Turmoil in the Outer Zones! Located near
a major hyperspace lane, the planet
Botanic is caught in an unending battle
between Republic and Separatist forces.
Clone tank divisions make a valiant
push deep into Separatist-controlled
territory, led by Shadow the Hedgehog and
his apprentice, Amy Rose.
Dark Oak, learning of the
impending Shinobi attack, has dispatched
reinforcements to one of his badnik
outposts, hoping to secure his grip
on the system….
Rob was on a cliff edge watching a badnik invasion ship land at the outpost "Badnik reinforcements have just arrived. We shall break into three groups to divide their defences. I'll take the left flank. Shadow, attack the front gate. Amy, you scale the back wall. We'll meet in the middle". Shadow and Amy were on either side of him and nodded. Shadow then turned to two Koalas "Okay, scouts, find me a way down there, quiet-like" "Going through the front gate won't be easy" Amy said. Shadow shrugged "Ah, you have it tougher going over that wall" "You taught me well. I can handle anything". Amy walked away with her squad of troopers "Don't get cocky!" Shadow yelled after her.
Amy was leading her troops into position when she suddenly stopped "Hold up. I sense something out there" "Badniks?" a clone asked. Amy looked around but couldn't see anything "I don't think so. Probably just an animal. Come on, we gotta get to that wall". On the opposite side of the outpost Rob was with Karl and a squad of clones with jetpacks. He got on his commlink "Shadow, Amy, are you in position?". Shadow was with Fang and the others near the front door "Ready and waiting, Master Rob" "In position, Master Rob" "Artillery, open fire!". The tanks fired on the outpost, the badniks opened the gate and released a squad of Egg Pawns. However, Shadow's squad suddenly flanked them on either side of the road. Rob and his jet troopers flew into the outpost and started destroying the badniks inside. Amy watched her troops climb up the wall when she suddenly stopped "I'll be right there". She turned around with her lightsabers ignited and looked into the forest. She couldn't see anything, so she slowly began to lower them when an energy net was suddenly fired at her. It trapped her against the wall and shocked her until she fell unconscious. Shadow was now in the outpost and chopped the Swatbot in half "The outpost is secure". He then saw Amy's group "Good job, Corporal" "She was covering our flank when we scaled the wall" "Everybody fan out. I want a perimeter sweep now". Shadow then got o his commlink "Amy, state your location".
Amy was lying unconscious inside a cage "Amy, come in. Are you there? Can you hear me?". The voice woke Amy up and she realized where she was. She looked up and saw a hyena "You won't be needing this" he said mockingly as he held the commlink. He crushed it before walking away cackling. Amy then saw a pig in a cage opposite hers "Hey, what is this place. Who's that guy?" "He's part of a hunter pack. They're going to release us and then hunt us down for sport". The wolf entered the bridge of the ship where others were waiting "We've collected more for the hunt. The youngling will provide great sport". A green lizard in a red sit turned to a wolf with dark blue fur and a red nose "Perhaps your first Shinobi kill. Are you ready, young Falke?" "She'll die by my claws" Falke said proudly.
The ship jumped out of hyperspace and headed towards a green planet "We'll take this new batch to island four". The ship went to the beach of island four and dropped Amy and the other prisoners out of their cages. Falke laughed "Time to see who's smart enough to join the hunt. Open fire!". The ship fired on the group killing two of them and forcing the others into the forest. Amy kept running until she eventually got tired and stopped at a tree. She looked back the way she came when she heard three people jump down behind her. She turned around and saw a red female echidna with a black vest and sunglasses. The other two were humans, one was a pale skinned boy wearing a white and red shirt and the other had darker skin and was wearing a green jacket. "You need to come with us" the echidna said before turning away but Amy didn't move "Who're you". The echidna turned back to her "We used to be Shinobi younglings" she said bluntly before continuing. Amy quickly followed. They started walking across the branches of a massive tree towards the top.
