Rating: PG-13 | T

Notes: I'm attempting to put together an OST together as I write the chapters. For your optional listening pleasure, the mood songs for this chapter are Landfall - Castle Crashers OST and Aerodynamic by Daft Punk.

Of Chaos and Stars

Outside of the planet Mobius, the silence and stillness of space remained absolute despite the festivities going on planet-side. Just as silently, a large space ship shimmered into view, its cloaking field deactivated now that it was the proper proximity to the planet. Rust red doors parted on its underside and two miniature ships, replicas of the very one they departed from, were released. An odd logo that appeared to grin maniacally decorated their sides.

DEPLOYING SWAT AND E-SERIES TEAMS TO 662487 SURFACE. MISSION STATUS: STANDBY.

The two ships swept down towards the planet, silent and swift upon entry into the atmosphere. Almost immediately, the pair shifted into stealth mode and parted ways, each headed for their own designated targets. One made way for the zone that was full of bright lights and cheering-the signs of a celebration ongoing. The remaining ship veered to the right, sweeping low to the ground so as to remain undetected. Leaving the industrial setting of the previous zone behind, it rocketed over open valleys that quickly bled into the dense foliage of a forest as the ship sped on. Here, the ship changed course and began to ascend as its target loomed ahead. Virtually impossible to reach by normal means, an ancient and sacred land that had at one time been one with the ground below it hovered above all.

Angel Island.

The ship approached from below, clearing the tops of the trees and landing onto a bare strip of land. The cloaking deactivated and a door slid open; stoically a small, robotic form stepped out, its oval face turning as it analyzed the area. The build was similar to that of a Mobian, with a grey, metallic bi-pedal body and eyes a wan yellow. Paying the troop of SWAT bots that marched out behind it no real acknowledgement, the robot's internal systems hummed as it scanned the area. Heavy metallic thudding sounded from behind as another robot stepped into view. A large '104' was painted onto its bulbous orange base, which rested on top of a hydraulic system that served as its legs. Twin missile launchers replaced normal robotic hands, and now at the ready it came to stand beside its fellow robot. The grey one turned abruptly, eyes glowing brightly as it found what it was looking for and locked on. Not far from where the ship had landed, the tip of a temple could be seen above the tops of the jungle trees. The robot beeped.

E-SERIES 121 PHI - 104 EPSILON REPORTING. SHIP HAS SUCESSFULLY LANDED ON DESIGNATED TARGET. BEGINNING RETRIEVAL MISSION.

xxx

'Is it too much to ask for some coffee when you're working a double shift?' The grumbled thought belonged to a female echidna that was busy flipping through the pages of an extensive report.

"Ma'am would you like me to get you something?" asked a voice. Julie-Su blinked, and turned to the inquirer.

'Thank Chaos,' She nodded.

"Thank you, Fiona. Coffee would be nice-but no cream though," She added before the young fox smiled and quickly left the room. She nearly bumped into someone as the doors slid open, and fumbled over an apology as she bypassed him. Knuckles stepped into the control room of Angel Island security, amethyst eyes sweeping over the dozen or so workers crowded in the moderately sized room. He sniffed as he noted the lot of them huddled over computers or in front of large screens that displayed schematics about the island and the planet itself. He'd never been one for all this…technology stuff. If you couldn't do something with your own two hands and senses…hmph. He frowned when his eyes settled on a familiar face.

"Hey Su," he greeted. The female looked up at his call, swiveling around in the command chair she was seated in.

"Knuckles, you're early." She placed the report on the armrest. He stopped by her chair and leaned against it, raising both brow ridges in mild surprise.

"I am? I thought you'd be gone already." He watched her frown at that. "How long you got left?"

"Just an hour," she sighed, her cybernetic dreadlock swaying as she titled her head to look at him. "It isn't much I know, but I'd asked for time off. Yet I'm pulling time to cover a few shifts thanks to the concert going on in Star Light. Even Shade went." She fought back a yawn. Knuckles crossed his arms and shrugged, not seeming to think much of it.

"Any day those hedgehogs are on stage, it's like a planet wide holiday. Not surprising that anyone took the day off to attend." Now it was Julie-Su's turn to raise a brow ridge.

"You sure you should be referring to the Queen's children, that way?" She warned, though it was half-hearted. They both knew she didn't care enough to try and berate him for his lack of respect. "You almost sound like you have something against them."

