Master Emerald Shrine (Vs Chaos)4,059 words
Spagonia: City Invasion (Vs Queen Chrysalis)3,734 words
Green Hill: Guardian Rock (Vs Zavok)3,687 words
Chemical Plant: Network Terminal2,770 words

City: Park Avenue

In the Resistance HQ, Knuckles, Buddy, Amy and Fluttershy were all awaiting updates from the two teams Knuckles sent out to liberate more land Eggman had conquered.

"Knuckles! Do you read?"

The commander of the Resistance heard the transmission and placed a hand to his ear, "What is it, Vector?"

"We're bein' overwhelmed in the city! There's no way we can destroy the robots across the city and protect the civilians from the incoming forces Eggman is sending all at once!" Vector shouted.

Knuckles growled. He needed to come up with a plan. So he reached out to the other defense team he sent out to Seaside Hill, "Alpha Squad! Are any of you able to make your way to the city on South Island to aid the Omega Squad? Things are not going as smoothly as I hoped." he called out, hoping for good news.

Rainbow Dash answered, "Sorry, Knux. We're a little overwhelmed here. These bots just keep coming with no sign of stopping!" lasers were heard in the distance, followed by a scream, "Oh crud. Someone needs medical attention! We gotta go now!"

And with that, the call ended. Knuckles slammed a fist on the table in frustation. "Darn it!"

"What's wrong, Knuckles?" Amy asked.

"The Resistance is overwhelmed on all fronts. Alpha Squad is trying to keep Eggman's forces at bay while Omega Squad can't take care of the civilians and the number of Death Egg Robots. We need just one soldier to go in and make a difference and the two of us are needed here to make sure we aren't infiltrated." Knuckles explained. He tapped his foot, hoping to come up with something. "As much as I don't want to, it looks like Buddy needs to go out there."

Said wolf pointed at himself in confusion. Knuckles sighed, "Yes. Sonic, Twilight and Silver still need to recover from their fight with Infinite." he patted the rookie's shoulders, "Look, I'm not gonna make you destroy the Death Egg Robots by yourself or fight one of the elite villains. We just need you to go to the city and diminish Eggman's smaller numbers so Alpha Squad can get rid of most of the Death Egg Robots without anymore trouble."

Buddy gulped. "And it's about time you got a small upgrade. Do you have it, Amy?"

The pink hedgehog nodded and handed Buddy a square blue hammer. He raised a brow and wondered what it was. Amy answered, "This is the Hammer Wispon. It's based off my hammer, but I don't need the upgrade so you can have it. Just remember that it won't reach any robots attacking from above." she warned.

The Rookie nodded, listening to what she said. He heard Knuckles soon say, "Get yourself prepped in a few minutes, Rookie."

With that, Buddy left the room to grab his gear and whatever else he needed for the upcoming battle. When he was out of sight, Fluttershy pointed something out, "Are you sure it's a good idea to send him out there? He looks kind of scared."

"I'm sure, Fluttershy. He's gonna need the experience anyway." Knuckles assured the pegasus. "If anything goes wrong, he'll already have backup waiting to assist him."

In the city, the Chaotix, Applejack and Pinkie were fighting off as much of Eggman's forces as they could, doing their best to protect the bystanders and destroy the robots that have been laying waste to the city in their ambush.

Pinkie Pie bounced on top of one of the gray Egg Pawns and landed next to Applejack, who was busy kicking back Motobugs and Crabmeats. The party pony said, "This is kind of exciting!"

"Fer all the wrong reasons, Pinkie." Applejack reminded her, "Did ya'll forget we're fightin' for our lives here?"

"But Charmy's having fun!" Pinkie pointed out, poking a hoof in the direction of the bee, who was cheering as he bashed his stinger into every robot that stood in his way.

"Isn't this awesome, Pinkie?" Charmy shouted, hovering next to Pinkie while she leaped in the air.

"Yeperoo! I never knew destroying Eggman's robots could be so much fun!" the pink mare responded.

