//------------------------------//
// Skyfall 
// Story: Way Past Equestria 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

"Rotor, they're coming in hot from our five o'clock!"

"On it, Tails!"

Rotor whipped the rear turret around and began firing at the badniks that were flying after the Sky Patrol, the flying, mobile base of the Freedom Fighters, managing to knock them out of the sky before they could do any real damage. Rotor the Walrus let out a small sigh of relief before his eyes narrowed as another squadron emerged over the horizon.

"Go ahead Eggman, send your entire freaking army after us. You won't win," Rotor promised. He took aim once more and held down the trigger until all that was in the sky was laser fire and explosions. With the threat momentarily dealt with, Rotor took a moment to let go of the cannon. "Tails, I could use some good news. How are things going up front?"

"Not well, Rotor. The right engine is starting to falter and the left one isn't working. Also we've suffered way too much damage on our starboard side to keep flying at this speed for long," the voice of the young genius replied. "It's not a question of if we're going down. The question now is how long until we're forced to go down."

"We're not going down, not if I have anything to say about that. Keep us flying, I'll deal with the engines."

Rotor swung out of his turret seat and headed into the guts of the Sky Patrol. He took a moment to spare a glance at the red ring reactor, sighing in relief when he saw that it was still intact. Then he tightened his tool belt and forced his way to the engine room. Pipes and wires were strewn everywhere, alarms screamed at him that things were truly screwed, and, of course, everything was on fire.

The fire came first. Rotor grabbed hold of a fire suppressor and sprayed down the flames, managing to subdue them to the point that he could move further into the engine. Next came getting the engine up and running again. He grabbed hold of the wires and cords, attaching them in ways that would only make sense to him. He flipped the switch on the engine, snarling when it didn't come back to life. He slammed a fist into the panel and allowed himself to smile when the engine sputtered back online.

"Alright Tails, that's one engine online. Are we in the clear?" Rotor asked.

"Not even close! We have more bogey's coming in on us from all directions! As well as...oh son of a-"

"Belay that language Tails, what's approaching us?" Rotor asked.

"It's...some kind of giant, robot bird!" Tails exclaimed. The moment after he said this the entire Sky Patrol rocked as the badniks resumed their offensive maneuvers. Rotor was bounced around the engine room like a pinball, screaming in the most PG language he could incase Tails was still on the line. When he had a moment to fight back to his feet, he forced himself out of the engine room and to the lower decks.

"Tails, can you get us out of here?" Rotor asked.

"No good! That bird robot is fast! Faster than the Sky Patrol!" Tails informed him. "And I can't outmaneuver it because of all the small badniks corralling us! And then-"

A massive explosion went off on the other side of the Sky Patrol forcing Rotor to grab onto the railing for dear life. A whole new set of flames erupted and the alarms, if it was possible, started to blare even louder. Rotor took a moment to clear the spots from his eyes before he placed a hand on his comms.

"Tails, please don't tell me that was the other engine."

"Okay Rotor, I won't tell you that was the other engine that just exploded."

"Thanks Tails, makes me feel better," Rotor said with a smile. He then started moving towards the other engine, activating his nanite battlesuit to protect him from the flames. "Can you fly us towards Castle Acorn or towards a G.U.N patrol? We could use some friendly firepower backing us up!"

"I would if I knew where anything was," Tails replied. "But the world is...wrong. Buildings and places from our world seemed to be mixmatched with another world. We just passed a city made of clouds a moment ago. I don't think we're on Mobius anymore."

Rotor felt a bitter smirk cross his face as he started forcing open the door to the other engine room. He knew that he shouldn't be surprised at how everything was going. Things always went as wrong as possible for them, the only difference was that this time it was on a new world instead of their old one. But how did they...?

"Eggman. It's always Eggman. Why would this time be any different?" Rotor snarled. With a burst of strength he ripped the door open and stumbled inside...only for his eyes to go wide at the giant, empty hole on the side of his ship where his engine used to be.

"Rotor, what's the status of the engine? We're losing speed and the robot bird is catching up on us fast! Please tell me it's not on fire again."

"Well, then good news, the engine isn't on fire," Rotor said with a small laugh. "It's just gone."

"Gone?! What do you mean, gone?!"

"Vanished, bounced, adios; it realized how bad things were and bailed. Might make it the smartest thing on our ship," Rotor replied. He whipped around and started to head back to the generator while Tails continued to talk.

"This is bad, Rotor. We couldn't outrun that thing with both of our engines and now that we're down one..." Rotor could hear the fear starting to build in Tail's voice and he honestly couldn't blame the kid. But he needed to keep him calm. 

"Do what you can. Aim for a place that we can land that has any kind of cover or defensive positions. So long as we have a chance, we can still win this," Rotor told the kid. He raced up towards the red ring reactor and started punching in some commands. "Let me know when you've landed. Then we're going to hypercharge the red ring generator."

"Hypercharge it?! Rotor, did you hit your head or something? Overcharging the red ring generator..."

