SuperSonic Speed-- Chapter 27: Metroc Blues
---
50 miles north of Robotopolis
---
Sonic peered out the window of the hovercruiser and frowned. As they slowly, stealthily snuck into the inner suburbs of Robotropolis, it began to rain, the clouds darkening over head and slowly intensifying the rain until it became a downpour. Powerful jolts of thunder vibrated through Sonic's ears and blasts of lightning lit up the cruiser like a christmas tree at night.
Knuckles growled, "So much for stealth."
Juke shifted back in her seat, pulling down the armrests and sliding on her headset, pulling the mic down into place. "Chaotix should be transmitting to us any time now, right?" The hedgehog asked, pulling down the headset's left ear.
Knuckles checked the status display, "Yes, any time."
Sonic growled, "How long until we're there?"
"Patience Sonic, we must move with both stealth and caution, we're in enemy territory where being seen could be our end." Knuckles said, dropping off as Juke began to talk.
"Uh what? Can't hear you... no I can't hear you I'm getting lots of static... I CANNOT HEAR YOU! STATIC!!!" Juke screamed into the headset microphone, frustrated.
"Adjust the frequency Juke, it might be off a little bit," Knuckles calmly said, steering the hovercruiser.
The hedgehog did so and continued talking, "Yo, speak! Yeah that's better, now where are you meeting us? Roger that," Juke checked the map on the cruiser's status display, "Hmm... that's not too far at all, we'll be there in about 10 minutes." She killed the transmission.
"Where we headed?" Knuckles asked, preparing to program the navigational computer with their destination.
"Metroc Station, Building B."
"Metroc? Huh. Never heard of it."
"Eh... me neither, Vector said it's not very far away only about thirty miles."
"Great, we'll be there really fast."
---
Robotropolis
---
Shady stood at attention and studdered his report, "S-s-sir, I am very sorry to report that the neuro chip has failed to work. Project S.I.L.V.E.R will fight every issued command, whether it succeeds or not is random."
Robotnik pounded his gigantic fist against his control console and swiveled his chair around to face the lieutenant. "For crying out loud Lieutenant you have had three years to iron out bugs on this project, THREE YEARS! Do you know how much money that has taken? How much other work you could have accomplished?"
"Yes sir, I know--"
"No you don't! You have absolutely ZERO PERCENT of an idea! None at all! We could have been developing nuclear missiles for crying out loud!"
"But sir!--"
"No 'buts' Lieutenant! I want to know what HAVE you completed within these three years?"
"Much sir, S.I.L.V.E.R runs and can swiftly attack well, but we have no idea WHY it will not listen half of the time."
"And my precious shockers are doing WHAT?" Robotnik furiously ground his teeth and tensed his fists.
"Causing it much pain."
"And STILL it resists?"
"Y-yes sir..." Shady was shaking in his combat boots.
"Hmm... Well Lieutenant, All I can say is that you had BEST find a way to compensate or you will be short on days." Robotnik turned back around to his computer and growled as he furiously typed.
"Yes sir, thank you sir."
"Get the heck out of here."
---
Metroc Station
---
Knuckles killed the throttle and slowed to a stop beside a sign with a keyboard beside it that read, "Read this well: For those of metal, no entrance shall be allowed, if you are not of metal press in a code the opposite of 336."
"What's the opposite of '366'?" Knuckles asked allowed.
"Huh, Don't ask me," Juke said.
"663?" Tails asked.
Knuckles tried the code and grumbled as it came back "Access Denied."
"Wait!" Sonic exclaimed, "366 spells 'egg' so what spells something for us?"
"Huh, I have no idea. Juke, call the Chaotix."
Juke hopped to it, connecting almost immediately, "Yeah, this is Lieutenant Juke with Guardian Knuckles Echidna, we're stuck outside of Metroc Station, no idea what the code is.... yea? Uh-huh... Uh-huh, ok got it, thanks." She killed the transmission. "Charmy says it's 'Fr33d0m'"
"Roger That Juke, put that into the computer," Knuckles calmly said as he typed the code in. He heard 'access granted' and the ground in front of him opened up, revealing a ramp leading underground.
