The Rangers, Ozma, and Pix all backpedaled into one group as they stood back to back to back, watching over themselves and each other while keeping away from the crinkling flora and the Chlorm.
Luckily for them, the fire also forced the Chlorm to fall back from the scene. If only for a few feet away.
The fire itself acted like another animal altogether, eating and destroying everything it could taste with its heat and claws. Nearby creatures, in tune with nature's rules, sensed the fire's unexpected arrival and fled as fast as they could. Animals of the air cawed and shot through the air to seek out sanctuary. Animals of the earth trampled and drummed against the earth's crust as they smelt the fire's sickly perfume thanks to the wind's deadly alliance with the fire. Wind and flame combined their forces and created a great but terrible harmony, rising the jungle's temperature.
But jungle fire or no, the Chlorm wouldn't be going anywhere without their prize. So they drew back their own firepower. The serpent-like gun, or Silver Fang as the Chlorms apparently named it, hovered back and away from the fire with the Chlorm floating away besides it.
XR was the first to spot the Chlorm's departure. "Buzz, the Chlorm are leavin'!"
Buzz spotted this event as well, but he was not to get his hopes up. They were probably trying to find another way to attack them. Big mistake.
"Team, take to the skies! Ty, grab Pix! Ozma, you're with me!"
She nodded in understanding and quickly deactivated her suit. It would leave her vulnerable for attack, yes, but the suit was designed to compact itself away rapidly. Once she was back in her normal wear, she went over to Buzz and let him grab onto her. She grabbed onto him for support as they ascended from the ground. "Pix, go with Ty!"
Pix didn't need to be told twice. Once Ty activated his jet pack, she leapt into his arms. This caused him to take a step back due to her sudden weight. But the dog was safe in his arms and he, too, took off for the skies.
Team Lightyear all activated their jet packs. The jet packs, attached to their backs, sprouted wings (or rockets in the case of Booster due to his sheer size) and jumped up, up and away to higher ground.
Ty was secretly glad, despite the danger that was occurring down below, to have a jet pack. He didn't have one before this mission or any missions in the past when he and Buzz weren't on better terms as they were now, with Buzz saving his hide, slowly disintegrating his Ranger reputation and thus unintentionally leaving Ty to be deemed one of the weakest Rangers who could not even be capable of wielding the simple ability to fly. But now, thanks to his own heroic actions, the reconciliation between him and Buzz, and the rise in support from his fellow Rangers, Ty was awarded with a jet pack to help him in his more dangerous missions. Like this one.
The group left the smoky zone, leaving behind danger and death. Or so they hoped.
The wind was not on their side, as it pushed and struggled to shove them down back to earth. But the flyers wouldn't allow the wind to win in its agenda; their jet packs proved superior with their designs and abilities to withstand its force. They pushed and shoved until they managed to find a way to use the air currents to their advantages. The air, the fresh and cleaner air, was deprived of any noise except the powerful humming of the jet packs. It would have been a good thing to appreciate the moment had it not been for one thing:
It was way too quiet. And too easy. Easy for them all to escape the Chlorms.
But none of them would afford to rest on their laurels now.
Adjusting Pix in his arms, Ty looked back, seeing the smoke fading away into a tiny dot. For some strange reason, the fire reminded him of a moment in his youth when he was a part of the Ranger Scouts. The Ranger Scouts, precursor to the Space Ranger Training Corps and Space Ranger Corps, were out one night learning how to survive in the wild while relying on their skills and non-technological tools. One of the things Ty was proud to have done was help create a fire using a simple matchstick. He could remember the smoke vividly, more so than the fire; the way the smoke curled and lifted itself into the air and into the night sky. The smoke was warming him and his fellow Scouts, but it was clearly warning and sending a signal to the dangerous fauna, and flora, who dared to come near their camp.
It was repeating its actions within the jungle. But rather than protecting him and his friends, it endangered their lives, if only just barely. And the Chlorms. Which reminded him...
"Buzz, I don't think we oughta leave our ship near that fire even if it is fireproof. And something tells me those Chlorm are going to be back very soon."
Hovering in the air with Ozma in arms, Buzz said, "Agreed. Let's get 42 away from here and see if we can find a nearby water source. We find the water, we find a way to put it out."
"You want to put out the fire? Lightyear, at that pace, the fire will have consumed half of Karn!"
Buzz matched Ozma's skeptical eye with a determined one. "We're Space Rangers. We will make sure that every living thing here is saved from that fire."
Ozma softened; his commitment to preserving the animals, the cute ones and the not-so-cute ones, was true and real. Before the two of them took their relationship to a new level, the two of them would endlessly bicker and argue about their respective views on how to handle residents of the animal kingdom. Sometimes the arguing nearly turned into a galactic war between the two sides.
With one acting as the guardian of nature while the other acting as the guardian of justice.
But overtime, as all wars do in their own unusual ways, the two of them came to an understanding and did their best to do the little things to make the other one happy. It was far from an easy feat, as both were known to be quite the stubborn ones, but they were managing to make it work, all for the sake and various sides of their relationship. A pact was formed and it left both of them happier for the better.
