Chapter 3:

AN: Yes, yes, sorry, I KNOW! I said I would write this during my two weeks off but I went out everyday on the first week and the second week, I had so much homework that I only finished it Sunday night. It's here now so… read.

I really appreciate the input from you guys. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Liquid Olimar is my friend so no point commenting.

8017z – Yes I think I should redo the first chapter but I'll do it when I'm finished. I need to get rid of that castrating thing :P

Rex Chaos – Yes I know I messed up there. I couldn't phrase it right. I meant Sasha told him about the job if that helps. If it doesn't, it's not really important so I wouldn't worry about it.

Miss Trippy – I don't have a clue what you mean by the way I write but thanks for the comment :P

Finally: Hylic Soul – grammar mistakes, TOTALLY YOUR FAULT. No, I'm just kidding. I really appreciate what your doing. You rock Now, ON WITH THE CHAPTER…

"Close the door behind you," said a voice from the end of the room.

Ratchet immediately did as he was told. He quietly closed the door and searched for the owner of the voice. Ratchet saw nothing. The room was poorly lit by a small light hovering above a chair placed in front of him. He stood on the spot next to the door and held his breath, awaiting further instructions. He didn't have to wait long when the same voice said, "Sit," demandingly.

Ratchet reached the chair and sat down, obediently. Ratchet was still looking for the source of the voice but it was nowhere to be found. It's to damn dark Ratchet thought to himself. It was as if they read his mind when the lights brightened up and Ratchet could see who he was talking to. There were two men sitting behind a table in front of Ratchet. One of them was easily recognisable for Ratchet. Racian. Ratchet couldn't help noticing his hateful stare. Ratchet would've stared back but his interest was caught by the other man. He had a cream coloured skin and was dressed in a smart suit, adorned with numerous badges. He didn't have bulging muscles or a killer look. He had a thin body, or at least it looked like it when compared to Racian.

The stranger stood up and walked around to the front of the table. He locked eyes with Ratchet and leaned onto the table. "Do you know why you're here Ratchet?"

Ratchet looked straight back at him, trying not to make it seem to obvious he was scanning his suit for some identification. "Is it because I've been swearing at and mocking Racian from behind his back?"

Racian jumped out of his seat and slammed his hands on the table. "Why you little punk!" he bellowed at Ratchet.

"Please Racian, now is not the time," the man said, closing his eyes but remaining calm. Racian reluctantly obeyed him and sat down after giving Ratchet a rude gesture involving his middle finger. The man opened his eyes again and chuckled, "No, that is not why. I am General Jervis, operator of this fine establishment." He took his eyes off Ratchet and began pacing slowly up and down the room. "You see, we have heard of your great accomplishments in other galaxies and we are in need of your… expertise."

Ratchet twisted his face in bewilderment. "My expertise in what?" he asked.

Jervis stopped pacing and faced Ratchet, "Combat. We have called you here as we are in need of your help. A supply convoy was destroyed recently as it passed a nearby planet. We sent other ships to investigate but sadly they were shot down. The crew were all captured and put to death before they could report back to us." He continued walking. "A few days later, a heavy assault was taken place on a city not far from here. Many innocent people were killed and the city was left in ruins. We have been sending over operatives and troops too discovered the leader of these atrocities." Racian flung a file in the table at Ratchet who caught it and opened the front page.

"That man there is General Libra, head of the planets army. He is most likely the main man behind these attacks but we are not 100 certain." Jervis pointed at the picture in the centre of the file. Ratchet gasped. This man has the same physical features as that Hoskins guy thought Ratchet. They must be the same species. Jervis noticed Ratchet's reaction to the photo and looked at him. "Do you recognise him?" he asked.

Ratchet shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "No sir. I've never seen him before," he said without removing his eyes from the file.

Jervis didn't look entirely convinced but continued with his story. "He has been attacking us none stop for the past few days. I had been hoping to let you train more but sadly, we do not have the time. We need you to go down there and kill General Libra."

Ratchet lifted his head, "But sir, where did I fit in all this?"

"Turn the page," Jervis said, and so Ratchet did, "This is a map of the enemy's main base. We have taken satellite photos and analysed every possible entry and exiting point and we have found here," Jervis said, pointing to a woodland area to the south of the structure, "to be the best. You will be dropped down two miles away from an enemy outpost. Your first objective will be to capture it. This outpost is vital, as currently, we cannot transmit any form of communication with the surface: they have radar jammers. We will then send a small communications group down to give you further orders. Is that understood?"