"Hmph," Knuckles turned away, glancing around to make sure they weren't overheard amongst the humdrum of typing and murmuring. When he turned back, Julie-Su was waiting expectantly. "I met them once," he admitted, the frown on his face clearly indicating that he wished otherwise. "Came with the Oracle and the Queen one day to experience Chaos channeling first hand, and I just happened to be there that day…" he trailed off. Julie-Su nudged him with her booted foot, urging him on impatiently.

"And?" Knuckles rolled his eyes, sighing.

"The blue one moves around too much and never shuts up, the green one talks oddly half the time and doesn't seem to move enough, and Sonia tends to have that spoiled princess attitude," He grumbled, unaware of the look his friend was shooting him. "She's not that bad though, probably the only one of the three with her head on straight. I think it was all that time they spent separated and in hiding, who knows what kind of lives they had while Black Doom was—what?" he asked, finally noticing Julie-Su's expression.

"She must be something if she has you calling her by name," she teased. Red blossomed over the echidna's beige muzzle, and he glared when she grinned in response.

"You know what? I was gonna take over your remaining shift but you can forget it!" Julie-Su laughed as his outburst caused a few heads to turn in their direction.

"Oh come on, I was just teas-" A voice to her left cut her off.

"Ma'am?" The two echidnas turned to a yellow squirrel who sat at a console, half turned away from it as he held a headset away from his ears. He wore a worried look.

"What is it, Ray?" Julie-Su answered, her tone immediately sharp as she turned her seat to face him. Knuckles stood at her side, completely serious as well. The squirrel typed away at the keyboard in front of him, and the large screen he faced changed to show a diagram of the planet. A blinking red dot was present, positioned outside of its atmosphere.

"There is an unidentified spacecraft outside of Mobius, and we haven't received word from the security team responsible for that sector." An orange grid popped up, floating around the diagram of the planet to show this. Violet eyes narrowed as Julie-Su observed it.

"Star Light Zone is included in the list that sector covers," Knuckles pointed out.

"Who's the team stationed there?" she asked.

"Um," Ray tapped a few keys, pulling up a list immediately. "Chaotix, ma'am." He missed his superior rolling her eyes at his words.

"Oh great, my shift just couldn't end without them screwing up a simple ID procedure," She griped, her attitude a bit more relaxed towards the situation. Knuckles gave her a disapproving look.

"Hey, I'm the one who recruited and assigned that team, Su. They aren't as bad as you make them out to be." His friend shot him a look of her own, one that clearly disagreed.

"You know as well as I do that Chaotix has as many flaws as they do merits. Vector and that hyperactive child are usually causing more problems than they solve, and while Espio and Mighty are at least two members I can call competent, they aren't much use when they let themselves get dragged into trouble so easily." Knuckles stared, unconvinced.

"You used to be on that team." Julie-Su turned away, eyes focusing on the big monitors.

"And that's why I know it's the truth." She stood from her chair, strolling over to where the squirrel sat. "Ray, contact that team now." Tapping an impatient finger against the metal of her arm, she watched as the boy worked. 'Chaos, I could use that coffee right about now…'

xxx

"We're gonna celebrate," Tails and Charmy sang back in the watch tower, imagining themselves onstage with their idols. The young pair had gotten caught up into the performance, dancing and laughing as the concert played on screen. Charmy spun in the air as Tails remained in his seat, spinning nonetheless. Their enjoyment was infectious and even Espio, who had been meaning to remind them of the job at hand, was finding it hard to stop them. He spared a glance to their usually gruff leader, the tiniest of smiles finding its way onto his face. Vector was reclined, eyes closed as he snapped his fingers in time to the song. Times where this group was actually quiet and peaceful were a rarity…he supposed he could wait until Mighty returned to remind them of their duty. This wouldn't be the only time the triplets performed a concert after all; he was just wary of Knuckles checking in on them and finding them too relaxed…or even worse-

Abruptly, so sudden even Vector fell out of his chair, the view of the concert was replaced by an irate, familiar pink visage.

"CHAOTIX." Tails and Charmy seized up immediately, eyes wide as they were caught in the middle of dancing. Vector had fallen backwards and now quickly scrambled to get in his seat, trying (and failing) to look as if he'd been alert the whole time. Espio sighed, a hand over his eyes as his fears came true.

