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Chapter 19: A Nice Little Talk
June 1st, 3239, 1452 hours
Mobius
Castle Acorn
Sally and some of the other members of OMEGA sat around a table in the dining hall. They had meals like this every week or so and the cooks prepared some of the best food they had ever eaten. Sally had invited Bunnie, Sonic, Amy, Ryan, Johnson, and Tails along. Everyone else was busy doing important work, and Antoine personally sent his regards as he was busy researching a new non-corporeal life form for the annual Codex.
Sally sighed sadly. It seemed that the former Freedom Fighters were drifting farther and farther apart, separated by careers and personal interests. She was lucky that the people sitting in front of her would never leave her side. She smiled and took another sip of her coffee.
"So, how are you feeling, Aunt Sally?" Tails asked as he took another bite of his sandwich.
"Not bad." The princess stated. "I'm definitely feeling better now than I was feeling yesterday." She chuckled. "I'll tell you one thing though: I'm never eating at that restaurant again!"
Everyone also gave a small laugh. Bunnie rubbed her hand. "I'm here for ya, shugah. I'll always be there."
Johnson scoffed. "God damn, you're making this sound like it's a support group!"
"If you go through what I had, Avery, you'd be feeling the same way, and I find that unlikely."
"Maybe so, but that's since absolutely nothing in the galaxy can destroy this Marine."
"Oorah, Sarge." Ryan added.
Just then, the door to the hall opened. Four men wearing pitch-black turtlenecks and Kevlar vests walked into the hall. The leader was a bald man with dark sunglasses and a communicator around his ear. "Your highness! I was wondering if we could take a few moments of your time."
"What's the meaning of this, Agent?" She recognized who the man worked for right away. The patch stitched onto his left breast said it all. The black and white pyramid with the All-Seeing Eye in the center: The Office of Naval Intelligence. Sally had been seeing a lot of these guys over the past few days all over the castle, and in military facilities. Some of them were just talking over their communicators in the middle of fields, or scribbling notes down on a clipboard. She even caught one of them in the castle's hangar just running a scanner over some of the castle's jets. The situation was getting more extreme, and she wondered if her parents had authorized this! If they had, on who's conscience? She knew that her parents wouldn't do anything to jeopardise the security of her country or even her planet, even though they officially had no control over the entire globe.
"We're conducting a few interviews of some of the personnel in the castle. We would like to know if you will be participating."
"On who's authority?" Sally said angrily standing up.
The agents answered quickly. "Your parents authorized it."
Sure. "Just a few questions?"
The agent held his palms out. "I promise. They'll be quick, and relatively painless."
Tails gave a bit of nervous laughter. The young man couldn't tell if the agent was joking or not.
Sally's ear twitched. She was suspicious of the agent, but then again, she was suspicious of anyone who had that freaky logo stitched onto their uniform - the exception being Rouge of course. "Alright, we'll go. How many people do you need to talk to?"
The agent tilted his head. "Just the lot of you, really. We can talk to anyone else we need to when we find them.
Sally sighed, looked towards her friends and tilted her head towards the agent. It was clear that the princess felt the situation was secure. With that, Johnson rallied the troops.
"Alright now, follow the lady now! We don't want to keep the Men in Black waiting, now do we?"
"Hell no, sir!" the guys playfully said. Everyone got up and followed Sally out the door and down the hall. Once more they walked through the ancient stone walls of the castle, built centuries ago by Mobians trapped in a Dark Age. Paintings of Acorns lined the walls, and not all of them were necessarily squirrels. For instance, the first queen, Rosanne, was a fox, and Doreen the Second was an otter. It always made Sally curious as to her ancestry. She had so much blood in her from different races, Human included. She was more or less a squirrel. She chuckled. Not like she wasn't an oddity growing up anyway: tomboy princess, a 'battle royal' for lack of a better term, lover of a Human, and right now, a secret accessory to a so-called 'terrorist'.
Just what sort of questions did these guys have?
The agents told them that they would have to go into the dungeon because they would have proper interview equipment down there. Sally knew that her friends knew that the dungeon was mainly used for criminal interrogations and not so much interviews, but it suited ONI's cryptic style. They would go with it. Down the large spiral staircase they went. As they did, the air got slightly colder with every step. One of the guards decided to make smalltalk.
"I never get tired of being in an actual castle."
"They don't have castles on Earth anymore?" Sally asked.
"I'm from Mars."
"Far out." Sonic added.
The other one looked back and counted. "Hang on, wasn't there someone else in this group? I remember reading in the report that an older man was with you. Old guy, bald, never shut up about his past."
"You are referring to Mr. Jolee Bindo, an unexpected passenger back from the re-emergence of the UNSC Acorn last year. Mr. Bindo is currently on a spiritual retreat in Felidae." The lead ONI agent said this all without turning his head.
"He's trying to reconcile with the Force. I don't think it's working though." Tails piped up. Of everyone, he knew what Jolee was going through.
"Right, the Force, whatever." The ONI agent said. "Why aren't you going with him, again?"
They came to the door that led to the dungeons. It was a high-tech triple-lock portal with an ID scanner.
"I lost my connection to the Force sometime not too long ago." Miles admitted. "I'm not sure what happened. I haven't been able to pull a tool towards me ever since. I don't think it works here."
"Interesting." The agent said in the most unenthused manner ever. He tapped the keypad and showed his badge. The door tinged green and slid away. "Alright, let's get in here."
The dungeon was still roughly the same size as it was originally, and some of the chains were still hanging from the walls. No skeletons or anything hung from them, but often on Halloween some joker decided to scare the pants off the guards by putting a fake one up.
The place they were heading to used to be a couple of holding cells that were joined together to make the interview room. Sally remembered this as the place where Chris, a Lieutenant back then, was beat to within an inch of his life by Shadow. She remembered how long it took to clean the blood off the windows.
The guard repeated the process on the door here, but also issued a verbal passcode to the lock: "Authentication Charlie-Charlie-4." The door hissed open. Sally was incredulous.
"What was that?"
"What?" The agent said, completely calm.
"You just gave the door a voice password!"
