Kit activated his hydro pack and traversed the debris. He placed himself roughly the same distance away from the scavenger team as the first one outside of the mountain—close enough to hear while far enough not to be seen. Like the first group, there were four members. And since they were inside the mountain, it was even harder to see from the limited source of moonlight. The only thing Kit could clearly see were the sources of lights being used by the members.
"What were you two doing up there?" One of the males said.
"We were Checking for leftovers, like you asked, which, by the way, we did not find," Jasmine said.
"It didn't look like it should have taken that long. That structure didn't look that big to me," the male said.
"I guess I should apologize for taking it slow and valuing my life, George!" Jasmine said.
"Ok, I get it! Just have better communication skills is all I'm asking. The only radios we have are between squad leaders. Don't want to have the burden of losing lives under my supervision." George said.
"Oh, please. We're the clean up squads, ok? We're not on the frontlines or anything, like the squad who leveled this base. Don't be dramatic." Jasmine said.
"I mean, There is a reason they need clean up squads. You never know what we might run in to." Kate said, joining in on the conversation.
"Which was why I brought you along with me in case something went down." Jasmine said.
"look, I'm trying to be laid back as possible to make this mission bearable. If you're going to be out of sight, at least be withing earshot. Whatever robot was left probably heard me when I yelled out to you guys." George said.
"Fine. Consider it done. But, what about mister silence over there?" Jasmine said, referring to the fourth member.
"Who, me? I wasn't the one who walked off. What are you talking about?" The fourth male member said.
"I know, I'm just messing with you. Just trying to get you to talk is all. You've been quite since we were briefed back at HQ." Jasmine said.
"No offense but, I'm not much of a talker. I'm just trying to get through this so I could eat at night." The fourth member said.
"Surprise surprise! That's the story with all of us. We're not doing this for the fun of it. Talking and having conversations makes this go quicker than you think." Jasmine said.
"Whatever." The fourth member said.
"Can you at least tell us your name?" Kate said.
"Justin." The fourth member said.
"That's a start. But, I guess I should leave you alone so you can ReChArGe your social battery." Jasmine said, making fun of Justin.
"Another reason why I don't like talking to people." Justine said.
"She's not making fun of you for the reason you think. It's to loosen you up is all." George said.
"What?" Justin said.
"Forget it. Let's just keep moving. And watch your steep too. Don't want to accidentally fall into the abyss below us." George said.
Kit crawled back and put a bit of distance between him and the group.
When he felt he was far enough, he called Surge on his Scroll.
"You found the blueprints you were looking for?" Surge said.
"Yes, I have. But, there's a problem." Kit said.
"What is it?" Surge said.
"There's a clean-up team of four in the base looking for stragglers. One of the members downloaded files from a nearby computer and has them with her," Kit said.
"Shoot. You can't find another computer? That base was way too big for there to be one storage room." Surge said.
"I probably could. But, who knows how long that would take." Kit said.
"Ok. What exactly are you calling me for?" Surge said, starting to see where the conversation is going.
"I'm asking permission to take the files from them." Kit said.
"What happened to being patient? You would be ATTACKING them!" Surge said.
"I can hide their bodies deep in the base. No one would find them." Kit said.
"...if you have it figured out, then go ahead. Just make sure there's no evidence of you ever being there." Surge said.
"Got it." Kit said.
"Be quick about it." Surge said. Hanging up.
After being given the green light, Kit went on the hunt. Kit focused back on the group of four touring the graveyard of machines. The group had made some distance but not too much. Kit began to crawl his way closer to the group while avoiding hazards. Once Kit was close, he used his binoculars to get a better look at the group. Similar to the first group Kit encountered, this group was wearing all-black gear and armed with some rifle-type weapon. Kit composed himself as the adrenaline began to dump through his body.
Kit activated his Hydro Pack and summoned four hydro-coil tails. "If I strike them all at the same time, none of them would be able to alert the other groups," Kit whispered to himself. Kit continued to crawl as he stalked the group. Kit then used his hydro-coil tails to grasp each of the members by their necks and lift them up in the air. The group dropped their rifles in hand as they instinctively grabbed onto what was holding onto their necks.
