Past Secrets
Chapter 23 - The Checkpoint
Shadow's POV
Me and Dark were going to be on a strict timetable for now on. I looked at my watch and it was 5:00 pm. Me and Dark are not dumb; this attack we were going to try and pull would be much easier if we waited till it was dark outside. We drove side by side on the road so that we would be able to communicate without fighting the ongoing wind as we speeded along.
"Dark!" I shouted.
Dark turned and looked at me.
"What's up bro?" Replied Dark.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Were going to find a nice place to do some recon on the faculty before we attack." Said Dark.
"Do you have a place in mind?" I wondered.
"Yeah. Do you remember before when you first got your bike from Paul?" Asked Dark.
"Yeah. What about it?" I replied.
"When you pulled out of the checkpoint to get onto the main road, Do you remember that overpass along side the checkpoint?" Asked Dark.
I nodded at him.
"We'll sneak up there and see what's going on around the base." Said Dark.
"Any security patrols to worry about?" I asked.
"Nah, the only patrols will be inside the perimeter; so it shouldn't be a problem." Replied Dark.
"Will we be able to keep the bikes?" I asked.
"No." Replied Dark.
"So where do you want to put them?" I wondered.
"The overpass we are going to will be a good enough distance that no one will hear us coming; so we'll just park them up there with us." Said Dark.
I nodded once again.
I was impressed on how much better my brother has gotten on these types of jobs. Before I was always leading, but it seems I don't have to worry. I thought to myself.
"We'll be at the overpass in about ten minutes Shadow!" Shouted Dark.
I gave dark another nod of my head, I really was kind of worried about this attack. I mean if I die here and Dark manages to escape; what will he tell Amy and my friends. Oh Shadow was gunned down by Eggman. Shadow had no chance of living when one of his guard domed him. I said to myself.
I thought about it and all I could picture was Amy crying at my grave.
"Come on Shadow, get yourself together." I said to myself.
Dark looked at me with curiosity.
"You ok?" Asked Dark.
"I'm just a little worried is all." I replied.
"Does this have anything to do with that Amy girl you like?" Asked Dark.
I nodded my head. Dark looked at me.
"Hey don't worry brother. I'm scared too; but we have to do this for Maria." Said Dark.
I smiled and then it hit me about what I was fighting for.
Maria I'm sorry I'm doubting myself, but it hard when I have you and someone else riding on me to come home safely. I love you Maria, but I also now have Amy in my life and I promise I will not die, but Its hard not to lose faith in yourself. Especially against something like this.
"You ok?" Asked Dark.
"I'm fine. Lets go end this once and for all. For Maria!" I shouted in confidence.
Dark smiled and shouted back.
"For Maria!"
We had about five minutes till we reached the overpass; so until then we continued to drive and as we drove both our hearts were be powered by the love we have for someone special in our lives. Darks was for Maria and I don't know if he loves someone, but mines for Maria as well and I very special pink hedgehog. My beautiful rose.
Five minutes later 5:10 pm
Me and Dark found the overpass and pulled over our bikes along side the trial leading up the hill towards the checkpoint. Dark bent over his bike to reach the side pouch and he began to search around.
"What are you looking for?" I asked him.
"Ahhhh…hold on a sec." Said Dark.
It took him around a minute to finally pull it out. When he did he handed them to me.
"Here Shadow take this." Said Dark as he handed me a pair of binoculars.
I took them in my hands and looked at him.
"Go find a nice camping spot to eye down on the whole base." Said Dark as he pointed me up the hill.
I smiled and said.
"Its weird having you giving the orders. Huh?"
Dark smiled and replied.
"I'm not used to it; so give me a break."
"Hehe." I chuckled and began my march up the hill.
The thing about recon is you always want to be aware of your surrounding. If me and Dark get spotted we need a way to book it out and fast. Also you want a position that is basically concealed with the color of clothing your wearing. Lastly and the easiest rule that everyone should know is find a spot that's not facing the enemy your spying on directly.
It took around a half an hour of searching to finally find a spot; but I got a nice one. The checkpoint which was our main concern at the moment was right below us, so no one would see us unless they pointed their heads straight up. I mean it was still bright out, but I could see one hell of a storm coming from the north. That might come in handy later. My spot was simple but effective. Until it was pitch black out me and dark would need to remain embodied in some sort of surrounding; I found a large pair of snow covered bushes that had enough room for me and Dark to squeeze into. The snow was fully on and in the bush it would protect us from detection. I lied down in the freezing cold bush and got a great view on all below in the checkpoint and I could make out something's around the base that was at least two miles out from the checkpoint.
