Back at Knothole, Rotor was tracking Tails' retreat. His
brow furrowed slightly. "This isn't good," he said.
"Is the Death Egg still pursuing him?" asked
Sally.
"Yeah," said Rotor, nodding. "He's travelling
at several times the Death Egg's speed, so it's not going to catch him, but it's
matching his course exactly. At this rate, Tails will end up leading him
straight here."
Once again Sonic
reached in and grabbed the microphone. "Change your course, l'il
bro!" he yelled into it. "You're leaving a trail for Buttnik to
follow straight to Knothole!"
"Sorry, Sonic!" Tails replied, shouting over
the rushing wind. "I didn't think he'd still be following me."
"He's probably tracking you somehow," said
Sonic.
"That would make sense," agreed Sally.
"So what should I do, Sonic?" asked Tails. "Wherever
I land, the Death Egg will still be heading for me, right?"
"Yeah, good point…" Sonic thought for a moment.
Then, he had an idea. It was a crazy idea, but it had to work. "Head
northwest, towards the Emerald Hill Zone. Try and find a safe landing strip. I'll
meet you there, and then with that flying fortress diverted away from here,
we'll fly up there and take it down."
"And just how are you planning on doing that?"
asked Sally warily. "That plane only has one seat, you know."
"Then I'll just hold on to the wings," said
Sonic. "Simple!"
To Sally, this was a remarkably stupid plan even by
Sonic's standards. "You can't be serious," she said flatly.
"I'm deadly serious," Sonic retorted.
"It's the only way we can get up there in order to shut it down."
"But… you… you ca…" Sally forced herself to
calm down and swallow her frustrations. She had to make Sonic see sense. This
plan was never going to work. "Okay. Let's say you somehow make it to the Death Egg without falling off the Tornado.
Let's say you somehow evade its
defences and manage to get in close to it. How do you then plan on getting
inside?"
This was where Rotor chimed in. "Here," he
said, pointing at his surveillance footage. "There's a gap in its armour
plating, near the back. I guess Robotnik must have launched it before it was
finished.
"When will he ever learn?" smirked Sonic,
amused.
"Let's hope he never does, for all our sakes,"
Rotor replied.
Sally was flabbergasted at first, but eventually,
realizing there was nothing she could do to stop him, she heaved a weary sigh. "Okay,
fine," she said. "You can go. Here: take this headset." She
tossed Sonic a thin pair of headphones with a small microphone attached, which
the hedgehog promptly put on. "If you actually do make it inside in one
piece, I'll have NICOLE project the schematics back up so I can guide you to
the Death Egg's engine room."
"You'll be needing this as well, then," said
Rotor, handing Sonic a metallic bracelet. "That bracelet contains a
tracking signal. Once you're inside the Death Egg, we'll be able to use that
signal to track your position inside it, so we know where you are and where to
guide you."
"Alright, thanks, Rotor," said Sonic, slipping
the bracelet onto his wrist. "I'll probably make it to Emerald Hill before
Tails does, so I'll scout out a good landing site for him. You can guide him to
my location after that, right?"
"Of course I can," said Rotor. "Good luck,
Sonic. We're all counting on you."
All Sally had to say was, "Please try not to fall
off the plane."
"Thanks, guys," said Sonic, revving himself up.
"Alright, I'm outta here: I got a plane to catch!" And with that,
Sonic zoomed straight out of the building, racing out of Knothole and through
the trees of the Great Forest in the direction of Emerald Hill Zone. As she
watched him go, Sally let out another exasperated sigh.
"You're worried about him, aren't you, Sally?"
asked Rotor.
"Of course I am!" retorted Sally, her face
turning pink. "He's the Freedom Fighter's greatest hope in the battle
against Robotnik, but he takes such stupid great risks! If he falls off that
plane and breaks his neck, it's his own stupid fault."
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