MASK: Legacy Saga 4: Redemption
After a long hiatus, we're back with MASK Legacy Saga 4-Redemption! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the long overdue ending to Legacy Saga 3-Fallen. We appreciate you hanging in there with us...you fans inspire us to write more.
Disclaimer: We don't own ANYONE but Annie Turner (Darster) and Roxanne Trakker (Lisa). Jessenia Hayes belongs to Freespirit127. We don't own ANYONE else. NO ONE else. NOBODY. Wondering about the mysteriously cryptic use of CAPS? Read and find out! And please review! :)
Chapter 1
Thunderhawk, Phoenix, and Gator cautiously drove down Mexico highway eight. MASK had received intelligence from Gi Joe command that VENOM had allied itself with a powerful drug cartel. The border patrol was no match in preventing drug trafficking, with VENOM offering safe escorts back and forth across the border.
"Doesn't this bring back memories?" Jess remarked driving Gator.
"Nothing pleasant," Annie groaned under her mask driving her motorcycle Phoenix, "The last time we headed down this road we were kidnapped and bounded together in a back of a truck."
Jess replied jokingly, "At least we can enjoy the scenery this time."
"What the heck is wrong with VENOM anyways?" Annie quipped," Re-using old hideouts they've never done that before."
"Despite what you may think it was clever of them to do so," Scott replied manning Thunderhawk. "They manage to go undetected for 3 months. Breaking their normal routine makes them all the more unpredictable, especially considering who's in charge of VENOM now'n days."
"I absolutely hate that place nothing but bad memories. Buddy almost dying, having to face both Mayhem and Vanessa, and not to mention getting shot," Annie grumbled out loud.
"Think about it Annie," Jess replied, "Would any of us be here if it hadn't been for that experience?"
"Hard to say. Though it would have suited Dad just fine had I not signed up."
"I heard that." Brad Turner was sitting in at Boulderhill providing behind the scenes mission support.
"No time for trips down memory lane, "Scott broke up the discussion, "Looks like their expecting us."
Stinger, Manta, and Iguana were driving side by side with two jeeps equipped with machine guns attach to their roll bars. Each jeep carried several Mexican men holding semi-automatic rifles.
"Five to Three. I say I like those odds very much, "Lester laugh obnoxiously, "MASK is going down for good this time."
"Not much of a challenge if you ask me, "Bruno remarked slightly disappointed, "Can't believe she made us take them along with us."
"Probably best they stay back anyways while we deal with MASK, " Vanessa added, "Last thing I need is to go back with casualties and have a vendetta against Contra World."
"I got this Vanessa, "Lester eagerly spoke up. He drove Iguana right next to one of the jeeps and started shouting to the driver. "Perro vas diparar los aseos." The driver of the jeep glared and growled at Lester and started to cuss him out in Spanish.
"Idiot!" Vanessa shouted. "I told you before to keep your mouth shut and don't address anyone in Spanish!"
Bruno laughed at loud, "That's telling them Lester calling them dogs and telling them to shoot the toilets."
"Lo siento que tus hombres toman la parte posterior." Vanessa said over the airways to both jeeps.
"Si Senora" one of the men replied and then both jeeps came to a halt. Several men hopped out of each jeep readying their guns, awhile another man stood up on the back of each jeep manning the roll bar machine gun that was directly aimed at the oncoming MASK vehicles.
"What did you tell them?"
"That you have pea mush for brains."
"HEY!"
"They will hang back for support while we go head to head with MASK." Vanessa explained as she converted Manta from a car to an assault plane and flew towards Thunderhawk, which was also preparing to take to the sky.
Bruno converted Stinger into an armored tank and started firing its front mounted mortar at Gator. While Lester morphed Iquana from a normal 4 wheel ATV to an assault vehicle with front spinning blade and rapid fire bazookas aimed directly at Phoenix.
