Ok, so it's been ages since I actually published anything and I'm sorry, school work has been terrible and I've got this case of writer's block that isn't going away. Sorry for the wait, hope you enjoy the chapter! Happy New Year :D

Launchpad 43/3

Moscow, Russia

March 2nd

0525 hours

Zoe POV:

The launchpad itself was strangely isolated. There was no plasma cannon in sight, just a regular rocket that seemed to have been scheduled to launch today. Everything was operating as normal. I looked at Cyrus, concerned.

"Are you sure we got the right intel?"

He nodded, worried. "I am very sure. I triple-checked our sources and vetted them constantly."

Then all semblance of normal evaporated as screams echoed from the rocket command center and engineers were thrown out the doors. Cyrus snapped to attention.

"BACON. They must have hidden the cannon in the rocket somewhere and they need control over the center to launch it. Come on, we need to move now and stop them before it's too late!"

Mike, Chip, Jawa, and I scrambled after him, racing against time once again. As we skidded to a halt in front of the building, a man came hurling out of a second-story window, screaming the entire way down. My eyes widening, I ran forward and managed to catch him. Cyrus' eyes narrowed. 

"Catherine and I grabbed that Elizabeth girl you all tutored last year. Stay out here and take care of the people with her. Boys, come with me."

I groaned internally. Of course, I get stuck babysitting the girl, while everyone else gets to have fun taking out enemy agents. Yay me. I didn't tell Cyrus this, of course, merely nodding and running to catch yet another poor guy pitched out the window. I wondered absentmindedly how many people were working up there and why BACON was so intent on throwing everyone out the same window. Elizabeth ran around the corner, wearing a black catsuit and a utility belt with a pistol, grappling hook, and chloroform. I eyed her cautiously, wondering if she was going to accidentally shoot herself with the gun. I hoped not, we had enough to deal with already. Running up to me, she asked,

"So what are we doing? I kinda just got stuck on a plane and told to come here and now I don't know what we're supposed to do and I'm kind of nervous and --" I cut her off.

"We're staying outside and taking care of the guys BACON is throwing out the windows. Cyrus and the boys-" 

"Hold on, they're throwing people out windows? How big does the window have to be for that to happen? Doesn't that hurt? Wow, those guys must be pretty strong." I sighed.

"Yes, they're throwing people out of the one second-story window, and it's our job to catch them and help them. You can imagine how freaked out someone would be if they just got pitched out a window, so it's our job to calm them down and minister medical aid when needed." She nodded.

"Okay, I think I can do that, but what do you mean catch-" Another person came falling down, a woman this time, screaming bloody murder as I ran into position and braced my arms, catching her bridal style.

"Like that," I grunted. "Now pay attention, I doubt that's the last person that's gonna come falling down." It was going to be a long day.

Jawa POV:

Mike, Chip, and I followed Cyrus into the command center. Like the launchpad itself, the center was strangely deserted. It wasn't exactly quiet, however. We followed the sounds of screams up the stairs, carefully creeping up to a smooth metal door. Cyrus held up a hand, counting down from three, and proceeded to kick in the door. He strode in, gun held in front of his body, and we followed, fanning out into a circle, only to find ourselves surrounded by dozens of agents. My eyes widened as we came to the same conclusion.

"TRAP!" Cyrus yelled, but it was too late. They went for Cyrus first, swarming him as he struggled, knocking multiple out and firing his gun, but the sheer number of people was too much for him and he was knocked unconscious. Mike had gone down to a trio of agents, and Chip and I stood back to back, fists raised. Before we could fight, however, I felt a bag fall over my head, and then everything faded to black.

Zoe POV:

The people had stopped falling, and everything seemed strangely quiet, like the calm before a storm. Elizabeth and I had a group of around 5 people huddled at the base of the building, and one of them, in particular, seemed to be taking the whole "being thrown out of a building" experience quite badly. I stepped towards her and knelt down. 

"Hey there, are you okay? I know that must have been really scary, but I need you to focus on me, alright? I promise, help will come soon-"

My sentence trailed off as I felt the cold steel of a gun pressed to the back of my head. What? How did that... oh. Then the people falling from the window weren't innocent scientists. They were BACON agents. And I thought my day couldn't get any worse. Elizabeth hadn't made a sound, and I glanced over to see that she was already unconscious. I sighed. Looks like we're going to have to rely on Erica to save the day. Again.

"Hands up."

I raised my hands slowly. Another agent yanked me to my feet and cuffed my hands behind my back, while the other kept his gun trained on my head. They pushed me toward the back of a truck, shoving me in the back with Elizabeth. I let my head bang back into the cool metal side of the trailer wall. Worst. Mission. Ever.

Ben POV:

As Orion skidded the Humvee up to the other Launchpad, we saw two trucks pulling away. I gave Erica an uneasy glance. Something was wrong. She frowned.

"We have to go check the command center. There's another rocket, and if something went wrong with Grandpa's team, we're going to have to take out the rocket ourselves. Ben, did you get the license plates of those trucks?" 

"Yeah, I saw one, it was 7TYP920 from California."

"Alright, we should contact Dad and have him track that license plate with his helicopter and then catch up later. I'll text him the number and he can run the tracker himself. But first, we need to go prevent world destruction. Let's go!"

We scrambled out of the car, running towards the command center. Erica's steps didn't falter as she shoved the door open, our footsteps echoing in the empty first floor. She took the steps two at a time, Catherine straight on her heels, as I struggled to catch up. I was out of breath by the time we reached the metal door that had been kicked open. Erica and Catherine had already started beating the remaining people up as I dutifully pulled out zip-ties and cuffed their hands together. As I cuffed the last agent, I jogged over to Erica.

"Is that all? We don't need to disable the rocket again, right?" She took out her gun and shot the control panel until it was sparking and completely destroyed. She turned towards me.

"Now we don't. We need to take these guys into the back of the Humvee, and then we can make a stop at a CIA base and leave them there. Mom and I will take two and you take the last one." With that, she slung a man over her shoulder and hefted the other in her arms, Catherine following suit as I grabbed the other woman with a grunt. Stumbling down the stairs, I managed to unceremoniously dump her into the trunk. Catherine called shotgun, and Erica and I slid into the backseat, buckling in. Catherine tapped Orion on the shoulder, saying,

"Orion dear, can you track the license plate 7TYP920 please? We'll need to follow the car, wherever it is going." He nodded excitedly, popping open his computer and pulling up a website, fingers flying as he bypassed the paywall and into the actual tracking system. 

"Okay, right now they're on federal highway 11P-001. I'll just follow the route there and continue on. By chance, do you have any coffee? I don't want to fall asleep while I'm driving." Catherine produced a thermos of coffee from somewhere within her backpack, and he gulped it down.

"Alright! I'm ready now. Who's ready for a road trip?" I groaned. 

"Not me, I just want to go to sleep."

And that's a wrap! As always, please comment and vote. I'll try to get the next update in sooner.