"What's so wrong about that?" The second agent asked.
"This door only used to have a password number lock! There wasn't anything about an ID scan and definitely not a voice lock!" She waited for an answer.
"This was a recent upgrade in security. It was ordered by your parents."
"Bullshit. I spoke to them TODAY! They never mentioned anything to me about a security upgrade, and they ALWAYS tell me when some new measure is in place."
"Well maybe they forgot to tell you! We're on a schedule, highness." the leader said. He was still remarkably calm. Knowing that this would get her nowhere, she told the guys to follow her in.
"Hold it." the third guard said. "We're doing this one at a time."
That confused the group. Interviews one at a time? Sally's soldier sense was tingling now. She knew that something was going on here, and on top of all the situations that have happened up to this point, she was as nutty as a lunar landing conspiracy.
Sally was told that she would be talked to last. She was just standing around with everyone wondering what was going on. She decided to chat with Sonic.
"Hey, do you think that this is a little bit odd?" she asked.
Sonic gave a small smile. "You're asking me?"
The princess nodded.
"When it comes to Humans, I think something odd is always going on. This is a special case though."
"So do you think something's going on?"
"Most definitely I do." Sonic admitted. "These dudes… they aren't messing around. They want answers for something. If I could tell you what, I would. As a matter of fact, I don't think they have to do with the Captain."
"You don't?" Sally said, a bit surprised.
"No. This is bigger than him. Right now, he's only one man. Granted, he's important, but he's only another actor in the play."
Sally nearly laughed. "That was shockingly poetic of you!"
"I pick up a book sometimes you know!" the hedgehog winked. "Are you really feeling okay?"
"I'm fine. My stomach's acting up, but I'm fine. Another week and I'll come to terms with it."
One of the agents came out. "Sergeant Major Johnson, if you would step this way please, we would like to ask you a few questions first."
Johnson took a puff on his cigar. "As long as there ain't any 'no smoking' signs in there!"
The guys watched as Johnson was led into the room. Inside there were a few chairs, a computer with a neural amplifier, and a coffee dispenser. Just what sort of questions were they asking?
As soon as Johnson was beyond the door, the agents closed it shut, leaving Sally and her friends to sit quietly and speculate as to what was really going on in there. It was dead silence as they watched through the windows. Johnson was practically fogging up the entire room with his cigar. A thin cloud was forming on the ceiling of the interrogation chamber. He took his hat off and stroked his short black hair.
Sally narrowed her eyes and turned to the rest of the guys.
"What do you think they're asking him?" Tails asked. "Is he going to give them the name rank serial number thing?"
"No. Sarge knows that he needs to answer their questions. Orders." Ryan noted.
They waited for thirty minutes in near silence. Soon, the door opened and Johnson walked out no worse for wear. In his mouth was a new cigar glowing red at the tip.
"Sarge!" Ryan said. "What did they want?"
"That's classified, soldier! Can't talk about it."
"But…"
The lead agent adjusted his sunglasses and cleared his throat. "I believe that Corporal Percy would be a suitable candidate next. Come this way, Corporal."
Ryan looked at Sonic, and then to Sally. He then nodded and walked into the room. The door shut behind him and he sat down at the table.
This process repeated for hours. One by one, Sally's friends were brought into the room and were asked questions. Sally just sat there wondering what they were doing; what were they being asked? The agents sat there poker-faced. They didn't show any emotion and their sunglasses blocked eye contact. Not a shred of feeling. Not a lip twitch, not a smirk or a frown, not even a drop of sweat on their shaved brows. They were like robots. Sally did not like making that connection.
The guys on the other hand showed plenty of emotions with the exception of Ryan and Johnson. Because those two were Marines by trade, mastering their emotions was key to getting ahead in their careers. The Mobians however were not warriors and had much more freedom with their emotions, and it showed. Miles for example had darting eyes with a couple questions. His ears twitched, and at times folded in hostility. By the time he left the interrogation chamber, he was nearly fuming, but still said that he needed to maintain a confidentiality between ONI and the Mobian government.
Sonic on the other hand was nonchalant the entire time. He leaned on his chair with his feet on the table. The ONI agents didn't seem to ask him to take them down as they delivered their questions. Sonic, as always, acted cool under pressure and didn't seem fazed. But when he left, even he said that the meeting was classified. When Sonic refused to tell her details on a confidential matter, it bothered Sally to no end. Now she was really concerned and curious. After a few hours of waiting, she was called into the chamber.
"Highness, we want to thank you very much for waiting this long."
"No need to thank me." She said. "Let's get this over with."
"Yes your highness. Have a seat right here." the lead agent said. He gestured to the chair that everyone else sat in. Sally did as she was told and made herself comfortable. Not that one could be very comfortable sitting in chair surrounded by three agents.
"Coffee, highness?" The one on the left asked.
"You know what, I'll have one." She said confidently. She didn't trust these men and needed to show that she still had control. The ONI agents poured her a cup.
"There we are. This is Vanilla Bean, straight from the Dragon Kingdom. Very nice blend. Would you like cream or milk and sugar?"
"Three milks, two sugars." She simply said.
She got her drink. Now the atmosphere was tense again.
"Your highness, we would like to ask you a few questions related to how things are going."
Sally tapped her fingers. "That seems ambiguous. Care to explain?"
"It will be explained in our questions. Now then: How do you feel about the strength of your government?"
Sally didn't hesitate: "The government is strong. My parents are good leaders. They listen to their people and think about their safety first. They have never failed to protect us when the situation arose."
"Then how do you explain the Terran Dominion's invasion four years ago where they captured a major strategic position - this castle?"
"We were caught be surprise. We had no chance to muster our forces." She puffed her cheeks slightly. "If I remember correctly, Earth was invaded too!"
"Only a few locations other than New Mombasa were confirmed to have Terran occupation, and those were dispatched in less than a week following their defeat at New Mombasa."
"I killed the enemy Supreme Commander myself." Sally stated. "In the throne room with the Sword of Acorns."
"Be that as it may, you were unable to get to the palace without sizable UNSC assistance, correct?"