Julie-Su, Angel Island's second in command of its security branch and their ex-team mate. The partially cybernetic echidna looked far from happy, one hand on her hip as she glared at them. Espio could spot Knuckles off to the right behind her; the guardian didn't seem too pleased either. At that the ninja felt a bit of guilt creeping up on him. Their friend usually gave them a lot of credit, despite the opinions of others. Right now they weren't living up to it at all.

"Y-yeah! What's up, Su?" Vector grinned uneasily. An intense glare landed on him. "Er, I mean…"

"You wanna tell me why you haven't identified that ship yet?" Their superior barked, her tone in complete no nonsense fashion. Taken by honest surprise, all four of them froze.

'What?' Espio whirled around, being the quickest to act. Yellow eyes widened as he saw the screen none of them had paid attention to, too engrossed in the concert. A red dot was on a display of the planet, the color signifying that it was an unknown ship not matching any of the records in their database. He hid a wince, already berating himself like he was sure the others were doing now. Eager to rectify their mistake even as Julie-Su continued to glare them down, the chameleon quickly manned the console, locking onto the ship's signal and addressing it in a calm, professional tone.

"Security tower 70759 of Mobius to unidentified spacecraft—state your name and purpose." He paused for the reply.

None came.

The others were suddenly silent behind him, and Espio narrowed his eyes. "I repeat, security tower 70759 of Mobius to unidentified spacecraft—state your name and purpose." He paused again, eyes focused on the blinking dot. Again, no reply was given and the chameleon felt the oddest sense of dread trickling down his spine. That worried him-his instincts were never wrong. "If you do not identify yourself we will be forced to—"

A loud and shrill noise sounded through the speakers, piercing every set of Mobian ears in the room. Espio grabbed the sides of his head, inhaling sharply as the pain nearly brought him to his knees. The others could be heard crying out in pain as well, and a clear curse from vid-screen told him they must have received it on Julie-Su's end as well.

"Th-the…screens…" Tails was heard groaning. The group turned to see each of the screens suddenly flickering and becoming unfocused, turning into a fuzz of static. It was at that time that Mighty burst into the room, immediately crying out and falling into the same position they were in.

"What's going on?!" he ground out, making his way over to the fallen chameleon.

Espio opened his mouth to answer, but every device in the room chose that exact moment to shut down, plunging them all into dark silence.

xxx

There was a total of five seconds before anyone moved, and that was only because of the sharp intake of breath Knuckles had before he bellowed.

"What in chaos was that?!" The reserve power kicked in, providing them with dim lighting and giving limited access on a few of the system consoles in the room. Julie-Su immediately went into action, her earlier fatigue forgotten.

"Get us back online! I want to know what the hell happened and whether that ship is responsible!" she commanded; a flurry of typing resounded throughout the room, fingers flying across the keys as they worked. Knuckles was beside her in an instant, the look on his face telling her he shared the same thoughts she did. The ship was more than likely the source, but how would they have affected their systems from space? "I don't like the looks of this," she muttered to him.

"Neither do I, but if anything odd is happening I have to–" A thunderous boom sounded distantly within the building and the floor they stood on shook, inciting panicked yelps and shrieks. The two echidnas in command stilled, recognizing the all too familiar sounds of an explosion.

You could have all the years of peace you wanted, but seven years of fighting ingrained certain experiences into your memories for life.

"Where did that come from?" she whispered urgently, straining to listen properly and barking an order for silence when security workers continued to panic. Knuckles grasped her arm tightly, catching her attention. His body was rigid with tension, and even in the low light, she could spot the intense amethyst locking gazes with her.

"Downstairs," he hissed, and she understood.

'Shit, the Master Emerald.'

"I'm going down there," he said, releasing her arm and heading straight for the main doors. She spun around, reaching for him.

"Wait! Knuckles there are guards already stationed around the chamber–I need you here," She reasoned, not wanting him to rush into anything blindly. The guardian paused by the door, glancing over his shoulder at her. He shook his head.

