Sonic, Sally, Bunnie and friends are copyright by Sega, Archie
Comics, and/or DiC Productions.  Lucas, Orin, and others are
copyright by James D. Lutz.

                BLUE STAR: QUEST FOR PEACE

                            By James D. Lutz.


In the year 3225, most of the worlds that had been at war with each
other had tried to find ways to make peace with each other but they
had failed.

Until the ones called Aryeans showed them how to make and keep peace
so that their dreams would come true. So with the help of the Aryeans
the worlds lived in peace with each other. Someone said it well when
he said: "As long as Aryea stands we will live in peace forever."  
Someone else said: "It will not fall."

But time has a way of playing tricks on people.  So they would
learn as a dark cloud moved over their world of hope.

            ****************************************

     "Not again!" The voice came from the Satellite Control
Room.  "That makes ten in the last hour since that thing showed
up!"
The speaker was a falcon who held the rank of Captain.
     "So do you think we should let the King know what is going
on?" asked a guard who was standing in the room.
     "No, maybe it will pass us by."
     "Yes, but what if you are wrong, Captain?" asked a figure
who
had entered the room.
     "Who are you?"  asked the captain as he looked up.  Only
then
did he recognize the young falcon wearing a white cape.  "Prince
Lucas?  They told me you would not be back for at least four or
five
days."
     "That was cut short because of the cloud.  Now, where is my
father?  He told me to see him as soon as I got back."
     "He's still in the Lookout Room."


                       *        *        *


     As Lucas was about to open the door, he heard his father and
someone else talking.
     "Do you think it is something we need to worry about?"
     "No, Sire, from what we can tell it will pass over us with
little or no effect at all."
     "Where is my son?  He was supposed to be here a hour ago!" 
Just then the door opened and Lucas stood in the doorway of the
room.
     "Father, you told me to make sure that everyone was ready
when the
cloud passed over."
     "I told you no such thing!"  Looking at the stranger, the
King
told him to leave.
     "Then who was it that told me this?"
     Without saying any more, his father turned and looked out a
window.
     "By the way, Dad, they had another satellite come up missing
and some of the officers are starting to worry."
     Before Lucas was able to say any more, his father called out
"Orin!"
     Something moved in a corner near the ceiling.  It was an
Aryeanayan
armor bird, which resembled a metallic, non-morphic falcon.  As
the
King held one arm out horizontally, Orin flew down and perched
upon
it.
     "Dad, what is wrong?  You only call to Orin when something
is
about to happen."
     "And so it is," he said as to Lucas's great surprise, he
caused 
Orin to perch on Lucas's shoulder.  "Lucas, you are now the
keeper of
the light of hope.  This cloud means the end of our world."
     Lucas had no time to recover from his father's shocking
words
before a guard ran into the room, bowing respectfully but hastily
to
his monarch.  "Sire, we're getting reports about the cloud: some
strange glow coming from within it.  Whatever it is, it isn't
lightning."
     "As I feared," the King said as he faced the guard.  "Take
my
son to one of our fastest ships and make sure that he gets away
from
Aryeaaya."
     "WHAT!?"  Lucas's father, however, acted as if his son
weren't
even in the room.
     "Send Lucas to the world of Mobius.  It's a slim chance, but
maybe he can get help from King Acorn and his people."
     "I'm not going anywhere!" Lucas protested.
     "You have your orders," the King replied.  "Go!"
     As Lucas was pulled away by the guard he called to his
father: 
"DAD, DON'T DO THIS TO ME, PLEASE!!!!!".
     But the large, powerfully built guard silently led Lucas out
of
the building toward a spot where several space craft were parked
and
waiting.  Lucas didn't resist; he was too stunned by the rapidly-
unfolding events.  He was only dimly aware of what was going on
all
around him: craft taking off, Aryeansyans hurrying from place to
place. 
Yet it still registered that they weren't moving in an orderly
manner.  This was no practice run, no simple drill.  Instead,
everything was done with a sense of panic.
     Before Lucas realized it he was in front of the ship known
as
Blue Star.  It was the only ship in sight that had not been
siezed by 
heavily-armed and lightly-armored dragon knights.  Several of
them
approached Lucas and his escort. "HAND OVER THE BOY AND WE WILL
SPARE
YOUR LIVES," they said in a cold voice.
     "Like hell I will!" said the guard as he pushed Lucas inside
the ship, then drew his sword.  "For the light of freedom!" he
said
as he rushed the knights, only to be torn apart.
     The ship blasted off from the planet, leaving behind the
only
world Lucas had ever known.  But as the gained altitude he saw
over a
hundred dragon knight ships coming out of nowhere.  Then, as the
ship
passed the ominous cloud Lucas could see a larger ship sending
out
the smaller ships.  No point in remaining concealed any more.
     "My world is gone," said Lucas.  "Dad, I wish you were here
to
tell me what to do now," said Lucas as tears started to run down
his
face.