Sally sighed. They were right. Without Human hardware, their push on the palace wouldn't be nearly as clean or effective. "That… is correct."
The lead agent adjusted his glasses. "You also mentioned that your parents did what was best for the Kingdom. Would you say that they take care of family?"
"My parents love me and would do anything for me."
The agent on the right immediately jumped, "So why has the search for your brother Elias been stagnant at best?"
Sally snarled. They had mentioned her brother, who was still missing. Traces of Elias had been seen here and there, including wreckage of a Royal ship in orbit around the Mobian Saturn. Curiously, no bodies were seen anywhere around the ship, and the logs confirmed that Elias was indeed on board. In the last year though, the search had been less than spectacular. It was expensive to maintain too. The logical conclusion would be to assume he died and his body was lost somewhere in space.
But she couldn't believe that. Her brother was alive, and she would find him .
"I never give up on my family." She said through gritted teeth. "I will find Elias, and when I do, we will be united again as a family."
The agent on the left snickered. "Cute."
A fire roared to life in Sally's heart. She had all the mind to slam every one of these guys through the glass headfirst. She restrained herself however.
"Next question." She demanded.
The agent looked over a data pad. "Can you describe to us your feelings on how the UEG is doing at the moment?"
Sally knew politics enough to answer, "you know as a diplomat, it would be unwise to comment on an allied interest to the Kingdom and to Mobius with anything other than enthusiasm."
"We're not asking you on the level of a diplomat. We're asking you for your opinion."
Sally sensed that they were really starting to get impulsive with these question. She kept her face even though and decided to play along. "My impressions of the UEG are impartial. I believe that they are a strong ally to have in terms of their technological advances as well as their widespread experience in galactic politics and economics. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Do you feel like the UEG is encroaching on Mobius in any way?"
"Encroaching? You mean, taking over?"
"That is not what we said." The lead agent responded.
A red flag shot up. Sally had everything she needed to start her own investigation, Why would they ask something like that? Out of the goodness of their hearts? Given her impressions of President Marshall and his Brain Trust group, this question about an intrusion on Mobian society was making things worse.
"No." She said. "I don't think the UEG is threatening us. Why would they? We're friends and allies. We would gladly support you at the moment you ask." She said the words but her intent was the opposite. She did feel that this new government was acting a bit overwhelming. The new tech, the secret drilling operations, the massive influx of troops… she needed to talk with her father as soon as she could.
The questions just kept coming. She answered them truthfully but wasn't afraid to deviate from the truth every now and then. Some of the questions struck close to home and she felt offended at a couple, and then they asked,
"What is your relationship to Knight Captain Vennettilli?"
Sally composed herself. "He is my commanding officer and in charge of OMEGA's military maneuvers."
"Is that all this relationship is? A simple chain of command?"
Sally shook her head. "I like to keep my friends close. I maintain a friendly atmosphere with everyone I know, including the Captain."
"Ex-Captain." the agent on the right said. "Are you certain that you aren't maintaining something a little more… intimate…?" he arced an eyebrow.
Sally's hands balled into fists. She dug her nails so deep into her hands that she nearly drew blood. "How dare you!"
"Your highness, it's no surprise that we should know this. After all, we are an intelligence gathering organization, and our citizens, whether they are servicemen past or present, are of great importance to us."
Sally was embarrassed that ONI probably knew every little thing that had gone on between them. She felt amazing anger at this.
"We also know that your previous partner wasn't enough for you. What made you abandon him for a Human officer? The prospect of information?
"What are you implying?" She said in a low voice, looking at the agent with utmost loathing.
"Are you engaged with a relationship under the promise of military secrets regarding the UNSC's troop deployments and technology?"
That was the last straw. "We're done here. My father will hear about this." She was up and out of the door before they could say anything else.
One agent looked to another and smiled. "I think she took it pretty well!"
At once, her friends were at her side. "Sally, what happened?" Sonic asked. "You bolted out of there faster than me!"
"These guys are insane! They think that I'm getting information about classified Human secrets!"
"Are you?" Tails asked, a bit nervous.
"NO!" Sally cried. "How can you even think that?"
"Sorry…" The fox said.
They walked back up to the main hall. "I'm telling my parents about this! I know that something very wrong is going on here! I'm sure you realize that too!"
Johnson huffed. "Just what sort of questions were they asking you? They were asking about my military service and experience with the Flood."
"They were askin' me about my robot limbs!" Bunnie stated.
"They asked me what sort of weapon contracts I had currently." Ryan said. "And I have a lot."
Sally then told them, and look at this in the big picture: With all of your questions combined with mine, what likely conclusion does that leave?"
It took them a second to understand the gravity of their situation. "They think Mobius is going to launch an attack on the UNSC?" Ryan said incredulous.
"Exactly." Sally affirmed.
"Why?" Tails asked. "Why would they think about that sort of thing?"
"I don't know. That's what I want to find out." Sally said. "And I think I have a good idea who's behind this. Stay here. I'll be back."
Princess Sally ran up to her parents' room. She took the stairs three at a time, hurrying to tell them the news. A few guards waved her through and she knocked at the door. It opened up and her mother stood there. "Darling! Come in!"
"Mother, where's Father? I have something important to…"
"Your Highness! What a pleasant surprise to see you!"
She turned and saw President Marshall standing at a table with her father. He wore a wide smile on his face. Her father seemed to have an even look on his face, but in his eyes, she saw that there was deep pain.
"I was actually meaning to get to the Dragon Kingdom to see the Premier, but I decided to stop in Knothole and see your father! The King is quite the golfer!"
Max gave a smile, but it was a forced effort.
"It's true, although my swings usually slice to the left." He said.
"Nonsense!" Marshall said. "They usually hit dead center in the fairways all the time!"
"So, why did you stop by here, Mr. President?" Sally asked.
"Just to deliver some news." Marshall said.
Sally nodded. "I'll get to that in a second. I would like to ask you about an interesting interview I just had."
Marshall didn't seem surprised. "You're talking about the recent surveys that have been going on! Most diplomats in the Alliance have been answering questions. We're trying to build up a knowledge base of our allies. Since Mobius is part of the alliance, everyone's been getting them."
