Previous Chapter Recap: Last time on Sonic Forces! While repairing a damaged Omega, Tails was suddenly attacked by Chaos. He was soon rescued by a Sonic from another dimension. His confidence restored after a pep talk from Classic Sonic, Tails resolved to find Eggman. Meanwhile, Knuckles and the Resistance prepare to break Sonic out of the Death Egg.

Author's Note: Apologies for the delay. Every time I say I'm gonna finish this chapter, I get distracted by something else, not helped by the fact that I wasn't sure how to go about writing this chapter. Eventually, I decided to split it into two or three parts. Anyway, I hope you're all staying safe during this Coronavirus chaos!

Deep within the Death Egg, Rouge had finally found the main computer for the Death Egg. With this, she could shut down the barrier aground the Death Egg and give the Resistance a way in. It took quite a while for her to find this place, and she had to fight her way through a few Egg Pawns along the way. She had been typing at the computer for a while now, but she had hit a wall...

...a firewall to be exact.

In order to disable the barrier around the Death Egg, she first had to figure out the password that would grant her access to the security system. "Okay, what kind of password would someone as deep and sophisticated as Eggman would have?" Rouge asked herself. She thought about this for a few seconds, then her face lit up with realization. She typed in the phrase, "I hate that hedgehog". And her effort was rewarded with an error message saying "Wrong Password".

"Huh. Okay, let's try this." Rouge typed the phrase, "I am the Eggman". And again, access denied. "Strike two." Rouge said. "Then what is it?" Rouge thought hard about this. If the obvious choices were out of the question, then what could the password be? That's when she thought of something. This was a big guess, but it was all she had at the moment. Cautiously, she typed the words "Gerald C. Robotnik"...

...and a message appeared saying "Access Approved".

"Hmph, so Eggman has a soft side." Rouge mused. "Who knew?" Rouge began typing a command to deactivate the barrier as well as the cloaking field around it. A message on the screen appeared saying "BARRIER DEACTIVATED".

"Alright, now to take care of the prison's security system." Rouge began typing once again, but she didn't get far when she felt the cold steel of a gun barrel pressed against the back of her skull. "Hands up and back away from the computer." growled a gruff voice. Rouge hesitated and leaned down underneath the keyboard. In response, the gun barrel was pressed harder against her head.

"I hope, for your sake, that's lipgloss you're reaching for." the voice said. "Otherwise, I'll be painting this room a nice shade of crimson." Rouge placed a tracer under the keyboard, then raised her hands up.

"Good, now turn around." the voice commanded. Rouge turned around and found herself face to face with Zavok, the leader of the Deadly Six. In his hand, he held a large blaster. "Well, well, well." the Zeti mused. "Seems this station has a flying rodent problem. So, any last words before I splatter your brains all over the computer screen?"

Despite the situation she found herself in, a smirk tugged at the spy's lips as she replied, "No words, but a song." Zavok tilted his head in confusion, but before he could react, Rouge let out a piercing sonic scream. Like most bats, Rouge could produce ultrasonic shrieks as a form of offense. However, repeated or prolonged use can damage her voice, thus Rouge only used this as either a finishing move or a weapon of last resort.

Zavok covered his ears and doubled over in pain. Seeing her chance, Rouge rushed over and delivered a flurry of kicks before sending Zavok flying with a roundhouse kick. Zavok landed on his back and struggled to get up, but Rouge leapt towards him and delivered a spinning axe kick straight at his head, knocking the Zeti warrior out cold.

"That'll teach you to keep your hands to yourself." Rouge snarked. "Time to make my exit." She tapped the communicator in her ear as she made her way to the door. "Knuckles, I've taken down the barrier." She said. "If you're gonna make your move, now's the time." She opened the door to leave, but was soon confronted... by Zavok.

"How did-?!" Rouge didn't get a chance to finish her sentence when Zavok shot a fireball at her, knocking her out. The communicator fell out of her ear. The Zavok that was lying on the ground dissolved into a flock of black bats that flew into the real Zavok's shadow. "Zor's shadow technique really comes in handy." he mused. "Rouge?! Rouge, what happened?!" Knuckles' voice came through the communicator. Zavok picked up the communicator. "Sorry, Rouge can't come to the phone right now." he said, tone laced with sadistic malice. "She's taking a nap."

