Space Colony ARK



The Space Colony ARK is a fictional space station in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games. The ARK was the first Bernal sphere space colony (mistranslated to "Bernoulli spherical" in the English translation), and was used by the government for scientific testing and experimentation. From the underside, the ARK looks like the unmistakable face of Dr. Eggman, though judging by the fact that Eggman was not born at the time it was built, it was most likely based off his grandfather Gerald Robotnik, who had an equally impressive moustache. The ARK was inspired by the Death Egg used by Dr. Eggman in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which in turn was inspired by the Death Star from Star Wars.

Beginning
It was aboard Space Colony ARK that Professor Gerald Robotnik worked on "Project Shadow" in an attempt to create the "Ultimate Lifeform" as the first step towards discovering the secret of immortality (he did this in order to find a cure for his terminally ill granddaughter, Maria Robotnik). Thus, the ARK was the "birthplace" of both the Biolizard and Shadow the Hedgehog, two results of the project.

Also on the ARK, Gerald worked with the newly discovered Gizoid, an ancient robot. He started up "Project Gizoid" and established a "Link" with the Gizoid, but in order to buy more time to finish Project Shadow, he gave up the Gizoid to the government. The Gizoid ended up destroying a large portion of the ARK after absorbing a large amount of weaponry. The government decided that what was going on with Gerald in the ARK was completely dangerous and shut down Project Shadow.

When Project Shadow was shut down, Robotnik refused to end his work before he had found the cure he sought. Thus, GUN invaded the space station to end the program by force. Maria Robotnik was killed during the raid, and the news of her death sent her grandfather into despair. He plotted revenge against the entire planet. The Biolizard remained aboard ARK, having nearly decimated the invaders, and Shadow the Hedgehog was shot down to Earth in a stasis tube.

After sealing the Biolizard, GUN killed or imprisoned everyone that knew about Project Shadow. They took everyone else down to Earth, explaining that there had been an accident aboard the ARK that had rendered it uninhabitable. They then apparently sealed the "face" part of the ARK with a rock-like half-sphere, making the colony look like an asteroid.

Sonic Adventure 2
During Sonic Adventure 2, a reawakened Shadow the Hedgehog led Doctor Eggman, Gerald's grandson, and Rouge the Bat to the ARK as part of his own plans to get vengeance for the death of Maria. They planned to activate the Eclipse Cannon, a powerful weapon of mass destruction that, when powered by Chaos Emeralds, could destroy a planet. When six of the seven emeralds were connected to the power supply, Eggman demonstrated the power of the Cannon by blowing up half of the moon and threatened to do the same to Earth in 24 hours unless the people on the planet followed his demands.

When Sonic the Hedgehog (along with his friends Tails, Knuckles, and Amy) tried to intervene, Eggman stole the seventh Chaos Emerald from them. However, when he inserted the final Emerald, rather than activating the full power of the weapon, a recording made by Gerald Robotnik appeared on several monitors, and the ARK itself began hurtling towards Earth. This was Gerald's revenge plan: when warmongering humans attempted to activate the Eclipse Cannon, the energy from the Chaos Emeralds would be transferred to the engines and the colony would crash into the Earth, destroying all life on the planet.

In an attempt to stop it, Sonic and Knuckles made their way to the core. However, they were waylaid by the Biolizard, which had also been awoken when the seventh Emerald had been connected to the cannon. At the same time, Amy convinced Shadow that Maria's final wish was that he should protect mankind, not destroy it, and Shadow quickly went to help by distracting the Biolizard. This allowed Knuckles enough time to deactivate the power of the Chaos Emeralds by using the Master Emerald. The Biolizard, however, was deadset on following through with the program, and used Chaos Control to merge with the Colony itself, becoming the Finalhazard, and continued its descent to the planet.

Sonic and Shadow used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and Super Shadow respectively. The two fought and defeated the Finalhazard, then used Chaos Control to teleport the entire colony a safe distance from Earth again. However, this used the last of Shadow's strength, and he fell to Earth, believed to have died. Later games revealed that he was in fact saved by one of Eggman's robots.

