Rocketing off beyond the atmosphere's veil, the small spacecraft lifted off from the small island, carrying its intrepid crew- Team Astro, an assortment of individuals from around the world, ready to fight against Eggman on the Red Planet. As it detached from its launch frame, the small vessel's engines switched on, accelerating it rapidly pass the ongoing space battle between GUN and Eggman's fleet, lasers and missiles exchanged between their massive ships and battle stations. It was truly an awesome sight to behold: flashing with lights and bright explosions of color, powerful grey hulks stood before an oncoming swarm of vicious chrome red, bearing a vicious bite.
However, as their fragile little ship flew beyond the dark side of the moon, the auto-pilot could take over, allowing for a moment of quiet before they had to, once again, dive into the proverbial fire.
Rick whistled as the last vestiges of the apocalyptic space battle disappeared behind the darkening arch of the moon. He sent out a small prayer to those brave humans and mobians holding the line back there, giving the team a chance to sneak by and infiltrate Eggman's base. Setting in the coordinates for Mars, the turtle unbuckled himself from his seat as the auto-pilot engaged. They'd have some time to prepare before they arrived at the base, it'd be good to see how the rest of the team was doing.
"Alright, boys and girls," he announced as he exited the cockpit into the (to him) fairly small cabin in the center of the ship, "We're on our way to Mars. Shake yourselves out and make sure that everthin's where you left it."
"All limbs where I left them...wait wait." Jokingly Adara checked behind herself to inspect her waving tail. "Yep, all of em. I also calibrated my board for different gravity environments yesterday, so I'm all set to go." She proclaimed. She was doing some stretching exercises, which were a little redundant with the moves she could already pull, but standing still was the ninja art she hated most so getting it out of her system was priority one.
"I also double-checked the safty of my explosives...again. I swear command are such babies about that."
Looking at the receding battle, planet, and eventually moon, with somewhat sad smile Faline was in reminiscence what happened in the past week.
Dr. Eggman really did something unprecedented, once again aiming to acquire the Chaos Emeralds ('if only...'), but this time to break a seal placed on a different planet ('if it's what I think, then...'). Unlike previously, when either a small group of spec-ops, mercenaries, or even just Sonic and his companions thrawned his plans, with governments arguing with one other ('at best doing some clean-up'), the whole world responded in a unified fashion.
What spurred them to finally take him seriously and actively help G.U.N. and Sonic's friends, though?
With a light chuckle Faline shook her head 'I wonder how long that will last... maybe a week or 2 IF we win, but...'
Shaking her head once more, she felt the shift in acceleration as the ship went from escape velocity to "long-voyage" toward's its target, artificial gravity kicking in, orienting them toward's the "floor".
Faline wasn't very familiar with space flight but knew that meant they finished the first step, and now came the waiting part...
Standing up, Faline smiled. She hadn't talked much with Rick but was glad his <I can drive anything> boast wasn't exaggerated. Quite a few volunteers have said that only to fail spectacularly.
"All limbs where I left them...wait wait.
...
Yep, all of em. I also calibrated my board for different gravity environments yesterday, so I'm all set to go."
The young voice belonged to another cat, who stretched while jokingly inspecting her tail.
And wasn't that a surprise to find another cat. Feline mobians were, if not a minority, then a rather rare group.
"Can't blame them. From what I heard this thing cost them quite the pretty penny. There was something about new stealth tech but didn't quite understand that... heh, even if it works, We shouldn't rely on it too much." Faline added her two cents while checking her chakram and some spare clothing.
It's like her fights, don't rely on one trick, or you'll lose 'as they learned the hard way'.
Especially since the dear doctor will counter this after a single encounter. He always had edge in technology, always.
"Say, Adara, right? Two things:
One, You' know detectives Chaotix, yes? What's their read on Eggman's activities, if ya' know.
And two, how likely Dr. Broom-For-Face will build his generator in the center of his base, right on-top the seal?"
She cast a quick gaze over everyone in the room.
"Oh, and we should go through our intel while we can"
"Woah."As I saw the ongoing struggle occur not too far off from our Spacecraft, I coudln't come up with any other words but that to express my surprise.
'A spacefight straight out of a movie', I thought to myself. It was somewhat surreal, seeing such a large battle happening right in front of me. Especially for someone my size.
Well, now's not the time for that. I was callibrating the output of my Boosters before launch. It was the big day, after all. I couldn't exactly afford to be careless.
The right one had been giving out a little bit more speed than I was used to. I really shouldn't have let those G.U.N. Engineers handle the fine-tuning.
Being lazy was biting my ass.
"Alright, boys and girls," he announced as he exited the cockpit into the (to him) fairly small cabin in the center of the ship, "We're on our way to Mars. Shake yourselves out and make sure that everthin's where you left it."
"Oh damn. Hang on, I'm just finishing up." Closing up the small lid below my Robot's right thruster, I use the small device I made in my hands, which connected directly to the Armor so I could alter it's programing, to turn it on.
