Last Boarding Call

[Sarath Crescent]

[Next time Shadow, ask before you do that to my NPCs.]

Sarath shook his head at the scene before him. "You critisise me yet you seem no better yourself." Reaching over he tapped a short code into the computer console mounted on his chair. "You really are incredibly naive if you think my crew is the last line of defense I have. Or perhaps you were just trying to see how much I have in reserve, yes?"

"Alert! Computer auto sequence engaged. Previous order check received and confirmed. Beginning count down to fire, ten...nine....eight..." the computervoice rung out over the bridge as Sarath settled back into his chair, "Main engine burn engaged, impact in eleven...ten..."

Sarath sat forward in his chair, grumbling as his earlier wounds flared up slightly. Had he been in fighting condition he may have challenged them both to another round, they both seemed capable enough to be entertaining. He got the feeling Sonic wasn't the type to deliver a fatal blow though...although he did not believe Shadow shared this. He would still need to be careful.

[Sonic]

"Woah, Shadow. Cool off will you?" Sonic said after the shooting barrage 'You'd never catch me using one of those things,' the hero also thought, dropping his opinion of the Ultimate Life-Form a little.

Sonic didn't exactly know what was going to happen when the timer hit zero. he figured it involved the destruction of the ship, which was apparently about to be destroyed anyway so stopping it didn't really seem to make much of a difference in things. Either way he was standing right next to Sarath so chances were the alien overlord himself wasn't in inescapable danger so neither was he... possibly. Tails and the others were a different matter, but he still believe din them enough not to get distracted over something he was powerless to change. This tyrant had to be stopped here and now, without delay. The man himself was wounded and had the [planet's most powerful living thing facing him, so now it was down to what dangers might still be lurking and waiting to be set off from inside the ship itself.

"Well, I only dropped in to see what kind of secret weapons you might have stashed away in here, so why don't I go take a look for myself?"

Shadow could handle Sarath... possibly lethally, but the fox was already heavily injured from his battle with the Blue Blur beforehand so it wasn't likely he'd pick a direct fight and the black hedgehog could handle any kind of trickery thrown at him. With that confidence in mind the speedster hopped back and then bolted to his side, exiting the bridge din a flash and went barreling through the hallways in high gear looking for important things(Engine room, amroury, giant robots, huge laser canons, etc) to smash up, just like the days of storming Eggman's secret bases.

[Tutley Sakamoto]

(Hm, it seems we forgot Jack and Slick, they can go before me in that order.)

[Jack-the-Hedgie]

Jack let out a fatigued sigh as they reached the hanger doors. For the first time in a long time, he was no longer contemplating his situation. He no longer thought about the girl Amy had been carrying, or if he had been doing the right thing by coming here. He would focus on those things when him and his teammates got off this bucket. Indeed, his body only stopped running in autopilot when the ship rattled and shook with the force of a weapon that ripped a huge hole right out of it. Jack was thrown forward, but he acted quickly to avoid injury. His elastic body stretched itself out, planting his palms on the metallic floor to better catch himself. As he snapped back into his normal shape, the momentum caused him to somersault, From there, natural hedgehog instinct made him curl up, rolling himself into a sitting position. Had he let himself hit the floor like he almost had, the others would have had to worry about pulling him off the ceiling and stuffing his rotund self into the pod door. Not a good idea when you're seconds away from a horrifying death.

"Jack, where's Tails!"

Amys voice caught the hedgehogs attention, and he switfly turned to face her. As he stood, a finger was raised, motioning for the pink hedgehog to hold on while he attempted radio contact.

"AMY!"

That voice. The one he heard talking with Slick as they formulated their plan. The one belonging to that kid piloting that little plane. The one with the two...

As Tails rolled right past them, Jack could do little more then watch the orange ball slam into a wall. His raised finger lowered and pointed in the direction of the vulpine.

"Right there, I think" Jack said in response to Amys question with a matter-of-fact tone of voice. Being only a few feet away, the elastic hedgehog offered a hand to help the young hero up. He wasn't leaving until everyone was in the escape pod, after all.

[Mathias 'Slick' Greyer]

Slick looked back over his shoulder when he heard the loud thud of Tails crashing into the wall. The sight of the orange puff-ball filled Slick with an overwhelming sense of relief. But it had to be short lived, lest he and everyone else get blown to bits whilst in the midst of a fond reunion. "We're all aboard! GUN IT!!" He shouted with full force as he braced himself for a rapid acceleration. "Grab on to something back there!! This could be rough!"

[Tutley Sakamoto]

[Just a little post help before were all cooked. =p ]

As Jack and Tails climbed aboard, Tutley looked back and made a sigh of relief, before looking back at the helm. "All systems check...fireing NOW!", he shouted out as he quickly pulled down on the accelarator with force, the doors quickly closeing. The engine flared up and roared, before stoping completly, a display reading [FIREING PROTOTYPE MAXIMUM BURNERS]

"Seven...six..."

