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12 Years Later

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General Dai Tan stood out staring over the burning field in front of him. He sighed as he watched another of his men gunned down by more of those weird green robots.

"It's like we don't even exist. They just stomp right over us. Most of my men gunned down before they even get the chance to raise their guns." Tan took out a pair of binoculars and stared through them at the short cat looking robot that was decimating his men with some type of medieval looking flail. He sighed again and turned back to his tent. He walked in and sat down behind his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a small pistol. He loaded it and waited.

Sure enough before long he heard a small scuffle outside and two echoing shots with small thuds that indicated his guards death. Tan watched the tent flap and was not surprised when the cat robot pushed aside the tent flap and walked in flanked by two of the green robots. Tan half heartedly raised his pistol and it quickly was knocked out of his hand by one of the robots. The cat robot waved his hand and the two green robots flanking him turned around and left. To Tans surprised the cat robot spoke.

"You're General Dai Tan, correct?" It spoke in a heavily male accent. Tan nodded as he regarded the cat robot with new interest. It stood about just under six feet tall and was holding a small gun in it's hand. it's tail twitched back and forth as it walked closer to the desk.

"So you would be the General in charge of space defense as well, correct?" Tan nodded again. The robot suddenly leaned fore ward and grabbed the edge of the desk throwing it through the side of the tent. It reached fore ward and pulled Tan out of his chair throwing him to the ground and putting a heavy boot on his chest. Tan grunted as he felt the robot start to push the air out of his lungs. He focused on the robot again as it lifted a hand to its head. It reached under towards its neck joint and Tan heard a small hiss as a valve was twisted underneath. The robot lifted off its head and Tan realized that it wasn't a robot. But an actual cat looking creature. His fur was a golden yellow with brown stripes running along his ears, which were laid down on his head in anger. He stared at Tan with emerald green eyes devoid of all emotion. That was a lie actually Tan though as he focused on them again. All that seemed to flow through them was anger and pain. he spoke again

"Then you better know the answer to my next question, and you better answer me quickly." He said as he put more pressure on his chest and aimed his odd looking gun at Tans face.

"Three months ago your Earth Space Fleet attacked and destroyed a diplomatic ship known as the Phoenix." Tan tried to speak. The creature put more pressure on his chest.

"Shut up, I'm not done yet." The creature growled at him. "I want to know if you saw any craft of any sort leave the ship before you destroyed it. Specifically an ocean blue one." Tan thought for a moment.

"If we did" he started "It would have been shot down as soon as we got a lock on it" Tan looked back into the creatures eyes. "I know what craft your talking about now. I remember it. We got a brief transmission asking for a cease fire before I ordered it destroyed." The cat creatures eyes went wide and he looked away from Tan. Tan didn't know if he was imaging it or not but it looked as if the creature was crying the fur around his eyes looked moist at any rate. But when the creature looked back down at him the was no sadness in his eyes. Just a burning anger that looked like it could never be tamed. The creature spoke up again

"Listen, and listen well you piece of shit." he growled. "The ship you destroyed was the Phoenix. and the ship that you shot down? It was flown by its Captain. She was on a diplomatic mission here to find out why your president hadn't contacted us recently." Tan study the creature some more.

"So?" The creature blinked and looked away from Tan. He looked back at Tan and tears were running down his face. Though there was no sadness in his eyes when Tan looked into them, Just anger.

"She was my wife" the creature said with a voice filled with rage. Tan didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry?" he said confused. The creature blinked again before he pushed his gun into Tans face, it's barrel glowing a dark orange.

"SHE WAS PREGNANT" He roared into Tans face. He pulled the trigger repeatedly until the gun clicked empty and Tans upper body was a disfigured and bloody mess. The creature took his foot off Tans dead body before he kicked it to the side.

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Ratchet walked out of the command tent with red rimmed eyes. He handed his empty lancer to one of the Rangers on the side.

"You okay sir?" The Ranger asked, Ratchet ignored them and kept walking till he reached a jagged cliff the soared up over the battlefield. Casting long shadows over the bloody field. Ratchet leaned up against the cliff and finally let the tears flow. His shoulder shaking with sobs Ratchet slowly lowered until he was sitting in the dirt.

"Sasha...." he moaned "....No..." Ratchet leaned against the cliff and cried until the sun set on the bloody field that Ratchet had been fighting on for most of the day. He stood up suddenly and punched the cliff wall behind him. Cracking it and embedding his fist into the stone. Thanks to his carbonx armor he didn't feel a thing which for some reason made him more angry.

"I'll make them pay. I SWEAR IT" He roared his pain and frustration into the sky. He cursed the day he and Sasha ever came to this backwater planet. He cursed the day they let Slade and Zen onto the Phoenix. But most of all, He cursed himself for not being there to help. A memory flowed unbidden into his mind, an ecstatic Sasha had called him from a hospital on Marcaidia.

"Ratchet you're going to be a dad" she had said before he even had a chance to say hello. He had been stunned at the news and had almost canceled the mission he had been on to rush back to Marcadia. They instantly began to plan on where they would settle down. Veldin they had decided, after all Ratchet had land there. The briefing for the diplomatic mission before this....this....War....Started floated through his mind.

"That was to be her last mission before going back to Veldin to relax and wait" Ratchet's breath hitched as he felt the tears coming again. He pulled his fist out of the rock and fell to his knees. His sadness over his lost wife and unborn child overtaking him again he began to sob. His tears flowing freely to be soaked up by the uncaring ground. His crys echoed through the quite night heard only by the Rangers that stood guard over him as he sobbed himself to sleep.

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Whew, thats it. its done, right?.....[looks above]......or maybe not....Oh well, Time will tell :P

Thanks to the following-

TJay Drag- For beta-reading and putting up with my shit.

Dudeman858- My real life friend who convinced me to type this out and submit it.

Insomniac Games- For making such a bad ass game series

You- For putting up with this story and reading to the end

Hope you enjoyed reading my story. This is Emile Signing out