Chapter 2: Regeneration and Deployment

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog

After an hour of driving, Shadow, Orion, and Sonic stopped outside a large building that vaguely resembled a courthouse. The three stepped out of the vehicle and entered the building. The interior resembled the lobby of a hotel with the exception that there were large titanium doors on one side bearing the words "AUTHROIZED PERSONELL ONLY."

"Those door are kind of a give away," Sonic said as he followed Shadow and Orion through the said doors, "They practically scream the fact that there is classified material in here."

"Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight," Shadow replied, "However we don't have much time to waste. We have six hours to regenerate you to the way you were Sixty years ago. You will receive your training on the trip to Mara Prime. Orion will direct you to the regeneration room. I have other duties I have to attend too."

Shadow left and Sonic followed Orion down several halls and into a room with several large tanks of green fluid. Sonic noticed that there were people in many of the tanks.

"I'm guessing that I have to soak myself in the green stuff to get young again," Sonic asked a little nervously.

"You are correct," Orion replied as the lid on one of the empty tanks opened, "Step into the tank when you are ready."

"How am I supposed to breathe in here?" Sonic asked while stiffly climbing the ladder into the tank.

"The serum inside the tank is rich is oxygen that is absorbed directly through the skin," Orion replied, "You will fall asleep from chemicals in the serum as well to help pass the time. Once your six hours are up and you are fully regenerated I will send someone in to wake you and remove you from the tank."

Sonic nodded and eased himself into the liquid. Once he was fully immersed in the liquid he felt as though he didn't need to breathe. Seconds later everything went black as the chemicals in the serum made him fall asleep.

Sonic awoke to a pair of arms pulling him out of the tank, he was about to protest and say that he could get out of the tank himself when he realized that he couldn't talk with his lungs filled with regeneration fluid. Sonic also felt weak so he let who whoever was helping him do their job. It was only when Sonic was fully out of the tank was he able to see who was helping him.

It was Amy in all her youthful beauty.

Sonic attempted to say something but instead started coughing out the regeneration fluid from his lungs. Amy got a plastic bowl for him to cough the fluid into.

"Easy Sonic," Amy said kindly, "Your still weak from the regeneration treatment. Your strength will return in a few minutes."

"Amy," Sonic wheezed as he started to get his lungs clear, "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too my love," Amy replied, "But you know how the government is. I wasn't allowed to visit you or else this whole project could have become exposed."

Amy handed Sonic a towel so he could dry himself off. Sonic did so with increasing speed.

"Your strength is returning," Amy smiled, "How do you feel."

"I haven't felt this young in sixty years," Sonic said before kissing Amy.

Amy embraced him warmly and the two stayed together for what seemed like hours. When the two broke apart, they heard a clapping from the door and turned to see Orion standing there.

Amy and Sonic both blushed deeply but did not start looking away from each other out of shyness. They loved each other and they were not ashamed of it.

"Now that you two love birds are done making out it is time to head to the de-briefing room," Orion replied, "Their we will go over our mission again and you will be assembled into your squads."

"You could have given us a little privacy," Sonic said slightly annoyed, "How would you feel if I walked in when you and your wife were sharing a moment and started clapping."

"My bad," Orion shrugged, "Anyways, this is no time for romance we have military business to do."

"Roger that," Amy said formally and she and Sonic followed Orion out of the regeneration room and down a series of hallways. The three soon came to a briefing room where Shadow and green hedgehog were waiting.

"Have a seat," Shadow said bringing up a holographic map of the planet Mara Prime.

Amy, Sonic, and Orion all took their seats. The green hedgehog rolled his eyes.

"Do we really need a woman on this team," he snorted.

"Shut it Scourge," Amy snapped.

Scourge was about to make an angry retort when Shadow cleared his throat and started the briefing.

"As you all know," Shadow stated, "Colonies around a certain dig site on Mara Prime have been disappearing. Your mission is to investigate these colonies and see if you can find the cause of the disappearance. You will land at a base 10 kilometers from the farthest colony from the dig site. You will drive a government issued jeep to the site and report over the radio what you find. If you encounter any resistance or problems you will report them to HQ. After you investigate the colony you will return to HQ. We will figure out what to do from there."

"Wait what about training," Sonic asked, "I may be young again but you haven't trained me for this at all."

"That will be taken care of," Shadow replied, "On your trip to our headquarters on Mara Prime you will operate a series of simulations to train yourself for combat. Any training that you have not mastered will be downloaded into your brain through a device on the ship."

"I'm guessing that the four of us are in the same squad," Scourge said looking around at Sonic, Amy, and Orion, "Great, I hate being with losers."

Sonic, Amy, and Orion glared at Scourge.

"Anyways," Shadow continued, "There is a teleporter down the hall that will send you to your shuttle in space. You have been scheduled to leave immediately."

Everybody but Scourge nodded and got up to leave the room. Scourge left the room a few seconds later after glaring at Shadow.

"I regret using the regeneration treatment on him already," Shadow sighed. He had a feeling that Scourge was going to cause trouble on the mission.