Scott was having the usual cat and dog chase in the sky with Vanessa. Both Thunderhawk and Manta exchanging lasers but neither one had a direct hit. Meanwhile on the ground both Jess and Annie were struggling. Both were expose by their MASK vehicles not providing enough protection from the oncoming bullets the Mexican cartel was firing at them.
"This is just too much…I can't fight and dodge at he the same time, " Annie remarked with Lester directly on her tail. Phoenix swerved out of the way just in time as she saw another spray of bullets headed her directly.
"They SHOT ME!" Lester cried out agony as a bullet grazed his shoulder in an attempt to dodge the attack.
"FOCUS LESTER!" Vanessa shouted over the air way.
"I second that!," remarked an extremely stress out Jess in response to Annie. She could barely see out her cracked windshield, and Gator was getting punctured with bullets left and right. Jess found herself having to drive hunched down in the driver seat to avoid making herself an easy target, "A camouflage vehicle color or even an oversize shield would be nice about now." She attempted to drive Gator away from the oncoming gun fire, but then she suddenly notice the tires were just spinning in place. "Shit what the."
Bruno laugh as his mask Magna beam was lock onto to Gator and pulling the vehicle back towards the firing squad, "Where do you think you're going little girl?"
"You can sound the horn to call the cavalry in anytime now...Scott!" Jess pleaded with urgency.
A blue diesel semi-truck rammed straight into the back of Stinger, causing Bruno to lose his connection with Magna beam. "What the hell! Where did that thing come from?"
"Vanessa! " Lester screamed, "That thing didn't come alone!"
"What the?"
Over the horizon, the three VENOM agents could see three more vehicles approaching their location, an orange tow truck with the number 67 on it, a red and white T-bird stock car with the number 5 on it, and blue street bike/hovercraft.
"Time for our debut boys!" Falcon stated with excitement from the stock car Razorback.
"Finally we get to use some actual targets, " Chuckles remarked from blue bike/hovercraft Bullet.
Falcon smirked under his mask eclipse, "Lets show VENOM who their messing with."
"YOOO JOE!" Cross country hollered from the tow truck wildcat.
"You ok?" A young man wearing a hawk shape mask painted red, white, and blue asked rolling down the window of the blue semi-truck Bulldog.
Jess smiled as Bulldog position itself to shielded Gator from the oncoming bullets, "I'm good Hi-Tech thanks for the assistance. I'm gonna fall back and let you take over. By the way you might want to convert your vehicle were not out of the woods just yet," She giddily replied hearing the bullets hammering the semi-truck's other side.
"Uh yeah… just wanted to make sure you're all right," Hi-Tech said sincerely. "GOOO MASK! " He shouted as he converted the blue truck into an armored half-track vehicle.
Jess snickered lightly, "At least somebody knows what team they belong to."
"YEEE-HAWWWW!" Cross Country hollered from Wildcat. "Time to turn on some fightin' tunes! Can't expect me to ride into battle if I can't play my country-western music!"
Jess swiftly turned Gator to avoid more of the Mexican bullets and Stinger's claw, muttering to herself as she heard the country tune in the radio's background, "My God, he's worse than my Dad!"
"Turn that shit off!" Falcon shouted to Cross Country over the link, firing Razorback's lasers at Manta to give Scott some air support. "I'm trying to drive here!"
A light-bulb went off in Scott's brain. "That gives me an idea. Phoenix, do you still have that jamming capability programmed on your bike?"
Annie was riding Phoenix in donuts around the Mexican Jeeps, attempting to cause their occupants to shoot mostly at each other instead of her as well as cause Lester more grief. Chuckles joined the fray on Bullet, riding in figure eights to maximize the confusion.
"Buddy installed it before he left but it's never been field tested."
"Now's your chance. Work with Cross Country and find a suitable 'fighting tune' to disrupt VENOM's communications. I'll watch your back in Thunderhawk. The rest of you keep a sharp eye on Manta. If this works, Vanessa will be the first to figure it out."
