A massive fleet of Scarships and cruisers blockaded Emerald Hill. Suddenly a squad of X-wings and Y-wings led by Sally "Alright, let's make this count. Emerald Hill's depending on us. Remember the Imperial fuel depot is our primary target" "Presuming we get past this blockade" a pilot said. "They may have numbers, but we've got skill" "That goes double for me". G-merl then beeped causing Sally to roll her eyes "Yes, G-merl, triple for you. Lock S-foils in attack position. Fighter group, stay with your wingmen and punch a hole in their defence. We have to get the Y-wings through".
Onboard the lead Scarship Mogul entered the bridge "So the Freedom Fighters come at last" "Twenty-four ships, Grand Admiral. Mixed groups of fighters and bombers" the badger captain said. Mogul watched the fighters "Their target will be our factory and the fuel depot in the Capital. Alert all commands, deploy the fleet in defensive formation and launch fighters". He then turned to Barker "Commander, the fighters must not reach the planet's surface" "I'll make sure of it, sir". TIEs were released and engaged Sally's group in a dogfight.
The rest of the Hurst crew were in a field filled with large gunner towers. They planet bombs on one "You sure these explosives are strong enough?" Tex asked Wave. "Yeah, they'll do the trick. Why? It's just that these gun towers look a lot bigger up close". Tails then got on his commlink "Baron, what's your status?" "We're setting our last charges now. Meet you at the rendezvous" "Copy. We have one more tower to go".
Sally's squad were thinning out the TIEs when Barker entered the battle in a defender. He immediately destroyed one fighter and damaged another "Systems failing!" Sally heard the pilot say, "Come around. I'll cut him off". Sally headed in their direction "AH!" she was too late the other fighter was destroyed. Sally fired at Barker and managed to destroy his two wingmen".
The towers started firing up towards the battle as Tex placed the final charge. The others were on board waiting "Hop on!" Tails said but Tex picked him up "That's not how this works" he pushed Tails to the back and took control of the board. They raced away and Wave detonated the charges causing all the towers to collapse.
Nephthys was in her office speaking to a hologram of Mogul "My air defences have been compromised" "I am aware. An impressive level of coordination, though not unexpected". She was surprised by how calm she was "The factory is vulnerable" "Oh, on the contrary, Governor, it's quite safe. I won't allow a single ship through my blockade".
Sally was getting chased by Barker "Still no good, he's too fast. Hang on, G-merl!". They headed for the bridge of the lead Scarship which started firing on her with no regard to Barker. They both got his disabling shields "Alright, Gem, tighten your bolts. Here we go". She manoeuvred over the Scarship and then used her side engines to turn around and fired at Barker taking off his wings. Barker then crashed into one of the cruisers which crashed directly into the bridge of a Scarship. "We've got our opening. This is it. All wings, form up and head for the target!" Sally and the others headed for the planet".
"Their forces have breached our perimeter" the captain said but Mogul didn't seem worried "Hmm. Regrettable, but a testament to Captain Acorn's skill as a combat pilot. Contact the second wave and order them to intercept".
Sally entered the atmosphere "Dawn Leader, I'm picking up enemy fighters at point three". Once they got through the clouds a massive group of TIEs appeared surprising Sally.
The others arrived at the rendezvous where Tangle and Baron were waiting "We should be seeing them any minute now" Tails said. Wave used her mask to watch the skies "There look! Here they come… Wait". Tails got on his binoculars and saw flaming fighters falling out of the sky "Is that...?" "The entire attack force" Wave answered.
Mogul was in his when the captain entered "Grand Admiral, the entire Freedom strike force was destroyed. However, reports indicate that a few ships managed to crash-land in or near Capital City, including the one flown by the flight leader" "And the Imperial factory?" "Undamaged, sir". Mogul pressed a button and a hologram of Reala appeared "Reala. Freedom Fighter pilots may have survived the attack. Capture them alive if possible. Captain Acorn in particular" "It will be done, Grand Admiral".
Wave saw gunships heading towards them "We've got incoming!". A worried Sonic got on his commlink "Sally! Sally, do you read me? Sally!". Baron stepped on his board "We have to go before they spot us" "Sonic, let's go" Tex said. The others headed for the boards, but Sonic was just staring out in the direction of the capital. Tails went up to Sonic and put his hand on his shoulder reassuringly "We will find her, Sonic. I promise". Sonic sighed and followed Tails.
Sally's fighter crashed into a city street. G-merl jumped out and saw a fried beginning to spread. He looked into the cockpit and saw Sally knocked out. He knocked on the window before opening it. He beeped and Sally groaned "G-merl" he helped her out as a small group of people came up to her "The Empire's coming. You have to go, now! Cut through the market toward the East Gate. Hurry!" one of them said. Sally limped away while clutching her arm "Thank you" she said to them, but they then heard a gunship. Sally and G-merl quickly took cover in the rubble "Try to contact Sonic and Tails" G-merl beeped "Sorry, buddy. We'll get your transmitter fixed as soon as we get out of here". They ran for it after the gunship made a pass.
