When Fighting Monsters... - A Sonic Fan Fiction for the Other Side series ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Written by: Aaron Lye (prower@pacific.net.sg)(9501870A@tp.ac.sg) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEGAL STUFF Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters used within this work of fanfiction are fully owned and copyrighted by one or more of the following: Sega of America, Sega Enterprises(Japan), DiC, and/or Archie Comics. Several characters used within may have been the creation of this or other fanfiction authors. This fanfiction is to be distributed in it's original unedited form, and is strictly NOT to be used for financial gain, monetary or otherwise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This story's main characters are: Sally Sonic Ari Anthony Mane ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since it has been some time since I last released a fanfic in this series, here's something to refresh your memory. Prologue -------- The year is 3254, and the world of Mobius has changed, a far cry what it had once been. Having faced two wars in the last two decades, namely the Robotnik-Snively war that ended in 3241 and the Race Wars that ended in 3253, the people of Mobius are no longer the trusting population they once were. After the defeat of Snively in 3241, Sally resumed leadership of the planet, initiating a new form of government, seeing that the population no longer trusted a monarchy. This government came to be known as the Federated Races of Mobius. For a period of ten years, Mobius was at peace, with most Mobian races having joined the Federated Races, the rest remaining neutral for the time being. Then, disaster struck around April of 3251. The Federated Races made the decision to join the Union of Allied Worlds. Several member races of the Federated Races broke away in protest of this decision, forming the Alliance of Races, led by Ari. The Alliance allied itself with the Ghrakel Empire, a government hostile towards the Union of Allied Worlds. Two years of the Race Wars followed, with Sally's government losing ground daily. The battle came to a climax when the Union of Allied Worlds withdrew it's support from the Federated Races just when it was on the brink of defeat. Coupled with the apparent death of President Sally Acorn and the disappearance of Victory Alpha, the orbital starbase of the Federated Races, acting president Sonic ordered the surrender. However, before the order could take effect, the station reappeared with Sally and support from the Caynorian Federation, a government run by a Mobian colony that had been started several thousand years ago on a planet named Caynor using 'Watcher' (actually echidna) technology. The Alliance of Races surrendered, and all should have returned to normal. It didn't. The people of Mobius were now afraid, and called for the replacement of the Federated Races, a government where they had been inadequately represented. Sally had felt it necessary to make the Federated Race so, keeping people she could trust, meaning her fellow Freedom Fighters, on the ruling council. After the Race Wars, each race on Mobius divided itself into smaller areas, each sending one representative. There were now nearly one hundred representatives. The Federated Races of Mobius was renamed the Confederation of Mobius. It was then things went awry, and the Confederation became a 'monster', out of control and power hungry. Sally was still President, but simply a figurehead. The real decision making now lay with the Congress of the Confederation, a council where Sally and her ex-Freedom Fighters only made up twenty percent. This council forced all races on Mobius to join, using force when necessary on races that refused. This was deemed as required to prevent dissent, since a similar, but not identical situation had started the Race Wars two years back. By 3254, all races on Mobius had joined the Confederation. New rules set in place, changes made. The government that the people of Mobius had requested to protect them was now the party from which they needed protection. Then, a new generation of Freedom Fighters emerged, working from a secret base, attacking targets in Mobotropolis using tactics similar to those used on Robotropolis by Sally's Freedom Fighters. Using the opportunity, Sally and her ex-FFs contacted the new Freedom Fighters, who turned out to be led by Ari, and offered their help, in the same manner as Sir Charles had helped Sally, by working from within. The fight continues... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TIMELINE: November 3254, one month after "The Other Side" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sally Alicia Acorn squinted at her half-empty glass of Mobian wine, and sighed. The wine was yet another of the already numerous reminders of the control the Confederation had over the planet of Mobius, a testimony of what they were capable of. Natural alcohol had been banned by the Confederation, along with a list of substances deemed unsuitable, on the pretext that it's inhibition-removing qualities encouraged bouts of dissent, violence and unpatriotism. All alcohol on Mobius was now pseudo-alcohol, a flawed facsimile conjured up in some remote Confederation lab that tried to mimic the taste and smell of alcohol, while doing away with the intoxicating effects. Pseudo-alcohol naturally failed miserably in meeting the first two requirements, yet expectedly excelled in the third. She spoke to the ever-present computer. "Computer, time." The machin responded, "Current date is November 19th, 3254. Current time is 1300 hours." Sally turned to face the window, her view of the city partially blocked by furniture from where she was sitting, and raised her glass in mock-salute. She muttered sarcastically, "Happy Liberation Day..." Sally wanted to laugh, not knowing how else to release the pent-up frustration over how pointless and baseless one of the most treasured holidays on their planet had become. Thirteen years ago, on this day, her team of Freedom Fighters had won the long struggle against Robotnik and Snively, thus liberating their planet and gaining their freedom. She thought back to the day that that had happened, a welcome change, considering all the worries and thoughts she had been having... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ November 19th 3241 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Sally watched in hope and anticipation, as Rotor concentrated on operating >the portal device such that it created a shimmering portal that formed with >a crackling sound. >A figure soon appeared at the portal, and Rotor shunted some of the energy >in the device to encompass the figure, the energy now converted to protect >him from the detrimental effects of the transition from Void to Mobius. >When King Acorn was finally released from the energy, Sally rushed >over to him, and held him close in a hug, emotion overwhelming her, >with tears of joy streaming down her face. >A few minutes passed before Acorn turned to Charles and smiled, "It's been >a long time, old friend. It is good to see you again." >Charles smiled, and reached into the bag he had been carrying, taking >out the King's crown. He walked up to Acorn, and presented it. "Your crown, >sire." >Acorn simply looked at the headgear, then turned to Charles, saying, "Our >wheel has completed a full circle, Charles. A new cycle must begin." >Charles blinked for a second, then nodded, the only other Mobian in the >room who really understood at this time what the King had meant. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A smile flashed across Sally's face, an uncommon sight these days. The smile however, quickly vanished as her thoughts returned to the present day. It angered her that the people she and her freedom fighters had fought for had turned against them, creating a power-hungry, militaristic government that sought to control every aspect of life on Mobius, a government that opposed and made a mockery of all that their Liberation Day represented, and all that her Freedom Fighters had fought for. Peace. Justice. Freedom. Sally knew that the public was getting disenchanted with the current government, but by now, the general populace no longer had a say in the decisions made by the Confederation. Public opinion no longer counted. And surprisingly, no one complained, at least, none she had heard of. The current Freedom Fighters had held secret polls that clearly showed that more than half the population supported the ideals and objectives of the Freedom Fighters, if not the methods that they used. Sally sipped her synthetic wine. That was something she would have to talk to Ari about. Her train of thought was broken as the door to her apartment slid open, and as Sonic raced into the room, looking more than a little upset. He turned to her, a look of fear, anguish and anger prominent on his face. He spoke, "Sal, I... I just got back from..one of Confed's Congress sessions... something big's happenin', Sal.. and there's nothing we can do to stop it.." Sally perked up. She had meant to miss the session.. but apparently, by doing so, she had missed something rather important. Sonic sat down and said, "Computer, activate visual display. Channel 204, Mobian News Network." The computer beeped, and the viewer turned on, displaying a view of the MNN newsroom, and the newscaster currently reading the news. "The Congress of the Confederation today came to a decision on the reinstatement of the death penalty for crimes such as treason, sedition and related offences. For more information, we go over now to the press conference currently being held at Confederation Headquarters." Sally's heart skipped a beat. Surely even the Confederation wouldn't consider doing such a thing..? No wonder Sonic was so disturbed... The view changed to a picture of Anthony Mane, standing at a polished-oak podium with the seal of the Confederation emblazoned clearly on