Knothole Village

[Dulcy]

Dulcy just stood there before the armored fox as he doesn't really answer her questions, but says that he's done and will be leaving, having no interest in them. She considers what to do now, and decides that she has bigger problems than the fox, as long as he was really leaving and not going out to continue cutting down the forest, she felt she could let him go for now. He was but one, and she knew that a whole city of people depended on her and the others here helping fend off Robotnik's fleet.

She walks over toward the others in time to catch the end of what Chadin says to Falina, and the look on his face. She grins at him softly then turns to Falina, noting the sword she carries. "So, um, what are you good at miss? We're about to go into battle with an invasion fleet of Robotnik's and we could use all the help we can get." She almost said that Falina was welcome to come along, but decided not to overstep the possible opinions of the rest of the group, even if she could guess what Chadin's answer would be.

[Giichi Twinkieland]

The doctor seemed confused by Giichi mentioning Soleanna. He'd never heard of such a place before in his life. But sending a message for this boy sounded harmless enough. And this was Robotnik he was talking about, after all. What freedom fighters would they be if they didn't do everything they could to get in his way?

"Sure...let me just show you to Rotor and we'll take care of you, son."

As soon as the duck turned his back to lead him into the village, Giichi let out a soft sigh. His youthful looks were both a blessing and a curse like that. Before long they approached a tend that looked like it was half constructed of metal. A constant humming sound droned from the building.

As they stepped inside, Giichi could see a purple walrus at the back working on some strange machine of unknown purpose. In fact, as the cat looked around, the entire place felt that way. In any case, Dr. Quack called out to him.

"Rotor? Rotor!"

The walrus didn't look up until Dr. Quack actually walked up to him and pat him on the back. Giichi thought it might have been because he was wearing ear bud headphones, but none were in sight. Was this guy just really that involved in his work?

Anyway, Rotor looked at Giichi and then back to the duck.

"Who's our guest?"

"Dulcy brought him in...says his name is Giichi Twinkieland." Rotor gave Giichi a small smile, and extended a hand. The cat returned the handshake, but didn't smile back.

"Pleased to meet you, but I've got an urgent request here..."

"What?"

The cat handed over his netbook. Rotor examined it in a curious manner. He seemed extremely fascinated by it, for some reason. Giichi didn't pay it much mind though. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"Robotnik's attacking my hometown...Soleanna." The walrus looked up from his examination, with the same confused look that Dr. Quack had before.

"Soleanna? Never heard of it."

Giichi rolled his eyes for a second. He was already getting tired of that line.

"Yeah, well I had never heard of you guys until today either. In any case, I think we're all in this together now."

Dr. Quack nodded in agreement.

"Quite right. Anyway Rotor, Giichi says that Soleanna has its own military, and I do think we need all the help we can get right now. So could you send those plans on for him?"

"And you guys can keep a copy too. I don't mind. Do whatever you like with it. Just send it on, now."

"Okay then."

Rotor quickly pulled out some cables, connecting his netbook to what looked like a self-built computer in the back of the room. The tower had dents and scratches and welds all over it, and the monitor looked like it'd been made out of an old TV set, but both seemed to perform admirably. Giichi just hoped this thing was compatible with his comparatively sleek netbook...

Fortunately, it didn't seem to be giving Rotor any problems. He ran through a bunch of what looked like home-built programs...once again extending the self-built theme of this shack. Giichi was impressed. The cat himself could hack a bit, but he always used pre-made programs and tools...never really bothering to learn the nuts and bolts of what happened.

These guys really were freedom fighters. In their world there just wasn't anywhere to buy this kind of stuff in stores. They had to make it all themselves.

Utterly amazing, but also scary to look at, because Giichi realized this could be the future if Robotnik wasn't stopped now. Having Robotnik go after his hometown put a heavy weight on his shoulders, but this made it feel all the more important to halt him in his tracks.

