The Eggcarrier heaved, lifting into the air. Dante felt his legs fall out from under him.
"Whoa. We're moving. Prepare to depart! Preflight done?"
"Aye sir. We're all ready to go!" The Eggrobo said, priming the throttle.
"Good. Let's move. The emerald will be safe on the egg carrier, and that meddling chameleon will get what he deserves." The Anubis rose into the air again, retracting its landing gear with a loud CLUNK. "Next stop, Hill Top Zone."
"Hill Top? Lava, grass, and clouds as far as you can see,"
Blaze thought about it for a second. "The area is pretty unstable. Mon Capitane, I suggest that we don't land the Anubis on the mountain itself, but instead, hovering above the mountain and sending any teams down with the new heat-armor package - could save any moments of clumsiness our forces suffer." Wispy vapors of cloud broke along the Anubis as it ascended into the mountains. Tectonic readings were growing greater and greater. Heat blooms were spiking all over the place on scanners. Finally, the dropship had reached Hill Top Zone.
"Okay. Par your request Blaze, we won't be landing. Pilot, bring us into a low hover and prepare to deploy the task force." Dante ordered.
"Aye sir. Going into VTOL mode. Preparing to deploy." The Anubis dropped down to a chunk of land overlooking a vast lava flow. The side doors slid open to the forest outside. The Eggrobo task force deployed.
"Lt. Slash. Do you read? Reinforcements have arrived. Lt. Slash?" Dante called through the microphone. "We must be too far out of range. Or maybe...he's in trouble." Dante switched to the external speaker. "Eggrobo teams. Fan out and be careful. Report in anything suspicious! We gotta find Lt. Slash!"
Count Sin walked into the chamber where Robotnik was, typing something on a computer.
"Count Sin, glad you could make It." said Robotnik. He looked up from his computer.
"Count Sin, I have something of use to everyone." said Robotnik. He pressed a button, and a screen came up. It showed a design for something similar to that of the Death Egg, except smaller.
"This is the Death Utopia Unit, a perfect supply and battle base for you commanders. It has a foolproof security system: It's easy for you to navigate, but not for any visitors. Inform the others about this, as I have more of these." ordered Robotnik. Count Sin nodded, and walked through a door, which lead to his Death Utopia Unit. Robotnik held up a communicator.
"Captain Dante, I have good news. I've developed the Death Utopia, a battle station similar to the legendary Death Egg. It's not nearly as big, but it makes a good battle station and supply station. If you wish for one of them, as I have 100's of these, please respond." said Robotnik.
Lt.Slash heard a message coming up on his speaker but he dropped into the lava below. Just as he did this the lava reached ground level and Lt.Slash jumped out into the Hill Top Zone and was straight away spotted by Mighty's gang, at first he surrendered then as Mighty came to bind him with rope again he quickly took out his sword scraping Mighty's face as he backed away. He made a dash for it and saw the Anubis and waved his hands to grab their attention, but he slipped and fell down part of a cliff, grabbing on the side for his life he heard the People of the Hill Top Zone scream in terror, the lava was coming straight towards them, and Lt. Slash...
"There he is! Eggrobo team, we gotta move in to support. Gunnery, Take us weapons hot!" The Anubis turned, flying towards the gang of armadillos. Peppering the sky, the team of Eggrobos began their approach, firing off azure bolts of laser rifle pulses.
The Armadillos ran, some even jumping off the cliff, not realizing of the hot steaming lava coming from there too. Lt. Slash saw the Eggrobos and made a dive to grab one of their legs, but unfortunately with all the cost of such a huge assault Robotnik had had to cut down on some units and the leg snapped straight off. He and the Badnik came shooting down towards the lava but Lt. Slash grabbed onto the Badnik's body and landed on top of it. Then he quickly jumped to flat land for safety. The robot croaked "there can only be one Sonic..."
"What?" spat Lt. Slash.
"Meh. Must be an error!" Then he waved his arms again and the Anubis came hovering down and lent out a rope. He had managed to escape. Too bad the other residents didn't.
"Be careful, guys. This one's a special case," Dante said as some of his Badnik forces helped Lt. Slash into the Dropship bay. "Alright. Once we get aboard, we are to go to the new orbital station that Robotnik has commissioned for our use." Suddenly, the ship shook.
"Sir! One of our engines has been blasted!" an Eggrobo reported. Dante didn't think about what he was doing as he took the laser rifle out of the hands of a nearby Eggrobo.
"Pardon me, I need to use this." he said. He motioned for two other Eggrobos to follow him. "Cover me!" He approached the hole hiding the stowaway. Lt. Slash pushed an Eggrobo who was attending to his burns and made his way to see Dante. He made his way to the corridor when he heard an explosion from deep within the Anubis.
"What in the HELL is this?" The Anubis started to fall...
