PROLOGUE
He sat alone in a cold chrome cube.
Anybody who had met Shadow the Hedgehog would have no qualms with describing him as troubled, or perhaps even damaged. Such a constant aura of gruff distance made it difficult to ascertain when something was wrong but, in this private moment, there could be no mistake. With head slumped, he wallowed in the silence. Legs hung motionlessly from the metal bench. Eyes were closed.
He had tried his best. He had put in as much effort as possible... well, short of annihilating the entire GUN facility in a fit of explosive rage. That was within his power. That could be his next move.
Irony tugged at his subconscious.
He had his answers. He had discovered the truth about his past. The true wish of Maria. To protect humanity, rather than lay revenge upon it. And yet how was he fulfilling that wish of hers? By attempting to join the Guardian Unit of Nations... the very organisation responsible for her death. It was a GUN soldier, after all. That fateful day aboard the Space Colony ARK, it was a GUN soldier who entered the corridor with weapon raised. Spotted them both. Running as they were, hand in hand. Obviously guilty. Under orders. Pull the trigger and take them both out.
Maria wanted to protect humanity. Humanity had responded by killing her.
Shadow felt his anger return. His burning red eyes snapped back open as a gunshot echoed in the recesses of his mind. What was he doing here? Sitting at the heart of GUN, trying to join them in their mandate of defending the planet? Not when he should be exacting revenge for that atrocious crime. Not when he should be honouring the memory of his friend. What kind of a friend would side with her executioners?
He stopped himself. It was not a fair thought. The present situation had driven him back to his old mentality. The wrong mentality. It was a mistake he had made before, and the fallout from that mistake told a tragic tale. Used as a weapon. Manipulated. Tricked. Tortured to his very soul by nefarious, greedy beings... no. That was just what they wanted. They wanted him filled with hate. They wanted his rage for the power it harnessed.
With a sigh, Shadow closed his eyes and returned to sitting still in the empty room. He thought of Maria one last time and remembered her wish. The irony was still there, but it was manageable.
And, thanks to Maria, it was justifiable, too.
But what next? He had tried his best. He had played within the rules, done what had been asked of him in the proving ground, and been laughed at. Jeered. Mocked. It was a feeling most uncomfortable. Shadow was not used to defeat. It was a lesson hard learned. A lesson he could have done without.
He was seconds away from leaving GUN altogether when a voice called out.
“Shadow the Hedgehog,” it crackled from above. “Stand by.”
ACT ONE
“He did what...?!”
“I know,” the Commander agreed. The old soldier paused to let his words sink in. Rouge the Bat, for all her faults, had been nothing but supportive to him lately. Only a devotion to military life suppressed his smile. He had always known she was, at her core, one of the good guys. Regardless of the big pile of jewellery he had promised.
“Captain Stone has placed me in a very difficult position,” he eventually continued in his usual gruff tone. “Whatever happens, the official position of GUN is now logged as denying Shadow status as an agent.”
“But you outrank the captain,” Rouge pointed out.
The Commander nodded. “That I do.” He paused again. This time it was to cast his dual-coloured eyes around the circular walls of the facility’s gigantic nerve centre, nicknamed the Bullpen. “And it gives me one last option. Just after the dispatch team left for Angel Island with the Chaos Emerald, I finished isolating the computer terminals in here. The mole isn’t working from the Bullpen.”
Rouge seemed to relax by a degree.
“Isolating all the other computers we have dotted throughout the facility, however, will take us weeks on our own,” the human countered, “and using more manpower risks tipping our hand prematurely. Our best bet is to find the Nemesis, and get the identity of the mole from their side.”
There was a wicked shimmer in the bat’s eyes. “I can help with that.”
“Explain.”
“Once, I was... er, visiting, a museum in Spagonia,” Rouge began to elaborate, knowing full well the Commander was not to be fooled by a quick verbal sidestep. She let her attempts at innocence continue all the same. “I needed some time alone to, well... study this artefact I was interested in. Purely as a tourist.”
