A/N: This is the one chapter that I absolutely could not wait to write. Also, if you've played Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies, or have MP3 files of the music, keep the music theme for "Escort" in mind, or play it on your media player because it is the perfect background music for this scene IMHO. If you don't have it, you can get it over Kazaa.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Boeing owns the F/A-18E Super Hornet.
U.S.S. Los Angeles, helm. January 26, 2003. 0921 hours.
Speigal and Amy felt like their stomachs had disappeared when Sonic explained their situation. Speigal had to lean against a wall for support, and Amy broke down into sobs, knowing that she'll very likely lose all of her closest friends at the same time.
On the other side of the comms channel, Sonic could hear her sobbing. "Ames, please don't cry over us. Stay strong for us, and for yourself." Sonic sighed heavily on his end. "I think we all took this mission knowing the risks, and it—" He stopped when Amy started crying louder. His attempts at consoling her were futile. "This is Sonic, signing off. God bless." Click.
Dropship, near the equator. Altitude: 22,000 feet. Same time.
The first thing he said afterward was a direct contradiction to that last sentence. "Goddammit!" Sonic slammed his radio down on the floor, busting it. He couldn't stand it when Amy cried, especially about him. And he was so helpless to fix the situation. Sonic sat back in the copilot's chair. "Well, people. It's been nice knowin' ya."
"Wait! You mean you don't have a retrieval ship ready?" A Russian said.
Sonic shook his head. "Nope. Our plan called for us to get out when the Rakshasa was still docked at the rig." Sonic sighed heavily. "To say nothing about us buying it, this will be the biggest fuck up with U.S./Russian relations since… since… I don't know." He turned to address his friends. "Guys, I'm sorry I dragged you along for this mission. I guess you have me to blame for getting us killed."
Tails shook his head. "Not true. Like you told Amy earlier, we all knew the risks beforehand. At least we won't die alone."
"Uh, thanks… I guess." Sonic mumbled.
Knuckles clucked his tongue. "You're making me cry, Sonic." He chuckled. "For this, I'll follow you to the depths of Hell."
Vasquez laughed. "Yeah! And even if we go to Hell with him, it won't be so bad." The whole cabin laughed sadly.
A beat. Sonic took out his long-forgotten cigar. "Y'know, I always thought that these things would kill me." He muttered. "Well, Vasquez, the fat lady's singing. Anybody got a light?"
Vasquez took out a small lighter out of his pocket and tossed it to Sonic. Sonic then lit his cigar. "Well, this better be the best damn cigar in the world, because I ain't never gonna smoke another." He took a puff, then tossed the lighter back to Vasquez.
Rouge began to cough. "Y'know, Sonic. Some people still breath air!" She protested.
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "So?! We're all a bunch of dead men here. We're all looking at a bunch of dead men. I don't think a little second hand smoke will bother you!"
Tails looked back at the radar. "Well, we have about ten more minutes before those bandits get into firing range." He muttered solemnly. "If you haven't made your peace, do it now." Another reading on the radar screen made him do a double take. "What the?!" He began to laugh. "Hey guys, another heavy group hot. Five targets approaching at vector 284 (west northwest). Looks like Eggman's not taking any chances."
Cummings looked up. "Excuse me. Do you mind giving me that vector again?" He queried.
Tails shrugged. "284. Why?"
"Because Robotnik doesn't have any major bases in that vicinity." The Sec. Def. answered. "So what could…" An idea hit him. "Quick, try and hail them!"
Tails opened up an open frequency. "Any allied aircraft! Any allied aircraft! This is 'Tails' Miles Prower with Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, and Rouge the Bat! SEAL Team 3 is also among us! We have the Russian FSB Head with Secretary of Defense Mark Cummings onboard! We have bandits inbound and closing fast at 15,000 feet! We require immediately escort!"
About a half-minute passed before an answer came. "This is Captain James Loukakis callsign Fang, squadron leader of the 115th Eagles carrier fighter wing, U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. We now have a tally-ho (radar confirmation) on your position. Only problem is your IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) status is hostile. Can you try to change your transponder?"
Tails looked at his radar. The five jets were being read as hostile, as well as the fighters launched from the Ravana. A few adjustments of the dropship's IFF transponder made Loukakis' wing friendly. "Done. If it's not too much trouble, what are you guys doing out here?" He asked.
"We have orders from President Dugan himself to escort you safely to the Lincoln." Loukakis replied.
