"You have something, Fox?"

Tails' back stiffened up as Shadow's gravelly voice suddenly made itself known behind him. He took a deep breath, forcing his shoulders to relax as he spun around and settled his eyes on the hedgehog.

"Maybe... hopefully. Sonic's out making a delivery; he'll be back soon." He paused, taking a second to choose his words very carefully. "Chaotix put some feelers out there, and it seems that some of their contacts reported seeing more robot activity than usual. It's a forested region inside Spagonia. There's a couple settlements and villages out there, but not much."

The young fox paused, looking back up at the black and red hedgehog. His expression remained unchanged, a stern scowl on his mouth as his burning red eyes threatened to pierce his skin with the sheer force of their gaze. Tails resisted the urge to flinch as he turned back towards the computer monitor.

"Anyways... They flew out there, and after consulting some old historical records at the capital, they read about an abandoned mining shaft in the area. It's... it's about the place the robots were sighted, and it's in the general direction Eggman took off in." He paused. "I'm- I feel like too many things line up here for it to be a coincidence. Espio was able to confirm Badniks moving in and out of the shaft, but we haven't been able to get inside. We'll hopefully be able to do that once Sonic gets back. Espio may be able to go invisible, but it's possible he could be detected through other methods. I didn't want to risk anything sending him in."

"...I see." Shadow bluntly acknowledged, folding his arms over his chest as he stared intently at the fox.

"Yeah..." Tails trailed off, not really wanting to push the issue further. Sonic should be back any second now- hopefully. To be honest, he always felt uncomfortable around the other hedgehog. He wasn't particularly scared of the Ultimate Lifeform, but he always seemed so... aggressive. His friends getting kidnapped only aggravated that, understandably.

But it was still hard to talk with someone who seemed like they'd rip your face off with the slightest provocation, even if you knew they wouldn't. Sonic was very obviously closer to being friends with him than Tails ever was- though they regularly traded blows with each other, too. Even in battle, the fox doesn't like actually getting physical, not when smarts or gadgets would get the job done more easily.

Though, it certainly wouldn't hurt to try being a bit more friendly...

"Hey Shadow, actually... I've been working on some Chaos powered tools and enhancers. While we're waiting on Sonic, would you like to check them out?" He did his best to look the black and red hedgehog in the eye as he gave the friendliest smile he could muster.

Shadow looked back at him, his features solid as stone. He paused for a moment, before answering.

"No."

Tails could feel his stomach sink a little, the pep talk he gave himself dissolving away as the opportunity was squandered.

"Okay!" He forced out a cheery tone. "You're pretty well off with your chaos abilities anyway."

The fox turned around, his finger tapping on his desk as he impatiently waited for his brother to return.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before a blue trail of light zipped through the hillsides, stopping with a skid at the edge of the garage. The blue hedgehog it emanated from made a mock salute as he stepped into the workshop, walking past Shadow to stand right behind Tails' chair.

"Sorry for the delay, it took us a while to get it set up. You should be good to go, buddy." He patted Tails on the back, turning around to face the other hedgehog. "Heya, Shads! I'm sure Tails filled you in on the deets- I've got a real good feeling about this one."

"What did you two do?" Shadow asked, huffing as his patience began to dry up.

"I hijacked a Moto Bug and took control of it. It still registers on the Eggnet, and it's about the only robot that Eggman never stopped making because they're good for cleaning up." Tails explained, his fingers tapping away on his keyboard as a video feed opened on the monitor. "We can use it to infiltrate the base, so long as it has a signal."

The fox squinted at the computer screen, looking at some other data.

"Signal's looking good- I'm sure Espio found a good place to set up the antenna. Mobility is working too. Video feed quality is excellent." He sighed, leaning forward. "Alright, we're ready to begin."

Shadow finally moved from his spot just at the edge of the garage, sauntering up to the computer to take a better look at the viewport.

The screen showed a grassy field that was very rapidly cut off by a cliffside. There was a large crack in the rock formation, creating a hole that led deeper inside. It was reinforced by a set of steel bars, clearly added recently and meant to replace the dried and rotting logs of wood that now lay discarded by the wayside. Behind the Moto Bug was a vast swathe of forest, almost completely unbroken save for the occasional village meadow or old ruin in the distance.

Tails pushed forward, watching the uni-wheeled machine lurch in the direction he ordered. Commanding it to go in the opposite direction yielded the intended results as well.

With a final huff and internal confidence boost, the young genius commanded the robot to enter the cave, darkness overtaking it as they began their reconnaissance mission.

The Moto Bug's night vision immediately kicked in, revealing a long and winding path that slowly descended deeper into the ground. The flooring had been made flat, devoid of any stray debris, and almost... polished?

"Looks like this place was recently maintained." Tails noted, gulping as he pushed forward. "That's a good sign there's a base here."

