Author Note:

Having recently rediscovered the SatAM Sonic Series, I find it both entertaining but… at the same time the writing hobbyist in me finds the urge to attack it differently. So, in essence, I'm doing what any good fan fiction writer does. Takes the entire premise and some history of the show, and creates a new adventure, bringing aspects from other mediums as I see fit.

So, let us return to Mobius, to a world haunted by the sins of industry and the plague that is Dr. Robotnik's machinery. Let us follow not only a super sonic hedgehog but other characters as we see a much darker toned twist on the plight of the Freedom Fighters.

And also please follow the great proverb of :

If you read it, please review it.

And now, one with our story.

Links in a Chain

Part 1: The Virus and the Cannon

Chapter 1

It was almost as dark as night under the thick, polluted clouds over Robotropolis. A single expansive city that stretched out in all direction, its thousands of factories and industrial plants threw out constant, thick streams of green, black, and other colored smoke. Amongst the towering buildings of metal plating, the streets were ridden with rotting garbage. Not a single hint of life could be seen, for nothing could truly survive in such horrible conditions.

Even the rats that worked to clean the streets were not true, living organisms. They were automatons, robots that gathered the garbage to be taken to one of the cities huge incinerators. It was only by their small actions that the city didn't bath in a sea of its own garbage. Still, you could hardly see a single square foot of metal that wasn't marred by some form of grim or grit.

Passing through one of the abandoned streets, floating slowly was a security drone. It was little more then a camera mounted with anti-gravity servos, sending images constantly back through the vast system of computers and data servers that allowed the city's master, a Dr. Robotnik, to keep every corner and crevice of the city under his watchful eye.

The Security Eye slowly paused, doing a quick surveillance spin on an area of the street before moving onto an intersection. It stopped there again, shifting as it looked down each road. It had checked three of the four, and was just starting to turn to face the fourth when something slipped past its view. The camera quickly went into a panic mood, spinning to see the strange object zipping away before a resounding boom echoed through the streets.

In a flash an electric signal ripped through the air, spreading to numerous computer receivers as other Security Eyes and normal camera's focused on the road. Though each one was only able to catch a few moments, every one was able to catch the look of a blue blur. All these images flowed back to the city's nerve center, a large spire like tower which was both the brain center of all electrical systems but also where Dr. Robotnik ruled his metallic empire.

The signals flowed through miles upon miles of wires, converging into a single room. Suspended on the wall was a single mass of technology, cables and armor protecting the very heart of Robotnik's empire, the central processing core. A few lights flashed from the wall, before the core sent out its own signal. In a few moments the entire city was up in arms, alarms going off both audibly and silently.

In his private quarters, a large lump turned over in his bed snoozing. Still, with the blaring of alarms the lights in his room came on. The man sat up, his orange mustache and round floor clothed in a pair of black pajamas. He quickly turned his attention to a screen that lowered from the ceiling, a digital image of the computer core coming onto the monitor. The alarms quickly silenced in the room before a heavily computer toned voice spoke, the lights in the core flashing in tone with the voice.

"Dr. Robotnik, an entity traveling 796.324 miles per hour has been detected inside city limits. Currently traveling northward through sector 54, zone 7."

The red mustached man cursed, quickly pulling himself out of bed. "It must be that rodent's goal in life to make sure I never have a good nights sleep. Initiate security protocols, trace his path and try to identify his target. Alert all security drones, and increase patrols on the boarders."

"Yes, Dr. Robotnik." The voice replied before reciting all the orders it was making. "All security squadrons report to the sector 54 boarders. Initialize road lockdowns and raising barrier shields. Security Eyes in sectors 53, 55, and 56 report to sector 54 and initiate full sector visuals. All other Security Eyes report to boarder sectors, stream feeds whenever motion is detected."

Robotnik cursed again, coming out of his bathroom dressed his usual red and black wardrobe. He adjusted his black gloves, pulling them snuggly over his fingers as he strode out of the room. In the hallway, a floating monitor met up with Dr. Robotnik, following behind him dutifully.

"Security is 75 in position Dr. Robotnik and Intruder is still being tracked in sector 54."

"Where is he headed?"

"All probability protocols believe his target is power facility."

"What's the maximum possible damage?"

"Power Station 32 supplies energy to its own and surrounding sectors. These sectors represent 35 of our robotic airship assembly factories and 12 of city maintenance drones are stored and recharged in the effected sectors."

"Every time, those freedom fighters know just how to hit us, even after I have the entire system reconfigured they managed to find the weak points."