I began my evaluation of enemy forces first. At the checkpoint was first off the gate which had a guard standing by in case someone was leaving or going in the perimeter. On each side of that guard was two separate watch towers; each with a guard in it. The next thing in the checkpoint was a communications building. I could only look through the windows of the building and by what I could see; their was around four guards and an officer making it five. That's all that was in the checkpoint surprisingly. I would think Eggman's main base would be a little better protected from intruders, but I guess he can't afford proper security measures. As I sat and waited I began to hear someone creping up on me from behind. I played along with the poor sap who was attempting this and when he was close enough I turned around as fast as I could and grabbed his leg making him fall to the ground. As soon as the man fell I reached and pulled out my M1911 that was in my front pocket and I put it to his head while putting my spare hand on his mouth.
I looked at my prey and just as I was about to pull the trigger; I stopped, realizing it was Dark who I caught. He was scared shitless. I let go of his mouth so he could breath.
"Don't ever sneak up on me like that." I said quietly.
Dark began to smile and I helped him up off the cold floor. When he was up I put back my gun and said.
"What did you think you were doing?"
Dark chuckled and replied.
"I wanted to see if you were still as sharp as before."
"We've been taught this sort of thing since we were born brother, I'll never forget how to defend myself." I said.
"I know, but it was fun right?" Questioned Dark.
"Yeah it was fun; until I would have put a bullet in your head." I replied.
Dark smiled and slowly walked towards the bush I had set up shop in.
"Brother I know you and you would never shoot a friend." Said Dark.
"I would never point a gun at people I care about. Shooting them is completely a different matter." I said.
"Yeah pretending to try and sneak up on you wasn't my best idea." Said dark.
"When have you ever had a good idea." I said jokingly while punching him on his shoulder. Dark smiled and said.
"Come on. Is this where we'll be for a few hours?"
"Yeah, at least until it gets dark then we can move around in the open." I replied.
"Got to love being a black hedgehog." Said dark while getting into position in the bush.
"Girls seem to think blacks more of a turn on the any other color." I said while smiling.
"Trust me I know bro. Back at South End I always had the ladies on me." Said dark while smiling back.
"I never really looked around for a women's attention." I said.
"That's the good thing about us being twins. Me and you Shadow are probably the two sexiest looking guys around. So the girls will come right to us without a problem." Said Dark.
"I know, but Amy already found me so I'm off the market." I said in a happy tone.
"I used to have someone after the escape, but I had to leave her." Stated Dark.
"Really? Who?" I asked him in curiosity.
"She's my neighbor back at home." Replied Dark.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I went to find you." Replied Dark.
"I hope you miss her." I said while looking into his eyes.
"I do; but I have no idea if she likes me. I mean I like her, but she never made a move so I don't know." Stated Dark.
"You won't know till you go and make your move." I said.
Dark nodded at me and we refocused and began our recon.
I looked at my watch and it was 6:00.
9:00 pm
During our time up doing recon in the bushes; I was able to inform Dark about what I have already learned about the checkpoint. Dark also found out that Eggman has a chopper on site that will evacuate him out of the area, so we have to be extra quiet during our infiltration.
"Ready?" Asked Dark
"I've been ready since the escape." I replied.
Dark nodded his head.
"Do you want to go all the way down the hill here or just improvise with a way to get into the checkpoint without being detected from here?" Asked Dark.
"Let's improvise." I replied.
We looked around and we were on the side of the checkpoint about midway on it's side as well.
"How do you want to do this?" I asked.
Dark looked at me and went in the back of his gray jacket.
"Quietly." Said Dark while handing me a combat knife.
I took the knife and slowly shimmied my way along the edges of the overpass. As I placed my self along its edge; Dark came and took my hand.
"You go and kill the men in the communications building, but what ever you do don't let them get the alarm raised or will be screwed and make sure to get rid of the officer." Said Dark.
"They will spot me if I make my way to the building." I said.
"I'll deal with the towers don't worry. When your on the ground don't move until I give the signal." Said Dark.
"Alright, good luck." I said while beginning my descent.
"You too. Be careful." Said Dark.
"Always." I replied.
I slowly reached ground floor and I immediately went prone along side the road. I signaled Dark that I was set and he began his move on the towers. Both towers were a good distance apart from each other, I don't see how he'll be able to take them both down by himself.
Dark's POV
Shadows in position I better get this over with. The towers were reachable if I moved a bit further down along this overpass. I slowly and cautiously moved along the edge of the overpass till I was in place directly on the side of the first tower I had to neutralize. The guard was facing the road so I was on his left side and if my idea goes the way I hope it does; I will be able to kill him quietly without alerting tower number two. I backed up from the edge and got a running start. When I reached the edge of the overpass I jumped. I sailed through the air as quiet as a ghost and I was heading right where I wanted to go. Right above the guard.
