Sonic was cold, shivering and sick.  All thanks to his stupid friend, the good doctor Knuckles.  Sure, that striped jerk of a Black Arm had grounded Sonic on Academic Probation. Those bogus charges that nailed Sonic for cheating were flimsy at best, but they still left it so Sonic was the only senior cadet that wasn't going up into space to help the ARK.

He was lucky, or unlucky (because Fate was beginning to prove she was more than a little fickle) he had Knuckles for a friend, because the echidna had taken it upon himself to smuggle Sonic on board the ship he'd be traveling on through questionable 'medical' means. In the back of his head, Sonic knew Knuckles was risking a great deal by bringing Sonic along. His career could be in jeopardy if they were found out.

Sonic's stomach flipped uncomfortably while he was nearly crushed by a wave of nausea. He found that at this moment, he couldn't summon a lot of concern over Knuckles' job.

"I don't feel right," Sonic groaned, "I feel ...leaky, is that normal?"

"For you I'd say it's an improvement," Knuckles said wryly.

"Why am I friends with you again?"

A second later, all words escaped Sonic's grumbling mouth.  His breath caught at the sight of the magnificent ship they would be traveling on. The Silver Lady that Sonic knew someday he would captain -- The Enterprise.

"That's why," Knuckles smirked broadly at the breathless Sonic.

-::-

Sonic felt sick to his stomach and it had nothing to do with how Knuckles chased him around several decks of the Enterprise and injected him with illegal amounts of drugs. Who knew he had a severe allergic reaction to Mudd Flea Vaccinations?  It probably didn't help that the reaction was compounded upon other problems thanks to Knuckles trying to 'fix' the issues his fragile immune system was causing.

Someone should really stop arming Knuckles with those hyposprays.

No.  Right now he felt sick to his stomach because he was trying to save the ship from being destroyed. While half-addled, he heard the announcement over the Comm by a somewhat timid sounding kid.  Sonic recognized him to be a boy genius named Miles.

'The ARK has been reporting unusual seismic activity thanks to the strange appearance of an ion storm.'

The same thing which happened to his father.

It was happening again.

It was safe to say that Sonic had taken off without waiting a beat, slower than usual thanks to his drugged state, but not down.

Knuckles was on his heels and that said something about how out of it Sonic really was, barking something that sounded similar to, 'keep your heart rate down you damn fool!' it went ignored by the speedster.

A white bat was following them in rapid pace -- Rouge, a communications expert that Sonic hoped would be on his side. He knew she would be key in convincing Shadow since she had an unusual way of understanding the complex way the Black Arm's mind worked. That first officer was bound to throw the cadet out of an airlock if he was given the opportunity and Sonic needed all the allies he could get.

If Knuckles didn't tranquilize him first.

The fates were being unnecessarily cruel for landing Sonic on the same ship as Shadow, and as expected the first officer was not happy to see him. They squared off against one another on the bridge as Sonic desperately tried to argue that they were flying into a trap. Eventually he broke through to Shadow's infallible logic when Rouge jumped in to support his theory.  There had been enough of a pause for Shadow to consider her words logically before he too threw his lot in with Sonic and together they braced themselves on the bridge. Captain Mogul gave the order for the shields to go up and for their phaser banks to be readied.

Sonic stood beside Shadow, his hands braced tightly against the railing separating the Conn from the rest of the bridge. His chest was tight and emerald eyes were narrowed with an unusual amount of seriousness that was normal for the typically cheery hedgehog.  His game face was on, and he didn't suspect it would be coming off any time soon.

His breaths came and went in controls waves. He had to have a clear head now, because if he was right, then the Enterprise was about to face his father's killer.

Never had Sonic expected to have the opportunity to meet the man who killed his father and turned his mother into a no-show who would rather spend her time off planet than raise the boy that looked like her mate. His heart hammered in his chest and he drew his attention outward so he would no longer be wrapped up in his inner turmoil.

Shadow was standing close enough Sonic could touch him if he wanted to.  The stiff presence made Sonic feel a bit uncomfortable. It was strangely reassuring in its own, serious way, but the fact that the two hated one another lessened the feeling immensely.

The seconds were ticking down and all the crew could do was wait. Silence filled the bridge like a suffocating blanket, but no one dared to speak until they were ready.

A white hedgehog that went by the name Silver was acting as helmsman. He was staring out at the stars that flashed by them, "Dropping out of warp in 3...2...1..."

The Enterprise stopped on a dime.

And landed into hell.

A graveyard of battered starships floated amongst them. Broken skeletons of their former glory.  They had been vibrant and alive mere minutes ago.  Thanks to an error by Silver, the Enterprise had been about a minute behind the other ships in the fleet. It was likely the Enterprise's late start had stopped them from meeting a similar fate.

Silver wove the Enterprise through the flaming hulls, his youth disappearing in a second as he expertly steered the ship.  Golden eyes were wide as they came across the massive shape of their attacker.

Calling it a large ship would have showed a mastery of understatement. Without hesitation it open fired on their ship and they were forced to take evasive measures.  When it became clear that even with their shields up, it wouldn't take the ship long to swat the Enterprise out of existence.

The crew was thrown around the bridge like rag dolls and hurled from their seats as explosions rocked the foundation of the ship to its warp cores.  Their protection was failing and the crew was forced to hold their breath when suddenly a cease fire was called.

"Captain, we're being hailed," Rouge's tense voice echoed over the silent bridge.

Mogul nodded once to tell her to open up the link.

A hedgehog bearing a striking resemblance to Shadow appeared on the screen, a third eye perched on the center of his forehead. All of them stared out at the crew of the Enterprise. The first officer turned to stone besides Sonic and it was all he could do to look at him in quiet horror.

"Hello son," Their attacker sneered, eyes locked on Shadow.