(OOC: Waitin' on Gema and Terg. XP )

OOC: Apologies for any delays, let's hope I've not gotten too rusty over the holidays. On with the RP!

IC: Moros had remained impassive throughout the exchange between the two tyrants, but his ears hadn't missed a single word. Every pronouncement, every nuance, layer and shade of meaning to the just-concluded discussion had been flawlessly stored in his memory for detailed analysis and dissection. As Robotnik departed with his entourage of metallic minions in tow Moros took stock of the situation. It was clear that the slave they had been arguing over held considerable interest- for different reasons- to both of them. Most probably, where Nimbus was concerned, the captive princess held his attention because she was exactly that- a princess; one helpless under his power, and the daughter of a legendary freedom fighter- in addition to being a freedom fighter herself. In essence, all the qualities that he most resented in his own arch-nemesis, but not of his bloodline and under his thumb, to do with as he wished. This, Moros believed, was what made Serenity such a source of fascination to him, even if Nimbus wasn't aware of it or chose not to admit it. And it probably infuriated him that his so-called ally would take her from him for his own purposes, in the process robbing Nimbus of the pleasure of seeing her cower before him as his own sister might never do. With Robotnik, the interest was more straightforward: She was the daughter of his greatest foe, and therefore anything her did to her was bound to hurt Sonic by extension. Furthermore, she was an integral part of his plan to lure out the remaining freedom fighters, the bait his arch nemesis would be unable to help but swallow. In short, she was the next best thing to actually inflicting harm on Sonic himself, and it incensed Robotnik that Nimbus would dare to steal her away from him for his own pleasures. There was then, it seemed, a mutual point of contention between the two, and the bargain just struck didn't actually resolve anything. Each still wanted the captive princess- and everything else- completely to himself. Perhaps he could use that point of contention to lay a little more groundwork? Moros decided it was worth the attempt-although he should begin from a different angle of course.

Bowing politely, Moros addressed Nimbus. "My Lord Nimbus," he intoned, "it is my duty to inform you that the ranks of your followers have both increased and decreased by one today". Nimbus didn't seem to impressed or interested in this, merely snapping in an irate tone, "did Robotnik instruct you to talk in riddles? Speak plainly!" Moros stood respectfully silent as Nimbus answered him before responding. "As you command Lord Nimbus," he elaborated, "one of the slave task-masters amongst your followers was slain today, following the accidental discharge of a firearm. However, this is counterbalanced by the fact that the individual who discharged it is one newly-recruited into your army. His Sergeant tells me that in her experience he is, despite today's accident, exceptionally proficient in the manner and methodology of dealing pain and torture and death. He was apparently an impartial and neutral mercenary before joining the ranks of your army, and so it can be deemed that his present belief is that he will make the most money with the highest bidder and that currently the highest bidder is yourself. From what I have observed of him," Moros concluded, "it would seem that he suffers from periodic bouts of heightened propensity to accidents, but apart from that minor flaw is otherwise an accomplished, dangerous and ruthless soldier". Nimbus again seemed unimpressed, remarking, "a simple 'we've got a new recruit and a dead task-master' would do! You may feel it necessary to state every single fact, but living creatures- people with minds- prefer the essentials". As impassive as ever, Moros replied, "As my Lord says, artificial intelligence can only comprehend so much". The sneer was plain in Nimbus's voice as he answered, "evidently. If it could comprehend more, you might have picked a different moment to speak such trivia! I have other things to concern me just now".

In the same lifeless, metallic tones Moros asked, "does my Lord Nimbus speak of the most recent exchange between himself and the Lord Robotnik?" Nimbus merely rolled an eye, remarking,"hmmph! So you can learn then, given time and a hint or three in the right direction". Choosing his words carefully Moros replied, "it is as the Lord Nimbus says of course. A living mind is vastly superior to an artificial intelligence, and artificial intelligence does not discern the differing levels of significance a living mind assigns to different matters. However, if the Lord Robotnik's exacting levels of attention to detail are in truth perturbing my Lord Nimbus, would the suggestion of this artificial intelligence- that the logical solution would be to create something to divert his attention- be of interest to my Lord?" Having worded this in the manner he deemed most appropriate, Moros waited to see what Nimbus's response to this would be.

OOC: Sorry if I've taken any liberties with Nimbus there Reni! If you think anything needs altered or corrected just let me know!! ^_^;    

(OOC...Ohhhhh....NOW I get it....Had to re-read that last bit as it confused me a little at first.  Moros is proposing a diversion?  Correct me if I'm wrong here. XP Also...my apologies for not getting to this yet...REALLY tired right now from training/work...so I probably wouldn't be at my best writing-wise.  I should have the next part either tomorrow or Saturday.)

