"Alright men, the project is around here somewhere. Do not let anyone or anything get in your way, understood?" "Yes, sir!" Aboard the Space Colony ARK, a small group of GUN soldiers storm inside a nearby laboratory, which once belonged to Professor Gerald. One of the agents, named Sophie, holds her gun in a defensive position as she walks around the laboratory. She comes across a large capsule and looks inside, noticing a strange looking creature. It was blue and had multiple tentacles. "What is this thing? It looks like... no, it can't be!" Sophie shakes her head in dismay as she looks inside the other capsules. She places a hand on one of them and sighs. "The professor has gone too far with his experimenting..." As she continues to explore the room, Sophie soon gasps as she hears a loud gunshot, coming from the other room. She holds her gun in a firing position and runs into the other room, noticing many other agents in the room also. Sophie gasps once again as she notices the commander at the front of the room, holding his gun down by his waist. On the ground below him was the body of a young girl, no older than 12, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue dress and a blue hairband in her hair. Many of the agents continued with their duties as the commander dismisses them from the room. Sophie, who could not believe that her commander would kill such a young girl, walked over and looks down at the body. "S-sir... who was that girl?" The commander, who had noticed Sophie in the room, turns back to her and gives her a stern expression. "That is none of your concern, soldier. Get back to work!" Sophie nods reluctantly and watches as the commander prepares his gun for another fight. He follows the other soldiers into a room nextdoor to the main compartment. Sophie watches as the door automatically closes behind them and kneels down beside the corpse of the young female. "I can't believe this... why would he kill such an innocent girl?! Especially one this young!" Sophie feels herself become ill from seeing the corpse of the young girl but gently runs a hand across the girl's face, feeling tears drip down her own cheeks. "Y-you did not deserve to die... I swear that I will make the commander regret this. Rest in peace." Sophie gently closes the young girl's eyes and rises to her feet. She looks down at the corpse once again and sighs, shaking her head. She makes a stern expression as she tightly grips her gun, wanting to get revenge on the commander. As she begins to storm off towards the room that the other soldiers were in, she suddenly hears a small crying sound, which causes her to stop in her tracks. "What the...? A baby?" The young human listens to the baby's cries and follows the noise until she comes across a small room, that was located down the corridor from the main compartment of the colony. She cautiously opens the door and aims her gun, awaiting any danger. Once the coast was clear, she lowers her gun and walks around the room. "What is this place? I don't remember the commander mentioning it..." The room in question looked strangely like a child's nursery. It had a small changing table, mobile and cot, all in different corners of the room. Sophie looks around the room, curiously and slowly walks over to the cot, hearing that the crying sounds were coming from it. She looks down and gasps as she notices some movement coming from underneath a small blanket. She slowly removes the blanket and makes a sympathetic expression as she notices the little infant. The infant within the cot was a small black-furred hedgehoglet with red stripes in its quills. It was wearing a grey-coloured babysuit and screaming out, wanting to be picked up. The little hedgehoglet soon wriggles its nose a bit as it could smell Sophie and soon opens its ruby-coloured eyes, sniffling. Sophie immediately drops her gun to the ground from seeing the infant's innocent expression and gently places an hand under the infant's head. She uses her other hand to pick up the screaming hedgehoglet and places him on her shoulder, gently rubbing its back. "Shh... it's alright, little one. I won't hurt you..." The little infant soon begins to calm down from the backrub and places its tiny hands on Sophie's shoulder. Sophie looks down at the little hedgehoglet and notices that it was looking up at her. "What on earth are you doing here all by yourself? Unless... that girl..." Sophie looks over to the door leading to room that the commander had killed the girl in. She clenches her fists in anger and grits her teeth. "He's gone TOO far this time!" The little hedgehoglet sniffles and begins to cry from Sophie's louder tone of voice. Sophie gently continues to rub his back, attempting to calm him down. "I'm sorry, little one... I guess you don't like loud voices, huh?" The little hedgehoglet soon calms down once again and coos as it holds onto Sophie's shoulder. Sophie walks around the room and soon notices a small book on the changing table. She curiously opens it and skims down the pages, reading it in her head. "Day 42. Project Shadow is adapting well to the ARK. He has shown signs of being able to sense his surroundings through scent." Sophie finishes reading the book and closes it. She gently lifts the little hedgehoglet above her head and looks up at the little infant. "This... is Project Shadow?" The little hedgehoglet coos and looks down at the young human. "But... the commander told us that you were dangerous... he never mentioned that you were a baby." The little infant coos once again and sucks its thumb. Sophie smiles up at the little hedgehoglet and brings it closer to her chest. "Well... you are a very cute baby, Shadow. But you can't stay here... the commander might run experiments on you if he finds you... and I'll be in big trouble if he finds out that I'm not with the other soldiers." Shadow whimpers and lowers his ears, somehow understanding what she was saying. Sophie gently kisses the little hedgehoglet's head and whispers to him as she picks up some baby items for Shadow. "Don't worry, little one... I'll protect you. But we need to find a way to escape..." Sophie cautiously leaves the nursery room and holds Shadow close as she comes across a crossroad of corridors. "Great... which way do we do go?" Soon the little hedgehoglet makes a small squeaking sound and points towards the left-hand route. Sophie notices Shadow pointing and smiles as she gently rubs his head. "That way?" Shadow coos and holds onto Sophie as she runs through the corridor and eventually comes across a small room. She goes through the door and walks over to a control panel. On it were the words "Escape Pod." Sophie smiles down at the little hedgehoglet and nuzzles her nose against his. "Good job, you found it!" Shadow giggles a bit and coos as Sophie lays him onto a small section of the control panel, that had no buttons on it. Sophie then looks down at a keyboard on the control panel and begins to frantically type coding commands. A few seconds later, she hears a small beeping sound coming from the escape pod. "Yes! That turned it on... now we just need to set the coordinates." After a few more seconds of typing, Sophie looks up to see a message appear on screen saying "Destination: Earth, coordinates 63 72". "That should do it..." Sophie watches as the door of the escape pod opens and gently picks up Shadow, holding him close. She then climbs inside and soon gasps as she hears a banging sound coming from the door of the room. The door opens and the small group of GUN soldiers burst in and aim their guns at the escape pod. "Don't let her escape, men! She has Project Shadow! Ready, aim... FIRE!" Sophie gasps and watches as the escape pod door closes. She then closes her eyes and holds the screaming hedgehoglet close to her as she hears the gunshots firing onto the glass of the pod. Thankfully, the glass on the pod was reinforced so the bullets didn't make a dent. "Grr, fall back, men! The pod's too strong!" After a few seconds, the escape pod shoots out from the ARK and propels towards earth. Sophie kneels to the ground from the velocity and gently kisses the hedgehoglet's forehead. "It'll be ok, Shadow... they can't hurt us anymore." Shadow sniffles and holds onto Sophie, closing his eyes and shivering from the fear of the gunshots and velocity of the pod. ------------------ A few minutes later, Sophie braces for the landing but soon makes a confused expression as the pod begins to slow down. She looks down and notices two small rocket-shaped containers firing up, which was the cause of the sudden deceleration of the pod. The pod gently hits the ground and a robotic-like voice speaks. "Destination Earth... opening pod doors now." Sophie watches as the doors of the pod open and carefully climbs out, looking around the surroundings. She then takes out her communicator and throws it to the ground, smashing it with her foot. "That should keep us safe..." Shadow coos and looks around, curiously as Sophie smiles down atShadow, recognising the location. "It worked! Welcome to Station Square, Shadow..."