Sonic and the others were speeding through the streets when he suddenly stopped. The others then did as well wonder what he was doing "I'm going back". The others just stared at him "I have to do this" "I understand. We'll se you back at base" Tails said. Sonic went the other way s Wave looked to Tails "Tails, we should-" "If anyone can save Sally, he can. Let's go".
Nephthys was at the Imperial base when a transport arrived. Reala exited with one of Sally's pilots, a male racoon. Nephthys walked up to him and Reala hit his legs making him fall to his knees "Well done, assassin. Take him away for interrogation" two troopers then seized the pilot. A commander then came up to her "Governor Nephthys, we found the flight leader's ship in the Eastern distract, but there's no sign of the pilot or the gizoid" "Ah, Sally Acorn. Lock down the entire distract and tear it apart building by building until you find her".
Sally and G-merl were sneaking through an ally and they saw a barricade guarded by three stormtroopers "If we move fast, we can get through that barricade before reinforcements arrive. Ready?" G-merl beeped. Sally took out her pistol, but they then head a strange sound "That's a distress call. Sounds like one of ours. It's close. Come on". They went a different way following the sound until she came across another crashed fighter. The echidna pilot was sitting injured on a crate with his gizoid in front of him trying to keep three troopers away "Capture the gizoid. We need its memory bank" "Just immobilize it". The trooper fired at the gizoids arms and legs causing it to fall to the ground "No!" the pilot said, he tried to stand but fell over. "Stay here" Sally told G-merl before quietly sneaking to an Imperial transport and knocking out the pilot. She drove forward and ran over two of the troopers. In the distraction the pilot took out his pistol and shot the remaining trooper. Sally got out "Zax, are you okay?" "I think so, General. I'm in one piece anyway" he with a bit of struggle stood up. "I'm sorry about your gizoid. But if we're gonna get through this, I need that transmitter so that G-merl can send a signal to get us help". Zax looked down sadly at the gizoid "That's okay. He'd want to help us". Sally managed to remove the transmitter form the horn on the gizoids head and gave it to G-merl "There. How's that". G-merl took a moment and then beeped. Sally sighed "The Empire must be jamming all frequencies. Well, we'll try again once we get out of the city. Let's go". They start running but a blaster bolt hits the ground in front of them. They turn and see Reala standing on the roof of a building "Zax, G-merl, go!" she fired at Reala forcing him to take cover and she and the others ran. "Gem, scan for the nearest sewer hatch. We've got to find cover" G-merl did so and led them down one of the streets. Reala then jumped down in front of them, kicked Zax to the ground and then fought Sally. He managed to throw her aside and was about to hit her with his electric staff but G-merl grabbed his leg and shocked him. Zax then stood up and tried to shoot Reala forcing him to jump onto the roof and retreat. Zax then helped Sally up "Let's go, General" the three of them continued running.
Sonic raced through the street when suddenly a Chaos appeared ahead of him. Sonic could sense him and tried to stop but he got thrown off. He fell forward but the Chaos disappeared. Sonic groaned in pain before standing up "Where are you? I don't have time for this! If you want to help, fine. Otherwise, stay out of my way!". He got back on his board, but the Chaos then appeared right in front of him "What do you want?" "Maurice". Two more Chaos appeared behind him and he removed his mask "I understand. What must I do?".
G-merl was heading to a hatch but when eh turned a corner he stopped Sally and Zax. Sally then looked out and saw that the hatch was being guarded by two troopers and a walker "We're gonna have to get that thing to move. Zax, your good at distractions" "I am?" "You are now". Sally then saw a speeder parked behind Zax. Zax then ran out in the open and shot one of the troopers "Death to the Empire! AHHHH!" he then ran and fired in the air madly. The other trooper and walker chased after them. G-merl jumped down and started to open the hatch while Sally got in the speeder. Zax was hiding behind a crate and when the trooper came around to find him Zax tackled him and snapped his neck. The walker spot him but Sally then hit the legs of the walker knocking it over crushing the front of the speeder. Sally got out "Go! Go! I'll catch up!" she told Zax who ran for the hatch. Sally waited for the walker hatch to open and she immediately shot the driver. Zax made it to the now open hatch, he started climbing down when he saw Sally running towards them. Suddenly Reala jumped down form the roof and tackled her to the ground. Zax was about to shoot him, but two tanks then appeared which Sally noticed as well "Go! That's an order!". He went down and G-merl was about to follow but then saw Sally break free of Reala as a gunship appeared "I said go, Gem!" she shot the hatch control panel forcing G-merl to jump down before the hatch closed. Reals then forced Sally to kneel as a gunship landed and Nephthys walked out. Sally stood up "Governor Nephthys, I've so wanted to meet you" "Such a small victory" she then stunned Sally.
Zax and G-merl were at a hatch trying to get it open when it suddenly did on its own. Above them was Sonic "Come on. Let's get you out of here" "Sonic". Sonic helped him up, G-merl beeped "I know she did, Gem. I know". Zax looked guilty "Sonic, I'm so sorry" "It' alright, Zax. There's nothing you could have done. But there is something I can do". They all got on the board and raced away form the city as a Chaos watched