Hey there! Is it too late for me to hop on this bandwagon? This was supposed to be a one-shot, but then a story just developed and I couldn't help myself. I'd also like to thank all the wonderful writers on here that have inspired me to wire again. Thank you! So without further ado, please enjoy!
Prologue
It was supposed to be a routine check in with the dignitaries of a newly enacted planet to the Galactic Alliance. Supposed to, being the operative phrase. But, Buzz thought sourly, when has it ever been routine for his team. It always seems like they've only been on a planet for barely half an hour when something happens. And it's always something isn't it! In this case, it so happened that the talk with the dignitaries went smoothly. It should have alerted the space rangers, since nothing in their lives ever seems to go smoothly.
The team had just finished talking with the appointed leadership when the security in the Grand Hall of the capital building received a distress call. A bandit in the city had just hit one of the local banks, stealing as many units and valuables as he possible could. If that wasn't bad enough he had a hostage with him, leaving many more injured, in the progress of the robbery. From what Buzz could understand from the guard (and his Atherian wasn't that much up to snuff) it wasn't pretty. Whoever this bandit was, he didn't care about who he hurt in the process of getting what he wanted…especially since he still had a hostage with him.
Buzz had assured the Atherian high council that he and his team would take care of this bandit and bring him to justice. The captain had then broken up his team to best assess the damages. Mira and X-R would go to the bank to see if they could help stop the robber, and if they did, help with the injured. Booster and himself would get more information from the council and the guards to get a better handle on the situation, relaying important facts that the other part of the team should know; they would then meet up with Mira and X-R. Buzz assured that Mira and X-R were capable of taking down the criminal…even if that meant using deadly force. Buzz hoped it didn't come to that, it was still a delicate situation given there was a hostage involved.
Buzz turned his attention towards the council, questioning about the robbery. "Has this ever happened before?"
Moldurr, the most senior of the council shook his head sadly. "This is not a common occurrence on Ather. We as a people are peaceful, and violence is a very rare thing indeed." Buzz furrowed his eyebrows in thought at this information, but Booster alerted him to one of the other Atherians.
A younger member of the council shuffled nervously back and forth before speaking up. "Actually, Elder, this isn't the first of this sort to happen…"
"What!?" The Elder whipped around to glare at the lower ranking member.
The younger councilman sighed, his…shoulders? slumping as in defeat. "There have been a few of these robberies in the past few weeks. This is just the first to have happened so close to the capital." The Atherian tapped the end of it's long claws together with worry. "Because the complaints came from the outer isles, I didn't think it pertinent to inform you, Elder."
"Of course it's pertinent, Selk!" The Elder threw his hands in the air, "Even if it is the outer isles, I need to know when our people are dissatisfied!" The Elder sighed and rubbed at his temples, attempting to reign in his anger before turning to the rangers. "If it is not too much trouble for you, if you wouldn't mind investigating? I would be much relieved if this cretin was under the lock and key of your Star Command."
"Of course, sir." Buzz saluted, "We'll find your thief and bring him to justice." He motioned to Booster and the two of them headed off, following their wrist communicators to locate the scene of the crime. Mira and X-R were busy helping to direct pedestrians as well as working with the medical teams to help all of the injured as quickly as possible. The area was worse that Buzz had earlier expected. The bank was practically non existent from being blown apart, and it was obvious to him the explosion was the main cause of all the injuries.
There also wasn't a fire fight happening, so the thief had either escaped his rangers, or was long gone before they even got there. Buzz sent Booster off to go help with digging through the wreckage looking for survivors, while he located Mira and X-R. "Rangers, report."
"Well, um, as you can probably see, the thief set off a large explosion to create mayhem while he snuck in and robbed the bank." Mira saluted Buzz, going over what she had learned. "No one got a good look at the robber, he had a mask, goggles, and a hat on, so we have no idea who or what he is. And from preliminary examination of the inside of the bank, made off with at least a million units of stolen items."
A million units! They needed to find this guy and fast. "What about the hostage?" Buzz needed to know in order to better asses the situation.
"No, no, well, you see, sir…" Mira stumbled.
"There was never any hostage to begin with!" X-R exclaimed, making grand gestures with his hands, "The 'hostage' – " the robot used air quotes, "was actually part of the job! Meant to distract and prevent the local enforcement from shooting the both of them!"
Buzz sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Great. Just great. If it wasn't bad enough that there was a robber on the loose, now they had two robbers on the loose. He could just feel the migraine coming on. "Alright, we'll finish up here and then track them…they couldn't have gotten too far."
"Um, Buzz? There's, ah, there's something else." Mira meekly interjected.
"And what would that be?" Of course it got worse. Never got easier for them did it.
"According to onlookers, there was another person here at the bank. But they didn't seem like they were in on it with the robbers."
"Nope! Said that this other party was actually trying to stop the robbers!" X-R pulled out a notepad and flipped through the pages. "Got into quite the tussle with one of them, involving an impressive knuckle brawl. The locals also mentioned that this mysterious law-helper took off after the two criminals."
"So we aren't just looking for two criminals, we're looking for someone else as well? Am I to assume that we have no idea what this person looks like?" Buzz asked, checking for possible escape routs out of the city.
"Not a clue. Most of the witnesses were too busy looking at the supposed kidnapper to pay attention to some lonesome crime fighter. The best description that we have is this guy was wearing a large red hat." The female ranger shrugged.
"Alright, looks like things are just about wrapped up here." Buzz's wrist computer beeped to alert him of the most obvious escape rout of the city. After checking it several times to get the coordinates right and set up, he closed it. "Go grab Booster, we're heading out. The locals have everything covered here, looks like."
When everyone was gathered up again, the rangers took to the skies to get out of the city. At the city limits, Buzz informed his team that it would be tactically smarter to stay low to the ground. By doing so, they wouldn't look conspicuous in the air, plus the robbers wouldn't be expecting them to come from ground level.
After clearing the city, the scenery changed dramatically. The towers, apartment buildings, and businesses dropped away to a severe landscape. The ground was dry and cracked, with a small scraggly shrub here and there. For the most part, though, there was nothing but desert stretched out in front of them. Why anyone would try and escape this way was beyond Buzz. There was nothing out here but desert that seemed to go on forever, with a tower of rock jutting from the ground every now and then.
"Buzz, how do you know we're going the right way?" Booster asked, holding a hand out in front of his eyes to try and shield them from the unforgiving sun.
