By the time we entered the meeting room we were breathless and sweaty, but bursting with laughter. Sally, who was chatting with Sonic and Tails, noticed me and stood up.

"Windris, glad to see you're here in such a cheery mood."

I was still busy trying to stop laughing. I heard Dune behind me utterly failing to contain his hysterical fits of amusement. When I had calmed down enough to speak, I realized I hadn't answered her.

"Yeah, uhh good morning to you too." I gingerly took a seat and began to yawn.

"Sorry for having you up so early." she rubbed her cheek with the end of her palm, "I was only told about this sighting early this morning; I suppose you never do really know when things'll happen."

"Yeah no kidding" Dune burst in, "I could have slept for another hour or two." He put his feet on the table, "Whatever you're planning, I just hope it's fun, else I'm outta here!"

I was about to tell Dune to get his feet off the table, but Sally gave me glance that read 'Don't. This is fine.'

Sally turned to my fennec friend. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see. But now on to the subject of our meeting" She pulled up a picture of a large, whale-like airship, "Eggman has recently upgraded the Egg Carrier and is using it to terrorize any town he comes across in a beeline towards Freedom HQ."

I didn't have any clue as to why Eggman would go around nuking towns, but if it's really as bad as Sally says, that's enough reason to end such a destructive warship. But a guy like Eggman must have a reason why, right?

"This upgraded version, dubbed the Egg Carrier 2.0, seems to have its strength lie in protection. Its armour is impenetrable to even Sonic's attacks, and there doesn't seem to be any visible weak points or entrances except for one, which is in the posterior." I heard Dune try and stifle a giggle, but it clearly wasn't working since he was still infected with laughter. Sally didn't notice, however.

"Not to mention Eggman has also gotten a hold of one of the Chaos Emeralds. But we are STILL going to take this thing down Freedom Fighters! We would have tried to stop it earlier but we needed the right people, and that's why I recruited both of you."

That seems to have explained how I got here quite well. I was actually beginning to feel excited about this mission, like, I couldn't believe I would be so crucial to anything! I suppose Dune wasn't feeling the same way, as his fists were placed on his chin and his eyes started to droop a little.

"The plan is quite simple: Me, Windris and Tails will distract Eggman in the front so Sonic and Dune can get to the back. Sonic will try to destroy any backup power sources and artillery cannons, which will hopefully cause a blackout in the security system and allow the deploy hatch to slide open so Dune can get in. Once there, he'll go to the room where the Chaos Emerald is stored, under the cockpit, steal it, plant a bomb in the ship and get out of there, preferably the way he came, before the ship blows up." Dune's face immediately lit up.

"Any questions?" Sally asked. Both of our hands flew up simultaneously. "Why me?" we chorused. Sally looked at both of us trying to decide who to answer first. She picked me. "Windris, I've heard that you're an expert aerial fighter, having wings and all."

"Well, I…" I was fumbling for the words to explain, "that might have been a little exaggerated, but I suppose you can call me that." I trailed off.

"And Dune. Well, you probably already know this, but you can steal stuff."

"Of course I know that" Dune responded smugly. His face turned to a ponderous look, "But why not get someone like Rouge instead; she can steal and fly!"

I nodded my head silently. That was actually a very smart question.

Sally furrowed her brow. "I get your point." She said carefully, "Rouge can fly, but she's about Windris' size, and the deploy hatch is pretty small. You're the only one short enough to fit in there and know what you're doing, so naturally, you know where the choice went."

"Thanks a lot…" Dune mumbled. "I've heard the whole thing now, so can I leave?" He asked impatiently.

"Yes, you can." Sally confirmed."We're going to be using our Extreme Gear for this mission, so make sure yours is charged. Also, we'll start again at 7:15. That's all." She turned to leave.

I observed the clock. 6:45. I had around half an hour to prepare, and since I didn't have an extreme gear, that gave me an extra five minutes that Dune didn't have.

Dune got up from his seat. "Where are you headed Windris?"

"Probably to the bathroom to get myself sorted, but I might grab breakfast too if I still have time." I put my finger on my chin, "And you?"

