Oil Ocean Zone - Greasy Reconnaissance

[Xeric]

Oil Ocean Zone, once the fueling station for the first generation of Dr. Eggman's Death Egg.



Sally wasn't comfortable being back on Westside Island, with no back up, and no NICOLE; her only equipment being her Ring-Blades and a standard issue handheld. An interrogation of an Egg Army member had given GUN information regarding activity on Westside Island, and other than Metropolis Zone, Oil Ocean seemed like the logical place to start.

Sally stood, staring into the distance. One way was Metropolis, the other Mobotropolis. Despite her negative attitude towards the island, she was still technically the crown Princess and felt a duty to protect her people if something was up.

"Urgh.. how do I get myself into this situations?" she moaned to herself as she began climbing the steep inclines, looking for any sort of unit to plug her handheld into.

[Val]

As the runaway princess ventured deeper into the industrial nightmare of steel girders and choking fumes, one of the nearby Badniks was patrolling dangerously close to her direction. A small spherical robot, easily mistakable as a flying tomato with eyes orbited by four fireballs floated along a stretch of walkway beneath a section of thick piping rumbling as the oil for which the area was known, was transported.

Behind it, past a large valve handle sticking from one of the walls, was a small terminal.

[Xeric]

As she continued she came across the Gohla floating in front of her, as well as the access port behind it. Coming face to face with this badnik was like a Blast from the past.. Dr. Eggman had used several of these to torch Mobotropolis when she was a child. BUt she had a mission to accomplish and this flaming vegetable wasn't going to stop her.

"I'll have you out of there in a giffy, little mobini!"

As if out of no where, 2 long, light blue, sharp blades sprung from her wrist rings and she dived for the badnik, hoping to release the animal inside.

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[Val]

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The Gohla flinched in mid air as it saw Sally, eyes flashing wide in a moment of panic. Its flames began to spin about it, preparing to launch at this intruder when.

Poof.

The Badnik broke in half, a plume of smoke erupting from it, flames dying away into nothing as a small piglet landed with a plop on the metal walkway and looked about in confusion.

[Xeric]

Sally blinked at the sight of the Picky, and approached it, giving it a pat on the head.

"There you go little one, better get a move on before someone makes a chilli dog of you!" she chuckled to herself. She put her head into her palm and walked toward the access port. "No ones ever around when I try to be funny" she thought to herself.

She opened to port, plugged in her handheld and waited for the hack to progress.

[Val]

“HALT, KNAVE!”



The voice rang out as the small pig squealed in shock and bounded off, leaving Sally as a shadow flashed over her and a loud metallic clang shook the air. Behind her at the end of the catwalk stood an Egg Robo with a magenta chassis and a knight’s helmet design incorporated into its head.

The robot thrust an accusatory finger the ground squirrel’s way. “Thou hast defiled this place with thine careless actions! Justice is due!”

[Xeric]

The Chipmunk flinched at the voice suddenly appearing behind her. She turned to see the towering purple Egg-robo. A smile crossed her fae as she listened to the accent it spoke, it reminded her of her Grandfather when she was a youngster. The smile quickly turned to a frown.

"Man, this island is nothing but trouble" she moaned to herself. She placed her handheld on a ledge, and turned back to the robot hoping to distract it long enough for the hack and download to finish.

"Rider, right? One of the Hand Boiled Heavies produced by Eggman to protect vital parts of his Empire." she queried. Without Nicole, she was trying to remember which model this was.

[Val]

The robo struck a pose akin to a sentai character.

“I am Heavy Rider! Indeed I am one of the Hard Boiled Heavies! And you are…”
She froze, red LED eyes staring at the squirrel girl. Who was she? Was she…meant to be important? This wasn’t exactly the climactic opponent Rider had hoped for. Oh well, wing it!

“…either foolish or brave to enter the Dragon’s Den so brazenly! Prepare to defend thyself fair chipmunk!” Reaching into her hammerspace, Rider withdrew a spiked metal ball on the end of a chain, the flail hitting the ground with a thud.

[Xeric]

"Acorn. Sally Acorn. Agent of G--" she froze. Was it a good idea to give away she worked for GUN? Probably for the best not too give the Eggman Empire any more reason to strike out at Federation Cities, especially if the big guy found out a spy was hacking his database.

"I'm... *SIGH* the crown Princess of Mobotropolis. The ruling body of this island." she replied as she rubbed her temples. "I'm here after learning this installation was active again." She tried not to giggle as she listened, even when she was a child, the kings accent was always funny to her.

She watched as the Heavy pulled her weapon from her Hammerspace. "I'm guessing you aren't going to let me leave quietly?"

The ring-blades once again shot from her wrist, as she waited for the robot to react.

[Val]

As soon as the word ‘Princess’ left Sally’s lips, Rider stopped. When the blades appeared on her arms, the robot dropped to one knee in a submissive bow.

“Forgive my rudeness, your highness!” Rider exclaimed. “I did not know you were of royal blood.” How disrespectful she’d been to a Princess. Even as an intruder, she was not to be treated as a lowly thief or prickly blue ruffian. Surely she’d best be escorted to the Round Table from which Rider oversaw Oil Ocean and from there, either back to her own kingdom or to her own sovereign; Dr Eggman.

Looking up, Rider scanned the area, noticing Sally was alone. “My lady…Where ist thou entourage? It does not do for a Princess to be wandering alone!”

[Xeric]

This was... new. Sally wasn't sure what to do here. At this point she'd expecting to be in a fight.

