SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 25: Cold, Hard, Cache
----
Juke laid Knuckles down on her bed, "Looks like I ain't gettin' no sleep tonight. I wonder what happened to him?" He was so, so cold to the touch it was surprising he hadn't frozen to death.
She stepped outside, yes it was a rather cold night, but not cold enough that Knuckles would be so frozen, and what about the cuts? The Lieutenant walked over to Knuckles' hut not too far from where she was. When she got there, she found his hut perfectly normal, evertything in order.
The real difference between Knuckles hut and the rest was in the size. A regular hut contained only a bed and a desk, Knuckles hut, however, contained several desks littered with tactical maps and the like and two computers. One of which, was ordinary, the other, was the recon computer.
She checked his regular computer, on it was a picture of a DFG Tactical. It was a sleek silver, and had curved angles. A tactical flashlight was attached to the bottom and it was just as she had imagined. Listed underneath were the words "C-Cache" and coordinates. She traced it through the computer and as it pinged in on the location, everything fell into place.
The Lieutenant raced back to her hut, where the Guardian Echidna still lay still in her bed. She spotted it right away; a buldge in the pocket of the echidna's black jacket. Carefully, she reached for it and snagged the object out of there. In her hands she held the DFG Tactical, though its chill forced her to set it down after a few seconds. Juke wasn't surprised at the chill it carried, but she was surprised at its lightweightedness.
As Knuckles was using her bed, she decided to sleep under her desk. Turning the light off she settled in under there, a pillow cushioning her head against the hard floor.
---
The next morning
---
Knuckles awoke to the soreness of his entire body, but, he reasoned, it sure beat being unable to feel it at all. He checked himself over, the pistol was missing! His entire trip was for nothing! But he didn;t panic, because he remembered having it.
The Guardian checked himself over, his cold hands cut, his mouth bloody. He slowly sat up in the bed he was in, taking in his surroundings, he knew where he was, afterall, he had built the place himself. Knuckles (intentionally) rolled over and off the bed, landing on his hands and knees. He slowly got up and looked around the hut, and spotted Juke laying under her computer desk.
"Juke! What the heck are you doing under there?" Knuckles asked.
"Sorry... sir... never... again..." Juke mumbled on in some dream.
"Juke wake up NOW!" Knuckles barked, obviously feeling better.
Juke snapped awake. "YES SIR!"
"Geez, what are you dreaming about?"
"Nightmare more like, it was about my time with Robotnik... but that's not important, what's important was WHAT IN THE HECK were you doing at Ice Cap? That place is dangerous!"
"What? You think I wouldn't know that? Are you insulting my intelligance Juke? The Chaotix had a..."
"I know, I know weapons stash and you went and got a DFG tactical off them, Its on the desk."
"Nice digging." Knuckles replied sarcastically.
"Why thank you Guardian."
"Alright, Alright thats enough. Now though, I have to show you what I REALLY found on Charmy's computer."
"Wait CHARMY's computer? I saw it all on YOUR computer!"
"Uh-uh, Charmy's the tiniest thing you've ever seen, his keyboard is microscopic, so we're all forced to hack into his computer to get any information out."
"Right..."
"Anyways come here, it's about 50 meters out, and I'll never ever have to go to Ice Cap again," Knuckles said, muttering a
"thank god" at the end.
---
50 meters away
---
"Oh my gosh..." Juke gasped an entire army's worth of weapons and tools and computers lay before her. "How in the world did you manage to bring even a little of this back?"
"I went in trips, took the hover cruiser... Lets see, we have... Frags, jammers, maps, pistols and ooh... whats this? A sniper... silencers... and wow... phone and computer bugs and more stuff! This is awesome Juke!" Knuckles yelled, but something was clearly wrong with him.
"Whats up? What in the heck went on up there last night?"
Knuckles swallowed slowly, "...nothing, nothing happened."
---
Training Complex - 6/6/4460 --1450
---
A rested and recorvered Knuckles stood tall in front of Sonic, Tails and Juke. "Two days to go until you two, Sonic and Tails, will face the ultimate test, a pre-mature one. And for this we need to be as ready as we can possibly be. We will train hard the today and tomorrow afternoon, after which we will rest up on the way to... Robotropolis."
And Knuckles started his plan, "While I am a good close quarters fist fighter, that is not needed now. Juke has her pistol if needed, and you both know enough to save your rears. Instead, I will snipe, if needed, which hopefully will not. Remember, it is a RECON mission, stay the heck outta site, make it like you were never there.
"Today's training excercise involves a true mission skill: Knowing the Unknown. You never know what you will find in enemy territory. Rarely the first time you will know the blueprints, guard rotations, and so on. Because of this, you must be prepared for anything. There are two ways to approach a situation, silently or loudly, offensive or defensive."
