Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Life Bestowed ❯ Aerial Attack ( Chapter 10 )

Legal Stuff:

I don't own any of the characters in this story. They are the properties of their respective owners.

Author's Notes:

Hey, you made it to chapter 10! Good for you.

Chapter 10: Aerial Attack

Robotnik had been awaiting the arrival of his arch foe when something on a monitor caught his attention. The base's factories had produced all the bombs that could be stored aboard the fortress, and it was ready to attack New York. The scientist had a decision to make. Should he go after the city now or wait for Sonic? He had learned by now to take every possible advantage, and gave the order to go back to New York. If he met the hedgehog along the way, so be it. Besides, this would give him more of an element of surprise, he thought. The base's three enormous thrusters lit up, and the fortress began to move across the sky. Back in New York, Scruffy had worked with Keylo to produce a usable electric power source.

Scruffy: Okay, Keylo, turn it on, and let's see what this thing does.

Keylo: Right away!

Keylo flipped a switch on the machine, which was actually a car engine built from parts of several engines found at the junkyard. The drive shaft had several large magnets around it, which spun inside a tightly packed coil of wire. They had managed to build a large electric generator. When Dr. Arrow saw the device, he was a bit surprised to see such a thing done so quickly.

Dr. Arrow: You seem to share in Tails's technical genius, you two.

Scruffy: It's a fox thing. Anyway, it looks like it's working…Hey Keylo, what kind of voltage are we putting out?

Keylo looked over at a meter that monitored the power output of the generator.

Keylo: More than enough. But the transporter's regulators should be able to compensate.

Scruffy nodded, and turned to the doctor.

Scruffy: Well, doc, thanks for helping us out.

Dr. Arrow: You're quite welcome…

The doctor was beginning to get a little annoyed at Scruffy for calling him `doc' all the time, but he didn't say anything about it. Scruffy checked the machine that gave him Tails's location, and it was still moving. Keylo walked up to him, and saw it, too.

Keylo: So we're going to wait for him to stop moving, and then transport?

Scruffy: That's right. Judging by its speed and the fact that it's moving in a straight line, I'm pretty sure we're tracking an aircraft. We'll have to wait for it to land, or else we'd be in for a very long fall.

Keylo: I see what you mean. Do you really think we'll find Tails?

Scruffy: I'm sure of it. You'll get to see your brother real soon; don't worry.

Keylo nodded, and then Simon peeked in and told them that lunch was ready. Keylo cheered and followed the hedgehog, and Scruffy followed them shortly afterwards. Back over the skies of Florida, Robotnik's Fortress and The Freedom Eagle were on a collision course. Robotnik had a plan to pass right under them and shoot them down. He found it to be a brilliant idea, and expected it to work. After all, there was no way a Chinook could outmaneuver his guns, right? Inside the Eagle, Billy spotted the edge of something huge at the top of his radar screen. It looked almost like a straight line at first, but its circular shape soon became clear. The others saw it, too.

Sonic: Man…What is that?

Metal Sonic: It is the base. Strange that we are encountering it so soon…Wait! He must've begun moving again!

Sonya: What are you talking about?

Metal Sonic: He's planning to bomb New York. All of it. His factories have been producing napalm and the bombs to put it in ever since he first took off. He came down here to hide from you all, but now he's ready to strike, as soon as he gets to his target.

Scotty: I can't let that happen. We have to find a way to stop him before he reaches the city!

Billy: We could try to invade the fortress, and shut it down from the inside.

Sally: But we'd have to get inside first. Metal, could you help us out with that?

Metal Sonic: Sorry, but I'm not about to risk my safety helping any of you. You've got to break in on your own.

Billy: The distance between us is narrowing. If anyone has any ideas, now's the time.

They waited for a moment, but then a certain two-tailed fox chimed in over the radio.

Tails: How about we attack the base?

Sonic: What? Attack that thing? Are you crazy; that's suicide!

Billy rubbed his chin, and thought for a moment. No one else seemed to notice.

Tails: Crazy? Yes. Suicide? No.

Sonic: Tell me, do I even stand a chance at changing your mind?

Tails: Nope. I don't know about the Eagle, but this bird's meant to fight!

