3 A Secret Revealed
Skullbash looked at the camp. Sixteen humans. Three wielded machine guns, one appeared to have grenades, one had a flamethrower, and the rest had semiautomatics.
"This ought to be fun," said the Echidna called Fortum.
"The grenadier and the flamethrower should be the biggest dangers," said Sparks, the group genius.
Skullbash didn't need reminding. He knew as well as everyone else that their super-strong hides might be bulletproof, but they were certainly not fireproof.
"Right then. Shadow, Fortum, take care of the grenadier. Sparks, Mole, get the flamethrower. The rest of us'll stay back here until they're both down."
Shadow was practically a chameleon; that ingenious Echidna could blend in anywhere. He smeared dirt on his and Fortum's bodies before beginning to crawl toward the shadowed side of the base. Fortum followed.
Mole, on the other hand, had a different method. He had become one of the most famous Echidnas in the world by inventing, practicing, and perfecting the technique of using one's knuckle claws to burrow. Sparks could measure distance almost as well as a computer, and Skullbash had no doubt that he and Mole would pop up directly behind the flamethrower.
They didn't disappoint him. Shadow had been able to get right to the flamethrower without trouble. No sooner did Shadow stab his heart than the humans became aware of their presence. The grenadier had been about to throw one of his grenades when he fell right through the ground. Skullbash had been wrong. Sparks hadn't led Mole behind the human; he had led him under the human. This turned out to be much more effective, because the duo jumped out and threw two other humans into the hole before the grenade (which had never been thrown) exploded, killing the three humans but leaving the Echidnas unharmed.
The other nine echidnas were already charging. It was a matter of seconds before every human there was dead or dying. 12-D was already pulling off the radiation suit of one. As he searched the suit, he pulled something out. It appeared to be a small radio, the recently invented kind that the strongest radiation in the world (which happened to exist right then and there) couldn't interfere with. He was staring, transfixed, at a point slightly below the antenna. Others were joining him, some gaping in horror. Sparks had finally found his voice:
"Skullbash, sir, I think you'd better see this..."
Slightly curious, he walked around so he could see what they were all gaping at.
It was the insignia of the Guardian Unit of America. The G.U.A.