Belly of the Beast

[Chadin]

The air hang heavy with a foul odor that was impossible to take your mind off. To me however, it made no difference whatsoever. I slammed my back into the side of the building I'd been aiming for when I first started running and my head swiveled back and forth; checking for any sign that I might have been spotted. I forced myself to take a deep breath and calm my breathing down before I slide further along side the building until I was directly beside the large pipes running along the side of the building. Testing, I placed my hand against the side. They felt very warm to the touch. Good, I thought. I can easily loose anything using thermal sensors behind these. Its an old trick my leader from the MFF taught me way back when. Now I just have to wait here for a minute or two and hope that cat made it this far too. In the mean time, I crept under the scaffolding that held up the pipes and focused on taking in my surroundings and getting my breathing back under control before my heavy breathing gave away my position.

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Giichi typically broke into places nicer than this. Usually it was a mansion or a penthouse suite or something, and the owner would be wealthy enough to have it smelling like roses or honey or whatever scent he liked. So he wasn't used to the scent of this place like Chadin was. He involuntarily gagged a couple times as he ran, until he managed to get over the smell.

About ten seconds after the deer slid behind the pipes, Giichi was there too, right beside him. He looked on quietly as he too observed the layout of the area. After a minute or so, he whispered to Chadin. "So...you're after info on what Robotnik is up to? Where are you thinking it'll be? My guess would be in that tall, important-looking building over there."

Giichi pointed to a huge, egg-shaped building in the distance. It looked like it could be some kind of command center.

The cat's plan was to stick with Chadin for the moment. He figured that wherever this deer's info was, Robotnik would probably be keeping other valuable things close by. Kind of like how a safe was a marker for valuable things all tucked in one spot.

[Chadin]

I looked out in the direction the cat was pointing and nodded. "Well, the rest of this place looked different but at least Robotnik's HQ still looks the same." I said with a shrug. I honestly didn't expect the place to look exactly as I remembered it. "But yeah, there's bound to be a terminal or... something in there that can tell us what Robotnik is up to. How this... merge happened, maybe even how to reverse it. Its bound to be well guarded so we'll have to be careful. Once we're inside you're welcome to any tech you like. Anything you take from him is one less thing he doesn't have which makes it all the better for us."

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Giichi turned and looked Chadin's clothing over again when he mentioned getting information from a terminal. No doubt any computer they found would be locked up tight, and Chadin didn't look like the hacking type. He thought about making the 'Robin Hood' joke again, but since they were in the thick of it now he figured it'd be best to hush till they left this place.

"Do you have any hacking skills? I've got experience in hacking electronic locks and doors, but I usually just steal physical stuff. No computer data or anything like that. So you'd be on your own once we got to the terminal."

Giichi turned back to the building, scanning for potential entry points. Pipes, cables, and other unidentifiable things ran all over the structure...so he'd be able to easily scale the side if necessary. But with all these hovering bots everywhere, it probably wouldn't be the wisest course of entry. Come to think of it, Giich wondered whether the good stuff would be on the top floor or the basement. The basement would be more secure if there were an attack on this place...but Robotnik loved being on top of tall buildings in his bases because of his vanity. Giichi guessed it made Robotnik feel like he was already a world dictator...surveying all his peasants from high above. So Giichi placed bets on what they needed being up top.

"You know...we need a way inside. You said this building looks kind of the same to you. So do you already know a way in, then? I could probably come up with something myself, but it'd be faster to just follow you."

[Chadin]

I shook my head. "No, like I said I'm not a tech specialist. That was someone else's job back on the MFF. I know a bit about computers so I might be able to access some unsecured data, but I won't be able to hack any encrypted stuff. Worse come to worse, if I can't access any useful information I plan to sabotage Robotnik's factories or something. Make him hurt. Make him know he's still got enemies who will fight back."

"As for getting inside Robotnik's HQ, I'm largely playing this by ear. First we need to reach his base. Beyond that, I seem to recall the Knothole Freedom Fighters saying they often sneak in by using air ducts or sewers. Come on, we'll figure that out once we get there." With that, I checked both directions to make sure no roaming swatbots were roaming nearby and pulled myself out from under the pipes. I crept down the street with my body pressed tight against the wall and using the shadows to hide me as best I can manage. In this dingy city street lights still appeared to be few and far between; meaning that shadows are in plentiful supply. I pause at the end of the block, both to wait for Giichi to catch up and to poke my head around the corner to see what might be there.

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Giichi raised an eyebrow when Chadin mentioned he didn't know much of anything about computer technology.

You didn't think this through very carefully, did you Robin Hood? If that was the case, why didn't you bring your tech guy? What's the good in coming all this way for intel when you can't get at it? And how do you plan to cause so much destruction by yourself? You don't look like you've got bombs with you.

