"I've got the drive, come get me on the hangar. They know I'm here... Olive!?" You reported into your communicator, the base still crumbling around you. It's old concrete structure began to scatter dust along the ground. Boxes toppled over.

Ejecting the drive, you booked it towards the hangar. A motobug and a construction robot appeared the second you sounded a corner. Your eyes widened as they turned a violent red. "woa-AHH."

Quickly drawing your (w/c), you stabbed the construction badnik, shutting the light in its eyes off permanently, and then stuck the sharpest edge into the motobug's tracks, causing it to become immobile. It let out a robotic screech and toppled over. The sound of more badniks came cluttering down the hall and you were forced to leave it. "Damn-" you muttered, whisking away towards the hangar once again.

The corner to the hangar was closed, and there was much commotion outside. The sound of massive engines vibrates the steel door, and the small crack where it opened gushed a violent but tiny streak of wind. 'Olive's here, perfect.'

"(Y-..#n.) Change of plans, we ne-.#ed you to boOo-d. T-the-the-the-..." Olive's microphone went out again, disabling her from finishing her sentence. Did she say board? Board the what?-

Growling with a rising sense of rage, you shook your fists and began to pry the door open with your claws, the brute strength dormant inside you was beginning to emerge, adrenaline filling your veins and the need for escape fueling your will to survive.

When you ripped the door open, the sides crashed into the wall. That small gust of wind turned into an extremely violent force of nature as if a tornado was welcoming you to your freedom. It was way too strong to be the SS Endurance...

Two spotlights were fixed to areas around you, scanning the landing pad as a large, disc shaped ship lowered onto the tarmac. Your last dance with fear was when the zombot almost touched you. It was a creation of your enemy, but now, that boss was standing right in front of you.

The Faceship. You were needed to board the Faceship.

. . . . .

A door lowered underneath it, a dark, short silhouette soon walked down it towards the inside of the base. An armada of badniks in full condition followed behind the stranger. They were too short to be Eggman, and had the stature of that of a Mobian, like you-

A henchman like those two skunks maybe? But you had to HIDE. Diving behind a barrel, you managed to stay out of sight.

'Seriously?!' You talked to your brain, curious WHY this thing was even here. It was an abandoned base and you just took all the data. That henchman maybe didn't know it, but regardless, there was nothing of tactical use to Eggman here...

Eavesdropping on the stranger, it was a masculine but elegant voice organizing the badniks. Through a small crack in the wood, you managed to make out some things... Yes, it was a mobian with a beak and white fur, dark streaks and was wearing small glasses. His outfit was actually rather stylish and on one of his hands was a strange spiraling stone... 'Nothing good if you'd ask me.'

You heard something about salvaging any well conditioned 'Old Eggman Tech'. Again, why?- Even if it was in good condition, it was all poorer quality from many years ago. Eventually, the mobian leader of this robotic brigade made their way inside. Funny enough, you heard a mourning yell of shock down the hall. He must of seen your small stampede of destruction. Perhaps he was a fan of Eggman technology.

With the immediate danger gone, you began moving again, creeping towards the Faceship's lowered door, the inside being very bright like a lab. Too obvious, and there were occasional clicks and sounds from robots inside guarding the entrance. Now this was a challenge.

If this guy was interested in old Eggman tech... Then... You scattered to the back end of the hangar, searching for anything that might be of interest to this duck-billed stranger. 'Aha, here we are'.

Behold, on the ground was an grounded, and armless, E-19 Egg Keeper bot. They were previously floating guard robots for some of Eggman's older base. 'And when they spotted an intruder-...'

You placed your hands on the side of its head to reveal a hollow inside. 'Voila...'

The robot must have been scrapped for parts, so thankfully you didn't need to rip out its mechanical guts. Legs first, you clambered inside and reattached the head, seeing through its blank eyes. Taking a deep breath, you prepared to get dizzle, as you rolled the robot from the inside, running on it like a hamster wheel towards a very obvious leg of the Faceship's landing gear.

With a bonk, you hit it's wheel and your head, creating a rather unwelcomed crashing sound. You threw a hand over your mouth as you groaned, hearing a voice come out of the base. It was that henchman.

"This technology is wonderful! Thank goodness some of it survived this long. I cannot wait to study such magnificent work." Through the Egg Keeper's eyes, you could see the robots that came with the stranger carrying burlap sacks full of metal and robots, or maybe even small Eggman junk that looked cool.

