Resistance

The **Resistance** (レジスタンス軍 *Rejisutansu-gun***?**, lit. "Resistance Army"), also known as **Sonic's Army**, is a group that appears in the *Sonic the Hedgehog* series. It was a rag-tag freedom fighting organization lead by Knuckles the Echidna which was formed to liberate the world from the subjugation of Dr. Eggman after the Eggman Empire conquered most of the planet following Sonic the Hedgehog's defeat at the hands of Infinite.

When Sonic the Hedgehog disappeared after being defeated by Dr. Eggman's right-hand man Infinite,[6] Eggman began his conquest of the world with his Eggman Army. Those of Sonic's friends who escape Eggman’s invasion however,[6] decided to continue the fight despite believing that Sonic was dead, and formed the Resistance.[4] Keeping his promise, Knuckles assumed leadership over the Resistance, his flair for daring plans making him suited for the position.[1]

Establishing a hidden HQ, the Resistance gathered an army of soldiers, a wealth of new weapons, and a fleet rivaling that of the Eggman Fleet. Figures like Amy, Team Chaotix, Silver and Rouge made up the high-ranking officials in the Resistance. However, the Resistance was unable to make contact with Tails, who had "lost it" after Sonic's disappearance.[7]

During the war between the Resistance and the Eggman Army, Team Chaotix would fortify the City's defenses. A few days later, an Eggman Army battalion attacked the City. Although the Resistance soldiers fought bravely, it was thanks to the aid of a rookie solider that the enemy battalion withdrew.[8] However, the Resistance soldiers station in the City were soon after wiped out by Infinite. The only survivor was Gadget the Wolf, whom Infinite allowed to leave so he could enjoy seeing them run away. Fleeing for their life, Gadget  made it to the Resistance's HQ.[9]

As the months progressed, the Resistance was unable to halt the Eggman Army's increasing influence. After six months of warfare,[10] over 99% of the planet had fallen under the Eggman Empire's dominion, leaving but a few isolated areas in the world under the Eggman Army's control.[4] To make matters worse for the Resistance, the despairing people had become so terrified of Eggman that few of them were willing to rally to the Resistance's side.[11][12]

The Resistance soon suffered another loss when their defenses in Green Hill were overcome by the Eggman Army while their soldiers got scared off by Infinite.[13] Even so, the members found the resolve to keep on going. Around that time, Gadget  also joined the Resistance's ranks.

Not long after, the Resistance's spy discovered that Sonic was alive, and held captive onboard the newly rebuilt Death Egg. This prompted Knuckles to plan a rescue, making him send a squad to the Spaceport to steal a space shuttle to head to the Death Egg in. Although Infinite was nearby, Espio managed to distract the enemies long enough for the squad to procure a shuttle. The Resistance then went to the Death Egg to rescue Sonic, who was to be executed ahead of schedule when Eggman learned of the rescue attempt. Once onboard however, the Resistance's forces got occupied by Eggman's robots. Having taken the best route to the prison cells, Gadget  was left to rescue Sonic. Eventually, Gadget  created enough of a ruckus to allow Sonic to escape and meet up with Gadget , who took Sonic back to the Resistance, whom Sonic joined. Upon the duo's return though, the Resistance discovered Eggman's weapons factory. With their army spread thin, Knuckles sent Sonic and Gadget  out to open a path into the factory. Handling the mission without trouble, Sonic and Gadget  ensured the factory's destruction and improved the Resistance's chances for a successful attack on Eggman's HQ.[14]

The Resistance troops in Mystic Jungle were soon after bombarded by the Eggman Fleet at their outposts until they had to fall back. Meanwhile, Silver fought Infinite when the latter came to Eggman's old lab in the jungle to pick up the Phantom Ruby prototypes. Responding to Silver's emergency, Sonic came to his rescue and fought Infinite. Although Infinite still beat Sonic, he let both him and Silver live in the belief that they were no threat. Now, with both Sonic and Silver out of commission for the time being and with their forces preoccupied at Seaside Hill,[15] the Resistance found themselves short on soldiers when they had to stop Eggman's army after they broke into the City. With their local units outgunned as well, Knuckles sent Gadget  to deal with this. Surprisingly enough, Gadget  managed to turn the battle around and allow the Resistance to force the Eggman Army back, providing time to evacuate the civilians to safety.