Ratchet collected his thoughts. He felt a bit uneasy. This wasn't just another crazy, evil villain Ratchet had now gotten used to fighting. This was an entire well trained, planetary army. The amount of soldiers, tanks and aircraft Ratchet would have to fight single handed would be overwhelming. "General Jervis, I'm only one person. How can I take out an entire army?" Ratchet asked him.

Jervis sat down on the table and folded his arms as if he was expecting the question, "Oh don't worry about that. I have four other top notch soldiers all lined up and ready to go. You will meet them now."

Jervis motioned Racian with a small nod in Ratchets direction. Racian pushed his chair back and trudged towards Ratchet. He grabbed him under the shoulder and hoisted Ratchet out of the chair. Ratchet fought back, trying to loosen Racians grip. Racian opened the door and pulled Ratchet out of the room. Ratchet looked back at Jervis who was calmly sitting down on the table, half smiling at Ratchet. "Good luck Ratchet and god speed," he said, saluting him just before the door closed behind him.

Now it was just Ratchet and Racian in the dark hallway. Neither of them looked at each other. Racian sighed heavily and walked down the dark corridor. Ratchet stood there, not sure what to do until Racian barked at him, "Hurry up." Ratchet obeyed and followed him at his heels. It was quiet. The only sound was their feet echoing off the walls. About half way, Racian came to a sudden halt. Ratchet imitated him. Racian didn't turn around forcing Ratchet to just stare in wonderment at his back. Before Ratchet could react, Racian swivelled around and punched Ratchet in his cheek. The heavy blow sent Ratchet flying into the metal wall with a giant thud that echoed throughout the hallway. Ratchet slumped against the wall, reeling from the unexpected, cheap shot. He felt himself hoisted off the ground. He opened his eyes. When they came into focus, all he could see was Racians face. "Now let me make this clear to you. I don't like you. I detest you. Do you know why?" Ratchet shook his head. "It's because this was MY mission. I was the one being sent down to that piece of crap they call a planet. It was my job to take out the terrorist leader. My mission. My glory. Do you understand?" he said, his look intensifying with each word. "You just had to turn up and snatch it away from me."

Racian released Ratchet from his grip, as if forgetting he was still there. Ratchet lifted himself off the ground, and readied himself for another attack. Ratchet's lip was bleeding. Racian clenched his fists, turning them white. He then turned back and continued walking down the hall. "Hurry up, you scrawny idiot."

Ratchet glared at his back but continued to follow Racian down the hallway. He was now given a new reason for doing the mission: to shove Racian's face in it. A smile broke out on the corner of his mouth. He relished the thought of beating Racian. Ratchet wiped his mouth once more, clearing it of any leftover blood.

Eventually, they reached another door. Racian stood in front of it and gripped the door handle with his large hand. "In here," he said, pushing the door open. Ratchet walked into the room and the door slammed shut behind him.

He was in a room around the same size of the mission briefing room but the lamps hanging on the wall brightened the room. "Ratchet? I thought you would be here." Ratchet recognised the voice almost instantly. It was Handa. He greeted Ratchet with a friendly smile and he rested his hand on Ratchets shoulder. "When you said you didn't know why you were here I knew you were hiding something. I thought it might be this but I wasn't sure and since I wasn't allowed to mention this to anybody, well, you can understand the situation." He pulled his hand back and turned towards the other people in the room. "Well I might as well introduce you to the team. Just in case you didn't know my name, it Handa," he grinned, "sniping expert believe it or not. I can shoot a can from six hundred meters away." He lifted his hands, absorbing the recoil from an imaginary sniper shot.

"This lovely lady here in the corner is Kali," he introduced, pointing to a petit, blue, mouse-like female Aluy who turned to them. She didn't look like a soldier but she wore a lightly shaded grey uniform. The same that Handa was wearing. Kali lifted her head on the sound of her name. She got out of the chair, walked over and shook Ratchet's hand firmly.

"Hey, I'm Kali. I am going to be the medic and technology expert. I'll be handling any problems you guys have with your equipment, locks, injuries, issues like that. Nice to finally meet you, Ratchet." She let go of his hand and stood beside him smiling. "I've heard a lot about you and you adventures. I hope I can hear some of them one day."