Tails looked down at the wings of his Veritech, and saw the front tips of the missiles he had brought along. There were more inside the jet, just waiting to be used. A moment later, Billy's face lit up as he addressed Tails.

Billy: Who says the Eagle can't fight?

All: What?

Billy: I knew the day would come when these would be needed…

He got up out of the pilot's seat, and walked over to one of the walls next to one of the side doors. There was a small control panel there, and he pressed a few buttons. There was a short burst of steam from the ceiling, and the side doors opened as two large gun weapons lowered from the ceiling, each attached at the sides by two metal bars to the ceiling. They slowly swiveled into place, sticking out the doors. Billy grinned at the surprise on everyone's faces.

Billy: I installed these before we left. Each one is a powerful gatling gun, capable of punching holes in just about anything. I figure that if we circle around the base while firing one of these, we will be able to assist Tails. They overheat after a while, though, so we'll have to switch back and forth.

Scotty: Just wait until Knuckles hears about this…

Sonic: He'd probably have a heart attack.

Billy: That's highly unlikely; my brother's active lifestyle would-

Sonic: Okay, Bill, we don't need a science lesson right now.

Amy: He's right. We're about to fly headlong into danger.

Billy: I'll be flying the Eagle, so I need two others to command the guns. They're quite tricky to aim, and rattle like you wouldn't believe, so we must carefully make our choice.

They didn't have much time, so it was quickly decided that Scotty and Johnny would operate the guns. They all watched out the front window, and there was a thick cloudbank ahead of them. After a few seconds, the clouds churned and were eventually torn apart as the massive base ripped through them. They were in visual range of each other. Everyone except Metal Sonic was in awe at the sight.

Tails: Gentlemen, there's our target. Now we have to figure out how to attack it.

Metal Sonic: Go for the laser turrets.

Sonic: Huh?

Metal Sonic: The laser turrets! There are several of them, and each one could quite easily take this machine out of the sky. Some are on the tower, but most are located atop each of six cylindrical devices.

He went up to the windshield, and pointed them out to the crew. After he was sure they understood, he went to the back of the Eagle. He pressed a button on a nearby panel, and the massive back door opened. He turned around, facing the others.

Metal Sonic: And now it's time for me to go. Good luck.

He jumped out of the Eagle, and rushed ahead as the door closed. The robot flew through one of the helipad doors, passing by a heavily armed attack helicopter that hadn't been there before.

Sonic: Is it just me, or did Metal Sonic just wish us good luck?

Scotty: He must really want Robotnik to fail this time…

Tails: Okay, guys, enough chatter. Let's hit this thing!

Sonic: Since when did you become the leader?

Tails: Since I was the one with fighter jet!

Billy: All right, Tails, you've got more flying experience than anyone else here. Take us in…and be careful.

Tails nodded, and flew off in front of the Eagle, his exhaust trail momentarily clouding the Eagle's vision. The Veritech gained some altitude, and locked on to one of the turrets.

Tails: Here goes nothing…

He closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger. The Veritech fired a barrage of six missiles, each one a direct hit to the turret, destroying it. Inside the fortress, Robotnik was alerted to the attack, and gave the order to commence firing. Metal Sonic was now aboard, and making his way to the turret room near the top of the base's main tower. He heard the alarm go off, and thought to himself as he hurried along.

Metal Sonic: <thinking> No! Not yet, you fools!

Billy maneuvered the Eagle to an attack position alongside the base, and Scotty grabbed the controls of the left gun. Billy had a strange feeling that he should activate the special shield generator he had created before they left, and did so just in time to save the Eagle from an otherwise deadly attack by a nearby turret. All of the powerful guns activated, and began to fire long, thick white lasers in short bursts at both the Eagle and the Veritech. Billy gunned the throttle, and the Eagle shot forwards, knocking everyone inside down. He apologized as he tried to dodge laser blasts.

Billy: Sorry, everyone! This is going to prove more difficult than I had previously expected…

Tails was dodging the fire quite easily, since his vehicle was faster and more agile, combined with his piloting experience. He unloaded another barrage of missiles into a turret near the back of the base, and all the turrets began to target him, drawing the focus away from Billy and the others.

Billy: I think we have an opportunity to strike! Get to the gun, Scotty! I'll lower the shields for you.

Sally: Lower them?! Why?!

