Chapter 6: Dogfight

The Wolf blasted through the night sky, almost too fast for the eye to see. Inside, thanks to recent technology, Jason Powers was somewhat comfortable. Although the technology lessened the G Forces because of his speed considerably, it still never completely eradicated them. Thanks to this, he found it unnaturally hard to move, but that was fine by him. He was trained to be able to move freely under gravity's pressure and this was just a chance to prove it.

"Five minutes until crunch time, boys. Be careful out there." His flight commander said over the radio. "I know you were briefed on this before, but I'll say it again. First run by is strictly reconnaissance. Do not engage in combat unless fired upon. We go in groups of two. You know your assignments. Now get to them!"

Immediately, Powers branched off from the group and switched his radio to another station so that he and his comrade could communicate. But he kept his second radio on the group station so he could hear about any other happenings to the whole of the group.

His teammate, one flying a Tiger, branched off as well, and he heard her voice over the intercom. "I really wish he wouldn't always say boys. He does have a girl in his squadron, after all!"

Power smiled at her voice. She was Christina Carmichael. Christina, or Chris, was the only female who made it into RABS. She could take on any one of the bigger men of the squadron in a one-on-one fight and come out the victor. And the worst part was that she knew it.

But that made no difference to Jason. The fact of the matter was that they were a couple. They had met each other in the Air Force Academy five years before and went out then. However, when college was finished, they went their separate ways, expecting never to see each other again. But then, on their first day of training for G.U.N., they met up again and picked up right where they had left off.

"You might as well be one of the guys! You sure act like it." Powers replied with.

Chris simply laughed and said, "Whatever. Let's just get this run over with. So we can get to the part where we wipe out his 'army'."

Jason smirked and pushed his jet to full throttle, rocketing ahead towards the closing city of Mobius. Chris was right on his tail.

Eddie, or Sonic as he desired to be called from now on, blasted through the forest, looking for the clearing. He had mixed feelings on his encounter with Dr. Robotnik, and, at the moment, he was sorting them out.

"I could have gotten killed…"

He stopped at a random meadow, hoping that it was his meadow. When he found that neither Miles nor Summer were there, he continued on his trek.

"But I just had to see the damage."

He blasted straight through a familiar clearing and out the other side.

"Of course, I know that I shouldn't have gone off on my own. I mean, even though I made it through easily, what would have happened if there were an ambush just waiting in the forest? I left and when I came back, they were sleeping peacefully, but there was always the possibility of me coming back and not finding them… or worse, finding them dead."

Stopping himself, he ran back into the familiar clearing and breathed a sigh of relief. "They didn't wake up… Good." He said quietly. Then, as quietly as he could, he grabbed out a journal, something he had salvaged from the wreckage of his… home, and began writing:
"In reality, I got lucky. But I can't afford to take that kind of risk anymore. Maybe having the muzzles of laser guns shoved in my face did this, but I realize now that Miles and Summer are all I have left in this world. I have no home, no other friends, no family. Who knows who's alive and who's dead? Not me. And until I find out for myself, I will consider my two friends all I have left.

"I'm getting really sleepy now, so I'm going to stop here. Running around town at super speeds tires a guy out.

"Oh, and a note to self: Find out a way to lessen the heat in my shoes after running. It isn't cool when your feet feel like they're on fire."

Sonic smiled at his writing and closed the journal, sticking it in his pocket. He was sorry that he couldn't have gotten more stuff from his house, and there was more stuff to get, but he didn't want Summer and Miles to know about his escapade. It wouldn't go over well with them. So the journal, which he could hide, was the only item he could get.

Sighing heavily, he walked over to where Summer and Miles were sleeping and laid down within a few feet of them. But he couldn't fall asleep immediately. Instead, he put his hands behind his head and looked up at the stars.

The clouds are gone. Good thing too. I was afraid that it was going to rain, but I guess I was wrong. He sighed heavily and clenched his eyes shut, trying to stop the oncoming tears from flowing. A lump formed in his throat, and he got up again, knowing that he wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon.

