The Chameleon Chronicles

Chapter 8 - Navigating Gravity

With not a lot to do until Knuckles showed up, Mighty and Espio talked about their experiences of the mission so far. It even sounded as though Espio continued berating Mighty for forgetting who Sonic was.
Meanwhile, Zoin had taken Krona aside for a talk as well. He asked his brother whether he was ready for this. Krona asked him the same thing, asking how much better his leg really was. Zoin said it was healing fast and had only been a small knock. But this- Going into Eggman's base, they had to be prepared. They had no idea what they would be facing, and while the others would protect them, they had to be on guard as well.
Krona looked down at his shoes, and in a small voice said "I'm ready to prove myself."
Zoin hoped that was a sign of courage, and asked "Once this is done, this will have been our first adventure. Together. So when we do return home..."
"No causing trouble? After this I don't think I'll need to. And-"
"Krona. Zoin. Knuckles is here," Espio called.
Zoin tilted his head in a silent question when Krona didn't continue. Instead of answering, Krona walked back to where Mighty and Espio stood. Zoin followed.
A red echidna with spiked knuckles was talking to Mighty. His features were rough and sharp. When the two brothers reached the group, Knuckles turned to them and gave them a quick look.
"So these are the guys whose sister was kidnapped? It's a shame it had to happen, but I'm glad you're working your way to finding her. Know that the other members of The Chaotix will keep their ears open too. Of course, there's the possibility of finding her at this base we're going to. You never know."
"Um... Thanks for those words," Zoin replied. "It's been great to actually do something."
"I'm sure it has."
Knuckles walked outside and shouted through "Hey! Mighty! We tracking this cannon down, or what?"
"Yeah! Coming!" Mighty hurriedly said. Turning to the others, he informed that it had been good meeting them, and to Krona and Zoin said that they might meet up again soon.
Mighty left, leaving three chameleons waiting.

Some time after Mighty and Knuckles had left to find the cannon, the three chameleons had wondered outside. The light dusting of snow on the ground was more than likely a way to see if any intruders were on the island. Since Sonic had took care of most of the guards, and the base was more than likely on alert in any case, they could at least be outside so long as one of them stood guard.
That guardsman was Espio, stood some distance away between two buildings. Zoin could just about see him. Looking around, he could see Krona pacing a fair bit away. It seemed that Krona had definitely loosened up since first coming on this adventure, and Zoin had to smile at the impatience he was showing now. For someone who didn't even want to come at first, he certainly seemed eager to continue. Zoin was as well, of course. They were close now, and the gathering of those he could call allies told him as much. And the fact they were all heading in the same direction. Whether their sister was indeed on this base was another matter.
Watching Krona, his brother looked up and suddenly vanished. A slight flicker of fear had been on his features before they had disappeared. Looking in the direction Krona had been, he saw a ship of some sort coming in for a landing.
"Who do you reckon it is?" a voice beside him asked.
Zoin could see his brother's gloves pressed flat against the wall the two brothers leaned against. Krona had never mastered full chameleon power. Zoin utilised his power to turn completely invisible, hunting out where Espio had got to.
"That," another voice replied, "is our ticket into the base."
Both brothers jumped at the voice, and Espio emerged right in front of them.
"Whoo, don't do that again," Krona breathed heavily. "At least if something friendly is coming tell us."
"I didn't realise they were already here. They just said to expect them soon."
The ship had now landed. Looking more like an aerial transporter van, it was made of two sections that didn't look as though they had access to each other. Slate grey in colour, it had two doors at the rear, and one each side near the front. The windows were heavily tinted the same colour as the rest of the vehicle.
The door facing the trio opened and Vector appeared in the doorway. "Come on in. It's comfy inside."
"Where exactly did you find this?" Espio asked, walking slowly around it in inspection.
"It was lying abandoned at that castle we were exploring. Someone had tried to hide it by the looks of things. Must have been used for hiding illegal goods."
"Well, we can put it to much better use. Eggman's base awaits."
Espio had now walked it back to the group and entered, calling for the two brothers to enter as well. Zoin noticed that the ship was set out like a sort of military vehicle. Two drivers front, with two more seats either side of the cabin. A table of some sort sat in the middle of the cabin.
"Hey again!" Charmy called from one of the front seats.
"Hey, Charmy," Zoin greeted. Krona was too busy taking in the detail of the ship to notice.
"Buckle up," Vector informed. "We'll be heading to that base now."
Espio settled into the seat behind Vector, leaving the two brothers behind Charmy. When all were strapped in, Vector lifted the ship smoothly and turned it to face what looked like a mass of lines in the sky. Once moving forward, Zoin twisted slightly so he could look out the window behind him. The snow capped island slipped past at speed, giving only the briefest glimpse at a large sunken building that looked as though it had housed a cannon.
Seconds later, a rough jolt brought Zoin back around to face Espio. Espio looked at Vector to ask "Is that the gravitational shifts?"
"Yeah," replied the rough voice. "Really affecting where this thing's goin'."
Even as he spoke, the ship seemed to curve and rotate at the same time. A wall ahead was closing fast, and quickly Vector brought the ship 'down' so it skimmed the wall, roof scraping along it, through a gap and onto another lane. Reducing speed slightly, Vector continued battling with the gravity. At one point they almost ended up crashed on their roof had Vector not pulled a bit of trickery to quickly swap lanes again.
"This corridor is gonna mash us up," he growled.
"Vector, status report," a voice asked through a communicator.
Landing quickly, seemingly having given up trying to battle the gravity shifts, Vector pulled out his communicator. "I'm here in the corridor with Espio and the others. Where are you?"
"Already at the base," Mighty replied, adding "How are you getting across?"
"We stole a transport from the castle," Charmy chipped in.
"Charmy!" Vector reprimanded. "We didn't steal it. It was abandoned."
"Yeah. Yeah. We're sitting ducks in this field either way."
"There's some switches you can hit somewhere within that corridor," Mighty informed. "If Charmy was able to get into it's superstructure... Well, what it has of it. Get in, turn it off, and the drive'll be easy."
"And you didn't do that because?" Vector asked.
"Well... We were," Knuckles' voice answered. "But we had no idea how everyone else would get across, so left it."
"Okay, Charmy. Get to work." As the door opened and Charmy left, Vector added to the communicator "Thanks for the help, boys."