Disclaimer: I don't claim ownership of Shadow the Hedgehog or Amy Rose (not that'd I want to…)
Inescapable Past
Part X
It was a sunny morning in the Emerald Hill, and the area's grassy plains were living up to their name. Beneath one of the lonely trees scattered amongst the rolling landscape, Shadow sat with his back against the sturdy trunk, taking one last respite before resuming his quest; he was certain this was the last chance he'd get. Meanwhile, Amy had taken up Espio on his offer of a quick sparring session, to help her adjust to fighting in her new outfit, the school uniform Sally had provided. Watching the two exchange blows, the black hedgehog was still staggered by the youngster's grasp of martial arts.
Reaching for the backpack they were transporting his guns in, Shadow pulled out the scrap of paper Rouge had given him in New Tek, marking the location where Omega was supposedly waiting for them. Last time he'd seen the robot was during the Black Arms invasion, before he'd left for Space Colony ARK. Afterward, he'd simply disappeared. Word was that after they secured Metropolis City from Robotnik, GUN put out an order to destroy any and all robotic technology manufactured by the good doctor. A wiser man would've taken advantage of Omega's vendetta against all things Robotnik, but as he'd demonstrated throughout the Black Arms invasion, the old Commander was no shrewd tactician. So, provided Rouge wasn't in fact leading them into some elaborate trap, they were likely to have one pissed-off robot on their side, which might help make their impending raid on GUN's HQ less of a suicide mission.
"I see modesty still isn't a major priority," remarked Espio as Amy struck him with a roundhouse kick to the jaw.
"Hey, at least I'm wearing underwear again," said the pink hedgehog, smoothing out her pleated skirt. The chameleon shrugged, conceding the point. He had to admit, it did make things a little less awkward.
"Go easy on him, Amy," interjected Shadow. "Unless you plan on using a gun, we're going to need him."
"Thanks for your concern," said Espio, massaging his jaw.
"Don't mention it," murmured the hedgehog as he reached a pistol out of the backpack; it was time to move. Reading the signal loud and clear, Amy came to over help Shadow off his feet. Lacking any expertise with ranged weapons, she'd become her patient's designated crutch. Slinging the backpack and medical bag over her shoulder, she placed her burden's arm around her neck, gave him a peck on the cheek and gave Espio the nod.
With no perceivable threats in the vicinity, the trio walked at a leisurely pace across the grasslands towards a prominent mound a few hundred yards away. As the only elevated land for miles around, there was no doubt it was the entrance to this underground base. Amy had said something about it maybe being one of Tails' old workshops, abandoned since following his departure to boarding school in Westopolis. Whilst only a theory, it made more sense than it being one of Robotnik's old haunts; what with his ambitions of global conquest, the good doctor had only ever regarded the Mobian countryside as a source of fresh manpower.
"I don't suppose you know the secret password?" said Espio as they arrived at the entrance to the base. Before them stood a pair of hulking iron blast-doors, coated with rust. They'd clearly been here for years, but still impenetrable to all but the most powerful explosives.
"Don't think 'open sesame' is gonna' cut it," said Amy, gazing hopelessly at this new obstacle. She suggested maybe trying to teleport inside, but Shadow overruled, explaining that if he didn't have a clear mental image of his destination, he ran the risk of teleporting inside a wall, which pretty much spelt instant death.
"Could try knocking," said Shadow, to compensate for the downer.
"Best we've got," said Espio, stepping up to the blast doors and banging his fist against one three times. To the trio's amazement, the air was suddenly filled with the terrible creaking of rusted metal grinding against itself as the doors parted, just far enough for the trio to get through.
"Anyone want to go first?" asked the chameleon, rolling his eyes as both hedgehogs' eyes converged on him. Nabbing a pistol from Amy's backpack, the chameleon squeezed through the narrow gap in the doors, stalking cautiously into the darkness beyond. After a few paces, he disappeared from sight. Genuinely nervous for the first time since this saga began, Amy inched towards the breach, her grip on Shadow's shoulder involuntarily tightening.
"I'm right here, kid," uttered the black hedgehog quietly, sensing the youngster's anxiety. Turning to look at her patient, Amy leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Shadow's lips.
"Just for luck," she said, flashing a sweet smile before starting to maneuver her way inside the base. Thanks to the darkness, she was prevented from seeing the genuine smile of contentment on Shadow's face. As they proceeded deeper into the cavernous hangar, Amy's eyes darted left and right as she heard brief but constant echoes of what sounded like footsteps. She couldn't decide whether it was Espio, a mysterious other, or just her imagination.
"Omega, god-lights!" yelled a voice suddenly, startling the youngster so badly she lost her balance, tumbling to the floor, taking Shadow down with her. A moment later, a wall of light bulbs lit up the base's far wall, blinding the fallen hedgehogs.
"That should do it," shouted the same voice, and the so-called 'god-lights' turned off, replaced by far dimmer overhead lamps. Sitting up, Amy corrected her upturned skirt before turning to Shadow, her vision still a little blurry: "You two ok down there?"
The pink hedgehog looked round, expecting to see Espio, but she in for the surprise of her life. Standing over the duo, dressed in bright orange coveralls with a submachine-gun in her hands, was her old friend Tekno: "You?"
"Nice to see you too," the canary smirked, offering Amy a hand up. Her patient momentarily forgotten, the youngster accepted, her face still a portrait of complete bemusement. "Wanna' go talk?"
