A/N: Nothing much new. Kman brought to my attention in a review that Monaco was not a French port. If you already read this chapter, I had the Rakshasa raid a French port to make the French fleet retaliate against it. I was looking at a map to pick a random southern port and picked Monaco without looking at the map closely. It's small, but it's independent. Heh heh, my bad. I read the map wrong. So, Monaco becomes Marseille. Not anything major to the story, but it's the principle of the whole thing. Thanks for the heads up, Kman.
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. Pearl Harbor Naval Station. January 25, 2003. 3:01 P.M. Hawaiian time.
To say that the past 20 hours had been exhausting for Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy would be an understatement. They had been forced to gather intelligence from CNN through the wee hours of the morning, abruptly flown to Washington D.C., accosted by the CIA, and finally, sent to Pearl Harbor.
And only three hours had passed, well, at least for local time.
Their flight had left at noon EDT, and had taken only eight hours, thanks to the favorable rotation of the Earth. Their internal clocks are saying the sun should be down, but now it's mid-afternoon.
The four, plus Rouge, were now in a military Humvee enroute to Pearl Harbor. "Jet lag's a bitch." Sonic moaned, the headache he had ruin any chances he had of enjoying the scenery for a bit.
Rouge was feeling a little better. "Well, at least we're outta the deep freeze!" Rouge exclaimed. Good thing they were all out of their winter gear, too.
Knuckles snorted. "If you lived in Miami, it wouldn't be that big of a deal."
Not even lack of sleep and jet lag could douse Amy's spirits. She was eagerly looking out of the humvee's window. "Wow! Hawaii is so beautiful! I just wish we had time to look around." She lamented.
"We were in Hawaii before, remember?" Sonic muttered. "Although on unfavorable terms. Prison Island." That wasn't exactly the most scenic view of Hawaii, being decked in 'prison pink', escaping from the GUN base, dueling with Shadow, and barely managing to escape the small island with Tails and Amy before it self-destructed.
"Oh, yeah…"
"Anyway, I guess as soon as we finish up here, we can look around, I guess…"
Amy's face lit up. "Really?! Oh, I love you, Sonic!" She hugged him tightly.
"Get off of me, please." Sonic said calmly. "Otherwise I'll take it back." And Amy immediately let go.
"…Meanie."
Sonic was about to retaliate when the Humvee stopped. They were at the Los Angeles' dock. "Everyone pile out." The driving Marine ordered.
They made their way to the waiting sub, when someone called out from behind. "Sonic the Hedgehog!" Everyone turned to see a male anthropod seagull officer with big rank insignias running to them, stopping when he reached them. "I'm Commander James Speigal, captain of the U.S.S. Los Angeles. Our mission has changed somewhat."
"What do you mean?" Rouge asked inquisitively.
"Step into my office, please."
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. Pearl Harbor Naval Station, Commander Speigal's office. January 25, 2003. 3:14 P.M. Hawaiian time.
When they entered the office, six Navy men were already there. Sonic's first guess was they were from SEAL Team 3.
"So you're the bunch of jokers who want to end this crisis," one SEAL, a Labrador retriever anthropod said. "You know, you guys got a lotta balls wanting to black op. like this."
Sonic grinned. "Likewise."
Speigal sat down. "Alright, down to business, people. At 0430 hours, our surveillance satellites detected the E.C. (egg carrier) Rakshasa entering the Mediterranean Sea. There, it raided the southern French port of Marseille, destroying or damaging several freighters, before moving out of the area towards the South Indian Ocean for repairs. The French responded by ordering their Second Carrier Battle Group, to hunt down and destroy the Rakshasa. The carrier Bonaparte sortied two wings of their Rafale M multirole fighters. The CIA discovered this, and convinced the French to stand down, but not before inflicting moderate damage to the Rakshasa. It is estimated that it will take an additional sixteen hours to complete repairs to the ship. Meaning, our deployment will be delayed another four hours. Until then, you are free to do as you will. Report to the Los Angeles at 1900 hours. Don't forget to pick up your gear from the armory. Other than that, you're dismissed."
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. Pearl Harbor Naval Station, Armory. Ten minutes later.
Sonic looked over his new M-4 Assault Rifle. It had an attached M-203 grenade launcher below the barrel, for extra firepower. He was also equipped with an HK Mark 23 SOCOM sidearm with the attached laser sight module, five chaff grenades, fifteen grenade rounds, and three frag grenades. All in all, he was one dangerous hedgehog… even more so, now.
"Man, I have to take off my gloves to fire this damn thing!" Knuckles whined. He selected an M-4 with an attached Master Key shotgun, seven chaff grenades, four frag grenades, and a SOCOM pistol.
