With your battle complete, and your injuries sort of patched up, you're finally free to catch your breath... at least until the terminal flares to life again. Your brief conversation with the person on the other end may have left you with more questions than answers, but they are true to their world. Next to the terminal, a glowing golden portal suddenly appears - blinding in its light and large enough for only a couple of you to enter at a time. Regardless, it remains open, showcasing a strange, warehouse-looking building on the other side, with a long hallway and several closed doors. It's not entirely clear where this new location will be, but at least it doesn't seem to have spider robots or be out in space.
/// L O A D I N G . . .
I've got everything ready on my end.
I'll explain everything to you once you're here.
No more secrets, I promise.
Please watch your step, and make sure everyone comes along!
Staying behind is not an option. Whether you trust the person on the other end of the terminal or not, it seems this is your only path forward. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and step through the portal.
THE BASE
The light begins to clear as the last of you enter the portal and come out unharmed on the other side. You'll notice immediately that the portal displayed the exact place you've ended up - a fairly run-down warehouse, with you all standing in a hallway that extends in front of you, lined with doors that are shut. Before you go wandering off, you might want to turn around - after all, you can hear the whirring of machinery behind you.
You'll find that there's another set of doors there - one that is closed and another that leads into a larger room that seems to be a makeshift lab and control room all rolled into one. There are monitors carefully (but a bit haphazardly) strewn across the room, the wiring capably done but rather unprofessional. One of the screens shows a diagram of a gemstone, another shows a list of coordinates that don't make any sense, a third seems to be showing security cameras... basically exactly what you'd expect for someone's base of operations.
And that base of operations is staffed by... well, you'll have to look down, as he's not exactly human height.
Standing before you is someone unfamiliar to all of you. He's not very tall, but he stands out from the crowd with his yellow fur, bright blue eyes, and twin tails. He's an anthropomorphic fox and he's looking at you all a bit nervously, waving a hand in greeting.
"Um, hi." He says. "I'm really sorry about the confusion. And the robots. And your missing memories. And your injuries. I really didn't expect things to turn out like this..." He trails off nervously, scratching his cheek before forcing a smile again. "But thank you so much for agreeing to help us. My name is Tails. I'm one of the members of the resistance.
"There are medical supplies here, for you guys to use. I'm sorry, I'm not a medic..." Sure enough, you have access to quite a few medical supplies present in this room! Go right ahead and patch up your friends with the good stuff. You've even got painkillers here!
He clears his throat and continues. "Like I said, no more secrets. I couldn't tell you everything while you were in that other world, because I was afraid of my transmissions being picked up by the Doctor. You guys are the only hope for this world, because the three of us can't beat him alone. So we had to turn to help elsewhere.
"Doctor Robotnik - or Eggman, as we call him - is a genius scientist. He's made a lot of robots and gadgets, but that's not the reason why we need your help. He's got an item of immense power - the Master Emerald. With it, anything he thinks and desires can become reality. He made a giant robot from pieces of cars, trucks, trains, you name it! And that giant robot alone is enough to pose a huge threat to the city, but he didn't stop there.
"The entire world is controlled by him. He even controls the minds of all the people native to this world. They can't fight against him. They act like mindless drones, going about their daily tasks with no way to fight back. And he's created a lot of robots - they might even outnumber the people, at this point! Everything and everyone is under his control."
A brief pause as Tails breathes and steadies himself. "But my friends and I are able to fight back. We have to fight back. And you guys agreed to help us. I'm sorry that you don't remember it, but my friend Sonic spoke with each one of you. He told you about what's going on here and he asked for your help. And all of you said you'd come help us.
"I'll do my best to answer any questions you have. But right now, I'm the only one here. I lost contact with Knuckles at the start of this week, and I've been trying to figure out what happened. Sonic's been trying to find help in other worlds, so communication with him has been spotty. But I'll let him know that you guys are here now, so he should return soon!"
Tails exhales and forces a smile. "Together, we can defeat Eggman."
THE AFTERMATH
Though it's a lot of information to take in, Tails will happily answer any questions you all may have. He tells you that this warehouse is their base of operations, hidden right under the nose of Eggman's forces. Unfortunately, they need to be very careful because robots are always on patrol - and are specifically looking for the three of them. For now, it's best for you all to remain near the warehouse and travel in pairs, if you do go out into the city for any reason.
You'll find that those closed doors lead to rooms that have been set up for all of you. They're a little lacking, with only two beds, two desks and chairs, and two trunks for you to store your belongings in. Though you do have some changes of clothes in the closets, the designs may not be to your liking. They were picked out for you by three animals who only wear shoes and gloves, so...
Get ready, because it looks like you've a lot of work ahead of you.
