Chapter 39
That evening TK met up with Sophia and Spira in the computer room to discuss the plan. She felt a little uncomfortable doing a secret mission. But at the same time she was excited. "Are you ready to go TK?" Sophia asked,
"I think so." She said as Sophia transforms, "Where is Eggman's base at?"
"It's up the coastline near Diamond City." Shadow said,
"And you're feeling alright?" She asked Spira as she transforms into Tails,
"Yes, I would like to rescue my comrades as soon as possible. Though, I do not understand why Sonic is not joining. Her skills would be most helpful."
"We're trying to do this quietly, she's anything but quiet." Shadow said,
"That is a fair point," Spira said,
"C'mon, let's go meet up with Omega in the Hangar bay and get ready to leave. We'll be going halfway by helicopter then by boat." She explained as they followed her. They get there to see Omega waiting by the helicopter.
"Hey," He said,
"Hey, this is Tails." Shadow introduced as he holds his hand out and Tails takes it,
"Nice to meet you," She said as he nods.
"Let's get going." He said climbing into the helicopter,
"He's always like that, don't take it personally." Shadow said as the rest of them climb into the helicopter and it heads out towards Diamond City. They land and quietly get to the beach where a boat was waiting for them. Tails was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with how quiet it was. She was so used to Sonic's witty banter and lightheartedness that this tension felt suffocating.
"We're almost there, I'll go on ahead and find ourselves a way in." Shadow said warping off the boat.
"Let's go," Omega and Spira jumped out of the boat and Tails flew out. They dragged the boat and hid it on shore. A few minutes pass and Shadow appears next to them,
"Found one, it doesn't seem guarded. When we get inside, keep an eye out for a computer. We need to get the security system offline as soon as possible along with locating the Zarkon." She said as they all nod and follow her to the side of the base where there was a side door. Tails goes over to the panel and removes it with her tools and jump starts the door causing it to open. They all quickly get inside and hide trying to stay near the walls to be hidden, there were Swatbots patrolling the halls.
"Over there," Omega whispered pointing at a small computer console across the room,
"You two stay here," Shadow said as she holds out her hand to Tails, "I'll get you over there." She takes her hand and warps them next to the computer.
"This may take me a minuet." Tails said starting to go through the coding trying to find the deactivation of the alarms.
"I'll keep an eye out, just focus on the security systems," Shadow said,
"I think I'm close… But this is weird. I remember Eggman putting more effort into his security." She said as Shadow grabs her by the collar and pulls her to the ground hiding them from a Swatbot that got close.
"Do you think it's a trap?" Shadow asked still looking around cautiously,
"It could be, or he didn't care enough to really guard the Zarkon." Tails said as they both stand up, and she gets back to the computer. "Okay, I'm in. Now to just find the… there! Alarms are off. But I'm not able to turn off the Swatbots."
"We'll take what we can get." Shadow waved Omega and Spira over, "Can you find the Zarkon?"
"Give me a second… found them." She said, "They're down the hall. We'll find a doorway that leads further underground."
"Good job, Omega. Be ready in case we get spotted by the Swatbots."
"If I could stay here and look deeper into Eggman's system I might be able to find what he's planning. I kept seeing things titled project Dark." Tails said,
"If this were any other mission, I'd say go for it. But we're here to save the Zarkon. And there's no way I'm leaving you on your own." Shadow said,
"Alright, let's go." She said with a sigh as they head down the hallway, they make their way around a few Swatbots guarding the door. They enter and head down the stairs.
"Be ready for anything," Shadow said as Omega takes out a weapon. They get to the bottom and it's pitch black. The lights burst on quickly as a large robot drops from the ceiling.
"Looks like we were right about the trap." Tails said as the robot swings down at all of them and they move out of the way.
"We need to finish it off quickly if we don't want to alert the other bots." Shadow said as Omega open fires.
"I might be able to disable it," Tails said,
"We'll cover you." Shadow said as Tails starts flying towards the head as Shadow and Spira blocked any attack that came towards her. She lands on the head and pulls out a screwdriver and starts taking off one of the panels. She starts grabbing wires and pulls them out, but nothing happens.
"They must be dummy wires…"
"How's it going Tails?" Shadow asked,
"Eggman made the wires a fake, shoot it's eye with a Chaos Spear. That'll stop it." Tails said flying off the bot.
