Trapped behind enemy lines! Carrying
secret information vital to the
Republic's war effort, Shinobi Master
Edmund and Captain Finitevus were
taken prisoner by the Separatists.
An elite strike team led by Espio the
Chameleon and Shadow the Hedgehog landed
on the planet Lola Sayu and
infiltrated the prison.
The team rescued Master Edmund and
Finitevus, but they were pursued by the
Prison's evil commandant, Zazz.
During the escape, their ship was
destroyed. Now we find them on the
run, desperate to escape the trap
that is the Citadel...
Fang was ahead of the group watching out for enemies "We're clear!". The group were following a lava river "What's our next move?" Amy asked, "We're going to have to fight our way off this rock" Shadow answered. "I'll contact the Council and find out when rescue is coming" Edmund told them which made Emerl project a hologram of Merlin. "Master Edmund, it's good to see you alive, my friend" "Likewise, Master Merlin. Our escape route has been compromised and there several squads of badniks looking for us". Shadow stepped forward "When can we expect your arrival?" he sounded tired. Everyone else surrounded the hologram to hear "Master Rob is already en route. Gunships will arrive to evacuate you and your men, but don't delay. You'll only have a small window of opportunity". Emerl the projected an image of a small island surrounded by a lake of lava and a mountain ring "Your rendezvous point will be this island. May the Force be with you". Armand went back to look out and saw Metals coming "Metals!" Mighty quickly threw a grenade destroying them. "They'll be more on the way" Espio said motivating them to leave.
Zazz was in the command centre when a hologram of Dimitri appeared "Dimitri, my lord" "Commander Zazz, you've been avoiding my transmissions". Zazz looked away nervously "My apologies, I was hoping to surprise you with good news" "Good news would be quite the surprise indeed. Have the prisoners been captured?". Zazz shook his head "Not yet, my lord, but we've located their position, and my badniks are moving in" he said with some confidence. Dimitri glared at him "Very well, Commander. But if you fail to retrieve the information then at the very least make sure it doesn't back to the Republic" "Yes, my Lord".
The group made it to a cliff edge while being chased by ore badniks. "We need to get down. Get the ascension cables ready" Espio told them. Amy and Shadow gave them cover then once the cables where place they all headed down but Emerl noticed Gamma wasn't moving. Emerl beeped "I'll hold them here. It's been an honour serving under you, sir". Omega picked up Emerl and jumped down the cliff, but he saw Gamma get shot down right before they landed. They made it to a lower rock formation "Keep moving!" Shadow yelled as he covered the others from badniks shooting down on them. Armand gave him a a hand shooting a few of the badniks allowing Shadow and him to run. They made it to a cave and ran as fast as they could.
Rob was on the bridge of a cruiser with Erma, a hologram of Saline and Harry Mole appeared. "Master Mole, you should be leading the fighter attack. Once you punch a hole through their defences, I will lead the gunships down to the surface and extract the team". Harry didn't look confident "Depending on the size of their force I don't know how much time we can buy you" "You will do your best, I'm sure". Erma examined the map "What if they're not at the extraction point when we arrive? We'll have to leave them or risk us all" "They'll be there" Rob replied determinately.
They came out of a tunnel to a lava lake. They walked around the edge of the lake "What if your Shinobi friends are not there when we arrive?" Finitevus asked. "Keep moving and you won't have to worry about that, Finitevus" Edmund answered while Amy rolled her eyes at the Captain. She walked up next to Shadow "Why did Master Edmund have to share half the intel with that guy. It's like he's not even grateful we rescued him" "Captain Finitevus feels the Shinobi should be… relieved from the burden of leading the war effort". Amy was surprised "That's ridiculous" "Maybe, but we aren't soldiers. We're peacekeepers. The Shinobi Code often prevents us from going far enough to achieve victory". Espio heard them "A rather simple point of view" "Either way he is a good captain". They began to hear a howl in the distance "I think we're going to have company".
The Swatbot was on the bridge of a Separatist command ship above the planet. He was speaking to a hologram of Zazz "Commander, the additional forces have arrived" "Tighten your grip. The Shinobi will almost certainly attempt a second mission to infiltrate our defences and rescue the prisoners. I'm counting on you to ensure that nothing gets past out blockade". The transmission ended and the Swatbot patiently stared out into space.
They made it up to a higher path, Shadow backed up and walked next to Finitevus "You know, it's not wise to argue with Master Edmund. It's certainly not a good career move" he joked, "General Shadow, I stand by my principles, no matter what. Besides, I needn't worry about my career. I've fallen into favour with the Chancellor. He shall support me". Shadow smirked "Oh? I happen to know the Chancellor quite well, myself", Espio turned to them "Let's keep moving. If we're not at the rendezvous at the exact time we'll miss our window". As they were walking, they heard some sort of howl behind them "Looks like they've sent creature to track us" Fang said, "We'll have to deal with them before they lead badniks to us" Armand added. Amy nodded "We could use the caves to surprise" "If we can get them to pass by then we can attack them from behind. But we'll need a distraction". "Leave that to me" Shadow said, Espio cleared his throat "And Espio of course".