"Alright Bobby, let's take VENOM for a ride in the country. Got any done 'em wrong songs in that arsenal?" Annie asked.
"I think I got just the one," Cross Country grinned maniacally as the CD changer flipped the disk. "You jus' say the word."
"Let's see if someone will oblige me and verify the right frequency."
Annie split Phoenix from the string of jeeps, turning to head back toward Lester in Iguana, dialing in a radio frequency as she rode. "This is radio station MASK from Phoenix. Request lines are now open. You sir, in the not so bad ass ATV, what would you like to hear today?"
"Uhhh...well...how 'bout the Stones? Boss says I'm always high..."
"That's MASK you moron!" Vanessa hissed over VENOM's secure frequency. "How many times do I have to tell you to SHUT UP!"
"We've got them! Now Cross Country!"
Cross Country tuned to the proper frequency and Travis Tritt's "Here's a Quarter, Call Someone who cares" blasted to life over enemy airwaves. No matter what they tried, they couldn't lose the country tune or communicate with each other.
"Damnit! They're jamming us!" Vanessa pounded Manta's steering wheel in frustration as Scott pressed her in Thunderhawk, firing lasers non-stop.
"Don't you come round here handin' me none of your lies..." sang the voice on the radio, "...Here's a quarter, call someone who cares..."
Vanessa reviewed her options as she realized she wouldn't get much help from the two idiots on the ground now that the radio was jammed. She sent Manta into a barrel roll to avoid another laser barrage from Thunderhawk, putting her in direct line of sight with Phoenix. Realization set in as she realized who was responsible for jamming communications and why Thunderhawk continued its relentless assault.
She pulled out of the barrel roll and skimmed past the Mexican Jeeps, rolling down Manta's window and screaming at the top of her lungs, "Pare aquel Camaro rojo y moto negra!"
Vanessa couldn't believe her luck when one of the Mexicans actually pulled out a rocket launcher and fired into the air at Thunderhawk.
"Shit!" Scott cursed as the oncoming projectile forced him into a tail spin.
The temporary distraction was enough of an opening for Vanessa. She cackled gleefully and unleashed a missile barrage down at her daughter on Phoenix. "Try and jam this!"
"Damnit!" Scott panicked. "Phoenix, you've got incoming!"
"Now that ain't no way to treat your own flesh n' blood!" Cross Country fumed from Wildcat.
"Welcome to the MASK Drama Club, boys," Jess quipped dryly from Gator. She had a temporary reprieve from the gunfire as the Mexicans concentrated all their firepower on Phoenix and Thunderhawk.
"I think it's a requirement when you sign up," Chuckles joked, trying to lessen the heat on Phoenix with Bullet.
"Well, that explains how I got here," Falcon laughed. "Duke sent me chasing after some other saucy redhead instead of Scarlett."
"That's my partner you're talking about!" Scott roared jealously over the link.
Both jeeps had rocket launchers firing incessantly at Thunderhawk, which only increased his frustration. He had no way of following through on his promise to watch Annie's back.
"And my daughter!" Brad growled over the link from Boulderhill.
"Excuse me, but the saucy redhead currently has two missiles headed straight for her!" Annie picked up speed to try to gain some distance. "Second, I hate being discussed in the third person. Third," Annie's last remark was directed at Brad, " 'behind the scenes' means exactly that unless you have something constructive to add..."
"Matter of fact I do," Brad answered calmly, ignoring his daughter's commentary. "A little trick I used back in the day. Phoenix, you're gonna drive under Razorback so Falcon can shoot those missiles
"One's already too close," Falcon grimaced. "You got some firepower on that bike, Phoenix?"
"In a manner of speaking..."
"This is no time to play coy...do you or not?!"
"Just watch your comm panel and try not to get me killed!"