Nodding, Amy left Shadow in Espio's charge as she followed Tekno's lead across the spacious hangar, her head still reeling from the shock. She hadn't seen the canary in five years, not since the attack by badniks on their secluded woodland village, from which the seven-year-old hedgehog was the only survivor. After a week or so wondering in the Great Forest, she was discovered on the brink of death somewhere near Knothole. Her saviour? None other than Sonic.
"So what happened to you after the attack?" asked Amy as they arrived what she assumed was the base's control room. The huge monitor displaying an image of the base's entrance was a pretty big hint
"Turns out it was my father Robotnik was after," replied Tekno, sitting down on a sleeping bag laid out on the concrete floor – she'd been sleeping here a while.
"What was he working on?" asked the hedgehog, sitting down opposite. The canary's father had always been quite the inventor – rumour had it he was descended from the legendary Babylonians.
"Aero technology, converts oxygen into energy instantly; it's how the Rogues power their Extreme Gear."
"Did your father agree to work for him, then?"
"Not exactly – dad refused, but I knew you everything he did – I'd been helping him out since he started."
"You mean you helped Buttnik with this Aero thing?"
"I was seven, my parents had guns to their heads, and I pretty sure all my friends were dead."
Amy nodded her understanding: "Did your parents survive?"
"Well, he didn't shoot them, tossed them in jail instead. They starved when a fleet of supply trucks headed for their detention facility was attacked by the resistance."
"Oh..." said Amy, biting her lower lip. She remembered trying in vain to convince Sally to let her go on that mission. "So, uh, how've you wound up here?"
"Rouge got me out right before GUN moved on Metropolis."
"How did you two meet?"
"I working in Robotnik's special weapons lab, and she was a double-agent. I think she took pity on me or something."
"Well, she's not totally heartless."
"I'll say. She's been keeping me alive down here."
"You're hiding down here?"
"Pretty much - GUN has a price out on my head – I'm a fugitive, basically."
"So you're Rouge's technician?"
Tekno nodded, explaining how the trackers that'd been the root cause of all Shadow and Amy's problems had been her creation, adapted from a prototype made by Tails. Amy warned her it was probably best not to share that little gem with Shadow whilst there were guns around.
Meanwhile, Shadow and Omega were having their own reunion of sorts, establishing just where the robot had been for the last five months; nothing when compared to five years, but Shadow's list of friends was about a tenth the size of his guardian angel's. Anyway, it turned out the robot had been down here for the most part, undergoing repairs after a run-in with a GUN special ops unit had left him quite literally in pieces. Given Tekno's limited resources, she hadn't been able to restore all his weapon systems, but his Gatling guns still worked well enough. Aside from that brief conversation, most of the time was given over to perusing the hoard of weapons Rouge and Tekno had somehow amassed, neatly laid out on a row of workbenches in the hangar. Some of the gear was so state-of-the-art, it annoyed Shadow he wasn't in any shape to use anything past a pistol.
"I see you've broken out the toys," remarked Tekno as they rejoined the guys.
"Just where have you been getting this stuff?" queried the black hedgehog, holding up an assault rifle he knew for a fact had only gone into production last month.
"Rouge claims its all through Topaz, but I suspect a little foul play," replied Tekno.
"I thought as much," said Shadow, propping himself up by leaning against Omega.
"Tell me, are using these likely to give us any sort of edge against the troopers?" asked Espio, running his finger along the barrel of a shotgun.
"That your way of asking is it worth ditching those circus knives?" Shadow chimed in.
"Just been doing some basic math – that GUN garrison is likely to be at least 300 strong – I figure we're going to need all the help we can get, especially if we're targeting the Commander."
"Speaking of which, do we even know how we're going to find the Commander?" queried Amy.
"Luckily Rouge already thought of that," answered Tekno. "Omega, if you will."
On cue, a panel on Omega's torso moved downward, revealing a lens that projected a holographic image of GUN's HQ building and surrounding compound. This tech was a little something Tekno had added whilst reassembling the robot. The canary proceeded to explain that if the Commander was on-site, he would almost invariably be in his office located near the top of the building, and that the best way to access it would be to teleport onto the rooftop helipad and fight their way down.
"It's logical enough, but we're going to need a diversion of some kind," remarked Shadow, gazing intently at the holographic. "Like Espio said, we're going to be outnumbered twenty to one at the very least."
"And your solution would be...?" asked Tekno.
"Drop Omega in the centre of the compound, and then teleport up to the helipad," replied the black hedgehog. "They'll be far more inclined to commit the majority of their forces to dealing with a killer robot compared to a cripple and two preteen girls...Amy, do you think Sally would mind lending us a second uniform?"
"Uh, I guess so," said the pink hedgehog, a little miffed by the question. "Why?"
"Because if Captain Invisible there doesn't get to them first, it might help keep you and your friend just a little bit safer; GUN's troopers are a hardened bunch, but even they're going to hesitate on the trigger if they see a schoolgirl in their crosshairs."
"Makes perfect sense to me," said Tekno almost immediately. The logic was hard to fault.
"Good, we'll do that now. The rest of you decide on your weapons; we leave as soon as we're ready."
"Yes, boss," said Espio, throwing the hedgehog a mock salute as Amy went to where she'd dumped the bags. Preferring to risk his legs than get engaged in another round of sparring, Shadow limped after the pink hedgehog, flipping the chameleon his middle finger.
"Are you two always this catty?" asked Tekno once the hedgehogs were out of earshot.
"It's been an interesting couple of days," replied Espio, turning his attention back to the firearms.