Direct Attack
Now...
The noise in the dining room was deafening, but in a way that was endearing. Children shouting and laughing, teens chatting about the adventures they had had and wanted to have in the future. At the back of the room, Jet and Wave were seated at their private table, slightly higher than the others, from where the hawk kept a calm but watchful eye on his boys while Wave, between bites of her food, gave instructions to a couple of her assistants.
Storm and Amy came out of the kitchen door carrying trays overflowing with food, which a handful of teens collected to distribute among their companions.
"Eat up! I want to see those plates clean!" said the great albatross with a laugh.
"Papa Storm," called one of the girls. "What did you put in the stew this time? It's even more delicious than yesterday's!"
"Some new spices from our guests!" Storm replied as he nudged Amy playfully.
"Man, I know Chief Jet gets annoyed by them, but it's always great when Sonic and Miss Amy come to visit the nest! Good food and good adventures!" exclaimed another of the kids.
"It's my pleasure to serve you, kids!" Amy thanked them with a big smile. "Now eat until you burst! There's plenty for everyone!"
Meanwhile, Sonic remained on the sidelines of the revelry, on the dining room terrace, leaning on one of the handrails with only a can of Chaos-cola. He watched the kids come and go, throwing food at each other and laughing. He looked at Jet and Wave, who seemed comfortable in the apparent chaos. Then he looked at Amy... He stood there for a long time just watching her hand out food, chatting with Storm and the kids, laughing. A slight smile formed onto his face and he took another sip of soda.
He sensed someone approaching on his right, and when he turned to look, he found Knuckles, also carrying a can of soda, but grape flavored. They clinked cans before the echidna joined the hedgehog.
"A lot of people," Knux exclaimed. "It's been a long time since I've seen so many people together and happy. I'm glad, but it's a little overwhelming."
"You can say that again," Sonic replied simply as he took another sip of soda.
"Is everything okay with Amy?"
The question took the hedgehog by surprise, and he blinked a couple of times before letting out a small laugh.
"Great, really."
"You haven't talked to her yet..."
"I will in a little while."
"Is it a sensitive subject?"
The hedgehog sighed deeply, then turned around to face the night breeze.
"It shouldn't be, but..."
"When did you start to distrust Sally? Did you suspect something about her from the beginning, or...?"
"It's not distrust. It never was, quite the opposite. She... was always more trustworthy than me, much more trustworthy than me," the hedgehog laughed bitterly. "Maybe that's what bothered me from the beginning, realizing that she was right about everything... about me..."
Then... One year and five months before The Union.
The morning sky was pristine, clear except for a handful of fluffy, gleaming white clouds and a sun that embraced the world with its warmth. A small biplane crossed that perfect sky at breakneck speed, carrying on its wings three figures who lay defiantly in the face of the wind's speed. On the right wing was Sonic, his defiant gaze fixed on the horizon; in the middle was Amy, sitting with her eyes closed and humming as she enjoyed the wind whistling in her ears; and on the left wing, leaning over and looking down at the ground, Princess Sally Acorn.
From the back pocket of her shorts, she took out Nicole's phone, which she was able to unfold to double its width. When she turned it on, she could see the information she needed on the screen. According to the coordinates, she was in the right place.
"Perfect. Tails, slow down and lower the altitude! We're at the right spot!" ordered the princess.
"Aye, aye!" The young fox saluted and proceeded to maneuver closer to the ground.
"Remember not to go too low, we don't know yet if the anti-aircraft sensors are activated," warned Sally.
"I hope they are, that would make things more interesting," joked the hedgehog, pretending to be bored.
"Please don't jinx the mission, Sonic..."
"I didn't know you were superstitious, Sal," Amy commented.
"Luck is the most important factor in any mission, and sadly it's the only thing you can't plan for," the squirrel's leg began to shake slightly involuntarily.
"Oops, you're already getting anxious. Would you like some chocolate?"
"... Can I have two?"
"Three coming right up!" Amy approached Sally and handed her three chocolate bars.
"With hazelnuts?"
"Double!"
"Oh, I love you so much."
"Tell me something I don't know!"
"Um... Do you happen to have any with pistachios, Amy?" asked Tails.
"Of course, sweetie!" The hedgehog threw a bar to the little fox. "Do you want one, Sonic?"
"Nah, I'm not much of a sweet tooth."
