Secret Mission

By: Mira Elizabeth

Author's note:  Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and all characters relating to it belong to Disney/Pixar.  All other character are mine.  Some of the situations involving the characters in this story are just me kicking around ideas and what-ifs. If you are going to review this and any of my other fics, please make sure the reviews are constructive and helpful.  I'm getting a degree in story development and screenwriting, so if there are problems, be specific so I will know what to fix or when the confusion lies.  Thanks and now on with the story…

I keep having to re-post this blasted thing cause it keeps getting messed up, i.e. the chapters getting rearranged and I didn't request that, whole portions of chapters missing, etc.  Well here's 3 or the 6 chapters.  I hope to get the rest out in the next day or so.

Thanks,

M.E.  : )

            All was quiet on Star Cruiser 42, except for the occasional beeping from the computers.  There had been no calls for missions in the past several hours and the crew had taken the opportunity to optimize and clean up some of the ship's systems.

Buzz Lightyear stared at his console's screen, watching the numbers flash before him and smiled.  Mira's ideas to increase the ship's system-wide productivity seemed to be working.

Lightyear hit the comm. button.  "Good job, Ranger Nova.  Everything seems to be running great."

"Thank you."  Her voice crackled of the comm channel.  "I need to do a couple of tests on the propulsion systems and then I think we'll be finished."

"Okay, roger that. After you're finished XR can recalibrate the engines."

XR narrowed his robotic eyes and started to object to the idea of being forced to complete yet another task, but a message flashed up onto his console's screen.     

"Hey Buzz, we're receiving a communication from Capitol Planet.  Says his name is Tom Majors."

"Thanks, patch it through to my console, XR."

XR punched a button in front of him and then turned to the large red alien at the computer station next to him. 

"Hey Booster, who is Tom Majors?  That name sounds real familiar."

"Only one of the greatest teachers at the academy!"  Booster exclaimed.  "He's almost as legendary as Buzz.  He taught off and on at the academy until being discharged because he was permanently injured in combat."

"Ah."  The robot punched a few buttons on the console in front of him.  "I wonder if Mira is finished with those tests on the propulsion systems.  I need to recalibrate the engines."

            Buzz Lightyear leaned back in his captain's chair and smiled at the viewscreen in his console.

"Tom Majors!  Long time, no talk.  What have you been up to?"

The man on the viewscreen smiled back.  He was about the same age as Buzz and had gone through the Academy with the famous space ranger.

"Not much, Buzz, not much.  I would love to catch up old times with ya, buddy, but I have more urgent business to discuss with you."

"Really, what?"

"There is a threat to the Alliance.  A new weapon and if Zurg gets his hands on it I am afraid it could mean the end of the Alliance."

"What kind of weapon?  What is all this about?"

Majors sighed and pushed his hands through his dark hair.  "I really don't want to discuss this over a comm. channel, but the basic gist of it is that I received some information about an ancient weapon that if allowed to fall into the wrong hands could destroy everyone in this galaxy."

"Why didn't you report this to Star Command?"

"This has the potential to be very serious, Buzz.  The fewer the people who know about it the better."

"Why tell me?"  Buzz asked, folding his arms across his chest, staring at the face on the viewscreen. 

"I want you and your crew to help me find this thing and destroy it.  That way it'll never get into Zurg's hands or anyone else's for that matter."

Lightyear frowned.  "I don't know about this.  Something tells me that we should at least inform Commander Nebula.  And besides, you are a civilian now.  I couldn't put you at risk."

"Buzz, please.  I need to do this.  I was forced into retirement cause of this damn injury."  The former ranger sighed heavily.  "I need my one last shot to save the galaxy.  Surely you can't deny your old pal that."

"No."  Lightyear said after a few tense moments.  "I guess not.  But what about…"

"Don't worry about Nebula."  Majors said.  "I'll take the heat for this.  But I think the benefits from going on and completing this mission will far outweigh any breach of Star Command protocol."

Buzz shook his head.  "I'm still not too sure on this…"

"Look, I'll explain everything when I get there.  Send me your coordinates and I will take a transport shuttle out to meet you." 

"All right.  We'll see you then."

            Lightyear watched his friend emerge from the docking ramp that connected the transport shuttle to 42's hull.  The former ranger moved slowly, supported by a cane.  He put down the small duffel bag he was carrying.  

