The Silver Lining - A Sonic the Hedgehog Fan Fiction in the "Wheel" Series ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Written by: Aaron Lye E-mail: prower@pacific.net.sg ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEGAL STUFF ----------- Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters used in this fan fiction are owned and copyrighted by one or more of the following: Sega of America, Sega Enterprises (Japan), DIC and/or Archie Comics. Other characters used are owned and copyrighted by their respective authors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Timeline: One day before the notification of the surrender of the Federated Races of Mobius to the Alliance of Races, one day before the end of "Clouds of Grey" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cast of characters (in random order) -------------------------------------- Sally Rotor Tails Sonic Antoine Bunnie Tasha Tayla Katya David - Shawn Wolski and other characters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Governments ----------- Federated Races of Mobius Alliance of Races The Ghrakel Empire The Caynorian Federation Union of Allied Worlds - Joseph De LaCroix ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Story Sally Alicia Acorn picked herself off the deck of one of the turbolifts of Starbase Victory Alpha, ignoring the acrid smell of smoke that was forcing itself through her nostrils and into her lungs. Looking around the dark and damaged lift, she saw her entourage and the guards coming to as well. She looked at the status console, and was surprised when she saw that there was still enough power being fed to the lift for it to move. This puzzled her, for she remembered the station rocking as though they had been hit, then she blacked out. Taking the opportunity, she manually commanded the lift to get them back to the command deck, and the device obeyed, although somewhat sluggishly. After a five minute journey, the door swished open, revealing a darkened bridge, and a much more concentrated dose of smoke, due to the number of computer consoles that had overloaded and caught fire. As they arrived, the command staff were just regaining conciousness. Katya stood up and brushed the dust and dirt off herself. She seemed to be confused for a while. "We're still alive?" She asked, not fully convinced at first. Sally got to the point, "Captain, what happened?" "The enemy vessel shot a red pulse at us. All systems shut down, and everyone blacked out, from what I can tell. However, for some reason, other than the overload, most systems have come back online." Sally ordered, "Do a full sensor sweep of the area. See if the alien vessel is still there." "Yes, Ms. President." Katya walked over to a science console that was still undamaged, and did as Sally requested. She frowned. "The enemy vessel is holding position 20000 km away from the station... this is odd, there is absolutely no subspace activity in the area... I'm not detecting any signals from the Mobian satellite network, nor any transmissions from the Union... what the... the planet's gone! The fleet, Mobius.... they've all disappeared!" Sally pursed her lips. "Open a comm link to the alien vessel. Maybe they're in a better mood now. For some reason, I think I know them..." Before the captain could react, a shimmering blue light appeared in the center of the bridge, as though someone were transporting in. Within microseconds, the guards on the command deck had their phasers out and aimed at the materializing object. As the object gained cohesion, Sally gasped. That shape... she knew that shape... A shining blue emerald had appeared. Tails whispered, "The Great Emerald..." Sally corrected him, "No, it's not, Tails... I told you about what happened, didn't I?" Tails nodded, remembering the incident. The emerald spoke, and a soft blue light in it's center pulsed as it did. "We meet again, Sally Alicia Acorn... and it would seem at just the right time..." "Why did you attack us? Bring us here? The last I remember, you wanted peaceful contact with us..." "If I heard correct, you're in a war... and deceiving the enemy is important if you want to win... and what better deception is there compared to the death of the President of the opponent and the destruction of it's largest battlestation? And besides, we only disabled you ships, and the pulse that 'exploded' your station was actually a sophisticated hologram projector cum transporter that transported your station here and gave the effect of it exploding." Sally kept quiet, acknowledging the logic of their actions. "You could at least have told us.." She couldn't help herself from remarking. The emerald seemed as if it wanted to continue, but Sally interrupted. "Is this what you really look like?" The emerald emitted a faint laughing sound. "Hardly.. but what we look like is not the point of this discussion." It continued, "We come from the Caynorian Federation, of the planet Caynor. And we need your help. In return, we will aid you in your civil war." Bunnie spoke up, and questioned. "What do you want?" "We need you to retrieve