"Why?! Why haven't we found them yet?!" Thunderbolt demanded, stamping her foot repeatedly on the ground as she glared up at Shadow. "You'd better not be slacking off!"

"We are searching for them with all our resources, but you aren't exactly giving us the best directions," Shadow replied. "Besides that, you're stretching us too thin looking for this one Resistance group. At this rate we'll fall behind schedule and-"

"That doesn't matter," Thunderbolt stated, stomping over to a nearby console. She jumped onto the highchair placed next to it and slammed her hands over a few buttons, brining up images of the various cellblocks in the base. "The Knothole Resistance has made Lord Eggman question my worthiness! They have to pay for that! These prisoners can wait – if a few happen to starve before their transfer, it's not a huge loss."

"Eggman needs that labour to complete his grand plan," Shadow explained. "His robots can only do so much. You don't want to be responsible for delaying the Doctor now, do you?"

Thunderbolt turned around to say something, but before she could, alarms rang out all around her. "Oh, what now?!" She turned back and slammed on a few more buttons, bringing up an image of a cellblock where one of the cages was open. "What happened?!"

Shadow approached and studied the cage on the screen. "It looks like one of the prisoners had an explosive, small enough to fit into the lock and force it open."

"Why did the guards not do anything?!"

"Because there are none. They're out looking for the Knothole Resistance."

Thunderbolt fizzled with electricity and she roared. "Don't give me your sass! Just go find the escaped prisoner and put them back into their cage!" After not hearing a response for several seconds, Thunderbolt turned to reprimand the hedgehog, only to find him gone. With a huff, she turned back to the console and shut off the alarm. "I hate that hedgehog…"

"I knew zis was a bad idea," Antoine muttered as he peeked out from behind a tree, observing the badniks searching all over the forest, behind every bush and under every rock. "Zere is no way past such security."

"We just have to stay low," Sally said, motioning for Antoine to crouch down. She looked over to Bunnie and Rotor, who had scouted ahead to see if the path was clear. "Well?"

"Not exactly clear," Rotor said glumly, "But they're disorganised. It won't be hard to sneak past them if we're careful."

Sally nodded, and looked down at Nicole's handheld. "How much farther 'til we reach the generator?"

"Not far left," Nicole said, "But it's situated outside the forest, so we'll be completely exposed."

Antoine grumbled. "Of course eet is. Nothing is ever ze simple task, non?"

"Quit yer bellyachin'," Bunnie said. "Ah thought y'all had ta be brave to fight'n the Resistance."

"We're all scared, Bunnie," Sally said. "Just… some more than others," she added, throwing Antoine a sly grin.

Antoine let out an indignant huff. "Zere is a difference between scared and cautious."

"That's right," Rotor agreed. "Sally's cautious, and you're scared." He and Sally both chuckled, whilst Antoine simply pouted and continued on in silence.

"But if you're so scared all the time, why would ya fight with the Resistance then?" Bunnie asked.

"Because ze Doctor has taken too much from us," Antoine answered, "And for zat, he must pay. Plus, if not I, then who?"

Bunnie looked back at Antoine, her eyes wide as she came to a sudden stop. The others stopped with her. "Y'all fight so no one else has to?"

Antoine cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. "W-Well, nobody wants to fight. But, a worrywart though I may be, I can still fight, and so it is my noble duty to do so."

"Huh. When ya put it that way, it almost makes ya sound brave," Bunnie said, bringing smirks to Sally and Rotor's faces.

"He wouldn't be here with us if we didn't trust him in battle," Sally stated. "Antoine's been a big help, and he's always had our backs ever since we were little."

The three continued through the forest, avoiding the searching badniks and eventually reaching an opening to a large field outside. Sally pulled out her binoculars and scanned the area ahead. "There's a generator alright, but it's guarded by an army of badniks. Too many to take on."

"Then we go in quiet?" Rotor asked, but Sally shook her head.

"The generator's backed against a ravine. There's no getting behind it, and there's a watchtower to the side with no cover to hide behind."