IC:

"I...see.  You are proposing a diversion then?" Nimbus rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Serenity watched her captor conversing with the infamous Demon for several minutes. Hmm...maybe I can sneak off while he's distracted... She inched her way toward the two immense doors to the throne room on all fours...standing up might attract too much attention.

"And just WHERE do YOU think you're going, Princess?" The hyena's hand closed about her arm.

Serenity froze. Busted. "B-but...Robotnik said...I was to...return to..." Her voice shrunk to a squeak as she looked up into his eyes. "The mine."

"I KNOW what he said." Nimbus lifted her into a standing position.  "And you may go.  You need training first anyway."

"T-training?" Serenity echoed, though she didn't really want to know the answer. She began inching away again.

"Uh-uh. Not THAT way, missy."

"But...you just said...?" Serenity said, despite herself.  She was confused. Her captor was giving conflicting instructions. "A-and that's how I came in!"

"That was just for show.  Now, you enter and exit the way the other tcaitcha do." He jutted his thumb at a small, undecorated door to the side of his throne. "THAT is the servant's door.  You will use that from now on, understood?"

Serenity followed his gaze, taking note of the door, relieved that he wasn't going to keep her there for...what she'd thought he was going to do. "Y-yessir.  Thank you sir!" She mentally cringed at sounding so...so...PLACATING, but...

"'Thank you_____' WHAT now?" Nimbus raised an expectant eyebrow at her.

Seething inwardly, the purple hedgehog princess gritted her teeth. "Thank you, MASTERRRRR."

"That's better...but what did I tell you about growling when you say it?"

"..."

"Hmmm?"

"Thank you, Master." Serenity hung her head.

"That's better.  You may go." He waved his hand, dismissing her.  As she scrambled away to flee through the servant's door, she heard him as he turned his attention back to the the Demon. "So...what kind of a deversion did you have in mind?"

TBC

(OOC: Sorry for vanishing there for 2 weeks. My computer decided to die unexpectedly, and I just got it back.  I will be continuing this shortly, but my mom is currently visiting also, so it's a little hectic right now.)

ooc: cool cool. Im also waiting on a response to my post a page or two back. otherwise im kinda stuck lol

Moros considered his next words carefully- how appealing Nimbus would find his suggestion, how he responded to it, would depend greatly upon the wording. "As my Lord Nimbus himself has stated," Moros intoned, "artificial intelligence does not comprehend all that a living mind might. I was created to function in a military capacity, not for handling matters of politics and diplomacy, and so any aid I can offer would have to be adapted to the situation by a living mind, such as that of my Lord Nimbus". Nimbus waved this statement aside, "obviously anything a machine says needs a superior mind to apply," he said, "just tell me what sort of diversion crossed your mind- or whatever it is machines have that passes for a mind". Moros answered in the emotionless, lifeless tones he always used. "Since I am designed to function in a military capacity," he elaborated, "my artificial intelligence suggests a military solution to the problem. With the Lord Robotnik's high level of attention to the activites of my Lord Nimbus being the problem, logic dictates that the solution is to provide him with another focus for his attention- the strategy referred to by the epithet 'divide and conquer'. If the Lord Nimbus were to provide the Lord Robotnik with a threat to focus his attention upon- whether it was real or imagined- the Lord Robotnik would have to divide his attention between that threat and my Lord Nimbus, thus giving my Lord Nimbus greater freedom of movement".

Nimbus seemed thoughtful as Moros expounded the details of the strategy- thoughtful but dubious. "Give Robotnik a threat to occupy himself with- real or imagined," he muttered, "there would need to be some pretty convincing evidence of a threat for my 'ally' to take the bait. Where would I get it from?" Moros elaborated a little more. "My Lord Nimbus already has it," he said, "both within the mines and without". A cruel smile slowly spread across Nimbus's features as the implications sank in. "The Freedom Fighters," he said, "use them as unwitting pawns. That's what you suggest?" Moros gave a single nod. "My Lord Nimbus grasps well the possible applications of the strategy," he intoned, "the Freedom Fighters have been known to revolt and turn the tables when captured before. The Lord Robotnik should take little persuading that they might do so again. Especially if evidence of this adversely affected his own operations".

