A/N Ok so like I said before I'm finding it hard to be motivated to write this. That is not the fault of anyone but my own. It's just my mind is on other things and ideas are kinda slow. So like always, sorry for the slow update time.

"We need to start working towards our goal, spreading our focus. If we don't we'll forget to do those things, and the last thing we need is to lose focus on our goal"

Everyone was standing around Tails' workbench. He'd called them in after everyone had woken up, and gotten breakfast.

All around everyone agreed, it was time to really get into gear.

"So, what are we going to do?" Shadow asked.

"First, we keep working on getting stuff, we've got a head start on that so we can slow down. Second, we continue to make this place secure, safe and secret. Once again we have a head start. Third, we find weaknesses in Eggmans empire. Cracks of any kind, anything that we can realistically hit and escape from. Which leads me to number four, weapons" Tails explained pausing for a moment.

"We're definetly gonna need more equipment if we want to start making the angry fat man sweat" Scourge agreed.

"Yes, unfortunately I don't think I can make what we need" Tails said sighing. It made everyone else frown, but he had more to say "So that is why, we are going to steal what we can from him. At this moment he is in control of pretty much all advanced technology on the entire planet, as far as I know. So the only chance we have is to use his own equipment against him"

"I know it's mostly likely our only option, but how to do we safely steal weapons from him?" Silver asked.

"Yes, I'm sure carrying all that equipment, no matter how small would be a burden that could get us killed" Blaze agreed.

"And if we go for the big guns it won't be easy to get them out of there, hide them and more importantly, get it back to wherever our hiding spot may be without Eggman knowing where we go" Scourge said explaining his worries "He did it once and we nearly got snuffed out, bastard could easily do it again"

His words were to the point, and honest. The group seemed to agree.

"Well, I need to think that over. The most obvious way to move anything heavy would be Silver and his powers" Tails gestured to the youngest member of the team "As for secrecy I don't know, but we are not stashing it all here. I'm not losing this place too"

Everyone nodded to that wholeheartedly. They were all sure that if they went through that again, it would be over for good.

"Then we must find another place to put everything, preferably not in the city. We'd never be able to transport everything in the city undetected" Shadow said crossing his arms "Not to mention close to our HQ, if he finds stolen gear in the city, he'll suspect we're bold enough to be in here as well and start a search"

"A good point" Tails nodded making a mental note to keep the entire city off his choices of hiding places.

"We'll figure that out later, for now, we should focus on taking the steps to get to that point" Blaze said.

"Agreed" Shadow nodded back.

"So who does what?" Fiona asked wanting to get the conversation moving forward.

"Shadow and Scourge are the fastest. They can run around and scout out facilities, and figure out their weaknesses. Since Shadow knows battle strategy he can scout on his own. Scourge will go with Nicole, she'll scan the places you find and figure it out" Tails explained.

Scourge snorted and said "What you think I can't do that job by myself?"

"No, Scourge" Tails sighed "I know Shadow has a lot of background in stuff like this. He's also worked with Rouge which pretty much means he's got experience breaking into places"

"I broke out of a super jail" Scourge argued back.

Before Tails could refute that Fiona spoke first "You mean I broke you out of that jail. I let myself be captured, I got the ring inside so we could escape" putting Scourge down quickly.

He huffed rolling his eyes and crossed his arms. He stayed quiet though knowing Tails wasn't changing his mind.

"And what about us?" Blaze asked motioning to Silver as well.

"You two work on finding a place to put anything we steal" the fox explained "Anywhere that is under cover, a place where the eggbots wouldn't actively look at, and most importantly large enough to take whatever we may get"

Blaze and Silver looked to one another. It'd be a very important job, they'd only get one chance to choose a place. They were confident though, or atleast thought the other was confident, and nodded.

"We'll look around and find the best place we can find" Silver nodded.

"Make sure whatever place you find is the best. We can't afford to be caught again" Tails needed to make sure they understood that.

"We understand perfectly Tails" Blaze replied followed by a nod from Silver.

With the plan done Tails sighed "Alright, we got our jobs, we do it right, we might get lucky"

"We'll need more than luck" Shadow mumbled

The room was silent hearing him say that. It was too true.

