Launch Base Zone

[Chadin]

Time felt like it momentarily slowed to a crawl in those frantic few moments. Even as the first Swat-bot fell, revealing his comrade behind him, I brought my crossbow up and cocked another shot into the chamber as I braced it against my shoulder, aimed and fired for the centre of the second Swat-bot's visor. As shots came blazing out of the Swat-bot's weapon, I skid over to the side into a crouch to avoid the fire. I didn't hesitate to pump back another shot and fired again, this time at the torso as a double measure to make sure the bot went down.

I couldn't afford to duck down and grab the laser rifle, not yet at least while it's buddy was still a standing threat that could alert my position. Of course my position would already be compromised anyway if anyone looking happened to notice the brilliant red flashes of my laser bolts.

Just then the sprinklers switched on, unleashing a torrential downpour onto the factory floor. The cold water pouring down on the molten metal evaporated almost immediately as it came in contact with the glowing red liquid, creating a thick fog that quickly enveloped the entire factory floor.

"What the...?" The water soaked me clean to the bone in seconds. My fur left matted to my body and the longer tuft of blonde fur on top of my head draped unceremoniously over my face. I didn't know how or what just happened, but it gave me an opening I couldn't pass up. "On second though, best not look a gift horse in the mouth..." I muttered to myself. Forgetting about whether the other Swat-bot was destroyed or not for the moment, I swiftly slung my crossbow and bent over to frantically retrieve my knife and the laser rifle while the fog screen remained.

[Gerald Robotnik]

When he looked up to see the arrow hit, he felt accomplished. A small smile had appeared on his face as for a moment he was relieved.

“By jove, I think it-”

Before he could finish his own sentence he soon found himself in a similar situation to his grandson. The sudden water pelting his face caused him to stumble backwards, all the while getting completely soaked. His plan may have worked, but it was beginning to work against him.

The shots from the SWATBots bellow would startle him even more, causing him to shoot the catwalk in defense below him. Well, it was more like he shot the catwalk at the spot where the SWATbots were below him.

[Dr. Robotnik]

Robotnik continued howling at control like an impatient man child. Until the water stopped and the steam got blown out of the room, he couldn't do diddly squat to find those intruders.

"CONTROL! GET THOSE SPRINKLERS OFF! I CAN'T SEE A THING IN HERE! AND SET THE VENTILATION SYSTEM TO BLOW OUT THE STEAM! I NEED THIS STEAM GONE!"

"We are proceeding as fast as we can Robotnik. Sprinklers should be off in about 20 more seconds."

"HURRY IT UP!"

The doctor sighed as he killed the comm link. Total disaster in the span of just about 30 minutes or so. These bumbling SWATbots couldn't do anything right either. Robotnik needed to change his game up. He thought for a second about his options as he stroked his moustache. What else did he bring with him here? Surely there were some more robots stowed somewhere he'd forgotten about...

An idea struck him, as his thoughts turned to one of the forgotten bot bays in this ship. If he remembered right, he'd left something in one of them from his younger days that would be especially well suited to this type of battle. Not exactly as high tech as his newer things, but they just might do the job.

"Control...open up bay 61. See if what's in there is still working, and send it my way into the main factory floor."

"Yes sir, Robotnik."

Elsewhere in the ship, SWATbots opened a large door marked 61. One SWATbot poked into the dark interior, before bringing up a keypad in its hand. It punched in an activation code, and suddenly the whole room filled with a loud buzzing-like sound as the machines inside came to life. Rather eerily all of the lights on the bots flashed yellow for a second, illuminating the dark interior like fire flies. It wasn't long before they were on their way, flying directly over the heads of the SWATbots that had unleashed them.

---

Chadin had successfully destroyed the second SWATbot with a neat headshot. However, it wouldn't be long before he heard the clomping of metal boots on the floor. The shots from before had definitely brought more attention to the deer's general location. He would have a few seconds to get ready before a new wave of attackers would be upon him.

Not to mention...he might notice a certain buzzing sound getting steadily louder and louder, as it began to compete with the other sounds of machinery in the room.

---

Gerald's shot neatly destroyed the catwalk between the SWATbots attacking him. However, if he tried to exit the floor he was on, he would find SWATbots stationed at each exit waiting for him. Not to mention, he too would also begin to detect the same loud buzzing sound.

[Chadin]

I quickly scooped up my knife and the Swat-bot's laser rifle and made a mad dash away from the area, towards where I thought I could hear Robotnik's ship hovering above the factory floor.