Sonic did a double take. "What?! How?! This was supposed to be a black op.! How can you—"
"You'll hear about it in your debriefing. Take vector 282 to the carrier battle group, and you'll be okay. Leave the bandits to us."
"I copy that." Tails answered and changed the ship's vector. "Alright. Let's hit full burners, and get outta here!" Within half a minute, the five jets screamed over the dropship. "Whoa! They're flying the new F/A-18E Super Hornets! Those are brand new! We're in good hands!"
"Control tower, this is Eagle 01. What is are our ROE (Rules Of Engagement)?" Loukakis
"Eagle Squadron, this is control tower. You are weapons free."
"Copy that." Loukakis said, strapping on his facemask. "Okay, Eagles. We have clearance to engage. Splash (destroy) all hostile aircraft."
"Roger. Initiating splash of all hostile aircraft." Eagle 02, Lieutenant Deborah Hansen callsign "Phoenix" replied, and the rest of the squadron strapped on their facemasks.
Two minutes past. Finally, the jet's HUD (Heads Up Display) confirmed the five bandits. "Tally-ho on the enemy fighter formation. All fighters break and attack."
"Copy that." Eagle 03, Lieutenant Junior Grade Joshua Connor callsign Maverick said, and the five Super Hornets broke their five-plane formation. "Eagle 03, going in hot with AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles)." A loud beep came from the targeting computer, signaling he had lock. "I have tone! Fox 3! Fox 3!" The AMRAAM fired. The bandit evaded it with the help of chaff. "Dammit! Missile shot trashed!"
"Oh, shit! Those are the advance Reaper air superiority fighters. Stay alert!" Loukakis warned, moving to engage the lead bandit. After a few seconds of close in maneuvering, he managed to get behind his target. He switched to his AIM-9 Sidewinders. The bandit started to move evasively, once or twice, breaking the missile lock cycle, and Loukakis had to start the cycle again. "C'mon! C'mon!"
"Sir! Watch your six!" Eagle 04, Ensign Rod Smith, callsign Bull, warned. Loukakis turned around.
There was a bandit on his tail. "Smith! Splash that bandit!"
Smith broke off of his target to engage the Reaper engaging Loukakis. He got behind the bandit and switched to Sidewinders He had to get a missile lock. "Sir, when I tell you to, jink (turn hard) right!"
In Loukakis' aircraft, missile warning lights and beeps activated. "You better hurry, Smith. This guy's spiking me!"
"Hold on! I almost have tone!" The aspect lock diamond slowly traveled across Smith's HUD to the bandit's target reticule. Finally the diamond settled in, and the lock tone resonated in the cockpit. "Now! Jink right!"
Loukakis' HUD was still beeping with missile warnings. Relieved, he rolled, and banked right hard. The Reaper had lost its lock.
Smith now had a clear shot. "Fox 2! Fox 2!" The Sidewinder fired from its wing rail. At this range, there wasn't a ghost of a chance of evading, and the Reaper blew up in a spectacular fireball. "Haha! Splash one!" No sooner than that did the missile lock warnings flash on his HUD. The Reaper Loukakis had engaged before had looped around, and gotten behind him. "Oh, shit! I'm spiked!" He tried to turn around by doing a half loop and barrel roll (A/N: there's a name for this maneuver, but I can't remember it. If any other military buff does, please let me know), but the Reaper stayed right behind him. "Damn, this guy's good!" His HUD went red. Missile alert. "Oh, shit!" He didn't have a chance to outmaneuver it or release countermeasures. The missile destroyed his engines and his right wing, and he was forced to eject.
Back in the dropship…
The mood on the dropship was a lot better. They were now far away from the dogfights, and were almost to the carrier battle group's defense umbrella. Sonic had borrowed someone's radio, after breaking his in a fit of anger and helplessness. "King six, this is Sonic. We just may make it. The Eagles have the bandits tied up."
On the other end, Speigal and Amy sounded ecstatic. The seagull anthropod also was puzzled. "That's good to hear…"
"But how did the President catch wind of this operation? The Eagles said they got direct orders from Dugan to escort us safely to the Abe Lincoln."
"I know. We got orders to rendezvous with them as well. Our ETA is four hours. We'll meet you there." Speigal said.
"10-4."
Back to the dogfight…
"Fox 2!" Loukakis called as his Sidewinder launched. It hit its target, blowing off the Reaper's left wing and it spiraled down 10,000 feet into the Pacific. "Splash one! Three targets remain!"
"Sir! I'm picking up five new bandits inbound! Just how bad does Eggman want our people?!" Eagle 02 asked.
