Last Boarding Call

[Amy Rose]

[Wow, this order went to hell in a handbasket. Tutley, I think it's your turn. Then mine.]

[Tutley Sakamoto]

Compared to everyone else, Tutley took the ship's top speed pretty well. In fact, he was actually leaning forwards in his seat, cheering excitedly. It wasn't every day you get to drive a experimental prototype drop ship away from a energy based implosion of doom. "WOOOHOOO!"

As the shockwave from the cataclysmic impact hit the ship, it shook violently, causing Tutley to lurch into the wheel for a moment as he grit his beak. Luckily, his shell did his job, and he was unharmed, save for being momentarily dazed from the turbulence. Good thing this ship is pretty well armored too., he said in a sigh of relief, after shaking it off. He looked back, and noticed most of his company wasn't quite strapped in, especially Slick who looked much like a random charismas ornament stuck to the wall.

"We made it! Tutley drop the speed a bit."

'Hehe, right then.", he said as he tried to hold in his laughter. He brought the ship's speed down to half, and began pressing various buttons on a nearby display. The ship would now relay sensory data to the nearest GUN HQ , that their ship was friendly, and to also give away the location of every other escaping ship.


"Looks like our mission worked after all, all their battleships are trashed!", he said with a laugh. "The last one is crashing into the sea as we speak." Then over Tails' communicator, he heard the noise in Sonic's background. It took him a few seconds to put two and two together. "Aw crap....don't tell me he's where I think he is!", he shouted as he turned the aircraft around, on it's way towards the sinking Retribution.

[Amy Rose]

[Hey, everyone. Sorry for the wait. Everything seemed to go wrong over the weekend and I haven't felt like posting, but let's get things rolling again! New arch soon! Eeee~]

Amy sat rigid in her seat, gripping tight to the restraints as she sunk into the cushion material. Had she not been in such an anxious state, she probably would have been surprised how comfortable the cushions were. High tech, for sure. As Tutley reduced the speed, she found herself more mobile than prior and took time to look around at the others. It seemed the only one who'd been most unfortunate of them all was Slick, not having the time to strap in himself. Although her heart had jumped, it seemed that Greyer was fine, so she settled herself. That was not to last, however.

"Tails! Please tell me everybody made it out of that boat!"

"Aw crap....don't tell me he's where I think he is!"

"Sonic! Get out of there!"

[Jack-the-Hedgie]

The ship slows to a steady speed, freeing Jack from his inertia induced binds. He slumps forward, the straps of his seat holding him in place so he didn't fall to the floor. A few seconds pass with him in this limp position, a weak looking slouch, his head hung low, his eyes to the floor. A soft chuckle escapes his lips, which grows into a jovial laughter, head suddenly slung back.

"Oh my god! We all made it! That was amazing!"

This didn't last long, of course...

"Tails! Please tell me everybody made it out of that boat!"

Jack stops as though someone had just hit the mute button. His joyful expression stick for only a second as his mind took a moment to process what he just heard. Soon, though, it fades into something that showed a tad more shame then happiness.

"Your friend's still out there..."

Jack lets out a sigh as he pulled his goggles back up. As he released them from his grip, they snapped back onto his forehead. The hedgehog shifts his weight to keep in an upright position while the escape pod pulls a U-turn before giving the other people in the pod a quick glance.

"Well, let's go get him. Can't let him have all the fun by himself, right?"

[Mathias 'Slick' Greyer]

Slick braced himself so he didn't land on his head once the inertia let off and rolled onto his back. He'd heard Sonic's desperate plea over Tails' radio, and he already knew what needed to be done. He felt grateful to see everyone else already seemed intent on doing what he had on in mind their own already.

"Darn right, Jack. Nobody gets left behind." Slick rose off the floor and started pulling off his backpack, combat harness, even his heavy boots went. Tutley, get us close to that wreck and get us to a few hundred feet off the water.

Tails, tell Sonic to find a way, anyway to the outside of the ship. Even if it means he comes out into the water. Tell him I'll be waiting in the water to pull him out. He just has to get out into the water. I'll find him."

"I'm coming too!" Cutter jumped out of her seat and began removing her gear just as Slick had, but Slick stopped her just as she got to her combat vest.

"No, you stay here. Someone has to mind the squad. Besides, no sense having two people do something foolish like being in the water next to a sinking craft just to rescue one person."

Cutter looked understandably dejected, but reluctantly she nodded her head in understanding. "Understood... Good luck, Sir."

Without further word, Slick turned around, opening a side door in the dropship's hull. He paused only a moment to gauge the distance of the drop and the speed of the ship, then without further hesitation leapt into the water and plunged into the water depths. A place where, as an otter he truly felt at home.

[Sarath Crescent]

As the bow of the Monoceros struck the water its mass had the effect of pushing it straight down. Had the ship levelled out before it hit, it may have floated or at least rested on the surface for a time. Due to its angle od descent the ship simply cut the water apart and plunged straight into it. The shock of impact caused the engines to fade but the forward momentum was enough to push the ship straight into the murky depths. Within 30 seconds the entire hull had vanished beneath the waves. Several sections quickly began to flood, mostly those around the damaged nose, causing it to sink even faster.

[Miles "Tails" Prower]

A quirky feeling of dread washed over Tails- He was thinking exactly what Amy was, and even echoed her fears: "Sonic! Get out of there!"

