Dante and his crew soon found that they were not alone. In the distance, smoke could be seen rising.

"Hmph. That must be Count Sin. At least we know that if we need reinforcements, they'll be close by." Dante mumbled to himself. He returned his eyes to the large screen holographically projected onto the dropship windscreen. On it, The image of Espio the Chameleon flashed by as the Balkiry did battle below. Dante turned to the Eggrobo piloting the ship.

"Bring the Anubis down, Pilot! Gunnery officer, take us weapons hot in case idiots travel in packs. I don't want anyone rushing this ship. Prepare to deploy the troops!

Shining darts of black metal spun through the air after the Balkiry. Each time one of the razor-sharp Shurikens darted past, the Balkiry banked out of the way. The bird-like robot opened its maw again, unloading hot lead at the upstart, sending the chameleon leaping out of the path of gunfire.
What began as a low hiss in the sky grew to a deafening roar. Above, the outline of a large shuttle sank through the clouds. It's black features stuck out in the blue sky. It's cannonpod below the cockpit swiveled down, pointing directly at the warrior Espio, and in a flash of blinding blue light, they opened fire.

The Chameleon tried to gain his bearings as he flew through the air. His back felt baked from heat, and chunks of debris had scarred deep scratches into his skin. It stung and burned, but he counted his blessings. The Shot had missed.

"So, Eggman's at it again..." He turned and looked at the massive ship as it slowly descended on one of the Launch Base's many dropship pads. A loud whoosh caught his attention. The whining scream of bullets ricocheting off cement told the tail of the belligerent Balkiry still on the prowl. The Chameleon crouched down on his haunches and leapt into the air, spinning himself into a backflip. Taken by surprise, the Balkiry turned to move out of the way, only to find himself torn asunder under a rush of Shurikens. The left wing was sheared off, and its tailfin was sliced into an unusable mass. The Badnik spiraled through the air before crashing into the ground.

Espio breathed heavily as he saw smoke in the distance. He had to run. To warn the rest of Team Chaotix. "Halt, in the name of the Robotnik Empire!" Riding on a jetpack, the Eggrobo descended from above, its laser rifle already charged and primed to fire. On cue, six more of the robots plopped down, forming a circle around the chameleon. Espio reached for a shuriken, but found only one. One shot. He had to make it count. He raised the black, metal star to throw.

ZAAARP! The blue blast of a laser rifle scorched the white of Espio's gloved hand, and sent glowing blobs of metal splashing through the air. The chameleon grabbed his hand in pain. Seven charged laser rifles inched closer to the warrior. No matter how fast he was, Espio wouldn't last long at point blank.

"That will be quite enough, Squad Leader Alpha. Take our guest into custody and find one of the base's old transports. We wouldn't want to mess up Dr. Robotnik's gift any more, would we?" Dante smiled ferally as he approached the excitement.

The Beetle awoke tied to a pole. The rope was too tight to escape from.

"What the…?" suddenly, he remembered perfectly. Mighty the Armadillo and the others ambushed him.

"Those bastards! I'll get him…" he growled. He managed to get one hand free and turn on his radio.

"Dr. Robotnik, this is Lt. Slash, calling for back-up. I've been captured by the Chaotix," he said.

"Very well. A squad of E-1000's are on their way now," the doctor replied. Slash signed off. He couldn't wait to have payback.

Sailing off into the morning sky, the transport carrying Espio drifted towards the Final Egg. Dante had pre-recorded his message, presenting the warrior as a gift to the good ((more like bad)) Doctor, as well as to bring news that Launch Base had been reactivated and was serving as a Space and Airport, as well as a Badnik Production Facility. Rounding the mountain passes and soaring over the great expanse of desert that was Sandopolis, the transport finally made its final destination. The Madmole pilot requested to land onboard the Eggcarrier, still holding its precious cargo.

"Tactical Officer Blaze, we've established a field repair center in the Launch Base Zone. The factories are up and running, and ready to produce an entire invasion force." Dante walked back into the Anubis' bridge.

"As our next move, I feel we should take the Master Emerald as ours and then deliver it to Robotnik. No doubt, this will attract the attention of our enemies, but the sooner we deal with them, the better."

The Jeep continued to drive at a fast speed as Rouge navigated her way through the jungle. The Guardian followed as fast as he could but had an advantage. He knew every inch of the island like the back of his hand.

"You're gonna have to run faster to catch up with me, cutie!" Rouge yelled back.

"Very funny! Give me back the Emerald!" the echidna screamed.

"Hmm. It's been moved. I think we have someone trying to beat us to the punch," Dante growled. He walked to the exit bay. "Pilot, bring this thing into a hover next to the emerald's position."

"What in the world!" Rouge yelled as she stopped the Jeep. The Anubis hovered closer to her. The bay doors on the right side of the craft slid open, revealing a battle-ready Eggterminator mech. The clunky speaker of the Robotnik-shaped robot crackled to life.

"I'd like to thank you for holding the emerald for me, traitor. The Robotnik Empire is pleased by your gracious donation." Dante smiled in the steamy cockpit of the bulky mech. He locked onto the emerald itself. The targeting pipper rang loudly as he fired the spiked arms. They wrapped around the massive emerald in a brutal embrace. The diamond filament cables snapped back, yanking the emerald free.

"Whoa!" The dropship rocked a little under the weight of the emerald. The Eggrobo struggled a bit with the controls, though it wasn't really that necessary.

"The emerald's aboard! Time to jet!" The bot punched the throttle. The Anubis blasted into the clouds, emerald in tow, leaving Rouge to sit on the slowly descending Angel Island.

"No!" Knuckles yelled. It was too late.

The Anubis hovered over the Final Egg. It slowly descended onto the deck of the Super Egg Carrier, it's back doors opening up. A box splashed with the stenciled grinning face of Robotnik rolled down the back ramp.

"A little follow up gift, sir. Put it to good use," the chaos-resistant strongbox held the master emerald, the pinnacle of floating island. It was held within the embrace triple-locks, and energy neutralizing alloys.

"I've made special care to ensure that no one's getting into that box, or taking anything out. The codes have been transferred to your main computer. Keep them under wraps." Dante paused for a second.

"We're also relieving one of your boys at Hill Top zone."

"Excellent. Dante, you're impressive," Robotnik admitted. The Anubis sat idle for a moment as the army of Eggrobos loaded into the back. They had also taken on two more Balkiries and a couple of late arrivals.

"Alright captain. Go through pre-flight checks and prepare to depart," Robotnik ordered. Dante nodded. It seemed promotion to Supreme Commander was not far off.

The smoke cleared from the explosion, and Count Sin was seen, perfectly fine, not a scratch on him. He issued another message to his robots.

"Half of you E-1000's are to come with me. The rest will stand guard and start building our new oil base here." ordered Count Sin. He gestured to the E-1000's to follow him, then he hopped onto a speeder, riding on top of the oil river. The E-1000's followed right beside him. They entered a long tunnel, eventually exiting out into fresh air. The area looked like a giant pool filled with 100 oil.

"Oil Ocean Zone. Truly, this is where Robotnik's robots were fueled. It seems G.U.N sent all of their forces into Chemical just so they could protect this place. E-1000's, start building our new base. I will inform Robotnik of our victory, and I will return to the main Egg Carrier to plan our next attack." explained Count Sin. He pressed a button, and the Egg Carrier he came in landed. He boarded it, and set his next destination for Robotnik's base.

"All generals leading an army, report back here as soon as possible. I have something that will prove useful," said Robotnik through his radio. He shut it off. He looked upon the hundred copies of his creation. A giant station to hold more than 200 soldiers. There was no way they would lose now.