Surge and Kit woke up the next day and went through their morning routines. After putting on her signature outfit, Surge looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. After wearing the substitute clothing for probably the longest days she ever lived, putting on her outfit made her feel like she was back and ready for anything. Surge exited the bathroom. "Hey, I got an operation to do today. I don't know when I'll be back. When I do come back, depending on how it goes, I'll tell you what I want you to make." Surge said. "Ok, can I at least know what the tool would be used for?" Kit asked. "I'm going to use it to destroy Sonic. With you making it, I'm sure I won't lose the next time I go head-to-head with that loser." Surge said. "Yes, Ma'm!" Kit said. "Ok, I'm out. Do whatever you want." Surge said as she left the dorm room.
Surge left the dorm building and made her way toward the shed for the final briefing. She arrived at around 1345 and found the door closed. Surge knocked on the door but received no response. "Hey, it's me! No one showed me the secret knock-knock joke or whatever you guys call it. Let me in." Surge said. After a moment, Jason opened the door. "I'm guessing you not giving me the code is also because you don't trust me?" Surge asked, as she walked in inside. "Actually, no. We usually use the briefing room underground in the base. To get in, you'd have to have your Scroll scanned. So, that's actually my fault. Sorry about that." Jason said. Surge remained quiet. "Anyway, we're waiting on Whisper. She should be here any minute now." Jason said. Surge saw Sonic tapping his feet as he impatiently waited. "How long you've been waiting on us?" Surge asked. "Too long." Sonic said. "Which was only fifteen minutes ha-ha." Jason said. "Fifteen minutes is way too long to be waiting on anything." Sonic said. "I did say the meeting starts at 1400. We don't know what Whisper is dealing with right now. It's not like she's late either." Jason said, as he took a seat on a nearby wooden chair.
The three waited about ten minutes until they heard a series of knocks at the door. "That's her." Jason said, getting up from his seat to open the door. "Finally." Sonic said. Jason opened the door and let Whisper in. "Ok, let's start this." Jason said. Jason brought up the 3D hologram of the mountain. "Ok, just to be clear. If anyone was wondering if the plan changed in anyway...it hasn't." Jason said, while looking at Surge. "That's a relief." Surge responded. "However, this operation may be over quicker than I expected. I got some more intel from our scouts who had been on this base since we discovered it. Based on their observations, they marked two possible entry areas." Jason said. Two red spheres spawned just beneath the tip of the mountain on the 3D holograph. "Scouts reported that they would often lose track of the robots when they were around these two areas. The Northwest and the Southeast of the mountain just below the tip of it." Jason said. "And?" Surge asked. "And that means it's possible that's where the tin cans are entering and leaving the place." Jason said, looking sternly at Surge.
"So, we check those areas first. Got it." Sonic said. "Right. Whisper and I will be stationed about a mile away from the base of the mountain in those directions. I want you to tell us which side you entered the mountain. Whisper and I will relocate to the opposite side of that location and start taking out patrols from a distance. They would focus on where the shots are coming from, and we'll relocate every so often to keep them guessing." Jason said. "Wouldn't you two get caught almost instantly? There's nothing but grass around the mountain." Surge said. "Leave that to us. Now, we still don't know how the base looks like on the inside. You two would be going in blind." Jason said. "I've been through enough bases to know my way around. Shouldn't be a problem." Sonic said. "Figured as much." Jason said. There was a moment of silence. "Ok, that's about it. Anyone have questions?" Jason asked. The other three shook their heads in unison. "Great. Here's the binoculars and thermite charges. I Put them in this satchel right here so it would be easier to carry. "Jason said, placing the satchel on the table.
"Thanks." Sonic said, taking the satchel and slinging it over his shoulder. "Ok, I sent the coordinates of the mountain in the group chat. I know you two will probably get there before Whisper and I could even leave the shed. But, for your guys' safety, could you guys not try to enter the base until we get into position?" Jason said. "Sure, you're the boss." Sonic said. "Great. Ok everyone, this operation is officially activated. Good luck out there." Jason said.
"Alright! let's hit it! C'mon Surge." Sonic said, enthusiastically. Sonic and Surge exited the shed. Both of their Scrolls began to beep. Surge stopped and flicked her Scroll to see what was going on. The holographic screen displayed a red screen with text, which Surge had never seen before. The text read: Your operation has commenced by order of the leader. Stay safe! "You get goosebumps the first few times that comes up. After that, you kinda just ignore it." Sonic said, waiting for Surge to move. "C'mon let's go! Aren't you eager to get stuck in?" Sonic said. "I thought we were supposed to wait for Jason and Whisper. And aren't we trying to sneak in too?" Surge asked. "He said to wait to enter, not wait to get to the mountain. And I doubt we'll be able to sneak all the way through to the end of the operation. It's just not happening that way, and everyone knows it." Sonic said. "Then why sneak in at all?" Surge asked. "I don't know, ask Jason." Sonic said. Sonic began to start running and Surge followed suit. Within seconds, the mountain was in view, and they were about a reasonable distance away.
