Chapter 8: Infiltration

January 14th, 2308 – 2:00 PM – Robotnik's secret base, somewhere in the Land of Darkness

Unfortunately for Sonic though, Swift was still at war, even seven months after Natalie arrived at the Hedgehog residence. Even though a large amount of Robotnik's forces had been destroyed while he was locked away in prison, there didn't seem to be an end to those robots. More just kept coming to replace their fallen comrades. However, that was about to change. Robotnik's hidden headquarters had finally been discovered, and the Freedomian Army was ready to strike the Robotnik Empire at its source. Naturally, Swift and Kyle were being brought in on this mission. It seemed like wherever those two went, victory over Robotnik quickly followed. They had personally dispatched a lot of his soldiers in Naeco, and had been great help in driving enemy forces from that region. With them around, the Freedomians' spirits were quite high for today's battle...

...although I'm feeling pretty low right now. Swift said, as he waded through a noxious smelling river of sludge, with Kyle and several other soldiers nearby.

This dark sewer tunnel was probably the only way into the base that wasn't guarded by a battalion of robotic soldiers, or gun turrets, or tanks, or whatever else that Robotnik had lying around. The plan was to have a force sneak in through this entrance, while the bigger forces took on the exterior defenses as a distraction. However, first this small force had to actually cross through the tunnel first. The hideous stench that permeated the air in the tunnel was enough to send anyone with even the strongest stomach to throwing up. In fact, Swift could hear a few soldiers vomiting behind him.

What did Robotnik put in this sludge that makes it smell so horrible?! On second thought...maybe I'm better off not knowing...

Thankfully, Swift caught the first glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel.

It couldn't have come soon enough, just like this whole mission. I can't wait to get back home to Sonic. That poor guy's must be having a horrible time with Mrs. Neat Freak Prower. While it is nice that she's getting him to do chores and clean up messes, I can't allow her to stop Sonic from running. In my last phone call with him, he was like "Daddy! Stop Mrs. Prower! She won't let me run around outside alone because she's scared I'll get hurt! But I used to run around all day alone when you were here and I never got hurt!" And then Mrs. Prower took away the phone and said "Mr. Hedgehog, I'm sorry, but I will not put your child in danger like you do. I can't believe you let him run around alone all day long! He's going to get hurt sometime! He could run over a cliff, or hit a wall, or something! Anyway, I wish you success in the war, and hope that when you return you'll teach your boy some proper manners like I am! Goodbye, Mr. Hedgehog." And she slammed down the phone before I could get a word in.

Swift sighed, carefully stepping around what looked like a rotting piece of cardboard in the puke green water.

Don't worry Sonic. Once we've captured this base, I can come home. I'll be seeing you soon, son...

---

Meanwhile, Robotnik was sweating like a pig in the control room within the base. This base held a tremendous amount of resources, and it would be a severe blow to him if they fell under the Freedomian Army's control. In addition to the base and the army stationed here, he would also lose vehicles, fuel, metals to produce more robots, and some of his top-secret projects, including his roboticizers. He'd be reduced to fighting with what little was left in a small, auxiliary base he had hidden elsewhere in the Land of Darkness.

All these years of collecting materials to build my army, all of the time needed to construct this base, all of the resources, will be gone just like that after today. And Swift and Kyle are here as well... Damn those two! Everywhere they go they leave a path of destruction in my forces, and I doubt that today will be any different. I am going to make them suffer, somehow, some way. They will regret the day they first laid eyes on me. But how can I do that?

He turned to the security monitors, deciding to see if he could find where the two of them were in the base. After a few minutes of changing viewpoints to potential entrances to the base, he spied Swift and Kyle slogging their way into the base through one of the sewage pipes, with other Freedomian soldiers. Robotnik mentally ran through his head the fastest route from the exit of the sewage plant to the control room he was in.

If they knew the route, they could be here in several minutes. Of course, they shouldn't have a map though, so they'll be lost. Wait a minute...what if I actually GUIDED them somewhere instead of letting them run around on their own? I could block off all routes except for the one I want them to follow, and set up a trap for them on that route. They're the Freedomian Army's primary offensive force. If I neutralize them, my chances of winning would dramatically increase. Plus, maybe I could make use of those secret projects I have stored here...

Robotnik cackled. At first, he had thought that he would lose for sure to the Freedomian Army here, but a plan for victory was quickly forming in his head. He started to bark orders over the communication system to his soldiers, organizing them into the proper positions for his plan.

Look out, you Freedomians. It's not over yet!

---

Finally, Swift and Kyle, along with the rest of their unit, had made it to the end of the sewer pipe. They were now standing inside a small concrete room, lit only by bare fluorescent bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Pumping equipment was working in the background, as it continued to push more of that horrible sludge into the sewer pipe. After everyone had gotten out of the water, the leader of their unit, who was a raccoon, started to bark orders.

"Okay...Swift and Kyle, you know the drill," he said.

The two of them nodded.

"Move on ahead of us and clear out a path. We'll follow up behind you and take out what you miss. Only this time, don't leave us behind..."

"Heh, sure Heath," Swift said.

Swift was very happy, now that he was actually being encouraged to run straight into the battle. His superiors had yelled at him and Kyle before for their reckless behavior...at least until they saw that their tactics had won them battles. The two of them were fast enough to dodge all attacks the enemy could throw at them, and could attack back just as quickly. Swift's spines could carve through just about anything like it was made of paper. Meanwhile, Kyle had received a special lightweight assault rifle. While it had less stopping power than the standard rifle, it was easier to maneuver with and easier to use. That meant he could easily aim and shoot while running about at high speeds.