"You're in charge here, Su. Commanding is your thing. I don't care who's on duty down below, I'm not about to let someone else handle my responsibility." With that, he disappeared behind the doors to investigate, most likely heading straight into trouble. Julie-Su clenched her hands into fists, her hands itching to grab the gun holstered to her leg and follow her friend into battle. Knuckles might have been right about her fitting the role of a leader better than he could, but they were alike in several ways, one of them being that she didn't like to sit back while others fought. She'd gotten too used to having the older echidna watching her back during the war and vice-versa. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to run after him, gun in hand and ready to fight if she had to…

But that was something she would have done in the past. There was no time for that right now. She had a job to do. Steeling herself, she whirled around to see that a few of the workers had paused in their alarm and were looking at her.

"Well? I want those systems back online, now! I want visuals of the entire temple and a full alert sounded. Ray," The squirrel barely turned his head at his name, nodding to show he'd heard and fingers still busy across the keys.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Find me a working com link. I need to send a message to Queen Aleena!"

xxx

As the last few notes of the song faded away like remnants of an enthralling spell, a wave of cheers rose from the audience. The musical trio opened their eyes and smiled, pausing for a moment to catch their breath before heading into the next song. Sonic glanced back at his siblings, each giving him a quick nod to signal that they were ready. The cobalt guitarist turned his dancing green eyes to the crowd, leaning forward to grip the microphone close.

"You guys have been amazing! I don't think there's a planet out there with a better crowd than the one here tonight!" he winked, inciting another round of cheers and—did he hear a scream? He laughed. "This next song is an old favorite, we hope you guys enjoy!" Gloved fingers released the mic to take their proper place on the guitar; three slow taps of a red sneaker cued the others to the start of the song.

Manic tapped out the intro, and the threesome plunged into a chant of 'na-na-na's as their respective instruments synched to create a playful, upbeat rhythm. The Mobians below began to bounce in time, many recognizing the familiar tune as a song from their in-hiding days. Determined to focus on the beat and not the memories that came with it, Sonic opened his mouth to belt out the first line.

The back wall of the stadium erupted, sending a shower of debris and dust flying over the crowd, effectively cutting him off. There was a collective cry of shock from those who were closest to the dust cloud, and the confusion was apparent as everyone began to jostle one another in panic. Unaware that he was already acting instinctively, Sonic barely acknowledged the weight of his guitar transforming into the lighter, much more manageable weight of his sacred medallion. Despite the lack of action in years, it seemed he was already prepared to be on the move; his body was tensed in preparation. 'What in Chaos?'

An ominous creaking had Sonic turning in time to see one of the damaged legs of a camera tower completely give away. It gave a violent sway before falling towards the middle of the crowd, and panicked Mobians cried out as they shoved and pushed trying to avoid it.

"Sonia!" the cobalt hedgehog called out earnestly to his sister, throwing an expectant arm back. Not missing a beat, Sonia swung herself over her keyboard even as it shifted into medallion form, landing in an easy crouch beside her brother and grasping his arm securely.

"Ready!" she called out. They zipped off stage instantly, leaving a signature blur behind for a few scant seconds even as Sonic braked to a stop yards away, putting Sonia in place before dashing off again. Sonia threw up her arms to meet the giant steel framing of the tower, grunting with exertion as the full weight dropped on top of her. She braced her legs to keep from sliding and pushed back against it, exhaling slowly as the brunt of the tower lessened and her deceptively lean muscles held it with ease. 'Whew, that was a close one.' A passing streak of blue from her right told her Sonic was still relocating a few of those who hadn't moved fast enough to a safer distance. She looked back towards the stage, relieved to see Manic and a few security officers helping to guide people onstage and towards the exits. That was good, the sooner they got everyone away from this area the better.

"Having problems, Sis?" She turned to Sonic with a brow ridge raised, already shifting her grip so she could set the tower down. She carefully dropped it and stood, placing her hands on her hips.

"What problems?" she retorted haughtily; Sonic grinned at her. She was about to tell him off when a few terrified screams had them both spinning around towards the hole in the stadium. The dust hadn't cleared much, but it wasn't hard to make out the imposing figures marching in through the hole they had no-doubt created. They looked like—"Robots…?" Sonia breathed in disbelief.

Sonic glanced at her and back at the miniature army that was making its way over. If Sonia thought so, that was usually enough for him, but robots? There weren't any robots like that on Mobius, only small, annoying helper units shaped after the planet's Chao—servants and nothing more. He frowned, noticing his sister was already on edge. It was a shame that their concert had been interrupted, but if a bunch of overgrown bolt-for-brains thought this was going to go easy, they had another thing coming.