"Well before we get out I'm getting something to eat" Scourge headed for the kitchen, the other remained silent.

Days later…

Fiona arrived back from another scavenging run. She'd done atleast one per day so far. Keeping Tails well supplied for creating what he could. So far he'd been able to build make shift weapons. Knifes strong enough to cut into weak points of eggbots. He had also managed to make home made grenades, usually involving shrapnel, or burning materials she'd been able to scrounge up.

The hardest was finding ways to make guns. Put it lightly, making bullets wasn't an option, atleast not traditional ones. No gun powder to create them. Instead Tails managed to use air pressure. It meant quieter shots, but it meant that they'd have to worry about ammo and air.

Ammo was harder to make though, needed a lot, meaning a lot of time had to be invested into making them. Considering they planned to shoot a lot, that meant even more time. So Tails had to teach Fiona how to make them. When she wasn't scavenging, that was what she was doing.

Unlike normal ammunition which required a hollow area for gun powder they didn't need that. So bullets were simpler to make. Just metal, the hard part was making them able to penetrate armor. Luckily with Tails' tutoring Fiona was able to make that happen.

The two foxes were working at every moment they could, in just a few days both had passed out while working late in the day. It gave Tails a chance to joke about how Fiona was working herself to death.

"Hey I remember you saying something about not working too hard?" he'd just shaken Fiona awake. He had a playful smirk watching as she slowly forced her eyes open.

"Huh?... Wha… oh, dammit I passed out… crap" she rubbed her head, then her eyes forcing herself to wake "Sorry…. How long was I out?"

Tails wasn't upset he was ok with her taking a break. He had been pretty serious when everyone met for the jobs. He wasn't surprised she was working her ass off "It's alright Fi, you're always telling me to get sleep, I can let it slide"

"Thanks" she smiled appreciatively "Just don't want to have too few of these things when the time comes" she grabbed a bullet staring at it.

"I get that"

"Funny" she scoffed "I remember years ago, being told these things weren't are way. Now it's all we have to make all of this right"

"I try not to think about it, all I know is desperate times call for desperate measures. If we need to shoot guns to save the planet, then we have no choice" Tails sighed leaning against the desk.

"We'll have to kill too" Fiona sighed clutching the bullet in her fist and looking up at him.

"There's only two people who need to die" Tails mumbled.

"What do you mean two?" she knew they needed to kill Eggman, who else?

"We have to take down Metal Sonic too"

Fiona just stared at him for a moment contemplating his words and trying to decifer what was going on in his head "You sure that's what you want to do?"

Tails looked down at her "Yes, my friend died a long time ago, what's left of him still flies around. I owe him more, but to finally put him to rest is the best I can do"

Fiona saw that look in his eye and clutched his hand "You don't have to do it alone you know"

He stared back at her but eventually pulled his hand from hers and walked back to his work area. His footsteps were all the noise in the room. She sighed turning back to her own work.….

At the end of the day they had plenty of time, they were safe from Eggman, and Nicole watched the camera replays when she returned with Scourge. From what she said the eggbots were still oblivious to their presence in the city.

Scourge and Nicole spent every day doing as they were assigned. Scourges speed allowed them to cover massive distances with ease. It was nice to travel around, it was better than being couped up in the HQ all day. Within days Nicole already saw Scourge was less aggressive from being able to stretch his legs.

Sadly it was also depressing, just the same grey wherever they went. The world truly had been burned to a crisp. It got her depressed easily. She'd followed Sally for years, believed in her leadership and vision for the future. This was quite the opposite. Her hatred for Eggman only got worse over time. She hid it well. She knew all too well that her cheerful attitude was helpful for the rest of the group. Even Silvers chipper nature faltered at times.

"I will get you something to eat" she said to Scourge as they entered the HQ through the tunnels.

"Don't worry about it, you got to carry yourself around. I can do it" Scourge said making his way for the food already.

"Oh well, I just thought maybe you'd want to sit down after all that running" she said.

"You don't need to wait on me Nicky" he said.

"Nicole nodded and went to the main console to look over the days videos.

