Chapter 4: Role Models
June 31st, AD 2169, 8:30 PM.
Location: Mobian Bunk. Codename: Foxtrot-22. Located at the Aviation and Aerospace Department HQ. Robotnik Enterprises, Somewhere in North America.
"Thanks for helping me build the test drone today, Miles." Mr. Smith said. "You really are quite a good mechanic."
"Only because you were kind enough to teach me, sir." Miles "Tails" Prower replied, as he added the finishing touches to one of the new prototype Stealth Drones.
"It is getting late Tails; you'd better get to bed. Your enlistment test is tomorrow." He surveyed his personal Engineering Room, which was littered with various tools, gears, and pieces of metal.
Miles gave one last look at the drone, and then climbed down the ladder that he was standing on to the floor. He sadly took one last look at the room where he had spent most of his free time for the past three years, and then walked slowly toward the door.
Tails stopped at the door and turned around. "Mr. Smith, why did you build the test drone yourself, when you have people who could easily do it for you?"
"Miles," Mr. Smith sighed, "I am a mechanic at heart. If I don't repair or build something at least every once in a while, then I would fall out of practice. Occasionally, I do a project myself, to keep my engineering and mechanical skills in top shape; besides, I enjoy designing and building things."
Tails thought about it for a moment, and then smiled. "I guess I never thought of it that way before. To me it has always just been something useful to know. I do enjoy it, though."
Mr. Smith glanced at Tails thoughtfully. "When you love tinkering, building, and fixing things as much as I do, it becomes more than just something useful to know; it becomes your passion. Never take a job that you wouldn't enjoy, otherwise you'll be smashing your head against the wall in frustration constantly."
"Thank you, Sir," Tails replied simply, walking back toward the door, "Thank you for being such a good mentor."
Mr. Smith smiled sadly as Miles left the room. Tails would miss this kind-hearted mechanic, but he had the rest of his life to live, and he just couldn't look back.
July 8th, AD 2169, 5:00 AM.
Location: Project Shadow Research Facility Bravo, Robotnik Enterprises, Somewhere in North America.
EEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNKKKKK!
The sound of an air horn jolted Tails from his dream. Uggh, he thought as he looked at his watch. Wha- it's only 5:00 a.m.! Confused, He glanced around the barracks and saw the others scrambling into their PT uniforms and lining up at the end of their beds. Despite the fact that he had been here for a little under a week, he still had some trouble getting used to the seemingly unpredictable schedule the Drill Sergeants had set up for them.
Tails groggily rubbed his eyes, and then turned to get out of the bed. Before he could even pull off the covers, however, the chief Drill Sergeant was beside his bed in a flash
"WHY ARE YOU STILL IN YOUR BED RECRUIT?" Thundered Senior Master Sergeant Nathan Vance, "DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE SOME KIND OF SPECIAL PRIVILEGE? GET OUT OF THAT DAMNED BED AND GET IN YOUR PT'S BEFORE I SHIP YOU BACK TO YOUR SHITHOLE OF A BUNK!"
"But it's not even light out ye-"
The Sergeant, now beet-red in the face, cut him off. "I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! YOU WILL DO AS I SAY, GET UP WHEN I SAY, AND EAT WHEN I SAY, DURING YOUR ENTIRE STAY AT THIS TRAINING COURSE! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD MAGGOT?"
"Y-yes sir," Tails responded feebly.
"SOUND OFF WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!"
"YES SIR!"
"GOOD!" The Sergeant boomed.
Vance turned to face the other recruits as Tails began scrambling to get ready.
"THAT GOES FOR ALL OF YOU MAGGOTS! YOU ARE AT BASIC TRAINING NOW! GET MOVING! GET TO THE LAWN, NOW!" He honked the air horn as the recruits began to run out the door. Well, all of them except Tails, who was struggling to get his Boots on in time.
"Damn laces!" he cursed under his breath. Sergeant Vance walked back over to the small vulpine to offer some 'encouragement'.
"STILL TAKING YOUR TIME, I SEE! GET MOVING! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY! COME ON! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" he bellowed in Tails' ear.
