All the king's castles

[Eggman Empire]

Vlask. Eggman Empire's largest port city. It was originally the capital of Eggman Empire before Robotropolis was founded. It has the second most heavily populated city in Eggman Empire, roughly 8.6 million, with Robotropolis being 9.7 million. It is the main import/export center for the resources flowing through the Empire. The docks stretch for miles, as ships of all types come to pick up or drop off their cargo.

*Boom!*

Without warning, over a dozen large freighters and tankers spread along the rows of docks erupted into massive fireballs. Chunks of metal and bits of shrapnel flew through the air and tore up the ground. Soon secondary fires, started by volatile compounds being hit by the flaming debris, ignited. In a matter of minutes, the massive harbor skyline was filled with inky trails of black smoke.

Some distance away, a person put down their binoculars and reached for his radio. Judging from the chatter over the police scanner, most of the emergency response crews and law enforcement were tied up getting the dock fires under control. Meaning by the time everyone figured out what was really going on, it would be too late. The man grinned. He loved a good distraction.

"This is Abyss, to all sprayer units. The diversion is in place and the locals are completely focused on it. Don your gear and roll out. Confirmation is 'gagging cough.'" The man spoke into the mouthpiece. Nobody replied, but then again, nobody was supposed to. The plan was rolling now, and he'd done his part. Time to leave before things got hot. The man gave Vlask on last glance, before turning away to escape the impending disaster. As he walked to his car, he cracked a grin and began to chuckle. He knew what was coming, and it gave him an immense thrill.

---

Spread out on the fringes of the city, garage and warehouse doors opened in unison. The vehicles that emerged? Sprayer trucks, originally designed to pump out pesticides. Now their payloads were far more sinister. No eyebrows were raised as the trucks drove by, partly because they all were using different routes to cover more ground, and they all had the city's utility symbol painted on their sides. If people could've looked inside the tinted windows, they'd most assuredly panic as one would see a driver and a passenger dressing in full chemical suits and gas mask. Of course, by the time they realized what was going on, it was too late.

Exactly five minutes after the order had gone out, the operators turn in their sprayers in unison. The effect was immediately felt. One of the first to feel it was one Mrs. Ellise Shay, who was out showing her 8 month old baby the sights. It was at the moment the truck was passing her that it turned on the posion.

Barely a few seconds passed by before the gas hit Mrs. Shay. She felt it instantly. With one breath, the gas entered her lungs and attacked her nervous system. In the next second, they continued to ravage her nerves, while also attacking her lungs, heart, throat, and mouth; dissolving them. By the time her brain registered what was going on, she had less then thirty seconds to live. As she collapsed to the ground, blood and mucus flowing out of her mouth and nose, her only thought was if her baby was alright.

The trucks rolled down the streets in the residential areas, spraying the death gas indiscriminately. Nurseries, schools, and businesses became mass tombs, as pedestrians on the sidewalk simply flopped over, with only growing pools of blood under them to indicate something horrendous was happening. It was surreal almost. If you stood just a few blocks down the street, you could see the trucks coming, and the people toppling over as it passed them.

As the vehicles made their way deeper into the city, somebody finally alerted the city government of what was going on. The mayor, to his credit, acted quickly and ordered the trucks stopped by any means necessary and put out a general evacuation order. However that last one would cause more trouble then help as people realized they had the sea to their backs and the sprayers to their front, slowly cutting off escape.

Vlask got two lucky breaks. One was that the sprayer trucks finally ran out of their payload about 1/5ths of the way into the city. The second break was that instead of floating in the air indefinably, the gas settled and turned into an inert, liquid form after a hundred meters. However, authorities were unable to arrest even one suspect or capture one truck. Why, because in addition to their payload, the trucks were also wired. Whenever a truck used up its load, it would speed up, ram into the most populated area, and detonate.

When it was all over, reports began to flow in as to ballpark estimates of how many had been murdered. The count was somewhere in the tens of thousands and promised to keep climbing. And, in addition to the chemical attack, the dock fires were still raging. To make matters worse, claims about hundreds of dead fish now appearing in the harbor began to surface. One could only assume that there had been two chemical strikes that day; one on land, and one in the water. And as the city descended into chaos, news reports were reaching the other cities across Eggman Empire.

---

In a dark room, in a hidden facility, a man chuckled as he watched the madness on the news play out. Well, he though, best not keep them waiting. Besides, if he didn't hurry, someone else might take credit for his orchestra of chaos. He walked over to his desk. Installed in it was a large control panel; filled with buttons, screens, levers, keyboards, and switches. He glanced over it before finding the button he wanted, and pushed it. And with that, he had hijacked the radio waves.

"Hello." A voice that had gone through a scrambler spoke out to the masses. "By now you've most likely heard of the events that have taken place in Vlask. You may be wondering 'Why?' Why did this horrible atrocity happen? Why would anyone do this to us? I'll tell you: It's your punishment for supporting your mad scientist of a ruler and allowing him to get away with committing crimes against humanity. I tell you this: Sammyace Kintober is a evil, horrible man who should've been executed a long time ago. The fact that he's still in power defiles the memory of all those that hes butchered."

