	Cobar stepped out of the shimmering portal within Knuckles' Warp Ring and onto the fertile soils outside of Albion. The air was cool and crisp, the grass green and crackling underfoot, and the sun warm and beaming as he took in the sight of his new home. It had been months since he was forced to move in with his new boyfriend, Rotor, after the unfortunate incident with the Dark Egg Legion, and even though he loved being with the walrus, he was starting to grow a bit homesick and lonesome, wanting some way of reaffirming his status as an Echidna in his own eyes if not anyone else's. He felt like he had betrayed his people, in some way, sold them out to a hated enemy, and hoped for some way of redeeming himself.

	It wasn't until late-spring that he had his chance; hearing about the incident with the Legion, Knuckles warped over to New Mobotropolis to meet the wayward needlemole and see what his role in the incident was. After hearing Cobar's and Rotor's side of the story, Knuckles, sympathetic to Cobar's sincerity, offered him a place in the rebuilding of Albion, the ancient homeland of the Echidnas where the rest of his people had been moved to. The offer was clear: he would spend the rest of the spring and the summer helping the reconstruction, providing his knowledge to reengineering the ancient technologies attributed to the Echidnan race, and depending on how well he did, he would be allowed to stay in the city as a part of the community, or be banished from the community as a whole. The prospect was rather looming for him, but it was a chance he couldn't allow himself to deny. Readily agreeing to the deal, he packed up what remaining stuff he had left and, with a touch to the Warp Ring around the Guardian's wrist, entered the portal that formed within between New Mobotropolis and Albion.

	Now, however, as he stared across the horizon at his new home, he was starting to wonder if leaving was such a good idea; the place, to be frank, was a mess, debris strewn across the land for as far as the eye could see, with only a few dozen stray huts built to house the hundreds-strong Echidna troupe busy clearing the damage away and repairing old buildings or erecting new ones. It reminded him of the outskirts of New Megaopolis, where he had once been stationed at, only not quite as technologically advanced or as accessible in its resources. Even worse were the stares he got from the locals; as he started walking toward the center of the devastation, looking for the leader of this rag-tag group of echidnas, he couldn't help but get looks of revulsion, disdain, even terror from whoever he passed, even from the few he could recognize as once being from the Legion themselves. He was quite sure what it was that made him a stand-out among his people; he was one of the few who avoided the blast from Enerjak that reverted the Legion's cybernetics back to flesh and blood, and it showed in his cybernetics, which he didn't even bother to cover up. Though, as he felt the cold, hateful stares of the others on his back, he was starting to wish he had...

	Salvation came in the form of a young echidna, maroon in color, wearing the typical outfit of an E.S.T. constable, directing the flow of workers from one building or debris pile to another not more than 100 meters from him. Cobar could recognize the man immediately; Remington, once constable of the entire E.S.T., now leader of the remaining Echidna tribes... or so Knuckles had inform him. It was impossible for him to know, being so out of the loop he was with the affairs of the Echindan people, but he had no reason to doubt the Guardian's word. Bracing himself, he marched over to Remington and gently tapped him on the shoulder, hoping to get his attention.

	The constable, feeling the tap, looked back and blinked in surprise as he saw the cyber-enhanced echidna bowing graciously at him. He had been told by Knuckles to expect a visitor from the former Dark Egg Legion to be coming by to help, but he never expected a still-”intact” Legionnaire to be in his presence. Clearing his throat, he regained his composure and nodded to Cobar in greeting. “You're the one the Avatar has brought to us, I assume?”

	“Cobar, sir,” Cobar confirmed, bowing again in humble appreciation. “I was told my services would be of help to you.”

	Remington nodded again, this time in agreement, and placed a hand on Cobar's shoulder. “Indeed it will; the other former Legionnaires here have been instrumental in rebuilding and rewiring the various technologies we have, here, but we need a dedicated cyberneticist and computer expert to oversee their reinstallation and reprogramming. I hope you are up to the task, Cobar.”

	“I am, sir. Just let me know what I can do, and I'll do it to the best of my abilities.”

	“I can expect no less from you,” Remington said, smiling warmly at the timid Legionnaire. Just as quickly, though, his smile withered and died as an air of stern professionalism enveloped his features. “But also be warned that we don't take kindly to screw-ups or deception; if we find that you're attempting to sabotage our efforts, here, we won't have any concerns with kicking you out of here for good, understood?”

	Cobar gulped at the threat, knowing precisely that he meant it, and nodded. “Understood, sir. I wouldn't dream of doing something like that.”

	“See that you don't; I would hate to banish a charming young man such as yourself. Now, for your first assignment...” Remington waved his hand over to a distant building – only half-destroyed, its ruined half slowly being reconstructed as they spoke – with what looked to be a clunky satellite feed built into the side. “...is there. That's where our communications center is located. We're having trouble hooking up to the Echidnaopolis satellites from here, so your task is to figure out what's wrong and reestablish contact. With luck, we might be able to download the databanks from the old city into our servers, which'll go a long way to securing this place as a new home for our people.”

	Cobar hummed at himself, thoughtfully, as he analyzed the damaged building. “Reacquiring a satellite link here will be difficult; there's a reason why Albion was kept secret for all these years. But I will do what I can. However, if I may, sir, I would like to get situated in my new living quarters first, before getting to work.”

	Remington hummed, apprehensively, but eventually nodded and turned to the back of the huts. “Very well. I hope you make your stay here as pleasant as possible. Please, follow me...”

	Cobar just nodded, silently, as he followed the maroon Echidna, trying not to let the icy stares of the others bother him as he was lead to a small hut near the back of the compound. It was primitive and ramshackle, even more so than the bombed-out shelters he was used to living in Eggman's Empire, but it seemed cozy enough. Walking inside, Cobar could see all the amenities that were afforded him in such a rundown place; a simple wood-burning stove provided both heat and light, as well as a place to cook; a mattress on the ground provided sleeping quarters for him. Walking toward the back, he could see a cordoned-off area that he guessed was the bathroom, considering the plumber's nightmare that served as a shower and sink, and an outhouse that served as the toilet. It wasn't much, but he had expected little less from the citizens of Albion, in their current state of affairs.

	“I know it's not what you're used to in New Mobotropolis,” Remington said, simply, “but it's the best we could come up with on such short notice.”

	Cobar chuckled and turned to the constable, a wry smile on his face. “Constable, sir, with all due respect, I've managed to survive on less than this back in my day. This is just fine, thank you.”

	The maroon Echidna nodded and folded his arms. “Because of your status, I'm afraid I'm going to have to pose some restrictions on your movement; you are not to step out of Albion's boundaries, your contact with the outside world will be strictly monitored, and you will have a nightly curfew. Such restrictions may be lessened depending on how well you behave yourself, but they're strictly for your safety and the safety of the rest of our people. I hope you understand.”

	Cobar nodded and walked over to the makeshift bed, placing his bags down on it with a soft *thunk!*. “Completely, sir. I assure you, I won't cause trouble.”

	“Good. Now, I'll give you an hour to get yourself situated, but then I expect you to be at the communications center working on the problem. Until then, Cobar, I bid you good day.” With that, the constable bowed and left, closing the door to the hut behind him. 

	Cobar tensed as he watched the constable go, only to relax once he was sure he was out of earshot. He wasn't expecting such a cold and stern welcome, even from Remignton, but there was no turning back, now. Turning to his bags, he stooped down and began unpacking, grumbling to himself in wonderment if this trip was even worth the trouble.




	It took Cobar the better part of the hour to unpack and get situated in his new living quarters, struggling to find the proper place for his things in the sparsely-furnished hut. After hiding his unmentionables and finding a source of power he could hook his laptop up to, he took a quick shower – with water that seemed way too cold for even the plumbing job to handle, let alone him – before redressing and heading back out into Albion with laptop in hand. Immediately he made a beeline straight to the building he was directed toward, trying his best to avoid the stares of the other Echidnas working in the area. Some stopped their work to observe him, curiously, while others turned their backs on him and started working harder, as if trying to ignore him, as much as he was trying to ignore them. Fortunately, none of them made any comments toward him as he made his way to the communications building, and once inside, he leaned against one of the near walls, breathing a sigh of relief that he had made it without incident.

	“Hey, you!”

	Cobar blinked and looked around, trying to find the source of the shout. He found it with a young Echidna male, ruddy in color, waving him over to a computer console that he and another Echidna were working on. The other Echidna – a pinkish female – blatantly ignored him as she typed something into the console at a rapid-fire pace, clearly trying to do something with the device and growing a bit frustrated when it didn't comply. Cobar, gulping nervously, walked toward the duo and bowed his respects to them, hoping they wouldn't attack him or shun him like the others had.

	“You the new help the Avatar brought?”

	Cobar nodded. “Cobar, sir, former needlemole of the Dark Legion.”

	“Indeed,” the ruddy Echidna frowned, amusedly. “And what credentials do you have to be working here?”

	“I am skilled at computer hacking and programming, and have some experience with mechanical devices. My previous assignment for the Legion was...” He paused, mulling over his mind which assignments he should reveal to the Echidna without calling down more scorn on him than he already had with his presence. “... was to infiltrate Eggman's base and determine countermeasures for the weapons he was supplying the Dingoes during their war against the Echidnas.”

	The ruddy Echidna nodded, tilting his head in thought. “I see. I seem to recall the Kommissar saying she was sending someone to track down the Dingoes' suppliers. If I recall correctly, you did some good work for that cause, am I right?”

	Cobar blinked in surprise at the mention of the Kommissar. “Yes, I did. Were you one of the Legion that left for Albion after the Enerjak incident?”

	The ruddy echidna nodded again, this time smiling. “Indeed; I was one of the Frost Legion stormtroopers when that freak came back, decided to leave with the rest of our people out of a sense of self-preservation and loyalty to the Frost Legion Grandmaster. Besides, I never liked how that witch of a Kommissar handled things, myself.”

	Cobar nodded back and flashed a smile of his own, grateful to find a friendly face in the crowd. “I can bet. I heard of the schism in the Legion from Dimitri during the Enerjak incident. I kind of wish I was there to help mitigate things...”

	The ruddy Echidna laughed and placed his hand on Cobar's shoulder, heartily. “I doubt there was anything you could've done about it. Honestly, I think it was we who owe you an apology for stranding you in Eggman's domain during the schism. We didn't expect it to happen, let alone so early into the Dingo's regime.” He took his hand off Cobar's shoulder and offered it to him for shaking. “I'm Reese, and this is my assistant, Lara-Ka. We've been assigned to work on rebuilding the communications network for Albion. Hopefully, your assistance will give us the edge we need to complete that task.”

	Cobar's smile widened and grasped Reese's hand, shaking it warmly. “How do you do, and I hope I can be of any assistance you may need.” Glancing over Lara-Ka's shoulder, he saw what she was working on; a long, complicated line of coding, indecipherable to anyone but the three of them, scrolling up across the screen at a feverish pace. Every now and then, the computer would beep and a warning code would pop up, informing the trio of a failure to connect or another issue with the programming. “So, what seems to be the problem, here?”

	“The satellites don't seem to want to accept coding for a change of venue,” Lara-Ka stated, simply, never looking back at the pair of males as her fingers danced across the keyboard. “I've been trying every permutation of the Echidnaopolis signal codes I could think of, and each time the satellites reject it outright. It's like they're specifically programmed to not answer to any terminal but the ones in the old city.”

	Cobar hummed to himself, thoughtfully, as he studied the code scrolling on the screen. He could make out roughly half of what it said, with the other half only vaguely making any sort of sense to him. “Have you tried hooking up to the old Legion network and using the back door we had to the Echidnaopolis sattelites, there?”

	Reese nodded and spoke up. “We tried, but the network's down, likely as a result of Enerjak's interference.”

	Cobar shook his head and pulled out his laptop, setting it down and opening it up to the links he had to the old networks. “Not entirely; I managed to keep a strong connection to the old networks while behind Eggman's borders, even after the Enerjak incident. I used it mostly for social networking, to pass the time, but I think I can download the relevant coding to your terminals and...” His laptop beeped in acknowledgment as it found a satellite link to the old Legion network. Smiling in satisfied triumph, he tested the connection out and scanned through it in an effort to find the back door he had talked about. Fortunately for him, after a good half hour of waiting, his laptop was able to find it. “Now, mind you, I'm not entirely sure if the constable will condone this method of establishing the link, but it's a start, nonetheless.”