In any case, Rotor seemed to finish up his work, and handed the netbook back to Giichi with a smile.

"You have a fine computer there, my friend. It's been a really long time since I've seen an intact one...much less a brand new one. Anyway, I sent your message on and we've got a copy now. We'll see what we can do to help."

"Thank you," Giichi said, sincerely. With the message sent, hopefully the Soleanna Self Defense Force would have a little more advance warning. Maybe stopping at this village wasn't such a bad idea after all. "Anyway...I'd like to stay and chat. But I've got to defend my home."

"We know how that feels." Rotor said that with a hint of sadness. "We'll try to catch up if we can. Good luck to you."

Giichi nodded, and took off running out of the hut, back to where Chadin and Dulcy were. It seemed Chadin was chatting it up with that doe Giichi had heard earlier.

Well well well...what is this?

Giichi thought about making some kind of snarky remark, but he was more focused on getting out of here now. The cat stepped straight back to Dulcy.

"Hey... What did I miss? Are we about ready to go?"

[Falina]

(Relic says he's out and isn't posting again here.)

She smiles softly as Chadin's shocked reaction almost mirrors the way she feels on seeing him again after the years they've been apart. She agrees that he has changed, both a bit in appearance, and she shudders at the thoughts that come to her head on how he may have ended up with those scars, but years with the MFF have apparently changed even the way he carries himself.

She is actually wearing a tunic dress, still a bit on the dressy side, but also practical. She has a white braided rope belt which her sword hilt is attached to. But yes, Chadin would be right that her mother's constant insistence that she dress nicely has had an effect on her.

When Chadin doesn't say much beyond stuttering out her name, she begins to look a little concerned. "What's the matter Chadin? You used to be so talkative around me, now you can hardly even say my name? Is it just the shock of seeing me again after all this time?" She was sure that they both would have lots to talk about regarding what they've been doing since they last saw each other, but Dulcy's statement/question gets her down to business. She blinks at the words 'Robotnik Invasion Fleet' and a visible amount of fear crosses her face as she looks between the dragon and her newly bandaged friend. She finally swallowed hard to try and calm herself and answer Dulcy.

"I am throughly trained in both hand to hand combat and sword-fighting. Beyond that I have no real battle experience, and few skills beyond having a through knowledge of the properties of many plants in the Great Forest. I do know of some metal eating plants, and how to extract the metal eating chemical from the plants. We would just need something to contain it till it hits the target and we'll have a good weapon against Robotnik's forces." She then pulled off a pack that she was wearing and opened it. "As luck would have it, I have just recently collected these. I was going to do some more experiments to find out what would be a good container material, but maybe someone here can help with that? Wouldn't hurt to go into this battle with some metal eating 'bombs'." She now notices Giichi is back, and she wonders. "Hey, whomever helped you send that message, how into chemistry do you think they are?"

[Chadin]

"Uh... No, I mean... well yes... That is- I-I never dreamed I'd see you again after... after the forest was destroyed. The MFF said I was the only survivor they found." I finally answered after finding my voice at last.

The reunion was cut short however when asked about Falina's combat skills. Knowing from experience, Falina wasn't lying or exaggerating about her hand to hand skills. More than once I was on the receiving end of a drill she duped me into helping her with and ended up flat on my back gasping for air. The sword however was something I'd never seen her with before. Come to think of it I didn't even remember seeing her father possess such a weapon. I'd have to ask about that later I decided.

What really caught my attention though was the talk of the metal eating plants. I could already see all kinds of potential for such a weapon in my mind. I could only hope that this Knothole had that same genius designer I remembered meeting here before. Unfortunately, for the life of me I couldn't remember his name. I think he was a seal, or a seal lion? Man is it frustrating when certain things are just nagging on the tip of your tongue but you can't quite remember.

"More importantly, how fast can you whip up some bombs and how many?" I added in with great enthusiasm. It would appear that given the distraction from the most unexpected reunion with Falina I was very much back in the game.