"Weeell," Dune raised an eyebrow and averted his gaze upwards, "I'll probably need to get my door fixed."

My ears drooped in embarrassment."S-Sorry about that." I stuttered, "I had barely woken up as well; I wasn't really thinking straight."

"No problem, I would've given any chance to bust down someone's door in your situation." It was weird assurance, but it held up. "I won't keep you any longer!" he said before rushing off.

First I decided to brush my fangs as I'd planned earlier. The bathroom was in the middle of that endlessly long hallway, but with my wings, it was easy to traverse. The bathroom's sinks, lockers and shower stalls were all in one place, but the actual toilets were segregated for obvious reasons. I found the locker with my toiletries in it, grabbed a toothbrush and started brushing. It didn't take long to get the kinks out of my back molars, and I even brushed my tongue just for the fun of it. I eyed the clock outside the bathroom. 6:55. I had 20 minutes to get breakfast, which is good because I eat like a sloth.

Luckily, the dining room was very close to the bathroom. Instead of a buffet setup like I expected, it was more like a normal kitchen you'd find in a house, except bigger. It had stoves and utensils, fridges and pantries with ingredients in them, and a few cafeteria tables. I made canned tuna and scrambled egg on a piece of toast with a glass of chocolate milk. Dune came in shortly chewing on a large piece of kibble. He eyed at my toast intently, to which I responded by pointing to the counter full of my leftover ingredients. Dune groaned, then trudged to the counter to help himself. I guess we could read each other's face like a book, since we been travelling together so long.

Once I had finished my toast, I stole another glance at the clock. 7:08. Dune was busily making a mess of the kitchen, and I figured he had it alright for now. I started toward the meeting room again.

I had gone a sizable distance when I noticed Dune following with his extreme gear. I gave him a thumbs up as he started to catch up with me.

When we returned to the meeting room (early this time), Sally was there putting on her equipment.

"We're ready" I called, drawing her attention.

"That's great. You all remember the plan right?"

I was about to affirm that, but right then Sonic sped in riding his gear, which caused a whirlwind. "I'm primed and ready, Sal!" He looked over at my dishevelled self. "Ooooh, sorry about that," he replied in a snarky tone.

"Oh no, it's okay." I straightened my bangs again, "Nice to see you Sonic."

"We've met before right? I think your name was something like wi…win... wind something?"

"Windris" I corrected him.

"Oh yeah...Nice to meet you too Windris." He looked past me at Dune. "Who's that?"

"That's my friend Dune," I responded placidly.

"He'll be working with you." Sally reminded him.

"I know. He's kinda short isn't he." Sonic remarked. Dune sent him back a mildly irritated look.

A few seconds later Tails stumbled in. "Again with this… Sonic you should wait up" he panted. I looked at him with a twinge of pity.

"Hi Miles." I greeted him. "Were you okay back there?" I know most people call him Tails, but using his real name felt more respectful.

He smiled back at me. "I'm fine. Sonic can be a little hot-headed sometimes, that's all."

"Well, buddy" Sonic retorted, "at least it worked."

"But be more careful next time!" Tails explained.

I suppose even best friends have arguments. Dune and I were no exception. "Miles, I can't wait to see how you fare in aerial combat," I said, changing the subject. I was actually getting a little hyped for this thing.

"Maybe you can teach me to fly!" He grinned. I smiled cheerily back at him; the prospect of that sounded really fun.

"Speaking of which," Sally cut in, "Have you got the Tornado ready?"

"It's good to go!" he replied enthusiastically.

"Then we should be ready." she continued. "One more thing." She tossed a small device in Dune's direction, which he caught with a sand claw.

"What's this?"

"It's a modified Eggman Bombom that's been set for ten minutes. It'll start the countdown when you stick it to a solid surface."

"Like my armpit?" Dune joked. I mentally facepalmed.

Sally cringed a little. "It sticks magnetically," she replied sharply.

"Yeah okay." Dune brushed it off.

"Well Freedom Fighters, are we all ready?"

"YEAH!" Our shout resounded across the room.

"Then let's go!"