"Woohoo we are in!" Sonic exclaimed, although the tone was clearly false, he gave Tails a high-five, but that too seemed less than enthusiastic.
Knuckles pushed the throttle forward and the cruiser went down the ramp. The group was now in a twisting and turning subterranean tunnel, illuminated with rows of sky blue lights reflecting off the ground, it was really a road! But to where?
The tunnel ended and the group found themselves in an underground city with not only roads, but buildings to! There had to be an entire population down here!
"Dang! I never even knew a place like this existed!" Knuckles exclaimed as he drove through the underground city.
"Me either, and if I don't know about it, Robotnik don't either I bet." Juke said.
"Well duh! It's still here!" Sonic exclaimed, "Man this city is so awesome! Everything is blue!"
"Let's see, we need Building B right?" Knuckles asked.
"Yep," Juke responded, checking the navigational computer. "Says it's that huge building to the right."
"That Navy blue building over there?"
"Aye-Aye Captain."
"Heh, that's quite a huge building, I wonder what they got in there?"
"No Idea, but the fact that its NAVY blue says something."
"No, everything is blue!"
"Not NAVY blue!" Juke protested.
"Alright! I get your point! Let's just wait until we get there."
Knuckles followed the system of underground roadway and turned into building B, following the signs and going into a ramp further underground. A royal blue and white gate lay in front of them, a sign above it and a booth to the left. Knuckles pulled up to the gate and Juke switched the communication systems to the frequency on the sign.
"State your Identity." A voice barked through the system's speakers. Knuckles assumed it was whoever was in the booth.
"Lieutenant Juke along with Guardian Knuckles and two subordinates." The hedgehog leaned back into her chair.
"Do you have business here?"
"Yes sir."
"With whom?"
"The Chaotix."
"Roger that Lieutenant, you are clear to proceed, follow to landing 0031. Your lock key is 62051"
The gate rose, "Thank you. Lieutenant Juke proceeding."
Knuckles pushed the throttle and the cruiser shot forward where he was met with an extremely steep ramp that almost felt vertical as they coasted down it thanks to the cruiser's hover jets. Finally at the end of it, he turned to the right, and the tunnel featured several garages with hovercruisers like his own, except they were painted a Navy blue and the door was a transparent forcefield, "What is going on with these people and their blue?" He pulled up into the garage labled 0031 and killed the thrusters, feeling the thump of the cruiser hitting the ground.
"You can leave all of your equipment in here, we won't be needing it."
The group exited the hovercruiser and proceeded out of the garage. Knuckles entered the lock key into the keypad beside the garage and watched as the forcefield came up, protecting the vehicle. He looked over to his right and saw an elevator. He ambled over to it and pressed the button, "Vector never said what floor or room, did he?"
"Nope," Juke replied, walking through the newly opened doors. 'Huh, weird. The numbers are all negatives and there's seats in the elevator!"
"Well the numbers is because we're far underground!" Knuckles stated matter-of-factly. "The seats I have no idea, however."
"It says we're -11 right now," Lieutenant Juke read the directory, "-11, Hovercruiser landing. -10, Medical Facilities. -9, Barracks. -8, Basic Training. -7, Special Operations Headquarters. -6 Basic Infantry Headquarters. -5, Navy and Air Force Headquarters. -4, Navy Training. -3, Air Force Training. -2, Hangers for Airborne Vehicles and Mechs. -1, Registration, Orientation, and Conference."
"Well, I think we should try -1 first."
"A'ight Knuckles," Juke casually replied as she pressed the button and sat down, the rest of the group remained standing as the elevator began its rapid ascent. "Man we're moving fast!"
"Yeah!" Tails commented, "But it's been a whole minute! Why is it taking so long!" The fox sat down.
