Hop To It - Eclipse 12

[Shadow]

Shadow stepped off the teleporter to let the others come in, and found himself gravitating towards the window overlooking Earth.

This room wasn’t always a control bridge. It was converted to a security station as more people began living here, due to its central location, but before that it was an observatory. It provided a beautiful view of the planet below, and Shadow came here often, alongside…

Maria.

Shadow, what do you think it’s like on Earth?

Shadow lived his entire life aboard the ARK. And Maria… was his entire life. When he didn’t know who he was, or what he was meant for, Maria told him that he was good enough just being him. She loved the world, even though she never got to see it. And through her, Shadow wondered if he could love it too.

And then it betrayed her, and that love was shattered.

Shadow growled to himself, and the hand resting on the glass curled into a fist.

He always wondered what his purpose was. Well, he knows what it is now. Revenge.

“Maria…”

“Why so melancholy?”

Shadow tensed, turning to see Rouge walking up. “Hmph.”

The bat girl smirked at him like she had many times already, but it was different now. A crinkle to her eyes that hadn’t been there before. “That was so unexpected, so unlike you Shadow, to come and rescue me.”

Shadow looked back out the window.

“My, but that Chaos Control of yours comes in handy, doesn’t it?”

“You know I didn’t go back for you,” Shadow said tersely. “I went back for the Chaos Emeralds.” He refused to look at her.

Rouge flapped her hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, but that’s not the whole story, is it?”

Shadow grimaced, not enjoying this conversation, but he was saved from having to respond by the door opening. Eggman walked through and cleared his throat loudly for attention.

“Ahem! We’re almost ready,” he announced. “Just a few final checks.” He scowled. “We’d have been done already if the door to my base hadn’t stuck. I still don’t know how that happened…”

“Are you sure?” Rouge asked, wings fidgeting. “We only have six of the seven Chaos Emeralds, you know.”

Shadow pushed his troubling thoughts away. “That’s more than enough for the demonstration.” He shoved past Eggman on his way out the door. “So let’s get this show on the road!”

Behind him, Eggman and Rouge exchanged a look. “What is this demonstration even going to do?” she asked.

Eggman smiled nastily. “Ohoho, you’ll see. It’s going to be a blast.”

---------------------------------

[G.U.N.]

Commander Abraham Tower looked over the paperwork on his desk, checking and double-checking everything. Reports from the field, requests for munitions, letters from politicians and other concerned citizens that were mostly drivel but had to be looked at because for every nine frivolous ones there was one that was actually important.

He set the latest document to the side and took a small breath. Steepling his fingers in front of him, Tower stared directly ahead. His gaze may have landed on the door to his private office, but in truth he was looking at something far, far away. A thousand miles and fifty years away.

Abraham Tower was the first child born in space. His family lived and worked on the Space Colony ARK. His mother was a scientist, researching innovative energy alternatives, and his father was a member of the security staff. He was told that they met after his mother blew up her work one too many times and was assigned his father as a full-time safety supervisor, and the time they spent together just led to… well, him.

It wasn’t quite a fairy tale romance, but perhaps at the time it might have been seen as a new story for a new age. Mankind was on the verge of unlocking the stars, after all. Until it all came tumbling down because of one, black-and-red little problem. The only home he had ever known, his parents, his best friend, mankind’s promising future, all of them lost because of one, annoying, disgusting, pitiful little freak of scientific hubris--

Tower took a deep breath and held it until the roar in his ears faded.

This was why he couldn’t allow himself to take charge right now. He was too close to the current situation. His… grudge, no matter how justified, would only make him sloppy and irrational. Tower couldn’t be objective, and so he couldn’t be involved. And so, he busied himself in his office, catching up on paperwork he’d put off.

Tower lowered his gaze, and caught himself looking at the picture frame on his desk. It was a double frame; on the left was a picture of his parents’ wedding, one of the only pictures he had left of them. It was a beautiful image, with the only thing that made him grimace being the man who was officiating; whoever decided that Gerald Robotnik was the ‘captain’ of the ARK must have been touched in the head. The image on the right, however, was of a much younger Abraham and his best friend, Maria Robotnik.

Poor Maria. The only good Robotnik of the bunch. She could have done so much, if only…

But no, that way lies madness.

