A sleek, white, humanoid machine stood out in the aged gray hallway it patrolled. The walls and floor were concrete, built for security over aesthetics, and it was lit only by old fluorescent lamps that hung from the ceiling. The only other exclusions from the drab were a steel door connected to a high-tech scanner and an anthropomorphic white bat hanging in the darkness above it.

The robot passed to the door, and the scanner recognized it as authorized for entry with a ping. At that moment, Rouge the Bat dropped, foot extended and spinning around in a pirouette, and split the robot open like a pistachio. She pressed herself to the wall as the door opened, peeking to make sure there wasn't anyone on the other side, and advanced into the room.

Her objective was a console attached to a very large pillar in the center of the room, if it could even be called a pillar when it filled half of the space. She took out a set of wires and clamps connected to a pair of earbuds and began attaching them to parts of the console.

"C'mon, c'mon…" she mumbled, stealing a glance over her shoulder to look for enemies.

After some more fiddling and flipping of switches, she was able to pick up static. With some turning of dials, that upgraded to a handful of valid radio frequencies.

Voice 1: "…come live in Dr. Eggman's Empire, and begin your new…"

Voice 2: "…live from Studiopolis, it's time for Scratch's Weather Report…"

Voice 3: "…with that, the disposal of the Phantom Ruby prototypes is complete."

Rouge froze. Phantom Ruby? Prototypes? The voice sounded very clear, but simultaneously like there was static appearing directly in her brain. She could only think of one candidate within Eggman's army who would fit that description.

Eggman: "Good. Those defective models could have activated to anyone who triggered them."

Red Mask: "Hmph, only a being with my strength of will could ever activate one."

Eggman: "It doesn't matter now, with the lab locked down in Mystic Jungle. Which reminds me, didn't Sonic run into you there to try and stop you?"

Red Mask: "Yes, but… he was powerless against me. There is no need for concern."

It hesitated there… sounds like someone's got a little secret.

Eggman: "You let the hedgehog LIVE?! That is a great source of concern!"

Red Mask: "For you, perhaps. He has beaten you for over a decade, yet I defeated him in our first encounter."

Eggman: "I've defeated him before, too! Slipping away at the last minute is how he catches you off guard. Don't ever underestimate him."

There was no reply to that.

Eggman: "What is it?"

Red Mask: "… nothing. We move forward with the plan?"

Eggman: "Of course! When it's complete, the Resistance will be erased. The world will be nothing but ashes, from which a glorious Eggman Empire will rise!"

Red Mask: "Yes, any insurgency will yield to the Phantom Ruby's power. All will submit."

Rouge disconnected her gear. As much as it pained her to uncover no further information about Shadow or Omega yet again, the Resistance needed to know what she had heard immediately. If she was a bit tech savvier, she might be able to hijack the radio waves and broadcast directly to them, but the chances of getting caught doing that were likely too high anyway. She would have to return in person and hope she got there before it was too late.

After a mere 24 hours without sleep, Ledge held in his hands the first recreated White Wispon. It was, essentially, a modified pistol, with the traditional barrel replaced with an oblong spherical reactor that produced short bursts of Color Energy. Simple, recognizable, easy to make, and hopefully effective, once Amy picked up the first batch for their soldiers to test.

However, the more interesting discovery within the factory was a strange hammer that matched the blueprints file of the Blue Wispon. The weapon was unfinished and had needed some work to become functional… but as he could barely lift the thing by himself, there was no way he could try it out to confirm that his efforts were successful. Amy would be able to help with that one, too.

Every step he made in researching the Wispons only enlarged the puzzle regarding their existence. It was pretty poor handling for Eggman to abandon inside of his own active facility a weapon that had increasingly assertive evidence of trumping Infinite's power, especially when that power was the cornerstone of Eggman's entire means of conquest. He could only guess that Eggman didn't know it was there, but that lead to the question of Alpha and her mission to take them. It didn't seem like the Doctor to lose something so carelessly that he had to hire someone to find them again for him, but how could she have gotten onto the Death Egg by her lonesome if she wasn't under his employment? What would she be doing with them if not returning them to their original creator?