Annie reminded herself that she and Buddy had purged and rebuilt Phoenix's computer system, but that didn't stop her from having a temporary flashback to the last time she used Phoenix's Fire Flight mode. She shook it off and activated the pre flight auto navigation sequence.
"Computer, ready Phoenix Fire Flight...target vehicle Razorback. Notify user Falcon and require voice confirmation of readiness."
"Confirmed Phoenix," Falcon's voice was military cool. "Razorback is standing by."
Annie bypassed 65 mph and closed her eyes, leaning low over Phoenix's handlebars while trying not to visualize the two oncoming missiles. Buddy my friend, wherever you are, wish me some luck. "Computer, activate Fire Flight. 5 second countdown to user Falcon."
"5...4...3...2...1!"
"FIREWALL ON!" Annie shouted.
Phoenix's afterburners kicked in, causing the first missile to land and explode the ground where the bike had been only moments before. Only a jet of flame showed her path toward Razorback.
Falcon rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant by firepower!"
"Falcon, pay attention!" Scott nearly fell out of Thunderhawk. "She's almost there...transform, NOW!"
Falcon obliged, transforming Razorback from a stock car to armored tank seconds before the jet of flame representing Phoenix slid under his bowed frame. He turned and easily blew up the second projectile.
"Maverick, we lost the jamming signal to VENOM," Hi-Tech reported.
"As long as that's all we lost," Scott replied. He opened up his private channel to Phoenix. "Annie?"
"Have I told you how much I HATE Mexico?! We are NOT coming here on our honeymoon!"
Scott managed a laugh despite dodging multiple rockets. "I promise."
"Good! Now that we've settled that, let's hurry up and finish this."
Iguana drove up alongside Bullet, "Here's sludge in your eye!," Lester Sludge laughed as his mask Mud Slinger sprayed mud over Chuckles mask Vortex.
"That is just gross!" Chuckles remarked trying to wipe the mud off his mask and maintain control of his vehicle Bullet.
"So we got ourselves a hillbilly who likes to play in the mud," Cross Country stated as he converted Wildcat's front end to a vertical fighting machine. "Good thing I know a thing or two about that too." Wildcat concrete cannons shot out oozes of gray thick liquid 20 feet in front Iguana.
"HA you think that gonna stop me!" Lester increase the speed on Iguana expecting to cruse right through the liquid wall, but to his sudden surprise Iguana slammed into a hard concrete wall and he went flying into the wall as well.
"Ouch! That's got to hurt!" Cross Country mock, "Better make sure you stay put so you don't hurt yourself more'n necessary." More liquid concrete poured out from Wildcat cannons, this time surrounding Lester and his vehicle Iguana on all four sides.
Lester shook his head as he recovered from the unexpected impact and realize he was boxed in. "You really think this is gonna hold me! I'll blast my way out!" His attention then turned to Iguana's bazookas, but realizes both guns were bent over due to the vehicle's impact against the concrete wall. "Ok well I'll just have to climb the dang thing, " He stood up on Iguana and attempted to jump the wall, unfortunately he was a foot short and fell backwards on the ground. "How on do I get out of here?" he starts waving his hands "Help me! I'm trapped!"
"Absolutely pathetic!" Vanessa cried out, "I don't have time to deal with you, Bruno take care of him."
"I would but my guns are hammering that armored truck and it's not doing a lick of damage, " Bruno replied.
Hi-Tech cackled gleefully from inside Bulldog's cab and opened up a channel to Gator. "Hey Freespirit, how about putting down a rabid Mad Dog?"
"You bet! I'd love to pay that son of a bitch back!"
"All right. Stay close, and when I give the signal, overheat his engine. Then me and Bulldog will put him on ice for good!"
"Ready when you are!" Jess confirmed.
Hi-Tech turned Bulldog just in time to connect with a pathetic swipe from Stinger's claw, rendering it useless. This positioned him right in front of the armored tank's windshield.
"NOW!" Hi-Tech yelled. "PATRIOT ON!"