The yellow fox got the Boot laces tied and then ran out the door. He formed up in a line at attention with the rest of his team next to a pink hedgehog and a light yellow and white rabbit, both female.
Sergeant Vance walked in front of the line. "Today for our physical training exercises we will be doing 25 push-ups, 30 crunches, and a 5-mile run across the base. Is that understood?"
"YES SIR!" was the booming reply.
"Good! We will begin." Everyone dropped down in push-up position and they began the exercises.
Once they were finished, MSgt. Vance had them form up into columns for the run. Tails soon found himself at the back of the group and when they began to run he knew he would have to run faster because he had shorter legs than the rest of the team. Twice, he nearly tripped over his tails, slowing his already meager pace down. He began to lose energy halfway through the second mile, and at the start of the third was lagging behind the group by 2 feet. Tails was panting heavily when MSgt. Vance decided that it was time to offer the small yellow vulpine even more "encouragement".
"COME ON RECRUIT! IF YOU DON'T CATCH UP TO THE PACK, THIS ENTIRE TEAM WILL BE CLEANING THE TOILETS WITH THEIR TOOTHBRUSHES!"
Moans and jeers came from the rest of the team as they pushed Tails to the limit. He was now 5 feet behind the pack and was quickly becoming very frustrated with himself for not being capable of running fast enough.
I must keep going, he thought savagely. I cannot give up now!
Alpha watched his opponent closely, not letting his eyes stay from the red echidna. The formal fight had started a minute ago, but neither one had thrown a punch yet.
Like tradition dictated, and as part of the graduation ceremony for commissioned cadets, the top two Mobian recruits in a commissioned class would compete in a one on one sparring match. The prize: a direct promotion to the rank of 1st Lieutenant upon graduation, and cash prize of $500.
Normally, a commissioned recruit was, upon graduation from the military academy, was given the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, but Robotnik Enterprises shortly initiated the tradition to encourage the cadets to pick out the best cadets.
Alpha and Knuckles were the top two in their class, and as such, they were eligible for the special prize and as such, tradition and regulation required them to fight in one-on-one combat. The fight was traditionally supposed to take place on the day of graduation, before the evening ceremony, but with the unexpected arrival of a new batch of enlisted recruits, and some temporary problems with the base's cloaking device, the graduation ceremony had been pushed back a week, as to account for the problems.
This one is different, Alpha thought to himself as they circled, He possesses an air of confidence that few Mobians can match.
"Get on with it!" shouted Sergeant Miller.
Alpha's eyes flickered to the sergeant, and that is when Knuckles made his first strike.
With lightning speed the echidna darted forward and punched at Alpha's face with his spikey fist. Alpha shifted his weight and pulled his head back, narrowly avoiding the blow, then gave a quick counterblow to Knuckles' chest. The echidna stumbled back and grunted when the blow landed, but otherwise seemed unfazed by the blow. His purple eyes narrowed in concentration as they locked gases again.
Now it was his turn to make a move. He feinted to left, and then darted to the right. He dashed around behind Knuckles, and struck at the key pressure points located on the back. He had landed no more than a couple blows when the echidna whirled around and began wallowing on Alpha. Blow after blow fell upon Alpha, each stinging him with the prick of pain. It was all he could do to fend off just some of Knuckles' attacks. I… cannot… let him… beat me. I came too far to lose the 1st Lieutenant rank to this damned echidna!
Then he breached his second wind. With a little effort, Alpha managed to block a particularly hard punch, aimed for his head faster than he had managed previously. In the brief opening Alpha managed to land a counterpunch to the echidna's chin, and then a follow-up kick aimed at the chest. Alpha had managed to get on the offensive again.
From then on, it was an even fight. Faster and faster they fought. The blue hedgehog and the echidna began to flicker kicks and punches that the audience could barely see. Twice, one of them was nearly pushed out of bounds, but the other always managed to regain his footing.
It was a pebble that did it. During a particularly hard punch that Knuckles' threw, Alpha took a step back and slipped on the little rock that so often causes people pain and grief. Down to the ground the hedgehog fell, landing hard on his back.
"Ten...Nine…Eight…!" The referee boomed.
Alpha struggled to get up, but his arms and legs were so bruised and battered that he was trembling. Come on! Come on, Stand up!
