* * *
Sally walked away feeling two inches tall. "Well, Sally. You went in demanding answers and you got them." She smiled bitterly to herself. She sighed, feeling anything but enlightened. She couldn't help but feel as though there was something she should have done, something the freedom fighters could've done to help these people. But what really disturbed her was the thought that she might never have found out about this place, or the people in it if it wasn't for their passing through.
Sally could've slapped herself. In all of today's excitement and confusion, she had nearly forgotten why she had brought them all out here in the first place. The mission! Robotnik! Sally groaned, one more thing she had totally overlooked. Her rational side tried to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that other things had taken priority. Of course, if she always listened to her rational side, she wouldn't be in love with a certain blue hedgehog...
"Speaking of Sonic," Sally thought as she walked over to where she had left her friends before looking for Olivia, she saw Sonic bent over double, laughing his head off. Then Sally saw why. Antoine was currently laying on his back looking dazed, as if a dragon had landed on him.
"I don't need this." Sally moaned to the world. "I really just don't need this right now. Bunnie, what happened?"
Looking sheepish, Bunnie turned to her best friend. "Well Sally-girl, after you high-tailed it outta here I thought that maybe Antoine should go talk to that Reynard girl. They both speak French after all."
Sally cursed herself for not thinking of it herself. "That's brilliant Bunnie! But then what-?"
"Well I don't rightly know what Antoine said to her, I don't speak French after all. But Antoine seemed, seemed--Well I don't know how to put this delicately...Antoine was being, was being-"
"-Himself?" Sonic suggested with a smirk. Bunnie frowned at him but didn't disagree.
"Whatever it was, it sure as shootin' ticked her off, so-"
"Don't tell me." Sally groaned. "She slapped him too, didn't she?"
"Slapped him? Sally-girl, she off and slugged him!"
"She WHAT?" Sally asked.
"That's right, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes too! He's been out of it ever since."
"Terrific." Sally sighed. She looked around. "Where's Tails?" Bunnie smiled.
"Over yonder." She pointed at adjacent wall. Tails was busy chasing a young lizard boy around and would then abruptly switch and become the hunted instead of the hunter. "He's been playing with that boy, Paul Stephanopoulos." Bunnie said, carefully pronouncing each syllable of his last name. Sonic just groaned and massaged his head.
"Man, these names! Nuke-rashi, Zapa-legeti, Nuss-boom, Steven-oop-a-loose, it's all Greek to me!"
"Actually Sonic, you're right."
"Say what?" Sally smiled.
"Stephanopoulos. It's Greek." Sonic just groaned.
"I need a chilidog." Sally and Bunnie laughed.
"I don't think they understand each other none, but they seem to be having a good enough time." Bunnie said, nodding towards the laughing Paul and Tails.
"At least some of us are." Sally said ruefully. She turned to Rotor. "Rotor, do you think you could get a transmission through to Uncle Chuck?"
Rotor scratched his head in thought. "If I boosted Nicole's output and piggy-backed the signal off of one of Robotnik's satellites, maybe. But it would be a weak signal, not very reliable. If I make it too strong then Robotnik would be able to trace the transmission to us and Uncle Chuck."
"Okay Rotor. Do what you can." After Sally gave Nicole to Rotor she turned her thoughts to the raid they originally set out to accomplish. "Our raid on the refinery is scheduled for the day after tomorrow. But there doesn't seem to be anyway out of here except over the mountains..."
"I'm not really looking forward to trying that again." Dulcy cut in. "Even if my wings somehow managed to heal themselves by then, I still probably wouldn't make it out."
"...Or through the jungle." Sally finished. That cast a gloomy pall over the freedom fighters. Sally ran her fingers through her hair in thought. "The original plan was to signal the others once we got into position, and then we'd make our simultaneous raids."
"What happens when they don't get the signal?" Dulcy asked.
"They'll wait until they do. They won't make a move until we signal our readiness."
"But if they stay out in the open, then old lard butt will-"
"I know Sonic. If they stay out in the open too long, Robotnik will capture them." Even Sonic didn't have anything to say to that. Sally sighed. "All we can do now is try to make sense of this place and the people in it."
"Then it would appear as though you've got your work cut out for you." A new voice interjected. They turned around to find a female Overlander in uniform. "Major Cadwaller at your service."
"Major, you startled us." Sally said. "What was it that you were saying, Sir?"
"First of all, I hate being called 'Sir,' military protocol or no. Second of all, you're dealing with a very odd crowd of people, myself included."
"Oh? Well, since our guide is--shall we say, currently indisposed--would you care to show us around?" Sally asked.
"I suppose so." She craned her head upwards. "You're in luck, there's a couple of our residents now."