“Purely,” the Commander growled. “This artefact wouldn’t happen to be the famous Star of Spagonia, would it?”
Rouge put on mock ignorance. “Hasn’t that been missing for a while?”
“Since it was stolen, yes. Get to your point.”
“Well, I needed some time alone, as I said. There was this wonderful little computer chip I had run across a few weeks earlier. It created a program to ghost the security cameras. Rather than loop footage, which gets noticed for the repetitions, it generated false images that were indistinguishable from reality.” There was a hint of pride in her voice. “Nobody had a clue that I was even there!”
The Commander saw the plan forming and stopped Rouge before she incriminated herself any further. “Ignoring the legal implications of your charming story,” he said with force, “are you suggesting we seal the Bullpen and ghost the cameras?”
“It gives you freedom to work. You said it yourself, the mole isn’t in here. So that gives us enough people to trust in running a field operation. To find the Nemesis.”
“And a field agent?”
Rouge gave a dry smile. “I would offer my own services, but I don’t think you could afford me. Not with all the gems you already owe... and besides, installing the ghost chip takes a few hours, and something tells me you’re not about to wait around.” She thought for a long moment. Black wings fluttered involuntarily. “I guess that leaves one.”
A grey uniform heaved with a sigh. “Yeah. I guess so. Damn that Stone.”
“Didn’t you say something about a last option?”
His hands, in their own white gloves, crunched into fists. He placed them behind his back as he rose from his command chair. Silver hair seemed to shine in the bright artificial light, matching eyebrows knitted together in a frown. A few of the analysts and officers looked up from their terminals, expecting some kind of announcement. The others that kept working were soon interrupted. It was a voice of authority. A voice they knew all too well. A voice that usually carried bad news, followed by fresh orders to fight it... only today, the order was given alone.
And it was totally unexpected.
“Listen up,” the Commander barked. “What I am about to tell you is classified outside of the Bullpen. Lock down whatever the hell you’re working on and pay attention. And anybody who has a problem with this is fired! Understood?”
Nobody had a problem. Everybody listened. Everybody understood.
“This is a Code Black!”
Somewhere high above the planet, a manmade star broke formation and drifted effortlessly across the void of space. Nobody on the surface would notice. The whole point of being an intelligence satellite was to be stealthy, after all.
Control thrusters spat rocket fuel. An array of lights across the dorsal hull began to rapidly flash, as though the inanimate object was excited about fulfilling its purpose. Several telescopic lenses found themselves exposed to the icy vacuum for the first time. They blinked to life and peered down at the blue marble below. Inspecting it. Scrutinising it. Peering under its clouds and discovering its secrets.
After a few tentative moments, they found what they were looking for.
From the lights emerged an antenna. It gave the appearance of a large spider trapped inside the satellite, using a tiny hole to stretch one leg at a time. More lights flashed. A steady string of digital beeps provided them a soundtrack.
To the listening computer below, the beeps were far more eloquent than mere noise.
Captain Stone walked through the bowels of the GUN facility with a hardened expression, glancing at his own reflection in the chrome corridor walls every few seconds. Blue strip lighting followed him in pulses. It matched his eyes. He looked good in blue... or so he thought. Such vanity ran deep. Even if he was not consciously aware of checking his outward appearance, he still did so. And it was that same vanity that contributed heavily towards his career mentality... one of ruthless ambition and an unquenchable thirst for status. For command. For the highest rank possible.
On the first day of service, he had gotten dressed in his uniform and instantly lamented the empty grey across his chest. Ever since then, his actions had been solely dedicated to covering that same grey with anything possible: medals, rank insignia... anything that set him apart from fellow GUN officers. Anything that gave him authority.
Stone had climbed high. There was now only one last individual to impress, one last pair of military boots standing in his way. And yet his latest dealing with the Commander had been a spectacular failure.
