Chapter 2

Downunda soared beneath Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles 'Tails' Prower. The jet they rode in looked simple enough, having only two seats on it, the pilots and then the backseat which can transform into a copilot seat in case of emergencies. The circuitry and computers inside were well sophisticated, but letters and words were etched in so someone generally knowledgeable could navigate it. The powerful engines hummed through the sound insulators Tails installed, however the low drum of the noise was soothing and relaxing. The additional light sway of the aircraft gave a lull appeal as well. It was certainly enough to make the two occupants drift to sleep, but their upcoming mission kept them focused. With less than an hour till touchdown Tails began pulling up files on the region so as to know what to expect.

Sonic drummed his fingers on the dashboard in front of him, looking over some files himself. By 'looking,' it mostly consisted of looking at the pictures. If he was given the choice, the hedgehog would pick a picture book over a novel any day. Though, his 'research' did hold some merit. He was getting a better understanding of the terrain. Something rather important for a speed demon like him. He can't go running on just any environment. Ignore the fact he's in a jet and it sounds like feasible excuse.

He looked up, as if to see Tails through the seat. "Any new theories to wow me with?"

"Are you that bored."

"No, why would you say that? I've enjoyed looking at these- what- ten pictures?"

"Eleven."

"Eleven pictures."

Tails chuckled. "If you must know, I'm thinking the situation is going to get real complicated."

"How's that?"

"When I think about the photos of Eggman's wrecked command center I can't help but suspect a third party's involved. That scares me."

"Talking tends to clear your mind. Explain why you think it's a third party. Pretend I'm an idiot."

"Wait, you want me to pretend?"

"I can still bonk you on the head, ya know. Your seat's no wall."

Tails' smile faltered as he mulled over the details. "There are two possibilities when it comes to what we saw. Either Crocbot has gone rogue or someone has hacked through Eggman's firewall for an unknown reason. However, if Crocbot has gone rogue, why would he destroy the command center. With it he can keep Eggman in the loop of what he wants the doctor to believe, and there's no reason to wreck it as everything in there is directly linked to Eggman's database. There's no local data Eggman wouldn't have and suddenly cutting off communications only brings attention to the area. Since Crocbot is missing with no activity in the area that would mean he's hiding, yet Eggman never suspected a thing."

"I see. And if Eggman was ignorant, suddenly cutting off ties would bring too much sniffers out to nose around."

"If it was a third party it make only a little more sense. Destroying the command center would have the benefit of cutting off communications. That would mean Crocbot either found something he shouldn't have or…"

"It's a trap."

"Exactly. Unfortunately, that's the most logical conclusion. Especially if no robots were destroyed. Missing robots either mean rogue or hacked. Suffice to say, I don't see Eggman's robots all going rogue. Especially when he's been really nice to them, and without his programming them to destroy or invade there is no benefit for them doing this. As improbable as it sounds, the most likely case is that Eggman was hacked. Hacked and now were going into a trap. What kind, I don't know."

"Nice, and that's the ghost story of the ride."

"You asked."

"You didn't need to answer." Sonic quipped back. He flopped back into his seat and stared out the window into the ground bellow. "So, Tails. What do we know about the squad we'll be teamed up with."

"Nothing really. They were known as the Downunda Freedom Fighters back in the day. Seems like they kept the title, probably for nostalgic reasons. If you want, you can pull up their file and take a look."

"Wow, so fun." The blue hedgehog tapped the screen. A file popping up in response.

He flicked up to poor over the information. "Five members. Kinda small. Not many fighters back in the day or something?"

"Err, I was more of the enemy at the time."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Sonic leaned in closer to the screen. "The leader is Barby Koala. A Koala in case you couldn't guess. The former leader is Walt Wallabee, who demoted… himself? Huh. Then there is Wombat Stu, Guru Emu, and Duck 'Bill' Platypus. They had a former member, Thrash the Tasmanian Devil, now deceased. Man, that sucks. What happened?"

"Could be why Wallabee demoted himself. Hopefully the sudden change in leadership didn't strain the group. If so, Koala will have a hard time as the new leader."

"Nah, says here she was the co-leader. Is that like a second in command?"

"I don't know. We can ask when we get there, but it sounds like it could be a sensitive subject."

"More reason to know. Rather look at the nest before the wasps come home."

"Huh? But we're not even there yet! That makes no sense!"