"Zavok?!" Knuckles exclaimed. "What did you do to her?! If you've hurt her, I swear-!" Knuckles' threat was cut short by Zavok crushing the communicator. "Yeah, yeah. I've heard all the hero speeches before." he dryly said. Two Egg Pawns entered the room.

"Take her to Sonic's cell." Zavok commanded. "We're having a two for one deal: Two executions for the price of one. Also, send all troops on alert. We're about to have visitors."

Meanwhile, on the shuttle...

"This is bad!" Knuckles shouted. "Rouge is in danger! We gotta rescue her!"

"Don't lose your head, Knuckles!" Wave said as she typed on her laptop. "I'm picking up a signal of some kind. It looks like a homing signal! Rouge must've left it there when Zavok jumped her."

"Smart girl." Knuckles said. "Then there's still a chance to save her and Sonic! Alright, here's the plan: It's only safe to assume that Zavok knows we're coming. So we're going to do the same plan we did at the Chemical Plant. We'll split into two teams. Vector, Silver, Storm, Jet, and I will launch a full frontal assault. We'll serve as a distraction to get the enemy's attention. While we do that, Espio, Wave, and the Rookie will head to that signal. Rouge was likely trying to disable the prison's security system before Zavok got her. Get to the computer and shut down the security system to free Sonic."

"The prison will likely be under heavy guard." Espio said. "This will not be easy."

"You're right." Amy replied. "There's a good chance not all of us will make it out alive. But if it means saving Sonic and turning the tide of this war, then I say it's a chance worth taking!"

"You heard the lady!" Knuckles said. "We got a hero to rescue! Let's make it happen!"

Later, in Sonic's jail cell...

Sonic was in his jail cell doing his situps. Of course, situps were hard to do when your hands were bound. You would think that given his looming execution, he'd be more than a little nervous. But he had resolved long ago that he wouldn't give Eggman the satisfaction of seeing him beaten. Sonic's exercise routine was brought to a halt when the door opened. Two Egg Pawns appeared and threw Rouge into the cell right in front of Sonic's feet. They then left without saying a word.

"I guess Eggman forgot to program you some manners!" Rouge snapped.

"Rouge?" Sonic asked. "What're you doing here?"

"Hey, Big Blue." Rouge replied. "Been a while. My bosses at G.U.N. had me spying on this place for months. That's how I found out you were here. I was gonna shut down the security system to free you, but as you can see, that didn't work out so well." Both Sonic and Rouge sat on the bench.

"So you've been here this whole time." Sonic said. Immediately his mind turned to another topic. "So... how have the others been doing?"

Rouge shook her head. "Things haven't been good since Eggman took over." she replied. "The gang's been holding their own, but really, it's more like they've been delaying the inevitable. But they're not giving up. Even with everything as hopeless as it is, they've still got hope. In fact... They're on their way here as we speak."

"Really?!" Sonic perked up.

"Yup!" Rouge said. "When I found out you were alive, I told the gang. You should've seen the looks on their faces. They were ecstatic! In fact, they stole a shuttle from Eggman's Chemical Plant and they're coming here to rescue you!"

"Heh. I knew those guys wouldn't give up the fight." Sonic said.

"Of course, there's the caveat that Eggman's caught wind of their jailbreak plan and he's moved up your execution. It's gonna happen today!"

"Huh. Well, I do hate long drawn out events." came Sonic's sarcastic reply.

"Nice to see you haven't lost your sense of humor." Rouge chuckled.

"These days, everyone could use a good laugh. Sonic said. "Truthfully, I am a bit nervous. But if the guys could last this long without me, then I know they'll save us!"

"I sure hope so." Rouge said.

Next Chapter Preview: The Great Space Jailbreak Pt. 2. Next time on Sonic Forces! The Resistance launches its assault on the Death Egg. Meanwhile, Jason's team makes their way through the jail to locate Sonic. Can they reach him in time? Find out on the next exciting chapter of Sonic Forces!