Espio sighed, "For crying out loud..."

Vector headbutted another robot and muttered, "This is gettin' outta hand. It's like there's two of 'em now!"

Espio gestured a scared dog civilian to run through the alleyway with the rest of the citizens in the neighborhood, "Go! We'll cover you from here!" he told him. The dog ran where Espio pointed, The ninja threw some shurikens directly at a robot's optics as it marched towards him, shutting down their visors, which made it collide with a wall as a result.

The dog nodded and ran in the direction the chameleon pointed, "I don't know how much longer we can keep fighting."

Applejack ducked from a laser shot from a flying Egg Pawn. Using her lasso, she tied it around the floating robot and yanked it downwards, it exploding once it hit the ground. She noticed a cat hiding behind a corner, spotting a Motobug heading in her direction. Without hesitation, the farmpony dashed and leaped, spinning her body around so that her hindlegs met the charging robot's body. She launched it aside and turned it to scrap immediately.

Once she landed, Applejack asked, "Are you alright?"

The cat nodded, "Who are you?"

"Name's Applejack. Ah'm with the Resistance. Ya'll better get outta here to safety with everypon-- everyone else. We'll turn these robots to scrap faster than I can buck apple trees." the mare explained.

The cat ran off, allowing Applejack to focus on the armada ahead of her. She jumped back from a missile and slid on the streets. Pinkie hopped next to her friend, "Let me break it!" she said.

At that moment, the party pony brought her party cannon out from nowhere and aimed it at the robot. She pulled the rope and then a giant cake flew out of it, it landing on the Egg Pawn's head and blinding it long enough for Pinkie to launch an anvil at it, destroying the robot for good. She smiled, "There we go!"

Espio blinked, "How did she--"

"Don't question it." Applejack said in a deadpan tone.

"That was super duper cool!" Charmy cheered, making his way directly through a Kiki Badnik hanging on the side of a building. The bee dodged the exploding coconuts that were being thrown at him. Charmy then drove his stinger through the monkey Badnik, shutting it down for good. He found Pinkie on the roof he was near.

"I know right!?" she shouted.

Vector winded up a punch and drove his fist directly through one of the bigger robots. Espio slid back and threw a few shurikens at some of the faster robots. "Did Knuckles give an update?" the ninja asked.

"Errgh!" Vector grunted, taking a hit to the chest. He held his sore spot and said, "Not yet. It's been nothing but from his end. Hopefully he has something good planned."

Applejack added, "Ya'll think he's comin' himself?"

Espio replied, "Unlikely. He and Amy have to keep watch of the HQ in case of a compromise."

"Ah thought as much." the farmpony muttered. "Than who could he possibly send? It's crazier out here than the lines during Cider season."

The crocodile gave one of the bots a right hook, "I don't know, but they better be quick. We have some Death Egg Robots to hold off too. We can't focus on these small fry forever!"

"Did somepony say fries?" Pinkie wondered.

Espio inhaled, "It's a figure of speech, Pinkie. Just focus on the robots."

"Okey dokey!" the pink pony responded, grabbing her cannon once more and aiming it at Eggman's forces.

On the other side of the city, Buddy used his grappling hook to swing off the edge of a building and land on a rooftop. He dropped to a knee, still not used to this much action. He heard Knuckles over his comms, "Alright, Rookie. Your mission is simple. Destroy Eggman's robots. We've detected no life signals of the elite rogues in your vicinity so you don't have to worry about an unexpected fight. Leave the Death Egg Robots to the rest of the Omega Squad."

Buddy gave a quick, "Mm-hmm!" before running into battle. He had to admit, he was kind of afraid. This is the first time he had been alone on the frontlines since he helped invade the Chemical Plant. But the Resistance needed his help, so he wasn't going to back down now.

The wolf jumped down and used his grappling hook to safely touch the ground. He saw some robots standing in his way. However, they were larger than the usual Egg Pawns he's seen. Amy clarified, "E-2000s? We haven't seen them before!"

