Chapter Text
Nights are quiet. They always were. Quiet means focus, and therefore the nighttime was always the best time to get the tedious work done. Of course, it being nighttime also meant the day's tiredness creeped in. First it took your eyes, then your muscles, and finally your mind. The insidious killer of all things productive.
Thankfully, the offices of the Restoration HQ had enough fluorescent lights to knock one's sleep rhythm out of wack for weeks and there were no shortage of caffeine-riddled products to keep the fellow night owls going in perpetuity. This night was just like the rest of them.
Lanolin, as she often did, stayed after hours to assist with clerical work. Having started as a clerk and slowly moving her way up, she never truly lost the skill. Physical documents were recorded into the database to be verified by another, she in turn verified their documents, and altogether they were indexed and made easily retrievable for later reference. Checks and balances to make sure everything ran smoothly. Mistakes could still be made, but the processes always sought to minimize them and the work was never stressful.
"Two hundred and fifty is a good stopping point for now." Verifying documents had become second nature to Lanolin and she was able to knock out her personal quota before the clock struck midnight. Halfway done with her second mug of coffee and prepackaged salad from the cafeteria's vending machine, she then started scrolling through the various incident reports logged in their database.
While they were primarily a paramilitary group, the Restoration being called "the Restoration" meant many civilians saw them as also being adjacent to governmental bodies. Littered debris, potholes in the road, and other non-Eggman related subjects were related to them constantly with the relevant information being forwarded to city governments whenever deemed necessary. Despite their general lack of use to the Restoration, copies of these "low-value" incidents were kept in the database as a record-keeping measure. "Better to have it and not need it" and all that. Lanolin's eyes glazed over as she sifted through them and she moved her mouse cursor to click the filter "Exclude Forwarded Incidents."
Innumerable pages of results remained. Many of these had to do with skirmishes involving rogue robots or intentional strikes from the good doctor personally. The numbers were bloated as many reports came from individual citizens from related areas under siege or post-siege, but the amount still etched some creases into the sheep's brow. She clicked the filters "Exclude Resolved Incidents" and "Exclude Assigned Incidents" and narrowed her search.
The results diminished even further, now only spanning a few pages, but any number greater than zero was still too many. All that remained were "Open," or unassigned, and "Abandoned" incidents. Many of the open incidents were added some time in the last 24 hours and would most likely be assigned by the closest Restoration branch's governing officer in the morning. Mercifully few of them would need dedicated strike teams to resolve and, if all else failed, Sonic would probably somehow find his way over there. The abandoned incidents did not bode as well.
For one reason or another, these incidents could not be resolved. Not all of them were dire. A handful of them were due to branch heads deciding to use it as an alternative to "Resolved" for incidents that were falsely reported, which irked Lanolin due to there being fields specifically for resolution notes which could have achieved the same result, but that was a complaint for another time.
No, the grand majority of these were times that the Restoration could not help or were too late to help. Towns lost, people displaced, operatives and civilians killed. The numbers were approximate, but their impact was absolute. These were people who would no longer see their loved ones again, and those would never be able to properly grieve. Bodies trampled, livelihoods destroyed, more ground gained for the ultimate evil. Despite their best efforts, this would be their only remembrance. A name, a few defining characteristics, and maybe a file photo if they were lucky; all of it recorded in a database too heavy for anyone to properly comprehend its gravity.
There's only so many times one could actively seek this much tragedy before becoming numb to it. For Lanolin, however, it acted as her guiding flame. The more work she did, the less people had to suffer. She couldn't prevent it, but mitigating it more and more would eventually lead to victory. Abandoned incidents may have represented failure, but she looked at the bigger picture. Their frequency was declining. More operatives were being trained than ever. Wispon tech had been advancing alongside them to accommodate varying combat styles and body types. Though they still haven't managed to put Eggman on the back foot, their forces were slowly matching his blow for blow. These measures only treated the symptoms though. The cure? Taking out Eggman for good.
Lanolin scrolled through the most recent abandoned incidents, perhaps to find a pattern in how the operation broke down to improve for later. Many of them told a similar story: too few operatives pushed back by overwhelming numbers. But one singular incident held an interesting wrinkle. All the operatives were taken out, but only by being disarmed and forced to retreat. The civilians as well were displaced from their homes but not killed. And supposedly all of this was carried out by normal Egg Pawns, the bumbling frontliners of Eggman's armada. Beyond unusual, this was unprecedented. "Kill on sight" was the motto for all of Eggman's robots and to not do so this time was too different to ignore.
"Wait. If all the operatives were left alive, why didn't they return for a counter-offensive with new weapons?" Lanolin mumbled this to herself as she pulled up the resolution notes.
No further action taken at town leader's behest. Subject fears the mercy extended to them will be revoked if we or they retaliate. Will leave categorization of incident to the discretion of the administration. - Gene W.
Looks like admin decided that it was more abandoned than resolved, Lanolin figured. "Still, Gene. Really? Not even a recon unit to assess what the robots are using the place for now? What kind of a commander..." She trailed off her comment, but the facts of the case continued clawing at her brain. What reason did Eggman have to meticulously coordinate several Egg Pawns to non-lethally annex this one location? It didn't make sense.
For a few moments, she anxiously tapped her boot on the linoleum floor before clicking "Print" on the incident report's page. She was gonna get to the bottom of this.
knock knock
"Come in!"
Lanolin opened the door to Jewel's office, a fellow night owl and her direct superior. The beetle was elbow deep in her own paperwork, but seemingly always had time to take on more. "Director Jewel. I have an incident report I wish to share with you."
"A report?" She peered from around her computer screen. "What of?"
