Sonic Forces: Not a Hero

Storming Metropolis

"Shadow," I growled to myself. I couldn't get him out of my head, "That was the hedgehog that ruined everything. If he hadn't shown up that day, Zero wouldn't have pushed me away!"

"Hey, Artemis you okay?" asked Silver, snapping me back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I huffed, waiting in the briefing room with everyone, "Just want Knuckles to tell us why he summoned us so suddenly."

"Listen up everyone!" shouted Knuckles getting all of our attention, "We just got word that Eggman's forces are undermanned at his headquarters in Metropolis!"

"They are probably staging somewhere else as part of Eggman's plan," analyzed Espio, "This could be our only chance to take the city."

"Exactly!" nodded Knuckles, "That's why we're focusing on a full-frontal assault on Metropolis! I'm calling it Operation: Big Wave."

"Who cares what it's called," said Silver, "What's important is to have a well thought out strategy."

"I thought of this strategy in about a minute and a half," smiled Knuckles.

"How did you get the role of Commander?" I sighed.

"We're going in hard and fast," continued Knuckles, "We're not going to stop until Eggman's army is destroyed. Sonic is busy fighting Shadow, but the rest of us can do this! We've got the strength and the spirit to win. There's no finer group I'd want to fight with."

"Ha! Great speech," smiled Vector, "Let's give Eggman an old-fashioned beat down!"

"Hold on, are we even sure if this is the best idea?" I argued, "This is still Eggman's headquarters we're talking about."

"They have more in sheer numbers," explained Tails, "So the idea of a quick, focused attack isn't bad. We also have Sonic-- I mean, the other Sonic-- so I have no doubt that we can do this! Also if we can destroy the Phantom Ruby, we should be able to send the other Sonic home! At least I hope so... This is all new territory for me..."

"Okay, let's head straight for Eggman's HQ!" cheered Knuckles, "Time to save the world, people!"

"I have a bad feeling about this," I sighed.

"Don't worry Artemis," smiled Silver, "If Tails is on board too, then it might not turn out as bad."

"I'll take your word for it," I said, but I couldn't shake the feeling that this was a mistake.

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Everyone got into position, Knuckles was planning on everyone to strike from the main entrance of Metropolis. My job was to run into the city and do recon into what Eggman would throw at them, and if I could stop it. Even though Knuckles is excited about the assault, it's good to see that he hasn't lost his sense. I'm no good in frontal assaults, doing recon and sabotage are much more suiting for my skills.

"Rookie," called Knuckles as I waited at the top of one of the buildings in Metropolis, "Did you manage to hack into the security system?"

"Almost," I said typing quickly on my holo keyboard, "Got it now. I have eyes everywhere now."

"All right! Time for Operation Big Wave!" cheered Knuckles, signaling the fight to begin, "We'll surge forward and sweep the enemy away!"

"Heads up guys!" I called, "Looks like Eggman is sending out his robot army."

"Copy that Rookie," acknowledged Vector, "There should be too many of them, according to our intel."