"Well, I calculated the most useable route to start off with…and just a few minutes ago, I picked up a vapor trail from a ground runner." He opened his wrist computer and keyed in a few commands. "And it looks like the trail isn't that old. We should be catching up with the robbers shortly."
It was only a handful of minutes later that Mira gasped and pointed at the ground. "Look, tracks!" They didn't bother to stop to analyze the tracks, knowing that they were getting close to capturing the robbers. But something felt off to Buzz. The tracks looked odd to have come from a ground runner…but at the same time, he didn't know what they looked like on this planet. There was more than one way to make a transport craft after all.
"Hey Buzz, I'm picking up a life form reading! Make that two life forms!" The robot ranger pointed off in the direction they had been traveling in.
"Alright rangers, we don't know what to expect form these guys, so set your lasers to stun rather than kill. It's possible that they aren't looking for a fight from space rangers." Buzz changed his as he spoke, making sure his team did the same.
"I calculate that as being a very, very , very low percentage…" X-R grumbled as he internally made his weapons stun only.
"Think of it this way, X-R. Even if we have to change them over again, it's not that hard and it doesn't take that long." Mira spoke hopefully.
"Doesn't take that long to get shot and killed either…" the robot grumbled.
"That's enough, be alert and keep an eye out for the robbers." The authority in his voice spoke no complaint or argument from his team. They may still be rookies, but they at least knew when to follow orders…mostly. His team was good, but they sometimes got carried away because of their inexperience.
If Buzz could have seen the future, it would have been one of said situations.
"Buzz, I see him! Dead ahead!" Booster pointed out, a figure just up ahead and they were catching up quickly now.
"Good job ranger! Now we'll just-"
Buzz didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Booster and Mira took off in pursuit of the robber. Rookies! How many times had he told them to not just charge in without a plan? Then again, how many times had he done the same thing…even so, it usually never turned out well for them. "X-R! Stay with me, they're gonna need backup!"
"Oh, good, I thought you were going to make me go up with them. I'm perfectly happy to stay in the back and provide cover." The robot grabbed a single blaster from his chest compartment, readying it for battle.
Buzz blasted off to catch up to his team, X-R close behind. Now closer, the ranger could see that the person was riding some kind of animal – mostly horse shaped – had on a large, wide brimmed red hat, goggles and some kind of cloth wrapped around their nose and the lower part of their face like a mask. Just as the two caught up to the others, Booster let off a laser shot that hit the rider in the upper right shoulder. The rider jerked forward, but otherwise seemed unfazed by the blast. Buzz saw the rider whip around with a blaster at the ready and was just about the fire off a round, but the rider's arm dropped slightly at the sight of them…Odd, their behavior looks more confused to see us here than hostile. Buzz completely took his hand off his laser when the rider quickly put the firearm back in it's holster and then kicked the beast in the side to make it go faster. Then again, he's still running…innocent people don't run.
"Halt in the name of Star Command!" Mira shouted at the rider, but the rider seemed intent on ignoring them. Mira didn't shoot off her laser, but she looked at Booster and nodded her head. What in the name of space are they doing? Before Buzz had a chance to think on it further, Booster flew right at the rider, knocking them off the animal and tackling them to the sandy ground; the red, wide-brimmed hat went flying off the rider's head. Wait, a large red hat…The animal slowed down immediately and started crying, either for their rider or because they were now riderless, Buzz wasn't certain. What he was certain about was that Booster had the rider pinned to the ground…at least until Booster flopped over and didn't move. Craters!
With Booster down for the moment, the rider stumbled to their feet and started running for the beast not too far away. "Ki ki ki ki! Ki ki ki!" The horse-creature's ears perked and trotted towards the rider, but the rider made no move to mount the creature. Instead, it looked like they were more concerned with it being alright than anything else. The rider hadn't made a move to attack any of the other rangers, but from what Buzz could see, Mira wasn't taking any chances, and went right for the rider on the ground. The female ranger hovered above the ground with her laser trained on the rider. The rider didn't seem at all concerned, and that had Buzz concerned.
"I'm putting you under arrest in the name of Star Command! You are charged with assault, assault of a Star Command ranger, and aggravated grand larceny!" The rider still refused to do anything other than stand there, stroking the muzzle of the creature at her side. "Hey-hey! I'm talking to you!" That must have gotten the riders attention, because the rider moved away from the animal, in a circle around Mira, but continued to make no move towards the ranger. Mira, driven by instinct that wasn't there, dove at the rider in order to apprehend them. The rider in turn, managed to grab a hold of Mira's suit and brought her to the ground, where the two of them wrestled for the upper hand.
Craters! "X-R, stay behind me! This isn't one of the robbers!" Buzz flew down to the ground and disengaged his rockets, running over to the two just in time to see Mira be turned around and flung on the ground, one of the rangers arms twisted back and being held by the rider. It was clear to Buzz that the rider knew what they were doing, and had made sure to not tug or pull up anymore else they would have cause serious damage and pain to Mira's arm socket. As it were, Mira was incapacitated and uncomfortable. But why hasn't she phased yet?
"Are you their leader?" The rider asked, the voice slightly muffled by the cloth, but to Buzz's ears sounded…feminine?
"Yes, I am Buzz Lightyear, Captain of this-"
"I don't give a hootenanny who ya are! What in tarnation do ya think yer doin?" The rider released Mira's arm and stepped back, allowing the ranger to get up and stumble to Buzz and X-R.
"Uh, we thought you were one of the robbers from the city…" Buzz admitted. In his experience it was better to admit you were wrong and ask forgiveness. "We apologize for…well, attacking you."
The rider snorted, and Buzz just knew they were rolling their eyes. "Yeah, well. Stay outta my way. This ain't ranger business, so take yer rookies, an go home. I ain't got time fer you." The rider walked over to retrieve the hat that had fallen, then turned their back on the team. She walked to the creature, sticking their foot in the stirrup and hauling herself up effortlessly into the saddle.
Buzz was about to interrogate the rider more when X-R and Mira took off to his left towards the poor forgotten Booster. The ranger narrowed his gaze on the rider again, "What did you do to Booster?"
"Your friend will be fine, should be easy enough to wake up now." As the rider was speaking, Mira and X-R were helping Booster to sit up. He looked a little groggy, but no less worse for wear. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Ranger, I have criminals to catch." With that, the rider took off in the direction they had been traveling in before. Knowing they would catch up with this mysterious rider again, Buzz jogged over to his team's side to assess his personnel.