Nimbus drummed his fingers thoughtfully on the arm-rest of his throne. "Motivate the defeated Freedom Fighters to form a group of insurrectionists and have them sabotage Robotnik's personal operations," he muttered, "supplying them with tasty tidbits of information that would encourage them to do just that and have my own troops turn a blind eye when they do? It could work; Robotnik would have to divide his efforts then, while I would not. I would gradually gain the upper hand and complete control". Moros again gave a single nod. "As an artificial intelligence I know little of such things," he said, "but the records in my memory indicate that this approach would have a profound impact upon the rebels too. It would cause their flagging hope to increase and grow greater, until the moment when you were ready to step forwards and take everything. Such a revelation- that they were pawns in your game all along and the only hope they ever had was false hope- would crush their morale and spirits utterly, breaking any will they might have left to resist you permanently ". Nimbus appeared to give the idea more consideration. "And this is the strategy you propose?" he eventually asked. "It is the strategy my artificial intelligence suggests as the logical solution," Moros replied, "only my Lord Nimbus can decide if it is a strategy worth acting upon".    

(OOC: Bad me...neglecting my own RP.  Getting distracted by other RPs. XP  And I think I may have dropped the ball as far as replying to one of Terg's posts.  I appologize for that. I will try to fix that right now.)

IC:

Nimbus smirked at the genius of it.  Of coarse, he couldn't let on that he was helping the Freedom Fighters. As well as ruining his reputation, it would also disolve the tenous alliance he had with Robotnik...and he wasn't yet prepared to dispose of the other tyrant.  But...there were other ways.  As the so-called Demon had said...it could be arranged so that his army was not in the key locations when the Freedom Fighters made thier move...

(OOC: If I'm understanding what Moros is saying correctly...)

"Hmm? Yes?" The deposed groundsquirrel queen replied to the cheetah, not turning from her work at the wall. "What is it?"

Before Sicily could answer though, A familliar purple shape rocketed into her arms, sobbing and burrying her face in her mother's embrace.

"Momma....!"

"Serenity?!  Are you alright, sweetie?"

"Oh, Momma, I was SO humiliated...and so SCARED..." Serenity, again dressed in mine-rags, hugged her mother as if she would dissappear if she let go.

"Did he..." Sally gulped visibly. "Did he hurt you in any way? If he did..."

"N-no..."

"You're sure?"

"Y-yeah...." Serenity finally loosened her grip on her mother, settling into a more comfortable position. Her lip twitched in irony breifly. "ROBOTNIK saved me."

"W-what?!" The statement confused the groundsquirrel.  Their enemy...who clearly hated the purple hedgehog as much as he did her father...HELPING her?

Serenity explained - through halting words interspaced with more sobs - what had happend.

The NOF soldiers who had escorted Serenity back to the mine smirked at them unpleasantly before returning to their posts with a negligent "Git back to work, slaves".

TBC

(OOC: Meh.  That could have gone better.  Oh well.  Sometimes I got it...sometimes I don't.)

ooc:  Im bumping my previous post from the last page and make a few changes. Hope no one minds ; )

IC:

Tatiana peered around the door listening in. She quickly hid as the
fatman and his robot followers made their exit. Wiping the sweat from
her forehead she came out of her hiding spot after the coast was clear.
She began to sneak past the open door only to have her tail knock one of
the jewels off the wall and into Nimbus’ chambers. She cringed as she
hid again against the wooden door.

“Crap.”, She muttered under her breath.

A pair of footsteps entered the hallway…

-------

Lucky and Mika walked down the the corridors following slight clues as to where the escaped tcaitcha might have went..

“Just like the old days huh. “, Lucky broke the silence trying to make conversation.

“It seems you’re the one getting into trouble now though”, Mika replied as she upholstered her pistol.

“Meh. Except this time we’re not competing to see who gets paid
first.”, Lucky occasionally glancing at passing NOF soldiers wondering
if he had run into any of them before. He re-adjusted the skull facemask
under his goggles.

“Seems no matter which end of the gun we’re on it somehow seems to be
the wrong one.”, She wiped dirt off the side of the nickel plated slide
and started picking at dirt that had gathered in the engravings on the
side.

“As bad as it may look at least from the inside we can get a good
idea of whats going on. Not to mention living out in the wilderness or
random towns gets kinda old after awhile. You remember when the acorn
kingdom had a price on our head and we posed as two completely different
merc. Not only did we go after ourselves but 6 other jobs before they
realized what had happened.”, Lucky laughed.

“Haha yeah. What was your offense?”, Mika asked.