"It looks like we will have to surrender zis mission for today," Antoine said. "We must come back when we are more properly prepared."

Sally sighed, lowering her binoculars as she reluctantly agreed. "I suppose it wouldn't be so easy to get a Chaos Emerald of all things."

"What if we just rush in there and nab it, real fast-like?" Bunnie suggested.

"The badniks might not be the best shots, but even they'd have a hard time missing us in such an open field," Rotor pointed out. "Besides, even if we got in there, we'd have to find the Emerald, remove it safely, and get out while under fire. Nobody's that fast."

"Ah bet with mah new rocket boots-"

"It's not worth the risk," Sally cut in. "It's fine, we've confirmed the generator's location and know its defences. We'll organise a proper assault and come back later."

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Everybody turned suddenly to the field, drawn to the sound of somebody screaming in the distance. "Someone's in trouble!" Bunnie exclaimed.

"Where?!" Rotor asked as Sally brought her binoculars back out.

"Z-Zere!" Antoine pointed ahead, to where a cloud of dust seemed to be tearing across the landscape, moving towards the watchtower. Behind it, flying drones gave chase and fired laser beams at the ground.

"SOMEBODY, HELP ME!"

"What now?!" Rotor asked.

Sally activated her energy blades and turned to Antoine and Bunnie. "New mission. We're gonna rescue that Mobian! Bunnie, keep the watchtower distracted! Antoine, you're with me! Rotor, you keep our escape route open!"

"Got it," Rotor responded, pulling a flare gun from his backpack. "I'll signal if things go bad."

"Ah'll give 'em somethin' ta watch, alright!" Bunnie said, clenching her fists.

"Okay team, let's do it to it!" The team unleashed a battle cry as they ran out into the open. Bunnie's rocket-propelled feet allowed her to reach the watchtower quickly, and as she hovered in the air, the badniks at the top began firing on her.

Bunnie extended her arm and shot back, using her new built-in cannons, but a force field rendered her shots useless. "It must be drawin' power from the nearby generator," Bunnie concluded, continuing her onslaught regardless of its futility. "Ah jus' gotta keep their eyes on me!"

Sally and Antoine ran towards the moving dust cloud, the former waving her arms as she called out to it. "Over here!" The dust cloud seemed to turn, and began heading their way. Within seconds it had reached them, and the two had to screech to a grinding halt to avoid crashing into it.

As they stopped, they came face-to-face with a yellow-furred mongoose with long, purple hair. She was dressed in a short, black tanktop and brown shorts. "T-Thank goodness there's someone out here!" The mongoose panted as she tried to catch her breath. "I couldn't keep running anymore!"

"It's alright, you're safe now," Sally assured, getting in front of the tired mongoose as the flying badniks raced towards them. "Antoine, get her to the forest! I'll take care of the pursuers!"

"No, you can't!" the girl cried. "I tried taking them down, but they have some kind of shield that protects them!"

"They what?" Sally observed the drones closely as they approached. They began firing, and she charged towards them, dodging and deflecting their shots as she closed in. She swung her left blade, only for it to bounce fiercely off the drone and send vibrations through Sally's whole body. "She's right, they're protected! Antoine, run!"

"O-Oui!" Antoine grabbed the girl's wrist and attempted to flee, only to find more badniks approaching from the forest. Behind them, he could see Rotor's flare. "We are cut off!"

Sally gritted her teeth as she continued to dodge the drones' attacks. "It must be the generator! They're using the Chaos Emerald to generate shields around nearby badniks!"

"Zey can do zat?!" Antoine asked as he parried an incoming blow, followed by another, and another, each one forcing him back.

"The generator…" The mongoose observed the generator in the distance. She clenched her fist and nodded her head. "So we just need to remove the Chaos Emerald from it, right?"

"What?" Sally asked. "Well, yeah, but there's no way we can-"

"Alright, leave it to me!" the girl said, smiling and giving Sally a thumbs up. "Oh, my name's Mina, by the way. Mina Mongoose."

