Unity/Chapter 3: Sold Out for Salvation

Author's Note
The majority of this chapter will be written by me, Doom, but I will be getting help from Nitro later down the line. This is also the first time I've written anything for my characters Theo and John, so a lot of this is probably going to suck and be subject to change later.

Also, as a bit of a heads up, (especially to Max, Time, and Reens) I made a bit of a last minute decision that Secret Discord will be a part of my canon, so this will take place some time afterward.

Chapter 3: Sold Out for Salvation
The Koge Desert: a place that is for all intents and purposes, little more than scorching, desolate waste. Between the dried out and relatively flat lands to no readily available source of drinking water, very few people would ever dare think to inhabit such a place and because of this, it is the perfect place for anyone with a secret to hide. The only openly populated area within the whole of the desert exists on an isle in the middle of a small lake: Starkman Isle. This is where Theo the Tasmanian Tiger was heading to now, but before that, he had to meet with an old friend.

The journey would take most people at least an hour or two by car, but that didn’t matter much to Theo. In their heyday, Tasmanian Tigers were known far and wide for their incredible speed and power and having had his own strengths augmented through genetic modification, it was be a very quick trip for him. In mere minutes, Theo arrived at a small clearing near the base of a hill, where his friend Transford the Hedgehog stood waiting for him. He stood in front of a jet black car with his hands behind his back, hiding a leather cast around his left hand and a metal gauntlet that ran all the way up his right arm, and mirrorshades perfectly reflecting the desert sun. Theo approached the hedgehog and shook his head, causing Transford to give a small grunt before he spoke.

“You really couldn’t convince either of them?” The hedgehog asked Theo, tilting his head to the side. Theo shrugged as he answered, “Nothing I said to Fargo could get him to leave, not even who we’re going after. I tried talking to Kuroki, but he just slammed the door on me.

“Keeps hanging up on all my calls, too. Probably still upset about the lock.” Transford turned around and reached into the car while he continued, ”Regardless, there’s been a slight change in plans. John starting ramping up security around the time I called you up, he’s got his sights on another project. They’ve spent the whole day carting boxes in an out plastered with a bunch of warning labels and one of them had some weird glow to it.”

"Any idea what it's for?"

"No clue, but it's bad enough that they keep swapping out Knights every other hour."

This time it was the Tasmanian Tiger who tilted his head, “If it’s that big of a deal, is it really a good idea to go ahead with this? Maybe we should hold off until we know exactly what we're dealing with here."

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Transford retorted, “We haven’t got that much time, Theo, and we ain’t ever gonna have a chance to catch this bastard again.” He turned around holding up a rifle in one hand and a magazine in the other. “Besides, it’s not like we never had to improvise before.”

*Click*

[In the interest of keeping the story going, and because I don't feel like writing it out now, we're skipping to the important parts. I'll add the shootout sequence later. Probably]

Meanwhile, inside the lab, John Lindon and his team were able to continue with their experiments away from the danger. At the center of the lab was a large glass tube connected to various other machines. A small gem of some kind floated around inside of the tube, spinning and pulsing faintly. Various engineers and scientists stood around the machine either tampering with parts of it or reading off data from the connected computers as John watched over the scene from one side of a counter that wrapped around the room.

“How long until we can resume diagnostics” John asked to one of the scientists.

“No sooner than fifteen minutes, but it is possible that with the situation upstairs, we may have to delay it.” was his response.

John nodded in turn and straightened his tie. “What exactly do you suppose, given what we’ve already found, we could use this for?”

“It is still to early to say. Its energy appears to be of a similar wavelength to the Chaos Emeralds, but it’s exact properties are unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”

“Once you’ve finished analyzing the gem, I want you to begin work on extracting energy from it so that we can expose-”

He was cut short by the ear piercing shriek of the alarm. There was a sudden white flash as the mechanical door to the lab split apart violently.

