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Author's Notes:

Tails of the Old Republic is a crossover between the Sonic the Hedgehog universe and the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video game.

Sonic and all related IP belongs to SEGA/ Sonic Team
SW: KotOR and all related IP belongs to Lucas Arts/ Bioware Corp
No copyright or trademark infringement intended.

Series rated "Web-14" for violence, mild language, and suggestive themes.

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Undercity of Taris — Outcast Village

The Undercity of Taris was unforgiving. There was no light save for Carth's flashlight, and sounds tended to reflect off the walls of the cavernous chambers and passageways. The ground was composed of loose rock and gravel, and the soil on steep slopes threatened to give way underfoot. Tails could hear the rakghouls stalking them, and he could smell their putrid odor all around them.


The fox kept his tails locked in "blade mode": wafer-thin ribbons with razor-sharp edges that could cut through steel plate. Tails focused his mind on defense, and called upon his years of experience fighting Egghead's robots. The fact his tails were twice the length of his own body gave the boy some small comfort: a nearly three meter defensive radius was nothing to sneeze at.


Rakghoul attacks were frequent. Every half hour or so, a pack of the diseased mutants, two to five at a time, would attempt to ambush them, and a harried gun battle would erupt as Carth and Tails stood back to back, fending off the assault. Tails could see in the dark — an advantage Carth did not have, but the Human made up for it with hair-trigger reflexes and superior training. Tails was not a great sharpshooter, but he was always able to keep the creatures at tail-length or better. To better check his balance, the fox literally stayed on his toes as he lashed his tails at his attackers.


Besides rocks and rakghouls, the caverns of the Undercity housed many artificial structures. Every few kilometers, enormous concrete cylinders at least three hundred meters in diameter spanned the ceiling to the ground, and they seemed to be interconnected. Tails didn't think much of them, however; he was too busy paying attention to his environment and trying to not to get slashed or bitten by the rakghouls. The thought of getting infected by those creatures terrified him. The fox's eyes and ears darted in every direction.


Carth and Tails passed into another expansive cavern, and this one had relatively flat terrain, though large boulders, piles of rubble, and stalagmites made crossing it a maze. They couldn't see very far, and they nearly stumbled into a whole platoon of Sith armored soldiers.


"Sith soldiers!" Tails gasped.


One particularly trigger-happy nut open fire just as Carth and Tails dashed behind the last rock.


"Hold your fire!" bellowed one of the Sith.


The duo looked at each other and wondered what was going on.


"You! Civilians!"


Cautiously, the Human and the Mobian peered around the rock, hoping they wouldn't get their heads shot off.


"This is a restricted area! What are you doing down here?" the Sith platoon leader barked.


Carth and Tails slowly revealed themselves. The Sith troops had their weapons trained on them, but the duo kept their weapons lowered. Tails, however, focused more of his Chaos energy into his tails. Static electricity started arcing between them, and he had to separate his tails lest the Sith see the sparks.


"We have all the proper security papers," Carth said flatly.


"Security papers? Let me see that!" the lead Sith demanded.


He marched over to Carth, and Carth handed him the relevant datapad. The Sith trooper skimmed through the files, then gave it back.


"Oh, you must be one of those trackers the Commander sent down here," said the trooper. "They should have given you an armed escort; it's nasty down here! We've already lost one platoon. We figure the 'rakghouls' got them. We've had so many encounters with those things we've actually ran out of rakghoul serum. Plus, we've had several skirmishes with the Lower City swoop gangs. I'm telling you, we should just stay in the Upper City where we're in control!"


Tails suddenly had a brainstorm.


"Where did the other platoon go down?" asked the fox.


"Oh, is that why you're down here, search and rescue?" said the Sith platoon leader. "I didn't think they'd send anyone. They were eight clicks south of here when we lost contact. I would have gone down to investigate, but my orders are to search for those crashed escape pods. I'm not exactly a fan of court-martials and executions."


Then, to the rest of the soldiers, "Come on, patrol, let's move out. The sooner we find those escape pods, the sooner we can get out of this mutant-infested hole."


The platoon of Sith soldiers marched along their way, leaving Carth Onasi and Miles Prower to themselves.


"Whew, that went well."


"You're thinking we could possibly obtain rakghoul serum from the downed Sith patrol, aren't you?" asked Carth.


"Yes. Considering the value of that stuff, I'd say it's worth the diversion," replied Tails.


Carth grunted in agreement, then said, "Let's be quick about it then."