The heat accidentally toasts one of my whiskers, but progress has it's costs.
"Yep, all green here." Turning off the Thrusters, I deactivate the Suit's 'Dev Mode' and reboot it.
I enter the small hole in the back, taking me directly to the cockpit. A Soft Green-colored HUD greets me as the Visual Detection System activates, turning on the Circular screen that encased the control systems.
"Wait, you can take off your limbs? That's neat. Why didn't you say so earlier?"
I ask one of the two felines that where part of our crew. Adara, was it? I knew we had some guys with pretty crazy abilities, but that's definitively an unique one.
"Say, Adara, right? Two things:
One, You' know detectives Chaotix, yes? What's their read on Eggman's activities, if ya' know.
And two, how likely Dr. Broom-For-Face will build his generator in the center of his base, right on-top the seal?"
"I don't know anything you don't, Chaotix are allready onboard with this. Though if you want me to call them up and pester them that sounds like a fun way to kill a few min. As for Eggman's base and generator...yea, with his ego I would not be shocked if he DID put all his 'eggs' in one basket." Adara said as she checked a readout on the ship. She knew enough to figure if something was wrong with the ship.
"Wait, you can take off your limbs? That's neat. Why didn't you say so earlier?"
I ask one of the two felines that where part of our crew. Adara, was it? I knew we had some guys with pretty crazy abilities, but that's definitively an unique one.
Rick chuckled at the banter between the crew even as he raised an eyebrow as the little fella, (Bolts, he remembered) nearly scorched himself running diagnostics on their mech. That was quite the surprise back on the training island, what he thought was just power armor was instead a (compartively) humongous mecha piloted by mouse. He watched as the pilot scurried up the mech and into the cockpit as it it initialized.
"Easy there, Bolts," he gently chided, "There's no need rushin'. We've still got plenty a time before we hit Mars. Wouldn't do if someone got hurt 'fore we even touch down."
The turtle then turned to the rest of the team. "Now, as for intel. One of them GUN spooks gave me what up-ta-date data they had on that Eggman base before we left Earth." He placed his arm onto a nearby data display and plugged in his wrist comms into the projector. @Muhkat Lomorki
Mind giving us a rundown of what we know and can expect from the Mars Eggman base?
"I don't know anything you don't, Chaotix are allready onboard with this. Though if you want me to call them up and pester them that sounds like a fun way to kill a few min. As for Eggman's base and generator...yea, with his ego I would not be shocked if he DID put all his 'eggs' in one basket." Adara said as she checked a readout on the ship. She knew enough to figure if something was wrong with the ship.
"Oh, the problem is I can only do it once. Gotta save it for a key moment, ya know?" She said with a smirk. How long would it take for them to get it.
"Oh. That sucks. Still pretty clever of you to keep it for the right momen-Wait, isn't that the same for everyone?" If I cut my tail off, I don't think I'd be able to do it again, for example. Maybe she could only reattach it once? Was it twice, then she found out and now only had one more go left?
...Maybe I could use this as a concept for something.
Rick chuckled at the banter between the crew even as he raised an eyebrow as the little fella, (Bolts, he remembered) nearly scorched himself running diagnostics on their mech. That was quite the surprise back on the training island, what he thought was just power armor was instead a (compartively) humongous mecha piloted by mouse. He watched as the pilot scurried up the mech and into the cockpit as it it initialized.
"Easy there, Bolts," he gently chided, "There's no need rushin'. We've still got plenty a time before we hit Mars. Wouldn't do if someone got hurt 'fore we even touch down."
The turtle then turned to the rest of the team. "Now, as for intel. One of them GUN spooks gave me what up-ta-date data they had on that Eggman base before we left Earth." He placed his arm onto a nearby data display and plugged in his wrist comms into the projector. @Muhkat Lomorki
Mind giving us a rundown of what we know and can expect from the Mars Eggman base?
"Nah, I'm kinda used to this. There was this one time I ended up in bed with second-degree burns for a month. Kinda sucks to live alone when that happens." And I'm not really messing with my Mech for now, so it'd be fine.
"Well, I'll be more careful in the future."
"I don't know anything you don't, Chaotix are allready onboard with this. Though if you want me to call them up and pester them that sounds like a fun way to kill a few min. As for Eggman's base and generator...yea, with his ego I would not be shocked if he DID put all his 'eggs' in one basket." Adara said as she checked a readout on the ship. She knew enough to figure if something was wrong with the ship.
"Oh, the problem is I can only do it once. Gotta save it for a key moment, ya know?" She said with a smirk. How long would it take for them to get it.
Great. The obvious thing and a missed point.
It's concerning that there IS a seal on the red planet on its own, but having a volatile power source next to it will be... bad.
But about the detectives: "Cool if you could, Ada, it would be golden if we knew where Eggman is: Mars, his Fleet, or on Earth collecting Chaos Emeralds. Buut better keep communications to a minimum..." unconsciously I touch my left shoulder, before pulling my hand down "Dr. managed to near-eliminate multiple squads that ignored radio-silence for more than a minute. You and mech-boy would know better how to avoid that, though few seconds should be safe..-ish."