It was of some relief that the group seemed to be in agreement of saving the hedgehog- Tails wasn't sure what he'd do if otherwise. He was already frantically running though plans in his head, but was halted by Slick.

"Besides, no sense having two people do something foolish like being in the water next to a sinking craft just to rescue one person."

Tails nervously shook his head, but went along with Slick's orders. "I should be the one to go... It wouldn't be the first time I fetched him out of the water..."

"Sonic! Tails struggled for the words, along with trying to keep his voice steady. "F-Find a way out of the ship! Go into the water if you have to! We'll be- We'll be waiting for you- We'll get you out, just go!!!!!"

He shuffled from side to side, extremely apprehensive of the whole situation. There was still that doubt in his mind. Not doubt of Slick's ability, but of something else...

"...Slick!" He looked uneased, but very determined. "You gotta let me go for him! I've- We've been here before! I'd be able to get him out in no time! A tone of worry resounded through Tails' plea. There was little chance that he was going to stand around while Sonic was about to sink to the depths.

[Shadow]

Shadow grit his teeth as the impact on the water knocked him off his feet mid-stride, causing him to fall forward and roll in spinball mode down the hallway for a couple of feet before he could stop and stand up again. "Damn it, I'm too late!" he shouted, slamming the wall with a fist so hard that it dented. It's that damn blue hedgehog's fault, he thought to himself angrily. If I hadn't been trying to find him, I could have killed Sarath and warped out in time. What's gotten into me? Since when did I care about his spiky blue hide? Towards the end of their last adventure Shadow had developed a certain respect towards Sonic, but even then he never imagined he would go out of his way to save him, not when his own well being was at stake.

Fine, so I'll stop looking for him, Shadow thought to himself. But what do I do now? The ship's going under, with me in it. I can't warp out without knowing what my destination looks like, it's too dangerous. But I don't know what it looks like outside! Damn it, I should have stayed on the bridge and warped with Chaos Control from there, instead of going on a hopeless wild hedgehog chase! Of course, the biggest issue for Shadow about going back to the bridge was that Sarath would probably still be there. He was sure he could beat the injured alien in a fight, but in a fast-sinking ship every second counted, and he didn't know the extent of the alien's powers. Lefina was able to read his Chaos Control: maybe her master could stop it, who knew?

Shadow grit his teeth and decided that whatever happened there would be better than waiting around to drown, running around a collossal ship like a headless chicken. Without giving it another thought, Shadow turned around and shot right back up (or down now, by the angle of the ship) the corridor, headed straight back for the bridge. It only took him a minute or two going at top speed to reach the bridge once more, and, throwing caution to the wind, he unslung his laser rifle and leaped through the door, whirling to face Sarath's seat in case he was still there, gun trained where his head should be, all his muscles tensed and ready to respond to whatever treachery on the fox's part that might await him.

[Sarath Crescent]

From the look on Lefina's face it didn't seem like she had expected Shadow to return. Sarath though was smiling contently to himself with his eyes shut, as if knowing who had just arrived. He was still sat in his seat, Lefina stood behind him with her hands resting gently on his shoulders. A gentle golden light was pulsing from Lefina's hands and slowly washing over Sarath's body as his shoulders were massaged.

"Greetings again my spiney annoyance," said Sarath calmly. To look at him now it was plain to see that his previous injuries had started to heal. As the golden hue washed over his body they seemed to be mending themselves. Lefina didn't say anything although she smiled amusingly at Shadow, remembering their earlier encounter.

"So have you come to kill me in a last attempt at revenge before you resign yourself to a watery grave?" Sarath slowly opened his eyes to look at Shadow.

[Sonic]

'Good, they're all safe.'

Sonic didn't seem to worry too much about his own situation as the spiny blue hero steadied his footing while using his free hand to balance against a wall after the initial shock of impact. He was used to being in danger, but it was nice to know Tails and Amy were still as self-sufficient as he remembered them to be. It always feels good to have one's faith rewarded.

But now Tails was telling him to get out into the water, which meant this boat was sinking into the ocean. Of course Sonic himself would drop like a stone the moment he was in H2O as well. Looked like he was going to be putting his life in their hands if he was going to get out of here alive.

The hedgehog turned back towards where he'd come from and looked worried for a moment. Shadow was still on board as well, right? He'd only just found out that the Ultimate Life-Form was still alive, he didn't want to go reporting his death again.

'Hah. Who am I worried about?' the speedster thought with a smirk. Shadow would no doubt be terribly amused to learn Sonic had spared any thoughts of concern for his well-being. If he survived a fall from space a little sinking space ship couldn't be that much more difficult.

Tails' voiced came through his communicator one last time, yelling at him to get going. Sonic took that as his cue and took off as commanded, barreling through hallways and rooms as he accelerated as best he could in these conditions. The place didn't seem to be filling with water anywhere he went, so chances were the tub was currently air-tight, more or less.

'All right, I've bee on enough high-tech ships to have a good idea of where they'd put what I'm looking for,' Sonic thought. 'And I'm fast enough to find it even if I have to search around. If they have to chase this thing down then its probably the best place to make my exit.'

"All right Tails," crackled the hedgehog's voice in the escape pod once more. "See you in the water."