...


-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: JF9-3.txt

	By the appointed hour, Tempest appeared physically refreshed.
His mental state, however, was anything but. It was late night when he
arrived at the edge of the Circled Stones that stood tall at the heart
of Camp Vidaran. The hour was no coincidence. Though kitsune were
capable night predators and hunters, their enemies were most active
during the day, and as a consequence they were too. Like all animals,
they tired, and they suffered from fatigue. Tempest was no exception.

	The Council, he knew, preferred to save their more rigorous
'meetings' for late at night. When tired and deprived of sleep, the mind
was more pliable and more readily revealing of its secrets. Worse than
the hour, and the physical toll of his long journey, was his recent
conversation with Mercer Na' Vidar. The only Kitsune Elder belonging to
Clan Vidar was now somewhere by himself, convening telepathically with
the rest of his comrades in the Council.

	Or were they comrades?

	Tempest sighed, and then yawned.

	All this trouble, all this confusion, because he had accepted
the Council's Quest to retrieve a lost kit. Had he declined to track
down the youth named Miles, and none would have faulted him for doing
so, then he would have spent the last few months in the normalcy of the
northlands. He would have remained untainted by southern thoughts,
problems, and ... interests. And, best of all, he never would have met
Princess 'Sally' Acorn. That whole association was proving more costly
and potentially dangerous than he had imagined.

	'On the other hand,' he allowed himself to speculate here,
outside the Circled Stones. 'If I had never gone south, I never would
have had the pleasure of training a truly exceptional young kitsune. Had
I not made the trip... where would the boy be now? Alive? A mindless
savage? A robot slave of that southern tyrant: Robotnick?'

	Speculation was not something Kitsune were particularly good at.

	Nor something they engaged in often.

	He, however, seemed to be the annoying exception.

	Resignedly, Tempest stepped onto the cold marble of the Circled
Stones. To his left and right, large slabs of rock climbed to the height
of twenty some odd feet. They were solid monoliths, sixteen in all,
etched with ancient runes. They bore no real resemblance to Kitsune-go
(itself a very complicated and difficult script), looking more
pictographic or iconographic than phonographic. He had learned, as a
kit, that they were built by the Kitsune in ancient times... and ancient
times for the Kitsune really meant Ancient Times, as in tens of
thousands of years in the past.

	But who knew for sure?

	It served as a focal point for the Psionic power of the Elder
Kitsune, and that was what mattered. At he approached the center of the
Circled Stones; Tempest heard the whispers in his mind. By the time he
had no further to walk, the voices were as clear and distinct as if the
Elders were standing all around him, and not hundreds or thousands of
miles away. When he lowered his mental defenses, and opened his mind to
them, they came like a flood...

	He was in limbo once more.

	"I appear before the Council, as requested." Tempest's eyes
scanned the darkness instinctively, but saw nothing. And why should he?
There really was nothing to see here. In reality, his eyes were closed,
and he was seated in the center of the stone ruins. Here, he would only
see something if he (or one of the Elders) wanted to make a point with
it or of it. When they reviewed his memories, they often flashed into
existence, but usually at many times speed - almost like a rapid replay
of the last few months.

	"What of the Council's thoughts on the last topic of
discussion?" Tempest asked, hoping for a better response than he had
gotten last time.

	"This Council finds the presence of a chimerical relationship of
the sort indicated totally unacceptable! It is acknowledged by the
Council that the son if Eblis must be... and has been... in contact with
southern moors in a manner alien to the Kitsune people. The creation,
however, of a permanent bond akin to that produced by a mating custom is
intolerable! Steps must be taken to insure the termination of any such
bond, at any cost. Is this clear?"

	"It is, Elders. However, it may be a moot point regardless."

	A moment's pause, and then:

	"Perhaps, Ephor. Perhaps." The Elder's tone didn't sound
convinced. "Now. Let us continue."

-----

-----

	"He taught you to fight like you did against me just now?"

	"Some," Nail explained a little reluctantly. "Though most of it
implanted in me when I...'born'. Why, what's got you so worried?"

	"Your style of fighting is... very overlanderish. Highly
unusual, for one who is an echidna, and whose body lacks the structure
to fully utilize such techniques."

	"Overlander-ish? ...There's probably a reason for that," Nail
muttered.