"Oh crap..." He knew what this meant all too well. The dropships energy burners on the back of the ship flared up, as the dropship went from 0 to 510 miles per hour in a single second (I wonder if anyone knows where I got this acceleration rate from...), makeing the turtle sink into the seat, eyes widened in shock. "WHOA!" He had expected it to have good accceleration, but this was riduclous, it rivaled even his own time's fighters! The ship left the hanger, just as the contdown reached it's apocolyptic end.

"Four....three....two..."

[Shadow]

[Sorry Links, I'll ask next time before I blow up your NPCs. Though, if you didn't like it, you should have said something and I would have been happy to change it.]

Shadow grimaced as the Blue Blur dashed away. He can't keep still for a minute, Shadow thought, half annoyedly and half reminicently. Just like old times.

He quickly turned his attention back to the threat at hand and put his reminicent thoughts aside; the last thing he needed in a time like this was a long flashback. "I didn't think for a second that a big-time leader of an army like this would leave himself without a backup plan, Shadow said matter-of-factly. "You were right, I was just trying to see what you had in reserve. It seems that you still have everything under control."

The black hedgehog shrugged. "So, what now? Are we gonna fight, or what?" Shadow smirked slightly. "I wish that blasted blue hedgehog hadn't run away so quickly, because believe it or not I'm not here to finish you off. That's just the bonus. I've got a bone to pick with a certain concubine of yours, so if you don't mind I'd like to finish this quickly so I can be on my way."

[Sarath Crescent]

Sarath chuckled, "You must mean Lefina...she said you kept her entertained. Although I'm afraid your request will have to be...postponed..."

"...TWO...ONE...MAIN CANNON FIRING SEQUENCE INITIATED!"

The Monoceros was only a few hundred meters from the Retribution, the charge built on its nose reaching a peak as the computer finished the countdown. The Phase Cannon fired, its destructive beam covering the distance between the ships in a split moment and slamming into its hull. Another split moment later it shot from the other side, evaporating one of the few surviving tower blocks in the city.

A moment later the Monoceros' main engines fired, throwing the ship forwards and the centre of the Retribution exploded with a massive burst of white light. The ships forward shields glowed bright red, lightning bolts flicking off and striking the ground and surrounding buildings as the energy it was trying to hold back struck it and bounced off.

A moment later the entire sky was filled with a massive white flash as the Retributions phase reactor imploded and sent its energy in all directions. It was like watching something take an ice cream scoop and take a swipe at the middle of the city. By the time the glow faded a kilometer wide perfectly round crater had been carved into the city centre.

Of the ships in the sky the surviving ones had been lost in the explosion...but as the glow receeded a black mass became visible in the middle of it. With another flare of her engines, the Monoceros emerged from the centre of the explosion. To most it wouldn't seem possible, but to Sarath it had been a simple matter. By placing his ship at the very centre of the implosion the shield had absorbed much of the initial energy and left the ship floating in the 'eye of the storm'.

On the bridge Sarath chuckled to himself, even as the computer began to read off damage reports from all ships systems. He had just lost most of his primary attack force but he seemed to be taking it fairly well. "Well my spiny black foe, it seems that you have me at a disadvantage. My fleet is all but lost and it would be safe to say that this ship is no longer capable of effective combat...along with myself. Perhaps I underestimated you or perhaps you are simply more resourceful than I gave you credit for. Still..."

Sarath pressed a button on his seat, the nose of the Monoceros suddenly began to dip. The engine burst had sent the ship heading towards the coast and the nose was now starting to line up in such a way as to land...or in this case dive...into it. "I did happen to read that...regardless of your speed and strength...neither you or your blue companion were capable of swimming. If this ship is going to be my tomb then I'm going to be sure it's yours as well."

------------------

For Sonic he would find that much of the ships internal system had already gone offline or were in seriously damaged states. Relays and switches had blown all over the ship due to the amount of energy the shield had to absorb during the explosion. This was now offline, along with the weapon reactor and much of the primary and secondary thruster controls and reactors. What was left was barely keeping the ship in the air...although now as the ship began to dive towards the sea it seemed even these systems were shutting down.

[Amy Rose]

Amy'd just barely had time to strap herself in properly before Tutley engaged the thrusters. Her stomach lurched as it shot out from the ship. Sure, she'd gotten a lift from Sonic, but she had been well prepared for it. To this, she hadn't expected the ship to go as fast as it did, caught completely off guard. She clung rigidly to her seat.

"Wah!"

[Sonic]

[Sorry guys I'm a bit tied up. Keep going and I'll post after Shadow and before Sarath's next]