"Booster, what happened?"
"Eh-I don't know Buzz. It's like one minute I was fine and I had 'em on the ground, the next they were scratching up behind my ear and I blacked out." The rookie looked positively crushed. "I'm sorry, Buzz! I know that I failed the team…"
"No, Booster, you did fine. We'll have to check into this later to see if it was something they did, or it's something in your physiology." Buzz's reassurance seemed to brighten Boosters spirits, and that was good enough for him at the moment. "Looks like you're going to be just fine, ranger." He turned his attention to Mira, who looked a little shaken, but otherwise ok. "How's your arm?"
Mira rotated her arm as if seeing how it was. "I'll live. I'll be sore later for sure." She gave her shoulder a quick massage with her other hand. "Something's bothering me though, Buzz. When I was near her, it's like my powers short-circuited…and I know she wasn't a Grounder…so I don't know how she was doing it."
"When we catch back up to her, we'll find out what's going on here." Buzz halted, and blinked. "Wait, she?"
Mira looked at him like he had two heads. "Yeah, that rider was a woman." When Buzz still stared at her like he didn't get it, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, sometimes I think you're blind. When I was fighting her, I got a good look at her figure. While that doesn't necessarily mean anything, when she opened her mouth the voice was clearly feminine." She then crossed her arms over her chest, "Not to mention I got a different kind of resistance when I tried to kick her sidelong in the chest."
"Oh, you mean when she grabbed onto your leg and then you got a greeting from the ground?" X-R asked too innocently. The glare he received in return made him chuckle nervously and hold his hands up in surrender.
"Ok, team. It's time to get moving again. We have a couple of thieves to catch." Buzz stood and checked his scanner. Good, she isn't too far ahead of us.
"Whoa, hold on there Buzz. Didn't she make it crystal clear that she doesn't want our help? I say we just leave her to it!" X-R pointed out.
"We were asked personally by the High Council to take care of these robbers, so it doesn't matter what she wants. We're going after the same people, so she better get used to working with us." Buzz started up his pack and the others followed suit. "Alright, rangers, lets go get some answers before catching some criminals."
The ranger team blasted off and managed to catch up with the rider in a handful of minutes. Buzz came up beside the woman to better talk to her. "I thought I told ya'll to go home?" She grumbled in his direction.
"No can do. We're after the same people, so I figure we could work together. Team up for the greater good yeah?" Now that he knew this rider was female, he could lay on the old Buzz Lightyear charm.
"Ain't not posse of mine…besides, I work alone."
Where have I heard that before? "I'm being serious. If we all work together, we have a greater chance of getting these guys faster and more efficiently. So, what do ya say?" Buzz smiled at the woman, hoping to get some kind of reaction from her.
"Like I said before, I work alone. Not interested in working with a bunch of rangers anyway. And I'm being serious as well, take your rookies and go home. This ain't any business of yours."
"It's our business when the High Council asked us to take care of the criminals." The ranger said sternly. "Well, if you won't work with us, then you'll just have to sit back and watch, because we'll get there long before you do."
"I highly doubt that, Ranger. Your packs will never make the trip." The rider sounded confident…too confident. "And before you say anything, no, I didn't do anything to your packs. I'm just trying to give ya a warning." And while Buzz couldn't see the woman's face, he could tell from her voice that she was smirking. "Now wipe that suspicious look off yer face, and I'll try not to gloat too much when I pass you. Hya!" She kicked her mount into high gear and started to pull away from the ranger team.
Buzz pulled back to fly with his team. "Lets go." He gestured to his team to kick up the power, and the group of four sped past the rider. He knew that his team was looking at him questioningly, but none of them voiced a question, so he had nothing to answer for. The woman had no interest in working together. It was that simple. He didn't know what she was up to, or who she was, but Buzz wasn't going to let that bother him…too much. If there was one thing to say about himself, he hated not knowing. Didn't matter what it was, if he didn't have all the facts on or about it, he wasn't satisfied.
They had gotten a good distance away form the rider, and were on their way following the vapor trail. Buzz was lost in his thoughts, which when on a mission wasn't always the best idea. He was shaken out of his thoughts when he lurched in his flight, the pack on his back spitting, then eventually dying. He was about to alert the rest of his team, when the same thing happened to the rest of them. "Emergency landing everyone! We aren't too far from the ground, so it shouldn't be too-" he didn't get to finish the rest of his sentence when he slammed into the ground, tumbling head over heels on the desert sands. Not a moment later, he was slammed into by Booster and the other two rangers continued to thrash against the burning sands. When everyone had finally stopped moving, he called out to see how the team was.
"I'm sorry, were you going to say 'too hard' or 'too bad' because neither of those actually happened." Mira stood shakily, dusting off her ranger suit and immediately checking the diagnostics of her pack. The rest of the team did the same, and each one received the same message – "Air filter clogged? How is that possible?"
"Hmm…" Buzz tried to think of what could have possibly gotten into their packs air intake and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "The sand! The fine particles of sand are what caused our packs to stop working…" Then the ranger slapped a hand against his forehead. So that's what she was talking about. Damn it!
"Buzz? What is it?" Booster asked, seeing Buzz's odd behavior.
"That rider warned me in not so many words that we wouldn't make it to the thieves because our packs would stop working. And it's because of the sand! If we hadn't been flying so low, this might not have happened…it's entirely my fault." He could just kick himself right now. Now what were they going to do?
"Well, we could always continue on foot…" Mira suggested.
"According to my instruments, there's some kind of dwelling 6-7 miles from here. I'm betting that's where the bandits are since there doesn't appear to be any other structures near it. The map also says that the closest town isn't for another 20 or so in two different directions."
"So they've made it that their hideout is practically in the center of several major cities. Clever. But not clever enough, we're still going to take them down." Well, on foot was better than nothing if they wanted to keep the element of surprise. The other option would be to call 42 and auto pilot it over and go in all guns blazing. "Let's continue on foot for now, we can always call the ship if we run into trouble."
"What about the rider?" Booster asked, pushing himself up off the sand.
"What about the rider?" Buzz nearly snapped.
"Well, we could always wait and see if she comes by…she might help us." The large ranger offered.
