Deep in the forest outside of Westopolis lay ancient ruins from a city, one that died thousands of years ago. The ruins stretched for miles and, despite degrading over the years, were still structurally stable, thanks in-part to the efforts of the nearby city, but also to the large trees that grew all around it, acting as support for the crumbling city now known only as Death Ruins.

It was here where Hope wandered all alone, dazed and disoriented after having been thrown from the helicopter as it came crashing down. Thankfully, there was plenty of freshwater running through the ancient aqueducts, allowing her to tend to her wounds. The Black Aliens were nowhere around, so she had time to rest and gather her thoughts.

Seeing smoke in the distance, Hope surmised that that was where the helicopter had crashed, but the issue was getting there. These ruins may have been stable for the most part, but certain areas were fragile and would likely break if she tried crossing them. Not only that, but it seemed it wouldn't even be a straight road to get there; the roads twisted and turned and crossed over, and some roads simply seemed impossible to traverse unless you had wings or superspeed.

"If I had a mech, I could probably make it, but there isn't a GUN presence around here…" Hope dug into her pockets, but all that she had on her were her wallet, her wrench, a handkerchief and some rubble. Surveying her surroundings, she noticed some rubber-like plants hanging between the trees. Curious, she pushed herself to her feet and walked closer to inspect the plants.

As she neared, a shadowy figure jumped down from the canopy, starling her. However, she calmed when she saw that it was just a monkey. "Hey, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" she scolded, though she smiled as she watched it jump up-and-down, howling wildly. "What's wrong little guy?"

Another monkey jumped down, and then another, and another. Soon, Hope found herself facing what appeared to be an entire troop, and had to cover her ears at how loud they were as they bounced around, screeching and howling into the distance.

"Geez, what's gotten into all of you?!" The monkeys calmed down suddenly, and as Hope lowered her hands from her head, she could hear something different. What sounded like explosions in the distance… No, gunfire. She heard other sounds, too. Sounds that she recognised from Westopolis, from the guns those Black Aliens carried. "Oh no…"

A blast of purple energy flew past her, and the monkeys went into a frenzy as they rushed towards the rubbery plant, jumping headlong into it. Hope watched as the plant stretched down over the edge of the road, towards the base of the forest, before coming back up and flinging the monkeys into the distance. "It's like a catapult!" she realised as she followed the monkeys soaring in the air. They landed on another road in the distance and, after bouncing and howling some more, ran off.

More monkeys jumped into the plant, using it to hurl themselves to safety. Hope watched nervously as she wondered if there wasn't another way, but the sounds of gunfire drawing closer, followed by sightings of Black Aliens through the trees, forced her to act. She joined the next group of monkeys and jumped into the plant, bracing herself for a ride.

As the plant shot up, Hope flew through the air, screaming as she felt the wind rushing against her body and saw the ground on the other side drawing closer. As the monkeys landed on their feet, Hope landed on her backside, causing a shock to pass through her body, and she winced. "Ow…"

Steadily, she righted herself. She looked back to where she had come from and was happy to see that the Black Aliens were unable to reach her… That was, until the bat-like creatures came. Fighting the pain, she began running alongside the monkeys. "Get away from us!" she cried as she heard the bats screeching right behind them. One of them swooped down at her, pushing her down to the ground. As she rolled onto her back, she saw a second one coming down to attack.

Hope pulled out her wrench and swung it, smacking the creature out of the air. She groaned as green blood splattered over her body, but she had no time to dwell on it as the first creature came back for another attack. Jumping to her feet, Hope brought up her arm to shield her face and, as the creature latched onto her arm, she hit it with her wrench, causing it to pull back and fly away.

Turning around, Hope continued running. She noticed another ledge coming up and looked around. Her eyes landed on a dangling vine. As she reached it, she gave it a few tugs to ensure it was sturdy. Although it wasn't a thorough test, time wasn't on her side as more of the bat-like creatures came for her.

"Here goes nothing!" Hope latched onto the vine and jumped off of the ledge, swinging through the jungle, around one of the nearby trees. She was elated when she saw solid ground running beneath her, and released the vine to land safely. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Hope heard the screeches behind her again. "Oh, come on!" Hope ran, although her speed had drastically decreased, and it didn't take long for the Black Aliens to catch up to her. One of the bats nipped at her head, whilst another swooped down and clawed at her back.