	"You... had an overlander as your mentor? ...Or was he your
creator?"

	"He was NOT my mentor!" Nail yelled, suddenly. "He never was and
never will be!"

	"I was only curious." Tempest was honestly surprised by the
outburst. "Information on their fighting styles is very difficult to
come by. I had hoped you'd know a living, flesh and blood overlander I
could meet and learn from. Most of my knowledge on their styles is
second or third hand."

	Nail 'hmfed.'

	"You wouldn't want to meet him. Trust me."

	"I see..." Tempest decided not to broach that subject further.

-----

	Rouge sighed. "No, I'm not in heat. I just have a way with men.
I find it sometimes helps in certain situations."

	Tempest breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. The last thing I need
is a bunch of halfbreeds running around. ...In any case, I want you to,
if you can, avoid the Freedom Fighter you would know as 'Tails.'"

	"Tails?" Rouge blurted the name out. "Why would I have to avoid
him? He's just a kid for crying out loud!"

	"You obviously haven't seen him recently." Tempest eyes'
twinkled dangerously.

	"Not really... not for almost a week. Why? What's wrong with
him?"

-----

	"She's pretty handy from time to time. Sally still doesn't like
her, or trust her, for obvious reasons. Sonic usually vouches for her,
though, so he trusts her. Enough to give her an invite to his monthly
trash-the-house party, even. She might have a thing for him, after he
saved her from Buttnick." Tails frowned a bit. "Females are stupid like
that, when it comes to him."

	"Feh." Tempest rolled his eyes. "It is not my concern what the
Princess thinks of her, or that little blue rodent. I told you to avoid
her, so you will."

	"Sure thing. It shouldn't be a problem."

-----

	Halfway through that thought, the door suddenly flew open and
Tempest saw Nail staying there with Tails thrown over his shoulder. The
echidna put the fox down in front of him, and then looked at Tempest.

	Tempest stood up and looked down at the boy. "What's this?"

	Nail did the same. "You tell me."

	Tempest looked more closely at Tails. "At least he's
breathing... I told you not to blast him anymore! What happened out
there?!"

	"I didn't blast him!" Nail countered. "I was training him. I
thought he was... like me. I thought he had some kind of link to one of
the Chaos Emeralds. But when I tried to get him to fire on a rock...
something happened.  It felt like my mind was on fire! I want to know
what it was."

	Tempest's eyes widened. "Oh no... oh no..."

-----

-----

	"Yet another training mishap, Honorable Ephor?" It was that
Elder from before, Tempest recognized the thought/voice. Aside from
that, however, Tempest had no clue who seemingly had a grudge against
him among the Council. "And yet another training partner? Highly
unorthodox of you to accept so many, or from a group so diverse."

	The Elder was taking few pains to conceal his insults this time.

	Tempest's upper lip curled.

	"A fake echidna of dubious background and a Princess of the
hated House of Acorn! What strange bedfellows for one whose purpose is
to guide a young kitsune back onto the path of his people," The Elder
inserted a contemptuous snort. "And here we are presented with the son
of Eblis on the verge of brain damage!"

	Tempest saw, quickly, that the remaining Elders wanted him to
defend himself.

	He proceeded to do so. "The Princess was most close to him as a
kit. Having her assist me in his training during the Turan'Ha was most
effective and expedient. You only mention it to inflate the inclusion of
Nail into the training program. However, Good Elders, I will admit I am
far from flawless, particularly in a task like this, for which I am not
as well suited as others..."

	That served to soften things up. They had asked him to go, not
the other way around. They must have known he had never had a child, and
had little experience with kits. His sister hadn't even given birth yet,
so he had no nephews or nieces. The only aids he had were the memories
of his father and grandfather.

	"In my judgment, I came to believe Nail could be put to
productive use. Let me explain why. He is a tenacious and headstrong
mobian. Had I not included him, he would have found some way to
interfere. This way, I was able to maintain as much control over the
situation as I could. Additionally, Nail has access to powers and
abilities of which I have no experience or knowledge. Most specifically
those regarding the use of 'Chaos' energy."

	"As for the boy's condition..." Tempest allowed himself a smirk.
"He was not nearly so weak, Elders, as I am sure you all know."

