Space Colony ARK (Sonic X)

The Space Colony ARK is a location that appears in Sonic X anime series. It is a space station where, under the authority of the government, weapons designed for combat and war were being built by many talented scientists, the most notable of them being Gerald Robotnik.

Description
The Space Colony ARK was initially a spherical, asteroid-like space station. However, with the revelation of the Eclipse Cannon, half of the space station was blasted apart, revealing a design very reminiscent of Gerald Robotnik's face.

Specifications

 * Diameter: 15 km
 * Weight: 15,000,000 t

Past
The Space Colony ARK was home to government operations that were carried out over fifty years ago. Among the several experiments and research projects conducted aboard the ARK, one stood out i particular, namely "Project: Shadow", which was instigated by the government to experiment with the concept of eternal life and develop an immortal lifeform dubbed the "ultimate creature." Despite the project's shady nature, Gerald Robotnik took on this operation to make a creature that would benefit the good of mankind.

A prototype was eventually achieved in the form of the Bio Lizard, which was eventually encapsulated. Gerald soon finished the final prototype for Project Shadow, whom he named "Shadow". The government, fearing the threat of creatures like Shadow, forced several soldiers from the Guardian Units of the Nations to take Shadow for themselves and silence everyone on the ARK while doing so. Within this skirmish and chaos, Maria, Gerald's granddaughter, lost her life helping Shadow escape, while Gerald was taken to Prison Island, where the government had him continue his work in a cell.

Shadow Saga
Having remained abandoned for several decades, the Space Colony ARK once again housed visitors. Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport himself and Christopher Thorndyke from Prison Island to the abandoned space station, with Eggman already busy preparing his assault. As the boy gawked in wonder at being in space, Eggman fired the Eclipse Canon, powering by six Chaos Emeralds, at the Moon, shattering it in half.

Finding and using it, Sonic and his friends eventually made it to the Space Colony ARK via a space shuttle. While Knuckles the Echidna confronted Rouge the Bat to take back his Emerald Shards, Sonic, Tails, and Amy were confronted by Eggman, who took Amy hostage, demanding Sonic hand over his Chaos Emerald. Agreeing simply due to the fact that said Emerald was a fake, Sonic handed it over. However, Eggman saw through their plan, and sent Sonic flying into space with the fake Emerald.

Meanwhile, Shadow confronted Rouge about her true nature when he found out she was a government spy, though Rouge retorted by insisting that he was not the real Shadow. This conversation came to an end when Shadow left to pursue an enemy that was heading towards the Eclipse Cannon.

As luck would have it, Sonic was that enemy, having escaped death by utilizing Chaos Control via the fake Emerald. Confronted by Shadow, the two battled aboard the ARK, destroying the Eclipse Cannon in the process. While fighting, Gerald's final message appeared on various monitors on the ARK and on Earth, explaining his plan to destroy humanity as revenge for Maria's death. With the world nearing its end, Chris confronted Shadow about his ideals, explaining that what he was doing is not what Maria would want. This made Shadow remember Maria's true words to save and help humanity.

Shadow soon confronted Sonic, Knuckles, Decoe, and Bocoe at the cannon's core, the four of who were attempting to use the Master Emerald to stop the Chaos Emeralds. However, the Bio Lizard showed up to impede their progress. While Shadow bought them time, Sonic and Knuckles placed the Master Emerald in a structure reminiscent of the Altar of the Emeralds, successfully stopping the Chaos Emeralds.

The Bio Lizard was not finished, however, and went on to become the Final Lizard by merging with the Eclipse Cannon, continuing to pull the ARK towards the Earth. Sonic and Shadow thus utilized the seven Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic and Super Shadow respectively. Annihilating the deranged reptile, Sonic and Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport the Space Colony ARK back into orbit around the planet. The battle over, Sonic rejoined his friends on the ARK, where he handed Chris one of Shadow's Limiters, believing Shadow had perished. With their work done, the group left the ARK.

Homebound Saga
During Project Homebound, energy fired from the Eclipse Cannon was utilized to power the portal that would send Sonic and his friends back home.

Points of interest

 * Crazy Gadget