Through all the chaos, together with her exhaustion, Hope tripped. The road took a sudden dip, and as she lost her footing, she tumbled down the slant. The world span around her and sharp rocks dug into her, but she was getting away from the Black Aliens at least. The tumbling stopped as Hope felt her body suddenly being submerged in water, and no sooner after she stopped rolling had she began moving against her will down one of the ruins' aqueducts.

As Hope finally managed to get her thoughts together and see what was ahead of her again, she saw that the slide passed over the crashed helicopter. Struggling against the water's strong current, Hope rolled herself onto her side and readied herself to jump off. As the slide passed directly over the helicopter's wreckage, Hope pushed herself to the side, tumbling down to the ground and landing on her front.

"… Well, I found a way here…"

Back at GUN HQ, a soldier was running to the commander centre with an urgent report for Commander Tower. He rushed into the room, stopping to salute, but was unable to speak as Tower was issuing commands to several squads spread throughout the world.

"Tell the soldiers in Westopolis to keep pushing! We've gained ground and have to keep up this momentum! I want a report from the team at Circus Park! Issue an order to withdraw from Empire City at once and to regroup at GUN Outbase Gamma!"

"Commander, we're receiving a report from Captain Guilford at Glyphic Canyon! He's reporting that the ruins are lifting into the air, and changing shape rapidly!"

"What?!"

"Our troops are being cut off from each other, and are now fighting on uneven terrain! The Black Aliens have them at an advantage!"

"Order the troops out of there! Tell them to withdraw at once and observe from a safe distance!" Tower turned around and acknowledged the soldier behind himself. "Report."

"Sir! We've received word from the ARK Defence Squad that the Black Aliens are approaching the Space Colony ARK. They are approaching in vast numbers and can travel freely through space."

The Commander clenched his fist. "The ARK? What are they- They couldn't be… after the Eclipse Cannon, could they?!"

"Sir," one of the operators spoke up, "With the CIA's mainframe down, the Eclipse Cannon's security is compromised! If the Black Aliens reach the cannon with enough Chaos Emeralds, there would be nothing to stop them from firing it!"

"Get Falcon Team up there immediately! I want Blue Falcon guarding the Eclipse Cannon as our last line of defence! Divert the ARK's power to its security systems!"

"Sir, if we do that, the ARK's structural stability could-"

"I know, but we're short on options! We must keep the Black Aliens from reaching the Eclipse Cannon at all costs!" Tower sighed as he turned back to the monitors. Distress calls were coming from all over the world, and the Black Aliens' mothership had still yet to be located. He looked at Westopolis' location on the map, the sight where Sonic the Hedgehog had last been sighted. "I hope Agent Rouge can catch up to him in time…"

Topaz shot down some more of the Black Aliens as she and her troop pushed through the thick jungle. They had located the crashed helicopter from the air but were unable to land due to fire from the enemies below, and so they were forced to land further back, behind their own lines, and advance on-foot.

Unfortunately, the ruins were not in the best of shapes, and simply navigating it proved to be difficult, let alone under enemy fire. They would receive support from their allies from the Westopolis squadron but they would regularly find themselves engaging with the Black Aliens at every turn.

"Proceed with caution! These ruins aren't stable!" she told her troops as they advanced single-file over a precarious bridge made of stone. They spotted Black Aliens on the other side and Topaz fired, forcing them to retreat as she took two of them down. "Keep moving!" she said as she made it to the other side, running to nearby cover as she avoided shots from the enemy.

She heard a soldier groan, followed by another calling for a medic. As she turned, she found two men pulling a wounded soldier behind their cover. He was hit in the shoulder and bleeding badly. The medic had taken cover elsewhere, along with three other soldiers, and they were completely cut off from each other. Topaz signalled for him to move, and that she would cover him, but as she peered her head up to assess the situation, she was met with heavy fire from a large number of Black Aliens.

"Not good! We're pinned down here!"

