Tails looked out the back of his transport truck, seeing his soon to be wife weeping as he departed. He smiled at the memories of the previous night, and how he woke up that morning, getting a good breakfast from Cream, as well as a good luck kiss. But most important was what was around his neck.

He opened the silver locket which was Cream's, but given to him before he left to keep a piece of her close. Inside was a picture of Cream and Tails looking at a sunset, with Cream resting her head on Tails' shoulder as they held hands, Cream's left one sparkling with her engagement ring.

The two-tailed fox grinned at that, looking up as he was driven further away from Cream on the truck. He gave one last wave, which she returned, and then he went inside the truck, sitting with several other soldiers.

"Hell of a girl you got there," said the blue hedgehog sat next to him.

"Thanks," Tails said. "Sonic, right?"

"Yeah, you must be the new guy," Sonic replied. "Miles or Tails or whatever."

"Tails is a nickname, but Miles is my real name," Tails said, showing his tails to Sonic. "And I'm called Tails because of this."

"Well, welcome aboard, Tails," Sonic grinned.

"Thanks," Tails smiled back. "So, is there anything that I should watch out for?"

"I'll tell you when we get there," Sonic said. "For now, let's just enjoy the ride. Our driver will go ape-shit on us if we don't keep quiet."

"Right."

The two kept their mouths shut, with Tails earning looks from other soldiers, a mixture of Mobian and human alike. Some of them kept focus on his twin tails, whilst others were making small, whispered comments about his smaller stature and youth.

Soon, they'd arrived at their main base after a long drive. There were twenty tents, which made sense given the amount of transport vehicles that were in Tails' convoy, his own being the last to make it there. All of the vehicles stopped in a straight line, waiting for the soldiers to hop out before driving forwards into their own separate garages which were further beyond the tents.

All of the soldiers looked up to see a black man in his mid-forties wearing a more advanced looking military uniform when compared to the others. He sported a dark grey beard and had many medals and badges on the left side of his uniform, and on his right, above the pectoral, was the name Col. Conway.

"My name is Tyson Conway," he said through a loudspeaker. "You will refer to me as Colonel, Colonel Conway, or sir. You will also refer to your commanding officers by their title, their surname, both, or sir. Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the soldiers and officers bellowed.

"Now, we have some new blood, which is good. For those fighting for the first time, you'll go sign up in your own tents where you'll also find your training schedules. And remember, we all have a common goal: Fight the enemy. I don't care if you guys love or hate each other. When you're under my command, you will learn to get along and fight the good fight. Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"For those unfamiliar with the enemy, you will find all of the info that you need in your dossiers, which are updated as and when new things come along. You will find out more about this from your officers. And when they tell you to go out and stop the enemy, you will do what?"

"Stop the enemy!"

"Again!"

"STOP THE ENEMY!"

"And again!"

"STOP THE ENEMY!"

"Fucking right we will!" Conway said. "We are the 44th Chimera regimen!"

"CHIMERA! CHIMERA! CHIMERA!" the soldiers chanted, Tails joining along when he gathered what was being yelled out.

Conway held his hands up to calm them down. "Now, Chimeras, get ready to fight!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Dismissed!"

The soldiers then broke off into different groups, with Tails looking around, confused. Luckily, a green crocodile in dark green uniform took Tails' arm and managed to lead him to his tent, not speaking during the process. Tails had soon reached his tent, smiling as he saw Sonic's familiar face there.

"You're Tails, right?" the crocodile asked. "I'm Vector, your CO."

"Yes, I am Tails, sir," the fox replied.

Vector grinned. "Eh, I don't care for the formalities. Just Vector will do."

"But the Colonel said-"

"I know what he said. I just don't care." Vector took out a clipboard. "Now, you're leaning more towards tech, am I right?"

"Communications, specifically," Tails said.

Vector looked over the clipboard. "Says you're quite a wiz kid. You've rebuilt computers, consoles, phones... hell, all sorts. It also says that you're learning some other languages?"