"It's about the skirmish that occurred in Halfmoon Valley."
"Ah. The one where everyone came back mostly unharmed?"
"Yes." Lanolin was surprised she could even remember that considering all the other work she managed. "I was wondering if it may be possible to re-open this one for a potential counter-offensive."
Jewel frowned. "I'm not so certain that's a good idea."
"I've already read the resolution notes. I firmly believe tha-"
"That's not what I meant." She got up from her chair. "I'm referring to the incident notes overall."
"What do you mean?"
"Page two. Paragraph five."
Lanolin flipped to the indicated passage and read it aloud.
Egg Pawns numbered no more than twenty. Five operatives total were sent to alleviate the area. No Pawns were destroyed during the offensive and all equipped Wispons were destroyed. One robot emitted an order for us to retreat from its speakers and we complied to prevent casualties.
How in the world did she remember this? "But we could still gather a platoon from HQ and do it ourselves," the sheep protested.
"Look, Lanolin." Jewel picked up a copy of the same incident heavily marked with red pen. "I've already combed through the incident as much as I could after noticing the same deviance that you did. And I've come to the conclusion that this is not Eggman's work. There are several incidents newer than this that show the usual way he operates. Whoever is piloting these bots is dangerous and, above all else, careful."
Lanolin briskly walked up towards Jewel's desk and firmly placed her hands on top of it. "That is precisely why we need to re-open it and label it a high priority task. Whatever- whoever it is can't be allowed to fester there."
"I admire your sense of justice, but I can't authorize the potential death of our members at the hands of an unknown threat."
"Then send the Diamond Cutters."
Jewel's brow furrowed and her face darkened. "I abhor the idea of sending friends to die even more."
"And I abhor the idea of not even trying to help those in need." Her voice raised in anger. "Deploy us. We are capable. Let. Us. Do. This."
"...I will reconsider re-opening it and convening with Sonic about-"
"No." Lanolin slammed her hands down this time. "I know Sonic is our ace in the hole, but that's the problem. What would it say about the rest of the Restoration if we left anything slightly challenging to him? This organization should not be reduced to his stalling tactic. The Diamond Cutters can handle this."
"And what would it say about everyone else who isn't at the level of the Diamond Cutters?"
"We aren't superpowered, Director. Even if some of us have innate talents in one area, we all still worked hard to be here. Allow us the opportunity to prove that. That is all I ask."
The two of them glared into the other's eyes for a while. Both of them were adamant about their positions. But one had to give eventually. Jewel sighed and sat back in her chair. "Okay. I'll reassign the Halfmoon Valley incident to the Diamond Cutters and reserve a transport vehicle for you all. Under one condition."
"That being?"
"Recon only. We already saw what a poorly planned, head-on assault can result in. Scope out the area they occupied and report back so that we can prepare a better plan in the future. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am." Lanolin bowed before making her way to the office door. She grabbed the knob and looked back at the director, still staring at her from the chair. "Thank you very much for the opportunity. I won't let you down." She shut the door behind herself, leaving the beetle slumped in her chair.
Jewel took a big breath and closed her eyes. "I'm not worried about you letting me down. I'm..." She exhaled and opened her eyes. Putting her hands on the computer mouse, she moved her cursor towards the Halfmoon Valley incident.
"Aww! What do you mean we're only allowed to do recon!" Tangle ached.
"That's what the director said. If you have any problems take it up with her." Lanolin had anticipated this would be her first hurdle.
"But me and my tail and more suited to busting bots, not sneakily ignoring them!"
"Then this'll be the perfect time to learn."
"...Are you sure this will be safe?" Whisper chimed in. "The report seems... dire."
"It shouldn't be too difficult," Lanolin assured. "I was able to retrieve some secondary findings about a small recon team doing a perimeter check to chart the robot's movements in the area. They haven't grown in number since the displacement and they do seem to have a central hub they go to and from within the town. Our job is to find the entrance and radio it in."
"And then what? We go home?" Tangle gave her most unenthused, sarcastic voice possible.
"Yes. If the entrance happens to be a large hole or cave, we are allowed to enter it in case there's something deeper within, but that's all. After that, we come back, make the report, and then mobilize some troops to take back Halfmoon Valley."
"I bet Sonic would totally take out all the robots...," the lemur grumbled.
Lanolin took a deep breath. "If you're willing to take the risk of making the person next to you the unhappiest woman in the world, be my guest."
"Huh? What's that supposed to-" Tangle looked to her right to see Whisper giving her a sideways glance before pulling her mask over her face. "Wait, no! I can do recon! I love recon! Recon's my middle name! Haha!"
The wolf turned away from the lemur more causing the latter to plead even harder for the former's approval. Lanolin sighed, knowing that the biggest hurdle towards their capability was their dysfunction as a cohesive unit. Dealing with this the first thing in the morning would make or break how this operation would go; if they couldn't get Tangle's tendencies to overstep in the name of adventure and excitement under control, they'd probably have to call the whole mission off. Lanolin wasn't about to let this opportunity pass her by, so she trusted in Whisper's threat of disapproval to get Tangle in line.
"Alright. Now that we've gotten the facts of the case together, let's get to the site and plan our next move."
Tangle stiffened herself into an exaggerated salute pose. "Yes, ma'am!"
"...Mm." Whisper nodded.
It was going to be a looong recon mission.
The transport vehicle provided to them was a repurposed dune buggy reinforced with metal plates from scrapped Eggman robots to deflect any stray shots and debris. Due to not having any sort of forced ventilation, it had a sunroof that could be opened partially or fully to allow airflow into the cabin to cool down the passengers. Tangle took the opportunity to hold her entire torso out the top of the buggy to catch the wind while Lanolin drove and Whisper sat next to her. The wolf used the time to wipe down and tune her Variable Wispon while the sheep silently double and triple checked the incident files in her head.