The intercom on his desk lit up, and Tower stared at it for a few seconds too long before answering. “Yes, Miss Park?”

“You’re wanted in the Ops Center, Commander,” his secretary informed him.

“Who by?”

“Captains Palisade and Bunker are here to talk with you about something. Captain Punji is here as well.”

Tower frowned. All three? “I’ve placed Major Citadel in charge, you know this. Forward them to him.”

“I’m afraid they’re quite adamant that they speak with you, sir. Palisade insinuated that she has concerns about everything going on right now.”

The Commander sighed and leaned back in his chair. He supposed he should have expected this. After all, it wasn’t every day that the Commander of G.U.N. set a priority 1 mission and then bowed out of any involvement with it.

“Sir?”

“Tell them I’m coming,” he responded. “I’m on my way.”

He stood up, then paused and gave the picture frame one last look. Then he placed it face down.

“Sorry, Maria. I know you believed the best of him. But I won’t be fooled.”

----------------------------------

[Sonic]

It turned out that finding a place to hide out in the city was harder than Sonic thought. The three of them were so distinctive that there really was no mistaking any of them for anyone else. Amy’s specific shade of pink was rare, Sonic’s face was all over the news, and Tails had two fluffy calling cards that followed him everywhere. With G.U.N. crawling all over the place looking for them, their options were limited.

The first choice was to head to Little Island; even if they couldn’t blend in with the crowd, the other candy-colored animal people would at least make it into a search. It was the obvious choice, which was probably why G.U.N. had already cordoned off the neighborhood by the time they got there.

Tails’s suggestion to find Humi’s place in the city failed when he realized he didn’t have any kind of address. And Amy didn’t have any ideas.

So they were left to hide out in alleyways. It was dirty, cramped, and so frustrating. Sonic hated staying in one place for too long, but he didn’t have a choice. They needed to find Eggman, but they didn’t have anything to go on! This sneaky business he was up to was really unlike him.

It almost felt like this wasn’t an Eggman plot at all.

“Anything yet?” he asked.

“None of Eggman’s usual frequencies are in use,” Tails reported dismally. “Or maybe just not in range.”

“This stinks, literally,” Amy complained. She kicked a can at a dumpster. “Is there really nothing we can do?”

“Without a lead, we’d just be running in circles,” Tails said. He set his equipment aside and got back to work on the Cyclone. “And the longer we’re out in the open, the more forces G.U.N. will send after us.”

Amy sighed loudly. She looked up at the sky. “It’s going to be night soon. We’re not going to have to sleep out here, are we? I didn’t bring my camping kit…”

Sonic grunted, unhappy. He stood up from his position leaning against the wall and walked over to a sturdy-looking box to take a seat.

The box collapsed under him, and he ended up sitting on something pointy. “Whoa!”

“Hey!”

Amy and Tails looked over. “Sonic? What happened?”

The blue hedgehog stood up, rubbing his back. “Just sat down in the wrong place… who said that?”

“Who said what?”

“Someone said ‘hey.’”

“I did!” The collapsed box shuddered, and an Omochao crawled out, looking as annoyed as its limited facial expressions could manage. “You sat on my house!”

Sonic blinked. He glanced at the others, who shrugged. “Uh, sorry little guy. I didn’t know.”

“I can tell. You look like you don’t know a lot of things.”

“Wha--hey!” Sonic reached out to grab it, but the Omochao took off and flew out of reach.

“You guys shouldn’t even be here!” it said, coptering around them. “It’s dangerous out right now, especially for you guys.”

It started flying away towards the mouth of the alley, and Sonic ran after it. “Come back here!”

“Sonic, don’t!” Tails called after him. 

Sonic heard Amy running after him, and a moment later the Cyclone’s heavy steps were following too. He was focused on the Omochao.

It led them right out onto the street, and Sonic had enough sense not to pursue it further than that. The annoying little robot turned to look at him, then flew off. Sonic frowned after it, but then something caught his eye.

Across the street, there was a shopfront with a TV in the window. On the screen, currently, was--

“Eggman?!”

---------------------------------------------

[G.U.N.]

Commander Tower stepped into the Ops Center and assessed the room with a quick look. Everyone was busily working at their screens, and at the center of the room overlooking the space was… no one.

“You, trooper.”