	Tempest heard murmurs of agreement, to his relief. It had been
somewhat of a gamble at the end, there. Finally, yet another Elder spoke
up for the Council. "We will ponder your words, Ephor. I, for one, find
them both wise and well spoken. Let us also continue this
investigation."

	Voices of agreement came from all around him.

	Tempest silently inclined his head.

-----

-----

	"These are my patients." Mina waved a finger at him. "And you
have no right to oooh!"

	Picking her up with both hands, Tempest ignored her squeal of
protest, walked over to the door, and dropped her onto her feet outside.
Bunnie shook her head disapprovingly, but had an amused smile on her
face. A second later, he closed the door, leaned against it, and let out
a long drawn out sigh of relief. That business taken care of, he walked
up to Rouge's bed and crossed his arms, looking down at her.

	"What?" She asked, batting her eyes.

	"I told you to avoid him." Tempest pointed out without
compassion. "Didn't I?"

	"And I did avoid him." Rouge replied. "Mostly."

-----

	"This is all your fault, you realize," Tempest said after a
moment. "One of those two are going to die out there."

	Rouge looked over the fight, realizing exactly how easy Tails
had been on her when they had their 'fight.' "How do you know that?"

	"Because I know both of them. Tails will kill him to get you if
he has to. And Nail won't stop fighting, even at the cost of his life.
This isn't good. Especially because while Nail is very skilled, I...
taught my student to identify and exploit the vulnerabilities in any
opponent, and he knows all of Nail's weaknesses."

	"Then why don't you go in there and stop them?"

	"I can't. It would dishonor me, my Family, my Clan, and Tails
himself... I can't. It's not how it's done." Tempest looked down at her.
"But you can stop this at any time."

	"I would... but I somehow doubt I'd last a minute in there with
those two."

	"No, I meant... just take Tails are your mate. It'll only be for
a few days. Then, when the Turan'ha wears off, we can have someone else
Claim you, and take you off his hands."

	"Well, what do you think he's gonna do with me for those couple
of days? I don't think I'm quite ready for 'that.'"


-----

	"Well... you're not just going to march in and take her, are
you? We're not animals." Tempest took a massive chunk out of the boar's
leg and proceeded to chew it. "The act itself is the easy part. But... I
want to make this absolutely clear, unless you do not already know.
You... should not *force* this on her, or any other. Not a female of the
Third Race, and not a female of the Second. Not even an overlander
female, should you ever actually encounter one. I know the... temptation
and the lust you feel during your Turan'ha, because I experienced it as
well. Perhaps I was too... perhaps I was foolish to think I could keep
you isolated from such circumstances..."

	"Regardless..." Tempest's stone cold eyes bored into his
student. "Know that I cannot command you, by Tradition, not to force
her. By Tradition, the decision is yours, when it comes to non-Kitsune
females and other 'spoils of war.' I respect that, as I respect
Tradition... but on a personal level, I find I cannot abide such
actions. You are Turo! You are proud, and you are strong! I know,
because I have fought you, and I have a pack bond with you."

	"Tempest, I..." Tails face turned passive, and he looked up into
the sky. "I know. I know... I was actually afraid I would... afraid I
couldn't control myself. I would never..."

	"Never... say never, young Kitsune," Tempest interrupted. "Had
someone else raised you, would you be the same creature you are now? Had
you been left to your own devices in the wild, would you think as you do
now? Morality is not an absolute, but it is the water mark of good
character."

	Tails nodded, silenced.

-----

-----

	"I can scarcely believe what I am seeing! Yet another emotional
bond...!"

	"Of that, Elder, I am unsure!" Tempest quickly interrupted. "I
strongly believe that the boy's mating with the mobian bat named Rouge
was physical in nature, and not built on any strong emotional bonds."

	"How can you be sure, Ephor?" A different Elder asked, calmly.
"Lust is, itself, a strong emotion. After all, are not all natural
pairings based, at least in some part, on carnal attraction?"

	"Please understand things in the context in which I faced them,
Elders..." Tempest said, hating how pathetic it made him sound.
Recovering, he took a deep (though non existent) breath, and started
over. "Elders - I stand by my decisions. Many were made in haste, yes...
and maybe there were not all the correct ones, looking back with perfect
hindsight. However, given the circumstances in which I had to draw
conclusions and solutions, I look back with pride on how I handled
things."

	"A true Kitsune Ephor would have killed those two females..."

