Metroc Station
Sonic sat up, shielding his eyes from the dim lights above. The wall clock read 1600; he'd slept for thirteen hours. He jumped down from the top of the bunk and took a seat on the floor by the wall, trying to be as quiet as possible. Too late. Knuckles stirred and came off of his bunk.
"Thirteen hours, eh? Time to get movin," And with that began shouting "All right peoples its time to rock the house! Up, up, UP! I WANT EVERYONE UP NOW!"
Sonic silently was thankful he had gotten up beforehand. At once Tails and Juke snapped awake, Tails falling off the top of his bunk, gaining his reflexes enough to fly before he hit the floor.
"Alright, now that everyone's up, we can head up to -7 and get our gear." Knuckles opened the door and literally marched out.
-7 The EQC 1615 6/8/4460
A large black sign with "EQC" in black writing awaited Sonic. "EQC? What's that?"
"Equipment Cage" came the deep voice of one, General Streeoh. He walked by without a proper greeting, seemingly not taking offense by it. "This is where we turn ourselves into real fighters. Feel free to take a look Guardian."
"Thank you sir." Knuckles began to walk along, stopping and picking up a random sniper rifle. "Juke, would it be at all possible for you to work with an assault rifle?"
"Wasn't exactly my specialty, but I can work on it."
"Good, I want you to take one as backup, just in case."
"Yes sir,"
"Sonic and Tails go unarmed for the time being and I'm going to take one of these big'uns." Knuckles said with a loud grunt as he lifted one of the rather large rifles. "probably not this one." The Guardian echidna set it back down and picked up a different one, much lighter than the last and played around with the zoom. While configuring the zoom, Sonic walked up to the end of the scope and stuck his finger in it. "SONIC! What in the world are you doing?"
"Can ya see me Knux? Can ya see me?" Sonic played around, and ran away, hiding behind Tails as Knuckles furiously put the rifle back and ran after Sonic.
"This is SERIOUS! No toying around, you got me?"
Sonic rolled his eyes and walked toward the grenades as Knuckles picked the previous monster up and continued working with it.
"Heyas Juke, what's this button do?" Sonic asked, a fragmentation grenade in his hand. And with that, Sonic stuck his finger through the hole and pressed the switch down. A soft ticking began and Juke raced over to the hedgehog, diving for the nade.
"NO!" She stuck her finger in the hole, and hit the switch button on the other side, sighing in relief. "Do… Do you realize you just dang near killed us all?" She asked. "Seriously, don't ever do that again."
Sonic took a seat next to Tails, shaking his head, "Man, everyone's so touchy today!"
"Come on Sonic, we have no time to waste."
The ride to Robotropolis was fairly smooth and quiet in the night. Knuckles insisted on driving, so for security the team hooked Juke up to a buckle and rope system attached to the HPC. Assault Rifle in hand, she let it rest on her right shoulder, cursing the weapon's unforgiving dislike for lefties.
Sonic sat in the front seat for the ride and found the ride to be too long and far too slow, "C'mon Knux, can't we at least go something faster than 30?"
"Sonic, I've told you before, they'll hear us!" Knuckles yelled in frustration.
"Gee, I think you yell louder than that engine screams! Not like they'd really hear us over that rain over there!" And Sonic pointed to the showering clouds up ahead.
The echidna squinted to look, "That's really strange... they don't usually get rain over here do they Son... whoa!" Knuckles made a quick lateral right to avoid a bolt of lightning that split the ground.
"Well, they definately don't have that!" Sonic's jaw gaped and another lightning bolt ripped from the sky and was aimed directly at Robotropolis, but was mysteriously deflected.
"Now they have shields too?" Knuckles asked himself.
"So much for airstrikes."
The lightning got worse as the team edged closer to Robotropolis but the activity seemed concentrated around a certain building along the Robotropolis skyline.
After some more dodges, they neared the Robotropolis border and parked under some cover. Knuckles switched the channel on his radio.
"Control this is ground element Foxtrot do you read me?"
"Roger that Foxtrot, this is Mission Control, we read you five-by-five, over."
"Ground Element Foxtrot is in position, waiting for further orders."
The squeeky sound of the microphone being grabbed away forced Knuckles to take off his headset.
"Captain."
"Sir?"
"Just want to remind you: Your unit isn't expendible, but one dead is better than two. You know what I mean."
"But!"
"Captain Knuckles I am your command element otherwise known to you as General Streeoh and I know you did not 'but' me. Now enough! It is go-time Foxtrot! Win us one!"
"Roger Command, Ground Element Foxtrot out."
