Defense Unit

ARK defense system is an emergency system that exist around the Space Colony ARK that appeared in Shadow the Hedgehog. It is a large defense system built presumbly by Gerald Robotnik and scientists that blocks any attack to the Colony.

Description
ARK Defense System is a large floating crystalic item component of large diamonds-shaped parts that are connected to each other in similar appearance to the Doom's eye and with large barrage of glass plates that defend it and the Space Colony and with small battleships that attack intruders. In The ARK and Space Gadget stages, the player main dark mission is to destroy them which are mostly protected by large glass plates that block attacks and the green crystallic item as it's controller. Both the ARK defense System and it's parts can be destroyed, however the mission is to destroy the green crystalic item that controls all the system. In Space Gadget, the player has to destroy six ARK defense system, but in The ARK, the player must destroy just four of them. They cannot be destroyed by Homing Attack, but guns.

History
As a part of Black Doom's plan to take over the ARK, the evil hive-mind of his colony has ordered Shadow to destroy those Defense units due to blocking his arms from infiltrating and attacking the colony, so it's Shadow's job to destroy them all to make the ARK defenseless. In Cosmic Fall, the Black Arms are presumably succeed in doing so which make platforms of the Colony falls down and Black Doom has ordered Shadow again, but this time to catch the Chaos Emerald in the colony.