Session 33- One Tin Soldier
The song is 'I'm Going To Go Back There Someday'
The computer on the Bebop buzzed loudly. Ed glanced at the info that flashed. "Bounty, bounty!" she called. Jet, Faye, Spike, and Rangiku all raced into the main room and stared at the info.
"Wow, 75,000 Woolings?" Spike exclaimed. "We'll take it!"
"This guy is wanted for illegal transporting of cocane across the galaxy," Jet read. "Could be a tricky sort. He hardly ever leaves his truck. When he has to eat he goes through drive-throughs, he deposits his gains into banks via the automative tellers, he sleeps there, ducks into bathrooms to wash and change.."
"Ew," Rangiku said.
"Sounds like he's a smart one," Spike said.
"Yeah…until he ran into us," Faye pointed out. "Let's go add to our safes!"
"Don't mind if I do," Spike said, loading up his gun.
"Wait up, you guys," Jet said. "This guy is a tricky one. He hardly ever gets out of his ship and he does all his business out of his ship!"
"Well, he can't JUST stay in his ship!" Spike pointed out. "He's got to leave it once in a while, to pick up the coke, or to take a…" he caught himself as he glanced at Ed. "Use the bathroom," he corrected.
"Yeah, you're right there. Hey, Ed, can you hack into the system and find out when the nearest shipment of coccane was reported getting picked up?"
"Uh huh," she said. "Drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, searching…where are you, drug ship?" the computer bleeped as she moved her fingers up and down the keyboards searching quietly but rapidly for what she was looking for. Finally she was rewarded with a triumphant bleeping and a small red light glowing on the top of the map on her computer. "There it is. Yeah, some dealers were seen on Mars. The drugs were picked up by a man in a long green ship with a picture of a sun on it."
"Where was it headed, Ed?"
"Toward Venus. But first he made a pit stop on Earth."
"Not a bit surprised. Lot of drug dealers hang out there," Spike said.
Rangiku's head piped up then. "Ed, where on Earth did it land?"
"Let's see…see…see…in Texas. In America."
"Not in Japan?"
"Not even close."
Rangiku let out a deep sigh of relief. Jet looked up curiously.
"Why are ya asking that, Rangiku?"
"Just out of curiousity. I knew some people there, that's all."
"Who?" Jet asked.
"Just…some people I used to know..." Rangiku said, trailing off.
Spike stood up. "So, let's go. Ed, are ya keeping tabs on him now?"
"Ed will try."
"Ok, Faye, you take the Redtail and I'll take the Swordfish. Let's try to catch up with this guy and head him off at the pass."
"Yeah, I think you better sit this one out, Rangiku. You don't know how to operate the ship guns and we don't need a sword for this," Jet explained. "I'll stay by the computer and direct traffic. She nodded and picked up a fashion magazine she and Faye had gotten from their last shopping expedition.
"I don't mind, I'll just read up on the newest fashions."
"Yeah, Faye, she's definitely YOUR friend," Spike teased.
Spike and Faye made their way over to their ships and took off. "So, Spike, where exactly are we supposed to find this guy?" Faye asked.
"Weren't ya listening, Faye? Jet said to look for a long green ship with a sun painted on it. He was heading for Venus from Earth."
"Great, so at this rate he could be anywhere! Space isn't exactly limited ya know!"
"Thanks for sharing that, Faye," Spike said sarcastically as they continued to float in space.
"OK, so what;'s the first place we should look?"
"I say maybe near Earth? He couldn't have gotten far, you know how slow these large ships go, especially when he's got his way of making a living on board!"
"Aaaand we don't have any clue if he's armed or not."
"Yeah, that too."
"Great."
"Ya want that money or not, Faye?"
Just then Ed;s computer beeped importantly. "Papa!" Ed cried out joyfully. "Look, Papa, Ed found it! Drug ship!" Jet leaned forward to study the location. He went to his own computer to contact the ships.
"Spike? Faye? You there?"
"Yeah, Jet?" Spike called.
"Ed found where this joker is. He's making his way down toward the Milky Way."
"The Milky Way? Why the hell's he going there?"
"Probably his way of trying to lose people and lift suspicion from himself."
"Well, he's not doing that great a job!" Faye said. "Come to Faye you glorious bounty!"
"Hold it, Faye!" Jet said. "You're forgetting this guy takes all sorts of precautions! He hardly ever leaves his ship and now he's taking a long way around so people won't wonder why he keeps going straight to Mars! We don't know if he's armed or with what!"
"Oh fabulous, Jet, so how do you suggest we bag him?" Rangiku lifted her head up curiously.
"Maybe we can try to get him to land," Spike said. He put the Swordfish on full speed and headed toward the Milky Way, soon spotting the ship they were looking for. "Bingo," he said to himself.
"Hey, wait for me!" Faye said, driving the ship up behind him.
"Quiet, Faye! We don't want this guy to know we're coming up on him!" He steered the Swordfish to the back of the ship, quietly following his target until he was almost on his tail. At the last minute he swooped up, guiding the Swordfish right on top of it. "Ok, bud, now…either you surrender..or we go for a ride.." but before he could land the ship suddenly a huge gun quickly jetted out from the side of the ship and pointed upward- almost directly on the Swordfish! Spike managed to get away before the gun could blast it to pieces, but he came so close he could feel the heat generating from the blast! "DAMN it!" he yelled. "Faye, watch out!"
