Jennie growled as she evaded a slash from Zero's saber.
She hadn't been expecting X and Zero to take over her training… she'd assumed they would just speak to her trainers about her problem. But it seemed she had been wrong. Zero was running her through her paces as X watched, and Jennie was suffering from the same excitement and rage as before…
She heard something, but it was immaterial. All she wanted to do was get past her enemies guard. She dashed forward, planning to-
"OW!" Something hit her in the back, hard, knocking her to the ground. She rolled over with a snarl to see who had interrupted her practice.
X was standing there, expression stern. He had fired a low level shot at her! But why…?
"If you had been listening to your communicator, you would have heard me say, "Look out behind you!"" Jennie blushed scarlet, mortified at her lapse. "Let's try it again." She looked up at Zero, who smiled sympathetically.
"It's a rough school, but it works in the end." Then he chuckled. "Sigma and Wyorli were the ones to do this to me!" Jennie's eyes widened at that… but Sigma had been a commander when Zero had been a rookie. It was hard to imagine Zero as a newbie, but it had to have been true at some point.
"Yes sir!" She bounced back to her feet, tired but still game. She needed to master this, for her friends if not herself.
The next day…
Jennie squinted, protecting her eyes against the wind, her hair flowing behind her like a wave of gold. Even at the speeds she was traveling, the air was hot, and so dry it felt like it was leeching all the moisture out of her skin.
The hoverbike beneath her suddenly bucked and she swore, fighting with it for a moment. It was old and tired, in need of repairs. Axl was just ahead of her on a better model, and he glanced back at her with an impish grin.
As Maverick Hunters, they had permission to break all the speed limits, and the result was an exhilarating ride. The long, flat roads were perfect for going all out and the scenery was spectacular. Jennie gazed around alertly, her eyes constantly shifting as she searched for any sign of trouble. But all she saw was the windswept desert, decorated with scrub brush and cacti. Large rocks rose from the plain, orange and brown in color. Truly, it was a glorious vista, a land of barren beauty that made her want to stop to just quietly soak in the tranquility.
But, alas, they had a job to do. Jennie continued to scan the desert, paying only peripheral attention to a Winnebago coming in the opposite direction. It was old, badly beaten with peeling paint. No Maverick would have been caught dead in it.
She was utterly shocked when it swerved towards them, forcing them both off the road. Fortunately, the hoverbikes adjusted easily to the transition and they blazed over the nearby brush, before slipping back onto the road.
Kzt… What an asshole! Axl's voice came through over the communicator, and Jennie grimaced.
"Complete asshole." She agreed. "Maybe he didn't like our speed." Some people disliked the Hunter exemption from traffic codes.
Of course, there was a possibility that the driver didn't like Hunters or Reploids, or both, but she preferred to believe in general malice than bigotry.
I should follow him and jump the back of that dirtmobile.
"He'd deserve it, but we don't need it right now." They were both still on probation from the escapade at the Maverick HQ. The communicator managed to reproduce Axl's sigh perfectly.
I guess your right. Too bad, I'd have loved to teach him a lesson. They continued in silence for a while, seeing nothing interesting but a blue, four door sports car. It was parked by the side of the road, on the same lane the Winnebago had been driving down.
They flashed past it quickly, but Jennie was left with a peculiar feeling that something wasn't quite right. She frowned, slowing slightly as she tried to understand what was bothering her. Then her eyes widened as she realized…
"Axl? Can we go back to that blue car?"
Sure, I guess. Why?
"Something funny. The doors were open, did you notice?"
No. That is a bit strange. Okay. They had encountered nothing at all interesting so far, so Axl made a sharp U-turn, throwing up a cloud of dust into Jennie's face. She coughed, eyes watering, but followed at a slower speed.
"Watch the dust…" She mumbled as they came to stop near the car. She frowned as she looked at it. Three of the four doors were open. She put her hoverbike into park as Axl slowly walked toward the car, his gun out.
