"Hello everyone I was just...what are you doing here?"
"No Karl what are you doing here? I thought you were fired from the park services and slapped with a restraining order for two years that clearly stated you were to go no where's near a National Park during that time, so I'd suggest you leave before I arrest you myself and you know full well I have that power"
"Oh please I got that overturned last week, surely you heard of that considering you were the one who got me in trouble in the first place"
"Maybe I didn't get the notice then because I clearly remember what the courts decided since you almost shot me out of the sky, as it is you're lucky you didn't hit any of our planes, how you even managed to get a gun onto the facilities is beyond me"
"Wait why are you calling John Karl and how is it he knows you?"
"During my training there were problems developing that ultimately came to a head one month into training when me and another plane were almost shot out of the sky, fortunately for me I saw who was the perpetrator so I identified him for the authorities and shortly before the big fire the courts decided to ban him from National Parks for two years and he was also fired from the park services for life once the conviction got handed down. Apparently he somehow got that overturned while I was fighting fires shortly before I lost members of my last team and didn't get the notification immediately like I'm supposed to"
Just then Karen's phone rang and as soon as she heard the other end of the line everyone could tell that she was even angrier, so angry in fact that she started talking nonsense to the group but made perfect sense to her since she was speaking Cybertronian
*How dare you! I am going to make sure you go down hard for this you never mentioned you were supposed to voluntarily hand yourself in to go to prison after you got your affairs in order I am going to take you down and hand you to the local authorities myself! *
"Well I have to go so..."
"Oh no you don't, you are in big trouble mister you never turned yourself in and that means there's a warrant out for you and that means I get to arrest you and hand you in to the local authorities personally so stay put before I find a way to keep you there"
John/Karl decided to run though so Karen simply took off after him and actually threw a piece of pipe tripping him up which gave her the chance to catch up and arrest him
"Chief looks like I can't start duty quite yet, I have a criminal to turn in first, where's the nearest police station from here?"
(Sighs) "I'll drive you, speaking of which do you have a driver's license?"
"Yes I do however I don't currently have a car, I've been renting since I moved away from home"
"Then I'll drive you to the station this time so that you can start getting to know your new home"
"Works for me, have a car that has a partition?"
"Yes actually I do, we'll use that one then, by the way good throw"
"Thanks, wish I didn't have to use it though"
"Well if he'd gone quietly in the first place..."
"True enough, I'll let the local authorities know so that he can get checked out I am not risking it with just the two of us"
"Okay then, let's get going, Mike you're in charge until I get back"
"Understood sir"
Karen and the chief were gone for two hours, mainly because of the fact that not only was the drive long but they also had to stop for gas on the way back and once they dropped off their passenger they talked freely on the road about Karen's responsibilities especially in regards to her powers
"So we'll definitely get enough advanced warning as to not have any trouble if you're needed for any military branch?"
"Actually now that I think about it there's one branch that might not be able to give advanced notice due to a specific set of circumstances"
"Which branch is that so that I can be at least semi-prepared that you have to leave immediately"
"The Coast Guard"
"Hurricanes, they might need you immediately because of hurricanes"
"Exactly, there's a reason I stayed away from the National Guard because I literally can't handle any more training then what I've been given by the military"
"How do you keep everything straight?"
"Well uniforms help slightly, but since I have a unique uniform I have to be around the uniform of the branch I am serving under...I know I should have five separate uniforms and we're working on that, unfortunately I've been part of the military for so long it's taking some time to decide just how we're going to manage such a feat or if it would even be prudent for me to change into separate uniforms now, especially if a situation arises where I have to jump from one branch to another at a moments notice, either that or a combined mission"
"If it is decided that you have separate uniforms how should I explain that to the team?"
"That would be covered under need to know actually, so if something happens and they see me in one uniform but the next time I'm in another they will have to know my military background and part of the reason why I have such training, then again if I have to reveal my powers before I am called to active duty by the military I will explain my military training then because they have to understand where I gained such control. I will admit that some of that control is gained as I grow up but having the training that I've had has helped immensely, especially if I need to use them for long periods of time"
"Endurance training"
"Exactly, the training I've been given has given me extreme endurance in regards to my powers but also in regards to how long I can stay up and handle tense situations. I wasn't lying when I said that I might speak a foreign language if things are tense enough but I also haven't mentioned the fact that I can stay up for 48 hours straight and still be able to think clearly, after that my ability diminishes and after 72 hours up straight I will simply drop where I am and sleep for at least eight hours maybe longer depending on several factors"
"Basically if something major happens I can expect you to be up for the duration unless it lasts longer than three days"
"Exactly, oh and if that situation arises you're going to have to watch me like a hawk"
"What for?"