"Dunno, but man its taking forever!" Sonic exclaimed, taking a seat besides Tails and Juke. Knuckles remained standing, his face emotionless.
The blue hedgehog noticed that some levels went by in about thirty seconds, while others took an entire minute to go by. Five more minutes passed before the elevator finally stopped at level -1. The group stepped out of the elevator and into a blue carpeted room. The sign above it read "Registration", a desk sat in the distance, an operator and a computer occupying the space behind and on it.
Knuckles walked up to the desk, where he was greeted by the Koala sitting at it.
"Are you here to register for the Blue Army sir?"
"Blue Army? Sir what is the Blue Army?" Knuckles responded.
The Koala nearly laughed at the response, "You seriously do not know what the blue army is?"
"No sir."
"Are you loyal to Robotnik?"
"Absolutlely not! I am against that scum!"
"I'm very surprised, people are usually blue, red or grey, grey being neutral of course. You can probably guess what the red refers to."
"Yes."
"But it's not just that which surprises me."
"Well what is it then?"
"Your at Blue Army Headquarters, plus they cleared you. They obviously know who you are, just give me a minute to call them and find out what's going on. Your lock key?"
"62051"
"You can sit in those blue chairs over there." The racoon pointed, picking up his wireless phone. The group went over to the blue chairs and sat down.
"Any idea what just went on?" Sonic asked.
"I honestly don't have a clue, I can't believe the Chaotix didn't tell us about this place."
"Sir?" The racoon called, "Come back here."
"You three stay here," Knuckles walked up to the desk, "Is there a problem sir?"
"No, clearance has you listed as having business with the Chaotix."
"Yes, that's right."
"Alright then, you'll want to head to the conference room past that hallway over there. Last right turn will bring you over there. Oh! And by the way, you might want to come back here when your done, the Blue Army could use some people like you."
"Thank you, sir," Knuckles replied before heading for the hallway.
A minute later Knuckles arrived at the conference room but was stopped by a guard wearing a sky blue vest.
"Are you Guardian Knuckles?" The guard asked.
"Yes sir,"
"Right this way Guardian, the Chaotix are expecting you."
The group followed the guard into the conference room which was also painted a royal blue, the table in the center, however, was a light brown, the first non-blue object the group had seen since they're arrival at Building B. The guard shut the door and resumed his duty outside.
Knuckles sat down across from a lime green crocodile whose skin was brighter than Juke's. He was wearing a pair of black headphones with grey ears. A gold chain rested around his neck.
"Knuxie! Good to see ya man!" Came the crocodile's gruff voice.
"Vector, you know I hate that name!" came the echidna's annoyed reply. "But anyways, good to see you too. Feels like it's been forever."
Sitting beside Vector was a purple chameleon, who sported a bright lemon yellow horn upon his nose. And the last one, sitting on the table, barely bigger than a foot, was a red and black bee.
The chameleons deep, yet soft voice filled the room, "Everyone else be seated quickly, we have important business to discuss."
"Yep! Sure do Espio!" Came from a high voice. It was none other than Charmy bee.
"Hello Charmy."
Everyone else was seated and Espio began. "Welcome to Metroc Station: The last city in the west not ruled by robots. You're probably wondering why you're here, and what exactly is going on. Just give me a minute and I'll explain. Metroc Station was a very secret ancient civilization. At it's lowest point, it's buried four miles into the ground. We don't know much about the type of people who once lived here, but from it's age, we assume that the ancient mobians hid here to survive the great nuclear wars of the 32nd century. Up until the time of Doctor Ivo Robotnik's occupation of Metropolis, only a select few senior military officials knew of this place.
Now, it is home to the entire Blue army--"
"What exactly is this 'Blue army' I keep hearing about?" Knuckles interjected.
