Express flight to Soleanna

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Giichi's eyes bulged in fear when Chadin mentioned having him and Falina steal one of Robotnik's smaller ships. Not because it was a bad plan. It was fine. There was just one potential problem with it.

"I hope you know how to fly one of those things Falina, because I definitely don't. I've never flown anything in my life. Or Chadin...could you fly it? You sound like you've got the most experience when it comes to Robotnik..."

In any case, they could hear a rumbling sound growing in intensity ahead of them. Simultaneously, a few bright spots in the clouds in front of them grew in intensity. They looked like the exhaust of massive jet engines. Seemed they were about to catch up with Robotnik's fleet.

[Dr. Robotnik]

Just up ahead, five large airships slowly cruised through the cloudy night sky in a V formation. Smaller escort craft buzzed around the larger vessels like a cloud of flies. However, everything else, even the other airships, looked dwarfed compared to Robotnik's flagship, the Egg Carrier. It led the way from the point of the V formation.

Right now, the egg man himself sat on the bridge, looking out through the main viewing screen. But it wasn't like that did him much good, since visibility was so poor. Instead he had to rely on the radar.

In any case, he had a sour expression on his face as he went through a large bag of powdered donuts. [/i]

Blasted Freedom Fighters...

Robotnik still felt rather grumpy and sore over how the Freedom Fighters managed to get so far into his inner sanctum without being caught. And the worst part was it was all his fault. Sure, being the sole architect of his empire meant he could do anything he liked, but he had no one else to blame if things went wrong.

In any case, he hoped to bounce back from today's earlier failure with the capture or destruction of Soleanna. Destruction looked more likely at this point. He didn't think he'd be able to carry out his original plan of simply scaring the city into surrendering. Robotnik didn't have enough ships to do that. It would be enough to destroy Soleanna though, based on the data his advance scouting party had gathered.

But many lives would be lost in the conflict. A lot of Soleanna citizens would never get to experience living in his new empire. So tragic. Because of the Freedom Fighters, people would die who did not need to.

At least it would be easier for him to rebuild this city in his image. He looked very much forward to that. Robotropolis was one of his grandest accomplishments, and he wanted to duplicate it in Soleanna too.

And it will be even grander than Robotropolis is now. I wonder what I will call it... It'd be strange to apply my name to two different cities..

[Falina]

Falina looks about as fearful as Giichi at Chadin's plan. She would nod in agreement with the cat. "I don't know if I could fly one of those things either. Do you know how Chadin? Maybe you could go instead, or tell one of us how?" She hadn't really thought about how much their extra weight would hurt Dulcy's ability to maneuver in the air till now either, and with the lights of engines and faint outlines of ships starting to show through the fog, she hoped they wouldn't be spotted as she feared what would happen if they started getting shot at.

[Dulcy]

Dulcy had thought about the fact that she was less able to do any quick moves in the air with three passengers. It was rare that she had more than just Sonic and Sally on her back. Granted, she wasn't exactly nimble as a hummingbird to begin with. She knew she had to use the cloud cover to it's best advantage and avoid being spotted by those hovercraft at all costs.

"That does sound like a good plan Chadin, assuming, as others have mentioned, we can figure out who's going to fly the craft. I guess a bit after you guys are inside, I can go around smashing up the other hovercraft as a distraction, not to mention, it will further weaken Robotnik's attack."

[Chadin]

"Well that's basically what I had in mind, Dulcy. And with me on your back, I can use my crossbow to shot any targets behind your or those coming in from different angles.

"As for the hovercraft, no, I've never flown one before, nor did anyone else in the MFF as far as I'm aware. I just figured you'd have the best chance of piloting the ship, Giichi, since you're probably the most tech savvy of us all. Plus, you have that data-pad thing. I figured you might be able to hack into the hovercraft's systems and either figure out how to fly it yourself, or find a way to hack the auto pilot into flying it for you. As for Falina, she's probably the best person to get inside. If you're still as good at hand to hand as I remember, those swatbots are going to be all lying on their backsides faster than they can say: 'Halt who goes there."

"I know there's a bunch of holes in this plan, but its the best I can think of short of going in on a full frontal attack which we all know is going to be as good as suicide."

[Giichi Twinkieland]

The others couldn't see it, but Giichi was nervously chewing his lip now. This plan sounded worse and worse by the minute. But what else could they do?

Chadin was right. If they tried to land on one of those ships directly, they'd get swarmed by laser fire. And there wasn't time to think up a better plan. Giichi would be surprised if they had enough time to do this for just one of the ships. With a reluctant sigh, he realized that Chadin really did have the only feasible plan in mind right now.

"Okay then... I'll do it. But there's something you and Dulcy must do. I want you to stay close to the ship we steal until I get a feel for the controls. That way, me and Falina can get out of the thing fast if we end up having to do that. Deal?"

[Falina]

Falina nods, her tail twitching nervously. She didn't like the risk factor of this plan any more than Giichi, but she too, agreed with Chadin that it was really their best bet. She didn't want to die today and getting shot up in the open like a target dummy was not the way she wanted to go. "Alright, let's get this over with. I agree with Giichi though, you guys stay close for a bit just in case we have to bail out." She says simply, then takes a few deep breaths to try and calm her nerves.

[Dr. Robotnik]

((I said I wasn't gonna post as Robotnik this round, but after thinking about it I figured this'd make a faster transition into our infiltration plan.))

Up ahead, they'd see the vague shape of one of Robotnik's smaller hovercraft. A lone swatbot gazed out the long, narrow window slit on the front of the ball-shaped pod, while four boosters stuck out of the back and lazily emitted flames. The ship could have gone much faster, but it had to keep pace with the larger air ships. Up top was a hatchway that the intrepid heroes could use to break into the ship. This looked like the easiest ship to steal, considering it was lagging behind the rest of the fleet as a rear guard.

[Dulcy]

Dulcy nods at Chadin's plan, knowing it's certainly not perfect, and finding herself wishing Sally were around, but she knows it's their best shot. "Alright, sounds good. Unless Robotnik has made his robots better shots and or better pilots though, I think I'll be able to avoid getting shot, but none the less, having you able to shoot at the craft that are behind and beside me will certainly make this go much faster and more easily."

As everyone else seems to be ready to get this plan going, she tucks her wings in a bit and drops out of a large cloud, soon spotting up ahead one of the smaller hovercraft ships that was guarding the rear. She begins flapping hard to catch up with the ship quickly, carefully staying behind it and out of sight as she got closer. Soon she was flying just above the small ship, her pouch almost touching the roof of the ship with the extra bulge from Giichi. "Alright guys, this is as close as I can get, your going to have to jump. Don't worry, we're high enough up that I should be able to rush down and catch you if you fall."

[Chadin]

The proximity between me and Falina made it almost impossible not to notice how nervous Falina was. I know we've been apart for a long time, but somehow, being together again, it felt like old times again. I'd forgotten that I've had my fair share of battle and war. But Falina, judging by her nervousness I doubt she's ever seen a real battle.

Of course, like I can really talk. I may not be showing it as much, but my stomach was turning over inside out. It just comes with the job, but it's far too late to worry about such things now.

"Don't worry, Falina, you'll be just fine. Good luck." I gently squeezed her shoulder to try and give her some reassurance. I also make sure to pass her the satchel of explosives I was carrying.

As soon as she and Giichi jump aboard the hovercraft, I make sure to pull my crossbow from my back and bring it to the ready.