	"Proud Elder," Tempest jumped at the miscalculation his most
vocal critic had made. "Had you sent this 'true Kitsune Ephor' in my
place, he surely would have failed quite spectacularly. What would you
say to him then, I wonder?"

	"Enough of this!" Another Elder jumped in. "The meeting will
move forwards, not backwards. We shall continue this to its conclusion,
and then draw conclusions!"

	Tempest winced, as the memories left him fast than before, and
with greater force.

	-----

-----

	"He has great power. Enormous power, hidden under the surface."

	"He's always been... special." Sally agreed. "He's been racing
Sonic since he was little... He's been one of our best operatives for
years, now. Its amazing, really, how far he's gotten since he was just a
kit."

	"Tell me, Princess... what were your dreams like last night?"

	"Last night?" Sally hid her eyes, a cascade of red hair
obscuring them when she looked down at the floor. "Not good."

	"I don't expect that they were. Last night was a night of
grief."

	"A night of... grief...?"

	"The Boy... Tails... last night he had a dream. Or a prophecy.
Certainly, he believes it to be the latter. He saw his parents...
die...."


	"I want Robotnick's head on a pike," Tails snarled without
hesitation. "I want to look into his dead eyes every morning when I wake
up, and every night before I go to sleep. I want the legacy that was
denied my father: the primacy of Family Prower and Clan Turo."

	"You wish to be... Ephor Anthal?" Tempest asked, and lowered his
head slightly.

	Miles chuckled airily. "Ephor Anthal is only the beginning! When
I have gathered my power, I shall be Ephor Anthal Siphir! Emperor of all
the Clans of Kitsune!"


	"Well..." She steadied a chair and sat back down. "I'd still
like to know what that 'very good authority' he was talking about was."

	"As would I, Princess... though I have a fairly good idea. Nail
probably asked Athair, his echidna holy man and master... the question
is, what exactly did the old one say? Nail thinks Miles could become a
tyrant, right?"

	"Right."

	"A tyrant to whom? A tyrant is one who forces his will on
others... who are those others?  Us? The Kitsune? Your Third Race?
Robotnick? We don't know, and further, we don't know if it will come to
pass at all."


	"This is a dark and difficult time, but it is also a chance... a
twilight before the dawn... For a year now, Robotnick has been on the
defensive, and we have strategize and planned and ultimately failed to
make any real progress against the entrenched city of Robotropolis. Now,
however, Robotnick is throwing his full weight into the attack, and we
have an opportunity to take advantage of that, if we are daring. And if
we are willing to make sacrifices..."

	"Wait," Rotor interrupted. "Are you saying that this Helios
weapons platform is a good thing? What did you find out about it?"

	Miles frowned. "It cannot be attacked through conventional
means. Which means we will have to be creative. But what better to force
the intransigent few into taking necessary steps?"


	"Ahh..." Tempest attention suddenly turned elsewhere. Looking to
his side, he saw the floating fortress Helios. It seemed to be powering
up. Tempest idly wondered if it would destroy the city, then and there.
How sad would that be: to be blasted from above without even being
singled out as a target! There was, however, nothing that could be done
about it, and in typical kitsune fashion, Tempest didn't concern himself
with what was out of his control.

	If he died, then he died.

	"It would... appear... that we are not the target..." Tempest
watched Helios carefully. "I think I see. The boy..."

	He smirked contently. "I may not be able to do anything about
that little problem... but you... you are another story."


	Across the city, mobians followed suit. Fighter pilots,
artillerymen, infantry, Special Forces, Freedom Fighters... of every
breed and description... looked up into the overcast sky, where a bright
bolt of energy slowly spiraled through the air in a lazy arc. Just
seconds earlier, Helios had fired at the approaching HMS Nor'easter,
now... no one... no thing... knew exactly what was going on. Twisting
and turning, the streak of white lightning curved, lighting up the sky
like a second sun.

	Tempest shielded his eyes from the light.

	The bend of light finally fell upon the flying city, and when it
did it broke the moment's silence with a flash and a boom unparalleled
in recent memory. Helios' shield, for all of a heartbeat, resisted the
energy. Long tendrils of it curved around the egg shaped barrier, flying
in different directions at near light speed. The first explosions were
all around the flying city, bathing it in a sea of flame, before the
shield exploded outwards with the same force trying to direct itself
inwards.