"Now Kintober." He said in a slightly different tone of voice. "If you have any humanity. If you care even the slightest about your subjects, you will willingly step down from office and prepare to face the punishment for your crimes. For if you do not, every 12 hours another act like the one in Vlask will be committed. And trust me, they'll get a lot worse. So to recap, step down, or the only thing you'll be in charge of is rotted corpses. Thank you, that is all."

The man pushed another button and the communication link was severed. He sat down in his chair and leaned back. He sighed contently and smiled. "Now, we just watch the insanity erupt." He thought.

[Generalissimo]

Thousands died today in an unprecedented atrocity, Procinctia will not let this stand.

Procinctia is now at war with whoever’s responsible, until your destruction or ours.

I’m guessing this might not be the usual Dark Hand and/or Martens plot, but it doesn’t matter who you are. . . I don’t care because you will be found and destroyed; hiding behind electronic distortions and a voice scrambler won’t save you.

Whether or not is Kintober is the evil man you claim is entirely irrelevant, nothing justifies this slaughter.

From the office of Generalissimo, Generalissimo of Procinctia

Edited September 4, 2009 by Generalissimo

[king cjc]

Serbia deeply condemns this mass slaughter of the people in Vlask. We send our deepest condolences to the country.

If we can help in anyway in capturing the evil people behind this attack, we will.

[Eggman Empire]

Procinctia is now at war with whoever’s responsible, until your destruction or ours.

Some time later, Generalissimo received a recorded message from an unknown person.

"Our destruction or yours, hm? So be it. Although it's difficult to be intimidated by a lunatic lording over a shattered ruin of a country. Don't worry, after all is said and done, you'll have a front row seat. Oblivion will be a sight to see."

-------------

Sammyace Kintober looked at the clock. Nearly 10 and 1/2 hours had passed since the massacre at Vlask. Clean-up of the gas-turned-liquid toxin were proving to be near impossible. Although inert, the stuff responded to nearly anything. And to make matters worse, the corpses of those poisoned had been rotted by the toxin, and burst apart like overripe fruit whenever anything tried to move them. When they popped, they either spewed out a gas-form of the toxin, or gooey liquid spilled out. The stuff was nearly identical to the liquid toxin already on the ground except for the fact that it had DNA intermixed.

Reports from the docks weren't any better either. After a grueling nine hour battle, most of the fires had been put out, although a few small ones still remained. As for the ships themselves, it had been discovered that they were carrying hazardous chemicals. Now a chemical cloud of smog drifted over the docks of Vlask. It wasn't lethal immediately, but Kintober was sure that a few hours of exposure would lead to severe health problems.

Making matters worse, was the poisoning of the Vlask harbor. Although caused partly by the destruction of the ships, a quick search of the bottom revealed dozens, perhaps hundreds of non-descript barrels. It became apparent that the barrels had been there for some time. They were sealed, allowing their contents to be preserved and stored. But after a close visual examination of the barrels, it was decided that each on of them had a small explosive device planted on it. While the attack on land was taking place, the devices exploded, blowing the barrels open, allowing them to release whatever poison that was stored in them. If one could sum up Vlask currently in two words, it would be ecological nightmare.

And last but not least, was the evacuation. With a good part of the outskirts closed to the attack, combined with the toxic smog, there were very few routes that were available to the public. This had led to widespread panic, which led to riots and numerous accidents, which led to even fewer routes open. The military was doing what they could. Using cargo helicopters to evacuate civilians and other methods, but it was barely making a dent.

Now, thanks to the little message that had been put out by whoever was responsible, every person and politician who had a grudge against Kintober was calling for his head. He sighed and placed his hand in his forehead. This day had passed the 'nightmare' stage long ago. He looked down at his desk and reached for the phone. He dialed a number and waited for a response. "Anything? No?...@#$%. Keep looking. You can create those kind of chemicals with a child's chemistry set in a treehouse. The lab has to be around somewhere." He hung up and sighed. His head hurt even worse. With great deliberation, he picked a choice in a decision that had been weighing heavily on him for hours. Again he reached for the phone, and dialed in a different number. "Hello...Yes, Hank, it's me...schedule a press conference. I'd say in about 15 minutes...what am I planning to do? I've got an announcement....No you can't talk me out of it...Look, just schedule it, alright?...Thank you." Kintober hung the phone back up. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. After a moment of staring at his desk, he shrugged. "No time to dilly-dally. Got to get ready." He mused.

----

*15 minutes later, press conference.*

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, and all my faithful subjects. Around 10 hours ago, the Port city of Vlask was attacked by an unknown enemy. They used chemical weapons and explosives on the city, leaving it in chaos. I'm still not sure where the death toll is at. Then, a scant few minutes after the attack ended, the group that claimed to be behind the attack hijacked every radio and television signal in the nation and delivered an ultimatum saying that if I did not give up my position and submit myself to the proper authorities, many more will die. I will not have this. As of now, I am officially resigning from the office of Emperor and placing myself under voluntary arrest. I'm my absence, Iblis Kray, Head Senate Chancellor, will hold temporary office until the people appoint a new ruler."