Despite Tangle being nearby, the wolf and her commander were able to share this moment of quiet between them. "...Why this incident?" Surprisingly though, Whisper broke the silence.
This broke the sheep out of her trance. "Huh? What?"
"This mission. Why did you decide on this one?"
"What do you mean?"
"...Most wouldn't try to re-open a resolved incident."
"Abandoned," Lanolin corrected. "It was abandoned, not resolved."
Whisper's eyebrows scrunched together. "...My point being, why attempt to retake this town?"
"Why not retake it? We have the opportunity to do the most good by doing so. Even if we are only a stepping stone towards that goal."
"...Wouldn't the same be accomplished by participating in an already open incident? Is this place important to you?"
Lanolin squinted. "Are you trying to insinuate something? To answer your second question, no. I only learned of this place when reading the report. I have faith in other Restoration cells taking on the open incidents. But this is unacceptable."
Whisper tilted her head. "What is?"
She glanced at the wolf briefly before returning to the road. A few seconds of silence passed before she shouted, "Tangle! Get your head down! We're almost there."
"Aye aye, captain!" The lemur yelled back.
The buggy slowed to a crawl right before a large gash in the earth. Halfmoon Valley, as mystic as it sounded, was quite literal. A roughly semicircular chunk of land was dug out of the relatively flat sandstone mesa that stretched out everywhere around it. Down into the crevice were numerous carved and weathered slopes in the cliff faces. These slopes loosely connected the disparate pockets of hardened clay dwellings that were sculpted and molded into the sides and held up by thick beams of lumber. They were marvels of primitive ingenuity which elicited gasps of astonishment from Tangle.
"WHOOOA! Those cliffs have windows!" Albeit the reasons for said astonishment were somewhat juvenile.
"There's pockets of people all over the world that live similar to this," Lanolin explained as she pulled the buggy's parking brake. "The Restoration branch that first made contact with Halfmoon Valley incidentally included a member that originated from here. Thanks to that, they were able to help them accept one of our distress beacons in case of absolute emergencies."
"What kind of 'absolute emergencies'?"
"According to the report, only two calls were programmed into the beacon. One for natural disasters and another for 'metal sky demons.' I assume this is what their name for Eggman robots was." The sheep rolled her eyes at this last statement.
"...Thankfully, they were able to use it properly," Whisper commented.
"And now we're here to take out the demons!" Tangle banged her fists together.
"No," Lanolin glowered. "It's still recon. All we're here to do is threat analysis and report back. If you encounter them, you stay out of sight as much as possible. Engage only as necessary. This isn't our jurisdiction; we can't impose our will on it."
"...If this isn't our jurisdiction, why are we handling the recon?"
Lanolin ignored Whisper's pointed question and tossed the wolf and lemur their own walkie-talkies. "If you see anything out of the ordinary, call it in. We'll split up to cover more ground and these should keep us tethered."
"Ah sweet! I never get to hold these." Tangle pressed the button on the side and forced her voice down an octave. "This is Colonel Tangle here! Over! Can you hear me, Lieutenant Whisper? Over!"
The lieutenant discreetly reduced the volume on her blaring radio and smiled. "I can hear you perfectly fine, Colonel."
"Booooo! You were supposed to use it to talk back to me!" The colonel's cheeks puffed as she pouted.
Lanolin pinched the bridge between her eyes. "Just make sure to keep chit-chat to a minimum. I understand recon can be boring, but just make sure not every line over the radio is a joke or in that voice, got it?"
"You got it, Captain!" She gave a mock salute to which the captain was not amused.
Whisper walked towards Lanolin and spoke in her ear, "I'll be sure to scold her if she goes overboard."
"Please do." The sheep clapped her hands together and looked at the other Diamond Cutters with determination. "Now, you have your assignment and your instructions. Let's get to work!"
Subdivided by the slopes were layers of homes stacked on top of each other. As with most primitive construction methods, their arrangement was more art than science. Whisper stayed near the top layers of homes so she could have a vantage point of the rest of the valley while Tangle immediately shot herself towards the bottom layer of homes. The logs jutted from the homes in such a way that made the lemur excited to see if she could use them to swing her way back to the top. Lanolin stayed somewhere near the middle and began opening all the doors she could find.
There were vanishingly few places any sort of robot workforce could hide in this village. Signs of a struggle could be seen with crumbling holes of various sizes and quantities dotted across the mud brick walls. The interiors had evidently been ransacked, but every building was still structurally sound. There were no telltale signs of Eggman's influence anywhere. No metal beams, solar capture arrays with his likeness emblazoned on it, nor any other variation of robot guarding strategic points of interest. It was quiet save for the wind that echoed and reverberated in the walls of home and canyon alike.
Occasionally she could hear hollering coming from below her as Tangle was no doubt swinging to her heart's content. The walkie-talkie was mercifully silent though as Lanolin inspected every residence as carefully as she could. Time was not infinite and there was still a whole other side of the valley to explore for any signs of robots. She would give each room a quick once over and peek behind any large furniture for hidden entrances and be on her way.
It was about twelve homes deep that she began to resent those of the previous small recon party for not being more detailed about all they observed. They saw robots, but no concrete quantities or where they tended to congregate. It was if their report only said, "Yeah, they're still in there. I don't know where though. End report." Thankfully, the homes provided plenty of shade from the sun even as the shadow of the valley walls began to fade away. Even Tangle had, surprisingly, still not said anything over the radio which was relieving in one aspect and anxiety-inducing in another. Most of that was constantly assuaged by the lemur's ever increasing yelps emanating from further down the canyon. Everything else turned into monotonous busy work.