Billy: They're designed not to let anything through in either direction! If you fire while they're up, the shots would bounce off the inside. I would've fixed the problem, but we were too pressed for time!

Scotty: It's okay, Bill, just give me an opening!

The shields of the Eagle went down as quickly as they had come up, and a small light on the gun turned green to indicate this. Scotty aimed for one the turrets, and pushed his thumb down on the trigger. The gun rumbled back and forth, scattering the shots everywhere. Scotty soon figured out how to handle this, and gained a less-than-steady aim. The gun made all sorts of clanking mechanical noises with each shot, and Scotty was soon able to destroy one of the turrets. Inside the base, Robotnik saw that the Eagle was armed as well, and pressed a button. Outside, on each of the five helipads, a heavily armed Apache helicopter took off, and went in pursuit of the two heroic craft. Sonya noticed one, and pointed to it.

Sonya: Hey, look at that! I think the air force has come to help!

Billy had already raised the shields after Scotty's attack run, and the Apache fired a missile at the Eagle. It hit, and the Chinook rumbled with the blast.

Sonic: If that's the army, then they've got the wrong targets!

Another Apache flew past the front of the Eagle, and Billy caught sight of the markings on the side that indicated they belonged to Robotnik. Billy slammed his fist down on the control panel, angry at this new discovery. He turned for a moment to face the others, and yelled.

Billy: Shoot them down!

The Eagle pulled a tight 90-degree turn to the right; And Johnny grabbed the controls of the right gun. The shields were lowered, and the hedgehog unloaded a bucketful of rounds into the offending helicopter, shooting it down.

Johnny: Oh yeah! It's great to command a gun again!

The turrets were going after Tails, and he had an idea. The fox put some distance between him and the base, and armed all of the missiles that were on the wings at the time. He performed a half loop, rolled out of it, and locked on to four of the turrets. Three were on the base itself, and one was on the tower. Tails happily pulled the trigger, and several familiar clicking sounds were heard as the missiles were released. They were shortly followed by several sets of loud whooshing noises as the missiles took off. Each turret that had been targeted was obliterated by the six missiles that hit it.

Tails: Yeah! Take that!

Inside the base, Metal Sonic entered the large room where the tower's turrets were operated just in time to be knocked over by the blast of one of them being destroyed. He quickly got back to his feet, and hurried to one of the tower's other remaining three turrets. He grabbed its robotic pilot and threw him out of the seat. The hedgehog robot climbed in, and manned the controls. He saw the Eagle being shot at by two of the Apaches, and took aim at one of them. Metal Sonic fired, and the turret's beam tore through the Apache, destroying it. Inside the Eagle, everyone saw it, and wondered what was going on.

Sonic: Just when you thought you had everything figured out, this happens! What's the deal?!

Billy: We can figure that out later! Right now we've got another one to evade!

Billy managed to push the Eagle to its limits dodging the attacks of the other Apache. Inside the base, Metal Sonic had targeted the helicopter, and was about to fire. He was stopped by Robotnik, who contacted him via radio.

Robotnik: METAL!! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!

Metal Sonic: They've got control of my body, sir! I can't fight it.

Robotnik believed the robot's lie, and the fat man prepared a device to disable Metal Sonic without harming him. In the meantime, the helicopters had already moved out of range, so Metal Sonic fired on one of the turrets on the base below. It was soon gone as Robotnik rushed in with the device ready. Metal Sonic took that moment to think to himself.

Metal Sonic: <thinking> Good luck, heroes. Show this fat guy up one more time!

The robot was hit by an electrical beam from Robotnik's handheld device, and fell to the ground, unconscious. Back outside, Tails was running into trouble. He was nearly out of missiles, so he fired the large gunpod that was attached to the bottom of the jet. The bullets ripped through one of the Apaches, taking it down. One more helicopter to go, along with the three remaining tower-mounted turrets. Johnny's gun needed to cool down after his attack on the Apache, so it was Scotty's turn again.

Scotty: Try and get us in closer, Bill! I need a clear shot!

Billy: I'll do what I can. By the way, I've set the shields to raise automatically if they detect an attack, so stop shooting if you see something coming.

Scotty: Why's that?

