES (1:2000) "You mechs carry some amazing features," Packbell said with amazement, "I've never heard of 'Titalinium', or a 'variable density sinus'. Tell me, can this cannon you all carry be modified?" "Negative. Devistator beam is the only operable weapon configuration. Attempts have been made to convert into kinetic accelerator weapons; resulting in damage to 50% of my troops." "What are the other SYmechs conditions?" Packbell turned his back in frustration and pressed his palms against the war room console. "Mechs 1-20 have damaged weapons systems, 5-7 require propulsion system repairs, 13-30 require repairs to cloaking devices..." "Enough mech Leader! I've heard enough!" he shouted after the tenth repair notice, "I will have your soldiers serviced, and afterward you will regroup to be assigned your mission, understood?" "Affirmative." Leader saluted. Several days passed as the tension in Knothole culminated amongst the freedom fighters. News had slowly leaked out that Packbell has been getting ahead of them while they sat around planning, and planning some more for future attacks. Bookshire had a rough idea about what was going on in the city, but couldn't single anything out without access to the RMCC system. The small computer in the hut ran code after code though the network, only to be immediately rejected and another code had to be designed. Constantly working for days on end the computer had only made chips off of the brick wall standing between it and the RMCC. Sandra woke him up, slapping her hand against the desk. "Sandra!" he gasped, "You scared the life outta me!" "Sorry friend," she handed him a disk, "It's a habit of mine." "What's this for?" he looked confused. "Your a smart Raccoon, see for yourself." she smiled. Bookshire only stared back and placed the disk into the drive. A moment later a file came up on the screen, and self-extracted. 9354K 4/23/37 10:31a "Packbell Coded Transfer Sequence!" he gasped,"The backdoor!" "That's right my friend. The Leader broke the code FOR us!" His cheer instantly stopped, "Wait. Who's 'Leader'?" "You mean you don't know?" she was astonished, "Well look at Packbell's executive-level files, you'll see who 'Leader' is!" Bookshire feverishly ran the transfer sequence through his computer, and properly modulated his computer signal to resemble any that would be sent by Packbell himself. This finally gave him access to the RMCC which he had been cut-off from for the past two weeks, and he lost no time in downloading all the information he could. By using Packbell's personal code, there were no passwords, no roadblocks to hack through, only unrestricted information. A mass of video archives filled the screen, their names cataloged by numbers: "00000001.dlm" and so on. "Computer, playback all '.dlm' files with executive-level clearance and record onto laserdisc." What followed afterward was a three minute matinee of footage from the various spy orbs sent into alternate dimensions. He came to a .dlm (demensional film) file with a security lockout. But with the Packbell access code the lockout was immediately bypassed, and he had access to the file from the alternate dimension from where the SYmechs originated. Bookshire and Sandra watched the fighting machines rip through tree and flesh in a fleeting chaos, but saw that the freedom fighters in the video file were very well-equipped for the battle. The battle raged on for a few moments, gunfire being exchanged, but very little from the strange machines. He then noticed the Leader in the background when he was taken out of the picture through a bright flash of light. "Princess, you gotta see what I got here!" he said excitedly through the microphone. A moment later Sally and Rotor stepped through the door of Bookshire's hut. He welcomed them inside and began to play back the laserdisc footage. Rotor and Sally watched the computer monitor in awe as they witnessed such advanced freedom fighters, carrying such fantastic amounts of equipment. Rotor evaluated the battle and determined the status of that dimension's world. "What to you think is happening here Rotor?" Bookshire asked. "The machines seem to be like one of the Security mechs Sonic said almost killed him, but although they look more sophisticated, they appear a bit worn-out to me," he squinted at the action as the bloodshed continued, "The way those freedom fighters are equipped though, it seems that they have the upper hand in that world." "You mean a dimension where the freedom fighters have defeated all of Robotnik's forces?" Sally suggested skeptically. "And maybe the dozen or so machines we see are all that remain of his empire." "If there are infinate universes than can you imagine being in a world where we failed, and the planet has been destroyed by Robotnik or Packbell?" Sally questioned. There was a short pause, and no one spoke. Rotor broke the silence as Sandra began to leave the hut. "Probably not a nice place to live," he said, "But what did Packbell bring over to our dimension?" Bookshire's computer beeped,"There's a new file in the .dlm server. Maybe it'll tell us." The monitor showed footage from