Remembering how well that knife sunk into the Swat-bot's arm I briefly entertained the idea of leaping onto Robotnik's ship from the catwalks and using my knife like a ice pick on a wall of ice on Robotnik's ship while I fired point blank with my newly acquired rifle into the windshield of his ship.

That idea however got thrown out almost as quickly as I conceived it. No, the catwalks are too exposed and this rifle is far to heavy and unwieldy for a Mobian that only exceeded five feet tall if you count the antlers sprouting out of my head.

In fact the only reason I even went to the effort to obtain one of this bulky monsters was because it packed a much heavier punch than my crossbow and fired automatically too. Two big pluses for a hit and run style attack like I had in mind.

Of course my plan might need some revising as my sharp hearing picked up on a faint buzzing sound that sounded vaguely familiar. "Oh no.... don't tell me he sent out Buzz Bombers after me?" I was honestly a little incredulous. I didn't think Robotnik believed me to be such a threat that he'd send in MORE help to try and kill me.

Well, I reasoned, they still sounded a ways off. Maybe I can get one good hit on Robotnik in before they got here and use whatever power was left in this rifle to hit all those annoying bugs with before falling back to my crossbow.

In any event, when the sound of Robotnik's ship was the loudest, I figured I must be directly below him. I pointed the laser straight up and opened fire on full auto, straight into what I hoped was Robotnik's underbelly; though, through all the steam I couldn't be sure.

[Gerald Robotnik]

He became shocked once again when he felt the cat-walk underneath his feet shake as his arrow nearly destroyed the catwalk. He fumbled backwards a few more steps until he finally turned around and ran a small ways. He’d stop eventually when he got half-way between where the two bends were and looked out across the room. There was thick steam everywhere, but he was high enough were the steam didn’t affect him. At least where he was.

He still couldn’t see a thing on the ground floor; and it was bad enough that he had dark tinted glasses on, and the sprinklers pouring down on him. He took his glasses off and looked around. It was only until then did he know he was trapped. And he’d mostly trapped himself up here in the first place. But then he supposed being trapped on the high spot was more or less a good thing; as long as he could find Robotnik.

Since it seemed the robots were pre-occupied, Gerald brought the bow up and looked straight at what he thought was Robtonik. It looked like it was his machine, a big dark blob just sort of floating there; despite the fact that he couldn’t see the details with the steam. But with all the panic he was going through, he wasn’t in the mind set to think straight. He’d shoot an arrow, though he had no idea where it was going to hit as he aimed in the middle of the blob.

[Dr. Robotnik]

The shots from the heavier laser rifle found their target on Robotnik's underbelly, and began pelting straight into the armor.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow OW OW OWWWWW!"

Robotnik yelled as he bounced up and down in his seat, as the bolts peppered the bottom of the ship and sent jolts through the rest of the vehicle. Then Gerald's arrow found its mark, clipping the main part of the death machine on its side next to Robotnik.

"AAAAH! Damn!"

Robotnik normally never swore (he considered it beneath him), but for some reason he felt the situation deserved that word. The arrow's impact sent the ship reeling off to the side. Through the smoke the doctor could see he was drifting right into a support beam. Fortunately, at the last second, he managed to turn it around. The doctor straightened the ship out so that he had a wide view overall of the main floor.

But by this time, a loud whooshing sound would echo through the chamber, as the ventilation system did its work. Before long, the steam began to fade away. Also, the sprinkler system at last had ceased, giving everybody a little bit of a reprieve. Robotnik was already searching through the clearing steam to find his targets...and he figured one of them would be directly on the factory floor since that's where the shots had come from.

Sure enough...he thought he saw the vague shape of antlers through the smoke. Not very much, but it definitely was a distinctive shape in this mechanical wonderland.

"Found you!" Robotnik shouted over his loudspeaker.

This time, instead of using the flamethrowers, Robotnik opted to just fly low and fast directly over the floor and try to smash straight into Chadin. Sparks flew as he bounced off of the floor a couple times from going too low.

---

If Gerald thought about lining up another shot, he might want to consider changing his target. Now the buzzing sound had practically reached critical mask, as bee-like robots started flying into the room through an open cargo bay door. They immediately began spreading throughout the space, and not to mention a fair few were on their way up to where Gerald was.

[Chadin]

I could definitely tell I was hitting something. Old bot-head must have accidentally bumped the switch for his loud speaker or something so I could hear him yelping as I pounded away on the underside of his ship.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of an unfamiliar impact, and Robotnik shout bloody murder. The ship's engines hummed louder as he struggled to regain control. I ceased fire, now unsure where Robotnik was.

That's when my ears shot straight up in alarm from the sound of the ventilation systems kick on and start to suck the fog bank out. Plus, the sprinklers stopped. Plus, the buzzing sound was getting even louder. I had a sinking feeling I'd just lost my advantage.