Ignoring the cries of his friend, Sonic pressed the report of Thrash's death. His eyes darted over the screen. Just as he thought, a real sensitive case. The hero stuck out his tongue and closed the file, scratching his head in thought. "Well. Seems like back in the day, the group were performing a reconnaissance. Then a 3.9 showed up. Wallabee ordered the group to retreat, but Koala disagreed. She said they needed to complete their mission since running away may cause problems. Yada, yada, in the end they fell back.

"A group of assassin droids followed them without them knowing. Those bots attacked their main base of operations. Thrash noticed them just in time and woke his pals, but then he… you know. After that it turns out the base beefed up security and the DFFs couldn't get close again without sounding the alarm. Luckily, Koala had put some explosive in the entrance before the retreat. After a month of recuperating, they breached through and destroyed the place. After that… the whole demotion thing occurred."

Tails' clutch on the controls intensified, and he bared his fangs. That was a new one he hadn't heard before. Now he was going to meet them in person. That was going to go so well. Normally Sonic wouldn't dare try and tell him such a story, but those guys might bring it up themselves when they see the fox themselves. Hopefully not, as the kingdom should have informed them of who's coming, but there's no guarantee.

Regardless, this was going to be uncomfortable. There was no doubt.

XXXXXX

The jet slowed to a halt on the dirt, Sonic jumped out before it could and stretched his arms into the air. "Touchdown, I love land."

Tails jumped out, staring at the hedgehog with amusement. "It wasn't that bad."

"It was as if a flying coffin had me in its cold embrace."

"Funny."

"Like an airborne prison, chaining me to the-."

"Knock it off, are you a poet now? Go run around if you're so angsty, boy."

"Fine, 'daddy.'" He stuck out his tongue and dashed away in a blur of blue.

Tails shook his head, grinning to himself as he turned to the plane and pressed a button on his watch. The side compartment opened up and he took a thick suitcase out. He opened it up to study the mobile computer inside, then set it aside. He picked up a tube and twisted its base. A small tip of an antenna came out, which he inspected before twisting it back down. He pressed his watch again, closing the jet's compartment. Then he snatched up the suitcase and turned to walk over to the small building he can only assume the Freedom Fighters were. Before he could take a step his face turned to stare into cold blue eyes watching him from a few inches away.

The fox cried out, dropping his load and jumping back. His head struck the wing of the jet and he clutched the throbbing skull. He mumbled looking up at the newcomer. It was a koala, her fur was mostly white, Her midsection was grey, and her ears were black. The only things she wore were a black belt with a golden buckle, red knee-high boots, and red gloves with two points sticking out of her knuckles. She was staring at him in mild surprise at his reaction to her.

Tails sighed, looking down at his two gadgets to see if they were not damaged. "Are you a ninja or something? I didn't even hear you."

She chuckled, planting her fists on her hips. "You arrived earlier than your ETA." She avoided the question. "We were going to welcome you, but I'm the only one up and about right now."

Tails picked up his items looking them over carefully. "Sorry about that. I gave a longer estimation than predicted in case there were unforeseen circumstances. I thought I radioed ahead to let you know we were arriving earlier than expected."

The koala blinked then turned to the house. "Well, as I said, I'm the only one up. I only finished breakfast when I heard your plane. Haven't checked the computer." She looked back at him, her eyes slowly moving over him, studying him.

He tensed under her gaze. This was what he was expecting. She was trying to get a read on him. For what purpose he didn't know, but he didn't want there to be much strife between them. He tried smiling, but the toothy face he made looked more uncomfortable. She stared at it for a moment, cocking her head to the side at the sight, looking rather uncertain. "You Miles?"

"Err, yes. You must be Miss Koala." He shifted the tube under his other arm so he could outstretch his hand.

She stared at the extended limb. Then looked up at him with a smile and took it. "Just Barby is fine. I've never been big on the formal stuff. Though I wouldn't say to be lax around my partners. A few tend to be a bit prickly at times."

Tails strained as he tried to smile. "Yeah, I guess they would, huh."

She let go of his hand and sighed. "Fine. Yes, they weren't happy you were coming. Particularly Walt and Bill. Stu seems on the fence and Guru… well, he's Guru, he'll be just 'chill' with you."

"And I take it your on the fence with your friend."

She looked him up and down again, her face filled with more scrutiny. "I have my reservations, but I've been a mercenary before this. Toeing the line of morality isn't beyond me. Can't say I've seen anything go as far as your robots did, but I'm not going to hold it against you being a kid and all."

Was that a slight? He technically wasn't a kid anymore. "I appreciate you giving me a chance, at least. Hopefully we can part ways on friendlier terms." He looked around. "I would introduce my partner, but he's more restless than a toddler on candy. He's probably running a few laps around your mountain to cool off."

