"I'll be right there. You guys are at the eastern exit, right?" said Tails' voice.
"Wait, you're going too? What about the computer?" asked the Commander.
"My friends need me," said Tails.
"Well I suppose the pink one might need aid, but…" objected the Commander.
"You heard me," said Tails. "I'm going."
"Wait, at least…" but the Commander's voice went dead with the communications link.
"So, do we go? Tails won't be able to land here and there is a clearing to the east," said Espio.
"Yes. I know that Amy wants to help Sonic, but this is not your fight, Espio. Your Chiaotix brethren will need you," said Shadow, looking into the distance.
"Since when did you care about others? If you are right then the world could fall to darkness from a madman with all of Eggman's tools. My ninja skill is worth more to you than a frog scavenger hunt with Vector and Charmy. There is one thing I don't understand. One does not simply walk into Metropolis," said Espio.
"I have given that some thought," said Shadow. He motioned for them to follow. Espio let Amy go first and then followed along behind her. There was a clearing and it was full of Egg Hammer parts. In the middle, sitting on a pile of Egg Pawns was E-123 Omega with his arms crossed. One could easily mistake his pose for meditation.
"Omega?" asked Espio.
The robot's eyes blinked on and his head turned towards them. Espio moved to the front with Shadow and both looked to shield Amy. Omega was built on Eggman tech, and it was possible that he was hacked as well. Though the corpses would have been hard to figure out if that was the case.
"Shadow the Hedgehog: Friend. Long time no see," said Omega.
"Omega, we are going to Metropolis. Are you interested?" asked Shadow.
"Nothing would please me more than the destruction of that place," said Omega.
"Then you shall have your chance, friend. We need only wait for Tails," said Shadow.
"Tracking…tracking…small plane inbound. Designation: Tornado. Owner: Sonic the Hedgehog. Irritant value to Eggman: Incalculable," said Omega as the small plane emerged on the horizon.
"He's right! It is Tails!" said Amy, waving at the plane.
Tails landed on the strip of bare ground avoiding the piles of bodies. He noticed the gang had grown. He had not expected to see Omega and had not really expected Espio to stick around.
"Well, okay, Tails is here. But his plane is going to give us away like a sore thumb. Besides I don't see any weapons on it," said Espio.
"Oh, I'll show you," said Tails and he pressed a button. All of the sudden, the plane became a mech. "GUN helped me upgrade the plane to be like the Tornado 2. Check out that sweet cannon on the front."
"Well, let's not forget we need to retrieve Sonic in one piece," said Amy.
"Oh, Shadow, the commander sent this for you," said Tails. He threw an object down from his cockpit that the hedgehog caught with both hands.
"It's a prototype rifle. It brings down most targets with one shot. The ammo is limited, so be careful with it," said Tails.
"Whose idea was that?" asked Espio.
"Mine," said Tails, blushing a little.
"Good work, Tails," said Shadow. He adjusted his hold on the gun so it was safetly pointed away from anyone.
"Good. Bad. He's the guy with the gun," sighed Amy.
"Enough with presents. What is the plan?" asked Omega.
"We need to make an insertion into the Metropolis prison. We won't be able to do that without a distraction. Omega, that is your job. Plenty of Eggman robots to shoot at. Once we reach the prison, then Espio and I will head for the brain center to confront and apprehend whoever is behind this. Then hopefully we can all go home," said Shadow.
"Just give me the chance to annihilate," said Omega.
"The entrance to Metropolis is to the north. The only entrance we can get to will be the front door and we won't make it there by sundown," said Tails.
"Then we should camp closer to the city than here," said Espio. "Attacking at dawn will maximize the surprise."
So they headed up toward the entrance of Metropolis. There was Tails in his mech, Shadow with his rifle, Amy with her hammer, Omega, and Espio with a ninja star. Tomorrow would see them attacking the capital city of Eggman himself to free Sonic, Rouge, and stop whatever devious scheme was in motion.
They set up camp in some trees. Metropolis was two miles down the road. Tails parked his mech and started a fire. Shadow put his gun by the mech. Amy prepared some food that Tails had brought in the mech. She shared her stew with Tails, Espio, and Shadow. Then Espio climbed a tree and went to sleep while Shadow and Tails both made beds of leaves and fell asleep. Amy put out the fire and made her own bed. Omega was left on guard duty. The robot needed no sleep.
Amy tossed and turned in the night, the anticipation of the next day becoming too much for her. Eventually she gave up and flopped onto her back with her arms spread wide and looked at the stars. In the moonlight she could see the others sleeping and the moonlight glinting off of Omega's back. She had forgot about Omega.
She sat up and then rose to her full height. She walked quietly toward Omega and looked up at the stars next to the robot. Omega turned his briefly then and returned it when he had seen who it was.