Unfortunately, I was still mostly lost in the fog. I could see the ceiling a bit more clearly now, but every thing at ground level was still practically pea soup. But with so many things happening all at once, I only just picked up on the sound of Robotnik's ship just in time to spin around to see Robotnik charging right at me.

My ears drooped to the side of my head with dread. I'm not Sonic. I can't jump several times my height or super speed out of the way. I just froze. Like a deer in the headlights.

"WOOOOF!!!" I yelped as I became a big, deer shaped smear on Robotnik's windshield. The force of the impact left me winded, but the speed of his ship left me pinned to the machine from the inertia. For now, I was stuck on the front of his ship, my face plastered against Robotnik's window like a Saturday morning cartoon character. Too stunned and dazed to say crack-wise or throw a barb at Robotnik. Sonic the Hedgehog I most certainly am not.

[Gerald Robotnik]

Gerald huffed out heavy breathes, trying to get a grip on things. He was doing okay so far, but fighting was something he wasn’t used too. Even though he’d clearly done damage to Robotnik, he didn’t feel any satisfaction; actually he felt incredibly guilty. Sure Robotnik wasn’t a practically pleasant person, but Gerald never had liked fighting.

And as he ran his hand through his hair to pull the wet, matty mess out of his eyes, the sprinklers stopped. And the steam began to slowly exit the room through the ventilation. Well, at least he wouldn’t be soaked any more, but it meant the small advantage he had gained was gone. And as a result, Chadin’s cover blown. Gerald gasped, as he attempted to go towards him only to be stopped by the rail that he grabbed on as soon as he felt himself tipping.

“Chadin!!!” He shouted out, though it was too late. And anything he could have done was soon turned by the buzzing sound that he’d just notice. Gerald looked down to see where it was coming from, to see the bee-like robots flooding into the room. He gave a short gasp of shock before bring his arm up and shooting an arrow at the small group that was coming towards him.

[Dr. Robotnik]

[Wow, Chadin, I wasn't expecting you to do that. I mean, I based it on the robot that Robotnik uses in the Angel Island zone in Sonic 3, and it's not exactly speedy XD. Tough on armor, but not speedy.]

"GOT YOU!"

Robotnik put on a crazed grin, as he gazed back at the priceless look on Chadin's face. First thing that had gone his way since this battle had started, and it sure did a lot to improve his mood. He suddenly slammed on the air brakes, bringing the machine to a halt. The intention was to make Chadin flop off of the machine and hit the floor. Robo hoped that would send a nice, fresh jolt of pure pain through him, in addition to disorienting him even more.

---

Gerald's shot neatly destroyed one Buzz Bomber, disabling it and sending it crashing into a few more, since they were tightly packed together. The wrecks would rain down below around Robotnik and Chadin.

However, a great many more flew in to replace them. Some had reached the same height as where Gerald was as well. The first one up opened a small hatch on its bottom, exposing a small cannon. Fireballs would start flying out of the barrel, heading for the human's general area.

[Chadin]

[I don't know about that speedy part. He was able to keep up with Sonic and beat him to the waterfall after all. Besides, I couldn't resist the bug-on-a-windshield gag]

"Uggghhh..." I groaned as my senses started to come back to me.

Then Robotnik hit the brakes and I flew off his windshield. "WHoOOOooAAaaHhhh!!!" I slammed into the side of one of the large vats and fell to the floor once gravity finally regained control of me.

"AanD THaat's... wHy YoU ALwaYS wEaR yoUR SeaT BeLt..." I stammered out as I lifted myself off the floor while miniature images of Robotnik's machine spun around my head.

Dazed as I was, I still could see Robotnik' ship hovering out in front of me some distance away. Fear shook me out of my daze as I shook my head vigorously. "Ugh... this is getting monotonous."

Complaining aside, I needed to act fast, Robotnik wouldn't just float there all smug with himself for long. Worse yet, those flamethrowers would flambe me inside of thirty seconds I tried to jump out of the way. Besides, with my senses coming back, I couldn't ignore a rather blinding pain welling up from my right ankle. I must have twisted it or sprained if after I fell from the vat.

In a flash I pushed myself up off the floor to my knees and drew my knife. Flipping it around so that I was holding the tip I aimed for the centre of fat-man's head within the windshield and threw. I only prayed that the knife either shattered the glass and went straight through to Robotnik himself, which was an optimistic prayer at best given my luck lately, or spider web the glass, making it almost impossible to see clearly. That at least my buy me the time to limp away to some place safe and check my ankle.