The Hurst crew was on one of the Freedom Fighter ships speaking with a hologram of Bristles "The destruction of our command ship has severely limited our ability to fight the Empire in this sector". Sally nodded "We have been searching for a base but so far we haven't found any that offer the tactical advantage needed to protect the fleet" "Or aid the nearby systems suffering from Imperial oppression" Sonic added. "We can't help others if we can't help ourselves, Sonic. We need more allies" Sally said. Amy stood up "I know someone who might be able to help us. A great military commander with a vast knowledge of the Outer Zones. He could assist us in finding a base, and his experienced leadership would make him a powerful ally". "How do we recruit this leader?" Bristles asked. Amy face dropped "That's the problem. I lost track him a long time ago, and all my transmissions have gone unanswered" "We can find him. Let us try" Tails said. Amy smiled "Well, there is one option I've not yet attempted".
The group were getting the Hurst ready to leave, Amy entered the cockpit and handed Wave a robotic head. Sonic stared at it in surprise "Is that the head of an old Swatbot?". Amy smiled "These things were great at finding things, calculating. Found my master and I a few times when we didn't want to be found. My friend was last seen in the Higashi system. You can start there" "You're not coming with us?" Tails asked. "I have something to attend to" Amy said coldly. Sonic started at her "The Raiju?" "There are questions, questions that need answering. Sonic, if you find my friend, you must trust him". Sonic confusingly shrugged "If he's all the things you say, we can't afford not to" "Trust him" Amy repeated before leaving. "What was that about?" Tails asked, "I have no idea".
They jumped out of hyperspace near Higashi when the terminal in front of G-merl started to spark. He started beeping to an annoyed Sally "We make it all the way to Higashi and now you tell me the hyperdrive wasn't completely fixed? You said you finished important repairs; how do you define important?". Sonic entered "What's going on?" "G-merl and I are staying here. To clean up his mess. Take the Sneak. Hopefully, we'll be ready to go by the time you get back".
The Sneak flew over the white wasteland of the planet. Wave plugged the Swatbot into the computer "I think I got it. It's scanning a signal". Tex crossed his arms "Anyone else think if it's this hard to find this great Commander then maybe he doesn't want to be found". Before anyone could answer the Swatbot's eyes lit up "1-9-9-4. 1-9-9-4. 1-9-9-4" "It's homing in on something". They followed the signal and eventually saw a shape in the distance. As they got closer it was revealed to be an old Republic walker that was carrying extra stuff making it look like a home "Now that's a work of art" Wave said. Sonic stared at it and a thought entered his head. They landed behind the walker and it stopped. They all quickly got out of the ship "Tails, be on guard" Sonic said. They waited then three older men walked out of the walker and stood on a crudely made railing. One was a purple wolf with a visible fang sticking out of his mouth. The other two were weasels, one was red with black dreadlocks and a scar on his left eye which was cybernetic. The other had light green fur, he wore a beanie, a vest and green vest. Tex scoffed "It's just a bunch of old geezers" "Well armed old geezers" Wave said seeing the weasels were carrying blasters.
"What do you want?" the purple one said. Sonic thought he recognised the voice but couldn't be sure "We're looking for someone" "Well, that's too bad, cause there's nobody out here". Tails thought before saying "Hey, uh, does the number 1-9-9-4 mean anything to you?". This got the wolf's attention "What did you just say?" "Uh, I said 1-9-9-4". The wolf reminisced "I haven't heard those digits in… Well, that's my birth number". This confused Tails "Birth number?" "They're clones!" Sonic said angrily. He got in front of the others and ignited his lightsaber. This surprised the wolf, but the red weasel instead looked scared "Shinobi. They've come for revenge" he fired down at them hysterically but Sonic easily deflected. Tex and Wave raised their weapons "Drop the blaster, old man!". The green weasel raised his "Don't try it, boyo! I'll gun you down". The wolf stopped them "Stand down, troopers! Now! That's an order soldier". He stopped the red one as well "But, sir. They're here for…" "Karl, do know many Shinobi who hold grudges?". He slowly lowered his blaster. Tails looked to Sonic "Sonic, Amy said to trust them". The wolf turned back to them "Sorry about the, um, weapons malfunction. My friend here is just a little defensive. See, we haven't seen a Shinobi since, uh". He saw Sonic glaring at him "Well, it's been a while". Sonic deactivated his lightsaber, Tails knowing he might not want to talk stepped forward "My name's Tails. This is Sonic. That's Wave and Tex. It's nice to meet you, 1-9-9-4". The wolf smirked "Actually my name's Fang. Captain, 501st Clone battalion. Meet Commanders Konor and Karl". Tails nodded "Amy Rose sent us", Fang smiled "Amy Rose. I fought by her side from the battle of Spagonia to siege of Planet Wisp. A friend of hers is a friend of mine".