She shook her head, a small smile on her face. "That just sounds weird. Come on, we can wait for him inside. Or not, I can lock the door."

Tails laughed. "Nah, he's the one with cockpit fever. I just jest. We tease each other a lot, so expect that depending on what we do."

She opened the door and let him in. It was a fairly simple house. A small kitchen in the back, a four seated diner table, and a couch in front of a small TV. As the fox stepped through someone yelped. There were stairs in the corner leading to the second floor, at the base of those stairs was a wombat. He wore teal gloves, grey boots, and a worn out grey hat. He blinked a the fox and then to his leader, then back at the fox.

Barby waved to him. "This is Stu. Stu, this is Miles."

Tails blushed. "Um, y-you can just call me Tails. Everyone does." Was he going to meet every member before Sonic. That thought made him uncomfortable, especially with Barby's warning about the others. At least it wasn't someone who actively dislike him.

Stu stared at the fox incredulously. "Yeah, hi. You're early."

"Sorry about that. Went faster than predicted. I tried sending a message, but it looks like you all fell asleep."

"More like we were resting so we'd all be awake and ready for when you got here." Stu stepped over and sat at the diner table, swinging an arm over the backrest to watch Tails come over and sit down.

Barby stood near the kitchen. "Were you going to skip breakfast?"

"Don't you dare. I'm not having this house burn down."

She narrowed her eyes. "I wasn't going to cook. If I were, it would be a wombat breakfast burrito for me."

"Sounds delightful." Stu looked back at Tails as the fox opened the suitcase and began typing into the computer. "Where's the second one?"

"Out on a jog. Call it reconnaissance if it makes you feel beter."

"Is it?"

"No."

"Figures." The wombat scuffled his seat over so he could stare at the screen. The stunned look on his face bothered Tails.

"Um. I'm just connecting to my network back at my house."

"And how're you doing that?"

"I-I'm not using your wi-fi, if you're worried. Um…" how was he supposed to explain this, the technical jargon might throw him off. "Let's just say I made my computers so they can be connected regardless of where I am. It makes it easier and I don't need to rely on a signal."

Stu shook his head. "You say that like it's so normal. You forget, we're in the middle of nowhere, we're lucky to get an signal down here. The only exception is our computer upstairs and even that can be ify."

"Oh." Why did he feel like an idiot?

Barby pushed off the counter. "Alright. I think they about rested enough. Time to wake 'em."

Stu grinned and pulled out an air horn. He tossed it over to her. "Here you go."

She caught it and strolled up the stairs. "Plug your years, fox boy."

Tails blinked, then turned to Stu who only smirked at him. A second later a blaring sound shook the whole house. Two loud thuds toppled onto the floor upstairs.

"What the hell, Barby!" One voice shouted

"Was that necessary?!" A second concurred.

A third voice spoke up. "Good mournin,' Barb."

"Were you meditating, Guru?" Barby asked.

"It's good, I heard we had a guest. Might as well great the little man."

"Go on ahead, he's at the table."

"A guest? The first voice asked. "Don't tell me they arrived."

Someone came walking down the steps. Tails looked up to see a blue Emu walking down the steps. He wore sandals, small spectacles on his beak, a yellow and pink bandana, a white t-shirt with a torn up bottom, and a necklace with a golden peace emblem hung around his neck. The bird noticed the fox and waved. "Yo, dude. It's great to finally meat ya."

Tails waved back. "Yeah, hi. Do you always wake up like that?"

"Nah, just on important days like this." The bird ducked into the kitchen. "Want anythin'? Water? Juice? Chicken?"

"No thanks. I figured lunch wouldn't be provided."

The bird peered around the corner, a coy smile on his face. "It's breakfast dude."

"Err, no thanks, but I appreciate the offer." When he and Sonic left it wasn't morning. Time change was throwing him off.

Guru nodded and disappeared into the kitchen again.

Once the bird was gone, Tails' ears perked up. Everyone upstairs was mumbling, probably so he couldn't hear them.

"Why did you bring him in here, Barby?"

"Cause we'll be working with him. It's not like this is our house. It's not even our main base. It's just an outpost."

"How does that matter? I don't want him snooping around in our stuff."

"He has his own computer, Walt. He's not going to hack us."

"No, I agree with Walt. You don't know that. And if he has his own computer he don't need to be here."

"Bill… Forget it. You made me the leader, Walt. It's my decision. If you have a problem with it I'll leave the door unlocked for when you come back." Footsteps then came clamboring down the stairs and Barby entered the floor. "So, are we going to hold a meeting? I was informed that we will have a debriefing with Doctor Eggman before heading out."