----

In a hidden location, a man watching the live broadcast smiled. He tapped a button on his desk and spoke into a microphone. "Tell our agent the plan is a go."

----

Meanwhile, the conference room had erupted into a sea of yelling reporters. Kintober could barely even hear them. So it was understandable that no one notices a press member near the back stand on his chair and yell out "Sanity is relative!" As soon as the phrase was uttered, on of Kintober's body guards went rigid. He tapped Kintober on the shoulder, and when Kintober turned to face him, the man pulled of his uzi and proceeded to fire half a clip into Kintober's chest.

----

The man stared at the screen and smiled. With Kintober finally dead, there wasn't a single person who could figure out how to stop him. And the man did not intend to be stopped by anything. He spoke into the microphone. "Attention!All personnel, we are now at stage two. Repeat, we are now at stage two." The man smiled. Now, he was unstoppable. And there wasn't a force on earth that would stop him from reaching his goal.

[king of cochin]

The Kingdom of Cochin expresses its deepest anguish at the horrors inflicted on the Eggman Empire. Truly it is a perilous time the world is going through. Terrorism in Xinjiang, civil war in Austria and Kitex and finally such mind numbing horrors in yet another part of the world.

The Kingdom of Cochin offers help to Eggman Empire. Seeing as you face attacks of a Chemical/Biological kind would you like extra number of Racal environmental containment suits? We could send a couple of thousands over to you quite soon.

[Eggman Empire]

*BeepBeepBeepBeep*

The heart rate monitor sounded like an alarm clock. It's screen showed a near continual wave of up-and-down lines. After the shooting, Kintober had been dragged to his personal lab, which was just about as good as any hospital, inside the capital building. If for no other reason then to pronounce Kintober as dead. It was to the great surprise of every scientist and physician that the man was still alive, if just barely. Inside the operating room, a small crowd of doctors crowded over Kintober to try to keep him alive.

"How the hell is he still breathing?!" Asked one doctor, as he cut Kintober's cloths off.

"He was wearing a vest!" Replied another, who had just thrown said vest onto the ground.

"Impossible, even with a vest, most of those rounds got through. He should be a dead man!" Chimed a third.

"Shut up and work on keeping him alive, morons!" Yelled the head physician.

One orderly was ripped part of Kintober's shirt of when his hand touched Kintober's skin. "Yeowch! Doctor, the man's burning up! His chest feels like it's on fire!"

"Holy...look at that!" Another doctor exclaimed. All discussion stopped. Much to the shock and surprise of everyone, the bullet holes on Kintober's chest began to slowly close. But their astonishment was broken by one of the monitor's warning beeps.

"The man's burning up! Somebody bring ice!" Yelled the chief physician. The monitor showed Kintober's temperature 104.3, well in to the danger zone, and rising. Now on top of his bullet wounds, the doctors had to worry about Kintober roasting himself.

----

The man sat at his desk, the ever present control console flashing and beeping in front of him. Right now he had the "kid-in-a-candy-store" feeling. His rival was dead, nobody else knew anything about him, and his army had infiltrated almost every city and town in Eggman Empire. He leaned forward and pushed the intercom on his desk. "Attention! To all units: Move to stage three. Begin the assault."

-----

Recon base Kalisk was number 6 in a long line of micro bases that dotted the Eggman Empire map. The purpose behind these micro bases were to act as speed bumps and resistance points in the event that Eggman Empire was ever invaded. All the bases were designed to house four companies, with the exact combination for every base. Tankers, Infantry, Calvary, and a support company, each with their own separate barracks. Much to the dismay of each company, their barracks were right next to each other, nearly a stone's throw from each other.

Aside from the barracks, there was also the motorpool, which house a dozen Paladin tanks, 20 Pitbulls, 20 Guardian-03 APCs, and various support vehicles. Right now the base was on high alert, so everyone was in or around their assigned vehicles. They had heard about the attack on Vlask and Kintober's apparent assassination. They knew something was coming, but they thought it was going to happen to someone else and not them. Oh how wrong they were.

The shriek of incoming mortar shells and artillery rounds pierced the silence and the base became a light show. Dozens of buildings erupted into flames or collapsed as hundreds of shells slammed into the base. The hardest hit areas were the barracks and the motorpool. Even as shells still exploded on the ground, hundreds of unknown troops charged the wasted defenses and overran them mercilessly. Upon their first encounter with this new enemy, the Eggman soldiers made the horrifying discovery that these were not normal humans. The truth, unbeknown to the hapless defenders, was that the enemy they were fighting where actually a kind of prototype super soldier. They shared many traits with Kintober's own Happy Smiler supersoldier program. And unfortunately for the Eggman troops, they shared the Smiler's penchant for violence and blood.

