Time seemed to fly by as Ruby focused in putting her effort into the Resistance´s preparation for `Operation Phantom Break´ as storming of the Death Egg was called (based on the name `Prison Break´ from the previous Death Egg mission of freeing Sonic from that place). Alongside training with Shadow, and sometimes Sonic, the silver-eyed girl was also busy tinkering alongside Tails. The two of them not only created more version for the Douple-Wispons but also helped with upgrading the spaceships of the Resistance.
The machines had been previously belonged to the Eggman Empire but some troops had managed to sneak into the ships and take control when they had landed on Mobius to transport resources from some bases into the Death Egg during Operation `Prison Break´. During the escape, the ships and gotten damaged and couldn't get further use. Until now.
The Resistance´s tech team, led by Tails, with Ruby has his apprentice/assistant, not only repaired the spaceships but also gave them some heavy modifications. Where there had been previously massive and heavy frames for transporting as much cargo as possible, they were now of a much sleeker design but still retained a solid and stable outer hull, more fitting for a combat ready battle ship. The thrusters have been reinforced for higher speed and several weaponry and defense systems based on Hyper-go-on energy had been installed.
In just a few hours it would become clear whether these updates will be of any use.
One of the spaceships was piloted by Tails and Rotor, a mobian walrus that was part of the tech team and had been a great help in modifying the spaceships.
"System Check?"
"All systems are set," answered Tails´ copilot. "I´ve also got a message from the others, saying everything looks good on their parts."
The fox nodded. "Then let us begin."
He was, understandably, very nervous, but his hands remained steady as he activated the spaceship and steered the vehicle upwards, through Mobius' atmosphere. The rest followed soon.
Higher and higher they all went, until eventually the blue of the sky disappeared and was replaced by the empty and vast blackness of space. Stars were spread among it like a thousand glowing eyes watching the conflict of Mobius from afar. Silent and waiting. And the stars weren't the only ones. Tails briefly looked over his shoulder. While the tension during the flight towards Metropolis had been high enough one could have cut it with a knife, the one currently couldn't have even been scratched by a diamond cutter.
No one was talking, everyone was just sitting there and tried their best not to lose themselves in their anxiety and remain focused. The stakes and risk were much higher than the ones during `Operation Big Wave´. Retreating in the event something went wrong would be much more difficult. The security measures on the Death Egg were certainly much higher than those in Metropolis, as it housed the power source for their enemies' main weapon, after all. And that was before taking into account that the Empire must have added additional surprises since the Resistance was expected to come. Even the more powerful and experienced members weren't spared from the general tension.
Close to the front sat Team Dark, with Omega taking three entire seats. The former Badnik let his gaze constantly wander around, as if he expected someone to reveal themselves as a hidden enemy robot or Infinite or Cinder appearing out of nowhere. Shadow just sat there with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, pondering thinks deep in thought, yet at the same time was ready to fight if the signs of a battle approaching made themselves to be seen. Even Rouge wore a rather serious face, her ears twitching at the slightest noise.
Sonic and Ruby were sitting close to the trio. The human girl tried to distract herself from the coming battles, and very likely third confrontation with Cinder, by looking out from the windows of the spaceship and admiring the view. She even took some photos with her scroll to show her friends and family if- when returns that she was the first person of Remnant to leave the comfines of a planet. Still, awe in face of the vastness of (this) universe and nervousness for what´s to come switched control inside Ruby´s brain.
The only one to appear completely calm was Sonic himself. He just sat there, seemingly impatient, and couldn't wait for the action to begin. But Tails knew his brother-figure long enough to know that he was deep down just as nervous as everyone else, worried for the well-being of his friends and allies. Choosing a calm and relaxed look as to not demoralize the troops and heighten their anxiety.
Their eyes crossed and Tails gave Sonic an encouraging smile, which the hedgehog returned, and then turned forward again.
He checked the radars. There appeared to be an entire swarm of meteorites to be between them and the Death Egg.