"HEY! arrgh- What's going on!?" George yelled.
Before the others could voice their shock at the sudden attack, Kit slammed the four members down into the broken machines. Kit activated his last two hydro-coil tails and enveloped George's and Justin's heads with water. As Kate and Jasmine screamed and struggled to break free, George and Justin suddenly took in water in their lungs. Once Kit felt the lack of resistance from the two male operators, he deactivated the four of his hydro-coil tails that were used on them.
"Hey! Show yourself!" Jasmine yelled.
Kit activated a hydro-coil tail and used it to grab one of the rifles that was dropped. Kit aimed the rifle at himself and used the mounted flashlight attached to it to illuminate himself. Now that Kit was closer, he was able to get a better look at his prey. One was a red fox, and the other was a dark blue hawk. Kate and Jasmine were indeed wearing all-black gear but were lightly equipped. The operatives had black short sleeve shirts, black BDU pants, black boots, and a utility belt with ammo and other miscellaneous gear.
"W-What do you want?" Kate shakingly said.
"Which one of you is Jasmine" Kit said, Plainly.
"Me! What's your deal?!" The dark blue hawk said.
"The files you downloaded. I need it. Hand them over." Kit said, maintaining his monotone demeanor.
"I found it first! I'm sure there's other computers you could go to!" Jasmine said.
Kit activated another hydro-coil tail and used it to grab another rifle and illuminate George's and Justin's lifeless bodies.
"Oh my god! George!? Justin!?" Kate uttered.
"I just need the files. If you give them to me, I'll let you go." Kit said.
"Jasmine, Just give him the flash drive! PLEASE!" Kate begged.
"What is wrong with you!? You didn't have to kill them! Especially not over some digital crap!" Jasmine yelled.
"If you don't want to end up like them...I would hand over whatever the files are stored in." Kit said.
"Jasmine, for the love of chaos, just hand him the drive!" Kate said.
"Ok, fine! Here!" Jasmine said, as she reached around her utility belt.
Jasmine received a small rectangular device and held it in the air. Kit used the hydro-coil tail that was illuminating the dead bodies and used it to grab the small device. Kit brought it close to him and identified it as a USB drive. Kit tilted his head as he inspected the USB drive closer and noticed there were buttons on it.
"Is this USB encrypted?" Kit asked, slightly irritated.
"No. I was too lazy to put a password on it." Jasmine said.
"Stop lying! Yes, you did!" Kate said.
"KATE! Shut up! He would've believed me if you haven't opened your damn mouth!" Jasmine said.
"And what happens when he finds out that it was encrypted and comes back to find us!? What then?" Kate said.
"You seriously think he's going to let us live?" Jasmine said.
"W-What? What are you talking about? He said if we hand him the files he'll let us live! Weren't you listening?" Kate said.
"He already killed George and Justin! Why you'd think he did that? Because he has no use for them and he doesn't want any witnesses. I lied to him so at least he wouldn't get the files after he kills us. Guess that plans out the window now." Jasmine said, extremely frustrated.
"B-But...Y-you will let us go...right? After we give you what you want?" Kate said, in denial of what was to come.
"I keep my word. If this USB is encrypted, I need the password." Kit said.
"I wasn't born yesterday. I know the password and I'm not giving it to y-"
"It's 1590!" Kate said, interrupting Jasmine.
"KATE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?." Jasmine said.
"Try it! I'm telling the truth." Kate said.
Kit inserted the sequence of numbers on the USB, and a green light blinked on the device, indicating that it had been unlocked.
"See? Now, can you please let us go?" Kate said.
Kit stored the USB away and activated another hydro-coil tail. He used the two free tails to deliver the same fate that their male comrades suffered. Kit enveloped both Kate's and Jasmine's heads with water. However, Kit didn't feel any resistance from them. Kit used the tail that held the rifle and pointed towards them to get a clearer look. Kit saw that both Kate and Jasmine were holding their breath to avoid drowning.
"You're going to have to take a breath at some point." Kit said.