	Reese stared at the laptop screen in awe, and even Lara-Ka tore her eyes away from the terminal to see what Cobar was babbling about. Both seemed impressed with his achievement, but were also a bit worried. “Seems like it. Any way you can turn that back door into a legitimate connection to the satellites?” Reese asked, skeptically.

	Cobar shrugged. “I'm not sure, but it's worth a try; if anything, we can download what we need from the Echidnaopolis records and use the information there to forge a new connection to the satellites.”

	“I see,” Lara-Ka noted, before turning back to the terminal. “We'll see what we can do on that end. For now, you get that coding ready to be uploaded to the terminals here.”

	Cobar nodded and looked up at Reese, who simply smiled back in mild humor. “Don't worry about her, Cobar,” Resse said, patting his head like a puppy dog. “She's usually like this when on duty. It's nothing personal against you.”

	That didn't give Cobar as much hope or reassurance as he thought it would, but he smiled back as best he could and continued his preparation, once again wondering if it was a good idea for him to come, in the first place.




	A dull ringing echoed through the whole of Albion, signaling the end of the work day, though Cobar – still embroiled in his work – could barely hear it through the walls of the communications building. It had been an exhaustive day for him, working with Reese and Lara-Ka to reprogram the network to accept his Legion access and connect it to the old Legion communications links and the backdoor they provided, but their efforts managed to prove fertile; the connection was set and the files from the Echidnaopolis archives were downloading, albeit slowly due to the proxies they had to set up as a result. Lara-Ka projected they had the better part of the night to wait for the files to fully transfer, so they instead got to work on securing the network and setting up communications nodes for the various important parts of Albion.

	It had been weird for Cobar to find himself working with another group of Echidnas after working alone for so long; Reese managed to stay upbeat and friendly throughout their excursion, and while Lara-Ka was as curt and aloof as usual, she didn't seem to show any outward hostility toward him, which he thanked his lucky stars for. As they worked, Cobar attempted to strike up a conversation with his comrades, to find out more about them, but got precious little information; Reese, he learned, had been a dutiful stormtrooper under the Frost Legion when Enerjak hit, and was on the front lines of the attack against the Chaos demigod, seeing first-hand the horrors of having his clan's cybernetics being reverted to flesh. When asked if he missed his cybernetics, Reese looked away with an uncertain look on his face before changing subjects, a clear indication to Cobar that he still had regrets about it.

	Lara-Ka, on the other hand, was not in the talkative mood, at that time; she dodged or flat-out ignored all questions Cobar put to her, and continued to talk about their progress, so stringent and focused on her work was she. It kind of unnerved Cobar; it reminded him of the way he had acted under Lien-Da's control, before Rotor rescued him. It was a frightening detachment of the personal from the professional, and it scared him, a little. The only things he was able to get out of her was that she, too, was a Dark Legionnaire – this time from Lien-Da's Flame Legion – and that she grew to dislike the schism created between the factions, eventually believing it to be the Kommissar's fault for not leading the Legion like she should have. Cobar winced at those words, reminiscing of his encounter with the Dark Egg Legion's new grandmaster, and inwardly sympathized with her.

	Now, as he wrapped up his affairs, Cobar felt a hand fall gently on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly as to get his attention. Looking up, he saw Reese smiling down at him, jerking his head toward the outside of the building. “C'mon, Cobar, it's dinnertime. I'll show you around, afterward, if you want.”

	Cobar nodded and shouldered his laptop, standing up. “Thanks, but I've got a curfew I need to stick to, and I don't want to break it.”

	Reese nodded back and moved his hand to Cobar's back, patting it warmly as he led the Legionnaire out of the building. Once outside, he saw, in the middle of a clearing in the rubble, what appeared to be a feast set up, loaded with wild game, berries, fruits, and vegetables, as well as fresh dough for bread-making. The set-up was curious to Cobar; it didn't look like it was set up for dining, more like a buffet where you took what you wanted and went home with it. Walking with Reese over to the set-up, he could see the other Echidnas gathering around it, as well, encircling the food with solemn conviction.

	“What's going on?” Cobar asked, confused.

	“This is usually what happens during dinnertime, this time of the week,” Reese explained. “We have hunters and gatherers acquiring this food for us each week, and each week we all gather to take what we feel is our fill for the next week and take it home. But first, there's a little ceremony meant to thank them for their efforts in supplying us for the week. It's nothing special, but you might find it a little... unnerving.”

	Cobar blinked and tilted his head, now even more curious to what was going on. “Oh? How so?”

	Reese bit his lip and frowned, not sure what to say. “Well... you'll see when it happens, let's just say. I can tell you that there's been some... opposition to it, recently.”

	Cobar nodded and said no more on the matter, deciding to see for himself what Reese was talking about. Once they arrived at the gathering, they waited for several minutes as the other Echidnas arrived and settled down, before Remington, as leader, got up on a pedestal created by the debris in the area and raised his hands to speak. “My fellow Echidnas, it is that time once again, for us to celebrate this glorious bounty that our prized hunters and gatherers have prepared for us. Let us thank them for their hard work, thank the Avatar for giving us this chance to relive our lives, and thank Aurora for the gift of that life, as we prepare for the week's meals.”

	Instantly, most of the Echidnas bowed their heads in reverence and began chanting the same mantra over and over again: “Blessed be the hunters for their spears and swords, which slain the creatures we shall feast on, this week; blessed be the gatherers whose hands toiled to pluck the berries and hew the grain and gathered the fruits and nuts and vegetables for our nourishment; blessed be the Avatar, who watches over us and protects us as we labor long to rebuild our home; blessed be Aurora, the mother of our clans, who granted us life and gave us our homes both in the sky and on the land. Amen.”

	Cobar frowned as the chanting continued, realizing just what Reese meant when he said he'd know when he saw it; it sounded vaguely like a religious prayer, a saying of grace that the Mitres would've likely have insisted the populace do before eating their meals. Looking around, he noticed that a few Echidnas refused to bow, instead mouthing their gratitude to the hunters and gatherers for the feast, but little else. Reese, for his part, bit his lip and said nothing, refusing to acknowledge any part of the ceremony. It was all too eerie to Cobar; he had little problem with giving thanks to those who deserved it, or even saying his prayers to Aurora and the Avatar, but he preferred it be on his own time, not at the demand of an authority figure. I can see why so many people are finding it controversial, he thought to himself, bitterly. 

	Fortunately, the chanting didn't last much longer, and soon the crowd died down again, this time with an air of eagerness to get at the food laid before them. However, Remington held his hands up again, holding the crowd at bay as he made another announcement. “As you all know, we also have a new member to welcome into our fold. He is a Legionnaire, but so are many of you, so I expect him to be treated in the same cordial manner as you would treat each other. Any person showing otherwise will be severely punished. He is here to help us rebuild, and we shall give him our best efforts to accommodate him.”

	With that, Remington put his hands down, signaling for the crowd to start on the bounty. Instantly, the Echidnas closest to the food dove in, greedily but respectfully taking their fill of the bounty in large bundles provided to them out of Cobar's line of sight. As they left, more Echidnas went in to get their take, the crowd thinning every couple of minutes as they gathered and took home their share of the spoils. By the time Cobar and Reese got to the pile, most of the food had already been taken, but there was just enough for them to take their own bundle for the week. As he placed his food in the bundle, Cobar looked around, trying to spot the constable among the thinning crowd of Echidnas. He eventually saw him talking with a dark-cloaked figure with a sword... and it was a heated discussion, from what he could tell. Interested to know what they were talking about, he reached up and tweaked an implant on one of his ears, allowing him to focus his hearing on the duo.

	“Listen, mister,” Remington told the stranger, angrily. “I don't care what you think of the ceremony, it brings the people together and asserts our solidarity. If we're going to survive, out here, we need all the help we can get.”

	“Is that why you brought in that Legionnaire?” The stranger countered, pointedly. “I saw the way the other Echidnas were looking at him when he came in, they don't share the same appreciation for him that you want them to. This kind of ceremony is poisoning their minds and keeping them shackled down to the old ways, the ways that nearly destroyed them.”

	 Remington scowled and poked a finger at the stranger's chest. “Look, buddy, you may not like it, but as long as I'm in command of this group, it's going to continue. I can't help what the others think, but I can assert order whenever those thoughts turn to illegal actions. Now if that is enough, I propose you gather up your bundle and be on your way.”

	The stranger sneered but did as he was told, tucking his bundle under his arm in a huff. “This isn't over, constable. The old ways are finished and are dangerous to bring back, again, and I will see to it that you learn the error in doing so.”

	“You can try,” Remington retorted, “but you'll fail, I can guarantee that.”

	With that, the stranger left, grumbling to himself in a tone that even Cobar's cybernetically-enhanced hearing was unable to listen in to. Remington, sighing in frustration over the confrontation, returned to overseeing the distribution of the bounty, scowling a little as the stranger's words weighed heavily in his mind. Cobar, stunned at what he had just heard, didn't notice Reese trying to get his attention until he felt a strong tap on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Reese's look of concern toward him and blushed, realizing he had zoned the guy out. “Oh, my apologies, Reese. I didn't mean to block you out, like that.”

	Reese nodded and clamped a hand on Cobar's shoulder, turning him around to lead him back to his hut. “It's no problem. C'mon, I'll help you set up your pantry and meat locker for the week. I've done this dozens of times before, so it'll be a snap to show you the ropes.”

	Cobar nodded and followed Reese back to the hut, frowning at the conversation he had overheard. “What was that all about? With Remington and that cloaked guy back there?”

	Reese shrugged. “Just someone trying to stir up trouble. He's been going on over and over about how the old ways led us to this fate, and how the people need a strong leader with no ties to the ways of the Mitres to rebuild their community. He's suggested everything from canceling the ceremony that you just saw to asking for help from the outside in repairing the city to using Legion-like technology to help the sick and injured. He's also lambasted the remaining Legionnaires for not fighting to have their way of life being taken under consideration during the rebuilding, believing we were in the wrong to quit the Legion when we had the chance.”

	Cobar frowned at the news, staring at the ruddy Echidna, curiously. “And what do you think of things here? I noticed you didn't participate in the ceremony, either.”

	Reese nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I didn't, and I don't wish to. I admit, having to be forced to say grace each time we get a new set of food for the week is stupid and tiring, and I would love to try and fight for a more prominent voice from the Legion in governmental affairs, but right now I believe that that can wait for after the rebuilding is complete; nothing will be served by causing anarchy at such a crucial phase of our reconstruction.”

	Cobar hummed at that, thinking to himself dourly. “I see. But that person obviously does not. Does anyone know who he is?”

	“No, we don't, and I don't think we ever will. Remington has tried to get some dirt on the guy, but he's very secretive and damn near ninja-like in his seclusion. The only thing we've been able to determine is that his robes and sword are of definite Legion origin, so he obviously has some firm Legion connections to him.”

	That concerned Cobar; the sword definitely looked familiar to him, but without any context to put it to, he couldn't make out where he had seen it. The cloak was standard Legion gear, impossible to tell who it belonged to from that distance, and while the voice was also familiar, it had a bit of a distortion to it that also made it difficult for Cobar to pinpoint. He was certain the stranger was a Legionnaire he had known from before he went on his mission to Eggman's empire, but he couldn't place him. None of this, though, he told Reese, deciding to just nod and keep quiet about his suspicions. No sense in crying wolf without all the facts, he reminded himself. Instead, he continued walking with Reese back to his hut and accepted whatever help he offered with stocking his new supply of food.