"Strange, can´t remember being one there the last time we traveled there. Think Infinite put them there?" wondered Rotor. Tails shrugged.
"It doesn't matter if it is a natural occurrence or something caused by our enemy. It still poses a danger."
The fox reported this finding to the pilots of the other spaceships.
"Should we activate the force fields?" asked one of them over the com.
"No, the force fields use too much energy. We'll save them for the Death Egg's security systems. Any meteorites that comes too close should be avoided. If they are too big for that, shoot them to smaller pieces."
A unanimous "Understood" sounded over the intercom. Then once again there was silence permeating the air.
After a few more minutes the meteorites had appeared in Tails´ field of vision. The brown and grayish space rocks seemed to be everywhere. They would definitely cause trouble.
The spaceships approached the swarm slowly and carefully. Of course, because nothing could ever be easy, the first meteorite to hover towards them was a big one. Tails had no other choice but to activate the laser cannons and targeted the floating rock. He effortlessly shot it into smaller pieces. However, they were still big enough to cause serious damage and forced the spaceships to move apart in order to dodge them.
"Should we regroup?" asked one of the other pilots.
"No, we shouldn't do that so close to the meteorites. We have to maneuver between them separated. We regroup immediately after and as quick as possible, before any of the Death Egg´s security systems register us."
Tails ignored the others' response as his entire focus was on dodging the following meteorites. He weaved under and beside them or had to pull the controls upwards to rapidly fly over one. A move that caused some surprised yells to come from the troops seated behind him.
Rotor was a big help in pointing out incoming meteorites from the foxes blind spots or taking control of some of the laser canons alongside him when another bigger rock came towards them. Most of the time they were reduced to pebbles that bounced harmlessly off the outer skin of the spaceship. But one time a loud beep from the radar showed a meteorite as big as the entire ship. And right above them! Tails had to quickly steer the ship to the right and direct more power into the thrusters. A loud scrape and squeak sounded as the meteorite passed over the roof of the spaceship, narrowly missing it. Mobians and humans either covered their ears to blend out the uncomfortable noise of strained metal or murmured alongside one another, the latter something Sonic caused to stop by reminding everyone that the pilots needed to focus.
Luckily, after that incident, the rest of the flight trough the swarm went rather smoothly and in the end all of the Resistance´s spaceships had managed to leave the meteorites behind them.
The Death Egg was now in close vicinity. The colossal, metallic sphere seemed to grow larger as the resistance approached, with Eggman's face, which the station was modeled after, filling the entire view.
"That guy really needs to do an ego check," mumbled Ruby. She jumped a little as, like in a response to her words, the `eyes´ of the Death Egg´s face suddenly moved and focused onto the coming ships. Their mechanism registered the enemies of the Eggman Empire and started to surge with energy. The blue glow of the space stations eye-like constructs turned red. And their glow became brighter and brighter.
"Do a barrel roll!" Rotor yelled. Tails did just that and managed to barely dodge the laser attacks coming from the Death Egg. The other ships´ pilots also had managed to move just in time and avoid being obliterated. Of course it didn't stop at this one attack. The Death Egg started recharging its eye lasers while simultaneously sending spaceships of its own towards the Resistance. These combat ships were similar in structure to the Orca or Skull Frigate from the Interstellar Amusement Park but with a more militaristic design. Gray iron plating and spikes covering the bodies and cold blue, mechanical eyes looking at the incomers in hostility.
"Guys, hold on. Now things are going to get really uncomfortable." Tails performed another barrel roll and dodged several fired missiles. The passengers of his ship screamed, but he couldn't take his attention away from the attackers at the moment. An enemy spaceship got close enough that he and Rotor could destroy it with their lasers. Only for several more to show up a fire lasers of their own. Seeing no way to move in the time frame he had, Tails activated the force shield.
