"Man, those Genoshans sure do know how to spoil a girl's fun," Rogue drawled, fingering the collar around her neck with a yellow-gloved hand, "nice as it is to hug you boys an' thank ya for the rescue, ah miss bein' able to fly an' all. Y'all are sure Beast's got a key to get this damn thing offa me?"

"I'm sure, darlin'," Wolverine flashed a quick, feral grin, "we'd have brought one with us if we'd known you were gonna get yourself captured. Good thing Gumbo and I were able to spring you so quick."

"Yeah, thanks again, boys," Rogue offered up, "at least we got the intel the Professor needed - an' three days faster than we hoped for. Successful mission, even if ah'm as weak an' grounded as a baby bird. Ah'm lookin' forward to a nice hot shower and a decent meal!"

"No problem, chère," Gambit tossed a smile over his shoulder from the pilot's seat, "we be outta here in no time..."

The engines of the Blackbird thrummed as the jet ascended in vertical takeoff, quickly climbing high into the sky. Rogue and Wolverine sat just behind and to either side of Gambit, who was front and centre in the pilot's chair, his hands expertly handling the jets controls. Rogue was about to make a joke about the in-flight movie and whether there was any popcorn on board, when the high-pitched wail of an alarm sounded throughout the cockpit.

"What the hell-?" Logan exclaimed, from beside her.

"Proximity alarm," Gambit's voice sounded tense, "damn – we got a couple a' missiles on our tail."

Reaching forward, the Cajun flicked a switch to release countermeasures, designed to intercept the missiles and ignite them before they could reach the aircraft. The first explosion sounded, rocking the jet and jarring gasps from the three passengers.

"That was too damn close!" Rogue exclaimed.

"Hold tight, chère," Gambit called out, "de second one, dis gonna be closer!"

He threw the jet into a corkscrew evasive manoeuvre, trying to throw the second missile off course, but then hissed a curse; "Dey launched two more! We still got incoming!"

"Do somethin', Gumbo!" Wolverine yelled, over the shrieking alarm.

Another wild manoeuvre sent the jet into a steep dive followed by a sharp climb; the second missile overshot them on the dive, exploding harmlessly in the thick tree canopy below. The third missile, however, was coming from a different direction. Gambit wrenched on the controls, but it was too late. An explosion slammed through the Blackbird, eliciting a scream from Rogue and curses from Wolverine. Gambit stayed silent as he fought the controls, but the cockpit was already filling up with smoke.

"We lost number two engine," he shouted, coughing through the smoke, "Gambit, he tryin', but we might be walkin' home..."

He tried, desperately, to throw the jet into another evasive spin, but with one engine out, the controls were not responding, and one glance at the radar left a cold fist clenched around his heart.

"Brace yo'selves!" he cried out, still fighting the controls, "ain't nothin'..."

Whatever else he would have said was lost in a blast of noise and heat as the fourth missile smashed into the underside rear of the jet, exploding on impact. The small craft bucked wildly, veering out of control, before breaking in half and plunging back towards the unforgiving ground below.