	The meal, that night, was excellent, almost as good as what Cobar remembered having back at New Mobotropolis. It didn't hurt that Reese was a wonderful teacher in the ways of this new form of living; after showing him the pantry and chilled storage locker for the meats, the ruddy echidna offered to help Cobar cook up a nice meal of roasted squab with potatoes and corn. It was hard, at first, to cook over the wood-burning stove, but after a while Cobar got used to it, and managed to cook the squab without burning it. As they sat and ate their meal, Cobar and Reese shot the breeze, talking about their time in the Legion and the sort of adventures they had, while there. As Cobar found out, Reese had risen through the ranks from a lowly infantry soldier to the role of a legendary Cryo-Trooper, while Lara-Ka – his sister – became a Furnace Trooper. When the schism occurred, both of them went with their respective groups to side with their Grandmasters, forcing them to fight against each other during the civil war. As he learned, Lara-Ka was on the verge of defecting to the Frost Legion when Enerjak attacked, having grown weary of Lien-Da's pathetic attempt at protecting the other Echidnas, and it was only after that incident that she decided to side with Remington and the other Echidnas choosing to go to Albion. As for Reese, when the subject of his cybernetics came back up, he again dodged it and moved on to something else, a hint that Cobar was all too willing to respect.

	Sadly, as pleasant as the visit was, it was bound to end, and after they had finished their meal and cleaned up, Reese excused himself from Cobar's presence, thanking him for his help with the satellites before heading home. Cobar just smiled and waved him goodbye, thanking him for the good meal as he watched him go. Sighing to himself, he opened up his laptop and flicked it on, opening up a text program. After a few minutes of thinking, he started typing, thinking about his lover back home as he did so:

	“Dear Rotor,

	I never expected things to be as rough here as they are. So far, I've met one Echidna that seems to have taken a shine to me – not that way, fortunately – but his sister is a bit of an enigma to me. It's going to be tough working with them, especially given the reactions the other Echidnas are giving me, but...”

	A shout of pain from outside broke his train of thought, and he looked up to the hut door, wondering what was going on. Another cry, this one of breathless anger, caught his attention, and he knew right away who it was: Reese, in trouble, and trying to fight back. Growling in frustration, Cobar got up and tore outside, trying to find his new friend. He found him just outside of another hut – Reese's own, he assumed – being attacked by a trio of Echidna males; they were gathered around him, as he coughed and wheezed on his knees, the Echidnas around him shouting mockeries at him as they kicked him in the side and back. Tweaking the implant in his ear again, Cobar listened in on the indignities being heaped on his new friend.

	“Legion swine,” one of them muttered, spitefully. “How dare you befriend a freak like him? I thought you had given up that lifestyle when you came here.”

	“Maybe he's jealous of Cobar being the only Legionnaire left with cybernetics, eh?” another Echidna laughed, digging his heel into the small of Reese's back.

	The third spat on the former Cryo Trooper and sneered, evilly. “So much for that Legion training, huh, Reese? All that was needed was us three jumping on you to make you go down like a wimp. Maybe the Legion isn't so tough, after all, huh?”

	Cobar, horrified at the brutality being shown, ran to Reese's aid, hoping to help the guy fight off his assaulters. As soon as he got within range, however, one of the Echidnas spotted him and nudged his compatriots, directing their attention toward him. “Hey, speak of the devil, now! Looks like he's coming to help save his fellow Legion slime.”

	“What the hell are you doing?!” Cobar shouted, gritting his teeth in rage. “If you have a grievance against anyone, have it with me! Leave him out of this!”

	The second Echidna chuckled and walked over Reese, spreading his arms wide in a blatant taunt. “Well, well, well, what do we have, here? Seems like someone wants to play knight in shining armor!”

	“I said, leave him alone!” Cobar  glared, venomously, his fist curled up in an effort to keep from lunging full-tilt into the head Echidna.

	The trio just laughed and cracked their knuckles, walking slowly toward the needlemole with wicked grins on their faces. “And what will you do to us if we don't, huh? If I remember correctly, you were just a lowly little needlemole, whereas this guy's a stormtrooper. If we can take him down without a fight, we can surely take you...”

	Reese gritted his teeth in pain and tried to stand up, failing miserably. “Cobar... run... save yourself...”

	Cobar shook his head, defiant. “No way, Reese; you stuck up for me, and I'm not going to let them beat you up because of their bigotry for me. You hear that, you jerks? If you have a problem with me, you take it up with me, you leave that guy alone!”

	The head Echidna simply smirked in sadistic satisfaction at the offer, rubbing his hands in anticipation of the epic beatdown he was expecting to give. “With pleasure. Let's go, boys...”

	Cobar braced himself for their attack, drawing on all of his survival training and fighting knowledge... only to be blindsided as Reese, with incredible speed, jumped up and tackled the head Echidna from behind, dragging him to the ground and pinning him there. The other two Echidnas, startled at this show of bravado, went to beat the ruddy Legionnaire down, only to stop as a spotlight flooded the area, blinding all of them with its harsh brilliance. Frightened by the light, the other two Echidnas made a run for it, only to be caught by another group of Echidnas, this one clothed in the outfits of the E.S.T. From the light, a figure emerged, the silhouette of the constable coming closer to them as he shouted for the assailants to freeze.

	Cobar sighed a breath of relief as Reese got off the head Echidna, allowing Remington to take him into custody. To Cobar's surprise, though, Reese was also taken into custody, the former Legionnaire not struggling against his bonds as he was lead away in handcuffs with the rest of his attackers. Confused, he walked up to Remington and tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir?”

	Remington looked over at the needlemole and frowned, disappointedly. “I thought you said you were going to abide by curfew? Why are you out here?”

	Cobar blinked at the constable's words, frowning as though he was being admonished for something he didn't do. “I heard the commotion from my hut, so I went out to check, and when I saw those men attacking him...”

	“I see,” Remington said, simply. “So, you are a witness to this incident?”

	Cobar nodded. “Yes, sir. They were attacking him because of his association with me. Apparently they have a very anti-Legion bias that they're not afraid of showing outside of your jurisdiction, sir.”

	Remington hummed and nodded, idly. “Indeed. Reese has had problems with those guys in the past, and it always wound up the same way: he let them attack him to get proof of their assault before retaliating. It's staring to become a pattern with them.”

	That struck Cobar as unlikely. “So Reese could've handled them himself, at any time? He was just feigning weakness to avoid an assault charge?”

	Remington nodded again, his face stern. “That's correct, but it's not going to fly, this time. He'll still get off lighter than the others will, but he's not going to squeak by like he has been.”

	“But, sir, he only did what he did this time to save my life. When they noticed I was here, they turned toward me, and...”

	“Yes, we heard, and I honestly should take you in for taunting them, as well. Do you know how much trouble you could've been in?”

	Cobar scowled, not liking how this conversation was going. “Sir, I was only trying to help him...”

	Remington nodded, sharing Cobar's scowl. “And that's precisely why you're going to be given a pass, for right now. I hate to say this, since I don't like what those boys were doing, either, but it's almost become a game for all of them, and I'm not going to allow you to get involved and possibly cause things to get worse. So, for now, just follow the rules we've set for you, and if you see any more incidents like this, simply contact me or another member of the E.S.T., and we'll try to do what we can to mitigate it.”

	Cobar's scowl deepened as he nodded and excused himself from Remington's presence. As he headed home, he wondered what the hell was up with the Echidnas here, both the group that attacked Reese as well as Remington himself. It seemed like they were very conservative in their views, and had a definite mad-on against him, for whatever reason. Growling to himself, he entered his hut and slammed the door behind him, deciding to go to sleep instead of finishing his letter to Rotor.




	The next day, Cobar woke up with a headache, the bumpy and uneven bedding providing little comfort from the ground. Getting up, he went to use the bathroom, checking the pipes to see if they were carrying hotter water than they did, the other day. To his disappointment, they didn't. Frustrated, he did his business and washes his hands, before heading to the pantry for a late breakfast. After the training he got from Reese the other night, it only took him a few tries to get a good plate of sausage and eggs, tossing the burnt remains of his previous attempts in the compost heap, bitterly. Reese, he thought to himself as he began eating his meal. I'm sorry for what I did, but I hope you're taking care of yourself, wherever you are. I just wished you could've told me sooner about those thugs... Grimacing into his breakfast, he struggled to swallow, his appetite suddenly leaving him as he recalled the events of the other night and what Remington had told him.

	It took a few minutes for him to finish, but after he did and cleaned up his dishes, he took his computer and headed out for another day of work... only to pause as he noticed harsh graffiti painted on the debris in front of his hut, saying things such as “Legionnaires must die”, “Go back to the Twilight Zone, freak!” and “Legion sucks!”, among others. From what he could tell, the paint of the graffiti was still fresh, and although he was thankful it wasn't on the hut itself, he was still disturbed by the act. Growling in frustration, he slammed the door behind him and headed out, once again ignoring the looks he got from the other Echidnas he passed as he headed toward the communications building.

	On his way there, he noticed Remington talking with the cloaked stranger, in another heated argument that seemed to be more heated than before. Cobar could see Remington tense as he struggled to keep his composure with the stranger, who emphatically waved his arms over to the scene of the crime the other day; clearly, they were talking about the assault that Reese had endured. Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he reached back and tweaked his ear implant to listen in on the conversation, blinking in surprise at what he heard:

	“This can't go unpunished, constable!” the cloaked figure growled. “The level of violence against former Legionnaires is growing, and you and your police are doing very little to stop it. And you dare to punish those who refuse to fight back? Granted, they are disgracing themselves for doing so, but...”

	“You watch your tongue,” Remington snapped, haughtily. “The Legionnaires are only feigning pacifism so they won't get in trouble when they do fight back; Reese is just the latest example. As for the Echidnas performing these atrocities, they're being taken care of in our own way and our own laws. If you have a problem with it...”

	“A problem with it? You must be joking! Of course I have a problem with it! Your 'laws' and 'regulations' are providing a revolving door for these criminals, giving them a mere slap on the wrist in exchange for terrorizing a fellow Echidna. You once spoke of solidarity; how can there be solidarity if Echidna is turning on Echidna for past prejudices?”

	That ticked Remington off. “The rituals...”

	“Are just a mere cover for the indifference of this government against its Legion citizens,” the stranger interrupted, his voice raising enough almost for Cobar's implant to create feedback due to its volume. “A fifth of the Echidnas in this community don't abide by them, and they're not doing their job, either. Face it, constable, you're simply turning a blind eye to the issues of this community and giving its citizens bread and circuses in an effort to placate them and distract them from the truth. If you aren't willing to step up and take responsibility for these atrocities, then you might as well step down from the leadership and let someone else take over. Good day, constable.”

	With that, the stranger turned and stormed off, leaving the constable fuming at his words. Wide-eyed in shock over what he had just witnessed, Cobar waited a few moments for Remington to calm down before tentatively creeping up to him, bowing his head in fearful reverence once the constable noticed him. “I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but you said for me to report to you any incidents I might have with the locals. I believe I have had one, just this morning.”

	Remington hummed to himself and nodded, crossing his arms. “I see. Go on.”

	Cobar gulped and looked back toward his hut, carefully. “It seems that, during the night, person or persons unknown had spread graffiti all over the debris in front of my hut. I could tell it was fresh, and thought you might want to know about it.”

	Remington nodded again, only half-listening to what Cobar had to say. “I understand. I'll have someone go by your hut and investigate. If this happens again, don't hesitate to request for a guard escort to and from your home.”

	Cobar nodded back and sighed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “I will do that, sir. It's such a shame that such violence has to be done to a newcomer like me, Legionnaire or no.”

	“Indeed,” Remington agreed, looking idly off into the distance. Cobar followed the constable's eyes, confused, only to see the cloaked figure in the distance, still grumbling to himself as he disappeared over the horizon. “And I fear it's only going to get worse as time goes on.”

	Cobar continued to look at where the stranger had disappeared to, tilting his head in contemplation. “The stranger?”

	Remington simply scowled and shook his head. “No need to concern yourself about it, Cobar. I'll get it under control, somehow. For now, I thank you for informing me of the defamation against you and urge you to continue doing so in the future. Now, I suggest you get back to work. If you're worried about Reese, he'll be released in a day or two, don't worry. I've got a close eye on him, to make sure he isn't harmed by the other thugs that attacked him.”