something for us... The Jewel of Cayosh." "Where is this Jewel of Cayosh? And why do you need us to get it?" Sally asked. "It is located on our homeworld of Caynor. Several years ago, one of our enemies invaded our Federation and radiated our homeworld with Ikezium radiation. We had no choice but to evacuate our world as there is no known counteragent for the radiation, and it is lethal to us. The radiation was so intense that we had no time to bring with us anything but ourselves.. not even our most valuable item... the Jewel of Cayosh. However, we have run some tests and we realize that present-day Mobians have a natural immunity to Ikezium radiation. As you can see, you would have better chances of retrieving it. And oh, transporters do not work because of the interference from the radiation." The emerald continued, "The Jewel is large, but can be moved. It is located in our main city. Please be warned, however, that the Jewel is very well protected." A small flash appeared in front of the emerald and a pile of equipment materialized. The emerald spoke, "These weapons are amplified tachyon burst emitters. We call them Amptachs. The lowest setting is equivalent to your phaser setting 5, medium stun. It's highest setting should be roughly setting 56, 40 settings above your maximum. And these other items are sensors that are 500% more effective than your own. You will need them on your mission. The Ikezium radiation would render your equipment almost useless." ***** The Caynorian shuttle landed in the center of the once capital of the Caynorian Federation. As soon as it touched down, Sally and her party disembarked and set about to their job. There would be no room for failure. The future of Mobius and all they had fought for hung in the balance.... For Mobius... for freedom... they had to succeed. They hurriedly made their way to the co-ordinates given to them by their Caynorian contact. They walked briskly, but paid attention to the splendid facades and structures of this magnificent city. Sally marvelled at the technological level required to build a city like this. She could make out sophisticated weather modification networks, much more complex than those posessed by Mobius. Buildings that were kilometers tall. They had to been at least three centuries more advanced than Mobius... After a fifteen minute walk, they arrived at the supposed site of the Jewel of Cayosh, only to find a dead end awaiting them. Sally nodded to Tails, who brought up a paw, planning to discharge enough magical energy to pulverize the wall. To the amazement of everyone, especially Tails, nothing was emitted from his paws. Again, the two-tailed fox tried, with similar results. He was puzzled, "I don't understand..." The fox tried various spells, and all did not succeed. Sally offered, "Maybe Ikezium radiation has an effect on the Chaos Emeralds?" "Perhaps..." Sally shrugged, "Well, looks like we'll have to blast our way through." She took out the Amptach and set it to it's highest setting. She fired the weapon and a bright blue pulse shot forth and impacted on the wall. The damage was insignificant, with only a slight crack visible. Sally gaped. That shot could have punctured through a starship hull... She ordered, "Take out your Amptachs and concentrate a sustained burst on that crack." All of them took out their weapons and bright blue pulses started firing rapidly at the crack. After ten seconds of bombardment, the wall gave way. The Mobian group made their way through the shattered wall, and found themselves on yet another street in the silent city. It was getting a bit eerie... the total silence... the slowly darkening sky... it would have made anyone a bit uncomfortable, to say the least. Sally ordered the group to find shelter. It wouldn't be easy finding their way around an unfamiliar landscape in the dark, even with the aid of the Caynorian sensors. They searched for a suitable haven for some time, and managed to locate a small residential unit to rest for the night. ***** Tails shook his head as he shivered in the cold of the Caynorian night. "If only I could use the emerald magic..." Bunnie looked up, but said nothing. Sally walked over to the fox. "We'll just have to bear with it, guys. Somehow, we'll locate this jewel, get out of here, and return to Mobius with the capability of finally ending the conflict once and for all..." The mention of their home planet brought a silence to the room. They had all left behind friends and family, all of whom were probably thinking they were dead... Bunnie broke that silence, "Y'know, Ah'm getting a bad feeling 'bout all this..." She continued, "Don'tcha realize it? Them Caynorians give us co-ordinates for a jewel, and it turns out to be a wall. C'mon, this is their homeworld! Wouldn't they have proper directions?" Sally couldn't argue with the illogic of the situation, but simply said, "We have to trust them." She stood up, "Try to get some sleep. Bunnie, you take first watch." ***** Sonic entered his apartment and looked at the place. It was home, yet it seemed empty without Sally around. It would never be the same