Several heads looked up. Most of them turned back to their screen, but the one Tower pointed at stared up at him expectantly as the Commander took his customary position at the head of the room. “Yes sir?”

“Where is Major Citadel?”

“I believe he stepped out to one of the conference rooms to contact one of the special forces squads, Commander. He should be back shortly.”

“Mm.” Tower folded his arms behind his back and looked at the big screen at the front of the room. It was displaying, as it always did, a running and progressing report of ongoing missions across the organization’s entire scope. A section of it was currently scanning a missive from the Federation embassy in Spagonia. An entire corner was dedicated to a world map, tracking G.U.N.’s own movements across the globe. But the majority of the screen was displaying the status of G.U.N.’s current Priority #1: Capturing Shadow the Hedgehog.

Tower scanned the information, troubled. “...Steeple, is this saying that Prison Island is destroyed?”

“I’m afraid so, Commander,” the comms officer said. “Were you not aware?”

“I had hoped that if something like that happened, Roark would have brought me back in,” Tower grumbled.

A video feed from a news channel came up. There was no sound, but it was displaying a scene of… Sonic the Hedgehog. Which puzzled Tower, because it must have been relevant to the case somehow, but he couldn’t fathom how. He was about to order the sound on, when the door opened behind him.

“Commander!”

Tower turned to see the three captains enter. “Palisade, Bunker. Punji. It’s my understanding that you three have been very busy the past few days.”

“Yessir,” Palisade confirmed. “And we have something very important to speak to you about.”

“I’m sure,” Tower allowed. He paused as another soldier entered, a private. He took up a position between Palisade and Punji and stayed silent, so Tower continued. “I’m sure all three of you have status reports, but I need to hear the most pressing one first. Bunker, what happened at Prison Island?”

Bunker blinked, apparently surprised. “It’s somewhat related to that, actually. Eggman attacked the complex unprovoked, though we now believe he was after the Chaos Emerald stored there.”

“Did he retrieve them?”

“Not personally, but he was working with two unknown agents. Mobians.” Bunker swallowed. “And on that note, I’d like to--”

“Was one of them a hedgehog, very fast?” Tower interrupted, expression darkening.

Bunker looked like he was in pain. “According to eyewitnesses, yes, but I don’t think it was--”

“I see. It makes sense,” Tower said, turning away. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Sir?” He sounded bewildered.

“What are the damages?”

“...A bomb was planted in one of the lower levels. Prison Island the facility was completely lost. The island itself lost forty percent of its mass, though the flora and fauna are projected to make a recovery.” Bunker sighed. “Of the fifteen ships docked around the island at the time, only one and half got away.”

Tower looked over his shoulder, raising one eyebrow. “One and half?”

Bunker coughed. “Sorry. One carrier and the island’s tugboat.”

“Hm. Casualties?”

“About two dozen men were still engaged in evacuating prisoners when the bomb went off. They were lost, as were half the prison population. Virtually all of our robots on the island are gone.” He shook his head, despairing. “Most of the men of my division are alive and more or less uninjured, but our equipment was reduced to whatever they were carrying at the time. We’re still tallying up the total losses.”

“Fantastic,” Tower grumbled. “Punji?”

The older captain’s eye twitched. “Eggman’s robots held us back for days. I ran out of robots and retreated. End of story.”

“Sir, if I may--”

“Wait your turn, Palisade,” Tower snapped. “Continue.”

“Sir, those contractors you sent out are going to cause trouble,” Punji bit out. “That mouse stole G.U.N. resources to build her mech and tore through the badnik forces. She could have ruined everything! And that rabbit fella, throwing himself across the sands like that? Reckless! They’re both reckless! I don’t care how skilled or talented they are, a child has no place on the battlefield!”

Tower stared at him. “I didn’t send any contractors. What are you talking about?”

Punji squinted. “You didn’t send a mouse and a rabbit out to help?”

“He’s a hare, actually.” Tower and Punji both turned to look at Palisade, who cleared her throat. “Hayden Fiver and Humi… no last name I’m aware of. They were hired alongside Tails the Fox to help with the downed Egg Carrier in the wake of the Chaos Incident.”

“Ah, I believe I remember that,” Tower said. “Hero types.”

“Reckless!” Punji shouted. “And they weren’t even supposed to be there! I was right, I should have had her shot down like I first thought!”