"Chaos Spear!" A spear of green Chaos energy appears in her hand as she throws it at the eye hitting it's mark. The bot stops moving as smoke comes out of the head. "Should have just done that at the beginning." She said with a huff. "Let's keep moving." She said as they continue further making it to some cells walled off by a strange force field. When they get close, they can see the Zarkon inside.
"Commander?" One of them says seeing Spira, "We thought you were dead."
"Close to it. I am glad to see you all safe." She said,
"That man is insane… forced half of us to be…" He looks down at his left that was now metal.
"He forced them into cybernetics…" Tails said,
"Half of us can barely walk…" He said,
"That's going to make this difficult…" Shadow said. "First, Tails can you get rid of the field?"
"Give me a minuet." She goes over the door panel and starts working on it.
"What do we do? We can't carry them all out." Omega said,
"Those who can walk, would you be able to assist those who can't?" Shadow asked, "We're getting out of here, but we have to do so quickly." They all nod to her as she said going to her headset. "Elias, we found the Zarkon and are going to be making our exit soon. Be ready for immediate evac." She said.
"Understood, what's the signal?" Elias asked,
"A huge explosion." She said as Omega's eyes sparkle. "You're making us a door out of here." She looks at him.
"On it." He said running back up to the first floor.
"How's it going Tails?"
"I almost have it. I haven't seen a field like this before. It's like he was able to replicate Sonic's Force field." She said as the wall flickers and dissipates.
"Great job." Shadow said as the Zarkon cheer. "Now everyone stay close, we're going to get to the stairs and when you hear the explosion run straight. Spira, Tails, we'll be keeping guard while they escape."
"Understood." Spira said, as the Zarkon help one another get to the stairs where they all wait.
"On my mark Omega… Three, two, one, now." She said as an explosion goes off and they burst through the door. The wall opposite of them had a huge hole leading outside as Shadow and omega stand to one side at the same time Tails and Spira stand on the other while the Zarkon struggled towards the exit.
"Incoming!" Omega said as two Swatbots run up on their side and the same of Tails and Spira's side.
"Hold them off until the Helicopter gets here." Shadow said as she charged towards one of the bots as Omega fires at the other one.
"On it!" Tails said flying towards the bots with Spira behind her. She flies around avoiding attacks as Spira comes up and claws one in the back causing it to short circuit. "Thanks," She kicks the other Swatbot,
"Helicopter's here." Omega said,
"That's our que," Shadow said as Tails and Spira stop and head towards the outside, "C'mon Omega," Shadow grabs him by the collar and starts dragging him out.
"Just a little parting gift." He smiles as he throws an explosive at the bots as they run outside, and the robots behind them explode.
"Let's go!" Tails said as they all climb into one of the helicopters and they fly off.
They get back to base where half of the hangar bay was turned into an infirmary for the Zarkon as Dr. Q had to check them all. It was still late, but Tails was too wired to go to sleep, so she went back to her workshop and continued working on the container for the Dark Chaos Emerald shard. Shadow goes to discuss with Elias how everything went down while Spira helped Dr. Q check on her people.
A few hours later the rest of the group wakes up to the bunker in high gear. "What in Chaos is going on?" Saya asked looking confused as she looks at Brandy and Caroline,
"I'm not sure, maybe we should ask Elias?" Caroline asked as they both nod in agreement and head to the computer room.
"Good morning ladies," He said finishing up some paperwork,
"Morning, care to elaborate what's going on?" Brandy said,
"We rescued the Zarkon last night." He said,
"What?" Saya said surprised,
"Spira says all of her people are accounted for. though they are all a little banged up. Dr. Q is checking up on them while they are repairing their ship." He explained,
"Who rescued them?" Caroline asked,
"Team Dark with Spira and TK's help," Elias said,
"Well at least they're safe." Saya said,
"Yes, and hopefully they can leave Earth soon." Elias said,
"I'll go see if they need any help," Saya said leaving,
"She's upset," Brandy said looking at Caroline who nods in agreement,
"What?" Elias looked confused, "She looked fine to me."