"Heh, sucks to be you, Red!" Rouge said jokingly. Going against uniformity, she had a Barrett M-82 .50 caliber sniper rifle as her primary, and an HK MP5 as her secondary. Everything else was the same. "Well, now to store our gear in the Los Angeles."
As they walked out of the armory, someone called out. "Hey, Sonic!"
Sonic turned around to see Amy leaning on the wall of the armory, seemingly waiting for him. "Yeah, what's up?"
The pink hedgehog walked up to him, stopping just a few feet away. "Um, do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?" She murmured.
Sonic glanced back at Knuckles and Rouge, who had stopped to wait for him. "Hey guys, don't wait up. I'll catch up." He turned back to Amy. "So, what's up?"
She looked him over, now with his new gray camouflaged BDU (once again, Battle Dress Uniform), assault rifle slung behind his back along with his gear bag. She smiled. "Wow, you really do look like a SEAL."
"Look, if it's about you wanting to come along—"
She frowned, hands on hips. "I wasn't even going to try to change your mind!" She remembered him saying that an E-Series soldier could build a new AK-74U, lock and load a clip, fix a jam, and fire faster than she'd be able to get within range for her hammer. "But even you have to admit that I can be of some use for this mission. Remember, I'm the only one who's actually been inside the guts of an egg carrier. So, the commanding officer in charge of this operation is letting me put a camera on you."
Sonic shrugged. "Okaaaay. Something tells me that's not all you wanted."
Amy giggled. "Busted. Um, I was wondering if um… since we have a few hours before the mission starts, if you and I could hang out together?" She looked up at him hopefully. "Please?"
Hang out together? The wheels were turning in Sonic's head. Wouldn't this be called a date? He made that thought audible. "Wouldn't this be a date?"
"Call it what you want to. All I'm asking for is a little company to go sightseeing with."
Sonic looked at his digital naval watch. 1532 hours (3:32 P.M), it read. "I don't think we'll have enough time to do much—"
"Oh, come on Sonic! Just this once?" She looked at him pleadingly through her eyelashes, her lips in a slight pout.
That made Sonic freeze. Saying no to her in the past was a lot easier, but he just couldn't find the willpower to. He had to admit that after Perfect Chaos, and ARK, she had matured a lot. This might not be so bad. So, steeling his nerves, he closed his eyes, and breathed in. "Fine. You win."
Acting on impulse, Amy whooped in celebration, hugging the blue hedgehog. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank—"
"Calm down and let go of me, or I'll change my mind."
Amy immediately quieted and released him, then poked him in his ribs, making him yelp and jump. "Meanie."
Sonic smirked. "You'd think that with an assault rifle, grenade launcher, and loads more, I'd have a right to be mean for any reason. Anyways, before we go, I gotta stow my gear. Give me a minute." With that, he jogged to the docked submarine, leaving Amy to wait outside.
Honolulu, Hawaii. Pearl Harbor Naval Station. U.S.S. Los Angeles, Break Room. Same time.
SEAL Team 3, along with Rouge, Knuckles, and Tails sat around a table. The SEALs were a little disappointed that their mission was delayed. "Y'know, I wonder why we don't just disembark now. I mean, what else can happen?"
"We could have another change in our mission, Vasquez." Rouge answered the Hispanic.
"Like what?" Collins, a wolf anthropod challenged.
Rouge thought for a moment. "Well… um, I don't know. Something none of us can think of!"
"Whatever, chica." Vasquez said.
A beat, then Profile, a Caucasian SEAL, spoke up. "What I'm not getting is why the kid's coming with us."
"Hey, I have a lot more experience fighting Eggman than every SEAL here put together!" Tails defended himself.
"We know that, kid. Profile probably meant what you're doing on this mission?" Barnes, an African American SEAL said.
"He's our gear-head, Barnes." Everyone turned to the doorjamb to see Sonic, who had already stowed his gear. "He's supposed to be bringing that comms. tower on that re-supply rig offline for us. Not to mention, he's probably the only one here who can get us past any security lockouts on the Rakshasa." At that, various mutters and murmurs of reluctant agreement filled the room. "Anyway, Knux, Rouge, Tails, any of you going anywhere?"
Knuckles and Rouge just shrugged. Tails nodded. "I think I'm going go over to Hickam Air Force Base and watch the aircraft." Tails paused. "Why? Where are you going?"
Sonic shrugged. "Nowhere special."
Knuckles clucked his tongue. "Then where's Amy at? I thought you and her talked." Sonic didn't answer. Knuckles smirked. "Did she actually convince you to go on—"
"It ain't a date!" Sonic shouted. "It's just a couple of hours of downtime together, that's all."
Rouge chuckled. "Call it what you want, Sonic. In the end, it all boils down to a date."
"Shut up!" Sonic snapped, walking down the hall. "I'm outta here. See y'all at 1900 hours!"