the front, surrounded by four former CGOs. The room had been abuzz with chatter, but when Anthony cleared his throat, the noise abruptly lessened, before stopping altogether. The Minister of Internal Security began, "Today, we held the final session of debates on the reinstatement of the death penalty. After long and careful deliberation, the Congress of the Confederation has voted 0 for, 80 against, the return of the penalty of death. It is worth noting however that almost all the pro-freedoms abstained from this decision, and all pro-controls voted against. The death penalty will not be applied." A low rumbling sound filled the room, as Mobians started talking about the surprising turn of events. Sally, too, was shocked, yet pleased at this. She turned to Sonic, wanting to congratulate him, but when she saw his still anguished expression, she knew that something was wrong. Anthony paused for ten seconds, allowing the crowd to interact, then continued, "However..." The crowd went silent immediately and Sally felt a chill run down her spine as she braced herself for whatever was to come. The lion continued, "the Congress of the Confederation has decided, 80 for, 20 against, to introduce a new penalty for the afore-mentioned crimes. Our decision is final, and it will be enforced strictly." He seemed to pause for dramatic effect, then uttered the most horrifying words known to Mobius. "It is declared that from this day forth, there can and will be only one punishment for treason, sedition, and other severe crimes..." Another pause. "The penalty of roboticization." ***** The Caynorian cargo transport Space Gem cruised towards Mobius at cruising speeds. John, captain of the Gem sat on the bridge and watched as the stars streaked by. Tiring of the view, he walked over to the comm station, bypassing the only other crew member on board, a sleepy looking fox he had hired from the Caynorian Merchant's Guild to assist him for the duration of this journey. He opened a channel back to the Guild on Caynor. "Guild, this is transport Gem. We are now crossing the Caynorian border, and entering neutral territory. ETA to Mobian space is five hours, thirty four minutes." The voice that was emitted from the comm system was clear and crisp. "Roger, Gem. Bring her back in one piece. We have-", the transmission was suddenly cut off. John frowned, and tried reconnecting, but the system refused to respond, despite his attempts. The fox assistant walked over to the sensors and did a quick scan of the area. After a while, he reported, "Local interference. Theta-band waves." "Theta waves? That's not a naturally-occurring anomaly.." The fox's eyes widened, just as the sensors started beeping insistently. "One ship just appeared at coordinates 340.304.221. Some sort of stealth system.." The fox scanned the ship. "Design unknown. Scanning for transponder signal." The fox nodded, "Transponder signal present. Trying to decode..." As he set about his task, the sensor board started beeping shrilly. The fox gasped, then reported, "The ship has transported our entire cargo out of the hold!" John shouted, "What!?" A touch of fear entered the fox's voice, "Sir... there's an energy build-up in their weapons.." John raced over to the navigation system, trying to go to maximum speed, to escape, before the unknown vessel had a chance to fire. He wasn't fast enough. The Gem had been reduced to scrap metal before he even made it halfway. ***** Sally slumped into her chair, the horror of what she had just heard seeping into her, eating away at her... This couldn't be happening... There was no way they could possibly be able to do a thing like that... not them... The horror lasted some time, but was soon replaced by anger. Anger at the Confederation, and at Anthony Mane. She grabbed her comlink from the coffee table, and stormed out of the room, followed closely by Sonic. She walked briskly over to Anthony Mane's office, ignored his secretary's protests, and entered Anthony's office. The lion looked up, seemingly surprised by this unannounced visit. She spoke vehemently, her voice laced with righteous indignation, "So... now it's roboticization... what will you think of next, Anthony Mane? We spent seventeen long, hard years fighting to be free of the roboticizer, and here you go, you and your supporters, and bring it back into service.." Anthony blinked, caught off guard, "I..." Sally shouted now, anger taking control, "Anthony Mane, you have gone too far this time! I promise you, I will use every iota of power I posess in that Congress Chamber, and I will use it to see this new penalty reversed!" She turned around, starting to leave. As she reached the door, she turned back to face Anthony, facial expression grim with anger, "Don't step on a squirrel's tail, lion. We may not be as big as you, but we _do_ have a nasty bite!" With that, she stormed out, leaving Anthony Mane in a state of disbelief. As the doors to Anthony's office slid shut behind her, Sally leaned against the