     Chapter 2


     "Lucas, there's Mobius!" said one of the at least fifty
children who had been put aboard the Blue Star before the planet
was taken over.  "Can they help us?"
     Even though it had been some time since leaving Aryeaya,
Lucas
was still getting over the shock of what had happened: his home
world, his father, everything was gone.
     "Can they?" the falcon child insisted.
     Just then the ship started to shake and the interior lights
started to flash.  "We lost most of our fuel when we were hit
leaving the planet!" yelled a falcon guard not much older than
Lucas.
     "Better strap yourself and the kids in tight!" another guard
called out.  "This landing's gonna be a rough one!"


     Meanwhile on the surface of the planet a blue hedgehog stood
looking up to the sky to see the ship turning into what looked
like a fireball, only to have it fade from his sight.
     "Sonic, did you see that?" said a two-tailed fox standing
next to his friend.
     Sonic then looked over to his right side to see Sally and
Bunnie running toward them.
     "Sonic, did you see that?" asked Sally, trying to catch her
breath.
     "There an echo in here or what?" Sonic asked.
     "What the hoo-ha are you talkin' about, Sugar-hog?" Bunnie
asked.
     "Forget it.  Just a little humor."
     "VERY little," Sally added pointedly.  "So you did see the
fireball."
     "Yeah, so?"
     "What do you mean, 'Yeah, so?'"
     "I mean cut to the chase so I can see what that thing was!"
said Sonic with his arms crossed in front of him.
     "It appears to have been a space ship.  Nicole picked up an
SOS coming from it just before it landed to the north of the
Great Forest, and I was hoping that you would check it out. 
Bunnie and I are coming with you to see if anyone is still
alive."
     "But Sal, you don't for sure know what it is.  For all that
we know it's a trap that old Buttnik set for us.  It'll be way
better if I go alone."
     "Sonic, we are all going and that is the end of it.  Now if
you don't mind I think we should start out.  If Robotnik DIDN'T
send it, it'll only be a matter of time before he starts sending
SWATbots to investigate."
     "All the more reason for the hedgehog to do a solo!"
     "Forget it, Sonic, your solo has just become a trio."
     "Aw, Aunt Sally!"
     "OK, OK, a quartet."
     "Cool!"


     Meanwhile, Lucas and the children were outside of the ship
looking around at the strange world that they had landed on.
     "Now don't go too far from the ship; we don't know for sure
what kind of life they have on this world."  He turned to the two
guards and asked them their names.
     "My name is Samuel but everyone calls me Sam or Sammy.  And
that's Tom over there."
     "Looks like us three and the hatchlings are the only ones
who made it off Aryeaya," Tom added.  "Speaking of them, here
comes
one of them now."
     "Lucas, someone is coming!" said a young falcon boy no older
than ten.
     "Prince Lucas," Tom said, "we'd better get everyone inside
the ship just in case whoever's coming wants to shoot first and
then talk."
     "You're right; you two get ready and I will join you when I
am ready."
     Lucas made his way to a small storeroom in the ship and
opened an airtight door.  Inside the small compartment was Orin. 
Upon sensing the light in the cabin, it cocked its mechanical
head from one side to another.  "Orin, armor!" Lucas commanded.
     Immediately there was a blinding flash as Orin morphed into
a full set of Aryeanya battle armor that gleamed brilliantly even
in
the dim interior light.  But this was the first time Lucas had
actually worn his father's armor.  Miscalculating his center of
gravity, he fell to the floor.  He tried to get up and found it
difficult.  "Damn it, what the heck is this thing armed with?"
     "WEAPONS ARE AT FULL POWER AND EVERYTHING IS AT YOUR
COMMAND," said a synthesized voice from inside his beaked and
visored helmet.
     "Great," Lucas muttered.
     "I AM PROGRAMMED TO RESPOND TO THE NAME 'ORIN'."
     "I know, I know!" Lucas said as he struggled to his feet.
     "We need you today, Lucas!" he heard one of the guards call
out.
     When Lucas got out of the ship, he asked the guards what
they planned to do.
     "OK, this is something me and Tom did in the past when we
were on patrol to other planets.  One of us will cover the left
side of the ship, the next one takes the right side of the ship."
     "And what about me?"
     "With all that battle armor, you cover the main entrance. Of
the ship."
     "Thanks a lot!" Lucas thought to himself.