"Buzz!  So good to see you!"  Majors said, shaking Lightyear's hand.  "How's the galaxy been treating you?"

"Just fine.  And you?"

"Well now, you know what life's been like for me, Lightyear.  It's the fate that every ranger dreads."

"Now, c'mon Tom.  Retirement can't be all that bad."

"No, it isn't.  I now can watch my soaps without having to be interrupted by a mission."  Majors said with a wry smile.  "Now who else is on your team?  I heard you were partnered with Darkmatter."

A shadow passed over Buzz's face and he frowned. 

"Yeah, well he turned traitor and joined Zurg.  Apparently he had been on Zurg's payroll since our Academy days."

Majors shook his head.  "I am so out of the loop.  Never get any of the good gossip anymore."

"Now I have three crewmembers.  XR is a robot, Booster is Jo-adian and works sensors and weapons, and then there's my co-pilot, Mira Nova."

The former ranger's eyes widened.

"Did you say Mira Nova?  Princess Mira Nova?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh nothing.  I was her professor back in the Academy.  I always wondered what happened to her after graduation.  What an attitude.  I thought for sure they'd kick her out of the academy before the first week was up, but it looks like I was wrong."

"Mira can be a bit…uh…trying at times."  Buzz said with a grin.  "Now, let's get you settled.  We're putting you in our ambassador's suite."

"This is the ambassador's suite?  The brig?"  Majors asked, looking at his surroundings.

"Uh…yeah, we don't have spare quarters onboard 42.  So we usually just make up a cell to look nice.  Trust me, you have way more room in here than we do in our own quarters."   

"It's even decorated nice."  Majors said, gesturing to the curtains and the picture on the wall.  "I feel so special."

"You should.  Only our most honored guests get a picture on the wall." Lightyear smiled, sitting his friend's duffel bag on the cot.

Majors laughed and shook his head, smiling

"Now show me around the rest of this ship and I want to meet your crew."

"Yes, they've been anxious to meet you as well."  Buzz watched his friend grab his cane and felt a touch of sadness.  Majors caught the expression on Lightyear's face and grinned.

"Now, don't look like that, Buzz.  I may have to use this old thing in order to get around, but I can still kick your tail on Level 9 any day.  Now let's get moving, I want to see this ship."

"…and this is the bridge."        

The door opened with a whoosh and Majors stepped through, taking note of the three rangers that turned to stare at him.  A large, red alien stood and saluted.  He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Wow!  Captain Tom Majors!  It's nice to meet you, sir."  The alien's voice had a touch of awe in it. 

Majors reached out and shook the alien's hand, feeling slightly dwarfed by the ranger's size. 

"You must be Booster."

"Yes sir."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you.  Buzz has told me you are quite the ranger."

Booster's face turned a little redder than usual.  "Thank you, sir."

"This is XR." Lightyear gestured towards the small robot that had moved up next to him.  The little robot saluted.

"So, the LGM's finally convinced Nebula to allow them to build their robot ranger, huh?"

"Not exactly." Buzz said.  He leaned in towards Majors and lowered his voice to a whisper.  "They slipped the work order in with their vacation request."

"Does it really do the job the way the LGM's proposed?"  The former ranger asked, looking down at XR.

"Excuse me…um…hello. I'm right here, you know..." The robot said, folding his metallic arms.  He despised being treated as if he was just another one of 42's computers.  "If you want to know something about me, then ask ME!"

Majors' eyes widened.  "It has a personality?"

"Yes, I have a personality.  A very nice one in fact."  XR snapped back.

Buzz shot the robot a warning look, clearly telling the metallic ranger to be nice. XR moved back a little, still glaring at the newcomer on the bridge.

"I'm sorry if I insulted you, XR.  I'm sure you are a…" Majors paused a brief moment as movement from the co-pilot's seat caught his attention.  "…great asset to your team."

Majors watched her stand and he felt his pulse speed up.  He had felt her blue eyes boring into him the whole time he had been on the bridge, but now he was looking directly into them and they were just as he remembered. 

*Beautiful…*

"Captain Majors, so nice to see you again, sir."  She said.

"You too, Ranger Nova.  From what I've heard, you've had a very successful first two years on duty."  He smiled at her, noticing how much she still looked like the excited, fresh-faced girl who had sat in his classroom and caught his attention.  He was glad to see that two years of the missions, battles, and sleepless nights that occupied the lives of every ranger had not taken their toll on her. 