again... He sat down on the couch, and leaned back, letting his quills fall into disarray. It wasn't too long before Jessica walked in from her own room. She spoke lively, "Hi, Dad! Where's Mom? Isn't she back from space yet?" Sonic didn't know what to say... ***** Tails woke up his sleeping group members the minute the Caynorian sun rose. They hastily consumed some of the rations they had brought with them, and made their way out. Rotor asked, "So, where next?" The ground squirrel thought for a while, "Maybe the jewel is at this spot after all..." Truth dawned on Sally. The jewel HAD to be underground... ***** "We have a positive signal. A definite crystalline structure, approximately 2500 cubic meters in volume 300 meters below ground..." Rotor read that off his sensor screen. Sally gasped, "25 hundred what?!" Bunnie mimicked what the Caynorian had said earlier, "The Jewel is large, but can be moved..." Rotor frowned, "This is strange, the jewel is producing a rather large amount of energy...it's almost like a generator..." He continued, "There appears to be an underground entrance in that building over there." and pointed at a building east from their position. ***** Sonic, Tasha and Dulcy sat in Sonic's office, negotiating the surrender of the Federated Races with Ari and two Alliance military commanders. Ari was currently stating his demands. "The Federated Races must hand over all territories owned, with the exception of Mobotropolis. The Alliance of Races will form the new Mobian government..." Sonic shook his head, "Unacceptable. I've already said I would withdraw Mobius from the Union of Allied Worlds. That was what you wanted. No peace as long as Mobius remained a member of the Union." Ari looked bemused, "You mean you actually believed that? That, Sonic, was simply a.. pretext to overthrow you and your allies. How else would we have managed to get so many races on our side?" Sonic looked at Ari with a renewed dislike burning in his eyes, but said nothing... ***** The task force on Caynor found the building with relative ease, and soon made their way to the Jewel. The tunnel spiraled downwards at a 10 degree elevation, making travelling relatively easy. The tunnel opened up into a large room. They located a switch on the wall and the room was lit up by a bright light source. With illumination, they could see that they were in what appeared to be an underground art gallery. The walls were adorned with paintings and art of all kinds. Sculptures and statues were displayed prominently on podiums, and spotlighted by halogen-equivalent lamps. However, it was obvious what was once the main attraction. Occupying the entire far end of the already massive room was a large blue gem, the largest any of them had ever seen before. It sparkled in the light that was directed at it, and was indeed a breathtaking sight. They quickly moved towards the Jewel of Cayosh. As they approached, it suddenly flared a bright blue and a swirling blue shapeless form materialized in front of them. It spoke in an ethereal voice, "Identify yourselves." They were startled that the jewel was talking to them, but they did as they were told. The form replied, "Yes. You are indeed the Young Ones, of the Second Age. Who sent you?" Sally answered, "The Caynorians. The people who used to inhabit this world." The form flared brightly, "I understand now. You are granted permission to transfer me. Just say where you wish to have me transferred." Sally enquired if it knew co-ordinates, and upon recieving a positive response, told it the co-ordinates of Victory Alpha's largest cargo bay. The swirling form disappeared, followed soon after by the blue jewel. ***** The Mobians rushed back to the Caynorian shuttle and headed back to Victory Alpha. They docked at Bay Alpha and proceeded to Cargo Bay One. There they saw Katya and three Caynorian 'emeralds' looking at the Jewel of Cayosh. The minute they entered the room, however, something strange happened. Tails' paws suddenly lit up with pulses the color of the emerald of sorcery, presumably due to his returned abilities. He stared at his paws, then at the Cayosh jewel. Jewel of Cayosh...Cayosh Jewel...Cayosh...Cayos....Chaos! He turned to Sally, "That's the..." One of the Caynorians spoke, "Yes, Tails. The Great Emerald your races thought was only a myth.." Sally frowned, "You said you didn't have anything to do with the cavern when we first met. You said it was already there when you came..." (see the fanfiction entitled "Trials", in the "Foxes and Sorcery" series) The Caynorian spoke, "We didn't. The Watchers, the original guardians of the emeralds, built it." The Great Emerald chose this opportunity to interject one sentence. "Awaiting orders, Young One." Sally frowned again, "Young One? On the surface, it called us the Young Ones too..." The three Caynorians pulsed with light, and reformed, dropping their emerald guise. Sally and the other Mobians present caught their first glimpse of a true Caynorian. It was only then that the Mobians fully realized that the emerald shape was simply a holographic camouflage hiding the true