“Get the boss up into the sa-“ is all that a lone soldier was able to say as he came rushing into the lab before a part of the ceiling suddenly collapsed on top of him. Smoke filled the room, John ducked behind the counter and was joined by any of the researchers who weren't making a mad scramble to escape the room, while the Knights all found a spot and trained their weapons on the hole in the ceiling. Before any of them could react, Theo rushed out from the smoke cloud and slammed into one of the troopers with enough force to send him flying into the machine at the center of the room, knocking it over. The gem bounced across the floor a few times before colliding with the counter, spinning at a faster rate than before, but pulsing with about the same intensity. Most of the Knights tried to shoot at Theo, but he was easily able to dodge the bullets, while two of the Knights escorted John toward the staircase. More gunfire and screaming could be heard as the three climbed the staircase and entered into a small office room with a single steel door as the only way in. The Knights took positions on either side of the door as John shut and locked it.

*Bang* *Bang*

The Knights suddenly collapsed into pools of blood and John turned around to see Transford lounging at the desk, twin revolvers smoking and aimed directly at him. “It's been awhile, John.”

“Transford. I’d expected you to come earlier.”

“I would’ve loved to, but I got sidetracked with clearing up GUN’s handiwork elsewhere.”

“I’ve heard” John said with a smirk, “Impressive work, what you did in Station Square”

“Thank You.” replied Transford as he stood up from the desk, “And you’re welcome for the all of the schematics that got left behind. Shame that Kuroki beat you to the rest of it.”

“The tree may have been felled, but we can still find use in its branches. But that doesn’t matter anymore.” John extended his arms out into a cross shape and the smirk vanished from his face, “You came here to end this, so let’s end this.”

Transford, however, simply stood there solemnly, in silence. John slowly lowered his arms, confused to see Transford holster one of his revolvers and lower the other. “No, there’s no reason to shoot a man who’s already dead.”

As the two were about to settle the score, they heard the sound of a rhythmic pulse. Transford looked around the room, unable to locate the source of the noise. "The hell is that?" He asked as he noticed John seemed completely unconcerned by it. The pulse was coming from the gem in the lab. It laid within an arms length of a fallen soldier, spinning like it was on an axis. Theo slowly approached it, but immediately began to back away from the gem as the intensity of its glow became stronger and it started to spin faster. The pulsing sound was louder than before, but was on the verge of being drowned out by a distant rumbling from outside the facility.

The rumbling sound got louder and louder. It had begun to sound more like a stampede or a march. They then heard someone say something, almost like it was issuing a command. Another voice responded, sounding like it was obeying a command. The footsteps continue to get louder and louder until the source approached the doorway to the lab. It was a series of robots with one large robotic eye for a head secured with some armor. They said something out loud in the form of a command, but what it said was unclear as the words were complete nonsense. Weapons drawn, a couple of them motioned toward the gem on the floor while two of them broke off from the group, making their way toward the saferoom. Theo simply watched as the events unfolded around him, before trying to get the robot's attention before they made a move for the gem.

John laughed to himself as a faint thudding sound from outside the saferoom became louder and louder. "I knew that your little fox friend had a way to make my boys talk and I knew that one of them would have told you about my... disease."

Transford raised his gun again as John continued his speech, "I came back with the expectation that all we had accomplished here would die with me, far from the council's reach. But as we arrived, we found something... a new benefactor."

"What kind of benefactor?" Transford asked, pushing the office desk away.

"A special kind. One that you will abide by." A female voice said, filling the room. The soldiers turned around and started moving to opposite ends of the doorway. A female Vulture was walking in the room. "I must say Johnny you know how to drag attention to yourself. " Vultra had her hands on her hips. "Secure this room. I want this place on lockdown. Make sure no one gets in or out. If it's a friend of John's, let 'em in." The robots nodded. Several robots filled the room and started lining the walls with weapons drawn, keeping focus on them. A couple stood outside the doorway and turned around with others marching off until their footsteps completely faded away, while another one entered the room with Theo in tow.

