Sonic Underground: The Continuation

by The Retro Dude

The unfinished story of Sonic Underground continues! Will the triplets find their mother? How will they defeat Robotnik? And what allies will they gain to help them along the way? Find out in this epic ongoing saga to free Mobius from a vile tyranny!

11. The Honest Thief

Note: This chapter has two titles. Enjoy!

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RETRO DUDE PRESENTS:

Sonic Underground: The Continuation

Season 3 Episode 11: The Honest Thief/The Plight of Downunda

Downunda.

Definitely one of the most important countries in all of Mobius. It was the country from which most of the Mobian Society's industrial supplies came from and the place from which the first Mobians to show dislike for the Overlanders before the Great War stemmed from.

In today's Mobius however, the government was almost in shatters from daily attacks by the tyrant Doctor Ivo Robotnik, who ruled the entirety of Roboland after his coup in 3224. And now the vile Dictator had turned his gaze to Downunda, hoping to claim its industrial power for himself. So far, he had successfully gained a quarter of the country; the area around Mount Mobius, also known as The Veg-O-Mountain.

The only reason for Robotnik's failure to conquer more of the country was due to the Downundian Resistance, a Freedom Fighter group that operated in Downunda only, unlike the regular Resistance based in Roboland, which had members from almost every Mobian Country excluding Downunda.

Several Prison Camps had been built in Robotnik's sector of the country, where many Freedom Fighters captured by Troopers across Mobius were taken to. Unfortunately for them, no matter what country they were arrested in, the citizens and governments of those countries; Mobian or Overlander, did nothing to help, as since the Great War many countries had become somewhat pacifist and knew that the Robotnik Empire was a strong power that could not be convinced otherwise to stop his evil deeds.

Sometimes, Downunda would be the only place to which captured Freedom Fighters could go, as common storms and Resistance attacks could prevent ships from reaching the Robotropolis docking bays.

And so it wasn't a huge surprise for the time when a certain group of Freedom Fighters were travelling on board one of Robotnik's small Cruisers….

Out in the Opreauian Sea…..

"THIS STORM IS GETTING UNBEARABLE! GET THIS SHIP MOVING!" Shouted Captain Sleet, a dastardly minion of Dr. Robotnik. "WE'VE BEEN TRAVELLING FOR 2 HOURS NOW!"

"You don't say…" Muttered Cyrus, one of the prisoners being escorted.

He along with Miles 'Tails' Prower and new recruit Amy Rose had been captured on a mission that had started in the Fludron Mines in Roboland, but suddenly took them to South Island after one of Robotnik's Airships crashed there with them.

Unfortunately, Sleet's reinforcements requested by the giant Badnik known as Snake Bot were too much to handle, so now they were stuck on this cruiser headed for Robotropolis.

However, the ship had entered a terrible Storm, and was taking longer to reach its destination.

"I still can't believe Sonic abandoned us! How on Mobius are we going to get out of this situation?!" Muttered Cyrus quietly so that Sleet and the Troopers could not hear him.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE….

The amount of Thunder was accelerating every minute it seemed, as the Storm was getting more and more unbearable.

"Cyrus! Don't be so cruel! I don't think Sonic meant to do this. He probably got occupied with chasing after that nasty Snake Bot!" Snapped Amy, who didn't like it when Cyrus complained about some of Sonic's actions.

"Amy's right Cyrus. I don't think Sonic would have been able to go after Snake Bot if he was helping us. Give him a break!"

Cyrus sighed. "Sorry guys, I'm just a bit nervous. They're going to roboticise us soon!"

"That's if they manage to get us out of this infernal storm! Those clouds look very angry right now!"

ZAP!

Lightning flashed in all directions; one bolt even scorched part of the cruiser!

"I COMMANDED YOU TO SPEED THIS SHIP UP!" Yelled Sleet in fury, now holding up a megaphone so that the Troopers could hear him in the noise of the loud thunder.

BANG!

All of a sudden, an explosion rocked the cruiser, as another boat emerged from the storm; a small cruiser stolen by Freedom Fighters!

"CAPTAIN SLEET!" Droned a Trooper at its highest speaking volume. "OUR HULL HAS BEEN DAMAGED! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK FROM RESISTANCE MEMBERS!"

"THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR YOU METAL MORON?! FIRE CANNONS!" Commanded Sleet, who was already very frustrated by the weather conditions.

BOM! BOM! BOM! BANG! BANG!

Both cruisers fired at each other rapidly, both getting damaged badly.

Unfortunately for Cyrus and his comrades, the Freedom Fighter cruiser was too badly damaged, and it was left to sink underwater and its crew with it much to Amy and Tails' shock.

"There goes our only hope of rescue!" Cried Cyrus.

The screams of the Mobian crewmen could only just be heard, as the thunder was at its utter loudest. It was such cruelty of one of Robotnik's minions to simply leave his enemies to drown.

Despite that, Sleet's Cruiser had too sustained heavy damage.

"CAPTAIN SLEET! THE DAMAGE REPORT SHOWS THAT 2 OF THE OIL TANKS HAVE BURST! WE ONLY HAVE ENOUGH FUEL FOR APPROXIMATELY 1 AND A ½ HOUR JOURNEY FROM THIS POINT." Reported a Trooper.

"THEN GET US TO ROBOTROPOLIS FAST, YOU METAL HEAD!" Shouted back Sleet.

"IMPOSSIBLE IN THIS STORM SIR. WE RISK HEADING INTO LIGHTNING AS WELL AS RUNNING OUT OF FUEL. SUGGEST ALTERNATIVE DESTINATION: DOWUNDA PRISON CAMP." Replied the Trooper, without any emotion; simply speaking with a bare-bones electronic voice.

"OH STOP BABBLING YOU STUPID MACHINE! TAKE US TO DOWNUNDA IF WE MUST, BUT DON'T WASTE MY TIME!"

With that, the cruiser changed course and set sail for Downunda, where Cyrus, Tails and Amy had actually never been to.

Deep down, in a hidden underground section of Robotropolis….

The secret base of the Robolandian Resistance was finally getting a larger population, with many exhausted Freedom Fighters returning from missions at long last; some even bringing some captured Mobian refugees, who'd been kept as slaves in order to avoid Roboticisation.

Although, the base was still generally quite dark in some areas, with only the glowing lights from the ceiling and the energy cube core floating up and down inside the warped looking tube structure connected to the main computer with all its monitors and equipment placed on desks. It was certain that Metallix Beta hadn't found the time to properly implement a lighting system to the main lobby.

Right now, the old mechanical hedgehog was among those who returned from missions across Mobius, and was currently working on some sort of contraption that he had wired to the main computer; parts of it were painted red, with complex silver machinery plastered around a range of circuitboards all performing important functions. It was the sort of thing you'd expect a scientist to be working on, but instead you had an intelligent automaton shaped like a hedgehog fiddling with it.

Beta was very busy trying to build and test the strange machine, and usually told anyone who tried to discuss something with him that he was too occupied to talk.

"AND WE GO THROUGH….TO THE NIGHT!" Sang the robot to himself with his electronic voice.

"BRING HOPE TO MOBIUS, IN THE JAWS OF T-"

BANG! PFFT! PFFT!

"CRRGGG-COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!" Coughed Beta electronically, brushing away the smoke from the short circuited machinery of the contraption, a bit disappointed at the failure of his attempt to get the darn thing operating and then into the charge mode he had programmed into it.

"DEAR ME. THIS WON'T DO AT ALL!" He muttered. "NOW THEN, WHERE'S THE DYNAMICO MODULATOR?"

At that moment, Manic Hedgehog; the other outlawed Prince of Mobius, as well as the brother of famous hero Sonic The Hedgehog and the very much suitably titled Princess Sonia Hedgehog.

"Uh Mecha? What on Mobius are you doing now? Sonic wants to speak with you!" Spoke the curly green haired Hedgehog.

"NOT NOW MANIC. AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS DAFT OLD THING DOESN'T SEEM TO POWER UP PROPERLY. ONE OR MORE CIRCUIT BOARDS ALWAYS SEEM TO BURST OUT ON ME!" Replied the robot, still trying to busy.

"But Sonic says it's urgent!" Insisted Manic.

"I TOLD YOU MANIC, I'M NOT TO BE DISTURBED WHILE I'M WORKING ON THIS!" Sighed Beta.

"What is that thing anyway? Looks like part of the type of Mech that Robotnik would build!" Asked Manic curiously.

Beta's digital eyes blinked.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK? IT'S A TELEPORTATION ENGINE. IF I CAN FIRE IT UP WITH THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF POWER, IT'LL HOPEFULLY WORK!"

"Why would you need a teleportation engine? Those sorts of things drain a lot of power you know! Besides, it's rare for any of them to be reliable." Commented Manic, who was also a bit of a technology expert.

"BECAUSE MY OLD CHAP, ONCE I'VE FIGURED OUT A WAY TO GET SOME COSMIC ENERGY INTO THIS THING, I CAN USE IT TO RETURN TO MY OWN DIMENSION!" Exclaimed the mechanical Hedgehog.

Manic was surprised and a little confused.

"Wait what? You're trying to go back to your world already?!"

"MANIC, I'VE BEEN HERE FOR ALMOST 50 YEARS! FROM 3189 TO 3238 IS A LONG TIME YOU KNOW!" Replied Beta. "DON'T WORRY; I'M NOT LEAVING JUST YET. THIS THING PROBABLY WON'T WORK AS I WILL EVENTUALLY ATTEMPT TO MAKE IT DO ONCE I UPGRADE IT. BESIDES, I'VE GOT TO GET STARTED WITH A FINDING A WAY HOME. I PROMISE I'LL HELP YOU DEFEAT ROBOTNIK THOUGH!"

"If you say so Mecha. I hope you know what you're doing." Sighed Manic.

"I WILL IF I HAD SOME ASSISTANCE. COULD YOU CALL CYRUS ALONG? HE'S PROBABLY WITH SONIC. DIDN'T THEY RETURN FROM A MISSION RECENTLY?"

"Uhh….Cyrus isn't here. Only Sonic came in."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Boomed Beta, turning to face his friend.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you about Mecha! Sonic got separated from Cyrus and Tails on his mission and thinks they've now been captured!" Explained the Green Hedgehog.

"YOU'RE SERIOUS AREN'T YOU? OH…THAT'S NOT GOOD. THEN WE WON'T HAVE ENOUGH OUR BEST MISSION STRATEGIST AROUND!"

Dropping the wrench he was holding, Metallix dashed over to one of the desks over at the main computer, and hurriedly typed some commands in.

"What're up to now?" Asked Manic.

"I NEED TO HACK INTO ROBOTNIK'S NETWORK FOR A FEW SECONDS. I MIGHT BE ABLE TO DECODE SOME MESSAGES RELATING TO CYRUS AND TAILS' CAPTURE!" Said Metallix.

Eventually, the two were able to listen into radio messages being sent by Troopers to Robotropolis, some of which were delayed until one message had finished being broadcast, if Troopers were sending messages at the same time.

Unfortunately, it would only take 2 minutes before any hacking software such as the one Beta was using would be detected, so they would have to listen out carefully.

Several Binary beeping sounds were soon heard from the computer, which only Beta could translate at the moment.

01000101 01001101 01000101 01010010 01000111 01000101 01001110 01000011 01011001 00100000 01001101 01000101 01010011 01010011 01000001 01000111 01000101 00100000 01010100 01001111 00100000 01010010 01001111 01000010 01001111 01010100 01010010 01001111 01010000 01001111 01001100 01001001 01010011 00101101 01010010 01000101 01010001 01010101 01000101 01010011 01010100 00100000 01000100 01001111 01000011 01001011 00100000 01001111 01000110 00100000 01000100 01001111 01010111 01001110 01010101 01001110 01000100 01000001 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001001 01010011 01001111 01001110 00100000 01000011 01000001 01001101 01010000 00100000 01010100 01001111 00100000 01010111 01000001 01001001 01010100 00100000 01000110 01001111 01010010 00100000 01000001 01010010 01010010 01001001 01010110 01000001 01001100 00100000 01001111 01000110 00100000 01000011 01010010 01010101 01001001 01010011 01000101 01010010 00100000 00110001 00110011 00110100 00110101 00101101 01000011 01010010 01010101 01001001 01010011 01000101 01010010 00100000 01001000 01000001 01010011 00100000 01000010 01000101 01000101 01001110 00100000 01000001 01010100 01010100 01000001 01000011 01001011 01000101 01000100 00100000 01000010 01011001 00100000 01010011 01010100 01001111 01001100 01000101 01001110 00100000 01010010 01000101 01010011 01001001 01010011 01010100 01000001 01001110 01000011 01000101 00100000, read the enormous binary message then displayed on screen by Metallix's careful listening.

"HM. MY BINARY TRANSLATOR ISN'T QUITE WORKING. LET'S SEE IF WE CAN FIND THE SAME MESSAGE ON MORSE CODE FREQUENCIES AND CONVERT THE BINARY." Suggested the robot.

. - . .-. -. . -. -.-. -.- - . ... ... .- -. . - - .-. - -... - - .-. - .-. - .-.. .. ... -····- .-. . -.- ..- . ... - -.. - -.-. -.- - ..-. -.. - .- -. ..- -. -.. .- .-. .-. .. ... - -. -.-. .- - .-. - - .- .- .. - ..-. - .-. .- .-. .-. .. ...- .- .-.. - ..-. -.-. .-. ..- .. ... . .-. .- ...- ...- ... -····- -.-. .-. ..- .. ... . .-. ... .- ... -... . . -. .- - - .- -.-. -.- . -.. -... -.- ... - - .-.. . -. .-. . ... .. ... - .- -. -.-. . -.-. .-. ..- .. ... . .-. -····- ... - - .-. - ... .- ... -... . . -. - - - ... - .-. - -. -. - - -. . - - ... .-. - ..- -. ... - - .-. - -... - - .-. - .-. - .-.. .. ... .. -. - .. - . -····- -. . .- .-. .-. .. ... - -. . .-. ... - - -... . -.. . .-.. .. ...- . .-. . -.. - - -.. - .- -. ..- -. -.. .- .. - - . -.. .. .- - . .-.. -.- ·-·-·- appeared on the screen; this time, Beta seemed to have an easier time translating it.

