Green eyes gazed deeply into scarlet, searching for answers it refused to yield. He let himself be absorbed by it, the carmine depths soliciting his full attention. A part of him knew that he would never get his answers this way, but it didn't stop him from trying.

It had been one week since his disastrous meeting with the Ultimate Lifeform -one week of Topaz watching him like a hawk thinking that the creature was going to come back and finish him off. While it was annoying that the young woman still treated him as if he was a child, he knew it was worth it in the end, as he now had a way to contact the obsidian hybrid.

Problem was, it seemed that Shadow was a lazy bastard who had not yet showed up. He'd yet to receive word from the weapon of mass destruction, and it was starting to annoy him. While he understood that as a immortal, Shadow likely didn't have the same grasp on time as everyone else, the impatience he felt was starting to affect his work.

"Commander?"

Startled, Sonic looked up from the glass of wine he'd been caught examining. He found his generals staring down at him impatiently, waiting for him to speak up. Forcing down a blush by sheer force of will, the young cobalt hedgehog cleared his throat before speaking up:

"Sorry, I was thinking." He said, meeting their questioning, if not faintly annoyed gazes but refusing to look bashful or apologetic. The Blue Blur was not stupid enough to trust or relax around Towers' former allies. "Carry on."

The grisly blond man that had called him out on his daydreaming huffed, before returning to the hologram spread out in the middle of the table. Sonic took one look at the map it was showing and frowned, already knowing where this was going the moment he recognized the mountainous formation of a canyon.

Weren't they talking about their diplomatic relationship with the Kingdom of Acorns moments ago? When did it jump to the territory dispute at the edge of Robotnick's empire?

(He hated his short attention span.)

"According to our surveillance drones, Robotnick is sending a new deployment of war machines to the field this week. He will be replacing the Egg Pawns with a advanced version called Egg Gunners." The general continued, pulling up two holograms. One was of a small, familiar round robot with large guns for hands, while the second was a sleeker, much taller version that Sonic had never seen before. "They'll be set to arrive within two day's time to the frontline, and are fully equipped to handle the terrain."

Worried murmurs travelled the conference room. Sonic's ears perked up.

Interesting.

He knew about this situation for a while; nearly two years ago the frontlines had managed to push forwards into Robotnick' Empire, and were now caught in a choke point in a swamp-filled, three mile long gorge. It put both sides at a disadvantage, with the unstable ground unable to support the more heavy war machines Eggman deployed and Sonic was called to eliminate, but the environment was dangerous enough that soldiers often fell prey to diseases and infection.

Of all of the zones that the two armies could have fought in, the Frontier Canyon was the worst. Sonic had been there several times during his career, and he'd lost count of how many times he'd nearly died to unstable terrain, or had to be pulled out by ropes from tar pits. The swamps swallowed animals alive, if disease didn't get you first.

"But we don't have enough soldiers to keep another wave of the drones away!" A general with salt and pepper hair exclaimed with a shout, startling Sonic.

The first one nodded with a grimace. "He's right. By the time we get the reinforcements there, the enemy's forces would already have taken control of the entire canyon."

The blue hedgehog at the end of the table narrowed his eyes, his thoughts on the Ultimate Lifeform forgotten as he mulled over what his subordinates told him. Some called the Canyon Zone a stalemate that wouldn't be resolved; Sonic called it a headache-inducing hassle.

"How about we skip all of this and go with the obvious solution."

The men kept staring. It made the blue hedgehog want to hold his head and curl up in a corner. Sometimes he forgot how oblivious and selfish humans could be.

"I should go to the frontlines." Sonic calmly took a sip of the wine glass, ignoring the thick silence brewing in the conference room as he settled back against his chair, eyes surveilling his generals carefully. "Let's face it, I could keep the gorge secure long enough for heavy reinforcements to come in. The Bigfoots are useless in the swamps, I'm the only shot we have at saving our troops stationed there."

Winning the gorge would give them a great advantage over the egoistical scientist.

The blond man who had spoken first coughed. "Are you sure you should go to the frontlines? It would be unfortunate if something were to happen to you." The human stressed the last words, earning nods from the other generals.

Sonic held back from snorting; he knew they would be throwing a party and inviting Towers back if he were to die. He was under no illusion that they liked him. Bunch of old farts.

