Chapter Text
21 June 3240
Royal Air Force Station Waddington
Lincoln, Kingdom of Acorn
The days of June 20th and June 21st would be forever imprinted on the girl’s mind. Some of the events that happened, she knew she would have to talk about. Others would need to be kept hidden away for everyone’s safety. But talking was better than being shot at in some cases, even though it could be equally stressful. The girl was human with blue eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair, capped by a hairband. She wore a plain blue jacket over a robin-egg blue bodysuit that ended in a skirt. Despite having been off her feet sitting inside of an escape pod, her feet were sore and she was in a state between tired and wide awake as the adrenaline spike that she rode on was dying down.
Her name was Maria Robotnik and she was originally born in the United Federation city of Ottawa, known as the Federation’s Second City. Sickly from birth, she had been quickly taken to the Space Colony ARK as a long-term stopgap measure to stop a potentially terminal illness from laying waste to her immune system. Between the ARK’s sterility and her grandfather’s presence as chief scientist for the UF-constructed space station, it had been the ideal home for her. But it wasn’t where she had wanted to live for the rest of her life. Maria yearned to see the world below, she wanted to walk on real grass and to see the sights that were only available to her by books, monitors and VR.
Her grandfather had been working tirelessly to keep her illness at bay with the overall goal of not just arresting it but reversing it completely. Experiment after experiment yielded failure until he had made a fateful roll of the dice and initiated what was later known as Project Shadow. Technically since the ARK was off-world, there was a tenuous agreement between Professor Robotnik and the government to allow him to perform experiments that would have normally taken months to authorise in committee. She didn’t understand how, but her grandfather had created a new being that seemed to take the form of a Mobian hedgehog.
This being which was also called Shadow, was meant to be a way to probe into the capability to make a being immortal. Such a prospect while being a way to stop her illness, was frightening. If applied to her, Maria Robotnik would have been the first immortal human. She was afraid if it was successfully applied that she would become a pariah. There was also the fact that she would essentially be watching everyone familiar to her pass by. Maria believed that there was a conventional cure that could help her, it was just going to be a matter of time before the professor got to it. She didn’t want empowerment; she just wanted a normal life.
She had finally gotten the means, but it came at a cost. Maria was cured and she had promised to keep the means a secret, even from her own grandfather. That was a promise she had meant to keep until things had escalated in an armed standoff between the space colony’s citizens and the United Federation’s executive branch. President Justin Kroft had come up from an organization within the government known simply as ‘MAJESTIC’. His successful election was a boon to the organization and it was his plan while still secretly controlling it to advance Project Shadow to unlock the secrets of immortality. Thanks to MAJESTIC Section 9 aka “LOOKING GLASS”, they had managed to communicate with an alien lifeform who provided the necessary materials that Professor Robotnik needed.
Only when Robotnik began to distance himself from the overall military application of the project, Kroft felt that a strong hand was needed to get him back on track. He sent a special team within the Guardian Unit of Nations, the special operations force of the Federation, known as ‘Coral Nomad’, which was specifically dedicated to MAJESTIC for ‘asset recovery’. They benefited from cutting edge weaponry and equipment that they got to make use of before any other branch, essentially acting as a testing and evaluation unit before the experimental technology would be slowrolled to the other branches. Coral Nomad was essentially unleashed on the station like attack dogs, making use of extreme force and coercion. They would have killed Maria had it not been for Shadow. The hedgehog was mentally a young adult and bonded with her like a brother.
He was able to tap into an unexplainable power that allowed him to perform extraordinary feats. Among those feats were teleportation, but when they encountered Coral Nomad while trying to get to a shuttle, Shadow had made a mistake and the two were removed to another locale in space-time. After a brief period of time elsewhen, they had been snapped back to their original position. The Coral Nomad section that was caught with them in the distortion was dead. But there was still the rest of the force to contend with. Soon after their return, an unlikely champion had arrived. A Mobian fox from the same time that Shadow and Maria had been displaced to, fought Coral Nomad off to the point where they were desperate enough to request emergency nuclear weapons authority from Kroft.