The whole room chuckled. "The guy's twenty, and he's still a little shy about his feelings for Amy." Tails commented. "You'd think that from over the years of Amy chasing him, she would have'em by now."
"It's because I'm a fighter, not a lover!!"
Tails blinked. He heard that? Anyway, he had some plans of his own. "I'm off to Hickam. See ya back here." With that, he headed towards the exit.
That left Rouge and Knuckles with some of the SEALs. "Hmm, wandering around might not be so bad after all." The bat commented, and got up to leave the room.
Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" He asked inquisitively.
Rouge smirked. "And why do you care?" She answered slyly.
The echidna shook his head profusely. "N-n-no reason." He stuttered.
Rouge smiled to herself. He was cute when he lied to himself. "You wanna come with me, Red?" Before Knuckles could answer, she pulled him out of his chair, tugging him toward the exit with some resistance from his part. "C'mon! It'll be fun. Besides, you of all people need to loosen up!"
"Hey… Rouge! Wait… Oh never mind." Knuckles eventually gave up and let himself be pulled along.
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. Waikiki Beach. 6:27 P.M. EDT. January 25, 2003.
"No offense, Ames, but of all places, the beach?!" Sonic questioned. "Y'know there's a perfectly good beach twenty minutes away at home called Miami Beach. They're all the same!"
"They're not all the same," Amy chuckled. "It's a lot less humid here, and the trade winds feel perfect." The two were walking along the beach, just out of range of the waves. Amy had kicked off her boots and socks and was walking barefoot in the wet sand. They had already taken a look at Diamondhead; or rather Sonic carried Amy and ran up Diamondhead to save some time.
This 'date', for lack of a better word isn't so bad after all, Sonic thought. As a matter of fact, it was turning out to be pretty good. After Diamondhead, they had gotten a bite to eat at an outdoor restaurant, and then walked down to the beach. Still, Sonic couldn't get over Amy's apparent newfound maturity. A year or two ago, she would have been all over him, well… periodically, she still does that, but not nearly as bad.
He also started to think about this mission, codenamed Operation Blackbeard. He had never thought about any mission this heavily before. This could very well be his final mission. He never thought of that, mostly because he never had time to think about things like that. All of his battles were spur of the moment; he never had a choice, it was do or die. This is the first time he's ever had the chance to think like this. He guessed he was thinking too much because he felt Amy's hand on his shoulder.
"What's on your mind, Sonic?" Amy asked.
Sonic shrugged, dismissing his thoughts. "Nothing important."
"Oh?" Amy circled in front of him, hands on her hips. "You've been thinking about 'nothing' for the past five minutes? I think not! So, what's got your mind so occupied?"
He shrugged again, and then sighed. "I don't know. Everything and nothing, I guess." Amy looked at him expecting him to continue. Sonic sighed again. "Normally, I don't even get a chance to think before a mission, since we don't get a say in accepting them, or is there this much of a delay. You know, this is war. Meaning, some of us, even I could die." He shook his head, laughing a little. "Heh, what am I saying? We've been in too many battles to die in a rescue attempt."
Amy frowned. "So, that's what's bothering you? You actually having time to think?" She knew he had a history of doing something before thinking about the repercussions to follow. Apparently, this was a case. "To tell you the truth, I think about it all the time. The thing is, I don't dwell on it."
Damn! When did she grow up? Sonic eyed her for a moment, and grinned. "Y'know, since ARK, you've matured a lot. You're no longer the girl I saved way back when. Just want you to know that."
Amy giggled. "Oh, wow! Sonic finally gave me a compliment! I have to be wearing you down!" She sidled up to him, looking deep into his eyes. "Y'know, I never did thank you properly for saving my life so many times."
Sonic scratched the back of his head, trying to play it off. "Pshhhhhh! It was all in a day's work." He felt the pink hedgehog creep closer, but decided to stand his ground. Now, their faces were inches apart.
"And I distinctly remember you losing a game of Halo with a kiss on the line…" Amy continued. Last time, Sonic skirted at the last moment with Tails' intervention.
Goddamn! That hit home, and Sonic backed away a step, holding his head.
Amy frowned. "What's wrong? You still have a phobia of kissing me?"
Sonic did a double take. "Hell naw! It was the reminder of me losing at my own game that set me off!" He took a deep breath, and proclaimed boldly. "I have absolutely no issues about kissing you!"
"Oh yeah? Then prove it!" Amy challenged.
Without even thinking, Sonic closed the gap between them, and gave her a brief kiss on the lips…
… Then the proverbial sledgehammer fell. Both Sonic and Amy were left with a 'deer caught in headlights' look on their faces. Sonic because of the fact that he threw all caution to the wind again not thinking of the consequences, and Amy because he actually did it, even just for a split second.