"If she's not willing to team up with us, then she wouldn't be willing to help us. Besides, we're rangers! We don't need her help, we'll be fine on our own." Buzz started to walk off in the direction of the hideout, the other rangers looking at each other somewhat skeptically before falling in behind their captain.
It was going to be a long walk in the hot sun.
It felt like they had been walking for hours, but that might have just been the sun. The heat was oppressive, and it didn't help that there was little cover and no shade. While their suits would help stabilize their vitals, they wouldn't prevent dehydration or heatstroke. Those were serious concerns for the rangers who required water to survive. Buzz had to admit this wasn't his best plan. If he was being honest with himself, it wasn't really a plan at all. He couldn't call it quits, but he was beginning to feel that it was a hopeless endeavor to have traveled on foot. He should have just called the ship and been done with it, but he didn't want to do it in an area where there were so exposed.
The rangers traveled a little further, finding a large rock outcropping that provided just enough cover and shade for all of them. They practically collapsed in the shade, grateful to be out of the overbearing sun for a little while and taking a well deserved rest. Time seemed to pass slowly out here in the desert, and the sun showed no sign of setting anytime soon. Buzz stood after some time and was getting ready to rally his rangers when a figure moving quickly approached. Squinting his eyes and using his hand as a visor to better see who the approaching figure was. When he got a clear view, he couldn't help but curse his bad luck. "Oh no…"
The rider from earlier slowed down as she approached. She pulled her beast up along the rangers and stopped fully. She crossed her arms over her lap as she turned to them "Well, hey howdy hey! Fancy meeting ya'll out here."
Buzz crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look as big and as intimidating as possible. "Indeed." The ranger replied flatly.
The rider shrugged, "I did warn ya. Not my fault that you didn't listen to me." The rider turned and rummaged around in the right side satchel before tossing water bladders to the rangers. "Figured ya might want somethin' to drink, being as ya been walking around in the desert for a while."
Mira and Booster opened up the bladders immediately and drank greedily from them. Buzz looked at them sternly, "You do realize those could have been poisoned, right?" The two rookies looked at him a moment, before shrugging and continuing to drink. Buzz nearly threw up his arms in frustration.
"They aren't by the way." The rider interjected gently. "Look, I know you rangers are all gung ho about catching these guys, but you don't know the desert like I do. It's why I'm ridin' a critter rather than a land runner. The sand here in this area is very fine, it gets into all kinds of mechanical things and causes them to seize."
"Alright then, answer me this. How is it that the robbers have land runners and they didn't break down?" Buzz asked, letting some of his arrogance through.
The rider shrugged again, "Near as I can tell, they've outfitted the air intake with some kind of cloth-mesh blocker, keepin' the fine sand particles out of the engine." The rider turned her head to look at the two rookie rangers drinking their weight in water. Mira was looking at her water bladder curiously.
"This…this is weird…" She murmured, confusion knitting her brow. "How is it that I keep drinking, but this never seems to empty?" The female ranger looked up at the rider.
"Little trick like learned from a friend I made out in the middle of nowhere." The rider flicked her hand out towards the stars nonchalantly. "Helped him track down his brother who was trying to take over the universe or some nonsense like that…Where he came from, the science is like magic. They had figured out how to do this trick with wine goblets, so I asked them to do it with water for me." She chuckled, "They thought I was mad for wasting such a gift on water." She nodded her head towards to Buzz, indicating the bladder she had tossed him and he seemed to ignore. "Drink up, Ranger. You still have a long walk ahead of you."
Buzz sighed. He couldn't argue with her about the walk, or that he needed to water. So, against his better judgment he drank from the bladder. He was surprised that the water was cool and crisp, even though it had to have been in this heat for hours. "Thank you, but from what you told me earlier, you won't reconsider working together. So why are you helping us?"
"As much as I'm not a fan of people…I can't just ignore them when they're suffering. And it looked like you could really use a drink." The rider shrugged again. Buzz found it odd how carefree this woman seemed to be. Either she was used to this happening, or there was something more going on here. It was entirely possible that she was in fact working with the robbers to lead them off the trail, or gain their trust so she could stab them in the back. "You," she pointed directly at Buzz, "seemed absolutely determined to get the bad guys, even at the expense of yourself, and possibly your crew. I find that commendable, but stupid." Buzz was going to tell her exactly what he thought about that statement, but the woman held her hand out to stop him. "I thought for sure you would have turned back by now, but you haven't. So, I have decided to offer my assistance, and reach out for yours."
Buzz narrowed his eyes at the woman. He still hadn't seen much of her face…really none of it. People who hid their faces from others usually had something to hide. "Why are you wearing a mask and goggles?"
The rider was silent for a moment, as if taken aback. "It comes back to the fine particles of sand. I would rather not get anything in my eyes, or in my lungs, and then not be at my pique performance."
Well that was…a very reasonable answer. Something else still bothered him though. "What about your name?"
Another shrug. "Don't got one."
"Everyone has to have a name!" Booster piped up. "Surely you have a family? And they gave you a name?"
The rider was silent for a much longer period of time. "Don't have a family." The reply was much softer this time around, but far more tense, and it struck something in Buzz and he knew not to ask further.
Before one of the other rangers could say anything he spoke again. "They must call you something? Or something we could call you? Continuing to call you The Rider seems rather impersonal."
The rider cocked her head to the side, "Maybe I would rather remain impersonal." The rider then fidgeted in her seat briefly and scratched the back of her neck. "But I can see…you won't let this go. So if you must call me something…call me Jane."
That was certainly not her name, Buzz knew immediately. So either she was lying because she didn't want them to know who she was because she was one of the bad guys…or she really did want to remain anonymous. For the moment, he would give her the benefit of the doubt. Innocent until proven guilty right? "Alright, Jane. What's the plan?"
"Well, since you're incapable of flight at the moment, the rest of your team are going to head back to your ship, and you'll ride along with me." Jane said like it was perfectly simple.
"But they're my team, we stick together." The ranger interjected.
"I know, I know that splitting the party is something that should never be done. However, I only have enough room on the back of my critter for one, and if it's going to be only one, it should be the most skilled. You were right in thinking that going in stealthily was the right course of action." The beast stomped it's wide foot, seeming to be ready to get going. Jane leaned up and cooed softly to the creature, patting it's neck.