Red, white, and blue fireworks shot out of the hawk shaped MASK, dazzling the already befuddled Bruno Shepard. "Hey, no one told me it was the Fourth of July!"
Jess buzzed by Stinger in Gator, aiming her mask directly at the tank's engine. "THERMIC-HEAT!"
Smoke began rolling out from under Stinger's hood as Patriot's fireworks died. Flames started picking up around the hood before Bruno finally found a clue. "MY BABY!" he screamed like a little girl.
"You heat em up, I cool em down," Hi-Tech laughed, firing Bulldog's smokestack Blizzard Cannons at the fireball becoming Stinger, freezing all its systems.
Jess drove away on Gator, thumbing her nose at Bruno. "How do you like being put on ice?!"
"Stupid bitch you think I'm gonna let get away with messing with my car!" Bruno exited Stringer and ran towards one of the jeeps. Instead of taking cover, he hopped up on the back of the jeep and pushed the Mexican man aside who was operating the roll bar machine gun, "OUT OF MY WAY!"
Bruno intensely followed Gator with the machine gun and made every shot count. Both back wheels of Gator went flat and a few shots nicked off Jess's mask.
"Somebody doesn't know when to quit…I think it time you boys put the toys away?" Chuckles remarked "Vortex on!" A giant tornado went towards the two jeeps. The men stop firing their guns and started to scramble on the ground, but the wind tunnel proved to be more powerful than they expected. Bruno tried to hold tight to the roll bar but found his body forcefully flying in the air about 30 feet from where he was.
The gun fire on the ground finally came to a complete halt. The two jeeps were buried in sand along with several of the Mexican cartel members who were knocked out by the sheer force of the wind power.
"Now that's what you call a clean sweep!" Falcon remarked.
"Not really," Annie remarked looking up at the sky watching Thunderhawk and Manta still chasing after one another.
"I'll give them both wake up call. Scott, heads up sending a going away present to Vanessa," Falcon smirked as he activated Razorback's prism missile. The missile exploded in the sky and emitted several blinding flashes of life. Scott was able to maneuver Thunderhawk just enough to avoid the bright light in the sky.
"Maybe I should brighten her day a little more. SOLAR FLARE, ON!" Scott shouted, directing the MASK's beam back at Vanessa.
"AHHH!" Vanessa cried out as she attempted to shield her eyes and blindly fly Manta. "Where the hell did that come from? Are you guys doing anything down there?" As her eyesight started to return she notice the only people remaining on the ground were MASK, "This is not good."
"VANESSA!" Bruno screamed from the ground waving his hands.
She did a quick loop in the sky to turn around and swooped Manta low enough to allow Bruno to hop into the vehicle. She quickly took manta up in the air and fired the jets to get as far away as possible, "I'll get you next time MASK!"
As Scott landed Thunderhawk on the ground, Falcon shouted, "What the hell are you doing?! I gave you that opening to go after her!"
"Please don't forget who is in command here, Falcon," Scott removed Solar Flare and shot the G.I. Joe lieutenant a pointed and somewhat dark look. "There are enough bad guys to clean up here first. I'll get her another day."
"He's right," Annie removed Firewall and stepped in to show solidarity. "Besides, who knows what kind of death trap she'd have waiting. If she'll fire missiles at me, there's no telling what she'd do to him."
Annie was going to say more but stopped as she notice that Jess was still sitting in Gator's driver seat. Has she been sitting there the whole time? The gun fire stop about 15 minutes ago and she hasn't moved a muscle. She drove Phoenix away from the group, placing a gentle hand on Jessenia shoulder, "You ok?"
Jess removed her mask and set it down in front of her. The mask was chipped in several spots were Bruno had successfully hit her. She could still feel the force and remember the sound of the bullets hitting her mask. Tears erupted down Jess face as she realized how close to death she came.