"Just wait Knuckles. The Blue army is Robotnik's only opposition. WE are the opforce. Robotnik's city--- Robotropolis, is one of the most well-defended cities in history. Because it's ruled by robots, an all-out strike strike would be worse than hopeless, it'd be suicide. Instead, we must perform recon and small strike missions on the factories and computer systems. So far, many foot soldiers have either been captured or killed, and few missions have had primary success. Because of the failure, we've initiated a program so that we can perform hit-and-fade missions from both the ground and air. We have both mechs and fighters supplied from the eastern continents."
"But how did they get here without Robotnik noticing?"
"Easily, the underground tunnels extend all the way to the way to the ocean. All they do is fly east."
"Now, obviously we're here to do a recon mission, so why are you bothering to tell us all this?"
"Because the Blue army General wants you and your group in his army."
"Espio..."
"Don't say no Knuxie, don't say it!" Vector cheered.
"Do you know what you're asking?" Knuckles asked.
"Absolutely! Free underground housing and meals and training and everything. You could be a fighter pilot for crying out loud!" Espio had clearly taken a few too many marketing classes, as Knuckles didn't snap and actually thought about it. The book of world records was getting thicker.
"Well... ok! I'll do it."
"There ya go Knuxie, General Streeoh is waiting in the recruiting office when you're done here."
"Aw man! We ain't done YET?" Sonic shouted, his usual sarcastic tone showing, his real feelings not.
"No, not yet. We are now going to talk about the mission," Espio's tone went dead serious, "You said you had someone who could pull ground recon Guardian?"
"Yes sir, Lieutenant Juke here can do recon."
"Good, good. Alright here's the plan. On the outer borders of Robotropolis we suspect there's a plant mass-producing assassin robots who can freely think and intelligently plan and execute assaults. We are not one-hundred percent sure that this IS the place, and we do not want to stir up attention within Robotropolis about us by bombing the wrong place. If we're going to make our presence known, it must be worth it. Recon-One will sneak into the building through the sewers and then sneak in through the ventilation shafts, surely she'll be able to see down through one. Meanwhile, to cause a diversion, YOU Guardian, will snipe. This will not alert the city like the bomb will as it is only one person. If you are seen, run for it. Rendezvous one mile away from the entrance to Metroc. Questions?"
"Yes sir, what can these two do?" Knuckles asked, pointing to Sonic and Tails.
"Specialties?"
"Sonic, the hedgehog can run clock up to 250 miles per hour and the fox, Tails is excellent at air recon."
"The fox can go as high as he can and spot anything between his location and the sewers, and Sonic can be your emergency runner if he can carry you on his back."
"Yes he can."
"Good, good. Your sniper rifle and other equipment is located on floor -7. We'll also meet on that floor to debrief. The mission begins tonight at 2200 hours, thats a whole 1900 hours away. Get some sleep, as long as you want, you'll need it. Barracks are located on floor -9."
The door opened and a Cheetah burst in. "Sergeant Espio."
"Yes sir?" The chameleon immediately stood and replied.
"Have you explained our current situation to these people?"
"Yes General."
"Good," The General took a seat.
"I have heard your names are Knuckles, Juke, Sonic, and Tails?"
"Yes sir General," Knuckles replied much calmer than usual, the wearied echidna fighting to keep his eyes open.
"I see you have had a long week?"
"Yes General."
"Well, as soon as I am done talking to you, you will be able to sleep, but until then, Chaotix, you are dismissed." All three replied with 'yes general' and immediately left. "Alright, here's the deal. The Chaotix filled me in. You are your own group right? Blue Army generally does not make any exceptions for any single member or group, but you four are... different.
So here's the deal, you will be listed as special forces/operations, as that is generally what you do. However it is perfectly fine if you wish to take part in mech or fighter training. Not one of you will be required to undergo basic training, however you WILL be expected to follow protocol on the base. I assume you are clear on this. I will go and register you and ready everything you need. Dismissed."
The four dragged themselves down to the barracks and checked in with the guard. They were all quickly assigned private bunks just for the night, as the base was ready to begin it's day in under an hour. The four crawled into their bunks, where they would sleep for a long, long time.