a security camera inside the void room. As the computer accessed it, the images of the bright- white void could be seen at the end. For a moment nothing happened, and only a few bits of debris flew into the room. The trio stood in front of the monitor, staring and leaning in closer with every passing second as a dark form began to pass through. Sandra already knew what it was. The form was the Leader, returning with his troops through the void and into the large room. They stared in horror as Packbell approached Leader, the largest of them all, and Leader saluted him. Packbell himself was human-size, and many of the Mobians were only a few feet tall, but Packbell himself was dwarfed by this menacing death machine. The three noticed their weapons and structure, which looked almost alien to them, but carried on each shoulder the symbol of old Robotropolis, a black shield rimmed in gold with a red stripe down the center of each. "They're incredible," Rotor gasped,"They must be more powerful than anything we’ve ever seen! And Packbell controls them!" "How many are there Bookshire?" Sally asked in a worried tone. "Looks like 36 if you count the big one," he said calmly,"I'm sure a few well-p-placed bombs'll t-take care of em." As even more time passed Packbell began massing his forces little by little. Once he knew the location of Knothole village he could begin his attacks, and the freedom fighters would have nowhere to hide. He stayed in the war room for days on end, thinking about the satisfaction he will have when he gets to personally execute every last freedom fighter on the planet. One by one the SYmechs were repaired, requiring massive amounts of rare materials and extremely intricate care. The most commonly-damaged system among them was their therm-optics devices, for which components already existed, and was the first system to be repaired on the mechs. Next were the devistator cannons carried by each mech, which were fairly simple to repair, aside from keeping their efficiency up to normal. All 36 mechs needed repairs to one degree or the other, and were being serviced in a special warehouse guarded not only by SWATbots, but over 1000 of Packbell's finest combat cyborgs and hover pilots, keeping watch around the clock to protect the dormant mechs, temporarily shut-down for the repairs. They were spaced about ten feet apart, with sensor wire and diagnostic instruments attached to them as Techbots race back and forth to get them operational as soon as possible. Inside the warehouse a grate begins to shift near a corner air vent. Inside is Sonic, sent with Sandra into sector C:, where he wishes he wasn't. His paranoia kept reminding him of his near-death experience with a Security mech, and now he was heading back with Sandra Nightweaver to check on the status of mechs with potentially 100 times the power of the one before. He remained still inside the duct, only a few feet from the end, remembering... It's a dark night in Robotropolis, and Sonic is on a solo mission to plant a number of charges in a new factory that Robotnik was about to open. His objective was to halt the construction of a new weapon (at the time), his now-dreaded combat cyborgs. Sonic was within a few hundred yards of the building, deep inside the boundries of sector C:, with only a power ring and a back- pack filled with explosive charges. He backed up a few feet, preparing to "juice" for the factory, when he backed into a cold metal object. When he turned around, nothing was there, but he knew he was in trouble. Before he knew what was happening he was struck down to the ground with tremendous force, causing him to start bleeding from a cut on the head. "Intruderrr alert!" it's bellowing tone sounded. A dark form decloaked in front of him, a Security mech. It's slow speed was more than compensated by it's powerful and accurate weaponry. It stood more than ten feet, and loomed over the terrified hedgehog, as it prepared to crush the freedom fighter under it's huge mechanized feet. Sonic quickly got up and dashed for cover, but anything he hid behind was instantly obliterated by the mech. "This is one serious bot!" Sonic said to himself, "Gonna get away, but that thing'll blast me in a sonic second if I go out into the open!" Sonic dashed behind a passing hover unit, which the mech hestitated firing at. After a moment of deliberation it destroyed the hovercraft with it's hand-held cannon, realizing that killing the hedgehog far outweighs the punishment for destroying a hover unit. Sonic ran for his life, dodging laser fire from the mech, which began to persue him. Pulling out a power ring, Sonic burst ahead, leaving the mech far behind, amidst the piles of rubble it had created, and it recloaked. "Here goes nothing." he whispered, he quietly moving the grate. "I'll take the left row, you take the right!" Sandra told him. "Then I'll have to go across the open to get back, I'll be a sitting duck out there!" Sonic protested. "You're faster than I am Hedgehog," she covered his mouth, "And at the rate those things are being repaired they'll be done soon!" "But San..." "Please Sonic! These