"THERE WE GO!" Clicking the 'DISCONNECT FROM ROBOTNIK EMPIRE NETWORK' button, the mechanical hedgehog now knew what was going on.

"THE MESSAGE READS: EMERGENCY MESSAGE TO ROBOTROPOLIS-REQUEST DOCK OF DOWNUNDA PRISON CAMP TO WAIT FOR ARRIVAL OF CRUISER 1345-CRUISER HAS BEEN ATTACKED BY STOLEN RESISTANCE CRUISER-STORM HAS BEEN TOO STRONG TO GET THROUGH TO ROBOTROPOLIS IN TIME-NEW PRISONERS TO BE DELIVERED TO DOWNUNDA IMMEDIATELY."

"Wait…" Pondered Manic. "Prisoners?! You don't think that means…."

"EXACTLY! THEY'RE STILL UN-ROBOTICISED! THE CRUISER IS HEADING TO DOWNUNDA INSTEAD IT SEEMS. WE'LL JUST HAVE TO GO AFTER THEM." Explained Beta.

"What about Sonic? Should we bring him along too?" Asked Manic.

"I THINK HE'S A BIT TIRED FROM THAT MISSION IN THE MINES. LET'S GET MOVING!"

Later, at the Roboland border…

"Perfect! I see a Water Bike!" Whispered Manic.

"GOOD EYE MANIC. WE JUST NEED TO AVOID DETECTION WHILE STARTING IT UP." Replied Beta, looking around the border, which had recently received more Trooper guards, despite the security systems of the area having been destroyed, and the Border therefore; breached.

"COAST'S CLEAR. YOU START IT UP MANIC. GO!" Ordered Beta.

Nodding, the Green Hedgehog tiptoed up to the Water Bike and silently attempted to switch on the engine.

Luckily, as the engine started up, no Troopers seemed to be nearby or even come towards the sound of the engine. Leaving Roboland wouldn't be hard this time.

"Hop on Mecha!" Called Manic.

Leaping onto the back of the Water Bike, with Manic as the driver, Metallix was ready to head off for Downunda.

Revving up the engine and checking the fuel (which was at 100%), the Royal Hedgehog slammed his foot on the pedal; and off they went!

A few hours later, past Opreau….

"So…..What's it like?" Asked Manic. "Is it more beautiful than Roboland?"

The mechanical Hedgehog blinked.

"I ASSUME YOU THINK I'M SOME SORT OF GEOGRAPHY TEACHER, MANIC? YOU YOUNG FREEDOM FIGHTERS ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS ABOUT MOBIUS' GEOGRAPHY."

"No no. I just think that since you're an expert on Mobius from all your travels during that Great War, you'd be able to tell me. I've never been there as you know." Spoke Manic honestly, steering the Vehicle to the left.

"SO YOU DO THINK I'M A GEOGRAPHY TEACHER!" Answered the robot, poking fun at Manic a little.

"Hey!"

"HA HA. ALRIGHT THEN. DOWNUNDA IS FILLED WITH TONS OF CANYONS, STRECHING MOSTLY ACROSS THE OUTER SECTION OF THE COUNTRY. BUT THERE IS ONE BIG CANYON AT ONE END, THAT'S WHERE MOUNT MOBIUS IS. ROBOTNIK CONTROLS THAT AREA. HIS FORCES HAVE BEEN COMBATTING THE DOWUNDIAN ARMY FOR WEEKS NOW, AND THE MAIN CITY OF PRISCILLA HAS BEEN BADLY DAMAGED FROM ATTACKS. I ONLY VISITED IT ONCE, DURING A BATTLE IN THE GREAT WAR. HOWEVER, I ONLY SERVED AS PILOT THAT TIME, AS I WAS TAKING A TEMPORARY LEAVE FROM MY SOLDIER DUTIES BACK ON THE FRONT LINE, YOU SEE. IT WAS PRETTY BRUTAL, LET ME TELL YOU."

"Sounds quite desolate."

"IT DOES A BIT. BUT ONCE WE GET THERE, IT'LL BE IMPRESSIVE, TRUST ME." Confirmed Beta.

Soon, near the dock of Priscilla….

"GET READY TO DOCK MANIC. THE CITY DOESN'T SEEM TO BE UNDER ATTACK CURRENTLY." Observed the mechanical Hedgehog.

"Roger that Mecha!"

Manic docked the Water Bike firmly next to a very old battleship, which he guessed hadn't been used since the Great War.

Helping Metallix off the vehicle, they both took a look around the dock, which was mostly filled with crates and rusty old cranes. Did nobody ever leave Downunda aside from Robotnik's troops?

"YOU HAD A POINT MANIC. IT DOES SEEM RATHER DESOLATELY QUIET AROUND HERE. MAYBE THERE'S-" Began Beta.

"HALT! HANDS UP OR WE FIRE!" Shouted a voice from behind.

The robot spun around to see several Downundian Guards pointing guns at them, as he and Manic put their hands up.

"Take them for interrogation! These intruders could be spies of Robotnik." Ordered the Leader of the Guards.

As Manic was walking in front of a guard, he observed his surroundings, exploring the design of Priscilla, which unlike Robotropolis, used more Overlander styled buildings built of bricks and small bits of metal holding the heaviest parts together.

As for the Downundian Parliament, it was quite magnificent; stretching to a height that was half the size of Robotropolis' Command Centre. With decorations such as statues of Mobian Miners representing the industrial power of the country, shining jewels around the pillars holding up an almost Ancient Civilization era looking roof, a checkerboard floor with a large variety of colours and a ginormous wall of old Mobian symbols below the main reception, where members of the Downundian Government would check in.

Interestingly, the Parliament was built right next to a Prison, so the guards didn't have to take their two new prisoners too far.

Once they were finally in the prison, they were immediately thrown into a cell, with one warning; "The Green Hedgehog will be taken for interview shortly. The robot shall wait for a robotics expert to arrive for examination of its programming."

Locking the cell door, the guards walked off to return to their duties at the Dock, leaving the two Freedom Fighters locked up for the time being.

"How're we going to convince them Mecha? I doubt they'd ever believe someone like you would be part of the Resistance. It's not common ya know." Asked Manic.

"JUST MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS TRUTHFULLY IN YOUR INTERROGATION. Suggested Metallix. I JUST HOPE I CAN GET THIS SO CALLED ROBOTICS EXPERT TO UNDERSTAND I'M NOT WORKING FOR ROBOTNIK."

In a room of the Downundian Parliament…..

Several Mobians were packed into an enormous court room, all discussing about the latest issues in the country; mainly Robotnik's attacks.

"I say, Robotnik's attacks are getting more violent day by day! At this rate we cannot afford to repair the damage he has caused to our cities!" Informed an MP, clearly trying to make a valid point on the situation.

"I agree!" Spoke out another MP. "We have to act against him! The Downundian Resistance cannot hold him off forever! And this Government knows that!"

The President of Downunda interrupted; "That may be true, BUT WE WILL NOT USE AN ARMY. That is the last thing I intend to allow to happen!"

"Then this country will fall to the hands of the Robotnik Empire! Taking no action will be the end of us!" Blurted out an opposing MP.

"And that is why we're here. To decide which action to take!" Snapped the President, very furious at the suggestions made by MPs criticising his motives. "If we launch an army against Robotnik, it would be an act of war! DO WE NOT REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENED? Alliances between several countries in Mobius fighting each other lead to the outbreak of the Great War! And we will not deny that terrorists from our OWN COUNTRY triggered those events! I do not intend to lead us into a second Great War, as we are very near to such an event, should we propose to take military action! DO WE NOT UNDERSTAND THIS?"

"There is no alternative! It's either War or Downunda's destruction!" Called out yet another MP.

However, some MPs were on the President's side.

"Better Downunda is conquered by Robotnik than it causing a war that could destroy Mobius forever!"

"We must continue to rely on the Downundian Resistance! Send some of our former Soldiers to join them!" Suggested an MP sitting closer to the President.

The President shook his head.

"Sadly that will not be enough. The point still stands that the Resistance is simply not powerful enough to take on a full-fledged Empire. If only the Roboland Resistance could help in Downunda's affairs, then we may not be in such an unfortunate position as we are today…."

These pretty were the problems that the Downundian Government had to deal with ever since Robotnik had begun launching violent attacks with his Badniks and Troopers. Now that the Prison Camp was rounding up captured members of Downundians who rebelled against Robotnik's attempts at gaining control, it would seem almost impossible that the evil Dictator could be defeated…

Later, in an interrogation room….

"What is your name?." Spoke the interrogator nonchalantly.

"Manic Hedgehog….." Muttered the Green Hedgehog, who was tired.

The interrogator move onto the next question.

"When did you begin working for Robotnik?!"

"I don't work for anybody!"

"LIAR! Why were you sent here?!"

"To rescue my comrades….Tails and Cyrus…."

"You're lying. There are no prisoners in this jail under those names. Why did you come?!"

"I've already explained!" Growled Manic, tired of the interrogator not believing him.

"What was your mission!?"

"To rescue my friends!" Insisted Manic.

"if you don't co-operate you'll be classed as a spy." Threatened the Interrogator seriously. "i do not have much more patience to deal with you."

"And if you keep me here I won't have the time to save my friends from being roboticised!"

The Interrogator merely ignored this, not convinced by Manic's claims.

"There's no point in asking me the same question Dude. I've already told you twice, I'm trying to rescue my friends in the Prison Camp!"

"Then you won't mind us handing you over to Robotnik." Replied the Interrogator, somewhat sarcastically.

Manic groaned in frustration. Why would a Downundian be so stupid to not believe that Robotnik would NEVER hire a Mobian Hedgehog to be his spy?! After all, Robotnik despises Hedgehogs….

Meanwhile, inside a lab…

While Manic was busy trying to convince the interrogator he was innocent, Beta was talking to one of the top scientists in Downunda; Professor Danikun.

"LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW PROFESSOR." Boomed Metallix Beta at the Robotics Expert. "THERE'S NO POINT IN TRYING TO HACK INTO MY PROGRAMMING. I'M NOT UNDER ROBOTNIK'S CONTROL WHATSOEVER, AND YOU'RE WASTING BOTH YOURS, MY COMRADE AND I'S TIME. WE MUST RESCUE OUR FRIENDS!"

"If you're a Freedom Fighter, then why do you have a Robotnik Empire symbol close to your shoulder? If you were being interrogated like your Green Hedgehog friend, you wouldn't be very convincing with this explanation."

"HASN'T ANYONE TAUGHT PEOPLE NOT TO JUDGE SOMEONE BY THEIR EXTERIOR APPEARANCE? BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I DO WORK FOR THE MOBIUS RESISTANCE! THIS SYMBOL IS JUST A RELIC OF THE PAST!" Retorted Beta, rather disappointed.

"What you say is impossible. No machine created by the Robotnik Empire would work for the Resistance!" Protested the Professor.

"THEN PERHAPS IT'S TIME YOU STARTED BELIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE, PROFESSOR." Stated the mechanical Hedgehog.

Metallix's digital eyes were caught by the sight of a silver metallic pod, with no identification of any kind; no symbol, no writing, no glass to show if anything was inside, nothing!

"WHAT'S THAT?" Asked Beta, now curious about the pod.

"This? I thought you might know. But strangely, I get the feeling you've never seen anything like it before." Replied the Professor, somewhat confused at Beta's question.

"I'VE NEVER SEEN A POD OF ANY KIND WITH NO IDENTIFICATION FEATURES. IT'S QUITE STRANGE."

"Indeed it is. We found several of these around the city, all in random places. They only weigh a couple of tonnes, and we can't even seem to open them! They're a complete mystery to us. So we've simply kept them locked up in a vault in the Parliament until we've figured out exactly what they are. Perhaps a machine of your intelligence could help? If you want my belief that you're on our side, I'd like you to help me solve this mystery." Suggested the Professor.

"IF THAT IS MY ONLY WAY TO CONVINCE YOU, THEN ALRIGHT. I'LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO. NOW THEN, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THESE PODS..."

Back in the prison…..

Manic's interrogation hadn't got very well unfortunately.

Now he was chained up to a wall, with the interrogator now discussing what to do with him with a Downundian MP who had taken the time to come and investigate the prison.

"He says he's a Freedom Fighter from Roboland?" Asked the MP, curious about Manic.

"Yes, but how can he be? He was accompanied by some sort of advanced Robian type robot! He must be a spy!" Insisted the Interrogator, who was a bit biased.

The MP ignored him. "What's his name?"

"Manic Hedgehog, apparently."

The MP's eyes rose. "Manic Hedgehog, did you say?"

"Yes, why?" Grunted the interrogator.

"Because if he's from Roboland…." Pondered the MP. "Then he must be Prince Manic of Moboland! A member of the famous Sonic Underground!"

"The Sonic Underground, sir? I thought they were just a myth! A tale made up by members of the Mobius Resistance and our Resistance!" Replied the confused Interrogator.

"Well if you see for yourself, they're very much real!" Clarified the MP, gesturing towards Manic, who made a faint grin.

"He's telling the truth! I mean it!" Said Manic with a sigh of relief that someone was on his side.

"Let me talk to him. I doubt a member of the Sonic Underground would ever join Robotnik!" Suggested the MP.

"Oh very well sir." Muttered the Interrogator, who then released Manic from his chains.

Once the Interrogator had left the room, the MP asked Manic; "Shall we walk outside?"

Leaving the Prison, they took a nice stroll through the beautiful city, towards an area that looked out towards a large canyon in the distance.

"I don't think I've introduced myself. My name is Zachary Theodore. I'm a member of the Downundian Government." Said the MP.