[Dulcy]

(When we move to another topic I want to spread out Dulcy and Falina a bit more in the PO... lol.)

Dulcy smiles softly as she watches and listens to Chadin and Falina. It is always nice to see two old friends get back together after a time apart, and she figures if they grew up together, they must be close. In any case, she thinks they can use all the help they can get right now, and thinks that Falina would be a good addition to the group, particularly if she can help make some metal eating bombs of some sort. So, she decides to do the honors in welcoming her.

"Well, Falina, I don't want to speak for the others, though I think I can guess what Chadin's opinion would be, but as far as I'm concerned, you are welcome to come along. We could sure use any help we can get right now." She then turns to Giichi. "We were just talking with Falina here about what her skills are that would help in the battle with Robotnik's fleet. I think we're pretty much ready to go, but we should see if we can make a usable weapon out of the metal eating plants in Falina's pack real quick before we leave I think."

[Giichi Twinkieland]

(Maybe we should come up with a name for these plants instead of calling them "Metal Eating Plants" all the time. I get the feeling we're gonna be referring to them for the rest of the RP.)

"As luck would have it, I have just recently collected these. I was going to do some more experiments to find out what would be a good container material, but maybe someone here can help with that? Wouldn't hurt to go into this battle with some metal eating 'bombs'." She now notices Giichi is back, and she wonders. "Hey, whomever helped you send that message, how into chemistry do you think they are?"

How funny. I thought she lived here, and she thought I lived here, and we're both wrong.

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiit's a small world aaaaaafter allllllllllllllll...Iiiiiiiiiiiiit's a small world aaaaaafter allllllllllllllll...

He shrugged at Falina's question. "I don't know. Never been here before in my life. But Rotor...that's his name he said...he doesn't look like a chemist. More like an IT guy. I guess you could go talk to him and find out. You can't miss his hut. It's the only one partially made of metal."

Her mentioning needing a suitable container gave him an idea. A long time ago, soldiers improvised their own bomb to take on tanks. It was just gasoline or some other flammable substance in a bottle with a flaming wick, but they were so easy and cheap to make they were still in use today. The Molotov Cocktail. Surely it wouldn't be hard for these guys to manufacture the things.

"Well, if it doesn't eat through glass, what if you just poured the chemical in a glass bottle and threw it? The bottle shatters, and then the chemical goes everywhere. Of course, I'd think you'd want something to increase the splash damage. It doesn't look like you could make a lot of bombs with what you've got there..."

[Falina]

(Yeah, I couldn't remember exactly what they were called, but they're from an episode of SatAM. I did some googling, and found them listed in an episode guide, 'Scorch' plants. So I guess we can call them that.)

He shrugged at Falina's question. "I don't know. Never been here before in my life. But Rotor...that's his name he said...he doesn't look like a chemist. More like an IT guy. I guess you could go talk to him and find out. You can't miss his hut. It's the only one partially made of metal."

"Well, if it doesn't eat through glass, what if you just poured the chemical in a glass bottle and threw it? The bottle shatters, and then the chemical goes everywhere. Of course, I'd think you'd want something to increase the splash damage. It doesn't look like you could make a lot of bombs with what you've got there..."

She nods to Giichi, then looks down at her stuffed pack. "Yeah, that might work, and your probably right. I guess I should go see what he thinks about the plants. Hopefully he'll have an idea about how to make a weapon out of them."

Without another word, Falina walks off toward Rotor's hut, knocking on the door and waiting for Rotor to let her in before walking inside. She then went about explaining what she had found about the scorch plants, and the process of grinding them up and concentrating the metal eating chemical. "So, do you have any ideas on how we could contain this and use it against Robotnik's forces?"