“I called Hamlin a porker…” Lucky answered.

“Seriously.?”, Mika asked

“Haha yeah. In so many words. I was charged with treason and
told if I said one more word the punishment would be severe. So on my
way out I flipped him the bird and got banished.”, Lucky chuckled.

“That’s horrible.” Mika said.

“Horribly funny. What was yours?”, Lucky joked.

“Id rather not talk about it.”, Mika answered.

After a few more minutes of conversing the two had reached the
hallway that led to nimbus’ chambers. A large red ruby fell off the wall
and rolled away then into his chambers.

“Tcaitcha. You can come out now.”, Mika called down the hallway.

Tatiana came out from behind the doors. She could feel nimbus looking
into the hallway. She just didn’t want to look to see if it was true.

She stepped out into the light looking toward the jackal and the masked human.

“That’s a good girl… But seeing as we’re right outside nimbus’
chambers I’m sure he’s gonna want to have a say in what happens next.”
The jackal was holding her whip at her side.

A mixture of emotions took over Lucky. It wasn’t the worst fear he
had had. It was her! She wasn’t dead. He adjusted the mask and took a
deep breath. He wanted to run to her. Telling her he hadn’t died. But in
doing so it would seal his fate as well. He stood cold. His grip firm
on the rifle across his chest. His finger resting the receiver just
above the trigger. He swallowed in anticipation wondering if nimbus, robotnik or their creature had heard the commotion.

“Mika put that hooptie thing away. Nimbus would have a fit if you
damaged his goods!”, lucky commanded altering his voice hoping Tatiana
would not recognize him.

“Hmm good point.”, She rolled it back up and snapped it back into the holtser on her hip, “this is gonna be good.”

(OOC: 'hooptie'? what the heck is a 'hooptie'?  What a strange word to use as a censor...

Yeah. But anyway...Still waiting on Terg to post for Sicily.  Also...not quite sure how to respond to that post Spyder.  But I HAVE to keep this going...even if it's in different sub-threads for the moment.  Also...I must think of something more for Justice to do...As part of the whole point of this was to develop these Gaiaterran characters. Hmm...I think I have a pretty good handle on my villain's character by now...but the others...Still need work.  Reni, why must you ALWAYS steal the show...?

Also...think I may be rushing Sonic's recovery here a bit, but...*points to Lib's healing powers* I have an excuse!

Anyway...)

IC:

"Hmm...Much as I hate to admit it...I think your leg may be completely healed now."

"Really?!  That's great!" Sonic leaped to his feet, but a hand fell onto his shoulder.

"Hold it.  Just because you're healed doesn't mean I'm letting you leave just yet."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Sonic flopped back down into a chair.  "Somehow I knew you'd say that.  What now?"

"As I said before...I can't stop you from rushing off into certain doom to save your child, but...You don't even know where she's being held.  And neither do I, so don't ask." 

Liberty had anticipated her guest's snarky question before it could even be asked.  Sonic closed his mouth. Sighing in frustration, the hedgehog followed his hyena guide through the mostly-deserted rebel base.  They weren't the only rebels that had managed to escape the raid, but the mountain stronghold was far emptier than it once was.  They made their way into another cavern with large crystal panels covering the walls. Before the fusion of the worlds, this had been their center for intellegence, the panels serving as sorcerous windows into strategic places.  Now though...the panels were mostly blank.  The rearranging of continents and juxtoposition of one place on top of another had severed the magical lines (and often the physical conduits that facilitated the flow of power) that allowed them to view far-away locations.  Only one was still working, unfortunately, now there was an outcrop of rock RIGHT in front of the view, effectively rendering that panel useless as well.  There were a few technomages about the room, trying to restore power to the other panels.  It was a slow process.

*bzzzt!* One of the pannels flickered to life breifly, accompanied by a cry of triumph from the techmage working with it. "Yeah!  We got another one up!"  The speaker, a pangolin, stood up, whiping sweat from his scaly brow.

However, as they watched, a sinister face familiar to the blue hedgehog filled the screen.  "What is this?  Who's contacting me?  Is that...It looks like a rebel base in the background..."

"Augh!  Wrong channel!  Cut the power!"  The pangolin exclaimed, reaching for a set of crystals.

"Wait.  Leave it up for a minute.  It's for me."  Sonic moved into the panel's view. "Ro-butt-nik." He glowered at his enemy.  "What do you want?"

The villain on the other end hurriedly removed the surprise from his voice.  "Sonic?   Ah so you ARE still alive.  Good, good.  That's not a Knothole background I see behind you..."