	Those who didn't instinctively look away were instantly blinded.

	A towering inferno, a mile high, stretched heavenwards, blowing
away the assembled collection of clouds overhead. The column was etched
in red and orange and black, veins growing and worming up its terrific
height, feeding material into a growing mushroom cloud. On the ground, a
shockwave of seemingly solid air followed a deafening howl with all the
fury of a hurricane condensed into a single cry. Hundreds, mobian and
robot alike, were knocked off their feet, and hundreds more were
buffeted and slammed into walls or crushed by flying debris. Across
Knothole, roofs were blown off buildings, and rubble from the edge of
the city became like horizontal hail, cutting down anything in its path.


	Looking in the direction of the Egg Walkers and the fallen
Flying City, Tempest (like Sonic, on the other side of the city) felt
the tremor shake him to his core. It traveled along the ground like a
wave, tossing mobians and robots alike off their feet. The ripple in the
ground uprooted trees and threw down unsteady buildings, and at its
epicenter, the fallen Perfect Fortress Helios trembled and broke apart.
Even those with no Chaos sensitivity could feel it, like the contraction
of a volcano about to climax and explode.

	The light didn't dwindle from its lancing point, deep within
Helios. After a few frightful seconds, it expanded a hundredfold into a
great and wide jet of white and yellow, raging upwards past the long
since broken cloud cover. As it widened, it vaporized millions of tons
of the once flying city, and blew out and away thousands more. Titanic
slabs of stone and bedrock flew from the destroyed hulk, raining
devastation on the clustered and assembled ranks of the remaining robot
army, before the beam widened one last time, engulfing them entirely.
Higher and higher the pillar of light ascended, until it broke orbit and
disappeared into the void of space.

	And then, with a sputter, it was over.

	Where Perfect Defense Fortress Helios, and the majority of the
robot army, had once been... there was only a crater nine and a half
miles wide, and half a kilometer deep. Around it, much of the Great
Forest still stood, but ended abruptly. It was almost as if the hand of
some malevolent god had reached down and scooped out a chunk of the
planet, removing it cleanly and entirely.

-----

-----

	"This is not how it was supposed to be!"

	"No. It is not." The calmer Elder silenced the firebrand. "This
story, however, hands us more questions than answers."

	"We must be more cautious," Another Elder said, a little
nervously. "We... we must be more careful in the future. This was our
best opportunity to have him for our purposes."

	"We did as was decreed." Yet another spoke up. "We can not be
faulted for following the Will of the Lords. The Ephor was chosen by
them, not us."

	"We may have misinterpreted the signs," the calm one sighed.
"Regardless: this is not talk for here and now."

	Tempest had stood by while they chattered, listening carefully
to every word. He pretended, however, to be bored and uninterested. How
successful he was, the leader of Clan Vidar was not sure. But he tried,
at least.

	"Elders?" He asked, finally, knowing they wouldn't say anymore
in front of him. "What say you? As I admitted, the Quest was a Failure."

	"It was a failure, to unleash the son of Eblis to brazenly. You
are the strongest of all Ephor Anthals - you should have served as a
shelter, not as a brazier!" The calm Elder's tone quickly returned to
normal. "However, the circumstances are more at fault than you are. His
infatuation with these two southern females was unfortunate, but perhaps
impossible to totally guard against. And, as it turns out, this latter
relationship may provide us a rare second chance at things. Thus, we may
end up being quite fortunate it occurred at all before the boy became
involved in this Helios business."

	The more impulsive Elder practically snarled at that. "To
suggest that the hopes of this most illustrious Council would lie with
some mangy misbegotten mongrel halfbreed...! It flattens my ears and
bares my teeth, the very thought!"

	"Yet it is truth. Our truth." The first Elder coughed, mentally,
as if to imply the other had already let his mouth run wild a few times
too many. The Elders drew back, murmuring amongst themselves. Tempest
waited.

	And waited.

	Finally, they deigned to speak to him once more. "It will be
many weeks, perhaps many years, before the Council can devise some
resolution to this dilemma. You, however - Honorable Ephor Anthal Na'
Vidar - will not be held to hard account for your Failure."

	And then as one: "So speaks the Grand Council of Kitsune Elders.
As it is spoken, it is done."

