Chapter 3: Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It...
Chapter 3: Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It...Sonic and I walked into the room, closing the door behind us. There was a large screen with some data projections on it. Looked pretty important. We both found seats next to each other.
"Welcome to the meeting. What we will discuss here must never, ever leave this room. Do you understand?" The President asked. He was a grey wolf and stood at a height of about 6 feet and 5 inches. His uniform consisted of a brown shirt with a black tie and brown pants with black boots. He had a fluffy tail. There were golden epaulets on either side of his jacket.
"Yes, sir. We understand completely." I said.
"Good. Now, let us begin. Do you see this map here?" The President gestured to the projection on the screen. On it was some strangely familiar landscape.
"This is a map of the Greater Robotnik Empire. Well, at least most of it. They shot down our spy satellite a few days ago. Didn't even give us a warning. Anyway, the reason I brought you two here is for a very important mission."
I looked at Sonic and gulped hard. I think I knew what was going on.
"According to a few sources I have, Robotnik has come across a strange landmass in his domain. I don't know what he's building there, but we need to find out. Unfortunately for us, this island is rather unique…"
The President switched to another slide on the screen. It was a very blurry image of something in the sky.
"This...is an image of the island. We call it 'Angel Island'. It sits at a point about 5 or 6 miles up. We don't know what's making it float. But occasionally, a green glow is cast all over the island, seemingly rejuvenating the wildlife. This image is the best we could get of it. If we tried to go any closer, the Empire would determine that as a sign of declaration of war. Last we saw of it, Robotnik's Battery Armada was headed straight for it. We have reason to believe that Robotnik has a nuclear weapon in his possession, hidden on that island somewhere."
The President switched to another slide. On it was a red biplane. Sonic's eyes widened and his mouth gaped.
"You found it? How? The accident happened six years ago!" he said.
"Yes, we found your plane. It was buried in the desert sands of Desert Palace. For the purpose of the mission, we've made some enhancements." The President said while flipping to the next slide.
"We've added a jet engine to the plane, boosting its top speed from 62 knots to 120. Under each wing, there are now machine guns. On its underside, there is now a bomb chute. If you come across anything suspicious while on our mission, drop a bomb." The President continued.
"Do you accept the task? Your country needs you."
Sonic and I looked at each other. I knew his answer before he even said it.
"But Sonic, we could get killed out there. You know full well what Robotnik's capable of. I just don't want any more unnecessary injury or death." I told him.
"Yeah, I know. The danger level is high. But, we're really helping out if we take this mission. C'mon, Tails. I think we can do it." Sonic said.
There was no stopping him.
"Alright, Pres. We'll do it. How much are you givin' us?" Sonic asked.
The President held out a briefcase filled to the brim with Rings. They sparkled, sending golden light out into the room.
"This here is 500,000 Rings. If you return safely, this can be all yours." The President snapped the case shut.
"There is a car waiting for you downstairs to take you to the hangar. Good luck, you two. And may Chaos be with you."
We were escorted out of the room and down a secret set of stairs. Walking through a steel door at the end of a hallway, dim moonlight flooded our eyes. Sure enough, there was a black limousine waiting in front of us. The door opened, and Sonic and I climbed in. The door closed and the car pulled off.
"I never knew you owned a plane. That's cool. You're any good at flying?" I asked him, just trying to lighten the somber mood.
"Yeah, I'd like to think so. I was shot down a few months before meeting you. Had to survive in the desert for weeks before I came across a city. There, I was nursed back to health and returned to Emerald Hills. But I thought my plane was gone forever." he said, solemnly.
"Does your plane have a name?" I asked him.
"Yeah, I used to call her the Tornado. She was as fast as the wind and agile too."
The car rounded a corner, and we emerged into a large flat concrete field. On one side of the large flat land, stood a building. It was vaguely triangle-shaped. The front of the building was open and had a long strip of asphalt stretching for at least half a mile. The limousine stopped moving.
"Good luck to you guys. You're doing good for all of us." said the driver. I never got a good look at him, but he sounded familiar.
We hopped out of the car and walked inside the large building. Sonic's plane sat right inside, illuminated by lights from all sides.
"There she is. My Tornado. Wow! She's had a facelift!" Sonic said.
The plane's newly applied crimson paint shone in the light of the hangar. Its double-stacked wings were a darker shade of grey, and the word 'Sonic' was written in white paint along both sides. A white letter F was painted along both sides of the plane and came together on the underside. On her empennage, she wore a white and yellow pilot wings logo.
Sonic jumped into the pilot's seat and grabbed his goggles. There was a note attached to the steering wheel.
"To Sonic: contained inside the aft compartment, there are weapons and two radios for you and your partner to use while on the Island. Please report to us if you find anything suspicious. Good luck."
I jumped into the seat behind Sonic, and he started the plane's engine. It roared to life, and the propeller spun. He maneuvered the plane to face the outside and pushed the throttle to 100%. The jet engine on the underside sputtered to life, spitting an orange and red flame from its nozzle. The Tornado accelerated forward and soon, we were near liftoff speed.
"Ready to go, Tails? To Angel Island we go!" Sonic was clearly enjoying this.
I put a thumbs up, as the plane lurched off the ground. We ascended, and soon, the Capital city was nothing but little specks that were supposed to be buildings and people. We continued on, in the cover of darkness, not knowing what lay in store for us.