"Oh, sh….."Faye cried out, dodging a blast that no doubt was aimed at her. "Man, where did he get that from?"
"Same place he got THAT from!" Spike said, noting that another gun had somehow appeared from behind the ship. "Watch your back!"
Faye swerved as the guy missed. "Oh NO you didn't!" She tried to swerve underneath him but the gun followed her and kept shooting. The more Faye moved, the more the gun moved. The faster Faye moved, the faster the gun shot.
"Faye!" Spike called out. "Don't keep DOING that! Ya want your RedTail to be blown to junk all over again?"
"How are we supposed to get him now, Spike?"
"You're asking ME?"
"Well, YOU'RE the one with all the answers, Mr. Perfect!"
"I just have these guns, Faye, and they're nowhere near as big as this jerk's!"
"I think this guy's installed mirrors, radars, or something cause it looks like he's following us WITH those guns!"
"What's going on there?" Jet asked, concerned.
"Jet, this guy is armed far more than we were led to believe! He's got huge guns on the sides AND on the back of his ship! The only place he ain't armed is in the front, and we can't get there!"
"WHAT?"
"He nearly took my wing off, Jet!" Faye cried. "I think he's got mirrors in the ship somewhere!"
"We gotta find a way to corner him!"
"Well, how do you suggest we do that, Jet? This jerk's cornered us!"
Jet looked at where Rangiku was sitting curiously. "Hey, Rangiku? I think we need some of your Lieutenant knowhow here," he gestured her over. She sat down next to him.
"Anything I can do to help." Jet showed her the computer pattern. The drug trafficker was a blinking red light on the screen along with two small blinking blue dots which represented Spike and Faye.
"Look, Rangiku, this is that jerk, this is Spike, and this is Faye. This guy's got huge guns on either side of his ship and one in the back. He's far too quick and keeps catching them whenever they try to nail him!"
Rangiku studied the pattern in front of her for a moment. "I think I've lead something like this before…" Jet looked at her curiously. "When my Captain had to suddenly leave the Squad for a while to deal with a problem he was having with a former friend. I had to take charge of the Squad. We had to deal with a vicious attack by our enemies..and I remember…we surrounded him…" she took the communicator that Jet had given her. "Spike? Faye? It's Rangiku. I think I found a way you can surround him."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah…listen..Faye, try to fly closer to the ship from where you are now. Don't give a wide angle like you did before. Lower your engine so that he can't hear you well, and slowly move in close to him. Try to find the blind spot. No matter how big those guns are, if you're as close to him as you can be the gun can't reach you. Spike, you stay to the left and do the same. Keep your engines low and be as discreet as possible."
"All right," Spike said, turning off his backup jets and lowering the main ones until they could hardly be heard. Faye to his right did the same. They slowly started to move toward the ship, being as careful and as quiet as they could be.
"That's good," Rangiku encouraged. "Now move in close to the ship. Do you see the guns?"
"No, I don't see them," Faye agreed.
"Ok, that means he probably thinks you left. Continue to glide your way up there. Faye, stay to the right. Spike, keep to the left. Stay as close to the ship as you can, no doubt that's the blind spot. Don't stop until you reached the cockpit."
"All right," Spike said. "We're trusting you on this!"
"Spike listen to her. She was in the military, no doubt she's done something like this before."
"In fact I have. This is a lot like a battle I once had to lead my Squad through when my Captain was unavailable. Find the enemy's blind spot and surround him before he knows what's happening. Ok, Spike, where are you now?"
"Coming up on the side."
"Faye?"
"I'm almost to the cockpit."
"No guns yet?"
"I don't see any."
"No, he didn't take them out yet."
"Ok. Faye when you reach the edge of the cockpit, stop. Don't go any further. Wait for Spike and let me know when you both are on the edge."
Jet whistled, impressed. "You definitely know what you're talking about. You did something like this before?"
"Mmm-Hmm. One of the main things you're taught when you're learning about how to be a Vice-Captain is all kinds of strategies in case you ever do need to take over for the Captain."
Spike's voice came from the communicator. "OK, Rangiku, Faye and I are on opposite sides of the cockpit.
Rangiku looked and saw where they were. "OK, now take out your guns and aim them right for the cockpit. Don't shoot through it, but shoot one of the taillights each to throw him off guard. "
Spike was putting his spacesuit on. "Say no more, Rangiku. As soon as he's off guard I'll sneak in."
"Ok…get the guns ready…OK…almost there…NOW!" Immidiately Spike and Faye simultaniously fired , causing two of the taillights to burn out. Spike then lifted up the cockpit of the Swordfish and sailed out. He floated over to the cockpit, where the distressed pilot was fiddling with the controls, cursing out the taillights. He smartly knocked on the cockpit, startling him. Spike gestured for him to open it. The man at first shook his head…but relented immediately once he saw the shadow of the gun in Spike's hand. Shuddering he unfasioned the hatch...and threw it open. Spike then returned the favor by punching him out, scrambling into the cockpit Spike hit autopilot and turned on the radio, tuning it into the Bebop's frequency.