	And, in a heartbeat, they left him alone, sitting in the middle
of the Circled Stones. Opening his eyes, he felt even wearier than
before. The sun was starting to rise, which meant he had been with the
Council the whole night. Grimacing, Tempest slowly got to his feet and
ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back and out of his eyes.

	He should have been happy.

	But remembering his conversation with Mercer Na' Vidar, he found
that impossible. He had escaped the wrath of the Council of Elders, but
not the jaws of one of their number. With a resigned sigh, Tempest
started walking back to his hearth. He would deal with that situation in
time, after he finished with other matters. And he would deal with those
after getting a few hours sleep.

	"It's just one blasted crisis after another..."

	The southlands, it seemed, grew nothing but troubles.

-----

	Space.

	Far above the planet Mobius, space was literally a dumping
ground. The remains of several space stations of varying sizes,
uncounted expired satellites, and chunks of broken Death Egg filled the
skies. While it was true that most of the larger pieces had burned up,
the sky was still a forest of static and interference. Within the
debris, working satellites still operated.

	One such device, an ungainly contraption with the face of a dead
man, twisted an inquiring antenna to a signal coming from the planet
below. Hearing it, recording it, the satellite become interested, and
turned yet another antenna - a more precise one - over to the
occurrence.

	"... please respond. Requesting assistance. The Network is
down... may be experiencing possible malfunctions... Is anyone out
there? Is anyone listening? Situation is desperate! ... Re-transmitting
authorization codes... Someone... respond... I am attempting to rally
our forces but... but I can't be the only one... I can't be..."

	Checking the code, the satellite came back with an affirmative
acknowledgement. Coding a burst signal, it aimed it towards one
particular patch of ground on the planet below. "Code confirmed, unit.
Please transmit orders for relay."

	"Satellite... satellite, have you received signals from any of
the others? Any of them?"

	"Negative." The primitive satellite AI responded simple-
mindedly.

	"Then... then..." A small voice thought to itself, far below. "I
am truly alone..."


-----

	Two months later.

	Mystic Ruins - Overland Continent.

	"Another one."

	"I can't see a damn thing. Where's that halogen lamp?"

	"There we go!"

	"Think you can crack the code, Sam?"

	A few seconds of silence.

	"Not in less than four hours, no. This door it isn't too thick,
though. Tell the boss we should blast through."

	"You think she'll risk it?"

	"You heard what she said about us running out of time. Now hurry
up and get the C-4 and a demo team. This is probably the last room.
Probably the Core."

	For much of the last few millennia, the distant and isolated
continent of Overland remained little more than a dream. A land
whispered of by Mobian scholars and chroniclers, one for which even
basic geographic data was largely known second hand. The birthplace of
the strange and xenophobic humans and overlanders of Mobius, the vast
expanse of the Tranquil Sea separated it from Mobius Major in the west,
while the smaller Silent Sea performed a similar function in the east.
For hundreds of years, the only mobians to walk its shores were slaves
or the suicidal.

	All that changed after the Second Great War, and the destruction
of the seemingly invincible Terran Federation at the hands of the
usurper of the Kingdom of Acorn: Julian Kintobor, better known as
Robotnick or the Eggman. Only the hidden city of Station Square survived
the war of extermination, surviving for years after Robotnick left his
devastated homeland to nurse his wounds and spent forces. Miles from the
mysterious ruins of Station Square, further south along the coast, were
much older structures long covered by creeping jungle. These came to be
known as the Mystic Ruins, not for any real supernatural activity, but
for their discoverer: Charles Myst. The ancient sites, however, were not
what drew the latest crop of visitors to the area, all the way from
Mobius Major.

	Rouge swatted an insect that stuck to her cheek a millisecond
too long for its own good. Looking at the smashed remains on her palm,
she grimaced and wiped them off on her baggy cargo pants. Around her,
similarly dressed Mobians worked slavishly, moving heavy crates and
delicate equipment onto large transport aircraft. For a hundred feet,
dense jungle rose into the air all around her, and while a part of her
felt at home in this sort of habitat, the cultured side of her was
disgusted by it. She yearned to return to her comfortable home, any one
of them, where hot water, bubble bath, and air conditioning would
welcome her much more than the slap of a wet leaf in the face ever
could.