He turned a corner. Again, the reflection was there. Again, a quick check.
Just as he had checked the GUN archives. Much of what he needed was classified, at a level even beyond his impressive status, but there had been enough. Enough to see the connection between the Commander and this hedgehog... and then alarm bells had sounded. There was a threat to his career plans. There was a new favourite son, and the gears of Stone’s ambition had started to move against him. No matter what happened in the proving ground, the result was destined to be the same recommendation. The same failure.
Upon delivering the report against granting agent status, there was no surprise at the blatant favouritism on display. Stone shuddered at the thought. It sent a chill down his spine, like lying on ice.
There was no way he could let Shadow become a GUN agent. No way.
So when Stone rounded on the entrance to the Bullpen and saw the black hedgehog waiting patiently outside, he froze.
Shadow simply looked up at him and let the silence reign.
ACT TWO
After a very brief moment alone, they were inside the Bullpen.
Behind them, the Commander made an unintentionally fancy display of sealing the frosted glass door. A code was punched into a large keypad and a card was swiped. Edges hissed shut, airtight and soundproofed. Watching in confusion, Captain Stone was given no chance to ask the purpose of the ritual.
The Commander ignored him, immediately turning to Shadow instead. Human leading hedgehog, the pair walked across the buzzing chamber and disappeared into a small side office. More glass, clear this time, muted their conversation.
Stone clenched his jaw in frustration and tried desperately to lip-read.
“I’m sorry for my subordinate.”
The last thing Shadow had expected was an apology. The hedgehog stood perfectly still and watched the Commander with a wary eye. Everything was happening very unusually, not that he would ever profess to be a military expert. Better to stand back and let others play their hand first. Wait until he had a clearer picture of the landscape before he said his piece. Or even pleaded his case.
The Commander let his age show in a rare moment, sighing as he leaned against the only piece of solid furniture in the side office, a metal desk. He returned Shadow’s stare without blinking. Green and brown eyes locked into place and showed no sign of moving.
“I’m running low on people I can trust today, Shadow,” he finally continued. “I have to trust Stone. He’s my second-in-command and I need him right now. And I want to be able to trust you, too.”
Silence. No reply. Not even a blink.
“I can circumvent Stone and grant you full GUN agent status,” the Commander growled in an effort to provoke a reaction. “It’ll take some doing. I need to call the President and get an executive order to vouch for your candidacy.” There was another pause, akin to a swimmer taking a deep breath before diving off the top board. “And I’m fully prepared to do that for you. On one condition.”
More silence. Shadow let the Commander get to his point.
“I need to know. Why are you suddenly trying so hard to be a hero? You’ve done it before, without us... twice.”
Shadow replied instantly. “And I will fight like I always have.”
“Then why GUN? Is this some kind of penance?”
“No.”
“Then what...?”
Black spines bristled. “This is for Maria.”
The Commander felt his mouth open, but no words came out. Instead, he pushed himself away from the metal desk and stood to his full height, straightening his uniform with a tug at the waist. For a tense and almost endless moment, he scanned the hedgehog’s blank face with narrow eyes.
And then, without another word, he marched back out to the Bullpen.
It was looking a little better. Captain Stone thought it premature to celebrate his victory, but yes... it was definitely looking a little better. Shadow had been left standing alone in the side office. And here was the Commander. Marching. Always a good sign. An emotionless front to present, to mask the bad news just delivered. Excellent. He had sent Shadow packing after all, and now it was back to work... most excellent!
And then the Commander ruined it by speaking. “Okay. He’s in.”
“What?!”
The older man ignored the outburst. He reached over to his central chair and retrieved a piece of paper. “Somebody get me a pen!” So quickly. So dramatically. In a flash of horror, Stone recognised what was happening. He was responsible for all new GUN intake, after all, and had often signed such a document himself.
It was too late to stop now.
With a scrawl of ink, Shadow the Hedgehog was an official GUN agent.
