AN: Jesus my last update was… MAY! . Holy shit. I'm really sorry. I've been pretty busy the past few… months. Ok, ok that's a bad excuse… Well it's here now. I thank you for the feed back in the past chapter. It made me happy to know that you liked it Oh, you might want to re-read because you, like many people, might of forgotten what the hell is going on XD Enjoy the chapter.

Ratchet woke to the annoying sound of his alarm clock going off, yet again. He turned it off and rose from his bed. He felt as worn out as he had before he went to bed last night. He was awake for most of it thinking about the mission. How long was I awake? Until 4? He heavily sighed, shook his head and reached for his clothes that were always hung outside the wardrobe. He quickly changed and left his quarters. Instead of his usual stroll down the hall to the cafeteria, he turned right, leading him to a landing bay. The smell of hot breakfast followed him from the cafeteria, trying to persuade him to turn back but Ratchet just closed his eyes, trying to shut out its allure. His stomach growled. Ratchet promised it he would get food on the journey over. He glanced at his watch. 5 minutes left. He switched to a gentle stride down the hall and eventually reached the door leading to the landing bay. He pushed open the door and walked in.

This area filled almost a third of the entire base. The sound of metal banging together and mechanics at their work echoed off the wall making the bay sound busier than it looked. As it was early in the morning and this was a secret operation, there were not many people in the bay, bar a few mechanics working on the military drop ships and fighter jets lined up one by one on the side of the hanger opposite the artillery and hovercrafts. One small ship lay down just in front of the vehicle exit across the room from him. Ratchet jogged over to the people standing outside it.

"About time you decided to show up. We were about to leave without you," Handa joked.

"Sorry, I had a rough night," Ratchet said.

Jervis coughed to get the groups attention back on him. "As I was saying, the drop ship contains all your needs for this mission. Weapons, food, gadgets and so on. We have not added any form of communication devices as they will be easily picked up by the enemy, surrendering your position. You will only receive these as soon as you take out the radar outpost to the south. This will then allow you to contact us. A small telecom squad will meet up with you there give you further orders. Does anybody have any questions before you leave?"

Handa raised his hand. "Yeah, I got one. I know that we're awesome and all but won't they see us landing?"

Jervis put his hands behind his back. "In order to cover your operation, we will be sending hordes of troops down to the surface. That is bound to draw most of their resources to the frontlines to the north of the base where we plan to attack. This will leave only a small amount of soldiers for you to deal with."

Ratchet looked around the group. Everyone seemed calm about this mission except Hoskins. He was looking at the ground shuffling his feet. It was obvious his mind was elsewhere.

"So what should we do if we…uh encounter any of these guys?" Handa asked. Ratchet noticed Hoskins reaction to the question. He looked at Jervis waiting for an answer.

Jervis raised his left hand and quickly stroked his thumb across his neck. Elimination. Ratchet thought as much. He looked back at Hoskins to see his reaction but quickly turned away when they locked eyes. Ratchet could have sworn Hoskins was trying to see his reaction as well.

"Well," Jervis said aloud after a brief silence, "Since no one has any more questions, you should be on your way. We had to sacrifice the ships speed for its stealth capabilities so the army, which will be departing shortly, should arrive before you get there."

They all got onto the ship. It was fairly small. No larger than his room on the base. "I'll drive," Hoskins stated and sat in the front seat before waiting for confirmation. Ratchet just sat in the seat behind beside Handa with Kali and Demo sitting across.

Hoskins slipped on the head set in front of him. "Back door closing," he said while pulling a lever above him, "Initiating launch sequence." He pushed a button beside him and tugged on the controls causing the ship to lurch forward throwing Handa out of his seat. He gave a quick smile and scrambled back to his seat. Ratchet looked out the small window at the back of the ship. Jervis was walking away from them. He got smaller and smaller as the craft picked up speed. The tanks all sped past them and soon he was watching the base drift away in the distance as the ship rose upwards. Soon the ship shook as it broke through the atmosphere.

Seven long, long hours later…

"Approaching desired destination. ETA 30 minutes."

Ratchet opened his eyes after hearing Hoskins announcement. Everyone one was asleep due to the lack of activities available on the ship. He looked out the front window to see the planet. The ship had slowed down to a steady pace. It felt as though they were just drifting in space. Ratchet got up approached the pilot's seat. Hoskins was the only one awake. He had his hands gripped loosely on the controls and looked both bored and tired. Ratchet crouched down next to Hoskins who didn't look back. Hoskins hadn't moved at all for the whole journey. His eyes were half open and they just gazed unfocused out the window.

"What?" he asked heavily.

"Do you want me to land the ship? You've been flying for quite a while now without rest," Ratchet said. Hoskins snapped his eyes open and didn't reply. Ratchet continued. "I mean don't worry, I'm a pretty solid pilot. I've had my share of close encounters in the past."

Hoskins turned to face Ratchet. "Are you prepared for another one?" he asked sternly.

Ratchet tilted his head. "What?"