Sally looked up at a rather unusual sight. A hovering eagle was carrying a rabbit along side one of the walls, apparently inspecting it. Major Cadwaller shouted to them and they shouted back, in a different language of course. They had no sooner landed in front of them than the Major said;
"Allow me to introduce Wladyslaw Sawatski and Vaclav Dubcek, our two biggest trouble makers." She spoke without anger, but it was clear that the language barrier didn't stop them from guessing what she said and it certainly didn't prevent them from cranking up the innocent act any.
"Dzien dobry den." The two said, their greetings overlapping one another.
"They remind you of anyone, Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked conspiratorially.
"Nope, no one that comes to mind anyway." Sally whispered back in the same tone.
Cadwaller gave a wry grin and shrugged. "Anyway, Wladyslaw here comes from Polska and Vaclav from Bohemia." She said, indicating the eagle and the rabbit, respectively. "Don't turn you backs on them though, I'm still having my other uniform cleaned from the last time they tried to give the barracks a fresh coat of paint." She shook her head. "Boys!" Bunnie gave Sally another conspiratorial look.
"I think I could get to like her." Bunnie said. Sally nodded in agreement. The Major beckoned them over to the steps in front of the administration building.
"Last, but not least, are our last two reprobates, Pedro Santiago and Jomo Uhuru." She nodded to a Chihuahua and a zebra who were busy trying to fix a broken shutter. When they realized they had an audience they stopped working and turned to their guests. Unfortunately, the zebra--Jomo--dropped a hammer he was working with, right on Pedro's foot. That itself caused no little ruckus and started a full fledged shouting match in which neither one knew that the other was saying. Major Cadwaller just shook her head and turned to Sally.
"Welcome to my life in Hell." To the two squabbling Mobians she said, "All right you two, settle down! We have company."
After a few more seconds of arguing the two shrugged and shook each other's hand. From the friendly, even amused expressions they each wore, Sally guessed that it was more of a game than a serious argument.
"Oooo-boy. As I was saying, this is Jomo Uhuru of the Kikuyu." Cadwaller said waving to the zebra. He bowed slightly towards his guests and smiled.
"Muriega."
"And Pedro Santiago." The short Chihuahua bowed and gracefully kissed Sally's hand.
"Hola, amigos. Buenos dias." Sally blushed at the gesture and blushed further at Bunnie's not-so subdued snickering. Of course that made it perfectly acceptable for Sally do laugh at Bunnie's embarrassment when Pedro did it to her. Sonic and Antoine just 'harumphed!' in jealousy and turned their backs. Sally just laughed, glad for even a temporary pause from the mysteries that were hidden within these walls and from the fact that she had no idea how to solve them.
* * *
Sally walked away feeling two inches tall. "Well, Sally. You went in demanding answers and you got them." She smiled bitterly to herself. She sighed, feeling anything but enlightened. She couldn't help but feel as though there was something she should have done, something the freedom fighters could've done to help these people. But what really disturbed her was the thought that she might never have found out about this place, or the people in it if it wasn't for their passing through.
Sally could've slapped herself. In all of today's excitement and confusion, she had nearly forgotten why she had brought them all out here in the first place. The mission! Robotnik! Sally groaned, one more thing she had totally overlooked. Her rational side tried to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that other things had taken priority. Of course, if she always listened to her rational side, she wouldn't be in love with a certain blue hedgehog...
"Speaking of Sonic," Sally thought as she walked over to where she had left her friends before looking for Olivia, she saw Sonic bent over double, laughing his head off. Then Sally saw why. Antoine was currently laying on his back looking dazed, as if a dragon had landed on him.
"I don't need this." Sally moaned to the world. "I really just don't need this right now. Bunnie, what happened?"
Looking sheepish, Bunnie turned to her best friend. "Well Sally-girl, after you high-tailed it outta here I thought that maybe Antoine should go talk to that Reynard girl. They both speak French after all."
Sally cursed herself for not thinking of it herself. "That's brilliant Bunnie! But then what-?"
"Well I don't rightly know what Antoine said to her, I don't speak French after all. But Antoine seemed, seemed--Well I don't know how to put this delicately...Antoine was being, was being-"
"-Himself?" Sonic suggested with a smirk. Bunnie frowned at him but didn't disagree.
"Whatever it was, it sure as shootin' ticked her off, so-"
"Don't tell me." Sally groaned. "She slapped him too, didn't she?"
"Slapped him? Sally-girl, she off and slugged him!"
"She WHAT?" Sally asked.
"That's right, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes too! He's been out of it ever since."
"Terrific." Sally sighed. She looked around. "Where's Tails?" Bunnie smiled.
"Over yonder." She pointed at adjacent wall. Tails was busy chasing a young lizard boy around and would then abruptly switch and become the hunted instead of the hunter. "He's been playing with that boy, Paul Stephanopoulos." Bunnie said, carefully pronouncing each syllable of his last name. Sonic just groaned and massaged his head.
"Man, these names! Nuke-rashi, Zapa-legeti, Nuss-boom, Steven-oop-a-loose, it's all Greek to me!"
"Actually Sonic, you're right."