"Seven…Six…Five…Four…!"
Damn, not now! Get Up! He thought furiously at his shaking limbs. Knuckles stood over him, gloating with a smirk on his face.
"Three…Two...One…!"
Something in Alpha's mind seemed to snap, and without knowing what was happening, he felt a surge of alien energy rush through his body.
Without thinking, he raised his arm in a fist of defiance and shouted, "CHAOS CONTROL!"
The world blurred and spun around him. It seemed as if time itself had slowed down. With newfound strength rushing into him, Alpha stood up. He glanced around in confusion. Everyone was moving in slow motion.
And then he knew how he could win. He ran behind Knuckles and then curled into a tight spiny ball facing the echidna. Using his newfound energy, he held himself in place even while he rolled himself forward, thus gaining speed. When his speed was at maximum, he released his energy barrier, sending him spinning at the echidna. Sonic… SPIN DASH!
By the time that the spin dash was fully charged, the strange effect on time had worn off.
Alpha hit the echidna squarely in the back, knocking him over. Knuckles hit the ground with a thud. Alpha got up, and dusted himself off. He noticed the remnant of faint light blue aura was fading from around his skin. Curious, He thought.
There was a startled pause, and then the referee gave the count down. Knuckles twitched with pain, but did not get up.
"Alpha the Hedgehog wins!" bellowed the referee, and the audience burst into cheers.
"Dammit!" Knuckles groaned, rolling over, "I thought I had him!"
"You had me worried there for a moment," Sergeant Miller said as he hurried over, "I don't know how you managed to do it, especially because you were already down, but you won!"
He handed Alpha what looked like a pair of red and white heavy sneakers. "These are a promotion gift from Professor Jason. He says that you are permitted to wear them with your uniform, as they were designed specifically for you. He also told me that, you are granted permission to change your name."
Startled, Alpha glanced at the shoes he knew would let him run faster than even an airplane. He transferred his gaze to the sergeant.
"Are you sure? These shoes, AND a name change?" He asked.
"Yes I am," replied the sergeant.
"Very well, then," Alpha replied taking the sneakers. After taking off his sparring Boots and replacing them with his new sneakers, he turned to the small crowd. "Today, I am no longer Alpha the Hedgehog. Today, I have become Sonic the Hedgehog!"
The sergeant gave him a medal with a silver star on it, signifying that he had earned the promotion. The actual bar of rank was reserved for the ceremony.
Sonic put the medal on, and then saluted the Chief Master Sergeant.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Sergeant Miller boomed, raising the hedgehog's arm above his head, "I give you the valedictorian of Class C-2169D, the one and only, Sonic the Hedgehog!"
It was the beginning of the fourth mile, and Tails was not faring any better. The gap between him and the rest of the recruits had increased steadily, until he was now twenty feet behind them. With his tails drooping from exhaustion, an ache in his side, and some serious breathing problems, he found it harder and harder to even think of running faster.
MSgt. Vance had stopped trying to 'encourage' him every second, probably out of disgust, but every now and then would jog back to yell at him again.
"COME ON YOU WHELP OF A RECRUIT!" The Drill Sergeant would bellow relentlessly, "FASTER! GET MOVING OR I WILL HANG YOU FROM THE CEILING BY YOUR SCRAWNY ANKLES WHEN WE GET BACK! YOU CALL THAT FAST?! GET MOVING! COME ON, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! KICK YOUR LAZY ASS INTO FULL GEAR, YOU MAGGOT!"
After a few minutes, he would run back up to the front of the column in disgust, and would bellow something that caused the rest of the company to moan and jeer at him.
Yup, this is the life, Tails thought sarcastically, Getting verbally abused by a sadistic drill sergeant.
He rounded the bend and the sparring grounds came into view. A group of people were crowded around the blue hedgehog that had given his division their first combat demonstration a few days ago. The hedgehog walked over to a red echidna that was lying on the ground, and helped him up.
Tails finally let his exhaustion get the better of him, and stopped running. He stood there for a few moments watching the rest of the recruits vanish behind the bend in the track.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the blue hedgehog talk with some of the humans for a few minutes, and then one of the humans drew the hedgehog aside, and then seemed to point Tails out to him.