"Okay, let's review..." exclaimed the princess as she wiped the chocolate from her mouth. "According to the analysis carried out by Nicoles and Tails, there is an abandoned Eggman base well hidden right beneath us. It has been deactivated for years, but recently it has shown signs of activity. We assume this is thanks to the same person who activated the base seven months ago."
"Also, it is estimated to have the same capacity as the previous base, so there is a possibility that another half-built Death Egg prototype exists here as well," added Tails.
"Luckily, we're in time to prevent any takeoff or whatever else might happen there. We must act quickly: get in, break whatever needs to be broken, and, with any luck, find at least one clue as to who is reactivating these bases and figure out what they're up to."
"Sonic, could it be Starline?" Amy asked worriedly.
"Belle assured us at the time that Star-loser bit the dust big time."
"It would be nice to corroborate what she saw, but we haven't heard from her in a while..." added Tails, somewhat distressed.
"What about that old opossum you told me about?" asked Sally. "What was his name?"
"Clutch? After the nuclear humiliation we put him through in the Sweepstakes, it seems he prefers to stay out of trouble. Better that way, otherwise we would have been in a big mess from the start".
"So we don't have any clear suspects," concluded the princess with some bitterness. "That makes this mission crucial. It's imperative to find out who could be behind all this. Since we need to cover as much ground as possible, the Freedom team will attack the east wing, where the engine room is, while we, the Fighters team, will attack the west wing."
"Since we believe the east wing will have heavier weaponry for its defense, when I leave you here, I will meet up with Rotor and the others there."
"And since we still need a technician on our side for the infiltration, when we manage to reach a terminal connected directly to the Eggnet, Nicole will meet up with us."
"I still don't understand how that's going to work, but it sounds cool," Sonic commented.
"Oh, it definitely will be. Now..." Sally took a long breath before continuing. "I would have preferred to infiltrate stealthily and attack from within... but since I (made the mistake) said of putting it to a vote, and you two (lunatics) voted for a Direct Attack... we will carry out a direct attack..."
"Direct attacks are cool!" Sonic cheered.
"Direct attacks are fun!" added Amy.
"(Now-I-understand-why-my-father-hates-democracy) Anyway, the die is cast! Let's do it to it!"
"On It, Sal!" And with that, Sonic winked goodbye and jumped out of the plane, doing a somersault.
"Sonic, wait!" the fox tried to warn him.
"There's no time to lose! Jeronimo!" And with that, Amy jumped out like a cannonball.
"Amy, no!" Tails warned again.
"Try to meet up with the others as soon as you can, Tails. See you in the middle," and with that, Sally jumped into the void with a graceful maneuver.
"For heaven's sake... You too, Sal?! This isn't going to end well..."
The three intrepid heroes hurtled toward the ground like meteorites entering orbit. They closed the distance between each other until they could hold hands in a circle. Sally took a moment to take Nicole's phone and contact the lynx.
"Nicole, we're about to reach Alpha point. Be ready for when we reach the terminal."
"Roger, your majesty... Wait, are you in free fall, Sally?"
"Uh... Yes?"
"But you don't have your X-Gear!"
"I don't have it...?" The princess inspected her entire body. "Damn it!"
"Wasn't Tails supposed to leave you on the ground?"
"Was he?" asked Sonic innocently. "Oh, right! I forgot, hehe."
"Why on earth did you jump when you were more than a thousand feets up?!" the lynx scolded the squirrel.
"I don't know! Why on earth did you jump, Amy? I did it because you did!" the squirrel scolded the hedgehog.
"I... W-why on earth did you jump, Sonic?! I did it because you did!" the hedgehog scolded the sprinter.
"I thought it would be fun, and I've done things like this before. I don't understand why altitude has become a problem lately," the hedgehog simply shrugged.
"First mission in six months and we're going to die smashed into the ground. Perfect, just perfect," Sally turned her back to the wind, took out her second chocolate bar, and started eating. "Nicole, I haven't written a will yet. Please take notes while I tell you what comes to mind. First: I leave all my belongings to you, don't let Elias touch anything. Second..."
"Stop joking around and do something!" snapped the lynx desperately.
"What do you want me to do? Materialize a parachute out of thin air? Amy, can you pull a parachute out of thin air, just like you do with your hammer?"
"No, but... I think I have an idea!" exclaimed Amy as she summoned her hammer. "Both of you, hold on to my ankles!" ordered the hedgehog, and Sally and Sonic obeyed. "Sonic, if you look up, I'll kill you!"
"I know!"