"We just know her," Caroline said,
In the hangar bay Sophia was helping Spira inside their ship with anything she can. She noticed that Spira kept glancing at her. "There something on my face?" Sophia asked,
"What? No… apologies." She said,
"What's on your mind?"
"Please don't think bad of me for asking this but after seeing you fight up close you reminded me of something." Spira said, "Your abilities remind me a lot of the Dark Arms…" Hearing Spira say that sent a chill down Sophia's spine.
"What did you say?" Sophia looked at her shocked,
"So you have heard of them… Are you?"
"Dark Arms? No, Shadow was created using the DNA from the Dark Arms…" She said, "But I'm not Dark Arms myself." She said,
"I see, I've only encountered them once. They are a gruesome race. I hope this world never has to encounter them." She said getting back to work.
"Me too…" Sophia said as Saya bursts into the room,
"Hey Spira, congrats on the mission." She said as she sees Sophia and quickly looks away.
"Yes, thanks to Shadow and Tails." Spira said with a smile.
"How much are you going to need to repair?" She asked walking over to Spira and looking at what she was working on. Sophia goes back to moving things.
"The ship is not too damaged, once my men are strong enough, we will be setting out." Spira explained,
"Where will you go?"
"Back to our home colony and see where we can go next." She said pointing to a location on a star map.
"I have no idea how to read that." Saya chuckles,
"I can teach you." She said as she starts teaching Saya how to read the stars. Sophia leaves the room and goes to check on TK who fell asleep in her workshop.
"You should go get some rest." Sophia said as TK lifts her head and rubs her eyes,
"What time is it?"
"Just a little bit after ten," she said,
"I'm so close… If I can replicate that field that Eggman made and use the Dark Chaos Emerald shard as its own energy source, we won't have to worry about it ever running out of power." She said as she notices Sophia's face. "What's wrong?"
"Spira just told me something I'm having trouble processing…" Sophia said,
"Do you want to talk about it?" TK asked,
"No, I want you to go get some rest. I'll figure it out." She said about to leave,
"You're allowed to confide in people." TK said as Sophia lets out a sigh,
"I know." She leaves. Saya jumps out of the ship and walks over to Dr. Q and talks to her for a bit then starts to leave. Sophia walks up to Dr. Q to see what they were talking about.
"What was that all about?" She asked,
"Oh, Spira told her they would be able to leave around tomorrow morning. Saya was letting me know that she was going to go tell Elias." She said, "That girl never stops moving," She lets out a sigh,
"Not sure if she's just trying to keep herself busy or if she's trying to avoid me…" Sophia said,
"Did you two fight again?"
"Not that I'm aware of." Sophia said,
"Best go try to talk to her, or it'll only get worse." She said as Sophia nods and leaves the hangar bay to look for Saya.
Kolt enters the kitchen to see Caroline and Brandy cooking as Alan is helping. They were making a large batch of waffles. "Having a party?" Kolt asked,
"We have a few extra mouths to feed with all the Zarkon." Caroline said with a smile,
"Yeah I heard Sophia and TK rescued them last night. Would have been nice to know." He said crossing his arms,
"It's called a covert mission for a reason," Alan said,
"No reason for it to be covert from us." He argues,
"Both of you stop." Brandy said,
"I'm going to go see how Saya's doing with all of this." Kolt said leaving,
"I wanna go see Saya…" Alan pouts,
"You're not going to help us?" Caroline looked at Alan with a sad look,
"Can't say no to that face. I'll go find Saya later." He said with a sigh, Kolt goes to the outdoor track to see if he can find Saya but doesn't see her at first. Out of the corner of his eye he sees her climbing to the top of the cement wall blocking the side of the mountain pass. He walks over and crosses his arms,
"What are you doing?" He asked as she stops,
"Busted…" She said, sitting on the top of the wall looking down at him,
"I get that you're feeling trapped, but that's no excuse to run off on your own." He said,
"I wasn't going to be gone long enough for anyone to notice…" She said looking away,
"Uh huh…" He said, "You should probably get down before someone sees you."
"But the view's so nice up here," She grins,
"Don't even think about it." He knew that look, she was going to bolt whether he could stop her or not.
"Not like you can keep up." She said standing up, the bunker door opens as Sophia walks out and turns to see them. Her faces darkens as she makes eye contact with Saya.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She asked walking towards them, Saya pauses trying to think of what she should do.