A blue flicky on one of the branches suddenly flew up to them but they shooed it away. They entered a large opening into the tree "How did you get here?" Amy asked them. The darker skinned human sighed "We were on a training mission. We didn't stand a chance" "They go after younglings. Shinobi Knights are too powerful for them" the other human said. The echidna stepped forward "I'm Lara-Su. This is Chris and Danny. Who're you" "Amy Rose. I was captured during the battle on Botanic". They all sat around a fire "How long have you been here?". Chris shrugged "More rotations than we can count. I doubt anyone's still looking for us at this point". Danny climbed up on one of the branches a lied down "You should rest. You'll need your strength". Amy started to just watch the fire in silence, but Lara tried to break the silence "So what was happening on Botanic? Pirates?". Amy paused before answering "No… a badnik outpost". Chris looked amused "Badniks? Those Eggman guys invaded another planet?". Amy stared between the three of them looking shocked "You don't know, do you?" "Know what?" Lara asked.
Shadow was patiently waiting with Rob at the outpost when Fang appeared "General, we've been over the same area a dozen times. There's no sign of Commander Rose". Shadow shook his head "Not good enough, Fang. Try again". Fang didn't argue and headed back into the forest. Rob turned to Shadow "We have alerted our forces throughout the Outer Zones and intelligence assets inside the Confederacy. If she's spotted, we shall know about it" "Good". Rob paused before speaking again "Shadow, our mission here is finished. We must return to Mobotropolis" "I'm not abandoning her" "Your emotions are clouding your judgment". Shadow finally turned to him "I will not leave her fate up to others" "It's time to go". Rob walked away to a gunship with his troops. Shadow waited a moment before signing and activating his commlink "Call everybody in, Fang. We're leaving".
The rest of the night was not easy for the younglings, Amy had to tell them about the war, all the innocents that were killed, all the Shinobi who've fallen. By the time she was done none of the younglings felt like speaking and just went to different parts of the tree to sleep although Amy doubted any of them were able to. Amy eventually went to her own spot and slept until morning when "Amy, it's time to go". Amy looked up and saw Lara "What's happened?" "The sun's up which means we clear out". Amy stood up and followed Lara who seemed to be a lot better, although Amy could feel her sadness through the Force. She didn't want to say it, so she changed the subject "Where do you go?" "We keep moving and keep those disgusting hunters from picking up our scent". They met up with Chris and Danny "That's your plan?" Amy said in disbelief. Lara stopped "If you really were an apprentice, you would know there's wisdom in experience. We've been here longer. You will learn if you listen, and only if you listen".
Max Gamble was sitting on a chair in a trophy room. The chair had a yeti skin hanging around the back. The walls of the room were covered in horns, teeth, and skulls. Max raised his head "The sun has risen. Let the hunt begin". The others all cheered before leaving the room and getting on armoured transports.
The others were climbing through the branches when Lara stopped "Get down. Someone's coming" she whispered. They looked over the branch and saw the pig from earlier walking with a panther "Those two came in with me. We should help them" "No… it's too late". One of the speeders arrived carrying three hunters who fired on the pig killing him. The panther ran causing the hunters to laugh. Amy tried to stand up, but Lara grabbed her and pulled her back down "Shh". Amy saw the panther jumping through the branches when one of the hunters shot her through the chest killing her. Lara and the others didn't bother watching and walked away. Amy chased after them "We could have stopped them" "No, Amy. We're not saviours here. Here, we are survivors. If they spotted us, we'd be dead now". The three of them sat down to rest as Amy stared at them in disbelief "We'll never get out of here if we just keep hiding. We have to act".