Shadow the Hedgehog
However, in Shadow the Hedgehog, it is revealed that the true purpose of the Eclipse Cannon was not to destroy entire planets; instead, it was intended to destroy the Black Arms' base of operations, the Black Comet, in order to save the planet from the evil intentions of its leader, Black Doom.

It is also revealed in Shadow the Hedgehog that the GUN Commander was also aboard the ARK fifty years ago, and shared a sibling-esque relationship with Maria. It is unclear how he survived the GUN raid of the ARK, but he holds a strong grudge against Shadow, blaming Shadow for the death of everyone, his family and Maria included, aboard the ARK.

Notably, the Eclipse Cannon is used against Earth in Shadow the Hedgehog. After following the Dark mission of the "The ARK" stage, Shadow and Black Doom took over the Eclipse Cannon and fired it at The President's residence in Central City. Since the cannon was only powered by five Chaos Emeralds at the point, the result was not world destruction, but an Independence Day-style explosion that devastated Central City. However, since Shadow is heroic in the true end of the game, it is very unlikely he followed the evil route, and as such Central City was most likely not truly destroyed. In another of the game's endings, the Black Arms destroy the ARK; this is not also not canon.

In the final story's ending, Shadow uses the Eclipse Cannon for its true purpose: destroying the Black Comet and the Black Arms with it, much to the happiness and relief of the GUN Commander and the President, who were watching from the control room of the GUN Fortress. They finally saw that Gerald did not make the Eclipse Cannon to destroy Earth but, aware of Black Doom's plot to enslave humanity, created it to destroy him and the Black Arms as a whole.

Other
It is unknown if the ARK will appear in future Sonic games, considering Shadow's story and past have now been fully resolved. It recently appeared as a collectable card in Sonic Rivals.

The Space Colony ARK also appeared in the Sonic X adaption of Sonic Adventure 2, along with the Sonic the Hedgehog comics published by Archie Comics.

Mechanism and others
According to an eyecatcher information card from Sonic X, the ARK is 15 kilometers in diameter, and weighs 1500 million tons.

The ARK is crewed by robots and has six wings, three on each side (which were torn off when the ARK fell towards Earth at the end of Sonic Adventure 2, yet reappeared after Sonic and Shadow's Chaos Control), but their purpose is unknown. It has numerous column-likebuildings on its surface surrounding the Eclipse Cannon, which are likely living quarters, laboratories, and other rooms. There are also various platforms floating in space near the ARK, possibly meant for loading and unloading supplies.

The ARK is protected from intruders by a variety of GUN robots and Artificial Chaos, along with small mine-firing turrets, powerful homing missile cannons and floating green energy shields. Inside the station there are pools of strange, liquid-like green energy, and an abundance of mechanisms that controls the artificial gravity.

Also, the ARK has looked slightly different each time it has been shown. In Sonic Adventure 2, the ARK had a nominally clear blue surface, the Eclipse Cannon fired a large blue beam that had to be charged up like a super laser. There are also many large columns sticking out of the bottom, but strangely enough, when the ARK is shown in cinema scenes, these huge columns are never visible, not even recognisible.

In Shadow the Hedgehog, the ARK's surface is much more lit up with lights and the columns under the ARK are much taller (possibly upgrades made by GUN, who are also believed to be the ones who repaired the Eclipse Cannon after it was damaged in Sonic Adventure 2) and the Eclipse Cannon beam is green, but the charging process is the same. The interior is different from in Sonic Adventure 2, but is still similar.

However, in Sonic X, the ARK is mainly a gray color and has small, round spots on it. The columns under the ARK are never visible, and the interior is drastically altered from SA2. The charging process is also drastically different, as a large collection of lightning goes to the tip of the Eclipse Cannon and creates a large, blue ball (different from the games). The Sonic X ARK also has small laser cannon turrets placed in the "eyes" of the station, which are never seen in any games.



Eclipse Cannon
The Eclipse Cannon was the ultimate weapon of mass destruction on Space Colony ARK, notably able to destroy entire planets and pierce stars. The Chaos Emeralds were the necessary energy source to activate its full power, as it needed large amounts of energy. The Eclipse Cannon has been seen to destroy a large city with five Emeralds, half a moon with six, and can supposedly destroy planets and stars with all seven.