Little by little, the survivors and a handful of vehicles rallied around the Armory. It was the most sturdy building in the base, and was built to withstand a nuclear blast. However, in the short span the battle had raged, the Eggman Empire troops had realized that they were most likely going to die or be captured. Faced with such a haunting prospect, the soldiers swore to make the enemy pay in blood for their imminent victory.

Cannons belched smoke and fire, gun barrels spat lead, and the flash of exploding munitions filled the smoke-clogged sky. Everyone fought, from the cooks to the combat engineers, and from the lowest private to the highest officer. But for all their valiant efforts, the Armory was overrun. As the last of the Eggman soldiers fell, the enemy troops began to wire the base with explosives and chemical agents.

Soon the preparations were finished, and the enemy commander wasted no time in ending the base. With a simple push of a button, Recon base Kalisk was reduced to a smoldering pile of twisted wreckage and toxic contaminants. With their jobs finished, the enemy troops moved past the remnants of the base, which burned like a funeral pyre. Tragically, these events were repeating themselves across Eggman Empire, with numerous other Recon bases falling, as well as many small towns. It wasn't long before the military figured out that Eggman Empire was under attack.

[Eggman Empire]

"...lost Recon outposts 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 15, 17, and 18. We've also lost contact with the militia garrisons in over a dozen small towns and Brigadier General Yerkes reports another battalion-sized force of hostiles with vehicle support have formed up against his holdings in Isen." Brigadier General Parklan reported, pointing to red dots and lines on the map behind him to give a visual idea. Silence met the announcement. The few generals sitting around the table merely stared at the map. It was as if they were hoping that if they stared long enough, the red on it would go away.

"Did General say how long he could hold out? "Phil Ryst, the Head Minister of Defense asked. Parklan shrugged.

"He said that his forces were slowly losing ground and that given the amount of enemy re-enforcements continually arriving..." Parklan paused, looking away before continuing. "...He said that if he doesn't get help soon, the enemy will overrun his position probably within 72 hours." The silence was even more smothering then the last.

Strategically and logistically speaking, Isen is essentially the crossroads of Eggman Empire. It has the cities of Vlask, Havensvend, and Kulde-staden to it's east, Robotropolis to it's north, and Frysebane and Jutzberg to it's west. Separating those areas are vast swaths of ice fields. As such, since Isen is smack dab in the midde, it makes the perfect rest and refuel point. Combined with the fact that it sits on top of the largest oil field in Eggman Empire, Isen plays a key roll in controlling the geographic portion of Eggman Empire.

"Gah!Blast those freakin' Smiler knockoffs! Where did they come from?!" Snarled a four star general.

"A better question would be where is ourSmiler Troops?" Remarked a three star, glaring at Ryst.

"Where they should be, holding defensive positions in and around Robotropolis, Havensvend, Kulde-staden. If these cities are attacked and overran, you can kiss this country goodbye." Ryst replied hotly.

"You're right! If Isen falls, we kiss only half this country goodbye, as well as our major oil supply! Brilliant tactic!" The four star general shot back.

"Pardon me for interrupting, but didn't the terrorist send us a video claiming it held the location of their base?" A two star asked.

"Yes and no. They did send us a video, but all it held was a bunch of senseless riddles that would most likely lead us on a wild goose chase. I'm guessing its sole purpose is to take up time and resources." Ryst answered, leaning back into his chair. "Jeez Sammy, you sure picked a fine time to die on us."

----------

*Kintober's personal lab; recovery wing, under the Emperial palace*

The nurse pushed the med-cart down the hall, bobbing slightly as he listened to the music coming from his Ipod. He was already finished with most his rounds, and was on his last one. He looked at the room numbers next to the door, although he already knew it was the last room on the right. Apon reaching his destination, he opened the door expecting a sleeping patient hooked up to several monitoring machines. Instead he was met with the site of an empty bed and disabled machines. The nurse froze, as panic seized him. Then his mind began to work again, and he dashed towards a button next to the door frame and slammed his palm down on it.

----------

A tall man with reddish-orange hair, unnaturally grey skin, and an odd mustache that somewhat like a handlebar except it was strait looked up as sirens announced the escape of a patient.

"'Bout time they figured out I ran off." He muttered.

"Is there a problem my lord?" A soldier with a grinning face painted on his armor asked.

"None whatsoever. Are the troops ready to disembark?" He asked.

"Yes my lord. All the troops have mounted their respective vehicles and are waiting for you to open the gate." The soldier replied.

"EXCELLENT!" The man proclaimed with a bit too much excitement. With that, he typed in his authorization code into the computer terminal he was standing by. With a load groan, the metal door that lead from the underground motorpool to the outside opened. The man rushed back to the lead Guardian APC and climbed inside.

"Tell everyone to move out. They all have the destination co-ordinates, right?" He asked the comms. officer. The officer nodded. "Wonderful." He smirked. Kintober looked out the viewport into the frozen lands that lay before him and laughed.