"Nice to meet you Zachary." Answered Manic, shaking hands with the MP.

Zachary was a Mobian Koala, who appeared to be in his late 30s. His fur was a soft white and dark grey, and his claws were quite sharp, meaning Manic had to be careful when holding hands with him.

"Listen carefully, I'm going to show you something top secret that only certain members of the Downundian Government are allowed to know. I'm going to take you to the Headquarters of the Downundian Resistance!" Whispered Zachary into Manic's right ear.

"Cool. Maybe it's about time I found out more about what goes on here. You folks have had trouble with Robotnik quite a lot eh?"

Zachary nodded.

"Indeed we have. We fear our Resistance is not powerful enough to take on Robotnik forever, so it's about time that a member of the Mobius Resistance comes to Downunda! Perhaps you can arrange a deal with them to allow members of your Resistance to help with affairs in Downunda?" Asked Zachary.

"I err.." Stuttered Manic, not really an expert in situations such as this. He'd have done better with Metallix at his side when things like this happened. "Yea sure. I'll um… See what I can do!"

Trying to assure Zachary that he'd be glad to help the Downundian Resistance, the pair stopped at a point in the canyon near a small group of rocks that you'd easily dismiss.

"Watch this." Instructed the MP.

From his pocket, he pulled out an extendable cane, which after pulling to its full length, used it to tap a specific rhythm onto the ground.

TAP TAP TAP TAP TIP TAP TIP TIP TAP TAP.

"Stand back." Continued Zachary.

Then without warning, the ground began to shake violently; stones bouncing all over.

During all this, Manic noticed part of the ground separating, revealing a gap that appeared to be some sort of secret entrance!

Eventually, 10 seconds later, the two Mobians could see before them a long, towering pit that seemed to lead down below, with only a metal ladder stretching throughout it being able to let anyone head down.

"Awesome!" Exclaimed the Green Hedgehog.

"Marvellous, isn't it?" Said the Koala proudly. "I'm sure you have a classy secret entrance of sorts in Roboland eh?"

"Yeah, but erm, a bit more high-tech based than this one I'd say." Replied Manic, only giving a few details.

Zachary sorted out and slipped his cane back into the pocket of his waistcoat and manoeuvred towards the ladder.

"Well come on! Let me introduce you!" Called the MP as he climbed down the rather scarily looking high ladder.

A small bit nervous, Manic followed suite.

The pit was very dark and cold, with no heating whatsoever, possibly to avoid detection from any of Robotnik's robots, should they manage to reach the canyon.

Surprisingly though, the pit was only around 190m deep, so it would only take 10 minutes to go down.

Manic shivered from the coldness, and looked up to see the daylight fading from sight as he climbed further down, with the entrance appearing to automatically seal itself.

SLAM.

The entrance had completed closed, and it was pitch-black.

Manic wasn't too pleased about this, feeling somewhat scared to even move from his current position; he hadn't ever had to enter any Freedom Fighter base like this before.

"Don't be afraid Manic! I've got a Torch here, I'll shine it up so you can see better." Echoed the voice of Zachary, who thankfully was only a few meters away.

The Torch flashed into life, giving Manic enough vision to see the outlines of the almost shiny bars of the ladder.

"Do the Downundian Resistance have to do this everyday?!" Asked Manic, managing to be braver and move downwards more.

"Yes, it's actually one of the training courses they inherited from the Downundian Faction of the British Mobian Army!" Answered Zachary.

Manic took a quick glance at the bottom of the pit; he could barely see the floor!

"Why can't they just use a lift like we do? Surely they want to avoid falling down and killing themselves?!" Cried Manic, rather alienated at the idea that Downundians would have to climb down this each time they entered the base.

"A lift?! Hah! You Robolandian Freedom Fighters don't go adventuring in their own base? Prefer to take the safe and easy route?!" Laughed Zachary.

"Hmph! You're lucky, you don't have to handle almost the entire survivors of a coup including some Refugees!" Snapped the outlawed Prince.

"Fair point. You do operate in a country ruled by a Dictator constantly after you." Spoke Zachary, who appeared to have reached the bottom of the pit.

Manic sighed with relief; he was almost down!

There was thankfully a single light above an iron door, with a keypad that Zachary was just entering a passcode for.

As Manic hopped off the ladder and watched as the door opened, he wondered what Metallix was doing at this moment.

"I should be him doing this, not me. What could have possibly happened to him?" Pondered the Green Hedgehog.

He looked up to ask about Metallix but the MP had already gone through the door.

Manic, feeling the base was somewhat eerier than the Mobian Resistance HQ back in Robotropolis, moved through a half-cylinder shaped corridor with a few lights illuminating some power generators wired to the walls.

There was no door at the end of the corridor, except for an ancient looking archway, leading into a magnificent underground dome, stretching to over 80m high. It was quite a fascinating sight, just like the Robotropolis RHQ.

"Welcome Prince Manic!" Introduced Zachary. "To the hideout of the Downundian Resistance!"

Manic stared in awe, looking around; the light was much brighter and the base seemed to have better lighting than RHQ!

Instead of a main computer in the middle of the room, there were rings of several platforms on different floors, each with segments of one large computer stretching across parts of the wall with wires, monitors, keyboards, speakers etc.

Similarly to RHQ though, there was actually personal rooms built for some Freedom Fighters, though not as much, considering the fact that some of the Freedom Fighters were also citizens, who were forced to defend their cities from attacks if they were caught in the middle of one.

Obviously, the Downundian Resistance were in a tight spot when it came to battling Robotnik, and Manic could definitely understand why they so desperately needed help.

But how was he to fully assure the Downundians that the Mobius Resistance would offer to help? He wasn't exactly the best ambassador to speak on their behalf...

Back in the Lab of Professor Danikun, in Priscilla…..

"FROM CLOSE OBSERVATION PROFESSOR, I CAN GIVE MY HYPOTHESIS THAT THESE PODS ARE DESIGNED TO OPEN REMOTELY FROM INSIDE COMMANDS. WHATEVER'S INSIDE THE POD IS THE ONLY THING ABLE TO OPEN IT. HOW VERY ODD."

Metallix and Professor Danikun had made decent progress, discovering that the pods were indeed from Robotnik's Prison Camp, having secretly been shipped there during the middle of night according to footage that Metallix had found while using a secret camera system. Also, they had some sort of logo hidden underneath clever foils of fake metal, showing a picture of the Robotnik Empire icon.

The Pods also seemed to be made of a near-indestructible metal, giving them the idea that whatever was inside it was supposed to be very important to whatever they were planned to be used for by Robotnik.

Before the Professor could reply however, the lab door opened, revealing a Downundian MP.

"Professor Danikun. Your presence is required outside; we need you to unlock something for us." Spoke the MP.

Danikun frowned. "Is it of any more importance than my current work? I'm already looking into these pods."

The Downundian sniffed. "That's precisely why we need you. We have found a completely different pod that appears to be more active than the others. And only you would know what to do with it. You can bring this…..Robot with you, but be cautious."

"Oh very well." Sighed the Professor, who motioned towards Beta.

"ANOTHER POD EH? WELL I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO FIND OUT WHAT THIS 'DIFFERENT' ONE IS LIKE. HM…"

After leaving the lab, they stopped at the main square of the city, where Policemen were moving a large crowd of citizens away from the crash site of a Black Pod, with a bright red Robotnik Empire logo on it. Not only that, but it was glowing from the inside!

"What on Mobius is that?!" Cried the Professor, pointing to a strange figure inside the pod, illuminated by the glowing.

The Pod began shaking violently, with the mysterious figure beginning to move.

"PROFESSOR, I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT THAT POD BACK IN YOUR LAB." Groaned Beta electronically.

The Crowd stood back in confusion, as the Pod kept shaking; causing bits of debris that had been covering it slightly to fall completely off. Whatever was inside was waking up!

At the same time, in the Downundian Resistance Headquarters…

Manic had been rather occupied talking to the main leaders of the DR, who were also the founders.

Walt Wallaby was obviously the main head of the whole Freedom Fighter movement in Downunda, seeing as he was the guy who gave most of the commands to people. And for a Mobian Wallaby, he was very fit.

Barby Koala was the second in command, and was actually a cousin of Zachary. She had pretty sharp claws and there was tales of her being pretty vicious when fighting Badnik Troopers; she'd literally shred them to pieces!

Wombat Stu on the other hand, was small but had excellent hearing abilities. Aside from that, he had medium combat experience.

Guru Emu was the most laid back of the leaders, being a pacifist, but fighting whenever it was absolutely necessary. He also had become the Head Strategist.

For the former Prince of Mobius, he'd found it a very tricky task to tell the leaders what the Mobius Resistance could do for the Downundians.

"Look, you really shouldn't be talking to me about this. You need to find my friend, he's a robot hedgehog. He knows more about this kind of thing than I do." He Insisted to Walt.

Walt turned to Zachary, who was standing in a corner, watching the whole conversation.

"Mister Theodore, have you heard anything about this? It seems highly suspicious to me that a robot hedgehog would join a bunch of rebels like any of the Resistances."

Zachary pondered for a moment.

"Actually, I have. There's been a notice that Manic was found with a robot hedgehog when they arrived at the main dock. Apparently it was handed over to Professor Danikun."

"Very interesting." Spoke out Guru Emu. "But what can we do about our plight? We can't just take a while searching for a robot who may or may not be on our side. I'm afraid we need to make a decision NOW."

Suddenly, a Freedom Fighter working at a computer rushed over to Walt, panicking; "SIR! SIR!"

Walt frowned and spoke to the FF. "What is it? We're busy here."

"Sir! We have reports of those pods in Priscilla moving! Something's inside them!"

"What did you say?!" Gasped Walt, standing up immediately.

Then he ordered the other leaders a large group of Freedom Fighters; YOU! WITH ME! WE'RE GOING TO PRISCILLA RIGHT NOW! WE'VE GOT SOME DEFENDING TO DO! Manic! Zachary! You'll have to come with me!"

"Oh my! We're certainly in trouble!" Muttered Zachary, running after the group that was heading for the mission exit.

Manic, not exactly knowing what was going wrong, also followed.

Jumping into some sort of vehicle that could travel tunnels as well as on land, he asked Zachary; "What's going on? What Pods?"

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

The vehicle blasted off at a high speed, travelling through the tunnel towards an exit to the surface.

"There have been some strange Pods popping up all over the city. And it seems Robotnik's unleashing them for an ambush, as some reports have just said there's something inside them!" Explained Zachary.

"Great! How am I going to rescue Tails and Cyrus when there's an unexpected attack going on! If only Metallix were here…." Grumbled the Green Hedgehog.

A few minutes later…

"This way! Priscilla's main square is this way!" Called Walt, running beside Barby and Guru.

The group had finally managed to reach the city, and now the crowd where the Professor and Metallix were with was in plain sight.

"Hey, that's my friend! MECHA!" Waved Manic.

Metallix span round, and with an electronic sigh of relief, replied; "MANIC! THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE HERE! LOOK!"

The group of Downundian Freedom Fighters paused, staring at the shaking pod.

Just in case of an ambush from whatever was inside; they were armed with limited energy-based but somewhat effective laser blasters.

CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK CRACK CRACK!

The Pod was now breaking apart, cracks appearing all over; the figure inside tearing its way to freedom of space. Like a creature emerging from its Tomb!

All over the city, the same thing was happening to every Pod at the exact same moment.

CRACK! SMASH! BANG!

A silver metallic hand burst through the sharp metal casing of the Pod, with its other pair doing the same.

BANG. CRACK! SMASH!

Then a robotic head squirmed straight through; the hands helping it and the arms reach out.

Inside the computer brain of each robot, several coding results were displayed;

POWER AT 100%.

CHARGING UP BACKUP POWER CELLS….

VISION POWERING UP.

STRENGTH AT 49%, USING BACKUP POWER CELLS TO INCREASE STRENGTH…

VISION AT 10%.

CORE RUNNING AT PERFECT SPEED. NO FAULTS DETECTED.

VISION AT 20%.

CALCULATING COORDINATES….

VISION AT 45%.

COORDINATES CALCULATED, UPLOADING….

UPLOAD COMPLETE.

VISION AT 56%.

USING COORDINATES TO CONFIRM LOCATION….

LOCATION CONFIRMED –

COUNTRY: DOWNUNDA

CITY: PRISCILLA

AREA: MAIN SQUARE

VISION AT 78%.

MEMORISING PROGRAMMED MISSION…..

VISION AT 95%.

MISSION RECOGNISED: DESTROY PRISCILLA!

VISION AT 100%!

COMPLETING EMERGENCE FROM POD…

BANG!

In every single area where one of the Pods was, minor explosions were heard as the savage machines completely smashed out of the pods, like they were chopping down walls of sand.

Kneeling up, the machines did not react when nearby Downundians fled in terror.

"What are those things?!" Manic asked Metallix.

"I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE THESE THINGS HERE. SWAT DRONES!" Answered the Robot.

Swat Drones; the perfect mechanical combat machines created by Robotnik. They were far more powerful than Swat Bots or Troopers!

They had long blank binocular like eye stalks, meaning absolutely no glowing eyes, almost making them seem electrically animated. Despite an enormously bulky build, their arms and legs were almost humanoid, with only bits of mechanical chunks slapped onto a few parts of their body.

With their own laser blasters hung over their soldiers, they simultaneously pulled them off their backs…Then BANG-BANG-BANG!

Without warning, the Swat Drones all around the city began firing in all directions; shooting at both innocent citizens and Freedom Fighters!

"GET BACK!" Shouted Beta loudly, his electronic voice automatically amplifying as the volume increased.

The Crowd of Downundians fled in terror as the first victims of the attack dropped dead in front of their very eyes, with the Freedom Fighters backing behind bits of stone debris that had crashed as soon as the attack began.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Swat Drones had very powerful and quick aim; more precise than that of a Swat Bot of Trooper!