That contract work in Sahara was unpleasant, and that's all you'll make of that. You learned from that and came better of it.
Rick chuckled at the banter between the crew even as he raised an eyebrow as the little fella, (Bolts, he remembered) nearly scorched himself running diagnostics on their mech. That was quite the surprise back on the training island, what he thought was just power armor was instead a (compartively) humongous mecha piloted by mouse. He watched as the pilot scurried up the mech and into the cockpit as it it initialized.
"Easy there, Bolts," he gently chided, "There's no need rushin'. We've still got plenty a time before we hit Mars. Wouldn't do if someone got hurt 'fore we even touch down."
The turtle then turned to the rest of the team. "Now, as for intel. One of them GUN spooks gave me what up-ta-date data they had on that Eggman base before we left Earth." He placed his arm onto a nearby data display and plugged in his wrist comms into the projector. @Muhkat Lomorki
Mind giving us a rundown of what we know and can expect from the Mars Eggman base?
"Oh. That sucks. Still pretty clever of you to keep it for the right momen-Wait, isn't that the same for everyone?" If I cut my tail off, I don't think I'd be able to do it again, for example. Maybe she could only reattach it once? Was it twice, then she found out and now only had one more go left?
...Maybe I could use this as a concept for something.
"Nah, I'm kinda used to this. There was this one time I ended up in bed with second-degree burns for a month. Kinda sucks to live alone when that happens." And I'm not really messing with my Mech for now, so it'd be fine.
"Well, I'll be more careful in the future."
-----
I smiled and lightly shook my head at the semi-clueless and quite reckless actions of mouse engineer, before glancing at Rick and the projector. Walking to him, I say what I know, loud enough for others to hear:
"From experience along with some static defenses like spikes, mines, pits, and turrets, the Doctor will have hordes of robots, split into about three levels of importance:" here I count on fingers "fodder - the relatively weak but numerous masses; elite - powerful combatants, but comparatively few in numbers; and bosses - unique opponents, like Metal Sonic, Devil Ray, that can and will end you if you make a mistake.
As arrogant as he is, Eggman never leaves his bases unguarded.
Unlike Earth, where Sonic, G.U.N., and hired mercenaries routinely pressure his industry, Mars will have only us, so his forces will be limited by the speed of his production, effectively endless.
Also, Eggman has a tendency to participate in combat as well, usually piloting afro mentioned bosses, making them even more dangerous.
From the available footages of his battles that I've studied, he's slower than most mobians and his machines but don't let it fool you: in addition to more chaotic movement, more often than not Eggman will saturate the combat zone with weapons fire, limit our movement and he will also attack where you will be. His body is slow, but his mind is not. Limiting our movement vectors he can "predict" where we'll be before we even consciously think of it.
If Adara's message to Chaotix get's through and they confirm that Eggman is on Earth, we have to use this opportunity to it's fullest.
Yet remember he's technology is more advanced than anything Earth has. His ships are faster and he has teleportation tech as well.
Meaning empty room can instantly be flooded with his robots and he can come to us as well."
Then glancing at the still silent projector, and putting my hands on hips I add: "And that's ignoring any radars, anti-air guns, ships and fighter craft protecting the base and its perimeter that could encompass large portion if not the whole Mars."
Looking up and at everyone, I continue "This is a stealth mission, though expect it to change quickly." then with a joyous smile I add "And try to enjoy it, we're the first mobians to visit Mars in this millennia, few can brag of that!"
. . .
After this impropus meeting and we scattered, I catch up to the red and yellow bird "Hey, Blade, you've got a minute? I need your insight into something..."
A holographic top-down map popped up from Rick's Wrist Comm, clearly of Eggman's base. The place was absolutely massive, being a full ten miles in diameter, and designed around a central octagonal hub. It was connected together by a complex monorail system, weaving between large egg-shaped structures and all leading back to the center, which had a golden dome roof and laser turrets at each of its corners.
A holographic top-down map popped up from Rick's Wrist Comm, clearly of Eggman's base. The place was absolutely massive, being a full ten miles in diameter, and designed around a central octagonal hub. It was connected together by a complex monorail system, weaving between large egg-shaped structures and all leading back to the center, which had a golden dome roof and laser turrets at each of its corners.
..
Only years of training and combat prevented me from cursing or showing any outward signs of dissatisfaction, though my relaxed smile became slightly strained.
Ignoring its massive size that rivaled 'Eggmanland' during Dark Gaia incident and his Space amusement park that exploded days before it's opening ('THAT was a surprise, they usually explode after he announced their completion') it had fairly good 'air/tower gun' coverage, had a complex yet open transportation system, thus preventing unseen entry via the obvious route, not to mention other structures had some purpose.
"I take this is our obstacle, yes? What can you tell about it, Rick?" I said while giving the floor to him. He seemed to know more about this, and maybe our resident tech experts can point out some advantage, something we sorely need.
