"Okay I know you guys have questions and I will give them to you guys, but I also want the smokejumpers involved in hearing the explanation because there might come a time that they too need to know so what I want to know is do we wait until we're sure the fire is out or do we record what I am going to say and show them the message later?"

"We wait until the smokejumpers can hear as well"

"Okay then, don't worry I will explain but I want everyone to hear my explanations that's all"

"In the meantime everyone get some sleep just in case things pick up, even then we'll be needed to finish the fight so I want everyone up and ready to go at daylight, Kerenai seeing as how you wake up before everyone else I want you to make sure food is ready for us so that we're not flying on an empty stomach, and I want to know a little bit more about what we talked about in the car because some of what you said doesn't make much since considering our restrictions"

"Oh I have two words for you in regards to that, ground crew"

"Wait you volunteered for..."

"Yes I did because of the fact that the fire was still uncontrolled when we were forced to stop flying and it lasted that ways for almost the entire time"

"That's it we're having talks about how dedicated you are after this"

"Fine"

"Oh by the way someone knew you were coming here and sent this shortly before you arrived"

She's handed an envelope and as soon as she opens it and reveals the contents they knew that she was shocked about something

"Kerenai what's wrong?"

"These are known as challenge coins, I myself have one uniquely made for me because of special circumstances, as you know chief and everyone else will find out I serve in the military have been for a long time, and yes that's part of the story I will tell everyone once the fire is out. One of the units I served made a promise with each other, that we'd pass on the challenge coin to the last survivor in our unit as a memento of our time with them, almost everyone got a challenge coin except one but at the time that was because he had only just joined three weeks earlier while the rest of us had been serving for years. For me to be receiving these challenge coins means something happened to the unit and everyone's dead"

Karen reads the letter confirming her fears, it describes how the unit had been ambushed during a peace keeping mission in Bosnia, everyone's wills had mentioned the promise they made to each other and that since she was the last surviving member of the unit she was the one to inherit all the coins

"Karen, do I need to pull you tomorrow?"

"No sir, I know my duty, I've been trained for this exact situation since I was five I can handle the fire, I might do some mourning later but until I get a chance I can put my emotions aside"

"Very well, get some sleep, make sure we have breakfast and afterwords you can mourn before you do explaining to the team"

"We'll see, and maybe I'll tell a few stories about the unit too, that might help"

"Not until you're ready Kerenai, now then the sleep thing is an order to everyone"

The next day everyone woke up to a good breakfast and by that afternoon the fire was out and only a small crew needed to stay to make sure that the fire was truly out and didn't sprout up again so two teams of smokejumpers stayed over the next six hours but by that evening the Yellowstone team was back together and it was time for Karen to explain her story

"Okay, please understand that the forms I have here are necessary for everyone except the chief because he's already signed his forms, he did it the day it was confirmed I was being transferred here after my training was done. Now then you overheard the chief talking about something extremely vague, and he also mentioned a he I can explain all of that in one story. First of all has everyone heard of the EDC?"

Everyone nods their heads yes

"Okay, I am what's commonly called an EDC kid meaning I have or had at least one family member that either is or was part of the EDC, however I'm unique amongst the EDC kids for a very special reason. My plane is called Powerglide, yes the same Powerglide that the Cybertronians lost in a battle a little over four years ago, there's a reason behind that. The reason is because my plane is in reality Powerglide, now then his engine has been modified so that regular mechanics can make repairs at need but I want him to remain as Cybertronian as possible due to the fact that he's one of my family members. Yes the Cybertronians raised me since I was a month old at the request of my birth parents and it is actually in their will, so the Cybertronians did take me in and raised me with help from the human members of the EDC, mainly Captain Faireborn. When I was five it was discovered that I had powers that I was born with but didn't emerge until that day, due to that it was decided I would get military training and since that day I have been training with every branch of the armed forces including the special ops branch during the summer and holidays, I've mainly been training with the Coast Guard but I do train with other branches from time to time mostly during winter and spring breaks. Now then once I turned eighteen I signed a unique contract that stated I was remaining in the reserves instead of going to the main forces, that's because at fourteen when Powerglide died I decided to become a SEAT pilot, I had actually been thinking about joining a fire department for a few years but didn't decide to become a SEAT pilot until we lost Powerglide. I figured that was the best way to honor his sacrifice"