Purple hyena like creatures ran through the wasteland and came across Shadow, Espio and Emerl. They charged as the Shinobi ignited their lightsaber. They managed to deal with the creature without getting hurt but then saw a squad of extreme Gear riding Pawns, but the clones appeared from behind and started shooting them down. One of the hyena's lunged at Shadow knocking him down. He held it back with his hand as it desperately tried to bite his throat. He reached for his lightsaber and stabbed it through the creature's neck killing it. He stood up and deactivated his lightsaber and noticed something "Where's Amy and Master Edmund" "Badniks ambushed us when we were getting into position. They were holding them off" Fang told them.
Amy and Edmund were fighting a group of Crab bots in the cave system. When the latter was distracted one of the hyena creatures appeared and lunged at Edmund throwing him to the ground. Amy dealt with the last crab before seeing the creature bite in Edmund's throat "Master!". She jumped forward and pushed the creature against the wall with the Force killing it. She looked down on Edmund's body "I have to get help" "No. Don't leave. Listen to me carefully, child" Edmund said weakly. Amy kneeled down and listened "The information, I need you to deliver it back to the Council" "I should find Shadow or Espio. They need to hear this" Amy told him. "No. You must listen", Amy shook her head "But I wasn't even assigned to this team. I lied just so I could be a part of the mission". Edmund breathing became weaker "Whether you were meant to be on this mission or not, you are now the most important part of it. Remember this and make sure the information goes to no one but the Shinobi Council". Edmund began whispering in her ear.
Shadow and the others dealt with the last of the hyenas "So much for the hunting party" Armand said. "There will be more squads on the way" Finitevus said. Espio looked behind them and his face dropped "Oh, no" they all turned. Amy returned to the others carrying Edmunds body. Espio and Shadow ran up to her. She laid his body down in front of them "He died honourably" she said with obvious sadness in her voice. "What about the information?" Shadow asked, "I have it".
The group were now standing next to a lava river with Edmund's body wrapped in a blanket. "We don't have much time but let us take this moment to honour our fallen, then we must move on. They would have wanted us to complete our mission" he and Shadow lifted Edmund's body and lowered it into the river. As it disappeared, they thought not only of Master Edmund but Ray and the other clones who were killed to complete this mission.
The rendezvous point was in sight across the lava lake. Emerl suddenly beeped "Master Rob's feet have jumped out of hyperspace. We just need to hold out until they can break through the blockade" Shadow said. Fang and Armand fired cable across. Finitevus and Fang went and climbed across the cables first and made it to the island "Incoming!" Fang yelled pointing behind the group. They turned and saw Zazz with a group of Metals on boards. They split up and all made random passes over the group, Shadow and Espio got jumped on got on one each. Omega protected Emerl from blaster fire and was able to shoot down a few of them. Mighty saw Zazz and fired at his board knocking him off it. Zazz got up and saw that most of the Metals were destroyed. He saw that Finitevus was about to shoot him but he jumped out of the way and lunged at him and lifted him of the ground "If I can't have the information, then it will die with you". He was about to throw him into the lava, but Amy came up and stabbed him in the chest. Finitevus was dropped to the ground and stood back up "My thanks, Commander Rose. I see you trained her well" he said to Shadow. Once they were all on the island, they heard engines "More badniks?" Fang asked raising his blasters but they then saw Republic gunships fly through the smoke. They landed and one opened up revealing Rob and Karl "I believe you've worn out your welcome". They all jumped on the gunships and flew out to space. Rob got on his commlink "Admiral Coburn, we have the survivors. Recall all fighters" "Yes, General. Prepare to jump to lightspeed". They were escorted through the planet's blockade by Harry Mole's fighter squadron and the flew towards one of their cruisers. They landed in the hanger and immediately jumped to lightspeed.
On Mobotropolis the gunship landed in the Shinobi hanger and the group walked out. Omega walked out and he turned to Emerl "Sir, since I'm not needed now, what shall become of me?". Armand came up to them "We could use in the 212th" Omega looked to Emerl who nodded in approval. Fang walked past the as he was needed in the war room. He was worried about Mighty, he barely said anything on the cruiser and he went back to the 501st cruiser saying he had to check something. The Shinobi and Finitevus were met by Merlin, Blaze and Saline "We are sorry to hear about Master Edmund's loss. He will be missed" Blaze said solemnly. Espio nodded "His sacrifice allowed us to bring the information. Captain Finitevus and Amy have memorized half". Blaze nodded "They'll both be debriefed" "With all due respect, Master Shinobi, I was instructed by Chancellor Solaris to bring the information directly to him for debriefing" Finitevus said, Amy glared at him "I promised Master Edmund that I would deliver it only to the Council, and that's what I will do". Blaze looked between them "I will personally meet with the Chancellor. We shall decide what is best to do". They were all about to leave but Shadow stopped Rob "Master Rob, there's something I have to ask you. Did you assign Amy to this mission?", Amy stopped. Rob stared at her for a moment "It appears I did" he walked away with Amy following before Shadow could say anything. Finitevus turned to Shadow "A job well done, General Shadow" he shook his hand "I wish more Shinobi had your military sensibilities. Perhaps I can inform the Chancellor on your valour". He walked away as Espio watched him "I'm not sure what to think of your new ally" "Well, I think we need people like him. This is a war. If we aren't willing to do wat it takes to win, we risk losing everything we try to protect". Espio turned to him "Unfortunately, war tends to distort our point of view. If we sacrifice our code, even for victory, we may lose that which is most important, our honour".