The Sneak was getting chased by a fighter, Sally was flying while Tails and Wave were sitting behind her "Sally, shouldn't we be, uh, firing back?" "Stay calm. It's all part of the plan". The ship shook making Tails jump "Is getting blasted out of the sky part of the plan?" "Tails, you should know better". Sally activated the rear guns and shot the fighter down "There isn't a pilot in the imperial fleet that can outrun me" "What about three at once" Wave said seeing more fighters in front of the shuttle. Sally turned the ship around "Is this part of the plan?" Tails asked, "I admit it's a little messier than our intel indicated". Wave sighed in frustration "Yeah. That's been happening a lot lately. Where, may I ask, does this intel come from?". Sally glanced at her "You may ask". Sally flew through a large group of rock formations and forced one of the fighters to crash. The shuttle's side hit part of a cliff; Tails went over to one of the instruments "No damage. Just some scratches on the paint" "There's more than that. The steering's off" Sally said. Tails checked again "That's not what is says here" "Well it's what I'm saying, and I know my own ship". She did her best to avoid the remaining fighter, Wave sighed "Look I'm all for sticking it to the Empire but what was in that convoy. You never told us why the mission was so important" "I told you before, Ortiz's intel is on a need-to-know basis" "And I told you before I need to know more". Sally fired at the rocks causing a cloud of smoke which blinded the fighter causing them to crash.
The shuttle docked with the Hurst and met the rest of the crew in the common room "Everyone okay?" Sonic asked. Sally nodded "We're fine, but I scraped the Sneak's underbelly" "You?" Sonic asked surprised". Sally shrugged "It was somewhat unavoidable, once your plan went south" "Ah, there we go. Knew there had to be a way this was my fault" "And you were right, dear". Tex and Tails tried to sneak away but Sally then turned to them "Tex, I'll need the Sneak ready to pick up the supplies from Ortiz. Adjust the steering and run a diagnostic. G-merl and Tails will help you fix any problems you find". Tex scoffed "Really? Have you met them?" "And I'm leaving soon, so get to it". Everyone left the room except for Wave who looked troubled.
Later Sonic entered the cockpit with two drinks and gave one to Sally "What happened out there?" "Well, we took out the target. Ortiz was right about the timing and route but underestimated the imperial defences". Sonic sat down "It's getting harder to anticipate the Empire's moves. That's for sure". Wave then entered and cleared her throat "Yeah, about that. I'd like to know why we're relying in intel from this Ortiz, whoever he is". Sonic turned his chair to her "It's Sally's job to find missions that create problems for the Empire and profit for us. If she trusts the contact, I trust the contact. No questions asked". Wave clearly didn't like this "At the Imperial academy they didn't want me to ask questions either. That didn't work for me. That's why I ended up here" "And we're glad to have you". Wave sighed "You are so frustrating", Sonic rolled his eyes and walked out "Yeah, I've heard that before". Wave turned to Sally "Fine. I'm done asking questions. I'm telling you. I'm coming on your run to meet Ortiz". Sally took a drink and stared blankly at Wave "You know, you can be pretty frustrating too" "Learned from the best".
Tex was at the back of the ship staring at a wall screen "Ah. This diagnostic's taking forever. How's it going in there?" he asked G-merl and Tex who were checking the insides of the shuttle. "Sally was right. Steering's definitely off. I almost got it fixed" Tails told him. Tex then looked back at the screen "Okay, life support systems need cleansing. G-merl, as soon as Tails' out of the repair duct, purge them" "All fixed!" Tails said. G-merl chuckled through his beeping an hit a switch "Whoa! Hey!" Tails crawled out of the duct coughing up smoke. Tex chuckled "Sorry, kid. I told him to wait till you were out". Tails getting angry started hitting G-merl with his wrench angering Tex "Hey, wait. Diagnostic's still running" "You can give Gem a diagnostic when I'm done". They all ran out not noticing an issue on the bottom of the Sneak. The three of them ran toward the cockpit where Sally was standing in front of them with her arms crossed "I take it you finished the repairs" "Uh, you were right. The steering needed fixing, which we did" Tails said. Tex nodded "And life support filters needed purging, which we also did". Sally rolled her eyes "Let's go" she said to Wave.