"I'm not leaving my team!" This was one thing he wouldn't budge on. He was not leaving his team out in the desert somewhere. It was a recipe for disaster. Absolutely not, Buzz would stay with his team if that was the case.
Jane leaned over, her posture and body language telling Buzz that she was tense – more than likely frustrated with him. Well, that made two of them. He could tell she was eyeing him over, possibly judging him, but he wasn't going to change his mind regarding his team. "Ya got a ship, right?" Buzz crossed his arms, not knowing what that had to do with anything, but nodded anyway. "It got camouflage?" That he had to think on a moment. As far as he knew, it still had the capability…the LGM's hadn't told them otherwise. He nodded again. "Ok. Call your ship, have your crew over here get on board." Jane waved a hand in the direction of his team. "Then activate the camouflage, and have them follow us. They'll still be close enough to give us backup if, and when, we need it. And it'll still give us the element of surprise on the ground, and in the air." Jane was a quiet a few moments to let that sink in. Ohh…
That…actually didn't sound like a bad plan. If she was being truthful and not working with the other bandits. Which was still a possibility. The more he thought on it, he didn't see another option other than the call the ship. His team was obviously tired, and there was no way they could continue on foot like this. Buzz would have called the ship eventually, even if Jane hadn't have shown up. "Alright, but you and I get a head start while my rangers wait for the ship." He turned around to address his team, "Once the ship has arrived, cloak it immediately, then catch up with us. Make sure you stay far enough away to where the robbers don't get suspicious, but close enough where you can tactically come and help us in the event that something goes wrong. Am I clear?" Knowing how our day has gone so far, something will go wrong…
"Yes sir!" Booster, Mira and X-R replied. Good. Buzz knew they would do that much, but after that…well, they were still rookies after all. The ranger was banking on them being practically right behind then once he set off with Jane; the ship would easily catch up to them riding the creature. X-R activated the homing beacon for the ship and Buzz nodded in approval. It wouldn't take long for the ship to get to them.
He turned his attention back to Jane. "Alright, Miss, slide back so I can get on." He waved his hand at creature and waited.
"Pardon?"
"Move back so I can get on the creature." He didn't understand how this was hard to comprehend. It was a simple command, why wasn't she moving?
Buzz could see her brow knit, "I don't ride back saddle, now stop foolin' around and get on the critter."
"I will as soon as you move." Buzz was starting to get agitated…he was making grand gestures with his hands.
"No."
"Move."
"No, now get on the damn horse."
Nope, that wasn't going to fly with him. Especially in front of his team. He wasn't going to be taking orders from some, mysterious, no-name, woman out in the desert on an alien planet that he didn't know. Not going to happen. He was putting his boot down, he wasn't going to take it anymore, he…apparently was taking too much time.
Jane's hands shot out faster than he could have expected and grabbed his suit around the collar, hauling him towards herself to where they were nearly nose to nose. Speechless, he didn't even have a witty remark to make - he could finally see eyes behind the tinted goggles – he was so close.
"Get. On. The. Horse." She growled before releasing him. Buzz felt a chill go through his body.
He…was going to do what she said, crew seeing him be damned. The captain was surprised when Jane offered him a hand for assistance on getting on the creature. With a little finagling, Buzz managed to get himself up on the creature, situated behind Jane. Not the most comfortable mode of transportation, but it'll work. Jane tipped her hat to his teammates before taking the reigns again, turning her head so that Buzz could only just hear, "Hold on." She let out a 'yah!' and the creatures reared on it's back legs before taking off at a fast pace.
Having nothing else to hold onto, and out of panic of falling off the creature, Buzz latched on to the back of Jane's saddle as they galloped across the desert at a speed that impressed the ranger. This was either going to be a very good idea, or a very bad one.
Buzz wasn't sure what he had gotten himself into.
The silence was unnerving. He could handle the dead vacuum of space just fine – that was a peaceful silence. And there had been many a time that he had just…floated along in space for one reason or another. Most of those times involved him being jettisoned from his ship and being left stranded until another ranger happened across him. But those were oddly peaceful, gave him a chance to evaluate things in his life…normally just thinking back on things that he never got a chance to do, in case he was left there for eternity. However, someone always seemed to have his back in those cases, and in a short amount of time, he would be found and retrieved.
This silence though…it was different. He wasn't alone; there was someone else here with him. Buzz felt awkward on the back of a horse creature with a woman he didn't even know, but was off to catch the criminals with. Normally that wouldn't be so odd, he met people all over the universe and teamed up near strangers for the greater good…but this just felt…different. And he couldn't figure out why. He supposed that he could at least have a conversation with most the people he worked with. There was no conversation here. Not even small talk.
And it was driving him nuts!
Buzz was pulled out of his thoughts when the creature started to slow down. Jane pulled out a small, pocket sized scanner from her duster and looked at some schematics of the land. While it was different than the one X-R had, it showed the exact same thing. The vapor trail was much stronger in this area, and they were much closer to the hideout than before. That must have been why they slowed down, it would do them no good to make a huge announcement to the robbers by galloping at full speed.
"Looks like we'll be there in under twenty minutes." Jane commented, putting the small device away. Buzz nearly jumped at the sound of her voice, not expecting her to say anything. She turned at the waist and pressed something on the side of her goggles, looking behind them and at the sky. "Your rookies are doing a good job staying close, but not too close."
"How can you tell? They're supposed to be undetectable." If there were a way to see the ship while cloaked, then it wasn't very effective was it?
Jane shrugged and pressed the same button, turning off whatever she had done. "Engines still put out a heat signature…was just looking through infrared."
Note to self, tell LGM's about infrared and see if there's a way to fix it. Lost in his musings, and with Jane once again facing forward he thought that was the end of it. The conversation thus far, while lacking, may have been for the best. He might not have liked the silence, but it was better than arguing with this woman if the previous one was anything to go by. Buzz hadn't expected her to start talking again. "How are you doing?"
"Hm?" He perked up, completely missing what she said, but hearing that she said something. Jane was talking to him, right?
"Are you comfortable back there?" Jane asked, turning her head to the side to better talk to him.
Buzz sighed, "No. I'm on the back of a horse-creature in a space suit with no saddle." He didn't mean to sound as grumbly as he did, but it wasn't everyday that he rode horses, let alone one that wasn't completely a horse. Even in an air circulated space suit, it was hot under the sun, but Jane's large brimmed hat did offer him some cover...even if it wasn't much. No, he was beyond uncomfortable, and he was pretty sure his backside had fallen asleep long ago.