"I don't know what you were thinking brother, but you've placed your chess pieces poorly. Now your king has but a few pawns to guard it, and I'm bringing an army of queens. It will be checkmate soon enough!"

Edited January 14, 2010 by DrKintobor

[Subtleknifewielder]

These events are the lowest of despicable acts. We wish the Eggman Empire the best in ridding itself of these terrorists, and if we should be called upon, we will help.

[Eggman Empire]

The Arans #5 Mining Facility, located in mountainous regions north of Isen, had long since abandoned by the Arans Mining Co. when it had run dry around the rule of Wilhelm Kintober. Since then it had been condemned due to weakening roof supports and geological instability. Or so the reports read. In actuality, the mine made up the rear entrance of a small but complex network of tunnels, labs, living quarters, armories, and motor pools.

Well, not so much a rear entrance as another of one of the compound's hidden entrances. Infact, the only reason why the mine was considered a rear entrance, was because it was never used anymore. The "main" entrance was actually hidden inside an abandon warehouse a few miles away from the mine. But I digress.

Anyhow, it seems that the users of the complex felt the mine would never be used again, and so had sealed up the mine entrance, placing sporadic and outdated monitoring security equipment and various "warning" signs to deter unwanted visitors. It also helped that tales of creatures and "mysterious disappearances" occurring around the mine helped keep curious onlookers away.

All this meant jack-diddly as Kintober crouched on the edge of the perimeter, watching for sentries and waiting for his men to disable all the security measures. Kintober's overall plan was simple. He would have the bulk of his forces attack the main entrance, while he and a small infiltration party would sneak through the back. And that was his plan for getting inside. The rest he planned on improvising.

It didn't seem to bother him much though. Just then, a voice came over his radio. "BSG lead, this is BSG 1. All defenses and security measures have been eliminated." Kintober grinned. "Roger, hold fast until I give the signal." He replied. Then he switched the radio to another frequency. "BGM, this is BSG lead, commence the attack! I repeat, you are go for the attack!" He switched back to the other frequency. "All units, this is BSG lead, the diversion is in progress, lets get moving!"

----

Inside the compound, the man at the desk reached over and activated the intercom. "Security, whats all the commotion about?" He asked, somewhat irked.

"Eggman Empire units have begun attacking the main entrance. Spy satellites are showing other Eggman Empire troops closing in on our position, but it will take them a while to get here. Your orders?"

The man snarled. "With drawl all available troops and reserves. Keep only the most mission critical personnel in place to carry on the attacks."

"Confirmed, relaying orders." With that, the man turned off the intercom and leaned back in his chair in a huff.

"Impossible! No one could have translated the clues." He growled.

"No one living perhaps..." A warped voice behind him chirped.

"Are you suggesting my brother somehow survived? Not likely. Even wearing a vest, you don't survive someone shooting you multiple times point blank." The man dismissed the idea.

"Oh, and here I thought you had an open mind. No wonder you've been unable to unseat your brother." The voice replied condescendingly.

"Whatever. Even if he's still alive, he still can't beat me. Especially in my own castle!" The man declared, more to himself then his companion.

"We'll see. The game is played better with two though." The voice answered, mirth in his voice.

[Eggman Empire]

*OOC:Writer's block is killing me. I had a plan on how to end this, then it died. So the rest of the tale might feel a little forced. My apologies.

----

IC:

Kintober and his team had made their way from the mines to the exterior corridors of the complex. For the most part, all they had come across was cameras and the occasional patrol; both were easy to take care of. Kintober was a bit surprised seeing how the attack alarm was blaring. Unfortunately, they seemed to be lost. Without a map, they had no idea where to go. However, Kintober could not be deterred, and was convinced that he would come across a map or somebody who knew the layout.

His luck had a change for the better when they had come across a repair team fixing a broken electrical box. A search of the bodies revealed schematics holding a layout for the base. They promptly headed directly for the control center. Of course, since they were going the most direct route, they had been spotted, and Kintober and his team then became engaged in "run-n-gun" tactics, not sticking around to be pinned down by security teams. The tactic had worked fine until they came across automated defense turrets.

Kintober, however, found that the turrets could be disabled with a well thrown grenade. Unfortunately, they were running out of them. But, Kintober was feeling that it wouldn't matter soon because they were almost to the control room. They were right down the hall from it, in fact. But the path from Kintober's cover to the door was bracketed by half-a-dozen turrets, and several Smiler rip-offs. As Kintober's mind raced to think up solutions for his problem, he was quite surprised to hear the shooting stop. He was even more surprised to here his brother's voice over the intercom.

"Hello Sammy! Fancy meeting you here." The intercom relayed.

"Yeah, well with that 'hint' you sent me, it wasn't hard to figure out." Kintober replied.