They were taken into the walker's cockpit, Konor stared at Tex "Hey. You're a big one, aren't you" he sounded insane, "bigger than you" Tex replied. Fang sat down "How is Commander Rose?" "In need of help. Like we are" Wave answered. Tails nodded "We're fighting the Empire, but we're outnumbered, over-matched and taking a beating. We could use your help". Fang smiled and sighed "Well, I'm not sure I'm much help to anyone these days. Didn't you hear. The Emperor said the clone army has out served its purpose and retired us. Now we spend our days just telling stories and slinging death worms". Sonic groaned "This was a wasted trip. You heard the clone. He's not interested". Tails however was determined "Wait, you don't like the Empire, do you?". Fang sat back in his chair and closed his eyes "Well, the Empire certainly isn't the Republic, but you can't do anything about that" "You could fight". Fang sighed "Sorry, son. My days as a soldier are over" "Well, okay. Okay, then maybe there's one thing you can help us with. We need a base. Amy said you knew about all sorts of secret locations in the Outer Zones". Fang looked to Konor who nodded then to Karl who looked more reluctant "Well, my memory isn't what it once was, but, um, there a few spots I never bothered to report to the Empire. Why don't you just wait outside, and I'll put together a list of coordinates". The group left the room and Karl stood up "If we help them, we are putting ourselves in danger. What do you think the Empire will do to us if they find out?". Konor shrugged "I don't know but right now I'm going slinging". He went out to the railing where the others were waiting "You know, I was thinking, since we're providing you with a list of bases, um, there's something you can do to help us" "No thanks" Sonic said quickly. "What do you need?" Tails asked. Konor smirked and pointed out to the desert "Out there, deep below, roam the death worm. Elusive game. When we're lucky enough to sling one in, it'll feed us for the whole year". "How can we help?" Wave asked, Konor chuckled "Well, you guys can't. He can" he pointed at a surprised Tex, "Huh? What?".
Infinite was waiting on the bridge of a Scarship when an Admiral of unknown species wearing a purple outfit came up to him "Commander, surveillance of Higashi has detected a shuttle entering the planet" "Why do we have surveillance over a remote planet, Admiral Naugus?" Infinite asked. "A clone unit lives on that planet, sir. One of them was ordered to be kept an eye on by Lord Eclipse" Naugus answered. Infinite pondered "Send a probe".
The Sneak was now lying on top of the walker. Sonic was inside working on his lightsaber when Tails entered. He looked concerned "Why don't trust the clones. I thought the Shinobi fought side by side with them in the war". Sonic sighed "You don't understand. They're dangerous" "Amy said to trust them". Guilt entered Sonic's eyes "You weren't there. You weren't even born" "There when?" "I don't feel like discussing it". Tails was about to leave when Sonic sighed "It was at the end, the end of the war. Our fellow soldiers, the clones, ones I saved, ones who saved me, helped me. They suddenly turned and betrayed us. I watched them kill my master. She fought beside them for years and they gunned her down in a second and then they came for me. I was told they had chips in their heads that made them do it. Said they didn't have a choice". Tails still thought Fang was trustworthy but knew why Sonic didn't feel the same. Fang then appeared at the ship entrance "I didn't kill my Shinobi. Konor, Karl and I all removed our control chips". There was silence, Fang stared directly at Sonic "You lost your Order. I lost my brothers". Fang walked away without Sonic acknowledging him. Tails was about to say something but knew Sonic needed to be alone and left the Sneak.