"Right, surveys." Sally said, playing along. She had to make sure that she didn't come across as suspicious, but it was clear that Marshall knew a lot more than he claimed. "So… what was this big news?" she asked.
"I think that your father should tell you." The President said.
Max looked at his daughter. "Sally, what we're trying to tell you is that… Knothole has fully been accepted into the Alliance. We are now under full protection of Earth…" He cleared his throat, as if what was to be said next was painful. "We… are no longer in control of the Kingdom."
Sally's heart skipped a few beats. What?
"Don't say that like it's a bad thing Max. You will still have your status as a Royal, and you will still serve as Regent, but we'll make sure that nothing bad happens to the kingdom. You are now a full member of the family."
Max said, "Wonderful."
"But… why? Sally demanded. She was nearly in tears. How could her father allow this to happen? How could her father just fall before this evil man? "How?"
"Sally, before you overreact…" Max said, "I did it all willingly. The President made me see that as a civilization, we are far too underdeveloped to just strike it out on our own. We need help."
"We already HAD HELP!" Sally cried out. "The UNSC gave us free reign to let us run as we saw fit, and in return they offered protection! President Cleary would have never done this!"
The response seemed to sting Marshall. He huffed, and said, "My predecessor - God rest his soul - made decisions that as a whole didn't benefit either of our sides. With our help in running things here, you are certain to be stronger. Your civilization will flourish, your economies will blossom, and you will have a way to fight the Xorda and defeat them once and for all."
"The Xorda, Sally." Alicia said. "They would pose a major threat should they return."
"But they aren't here!" Sally argued. "They won't return!"
"Not with us watching your back, they won't." Marshall said. "Someday, you'll see that this was a great decision for all of us. It really will be!" He put on a friendly smile. It disappeared when the door opened. Howard Tudyk was standing there in a smart suit.
"Mr. President. I need you to come with me. It's urgent."
Marshall nodded. "That must be my communication from the Premier. I have to take that; I apologise."
"It's completely understandable." King Max said. "Go do what you need to do."
Marshall nodded. "Your Highnesses, I take my leave of you." With that. He turned on his heel and left the room.
Max was the first to say it, "Things will be different now."
"Father, how could you? A thousand years of our family ruling! How could you just buckle like that?"
Max looked into his daughter's eyes, and hugged her as she started to cry. "I meant it when I said I made the choice myself. It's a brave new world, Sally, and we must play by the rules of the game… or just fade away when the Xorda arrive."
"But… what about… everything this kingdom stood for? Unification, Friendship!"
Alicia comforted her daughter. "My precious, the Kingdom still represents that, and it still will until the stars fall from the sky. It's just not our problem anymore."
"We will still serve as Regents!" Max said with a brave smile. "The Kingdom will still have their guardians."
"But Father, this is only the first step. There's much more -"
Her father then said sternly, "I don't want to hear it, and that's final. I may not be a king anymore, but I'm still your father!
Sally sat down on her parents bed and let her face fall into her lap and she cried. She cried and she cried. She wanted someone to help her.
Anyone.
Things were going to be different.
Troy Marshall walked down the steps with his assistant. "Where is my Vice President?" he asked.
"Vice President Qualms is in Southamer making an appearance at the Station Square settlement." Tudyk said. "Did you give them the news?"
"I did. The Princess seemed to take it fairly well." Marshall said. "I was afraid that she caught on to something when she mentioned the interviews, but it appears that she didn't hear anything suspicious. I also trust that ONI wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize the operation."
"I am sure that they wouldn't sir." Tudyk said.
"Would you bet your job on it?" the President asked.
"I… wouldn't go that far sir. My pension maybe."
"Well then, let's test your luck." They walked out of the main hall and into an armoury. There they locked the door and stood in silence. "Now, what did the search report?"
"I just received a message back on the emergency frequencies."
"Hmm… not good. This is not an optimal way to start your report, Mr. Tudyk."
"Sir, give me a moment. Installation 05's Library was secure. We had First Force Recon run through the entire structure. Unfortunately…"
Marshall was in Tudyk's face. "'Unfortunately'? Howard, did you think I was joking when I said that I would have something really nasty done to you if you didn't come through? I intend to make good on that promise!"
"Sir…" Tudyk gulped. There was no easy way to say the words. "There was no sign of him. It appeared that he had fled the Installation through unknown means."
Marshall appeared neutral for a second, and then slammed his fists onto the wall of the armory. To Tudyk's shock, they left cracks in the ancient stone and mortar.
"You had better give me some good news quick Tudyk. WHERE IS THAT DAMNED MARINE?
"We don't know!" Tudyk said, frightened. We know that he was able to make it to an airfield on ring. Maybe he was able to commandeer or get aboard a ship. We managed to find and secure the Emerald Fox. Maybe there's some clues as to where he was headed next!"
Marshall was rubbing his hands still. "These damned…" he then looked at the Civilain ONI head. "You look like you want to tell me some good news. Spit it out."
"Sir… we captured his friends."
"Friends…? How many?"
"Just three. The Spartan insertion team picked them up. Two of them were mercenaries and the last one was a Royal Air Force Major. They are currently en route to Earth for incarceration and interrogation.
Marshall then calmed down. "That's even better. Fantastic! You know what that means?"
"I'm not sure that I do, sir."
"As a soldier, our friend, the Captain feels a strong sense of loyalty to his friends. He will try to find them. He will try to save them."
"An expert deduction, Mr. President."
"Nobody likes a kiss-ass, Howard. Here's what I want you to do: I want you to get someone in touch with the airfield, and find out what ships took off that day. Once you have a clue, I want those ships searched upon arrival. Tell them to look in every compartment, because I will not have our entire plan go up in smoke because of one man who slipped through our fingers!"
"What about the Princess?"
"What about her? She's not important. She doesn't know anything. Now that the Knothole government is out of the picture, we'll be able to proceed as planned. Is that clear?"
"Absolutely, sir."
"Very good. Now, what say we get something to eat? I'm fairly certain that the cooks will give me the 'presidential treatment'!"
"Most humorous, sir!"
