Chapter 113

Free

Amy eyed the board dubiously as Wave handed it over. "What?" She asked as she noticed the look of apprehension on Amy's face. "I don't have time to paint yours pink if that's what you're wondering."

"Uh..no…it's not that." Amy held the board up and despaired at just how light it was. And I'm supposed to ride this thing? Extreme gear hardly seemed an adequate term to describe the Bablyon Rogues' signature equipment. The hover boards were more than just marvels of engineering, they were literally otherworldly. Amy had sat back and listened with increasing trepidation as Wave explained how her Babyloian ancestors had discovered and slowly integrated the design.

For the life of her, Amy could not see how a seemingly ordinary plank of metal was suddenly capable of hovering in the air and traveling at supersonic speeds. "Well that's easy," Wave said with a dismissive wave. "According to the Kutta–Joukowski Theorem, the control surface flow is balanced by the inverse kinetics of the-" The confusing jargon did nothing to alleviate Amy's concerns.

"And we are supposed to fly these out of the ship?" She repeated for the dozenth time.

Jet smirked. "That's the beauty of the new upgrades." Jet held up his own board and patted the panel that had been added to the base. Inside, a pink Sol Gem shone with a brilliant pink gleam. "With these powering our boards, we don't even need to be near the ground anymore. We can truly fly freely."

Amy gulped. Her legs were shaking and she feared that her knees might buckle. It wasn't that Amy was especially afraid of heights or anything. But the idea of free falling in the open air with nothing but a flimsy board beneath her didn't exactly fill her with confidence. Amy had almost no experience with extreme sports and, while the magnetic boots Wave had given her would keep her connected to the board, Amy had severe doubts about her ability to control it once she was in the sky.

"This is the only way." Jet's eyes glinted with steely determination. "It's like you said, we can do something and so we must."

Amy was impressed by the turnaround she had seen in Wave and Jet. Once they had made up their minds to fight GUN, they did so with almost reckless abandon. Wave had especially outdone herself. She worked tirelessly to break the encryption of the Diamond Sonic's chip, and then had immediately set to work on retrofitting one of their extra boards to work for Amy.

Once, the location of the GUN facility was identified by the hack chip, Jet had taken to preparing their attack, and creating the explosives. That left Amy to serve as Wave's assistant as they got everything else ready.

When Jet had finalized his strategy, Amy had been less than thrilled to find out that their main mode of infiltration was by orbital drop. "We can't risk getting too close. The Primrose is too large for that radar jammer to work perfectly. Our best bet will be to fly the ship up as high as we can, and then go in on our boards."

Amy tried to voice her dissent, but all she managed was a little squeak. That was twelve hours ago, and now there was no turning back or changing plans. They were only an hour away from their destination and Amy would have to adapt to flight…on the fly. She tried making the joke aloud, but her voice got stuck in her throat. Amy felt the butterflies that were zooming inside her stomach steadily branch out until it felt as if her entire body were shaking.

She had managed to interject one contingency into the plan. "No one dies." Amy had pushed down her nerves so that she could face Jet and Wave without flinching. "If we do this, we make sure to evacuate the building first."

Wave had scowled and muttered in frustration. Jet looked angry, but neither of them had a counter argument. All of them knew that if they were to escalate the conflict with GUN to the point where many human lives were lost, then a full out war might break out.

Instead their plan focused on neutralizing GUNs production facilities. The Diamond Sonic's chip had given them the location of a secret military base simply called Area 99. It was located deep in a remote mountain range far removed from any inhabitants. "The good thing is, it doesn't look as if there is actually much of a human presence at all. Most of the work is automated from what I can tell," Wave had explained. "The facility is built so high in the mountains the altitude is quite severe. Most people would find it hard to stay there long anyway."

"What about defenses?" Jet had asked.

"Probably standard mechs and drones. Not to mention the Diamond units."

So that was the plan. The three of them would drop from almost a mile up and free fall towards the facility. Somehow they would make their way to the core, plant Sol Gem based bombs, and then escape to safety. Each of them was given a few bombs, a radio and a detonator. Any of them could complete the mission alone. But there was no point in having someone stay with the ship. They all knew that such a mission had only a small chance of success. If they were going to succeed they had to be willing to risk everything.

"Nervous?" Jet sat down beside Amy. He had his goggles strapped over his forehead and his board in his hands.

Amy smiled faintly. "I don't think nervous quite covers it."