Stone was incredulous. “I must protest!”
“Oh, shut up, you insufferable idiot,” the Commander barked at him. “Your report was the biggest pile of crap I’ve ever seen! Everybody on this planet owes Shadow a debt of gratitude twice over. Getting him on-side is common sense, something you’re clearly lacking!” It took a break for the testosterone to subside. “Under any normal circumstances, I’d suggest you go bury your head in the sand somewhere, but these are no normal circumstances. As much as I hate this, we’re in Code Black... and I need you, Stone.”
If Stone had no regard for his career, he would have resigned on the spot; such was his fury at his superior officer. Everybody had stopped working. The entire Bullpen had watched his humiliation from a front row seat.
But to Stone, career was everything. He held his tongue and saw a new opportunity.
“You need me? A Code Black, sir...?”
The Commander played fast and loose with the facts. “Credible intelligence suggests that the Nemesis are far from the one-hit wonders we first suspected. I’m keeping the circle small on this one. We’ve no idea how far they go.” Forgetting to mention that GUN itself had been compromised by a traitor and an electronic hack was deliberate. “Satellite says they’re hiding out at Circus Park.”
“I led the recent operation against Dr. Eggman at Circus Park.”
Eyes were rolled. “Try to keep up, Stone,” the Commander lamented. “I said I needed you, didn’t I? Not only are you my second-in-command, but you’re also one of two people with first-hand tactical knowledge of the area. Satellite shows the true extent of your handiwork, though. The place is beyond derelict.”
Captain Stone was barely listening to the half-warning. “One of two people, sir?”
“Shadow’s been there, too.”
They both turned their heads and looked towards the side office: the older with respect, the younger with contempt. Standing in the open doorway, Shadow had heard every detail of the heated exchange. As always, his expressionless visage seemed to convey a dispassionate approach to the situation. It was trying to hide the overwhelming dislike and distrust breeding within.
Stone noticed it, but only because his own loathing was stronger.
“This will be different from last time,” the Commander said, trying to cut through the rapidly thickening atmosphere. “No army is going with you. You’re taking only yourselves. I want a Nemesis to interrogate, so a surgical infiltration is your best option.”
Shadow took the orders without question. He simply nodded up at the Commander and started to leave the Bullpen. Stone, meanwhile, had dozens of questions but kept them, for the time being, to himself.
He saluted his superior and followed the hedgehog.
Plotting all the while.
In a corner of the Bullpen, Rouge the Bat glanced up from her workstation. Installing her computer chip was a delicate art. And yet, she had enough skill to work and listen at the same time. The sealed entrance was breaking open. Shadow the Hedgehog was about to leave on his first mission for GUN.
Before he did so, he stopped and turned. Scarlet eyes picked her out of the crowd.
She just winked, and blew him a cheeky ‘good luck’ kiss.
ACT THREE
First light. A burning orange haze.
Like a horizontal sword of flame, it divided the land from the sky. Gradually, over the next few hours, the sun would ascend and widen the blade. Orange would become blue above. The shapes of the world would emerge from the haze. Another day would begin, just as one ended half a planet away.
Captain Stone touched a control on the dashboard. Before him, the windscreen of the cabriolet darkened in opacity, providing his tired eyes with a defence against the glow. He enjoyed the relief. To his right, Shadow gave no indication of agreement. The surly hedgehog had spent the entire drive, sunlight or no sunlight, with attention fixed firmly in the middle-distance. No matter what Stone did, not a word had been said. Aggressive acceleration, heavy breaking, sharp turning... nothing. Even a few probing questions had been met with the coldest of shoulders.
At least the ride was comfortable. If there was one eternal constant in working for GUN, it had to be the vehicles. From the mightiest of tanks to the deadliest of aircraft, this car was no exception to the rule. Metallic bodywork glistened without shame. It almost defeated itself as undercover transportation, so elite was the brand. Not that Stone had any objections. Neither did his passenger.
