Chapter Six

Safe For Now

Sonic and Rouge got out bags to place the bodies of Amy, Shadow, Ann, Dyson and Francois in, preserving what remained of them for when they got home. They would bury them instead of having to eject what was left of their comrades into space.

The lander arrived back in the RSS Gerald, landing with a small bump. The doors opened and the duo made their way out onto the big ship.

Making sure nothing was left behind, the speedy blue hedgehog helped the white bat carry the bags with their allies' remains and found Tails waiting for them. "What the heck happened?" He asked with shock, "Where's Shadow? Where's Amy? Where's...?"

"They're gone." Rouge said, resisting the urge to break down in tears again. "We lost Shadow and Amy, Dyson and Francois too, the Xenomorphs did it."

A horrified look crossed Tails' face as he dropped to his knees, knowing that he would never be able to interact with Amy or Shadow or their new old friends in this lifetime. "Wow." He said, "As if today couldn't get worse after you lost Ann..."

"We'll survive, buddy." Sonic said in an assuring manner, hugging Tails as the fox hugged him back. Then Rouge let Tails hug her, everyone gave one another an assuring hug. Tails helped the hedgehog and the bat carried the preserved bodies into an airlock before sending them out into the cold vacuum of space.

Sonic and Rouge washed up, dusting themselves off and removed their space suits before sitting down on a nice sofa with Sonic wearing his trademark shoes and gloves while Rouge wore a red sleeveless tank top, black shorts and white shoes.

The speedster lay down on the couch, feeling tired and went to sleep as he started thinking about having chili dogs with the bat when they got home. Rouge just smiled at the sight of Sonic sleeping before she left for the bridge.

Sitting down in one of the seats, the bat checked to see the ETA for their return to Mobius. The RSS Gerald was moving again and had plenty of fuel, so that was a good sign. With the inspection taken care of, she pressed some buttons and began recording a mission log...

"This is what probably might be the final report of the RSS Gerald expedition, we have just escaped from a nearly inhospitable planet after dealing with some real nasty aliens called Xenomorphs who are part of some vicious galaxy conquering alien empire." Rouge said.

"We got away but not without more losses after losing Ann the Cat of Mercia, Britain..." Another tear fell down her cheek and she rubbed her belly, "Ultimate Life Form Shadow the Hedgehog; Deceased with honors. tributes go to Gerald Robotnik and G.U.N.

"Air Force Captain Dyson Griffith; Deceased with honors. Tributes go to his family and to all of his friends in the government and the military. French astronaut Francois the Fox; Deceased with honors, all respects to his family.

"And finally, Amelia 'Amy' Rose the Hedgehog, Sonic's now former girlfriend and a good friend of mine, deceased with honors. She was a strong woman; we will never forget her contribution to the voyage and the battle with Doctor Eggman.

"What we've went through was what I can describe as terrifying, heartbreaking and almost life changing with Shadow's loss being the most heartbreaking. I loved him very much and with him gone... again, my life may not be the same again.

"Our future is uncertain; the path ahead will probably be full of more challenging times ahead. But can't give up, we must keep moving forward and have hope. It may be tough, but in time, we will overcome the challenges ahead. This is Rouge the Bat signing off."

The bat turned off the mission log and sat back, deep in thought as she stared off into the starry vastness of space, breathing a sigh of relief that she'd survived the Xenomorphs. Despite feeling safe for now, something told her deep down that sometime in the future, she and Sonic would have to deal with those horrible things again.

Thinking about them made her bring out Shadow's hard drive, remembering their discovery back in the cave. Those things were smarter than they thought, the Xenomorphs were more than snarling creatures, the ones on Terras 4 were probably just an invasion scouting force serving a larger empire out there.

If there were more out there, if they had a huge army ready to conquer the entire universe, that meant Mobius was or would soon be in grave danger. It would most likely be ages before they came to Mobius, until then, best to relax.

Footsteps thudded on the metallic floor and Rouge turned to face Sonic, who'd just woken up from his nap. "Thought I'd find you in here." The hedgehog said, "Tails woke me and asked me to check on ya."

"I was just doing a mission log and thinking about the future." The bat replied, "Whatever lies ahead in front of us. There's more of those things out there, I know there are. They apparently have an empire and are conquering worlds right now."

"Heh heh!" Sonic chuckled, his snarky attitude showing again as he put an arm around Rouge, "The Xenomorphs? Let's not even worry about 'em, they're nothin' compared to ol' Egghead. Sure they're dangerous, but just be thankful we're still alive."

Rouge felt uncertain, full of doubts. But she hugged Sonic back, basking in his comforting warmth, telling him that he was right. It certainly was a relief that they'd survived to head home and fight another day.

The End