"Each way has its ups and downs, Sonic, what happens if you take the offensive?"
"Radios." Sonic answered, his mind wandering elsewhere, barely listening.
"Right, he'll either call for backup, or his buddies will begin to fight you too. Good for one-on-one's, but not multiple bots, however, defensively, we can sneak in, without a fight." Knuckles finished.
"Aw, C'mon Knuckles, that's no fun!" The blue hedgehog protested.
"Dying is fun?"
"No, but winning is."
"Ah... I see where you're going, but what if Tails died because of your stupidity?"
"It wouldn't be stupidity Knuckles! Who cares as long as that SWAT is dead and I'm not?"
"And if you're injured?"
"Radios."
"Radios. Hmmph, that is your answer for everything! Remember the shooting on Mount Marble, Juke told me about it, if you thought that was terrible, you'll love the guns that have penetration."
Sonic grunted. "Whatever Knuckles, just get to the exercise already, I could be dead in five minutes."
"Remember the other night's hill test? You'll be in full gear this time on one side of the hill, and opforce on the other. The goal is sneak undetected to the other side or eliminate the squad, which will it be? You do not know how many there are, the weapons or anything else, you must rely on your abilities to scout and think on the fly. Are you ready?"
Sonic nodded firmly and smirked, "You bet!"
---
15 Minutes Later, the Hill
---
Sonic was ready to rock, he was in his black combat jacket, metal gloves, padded shoes, shin, knee and elbow guards, and communications ready.
"Ready Tails?" Sonic asked.
"Ready Sonic!" came the fox's response.
"In position, waiting for Go." Sonic whispered.
Knuckles voice came over the radio, "Ready for Go. Go in 3... 2... 1..."
Sonic didn't have to wait for the word, he knew to go even before the yelling started.
"Ok," Sonic whispered, "Hit the floor, crawl up the hill using your elbows."
The fox complied and the reached the top alongside Sonic.
"Right, now you just peek and whisper out the locations. Easy 'nuff eh?"
THe fox nodded, but was shaking, and not from cold.
"Get 'em!"
"Ok... one to the left and one to the right, behind these two hut-like thingies."
"Anything you notice like weaknesses?"
"nope, sneak up one one each side... I guess"
The plan worked fairly well as they snaked across the course undetected. Sonic pointed to Tails and then to the guard in robot armor on the left and then he pointed to himself and then the bot on the right. Tails nodded and Sonic waved his arm up and down three times. Go. Go. Go.
---
"Lieutenant Shady reporting in Commander Robotnik."
"And you had better hope that that bot work Shady or it will be your end!"
"YES SIR! And if not, I DO have a last resort."
"And what is this 'Last resort', Lieutenant?"
"I'm sorry Commander, but I cannot tell you yet, but it will be more than worth the trouble I guarantee it," Shady smiled his evil grin so wide, it made Robotnik look narrow.
---
Luckily for Sonic and Tails, both guards happened to have their backs turned when they approached. Tails, being the younger, weaker one, hesitated a bit before striking, giving the bot time to turn around. He hit his armored knee into the bot's midsection and tackled it to the ground. Once down, he gave a final, armored punch to the eyes to knock it offline.
Meanwhile on the other side, Sonic tackled the bot and swiftly gave a one-two punch to the back of the head. The two shouted "Enemy Down!" at almost the same time.
The two downed "bots" took off their helmets, revealing one to be Juke and one to be the Guardian Echidna.
"Excellent job Sonic and Tails, while you probably made a bit too much noise, the execution was otherwise good. Go back to your huts and rest up, two days, rest well."
---
One Hour Later, Knuckles' Hut
---
"The fox hesitated, he's weak, too afraid, one second too many he waited." Knuckles began, evaluating the recorded training session.
"The kid woulda been dead in a real battle"
"I know. He has too much fear, the fox is afraid of thunder for cryin' out loud and he's 15! We can't have this Juke, too much of a risk. He's afraid of getting hurt is the big issue I think."
"Who' not?"
"Not one of us, we can't be, its in our job description to get hurt."
"So what are we gonna do about it?"
"Well, there's only one thing to do."
"You don't mean?"
"Oh yes I do mean. I dont think Sonic's is so afraid of getting caught and interrogated because he's been through it. It's typical Mobian nature to inflate something in your head to be so terrible until you've actually been through it. It may not be fun, but it's not as bad as you were thinking." Knuckles explained.
"But... is that even moral?" Juke asked, repulsed by the idea.
"I don't know. but what I do know is is that it has to be done, just like Killing Robotnik and his minions, it just has to be done." Knuckles sighed, "Can't do it until after the mission, but I am not going to use him until he has gone throguh with it, don't worry, we'll be disguised, otherwise, we'd lose his trust."
Juke didn't like what Knuckles had planned, could she seriously let him go through with it? His words echoed in her mind, "It just has to be done."