Jane chuckled softly, and Buzz would have missed it had he not been paying attention. "Here, wrap your arms around my waist…" She gently grabbed one his hands and placed it around her waist, "And lean forward a little bit…let my body take some of the weight for you." Buzz hesitated; while he wanted to be more comfortable on the horse, he didn't feel overly…confident about what she was saying. How can that even work? It didn't seem possible. Not to mention how awkward it would feel. With just his one arm around Jane's waist – she still had hold of his wrist – he couldn't help but tell how small and thin she seemed there was no way she could take any of his weight. Wait, why was he thinking about this? He shouldn't be thinking about her body like that. No, stop it! Stop it brain!
"Wake up Ranger, I can hear your brain working too hard." Jane chuckled again, and this time he felt it more than heard. Buzz could feel heat on his face and he knew it wasn't the suns doing. Great, now he was getting flustered over absolutely nothing. Pull it together Lightyear! "I'm not joking when I say this works. Trust me, I've been riding for years, I know what I'm doing." Jane finally let go of his wrist, and let him do what he wished. "Besides, wouldn't want you to be saddle sore by the time we get there. Makes for unpleasant fighting."
Gritting his teeth, Buzz gave in and did was she said. This better work, and not some weird thing to try and get him close to her…women do strange things sometimes. It was just as awkward as he thought it was going to be, having his arms wrapped around her waist and leaning his upper body against her back. Jane didn't say a word, so she must not have been bothered by it. After a few moments, Buzz noticed something odd; in this new position he could feel the rocking of the horse-creature and he could better move with the animal. So that's what she was getting at. With this information, he found that he wasn't as stiff and his soreness was ebbing away. All he had to do was focus on the movements of the beast…and not the fact that he was leaning against this mysterious woman. Shut up brain.
"Since we are getting close to the hideout now, I suppose I should ask what you know about the Devil's Rejects?" Jane had her head turned again, waiting for a response. Well, that certainly woke him out of his thoughts.
"Who?"
"The robbers we're after. They're known as the Devil's Rejects, because of the heinous crimes they commit not even the devil would want 'em."
Buzz thought a moment, but came up with nothing. "Can't say I've heard of them. What do you know about them?"
"Not much more than you, I would suspect. I only just recently got any information on them. From what the underground whispers, they're guys you want to avoid at all costs…robbery, hijacking, murder, rape…anything that could be considered a crime, they've done it." Clicking her tongue, she urged the horse to pick up the pace a little. "I ran into two of them at the bank…the third brother was probably waiting for the other two to return."
"Wait, there's more than two?" And that's where that something he thought about earlier came in. Great…that's just great. Buzz couldn't even contact his team to inform them because of the radio silence. How could this day possibly get worse?
"As far as I know…been trackin' em for nearly a month and I've never seen another one." The dwelling slowly came into view, the two on the horse feeling a familiar rigidness in their spines, and the three in the air keeping a close and careful eye out. Jane pulled the beast over to the last rock outcrop and had Buzz dismount first, following closely after him. She turned the creature the direction before giving it a swift slap on the rump, causing the horse to take off. Buzz looked at her like she was crazy. She just got rid of her transportation! "Don't give me that look, Ranger. The critter is trained to return to it's home if startled away from it's rider." Jane straightened out her long duster and adjusted her hat. "Ready?"
Buzz gave a nod, "Let's go." The two set out from the rock cropping towards the small shack of a house in the middle of the desert. Surprisingly, they made it to the side of the house without event or being noticed. At least something's going right today. Jane and Buzz were crouched below a window with their backs to the shack, listening to the people inside.
"I'm tellin' ya, we gotta boost. She's getting too close an we need to disappear."
"Don't be stupid. She'll never track us here. Besides, we're making a killing on this planet."
"I don't think that's a good idea. I saw rangers in that last city we hit. If that ridiculous alliance is getting involved, I don't want to be anywhere near here."
"You two are spineless junk, you know that? We'll be fine for at least another heist..." There was the sound of one of them moving around. "I feel like having some companionship."
Next to him, he could see Jane tense up. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that one was talking about. From what Buzz could tell, there were three distinct voices, so far matching the story Jane gave him. Well, these boys were going to get a very rude awakening in just a few moments. "They're going down." The ranger growled lowly. Jane whipped her head towards him when he spoke, and knew that he was getting some kind of look from her. "I'm going in the front, give me cover from the back." He didn't even wait for her to respond before he was sneaking off to go blasting in the front door. They'll never see it coming! Once he made it to the front, he gave himself a handful of seconds before he kicked down the door, laser at the ready. "I'm placing you all under arrest for…robbery?" He found himself staring at three very large, very angry looking thugs. Each one had to have been at least 8 foot tall and built like tanks with hide that looked like solid rock. It also didn't help that each one had a very large blaster on each shoulder and another in their curved claws. Craters.
The thugs didn't even bother to talk before they started firing at him. The best Buzz could do was attempt to find cover that didn't exist. Not a moment later, he heard a window to his right shatter and the added sound of another blaster. He saw a flash of red and knew that it was Jane. A blaster shot zoomed past him as he saw the woman kick the shooter in the side of the head, causing the shot to be wide. While it was a squarely placed kick, it appeared to have cause no damaged whatsoever to the creature, and it effortlessly grabbed her and tossed her in Buzz's direction. The ranger wasn't fast enough to evade and was flattened by the person projectile. Jane recovered more quickly, slamming a fist on the ground in frustration before scrambling off the ranger and returning fire. Buzz was on his feet a second later, firing his laser as fast as he could manage.
"She's found us! Get rid of her!" The eldest of the robbers bellowed. One of the shorter bandits aimed his blaster at Jane, firing off shot after shot laughing menacingly as he went. "Just wait till the boys back home hear I killed Bazooka Jane!" The name barely registered in his brain, his focus on the fight. Jane managed to get off a shot that hit the eldest of the bandits in the eyes, his roar of pain and fury rattling Buzz's bones. While the leader was distracted, Jane was rummaging around in her duster, and apparently finding what she was looking for, threw the thing at the temporarily blinded leader. He barely heard the 'get down!' over the melee, and hit the ground a moment later right before a large explosion ripped through the shack, ripping two of the walls away from the rest of the structure. When he looked up, the leader of the robbers was lying motionless on it's back. And that's when it clicked in his brain. Bazooka Jane…the bounty hunter!?
