Hello all, CorruptTE here.
One more chapter of FntS for your enjoyment.
As usual the only things I own are the story and a couple of OC's.
Everything else belongs to SEGA.
"Entering radio dead zone in 5!" Crackled the pilot's voice over the internal com-link.
"You heard him. Command won't be keeping you company on this one." Said Topaz, strapping her safety harness to the safety bar. Rouge sauntered to the back of the GUN aircraft, preparing for her jump.
"I feel lonely already." The sarcasm was obvious in her tone of voice.
"Remember Rouge, this is only a recon mission. Get in, have a look-see and get out. Nothing special." Rouge adjusted the straps of her gloves and stretched her wings to full length.
"I got it Topaz, don't overstay my welcome." The red light turned on and the loading ramp lowered.
"Good luck Rouge." Topaz shouted over the noise. The white Bat smiled up at her human partner.
"See you on the other side." The green light switched on and Rouge dove out of the aircraft into the inky black sky. The wind howled past her head as she plummeted away from the high-altitude plane. Reaching speeds above 400 miles per hour, the ground was shooting towards her.
The wreckage of the Death Egg was strewn for hundreds of miles around the impact crater, but the main bulk had somehow survived its fall to earth. It was there she would begin her search.
Picking her moment, Rouge shot out her wings. She was thrown back as her top speed dropped dramatically. Angling her decent she aimed for the remaining metallic moustache of the Death Egg.
Still falling at over a hundred Mph and her target very close indeed, she stretched her wings completely, easing her decent and eventually landing softly on the end of the bulbous metal nose.
She edged her way along the giant metal whisker towards a large crack in the structure and slipped inside. She took a moment for her eyesight to grow accustomed to the darkness of the corridor before she set off.
Using her large ears she followed the tiny humming sound echoing from the depths of this once deadly space station. A number of times she thought she heard the muffled sound of footsteps behind her, or the robotic clicking's of a swat-bot waiting round the corner, but each time she turned her head she was treated with nothing but dark corridors stretching away from her.
Her heart thudding in her chest, she slowly walked down into the dark depths of Robotnik's grand death machine, her soft footsteps echoing loudly off the walls despite her best attempts at walking silently.
A flicker of light from a doorway and she stopped. Craning her ears she listened intently, hearing nothing. Due to the lack of power the automatic door hadn't fully closed. Slowly and carefully she slid the door open and stepped inside; following the steady low hum of some sort of machine.
As she moved slowly into the darkness, a silent silhouette appeared and disappeared with the flickering of the damaged overhead light.
Shadow stalked through the corridor to his very seldom used office. He kicked open the door and walked up to his desk.
"You do know this is my office right?" He growled at the anthro sat in his chair.
"Like you ever use it." Bit back Cassie Rahna as she paged through the preliminary reports on the fire fight earlier that very same day. She had taken off her officer's jacket which was now handing off the back of Shadow's door, leaving her wearing her grey fatigue trousers, black boots and a plain off-white t-shirt.
Shadow grunted and held out the small cardboard cup of black liquid.
"Here, I thought you'd need it." Looking up for the first time since he had entered, Cassie reached out and accepted the steaming cup with a smile. Shadow could see the dark rings of exhaustion around her eyes. Ever since the shooting down in the morgue, Cassie had been writing and reading reports, filling out various forms and typing like a women obsessed on the computer.
She took a deep sip and sighed. "Thanks Shadow." He grunted again as she went back to work. He looked at the darkness outside the window and then to the clock on his desk.
"Look, Cassie we um." She looked back up at the ebony hedgehog. "We got off on the wrong foot." He stopped when he heard her laughing lightly. Anger boiled within him and her was about to snap when she waved him down.
"Sorry Shadow." She said slowly regaining her composter. "It's just I've read your file, and the thought of you apologising is just…"
She once more degraded into laughter. Shadow folded his arms, an amused smirk appearing at the corner of his mouth and waited for the lavender hedgehog to calm herself down. Eventually her laughs were mere giggles and sniggers.