As the sounds of energy blasts against their cover echoed in her ears, Topaz reached to her hip and pulled out a grenade. "Frag out!" she shouted as she threw it backwards, towards where she had sighted some of the aliens. It exploded, but they were still firing on them. "It's no good! I can't get a good visual!"

Suddenly, the firing stopped. Carefully, Topaz peered out from the side, expecting to have to pull back immediately, but she was met with no more gunfire. Instead, she spied Black Aliens laying on their backs, littering the area and facing away from the group, as though they had been attacked by an enemy from behind…

"What-"

"Hey there, girlfriend," a voice said behind Topaz, startling her as she quickly turned and pointed her gun at the new guest. "Whoa! Take it easy there!"

Topaz breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her gun. "Rouge! Don't sneak up on a soldier like that, especially when you're on the field!"

Rouge shrugged, shaking her head in disapproval. "That's the thanks I get for saving your life? Well, whatever."

The group's medic rushed over and began tending to the wounded soldier. Topaz gave out orders to the rest to secure the position, and then turned back to Rouge. "What are you even doing here? This isn't your field of expertise."

"New orders," Rouge said as she sat down opposite to Topaz. "After the CIA's mainframe fell, the Black Aliens made off with the government's Chaos Emerald. They loaded it up in a tank in Westopolis and transported it out of there, and now it's somewhere in this forest."

"The Black Aliens have a Chaos Emerald? Things just keep getting worse… We're here looking for Hope. She's lost somewhere in this place."

"The kid? That's a shame. I really liked her…"

Topaz slammed a hand into her face. "Don't talk as if she's already dead…"

"I mean, if she does survive it'll be impressive, but I wouldn't hold my breath. She might be good with robots and machines, but out here in nature?"

"She'll be fine," Topaz said with a stern look. "She's strong, and she's got determination."

"If only it were that easy," Rouge said with a shrug. "But if she is still alive, I'm sure you'll get her out of here. Well, good luck!"

"You're not gonna help us?" Topaz asked as Rouge started flapping her wings, lifting into the air.

"Sorry, but I've got a date with a Chaos Emerald. Besides, the Commander also wants me to meet up with Sonic, and if I know him, he'll be where the action is. Hope will be where the action isn't."

Topaz was disheartened, but she understood. This was a battle that affected the whole world, and Rouge had her part to play. "Alright. You just leave Hope to me! She's alive, and I'll get her to safety!"

"Then let's meet up after this is over, all three of us! We'll have that girls' night!"

"It's a date!" Topaz replied with a thumbs-up. As Rouge left, she turned to the wounded soldier and the medic examining him. "How is it?"

The medic shook his head. "I've done what I can, but he can't continue like this. Those shots eat through body tissue something fierce. He needs to be taken to a hospital."

"Understood. You two." Topaz motioned to two of the soldiers surveying their surroundings. "Take him back to the GUN squad we passed earlier and ask for evac. The rest of us will continue ahead."

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers replied as one lifted the wounded man over his shoulders, carrying him on his back. The other soldier led him back through the forest the way they had come, keeping an eye out for hostiles.

Topaz led the remaining members of her troop through the forest, heading towards the wreckage they had sighted earlier. As they navigated the ruins, they found many fallen Black Aliens littering the path. It didn't appear as though they had been taken out by bullets, though.

Topaz ordered the group to halt, noticing some indentations in the ground. They seemed familiar to her, but she wasn't sure… "Sir, those appear to be imprints left behind by a GUN Jump Vehicle."

"You're right," Topaz said, remembering now where she had seen these types of tracks before. But what was a Jump Vehicle doing all the way out here? Some were sent out to Westopolis to assist with the evacuation, but she was certain none had been brought into the jungle. She looked up to find a path high above them. "It must be them," she said, looking into the direction of the helicopter. "Let's press on."

"Shouldn't we check up there, sir?"

"And how do you propose we get up there?" she asked, and received no answer. "If there was one, there were probably more. Let's check the wreckage and hope for the best. If there's nothing there, we'll have to find another way!" She paused to look up at the high path one final time. "And pray that whoever's up there can survive long enough for us to reach them."

