Chapter 4 - Angel Launch!
Chalk sat curl in a ball in a corner of the second hanger. It was quiet here, the hanger was mainly used for storage and hardly anyone entered. She sat on top of a large cargo box, the wings of her Angel Suit sticking down almost to the ground behind her. Her chin was resting on her knees which were tucked up close to her chest. Her arms were still attacked to the Suit's arms and therefore were stretched out in front of her. Her eyes stung from the crying she had been doing over the last few days, the pain never seemed to stop. She looked up slightly and sniffed. The wounds caused by the exploding pipes and wires all over her body were healed now, it was incredible they had healed so fast, but they still stung when she moved especially the ones on her head.
Chalk pressed her eyes together, forcing the tears from her eyes, and kept them closed. Why had this happened? Suddenly a flash went past her mind. A vision of a grey face, a face she thought she should know but couldn't pin point. Her eyes flew open and she gasped a few times quickly before pulling a puzzled face. Ever since she had fully woken up she had been getting these flashes. At first they had been vague, an image of an area from high up on a mountain, a house in a village somewhere, a vegetable patch, a pale blue room inside a house. She had puzzled about these pictures slightly over the last few days. What were they all about? Who did this face belong too? She tried to recall it again but found she couldn't. It had been grey and...that was all she could remember. She looked up at the ceiling.
"Why did any of this have to happen to me? Why? What did I do wrong? Was I a bad child? Is this some sort of punishment? WHY?!"
She looked back down and started to cry again. Why couldn't she figure it out? Why was she cursed with no memories of this person? Why was she cursed with no memories at all?
"Mother…father…why can't I remember you?"
Suddenly another flash filled her mind, it was so intense it completely took over, filling her mind and vision to the extreme…
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"Ok now Chalk, blow them out."
"Mom don't patronise me, I'm eighteen today."
"You'll still be my little girl Chalk."
"Little? I'm bigger than you!"
"Quite true honey, now come on blow them out."
"Fine."
Chalk leaned forwards and exhaled sharply blowing out the candles on top of her cake. The rabbit next to her smiled and chuckled.
"It gets harder for you to do that every year."
"I'm not a little girl any more mom. I find these things….well….embarrassing."
"You embarrassed? I'll have to write this one down in my diary."
"I'll have to remember to bury that later."
"I'll have to remember to hide it then."
Chalk looked over at the other rabbit. She had two tone silvery grey fur covering most of her face with white rings around her eyes. Her long ears fell down her back and reach nearly to her waist. The bottom half of her ears were a jet black colour as was the bottom half of her arms and hands. She wore a fairly loose turquoise blue knitted jumper and a pair of white cotton trousers. She really did look her age of fifty seven. Chalk had to remind herself that she was the youngest of all her siblings and would soon be leaving home herself. Although her mother teased her on occasions she felt very attached to her, she didn't really want to leave at all.
"I remember when it was the others eighteenth birthday. You kicked up such a fuss, but then you were an adorable little fur ball back then." continued her mother.
"Oh mom! Don't!" complained Chalk blushing slightly.
"You're so cute when you blush you know. I can see you making someone very happy one day Chalk. Great things are afoot in this world and I'm sensing you'll be part of them…just don't forget to visit once in a while."
"Mom if it was left to me you know I'd never leave."
"I know dear but you can't stay here all your life."
"I know."
The pair looked at each other for a moment and then quickly embraced.
"I wish your father was here to see this." sighed her mother.
"Me too mom, me…."
A dull boom shook the air followed by a massive flash of light and an explosion. Chalk found herself hurtling through the air and crashing into a wall. She looked up only to look back down in pain as she soon found her right arm was broken. Their house was a ruin, completely blown apart by whatever had caused the explosion. Looking up again, Chalk could see that the entire village was in ruins also. Fires rages all over and a thick black smoke filled the air.
"Mother? Mother where are you?" called Chalk pulling herself to her knees.
The young rabbit looked all over the pile of rubble that was their home before finally seeing a grey figure lying on her front a little way away. Picking herself up as best she could Chalk moved towards her, finally collapsing next to her and turning her over.
"Mother? Mother say something." stammered Chalk on the verge of tears.
"Ah…Chalk…" murmured her mother.
"Mother!"
Chalk leaned forwards to hug her mother and she in turn reached up to hug her daughter.
"I'm sorry Chalk…" she moaned.
"Huh? Sorry for what Mother?"
"For…for having to leave you…"
"Huh? Mother what are you saying?"
Her mother didn't reply and instead coughed, coughing up a bit of blood as she did.
"It…it happens…to us all Chalk…eventually….one way or another."
"Mother no!"
"Be strong Chalk…make me proud…you've always been a fine daughter, even when you were a pest."
Chalk smiled slightly at the comment through her tears.
"Mother don't go, don't leave me."
"It's too late for that Chalk. Be strong and don't forget who you are. I…love you Chalk."
"Mother no! No mother don't!"
Chalk took a hold of her mother and shook her slightly trying to spur the life back into her. Slowly her mother's eyes closed and her breathing tapered to nothing. Chalk looked at her with wide eyes for a moment before collapsing into tears on top of her.
"No! I'll never let you go! Never! Never, never, never! Mother come back!"
"Well well well what do we have here?"
Chalk looked up sharply at the new voice. Above her hovered a small craft that looked like some sort of personal transport. An array of small weapons poked out of the front of it and through the window she could see a large round person dressed in red and black.
"Interesting that you survived my test. No matter, I'll use you for another type of test."
The figure began to chuckle evilly to himself. Chalk found herself unable to move as she stared up at the figure.
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"No…no…MOTHER!"
Chalk's scream was so loud it rattled the very bulkheads around her. She took a few quick pants and looked down, staring at the box underneath her with wide eyes. What was that?! Had that been a…memory? Chalk looked up slowly running the whole thing through her head. That grey face…her mother. She could remember! She could remember her mother! Chalk sat for a moment encased in pure bliss before the rest of the memory came into view. It had been him…it had been Robotnik! He had killed her! Robotnik had killed her mother. Her eyes, before filled with tear, now flashed with anger. She brought an arm up and wiped her eyes roughly before returning it to her side. She quickly grabbed the huge boots beside her and clipped them onto her feet before jumping from the box and walking from the hanger.
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"How much longer?" asked Sonic.
"They should be nearly there now." informed Silvia.
Sonic leaned forwards and examined the large 3D map in front of him. It was computer generated and showed a map of the Alpha Centauri system and the outer fringes of the Earth System. A dotted line was stretched out from where they were and was now nearing the planet labelled Jupiter. It was about a week after the discovery of the Phantom 2 and the captains plans were already in progress. It hadn't taken the captain long to work a plan out but even so Silvia had insisted on going over it numerous times and then waiting for the most recent covert reports to come through before she allowed it to go ahead. The fighters had been dispatched earlier that morning and would now be nearing their target.
"Switch to tactical view." said Harry as he looked away from the display.
The map changed, now showing a large scale plan of the planet Jupiter and the massive structure around it. The port was clearly visible sticking out of the middle of the ring. The data for this picture was coming in from the fighter's scanners as they approached the target.
"How long?" asked Sonic again.
"Be patient Sonic." hissed Sally from his side.
Sonic glanced over and Sally next to him and gave a small nod. Jet and Alicia were standing next to Sally watching the display closely. Everyone was waiting with baited breath for the next event. It was only a few moments before it happened.