"Yeah.  That's because your ally DESTROYED it.  Get to tha point.  Why'd you call?"

"You're the one who called!  Or rather...your hosts are."

"Purely an accident!  I'll disconnect it right now!" the pangolin interjected, his voice slightly tinged with panic. 

Again, Sonic waved him off. "Not yet."  He turned back to the smirking overlander, glowering. 

"Nice to see you getting along with your new rebel friends." Robotnik said, mock-sweetly, "I, too, happen to have a guest or two."  He moved to the side, revealing another screen behind him, which showed a scene in the mine, and within it... "I believe you know these two.  Your queen and your daughter, am I right?"  The scene that was playing showed Sally comforting the distraught Serenity.  Robotnik's smirking bulk resumed it's position in front of the other screen, blocking it, but not the sounds coming from it.

Sonic's fists clenched.  "What'd you do to them?!  If you hurt them...If you hurt even ONE quill on my daughter's head..."

"Temper, temper.  They are merely mine-slaves.  Granted, there will be the obligatory discipline for slacking..." There was the sound of a whip cracking and pained cries from both Sally and Serenity.

Sonic flattened his ears. "Why you..."  His quills started flaring outwards.  "WHERE are you?!  I'm gonna..."

"Ahaha. THAT...would be telling.  Though if you would be so kind as to reveal where YOU are..."

"NEVER!"

"Then you may never find your family.  Though...IF you don't come to give yourself up...I may be forced to robotisize them...BOTH of them. SLOWLY."  The man moved to the side, again revealing the screen and a trail of blood running down Serenity's cheek, which mixed with her tears...staining her face.  "Of coarse...maybe it would be for the best.  I have it on good authority that my ally, Nimbus, has taken quite a shine to that spawn of yours.  Take it from me...it would be better for all of you if you just surrend--"

CRASH.  The pannel went blank suddenly as a stack of crates went flying and hit the crystals projecting the call, knocking them out of alignment.

"S-sorry."  This was a new voice.  A young one.  "I-didn't-hear-nothin-I-swear!"  The voice belonged to a little girl...a dragon-hyena hybred of maybe eight years.  She looked up at the blue hedgehog...who was still trying to control his anger at his nemesis...and retreated behind the pangolin.

Liberty's voice, which had been so stern and irritated at Sonic a few minutes ago, softened when she spoke to the child.  "Caly...sweetie...it's ok, he won't hurt you."

Sonic shook himself, trying to rid himself of the tension the call had created, and leaned down to the child.  "Hey.  She's right.  I'm harmless.  To good people at least.  That guy on the screen just...well...he's done something bad to my daughter."

TBC

As the two guards Moros had encountered earlier discovered Tatiana, The Demon bowed to Nimbus and took his leave. "My Lord Nimbus will understand," he intoned, "that I must now report to the Lord Robotnik. It was he who summoned me to the meeting between the two of you and so I must learn if he has orders for me". Nimbus scowled a little at the mention of The Demon reporting to Robotnik. "Not a word of what we've discussed is to reach his ears; understand?" he said in a threatening voice. Moros bowed again. "As my Lord Nimbus knows," he responded in his lifeless voice, "my programming prohibits me to violate any command issued by yourself or by the Lord Robotnik. Your orders are to be received as the letter of the law- and I am powerless to violate the law". With this assurance, Moros marched past the guards and Tatiana, making his way through the many rock-hewn corridors towards Robotnik's quarters.

As he strode through the dimly-lit hallways Moros contemplated the events of the day and the strategies and plans he had been brewing for the past two years now. These initial overtures to his grand design so far seemed very promising. He could only hope that, as he carried things forwards, the coming days and months would bear as much fruit. First though, there was the visit to Robotnik to make, to see if he required anything of Moros- and to see if another opportunity for groundwork presented itself. Striding into Robotnik's command centre, he was just in time to catch the end of a transmission between the tyrant himself and...Moros checked the screen again, to confirm there was no mistake. There was none- Robotnik was conversing with Sonic, the fabled hero of the Mobian Freedom Fighters. It was encouraging to know, Moros reflected, that speculation had proved true and that the father of the captive princess was indeed alive. Though, if he did anything rash or impulsive- or did it too soon- Moros might have to advance his own strategy sooner than anticipated. Outwardly impassive, Moros listened to the conversation as it came to its conclusion.

"Temper, temper.  They are merely mine-slaves.  Granted, there will be
the obligatory discipline for slacking..." Robotnik was saying. There was the sound of a whip
cracking and pained cries from both Sally and Serenity.