I watched as the guard turned to see what was going on and when he saw me flying towards him, god was he shitting himself. I sailed right through the window of the tower and jumped the guard. He was going to try and shoot me, but it was to late for him. I pulled out my other knife that I had and stabbed the guard in his trout. He dropped his rifle and slowly died without a sound. I got off the body and looked to see if anyone heard that and thank god no one did. That was the loudest thing I was going to do till we made it inside the base itself. After I knew I was safe from detection; I quickly patted down the dead body and found a suppresser in one of his side pouches. It was meant for a handgun.
I pulled out my M1911 and attached the suppresser to the end of it. Back when I was a kid; me and Shadow were pretty good shots so I had faith in what I had to do next in order to clean tower number two. I aimed at the guard and focused the sight on his head. I held my breath and pulled the trigger. The round was unheard and sailed through the air drilling the guard in his ear. Note the guards side is towards me so the round made contact with his brain killing him instantly. The body hit the floor of the tower making a big bang. The guard manning the rode post was curious on what that sound was.
"Roger? What's going on up there?" Shouted the guard.
He began to approach the ladder, but I had to do something before he saw poor Roger's corpse. I took aim at the moving target and waited for him to stop. As I was going to shoot; Shadow ran across the road towards the guard and since Shadow is one of the best the guard didn't hear him. Shadow had the knife and as the guard began to climb up, Shadow pulled him down by his waist and stabbed him in the neck and watched as he died. I took away my aim while smiling on how my brother just killed that guard. Shadow looked at me and signaled me to come down. I climbed down and regrouped with him next to the dead guards body.
"Alright that was interesting." Said Shadow.
"Sure was. Nice work on him." I commented while pointing at the body.
"I couldn't risk you missing that round." Said Shadow.
"Hey I had him, I consider that a kill steal. You owe me one." I said while chuckling.
"I'll remember, but we still have those guys to deal with." Said Shadow while pointing at the communications building.
I began to pat down the body in front of us and he too had another suppresser. I handed it to shadow.
"Better?" I asked.
"Much. Is that where you got that one?" Asked Shadow.
"Yeah it's a good thing he had it." I replied.
Shadow nodded.
"Come on lets finish." I said to him while guiding him to the back door of the building.
Shadow attached the suppresser to one of his handguns and readied the weapon.
Next to the backdoor was a window that was open with a guard sitting in a fold up chair talking to another man. I looked at Shadow and made a hand signal pointing him towards the window as I approached the door. I placed my hand on the knob and signaled Shadow to neutralize the first guard.
Shadow's POV
I wrapped my arm around the guard who was in the chair and stuck my blade in his neck while holding his mouth. The guard who was talking to this guy I was killing was surprise and tried to lift up his weapon, but before he could Dark opened the door quickly and shot him in the head. The man began to fall back, but he was going to fall and land on some crates that were behind him. Dark slid behind the man and caught the body slowly placing him on the floor. I finished my kill and laid him against the window. After he was placed I hopped through it and took cover on a wall that lead a turn into the last three guys. Dark went behind me.
"Got a plan Shadow?" Asked Dark quietly.
I looked at him and smiled.
Dark looked at me with suspicion.
I handed him my silent M1911 and he looked at me confused.
"This will be fun." I said while standing up.
"Shadow! What are you doing!" Whispered Dark.
I turned the corner and the two guards and the officer were facing away from me.
"Hey I'm lost. Do you guys know how to get back to the main road from here?" I asked them.
The men turned around quickly. They were surprised to see me creep up behind them.
"What are you doing here!" Shouted one of the guards.
The officer knew who I was and shouted.
"It's Shadow! Open fire! Kill him!"
Dark turned the corner and shot the two guards in their heads as I pulled up my knife fast and threw it at the officer hitting him in the temple.
Their bodies hit the floor with no one left to hear it.
Dark approached me and handed back my gun.
"I can't believe that worked hahahahah!" Laughed Dark.
"Hahaha!" I laughed with him.
As we laughed I looked around and found two ear pieces on the guards. I handed one to Dark and said.
"Set the channel to private so they can't hear us."
Dark did what I said and we continued to look around.
We found nothing useful and exited the building. Dark ran to move that bodies out of the way; so just in case anyone came to visit they wouldn't see it. I ran to the checkpoint gate and waited for him to regroup. One he did we climbed the gate and started our pursuit towards the base.