Disclaimers 'n' crap: Haihai peeps! I'd like to apologize for two things. 1. The long wait for an update. I was busy with school and METAL GEAR SOLID 2! (Jumpsaroundwithglee) 2. The crappiness of the update. I was so desperate to get an update up that…well…I try to disappoint as little as I can. I know the story is going a bit slow right now, but, please don't hurt me for that. I can promise you that I WILL finish this story! As long as I have my loyal readers (AstarothTheFallen, keke1, and Ghostwriter, I am talking to youse), I WILL continue this fic! Oh, and in case you need a better idea of what Aelita looks like, picture Zephie from .hack: Legend of the Twilight if she was evil. That better? Okayzorz! You already know what I do and don't own. Enjoy!


A/N: This is a revised chapter


Our Unit came up over the crest of a hill that overlooked Capitopolis from the South-East. A swarming mass of black was headed towards us in the distance: Elaine's army, a giant horde of demons. This wasn't going to be easy, but we had to try.

Scott turned to the Cliffhangers.

"They're coming at us from the front directly," he said, stating the obvious "We'll need to spread out and try to out-flank them secretly from as many points on the front as we can."

"Scott, are you forgetting something?" said Juliette "There's 50,000 of them and only 8 of us."

"Come on!" said Daisy "We've been doing this for 2 years and you still haven't got it drilled into your head that the Rules of Engagement are a little different here?"

"So," said Ezra "You don't agree with her?"

"Oh no, I definitely agree with her," said Daisy "We're gonna get our ass' kicked out there."

"Guys, look," said Scott, seriously "If we start sniping some guys off the front, we'll be deteriorating their forces without them knowing it and they'll think they're home free, but we'll be giving Snake and Raiden's armies a chance to tackle them by surprise from the rear flanks." He stopped and looked hard at his chums. Then, his face softened. "I know we can do this, guys," he said "Snake says a victory of this magnitude would wipe out Elaine's army entirely and that brings us that mush closer to winning the war…and living out the rest of our lives to some degree of normality." He smiled. It was tough living life at any degree of normality in this world. Shelby stepped forward and turned to face the group.

"C'mon, guys," she said, grinning widely "Are we Cliffhangers, or are we wimps?"

Shelby may not always look like much, but when she wants something, she gets it.


The group spread out, everyone taking their positions. The first flank passed the Cliffhanger's designated checkpoint. Auggie raised his DE class sniper rifle and aimed.

PSHHHFFFF

SNAP

The target disintegrated so fast that no one else took notice. Everyone repeated this pattern for about 3 minutes before Scott suddenly put his rifle down.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"Need some pentazemin, Scott?" Shelby whispered.

"No," said Scott "Something's wrong. This is too easy."

"Scott, we're a special forces unit," said Shelby "We're supposed to…"

"No, it's more than that," said Scott "Elaine's planning something." He leapt down from the tree into the dense foliage not far below.

"What?" Shelby followed him. "What makes you so sure?"

"I've…" Scott struggled to find the right words "I've just got this feeling."

"Scott," said Shelby, firmly "You can't base a military action on feelings…"

"Then why are you following me?" said Scott. Shelby just stood there. She couldn't respond "You're my commanding officer" because she never admitted when someone had power over her. The awkward silence was broken by Scott's wrist communicator buzzing. He turned it on. It was Juliette.

"Waybourne to Barringer," she said "Scott, can you hear me?"

"Crystal clear, Jules," said Scott "What's your situation?"

"Doing fine," said Juliette "We've taken down 50 over here." She paused. "You were right, Scott, we can do this."

"That's what I'm worried about," said Scott "Listen, Jules, I'm getting a bad feeling that Elaine is…" The communicator started to crackle. It never did that.

"Copy that?" said Juliette "Scott?...we're…AAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!" The line went dead. Scott and Shelby stood in shock. The communicator buzzed again. This time, it was Auggie.

"Scott-man!" he yelled "I think we're bein' ambushed! Looks like your step-mom knows we're here!" There were sounds of a struggle in the background.

"Auggie, what's going on?" said Scott, panic rising in his voice "What happened to Juliette?"

"She's down," said Auggie "But I don't think she's…" The line went dead again.

What the hell was going on here?

In the distance, battle cries rang out like a foghorn. Scott and Shelby could see Snake and Raiden's armies plowing into both sides of the rear flank. Scott punched a few buttons on his communicator.

"Calling all Cliffhangers!" he yelled "Cliffhangers, what are your situations?"

The transmissions were all garbled but what words we could make out indicated one thing: Elaine had starting striking a death-blow to the Cliffhangers Unit. We'd always operated on the sidelines, but this time, we were right in the thick of things. And there seemed no escape. If we didn't do something, we'd all be done in by sheer numbers before we knew it.


In case you're wondering what pentazemin is, it's something you use in MGS 2 to steady the sniper rifle when aiming. Yeah, I know this is a crappy update, but like I said, I WILL FINISH THIS FIC! (Runsoftriumphantlyintothesunset)

Scott:...This kid is a lost cause…