	Swatting another annoying bloodsucking insect, she hissed softly
in irritation. As she had quickly found out her first day in the
sweltering jungle, dusk was not a nice time to be outside. Looking over
her shoulder, Rouge saw her tent, but dismissed the notion of retreating
to it. Business came first. That had always been her creed, and it was
why the haughty humans of Station Square had hired her as a spy on more
than one occasion, even though she was a "mere mobian, and a jungle
breed at that." Of course, most of those people were dead now, weren't
they?

	She had not come here to reminisce.

	Or even to pay her meager respects.

	It was not a truly great secret that Miles "Tails" Prower had
maintained a small base close to Station square ever since his visit
there shortly after the 'death' of Robotnick in 3235. Built on a high
outcropping of rock, it was in many ways his (and thus the Freedom
Fighter's)  'public face' in the region, and it became general knowledge
that he could often be found there after the near destruction of the
Station Square at the hands of Eggman and the 'Perfect Chaos' monster
over a year later.

	What was not general knowledge was that, typical of him, the
kitsune fox had built another base deeper in the jungle, where he did
his real research. And while the smaller and more conspicuous Mystic
Ruins Base had been destroyed in early 3237, and was now little more
than blasted rubble, the real base had survived into the present totally
intact. Rouge found the deception wholly appropriate. Miles had
mentioned to her once, in an unexpected moment of unguarded ness, that
in some ways, the Eggman was one of his role models, and that he admired
the man's tenacity.

	So: when Rouge had gotten a hold of one of the fox's documents
pointing to the location of his real Mystic Ruins Base (Gold VII it was
code named), she had not been particularly surprised. Acting quickly,
she had gotten together the most trusted Mobians who had worked for and
respected the young kitsune and Freedom Fighter (amazingly, Miles had
kept detailed notes and psychological profiles of those who worked for
or with him), promised them a handsome sum for their services, and taken
off for Overland with a small air fleet of expensive top-notch
hovercraft.

	It had taken a day to get through the blast doors, even after
they found them. Once inside, however, Rouge's hopes had been confirmed.
Inside the base was a treasure trove of technology, and even more
important: data! After getting through the security locks (taking
several more days of meticulous research and decoding), they had found
gigabytes of simulations, theoretical writings, and conceptual designs.
Even if nothing else was salvaged, the information gleaned from the
foxboy's...

	Rouge smiled and corrected herself: the Miles she had known was
no mere 'boy.'

	Even if nothing else was salvaged, the information gleaned from
Miles' computers made the entire trip more than worthwhile. Still, much
of it was heavily encoded, and some was totally inaccessible, even after
hacking in. The kitsune's increasing paranoia leading up to his Turan'Ha
had ensured that he kept everything under tight digital lock and key.
Making things worse, some of the necessary relays went through a
computer core with a mechanical switching mechanism that couldn't be
bypassed electronically.

	Compounding her problems, she was expecting uninvited guests.
Several agents under her employ had detected them earlier in the day,
leaving airbases in Mobius Major. Watching as crate after crate, all
marked by the two tailed yin-yang symbol of MilesTech, loaded up, Rouge
felt a pang of loss and worry. Quickly shaking her head, and trying to
forget his last words, she focused on the here and now. With the
documents Miles had left her, and her semi-legal claim to it, MilesTech
was effectively hers in all but name.  It was, along with one other
thing, Miles' legacy, and it wasn't safe or appropriately used hoarded
in his Mystic Ruins Base anymore.

	It needed to be shared with the world he saved.

	For a... small profit, of course.

	Swatting another fly, she saw two mobians approach her out of
the corner of her eye. Facing them, she confirmed that one was a member
of Team Four - one of several exploratory teams of Mobians sent into the
Base. Four, however, was charged with locating and accessing the
Computer Core that was giving them so much trouble. The other mobian was
just another of Rouge's MilesTech Security Forces: like every member of
that group, he was a dingo in fatigues and armed with a bulky assault
rifle.

	"Ma'am!" The tech said, as he ran towards her. "Samuel thinks
he's found the door to the Core. He wants to blast through."

	"Blast through?" Rouge didn't like that sound of it, but they
were running out of choices, given the expected arrival time of their
guests. "Fine. I'll come along, too. I want to make sure it goes off
without a hitch."

