Mirror Image

XX - Leave of Absence

The bright sunlight that met his eyes as he stepped off the plane went hand in hand with warmth for the first time since Cybernia. Stepping out onto the landing pad, Sonic saw a grey concrete building towering over him, its tinted glass windows shining in the sun. He heard a commotion behind him, and turned to see Knuckles struggling with a body slung over his shoulder. Baxter had woken up, and was thrashing against Knuckles' strong grip.

"Put me down, you fossil!" screamed Baxter, "I'll have you stuffed and sent to the Natural History Museum!"

"Easy, tiger," said Rouge, walking alongside them, "Knuckles isn't known for being a gentle playmate. It would be a shame if he broke you."

"You bitch," snarled Baxter, "I'll have your head for this."

"What's going on here?" a voice came from behind Sonic. Turning around he saw a golden-eagle Mobian standing proudly on the steps leading into the building, arms crossed behind his back and an austere scowl on his face. Knuckles let Baxter down to the ground; he tried to move, but his arms and legs were still tied, so he began hopping towards the steps, much to Sonic's amusement.

"T-tarquin!" babbled Baxter, "arrest these people at once!" The eagle's eyes burned through him, making him shrink before them.

"That's General Tarquin, Sir to you, Baxter," the eagle snarled, "and why should I do that?"

"G-general Tarquin, Sir! This bat broke the rules of her suspension, smuggled her way onto my operation, assaulted me and aided fugitives! These people need detaining immediately."

The eagle continued to scowl, unmoved by Baxter's plea.

"There's no record of Agent Rouge receiving a suspension," he said, "nor is Sonic the Hedgehog listed as a wanted person."

"What?" cried Baxter, "there was kill order issued against him and Shadow. It came from the Supreme Commander himself."

"I'm aware of that, Baxter. However, the order was rescinded by the Supreme Commander six hours before you set off on your operation. Apparently new evidence has come to light absolving them of culpability for the Plaza attack. You can't expect me to believe you didn't get the message."

Baxter began to shrink further, looking like a small frightened child before the imposing eagle.

"There must be some mistake," he pleaded, "I received explicit instructions to take those hedgehogs out. I never received a retraction, I was just doing my job, damn it!"

"Watch your tongue," said Tarquin, "If you really didn't know, why did you log your mission out as 'Asset Recovery?' Assets generally aren't any use if they're dead." Baxter froze, and Sonic realised the weight of the wolf's error. Clearly he had tried to disguise the nature of the mission from Tails and Knuckles, and now it was biting him in the butt.

"Commander Richard Baxter," Tarquin continued, "I hereby relieve you of duty in accordance with Section C, Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the GUN hierarchy doctrine for compromising mission parameters in pursuit of personal gain. You will be confined to the holding cells under armed guard to await court martial. That is all I will say on the matter." He nodded to two security guards, a large panther and a tiger.

"Take him away."

"No!" cried Baxter as the feline guards dragged him up the steps, "You can't do this to me! I'm the Commander of this whole facility!" Sonic watched him be manhandled to the glass doors, and saw him look over his shoulder to stare daggers at Rouge and her companions.

"You're going to pay for this!" he shouted, before he was dragged inside.

"You're dismissed for now, Agent Rouge," said Tarquin, his formal demeanour not breaking, "you and your unit should take some leave, although..." He fixed his piercing eyes on Sonic. "I would like the 'assets' to remain on site for now, just for some informal questioning at a later time."