Egg Flag Ship

[Decoe and Bocoe]

“Ah, how long ‘till we arrive there, Doctor?” Decoe asked curiously, as he looked over towards the doc. Bocoe glanced over towards Dr. Robotnik for a second, still trying to keep his eye on the raider.

[sorry, got nothing much to do. So excuse me for some short posts till we get to Robotropolis.]

[Rampage]

Rampage's grin broke out into a hearty burst of laughter. "HAH HAH HAHA... Ohhh, Doc, you got nothing to worry about from me. If I was gonna do anything to ya I would'a already done it. Besides, would I really have bothered call'n if I was just com'in t' kill ya? I might be a touch on the trigger-happy side, but I ain't stupid."

Just then, Rampage overheard Docoe speaking. By simple instinct, Rampage leaned over to one side to try and see who spoke as though he were looking at Robotnik through a window. Of course, being monitor with a fixed camera angle meant that all he could see was Robotnik. "I take it that must be the 'others' from another dimension you bumped into before I came along, huh?"

Leaning forward towards the comm screen Rampage's expression became quite serious. "Okay, look, boss. I'm gonna be straight with ya. I've fly'n around in this crate for the past week after that fancy light show hit and while this ship may get great mileage, I'm start'n to run on fumes. Either I come aboard now, or you can wave bye bye as I drop into the sea. Way I see it, it'd be a terrible waste ta loose a valuable ally like myself; especially when I have some toys on board you might find veeeeery interesting." Stepping out of the camera's way, Rampage revealed the six, heavily armed and armour Com-bots he had in tow. "Believe you me, boss, these here Com-bots are ten times better than those outdated Swatbots you're using."

[Dr. Robotnik]

"HAH HAH HAHA... Ohhh, Doc, you got nothing to worry about from me. If I was gonna do anything to ya I would'a already done it. Besides, would I really have bothered call'n if I was just com'in t' kill ya?"

Actually, probably yes. You could just be biding your time to attack once you're on board the Egg Carrier, when I can't bring the full brunt of my forces against you without risking collateral damage. It's much easier than a simple head on attack. I already know what that's like...

The doctor seethed a bit as he recalled what Falina and Giichi had done to Egg Ship 5 once they'd slipped aboard.

"I take it that must be the 'others' from another dimension you bumped into before I came along, huh?"

The doctor slowly nodded.

"Okay, look, boss. I'm gonna be straight with ya. I've fly'n around in this crate for the past week after that fancy light show hit and while this ship may get great mileage, I'm start'n to run on fumes. Either I come aboard now, or you can wave bye bye as I drop into the sea. Way I see it, it'd be a terrible waste ta loose a valuable ally like myself; especially when I have some toys on board you might find veeeeery interesting."

"Believe you me, boss, these here Com-bots are ten times better than those outdated Swatbots you're using."


Actually I see it the other way around. What if you decide to give a "free" demonstration with those things while you're on board? Although I suppose it is interesting to see what an alternate self of mine may have developed...

"Well, how about I dispatch a tanker craft to bring you some extra fuel? Then you can ride back here on the tanker with one of those Com-Bot things. Sound like a good deal?"

Surely his forces could contain one crazed badger and one advanced bot if they decided to fight...especially if he arranged to meet them in a small locked-down hangar rather than the main one.

[Decoe and Bocoe]

The two ‘bots looked at each other in unison, as the Doctor ignored Decoe’s question. They were unsure of what to do. Bocoe looked back down at the raider, as Decoe viewed it from where he was standing. Decoe looked back towards the Doctor, then shrugged to himself. He as well as Bocoe would have to wait for Dr. Eggman’s orders.

[Rampage]

Rampage smiled with genuine satisfaction. This Robotnik was certainly a much more cautious soul than the one he'd worked for before. But cautious didn't necessarily mean a bad thing. For one, being sneaky would be twice as hard, which means twice the challenge. All in all, he'd still win.

"Sounds fair t' me, Doc. Or should I say, Boss?" He smiled again confidently. "N just t' show you I don't mean any harm, I'll come aboard unarmed 'n transfer the command codes the Com-Bot t' you once we come aboard."