Amy was the first to recover, and she smiled coyly. "Is that the best you got?"
"Heh, not even close." Once again, their lips met. This time, longer, more sensual… And the sledge fell again. Damn, she got me, Sonic thought. But then again, is that really a bad thing?
When Sonic recovered from the second kiss, he happened to glance at his watch. 1843 hours, it read. "Damn! It's quarter till seven, now! Amy, get on my back!"
"Crud! Can we still make it?" She asked, getting on.
Sonic smirked. "Heh! There's a reason why I hold all land speed records. If we're lucky, I can get us back in five minutes." With that, he started, gradually building up a head of steam to a full sprint back to Pearl Harbor.
Honolulu, Hawaii. Pearl Harbor Naval Station, Middle Loch, just outside the U.S.S. Los Angeles. January 25, 2003. 6:58 P.M. EDT.
"Where the hell are Hedgehog and Rose?!" Commander Speigal shouted. Everyone was accounted for, except for Sonic and Amy.
"Relax, sir. They'll be here." Tails reassured. He looked to the water behind Speigal to see something approaching on the water, and kicking up a lot of it. "That's gotta be them!"
"Well, there's the Los Angeles, still at dock." Sonic observed. "At least we weren't left behind." Sonic had picked up enough speed to skim the surface of the water, and Amy was hanging on for dear life. He maneuvered to where the water and land transitioned smoothly, ran there, then came to a stop to where Speigal was waiting. "Heh, reporting for duty, sir?" He said jokingly, and added a mock salute.
Speigal rolled his eyes. "Get your asses down in that ship before I decide to leave you." Without further encouragement, Sonic, Amy, and Tails climbed into the submarine.
U.S.S. Los Angeles, Lounge. Same time.
"I hate poker…" Knuckles muttered. He and Rouge were playing strip poker with SEAL Team 3, and most of the crew of the Los Angeles watching, hoping that Rouge would lose. And for the most part, Knuckles was losing. Rouge was down to her tank top and pants, and Knuckles now had only a pair of white boxers protecting his modesty.
Rouge grinned. "Ok, Red. To make things more interesting, how's this? If I lose the next hand… I'll show it all. But, if you lose," her smile got wider. "I get to see 100% naked echidna!"
He just might get out of this with his modesty. "Alright, bat-girl! Deal'em!" Rouge dealt out the cards. Knuckles threw away three cards, then drew. "C'mon. Just this once, give me what I need… yes!" He now had two pair: kings and twos, and he slammed his hand down with authority. "Bam! Whatcha got?! Huh?!"
Rouge calmly drew two, saw what she got, and kept her poker face. "Oooh, nice hand there, Red. I think you might actually have me."
Knuckles stood up, leaning over the table. "I know I have you! Show your hand! Show it!"
Rouge kept teasing him. "You really want me to strip, don't you Red?"
"Quit stalling and show it!"
"You sure about that?"
"Yeah!"
Rouge finally calmly showed her hand, and Knuckles jaw dropped to the table. "Three fours, hon." The entire room was filled with "Ohhh!'s" and "Damn!'s". Rouge smiled wickedly. "You know what that means, don't you?" Now, you show it!"
Knuckles backed away, holding his hands out in protest. "Now wait a min—"
"A deal's a deal, Knux!" Rouge approached him. "So, whatever you won't show, I'll uncover myself." She grabbed for his boxers, but Knuckles grabbed her hands before she could reach them.
"Commander!" Barnes shouted. Knuckles and Rouge froze.
Speigal walked in with Sonic, Amy, and Tails not far behind. "What the hell?" Speigal muttered.
Sonic shook his head. "Oh, I coulda told you Knuckles sucks in poker, Rouge."
"Shut up!" The echidna retorted, scrambling to put on his BDU.
"I'm here to tell you jokers that we're underway immediately. Our ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) is approximately twelve hours. I advise everyone to report to their bunks if you haven't already. Also, you may notice that the opposite sex is aboard this submarine. Protocol still doesn't allow females to serve aboard submarines, last I checked. Don't get any ideas." (A/N: It's true! I checked into it on a special on TLC)
"Why can't us women serve on submarines?" Amy asked, almost offended.
"No offense, Ames, but think about it," Sonic began. "About a crew of about 140 men deployed in an airtight crate for three months at a time at the bottom of the ocean. Now, throw in about five females, and watch the pent up hormones fly!"
"More or less." Speigal said. He then spoke into a comm. link on the wall. "Commander Speigal to helm."
"This is First Officer Negase, orders?"
"Set engines to full power. We're deploying."
A/N: Whew! That was long. I just had to get the rest of the downtime chapters out of the way. I'm just as eager for the action to start as you are. If you want, leave a review. The action starts next chapter. Peace!