He sat down on a log, looking up at the stars again. A single tear trickled down his cheek. Just barely above a whisper, he said, "God, I… I know that I don't really talk to you… ever. I don't know if you even exist, but…" He wiped away his tear. "If you exist, you know what's going on… right? You know why everything's happened and everything that's going to happen…

"If that's true… please give me something. Guidance or something. Something to help me. I can't handle this. Not by myself…" He frowned. "I have Miles and Summer, but… I need someone who at least has a clue! I need someone to share the responsibility of leadership with!

"So, please… do something. Relieve the pressure somehow. And… if my parents are alive… keep them safe." He paused and shook his head. "Keep us all safe."

Sonic blinked back a few tears and got up slowly. He walked back towards his spot on the ground, feeling a little better than before, but before he lied down again, he look up once more.

"And while you're at it, can you do something about Summer and me?" He broke into a small grin when he thought back at the kiss Summer had given. "That is, if we need it."

And with that, he lied down on the ground, and fell asleep quickly afterwards.

"All right, time to go. I'll go in hot, and you cover me. We go in low. Don't forget to turn on the rapid fires." Jason said over the radio before turning to the squadron's radio and confirming that they were beginning their run through the city.

He flicked on a switch on his control panel that turned on the rapid fire digital cameras that would send hundreds of pictures of the city back to G.U.N. headquarters, where it would be analyzed to see weaknesses in the robot army's defenses.

"You got it. Let's get this over with."

Powers suddenly drove the control stick forward, causing the F-16x to go into a steep dive. His speed shot upward while his altitude dropped. When he was low enough, he pulled back on the stick, ignoring the jet as it shook and rattled from the pressure, and leveled the Wolf out at one hundred feet above sea level.

Regardless of the quiet propulsion system, the jet screamed as it tore through the air at supersonic speeds.

The broken city approached with startling speed, but Jason was ready for it. "Slow it down, Chris. We can't maneuver well with this speed." He pulled back on the lever that controlled his speed and he listened as the whistling wind quieted some.

"Dear God… The city's practically a crater!" Chris said over the radio. "Jason… how can we face this guy? He wiped out an entire city in less than a day!"

Powers didn't answer. Instead, he concentrated harder on looking for anything interesting.

I see a lot of movement down there, but I can't see what it is. He moved the jet lower so he could get a better look at the moving objects.

"Robots. He's got robots every—" He was cut off as a white blur of motion flew past his cockpit. Then the jets alarms started going off. "Missile lock! Chris, evasive maneuvers! Get out of here!"

He pulled back and to the left, just barely dodging the next white blur, which he recognized as a small missile. The robots were firing at them!

His radio squawked, "Watch your six, Jason! Enemy aircraft!"

Before he could react, a red laser bolt hit his right wing and left a black burn mark. Thankfully, that was the only damage… so far.

He tried to turn around to get a good look at the aircraft, but it must have been too small for him to see around the bulk of his jet.

"I can't see him!" Another laser bolt flew right above his cockpit, barely missing him. He ripped the control stick to the right, the jet changing directions immediately. But another laser bolt told him that he hadn't shaken the robot.

"I'll get hi—AAH!" The sound of an explosion filled the radio for a moment before he was left with terrible silence.

"Chris! Chris, are you all right?" He looked around desperately to see her jet, but he couldn't see anything at the moment. "Come on, Chris! Answer!"

The radio crackled to life again and Jason sighed in relief when he heard the girl's voice. "Sorry, a missile exploded near me and it startled me. But I'm okay."

"Great! Now can you help me out?" He flew to the left, just barely missing a laser bolt.

"I'm coming, big guy! Hold on!" There was silence for a moment, spare the sound of laser fire, and then an explosion rattled his jet.

"Chris!"

"Got 'em! One bogey down!"

Jason looked at his radar and watched with dismay as many red blips appeared on it. "We're not out of the frying pan yet!"

"Crap! We can't take all of those down! What should we do?"

Jason bit his lip and thought about it for a moment. "Let's try to find another team! That way we'll double our numbers!" He looked at his radar focused on the green blips on it.

"Head east! It seems we aren't the only ones who got the idea to regroup!" He quickly pulled back on the stick, sending the jet up and into an inverted u-turn. He righted himself and pushed the speed of the jet back up to max. Chris followed his lead and did the same.