The Sneak detached from the Hurst and jumped to hyperspace. Sally was piloting with Wave behind her "So what's the deal? Is Ortiz just another smuggler like Shellbreaker? Why all the secrecy?" "It's no secret we're fighting against the Empire. We need as many allies as we can get". Wave sighed "How do you find a way of answering questions without giving any answers?" "Do you really want me to answer that?". A distorted voice then came over the commlink "Sneak, this is Ortiz. Come in" "This is Nana-two, Ortiz". Wave leaned forward "Why don't I talk to him?" "Don't you dare" "Already at the rendezvous, Naka-two. Supplies are unloaded and ready. Should I wait". Wave smirked "Yeah, stick around. Naka-two and I would love to talk to you" "Naka-two, what's the problem?". Sally glared at Wave as she answered "No problem, Ortiz. Naka-five decided to help with the supply run" "Understood. Ortiz out". Sally sighed "You know, an outburst like that is not appreciated" "Neither is all this secrecy".
They landed on a small planetoid where there was an abandoned base in the side of a cliff. The two walked out "So, where's the mystery man?" "I don't know. Maybe Ortiz didn't like your attitude. I know I didn't". They walked toward the base and didn't notice fuel leaking out from the ship. They went to a pile of crates with Sally seeing a symbol on one of them "I'll take that one" she pushed it while Wave took another one. Wave sighed "Look, Sally, I'm sorry for the attitude. It's just things seem to be getting more dangerous every day, and I need to know that you and Sonic can trust me" "We trust you, Wave. We just can't tell you everything. It's for the safety of the whole crew. If captured, you can't reveal what you don't know". Wave stopped and looked angry "You think I'd talk" "I think- We think the Imperials can make anyone talk. You've seen what they're capable of" "Yeah, I have. That's why I need to know". Sally stared at her blankly "You already know exactly what you need to know and no more. I need you to trust me now" she went past her. Wave scoffed "And that's supposed to make me feel better? Sally, you know what happed when I was a cadet at the Academy on Planet Wisp. I trusted the Empire, followed it's orders blindly and it was a nightmare". They got the crates on the ship and headed back out "I want to believe we're doing good, making a difference. But sometimes it seems like the harder we fight; the harder things get out there. I feel like we can't take down the Empire on our own. That's why I need to know this isn't al for nothing. I need to know that I am not walking into another nightmare here". Sally turned to her "What you need is faith. Faith that there is a long-term plan that's bigger than you or me, bigger that Emerald Hill, bigger than entire Outer Zones. Have faith in that and in us. We… Sonic. He knows what he's doing".
They went over to the crates "Look" Sally kneeled down and saw claw marks on the floor" they then looked into the bases hanger. "There were more crates, but someone's dragged them away" "Well maybe Ortiz is still here" Wave suggested. Sally shook her head "I don't think so" "Well, who else knows about this place?" "Not sure. This base was abandoned years ago, after the Clone Wars. Besides, why drag them? Why not use the anti-grav?". Sally took out a torch and pistol and the two of them cautiously entered the dark hanger. They saw one of the crates lying in the middle of the hanger now covered in claw marks "I don't think we're dealing with a who, more like a what" Wave said as she pulled out her wispon. They started to hear hissing coming from the darkness "Did Ortiz tell you why this place was abandoned?" she asked Sally, "I'm starting to have my suspicions". They backed away as a bulky purple creature climbed out of the rubble of a gunship and growled. Sally dropped her torch in fright breaking it. She quickly shot the creature dead but more started crawling out "Run!" they fired on the creatures as they ran out of the hanger. The creature tried to follow but the moment they touched the sun light they screamed and ran back inside. Sally stopped "We should be fine for now" "Yeah but that's gonna complicate things". Wave pointed up at a massive asteroid that was slowly getting between the planetoid and the sun "That's going to block out the sun for a long time" "Well, lucky we weren't planning on staying".
