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Commander Walsh glanced at the door as the Galaxy Rangers walked into his office, reporting as usual after their return from a mission. The commander noted their tired looks, and thought of giving them several days off. After all the work they've done for BETA, the League of Planets, and Earth, they deserved it. He cringed as his glance landed on the bunch of files on his desk, as if reminding him of the distress signal they received just an hour earlier from Planet Prairie. That meant that the Rangers would have to ride out again. He didn't like it, but people needed their help. And they're the best help BETA could possibly give.

Walsh stood up and faintly smiled, "Job well done, Rangers."

"All in a day's work, Commander," Doc grinned, still joking even though he was really worn out.

Sitting down again, Walsh remarked, "Well, I'm afraid the day's work isn't done yet." None of the Rangers said anything, not looking to surprised by it, so Walsh continued, "There's a new mission for you."

Gooseman, who had been silent the entire time, protested, "Commander, if we take this one, it'll be our third mission in a row with hardly any breaks in between!"

"I know, Gooseman," Walsh agreed, "and I don't fancy the idea myself. But it's very important."

Captain Foxx sighed in concealed frustration and reluctantly said, "Fine. Where are we headed next?"

Silently thankful for Zachary's willingness to accept the mission, Walsh opened a file on Planet Prairie and handed them over to Zachary. As the captain and the other Rangers read through the file, he explained, "An hour ago, we received a distress call from Planet Prairie. The people there have disappeared one by one."

"Please tell me it isn't another prairie dog," Doc grumbled, referring to their mission to Planet Mesa. "I doubt it, Doc," Niko reassured, chuckling as she reminisced the occurrence. It was a couple of missions ago, and she could still clearly remember the shocks they felt when that huge prairie dog emerged from his hole.

"Are there any patterns or clues?" Zachary inquired. People don't just disappear without a reason. Who or what was causing it?

Walsh displayed a map of Planet Prairie which showed the attacked valley. The marks were scattered everywhere, as if the attackers had chosen their targets randomly. Walsh shrugged, "As you can see, it's quite random. But they always attack by burning the houses, barns and buildings. Most of the time, they burn when the people are still inside."

Niko shuddered at the thought of people burning to death. She noticed that Doc didn't seem to like it either. But Zachary, as composed as ever, merely nodded, "Since they burn buildings, there's not much of a trace."

Turning to the map, Niko saw that there were already many victims. No wonder they sent for the Galaxy Rangers. It really was a serious matter. She thought this over for a while before asking, "Why are they doing this?"

"No one knows," Walsh admitted, to everyone's surprise. "There were no threats, demands or ransoms."

Gooseman folded his arms, obviously not happy, and glared, "Are you suggesting that they kill for fun?"

"I'm not suggesting anything," Walsh replied brusquely. "I just want you Rangers to investigate it right now. The longer we wait, more people will die."

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Onboard Ranger One.

Galaxy Ranger Shane Gooseman stared at the distant stars as Ranger One prepared to jump to hyperspace. He was vaguely aware of what Zachary was saying to the rest of the team. He might seemed to be paying attention, but Gooseman's mind was elsewhere.

The way Commander Walsh described the attackers' tactics seemed hauntingly familiar. It was easy to conclude that they would be dealing with aggressive people who liked to destroy everything for the sheer pleasure of it. It was almost as if they were bloodthirsty. And the fires? There was definitely a lot of them; apparently no witnesses survived the fires, and to make sure no one escaped, there had to be a sufficient amount of guards.

Gooseman frowned as he began thinking more and more about it. What group could be that bloodthirsty? The Queen of the Crown and the Crown Agents were possible suspects. But the Queen seeked humans for her psychocrystals, and she'd need them alive. Killing humans didn't seem to be her M.O. The Black Hole Gang? Very likely, but what for? The gang liked to go after money, and who would pay them to kill randomly? It was as if an evil mastermind was luring them to a trap, a trap which-

"Ranger One to Goose. My Gooseman, are you there?"

Gooseman was drawn out of his thoughts by a certain Ranger Hartford, waving his hands in front of Goose's face to get the younger Ranger's attention. "Yeah, I'm here," Gooseman murmured, shoving Doc's hands away from his face. Gooseman glanced around and realized that they must've been in hyperspace already.

Zachary, who was at the pilot seat of Ranger One, turned to Gooseman with concern and asked, "You all right, Goose?"

"Yeah," Gooseman nodded. "Just tired."

Focusing back to the task of piloting through hyperspace, Zachary suggested, "Why don't you three get some rest first? You'll need it, and there's still a bit of time before we reach Prairie."

"Swell idea," Doc grinned. "Thank you, mon capitan." Without wasting any time, he headed for one of the four quarters in the ship.

Gooseman nodded, stood up and walked to the same area as well. But Niko didn't move. She turned to Zachary and asked, "Wouldn't you need some rest, too, Captain?"

"I'm not that tired," he replied, a complete lie which Niko's psi powers detected easily. She didn't push on that matter anymore, but instead, asked, "Wouldn't you need some help piloting the ship?"