"If I had known you were still alive, I never would've sent it. But it doesn't matter. As it is, I'm glad you're here. You'll get to witness the largest biological/chemical strike in history." Kintober's brother said with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah? What's your target? Havensvend? Kulde-staden? Robotropolis? Jutzberg? You've already murdered tens of thousands in Vlask and turned it into a inhospitable toxic dump. How do you plan to top that?!" Kintober shot back, not quite believing that his brother could top his last attack.

"And here I though you were the brilliant one." He brother chuckled. "I'll put it this way, one: It does not pay to be a customer of Genshabi Research Corps, and two: The attack on Vlask will look like a simple shooting compared to the attack I have planned. Speaking of which, lets begin." Kintober's brother hung up as a warning blared over the intercom.

"Warning! Missiles 1-15 have been activated. Payloads 1-15 have been armed. Launch in progress. Time to Point of no Return estimated 10 minutes. All personnel to defensive stations. Repeat-"*click*

"What do you think of that? Unoriginal, but the end result will be the same. Say, how about a little challenge? If you can get past my guards and enter the control center, I'll give you a hint on how to disable the missiles. Better hurry, Tah!"

[Eggman Empire]

*4 minutes later.*

Kintober made a note to carry more incendiary grenades with him from now on. They were very practical. As he entered the control room, he was surprised to find it empty. 'A trap?' He thought. As he looked around, he spotted the main screen mounted to the wall on the far side of the room. On it was a display of the missiles' progress. They had left Eggman Empire air space and had just gotten over the Atlantic.

Kintober looked at the multitude of control terminals that filled the room and had no idea which one controlled the missiles. Although he suspected that the elevated platform with a single terminal on it might be a master control panel. He hurried over and checked his watch as he arrived. 5 minutes left. Better hurry. After wasting another two minutes searching for something, he stumbled across the actual program that controlled the missiles' self-destruct program. A clock on the screen showed he had 2.43 minutes left before the missiles reached the point of no return and there would be no way to deactivate them.

Kintober frantically tried to access the self-destruct activation protocol, but right before he got to the "yes/no" activation button, a password blocked his path. Only 1.58 minutes left. THINK! What could be the password. Kintober quickly jabbed in some gibberish to see if there was a letter limit. There was, and the word was surprisingly only five letters. Kintober nearly screamed. A five letter word could be anything. It could be "wheat" for all he knew! He wracked his brains trying to think of a five letter word that his brother would use, but nothing came up. 1.03 minutes.

'Why so glum chum? Turn that frown upside down and make it glow!' The thought raced through Kintober's head, although he had no idea where it came from. An upside down frown is a smile, right? But why would anyone in their right mind have a password to the self-destruct sequence on ICBMs 'smile?!' It made no sense! 0.46 minutes. It was his only option. Now or never! Kintober typed the password in and hit enter. The passcode block disappeared and was replaced with "Activate missile self destruct? Y/N." The dispay struck Kintober as anticlimactic, but he didn't dwell on it and hit 'yes.'

He looked up and saw the 15 dots on the screen disappear into nothingness. A wave of relief swept over him and he slumped over the console with a heavy sigh.

"Congratulations, you save countless total strangers. To bad I forgot to mention that if the missiles are deactivated, another set with fire. They're actually aimed at the Eggman Empire. They have no off button. So like I said, congratz! You both won and failed at the same time! How does it feel?" His brother said over the intercom, ruining his moment of victory. Kintober looked up, and to his dismay, red dots had reappeared on the screen, and they were all heading towards Eggman Empire's major cities.

[Eggman Empire]

OOC: whoops

Edited January 14, 2010 by DrKintobor

[Eggman Empire]

There was a thump as the last of the guards fell to the floor. Kintober stormed past the body, and up to the metal door. Behind it, his brother hid.

"Jack, you open this @$%$%# door now! I WILL have answers!" He raged. Again, the intercom replied.

"Ah, brother. So glad you could make it." The brother(Jack apparently) spoke.

"Shut up and open that door so I can beat the hell out of you!" Kintober snarled.

"Telling me what you're going to do to me doesn't help your case. Now, you said you had something to discuss." Jack said smoothly.

"Why?!" Kintober yelled at the intercom.

"Why what?"

"Why all this?! You're supposed to steal my title and rule over Eggman Empire, not destroy it and make it uninhabitable! How can you rule something when you try to smash it to bits?!!" Kintober snapped.

"Are you still think we're playing that silly game our father tried to teach us? Guess what, that game bored me. So now I'm playing a new game. It's called 'bring chaos.' And you know what? I'm winning! So far I've rendered a city uninhabitable, about to do the same to several others, and lay siege to another. On top of that, thanks to my little 'display' earlier, dozens of countries across the globe have grown distrustful of Eggman Empire and will most likely cut off relations. And to top things off, you will most likely come under investigation for your ties to Genshabi Corp. Is any of this getting through your think little skull?" Jack said condescendingly.

Kintober gaped at the comm panel in horror. "Your mad...absolutely mad!What on earth could inspire you to destroy our country, and then declare war on the rest of the planet!?!"