	Cobar nodded and wiped his brow in relief, bidding the constable good day before doing what he was told. As he went back to the communications building, he couldn't help but think of the stranger's words to Remington. They seemed correct, from what he saw; the hate against him and the other Legionnaires in the city was evident, and the scant few glimpses he got of how the E.S.T. handled the violence seemed relatively lacking, to him, indistinguishing the victims from the violators. However, there was something about the man that he didn't like; he couldn't place it, just as he couldn't place his familiarity to the needlemole, but something was seriously wrong with the guy. He was dangerous, dripping with overt hostility and his own brand of prejudice against the constable and his people, and Cobar didn't like it. Shelving the matter, for now, he arrived at the communications building and entered, only to nearly be run over as Lara-Ka burst out of the door and bumped into him, a panicked look in her eyes.

	“Cobar! Where's Reese? We've got a serious problem, here!”

	Cobar reeled as he was nearly toppled by the usually-stoic Legionnaire, but managed to catch himself before any damage was done. “He's been taken into custody by Remington for an incident last night. Why? What's going on?”

	Lara-Ka took in an unsteady breath, visibly shaking under the pressures of what she had just witnessed. “Someone has hacked into the terminals and changed the access codes. No one can get in without prior Legion authorization. Not even my old security codes can unlock them!”

	That startled Cobar nearly as much as Lara-Ka's impromptu exit. “What? But how? No one even knew we were using my Legion connection to hack into the Echidnaopolis archives.”

	Lara-Ka shook her head and gasped, still trying to regain her breath. “I dunno, but this is very, very bad; if no one can get into the terminals without the proper codes, then whoever locked it down must be using the information we downloaded for some nefarious purpose.”

	Cobar hummed to himself, deep in thought over what he had just heard. “Wait a minute, you said that it wouldn't allow for anyone without prior Legion authorization to access the terminal, right? That must mean that a former Legionnaire is the culprit.”

	“Or an anti-Legion supporter trying to frame a Legionnaire for the act,” a strange voice behind them said, startling them both. Turning around Cobar saw the same cloaked figure that had been talking with Remington not ten minutes prior. How he managed to sneak up on them, he had no idea, but there he was. “Pardon my forwardness, I happened to hear the young woman's shrieking and became intrigued with her plight.”

	Cobar frowned as he studied the stranger carefully; he was indeed wearing a standard-issue Legion robe, complete with red face mask that obscured his features. He also figured it obscured his true voice, as well. The only real markings on him was his sword, which was ornate and had a definite Legion touch to it. It definitely seemed familiar to Cobar, but he just couldn't figure out where he had seen it. Man, has the year I've been away from the Legion hazed my memory so badly? he thought to himself, still looking over the stranger with a critical eye.

	The stranger looked down at Cobar, curiously, reaching up with a hand to tentatively feel the circuitry intertwined in his dreadlocks. “Interesting, an unmarred Legionnaire. You seem familiar to me, friend. Do I know you?”

	Cobar shook his head, gently pulling his dreadlocks away from the stranger. “I had the same thought when I first saw you, but I don't believe so. What business do you have, here, if I may ask?”

	The stranger hummed at that, which Cobar took to mean that he wasn't quite believing that, but didn't say much more about it. “As I said, I heard the lady's shrieks and became interested in what was going on. I suspect that it may be an anti-Legion sympathizer; any true Legionnaire would use their own command codes to lock the computer down, something that any other Legionnaire would be able to figure out easily.”

	Lara-Ka nodded as she calmed down, thinking about the stranger's words. “It does seem like that. But normal Echidnan lockdown codes have always been a snap for the Legion to crack, also, so I'm not sure how to handle this.”

	The stranger grunted in response and moved his hand to her cheek, giving the body language equivalent of a smile. “Have faith, my dear; I am sure you'll be able to break the code, if you need to. If you'll excuse me...” He bowed and turned to leave, saying simply “Be proud of your Legion heritage, my friends, and you will never falter in the path Aurora gave you” before vanishing completely into the woods around the building.

	Cobar tilted his head as the stranger left, mulling over the words he had spoken. It certainly sounded like the kind of talk a Legionnaire would use to influence the troops, but that last sentence... Turning to Lara-Ka, Cobar blinked as he saw her blushing profusely at the touch of the stranger, swooning over him like some lovesick dog. Reaching up, he waved his hand over her eyes, trying to snap her out of it. “Hey, Lara-Ka? Mobius to Lara-Ka, come in, Lara-Ka. We've got work to do...”

	The female Legionnaire blinked dreamily at the movements of Cobar's hand, slowly regaining her composure as she realized what she was doing. Coughing a little in embarrassment, she straightened up and nodded. “Yes, yes, of course. Let's... let's get to work, see what we can do to get that lock off the computer. I don't suppose you have any experience with this, do you?”

	Cobar smiled and nodded. “I managed to hack into not one but two networks during my time behind Eggman's lines. Of course I should be able to handle this. C'mon, we should start with cracking the initial access coding...”




	The cracking of the initial access coding proved futile, as did all the other attempts Cobar and Lara-Ka made to deconstruct and analyze the coding lock on the computer. Whoever made it knew their stuff; no amount of Legion or normal Echidnan computer expertise were able to even scratch the surface of the code. What was interesting was that the code only prevented access to the files, it didn't prevent them from looking at what files they did have; what they found was a whole slew of data involving the Dark Legion, from its crimes to its followers to its supporters and propaganda. Every bit of data on the Legion that the archives and the old Legion network itself contained was transferred to the terminal, ready to be accessed and distributed by the mysterious hacker however he or she wished.

	Sighing in frustration, Cobar leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose, tiredly. He could tell that even Lara-Ka, through her thick exterior, was growing just as repulsed by this setback as he was. Although she didn't know it, it reminded Cobar of the bomb project that eventually drew he and Rotor closer together, if only in its sheer irritation; the situations were similar, the mechanics were similar, even the coding started to blur together like the old bomb signals were, at the time. Growling, he decided to stop his work and redirect their efforts to something else, something that might be easier to crack than the computer lock. “What do you think of that stranger we met, earlier today?”

	Lara-Ka looked up, quirking her eyebrow at the question. “What do you mean?”

	Cobar shrugged. “It seems like he's got a lot more knowledge of the Legion ways as most Echidnas, here, and still holds to the rites and regalia. Makes me wonder why Remington hasn't arrested him for spreading Legion gospel, yet.”

	“That's because he hasn't, yet,” Lara-Ka said, simply, leaning back in her chair to look at Cobar. “As far as I know, his grievances have mostly been with the constable, directly, and he had always brought them to his attention in person and in private instead of making a scene. He's made no secret of his Legion heritage or his preference to that heritage, but he never truly disrupted the sociopolitical outlook of Albion with his presence, to my knowledge.”

	Cobar hummed to himself and tapped a finger on the keyboard, trying to collect his thoughts on the stranger. “He seems strangely familiar to me, like I've met him, before, but I can't quite place it...”

	“He seemed to have the same reservations about you,” Lara-Ka pointed out. “For some reason, I'm reminded of the old Dingo insult about the Echidnas.”

	“That they all look alike, dead or alive?”

	Lara-Ka nodded, smiling thinly. “That's the one. I can't help but wonder if he's a long-lost Legionnaire, like you were, who managed to find his way to Albion, unaffected by the turmoil that happened to us during the schism and war with Enerjak.”

	“That may be,” Cobar mused, gripping his chin in deep contemplation. “That may be. I overheard his previous two conversations with the constable; they appeared to be against the weekly grace and the violence against the Legionnaires. If he really is a missing Legionnaire, he might not have known about the schism, or the falling in of Lien-Da's group with Eggman...”

	“Lien-Da fell into favor with Eggman?” Lara-Ka repeated, aghast at the very thought. “Are you sure?”

	Cobar nodded, silently cursing himself for letting that little bit of information slip. “It was during the war with Enerjak; after you all were transferred to Albion, Lien-Da and her remaining troops went to Eggman for an alliance in exchange for new cybernetics. The true Grandmaster, Dimitri, was also making a bargain with Eggman, but only to use his technology to fight Enerjak, and that didn't go over too well. Last I heard, Dimitri disappeared and Lien-Da is now in control of her mind-controlled Legion slaves.”

	Lara-Ka gasped in horror, her eyes wide at the possibility of their people falling into work with their slaughterer. “I can't believe it. I knew that witch was bad news, but this...”

	“Believe it, babe,” Cobar said, dismissively. “I saw it all with my own eyes. I...” He stopped, a disturbing idea coming to mind. “By the Avatar, what if that stranger is one of Lien-Da's spies?”

	The female Legionnaire blinked and frowned, not getting what the needlemole was saying. “You mean, she sent one of her brainwashed troops to Albion to hunt down and convert the rest of us into her thrall? Is that it?”

	Cobar nodded, disturbed. “Precisely. She knows about Albion, she knows its location, it's possible she could've snuck in a soldier with the precise mission of conversion, either through words or by force.”

	Lara-Ka hummed at that possibility, but dismissed it with a shake of her head. “I don't think so; the stranger started showing up almost immediately after the repair of Albion started. I don't think Lien-Da would've had the time to slip in a spy here to do her dirty work.”

	That made Cobar pause. So it wasn't Lien-Da who could've sent him, eh? This is getting to be more complex than I expected. Just who is that guy, and what all does he want with Albion? And why is he so freaking familiar? Sighing to himself, he looked at his watch and noted the time; 1655 hours, 5 minutes away from their daily break. “We've been at this for way too long, today. Let's call it a day and pick up on it tomorrow, okay?”

	Lara-Ka nodded, getting up from her chair before looking back at the console. “What should we do about securing this thing, though? We can't have whoever hacked into it to get the information within and spreading it around.”

	Cobar hummed, thoughtfully. “I doubt whoever hacked into the system will spread that information for a while, but for now let's warn Remington about the break-in and have him send a guard over to watch over the terminal. It's the best we can come up with, on such short notice.”

	Lara-Ka nodded again, helping Cobar to his feet as he gathered his laptop. “I'll escort you to the constable. We should tell him together, so he can't attack either one of us for not coming to him sooner.”

	“Agreed. Let's just hope he's sympathetic to our plight and does what we request of him. I would hate for more damage to be done with our connection.”




	As they left the building, Cobar looked at Lara-Ka, ruefully. It seemed he had finally broken through her cold demeanor and reached some part of her personality, something that allowed her to warm up to him, somewhat. It was a nice feeling, certainly better than the bossy orderly that she had been mimicking, earlier, but he made a mental note not to push it past that. He certainly didn't want to work her up, only to disappoint her when he dropped her for Rotor, later on.

	Unfortunately for him, Lara-Ka was already starting down that path, on her own. She couldn't explain it; maybe it was the way that he was so polite and caring for his work when around her, or maybe the touch of that stranger jarred the metaphorical stick she had rammed next to her spine loose, but whatever it was, she was definitely starting to warm up to the young Legion male. It didn't help that she found his cybernetics attractive; indeed, even now she started to regret the circuitry that had adorned her features, her dreadlocks, and seeing Cobar untouched by the havoc Enerjak had wrought to the Legion, she felt a little envious for the needlemole. Perhaps...

	A catcall caught her and Cobar's attention before she could finish that thought. Looking over the next pile of rubble, Cobar could see one of the three goons that had attacked Reese the other night. He was making a jeering leer at the duo, laughing at himself as he climbed over the rubble pile and into their path. “So, I see you've found a girlfriend, too. Seems nice that you Legionnaires get all the luck, doesn't it?”

	Cobar growled and moved Lara-Ka behind him, bracing himself for an attack. “She's not my girlfriend, we're simply heading over to the constable to inform him of a break-in at the communications building, that's all.”

	The goon laughed again, this time in hearty disbelief. “You think I'm going to believe that? I know your type, Legionnaire; you get all the good assignments, because you're 'better at computers than the average Echidna', and get all the prestige and perks of the job, while we get the grunt work. Feh!” He spat on the ground, glaring cruelly at the pair. “I'm not buying your story for one minute, bub.”

	Lara-Ka glared at the goon, her face flushed in rage. “You can believe all you want, pal, but if you stop us from getting to the constable, you'll get what you're getting, soon enough.”

	The goon held up his hands in mock fear. “Ooh, I'm so scared. Two geeky little Legionnaires against someone who's cut their teeth on the grindstone of rebuilding this city. This should be interesting.”

	“Correction, slimeball,” Cobar spat, furiously. “Two geeky Legionnaire soldiers vs. a loudmouthed punk who thinks he's tougher than he really is. How did you get free from the constable's men, anyway?”