"I like to think so, sir."

"Wait, you two know each other?"  XR asked.

"Yeah, Captain Majors was one of my professors.  I took a couple of his classes at the Academy."  The princess said quickly.  He watched her eyes dart around the cruiser's bridge as if she was trying to find another place to look, anywhere but at him.

Majors cleared his throat, cutting through the silence that had settled over the bridge.

"Buzz, the information I need to brief the team on the mission is back in my bag.  Would you mind sparing Ranger Nova for a few minutes?  She and I can get the information and do a little catching up."

"Uh no, of course not."  Buzz looked at Mira, who moved towards the doorway, an odd expression on her face.

"Thanks."  Majors moved through the doorway, the princess following behind.    Once he knew they were out of earshot, he turned to face her.  He stared, something about her pretty face always made him feel fifteen years younger.  Even now, after being injured, he felt a sudden jolt of energy and youthfulness course through him.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to make things so uncomfortable in there for you.  But after not seeing you for two years, well, it brought back some memories."

The Tangean stared at him for a few moments and then sighed.

"Tom, that was back then.  I was naïve, just a dumb girl who had never really been away from home and got overwhelmed by some young, school-girlish crush…"

"Mmm-hmm, like you are so much older and wiser now, Mira."  He said, his voice had a touch of sarcasm in it. 

"Yes, I am.  I may only be two years older than that girl you said goodbye to at graduation, but *I* know now that it was wrong.  It was a stupid risk and it should never have happened in the first place."  She snapped back.

"But it did and you certainly cannot deny what happened…"

"Let's not discuss that."  The princess stopped him.  "It was a mistake for us to…"

"I don't consider it a mistake."  He interrupted.  He sighed.  He didn't want his first reunion in two years with her to be full of nothing but arguing.  "All right.  We're going to have to get through this mission together, might as well be on good terms.  Can we at least be friends?"

Mira nodded, realizing too that arguing was not going to be productive.  "As long as what happened in the past stays in the past."

Majors smiled.  "Got it.  Now let's go get that bag."

            Captain Tom Majors looked at the four faces in front of him and opened the folder in front of him.  The group was clustered around the table in 42's kitchen since the ship had no briefing room.  Folders were spread out all over the table, each containing information pertaining to the mission they were about to embark on.      

"Now, I am sure all of you have heard of a race called the Shrayak?"  Majors asked.

"Aren't they the race that everyone thinks is a myth?  Big lizard lookin' things that supposedly terrorized the galaxy hundreds of years ago."  XR said.

"Yeah, that's them.  Only they aren't a myth.  Or I should say weren't a myth.  Recent archeological finds in the Omicron sector, particularly on the planet Hyra, have proved them to be real.  It's believed that Hyra was their home world."  Majors paused, passing around vid stills taken of the excavations of the planet.  "Anyway, about two months ago I got a message from an old informant who said he had information that was important to the whole galaxy."

"Why didn't he just go to Star Command?"  Buzz asked.

"That's what I wanted to know too and he said that it was because I was the only one he trusted and that although I was no longer a ranger, he was certain that Star Command and the Alliance would listen to me."

"He told me about a weapon the Shrayak built, but before it could be used some sort of disease epidemic wiped out their race.  Supposedly this weapon has the capability of mass destruction on the planetary level."

"What does this have to do with us?"  XR asked.

"Like I told Buzz earlier, I want to find the Shrayak weapon and destroy it before it falls into the wrong hands.  It is so destructive that it could easily put the whole galaxy at risk for complete and total devastation."

Booster looked at the vid still in front of him and then at Buzz, confusion etched on his red, round face. 

"Are you going to tell Commander Nebula, Buzz?"

Lightyear shook his head "no" and sighed.  "Well, we're going to have to decide whether we're going to do this.  Captain Majors doesn't want me to say anything to Star Command, his reason being that any communication could be dangerous and that he wants as few people knowing about the mission as possible for safety's sake.  It could potentially cost us our careers in Star Command, but the other side of that is that if Captain Majors is right about this weapon, we could save the galaxy from a lot of harm."

The group around the table sat quietly, each thinking, weighing the consequences.  Finally Mira broke the silence.

"I say we go for it."

Booster and XR nodded in agreement and Buzz looked at Tom Majors and smiled.

"I guess we're going on a mission."