Scotty's question was answered when two turrets fired on the Eagle at the same time. The shields went up, but the helicopter was still violently shaken. Instinctively grabbing something to avoid falling down, Scotty's thumb hit the trigger. The gatling gun fired several rounds into the shield, and they all bounced back, deformed and white-hot. Most of the Burning flak bounced harmlessly off the side of the Eagle, but a rogue piece was sent through the door. It hit Scotty in the arm, stinging and burning at the same time. He immediately reached over to grab it, but it burned his hand and the glove. The piece of metal rapidly cooled, and soon fell out as Scotty cried out in pain. Sonya came to his aid, kneeling next to him.

Sonya: Scotty, are you okay?! What can I do for you?!

Scotty spoke through clenched teeth.

Scotty: The burning…ack…

He looked down at his arm. It was bleeding, and red from the burn. Billy rushed from his chair to get a medical kit and bandaged the wound as Johnny took the controls. After a few moments, Sonya stood up and grabbed the controls of Scotty's gun.

Sonya: Take us around for another pass, Johnny!

Johnny did as he was told, trying to analyze the controls more fully. He knew the basic operations, and hoped it would be enough. The Eagle banked as it turned around, and approached the base once more. Sonya eyed the turrets in the tower, and took aim with rage in her eyes. She let loose, bombarding the entire tower with scattered shots. Two of the turrets were destroyed and the tower began to resemble Swiss cheese before the gun overheated. Sonya let go of it, breathing heavily. Everyone else just stared for a few moments.

Sonya: What?

Scotty: Thanks…Sony…

Sonya: Anytime, my dear Scott.

Meanwhile, Tails was chasing after the last remaining Apache helicopter, and soon shot it down. This had taken his attention away from the last turret, which hadn't forgotten about him. It fired, and the beam sliced through the left back part of the aircraft, near one of the thrusters. The Veritech jolted around with the initial impact, and continued to shake as several alarms went off inside. Smoke poured from the left thruster as Tails lost altitude. He made a desperate radio call to the others.

Tails: Guys, I've been hit-bad! Sorry, but I'm out.

Johnny: Will you be okay?

Tails: I think I can make an emergency landing. Take out that last turret for me, will ya?

Johnny: I will avenge you.

Johnny lined up a course for the Eagle to fly by the offending turret, and set the machine on autopilot. He grabbed his gatling gun, and waited for the shields to go down, since the turret was about to fire again. The Eagle rumbled with the hit, but Johnny kept a steady hand. When the turret was within range, he fired mercilessly. The turret erupted in a ball of flame, and was destroyed. Johnny smiled, and turned around.

Johnny: That does it for his defenses. Let's go pick Tails up; we need to make sure he's okay.

Billy: Agreed. Scotty, you go take a seat and get some rest. I'll take us down to get our friend.

Scotty found a chair, and sat down in it. His arm was starting to feel better already, but it still hurt. Billy took the controls as Johnny deactivated the gatling guns. The Eagle made a landing next to the Veritech, but did not shut down. Tails saw them, and hopped out. He jumped aboard the Eagle, leaving his damaged Veritech to rest for now. Before they left, Tails tossed out from the Eagle some spare components and materials along with some special tools. He did so in case he needed to fix the Veritech without having access to the Eagle for whatever reason. Repairs would come later, since they now had a more important mission. Billy flew the Eagle up to the base, and Robotnik tracked them from the control room. A deactivated Metal Sonic was in a nearby chair, and the scientist decided he needed to go to the backup plan. He grabbed a radio, and spoke into it.

Robotnik: Eliminator, stand by to engage enemy targets. Divert all free power to the engines, full speed ahead!

The base began to pick up speed, headed for New York, but still in southern Florida. They were somewhere over the southern part of Lake Okeechobee, a large water mass. Billy found landed the Eagle on one of the five helipads that were around the outside of the flying base. Robotnik saw just which one they were on, and deployed Eliminator to corridor three. The heavy robot walked into the corridor, and awaited its foes. Outside, after carefully checking the area, Billy turned the Eagle off, and they all exited it. They approached a massive blast door that blocked the way. There was a small control panel on one side of it, and Billy approached it. It was a simple keypad, with the numbers zero through nine and an `enter' button. Above it was a small display screen…

Now what? If you want to know so badly, then stay tuned! And please, don't forget to review.