The hedgehog glanced at Tails, talked with the human for about a minute, and then started walking toward him.
Oh, shit. What does he want? Tails thought in exasperation.
Sonic walked over to Knuckles, and held out his hand. "Hey buddy, how you doing?"
"I swear I will kill you if you call me 'buddy' again." Knuckles grunted, but he let the Hedgehog help him up anyway. "Damn it. What the hell did you do to me?"
"I hit you in the back with a fully powered spin dash," Sonic shrugged, "You're made of tougher stuff than I thought. A spin dash would break any normal person's bones at the least, but all you seem to have come off with is a huge muscle bruise across your back."
"Is that so," Knuckles muttered. He winced in pain as he limped toward the nearest medic. "I might have to try it some time. Damn! You really ran me through the mill."
He grabbed a bottle of water, and drank unconcernedly while the medic examined him. He winced when the medic injected him with painkiller, but otherwise ignored the man.
He let the man double check to see if anything was broken, and when the physician was satisfied, he got up.
"Good fight, Sonic." He nodded toward the hedgehog in grudging respect, and then the echidna limped away, cursing loudly at every other step he took.
"Thanks," Sonic replied, watching the echidna walk away.
"Hey, Alpha…Errrrrr I mean… Sonic," The medic said loudly, "We should probably check to see if you've sustained any permanent damage."
This brought the memory of the pain back into Sonic's memory. Hundreds of bruises and cuts from the fight all screamed at him, and it felt like he had been smashed into a wall.
The physician examined him for a few minutes, performing tests and scanning his body with an M-Tab Scanner. Finally he gave Sonic a painkiller injection, examined him one last time, and then sent him on his way.
Sonic, who was too exhausted to run, started walking back towards the barracks where he had been stationed.
As he began to walk, Sergeant Miller grabbed his arm and pointed toward one of the trails. There, in the distance, the recruits that Sonic had briefly commanded were running along the 5-mile trail around the base, led by what looked to be an increasingly short-tempered Master Sergeant Vance. Following farther and farther behind was the yellow fox with twin tails.
"That doesn't look good Sonic," CMSgt. Miller stated, "There is no way that that kid will be able to catch up with the group, and if he doesn't at least manage to get closer to the main group, then he can kiss his enlistment goodbye."
"Can't you do something?" Sonic replied, eyeing the fox with sorrow. He knew what would happen to Tails if he did not improve soon, and judging by the look on MSgt. Vance's face, the 'encouragement' would not be very pretty.
"No, I cannot," the NCO replied, "Professor Jason himself has ordered me not to interfere in the other sergeants training methods; it would disrupt the chain of command for me to do so directly. Besides, do you think I would risk my reputation as a drill sergeant?"
Sonic sighed in exasperation.
"However," the sergeant continued, "as a fellow recruit, and as a commissioned officer, you have the right and capability to 'help and encourage' him, as technically, you received your promotion as soon as you won the fight."
Sonic's face brightened at the thought. I remember basic training. It seems hilarious now, but was awful back then. He deserves some encouragement.
"Just remember," Sergeant Miller cautioned him, as Sonic started to walk towards the struggling fox, "you cannot directly interfere, without breaking the chain of command."
"Thank you, Sergeant," Sonic replied, and then he walked briskly toward the fox, all thoughts of weariness fading from his head.
The twin-tailed fox seemed to give up at catching up with the rest of the group and stopped in his tracks, and stood there gasping in exhaustion, and gazing at where the main group of recruits had been a minute ago.
"Come on recruit, is that the best you can do?" was the first thing the blue hedgehog said when he caught up to Tails. He didn't boom the question like MSgt. Vance did, but rather it had a penetrating quality to it. "Don't just stand there, at least walk."
"Under the circumstances, sir," Tails gasped, he started to walk forward slowly "I…have… shorter legs… than… the rest of the group, and I have… a very short… endurance."
"And you managed to run four miles without stopping? You underestimate yourself, kid. Oh and by the way, you don't have to be so formal," said the blue hedgehog, who was easily keeping pace with Tails. "My name is Sonic, and I would prefer that you use it in private. By the way, I am terrible at remembering people's names; could you perhaps remind me of yours."