"Food intake, I will literally forget to eat in emergency situations. During training there was a fire shortly before the one that killed my teammates, it was a relatively small fire but the winds were not playing nice and we had a slightly hard time keeping it contained as much as we ultimately did. We were able to get more than a five minute hydration break in the second day of the situation and everyone was offered food and everyone else gladly ate, I however was sick at the thought of food and declined to eat, on the third day when I still refused to eat they asked me point blank when the last time I ate was and I answered honestly and told them that it was right before the fire because an hour before the call out we had managed to get lunch. While everyone else had managed to snag a snack on occasion I completely ignored food until after the fire was taken care of so naturally I wasn't hungry because I hadn't eaten enough recently to even realize how hungry I truly was. After that day a policy was made that every firefighter had to have at least three times a day where if they can't catch a real meal they will at least have enough time for a quick bite to eat, be it a bag of chips, some beef jerky, anything that's a quick meal if only to keep their energy levels up even slightly and to make sure that they do indeed fell hungry after having not had a true meal in days. I was actually heading towards trouble that is common for diabetics if not for the fact that the fire had gotten contained, it would take another two days for the fire to actually be put out but once it was contained several teams had a chance to actually eat. I myself was actually checked out by Paramedics and was almost sent to the hospital because of my stupidity"
"Thus the mandatory snack rule, which I guess is still in place if only to keep you eating when you don't really have a chance"
"Exactly, I even keep emergency snacks on the plane just in case"
"A reminder to eat during the major emergencies"
"Yep, but I might need a reminder about the snacks"
"Don't worry I'll make sure of it, now then let's finish gassing up and then we'll get back to base"
They soon got back to base and Karen started training once again so as to get used to the group when suddenly an actual fire call was started. A person actually deliberately started a fire in three different places aided by gasoline so the fires were burning hot and fast
"What's the wind conditions?"
"Rapid heading North by Northeast"
"That's not good chief, not with the low pressure system in the area, I should know because I checked the weather for the area before I flew in, if I remember correctly that means that the fire is...headed straight for the main lodge"
"Chief we've got a problem here"
"What's the problem Jake?"
"The lodge is surrounded all exits blocked by fire"
"Karen how long would you last protecting the entire lodge and area around it?"
"Single layer for five minutes, maybe"
"And if we gather everyone outside and center them around the plane? I know better than to think you'd abandon him"
"Five layers for half an hour tops and that's for current conditions only, if the wind shifts any further or that low pressure system does something unexpected..."
"You guys won't be able to last long enough for a rescue despite your best efforts"
"Exactly sir, our best bet of survival is calling for mutual aid immediately, that might keep us alive down there but only if they're fast enough"
"Don't worry I'll take care of it, you just take care of the visitors"
"Yes sir"
Karen flies down ignoring everyone's questions to the chief who stated that they would get an explanation later because this definitely fell under need to know, even Karen knew that the questions would be unavoidable which meant her new crew was about to get the full story when her training crew didn't, and much sooner than she wanted too. As soon as Karen landed she made sure that everyone got the order to gather around the plane and then Karen activated her special abilities, abilities she'd had since she was five years old
"Arranyan shields, five layers!"
Karen soon knew everyone was protected for at least half an hour and she knew that if help arrived quickly enough she could keep the shields going until given the all clear, but only if things either changed for the better in regards to the weather or they got help a lot faster than what was expected
"Kerenai I expect updates every five to ten minutes, sooner if anything drastically changes that you feel I need to know, we'll be the ones informing you of any clearings"
"Understood chief, afterwords yes I will give you guys the full background, including my military ties because unfortunately if you know about my abilities you have to know about the military as well, don't worry all of this falls under need to know and I have Presidential permission to decide what's need to know and what's not, have since I was...fourteen. Part of the reason why is because part of my story involves the military so you guys need to know what you're in for"
"Do we have to sign any documentation?"
"Yeah actually I want you to sign documentation afterwords, and understand that temps are not allowed to know anything about me and if I tell you I can't talk about it I mean I can't talk about it and don't press me for any answers"
"Got it Kerenai, anything else we should know?"
"Um we'll explain that after the fire because it involves my firefighting abilities, though chief if need be we'll discuss it sooner, but that depends entirely on the weather"
"I think I know what you're talking about and I agree, they don't need to know that aspect of your firefighting capabilities until necessary, because I won't have to do anything until then"
Fifteen minutes later Karen was reporting that things were getting worse for her and everyone with her and that they could really use a window of opportunity any time now
"You guys have fifteen minutes before we're dead"
"What are your layers?"
"Down to two, but they're my strongest layers which is why they last so long and why I gave you half an hour, however with every fallen layer I weaken just that much more and what's more is that I am doing my best to make sure that if any smoke filters in I keep the air fresh so that's also draining my resources"
"I thought that people could go in but nothing could get out and I also thought that the barrier excluded smoke"
"Sorry chief but something happened after the fifth layer broke and the smoke poured in for some reason my abilities can't keep the smoke out like normal which is a bit concerning actually"
"Okay, with you filtering the air how long can you last?"
"Fifteen minutes, but only just after the fifteen minutes I'll pass out and everyone will be consumed either by smoke or fire, the plane will protect me from the smoke but not the fire ultimately so I hope you guys can hurry things along slightly because we are in desperate need of a rescue right now. And chief next time there's a fire like this I am staying up in the air as long as possible, we'll evacuate sooner next time so that we're not in a situation like this again"
"Not our fault we had an arsonist"
"I know and that's probably part of the problem, but still maybe we should find a way to always have at least one exit clear for future fires so that this doesn't happen again"
"Agreed, we'll all meet and discuss ways with the lodge later, by the way help is finally on the way and an exit should be available soon, you able to take off from where you are?"
"Yeah I'm good"
"That's all I need to know"
Five minutes later Karen was able to release the shields and allow everyone to get to their cars to finish evacuating and Karen herself got back up into the air and finished fighting the fire. Afterwords the smokejumpers stayed behind while the pilots went back to base since it was nighttime and everyone knew better than to fly at night since they weren't commercial aircraft. They did know that the situation was under control though