"That's a huge mountain. That's for sure." Surge spoke up. "Enough to house a base." Sonic said. Sonic flicked his Scroll and called Jason. "Hey, Jason. We're near the mountain and waiting on you." Sonic said. "Give us five minutes to get there. DON'T GET CAUGHT. Put more distance between you and the mountain if you have to." Jason said. "yea yea, we got it." Sonic responded, before ending the call. "Ok, let's start walking away for a bit and lay down to avoid getting spotted." Sonic said. "Ok." Surge said. The two began to walk away from the mountain. "I see you got your clothes back. looking good." Sonic said. "W-Whatever." Surge said, blushing from the comment. "You know what I meant right? Wearing the clothes that they have in the closet aren't exactly the best." Sonic said. "Rrrriiight." Surge said, unconvinced of Sonics intent.
Surge and Sonic walked a decent distance from where they arrived, away from the mountain. They lay on the grass and waited for Jason and Whisper to arrive. "How do you like the Resistance so far? You know, living there and stuff." Sonic said. "It's ok. It beats the hell out of living in an abandoned base with no food or water." Surge responded. "Other than the stuff we already talked about, are you doing well with the other members?" Sonic asked. "I guess. Probably made a friend, not even sure." Surge said. "Nice! who you made friends with?" Sonic said. "The girl that owns the tailor shop." Surge said. "Sesamie?" Sonic asked. "Yeah." Surge responded. "Ha-ha, not surprising at all. You two are almost alike." Sonic said. "How so?" Surge asked. "You two always make smart remarks when given the first opportunity, a bit difficult to get to know, and you both have that, I don't give a damn attitude." Sonic said. "I did get that feeling from her when I was at her shop. You go to her shop, too?" Surge said. "Only when Amy goes there for her clothes. Whenever she finds out I'm free, She drags me along to wherever she goes." Sonic sad. "Sounds annoying. How'd you put up with that?" Surge said.
"I got used to it. Plus, I try to always be busy and ignore her most of the time." Sonic said. "Yeah, that sounds exhausting. If that's what it's like being in a relationship, then I want no part of it." Surge said. Sonic's Scroll began to ring. Sonic answered the call. "Jason, what's up." Sonic said. "Whisper and I are in position. We don't see any activity on either side of the mountain of where the possible entrances were marked. Which side will you two be approaching first?" Jason said. "We'll be approaching the Southeast side first." Sonic said. "Ok, Whisper is on that side. She'll cover you." Jason said. "Got it." Sonic said. "Stay on this call, we'll be establishing comms. Whisper will be joining the call. Tell Surge to do so as well." Jason said. "You got it" Sonic said. "Surge I'm going to invite you to this call." Sonic said. Surge's Scroll ranged, and Surge answered. "Ok, whenever you need to talk, just press and hold on the blue circle on your Scroll." Sonic said. "Ok." Surge said.
Surge and Sonic ran to the Southeast area of where the marker was. The temperature dropped drastically, and the wind felt strong. The temperature was just low enough at this elevation for snow flurries. "This is Whisper, I see you two on the mountain. No Hostiles that I can see as of yet." Whisper said, on the Scroll. "Got it. We'll be looking for the entrance right now." Sonic said, to his Scroll. "Copy." Whisper responded. Sonic and Surge looked for anything that didn't look natural for about five minutes. "It's about time we check the other side. I don't think I can stay here for too long. It's getting hard to breathe." Surge spoke up. "You're right. I'm starting to feel it too." Sonic said. "This is Sonic. We couldn't find the entrance. We'll be checking the Northwest area." Sonic said, to his Scroll. "Copy" Whisper said. "Copy, I'll keep an eye out for you two." Jason said.