“Humi is a child, Punji!” Palisade said, affronted.

“Spike,” Bunker said seriously. “Please tell me you did not order your men to fire on a child.”

“I--”

“A child,” Bunker repeated, “who was already surrounded by hostile enemy robots.”

Punji turned to Tower for backup, and found none. He withered under the Commander’s glare.

The private raised his hand. “Um.”

Tower looked at him. “And you are?”

“This is Private House, sir,” Palisade introduced. “He was part of Punji’s squad until yesterday.”

“So you were the one who poached my assistant!”

“Quiet, captain,” Tower hissed. “You’re already facing a court martial for firing on a civilian. What is it, private?”

“Well,” the private--House, his uniform patch said--hesitated. “I should--I mean, I feel the need to mention that the mouse, Humi, actually made it into the Pyramid as far as we could tell. When the hare showed up he went after her, and we lost visual contact with him in the sands but--”

“I’ll assume he got in as well,” Tower said, nodding. “Good.”

“Good?!”

“Yes, Punji, good. I know hero types,” Tower said sternly. “Historically they’ve been the only ones who can deal with the likes of Doctor Eggman. I’m not happy about letting civilians handle things, but it works and that’s what matters. If that little girl was able to fight through Eggman’s forces--and ours, apparently--to get inside, then odds are they’re doing just fine.”

Palisade and Bunker exchanged a perplexed look.

Tower let out a restrained sigh. “Punji, I am going to strongly recommend that you consider retirement.”

“But--!”

“Because you won’t like the alternative,” Tower warned, and Punji’s jaw snapped shut. He looked mutinous for a moment, then subsided. “Now, Palisade. You were the one in charge of capturing the hedgehog.”

“Yes sir,” she said, looking troubled. “Yesterday evening he was captured and delivered to Prison Island--”

“Where Eggman no doubt freed him,” Tower finished. “Which is why they ended up working together to destroy it, I’ve no doubt.”

“Sir, I really don’t think that’s true,” Palisade protested. Bunker nodded.

Tower shook his head. “Captains, I understand that the hedgehog doesn’t look like much, but he’s more dangerous than you can possibly imagine.”

Palisade drew back, looking alarmed. “Commander, with all due respect, what are you talking about?”

Tower turned to regard the screens again. “You don’t know him like I do, captain. I’ve seen what he’s capable of, I know what he really is. No one on Earth is left who knows his true nature.” Tower’s fist clenched. “It’s why I let the major take point in this operation. I’m too close to it. I can’t trust myself where Shadow is concerned.”

“What?”

“Am I being unclear?” Tower asked, a touch angrily, before turning to take in Palisade and Bunker’s blank look.

The two officers looked at each other, before Bunker asked, “Commander, who is Shadow? Weren’t we talking about Sonic?”

Now it was Tower’s turn to be taken aback. “Sonic? Why in the world would I be talking about Sonic? He’s a hero! A reckless and wild one, but a hero nonetheless. As far as I know he’s done nothing to warrant a fine, let alone arrest.” His brow furrowed. Why would they think he meant Sonic?

“Then why--”

The door to the Ops Center opened, and Major Citadel stepped in, still holding a phone. A personal phone. “--and make sure that they don’t get--away?”

Citadel paused midstep, taking in the glares from Palisade and Bunker, the mulish look from Punji, and the slowly-growing thunderous expression on Tower’s face.

“...Lieutenant, I’m going to have to call you back. Stay the course.” Citadel closed his phone. “What’s going on here? Commander, I thought you weren’t getting involved.”

“I think,” Tower said through gritted teeth, “that I should be asking you that question. Roark, why were the good captains here under the impression that they were meant to be hunting Sonic the Hedgehog?”

Citadel paled. “Well, you see--”

“Commander!” Steeple shouted, standing in his seat. “An outside signal has entered our system!”

Tower glared at Citadel for a second longer.

“It’s tearing through our firewalls--”

“Commander, it’s being broadcast worldwide!” another yelled.

Tower growled and turned to the wider room. “Where is it coming from? What is it?”

“It’s untraceable,” Steeple reported. “But it’s… a live video feed.”

Tower opened his mouth to order it put on the screen, but it happened on its own. The Commander felt his blood pressure spike when Doctor Eggman’s face appeared on the monitor.

