Chapter 2 – Obstacle Course and Train Heist.

I don't own Voltron Legendary Defender. I'm just taking the characters out for a spin. Please Read and Review

Pidge stood next to Slav in the control booth. The guy was a short little man with an odd habit of continually complaining about what if the people on both SWAT teams stepped into a puddle and drowned or if they stepped on a crack and broke their mother's back.

Pidge shook her head as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. She suppressed the giggle that threatened to escape as she remembered how Shiro wanted to strangle the guy. Now that was fun. Although, not for her unflappable team leader, but to see him so close to losing his control on his emotions that were just total bliss. It showed he could get angry too just like the others.

She placed her hands on the computer and brought up the screen. "What have you prepared for this obstacle course," she asked her companion.

"It's an urban setting. A gang of thugs has taken over a building and SWAT has been called in to free any hostages."

"Uhm, you know we'll have a rookie on the team?"

Slav glanced at her, "Of course I do. Do you take me for some moron?"

"Nope," Pidge replied.

"I see your brother's team is up first."

"Yeah, Shiro told me he wanted it to be a sniper competition on the shooting range."

"I can throw in a couple of sniper problems."

An evil grin flashed across Pidge's face, "Do it. I want to see how Matt reacts to that."

Matt groaned as Pidge stepped up to him and his team. "Nice bro," she said as she stared at him. "Your team got a score of twelve."

Matt ripped his helmet off his head, "You must have cheated, somehow."

Slav stood next to the young woman, "No, she didn't. I watched her the entire time."

"Do you think your sister would cheat?" Shiro asked Matt.

Matt stared at her for a couple of minutes, and his eyes dropped to the ground, "No, I don't. Sorry, Pidge for not believing you."

"That's okay," she replied as she sneezed again. She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and quickly blew her nose. She glanced around as everyone stared at her. "You all know I have allergies," she growled causing everyone to take a step away from her.

Shiro glanced around at his team, "We're up. Who's doing the scoring?"

Shay stepped forward. "I will."

The team moved forward. Hunk was in charge of Griffin as Shiro took the lead. They walked quickly toward the building. Shiro caught movement in between two cars. He held up his hand as he motioned for the team to spread out and then gave them the two signal which meant teams of two. But the third team which was usually just Hunk and Rax had three.

Keith automatically paired himself with his team leader. The two worked well together as they crouched down and moved forward.

"I've got eyes on the girl between the cars. Looks like she's trying to get away," Lance called out.

"Go get her. Hunk, Rax, and Griffin provide cover."

"On it, Shiro," Hunk replied.

The first point was achieved.

They continued through the course which got harder through each twist and turn. If this were a real situation, Griffin would have been dead when one of the hostages turned out to be with the gang.

Lance took out a sniper.

By the time it was finished Shiro's team had a total of thirteen points when they faced Slav and Shay along with Matt Holt. "Shiro's team got thirteen points."

Pidge jumped up and yelled in joy. "Now I get to rub it in your face for a while."

Matt groaned, "And she will too."

Shiro glanced down as his phone buzzed. "We're up," he said as they ran from the course toward their vehicle affectionately called by Captain Allura as the Black Lion.

When they arrived at the site, they found Commander Iverson and Captain Allura waiting for them. Shiro directed his team to start investigating. He stepped up to Captain Allura, "So, we're doing train robberies now?"

"We do when they involve the death of a security guard," she replied. "Plus they got away with two million dollars' worth of Oxycodone."

Shiro glanced around, "Do you think it was Zarkon?"

Allura shrugged as she replied, "If it wasn't then I'd say it was either Lotor or one of his generals."

"Lotor?"

Allura held up a tablet with a picture of a very nice-looking man with long white hair. "The DEA is also trying to shut down Zarkon and his son Lotor."

Commander Iverson glanced over at Shiro. "I can't stress the need to keep this garbage off the streets."

Iverson and Allura walked away as a CSI team swarmed over the site looking for evidence.