"Seems Eggman is drawing out the big guns for his attack. Amy, reach out to Alpha Squad and check to see if they've encountered any new robots in Eggman's line." Knuckles ordered. "Fluttershy and I will keep contact with the Rookie."

Buddy listened and found an army of robots standing in front of him, blasters out. The wolf tightly gripped the blue hammer and slammed it on the ground, turning the immediate army into blue cubes. He had to admit, he was a little confused about the side-effect. Curious, he slammed his hammer down again in hopes of creating a shockwave. It seemed to work based on the fact that the robots vanished in a blue flash. He eyed his hammer once more before running.

"What was that?" Fluttershy asked.

"The Blue Wisps can turn certain objects into cubes." the echidna commander explained, "Based on the sounds, it seems like Buddy's putting the Wispon to good use."

Buddy shrugged at the explanation. Whatever worked, he supposed. The wolf bounced on a spring and ran around a loop. Once he went around it, he spotted some soldiers fighting off some of the opposition. What caught his eye is that they also had Wispons. "That looks like the town's militia. We sent soldiers across the world to defend as many towns as possible." Knuckles explained for him. Buddy nodded, realizing that he should help them.

So, Buddy did just that. Once he spotted a Buzz Bomber, he slammed down his hammer on the ground. When he noticed nothing happened, he remembered what Amy told him. He smiled sheepishly in embarassment and jumped, using his grappling hook to home in on the aerial robot, he drove his feet directly onto it, destroying it. While he was in the air, the wolf started flipping and landed perfectly on his feet, using his hammer to take care of the ground-level offensive.

Once the immediate area was clear, one of the soldiers, a dog, walked up to him and shook his hand. "Thanks for the save, stranger. Are you with the soldier Commander Knuckles sent?"

Buddy nodded, and the soldier continued, "It's great to have new recruits join the fight. We have this area covered. Commander Knuckles sent his friends further into the city to destroy the Death Egg Robots, just take that path ahead." he pointed to an alleyway.

With a friendly wave, Buddy sprinted in that direction. Leaving the militia to continue the fight. "He seems like a quiet one." the rabbit pointed out.

The wolf saw another soldier trying to escort civilians to safety. He dashed forward and used his hammer on the forces, destroying them. He nodded to the soldier and swung away without a word. The bear could only scratch his head and ask, "Who was that?"

On top of a rooftop, Applejack, Vector and Espio stared down a Death Egg Robot. "And Ah thought Timberwolves were big."

"I don't know what those are, but they don't sound friendly. These are without a doubt the biggest thing the doc's ever built." Vector pointed out, taking a step back.

Espio folded his arms. "All we have to do is reach the head."

Applejack grabbed her lasso, "Ya'll think this'll do?"

"It'll have to." Espio said.

The three jumped, with Vector holding the pony and chameleon under his arms. Applejack managed to grip the rope onto the robot and they swung all the way around the robot's torso, leaning upwards so that they could reach for the head. They took the rope out and were now freefalling, Espio curling into a ball while Applejack and Vector extended their fists/hooves. They dove into the Death Egg Robot's face and leaped out from the other side of its head, landing on a rooftop right on time to watch the giant mechanical beast fall on its back.

"Whoa nelly! That was quite a ride." Applejack wiped the sweat from her head.

Vector proudly flexed his arms, "I'll never get tired of destroying these things!"

Espio dusted his hands, "But our work here is not done. Where's Pinkie Pie and Charmy?"

KABOOM!

The three cringed at the sound and could only watch as Pinkie and Charmy were launched directly into the robot's head. "Did they just--?" Vector wondered.

Looking at the ground, Applejack spotted a colorful cannon. She could only roll her eyes and sigh, "They did."

Once the Death Egg Robot the two flew through fell, Charmy grabbed Pinkie's hooves and landed on the same roof as Applejack, Espio, and Vector. "That was totally amazing!" Pinkie cheered.

"It was! We should keep doing it!" Charmy agreed.