The Human took the lead again, and Tails followed, his tails taking the shape of flat, razor-edged ribbons.


Following the nearest southbound passageway, Carth and Tails searched for the missing Sith patrol. Rakghoul encounters were slightly less frequent, but they still attacked every couple kilometers or so. Tails worried about Carth taking the lead. Even though the rakghouls tended to attack from behind and the sides, where Tails could detect their approach, the darkness of the Undercity swallowed up much of Carth's flashlight, and frontal attacks were common enough that Carth really had to pay attention to avoid getting mauled.


After eight and a half kilometers, Carth and Tails found what remained of the other Sith platoon. Near one of those huge concrete cylinders, the corpses of numerous rakghouls and about a dozen Sith troops littered a rocky depression. Many were mutilated beyond recognition. The stench was nauseating, but Tails kept his gastric juices were they belonged.


Carth could plainly see Tails' horrified reaction.


"You stay here and I'll search for the rakghoul serum. Keep those eyes and ears of yours on any points of attack."


Not trusting his voice right then, Tails gulped and nodded.


Carth Onasi quickly rummaged through the Sith remains, and he managed to find four vials of serum. He also confiscated several extra blasters, vibroblades, datapads, and medkits.


"Here, store these," he said as he walked back to Tails' position. He handed the fox the weapons, who reluctantly inserted the fallen items into his hyperspace inventory. Carth stored the vials of rakghoul serum inside his inner coat pocket. The two then continued on their journey. Tails was becoming increasingly unsettled.


Tails and Carth backtracked some, then continued westward. They really had no idea where to go, but they just had to hope they'd run into Mission Vao somewhere. Even with her gigantic Wookie friend, Tails couldn't fathom how she could travel the Undercity just to "explore". These caverns were a nightmare.


They entered another expansive chamber, and saw lights and crudely built artificial structures at the the far end, between two of those giant concrete cylinder things.


"Hey," said Tails. "is that... a village? With people?"


Carth looked around. "Looks like it," he said


"Could Mission be there?"


"There's one way to find out."


The duo crossed the chamber floor relatively quickly, fending off only a single rakghoul. As they approached, the lights got increasingly brighter, and Tails' night vision gradually phased out as his normal eyesight took over. It was a relief, in a way. Tails was tired of seeing everything as a shade of yellow-green.


The village was protected by a ten-meter-high iron wall, riveted or welded together from mismatched metal plates. There was a four meter tall, eight meter wide gate made of thick steel mesh that looked quite worn. Two Humans in rough-spun clothing stood atop the wall, wielding blaster pistols.


"You, there!" one of them called. "Up-worlders! What business do you have here?"


Carth and Tails continued until they were in talking distance, then Carth said, "We're here looking for someone. May we come in in?"


"Ha, you'd be the first to actually ask politely," answered the Human on the wall. "Most of your kind just barges in under threat of force. You can pass."


There was a loud click, then the steel mesh gate lowered into a metal rolling mechanism beneath the ground. The moment Carth and Tails passed through the threshold, the gate sprung shut again.


"Whew," Tails remarked as he sniffed the air. The stink of Human body odor was exceptionally strong here. He resisted the impulse to hold his nose.


"You there, up-worlders!" called another voice.


Carth and Tails were quickly beset by two rumpled Humans wearing similar rough-spun clothing. They looked pathetic, but their faces were completely serious.


"Anyone using this gate has to pay the toll!"


"Yeah, if you use it, you have to pay us up!"


Carth rolled his eyes. "I don't believe this planet," he muttered. "Even the beggars are trying to shake us down!"


"Five credits! That's what it costs to use our gate!"


"Who are you people, and what are you doing here in the Undercity?" Tails asked.


In a rather melodramatic fashion, the first villager said, "We are the Outcasts, banished and reviled by those who dwell above! Here, in the filth and darkness, we claw out a wretched existence, scavenging and begging so we can live long enough just to see another wretched day!"


"This is our village, and we live here! You have to pay us five credits!" said the other.


Tails covered his face with a hand. The two unarmed Outcasts weren't the least bit intimidating, and it embarrassed him to be the target of such a pitiful display. But the fox's compassion ruled the moment, and he dug into his pocket.


"You poor guys," Tails said. "Here, I have twenty credits for you. Take them."


The two Humans both had stunned expressions on their faces.


One inhaled sharply, and he exclaimed, "Crrrredits, my brother! We have credits! We can buy food and medicine now!"