Based on the abilities of the Cube Wisps, several cubes made from dark blue energy appeared and formed a solid membrane around his ships, protecting it from enemy fire. Once the lasers stopped, the fox switched the shield off and Rotor fired rockets. The combat ships tried to fly away but the walrus´ rockets were homing in on them and destroyed them. But there was no time to celebrate for the Death Egg fired once again its massive laser beams. Dodging them this time was more difficult thanks to the presence of additional combat ships. A beam damaged one of the thrusters when it grazed Tails' spaceship.
"Okay, this can't continue like this," said Shadow, who had long opened his eyes and analyzed everything that had been happening since they left the meteorites. He took out his Chaos Emerald.
"What are you planning to do?" Rouge asked worriedly.
She got her answer when her friend yelled, "Tails! Rotor! Move us as close as possible. Me and Omega will teleport close to the eyes and destroy them and then move into the Death Egg. Sonic will follow, alongside you, Silver, Rouge and Ruby, by using the latter´s Chaos Emerald."
"I… okay! We´ll try our best!"
In good coordination, the two tech geniuses were flying in-between combat ships and their attacks until they've gotten significantly closer to the metallic Eggman imitation of their goal. The eyes were already glowing dangerously bright. No time to lose.
"Omega, are you ready?"
"DESTROY ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS AND TECHNOLOGY!" confirmed the last of the E-Series. With Chaos Control, Shadow brought them at first to the right mechanical eye and then the black hedgehog teleported himself to the left one. Shadow started to harness the chaotic, burning power, not only from within himself, but also the red gem glowing inside his hand. Omega retracted his claws extended his cannons. They started to rotate as electrical energy crackled inside of them. He too drew power from the green Chaos Emerald within his build. More and more until the electricity generated from his Lightning Dust enhanced machinery gained a green tinge.
Both of them focused their Chaos Energy and unleashed them in devastating attacks, just before the Death Egg fired its lasers.
In massive explosion the artificial eyes of the space station were obliterated by a Chaos Blast and a massive lightning beam fired from Omega´s cannons. Shadow then teleported to Omega's side again using Chaos Control before they disappeared in a flash of white.
"We´re in," the Ultimate Lifeform told his allies via the intercom.
While Ruby wondered in confusion how the mobian of the duo had survived in the vacuum, since Tails had warned and explained to her the dangers of space, said fox and Rotor nodded and lead the other spaceships closer towards the Death Egg. Unfortunately, after the destruction of the eyes, the remaining security systems were activated. The round surface opened up to show dozen upon dozen of turrets, canons, laser and plasma canon, and more combat ships. Soon the Resistance found themselves inside a total bullet hell. It forced them to put some distance between them and their goal.
The pilot of every single spaceship had to put in their all to remain focus and not get destroyed in ten different ways. They were responsible for the lives they carried. People, no, the entire world counted on them.
"What should we do?!" exclaimed Rotor in panic. Tails himself could feel the fear crawling and nagging in the back of his mind but he managed to remain focused on their objective.
"Follow Shadow´s plan. Once we are close enough again, me and the others will go into the Death Egg, find the Computer room and deactivate the security system. You will take full control of the ship while I´m gone, Rotor. You guys try to hold out as best as you can."
"Got it."
Explosions erupted silently in the vacuum of space as Tails and Rotor destroyed enemy spaceships, retaliating their attacks with shots of their own.
When they got close enough to the Death Egg again, several turrets aimed at them and fired wildly.
"SHIELD UP!"
The Cube Wisps shield blocked every single bullet shot at them but at the cost of rabidly eating trough their energy reserves.
"Everyone, quick!" Tails shouted over his shoulders towards his friends before he unbuckled his seat belt and let Rotor take control. The fox hurried to the side of Rouge, Silver, Sonic and Ruby, the latter giving the blue hedgehog the white Chaos Emerald.
"Alright, here goes nothing. Wish us luck everyone," said the speedster while raising the powerful gemstone. "Chaos Control!"