Scourge made something for himself and sat nearby. This is how they usually came back to the HQ, she'd get to the camera feeds and he'd get something to eat and rest his legs.. Pretty normal, Tails and Fiona were still working. Silver and Blaze came back a little before them and Shadow came back later.

But Scourge found himself wanting to sit next to Nicole today. He dragged a chair over the main console and looked to Nicole.

Her eyes were closed, she didn't react to Scourges approach at all. Her PDA was plugged into the computer so he guessed she was focusing on the recordings.

He looked to the screen and found it quickly fast forwarding through a tape, the time stamp going from morning to later in the day. Not much happened in it, except a patrol passed back far in the background about every two hours.

He sat down and continued to watch, it was better than staring at a wall.

But that got boring too, instead he began looking at Nicole. It occurred to him he'd spent the last several days basically with just her. He'd acknowledged other peoples presence when they came into a room, but generally he'd only spoken with her. Even that was little.

She liked to talk, and she'd been surpsingly quiet when it came to small talk. She mentioned weaknesses she saw, or other stuff based on their job, but no small talk.

Strange, what happened?

During his thoughts the video continued to zip by, but suddenly ended. Scourge barely caught it from the edge of his eyesight and went back to staring at th computers.

The lynxs eyes opened. She quickly noticed the presence next to her "Sourge? What are you doing here?"

"Just staring at the screens" he said in between chewing.

"Oh" she nodded, then sat for a moment quietly.

Once again Scourge found that odd.

Despite his quiet nature he finally asked "Something going on with you?"

"Huh? Oh… no, I am fine" like always her lying wasn't too good, he could see through her easily.

"You've been quiet the last few days" he added trying to coax her into talking.

"Oh well…. I thought you might appreciate the quiet is all"

Once again she was terrible at lying "Hasn't stopped ya before Nicky"

She was quiet, he could see the gear spinning as she debated whether she should say what it was or not. But he patiently waited, continuing to eat.

"Just…" his eyes looked to her as she said her first word hesitantly "… Everything we've seen over the last few days…. Or…. The lack of what we've seen" she looked down into her lap. Her excellent posture faltering.

"Sally was so hopeful for this world. That it's natural beauty would live on forever. I used to think like a computer until she showed me the beauty this world had to offer. Since then I've fought for that, fought for the people, my friends and continued beauty of the world. Believing in Sally's dream for this planet….. but now…. It all was burned away in a matter of hours"

Scourge listened, he wasn't sure what to say, but she kept speaking, digital tears escaping her eyes "And worse of all, I was left here to be safe while all my friends…. My best friends, died without me…. I failed them all…"

Tears fell from her eyes and landed in her lap. They were all gone and she had been safe, why did Sally keep her here?

Scourge had to think quick, what could he say? He sucked at this stuff.

"Hey, hey" he reached out quicker than he meant to taking her closest hand…. Then froze. What should he say?

"I am sorry I have lost my composure again…. I don't know what came over me" she sniffed wiping away tears thinking Scourge was trying to tell her to just calm down.

"Nah… it's ok… I…" he looked away trying to think of the next word "… I don't really know what you're going through… never really fought for the same things as you… or cared for my 'friends" this was a terrible so far "But what could you have done if you had been there?"

"I don't know, but I would have been there" all she cared about was that while her friends suffered she was safe and sound.

"But then you might not be here…. You know…. Helping us…." What else could he say?

Her breath shuddered still upset, but her jaw clenched and the sound of air forced through teeth filled his ears "All I keep thinking about is them dying, and then all I want is to see Eggman die too!"

Well… that wasn't what Scourge expected she was, angry. It must have really been messing with. But anger was something he knew, revenge was something he knew.

"We'll make him pay then. We'll hurt him like he hurt you and your friends, got it"

Her breathing steadied, she slowly nodded. Her head lifted, the tears slowly stopping. She then looked directly at Scourge and extended an arm out. She cupped a cheek with her hand "Don't get hurt again, ok?"

He just stared at her digital eyes, they were starting to get familiar…. He nodded though. Her hand slid away from his face and she looked back to the screens keeping quiet, her posture back to normal, even the tears stains on her dress were gone. She probably made them go away. Her smile was back, nothing broke that smile for long It was like nothing happened.