"Hush, or the others will hear us," the man's brother scolded. "They'll want our credits!"


Out of nowhere, a loud female voice shouted, "Get out of here, you two! SCRAM!"


The two brothers bolted in the opposite direction, and a female Human in young adulthood appeared. She stopped in front of Carth and Tails, who were wondering who this person was.


"I'm sorry about that," she humbly apologized. "Those two give everyone in this village a bad name. We're not all like that; most of us are good people."


"I'm sure you are, miss," Carth sighed. "It's just too bad your little welcoming committee is here to give people a bad first impression."


Tails was the first to initiate a proper greeting, and he stretched out his hand as he said, "My name's Tails. What's your name?"


The woman smiled and delicately shook the boy's hand, then replied, "My name is Shaleena. You're... from the up-world, aren't you? I've... I've never seen it – I was born here in the Undercity. Is it as nice as they say it is up there?"


Tails thought about his answer. Compared to the surface of Mobius, the Upper City of Taris really was gorgeous. But, he didn't want to invoke envy or jealousy in the female Outcast, who had endured a lifetime of poverty and hardship. However, he decided it would be best to be truthful about his feelings.


"I think it's beautiful," the fox answered. "Though, I have little doubt that most people up there take it for granted."


"I've never been to the surface," said Shaleena, "but, sometimes, I think I can see it in my dreams. The sun, the stars, the sky... it all sounds so... so... so wonderful!"


She composed herself a little, then continued, "Gendar, the leader of our village, says I should spend more time trying to improve things down here, and less time dreaming about something I can never have. Maybe he's right. Heh, you must think I'm a fool, having dreams of someplace I've never been before. But, when I was little, old Rukil would tell me stories of what it was like up there."


"Rukil? Who's that?" Tails asked.


"Rukil is the oldest man in the village. The kids call him 'Rukil Wrinkle-Skin', but he's a kind man. He used to tell me the greatest stories when I was a little girl. I still like to listen to his tales about the 'Promised Land'. I know they're just legends, but... they make the Undercity seem less dark, somehow."


"What's the 'promised land'?" asked the fox.


"Oh, it's just a story to give the little children a smile. Rukil believes in it, though. Sometimes I think I can believe it myself, but... then I look around, and see the ugly truth. I guess we just have to make the best of what we have here. If you want to learn more about it, you should go speak to Rukil."


Carth Onasi spoke up, asking, "Have you seen a blue Twi'lek girl or a big Wookie around here? We're looking for them, and it's important we meet soon."


"Oh, uh..." Shaleena was thrown off by the unexpected inquiry, but she replied, "No, I haven't seen anyone like that. Are they up-worlders, too?"


"Kind of," said Carth.


"You could try asking around; one of the other villagers might have seen something. We're expecting a convoy from another village to arrive any time; your friends might be traveling with them."


"Thank you for your help," he said.


"OK! If you need anything, or if you just feel like talking, come and see me. It's not often I get to speak with some one from the up-world."


"It was a pleasure," said Tails.


Carth and Tails began walking further into the Outcast village. There were few actual "buildings" inside, mostly just crude shacks of scrap metal and flimsy-looking tents with plastic lining. Basic metal-working machinery lay scattered about. They did find a well that drew up water via an electric pump; Tails wondered where the power came from. There was even a tiny garden by one edge of the wall, but it looked like all it grew were gray weeds. About two hundred people lived inside the village. Most carried blank, defeated expressions on their faces, and they all looked malnourished.


Tails' conscience was screaming at him to find some way, any way to help them. He could repair their machines and build them new equipment. He could find some way to improve both the yield and the quality of their food and water. The boy wanted to do something, but he knew that any project he embarked on would take days or weeks to implement. He simply didn't have the time or the resources to do much right then. The adolescent hoped he could return one day to help the Outcast's plight.


What they did not find was any word of Mission or Zalbaar. With the clock ticking, Carth and Tails couldn't afford to wait around. After spending about half an hour inside the village, Carth said it was time to move on.


Tails sniffed the air, and he detected the foul aroma of the rakghoul disease. Worried that one might have found a way inside the village, the fox ran in the direction of the scent, and a startled Carth gave chase. The scent led to part of the southern wall, where a section of it was used as part of a rectangular steel enclosure about three meters high and nine meters long. It was made out of the same steel mesh the village gate was built from, and Tails could see five people inside of it.


'A prison?' Tails thought.