Kit watched as Kate and Jasmine attempted to break free from the grip of the Hydro-coil tails but came up unsuccessful. Kit saw Kate putting her hands together in a praying symbol in an attempt to ask for mercy. Kit didn't respond and continued to watch. Eventually, Kit saw bubbles appearing from both of them. Kate was the first to break and began to violently struggle as she took in water. Soon, Jasmine began the same. After a short while, Kit felt the lack of resistance from both of them. Kit released four of his hydro-coil tails from their bodies.
"Now I just need to hide them." Kit said to himself.
"Team Radio Check. Alpha?" said a static voice.
Kit snapped his head towards the sudden voice he heard. It came from the direction of George's body.
"Alpha is all set." A different voice said.
"Bravo?" The first voice said.
Kit approached George's body and saw the voices were coming from a radio from his utility belt.
"They're doing team checks. I better hide bodies fast and get out of here." Kit said.
"Bravo is all set." A voice said.
"Charlie?" a voice said.
Kit grabbed the four bodies with his hydro-coil tails and walked around the wreckage. As George mentioned earlier, there were random death holes Kit had to avoid while traversing the destroyed base. If Kit could find one that led to the bottom of the mountain, he could throw the bodies in there and leave.
"Charlie, this a a radio check. Are you all set?" The static voice said.
Kit figured the team he just eliminated was Charlie and sped up in searching for a hole.
"This is HQ. Can we have two teams check on Charlie?" The voice said.
"Alpha team has it. We're already halfway up the mountain." A voice said.
"This is Delta. We're all set and will be moving towards Charlie's zone," another voice said.
"Copy, Alpha and Delta." A voice said.
Kit continued to look for a hole to dump the bodies in. While looking for a hole, he spotted something in his peripheral vision. Kit looked up and saw the light dancing around the edge of the mountain. He hurried his search.
"Of course when I need one, they're no where to be found!" Kit said to himself.
Kit eventually found a hole that looked deep enough to reach the bottom of the mountain, though it was too small to fit any of the bodies through. Kit used another hydro-coil tail and used it expanded it slightly but not too much to destabilize the ground around it. Once it was big enough, Kit threw the bodies into the hole and then covered the top with debris. Kit activated all of his hydro-coils tails and began to ascend up the walls of the inner mountain. Kit looked around and saw multiple cones of light from different areas of the edge of the mountain, descending down. Kit sped up his ascent and climbed over the edge of the mountain. From there, Kit kicked into full gear and quickly made it toward the Resistance base and into his dorm building undetected.
When he entered the dorm room, he saw Surge in bed browsing her Scroll.
"That was quick. Did you get it?" Surge said.
"Yes." Kit said, showing the USB drive
"What about the, you know what?" Surge said, referencing the dead bodies.
"I hid them at the bottom of the base. I don't think anyone will find them anytime soon. Or at least, won't find them soon enough to determine the cause of death." Kit said
"Works for me." Surge said, getting ready for bed.
Kit stored the USB in a nightstand drawer and prepared for bed as well
###
"Let me get this straight...The guns are here...but their bodies aren't?" Josh said.
"Y-yes. That's correct. We surveyed the area and only found their firearms. Which means-"
"They 're missing in action." Josh said.
Once the Alpha and Delta teams confirmed that they could not locate the Charlie team, the news soon reached the higher ranks. The Resistance usually limited their operations activity during the night unless it was consequential to their campaign due to the fact that they were still limited on manpower. When Josh heard that an entire team went missing, he decided to see it for himself. Team Bravo was also present at the scene.
"Hey, guys." Sonic said, approaching.
"Glad you here, Maybe you can make sense of this." Josh said, to Sonic.
"Don't expect a miracle, I heard the juicy part but not the little details. Can you fill me in on it?" Sonic.
"We conducted a four team sweep for any leftover bots that didn't flee or died. Now, we used some of the midnight patrol guys since the base was close to us. HQ did their hourly checkup that starts from midnight. Literally the first checkup, all but team Charlie responded. Alpha and Delta team investigated Charlies zone of patrol, which was the inner mountain, and found nothing but their rifles. Bodies are no where to be found." Josh said.
"That certainly is a doozie. Did anyone hear gunfire or any sort of a struggle?" Sonic asked.
"No. We didn't hear anything coming from the inner mountain." A member of the Alpha team said.