things scare ME as much as you. And, although I don't want to admit it...you do have a talent I admire." "Alright Sandra." The cover was laid gently onto the floor of the warehouse as he looked for any of the dreaded mechs. Seeing nothing more dangerous than the Techbots, he snuck around the inner wall of the facility, looking at the seemingly lifeless mechs, he counted 35. He began to move closer, to within a few feet of one mech, and peered at what was being done to it. He knew that it was some kind of repair operation, and these new weapons had to be disposed of. Pulling the first charge from his backpack, he set it underneath one of the mechs feet, in between it's two foot pads. "Let's see how ya like the ol' hot foot pal." he said quietly, placing the charge. Sonic worked around the one long row of mechs, planting the charges underneath their feet. When he was half done, there was a considerable space between the two rows, and he would have to run across the open area to get to the next row, and back to the air duct. Sandra had finished her row, and had snuck back already, waiting for Sonic to return. Taking a deep breath he jammed for the other side, smacking into something he didn't see, a figure decloaking in front of him. He was more terrified then, than the first time he met a Security mech all those years ago. He froze right in front of it, his knees shaking as Sandra looked on. "Priority one, hedgehog alert!" it's familiar monotone alerted. "Sorry pal," Sonic took out the power ring, "Gotta juice!" As Sonic sped away from the mech, he dropped his backpack and held the ring high to boost his speed. The Security mech fired it's shoulder cannon at him, missing... almost. The power ring disintegrated and crumbled to bits in Sonic's hand, leaving him dumbfounded. He made it back to the air duct and replaced the grate nervously as his cloud of dust once again settled. Sandra pulled the detonator from her side and waited. "Get a little closer to my backpack S.mech," Sonic urged silently, "Get closer!" The mech persued slowly and scanned the area, noticing the backpack, still half filled with charges. It's programming told it to immediately dispose of the bombs and it picked the pack up with it's vice-like hand. "Gotcha now bolt brain!" he said as Sandra pressed the button on the detonator. The explosion sent a shockwave through the building, shatter- ing the few windows and sending peices of equipment into the air. After a few moments the smoke in the air cleared, and Sonic waited with Sandra to assess the damage. After to smoke cleared they saw the remnants of the expols- ion, and both let out a sigh of relief. The S.mech was totalled, it's arm missing and laying on it's back. The Techbots were all destroyed, their circuit boards probably snapped from being hit by the shockwave. But his victory was only partial, by destroying the bots repairing the new death machines, which stood unscathed. Not one part was destroyed from any of the death machines, only scratches and burn marks marred their finishes. Disappointed, the two escaped through the air system and made the long journey back to Knothole, where Sally and a few other freedom fighters waited for their return. Sandra and Sonic returned to the village, a solemn expression on his face. He stopped before the cheerful crowd as the campfire burned brightly in the center of the village. Their cheers deadened as they saw Sonic's expression, then there was nothing but silence, broken only by the chirps of the crickets in the surrounding forest. Sally approached him and asked the obvious question. "Were you sucessful?" she asked Sonic, "Sonic, look at me." "Yes and no," he sighed, "Those machines are being worked on in a warehouse inside sector C:, and I destroyed the Techbots and an S.mech, but whatever those machines are, the charges didn't even scratch the paint!" The crowd heard Sonic's estimation of the situation and soon talk came to a roar. Sally knew that Sonic had made a mistake by speaking the bad news so loudly. "Sonic!" she scorned, "Watch what you say, we're all worried here, and we don't need you adding more tension into the village." "We gotta talk Sal...now," he said looking at the moon, "Alone." Sonic admitted that he exadurated the situation in front of the freedom fighters, and reassured them that these machines were not invincible. After the tension was eased off of everyones' minds, Sonic led Sally down to the ring pool to speak with her on a serious note. They sat down on a log across the other side, where no one went to because of the rock face, sometimes known to crack apart and bolders known to fall into the water, but they were both confident that they could escape such a peril. "I saw those things that came out of the void Sal, and they have had major work done on them by Packbell. They almost look like new!" "He's repairing them," she sighed, "You must've slown him down with those bombs though, right?" "I hope so. But I don't know if I can destroy them." "You've defeated hundreds of his bots Sonic. These might be tougher, but certainly not above your ability. Ever since Doomsday, when