Recovery Mission

[Rampage]

Interesting idea, but I think I want to know more about his capabilities first. The other thing is, those three aren't the only ones we need to worry about." Rampage added as he cued up surveillance footage outside the factory ship. There, they could clearly see a blue blur arrive and start racing around the Swat-bots making them look positively sluggish. On top of that, a purple Chameleon literally seemed to appear right out of thin air and start throwing explosives and shurikens around like candy, dealing considerable damage to the bots.

Rampage wasn't surprised that Sonic survived the explosion of the Com-bot back in the Mushroom Hill Zone. What did surprise him however is that when he froze the camera, the blue blur was not at all the same hedgehog he'd encountered there. "That's not the same Sonic I fought back in the Mushroom Hill Zone. Either we have more than one Sonic running around in this patchwork reality or... or maybe that Sonic spontaneously traded places with this new one the same way Rose so suddenly changed?" This alternate reality stuff was starting to wear exceedingly thin on his patience. Not to mention how confusing everything was becoming.

[Tatsuhiro]

He’d been surprised when Rampage pointed Sonic out. He’d agree with him, that hadn’t been the same Sonic at all. This one had a jacket, and a somewhat nasty scar on his face. But what interested him the most was the way he fought-the way he moved. By what he was seeing, it reminded him a lot of the Sonic he used to fight before the dimensional merged happened. The Chameleon was familiar too. Chaotix, wasn’t it? He didn’t run into them often.

“Maybe...” Tatus replied, “He’s not the same one I fought either. He’s older....I can tell, he’s moving like the one I’ve fought. He’s got more control over his speed. And then there’s that Chaotic guy...don’t know the name. Some kind of ninja, I think? Usually seen working with a crocodile and a bee.”

[Rampage]

"Hmm... Well, with any luck we'll be able to avoid dealing with them until we at least recover that tank. Speaking of, we should be getting there soon." Rampage reckoned as he switched off the video replay and moved over to the ship's bridge. There two bots manned the controls and ahead of them, he could see the Angel Island coastline filling the screen. Given the speed of the ship and how low they were flying in, they should arrive on the site in five minutes.

If all went well, Rampage figured they ought to be able to clear the landslide blocking the tunnel and retrieve the tank in an hour at most. With luck, that would be too fast for the Freedom Fighters to respond.

"Get ready, Tatsu, landfall in five!"

[To Launch Base Zone]