"Come to join us, have you, Powers? It's about time!" Jason's close friend, Brock Howard said over the intercom.

"Are there any casualties?" Jason asked, ignoring Brock completely. He only got silence over the radio. "Casualties! Are there any?" He demanded more urgently.

Finally, Brock replied, "The Commander's gone. He was caught off-guard by a missile."

Jason simply let out a loud curse. "So, what do we do now?"

"You tell me, buddy! You're the highest-ranking officer here!" Jason froze, he hadn't thought of that. Deciding against spending too much time in contemplating his promotion, he made his decision.

"Fall back. We need to report back to HQ and regroup. And make it fast!"

"Good call! You heard him, boys! Let's get out of this living hell!" The squad of jets moved as one and turned back towards headquarters, not even seeing the small flying robot about the size of a basketball following them.

"Eddie, would you get up?!"

SLAP!

Eddie's eyes fluttered open and he felt pain invade his cheek. Summer had hit him! And even worse, she was preparing to do it again!

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" Summer let her arm fall back to her side and she glared at the hapless Eddie. "What time is it?"

"How am I supposed to know? I don't have a watch! None of us do! And we can't see the sun because, well… look at the sky!"

Eddie focused on the sky and groaned loudly when he saw the dark clouds forming. It didn't take a meteorologist to tell him that it was going to rain.

"We have to find shelter!" He said, immediately jumping up from his spot on the ground.

"No! I thought we'd sit out here in the rain and do a Broadway show for the wildlife!" Summer said angrily.

"Yeesh, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"There is no bed!" Summer replied, raising a fist as a warning. Eddie backed down, deciding it wasn't the time for jokes.

"So, do you want me to go looking for a shelter?" The blue hedgehog asked, already getting ready to take off.

Summer nodded. "Miles and I have already checked out around there." She pointed to an area of the forest, indicating where they were. "But we're both tired. So if you would—" She was cut off as Eddie took off with a blast of speed in the direction that was expected of him.

"Why is it he's always like that…? Speedy or not, he's so impulsive…" She sighed heavily and then frowned. "Wait, did I see that ring on his finger again?"

There was a slight whoosh in the air as the red echidna landed in the tall tree overlooking the meadow. Other than that, there was nothing. Not even a rustling of leaves.

Knuckles looked down at the three teenagers in the meadow. A blue hedgehog, an orange fox with two tails, and a strange breed of yellow echidna… or was it hedgehog? Knuckles couldn't tell, so he decided it was probably a hybrid of some sort.

"Strange…" He whispered to himself. "They're humans, yet the rings gave them such strange attributes."

Suddenly, the blue hedgehog took off with speed such as Knuckles had never seen in a living creature before.

"Impossible… It shouldn't be possible for him to move that fast!" He shook off his surprise and watched the blur of blue as it disappeared into the trees. A flash of lightning and distant thunder pulled him back to the matter at hand.

He bent down low and leapt off the tree, flying up into the sky. He flew silently over the treetops, watching as Eddie ran through the forest, looking for shelter.

As Knuckles felt the first drop of water hit him in the back, his sighed. "Time to do this." And with that, he went into a steep dive, heading straight for the blue hedgehog.

"It's starting to rain." She said from inside the comfort of her wooden hut. The sounds of raindrops filled the small building and she sighed heavily. "I wish it didn't have to rain."

"Chao!"

She turned back to face the small blue creature known as a Chao. At the moment, the little ball floating about its head was a deep blue color and she couldn't help but to smile. And better yet, its blue-colored skin was beginning to get a slight pinkish tone to it. The Chao was growing up and it really liked its owner as well.

"Ruby… Don't look at me like that!" She paused. "I wasn't whining! I was just saying that I didn't want it to rain! … Oh, shut up."

The Chao plodded over to her and hugged her legs. "Chao…"

She brushed pink quills away from her face and giggled. "You little weasel. You always know how to get to me." She bent down and cradled Ruby the Chao. "At least nobody can ever say that Amy Rose is heartless… not that they could before!"