While stepping towards the nearest exit door, Swift said to Kyle, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Kyle said as he came over. "Let's do it."

"See you later, slowpokes!" Swift shouted, as the two of them hightailed it through the doorway out of the room.

The two of them ran down a long metallic hallway. Alarms blared in the background, but the two of them barely noticed. Strangely, they didn't encounter any enemy forces in this hallway.

Well, maybe Robotnik wasn't expecting an attack from this direction.

The two of them screeched to a stop at the end of the hall, leaving deep scorch marks on the floor. The end of the hall was blocked by a large metallic door, which looked quite durable. Swift tried to carve it down with his spines as he went into a spin dash. All he succeeded in was bashing his head really hard on the door.

"It's too strong..." Kyle said. "We'll have to wait for the others. Maybe we can blast it open with explosives."

Swift picked himself up off the floor, his head hurting from the impact. However, he managed a nod and stood up against one wall of the hallway. While hitting his head had hurt really badly, the pain was subsiding quickly.

After a few moments, Swift muttered, "Like I said before, slowpokes..."

He angrily tapped his foot on the floor and crossed his arms. Kyle checked his rifle over to fill the time.

Will they just FREAKING HURRY UP?! Swift thought.

Swift glanced around the part of the hallway they were in. It's not like there was much to look at though. Apart from the heavy metal door, there was a blue square on one wall, which surrounded the letters B4, which obviously indicated what floor they were on. Another doorway was about twenty feet back down the hall, although it was open. He could see the bottom of a metal shutter sticking out from the top of the doorway, a security shutter.

Wouldn't it suck if that thing closed down on us?

A beat after that thought, a red light started flashing above the doorway. Swift noticed that the metal shutter was starting to rattle...

"KYLE!" Swift screamed.

Kyle turned to look at him in surprise.

"The shutter's going to close down on us! HURRY!" Swift said as he sprinted out through the shutter's doorway.

He made it through easily enough, and turned around to face Kyle. He was about to get through the door...but the shutter slammed down in front of him, blocking Swift's view of him. There was a loud thump on the other side of the shutter, as Kyle slammed hard into it.

"NO!" Swift shouted. "KYLE!"

---

Kyle bounced back away from the shutter as he collided with it. He flew through the air for a moment, and scraped along the floor as he crashed down onto it. His rifle clattered noisily on the floor after he dropped it. While he was on the floor, he could hear Swift scraping up the other side of the shutter with his spines.

In between the scrapings, he heard Swift shout, "Don't worry! I'll get you out of there! Just hold on!"

However, the words were barely audible, even though it sounded like he was yelling at the top of his lungs. That meant that he had a thick wall to break through. He just hoped that Swift could manage it as fast as he could. Kyle climbed up off of the floor, and collected his rifle again. Unfortunately, when he looked at the wall, he couldn't even tell that Swift was hitting the wall on the other side, apart from the sounds that barely seeped through the door.

I'm not sure why that shutter came down, but it's bad news, that's for sure. Does Robotnik know we're down here?

He then noticed a hissing noise above his head. Kyle looked up towards the ceiling. A purple gas was seeping in through the ventilation covers. One sniff of that stuff made Kyle feel rather tired. By two sniffs he could barely stand up.

Sleeping gas!

Kyle held his nose, hoping that Swift could break through the shutter before the gas knocked him out. He didn't know what would happen next after he was asleep, but he knew it wouldn't be anything good. However, it looked like Swift wasn't going to make it in time. Kyle was getting very tired from the gas. From what he could see through his rapidly declining vision, the door didn't look any different on this side from when Swift had set to work on it. A few moments later, Kyle was lying down on the floor, his eyes very heavy from sleepiness. He just managed to glimpse the outline of one of Robotnik's soldiers standing over him before his eyes finally closed shut out of exhaustion.

Too late...this is it... He thought before he finally went fully unconscious.

---

Swift was still hammering away on the shutter from the other side, but with little success. The shutter was just too strong to break down with only his spines. Meanwhile, the rest of his unit caught up to him.

"What happened?" Heath said.

Swift stopped and said, "Kyle is trapped on the other side of this door! We need to save him!"

Strangely, as the last words of his sentence rolled off of his tongue, the shutter opened behind him. Swift swung around to see behind the shutter. He saw the wisps of some strange gas wafting in the room. He felt a little tired when the smell reached his nose, but fortunately there wasn't enough of it to knock him out. However, when he looked the room over, Kyle was nowhere to be found. Only his rifle was lying on the floor.

"Kyle..." Swift muttered, picking up his rifle. "Where are you?"

"He's coming to me, Swift," a voice said from a speaker in the wall. It was Dr. Robotnik's voice.

"What?!"

"My robotic servants are taking him to me right now. I was hoping I'd catch you as well, but Kyle by himself is just fine by me. Come to the laboratory on the top floor of my base, if you want to see him again."

"I'll be there, you bastard!" Swift said.

The other door that Swift had tried to break open before Kyle was captured opened up. Swift began to step towards the door.

"Don't go, Swift!" Heath yelled. "It's gotta be a trap!"

"I don't care! I'm not going to let Kyle die!"

Swift sprinted down the next section of the hall, leaving his unit behind again.