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Kelly Johnson explains the two-seater A-12 created to launch a new drone. The manned aircraft and drone were redesignated M-21 and D-21 respectively because of their nicknames – “Mother” and “Daughter”. 1966 VIDEO: https://youtu.be/vwv6BiaUtDU
Habus in the fog
The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird in flight.
U-2
FanFic: Skunk Works Ch. 5
Back at it on a Tuesday...
Not everything that goes on at Yellow Sky is 'above ground.' A secretive lab is operated by the CTO of this auspicious tech company, and employs a select group of brilliant scientists working on cutting edge tech. Come with us as we join Tails on this behind-the-scenes look at a particular adventure in the Skunk Works!
Story Teaser: Tails and Kit recount their adventure with Metal, as Kit works on repairing the Infiltrator he recovered from one of Robotnik's bases... leading to a realization for both foxes.
Chapter 5: Gloom and Doom While Things Go BOOM
Tails and Kit arrived back at the Skunk Works lab, where the Fennec’s team of technicians carefully removed him from the Transport and worked with Tails to repair his damaged cybernetics. Kit was grudgingly grateful for their combined expertise, still grumbling that he needed to diagnose and restore his internal healing mechanisms.
The techs also unloaded the degraded Infiltrator and placed him and the collected parts bin on Kit’s personal work table. As soon as he could extricate himself from the attention of his assistants, the Fennec immediately dove in on his newest ‘pet project,’ which caused Tails some concern: “Don’t you want to rest for a bit? Take a minute to review and digest our experiences today?”
“Robotnik doesn’t rest,” scoffed Kit. “And clearly he’s up to something given Metal’s exuberance in defending that base.” He gestured across his body: “My organics and cybernetics are fine. Unless you are ordering me to rest, I'm going to work.”
Tails shook his head: "You know yourself best. You don’t always have to push strength, though.” “If there’s one thing I’ve observed to be true,” returned Kit, “it’s that peace is only achieved through strength.”
The inert ‘bot on the workbench twitched slightly as Kit replaced a corroded relay: “I must admit, though. These… ‘Infiltrators’ have a remarkable design. Despite the significant exterior degradation, this one’s internal architecture appears solid… and should be quite resilient once I make the needed repairs.” A humming sound emanated from the previously disused ‘bot as Kit plugged in data cables and an external power source: “Huh. It appears the core CPU and AI hardware was shielded. Looks mostly intact. It might take a bit to ‘awaken’ the AI kernel though, since it has been dormant for so long.” Tails looked puzzled: “That’s… not consistent with what we’ve seen from other ‘Infiltrators,’ especially from The Leader’s cache. There were several we called ‘drones,’ because their robotics were functional but their AI’s had degraded beyond recovery.” He handed Kit a few servo units from the parts bin: “And ‘Stripes’ was the only ‘bot in that location that was protected this way? Doesn’t make sense…”
“If you can manage to get your ‘friend’ Ivo to consign a ‘drone’ to you, I’d be most eager to examine it… figure out why this unit is different,” offered Kit as he removed degraded parts from the skunk-form Robian on the table and replaced them with the more functional assemblies Tails sifted from the parts crate. “I’ll see what I can do,” responded Tails, making a mental note for the next time Robotnik ‘visited’ the site to check on his S-model Emulator units.
The techy foxes continued to discuss their day's adventure as well as Tails' experiences with the Infiltrators as Kit continued repairs on the 'bot. After a couple of hours' work or so, an array of internal lights and a flurry of computational sounds emitted from the previously inert Infiltrator on the bench, as Kit smiled with satisfaction: “I’ve been able to restore minimal power to the ‘bot’s critical systems and have reactivated the AI Kernel. He is communicating… roughly, but I can mostly understand him. He has assessed the degradation to his chassis and systems and is most… grateful to me for… ‘rescuing’ him…”
Tails smiled back at Kit: “Well look at that… you made a friend in spite of yourself. Maybe once you get him fixed up he can be a trusted assistant for you…” “There’s that word again…” snapped Kit, interrupting Tails and shooting an angry look at him. “You’d really think I’d _trust_ a ‘bot built by Robotnik? That’s more than a stretch.” He huffed as he turned back to repairing ‘Stripes:’ “I don’t trust anyone except Surge. I just distrust you and my… Organic co-workers in the lab a little… less than most.”
“That’s progress, I suppose…” conceded Tails, his brow furrowing. “‘Trust more’ would be better than the double negative… but we can work on that too…” “You’re assuming I want that to be fixed,” muttered Kit darkly, looking over his shoulder at Tails. His eyes turned menacingly dark and glowed purple as he glared obliquely at Tails; water tendrils beginning to emerge from his backpack.
The two-tailed fox was unfazed by the latest apparent threat from the cyborg Fennec: “Interesting word choice,” Tails sighed, resigned. “You wanted to fix that ‘Infiltrator,’ and look what you were able to accomplish in this short time. You have the tools you need… physically and otherwise. As for anything… it’s all in what you _want_…” Tails bowed his head, continuing solemnly as he gently placed the shield generator on a nearby lab bench: “I’ll leave you to your work. Thanks for the shield demo and field adventure.” He turned respectfully and headed towards the exit to the Lab.
“Miles?” called out Kit, turning from his work. Tails had never heard Kit call him by his given name before, and it was at once both unsettling yet warming. The two-tailed fox stopped his exit and slowly turned around to walk back towards the Fennec, facing him: “Yes, Kitsunami?” he returned formally.
A genuine smile spread across the blue Fennec’s face as his water tendrils retracted and his eyes faded to a more normal hue: “Th-thank you,” he intoned nervously. “For everything. I’ll… try to do better… and move forward. It’s… honestly… what I want.” Tails warmly returned his smile, putting his hand on Kit’s shoulder reassuringly: “Thank _you_, Kit. That is all you can ask of yourself… call me if you need anything. I mean that.”
The Fennec nodded as he turned back to the now-stirring Infiltrator on the bench: “I will… keep you informed of my progress. On all fronts.” A rusted transformer within the ‘bot chose that moment to let go, resonating against the hollow bench with a BOOM and startling both foxes. The ‘bot went limp again, his LEDs abruptly darkening as a small curl of electrical smoke rose from the destroyed power module. Kit shook his head, frustrated: “Of course… setbacks are to be expected from time to time…”
Skunk Works: Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 (current) | Epilogue (upcoming)
Author's Note: Yellow Sky Industries and 'Tall Tails' character concepts courtesy of @e-vay.