Day 234 (Catch-Up)

[from Sonic the Hedgehog Returns]

"W... what?"

Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie had now returned to Knothole and we're delivering the bad news to the others. Solstice, perhaps unsurprisingly, took the news especially badly, collapsing into a chair with tears on her eyes.

"We're very sorry," said Sally. "But we can't give up. There has to be another way to track Nero down."

"I can't believe Liana would do something like this..." said Solstice. Giving in to her despair, she buried her face in her hands and began to weep.

Sally walked over to Solstice to console her, giving her a warm hug. "We'll find him," she said. "Don't worry."

"Yeah, and while we're at it, I'd like to find Liana and give her a piece of my mind!" said Sonic. "I know Emerald Coast's methods were different than ours, but they were still some of our best allies. I'll make her wish she'd never ratted 'em out to Buttnik!"

Sonic's outburst seemed to give Rotor an idea. "Say... we might just be able to do that!" he said. "And perhaps, if we track down Liana, we can track down Nero as well!"

"So how do we find her?" asked Sonic.

"Simple," said Rotor. "We get Solstice to call her again, and then I can trace the signal and pinpoint her location. Once we find her, she's bound to know where Nero is, and what Robotnik plans to do with him."

"I'll get her to talk," said Sonic. "Solstice, you okay to make that call?"

Solstice wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded. "I'll do it," she said. "I'll do anything I can to help."

"If Liana knows you know she's a traitor, she'll probably hang up before I can get a trace," said Rotor. "You'll have to pretend you don't know, and keep her talking long enough for me to trace her. Can you do that?"

Solstice nodded, quickly pulling herself together. "I told you," she said. "I'll do whatever it takes."

"Thank you," said Sally. "I know this must be really hard for you."

Solstice forced a small smile. "I'll be fine," she said.

Once she had fully composed herself, Solstice activated her radio, and Rotor immediately began work on tracking the incoming frequency. The other Freedom Fighters gathered around in total silence to listen. "Liana, are you there?" asked Solstice.

For one nerve-wracking moment, Liana did not reply. Just as Sally began to fear that Liana knew something was up, she responded. "Oh, hey, Solstice," said Liana. "So, how's everything going? Have you rescued Nero yet?"

"I don't know," said Solstice. "Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie are still off on their mission. They haven't come back yet. I hope they're alright."

"I hope so too," said Liana. To the Freedom Fighters listening in, the words sounded eerily hollow. "So... any particular reason you're radioing me? Just felt like a chat?"

"I wanted to see how you were holding up," said Solstice. "What with everything that's happened since yesterday, it..." Solstice paused for a moment, taking a deep breath to compose herself before continuing. "It must be hard for you."

"It is hard," said Liana, and again the words sounded hollow and empty to the Freedom Fighters. "But you know what Nero always tells us: we're soldiers first and foremost. We have to put our emotions to one side and focus on our missions. I'm sure you're doing the same."

Rotor suddenly gave a thumbs-up, indicating that he had pinpointed Liana's location. Solstice nodded in acknowledgement. "Oh, believe me," she said, "I am."

"Glad to hear it," said Liana. "I hope they come back safe, sound, and with Nero in tow."

"I hope so too," said Solstice. "In fact, they're probably on their way back right now."

"I'm sure they are," said Liana. The falseness in her voice brought out a sudden anger in Solstice; she clenched her fists, clutching the radio as though trying to squeeze the life out of it. "Well, I guess we'll be in touch then."

"Oh, we will," said Solstice, barely keeping the anger from her voice. "Don't worry about that."

"Okay then," said Liana, "I'll see you later."

"Goodbye, Liana," said Solstice, before switching off the radio. With the mission complete, she now allowed her anger to spill out. "Where is she?" she barked at Rotor.

"She seems to be holed up in a Robotnik industrial complex just north of the warehouse she directed you to earlier," said Rotor. "I'm sending the coordinates to NICOLE as we speak."

"Thanks, Rotor," said Sally. "Sonic and I will head there as soon as we can. Solstice, you can come with us. Maybe you can convince her to see sense and tell us where Robotnik's really keeping Nero."

Solstice nodded. "I'd love to," she said."

"Then let's go already!" said Sonic, grabbing Sally and Solstice's hands. "Lead the way, Sal."

"Will do," said Sally. With that, Sonic sped off back towards Oil Ocean Zone in pursuit of Liana.