"Jet!"
"Yeah?"
"Put Ed on. I need her to hack into the computers on this thing and steer it to the police station. We got a big fat bounty coming right in our laps!"
Later that night…
Jet was sitting in the main room of the Bebop after supper, dividing up the bounty into four neat piles. Spike was sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette while Fay filed her nails. "Ok, guys, here ya go," he gave them both their share.
"I gotta admit, Rangiku went above and beyond," Spike said, taking his share and heading for the safe. "I dunno how she thought up that strategy for sneaking up on that guy!"
"That's something even I couldn't see," Jet admitted. "But hey, I'm not in the military and never was. "
"Soooo, Spike," Faye said, grinning slyly. "Do you agree with me NOW that bringing her on the ship was a good idea?"
"I gotta admit Faye, for once you actually had a good idea."
"Oh, I think I might faint."
Jet rolled his eyes as he opened the safe and both he and Spike put their shares into it. "Say, where is Rangiku anyway?"
"I think she's putting Ed to bed," Faye said. Jet checked his watch.
"Man, didn;'t know it was getting THAT late!" both he and Spike headed into the hallway that lead into Ed's room. When they got there they heared rangiku's voice. Peeking in they saw Ed laying on her bed with Ein curled up in his usual place next to her. Rangiku was leaning against the wall with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees, finishing telling Ed a story.
"So, that was how my Captain, Yamamoto, Ikkaku, and Me drove the enemy away from Shota and got him to reunite with his sister."
"Were you scared, rangiku?"
"Well, I would be lieing if I didn't say I was a little scared. But we all knew that if that horrible enemy was allowed to roam the Earth there would be no stopping him from fulfilling his dreams of hurting even more people and taking over the entire land. If he got powerful enough no one would be able to stop him!"
"But you did."
"Just in the nick of time."
"What happened to Shota?"
"He went to live with his sister."
"Wow, Rangiku tells some of the BEST stories! Just like Papa! Did all that REALLY happen to you?"
"Cross my heart," she looked at her watch. "OK, Ed. Bedtime. Your papa should be in any minute to tuck you in."
"Will Rangiku tell Ed another story tomorrow night?"
"Of course. Now tuck yourself in before your Papa comes," she helped Ed tuck herself into bed.
"Rangiku?"
"Yes, Ed?"
"Papa said you were a member of our family?"
Rangiku smoothed out Ed's hair. "Yes, he did, and I'm honored you think of me like that."
"Rangiku? Would it be all right if Ed called you 'Aunt Rangiku'?" She touched Rangiku's hand. "You're a member of Ed's family, like Aunt Faye-Faye, so you're Ed's aunt too! Want to be?"
Rangiku smiled. "I'm honored, Ed! Thank you." She hugged Ed gentily. Slowly her eyes darted to the outside of Ed's window, where all the stars glittered brightly. Her eyes were focused on just one star in particular. It was bright and glowed the faintest of blue. She gazed upon it with a faraway look in her eyes, and Ed feared she might cry again.
"Aunt Rangiku? Will you sing Ed another song? Please?"
She turned to Ed. "As long as you promise not to fall asleep before I finish."
"Ed promises!" she sat up. Rangiku smiled and put her arm around Ed while gazing at the star in the sky.
"This looks familiar
Vaguely familiar
Almost unreal yet
It's too soon to feel yet
Close to my soul and yet so far away
I'm going to go back there some day.
Sunrises, nightfalls
Sometimes the sky calls
Is that a song there?
Then do I belong there?
I've never been there but I know the way
I'm going to go back there some day.
Come and go with me
It's more fun to share
We'll both be completely at home in midair
We're flying, not walking, on featherless wings
We can hold on to love like invisible strings.
There's not a word yet for old friends
Who've just met
Part heaven, part space
Or have I found my place?
You can just visit, but I plan to stay.
I'm going to go back there some day
I'm going to go back there some day."
As soon as the song was over Jet and Spike finally came into the room. "All right, Ed, time to sleep." He tucked Ed is carefully, and He, Spike, and Rangiku gave her good night kisses.
"Good night, Papa. Good Night, Uncle Spike. Good night, Aunt Rangiku."
"Good night, Ed." They turned off her light and left the room. Spike looked at Rangiku amuzed.
"Aunt Rangiku," he chuckled a bit. "She's officially pegged you. You're one of us now!"
Rangiku smiled. "I'm glad to be, Spike. It's nice to have a family." Her eyes went to the nearest window again and looked at the star. Spike followed her gaze.
"Hey?" she looked at him. "Anything wrong?"
"No," she assured him. "Not really…I…was just thinking of someone."
"Who?" Jet asked.
"Just…someone I used to know…" she went on her way. Spike shrugged and followed.
"Yeah…she's definitely one of us now."
This chapter was written this was (No Soul Society here) to commemorate the 10th anniversary of this amazing anime!
Here's to 10 more years of Bebop!