nature of the Caynorians. They saw, standing before them, a squirrel, a fox, and a hedgehog. The Mobians gasped. The Caynorian squirrel nodded, "Roughly five thousand years ago, when the Watchers first left the emeralds to the care of the Guardians, five hundred thousand Mobians were selected by them, entrusted with the Great Emerald, and sent to Caynor on board five colony ships. This was so, should any disaster befall either colonies, at least part of the Mobian race would survive, whether they were known as Caynorian or Mobian. Thanks to a lack of conflicts, and the added advantage of Watcher technology on board the colony ships, we were able to develop our own technology faster than Mobius. That is, until our planet was bombarded with Ikezium radiation. We moved to the next nearest planet, and resettled. Since then, we have rebuilt our civilization and prospered. We expanded into the adjacent solar systems, and unified a section of space now known as the Caynorian Federation.We have now expanded to about three solar systems away from Mobius, on the opposite side of the Union you belong." The squirrel smiled, "Now do you understand, my long lost cousin?" At Sally's quizzical look, the other squirrel replied, "My name is Terri, of the Caynorian ruling house of Acorn..." She continued, "The Acorns were ruling Mobius back then, and it has continued as such since then, on both the... Mobian colonies." Terri straightened, "Well, now that that's behind us, we help YOU win your war, and reclaim that which is rightfully yours." ***** Ari sounded angry, "Sonic, either you agree to my terms or I will order the fleet to knock down Mobotropolis's shields right now and turn it into a Black Zone!" Sonic remained defiant, not believing that Ari would go to that extent. Even he HAD to have family in Mobotropolis. "Very well, Sonic. Have it your way." ***** The Alliance fleet pounded away at Mobotropolis's shields, taking only minor losses from the city's planetary defenses. The shields would not hold out much longer, and with most of the MSDF fleet out of commission or destroyed, the war seemed a lost cause. So intent was the Alliance Fleet on destroying the capital of the Federated Races that none had sensors monitoring the orbital zone, therefore none noticed Victory Alpha and eight Caynorian ships materializing. Victory Alpha unleashed it's full arsenal at the Alliance fleet, disabling twenty ships with the initial strike. The Caynorian vessels followed suit, and soon all the Alliance starships were drifting in space, left with only enough energy to maintain life-support. Soon after, every Alliance controlled territory went the way of the starships. Terri and Sally stood on the bridge of the Caynorian flagship and opened a channel to the headquarters of both governments. "This is President Terri Acorn of the Caynorian Federation, speaking on behalf of President Sally Alicia Acorn of the Federated Races of Mobius. I demand the immediate and unconditional surrender of the Alliance of Races." ***** One hour later, people all over Mobius turned their viewers on to the Mobian News Network, after an announcement was made over the Mobius DataNet of a startling breakthrough. The newscaster reported, "We had recieved confirmation that Federated Races- controlled space station Victory Alpha was not destroyed. Sally Acorn and a delegation of Federated Races leaders who were on board Victory Alpha are also reported to be safe and sound." A bulletin flashed across the newscaster's computer. "This just in... The Alliance of Races surrendered unconditionally today. In a ceremony held one hour earlier in the neutral Guardian city of Ghylcana, President Sally Acorn and Vice-President Anthony Mane, representing Alliance President Ari who has reportedly gone into hiding after the surrender, signed the Ghylcanan Accords, formally ending the two year Race Wars. In related news, the Office of the President has issued a statement to the ambassador from the Union of Allied Worlds, informing that government of Mobius' withdrawal from the Union, in favor of an alliance with a government currently only known as the Caynorian Federation..." All across Federated Races territory, Mobians cheered. After two years of being split by civil war, they were once again a united people... ***** Sally looked out of the large windows of the Council lounge, and smiled. The war was over...she had won. She did make the right choice two years ago. The choice that gave them the best chance... for victory. From the reflection in the window, she saw Tails standing at the entrance. And he was smiling as well. ***** Epilogue Deep under the surface of Mobius, Ari lurked, watching and waiting for his contacts. He growled, an unnatural sound for his race. They may have won the war, but Ari was far from finished..... he would now fight them in the best way he knew... not as a head of government...but as a Freedom Fighter... And it would continue that way...until he got what he wanted. Control of Mobius... THE END (OF THE WHEEL SERIES) Watch out for the new series coming out soon, entitled: The Other Side.