"Well, I suppose that's the key. What on earth could convince me to do all this? Well, I don't suppose you've heard that story about our great grandfather?" Jack replied.

"What? The one where he makes a deal with the devil so he and his lineage could be blessed with smarts? That's total garbage. Most people haven't even heard of it." Kintober responded, confused.

"Ah, but it's not garbage. Well most of it. The...er...individual responsible certainly wasn't the devil, but he sure is otherworldly. That's for sure." Jack chuckled.

"Wait,.so you expect me to believe that Renold Kintober made a deal with some ethereal being and now that being is helping you? What have you been smoking?" Kintober replied in disbelief. Jack's chuckle continued.

"Oh, he hasn't been helping just me. He's given you a push or two as well."

"What are-"

"You think it's such a coincidence that both our little supersoldier pets have so many similar qualities? It's because the blueprints were put in our heads by something else. And you know that logo your personal guard have been sporting? Well, it's probably not due to your artistic abilities."

"So what are you saying? That some creature has been messing with our heads, pushing us to create a type of meta-human? Even if I did believe it, what's the point? What does this being want?" Kintober replied, very curious as to why his and Jack's supersoldiers where alike.

"What he wants is simple. He wants nothing. Rather, he wants nothing stable. By that I mean, he finds that order in this world is a joke and we'd all be better off if said order was eliminated." Jack replied cheerfully.

"You're talking about the total dismembering of all known governments and law-enforcing agencies! The world would descend into chaos! Are you telling me a ethereal being made some weird deal with our great-grandfather so that it could use his decedents to bring chaos to the world because he's an anarchist? Why?! What sense does that make?!" Kintober demanded.

"Don't you get it? That's the whole point! He's not doing it because he hates the government or for any stupid political reason! He's doing it because he just wants to! Chaos for chaos' sake! He gets his jollies from plunging the world into madness!" Jack replied, his voice now holding an insane tinge to it.

"Well that's certainly a nice chat. I'm sure once I get my hands on you, I'll find out what brain tumor is giving you this delusion. In fact-" Kintober stated as he dashed to cover. He pressed down on a remote and the door blew open as the explosives he placed there activated. He crouched even lower as his brother fired at him through the smoke. Kintober had one more ace up his sleeve, however. Reaching into his assault pack, he pulled out a flash-bang and a concussion grenade. In two swift motions he primed both and threw them into the room, plugging his ears as he did so. As soon as he heard the two thumps, he grabbed his weapon (an M4) and charged the room.

There he found Jack, disoriented and waving a HK MP7 around. Kintober dropped as Jack fired blind. "A cheap tactic if ever there was one!" Jack yelled over the din of gunfire!

"Cheap? yes. Effective? Definantly!" Kintober shouted back, as he rolled over to Jack's side of the desk and shot his legs out. Jack screamed in rage and agony. Kintober then leaped forward and knocked the MP7 out of Jack's hand. Leveling his own weapon at Jack, Kintober smiled at the incapacitated terrorist leader.

"Guess it's checkmate, eh brother?" Kintober smirked. Jack managed a grin of his own.

"The game is not over yet, Sammy! Just look at my control panel!" He replied through clenched teeth. Kintober took a split second to glance at the terminal and was filled with dread at what he saw. It was a base self destruct countdown with less then 15 minutes left. Kintober snarled and turned on his portable radio.

"This is BSG lead to all units, the base is rigged and will blow in fifteen minutes!" Static greeted his announcement. 'Of course. We're underground. To much interference.' He thought to himself. Then he came up with another plan. In one swift moment, he kicked Jack in the face.

"Ow!You sonofa-" Kintober kicked Jack in the side to distract him further. Then he scrambled to the intercom on the console and set it for base wide announcement.

"Attention all personnel! The base is rigged to blow! Everyone is to evacuate immediately!" True, it would alert the enemies inside the base, but Kintober assumed they could be taken prisoner. He turned his attention back to his brother. "What to do with you?" He asked, more to himself then Jack.

"Kill me, leave me, or save me. It's your choice." Jack replied with a slightly insane grin. Kintober shrugged.

"Guess I'll leave you then. Tah. Have fun getting vaporized!" With that, Kintober left the room and went down the hallway, disappearing from sight. He was unperturbed by his brother's curses and cries for revenge. Jack watched as Kintober disappeared from sight, swearing at him all the way. Then when Jack felt the coast was clear, he dragged himself over to his terminal and jabbed a few buttons. Like magic, a secret passage leading to a hidden vehicle bay opened up.

"Looks like you're not as smart as I thought after all." Jack chuckled as he crawled into the passage. He had just entered it all the way when he felt something heavy slam against the back of his head and he slumped forward unconscious. Kintober stood over him, grinning.

"You'd think I'd be stupid enough not to think you had an escape plan. For a man who planned all this, your a real moron." Kintober laughed. With that, he slung his weapon, and began to drag his KOed brother down the passage.