"Running." Saya jumps over the other side of the wall out of line of sight.
"Saya wait!" Kolt said as Sophia had already jumped to the top of the wall faster than he could blink.
"Get back here!" She said jumping down after her. Kolt stood there for a second not sure how to react.
"Guess I'll go let the others know…" He said walking away,
Saya had a head start on Sophia and though she was still able to keep her in her sights she was not gaining speed. Saya started to notice that she wasn't catching up and grinned but was trying not to egg on Sophia more. But she still saw Saya grin and to Sophia that looked like a taunt. "The seven servers are the seven Chaos, Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart." Sophia started to say,
"H…Hey, that's a bit much!" Saya said,
"The heart is the controller, the controller serves to unify the Chaos, Chaos Control!" She transforms into Shadow and starts to bridge the gap between them quickly.
"Two can play that game! Chaos Control!" Saya yelled transforming into Sonic taking Shadow by surprise for a moment as she did not use the entire incantation to transform. "Try to catch me now," She continues to run.
"Damnit Sonic!" She said running after her. "Stop running from me!"
"In your dreams!" She said starting to gain speed,
"I've had enough of this," She said, "Chaos Control!" She warps in front of Sonic and attempts to trip her, but she jumps over her.
"You'll have to try harder than that faker!" Sonic sticks her tongue out at her and continues running. Shadow runs after her as rage began to blind her, she holds out a Chaos Spear. "Wow I definitely made you angry." She chuckles as Shadow throws the Chaos Spear at her and she barely dodges. "Dr. Q's not going to like it if we get injured."
"Then stop running!" She said,
"Not gonna happen!" She said as she notices that there was a drop off coming up, she grabs a tree and drifts to continue running. Shadow follows her movements as they run next to the cliffs edge. Shadow began to notice the ground beneath them was not very stable.
"Sonic, the ground isn't safe here." She said,
"You're just trying to distract me." Sonic said as the earth under Shadow foot collapses and she slips beginning to fall. "Shadow!" Sonic stops and runs back, "Chaos Shield!" A field circles around Shadow as she's suspended midair.
"Chaos Control," Shadow attempts to teleport out of the Chaos Shield. "Sonic, drop the shield I can't teleport out." She said as Sonic is concentrating on moving the shield back in front of her.
"No need… I got it." Sonic said as she disperses the Chaos Sphere and Shadow lands right in front of her as they both catch their breath. Sonic turns to run away as Shadow grabs her by the collar.
"Did you really think I'd let you run off again?" Shadow said angerly,
"I was hoping you'd still be catching your breath." Sonic chuckles,
"Why are you running from me? Don't think I haven't noticed." She said as Sonic trips her causing Shadow to let go of her collar,
"Because I'm angry!" Sonic yelled as she turns, Shadow jumps and tackles her to the ground before she had a chance to run.
"That's not good enough!" Shadow said,
"Get off!" Sonic elbows her in the side and flips her around pinning down Shadow, "How would you feel if everyone around you treated you like you were a weakling that needs protecting?"
"Because you do need protecting!" Shadow kicks her off and jumps up pinning Sonic against a tree. "No one is saying you're weak Sonic,"
"Says the Ultimate Lifeform." She said struggling to push her off,
"You want me to open up? Fine! I'm scared of losing you again!" Shadow yelled as Sonic stops struggling. Shadow lets go of her and steps back looking away as her ears lower. "Not being able to save you from the Zarkon really messed with me. But after we raced out Dark Sonic and you were back only for you to be stolen again was too much."
"Shadow I…"
"I won't let what happened to you happen again. I'll kill Eggman myself before that happens." They both stand there in silence for a moment. Sonic puts her hand on Shadows shoulder.
"Thank you for being honest. I'm sorry I ran off… After hearing you all rescued the Zarkon made me feel… useless." Sonic said as her ears lower,
"Just don't try a stunt like that again, or I will send you to the infirmary." Shadow glared,
"O… Okay," Sonic knew Shadow wasn't kidding as they both stay quiet for a moment while the tension settles. "We should get back before Elias has an ulcer." She chuckles.
"Try to keep up," Shadow smirks as she runs ahead,
"That's cheating!" Sonic yelled running after her and they quickly head back to Freedom HQ.