"Say what?" Sally smiled.
"Stephanopoulos. It's Greek." Sonic just groaned.
"I need a chilidog." Sally and Bunnie laughed.
"I don't think they understand each other none, but they seem to be having a good enough time." Bunnie said, nodding towards the laughing Paul and Tails.
"At least some of us are." Sally said ruefully. She turned to Rotor. "Rotor, do you think you could get a transmission through to Uncle Chuck?"
Rotor scratched his head in thought. "If I boosted Nicole's output and piggy-backed the signal off of one of Robotnik's satellites, maybe. But it would be a weak signal, not very reliable. If I make it too strong then Robotnik would be able to trace the transmission to us and Uncle Chuck."
"Okay Rotor. Do what you can." After Sally gave Nicole to Rotor she turned her thoughts to the raid they originally set out to accomplish. "Our raid on the refinery is scheduled for the day after tomorrow. But there doesn't seem to be anyway out of here except over the mountains..."
"I'm not really looking forward to trying that again." Dulcy cut in. "Even if my wings somehow managed to heal themselves by then, I still probably wouldn't make it out."
"...Or through the jungle." Sally finished. That cast a gloomy pall over the freedom fighters. Sally ran her fingers through her hair in thought. "The original plan was to signal the others once we got into position, and then we'd make our simultaneous raids."
"What happens when they don't get the signal?" Dulcy asked.
"They'll wait until they do. They won't make a move until we signal our readiness."
"But if they stay out in the open, then old lard butt will-"
"I know Sonic. If they stay out in the open too long, Robotnik will capture them." Even Sonic didn't have anything to say to that. Sally sighed. "All we can do now is try to make sense of this place and the people in it."
"Then it would appear as though you've got your work cut out for you." A new voice interjected. They turned around to find a female Overlander in uniform. "Major Cadwaller at your service."
"Major, you startled us." Sally said. "What was it that you were saying, Sir?"
"First of all, I hate being called 'Sir,' military protocol or no. Second of all, you're dealing with a very odd crowd of people, myself included."
"Oh? Well, since our guide is--shall we say, currently indisposed--would you care to show us around?" Sally asked.
"I suppose so." She craned her head upwards. "You're in luck, there's a couple of our residents now."
Sally looked up at a rather unusual sight. A hovering eagle was carrying a rabbit along side one of the walls, apparently inspecting it. Major Cadwaller shouted to them and they shouted back, in a different language of course. They had no sooner landed in front of them than the Major said;
"Allow me to introduce Wladyslaw Sawatski and Vaclav Dubcek, our two biggest trouble makers." She spoke without anger, but it was clear that the language barrier didn't stop them from guessing what she said and it certainly didn't prevent them from cranking up the innocent act any.
"Dzien dobry den." The two said, their greetings overlapping one another.
"They remind you of anyone, Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked conspiratorially.
"Nope, no one that comes to mind anyway." Sally whispered back in the same tone.
Cadwaller gave a wry grin and shrugged. "Anyway, Wladyslaw here comes from Polska and Vaclav from Bohemia." She said, indicating the eagle and the rabbit, respectively. "Don't turn you backs on them though, I'm still having my other uniform cleaned from the last time they tried to give the barracks a fresh coat of paint." She shook her head. "Boys!" Bunnie gave Sally another conspiratorial look.
"I think I could get to like her." Bunnie said. Sally nodded in agreement. The Major beckoned them over to the steps in front of the administration building.
"Last, but not least, are our last two reprobates, Pedro Santiago and Jomo Uhuru." She nodded to a Chihuahua and a zebra who were busy trying to fix a broken shutter. When they realized they had an audience they stopped working and turned to their guests. Unfortunately, the zebra--Jomo--dropped a hammer he was working with, right on Pedro's foot. That itself caused no little ruckus and started a full fledged shouting match in which neither one knew that the other was saying. Major Cadwaller just shook her head and turned to Sally.
"Welcome to my life in Hell." To the two squabbling Mobians she said, "All right you two, settle down! We have company."
After a few more seconds of arguing the two shrugged and shook each other's hand. From the friendly, even amused expressions they each wore, Sally guessed that it was more of a game than a serious argument.
"Oooo-boy. As I was saying, this is Jomo Uhuru of the Kikuyu." Cadwaller said waving to the zebra. He bowed slightly towards his guests and smiled.
"Muriega."
"And Pedro Santiago." The short Chihuahua bowed and gracefully kissed Sally's hand.
"Hola, amigos. Buenos dias." Sally blushed at the gesture and blushed further at Bunnie's not-so subdued snickering. Of course that made it perfectly acceptable for Sally do laugh at Bunnie's embarrassment when Pedro did it to her. Sonic and Antoine just 'harumphed!' in jealousy and turned their backs. Sally just laughed, glad for even a temporary pause from the mysteries that were hidden within these walls and from the fact that she had no idea how to solve them.
* * *