Everything around the five-headed group flashed a bright white. Once it disappeared, they found themselves in a different place.
Were there had been previously been the sorta cramped space of their space ship, the group now found themselves in a wide hangar.
Several spaceships of the Eggman Empire stood around, be it made for transport or combat, all maintained by Egg Pawns and other Badniks. The robots all turned their head toward the newcomers, their sensors having picked up on the rising Chaos Energy and the bright light. The second their AI recognized the organics faces, the Badniks went immediately for the attack.
Silver picked up some nearby crates with his telekinesis and made them over in front of the group to act as shields. Meanwhile, Sonic and Ruby spotted a spaceship close by, currently under repair, but big enough to work as cover for them. The speedsters ran ahead and destroyed the robots who had been working on the machine before they could harm anyone of their group. Tails, catching on what his friends were on about, helped out from the distance by using his Double-Wispon and shooting Badniks down. Once the immediate area was clear, everyone took cover behind the spaceship, with Rouge having picked up Silver to get him out from the line of fire and landed him and herself besides Team Sonic.
"Why did you bring us here, Sonic?" asked the bat.
"Well, I thought that in the hangar we escaped from last time there were combat fighter ships ready to be sent out and attack some friends. And look around, there are. We can destroy them here and now before the rest of us has to deal with them."
"I think we should rather focus on finding the computer room and take care of the security system. It would be more beneficial for our troops than taking care of every single machine the Empire throws in our way," Rouge objected.
"I get we´re your coming from, and I would´ve brought us there close as possible if I knew where the computer room is located. Tails, got anything?"
The fox was tapping on the Miles-Electric. "I´m trying to use some of the Data the Resistance had gathered from `Prison Break´ while also using some scans of my own. Give me some time."
"In that case we can take care of these tin cans!"
Sonic jumped out of cover and dashed toward the Badnik army. He jumped and heaved between the shots and smashed the robots apart with well placed homing attacks. Ruby looked like she was about to go after her fellow speedster. But then she paused. She looked around, letting her eyes wander to the roof of the spaceship they were hiding behind.
"Rouge, Silver. Go ahead and help Sonic. I will go on top of the ship and use it as a vintage point. With Crescent Rose´s sniper mode I can take care of the Badniks more efficiently this way. I will also be close by in case Tails gets into any trouble."
"Sounds good!" Silver turned to Rouge. "What do you think?"
The bat sighed. "Shadow won´t be happy about this delay. Oh well, since we´re already in this situation…"
Bat and hedgehog joined Sonic in fighting the Badniks head on. Ruby used her Semblance to position herself on top the spaceships, Tails still standing behind it and being busy with the Miles-Electric.
The huntress-in-training changed her weapon into a sniper rifle and took aim. Whenever she saw one or more robots attacking their friends from her blind spot, the machines would soon end up on the ground, their heads and/or bodies riddled with smoking holes from the cyan lasers. Ruby was careful not to damage the Badniks too much as Silver could then use them as shields and projectiles. Sometimes Rouge would stick her heart bombs on them before the telekinetic hedgehog would thrown them into huge clusters of robots, taking out huge chunks of enemies.
Some Egg Pawns tried to activate the combat ships in order to get an edge over their attackers. But Sonic always managed to catch them on time and turn them into scrap. Finally, the Resistance members decided to finish the fight: Sonic ran into the center of the hall and yelled, "Everyone, either take cover or try to get a good hold on something!"
He started to sprint in circles.
Realizing what he was about to do, the other did just that. Ruby jumped back down behind the spaceship to Tails side.
Silver hold himself and Rouge down with his telekinetic grip.
Sonic created a tornado that sucked the remaining Badniks, crates and mechanical parts into it. The hedgehog flew around curled up, destroying it all with Spindashes. Once the winds calmed down, Ruby, Silver, Tails, and Rouge looked around.