Up ahead, out of the haze, emerged a sinister horizon.
When originally constructed, Circus Park was suspended high above a great lake. Access was provided by a huge bank of elevators and, for the brave, rentable gyrocopters. Opening hours were nocturnal. It ensured that the dizzying heights of neon distracted the most fearful of visitors. A fall was most certainly lethal, back in the day, and there was an ignorant bliss about a void lacking depth perception. Or so the creator had claimed, laughing maniacally from behind his moustache. Like anyone ever chose to go.
Now, after the recent battle Stone had personally commanded, chunks of the superstructure littered the lake’s shore. GUN had detonated charges along the main supports in one final decisive blow to Dr. Eggman’s robotic army. The whole lot, save one lonely spire, had come crashing down.
Today, it was a condemned scrapheap of ruined rides and shattered dreams. Stone smirked in his triumph from behind the wheel.
“The layout should be unchanged,” he mused aloud, expecting no reply. “The whole lot fell straight downwards and settled just as it had been suspended. We shouldn’t be able to tell the difference once we’re inside, save for the lack of vertigo.”
In the passenger seat, Shadow gave no reaction. Stone hardly cared.
“It’s time to report...”
“GUN Command, this is Stone. We’re approaching the perimeter of Circus Park. No sign of a welcoming committee as yet. Visuals suggest a bit of a mess in there, sir. Access by road will be tricky. Recommend abandoning the car and continuing on-foot.”
The Commander approved. Within the Bullpen, he could see detail elusive to Stone, despite being hundreds of miles away from the dilapidated theme park. The joys of modern technology employed by an old-fashioned gentleman. He grunted as plasma screens towered above him. They showed live satellite feeds uninhibited by early morning mist. Layers of tactical information, in writing with letters the size of hands. It all wrapped him in a blanket of intelligence and updates. Knowledge to match this authority.
“Stone, this is GUN Command,” he growled into a headset, “acknowledged.”
Aware of a presence, he then lowered the headset’s microphone away from his weathered face and turned. Rouge the Bat was waiting patiently behind him. She was struggling to contain a yawn; not out of boredom, but rather the fault of the hour. She had worked through the night and was naturally shattered.
“No rest for the wicked,” the Commander observed dryly.
“Don’t I know it,” Rouge agreed. “I’m done for now. The chip is installed and I’ve briefed one of your technicians on ghosting the cameras. All department heads throughout the facility will get false images on their screens.”
“Good work, Agent Rouge. You can use the side office to get some rest...?”
The bat shook her head. “No. Like I said, I’m done for now.”
In a rush, it made sense. She never usually remained with GUN this long after missions, so allowing her to leave was an overdue sign that nothing was amiss. Another misdirection to use against the traitor. The Commander was still sorry to see her go, irrespective of necessity. With a reluctant nod, he produced a small golden key from his pocket and tossed it towards her. She caught it, from white glove to white glove.
“Okay,” he said. “Sublevel fifteen. Code for the box is ASR-twenty-ten.”
Excitement flapped her wings and defeated her tiredness. She started to float towards the door, cradling the key.
The Commander called out as she was about to leave. “Agent Rouge... thank you.”
“No,” she replied, toying with the key. “Thank you.”
The cabriolet snarled to a halt. Tyres crunched into the debris.
“Alright, this looks about as far as we can go,” Stone lamented. He let the powerful engine die and set about securing the vehicle.
Shadow went to open his door and step outside. There was an instant complaint.
“Oh, no you don’t!” The human glared over at the hedgehog. “Regardless of whatever trick may have been pulled, Shadow, I still outrank you. This is my mission and you’ll do exactly as I order you. Failure to comply will result in disciplinary action and, since I didn’t order you out of the car, your job is now to guard it.”
