Downunda Freedom Fighters

The Downunda Freedom Fighters are a group of Freedom Fighters from the continent of Downunda that banded together to resist Dr. Ivo Robotnik's invasion of Mobius. They have on some occassions fought alongside the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Upon Robotnik's death, Dr. Eggman's rise to power and declaration of war between the Kingdom of Knothole and Eggman Empire, the Downunda Freedom Fighters are currently fighting alongside the Kingdom to defeat Eggman.

Formation
The Downunda Freedom Fighters became an organization in the latter years of Dr. Ivo Robotnik's reign over Mobius, meeting in their teenage years instead of in childhood like the Knothole Freedom Fighters. The organization began when Walt Wallabee, having set out on a "hopabout" to find his destiny, ran into a meditating Guru Emu, who joined Walt in the belief that Walt was a sign from the universe of what he was supposed to do. After several days traveling together and becoming friends, they came across a watering hole where they met Duck "Bill" Platypus, who soon enlisted the two in his mission to scout out possible illegal activities in the area. Soon enough they discovered that the rumors Bill had heard were referring to Crocbot, who had recently arrived in the area and had captured many of Downunda's inhabitants for experimentation. Freeing most of the prisoners, the trio were then joined by Wombat Stu, who himself had been investigating Crocbot's activities. The mercenary Barby Koala joined the group when they arrived at the location of one of Crocbot's bases to fight for the good of Downunda. Together, the group destroyed Crocbot's facility and sent him running, only for him to return later to continue their long antagonism. (StH: #103)

Assistance from Tails
Tails discovered the Downunda Freedom Fighters after going head to head with Crocbot's Wing Dingo squadron. Taking him to Athair to be nursed back to health, the Downunda FF's show that they are just as caring as they are together as a team. When Tails' wounds were healed by the Ancient Walkers, he joined the Downunda Freedom Fighter's in their attack on Crocbot's base and his CD-ROM-RAM. With his help, the blimp carrying troops, weapons and supplies from Dr. Robotnik was destroyed. Following this, Crocbot attempted to escape in his Mega Mecha Tank, but a well placed Bomberang from Walt Wallabee sent the vehicle crashing into the Great Crater where he was believed to have been destroyed. (TMS: #1, #2, #3)

Stopping Crocbot
Crocbot managed to survive the explosion, instead having his lower half merged with his Mega Mecha Tank. Following this he managed to capture and imprison some of the Downunda Freedom Fighters in the crater detention camp after scrapping together a number of Combots from the remains of Robotnik's blimp. Some time later, when Dr. Robotnik was having resources shipped by Crocbot from Downunda to power his Ultimate Annihilator, the Downunda Freedom Fighter's - who were were rescued by Bunnie Rabbot and Antoine D'Coolette - attacked Crocbot's base and army of Combots. Despite Crocbot managing to ship the supplies to Robotnik, the Downunda Freedom Fighters managed to destroy his entire army of Combots and presumed to have destroyed Crocbot. (SSS: #4, #6)

The Platypus Conflict
Crocbot managed to survive however, as a post-hypnotic mind control diode placed on Duck "Bill" Platypus had him collect the intact parts of Crocbot and place him in hiding. From there, Crocbot controlled Duck "Bill" into turning the other Platypus on Downunda to turn against the Downunda Freedom Fighters. When Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails arrived in Downunda during their chase of Ixis Naugus, Crocbot was discovered and his plot was foiled. (StH: #61)

The Bunyip Crisis
Following Wombat Stu's recruitment to the Royal Secret Service, the other Downunda Freedom Fighters held tryouts in hopes of finding a new member, but no one could pass their criteria for the job. They were then alerted to the presence of Bunyip, an Aboriginal creature of myth that Crocbot had referred to prior to his deactivation. Investigating, they found the Bunyip living in a stagnant lake created by a dam Crocbot had built as one of his early installations. After a short battle and being captured, the Downunda Freedom Fighters were able to communicate with the Bunyip and learn the reason for his rampages. By destroying the dam, they freed him to continue his peaceful way of life. As a result of their success, they decided against recruiting a new member. (StH: #103, #104, #105)

Further Threats
Wombat Stu rejoined the Downunda Freedom Fighters following the decommissioning of the Secret Service, and the group was among those who received a telepathic transmission from the Xorda aliens warning them of Mobius' imminent doom. Not about to give up without a fight, the Downunda Freedom Fighters joined the Knothole Freedom Fighters, Wolf Pack, and various other Freedom Fighter groups and other organizations in launching an attack on the Xorda Quantum Dial. They succeeded in destroying the weapon, but at the apparent cost of Sonic the Hedgehog's life. (StH: #124, #125)

Following the Xorda conflict, the Downunda Freedom Fighters continued their fight against the Eggman Empire. At some point, the Downunda Freedom Fighters were secretly aided by the rogue robot E-102 Gamma, who destroyed a Wing Dingo while Walt was fighting it. (SU: #3)

Background Information

 * Not counting Walt's cameo appearance in Sonic Universe #3 and their reappearance in Sonic Universe #11, the Downunda Freedom Fighters have the twenty-first longest running Non-appearance Gap in the main series from issue #125 to issue #210, tying them with the Arctic Freedom Fighters.