"Will most likely make it that this bird will never fly again. But it will give our defense system and weapons a massive boost, perhaps massive enough to knock all of those badniks out of the sky," Rotor replied with a smirk. "And I am not letting my pride and joy get shot down. I have a bet with Knuckles going on right now and I refuse to lose it. So we're not going to let them take us down. We're taking ourselves down."

"This is crazy, Rotor...and might just be our only chance to survive," Tails replied. "Alright, it looks like we're coming up on some kind of forest up ahead, one with a decent cliff face with a castle on top. If I can get the Sky Patrol in there, it would eliminate the badniks ability to attack us from the rear."

"Which would mean they would have to come at us from the front, making them easier targets for our turrets," Rotor agreed. "Do it, Tails."

"Alright. Hold onto something!"

Rotor grabbed hold of the railings and braced, right before the entire Sky Patrol crashed into the forest. The giant disc tore across the forest floor, tearing out trees, decimating boulders and scaring the hell out of every animal in their path. Tails wrestled with the controls, spinning around the Sky Patrol and using the reverse thrusters to bring the ship to a stop right at the base of cliff outcropping. With one last sputter, the other engine died, telling Rotor that this was it. Either they won this fight or they were dead. So nothing new.

"Alright Rotor, we've landed. Activate the red ring."

Rotor activated the hypercharge before racing towards the cockpit, ignoring the wreck that had once been his pride and joy. He ripped open the door to get in and ran over to Tails, who was gripping the firing controls with a death grip. "Hey Rotor, sorry about your ship."

"We can always build a new one. You're the only thing on this ship that I can't replace," Rotor said. He placed a hand on Tails head and ruffled his fur, before staring out at the oncoming assault. "That's...a lot of badniks. Oh, and there's the bird. You were right. Things big."

"Fast too."

"All this, just for us, though. You'd think that with all of the troops Eggman is deploying that he was launching his final assault," Rotor pointed out. "It's almost like he's after something."

"Gee, I wonder what that could be," Tails replied. The two of them then looked over at a small containment unit attached to the bridge, both of them knowing what Eggman was after. "They're almost within range. Should I fire now or..."

"Wait for them to get closer. We miss this shot and Sonic is going to have to find a new mechanic," Rotor said. He then deactivated his nanosuit, before placing the ring onto Tails wrist. "Should this not work, I want you to activate that and fly as fast as you can away from here. I'll buy you as much time as I can."

"Rotor, no, I won't-"

"Yes you will. Because we both know you're smarter than me, you're more creative than me and you've got a lot more years left in you than me," Rotor replied. He then gave Tails a smile and a thumbs up. "Besides, captain goes down with his ship. And all those badniks are coming with me. Now get ready, it's time."

Tails said nothing as he turned his head back towards the oncoming forces, who were nearly right on top of them. He glanced to the side to see that the reactor was going critical and all of their systems were hypercharged. It was time.

"Order Captain?"

"Fire everything."

The sky erupted into death and flames. The Sky Patrol fired everything it had, turning the sky red with laser fire. Badniks exploded, clouds burned and even the giant robot bird screeched as it was torn apart by the sheer volume and firepower that the Sky Patrol unloaded. For a long, ten seconds, there was nothing but death in the air. Then the red ring gave out and all systems in the Sky Patrol stopped, leaving Tails and Rotor to admire their handiwork.

"That's...that's all of them," Tails sighed in relief.

"Yeah...I think we got them," Rotor laughed. The two let out a cheer as they high fived...before their hearts plummeted when they saw a single craft coming towards them. The craft was egg shaped and had a symbol on it that they both knew. Rotor pushed Tails behind him as the craft lowered itself right in front of their window, revealing its pilot. A figure that they both hated with all of their being.

The man had long legs and a round shape, with red coattails and a long, red mustache. A pair of goggles covered his eyes and a wicked smile was on his face. Rotor would have attacked him on the spot, if it wasn't for the laser cannons aimed at the both of them.

"Well look at this. A fox and walrus, far from home," Eggman laughed. "And what's this? No hedgehog in sight to come to your rescue. Well, that makes this all the better."

"Eggman...why are you here?" Rotor seethed. Behind him he caught Tails doing something and stepped forward so all of Eggman's attention would be on him. "We beat you. We took back your prisoners, wrecked your base and freed to chaos emeralds. You've already lost. Go home."

"I will admit that you set me back a bit. Or rather, Sonic did, but details," Eggman hand waved. "But now I'm back on top. My army is stronger than ever, my plan is more than any of your feeble minds could handle and-"

"Rotor, DOWN!"

Rotor ducked to the side as Tails fired off a small particle cannon, firing it right into Eggman's face. An explosion went off and for a moment the pair thought they had gotten him...only for the smoke to clear to reveal Eggman with his hand extended. A hand that was filled with black magic.

"And now I've added a few more tricks to my arsenal. Thanks to a new friend," Eggman said. His smile then grew even wider as he brought his magic infused fist next to his face, making him look like something out of a nightmare. "Now I will only ask once."

"Give me your chaos emerald."