[His eyes shifted to a cold blue-gray as Viktor thought that over, trying to quantify the unquantifiable. To look at the situation like a chessboard would have vastly simplified it, and yet there were countles factors which made that impossible. Fear, inexperience, both at once; humans were too fallible to be reduced perfectly to strategy and numbers, even if Viktor did consider himself someone with any mind for that sort of strategy.]
I do not see why you should blame yourself. The rest of you all fought with unbelievable tenacity to protect each other, no one can or should fault you for that.
[The words rattle around the inside of his mind for a long moment, searching for a place to settle. How many times has he heard almost the same sentiment before, just in different terms? He's lost count. And every time, he's still blamed himself.]
Not bein' able to guess at what your enemy is gonna do next is how you end up dead. And we all guessed wrong.
[If it had just been him and the other skilled fighters, that would have been one thing. They all knew the risks and accepted them the moment they set foot on the battlefield. But the noncombatants? Well.]
We got lucky this time, but I dunno how long that luck's gonna hold.
It is painfully clear we will have to learn to form as cohesive a unit as we can. Against an enemy like this...
[A mechnical army, a world under total control--a threat that all of Piltover and Zaun combined could not truly defeat through force alone. What kind of hope did a scattered handful have, really?]
[This definitely isn't the most promising group of fighters he's ever seen. "Fighter" is a strong word for more than one of them, too, and if his own ability is anything to go on, then not everyone has even been equipped for battle in that sense either.]
I can offer training to anyone who wants to learn how to fight, but beyond that... I'm out of ideas. Like I said, I'm not really suited for stuff that requires usin' your head.
Considering that our enemies are machine in nature... [He paused, the tired resignation turning to something more thoughtful.] There may be things I can do about that. If we can safely procure a few subjects, I can take them apart and attempt to learn how they function.
[At the mention of another fight, Viktor looked to the green shard in his hand with a quiet sigh.]
...I do not like the reality of the situation, but this requires more effort. I hesitated to engage those smaller machines because I could not be certain of my aim; if I can learn to improve that, I could be more than a liability.
[A grin tugs at the corner of Oscar's lips, his demeanor shifting, becoming more focused.]
If you need a movin' target, then I'll volunteer for the cause. It'd be a lot safer for practice than tryin' to fight something that's actually out to kill you, but I also won't hold back and let you get off easy. Think of it as bein' the best of both worlds in that sense.
[He laughs a little. And just like that, the mask is back on, almost as if it had never slipped in the first place.]
Wouldn't have offered if I weren't. We're supposed to be working together, right? So that means doin' whatever we can to help each other out, and this is one thing I'm good at.
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I do not see why you should blame yourself. The rest of you all fought with unbelievable tenacity to protect each other, no one can or should fault you for that.
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Not bein' able to guess at what your enemy is gonna do next is how you end up dead. And we all guessed wrong.
[If it had just been him and the other skilled fighters, that would have been one thing. They all knew the risks and accepted them the moment they set foot on the battlefield. But the noncombatants? Well.]
We got lucky this time, but I dunno how long that luck's gonna hold.
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[A mechnical army, a world under total control--a threat that all of Piltover and Zaun combined could not truly defeat through force alone. What kind of hope did a scattered handful have, really?]
...Luck of that magnitude will not repeat itself.
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[This definitely isn't the most promising group of fighters he's ever seen. "Fighter" is a strong word for more than one of them, too, and if his own ability is anything to go on, then not everyone has even been equipped for battle in that sense either.]
I can offer training to anyone who wants to learn how to fight, but beyond that... I'm out of ideas. Like I said, I'm not really suited for stuff that requires usin' your head.
[That's Claude's wheelhouse, not his.]
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[We're just going to ignore that it shoots a goddamned laser.]
...This is a disaster.
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[But, knowing that the funky arm isn't actually meant to be a weapon...]
... but if we wind up in another fight, stick close to me. I'll make sure you're covered.
[Because in the end, protecting people is his only talent.]
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[At the mention of another fight, Viktor looked to the green shard in his hand with a quiet sigh.]
...I do not like the reality of the situation, but this requires more effort. I hesitated to engage those smaller machines because I could not be certain of my aim; if I can learn to improve that, I could be more than a liability.
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[A grin tugs at the corner of Oscar's lips, his demeanor shifting, becoming more focused.]
If you need a movin' target, then I'll volunteer for the cause. It'd be a lot safer for practice than tryin' to fight something that's actually out to kill you, but I also won't hold back and let you get off easy. Think of it as bein' the best of both worlds in that sense.
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[Pot, meet kettle--]
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I'm used to takin' hits. I doubt you could do any worse than some of the things that've happened to me in battle.
[... to be fair, the prominent scar on his face would seem to indicate the truth of that statement.]
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Wouldn't have offered if I weren't. We're supposed to be working together, right? So that means doin' whatever we can to help each other out, and this is one thing I'm good at.