“Hah hah hah! Citizens of Earth! Lend me your ears, and listen to me very carefully…”

-----------------------------------------

[Heyu]

I woke up slowly. I must have shifted in my sleep, because something started poking me, and it nudged me back to consciousness. I tried to roll back into comfort, only for something to prick me.

“Urk!” I jolted away from the pain, springing awake and nearly falling out of bed. It felt like the house was shaking, so I reached out to grab the nightstand and catch myself--and missed. It wasn’t there, and I fell to the floor. “...Ow”

With my head and shoulders on the ground and my legs still mostly on the bed, I felt around for the pain in my thigh, and pulled out what felt like a giant splinter.

It was a black quill, and I abruptly remembered where I was.

“Oh. I was kind of hoping that was a bad dream.”

I allowed myself to lay in that position until my neck started to complain, then flopped over onto my stomach and got up.

Right. I was on the Space Colony ARK, in some child’s room. Now that I wasn’t as tired, I was able to take proper stock of the place. The bed I was on had red sheets, faded and torn in spots. The other bed in the room was pristine, with a blue blanket with stars on. It also, concerningly, had an IV drip stand tucked into the corner behind it.

I frowned and walked over. The bag hanging from the stand was long empty, but the label on it said that it was a nutrient solution with a mild steroid booster, prescribed as a treatment for… NIDS. I felt like I’d heard of that.

My foot hit something, and I bent down to find a folding wheelchair stored under the bed, hidden by the covers on the other side.

I hissed. “Yeesh. Poor kid.”

Speaking of kids, where--

The floor started shaking. It only lasted a second, but it was accompanied by the lights overhead going from low-power to blindingly bright and back a few times, and I was left dazzled by the flashing lights. “What the heck? Humi!”

No answer. I rotated my ears, listening for anything.

I heard metallic stomping run up the hallway outside and stop by the door just before it opened. Humi walked in and I let out a breath.

“I’m back! Oh, you’re awake.”

“Humi,” I said. “Dearheart. Packrat. Adorable little mouse.”

Her smile fell. “Uh. Yes?”

“Why. On Gaia’s green earth. Did you decide to run off without me after I just got back to you?” My foot was thumping hard enough to rattle the furniture.

“Oh.” Humi looked away. “I… huh. I guess I didn’t…”

I ran a hand over my ears. “It’s fine. You’re fine, I’m fine, no harm no foul, but please tell me next time you’re going off doing something.”

“...Okay.” For some reason she actually smiled at that.

I sighed through my nose before smiling back. “Alright, troublemaker. I think we should--”

The ARK shook again, and this time I had to grab the wall to not fall over.

“What the heck is that?!” I demanded.

“I don’t know!” Humi yelled to be heard. “It’s been happening the past few minutes.” The shaking subsided. “AND I HEARD--oh, sorry. I heard some things shifting in the walls… though it sounded like they came from far away actually.”

I frowned and followed her into the hallway, training my ears.

Something in the distance clanked. I held up my hands, three rings of different sizes between them, and arranged them like a funnel next to my ear.

…Grinding. Metal groaning, like a sea liner settling in the water. Something very big, moving… Electrical discharge.

I focused harder.

“...sure this will work?”

“Send your message.”

“Very well. Ohoho.”

“Robotnik?” I said quietly.

“Is Eggman here now?” Humi asked, equally hushed.

“Who is Eggman?” a silver Omochao asked.

I jumped, and banged my head on the ceiling in the process. “Agh!”

“Aah!”

I pointed at the Omochao accusingly. “Another one! Where did you come from, how did you get here?”

It pointed at itself, sitting in Humi’s mech--which I only just noticed had undergone some major changes while she was gone. “Me? I came to the ARK to hide.”

“From what?”

“From everything.”

My eye twitched. “Okay, that's the why, but I asked about the how.”

“Well--”

A harsh buzz and a hiss echoed through the halls, and an intercom system sprang to life. Decades of disuse made it raspy, but the message was still clear as Eggman’s smug voice filtered through.

“Hah hah hah! Citizens of Earth! Lend me your ears, and listen to me very carefully… My name is Doctor Eggman, the world’s greatest scientist! And soon to be the world’s greatest ruler.”

