Tails was just wrapping everything up when Nicole appeared in his hollow display.
"Hey Tails, I just thought I would drop by and let you know Sonic is back"
Tails had spent the last two weeks working on a prototype shield generator with Rotor. He hadn't had time for his friends or family, but now that he was finally done, he could go enjoy some down time with his friends.
"That's great Nicole! Do you know where he will be?"
"There is another meeting here in half hour, my guess is he will be back for that."
"Way past Nicole, Thanks."
Nicole smiled and faded away.
Tails only had a few more things to clean up before he could leave to catch the end of their meeting. Tails glanced over at Rotor who was putting the finishing touches on the prototype and then went back to moving the last few boxes of supplies into the storage room.
Tails had always loved the freedom fighters lifestyle, but he was starting to see less and less of the outdoors. It wasn't that he didn't like working with Rotor, in fact working on machines and computers came unnaturally easy to him, but he still missed the old days of roughing it with Sonic and Sally.
After he placed the last box on the shelf Tails walked over behind Rotor, carful not to startle him, and asked "Anything else I can help you with?"
"No Tails, I think we are all done. Go ahead and go home, you have done more than your fair share."
Relieved, Tails thanked him and headed for the door. Now the only issue was getting back to town in time to catch Sonic. The lab had been built into the side of one of the cliffs on the opposite side of the valley. Only a select few knew about it.
To speed things up, Tails chose to use his hover board that he had in the closet next to the door. He had designed it a while back for fun, because weaving in and out of the trees was as adventuresome as his life got most of the time. Hopefully, with Sonic back he could find something more fun to do.
Tails punched in the number 3781 on the numbered door pad to let himself out. The sunlight was blinding, he had to lift his hands to shield his eyes from the bright sunrays that shone through the trees. He almost never left during the day. He arrived early in the morning and left later in the evening, so the sun was a welcomed experience. He put his board on the ground and popped his boots in. It slowly came to life and lifted him off the ground. Finally he adjusted his goggles to fit comfortably over his eyes and set off towards the capital.
With this much light Tails was looking forward to the ride home, he could go faster without fear of running into anything. He glided slowly over a pond looking down through the surface. There must have been hundreds of fish; he had never noticed them before. The cool air felt great as it rustled his hair and across his back through his tails. As he reached the other side of the pond he sped up to give his hover board a work out, promptly dodging the tree on the ponds edge and continuing into the forest. He was moving closer to 60 MPH now, having the most fun he had all week, dodging trees and making steep vertical climbs and descents just for fun.
Tails was now nearing the edge of the city he began to pass some of the houses that lie on the outskirts. To be courteous and avoid injuring anyone he slowed his pace. After passing Amy's house he could see his in the distance, perched on one of the branches of a very large Oak tree. It would be unlikely that his parents would be around, but he thought he would stop by anyway. He always welcomed a chance to see them; after all they had been stuck on another planet for 10 years. Tails decided against an attempt to land his hover board on the porch, and instead landed at the trees base and leaned the board against the tree. Then he loosened his goggles and moved them up to his forehead. Rather than walk up the stairs that spiraled around the tree, he simply glanced up and judged his flight path. After a quick jump his tails pulled him into the air and within seconds he was on his front porch.
Tails tapped softly on the door as he walked in to announce his presence. He peered around, but house seemed empty. Then he heard foot steps from the next floor up moving towards the stairs, followed by his mothers' voice, "Is someone there?"
"Hey Mom!"
"Miles is that you? How are you? I haven't seen you in days!" Rosemary walked down the stairs moving quickly towards her son.
"Mom, it's Tails remember?"
"Awe I am sorry dear of course it is. How is everything?" she said as she moved to embrace him.
Reaching up to match her height Tails gave his mom a big comforting hug.
"Well we finally finished it, so hopefully I'll be at home for the next little while."
"That's great! Does it work…whatever it is?"
"I am not sure, we won't be field testing it until later this month."
"Do you want me to make you some lunch?"
"No. I just came home to see if either Dad or you were here. Speaking of Dad where is he?"
"He is attending the council meeting that was scheduled this morning. I think Sonic is supposed to be there too."
"I know. That's where I am off to next."
"Well then would you like anything for the road?"
"No Mom, I think I am fine. I don't think I'll be gone that long anyway."
Tails walked over to the door and opened it to leave, but his mother called out to him.
"Tails you can't leave with out giving your mother another hug!"
"Oh, I am sorry Mom."
Tails turned to give his mother another hug. Seeing that she was satisfied, he quickly turned and ran at the door, hurtled over the porch railing, and glided down to the ground using his tails. Surprisingly his mother had finally grown used to him doing that. He glanced up to see if she was peering over the railing, but was surprised not to see her. He casually walked back over to his board, strapped his feet back in and repositioned his goggles. He paused a few moments to let his board warm up again and gain some altitude. After he was 5 feet off the ground he sped off towards the center of the city.
After only two minutes of flying he could see the castle looming in the distance. Even with trees obscuring most of it, it was still an impressive structure to look at. While it looked hundreds of years old on the outside, it was constantly renovated on the inside to keep it up with time. Nothing they ever did seemed to detract from its glory, but instead made it feel more like a big home. It had four towers, each one a slightly different height. While nothing resided in them, they added to its grandeur stature. The guard wall was now only a mile away, and Tails could faintly make out the patrols walking back and forth on the top of the wall. Guards were positioned more for expected appearance than anything else. The city was its own fortress within this valley.
