Hey hey hey, there's a lot of info to dump on this chapter so I won't waste any time. ^^

Inspiration and Reference

So the inspiration for this chapter was obviously stealth levels. I essentially turned the chapter into a Sonic stealth game X'D

I really just had to hunker down and look into every stealth game, stealth scene, and sneaky character I had ever come across and take what they did into account for this whole thing. Also prison breaks, escape/infiltration scenes in various media. Basically a heckuva lot of stories. If you're interested, all the inspirations for this chapter are as follows:

Mission Impossible,

The Borne Identity,

Burn Notice,

Assassin's Creed (the first two),

Styx: Master of Shadows,

Batman Arkham series,

Suicide Squad: Assault on Arkham,

TMNT: The Last Ronin (great comic, lemme tell ya!),

Prison Break Season 1,

One Piece's Impel Down Arc (great arc, lemme tell ya!),

The Incredibles (won't be the last time I use them as inspiration for this fic either ;)),

Salt (2010) (which was quite stupid, not gonna lie),

Blue Eye Samurai's Fowler Castle episode (fantastic little show),

Terminator 2's Asylum Escape scene,

Sly Cooper series,

Spider-Man the Game (2000) (because of all the wall and ceiling stuff)

PS4 Spider-Man (because of all the wall and ceiling stuff),

Avatar the Last Airbender's Blue Spirit episodes,

Charlie's Angels (2000)

I also had to consider what GUN already has as established security measures, ya know, besides armed guards and the like. Shadow's game was a big help with that, but I want to make clear, this is not the same facility as the GUN Fortress level from the game. It has similar security measures, the toxic waste room is an example of one, but this is a completely different facility from that one. I'm not sure where that fortress is located, but it is meant to be a stronghold for GUN personnel only, and it may even be kinda secret as far as the public is concerned. The facility that this chapter takes place in is one stationed in Central City and is meant to have public accessible areas. So just to clear that up.

New/Reimagined Characters

Now, new characters! Everybody loves those, right? The GUN trio that Espio and Charmy just couldn't shake are all based off of preexisting characters in the Sonic franchise! I like doing that in my fics when I need certain roles filled in the narrative. The Rat, Munch, is based off of Munch Rat and The Bulldog, Bones, is based off of Bull Bones from Archie Comics. And The Eagle, Ed, is based off of Edgar Eagle from AoStH. I wanted to create a specialized team that would be used to aid the security measures of the entire facility, just in case GUN got hacked or something and couldn't trust their technology. They'd still have the best sensing team ever to get to save the day. That is, if they weren't tricked as well, which is of course what happens.

Their clothing designs are of course based off of the 3 main military factions of the USA, Army for Munch, Navy for Bones, & the Air Force for Ed. Munch's clothes are pretty identical to his Archie counterpart's clothing, only I added camouflage to them. I also gave him a holster for his guns and combat boots where he hides a dagger knife. This is a reference to his Archie counterpart wielding a sword. Now, obviously I couldn't give him a sword, as that would've been too much for the design, so I did the next best thing and got him a long knife. His green beret was meant to reference The Green Berets faction of the military, and it also functioned as a clue that Munch is actually a skilled fighter before we even see him in battle. The dog tags were just the cherry on top, as I needed to give him something to use in his fight with Espio to swing around above him to block Espio from coming at him from above again.

For Bones, I actually took inspiration from the classic S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms from Marvel Comics. The many white straps along his body and white boots are from that. It's a very striking and engaging militaristic uniform and I thought Bones looked halfway there already in the Archie Comics, why not take him all the way? Also, he definitely has snacks in some of those pouches because I thought it would be funny and practical for him to do that. I made him the laziest of the 3 because he's the oldest and he wouldn't believe anyone could circumvent his nose as they never had in all the time he'd worked there. So he kinda rested on his laurels in that regard.

Red isn't a normal color for the Air Force, I know, but I based Ed's uniform on a specific Air Force team called The Thunderbirds, who wear red jumpsuits. Basically I needed a different color palate for each of them and I also needed to base them off of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, so I kinda fudged it. Artistic license and all that ^^U Ed didn't get time to shine in the first half of the breakout, but we'll see if I can put him to good use in the second half.