     Sonic, Sally, Tails and Bunnie arrived at the clearing.  As
Tails revved up and flew to the treetops to scout out their
position, the others peered into the clearing and saw three
falcons standing in front of some kind of ship.
     "You ever seen anything like that, Sal?" Sonic whispered.
     "No, I don't recognize the ship or the ones standing by it."

She opened her handheld computer.  "Nicole...."
     Suddenly Tails flew into their midst.  "SWATbots coming,
heading for the ship!  Must be ten of them!"
     In his excitement, Tails forgot to keep his voice down. 
Alerted by the warning, the three Aryeans drew their swords
and
stood as if to defend the ship.
     "Sonic, they think that they can fight off a patrol of
SWATbots with swords!" said Sally.
     "Talk about your birdbrains!" Sonic added.
     "HERE THEY COME!" yelled Tom.  That's when the Freedom
Fighters saw that what they thought to be mere swords were also
energy pulse weapons of some kind.  The SWATbots opened fire, but
Lucas and the guards were able to return fire.
     "Who are these guys?" asked Lucas, getting hit in the chest
of the armor.  The battle armor, however, absorbed the impact.
     "Why do you ask, Lucas?" said Tom, hitting one of the bots
in the head.
     "They don't miss what they are shooting at!" said Lucas,
hitting one in the chest himself.
     "Sonic, we need to help them!" Sally said.
     "Yeah, Sal, that's no way to take on SWATbots!"
     Just then a blast from a bot blaster hit Tom in the chest,
sending him to the ground.  Then, just as Sam turned to see what
had happened to his comrade, a bot fired at him hitting him in
the head, leaving Lucas to fight by himself.
     Now the bots were joined by six hover pods with lasers
pointed at the ship and Lucas.
     "Sonic, look!" Tails said as he pointed to a porthole of the
ship, through which they could see the face of a young Aryean.

"Nicole," Sally said, "scan ship for life forms."
     "EXACT IDENTITY OF SHIP'S OCCUPANTS UNASCERTAINABLE.  THERE
ARE, HOWEVER, FIFTY OCCUPANTS OF THE SHIP."
     "Oh, my gosh!  Sonic, we've got to get them out of there!"
     But at that moment the hover pods fired on Lucas.  There was
a blinding flash and the next thing anyone knew, the battle armor
had disappeared.  Lucas was standing there wearing only a white
cape and simple leather-like armor.  A SWATbot fired a shot at
Lucas hitting him in the left arm, and he fell to the ground. 
Several SWATbots approached Lucas, who was at point blank range. 
He looked up and fully expected it to be the last thing he'd ever
see.  But just then a silent signal passed from one SWATbot to
the rest: "CAPTURE WOUNDED ALIEN.  DESTROY SPACECRAFT.  BY ORDER
OF ROBOTNIK."
       Then as Sonic and the others watched in horror, all of the
SWATbots turned to the ship and opened fire.  Whatever the hull
of the ship was made of, it ignited white hot from the blaster
fire.
     "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" was all that Lucas was able to say as the
ship exploded.  Then the sounds of the children screaming trying
to get out suddenly subsided.
     "YOU MURDERING SONS OF.........."  Before Lucas was able to
say any more a bot walked up to him and pointed a blaster at
Lucas's head.
     "SILENCE.  YOU ARE A PRISONER OF DOCTOR ROBOTNIK."
     "And YOU guys make me sick!"
     The SWATbots turned their attention from Lucas to a blue
hedgehog who had just stepped out of the forest.
     "HEDGEHOG, PRIORITY ONE!  DETAIN BY ORDER OF ROBOTNIK."
     After a moment, the SWATbots gave chase to Sonic WHILE
Lucas, weakened and confused, passed out.  The other Freedom
Fighters emerged from hiding.
     "Bunnie, you and Tails check the ship. I'll see if he' still
alive," Sally said as she pointed to Lucas.
     Tails and Bunnie rejoined Sally in a sickeningly short time.