"Orders Dr. Robotnik?"

"Tell the power stations security to enter lockdown. No one is to get in or out, especially that hedgehog."

"Ordering Lockdown of Station 32. Blast doors are now closing and all other entry points are becoming electrified. Lockdown in five… four… three… two…… ERROR. Facilities Western Blast doors will not seal."

Robotnik cursed, grabbing the floating monitor and moving it in front of his face. "Show me."

"Bringing up video feed from facility interior camera number 49" The screen flickered at this, showing the dark interior of the power facility. The interior of the facility was mostly dark, but a large bay light showed what was happening. The blast doors, which closed horizontally, were being held open by what looked like a large metal wrench.

"Force the doors closed, NOW."

"Yes, Dr. Robotnik. Initializing Pressure Safety Sensor override."

The image on the screen showed the doors shifting, pressing together slowly as they bent the wrench. Still, just as the wrench was getting close to the point that it would snap free of the door a blue streak zipped through the opening in the door.

"SWITCH THE CAMERA" Dr. Robotnik shouted, the image clicking to outside the facility. Standing just outside the blast doors, smiling as he gently twirled a golden ring around his finger, was a blue figure with white gloves, red shoes, green eyes, and a cocky smile.

"Sorry Robotnik, you lose." At that the figure bolted out of camera view, a series alarms starting to echo through the city again.

"Dr. Robotnik, Power Station 23 is reporting a system breakdown. Level 5 mechanical failures and computer system is under viral attack. System is overloading and the virus is scrambling my commands to initializing a system shutdown. Catastrophic failure is eminent."

"Put up a barrier; protect the surrounding factories, keep attempting the shutdown and… GET! THAT! HEDGEHOG!!"

Glancing back only a moment to see a blue security barrier surrounding the power station, Sonic could only smile as he pushed off the ground with a little more force, a sonic boom cutting through the air around him as he blazed through the city. This was the golden moment, when the world around seemed to fade away, becoming nothing more then a blur.

Still, even after he had gotten up to speed Sonic skidded to a stop, seeing a barricade of SWAT-bots accompanied by three Mech-Tanks, each one pointing some sort of laser barrel right at him.

Sonic stopped, shifting his weight to one foot as he got into a very laidback stance, gently twirling the golden power ring around on his index finger.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, you are under arrest. Lie down on the ground or we will open fire." One of the SwatBots said, the whole group taking a step towards him.

"You guys are like a broken record. It's the same thing every time I'm here. So, why don't you all save yourself the trouble and just step out of the way?"

"You were warned." At that all the SwatBots and the three Mech-Tanks all launched bursts of lasers, each bolts flying right at Sonic. In a loud explosion it looked as if Sonic had been hit, but as the smoke cleared it was easy to see that Sonic had moved in the last moment, standing behind the large crater in the ground where the laser blasts had collided.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you aiming at me."

The squad of robots launched another barrage of lasers, but with each surge Sonic easily zipped away, stopping and yawning at some points. Finally, after killing enough time Sonic smiled, taking a firm hold of the power ring he was carrying before smiling at the robots. "Well, guys, it's been fun. But… hey, I've got to juice."

In that Sonic went supersonic in a flash, the boom knocking the SwatBots off their game long enough for him to jump over them and begin running towards the city boarders. High speed fighter jets were tailing him in the air, but making a few tight turns Sonic was able to loose them in the maze like corridors of the Robotropolis. He even paused a few times, posing close up to a few cameras with some cool, sleek, and one goofy pose.

Then, with a plume of smoke following his trail, Sonic crossed the limits of Robotropolis and burst out into the wastelands. It was the intermittent territory; a natural barrier that formed between Dr. Robotnik's polluted empire and the other force on the planet. Sonic smiled as he zipped across the open ground, running into a line of special trees.

The great forest, one of the last sanctuaries against Dr. Robotnik. In times past, before the war began, the forest stretched for a much greater distance. Still, as his empire spread Dr. Robotnik had begun chopping down the forest, reprocessing the plants into fuel for his mechanical empire. Still, thanks to quick work by and the discovery of the Mervlo Tree, Dr. Robonik's advance had been stopped.

The Mervlo Tree was the perfect natural defense against Dr. Robotnik's forces. A genetically created highbred, the tree combined a variety of plants that had built up defenses against technology and metal. The combination allowed the Mervlo Tree to not only attack and instantly oxidize (rust) any metal it came in contact with, but other parts of the plant allowed it to produce a natural electromagnetic barrier. If anything with an artificial intelligence came near the trees, their programming started to scramble. Only the most basic of software was safe, or any systems had to be shutdown to protect the circuitry.

