Chapter 2: The Search for the Gemstones

Part 4: Soldier Missions

Stage 2C-05

The Sky

"Aerial Defense"

Sonic's plane, the Tornado, has always belonged to him. He trained himself to be a pilot in his early years, and is looking forward to be a part of the air defense squad. Now, since his meeting with Tails, he has lend it to him, making him be the pilot of the plane and reiterate them when possible. Occasionally, Sonic would pilot the Tornado, usually whenever Tails wasn't available or the little boy decides to go on an adventure alone.

For this ocassion, Sonic dressed himself up like an adventurer, as he is exploring some ruins. He has gone through several temples after all those years in fighting Eggman, but not once before has he done them in this outfit.

On route to Adabat, Sonic and Tails ride on the newest incarnation of Sonic's beloved plane. The Super Tornado, equipped with weapons, shield, and enough seats to support two people. Tails is in the cockpit, while Sonic is right behind him.

"The darkness isn't really helping us right now," Sonic comments as he looks around, observing that the sun is just on the horizon. "We really can't see anything. And if we turn on the lights, we might be spotted!"

Speak of the devil. Sonic and Tails spotted several lights in the growing darkness. They look like little drone fighters.

"Curse me for giving them ideas," Sonic muttered to himself.

Tails looks down on the radar. He spots several incoming enemy fighter drones. "Radar detectors have spotted them," Tails announces. "I wonder why they bothered installing lights on these things. Probably to help find them when they're lost. Oh well. It's time to transform!" Tails presses a button which transforms the Super Tornado from standard mode to attack mode.

"I'll try to maintain flight," Tails said. "You shoot them down, Sonic!"

Sonic darts his eyes from left to right, spotting waves of drones in the darkness. He aims the weapons towards them and fires away, shooting them down into the water below. He darts his eyes again, spots another incoming drones. He then turns the weapons towards them and shoots them down once more. Turns his gaze the other way, spots even more drones! Man, how many of these things does Eggman have? A hundred? Two hundred? Over a thousand? That's an awfully high amount of drones, all being send to here towards a really powerful plane. They all came down like flies, and the Super Tornado is all alone. No other planes in sight.

Why they even bother attacking us in small groups, Sonic thought to himself. They should throw wave after wave of drones, each of ever increasing number, until we are overwhelmed. For someone who has an IQ as high as Eggman, he does make some very stupid military decisions.

After a while, the skies are looking clear of enemies. They are getting close to Adabat, so landing will proceed shortly after. Before they could descend, however, a big airship peppered with lights ambushes the Super Tornado from below.

"Wha-" Sonic gasp as he saw the familiar creation of Eggman. "This again?"

"Ho ho hoho!" They heard Eggman laugh. "If you want to land down here, you've got to get past this machine!"

"Doctor," they also hear Orbot said. "You better be a bit more careful this time. Remember the last two time you-"

Eggman is getting really frustrated with Orbot constantly popping in to give him advice. "Oh, shut up!" Eggman shouted as he pounds on Orbot's head. "Let me handle this. I don't need your dimwit minds!"

"Then what's the point of making us?" Cubot asks, popping up.

"Silence!" Eggman screamed. "Let me focus!"

"Guess we're not going farther until we beat this Egg Cauldron," Sonic said.

Eggman sends several drones from the sides of the Egg Cauldron. Sonic, upon seeing them, shoots them don before they could reach them. Then, the doors containing Eggman's powerful weapon opened up, prompting Sonic to fire away at it before it finished charging up. Once that's done, the doors closes off due to sustained damage. The process then continues.

Out of curiosity, Sonic pelted the hull of the Egg Cauldron to see how much damage that would do. Surprisingly, the Super Tornado's energy pellets does leave a damage mark on the hull of the Egg Cauldron. It'll probably take a lot of shots just to destroy it that way, to the point that the energy supply will have run out several time over. Firing at the massive cannon the Egg Cauldron has is the best way to take it down.