Eventually, though, she came across a genuine anomaly. This home's interior was similarly ransacked like the majority of the ones before it, but its major features were two, nearly perfect circles cut into its ceiling and outward facing wall. Around the circumference, she noticed energy-based scorch marks, a stark departure from all the other physical and explosion-based openings she had found. Finally, something different! Lanolin grabbed the radio from her belt, pressed the talk button, and spoke. "This is Lanolin. I've identified some signs of robot activity. Requesting backup. Over."
No response. Weird. These things should have a kilometer of range at worst. She tried again. "This is Captain Lanolin. Requesting help from Colonel Tangle and Lieutenant Whisper at current location. Over." Might as well play the lemur's game to get her attention. Still nothing. "What is going on? I know I charged these things last-"
A spark of realization lit in her mind. Those weren't her normal radios. The previous night was when Jewel reserved their specific buggy. Each one is equipped with two walkie-talkies of their own and are tuned to their own channel. When Lanolin brought them into her office to charge, she never modified her personal one to match the others. She had been completely in the dark this whole time, something that should've been obvious from the start when she couldn't hear Tangle messing around.
"Shi-!" She wanted to finish the full expletive, but cut herself short upon hearing the sound of lumbering metal. One of the Egg Pawns was nearby. She glanced around quickly and noticed a massive hole cut into the cliff-facing wall, barely concealed by a hanging tapestry. Just as swiftly, she ducked behind a nearby protrusion of clay that shielded her from immediate view of the cave's opening.
The metallic footsteps drew closer as she waited. Every second felt like an eternity. Lanolin wasn't afraid of the Egg Pawn, far from it, but the last thing she wanted was for the group's cover to be blown. It continued to trudge through the tunnel, closing the distance between the two slowly but steadily. Once it arrived opposite the hanging blanket, it ceased all movement. She dared not peek from around her hiding place in case its attention caught on her, but she wouldn't worry long. Rocket thrusters in its feet loudly warmed up and soon it rapidly rose out of the opening in the ceiling, leaving behind some soot and a trail of smoke.
Lanolin, taking this opportunity, left her position, exited the nearest door to the outside, and dug around in her pockets until she pulled out an odd, purple device. She quickly dialed a string of digits into the number pad on the side causing a spike to jut out. After she stabbed it in the outer wall of the building, small metal anchors flipped down and dug into the clay as well. Once it was completed, the device looked like a glowing purple pimple growing out of the mud brick. "Let's hope Tangle and Whisper pick up this signal." Or at least see the flying robot.
Now Lanolin was by herself once more. The Egg Pawn was miles out of sight with the cave entrance left unguarded. She had completed her mission. The house containing the tunnel had an SOS beacon stuck to the outside of it making it a cinch to find later; far and away more valuable information than the previous recon team provided. It would lead to a proper offensive and the village being taken back; exactly what she was hoping they would do. But, somehow, this outcome was unsatisfying.
She didn't know what was in the cave. It could've been their main base of operations. It could just as easily be a resource stockpile the Egg Pawns were stealing from, but there was no way to know for sure.
Lanolin dug in a different pocket and pulled out a flashlight. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," she mumbled to herself. From yet another pocket, she procured a tally counter. She clicked on the flashlight, pointed it towards the tunnel's entrance, and gripped the counter firmly in the other hand. "While it's out, I'll count how many paces deep this tunnel is and put it in my report."
This decision made a lot of risky assumptions, least of which being the total disregard of there being other Egg Pawns deeper inside. Another one could just as easily return to the cave and box her in. It wasn't ideal, but nothing in this world could be perfect. She stormed in with an urgent pace and clicked the tally counter with each full stride.
Her boots echoed off the walls of the tunnel with each stomp. Her heart rate continued to climb as the suns rays faded away behind her. Fifty paces deep, the path the tunnel took suddenly bent to the right. There were no branching paths, but this turn guaranteed that no light nor radio waves could possibly reach her; the point of no return. Roughly thirty more paces and she reached what she hoped to find in the first place.
A large metal door with a keypad beside it stood in her way. "Bingo," she exclaimed with a mild huff. There was no way for her to crack that now, so she promptly turned around and briskly walked back out. "Roughly... 84 strides deep... metal door.... Done." She jotted the information in a small field notebook and stuffed it and the counter back into one of her pockets.
"Leaving so soon?" A tinny voice came from behind her.
As soon as she whirled around towards the source of the noise, an Egg Pawn dropped from a then unseen hole in the tunnel's ceiling and landed a foot from her face. "Maggie!" Her Bell Wispon pulsed purple and she readied her finger to strike it. Before she could however, another Pawn dropped on the opposite side of her and restrained both of her arms.
"Ah ah. None of that." The voice taunted her from one of the Pawns. "And I'll be holding onto this as well." The first Pawn yanked the Wispon from her neck and sealed it inside of one of Eggman's Wisp capsules. Maggie emerged from the Wispon and banged against the transparent material of the capsule in distress.
"Let. Her. GO!" The sheep struggled futilely in her captor's clutches, kicking wildly and attempting to wrench her hands free.
"Oh, hush. You'll get your precious alien back. I'm merely preventing you from caving this place in on both of our heads." The Wisp capsule rose up through the hole the Pawns fell from.