Surge and Sonic zipped to the other side of the mountain. "This is Jason; I see you two on the mountain. Didn't see any activity before you guys got here." Jason said. "Got it. Checking for the entrance." Sonic said, to his Scroll. Surge and Sonic searched for a while until Surge spotted something. "Hey, look over there." Surge said. Surge directed Sonic's attention to a spot on the ground. There was a spot on the ground that wasn't covered in snow compared to everything else. "This is Sonic. I think we found something." Sonic said, to his Scroll. "Copy, giving you overwatch." Jason said. Surge and Sonic got closer to the uncovered ground. The uncovered ground appeared circular and looked big enough for both of them. Sonic crouched down and ran his hand all over the uncovered ground. "Something doesn't feel right." Sonic said. Sonic pulled the binoculars from his satchel and looked at the uncovered ground. The binoculars indicated that the circular patch of ground was made out of Iron. "Rocks that are made out of Iron? Good find, Surge." Sonic said. "Yeah, thanks. Can we just get in? I'm starting to freeze." Surge said, hugging herself to keep warm. "We'll have to wait." Sonic said. "What? Aren't you feeling cold, too, or are you already going numb?" Surge said. "I feel cold too, but we can't just bust in there. They'll be alerted." Sonic said.
"Sonic here. Looks like we found the entrance to the base, but it's shut. Using a thermite charge is probably not a good idea to use right now." Sonic said. "I have an idea. do you see the glint from my scope?" Jason said. Sonic looked down the mountain and saw a shine from the ground level. "Yea, I see you." Sonic said. "Come to me and I'll tell you what we'll do." Jason said. Sonic and Surge ran down to Jason and went prone beside him. "Hey." Sonic said. "You said you think you found the entrance?" Jason said. "Yea, the binoculars showed me that the rocks were made of iron." Sonic said. "Ok. How fast can you two run?" Jason asked. "Fast enough for whatever you're thinking." Surge said. "Ok. My plan is for me to keep watch on that spot of where you think the entrance is. The moment I see that thing open up; I'll signal you two. You two would then run your asses as fast as possible and enter through the entrance before it closes." Jason said.
"Works for me" Sonic said. "That's easy." Surge said. "Good. Now we wait." Jason said. The three waited about twenty minutes before Jason spotted something. "Get ready guys." Jason. Surge and Sonic stood up and got into their running positions. Jason looked through his sniper rifle's scope and saw an object in the shape of a hornet exit from a hole in the ground that wasn't there before. "Ok I see one hostile leaving and that's about it. You two go for it!" Jason commanded. Surge and Sonic ran up the mountain to where they found the uncovered ground. Sure enough, the ground was missing and was replaced with a dark hole. The two looked up and saw the robot flying away in an unknown direction. "Ladies first." Sonic said. "Haha. Now jump, loser." Surge said. Sonic jumped in the hole, and Surge followed suit.
The pair landed in a dimly lit hallway with red lamps along the walls. It was difficult for either of them to make out anything beyond five feet in front of them. "This is Sonic. We made it inside. Can't see much but, we'll update you on how things go." Sonic whispered to his Scroll. "Copy, I'm already relocating to Whisper's location. I'll let you know when that's done. Signal us if you need us to start causing traffic." Jason said. "Copy." Sonic whispered. "Ok, stay close." Sonic said. Sonic slowly walked down the hallway with Surge close behind. After a few minutes, their eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Even with their eyes adjusted, it was still difficult to see down the hallway. The hallway was metallic with the walls being light grey and the ground black. Surge and Sonic could hear their shoes hit the ground with a soft *clank* with every careful step they took.
"Ok, what are we looking for exactly?" Surge whispered. "The power source, whatever that may be." Sonic whispered. "You don't even know what it looks like!?" Surge said. "No, I mean, the power sources can be different between bases. Sometimes it's a nuclear reactor, a generator, or even a chaos emerald." Sonic whispered. "And where do you think it is in this base?" Surge asked. "Probably deep within the mountain. We may have to descend a couple of levels to find it. Security would probably be a lot more active than compared to right now. Sonic said. The two continued walking down the hallway for minutes without coming across a single door or entryway.
"This is Jason; I'm in position with Whisper." Jason said, through the Scroll. "Got it, we're still going through the base. I'll let you know if anything happens." Sonic said. "Copy" Jason said.
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Jason and Whisper were lying on the flat grasslands about a mile from the mountain opposite where Surge and Sonic entered. "You think I made the right decision in switching the roles?" Jason asked. Whisper remained quiet. "Can you at least tell me if you think they'll make out of there if things go South." Jason asked. "You don't need to worry about how capable they're in a fight. What you should be worrying about is Surge's loyalty." Whisper said. "I do worry about her loyalty. But, Sonic was very convincing in that we could trust her." Jason said. "I still don't. And, they're many others that are waiting for when she shows her true colors. I'm not sure why she suddenly joined the Resistance but, she won't be staying here for long." Whisper. "I guess we'll see in due time." Jason said.
