Chapter 07: Assault on the ARK

As the Star Tornado recovered from the effects of the Mag Pulse warheads, they soon received a message from the Castle. It was Sally and Leia. "Luke! Sonic! Kaylor! What happened on Prison Island? We lost contact with it!"

"We're fine you two." said Luke. "But Shadow has fled to the ARK with the last two Emeralds."

"What?! If he gets them there, the Eclipse Cannon will be fully operational!" said Sally in panic.

"Yes." added Leia. "We have to stop this!"

"And we will Leia. We're gonna follow Shadow to the ARK and see if we can stop him and Forell." said Sonic.

"Hold that thought Sonic. We're gonna meet up with you on the Falcon and we'll go up together." said Leia.

"All right, but hurry. We have about 3 hours to go." said Kaylor as the communication cut off.

Back at the Castle, Sally and Leia spoke to the Freedom Fighters. "All right, here's the plan. Knuckles, we need you up there. Bring that Master Emerald with you. I think we'll need it."

"Got it." said Knuckles.

"The rest of you should stay here." said Sally.

"Vat?!" gasped Antoine.

"Whadda y'all mean stay here?" asked Bunnie.

"I need you guys on standby in case of trouble. And I need someone down here to coordinate with the Republic Fleet." said Sally.

The other Freedom Fighters looked at each other, but then Julie-Su replied: "All right Sally. Do what you need to. But if something goes wrong, we'll come running."

"Deal." said Sally. "3P0?"

"I've informed General Solo, and he says the Millennium Falcon is ready." said 3P0.

"Right then, let's go." said Leia. "You too, 3P0."

"What?!" gasped 3P0. "Oh dear….I never seem to catch a break."

Sally, Leia, 3P0, Knuckles, Han, and Chewie all soon climbed aboard the Millennium Falcon and they took off to join the Star Tornado high up in orbit.

Meanwhile, the Star Tornado was exiting the atmosphere when they received a message from: "Rogue Squadron to Star Tornado, Rogue Squadron to Star Tornado."

"Wedge, this is Luke." said Luke to Wedge Antilles, as a flight group of X-Wings joined up with the Star Tornado.

"Luke, good to hear you. The Millennium Falcon will be here soon, and we've been sent to help clear the way for you. This feels just like Yavin, eh Luke?" said Wedge.

"If you say so Wedge." said Luke jokingly. "But we must hurry, if that cannon goes to full power, the planet is doomed."

"And that's why we are gonna stop it Luke." said a voice. Everyone turned to the sight of the Millennium Falcon flying towards them.

"You're quite right Han. We will and we must. This planet's fate rests on our shoulders. May the Force be with us all."

"Amen to that." said Sonic.

The two freighters and Rogue Squadron set off towards the ARK, which soon came into view, and then Han reported: "I got a reading on that station. It's half the size of the Death Star!"

"You're right General Solo." said Tycho Celchu. But then, his scanners responded. "Wait! Sensors have picked up a flight group at 5-9-2-Mark 3! Configuration is Imperial."

"Copy that!" said Wes Janson. "I have a confirmation of 10, 15, over a few dozen TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors. This is gonna get a little rough."

"Lock S-Foils in attack position." said Wedge. "All right everyone, let's get into attack formation."

Wes Janson then reported: "Copy that, we're ready. Here they come!" and then, a whole swarm of TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors swooped down and fired at them. Rogue Squadron fired back at the TIEs, and the Star Tornado and the Falcon fired back at the fighters, but still pressed on. Rogue Squadron battled the TIE Fighters and Interceptors and took out a great deal many.

But the Star Tornado and the Millennium Falcon stopped for nothing, since the clock was ticking, and that they had no time to get into a lengthy dogfight. They only took out the TIE Fighters and Interceptors that got into their way. As they approached the ARK, the Imperials aboard detected their approach. "Admiral! The Millennium Falcon and the Star Tornado are approaching fast!" shouted Commander Akuji.

"Well go to the hangar and kill them Commander!" shouted Forell.

And Akuji ran into the hangar where the two freighters landed quickly and ran over many Stormtroopers. The heroes quickly exited the ships and began fighting the Imperials. Luke, Han, Chewie, Sonic, and Knuckles led the attack, with Tails exiting the Star Tornado with his new Cyclone walker, did battle against the many Stormtroopers and Storm Commandos that were trying to kill the heroes. But as Han blasted many Stormtroopers, Commander Akuji charged the smugger with a kick, which knocked Han's blaster out of his reach, but Han then got into hand-to-hand combat with the Storm Commando.

Meanwhile, Sonic led Tails, Amy, Kaylor, 3P0, R2, and Luke towards the control room of the ARK, in hopes of disabling the Eclipse Cannon. As they made their way through the corridors, they spotted Admiral Forell, in a modified AT-PT walker examining the Chaos Emeralds that Shadow gave him. Sonic then did a Spin Dash on Forell's walker and managed to grab a hold of one of the Chaos Emeralds. "So, Sonic the Hedgehog, you've made it this far in the game, but we will have what we want from this facility soon."

"Whatever Admiral. As long as I have one Emerald, the Eclipse Cannon is useless to you. And that's good since I can't have you blowing up my home planet." said Sonic.

"Oh, you think that our goal is blowing up this planet? That's only part of the deal." said Forell. "But now you shall die." Then Forell pushed a button on his control panel and then…Sonic fell through a hole in the floor and into an escape capsule.

"SONICCCCCC!" screamed Amy as she looked out the window. Then, a flight group of TIE Fighters swooped down and destroyed the capsule.

"He…..he's gone." said Kaylor.

"Now you see that he isn't fast enough to compete with wit." said Forell.

"You shall pay for this…Admiral. You will pay!" said Tails, who was now enraged and then opened fire on the Admiral's walker. Forell returned fire, and then a heated battle began. While the Admiral was distracted, Luke, 3P0, R2, Kaylor, and Amy snuck past them and continued their long trek towards the command center of the ARK.

Meanwhile, Han continued to fight Commander Akuji and was getting beat up hard, and before Akuji could do anything more, Chewbacca appeared from behind and grabbed Akuji by the neck, lifting him off his feet. As Akuji struggled to overpower the Wookiee, Han recovered and punched Akuji in the chest, and then Chewie broke Akuji's neck and killed him instantly.

"Wow, thanks pal." said Han. Chewie roared in thanks. But then, Leia and Sally begun to make their way to the command center, and as soon as they left, Sonic appeared out of nowhere. "Whoa! How did you…I thought you…."

"Tested a theory Han. It seems that whoever holds a Chaos Emerald can use it to teleport from one place to another." said Sonic.

Chewie barked a question in confusion, but then Knuckles saw an ominous sight of Rouge holding the Master Emerald and flying away. "Hey! Get back here with that Emerald you rat!" then Knuckles gave chase. But Sonic, Han, and Chewie decided to go catch up with Luke and the others.

But then, Sonic spotted Shadow inside a chamber below the ceiling and then raced off after the black hedgehog. Han and Chewie then received a communication from Luke: "Han, Chewie, get up here fast! We need your help!"

"We're coming Luke. Sonic's gone off to confront Shadow, and Knuckles is going after the Master Emerald, which was taken."

"I figured Sonic was still alive, I could feel it." said Luke. "Now hurry, we don't have much time!"

"We're coming Luke!" said Han as he and Chewie headed towards the command center at once.