After a short time, they managed to get the remaining crates on board the Sneak. Sally sat on the pilot's seat, but her console was beeping "No, no, no. We had nearly a full tank when we landed. Now we're out of fuel". She got on the commlink "Naka-two to Naka- four, come in. Naka-two to Naka- four, come in". Eventually Tex's voice came over "Go ahead, Naka-two" "You did run a full diagnostic on the Sneak, correct?" "Of course". Sally looked sceptical "And you checked the results?". She heard no response and instead heard him running "Um, Naka-two, there might be a small problem with the fuel line" "Small problem? Uh, guys, we have a situation". She could then hear Tex arguing with who she guessed was Tails.
Sonic was meditating in his room when Tex and Tails entered "Sonic, Sally and Wave are-", Sonic put his hand up to stop them "They're in trouble". This surprised them both "How did you know? Did you sense it?" "No. You're both just very loud!". He took out his commlink "We're on our way. Hurst out".
Wave looked up into the sky "No way they get here before that asteroid blocks the sun. We could hold up in the Hurst" "Judging by the torn-up shuttle in the hanger, locking ourselves in the Sneak won't protect us". As she was talking Wave walked up to a red crate with a fire symbol on it. Wave smirked I thought I recognised these markings. Sally, allow me to introduce you to one of my oldest friends: rhydonium, otherwise known as the Flames of Disaster". Sally smirked and crossed her arms "So what's your plan?" "Since we don't know how many of those creatures are in there, we can set up groups of canisters and create explosions that take them out a wave at a time".
After a while they placed all the crates in random spot in front of the hanger door. They saw that the sun was about to be blocked and they took out their pistols. A shadow cast over them and the creatures started running out "Wave one". They started firing on them and when a group of them came out at once they shot the first line of crates which then blew up taking the creatures out. They repeated this as they slowly backed up towards the ship. Once they reached the ship, they both smirked "Light them up!" they shot the remaining crates killing a large amount of the creatures. More appeared "Go up top!" Sally yelled and they both climbed up onto the Sneak. They fired down on the remaining ones "There's too many of them!" Wave yelled when light suddenly shined down on them. They turned and saw the Hurst, it's light was scaring away the creatures. The ramp opened up, Tex and Tails gave them cover as the creatures realised the light didn't hurt them. Sally and Wave jumped on board, but the creatures were getting on board as well. Tex took out his sword and killed them while Sally ran to the cockpit where Sonic was "Something's wrong. I can't take off". Sally saw the creatures were climbing on the hull of the ship, she got on the control console "Rerouting auxiliary power to the hull". The creatures were electrocuted and knocked off "I didn't know the Hurst could do that" Sonic said impressed. Sally smirked smugly "There's a lot you don't know about my ship. Gem, reroute coolant to the engine". She locked the Sneak onto the Hurst and quickly flew away.
Later the crates were taken to the cargo hold, Tex and Tails looked guilty "Look, Sally, I'm sorry about not checking the diagnostic" "We're all sorry. Right, G-merl?" Tails asked, G-merl reluctantly nodded. Tails nodded "Anyway, we'll fix the Sneak" "Don't even worry about it" Tex added. Sally rolled her eyes "Yeah, why would I worry?". Wave stepped in "Mmm. Maybe because the last time they fixed it, we nearly wound up as lunch?" "Oh, right. That's why". They left the cargo hold leaving a guilty looking Tex and Tails. Wave was about to go into her room when "Wave" she turned to face Sally. "I know you have questions, questions I can't answer right now. But know that I can trust you. I just trusted you with my life down there". Wave sighed "I know. I know you do" "Good. We are making a difference, Wave. And I promise: we won't always be fighting this battle alone. Do you think you can trust me?". Wave smiled "I think I can try".