we shared the Deep Power Stones I have had the ability to use power rings the same as you, and we used that power to destroy Robotnik's plan to conquer Mobius. This is Packbell's plan, and we're going to thwart it just like before." "Your right Sal," he stared into her eyes, "Hate to admit it though." Sally let a slight giggle escape her control, and they both laughed as the moon became shrouded by the clouds. The insects were the only sound present, and they both listened and stared down at the pool while holding each other in their arms. "That hedgehog did what?!" Packbell smashed hole in the wall. "He bombed the repair facility containing the new arrivals sirrr." a SWATbot spoke, fearing his own destruction was near at hand. "Why didn't you stop him?" he turned toward his laser rifle. "He was not detected until Security mech 1 discovered himm," the bot shook, "Which was also destroyed in the explosion." A loud blast sounded through the war room, and the SWAT- bot fell forward onto the ground. A gaping hole was made in it's chest, and sparks scattered across the room. "I like to refer to your type as Disposable Help!" he put the rifle down, "The SYmechs are Top Secret, so how did rebels discover them?" He stepped backwards and spun around on his heels, making a path to Robotnik's old chair. The chair was lowered to the level of the floor, and Packbell sat down upon it, resting his tireless body. He activated the three large monitors in front of him and reviewed streams of information being sent through the computer. He leaned forward a number of times and then leaned back again, attempting to find out how the freedom fighters discovered the existence of the SYmechs. "Computer...display all current users of the Main Core." A list appeared in each monitor, and scrolled down rapidly, displaying the serial number of every bot connected to the network. Hundreds of numbers flashed across the screen, Packbell scrutinizing each one of them as they passed by his eyes. Numbers continued flowing for a number of minutes until he notinced the serial number 'PB1000##'displayed on the screen. "Stop!" he commanded, "Who is using my personal code?!" "Terminal is not registered by the Robotropolis Network." "Determine location of unregistered terminal!" "RSAT-7 triangulation of signal will take approx. 46 seconds..." A crackle was heard through the computer speakers, causing Bookshire to panic. He looked at his computer and noticed a small bit of interference through the speakers. "Computer...What is that audio interference?" "Additional transmission...Triangulation signal..." "Disconnect from network!" there was no response, "Computer?" "Unable to process request..." "Fine! I'll do it myself!" he said, reaching behind the computer, scrambling for the plug, pulling it from the computer with great force. The computer screen went dead, and the information ceased to travel from the satellite. Bookshire fell back in his chair and held his heart, which raced quickly as his conscious collected itself. He left the hut and stepped into the middle of the village, looking at the sky. "Whew!" he sighed,"He didn't find us." "Damn those freedom fighters!" he smashed the chair controls in with his fist, "I didn't get their location in time!" The center monitor flickered and a Techbot appeared on the screen. It gave as much of a salute as it could and delivered it's message, stating that repairs were being continued on the SYmechs. "I want them operational as soon as possible!" he ordered. The monitor went dark and Packbell was left to brood in his chamber, the war room. He lowered the chair to the ground and stood up, stretching his legs after sitting for hours. He looked up to the dome- shaped ceiling, hanging from it was a ladder rung near the top of it. He jumped the 50 feet or so and grabbed into the rung, ripping the bolts out of the wall holding it, then dropped down to the ground. "I still got it," he snickered, "I can't wait!" After a few hours Bookshire had time to calm himself down, and began working on the computer again after spending some time down by the ring pool. He continued to investigate the machines that Packbell had brought over, analizing the sensor logs from the void room. By the end of a few hours he had learned a great deal, and had information on the screen which might be helpful. He called for Sally and Rotor, who rushed into the hut as the middle of the day passed. Sonic had made it inside this time, and stared at the schematics that the Leader had placed in Packbell's network. SYMECH WARRIOR: MODEL #SMW1000 POWER SYSTEM: 70 GIGAWATT TERMAL-INFUSION CORE 20 GIGAWATT D. CANNON CHARGER WEAPONS: SHOULDER-MOUNTED DEVISTATOR CANNON TWIN FOREARM LASER CUTTERS / BLASTERS TWIN ROCKET PORTS (VARIABLE AMMUNITIONS) DEFENSIVE: MAX-FIELD OMNIBAND THERMAL-OPTICAL CLOAK TITALINIUM-REENFORCED OUTER SHELL PROPULSION: TWIN SEQUENCE PULSE BOOSTERS (3 MILLION P.S.I.) VARIABLE-DENSITY OVERMASS SINUSES (1:2000) "This stuff's another language!" Sonic hollered. "More like an impressive resume' if you ask me." Rotor said. "Good job Bookshire!" Sandra clapped, letting everyone know she was