"Fire!" Commanded Walt, pulling out a laser rifle of his own.

KZZZZT! KZZZZT! KZZZZT!

Unlike the Laser Blasters of the Swat Drones, the Downundian Freedom Fighters' Laser Rifles fired long beams of hot, scorching lasers that extended out towards their targets very quickly, with the purpose of ripping through them.

Guru Emu lowered his head carefully; "Swat Drones?! What sort of monstrosity of a robot is that?!"

"HIGHLY TRAINED KILLING MACHINES WITH STRATEGIC EXCELLENCE. I'VE SEEN THEM BEFORE, BUT A LONG TIME AGO." Explained Beta, ducking for cover as the Drones shot in their direction.

BANG!

"Killing machines, you say? They certainly look like some! But do they seem so familiar?!" Asked Barby, holding her Laser Rifle firmly.

KZZZZZT! KZZZZT! KZZZT! KZZT!

"THEY SHOULD DO. THEY'RE MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THE SOLDIER BOTS USED BY ROBOTNIK IN THE GREAT WAR. EXCEPT NOW THEY'RE NOT OUR SIDE!"

BANG! BANG! BOOM!

Bits of debris blasted straight off surrounding buildings as the Swat Drones expanded their attack, attempting to destroy landmarks of the city as well as tackling Freedom Fighters attempting to shoot them.

"Hurry! This way everyone! MOVE IT, MOVE IT!" Shouted Barby Koala, climbing up a tall building.

Without question, the loyal Downundian Freedom Fighters rushed to the side of the building and with a surprising amount of strength and courage, were able to get up without too much strain on their muscles.

"Woah. Those guys have guts!" Exclaimed Manic.

"THAT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT A SOLDIER LIKE ME WAS TRAINED TO DO! UP WE GO!" Replied Beta, also starting to scale the building.

Manic gulped. He'd already been nauseous when climbing down the long ladder in the dark pit of the base, so this wasn't exactly what he'd hoped to be doing at this moment.

"Come on lad!"

Zachary, who was standing beside him, unexpectedly grabbed hold of the young Hedgehog's arm and dragged him up the building.

"Lucky these Freedom Fighters taught me a few skills!" Commented the MP, rather proud of himself.

A couple of Swat Drones had in fact noticed the FFs getting away, so they too attempted to climb up.

The roof of the building luckily had a flat spot, so the Mobians could safely stand on it without sliding down some curved tiles and therefore fall back on the ground.

"ELIMINATE THEM! BY THE ORDER OF THE GREAT ROBOTNIK, DESTROY THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS!" Commanded a Swat Drone leader, pointing straight at the Mobians on the roof.

"It's too risky trying to fight them off in the city! We've got to head to the airbase!" Commanded Walt Wallaby, determined to not give up and come with a perfect strategy to defeat these new foes.

"Airbase?!" Called out Manic. "You mean you're still keeping military planes?"

"WELL OF COURSE THEY DO. THEY PROBABLY KEEP THEM IN CASE OF TROUBLE SUCH AS THIS!" Suggested Beta, interrupted before Guru Emu could reply.

"Well quite! Now if you would be so kind as to focus your mind on getting out of here and we might be able to commandeer a suitable aircraft to combat these Swat Drones!" Snapped Walt, more interesting in carrying out the escape.

Giving all the energy they had, the Resistance Fighters trekked across the rooftops of Priscilla, the hot smoke from the flames of the burning debris below shadowing them to mere silhouettes in the mist of battle.

They scaled Skyscrapers that stretched very high into the sky, before they leapt onto the next one, like the world's most extreme obstacle course set in the treetops of an enormous jungle.

Their enemy took no delay in the hunt for victory against Freedom Fighters; the programming shoved into those tiny circuits begging them not to fail, for their master depended on the success of the plan. Nobody must be allowed to interfere. Those who do must be executed under orders of Doctor Ivo Robotnik, Dictator of Roboland.

And as exhausted as Manic would get, there would always be either be Zachary or Metallix grabbing him by the arm and plumbing more morale into the former Prince's very soul; they would not give up.

Because of the determination these Mobians of ages that was at least 13 to surprisingly late 40s, they finally got out of the city, and rushed in the direction of the Priscillian Airbase, which was not too close to the city, but was more open and 'battle friendly' as the Downundians had claimed.

"Don't give up yet boys! Airbase ETA is at least two minutes!" Barby Koala was informing members of her team, making sure they were 100% ready for action!

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Laser bolts exploded into almost microscopic spikes of electricity, catching the attention of the running Mobians. Swat Drones were on their tails!

"BUTTNIKS INCOMING! SORT EM OUT!" Boomed Beta, raising the volume of his internal speakers.

All of a sudden, Professor Danikun, who had been among those escaping the city lost his breath and breathed heavily while trying to keep up with Beta. "I can't run much lon-!"

BANG BANG!

"URK!"

"PROFESSOR!"

But the aged Mobian had already dropped dead. Another fatal victim of the Swat Drones.

Despite these struggles, they'd finally reached the Airbase, with most of the Freedom Fighters turning 180 degrees backwards to face the Drones.

"OPEN FIRE!" Ordered Walt Wallaby, showing his brave leadership as usual.

KZZZZT! KZZZT! KZZZZT!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

KZZZT! KZZZZZZT! KZZZT!

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Unfortunately, laser gun were not the most efficient piece of weaponry as they never tended to have the impact and power of rifles and machine guns, which had won many battles in the Great War, alongside explosive shells and bombs of course.

The Swat Drones had noticed this, so they immediately had switched to machine guns, and continuing their offensive.

One thing for sure was that the Downundian Freedom Fighters simply weren't strong enough to defeat this many Swat Drones. There was at least 100 FFs, but more than twice as much Drones with the better fighting equipment.

And that was another problem on Manic and Beta's hand. They needed to rescue their friends, but couldn't risk leaving the Downundians to face the Swat Drones by themselves, so what could they possibly do?

Meanwhile, in a Prison Camp, somewhere further away from the Airbase….

Conditions were not the most comfortable when you were captured by Robotnik's cronies. The common thing to happen on your first day of imprisonment is to serve lots of disgusting oil to the Robian Elite Guards that ran the place alongside Trooper Badniks. After that, you'd be forced in labour work, meaning you'd have to spend hours building Badnik casings or repair damaged machines used by the Robotnik Empire.

It was certainly no surprise that for the last few hours, new prisoners Miles 'Tails' Prower, Cyrus and Amy Rose had been doing precisely that. But at last they had gained the chance to rest until the next morning, when the next shift began. There were thankfully no Roboticisers in sight, as the technology for a Portable Model had not yet been perfected.

Unfortunately that didn't mean Captain Sleet hadn't come up with an alternative, as he had some time ago taunted the poor Mobians; "If we can't roboticise you now, we'll just take the easier route and convert you into Badniks!"

And now the three were preparing their very own Badnik casings for an extra shift! Moulding the exact metal shape for the bits and bots that connected to the high voltage electrical components, such as the tiny but efficient computer brain.

"I can't stand this! I can't! Can't! AHH!" Murmured Cyrus cowardly, as if he was being tortured or something.

Tails groaned once again at Cyrus' attitude; he had become more and more nervous and easily frightened, being used to remain behind the scenes when working as a Gadget Supplier for the Resistance.

"Oh will you shut up Cyrus! We're not Badniks yet!" The two-tailed Fox cub sighed, staring at the nasty looking head piece of a Buzz Bomber he was moulding.

"Oh I'm sorry, but when you're making something akin to your own grave you can't help being frightened!" Gulped the Lion.

"You're getting on my nerves now buddy! No wonder Sonic has trouble coping with y-" Snapped Tails.

Amy Rose, not even bothering to touch her Badnik shell moulds interrupted; "ENOUGH! You two can't stop bickering, can you? Both of you are a pain to listen to sometimes. While you both were working on those rotten Badnik parts, I was actually using my head to work out a way to get us out of here!"

Cyrus wasn't convinced at all.

"Excuse me, but how on Mobius can we escape from a Prison Camp where we'll be spotted by robots that don't switch off?!" The lion spurted out, not seeing any logic in Amy's optimism.

"Listen will you?!" She pointed to the top of an under-construction radio tower, scaffolding reaching up quite high. "That's our way out! We just need to get up there and use our intelligence to get us far away from this place."

"What d'you mean Amy? If we even try to get up there and radio for help we'll be caught by the Radio operators at the top, who'll probably be Swat Drones!" Asked Tails, feeling curious about Amy's idea.

"We're not going to use the Radio silly! I've been studying Badnik designs ever since I was a slave for Robotnik's goons in my Village, so I know how some of the mechanics of their electronic motors work; the rockets on a Buzz Bomber like Cyrus' can work on their own without an organic battery inside for at least 5 minutes. Tails, if you can wire two of them to work for me and Cyrus, we can hover our way through the air and land at the nearest location not controlled by Robotnik! You don't need one, because you can fly on your own." Explained Amy, with a surprisingly amount of courage and spirit. She wouldn't give up here!

Cyrus and Tails both glanced at Amy in awe; "That's genius Amy! A plan worthy of Sonic's!" Cried Tails, excited.

"Oh you think so? Hmph." Spat Cyrus, who never found Sonic to come up with such a plan so well.

"Perfect! We'll be out of here in no time!….." Grinned Amy.

Sometime later….

The final shift intended for those unfortunate Freedom Fighters currently working at the camp had begun. Soon a new army of Badniks would rise and be delivered to Robotropolis to take their part in Robotnik's soon to start Operation: Miracle, which had already received the necessary Crystals from Fludron Mines for the essential technology.

Captain Sleet was grinning to himself at the thought of getting a reward from Robotnik for all his hard work. Finally that oath Dingo wouldn't muck up the important stages in achieving the glorious victory he was hunting for by failing in his attempts to aid him.

All of this had started with him and his partner in crime being mere Mercenaries, but now he was Captain of the SBS (Special Badnik Service), which included the Soldiers of Trooper Badniks and regular Badniks. Could this possibly get any better?

But the Captain shook his head, he had to turn his attention back to the current situation.

What the devil was going on?!

A ginormous breakout had sprouted out from seemingly nowhere; three recently captured Freedom Fighters had begun climbing the scaffolding of the incomplete Radio Tower, and even when Troopers were sent up to re-capture them, many other Freedom Fighters stopped their work shifts to go and distract the Troopers as the three young Mobians climbed up to escape! Urgh, how these sorts of things annoyed him!

RATATATATATAT!

Trooper after Trooper gutted out their machine guns, chomping at maximum range towards their targets; Miles Prower, Cyrus and Amy Rose.

"SAVE YOURSELVES LADS AND LASSIE! GO KICK SOME BUTTNIK BUTT!" Echoed the now distant voice of a captured Freedom Fighter below, yelling up to the three as the trekked up and up the Tower.

"WOAH!" Cried Tails, narrowly dodging bullets flying at his twin tails.

"Hang on boys! We'll make it! Don't count on those horrid machines catching up with us!" Jeered Amy with courage.

Cyrus was less optimistic, constantly flinching in terror as the Troopers scaled the Tower behind them; "I-I-I can't take any more of this! They're too close!"

"Oh shush and hurry up Cyrus! We're not leaving you behind!" Returned Amy.

Suddenly, as a bullet nearly ricocheted from his face, Tails lost his grip on a bar of the scaffolding and gasped as gravity took its supposedly fatal grasp on poor him!

"Tails!" Gasped Cyrus, fortunately grabbing the fox by his arm before he fell too far down.

"Phew! I guess I owe you one Cyrus…." Breathed Tails, for once complimenting his comrade.

RATATATATATATAT!

Bullet after Bullet soared like instant killing spikes, with the Troopers not even pausing for a moment to aim at the escaping Mobian prisoners; no Freedom Fighter was to leave the Prison Camp alive!

Despite how difficult it had been to make sure the Buzz Bomber rocket jetpacks set up by Tails were not hit, the three lucky Mobians had reached the top of the radio tower. A magnificent view was not to distract them however, for their enemy was approaching rapidly. No time was to be wasted at this crucial moment of their escape!

"Tails, you must go first! We'll catch up with you once you've glided far enough." Called Amy, trying to power on the rocket boosters of her Badnik Jetpack.

The fox hesitated; surely it was wiser to take off at the same time?

"But-" He began.

"GO!" Yelled Amy.

Not wanting to waste his precious time arguing with Amy, Miles 'Tails' Prower leaped off the edge of the radio tower, and with a split second was already hovering forwards with his twin tails spinning like a Tornado.

Because it was so misty and cloudy in this part of Downunda, the poor fox could barely see where he was going!

Second after Second, Tails worried that his friends hadn't managed to catch up; he couldn't see them behind or above him whatsoever….

Though that didn't necessarily mean nothing could be flying near him.

RATATATATATATATATAT!

Trooper Hover Vehicles! The same type normally seen patrolling Robotropolis with Swat Bots piloting it, were approaching at a high velocity.

Could Tails gain an upper hand?

RATATATATATAT!

"Gosh, these bozos are pretty brutal!" He mumbled to himself, swerving in mid-air to avoid the incoming fire.

Good thing he remembered his Freedom Fighter training, as he had been told by Sonic once; "If you're ever finding yourself facing some of Buttnik's dumb-bots way high up in the sky, do yourself a Mondo favour and outsmart em' with some clever manoeuvring trick!"

So Tails put his mind to the test.

Altering his direction in mid-air, he zoomed down, entering freefall slightly.

Following suite, the Hover Vehicles closed in, still firing as much as possible.

However, doing this would cause the Trooper pilots inside to get confused when passing through clouds.

Once Tails passed through multiple clouds, the Trooper pilot of the second Hover Vehicle slammed the controls as the heat sensor blacked out.

"HEAT SENSORS UNABLE TO DETECT MOBIAN LIFEFORM. ERROR IN SYSTEM." Droned the Trooper, not even showing frustration in any shape or form.