Buzz didn't have time to think on it long before he was roughly kicked in his side, sending him flying through the newly created hole in the shack. After flipping over himself in the sand, Buzz was on his feet and ready for a fight. He could see out of his peripheral that the rest of his team were on their way, firing their lasers in the safe area of the shack, peppering the remaining robbers with laser fire. He ran back into the fray taking the attention of one bandit to get it off of Jane. The woman was fast, but evasion wasn't everything in a fight; you had to be able to attack. Buzz was nearly distracted when Jane did something the looked incredibly stupid – she rushed the giant rock creature she was keeping occupied. Jane used her strength and momentum to target the creatures leg, shoving with her shoulder and then forcing upward, causing the robber to lose his balance and stumble into it's brother. Buzz took the opportunity to direct his team to lay heavy attack on the creatures, firing his laser in strategic spots to disarm the creatures of their weaponry.
That didn't stop them, however, and they were once again attacking anything that moved. One of the bandits swung their arm wide, clipping X-R and causing him to fall out of the air. The little robot hit the sand and immediately fell to pieces. "Like no one knew that was going to happen! Uhh, just pick up my pieces when you're done saving they day…" The bandit Buzz was fighting lost his footing when he received a right hook from the ranger and stumbling to catch his balance, kicked X-R's head further from the fight. "Watch the head!"
"Rookies, cover me!" Jane shouted over the din to Mira and Booster, pulling the wrapped up silver colored rope from her hip. The two started flying around the heads of the bandits, being as annoying as possible when they saw Jane twirling a lasso over her head, looking for the right opening before letting the rope loose. She threw the lasso perfectly over the head of one of the bandits and pulled it tight, the bandit caught off guard when it's air supply was choked off. She darted in and out of the two bandits, running circles through and around them. Buzz caught on quickly to what she was doing and assisted his team in distracting the thugs. When Jane stopped moving, she gave a swift tug on the rope and the two bandits collided with each other and toppled to the ground. Team Lightyear descended on the bandits, quickly and efficiently subduing them, putting on cuffs strong enough to contain the giants.
Buzz and his team took a well deserved breather; Booster took a sack and started to collecting all of X-R's parts, he made sure the felons were truly and thoroughly out of commission and Mira…well, she had something to say to the only other female in the area.
"Ok, first of all, thank you, I guess for helping us out." Mira didn't even exchange pleasantries with Jane before she started in on her. Jane didn't seem to mind. "Second of all, we aren't you team. We don't even know you, so you don't give us orders. You know, our captain does that, you aren't him…even if you made a good call…twice. That still doesn't change anything! So yeah, don't give us orders. Geeze, you aren't even a space ranger! Anyway, where was I?"
"I think you were getting to your third point, if you had one?" Jane offered helpfully.
"Right! Thanks. Third, we still don't know who you are, and I think that we deserve to know that much, seeing as we just had a fight together. Not that we fought, but we were fighting on the same side, And-"
"Watch out!" Jane practically screeched, hip checking the female ranger out of the way. In a split second the woman created a small, oval shaped plasma shield by slamming her forearms together, that was hit another second later by a powerful laser cannon blast. The force of impact sent Jane flying an impressive distance back, sending her through one of the last standing walls of the shack and landing roughly in the sand where she tumbled. She didn't get up immediately.
"What have you done to my brothers!" A female of the same species as the robbers screamed. She had a pack on and was hovering in the air. "No, matter, I'll just kill you all!" With a cackle, the female creature started firing at the rangers, not bothering with Jane, who continued to be still.
"There's anther one? How many of these guys are there?" Mira returned fire, once again taking to the air.
"I thought there was only three!" Buzz maneuvered on the ground, letting his team manage the air. It was never a good day when your pack didn't work properly. The ranger was too busy trying to shoot down the female creature's armaments, that he didn't notice the figure coming up fast behind him. He heard her first, which was surprising enough, but then he saw her and he nearly stopped.
"God damn cotton-picker! No good varmint busted my goggles! I know who's getting a biff today!" Jane had charged back into the fray, laser pistol firing at the creature in the air. When she got close enough, Jane chucked her ruin goggles at the creature, hitting her square in the face and giving the Lightyear team the opening to take her down. Booster came up from behind the creature and hit her with enough force to incapacitate her pack and send her hurtling to the ground. Buzz did stop, however, when Jane charged the downed creature, kicking the female when she tried to get up. The ranger watched as Jane hauled the female up by her collar – much like she had done to him earlier – and snarl in her face. "This is fer bustin' my goggles." And with that, Jane punched the creature in the face so hard it knocked the female out cold. Jane stepped back, shaking her hand out that was no doubt sore from the collision. He watched as Mira tossed Jane a pair of cuffs and Jane did the honors of properly securing the criminal.
Buzz couldn't help but stare in open-mouthed astonishment. While he had seen tough women fighters, one of which was on his team, he didn't think he had seen such a fiery display of it. She had lost her hat sometime during the fight, exposing long red hair that was kept in a braid. Mira was talking excitedly with the bounty hunter, no doubt thanking the woman in her own way for saving her from that blast. Jane didn't seem bothered by the energetic behavior from the rookie, joining in the conversation when prompted. Looking around the area, Buzz saw that Booster was nearly done putting X-R together, and from experience would start loading the criminals onto the ship when that was done. Clearing his thoughts, he made his way over to Mira and Jane. "Mira, go help Booster and X-R get these scumbags into the holding cells. Report to me when they've been secured." The female ranger saluted and darted off to go help her teammates.
"Sending the rookies to do your work for you, eh?" Jane had her arms crossed across her chest, but her expression was all good natured ribbing.
"It helps build character." Buzz replied smoothly. Now that he was closer, he finally got a good look at Jane. She had a round face with an impish nature, though her cheeks looked a little gaunt. Her hair was like he saw before, a fiery red pulled back into a braid, several loose strands blowing gently with the wind. The most stunning feature were her eyes. They were large, giving her an almost innocent look, and they were the most beautiful shade of emerald Buzz had ever seen. He was struck dumb when he looked into those eyes, and he quickly looked away, trying to gather his previous thoughts. Clearing his throat, and attempting to look anywhere but her face, he continued with his previous thought. "How are you feeling?"