She's in shock. "It's alright it's over now. Let me help you…"
Jess put her hand up in protest and quickly dried her eyes, "I can't let the guys see me like this. They're already looking over here."
"Alright," She took the hint not to touch the subject, instead dismounting to glance back and make a show out of pretending to look at Gator's damage.
"How about you pretend I asked you to hop on the back of Phoenix and we'll ride over together."
Jess nodded and got on the back of Phoenix after Annie, holding her hands tightly against her friend's back more so for comfort then to hang on.
"Scott will be expecting I ride rounds, so let's take the long route and have a look at Stinger first."
Chuckles and Cross Country left Bullet and Wildcat respectively, removing Vortex and Ditcher as they walked up to where Falcon and Scott stood.
"Those girls all right, boss?" Cross Country asked Scott. Always the Southern Gentleman, he watched Phoenix pull away from Gator with a look of concern. "They were taking the brunt of the heat out there y'know?"
Scott shaded his eyes and cast a glance in the distance to see Annie shoot him a black gloved thumbs up as she and Jess took off toward Stinger's last position, which meant she'd noticed them watching.
"Thumbs up. They're fine. Just the usual riding rounds after battle."
Scott was about to survey the situation himself when he was interrupted by Hi-Tech jogging up from Bulldog. "Scott, I think we've got a small problem. There's a Mexican military convoy headed in our direction. They're only speaking in Spanish on all the known frequencies. That's all I've been able to figure out...other than they don't sound happy."
Falcon reached through Razorback's open window and tuned into several frequencies, listening intently. "Not happy is an understatement..."
Before Scott could question him further, Annie's slightly panicked voice broke in on an emergency channel. "Scott, this would be a great time to step back and let Falcon show us his mastery of the Spanish language. Something along the lines of 'please don't shoot' would be a lovely start considering there's some Mexican Officials riding Jess and I down...fast."
Falcon looked askance at Scott, who waved him on, "By all means, go! Get them out of there if you're fluent in Spanish!"
"It's in my personnel file," Falcon stated as he queued up the radio, adding under his breath, "that you should have read."
"Cese el fuego! Esto es Lieuenant Falcon de la máscara de G. I Joe tareas. Cese el fuego! Siga la motocicleta y explicaremos"
"Lo mejor como lo que escuchamos G. I. Joe o usted será arrestado" replied the angry Mexican voice.
Falcon tuned back to the emergency frequency, "Annie, lead them in here slowly and don't make any sudden moves when you stop. They're threatening to arrest us if they don't like our explanation."
"Coming in now. Two more Jeeps and an armored truck full of soldiers. God, I HATE Mexico!"
Scott nearly pulled Annie out of Phoenix's driver seat as soon as she parked the bike. Hi-Tech offered Jess a hand, which the still shaken girl gladly accepted. Within minutes, the soldiers from the armored truck had the seven MASK agents surrounded, guns leveled on all of them. Falcon raised his arms and stepped out toward the Mexican firing squad as the commanding officer approached.
"We've been greeted better'n this by COBRA," Cross Country joked, attempting to lighten the mood.
"And everything's riding on Falcon," Chuckles added. "Good thing he's a fast talker...we might actually have a chance at getting outta here."
"Long as his hot head don't engage his big mouth."
"Settle down you two." Annie leaned into Scott as his hands rested nervously on her waist. "We don't want to make this any worse."
"¿por favor habla usted inglés?" Falcon asked the Mexican Commander.
"No hable inglés. ¡Ahora explíquese antes de que yo le haga detener!" came the reply. Guns waived in the air for emphasis.
Falcon cast a quick glance toward Scott, who had no choice but to nod acknowledgement to continue. A rapid fire Spanish conversation ensued while the rifles stayed rock steady on the rest of the team.
"I don't like this," Scott pitched his voice low for only Annie's ears. "That should be me out there."