Edited January 14, 2010 by DrKintobor

[Eggman Empire]

The Ichilan mountain range, north of Isen, echoed the sounds of battle. Eggman Empire forces fought the terrorist troops who still hadn't revealed any sort of name or banner they rallied behind. For the most part, Imperial troops were winning. They had formed a ring around the mountain known as Lucky Strike Peak, (where Arans #5 Mining Facility is located) and were slowly closing in on the the remaining hostiles. However, fate is a fickle lady when it comes to war, so she decided to screw around with the winning forces.

"Attention all units! The base inside the mountain is wired to blow! Everyone has ten minutes or under to get to a safe distance." It was a call that went out to both sides, but it effected the Imperial troops as it forced them to withdraw from their immanent victory and allowed the few remaining terrorist forces a chance to escape.

---

Kintober had finally made it to the motor pool, whilst dragging his unconscious brother behind him. Pausing to take a breath, he dropped Jack to the floor and looked around for a suitable vehicle. The area was the size of a small hanger. A row of vehicles lined up along one wall, and on the opposite wall was a repair depot. Kintober took stock of his options. In front of him was several Humvees, two armored pickup-technicals, a Guardian APC, and a Pitbull that had been modified for cargo hauling. Kintober picked the Pitbull.

But as he was walking towards it, Jack leaped forward, a hidden knife in his hand. With all the force he could muster, he rammed the knife into Kintober's spine. Kintober gurgled for a minute, before lurching forward and slamming into the ground. If Kintober hadn't shot one of Jack's legs when Kintober captured him, Jack would've stood over him to gloat.

" You're pathetic, stupid, and now dead! Did you really think you could turn your back on me?" It was a rhetorical question, but Kintober answered it anyway.

"Well, seeing how you can't really do much to me, I figure I don't have to be concered." Kintober replied, much to Jack's shock. He then reached around and pulled out the knife, and stood up. Needless to say, Jack was in disbelief.

"Wha..How...?" He stammered. Kintober grinned.

"I guess your imaginary friend didn't show you everything I worked on." Kintober stated smugly. "True, I'm not invincible or invulnerable. But my little engineered ability does give me the element of surprise. Now-" He gestured to the vehicles. "Where are the keys to the Pitbull and the password to open the hanger door."

"Screw off. As long as you die, I don't care what happens to me!" Jack exclaimed defiantly. Kintober shrugged. He then pointed his M4 at Jack and put a bullet in the man's shoulder.

"Fair enough." He stated as Jack screamed. "I guess I'll just have to entertain myself for the 7 minutes I have left to live." Kintober told Jack. "I wonder if I could actually shoot you entire foot off?" He said, an insane grin appearing on his face as he leveled his carbine at Jack's ankle.

"Alright! You win!" Jack snarled. "The keys are in the ignition and the password is 'dance into oblivion.' It can be keyed in and sent from a remote terminal found in any of the vehicles. Happy?" He asked sarcastically. Kintober nodded.

"Very." With that, he clubbed Jack in the face again with his carbine, and dragged him to the Pitbull. He unceremoniously chucked Jack into the passenger seat, before climbing into the driver's side. He found the terminal Jack spoke of and entered the password. The door opened and led to a tunnel carved out in rock. Kintober started the ignition and put the pedal to the metal.

Soon he was flying down the tunnel and was almost near the exit. He glanced at his watch. Only 20 seconds left. He pushed on the gas harder as the tunnel raced past him. He began to chuckle. It had been such time since his adrenalin had really flown like this. The terminal on the dash board alerted him to the fact he was nearing the outer blastdoor. It sealed the tunnel from the outside and kept unwanted visitors out. If Kintober couldn't get it open, he would become a red smear before the base exploded. He quickly typed in the password Jack had given him earlier. He got lucky as the same password opened a second door.

The Pitbull shot out of the tunnel, roaring through the air. As Kintober experienced weightlessness, he glanced at his watch. Time up. The base exploded. Flame and hot gas blew apart walls separating the exterior corridors from the outside as dozens of small landslides took place. The mountain looked like a christmas tree. A flash of orange appeared behind Kintober. He looked around and saw a geyser of flame shoot out the tunnel's opening. Then the Pitbull landed.

To its designer's credit, the Pitbull didn't flip when it landed. It bounced several times down the gravel road leading away from the ruined base; a testament to the suspension. Finally, it stopped hopping, and rolled to a stop. Kintober was fairly glad he'd put on a seatbelt when he looked over and saw Jack, bloodied and bruised, wedged between the dash and the chair. Kintober shrugged. He reached for the radio and tuned it to a friendly frequency.

"To any Eggman Empire units, this is BSG lead, confirmation golf-whiskey-bravo-lima-three-three-tango. I've escaped the base and am requesting pickup. I also have apprehended the leader of the terrorist group. Please send extraction immediately." Kintober said into the mic. A voice replied back telling him to sit tight and that a pickup was on route. Kintober acknowledged and leaned back in the seat. It had been a busy week, and there was much to finish, fix, and tie up. He looked over at Jack. Much to tie up.