Less important characters include The Cow agent, Irene, and The Kangaroo agent, Frank, who got into a brief argument in the cafeteria over a nabbed brownie. Both of them are based on obscure playable characters that few of the most devoted fans know. Both of them are from Sonic's Schoolhouse! Yeah, didn't expect to see something from that little slice of Sonic history, did ya? XD

Not much else to say about them, just that The Kangaroo does indeed have an Australian accent.

Another minor character is Todd, the mohawk Zebra mentioned in Charmy's letter to Munch. He is also from Sonic's Schoolhouse! X'D Got a lot of milage outta that game for this chapter. Whether or not Munch will actually get to go to poker at Todd's place later is just an unanswered question we'll have to ponder on forever T_T

Potential Plotholes & Explanations

So let's discuss potential plotholes. For starters, how was Charmy able to open the vault doors by shocking some random wires? Well, I researched it as much as I could and this is what I found out.

Keypad security systems function on an automatic if, then code. Meaning, if the user inputs a passcode that the system has already filed as permissible, then the input data is routed to a sort of processor which connects to the computer system. The processor acts as the middle man for the computer system and the keypad. The computer receives the input code from the processor, then gives the open command to the processor which directs it to the specific doors connected to the specific console the input originated from. This all happens within a second because electricity.

So how could someone open a door connected to an automatic system like this? Well, you simply bypass the input portion of the process. By ignoring that, you skip the processor and the computer system's checks and force an open command by choosing the right wires and shooting an electrical current through them.

This is a similar process to hot-wiring a car. Normally, you take the key, stick it in the ignition, turn it and activate the car's engine and battery. You can bypass this normal process by going to the wires themselves and crossing the right ones to create a spark that shifts the engine and battery on without the need for a key. This is what Charmy is doing, he is simply the one providing the spark to hotwire the doors to open.

This is also why Charmy knew to try this idea to open the doors, as opposed to just shocking the screen, which would absolutely break it, not open it. This is one of those pet peeves of mine that I see in a lot of movies and video games. "It's an electric lock so just shock it and it'll open, huh duuuuuuh!" That's an embarrassing display of ignorance or laziness and I wasn't about to do it here. Instead, I had Charmy be the voice of reason for Espio in this regard because he's admittedly technologically illiterate. Whereas Charmy is technology savvy because he's grown up with it and just intrinsically knows these kind of things. He would of course think to treat the doors like a car to be hotwired.

To GUN's credit, their system is so advanced that receiving a momentary spark to the wires will only cause the doors to open a certain degree, as a continuous command is required to keep the automatic doors open. So even after prying away the metal plates, cutting through the cement, and reaching the wires directly, there is still a contingency in place to keep the automatic doors from falling to simple hot-wiring tactics. Luckily, Espio was there to get them through the small gaps that Charmy could provide them.

Hopefully that makes sense, I really wanted to make this part be as logical as possible to not come off as contrived because it was quite important for progressing the story of the chapter. C:

Why couldn't Bones, the designated nose of Team GUN, sniff out Charmy & Espio when Charmy said pointblank that he would be able to in Bones's position? Well, as surprising as it may seem, this plot point is based upon the real life stats of bulldogs and bees. Of all the dogs that exist, bulldogs have some of the weakest noses, though obviously they greatly outrank humans. But because of their short snouts and small noses, bulldogs compared to greyhounds and beagles are less acute. Add age to that statistic and you wind up with a dog who is smelling at maybe 3/4 of another dog's capacity. Not enough to kick him off the team, but not enough to be top of the line either.

Next, bees actually have possibly the strongest sense of smell in nature, with 50x the acuity of all dogs. Using their antennae, mouth, and even the tips of their legs, they can distinguish thousands of individual scents from each other. Whereas dog would be able to distinguish a few hundred.

Now obviously, Charmy was unaware of the bulldog's stats in this regard as he isn't the researching type, all he had was his own sense of smell to go off of. Fortunately, he was misinformed and Bones remained unaware of their presence. For anyone wondering how they managed to avoid the nose of Bones at every turn but not the ears of Munch, there ya go.