On the screen Sonic flattened his ears. "Why you..."  His quills started flaring outwards.  "WHERE are you?!  I'm gonna..."

"Ahaha. THAT...would be telling.  Though if you would be so kind as to reveal where YOU are..."

"NEVER!"

"Then
you may never find your family.  Though...IF you don't come to give
yourself up...I may be forced to robotisize them...BOTH of them.
SLOWLY."  The man moved to the side, again revealing the screen and a
trail of blood running down Serenity's cheek, which mixed with her
tears...staining her face.  "Of course...maybe it would be for the
best.  I have it on good authority that my ally, Nimbus, has taken quite
a shine to that spawn of yours.  Take it from me...it would be better
for all of you if you just surrend--"

The final words of the transmission were interrupted as the screen suddenly went blank. Robotnik, glancing up, now noticed the silent form of The Demon standing close by. As the tyrant's gaze fell upon him, Moros bowed and said, "I come in response to your summons my lord. Is there a task for which I am required?" 

Sicily waited until after the NOF soldiers had left before she turned back to the royal family.  "Pardon my impertinence, but this may be a good sign that our new ally is working to set the tyrants against each other," she said.

"New ally?" asked Sally.

"The Demon - I mean, Moros - has offered his help, though we need to organize ourselves to stand ready to strike back.  We must select those slaves we can trust the most to form a rebellion of sabotage inside these mines, while Moros manipulates the tyrants against each other and paves the way for our success."

"Moros?  Do you feel that we can trust him?"

Sicily nodded.  "Though to be honest, whether we can trust him or not - I would rather fight and die than stay in this forsaken place and toil for the tyrants."

Sally shook her head.  "No, Sicily.  Our duty is to stay alive so we can all become free.  We will start working toward this, but we will not throw lives away in a futile effort.  So keep that in mind, and be patient.  This may be the chance we've been waiting for."

"By your leave," replied Sicily.

OOC: Next post I'll have Chase arrive at the base where Sonic and Liberty are at.

(OOC: What the...how did this turn into Mike's last HS post? O_o *go fix*)

Repost:

(OOC: Apologies for abandoning this for so long. I go and nag people to post in it...and then I neglect it myself. XD; I used to be good at keeping up with my own RPs...I hope I haven't lost my touch...:/ Small IC to answer Moros's question for now...will work on other areas later.)

IC:

Robotnik stared at the cyber-leopard for a moment, before waving his hand dismissively. "I merely needed you as a possible backup if things got hairy with my...ally. Your services are no longer needed. I have things to attend to. Dismissed."

*******

Serenity brought her hand up to her cheek instinctively, looking bemusedly at the blood that came away on her fingers. She was only half-paying attention to the conversation between her mother and the cheetah, Sicily. Currently, she had other things on her mind. She had to find him...she HAD to! She needed to explain things...the shattered look on his face still haunted her. She glanced around. The guards had wandered off after tiring of their brutal game. Sighing heavily, she picked up her pickax and began hammering at the wall again half-heartedly. Just a few more hours...and they'd be off duty...She could begin her search then. If...she could figure out how to keep the guards from locking the cell they spent the night in...

TBC

Moros gave a single bow in response to Robotnik's instructions, before turning smartly on his heel and heading out the way he came in. The sights he had witnessed were not lost upon him though. Whether by chance or design, Robotnik had begun to feed his arch-nemesis the bait to lure him out. That could have significant bearing upon when and how he would have to advance his own plans- Sonic was not known to be cool-headed or slow to act...especially when the safety of his family was at stake.

Moros considered all he had seen and heard that day as he stalked through the coridors, his glowing, scarlet eyes picking up every detail even as he devoted his mind to the crucial issues. The message from Chase to his sister would be a very valuable tool for gaining further trust from the captured freedom fighters. The issue of Robotnik's goading Sonic might not be as serious as it first seemed- not if it could be handled by some careful subterfuge. The two soldiers seemed a minor concern, but Moros was not going to forget about them- sidelining matters that seemed unimportant today was usually a surefire method for tripping yourself up tomorrow. Nimbus was a critical concern. Not simply for his attitude towards the captive princess, but because- despite how well he'd seemed to respond the the actions Moros had proposed- only time would tell how much consideration Nimbus had given it. And time was a crucial element. Things had been set in motion; it remained only to be seen who would make the next move- and what that next move would be...

ooc: Yep I been neglecting this also.