	The goon grinned, not an ounce of sincerity in it. “I have my ways, little Legionnaire, which is more than I can say for you!”

	With that, he lunged, swinging his fists wildly at the pair. Cobar and Lara-Ka dodged, allowing the goon to throw himself off-balance before making their own strike; Cobar a swift punch to the stomach, Lara-Ka a roundhouse kick to the head. That, combined with his unstable momentum, sent the goon toppling end over end into the ground a few meters away from them. At once, the pair congratulated each other with a high-five, smiling smugly down at the goon as he struggled to pick himself up from the assault. Too late, however, they realized it was a set-up, just as they moved in to mock the poor Echidna of his errors, he grabbed a handful of dust and threw it at the duo, blinding them with a gritty haze. Lara-Ka was instantly incapacitated by the blinding cloud, while Cobar – his eyesight coming primarily from the cybernetic eyeglasses he wore – was less affected, though still coughing and clawing at his eyes to get the dirt out as his partner was.

	In that instant, the goon picked himself up and bum-rushed Cobar, knocking Lara-Ka away as he toppled the needlemole like a domino and pinned him to the ground. Cobar tried to defend himself, but with his vision impaired by the dust, it was impossible for him to adequately block the series of fist strikes the goon laid on his head and chest. Cobar's world was full of knuckles and blood as he struggled to throw his attacker off, but the goon was stronger than him, keeping him pinned as he rained blow after blow on the needlemole. Lara-Ka, still incapacitated by the dust, screamed for help, yelling for the goon to get off Cobar, even throwing herself blindly at him in an effort to save Cobar, but she was knocked away.

	It wasn't until they heard a strong whistle coming form over the ridge that the goon stopped his attack. Looking up, he saw something that scared the living daylights out of him, and he got up and ran... right into the outstretched sword of the mysterious stranger. He gave no sound as he sank onto the blade, the cold metal soon matching the coldness of his eyes as the life drained from his features. He looked up at the stranger, grasping at his black Legionnaire cloak, and mouthed something incomprehensible to anyone but himself and the stranger. The stranger, whispering something that neither Cobar nor Lara-Ka could hear back to the goon, slowly removed the sword's blade from the Echidna. With a cold demeanor, the stranger allowed him to slump motionless to the ground. Another whistle, and the stranger looked up, wiping the blood from his sword in a deft stroke before sheathing it behind his back.

	Cobar was a mess; several of his surface circuitry were damaged, his nose was broken, and he had lost at least two teeth in the encounter. He was fortunate that his glasses weren't broken, as well, though a static distortion in his vision told him they had been knocked out of focus. Coughing, he attempted to sit up, only to falter as he collapsed into Lara-Ka's arms, whimpering in pain. The stranger, concerned of the needlemole's health, walked over to the duo and knelt down next to them, offering a handkerchief to help stop the bleeding emanating from Cobar's nose and mouth. “Try not to move, friend. You are badly wounded. Rest, the assailant has had his justice served.”

	“Indeed,” a voice from behind them spat, disdainfully. Cobar, too injured to turn to face the voice, instantly recognized it as Remington. He wondered why he was there, then remembered the goon that attacked him, and figured he had tracked the guy after he escaped. “That was our prisoner, buster, and you had no right to lay vigilantism down on him.”

	“No right?” The stranger repeated, darkly, standing up to face the constable. “I just did what your soldiers were incapable of doing, stopping a deadly enemy from wreaking further havoc on my people.”

	Remington frowned, unwilling to give any quarter to the stranger. “You had no right to kill him, he was going to be tried in a court of law, and...”

	“... And he escaped right before your eyes, constable,” the stranger interrupted, his voice growing harsher. “This is what I've been talking about to you, your inability to close the revolving door of this violence in Albion, your failure of protecting the Legionnaires who chose to come here from the ancient prejudices that plagued our kind. You have failed in your duties, as both constable and leader of our people, Remington, and I will not see this great land or these great peoples of ours to crumble under your shoddy leadership and protection.”

	Remington sneered at the stranger, folding his arms in defiance. “And who would take my place, you? The Legion are no more capable of taking care of Albion as you claim I am, or have you forgotten the schism that they created that left the average Echidnan to be captured and die at the hands of the Dingoes?”

	“I have not forgotten, constable, nor have I forgiven the instigators of that schism for their folly. But one has chose her lot and has to now sleep in it, while the other...” The stranger slowly took off his hood and mask, revealing an elderly, uniquely-bearded Echidna male that struck a chord in Cobar's brain through his hazy vision. “... is addressing his legally-appointed leader with the same disrespect he's showing the rest of his people...”

	Cobar and Remington both gasped as they recognized the figure before him, their minds freezing in place in disbelief of the ghost they were seeing. “Benedict?!”

	The Echidna nodded, half-smiling at the sound of his name. “Yes, it is I.”

	“But... but that's impossible,” Remington balked, perplexed. “You're a robot, and I saw you destroyed after the voting was over!”

	Cobar, himself, was thinking the same thing, adding only And I repaired you, after then! to Remington's outburst.

	Benedict's smile widened, as did his arms as he noticed several Echidnas gathering around the scene, trying to figure out what was going on. He raised his voice, clearly wanting to be heard by everyone in the area, and proclaimed; “What you saw was merely a shell that my soul inhabited. When the Avatar passed judgment, I was incapacitated, reduced to a trapped spirit within a form of motionless metal, and I remained that way for well over a year. However, fortune smiled down on me, and the same Avatar who judged me unworthy of the leadership sought fit to give me another chance at life; he revived me, gave me new life and new purpose, and transferred me to Albion to lead all of you into a new era! An era where the old prejudices of the past are no more! Where the tyrannical rule of the Mitres and their right-winged religious zealotry is abolished from our lands! Where the sons and daughters of Dimitri and Edmund could live together in harmony, amongst a throne of high technology, and not be divided into Legionnaire or Echidnaopolian.

	“Now is the time that I see my work is needed, for as you can see, the works of the Mitres is still with us, the prejudices of the past are still with us, and the incompetence of the old leaders is still being practiced. It has terrorized your family, defaced your homes, and threatened you with the acts of cruelty and disaster that plagued our ancestors so long ago! The Legion is not your enemy, my friends, they are your salvation. It was providence that they were made to work on the communications satellites, and the mechanical devices and other technological wonders that made Albion a jewel of Mobius; they weren't given the job merely because they were the most proficient with such devices, but because it was known we could not survive without the reintroduction of high technology in our lives, and it will be the Legion that brings us to that level! I can see it in your eyes, you doubt my words, but ask yourself this; are you not weary of living like refugees, scavenging for your food and living in clay huts with water that can barely stay warm, with a hole in the ground for a toilet and a simple wood-burning stove for your cooking fire and warmth and light? Are you not sick of having to live this way? Are you not eager to rebuild this land as a new Echidnaopolis, and enjoy the benefits that such high society gives you? If so, then cast your vote, let your words decide the fate of the people, and join me in undoing this fatal curse on our people! Join me in rebuilding this land as a haven for all who want to enjoy the luxuries we once were afforded, and deserve to have again!”

	Cobar could hear the murmurings of the group of Echidnas around them as they considered Benedict's words; some were more responsive to them, some were downright hostile in their rejection, but all admitted that there was a grain of truth to his words. Cobar could only guess what that grain was, but it seemed obvious – they were tired of living like beggars in a ruined city, they were tired of living in fear of the violence the old prejudices were stirring up, and they were starting to wonder if Remington was the right person to lead the rebuilding of the city. He couldn't blame him; ever since he had moved to Albion, he was longing for the amenities afforded to him at New Mobotropolis, and he was certainly getting sick of the attacks and the dirty looks he was getting from the rest of the Echidnas. Now, however, as he laid in Lara-Ka's arms, trying not to move as she tended his wounds, he couldn't help but wonder if this mysterious man claiming to be Benedict was right.

	Remington, however, saw no truth to his words. “You must be joking. It's true that there's been an upsurge of Legion-related violence, but my men are taking care of it. As for the progress of the rebuilding...”

	“That freakshow tried to kill Cobar, constable!” Lara-Ka cried, glaring at the brown Echidna, sternly. “And you could've stopped it had you kept him locked up instead of letting him escape! How safe can we be if you can't even keep someone like that off the streets?”

	The crowd murmured again, this time with more enthusiasm and acceptance of the facts. Remington looked around, his stern demeanor faltering a little as he saw the public turn on him. Sighing, bitterly, he folded his arms again and grunted. “Fine, you wish to play your little game, we'll play. We will arrange for a vote to be taken within the week to see which one of us the people choose to be their leader. Until then, men?” He signaled for two of his men to gather up Cobar, glaring at Benedict as he did so. The indication was clear; he intended to take the needlemole to the hospital for treatment. Bowing his approval, Benedict allowed the men to do so, the twin Echidnas bringing out a stretcher next to Cobar and gently placing him onto it. Once on board, Cobar was lifted up by the Echidnas and marched out of the scene, Lara-Ka trailing behind with a worried look on her face. It was the last thing he remembered before unconsciousness took him.




	Cobar awoke the next day, a massive headache pounding away at the inside of his brain. Groaning in pain, he blinked away his sleepiness, the static from his damaged glasses still hazing his vision. He looked around, trying to get his bearings in the new area he was transported to. What he found wasn't exactly comforting; bright white sheets covered him, as well as adorning the walls of the tent he was inside. To his left, Lara-Ka slept in a sitting position, her head resting on the cot he was laying on. It appeared she had been with him all night, and was just now too tired to stay awake. He reached up, feeling his head, only to come into contact with a wrapping of some kind, a dressing that he could only guess was stained with blood. Sighing in despair, he laid back, wincing through the pain as he tried to remember what happened the other night.

	A light knock at the tent's opening drew his attention away from his thoughts toward the person doing the knocking. To his disdain, it was Remington, looking in with concern at the needlemole. “I'm sorry to disturb you, Cobar, but I have some things to ask you, if you don't mind...”

	Cobar growled and gently shook his head, not wanting to talk to the constable, at that time. “No offense, constable, but get bent. I have nothing to say to you...”

	Remington frowned and walked in, anyway, dragging a chair to the foot of Cobar's cot to sit down on. “I don't think so, Cobar. I know you saw the same thing I did, and I want to know what your connection to him is.”

	Cobar went to speak, but a moan interrupted him. Both he and Remington looked down to see Lara-Ka stir from her slumber, blinking gently as she awoke from the noise of Remington's entry. Cobar, concerned, moved his hand over her head and began petting it, trying desperately to keep her from noticing the constable. Unfortunately, Remington wouldn't allow that. “Forgive me, ma'am, but I will need you to leave the tent so I can ask Cobar a few questions.”

	The female Legionnaire blinked a few more times, rubbing the sand from her eyes as she turned toward the constable, only for her face to twist into a visage of confused rage as her eyes focused on the man before her. “You!” she cried out, snapping to attention and regaining her cold, aloof demeanor, this time tempered with the heat of anger against the constable. “What are you doing here? Have you not done enough damage, yet?”

	Remington frowned and snapped her fingers, a duo of guards appearing behind him at the signal. “I will not be addressed in such a manner, ma'am. I'm only here to ask questions, that is all. Now kindly allow me to do so and leave the tent, or I will be forced to remove you.”

	That got Lara-Ka's attention, standing up, her fists clenched in a desperate attempt to keep from slapping or even decking the constable, she gave Cobar a worried look before complying, walking past the guards and out of the tent. The guards followed her out, keeping their hands off of her as they did so.

	Once she was out of the picture, Cobar glared at the constable and gritted his damaged teeth. “What is up with you, sir? You were always stern, but never like this.”

	Remington shook his head, waving the question off, uncaringly. “That doesn't matter, right now.”

	“Yes it does,” Cobar spat, groaning a little as his throat cracked under the strain. Coughing a little, he allowed himself to calm down before continuing, something he was surprised Remington allowed him to do. “You've been acting like a snobbish elitist ever since I met you. You've always been concerned with your duty and the safety of the Echidnan people, but you seem to be acting tougher with both and more competent with neither. What's gotten in your head, constable? Why are you acting this way?”