Now that he had finished his work, he booted up his communications console, which he shut down earlier to prevent himself from getting distracted. When it finished coming online, it alerted him that he had over a dozen missed calls from Amy and the Resistance Base. He wasn't expecting her arrival for another twenty minutes, but maybe she was early. Fortunately, communications logs were invented for scenarios just like this.

Amy: "Amy Rose to HQ, I'm almost there to help. I was able to save around fifteen minutes in transit. What's everyone's status?"

Tails: "Eggman's army has broken through our defenses! They're in the City! We need to get these people out of here!"

Knuckles: "Who can we send? Sonic and Silver need time to heal."

Espio: "Espio here. We've engaged enemy forces at Seaside Hill. We can't spare anyone!"

-Incoming SOS. Origin: Boar the Grizzly. Location: Park Avenue-

Boar: "This is the 8th unit! We're pinned down under heavy enemy fire!"

Knuckles: "Man, it looks like I've got no choice. When you retrieve the Wispon shipment, tell Ledge he's got a tough break. I need him to head back to the City and save those civilians!"

Aw, crap.

Ledge snatched his Burst Wispon off of his desk and scrambled to the core where the delivery site was. Two crates awaited him there, each one watched over by one of the diligent Klagen who obeyed him now as the owner of the place. The unmistakable flying orange brick of an Eggman shuttle was parked behind them, accompanied by a pink hedgehog who looked about ready to slap him in the face.

"Ledge, you dolt! Why didn't you respond to our transmissions?"

"I was busy with the production of my latest inventions!" he replied, gesturing to the crates. "Behold, the Whi-"

"No time for that! We're pulling you out of retirement, rookie! Let's move it!"

The inventor pulled out a controller and used it to command his robot to load the crates.

"Stooping to that nickname was uncalled for. I already saw the status update," he muttered.

"Doesn't matter. You're still part of our team, you need to be on the same page as us. Saving minutes means saving lives."

Thick smoke congested the air well before the shuttle made it within sight of the City. Thankfully, GPS tracking on their communicators allowed the shuttle to pinpoint the SOS signal without needing clear visuals; the sight wasn't pretty anyhow when they approached the battles ongoing below. Multiples fires raged from buildings throughout the city, and further flashes of metal and energy all around indicated widespread skirmishing, meaning their army was no longer fighting as a united front.

The 8th unit was hiding in the shadow of a several-story sky-blue building, covering from an onslaught of firebombs. From above, Ledge could see that they were being lobbed by a particular few Egg Pawns in a squad that were standing on top of metal spheres covered in spikes and juggling the bombs. He wished he could call it impractical, but it was clearly working quite well against them.

Only a handful of soldiers, all Mobian and none armed, remained of the unit. They freaked out as the shuttle began to land next to them until they could see the friendly faces onboard as the hatch opened.

"You know, it would solve a lot of problems to paint over the Eggman faces," Ledge commented to Amy.

"We haven't exactly had the time…"

A blue bear approached them, specifically ultramarine by Ledge's estimation, and he thought him quite imposing with his elongated body and thick limbs. His standard-issue blue-gray Resistance uniform was covered by a black longcoat, accented in red and gold, and he adorned a dark blue hat, creating a look befitting an admiral in a navy. His intimidation factor was beefed up by his enormous, round ears and a split black moustache that extended to the end of his broad snout. He saluted them energetically.

"How relieving that you're here! Boar the Grizzly, at your command," he greeted in a deep, somewhat gruff voice.

"We came as soon as we could!" Amy responded. "Park Avenue is too central to City travel for us to lose control of it."

"I'm well aware, ma'am. We need a new plan if we want to secure it."

"You're in luck, then." Ledge assured, unable to hide the big smirk appearing on his beak. "I have some new toys for you to play with." He patted the crates.