"Stick with it, Eagles." The control tower said. "We're now deploying the Stingers to engage the Ravana."
Loukakis banked his Super Hornet around to assist a wingman on a kill. "If we're lucky, when the Ravana detects the Stingers, they'll cut their losses after losing one carrier and bug out (retreat)."
Another Eagle had a Reaper in gun range. A couple salvos to the fuselage made the engine smoke and eventually burst into flame. "Bandit down!" Eagle 03 exclaimed. The squadron now had a 2 to 1 advantage.
Five minutes later, a new voice was over the frequency. "This is Lieutenant Commander Cordova, squadron leader of the 113th Stingers. My entire squadron is now on station and moving to engage the Ravana."
Not much later than that, did everybody notice the remaining Reapers break off their attack. "Hey, boss. All bandits are bugging out. Command, all bandits are bugging out! We're in the clear!" Eagle 02 exclaimed.
Back at the dropship…
The last message over the radio was music to everybody's ears. They were safe for sure. Vasquez tapped Sonic on the shoulder. "Hey Sonic. I thought I told you to save that until the fat lady sings." He said, pointing to the cigar.
The hedgehog laughed. "Oh, yeah, uh, I knew all along we'd be okay, so I knew the fat lady was already singing. Y'all just didn't know." He joked, and then something just hit him. "And how am I gonna explain myself smelling like a Cuban cigar to Amy? It's gonna take all the mouthwash and soap in the world to get rid of the smell."
Rouge laughed, sticking out her tongue. "Well, serves you right for giving up so soon."
"Who said I was giving up?" Sonic asked inquisitively.
"'Well people, it's been nice knowin' ya', 'we're all a bunch of dead men', any of this sound familiar?" Knuckles asked smugly.
Sonic shook his head, smiling. "Sheeeiiit! You know I was just bullshittin'."
The cockpit radio clicked on. "This is Captain Loukakis. What's your status, over?"
"Uh, we got two wounded here," Tails replied. "It's nothing life threatening, though."
Sonic walked into the cockpit. "Looks like we owe you guys a round at the bar, huh?"
Loukakis laughed. "Then it's bourbons around the house then. See ya back on the carrier, then."
Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. U. S. S. Abraham Lincoln, sickbay. Same day. 1310 hours."GRRRRRRR!!!" Knuckles' attempts to suppress his yells of discomfort could be heard throughout sickbay.
Sonic sat in a chair just outside of sickbay. His wound had already been dealt with. He was lucky. The bullet went through his shoulder, not even hitting bone. All they had to do was stitch up the wound and put his arm in a sling. The doctor said it'd heal within a month. With Knuckles' wound, the bullet had hit bone, and that kept the bullet from coming out the other side, and the doctors were in the middle of digging the round out. Sonic opened the door. "Y'know, Knux. I won't think you any less of a man if you let out a yell."
Knuckles glared at him. "Shut the hell up! You have no idea how much this local anesthetic stings!"
Sonic clucked his tongue. "Like hell I do. You weren't the only one who got shot."
Knuckles grunted in pain when the doctors tried to dig the bullet out. "More… morphine… please." A doctor gave him a shot. Boy, did it sting. "AAAAHHH!!! SHIT, THAT STINGS!!!" The echidna cursed.
Sonic shook his head in disgust. "And you call yourself a man! A real man doesn't cry over something like that!" With that, he walked out, leaving Knuckles to utter a few choice four-letter words at him as he laughed.
U. S. S. Abraham Lincoln, Debriefing Room. Twenty minutes later.
Admiral Richard Petrarch paced in front of the table where Sonic and co., along with the survivors of SEAL Team 3 sat. "So, you jokers decided to take matters into your own hands and black op, huh? Although the outcome of this little stunt was favorable, what you did was reckless. Two SEALs are now dead, all because you decided to disregard a direct order from the President!"
Sonic sighed, his head in his hands. "Sir, I don't think those SEALs would've minded dying. Why? Because they agreed to this mission. They knew this was a black op. They knew all the other risks involved in military operations, otherwise, they never would've become a SEAL." After a moment, he added. "And we've been fighting this war for years, knowing that our next battle with Eggman could be our last. If—"
"Still, what you did was reckless, not to mention insubordination."
"Yeah, well, sometimes you have to bend and break a few rules to do the right thing." Rouge countered. "As a CIA operative, I've learned that to be true."