	Remington stared at Cobar, trying to find some way of deterring his questions, but the needlemole, while bedridden, was defiant, and he knew he wouldn't answer anything until his question was answered, in kind. Sighing, defeated, Remington took off his hat and combed his fingers through his hair and dreads, almost collapsing in the chair in exhaustion. “If you really want to know, I've been having these... dreams. More like nightmares, really, of me being some sort of tyrant, of leading a group of Echidnas in a war against another. It's always the same; disjointed, fragmented, but always of the same images. It feels... real to me, like I had lived those events before and am only now remembering them. But I couldn't have, could I?”

	Cobar frowned as he was told of Remington's dreams, knowing precisely what he was talking about; it was no secret among the Legion that Remington was the son of Kragok, and next in line for the Gransmastership should Dimitri have chose to stand down, and from what he was told by Dimitri, Remington had led the faction known as the Frost Legion against Lien-Da's Flame Legion during the schism. From what he was being told, now, Remington only knew about those events subconsciously. He wondered why they were coming back to him, now. “And that's why you're acting the way you are?”

	Remington shook his head. “They disturbed me, sure, but they didn't interfere with my duties to the Echidnas until... he came along.”

	“He?” Cobar asked, confused. “You mean Benedict?”

	Remington nodded, rubbing his hands through his hair again. “He talked to me like he knew about the dreams, like he knew something about me that even I didn't know. Then he started going off about the safety of the Legion and how I needed to focus on helping the achieve what they needed in this new joint venture, and...”

	“... and that's when you decided to start going off on everyone?” Cobar finished, bitterly.

	The constable nodded again. “It started out, slow, a mild paranoia that didn't really do much of anything for me. I started giving the Legion members more to do, more jobs pertinent to their skills, to help placate them and keep them from rioting; they nearly outnumbered the other Echidnas, and it would've been easy for them to take over, so I had to do something to keep them happy. But then the attacks and graffiti against the Legion started, and Benedict – if he really is that walking pile of tin – started bothering me with more and more pointed criticisms against my leadership, and... I-I dunno, I just snapped, I guess.”

	Cobar hummed as he heard Remington's confession, trying to spot any flaws in it. From what he recalled, Benedict was quite charismatic with his political petitioning, and if this was the same being as the robot the Legion used to rig the elections so long ago – which he doubted very much – then he could believe that he slowly drove the constable to paranoia with his accusations. “So, I suppose you're wanting to ask me if I think it was Benedict who saved me from that punk that beat me, is that right?”

	Remington grunted in confirmation. “I only knew of the guy because I faced off against him when he was running for Mitre all those years ago. You seemed to have some knowledge of him, as well. I'd like to know what that is, and if it's pertinent to how he could still be, well... I guess 'alive' is the proper term for it, now, after all these years.”

	Cobar sighed and rubbed his head, focusing his thoughts on what he knew of the robot. “I was the one who helped build him, and when he was damaged from that pulse from the Avatar, I was the one ordered to repair him. I wasn't there to help monitor his progress through the elections, but I knew his circuits inside and out. Unfortunately for the Legion, I wasn't able to fully repair him before I was thrust into my next assignment, and he was left sitting to gather dust in the Legion's warehouse.”

	Remington hummed to himself and put his chin on his hand, contemplating something. “Was Benedict based around a particular person, some Legionnaire that gave his face to the cause?”

	Cobar shook his head, lightly, groaning a little in pain as he did so. “No, he was built from the ground up. There isn't anyone like him, alive, dead, or artificial. There wasn't even a backup or prototype made of him that could account for him still being around.”

	Remington nodded, thinking back to everything he had heard from the stranger. “He mentioned, last night, that he was destroyed and reborn by the Avatar. What do you think he mans by that?”

	“I dunno, honestly. It's clear the Avatar was the source of his destruction, but his revival...” Cobar paused, an idea coming to mind. “The wave Enerjak unleashed that reverted the cybernetics of the Legion. You don't think...”

	“... that it could've been used to revive Benedict?” Remington finished, musingly. “I dunno; I wouldn't think such a wave could revert a fully-robotic being into a flesh and blood creature. Besides, I thought it was that one albino Echidna that became Enerjak, not the Avatar.”

	Cobar nodded, humming to himself. “That's true, but the Avatar, from what I was told, was in the final fight against Enerjak, and the chaos energy he used to revert the Legion's cybernetics were similar to the blast the Avatar used to take out Benedict, so if he is really the same being, it's possible he could've mistaken Enerjak's blast for the Avatar's.”

	Remington smiled, thinly, getting up from his chair and putting back on his hat. “We'll need to find out for sure, first; the doctor said you should be able to leave within the next few hours. Once you've rested up, I'm going to need you to gather as much information about Benedict as you can for me.” He winced as Cobar gave him a wicked glare of disbelief and rage. “I know, I haven't exactly treated you with the best of respect, but you know that you won't be satisfied until you knew about the guy's secrets, as well, and your suspicions about him have been put to rest. I'm asking you, as a favor, to do this for me. I will be indebted to you for as long as I live, depending on what you find.”

	Cobar thought long and hard about that, mulling over in his mind all he could do with such a debt, with one immediate thing coming to mind. “Well, first of all, you can release Reese from prison. I will need his help if I'm going to do this.”

	Remington nodded, his smile widening. “Done. Anything else?”

	Cobar nodded back. “Put a guard on the communications building; Lara-Ka found someone hacking into it, yesterday, and we've been unable to crack it. It's been fitted with a computer lock that prevents anyone but whichever Dark Legionnaire is authorized from accessing it. We thought it might have been another Legionnaire, but now I'm starting to suspect Benedict has a hand in it.”

	Remington hummed and folded his arms. “I'll look into it. I know this isn't going to be easy for you, but I really need your help in cracking this case and putting things to rights.”

	“And you will have it, constable,” Cobar said, bluntly. “If it were any other time, my Legion loyalties would put me firmly against your leadership, and to a point they do, but I'm just as intrigued about the so-called return of Benedict as you are, so for now, let's consider this a... 'deal with the devil', so to speak.”

	Remington pursed his lips at that and nodded, curtly. “I understand. Get some rest, Cobar; you'll need it for your assignment coming up.”

	With that, he left, waving a signal to his troops to let Lara-Ka back in. As she did so, looking flustered but stoic, she gave a concerned glance at Cobar, clearly upset over what happened but nervous about asking. Cobar, smiling, motioned for her to come closer and sit by his side, patting her hand as she complied. “It's okay, Lara-Ka, the constable was just wanting to get a few things off his mind, is all.”

	“It certainly didn't sound like that was all it was,” the female Echidna countered, worriedly. “Are you sure you're alright, Cobar?”

	Cobar nodded, wincing at the pain as he did so. “I just need to take a few days off to rest up. In the meantime, I have something to ask of you and Reese, if you'd be so kind.”

	That got Lara-Ka's attention. “Me and Reese? What is it?”

	Cobar just smiled, the wheels already turning in his head about what to do, next...




	Cobar's plan was simple, but somewhat effective; while he took the remaining week to recover, he had Reese take a survey on the public's opinion of both Remington and Benedict, finding out as much information as he could about what the people knew about them. It wasn't much, but it was a start; the general population knew little about Benedict's arrival or agenda, but did confirm he arrived shortly after they were transferred to Albion, and seemed to pop up after each incident involving a former Legionnaire. The few who were able to see him the most noted that he would always vanish into the woods near the back of Albion, afterward, a good indication that that was where his hut was. When asked of their vote of confidence for the two, 45% admitted they would vote for Benedict, 35% for Remington, and 20% were still undecided, a clear advantage to the pseudo-Echidna. 

	Hoping to get more detailed information from the source, and knowing she was already smitten with the guy, Cobar sent Lara-Ka out to interview Benedict directly, but sadly that didn't go anywhere; while charmed by her looks and bravado, Benedict kept a close guard on any pertinent information about his past, only repeating that he was revived by divine providence to lead the Echidnas into a new, more technologically-advanced future, and that he was the rightful ruler of the Echidna people. One thing she did get from him, though, was a great disdain for Remington, which – after some major prodding – was revealed to be started by his opposition to his attempt at Mitredom, last election. That seemed to confirm that he had memories of the event going back that far, which Cobar couldn't figure out; it would make sense for Benedict to have those memories if he was who he said he was, but Cobar still had his doubts, and knew that, if need be, a Legionnaire's memories could be altered to make them remember whatever or act however the Grandmaster wished. 

	As he rested, Cobar himself started dredging up all he knew about Benedict, comparing them to what he knew of the stranger posing as him. Even through his pained and foggy vision, at the time, he could tell they were the same man, the face looking identical to the one Cobar himself built. He could now even recognize the sword Benedict carried with him clearly as the same one the robot carried during his petition, though Cobar suspected it was stolen somewhere down the line. They had the same charismatic voice, the same charm... everything about the guy matched what he remembered of the robot, and yet...

	He shook his head, not believing it for a second. There's got to be a rational explanation for all of this, he reminded himself, coolly. I still say Lien-Da is behind this; even before the chip incident, she had a way of manipulating minds to her will. It's possible she could've dragged a Legionnaire off the streets, surgically altered his appearance to look like Benedict's, and replaced his memories with what the records showed of Benedict's petition for Mitredom. But why? What did she hope to gain from going through all that effort?

	Getting up, he stretched out, wincing a little as his back and neck popped from underuse, and headed into the shower, turning on the water and feeling if it had warmed up, even a little. To his surprise, it did; in fact, it was nice and hot, easily ready for soaking in. Curious, he tapped along the pipes, following them to what appeared to be a solar panel attached to the back of the hut. Cobar blinked in surprise; he hadn't noticed that, before. Indeed, he hadn't noticed anyone else with such a device in their home. Looking around, he found a tag attached to one of the pipes leading to the panel. Reading it carefully, he got his answer: “To: A loyal Legionnaire still keeping the faith, From: Benedict”.

	Cobar hummed to himself in concerned thought. Buttering me up, eh, Bennie? he thought to himself, wryly. Cute, very cute, but I'm not to be bribed that easily... Tearing off the tag, he walked back into the hut and took off his clothes, gingerly stepping into the hot bath water as he sunk into heaven. Ah, well, I might as well take advantage of it before I give his 'gift' back. Smiling wistfully, he felt the warmth of the bath water caress his every being as it enveloped him, easing away his aching muscles and soothing his soul. However, his mind was still mulling over the presence of the solar panel, keeping him from fully enjoying the bath. How did Benedict get the technology for a solar heating panel, though? Most of the technology in Albion was destroyed, and not even the Legionnaires here could've whipped one up in such a short amount of time. Does he have access to a secret storehouse of machines? If so, I wonder where it is, and why he hasn't distributed them out, yet, to gain favor from the community...

	A knock at his front door broke him out of his musings, eliciting a groan of annoyance from the needlemole. He tried to ignore it and enjoy his bath, but the knocking soon became a pounding, and he could hear Reese's voice shouting at him to open up. Sighing in frustration, he got out of the bath and, grabbing a towel from the closet nearby, wrapped it around his waist as he headed to the front door. Opening it, he saw both Reese and Lara-Ka behind it, worried looks on their faces. “What's going on, Reese?”

	Reese shook his head and growled to himself. “I'm sorry for disturbing you, but there's a commotion happening at the courtyard where the weekly bounty is usually gathered. It seems like Benedict and Remington are having a debate over each other's leadership.”

	Cobar hummed in acknowledgment, looking past Reese to Lara-Ka; despite her stoic demeanor, he could see a slight blush peeking out as she turned away from his sight, clearly embarrassed to see him in just a towel. Grunting, he nodded and looked back at his bathroom, still a little lost in thought. “Alright, let me get dressed and I'll follow you out there.”

	Resse nodded and bowed his appreciation as Cobar turned and shut the door behind him. He walked over to a satchel he had next to his bed, digging through it for a fresh pair of overalls. As he did so and started getting them on, he couldn't help but think again to the solar panel behind his house, and how Benedict managed to get a hold of it. Maybe that'll be a point of contention between him and Remington, he thought, curiously. Only one way to find out, though...




	It took Cobar a few minutes to get dressed, but he finally managed to get going with Reese and Lara-Ka over to the courtyard just as the debates between the two would-be leaders started winding down. Pushing their way through the throng of people gathered there to listen to the debates, the trio worked their way to the front in order to get the best view of the battle of words between the constable and the one claiming to be Benedict.