As Chadin took off for their next hiding spot, Giichi let out a little sigh.

Oh well, I don't really care what you're doing. We've still got separate goals, even if we are working together for the moment.

Once Chadin had gone ahead of him a fair distance, Giichi too crawled out from under the pipe and drew his cloak over himself, before he took off at half-crouching jog after the deer after the deer. Giichi stepped so lightly his feet only made soft pitter pats on the ground, as the cloak fluttered around him in the breeze. He almost looked like a ghostly wraith as he dashed through the shadows.

Finally though, he rejoined the deer at the corner.

[Say, do you want to just fast forward to when we break into his HQ?]

[Chadin]

[ok]

It took quite some time, and a few close calls, but finally we'd both reached the base of Robotnik's headquarters. Passing through the city I came to the distinct realization that this zone merge was, in fact real. Some of the buildings literally were sliced so perfectly in half that now mechanical device could possibly have done it. It was just like the cat said. On top of that, the streets, the buildings themselves looked different. Not at all like the putrid streets and block after block of evil, abandoned warehouses and factories. There were street level stores, parks. All the things a normal city would have. A few times I even caught sight of what I thought were a pair of eyes watching me from the windows. I chose not to pursue find out for sure for fear that doing so would distract me from my current mission. Finding out what Robotnik is planning is far more important.

From the safety of an adjacent building I scanned Robotnik's HQ for possible entrances. The main doors are, unsurprisingly, well guarded. I wished Sonic was here to play distraction while me and Giichi sneak inside. No, we'll have to improvise. "Well, you're the 'expert thief' see any obvious entry points that I'm overlooking?"

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Giichi turned to look at Chadin with the last comment, and smiled. He rubbed his hands together as he stepped forward to do a quick scan of the building's structure. Then he looked back again at the deer.

"Well...you see all those pipes and vents and things running up that side of the building?" Giichi pointed at them. "That's usually the way I'd try to get in. Climbing is my specialty. But I don't think it'd be a good idea tonight. For one, those spy bots are buzzing around like flies, and if we were seen in the middle of the climb we'd be trapped. Two...you don't look like the climbing type.

"So...I think we'll need to enter at a lower point. I have a few thoughts on that. This building looks like it needs a lot of power. And since it's the command center, I figure they'd want to do everything they could to protect the power in case of attack. So, I'd imagine that means underground power cables or a big power source under the building. Both of these would require tunnels underneath the building, and they probably won't be guarded as closely as the ground-level entrances. The thing about that is...we'd have to find a way to ascend upwards once we're inside.

"The third option would be...hitching a ride on one of those." Giichi pointed at what looked like a cargo vessel entering the building about halfway up. "I guess that's how they move big loads in and out of the building. So we find out where those things dock before they come here, and we slip on board one. Of course, if we get seen on one of them, we've got nowhere to run.

"Dunno about you, but I think I like option two the best. How about you?"

[Chadin]

I smiled. "Ya know, you might make a good Freedom Fighter if you ever chose to give up being a thief. Come on, lets check out the service tunnels. There's bound to be service passages running all over the place, I'm sure we can find a way up somehow.

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Giichi returned Chadin's smile. "That's the first time I've seen you smile since I met you. Nice to know you aren't all doom and gloom like Stork."

The cat turned his attention away from Chadin to survey the area surrounding the building. He seemed lost in thought as he looked at the surrounding buildings, but his eyes visibly lingered on places were smoke was rising.

"As to where the tunnels would be...I would suggest finding out which of these buildings is the power plant, drawing a line between the plant and the center, and then checking along the line for a tunnel. Only problem is...I really don't know what the plant would look like..."

Dozens of unidentifiable, vaguely factory-like buildings surrounded them, smoke billowing out of their many stacks to form an impenetrable black cloud overhead.

"I know that." The voice sounded soft and feminine.

Giichi spun around, drawing his sais and pointing them at a darkened alleyway behind them. A slim figure stepped forth from the shadows. It looked like another cat...this one a regular tabby...dressed in a shabby white dress.

"Hey...who are you?"

"Vanessa..." she spoke softly. "Don't worry...I'm not an enemy. I'm just someone who lived here when this place was still Station Square...before Robotnik took over."

Giichi's mouth fell open. "THIS is Station Square?"

"Yeah...or it used to be... Anyway..." Vanessa brushed some scraggly hair out of her face. "...that's not important. Let's worry about that after Robotnik's gone. You said you wanted to find a maintenance tunnel, right?"

Giichi raised a hand. "Hang on a second." The cat turned to whisper to Chadin. "What do you think? Should we trust her?"

Vanessa looked mildly annoyed that Giichi didn't trust him, but otherwise didn't do anything. Apparently she wasn't surprised he had reacted this way.