War to Take Back the Planet

The War to Take Back the Planet is an event that appears in Sonic Forces. It was a global war that occurred in earth's recent history between the Eggman Empire and the Resistance, which lasted for six months. Easily one of the largest, if not the largest, conflict in recorded history, the war was fought over the control of the world after the Dr. Eggman launched a campaign for world domination using a new power he had acquired.

After defeating Sonic the Hedgehog, the Eggman Empire began effectively spreading its influence. To liberate the world from the Eggman Empire's tyranny, the friends and allies of Sonic banded together to form the Resistance and their own army. The ensuring conflict between the Resistance and the Eggman Army marked what became known as the War to Take Back the Planet. However, the Resistance could do little during the early stages of the war, and the Eggman Empire eventually took over 99% of the planet within months. It was first during the last days of the war that Sonic, along with new allies, joined the fight that the Resistance began pushing the Eggman Empire back, eventually winning the war altogether. In the aftermath, the Resistance set out to restore the world from the damage the war had inflicted.

Prelude
The genesis of the War to Take back the Planet began when Dr. Eggman discovered the Phantom Ruby, a gemstone with powers over virtual reality that, as Eggman discovered, allowed its wielder to harness incredible power and produce replicas as their beck and call. Soon after discovering the gem, the doctor had a run-in with the Jackal Squad. After defeating the Jackal Squad, Eggman took a liking to the squad's captain and offered to make him the leader of the Eggman Army. Having grown bored with the world as it was, the captain took Eggman's offer.

Having seen the Phanton Ruby in action, Eggman went to Angel Island, which he used as a testing ground for the Ruby's virtual reality projections. At the same time, Knuckles was visited by Silver, who had come to the present to prevent a calamity that would befall the world in the future. After experiencing Eggman's virtual reality projections on the island, Knuckles and Silver took it as a sign that trouble was coming and headed to Earth to prepare for the coming war. Satisfied with the test, Eggman began conducting analyses of the Phantom Ruby in his lab in Mystic Jungle, which he had the Jackal Squad guard.