Knuckles smiled and the rest of the crew cheered. With a wave of his hand, Knuckles quieted his fireteam. "Alright guys, we've been given a go, so here's the plan! This is a recon mission to determine if there is a factory producing super-intelligent robots. We need an eyes-on confirmation. Juke, set your radio to "always-on" keep it attached to your back and keep your ears on."
"Roger Knux."
"Good. Sonic, you and Juke will need to get onto the roof using her rope and then sneak through the vent shafts, looking for some visual confirmation of a problem. If you see anything indicative of a threat, you will need to extract quickly because we'll have to report back to the General. Rules of Engagement set by General Streeoh say we can't take any C4 on this mission. Sonic, Juke, are we clear?" Both nodded. "Tails, you're staying here."
"WhaBut I won the other night!" Tails protested.
"Yes, but we have a different assignment for you," Knuckles explained as Tails' eyes fell in disappointment. "Alright, watch the lightning, it seems to be coming from a central building."
Sonic stepped out and sniffed the polluted air. A frown crossed his face and his eyes watered as he saw Robotropolis. He dropped to one knee and laid his head down. This was his home; where his parents were killed. One day it would be his again but for now he would have to take it back piece-by-piece starting now. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and stood straight.
Robotropolis' huge industrial buildings and lasting skyscrapers towered over the fireteam. Most of the structures in the city had been rebuilt with metal walls, probably for conductivity reasons. Rows and rows of buildings covered Robotropolis and it was obvious that taking the city back would require more than assault raids. A nuclear missile would just barely be big enough.
Juke approached him, "I'll take point Sonic, follow on my left flank." She didn't wait for a confirmation and instead ran at top speed toward the objective building. The city was oddly empty and no patrols seemed to be about. She looked at a giant building to her left. Reaching onto her shoulder she pulled off the looped rope and ran toward the building. "Cover me Sonic," The blue hedgehog dropped to one knee and watched the main street. With one hand she threw the rope until its hook clasped onto the edge. Juke pulled twice for security and then motioned for her gun back. Instead of climbing the rope directly, with her limited strength, she just climbed the wall using the rope. At the top she ran, checking for any bots. "It's clear, Sonic, begin your ascent." Sonic opted to climb the same way as Juke and quickly arrived at the roof as well.
Juke located a door and pulled it open, looking left and right for threats. She found herself at the end of a catwalk, multitudes of robots below her. "Oh CRAP!" She thought, softly dropping to the floor. If she low-crawled to the end, then their field-of-view would not allow the two hedgehogs to be seen.
Too late. A door at the end opened and a metallic silver SWATbot came through. It raised its rifle and fired, but Juke reacted quickly, crouching and returning fire. "Sonic! Find a vent!"
The blue hedgehog looked up and discovered a vent opening large enough for both of them to fit through above his head. Thank God he was so close to the roof. He pushed the cover up and to the side and jumped up. Grabbing on to the edge he slowly pulled himself into a much bigger space than he imagined. The shaft looked the average dull silver he expected but it was at least five times bigger than your average shaft, most likely to accomodate Robotnik's larger than life mass.
Lieutenant Juke jumped up and struggled with the edge, her feet swinging; Her strength needed serious improving. Sonic pulled her in she didn't react as Sonic did, "What? This is pretty small as far as Robotnik's spaces go." Crouched, she made her way forward down a long, straightaway of the shaft. Farther up ahead it turned sharply left. The two hogs made their way to the end and discovered it straightened out after another turn.
"Wait!" Sonic harshly whispered. "I think I hear something," He peeked around the corner only to see a lightsource at the end. "Oh my god... Juke wait here!" Sonic walked in front down the long corridor, stopping and raising his hand as he tried to focus his eyes on the lightsource in the background... A pair of glowing crimson eyes stared him down and he didn't quite know what to think. Suddenly, he jerked his thumb back and gave the signal to retreat and they both fell back to the corner behind the corridor.
"CRAP!" Sonic whispered, louder than he would have liked."What in the heck are we supposed to do now?"
"No Idea, I've never seen anything like whatever's up there"
"Juke, toss me your gun." Sonic demanded.
"WHAT?" Juke exclaimed, "You've never used one in your"
"Just give me your DFG NOW." Juke complied and threw it to Sonic, who took it and fumbled with it until he found the 'on' switch. "Alright, now it's time to rock these bots!"
Juke stepped out first, squeezing a few blasts of her assault rifle before jumping back to her original position. "Uh Sonic? I think this guy means business." There was an exchange of fire between the red-eyed bot and the blue army's special ops force, but finally Sonic grew impatient.