"This is Arc Fire squadron to home nest. Requesting final conformation codes." came a message over the radio.
Harry picked up the comm and spoke.
"Confirmed Arc Fire. Final conformation code 447369, good luck and good hunting."
"Roger that! Cutting star drive in 3…2…1…"
On the map a total of seven flashes lit up on one side of the screen followed by a number of white trails that signified the arrival of the fleet. Six fighters and one support frigate had been sent, everyone hoped it was enough.
"Arc Fire 1 to squadron, you all know the plan. Lock engines in attack positions and pile in!" came a message.
"Roger." came a collective response.
Everyone watched the display as six of the dots accelerated and split up heading in different directions. The seventh turned sharply and came to a stop. The other six dots started to move in towards the ring and the port before a number of yellow targets appeared on the ring.
"What are those?" asked Jet quickly.
"SHIT! The ring has activated its outer defences!" said Harry sharply, "Home nest to Arc Fire the ring has just…"
He was cut off in mid sentence by a scream and an order.
"WOAH! Arc Fire take evasive action! Repeat, break off and take evasive action!"
"There's too many!"
"I'm tracking an energy spike!"
"Break off! That's an order!"
"Incoming fire!"
The radio was a mass of jumbled orders and cries as was the map. Lines were flying all over signifying the various energy shots and missiles the Ring was firing.
"This is Arc 4, I'm in range! Locked onto the main power generator! I'm going in!"
"Confirmed Arc 4, everyone give Arc 4 covering fire!"
On the map one of the dots broke off and headed straight towards the Phantom. It started to weave back and forth as volleys of shots flew past it.
"Come on, come on!" urged Harry as he watched.
The dot flew straight past the Phantom and then curved in behind it.
"Target locked! Rockets away!"
A stream of white lines flew from the dot and headed straight for the Phantom. Everyone held their breath as the dots got closer and closer and….poof. They stopped in mid air.
"What?!" cried Harry.
"This is Arc 4! Phantom is online! I repeat the Phantom's defensive systems are online!"
"Arc 4 break off!"
"YAAAAARH!"
The dot signifying Arc 4 suddenly fragmented as a series of energy cannon shots tore through it.
"Damn!" cursed Harry, "We've got no chance against that defensive screen!"
"Order them back!" cried Silvia, "Quickly!"
Harry gave a sharp nod and relayed the order.
"Home base to Arc Fire, break off attack. I repeat break off!"
Harry looked back at the screen to see a further 3 dots fragment to nothing.
"Dammit! Respond! Arc Fire respond! Break off! Home base to Arc Angel, break off!"
"This is frigate Arc Angel to home base. We've lost contact with all of Arc Fire squadron. Initiating star drive." came a response.
The dot representing the frigate slowly started to turn away from the battle.
"Holy smoke! What's that?!" cried Jet frantically pointing to the map.
A giant round circle had appeared and a ship was emerging from it.
"Oh god!" said Harry slowly.
"Arc Angel to home base! We've just had a multi beam frigate jump in. Star Drive in 3…2…"
Several large beams sprung from the new arrival heading straight for the fleeing frigate. The beams struck the side of the ship but as it was a map no indication as to the damage was known.
"Hit's from C deck to flight deck! Hull integrity failed on seven levels!" came a panicked cry over the comm.
"Cancel Star Drive!"
"It's too late!"
On the map the frigate became a streak of white only to vanish in a massive burst of fragments. The map gave a fizzle and then went dead, with nothing to feed it pictures it could no longer operate. Everyone in the room was completely stunned.
"How could this happen?" said Harry slowly, "How could we get it this wrong?"
"This is terrible." said Silvia slowly.
"What do we do now?" asked Sonic slowly.
Harry and Silvia both looked at him.
"Nothing we can do. Arc Fire was the best fighter squadron we had and….there's no way we can stop them now." said Harry almost sounding completely crushed.
Silvia looked down.
"There's no way we can stop it. We don't have anything that could get through a defence like that." she said slowly.
"But…" said Jet quietly before stopping.
The entire room was silent apart from beeping of a couple of monitors. Suddenly the air filled with the sound of metal hitting metal. A soft but steady clump sound repeated over and over like footsteps.
"Oh yes there is." said a voice.
Everyone looked up to see Chalk walking into the room.
"Chalk?!" said Sonic completely surprised.
"Who else Sonic?" replied the rabbit.
"What do you mean Chalk?" asked Alicia.
"No way we can stop it? Somehow I don't think so. We still have one thing that could." replied Chalk.
Jet's eyes suddenly widened.
"Of course!" he said, his voice filling with a rekindled hope, "THEM!"
Jet pointed frantically at Chalk and Silvia blinked.
"What?! The Angel Suits? You can't be serious! None of our pilots can use them and none of you have tried them yet." she said.
"It's our only shot though." replied Chalk.
"Chalk are you feeling alright?" asked Sally.
"Perfectly Sally!" replied Chalk snapping her head in Sally's direction.
Sally actually jumped at the look in her eyes. It was bright and committed like she had been back in Knotlake and on Little Planet.
"How long do we have before that thing is launched?" asked Sonic.
"Two months maximum is our best estimate, could be as short as a month." replied Silvia.
Sonic looked at Sally, then Chalk and then Jet and Alicia. Each of them gave him a swift nod as he looked at them.
"Let's do this!" he said, "Let's do it!"
"Let's do it to it." smirked Sally.
"Hell yeah!" cried Jet leaping onto the map table.
"Jet get off the table." snapped Sally.
"Yes." replied Jet quickly getting off the table.
"You're serious?" asked Silvia completely stunned.
"Totally!" replied Sonic.
"You're actually serious about going in against this thing with just five Angel Suits and without any training?!"
"Yes."
Silvia just looked at Sonic in disbelief for a moment before a small smile spread across her face.
"What's the minimum time it will take them to complete the Phantom at our worst estimate?" asked Silvia still looking at Sonic.
"One month, one week and 4 days." replied Harry, "That is according to our latest covert report."
"Well get a new one! Find out now! In the meantime I want Angel's 1, 2, 4 and 5 prepped and brought down to the port launch bays now!"
"What?"
"You had your shot Harry and blew it! Now it's their turn."
Sonic gave Silvia a small smirk. Silvia looked away from him and looked at the others.
"You have one hour and I want you down in the launch bay. If you're going to do this you'll need one hell of a training program." she said, "Chalk I'll need you down in the bay now so we can prep your suit."
Chalk just gave a small nod.
"Alright people, let's move!"
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"Ok you all set?" asked Silvia.
In front of her stood Sonic, Sally, Alicia and Jet, now all equipped with their Angel suits, and Chalk, who was already equipped. They stood in the main port hanger of the Saratoga near the huge space doors. The doors were currently open and the force field was in place to stop space rushing in.
"I think so." said Sonic a little unsure.
"Good, let's go over everything once more ok." said Silvia with a nod, "You flight controls are mounted on the right arm console. Forward and backward movement are controlled from the stick, remember to lean into the direction you want to go. Roll is also controlled from that stick to. To turn you have to shift your weight in the opposite direction and roll towards the direction you want to go, that might take some getting used to ok. Alicia, you'll have to be extra careful with those extra thrusters. One wrong move and you could really be in trouble."
Alicia gave and understanding nod and checked over her controls once more.
"Now for the moment we'll just be trying to get to grips with the suit controls so you're weapons won't be activated. You'll be launched using the fighter catapults over there." continued Silvia.