Finally, after several round of having its main cannon being pelted, the ship's shield reserves are nearly drained. Smoke is coming from the Egg Cauldron as the generator inside begins to overheat.

"Grr!" Eggman growled. "Not again! It would be a challenge to take you down anyway." The Egg Cauldron then begins to make its escape. "I'll be back with another creation of mine. Just you wait, Sonic!"

Sonic pumps his fist in satisfaction. "Yeah!" he cheers. "We've kicked Eggman's butt again. Time to head in."

"Wait!" Tails said. "Let's not go ahead. We'd better make a landing here in the village."

"What?" Sonic said, puzzled. "Why?"

"I'll explain when we land," Tails replied. "For now, brace yourself, Sonic!"

[Time Elapsed: 04:00:00]

"So why do you make us land here, of all places?" Sonic asks as he stands on a walkway leading to the village in Adabat.

Tails take a deep breath to explain his reason for stopping here. "You see, Sonic," he begins, "this Super Tornado is designed to fight against small drones or other planes of its class. Not a fleet of airships each as big as that Egg Cauldron. I spotted two fleets of them fighting in the distance."

"But, what will you do now?" Sonic asks.

"I'm heading back east towards Equestria," Tails explains as he points behind him. "I've heard that in that country, there exists a powerful crystal known as the Tree of Harmony. From the looks of it, it might be comparable to the Master Emerald. I'll patrol the skies above the land for search for any rogue planes. You go on ahead and rescue our friends over there. Got it?"

Sonic gave Tails a thumbs up. "I got it, buddy," Sonic replies.

Tails nodded in response and so closed the cockpit. He guided the Super Tornado, turning it away from land and speeded off into the distance, rising higher as he went faster. Sonic waved goodbye to his pal for now. He then looks back towards shore. He spots a big battle going on between two fleets of airships, just like Tails said. In the distance, however, he also spots a red beacon cutting into the dark sky.

Stage 2C-06

Angel Island

"Hidden Palace"

Twilight is positioned on the shores of Angel Island, the homeland of Knuckles and the presumed location of the Master Emerald. All quiet here on the island, aside from a few enemies stationed there.

"So, what's this Master Emerald?" Twilight asks as she run through the island. "What does it do? What's its role?"

"According to my family history," Knuckles began, "the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds were both created by the Knuckles Clan. Definitely not named after me, in fact its the reverse, probably. The Master Emerald is a powerful gemstone, able to control the power levels of the Chaos Emeralds and hold Angel Island afloat."

"So it's really like the Tree of Harmony," Twilight replies.

"You're being sent here because we wanted to check if the Master Emerald is still there, even if Angel Island is infested with enemies," Knuckles briefs on the mission.

"Aren't you guys coming with me?" Twilight asks.

"Sorry, Twi," Applejack said. "You continue your mission while the rest of use travel towards Adabat to rescue our friends. We've gotten their SOS signal. You can deal with all these enemies on your on, am I right?"

"Right," Twilight said. "I got this."

Twilight then dives into a hole in the ground that appears to be once a bridge. She then lands on hard ground in what appears to be a plumbing system. The walls have been deteriorated and destroyed, blocking some passages while creating new ones. According to Knuckles, the Master Emerald shrine should be around here. No enemies to report, at least for once.

Twilight then reaches a large cave that should be the location of the Master Emerald. Except...

"Wait...am I seeing this right?" she asks. The Master Emerald is no longer here! The cavern its in is still there, but the shrine isn't. "The Master Emerald has...disappeared?"

[Time Elapsed: 02:45:00]

Stage 2C-07

Adabat

"Jungle Road"

After recieving a SOS message from Adabat, the Rookie is sent there to help out with the other forces. They are trying to move further inland to save two of their friends, but they encountered some difficulties.

The Rookie runs through the jungle as bombs are being dropped from above.

"We're doomed!" a soldier cried. "We can't go any farther!"