The Eclipse Cannon is a long, slim energy cannon situated inside the "nose" of the ARK, which opens up when one is firing the cannon. When fired, the Eclipse Cannon charges up energy that moves from the four open "nose" parts to the cannon itself. After a few seconds of charging it reaches its peak, and fires a huge energy beam straight forward. The energy was light blue in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic X, but green in Shadow the Hedgehog.

The core of the Eclipse Cannon is designed as an exact replica of shrine of the Master Emerald on Angel Island. However, the shrine in the core is intact while the real one is in ruins. Professor Gerald must have studied the ancient Echidna culture depicted in Sonic Adventure (and to a lesser degree in Sonic & Knuckles) extensively. This was, according to Knuckles, done to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic Adventure 2

 * Crazy Gadget - A long sequence of corridors and halls which Sonic goes through on his hunt for Eggman. It seems to be used for storage, and contains a huge outdoor environment in which gravity can be altered to extreme proportions.
 * Eternal Engine - Tails' stage. Despite the name, the ARK's engines are not visible in it for the most part. It consists of many long corridors with hatches leading to space, and ends with Tails destroying the ARK's power core.
 * Meteor Herd - A large asteroid floating near the ARK. It is filled with lava and has a large tower leading up to the ARK. Knuckles searches for his lost Master Emerald pieces there and battles Rouge inside the tower.
 * Lost Colony - The part of the ARK that Eggman goes through when he first finds the colony. It's a long sequence of dark rooms filled with robots.
 * Cosmic Wall - A collection of paths and transport rails outside the ARK that Eggman uses to get to the intruding heroes.
 * Mad Space - Several asteroids and platforms floating just outside the ARK. Rouge searches for the Master Emerald pieces there.
 * Final Rush - A long path of rails and platforms that Sonic follows to the Eclipse Cannon.
 * Final Chase - Very similar to Final Rush. Shadow takes this path in order to chase Sonic.
 * Cannon's Core - The core of the Eclipse Cannon. The road there is blocked by powerful security doors and a large pool of yellow liquid. The core itself is shaped like the Master Emerald's altar.
 * Central control room - A large room with a single supercomputer. There is a deep pit, and a catwalk leading to the computer in the center of the room. This is where Shadow wishes to meet Eggman, and where Rouge reveals herself to the duo. It's also where Shadow and Rouge discuss Shadow's authenticy, and where Eggman attempts to fire the cannon at full power, only to send the ARK on a crash course to Earth.
 * Capsule room - A large, green room, with a floor made mostly out of glass and a single computer. It has a window overlooking Earth. This is where Shadow and Maria had several conversations, and where Maria ejected Shadow from the ARK. 50 years later, Eggman launches Sonic in the same machine, only Eggman was attempting to murder Sonic. It's also the site of a few conversations between Shadow, Eggman, and Rouge, the second battle between Tails and Dr. Eggman, the scene where the characters read Gerald's diary, and where the characters discuss the game's events during the ending. It also appears in Shadow the Hedgehog, where the Chaotix activate a hidden video created by Gerald.

Shadow the Hedgehog

 * The Doom - As Shadow apparently goes into the past, he goes through some of the ARK's corridors and laboratories during the GUN attack.
 * The ARK - Shadow flies around the outside of the ARK on a Black Volt in order to find a way inside. The path taken is similar to Sonic's Final Rush stage from Sonic Adventure 2, but it lacks most of it's platforms and rails.
 * Space Gadget - A stage very similar to Final Rush and Final Chase, except several pieces are set indoors, in the ARK's power plant. The gravity is almost constantly changing.
 * Lost Impact - In another stage set in Shadow's past, Shadow moves between large complexes much like The Doom using moving platforms known as "Gun Lifts" while destroying malfunctioning Artifical Chaos.
 * Cosmic Fall - In one of the endings, the Black Arms aliens are destroying the ARK. The stage is like Space Gadget, but the gravity doesn't change. In the stage, the ARK is constantly falling apart, and as such, the stage is on a time limit.
 * Main computer room - A gigantic hall filled with huge green databases. In one of the endings, Shadow fights Black Doom there.

Kolonia kosmiczna ARK Space colony ARK