wall, trying to compose herself. Sonic walked next to her, and held her in a hug. He smiled, "You were really scary in there..." She managed a half-hearted smile, "Thanks.." He looked straight in her eyes, "You know there's no way you'll ever be able to stand up to him inside a Confed Congress session. He has too many supporters." Sally nodded, "I know.. all the things I said... all it is is one gigantic bluff...but we have other ways of getting back at Anthony." With that, she and Sonic headed off to the nearest transporter. ***** Caynorian President Terri Acorn looked out the large windows of her office, watched as the clouds drifted past beneath her office. She couldn't see the ground from here, her view blocked by all the white fluffs called clouds. She grimaced at the thought of ever having to walk down two thousand levels to the ground floor, should the elevators break down. Fortunately, with transporter technology, such incidents would be almost unthinkable. Caynorian Federation Headquarters was the tallest building on the planet, most other structures built here stopped at around a thousand levels. As she watched the clouds drift slowly, exposing patches of the ground as they moved, she felt a sense of calm and serenity wrap around her. It felt good to have no worries, and Terri was thankful for that. A holographic screen winked into existence, floating just above her large redwood table, bringing her out of her reverie. She turned around to see her secretary displayed there. "Ms. President, the Chairman of the Caynorian Merchant's Guild is here to see you." "Send him in." The huge doors to her office slid open, revealing a harried-looking hedgehog. He walked over briskly and shook paws with her. "Ms. President, it is good of you to see me on such short notice." Terri smiled, "It's nothing. Please, have a seat. May I offer you some refreshment ?" The hedgehog shook his head, and sat down on one of the amply-cushioned chairs in front of Terri's desk. Terri took a seat herself, then spoke, "So, what was it you needed to speak to me about?" The hedgehog fidgeted in his seat, "Over the last two weeks, we have lost seven cargo transports. All disappeared without a trace and are presumed destroyed. All were destroyed just outside Caynorian territory, inside neutral space." Terri nodded, "I see." The hedgehog continued, "Another similarity is that all those destroyed ships had one common destination. All seven were carrying veledium to Mobius." Terri nodded again, "What can I do about this? Clearly someone is out to sabotage the Confederation. Everyone in this sector knows veledium is an excellent source of energy for power generators." The hedgehog replied, "Ms. President, I am requesting on behalf of the entire Guild, that you order Caynor Space Defense Fleet to dispatch more patrols to the border, to safeguard and defend our transports." Terri assured him, "I'll contact them immediately. Consider it done." The hedgehog smiled, "Thank you, Ms. President." ***** Sally walked off the transporter pad at the Freedom Fighter HQ on the Floating Island. She queried the computer as to Ari's location, finding out that he was at the cargo bay. She walked briskly over to meet him. She walked through the doors to the cargo bay, and searched the area, finally locating him at the far end of the room. He seemed to be examining a crate of some sort. As she got closer, Ari looked up and motioned for her to come over. She obliged and proceeded to stand just next to him. Sally peered into the crate and saw what it was that Ari was so excited about. He spoke, "We just.. recieved this supply of veledium. It'll help us build the backup power generators for when Knuckles has to cut our Emerald power supply." Sally nodded. ***** Ari and Sally walked into a small meeting area, and both sat down. Ari spoke, "So, what was so urgent that we had to talk about it right now?" Sally looked at Ari from across the table, "I'll be frank with you, Ari. When I saw you at Knothole those months back, I was glad you decided to change. But, I'm beginning to think that you're going about this the wrong way. Bombing buildings, generators. You're not doing anything to make life difficult for the Confederation. You're only making the public scared and inconvenienced. It's like the FFs have turned into a terrorist group or something.." Ari stood up, looking somewhat grim, "Just so you remember, you wanted to join up. You're no longer in charge, Sal. Now that I'm calling the shots, we do it this way. Besides, those buildings and generators are all automatic. No one got killed or injured in any of those attacks. Now.. if you have a problem with our methods, I suggest you go find yourself another Freedom Fighter group." With that, Ari strode out of the room, leaving Sally feeling... not knowing what to feel. ***** The Caynor Space Defense Fleet (CSDF) heavy cruiser Peacekeeper kept up it's patrol. Captain David Quill paced up and down his bridge, waiting for some sign of the ship