"Hmm, well, those are certainly some very interesting plants you've found. But as you say, we need to find a way to carry the chemical to it's target and spread it. Hmm." Rotor then goes rummaging through his store while trying to come up with an idea of what to do. It occurs to him suddenly. "Oh! Of course!" He exclaims as he pulls out a bag of bag of balloons. "This should do the trick. I think we should dilute the chemical a little too. It will make it spread better, and should still be effective."

While Rotor had been searching for a container for the chemical, Falina had been starting to grind up the plants into a pulp, then she and Rotor both worked at taking the resulting paste and making a solution with it, which they filled the balloons with. When it was all finished, there were about two dozen balloons. Enough that they wouldn't all fit in Falina's pack, so Rotor put the rest in another cloth bag and handed it to her.

"Thanks a lot Rotor, hopefully this will really help. I think it's time we got going now though." She said with a smile and a wave, then quickly made her way out of the hut and back to the group. She was ready to go now. "Hey guys, these should eat a nice big hole in anything metal that we can hit with them." She says as she shows them the 'water balloon weapons.'

((I'm really sorry it took me so long guys, but I've been having a hard time figuring out what I wanted to post, and been kinda busy too.))

[Chadin]

While Falina saw to the Scorcher plants, I had other thoughts running through my head; and not just of about how I was going to explain all that's happened to me in the years after me and Falina last saw each other. What Giichi said about the amount of those scorcher plants had me worried.

We'd be going up against a whole army by ourselves. We couldn't use every last one of those on just regular Swatbots. If we were to have any real impact on the course of they battle we'd need to use them sparingly. At the same time, in the heat of battle there's no telling how much we'll actually need those weapons. They could wind up being the difference between life and death; we can't afford to horde them. What we really need is an alternative.

That's when an idea hit me. "Hey, Giichi, if I remember correctly, Robotnik's forces are all being transported to Solenna via air ships right? If we can take out a few of those ships, we'll be able to weaken Robotnik's ground forces before they can even land. I don't know if those metal eating plants can eat through a whole ship, but I do know that there was a member of the MFF who was a whiz with explosives. We used them a bunch and they worked really well. Dr. Quack, the Freedom Fighters here wouldn't happen to have a stash of explosives we could use do you? I'm not an expert myself, but if there's an easy way to arm them I'm sure we could do the rest."

[Dulcy]

Dr Quack nodded to Chadin. "Hmm, I think we might. Hold on, I'll be back in a moment." Dr Quack then moved back to Rotor's hut. He would return several minutes later carrying a bag, which he would hand to Chadin. The bag would be found to contain about a dozen small explosives that were rigged with timers. "This is all we have. Use it well." Says the doctor before walking away.

Dulcy looks up at the position of the sun, then back at the others with anxiousness clear in her eyes. "Well, I guess we really need to get going. I'm not sure where this Soleanna city is, but unless it's on the far side of the planet, or Robotnik ran into some resistance along the way, his forces must be close, if they haven't already arrived. Let's get going!" She would wait for the others to climb on before she takes off, though with the addition of Falina, someone was going to have to either hold onto the other two while they gripped her harness, or ride in her pouch.

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Giichi totally felt Dulcy's anxiousness, only about ten times more. That place was his home, after all. The cat looked like he was covered with bugs with how much he seemed to wriggle about.

Damn it...I thought this was just gonna be a quick pit stop, but now it's turning into the better part of an afternoon! All I can really hope now is that my message to Soleanna doesn't get ignored...

When Dulcy called to leave, he was the first one to sprint for her. Although he'd ridden on the back before, he couldn't help but notice she had a big pouch up front, kind of like a kangaroo. Why she had that, he had no clue.

"Dulcy...I know the way to Soleanna. Maybe I should ride up front so that I can give you directions... I would be small enough to fit in there, wouldn't I?"

The cat could not believe he was saying this, but it looked like there wouldn't be enough room for three people on back and he didn't really have any other choice. It was this, or run all the way back to the Robotropolis outskirts to get his car back, then navigate that road network that'd been thrown to hell by the merges. There simply wasn't enough time.