There was also a monotone buzz above you, as one of the guard robots came to investigate the sound you made. His sensors read your little disguise and aimed a bladed arm towards the shell of the busted Egg Keeper. 'Oh no-'

"Oh NO! Don't you dare even scratch that magnificent piece of history you behemoth-" The henchman's voice grew louder as he ran towards you, throwing his hands over and around the Egg Keeper to prevent the guard from, little did he know, exposing your position. "We are taking this with us. Chop chop, let's get moving." He clapped his hands, and you were picked up into the air by one of the robots. Into the Faceship you went, tense and crammed in this small steel ball.

. . . . .

It had been about 30 minutes since you were set down, and 10 since wherever you were was dead silent. You couldn't roll the Egg Keeper, only look through the small sight holes in its eyes.

Nothing else had made a sound, and from what you could see, there were no guards in the large space. Just more Eggman trash and old badniks.

Slowly, you twisted off the head of the Egg Keeper, tilting your head upwards so that your eyes could look out and around. Indeed, it was quiet. Too quiet- that or they didn't really be worried about unexpected guests.

Quietly as you could, you climbed out and remounted the head of the Egg Keeper as if you were never there, and made your way back into another vent system. This time, completely unaware of your surroundings.

You continued on a straight path unless you heard a sound, either stopping to be undetected or to listen in. It was only guard robots, much more than in the base, and much stronger.

Slowly, the sound of chatter emerged from a smaller room. Creeping through the vent above, small openings in the metal allowed you to peer into the area. It was a small lab with o

ne light on, facing papers and a desk. Below, was the henchman. Much clearer now.

A platypus with white fur and a dark streak, silver bill, and rustic maroon apparel. He appeared to be studying, glancing back and forth at old eggman blueprints. 'A fanboy-' You concluded.

He didn't appear to have anything worth spying on, so you began to turn away towards another direction, hopefully wherever Eggman may be- but the Platypus let out a deep sigh, and sad back in his chair, a defeated expression on his face.

Your eyes refocused back on the henchman, flicking on a recorder you brought with you for the spy mission.

"Orbot... May I confide in you?" The platypus looked underneath his desk where a small, orb shaped red robot sat lounging.

What's on your mind?" His robotic voice was cheerful, eyes and mouth lighting up whenever he spoke.

The henchman began to let his eyes wonder, looking around the facility room. "Ever since he started his conquest, I've been fascinated by Dr. Eggman. His brilliance, his tenacity, his charisma- and I've only assumed Sonic keeps defeating his because of his overwhelming power..."

He stood up, turning to face the robot, "but now that I've seen Eggman out in the field, he seems to be his worst enemy. He's not planning for the long term." Holding a hand up to his brain, the platypus became frustrated.

"Yeah- He has big ideas and big execution, but when Sonic shows they do their routine. Some big explosions. Rinse. Repeat." Orbot explained.

The henchman was venting about Eggman TO an Eggman machine. That's- rather interesting. There seemed to be a slight distrust now between the two villains, perhaps we could use this. Turning off the recorder, you proceeded on towards the next direction.

Eggman's control room.

. . . . .

After about 15 minutes of searching you found it. The control room was a massive bridge-like area, with a wide outlooking glass barrier at the horizon below. You were back up in the air, and that may be an issue.

The room set-up was similar to the base, with a central control panel that badniks were guarding... and a throne at the center. It was the same design as the one from the blueprint at the old base. However the chaos emerald slots were on the other side. You hoped that there wasn't anything in there yet.

Badniks faced the other way of where you desired to drop down, allowed easier than thought access. Like events replaying, you dropped down on all fours to reduce the noise, and hid behind the side of an electronic counter top. On the side were various import and export drive slots, and you stuck your in the respective space. Data immediately began to stream in. You had no idea what it was, but being directly from the Faceship, it all had to be important.

Your data drive was programmed to delete the file from the home computer as it streamed into the new drive. Eggman most likely had back ups, but this would maybe put a delay in any of his plans fo-

"I'll handle things myself if I have to." The henchman burst into the door, heavy foot steps marching towards the control panel you were hidden behind. You would be seen...

'Damn-'

Right as the henchman got to the desk, you jumped up and fly-kicked the unsuspecting platypus back towards the throne chair. He let out a gawk in surprise, grunting as he his the hard stone sculpture. Your eyes were narrowed and angry, your body landing securely on the ground and immediately going into a battle stance. The drive was still downloading and deleting information...

"My my, what is this?" The henchman rubbed his head and opened his eyes back up to see you- or in his eyes, the legendary fighter (N/n). He stood up and climbed into the throne to sit and recover...

And behind him was a fully occupied, adorned and glistening, series of 7 chaos emeralds embedded in the throne.

I promise (Y/n) will be interacting with more canon characters soon.

Chapter Length @1930 Words