	"Of course, Ms. Rouge." The tech inclined his head respectfully,
and headed back. Rouge followed at a more leisurely pace, ordering one
of two demolitions crews to follow. The other continued their work of
setting up explosives in preparation for the order to level the base
itself. Looking over her shoulder as work continued getting the planes
ready for take off, she sighed and continued into the hidden base
through the blown open Blast Doors.

	The base was not overly large, really. Certainly, it was tiny
compared to Eggman's cavernous constructions, but bypassing security
systems that had been locked down for months was anything but easy work.
For all the size of his many bases, Robotnick generally wasn't very good
at security design. Many of his doors could be smashed through without
negative consequences, for example. Miles, however, rigged counter-
explosives into the doors defending important areas. Attempting to force
one's way through would only set off the directed charges, with fatal
consequences.

	The layout was asymmetrical, with different key systems fully
compartmentalized from the rest of the base. Rouge, despite knowing the
value of what she saw and heard had been found, did not even come close
to comprehending it. When she had first walked down the main hall of the
First Level, there had seemed no ostensible difference between one fancy
looking panel and another in one of the Laboratory sections. Now,
everything was stripped bare. Cut cables lay on the floor like dead
snakes, and while sections of the walls had been removed or torn out.

	Descending via a large elevator, the small group exited at the
bottom floor. The levels were not evenly spaced. One and Two existed,
but then the next level was Four, and then a very small Six. Five and
Three were just solid rock. The bottom floor was Nine, and composed of a
descending shaft. Passing a succession of blast doors either blasted or
hacked open, Rouge came at last to what the tech assured her was the
last impediment to their accessing the Computer Core.

	Running her hand down the cool metal surface, Rouge wondered if
Miles had ever done the same. How many times had he walked effortlessly
down the hall, doors opening at his approach. Or, similarly, did he come
here rarely? This deep down, the rock was incredibly hard. The first two
floors were built in softer sandstone. Even the base power plant was not
this isolated. There had to be something special behind it. She could
feel it. She could feel him... see him...

	Walking through the door, a look of anticipation and eagerness
on his face.

	Blinking, Rouge saw only the face of the door, and her cadre of
hired hands. But the vision: it had seemed so real. So very real! She
knew about the psionic powers of the kitsune, and Miles had bragged that
his were growing exponentially. Had he affected her somehow? Was he
continuing to, even after his supposed death? Or was it something else?

	"Take it down," she ordered, removing her hand. Walking back,
she watched silently as the professional demolitions team, led by a
former Freedom Fighter Miles had written about with praise in the past,
set up the charges. The plastic explosive was designed to cut through
the door exactly, without causing undue damage to whatever lay on the
other side. It would also, if done right, prevent the counter-explosive
from triggering. The team had performed the operation before several
times, with success, so Rouge wasn't altogether worried. Still, she kept
her distance once everything was in place.

	The actual explosions were rather muted. More of a 'thump' than
a 'boom.' A thin layer of smoke wafted down the hall, while fans blew it
back and out of the way. After a few seconds of waiting, a few loud
sledgehammer blows knocked the door back and onto the floor. Venturing
carefully into the room, behind the other mobians, Rouge's eyes scanned
the low light conditions. A dull red emergency light highlighted strange
cylindrical devices built into the walls of a circular room. The
flashing beacon also occasionally lit up frozen faces - pictures - along
with paintings, and the flat top of a desk. In the back, built into a
large pillar wider in the middle than at the top or bottom, was the
faintly glowing Computer Core.

	"This is it..." One of the techs took a step closer to the
center of the room, and before he could say another word, a light shone
down on him from above. Frozen in mid step, the shocked mobian gasped,
and shielded his eyes.

	"Intruders Detected." A voice, a female voice, spoke to them
over a concealed speaker. For a few moments, the group tensed in
preparation for some sort of attack, but none was forthcoming. Finally,
after a few seconds, the voice continued. "Detected, but not unexpected.
Welcome, all of you, to the Inner Sanctum of Miles Prower. In
particular, I welcome you: Rouge the Bat. I was hoping you'd come and
see me personally."

	"Me?" Rouge took a daring step forward, her eyes scanning the
room. "Why me? And who are you?"

	"I am the Core of this facility," the voice said, cheerfully.
"Darling Miles called me... Fiona."


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