Shiro stepped up to Keith who stood inside the empty car. Keith squatted down and leaned forward on the balls of his feet. "Hey Keith, I'm gonna grab Pidge and see what kind of surveillance they have here."

Keith held his fingerless gloves in his hands, "They used an oxyacetylene torch to cut the door open. It isn't anything you'd find laying around."

Shiro silently agreed, "Grab Hunk and Rax, hit up burglary. See if this crew ripped it off someone."

Keith nodded as he stood up and pulled his gloves over his hands.

Shiro and Pidge returned to headquarters and joined the others in the Lion's Den.

"We got a hit on the torch," Rax said as they stepped up to a computer hub that sat in the middle of the room.

Keith took up the narration. "A trade school was hit in Platte City. They got away with everything needed to rip off boxcars. The school sent us a list of fifteen former students who were either kicked out or dropped out."

Pidge stood in front of the computer as her fingers flew across the keyboard. "I've run them all, but nothing popped except for one Alex Gardner."

Hunk looked at the picture on the screen. "Alex? No Way."

"You know him?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, we lived only two blocks from each other. We went to high school together, and I run into him from time to time when I go to visit my parents."

Pidge looked at the screen as she read off his record. "Alex Gardner arrested for DUI, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and possession of stolen property."

Keith glanced down, "Well he was also charged for selling stolen goods."

Lance gazed over at Hunk who now paced around the room. "Based on his priors I'd say Gardner is our boy."

Shiro stepped up next to Pidge. "Pull up Gardner's intel. Send a BOLO out to patrol. I want eyes on this guy."

They got a lead that Alex Gardner was using his mother's business as a cover.

Shiro gave them their assignments.

Hunk and Griffin went in through the front. They saw Alex who stood behind a table instructing others on how to repackage the oxy pills for redistributing to customers.

As the door to the back room opened Hunk, and Griffin crept to their position. Hunk listening for the signal yelled, "Garrison SWAT. Hands up." He scanned the room with his military style weapon with Griffin following suit.

Gardner dropped what he held and ran only to come in contact with the immovable object of Keith's leg, which kicked out and the lighter, thinner man went flying to land on the floor. Pidge and Rax followed Keith.

Shiro and Lance came in from an opposite door to catch the other rabbits trying to escape.

Hunk stood over Alex, but he moved over to the other three and yelled, "Hands behind your backs," as the other three lay down on the ground. "Cover them," he told Griffin as he moved over to the three and pulled out three pairs of zip cuffs and proceeded to secure their hands behind their backs.

Pidge stared down at Gardner, "Hey, little rabbit, where are you going?"

Keith fit him with zip cuffs as Shiro walked over to them and gazed down at their prisoner. "Alex Gardner, you're under arrest for larceny, possession with intent to sell, and first-degree murder."

Alex sat in a chair behind the table in the interrogation room. His hands were now handcuffed in front of him. His arms moved up and down as he spoke while trying to plead his case to Hunk. "Look, I told you I'm just the middleman. A friend came to me with those pills and told me if I could sell them I get twenty percent." He fidgeted in his seat for a moment. "Hunk, you know me, man."

"The Alex I knew came from a good home. What the hell happened?"

Alex shrugged. "I followed my dreams like you. I started deejaying some parties, and they wanted pills. It was easy money."

"And now your rolling with Zarkon and his thugs, who killed a security guard."

Keith leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets. "Sounds like your trending down, Alex."

Shiro leaned against the two-way mirror with his arms crossed over his chest. "How did you plan on getting away?"

Alex sighed as he leaned forward. "Bro, I wasn't with them that killed the security guard. You can help me."

Hunk glared at Alex. "Why would I give you a get out of jail free card even if I could. Huh? So you can sell drugs to the kids in our neighborhood? No deal, bro."

Keith pushed himself off the wall. "What's the name of your friend?"

Alex leaned back as he gazed down at his hands. "Joey but I don't know his last name."