Above us, panels in the ceiling slid aside, revealing glass underneath looking out onto the rock of the unmined asteroid.

“What’s he doing?” Humi asked, alarmed.

I raised a finger. “Listen.”

-------------------------------------

(Down on Earth, Devon and Angora sat in front of their TV as that madman spoke.

“That’s what Robotnik looks like?” Wilbur asked. He and Charlotte had come over to keep them company while they worried over their kids. “I always thought he’d look more… imposing.”

“We can’t all be giant spiders, Wil,” Devon said, not really paying attention.

“Ssh!” Angora flapped a hand at both of them while she and Charlotte held onto each other.

“Now witness, the beginning of the greatest empire of ALL TIME, hahaha!”

The world outside the window lit up, and Angora leapt off the couch to pull the curtains back. Her eyes widened and she ran out the front door, the other three trailing behind her.

Up in the sky, a second moon had appeared, and it was glowing green.)

--------------------------------------

I grabbed Humi and the little robot and pulled them close as the entire space station trembled, stronger than any so far. There was a dull, muffled crash that seemed so much smaller than the tremor that accompanied it, and when the noise was over, we looked up and saw space. The entire asteroid had been blasted away, revealing a long, enormous pillar looming over the city that was the ARK.

The column blossomed like a four-petaled flower, a green light building at its tip.

And then a lance of light sped off into the distance. Directly at the Moon, peeking out from behind the planet. We could see the explosion from here, and when the light faded, a third of the Moon was gone, its molten mantle exposed.

--------------------------------

(Rouge watched the screen with her ears folded back in dread. She was glad that she was behind the other two, because she wasn’t able to keep up the act right now.

Eggman was laughing like the lunatic he was, and Shadow was standing there, arms folded, as if what he’d just seen was nothing to him. Like he felt nothing about the power he’d just given the most dangerous man in the world.

The bat’s eyes flickered to the Chaos Emeralds in their slots. But there was nothing she could do. Shadow was faster than her, and Eggman could probably deactivate the teleporter before she got to it.

I am so fired.

She turned her head before she fully registered the sound of one of Eggman’s robots coming in, and blinked at seeing Mecha Sonic. The hedgehog lookalike was riddled with bulletholes and one of its entire arms was hanging limp.

Mecha stood there, staring at Eggman laughing, before shaking its head in a remarkably lifelike way before giving her its attention.

“There are intruders aboard the ARK.”

Rouge stared dumbly--she didn’t know it could talk!--before the words hit her and she put her mask back on. “Oh, that’s no good. I’ll tell the Doctor once he’s had his fun. You go and get repaired now, okay?”

Mecha stared for a moment longer, then nodded stiffly and left.

Rouge scowled the second its back was turned. She wasn’t telling Eggman anything. She’d done enough damage already.

…Oh gaia, she was going to have to make a report about this.)

--------------------------------

Eggman laughed over the intercom for what felt like minutes as the massive cannon folded back up, and finally the sound cut out with a snap.

We stared up through the glass ceiling, struggling to comprehend what we just saw. That laser had been so close to hitting the Earth.

“Snrk.” I felt my lips twitch. My fur started standing on end. “Hehehe… heh. Hoo.” The laughter died before it could start. I was too shocked to be hysterical.

“Oh my gosh.” The Omochao stirred. “On second thought, maybe this isn’t the safest place.”

I dropped the thing on the ground unceremoniously. “This isn’t good.”

Humi looked at me, pulling at her pigtails. “Heyu, what do we do?”

“I…” I took a deep breath. “...I miss working customer service.”

-------------------------------------

[G.U.N.]

Commander Tower stared at the screen with a furious expression. “...Steeple, confirm. Now.”

“The video feed is not fabricated,” the officer said, a little shaky. “Multiple news stations are already airing their own live footage… the security cameras of this very building are able to see the Moon’s damaged state, sir.”

Curse this room’s lack of windows. Tower bit back his first few words, unprofessional as they were, and gathered his thoughts. What could they do to respond to this? They didn’t have a space program anymore, not since the ARK shut down. All spacefaring budgets had been slashed again and again in the past five decades, and G.U.N. was no exception. Even if they could get to the ARK, they were currently short on men, supplies, robots… this was a disaster scenario, no thanks to--

“Citadel.” Tower turned to regard the man. Citadel was gone. This time, Tower really did curse. 