"So what you and the chief were discussing that day was your powers"

"Exactly, specifically my shields, the smaller my shields the longer I can hold them and the stronger I can make them, however depending on how long I use my abilities or how strong they are I do get tired, and with the shields I also weaken every time a layer is broken down by any means. The only time I'm not severely affected is when I use the shields on me and only me, but I eventually do get tired, which is probably why I don't activate personal shields very often. I will use other abilities as needed but my shields are the most important ones you need to know about. Now then because I am in the reserves of every branch of the armed forces I will be leaving for training one weekend a month and two weeks every year for regular training. There is also a chance of me being called up for duty but if that happens almost every branch will give us enough advanced warning that you can start looking for a temp SEAT pilot before I leave"

"Which branch is the exception?"

"The Coast Guard"

"Because of hurricanes, if a big one goes down..."

"Exactly, however that is the only branch that might not be able to give enough advanced warning. There's one more thing we need to discuss that the chief is making a mandatory rule, we must always have emergency food in our planes should our rescues last even longer than this one and are worse too. I did something stupid once during training and paid for it dearly by almost winding up in the hospital. I forgot to eat during a fire and as such when it was time for me to eat I wasn't hungry and became low on blood sugar. After that my training chief decided to make it mandatory that all of us carry small emergency snacks so that if a rescue lasts longer than expected we still eat, and if that happens it's also mandatory that we get three breaks a day at minimum to eat said snack since we might not have time for an actual meal. That's even more critical for me because depending on the fire I might decide to volunteer for ground duty when I can't fly. I also can stay up for three days straight because of my military training giving me that kind of endurance, even when I use my powers"

"But you don't have ground training"

"That's the thing, I do have ground training, I just don't use it very often. I have never told anyone but the military gave me firefighting training when I was sixteen, the same year I started training to become a military and civilian pilot, not many people know that though because I don't like to mention how much training the military has given me. I have kept up this certification though and when anyone checks they see it via the military and no one asks questions, even if they know I also fly during the fires. If there's a big fire I may decide to fly and also fight from the ground and that's where I got myself into trouble, because I was doing double duty and not paying attention to my own needs, until I couldn't eat because the thought of food literally made me sick and I was only a few hours away from simply crashing right then and there to get decent sleep"

"So basically we need to keep an eye on you for future reference and make sure that the food rule in enforced, even if you fight against it"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, you have got to keep on me no matter what. Now then whenever I am called to duty you will have temps, they are not to know about my abilities but they can know that I am in the reserves and as such the reason why they were temporarily assigned to this post. They are also allowed to fly Powerglide to fight fires if something happens to their main plane, and they are allowed to take him out for long maintenance flights every two weeks, if he needs a maintenance flight sooner no longer than half an hour, oh and they're not to know that the plane is Powerglide either"

"That actually makes sense, not many people would understand why your family allowed this, or would even understand your connection to the Cybertronians"

"The only ones who have a hope of basic understanding are fellow EDC kids but even they don't have the full story about me"

"Now then Kerenai might soon be receiving multiple uniforms, one for each branch of the military, so if she has one uniform on one time and another uniform on another understand that it's because of the different branches she serves"

"I will actually have two uniforms per branch, a dress uniform and a work uniform, there's also the fact that I might be receiving my orders in person so if someone in uniform does come to the base and we're out on a call I am required to know immediately guys, if we're not out on a call I still need to know immediately so that I can meet them and receive any orders I may have"

"Now remember they might be short notice orders especially for the Coast Guard so depending on what her orders are she'll either get dressed immediately or tell us to start looking for temps and then give us a drop dead date"

"Drop dead date?"

"Yeah it's the absolute last day you have to find one because after that you're going to be down a man which might not end well depending on fire season"

"Anything else we need to know?"

"Nope because you already know about the random language change"

"What were you speaking by the way?"

"Sorry don't want to discuss what languages I know because I know a lot, have to"

"Fine, just...try and not do that because it's hard keeping up when you don't know the language and you really want to know what was said and you can't. By the way I know New Orleans French"

"New Orleans French huh? I know actual French so you might not be able to translate as easily as you think you can"

"Fine by me, at least if you suddenly start speaking French I might have a basic idea of what you're saying"

"True enough, oh and there might be times I slip into sign language, either that or we might have a visitor that uses sign language, if that happens let me know and I will do all the translating, unless it's with the military"

"Because depending on what it is you have to protect what you know in regards to the military. If you are called by the Coast Guard to help with hurricane situations would you be able to talk about it?"