Hope watched from the canopy as a group of Black Aliens down below began planting Red Fruits into the ground, marking their territory and making it harder for GUN to pass through the area. She aimed carefully down the sights of the alien rifle she had picked up, and waited for the right moment. The Black Aliens stopped moving, and she fired. One of them fell, and then another as she fired a second shot. The third looked around, trying to find the sniper, but was taken down before he had a chance to spot Hope.

The remaining two looked up and began firing into the canopy. Hope put the rifle aside and gripped the controls of the Jump Vehicle. She bounded into the air, avoiding the shots fired at her, and came crashing down on one of the aliens. The impact caused the other to fall onto his back, and before he could scramble, Hope pulled out her rifle and shot him.

She took a moment to catch her breath. Since finding the broken radio in the wreckage, Hope realised that she would have to make her way back on her own. She salvaged the least-damaged Jump Vehicle that she could find stashed in the back and fixed it up, at least enough to make it through the ruins. Then, after quite literally jumping a couple of Black Aliens patrolling the area, she took one of their weapons.

She wasn't going to make the same mistake that she had made in Westopolis. She was going to calm and compose herself, and if necessary, she would shoot down any of the Black Aliens that blocked her path. Their weapons were quite effective, and not all that different from Earthen ballistic weapons, she had found. The biggest benefit was that there was no need to reload, but she couldn't work out how to check how much ammo, or charge or whatever, she had left, so she was taking a huge risk every time she opened fire.

Still, she thankfully had her trust Jump Vehicle to help her move now. She might not be very athletic, but the Jump Vehicle is designed to move swiftly and efficiently through any terrain, and after a quick crash course with the controls, she was able to use it to make up for her lack of physical prowess.

It was hard at first, shooting at living creatures, even if they were the monsters that had been killing people left-and-right, but the fear of being killed herself, combined with the adrenaline rush of manoeuvring through this dangerous terrain, helped her to get used to it. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing but at the very least, she was thankful that she could fight back.

As she made advanced through the ruins, attempting to meet up with the GUN troops pushing the Black Aliens through, she caught sight of a white figure flying overhead. "Rouge!" she called out, suddenly ecstatic at seeing a familiar face amidst all this chaos. Rouge didn't seem to have heard her, however, and kept flying deeper into the forest.

Hope followed after her. Even though she was moving away from where the GUN soldiers were earlier, there was no guarantee that they would still be there, she thought, while meanwhile she knew that Rouge was dead ahead. Plus, Rouge could fly, even when carrying another person's weight.

She hopped up to a large, open area, and found Rouge standing before one of the Black Aliens. Only, this one looked different. It was a small, floating creature, one eyeball in the surrounded by many tentacle-like appendages. It didn't appear to be very aggressive or dangerous.

"So you're supposed to be the one behind all of this?" Rouge asked. "How about you just hand over that Chaos Emerald? It's far too precious for a creep like you."

"You humans do not deserve the power stored within these Emeralds."

"Take good look, buddy. Do I look human to you?" Rouge replied.

"It matters not. Soon, you will share in their wretched fate. All life on this planet, is nothing compared to the might of the Black Arms."

The Black Arms? Was that what these aliens were called?

"Oh really? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like we have you guys on the run."

"There is nothing more that we need here. The Chaos Emerald has been secured, and your city reduced to rubble. Do not delude yourselves into thinking you are winning this battle."

"Sounds more like you're just a sore loser, and I hate guys that can't own up when they've lost." Rouge readied her steel-tipped nails as the floating eyeball simply laughed.

"Tomorrow, everything will be made clear to you lesser lifeforms. Our ritual will commence, and your planet will meet the same fate as the cities we have already destroyed!" The ground began shaking, and from behind the eyeball, a larger creature rose up. It was huge, bigger than even GUN's armoured trucks that were the size of houses! "Black Bull, show these fools your true strength!"

As the creature roared, the floating eyeball fled the scene, leaving Rouge to fight the monster alone. "I gotta help her! But I…" Hope shook as she watched the creature throw its weight around, crashing into the ground to try to crush Rouge beneath its body. What could Hope do against something like that?

