A large robot in the form of a walking lion walked into to command room of Robotnik's weapon center. It was one of many that dotted the globe. The robot was named Slash. He was one of the new thinking bots Robotnik had developed. It had been over a month sense the transmition from The Frontier. Their forcers were small, but they had already taken control of a forth of the planet. Robotnik had access to the same advance technology that they had stolen, but because they were smaller, they were quicker to develop weapons from it and equip their forces. Slash let steam snort through his robotic nose. These details were of little concern with him. All he had to do was protect this compound. It was one of the few with the advanced technology research. Slash sat back in his chair, "Pathetic mammals. Soon father will kill them all." The building shook and an alarm sounded. He stood up, "Report!"

A Swatbot sat at a screen in front of him, "Four large energy discharges hit our southern wall. Energy signature matches that of Chaos Emeralds."

"Show me the probe data!" The screen shimmered and it showed four large robotic turtles. Larger than a tank, they had large hover orbs instead of feet. Each one sported a huge cannon on its back. They eyes of the turtles glowed red and each shot a large green energy orb. The building shook again. The info on the screen showed the turtles at least a mile away. Slash analyzed the data, "How could they have created those things? The Chaos Emerald mine they captured couldn't have given them that many to use." The turtles cannons lowered and their hover orbs glowed green. They floated up and started to move forward. A blaster shot was heard and the screen went blank. "Main cameras! Southern sector." The screen glowed and an image of a line of robots could be seen. The camera zoomed in, "WHAT?" The machines looked like robots, but they sensors showed them as mammals in battlesuits. "Such technology! How?" The line made a space and a robotic hedgehog walked up. He hadhis halberd slung over his shoulder. "Speed! But where is Shadow!"

Speed smiled, "This should be fun!" He stepped forward, "Alright men! As of now, your commander is Warlord Sperk! I will not return to my natural name or stop fighting until Robotnik lays dead at my feet." The troops cheered! "Leave the center line to me. We must defeat the main force so Warlord Shadow's plan can be realized. ATTACK!" Sperk's thrusters activated and shot toward the base. The main doors to the compound opened and Swatbots with hoverjeeps and hovertanks came out. They opened fire. Sperk laughed as he dodged their fire and spun around. His halberd sliced through five Swatbots. They fell to the ground as Sperk stood strong, "FIRE!" The mammals in the battlesuits readied their laser rifles and moved to the battlefield. The turtles landed just outside of the battle zone and started firing. Sperk sliced a path through the bots and came across a tank. Its main gun was firing at his troops. Sperk tossed his halberd into the air and activated the blades on his arms. The orbs on his shoulders glowed gold and energy sparked from the blades. Sperk threw out his arms and lightning blasted out and destroyed the Swatbots around him. He brought his arms around and both arms blasted energy at the tank. The lighting blasted the tank back into another one and they both exploded. Sperk retracted his blades and caught his halberd, "And I thought this was going to be hard."

Slash growled, "Damn them! Send out the reserve unit."

"Sir! We have just detected another group."

"Where?"

"Northern wall! Shadow has been spotted."

"They tricked us!" Slash ran out of the room.

Several icicles fell from the sky and froze several Swatbots. Shadow dropped from the sky and sliced them apart with his swords, "My plan went perfectly." He held his sword up, "Now!" A turtle tank burst from the ground. A squad of armored mammals was with it. In one shot the turtle blasted the main doors down. Shadow ran into the compound and activated his arm blasters. He flew into the air and blasted the guards to the main entrance, "Go help the main unit." Shadow ran into the building as his troops went to join Sperk's.

Sperk shot into the air and landed on the main wall, "Send out the second wave!" Another group of troops ran up from behind the turtle tanks. Sperk leapt into the compound and cut down a group of Swatbots, "Now where is that lame commander?"

"Here!" Slash leapt out of the building and transformed into a lion beastbot. He roared and a plasma sphere shot from his mouth.

Sperk swung his halberd and deflected the shot away, "Breath mint!" Slash roared and lunged at Sperk. The hedgehog brought his weapon up and caught the lion's teeth with the staff. Sperk fell back as the lion's claws dug into the ground. The lion snarled as it tried to bite his halberd into two. Sperk clenched his talons, "Get off!" Sperk slammed his feet into the Slash's underside and activated his jump jets. Slash flew off and Sperk stood up. Slash landed on his feet shot another plasma blast. It impacted Sperk's shoulder and the metal hedgehog fell down. His left shoulder was black and smoking, "Glad I can't feel pain." Slash leapt into the air and tried to crush him. Sperk rolled away as the lion hit the ground. Sperk swung his halberd. Slash caught it in his jaws and tried to rip it from his grasp. Sperk activated his shoulder cannons and shot Slash in the face with the machine cannons. Slash let go and backed away. Sperk had destroyed his eye sensors. The metal hedgehog chuckled and jumped back, "Time to end this!" He spun his halberd above his head and clouds started to form in the sky. He slammed the halberd down and lightning shot from the sky. It hit the ground and shot toward Slash. The energy hit the lion as lightning shot from the sky and hit him. Slash cried out as Sperk flew at him. Sperk spun around and sliced Slash into two. The hedgehog walked away as Slash exploded, "Too easy!"

A battlesuit walked up to him, "Sir! We have secured the compound and Lord Shadow has taken over the computers."

"Excellent! I want this place up and running as soon as possible."

"Yes sir!"

Shadow walked up, "Got nicked there."

Sperk looked at his shoulder, "Lucky shot! You could have helped."

"Hey! Our plan is working perfectly. Your the general and I am the strategist. The body and mind. Our triangle of power is almost complete."

"We still need a soul. Someone to represent the will of the people."

"In short, an emperor." Shadow sighed, "We don't need one now, but to finish this war, we will. It is the only way we can leave after our victory. The only way we will find peace."

Sperk nodded, "Lets focus on the war for right now."

"Agreed!"

Luxor watched the battle with glee, "As expected!" He waved his hand and the image vanished, "Sperk and Shadow are doing their jobs splendidly."

Renee stood by her father's side, "But they are growing powerful. And thanks to Lazar's guardian. They have managed to keep us from opening portals in their territory."

"True! But those spires they are constructing take time and are limited." Luxor waved his hand again and an image of a black tower appeared, "The Black Spire! Designed to suppress all magic in a ten mile radius. Each one requires ten Chaos Emeralds to function. They have been quick to construct them, but they only have six emeralds each. True we can't open portals or read minds. We can still cast combat spells." Luxor dismissed the image, "My forces are ninety legions strong. More than enough to crush The Frontier. We will make camp just outside their boarders and invade. With their technology, we will crush Robotnik and strip that planet apart." He sat down on his throne, "Prepare the army!"

"Yes Father!" The rabbit ran out.

Sally put her head into her hands, "So many names!" The Frontier had just sent her the reports of their battles. She just skimmed the data until she got to the death report. Almost one hundred and ten men and women had died. She dropped the computer pad, "Why did are they doing this? Getting so many people killed." Sally stood up and walked out of her apartment, "And where is Sonic?"