"Holy hell!" His surprised exclamation brought her over running. Axl was putting away his weapon and kneeling down beside the front door. Jennie almost gagged as she realized the dark liquid he was kneeling in was blood.
A human was sitting in the front seat, barely alive. Axl carefully eased him out, and Jennie gasped as she saw his injuries. Someone had shot him, once in the chest and once in the gut, with a weak, civilian style firearm. Axl looked up at her helplessly, obviously clueless about what to do with a human. Jennie quickly knelt down beside him, and pressed a hand against the gut wound, trying to slow the bleeding.
It didn't seem to help much, but the man's eyelids flickered. He was a dark haired man, middle-aged, and would have been handsome if he hadn't been pale as milk. At first, his eyes were out of focus but then he oriented himself on her. Jennie was startled by the desperation in his face.
"Ellen… Marjie…" Jennie blinked at that. "Help…"
"It's alright sir. I've contacted an ambulance." Axl said as soothingly as he could manage. It wasn't really his style. But the man only became more agitated.
"Not… me! Wife… daughter… they took…" He swallowed, a wet, tearing sound that made Jennie cringe.
"Someone kidnapped your wife and daughter?" She questioned. "Who?"
"Men… two. Forced us off the road… help… them…" He gasped, unable to speak further. Axl's and Jennie's eyes met in grim surmise. It was too much of a coincidence that this man was forced off a road, and the Winnebago they had passed had tried exactly the same maneuver on them.
Jennie looked down at the man, and her breath caught in her throat. He was so still… she quickly searching for a pulse, and found nothing. Grimacing, she stood and tried to wipe her hands off on the car's backseat. It would need to be cleaned anyway.
"Damn." Axl looked down at the man, expression grim. "I thought he would, but…" Jennie nodded. They had both hoped the ambulance would arrive in time.
"We have to go after that car. If it reaches the city, it's lost for sure and certain. I didn't get the license, did you?" Axl shook his head, as they stepped away from the dead man and back towards their hoverbikes. Jennie frowned as she got back on her bike. This situation called for some cleverness. "If we just go and force them off the road… Axl, what happens if they use the woman and child as hostages?"
"Oh man." Axl contemplated that situation for a moment, and then grimaced. "And they're humans. We're not supposed to kill them." They could, and would probably get away with it given the evidence of gross antisocial actions on the offenders' part. But still… it would be difficult.
"We kill them if we have to." Jennie couldn't have lived with herself any other way. "Police Reploids are allowed." There was just no way to be a police officer without occasionally shooting someone. "But I was thinking. These guys are perverts, right? And we've got some civvies in our bikes." They had both brought changes of clothes, for when their shift was over and they returned the bikes to the Albuquerque storage unit. They had planned to explore the city before returning. "We could get ahead of them easily. I bet if they saw a pretty woman, alone, trying to flag down a ride they wouldn't be able to resist."
"Three being better than two? Maybe." Axl grinned wickedly. "Alright, get out those clothes so I can change!" Jennie stared at him, stupefied.
"What?" She was completely lost. Axl's grin widened.
"So I can seduce them into picking me up, of course!" He struck a pose that had probably been swiped from a Playboy magazine. One hand on his hip, the other teasing his hair… well, sort of, since it was far too spiky.
"Axl!" Jennie sputtered. "You can't… you… you haven't got boobs!"
"I can stuff!" He looked at her with shining sincerity. She didn't know whether to laugh or scream.
"You… your hair! Your scars!"
"Makeup! And you can do my hair, can't you?"
"Axl!" Jennie finally laughed, and Axl grinned. "You are totally unreal."
"You don't think I would make a convincing girl?" He asked, wounded, and then shrugged. "Well, maybe if they were blind… okay." He stepped forward to touch her cheek, and she blushed. "You be careful."
"Always." They kissed briefly, before getting back on their bikes…