As they did so, Lucas half-opened his eyes and looked up at them.
     "IF...If  you are going to kill me, do it now so I won't
live any longer," he said in a weak voice.
     The Freedom Fighters exchanged glances.  "Y'all don't know
us very well, do you?" Bunnie asked Lucas.  The falcon could only
look at her blankly.
     "What Bunnie's trying to say," Sally spoke up, "is that
we're not going to kill you or anyone else.  Are you all right? 
Who are you?"
     Sonic came back to see if there was anything he could do,
but all he had to do was look and Tails's face to know it was too
late for the children.  Even worse, he reported to Sally that 
more SWATbots were on the way.
     "Where is K-k-king Acorn?  I need his help...."  Lucas
managed to ask before he passed out.
     "Sal, we gotta juice now!" said Sonic as he held on to a
power ring and then they all disappeared.


Chapter 3


     When Lucas came to, he found himself inside what looked like
a hut of some kind.  Then he heard voices outside of the hut.
     "Sonic, it doesn't make sense!  Why would Robotnik try to
kill
one of his own spies?"
     "Sal, we can't put ANYTHING past ol' Buttnik!"
     "Where am I?" he said as he tried to get up only to find
that
he was still too weak to move. "Damn it!" he said as he fell out
of
the bed he had been lying in and onto the floor of the hut.
     "Orin!  Were did she go?" he thought to himself as he was
able
to get back alongside of the bed.  A shadow fell across the floor
as the open doorway was blocked, and Lucas's heart stopped as he
caught sight of two metallic legs.
     "How y'all doin', sugar?" the stranger said as she looked at
Lucas who was now awake.
     "What is this place, and who are you?" 
     "Y'all better get your strength back first," Bunnie said as
she helped Lucas back into bed.    Lucas never took his eyes off
her the whole time.
     Just then the door to the hut opened and Sally and Sonic
stood
in front of both Bunnie and Lucas.
     "'This 'place' as you call it is Mobius," Sally said, "and
where you are right now is Knothole."
     "And this is the home of the way past cool Freedom
Fighters,"
added Sonic.
     "Where are the children?  I need to get back and save them,
and see if Sam and Tom are still alive."
     "I'm sorry," Sally said as gently as she could, "the others
are dead.  You were the only one still alive.  We did try to save
them but it was too late.  Most of them were either burned or
crushed by the ship when it blew."
     Then Lucas started crying.  "Then I should be dead with
them!"
he said.  Then he pulled out some kind of knife from his belt,
getting ready to slit his throat.  Sonic made a grab for it, but
it
was the force of the grip of Bunnie's robotic hand that caused
Lucas to lose his hold on the weapon as it clattered to the
floor.
Yet even then it took Sonic, Sally and Bunnie to hold him down
until he stopped fighting them.  Then he started crying again,
sobbing out something like: "Why...why...won't you let me die and
atone for my failure?"
     "Hey, I know about running," Sonic said, "and I know that
running away from a problem is uncool.  And killing yourself is
not
only the BIG runaway, it's MEGA-uncool!"
     Lucas pondered this for a second, and everyone in the hut
could feel the tension about the young falcon begin to ease. 
"Then
what is it you want me to do if you are not going to let me kill
myself?  You must be good, all of you, and even though I don't
know
you I sense I can trust you."
     Just then Rotor came running into the hut.  "Sally, you told
me to scan the crash site.  We picked up on ten more SWATbots
heading for the area!"
     At that moment a robotic falcon flew in one of the windows
and
landed next to Lucas.  It didn't look like one of Rotor's robotic
messenger birds, and the first reaction of the Freedom Fighters
was
to think that Robotnik had something to do with it.
     "Orin!" Lucas said.
     "LUCAS, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" the bird bot asked.
     "Cool!  What is that?" asked Rotor.
     "This is Orin.  She's my father's...my...armor-bearer."
     "Yo, Sal, we still got those SWATbutts to deal with!  Can't
we wait for the show-and-tell 'til later?"
     "Let me go with you," said Lucas, standing up.
     "You took a lot of punishment out there.  How can you
fight?"
said Sally.
     "Watch, but what I am about to show you all must not leave
this room."
     "All right," said Sally.
     "I'm cool with that," said Sonic.
     "Mah lips are zipped," said Bunnie.
     "Whatever," said Rotor.
     "Good."  Then Lucas called out "Orin, armor!"  Then in a
flash
of white light the once wounded falcon is now wearing the white
battle armor.
     "Cool!" said Sonic.
     "How did you do that?  We all saw the armor disappear when
the
SWATbots hit you?" asked Sally.
     "I will explain later.  Right now I believe it is time to
see
if I can help you all out with some with your pests," said Lucas.
     "Can we trust him, Sally?" said Rotor.
     "I think so, for the time being," she said as she, Sonic and
Bunnie left to help the stranger.