"Ehh… yeah, sure. No problem" Ratchet said, grinning awkwardly back.

"And this guy over here," Handa pointed to a Geon. His fur was a stealthy green. He looked as if he worked out to some extent. He had fairly large muscles but nothing compared to Racian's. He was sitting in a chair in front of a television. He turned to them and kindly bowed his head in a sign of respect. "He calls himself Demo. He's a demolition expert. He claims he could blow up an entire enemy city but I think it's all just hot air."

He then turned towards the window and instead of his usual, heart-warming smile, he tilted his head to the side slightly and said quietly. "Finally there is that guy standing beside the window." Ratchet looked over in the direction Handa was pointing and froze on the spot. It was Hoskins. He didn't turn to greet Ratchet at all. In fact, Ratchet wouldn't have even noticed him if Handa hadn't pointed him out. Hoskins just gazed out the window as if something outside was distracting him. "I've tried talking the dude but he keeps on shooing me away like a fly. After a while, I just didn't bother anymore and left him there. The weird thing is that he hasn't budged from the window since I got here."

"Wait here." Ratchet told him. He didn't wait for a reply. Ratchet simply walked over and stood beside Hoskins. He didn't seem to notice or care that Ratchet was rudely staring at the side of his face.

"What do you want?" he asked, slowly. He didn't remove his eyes from the window.

"Who are you?" Ratchet knew just by the look of him that he wasn't a man for small talk so he got straight to the point.

"You asked me this question before, so I see no need to repeat myself," he answered, sternly.

"Why are you here?"

There was a long pause between them. Ratchet could feel everyone else's eyes locked on to them both. Hoskins chuckled, to Ratchet's surprise. "All in good time but for now, we must rest. We set out early tomorrow morning and I bet your just itching to get some action." He shook his head violently as if he was punishing himself for showing emotion and the smile quickly faded.

"Tomorrow morning?" Ratchet turned to Handa. He simply shrugged his shoulders, the information being new to him too.

"Yes. Now go catch some sleep because you won't get any where were going."

"Umm… ok then" Ratchet said slowly and quietly. He turned away from Hoskins but quickly caught sight of what Hoskins had been looking at all this time. It was a large warehouse. There was a patrol of around ten soldiers outside, circling the building. They were all armed heavily, from what Ratchet could see. He couldn't help but wonder what was in there that had Hoskins so interested. He returned to the group.

"Hey, who died and made him king?" Handa snorted. He had obviously heard every word of the conversation.

Ratchet ignored his question. "Well I'm going to bed. He said we'll be leaving early tomorrow."

"Yeah, alright. I guess so 'cus I'm not nice when I'm cranky in the morning," Handa admitted. He patted Ratchet on the back and waved goodnight to Kali and Demo, leaving Hoskins in the dark. He then walked out the door and retreated to his room.

Shortly after, Kali turned to Ratchet and said, "We should go too. Night Ratchet." She motioned Demo with her hand and they left together leaving Ratchet and Hoskins alone.

Ratchet didn't say anything. He faced the door and rested his hand on it when, "Ratchet". Ratchet turned around to see what he wanted. There was another pause. Hoskins was fond of them. Then, "Do not disappoint me." Ratchets chose not to say anything. He pulled the door open and walked out. He stood there at the door, in deep thought. Well, here we go again he thought before walking down the corridor, back to his room.

AN: Ok, I kinda rushed this one because people have been pressuring me to write this one before the exams. So I did. Here it is. I thought it could have been a bit better but they/you would have to wait about… two months? Nuh-uh, I don't think so. Long wait but hopefully, it'll be worth it ;)

Oh and yes I do just randomly make up other alien races. Aluy and Geon just came outta no where if that settles and disturbance. Aluy is a small kind of mouse looking creature while the Geon is like a humanoid Labrador (the dog :P).

If you have any questions, just ask me. Either in an e-mail or a review.

Sly Foxxx

EN: This man is evil! It takes me a good 2 months to get down in front of the computer to write and wouldn't you know it? There's his thing and I have to edit it. Curse your requirement of my superfluous ski11z!

-Grammar mistakes: my fault? Just for that, I'm not correcting your review replies!

-I do indeed 'rock', my friend, I do indeed.

Hylic Soul