In the Zone

(Thread for me and Gregzilla)

Sonic World. South Island.
Green Hill Zone...


"*KZZZT* ...This is Sentry Unit 5. Requesting backup...*KZZZT*"
"...Huge Super Badnik spotted! All Units mobilize...*KZZZT*"
"This is Sentry Unit 6 calling in. The thing is on a rampage! Already broke through our first barricade!"
"*KZZZT* We got a response from Resistance HQ. Back-up is coming, but we need to slow this thing down until then!...*KZZZT*"
"*KZZZT* Understood. Sentry Units 5 through 7; Mobilize and continue applying pressure...*KZZZT*...Units 1 to 4 stay within settlement perimeters. We can't let this thing get to Vista View..."

-------

The sun set upon the horizon, casting its orange hue upon the open plains that extended across the landscape. Fresh lush green pastures accompanied by mountains and hills of varied shapes and sizes made of grass and oddly checkerboard-patterned soil. The soft breeze of the afternoon pushed some of the leaves off the nearby trees and the sound of the coursing falls appeared to be the only thing breaking the sound of serenity which accompanied the soft chirping of flickies and other birds, from here all towards the loop-shaped structures that could be visible from afar...

However, this was but just a moment of peace...



The powerful thumping noises quickly broke upon the silence. Each stomping thud was followed by the furious rumbling from the ground. Mechanical clanking and wiring mixed with the noise of cracked earth and breaking debris. Tall platforms and loop-de-loop foundations brought to pieces alongside a massive cloud of dirt that lifted from the expanding wreckage. Alongside this dust veil of destruction was accompanied by a massive robotic behemoth that was makings its way throughout Green Hill. An enormous crab-shaped automaton proceeded to march unrelenting across the previously peaceful territory, leaving craters with every stomp from its gigantic legs.

Previous soldiers of anthropomorphic nature had settled a series of barriers in order to halt or at least slow down the Multi-legged BattleMech. Applying pressure with constant weapon fire from their strange-shaped blasters and orange-colored rocket launcher-like devices. As each blast hit the mechanical behemoth, pieces of its shell ended up bruised or broken; Yet nothing appeared to be enough to truly stop its wake. Crashing upon the barricades with a relentless rage.

The clock was ticking and the need for a hero rose quickly. But this was far from the only mission that would manifest today....

(This takes place after "Tower to the Heart" in Mysterious Tower.)


Typical.

After the information gained and given, the heartfelt moments... she had needed a break, even a momentary one. Of course the first place she had gone was a literal warzone.

The woman stood at about five and a half or so feet, if not a bit taller, in dark clothing. Her hood was up, hiding the top half of her face, though a ponytail reached through the back of said hood a bit. Her skin was quite pale, her mouth a straight line, as if she had turned off her emotions.

She was by no means exceptionally fast, nor was she altogether the strongest. It seemed that the mutant animals around this place, or perhaps simply natives, were often rather quick themselves. Still, from the top of a green hill of sorts, not too far off, she could see them.

A hand reached up to the side of her head, as she focused in from range. The crustacean seemed mindless, but focusing in on surrounding troops, those firing those white laser weapons, showed a variety of emotions. Negative ones, primarily. Fear of the mechanical monster, anger at its for its rampage, hopelessness in the face of its onslaught. It would have to be enough.

Azumi Tamashī sprinted as fast as she could, channeling the darkness of her emotions, of her confusion and frustration, into her partly-broken armor, and in the process speeding herself up considerably. First to the speed of a peak athlete, but then as she came closer to the attack, it sped faster, and faster, a shadow of black-and-red energy coalescing around her that she alone could really see clearly until it reached her. The aura around her became more cohesive... but she kept her breath stable, as if by force. She could not break down, not here.

As far as the various soldiers around would understand, she was not a blur as would be the case in many of their people, but for a human, she was extremely fast, her heart rate moving to keep up with her enhanced speed.

The woman drew saw it approaching the town, and stopped suddenly, skidding to a halt near a soldier. She took a knee, drawing a handgun, the end extended a bit. The entire thing seemed almost cursed, but she said nothing, aiming down the scope... and fired off a burst of shadowed gunfire. Then another. Then another. Some shots missed, others were dead on target.

For a moment, there was silence...

BOOM!

An eruption occurred from one of the legs of this veritable tank, the explosion of shadows occurring right at one of its back legs. Again it happened, then again!

The Death Crab slowed significantly, teetering, as some shots seemed to pierce its main shell, then again the gunfire came, the bursts themselves rather suppressed in sound, but the location of the explosions doing far more.

By the end of the bursts, one of the legs was collapsing, slowing down the crab, but its attention was spread out, trying to pinpoint where the attack had come from.

"Your frequency," the dark savior said to the closest defender to her, motioning to his radio. "Now."

The sudden arrival of the magically-enhanced human caught the soldiers by surprise. While the visage of her kind was a rare one within the smaller islands, much more during the war's aftermath, her eerie black and red aura swirling around her during her arrival was what truly put them on edge. Bad memories coursed their minds, as her looks reminded them of a rather infamous figure that terrorized the land...

However, the menace of the gigantic automaton stopped them from simply rising their Wispons towards Azumi, nor did they have much time to even attempt such a motion before the woman approached them.

"What the..." Muttered one of the soldiers, a thin-bodied brown-furred bear dressed in a military set of body armor and a dark grey helmet. Azumi moved close to him, which prompt him to grip at his blaster tightly, unsure of the woman's intentions. "I don't know who you're but you can't simply--"

However, his warning was cut short as a voice emerged from his communication radio, as it was set on an open active line. Azumi heard a feminine voice speaking through even if faintly. It seemed lucky that the soldier had kept his radio loud enough for her to at least listen to this person faintly: "Unit 1, do not confront. Just hand it over."

"W-what? Ms. Rose. Are you sure?" Asked the soldier.

"Affirmative. She seems to be on to something, and we can't afford any missing chances to bring the Death Crab down."

"Alright..." Said the bear before turning back to Azumi. "The frequency is 645.7..."

As soon as the Off-World Soldier would hook into the frequency, this female voice she was hearing was much clearer, "This is Amy Rose speaking, you're now broadcasting through the entire Unit's line. The floor is yours."

Well… this was new. Generally speaking, people tended to be scared of her when she was well-armed, and "Unit 1" seemed to fall under that description.

However, this "Amy Rose," who appeared not to have a preferred title, was more like some of the travelers she had met. That said, perhaps it was just a case of convenience.

Azumi would take what she could get. She put a hand to the side of her head, and channeled her magic inward. Using the neural interface in the back of her head, she adjusted frequency, amplitude… there. From there, she spoke up, her message hopefully transmitted to others as she prepared another shot.

"Concentrate fire on the joints," she instructed, speaking of this large, hostile crustacean. "One leg at a time. Keep it moving in one direction, make it turn."

As she said this, she focused in on her hood, trying to sense emotion. Yes, Unit 1 was afraid, but that thing seemed to have no genuine emotion whatsoever. Not even the smallest pinprick to indicate a pilot, or at least one with any emotion.

That said, she fired again, aiming at the next of its eight legs, causing another burst, another explosion.

She just hoped it was intelligent enough to go for the source, or at least not so determined that it would refuse to change direction.

"You heard her. Everyone, fire!!!"

With the plan now understood, all the soldiers pointed their Wispons at the mechanical crustacean's limbs. As per Azumi's orders, they fired their shot at a converging point at each leg rather than scatter their targets. This, alongside Azumi's own magic, was good enough to pierce through its plating and breaking the structure within.

The Death Crab slowed down with each leg lost until it was unable to sustain its own weight and balance, crashing down upon the ground as the destruction spread in a chain reaction, cracking part of its body and causing the mech's internal circuitry to fry, shutting down...

With just a few feet from reaching them, the gigantic robot now laid lifeless before them. The battle had been won.

However while a few cheers of victory and sighs of relief could be heard from far away, one could easily feel the tension that remained in the air.

Everyone's sights were on Azumi. Not just from the Soldiers, who still held tightly to their Wispons just in case of seeing her leap at them or something. From the town nearby some citizens, also a multitude of different animals, had come to see the commotions, while others preferred to watch from windows and balconies.

Whispers and murmurs would reach the human woman's ears, all while expressions of uncertainty and fear surrounding her. If she were to look around she'd see some civilians moving behind the armed ones scared, or adults trying to keep their distance while urging their kids to do the same.




But then the thick air was cut through as quick footsteps could be heard. from within the crowd surrounding Azumi, a new figure appeared. It was a pink hedgehog girl of short hair and green eyes. She wore a red hairband that matched her bright red dress alongside a set of red and white boots and a pair of golden ring-shaped bracelets and a pair of gloves. Unlike the rest of the townsfolk, she seemed to be beaming with happiness at the results of the previous encounter.

"That plan work. Amazing work!" She exclaimed as she happily went to Azumi and shook her hand. She could now tell this pink hedgehog was the one Amy Rose who spoke to her through the soldier's comms.

She soon noticed how tense everyone was and quickly turned to the crowd before she huffed. "Hey! What's with the cold treatment? She helped us save the town from getting trampled by that battlemech so lower your weapons."

"Commander Rose, are you sure...?" Asked a soldier before he was quickly cut by her.

"Yes, I'm sure. She didn't need to come and help us out but she did regardless. The least we can do is give her the benefit of the doubt and at least give her our thanks."

The soldier nodded after a sight, "Y-you're right." She then turned to Azumi as his squadron gave the woman a military salute. "Thank you for your assistance, ma'am!"

The unit soon spread to check on the destroyed Death Crab as well as to oversee any damage to the town's outskirts. As they did, Amy approached Azumi once more and happily said. "I'm glad you arrived when you did. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to take down that thing, or at least, not before he had caused some mayor property damage in the process. Things have been a bit rough while Sonic is..."

She realized she trailed off and focused once more on the human soldier. "But hey, maybe you need to rest for a bit. You look like you traveled far to get her. It's the least I can do. Let's head to Resistance HQ and we can talk a little more there" It seemed she was not gonna accept a no for an answer and before Azumi knew it, she was being dragged away by the hedgehog girl...

----------------------------------------------------

RESISTANCE HQ

A quick flight in an airship later, Azumi found herself inside a shelter-like base. Computers and monitors, as well maps and schematics, surrounded her while soldiers and other animal folk occasionally walked in and out of the room through the automated blast door.

Most strange was that she now was sitting at a table, as a plate of pastry sweets was placed before her alongside a cup that was soon filled with warm tea by an adorable young Rabbit girl.

"Thank you for the snacks, Cream." Said Amy towards the rabbit, who simply gave a polite nod of the head.

"It's no problem, Ms. Amy. Happy to help." She said before hopping off, apparently not intimidated by Azumi's appearance in the slightest. Amy took a short sip of her own cup , smiling as she felt the soft sweet taste go down her throat. She grab at one of the pastries but held it on her hand for a bit as she started talking.

"Hope you don't mind the food. Cream tends to be very insistent when it comes to hospitality. And well, you look like you could use the break." She stated before taking a look at Azumi, "We usually don't get many human people coming here lately. Everyone is busy fixing things across the globe after the War. This is Resistance HQ, but now that we are no longer in a major fight I was thinking we may be due to a rebranding. Maybe The Restoration may be more suited once we can finally suppress all those wandering Badniks roaming around."

"But I'm just rambling around. I haven't even asked your name. I just been so caught up with work lately."

Azumi was not overly disappointed with the fear around her. In fact, she expected it. People who saw her powers tended to be afraid or angry, or otherwise attack her or tell her to leave. Her freakish powers were a curse of sorts, one likely irreversible. Though she had found a way to live with it, at least to a degree, it did not mean she would defend herself from this impression.

What did surprise her was the emerging pink hedgehog, who was not only happy to see her, but openly shook her hand. She seemed nice, and despite her apparent youth in comparison to some of the more grizzled members of this army, she was a ranking officer. She had an air of authority and common sense, and others seemed to listen to her. All things considered, she was likely behind the scenes, a comms officer, rather than leading from the front. Granted, that was not entirely set in stone, and given this was a seemingly primarily ground-based force, she doubted the NAVCOM structure she knew held in its entirety, but-

… was that a squeaky hammer?

Right. A large, pink, talking hedgehog with a squeaky hammer. Considering a mouse was in charge of a kingdom elsewhere, she really had to get used to this kind of thing.

The salute was a relief, something she knew about. She returned the gesture in turn, almost on instinct, before, with a brief yelp, she was practically dragged by Commander Amy Rose back the way she had come.

----

The trip to the apparent base of operations had been enlightening in some ways. It helped to identify the level of technology around. However, she was most surprised with how nice the commander was being. Not naïve, at least as far as she could say, but not too upset either.

The tea was rather good, but she did not much touch the pastries, preferring to keep away from eating too much.

This entire situation was strange, but she wasn’t one to delve too deeply into it. For instance, humans seemed rare, but life appeared to have evolved to cater to anthropomorphic animals. Were humans from some other world, or was that too far fetched? They did not seem too out there, in any case, though it seemed that they did not typically have any form of supernatural abilities.

"It's fine," the woman said, giving a brief half-smile to the girl, "Cream," as she left. "I've been trying to keep my mind off… things. She seems like a good kid." The acceptance out of the way, she decided to just answer, not as though there was a point in hiding her name here. "Azumi Tamashī. Nice to meet you, Commander Rose. I'm from out of town. People were talking about something else I might be connected to, something male. Could you describe this person? It may be someone I know about."

Seeing more of her responses during their stay at the base, Amy could feel her hunch was indeed correct; That this person did not mean any harm to them and could be welcomed as an ally.

"Amy is just fine, really. No need for something so formal." The pink hedgehog said following a soft chuckle, "I kind of fell on my role to back up our Commander, another friend of mine, so it's nothing I'd really consider permanent; For none of us. In truth, I'm still looking for someone to do better in this position than me."

Her real surprise came once Azumi started to ask about the past war's history, something that did rise a bit of suspicion. Not regarding her being a threat or something of the sort. But rather making her more curious about the woman soldier's origin; Feeling that the simple "From out of town" remark seemed way too abroad, as if to hide more.

Still, Amy decided not to pry any further and simply to indulge in Azumi's curiosity. Following a deep sigh, she began:

"I wouldn't be surprised if you knew, although nothing good would come out of it. We just recovered from a huge war against that evil scientist Dr. Eggman. Usually, things would go way more smoothly, but this time around he tipped the scales in his favor by using what he called the Phantom Ruby. A powerful gemstone that could distort someone's reality and perception and create illusions that could act and feel as if truly real."

"He infused some of this power to his enforcer; Someone who called himself Infinite. With that amount of power, he wrecked countless cities, attacked so many people, and pushed through entire armies like it was nothing. Thanks to him and the Ruby's power, Eggman managed to conquer around 99% of the entire planet!"

She sighed once again, "Your power, while I guess is entirely different, looks kind of similar to his. And considering how much fear he put the people through with his destruction, it doesn't surprise me so many would be scared." She smiled before continuing, "Luckily both him and the Ruby have been dealt with thanks to Sonic! So we don't have to worry about him again."

"Even if he got beat the first time, and thanks to some of the Resistance's help, Sonic managed to escape his capture, free everyone from Eggman's control and save the day as he always does! He's so great and cool and such a good friend..."

She went on a bit of a tangent there as she kept reminiscing about his Sonic. While she may not know him, it'd be incredibly clear to Azumi that the pink hedgehog had strong feelings towards this guy. Amy jolted herself out of her dreamland and quickly apologized in embarrassment. "S-sorry! I kind of got carried away there. Ahem, anyways..."

"Right now, the Resistance's focus is mostly on making sure to shut down any remains of Eggman's forces, like that giant Super Badnik you destroyed. Sonic was helping us track some movement from them, but a week ago he just vanished and we have no idea where he could have gone."

The human woman listened, taking it in. This Phantom Ruby sounded like the Realm of Darkness, but within the victims' minds. The threat was apparently gone… but effects would linger. She knew that as much as anyone.

Of course, she was embarrassed as well as annoyed at having apparently given up a hung that she was from very far away indeed, all but saying she was not on the planet for some time. However, if Commander Rose wasn’t going to ask, she wasn’t about to explain.

Hearing about this "Sonic" was an intriguing change of pace. Azumi had seen people with crushes or otherwise feelings for others, even if ignoring her own for the time being, and the adulation was rather obvious. However, the most interesting thing was that last part.

He had disappeared without a trace… not unlike herself. Perhaps he had transferred from one world to another? Them losing their hero could likely be a rather hefty blow to morale, as she knew from the UNSC's SPARTAN units or other high ranking officers.

"I take it you would want to find him, or have someone do so. Depending on how far off he is, if there is any trace at all, I could try helping you out a bit. What would you or your people know about it, Comm-Amy?"

Amy appeared rather surprised by the offering. "Would you really help us like that? Thank you." She said with a warm smile, her hands brought together.

She soon explained the situation. About Sonic. Who he was, how he looked. All the details. From the sound of it, beyond just missions and crushes, this Sonic was very important to a lot of people. The definition of a hero true, but also one of a friend.

Of course, the events leading to his disappearance. Having gone to check on strange activity coming from aimless robots, hoping for a lead into the whereabouts of the defeated Dr. Eggman, and then losing all communication altogether. Amy explained that when they arrived to his last seen location, nothing but crumbled debris and broken machinery was left; With the exception of random rings scattered around. It wasn't as if Sonic had even been hurt or anything. In fact, broken Badniks all over the scene indicated the complete opposite.

Still, he had just vanished.

"And that's pretty much it. We're trying our best to find any more clues, but nothing has shown up at the moment. Eggman's complete disappearance and his robots starting to coordinate again was already a problem, but with Sonic gone we must try our best to keep the hope going." Amy stated, holding on to her cup as she stared at it with a wishful look in her eyes. "Of course, he wouldn't want us to be all worried and scared. After all, he always finds a way. Still, not just for just his help, Sonic is our friend, and if me or any of our pals would be somehow lost or trapped somewhere, he would stop at nothing to come and find us."

Words that seemed to resonate. A powerful friendship and commanderie, as well as someone who would fare harsh adversity just to help a friend. Things that could unintentionally call back to the soldier, if she were to reminisce about the still-lost Aqua...

Amy was always good at noticing people's feelings as well. And so she notice the sudden shift in Azumi's face but chose not to poke at the subject further. Rather simply offering some kindness back. "Of course, if you really want to help us, don't think that we wouldn't want to thank you back. If there's any help you need with something of your own, you just have to ask."

The automatic doors of the bunker suddenly opened, taking the attention away from the conversation.  A somewhat gruff voice was heard as the new figure entered the room. "Hey Amy."



The pink hedgehog turned back to see a familiar face, but for Azumi this would be another new creature making his appearance. A purple-eyed Echidna of red fur stepped towards them, sporting long dreadlock-like hair that came down to his frame. A white marking adorned his chest alongside his pair of big white mitten-like gloves that he had in his hand, each sporting a pair of hard spike protuberances coming out from around the knuckle area. With colorful shoes and a somewhat aloof look in his eye, the animal stopped next to the two right as Amy got up from her chair. "Just finished that investigation back at Barricade Town. Had to deal with a couple of brutes that were trying to take over the place."

"Oh, hey there, Knuckles." Amy said. Her glance shifted to Azumi before she introduced the newcomer to her. "Azumi, this is Knuckles. Friend of ours and the current head commander of the Resistance. Knuckles, this is Azumi. She helped us with the rampaging super badnik that was rampaging towards Vista View a few moments ago."

The red echidna stared at the human. A serious look on his face. He was clearly analyzing her. While she would be able to sense the weariness at first, it immediately vanished from within him in less than a second; Showing no signs of mistrust towards her. It appeared have could assess she was an ally rather quickly. This was solidified when he showed a smirk before speaking:

"So, you're the one the soldiers around keep talking about. Keep hearing you displayed some strong power and skill. I can respect that. Anyone willing to go out against such a tough target to help out is ok in my book." Knuckles extended his hand toward her in a courteous greeting.

"She even offered to help us if needed. I'm sure with her and everyone working hard at the Resistance, we will be able to bring things back to normal real soon." Exclaimed Amy with an energetic burst of emotion. Knuckles meanwhile remained somewhat aloof, simply crossing his arms and staying quiet for a moment.


Then he spoke again, very forward and blunt, "About that...I'm stepping down from the Resistance."



There was a beat of silence that soon followed. Amy froze for a second.



"What."




"Like I said. I'm stepping down." Knuckles spoke bluntly again, "With the war over, I'm not really needed as a Commander anymore so I don't see any point of keeping on that role. I've been away from Angel Island for too long and I've to go back to my duties of guarding the Master Emerald."

From what one could infer, this didn't sound as selfish or heartless coming from him. The bluntness seemed to come out of a more naive type of thinking, or rather a slight lack of social cues. If anything could be assumed from him, friend or not, was that he was someone that tended to pass most of his time with little interaction with other people.

"W-what!? But there's still so much to be done. There's still a lot of paperwork to do, and repair work to oversee. You can't just walk out!" Amy stated.

"Weren't you the one who chose to pick all that because you said I couldn't do it? I'm sure you can do better than I can."

"I mean, yes I did. But I didn't expect it all to be so stressful. And I still haven't found a replacement for my role before we can finally shift into the Restoration phase. I need all the help I can get!" She pink hedgehog groaned. Her hands were brought to rub her temples as she explained herself, "And what about Sonic? He's still missing!"

Knuckles quickly replied back, "I never said I couldn't help out if you need to. But I'm way more useful out there than behind a desk. As for Sonic, you're worrying too much. I'm sure he charged recklessly into something AGAIN. He always get into these messes and then he'll find a way to fix it and then be all smug about it, as usual."

Azumi looked over this new arrival. A red… echidna, by the looks of him. She had seen her fair share of extraterrestrials, so while it was a somewhat new experience to be greeted fondly by any, it wasn’t too odd that…

Wait. Was his name Knuckles? Between him, this Sonic person, and Cream, was Commander Rose the only person with a name she could consider normal?

It was not a case of the names themselves being strange, either. She had seen many cultures, many disparate worlds as well. But at least those names had a sense of consistency. Here she was seeing a ton of one-word names after objects, apparently followed by "the Species," with Amy Rose being the apparent sole exception aside from their antagonist. She had one of two possible reasons in mind: either Commander Rose was from some other part of the world, or the others were using code names to avoid being caught.

Or there was no real rhyme nor reason. She really hoped that was not the case, but she was no linguist, so it was not really her problem.

Either way, she listened to the argument. It seemed this soldier wanted to retire, perhaps to defend his own people more directly. Maybe this "Angel Island" was where the echidnas lived, as she did not see any here nor on the way over. He did seem a bit unintelligent, at least in terms of social graces, but if his heart was not in the fight, they were likely better off with him doing things his own way.

She had agreed to help, but not on a long term basis. Just enough to get her head around things, to consider her thoughts on what had been said by Master Yen Sid and Rikka. But really, any help she could get regarding her search would be most welcome indeed… if she knew how they could help at all, apparently being mostly technologically based. But as Amy had said, there was a lost friend, a lost sister of sorts…

"Fighting the darkness... it takes a lot. You know this, so do I. But with others, that fight is a little easier."

… but that was for another time.

"You seem to run a tight ship," the human noted to Amy. "Leading is hard, but it isn’t for everyone. If you can handle it, there you have it. Field operatives will be available, I assume." She wasn’t very good at talking about command, more used to taking orders than giving them, but hoped it helped.

"But I assume this mission is important. What do you need me to do?"

Amy was thankful for Azumi's words. With a nod, she replied, "Thanks. I still think it'll be better if I start the search for someone to fill the role in the future. But for now, I'll do what I can to keep things running until then."

Knuckles crossed his arms casually while he proceeded to shift the topic to the matter at hand, "So, you mentioned there was some important mission?"

"Right." Amy stood up from her seat and proceeded towards a large monitor located in the room. Approaching a keyboard located close to it, she typed a series of commands which made a few images manifest on screen. The first two shots appeared to be of a series of islands, one of them oddly having its mountains shaped almost like a whale. The other couple of pics displayed different shots of some sort of fortified base. The looks of it, a very military-styled facility with a series of large towers around each corner, all showing signs of cannon-like artillery, possibly to attack any ships or land base vehicles that approach it. While the pics didn't show much of the interior, there was one area for sure that appeared to be visible past the hard iron walls; A large building that extended upwards above, possibly some sort of watchtower.

From Azumi's perspective, this'd seem like some sort of military facility, if not a bit unusual in looks but overall something expected from her technologically advanced world of origin, however, another thing that could possibly spark curiosity was the constant red logo that seemed to be sprayed upon each walls of the base:



Something about it just gave out an eerie feeling...

Amy started explaining, "Not so long ago we received some intel regarding a still active Eggman base on a small island not so far from the territory of Seaside Hill. It's location within the borders between the island and mainland territories seem to have helped it stay somewhat hidden during wartime. I previously send the Chaotix to go check it out and find out if there're any clues we can find regarding the sudden activation of Badniks in the area. The last text I got from Vector was that they manage to disarm the defense artillery from those towers, but it seems they are currently stuck inside the facility and requested some extra help. There's no doubt that a lot of mechs are still active inside, which just makes it all the weirder."

She took a pause before continuing, "Even weirder was a message I got from our friend Tails, who mentioned odd energy level spikes happening recently within the general are days prior. The same energy signatures as the ones we registered in Green Hill and the ones we sent Sonic to investigate."

"You think this could lead us to find out what happened to Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

"Either that or maybe a clue on what is happening with all these Badniks acting up as of late. Remember we still have no idea of where Eggman ended up after the war, so if there's any connection between this and his disappearance we need to find out."

The red echidna smirked before slamming his large fist against the palm of his other hand in a excited posed, "Alright, we go there, we smash the place up, find the Chaotix and get some info out of it. Sounds right up my alley, specially the smashing part." He then turned towards the young human and said, "Think you're up to it?"

Azumi thought on what had been revealed, having been looking over the image as well, trying to gauge them for weak points or ambushes as far as she could tell. The insignia did look rather unnerving, but also appeared to be a human face. That said, she could not base her assumptions on a silhouette, but it may have had some bearing on why they did not trust her at first.

"Tails", another likely codename like "Knuckles." Again, it was understandable. Perhaps some kind of mutant or otherwise supernatural creature, or even a species found here? No, calling them that implied something unique. Same went for this Chaotix unit, headed by a "Vector".

She could handle this. Of course, dropping into enemy territory to deal large amounts of strategically-arranged damage, be it stealthily or overtly, physically or through denial of intelligence in other ways, was her old job.

The shock trooper nodded to the echidna, her face momentarily a slight grin at familiarity before is disappeared, replaced by a neutral, serious expression.

"So where do we drop?" she asked, unconsciously using the parlance to which she was accustomed.

Knuckles smirked as she seemed to accept the mission, Amy smiled in tow before proceeding to direct them on their next step. "While we can trust the main artillery towers are down, dropping you right inside the center of the complex may still be a bit risky, so make sure to land near the eastern wall. It does seem to be the one easiest to climb." She explained before clasping her hands together as she enthusiastically exclaimed, "All right then! Good luck you two! I know you can do it"

And so, Azumi was led through the Resistance Base until she arrived at a hangar. There awaited some kind of large dropship, where two other soldiers stood by the access ramp, saluting at the sight of the shock trooper and red echidna. Knuckles dismissed the salute and prompted them to head inside and get everything ready for liftoff.

The massive iron doors of the hangar opened sideways, blinding the room with the natural light from the outside. With our heroes fully settled in, the aircraft lifted into the air before thrusting forward, flying into the endless sky with a mighty roar of the thrusters.

The checker-patterned grass fields soon gave away to a vast blue ocean. the orange sky of sunset shifting the hues of the waters as the sunshine hit upon the surface, making the ocean shine beautifully like a jewel. From there it seemed to it was nothing but seas with the occasional sight of nearby islands.

At the signal of one of the pilots, it'd take half an hour to arrive at their destination. Knuckles, meanwhile, appeared to be rather silent during the trip. not even opting to sit on one of the seats on the drop hold, but rather stand still with his arms crossed, eyes closed in self-reflection. Despite this, his expression appeared to be alert. It gave the air that he wasn't the most social of characters, but would be prompted to speak if Azumi had any questions while they awaited until the appointed time.

The military woman sat back, looking around outside. As with before, it was a big world, but she didn’t really think she would take the time to see it all.

Her mind was drifting a bit, thinking as they moved along. Thinking back to the angel, to their time together. Azumi was very work-focused, but she was still human… or human enough in any case. She appreciated being liked, and even with her dedication to her current self-imposed mission, she did want to avoid squandering this. Maybe she would contact Rikka Masami when this was done.

Forcing herself from her reverie, the dark user looked over at this "Knuckles."

"I take it you don’t deal with humans all that much," she noted to the red echidna. "Didn’t see any at your headquarters. This doctor the only one around. Doubt it, but best to be sure I know what I am getting myself into."

Knuckles's gaze shifted towards Azumi when she called for him with a question. Arms crossed, walking a few steps closer, he closed his arms before responding. His tone was rather blunt and direct, but no trace of coming as upset or irritated, "Most humans live in larger cities further from here. So no, I don't deal with them often. I don't really deal with much people often."

Something about the way he said it gave a clearer picture to the shock trooper. The red echidna seemed to come from a lifestyle of solitude.

"They have their own groups that protect them, and as far as Amy has told me, they are busy rebuilding after Eggman's last attack. That's why it was surprising to see you here. Although I find it more surprising that there are humans out there that can do the kind of stuff Amy told me about you. Still, they are doing their own thing and we are doing ours. Although I'm not really needed here anymore so after this I'm heading straight home..."

He could tell that he'd need to explain further, however, so picking up on the fact that Azumi truly seemed new to this part of their world, as well as the general lack of knowledge of the general people regarding Knuckles' own deal, he proceeded. "I live in a place called Angel Island. A floating island that soars through the skies."

"It's there where I keep guard of the Master Emerald; A mystical gemstone of untold power. My ancestors were the ones that guarded it and, as the last Echidna in the world, it is my duty to do the same. It's a lonely job, but a peaceful one."

The last echidna?

"…"

Well, this was awkward. She had assumed he was just away from them on his island, but could call for help if needed. But… if he was the last of his species, something definitely happened. It was a good thing she asked that first, then, and that he responded in kind with his own story.

She held up a hand to her mouth, closed in a fist, and coughed into it, mostly to lessen the nerves. She was usually better about that, but given she still did not fully know what had become of her own war, of her people, it was a bit of a sore spot.

From there, she went on to another topic. "So… I get using code names, but why 'Knuckles'? That girl went with 'Cream', but isn’t that a bit… on the nose? Commander Rose I get not using one, given she's the face and you seem to be mostly doing cleanup."

"Code name?" The red-furred brawler raised an eyebrow, more confused than annoyed. His large mittered hand brought to his mouth in a closed fist before he spoke again, in a rather blunt yet sincere manner.

"That's my actual name. Same with Cream. Is it really that weird?" Knuckles then added while bringing his hand to his hip, "The name "Azumi" seems weird to me, so I guess it's just a perspective thing. Also, "clean up"? I said it already, I stepped in just because people needed my help that badly. This isn't my usual role; Being a Guardian is..."

Their conversation was soon cut short by the arrival of a soldier following the wooshing of the door opening up. It seemed to be a gray Dog wearing a simplistic green coat that seemed to have a few plates of armor, alongside brown gloves and shoes. He appeared to be carrying a pair of parachute packs in each hand. "sorry to interrupt, but we currently approaching the target area. The small island size and the risk or bring shot down makes it difficult to land, so I'm afraid you'll have to jump down..."

He handed one to Azumi before proceeding back towards the door as to keep some distance from the hatch which then slowly started to open, letting the high-altitude wind step in. The canine trooper was going to step towards Knuckles to hand him one only for the echidna to dismiss it with a confident grin.

"Wait, sir. Y-you'll need a parachute if you-"

"Heh, I guess you're new around the force? It's fine. Trust me, I don't need it..."

Right after saying that, the red echidna then rushed towards the opened gate, no fear in his eyes as he stepped on to the edge and then leaped into the open sky, much to everyone else's shock.

For a moment there, it appeared he had just recklessly jumped to his death, getting lost from their view, but just then Azumi was met with the strangest of sights as Knuckles then emerged back into view.

He held his arms forward, bending forward slightly while soaring across the sky, with his large red dreadlocks softly swaying with the wind. Was he...somehow gliding across the air!?!

Knuckles's voice reached her before he started to dive down, "Come on. Let's do this!" With that he proceeded to glide across the skies with a strange grace, pushing through the bed of clouds as the seemingly-abandoned base came into view. He appeared to have absolute control over this; Speeding and slowing his falling speed on a whim with zero effort.

The creatures of this world were truly something else...

As he descended, Knuckles noted the lack of fire coming his way. The sight of the large armed towers surrounding the fortress being completely static, seemed to validate Amy's claims about them having been disabled by their contacts on the inside. However, that was not to say this would be a walk in the park, and in fact, knuckles hoped it wasn't. As he always enjoyed a little bit of challenge.

Soon enough, the red Echidna gently landed upon one of the edges of the fortress that led into an open field inside. He decided not to jump right it before Azumi could make her landing.

Azumi listened to the red echidna's explanation of the names. Admittedly, he had something of a point when it came to differences in cultural naming practices. After all, Master Aqua, with her water spells and blue hair, was a bit on the nose, not to mention anthropomorphic animals that had their species as their surname. Normally, that would be enough.

… but that didn't explain Commander Amy Rose having a human given name and having a surname as well, unlike these others who seemed to have "the" almost as a middle name. It just seemed to have no logic to it.

Beyond that admittedly inconsequential (but annoyingly confusing) topic, she winced internally at his assessment of her calling it a cleanup job. Of course, that was how she was used to these types of things, and it did not really matter to her if the targets were organic or mechanical. A job was a job, a target was a target. Still, she was not used to working with resistance movements (even ones that had largely won their revolution), mostly being on the side they would seem as oppressive. It was best just to follow the orders for the time being.

Before she could speak up about either the names or what they were doing, they had finally arrived. Azumi felt somewhat relieved, as she had no idea what to say to clear things up right then. Instead, she put on the parachute that was handed to her, checking it over briefly to see if it was a familiar construction. While she was more used to drop pods, parachuting was not completely unheard of. After all, they wouldn’t always have access to the SOEIV pods, for which landing could be rather loud, and they themselves had built-in chutes.

As she did, she saw Knuckles gliding off toward their landing zone. After all she had seen these past few years, this wasn’t all that strange. The chuckle that escaped his mouth did seem a bit odd, but she put it out of her mind. She had more than enough pointless topics to be confused over, and whether or not a freelance agent had a sense of humor was far off base. After all, maybe the interactions with her were an outlier, especially given her poor first impression and being a human helping them at all.

Not thinking further, she jumped, and let herself fall. She counted the seconds, watching for any debris that might get in her way, also keeping an eye out for Knuckles himself… and pulled the cord, letting the chute out a safe distance from the target and from the aircraft above. The shock trooper let the air pull back, and was relieved as she noticed no problems. She was further relieved that there was no anti-air fire from flak cannons or the like that would shred them. Landing this close to a base could be dangerous.

She put her feet out, and landed without issue on the ground, relatively gentle. Nearly on instinct, she immediately grabbed up the chute, took off the straps on the pack itself, and packed the material in, not very carefully, but enough that she could leave it at a drop off point if need be. That done, she put it back on, again just in case.

Mental note: try to look into a silent, no-flare jet pack to go with my abilities so I don’t need to rely on these.

That done, she nodded to the echidna in charge of the infiltration, prepared to draw either her blade or her gun on short notice depending on what they were up against.