"Just to make sure in case we bump into the enemy," Tails said.

"No need," Vector replied. "The enemy speaks English."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Vector nodded. "In fact, what our good Colonel glossed over was the fact that our enemies used to be allies. They betrayed the regiment and became a terrorist group, and now they reach to other parts of the world, and not really in the best ways."

"I heard," Tails nodded. "The bombing in Spain, the assaults in Egypt, the arson of that mansion in Russia..."

"Yeah, all one group," Vector said. "That is the enemy, and we must stop them."

"I got that from Conway."

The crocodile smirked at that. "So, you're up for communications, but you've trained in fighting, yes?"

"Some basic self-defence stuff," Tails said. "I can shoot a gun too."

"Let's hope that you shoot at the right people," Vector said. "All right, all set. I just need a thumbprint."

Vector then moved to his side, showing a black ink pad. Tails reached out, pressing his thumb on the pad before pressing it against the clipboard next to where he'd put his signature. Once he'd done that, he took the pen from Vector to right his name in really impressive cursive before handing both the pen and the clipboard back.

"All right, you're all set," Vector smiled. "Now, pick a bunk. There's not any sleeping order, so knock yourself out."

"Don't you have to teach us about the enemy?" Tails asked.

"Later," Vector replied. "First part of the schedule is picking a bunk, then breakfast, training, then a briefing where you'll be given your dossiers full of the info you need."

"I know that the folders will tell us what we know, but is there anything that you can tell us that's not in them?" Tails asked.

"That's a good question, but the answer is no," said Vector. "Not until we know more. Conway has all the information that we do, and maybe just a bit more."

"He's not holding out on us, is he?"

"No, he's not," Vector said. "He'll give us that info when he deems it necessary. It might seem counter-productive, but it's worked so far." The crocodile sighed. "Anyway, you'd best get your bed sorted, then meet in the mess hall with the others."

Tails nodded. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me just yet," said Vector. "Thank me when the fight is over."

Tails nodded again, going over to see the bunk-beds, most of which were taken up, except for Sonic, who had taken the top bunk. Tails chuckled and walked over with his bag to set his stuff up, putting the bag under the bed and hopping onto the bottom bunk.

"Hope you don't mind," Sonic said.

"It's cool," Tails replied. "Might keep me grounded."

"Well, you are going for communications," Sonic pointed out. "It's a lot of sitting down and talking."

"What about you?" Tails asked. "What's your role?"

"I'm just part of a fast attack force," Sonic shrugged. "I dunno who else is with me, I just know that my group is meant to get in and out quick. Open the wounds on the enemy before the other forces deepen them."

"That's a pretty messed up way of putting it, but I hear you," Tails said.

"Hey, and no matter what, your contributions will help too," Sonic smiled. "What good is trying to open a wound when we don't have an exposed spot?"

"The tech has to be really good for us to find it," Tails replied.

"Eh, the tech is only as good as the person behind it," Sonic said.

Tails chuckled, and they continued conversing, even getting to know some of the other soldiers a bit better before an alarm sounded. Vector guided them to the mess hall, which was a part of the building that Conway came out from earlier.

The building itself was huge, having multiple training barracks, a mess hall, some offices for the higher-ups to meet and discuss missions, several computer rooms, a couple of shooting ranges, and staircases leading upwards to another section which contained more offices, most notably the Colonel's own office.

Tails was in awe as he took it all in, with some other new soldiers even being impressed by it all. The clean looking black and grey design with spots of dark green gave it an oddly appropriate feel, and the long dinner tables, already rife with soldiers eating their food, looked polished and clean.

Tails went along the line and was given his breakfast, same as everyone else, soon finding a spot to sit at in the crowded hall. Sonic sat next to him, sharing a fist-bump with the fox before they focused more on eating.

Soon, they were finished, and saw other soldiers who were done taking their own leave to the training rooms. Tails saw Vector, who noticed the fox's look of confusion before giving a nod. Tails nodded back, standing up with Sonic before both made their way to the barracks, entering one of the rooms.