Sonic pondered a bit. "Well, I got nothing. Not to sound casual about this but, I am way too tired to figure out how a whole team vanished. Doesn't look like we have anything to go off of as of now. I'd say we call everyone in for the night and figure this out tomorrow...or, in this case, later today. Sonic said.
"Agreed. Okay, pick up their rifles. We're heading back to base." Josh said, beginning to return home.
One of the members from Squad Bravo picked up a rifle and noticed something odd.
"Why is this wet?" The Bravo member said.
"Huh?" Josh said.
"This rifle, its wet." The Bravo member said.
"let me see that." Josh said.
The Bravo member handed the rifle to Josh.
"This one too." An Alpha member said.
"Seems like this one is wet as well. Weird." A Delta member said.
Josh examined the rifle with Sonic looking over his shoulder.
"I was about to brush it off as sweat but this would be too much to be sweat." Josh said, continuing to inspect the weapon.
"One of those types of evidence that leads to more questions than answers huh?" Sonic said.
"Seems like it." Josh said.
"We'll keep it mind. Ok, You guys can head home early, just make sure you complete your reports on this operation before you clock out." Josh said.
"Sure thing." An Alpha member said.
"I'm going to restrict the clean-up operations to just daytime. What are your thoughts?" Josh whispered to Sonic as they began exiting the area.
"Sounds good. I'm more worried how everyone else would react." Sonic said.
"Yea, you're right. It's not a good look. Sooner we find out what what happened, the better." Josh said.
"Yup. Let's do that after we get some sleep first." Sonic yawned while stretching.
"Haha. Yea, sounds good. And, make it a long one too. I have no doubt we will have a long day ahead of us." Josh said.
Sonic and Josh made their way out the base with the clean up teams following close behind.
###
The day had reached late morning. Kit had already left to the R&D building to review the files on the USB drive. Surge was preparing to leave the dorm and head to the gym. As she walked through the hallway, Sonic exited his dorm room and headed towards the common room as well. Surge noticed something different about Sonic but couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Hey!" Surge said.
Sonic stopped to see who was calling out.
"Oh, morning Surge." Sonic said, before turning around and continuing to walk.
Surge could tell something was definitely up. Usually, Sonic would've taken this opportunity to stick around and at least have a brief conversation with Surge. Now, for the first time, she saw Sonic walk with a purpose. It was as if he had a goal in mind and was going to reach it no matter the cost. Surge sped up to catch up with Sonic.
"What's going on?" Surge asked.
"Nothing you would care about." Sonic said.
Surge couldn't agree more. If it had nothing to do with her, it's not her problem. But if it's making Sonic behave this way...
"Try me." Surge said.
The two exited the dorm building, with Surge following Sonic to wherever he was going.
"A couple of our members went missing recently and we're trying to find out where they went." Sonic said.
"Here!? In the Base!?" Surge said.
"No. They went missing at the Eggman's base we blew up." Sonic said.
"How? That explosion shouldn't have left anything standing." Surge said.
"I wish a could say more but, maybe later." Sonic said.
"Could I join?" Surge asked.
Sonic stopped and turned to Surge.
"What? You want to join an operation...willingly?" Sonic asked, skeptically.
"Well, you did say joining operations like this would help me not be a outcast around here. Finding some damsel in distress should definitely fix that problem wouldn't you say?" Surge argued.
"I guess so...follow me." Sonic said.
Surge followed Sonic as they walked through the base until he entered an unmarked building. The outside of the building was small—no bigger than a public bathroom at a park. There were no distinct features about the building other than its bland white brick exterior. Surge entered the building and was met with a tiny room Sonic was standing in. The room had a wooden floor with dark blue walls.
"Ummmm...What?" Surge asked
"Just stand in. I had the same reaction the first time." Sonic said, chuckling a bit at Surge's confusion.
Surge fully entered the room and closed the door. The room shook for a brief moment. Surge turned to the door they entered through and saw it moving up the wall.
"Oh. You could've just said it was an elevator." Surge said.
"Where's the fun in that. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same." Sonic said.
"Touché." Surge said.
The elevator continued its descent.
"So uh, sorry about the way I acted during movie night. Don't know what got in to me." Sonic said.