The fox, an admiral of the Kingdom of Acorn Royal Navy, stopped the incoming missile and forced the rest of the United Federation’s nuclear missile stockpile into space. He ordered the station’s citizens to escape pods and moved the station away out of orbit at a safe distance before self-destructing it. The technology and weaponry on board were too dangerous for him to allow Coral Nomad any chance of recovering. The fox’s name was unknown except to a select few including Maria. As a final gift, he had sent out a broadcast of the station’s security footage and files that he had extracted from the UF military networks. The Federation was up in arms as President Kroft faced scrutiny from Congress and the Supreme Court. Between the broadcast and the visible destruction of the ARK, there was no sweeping this away.
The President’s days might have been numbered but he still wielded influence with MAJESTIC. Which was likely why the admiral had set up their escape vector to the Kingdom of Acorn rather than the United Federation. Despite bombast and bluster, the Foreign Office refused to hand the ARK’s people over, claiming them to be refugees granted political asylum. The Prime Minister had raised the national defense posture and charged RAF Waddington’s station commander, Group Captain Amadeus Prower with the safety of the refugees. Prower was known to the Prime Minister as the PM’s younger brother was his deputy, Wing Commander Jules Hedgehog. The two had transitioned from helicopters into unmanned flight after seeing a test demonstration of Robotnik Defence Automation drones. They knew Gerald’s nephew Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the combined president and head of R&D. It was entirely lucky that Waddington was the chosen landing site.
“Brother’s really done it now.” Wing Commander Hedgehog sighed as he toyed with the top of his lighter. “We can’t put them in the barracks, if the Feds got anyone in the inside, all it would take is a series of accidents.”
“Well Mary has already put her foot down on the matter. She says they’re staying with us.” Group Captain Prower murmured as he reached out and closed Jules’ lighter. “She’s not happy with this whole thing between the whole smash and grab attempt and apparently we’ve got a dead Navy officer in the whole affair.”
“Any idea on who?” Jules tilted his head.
“Navy’s doing a headcount of everyone at flag rank from commodore on up, both active and retired. No one apparently got a name, but they describe him all the same. Vulpine, approximately middle age with greying gold fur and two tails. Can’t think we’d have very many of those.”
“Whoever he is, he had parts replaced too.” Amadeus gestured to the computer monitor that was showing a frame from the footage that was broadcast. “And powered armour! I thought Robotnik wasn’t anywhere close to getting suits made. How the hell did someone get something like this, let alone Navy? If we had these, we’d be made redundant in a fortnight!”
“Group Captain?” A new but familiar voice broke in. Amadeus turned to face a twelve-year old fox. He stared at the boy, who was wearing a variation of an aircraftman’s shirt and shorts with the trappings of a junior cadet of the RAF Air Cadets. The boy held up a tray that had four cups of tea on it as well as biscuits on the saucer.
“Mum sent you, didn’t she?” Amadeus took up one saucer along with Jules. “Are you bringing her one as well?”
“No, sir.” The boy said with a shake of his head. “She topped hers off before going an interview. I thought I’d bring one for the girl.”
“I raised you right, Cadet.” Amadeus smiled and gave a nod, setting his saucer down on a filing cabinet. He keyed a microphone in the room. “Cadet Prower will be bringing Miss Robotnik something to eat.” He heard an acknowledgement and picked up a biscuit. “You’re dismissed, Cadet. Thank you.”
“Sir.” The boy bowed his head and stepped out through the open door. He moved down the hallway and looked up at a Mobian wolf who looked over his identification badge. “Junior Cadet Miles Prower to bring Miss Robotnik refreshment as ordered by the Group Captain.”
The wolf nodded and opened the door. Once he cleared it, the fox set the tray on the table. The cups rattled and seemed to wake Maria up. The girl looked up with a start and then turned her head quickly from left to right. She froze on the fox’s face and watched as he nervously held his hands up.
“I didn’t mean to startle you, Miss Robotnik.” The boy said softly. “My mother thought you could use something to drink and eat perhaps.”
“Your mother?” Maria eyed the fox from top to bottom before looking back at his face again.
“She’s the legal officer for the base, and my father’s the base commander. I’m just in the Air Cadets.” He held a white gloved hand out to her. “Junior Cadet Miles Prower, at your service, ma’am.”