	“I cannot believe you are protesting against my generosity, constable!” Benedict balked, wounded. “I am merely giving what I promised the citizens if I were leader, hot water and a way of cooking their food and heating their homes without fire. A luxury that all Echidnas will be privy to, once I am made leader.”

	“But not right now, it seems,” Remington countered, pointing at Benedict accusatorily. “Right now, it seems that only 'loyal Legionnaires' are able to reap the benefits of your 'gifts'. Why not the common Echidna? And where did you get those solar panels, anyway? Why haven't you distributed them among the masses, earlier?”

	Benedict smiled with venom-sweetness as he responded. “My dear constable, where I got the solar panels and why are of no concern, right now. What is of concern is that I have them, and I will give them to all who choose to follow me into this new era! In case you haven't noticed, not even all of the Legionnaires have received my gift, those who decided to denounce their heritage and turn their backs on the high technology that is our right as Echidnas to utilize. But that does not need to be the case!” He turned to the crowd, spreading his arms wide as he addressed them. “Listen to me! In the months that you have been here, what all have you accomplished in your efforts to make life decent for you? Wood-burning stoves and shoddy plumbing! The technology exists around us to rebuild our lives as we see fit, but only if we are willing to repair them and use them to our advantage! I have embraced that fact, and those who follow me will reap the rewards of such a following!”

	“Pretty words, there, 'Benedict',” Remington sneered, unconvinced. “But again, why would anyone follow someone who had kept this wondrous technology for themselves until now? And what of the progress we made in reconnecting to Echidnaopolis? Once we gain access to the servers there, we'll have all the plans we need to make your precious 'gifts' on our own time.”

	“But you cannot access it,” Benedict pointed out, his smile widening. “And it was a Legionnaire using Legion connections and Legion hacking tools that made that connection possible. You knew no other Echidna would be able to achieve such a technological feat; they didn't embrace the skills or the understanding of high technology needed to do the job the way the Legion has. That is why you placed two former Legionnaires to the task, and why you brought in this young lad –“ he motioned to Cobar, eyes glinting in the sunlight as he did so. “– whose implants were not touched by the fortuitous disaster that brought me new life and stripped the Legion of theirs, to aid them in their efforts. You know only the Legion will be able to help reshape this land back into how it was, before, so why do you deny it and denounce my attempts at making it so?”

	Remington tried to counter, thinking desperately of anything he could use to continue the debate... but faltered, knowing Benedict was right. Dropping his head down in defeat, he turned to the crowd and spoke, his voice shaky with half-hearted effort. “Listen to me, everyone; the Legion has fought us for centuries, we know what they are capable of doing. And while they have been our allies in the past, I know you all still have grave misgivings for working with them. It is true that I have assigned the Legion to the more technical aspects of our task, but that does not mean that our own efforts in rebuilding this city are in vain! Mobian did not start building circuits and processors before he started making shelters and fire! They didn't leave themselves to the ravages of the elements while working on transistors and other high technology! We must first solidify our standing here, our homes and our churches and other buildings of importance, before we can afford ourselves the luxuries of rebuilding such things as water heaters and solar panels. If we must relearn the ways of the Lost Tribes in order to survive, then so be it, but we will survive, one way or another! We do not need high technology for that, nor do we need this person telling us what we can and cannot focus on in our efforts to do so. The luxuries of high technology will come, in time, but we cannot afford to distract ourselves with it when more important matters are needed to be focused on!”

	The crowd murmured at that, debating among themselves which one of the two candidates was more in the right. As they did so, Benedict clapped in mock approval of the constable's words. “Well said, sir, but I put it to you, what of the connection to Echidnaopolis you put priority on, hmm? You say it is for schematics for aid in rebuilding, but it seems rather plain to see that the populace knows precisely how to rebuild their homelands. Is it not... hypocritical of you to tout necessities over luxuries when it's clear the citizens are more than capable of building on the former and of need of the latter? Tell me, constable, is it not hypocritical of you to protest the actions of the Legion when you, yourself were a member?”

	That brought a reaction to both the crowd and Remington; the crowd over the presumed hypocrisy that Benedict was touting, Remington over the revelation of his true heritage. Shaking in shock and disbelief, he clenched his fists and glared at Benedict, skeptically. “What are you saying, Benedict?”

	The pseudo-Echidna simply chuckled. “You know precisely what I'm saying, Remington, son of Kragok, heir to the House of Dimitri and once-leader of the dread Frost Legion!” He grinned at Remington's reaction, the wheels in the constable's head grinding to a halt as he suddenly realized what his dreams meant. “Yes, you do remember, don't you? The war between you and Lien-Da's Flame Legion, the attack on Enerjak, the whole shebang. Who is to say that your treatment of the Legion, your favoritism toward their place in the workforce, and subsequently your apathy toward their abuse from the common Echidna, was not influenced by your own standing in their ranks?”

	Cobar could see the constable slowly breaking down as his mind struggled to comprehend what he was told. Sure enough, he did know, deep down, but those memories were blocked, somewhat, by something he couldn't place a finger on. The dreams in his mind started coalescing, more details coming back to him as he attempted to comprehend them; himself, as a Legionnaire, decked out in the same cybernetics and robe that his father had worn during his tenure as Grandmaster, challenging Lien-Da for control of the group; the schism that broke the Legion in two, and his all-out attacks on the Flame Legion; the return of Enerjak and his reluctant agreement to join forces with his most hated enemy to fend off the chaos-demigod. It all made sense to him, now, but yet... “What's your point, Benedict?” he snapped, staring daggers at the false Echidna.

	Benedict scowled as he started walking around the constable. “You helped cause the schism in the Legion by challenging Lien-Da's place as Grandmaster. You chose to dedicate your efforts toward the Legion, because they were your own people, but actively denied them in public, and because of that, you allowed the hate toward our people to fester and cause all sorts of havoc. Admit it! You are part of the problem, part of the cancer that's still continuing to grow in the heart of our people, and you are compounding that problem through your actions, now! You are not fit to lead, anymore!”

	Remington just looked at the ground, stunned, unable to come up with a proper rebuttal to that. It was almost as if his mind had shut down, his pallor and the lights in his eyes draining as he sunk into a catatonic state. As Benedict stopped his pacing he looked around, awaiting the crowd's response to this scene. Then, it happened; one person, then two, then a handful, before a good deal of the mob started shouting Benedict's name in adulation, hailing him as their new savior and leader. Remington didn't look up, didn't move an inch as the crowd rallied behind Benedict, too stunned by the false Echidna's accusations to fight back, anymore. The trio simply stared at Benedict and Remington, not knowing what to do, or even who to fight for, anymore...




	“Well, that was certainly an interesting development,” Cobar said as he stepped into his hut, dourly. Behind him, Reese and Lara-Ka followed, equally despondent of the events that had transpired. It had been an hour since they left for the debate between Remington and Benedict, and the aftermath wasn't pretty; the crowd continued to shout their support for the false Echidna as they dispersed, following their new savior to parts unknown within Albion. Remington continued to stand there, motionless, as his support drained away, still in a cataleptic state. Not even the prompting of the trio could budge the constable, so they eventually left him to his fate.

	“That's an understatement, if I ever heard one,” Reese mumbled, sighing as he passed through the threshold into the hut. “I never thought I'd see the day that the Grandmaster would be cut down to size like that.”

	Cobar, blinking in surprise, looked back at Reese and tilted his head. “You still consider the constable your Grandmaster?”

	Reese just shrugged. “Old habits are hard to break, sometimes. You know of the extreme loyalty of the Legion; how can I not still think of him as the Frost Legion Grandmaster, even now?”

	“Simple,” Lara-Ka interjected, stoically. “By reminding yourself that the Legion as we know it is over, and you chose to abandon that life when you moved here.”

	“Says you,” Reese huffed. “You were willing to drop Lien-Da like a hot potato, before Enerjak interfered. It's easy for you to forget old alliances when it suits you.”

	Lara-Ka moved in to argue, but Cobar, having had enough of that, raised his hands and stepped in between the two, glaring at them coolly. “Now is not the time to be arguing over old allegiances. Now is the time to debate about what we're going to do about the power struggle going on, right this moment. We need to figure out what our plan of attack is going to be.”

	Lara-Ka glared back at the needlemole, but nodded and backed down. “Agreed, quite logical.”

	Reese merely sneered at the intervention, but likewise retracted. “What are you proposing, Cobar? Right now, Benedict has most of the population of Albion behind him, and the Grandmast – er, constable – is damn near catatonic, right now.”

	“And I don't see any reason not to change sides, at this point,” Lara-Ka offered, deflecting a stare from her brother as she said that. “Even Remington acknowledged that Benedict was right in many of his statements, and Benedict has tried to make life in this dump more tolerable to the people. If even the constable can't fight back against the logic and wisdom of Benedict, then why should we?”

	Cobar sighed, rubbing his hand through his dreadlocks, distraught. “I hate to admit it, but Lara-Ka's got a point; I got one of those solar heaters from Benedict, and it felt damn good to be able to relax in a tub of hot water, for the first time I've been here. Plus, under Remington's leadership, I've been attacked twice and had my hut defiled with graffiti. It sure seems like he's turning a blind eye to our plight, as hard as it is for me to say.”

	Reese harrumphed and folded his arms, defiantly. “Well, I don't buy it. True, I hold some grudge against him for keeping me locked up for as long as he did, but he's still our leader, and he's done loads more than what Benedict has done to help rebuild this place. So Benedict has given out some solar heaters to some people, big whoop. Has he helped construct houses for our people? Has he helped repair the plumbing system or brought fresh water or food to our people? There's a lot of things I don't like about Remington's leadership, sure, but better the devil you know, you know?”

	“But obviously, that's not enough for the people, anymore,” Lara-Ka countered, pointedly. “If Benedict has the technology to make our lives better...”

	“And that's exactly what is worrying me about him, at least partially,” Cobar interrupted, hugging himself in thought. “Where did he get that technology, anyway? I thought all of the major technological areas of Albion were destroyed?”

	Reese hummed, thinking. “Perhaps he found a hidden storehouse of the things, something that we haven't been able to find, yet.”

	“And if that's the case, then he's become more dangerous than we could ever hope to imagine.” Cobar started pacing, moving his arms to his hips as he tried to correlate everything he knew about Benedict together. “Let's lay down what we know about Benedict; he's been here from the beginning of the transfer, he claims to have been the same Benedict who was sponsored in the rigged election years ago, claims to have been destroyed and reborn by the Avatar, and now wants to regain the leadership by providing technology from an unknown source to the masses.”

	“If you're thinking what I think you're thinking,” Reese said, concerned. “Then I think you're crazy; the robot got confiscated by the Frost Legion for mass production during the schism. I saw them taking it from the storage warehouse it was at, myself.”

	Cobar blinked and looked back at Reese, curiously. “Are you sure? How many copies were made? When were they used in the civil war?”

	Reese, inundated by Cobar's questions, held up his hands in an effort to slow the inquiries. “We never got a chance to make any; our troops were too busy fending off assaults from the Flame Legion to do any deeper research into the robot, and by the time we were ready to reproduce him, Enerjak came.”

	Cobar frowned, not liking what he was hearing. “So there's no way it could be a copy posing as Benedict, then. What did you do with the robot, after Enerjak attacked?”

	“Nothing; he was still at our base when the freak showed up. From what I understand, his de-cyborigzation wave hit even the Legionnaires left at the base.”

	“...So, there's a chance he's telling the truth about his rebirth,” Cobar mused. Slamming his fist into his hand, he headed out toward the front door.

	Lara-Ka blinked as Cobar rushed past her, confused. “Where are you going, Cobar?”

	“To get some answers about Benedict and where he's getting those solar heaters,” Cobar yelled back, throwing open the door as he rushed out. He stopped momentarily to glance back at his compatriots. “You two get back to the communications building and see if you can't crack that lock. We need to find out who locked it and why.” With that, he left, leaving both Lara-Ka and Reese to stare at the open door, perplexed at what had just happened.