Seeing Maggie disappear made her want to struggle more, but the vicegrip the Pawn had on her wrists would not budge. Her fury simmered as she processed the scene around her. The unusual details from the incident report came back to mind. First, Eggman's robots did not attempt to kill on sight. And second, the voice over the speaker - it wasn't Eggman. "Who are you?! Why are you here?!" Her questions came out more heated than intended.
"Finally! Some productive conversation." Their voice came in sickly sweet over the staticky intercom. "I'll tell my guards to let you in."
The Pawn that was already restraining Lanolin lifted her off the ground by her wrists and dangled her in the air. Both robots then marched deeper into the tunnel until they faced the metal door. The Pawn with free hands punched a code into the keypad, keeping it concealed from the sheep's prying eyes. The door slid sideways into the rock revealing a large inner room. The walls and ceilings were primarily the normal rock and stone, but it was flooded with bright fluorescent lights and screens of varying shapes, sizes, and states of repair.
"Welcome to my humble abode. I'd say I was expecting you, but that'd be a lie unfortunately." The obnoxiously cheery tone came from a metal folding chair sat by a bundle of screens in one corner of the room.
"Not much of a welcome when I can't see you." The Pawn that led the way blocked the person from Lanolin's view.
"Ah! My apologies. Let me move him out of your way." The robot took a few steps to its side revealing the figure standing behind it. "Greetings, dog of the Restoration! My name is Dr. Starline. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The spectacled platypus gave a deep and sarcastic bow.
"Starline? Impossible. According to the reports, you died. Crushed to death even."
"Under normal circumstances, you would be correct. However, it seems the universe has given me a second chance." He pulled upwards on his left leg, revealing the metal appendage underneath fake skin. "For a price of course."
Lanolin winced. "I think the price was too little compared to the damage you've caused."
"Perhaps. It was certainly fortuitous that I only had to amputate below the knee rather than above it." Starline hid his artificial leg and smoothed out the skin. "It seems the chaotic will of the world decided to throw me a bone so to speak."
"Fascinating," she responded sarcastically. "Why are you here?"
The doctor let out a single laugh. "Personal reasons. Primarily revenge. Dash of bruised pride here and there to taste. With a garnish of disappointment."
Lanolin rolled her eyes. "That's an awful recipe. You've never cooked a day in your life, have you?"
"Was it that obvious?" His voice failed to suppress a cackle.
"And it seems like a pretty sloppy set of motivations for vengeance against the Restoration."
"Ah, there it is! The fundamental misunderstanding!" Starline held his arms out wide in mock praise.
"...What?"
"Ah, right. You weren't around for my downfall. I have never been concerned with the Restoration. You lot were meant to be a stepping stone towards world domination. We were destined to become enemies; to seek revenge for that would be silly." He grimaced and waved his hand in front of his face as if repelling a foul smell. "Why lament the natural order of good versus evil? Repulsive."
Lanolin squinted. "So you still consider yourself evil."
"Of course!" Starline's face lit up in excitement. "Far from being reformed, I am reinvigorated. Until I fall over dead, I shall remain rotten to the core."
"And yet you still haven't killed me."
Bullseye. The doctor flinched and glared at the sheep with a shakier conviction. "Indeed, I haven't. Quite embarrassing that I let those other townsfolk live whilst proclaiming to be evil, isn't it? Unfortunately, my villainy doesn't extend to general misanthropy for now. You'll have to put up with me for a while longer."
"Joy."
"My source of ire is much more targeted. The one who wronged me, truly wronged me, was not any of you. Nor was it my own creations despite their mutiny."
"I'm sure the two of them would be delighted to see you again." Lanolin put on her best "customer service" voice when saying this.
"Certainly not," he stated matter-of-factly. "If there was only one thing I understood - and I have knowledge of a great many things - it would be grudges. Surge alone would not rest until my head was on a pike."
"Are you developing a sense of remorse now that you've recognized your atrocities?"
"Heavens, no!" Starline gasped hyperbolically. "Those two are still marvels of bio-mechanical engineering. If I had my way, I'd be in my lab, continuously tuning and improving their capabilities. Me recognizing their disdain towards me is empathetic, not sympathetic."
"Then what is your end goal?" Lanolin struggled in her restraints. "You say you're a villain yet you're swearing off hurting civilians? Your motivations are contradictory."
"Blech. Must I subscribe to your definition of villainy? Truthfully speaking, I have no use for the screams of the innocent. My quarry is far more... specific."
"Quit with the grand posturing and spit it out." His theatrics grated on her nerves.
He glared for a moment before stretching out both arms. "Dr. Ivo Robotnik. He is my sworn nemesis. The one for whom the universe has given me a second chance to take down." The platypus stared wistfully at the ceiling during this final line.
Lanolin's eyes widened the same time as her brow furrowed. Eventually, an involuntary smile cracked through and she laughed. "Wow. I had heard you were crazy, but seeing it first hand really puts it into perspective. You are completely delusional."
"Yes, yes." He flapped his hand dismissively. "The disgraced evil minion seeks revenge against his boss after he's thrown away. I'm sure it's a cliche you've heard many times in novels and the like."
"Not just cliche. Impossible."
"Oh?" Starline approached the suspended sheep and stood three paces away. "Do tell. I'm quite intrigued by your thought process."
"...Huh?" Her smile faded into genuine confusion.
"I don't mean to offend. I am quite curious. What is it about my vengeful crusade that makes it 'impossible' In your own words?"
She shot him a suspicious glare. "What're you getting at?"