Scrap metal was scattered everywhere. The tornado was even strong enough to shift some of the heavy spaceships slightly. In the middle of all the chaos stood Sonic. He gave his friends concerned looks.
"You guys alright? That tornado was a bit stronger than I thought it would be."
"We´re fine," answered Ruby, stepping out from cover and wander toward the hedgehog. Tails joined her and so did Silver. Rouge said, "Well, we took care of the troops here but I bet there will be many more on the way to our goal. Tails, did you manage to find something?"
"I could calculate several possible routes. I-"
He was interrupted when all of their earpiece coms buzzed alive with static. Shadow´s voiced was heard.
"Status report. Did you manage to successfully infiltrate the Death Egg?"
"Indeed we were," answered Rouge. "How are things on your and Omega´s end?"
"Once we were inside, we got swarmed with the doctors creations. We managed to eliminate all hostiles in the immediate area but I can hear more approaching. I think the best way of action would be to regroup and go trough the Death Egg together."
"I agree," said Tails. "I will send Omega our current coordinates so you can teleport to our location."
"Understood."
Tails opened up a new window on the Miles-Electric and started tapping. The other stood gurad in case new Badniks tried to enter the hall. Once the fox was done, he asked into the com: "I send it. Did Omega receive it?"
He got his answer a minute later in a flash of white light. Shadow and Omega were now inside of the hangar as well. The hedgehog of the duo locked around.
"Why exactly are we here in a place like this?"
Sonic opened his mouth, but Rouge beat him to it. "Big Blue here thought we should thin the enemy ranks by portaging us in the middle of the hangar."
Shadow crossed his arms. "It would be more beneficial to our allies if you had appeared in a more remote location and made your way straight to the computer room."
"I told him that as well!"
Sonic raised his hands defensively.
"Okay, look, it was the first place that came to mind in all the hustle and bustle. That, and the prison where I was locked up, but I think that place would have been even worse than the hangar. And I thought to our friends "It would be good to give a little help."
"Do we really need to discuss this now," Silver interrupted. "Our people are out there fighting in extreme conditions. Every minute counts!"
"Yes, Tails has already been able to calculate some possible routes to the computer room, so finding the right one will be time-consuming enough without any discussions," said Ruby.
Shadow lowered his arms and took a deep breath. "Right. You´re right. Let´s just get moving. Tails, lead the way."
The fox nodded. With Miles-Electric in hand, the Douple-Wispon held by one of his namesakes, and in front of the others, the mobian led the other into the depths of Eggman´s massive space station.
Ruby looked ahead to the huge, rectangular floor that led out from the hangar. Beyond that, among the cold metal floors and shifting mechanisms, waited a certain Fall Maiden. Ruby was sure of it. She felt a slight throbbing that made itself felt in her scars. Ruby lightly clutched her right forearm with her left hand, massaging it.
With what happened in Metropolis, Cinder will most likely have become even more aggressive, the silver-eyed girl thought. She took a shaky breath. But that is only because I managed to actually hurt her. And this time…
She inched closer to Tails.
… I will be facing Cinder with not just my Wisps. We´re getting closer to a chance at victory. I won´t let her stop me and everyone else to get it. And maybe… I will even find some actual answer as to what happened with my mother. Or why and how Cinder managed to infiltrate Beacon and destroy it.
With a pang of fear but also newfound determination, Ruby Rose walked alongside her new friends towards their goal.
In another part of the Death Egg, Infinite and Cinder stood in front of a huge window. The duo look out into void of space surrounding the massive and round station, currently filled with battles between the Resistance´s spaceships and Eggman´s countermeasures for their attack.
"And so the time has come. Our enemies are here, clinging to their feeble hope. Trying to bring an end to my power," the masked reality bender snarled. "I wont let them. My powers are INFINITE. I will show them why I am worthy of calling it and myself such!"