"Oh, uh. It's cool. You already apologized, remember?" Surge said, rubbing her arm from the sudden awkwardness in the air.
"I know, I just uh, wanted to say it in person you know? Anyone can apologized by typing." Sonic said, scratching his head from the awkwardness as well.
"I guess so. We'll if you actually mean it, What didn't you want me to know? You didn't share that over text," Surge said.
"I'll tell you later. Need to know bases you know?" Sonic said.
"Is it really more important than what we're going to see at the bottom of the elevator?" Surge said, skeptically
"To me it is." Sonic said.
Before Surge could respond, the wall on the side where the two entered was ending as the elevator continued its descent. What replaced it was a view of a rectangular room.
"This is probably the most important room in our base." Sonic said.
Although Sonic made a comment with pride, the room did little to justify it. The room appeared to be in complete disarray, with debris ranging from rubble to broken crates near the corners of the room. The two ends of the width of the room had a metal door fixed in a brick wall. The wall itself appeared to be missing bricks, with random patches of damage scattered around the walls. The opposite end of the wall from the elevator looked to be made out of concrete that was also plagued with patches of damage. In the center of the opposite wall was a massive computer. The computer almost seemed holographic, with many fancy buttons accompanying its console at the base of it. It was obvious that the computer was probably the youngest object in the room. The ceiling followed the same texture as the wall opposite the elevator. In the center of the room was a wooden round table. To add the finishing touches of making the room look abandoned, various pipes and vent ducts ran across the walls of the room. Many of them looked rusty enough that they would collapse if you so much as sneezed on them.
The elevator reached the room's floor level. After Surge finished scanning the room, she was finally able to notice the occupants. Amongst the round table were Josh, Amy, Whisper, and Lanolin.
"Hey Sonic you made it...and you brought Surge with you. How nice!" Josh said, clearly not pleased with the unexpected guest.
As Sonic read the room, it was also clear that no one else approved of the added guest.
"What? What's wrong?" Sonic said, genuinely confused.
"Sonic, we all agreed to keep this confidential between just us." Amy said, disappointingly.
"We did?" Sonic said.
"Did you even check your Scroll at all after you left the scene?" Lanolin said.
"...Would you believe me if I said I was too tired to check?" Sonic said, with a half smirk on his face.
"Yes!" everyone, including Surge, said in unison.
"Well regardless, she's here. And, she did save my life once. I think we can trust her." Sonic said.
"*sigh* I guess I can attest to that as well. We're burning daylight anyway. Let's get a move on." Josh said.
"Can you keep a secret, Surge?" Lanolin asked.
"I may have a loud mouth, but I haven't shared any secrets." Surge said.
"I'm satisfied with that answer." Lanolin said.
"Amy? What about you?" Sonic said.
"Like Josh said, we're wasting time. And you and I need to talk later." Amy said.
"Noted." Sonic said.
Everyone then turned to Whisper. Whisper, in response, looked in the opposite direction.
"A lot better response, than the last time they were both in the same room." Josh said.
"That's because she knows her pla-"
"That's enough! Not now...please." Sonic said, cutting Surge off.
"Ok. let's get this briefing started." Josh said.
Everyone gathered around the round table and faced the computer. The computer showed an image of the base Eggman's base before it was destroyed.
"To provide a bit of context, about a couple two weeks ago, our scouts noticed a significant amount of Eggman's army traffic near this mountain. We kept an eye on it for a while and determined that there was reason to believe that a base may be present in the mountain. Due to the proximity of the base to us, we launched an operation to take it down as soon as it was feasible. This operation was the one about two days ago that involved Whisper, Sonic, Surge, And I. Not to toot our horn here but, between the four of us, it was a piece of cake. They never stood a chance." Josh said.
Josh then switched the image of the base to how it was after it was destroyed.
"Wow, you guys didn't hold back." Lanolin commented.
"After the dust settled and the remaining traffic in enemies died downed, we immediately started to set up clean up crew operations. Typical procedure honestly. The only thing that was a bit different was how fast we started them. Since it was so close to our base, the logistics and people to volunteer weren't scarce at all. I guess it was too good to be true." Josh said.