that had been attacking merchant vessels headed for Mobius. They had been on patrol for twenty hours, and had seen more than fifty cargo vessels pass by without incident. One of his officers reported, "Three cargo vessels approaching buffer zone between Mobius and Caynor. Transport 1 is carrying processed chemicals to Mobius, transport 2 is carrying veledium to sector twenty-three, and transport 3 is carrying veledium to Mobius." David nodded. The officer continued, "Transport 1 has crossed the border. Nothing extraordinary detected." A few moments passed before the officer spoke again, "Transport 2 crossing border." The screen in front of the officer started flashing red. "We're detecting an increase in theta-band waves near transport 2. It could be a stealth system deactivating." Captain Quill nodded, "Intercept the cargo vessel. Activate energy neutralization field. Battlestations." "Five minutes to intercept." The minutes seemed like hours as they raced to reach the cargo vessel. Three minutes passed by when they recieved a broadcast from the transport. "This is Caynorian Merchant's Guild transport 12 to patrolling CSDF vessels. Increase in theta-band waves has receded. You may resume patrol." David Quill sighed, and ordered the ship to resume patrol. Just as he was about to get out of his chair, the officer at the scanner station reported, "Captain, transport 3 is issuing a distress call. Theta-band waves increased in their vicinity two minutes ago. A ship has appeared and is attacking them. They're transmitting the attacking vessel's transponder signal." Quill nodded, "Decipher it. Intercept transport three." "Seven minutes to intercept." David Quill wanted to pound a fist on the arm of his chair. Transport 2's incident had been a diversion, to distract them while the people responsible went after their real target. The Peacekeeper arrived at transport 3's location in time to get the crew off. Seconds later, the transport exploded. However, the attacking vessel was still in the area, stealth system apparently deactivated. From the way the attacking ship moved to intercept, the ship wasn't planning on letting the Peacekeeper go without a fight. Quill ordered, "Ready defenses. Charge up the tachyon array." "Captain, the other vessel is leaking high levels of amplified tachyons. Scanners estimate the other vessel is equipped with class 12 amptachs." Quill blinked, "Twelve?" Most CSDF ships were only equipped with class 8, and the Peacekeeper was one of those ships. "Get us out of here. Maximum speed." The Peacekeeper veered away, attempting a retreat. They weren't fast enough, either. One amptach burst from the attacker scored a direct hit on the half-turned Caynorian vessel, overloading the energy neutralizer field, and scoring some internal damage on the ship. "Minor damage reported. Condition is stable." Quill nodded. The situation wasn't that bad after all. "Captain." the officer at the scanners called. David looked over. "We have a positive identification on the attacking vessel's transponder signal..." David Quill asked somewhat impatiently, "And...?" The officer braced herself, and spoke, "Computer, display transponder identification using speech output." The computer synthesized, "Transponder code 4345562012293.233245492 is listed under registry number MSDF-3214 in the Mobian Confederation Central Database. Specified ship is listed as the MCS Justice, the prototype vessel for a new, previously unknown class of ship for the Mobian Space Defense Fleet." David Quill kept quiet for several seconds. For some unknown reason, Mobius had started attacking transports meant for themselves. David made up his mind. "Contact CSDF HQ, transfer the information to them. Then tell the crew to remain at battlestations. We have to be ready for anything..." ***** Sally sat down in the briefing room, waiting for Ari to reveal his next mission and what they wanted to do. Many others were present, including Knuckles, Tails, Sonic and Dulcy. Ari was waiting for several of his Freedom Fighters to sit down before he started. He pressed a button, and a holographic image of Mobius popped up, followed by several dots that seemed to be in high orbit. "What you see here on this image has been taken from the files provided to us by Sally and our helpers inside the Confederation. This is their latest toy, four tachyon generators put into orbit. When fully charged, these tachyon generators are capable of firing a ten second sustainable class 24 amplified tachyon burst. We cannot let such a weapon remain with the Confederation." Rotor queried, "What are you planning?" Ari nodded, "I was just getting to that. With some extra information we've gained, we've isolated the transmission frequency used to communicate with the orbital weapons. We have to use that frequency to gain control of those generators." Sally raised a question, "And once we have control of the generators?" Ari smiled, "We will then see if the Confederation feels like negotiating." Sally