---
50 miles north of Robotopolis
---
Sonic peered out the window of the hovercruiser and frowned. As they slowly, stealthily snuck into the inner suburbs of Robotropolis, it began to rain, the clouds darkening over head and slowly intensifying the rain until it became a downpour. Powerful jolts of thunder vibrated through Sonic's ears and blasts of lightning lit up the cruiser like a christmas tree at night.
Knuckles growled, "So much for stealth."
Juke shifted back in her seat, pulling down the armrests and sliding on her headset, pulling the mic down into place. "Chaotix should be transmitting to us any time now, right?" The hedgehog asked, pulling down the headset's left ear.
Knuckles checked the status display, "Yes, any time."
Sonic growled, "How long until we're there?"
"Patience Sonic, we must move with both stealth and caution, we're in enemy territory where being seen could be our end." Knuckles said, dropping off as Juke began to talk.
"Uh what? Can't hear you... no I can't hear you I'm getting lots of static... I CANNOT HEAR YOU! STATIC!!!" Juke screamed into the headset microphone, frustrated.
"Adjust the frequency Juke, it might be off a little bit," Knuckles calmly said, steering the hovercruiser.
The hedgehog did so and continued talking, "Yo, speak! Yeah that's better, now where are you meeting us? Roger that," Juke checked the map on the cruiser's status display, "Hmm... that's not too far at all, we'll be there in about 10 minutes." She killed the transmission.
"Where we headed?" Knuckles asked, preparing to program the navigational computer with their destination.
"Metroc Station, Building B."
"Metroc? Huh. Never heard of it."
"Eh... me neither, Vector said it's not very far away only about thirty miles."
"Great, we'll be there really fast."
---
Robotropolis
---
Shady stood at attention and studdered his report, "S-s-sir, I am very sorry to report that the neuro chip has failed to work. Project S.I.L.V.E.R will fight every issued command, whether it succeeds or not is random."
Robotnik pounded his gigantic fist against his control console and swiveled his chair around to face the lieutenant. "For crying out loud Lieutenant you have had three years to iron out bugs on this project, THREE YEARS! Do you know how much money that has taken? How much other work you could have accomplished?"
"Yes sir, I know--"
"No you don't! You have absolutely ZERO PERCENT of an idea! None at all! We could have been developing nuclear missiles for crying out loud!"
"But sir!--"
"No 'buts' Lieutenant! I want to know what HAVE you completed within these three years?"
"Much sir, S.I.L.V.E.R runs and can swiftly attack well, but we have no idea WHY it will not listen half of the time."
"And my precious shockers are doing WHAT?" Robotnik furiously ground his teeth and tensed his fists.
"Causing it much pain."
"And STILL it resists?"
"Y-yes sir..." Shady was shaking in his combat boots.
"Hmm... Well Lieutenant, All I can say is that you had BEST find a way to compensate or you will be short on days." Robotnik turned back around to his computer and growled as he furiously typed.
"Yes sir, thank you sir."
"Get the heck out of here."
---
Metroc Station
---
Knuckles killed the throttle and slowed to a stop beside a sign with a keyboard beside it that read, "Read this well: For those of metal, no entrance shall be allowed, if you are not of metal press in a code the opposite of 336."
"What's the opposite of '366'?" Knuckles asked allowed.
"Huh, Don't ask me," Juke said.
"663?" Tails asked.
Knuckles tried the code and grumbled as it came back "Access Denied."
"Wait!" Sonic exclaimed, "366 spells 'egg' so what spells something for us?"
"Huh, I have no idea. Juke, call the Chaotix."
Juke hopped to it, connecting almost immediately, "Yeah, this is Lieutenant Juke with Guardian Knuckles Echidna, we're stuck outside of Metroc Station, no idea what the code is.... yea? Uh-huh... Uh-huh, ok got it, thanks." She killed the transmission. "Charmy says it's 'Fr33d0m'"
"Roger That Juke, put that into the computer," Knuckles calmly said as he typed the code in. He heard 'access granted' and the ground in front of him opened up, revealing a ramp leading underground.