Keith placed his hands on the table as he leaned forward. "And Joey No Last Name got his pills from where?"

"He said he got them from some guy in Platt City who said he found them in a landfill."

Shiro placed a hand up to his face and stared at Alex. "Right," he replied as his voice took on a heavily sarcastic tone. "Some guy dumping his trash found two million worth of oxy in a landfill. Congratulations, my man but you've just won the first prize for the stupidest story anyone's ever tried to tell in this room."

Alex's lips trembled as he sucked in a shaky breath. "Look I know dealing drugs is dumb. But I didn't kill anybody."

Hunk, Keith, and Shiro joined the others as Pidge picked up a computer mouse. "I traced Gardner's calls to a burner phone but found a GPS app on his phone."

Hunk stared at the screen when it struck him why there'd be a GPS on his former friend's phone. "You can buy those tracer chips for twenty dollars, stick 'em in boxcars."

Commander Iverson gazed at Allura and Shiro. "That's the freight car that was hit last night."

Pidge brought an image to focus on the screen. "And that's the railyard twenty minutes southeast of the City of Industry."

Iverson gazed at Allura. "Lotor's next target."

Lotor's crew slid the door open to the freight car. Lotor stepped away as he placed a cigarette to his lips.

Lights came on turning the area around the boxcar from night to almost day. Shiro's voice roared from the bullhorn he held to his lips. "This is Garrison SWAT, face down on the ground, hands on your head."

Lotor pulled his handgun firing at the Bearcat as he hopped backward rapidly before breaking out into a run.

Shiro yelled, "Don't let them scatter," as his team gave chase. A whistle blew in the distance.

Lance yelled, "Train! Everybody watch your six!"

Shiro yelled, "Where's our backup?" as the train cut off their pursuit. But it did hit the slowest of the perps as he tried to escape.

Rax said, "They said they were five minutes out."

Keith growled, "Unbelievable."

Pidge glanced down at the ground at a body part. "Oh no."

Lance joined her. "Train won."

Pidge rolled her eyes as James caught sight of what she'd been looking at. He turned away from it and couldn't stop himself from gagging and then retching up the contents of his stomach.

Lance turned and glanced at the guy, "And he was supposed to be a good candidate?"

James stood up and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. "I know it might seem strange, but as a patrol cop I never once had to pull a gun or see a dead body."

"You're in SWAT now, so you'd better get a grip on reality Griffin," Shiro told him. "Your actions can either save a teammate or get someone killed."

After allowing Alex to stew in the interrogation room Hunk and Keith reentered.

Hunk slammed a hand on the table. "I have to wonder if the guy who died tonight was a friend of yours."

Alex raised his head to gaze at Hunk, "Huh?"

"See we caught Lotor's group robbing another boxcar. Only one of his guys was a little slow," Keith said as he smacked his hands together.

"If you give us the information to bring Lotor down I'll personally talk to the D.A. and get your sentence reduced," Hunk replied.

Alex leaned back in the chair finally realizing that no matter what story he told Hunk was never going to buy it. He sighed as something his grandma used to say to him as he was younger, 'The truth will set you free.' He nodded his head quickly. "Lotor buys the train schedules off a supervisor at the railhead after the trains are loaded. He'll have heard about my arrest, so he'll need a new schedule."

Shiro with his team following said, "We confiscated the Oxy from Lotor's first train robbery. We crashed his Vicodin party, and now he's down two from his crew."

Hunk added, "And he's down a fat chunk of money too."

Shiro nodded, "Right, so now he's desperate. But he knows the rails are too hot, so he needs to change tactics." He stepped up to Lance's big brother Marco. "You get pings on those boxes yet?"

Marco replied, "Yeah all fifty containers brought in by train have been transferred to flatbeds heading to cities all over the country."

Shiro gazed at Pidge.

She turned to Shiro, "I've highlighted the top five containers containing the highest priced cargo. Out of those only one has pharmaceutical drugs." She turned back to the screen and pressed one of the blinking dots. "Only this one that's scheduled to take off for St. Louis tonight with six million in Percocet."