Rouge took to the air and circled around, attacking the creature's big, blubbery body, but the attacks amounted to nothing as they harmlessly bounced off. "There's gotta be some kind of weak spot!" A laser blast passed before her eyes, startling Rouge and forcing her to come to a stop in the air. This allowed Black Bull to slam her back down to the ground.

Hope gasped, gripping onto the controls of her Jump Vehicle. "I have to try! Everyone else is fighting, I have to do what I can!" She pressed on into the fray, jumping high into the air and landing onto one of the Black Arm soldiers firing at Rouge. As she crushed it beneath her mech, she pulled out the alien rifle and fired it at the other alien, taking it down before it had even realised she was there.

"Hope?" Rouge asked as she pushed herself to her feet, quickly jumping to the side to avoid another attack from Black Bull.

"Rouge! I'll give you cover! Find a way to beat this thing!" Hope noticed that more Black Arms were approaching, she jumped out of the way of their shots to reach a higher position.

"You got it, but don't do anything reckless!" Although she had said that, Rouge was thankful for the help. She was beginning to wonder where Sonic or Shadow were, or heck, even Knuckles would do in this situation, but she had to take whatever help could get. She noticed Black Bull was focussing on Hope. "Hey, eye up here, pal!" Rouge used her drill dive to attack the creature's eye, and it let out a louder roar than usual. "Okay, looks like that one registered!"

Hope took care of the aliens on the ground and jumped back down. After realising that Black Bull's eye was its weakness, she lined-up a shot and fired. Black Bull roared once more, and then tried to turn away, but Rouge was on the offensive now and she wasn't going to let it get away.

"Wonder how much more you can take?" Rouge delivered a kick to the creature's eye. In retaliation, Black Bull reared its head and gathered fire into its mouth. She watched as it then dipped its head down, and realised what it was doing. "Hope, get out of there!"

Hope readied her Jump Vehicle, only to receive a sudden jolt as an attack from behind fried the battery in the back of the mech. She moved the controls, but there weren't responding! She watched as fire rained down onto the ground and made its way towards her. She closed her eyes and waited… Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted into the air. And she opened her eyes, she found herself in Rouge's arm, soaring high above the battlefield.

"That was close," Rouge remarked as she watched the Jump Vehicle explode from the flames passing over it. "Hope GUN didn't want that back."

"Rouge, it's preparing another attack!" Black Bull gathered more into its mouth, and this time it aimed up, to where the two girls were. Hope aimed her rifle and pulled the trigger, hitting the creature's eye and causing it to miss and it shot its fireball off to the side.

"Okay, let's finish this before it has a chance to act again!" Rouge flew directly over Black Bull, and Hope held on tight as she dove directly down, driving her boots into Black Bull's eye and delivering kick-after-kick.

After she was done, she flew back and landed on the ground, watching as Black Bull squirmed and lowered its altitude, before crashing down onto the ground, its body falling limp and its eye slowly closing. "We did it!" Hope cheered, though the excitement was short-lived as the remaining Black Arm soldiers moved towards the two.

"We're not done yet," Rouge said as she readied herself to take off. The Black Arms raised their weapons, and a series of shots rang out behind them. The aliens fell one-by-one. Then, footsteps could be heard as a squadron of GUN soldiers ran towards the two, being led by Topaz.

"Are you two okay?" she asked, ordering her soldiers to form a perimeter.

"Topaz!" Hope jumped out of Rouge's arms and ran over, being careful not trip over the fallen Black Arms. She jumped up and tackled the captain with a hug, surprising her. "I'm so glad! I thought I'd never see you again!"

Topaz smiled, resting a hand gently on Hope's head. "It's good to see you, too. But we're not out of danger yet. We're here to extract you."

"… Topaz, the other survivors…" Hope began to tremble. "They…"

"I know," Topaz said, her voice a mere whisper. "We found the crashed helicopter, and we… Well, I was just glad that you weren't there, but then I was worried that you were out here all alone." Topaz turned her attention to Rouge. "What happened out here?"

"Just a run-in with the big boss of this whole invasion," Rouge replied. "He set one of his lapdogs on us, but I guess he didn't know who he was dealing with. Right Hope?"