"The destruction we caused, caused the top area of the mountain to collapse on itself. This exposed the interior of the base...or what's left of it. Anyway, last night, we had four cleanup teams on shift. Alpha, Bravo, and Delta were on the perimeter of the mountain, while Charlie was in the center." Josh said.
"Why weren't the groups in pairs? You know, two on the perimeter and two in the center?" Lanolin asked.
"We gave them the freedom to discuss their strategy amongst themselves. After reading their report, their reasoning behind this strategy was to cover more ground. The center isn't as big and is a tight circle. Whereas the perimeter has wider surface area because you have to walk around the mountain." Josh said.
"Sounds like they cared about finishing quickly so they can goof around rather than their own safety." Lanolin said.
"Like any graveyard shift, a radio check was initiated at 0100 on the dot. Alpha, Bravo, and Delta team responded but-"
"The one lonely squad by itself didn't." Amy said.
"Squads Alpha and Delta went to investigate, while Bravo remained stationary and was on high alert." Josh said.
Josh zoomed in on the current image until the center of the mountain was all that was visible.
"Alpha and Delta team surveyed the area and found Charlie's firearms at this location here." Josh said.
A red X appeared just near the center of the map.
"They couldn't find Charlie's bodies however. They could very well still be alive somewhere." Josh said.
"So what exactly do you want us to do?" Surge asked.
"I want us to find them by any means. Everyone who was involved in the operation had been told to not speak a word about." Josh said.
"What about friends and family of the team that went missing? I'm sure they're wondering where they went." Amy said.
"They've been told that they went on another operation that was classified. Obviously that lie won't last forever. But, it should give us a few weeks before they start to demanding answers." Josh.
"Maybe I'm missing something here but, why are we keeping it a secret that a team went missing? If everyone knew, wouldn't that make it easier to find them?" Surge said.
"It has little to do with finding them and more to do with our integrity." Lanolin said.
"English please." Surge responded.
"If everyone found out we lost a group of four on an operation, not to mention that they were close to base too, it would show us as incompetent. There would be fewer members willing to participate in operations. If they were found dead, that may be a little different, but missing is unacceptable. Amy said.
"Especially with how we handled the operation. Lanolin already pointed out some of the obvious flaws but, there were also some procedures, polices, and protocols that were completely ignored. So, I don't care how you find them. Use your contacts and use your resources. We need to find them ASAP. Do whatever you need to do to find them, while at the same time keeping it silent. Any questions?" Josh said.
"I'm confused. Is this treated as an operation too? Would we be assigned to one." Whisper asked.
"Due to the confidentiality of this incident. No one will be assigned to anything. However, you will have unrestricted access the reports and name files of everyone that was involved last night." Josh said.
Whisper nodded her head in acknowledgment.
"Anything else? Ok, that's about it. Glad you guys were able to attend." Josh said.
As the briefing finished. Everyone stayed to talk with one another. Surge approached Josh as he was clearing everything from the computer.
"Hey." Surge said.
"What's up?" Josh said.
"Just had a question on the, not telling anyone part." Surge said.
"It means exactly what you think it means. Don't tell anyone. Unless you think the person you're talking to could help you find the missing group. I would ask permission from one of us first before you do so." Josh said.
"I don't have a question about that. Once Amy explained it to me, it made a lot more sense. I'm just questioning the morality behind it." Surge said.
"What do you mean?" Josh said.
"If you had a loved one that went missing, wouldn't you want to know as soon as possible?" Surge said.
"It's not about that. You need to see the bigger picture here. What has more of an impact? A family knowing that their loved ones went missing or losing public order and respect?" Josh said.
"I do see the bigger picture. I just said I understood why you guys were doing this. It's just interesting when it's being done by you guys. You know, the good guys? The ones who protect who can't protect themselves." Surge said, smirking.
"What are you trying to say?" Josh said, getting irritated.
"I'm just saying, It's unlike you guys to be doing something like this. What happens if we can't find the bodies. What happens then? Are you going to tell the truth, or are you going to cover it up with another lie?" Surge.
"I don't think you have any business questioning our morality. Do me a favor and do what you are asked. Either find the missing group or keep quite about it." Josh said, before walking away.