in the room, "You found a set of schematic blueprints for those mechs! Now we can find their weaknesses and exploit them!" "You're right Sandra," Bookshire remarked, "And the fool didn't even encrypt it! I'll know how to destroy these things in notime!" "You and Rotor find a weakness," Sally said, calming herself, "Maybe there's a way to scramble the programming, or a vital part." Sonic and Sally left the hut with Sandra in order to give Rotor and Bookshire some quiet as they reviewed every inch of the SYmech schematics. They stared at the screen for hours, causing them to take a break once their eyes began to hurt. They sat around the hut for some time, talking about what to do to find the weaknesses of the machines. "These things are mean customers Rotor," Bookshire stated, "Their armor is inpenetrable, and the number of weak spots are few." "The only one capable of attacking these weak spots though, is Sonic, and maybe Sally. Afterall, she can use the power rings as well." "I don't feel right sending the Princess into battle like this," Book shuddered, "She can run fast, but can't make the quick choices involved with that power...One wrong move and she might be...killed!" Work continued on developing a battle strategy against the SYmechs, and Rotor began to think about what was to come. Sonic took Sally back to the other side of the ring pool, and they spent over an hour pacing back and forth in the wilderness. Night time set in again, very quickly, shrouding Robotropolis in darkness. The wind is violent tonight, picking up much of the litter from around the city and spewing it into the air, only to land some- where else. For miles a bright light can be seen through the smog, a portion of the city lit bright as day in the open fields, brighter than Robotropolis has ever seen. This area is sector C, by the repair warehouse for the SYmech warriors. All four remaining Security mechs are stationed around the building, cloaked and waiting for any sign of life to approach. Along- side them were the combat cyborgs, waiting with their sensors aimed forward, surrounding the building. Hover units clog the skies, dozens of them above the warehouse, some scanning the interior to ensure the lack of life forms inside. The only ones seen though are the combat cyborgs, the barely-human, half-augmented members of Robotnik's race, long gone from the face of Mobius. They each guard a SYmech, esuring their safety as repairs continue. Later that night the skylight of the warehouse opened, apparently allowing in nothing more than air. However, the next moment Packbell's hover craft decloaked inside the building, opening its side to allow the Overlord to exit with his equal. All the bots present, except for the Techbots saluted them as they stepped out of their craft. "When will my warriors be ready Techbot?" he asked. Before the bot could answer a noise was heard from one of the cubicles containing a SYmech. It burst out of the area and stepped into the gap between the two rows of SYmechs. It approached Packbell as the other bots stepped back slightly. Packbell stepped forward. "How do you feel SYmech 14?" he asked. Without response the mech turned it's head to the left and raised its arm, exposing one of his twin forearm blasters. One of the SWAT- bots was immediately vaporized by a powerful burst of light, and the mech turned towards Packbell. "I feel like finishing this mission, and going home to complete the primary objective!" it spoke in a raspy voice. "You'll get your chance as soon as your comrades are finished being repaired," he said, "We find Knothole, then the freedom fighters!" A few hours passed as Packbell and SYmech 14 waited patiently for the others to reactivate themselves. All remaining 35 were finished being repaired, and the final components replaced. They all reactivated simultaneously, smashing out of their confines, and reformed into their ranks. They rebooted their programming and finished testing their systems, as Leader stepped forward. "We await your orders Allie Packbell!" "Give me diagnostic reports on yourselves!" he folded his arms. "All are operating at maximum power and efficiency...100%" "Very well...SYmech 26, approach me." The mech obeyed, and approached Packbell slowly. This mech had upon it a strange device, which proved to be an optical enhance- ment, giving it sight beyond sight. Greater than any machine he had, and better than any of his spy satellites that the freedom fighters had not destroyed already. The mech knelt, and Packbell inspected the device. "I will give you my orders first number 26," he said, "Take a low orbit around 12 degrees north lattitude and scan the Great Forest for a large mass of life forms." "Is this the extent of my orders sir?" the mech replied. "Until you find Knothole you are to continue scanning, once found however you may return to the surface and join in on the fun!" he said in a laugh. "Thank you, Alled Master." the mech rose from its kneel. "I wouldn't deny such a valuable servant as yourself the pleasure of destroying your share of the freedom fighters' rebellion, but there is one rule...I get to kill