“Tails?!” Maria blurted out.
“-Yes,” His face flushed with confusion. “How did you know that name?” Instead of getting an answer, he got further confused as Maria got out of her chair and embraced the fox, starting to cry. All the more nervous knowing that his father was watching, Miles stood ramrod still for a moment. But instinct soon kicked in as he brought his arms around her. For whatever reason, she had chosen to unburden herself on his shoulder.
“I-“ Tails swallowed as he finally felt her release him, but he kept his arms around her. His shoulder was damp now. “I don’t know what you went through up there. But it’s over now. You’re safe here. No one is going to hurt you any longer.”
“I know.” Maria reached up and placed her face in her hands, cheeks burning out of embarrassment. “I can’t believe I did that. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” Tails pulled out a folded handkerchief from his shirt pocket and held it out to her. She took it gratefully and wiped her eyes with it. “Shock does that, I suppose.” He carefully slid the tray closer to her. “Here, perhaps this will help.”
“I’ve never had it before; it’s always been water or juice up there.” Maria carefully picked up the cup and took a sip. “-It tastes like a warm orange. I thought it was going to be blander than this.”
“Lady Grey, which is a close relative to the kind I typically drink, Earl Grey.” Tails gave his namesakes a little wag. “I’ll take a nice cup of this over your strongest coffee any day of the week. No offence meant to Feds.”
“None taken. So, you’re a junior cadet? In what?” Maria inquired, sitting down.
“Yes ma’am, Royal Air Force Air Cadets. I get to apply some of my electronics and mechanics knowledge here. They’ve even given me a workstation in one of the hangars. The Group Captain, that is my father, thought it would give me an outlet after school.” Tails explained.
“What do you think you’ll do when you’re of age? Join the RAF?”
“Well, honestly I know I’ll eventually be in the Acornian military, but I actually want to go to sea. Only problem is, no naval bases around here. I’d have to go ‘round to Plymouth or Clyde.” The fox shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll get there eventually. Besides, I’m a lousy pilot, I get airsick. That’s a bit of a liability when you’re expected to control an aircraft.”
“Perhaps they’ll make you an admiral.” Maria said softly. “I think Admiral Miles Prower fits you better than Junior Cadet.”
“Me, an admiral? That’d be something. Most of the fleet’d have to be sunk before they get to making me a commander, let alone an admiral.” Tails snorted good-naturedly. “Besides, ships need sensors and computers. Someone has to make sure they’re in good order. Otherwise, we’re stuck with the most basic of sensors, the Mark One eyeball and ear.”
“What would make you choose the sea anyways?” Maria took another sip, this time a larger one as she felt it cooled enough.
“We went to Portsmouth once on a sightseeing tour. I got to crawl around HMS Victory. Also went aboard HMS Belfast in London. Ships a thousand or so years old and we’re keeping them in good shape! That alone’s a bit of a feat of engineering. I’ve also read old classics. I’ve got books that go over the history and battles before we Mobians came about.” The fox’s tails began to wag about again. “Enough of me though! What do you think you’ll do after all of this?”
“I’m going to be a doctor.” Maria looked into the fox’s eyes. “Better yet, I think I’m going to become a ship’s doctor. That will probably be awhile though, I have to get used to standing on the ground. This place is completely alien to me even though I was born here. I’m probably just as alien to you.”
“I dunno, I don’t see any antennae or large googly eyes. And you didn’t come in any flying saucer.” That got Maria to laugh, and the fox smiled before rising up to his feet. “Well, I’d best be off. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“If you wouldn’t mind, could you bring a message to Shadow?” Maria asked softly.
“Shadow? Is he the hedgehog?”
“Yes! Tell him I’m doing all right.”
“As you wish, ma’am.” Tails bowed. As he turned away, the girl opened her hand but stayed seated. Instead, she took the cup and saucer to occupy herself, watching the young vulpine leave. Another sip of tea warmed her stomach and it also seemed to soothe her frayed nerves. She would see the boy again, and she wasn’t just reflecting on tomorrow, or the day after it.