Later Tex was walking ahead of the walker with an electric tether around him and holding a spear. Tails, Wave and Konor were watching from the front of the walker "If we're lucky, we'll catch goldy today". Tex clearly didn't like his position "Let's just get this over with. I'm getting hungry" "Keep going forward. Just a little bit more. We're coming up on a hot spot". Tex turned around "Your hot spot looks like everywhere else on this desolate rock". The ground started to shake "Full stop!" Fang yelled sitting on a turret. Karl stopped the walker. Konor turned to Tails "You know, we really appreciate this. I mean, we, we should do well today, with you friend here" "Oh, well, Tex packs quite a punch". Konor laughed hysterically "I'm sure but I mean, death worms supposedly love lizards. I don't know why. Probably the texture". Sonic heard this from the roof of the walker "You're using him as bait? Tex, get back here!". The ground around Tex suddenly broke and he was pulled down "Tex!". The tether was suddenly pulled away from the walker. Fang looked down at Wave "Hey. You know anything about mechanics" "One or two" "Good. Keep an eye on the regulator. The line can overheat and shut down. No line, no worm, no Tex". Konor came back and handed Tails and Sonic electric poles "Charge these up. Hit the line with the rod and it'll send a bolt of energy down to the death worm. We'll force it to the surface" he sounded excited.
He handed one to Sonic "Here's one for you, General". Sonic was annoyed by this "Don't call me that. I was never a general" "Oh, my mistake. Sorry, Commander" "No, it's not… Never mind". Fang moved the canon directing the worm closer "Hit it! Now!". The two of them did so forcing the worm to get loser to the surface. Wave saw that the regulator was overheating "We don't have much time" "Karl, full stop". The walker clutched its feet into the ground forcing the worm to rise. Tails and Sonic did one last hit forcing the golden worm to rise out and roar. Konor grinned "It's Goldy!". Fang used the cannon to fire a shot directly into the worm's mouth killing him. It fell to the ground and after a moment Tex climbed out of the mouth looking scarred for life. The others were happy to see he was alive. Konor climbed down "Yeah! Way to go!" he helped Tex out of the worm "That was impressive". Sonic wasn't happy "Impressive? You almost got my friend killed!" "Yeah. I was in that thing's mouth!" Tex yelled. Konor laughed "Yeah but look what you did. You brought us our biggest catch ever". Tex suddenly looked very smug "Yeah, I did. Actually, it wasn't so bad, Sonic". Fang got out of the cannon "You guys are naturals" he said. Sonic crossed his arms "We held up our end of the deal, Captain. Now it's time to get us those coordinates so we can go". Fang nodded "I'll get the list. But you might consider staying for dinner" "It's gonna be delicious!" Konor yelled up at them.
At sunset, the Goldy was being loaded onto the side of the walker. Sonic in the Sneak speaking to a hologram of Sally "Clone, huh? Amy's always full of surprises" "Well, don't get you hopes up. The great leader's not coming back with us" "And you don't want him to" Sally said. She stared sympathetically at him "I understand your fears, but I also remember when the Shinobi and clones fought side by side. They saved billion of lives, including mine". Sonic leaned back in his chair and sighed "I know" "Then that's a start. I gotta get back to these repairs if we're ever gonna get out of this system. Signal when you're en route". At the back of the walker Wave and Tails were waiting when Fang walked out "I've assembled a list of potential bases and clearance codes and a few protocols the Imperials still use it. Should be of some use" "Thanks Fang". Fang smirked "You're both pretty brave for your ages" "I've been taught well" Wave said. Tails nodded "I'm still in the process. But I have a great teacher" he looked over to Sonic who was standing at the side of the walker. Fang nodded "He's good. A wise Shinobi once told me the best leader leads by example. Although I don't think he likes me… I can't say I blame him. The war left scars on all of us".
He leaned against the railing with Tails next to him Won't you reconsider joining us?" "I'm afraid I've out served by purpose for that kind of fighting. After the war, I questioned the point of the whole thing. All those men dies and for what?". Tails thought "I guess they fought for what they thought was right". Sonic heard him and sighed. Konor was at the top of the ship making sure Goldy was secure when he heard something coming from the Sneak. He checked inside and saw a probe bot in the cockpit "Fang!". The probe shot at him and he ran out of the way. Sonic jumped up and saw the probe which quickly flew away. Sonic fired on it, but it got to far for his pistol. Fang ran out with a rifle and aimed at the probe. After a few seconds he fired a shot that hit the probe right in the centre destroying it. Everyone was impressed but, Wave ran up to check onto the sneak while Tex, Konor, Tails and Sonic went to examine the probe. Karl walked up to Fang who sighed sounding frustrated "Okay, tell me you were right". Karl shook his head "I was wrong. My General once told me he valued my life over the mission. I'd be disrespecting his memory if we'd left them out there". Fang smirked at his brother when the other returned "The cockpits damaged. I'll need time to fix it" Wave said. Sonic sighed "We don't know how long that thing's been around. The Empire will be coming".