But the machine did not even bother to calculate intelligently as its scanners spotted movement from a cloud in front; it fired in the direction of the movement without hesitation.

RATATATATA-

KABOOM! Debris from the first Hover Vehicle blew straight upwards, smashing into the glass window at the front of the second Hover Vehicle.

Realising it had accidentally shot the other Trooper's ship, the Second Trooper wasted no time in diving sideways out of its vehicle, to avoid being crushed.

Tails didn't notice this, but had heard the explosion. His quick thinking had taken care of his chasers, surely?

BANG! BANG!

The Fox Cub jumped out of his skin at the sudden noise of gunfire; the Trooper that had survived dived towards him and knocked his tails out of flight!

The mindless machine understood very well that it had no chance of survival, but its only 'concern' was to accomplish its mission by eliminating the escaped prisoners. Now it had one in its grasp.

But Tails wouldn't let the Trooper just win so easily; remembering his training again, he attempted to copy Sonic's special punch.

SLAM! KICK! SLAM! KICK!

Tails tried to gasp in pain as the much stronger Bot kicked him hard in the chest, but couldn't hear himself as he fell lower and lower…..

Instead of giving in, he stood up to the pain and kept dodging as many kicks as possible after swinging away in mid-air, grabbing onto the chest of the Robot.

Noticing the Fox had touched upon its weak spot, the Chest, it tried punching but missed every time Tails managed to use his own twin tails to swing himself away from the punch.

Using this final move to his advantage, he thought in his mind; "Take this creep!"

KRAZZAAK! The Sonic Punch blew and grazed the chest panel with immense force from the mid-air swinging, munching up the wires and gizmos within; the implosive impact was incredible!

Laughing to himself, Tails grinned as the Trooper's chest panel sizzled and flung the whole unit back due to the implosion, electronic scowls fading slowly from the mouthpiece.

Regaining his flight, the young but incredibly brave Fox Cub soared like the world's fastest helicopter across the skies, hoping his friends were alright.

Suddenly, the Fox's tall ears came into contact with a loud swooshing sound; a parachute flinging on someone's back!

Skydiving several meters above Tails materialised the outline of a familiar figure; Dingo! The former sidekick of Captain Sleet, who had somehow managed to be promoted while betraying his more stupid comrade to Robotnik's fury at their recent failure.

Despite the event being long overdue in the good Doctor's eyes, the bumbling oaf had received a pretty painful full Roboticisation to the rest of his body, as one legs of his was already mechanical.

Silently like a Pterodactyl dinosaur, the Robian Dingo glided in the direction of its prey, but with the viciousness of a Velociraptor.

"Damn it! Not you!" Cried Tails, remembering the day that his parents were captured, still haunted him in his nightmares. Sleet, Dingo and the truly heartless Dictator were present there.

Tails was in quite a hurry to get to somewhere safe, so he had no intention of letting Dingo set any of his gruesomely iron-sealed paws on him!

Even with his tail-copters, the Robian caught up with little to no trouble, being heavier and falling much quicker he lunged at the neck of the Fox, beginning to horribly choke the poor Cub…..

Breathing was now in the initiation of coming across as an impossibility, coughing emerging as a constant life support of sorts, the tiny neck deflating like a balloon running out of precious air…

Miraculous! Once more the impact created by the force of gravity emerges victorious; a much relief spreading sight of a Pink Hedgehog descended in a heavenly sort of way, Badnik Jetpack blazing all the way as the metallic foe was torn off its grip, not ready to begin its 'endless' journey to solid ground.

Then like the frames of a video footage being reversed, the surrounding oxygen magnetically dunked itself back into the mouth of the pained Fox Cub, who breathed heavily as he collapsed into the arms of a Lion whom zoomed below him in the nick of time!

"We can't leave you alone for very long without getting into trouble, can we Tails?" Smirked Amy, but with a warm presence. Her dress blew flippantly in the air, luckily not being burned by the flames pouring out of the exhausts of the Buzz Bomber rocket boosters.

"Gee, thanks guys! I'm glad to have you as comrades!" Breathed the Fox, grinning a little weakly.

Cyrus sighed; "As much as I sort of hate to admit, I think Sonic would be proud of you. He'd probably say you've made an excellent Freedom Fighter!"

A few minutes later, back at the Priscilla Airbase….

"RETREAT! RETREAT!"

Walt Wallaby couldn't believe it! The Swat Drones had driven them back after at least 30 minutes of fighting!

But this really shouldn't have been much of a surprise, with the Downundian Freedom Fighters being severely outnumbered.

Metallix Beta, despite his clunky and aging mechanic structure, poured enough strong energy to keep him running as he had done on the Mobolandian Front Line many years ago.

Manic, as usual, was by his side. The former Prince knew very well it would be a terrible idea to surrender to Robotnik's Forces, and thought to himself; "All this time I've told myself I would do better with help from Mecha, so what am I waiting for?!"

Deciding the smartest thing to do was to seek advice from the robotic veteran's battle experience, he hastily asked; "Hey Mecha! Any ideas?"

The robot's computer brain wasted no time in calculating its way through the memory files, adding the sufficient ones to an equation that the command created by Manic's question needed.

"REINFORCEMENTS!" Sparked the electronically synthesised British accent booming from the speaker of Beta. "THAT'S WHAT I REMEMBER HOPING FOR….." The robot did not attempt to go into too much detail when such an answer related to a controversial and tragically bloody event.

"Right on the tick Mecha, cause here comes some!" Cried Manic, pointing up at the sky in delight.

Their comrades; Miles 'Tails' Prower, Cyrus Lion and Amy Rose hovered down, Badnik jetpacks on the latter two flickering slowly as the fuel ran out.

"Manic! Am I glad to see you!" Said Tails, landing with his tail-copters.

"Same! And Cyrus! Good to see you've made it out in piece." Grinned Manic.

"More or less…." Mumbled Cyrus.

"Who are you guys? You know em, Tails and Cyrus?" Asked Amy curiously, slightly surprised not to see Sonic anywhere.

"I'm Manic Hedgehog, you must be Amy Rose! My bro Sonic's been telling me all about the adventure in those mines with you." Replied Manic.

BANG! BANG!

The Mobians quickly dived for cover as the Swat Drones resumed their offensive.

"So you're Sonic's brother? Nice! I guess the myth of the Royal Mobolandians being Hedgehogs is true!" Returned Amy, dodging any sign of incoming fire.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Swat Drones were getting closer, and now their shots became more fatal, as a few Freedom Fighters dropped to ground lifeless, proving the brutalness of Robotnik's tactics.

"WE'LL NEED MORE REINFORCEMENTS THAN YOU GUYS I'M AFRAID!" Sighed Beta electronically, trying to think of a solution.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Amy, just noticing the robotic hedgehog, gasped and clenched her right fist and hurriedly threw it at the machine in a solid punch. She believed it was another one of Robotnik's Elite Robian Fighters.

KLANG!

"OOWF!" Cried Amy. Her fist buzzed with pain for a short while. This robot was made of a very strong metal!

"NICE TO MEET YOU TOO MISS ROSE." Quipped the mostly pre-occupied mechanical hedgehog in a somewhat sarcastic tone. "METALLIX BETA AT YOUR SERVICE."

Manic quickly addressed to Amy; "Don't worry! He's on our side. Mecha here doesn't work for ol' Buttnik. It's fine."

BANG BANG! BANG!

Cyrus whimpered a bit, and then moaned to Manic and the others.

"Can we p-p-pause the introductions now? I think we're still under attack!"

"You got that right!" Called out the voice of Walt Wallaby, rolling for cover towards the small brick wall the crew was crouching behind.

"I thought we'd able to use some of our aircraft to escape, but the Swat Drones have the whole place surrounded! Only an extremely talented thief would have the guts to get into the closest hangar." Continued Walt, looking more and more frustrated.

This particular comment, despite its rather non-casual intention of delivery, gave the Green Hedgehog with crazy spiked and curled rockstar hair a very sneaky idea. Only a grin and glance at his robotic comrade could convey such daring emotion of his little thought that had the potential to solve this major issue.

Metallix, if he were flesh and blood like those around him, would have been able to raise solid eyebrows in surprise. "WALT." He exclaimed, putting his left metallic hand on Manic's shoulder. "CONSIDER IT DONE. THIS OLD CHAP IS THE PERFECT CANDIDATE FOR THE JOB."

Walt returned a frown. He didn't know Manic had any expertise in stealing!

Manic stepped forwards out of range of bullets, having thought carefully from what both Beta and Walt had said.

"Look, Walt. You and your Resistance pals told me you wanted the help of our Roboland Freedom Fighters, and now I know how to get you a straight ticket towards em'!"

"What'd you mean? They're miles away!" Replied Walt.

"Not if we grab a plane!" Smirked the Hedgehog excitedly, looking in the direction of Tails. "Tails here knows how to fly planes from his old man's training. If I can get in there with him, we start the engine and get one out while you distract the Swat Drones for long enough! Once we're clear of the fighting, you can get on board and we'll fly straight to Roboland!"

Walt wasn't convinced this would work, however.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! The Swat Drones would blow any plane up before you can even take off! Besides, the only plane in the airbase that can hold enough of us is in the closest hangar. It's near suicide trying to get there!"

"Come on Walt!" Insisted Manic, believing this was the only solution. "What else do you expect us to do?! Surrender to the Swat Drones?"

The Downundian sighed. He knew that it would be better to take a chance to help Downunda rather than allow the trigger for its fall. With a grunt of acknowledgement, he allowed the plan to carry through.

"Alright!" Grinned Manic crouching down next to Tails, both of their arms stretched out with fists clenched for the special fist bump.

"Let's do it to it!" Exclaimed both of them, fist bumping.

Later, the distraction had been fully set up. Walt had ordered his crew to launch a surprise attack; one that could lead the Swat Drones away from the Hangar so that the plane inside could be safely driven out.

RATATATATATATATATAT! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! KZZZT! KZZT! RATATATATAT!

With the Swat Drones completely occupied by the Downundian Freedom Fighters, Tails and Manic crawled slowly but surely behind them, hoping that none would touch and spot them if they were reaching for a grenade.

But luck was on their side, and they reached the side of the Hangar.

Both Metallix and Cyrus, accompanied by Amy, watched from a distance as Manic was flown up by Tails to the roof.

"How's he going to get in? I mean, he doesn't seem to have some sorta magic guitar like Sonic has! I think it makes him cool….." Asked Amy, momentarily thinking dreamily.

"WATCH HIM, MISS ROSE. YOU'LL SEE." Beta returned, with a mechanical tone of approval.

Manic the Hedgehog was probably the most unique of the Sonic Underground; he didn't really have any special abilities like Sonic, nor did he have as much as courage and determination as Sonia. But one thing he did have was his most appropriate status; an honest thief.

At least that was so because his stealing is eventually found out sooner or later when Sonic or Sonia makes him admit.

Within an instant and a glance of bright light that was luckily not noticed by the Swat Drones, the most gorgeous Drum Kit emerged out of thin air, materialising into shape from a jelly like fog.

His trusty Drum Kit at his side, with the fantastical Power Medallion fully charged with energy, Manic the Hedgehog flipped out his new golden Drum Sticks from his belt, twirling them with one finger in each hand, before effortlessly spinning them straight into the palms and slamming on the drums a couple of times to a very catchy rhythm indeed!

KZZZZTTTTTTT!

BOM!

Sprouting from the fully silver Drums with a slight cough-like sound, buzzed a shining green laser, impacting the roof with fuming inferno power, sizzling and burning the rather weak part tin, part copper roof slightly to create one perfect hole for entry.

Beta chuckled electronically watching this; "CYRUS, YOU CAN TELL WALT THAT THE DOWNUNDIAN GOVERNMENT HAS A MOTH TO FIND. A GIANT HOLE MAKING MOTH." Joked the robot.

Once the two Mobians on the tall hangar leaped out of sight into the interior of the building, Walt noticed and quickly ordered his men; "FALL BACK! FALL BACK!"

While the Swat Drones anticipated that this was a form of retreat once again, Walt's actual intention was to use it in order to lure them further away from the Hangar. The tactic was a solid success!

Hoping that a suitable aircraft would exit the other side of the Hangar, the Robolandian Freedom Fighters waited patiently, but nothing happened for a few minutes, strangely.

"What's taking them so long?! I don't think we can hold them off forever! I've ordered them to scatter; it's the only way your friends will have a higher chance." Called out Wallaby, dashing over to them rather worriedly.

But as soon as Beta had formed a reply in his computer brain, a familiar beeping sound emerged from his built-in communicator. This signalled that Manic and Tails had succeeded; the Plane's engines were rip-roaring to go!

"THAT'S OUR CUE!" Said the robot. "LET'S GO! HURRY!"

Now it was finally time to leave Downunda and recruit some reinforcements from Roboland, for the Plight of Downunda was more than a mere peril on this day!

But not even The Great Metallix Beta could describe the sight of the aircraft the two Mobians burst out of the Hangar with…

"OH MY GOLLY WORD!" The machine marvelled.

But to be clear, it was a prodigious and weighty Heavy Bomber with very serpent-like concealment colours spread around most of its outer shell, a black metal undercoat resting underneath to create the perfect night time camouflage. It was clearly an aircraft ahead of its time, as the design was much more advanced than anything ever seen in the Great War, which Pilots and Military Leaders of that period could only dream of having in Battle.

The only one who seemed to take it for granted, but with a bit of satisfaction, was Walt Wallaby, who seemed familiar with it.

The Red Wallaby smiled, adjusting his coat quickly before commenting; "Oh so they've chosen this one. It's good, innit? The British Mobian Air Force made it last year. They call it the Mirage Phantom!"

"VERY IMPRESSIVE INDEED MY DEAR FELLOW!" Agreed Beta. "BUT WE CANNOT WASTE ANY MORE TIME HERE. PREPARE TO BOARD!"