Chapter 4


     Just outside of Knothole, Sally, Sonic, Bunnie and Rotor
were
joined by Lucas in his white armor heading towards the crash
site. 
"Do you think they found anything that may lead back to
Knothole?"
Sally asked Rotor.
     "All I saw was ten of them, and then I thought of what Sonic
told me when you found Lucas."
     "End of the line, guys," said Sonic as he stopped.
     "LUCAS, THEY ARE THE ONES THAT KILLED THE CHILDREN, NOT YOU,
SO DON'T BLAME YOURSELF," said Orin.
     "Fine, just let me stop them from doing any more harm to
anyone else," said Lucas as he flew up and landed right in front
of
the SWATbots.
     "So, you think you can kill and get away with it, do you?"
said Lucas.
     Then one of the bots aimed a blaster at the armor, then the
rest did the same and fired at him.
     "LUCAS!" Bunnie screamed, but she fell silent as she saw
Lucas
standing there, apparently unharmed.
     "You call yourselves killers," said Lucas contemptuously. 
"Now it's my turn!" he said as he pulled out a sword unlike
anything Sonic and his friends had seen before.  "Sword of my
father, don't fail me now!" he said as one of them tried to swing
at him only to be sliced in half by the sword.
     "Who's next?" he said as the others attacked him only to be
either cleaved in two or torn apart by Lucas himself.  But Lucas
was so intent on taking his revenge against the SWATbots that he
did not see was a flying orb overhead.


     "Sir, it seems that the Freedom Fighters have a new member,"
said Snively who was in the roboticizer chamber.
     "THAT is not a Mobian!  That's one of those falcons that was
killed by the bots when that spaceship landed."
     "What do you want me to do, sir?"
     "Not a thing.  We must study him, then we can make our next
move."


     Meanwhile, Sonic and friends came up to see if they could
help
Lucas, but by the time they got to where they could help him he
was
done with the fight.
     "So, do you still think I am a spy?" he asked as he stood in
front of the ship.
     "Lucas, we need some time to talk amongst ourselves," Sally
replied, "so when we get back to Knothole you are to stay in one
of
the huts until you are called."
     "Does this mean that you still don't trust me?"
     "Like I said, we need to talk."
     So they left to return to Knothole.  As they walked, Sonic
dropped back to talk to Sally.  "Did you see how he took out
those
bots, Sal?"
     "Yes I did, and I still don't know what to think of him."
     As the group neared Knothole, Orin ordered Lucas to end
armor mode, and in a flash Orin was once more a mechanical bird
perched on Lucas's shoulder.
     "Remember," Sally said as Lucas was about to be conducted to
one of the huts, "you're to remain in the hut until you're sent
for."
     "C'mon, Sal!" Sonic protested.  "You saw how he creamed
those bots!  Whatever happened to Mobian hospitality?"
     "We'll talk about it later, Sonic.  Right now we need to get
some rest."
     "Rule Number One, Luke: Nobody argues with Sal."  Lucas
nodded in understanding and walked inside the hut.
     "I still think we should cut the guy some slack, Sal."
     "We will, but we need to talk before anything is done with
him."
     Lucas heard everything that was said about him even from
inside the hut.  "So they still don't trust me," he said to
himself.  He then laid down on the bed.
     "I ONLY HOPE SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE IS DOING."
     "We'll know soon enough, Orin."


Chapter 5


     As night fell, there was a knock at the door of the hut
Lucas was in.  He woke up and opened the door only to find a
paper with something written on it.

Dear Lucas, you are to come to the War Room as soon as you can. 
We have decided on what we are going to do with you. A guard will
show you the way.  And one more thing: bring Orin with you.

Sally.