Ozma herself was so pleasantly surprised to hear those words that she awarded Buzz with a genuine smile of gratitude. He smiled back, that familiar heroic smile charming his lips.
The romantic moment was broken by Pix.
She suddenly stirred after being fairly calm throughout the flight; her ears twitched and her nose was once more pointed in the air, nostrils homing in on an invading smell. She sniffed the air to confirm its authenticity before her lips curled up as would any aggressive and wild canine, her growling loud for everyone to hear. Over her snarling, she managed to darkly say, "They're back."
Alarmed at the dog's sudden activeness, everyone looked around for wherever the Chlorms were present.
They were not present, but a messenger sent on their behalves would come in their places.
"Craters, look out!" At Mira's warning, everyone managed to duck the incoming projectile in time in the air.
The projectile? Silver Fang. Missing its targets, it turned around and hissed, its breath consisting of smoke and firepower. It weaved back and forth, the snake preparing to fight against the birds of flight. The team watched the snake warily, anticipating its next move, with the weapon seemingly doing the same thing as its wedged-shaped head observing them. Due to the unwanted pressures of fighting for their lives, the crew did not manage to retain a vivid picture of the creature's form until now.
Its chrome plated head possessed a barrel to act as an open mouth for its firepower. Within the barrel, there were front sights to help it home in on its victims like a pair of poison-filled fangs. It seemed to have no eyes, but instead had black sockets behind the barrel. Attached to the head was a slim, sleek and long body made of a coil severely wound up and tightly packed together. No one could have seemed to find the end of the body, as the body stretched for miles and miles from safe air to unaffected earth, a deadly reminder of its makers' intelligence. It seemed immune to the wind, staying in place, in comparison to the star flyers.
There would be no way to rapidly evade the snake's bite even if they did manage to use the air currents to their advantage.
But Buzz suddenly had an idea. Under Buzz's command with a mere and quick hand gesture, the team once again formed themselves into a tight group, back to back to back. With this move, they could see every possible direction Silver Fang might try to strike in. It paid off in their favor, for the snake attempted to fire lasers from underneath the group, only to shrink back again under the heavy downpour of Star Command lasers.
One point for the team, none for the snake.
Wanting to get a piece of the giant snake, Pix struggled to pull herself free from Ty's arms, her snapping jaws open. Ty had to double task: tightening his grip on her to prevent gravity from pulling them down and doing his own part to help out in the good fight with his own laser. He might not have been the best shot in the Space Ranger Corps, that honor going to Buzz, but he was handy enough with a wrist laser to use it while holding someone or something in the safety of his arms.
Especially a dog as feisty as Pix. With the way she was trying to worm out of his hold, she could unintentionally make him lose his concentration. He held a good grip on her, literally by increasing his hold on her and figuratively with a pointed glare. "Hey, cut it out! Stop moving!"
Pix snapped, "Why?!"
Ty didn't know which was worse: the teeth or the dog breath. "If you keep moving around like you're doing, I could accidentally drop ya from this altitude right back into the fire! Is that what you'd like?!"
The dog blinked, having never thought of that. She peered over his arm to look down at the inferno down below, his point becoming clear. "Oh... good point." Ears wilting in embarrassment for a brief moment, Pix stopped squirming.
Ty sighed, glad that Pix just made his job slightly easier. Emphasis on slightly.
The others had their own hands tied with the serpent. Each time one of them seemed to have succeeded in destroying the mechanical and sleek reptile, it seemed to have resurrected itself. Silver Fang was battered and bruised, but it showed no signs of slowing down. It nearly separated the group into individuals, trying to divide and conquer them one by one. But each of the Rangers were able to outmaneuver the creature through their own unique gifts-Buzz with his fancy aerobatics and smooth flying skills, Mira with her phasing (or 'ghosting' as Tangeans called it), Booster with his super strength, XR with his handguns due to lacking a wrist laser, and Ty with his powerful kicks, for he was notably powerful with his legs. But in turn, each time one of them tried to find a way to put the weapon down, Silver Fang avoided them.
As evidenced by its pulling away from Booster when he aimed to grab its neck and strangle it to death. It was surprisingly too fast for them to catch. They were, fortunately, fast enough to avoid its blasts. No one had been shot down so far, but it was only a matter of time before their defeat.
They needed a plan and now.
Mira was the first to point this predicament out. "Buzz, don't you think we should move away some place else? If we stay here, that thing'll just keep on ducking our shots!"
After attempting to take out the creature with his own pair of handguns. XR backed her up with a point of his own. "I'm with Mira. We should make like rockets and blast off someplace else away from this thing before it atomizes us. And I don't think that fire's gonna stop anytime soon the way it's movin' and gettin' bigger."
"Which is what we precisely observed as you all took flight up here," a boyish and smarmy voice taunted.
The team whirled around, hands clutched around their wrists or handguns. The three scientists floated with their remote control, squaring off against these primitive beasts.
Epoch deactivated Silver Fang. Obeying its master's commands, it stopped moving and, thankfully, went silent.