Shadow just did his job, he was more efficient than Nicole and Scourge. Nobody to talk to, and his 'get the job done' attitude kept him constantly moving forward.

He didn't speak to the others too often, his mind was on finding a good target. So he usually woke first, left first, and came back last. He usually was only seen to eat.

Nobody minded, at the end of the day he was working, doing his job. That's all they truly needed of him.

Silver Blaze worked together to find a hiding place. It was quite hard, they weren't as fast as Scourge and Shadow, but they had to find hidden places… which were hard to find. Silver was less patient than Blaze, and usually came back complaining about their lack of success. To make things worse they'd find places, but not suitable enough to be used.

Due to Silvers impatience he was getting more and more tense. Everyone was on edge and someone complaining didn't help. So Blaze took him aside everyday to teach him how to calm himself and meditate. Techniques she'd learned to control her fire better and her own temper.

"Calm your mind Silver, take a deep breath and try to think of something relaxing, once you have think of nothing" Blaze said. She was sitting cross legged in front of Silver who was doing the same.

"Think of nothing? I'm not sure how one can think of nothing? The closest thing to nothing I can think of is darkness… and that's not calming"

Blaze sighed then chuckled. His active mind would make this a hard task for him to achieve, but it was charming in a way. As he explained his thoughts on what nothing could be. He just talked, about himself, about thing, about anything. It was hard to be bored with him sitting next to you since he always had something to say.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just you always find a way to turn something into a conversation" she explained adjusting how she was sitting a little.

"Oh… uhh, sorry" he frowned feeling like he was wasting time while she tried to teach him something.

"No it is alright" she replied with a smile "I'm just not used to someone being so open like you are. I got used to Marine, who is always an endless conversation, but usually she doesn't give me a chance to talk. Her topics of conversation are also usually less mature"

Silver smiled "I can't really imagine you travelling with such a young girl and not getting annoyed by her"

"You would be correct, when I first met her I could barely stand her presence for a few minutes. But I guess she grew on me. She has proved to be very resourceful when things go right for her. She is also a capable captain of her own ship. Though she is absent minded, and rarely thinks before she speaks or acts. I've tried my best to teach her to get over those habits"she frowned and her ears curled back sadly "I hope she has not done anything rash in my absence, I couldn't bear to see her hurt"

Silver frowned, Blaze showing some vulnerability? It was strange. Clearly marine was a good friend, and since she never really spoke of anyone he assumed she was her only friend.

"If you taught her, than I bet she can handle herself" Silver tried to comfort her, what little he could say or do atleast.

"I hope you are correct" she continued to frown though "The only way to know for sure is to get the sol emeralds back and go home"

Hearing that reminded Silver she wasn't of this universe. She'd have to go home…. And what about him? Would he go, would he stay? Would she even allow him to go?

It was irrational thinking, and something he knew he should not think about. There was no guarantee they'd even get that far. Why would he even worry? He didn't know, he just did.

"We'll do everything in our power to make that happen" Silver smiled "You'll see Marine again, I promise"

For a moment Blaze didn't do much, her eyes just drifted down to the floor. Perhaps she was trying to hide her face. He wouldn't know why if that were the reason.

Though when she lifted her head to reveal her face it was a thankful smile "Thank you Silver, it is good to hear you say that. I bet you'd like Marine" she reached out and held his hand "Though I am not sure what her opinion of us would be?"

Silver chuckled nervously "Well if she's younger than I'd assume she'd think we'd have cooties?"

Blaze let out a giggle "Ah yes, I believe she has said something like that whenever she warns me about finding a mate"

Both chuckled but Blaze got up and sat in the hedgehogs lap, she made him wrap his arms around her then sighed "I do not know what cooties do but I don't think I mind them"

Ok sorry for the delay I lost my muse, and been sleeping bad. As in I wasn't getting enough of it on purpose. Been feeling like I need to be awake and spend more time away and not at work so I sacrifice sleep time.

Anyway, I won't annoy you with excuses, just know this story isn't dead yet. I'll be working I promise.

Live long and prosper

Admiralkirk