They saw many varying types of obstacle courses all around, with some soldiers breezing past and others failing miserably. Still, Tails managed to shake off his nerves, looking around in thought before his friend spoke up.

"What's first for you?" Sonic asked.

Tails shrugged. "I'm thinking something more to do with jumping."

"Ah, good choice," Sonic said. "But you'd best not be planning to use your powers here."

"You have them too?" Tails asked.

"All Mobians do," Sonic chuckled. "I thought that someone as smart as you could have figured that one out."

"Well, I can fly using my tails," the yellow fox said. "You?"

"I can run fast," Sonic said. "I don't know what my top speed is, but I have to tone it down for these courses. Hell, you should have seen me in practise."

"You should have seen me in practise too," Tails laughed. "During the wall climbs, it took everything not to just fly right over the walls themselves."

"Are you two going to train or are you going to keep yammering on?" Vector asked.

"We'll train," Tails replied.

"Not a question I was expecting an answer too, but thanks, I guess." Vector took out a whistle. "On my marks... get set..." He then blew the whistle.

Tails ran through a course that required climbing and jumping, managing to land safely in a sandpit at the end of a long jump. Sonic also had a sandpit at the end of his course too, but his was more speed geared, with hurdles and crawling obstacles too.

Soon, the training was done, and they all had their showers. When cleaned, they went to their tents for their rest period, seeing dossiers on their beds. Tails went over to pick his up, seeing a file on himself, shrugging.

"That's to be expected... let's see... yep, this is all correct about me..." He looked at weaknesses. "Smaller and younger than others, inexperienced despite his intelligence... not much of a fighter..." He kept looking. "A role in communications suits him... he's smart, and more than capable with any form of technology in front of him." He smiled at that last part, looking at the bottom of the top bunk. "How'd you do, Sonic?"

"Eh... same as I've heard before," Sonic said. "Cocky, brash, arrogant... me? Come on." Sonic shook his head. "Anyway, fast fighter, super speed is a help, and has a good background in fighting. Recommended use of faster firing weapons. Also seen as quick on his feet and has good leadership skills." Sonic chuckled to himself. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Tails chuckled, turning his page. "Enemy group is Five Across The Eye, or FATE. Very ominous."

"You just wait until you see who their members are," Sonic replied.

Tails kept reading. "Former soldiers, now a mercenary group... mainly focused on getting their own agenda across... they chose their name because they were tired of the lies that they were fed, and what the acronym spells refers to them slapping what they knew across the face as a sign of betrayal..." Tails read more. "The FATE part is what they hope to make people realise, wanting them to know that they got themselves into this mess, and there was nothing they could do about it."

"Eh, just sounds like the same old shit to me," Sonic said. "I've dealt with some of these guys before."

"Why don't we just go right after them?" Tails asked.

"I thought you were smart," Sonic smiled. "Truth is, they have as big a base as we do. You know we're the 44th Chimera Regimen? Well, they're the 43rd, and their Colonel is our Colonel's younger brother."

"Wait... Conway... Darius Conway, right?" Tails asked.

"Hit the nail on the head," said Sonic. "It really is a messed up situation. They used to work close together, but Darius got tired of losing, and blamed most of that on Tyson being dead weight. The soldiers they were commanding got tired of their numbers dwindling too, and over only ten months, the former Chimera regimen is one of the biggest threats to our lives."

"FATE... man... they have close ties to our own army... that's a good thing and a bad thing," Tails sighed.

"I get you," the blue hedgehog said. "It's a weird case of knowing your enemy, but we do have an advantage in having new soldiers too. But, then again, they've been doing what they've been doing for a lot longer, and we're more of a task force than an army."

"You think we can still win?"

"Oh, absolutely," Sonic said. Another bell went off. "Looks like it's time for our briefing."

