"we're also forgetting our racing careers/jobs"
"so how are we going to rebuild the clan then?"
"not sure I'm honestly not sure but we'll find a way"
Jack thinks about something then
"hey John, we never did have a chance to ask how mechanic school went seeing as how you graduated withing three months"
"sure we can talk about how things went, and also why I was graduated way earlier then most people
several months ago at mechanic school
"John I know it's your first day but you wrote on the sheet that you have some experience with cars and ships"
"yeah, I was around mechanics a lot and they taught me a few things, it also comes from having to fix your own car a few times as well" (thinks) "thank goodness the clan had a cover story already in place otherwise I'd be flustered trying to come up with one myself"
"all right then come with me class"
they go over to a car and they are shown what the instructor did to the car to test John out
"OK John your job is to fix the car to the best of your abilities"
five minutes later John comes out from under the car a bit dirty but happy
"I've done the best I can, hopefully if this were for real, it would last until the person could get it to a real mechanic, however, it depends on the geography of the planet they're on and also if they were a race car driver"
"what do you mean by that John?
"simple teacher I just did what's called a patch job"
"all you did was a temporary solution?, but you said that it would last until it gets to a real mechanic"
"I also said it depended on the geography of the planet and if they were an F-Zero racer"
"so it's like flipping a coin"
"yep because not all patch repairs last until you can get it to a mechanic"
"how do you know this?"
"simple I've done plenty of patch jobs that have failed on me before I could get to a mechanic, either because the damage was too severe or other factors prevented it"
"well you pass this test, that's for sure"
well it soon turned out that the class didn't appreciate the fact that a newbie was better then some of them. So the teachers for his own protection taught John away from the class and he excelled so they graduated him after only three months in the school
present
"and that's what happened"
"well that's interesting, one would think the class would enjoy having someone who actually knows what they're doing in case they need help with something"
"part of it I think was that they probably thought I was boasting about my skill when the teachers talked later that day about where to put me then anything"
well they would never get a chance to discuss further about how to pick new recruits because during individual training Maria was suddenly thought dead because her car was blown up and with evidence of her inside when it happened. Meanwhile with Maria she suddenly got a serious shock because a few elders along with many younger members had actually survived the Red Halls massacre
"you're alive, but how?"
and so once two points of identity confirmation happened everything was told to both groups. Those that knew of what actually happened at the massacre told Maria the truth while Maria told them about the happenings of the outside world
"so how are we going to escape?"
"we elders will provide the distraction so you can escape"
"but..."
"no Maria listen to us once more, you are the leader seeing as how you and John have been free the longest and we are old, too old to continue much longer, allow us one last meaningful battle so you can be free"
"very well elder I bend to your wisdom"
and so soon enough the battle for freedom began and Maria and several of the younger ones escaped but the elders and a few younger ones did not. Once at a safe spot Maria got to a radio
"all right now this is going to sound a little weird, especially if I have to use a code but bare with me alright?"
everyone agrees
"big leader to little leader come in, big leader to little leader come in"
"this is little leader big leader is dead go away"
"big leader to race leader do you copy?"
"this is race leader get off our frequency that you've managed to hack into"
Maria tunes it to the all Red Halls frequency
"all right this is big leader to all Red Halls members listen carefully before you do anything red light, green light, zoom, zoom, disabilities not a show, slish, slash who is that?, slish, slash must be the savior of the race"
there was silence for a bit and then
"but how your car exploded with you in it?"
"sorry little leader but I was actually abducted but there's more, we have a samurai code 15 with two points of confirmation"
"come down to new HQ and we'll get the third point of confirmation done there"
"copy that"
she turns off the radio
"all right now let's go home"
"Maria what was all that about on the radio?"
"that was a code guys, a code we made up shortly after my racing team became samurai"
"why'd you need to make a code in the first place?"
"because of the dangers of our job...look you know how I told you guys I was part of a task-force?"
"yes"
"well this task-force is a racing task-force that deals with criminals on a regular basis. Once the team became samurai they were put into much more danger, thus we ended up making codes for different situations"
"and this is one such situation right?"
"exactly"
"but is the code just nonsense that you come up with to identify yourselves or do they actually mean something more than just an identifier"
"they actually mean something, like for me I actually saved a race once because of my samurai skills and of course you all know about my breathing apparatus"
"so the codes identify that your alive and also who it is that's talking"
"except for the team captain, John and I"
"what do you mean?"
"easy we're known as big leader, little leader and race leader respectively"
"than the code?"
"it lets them know if your alive or what situation you're in for the three of us"
well three days later they were at task-force HQ and after fingerprints were taken it was confirmed that they were indeed several of the "dead" Red Halls members and then Jody speaks up