"That goes for you too, Sal!"
"What? But I—!"
"I know what you are, Sal! Now, hold on tight!"
Amy began to spin her hammer between her hands. She increased the speed until it became a yellow and red blur above her head. Their rate of descent gradually slowed until it seemed as if they were floating in the air. They headed toward some nearby trees where they crashed, falling noisily and bouncing between the branches until they reached the ground, bruised and scratched, but safe.
"Holy macadamia nuts, I can't believe it worked..." Sally immediately jumped up to hug Amy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're a genius!"
"Of course she is!" Sonic celebrated as he pulled tree branches out of his spiky hair. "Because she's that amazing!"
"I'm glad you liked it... because I'm never going to do anything like that again... for the rest of my life... EVER," exclaimed Amy, exhausted.
"Okay, we're about 300 yards from the entrance to the base. We need to move quick."
"Luckily, ‘quick’ is my middle name," said Sonic as he carried Amy in his arms and motioned for Sally to climb onto his back.
"But I thought your middle name was Mau..."
"Oops! No time for that! HAHA!" Before Amy could finish her sentence, the hedgehog shot off faster than a bullet, making a sonic boom that deafened the girls.
On the way, a handful of Badniks blocked their path. Sally pulled out one of her light swords and, thanks to Sonic's speed, was able to easily destroy the robots. Sonic followed the trail of Badniks that appeared to find out where to go until he came across a large reinforced steel gate embedded in a slope, in front of which he stopped.
"I guess we're in the right place."
"WHAT?" Amy had not yet recovered from the boom.
"Oh, maybe I went a little too far... How are you, Sal?"
"My ears are still ringing, but I can hear. I think that booth next to the gate is the kind of port we need. I'll be right back (And don't think you got away with it, blue. I'll ask Amy your middle name when we're done here)."
"Take your time, I'll take care of our dear deaf 'long-tongued' one in the meantime."
"WHAT? ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME?"
"I think this is the perfect time to tell you that I like how you look in that outfit you wear for X-Gear racing," the hedgehog smiled mischievously.
"WHAT?"
"And I also miss the old hairstyle you had when I met you on Little Planet. You looked adorable."
"WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME!" the girl protested in frustration as the hedgehog laughed hysterically.
Meanwhile, Sally connected the phone to the network port, turned it on, and called Nicole.
"THANK GAIA, YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!" was the first thing she heard from Nicole when the transmission went through.
"Luck is still on my side. Now you can—"
"Why did you hang up so suddenly?! I was so worried! I thought that..."
"Nikki, we're racing against time right now..."
"Okay, okay, okay!"
Both the phone screen and the port screen began to flash until they emitted a bright white light. The port fans began to sound like airplane turbines. If one paid close attention, it could be seen a series of codes and commands appearing on both screens at such speed that it was impossible to decipher what they said. A small projector-like appendage appeared from the base of the foldable phone, from which a hologram of a rectangular prism-shaped matrix materialized, inside which something seemed to be created layer by layer using a laser. Both Amy and Sonic were fascinated by what was happening and moved closer. After half a minute, the lower half of the lynx could be discerned, and after another half minute, it appeared completely materialized in front of everyone. When the process was complete, the port used suddenly shut down and began to emit smoke.
"Perfect, I'm glad you're here, Nicole. Now it's time to..." Sally was interrupted by a blow to the back of the head from the Lynx. "W-why are you hitting me?"
"That's twice now! Twice you've thrown yourself like a madwoman into near death! If it happens a third time, I'll tell Elias to revoke your permission to leave the kingdom for life!"
"Hey, there's no need to be so drastic!"
"NICOLE, THAT WAS AMAZING! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"
"Why is Amy screaming?" the lynx asked Sally and Sonic.
"Sonic Boom," they both replied.
"I'll scold her when she regains her hearing."
"WHAT?"
"You don't have to be such a killjoy, Nic. It was just a little slip-up." The hedgehog reacted quickly and was able to stop the lynx's blow, but she managed to slap him twice with her free hand. "Ouch. Okay, I deserve that. Are you satisfied now?"
"No! But since I can't use a ridiculously large hammer to crush your heads, I guess I'll have to settle for this! (And don't call me Nic). Now..." The lynx took a deep breath. "Okay, let's get on with the mission."
"Wait, there's something I don't understand..." Amy interjected, seemingly regaining her hearing. "So are you a real lynx that turns into a hologram, or a holographic lynx that can become real?"