"Hang on a second." said Jet, "I just thought of something, that's space out there and…we haven't got any space suits."
Jet looked out at the blackness. He liked space for the most part but the incident on the Phantom when he had been pushed out of an airlock still scared him. Those seconds had been the most frightening of his entire life.
"You don't need one Jet." chuckled Silvia, "Let me explain. The Angel Suit provides its own atmosphere much like a planet does. It creates a gravity field around you and traps an atmosphere inside it thus allowing you to survive. The suit also provides heat to stop you from freezing to death. These systems are heavily safeguarded and if necessary the suit will shut down to keep them running so you don't have to fear unless you get severely beaten up ok. As this is a test flight it's highly unlikely that'll happen unless you crash into the hull too much. Now if we're all set let's get started, we're short on time as it is."
"Alright people let's move." said Sonic still sounding slightly unsure of himself.
He turned and started to walk towards the catapults Silvia had mentioned. Sally and Chalk followed swiftly behind. Jet and Alicia though didn't move for a moment. They both bent over forwards to a forty five degree angle so that the tail fins of the suit didn't bash against the ground.
"I wish I was taller." moaned Jet.
"Same…life's too awkward sometimes." replied Alicia.
The pair walked towards the catapults a little behind the adults, it gave the pair a little time to talk.
"Scared?" asked Jet.
"Like nothing on Mobius." replied Alicia fiddling with her controls again.
"Same, this is kinda cool but man…"
"Yeah I know. I don't know what to expect and…well you know what happened to those fighters."
"Hey don't worry Alicia, we'll be fine. Someone has to show those Alliance guys who is boss right? We're fifty thousand times better than them."
"You're right Jet…guess I'm just apprehensive about this. I mean I helped when we were battling Robotnik but this is so much bigger."
"I didn't know this Robotnik guy but he sounded pretty bad, guess we'll just have to see how it goes eh."
"Yeah."
"Yo kids hurry up will you." called Sonic.
"I'm not a kid! Young adult!" replied Alicia.
"AYE!" groaned Sonic.
The pair of them approached the others just as Sonic was being set up on the catapult. His boots were being secured into the launchers fitted on the ground as they came to a stop.
"Ok then everyone, take a spot and we'll get you ready." said Silvia.
"Good luck honey." said Sally leaning just enough to plant a kiss on Alicia's cheek.
"Thanks mom." replied the squirrel.
"You too Jet." said Sally standing up.
Jet just gave Sally a small salute and turned towards his launching pad. Pretty soon all five of them were fastened into position on the catapults. Silvia and everyone else had retreated out of the bay and entered a small command centre designed for the Angel Suits. Finally they all received a message through the comm unit attached to the headband.
"Ok everyone you better activate your atmosphere generation systems. That's the green button just below the main control stick."
Each of them looked and sure enough a small green button marked "AGS" was clearly visible. One by one they pushed it and, with a whoosh, a bubble of air appeared around them. It was an odd feeling, the gravity created by the suit seemed to pull them more into it. A flood of warmth then enveloped them as the heaters activated.
"Woah now that was odd." commented Sonic.
"You'll get used to it." replied Silvia over the comm, "Now we'll be launching you one at a time starting with unit one, that's you Sonic, and ending with unit five. Remember what I told you, head down and brace yourself. It's not a walk in the park."
"Joyous. Ok let's get this over with." replied Sonic.
"Stand by. Catapult systems ready. Launching in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, launch."
Sonic would have thrown up his lunch if he had eaten in the last few hours. The catapult beneath him shot forward throwing him forwards with such a force he nearly fell over backwards. However he had been ready and leaning forwards as the catapult had gone off so everything went well. He hit the force field and the catapult released sending Sonic hurtling out into space for quite some distance. He took a sharp gasp and then, realising the atmosphere was round him, relaxed and looked around. It was an odd feeling, no up, no down, no nothing, just blackness in all directions. He looked back at the Saratoga and was, for the first time since his arrival, able to get a good look at the ship. It really was huge but also looked like a ten year olds science project in its construction. Just then there was a loud scream over the comm and he looked back to see Sally flying out of the bay. She passed close by and came to a rest near him but a little further from the ship than him.
"You ok Sal?" he asked quickly.
"Um…yeah I think so. I just realised I need a lot more fibre in my diet." replied Sally taking a few deep breathes.
Next out was Chalk and for the most part she had no trouble. She had after all been walking around for the past two weeks in that thing and was probably used to the weight of it by now. She came to a gentle stop around where Sally was and looked so graceful Sonic would have called her a professional if he didn't know this was her first time. Alicia's trip out was much like Sally's. A loud scream and then a lot of heavy breathing. Alicia's finishing position was a little higher than the rest of them, probably because she twisted as she left the bay, throwing her upwards. Lastly came Jet and with it a complication. As Jet sat on the launch pad waiting for his turn he had been thinking. The incident on the Phantom was forefront in his mind and he found himself getting more and more nervous as it came closer to his turn.
"Alright Jet, you're up." said Silvia.
"I've been thinking Silvia, I dunno about this." replied Jet.
"Jet it'll be fine. This is just a test run, trust me you'll do ok. Catapult launch in 5, 4…"
Jet looked out at the blackness and one moment flashed before his eyes. Pounding on a small glass window as the infinite darkness of space surrounded him, suffocating him, killing him.
"…..no…NO!" he cried turning to the side.
"Jet straighten up before…!"
It was too late, the catapult fired sending Jet hurtling forwards. The force and his position twisted him even more and with a loud crack his left ankle snapped like a twig. He screamed but couldn't do anything about it as the catapult stopped and he was thrown tumbling head over heels into space. Jet managed to look around him as he tumbled and realised where he was. Blackness was all around him and he panicked. Holding his breath he continued to tumble head over heels as he arced away from the other Angel Suits.
"Jet!" cried Sonic as he watched the cat spiral away.
"Jet answer me! Jet are you alright?" screamed Sally.
"Sweet lord of Mobius…" whispered Chalk slowly.
"Jet? Jet it's Alicia, are you ok?" said the squirrel calmly although her voice was clearly panicked.
"Can't breathe…" came a faint reply.
"Jet!" cried Alicia.
"Can't….breathe….cold….can't….."
"Jet listen to me! You can breathe! Breathe Jet!" urged the squirrel.
"I…."
The comm went silent and Alicia started to breathe heavily herself.
"Jet?" she whimpered softly.
"Alicia…" came a response.
"JET! Are you alright?"
"I….it hurts."
"Alright everyone sit tight, I'm sending out a ship to pick you up." said Silvia's voice.
"Jet, I'm glad you're alright." said Alicia with a sigh.
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It was a short while afterwards and everyone had been picked up and brought back to the Saratoga. None of them had actually got to test their suit in anyway and for now future training had been called off until the current situation had been analysed. Right now Jet was in a hospital bed with his ankle in bandages. It was badly swollen and definitely broken. Alicia sat next to him, chewing on a sandwich slowly as she watched him. So far Jet hadn't said anything and was just staring at the ceiling. Finally Alicia decided to break the silence.
"Jet what happened out there?" she asked quietly.
Jet turned slightly to look at Alicia and then closed his eyes, the young cat seemed visibly disturbed. Alicia reached forwards and took hold of his arm causing Jet to open his eyes again.
"You can tell me Jet." she said.
Jet sighed lightly and turned away, his ears drooping slightly.
"I…I freaked out 'licia." he replied.
"Why? You saw us go first? There wasn't any problem."