"Keep it up, soldiers!" Knuckles told them. "We're almost there! We just have to avoid those dropping bombs."

More and more of the jungle is being engulfed in flames as bombs continue to drop. Along the way, some of the foliage and trees are starting to show rocks.

"The whole jungle is going up in flames!" Pinkie said. "Not the kind of fireworks I'd like to see."

"Rookie, watch out!" Espio warned.

Suddenly, bombs began to land near the Rookie. The Rookie yelps as they steps side to side in avoiding these bombs. They then cross a bridge leading deeper into the jungle, but before they could make it, a bomb lands and explodes, taking down the entire bridge. The rookie turns around and fires their grappling hook at a nearby piece of tree, swinging around the ravine.

"Grrr!" Knuckles growled in frustration. "We can't go on like this. The bridge has been destroyed and there are bombs everywhere!"

"As much as I hate to say it," Espio began, "but we must retreat back towards safety to live to fight another day. This area is getting to dangerous for us foot soldiers."

"Ruuunnnnn!" Pinkie holloered out.

The Rookie makes their way through the burning forest, attacking various robots and avioding the burning trees. They then travel over a fallen enemy ship before moving on.

"So...how can we advance through this place?" Pinkie asks.

"We'd better wait for Sonic to arrive here and rescue our two friends," Espio suggested. "He's our only hope in saving both Silver and Rarity. And in reclaiming that Chaos Emerald we've detected nearby."

"Stay in cover, Rookie," Knuckles commanded. "We have to abort this mission."

The Rookie then reaches the other end of the burning jungle, reaching the parts of the jungle where the trees are not on fire. The air cools down as the Rookie retreates towards safety.

[Time Elapsed: 02:15:00]

Stages Completed: 32/? | Gemstones Reclaimed: 4/14 | Bosses Defeated: 6/? | World Controlled: 6 %

What could be next for the runners?

To be Continued

Developer Commentary:

There are six main playable Runners in this game, four of which are available to play right after completing Chapter 1. To unlock access to play these other characters, all you have to do is to beat the stage you want to play in story mode. Story mode is played when playing through a stage for the first time, with all dialogue being activated. It is disabled all subsequent times you play through a stage. If you want to hear the dialogue that plays during a stage, go to the settings to turn on the "Story mode" lever.

As for the three main Soldiers, well they're all playable after Chapter 1 is completed, available in all applicable stages.

Stage Descriptions

Stage 2C-05: This is completely a air stage, where the characters are in the air shooting down enemies. Targeting the enemies takes nothing more than aiming at them and firing. As there are no solid ground to run on, Red Rings will be collected by tracking down robots carrying them at set points. They move very fast and only appear for a short time before disappearing, so get them quick to claim the reward.

The Egg Cauldron reappears once again, and fights in pretty much the same way. However, rather then pressing a specific button to attack the main cannon (which is in front of the main core), the player must aim at the cannon and fire away, while being bombarded by multiple drones. As this is a in-stage boss rather than a boss stage, there are no untouchable bonuses to be found, even if the score also depended on how much durability the Super Tornado has after the mission ended.

Stage 2C-06: The first half of the stage takes place above ground, with a unique layout inspired by Angel Island Zone. The second half takes place underground in a wreaked Hydrocity Zone that eventually gives way into the Hidden Palace. The stage ends at the Master Emerald shrine. Or at least, where it once was.

Stage 2C-07: This stage is separated into two parts. The first is a bridge that is littered with lasers and enemies. Bombs will occasionally drop on the bridge, hurting the Soldier if they get too close. Fallen trees also pose an obstacle. Once the Soldier reaches the bridge to cross the chasm, the bridge will be destroyed, dropping them to a lower path with no way of getting back up. The second half of the stage then takes hold, running through a burning jungle as enemies began to chase the Soldier down.

Written by: TheAPPstore

All franchised involved belong to their respective owners.

Current list so far:
SEGA-Sonic
Hasbro-My Little Pony