Entering through a small hatch in the side, the Freedom Fighters got themselves sitting comfortably inside the Interior, which unlike the more interesting paint job on the exterior, was very a plainly solid Green.

Several screws held the skeletal like structure together, also supporting the many wires of different proportions of performing the various tasks such as powering the engine. A fire extinguisher was placed on the left wall in case of trouble, hanging close to a silver painted area that was lowered slightly down from the main floor. This was the Bomb Compartment, obviously not loaded with Bombs are there was no War that the Downundians were fighting, not even with Robotnik himself!

The chairs that the crew had to sit in were wrapped in firm muddy coloured leather over a very uncomfortable appearing metal frame. A back pocket was attached to each chair, in case the Passengers had anything to place in it.

But the other feature aside from the Control Deck, which was clustered with so many controls that Tails and Manic had trouble counting them for a small game, there were a few gun turrets placed around the Bomber, which unlike the Bomb Compartment, were actually loaded with working guns, which Walt claimed had been used for testing purposes, but the Air Force Technicians had simply forgotten to take the Bullets out afterwards.

Still sticking to his no time wasting policy, Beta rushed into the Control Deck and asked Tails; "MAY I?"

"Sure, go ahead Mecha! You're a better pilot than me anyways." Replied the Fox Cub kindly.

As Amy also hopped into her seat, fastening the seat belt as did her comrades, they awaited take-off.

The beautiful aircraft rumbled slightly on its wheels as the engine speed was increased, in order to be ready to lift off from the launch road.

"Hurry Beta, the Swat Drones will notice us any moment!" Walt egged him on.

Slamming the Throttle straight, the mechanical Hedgehog braced himself for take-off.

"WORD OF WARNING PEOPLE." Started Metallix.

"What? Is there something wrong with the aircraft?" Asked Cyrus.

The machine shook its head. "NO. IT'S JUST THAT I HAVEN'T FLOWN A PLANE FOR 14 YEARS!"

Manic and Tails both gasped; their faces filled with an absolutely dumbfounded look. "ARE YOU KIDDING US?! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN INTO ONE OF ROBOTNIK'S HOVER VEHICLES?" Shouted Walt, who was also surprised.

But the robot was not in the mood to argue. "CALM DOWN WALT. I STILL REMEMBER QUITE A BIT FROM MY TRAINING. I CAN HANDLE THIS. JUST BE READY!"

The interior began to rumble violently as the wheels of the plane crossed over a terrain of slightly bumpy rock. Taking off had to be now or never!

"INTO THE HANDS OF FATE!" Increased the volume of the electronic voice from Beta's mouthpiece while he pulled back the Throttle to his metal chest.

The engines slammed into their function without delay; the Propellers zipped round and round like a chainsaw, gnawing at the air for ages while the main body of the Aircraft levitated into the sky, soaring like the most colossal bird in Mobius.

As everyone on board breathed with a sigh of relief, Metallix quickly flipped a switch to pull up the wheels into the wings, as a way of decreasing the weight.

"WELL. THAT'S ONE THING I NEVER HAD TO DO BACK IN THE OLD DAYS!" He murmured, once the Wheels were up.

Below, the Swat Drones ceased firing, as the Downundian Freedom Fighters had been forced to surrender. They stared up at the sky, hearing the sound of the Mirage Phantom's four engines as the shape of it covered the sun momentarily.

Later, high in the skies of Mobius…..

There were no windows aboard the aircraft, so only through the control deck and the gunner cockpits, were the Mobians aboard able to view Mobius' enormous sea from above.

"It's….Beautiful!" Commented Amy, marvelled at the vastness she could see below.

Barely anyone on the Mirage Phantom at this moment had seen the seas of Mobius from a height like this, where only a few clouds could block their view.

As they crossed past a few of Downunda's coastlines, Metallix pulled out a map of Mobius from the compartment on the wall behind his seat.

He had rarely attempted such a task like this; flying from country to country by Plane.

Back in his days as a Soldier during the Great War, Beta had always taken the risky and slower route of using boats filled with Soldiers to cross over to a continent such as the South Icecap or even to Flame Core Island, up by the oldest Overlander city in all of Mobius; Soleanna.

The closest land to Downunda, according to the map, was three different locations; the continent of Mongor Jungle, the ruins of an Overlander city that was under construction before the Great War had started but later was used as a battle ground for the last few battles against the Savatonian Overlander Army long ago. The third was Miracle Island, home to the gorgeous Never Lake. It was an island of a legend, but nobody ever lived there, aside from Mobini Animals, the remnants of the creatures that Mobians had been long ago before the planet had been called Mobius. For that reason, it was one of the few wilderness locations of the world.

But what Metallix's main concern about the island would be that if they ran out of fuel, crash landing on the island would be an absolute disaster, as there wouldn't be any resources to repair the plane with, or any vehicles they could take. This was indeed a dangerous but vital part of the mission.

As for the Mirage Phantom itself, all the military details that Walt had explained briefly to him was that it was the only plane of its kind, merely created as a prototype for testing purposes. The Downundian Government both did not have the finances to build more, nor did they need more unless a War broke out. However, the Government had actually dictated that Robotnik's position made him more of a terrorist that controls a country, attempting a slow invasion. But perhaps the biggest reason for this would be that barely any country could possibly afford to start a War again, after the previous one had cost so many lives, money and resources. And that only took 5 years!

Luckily though, the Plane had been designed well enough that even if it were to be used by Freedom Fighters, defending itself would not be impossible whatsoever.

The engines seemed to be quite loud, echoing in the sky as if a whole stream of invisible Mirage Phantoms were flying next to them in a particular formation.

"PERHAPS THAT IS WHY THEY CALL IT A PHANTOM." Calculated the robot, whom had set a course on the map for Roboland.

The plane made a quick U-Turn in the direction of the country, the engines making a slight buzz as the altitude changed around the wings.

Sitting up in the top Gun Cockpit was Manic himself, admiring the clouds above.

Yawning slightly due to being tired out from all the excitement of earlier, the Hedgehog wondered what his brother Sonic had been up to all this time.

"It's gotta have been at least several hours since Mecha and I left…." Thought Manic, wishing he had a watch on his wrist.

As they'd left quickly after finding out about Tails, Cyrus and Amy being taken to Downunda, so of course Sonic didn't know. He'd probably be confused to where they'd gone. Hopefully he hadn't tried to go to Downunda himself if he found out.

"Yo Mecha!" Manic called the robot, using a radio inside the gun cockpit. "How far are we from Roboland?"

"SEVERAL MILES STILL. WE'LL HAVE TO CROSS OVER MIRACLE ISLAND. LUCKILY, I THINK THE STORM THAT SENT THE PRISON SHIP OFF COURSE HAS DIED DOWN. OUR FLIGHT SHOULD BE GENERALLY DANGER-FREE." Explained Beta, examining the map while still holding onto the Throttle.

Cyrus was also in a gun cockpit, specifically the one below the control deck known as the 'Nose Gun'.

"I still can't believe we made it out alive! I guess luck is on our side after all." He mumbled, sighing in relief.

Beta's voice crackled in from the radio; "NOT LUCK CYRUS. SKILL AND COURAGE! THAT'S WHAT YOU FREEDOM FIGHTERS HAVE. WITHOUT IT ROBOTNIK WOULD SEE YOU AS A SIMPLE FLIE THAT IS EASILY SWATTED. BUT NO, YOU'RE ACTUALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO FOIL HIS PLANS OF CONQUEST!"

"To a certain extent." Interrupted Walt Wallaby.

Walt was trying to relax at the back of the Aircraft in the cockpit of the 'tail gun', allowing him to see how far they'd gotten from Downunda so far.

"We're not an army, Beta. We can defend ourselves, even with reinforcements such as the ones we're trying to get, but our resistance is poor at offensive attacks. I doubt your Resistance is even close to being as strong as the almighty powerful armies were at the start of the Great War."

"MY DEAR FELLOW." Insisted Beta. "QUITE CLEARLY YOU HAVEN'T SEEN OUR RESISTANCE IN ACTION, NOR THE CONDITIONS WE FACE IN ROBOTROPOLIS."

Walt shrugged this comment off slightly; "Hmph! I suppose I'm going to find out, but at least you don't have to worry about accidentally waging war with Robotnik!"

Beta wasn't pleased with Walt's constant arguing manner.

"NOW WALT. I WOULD PREFER IT IF YOU WOULDN'T WASTE OUR TIME HERE ARUG-"

The machine ceased speech. Something else had caught its undivided attention.

Cyrus and Walt had too become silent.

….

"What's that over there in the distant?" Manic called out, breaking the silence all of sudden.

Metallix's metal ears nearly flinched as if they were organic.

"MANIC, GET DOWN FROM THERE AND INTO THE CONTROL DECK. RIGHT NOW!" Commanded the mechanical hedgehog.

"Wha-?" Was the confused former prince's reply.

"SWAP PLACES WITH ME FOR GOODNESS' SAKE!" Yelled back Beta, before Manic pulled himself down the ladder and dashed into the control deck.

With an immense leap, the robot dragged his heavily swaying robotic limbs up into the head gunner's cockpit, strapping a parachute clip around himself, then immediately flinging the control throttle sideways to send the cockpit and the guns swinging in the opposite direction, facing two flying mysterious objects in the sky.

Manic didn't know what was going on, but dashed into the Control Deck as asked.

"What's going on Mecha?!" He blurted out in a tensed tone.

The robot's reply came instantly. "ALERT! ALERT! SWAT BOT HOVER-PODS INCOMING!"

Tails, jumped at the mention of this, peering out from a passenger window, in time to spot a Hover Vehicle zoom by in the distance, making a quick U-Turn back to its Flight Comrade.

"Oh not again!" Mumbled the Fox Cub, he'd only just come out of an experience with tackling some!

"BANDITS INCOMING FROM THE WEST!" Yelled Walt over the radio.

"BANDITS? TAKE THEM OUT!" Snapped Beta.

RATATATATATATATATATATATAT!

"Missed him! These guys move fast!" Returned Walt after a brief bit of firing.

Back at the Control Deck, Manic was panicking. He didn't know much about aircraft controls such as this at all. He wasn't a pilot, he was a mere thief and Freedom Fighter!

"Mecha, listen! What am I supposed to do here?! I don't fly planes!" Reported in the Green Hedgehog, desperate for advice.

"HAVE YOU EVER FLOWN A HOVER-POD, OLD CHAP?!"

RATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!

"Yes, but-" Began Manic.

RATATATATATATATATAT!

Beta was heavily occupied with trying to shoot down the Hover-Pods, so he made one last snapping remark to his hedgehog friend before returning his full one hundred percent concentration to shooting; "THEN TREAT IT LIKE ONE, FOR GOODNESS SAKE! JUST CHECK HOW FAR WE ARE TO ROBOLAND!"

Not fully reassured, but still packed with determination to reach their destination, Manic picked up the map Beta had previously been using, and noted that the last mark that had been put on had been 2 minutes ago.

Sighing to himself amongst all the firing, he guessed there were at least 5 or 6 miles to go.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!

"Hm. Maybe I should increase the engine power? That usually helps, right?" Thought Manic.

He then toggled the Throttle until the Mirage Phantom was at its fastest, hoping neither of the Hover-Pods would shoot the engines at this 'crucial' moment.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!

Cyrus whimpered below, not having the best luck with hitting one of the targets.

"Any tips Mecha?!" Asked Cyrus, who really regretted coming on the mission earlier with Sonic to the Fludron Mines.

"AIM ABOVE!" Growled Beta, annoyed with the constant questions at such a time.

Cyrus thought for a moment, as he took aim in the way he was instructed.

The aircraft had no hope of its guns managing to shoot down the Hover-Pods at this distance, so what could be done?

Then, he felt a light bulb flash in his head, at the instant of an idea.

"Manic." The lion hissed through the radio's microphone at his end. "Turn the Mirage to the right and towards the Swat Bots. We need a better distance. Hurry!"

Manic was flabbergasted.

"But that'll lower our speed! Won't it?!"

Metallix too, did not approve of the plan.

"CYRUS, NO. MANIC SPEAKS TRUTHFULLY HERE, WE MUSN'T SLOW DOWN!"

Cyrus had enough, he wasn't going to let everyone see him as a wimp now, and he wasn't always a coward. He could help.

"NOW MANIC!" The lion roared, as he spotted the Hover-Pods edging in for a fatal shooting at his gun cockpit.

With such emphasis put on that one command, even if it weren't from Beta, Manic understood Cyrus' reasoning.

SWOOSH!

The Swat Bot pilots looked at the aircraft in confusion as it punched itself in their direction, Cyrus handling the throttle to make the guns on his aircraft point up for one good shot.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!

There was no sound of explosions in the distance that reached any of the crew's ears, but a slight jeer from Cyrus that made Amy and Tails jump was a signature of success that didn't need any comment to be made on.

With one last sigh of relief, Beta decided to make a separate comment of a different subject.

"ALRIGHT NOW, OLD CHAP. YOU CAN TURN US BACK TO THE REGULAR POSITION."

Next, once the Mirage Phantom was straight and properly moving forwards, the journey continued for a few minutes, with Manic this time sitting with Tails and Amy as the Mechanical Hedgehog returned to the Control Deck.

"I THINK MY SHOOTING SKILLS ARE RUSTIER THAN EVER. HEH HEH." Chuckled Beta, complimenting Cyrus in a way.

But soon the machine remained quiet, peering out at the clouds.

As he had predicted, there was no storm in their way; "THANK GOODNESS."

Although, the minute after, he gave one important message over the radio; "ATTENTION, FREEDOM FIGHTERS. WE'LL BE LANDING ON THE BORDERLAND OF ROBOLAND SHORTLY. BRACE YOURSELVES AT ONCE."

Finally! After such effort on a dangerous adventure, their quest had taken them back home to Roboland, where despite dangers still lying in their path, the overall atmosphere compared to the unfamiliarity of Downunda, was to Tails,Amy,Cyrus, Manic and somewhat for Metallix Beta, slightly more refreshing to think about.