continued, "And if they don't?" Ari shrugged, "We use the generators until they do feel like talking." A series of murmurs rose up from the crowd, and Sally shook her head in disbelief. She spoke again, "Look at yourselves... you're turning into the Confederation! When several races refused to join the Confederation, they sent in the military. Many were injured in those fights! Now, if the Confederation won't talk, you will use those orbital cannons to shoot ..what.. generators and buildings! What if there was a targeting error and the weapon fired at a population center? If you've studied the maps, you'll know that most key power generators are just next to inhabited areas. We're fighting the Confederation here, a monster of sorts... that doesn't mean we have to become monsters ourselves and hurt innocents along the way.." Ari said nothing for a moment, then continued, "We will begin this operation at 1800 hours today. Rotor, I'll need you there as well." With that, he walked out of the room, as though Sally had not said a word. ***** Sally looked at all present, first at Sonic, then Rotor, Dulcy, Tails, Knuckles, Bunnie, Antoine, then Dulcy. "This can't go on much longer. Ari's behavior is... is.." Sonic put a paw to her lips, indicating that she didn't have to continue, they knew what she meant. Bunnie sighed, "But what else can we do? He now has the most organized Freedom Fighter group around...." Sally nodded, "I know, but with the way he's leading, those Freedom Fighters are going to become terrorists, and I do not want to have anything to do with such an organization." Dulcy piped in, "So, what're you suggesting?" ***** It was 1800 hours and Ari was pacing somewhat nervously around the room as several of his technically oriented Freedom Fighters worked on gaining control of the orbital tachyon emitters. ***** At the same time, Rotor entered the transporter room, joining up with Sally and several others. He nodded to Sally, indicating that all was going well. Several seconds later, Knuckles entered the room, entered some commands into the transporter control, then nodded, "The Emeralds are safely put away now." He walked over to the window, looking out to the Floating Island, "I'll miss this place..." He joined Sally and the rest on the platform, as Rotor set their destination and joined them too. Several seconds later, the entire group of ex Knothole Freedom Fighters dematerialized. ***** Ari turned around as one of the screens in the room started beeping insistently. "What's wrong?" The Freedom Fighter there shook his head, "I'm not sure... something was activated when we transmitted the final instructions for taking over the emitters..." The Freedom Fighter stopped suddenly in mid-sentence. Ari asked again, "What's wrong?" The technician looked up, "The emitters... have self-destructed. That shouldn't have occurred unless... someone knew we were planning such an attempt..." He turned to a guard at the door, "Get together a bunch of people. Find Sally and her usual group. That includes Knuckles and Tails. Bring them here." Another of the technicians interrupted, "I don't think you'll find them. I've accessed the transport logs. It says Knuckles and Rotor used the transporter in the last five minutes. One transported several energy generating objects, while the other transported several people. I've checked the energy systems. The Emeralds are gone. We're running on the backup generators only." A look of anger crossed Ari's face, "Sally..." Ari looked around the room, then said quietly, "Broadcast a message to the base. Tell them that we now have another fight on our hands. The battle is no longer between the Confederation and the Freedom Fighters. The battle is now between the Confederation, the Freedom Fighters _and_ the Freedom Fighters..." ***** Sally walked out of the Congress chambers, Sonic following her quietly. He held her close in a hug, saying, "You tried your best.." Sally had indeed tried. She had tried to get the roboticization penalty reversed, but with no effect. The vote remained unchanged. The two looked up at the sound of running feet, and they saw Dulcy rushing up with a report in her hand. The dragon gasped for breath as she handed the report to Sally. Sally accepted the report, noticing the Mobian Space Defense Fleet insignia at the top of the paper before she concentrated on what was written there. She had only read halfway before she dropped the report and leaned against Sonic for support... ***** Terri Acorn looked up as her vice president walked in, holding a report. The vice-president handed the paper over to Terri, then said quietly, "Mobius has responded to the official protest we made about them attacking our cargo transports." Terri glanced at the paper in her hand, eyes widening. "An MSDF fleet attacked and destroyed several of the automated defense stations on the outer perimeter. That fleet is now headed for the outer colonies." "They've declared war on the Caynorian Federation." TO BE CONTINUED