The Tree's boarded what remained of the forest, huge giants that were tall as sky scrappers a wall that was currently and undefeated defense. Sonic always gave one of the trees a quick pat as he zipped by; knowing that without those trees Dr. Robotnik would have just torched the whole forest by now. Speeding along the well known but hidden paths, Sonic made his way deeper and deeper into the forest. The network of trails was made like a maze, just in case Dr. Robotnik ever got a scout past the Mervlo trees. There were dozens of dead ends, but only a few trails led all the way to the secret of the forest. Knothole.

Sonic couldn't help but kick in a little more speed as rounded a corner, his hand reaching out as he pulled on a branch. Unlike a common tree limb, the branch clicked back, a hinge and some other mechanisms hidden inside. The click of the branch was soon followed by a click farther head, as a rock began to sink down, revealing a hole in the ground just behind it.

Jumping down the hole without missing a single step, Sonic began to take the weaving tunnel as it spiraled down for a time before going straight and opening out into the forests greatest secret. Thanks to the formation of the forests oldest trees, a large pit in the center of the forest had been utterly hidden. From the air, it was impossible to see for the simple fact that the trees that grew in the pit were tall enough that their tops lined up with the rest of the forest.

It was in the forests natural pit that Knothole had been established. It was a mixture of a rebel base and a small village, a sanctuary from the ternary of Dr. Robotnik. They had everything they needed hidden in the depths of the forest, and by careful pruning of the giant trees that sheltered them they let in enough light in spots to grow crops. It was a paradise in a world where pollution and industrial sins were running rampant.

Sonic zipped around the boarder of the village, crossing over the bridge that spanned the local river. It was an underground stream that came out of and went into caves at either end of the natural forest pit. The stream was fed by a natural spring that was somewhere beneath the forest, the lifeblood of the trees and plants since it kept the soil and most of the roots saturated.

In the only the moonlit night, Sonic thought he could sneak back into the village quickly. Still, a figure quickly stepped into Sonic's path, the lanterns at the end of the bridge bringing him into sight. It was a coyote man, with short yellow hair in a formal military uniform. Skidding to a stop, Sonic smiled and asked, "Hey Ant, what's the story?"

Antoine huffed, shaking his head, "You know the rules Sonic, none of your fuelish super speed in the village, even at this ghastly hour."

Sonic shrugged, "Oh, come on Ant, when you've got speed like mine there is no point in going slow."

"No point? Oh, nu…nu…nu Sonic, there is, as you say, a point. Last time you ran through the village at full speed you managed knock Bunny into the river and caused Fredrickson to drop and ruin the tomatoes he had just picked from the garden. No Super Speed."

Sonic laughed, moving past Antoine and patting him on the soldiers. "All right, I heard you Ant. I'll keep it under a hundred." At that sonic zipped away, making Antoine growl and curse under his breath.

"Fuelish hedgehog, I hope he trips."

As he zipped through the village at about an eighth his full speed, Sonic smiled and looked around, enjoying the peace that came at night. The village really was simple, wooden homes and furniture. They managed to have some modern comforts, like real beds and the such, but otherwise most of the people in the village lived and worked by candlelight. There were even some kids starting to grow up in the village that had never been outside the forest, who simply thought that this was the way things had always been.

It was a sad thought, but Sonic pushed it from his mind as he ran up to the largest tree in Knothole, a towering behemoth off a tree that dominated the center of the village. Built up against the tree was the Freedom Fighter headquarters, the largest building in the village and the nerve center for all the rebellions missions and operations.

Sonic quickly ran up his own special access ramp to the top level of the headquarters, the mission room. It was an open air deck covered by a roof. In the center of it was a large map of the area spread across a large round table, showing not only the forest but all of Robotropolis in fairly good detail. Standing beside the map, looking over it, was the unofficial leader of not only the Freedom Fighters but the whole village, Sally Acorn.

Clad in her usual blue vest and boots, Sally only just glanced up as she heard Sonic come running in, the blue hedgehog smiling smugly as he leaned a hand on the table sized map. "You know, staying up this late will put bags under your eyes."

"I'll keep that in mind." Sally replied, not really paying much attention. "So, I take it your part of the mission went well."

"Yep, sabotaged old Robutnik's power station, just like you asked."

"Good," Sally replied, reaching down and pulling a small device off her boot. It was tan, and rested comfortably in the palm of her hand. She flipped it open, revealing a few buttons inside. "Nicole, use bypass connection zeta3 and give us a video feed from Sector 54, zone 7. Focus in on the power station."