"Woohoo we are in!" Sonic exclaimed, although the tone was clearly false, he gave Tails a high-five, but that too seemed less than enthusiastic.
Knuckles pushed the throttle forward and the cruiser went down the ramp. The group was now in a twisting and turning subterranean tunnel, illuminated with rows of sky blue lights reflecting off the ground, it was really a road! But to where?
The tunnel ended and the group found themselves in an underground city with not only roads, but buildings to! There had to be an entire population down here!
"Dang! I never even knew a place like this existed!" Knuckles exclaimed as he drove through the underground city.
"Me either, and if I don't know about it, Robotnik don't either I bet." Juke said.
"Well duh! It's still here!" Sonic exclaimed, "Man this city is so awesome! Everything is blue!"
"Let's see, we need Building B right?" Knuckles asked.
"Yep," Juke responded, checking the navigational computer. "Says it's that huge building to the right."
"That Navy blue building over there?"
"Aye-Aye Captain."
"Heh, that's quite a huge building, I wonder what they got in there?"
"No Idea, but the fact that its NAVY blue says something."
"No, everything is blue!"
"Not NAVY blue!" Juke protested.
"Alright! I get your point! Let's just wait until we get there."
Knuckles followed the system of underground roadway and turned into building B, following the signs and going into a ramp further underground. A royal blue and white gate lay in front of them, a sign above it and a booth to the left. Knuckles pulled up to the gate and Juke switched the communication systems to the frequency on the sign.
"State your Identity." A voice barked through the system's speakers. Knuckles assumed it was whoever was in the booth.
"Lieutenant Juke along with Guardian Knuckles and two subordinates." The hedgehog leaned back into her chair.
"Do you have business here?"
"Yes sir."
"With whom?"
"The Chaotix."
"Roger that Lieutenant, you are clear to proceed, follow to landing 0031. Your lock key is 62051"
The gate rose, "Thank you. Lieutenant Juke proceeding."
Knuckles pushed the throttle and the cruiser shot forward where he was met with an extremely steep ramp that almost felt vertical as they coasted down it thanks to the cruiser's hover jets. Finally at the end of it, he turned to the right, and the tunnel featured several garages with hovercruisers like his own, except they were painted a Navy blue and the door was a transparent forcefield, "What is going on with these people and their blue?" He pulled up into the garage labled 0031 and killed the thrusters, feeling the thump of the cruiser hitting the ground.
"You can leave all of your equipment in here, we won't be needing it."
The group exited the hovercruiser and proceeded out of the garage. Knuckles entered the lock key into the keypad beside the garage and watched as the forcefield came up, protecting the vehicle. He looked over to his right and saw an elevator. He ambled over to it and pressed the button, "Vector never said what floor or room, did he?"
"Nope," Juke replied, walking through the newly opened doors. 'Huh, weird. The numbers are all negatives and there's seats in the elevator!"
"Well the numbers is because we're far underground!" Knuckles stated matter-of-factly. "The seats I have no idea, however."
"It says we're -11 right now," Lieutenant Juke read the directory, "-11, Hovercruiser landing. -10, Medical Facilities. -9, Barracks. -8, Basic Training. -7, Special Operations Headquarters. -6 Basic Infantry Headquarters. -5, Navy and Air Force Headquarters. -4, Navy Training. -3, Air Force Training. -2, Hangers for Airborne Vehicles and Mechs. -1, Registration, Orientation, and Conference."
"Well, I think we should try -1 first."
"A'ight Knuckles," Juke casually replied as she pressed the button and sat down, the rest of the group remained standing as the elevator began its rapid ascent. "Man we're moving fast!"
"Yeah!" Tails commented, "But it's been a whole minute! Why is it taking so long!" The fox sat down.