When Tails reached the guard gate he landed his board and hopped off. He looked up at the guard in the tower whom responded, "Ah Mr. Powers, long time no see."
Slightly annoyed Tails replied, "I'd prefer Tails, and yes, it has been a while."
"Here to attend the meeting?"
Rather than explain anything Tails just responded, "Yes."
With a nod of his head, the guard signaled for the gate to be opened.
Tails continued through the gate while balancing his board on his shoulder with one arm and removing his goggles with the other. It was then that Tails wrist computer began to vibrate. Setting down his board he tapped the display to reveal an incoming message from Nicole.
Nicole appeared in the Holographic display on his watch and began, "Tails, I am sorry to do this to you today, but we need you to get to the hanger on the double."
Of course on his first day off, Sonic brings back more work for him. At least this time he would get a piece of the action. The hanger meant he was going to get the Tornado, which hopefully would get him out on the front line working with Sonic.
"I don't suppose I have time to say Hi to anyone do I?" Tails said with a sadden face.
"I am afraid not, this is extremely urgent. I'll fill you in on the details once your in the air."
"Alright I should be able to get there in 15 minutes. Tails out." Tails closed the display, slightly annoyed, but he thought to himself at least the rest of the day may be interesting. Tails turned and walked back out the front gate. Before the guard could even ask Tails why he was leaving so soon, Tails said "Change of plans, I'll see you later."
The guard nodded to signal he understood and went back to his post. Tails then strapped back on his board and took off in a westerly direction towards the hanger.
It was an even shorter ride than he expected. Most of the time he just walked to the hanger, so he was unaware of how quick he would get there on his board. Tails immediately hopped off of his board and put it in his hanger closet, he could get it later when he returned. After depositing the hover board he raced across the large hanger and climbed into the cockpit of the Tornado to do a preflight systems check. Once all the computers were up and running he got back out and walked over to grab the fuel hose. At times it annoyed him at how big the hanger was for only having one plane. The sheer size of the large tin roofed structure made the Tornado look like a toy. After connecting the hose to the Tornado, Tails flipped the switch on the pump and moved back as the pump squeaked into life. The Tornados fuel gauge had read 68% full, more than enough for 7 hours of flight, but Tail always believed in being prepared.
While the pump continued to fill the remainder of the tank Tails checked the rest of the plane. After checking the aft section of the aircraft Tails was satisfied that the plane was in good condition to fly. He proceeded to return to his locker and begin to put his flight gear on. He swapped out his goggles and grabbed his leather jacket and scarf. Just as he finished wrapping his scarf he heard the fuel pump's auto off click into place. He walked over and disconnected the fuel line. Doing his best not to spill any fuel, he carefully placed the hose back on its' holder mounted on the wall.
Finally he thought it was go time. With a surge of adrenalin Tails climbed the ladder to his plane and strapped himself in. The whole plane shook for a few seconds as the engine struggled to start. Once he had the engine up to speed, he pulled back on the throttle and turned off the choke. He hit a button on the planes console to open the hanger doors while simultaneously engaging a small amount of forward thrust. As the plane rolled forwards towards the now rapidly opening doors he could only wonder what exactly he was being sent to do. He knew he had to concentrate on taking of first though. Seeing that the doors were no longer a problem he increased the thrust to 100% and the Tornado lurched forward with surprising agility.
It only took tails a quarter mile of runway to take off. After that it was a simple question of making it through the canopy of tress overhead. This was no easy feat, but the hanger was built near an area with far fewer trees, it made it at the very least possible. Once he was clear of all the trees, Tails took a moment to soak in the surroundings. The forest looked beautiful from up here, and the sun shone even brighter despite the scattered clouds. He hadn't gotten a chance to fly the Tornado for what seemed like months, he was just now realizing how much he missed it. Even though he didn't get to see Sonic, today was starting to shape up to be pretty good. Feeling increasingly familiar with the controls, Tails preformed a series of barrel rolls for fun.
Having enjoyed himself long enough, Tails sent Nicole a message alerting her that he was in the air. It didn't take long for her to respond "Excellent work TailsI I am relaying you the coordinates of the locations we need observed. We have reason to believe that there are in fact more Overlanders now living in Robotropolis. Avoid detection at all costs, but keep a sharp eye out for any new faces, we need to know what they are up to. I know you probably have a lot of questions, but this is all I know right now, so you may as well save them for latter when I know more."
"Am I working alone?"
"No, Bunny Rabot will meet you here." Nicole said as she flashed the coordinates across his screen. "We will be dispatching more troops as soon as we can, but for now its just you two. Good luck and stay safe. Nicole out."
Well that was a one sided conversation Tails thought to himself. She must have a lot to do if she can't even let me ask another question. Tails examined his coordinates and circled well out of the air space of Robotropolis. He would be better served approaching the west, the now setting sun would be blinding to any onlookers, hopefully preventing them from spotting him. It would be another thirty minuets before he could be at the rendezvous point. Hopefully Bunny will already be there he thought to himself, and hopefully she has more answers.