"I know but…I don't feel safe in space."
"What? How can you say that after all the space flights you've done? You seemed quite at home on the shuttle."
"Yes but that was on the shuttle…with an atmosphere…"
"Jet?"
Alicia raised her brow in puzzlement.
"Jet is there something you're not telling me?"
"Yes."
"Will you tell me?"
Jet slowly bit his lip and looked up at Alicia.
"Ok, it happened back on the Phantom. It's the one part I leave out when I tell the story. Just before Links rescued me they…they were going to kill me and mother."
Alicia remained silent, she already knew this bit.
"Well they…they put me in an airlock and blew the hatch. I…I almost died."
"What? But you said Links rescued before they did anything."
"That's not entirely true. I don't like thinking about it, give me the shudders."
As if to cement this statement Jet's body gave a shudder and his cheeks went white slightly.
"I couldn't breath and it was so cold, I…I fear it now."
Alicia leaned forwards and gave Jet a very large hug. She stayed in this position for quite some time and neither seemed to want it to stop. Finally Alicia leaned back and spoke.
"That better?" she asked.
"A little…I guess." replied Jet, "Thanks."
"Not at all Jet. I won't tell anyone else unless you want me to ok. They'll no doubt ask you themselves though later."
"I know, guess I'll have to tell them the whole story this time."
"It's not that bad Jet."
The pair smiled at each other and continued to talk softly. Above them in the covered gantry stood Sally. She herself was smiling down at them as they spoke and then hugged.
"Ah Alicia, you really are turning into a little mother." she sighed to herself.
She turned and was about to walk off when a dull metallic clomping sound caught her ear. It gradually grew louder and Chalk appeared around a corner in the gantry. She was still wearing the full Angel Suit and was now looking a little less energised than earlier. She walked up to Sally and stopped, looking down at the ground.
"Hi Sally." she said slowly.
"Chalk, I've been wanting to talk to you. I have a question for you." replied Sally.
"I guessed as much. I have a question for you too but my question will probably be the answer to your question so you go first." replied Chalk still looking down.
"Chalk…why the sudden change? It's been two week now and during all that time you've been sad and distant from us."
Chalk looked away even more as Sally continued to speak.
"And then suddenly you appear in the doorway eyes blazing and looking ready to tear things apart with your bare hands. What's going on Chalk?"
Sally watched as Chalk slowly lifted her head and looked at Sally. Chalk's face was now sad looking again, her fiery attitude extinguished.
"Something happened Sally. Well they have been happening since this happened. You remember when T2 first found me and everything happened?"
"Yes Chalk."
"I was finally freed and joined your group but something was still missing."
"You mean your memories?"
Chalk gave a small nod.
"Yes Sally. I couldn't remember anything from before I was captured apart from who I was."
"Couldn't? Don't you mean can't Chalk?"
"No Sally…I don't know how but since this happened to me I've been getting…flashes. I don't know what they are or what relevance they have but I know one thing, they're memories."
Sally's eyes widened but was cut off by Chalk before she could speak.
"There's something else Sally. Before I came into the room I had been sitting in one of the hangers by myself. I got another flash but this time it was different. It wasn't just a flash, it was a full memory. A memory of my mother Sally, I know who she is, I know what happened to her."
"My lord Chalk, what happened?"
"I was captured by Robotnik and I had always thought I must have been out walking and was found by him but I wasn't. He…he came to me. He attacked my village during my eighteenth birthday and….my mother was killed."
Sally's eyes were wide now and full of sadness. Gently she leaned forwards and placed an arm around Chalk's shoulder. The rabbit in turn tried to hug Sally back but found she couldn't because of the suit around her. She dropped her arms to her side and resorted to dropping her head into Sally's shoulder. To Sally's amazement she didn't start to cry though.
"He killed her Sally, he killed her and then used me." whimpered Chalk softly.
"Chalk it's alright, calm down." cooed Sally putting her other arm round Chalk.
"It's not alright Sally. She died and….I couldn't even remember. I was right there and I couldn't even remember it. If I hadn't come with you on this trip I probably never would have remembered, I wouldn't have known that she died."
Chalk was now starting to shake but had yet to start crying. Sally drew her even closer and squeezed her lightly.
"Sally I want…I want you help me remember. I want to remember it all." said Chalk slowly, "Will you?"
"Chalk you don't even need to ask that, of course I'll help you." replied Sally.
"Thank you Sally." sniffed Chalk, "Thank you so much."
"Any time Chalk, come on now. Let's go somewhere else more private."
Sally released one of her arms and turned to face the corridor. Together the pair walked away slowly with one of Sally's arms still round Chalk's shoulder.
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"So what do we do now?" asked Sonic leaning back in his chair.
Sonic sat in Silvia's office with the president and Captain Harry. The captain was looking his usual disgruntled self and Silvia seemed to be deep in thought.
"What can we do?" asked Silvia, "There's no way four of you would ever be able to destroy that ship, I was unsure at five to start with. Jet won't be back on his feet for a while, his ankle is pretty badly injured."
"So what are we doing to do? Sit back and wait for them to launch that ship?" asked Sonic angrily sitting up, "You mean to tell me we've got no way of stopping them? The Alliance will no doubt be suspicious now with this latest attack, they might even come looking for us. From what I can gather the Phantom was pretty advanced and this thing is a step up from that. They could wipe us out in an instant!"
"You say that as if we don't know." snapped the captain, "We do! You think we like this situation any more than you? We don't but there's nothing we can do."
"What about a covert attack?" said Silvia raising her head.
"Wouldn't work. The security is apparently very tight and our operative wouldn't get anywhere near that ship." replied Harry, "It's…hopeless."
"Nothing is hopeless." said Sonic sitting even more forward, "There's always a way to solve things! We wouldn't have come this far if we hadn't already figured that out."
Sonic stood and walked off a few paces rubbing his chin.
"What to do, what to do." he muttered to himself.
"Don't kill yourself thinking." said Silvia, "The captains right."
"Oh not you too, geez! Come on! Back on Mobius we've been through worse than this, we've been through things that would make your mind bulge. You should know that Silvia from the story we told you. Marrying Sally has taught me one thing and that is never to give up. I knew that before I married her but it made much more sense afterwards. Now I'm going to go and talk to her and we will come up with something. You two can stay here and throw the negative vibes around as much as you like, I'll get back to you when I have something."
With that Sonic turned and left the room leaving both Silvia and Harry to blink and look at each other.
"My! He has an attitude." stated Harry.
"Yes but maybe that's what we need." replied Silvia.
-----------------------------------------
Sally closed the door to her quarters and locked it, hopefully nobody would disturb her while she did this. She turned back to the room to see that Chalk had already found a seat and sat down on a small sofa. Sally walked over to her and sat down next to the rabbit. For a moment neither spoke, Sally just looked at Chalk who in turn looked at the sofa. Finally Chalk looked up and Sally spoke.
"Ready?" asked Sally.
Chalk just gave a small nod in response.
"Ok, start at the beginning Chalk, tell me everything you can remember."
Chalk took a deep breath and began to speak. She explained each and every flash she had experienced over the last few weeks. That took a good length of time in itself but then Chalk moved onto the one full memory she had. She described her birthday and the events surrounding it and then moved onto her mother. Chalk was so thorough she even described her mother down to the glint in her eye when she smiled. It amazed Sally that she remembered so much. When Chalk was done she fell silent and Sally sat back to think for a moment.
