Labrador Peninsula, Canada

September 18, UC 0079

1330 Hours, AST

The large egg-shaped battle fortress was trundling towards land.

By this point, Metal Sonic had already returned and was shut down for repairs. Hopefully, he'd be battle ready by the time they got to New Mobotropolis.

He had the coordinates, but the flight path left Dr. Eggman scratching his head.

"Something isn't right," Eggman muttered. "There's been too much water around here. It's as if the land bridge was shattered."

"P'raps the Genesis Wave changed it?" Cubot asked in an Irish brogue.

"That is a plausible explanation," said Orbot.

"What's the status on Silver Knuckles?" Eggman asked.

"Seventy-five percent operational," Orbot reported.

"Better than nothing," he growled. Hopefully, Metal Sonic would be combat ready in time.

PING-PING-PING!

"Doctor, one-way message received," said Cubot.

The transmission played: "This is Major Otto Vasilevsky of the Zeon Expeditionary Forces, Labrador sector. Identify yourself now, you are ordered to land! You have thirty seconds to comply."

Zeon? Was this some kind of a trick? A prank by Acorn? There was no country on Mobius called Zeon. "Ignore it," Eggman told the robots, "but keep the autoguns and EggSWAT units on standby."

He was well-founded in his judgment: swarms of airborne blips appeared on his radar just as the thirty seconds elapsed, the majority coming at the Death Egg much faster than the others.

The main screen revealed numerous green aircraft. Eggman's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. Those… aren't GUN's.

Schwieger watched on his Gaw's monitor as his squadron of Dopps joined those from the rest of the region.

What was ahead perplexed him. It looks like a metallic egg with a mustache! He thought. It looks ridiculous! Don't tell me the Feddies that! "Pressler, open a channel to A-2."

A window appeared on the monitor and in it, another Zeon Major on the bridge of another Gaw.

"Vasilevsky," said Schwieger, "are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"That the Feddies were late for Easter?" he remarked. "The men are saying the thing's hot. One of my Dopps got a nasty hit from one of its AA guns and had to get clear!"

"Damn! That thing's armed? Send a word out to all friendlies: the Gaws are to fire on the UFO with Mega Particle Cannons."

Eggman was sweating bullets. Those fighters were all over the Death Egg like ants at a picnic. "All EggSwats to the Egg Hawks!" he ordered into a microphone. "We need to clear out these aircraft! Assign missiles to the Balkiries, too. Those should be able to shoot down those planes in one hit!" He turned to Orbot. "How many are out there?"

"Thirty-six, Dr. Eggman," the robot stated. "The autoguns have hit at least half a dozen of the planes thus far, but they've been able to evade our defenses."

"Swift little devils," Cubot added.

If only Metal Sonic weren't so banged up, Eggman thought. Silver Knuckles isn't ready yet, but I might have to send him out anyway!

"Egg Hawks have deployed," Orbot reported, "but the planes are leaving."

"Not on my watch!" Eggman turned back to his mic. "Egg Hawks and Balkiries! Follow those jets and hit them hard!"

Suddenly, the Death Egg shook violently. It started to lurch to the doctor's right.

"Dr. Eggman, those large aircraft in the distance are openin' fire on us!" Cubot said. "The balancing gyro has malfunctioned! We're losing altitude!"

No! Eggman couldn't believe it: the world roboticizer was gone, Mecha Sally was gone, and now they were going down! This new enemy had already succeeded in only a few minutes what Sonic and his friends couldn't do! "Prepare for a crash landing! Every EggSWAT unit must be on standby, there's a good chance we'll be boarded!"

"But Dr. Eggman," Orbot said, concerned, "after the Freedom Fighters' earlier infiltration, the number of EggSWATs may be insufficient for defense!"

"Maybe so, but they aren't getting me without a fight!"

The metal egg was moving toward the coast, with a column of black smoke trailing behind it.

Schwieger's mega particle bombardment went over better than he had expected.

"Major," the tech announced, "Master Sergeant McGoff reports that the UFO is plummeting! The Imhoff squadron got nailed pretty hard by those bird drones, but those three large aircraft that emerged from the ship have been successfully neutralized."

"Estimated landing position?" Schwieger inquired.

"Just a moment… 45.5, -65.1."

"Good," said Schwieger. "Send a coded message to the commissar. He should be in New York right now, he may find this turn of events pretty interesting!"

Tommy Turtle Memorial Hospital.

Four figures, a blue hedgehog, an elderly woodchuck, an artificial lynx, and a beloved chipmunk princess sat together in a waiting room. The sky outside was only partially overcast, but the atmosphere inside was markedly more somber.

"Elias abdicated?" Sally said. Astounded, but trying to keep her voice under control.

"Naugus used your roboticization as a pretext that Elias wasn't fit to stay in power," Sonic explained. "The people wanted Naugus to be king after he stopped the Death Egg from firing on the city and he cited some deal he made with your Dad when he was in the Zone of Silence for why he even wanted the crown. He even took advantage of everyone's fears about Nicole after the Iron Dominion infected her and exiled her. She only recently came back to the city."