"They haven't learned their lesson yet." Cinder's organic eye flared. The Fall Maiden looked like how she did in Metropolis, but with two differences. One, her damaged arm had been repaired after Ruby manged to pierce it trough the cyborg´s unstable Aura.
Two, for the avoidance of another incident like this, there had been a modification made. On her chest was a green and oval-shaped crystal infused into her cybernetic body, glowing vein-like wires spreading from it. It was a modified Chaos Cartridge that gave more energy to her Aura and not only stabilized it but made the Cyborg Maiden a bit stronger.
Cinder´s organic eye lit up. "I say we change that. Starting with the little intruders the Doctor´s tin soldiers have reported." She smiled while Infinite chuckled. "After all, we have quite the surprises prepared for them. It would be such a shame if they were for nothing."
You managed to escape every time we met in this world. But this time, in the vacuum of space, inside the creation of the Doctor, it will be difficult to run away, little Rose. This time I will get my revenge, I will show you why it is a bad idea to deny and soil my destiny.
Since the battle in Metropolis, Cinder's thirst for revenge and hatred for the silver-eyed girl seemed to have grown even greater. It was like a longing inferno, no, a kind of empty hunger within her, wanting to be satisfied by Ruby Rose's death.
It reminded Cinder of the feeling when the Fall Maiden magic within her had been incomplete, albeit weaker.
In a way she had missed this sensation. At that time it helped her to focus on gaining the other half of her power. And now, once again, it helped her focus on her next grand goal.
And here we have the first chapter of the Death Egg Arc. Things were hectic and they are about to get even more hectic. We also have a cameo from Archie, Rotor. Like Topaz, mentioned during Ch. 14, he is different from the source material. Here, Rotor was just a regular mechanic until he joined the Resistance.
To Guest: Kinda used that already offscreen with the Chaos Emeralds having helped Ruby (and other Resistance Members) when they landed in the Hospital Wing. If their healing powers will help the heroes in their future battles... we´ll have to see.
To reggielacey2: RWBY S1-3 had most of Monty Oum´s orgiginal vision so there is that. It´s true that Sonic is much faster but the reason the Double Boost works is for the ways Aura and Chaos Energy work, explained in chapter. No arguing on the power of the powers for Super Sonic and Co. As for the Brother Gods... from what we have seen, yeah, one could say there are just plante level. But one has to think what we havent seen: Did the Brothers just create Remnant as the planet itself or also the sun and moon for it and possible surrounding planets and stars? Did they create more after leaving Remnant?
I dont think I will include Surge and Kit but Tangle and Whisper may appear in the sequel. In the IDW comics it wasnt Metal Overlord but Master Overlord. He could be defeated without a Super Form because he needed the Master Emerald (for the most part) to sustain his form and Knuckles essentially just punched it out from his frame while the others distracted Master Overlord. The original Metal Overlord didnt have that weakpoint. Even then, I still think it would have been a bit too much out of nowhere and Neo Metal Sonic still missed certain stuff to achieve a higher form.
To Guest: I think you have to much of an all or nothing perspective on the situation. Yeah sure, if there are in or shortly before the final battle against the villains, then of course one has to focus on that. But, like I mentioned in another response to another reviewer, RWBY had to travel and stop around Remnant in their journey. There were moments were Ruby and the others could have talked about some stuff. But in the end it doesn't matter what our opinion on the canon show is, since we do not have any control over it. I have only control over my fanfiction here and decided that the Sonic cast could help Ruby out. Along the story this experience will help her out in becoming a stronger person altogether but of course I wont be spoiling exact plot points.
To SuperSaiyanFever: Indeed. In crazy worlds like Remnant and Mobius it is important to remain versatile if you want to be prepared against whatever enemies one could face. It was pointed out in the show that Ruby should have learned to gather more techniques than just her usage of Crescent Rose but it never came quite into fruition. So having Shadow, who is definetly an expert in hand to hand combat, would be an excellent teacher. That, and the two can have some interesting character interaction.
To Monster King: Thank you a lot :)