The Captains all jumped at the vitriol that spewed from Tower’s mouth, with Palisade and Bunker both whirling on the spot Citadel had been standing. The Commander couldn’t blame them for losing track of him, given the circumstances, but this was getting worse by the minute.

“Alright. Priority shift,” he said. Tower pointed at Punji. “You. You’re in deep trouble, Captain. You’re facing a discharge.”

“Sir,” Punji said simply, hearing the but without Tower having to say it.

“If you want to go from dishonorable discharge to forced retirement, you will take whatever forces you have left, and hunt down Citadel. And when you find him, throw him in the deepest pit we have left. Do that and you’ll get away with your pension intact.”

Punji nodded and ran out the door.

Tower waited a second. “...Bunker, follow him. Make sure he does what he’s supposed to.”

“Aye, Commander.”

“Palisade?”

“Yes, sir.” The woman straightened.

“There is no doubt panic in the streets right now. Your job is crowd control. Keep the public as safe and calm as possible.” Tower turned to the room at large, and everyone looked at him. “Capturing Shadow the Hedgehog is no longer our priority. He may be working with Eggman, but the mad scientist is the one holding a sword to our collective necks. All hands on deck, all G.U.N. soldiers are to stand down, hunker where they are, and await further orders.”

“Sir?” another officer raised his hand, looking nervous. “Attempting to relay your orders; Squads Shine, Star and Ivory aren’t responding to their comms.”

“Neither are the Third and Fifth Specials. Or Aerial Unit Two.”

Commander Tower scowled. It only took a moment of pondering. “Citadel.” Life in prison was being too kind. Tower was going to push for execution. Subverting military resources and twisting orders to suit whatever his own purposes were? Treason. “What were their last orders?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

Steeple cleared his throat. “Capture Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies, sir. Dead or alive.”

“Then new orders!” Tower barked. “Stop them!”

God above, this was worse than a disaster. This was apocalyptic. No matter how much relying on a rogue agent rankled him, he could only hope that Sonic would manage to do what he always did, and save the day. 

Tower couldn’t begin to figure out how, as he stared up at Eggman’s countdown, still displayed on the screen.

-----------------------------

[Tails]

Amy gaped at the sky. “Half the moon is gone?”

“Eggman! That creep never gives up!” Sonic said, glaring at the screen that had gone dark.

Tails rubbed his chin. “But… how did he manage to harness all that energy?”

Sonic snapped his fingers. “It’s got to be the Chaos Emeralds…” He nodded. “That’s why they were looking for them to power that crazy laser weapon!”

Oh, of course! Tails dug into his glovebox and pulled out his own Emerald. Sonic stared at it, surprised.

“Wh--Tails?!”

“I’ve studied the Chaos Emerald pretty extensively now!” Tails declared. “They can attract each other like magnets. We can use mine to track down where Eggman is, if he’s using the rest of them!”

Amy gasped. “The rest of them? Tails!”

“What?”

“Humi!”

Sonic blinked. “Hey wait, didn’t she…”

Tails’s eyes widened. “Humi has a Chaos Emerald. Eggman’s going to target her!”

“Or he already has,” Sonic said with a grimace.

Amy palmed her fist. “Right… When I saw Heyu in the desert, Humi was nowhere to be found, and he looked pretty serious. You don’t think--”

Tails cut her off. “We gotta stop Eggman right away!”

“No argument there,” Sonic agreed. “But--”

“The three of you, FREEZE!” A spotlight landed on them, and they looked up to see the helicopter that managed to find them. “Put your hands up in the air--”

“And wave them like we just don’t care?” Sonic snarked, talking over the megaphone. “Tails, we need to split up. I’ll lead them on a goose chase, while you find a way to track Eggman--”

A G.U.N. Hunter drone landed next to them, accompanied by two Beetles, between them and the helicopter. The trio froze… only for the robots to turn and fire on the helicopter.

“What?! Rogue drones!”

Tails blinked, surprised, and had a moment to notice that these robots had been hastily spray painted blue--but then Sonic grabbed him and threw him into the Cyclone.

“They’re distracted! Go!”

Right. No time to figure out what’s going on with G.U.N. “Got it!”