Freedom Fighters (Kingdom of Acorn)


 * For the incarnation of this group before the Super Genesis Wave, see Knothole Freedom Fighters.

The New Freedom Fighters are the main protagonists of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. They are a Freedom Fighter group, led by Princess Sally Acorn, who came together to oppose Dr. Eggman's tyrannical rule over their planet. Inspired by the heroic efforts of Sonic the Hedgehog, who later became a member of their group, they managed to reclaim their home city of Mobotropolis. To this day, they continue to be a beacon of hope for the their planet as they travel the world and challenge Eggman's evil and other villains wherever they appear.

Formation
The New Freedom Fighters were formed after Dr. Eggman had taken over the city of Mobotropolis by a young Sally Acorn, out of a desire to stop hiding and make a difference. The team first formed after Sonic the Hedgehog's victory against Eggman in the Final Zone, inspired by Sonic's heroism. Among their victories were liberating Mobotropolis from Dr. Eggman and rescuing King Acorn from the Special Zone. Despite Sally's fears, King Acorn allowed her to stay with the Freedom Fighters, realizing how valuable she was to the team despite his own fears for her safety.

Countdown to Chaos

 * Note: From the readers point of view, this picks up from where the group's original timeline ended.

Eventually, the group separated up on miscellaneous missions between them as Amy disappeared, while Sonic and Tails were dispatched by Nicole the Holo-Lynx to rescue King Acorn from Walter Naugus. Amidst a battle with the Tails Doll on the mission which ended in the doll's defeat, Sonic regained his memories of the original reality, and Tails regained his after contact with Nicole, who suggested that they seek out the other Freedom Fighters to get to the bottom of the matter. Having rescued King Acorn, the pair set out to locate their missing teammates. The duo find Rotor in the Mystic Ruins, hard at work on the Sky Patrol base, which they and Big the Cat save from a badnik horde. Sonic and Tails restore Rotor's memories of the old world by having him hold Nicole. After processing this, Rotor informed the duo as to the last known whereabouts of the other Freedom Fighters.

Following Rotor's directions, Sonic and Tails headed to the Wood Zone, where they found Antoine serving as Uncle Chuck and Muttski's bodyguard while they researched recent earthquakes. They soon restored Antoine's memories as well, and worked together to save the two scientists and their equipment from an earthquake. Antoine departed with Chuck and Muttski while Sonic and Tails traveled to Metropolis Zone to find Bunnie D'Coolette, who was undercover in the local Egg Army unit to retrieve a shield generator for the Sky Patrol. Escaping with Bunnie and the generator, they returned to the Sky Patrol and reunited with Antoine prior to restoring Bunnie's memories.

Meanwhile, Sally was at the Death Egg stealing information from the Egg Network, and escaped to Mobotropolis with Metal Sonic on her tail. There, Sonic and Tails arrived in time to drive Metal Sonic away. Conveniently, they also found Amy, Cream, and Cheese, who returned from their trip to the Sol Zone. The New Freedom Fighters then reunited in the Sky Patrol, where Sonic restored Sally's and Amy's memories. However, with Nicole repaired, she revealed the planet was tearing itself apart, just as the Shattered World Crisis began.

Act One
The group quickly traveled to Station Square to provide relief to victims of the Shattered World Crisis until they were relieved by the arrival of G.U.N. forces aboard the Letter of Gabriel. Their next mission involved rescuing Professor Charles the Hedgehog and his colleague Professor Dillon Pickle from an Bullet Train run by E-106 Eta. While they failed to recover any of the professors' research, they did rescue the two scientists. After learning about the connection between the planet's shattering and the ancient Gaia Manuscripts, the group set out on their next mission-to recover the Chaos Emeralds and secure the Gaia Temples, which together could restore the world.