The fox's speculation was very rapidly confirmed as they moved further in and were greeted by a large metallic door bearing the circular logo bearing the Doctor's grinning mustached face. As the robot neared it, the imposing doors smoothly pulled back to allow entry.

From the inside, you could hardly tell this place was deep underground. The harsh overhead lights of the metal ceiling were as bright as daylight, blinding the Moto Bug until its night vision was turned off. Inside was a relatively rudimentary grid layout of corridors. Other Badniks were busy constructing further passages and others were behind them cleaning up the debris.

"It looks like this base is still being built out. I didn't see a lot of security... there's a few cameras but no thermal imaging or laser walls." The fox noted.

A loud blast rocked the entire base, followed by a rapid series of bangs and thuds . None of the robots treated it any mind, simply continuing their work on the trembling floor or cleaning up the rocks and fallen items that came from its wake.

"That didn't sound like an excavation blast." Shadow muttered to himself, staring intently at the screen.

"Weapons, maybe?" Sonic looked over to him, shrugging.

The other hedgehog didn't look away from the monitor. "Not sure."

"I don't see any data terminals around here." Tails continued, moving the robot further down the main hallway. "I'll keep looking."

The Moto Bug turned a corner, peeking into a nearby doorway. Behind the metal frame there were a set of stairs leading up. The inside of the stairwell looked far more finished than the floor they were on, prompting the fox to command it to climb and see what was above. It wasn't easy for the robot to manage that feat. Each slow trudge up a step only wore down everyone's patience.

The stairs eventually led to another door that gracefully opened to allow the cleaning bot entry. This floor was far more built-out, even having paint on the walls and a few directional markers to indicate where one should go.

"I don't see anything that says, like, 'Prison' on it or anything." Sonic chided, his foot tapping nervously on the garage concrete. "What should we check out first?"

"Well, first we need to find a data terminal." Tails corrected. "That should give us the information we're looking for. He probably has one in... there!"

Tails pointed at the marker on the wall indicating the direction of the workshop. He commanded the bot to move further, following the line as it curled around corners and moved across the base. Tails was sure to keep it close to the wall, well away from the feet of any passing guard robots.

Another muffled explosion shook the walls of the base, followed by more heavy rattling. Despite the absence of construction noise, it was clearly louder on this upper floor than from below.

Tails and Sonic looked at each other, but both remained silent, unable to draw any conclusions from the strange activity.

It wasn't long before the Moto Bug found the workshop door, outlined in the same color as the directional marker. The robot slowly approached the entrance, its user quietly hoping that there are no further complications.

The workshop door slid into the wall without complaint, allowing the fox to let out a sigh of relief as he entered the room.

It was difficult to see the full scope of the room, thanks to the numerous island tables and junk cluttering the floor. Tails commanded the robot to weave in between the work surfaces, looking for anything resembling the terminal he needed to access.

His hopes were returned in kind as he saw a beefy computer embedded into the wall at the far edge of the room, its screen casting an eerie orange glow over the otherwise dark chamber.

The fox gulped as he inched the robot closer, his heartbeat rapidly increasing in intensity as he considered the possibility of booby traps on the way over-

"Wait!" Shadow called out, grabbing the top of Tails' chair, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin.

"The right." The hedgehog continued. "Turn to the right. I thought I saw something."

The Moto Bug slowly tilted to the right, moving its wheel forward just a bit so it could turn in place.

Tails gasped audibly at what the robot was able to see from its new position. Directly in front of it was a Klagen, quietly pulsing in place as it stood in the corner in the workshop. Its stasis field was active- within it lay a white bat, hanging limply in the air and just barely rotating in place.

"It's Rouge!" Sonic exclaimed, leaning forward to get a better view.

The fox hunched over as he felt the hybrid's grip on his chair tighten.

"I-It's hard to tell if she's okay... but now we know where she is. That's good."

"...Omega might be here as well." Shadow noted, his voice flat as he kept his eyes on the screen.

"R-Right." Tails agreed. "Let's look for-"

As the fox turned the Moto Bug around, the voice in his throat quickly died.

There as a deactivated Klagen in the other corner. Beneath it lay a red and black heap of scrap.

Tails felt his blood run cold as his eyes widened. The metal was crumpled and twisted beyond recovery, like it was all no stronger than wet paper.

"... No ..." The young genius let out, the breath leaving his lungs all at once.

"...Get closer." Shadow commanded, his voice still unwavering.

The fox swallowed thickly, nodding as he pushed the robot towards the other end of the room. The closer it got, the more details could be seen in the video feed. The sheer force of compression appeared to have caused its own combustion, judging by the scorch marks across what was left of the armor.