"Wait, up-worlder! Turn back!"


Tails stopped in his tracks as a middle-aged woman stepped in his way and held her hands out.


"You can't go through here! There is too much danger and suffering beyond! For your own sake, turn back."


"Danger and suffering?" echoed Tails. "What's going on here? Who are you?"


The female Human gestured to the metal enclosure. "I'm the healer here in this village. The villagers infected with the rakghoul disease have been quarantined behind this barricade. It's only a matter of time now before they transform into horrible monsters that would destroy us all."


Carth had come running up huffing and puffing, surprised that Tails could move his short little legs so quickly. But, he had overheard part of the conversation, and after catching his breath, he interjected, "So, you just lock them away in a cage?"


"For the safety of the village, we have to keep the infected ones locked away. And, when they finally do transform into rakghouls, we'll let them destroy each other."


The fox turned to Carth and said, "We have rakghoul serum, right? We can help the people inside!"


"Yes, but we only have four vials. One of them would still be doomed."


The woman held up one hand and said, "Your offer is generous, up-worlder, but I'm afraid nothing can be done for the infected villagers. Even the serum to counteract the rakghoul disease wouldn't be of any use now. Nobody would be foolish enough to enter the pens to give them the cure. The infected ones could transform at any moment and attack you!"


"Open the gate here," Tails commanded. "I've got to try to help them!"


"I won't stop you from entering the pens, up-worlders; but if the infected ones transform, you'll be walking into your graves!"


Tails and Carth walked up to the square iron gate. It slid open, and the duo quickly entered; the gate slammed shut behind them.


Five Humans huddled together near the middle of the enclosure. All of them were shivering and sweating profusely, and all five had the same bleach-white skin and bulging blue veins. One of Humans, a female, noticed them and unsteadily stood up.


"P-please... help us... we're infected with the rakghoul disease. We could... urk... no!"


She doubled over, and she and two others began convulsing and thrashing on the ground. Two of the other infected villagers, a male and a female, screamed and scurried to the other end of the enclosure.


"They're changing!" Tails shouted.


"No, really, you think?!" Carth snarked, and he drew both his blasters.


"Noo! This can't be... NOOO!!" shrieked the convulsing female.


Their transformation sequence was just as horrifying as before. Blood welled from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth; their clothes ripped as their chests expanded, their waists narrowed, their muscles bulged, and their fingers and toes melded together and re-formed into three foot-long killing blades. All their hair fell off, their faces streched and elongated into caiman-like snouts, their teeth became like jagged pegs of bone, and their eyes turned into expressionless obsidian orbs.


Steeling himself for what had to be done, Tails drew back one of his tails as if he were aiming a javelin. Tingling with Chaos energy, the tip of his tail congealed into a hardened spearpoint, and the Mobian prepared to strike.


In moments, the rakghouls' transformation were complete. Sensing their first meals, two of them jumped for Tails and Carth. The fox lunged forward and twisted his pelvis, and the boy's tail rammed through the creature's torso, impaling it with extreme prejudice; the creature's momentum carried it halfway up Tails' tail, and jets of green blood sprayed in all directions.


With hair-trigger reflexes, Carth Onasi delivered a rapid-fire flurry of blaster bolts into the oncoming rakghoul, and the only thing that hit him was a oversized lump of charcoal and a cloud of ashes. But, before he could recover, he saw the third creature flying toward his head from the side. Carth froze; there was no way he could turn his arms in time to shoot it down. He braced for the inevitable impact...


CLANG!!


With his unencumbered tail, Tails had intercepted the flying rakghoul, forming a barrier between it and the Human soldier. The creature was knocked away, but almost immediately it recovered and charged at the fox. Tails quickly pulled in his tail again, and just as the rakghoul jumped for his face, Tails flattened the tail into a blade-like ribbon and whipped it at the rakghoul.


SLASH!!


Tails cleaved the creature in half from the center of its groin to the side of its neck. He turned and hid under his jacket as the two halves flew by and its dissected organs dumped out onto the ground. Once he was certain the immediate battle was over, Tails pinned down the skewered rakghoul with his free tail and pulled his other tail out of the creatures chest. Green blood and bits of flesh dribbled off both his tails, and the fox whipped his tails to fling it off, careful not to get any on Carth.


"Um... thanks." said Carth.


"No prob," Tails replied.


"Just how the hell'd you do that?"


"Huh?"


"Your tails. You killed them with your tails!"