"There are no ulterior motives in what I ask. Only that I would like to receive answers. For example, a mother and her child are displaced by the good doctor's forces. The child professes that they wish to grow up and take him down, once and for all. What is a mother to do but inspire hope and confidence in the child? 'You can do it once you're older,' she comforts them with. 'The Restoration is where you can go to put the bad man away for good,' she states. As far as I'm led to believe, that is your organization's goal."
"Your analogy doesn't hold because you would never consider joining the Restoration. No one would accept you even if you did."
"Is that right?" A sly grin crossed Starline's bill. "I think with enough convincing and pleading, it'd be possible to win over the most influential figure in your little militia."
Lanolin felt her stomach drop. "You wouldn't-"
"BUT! You were correct in assuming my lack of consideration. I couldn't be sincere about it even if I wanted to." He locked eyes with the disheveled sheep. "But I'm impressed. To think you understand the fatal flaw of your own organization so easily. Let's put a pin in that for now and return to the original question. Why would it be impossible for me to defeat Ivo myself?"
"...Because he's too heavily guarded."
"A fair if sloppy point. However, I have the capability of reprogramming his machinery for my own gain as you are no doubt familiar with." The Egg Pawn standing nearby doofily waved at the sheep. "Custom firmware, custom parts, custom combat tuning. I'm sure your comrades will be second guessing every encounter with these from here on out. And, with enough time, they could lap the good doctor's robots in every metric."
"You say that as if the Restoration would ever give you the chance to build up your forces."
"And what reason would they have to stop me?"
Lanolin scoffed. "Are you joking? You're displacing people from their homes and ransacking them. That is not something we can allow."
"Feh. Details." Starline shrugged. "This remote village was never meant to be anything more than a resource cache. Once I've scavenged all I can from it, I'll be returning to my base of operations, forever out of these people's hair."
"You can't expect me to believe that."
"Unfortunately I don't, but the truth is the truth." He stared longingly at his bare left hand. "After manipulating minds with lies and technology for so long, I thought to give telling the truth a fair shake. See how that works."
Lanolin sneered at his words. "Is this part of some new honor code for yourself?"
"In a way, yes. Instead of garnering allies through deceit and mental scrambling as I did in the past, I noticed that iron clad convictions are what move mountains in this world. Lies are what turn wooden trusses into houses of cards. I shall stand by my words until the bitter end. Ivo will die by my hand."
"Since you're in such a truth-telling mood, what'll you do after you take down Eggman?"
Starline held his arms behind his back and gazed at the rocky ceiling. "That is where I'm uncertain."
"Uh-huh. Did your motivation for world domination get knocked out of you by falling debris like your leg did?"
"Cute," he said through clenched teeth. "I simply don't have the same fondness for your blue mascot friend that the good doctor has. Dealing with him for any amount of time tires me."
"Fondness? Eggman and Sonic hate each other. You hating both of them makes it easy to see where the cards fall. Eggman dies so Sonic has to die next."
"Hm. Intriguing." Starline snapped his fingers. "Let her go."
Immediately, the Egg Pawn who had held Lanolin's wrists this whole time dropped her to the hard ground. Bewildered by her sudden release, she glanced all around her for any changes in her surroundings but found nothing. The door leading into the cave was still closed off and the Pawns continued to stand next to her. "Your custom firmware needs to include some better manners."
"Then please accept my apologies and this relative freedom as a gift for your continued and attentive listening."
"You say that like I had a choice." She rubbed her wrists to get blood flowing through them again.
"Oh, but you did." A toothy smirk appeared in his bill. "I can name plenty of others who would simply tune me out and continue struggling to escape. And if not that, they would've kept entirely silent. Yet here we are. Having such a pleasant conversation."
Lanolin cracked her knuckles. "I can very easily make this unpleasant."
"Feel free. We both know you'd be the only loser if you did. My Pawns would take you down, possibly even out, and you'd lose such a great source of information. I'm sure you've noticed my chatty nature and penchant for talking about myself. Who knows what other secrets I could let slip?"
Her glared threatened to burn a hole through his combover, but she relented with a sigh. "...Fine."
"Excellent." He pushed his glasses closer to his face. "Calculating your decisions based on the bigger picture. Being careful about what you reveal in the words you say. You've been through a lot, haven't you?"
"Don't psychoanalyze me."
"Force of habit. However, I would like to use this to circle back to a previous point about our favorite blue hedgehog."
Lanolin's face hardened. "What does Sonic have to do with this?"
"It seems to me that you already recognize how important he is to the equation. Why don't you tell me who you were afraid of me appealing to in the Restoration earlier?"
The leather on her gloves creaked as she clenched her fists. "I refuse to answer that."
Starline raised an eyebrow. "Then I shall answer it in your stead. Sonic the hedgehog! Not quite a hero, not quite reliable, and near infinitely patient with others. Have a sour enough backstory and he'll do his damnedest to bring you to his side."
"I'm not surprised that you would have a tragic backstory."
"Eh. I wouldn't call becoming a salaried university professor a tragic backstory. My greatest tragedy was letting my infatuation with Ivo cloud my eyes from how chaotic he truly is. But my downfall is too recent in my past to count for anything sufficiently depressing."
"Tch." Lanolin smacked her lips. "Then why bring up Sonic at all?"
"Oh. Perhaps you are unaware of his other significance then. I believe I mentioned that the doctor has quite a fondness for our blue fellow, yes?"
"Yeah. And I'll mention again that I think you're way off the mark."
"An understandable response. However, let me tell you a tale of the wrath of a madman." Starline pulled his coat tighter around him. "There was a time when I believed I had killed our favorite hedgehog. It would've been such an achievement should it have happened. Unfortunately, my jubilance was quite short-lived."
"Because you missed?" Lanolin quipped back.
"That and Ivo was furious with me."