"Shadow... I'm so sorry-"

"The cranial unit is gone." The hedgehog cut off Tails. "You can see the empty socket."

Tails knew he was supposed to feel relief at that moment, but the new questions that arose from the observation only filled the void that the horrific state of the E-Series' body had left.

He looked over his shoulder at Shadow, but the hedgehog was very clearly only focused on the screen itself, not even bothering to acknowledge the existence of the fox beneath him. He looked over his other shoulder towards Sonic- the blue blur was quietly staring at his black and red counterpart, studying him as if to find any details within the hybrid's facial expressions.

Tails turned his attention back to the controls.

"I'm going to connect with the data terminal now." He muttered to himself, knowing that neither of his partners were paying attention.

The Moto Bug turned back to the terminal, eyeing a small circular port that was on the bottom of the computer system. A small tendril extended from the robot, plugging neatly into the receptacle on the data terminal. Within moments the video feed was covered by other windows opening up, allowing streams of data to flow in.

"...Looks like the workshop files themselves are protected- typical. But it looks like the camera views are open..." A number of new windows popped up, each showing a video feed of the base at different points. "Okay, very good news. He hasn't been able to get any laser fields or thermal cameras set up, just as I thought. Espio can waltz in here, no problem!"

"What about the Klagens? Can you access their file?" Shadow asked.

"Let me see..." Tails' fingers rapidly danced across the keyboard, and with a slam of the enter key a picture of the new Klagen variants popped up. "Yes! Let me dig through here..."

The two hedgehogs waited in suspense as the young genius read over the files, his eyes twitching back and forth rapidly as he frequently browsed through the many pages of technical specifications and documentation. With every passing minute, the air in the garage got heavier and heavier, weighing down on the trio as the pressure to find something, anything , mounted further.

At this point, Tails was practically touching the screen with his nose, leaning so far in that it blocked the other two from viewing.

"...I got it." He whispered.

Those three words almost completely dispelled the tension in the air, the fox sitting back in his chair as he let out a sigh of relief. While he couldn't confirm exactly, he felt as if Shadow's grip on the chair had loosened.

"Hold on." Tails commanded the hedgehogs behind him, closing all the extra windows before guiding the Moto Bug away from the computer and out of the room. With a newfound confidence and vigor, he led the robot back through the base, traveling to the ground floor before exiting the complex and returning to the forest. Once he was sure it was safe, he shut the controlled Badnik down and turned off the video feed.

He didn't bother to explain himself before jumping out of his chair and flying to one of the many toolboxes lining the walls of the garage. He nearly disappeared into one of their cabinets, his tails poking out of the doorway as he climbed further inside, tossing random bits of junk out as he continued searching.

There was a small " Aha! " as he pulled himself back onto the floor, presenting to Sonic and Shadow a pair of circular devices that were covered in copper coils.

"Those Klagens have some nasty upgrades, but in order to modulate the stasis field, Eggman had to forego EMP shielding. Detonate these suckers in that room and they'll be dead before they know what hit 'em!"

Shadow didn't hesitate to approach the fox, pulling the devices from his hands as he looked back at the young genius.

"I'll deliver these to Espio, then." He looked back at the devices in his hand. In a much quieter voice, he continued. "...Thank you, Tails. I am in your debt."

Tails froze for a moment, before eking out a smile and nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"Not at all, Shadow. Be careful out there."

"Hey, Shadow!" Sonic called out. His counterpart didn't turn to face him. "You mind if I tag along? I'd like to see this through, too."

The blue hedgehog watched as his rival's back stiffened ever so slightly. He paused, still unwilling to turn around as he shook his head slightly.

"Do as you wish." He finally replied, his tone still emotionless as ever. "I can't waste my time trying to stop you."

With that, the Ultimate Lifeform revved up his air shoes, shooting off into the sunset and leaving an orange trail in his wake.

Sonic stood there, his expression slowly growing downtrodden as he watched his rival leave.

Tails turned back to his brother, an expectant look on his face.

"Well, aren't you going to go?"

The blue hedgehog felt his jaw tense up.

"I... don't think he wants me there."

The fox shrugged. "He didn't say 'No.' And I think he's gonna need all the help he can get."

"Yeah... you're right." Sonic accepted, though it didn't seem like he quite believed the reasoning. He put on his best smile, walking over to his adoptive brother and playfully rubbing the tufts of fur on his head. "Thanks, little buddy."

"Hey, quit it!" Tails quickly swatted away the hand mangling his fur, laughing. "Now hurry up and get after him! I'll stay here to monitor things on my end."

"Roger that!" The hero called, before disappearing in a burst of wind and blue light.

The fox watched as Sonic slowly disappeared on the horizon. As soon as he was sure he was gone, his smile dissipated into a pensive frown. He quickly hopped back into his chair, staring intently at the images of the Klagen from the Eggnet.