CLUNK!

Wheels skidding as the brakes coughed at the strain of pressure to slow down the movement of the plane as it had landed on the airstrip area of the borderland, close to the ruins of a communications tower previously destroyed by Sonic and some other Freedom Fighters during Operation: Nomad, the impact was not the smoothest landing Metallix had done.

"URRGHHH!" Scowled the robot as the interior shook wildly due to the main body of the plane shaking a bit upon landing.

Nevertheless, the plane had landed safely enough for the crew to open the hatch in the side, allowing them to jump out, with Tails giving the older and heavier Beta and Walt a hand in getting to the ground as there was no staircase attached to the hatch.]

"WELCOME TO ROBOLAND, FOLKS. I THINK WE'VE GOT COMPANY." Pointed out Beta, noticing some Trooper Badniks slowly marching towards them.

Troopers were perhaps the most common Badnik deployed by Robotnik's Forces, after all many of them were part of the Special Badnik Service. With their 'Bucket-like-soldier helmet-heads' and creepy skeletal grey faces, they were quite intimidating to look at. But their large bulky chest and energy pack powered blasters wired up to their backs (which could easily be disconnected sometimes) and hard fists made a large amount of them a match for a small amount of Freedom Fighters, even if they had Sonic the Hedgehog or in fact any member of the Sonic Underground at their side.

"There's too many of them to take on. What do we do?" Asked Tails.

Manic stepped forwards, with a determined look. He'd had enough of uncertainty in these situations.

"What do we do? What we always do. Do our duty while kicking some Robuttnik."

The strategy was simple. Several metres away from them stood the Sonic Underground's Camper Van; their ride to Robotropolis. But Troopers were coming in from all direction. So the solution? Run and smash of course!

If a Surveillance Orb of Robotnik's was in the air, studying the events below, it would be seeing this; a hot and drought filled rocky terrain will tall red figures of the same design appearing as a swarm of creatures attempting to hunt down their prey. It didn't matter which one of the red figures got the prey, as long as the prey was subdued. But dividing and conquering was the perfect advantage for the prey, for their task could be accomplished with at least one of them reaching their transport away from the hunting swarm.

And so divide and conquer they did! The Fox Cub and the Teenage Lion dashed their through the middle, slashing carefully at the chests of the Troopers as much as possible without a single bit of delay in their speed. The aging mechanical soldier threw itself into acrobatic fashion with the Wallaby hopping beside him, taking its time to launch itself of the foreheads of the shining metallic skull faced opponents crowding the area. The Honest Thief and the courageous girl slammed through and through the red figures as if they were paper cards ready to be shot a hole through.

The objective was not to defeat their opponent, but they certainly gave them a worthy enough beating, even as a small number of Mobians. As appropriately said, 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall.'

But getting to the Camper Van was only the first stage of trying to get to Robotropolis. The Borderland of Roboland was closest to the city of Truamrora, but going through there would be a waste of time. The best route would be to take the path past the towns of Culcheth and Fortaare and then through the city of Fludron itself, which was located right next to both the Mines that Sonic, Cyrus, Tails and Amy had been in, as well as the Mainland River.

Going into Fludron was a danger in itself. While Robotropolis had plenty of hiding places for Freedom Fighters, Fludron was wide open and contained many high roads for Swat Bots and Troopers to come in their Hover-Pods and hunt down any Freedom Fighter intruders. But this was a risk that had to be taken.

"GET IN THE VAN!" Yelled Metallix Beta, who'd managed to get into the front.

"I'm driving this time Mecha! It belongs to the Sonic Underground after all!" Said Manic, jumping into the Driver's seat on the left.

Amy, who had heard tales of the Sonic Underground during her days of being a slave for Robotnik, recognised the van as the same one many claimed had turned up all around the country in 3237, when the Sonic Underground travelled across to tackle Robotnik's schemes.

"Aha! So this is it! I can't wait to see the rest of the Resistance!" She cried, excited.

"I bet you'll like it!" Replied Tails, sitting next to her in one of the passenger seats located at the right side of the vehicle's interior. "We'll prove to them that we're old enough to take down some dumb bots!"

But Walt had something else on his mind.

"Listen Beta, I want to know more about your plan here. What's going to happen to the Mirage Phantom? And how's the 'reinforcements' going to help the rest of the Downunda Resistance?"

As Manic started up the engine once Cyrus, who was the last one to get in stumbled slightly upon entering the Van, Beta made a quick reply; "I'M NOT SURE WALT. BUT IF I CAN GUESS ACCURATELY, WITH LUCK A PART OF THE RESISTANCE CAN FIND THE AIRCRAFT SAFE AND SOUND AND GET BACK TO DOWNUNDA IN TIME TO DEAL WITH THE SWAT DRONES. IT'S A CAMPAIGN THAT MIGHT REQUIRE REINFORCEMENTS FOR A LONG TIME, SO DON'T THINK THIS IS GOING TO BE A ONE-OFF ASSISTANCE."

The Van's engine roared with power, as the exhausts fumed with gas, before it sped off in a hurry, towards Fludron.

Taking at least 3 hours to get close, there was thankfully no sign of Troopers in the area. But Metallix would always warn the gang not to let their guard down.

As they drove quietly but fast into Fludron, Amy, Tails and Cyrus took time to watch as the buildings went past in the distance.

Fludron was nothing special in its entirety, just a regular old Mobian city but with only one unique feature; long sprawling highways that stretched throughout the location, going in multiple directions. But just like many cities in Roboland in this time, it seemed devoid of any life.

Bored after a while, Tails thought about what could happen upon their return to Resistance Headquarters.

"I'm sure Sonic will be really happy to see me safe and sound, but what if Trevor and Freedom Fighters tell me off for going on such a dangerous mission? And I don't wanna think what the other kids will say once I get there. But they'll likely say something along the lines of; 'Oh hey Miles the Loser! What kind of Dumbo are you, thinking you can be cool and go on a mission? Probably bribed your way in, ha!'."

Still cautious, the gang awaited the chance to be on the highway that would soon lead them out of Fludron and onto Robotropolis.

But where were the Swat Bots on patrol? It made sense not to see any Mobians wandering out and about, as most would be roboticised and sent to work Robotropolis' factories, but surely lots of Swat Bots were made to patrol every settlement in the country?

Suddenly, the Van reached a part of the city which appeared to have had some sort of conflict going on recently; old military jeeps that had likely been stolen for fighting uses, a couple of Swat Bot wreckages, tiny but shiny tufts of Mobian fur laying singed on the ground, battle damaged buildings that had rubble stretching over into a small city square type area as well as feeble looking clubs that seemed to have been used as weapons. Obviously there'd been a fight with Swat Bots here.

"Looks like we're not the only ones in Roboland who've resisted Fatso's rule." Commented Manic, looking somewhat sad at the lack of any Mobian Freedom Fighters wandering about.

"You're right about that Manic. I don't think we've ever gotten the chance to explore other cities in our country. And I don't they get much non-robot visitors either. Doubt Robotnik ever sets foot here at all." Sighed Cyrus, agreeing with Manic's point.

Walt Wallaby on the other hand, stared out of the window, looking more stunned and shocked than anyone else in the Van.

"Metallix Beta…I-I take back what I said on the Plane about your struggles against Robotnik. I thought there'd be more Mobians here fighting for Freedom. I never believed Roboland was empty and lifeless mostly….."

The robotic Great War veteran did not twist his mechanical head 90 degrees. The machine stayed put as Manic kept driving cautiously but still taking in the scenery around him.

Walt expected Beta would reply, but no sound came out of the voice projector mouth-piece on the robot's chin. Nothing. No electric coughs, no grunts, no sighs and certainly no muttering under his mechanical breath. Just Silence.

"Beta?" Called Walt calmly, trying to get an honest reply.

Knowing that Beta had become very impatient and was likely running low on energy power, which was the second thing that stopped him from speaking, next to the robot's current opinion on Walt's previous attitude, Manic stepped into the conversation himself.

"You get it now Mr. Wallaby? We're not a private army that fights a brutal dictator. We're just a bunch of underground rebels trying to make a difference. They call it a civil-war; we call it a desperate struggle. I remember that not long ago, Roboland still felt alive, even with Robotnik in control of Robotropolis. Those were the days me and my family grew up in. Not just Sonic and Sonia, but my foster parents too. Same for my bro and sis. As annoying as those aristocrats got, I realise now how lucky they were for a time. All they had to do was pay Buttnik enough and he'd leave them alone! Y'know, I understand why Sonic misses going out to a Chili Dog stand. It's not just that there's no more left, it's just that there's no community for him to eat it in! Sonia misses going to a spa, where she could be herself for a bit. Take a break from all the hard work we do. And me? I miss being the sneaky ol' Manic the Thief, who just….Stole for the experience. Not to make someone mad because they don't have a precious possession anymore. I gave the stuff back. After a while at least. But still. Robotnik's not a terrorist to us. He watches over us. Everywhere we go. There isn't any other place besides our base to hide from him. He didn't just conquer the country. He took away our Freedom. Who we were, and why we were that. We're not the same without that. Most get roboticised. Even if we survive, we're not free. We're just fighting. That's why we call ourselves Freedom Fighters."

Walt had heard all wanted to know. He understood.

As the Downundian turned away, looking somewhat ashamed, Manic looked at him with a bit of sympathy. And then focused on the road.

"Hey guys, I think we're almost out of Fludron now!" Announced the Green Hedgehog, looking a bit happier.

"Phew. I'm getting nauseous even looking at this deserted city!" Sighed Cyrus.

However, Manic didn't hear this comment, as he all of a sudden noticed a reflection in the right rear-view mirror of the Van.

"Mecha, look." Said the Hedgehog, nudging the robot's clunky shoulder.

Beta did not answer, but the direction his digital eyes were pointed in told Manic that he'd noticed too.

For a moment the former Prince did not takes his eyes off the mirror, for three jeeps with Swat Bots were driving behind them, Swat Bots holding blasters ready to shoot the Van.

"KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD, HEDGEHOG!" Beta snarled suddenly.

The highway had reached a roundabout!

BANG! BANG! RATATATAT!

With firing already occurring from their pursuers' firearms, Manic quickly jerked the van into a skidding motion, turning them into a tight street with plenty of difficult to manoeuvre through corners. But this was the least of his worries.

RATATATATAT!

Like the Swat Bots that had chased them during their trip from Port Mobius I a month ago, these attacked relentlessly, with the almost obvious notion that they had orders to capture any Freedom Fighters for Roboticisation if they were sighted in the city.

"I'm getting a sense of Déjà vu here." Muttered Manic. "We can't just keep out-manoeuvring them. Cyrus! Get up there and use that spare Blaster on my bed to keep em' occupied!"

"If you say so Manic! Oh man….I hate doing these kinds of jobs!" Whined Cyrus a little.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATAT! BANG BANG!

Once Cyrus had the Blaster and climbed up the ladder to the hatch of the top cockpit, ready to fire at the Swat Bots, Manic turned to Beta for directions.

"Okay Mecha. Where's the shortest route out from here?"

"TAKE A TURN ROUND THE SQUARE OVER TO THE LEFT. THEN THE MIDDLE ROAD WILL TAKE US TO A WIDE-OPEN FINAL HIGHWAY WITH A BIT MORE BREATHING SPACE."

"Gotcha." Manic acknowledged.

Taking the suggested route, the Hedgehog hoped that Cyrus was doing fine and had actually managed to ward the Swat Bots off somewhat.

KZZZT! KZZZZZT! KZZZZT!

Cyrus wasn't doing too badly; his shots were close to hitting one of the Jeeps, but every now and then he'd have to duck to avoid their shots as well. And they were getting closer and closer!

"DISABLE THEIR VEHICLE AT ONCE. FREEDOM FIGHTERS MUST BE CAPTURED BY ORDER OF ROBOTNIK. FIRE. FIRE." Droned one of the robots, pointing at the Camper Van.

Unknown to the Swat Bots, a Hover-Pod was hovering above in the sky, having emerged from near one of the buildings.

Gasping, Cyrus ducked underneath and yelled down to the passengers; "HOVER-POD ON OUR TAIL!"

"Is it close? I can't see it through the mirror!" Called back Manic, frustratingly trying to stay out of range of the incoming Jeeps.

"JUST KEEP GOING MANIC. WE CAN MAKE IT!" Suggested Beta, putting down the map of Roboland he had with him.

Cyrus got up, and then was about to fire at the Hover-Pod when he noticed it was oddly aiming its guns down at the jeeps.

"Wait a sec-" He paused, looking at the cockpit. It wasn't a Trooper or Swat Bot piloting it!

Much to Cyrus' surprise and delight, waving to him with a cheeky grin was Sonic the Hedgehog! Giving him a wink, the Blue Blur pointed up, to which Cyrus' eyes tracked two more Hover-Pods containing 2 Freedom Fighters in each, flying formation with Sonic leading them.

"It's Sonic!" Yelped Cyrus down to the gang.

"Cool! I knew he'd save us!" Jeered Tails, pleased to know his hero was near.

"Yeah! Such a brave hedgehog to rescue us!" Giggled Amy, feeling overjoyed.

Manic smiled. It was great to know that his Brother could still surprise him and have his back sometimes when least expected.

Making a notion equivalent to that of ordering to fire as well as mouthing words that Cyrus couldn't hear but looked something like to Cyrus as 'Juice and Jam time!', Sonic appeared to speak into a communicator in his Hover-Pod, before all of them start shooting at the Jeeps, which the Swat Bots had only just turned around to notice.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATAT! BANG!

RATATATATATAT! BANG!

RATATATATATATATAT! KABOOOMM!

With only one line of shooting from each Freedom Fighter in the Hover-Pods, the Jeeps burst into flames as the machine gun bullets sliced through into the engines, blowing them to bits in a satisfying inferno of an explosion, with some Swat Bot parts flying out onto the road as the remains of the Jeeps tipped over and lay down on their sides.