     "So, they have made up their minds, have they?," Lucas said
aloud.  "Orin, are you ready?"
     "YES, LUCAS."
     " I don't like it at all."
     "WHAT CHOICE DO YOU HAVE?"
     As they left the hut, Orin perched on Lucas's shoulder, a
guard was waiting for them. 
"Sonique talls me zat you are ze one that I, the great Antoine,
is going to
show zee way to zee war room."
     "Yes, I think you are," Lucas said, trying to make sense of
what the guard was saying.
     As the two were walking Lucas asked the guard something.
"Why is everyone looking at me like I did something wrong?"
     "Zey are sinking you are ze spy and until Princess Sally can
be proving it wrong you are still ze spy."
     They came to a hut with no windows.  The door opened and as
Lucas walked in the door shut, cutting off all light.
     "OK, you have me where you want me," he called out into the
darkness, "so what are you all waiting for?"
     Just as he said that a small light came on showing Sonic,
Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, Tails and some others sitting at a table. 
From what he could see the hut was almost empty.
     "We've talked it over, and we think we can trust you so long
as you do what we tell you to do and don't ask why."
     "Let me get this straight: I will be trusted so long as I do
what you ask of me and I don't ask why?"
     "Is there an echo in here?"
     "Sonic!" Sally scolded.  Then Sally told him: "Lucas, we saw
how you fought off those bots and we decided that you will be
made a true freedom fighter once you do something for us all."
     "I did give my word that I would help you any time you asked
me for help."
     "But we're not asking for your help."
     "I don't understand."
     "You're to accompany Sonic and Tails to a place called
Robotropolis and stop a warlord called Dr. Robotnik -- the same
one who sent those bots out to kill you and the others."
     After taking a breath Lucas then said: "When do you want to
leave?"
     "As soon as the sun comes up."  Then the door opened and
everyone walked out.  "I'm sorry Lucas," Sally added, "this is
the only way to convince everyone that you are not a spy."
     "But you know I am not a spy!  Why did you put me through
this?"
     "I know, but Knothole isn't just our base of operation, it's
out home.  We can't take any chance on its position being given
away."
     "But I don't even know how I got here!  Sally, please make
them see that I am not a spy."
     Just then Sonic came up to Lucas with Tails right behind
him.  "Yo, Luke, ready to motor?"  Lucas hesitated, partly
because he didn't quite understand what Sonic had just asked him.
     "Listen, Sal knows what she's doing but you have to go along
with it.  And if we don't juice soon, everyone will think
something's not cool."
     So, as Sonic held out a power ring Lucas was about to take
off, but then Sonic told him what else Sally had told him.
     "One more thing: Sal said to leave the armor back here.  She
thinks it will give everyone peace of mind knowing you are real."
     "Orin," Lucas said without hesitation, "you heard them. 
Power down."  With that the metallic falcon flew over to the
table and assumed the form of a metallic ball.  "OK, so when do
we leave?"
     "RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!" said Sonic as the three left in a
flash of light.


Chapter 6


     As Lucas, Sonic, and Tails made their way in Robotropolis
Lucas looked around to see what had happened.
     "This is where you once lived?  Here?  I can see why you
moved to the forest" he said.
     They continued on down the dark streets of the city until
they arrived outside a large building with sizable metal doors.
     "OK," Sonic said, "they'll be changing the guard soon, so
here's what we need to do: Luke, you and Tails take out the
guards while I get in and let the main doors down so you two
can get in.  Then we go stop ol' Buttnik for good and have some
fun doing it."
     Just then two bots come out of a smaller door just to the
side of the larger ones.  The two stood by the doors while two
others went inside.
     "That's my cue," Sonic said as he revved up.  Sonic then
sped past them just as the doors closed.
     "Here we go," said Tails as he and Lucas showed themselves
to the bots.  The bots started to fire at them only to have Lucas
use his sword to send the blast back to the bots.
     "Cool!" was all that Tails said as the two waited for Sonic
to open the doors.


     "Sir, we have the freedom fighters here now, and one of them
is that new one."
     "Good.  Then show our friend that I don't like creatures
that won't stay dead."
     "Yes, Sir."