John was just as surprised as Transford. He had known that Vultra was sending reinforcements, but he was not expecting that she herself would be among them. Transford surveyed the room, confused as to why John, who has always bordered on being a Biological-Purist, would form an alliance with an army of robots. "Robots? You must've been getting desperate."

"The circumstances are not ideal, but there is more at stake here then just my own life."

Vultra added to John's words. "Indeed." Theo entered the room with two robots behind him, weapons trained on his back. Vultra walked up to two Mobians. "You see boys, Johnny was aiming for something much more than his own well being. He needed help to expand his influence on a scale far greater than anyone else could provide. We met with different ideas, but eventually came to an agreement. In exchange for our assistance, he'd retrieve for me something special." Vultra then walked by them and walked in front of John. "I assume you have it?"

"You'll find everything you need down in the lab." John told her as he grabbed a briefcase from behind a bookshelf on one side of the room.

"Excellent. When you're ready we'll get you onboard the station. In the meantime, I believe it's time to collect what is mine." Vultra said with a smirk. She then speaks into a communicator on the top of one of her hands, explaining that their friend has done his part, and bring him up on command. She also said something in complete gibberish that the mobians couldn't understand.

Thus would be answered for them when the noise from the outside started to become audible again. But then, the sound of popping and hissing could be heard. Vultra then said : "All troops fall back and cover John. Direct your focus on the halls to the laboratory. We're done here."

The robots nodded and most exited the room with John in tow, while the rest locked the door, leaving Transford and Theo trapped with them. Before any of them could speak, both of the mobians put their hands behind their heads, although Transford was still holding onto his revolvers.

"I doubt that they programmed you with the concept of self preservation, but I'll ask anyways. Does anyone here want to get out?"

The robots conversed with one another in a language neither Theo nor Transford could understand, but one of them spoke up from across the room.

"Negative. We function as we are programmed. Self Reservation is beyond us. Unlike you, we can be rebuilt."

"Well then I hope you don't mind, but we're gonna have to reschedule this conference."

The robots had almost no time to react as Transford started blasting away at the ones around him while Theo flung himself fist first at the robot in front of the door.

The robot at the front of the door tried to grab Theo, but the surprise attack proved to overpower it and it was effectively crushed between Theo's fist and the now dented door. The robots near Transford took the damage from the weapons fire. Some of the bullets penetrated the armor and had destroyed some of them. For others, the bullets simply ricocheted, leaving behind indents in the robot's armor before embedding themselves in the office furniture.

"Lucky shots, native. But not lucky enou-" One of the soldiers said before being stabbed through the chest by a blade emerging from the cast on Transford's arm, who finished it off by driving the blade upward through its head. Sparks began flying from his fingers as he waited for one of the bots to make a move while Theo rushed behind them before attempting a body slam on one of them.

Those that weren't under fire had started firing their weapons at Transford and Theo. Energy bursts of burning Neutronium started coming out of the weapons. "Stop them! Prepare the artillery cannons on the airship!" The only English-speaking robot in the room shouted into it's comms before Transford took hold of its head, sending a surge of electricity through it's circuits, shorting them out.

For a brief moment, he and Theo looked up at each other, two nods conveying they both understand what needs to be done now. Theo immediately rushed for the door, smashing it wide open before making a rush down the stairs to the lab. Transford followed him, tossing the fried out robot toward the remaining bots on his way out.

The sound of something rapidly falling into the area becomes very evident. The remaining bots that were still alive never managed to follow them as the artillery punched through the roof, creating a massive hole in the roof and destroying the bots along with the rest of the room. Robots in the surrounding area had already left the nearby hallways as the artillery started raining down, some of them heading downstairs toward the lab to intercept the mobians.