[Dr. Robotnik]

Robotnik smiled back. "That sounds fair to me. I will dispatch a tanker craft in a moment. Standby in the meantime." He cut the connection to Rampage there, and then immediately dropped that smile he'd been wearing as a mask throughout the conversation. Sighing, Robotnik rubbed the beads of sweat off his face that were now visible. It was exhausting to keep that mask up, but he had to maintain the image he was in control, to keep Rampage in his place.

A quick walk, and he was over by the three bots, looking somewhat apologetic.

"Sorry about ignoring you before Decoe. We'll be in Robotropolis in a few hours." He wiped more beads of sweat from his forehead. "Anyway, I had to give that badger my full attention. He obviously wants to help us, but he just doesn't look trustworthy to me, like a loan shark. We all need to watch him carefully until he's shown he can be trusted."

Robotnik began pacing away. He gave a small motion for the three bots to follow him.

"I'm going to have his tanker craft land in one of the smaller docking bays..." Robotnik said, as he walked. "...and it will be fully locked down, despite the promises he's making. I want the three of you to be in there with me."

The doctor looked at his companions as he walked, checking to see what their reactions were.

---

As Robotnik promised, a tanker ship soon arrived at Rampage's location. It looked like a big cylinder with a small cockpit on the front, tiny wings on either side, and rocket boosters on the end. The ship extended a fuel hose to the tank connection on the front of the badger's ship. Now that it was in position, the tanker craft waited for Rampage to connect in.

[Rampage]

With a practiced ease, Rampage brought his craft up to the fueling hose and nodded with satisfaction as the soft clunk and clink signified a solid connection. Switching the ship over to automatic pilot, Rampage swung himself out of his seat and marched over to Com-Bot Delta. "Okay, sit tight in here for now boys. I'll be back soon. Indie, come with me." Rampage waved his hand toward the starboard access hatch.

A moment or two later, a dull rumble rang out, indicating the boarding tube had secured itself to the hatchway. A green light switched on a second later to confirm the connection was complete and Rampage pressed the button to open his door. With the hulking 10 foot tall Com-Bot in tow Rampage crossed the narrow boarding tube without the slightest hesitation. Once on board, Rampage patiently waited for the tanker to finish fueling his ship and to dock with Robotnik's ship.

[Decoe and Bocoe]

They both looked at each other in unison.

Did he just say he was sorry?

But before the two could even say something on it, Dr. Eggman made a hand motion for them to follow him. Looking back at each other once more, they began to follow the Doctor; Decoe at his side while Bocoe followed just a bit behind. Bokkun was floating right behind Bocoe, his hands on his shoulders as his eyes were the only thing to be seen behind the andriod’s shoulder. With his hands in his pockets, Bocoe sighed.

“Just our luck,” Bocoe muttered dully, “ Right when we lose our weapons something serious comes up.”

Decoe simply frowned, hearing what Bocoe had to say, agreeing silently. At least he still had ONE yo-yo instead of nothing. Looking towards the Doctor, Decoe finally noticed the red line on the Doctor’s forehead. Blinking in confusion, he spoke up.

“But, shouldn’t you do something about that cut on your forehead first?” He jested, as he pointed to the spot on his own forehead.

[Dr. Robotnik]

"Cut? What?" Robotnik felt his forehead. When he lowered his hand in front of his eyes, his white glove was slightly stained red from the blood. "When did this happen?"

He quickly withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and applied pressure there to stop the bleeding. As he did, he tried to think back to everything that'd happened. It felt like a blur in his head. But after thinking it through a bit, he finally recalled when it happened. When Mecha Robo was knocked down, he'd hit his head on the control console.

"Thank you for telling me that, Decoe. Surely I can't look this way in front of our guest." He chuckled a little. "If you need weapons...well...feel free to take some from the armory on the way there. I certainly don't mind."

---

After the tanker finished refuelling, it moved into position to link up. Rampage would hear a solid clank on the other side of the last door as the two ships connected. The door smoothly slid open, as a SWATbot waved for them to come in. It definitely looked quite puny compared to it's Com-bot brother.

[Rampage]

Rampage folded his arms across his body as he patiently waited for the tanker ship to dock with Robotnik's ship. He did a good job to hide it, but Rampage was positively giddy with excitement. He could only begin to fathom what sort of mission Robotnik alluded to and hoped that it would be worthy of his skill.