"Chalk? Would you mind if I had Nicole do a scan of your brain?" she asked.
"Huh? Why?" asked Chalk looking at her.
"Just a hunch Chalk, may I?"
"Well ok, I trust you Sally."
Sally smiled and took out Nicole from the pouch on her leg. She flipped her open and spoke.
"Nicole."
"Hey Sally, what's happening?" replied Nicole.
"Nicole drop the Sonic attitude for now and activate scan mode please."
"You got it, activated."
"Good Nicole."
Sally held out Nicole and pressed a few buttons as she ran the small computer up and down past Chalk's head. After she was done she spoke again.
"Nicole do you still have Chalk's original bio scan on file?" she asked.
"Affirmative Sally." replied Nicole.
"Huh?" asked Chalk.
Sally just raised a finger to her lips and looked back at Nicole.
"Cross reference and compare with the latest scan Nicole."
"Working."
"Sally what are you doing?" asked Chalk.
"I had a though Chalk, I'm going to compare your brain activity now with what it was like just after you were released from Robotnik's control." replied Sally.
"You think it's connected?"
"Could be Chalk."
"Comparison complete Sally." stated Nicole.
"Display Nicole."
Sally looked back at Nicole and started to scroll past reams of data, occasionally making a small interested sound or frowning. Finally she looked up and gave a small smile.
"Chalk do you remember that control device that was implanted in your head?" she asked.
"How could I forget it Sally? Seems I have a replacement for it now." replied the rabbit rubbing the headband that had fused with her head.
"Do you know how it worked?"
"Something about linking directly with my brain I think, why?"
"Hmm…interesting. I might have a partial answer for you Chalk, nothing concrete but it fits."
"Really?"
"Really, let me explain. When Robotnik captured you he implanted all these devices in your body to control you right and then Sonia destroyed that one on your head right. I think that disrupted the balance of the system controlling you."
"How do you mean?"
"Well I'm not sure, this is just speculation you understand."
"Uh huh, what?"
"I believe that the destruction of the control device linked to your brain caused some sort of neural block, blanking out all your memories. Maybe it was a safety feature installed by Robotnik so you wouldn't remember where he was hiding should you be captured, I don't know. But this first bio reading from just after you were captured shows that your brain was not acting normally. The entire section of your brain dealing with memories was nearly completely inactive, we didn't really know what to make of it until you told us you couldn't remember anything."
"What about now?" asked Chalk now leaning forward with interest.
"Well this latest scans shows a massive increase in brain activity Chalk. The memory centre of your brain has been pretty inactive for years and now it's like a party and I think I know why."
"Why?"
Chalk was about ready to tear the information out of Sally, being kept in this much suspense was killing her.
"You're wearing it Chalk." replied Sally.
Chalk looked down and over herself, the realisation hitting her like a ton of bricks.
"This suit?!" she cried.
"Yes Chalk."
"How?"
"Remember Robotnik was a human and even though his technology wasn't as advanced as these guy's technology it bears a lot of resemblances. I think the technology in your body reacted to the Angel Suit as it was calibrating itself earlier. The circuits in your body were suddenly given a jump start again but without the control device you retained your free will. Basically Chalk, as you merged with the Angel Suit it activated all the dead systems and opened your memories again."
Chalk blinked and took a few breathes before reacting.
"So this was a good thing." she said slowly, "I've been mourning over it for weeks and it's actually helping me."
She looked up at Sally a look of complete and total happiness filling her face. For the first time in weeks Sally saw the true colour of Chalk's face as it brightened like a rising sun.
"Do you think I'll get them all back Sally?" she asked quickly.
"If this scan is correct your memory centre seems to be recovering at an exponential rate Chalk. If it keeps going like this you might have all your memories back in a few months or so." replied Sally.
"All of them?"
The rabbit was close to tear she was so happy. Leaping off the sofa she screamed a shrill cry of happiness, spinning round on the spot before falling over due to the weight of her suit. Sally quickly jumped off the sofa and helped her back to her feet.
"Careful Chalk." she said.
"Thank you Sally! Thank you so much!"
Chalk flung her arms round Sally, nearly crushing her because of the suit arms. Sally squirmed under the hug for a moment before Chalk relaxed and stepped back. Chalk's face was a picture of happiness and Sally felt a warm glow inside her knowing that it was her that helped to do it.
"I…I can't sit still." said Chalk quickly glancing at the door, "I'm going for a run!"
Without waiting for Sally's reply Chalk raced to the door and unlocked it. She raced out of the door, her wings narrowly missing Sonic's face as the hedgehog came to a sliding stop outside the room. Sonic watched as the rabbit jogged as fast as she could down the corridor, eyes streaming with tears. Sonic continued to watch her for a moment and then stepped into the room. Sally sat on the sofa again, a smile of happiness and contentment spread across her face.
"What's wrong with Chalk now?" asked Sonic closing the door behind him.
"Wrong? Nothing is wrong with her at all, I think she's the happiest she's ever been in her life right now." replied Sally with a smile.
"Oh? Care to share it with me?"
"Later."
Sally looked up and instantly noticed Sonic's face. He looked tenser than a skin drum.
"Sonic what's wrong?" she asked.
"Those….uuuh! Those wimpy clown upstairs! That's what's wrong! 'Oh we're all doomed and there's nothing we can do.' Makes me sick!" replied Sonic slumping into the sofa next to her.
Sally leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. She brought a hand up and ran a finger in circles over a section of his arm as she looked up at him.
"They can't be that bad."
"You have no idea."
Sonic gave a rough sigh and looked down at Sally. His tense expression slowly dropped off.
"Sorry to spoil your mood with my problems." he said.
"Sonic nothing could spoil my mood right now. I've already helped one person and now I'm going to make it two, what's wrong?" asked Sally.
"Both Silvia and the captain feel that there is now no way to stop the Phantom 2. I can see their point, what can the four of us do? But we can't just give up, we have to stop that ship from launching. Question is how?"
Sally lifted her head off Sonic's shoulder and gave a nod.
"It's too easy to give up but yes the question is how as you said. We need to get past those defences and then somehow destroy the ship without endangering the colony in the process."
"Trust the Alliance to put civilians in the firing line eh."
"Those suits are probably small enough to evade most weapons fire but we need to get in close first, perhaps if we had a distraction?"
"Hmm…that could work. While I was up there we discussed the possibility of a covert attack. The captain wrote it off immediately as a bad idea, apparently security is tight and their operative wouldn't get close enough."
"But he doesn't have to get close, all he has to do is distract them for long enough for us to get in close to that ship."
"That's true Sal."
Sally stopped and fell into thought, Sonic waited for a minute and then spoke.
"Onto something Sal?" he asked.
"Maybe Sonic, remember when we were waiting in the shuttle and suddenly all those ships appeared around us. These guys have cloaking technology, what if the Angel Suits have it too!" replied Sally.
"Smooth Sal! We fly in during the chaos, launch everything we have and get out before they notice us."
"Exactly."
"That might just work Sally."
"It better." came a voice.
Sonic and Sally both looked up to see Alicia and Jet standing in the doorway. Jet still had his foot bandaged up and was leaning on Alicia for support. Sonic and Sally jumped to their feet.
"How long you been there?" asked Sonic.
"A few minutes." replied Alicia.
"Never mind that Sonic, Jet you shouldn't be out of bed with that ankle." said Sally rushing forward to help Alicia support Jet.
"I'm fine Sally." said Jet defiantly walking into the room with Alicia, "I'm going with you."
"What?!" cried Sally, "But…"
"Sally I'm going with you. This is my own fault and it's not that bad anyway."
"Not that bad? Jet you were screaming in pain when they brought you in." said Sonic.
"I know but I'm still going with you."
Sonic and Sally looked at each other before looking back at the cat.
"We'll have to see how you do in the test runs first though." said Sally.
Jet just gave a small smile and sat down with Alicia on the sofa. There was a moment of silence before a happy cry echoed down the hall and a familiar rabbit burst into the room.
"Everyone I've had an idea!" cried Chalk, "Let's go! Let's go do this! Let's get them!"
"Seems everyone is up on the idea." said Sonic rolling his eyes.
-----------------------------------------
"You WHAT?!" cried Silvia leaping from her seat.
"We're going for it again." said Sonic firmly for a second time.
"Are you completely crazy or just mentally unstable." continued Silvia.
"Silvia stop it, we've all thought this over and we've decided on a plan of action." said Sally.
"Oh? Care to share it with me?"
"Of course. Do you have a display in here?"
Silvia pointed to a large screen on the wall near her. Sally gave a nod and headed over to it. Switching it on she started to flick through various pages of data eventually arriving at what she wanted. Pressing a control a 2D map came up on the screen showing the Jupiter Station and the Phantom. Sally turned back to Silvia.
"We'll come at it from two sides." she started, "We'll be needing the help of your covert operative for the first stage of the attack."
"What kind of help?" asked Silvia.
"A distraction, we need your operative to create some sort of explosion or create an incident that will distract the main security forces and the attention of the port. Doesn't matter what it is, so long as it works. During the ensuing chaos we will fly in from the space side of the port and attack the Phantom."
Silvia leaned back in her chair and scratched her nose.
"I hadn't thought of using our operative in such a way. That might just work." she said.
"Another point Silvia, do the Angel Suits have cloak generators like your fighters?" asked Sonic.
Silvia gave a nod.
"Yes it's a standard system on board most of our ships."
Sonic and Sally looked at each other and smiled.
"So how do you wish to proceed?" asked Silvia.
"We'll begin the training again at once. We have a month and a bit right? That's more than enough time." said Sonic.
"I hope so, ok then, training will resume tomorrow at nine in the morning."
Sonic gave a nod, he was tired anyway and could use a rest before they did anything else. He made a move to leave when Silvia spoke again.
"I still have a small reservation though." she said.
"Oh?" asked Sonic, "What?"
"Jet, he's injured and he won't be able to control the suit as well as you."
"Hey!" cried Jet limping forward with Alicia supporting him, "This is my choice not yours."
"It's our Angel Suit Jet."
"Yes well…I don't care! I have to do this, if I don't I'm just going to keep running from my fear forever."
The others stood and listened, Jet had told them the full story a little earlier so they all knew what he was saying.
"Please Silvia, I have to."
Silvia sat back and closed her eyes.
"Very well Jet I'll authorise it but you'll have to get that ankle seen to big time before you go out and if it looks like you'll be a burden…"
"I understand, thanks Silvia."
"Thank me later, for now you best all get some sleep."
"That's true." said Sally, "Come on everyone, bed. We'll need all our strength for tomorrow."
As the group left the room Silvia began to ponder. These furries were certainly something, she just hoped they had what it takes to make this work.
-----------------------------------------
The next morning the hanger was buzzing with activity. The group of five stood wearing their Angel Suits again and all looked as determined as the next. Jet's ankle was strapped up in so many restraints he couldn't move it an inch and although he winced in pain with every step he took he was set on going ahead with his decision. Silvia had opted to let the group launch themselves this time rather than use the fighter launch pads, Jet couldn't use a launch pad anyway with his ankle.
"Ok everyone we're all set when you are." said Silvia over the comm.
"Right, ok you lot let's motor." said Sonic walking forwards.
The huge force field covering the open launch bay was mere inches away now and Sonic quickly activated the atmosphere systems encasing himself in a bubble of warm air. Everyone else soon did the same and stepped forwards next to him. He reached forwards and pressed his hand against the force field only to have it push back at him.
"You'll have to take a good run at that to get through it." informed Silvia, "That's why we use the catapults."
"Understood."
"Sonic allow me." said Chalk taking a step backwards.
With a small dart Chalk raced at the force field and hurled herself at it. The field split around her and allowed her to pass through as she spread her arms wide and bent over backwards slightly as if she was leaping off a bungee rope platform. She was in space a moment later and floating in the starry blackness. The force of her dart sent her tumbling over forwards and for a second she lost all sense of direction before she remembered Silvia's instructions. She quickly reached for the thrusters controls and activated them causing the suits flight wings to spread out behind her and the engines to ignite. Swinging her feet backwards and bending over forwards the spin soon stopped and she came to a gentle stop. Chalk quickly idled the thrusters and then looked over her shoulder at the bay. She had drifted a few hundred meters from the ship now and the bay looked quite small now.
"Come on it's not too hard!" she cried.
"Ah Chalk don't yell! You might be a long way away but remember the comm!" growled Sonic.
"Oh sorry, my mistake." said Chalk in her normal voice.
"Better, I'm coming out."
A bright prick of light flared on the bay and Chalk watched as Sonic sailed up next to her. Unlike her, he had actually used the thrusters to push himself out of the bay. Sally was next followed closely by Alicia and Jet who came out together.
"Ok Silvia we're all out." informed Sonic.
"Well you've already beaten our pilots." replied Silvia, "None of them could get out of the bay without flapping around like drowning swans."
"Heh! Well what do you expect from us?"
"After seeing this little performance from all of you I expect a lot. Now we'll start with basic suit operations. Forward and backward movement, rolls, turns, things like that. The controls are sensitive so you don't have to push them far to get a reaction."
"Ok then, what first?"
"Up to you, I'm not going to spoon feed you if you're this determined to go through with it. Try some basic movements like I said, you know which control that is. If you get in any trouble I'll have a ship pick you up."
"Got it Silvia, ok guys you heard her."
Sonic pushed forward on his controls and slowly the power from the suits thrusters increased, sending him forwards with a gradually increasing speed. The others all did the same, moving in different directions as to gain a bit of distance from each other. Jet looked the most uncomfortable of the lot but he seemed to be coping although everyone could hear his heavy breathing over the comm.
It wasn't long before the entire group was practicing small movements. Alicia 's movements seemed to be very erratic and occasionally she'd give a small cry of shock. Having twice the number of thrusters on her suit gave her twice the acceleration and with the sensitive controls it was taking her a while to get to grip with things. Chalk was having a very good time, she seemed to be handling the suit better than any of them but then she was merged with it to begin with. Despite his injuries and hesitation Jet was also doing well now. The cat was used to piloting craft and he seemed to get to grip with the new controls very quickly. Although he couldn't move his leg much, and hence some of his movements were slow, he was accurate and controlled with it. Sonic and Sally were practicing straight forward movements near to each other. The pair seemed to be doing a pirouette in space as the two suits danced past each other with gradually increasing speed. An hour past but still they continued to practice, soon that hour grew to two and finally Silvia called them in. The group seemed stunned that so much time had passed but obeyed Silvia's orders and gently brought the suits in for a landing in the bay. As they landed Silvia was already waiting for them with the biggest smile they ha ever seen.
"Welcome home!" she exclaimed, "That was exceedingly impressive."
"Why thank you Silvia." replied Sally removing the headband from her head, "That was actually a lot of fun."