"Yes, Sally." The feminine toned computer voice replied, a hologram screen appearing in the air above the map. It showed the power station contained inside an energy barrier. It was smoking and smoldering, and then with little warning it exploded. The building was utterly destroyed, but everything else in the area was safe since the energy barrier had contained the blast. Soon, the video died off, the sector and its surrounding area loosing power."

"Man, I love fireworks, especially the explosive kind."

Sally didn't respond, hitting a button her cell phone sized computer. "Nicole, bring up a current analysis on Dr. Robotnik's power grid. Use bypass connection epsilon9." The pocket computer complied, and soon the map on the table was enhanced, showing a digital image of Robotropolis. Sally's eyes quickly moved over to Sector 54, seeing it and the surrounding area being totally black.

Still, after watching it for a time the area began to get a week, yellow glow. "Sally, system data indicates that Dr. Robotnik has redirected power to the maintenance drones that dock in the area."

"Where has the necessary power been taken from?"

It took a moment for Nicole to reply, but eventually she made a sector flash on the far side of the map. "The chain of power adjustments end at sector 79, which is dominated by Dr. Robotnik's scrap metal recycler and his archive warehouse."

"Perfect" Sally replied, a smile on her face.

"What's the big deal about shutting down a recycler and a warehouse?"

"Without his recycling facility Dr. Robotnik will have to slow down his robot production across the city, especially considering that last week we took out his biggest processing plant. He's going to be short on metal for a while, and that means less robots and a bigger opportunity for us to hit him while he's down. The warehouse also holds important intelligence that would give us a huge advantage over Robotnik."

Sonic just smiled, turning as he began to walk towards his special access ramp. "Sounds great Sal, but right now this hedgehog is bushed. I'm going to bed."

"Okay Sonic, sweet dreams." Sally said, watching as Sonic gave her a quick smile and wave before bursting into a sprint and heading down the ramp, disappearing in the direction of his house. Sally watched for a time before turning her attention back to the map. The past few months they had managed to deal some very powerful blows against Robotnik. If they could just keep up the pressure, they could keep wearing him down and eventually bring down the fat tyrant.

Still, with her eyes drooping heavily and the mission for the evening complete, Sally decided that she had done enough work for one night. She picked up NICOLE, putting the palm sized computer back on her boot before leaving the command deck and heading down into the Freedom Fighters Headquarters.

While most of the building was devoted to fighting against Dr. Robotnik, it was also where Sally lived along with another person. Thinking of the little guy, Sally took a quick detour on her route back to her own room, gently creaking open a door in the headquarters many hallways and looking inside.

She smiled a little, looking in on Tails. He was easily one of the greatest geniuses in Knothole, but he was still a fairly young kid. It had been a few years since he showed up in Knothole, somehow managing to escape when his parents were captured and Roboticized. It was when another rebellious settlement in the mountains, Sanctuary, had fallen under Robotnik's armies.

It was strange, she was only just getting to be an adult herself and she was taking care of Tails like he was her son. She, Sonic, and most of the others were all just kids when Robotnik first attacked. It seemed so long ago, so much happening as they were all quickly rushed into adulthood. Sonic still acted like a goofy teen, but at times he was so dead serious that she knew he had matured. At the very least knowing when the jokes needed to end.

Sally was about the close the door when Tails turned over in his bed, rubbing his eye. "Sally…"

"Sorry Tails, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's all right. Is Sonic back?"

"He just got came in a few minutes ago."

"How did the mission go?"

"Power Station 23 is history."

Tails smiled, he having been the one suggesting the attack on the power station. "And did Dr. Robotnik do like we thought he would."

"Yep, he's shifted the power demand across his system and taken power away from sector 79, just like you and Rotor predicted. Now, why don't you go back to sleep, okay?"

"Okay…" Tails said with a yawn, turning over and quickly dozing off again. Sally smiled, shutting the door quietly before heading down the hall to her own bedroom. She flopped down in her own bed, breathing deeply as she enjoyed the comfort of the bed. It had been a long day, preparing for the mission and making sure everything was planned right. That, and having to deal with a few small emergencies in the village itself. Being both the leader of the Freedom Fighters and the leader of the village was trying work. Still, someone had to do it, and Sally doubted anyone else could stand to do it like she could.