Petrarch stopped pacing… then smiled. "You have a point, there." He conceded. "I have to admit that if I were in the same position, I never would've been able to accept this mission. To see that type of conviction, especially in you young people… They say that you need to take chances to make an impact in this world. I have to say, you jokers did good this time. Anything else?"
"Uh, actually, there is." Sonic spoke up. "I think everyone needs to know this. While I was moving to extract on the carrier, I came across a storage hangar with a lot of G.U.N. hardware."
Petrarch froze, as did everyone else. "Say again."
"Yep. G.U.N. tanks and infantry bots were on board that carrier. You might wanna let Dugan know about that because if G.U.N. is supplying Eggman with logistics, this could be serious."
"Indeed." Petrarch nodded. "By the way, Cummings and Antonov extend their thanks. Thanks to you guys, U.S./Russian relations should improve significantly. Anyway, I'll alert Dugan about this situation. That is all. Dismissed."
Flight deck. Ten minutes later…
"Hey, guys!" Amy waved while at the group as they emerged from the island on the carrier. She and Commander Speigal had just arrived.
Sonic smelled himself. Good, he didn't smell like a cigar anymore. But, why did he care? Amy stopped short of hugging the blue hedgehog when she saw his arm in a sling. "Whoa! You're hurt!" She exclaimed.
Sonic shrugged. "It ain't that bad. And at least I didn't cry like a little girl when the doctors took care of me." Sonic said, barbing the red echidna, who just ignored it.
Speigal came up to the group, extending his hand for a handshake to all of them. "Ladies, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure serving with you."
"Pleasure's all ours." Rouge replied. "We're just glad to have the chance."
"By the way, Agent Rouge. We just got off the phone with your boss. He's at Hickam. He says he's giving you the next week off, paid."
Rouge cheered. "Cool!"
"And another thing," Speigal continued. "Apparently when Robotnik made his request to Dugan, Dugan tried to contact you guys at your base. Staff Operations Officer Dowell then brought to Dugan attention our activities. That's how this carrier caught wind of this operation, and probably how every one of you is still alive." Everyone nodded their heads in realization.
A thought hit Rouge. One week paid vacation… "Hey, I know! Why don't I hang out with you guys? There's no way I'm spending my vacation in the deep freeze."
Knuckles looked at her oddly, indecisively. A week with Rouge? Whoa!
Amy looked at Knuckles, then back to Rouge. "Sure! Why not! You can stay at my place. And, I live right across the street from the boys, too."
Sonic grinned. "And since you're staying in Miami with us, I expect a birthday present from you, too."
Rouge arched an eyebrow. "And since when did you start celebrating your birthday? Last I heard, you didn't even tell Amy when it was until you slipped up."
Sonic snorted. "That ain't the point."
Amy wrapped an arm around his waist, smiling up at him. "By the way, happy birthday, Sonic!"
Sonic did a double take. Did he miss something? He was pretty sure the mission wasn't that long. He looked at his watch. Sure enough it still read 01-26-03. "What the heck? It's tomorrow, remember?"
Speigal chuckled. "Actually, Sonic, she's right. We're past the date line, son. It's Monday, the 27th over here."
"What!?" Wait a second, that means it's still the 26th on the other side, meaning he'll still have a good four hours to find a hidden bunker at 'The Strip' that nobody else knows about.
Knuckles cracked his, well, knuckles, approaching Sonic. "Which means, we get to beat yo ass not only now, but tomorrow when we get back!"
Sonic backed away. "Don't even try it, Knux. I can still do you with only one arm—whoa!" Knuckles tried to punch him in his good shoulder, but he missed, and Sonic skirted across the flight deck, with Knuckles not far behind.
"Quit runnin' like a little girl, and take this beating like a man!"
"Quit it, or I'll kick your ass again!"
Amy sighed. "Well, boys will be boys, I guess."
"Some things never change." Tails muttered.
Knuckles had Sonic cornered at the aft of the carrier. They turned their heads to see an F/A-18E Super Hornet coming in for a landing right on top of them. The both screamed, ducking their heads. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!" After the jet passed over them, they slowly got back up. Sonic fumed. "You trying to kill me?!"
"You're the one running around like a little beeyatch!"
"I'll kick your ass!"
Amy shook her head. "Uh, maybe we better stop them before they really do kill each other."
Rouge nodded. "Yeah, good idea."
A/N: That's it! Done! Finally! So, how'd ya like it? Please review or e-mail me to let me know. I may do a follow-up on this if inspiration hits me again. Peace!