Hoskins nodded towards the planet and then gazed out the window himself. Ratchet looked at the side of his head awkwardly and turned to look himself. He wasn't sure what Hoskins was talking about. They were too far away to see anything on the surface but the green ground, blue sea, white clouds and occasional grey dot here and there didn't seem strange to him. "What are we looking at?"

"You see those grey spots?" he pointed out with his finger.

"Yes," Ratchet replied slowly.

"What do you think they are?"

Ratchet shrugged. "Looks like several urbanized locations around the planet."

"Oh yeah? Look closer," he said quietly.

Ratchet squinted to see what he was talking about. He focused solely on the dots to see if anything weird about them. Then Ratchets ears dropped and heart sank. He knew what Hoskins was talking about and why his face was white. They were missiles. He hadn't noticed them moving before but now he could see clearly that about fifteen of them had been launched from the surface and were now heading for them at on alarming pace.

"Shit," Ratchet muttered.

"Precisely," Hoskins agreed quietly, "Get back in your seat now and tell the others to brace themselves.

Ratchet nodded and hurried back to his seat. He shook the rest of the team awake and told them to fasten their seatbelts.

"What's goin' on?" Handa mumbled rubbing his eye still half asleep.

"We're in for a rough landing," Ratchet said, tightening Handa seal belt for him after attending to his own.

"What's wrong?" Kali asked, imitating Ratchet.

"Missiles inbound," Hoskins shouted back. His eyes didn't leave the window.

Demo looked downwards and hit the armrest of his seat, "Damn it! They found us."

"Well, here we go," Hoskins said more to himself rather than the squad. He jerked the controls to the left causing the ship to flip onto its side. Ratchet shuddered at the sound of the speeding missile passing the ship.

"Missile one, evaded!" he reported. He turned the controls again and the ship was now upside down. Another two missiles went zooming by. "Missile two and three evaded" he shouted again.

Ratchet felt queasy. He normally didn't mind the spinning around when he was driving the ship. He was tossed around helplessly like a rag doll not knowing when to prepare for a full 360 degrees loop. At least he wasn't doing as bad as some of them. Kali across had her hands covering her face and squealed every time the ship made a sudden movement. Demo had a bag over his mouth, desperately trying to breathe. He looked over at Handa who threw his hands in the air and laughed in sync with Kali's screams.

"Missile seven avoided! C'mon! Hang in there!" Hoskins screamed.

Hoskins again and again outmanoeuvred the missiles with each new missile came an elevated sense of danger. The drop ship was forced to do another manoeuvre causing the ship to fly upside down again. A red light above the cockpit started to flash and a small alarm went off. The red light filled the small area causing Kali to scream louder and Demo to swear discordantly. Handa at this point stopped laughing and started to panic. Ratchet winced in pain as Handa desperately griped onto his arm tightly.

"Missile twelve avoided!"

The ship began to shake roughly. The constant flashing light was hurting Ratchets eyes forcing him the shut them tightly and the intensifying alarm was giving Ratchet a painful headache. He massaged the temple of his head with his fingers in order to stop his head from pounding but it wouldn't work. He began to feel faint. The shifting, screaming, yelling and flashing were making him feel weak.

"Missile fourteen avoided! Just one left!" Hoskins yelled back.

The ship lurched to its side, causing Ratchets head to hit against his chest. He didn't attempt to fight gravity. He just didn't have the strength. He did however open his eyes for a brief second. In his line of sight was a passed out Demo and Kali. He shut his eyes again and could only feel the sweat drops trickling down his face and body.

"Here we go!" Hoskins yelled again.

Ratchet was grinding his teeth together as the ship made one final twist. Suddenly, the ship shook very aggressively and another louder and quicker paced alarm went off right next to his ear.

"Shit! We've been hit!" Hoskins howled, pressing buttons and twisting the dials frantically.

The ship spiralled around and around. Ratchets forced all his strength towards looking out the front window. The planet was getting larger and larger with every passing second. The tension which filled his body a minute ago was now replaced with a sickening calmness, the alarm was somehow deafened by the sound of nothing and the flashing light seemed to slowly burn itself out t until nothing was left except utter darkness…

AN: Ok, well finally something interesting has happened in the story. Ratchets out and who knows what happened to the rest of them? I do, that's who. Heehee…:3 Well hopefully you won't have to wait as long as before for an update. If you read this, please review. I really do appreciate reviews of all kinds. Constructive ones are greeted the most though all of them let me know that someone out there is reading

Until next time which I promise won't be sometime next year ; )

Sly Foxxx

EN: Hello world. It's true, I'm not dead, I've simply just receded into the French Alps to meditate on the theoretical physics of grammar, and correct said mistakes of the silly Irishmen who come to me :3

Want to me for help with your stories? Email me at sumcrazyguythefrenchalps.fr

Hi Miss Trippy! Hi Rocket-Propelled Grenade (formerly 8017z and for some reason has me on his fave authors list)!

Luv you all! ;) – ('Cept for you: Orpheus B. Carrie)