Only the basic framework of the lab doors was still standing by this point and Transford and Theo could simply step through it to find the rest of the lab in just as bad of shape. Since it appeared to be in about the same condition as before the robots had arrived, Theo needed a few moments figure out what they had taken. "The gemstone..." Transford wrapped an arm around Theo and in a flash of light, the two had shifted to outside the facility. Theo staggered to the ground as Transford took a second to reload.

Several more robots with the same weapons started firing their weapons from behind. Firing plasma rounds, the drones continue in pursuit. "You can't run and gun forever, creatures." one of them said.

Not even bothering to respond, Transford continue to gun down the bots, while Theo watched as John disappeared behind the perimeter wall and charged after him.

Stopping as they did, two of the robots started breaking down the wall on the right, hoping to rip off enough of the metal plating to create a makeshift barrier. More robots toward the front have started ramping up their rate of fire in their weapons. They starting firing their energy rifles faster, thinking that the bullet hell would would be enough to suppress them. They also began to slowly move forward.

Theo would not be deterred, however, dodging several of the robots shots before launching himself clear over the barricade that had made. The rest of the bots in the compound focused their full attention on Transford, Although he seemed to be mostly unharmed and unstrained by everything they had thrown at him, he also seemed like he was running out of options. Surrounded and out of ammo, Transford was forced to deal with the robots up close, cutting them to pieces with his blade and using the bodies to block the gunfire as they accelerated their advance.

The robots on the receiving end of the attacks were carved into pieces. Some of the robots were taking some steps back hoping to land a hit as their fellow units followed blindly into the fray. Theo turned the corner around the wall to find John standing in the entryway to some kind of aircraft. As he made his way toward it, he barely caught a glimpse of its door closing before something else got in his way.

A larger variant of the robots seen so far, except this robot was given much stronger and defined form of the armor.

While inside the base, one of the robots finally managed to strike Transford, hitting him square in the back and he collapsed. He looked back to see the bot that had landed the strike and saw it charging up another shot...

*BANG*

The robot's head was blown into pieces, its body shook violently before collapsing into a static heap. Transford stood up to see a blue fox in a black vest approaching with a rifle in hand, confusing the hedgehog.

"Kuro...?"

Kuroki suddenly drew a pistol on Transford and pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting the rim of his glasses and breaking them in half before bouncing off of the bridge of his nose.

"I said I'd fix the lock."

"I'm over the lock, I just wished you'd told me you were going to take down John.", The fox shrugged and Transford responded in kind, "I tried calling. How'd you find us, anyway? We never told you where we were headed."

"Well, I had a little bit of help with that one."￼ The sound of something roaring to life outside caused the building to shake violently, forcing some of the piles of scrap to vibrate. It was the sound of the ship beginning to rise and take off. But, it would seem it is trying to warm up its thrusters before take off.

Theo looked up from the shattered remains of the last robot, pieces of circuitry in his hand, before rushing toward the ship as it rose even further off the ground. He lept up and managed to grab onto the side bar by the door and get it open to see John standing there with a gun in hand, forcing him to let go to dodge the shot. Kuroki took aim at the ship's engine with the rifle. The shot instead bounced off the side and before he could load another one, the ship was far out of range. The three mobians watched the craft flying toward a much larger airship currently hovering over the island city a few miles away. At that moment, Kuroki's phone began vibrating. He answered and was greeted by static...

The static grew louder and louder until a familiar birds voice came over the phone. "Hello, boys. Miss me or Johnny much?"

Kuroki looked at the phone cofused, before both he and Transford said what they were thinking with very different tones.

"Who the hell are you..."

"Someone who's getting what she needs. I am Vultra, An acquaintance of the late Za Nakrota. I intend to fulfill his ambitions. I need resources, I need energy, and I need you gone, be it missing or dead." The voice said.

"Well then for one thing, how about starting by sending in something with some actual heat." Transford commented, taking the bullets from the body of one of John's gaurds.