     "Do you hear something, Sonic?" asked Tails as he looked
around to see what was going on.
     But before Tails could say anything else, a bot had grabbed
him by the neck and shoved him in a bag of some kind.
     "Hang on, Tails, I'm coming!" said Sonic who looked at Lucas
and said "Chill, I'll be right back."
     But the next thing Lucas heard was the sound of Sonic
fighting some bots.  Then it went silent.
     "This is bad," Lucas said out loud only to have ten SWATbots
walk out to meet him with lasers aimed at him.  They then started
to fire at him, forcing him to retreat to the city streets.
     "This is VERY bad!"
     Lucas pressed as far into the shadows of a nearby building
as far as he could.  He held his breath, hoping against hope that
he would escape detection. But just as the bots were about to
find him they stopped and headed back to the building which they
came from.  Through the open doorway Lucas saw both Sonic and
Tails each with their arms being held by two bots.
     "Great!  This is all I need!" he said to himself as he
slipped inside after them.  As he did so, he paused and looked
back at the doorway.
     "Funny," he thought to himself, "the doors should have
closed as I was trying to come in."
     Suddenly more SWATbots emerged from the shadows, their
blasters trained on Lucas.
     "We didn't want you to think that we only wanted your
friends," said a large man who looked like he was well over 300
pounds.
     "You must be Robotnik," said Lucas, keeping a wary eye on
the bots all around him.
     "And you must be that falcon that I thought had been killed
with the others.  But you're probably wondering why I let you in
here without fighting my bots."
     "You can get to the point any time," Lucas said holding his
sword to his right side.
     "Oh, please, your puny weapon will not save you from all of
my bots."
     "You're probably right, but I have to try!" he said as he
tried to rush Robotnik only to have ten bots fire at him.  He
moved fast to deflect the blasts, but four of ten shots hit Lucas
in the chest and he collapsed to the floor.
     "Take him and put him with his friends," Robotnik commanded.
     "Sir, what do you wish to be done with his sword?" Snively
asked.
     "Let him keep it; maybe after he is roboticized he'll be
able to use it better than he can now."


Chapter 7



     As Lucas came to, he saw Sonic and Tails in a cell of some
kind with a yellow light for bars.  "Where am I ?" he said as he
tried to get up only to find himself in some kind of chair
surrounded by a glass-like tube.
     "I am glad to see you're up, my friend," said Robotnik as he
stood by a control panel.  "Now, falcon, we will see if you can
be as good a slave to me as the others have been."  Then he
pushed a button and a strange light filled the tube and then
Lucas closed his eyes.
     "What?!  This can not be!  He should be a robot by now, yet
he is still the same as he was when he was first put in there!"
     "Sir, the unit will overload if we don't shut it down!" said
Snively.
     Mad as hell, Robotnik said "Shut it down!" and went over to
Lucas.  "You may resist the robotsizer for now, but everyone has
a breaking point.  It is only a matter of time until I find
yours."
     "Try all you want, you'll never find it," Lucas replied as
he struggled against the restraints that held him in the chair.
     Turning to the two bots in the room Robotnik said: "If he
gets out, kill him if you have to!"  Then he and Snively left the
room.
     "Sorry we got you into this mess," said Sonic trying to get
out of his cell.
     "Lucas, how come Robotnik couldn't turn you into a robot?"
asked Tails.
     "My body works like a shield.  If a harmful thing like this
is about to happen, my body sends out things called super cells
that form this shield around my body.  Now I've got work to do."
     Lucas struggled for a few minutes until he had freed one of
his hands, as the two SWATbots remained motionless.  Then he
pulled a knife he had hidden in one of his boots to cut his other
hand free.  "Can one of you tell me where the main controls are
so we can get out of here?"
     "That humongous one in the middle along the bottom of that
control panel," said Sonic.  Lucas then threw his knife at the
button.  It hit it exactly, and the cells and the glass tube
suddenly faded, leaving the three of them free.
     "Lucas, what about the bots?" said Tails.  Sonic was about
to rush them but Lucas stood and looked at them.
     "RETURN TO YOUR CELLS!" said one of the bots, pointing its
blaster at Lucas.  Lucas made a diving leap for the control
panel, grabbed the knife by the handle, and sent it blade-first
into the SWATbot's visual sensor, blinding it.  While that was
going on, Sonic took out the other bot with a spin-dash.
     Just then an alarm sounded, summoning every bot in the area 
to the area where the three were.
     "Sounds like we'll have more guests," said Lucas, readying
himself.
     "Maybe not," said Sonic as he pulled a power ring from
inside his glove.
     "Where'd you get that?" asked Tails who was already flying.
     "Me and Rote were working on this before Lucas got here."