His confidence took a hit when the line of robots began firing lasers, and the first row of fleeing Mobians that it hit instantly crumpled to the ground. A spin-dash was ripping through eight of the bots before Sonia had a chance to gasp. The ninth took a homing attack to the chest and Sonic rebounded off of it to land on top of the fallen camera tower. By now the arrival of the robots had sent all remaining Mobians into a full blown panic, and the stadium was hardly emptied out of innocent bystanders. More robots seemed to instantly show up in place of the ones destroyed, but none were actively pursuing the two hedgehogs that were standing as the greatest obstacle between the fleeing Mobians and their antagonists.

Two pairs of emerald green met across the stadium grounds, speaking wordlessly; Sonic nodded to show Sonia he understood. Revving into his signature move he immediately joined the fray, tearing a path through any bots that got too close to the fleeing crowd. Sonia took down her first robot with a solid punch that left a hole in its middle, focused on keeping them back and buying time as everyone was evacuated. Eerily identical looks of determination crossed the sibling's faces.

Cloaked by the smoke still billowing from the charred sides of the hole, a stocky, crimson and ebony robot raised one of its giant arms as it scanned the perimeter, heedless of the screams and cries of panic from the fleeing life forms. It held no data on such creatures, and therefore they held no importance. It had one function in this mission, and that was to ensure that the targets were subdued. A shrill beep signified a positive reading on the target's location, and the robot's automatic targeting system attempted to lock on, as its clawed right hand shifted into a high-tech launcher.

E-123 OMEGA REPORTING. TARGETS LOCATED. E-SERIES 101- BETA – 102- GAMMA – 103 DELTA. BEGIN RETRIEVAL.

Omega zoomed in on the battlefield, bypassing for the moment the two most aggressive targets and honing in onto the green figure onstage, whose intent of aiding the weak would prove to be its downfall. He locked on and fired, the projectile crossing the distance in seconds and sinking dead center into the green hedgehog's chest.

Manic had been splitting his worries between helping Mobians escape to safety, and in making quick glances across the field to see how his siblings fared. He was in the middle of shooting a reassuring smile to the young rabbit girl that was reaching for him, when a sharp pain stabbed him in the chest. He had a few seconds to glance at the dart in sudden, drowsy confusion before he slumped over on the stage. Shade, one of the security guards who'd been giving him a hand, turned at the sound of the now screaming girl and immediately paled at the sight.

"MANIC!"

In mid-spin through a line of the robots, one blue ear swiveled immediately towards the distressed cry. Sonic jerked to a halt, following the direction of the sound until his eyes caught sight of the situation and his breath caught in his throat. 'Manic.' He shot over, crouching beside the orange echidna that held Manic's head in the crook of her arm as she pulled a dart from his chest. The hedgehog felt his heart falter—seeing his brother so still was unnatural.

"What's wrong—?"

"He's fine, he's only unconscious! Look out!" Shade cried, gesturing over his shoulder. Sonic turned, already poised on the balls of his feet thanks to her warning. She'd given it with good reason. Two odd looking robots hovered over the stage, blue and red with the numbers 103 and 102 painted on their bases respectively. Jet boosters on their backs cut off abruptly and the pair dropped onto the stage with enough force to crack the floor of it, an unnerving hiss sounding as their hydraulic legs pumped and absorbed the shock. Sonic immediately changed his position into a defensive one, placing himself between the attackers and the innocent. The appearance of these two proved too much for the already shaken Mobians attempting to escape onstage, and like a receding tide the crowd began to push back in the other direction, only to stop when they realized that they were horribly pinned in. Shade gave a cursory glance over the people she was supposed to be protecting, clenching a hand into a fist when she saw a few desperate souls attempting to climb out of the stadium bowl.

'Well, this one isn't going to be easy.' Emerald green trailed casually over the weapons the two carried. He could guess at what kind of weapon the red one was packing, but it was the twin firearms the other one carried that made him just slightly uneasy. It'd be simple enough to ensure that a close fight with these two didn't involve bystanders, but not if one of them was packing something particularly destructive. Risk his own hide Sonic could do, but not at the expense of someone else's safety. The movement of one stepping forward caused him to lock gazes with a pair of pulsating green out of instinct.