"Dunno, but man its taking forever!" Sonic exclaimed, taking a seat besides Tails and Juke. Knuckles remained standing, his face emotionless.
The blue hedgehog noticed that some levels went by in about thirty seconds, while others took an entire minute to go by. Five more minutes passed before the elevator finally stopped at level -1. The group stepped out of the elevator and into a blue carpeted room. The sign above it read "Registration", a desk sat in the distance, an operator and a computer occupying the space behind and on it.
Knuckles walked up to the desk, where he was greeted by the Koala sitting at it.
"Are you here to register for the Blue Army sir?"
"Blue Army? Sir what is the Blue Army?" Knuckles responded.
The Koala nearly laughed at the response, "You seriously do not know what the blue army is?"
"No sir."
"Are you loyal to Robotnik?"
"Absolutlely not! I am against that scum!"
"I'm very surprised, people are usually blue, red or grey, grey being neutral of course. You can probably guess what the red refers to."
"Yes."
"But it's not just that which surprises me."
"Well what is it then?"
"Your at Blue Army Headquarters, plus they cleared you. They obviously know who you are, just give me a minute to call them and find out what's going on. Your lock key?"
"62051"
"You can sit in those blue chairs over there." The racoon pointed, picking up his wireless phone. The group went over to the blue chairs and sat down.
"Any idea what just went on?" Sonic asked.
"I honestly don't have a clue, I can't believe the Chaotix didn't tell us about this place."
"Sir?" The racoon called, "Come back here."
"You three stay here," Knuckles walked up to the desk, "Is there a problem sir?"
"No, clearance has you listed as having business with the Chaotix."
"Yes, that's right."
"Alright then, you'll want to head to the conference room past that hallway over there. Last right turn will bring you over there. Oh! And by the way, you might want to come back here when your done, the Blue Army could use some people like you."
"Thank you, sir," Knuckles replied before heading for the hallway.
A minute later Knuckles arrived at the conference room but was stopped by a guard wearing a sky blue vest.
"Are you Guardian Knuckles?" The guard asked.
"Yes sir,"
"Right this way Guardian, the Chaotix are expecting you."
The group followed the guard into the conference room which was also painted a royal blue, the table in the center, however, was a light brown, the first non-blue object the group had seen since they're arrival at Building B. The guard shut the door and resumed his duty outside.
Knuckles sat down across from a lime green crocodile whose skin was brighter than Juke's. He was wearing a pair of black headphones with grey ears. A gold chain rested around his neck.
"Knuxie! Good to see ya man!" Came the crocodile's gruff voice.
"Vector, you know I hate that name!" came the echidna's annoyed reply. "But anyways, good to see you too. Feels like it's been forever."
Sitting beside Vector was a purple chameleon, who sported a bright lemon yellow horn upon his nose. And the last one, sitting on the table, barely bigger than a foot, was a red and black bee.
The chameleons deep, yet soft voice filled the room, "Everyone else be seated quickly, we have important business to discuss."
"Yep! Sure do Espio!" Came from a high voice. It was none other than Charmy bee.
"Hello Charmy."
Everyone else was seated and Espio began. "Welcome to Metroc Station: The last city in the west not ruled by robots. You're probably wondering why you're here, and what exactly is going on. Just give me a minute and I'll explain. Metroc Station was a very secret ancient civilization. At it's lowest point, it's buried four miles into the ground. We don't know much about the type of people who once lived here, but from it's age, we assume that the ancient mobians hid here to survive the great nuclear wars of the 32nd century. Up until the time of Doctor Ivo Robotnik's occupation of Metropolis, only a select few senior military officials knew of this place.
Now, it is home to the entire Blue army--"
"What exactly is this 'Blue army' I keep hearing about?" Knuckles interjected.