"Shut up, Howard."
June 1st, 3239, 1452 hours
Mobius
Castle Acorn
Sally and some of the other members of OMEGA sat around a table in the dining hall. They had meals like this every week or so and the cooks prepared some of the best food they had ever eaten. Sally had invited Bunnie, Sonic, Amy, Ryan, Johnson, and Tails along. Everyone else was busy doing important work, and Antoine personally sent his regards as he was busy researching a new non-corporeal life form for the annual Codex.
Sally sighed sadly. It seemed that the former Freedom Fighters were drifting farther and farther apart, separated by careers and personal interests. She was lucky that the people sitting in front of her would never leave her side. She smiled and took another sip of her coffee.
"So, how are you feeling, Aunt Sally?" Tails asked as he took another bite of his sandwich.
"Not bad." The princess stated. "I'm definitely feeling better now than I was feeling yesterday." She chuckled. "I'll tell you one thing though: I'm never eating at that restaurant again!"
Everyone also gave a small laugh. Bunnie rubbed her hand. "I'm here for ya, shugah. I'll always be there."
Johnson scoffed. "God damn, you're making this sound like it's a support group!"
"If you go through what I had, Avery, you'd be feeling the same way, and I find that unlikely."
"Maybe so, but that's since absolutely nothing in the galaxy can destroy this Marine."
"Oorah, Sarge." Ryan added.
Just then, the door to the hall opened. Four men wearing pitch-black turtlenecks and Kevlar vests walked into the hall. The leader was a bald man with dark sunglasses and a communicator around his ear. "Your highness! I was wondering if we could take a few moments of your time."
"What's the meaning of this, Agent?" She recognized who the man worked for right away. The patch stitched onto his left breast said it all. The black and white pyramid with the All-Seeing Eye in the center: The Office of Naval Intelligence. Sally had been seeing a lot of these guys over the past few days all over the castle, and in military facilities. Some of them were just talking over their communicators in the middle of fields, or scribbling notes down on a clipboard. She even caught one of them in the castle's hangar just running a scanner over some of the castle's jets. The situation was getting more extreme, and she wondered if her parents had authorized this! If they had, on who's conscience? She knew that her parents wouldn't do anything to jeopardise the security of her country or even her planet, even though they officially had no control over the entire globe.
"We're conducting a few interviews of some of the personnel in the castle. We would like to know if you will be participating."
"On who's authority?" Sally said angrily standing up.
The agents answered quickly. "Your parents authorized it."
Sure. "Just a few questions?"
The agent held his palms out. "I promise. They'll be quick, and relatively painless."
Tails gave a bit of nervous laughter. The young man couldn't tell if the agent was joking or not.
Sally's ear twitched. She was suspicious of the agent, but then again, she was suspicious of anyone who had that freaky logo stitched onto their uniform - the exception being Rouge of course. "Alright, we'll go. How many people do you need to talk to?"
The agent tilted his head. "Just the lot of you, really. We can talk to anyone else we need to when we find them.
Sally sighed, looked towards her friends and tilted her head towards the agent. It was clear that the princess felt the situation was secure. With that, Johnson rallied the troops.
"Alright now, follow the lady now! We don't want to keep the Men in Black waiting, now do we?"
"Hell no, sir!" the guys playfully said. Everyone got up and followed Sally out the door and down the hall. Once more they walked through the ancient stone walls of the castle, built centuries ago by Mobians trapped in a Dark Age. Paintings of Acorns lined the walls, and not all of them were necessarily squirrels. For instance, the first queen, Rosanne, was a fox, and Doreen the Second was an otter. It always made Sally curious as to her ancestry. She had so much blood in her from different races, Human included. She was more or less a squirrel. She chuckled. Not like she wasn't an oddity growing up anyway: tomboy princess, a 'battle royal' for lack of a better term, lover of a Human, and right now, a secret accessory to a so-called 'terrorist'.
Just what sort of questions did these guys have?
The agents told them that they would have to go into the dungeon because they would have proper interview equipment down there. Sally knew that her friends knew that the dungeon was mainly used for criminal interrogations and not so much interviews, but it suited ONI's cryptic style. They would go with it. Down the large spiral staircase they went. As they did, the air got slightly colder with every step. One of the guards decided to make smalltalk.
"I never get tired of being in an actual castle."
"They don't have castles on Earth anymore?" Sally asked.
"I'm from Mars."
"Far out." Sonic added.
The other one looked back and counted. "Hang on, wasn't there someone else in this group? I remember reading in the report that an older man was with you. Old guy, bald, never shut up about his past."
"You are referring to Mr. Jolee Bindo, an unexpected passenger back from the re-emergence of the UNSC Acorn last year. Mr. Bindo is currently on a spiritual retreat in Felidae." The lead ONI agent said this all without turning his head.
"He's trying to reconcile with the Force. I don't think it's working though." Tails piped up. Of everyone, he knew what Jolee was going through.
"Right, the Force, whatever." The ONI agent said. "Why aren't you going with him, again?"
They came to the door that led to the dungeons. It was a high-tech triple-lock portal with an ID scanner.
"I lost my connection to the Force sometime not too long ago." Miles admitted. "I'm not sure what happened. I haven't been able to pull a tool towards me ever since. I don't think it works here."
"Interesting." The agent said in the most unenthused manner ever. He tapped the keypad and showed his badge. The door tinged green and slid away. "Alright, let's get in here."
The dungeon was still roughly the same size as it was originally, and some of the chains were still hanging from the walls. No skeletons or anything hung from them, but often on Halloween some joker decided to scare the pants off the guards by putting a fake one up.
The place they were heading to used to be a couple of holding cells that were joined together to make the interview room. Sally remembered this as the place where Chris, a Lieutenant back then, was beat to within an inch of his life by Shadow. She remembered how long it took to clean the blood off the windows.
The guard repeated the process on the door here, but also issued a verbal passcode to the lock: "Authentication Charlie-Charlie-4." The door hissed open. Sally was incredulous.
"What was that?"
"What?" The agent said, completely calm.
"You just gave the door a voice password!"
"What's so wrong about that?" The second agent asked.
"This door only used to have a password number lock! There wasn't anything about an ID scan and definitely not a voice lock!" She waited for an answer.
"This was a recent upgrade in security. It was ordered by your parents."
"Bullshit. I spoke to them TODAY! They never mentioned anything to me about a security upgrade, and they ALWAYS tell me when some new measure is in place."
"Well maybe they forgot to tell you! We're on a schedule, highness." the leader said. He was still remarkably calm. Knowing that this would get her nowhere, she told the guys to follow her in.
"Hold it." the third guard said. "We're doing this one at a time."
That confused the group. Interviews one at a time? Sally's soldier sense was tingling now. She knew that something was going on here, and on top of all the situations that have happened up to this point, she was as nutty as a lunar landing conspiracy.
Sally was told that she would be talked to last. She was just standing around with everyone wondering what was going on. She decided to chat with Sonic.
"Hey, do you think that this is a little bit odd?" she asked.
Sonic gave a small smile. "You're asking me?"
The princess nodded.
"When it comes to Humans, I think something odd is always going on. This is a special case though."
"So do you think something's going on?"
"Most definitely I do." Sonic admitted. "These dudes… they aren't messing around. They want answers for something. If I could tell you what, I would. As a matter of fact, I don't think they have to do with the Captain."
"You don't?" Sally said, a bit surprised.
"No. This is bigger than him. Right now, he's only one man. Granted, he's important, but he's only another actor in the play."
Sally nearly laughed. "That was shockingly poetic of you!"
"I pick up a book sometimes you know!" the hedgehog winked. "Are you really feeling okay?"
"I'm fine. My stomach's acting up, but I'm fine. Another week and I'll come to terms with it."
One of the agents came out. "Sergeant Major Johnson, if you would step this way please, we would like to ask you a few questions first."
Johnson took a puff on his cigar. "As long as there ain't any 'no smoking' signs in there!"
The guys watched as Johnson was led into the room. Inside there were a few chairs, a computer with a neural amplifier, and a coffee dispenser. Just what sort of questions were they asking?
As soon as Johnson was beyond the door, the agents closed it shut, leaving Sally and her friends to sit quietly and speculate as to what was really going on in there. It was dead silence as they watched through the windows. Johnson was practically fogging up the entire room with his cigar. A thin cloud was forming on the ceiling of the interrogation chamber. He took his hat off and stroked his short black hair.
Sally narrowed her eyes and turned to the rest of the guys.
"What do you think they're asking him?" Tails asked. "Is he going to give them the name rank serial number thing?"
"No. Sarge knows that he needs to answer their questions. Orders." Ryan noted.
They waited for thirty minutes in near silence. Soon, the door opened and Johnson walked out no worse for wear. In his mouth was a new cigar glowing red at the tip.
"Sarge!" Ryan said. "What did they want?"
"That's classified, soldier! Can't talk about it."
"But…"
The lead agent adjusted his sunglasses and cleared his throat. "I believe that Corporal Percy would be a suitable candidate next. Come this way, Corporal."
Ryan looked at Sonic, and then to Sally. He then nodded and walked into the room. The door shut behind him and he sat down at the table.
This process repeated for hours. One by one, Sally's friends were brought into the room and were asked questions. Sally just sat there wondering what they were doing; what were they being asked? The agents sat there poker-faced. They didn't show any emotion and their sunglasses blocked eye contact. Not a shred of feeling. Not a lip twitch, not a smirk or a frown, not even a drop of sweat on their shaved brows. They were like robots. Sally did not like making that connection.
The guys on the other hand showed plenty of emotions with the exception of Ryan and Johnson. Because those two were Marines by trade, mastering their emotions was key to getting ahead in their careers. The Mobians however were not warriors and had much more freedom with their emotions, and it showed. Miles for example had darting eyes with a couple questions. His ears twitched, and at times folded in hostility. By the time he left the interrogation chamber, he was nearly fuming, but still said that he needed to maintain a confidentiality between ONI and the Mobian government.
Sonic on the other hand was nonchalant the entire time. He leaned on his chair with his feet on the table. The ONI agents didn't seem to ask him to take them down as they delivered their questions. Sonic, as always, acted cool under pressure and didn't seem fazed. But when he left, even he said that the meeting was classified. When Sonic refused to tell her details on a confidential matter, it bothered Sally to no end. Now she was really concerned and curious. After a few hours of waiting, she was called into the chamber.
"Highness, we want to thank you very much for waiting this long."
"No need to thank me." She said. "Let's get this over with."
"Yes your highness. Have a seat right here." the lead agent said. He gestured to the chair that everyone else sat in. Sally did as she was told and made herself comfortable. Not that one could be very comfortable sitting in chair surrounded by three agents.
"Coffee, highness?" The one on the left asked.
"You know what, I'll have one." She said confidently. She didn't trust these men and needed to show that she still had control. The ONI agents poured her a cup.
"There we are. This is Vanilla Bean, straight from the Dragon Kingdom. Very nice blend. Would you like cream or milk and sugar?"
"Three milks, two sugars." She simply said.
She got her drink. Now the atmosphere was tense again.
"Your highness, we would like to ask you a few questions related to how things are going."
Sally tapped her fingers. "That seems ambiguous. Care to explain?"
"It will be explained in our questions. Now then: How do you feel about the strength of your government?"
Sally didn't hesitate: "The government is strong. My parents are good leaders. They listen to their people and think about their safety first. They have never failed to protect us when the situation arose."
"Then how do you explain the Terran Dominion's invasion four years ago where they captured a major strategic position - this castle?"
"We were caught be surprise. We had no chance to muster our forces." She puffed her cheeks slightly. "If I remember correctly, Earth was invaded too!"
"Only a few locations other than New Mombasa were confirmed to have Terran occupation, and those were dispatched in less than a week following their defeat at New Mombasa."
"I killed the enemy Supreme Commander myself." Sally stated. "In the throne room with the Sword of Acorns."
"Be that as it may, you were unable to get to the palace without sizable UNSC assistance, correct?"
Sally sighed. They were right. Without Human hardware, their push on the palace wouldn't be nearly as clean or effective. "That… is correct."
The lead agent adjusted his glasses. "You also mentioned that your parents did what was best for the Kingdom. Would you say that they take care of family?"
"My parents love me and would do anything for me."
The agent on the right immediately jumped, "So why has the search for your brother Elias been stagnant at best?"
Sally snarled. They had mentioned her brother, who was still missing. Traces of Elias had been seen here and there, including wreckage of a Royal ship in orbit around the Mobian Saturn. Curiously, no bodies were seen anywhere around the ship, and the logs confirmed that Elias was indeed on board. In the last year though, the search had been less than spectacular. It was expensive to maintain too. The logical conclusion would be to assume he died and his body was lost somewhere in space.
But she couldn't believe that. Her brother was alive, and she would find him .
"I never give up on my family." She said through gritted teeth. "I will find Elias, and when I do, we will be united again as a family."
The agent on the left snickered. "Cute."
A fire roared to life in Sally's heart. She had all the mind to slam every one of these guys through the glass headfirst. She restrained herself however.
"Next question." She demanded.
The agent looked over a data pad. "Can you describe to us your feelings on how the UEG is doing at the moment?"
Sally knew politics enough to answer, "you know as a diplomat, it would be unwise to comment on an allied interest to the Kingdom and to Mobius with anything other than enthusiasm."
"We're not asking you on the level of a diplomat. We're asking you for your opinion."
Sally sensed that they were really starting to get impulsive with these question. She kept her face even though and decided to play along. "My impressions of the UEG are impartial. I believe that they are a strong ally to have in terms of their technological advances as well as their widespread experience in galactic politics and economics. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Do you feel like the UEG is encroaching on Mobius in any way?"
"Encroaching? You mean, taking over?"
"That is not what we said." The lead agent responded.
A red flag shot up. Sally had everything she needed to start her own investigation, Why would they ask something like that? Out of the goodness of their hearts? Given her impressions of President Marshall and his Brain Trust group, this question about an intrusion on Mobian society was making things worse.
"No." She said. "I don't think the UEG is threatening us. Why would they? We're friends and allies. We would gladly support you at the moment you ask." She said the words but her intent was the opposite. She did feel that this new government was acting a bit overwhelming. The new tech, the secret drilling operations, the massive influx of troops… she needed to talk with her father as soon as she could.
The questions just kept coming. She answered them truthfully but wasn't afraid to deviate from the truth every now and then. Some of the questions struck close to home and she felt offended at a couple, and then they asked,
"What is your relationship to Knight Captain Vennettilli?"
Sally composed herself. "He is my commanding officer and in charge of OMEGA's military maneuvers."
"Is that all this relationship is? A simple chain of command?"
Sally shook her head. "I like to keep my friends close. I maintain a friendly atmosphere with everyone I know, including the Captain."
"Ex-Captain." the agent on the right said. "Are you certain that you aren't maintaining something a little more… intimate…?" he arced an eyebrow.
Sally's hands balled into fists. She dug her nails so deep into her hands that she nearly drew blood. "How dare you!"
"Your highness, it's no surprise that we should know this. After all, we are an intelligence gathering organization, and our citizens, whether they are servicemen past or present, are of great importance to us."
Sally was embarrassed that ONI probably knew every little thing that had gone on between them. She felt amazing anger at this.
"We also know that your previous partner wasn't enough for you. What made you abandon him for a Human officer? The prospect of information?
"What are you implying?" She said in a low voice, looking at the agent with utmost loathing.
"Are you engaged with a relationship under the promise of military secrets regarding the UNSC's troop deployments and technology?"
That was the last straw. "We're done here. My father will hear about this." She was up and out of the door before they could say anything else.
One agent looked to another and smiled. "I think she took it pretty well!"
At once, her friends were at her side. "Sally, what happened?" Sonic asked. "You bolted out of there faster than me!"
"These guys are insane! They think that I'm getting information about classified Human secrets!"
"Are you?" Tails asked, a bit nervous.
"NO!" Sally cried. "How can you even think that?"
"Sorry…" The fox said.
They walked back up to the main hall. "I'm telling my parents about this! I know that something very wrong is going on here! I'm sure you realize that too!"
Johnson huffed. "Just what sort of questions were they asking you? They were asking about my military service and experience with the Flood."
"They were askin' me about my robot limbs!" Bunnie stated.
"They asked me what sort of weapon contracts I had currently." Ryan said. "And I have a lot."
Sally then told them, and look at this in the big picture: With all of your questions combined with mine, what likely conclusion does that leave?"
It took them a second to understand the gravity of their situation. "They think Mobius is going to launch an attack on the UNSC?" Ryan said incredulous.
"Exactly." Sally affirmed.
"Why?" Tails asked. "Why would they think about that sort of thing?"
"I don't know. That's what I want to find out." Sally said. "And I think I have a good idea who's behind this. Stay here. I'll be back."
Princess Sally ran up to her parents' room. She took the stairs three at a time, hurrying to tell them the news. A few guards waved her through and she knocked at the door. It opened up and her mother stood there. "Darling! Come in!"
"Mother, where's Father? I have something important to…"
"Your Highness! What a pleasant surprise to see you!"
She turned and saw President Marshall standing at a table with her father. He wore a wide smile on his face. Her father seemed to have an even look on his face, but in his eyes, she saw that there was deep pain.
"I was actually meaning to get to the Dragon Kingdom to see the Premier, but I decided to stop in Knothole and see your father! The King is quite the golfer!"
Max gave a smile, but it was a forced effort.
"It's true, although my swings usually slice to the left." He said.
"Nonsense!" Marshall said. "They usually hit dead center in the fairways all the time!"
"So, why did you stop by here, Mr. President?" Sally asked.
"Just to deliver some news." Marshall said.
Sally nodded. "I'll get to that in a second. I would like to ask you about an interesting interview I just had."
Marshall didn't seem surprised. "You're talking about the recent surveys that have been going on! Most diplomats in the Alliance have been answering questions. We're trying to build up a knowledge base of our allies. Since Mobius is part of the alliance, everyone's been getting them."
"Right, surveys." Sally said, playing along. She had to make sure that she didn't come across as suspicious, but it was clear that Marshall knew a lot more than he claimed. "So… what was this big news?" she asked.
"I think that your father should tell you." The President said.
Max looked at his daughter. "Sally, what we're trying to tell you is that… Knothole has fully been accepted into the Alliance. We are now under full protection of Earth…" He cleared his throat, as if what was to be said next was painful. "We… are no longer in control of the Kingdom."
Sally's heart skipped a few beats. What?
"Don't say that like it's a bad thing Max. You will still have your status as a Royal, and you will still serve as Regent, but we'll make sure that nothing bad happens to the kingdom. You are now a full member of the family."
Max said, "Wonderful."
"But… why? Sally demanded. She was nearly in tears. How could her father allow this to happen? How could her father just fall before this evil man? "How?"
"Sally, before you overreact…" Max said, "I did it all willingly. The President made me see that as a civilization, we are far too underdeveloped to just strike it out on our own. We need help."
"We already HAD HELP!" Sally cried out. "The UNSC gave us free reign to let us run as we saw fit, and in return they offered protection! President Cleary would have never done this!"
The response seemed to sting Marshall. He huffed, and said, "My predecessor - God rest his soul - made decisions that as a whole didn't benefit either of our sides. With our help in running things here, you are certain to be stronger. Your civilization will flourish, your economies will blossom, and you will have a way to fight the Xorda and defeat them once and for all."
"The Xorda, Sally." Alicia said. "They would pose a major threat should they return."
"But they aren't here!" Sally argued. "They won't return!"
"Not with us watching your back, they won't." Marshall said. "Someday, you'll see that this was a great decision for all of us. It really will be!" He put on a friendly smile. It disappeared when the door opened. Howard Tudyk was standing there in a smart suit.
"Mr. President. I need you to come with me. It's urgent."
Marshall nodded. "That must be my communication from the Premier. I have to take that; I apologise."
"It's completely understandable." King Max said. "Go do what you need to do."
Marshall nodded. "Your Highnesses, I take my leave of you." With that. He turned on his heel and left the room.
Max was the first to say it, "Things will be different now."
"Father, how could you? A thousand years of our family ruling! How could you just buckle like that?"
Max looked into his daughter's eyes, and hugged her as she started to cry. "I meant it when I said I made the choice myself. It's a brave new world, Sally, and we must play by the rules of the game… or just fade away when the Xorda arrive."
"But… what about… everything this kingdom stood for? Unification, Friendship!"
Alicia comforted her daughter. "My precious, the Kingdom still represents that, and it still will until the stars fall from the sky. It's just not our problem anymore."
"We will still serve as Regents!" Max said with a brave smile. "The Kingdom will still have their guardians."
"But Father, this is only the first step. There's much more -"
Her father then said sternly, "I don't want to hear it, and that's final. I may not be a king anymore, but I'm still your father!
Sally sat down on her parents bed and let her face fall into her lap and she cried. She cried and she cried. She wanted someone to help her.
Anyone.
Things were going to be different.
Troy Marshall walked down the steps with his assistant. "Where is my Vice President?" he asked.
"Vice President Qualms is in Southamer making an appearance at the Station Square settlement." Tudyk said. "Did you give them the news?"
"I did. The Princess seemed to take it fairly well." Marshall said. "I was afraid that she caught on to something when she mentioned the interviews, but it appears that she didn't hear anything suspicious. I also trust that ONI wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize the operation."
"I am sure that they wouldn't sir." Tudyk said.
"Would you bet your job on it?" the President asked.
"I… wouldn't go that far sir. My pension maybe."
"Well then, let's test your luck." They walked out of the main hall and into an armoury. There they locked the door and stood in silence. "Now, what did the search report?"
"I just received a message back on the emergency frequencies."
"Hmm… not good. This is not an optimal way to start your report, Mr. Tudyk."
"Sir, give me a moment. Installation 05's Library was secure. We had First Force Recon run through the entire structure. Unfortunately…"
Marshall was in Tudyk's face. "'Unfortunately'? Howard, did you think I was joking when I said that I would have something really nasty done to you if you didn't come through? I intend to make good on that promise!"
"Sir…" Tudyk gulped. There was no easy way to say the words. "There was no sign of him. It appeared that he had fled the Installation through unknown means."
Marshall appeared neutral for a second, and then slammed his fists onto the wall of the armory. To Tudyk's shock, they left cracks in the ancient stone and mortar.
"You had better give me some good news quick Tudyk. WHERE IS THAT DAMNED MARINE?
"We don't know!" Tudyk said, frightened. We know that he was able to make it to an airfield on ring. Maybe he was able to commandeer or get aboard a ship. We managed to find and secure the Emerald Fox. Maybe there's some clues as to where he was headed next!"
Marshall was rubbing his hands still. "These damned…" he then looked at the Civilain ONI head. "You look like you want to tell me some good news. Spit it out."
"Sir… we captured his friends."
"Friends…? How many?"
"Just three. The Spartan insertion team picked them up. Two of them were mercenaries and the last one was a Royal Air Force Major. They are currently en route to Earth for incarceration and interrogation.
Marshall then calmed down. "That's even better. Fantastic! You know what that means?"
"I'm not sure that I do, sir."
"As a soldier, our friend, the Captain feels a strong sense of loyalty to his friends. He will try to find them. He will try to save them."
"An expert deduction, Mr. President."
"Nobody likes a kiss-ass, Howard. Here's what I want you to do: I want you to get someone in touch with the airfield, and find out what ships took off that day. Once you have a clue, I want those ships searched upon arrival. Tell them to look in every compartment, because I will not have our entire plan go up in smoke because of one man who slipped through our fingers!"
"What about the Princess?"
"What about her? She's not important. She doesn't know anything. Now that the Knothole government is out of the picture, we'll be able to proceed as planned. Is that clear?"
"Absolutely, sir."
"Very good. Now, what say we get something to eat? I'm fairly certain that the cooks will give me the 'presidential treatment'!"
"Most humorous, sir!"
"Shut up, Howard."
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