"With all due respect General Leadox, I was born at the frontlines. I know them like the back of my hand." Sonic told the man sternly, "This is risk free for me, and we would be saving countless lives."

"Of course." The man turned his nose upwards at his words. "...sir."

Sonic made a mental note to keep a closer eye on this human. Of all the generals, he seemed to be the most outspoken of them all, and if he remembered correctly, Leadox was one of the few who viciously tried to defend Abraham Towers' seat when it was time for a election.

"If I may ask, who will lead the organization while you're gone, Commander?" A old general at the back asked, his wise blue eyes trailing on the holograms of the mechs. Sonic remembered the man; he was the one in charge of the science division. "You're not a General anymore, without you here G.U.N. could lose support."

"And we will lose more soldiers than we already lost if I don't go." Sonic stated firmly as he stood up, eyes meeting those of every human in the room. "I'm leaving today. I will keep a line of communication open with Secretary Topaz in case anything happens. She's in charge until I come back, understood?" He demanded, voice leaving no room for dispute.

The generals bowed their heads in agreement.

"Yes, Commander."

"Good." The blue hedgehog's eyes flickered down to the hologram of the canyon, thoughtful. "It should take me around two hours to get to the battle zone if I go through the Acorn Kingdom. I have no doubt that Robotnick will make his move the moment my presence is confirmed at the choke point."

"Leadox, have the soldiers pull out of the fight and retreat to our side of the canyon. Let's draw that bastard in." Sonic continued, taking a sip of his drink before setting it down sharply, emerald eyes filled with determination. "This meeting is over."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Are you sure about this?"

"It's the best way of going with this, Topaz." Sonic muttered as he checked his backpack again, making sure he had his rations, emergency health kit and phone. "Egghead is shredding through our troops since I was pulled away from there for the Galla. I can't fail them."

Plus, I'm interested in those new ground models the crazy bastard is going to use. He had to wonder why it took Robotnick so much time to improve his main troops to survive better in the hostile environment of the swamp. Despite how much he hated the old man, Sonic admitted that the human was a genius. It shouldn't have taken him two years. What is he hiding?

"Why don't you bring Knuckles with you?" Topaz asked as she handed him a antibiotics kit in case of infection -a standard piece of equipment for anyone who went to the Canyon.

"I already called Tails." The sapphire speedster answered as he took the offered box with a muttered thanks. He then stuffed the small package in the backpack. "They're gonna meet me there as aerial support."

"...still can't believe this." Topaz sat down in one of the couches with a defeated sigh, making him pause and look over his secretary questioningly.

"Hmm?"

"You. Tails. Knuckles. It's ridiculous." The human said, waiving her arms around at the unbothered hedgehog. "Our best line of defence against Robotnick are child soldiers."

Unconcerned, Sonic shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, they chose getting involved with this." He replied calmly, grabbing a standard vest and putting it on. A dark green color, it would hopefully given him a bit of camouflage in the dull swamplands.

Sonic grimaced, for a moment hating his unusual coloration. At worse, the cobalt hero could roll in the mud to cover his bright fur like he'd done last time-

"You didn't."

Sonic paused, hand hovering over the bag.

(His neck itched.)

The silence was suffocating. It seemed to stretch on and on, threatening to drown them. Topaz stayed where she was, expression calm and restrained as she watched her friend stand there as if he'd been petrified.

it was finally broken by a sigh leaving peach lips, their owner reaching out and closing the zipper of the bag smoothly. "That's besides the point." The blue hedgehog finally whispered as he stood up, fastening the backpack onto his shoulders. "Don't bring it up again."

His voice was like steel.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of." Topaz retorted as she crossed her legs, unfazed by the coldness of his tone.

"It's not something I want public, either." Sonic said in a neutral voice as he walked towards the exit. "I'll contact you once I get there." He called out, opening the heavy wooden door.

"Good luck, kid."

Sonic couldn't close the gaudy office door behind him fast enough for the young woman to not notice the tiny smile tugging at the edge of his lips.

xxxxxxxxx

"What brings you here today, sugar?"