"If I can morph my tails into helicopter props, wouldn't it make sense that I can also turn them into blades and spears? It's how I've fought Robotnik all these years."


"P-please! H-help us! We don't want to end up like them!" cried the two remaining infectees.


Tails whirled around, and said, "Carth. Serum. Now."


They both ran as fast as they could to the far end of the enclosure. Tails reached them first, and slid on his knees as he hurriedly knelt down by the male Human, not caring that he was scuffing them over the rocks. He injected the rakghoul serum into the man's neck, and Carth ran up and injected the serum into the female. Both Tails and Carth backed away as both infectees doubled over and thrashed around on the ground, screaming.


'Are we too late?' Tails thought.


But soon, both Humans calmed down and ceased convulsing; their rapid, shallow breathing slowed and deepened, their veins faded, and color returned to their skin.


"Yes..." the female Human weakly rasped as she lay in the dirt. "I... can feel it working... I can feel the disease burning away."


Slowly, both of them sat up and propped themselves up against the wall. They were both still sweating and panting heavily, but the stink of the rakghoul disease no longer wafted from their bodies. Tails walked up to the female Human and knelt down on one knee.


"Are you all right?" Tails asked calmly, though he was still a little nervous.


"I... I think so," she answered. "Thank you, up-worlders. You've saved us from a fate worse than death. I'm just so sorry we have nothing of value to give you in return."


"I was just glad I could help," Tails said. "Actually, I'll let you wash these clothes of mine. I hope you you can get all the green globs of goo out," he said with a smirk.


The woman chuckled weakly, and replied, "Little boy, I will personally give you a nice clean bath and scrub all that filth and grime off you. You'll be so clean, your fur will sparkle even in the dark depths of the Undercity."


Tails recoiled and waved his hands dismissively. "Whoa, uhh, that's OK. I'll bathe my own self," said the teenage fox.


The woman laughed, even though it clearly pained her to do so.


Carth and Tails helped up the two Outcast villagers and slowly walked them out of the pen, avoiding the mucky mess Tails had created. The other woman outside the enclosure opened the square iron gate and let them out of the enclosure.


"You amaze me, up-worlders," remarked the Outcast healer. "Here, I thought that the surface dwellers couldn't care less about about us Outcasts. And yet, you risked everything to help those infected villagers. I'll take these two and get them back to full health. I just wish I had some type of reward to give you, but we Outcasts have nothing. All I can offer is the gratitude of the entire village."


Tails nodded and smiled, and replied, "It was my privilege to help, ma'am. Gratitude is all I ask in return."


Carth and Tails turned away and started walking toward the main village gate.


"Now that we've fulfilled our obligatory good deed for the day," said Carth, "I suggest we continue with our primary objective. We've already spent too much time here."


The duo walked a few minutes, then Carth stopped.


"Actually, stop. Just stop," he said.


A confused fox halted and turned around, facing the Republic officer.


"What's wrong, Carth?" asked Tails.


Carth Onasi hesitated, then said, "It's just..."


He held the side of his head, then continued, "I've been going over the events of the past ten days over and over in my mind. It's been bugging the crap out of me ever since we crashed here."


"I don't understand," said Tails.


"I've going through the battle aboard the Endar Spire over and over again. Some things just don't add up for me. Perhaps you could tell me what actually happened, from your personal perspective."


"You're asking me this now?" asked the fox.


"Yes, now, Mister Prower."


Tails groaned, and he shuddered at the sudden wave of memories.


"Well, I remember waking up in my bunk as the deck bucked and heaved beneath me; I remember striking my head pretty hard on the floor as I flew out of bed. Ensign Trask Olgo rushed in and quickly explained what was going on. We both raced through the ship as fast as we could toward the bridge. We... um... killed all the Sith soldiers in our way. My... my head wasn't exactly up to full speed yet, and my self-preservation instincts were really the only thing guiding me at that point, besides Trask's instructions."


Tails flinched over the shame of it, even though he knew he had only done what he had needed to stay alive.


"We killed all the Sith soldiers on the bridge and, finding neither you nor Bastila, Trask and I headed for the escape pods. But, before we could reach them, I... we encountered a Dark Jedi. He was so fast, he nearly cut me into a half-dozen pieces, and he finally incapacitated me with a freaking invisible energy wall of doom. I would have died right then, but Trask sacrificed himself and gave me the chance to escape the ship before she blew up. And, that's when I met you, and you  shoved me into the escape pod. Boom."