Sally gasped at the pose Mina made, followed by the way the mongoose lowered herself and kicked off to a running start. Then, the incredible speed at which the mongoose travelled, reaching the generator in mere seconds… It all seemed so familiar to her.

"Princess, we are surrounded!" Antoine shouted, snapping Sally back to reality. The two were now standing back-to-back, badniks all around them. There was nowhere left to run, and fighting them would be impossible. "D-Do we wave ze white flag?"

"Don't have one," Sally replied. "Never needed it."

"An' ya won't here, neither!" The two looked up just as Bunnie Rabbot soared overhead, her arm extending and wrapping around the two before lifting them off of the ground. Antoine screamed and kicked at the sudden abduction, before calming down at the realisation that he had just been saved.

"Bunnie… just how many modifications did Rotor and Uncle Chuck make to your limbs?" Sally asked.

Bunnie grinned as she looked down at the princess. "Ah asked for the full package. If'n ah'm gonna be stuck with these here robot parts, ah'm gonna make 'em useful however ah can against the Doctor."

Bunnie lowered the two onto the ground, some distance away from the badniks, and landed beside them. "Ah checked on Rotor. He's fine for now, but ah don't know how long he can keep hidin'. Where's that girl run off to?"

"She said she was going to disable the generator," Sally explained, "But-"

"Guys!" The three turned at once, and found Mina Mongoose approaching them rapidly, a huge smile on her face as she proudly waved the yellow Chaos Emerald in her hand. "I got it! The generator's down, too!"

Sally's eyes were wide, and Antoine's jaw nearly hit the ground. Bunnie simply pumped her fist and grinned. "Atta girl! Now it's payback time!" Bunnie propelled herself forward, smashing through incoming badniks with her robotic arm held out. They exploded in her wake. "Ah'll go check on Rotor!" she called out as she raced towards the forest.

Sally gave an uneasy laugh. "Well, guess we're on cleanup today, Antoine."

"Oui, Princess," Antoine replied, readying his sabre. The two charged the enemy together, slicing through badniks and dodging their shots as they made for the forest. "Zere are still too many for just us!"

"I know! Just clear a path for Mina and then we'll-"

"Can't hold on much longer, but I will never let go!"

Sally and Antoine came to a sudden stop, turning around to find Mina Mongoose standing behind them, singing into a microphone. "What're you-" Before she could finish her question, Sally noticed the badniks all around them trembling.

Mina gave a sly wink, and continued. "I know it's a one way track, tell me now how long this will last. I'm not gonna think this way, nor will I count on others." The badniks began shaking as they stopped in their tracks, and Mina stomped a foot as she continued singing. "Close my eyes and feel it burn, now I see what I've gotta do! Open your heart, it's gonna be all right!"

The badniks collapsed, and Mina ran over. "We should leave now. The sound waves will only stun them for so long."

"But, what was that?" Sally asked.

Mina held up her microphone, which had an eye that blinked at the two. "DEMON!" Antoine screamed as he jumped backwards, nearly abandoning his skin.

Sally giggled, reaching out to pet the microphone. "It's a Wisp, Antoine. I see. So your microphone is a wispon…"

Mina nodded. "Yep. It amplifies sound waves and can do all sorts of things, from empowering my allies to stunning my enemies."

"Well, that's certainly useful."

"Speaking of useful, here!" Mina took out the Chaos Emerald and handed it over to Sally. "You're the Resistance, right? You'll need this a lot more than I will."

"I'm afraid that neither of you will be having the Chaos Emerald."

The three gasped. Antoine and Mina trembled, whilst Sally's fists clenched, as Shadow the Hedgehog marched towards them. Mina brought the microphone to her lips, but a Chaos Spear from Shadow knocked it out of her hands. "Ow!"

Sally placed herself in front of Mina, her energy blades at the ready. "What fortune. I come chasing one escaped prisoner, and find the very Resistance unit we've been after."

"Don't count your blessings yet," Sally warned. "You're alone here, and we have you outnumbered."

"Outnumbered, yes." Flames began to swirl around Shadow as he came to a stop. "But not outmatched."