"Because you missed."
"Because I had the audacity to try."
"...What?"
"Your confusion is warranted." Starline's bill formed a smirk. "The good doctor was angry with me for trying to kill Sonic. Why? He told me himself that he has enough ordinance to wipe everything off the face of the planet with the press of a button. Yet all of that didn't matter unless Sonic was there to see him do it. Bring the hedgehog to despair before finally dealing the killing blow. I went against his mental itinerary and was scolded for it."
Lanolin's gazed seethed. "He's bluffing."
"Oh, how I wish that were the case, but no. His admiration of the hedgehog is less that of a close friend and more related to a fierce rival. Ivo desires to defeat Sonic, but only a satisfying defeat will suffice. He participates in these petty skirmishes in the hopes to slowly strip everything the hedgehog loves before ending him. And to that end, he restricts himself from the most powerful weapons in his arsenal to prolong his enjoyment."
"Are you saying... Eggman's been holding back this whole time?"
Starline cackled. "It's fascinating isn't it? The lengths Ivo will go to flaunt his superiority."
Lanolin, with grit teeth, stomped towards the platypus and grabbed him by his coat collar. "You are a sick man to find any sort of pleasure in this."
The Egg Pawns lurched forward to grab the sheep, but Starline raised his hand to stop them. "On the contrary, my friend. I find this situation enraging. Much like you in fact."
Lanolin sneered before pushing him away. "We are nothing alike. Especially not friends." She wiped her hands on her top. "You're taking revenge because he didn't live up to your ideals. You're just as twisted as he is."
He dusted himself off. "And yet here you are, lamenting that Sonic the hedgehog isn't living up to yours. Such a simple to understand dichotomy of good versus evil and yet he fails to realize the magnitude of his decision to not play his role. Surely this infuriates you, yes?"
"Yeah. It's annoying, but I'm not the one taking revenge on their idol for not committing genocide fast enough. Sonic being nonchalant about the fate of the world doesn't matter because he still opposes Eggman. These are not equivalent scenarios."
"Ah. It seems you haven't been made aware of your own idol's faults and failings. Do not worry, for I shall enlighten you. Come. Come!" Starline turned away from the sheep and walked towards a nondescript pile of books. He motioned Lanolin to follow him and she cooperated after being nudged by the Pawn standing behind her. "Have you heard of a 'Mr. Tinker'?"
She was now thoroughly confused. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"Humor me for a moment. Here is the man himself." He handed her a developed photograph.
"This is Eggman in a weird shirt and overalls."
"Indeed! Your eyes do not deceive you as that is Ivo himself!"
"Quit with the riddles and the stage act. Why did you give me this?"
"There is no trick as they are one and the same. For a brief moment in time, the mighty doctor lost his memories and became the mild-mannered inventor known as Mr. Tinker. Quite defenseless, quite the coward, but still ever the brilliant mind. And this," Starline produced another picture this time showing a wooden robot. "Is the only surviving relic of that man's legacy."
"I guess that explains why Belle's like that..." Lanolin mumbled under her breath. "But so what? Obviously that didn't last because Eggman's still at it. Are you trying to get me to feel sorry for him?"
"A fair point regarding current circumstances, but what if he remained that way til the end of his days? Would it not be right to spare the man who had no recollection of his offending actions?"
Lanolin tore Mr. Tinker's photograph. "Absolutely not. We don't punish children for the sins of the father, but he is no child. If the sacrifice for the erasure of Eggman is Mr. Tinker, then that's a price worth paying."
Starline laughed. "Such a commendable answer! Your burning sense of justice threatens to set me ablaze! Such a shame that puts you at odds with our main subject."
"You are really starting to get on my nerves with these leading sentences."
"Here's the scene. Ivo lands in an idyllic village in the countryside having lost all memory. The first to find him are naturally the villagers and they have him assume the persona of 'Mr. Tinker.' For what reason? Who's to say? Perhaps they know not of the atrocities happening around them. But who next to find the jolly old inventor than Sonic the hedgehog?"
Lanolin's eyes widened. "...What?"
"Oh, yes! Dear old blue had fought tooth and nail to make sure the forcefully reformed doctor was able to live peacefully. Everyone deserves a second chance after all, right? His redemptive streak has been long and varied with countless examples of enemy turned ally. What better way to defeat Ivo than by doing the same?"
"No! There's no way he would doing something that boneheaded! Not for that monster!"
"And yet the doctor still walks amongst us! If you doubt my words, I'm sure Sonic'll answer if you ask him directly. And if that still does not convince you, Shadow the hedgehog may confirm the little spat they had about it." Starline smiled sweetly with his eyes closed. "Though he became convinced by Sonic's words, he was initially quite opposed to leaving the doctor alone; same as you."
Lanolin stared at the shreds of photo paper on the floor. "No..."
"Yes~ Now it all circles back around to our favorite organization, the Restoration! What do you imagine will happen if invariably the most influential and powerful person in your little militia does not want to end Eggman but instead wishes to reform him? Continually betting on that needle of redemptive good in a ocean of evil hay?"
"...Eggman will continue to go free..."
"Positively excellent deduction skills, my dear!" He swept the scraps of paper from the floor. "Forget stopping him. As long as Sonic continues to have his way, Ivo's influence will only grow stronger."
Lanolin squatted low to the ground, clutching her head in despair. "Why? Why? For what reason?" Nothing about this made any sense to her. She knew Sonic played fast and loose with taking him down, but to spare him so easily boggled her mind. If there was anyone he shouldn't extend that mercy to, it should be Eggman, so why...