Shadow had a complaint of his own. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Let me be clear,” Stone stressed, leaning over and pointing emphatically. He had thirsted for the first mistake. Oppression filled every syllable. He was clearly taking advantage of any points to score, enforcing a tyrannical decree over the most simple of elements. It gave him a sadistic pleasure. The definition of a bully. “I rule you. On this mission, and any other mission, you will follow my orders to the letter and I am ordering you to stay in this car. Do you understand?”
There was no choice but to. Shadow refused to dignify him with a verbal reply, however, and so his was a tacit understanding of folded arms and tilted head. Stone just sneered at the object of his aggravation and opened his own door.
He was clad in experimental stealth armour. Dark grey surfaces, tightly angled to the most intimidating of body figures, appeared a dirty gold in the orange morning light. The ruins of Circus Park would have recoiled at the sight of something so clearly military in design, were they alive. Inscribed on the smooth chest, the infamous GUN logo left no doubt of origin. A holster carried a sidearm. Other pouches, small and refined, held various tools of the trade; a stun grenade, a portable scanner and spare ammunition were all within easy reach. The comm system wrapped around his thick neck only called one number.
“You’re making a mistake,” Shadow finally cooled enough to warn through the passenger-side window, “going in there alone.”
Stone ignored the advice and gave some of his own. “There’s a gun and spare clips under your seat. Arm yourself, because no-one else here will save you.” Then to the comm system at his neck, “GUN Command, this is Stone. Car is abandoned and guarded. I am proceeding as planned.”
Shadow scowled and watched him disappear into the neon wreckage. First the humiliation of the proving ground... and now his inaugural mission was to sit in a car. The support and trust of the Commander was not enough. For one who relied on instinct, events were painting a very uneasy picture.
Was this Captain Stone really to be trusted?
Was he friend... or foe?
EPILOGUE
Sublevel #15 of the subterranean GUN facility.
Code: ASR-20-10.
Rouge had cut a very obvious path to get there. Despite the real chance of getting lost in the relentlessly identical chrome corridors, she had deliberately taken a few wrong turns, in spite of her waiting payment.
Along the way she smiled at agents, officers and technicians. She even stopped for a minute and chatted about the perils of armoured trains with a data analyst. Another pause saw her flirting with a soldier. Each step, each word, carried a clear message: back to normal, mission complete, time to leave... nothing improper. If there was a traitor inside GUN, they would be hard pressed to miss her departure.
High heels clicked against the polished silver floor. In her grasp, replacing the key she had been given, was a stylish attaché case. Payment for services rendered. Checking the content with one quick glance had been nowhere near enough, but it had to suffice. At least until she reached her ride home. The helicopter was fuelled and waiting and there she would sit, all the way home, counting her treasure. Hopefully the pilot would avoid turbulence. Picking gems from under the seat was never fun.
The hangar bay spread out before her. Wings twitched and lips smiled. Let everybody get a good look. One hand on the attaché case, the other on her hip. Then a casual saunter towards the small, civilian-painted aircraft sold the whole act.
She vaguely recognised the young pilot from the day before. Seemed he was not exclusive to the Night Hawk, but such detail washed over her. The bat was just thankful to see a familiar, and friendly, face. She climbed aboard, tapped his shoulder with the all-clear and settled down to bask in the radiance of her fee. It was particularly high this time. The Commander had been most generous.
In the nose of the helicopter, the pilot kept his nerve while ascending through the top of the hangar bay. The blast shield let him out and he aimed for Westopolis International Airport. A quick check behind him... good, she was distracted.
He flipped a radio switch. In doing so, his entire demeanour changed.
“Are you there?”
Headphones crackled. “Yes, we read you. Confirm this channel is secure.”
“Confirmed. We can speak freely.”
“Report your status.”
“I’m transporting the bat. Looks like her involvement has ended. She did a clever trick with the cameras in the Bullpen, though. Should I kill her?”
“No. You are only useful to us with your cover intact. Stay that way.”
“Alright... but be warned. They’re on to you.”
“We know.”
Written by Glenn Scully