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After much walking, Sonic and Surge came across an elevator at the end of the hallway. "Finally" Surge said. Surge pressed the button to call the elevator. "Ok, we'll go to the lowest level possible and then work our way up." Sonic said. "Got it." Surge said. The two waited for minutes until the elevator arrived on their floor. The elevator opened with no one inside. The inside of the elevator looked more like a lift than your average elevator. The size of the elevator looked big enough to fit a tank. The two entered the elevator and saw a massive sliding door on the opposite side of the elevator. "They probably use this to transport materials and vehicles judging by the size." Sonic said. The two looked to their right and saw the floor buttons on the elevator wall. The two approached it. The floor levels were positioned next to a diagram of the mountain. Each floor button marked an elevation level of the mountain. The floor-level buttons above ground level had a plus sign before the number. The floor level for the ground level was zero. The levels below the ground level had a minus sign before the number.
According to the buttons, the elevator could go fifteen levels below ground. However, there was an additional floor level below the fifteenth one. The button didn't have a number but a symbol. The symbol appeared to be a trefoil radiation symbol. "That's where we want to go." Sonic said. Sonic pressed the trefoil button and waited. The elevator did not respond to the button being pressed. Sonic spammed the button multiple times to get the same result of the elevator idling. "Why isn't it working?" Sonic asked. Surge noticed that, unlike the other buttons, the trefoil button was not illuminated. As Sonic continued to spam the button Surge noticed a key slot next to the trefoil symbol that was marked in red. "I think we need a key or something before we can head down to that level" Surge said, pointing at the key slot. "Of course. They had to throw a curveball somewhere." Sonic said. "What do we do?" Surge asked. "There must be a key in this base somewhere. We'll go to the negative fifteenth floor and look for one there." Sonic said.
"This is sonic, we found an elevator. We're going to be heading underground." Sonic said, to his Scroll. "Copy, you might lose signal down there. If that does happen, you can use the emergency alarm to signal us for a distraction. If for whatever reason you need us to come and get you, just press it multiple times. We'll send the whole armada to get you two out." Jason said. "Like it'll ever come to that. Don't you dare send anyone to help us out!" Surge spoke up. "Do the job right and we won't have to" Whisper said. "That's rich coming from the one that's lying on their ass doing nothing right now." Surge clapped back. "Enough! You two can settle this later. Right now we're on an operation. We watch each other's backs. Not stab them." Jason said.
"Surge, Cool it." Sonic said. Surge pretended she didn't hear Sonic and pressed the negative fifteenth level. The elevator responded and closed the door the two entered through before descending. The deafening sounds of gears and pulleys at work broke the silence as the elevator descended. Surge looked at the mountain diagram, showing when the elevator reached which floor. Surge then looked at Sonic who was leaning on the elevator wall. He looked to be resting or in deep thought. Either way, the two consciously decided not to talk to each other until they reached their destination. Suddenly the elevator stopped. The two looked at the floor levels and noticed they stopped at negative ten. "Did you press that?" Sonic asked. "Pretty sure I didn't." Surge said. The two were confused until the doors they entered started to open. "Quick! Pick a corner!" Sonic said, before dashing to a ceiling corner on the same side the door was opening. Surge did the same and picked the opposite corner from Sonic. The two stabilized themselves with their legs on both walls on their end. Four egg pawns entered the lift and surveyed it as if they were looking for something.
Surge looked at Sonic as he put a finger in front of his lips to signal for her to keep quiet. After a brief moment the egg pawns stopped surveying the elevator and pressed a floor button on the wall. The elevator responded and closed the door. It was unclear whether the elevator was moving up or down, but neither Sonic nor Surge cared. All that was on their minds was not to get caught. The egg pawns stood idle before the sliding doors they entered from. The four occupants stayed in their position for about a minute until the elevator reached the floor the egg pawns requested. The elevator door opened, and the egg pawns exited. Sonic put his hand up to signal Surge to stay in her position. The two waited to see if any other Eggman's robots entered the elevator. Sonic dropped to the floor when no other robots entered the elevator, and Surge followed suit.
"That was close." Sonic said. "Close? We could've taken them easy." Surge said. "I don't doubt that. But, we need to remain undetected for as long as we can. Sonic said. Sonic and Surge walked to the elevator buttons to see where they were. The diagram indicated they were at ground level at floor zero. Surge pressed floor negative fifteen to continue their descent. The elevator reached the floor without further interruptions. The elevator door opened and the two peaked out the door on both sides. The elevator door opened to a T-shape hallway that looked almost identical to the hallway when they entered the base. The only difference was that this hallway was well-lit with ceiling lights. "Well? Let's get moving." Surge said, taking the hallway on the left. Sonic followed as they explored the hallway. As they walked, numerous metal doors were on each side of the wall. "There's so many doors! how are we going to find the key?" Surge said.