"I'll say." agreed Sonic, "Once you got to grips with it that is."
"Well you've accomplished more in two hours than our pilots did in two months there. I'm going to accelerate the program if none of you have an objection."
They all shook their heads, the sooner they got onto the more complex stuff the sooner they could go. This was after all a race against time. Slowly the group extracted themselves from their suits, apart from Chalk, and returned to their rooms to rest. Even so as they travelled back all the talk was about the mission and what they would do next time went out. The air was buzzing with excitement.
-----------------------------------------
For the next few weeks things passed by smoothly. Training flights were conducted everyday and on occasions twice a day depending on how well things were going. Everyone had now got a firm grasp of the suit movements. Alicia, now able to handle eight thrusters, was flying circles around everyone, it was quite a spectacle to watch and there had been times that the entire ship had stopped working to watch the sessions going on outside. In the last week the group had moved onto weapons training and they were all coping for the most part. Sonic, armed with two high powered beam rifles, was making a nice job of his training. The fast firing double guns suited his personality and he was becoming quite a good shot. Sally had been able to integrate Nicole with her suit making her secondary support features all the more potent. She seemed to be pairing up with Sonic in most cases, providing back up fire from her beam gun but also adding her suits support element to his cause. The pair had already demonstrated their ability when they had gone up against a Coalition frigate. The frigate hadn't stood a chance and it was a good job they had been using blank rounds or the Coalition would be short one ship.
Chalk had found it hard to let go of Catrina but she was now enjoying her new weaponry. Armed with a very large particle gun and a weapon called a Jackhammer, basically a huge rocket fired battering ram on a large metal cable, she was making herself into a one rabbit army. During a test against some asteroids Chalk had been allowed to use the particle cannons full power and even the designers of the weapon had been amazed at its output. They had worked out from the blast that it could carve a hole through even the Phantoms shields and hull, although destroying it was another matter.
Alicia was also going it alone for the most part but Jet seemed to be following along behind. Alicia, being the quickest in the group had been given a nice supply of short range weaponry. She was enjoying her plasma shotgun but was having more fun with her other weapon. What at first glance appeared to be a shield was actually a beam spread gun called a Harmonica. Once activated it opened down the middle and revealed thirteen beam guns mounted inside that fired at the same time. These massively destructive weapons coupled with her speed was making her a force to be reckoned with but on occasions she got too carried away and was glad that Jet was present to watch her back. Jet's weapons consisted of a long range beam sniper rifle, which he was becoming a good shot with, and also a spread missile system. Basically one missile was fired but upon nearing the target it spilt into a series of smaller missiles creating a broad spread of damage. Because of the long range element of Jet's weapons he had also been equipped with a prototype beam sword which he was becoming very fond of.
After another very profitable training mission the group had returned to the Saratoga to relax. Spirits were very high and the feeling on the ship was that this might just work. Sonic was powering down his suit ready to depart himself when he noticed something he had been meaning to ask about. On his right arm control pad was a small red button labelled WC. He'd never been told what it did and was very curious. The rest of the group had packed up now and were moving off as Silvia approached him.
"Sonic, you did well out there." she said.
"Thanks, I'm amazed how far we've come in a few weeks." he replied.
"Yes it's impressive."
Sonic looked back at his control panel and frowned at it.
"Something wrong?" asked Silvia catching the look.
"Huh? Oh nothing wrong, just a bit of puzzlement."
"What?"
"This button marked WC. I've mentioned it to Sally and Chalk and they don't seem to have one on their suits. I've also looked at Jet and Alicia's suits and can't see one either. Now I'm more or less certain it's not a bathroom feature so what is it?"
Silvia gave a chuckle.
"It's not a bathroom feature is it?" asked Sonic.
"No it's not." replied Silvia still chuckling.
"What is it then?"
Silvia stopped chuckling and became serious.
"I've not been entirely honest about the capabilities of your suit Sonic and I had a feeling you'd ask about this sooner or later. You might have noticed that your suit moves a bit slower than the other suits yes."
"I had noticed it at time. Sally occasionally had to slow down so I could keep up on a few attack runs."
"Yes, well there's a reason. You're suit is a prototype unit."
"Prototype? In what way?"
"Well for a start it's slightly more heavily armoured hence the reason you're slower but there is one main reason and it's all down to that little red button."
"So what is it?"
Sonic began tapping his foot impatiently, he got the feeling Silvia was beating around the bush. Silvia took a quick look around to make sure no-one was listening and then spoke.
"WC stands for Wing Cannon."
"Wing Cannon?"
"Yes, basically the flight wings of your suit fold out to form a large cannon. It's only a prototype and so far your suit is the only the only thing in the Coalition armed with one."
"So why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"
"Simply put Sonic you can only use it once."
"You mean at a time?"
"I mean ever! After one shot it has to be completely reconstructed. The energy output is so high that it literally tears the cannon apart."
"How big are we talking?"
"In theory? We don't really know. We haven't been able to test it as we would destroy the cannon."
"Then how do you even know it works?"
"We don't. I haven't told you about it because I don't want you to use it, it's too risky. As you asked about it I told you about it, but promise me you won't use it. For all we know it could blow up in your face."
Sonic looked away to one side looking a bit uneasy.
"In that case I won't."
"Good, now you better catch up with your friends before they come looking for you. Oh and don't mention this to them, no point in telling them about a weapon you can't use."
Silvia then turned and walked off leaving Sonic to puzzle. There was something odd there, why give the suit a weapon it couldn't use? He looked around the hanger to find that he was alone and gave a shrug.
"People never wait around do they?"
With a blur he charged from the hanger after the group.
-----------------------------------------
"Ok Alicia go left, I'll take the right with Sally. Chalk you're down the middle and Jet your on long range support!" ordered Sonic.
"Got it!" replied Alicia as her suit broke off to the left with a massive burst of speed.
Jet's suit suddenly came to a halt as Sonic and Sally broke to the side with Chalk carrying straight on.
"Ok this is it guys! Final test, let's do it." said Sonic.
"Five!" cried Jet.
"Four!" said Alicia.
"Three!" growled Chalk.
"Two." grinned Sally.
"And one!" finished Sonic.
"Angel Squadron GO!" they all yelled.
Suddenly a burst of laser fire swept past them all causing them to split up. Chalk flew straight through the middle of it, completely focussed on her target, the bridge. The ship they were facing was the Saratoga. It wasn't a match for the Phantom 2 but it gave the team a big target to practice on and semi view of what it would be like. Alicia was already dancing around nearer the ship. Her shotgun making short work of the laser turrets.
"Locked, firing!" she informed as her Beam Harmonica activated.
A broad sweep of fire flew from the shield sweeping across the hull leaving a painted train in its path. They weren't using real ammo, but every shot left a radio signal with it indicating what had been hit and what hadn't. From that the computers on the Saratoga was able to determine what would have been destroyed and transmit this to the suit's computers. As it happened Alicia's attack wiped out a further two defensive turrets before her computer beeped at her. She spun the suit to see a third turret tracking her but it was too late to fire. Seconds later the turret was struck by a thin beam of energy, which would have destroyed it but simply knocked it out.
"Take it easy 'licia! Can't watch your back all the time." came Jet's voice over the comm..
"No need." she replied as she dodged a further shot from another turret and turned her attention back to the ship.