Tails nodded. "Yeah. That's what I'm setting up for." He picked up the tube and twisted the bottom till the antennae was fully erect. "I'm just waiting now. Eggman isn't on call yet."

Two sets of feet were on the stairs now. The first down was a wallaby. He had a brown jacket, boots, gloves, and elbow pads. The second was a blue platypus wearing the same uniform as Eggman except purple instead of red.

The wallaby glared at Tails, "And where is that other one?"

"He'd be at your door my liege." Everyone turned to see Sonic giving an exaggerated bow. "I have traversed they lands for thy own pleasure."

"For our pleasure?"

"Wait, thy is you? My. My own pleasure. Old English is tough. Would it be 'moi' own pleasure then?" The hedgehog skipped in, closing the door behind him. "Sonic the Hedgehog, fastest thing alive. I see you've already met Tails, greatest scientific genius in the world."

Tails blushed, trying real hard to study the computer in front of him.

The wallaby crossed his arms. "Walt Wallabee. This is Bill," He nodded to the platypus, "Sue, Guru, and Barby." He indicated to the rest of them. "What exactly is the plan here?"

"I dunno. Why're you askin' me?"

"Cause you're in charge of your group!" Walt massaged his nose. "Was there a plan, or are you just running around like a moron."

"Cool your jets, Wannabe."

"Wallabee!"

"Last time I checked, it's her who's in charge." Sonic pointed to Barby, "As for our plan, I'm the heavy lifter, Tails is the cranial buster. Why'd you think I brought him along? Cause he's cute?"

"Sonic." Tails growled in a subtle threat.

"No offense."

"Obviously, I'm offended!"

"Hey I didn't say you weren't cute."

The fox planted his face in his hands. HE changed his mind. "Barby, is it too late to lock him out?"

The koala turned to the hero grinning at her. "Well… He's in the house. So yeah? But we can try."

"Aww. Come on guys. I thought we were going to be best friends."

Walt grumbled something under his breath, crossing his arms.

Sonic shot him a brief look. "See, we got a friendly rivalry already."

"Will you shut it! Barb, is there a plan or not?" Walt turned to his comrade.

The koala shrugged, sitting down in the chair next to Tails, pointing to the fox. "He says we need to wait for Eggman. Once we're fully debriefed we can plan out from there. Till then, we can only wait."

"Great. Thanks for answering. That's what I wanted to hear." He glared at Sonic.

The hedgehog shrugged. "Hey, I just got here. What do you want me to say? There's a reason I had Tails take over the planning department, you know."

The wallaby shook his head and marched into the kitchen. Bill leaned against the staircase to watch Tails closely. Sonic slid up next to the table and looked at the computer. "Doc not picking up?"

"Not yet. I did tell him to schedule an hour from now in case of setbacks. Everything has gone very smoothly so far."

Barby stood up from the table. "Yes. I would agree. Speaking of which, I should check the kitchen in case someone tries to cook boiling oil." Then marched away. "Call me if Eggman contacts us."

Sonic leaned in. "Well she's nice. What do you think of her?"

"Reliable, and surprisingly easy going." Tails looked over at the kitchen. "She picked up that I tease you and played along. Can't say if its to placate me or she's just that friendly."

Stu waved. "She's easy going. So long as you're not her enemy she won't hate you. She teases everybody from time to time, but she's mostly serious. Just wait till she's on the field. She'll be different."

"She sounds like a great gal." Sonic beamed.

Tails slowly looked up at him. "Sure."

"She's also pretty cute. Wanna ask her out?"

"Sonic."

"Yeah?"

"Put your hand here." Tails pointed at the spacebar.

"Like this?" He rested four fingers on it.

The fox slammed the suitcase shut, a loud clap emanating throughout the house. Crying, Sonic pulled back his hand staring at his fingers With a smile he twiddled them in front of the fox. "Missed."

Tails sighed rubbing his face and pulling open the suitcase again. "Can you stop trying to set me up on dates. Last time was embarrassing enough."

"She seemed to like it."

"She didn't know you were setting up a date! And she threw a wrench at you!"

"Wave throws a wrenches at everybody, that doesn't mean a thing."

The fox shook his head and tried peering deep into his computer like it was the only thing there. Then he spotted Stu grinning from behind the screen. He glared at the wombat, daring him to say something. Instead, Stu just raised his hands in surrender and turned toward the kitchen, still looking quite entertained.

Tails was so getting Sonic back for this.

Post note: Let me know how it's going. I'm starting to think I'm messing up since it's been so long.