Scarlet eyes speared into the woman's soul, seemingly searching for all of her weaknesses and dirty little secrets. A normal person would have backed off under the weight of the strange hedgehog's stare, but then again Rouge wasn't a normal woman.

Unperturbed by the piercing stare of her costumer, she patiently waited for him to respond, making herself comfortable in the isolated table situated at a corner of the small, quaint club she owned. A unfinished coffee mug sat in front of her, thin wisps of steam lazily rising up in front of her nose.

"I want information on Sonic." The being in front of her finally spoke, ruby eyes flicking towards the other costumers, searching for someone foolish enough to try to overhear their conversation. The regular patrons however stayed clear of the table they were at, recognizing the obsidian hedgehog for who he was. "I'll pay for everything you can get."

Rouge tutted softly as she leaned back, arms crossing over her ample chest. Quirking a eyebrow at her most grumpy client, she replied smoothly; "The Commander? How expected." Boring. He didn't need to be a telepath to know what she was thinking. As a master thief, there was little the woman found a challenge.

The fact that she worked at G.U.N. made it even less difficult.

"Hmph."

At the immortal's lack of worded response Rouge hummed, shifting her hips and crossing her legs as she gazed at her long time partner more seriously. "It's going to cost you. A lot."

"Money isn't a problem." Shadow intoned, not bothered by the demand.

Rouge smirked, already imagining what kind of reward she could get out of the handsome male. She knew money wouldn't be a issue to someone who had no materialistic needs. Shadow had a good source of income from his work as a mercenary for hire. He never failed a mission; even with the fact that he was picky with his contracts, never killing without the target being dangerous or corrupt, people often went out of their way to contact him.

He was just too good at his job to gloss over. While he charged a lot of money for his services, his ability to teleport into even the most secure bases of the world -save Robotropolis- and his unparalleled raw power had earned him a lot of favours from many important people.

Sometimes, Rouge wondered how much of a fool Towers was. If the man had tried repairing the biological weapon's trust in humanity, Robotnick would already be history. The only reason the madman still lived was due to the soft spot Shadow had for anything relating to his creator, and the near impossibility of infiltrating Robotropolis. Eggman was a master in the field of Chaos Theory; he'd long created a way to prevent Shadow from teleporting near his citadel without him noticing.

(And if the rumors about humanoid robots she'd heard running around wielding Chaos energy were true, entering the city would be suicide even for the Ultimate Lifeform.)

"Security isn't as lax as it used to be. I could get caught." Rouge continued slyly, tapping her nails against the wooden table. "I could go to jail."

The black hedgehog let out a small snort at her words. "I wouldn't have come to you if I didn't think you could do it." The older creature reminded her warningly.

The white bat barely swallowed back a laugh. A challenge, eh?

"And what, pray tell, will I get out of this?"

A purple stone was carefully placed on the dark table.

Rouge immediately straightened up at the sight of the Chaos Emerald. Her usual flourish was gone, replaced by a unnerving seriousness as she pinned the older creature in place with her aquamarine eyes.

For a moment her eyes flicked to the other costumers of the bar, as if expecting them to jump at the table and steal the precious treasure Shadow had boldly left in open air. Fortunately, the patrons were too terrified of the said obsidian creature to risk sneaking a look at their table.

Silently gauging the immortal's reaction, Rouge reached out and picked the stone up, her lips twitching as colourful sparks appeared on the gem's surface upon contact. A inner fire seemed to dance within the artifact's depth, bright and ancient, a glow no common gem could replicate. The jewel thief paused, turning the mythical artifact around in her hand, examining it while keeping eye contact with the obsidian warrior.

He must really want that information. Shadow rarely departed from his precious gems, especially the red one. Since he was immortal, the obsidian creature could afford giving them away -they would always find their way back to him somehow. Still, he's serious about this.

Rouge set the mythical artifact back down on the table with a sigh, knowing that the other had backed her in a corner. There was no way she could refuse this.

"Tell me what you need."

A satisfied smirk slowly spread on Shadow's lips.

Well, this chapter took a while -no fluff here sorry, but it sets up the plot pretty well if you read each line carefully. With this done, I won't need to do information dumps and skip straight into the action!

Now I'm gonna go work on Bitter Cold and Broken Stream. They are next in the list of updates.