Eventually, the Resistance detected two lifeforms in Mystic Jungle. Sending Gadget  to investigate, with reinforcements hot on their heels, Gadget  not only found a Phantom Ruby prototype that Infinite had dropped, but also Tails and Classic Sonic, the latter who had been brought to this dimension by the Phantom Ruby. Tails and Classic Sonic were subsequently brought to the Resistance where they joined the group and informed them that Eggman had a plan that would destroy them in three days. In the meantime, the Resistance would free Mystic Jungle from the Eggman Empire's dominion. Not long after, the Resistance's City division came under attack by the Eggman Army and Shadow the Hedgehog, who had seemingly defected to the Eggman Empire. While the Resistance kept the Eggman Army's mass-produced Death Egg Robots at bay,[16] Sonic confronted Shadow, only for the real Shadow to appear and take out his doppelganger. Joining the Resistance in the aftermath, Shadow informed them that the familiar soldiers in Eggman's army were replicas created by Infinite's Phantom Ruby prototype. However, because Infinite could create an unlimited number of replicas as strong as the originals, the Resistance stood no chance of winning the war.

Learning that Eggman's HQ in Metropolis was undermanned, the Resistance launched a full-scale attack on Metropolis in hopes of winning the war.[17] However, Infinite thwarted this attack by using his Phantom Ruby-derived powers to plunge the Resistance's army into chaos. Suffering huge casualties,[18] the Resistance withdrew from Metropolis. Meanwhile, Gadget  came across Infinite, but managed to survive this encounter. Realizing that they had to stop the Phantom Rubies in order to win the war, the Resistance sent Tails and Classic Sonic to investigate a lead at the Chemical Plant. Meanwhile, the Resistance sent Sonic and Gadget  out to deal with a Metal Sonic replica that had surfaced in the City. After Sonic and Gadget  completed their mission, the Resistance was able to remove the Eggman Army from power in the City.

Tails soon after returned to the Resistance, having learned that the Phantom Rubies relied on the Death Egg to provide it with the energy needed for it to work. The Resistance thus began making a plan for destroying the Death Egg. To accomplish this, the Resistance first had Gadget  stir up trouble in Guardian Rock to distract the Eggman Army. After Gadget  pulled this off, the Resistance was able to liberate Green Hill from the Eggman Empire. With the Eggman Army's attention elsewhere, Sonic invaded Network Terminal and used its computers to shut down the Death Egg's weapons systems; this also gave the Resistance the opening needed to capture the Chemical Plant. Classic Sonic subsequently invaded the defenseless Death Egg and managed to destroy it from within. With the Death Egg's demise, Eggman lost his main stronghold in space, and the Resistance was able to reclaim it.

Believing the Phantom Rubies to be out of commission, the Resistance attacked Metropolis again so they could capture Eggman.[19] Under the Resistance fleet's cover, Sonic and Tails found Eggman, only for Infinite, who still retained his powers, to banish Sonic and Gadget  to Null Space. It was then revealed that the Phantom Rubies had a backup power supply underneath the Eggman Empire Fortress. However, Sonic and Gadget  managed to escape from Null Space while the Resistance's fleet took control of the battle for Metropolis.[20] In the end, Eggman and his forces withdrew from Metropolis, allowing the Resistance to capture Eggman's capital and push his forces back to their final stronghold.

Having only hours left before Eggman's endgame went into effect, the Resistance mounted an assault on the Eggman Empire Fortress in order to stop the Phantom Rubies' power source. There, the Resistance's soldiers and resources were pitted against the Eggman Army's fleet and replica soldiers. During the commotion, E-123 Omega came to the Resistance's aid when Infinite threatened to finish them off. However, the Resistance then faced annihilation when Infinite created a sun to drop on the Resistance with, which was Eggman's true endgame. However, the Resistance was saved when Gadget  used the Phantom Ruby prototype they had found to neutralize Infinite's sun. The Resistance subsequently continued fighting the Eggman Army while providing Sonic and his allies, who moved in to defeat Infinite, with cover. Soon after, Infinite was defeated for good by Sonic and Gadget .

After Sonic and Gadget , with Classic Sonic's aid, destroyed the Phantom Rubies' power source, it seemed like the Resistance had won the war. However, Eggman, having anticipated his reactor's destruction, responded to this development by using a Death Egg Robot, which had the original Phantom Ruby incorporated into it, to create thousands of replicas, which threatened to overwhelm the Resistance. However, Sonic, Classic Sonic, and Gadget , managed to destroy the Death Egg Robot, causing all the replicas to vanish and leaving the Resistance as the victors of the war. In the aftermath, Classic Sonic returned to his world as well. The Resistance then set out to restore the world to its former glory. Not long after, Knuckles disbanded the Resistance, believing it had served its purpose now that the Eggman Empire had been defeated.