"TARGET – 76642. YOU WILL SUBMIT AND OBEY."

Sonic blinked. Well, what do you know, they spoke! Forsaking his former stance, the ex-freedom fighter crossed his arms, tucked one foot behind the other and simply raised a brow ridge. The 'are you kidding me' was read easily even before he smirked; the fierce glint in his eyes belied the mirth he appeared to be deriving from all this. They'd crashed the most awesome concert of all time and they wanted him of all people to submit?

"I think you guys have the wrong planet," he stated matter-of-factly, wagging one finger at them. Their only response was to raise their weapons. "And you most definitely have the wrong guy if you think you can attack Mobius while I'm here." A grin flashed across his muzzle and he bolted forward, straight into the red bot's midsection.

SWAT bot parts littered the ground, becoming a common scrap heap in the wake of a magenta tornado that tore through the lot of them. It came to a halt, with Sonia slowing down in a pirouette like stance that should have seemed out of place in the middle of a battle. Granting herself a momentary rest as more bots came, she wiped the sweat from her brow with a frown of distaste and grabbed her medallion as it transformed into its laser-rifle form, still fighting the urge to look back. She'd heard clearly when Shade had cried her brother's name, but there was no time to be concerned since Sonic had gone to check it out—she had to be alert. With him gone, that left her taking on all of them; while they were easy to destroy, it was getting hard not to notice something was going wrong.

They were a peaceful race, sure, but that didn't mean they slacked any security wise. They had enough security guards in this zone alone that there should have been some back up by now, and that wasn't counting the imperial guard that would have been summoned not only for it involving the royal family, but hostile off-worlders. If that didn't worry her, then knowing that Manic had been attacked when she and Sonic hadn't (despite being the main threats) certainly did. The bots she and Sonic had fought never shot at them directly, or they refused to.

'Yet Manic gets attacked?' It just didn't add up. Sonia shook her head, kneeling and taking aim at one of the oncoming bots. She went to take a shot, shutting one eye to improve her aim before squeezing the trigger. The shot rebounded off of a black robotic form that appeared suddenly in front of her; she gasped, firing again out of impulse. The shot rebounded off once more as she stumbled a few steps back. It hadn't been there a second ago! From where—she shot a quick glance upwards, cautious. Had it come from up above?

It made a move and she tensed, narrowed green eyes watching as its twin fire-arms transformed into simpler, robotic hands. Her rifle disappeared in a flash of white light, returning to its medallion form since it'd be useless against a shielded opponent. A loud crunching sounded from behind her, and she turned her head slightly to glance back (mentally rattling off a few choice words her mother would've found unbefitting of a princess) only to see that another large bi-pedal robot had landed behind her. If anything it looked even more intimidating than the others put together, with its spiked wrists, large hands and bulky frame. This wasn't good, if she didn't—the first robot shifted! Sonia jerked back and to the left with a swift quickstep, silently thanking Chaos that she'd lived with a supersonic hedgehog long enough to learn something from it.

It still managed to catch her.

Cold metal fingers wrapped around her throat and lifted her off her feet, leaving her with no other options but to kick and punch at the metal limb as she fought not to choke. The vice-like grip tightened despite her hits, and she abandoned her fighting to grasp at it in vain. She could hear the movements of the second robot closing in behind her, and the fear of what they might do won over her usual pride.

"SO-NIC!" she managed to screech out.

Something was up.

Sonic could sense that from the moment he'd attacked these particular robots. Almost immediately after his first homing attack the robot pair had switched from daunting weapons to ordinary hands, appearing much more intent on making a catch than fighting him. Even then his attacks hadn't done much, and these robots were no cinch. He'd already begun to suspect something, but Sonia's panicked cry wrapped around his name nearly stopped him mid-dodge. Flipping backwards to avoid a lunge from the red bot, he risked a glance his sibling's way only to see her dangling from an identical robot's grasp. Another rose a bulky arm and shot her point blank in the back. She went limp, and Sonic responded to her scream with a yell of his own, torn between running to her aid and defending those here with Manic—an impossible choice.

"Sonic!" the blue hedgehog glanced at Shade, even as his attention stayed trained onto the large robot that was turning this way and the two on stage that stalked even closer. "My prince, they must be after the royal triad! You have to run!" she yelled, still cradling the youngest prince protectively. It was too dangerous to leave him unguarded. Sonic shook his head.