     Then the door opened to reveal about ten bots standing in
the door way...with a robot Sonic.
     "Out of my way!" said Sonic, sending every one of them
flying.
     As the three made their way to the outside of the city,
Sonic said: "Tails, you and Luke get out of here and I'll see
what I can do."
     "No, I'll stay and you two go back and get help!" said
Lucas, who saw what appeared to be about three hundred bots
running towards them.  But just then something came flying in low
enough to pluck Sonic and Tails off the ground.
     "Need a lift, guys?"
     "Dulcy!" Tails cried out.
     "Whoa, what about Luke?" Sonic asked.
     But just then Lucas was hit in his left shoulder, sending
him to the ground.
     "Just get the hell out of here!" Lucas called to them,
trying to get to his feet.
     "Hey, watch the language!  There are ladies present," Dulcy
scolded.
     At first Sonic thought that this was just a wisecrack on
Dulcy's part, but as the dragon began circling overhead Sonic
could see that there WERE ladies present: Sally and Bunnie
stepped out of a darkened alley.
     "Lucas, catch!" Sally called out as she pitched a silvery
ball toward him, a ball that transformed in mid-flight into a
bird.
     "Orin, armor!" Lucas called out to it.  In an instant the
two became one in a blinding flash of light.  Then as the light
died down they all saw an armored falcon standing were Lucas was. 
The bots started to fire at him, but the shots were being
deflected off of him.
     "Orin, let's show them our fire power," said Lucas.
     "I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK!" said Orin arming a strange gun. 
A blast came from the gun arm, sending two bots flying while the
others tried to fight him.
     "Get out of here!" he said to Sally and the others as a bot
got in front of him only to be blown back by the gun.  But just
as the tide of battle appeared to have turned, Lucas's arm
started to glow and then Lucas sank to his knees.
     "Orin what's going on?  I thought you were at full power!"
     Lucas was surrounded by bots, which parted to make way for
Robotnik.
     "You see, my boy, everyone is mine that comes here," he
said.
     "Wrong again, Buttnik!"
     "What!?" Robotnik roared as he looked up, only to duck to
the ground as Dulcy swooped in low, with Sonic trailing a rope
that had been tied to the dragon's saddle.
     "Lucas!" said Sally as she and Bunnie dashed toward the
low-flying dragon, "Grab hold of the rope!"  Though weakened and
more burdened by his armor than anything else, he caught hold
of it and was airborne in an instant.
     "I'll get you yet!!" said Robotnik as Ducly flew off towards
Knothole with Lucas and the Freedom Fighters.


Chapter 8


     As Dulcy landed, Sally saw Lucas, who was holding on to the
rope for dear life, start to lose his grip.  He started to fall
but Bunnie was able to save him from hitting the ground.
     "I'm sorry, Princess Sally.  Sonic, Tails and I were not
able to stop Robotnik."
     Then Sally looking into his eyes said: "Lucas, you did more
than we asked of you.  Besides that, you did save Sonic and
Tails."
     Then Sonic came up to him and said: "One thing I still don't
get is, how come you weren't roboticized like the others?"
     "Like I told you, my body has its own way of keeping me
safe, and that is one of them," he said as he got to his feet. 
"But one thing I want to know is, how did you at Knothole know
what was going on?"
     "Simple," said Rotor, who pointed upward at a hovering
orb-bot.  "Robotnik doesn't know we've planted a few orb-bots of
our own in the city.  That way we could see what was going on and
see if Sonic needed help."
     "But I needed the help instead."
     "Happens to all of us, sugar," Bunnie replied.
     With his arm in a cast Lucas walked over to Bunnie and
asked, "Is everyone like this?"
     "Only when we win a battle like y'all did," she said kissing
him on his left cheek.
     "What was that for?" he asked looking at her.  But all she
did was laugh about it.
     "Lucas," Sally said in a stern voice that caught his
attention before he noticed the corners of her mouth bending
upward into a warm smile, "we're all convinced; you are now a
true freedom fighter."  She then hugged him while Sonic shook his
good hand.  The others were cheering for him.  Then he stood up
and said in a tone of voice that none of them heard before:
     "Thank you all, but the real thanks goes to those who gave
their lives.  And to them and all others I make this promise: I
will help you all destroy all the evil on your world."


     After everyone went back to their huts, Lucas flew to what
was left for the Blue Star and stood in a moment of silence,
remembering all of the people on his world.  Then Sonic, Sally
and Bunnie came up behind him and stood in silence themselves,
only to have Lucas turn and look at them all.
     "I guess we are the same.  We all fight to save our worlds,
but I have a chance to help you all and save my world at the same
time."
     "Lucas, you need to get some rest now and heal up," said
Sally.
     "Lucas, y'all showed us what you're made of, now y'all need
to learn about us freedom fighters," said Bunnie.
     "Yeah, let's go home," said Sonic.
     Then Lucas looked toward the sky and said: "Father, I will
come back and save you all."  Then they all left the Blue Star.

                                              The                     
                                                     End.