This heightened sense of smell is also why Bones reacted so dramatically to the Fart Heard Round the Corridor. Yep, I wanted to include a tension breaker that was a classic Charmy Nonsense type joke. There's been quite a lack of comedic moments in this fic and this seemed like the perfect spot to include one, so there you go. XD A nervous fart at close range would absolutely demolish a dog, which is why Bones had to leave the area. Super senses are a double edged sword, never forget. Because we'll certainly revisit the topic in this fic.

If Espio can control light through the usage of his aura, why didn't he just bend the lasers in the last secure room and walk through normally? Well, just because he can do certain things, doesn't mean he should.

He could've knocked out both Munch and Bones right when they went inside the janitor's closet, but it wouldn't have been wise as Munch and Bones' absence would've been noted by Ed and draw unnecessary attention to Espio and Charmy.

Similarly, Espio can bend lasers with his Light Aura affinity, he doesn't because the act of manipulating the lasers so to make it easier for him to get through the room would have definitely been noticed by the surveillance room agents. Which would once again, draw unnecessary attention to Espio and Charmy. A door glitching for a second is one thing. The entire laser grid bending and contorting just before a door glitch is something else entirely.

What are the odds that a digital voice recorder would be in the one office that Espio & Charmy went to? Well, it's actually standard issue for all GUN personnel! So regardless of what office they went into, the chances of them finding a digital voice recorder was quite high.

This is a detail I forgot to include in the interrogation scenes, by the way. Rouge and Shadow would be using their digital voice recorders to have their interrogations on record. Rouge's line about running the tape back after she cracked Vector last chapter is supposed to reference her digital voice recorder. I just forgot to write it into the scene. Whoopsie ^^U

Charmy is able to splice together clips to use due to the amount of time he and Espio took to clean the restroom after the Munch fight. Because of how Espio blew up at Charmy, they avoided each other for the most part while cleaning the restroom, giving Charmy plenty of time to play with his new toy.

Other Plot Details

This isn't a potential plot hole, but it's a plot detail that I'd like to touch on. Espio's changed look this chapter, as most of you probably picked up on, is his Classic design, right down to the shoes. The only differences being that the whites of his eyes (the sclera) are mostly black and his gloves (his Modern design's gloves) have become black too. This is a combination of his Classic design and his Ninja outfit from Sonic Speed Simulator. I didn't give him the full outfit as I felt that would be too much and wouldn't line up with what I'm trying to do thematically here. So I just darkened his gloves and eyes while retaining the wrist mounted blades that come with my Espio's gloves. He didn't get to use them this chapter but I have a feeling he'll have his opportunity next chapter ;)

Anyway, the purpose behind Espio's change in design is mainly going to be a reveal for later in the story, but I can divulge this aspect. His scales changing color has precedent in the canon. Which is why his Classic design was more purple and his Modern design is more fuchsia, with gradations in between. Compare his color in Heroes to the box art and renders of Rivals 2 and Generations. You'll see a clear difference even in his Modern color scheme. As for what these changes in colors actually mean, in story or thematically... I'll let you guys figure that out C;

Yet another detail I wanted to highlight is Espio's harsh words to Charmy, as they aren't just generic mean things. What he chooses to say and not say is incredibly important for later, so I hope you'll keep them in mind as we progress forward with the story. It'll be very... insightful.

The idea to use Munch's body to do a Weekend At Bernie's type thing was purely spur of the moment. I had to figure out how to get Charmy & Espio into that surveillance room, I made it too secure! XD So I just figured, they could use Munch as a meat puppet and that will actually get them in the room. The joke with the rest of his team having a full blown emotional breakthrough with his unconscious body is... me being dumb XD

But also, I felt bad for all the stuff Munch went through during the story. So I made up for it a little by giving him some friend prospects, having him make up with his team, and shifting public opinion of him at his job. He was just doing his job and protecting national security in his own way, after all. He's a good guy, just rough around the edges.

And that just about does it for this chapter! As crazy as this may sound, this chapter and the next chapter were originally supposed to be 1 super big chapter! But, it turns out, this one got way to long and I knew adding on the next chapter would most likely be over the character count for this platform, so I just decided to break it where I did. When Part 2 comes out, you'll see why I cut this one here. So until then, have a nice day and I'll see ya C: