Capper was glancing around as he walked through Ponyville, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world. It was a cover, naturally, the oldest in the book to mask how he was actually feeling. He'd arrived in the small town the day before and had been planning to go straight to Twilight's castle since Tempest had implied her mystery assailant was targeting her next and figured she would know where the unicorn and Grubber were. That plan had been derailed when he saw Sandbar leaving the castle looking disappointed and overheard him and his friends discussing how they hadn't been able to get in the castle for days and the mysterious absence of Rarity and her friends. That made him reconsider his actions.
He walked into the town marketplace and started looking around more actively, scanning everyone walking around. He was looking for the students. They didn’t seem like they were suspicious enough that they would readily hear what he had to say, but he wanted to get their attention and confide in them as much as he could before they went to whatever this announcement at Twilight’s castle turned out to be. As he was walking and looking around, he spotted Big Macintosh and stopped in his tracks as they made eye contact, the red earth pony once again alone with the cart carrying the farm’s products. Big Mac’s expression was knowing yet filled with uncertainty, reflecting the slightly frazzled appearance of his mane and tail and the sleeplessness in his eyes, and Capper responded with a slight tilt of his hat and a reassuring nod. It seemed to calm the stallion somewhat since he nodded back and returned to attending his cart while Capper resumed walking through the marketplace.
While most of the ponies he'd asked yesterday about Tempest and Grubber either said they'd only heard they had been in town or had briefly seen them when Tempest came rushing past them, Big Mac had had quite a bit more to say. Capper figured the stallion to be the strong silent type when he first saw him; his other sister, Apple Bloom, had been with him when the feline stopped by the farm and the shocked look on her face when he started running his mouth reinforced that. He told him how Tempest was sweating like she'd just been through several rodeos in a row, that she was clearly anxious about something, and she slowed down just long enough to yell at his sister and her friends before taking off again. He then said that the girls almost immediately hurried after her after Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense went off, which was worrying enough, but Applejack told him she’d be back before long, so it was even more worrying when she never came home and nopony else saw her after she went inside Twilight’s castle. According to him, she always let her family know when she had to go somewhere or something was up. He'd had more to say, mostly a lot of little things, but Capper cut him off before he could really start babbling and told him he would find out what really happened. It had taken him making a Pinkie Promise to get the earth pony to calm down, but the former rogue didn’t mind; one way or another, he knew he was going to get to the bottom of this mystery.
As he neared the edge of the marketplace, he caught sight of the group, seeing Yona first before he noticed everyone else with her. They appeared to be walking away from a small cafe, so he guessed they had just gotten something to eat. They were walking past the market, so Capper glanced ahead of them at the row of houses for a moment before moving towards them.
The six kids didn't notice the feline exiting the space between two of the houses and nonchalantly leaning against the house to their left as they were too busy talking. “Those were some good daffodil and daisy sandwiches, huh?” Sandbar was asking.
“Yeah! They were really fresh, and the bread was so soft!” Silverstream replied.
Gallus rolled his eyes, “If you two say so. They need to get a better chef or something; that stuff rarely ever looks good enough to eat.”
They were walking past Capper as Silverstream said, "You should know that looks don't always mean everything, Gallus."
The griffon replied, "Yeah, well I don't exactly go for that stuff anyway."
Smolder said, "I do think we should try to find some new places to eat. Hay fries fully toasted are good, but they don't make much of a meal."
Capper took the opportunity to interject, "Well, that simply won't do at all." Smolder came to a stop and turned to look at him, the rest of her friends doing the same a moment later.
Gallus took one look at him and angrily asked, "What's it to you, pal?! And why are you listening to us?!"
Capper stood up straight and stepped away from the house as he said, "Take it easy, cat-bird. No need to get all worked up." He took a few steps towards the group, "I was just relaxing, trying to enjoy this nice day, so it's only natural that I would overhear what others are saying." He stopped a few feet away and glanced around as he added, "I certainly wasn't doing what some of these ponies are doing right now." The group looked around and noticed that some of the ponies that were out had stopped and turned to look at them due to Gallus' yelling.
Capper turned his attention back to Smolder and raised an eyebrow. "Hm, what's this?" he asked, leaning forward a little and raising his left hand towards her right fin.
Smolder quickly noticed and asked, "Hey, what are you doing?" Capper didn't answer, instead reaching forward faster and placing his fingers behind her fin before she could move.
When he pulled his hand back, he was holding a small topaz in his fingers. "Well, would you look at that? What a nice shiny surprise," he remarked, holding it up so the kids could see.
"How you do that?" Yona asked.
“It was a magic trick, wasn’t it? I like seeing magic tricks like that!” Silverstream exclaimed.
Capper flicked his fingers, making the topaz flip back and forth over his middle digit as he said, “I do know a few good tricks. Here’s one I think you’ll like, dragon girl.” He caught the gem between his index finger and thumb and folded his fingers together into a fist for a moment. When he unfolded them, he was holding a second topaz between his index and middle fingers; a third folding and he was holding a third. He then tossed them towards Smolder, who managed to catch them a bit awkwardly. “You can have those. A little chaser for your meal,” he stated.
While Smolder was staring at the gems in her hands, Gallus looked back at Capper and asked, “So, uh, who are you again?”
Yona spoke up, “Yona remember now. Miss Rarity talk about him. His name… Dapper? Cappy?”
Capper pointed at her, “It’s Capper, actually, but a point to the yak all the same. And I wouldn’t mind hearing what Miss Rarity has said about me at some point.”
Sandbar asked, "What are you doing here in Ponyville?"
Capper replied, "Following up on what a friend asked me to do." At the kids' curious looks, he explained, "You kids have probably heard of Tempest Shadow. Well, she was attacked a couple of days ago in Klugetown by a mystery attacker. Completely destroyed the building she and Grubber were in before he took off."
Ocellus gasped, "Oh no!"
Capper said, "Yes. She took off after him, but as she was leaving, she told me to come looking for her if she didn't come back in a few days." He glanced around, "She indicated he was coming here."
Ocellus murmured, "Here? In Ponyville?"
Sandbar said, "I did see them briefly when they showed up a few days ago, and nopony's seen them since."
Smolder spoke, "Would you two relax? I'm sure it's fine." She slurped up one of the topazes before continuing, "This isn't another situation like there was with Cozy Glow. Everything's been quiet the last few days, and Princess Twilight is going to give her big speech today."
Silverstream blurted out, “Yeah, did you hear? There’s a rumor going around that Princess Twilight is going to take over for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! They’re saying that’s why she’s been cooped up in her castle the last few days, that she’s been getting everything ready and she’s going to tell everyone-” She was cut off when Smolder reached over with her open claw and clamped her fingers over the hippogriff’s beak, raising an eyebrow when she looked over at her.
Gallus said, “And I think that’s enough. We should get going and see if any of the good spots are taken yet. So anyway, that’s awesome you’re worried about your friend and all, but I think everything’s fine.” He started to walk past Capper, “Hope to see you at Princess Twilight’s speech. Maybe Tempest will make a surprise appearance there.”
As the others started to follow him, Smolder told the cat, “We’ll keep an eye out, though. At least, some of us will try to.” She held up the topazes, “Thanks for the gems. They’re pretty tasty.”
Capper replied, “You’re welcome. You kids take care now.”
Sandbar called back, “You too. Nice meeting you.” Ocellus, Silverstream, and Yona all echoed his sentiment.
As he watched them walk away, Capper thought, “Nice kids. I can tell they’ve learned a lot under Princess Twilight and her friends, but they’re still kids. They probably don’t know yet that quiet doesn’t always mean everything’s all good. I should listen in on this speech from afar to make sure nothing’s amiss.” He turned to look at the café the kids came from and started to walk towards it a moment later, “I probably have a little time. I think I’ll get a latte before I make my way over to the castle.”
Tails was quietly eating an instant beef stew as he sat on a stool that he had pulled into the workshop mulling over a couple of things. In front of him were documents and blueprints for Wispons, the Miles Mobile, pieces of spy tech, and other new gear and upgrades the Resistance had made in his absence. To his left was his new Miles Mobile, which was currently in the middle of transferring information from his old prototype, which was sitting next to it. And off in the corner was Omega, sitting next to Gemerl hooked up to the same laptop. It was morning and now that they were one day closer to the end of Eggman's countdown, he needed to get up to speed fast.
The workshop door slid open and Tails looked up while stirring his stew. Both Sonics, Twilight, Spike, Rainbow, and Vector stepped inside and made their way over to his table. O-T Sonic and Spike moved to his side, F-T Sonic, Twilight, and Rainbow stood across from him, and Vector stood at the end of the table between the two sides. F-T Sonic was the first to speak, “Hey, Tails. You feeling all right today?”
The fox nodded, “Yeah. I think I’m better after that brush with Infinite’s power, but I thought I should try eating something mild just in case.”
Vector remarked, “Well, you made a good choice, then. That stew’s at least got some taste to it, but not much else.”
Spike hopped up on the table and walked a little closer. He looked down at the documents for a moment before looking up at Tails and asking, “What are you doing?”
Tails replied, “I’m just looking over some of the things that have happened while I was gone. Techni’s really made some progress in that time. These new Wispon designs look promising too. Yellow, Green, Violet… they all look like they could be quite useful.” He pointed at one of the stacks of papers with his left hand, “These early results for a Jade Wispon are concerning, though. It still has a lot of potential, but these injury reports…” He shook his head, “I’m thinking it might be better to just scrap it now before anyone else gets hurt.”
Rainbow shrugged, “Well, that’s what you think. I sure don’t know what’s been going on with that since we don’t really use the Wispons.” She then raised an eyebrow, “So yesterday, you said you and Old-Timey Sonic ended up in the Mystic Jungle because of what Eggman said, right? Did he tell you anything about what he’s planning?”
Tails replied, “No. Aside from the time limit, all he said was that whatever he’s planning might be as bad or worse than the anticipation leading up to it.”
Vector sighed and said, “Gotta give old Egghead some credit, I guess. For all his talking and eccentricities, he can be serious and shut his mouth when it counts.”
Twilight looked over at Omega, seeing the cables that connected him to the laptop. "How's Omega doing, Tails?" she asked.
The fox replied, "I still can't reactivate him. There's no physical damage on the inside, so it has to be something in his systems. I think Techni was right; I looked over the logs and saw that Gemerl appears to be in a similar state."
Rainbow asked, "So, how do we fix that?"
Tails said, "I don't know yet. My best guess at the moment is that Infinite used his power on them and they've been affected like I and some others have been."
Twilight asked, "Is there something we could do to get to the bottom of it? Some kind of program or something to gather information?"
Tails looked at her for a moment before saying, "That has potential. We'd probably have to make it ourselves, but it might be worth it."
Vector crossed his arms, "You know, come to think of it, I have noticed something about that guy. Nearly every time he uses his power, that weird gem on his chest starts to glow."
Rainbow asked, "Sooo… we should try to take it away from him?"
Vector raised an eyebrow at her, "What? No! Not yet, anyway. I was thinking we should try to find out what it is if we can. Then we would know whether it would even be safe to try to take it from him."
Rainbow huffed, “Oh.”
Spike turned to Tails and asked, "What about that other gem? You know, the one our wolf buddy found?"
The fox replied, "I'm not sure. I asked him to come by later so we can properly examine it." He looked down at his plastic bowl, "Hopefully, it'll answer some questions."
Rainbow looked over at O-T Sonic after a moment with a raised eyebrow. “Speaking of which, how’d he get here? I get that that Infinite creep was able to cross over into Equestria, but he’s not pulling another Time Eater, is he?”
Tails said, “I don’t think it was him. Not… directly, anyway.” He gestured to O-T Sonic, “He told me he was chasing after a similar gem when he ended up here. He has a feeling that that gem might be here somewhere as well. If so, we’ll need to find it when this is all over so we can send him home. As for…” He was cut off when an alarm started blaring through the base, causing everyone to look up in surprise.
The door to the workshop slid open after a couple of seconds and Espio stuck his head in, the chameleon holding his Miles Mobile in his right hand as he called, “Everyone, come to the meeting room! We have a situation!” before leaving. Everyone looked at where he had been for a moment before they began scrambling out, Rainbow grabbing and draping Twilight’s left foreleg over her shoulders to support her as she flew for both of them and Tails quickly slurped up as much of the liquid left in the bowl as he could before leaving it behind, wiping his lips dry as he grabbed his gear and hurried after the others.
They soon arrived at the meeting room and found Espio, Knuckles, Charmy, Tempest, Grubber, Silver, Amy, the Rookie, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Techni, Matka, Trish, and Aventura in the room, some already there and some arriving at about the same time. As they all gathered around the table, Tails asked over the alarm, "What's going on?!"
Amy silenced the alarm a moment later before looking up at everyone and saying, "We just received a red alert from our crews stationed in the Sky Sanctuary! They've spotted the Battle Bird Armada!"
Knuckles asked, "What?! Do we have any visuals?!"
Amy returned her attention to the laptop on the table, typing on the keyboard as she said, "Hang on! I'm bringing it up now!" Everyone looked towards the main monitor; after a couple seconds, six video windows opened one after the other, each flashing a message that it was retrieving the feed.
As soon as one of the feeds finished syncing, Amy clicked on it and made the window bigger. It showed the floating buildings, stone paths, and glass walkways of the Sky Sanctuary, but everyone could see something else off in the distance. They could only partly make it out because the camera was on an angle, but it looked like a large gray battleship. As more camera feeds synched up and revealed more views and angles of it, they were able to make out more details. The bottom appeared to be rounded, but the top was flat aside from the wings on the sides and a few structures sticking out on the deck. It was also flanked by a multitude of smaller aircraft.
Tails was the first to speak up, "That looks like the Armada, all right. And they're close enough that there's no way they couldn't have spotted the Sky Sanctuary."
Tempest asked, "That's where our warships are hidden away, correct?"
Trish nodded, "Correct. And even if they've already started prepping them, the Armada will reach the Sanctuary before our forces can engage them."
Twilight asked, "What are we going to do?"
Knuckles answered, "We have to send them some support. The defenses installed in the Sky Sanctuary aren't going to be enough, and I'm not losing any more of the Sanctuary or risking those birds blabbing to Eggman."
Rainbow flew up behind him and spoke, "Great! So, what's the plan?"
Knuckles had turned to look up at her while she was talking and after she finished, he said, "I'm gonna need two teams on this one. One to engage their aerial forces, and the other to infiltrate their battleship and take it out."
Sonic smiled, "I'm all for being part of that team!"
Tempest nodded, "Second."
Tails looked at Trish and said, "We can be part of the aerial defense." The bird nodded in agreement.
Rainbow looked back at them and told them, "So can I!"
Trish looked at the pegasus with a raised eyebrow, "What are you talking about? You don't have flight training; you haven't even looked at the simulators yet."
Rainbow gave her an annoyed look as she turned around fully and landed, extending her wings to their full length as she went, "Uhh…?"
Trish blinked, "Oh, right. Well, you're still not the only one with wings around here, and none of them would use them for an assignment like this. That's really dangerous, so…"
Knuckles interjected, "I've seen Rainbow in action before. She doesn't need a fighter or Wispons to make it rain." The pegasus closed her wings as he placed his right hand on her back, "You have my approval." Rainbow shot Trish a smug look at that and the bird rolled her eyes in response.
Espio remarked, "Well, our two teams are already coming together nicely."
Knuckles said, "Yeah, it's a start. We need more, but we can get moving now." He looked at Amy, "Get in touch with other members of the Resistance. Tell them what's going on and where we need them." She nodded and got to work while he turned to the others and continued, "Tails, Trish, get down to the hanger and get your fighters ready. Techni, take Sonic and Tempest down to storage and pick out some Warp Rings. We'll need them." Each of them stood at attention as he addressed them and everyone split off after he was done talking.
Sonic and Tempest followed Techni down to the armory as did Grubber, Spike, Twilight, and Rarity, the unicorn offering the alicorn support as they made their way down the passageways, weaving around other Resistance members as they went. Twilight, Spike, and Rarity were able to catch up while they were waiting for the armory door to slide open so Twilight, as she shifted away from Rarity to lean against the wall next to her, asked, "You guys have more Warp Rings?"
Techni looked over at her and answered, "Yeah, but not like the one you guys found. They're smaller, single-use. They're still hard to find, but yours was much rarer." The door finished opening and she immediately made a beeline for the wall across from the door while everyone else moved to the middle of the room. She grabbed her Miles Mobile and held it up so its screen was in front of a keypad-sized scanner on the wall. The scanner flashed green and beeped a confirming tone after a few seconds and a hidden door in the wall opened, revealing a plain room with shelves along the walls and a few tables in the middle on the other side.
Techni disappeared through the doorway and Sonic, Tempest, and Grubber walked over, stepping inside. They ignored the shelves for the moment, instead focusing on Techni as she grabbed a moderately-sized silver-gray metal box on the shelf to the left near the other end of the room, the cat grunting a bit as she picked it up off the shelf at her level and turned around to set it on the nearby table. They walked over and she turned it to face them, Twilight, Rarity, and Spike stepping into the room as they did so. There was a small light gray button on the front below the lid, so Sonic pressed it with his right index finger to release the lock and lifted the lid with his left hand. The two ponies and dragon peered into it when they reached the table: the box was about half-full with gold rings, all of them indeed much smaller than Twilight’s Warp Ring. This was all the more apparent when Sonic reached in with his left hand and grabbed one, easily holding it between his thumb and index finger as he held it up.
"Ooh! It's so shiny!" Grubber squeaked, looking up at the ring with sparkly eyes.
"Be careful with those. We don't have that many, so we need to make every one we use count," Techni stated, the cat currently looking for something on the shelves. She turned back after several moments holding two small brown drawstring pouches, both having a long black leather strap. She held them out to Sonic, "Here. Put a couple of rings in these and then we’ll head down to the hangers." He took them and handed one to Grubber, the smaller hedgehog holding it open while the blue hedgehog reached into the box and started picking out rings.
While they were doing this, Tails and Trish reached the end of one of the train tunnels with Rainbow Dash hovering close behind them. Tails held the screen of his Miles Mobile to a scanner in the wall and it beeped and glowed green after a few moments, the metal doors next to it sliding open. As they stepped into the room, lights on the ceiling switched on, illuminating it. They stood on a metal catwalk above the floor, which was connected to a staircase to their right. On the floor below were the Resistance fighter craft, all futuristic-looking white fighter planes with four half blue, half white wings, each one sitting on a metal elevator platform with a pair of large doors above them.
“So, these are the Resistance’s fighters, huh? They look pretty cool,” Rainbow commented.
“Yep. They haven’t seen a lot of use since we haven’t had the numbers to risk taking on Eggman’s capital ships from the air, but this is an urgent situation,” Trish said.
Rainbow placed a hoof on the bird’s shoulder, “Well, after this, maybe we can take to the sky more often!”
Tails’ Miles Mobile rang a second later and he, upon seeing it was Amy, answered it. “We have some more pilots to fly alongside you and Trish, Tails! They’re on their way!”
Tails nodded, “Got it, Amy!” He hung up and looked at Trish, “Well, let’s get ready.” She nodded and they made their way down the stairs, Rainbow following them.
On the bridge of the large battleship, the leader of the Battle Bird Armada stood with his arms behind his back as he looked at a holographic screen through his small circular glasses. It was displaying live video of the skirmish going on outside, the view shifting every couple of seconds. The Armada's aircrafts had begun flying around and through the floating buildings, trying to avoid being shot by the defenses installed in them as they swarmed towards the Resistance's battleships. Their ships were swift enough to evade the defenses as long as the pilots reacted quickly, and even if they didn't, Dr. Eggman had blessed the Armada's ships with upgrades recently, giving them a canopy so the pilots weren’t exposed as well as better armor and weaponry. The defenses in the Sky Sanctuary were outdated by comparison and thus could not do a lot of damage and were easy to destroy.
He grinned as he watched the fighting play out on the screens. "Resistance fools. You thought these broken ruins would keep you safe, didn't you? That you were somehow safe in the skies. Just like the Babylon Rogues. Well, now you're going to learn that there's no hiding from the masters of the skies. Your lack of preparation for a siege will be your downfall, which should give us an opportunity," he thought.
He heard footsteps coming up from behind him, but he didn't pay them much mind until he heard, "Battle Lord Kukku, sir!" He turned slightly to his left and looked down to see a green bird wearing a red scarf and a white flight suit with red stripes, the smaller bird placing his right fist on his chest in a salute. He then said, "We're receiving reports of a Warp Ring outside the Sky Sanctuary! It may be the Resistance!"
The Battle Lord faced forward as he replied, "Really? Show me." The bridge crew responded by frantically typing at their stations, soon calling up a new screen showing the sky beyond the battle zone. In the distance, there did appear to be an open Warp Ring floating in the sky, though it was too far away to see where it went. "Zoom in!" the Battle Lord ordered. It changed as he ordered after a second, though it zoomed in a bit too much since it was close enough for them to get a closeup of the faces of the Resistance pilots, making the Battle Lord and the bird behind him squawk in surprise. Before it zoomed out, however, they did see Tails' face as he was the last one to come through the portal with Sonic, Rarity, and Knuckles on the wings of his plane.
"Father! It's him!" the green bird exclaimed.
The Battle Lord brought his hand up under his chin as he said, "Yes, I saw him too, Speedy." He thought for a moment before turning and pointing at the smaller bird, "Go out there and personally exact our revenge on that fox, my son! We'll begin restoring our former glory by destroying him followed by the rest of our enemies!" The green bird saluted and turned to run down to the hangers while the Battle Lord turned back to the screens.
After coming through the Warp Ring, the Resistance pilots maintained a close formation as they approached the Sky Sanctuary. The Battle Bird Armada's aircraft were swarming around it like a hive of bees, using their smaller, weaker craft to make quick runs on the Resistance battleships. One of the ships had managed to get airborne, but it was still under heavy fire and the rest of the ships were not faring any better. It looked like a dire situation, but Knuckles was still sure they could turn it around.
"Change of plans! We have to help our ships! All flyers, drive off those birds! Our ground teams will get to the landing areas and provide damage control!" Knuckles ordered over the headset he was wearing.
Rainbow flew up next to Tails' ship and looked over at it as she said into her communicator, "You got it, Commander! All you guys, just watch out for me! I'll be looking out for you!" She then faced forward and shot ahead, her hooves extended ready to beat down on the exposed heads of the Armada.
"Rainbow?! Stay with the rest of us!" Twilight called out, receiving no response over the comms. Her flying was a bit shaky, but she stayed back behind the fighter craft and Fluttershy and Spike flew close by, keeping an eye on her.
"Rainbow!" Applejack yelled. After a second, she sighed and said, "She ain't listenin'. Y'all should do what she said and keep an eye out for her." She wasn’t wearing her Stetson for this fight; instead, she had on a pair of goggles over her eyes as she was riding on the wing of Trish’s ship along with the Rookie and Tempest.
Knuckles looked at one of the nearby floating stone towers for a moment before looking over at Sonic and saying, "This is where I get off!"
As he turned away, Sonic called, "All right, good luck!" The echidna then leapt from the plane, gliding towards the tower. Sonic then looked towards one of the structures housing one of the battleships that was being attacked up ahead and said, "We'll take that one, Tails! Just give me a smooth landing here; we'll go the rest of the way!"
Tails nodded, "Got it!" and tilted to the right, moving closer to one of the stone pathways.
As they got closer, they heard Tempest say over the radio, "Fine. We'll help the ship over there, then. Trish, if you wouldn't mind?"
They heard the swallow say, "Right. Hang on!"
Sonic adjusted the strap of his bag with his left hand as he looked at Rarity and asked, "You ready for this, Rare?" The unicorn quickly shook her head, looking terrified. "Cool. Just leave it to me!" he said.
Rarity started, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?! Because I-" She was cut off when Sonic turned to her and used his arms to lift her up, holding her close. She yelped as he did this and then let out a terrified scream as he leapt off the plane towards the stone pathway. She thought they would either hit the side or land wrong with how fast they were going, but aside from Sonic making a few hops to slow down a bit and adjust his balance, they landed without any problems. Rarity slowly started to relax while Sonic headed for the battleship and Tails pulled up to join the air battle.
It didn't take Sonic long to reach the battleship's 'hanger' inside the building and both he and Rarity took the sight in. Fire and smoke were rising from the top of the ship and they could see eight Resistance members scattered around the room. Sonic set Rarity down and then said, "Okay, let's start by getting everyone out of the way. How about you start helping these guys while I check the other side?"
Rarity nodded after a moment, "Okay. That sounds like a plan." She turned and ran over to the nearest Resistance member, a brown dog who was lying on his front, while Sonic ran towards the ship, making his way around to the port side.
After a little over a minute, they had rounded up a total of twelve Resistance members and lined them up along a wall away from the battleship. A few of them had fared pretty well, only being dazed or having suffered minor injuries, but most of them were going to need medical attention. As they were making sure they all had their backs up against the wall, one of them, a coyote, told Sonic, “There were others. They should still be inside the ship.”
Sonic looked towards the battleship for a moment before looking back at the coyote and saying, “Okay, we’ll get them out. Just hang on; we’ll be back soon.” He stood up and looked at Rarity, “Let’s go, Rarity!” The unicorn nodded and stood up and followed him towards the ship.
The battleship hadn't gotten off the ground when it had been attacked, so they were able to climb the stairs up of the small dock to the ship's entrance. The door was stuck about a quarter of the way up, though, so Sonic and Rarity grabbed the bottom of it and tried to force it up. It didn't budge much, but they were able to get it up enough so that Sonic, while Rarity was using her magic, was able to get underneath it and Spin Dash to open it almost completely, though the metallic grinding and crunching that accompanied it indicated it would need to be fixed.
The sudden opening jerked Rarity back due to how much she'd been trying to lift the door, but she managed to stop herself from backing off the edge. She shook her head and steadied her balance before remarking, "Well, I wasn't expecting that. That was a bit brash, wasn't it, Sonic?"
The blue hedgehog turned to look at her as she walked over to him and said, "He said there were people onboard, Rarity, people who could be trapped. We can always put in another door." He turned to look inside and saw the red light from the alarm going off as well as sparks shooting out of a nearby panel. He looked back at Rarity, "Let's get to work." She nodded and they hurried inside to begin searching.
While they were searching, Tempest and Applejack were already in the process of rescuing. The battleship they were dropped off at had been in the middle of takeoff since it wasn't in its dock, so the two ponies had needed some help from the Rookie to get onboard. Once they got inside, they found that the crash done a number on the interior as not only were there electronics shorting out, but there were also fires in parts of the ship, making navigating the corridors difficult.
It hadn't been impossible, though, as Tempest had a pig, a robin, and a possum draped over her back as she galloped down a corridor towards the ship's bridge. She reached it after a minute and found the Rookie there helping a fox alongside an eagle who was helping a dog. Applejack joined them a minute or two later, a cat, a squirrel, and a rabbit on her back. Tempest turned to her when she arrived and asked, “Is that everyone?”
Applejack replied, “Ah think so. Ah couldn’t find anyone else.”
The eagle said, “I’m not so sure, but for now, we should get everyone we have out of here. The sooner we get them medical attention, the better.” The Rookie nodded and reached into the pouch he was given, pulling out one of the Warp Rings.
As he was doing this, Tempest turned to Applejack and asked, “Do you know how these things work?”
The earth pony shrugged slightly, “Ah think it’s just ya picture where you want it ta go before you toss it.” They looked back and saw that the Rookie had opened a portal to the space outside the Resistance base. They quickly carried their injured through, Matka already waiting for them to carry them to the infirmary for Terv and Windra.
During all of this, Tails, Trish, and the rest of the Resistance's air force were dealing with the Armada's aircraft. While they had the numbers and the upgraded aircraft, the Resistance’s aircraft were more versatile and required the birds to get the drop on them by hiding behind the buildings. Although they were able to get behind several fighters and pursue them, Tails, Trish, and Rainbow were quick to respond before their fighters could suffer serious damage and force the birds to retreat. The tide was soon turning in the Resistance's favor.
As he reached the top of one of the taller buildings, Knuckles kept his left fist in the wall and turned to look out over the Sky Sanctuary. The Armada's aircraft were thinning, but their main battleship was still holding position away from the fighting. He grabbed his Miles Mobile with his free hand and spoke to everyone over the radio, "The sky is starting to look pretty clear now. It's time to attack the Armada's battleship!"
Tails responded, "Right. If we can force their battleship to retreat, their aircraft should do the same."
Rainbow spoke, "Then what are we waiting for? Come on, let's knock that big ball out of the sky!" She changed course, flying towards the battleship.
As she turned her plane to do the same, Trish said, "Hey, don't hog all the fun, Rainbow!" She flew after the pegasus and Tails did the same, several other Resistance fighters forming up behind him. Despite this, none of the Armada's aircraft moved to intercept them.
On the bridge of the battleship, one of the bridge crew called, "Battle Lord! We have incoming Resistance fighters!"
The Battle Lord grinned, "Yes, I see. Let them come; they'll get a perfect view of the surprise we have for them!"
From where he was, Knuckles could see the group heading for the battleship and was confused by the fact that neither it nor the aircraft were trying to stop them. It was enough to give him a bad feeling, so, with a raised voice, he said over the radio, "Stop the attack! Everyone, break off!"
Rainbow was confused by this and glanced up at her left ear as she yelled, "What?!" Before anything else could happen, she suddenly crashed into something solid, her body splaying out against it. It took her a few seconds to recover from the impact and when she did, she realized it was some sort of green slightly transparent wall. She pulled her head off of it and saw that it surrounded the Armada's battleship like a forcefield.
Trish, who had still been trying to catch up with Rainbow Dash at the time, let out a cry when she saw the barrier appear and jammed her yoke to the right while trying to slow down. Luckily, she hadn't been right behind Rainbow so she had enough space to avoid crashing into her, but the split-second maneuver wasn't enough to avoid scraping the shield with the underside of her plane. She dragged along it for a few seconds before finally managing to pull away, the controls beeping and flashing lights as she sat rigidly.
Tails and the fighters flanking him were back far enough to break off without crashing and as they did so, Tails called over the radio, "Rainbow, Trish! Are you two alright?!"
Trish answered first, "Just a bit grazed. I think I'm okay."
Rainbow flapped her wings and pushed off the field before responding, "Yeah, I'm okay." She looked back at it, "Think this is the first time I’ve ever crashed into a forcefield."
Knuckles said, "I was afraid they had a shield when their fighters didn't move to intercept you! This is going to make things more difficult!"
The Battle Lord's voice was suddenly heard over a loudspeaker, "Ha, ha, ha! Did you fools really think it would be so easy? The Battle Bird Armada will not be defeated by you worms! These skies belong to us; it's time for you to leave or be destroyed!" After he finished speaking, ports on the sides of the ship opened and they all fired missiles a second later. Rainbow noticed them firing and, noticing their trajectory, flew to get away from them, letting out a yelp at how quickly they came through the shield.
The missiles flew towards the Sky Sanctuary, many of them hitting the buildings and creating either sizable cracks or holes. Some came close to hitting Resistance members that were on foot while others targeted the Resistance fighters. One was persistent in chasing one of the fighters; it followed it around the towers and stayed close behind. “This missile’s on me tight! I can’t shake it!” the pilot yelled over the radio.
“Eject! Get out of there!” Knuckles ordered. The missile caught up with the plane a few seconds later and it exploded on contact. With the resulting smoke, no one was able to tell if the pilot was able to get out in time.
“Oh no! What are we going to do?” Fluttershy asked, her voice barely audible over the radio.
Espio’s voice was heard next, “The Sky Sanctuary has already taken considerable damage from their fighter craft! The battleship’s heavy weapons could easily destroy it!”
Vector ordered, “Get all the wounded outta here! Any battleships that can still fly, get ‘em airborne! We need everything we got to get through that shield and take that ship down!”
While helping a feline get back to the Resistance base, Tempest asked, "Couldn't we use one of these rings to just teleport on of it?"
Applejack, while helping a young wolf, said, "That sounds like a good idea."
Knuckles responded, "It is, but we don't have many Warp Rings left, and we don't know if they're prepared for that possibility."
Suddenly, they all heard Twilight say, "Wait!" The alicorn was currently on top of one of the stone towers, along with Spike and Fluttershy, looking through a pair of binoculars. She observed the battleship firing its next round of missiles before continuing, "It looks like they have to create an opening in the forcefield in order to fire on us!" She lowered her binoculars, "If one of our ships could reach one of the openings…"
Sonic finished, "It could slip in and take it down from the inside!"
Knuckles said, "That could work, but we'll need more than one ship to take down a battleship that big."
Rainbow asked, "What about the original plan? We just need to get our infiltration team inside that forcefield!”
Tails responded, "I can handle that!"
Gen spoke up, "Count me in back in! Let me grab some explosives!"
Terv said, "I'm coming too! Fluttershy! Get to a Warp Ring and come back to base and help Windra take care of the injured for me!"
Fluttershy stammered, "Oh, um, okay. Wh-Where's the closest ring?"
Soon…
Tails' plane was flying towards the barrier with Rainbow flying closely next to it, the pegasus keeping an eye on the passengers he’d picked up. F-T Sonic, Twilight, Spike, Terv, Applejack, and the Rookie were riding on the left wing and O-T Sonic, Tempest, Gen, Fuchsia, Corvin, and Pinkie were riding on the right wing. It looked like the plane was being pulled down a bit from all the weight on its wings, but Tails was managing to keep it up and pointed straight ahead.
"Does everyone have a firm grip?" Tails asked, receiving overlapping answers in response. "Okay, hang on tight! I’m going in close!" he said.
Gen looked next to him at Terv and asked, "You sure you wanna do this, doc? This doesn't seem like the kind of thing you specialize in."
Terv, in an irritated tone, answered, "Yes, I'm sure! I can fight too, you know!"
Gen shrugged, "So can others. Someone else could've come and you could keep treating the injured."
Terv nearly yelled, "I'm coming with! I can help! I brought supplies in case anyone gets hurt! I have to…"
He was cut off by Rainbow, who shouted, "Tails, look out!" The sound of gunfire filled the air, shots raining down from above at the back of Tails' plane. Rainbow rolled over to get away, but Tails wasn't able to evade so the shots hit close to the plane's engine. It shook and sputtered, shaking everyone on the wings. Tails’ control panel started flashing warnings, but a quick look at it while he righted his craft showed the fox that he hadn't suffered any critical damage yet.
He then looked up and turned his head around to try to get a look at his attacker, which he was able to catch sight as it flew past him and started to turn around. Unlike the rest of the Armada's pod-like fighter craft, this ship appeared to be more like the Resistance's jet but with a bigger width, which gave it more of a diamond shape. It was metallic gray with green on the insides of its wings, which further gave Tails the impression that it was built for a specific pilot.
And his assumption was correct, for it was being piloted by none other than the Battle Lord’s son. As the ship was starting to fly back towards him, Tails received a transmission. "So, we meet again, fox. I've been waiting a long time for this day," Speedy’s voice said.
Tails raised an eyebrow, thinking for a moment. “Is this… Speedy?” he asked.
Speedy let out a huff before saying, "Good. You remember. So, I'm sure you also remember ruining everything for us at Cocoa Island, then. It's because of you that we have to be part of that fat oaf's army. We would've tracked you down a lot earlier if we hadn't needed help rebuilding the Armada after you ruined everything for us."
Tails retorted, "Yeah? Well, the Armada didn't need to drop napalm on Poloy Forest as part of the invasion. I for one did not enjoy waking up to find the forest on fire around me."
Speedy replied as he flew over Tails' plane and flew a short distance before starting to turn around, "You should've been smart and left while you had the chance. No one else was on the island; you had no reason to be a hero." He started flying towards Tails again, "Now we're all here and the Battle Bird Armada will have its revenge. And once you and your pathetic little Resistance friends are no more, that fat oaf and his- AWK!" His speech was interrupted by something hitting the underside of his plane's right wing, causing the craft to shake. It took a moment for him to right it; he then looked out to see Rainbow come up from under the tip of the wing and land on it. "What the…?" Speedy uttered.
Rainbow glared at the green bird as she yelled, "Back off, creep! You leave my friends alone!"
Speedy couldn't hear what she said due to her not saying it over the radio, but he quickly got past his surprise and returned the glare, saying, "So, there's another freak who thinks they belong in the sky, eh? Well, you should've stayed hidden wherever you were hiding. You have even less protection than that fox, so you shouldn't- Gah!" He was once again cut off as his craft shook again, this time from gunfire. One of the Resistance's fighters flew over him a moment later, Rainbow leaping off and taking flight afterwards.
A new line opened on Speedy's radio and he heard Tina's voice over it, "Hold it, you little vulture! You don't have the right to take on Tails! You want him, you gotta go through Rainbow and me first!" She turned to look at Tails' plane and switched lines to talk to him, saying, "Tails, go!"
The fox blinked and looked to his sides to make sure everyone was still holding on before facing forward and steeling himself as he said, "Hang on, everyone!" He then opened the thrusters, his plane shooting forward at full speed. The sudden acceleration surprised everyone on the wings, but they all held on as best they could.
Speedy stared as Tails shot away from him. “H-Hey, you get back here!” he yelled, adjusting his plane to pursue him.
He was cut off once again by Tina shooting at him, angering him and throwing him off. “What did I just tell you?!” she asked as she flew past him from behind, Speedy changing course to chase her in order to get retribution for this insult, not noticing Rainbow following him.
Tails, meanwhile, continued to fly straight towards the battleship. As he thought, a hole in the upper hemisphere of the shield opened to let a missile out and he doubled his efforts to reach it in time. It only took a second or two for the missile to fly through the hole, which was likely going to seal up at any second. "Hang on!" he called to the others, everyone holding on tighter as the green shield filled their vision. It seemed like it was going to be close, but they were on the other side of the barrier and a short distance away from the hole by the time it closed.
"We made it through!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Way to go, Tails!" F-T Sonic said.
On the bridge of the battleship, a crew member spotted the plane and reported, "Battle Lord! A Resistance fighter has gotten through our shield!"
The Battle Lord, irritation clear in his voice, said, "Yes, I saw. Now shoot it down and end their little incursion!" He looked around the rest of the bridge, “Keep the shield closed! Do not give that ship anywhere to run! The Resistance will either be shot out of our skies or they will die by our hands!”
Tails' plane was flying above the battleship, so it was in the perfect spot for the majority of the battleship's turrets to turn and target it. Warnings showed up on his control panel to alert him to them locking on to him and he, after a moment of thinking, knew there was only one place for them to go. "We're going to land on the battleship! Keep your heads down!" he called before shooting forward again a second later.
The turrets started firing a moment later. Tails kept pushing forward knowing his maneuvering options were limited. He felt the plane shaking a bit, but he ignored it, knowing it was normal. A bigger than normal shake caught his attention and he saw a damage alert and noticed it started shaking more than usual.
Tempest noticed this too and asked, “Tails, what’s with all the shaking?!”
The fox answered, “A shot must’ve scraped by underneath! Get ready to jump off; it’s going to be a rough landing!”
F-T Sonic watched the deck of the battleship get closer and closer with every passing moment. When they were still a fair distance away, he called to the others, "Jump, now!" At the speed Tails' plane was going, by the time Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Tempest, the Rookie, Corvin, Fuchsia, Gen, and Terv jumped, the distance had greatly shortened and they all slid or rolled across the deck as they landed. Both Sonics remained on the wings, neither one jumping off the sliding plane until Tails had unbuckled himself, opened the canopy, and flew out. They both managed to slide to a stop near the edge after landing while the damaged plane went over, falling and exploding when it hit the shield.
The birds that had gathered on the deck to 'greet' them had been forced to scatter due to the crashing plane. It only disrupted them for a minute, but it did give everyone a chance to get up from the rough landing. Twilight and Spike were still in the air, having used their wings to slow down, and flew overhead firing magic bolts and breathing fire to draw the birds' attention away from the others. Both Sonics as well as Tails quickly moved to join in after getting off the plane. It didn't take long for them to take care of the welcome party, the Rookie using his grappling hook to tie the birds up.
A pair of metal doors at the back of the deck slid open shortly afterwards, a garrison of birds stepping out. They all stood in front of the doors and raised their weapons, but before they could fire, a large explosion erupted behind them, all of them being blown off their feet onto their fronts. Both Sonics shot forward, grabbing their weapons and standing on top of the pile. They both looked down as Espio appeared in front of the pile, F-T Sonic saying, "Nice one, Espio!"
The others made their way over. When Applejack was closer to Espio, she asked, "Wait, you were on that plane too?"
The chameleon looked at her with a small smirk, "Of course. Didn't you see me by the stabilizer?" She raised an eyebrow at that.
They all heard a noise and looked past the pile of birds to see the doors starting to slide back into place. "No!" Twilight exclaimed, her horn lighting up as she spread her wings and shot forward. A magenta field formed around the end of the doors, their sliding slowing slightly. Twilight landed on her hooves with a wince and slid to a stop a short distance from the doors, closing her eyes and grunting slightly as she focused on keeping them open.
"Twilight!" Spike and Applejack both said as they ran over to her.
While still focusing, Twilight was able to peek her right eye open to look in their direction and say, "Th… They must really be trying to force these doors closed. Hurry! Get inside!"
O-T Sonic was quick to jump down and run inside. Everyone else moved to do the same, but after Applejack, Pinkie, Gen, Terv, and Fuchsia made it through, they all heard a voice say, "And where do you little rats think you're going?" Everyone outside turned to look and saw the Battle Lord rising up on a circular lift in the center of the deck, his hands together behind his back.
"The Battle Lord, I presume," Espio stated.
As he stepped forward, the Battle Lord replied, "I daresay it's hardly fitting for you to not address me by my full title. I am the Battle Lord Kukku XV, and you plebeians would do well to remember it."
Sonic said, "Ooh, he's busting out the smart words, guys. He must be one angry bird."
The Battle Lord's teeth peeked out of the side of his beak in a slight grin at those words. "Oh, I'm more than mad. I'm quite beside myself, both in anger and joy." He pointed at Tails, "I've waited a long time to see that little furball again. I worried we would never meet again due to his lifestyle, but our waiting and having to show submission to that fat man have paid off. Today is the day we exact our revenge."
Tails looked a little nervous at that, but F-T Sonic stepped in front of him and said, "Yeah, well, you're going to have to keep waiting." The Battle Lord scowled, so he added, "You're getting in the way of us getting to Eggman, so if you want Tails, you're gonna have to go through me!"
Tails started, "Sonic…"
Twilight spoke up, "I'm losing my grip…!"
Sonic looked back at Tails, "Get inside with the others and finish the job. Find me a way inside when you get the chance; I'll keep Big Bird's crazy cousin busy."
Espio looked at him and said, "Be careful, Sonic." He looked at the others, "Inside, now!" The Rookie, Corvin, Tempest, and, after a moment, Tails turned to run inside.
When Tails turned, the Battle Lord growled and ran towards him. Sonic turned back to him and shot forward, intercepting and stopping him. They locked hands and pushed against each other, grunting while Tails and Espio grabbed Twilight and helped her through before the doors shut, Spike hurrying in beside them.
After several moments of grappling, the Battle Lord brought up his right knee, aiming for Sonic's stomach. The hedgehog noticed it due to his vantage point, though, and he swung his left leg back, balancing on his right leg to maneuver around it. The miss threw the Battle Lord off balance and Sonic charged him, pushing him backwards for a few seconds before shoving him away. The bird stumbled for a couple of steps before firmly planting his feet under him and regaining his balance.
He then reached into his coat and pulled out a small metal rod; he pressed a button on the side and it extended, becoming a staff. Sonic ran and leapt towards him, trying to kick him. The Battle Lord used his staff to block his kick and held tightly onto it when the hedgehog wrapped his fingers around the middle of it. They wrestled for it for several seconds before the Battle Lord jerked it up suddenly. Sonic was lifted up and, before he could react, punched in the face. He fell to the deck, but he recovered before the bird could bring the staff down on him, rolling over to the side. He tried to kick at his legs from his position, but the bird leapt back to evade it.
Sonic jumped back as well and they locked eyes again. “Well, I guess the tales about you are at least somewhat true,” the Battle Lord remarked.
Sonic smirked, “Oh yeah? Well, I’d be more than happy to give you more proof, Coocoo!”
The Battle Lord smirked back, “You’d better be able to live up to it, because you’re about to be in a very difficult position!” He turned to the tied-up birds, whom he’d landed near, and brought his head forward, opening his beak and biting down on the rope, breaking it. The birds were quick to start getting up, and behind him, Sonic noticed the pile of birds was starting to disentangle as well. They didn’t have their weapons anymore, but they were still eager to show their loyalty and deal with this threat to the Armada.
Sonic looked around as the birds moved to surround him near the edges of the circular deck and grinned, “All right, it’s a party now! Let’s get it started!”
Meanwhile…
Three bird troopers readied their weapons when they saw the door leading up to the deck opening. As it was sliding up, they could hear a noise over the sound of the door opening, and before it finished going up, O-T Sonic shot underneath it in a Spin Dash straight towards them. The birds thought better of trying to shoot the blue ball coming towards them and instead tried to get out of his way, just barely avoiding a direct hit. He slowed to a stop and uncurled a little further down the corridor, but before the birds could try to attack, Gen, Terv, Fuchsia, and Corvin were upon them, all pointing their sidearm Wispons down at them. Seeing they were in an unfavorable spot, the birds let go of their rifle-like blasters and held up their hands in surrender.
While the four of them tied up the birds and helped themselves to the blasters, Tails, Espio, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Spike, the Rookie, and Tempest stood near the blast door as they worked out a plan. "The shield out there has to have some sort of generator here on the battleship, so we need to locate it and shut it down so we can leave. Our best bet to bring down this ship would be to sabotage the engine room. Gen's explosives should be very useful for both," Tails explained.
"It can't be that easy, can it? Considerin' this entire ship is gonna be lookin' for us," Applejack remarked.
"No. I'm sure we'll have to take control of their security systems. …I'm not volunteering for that duty; it's not my specialty," Espio said.
Pinkie spoke up, "What about Jet and his friends? Their ship was shot down! The Birdy Armada must have captured them!"
Tails said, "Well, first things first, we need to get into their security so we can start opening up some doors in here." He looked at the Rookie, "Do you think you can help me with that?" The wolf nodded in reply, so Tails continued, "Then you and Sonic will be with me. We'll find an access point and see how good their security is."
Corvin, Fuchsia, Gen, and Terv had made their way back over to the others, catching the end of what Tails was saying. "So, what are the rest of us supposed to do? Just sit here and wait while this ship continues to attack the Sky Sanctuary and the birds around here find and swoop at us like a bunch of vultures?" Corvin asked.
Tails replied, "No, of course not. We're just going to have to split up. I suggest you take a team and try to get to the lower levels as best you can do that you can be ready to plant the charges."
Pinkie piped up, "Ooh! How about I take a party and try to find the Babylon Meanies?"
Tails said, "It's Babylon Rogues, Pinkie, but yes, I was going to suggest that next."
Tempest spoke, "I'll go with her. Twilight, Spike, and Applejack can come as well."
Twilight moved her legs a little to loosen them a little before saying, "Okay. That sounds like a plan."
Applejack asked, "Speakin' o' plans, how are we gonna get outta this tub when we're done?"
Tails answered, "Once we’ve done all we can, we’ll meet up in the ship’s hanger. From there, we can either get a pick up or find something we can take. How does that sound?" Everyone agreed with the plan, so he said, "Then let's go!" He, O-T Sonic, and the Rookie headed to the right while Espio followed Gen, Fuchsia, Corvin, and Terv past the still tied up guards, Tempest, Pinkie, Twilight, Spike, and Applejack splitting off from them when they came across another corridor.
O-T Sonic took the lead for Tails' group while they searched for a place to patch in to the battleship's security, making use of his speed, especially his Spin Dash, to disorient the few patrols they came across. It took about a minute, but with some the Rookie making a few calibrations to his glasses and some vague signs on the walls, they were able to find a server room that they were able to get inside of after Tails hacked the electronic lock on the door with his Miles Mobile. There were only a couple of unarmed birds inside and they were quickly kicked out, Tails locking the door behind them.
They soon heard the birds banging on the door while they worked, but Tails and the Rookie kept working while Sonic kept an eye on the door. The Rookie worked on the keyboard for the computer console while Tails used his Mobile in tandem to crack the security locking him out and lay the groundwork for taking control of it. They couldn't do anything about the ship-wide alert, but with the connection to the computer systems, they could open, shut, and lock or unlock the ship's doors from the room. Tails switched over to the communications and contacted everyone else on board, " Can you hear me? I'm unlocking the ship's doors!" He switched back and started tapping on the screen.
When the call came through, F-T Sonic was still fighting. All the other birds lay scattered across the deck, but the Battle Lord was far from finished. He shifted his staff in his left hand a little as he stared down the hedgehog, his frustration more visible than it was before.
Sonic shot towards him, making small jumps over the bodies of the downed birds in his path before making a big jump towards the big bird, his right foot extended forward. The Battle Lord blocked the kick by holding up his staff in both hands. Sonic pushed against it for a moment before he began to lose his momentum, his knee bending a little. At this, the Battle Lord suddenly punched him in the stomach with his right hand. He fell on his back and the Battle Lord stepped forward and raised his right foot. Sonic was able to flip himself backwards before the foot came down and he landed in a crouched stance; he then shot forward before the bird could react, headbutting him in the stomach and knocking him off his feet. He landed on his rear, clutching his stomach as he grimaced.
Sonic climbed to his feet and leapt back while the Battle Lord was recovering. He then looked back at the doors and saw they were nearly finished sliding open. He turned back to the bird and grinned, "Well, this was fun, Coocoo, but I got places to be!" He then turned and shot around the splayed-out birds towards the doors. A few tried to reach out for him, but they couldn't stop him from reaching the opening. He slid to a stop right inside and turned to look. The Battle Lord had gotten up and was running towards him. "Shut the doors, Tails; I'm in!" he said to his Mobile before turning and running inside.
The Battle Lord ran as fast as he could, but he was unable to follow the hedgehog, the doors shutting completely as he reached them. He growled, "That little…" He turned to the birds on the deck, who were beginning to recover and get up, and yelled at them, "Contact the bridge! Lock down the ship, get them out of the system, and get that lift moving!"
Below deck, Sonic came to a stop in the doorway and spoke over the radio, "Tails, everything okay?"
The fox replied, "We're okay for now, but it sounds like more guys are gathering outside the room. I can keep them out for now, but I think they'll get in sooner or later."
Sonic said, "Okay, I'll help you out first. Unless anyone else has something urgent?"
Tempest answered, "We're fine. Tails sent us all a map while you were messing around. We're close to the brig."
Espio spoke next, "We have a… slight complication. We can't reach the shield generator, Tails. It's sealed off by a reinforced door. Can you get it open?"
Tails replied, "Hang on." A few moments passed before he said, "No, it looks like I don't have any control over that. I can open the engine room doors, though, so move on to that while I figure out how to shut down the shield."
Espio replied, "Roger."
Tails and the Rookie both looked up, hearing more banging at the door. It began to slide open a second later and O-T Sonic stood ready to attack. Tails frantically tapped on the screen of his Mobile and it started to close again a moment later, albeit slower than it had been opening. It didn't help that several hands grabbed onto the edge and we're trying to force it open. "I think they're catching on and trying to block out the override!" he exclaimed.
Sonic had been looking over the map while everyone was talking to figure out where they were, the map itself displaying three dots to indicate their location, so he knew where to go. "Hang tight, I'm on my way!" he said before putting his Mobile away and shooting down the hall.
Tempest and her group, meanwhile, were a short corridor away from the brig, their progress halted by several guards in front of the door at the end that were shooting at them. Twilight and Tempest were having trouble hitting them as there was nothing they could use as cover in the corridor and shooting around a corner wasn't easy. Pinkie had had enough after a minute and, when there was a lull in the shooting, she grabbed Twilight and leapt out into the open, using her left foreleg to aim her head while rotating her tail with the right. Twilight responded with a barrage of magic shots which quickly overwhelmed the birds, leaving them knocked out on the floor.
Their access hadn't been cut off yet, so they were able to pass through the door without any trouble. Past it, they walked straight for a couple of feet before they reached a sizable opening in the wall to their right. Peering around the corner, they saw a bird larger than any of the ones they'd encountered so far with his back turned to them. "Still assigned to guard duty to these three… What's the point? There's a battle going on outside! I should be out there!" they could hear him grumbling. Tempest looked at him for a moment more before looking down at Twilight, giving the alicorn a knowing look.
The guard heard a noise behind him and turned to look. Twilight was standing outside the entryway, looking towards the end of the passage with a confused expression. "Hey! Who are you?!" he demanded.
Twilight's head swung to look at him. "Oh, sorry. I thought this was the bridge. The signs here are a little hard to understand. My bad," she said. She had been backing up a little while talking and turned to run as soon as she finished, stumbling a little as she ran.
"Stop! Get back here!" the guard yelled before running after her. He hadn't quite reached the entryway when Spike stepped around the corner and, a moment later, unleashed a plume of green fire up at him. The guard planted his boots on the floor, narrowly stopping before his face got roasted.
As soon as Spike's flames stopped, Pinkie leapt out behind him, standing on her hind legs and bringing her hooves up to the pocket on the front of her apron. "Pocket confetti!" she exclaimed, suddenly throwing a thick wad of confetti that was hidden in the pocket at the guard's face. It burst upon impact, some of the confetti sticking to his face and making him take a few steps back as he tried to wipe it off. While he was disoriented, Tempest came around and knocked his right leg out from under him before forcing him to the floor on his back.
Before he could get back up, he felt his arms and legs being manipulated and then quickly tied up. He managed to shake enough of the confetti off to look up and see that it had been done by Applejack, who grinned down at him, "There ya go. All trussed up like a varmint." The guard struggled against the ropes and yelled, but Spike and the girls ignored him as they started searching for the Babylon Rogues.
Unsurprisingly, they found them at the end of the line of cells, in the last one on the left. The commotion from the entrance likely caught their attention as they were standing at the cell bars, Jet and Wave's hands on them. They saw Spike and the ponies approaching and Jet said, "Oh. So, you guys are the rescue crew?"
Applejack replied, "You could say that. Pinkie here was insistent we find y'all right away." They stopped in front of the cell, "Is there a problem with that?"
Storm spoke, "I don't have a problem, as long as we're getting out. I'm sick of being in here!" Both Jet and Wave gave him a look, letting their annoyance at being cooped up with him known.
Tempest noticed and said, "I imagine you would've escaped already if you'd had the chance."
Wave gave a slight nod and motioned towards the still yelling guard, "None of the guards have the code, especially not that Storm wannabe over there, and one of their idiots broke my PC when they took it from me." She brought her left hand up to her neck, drawing their attention to the fact that her red pendant was gone.
Applejack looked at the keypad next to the door, "We ain’t got time ta figure out who has the code! There’s a battle goin’ on outside!" She looked at Twilight, “Twilight, can ya use your magic to melt the bars or somethin’?”
Wave spoke up, "I wouldn't try that. These bars are reinforced, big-time. Probably one of Eggman's upgrades for the Armada. You'd be better off trying something else."
Twilight replied, "Okay, let's try something else, then." She turned and walked over to the keypad. She looked at it for a moment before saying, “I need this part off for this.”
Pinkie popped up next to her and said, “I’ll do the honors, Twilight!” The alicorn was almost not surprised by this and stepped aside. Pinkie took her helmet off with her right hoof and, with one swift downward swing, struck the keypad, knocking it almost clean off the wall.
“What’d you do that for?! You can’t get the door open without that!” Jet yelled. Twilight ignored him; she simply stepped up to where the pad had been, eyeing the circuitry it had been covering. A small point of light appeared at the end of her horn and she looked back at Spike as the baby dragon eagerly climbed up onto her back, knowing what she was planning to do. He climbed on top of her head as she brought it closer to the circuitry. As they began to work together, Jet began talking, “What are you two doing? Girlie, you could barely ride an Extreme Gear last time we saw you; now you know how to hot wire things? It’s not as easy as the movies make it look, you know! And with Eggman upgrading everything, there’s no way you’re going to-” He was cut off when the panel let out a confirming beep followed by the lock on the cell door disengaging.
Tempest stepped forward followed by Applejack, both of them placing their hooves on the door and starting to slide it open. It was a bit stuck and they were having a little trouble getting it to move. Wave noticed this and looked back at Storm and said, “Storm, don’t just stand there! Help them!” The albatross quickly rushed forward and grabbed the bars, the door sliding open relatively quickly with the three of them pushing. As she stepped out, Wave looked at Twilight and asked, “Where’d you learn how to do that?”
Twilight simply replied, “I have a friend who’s good with wiring. She showed me.”
Wave gave her a dubious look, “Uh-huh…”
Jet stepped next to her and said, “Just drop it, Wave!” He looked at Twilight, “All right, I’m impressed, but what’s your plan for getting out of here?”
Tempest spoke, “We’re meeting in the hangers. If we can’t get one of our own ships to pick us up, we should be able to find something we can take.”
Jet said, “Well, let’s get going, then!” They started to leave, but after they passed the still-bound guard, Twilight and Applejack stopped and looked back at him. They glanced at each other for a moment before Applejack walked over and, amidst his struggling and yelling, pulled one of the ends of the rope to loosen it a little. They both then hurried after the others. As they left the brig and ran down the hall, Jet asked, “Why’d you do that?”
Applejack answered, “So he has a chance ta get free and escape.”
Jet said, “You didn’t have to.”
Applejack shrugged, “Agree to disagree.”
Spike remarked, “I hope there aren’t a lot of other big tough birds like him around here.”
Wave said, “I know there’s one other. He’s a bit of a nasty piece of work. Sure hope we don’t run into him.”