Jane shrugged, "Nothin' I ain't used to. I'll be fine." Buzz looked at her then, shock apparent on his face. Once again, he was grabbed by the brightness of her eyes. Damn it.
"You were blasted through a building." The ranger said dumbly.
Jane's eyebrow rose at that, her mouth quirking into a smirk. "Noticed that, did you?" She was teasing him, he knew it, and he hated to be teased…but he didn't feel irritated when she did it. "I'm fine, Ranger. Don't worry about me." A silence fell between them. There was something else there, Buzz just knew it, but with no evidence to support a line of questioning, he decided to keep his mouth shut.
Just as the silence was about to move into awkward, something popped into Buzz's had. "So…Bazooka Jane."
"You got me. I'm surprised your rookies didn't hear that, the moron was screaming his head off enough." Jane shrugged, not bothering to deny who she was. She hadn't ever broken any Galactic Alliance or Star Command laws, so she had nothing to worry about.
Buzz sighed, "They had a bounty on them, didn't they." This was a huge mess. That headache he had been thinking about earlier was finally starting to make an appearance. Bounty hunters usually never gave up on a bounty, it was their livelihood. However, this woman didn't act like the typical bounty hunter. She hadn't attacked them, or spouted nonsense about keeping them for the bounty. He had to wonder what her motivation was, now that the robbers were in his custody.
"They did, but you don't have to worry about it, Ranger. All I need it proof that their reign of terror is over. Seeing that you're going to be taking on that responsibility, I'm not concerned. I'll still get paid." Well, that makes things simple, at least for him. Less paperwork anyway. Jane ran a hand over her head and it's like a switch had been flipped. Her eyes widened and she started twirling around, looking for her hat. Seeming to find what she was looking for, she jogged over to the now wrecked shack and found her hat in a pile of rubble. Dusting the thing off, as well as giving it a good shake, Jane placed the hat on her head. Buzz had to admit, she looked good in that hat.
The ranger's wrist communicator beeped and he opened it, Mira's face appearing in the view screen. "Buzz, we're all ready up here."
"10-4 Mira. Why don't you bring the ship down here so I can board. My pack still isn't functioning."
"Right! Of course, be there in a minute." And Mira cut the connection.
Buzz turned his attention back to Jane, who was walking back to his location. The ship behind him landed and the ramp started to make it's descent towards the ground. "Well, it's time for us to head out. We have a bunch of prisoners that we need to get into the system." He held his hand out to Jane, "It was a pleasure working with you."
"If by pleasure you mean an adrenalin filled, all out knuckle brawl, then yes. I'd say so." The bounty hunter met him halfway and grabbed his hand to shake. She let go of his hand and stepped back to a respectable distance. "Until next time, Ranger." Jane gave Buzz a mischievous smirk that had the ranger second guessing his sanity. Behind her, the sand was kicking up as another ship landed – presumably her own ship, it was still cloaked – and she turned away from him and headed towards the craft. Thinking it best to do the same, he boarded 42 to set back for the capital and inform the High Council that the robbers had been taken care of.
It didn't take any time at all to get back to the capital, but it did seem to take a while to get in contact with the High Council. You'd think they would want to meet with the rangers right away to find out what happened to the stolen goods, but no. Then again, that was typical of those in power, Buzz had come to understand. When they finally got a meeting with the High Council, the team was exhausted and ready to head back to Star Command. They were greeted by the Elder of the High Council, and he shook each one of their hands.
"I've been informed you have good news for me?" He asked simply.
"Yes sir. We have apprehended the criminals and we plan on taking them back to Star Command so they can be dealt with properly." Buzz informed the councilman.
"Excellent! I'm pleased to hear this. We will make a good note for you to your superior officer for your outstanding achievement."
Booster started to tap Buzz on the shoulder, and for a few moments, it was easy to ignore. But being as tired as he was had a short fuse at the moment. "What is it?"
"Buzz, we forgot to get the stolen property." The ranger had the most 'deer-caught-in-the-headlights' look Buzz had ever seen on him before.
The captain grumbled and slapped himself in the forehead. "Craters." He faced the Elder once again, "Sir, I apologize for myself and my team…we failed to retrieve the stolen property from the robbers." As soon as the sentence left his mouth, he could have kicked himself. Jane. She must have collected the stolen property and kept it for herself! That's why she didn't seem bothered that he was keeping the criminals. Blasted bounty hunters!
The Elder scrunched his face in confusion. "Whatever do you mean, Mr. Lightyear?"
"We didn't collect the stolen property that the thieves stole from the bank, and your other citizens." Buzz clarified. If he ever ran into that bounty hunter again-
"That strikes me as most odd." The Elder tapped his chin in thought before he continued, "Considering that I received a half dozen or so reports from my enforcement teams that everything had been returned in full, nearly two hours ago."
Buzz couldn't help the shock from showing on his face, and neither could his team. "What?"
"My people have received all their stolen property, Mr. Lightyear. I can see, clearly now, that it wasn't your teams doing. Nevertheless, my people are happy to have their valuables returned to them. And as far as I'm concerned, if my people are happy, I'm happy." The Elder reached out and pat the captain on the shoulder, "Thank you for your services, space rangers. I look forward to seeing you again in the future." With that the Elder took his leave.
"Let's go home." Buzz called to his team after staring at the spot the Elder had been in for several minutes.
"But Buzz! What about-"
"It's not worth it, Booster." Buzz waved the rookie off, "I think we have plenty to do with the criminals still on board my ship. We're heading out." The rest of the team didn't speak up as they followed their leader back to the ship. The take-off preparations went smoothly, though silently. His team must be as lost in their thoughts as he was; they weren't prone to being quiet like this.
As they broke the planets gravitational pull and blasted off into space, Buzz couldn't help but think about his day. It was certainly exciting, there was no doubt about that. And as much as he didn't want to, his thoughts kept drifting off to a certain fiery bounty hunter. She had surprised him more than once today. Especially when he thought that she had taken the stolen goods.
Buzz settled down into his captain's chair, feeling the familiar calmness of being in space pull at him. His traitorous brain reminded him of Jane's parting words to him: Until next time, Ranger. He couldn't help the smile that crept across his face at the thought, a feeling of excitement trilling through him.
He looked forward to it.
Let's play a fun game called spot all my stupid jokes...which is really just spot the random references. One per person, and if you find one, big space cookie for you!