"Yes I would, and it would actually be critical for me to do so because of the fact that I will need a place to vent and vent openly at times no matter what the branch, unfortunately I can really only do that if I am doing rescues after hurricanes because otherwise I might risk operational security which no one can afford. It would also be important because depending on the weather here there's a possibility of hurricane like winds and their aftermath and you'll need my Coast Guard knowledge to deal with those situations"

"Okay then, for now let's just get back to our normal duties and worry about situations regarding Kerenai's position as they come up"

Just then an official truck came up and Kerenai instantly recognized the truck too

"Hey guys, training's gonna have to wait a minutes I got something I have to take care of"

"How urgent is it?"

"Urgent enough that these people have to know where I am at all times because they can only contact me while in country for a reason I am not going to get into"

Kerenai goes over to the group and everyone could tell that they were suits, what they didn't know was who they worked for

"Hello agents, are you the new case agents that are to inform me of any developments?"

"Indeed we are Kerenai, you should know that he's recently escaped Federal prison"

"I see, when did this happen?"

"Less then six hours ago, we got the call immediately and from there we tracked you down and came from the field office, just a long drive from there is all"

"I understand, and unfortunately this is one of the things that has to be done in person"

"Exactly, a security measure if I recall correctly"

"Yes it is, and of course I'm wearing my contacts so I know it's you immediately, even plastic surgery can't fool these contacts"

"Does your boss know about the contacts or even why we might come here?"

"No, you know from the files that I have kept that a secret for a long time now. I also know that there have been times when there's an agent watching me without them thinking I noticed"

"That's because we were concerned about potential people coming after you after what you did"

"I know, but you know as well as I do that obeying orders from my family, Federal agents or my commanding officers has been ingrained in me since I was five for my own safety. Now then for now as far as we know he doesn't know where you currently live and we're going to do our best to keep it that way, but there might come a time when we will have to have you moved for everyone's safety"

"Guys if this man finds out where I live we're going to have to fake my death and then make sure no one finds out the truth. The President has insured that any credentials I gain goes to any name I am given, even if I'm amnesic the one caveat to that is that I have to be retested to make sure I remember without really remembering"

"Well like I said for now he has no clue where you live and we'll do our best to make sure it stays that ways, we're also going to be in contact more regularly mostly by phone though since we can't drive three and a half hours every time unless we think it really important. We're also going to have an agent move closer to the park so that if something goes wrong you have help immediately"

"I'll also screen my mail more carefully and make sure I don't use the same route too often except in the park because there's really only one route once I get in the park to get here"

"Yeah we know, but try and change up the routes to get here as much as possible, either that or do what you've been doing and live in the park as much as possible which will help a great deal in regards to security"

"Don't worry that was always the plan, now then can I get you guys anything to eat before you head back to base?"

"No, we just ate shortly before we got here"

"Okay, keep in touch and I will as well, once a week sound good?"

"That works perfectly"

Karen then went to her plane signaling to her team that everything was okay and they did training, though afterwords Karen was confronted by the boss

"Karen what were strangers doing at my base? I think you know, and you know what I think the better question is what were suits doing at my base?"

(Sighs) "I'm sorry chief but I can't tell you anything for you own safety...however you should know that there's a possibility they'll show up again or if not them specifically another team. Let me know immediately and keep them on the very edge of the base and let me come to them because I have a means of identifying them and verifying they're who they say they are. I also am going to be screening my mail a lot more closely and I want you to do the same, I know it sounds weird but it's for everyone's protection and I know I'm being vague and paranoid but it's the only thing I can do right now"

"Okay, but if the time comes I want a full story"

"Okay I can give you that, but only at the right time, and chief if something happens to me at any time don't blame yourself"

"Karen are you suicidal?"

"No...but I know that there are risks in every day life"

"Okay you have a point"

The fire season continued and Karen was busy but finally fire season ended and Karen found work in another area of the town as a firefighter seeing as how she did have the credentials to fight fire from the ground