Vector muttered, "Well, it surprisingly worked..."

"Told you they'd think it was a good idea!" Pinkie said to the bee.

Espio said, "Are you done?"

"Yep!"

Applejack asked, "So what should we do now?"

Crouching down, Espio replied, "We should meet with this town's militia and tell them this area's safe for sheltering anyone stuck here."

"Ooh! Is that them down there?" Pinkie questioned.

Vector glanced down, spotting the soldiers wielding their weapons. "Huh. They are."

The Omega Squad jumped down. "How're things on yer end?" Vector asked.

"Better than expected. The new guy the commander sent is making a lot of noise." the leader said.

"Was he a red wolf with glasses and always looks super super worried?" Pinkie asked.

"Er, yes. How did you know?"

"Just a guess!" the pink pony proudly said.

Applejack raised a brow, "Knuckles sent Buddy here? Where is he?"

A soldier nodded, "Seems so. He's on the other side of town. We noticed that the number of robots dwindled once he arrived. Don't worry, with the Death Egg Robots destroyed around here, we can handle whatever threat makes its way over here."

Applejack said. "Ah wish we can destroy the rest, but that's way too many fer us to handle at once. We promise we'll come back when we can afford to bring in more people."

A rabbit said, "Don't worry. The sudden ambush was the bigger priority, and we know about the attack at Seaside Hill. As the defense squad for the town, we'll take care of things in your absence."

"Ya'll are doin' some mighty good out here." Applejack complimented. She faced the Chaotix, "What do we do now?"

Espio responded, "We should meet with Buddy at the bridge. From there we'll head back to HQ and rest until we're needed again. Which won't take long."

"Alright. The bridge should just be this way!" Vector said.

The Omega Squad were running through the city, destroying whatever was left of Eggman's forces during the attack. Applejack tripped an E-2000 back with her hindlegs, making it fall upon its back. Pinkie jumped over its body with a smile on her face.

The team stopped however, when Pinkie spotted a still red robot, "Holy moly! What is that?" she pointed to it.

The Chaotix instantly recognized the robot and ran towards it. "Is it a threat?" Applejack asked.

"No way! It's Omega!" Charmy cheered. "We found him! We found him!"

Vector frowned, "But what the heck happened to him?"

"Ya'll know him?" the farmpony wondered.

The crocodile said, "Yep! This is Omega. He's a good friend'a ours. We lost track of him the day Sonic was captured."

Espio used his comms, "Knuckles. We found Omega. Tell Rouge whenever you can."

"Really? What is he doing in the city?"

Pinkie held one of the hands, "He's shut down! Like me after a sugar rush!"

"Er, thanks for the description, Pinkie. Vector, think you can lift him back to HQ?"

Vector smirked, "Of course." the detective lifted the deactivated robot with both arms. "Think you guys can cover for me?"

With how much he was swinging across buildings, Buddy felt like some kind of comic book hero. He wasn't sure why that was exactly. But he actually felt confident again. "Buddy?" Applejack called out through her comms. The wold responsed with a cheerful grunt. The farmpony responded, "We cleared out the Death Egg Robots in our area."

"Eggman's forces should be thinning out at this point. We'll rendezvous at the bridge. Be sure to clear to clear out any robot you see on the way there." Espio said.

Buddy dropped to the ground face first, unable to land on his legs in time. He sat up and wiped the dirt off his muzzle and grunted. He still had to get used to the whole soldier thing it seemed. He put a hand to his ear when he heard Knuckles say, "Watchout, Rookie. It looks like there are some Egg Hammers ahead." he warned.

"Oh dear." Fluttershy gulped.

The Rookie held out his Wispon and found the Egg Hammers. The one in front slammed his own down, but Buddy slid underneath the robot and jumped up, using his hammer to turn them into cubes. "Um, how powerful is that, Knuckles?" Fluttershy asked, realizing that the robot signals vanished from her end.