Without hesitation, the soldiers clambered aboard and removed the lids of the crates. They quickly armed themselves from the one containing the White Wispons, except for the two of them who were examining the other crate.

"What's this big blue one?" one of them asked. Inside the crate was a large blue square, with one face covered by a yellow knob that was attached to a wide steel plate that wrapped to guard an adjacent side. Smaller beams went down the center of the two faces adjacent to the plate, each with three circular panels decorating them. The back of the cube had a larger circular hole, and a padded handle protruded from the bottom that showed that the rest of the weapon was one giant hammerhead.

"Ah. That's my latest design, the Cube Wispon! It is exceptionally heavy, so do mind that you don't dama- hey, what are you doing?!"

Boar hefted the Wispon out of the crate with one hand, releasing a pleasured grunt as he bore its weight and waved it experimentally. "Man, this sure feels great to hold! I could get used to a weapon like this!"

"W-well, uh, be careful with it, don't hurt anyone. Especially me. Please?" Ledge stammered.

"Ha ha ha, don't you worry, little red!" Boar replied, giving the cardinal a pat on the back strong enough to knock him forward.

"Gah! I just said don't hurt me!"

"Incoming!" a soldier interrupted, grabbing their attention. They turned to see her pointing at the horde of Egg Pawns, including the juggling ones, which had advanced to their hiding place behind the building.

"Quickly, use this! Hit the ground!" Ledge commanded, procuring a capsule with a cubical blue creature similar in appearance to the hammer.

Boar snatched the capsule and shoved it into the slot. With a cry, he jumped out and slammed the hammer into the earth beneath him. It sent out a wave of light, and translucent blue cubes began forming into existence around the shuttle's entrance. They built themselves upwards to create a protective dome. The robots fired an onslaught of bullets and bombs against the barrier, but none of them broke through.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Boar whooped.

"A masterpiece!" Ledge agreed. "But it doesn't last long! Ready your countermeasures!"

The shield dissipated soon after that, and the squadron of soldiers fired their Wispons in retaliation. White energy bullets tore through the enemy line, halving its size in a matter of seconds. The display looked just as he remembered it, four months ago. His old squad mates would have been proud.

There was a round of cheers, and at Boar's signal, the unit gathered around him.

"8th unit!" Amy called, her commanding words proven playful by a big grin on her face. "Your orders are… knock Eggman's army into next week!"

A grizzly smile matched her expression, and the two fist bumped briefly before the group turned to leave.

"You heard her, soldiers! Let's move out!"

Travelling like a stampede, Boar led the unit to the long street known as Park Avenue. He shot a steel cable through a modified version of the wrist-mounted grappling hook launchers they had so many of, swinging around a third-story balcony that overlooked the road to land on it.

Several Egg Pawns awaited him there. Another shot of the cable pierced the chassis of the one in front, and Boar reeled himself in and stomped the robot with both feet on impact, sending it into the other two and knocking them all out of commission.

Amy: "I need a status update on the people who couldn't evacuate in time!"

Ledge: "I have already engaged with enemy forces and am unable to search for civilians right now!"

Arc: "The fighting's too fierce for us to help out, too!"

Knuckles: "Looks like the Wispon squad is our only hope. The rescue is in your hands!"

Boar: "You can count on us!"

Boar peered out from his perch, plotting their next steps while his troops vanquished the next round of Egg Pawns on the road. He was still learning the layout of the City, even after being here for almost half a year. The taller buildings downtown looked to be where the greatest amount of fighting was taking place, judging by the number of flying robots around there.

Tremors began to shake the area, crumbling some of the buildings even further. They came in short, regular intervals. Boar had enough combat experience to know the difference between a true earthquake and rumbling from a very large moving object. He jumped down to meet his people, and their eyes gave an unspoken agreement to proceed forward. They climbed up a break in the road to see that the bridge across the cliffside had been smashed into smithereens.