"I felt the same way before I rode my board. My father took me to the top of one of the largest waterfalls on the island. He told me that my people ride the sky without fear, that the sky is our birthright. But when I looked down at the steep fall just beyond the edge of my feet, all I could think about was the fall. I had never been so terrified. My body seemed to freeze when my father told me to go. My foot felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds. Nothing had ever been so hard than to take that one step…but then-" Jet snapped his fingers. "It all went away. As soon as I felt the wind hit my face everything changed. Nothing had ever felt as natural or as easy as flying. All that fear turned into power, it just took a small step."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Yeah…but…you're a hawk. I mean, you're supposed to fly. Hedgehogs don't fly."

Jet chuckled. "They will today." He patted her reassuringly on the back and rose to his feet.

Wave came over and handed Amy a pair of goggles. "Don't let these fall off," She said sternly.

Amy put the goggles over her eyes and felt her heart skip several beats. It was almost time. She was approaching the point of no return. But would she be able to master the air as Jet had done? "But I don't really know how to ride?" She said skittishly.

"And I can't really explain it to you," Wave said. "You will just have to feel it out, once you're in the air you'll know exactly what to do."

An alarm rang out inside the ship. Jet turned towards the main view screen. "We are almost there. Wave, take the helm and fly us up. Let's get ready."

Amy followed Jet to the hanger doors. Her insides had temporarily disappeared. She felt strangely numb and dissociated with her body. Jet, on the other hand, looked positively thrilled. He hopped up and down as if he were waiting for the starting gun at a race. "Three minutes!" Wave's voice carried down to them.

Amy tried her best not to panic. Sensation had returned and she felt that she might throw up. Her stomach was writhing and she felt light headed. "Two minutes!" Amy could still turn back. She could wait in the ship. "One minute!"

Jet opened the hanger doors. A blast of icy cold wind slapped Amy against the face and knocked her back a few steps. Her legs seemed to be made out of jello. She couldn't stop them from shaking. "TIME!"

Amy felt as stiff and automated as a robot. She placed her board on the floor and raised her right foot above it. The magnetic sole of the boots triggered with the board and Amy felt her shoe stick to the metal. Amy forgot to breathe. Her face was turning slightly blue as she placed her left foot on the board. As soon as she did so, her extreme gear hummed with life. The board rose a few inches off the air and hovered in place. Amy could sense the tremendous amount of power at her disposal. The board seemed to pulse with a frantic desire to burst forward with supersonic speed.

Amy turned to Jet. She could barely make him out because her goggles were starting to fog over. She was breathing too quickly now. Her chest rising and falling in quick succession, but not putting air into her lungs. No….I can't…Amy peered forward. Beyond the edge of the hanger was a sheer drop into dark clouds and pure empty air. Her courage failed and she turned back. Jet was staring at her. "Just one small step." He placed his hand reassuringly on her back. Then he pushed.

Amy screamed as her and her board went zooming out of the ship. Her scream of terror dropped into her heart with such dread, she thought her chest would burst apart. Then, suddenly there was a great roar. Her board seemed to move on its own accord. It caught a gust of wind and straightened out. Amy's legs jerked around and suddenly she was riding. In one single crystallizing moment, all of her fear transformed into jubilation.

It was exactly as Wave had said. No words could have prepared Amy for this moment. The board seemed to sense what she wanted to do, and moved at the slightest shift in her weight. Flying really was the best thing in the world. A broad smile spread across Amy's face. After long imprisonment and constant anxiety and dread, flight was like cold water in a desert. It was the embodiment of freedom, the actualization of everything that had been denied Amy since GUN had first attacked her in her apartment.

So gone were all her feelings of fear that Amy actually spread out her arms and let the wind blow through her outstretched fingers. She laughed and found herself screaming into the howling wind. All her previous fears and worries seemed smaller now, and her own strengths all the more formidable. A green streak passed on her right, and Amy saw Jet spiraling down beside her. He was in much greater control of her board than she was. He twisted and zagged in the sky with extraordinary precision. A minute later, Wave arrived on her pink board, and was no less impressive than Jet was.

"Not too bad!" Wave yelled over the wind.

Amy pulled her arms together and dipped the nose of her board towards the surface. "Race you there!" The wind whipped against her face as Amy surged forward. The board seemed to know exactly what she wanted to do, and just how fast she wanted to go. Clouds rolled back and eventually Amy saw the tops of black rocked mountains. Set between two of their peaks, was a sprawling gray mass of glass towers. Jet rode up beside Amy and pointed them out. "That must be Area 99."