Shiro smacked his hands together. "We'll form a plan as we move. Let's roll."

Rax, wearing a coverall walked toward the semi as the supervisor of the trucking company walked next to him. "We took the pallets of Percocet off as you asked." As they neared the semi, he said, "There she is. You sure you can handle this beast?"

Rax replied, "Don't insult me."

The supervisor chuckled and walked away.

Keith and Pidge followed. Keith addressed Rax, "Alright, so like we talked about. Take the scenic route to the freeway. Use the surface streets through the industrial area, so there are no pedestrians."

Rax nodded. "Keep it under thirty, hit every stop light!"

"We've got eyes on you all the time. So don't worry," Keith replied.

Pidge glanced over at Keith. "He look worried to you?" Keith huffed and walked away.

Pidge stared at Rax for a moment. "Hey, your missing something." She pulled a hat out of her back pocket.

"What's that?"

She held up the hat, "Get in, sit down, and shut up." She reached up and shoved the hat down on his head which had the words printed on the front of the hat. "Perfect."

Rax chuckled as he climbed into the cab of the semi.

Pidge hurried around the front of the truck heading for the car Keith would drive.

Rax pulled the semi off the lot and onto the road. "Alright, twenty David all clear on my one. How's my three-shot looking?"

Shiro drove his dark gray Dodge Charger police pursuit vehicle with Hunk riding shotgun and Griffin in the back. "Clear for now keep cruising. Let Lotor take the bait."

"Roger that Shiro. Hey, twenty-one David do you copy."

Keith replied, "Copy twenty-five David. Just waiting for you to say when."

Rax turned a corner when a large semi sized wrecker pulled up and stopped blocking the street. Rax slammed on the breaks as burned rubber reached his nose. "Twenty David game on. We got suspects armed with AK's."

A man on the street glared at him, "Open up."

Rax shouted back, "I don't think so, bro."

Three men lined up and started firing at the semi, but their rounds never pierced the bulletproof glass and pinged off the cab of the semi.

Two Dodge Chargers pulled up with tires squealing as Shiro shouted, "Coming up on your left, Rax!"

Hunk stepped out of the car yelling, "Drop your weapons!" As gunfire screamed on the street breaking the calm the day had promised.

Shiro called out, "Twenty David to command we're taking rounds, shots fired."

One of the suspects was able to slip away under a hail of gunfire. Another tried to shoot his way out, but Pidge shot him. "Twenty-two David to command, one suspect down."

Hunk snuck around the wrecker. The third perp turned and began to raise his weapon, but Hunk pulled out a taser, fired, and pushed a massive amount of electricity through the other man. "Twenty-six David, suspect down. I'm Code four."

Shiro and Keith took off in pursuit of the third suspect. They found themselves in the semi version of an elephant graveyard. Shiro said quickly. "I've got left side."

"I've got right."

Neither knew Griffin had followed them.

Keith and Shiro moved around the graveyard of semis. Adrenaline coursed through their veins as they searched for the last suspect.

Shiro stepped in between two trucks as he paused he didn't see the third suspect take aim.

Shots rang out behind him. Shiro spun around to see Griffin with his gun still raised and the perp down on the ground unmoving.

Griffin, who'd never had to shoot anyone froze as his skin paled to ghostly white. Keith stepped up beside him, placed his gloved palm on the barrel and pushed the rifle down. "It's okay now. You got him."

Griffin blinked several times. "I-I killed him."

"Better him than Shiro."

Shiro leaned back against a hulk of a truck breathing heavily as the import of what happened sunk into his brain. "Twenty David suspect down."

Shiro stepped into the Lion's Den. "Listen up. We've shut down Lotor's crew. Unfortunately, Lotor is still out there along with Zarkon."

Groans came from the other officers of his command.

"I know. I can't agree more. Go home, be with your families. You've earned some time off."