"My name is Miles… Prower," Tails responded, he was starting to forget his weariness, even though he was still having trouble running. "But everyone… calls me Tails."
"Ah… I see," Sonic replied, with a thoughtful expression on his face.
They chatted for a few minutes, all the while still jogging along the track. Tails was now halfway through the 4th mile, and for some reason, his weariness seemed to be fading. He was able to move faster now, and he was starting to catch up with his division again.
"MAKE UP YOUR MIND, YOU MAGGOT!" thundered Msgt. Vance from the front of the column, when he could make out Tails and Sonic from his location. "QUIT CHATTING WITH THE DAMN HEDGEHOG, AND EITHER GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP HERE NOW, OR JUST GIVE UP LIKE THE LAZY BASTARD YOU ARE!"
That did it. The anger that had been simmering deep inside of him since he woke up that morning finally exploded. Tails had put up with Sergeant Vance's yelling and degrading insults for his entire time at Facility Bravo-17. Every day, he had been singled out and verbally beaten to a pulp more than the rest of the recruits in the division, even when he wouldn't have stood out to any other sergeant. It was as if the sergeant was deliberately singling him out, and that thought was more humiliating than anything else that had happened so far.
Something seemed to snap within him, and a surge of newfound strength began to rush through him. His eyes flashed with defiance, and he began to run furiously. His tails started to spin, and he found himself hovering about an inch off the ground as he neared the rest of the recruits.
The fox quickly closed the gap with the rest of the group, with Sonic right beside him, matching him stride for stride, but he didn't even stop or slow down.
"SO I SEE YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO RUN AFTER ALL, MAGGOT!" MSgt. Vance thundered, when Miles was just a few feet behind the rest of the group. Then his eyes widened when he saw that the fox's feet were not touching the ground, and that his tails, formerly a hindrance to his running capability, were spinning so fast that they were a blur. The Sergeant stopped running for a moment in shock.
"What the hell?" the Sergeant muttered, as Tails casually jumped over the heads of the recruits.
Tails curled himself into a ball for a brief moment, then his tails began to spin again, and suddenly he found himself flying. He looked down. Everyone appeared to be ten feet below him, all except Sonic had stopped in their tracks, and their mouths were hanging open in disbelief. Tails hit the ground again, and sped off down the trail, leaving the rest of the column in the dust. Moments later, Sonic flew passed the still baffled group at a dizzying speed, closing the distance rapidly between himself and the yellow fox.
Master Sergeant Vance was the first person to recover from the shock of what had just transpired.
"Well, you maggots, "He said, almost calmly, "Are we just going to stand here and let them show you just how useless you all are?
"NO, SIR!" Boomed the recruits.
"DON'T JUST STAND THERE, THEN! CATCH UP TO THEM; MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! ANYONE WHO FAILS TO CATCH UP TO THAT BLASTED FOX WILL SCRUB THE ENTIRE BARRACKS WITH NOTHING BUT A RAG, AND THEIR BARE HANDS!"
As the group slowly sped up, the Sergeant thought he heard a few murmurings of astonishment about what had just transpired. He let them talk for about a minute, and then promptly decided to cut them off when the pink haired hedgehog decided to speak a little louder than the rest.
"Is it just me, or was that blue hedgehog kind of cute?" She asked the rabbit next to her, so loud that he just had to shut her up.
Man, she is one loudmouthed girl, he thought. After today, I think I might need to take a week's leave and let Sergeant Jones take over this batch of recruits.
"NO TALKING, MAGGOTS," the sergeant boomed, "TRIPLE TIME, RECRUITS! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!"
The column quickly fell silent and picked up the pace, as no one wanted to scrub the barracks. Despite the fact that this was a very unusual day, the Sergeant was starting to feel happy. This was something that he had not felt in a long time.
Alpha, MSgt. Vance thought as he ran at the head of the column, I think you make a much better mentor for that fox than I ever could. It seems like he needed something a little different than a barrage of insults and threats to get him to work his ass off. Whatever you did, it sure seemed to help; too much, perhaps.