The three of them directed their boards to a peak overlooking the facilities. GUN's base looked small and remote from their vantage point, and Amy suddenly felt much more confident in their plan. With the extreme gear on their side, planting the bombs and escaping seemed incredibly easy.

"I don't see many defenses." Wave pointed out as she rode close beside Jet.

"We should still be cautious." Jet pointed to an overlook on the nearby peak where they could land. However, at that moment a loud siren broke the still silence. Amy covered her ears as the sound echoed in the night. She saw Wave and Jet do the same thing. Red lights blared and illuminated the base. For a moment, Amy thought they had been discovered, but nothing fired at them.

"Land quick!" They landed as Jet had instructed on an outcrop of the mountain. Once they did so, they quickly hid themselves behind some heavy boulders. Down at the base, Amy could see a hive of drones swarming near the entrance of the facility. The siren continued to sound, but Amy realized it wasn't an alarm, it was more like-

"A war horn," Wave said darkly. She pointed towards the main entrance. "Look." The doors opened slowly. Amy gasped as an army of Diamond Sonics filed out. Their sleek armor glinted in the moonlight. Amy covered her mouth with her hand. There had to be almost a thousand of them. The Diamond Sonics gathered outside of the base before they all hovered into the air and streaked off towards the far horizon.

Amy turned back to the others. Their expressions were as terrified as her own. "Well?" Wave asked. "Do you think they just sent them all?"

"I doubt it," Jet answered. "But I can guarantee you that something big must be going on."

"So what do we do?"

"Stick to the plan. We destroy what's here, and then we'll see what happens after that." Jet gestured to the highest tower of the facility. "That's our entry point." Without waiting for fear to take in, Jet returned to his board and zoomed off into the sky.

"There's no going back now," Wave muttered as she followed.

Amy was the last to go. Not because she was afraid, the flight had taken that from her, but she was preoccupied on the destination of the Diamond Sonics. Where were they going, and what threat could demand the need for such a large force? Instinctively, Amy thought of Tails. Was he alright? Had he somehow put together a resistance effort of his own? Amy shoved these thoughts aside and forced herself to only think about the present. She hopped back on her board and streaked after Wave.

The top tower was guarded by a revolving sentry of drones. Jet caught their attention which allowed Wave and Amy to sneak into the tower. Once inside, they dismounted and waited for Jet to get back. Wave started typing on one of the consoles and brought up a map of the facility. "This is the core," She explained while she pointed at a spot at the heart of the base. "If we plant our explosives here it will take everything out in one go."

"Are there any people here?"

Wave checked the computer and frowned. "Yeah, there are half a dozen still stationed here."

"Then we have to make them leave first."

Wave groaned. "That will put us at a great risk. Why are you so insistent on saving these humans anyway?"

"We don't kill. Besides, if we do, that will only galvanize the public and make them even more terrified. Fear will only make GUN stronger."

Wave seemed taken aback by Amy's logic. "I guess that makes sense. In that case, I think you should be the one to do it." Wave indicated a series of hallways on the upper floor of the main building. "The chief engineers all work from here. You'll have to convince them to leave, but don't be surprised when they'd rather die. Jet and I will set the charges and we will detonate." Wave checked her watch. "You have fifteen minutes."

Amy didn't waste any time waiting for Jet. She raced down the tower's staircase and into the main lobby. The place was mostly deserted. Amy crept down the narrow gray hallways, cringing slightly every time her foot squeaked. After five minutes or so, she arrived at the upper apartments. Here, the few GUN officers who operated the facility had their lodging.

To Amy's immense luck, it seemed that the GUN officers were in the middle of finishing up a meeting. The conference room had large windows, and Amy was able to creep up the door. She hid in a corner and listened intently. The people inside were speaking in hushed tones.

"I have no idea where they are even going," Grumbled one officer. He looked to be the oldest of the bunch. A cropped gray goatee framed his angular face. "Argus hasn't trusted the site to anyone except his own private teams. The coordinates were remotely uploaded to the Diamond Units."

"What do you think is happening then?" A woman asked. Her voice sounded tense.

"He wouldn't have called for such a hasty mobilization unless it was something big." Said another officer. He was large with a deep growl of a voice. "I'd reckon someone has found the fortress and is attacking."

"Don't talk like that Bill. Who would be crazy enough to attack us?" The first woman asked in shock. "I mean…you don't think it…could it be…Sonic?"

Bill shrugged. "Could be."

"Well there is no point in wondering," interjected the older man. "Argus wants us to have four more battalions ready to go. I don't see how we are going to manage that, but we'll do what we can."