Starline walked close by her huddled form, casting a shadow in the fluorescent lights. "And now you have the full picture. What should be a simple song and dance of good triumphing over evil has been reduced to nothing but the sandbox of two beings who couldn't care less about the world at large. Had the setting been anywhere else, it would play out just the same. I may not know why Sonic partakes in it, but it is nevertheless repugnant."
"All of it... everything... was for nothing...."
"If things continue as they are, perhaps. Despite it all, this world enjoys a measure of peace, but that in and of itself is a charade. The state of this world lies stagnant and complacent, and these token victories our heroes receive keep it frighteningly... self-sustaining. The populace lives in the shadow of a beast it could never hope to tame and celebrates the futile sacrifices made to stymie its ceaseless hunger."
"Sacrifices..." She knew what he meant. She knew it all too well. Pages of incident reports flooded her mind. Names, faces, obituaries. Many lives taken in the pursuit of freedom. All of them believed they were working towards a better future. But the beast persevered, grateful for the fresh meat. Their salvation was not on the horizon.
How many would it take before it was too many?
How many didn't have to die?
"But that just means there's more work to be done."
Lanolin looked up at the mad platypus. "...What work?"
"There is no hoping of leashing this beast. Sonic and Ivo will never see reason to finally put an end to this farce. They are too self-absorbed in their conflict to ever understand their perversions. We, however, can make that decision for them."
A measure of Lanolin's despair dissipated in that moment. "You really are insane."
Starline stretched his hand towards her. "I see it in your eyes. You're different than the rest of them. You know this system is broken. A warped mutation of right versus wrong. And I believe, with our combined strengths, we can tear it down together."
Her eyes drifted between his palm and her own. "...And rebuild it into what?"
"We can cross that bridge when we get there. 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' as they say. But for now, join me and become a beast slayer."
Just as he had done, Lanolin looked into his eyes. Behind the glasses and the smug expression, she perceived a deep and seething hatred tempered by the steely determination of a man with no more left to lose. With or without her, he would set out on his mission with his life on the line; a conviction that could uproot mountains and tear down the sky. She briefly found herself reaching out towards him, but slowly pulled back before joining hands. The glint from his spectacles reflected in her eyes. "What would you have me do?"
Starline brought his hand back behind him. "Nothing you shouldn't be able to handle. All I require is information. Location data regarding Ivo's petty skirmishes against your organization and data on any resource dense areas, preferably with few people living nearby. I shall take his machines for myself and you all will gain your homes back. This should prove to be mutually beneficial, yes?"
Lanolin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "...Okay."
"Perfect!" He produced in his other hand a small device and extended it towards the sheep. "All that's needed is for you to press this, one of my delivery Pawns will arrive, receive the information, and it will return to me."
She grabbed it from him and inspected it. A small, plastic remote with a single button. She handled it easily but it weighed upon her shoulders like lead. "Fine."
Starline spread his arms wide open. "Splendid! I'm thrilled for us to be working in tandem, Miss...?"
"Don't push it."
"Fair enough." He made a shooing motion with his hands. "You may go now. Your friends are using radio channel twenty and your Wisp will be returned to you at the entrance."
She had no energy to question how much he knew about their recon mission. "...Thanks." She made her way towards the now open metal door.
"And feel free alert your comrades at the Restoration of my presence here. By the time that bureaucratic red tape has been sorted through, I will have moved on to the next place. I look forward to meeting you again in the near future."
"Sure."
Every plodding footstep reverberated heavily against the stone walls of the tunnel. The delivery remote gently clacked against the other field tools she carried in her pockets. The light of the outside world slowly faded into view as she rounded the bend. Though only a fraction filtered through from behind the hung tapestry, its diminished rays stung her skin. Eventually, she brushed it aside and shielded her eyes from the midday sun observing her movements through the hole in the ceiling.
Maggie and the Bell Wispon floated just to her left inside of the capsule. With a quick jab, she burst it open. Maggie deftly swooped low to grab the bell before it hit the ground and gingerly placed it in Lanolin's open palm. She reattached the collar to her neck and flicked the main implement a few times to make sure it still made an audible tone. Maggie landed on her shoulder and gently nuzzled against her cheek, wrestling a small smile out of the dour sheep. She scratched the Wisp's chin affectionately. "Nice to see you too, girl. I'll be fine. Just have a lot on my mind is all."
Lanolin detached the walkie-talkie from her belt and switched to channel twenty and cut back into a conversation in progress. "-and then I'll slingshot myself off log number fourteen where you can catch me while hovering with Green and-"
"Ahem! Colonel Tangle, this is Captain Lanolin. What exactly will you be slingshotting off of?"
The airwaves went silent for a beat. "N-nothing, Captain! Just passing the time while waiting for you to radio in. Over!"
"Whisper, is this true?"
"Mhm." Curt response as usual.
Lanolin sighed. It was as if a lifetime had passed since she heard both of their voices and her body relaxed instantly after their responses. "My apologies for being dark for so long. My radio wasn't on the right channel and I didn't notice until now. But I found the hideout and stuck an SOS beacon down next to it."
"Really, Captain? Over."
"Yes. The mission is complete now. Make your way back to the buggy. Over and out."
She attached the radio to her belt as the other Diamond Cutters signed off. Maggie continued perching by her face and occasionally rubbed their cheeks together. Lanolin gazed back at the tunnel as she pulled out the remote. Her eyes did not waver from the lone button protruding from its smooth black surface until Maggie floated into her view, worried about the concentrated attention she was showing towards it. Lanolin shoved it back into her pocket and caressed the Wisp's head.
"What do you think, Maggie? How does becoming a beast slayer sound?"