----
Juke laid Knuckles down on her bed, "Looks like I ain't gettin' no sleep tonight. I wonder what happened to him?" He was so, so cold to the touch it was surprising he hadn't frozen to death.
She stepped outside, yes it was a rather cold night, but not cold enough that Knuckles would be so frozen, and what about the cuts? The Lieutenant walked over to Knuckles' hut not too far from where she was. When she got there, she found his hut perfectly normal, evertything in order.
The real difference between Knuckles hut and the rest was in the size. A regular hut contained only a bed and a desk, Knuckles hut, however, contained several desks littered with tactical maps and the like and two computers. One of which, was ordinary, the other, was the recon computer.
She checked his regular computer, on it was a picture of a DFG Tactical. It was a sleek silver, and had curved angles. A tactical flashlight was attached to the bottom and it was just as she had imagined. Listed underneath were the words "C-Cache" and coordinates. She traced it through the computer and as it pinged in on the location, everything fell into place.
The Lieutenant raced back to her hut, where the Guardian Echidna still lay still in her bed. She spotted it right away; a buldge in the pocket of the echidna's black jacket. Carefully, she reached for it and snagged the object out of there. In her hands she held the DFG Tactical, though its chill forced her to set it down after a few seconds. Juke wasn't surprised at the chill it carried, but she was surprised at its lightweightedness.
As Knuckles was using her bed, she decided to sleep under her desk. Turning the light off she settled in under there, a pillow cushioning her head against the hard floor.
---
The next morning
---
Knuckles awoke to the soreness of his entire body, but, he reasoned, it sure beat being unable to feel it at all. He checked himself over, the pistol was missing! His entire trip was for nothing! But he didn;t panic, because he remembered having it.
The Guardian checked himself over, his cold hands cut, his mouth bloody. He slowly sat up in the bed he was in, taking in his surroundings, he knew where he was, afterall, he had built the place himself. Knuckles (intentionally) rolled over and off the bed, landing on his hands and knees. He slowly got up and looked around the hut, and spotted Juke laying under her computer desk.
"Juke! What the heck are you doing under there?" Knuckles asked.
"Sorry... sir... never... again..." Juke mumbled on in some dream.
"Juke wake up NOW!" Knuckles barked, obviously feeling better.
Juke snapped awake. "YES SIR!"
"Geez, what are you dreaming about?"
"Nightmare more like, it was about my time with Robotnik... but that's not important, what's important was WHAT IN THE HECK were you doing at Ice Cap? That place is dangerous!"
"What? You think I wouldn't know that? Are you insulting my intelligance Juke? The Chaotix had a..."
"I know, I know weapons stash and you went and got a DFG tactical off them, Its on the desk."
"Nice digging." Knuckles replied sarcastically.
"Why thank you Guardian."
"Alright, Alright thats enough. Now though, I have to show you what I REALLY found on Charmy's computer."
"Wait CHARMY's computer? I saw it all on YOUR computer!"
"Uh-uh, Charmy's the tiniest thing you've ever seen, his keyboard is microscopic, so we're all forced to hack into his computer to get any information out."
"Right..."
"Anyways come here, it's about 50 meters out, and I'll never ever have to go to Ice Cap again," Knuckles said, muttering a
"thank god" at the end.
---
50 meters away
---
"Oh my gosh..." Juke gasped an entire army's worth of weapons and tools and computers lay before her. "How in the world did you manage to bring even a little of this back?"
"I went in trips, took the hover cruiser... Lets see, we have... Frags, jammers, maps, pistols and ooh... whats this? A sniper... silencers... and wow... phone and computer bugs and more stuff! This is awesome Juke!" Knuckles yelled, but something was clearly wrong with him.
"Whats up? What in the heck went on up there last night?"
Knuckles swallowed slowly, "...nothing, nothing happened."
---
Training Complex - 6/6/4460 --1450
---
A rested and recorvered Knuckles stood tall in front of Sonic, Tails and Juke. "Two days to go until you two, Sonic and Tails, will face the ultimate test, a pre-mature one. And for this we need to be as ready as we can possibly be. We will train hard the today and tomorrow afternoon, after which we will rest up on the way to... Robotropolis."
And Knuckles started his plan, "While I am a good close quarters fist fighter, that is not needed now. Juke has her pistol if needed, and you both know enough to save your rears. Instead, I will snipe, if needed, which hopefully will not. Remember, it is a RECON mission, stay the heck outta site, make it like you were never there.
"Today's training excercise involves a true mission skill: Knowing the Unknown. You never know what you will find in enemy territory. Rarely the first time you will know the blueprints, guard rotations, and so on. Because of this, you must be prepared for anything. There are two ways to approach a situation, silently or loudly, offensive or defensive."
"Each way has its ups and downs, Sonic, what happens if you take the offensive?"