"I can't do that! You need me!"

"Please, my liege," Shade pleaded, one of her hands straying to the grey circlet that bordered her left wrist. Her eyes were trained onto the approaching bots as well. She met her prince's stubborn gaze momentarily. "If they are targeting the triad your first priority must be to prevent them from getting what they want!"

Sonic stilled for all of a second, looking from his sister, to his brother, then to the robots that were closing in on him and Mobians around them…before arriving at the same conclusion she had. There was a pained look of resignation on his face that she understood, but she knew he'd make the choice if only because it kept the innocent that much safer. He bolted past her in a flash of blue, inciting two of the robots immediately into a chase.

That still left a few problems to sort out…

Shade leveled the remaining blue robot with a determined stare as it approached, matching its slow, ominous movements with her own as she carefully placed Manic onto the floor and stepped over him, placing her between the two as an obvious obstacle. E-103 Delta froze at her actions, impassively scanning her before issuing a prompt command.

"INVALID LIFE-FORM. SURRENDER TARGET. "

Shade crossed her hands to press a button on each of the grey, cog shaped circlets attached to her gloves. Purple energy blades simultaneously hummed to life as they were projected from their hiding places. She shifted into a more combat ready stance, the glow of the dual weapons illuminating her furred cheek as she held up curled fists, and glared her aggressor down.

"You'll have to kill me before that happens."

E-103's hands shifted back into missile launchers in response.

xxx

Sonic dodged hard left and skirted around a corner, one hand braced against the floor so that he could duck in the same movement. A laser shot missed him by inches, passing over his head to scorch the wall instead as he shot off in the next second, ears perked for the sound of screeching wheels behind him.

Wheels. Robots didn't just come standard with rockets, guns or jet packs, did they? No, these guys had to be ready for anything. The minute he'd juiced and jammed, the first robot had traded legs for treads and sped on after him. He had been sure his knowledge of the stadium's music hall would make losing them a breeze, but these long, windowless corridors were proving less grand and more pain in his escape attempt.

The expected sound of wheels screeching as they took the same corner he had (and not as well, he was smug to note) echoed in the empty hall behind him, and Sonic put on an extra burst of speed. He wasn't trying to get a taste of those lasers again. The first shot had just barely grazed him, sending the oddest tingling down his calf as if it were going to freeze up and fail on him. Two shots fired off behind him and he dodged to the left, moving to skirt around the next available corner. The wall ahead of him burst open, and the monstrous robot that had shot Sonia came hovering through, its weapon leveling directly at the fleeing prince.

"Whoa!" Sonic jerked back just in time, dismissing the white blurs that whistled past his ear and making a daring dart forward. He shot underneath the mechanized giant, breaking for the opening it had left and launching out into open air. The rush had sent blood racing in his veins, cueing a level of split-second maneuvering he hadn't been forced to experience in ages. A wild grin snuck onto his face, prompting him to glance back at the pair pursing him with mock remorse. "Thanks for the invite guys, but I'm outta here!" He hit the ground running, heading towards the city of Star Light and its network of streets, hoping to lose them in the myriad of alleys and sharp turns. There was no way he'd be able to go to the castle with these guys on his tail. The sounds of boosters and lasers began to fade as he pulled away, and thinking he'd seen the last of them he smirked in triumph…only to have it wiped away when he saw the path ahead.

A black robot, marked by the '101' on its chest, was one he recognized as Sonia's captor, and it blocked his way a few yards down. It was raising both fire-arms in his direction and before Sonic could even think about backpedaling there were missiles soaring wildly through the air. 'Shit!' He dodged to the right, throwing himself out of range but unable to fully avoid the impact. The proximity of the explosion left a ringing in his ears, and he stumbled in his next step, instinctively shielding his eyes. The sound of another two being fired off was lost on the deafened hedgehog and before he could recover, the next missile exploded at his feet, sending him airborne.