"Usually, if the door looks important, it's hiding something important." Sonic said, with a deadpan expression. "Was that a joke? Or, was that you trying to make fun of me?" Surge asked, with her hands curled up in a fist. "No, that was me trying to be helpful. You asked a question, and I answered." Sonic said. "Well, I'm gonna have you tone it down with the attitude there." Surge said. "What? You're the one with the attitude." Sonic said. "I do not have an attitude, I'm just firm with my respect boundaries." Surge said. "Yeah, ok. If that's your excuse for behavior these last couple of days." Sonic said. "If you got something to say, then say it!" Surge said, as she stopped walking and faced Sonic. "That's kinda hard to do when you act like this whenever anyone tries to talk to you." Sonic said.
Surge approached Sonic's face. Or at least she tried to as she was shorter than him. "Ok, I'm warning you right now! Cut the bullshit and stop patronizing me! If I tell you to tone it down with the attitude, then do it. Otherwise, we're going to have some problems!" Surge stated. "I'm not Kit, Surge. You can't bully everyone under your thumb." Sonic said. Sonic walked past Surge and continued down the hall. Surge looked at Sonic with rage and then quickly caught up. "Hey! I'm talking t-" Surge was about to finish her rant but was interrupted when Sonic grabbed her and, pulled her into a nearby room and closed the door. The room was pitch black and dark, with the only light from the hallway escaping through the outlines of the door. "Hey! The fuck are you do-" Surge was interrupted again when Sonic placed a hand over her mouth and used his other hand to put a finger in front of his lips. "Shut up!" Sonic whispered.
They both went quiet as metal clanking could be heard in the distance. The clanking soon got louder, and it was clear that many of Eggman's robots were hurrying down the hallway towards them. The sound got louder until shadows pierced through the door's light. The clanking stopped and the shadows appeared to stay. "I'm going to take my hand off your mouth. Please don't make any noise." Sonic whispered. Surge ripped Sonic's hand off her mouth and took a breath. Both of them looked at the shadows through the outline of the door. They could hear soft clanking beyond the door. Whatever robots were on the other side, they were there to look for them.
"This way." Sonic moved to the corner of the room next to the door. "That's not a hiding spot!" Surge whispered, as loud as she could without being heard. "Just come!" Sonic whispered. Surge sneaked towards Sonic. As if on cue, the door began to open. Sonic quickly grabbed Surge's arms and placed her in the corner. Sonic got as close as he could to Surge to take up as little space as possible. The door continued to open until it hit the wall, covering both Sonic and Surge from sight. The two could hear multiple metal clanking in the room. Surge's face was buried in Sonic's furry chest while Sonic's face was in Surge's hair. The two stood in this position for what felt like forever as Eggman's robots continued to investigate the room. After a while of not finding anything, the robots concluded their search and exited the room with the door remaining open. "Don't move until we can't hear them anymore." Sonic whispered.
The metal clanking got softer and less audible until it was utterly silent. "I think they're gone." Sonic said. "Then get off of me!" Surge said, as she pushed Sonic off of her. "Woah relax. I was trying to hide." Sonic said. "Well, how about you warn me first!" Surge said. "I didn't have time to." Sonic said. "Whatever. lets just go find this stupid key." Surge said, leaving the room. Sonic quickly followed behind. "Sorry about that, Surge." Sonic said. "Forget it." Surge said. Sonic noticed something strange about Surge's face. "Surge...are you blushing?" Sonic said. "What!? No I'm not." Surge said, touching her face with her hands. "You are! haha" Sonic said, having a chuckle. "I said I'm not. Even if I was, how do you expect me to react when a guy suddenly pulls me into a dark room and smothers his chest in my face." Surge said, trying to walk ahead of Sonic so he wouldn't have to look at her. "I mean, I wouldn't expect it from someone who hates me." Sonic said. Surge was quiet and thought about what Sonic said for a moment. "What are you getting at? You think I like you or something?" Surge looked over her shoulders at Sonic.
"I mean, why else would you be blushing?" Sonic said. Surge slowed down and gave Sonic a look of genuine anger. "Ok ok, I'll drop it. Was just trying to keep things light. That's all." Sonic said. Surge looked forward and continued on. "This key needs to be found so we can get out of here." Surge said.