The culprit was a giant, black robot with a white dome as a head and single, red eye that spelled doom. It was standing in a square area so completely destroyed it couldn't even be called rubble, because the structures had been pulverized into a layer of ash and dust. Despite being much farther downhill, it stood taller than Boar did. And two more of them were marching away from the shore to other areas of town.

Silver: "Those are Death Egg Robots! They're being mass-produced now?!"

Tails: "Uh oh, that isn't good. Might be too much for the rookies to handle."

Knuckles: "Well, we can't just ignore them. You got this!"

"Sir, what should we do?" the female soldier from earlier asked. She was a pink cat who Boar knew to be only a teenager. He made a point of getting to know his squad as a group of people.

A nebulous strategy began to form in Boar's head. The blue grizzly wished he had more of those Wisps right now, but then he noticed that two of the three lights on the side of his weapon were lit. He pressed down the special button and brought the hammer down again. More blue cubes sprouted from it, forming a flat plane across the gap to the road on the other side. The middle light on the side turned off, leaving one remaining.

"I think I know what to do. Let's hurry!" he said. The unit crossed the magical bridge and raced down the sloped path. The road ended in a construction barrier overlooking a drop, but Boar ignored it and leapt off. Below, there was a circular plaza occupied by a ring of a different kind of Egg Pawn. Instead of blasters, each one had its hands formed into a lance twice its height and a spiked shield. Boar, again, ignored them, by smashing his hammer down right in the middle, sending out another blue shock wave. At once, the Pawns were encased in individual cubes of their own, and a follow-up hammer smack dissolved the cubes and their inhabitants.

"Nice work, sir! A fine display of skill!" a stout teal bird complimented, as the rest of the unit joined him below.

"Yeah, you really showed them who's boss!" a green gecko added.

"Ha ha! That's what they deserve for messing with this city!" Boar exclaimed. "Alright, huddle around, here's the game plan."

He paused for a moment to make sure everyone was collected. "Park Avenue leads out to the edge of the city in the west. I need you to clear the street so we can evacuate the citizens safely."

"Will you not be joining us, sir?" the gecko asked.

"No. I need to stop those Death Egg Robots, and don't think of asking to come with. This is a dangerous plan, and it is my duty to keep my soldiers safe. Your efforts are needed here."

"By… ourselves?" the cat said, looking quite nervous.

"I believe in you!" he proclaimed, loudly enough that it startled everyone. "This is a war won by the people! With these Wispons, you have the power! We can't let evil win, so we're gonna take them out! Our destiny lies before us… it's time for justice! It's time to go fight! VICTORY IS OURS FOR THE TAKING!"

"YEAH!" everyone shouted in unison.

"We shall meet after the battle is over! Bring 'em to their knees!"

"UNDERSTOOD!"

Boar watched his unit brigade down the street with vigor. He turned and launched his cable onto the nearest rooftop to begin his own quest through downtown. It wasn't long until he came upon a building with a massive, circular hole in it, consistent with the skewering arm of a Death Egg Robot. The remains of ordinary-looking homes were exposed; seeing them made the bear very mad. This wasn't taking down the Resistance, it was just mindless destruction. He shot his cable at the roof of the hole and swung underneath, allowing his anger to fuel his haste when he landed.

Boar: "I know a way to stop the Death Egg Robots. Can you stall until I get there?"

Amy: "We can try, but what about your unit?"

Cat Soldier: "We've broken through enemy lines! The rescue is under way!"

Bird Soldier: "We're going to secure an escape route so there is a safe way out."

Boar: "See, nothing to worry about! I'm so proud."

Knuckles: "Thanks to all of you, things are turning around! Let's keep this momentum going!"

As Boar ran along the flat roofs, he saw glimpses of some of the battles scattered through the streets. Some of the civilians had taken to fighting alongside the Resistance soldiers, and they even looked to be an equal match for Eggman's troops despite having nothing but makeshift bludgeons and their own wits.

That was, until he got out of the denser parts of the city center. The extra space invited bigger robots, still resembling Egg Pawns in form, that were shrugging off everyone's attacks and retaliating with hammers and maces that made his Cube Wispon look small. He knew they couldn't possibly match the power it held within, though.