The force sent him flying backwards, bouncing roughly against the paved road before skidding to a stop. 'No' he thought, gritting his teeth and immediately attempting to rise. The robot was beginning to walk over—he couldn't stop now! Faintly, the whistle of a projectile registered in his hearing, and the downed speedster felt something sink into the back of his neck before he could stand; his eyes widened. His limbs seemed to instantly fill with lead, turning into dead weight and dragging him back to the ground. 'Wha…is this… what they did to Manic?' he mused numbly, fighting the powerful tranquilizer on sheer will alone. 'And Sonia too' he recalled how quickly she'd grown still. Heavy footsteps were steadily making their way from both sides, and Sonic strained to look up. His vision swam; he could only make out robotic feet, but the sound of a spaceship could be heard in the distance. Amidst his losing battle, he realized that wherever he woke up, it wouldn't be here. 'Man, is this is gonna suck...' The darkness over took him.

xxx

The high wails of an alarm permeated the skies around Angel Island HQ, with the occasional boom and bang sounding as smoke drifted above the treetops. Walking stoically away some distance from the aftermath, E-121 Phi made his way back to the parked ship, carrying the giant green gem that was the Master Emerald over his head with ease. E-104 Epsilon flanked his right, missile launchers at the ready. The two were the only remaining bots of their squadron, but it wasn't as if they would have noticed this. Running a sort of auto-detect, the awaiting ship opened the door and boarding ramp, inviting its passengers inside. Just off the path behind them, a rustling grew as the foliage was desperately trampled and pushed aside.

"Wait!" The pair continued to walk, paying the cry no mind. The bushes parted to reveal a frazzled Mobian, her ice blue eyes frantically searching around. Catching sight of the robots, the young fox sprinted to catch up, circling around the two to cut them off. "Hey, wait a minute!" she panted lightly, already winded from the mad dash she'd made just to find them. They moved as if to pass around her, and she dug frantically into her back pocket. "You can't leave me here, Eggman made a deal!" She held up a black card, thin and metal, branded with the same maniacally grinning logo that marked the hull of the ship behind her.

The robots halted, the smaller one making no other move than turning to look at its partner. Epsilon took a step forward, causing the girl to tense as it scanned the card. There was a moment of pause, and the towering robot stepped back with a dull beep.

"INVALID IDENTIFICATION. AGREEMENT IS NEGATED." No longer halted by distractions they passed her to continue walking to the ship. Her arm dropped, along with her heart, and a panic threatened to overtake her. 'I can't stay here…'

"Cut the shit!" She whirled around, throwing the worthless card at them. It bounced harmlessly off of the small robot, and she glared at the way they remained unfazed. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" She caught up to them, scooping a rock from the ground as she did and preparing to hurl it. The orange robot rotated on its base to aim a launcher point blank at her face. Her mouth instantly went dry with fear, freezing up with the rest of her as she stared straight down the dark barrel.

"INVALID IDENTIFICATION. AGREEMENT IS NEGATED." It repeated, almost as if it were warning her this time. She dropped the rock, unaware that she'd automatically held her hands up like some victim in a mugging. Epsilon lowered its weapon and turned back, following Phi into the ship without another word and cueing its door to close. Was that it then, she was so unimportant she wasn't even worth killing? The ship started up its thrusters and began to rise, leaving Fiona Fox to watch helplessly as it took off into the sky, abandoning her on the outskirts of the floating isle.

'Stupid! You've been double-crossed! Now what are you going to do?' She gripped her hair in aggravation. 'I wasn't supposed to be here, that was the plan! If I get caught—' Following the pattern of her luck, there was a sudden cluster of voices heard in the underbrush.

"This way, I heard engines!"

"Don't let them escape!"

Fiona cursed silently, backing away out of the area and away from the approaching guards. By the time they arrived she was gone, the tracks of bi-pedal machines and a black card in dirt the only things left in the clearing.

The twin ships met on course as they left the planet, shifting back into stealth mode and out of the atmosphere just as swiftly as they had arrived. Back on the ground, Tikal limped out of the breeched HQ, holding her side as she leaned against the crumbling doorway to stare forlornly into the sky. An ominous feeling was growing in her gut; she could sense the shift of balance in the very air around her-it grew heavier by the minute. "Chaos help us," she whispered.

To be continued in chapter three: This Dream and You

If you can tell me what Sonic Underground song the trio was about to launch into before everything went to hell, you get chilidogs.

Well, that wraps up chapter two and I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you thought, or what you felt about what's going on. Especially if you've seen Interstella and can see how I'm keeping true to that plot but with a lot of different elements thrown in. It won't just be the trio we focus on, but what goes down on Mobius as well. Shadow is introduced next!