"Radios." Sonic answered, his mind wandering elsewhere, barely listening.
"Right, he'll either call for backup, or his buddies will begin to fight you too. Good for one-on-one's, but not multiple bots, however, defensively, we can sneak in, without a fight." Knuckles finished.
"Aw, C'mon Knuckles, that's no fun!" The blue hedgehog protested.
"Dying is fun?"
"No, but winning is."
"Ah... I see where you're going, but what if Tails died because of your stupidity?"
"It wouldn't be stupidity Knuckles! Who cares as long as that SWAT is dead and I'm not?"
"And if you're injured?"
"Radios."
"Radios. Hmmph, that is your answer for everything! Remember the shooting on Mount Marble, Juke told me about it, if you thought that was terrible, you'll love the guns that have penetration."
Sonic grunted. "Whatever Knuckles, just get to the exercise already, I could be dead in five minutes."
"Remember the other night's hill test? You'll be in full gear this time on one side of the hill, and opforce on the other. The goal is sneak undetected to the other side or eliminate the squad, which will it be? You do not know how many there are, the weapons or anything else, you must rely on your abilities to scout and think on the fly. Are you ready?"
Sonic nodded firmly and smirked, "You bet!"
---
15 Minutes Later, the Hill
---
Sonic was ready to rock, he was in his black combat jacket, metal gloves, padded shoes, shin, knee and elbow guards, and communications ready.
"Ready Tails?" Sonic asked.
"Ready Sonic!" came the fox's response.
"In position, waiting for Go." Sonic whispered.
Knuckles voice came over the radio, "Ready for Go. Go in 3... 2... 1..."
Sonic didn't have to wait for the word, he knew to go even before the yelling started.
"Ok," Sonic whispered, "Hit the floor, crawl up the hill using your elbows."
The fox complied and the reached the top alongside Sonic.
"Right, now you just peek and whisper out the locations. Easy 'nuff eh?"
THe fox nodded, but was shaking, and not from cold.
"Get 'em!"
"Ok... one to the left and one to the right, behind these two hut-like thingies."
"Anything you notice like weaknesses?"
"nope, sneak up one one each side... I guess"
The plan worked fairly well as they snaked across the course undetected. Sonic pointed to Tails and then to the guard in robot armor on the left and then he pointed to himself and then the bot on the right. Tails nodded and Sonic waved his arm up and down three times. Go. Go. Go.
---
"Lieutenant Shady reporting in Commander Robotnik."
"And you had better hope that that bot work Shady or it will be your end!"
"YES SIR! And if not, I DO have a last resort."
"And what is this 'Last resort', Lieutenant?"
"I'm sorry Commander, but I cannot tell you yet, but it will be more than worth the trouble I guarantee it," Shady smiled his evil grin so wide, it made Robotnik look narrow.
---
Luckily for Sonic and Tails, both guards happened to have their backs turned when they approached. Tails, being the younger, weaker one, hesitated a bit before striking, giving the bot time to turn around. He hit his armored knee into the bot's midsection and tackled it to the ground. Once down, he gave a final, armored punch to the eyes to knock it offline.
Meanwhile on the other side, Sonic tackled the bot and swiftly gave a one-two punch to the back of the head. The two shouted "Enemy Down!" at almost the same time.
The two downed "bots" took off their helmets, revealing one to be Juke and one to be the Guardian Echidna.
"Excellent job Sonic and Tails, while you probably made a bit too much noise, the execution was otherwise good. Go back to your huts and rest up, two days, rest well."
---
One Hour Later, Knuckles' Hut
---
"The fox hesitated, he's weak, too afraid, one second too many he waited." Knuckles began, evaluating the recorded training session.
"The kid woulda been dead in a real battle"
"I know. He has too much fear, the fox is afraid of thunder for cryin' out loud and he's 15! We can't have this Juke, too much of a risk. He's afraid of getting hurt is the big issue I think."
"Who' not?"
"Not one of us, we can't be, its in our job description to get hurt."
"So what are we gonna do about it?"
"Well, there's only one thing to do."
"You don't mean?"
"Oh yes I do mean. I dont think Sonic's is so afraid of getting caught and interrogated because he's been through it. It's typical Mobian nature to inflate something in your head to be so terrible until you've actually been through it. It may not be fun, but it's not as bad as you were thinking." Knuckles explained.
"But... is that even moral?" Juke asked, repulsed by the idea.
"I don't know. but what I do know is is that it has to be done, just like Killing Robotnik and his minions, it just has to be done." Knuckles sighed, "Can't do it until after the mission, but I am not going to use him until he has gone throguh with it, don't worry, we'll be disguised, otherwise, we'd lose his trust."
Juke didn't like what Knuckles had planned, could she seriously let him go through with it? His words echoed in her mind, "It just has to be done."