The Freedom Fighters split into smaller squads in an effort to accomplish multiple objectives at once, with one squad traveling to the city of Meropis while another went after a Chaos Emerald in Crystal Cave. The former squad made new allies as they defended the city from the evil Dark Gaia Creatures,   while the second group battled Badnik Horde forces stationed in the cave. Both subsequently returned to the Sky Patrol, one with a supply of Power Rings and the other with a Chaos Emerald. Unfortunately, their movements were monitored by Dr. Eggman, who sent his War Walrus to attack the Sky Patrol en route to Soumerca and also instructed his Egg Army forces in the area to prepare for their arrival. Three of the Freedom Fighters were sent after a Chaos Emerald held by Egg Boss Thunderbolt while two others went on a relief mission to Harbor Heights. The former team joined forces with old allies Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel to recover the Emerald, but Sonic briefly left the team in order to master his Werehog transformation under the tutelage of Moss the Sloth.

The remaining Freedom Fighters soon embarked on a mission to recover another Chaos Emerald held by Eggman's forces. However, their attempt was anticipated, and Team Freedom was attacked by three units of the E-100 Series. When Team Fighters arrived to back them up, both groups were caught in an elaborate trap while the Chaos Emerald was flown to a more secure location. A reserve squad led by Cream managed to rescue them, but in the process the Tails Doll slipped aboard the Sky Patrol. Battered but alive, the group was rejoined by Sonic, who encouraged them following their defeat and was then one of three members to be accepted into the Chaos Emerald Championship roster. Their teammates observed the tournament, which ended with Sonic's group obtaining the Chaos Emerald and bringing Knuckles the Echidna and Chip-aka Light Gaia-aboard the Sky Patrol. The group was also contacted by Gregorios of Apotos with information regarding the restoration of the planet, which led to the Freedom Fighters traveling there. Before they did so, however, the group split up again, with a squad under Sally traveling to Isolated Island and battling the computer virus Phage to aid Dr. Ellidy.

The Freedom Fighters were later contacted by G.U.N. regarding the location of the final Chaos Emerald, and moved to meet with one of their units in the Crystal Desert Zone. Unfortunately, Metal Sonic seized the Emerald first and wounding the soldiers. Most of the Freedom Fighters remained behind to assist the injured troops while Sonic, Bunnie, and Tails went after Metal Sonic, only for Sonic to become separated from the others after chasing Metal Sonic through a Genesis Portal. Thankfully, Sonic returned with the Emerald in hand.

Worlds Unite
The Freedom Fighters were soon faced Sigma, a villainous artificial intelligence from the future of Mega Man's World. Having press-ganged Dr. Eggman, Dr. Wily, and the Deadly Six into his service, he had his minions capture Sonic and convert him and Mega Man into Sonic Man and M'egga Man. In the midst of worrying for their absent friends, the Freedom Fighters were called back to Mobotropolis to deal with the attacking M'egga Man. However, the robot proved too much for them despite the aid of Knuckles and Gemerl. Sigma's Unity Engines, which M'egga Man and Sonic Man had set up near Castle Acorn and in Mega City on Earth 20XX, then began merging the two planets together. As a result, the Freedom Fighters found themselves face to face with Break Man, Quake Woman, and reformed members of Wily Robot Masters. The growing force against Sigma was soon joined by X, Zero, and Axl from Sigma's time and Sticks the Badger, Comedy Chimp and Fastidious Beaver from the Sonic Boom World. After Sonic and Mega Man were restored to their normal forms, all the heroes boarded the Sky Patrol to prepare against Sigma's forces.

Act Two
After the defeat of Sigma, the New Freedom Fighters returned to their previous task of restoring the planet to normal through collecting the Gaia Keys. This led to conflict with Egg Bosses Tundra the Walrus and Clove the Pronghorn,   as well as a renewed alliance with their old friend Lupe the Wolf.

Trivia

 * It was Sonic that came up with the name for the group.

Vehicles

 * Sky Patrol: The base of operations for the Freedom Fighters.
 * Tornado: A plane usually piloted by Tails.
 * Twister: A plane usually piloted by Antoine.
 * Green Hopper: A transforming vehicle usually driven by Big.
 * Speed Star: A transforming vehicle employed by various Freedom Fighters.
 * Pink Cabriolet: A transforming vehicle employed by various Freedom Fighters.