"Finished?" Not trusting herself to answer, Cassie just nodded. Shadow pointed his finger to the window. "Unless you haven't noticed, it's late. Haven't you got a home to go to?" She shook her head, amusement still on her face.
"Only an apartment. Besides, I'm not ti…" She interrupted herself with a long yawn. "…red."
"Really." Replied an unconvinced Shadow. Cassie looked down sheepishly and took another sip of her coffee. Shadow sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Look. The building's practically dead, Sheba, the pathologist you want to speak to has been taken to the hospital, Knuckles has already gone back home and I'm about to do the same. I'm not about to leave you to try and solve this case by yourself."
Cassie studied her partner for a moment before relenting under his gaze.
"All right Shadow, you win." She saved her work on the computer before turning it off, gathered up all the loose pieces of paper and shoved them into Shadow's desk draw. Standing up she stifled another yawn before grabbing her jacket from the door. She followed Shadow out into the hallway and he closed the door.
They walked in silence to the elevators. Shadow pushed the button for the company car-park and started tapping his foot to the random tune as the rumble of the cables shook around them.
"Say Shadow, you don't look tired at all. What's up with that?" Shadow looked at her for a moment.
"If you really want to know, I take naps." He turned back to the metal doors and the tapping of his foot.
"You take naps?"
"Sometimes this job does murder to your sleeping pattern, so I've learnt to take naps." Cassie looked at him.
"Where do you go? I've never seen a report filed against you." Shadow chuckled.
"I sleep in the morgue. Sheba puts white sheeting over me and says I'm a new body, wakes me up after about an hour or if someone calls." With a beep and a shudder the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. The two agents walked into the silent concrete car-park.
"Wait, you pretend you're dead?"
"I've tried sleeping in my office with a sign saying 'Wake me and you die.' But people just don't get the message." Shadow fished his keys out from his quills and clicked the button to unlock his black Landover.
"Nice car." Remarked Cassie, stifling another yawn.
"Where's yours?" Still yawning, Cassie waved at a banged up looking Ford Fiesta. Shadow frowned at the poor excuse for a vehicle. "You really need to get that thing looked at."
"Can't afford it." Cassie answered, stretching as she walked towards her vehicle.
"Wait. Can't afford it?" The lavender hedgehog opened the driver side door and looked across to Shadow.
"You're the top agent here Shadow. You get the big pay-check, not grunts like me." With a smile and a wave she sat down and closed the door and wound down the window.
Shadow watched as she started the engine and pulled out of her parking space.
"See you tomorrow Shadow." She called as she drove past him and out into the empty streets.
Thoughtfully Shadow climbed into his own vehicle and set off into the night. First thing he'd do tomorrow would be to visit Sheba in hospital before interviewing the two surviving anthro who had assisted in the theft of the body of the nameless crow.
The purple hedgehog leant against the metal barrier between him and the rolling ocean spanning out before him. He didn't look up as a black raven walked up to join him. Together they looked out across the star speckled water.
"The loss of brothers Otenn and Menaer is regrettable." Said the raven after a few minutes in silence. "It was a great risk to assault GUN headquarters like that. We may have lost much more than we have gained."
"It was unlucky Menaer was confronted by the head pathologist. Had it been anyone else our brothers would both still be here." The purple hedgehog mood was reflected in his tone of voice. He regretted the heavy cost it had taken to retrieve the body.
"Nether-the-less, because of your actions today, brother Telak has been laid to rest, his ashes scattered to the four winds." The hedgehog slammed his hand against the railing.
"Because of my actions, brother Otenn is dead! And brother Menaer now rests in a GUN holding cell!" The raven stood motionlessly against the hedgehog's outburst.
"Calm yourself. Keep watch and update me to any changes." The raven turned to leave. "May your movements be silent." He climbed into a waiting car and was driven away, leaving the purple hedgehog gazing across the azure waters.
Bet you guys forgot about them didn't you.
Not much to write here but hope you're enjoying reading these as much as I am writing them.
This is CorruptTE signing off.