them," he paused, turning to the crowd of mechs, "No one kills any of the freedom fighters under any circumstances! Your mission is to capture, not destroy, stunning them if nesessary!" "Yes Alled Master Packbell!" the mechs shouted in unison. "Good then," he looked over, "Number 26, execute!" SYmech number 26 stepped away from the others and looked up at the skylight. Its massive propulsion system spread fire across the ground, and it disappeared into the sky with a bright sparkle. A moment later the mech had risen tens of thousands of feet into the cold vastness of space. To obtain a stable orbit it rose its density level to maximum, adding 600,000 pounds to its frame. The large optical camera atop its head began scanning the region of the great forest, fixing in on 228 dense concentrations of life forms, all of which appeared to be very similar. These were mostly wild animals, but the freedom fighters are only a few dozen in Knothole Village, and with Bookshire's computer disconnected from the Robotropolis network, there was no signal to trace into the Great Forest. After half an hour passed the orbital mech's radio recieved a signal from Packbell, asking if there was any progress. The reply was a negative, but the choices were being narrowed down. The mech was cleverly considering where the village must be; near a body of water; with a great deal of electromagnetic energy; with an ample concentration of pollution to suggest cooking, or burning substances for warmth. "Sally, did you notice that there is a radio silence in effect?" Bookshire asked, "He hasn't given any orders in hours, so says the communications scanner." "You better re-establish the satellite link," she sighed, "We have to know what's happening no matter how dangerous." "Ah--Kzzzzz!" one of the SYmechs twitched violently. "What's wrong with number seven?" Packbell asked in an indifferent tone, not looking directly at it. "It's a programming upgrade," Leader answered, "Number seven's operating software is evolving itself." "Leader!" number 7 said excitedly, "I can reconfigure my devistator cannon!" "Into what?" Leader asked. "Into..." he checked his lines of new code, "A robotisizer!" "Excellent number seven!" Packbell said, "Share your secret with the rest of your company." "Sir?" Leader asked, "That is not possible. Number 7 has a unique gift, that cannot be downloaded to the rest of us." "And why not?" Packbell stomped the ground. "Our programming is not interchangable," Leader stated, "Our programs are taylored to our circuit boards, and as you noticed, our computerized brains all have slight technical variences." "Damn it!" he yelled, "Number 7, you will disregard your new weapon configuration until further notice!" "Affirmative sir!" the mech saluted. "My God Sally," Bookshire gasped, "One of those SYmechs is searching the Great Forest!" "From where?" she gasped. "From a low orbit over 12 degrees, north lattitude," he typed into the computer, "I don't need to tell you what it's looking for!" "We need to be ready to evacuate the village at a moment's notice," she spoke as rationally as she could, "Gather our power ring reserves and begin arming the others!" "Gotcha Princess!" Bookshire stated as they left the hut to warn the rest of the village of the pending invasion. "Allie Packbell," mech 26 spoke, "I have a lock on a satellite signal operating on your personal code." "Give me the signal's origin!" Packbell spoke into his headset. "Coordinates are 261.022north, 546.302west." "Excellent!" he shouted, "Cyborg battalion four, send the freedom fighters my little...Gift!" "Acknowledged sir!" the fourth field general responded,"The unit is underway!" Aptiva turned upon hearing the command, and spoke to Packbell in a whisper, "Packbell no! You can't!" "Be quiet Aptiva!" he whispered back harshly, "I am your creator!" "Then why do we call each other 'equals'?" There was a short pause. Packbell stared blankly at the area. "Why did I say that?" Packbell touched his metal skull, "I thought I reprogrammed myself to accept YOUR criticism? Instead I threaten you?" "We'll have to investigate this, Packbell, my creator!" "Keep working on your sense of humor, Aptiva. It wasn't funny." "Awaiting your orders Allied Master Packbell." Leader spoke. "Standby...We move out tomorrow!" ******************************************************************** What happens now? The freedom fighters are frantically gathering their forces to face an army of mechs, each one harnessing God-like power. Packbell knows where Knothole Village is, and is sending a strange "Gift" towards the home of the freedom fighters. What is this gift and what purpose will it serve in helping to destroy the freedom fighters? Please read "The Beginning of the End (Part 3: The Death of Evil)", and check out the awesome illustrated versions of my stories at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/4661/fanfic.htm If you have any questions or comments, (politely) E-mail me at and type RESPONSE as the subject. Don't forget to tell me which story you're responding to. ********************************************************************