Tails nodded, and Vector gathered all of his men before sending them off to the main building. Tails saw soldiers filing in and out of different conference rooms before following Vector and the rest of his group to one of the rooms on the left. There was a huge, long table, slightly bigger than the dinner ones in the mess hall, and they all had a seat with the exception of Vector, walking to the back of the room and pulling down a projector.

"All right, I trust that you all read your dossiers by now, because I watched you read them," Vector chuckled. "Anyway, this is our current situation," he said. A picture of a dark grey cat appeared on the screen. "This is Hooper. He was sent as a man inside, but hasn't been heard from for a while. We initially kept contact through private phone numbers, but someone over there decided to hack into the line. They didn't trace it back to us directly, but they know that something's up, and Hooper hasn't been heard from in weeks now."

"Why not just send in an attack force?" asked Sonic.

"Where he's being kept is too heavily guarded. They've got turrets and anti-aircraft guns, not to mention snipers."

"What about tanks?" asked another soldier.

"They have those, but in the garage," said Vector. "They use tanks for offence, not defence."

"So, how do we break him out if he's so heavily guarded?" Tails asked.

"I'm glad that you asked," Vector smiled. "You, fluffy, are going to counter hack their phone lines like they did against us."

"And how do I do that?" asked Tails.

"Well, we're going to try and get contact with them. One of the benefits of Hooper being over there is that we have their phone number. We'll set up a call with them. Then you're going to hack and trace it back to where their base is."

"We don't already know with the number?" Sonic asked.

"We almost found out, but that's when our boy got caught," said Vector. "And if we don't do this, we may never get him back, or find out where they are."

"Didn't they stick to one place when the broke off from the rest of us?" Tails asked.

"No, they move frequently," said Vector. "Once every two to three weeks, so they could be going any time soon."

"And they could take Hooper with them..." Tails said.

"Exactly," Vector nodded. "Now, that's all of it. Go rest up before lunch boys."

They all left the room, soon making it back to their tent. They hopped into their bunks, deciding to chatter about their mission, how to go about it, and so on. Tails, however, was on his bottom bunk, looking at his locket when Sonic's head peeked around from the top bunk to see it.

"Miss her, huh?" Sonic asked.

"I do," Tails nodded. "I miss her so much."

"Don't worry," Sonic assured. "You'll get back to her safe and sound."

Tails grinned. "Say, Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I know we haven't known each other much, but me and Cream are planning on getting married. Would you like to be my best man?"

"Oh, I'd be honoured, man!" Sonic said. "But first we've got to get out of this safely."

"We will," Tails chuckled.

Back and Tails and Cream's house...

Cream sighed as she waited in the bathroom, looking at the pregnancy test. "It said wait five minutes... still nothing..." she sighed and almost threw it into the trash when she glimpsed at it again, seeing two pink lines. She quickly looked at the box in her other hand, unable to hide her grin. "I'm... I'm pregnant..." She smiled. "I'm pregnant! Me and Tails are having a baby!"

She quickly rushed to her living room, deciding to write a letter to Tails, thankful that she was given the address to his base. "My dearest Tails, the night we made love, you gave me a gift. I can only hope that you return in time to see it. In other words, I'm pregnant with your child. Our child. Boy or girl... it doesn't matter. What matters is that they'll be perfect, just like you and me are together. Lots of love, Cream."

She sealed the envelope, wrote the address on it, and put the letter in her mailbox to be collected before going to her bed, laying back and cheering excitedly as she raised her arms. She then looked to her side to see a framed photograph that was the same picture in Tails' locket. She reached out and took the framed picture, imagining a cute little baby between the two, holding both their hands. She giggled, kissed the picture, put it back, then decided to have a rest of her own.

And another one of these done! I hope that you enjoyed this one, as well as the introduction of certain characters, including original ones. I also hope that I got the military barracks and base thing right, even though it's more of a modern take on it, I guess. Anyway, I'll see you in the next thing I write, whatever that may be. Until then, take care, and stay tuned.