"Just wait Knuckles. The Blue army is Robotnik's only opposition. WE are the opforce. Robotnik's city--- Robotropolis, is one of the most well-defended cities in history. Because it's ruled by robots, an all-out strike strike would be worse than hopeless, it'd be suicide. Instead, we must perform recon and small strike missions on the factories and computer systems. So far, many foot soldiers have either been captured or killed, and few missions have had primary success. Because of the failure, we've initiated a program so that we can perform hit-and-fade missions from both the ground and air. We have both mechs and fighters supplied from the eastern continents."
"But how did they get here without Robotnik noticing?"
"Easily, the underground tunnels extend all the way to the way to the ocean. All they do is fly east."
"Now, obviously we're here to do a recon mission, so why are you bothering to tell us all this?"
"Because the Blue army General wants you and your group in his army."
"Espio..."
"Don't say no Knuxie, don't say it!" Vector cheered.
"Do you know what you're asking?" Knuckles asked.
"Absolutely! Free underground housing and meals and training and everything. You could be a fighter pilot for crying out loud!" Espio had clearly taken a few too many marketing classes, as Knuckles didn't snap and actually thought about it. The book of world records was getting thicker.
"Well... ok! I'll do it."
"There ya go Knuxie, General Streeoh is waiting in the recruiting office when you're done here."
"Aw man! We ain't done YET?" Sonic shouted, his usual sarcastic tone showing, his real feelings not.
"No, not yet. We are now going to talk about the mission," Espio's tone went dead serious, "You said you had someone who could pull ground recon Guardian?"
"Yes sir, Lieutenant Juke here can do recon."
"Good, good. Alright here's the plan. On the outer borders of Robotropolis we suspect there's a plant mass-producing assassin robots who can freely think and intelligently plan and execute assaults. We are not one-hundred percent sure that this IS the place, and we do not want to stir up attention within Robotropolis about us by bombing the wrong place. If we're going to make our presence known, it must be worth it. Recon-One will sneak into the building through the sewers and then sneak in through the ventilation shafts, surely she'll be able to see down through one. Meanwhile, to cause a diversion, YOU Guardian, will snipe. This will not alert the city like the bomb will as it is only one person. If you are seen, run for it. Rendezvous one mile away from the entrance to Metroc. Questions?"
"Yes sir, what can these two do?" Knuckles asked, pointing to Sonic and Tails.
"Specialties?"
"Sonic, the hedgehog can run clock up to 250 miles per hour and the fox, Tails is excellent at air recon."
"The fox can go as high as he can and spot anything between his location and the sewers, and Sonic can be your emergency runner if he can carry you on his back."
"Yes he can."
"Good, good. Your sniper rifle and other equipment is located on floor -7. We'll also meet on that floor to debrief. The mission begins tonight at 2200 hours, thats a whole 1900 hours away. Get some sleep, as long as you want, you'll need it. Barracks are located on floor -9."
The door opened and a Cheetah burst in. "Sergeant Espio."
"Yes sir?" The chameleon immediately stood and replied.
"Have you explained our current situation to these people?"
"Yes General."
"Good," The General took a seat.
"I have heard your names are Knuckles, Juke, Sonic, and Tails?"
"Yes sir General," Knuckles replied much calmer than usual, the wearied echidna fighting to keep his eyes open.
"I see you have had a long week?"
"Yes General."
"Well, as soon as I am done talking to you, you will be able to sleep, but until then, Chaotix, you are dismissed." All three replied with 'yes general' and immediately left. "Alright, here's the deal. The Chaotix filled me in. You are your own group right? Blue Army generally does not make any exceptions for any single member or group, but you four are... different.
So here's the deal, you will be listed as special forces/operations, as that is generally what you do. However it is perfectly fine if you wish to take part in mech or fighter training. Not one of you will be required to undergo basic training, however you WILL be expected to follow protocol on the base. I assume you are clear on this. I will go and register you and ready everything you need. Dismissed."
The four dragged themselves down to the barracks and checked in with the guard. They were all quickly assigned private bunks just for the night, as the base was ready to begin it's day in under an hour. The four crawled into their bunks, where they would sleep for a long, long time.