Danny sighed "There were other younglings here that once thought as you do now" "They have every advantage" Chris said. Amy didn't say anything and just walked away. Lara followed her "Wait. Get back here!" "I can't do that. My master would never forgive me for running and hiding in a situation like this" "Don't overestimate your abilities". Amy stopped "I'm not" she continued, "Amy, don't!". Amy jumped down onto the path below "Here, hunter, hunter. Come and find me". She heard a noise behind her and quickly jumped out of the way of a laser bolt. She quickly grabbed the shooter who was a crow with the Force and threw him into a wall. Amy was about to knock him out when he suddenly clutched his throat and hovered in the air. Amy saw the others behind him with Lara holding her hand out. Amy ran over to her "No. Not like this. It's not the Shinobi way". She calmly took Lara's wrist and lowered it releasing the crow. Amy smiled at Lara right before the crow started calling out. Chris and Dany both used the Force to throw him into one of the trees knocking him out "We have to go. Others will be coming".
The four of them were now hiding out in a cave around a fire. Amy was examining the blaster she took from the crow "I don't understand. Why won't this thing work" "The hunters can remotely deactivate the blasters if we take them" Danny answered. Amy threw the blaster away in frustration. Lara surprisingly smiled "It's been a long time since the hunters captured another Shinobi and brought them here". Amy lied backwards "Thanks" "I didn't mean it as an insult. I meant it as a mistake on their part. Amy, your energy, your strength, it's what we've been lacking. We were beginning to lose hope and forgot who we are". Amy sat up "And who are you?". Lara stood up and walked over to Chris and Danny "We're Shinobi". Amy smiled and stood up "Alright. We need to come up with a strategy. Do they have a base, a compound or something?" "Not that we've ever seen. We've only ever saw them on their speeders" Lara answered. "If we're going to go on the offensive we'll need to find out where they live. We'll start covering ground tomorrow".
Falke was in the trophy standing in front of a fire while the others were behind him chanting "Falke! Falke!". Max then walked past the others and placed his hand on his son's head before letting out s terrifying screech.
The next morning Amy was walking through a forest path and met up with the others "We've already covered the beach area and most of the briar on this side of the bay" Chris said. Amy smirked "If it were easy to find you would have already" "True enough" "Maybe we should try more inland". Lara nodded "It's worth a shot". Danny stood up "Guy's, I found it" he pointed up and they saw the ship fly overhead. It released speeder and the group split up with Amy going with Lara. A speeder carrying Falke and Max chased after them and fired a blaster. Amy and Lara jumped through the tree branches. A blaster bolt hit the branch Lara jumped on causing it to break and she fell down to the ground. Max looked to Falke "Finish her, my son. The kill is yours". Falke jumped down and chased after Lara who was limping away. She tried climbing one of the trees "Come here you Shinobi welp!" Falke yelled after her. He climbed up the branch and was about to shoot her when Amy jumped down and tackled him. She tried to fight him but he was too strong and threw her back. He charged at her, but Amy used the Force to push him back off the branch. He fell down screaming and landed on a spiked plant through the stomach killing him. Amy ran over to Lara and helped her up "Careful" "It's okay. I can make it". Suddenly a blaster bolt went right through Lara's back, she grunted in pain "Lara!". Amy pulled her into cover as Max continued to fire on them "There's no escape! I'll hunt you down!". "Lara, we have to move. Hurry!", Lara was breathing heavily "Please… Amy, leave me" "I won't" "You have to. Amy, please take… care". Amy lowered her head "I'll take care of the others" "I know you will". Lara smiled before her eyes closed and she fell forward. Amy caught her and leaned her against the tree. She could still hear Max "You killed my son! I'll kill you! You can't hide from me!". Amy ran for her life.
Shadow was in the war room staring at a hologram of star charts when Rob entered "What is Amy's strength?" "She's fearless" "That can also be a weakness. Is she a worthy apprentice?". Shadow leaned against the holo-unit and took a breath "No one has her kind of determination" "Except you". Shadow glanced at him before looking back to the charts "This may not be within your power". Shadow finally turned to him "Whatever you're trying to say, Master Rob, just say it" "I am suggesting that perhaps if you have trained her well, she shall take care of herself and find a way back".