"DANG IT!" He yelled furiously, "I'm gonna settle this once and for all!" Sonic jumped off and fired off nearly the whole charge of one DFG charge pak before retreating, his back against the corner. It was obviously not far enough because moments later he felt the hot, sharp pain of a laser burn through his right arm, close to the elbow. He yelled, dropping the DFG. "MAN! Now they're using the penetrating lasers! ARGH!" Fueled only by adrenilane he picked up the DFG once more, a look of grim determination upon his face.
"SONIC! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Juke tried to stop him, one useless outstretched hand... but not enough to stop a hellbound hedgehog. He jumped out and fired rapidly, shooting twenty or more shots and dodging the lasers of his mysterious opponent. He was able to fire off five more lasers before a series of clicks befell his ears.
"Oh no..." Sonic complained as he realized what was happening. The hedgehog attempted to dive for cover, but reacted too late as a burst of shots struck the hedgehog. The first laser dug painfully into his left side, the second slightly higher, and the third missing by mere milimeters. Stunned, Sonic fell back into the wall of the shaft, his eyes glazed over. His crimson blood stained the shaft wall and smeared down as he sank to the floor. The robot in the darkness stepped forward, revealing his shining blue metal just as Sonic began to slowly pull himself to cover.
"Oh God Juke, I'm gonna die ain't I? I'm gonna die..."
"Well, it ain't lookin' too good kid," Juke didn't want the hedgehog to have any false hopes. She radioed Knuckles, "Knux, we got a BIG problem, Sonic's been hit three times and its real bad Knux, real bad."
Knuckles didn't bother with the the hows, he instead called General Streeoh, "Command, this is Golf-Echo-Foxtrot with one seriously wounded, we need to extract ASAP. Mission already accomplished."
"Negative Foxtrot, permission denied, its too dangerous!"
"WHAT? Oh my GOD Streeoh! I Swear to god if Sonic dies your a dead man!"
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
Knuckles changed back to his channel, "Juke, he's not going for it, will Sonic bleed to death?"
The lime colored hedgehog pulled him over to cover, but was aware of slow, heavy footsteps coming from deeper down the shaft. She bandaged all three of his burns as quickly as possible, trying her hardest to beat the bot. "No Knuckles, he's bleeding out of his bandages but he won't die from it!"
"Alright, finish and extract yourself immeadiately. Knuckles out."
The evil-eyed bot took a step closer. "Do you know who I am Sonic? Do you... have any idea? I have been transformed Sonic! I am no longer the powerless creature that Shady was, I am now powerful! I am just like you Sonic, only faster and stronger. Metal Sonic I am, and dead you will be." And with that he smashed his fists together, a metallic clash echoing through the halls from the clash.
"A'ight," The Lieutenant whispered, pulling out a syringe from her bag. "If Shady knows what's good for his army, he will capture, and not kill you. This shot buys us time... you will sleep for five days and not remember the last ten... which places you back on the Floating Island with Knuckles." She finished up and watched Sonic's body shudder with pain and then lay still.
The Lieutenant had no choice... no tracker to leave on him, no radio to leave with him, no strength or permission with which to bring him out. She shut her eyes for a quick second, picked the DFG off of Sonic's lifeless body and then began to back out. Crouched, she slowly lifted her left leg and moved it back. She quietly did the same with the other and repeated it as fast and quiet as she could, though she couldn't entirely mask the metallic clanking of her settling footsteps.
A loud bang made her gaspthe assault rifle had hit the vent wall. She silently picked it up and cradled it against her as she continued her way back outside. As she walked away, a haunting laugh and a grunt magnified her defeat as the robot picked up the Hedgehog's body. Softly, the voice taunted, "Game over, Hedgehog."
Juke finally reached the rope and rappelled to the ground. She pulled out the hook and closed the roof-access door. Running at full-speed, she made her way out of the rainy city the same way she came in and ran up the ramp of the HPC before settling into her seat. With a hiss, the airtight doors shut and a wall closed between her and the mission.
"Knuckles, we have to get outta here quick! Sonic's been gotten and I have a feeling the entire city of Robotropolis is gonna be swarming in after us real quick." It evidently got through when the cruiser rocketed out of it's hiding place and back towards Metroc Station.
Back on base a grim AAR (After Action Report) was filed. The mission (listed as recon: Survey area, determine layout and presence of factories) was listed as accomplished, casualties: 1. A Prisoner of war report was filed.
POW Report:
Name: Sergeant Sonic T. Hedgehog
Species: Hedgehog
Age: 18
Color: Blue
Hometown: Robotropolis (Formerly known as Central Metropolis)
Point of Capture: Kilo Personnel Factory, Second floor ventilation shaft.
Captured By (If Known): Unknown Robotic Species.
Reported Injuries (If ANy): Laser Wounds to the following areas: Right Upper Forearm (1) Left Side (2)
Probable Current Status: Unconscious