"A lot more than I expected." Knuckles admitted under his breath. "Just make sure you don't use that here, Buddy."

Buddy nodded in agreement. In all honesty, he kinda preferred the Fire Wispon he started out with anyway. He moved on, seeing a group of unarmed bystanders backing away in fear at the dull gray robots coming for them. They were all blocked by a wall, unable to find an opening to escape. The Rookie scowled and extended his grappling hook, aiming for the aerial drones first.

He then homed in on the Egg Pawn in front and kicked another back. The Rookie backflipped and stomped on top of a Crabmeat, destroying it in one hit. He turned around swung his hammer on a Motobug's side, smashing it to pieces. Buddy slid under the Egg Hammer before using his hammer to turn it into a cube.

With the robots cleared, he looked at the shocked people. "Y-You saved us!" said a bear, "You're a hero!"

Hero? Buddy scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. He was a soldier, sure, but being called a hero was a new level of praise. He was just doing what was right. He shrugged and shook his head, not wanting to accept that boast. He pointed behind him, the people going there. But not before thanking him again.

The Rookie used his grappling hook and zipped upwards, landing on a rail to grind on. He noticed a dead end and jumped using his hook to home in on one of the robots guarding the edge of the roof. Once he landed, he spotted the bridge, and the Omega Squad heading there too, with a giant robot in Vector's arms.

However, unknown to them, there was a small swarm of robots heading there way. With no time to waste, Buddy made the leap and brought the hammer down, creating a shockwave strong enough to stop the robots in their tracks. He slammed it again, causing the robots to vanish in a blue light like before. He panted and turned around, seeing that the team was looking directly at him.

"You alright there, Rookie?"

Buddy gave a thumbs up and Applejack responded, "Ya did us a mighty favor by doin' that."

Charmy swung his legs, "Hey, Espio. I thought you were a ninja. Why didn't you see those robots coming?"

"Being a ninja doesn't give me hyper senses, Charmy." Espio growled.

Pinkie gasped, "It doesn't?!"

"No." Espio said bluntly.

"Aw..."

"Omega Squad. Rookie. What's the status?" Knuckles asked through the comms.

"Things are startin' to lighten up here, Knux." Applejack answered.

"Indeed. The town's militia will clear whatever remains of Eggman's smallee numbers since they've dwindled enough to be nothing more than a nuisance. We're on our way back to HQ with Omega." Espio elaborated for the commander.

"And we couldn't have done it without Buddy!" Pinkie cheered.

Buddy shrugged, and Vector said, "Just take the compliment, kid. Nice work trashing the bots we couldn't reach."

And so, the Resistance began their trek back to the Resistance base. The militia was able to take care of things and they planned to come back to destroy what was left of the Death Egg Robots eventually. It was only a matter of time until the city was safe once more.

Buddy looked back at how he helped those people. Just a day ago he was a nobody that ran away from danger. Here he was back in the city, helping the defenseless. But then he shuddered upon remembering Infinite, and that he was still afraid of him. At the very least Knuckles was kind enough to give him an easy mission this time.

And he hoped he never had to cross paths with Infinite ever again. He could handle robots, and stand by his new friends' sides, but the last thing he wanted was to face that monster again.

"Buddy?"

The wolf's train of thoughts stopped once he heard the farmpony's voice. "Ah. Zoned out, hm?" she asked. Buddy gave a thumbs up, "Alrighty there. Just makin' sure you were feelin' fine. Ah imagine yer still reelin' from your other missions?"

He answered with a nod, to which Charmy responded, "You'll get used to it, Buddy!"

"Just know yer not alone in that." Applejack assured.

At least Buddy could take solace in that. With that, they left the city and continued their trek back to their base.

Author's Note:

The Resistance: 30%
Eggman Empire: 70%

The ambush on the city is clear and now the Resistance is one step closer to taking it back.

This chapter and most likely the next are going to be shorter than expected. Sorry about that.

Next time: We’re going to Seaside Hill and see what battle the Alpha Squad endured during this ambush.

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