	Cobar panted as he ran through the debris fields of Albion, his mind racing with his feet as he made his way back to the courtyard. He knew he would have to go after Benedict, some time that night, but after learning of the robot's fate from Reese, he figured he should talk to Remington, first, and see how much of that he remembered. With any luck, the constable would be just as they left him, and he could break him out of his stupor enough to get some answers.

	As he arrived at the courtyard, however, he was dismayed to see, instead of Remington, Benedict standing in his spot. Frowning, he looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of where Remington had gone. Off in the distance to his left, he found him being led off by a pair of escorts, including a female Echidna that seemed to hug him close, as if they were a couple. Behind them, another Echidna followed, carrying what looked to be a large boxy object – one of Benedict's solar panels, he guessed. Slowing his pace, he approached Benedict, noting the satisfied, yet oddly sad, smile on the false Echidna's lips. 

	“What a sad, sorry state our poor constable has found himself in,” Benedict mused to himself, not even bothering to acknowledge Cobar's presence. “If only he could've seen the error of his ways, the error of bringing back the old ways and the old prejudices to this outstanding union between Echidnaopolian and Legionnaire.”

	“And what about you, sir?” Cobar asked, drawing Benedict's attention finally to him. “Bringing back the horrors of the old Dark Legion philosophies, the craving for power and lust for high technology. What profit does it earn you?”

	Benedict turned to Cobar, his smile wilting as he processed the question put to him. “You sound as though you have also abandoned your Legion heritage, despite being unmarred. Perhaps it was a mistake to grant you my gift of the solar heater. Tell me, what is your stake in all of this?”

	Cobar shrugged. “I have no stake in it, and I have not abandoned my Legion heritage; I honor the path that the Grandmaster Dimitri has set before us, the true philosophy of our people, of tolerance and progression. But I have also seen first-hand how such philosophies have been twisted by those who wished only power and prestige for themselves, and I can tell you right now your 'gifts' and 'message' are getting dangerously borderline to that state.”

	“Indeed,” Benedict replied, chuckling to himself as if humored by the needlemole's concern. “And how do you know so much about this corruption of the true Echidna dream?”

	“While I was stationed behind enemy lines, I witnessed the remnants of the Legionnaires who refused to join with the others here side with their murderer for power and the return of their cybernetics, and now they are under the control of a mad woman as mindless slaves. I fought to free them from this fate, but the witch was one step ahead of me, and I failed in my attempts.”

	Blinking in surprise at that, Benedict placed a hand on Cobar's shoulder and signaled for him to walk with him. “I see. Come, walk with me, I would like to know more of this incident that you speak of.”

	Cobar didn't budge. “I would rather talk about what you've done to the constable, sir. You gave him quite a shock with your speech, earlier today. And what are you doing giving him a solar heater? I thought only 'loyal Legionnaires' were granted that luxury, right now?”

	“That is the case, at this moment,” Benedict acknowledged, frowning to himself in contemplation. “But I am not without mercy; I did not intend to shock the constable into such a stupor, and wish to mitigate that by granting him one of the luxuries that I'd provide.”

	“You mean, buttering him up so he'll concede his support in you,” Cobar snarked, bitterly.

	Benedict sneered a little at the insult, but otherwise paid it no mind. “If you prefer to see it that way. I prefer to see it as extending hospitality to my rival in a time of need, and right now, he is in need of a good soak in a warm bath and a hot meal to calm his nerves.”

	Cobar shrugged again, not believing Benedict for a second. “If you say so. In any case, you should realize that, even with your newfound support, questions about where you're getting this wondrous technology are bound to crop up, and you will need to face them, eventually.”

	“Indeed, and I shall, when that time comes, but for right now it is inconsequential. What is of consequence is that, within the next few weeks, I will soon be leader and these devices will be in every hut in Albion. And from there, we can finally focus on rebuilding this city into the wondrous technological empire that it once was.”

	That gave Cobar pause. “You seem very fixated on starting the Echidnas back on the path to high technology as soon as possible. Isn't it more prudent to admit that Remington is right about us needing to situate ourselves with the essentials, first? After all, it's only been a number of months after the incident that brought us here, not enough time for us to jump from clay huts and wood-burning stoves to hovercrafts and solar paneling.”

	Again, Benedict chuckled, this time with more force and disbelief than before. “My dear sir, the Echidna race are a resilient lot, but it's clear that such paltry necessities are not nearly enough to satisfy the masses, anymore. They hunger for a return to the standard of living they used to have, the standard of living they deserve to have. When I am leader, such necessities won't be needed; we will have a better way of life, a better place to live, and nothing that that fool of a constable can do will alter this progression.”

	“And how will you do that?” Cobar asked, pointedly. “Someone from the outside? Lien-Da, perhaps?”

	“The Kommissar?” Benedict mused, confused. “What does she have to do with this? From what the other Legionnaires have said, she had chosen her lot in life. I respect her choice to uphold the Legion values, but I fear...” He caught glimpse of a spiteful scowl on Cobar's lips, putting two and two together with a grunt of dismay. “Oh, I see, it is she who you claim sold out to the enemy. Now I see why you are so worried about my position on this matter.” He placed a hand on Cobar's shoulder and looked him square in the eye, not in any attempt to intimidate him but in reassurance. “It is correct for you to be concerned about this, in that case, but be assured also. When I am leader, such corruption will never touch Albion, I swear it on my life.”

	With that, he left Cobar, wandering off into the distance toward the forest near the back of Albion. Cobar, marking down where in the forest he was heading to in his mind, sighed and turned to head over to the communications building. Well, that was a waste of my time, Cobar thought to himself, dourly, except that he's trying everything to get into everyone's good graces. It's not like he needs it, though, so why is he so desperate? He broke into a run, hoping that Reese and Lara-Ka had made some progress during his talk with Benedict. I guess I'll have to worry about that and talking with the constable later. Right now, I need to see what the others have come up with on their end...




	Reese waved as he saw Cobar come up the path to the communications building, having just arrived with Lara-Ka themselves. Cobar waved back as his run slowed to a canter, furrowing his brow as he realized they hadn't gotten started with anything, yet. He cursed himself for not keeping Benedict talking, not getting as much information about him as he thought he could while giving his comrades enough time to do what he asked them to do, but it couldn't be helped, now.

	“Sorry about running out on you like that, guys,” Cobar gasped, a little out of breath as he joined them outside of the building. “Turns out I didn't get as much info about Benedict as I was hoping.”

	“It's alright, Cobar,” Reese said, opening the door to the building. “We'll be needing your help with the computer, anyway. Shall we get going?”

	Cobar nodded and followed the duo in. As he did so, he explained what he had learned, mostly about his present to Remington. “It doesn't make much sense to me, him giving Remington a solar panel. I suspect he's trying to do something to make Remington out to be a hypocrite and crush any remaining support for him.”

	Lara-Ka shrugged as she sat down at the computer terminal. “It's possible; it wouldn't look too kindly of Remington, catatonic or not, to accept a solar heater after arguing against it.”

	“Did you find out anything else about Benedict?” Reese asked, curiously.

	Cobar shook his head. “No, sadly, just that he's obsessed with gaining the leadership and rebuilding the city back up to a state of high technology as fast as possible. He seemed surprised when I told him about Lien-Da's group; I don't think he's as keen on them as he's letting on.”

	“So you don't think he's one of her spies?” Kara-La asked.

	“No, I don't, not anymore. But that still doesn't answer where he did come from. At this point, I think we may have to take him at his word that he's the same Benedict as the robot.”

	Reese hummed at that, tapping his foot, idly. “Isn't there a way we can confirm that, though? Some sort of energy signature or something we could detect that...”

	“And how, pray tell, would we do that?” Lara-Ka asked, a hint of frustration in her voice. “This is about as close to real technology as we can get our hands on, right now, and I don't think any one of us are as knowledgeable at chaos magic as Dimitri was to be able to build such a detector.”

	Cobar hummed and sat down, opening up his laptop, curiously. “If he is the same being, there's a possibility that he left something in the lock on the terminal, if he's the one who locked it down.” He brought up a few files, buried deep in his laptop's hard drive, labeled “Benedict programming and schematics”. Handing off the laptop to Lara-Ka, he pointed at the screen. “See what you can do about matching up the files here with the programming of the lock. If I'm correct, Benedict may be using an old Legion algorithm based on his original programming to seal the files.”

	Lara-Ka quirked an eyebrow at Cobar, skeptical, but took the laptop. “You think so? You think he'd actually remember his old programming after turning into a flesh-and-blood Echidna?”

	“I know it's a long shot,” Cobar conceded, shrugging, “but it's the best lead we have, right now. While you're doing that, Reese and I will correlate everything we remember the Legion doing with the Benedict robot up until Enerjak's return. Hopefully, we'll be able to use that to see a pattern to this guy's behavior and determine if he really is the same being.”

	Reese nodded and sat down next to Cobar. “Well, we already know that he's strictly following the dogma of the Legion, so that's a start.”

	“Not just that, but his speeches sound similar to the speeches I programmed into him for the election. It's almost like he's trying to recreate that election right here in Albion.”

	“Yes, that is curious,” Reese noted. “What's more curious is the religious bent he's giving to his petitions; he keeps referring to his “death and rebirth”, to the providence of his leadership and of the right of Echidnas to high technology. It's almost as if he's gained some sort of... revelation from his conversion to flesh.”

	“I wouldn't say that,” Cobar countered, half-heartedly, thinking the same thing himself, “but I would say he's possibly got a few screws loose; his circuits were seriously fried from the blast the Avatar hit him with, and I wasn't able to fully undo the damage before I left for my assignment into Eggman's empire. I'm not sure how far your men got in repairing him, but from what you told me, it doesn't sound like it got very far.”

	Reese shook his head. “No, it didn't; as I said, we were mostly interested in replicating him for grunt troopers, so repairing him wasn't the first thing on our minds.”

	“I see,” Cobar mused, thoughtfully. “I just wish we could find out where he came from and where he's getting that technology of his...”

	“Well, maybe this'll help,” Lara-Ka said, suddenly. Cobar and Reese looked over to the female Legionnaire as she rapidly typed out something on the console. The console beeped in response and flashed something on its screen. “You were right, Cobar; Benedict used an old DL-32X encryption algorithm to lock the computer down. I didn't recognize it, at first, because of how old it was, but your programming files for the robot used a similar algorithm to secure its systems.”

	“So you managed to crack the lock?” Cobar asked, smiling a little in cautious optimism.

	Lara-Ka turned to the needlemole and grinned, mischievously. “I did more than that. Take a look...” She continued typing, pointing out certain parts of the program on the screen and explaining what they meant. “Seems like our 'savior' has got himself situated in a bunker near here and tied this terminal into the computers there. I think I can...” Just then, the console flickered and beeped, angrily, the programming on its screen scrambling into a digital mess of glitched coding. Blinking in shock at this sudden turn of events, Lara-Ka slammed her fists onto the keyboard, sending keys flying. “Damnit! The connection was booby-trapped! Benedict must really be desperate to keep his secrets if he's going this far with his hacking.”

	Reese facepalmed and ran his hand through his dreadlocks, frustrated. “Anything you can get out of that gobbledygook?”

	Lara-Ka waved absently to her brother and started typing again. “Hold on, hold on, let's see what I can do...” She spent the next couple of minutes working on the terminal, checking Cobar's laptop every now and then to make sure she was using the right coding for the lock. Eventually, a machine next to the terminal started up, sputtering a few times before spewing out a printout of... something. Reaching over, Lara-Ka ripped the printout out of the machine and handed it to Cobar, smiling at her skill. “Here, I managed to get general coordinates of the bunker Benedict's hiding at. I think it's time we pay him a visit, yes?”

	Cobar took the printout, shaking his head. “No, I'll go. I've been trained for this, and it would be too dangerous for all of us to go.”

	“Then what would you have us do while you're gone?” Reese asked, putting his hands on his hips in slight irritation.

	“Lara-Ka can stay here and try to reestablish a connection to the bunker. If I can get in without detection, I may be able to help her out on that end. Reese, you go to Remington's house and try to snap him out of his funk; if you can, try to get as much info out of him of his interactions with Benedict, especially what he said to him to make him take that solar panel of his. We have to figure out what Benedict's real plan for him is.”

	