They were very, very lucky that things had gone as well as they did. But luck was a fickle mistress indeed, and if Eggman's threats were serious, even a single error would lead to an instant failure.

Tails cracked his knuckles before rapidly typing a message to Espio to inform him of the current plan. From now on, all he could do was hope that everyone's skill would be enough to bridge the gap when their luck eventually ran out.


"Agent Omega, stand to attention!"

The E-Series robot's subsystems flared to life at the command, fully operational within milliseconds. He was still in his quarters- outfitted with basic organic necessities like a sink, toilet, and bed, none of which he required.

"READY TO DESTROY EGGMAN." Omega reported, waiting expectantly to be briefed.

"Good." The Commander barked through the speakers in the robot's living space. "We've received intel regarding a base that we believe the Doctor is on-site. You shall receive their coordinates shortly. What is your status?"

"AMMO CAPACITY IS AT MAXIMUM. VISUAL AND EXTERNAL STIMULI PROCESSING UNIT LATENCY IS SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL BUT WELL WITHIN OPERATIONAL SPECIFICATIONS."

"...Will that be an issue?" Commander Tower asked, an accusatory tone to his voice.

"NEGATIVE. RESPONSE TIME IS STILL FAR SUPERIOR TO YOUR BEST HUMAN SOLDIERS."

"Good to hear, agent. We'd like to offer you an upgrade to increase your destructive throughput. Head to the firing range- I think you will find our proposal to your liking."

Omega wasted no time in exiting his quarters. The propaganda-lined hallways in the base were bare, devoid of other personnel. The robot found this ability to traverse the base without the need to be wary of human or mobian presence preferable.

Eventually, he found his way back to the firing range, still riddled with the bullet holes and scorch marks he left during his last performance assessment just days before.

Newly added to this room was a table, atop which rested a peculiar looking device. It was red and black, matching Omega's aesthetics exactly. It had a cube-like shape, with a number of belt-like extrusions coming out from the sides, along the top and bottom vertices.

On the top of the cube was an indentation that extended into the device. Embedded inside this was a chaos emerald- the same green one that Shadow had handed over to Eggman as a futile bargaining chip.

"We recovered the emerald from the blast site where Shadow and Rouge were killed. Our weapons engineers were hard at work devising a use for it- thanks to their hard efforts, they were able to create a system that generates energy bolts that can work with your existing autocannons, without any heat generation. With this, you will have an unlimited ammo supply that deals more damage and has a higher rate of fire. Excess energy can be rerouted to other systems like melee attacks and thrusters." There was a pause, before the Commander continued. "This will provide you similar effects to Shadow's ability to boost your abilities with Chaos Energy. Do you accept?"

The benefits were obvious. The downsides were non-existent. The similarities to his fallen comrade's abilities... were simply a distraction and... it was a waste of clock cycles to ponder the importance of such a quality.

"EGGMAN WILL KNOW TERROR." He stated, his chest compartment door opened, his ammo reserves ejecting as stray shells clattered to the concrete ground. He walked up to the device, picking it up and promptly jamming it into his chest.

His internal sensors began notifying him of a foreign object in his body and snaking up his bullet feeding chambers. He immediately disabled all warnings- and felt his limbs tremble and go haywire as waves of energy surged outwards from his chest. The power felt overwhelming, like a pressure building inside of him that threatened to pop his chassis like a balloon.

Without thinking, his arms transitioned to their autocannon formation. He pointed them outwards, watching as a blast wave shot forth from their barrels, followed up by a rapid fire of purple energy beams that quickly melted the metal and stone in front of him. His torso kicked into high gear, spinning rapidly and transforming the room into a deadly fireworks display that left the entire room in ruins.

He was eventually able to stop, his body no longer shaking as he closed the door on his chest, sealing the emerald and the device it powered away.

"NEW ENERGY PARAMETERS ACCLIMATED. NO FURTHER TESTS OR TRAINING NEEDED: ANNIHILATION EFFICIENCY HAS BEEN IMPROVED BY APPROXIMATELY FIVE HUNDRED PERCENT."

"Excellent work, Agent Omega." Commander Tower called from the speaker, sounding pleased. "As for your next target, it appears Eggman thought to build a base close by- a foolish attempt to cause an ambush once he amassed a large enough force. Our scouts have reported he is still there. The location is being sent to you now."

Omega's eyes flashed for a moment as the location data was sent directly to his inbox. A fledgling base just a few klicks southwest of his current location.

He turned to face the door, which was partially melted from his onslaught and riddled with holes. He simply punched the barely standing slab of metal off its hinges, stepping over it as he strode towards the headquarters' exit.

"TARGET: RECONFIRMED. EXTERMINATION MODE: INITIATED. PAYBACK: INEVITABLE."