Hope laughed, nodding her head. "That's right. He didn't know he was picking a fight with Team Dark!"

"By the way, Topaz," Rouge started, "What's this I hear about Shadow being lumped in with the Black Aliens?"

Hope gasped, taken aback by what Rouge had said. She also turned to Topaz for an answer. Topaz sighed. "The Commander ordered it. He thinks that Shadow is a threat, and has ordered all soldiers to take him out if it appears he's working together with the Black Aliens."

"Shadow saved the world, twice," Rouge said, crossing her arms.

"I know that. We know that, but orders are orders and, well, right now's not the time to question them… Shadow should be fine though, right? He's strong, after all." Rouge simply shrugged and sighed, walking past Topaz. "Oh, we received word that Sonic is nearby. If you get high enough you should be able to spot him."

"Thanks, though I guess it's not much use now. Looks like the Chaos Emerald is already in their leader's hands."

"Rouge, we'll see you later, right?" Hope called out, slightly worried as she watched Rouge take off into the sky.

Rouge waved behind her as she left. "Sure, we'll catchup later!"

As Hope waved goodbye, Topaz ordered her troops to be ready to move. "Okay, we're going to make our way to a nearby site to rendezvous with the evacuation helicopter," she said. "It's not far, but we're still in hostile territory. Pay attention to your surroundings and no matter what, Hope's safety is the top priority, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the troops replied.

Hours had passed since Topaz had set out to recover Hope from the forest outside of Westopolis. Commander Tower was starting to become anxious, but he had no time to worry on just this one matter. He had to co-ordinate troops all over the world in the largest-ever attack that GUN had ever witnessed.

So when he received word that the mission was a success, he was happy. At least one less burden was now weighing on his mind.

"Commander!" Topaz ran into the room, Hope following behind her, both stopping to salute. "Commander, we have returned! The rescue mission was a success."

Tower nodded. "I'm glad to see you are both alright. Were there any losses?"

"Just the team that escorted Hope out of Westopolis," Topaz said, frowning as she noticed Hope averting her eyes from them. "Along with a few civilian casualties, sir."

Tower was silent for a few moments. He cleared his throat, and then said, "Unfortunately, the battle is far from over. Please report to the hanger in five minutes. I want you ready to head out then."

"But we just got back," Hope said.

"Not you, Hope," Tower clarified. "I was speaking to Agent Topaz. I want you to stay by my side."

Hope turned to Topaz, wondering if she was going to protest against being sent out after having just returned from a dangerous mission. However, she simply saluted and accepted the Commander's orders, and then turned to leave without so much as a goodbye. 'I guess that's the life of a soldier…' Hope watched as the Commander held several conversations at once, issuing orders to sectors all over the world and juggling so much information that just hearing it all started to make her head spin.

"Commander, I can prep some robots ready for deployment," she said. She was not be a soldier like Topaz, or a leader like the Commander, but she was an engineer. There was still something that she could do to help, however small it may be.

"No, Hope," Tower said.

"But I-"

"I need you here, because we need your help to bring our systems back online."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Our systems? But they seem fine," she said, noting how all of the computers seemed to be working, communication was running normally, and there was no sign that the base was running off of auxiliary power.

"It's the CIA's mainframe that is down. This doesn't affect us directly, however, the Eclipse Cannon's security system is tied directly into it. The Eclipse Cannon's firing mechanism is locked behind several barriers, and the only way through them is with codes randomly generated by the government's mainframe every minute. Right now, the Black Aliens have access to those codes."

Hope gasped. "So if they reached the Eclipse Cannon, they could fire it?"

"Precisely. We need to restore access to the mainframe ASAP."

"And you want me to do that?"

"I want you to help the team currently working on it. I hear that you've hacked your way into the government's systems before…" Hope gave an innocent smile, turning slightly red as she turned away. "At the very least, we need to secure that section, or find some other way to cut off the Black Aliens' access to the ARK's security codes."

Hope nodded. "Got it. I won't let you down!" She ran over down to the lower section of the command centre and helped herself to one of the consoles not in use, putting on a pair of headphones.