Sonic and Sally were now going all out on the engines. Sonic was attacking with Sally providing support. Nicole was working full time to keep a static field up around Sonic's suit meaning none of the turrets could get a target lock on him. This was allowing Sonic to attack easily but left Sally to control the suit and dodge any fire. She was doing pretty well but wasn't really making progress.
"This is nuts!" she said to herself.
Her hands flicked across the controls and the large rocket launcher on her left shoulder came to life. A target lock was soon acquired by eye floating beside her and she fired. The missile streaked its way towards the ship, impacting just behind the engines and tearing a turret to pieces. Of course that's what would have happened.
"Good shot Sally!" said Sonic.
"I'm beginning to enjoy this." replied Sally with a smirk.
Chalk was now nearing her target. Unlike the others she was a weapon short as she couldn't use her Jackhammer on the ship but her cannon was still available to her. Coming to a sudden stop in the middle of the fire she raised it forwards, energy already building around it. With a crack the cannon split down the middle and Chalk locked on.
"Say goo'night Gracie…"
"All suit! Cease fire!" cried Silvia's voice.
It was too late for Chalk and she had to violently throw her arm up sending her cannon shot into the sun behind the ship. The turrets all over the ship stopped firing and Silvia spoke again.
"All suits return to hanger! I repeat all suits return to hanger. We have a situation!"
"Get to it people!" said Sonic quickly as he turned and flew towards the bay.
Alicia had soon gained on him and passed him slightly, flying into the bay ahead of him. Landing gracefully both he and Alicia were already getting out of their own suits as Sally, Jet and Chalk landed. Chalk raced forwards heading towards the briefing room as Sonic and Alicia joined her. Sally and Jet were slightly behind, Sally actually carrying Jet so they could move quicker. Although Jet's ankle had healed slightly over the last few weeks it still gave him trouble and he couldn't run on it yet.
Flying into the briefing room they all came to a stop to See Silvia barking at some other men. She noticed then and ordered for them to sit down quickly which they did. Moments later the room darkened and Silvia threw up a screen of data on a nearby monitor.
"Sorry to cut your time short but we've just received the worst news we've had yet. It seems that the Phantom is almost ready for launching." she said quickly.
"What?!" cried Sally.
"You said five weeks at least, it's not been four yet!" said Sonic.
"I know, our reports were wrong. Seems they shifted some of the ring construction workers to the Phantom 2 to speed construction. It appears our earlier attack has landed us in more trouble than we thought."
"I knew it!" growled Chalk banging her arm down on the table and causing part of it to crack off due to her suit.
"Chalk calm down please!" said Silvia.
Sonic gave a heavy sigh and nodded.
"Silvia's right Chalk, don't let it go to your head." he said.
"Grrg!" growled Chalk and lowered her arm.
"So what do we do?" asked Sonic, "We're progressing but we're still not completely ready for this."
"I'm not sure, that's up to you. According to our report they'll be ready to launch in a few days from now." replied Silvia.
"How long is a few days?" asked Sally.
"Six."
Sally sat back and murmured to herself.
"Six days, why?"
Jet was looking over the whole gathering with narrowing eyes. It was unexpected to say the least but if that was the reality they'd have to deal with it.
"Let's do it." he said.
"Hmm?" asked Sonic looking over at him.
"Let's do it!" repeated Jet, "So it's earlier than we thought but we can do it right. If we attack now while the ship is in space dock and not completely ready we'll have more chance than going up against it when it's in a fleet and fully prepared for us. This is our best chance however it comes."
Sally looked up and nodded once, her brow was lowered and she had a look in her eyes that said "to hell with it".
"I say go." she said firmly.
"If Jet's going them I'm going." said Alicia, "I have to give him something to do after all."
Sonic looked over at Chalk who just gave a smirk.
"You know my thoughts Sonic." she said.
Sonic gave her a nod before looking over the whole group and back at Silvia.
"I thought you might decide that, very well." she said standing up fully, "All sectors we are now at battle state five!"
Screens around the room started to flash with a red number five as Silvia turned back to the group.
"It'll take a couple of days to get everything prepared, until then I want you all to get some rest." she ordered.
The entire group looked at her, gave a short nod, and left the room. They headed into the ship towards the living deck but all of them knew they'd never get any sleep. Chalk peeled off early, instead heading down to the hangers.
"I'm going to do some thinking." she informed before leaving.
None of them attempted to stop her and carried on towards their rooms. They reached Jet's first and he gave everyone a smile as he entered his room. The three that remained went a little further and finally reached their own rooms. Almost immediately Alicia leaned against the doorframe and started breathing heavily.
"Alicia? What's wrong?" asked Sally.
"A few days…" replied Alicia in as shaky voice.
Sally closed her eyes for a moment and then leaned over to hug her daughter.
"It's alright dear." she cooed.
Sally could feel Alicia's heavy breathing as she hugged her but gradually it started to slow. Sally pulled back slightly to look at her daughter. Alicia's eyes were now fluttering as if she was falling asleep on her feet, the truth was that she was.
"You need some sleep Alicia."
"Yuh huh." replied Alicia looking at Sally, "I'm scared mom."
"Me too dear. Come on you can share my bed."
"Thanks."
Sally stood up and looked over at Sonic. He gave her a nod and then motioned at the sofa. Sally gave Sonic a small smile and nodded. She had also wanted to spend the night with him but right now Alicia was more important. She turned Alicia towards her room and ushered her inside. Sonic sat down on the sofa and looked at his knees for a moment. Surely this couldn't be happening? It had to be another training mission, a test of their readiness or something? But what if it wasn't? He sat back on the sofa and continued to think about it.
In Jet's room the cat was pacing slowly back and forth across his small floor space. He stopped for a moment and looked down at his left ankle. It was still a bit swollen and wrapped up in bandages still. He cursed under his breath and continued to pace, wincing on a couple of occasions as he did. He had more or less gotten over his fear of space but still wasn't completely comfortable. He winced again and then caught sight of a small waste bin nearby.
"Lousy stupid ankle!" he yelled and swung his bad foot at the bin.
It connected hard and sent the bin flying off into his room but also sent Jet plummeting to the floor with a scream. He clutched his ankle quickly trying to stop the throbbing pain that was now flowing through it. He sat mewing to himself for a few moments before he started to cry slightly. He knew he wasn't as good as the other in the suits and his ankle was the reason why. He couldn't manoeuvre as well as them because he wasn't able to move his left boot that much, however it didn't show that much because his suit was equipped for long range fighting so he didn't have to move but he knew it. It angered him, he knew he could be as good as them if not better but he couldn't show it. It all led back to the incident on the Phantom, that mental scare had cost him too much already.
"Well I won't let them get away this time." he said coldly looking up at the ceiling.
Chalk seemed to be in another world as she walked into the third hanger. A few mechanics were working on a large transport in the bay but they didn't seem to take any notice of Chalk. The rabbit stood at the back of the bay looking up at the transport, it was the same one they had arrived in all that time ago. She sat down on a cargo crate and slipped into thought. It was amazing to think how far they had come. The others back on Little Planet would be amazed at what had happened. Chalk began to wonder what they were doing now. Had Bunnie come back yet? Was Miles coping with the job of being in charge? She smiled gently, whatever was happening she shouldn't worry about it. They could cope fine on their own and right now she had her own things to think about it. The Alliance had done too much to her world already and it had to stop. A determined stare spread across her face like a rising sun as she continued to look at the transport in front of her. At length she closed her eyes and an image came to mind, a smiling grey face.
"Mother, I won't let them go any further. We'll stop them right here, I promise."