The officers exchanged nervous looks but then made for the door. At that moment, Amy leapt out of the corner. One officer instinctively reached for the pistol at his belt, but Amy kicked him in the leg, causing him to double over. A second tried to tackle Amy, but she easily leapt over him and kicked him in the back of the head. The others drew back with their hands raised.

"Listen up! My friends and I are destroying this place, and if you don't want to go down with it, you'll do exactly what I say."

The GUN officers looked at her in disbelief. Bill went so far as to smile at her. "That's cute, and how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

Amy sneered back at him before holding up her bag and pushing back the fold. The light of the Sol Gems glinted back at them. The officer's expression hardened. "How the-"

"That doesn't matter! Now you must leave this place right away."

"We aren't going anywhere," Said the old man. He puffed out his chest and glared down at Amy. "The work we do here is going to protect the world one day. We aren't going to let that go to waste."

"The work you do here is destroying the world," Amy countered. "GUN is the enemy. You've let one wrong turn lead to so many you don't even recognize yourselves anymore."

"Petulant child! You have no idea how the world actually works. Brave speeches don't keep our country safe. We've only done what we have to do."

"This isn't a debate," Amy said firmly. "You will leave."

"Your threats don't scare me. I doubt you even have any friends with you, you're probably alone and-"

Sirens suddenly erupted overhead. Red alarm lights flashed on the ceiling. The officers looked up in confusion and Amy used that as her chance to strike. She dashed forward and hit each officer in the head with just enough force to knock them out. Once they were all out cold, she picked up the first woman and shrugged her over her own shoulder.

Time to go. Amy leapt back onto her board and streaked off. The sirens sang overhead and Amy heard the distant humming of hundreds of freshly activated defenses. GUN drones rounded the far corner. With a great burst of speed, Amy rocketed forward. Shockwaves exploded out of her board and decimated the robots.

Amy wondered if this was how Sonic felt. Speed was far more deadly a weapon than Amy had realized. Not only was it laughably easy for her to avoid enemy gunfire, but merely approaching an enemy generated enough force to send them flying backward. More and more drones tried to stop her, but numbers made no difference. Amy let out a cry of exuberant triumph as her board went from floor to wall to ceiling in dizzying circles.

She passed block by block through the base. Hundreds of drones swarmed the hallways, but they were always too slow to adequately pursue her. She burst out of the facility and dashed down the mountain slope. Once she was sufficiently far away, she dropped the woman into the snow and turned around.

Again and again, Amy went into the base, took one of the officers and deposited them at a safe distance. Time ticked down, and Amy could only hope that Jet and Wave were managing on their own. At last, the only officer left was the big man. Amy tried to hold him up, but he was simply too heavy for her.

"Amy, it's done. We've planted the charges. If you're not already out then get out now!" Wave's voice screamed out of Amy's radio.

Amy tugged on the man, but it was no use. She tried dragging him, but that was far too slow. The GUN drones were mostly ignoring her. They had been drawn off to the core to deal with Jet and Wave. Amy looked down at the man. Fear was making her heart rate spike. What could she do? She could not simply leave him here to die. Why not? A sinister voice whispered from inside. He'd kill you in a heartbeat. He is probably responsible for hundreds of deaths already.

She looked down at the man. His face was heavy and utterly unsympathetic. She remembered with cruel clarity how the GUN soldiers had ransacked her apartment. Did they deserve mercy? Without thinking, Amy took off her magnetic boots. She stuffed them over the big mans' hands and connected them to her board. Amy then gave the board a light kick and it shot off.

"Five minutes Amy. Get out of there!" Amy started to run. Alarms continued to blare as she made turn after desperate turn. The facility was far larger when she was navigating without her board. An internal timer ticked down inside her head. Four minutes….I won't make it. Three minutes…Is this the right way? Two minutes…I see the door. Amy reached the outside and her feet sank into two feet of snow. She trudged through the drifts, her legs burning with the effort. Ten seconds. Not far enough…

WHOOSH! A green streak jetted past her. Amy felt herself being hoisted into the air. She looked up just in time to see Jet's face a few inches from her own. One second.

There was no sound. Amy felt a white flash break against her face. Jet's board started to shake violently. The air itself seemed to have become fire. The light nearly blinded Amy. She let go of Jet and fell. She landed in the soft snow. Amy lurched up and her mouth fell open. It looked as if the sky itself had been torn open. A void of swirling pink mattered hovered over the space where the facility had been.

Thud. Jet landed a few feet away from Amy. He came to her side and put a hand on her shoulder. "We did it."