Aria: -crosses her arms- I got only two reviews? How disappointing...

Twister: -standing off to one side, with fur bristling and his eyes narrowed- How dare you leave me alone for five days?!

Aria: -glares at him- Do you think I wanted to? You get a job where you have to be there for nine freakin' hours, standing on your feet for eight, and then we'll talk!

Twister: -hisses and turns around sulkily-

Aria: -eyes flicker- -shakes her head- Sorry about that. I recently got a job and I haven't been able to do any work whatsoever because of it. However, I finished Part Seven and a fraction of Part Eight before that.

Twister: Just tell them about what else is new already!

Aria: -shoots an evil look at muse- ...Anyway...I'll be on a vacation from the 22nd to the 28th of August, and I don't know if I'll be able to update (I kinda need internet access, people). At any rate...thank you again to Crocgirl13 and Crystalstorm21. I'm glad you both liked Part Five. Seems like I can always count on you two to review, huh? Wish I could count on everyone to be as faithful in reviewing as you. This story is so ignored...

Twister: Ignored like the way I'm ignoring you.

Aria: -smirks- Then, why are you talking to me?

Twister: -coughs and pretends to be very interested in washing his wings-

Aria: -sticks her tongue out at him- Now, then, let's start Part Six, shall we? -snaps her fingers-

(Disclaimer: Aria Zephyr does not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any related material)

Aria Zephyr Proudly Presents...

A Matter of Life or Speed:

An Archie Sonic Fanfiction

Part Six: Infiltration

"Sooooooooooooo... What do we do now? I mean, does anyone have a plan? Or do we just charge in and wing it?" Sonic joked. "If anyone's gonna wing anything, it'll be me!" Dulcy said. Her statement relieved some of the tension of the group. Sally smiled as she pulled a folded piece of paper out of her vest. "We were lucky enough that Sir Charles was able to get us a map of the energy core. We can plan our raid that way," she said.

After she had unfolded and spread the map out on the ground, the group gathered around it. "Judging from our position on the outskirts of the swamp, we're on the east side of the building," Rotor said, pointing to the map. "Alright," Sally said, taking a small pencil out and marking their present location. "Eet would seem zat Sir Charles has marked where the most SWAT bots are and points of weakness," Antoine said. Sally kept highlighting things as the others pointed them out.

"I'm guessing that," Tails said, hovering in the air, pointing at a large area where a great concentration of SWAT bots was, "the energy core is there." Sally ruffled his hair and said, "Thanks for the observation, Tails. But, that was already marked." She indicated that the area he'd pointed to was marked, "Core." "Whoops," Tails said. "It's okay, lil' bro. You just didn't notice that. But, you were still right," Sonic said, nudging him. "Hey, that's right!" Tails said brightly. "Tails," Sally interrupted, "I don't mean to be unkind, but you're blowing dust around. Could you go talk to Dulcy while we make a plan?" "Sure!" Tails said, flying over to Dulcy.

"Now, then," Sally said, clearing her throat. "These seem to be the easiest places to get into," she said, pointing to areas she'd starred. "However, there always seems to be a danger zone cutting them off," she also noted, pointing to areas circled and labeled "Security." "So, what I suggest is something like the plan we had for our last mission," she said. "We need someone to act as a distraction and draw most of the security away from the area the rest of us will be using to get inside," she suggested. "And, by looking at this map, there seems to be a security control room," Rotor said. "If, once we're inside, someone else sneaks into the security control room and deactivates things like security cameras and traps, it'll be safer for the others to continue onward to the core."

"Those ideahs sound dandy," Bunnie said, "But, what about the core?" Sally sighed. "The core will be the most difficult challenge. It's well guarded and its controls are unreachable unless you can fly because it's suspended at the center of the room somehow and there are no walkways to get to it," she said. "And, even so, there's still the matter of getting out and away before the core explodes." "So, why don't we just choose groups already and decide how to go through with this?" Sonic said. "Keep your quills on, Sonic; I'm getting there," Sally chided. "How I think this will work best is if Dulcy acts as our distraction, pretending to be breaking into the energy core. While she drawing attention away, the rest of us will be on the other side of the building, breaking in through the air vents." Sally was pointing to the area she was referring to.