Not that it would ease anyone's concerns. Even Ty wasn't about to stop Pix from raising her lips and hackles and growling.
"We anticipated that as soon as the jungle fire started, you would try to find a way out to prevent yourselves from getting trapped. I presumed you would all hide inside the Bio-Sphere, but this was a rather exciting and unpredicted move, as well as an opportunity to trap you. You animals surprise us."
Hated being reminded of his own animal past, Ty sneered, tightening his grip and shielding Pix away from the trio. "Yeah, well, flattery won't get ya anywhere, pal. You're still not getting Pix."
Pix barked loudly in agreement. "Dang straight! I ain't budgin', ya egg-sucking freaks!"
Eon growled back, matching Pix's defiance with his own. "We'll see about that! When we take you back to our world, we will not only put you on the stage, we'll teach you new tricks and proper respect!"
Eon snidely added in, "In the laboratory and out."
"...That does it." That made her snap. Ozma reached out, grabbed Buzz's wrist, and fired his laser upon the Chlorm with righteous fury!
The close range between the Chlorm and Ozma was so alarmingly that the Chlorm panicked, their fears overwhelming their so-called intelligence and what little common sense they possessed. If they had tails and legs, the tails would have been tucked in between the legs in cowardice. The barrage of laser fire sent them screaming like cats as they floated away.
Buzz was so taken aback by Ozma's act that his jaw dropped. But he regained his senses and reclaimed his wrist away from her. He exploded in red anger. "What in Helene are you doing?! We don't shoot down the criminals!"
Her own anger was equally dark in red. "I told you, Lightbrain, I'll take out ANY poacher or threat to wildlife however I can!"
"Even with one of Star Command's weapons?! I'd have to arrest you for manhandling a Space Ranger's wrist laser!"
"Those Chlorm want to take Pix! I'll do what I can to protect her and the wildlife!"
Another war was started. The lovers' quarrel grew worse as now both Buzz and Ozma engaged in a yelling contest, shouting angrily over one another and dissipating the tender moment from before. The other Rangers looked around awkwardly, trying not to look either of the feuding parties in the eye. Pix, meanwhile, was watching the snake gun as it still silently hovered there, dormant until further notice. Although her expression was mainly neutral, her eyes and discouraged ears told a much different story of disappointment.
She grumbled under her breath about the loss of action. Ty could only sigh in exasperation.
But as tempers flared and prides injured themselves, no one expected what would happen next.
One moment, the air was filled with the sounds of clashing between Buzz and Ozma. Their screeching and bantering was an affair that the team could not bring themselves to put a stop to; after all, one wrong thing said from either of them to try and stop this pointless arguing would turn things ugly for everyone, especially for their captain. And this was a problem that the lovers had to work out for themselves. Even Pix, the one who had been the most vocal and daring speaker out of the group, didn't know what to do for this occasion as she never witnessed a large argument such as this before.
The wind flared in response to the argument, knowing what was taking place and evidently deciding to put a stop to it. It shrieked and shrilled, but no one would dare to allow the wind to carry them away.
But the next moment came in too fast for anyone to take notice right off the bat even with sharp senses of sight, smell or hearing. The team would later recall it was one of the more stranger and coincidental incidents that occurred to them, especially Buzz who was far from one to believe in the supernatural terms of events right away.
But even he could not deny that nature works in mysterious ways, for he, his team, Ty, Ozma and Pix bore witness to the Chlorms' weapon, and the cowardly Chlorms themselves, electrocuted with white lightning.
Lightning that sent Silver Fang and the Chlorms falling down, presumably to their deaths or whatever sort of end machines and scientists like they believed in, although no one at that point knew for sure. The shrill banshee-like screams emitting from the trio of scientists echoed throughout the land, piercing the everyone's auditory senses. Silver Fang was killed, its body now charcoaled with black and loss of life.
The random lightning attack was so fierce and powerful that even the heated argument between Buzz and Ozma disappeared. Everyone looked up, and found themselves in awe by a miracle in the sky.
Storm clouds were floating over the land and hovering over the group. To accompany the unusually welcome sight, the wind continued to howl over the sound of booming thunder approaching. The darkening clouds, seeming to sense nature's plea, hastened and immediately answered the call. In the distance, everyone could see the sky open up and unleash its potent healing. The crew watched the rain descend downwards, blessing the land. The clouds increased in size and seemed to blanket the sky in nothing but grey darkness and water.
Everyone sighed a breath of relief. Now they could land safely without worrying about the smoke or fire, or the Chlorms and Silver Fang for that matter. But that did have to mean one other thing.
Having moved past his quarrel with Ozma, they shared a glance. Buzz softly ordered, "Well Rangers, we'd better get out of the way of the storm and trust nature to do her work. Let's get inside."
And they took cover back down below to seek shelter.
A/N: I apologize for those who have never seen the name for the gun Silver Fang, but I realized I meant to throw that in and for some reason I forgot about that and explaining why it's there. So I'm making it up to y'all by including that name in this chapter as well as last chapter. Btw, first new update of 2017! 'Tis MOST awesome! I hope everybody makes this new year rock! Happy 2017 and have happy days! :)