"Hi, Omega, do you know me?" asked Amy.
"Subject: Amy Rose. Species: Hedgehog. Relation to Eggman: Irritant and occasional blackmail target," said Omega.
"Hey, I'm not that irritating. Besides I knew a robot like you once. I think its name was Gamma. It was a nice robot. It let me out of Eggman's prison," said Amy.
"Subject: E-102 Gamma. Records: Awarded the Order of the Eggman Empire for frog recovery. Deactivated in the Egg Carrier crash near Station Square. Model used as basis for remainder of the E-100 series robots," said Omega.
"No, that's not right. Gamma's flicky was the mother of the little bird I protected. Gamma did not help Eggman," said Amy.
"Eggman records could have bias toward Eggman. Possible that they are missing information," said Omega.
"Omega, if Gamma had a flicky and all the E-100 robots that followed were based on that design, does that mean that you have a flicky too?" asked Amy.
"Possible. Confirmation would require deactivation of unit Omega. I have no desire to do that, at least not as long as Eggman lives," said Omega.
"It must be lonely to live only thinking of revenge," said Amy. "Is that why you are friends with Shadow?"
"I was built to be the ultimate robot, he was built to be the ultimate lifeform. It was a link that we share in common. We understand each other. Or maybe it was because my design was enhanced to defeat him. That was the wish of Eggman, and I have no wish to follow that directive," said Omega.
"You were designed to defeat Shadow? Does he know?" asked Amy.
"Hard to say. Shadow did not know himself when I first met him. In that way he was like me, learning new things from those around him. He had to repair his memory in order to defeat Black Doom. My files tell me that you were important to helping Shadow find himself before he fell from space. It is a shame that the gains he made were lost to amnesia," said Omega.
"Why did you not tell Shadow any of this?" asked Amy. She remembered Shadow not having a clear picture of who she was when they met outside the Cryptic Castle.
"His ID as the original was not 100% at the time. I also was more focused on Eggman than the Black Arms. It may have been a mistake," said Omega. "You should return to recovery mode. In a few hours you will need it."
"Alright. Thanks, Omega," said Amy and she wandered back to her leaf bed and tried to go back to sleep.
The next morning, the troop headed off for Metropolis. Despite their closeness, the road was clear. It was almost as if they were being invited in by the opposition. As if they could go straight down the main drag of the industrial city.
"This makes no sense. There should be someone waiting for us. A Buzz Bomber at least," said Espio.
"The front door is the most efficient way to destroy more robots," noted Omega.
"Agreed, this may become a stealth mission, but right now this is not disadvantageous to us," said Shadow. "Omega, you may begin the game when you are ready."
E-123 Omega strode into the front gate of Metropolis. Inside he saw a number of crabmeats, motobugs, buzz bombers, slicers, Egg Pawns, Egg Hammers, and E-1000 series models. After a quick look around, the menagerie began to move toward him in the dusty street of the rusty city.
"Worthless consumer models…" muttered Omega as he began missile barrage before turning his arms into gatling guns and wiping holes the advancing Egg minions. Behind he left a trail of newly freed animals.
"Okay, we begin our run now," said Shadow.
Espio and Amy climbed up on Tails' mech. Shadow ran point with his new rifle. Omega had drawn the attention of many of the Badniks, but the guards were still in front of the various buildings. To get down the street to the prison would require passing three other guarded buildings.
Shadow shot down the first two Egg Robo guards in front of the first building. Then Shadow noticed incoming balkiries. The two bird-like creatures fell down with ninja stars buried in them. Espio had left the mech and joined Shadow on the ground.
"You can always use a ninja," said Espio.
"Yes, and we need to clear out four more Egg Robos," said Shadow. "Tails, we need to get these Badniks off our trail. Any ideas?"
"I could put the mech on autopilot," said Tails. "Maybe some of them would chase it."
"That's losing a big asset," said Espio.
"We have to remember the bigger mission. Bending Sonic's plane a little is not much of a loss as far as I'm concerned," said Shadow. "Do it, Tails. Get Amy down here and we will make a run for the prison."
The mech started to run in somewhat random directions shooting at whatever targets appeared. It did get the Egg Robos to pursue it as well as other balkiries to attack in its direction. Meanwhile, the foursome ran down the road to the prison wall. Espio etched a door outline with a throwing star. Amy then pounded the door down with her hammer.
The sound echoed through the prison chamber. The complex was large and the place where they had cut in was not the floor where Sonic was being held. Shadow now turned to the group.
"This is where we split up. Amy, your job is to liberate the prison. Tails, your job is to get to the rooftops and guide me and Espio to the control center. Even Omega will not last forever, so we need to move quickly and now stealthily," said Shadow.