Muhahaha... you fools must all have a death wish? Witness this invincible battleship, built by the hands of a genius. Its power... unmatched throughout the universe! — "Dr. Eggman", Sonic Heroes
There are many choices of paths and plenty of opportunities for Rings, Power Cores and extra lives in this stage. Journeying through this stage requires the teams to travel across the countless ships within the Egg Fleet, with grinding on rails serving as the main passage between minor fleets and propelled flight to reach the larger fleets.
The paths in this level are covered with cannon fire, laser grids (Team Chaotix only), several bottomless pits, and waves of powerful enemies, bringing the player's team skills to the ultimate test. The enemies here are the toughest ones yet; E-1008 Falcos fly through the skies while the highly advanced E-2000 robots stand guard over sealed doors, along with Egg Pawns which are out patrolling the decks.
Story
After Neo Metal Sonic (disguised as Dr. Eggman) launched the Egg Fleet near Bullet Station, and after the four teams passed through Mystic Mansion, the teams have managed to find their way countless miles up in the air, reaching the edge of space in order to take on the doctor's aerial armada.
As the teams stand on the edge of the fleet, they each stay true to the goals they set when starting this adventure. Even though they ran out of their three-day time limit, Team Sonic is determined to halt Dr. Eggman's plans and save the world. Team Dark is going on a manhunt to find Eggman, while Shadow is trying to find out who he really is, Rouge is attempting to get Eggman's treasure, and E-123 Omega wishes to get revenge on his creator. Team Rose is on the lookout for Sonic, Froggy, and Chocola, convinced that they must be somewhere within the Egg Fleet. Team Chaotix is nearing the end of its assignment, as they are directed by their client to infiltrate the fleet undetected.
Rank requirements
The following is a list of requirements to attain a rank for each mission with each team.[1]
Normal Missions
Rank A
Rank B
Rank C
Rank D
Rank E
Mission 1
Team Sonic
20,000
18,000
15,000
10,000
<10,000
Get to Eggman's flagship!
Team Dark
30,000
28,000
23,000
18,000
<18,000
Land on Eggman's flagship!
Team Rose
40,000
35,000
30,000
23,000
<23,000
Find Eggman's fleet!
Team Chaotix
33,000
30,000
25,000
15,000
<15,000
Infiltrate the flagship without being detected by the enemies!
Hurry and get to the flagship without being detected by the enemies!
Trivia
If the player uses Sonic Overdrive before destroying the first ship in this stage, the screen will turn black but Sonic can still be controlled. However, Sonic can not jump or attack. This can be fixed by pausing and exiting the stage.
At the beginning of the level in the Team Dark story, Rouge will state that they must be close to space, to which Shadow replies, "Did you say SPACE?". This is an allusion to his fate in Sonic Adventure 2.
Even though they are visibly heavily-armed and have a lot of detail put into them, the manta ray ships are never approached by any Team (unless you fall off the edge of a ship towards one).
The characters can normally survive very long drops but for some reason can not drop onto these ships.
Muhahaha... you fools must all have a death wish? Witness this invincible battleship, built by the hands of a genius. Its power... unmatched throughout the universe! 
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