"And Geoffrey betrayed us?"

"He's Naugus' number one cheerleader now," Sonic told her. "He was about to be tried for treason, but was almost immediately pardoned. When Elias resigned, Eggman tried to kill him. Antoine intervened in the attempt and almost got killed. After that, the Freedom Fighters disbanded and became two separate teams. Knuckles isn't with us anymore, every Echidna on Mobius is gone, and the last we've seen of him was him fighting this walking noise violation called Thrash. All the while, we've been chasing you down."

The anguish on Sally's face! All that time, she was an Eggman weapon and only made things harder on everyone. "I feel so bad now," she said. "I had that roboticizer turned on me so the whole world wouldn't be turned into robots. I didn't have a choice. I didn't mean to complicate things when everything was going so horribly for everyone. Everyone probably hates my guts right."

"Sally," said Nicole, "nobody is going to blame you."

"And if they do," Sonic added, bluntly, "they'll hear from me."

Dr. Quack approached. "Princess," he said, "you can see him now. But be quiet, he's still critical."

The four followed Quack into the intensive care unit. Before long, they were shown a bedridden coyote in a bed: covered in bandages, oxygen hose in his nostrils, IV bag running into his left wrist, and as still as a rock. The beeps of the nearby ECG signified that the patient was still alive.

Sally couldn't bear to look at Antoine like this. Rosie had to comfort her.

"I'm sorry Sal," Sonic said, putting his palm on the chipmunk's shoulder. "I know it's not pretty. Bunnie took what happened to him a lot harder."

"Bunnie?" she turned her head to the hedgehog, eyes still streaming with tears. "Where is Bunnie?"

"She ran off right after Ant landed here," Sonic explained.

"Sonic, we need to find her," said Sally. "With all that's been going on we need every ounce of help we can get!"

"Well, I have a hunch where we can start looking."

Sundown at Fundy National Park.

This once-serene patch of forestland in New Brunswick now had a new landmark: a large, metallic egg at the edge of a track of fallen trees and broken soil. Its shell now pocked with holes caused by Dopp missiles from its time in the air and bombs from the Gaws that passed over after it crashed.

Magella Attack tanks, VTOLs, and self-propelled artillery continued the bombardment.

A Zaku Tank neutralized the remaining autogun emplacements on the UFO.

Soon, a large Gallop land battleship hovered into the area, a specialized Gallop with a reddish-orange hull as opposed to a standard yellow one. Someone important in the Zeon military was aboard it.

Once again, the Death Egg had been infiltrated, but now it wasn't by Mobians. Much to Eggman's astonishment, he was fighting humans this time. They definitely weren't GUN and despite them using lower-grade weapons, they were gaining ground in the ship against the remaining EggSWATs.

"Oh ho ho, this isn't good," Cubot whined. "The repair bay's gone."

"What are we going to do, Dr. Eggman?" Orbot asked.

The doctor said nothing. He just watched as the blasted head of Metal Sonic rolled down a corridor, away from the camera. It was destroyed at the perfect opportunity: when it was deactivated for repairs. If it were optimal, things would be as different as night and day. A simple grenade at the right time was its undoing.

The din of gunfire and bursting RPGs echoed throughout the immobile battle station.

Eggman was as trapped as a kinged checkers piece cornered by two opposing kings. The last of his EggSWATs were being decimated—these intruders were finishing the job Sonic had started.

Orbot was really scared by everything going on. "Doctor!"

Eggman was still too shocked to respond to the robot.

BOOM!

About a dozen men in Stahlhelms burst into the command room, assault rifles ready to rip.

The king was jumped.

Silence took hold as Eggman took a stand and put his hands behind his head. Albert, if I ever see you again, I will throttle you until your eyes pop out!

Footsteps echoed as they approached the command room. "It's the commissar." They all made a clearing.

A young officer with Byzantium hair entered the room, perhaps two inches taller than Eggman, hands folded behind his back; he looked more like a movie star than an important military officer. "I have to admit," he said, "even though you were utterly outgunned, you kept on fighting regardless. I commend your tenacity, mister…?"

"Doctor. Dr. Eggman."

"Dr. Eggman?" said the young officer, cracking a smirk. "I am Colonel Garma Zabi, Commissar of the Zeon Earth Expeditionary Forces. I assume you know that you're under arrest?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A very big thanks to SonicEvan of ASO for taking time to help me with lore questions.

UPDATE 3.26.19: A quick word regarding the Death Egg 2's power ring shield. Even though it allowed Eggman to deflect Naugus' magic and a small Freedom Fighter attack, it doesn't make it indestructible, it merely amplifies the defenses. A swarm of Dopps, AA artillery, and MPC fire from a flight of Gaws could bring it down.