One particular Egg Breaker was having a time with a group of soldiers, utilizing a laser to cut off those outside the range of its mace. Grimacing, Boar abandoned his route to take an opportunity to attack it. He leapt from the rooftop, rolling up with his hammer extended to keep his momentum on a path that would hit the robot head-on.

The blue cartwheel of Boar bore into the metal being's hull, hitting it several times on his way down and toppling it over. When he landed, the hammer's arc brought it through to the ground, and the Wispon encased the robot in a large blue cube to match its size.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver!" one of the soldiers commented.

He gave them a solute and continued on his way. The Death Egg Robots were getting close.

Tails: "Boar, what's your plan? We can't stop them for much longer!"

Silver: "I came out to help, and we're still barely halting their advance!"

Boar: "I'm almost in position! Just keep them near the sewage lines!"

Ledge: "I rather hope you're not serious…"

A several-story maintenance building built into a hole where several tunnels met proved that he was. The bear grinded down the exterior railing that spiraled around the square structure and entered a tunnel in the direction of the sea. He wasn't concerned about sanitation, as the City had not had running water for some time now. No one was going to be using anything that fed into the tunnels. Plus, this certainly wasn't his first foray into advantageous underground passages.

Many of the lights that served to guide maintenance people were out, but Boar had a good sense of direction. It wasn't too difficult for him to track the position of the Death Egg Robot, due in no small part to the tremors that it caused with every step. Eventually, he reached a shaft illuminated in yellow from the late-morning sun alongside what lights remained in it. A tremendous quake nearly knocked him over along with all the platforms in the shaft, flickering the lights as well. It has to be close now, he thought.

With his strength, he clambered up the ladders to the top in little time, keeping a short length of his cable in hand just in case. However, the hatch to the surface refused to budge when he pushed on it. He groaned a bit, then took his Wispon and smashed it against the door to force it open.

He wasn't expecting to see the imposing black mech directly over the hole, its single red eye glowing menacingly as a couple of small figures flew around its head. Activating the last charge of his Blue Wisp, he climbed out and brought the hammer down directly between his feet, as if breaking ground with a pickaxe. Instead of breaking things down, a blue cube built itself there, lifting him above it. Rapidly, more and more cubes grow into a tower, ascending the bear all the way up to eye-level with that red eye. Immediately, it locked onto him, and he didn't hesitate to leap off before it destroyed his foothold.

"HRRRRAAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!" he bellowed. Using the same spinning maneuver, he collided with the eye, which shattered it and drove the hammer to the hilt into the robot's head. It discharged its Color Energy, and while the titan looked to be too big to cube-ify, it did seem to stop all functions.

After a suspenseful couple of seconds, the colossal enemy fell backwards. Like a wrecking ball, it crashed through any buildings in its way as it toppled, even destroying the street to create a sizeable crater where it landed. After that, it remained still. Boar remained where he was, breathing heavily, in awe of what he had actually just accomplished. The radio erupted in a chaotic round of voices.

Silver: "What was that?!"

Amy: "Boar, are you alright?!"

Ledge: "I'm speechless…"

"Yo, Boar!" a voice called in-person. Arc scaled the side of the metal hull and sat on the swivel where the robot's head met the neck. "That was frickin' radical, dude! And to think Sonic called me crazy… uh, you okay there?"

The bear used his hammer as a cane to pull himself up back to his full height. Even in exhaustion, he presented himself with that rigid military stance. It's not something you ever grow out of. "Yeah… but I might've overdone it some."

Knuckles: "Update from HQ: The enemy's on the run!"

Arc: "Wait, really? Even the other Death Egg Robots?"

Tails: "We drove them off for now, just like we have before. That means our mission is complete!"

Knuckles: "Well done, everyone! Let's rest for a few hours; I'm sure we all need it after our rude awakening this morning. But after that… we have a lot to talk about."