"Doing my work for me, eh bro? But I still have to save your neck now and then!" Buzzed Sonic's voice through a communicator in the Van.

"Ha ha! Good to hear from you again Sonic! We've got some guests on board you'd be glad to see!" Piped up Manic in reply.

"So I've noticed. Not bad for a Thief!" Returned Sonic. "See you guys back at base! It seems our mission to Fludron wasn't a total waste after all."

And with that, Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters flew off in their Hover-Pods.

Now to Robotropolis!

Much later…

A dark rain cloud filled sky alongside a claustrophobic atmosphere does not make a pleasant day in Robotropolis as usual.

Walt had never been to Robotropolis nor when it was Mobotropolis (that was before he was born), so this was a totally new experience to him. But of course, since Fludron was merely the icing on the cake, the so called 'Big City' was bound to be overwhelming.

"Since when did Freedom Fighters ever have to sneak around this much? I'll never get completely used to this…" He murmured.

Even though they'd managed to get back, with Sonic beside them, things did not seem to be right.

"What's takin' them so long?" Commented Sonic tapping his foot as the rain drops poured down his spikes and into the mist that remained from an earlier fog that had hit the city.

The gang had sent some of the Freedom Fighters that accompanied Sonic to Fludron City to go and check if the second entrance to Resistance HQ was safe to go through, as that was the only way to get the Camper Van in and out of it.

"I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS SONIC. IF THEY'VE NOT RETURNED, THEN THERE'S PROBABLY SWAT BOTS WAITING CLOSE TO THE ENTRANCE!" Theorised Metallix, standing next to Manic.

"You might be right. This is Mondo ugly. Just like Robuttnik. Yeuck!" Returned the Hedgehog, showing more of his dislike for the Dictator.

While a Junkyard would be an ideal hiding place for any Freedom Fighter, it didn't mean anybody would be able to avoid being spotted by Swat Bots and Hover-Vehicles on patrol.

Trotting on the giant wet puddle beneath his feet, Manic looked through some electric binoculars at their surroundings; "I can't see them anywhere close to the entrance! Nor here….What if they've been captured?"

"I hate to think so, but you have a point Bro." Mumbled Sonic, with displeased tone.

"It's so dark here! You actually live somewhere here?" Asked Amy. This was also her first visit to Robotropolis.

"Well not exactly. But if we can get through to one of the entrances, we'll get into our Secret Base!" Explained Tails.

Sonic smiled at the Fox, delighted that he'd been saved and hadn't ended up roboticised. Otherwise Trevor might've been lecturing him about how irresponsible and foolish he was to leave his comrades behind on South Island!

"Y'know Tails. I think you'll make a Mondo cool Freedom Fighter!" Spoke Sonic, complimenting his friend.

"Aw thanks Sonic, but I'm not as good as you." Replied Tails quietly.

A couple of more minutes passed until Sonic decided enough was enough.

"This is too weird! They never take this long! We gotta check out the coast ourselves!" Said the Blue Hedgehog firmly.

Tiptoeing very softly up to a pile of junk to look over, the crew followed Sonic.

"See anything Manic?" Asked Sonic.

"Not ye-wait. There's some movement in the distance." Whispered the Brother, peering through the electric binoculars.

Manic stared around the area, noticing the same movement and shapes he'd seen a moment ago.

"Well Bro? We're waaaaittingg….." Grumped the Hedgehog.

"Swat Bots. They're camouflaged! It's easy for them to hide amongst buildings!" Breathed back Manic, carefully pointing next to a row of warehouses where the base's entrance was located.

Snatching the binoculars to see for himself, Sonic observed the Swat Bots.

They were still the same design and structure as the ones he'd known for a while, but these were specifically painted a greyish blue, making it hard to see them in the dark. And when in Robotropolis, it's always dark, no matter what. This was of course thanks to the dark and polluted clouds that rarely moved and hung above the city 24/7.

"No kidding Bro. I can only just notice their ugly heads turning around!" Sighed Sonic, putting the Binoculars down.

Crawling in next to them was Metallix Beta, who knew the area better than them.

"I FEAR OUR COMRADES HAVE BEEN ROBOTICISED BY NOW. THE CAMOUFLAGE IS LIKELY ROBOTNIK'S LATEST SOLUTION TO MANY FREEDOM FIGHTERS EVADING CAPTURING. REMIND ME TO CHANGE SOME DETAILS IN THE TRAINING LESSONS SOMETIME." Commented Beta.

"This happens often?" Asked Walt, looking very worried.

"Yea….Egg-Breath doesn't know the meaning of mercy." Growled Sonic quietly.

"THEN I SUGGEST WE FORMULATE A STRATEGIC PLAN TO GET US IN TO THE REGULAR ENTRANCE. THE VAN WILL HAVE TO BE HIDDEN IN A SPARE WAREHOUSE AND RETRIEVED LATER."

"Like what for example?" Mumbled Cyrus, who never liked sneaking around the city that much.

"OH A VERY SIMPLE ONE, CYRUS. SONIC EQUALS DISTRACTION, WE EQUALS RUNNING TO ENTRANCE."

"You're joking, right?! We'll never get there in time! There's bound to be more Swat Bot guards around!" Gulped Cyrus.

"OH BUT WE'RE NOT GOING TO RUN DOWN THE WAREHOUSE STREET, SILLY LION. WE'LL TAKE THE SHORTCUT. UNDERSTOOD?" Solidified the robot.

Sonic grinned at his comrades.

"What? Do horses eat grass? Does Robuttnik stink? Dumb question Mecha. Of course I'm ready!"

Everyone else nodded.

As the Robolandian Freedom Fighters did their fist bumps, Walt looked on and decided to try it himself.

"Maybe you should give it go with your Freedom Fighters someday Walt!" Suggested Tails.

"Enough talk. Let's do it to it!" Jeered the Blue Blur.

A little later…..

It was a regular day for Swat Bot Patrol 00009 in Robotropolis.

Now and then, Freedom Fighters would turn up and were to be captured for immediate Roboticisation under the order of their Master.

But their programming dictated that this job would be easier for them now that they had dark bluish grey camouflage paint instead of white and normal grey.

Their current objective was to guard Sector 4868, which was close to an Oil Plant, where Robotnik's supply of plastic and other resources could be made. Any oil that was not in the correct specifications would be dropped down a drain and into sewers that would pollute the old Mobotropolis River. This was a former park that existed well into Robotropolis' later years, even if it were in ruins.

But of course, to make way for the Oil Plant, the Park was dismantled in 3236.

Now no citizen walked around the city, aside from a Robian or two.

The patrol continued its routine when all of a sudden, a voice called at them from behind.

"Afternoon Swat Bots! How're ya doing? Feeling ugly?"

Each Bot span round to find Sonic the Hedgehog standing in their midst.

"Oh boy. You don't have to tell me bozos. I know ugly when I see it. And you're it. Mondo ugly." Grinned Sonic, having fun mocking the Swat Bots.

Their computer brains confused at the Freedom Fighter's words, the Bots turned their heads to each other briefly.

"Ahh….." Yawned Sonic. "Oh and by the way. Do you know what time it is?"

No reply from the Swat Bots.

"Oh yeah. That's right. Time for me to juice! Adios!" Returned the Blue Blur cheekily, before speeding in a flash of dust.

The Swat Bots then ignored the previous comments made by the intruder and opted to pursue him as their protocol commanded.

"PRIORITY 1, HEDGEHOG. CAPTURE BY ORDER BY ROBOTNIK. HEDGEHOG ALERT!" Droned the Swat Bots, dashing as fast as their clunky build allowed.

Chuckling to himself, Sonic knew the Swat Bots were after him, as despite their camouflage they still made plenty of noisy stomping when you were in close earshot.

He zoomed round the corner of the Oil Plant, before scaling up to the roof of a short building nearby.

But of course, the Swat Bots were stupid enough to fall for the trick that he'd gone a different direction!

Meanwhile, the others emerged from the side of a tower on the right of the square with the oil plant, and carefully manoeuvred their way to the Warehouses.

"MOVE IT! MOVE IT!" Called Beta, making sure the volume of his voice wasn't too loud.

Even though Metallix, Tails, Amy, Cyrus and Walt managed to get to the street quickly, Manic wasn't running fast enough, as all of a sudden he ran straight into an unexpected bot.

"Uh oh. Swat Drone!" He gasped. It looked just like one from Downunda!

"PRIORITY 1 HEDGEHOG. SURRENDER!" Droned the Bot, instantly firing a warning shot.

"Agh!" Cried Manic, the impact of the laser hitting the ground sending him bouncing backwards.

Trying to react quickly, Manic flushed out a smaller Drum Kit from his Magic Medallion.

Jumping slightly away from the Drone, the former Prince unleashed his Drum Sticks and tried using lasers on it, but to no avail. It was invulnerable!

"YOU CANNOT DESTROY ME. I AM AGENT Z. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE ROBOTNIK EMPIRE INCLUDING DESTROYING AGENT N LAST YEAR."

"Another RIA bot? Ha!" Called a voice. "Hang tight bro, I'll take on this bozo!"

Sonic spin attacked straight off the building, momentarily stunning the Swat Drone, but not inflicting any damage.

Once he reached the metallic ground, Sonic was a bit surprised.

"Woah. A tough one are ya? No biggie. I've beaten tough bots before, and I'll crush you just like them!"

Pulling out his own Medallion, he plucked string by string on the Guitar in an attempt to overwhelm the Bot, but even this seemed to have no effect.

"Wow, Walrus-chops never makes these things easy to smash, does he? Okay, how about this!"

Instead of firing simple lasers, Sonic used the Guitar to fire a special laser beam designed to hold its target in place, however, this didn't seem strong enough to fully hold it!

"ARRGHHH! Stay put you stupid bozo!" Growled the Hedgehog, struggling.

"Don't count me out Sonic!" Returned Manic, stepping into help with a similar beam from his Drum Kit. "UNGGGH!"

While Manic's other beam seemed to enhance the effect greatly, there wasn't anything the two could do to damage the Swat Drone!

"SONIC! MANIC! WHAT'S GOING ON?" Metallix luckily was around the corner, having come to see what was holding them up.

"W-w-what'd you think Mecha?! This thing's flipping out, big time!" Cried Sonic, trying to hold on.

"No kidding!" Replied Manic.

Metallix looked around to see if there was anything to help, and then had an idea.

"HEDGEHOGS! TRY AND GET HIM TO TURN TOWARDS THE PIPE, I'LL HANDLE THE REST!" Suggested Beta, running over to the pipe.

"Sure thing Mecha! But we can't hold him like this all day!" Urged Sonic.

Next to the pipe that seemed to be pumping raw oil into the Oil Plant, Metallix pressed a button on the control panel of his right hand.

"NOT TRIED THIS OUT FOR AGES! BUT I'VE GOT ENOUGH ENERGY FOR JUST ONE LITTLE JOB!" He jeered, as his hand suddenly retracted its fingers and then used them to create a saw type blade, which the robot used to slice through the pipe!

SWOOSH! Oil began violently pouring out of the pipe, as the Mechanical Hedgehog quickly lifted it up and pointed it at the Swat Drone, which could not withstand the pressure, making it lose its balance from trying to shake all of it off!

"Phew! Past cool idea Mecha!" Sighed Sonic, changing his Medallion back. "He's all yours Manic!"

And so with one smile, Manic leaped up and karate kicked to the Swat Drone's chest, sending it plummeting into the Oil River!

"Try not to drown bozo! Ha ha!" Mocked Sonic.

Soon, in the Underground Resistance Headquarters below Robotropolis…..

"You know, I think I like your base better than ours! There's just something more alive and fun about this place…." Commented Walt Wallaby.

After a long discussion with an experienced group within the Robolandian Resistance, Metallix informed Walt that the group would return with him to Downunda to take care of Robotnik's Forces there for a long duration of time, until Downunda was left alone by the Dictator's scheme.

Despite the fact that this meant giving up part of the Roboland Resistance, it was not a huge loss as it was already a giant group of Freedom Fighters that gathered new members now and then. Tails and Amy were good examples of this. And to both young Mobians' delight, they were soon made full-time Freedom Fighters! Tails was only 10, sure, but his courage proved enough to send him on certain missions, and the older and more experienced he got the more difficult missions he would be permitted by trainees to go on.

As for Manic, he found himself feeling a bit more confident as a Freedom Fighter despite his faults that usually caused problems on adventures, such as being captured too much.

And of course, Metallix Beta had earned more respect for his years of knowledge and experience of Mobius, making him an ideal strategist to take Cyrus' position, as the Lion decided he'd prefer taking a less tiring job in the Resistance.

"GOOD LUCK WALT. I HOPE THIS HAS BEEN A LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR YOU." Stated Beta, shaking hands with Walt, who was just about to leave with his new group.

"It's been fun to know you Mr. Wallaby. I hope it goes well in Downunda from now on!" Said Manic, also making his farewells.

"So do I Manic Hedgehog. I'll tell Zachary Theodore you said hello. In the meantime, you'd better get back to fighting Robotnik! I bet he's got a new operation on soon. I can just feel it!" Replied Walt.

"Consider it done dude. Goodbye!" Called out Sonic.

And so the Downunda Resistance would receive new hope from its long lasting reinforcements, that emerged like angels from the sky, in a giant Bomber Aircraft, parachuting down to fight Swat Drones and make sure that Priscilla and all the other settlements of Downunda would remain safe and sound!

But while Robotnik had failed to capture Downunda, he was not completely disappointed.

"Perfect….Perfect! The Environmental Roboticisers are complete! Once I have all my last supplies from the Robian Elite Fighter Squad, Operation: Miracle shall proceed as planned. AND THAT RODENT CANNOT DEFEAT HIS MATCH! Heh heh…." Chuckled the Dictator, in his Command Centre.

END OF EPISODE 11.

Next time: The Robian Resistance…..