"... Obviously the first one, the second one doesn't make sense."
"Really? But—" Amy was interrupted by a blow to the back of the head from the Lynx. "What was that for!?"
"Next time, could you please think for two seconds before following your boyfriend to a certain death and taking Sally with you?"
"Ehh Nic, Amy and I aren't—", Amy covered the speedster's mouth before he could finish.
"Shh, don't be rude, Sonic. Nicole is absolutely right. I'm sorry, Nicole. My boyfriend Sonic and I apologize. This won't happen again~."
Sonic signaled to Sally to help him escape the girl's grip, but the princess pretended not to notice as she stifled her laughter.
After hacking the main gate and a couple more doors thanks to Nicole, the team was able to enter the first layer of the underground complex that was the base. Apart from a handful of scattered Badniks, they encountered little resistance. Upon reaching the center of the complex, they found a giant, operational freight elevator, but it was protected by a highly sophisticated force field generator.
"That must be where Eggman keeps the good stuff," Sonic commented.
"That's the backbone of the base," Nicole ran her hands over her forearms and a kind of dust began to fall from them, floating and swirling in front of the lynx as she made gestures as if molding the cloud of dust into an exact scale replica of the entire complex.
"You never cease to amaze us, Nic," Sonic praised her.
"Silence, I'm still mad at you (AND DON'T CALL ME NIC). The elevator is the only point of entry to the rest of the 24 levels of the base. The first 6 are where the power generators are, the next 6 are Badnik factories, the other 6 are weapons, and the last 6... escape my analysis, they are inaccessible."
"That's where 'the good stuff' is kept, and our main objective," Sally clarified. "Whether it's another Death Egg or something similar or worse, it must be there, and we must destroy it before it's finished or, failing that, before they start assembling it."
Sally reactivated Nicole's phone and contacted the Freedom team via video call. The first thing they heard was the clamor of battle, explosions, metal bending, gunfire.
"Sally, sweetie! I was waiting for your call!" Bunnie greeted her enthusiastically as she destroyed a couple of Super Badniks with the laser on her arm.
"Hey, that's not fair! They're having all the fun!" complained the eager hedgehog.
"Are things getting dicey over there?"
"No way! It's been a walk in the park with the little Tails-suga around here...!" The roar of heavy bombardment drowned out the conversation for a few seconds. "That's right, Tails-suga! Take out those tin cans!"
"Hmm, maybe that's why we haven't seen much resistance, the entire defense system is focused on them," Amy observed.
"Ahhh, it feels so good when plans go smoothly~. Keep wreaking havoc, Bunnie. We're about to get into the heart of this place and we need all eyes on you guys."
"You don't even have to ask, Sally! We'll be happy to! Hey, Tails-suga! It's my turn to use the machine gun...!" And then the transmission cut out.
"Okaaaay..." Sonic began to shift his foot restlessly. "I, uh, I'm going to see if they need a hand. They're on the other side of the base, right? I won't be more than two minutes out. See ya!"
"Don't even think about it!" Sally and Amy shouted at the same time as they held the hedgehog by both arms and lifted him up so his feet didn't touch the floor.
"Oh Come on! It'll be quick! I'll be right back! You guys can turn off the force field in the meantime!"
"Nicole, can you start clearing the way for us?" asked Sally.
"Of course. It'll take me a few minutes."
"See? and I'll be right back!"
"NO!" the girls replied.
"PLEASE!"
A shrill alarm sounded throughout the enclosure. The lights suddenly went out, and only red and orange flashes illuminated the area. Small deployment elevators began to emerge from the ground, from which dozens of Badniks emerged.
"YES, IT'S ABOUT TIME!" the hedgehog celebrated euphorically.
"Uh... What happened, Nicole?" asked Sally.
"I made a mistake and activated the alarm by accident, I'm sorry," the lynx replied without the slightest hint of concern, which made the princess suspicious.
"Please, let me go! I promise I'll stay here to kick some butt!" Sonic pleaded.
Sally sighed in exasperation.
"Make it quick," she said, and with that, she and Amy released the hedgehog, who shot off at such speed that he left behind a cloud of dust in the exact shape of his body. "The plan was going so well..." the princess pouted as her hedgehog friend tried to cheer her up.
"Come on! We still have time! Do you want to vent your frustration by beating up some robots?"
"You read my mind."