Tails sighed and shook his head, and added, "It was basically like you said when we first met: Bastila didn't have time to use her powers to save the ship."


"I guess that's true," Carth said. "She is as powerful as they say; she is, after all, the one who killed Darth Revan two years ago. I guess that no Jedi ability, no matter how powerful, makes up for being completely surprised and outmatched. We didn't choose that battle, anyway; it got forced on us. Hell, I'm just as surprised that any of us are alive to talk about it. But, come to think of it, it's more than a little surprising that you happen to be here... isn't it? I mean, just what is your position with the Republic fleet, anyway?"


"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Tails. "Why, are you accusing me of something?"


"Hell no," Carth answered. "Unless... you consider you were a last-minute addition to the crew roster, and you just... happened... to be one of the survivors."


"What's that got to do with anything?" Tails asked, getting defensive. "You'd rather I be dead?!"


"No, no, not at all," Carth said. "Despite your... exasperating behavior, you've proven to be a worthy ally to this mission. BUT, besides Bastila's immediate guards, you were the only other survivor from the main crew. In addition, it was Bastila's party who specifically requested your transfer."


Tails held the side of his cranium, and said, "Carth, I have no idea what you're talking about. Why would Bastila request my transfer... and from what, exactly? Boot camp?"


"I don't know," replied Carth. "The Jedi requested numerous things when they came on board. Hell, they practically took over the whole damn ship, as far as I could tell. Given your connection to Bastila, whether you know it or not, your presence here just seems a little convenient."


The Human folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes. "I'm probably wrong, and this probably nothing. However, I learned a long time ago not to take things at face value. And, I hate surprises."


"Surprises?" echoed Tails. "Are you always this paranoid? I'm telling you, Carth, I had absolutely nothing to do with the crash!"


Carth reopened his eyes and sighed. He relaxed his arms and said, "I have to expect the unexpected, just to be safe. That's all I'm saying."


"Fine. Be paranoid if you must," Tails said disgustedly.


"Look, it has nothing to do with you personally, OK?" Carth replied. "I don't trust anyone. At all. Ever. I have my reasons."


"Can we go now?" asked the agitated fox. "The night's not getting any younger; and, lest we've forgotten, we're on a time limit."


Suddenly, there seemed to be commotion near the main gate. Dozens of villagers were flocking to the gate, and people were pressing up against it, peering through the steel mesh. The fur over Tails' spine began to raise on end, and he felt terribly unsettled.


"Hey, what's going on?" the boy asked a passing villager.


"The convoy's coming!" he said.


Carth and Tails looked at each other, then half-ran toward the village gate. Tails wanted to see what was happening, but he couldn't see through the crowd of people. He didn't want to spin up his tails and scare everybody, so instead, the fox got down on his stomach and crawled between everyone's legs. He got stepped on a few times, but it didn't really hurt. He made it to the gate and got up, peering outside into the darkness of the Undercity.


There, he saw a group of people, mostly Humans, running as fast as they could. There were at least thirty of them in ragged, rough-spun clothing. Tails wondered why they were running so fast, then he looked behind them. He couldn't see anything at first, but something was very wrong.


'The ground is moving!'


"Oh, cruft!" Tails exclaimed.


Screaming erupted all around him as other saw what he saw.


"Rakghouls!"


"The rakghouls are swarming!!"


General panic exploded upon the Outcast villagers. Most left the gate in a hurry.


"Tails, what's happening?" Carth demanded as he weaved through the stampeding villagers.


"Carth, there's a whole bunch of people outside being chased by a swarm of rakghouls! We have to help them!"


"What?"


A young woman shouted up the wall to the gatekeepers, "Please! You've got to open the gate! My husband's out there!"


Up on the top of the wall, one of the gatekeepers replied, "They'll never make it! The rakghouls are going to overtake them! They're doomed!"


"No!" the woman wailed. She turned to the gate and shouted, "Run, Hendar! RUN!"


"Open the gate!" Tails shouted. "We'll go out and protect the convoy!"


"What?!" Carth exclaimed. "Tails, we are not—"


"You're crazy!" the gatekeeper shouted. "There's a whole ass-storm of those monsters out there! We are not opening this gate!"


"Open up the gate this instant!" Tails demanded.


"I can't! The rakghouls are too close! I can't risk one getting inside the village; if they get inside, they'll kill us all!"


Tails' anger boiled over.


"Fine! Be that way! If I can't get through the gate, I'm going OVER it!"