"My entourage? They're... around." She mumbled as she slowly backed towards where her handheld was plugged in. The sooner she could retrieve the information and leave the better. The last thing she needed was Dr. Eggman finding out she was in his refinery.

[Val]

This was simply not acceptable. As a knight of honor, Rider would have to ensure the Princess’ protection until such a time as her clearly subpar lazy defenders made themselves known.

“Permit me then, your highness, to escort you somewhere more fitting for thine standing. Pray tell, what kingdom dost thou hail from?”

[Xeric]

Sally backed up against the control port; still looking at the Mech in front of her, she unplugged the handheld and slid it into her Hammerspace.

"Really. That unnecessary. I can make my own way back to Mobotropolis." she replied.

[Val]

“Nonesense!” The EggRobo cried. “To have one of royal blood wandering about unprotected…Why, what if some callous spiky ne’er-do-well were to ambush you? My lady I must insist. It is only right and proper that I accompany you either to thine own kingdom or to the safety of mine own sovereign’s company to discuss this facility as thou wisheth.”

With a snap of her gloved fingers, Rider summoned a troop of Egg Pawns to begin swarming from every angle. Their rapid clattering footsteps flooding the Princess’ ears as Rider called out. “Noble knights, fall in! Surround the princess and allow no harm to come to her!”

[Xeric]

Sally tried to slip away backwards as Rider summoned her troops, only to back into one of the incoming Egg Pawns. She had to make a quick decision here; allow the Badniks to take her to Mobotropolis, back to one of Dr. Eggman's installations, or fight her way out. None of which sounded appealing to her.

"Honestly, I must insist this isn't necessary. I'm more than capable of escorting myself back to the capital, surely a noble knight such as yourself can see the.. erm.. brave... erm.."

Sally began tripping over her words, not sure what she could possibly say in this situation to resolve it.

[Val]

It didn’t seem as if Rider was listening anyway. As more robots fell in, she motioned to an elevator whirring as it lowered towards the vast expanse of oil for which the zone was named. “Yon elevator will carry us to where we can procure transport, M’lady. Please remain among my loyal guard and upon my honor, no harm shall befall you. Move out!”

And with that the Pawns began shambling along, the ones at Sally’s back urging her forward. Their cold emotionless grins and bright LED eyes watching her carefully.

[Xeric]

This.. was not going well. How did a simple reconnaissance mission go so south so fast? She needed a way out and fast. She quickly glanced around her surroundings, but with the badniks surrounding her, there was no way she could just slip away without being noticed. She needed a distraction.

"Is.. is that Lord Eggman?!" She cried, pointing into the distance

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[Jammerlee]

Actually, it was a column of fire roiling across the surface of the oil, barreling toward the platform that Sally, Rider and the assortment of badniks stood on top of.

Fwoosh.


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[Val]

Rider’s head, along with many of the Pawns surrounding Sally, swivelled in the direction the princess was pointing.

“No.” The Heavy answered simply and calmly. “No, my Lady. That is not my Lord Eggman. That is…FIRE!” She cried out, it apparently just then sinking in. “Egg Pawns, defence positions! Remember, the Princess must be protected!”
Several packs of robots peeled away from the crowd and gathered at Rider’s side as a robot barricade between Sally and whatever this was approaching them. Rider’s mace began to spin about as she twirled the chain, ready for a fight. She was trembling with excitement. ‘PleasebeaDragon. PleasebeaDragon. PleasebeaDragon.’

[Xeric]

What.. perfect timing, not expected but perfect. Sally aimed her wrist grapple above her head, hoping to latch onto one of the old support beams scattered around the crumbling refueling station.

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Thankfully, the grapple pierced an old Oil line flinging her out of the way before the fireball arrived. Sally looked at the incoming arrival.

"What on Gaia is that?!"

[Jammerlee]

The flames split as the reached the platform, roiling along either side with bursts of hot wind and the scent of burnt oil. As the flames shot past and their bellow began to fade, another sound could be heard. A roar?

No. A cackle.

"Wow, that got some HEIGHT on it!"

With a loud CLANG a cat-like figure landed on the platform, her tail flicking happily behind her. With her back initially turned, the figure - a robotic feline, it turned out, placed her hands on her hips and looked around. Turning, she noticed the barrage of badniks... and the figure with them.


"Oh, like, hello! I didn't know there were, like, other people here or anything!"

[Val]

It wasn’t a dragon. Wait, was it? Tail, yes. Scales, no. Wings, no. Fire breath, yes. Seemed inconclusive but Rider quickly scanned her database just to be sure. A figure popped up at the side of her vision as a probable match, a purple…cat? Cat it was then!

“Felonious feline!” she bellowed, still twirling that spiked morning star, “Thou art trespassing in my Lord Eggman’s domain. State thy intent!”

[Xeric]

Sally watched intently at the Robotic feline. What on Gaia was it? An Eggman Creation maybe.. She took out her handheld and began to scan the new face.

SCANNING IN PROGESS

....

NO INFORMATION CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

"Damn.. Change search parameters. Search Female. Lilac. Pyrokinesis." she silently whispered to her handheld.

[Jammerlee]

Completely unfazed by the threatening display with the morning star, Maze leaned a bit to one side, her tail switching behind her. "Ohhh so you like work for Eggman, huh? That's GREAT! I've totally been trying to find Eggman!"

And this point, the feline metallix bounded up, grabbing Rider by the hand and giving it a vigorous shake. "I'm Metal Blaze, but most people call me Maze, maybe because I puzzle them, HA!"