While Sonic ran around the robots like a bat out of hell, Sally and Amy carried out their attacks in perfect synchrony. The squirrel threw the machines off balance, an then the hedgehog crushed them with her hammer, and in turn, while Amy threw the robots into the air, Sally smashed them to smithereens before they hit the ground.
At one point, the defense system deployed heavy machinery, summoning a pair of Super Badniks armed with huge hammers from the ceiling.
"I'll take the one on the right!" exclaimed the frantic sprinter as he ran towards the robot and began circling around it.
"We have to end this now or we'll waste more time," glasses made of the same energy as her swords formed over the princess's eyes, and through them she was able to analyze the machine almost as if she had x-ray vision, locating its exact weak spot. "Bingo. How's your aim, Ames?"
"As good as my cooking!"
"Rad. Now, listen..." The squirrel approached the hedgehog and whispered the plan in her ear.
"Are you sure?"
"100%."
Sally summoned her swords and jumped into the air, doing a somersault to land on one of the faces of Amy's hammer, who propelled her with all her strength toward the robot. The princess shot out like a torpedo and spun like a tornado, cleanly piercing the robot at its weak point and leaving it destroyed.
"Sonic, catch her!" Amy ordered.
"Aye aye!" The hedgehog immediately rushed to the point where Sally was going to land and caught her in midair. "Are we still doing crazy stuff, Sal?"
"I'm just adapting to the situation, blue. Want some help with the big guy left?"
"Why not? I've had enough fun with him."
Sonic began spinning until he threw Sally at the remaining Super Badnik, repeating the attack and finishing it off. This time it was Amy who caught her.
"Plan executed flawlessly! Feeling better now?"
"Just a little bit."
The alarm suddenly stopped working, the lights came back on, and everything returned to relative normalcy as the force field protecting the elevator was neutralized. Nicole sighed with satisfaction.
"We can continue. I made sure to deactivate the entire defense system for the rest of the complex. I hope that doesn't bother you, Sonic."
"Nah, no problem, Nic. I'm satisfied now. I'm glad to see that your vacation didn't rust you for action, girls."
"It's like riding a bike, it's hard to forget. Right, Ames?"
"You said it!" And both girls began to perform an elaborate hand salute, culminating in a hip bump and holding hands while sharing a little childish laugh.
"They even have a secret greeting and everything..." Sonic observed, impressed.
"They've been practicing it for months, this is the first time I've seen them do it right," Nicole added.
As everyone took their places inside the elevator, Sally approached Nicole and nudged her a couple of times to get her attention.
"Nicole..." she whispered. "You don't make 'mistakes'. Tell me what really happened."
"I deliberately activated the area defense to appease Sonic. I know how important he is to the mission, and we can't let him ruin it on a whim. I did the calculations and made sure that the impact of this fight on the rest of the mission would be less than 0.0075%."
"Okay, I would have appreciated a heads up, but it's fine, thanks," Sally crossed her arms and sighed. "He really is difficult to deal with..."
"His mere presence has increased the margin of uncertainty of the mission by 15%, Sal. And it's going to get worse..." Nicole's severity was bloodcurdling. "He's a menace."
Sally fell silent, glancing sideways at Nicole, then looked over at Amy and Sonic, who were chatting happily.
"Maybe..."
Maverick Lore bit: Nicole The Lynx
"Nicole never ceases to amaze me; there's no doubt she's a prodigy. It's no surprise she's been able to get so close to the crown; her intellect is an invaluable resource.
I still can't understand how she did it. Even with the help of the Omega Meta-Quartz that Sally gave her (Hehe, incredible. Sally is so bad at hiding things), it's an impossible task to transmute every cell in your body into tiny machines that are capable of breaking down into data that can be transmitted over the Eggnet.
"And why the Eggnet? Isn't it dangerous to surf Eggman's network?" Bunnie once asked. It's a good question, but only when you don't know the true scope and power of the Eggnet. It's the only network robust and fast enough to transmit the exabytes that make up everything that is Nicole. And I mean everything, from her physical constitution to her memories and personality. She's never told me exactly how many exabytes that is, she says it's increasing, I guess because she's not a machine. She's not static, she still changes and grows like all of us.
Everyone on the team is fascinated by Nicole's achievement... except Sally. For weeks now, she's been acting strange around Nicole, as if she knows something more than we do, something that makes her uncomfortable... that bothers her.
She insists it's nothing, but as always, she's very bad at hiding it."
(Excerpt from Rotor The Walrus's Diary)