"Once inside, Rotor, Antoine, and Bunnie will find the security control room," she said, moving her finger along the route they should take, "and disable the main security problems. While they're getting into the control room, Sonic, Tails, and I will proceed to the core. We'll have to take out the security robots first, before Tails can take one or both of us over to the core and hack into the core's controls and figure out how to get it to haywire. Once Rotor, Antoine, Bunnie, and Dulcy are finished with their missions, they should retreat and regroup outside, getting as far away from the core as possible. Tails and I will have to count on Sonic to get us out of there."

Sonic froze when he heard Sally's last sentence. Something had swept over him and filled his thoughts. He couldn't place whatever it was, but a vague feeling of guilt was there. "Sonic? Hey, Sonic!" Sally said, interrupting Sonic's thoughts. "Huh? What?" Sonic mumbled. "I asked you a question. Did you bring a power ring with you?" she asked. "Yeah," Sonic replied. "Good. You'll need it," she said, turning back to the map. An unfamiliar feeling clawed at Sonic's mind with stubborn purpose while the others worked out the details of the plan. He shook his head to clear his mind and the feeling faded.

"Alright, everyone! Ready?" Sally asked, returning the refolded map to her vest. "Ready!" the other Freedom Fighters chorused. "Then, let's get busy!" Sally said. Dulcy jumped into the air and flew directly into the sight of the energy core's guards. Soon, they could hear loud monotone orders being given and laser shots being fired. "Okay, everyone. Follow me," Sally said, plunging out of the bushes.

They were careful to avoid being spotted, but all attention was turned towards Dulcy, teasing the robots as they tried to attack her, so no security was active near them. When they reached the wall where the air vent was, Bunnie knocked out the screen covering it and hauled herself into it. She used her robotic arm to pull everyone else into the vent and when everyone was inside, she closed the vent again.

"Okay, which way now, O fearless leader?" Rotor asked. Sally squeezed her way to the front. "First," she said, "Let's get into a line, so that we're not all cramped up against each other!" Once that was done, Sally grabbed out the map again and once she knew where to go, they followed her, crawling through the vent. Abruptly, she stopped and Sonic, who had been behind her, bumped into her, making him stop with a soft "ow!", causing Tails, who was behind him, to yelp in pain when he bruised his nose and again when Rotor bumped into him, squeezing him and his tails, and causing Antoine to gasp for mercy when he was caught in between Rotor and Bunnie. In short, a chain-reaction of ouchies.

"Sally-girl, what's goin' on up theah?" Bunnie demanded. Sally looked over her shoulder. "This is where we need to get out," Sally replied. "Bunnie..." "Ah got it, ah got it," Bunnie said, making her robotic arm snake around her companions ahead and move the screen out. Sally started to jump out when Bunnie grabbed her by the collar of her vest. "Nuh-uh, Sally-girl. Ah won't have ya breakin' an ankle by jumpin' out o' a vent. Just lemme lower ya down, nice and easy," Bunnie scolded. Once Sally was safely on the floor, Bunnie lowered the others down and finally herself.

"So, ah guess we'll be communicatin' through the walkie-talkies, now won't we?" Bunnie asked, looking around the clinical halls. "Eet looks zat way," Antoine said. "We're counting on you three to make our job a little easier, remember that," Sally said. "We'll do our best, Sally," Rotor said. "You guys know where to go, right?" Tails asked worriedly, hovering in the air. "Sure do, Tails. Don't worry about us, sugah," Bunnie said reassuringly. "Good luck, you guys," Sonic said softly. "Good luck to you, too. Now get outta here before they have the guard on us!" Rotor said, running down one hall with Bunnie and Antoine following.

When they had run out of view, Sally said, "Come on, guys. They'll be fine. It's that core and our lives we have to worry about now. We're going to need all the luck we can get." She started running down a hall opposite from where Rotor, Bunnie, and Antoine had gone. Tails flew after her. Sonic hung back a little. Something didn't feel right with him and it was more than a little disturbing. He shook off his feeling and ran down the hall after Tails and Sally.

Quotes from Part Seven: The Energy Core

"Priority One: Hedgehog. Orders: Exterminate."

"I had the cameras focus in on the guards in the core. There is no mistaking them."

"Only Robotnik would stoop to such a low level."

Aria: I hope everyone liked Part Six. And...I HOPE EVERYONE WILL REVIEW!!

Twister: -is covering his ears with his paws on the floor- For Pete's sake...she's loud!

Aria: But for now, farewell. -vanishes into whirlwinds with muse-