After shifting on the bed Sally turned over, taking off her boots and unhooking Nicole, setting the palm sized computer on her night stand and her boots at the foot of the bed. She slipped under the covers, shutting off her lights before staring into the darkness for a few minutes. Her mind was still buzzing with things, trying to think about what the best move against Dr. Robotnik would be. Still, after a while her thoughts drifted and she soon slipped off to sleep.

As Knothole slept, back in Robotropolis Dr. Robotnik was cursing his head off, watching the replay footage of Sonic speeding into the city and zipping out after sabotaging his power station. He growled, seeing the images of Sonic posing for a few his security cameras. It was too much, the evil dictator slamming his fit on the arm of his chair.

"Core," He shouted, his voice echoing through the metallic halls. Quickly, the video surveillance images were replaced by a single green line against a black background, the visual representation of Core, the super computer at the heart of the city's network.

"Yes Dr. Robotnik."

"Tell me, how much damage has that Hedgehog and the Freedom Fighters caused this month."

"Records, in reverse chronological order are as follows:

Destruction of Power Station 23

Sabotage of Drone Station 29

Destruction of wireless communications in sector 12

Destruction of Power Station 42

Sabotage of Metal Processing plant 9

Sabotage of Metal Processing plant 2

Attacks on all mining outposts in Mecklock Mountains

Attempted theft of operating software for Roboticizer

Destruction of Mobile Mining Platform in western sea.

Raids on several mining transports."

Dr. Robotnik rubbed his chin, a frown on his face, "They are trying to slow my robot production, and its working. What's the difference in robot construction and force size between now and a month ago?"

"Robot construction is down 53 and overall army strength is down by 23."

"And if the Freedom Fighters continue their efforts?"

"We are looking at a complete shutdown of robot assembly capabilities in two months, and a full destruction of your armies two months after that."

"This is unacceptable!" Dr. Robotnik spat, getting up from his seat. "Core, give me all possible means of counteracting the Freedom Fighters efforts. This war has been going on for years, and I'm not about to loose my hold on this planet now."

"Referencing all current technology and research projects for possible solutions. The reassembly nanobots currently under development would allow for much faster reconstruction of key facilities. Heavier guards on mining transports and increased security at the mines."

"No, we have tried those before and that only leads to greater losses on our part. We can't just make it so we fix and build things faster. We need to stop the Freedom Fighters."

"Two options fit current request. Option A is in development by think tank 12. Option B is under development by think tank 26."

"26…" Dr. Robotnik echoed, eyes narrowing as he looked that computer monitor. "Last time I checked, we only had twenty five think tanks. What have you been up to Core?"

"Merely following order doctor."

"What orders?"

"System Command Records, 1 year, 5 months, 12 days, 5 hours, 23 minutes, and twelve seconds ago you gave verbal order to me. Request was to find a way to stop Freedom Fighter movements. At time, I gave you quickest results but, at my discretion, I implemented two research projects to develop technologies capable of slowing or stopping Freedom Fighter activity. One project was assigned to at the time idle think tank 12. To facilitate research on second project a new think tank was created after identifying roboticized Mobians with high intellects that had not been already placed in a think tank."

"I should rip out your CPU for doing this behind my back Core, but I'm interested to see what your little research projects came up with. Show me the current status of the projects."

"Both Research project Z7K5G and project Z8H6M are near completion. Bringing up current summery read outs for two projects."

At that the screen flickered, a pair of data readouts appearing side by side. Dr. Robotnik's eyes moved slowly across each set of data read out, a very devilish smile starting to spread on his face. "This is very good Core, very good indeed. When can we have a pair of prototypes ready?"

"Project Z7K5G is not ready for prototyping stage, but is very near design level completions. Project Z8H6M is ready for prototyping and I can begin construction immediately."

"Then go ahead and get to work, and feel free to use the construction arms in my private lab. It should allow you to have the prototype ready by morning. As for the other projects, suspend all other research and focus all think tanks on that research. I want it finished as soon as possible."

"Commands confirmed. All think tanks are being re-tasked and project Z7K5G will be ready for prototyping within the week. Prototype of project Z8H6M will be ready by 9:53:07 tomorrow morning."

Dr. Robotnik nodded, turning as a dark smile lingered on his face. "Very good Core, but until then return as much of our system to normal operations and keep all Security Eyes on the look out for Freedom Fighters."

"Oh course, Dr. Robotnik." The computer replied, watching as its master left the room, obviously intending to go back to sleep. Still, even as the computer began following Dr. Robotnik's orders, in the depths of the room where Core's systems were stored, a red light flickered green for a moment, the computer systems slowing for but a few moments before the light turned a solid red again and business continued as usual.