"He knows that," Annie soothed. "But they don't speak English and this is not the time for our bad, halting Spanish. This is the time for us to lean on our team's specialties."
"It's what he's saying that worries me."
"Scott, let me ask you a question..." Annie kept her voice soft and calm. "Would you be so irritated if that was Bruce or Alex or Hondo or...Dad...out there speaking Spanish to those Mexicans?"
Scott never answered. His eyes were frozen on Falcon cautiously putting his arms down and reaching for his ID card. Scott watched as the G.I. Joe Officer said a few more words to the commander, who looked at Falcon's ID and suddenly seemed to relax.
Scott's hands clenched into fists against Annie's sides. "I think he just told them we're G.I. Joe..."
Annie caught Scott's arms and held them at her waist to prevent him from doing something stupid. "You don't know that. And if he did, so what?"
"Annie, how can you even ask that?!" Scott's voice hissed in her ear. "You know damn well this is a MASK mission!"
"And MASK's reputation was flushed down the toilet thanks to Jon Mayhem." Annie's voice remained cool as she delivered her object lesson. "If Mexico needs to think we're G.I. Joe to get this job over with and get out of their god forsaken country, then that's what we need to let them think."
"Why aren't you backing me on this?!"
"Scott, I am. But I also work law enforcement and know the danger of jurisdiction wars. Too much time wasted arguing about who is in charge can make the difference between life and death. In this case, ours."
"The MASK team is important to me...it was my father's and my uncle's, and now it's mine..."
"I know," Annie squeezed Scott's hands in a comforting gesture, "and I know the idea of working with G.I. Joe is not easy for you. So if you won't trust them just yet, please trust me and my experience, okay?"
Scott's reply was lost in howls of laughter from the Mexican Army. The soldier's rifles dropped as the commander slapped Falcon on the back in a show of camaraderie.
"Basura en la playa. ¡Haha! Usted es un hombre gracioso, el Teniente Falcon. ¡YO JOE!" the commander shouted, motioning the soldiers toward the back of the truck.
"YO JOE!" the soldiers replied in unison as they all piled into the back of the truck and drove off with the jeeps toward the location of the buried Mexican Cartel.
Annie breathed a sigh of relief. "I think we won..."
Annie let Scott's hands drop and slipped one of hers around his waist as Falcon approached. Even he looked a little nervous as he stepped up to deliver his report.
"Mission accomplished. They're helping us take out the Mexican trash while we clean up after VENOM." Falcon paused, then looked Scott directly in the eyes and said honestly, "I had to make them think this was a G.I. Joe controlled operation to do it. They weren't very trusting when I mentioned MASK."
"I was reminded of that just now," Scott sighed. After too long of a pause, he felt Annie's fingers jabbing him in the ribs, prompting. "Good work Falcon."
Falcon smirked back and fired off an Army-perfect salute. "Thank you SIR!"
Scott laughed in spite of himself. "At ease, soldier." To the rest of the team, he said, "Let's get this place cleaned up and get out of here."
Suddenly a faint voice could be heard yelling, "GET ME OUT OF HERE YOU MASK MORONS!"
Scott rolled his eyes, ignoring Lester for the moment. "Nice catch Cross Country-I need you to tow Gator with Wildcat."
"Pleasure's all mine, Scott. Wish I coulda caught ya more than a lizard though."
"It's a start. Hi-Tech, Jess-listen to the radio traffic. Make sure we don't run into any other surprises before we go."
"You got it Scott." Both of them climbed up into Bulldog's cab.
"Chuckles, Falcon, bring Razorback and Bullet to help me fetch the Lizard from his concrete cage. I need to have a little chat with him."
Phoenix's radio crackled to life on Boulderhill's emergency frequency. "Annie, what the HELL's going on out there?!"
Annie sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Excuse me while I go remind my father what behind the scenes means...again..."
"Get mine on the line too-we're going to need to know what to do with both Stinger and Lester now that we've caught them."
"Got it."