Zachary smirked. He knew that Niko knew that what he said was a lie. But being as stubborn as he was, he retorted, "And end up having two instead of just one tired Ranger in my hands? Not a chance."

Realizing that there was no more point in trying to argue, Niko laughed, "Then I'll let you to your solitude, Captain." With that said, Niko walked to where Goose had went to just seconds earlier.

Once he was sure that he was alone, Zachary turned on the ship's autopilot and opened the files about Planet Prairie. He stared at the map that showed the location of the attacks and the terrain of the area. The bandits seemed to choose their targets randomly. He glanced at the targets. Some were at the edge of towns, others were at the very center of them. A few were scattered among the hills and along the monorail. One or two were surrounded by forests.

Then Zachary began to think of the people that were attacked. Maybe they were all farmers? Maybe some group of cattlemen took a grudge against them and carried it out with these arson incidents? The possibilities were seemingly endless.

Giving up, Zachary tossed the folder back to his bag. He was getting nowhere, and time was running out. He glanced at the dashboard and realized that they were almost out of hyperspace. Preparing the ship for landing, Zachary pushed any thoughts of the attacks aside. His tired mind was being pushed to the limit, and an extra task of thinking (at the time) unnecessary things would only make the situation worse. Besides, it would be useless to try figuring things out now.

Time Lapse.

Gooseman woke up to the sound of the door being knocked. "Goose, we're there." It was Zachary.

Pushing himself up from his bunk, Gooseman grunted, "Yeah, yeah. I'm awake."

Gooseman walked out of his quarters to find the others already awake. Like Goose, the nap had done them good, and they seemed eager to complete the mission and get home ASAP.

Zachary smiled, "Good. Now that all of us are awake, let's go and see the sheriff. Maybe he knows what's happening."

Before getting out of Ranger One, they told GV to guard the ship. They wouldn't want to risk losing their only ticket out of the planet. Once they were out, they mounted on their cybersteeds and rode to the nearest town.

The trip started out in silence. It was Doc who first spoke, "I wonder why the attackers...well, attacked?"

"No one knows, Doc," Zachary replied. "We'll have to find out for ourselves."

"So what's our plan?" Gooseman asked. He wouldn't be sure of the mission's success until he knew they had some kind of plan. Zachary paused before answering, "First, we'll find witnesses and ask them. We'll work things out from there on."

"What if there are no witnesses?" Niko inquired. Zachary smiled, "Then we'll get an old-fashioned posse started up soon."

Doc laughed, "Now that we have a solid plan, I'm sure we'll pass in flying colors."

The town appeared on the horizon. The sun was almost setting, and the sky turned an orange haze. The blades of grass on field that the Rangers were crossing were swaying in sync with the soft breeze. It was as if that nature took no notice of the passing Rangers and their troubles. But after all, humans have never been the center of the universe, have they?

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0613
Onboard Ranger One on Planet Prairie.

It was morning. The dawn was just breaking over the horizon, and the sound of an alarm clock in her quarters woke up Ranger Niko. She telekinetically silenced the obnoxiously loud alarm and stood up. She walked up to her window and sighed as she saw the beautiful scenery.

Her quarters, as space-efficient and slightly small as it was, had a window that faced to the rising sun. Yellow rays of light fell to the metallic floor, creating a mosaic pattern of shadows. As she submerged herself in the beauty of nature, Niko began to remember bits and pieces of last night's events.

They had listed all the towns in which the attacks occured. The bandits were diverse and smart; with their unpredictable picking of victims, it was impossible for the locals to determine the next target. And after a journey to each town, the Rangers returned to their ship empty-handedly. There were barely any witness, and those who saw what happened could only tell them very little. None of the information could do much in tracking the villains down.

Niko shook her head and sighed in frustration. The trip last night only made them tired and hardly helped their investigation. As Niko pinned on her badge, she suddenly remembered that she had to take over Zachary's watch duty. And she was late for about...3 hours.

"How could I be so stupid?" she scolded herself, angry at her carelessness. As she ran out of Ranger One's door, she could only hope that the captain wasn't too angry at her.

Once outside, she glanced around, trying to figure out where Zachary was. But to her surprise, instead of finding him, she found Gooseman.

The Supertrooper heard her footsteps on the grass. He turned to her and smiled, not saying anything. She walked up to him and sheepishly inquired, "Watch duty, Goose?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Zachary got tired, so I took his place at about...2 a.m."

Hearing this, Niko grimaced. It was about 6 a.m., which meant Gooseman lost four hours' worth of sleep because of her. "I'm sorry for your trouble, Goose. I'm supposed to do my shift, but I forgot."

He chuckled, "Oh, it's all right. You're tired. We all are."

Niko was about to say something when a voice interrupted, "Morning, Goose, Niko."

Gooseman straightened himself and saluted, "Morning, Captain."

Niko turned around to find Zachary walking towards them. He seemed less tired than yesterday. She smiled and nodded wordlessly at the greeting. Zachary replied the nod and turned to Gooseman, asking, "Anything to report, Goose?"

"Nothing, sir," the Supertrooper answered, shaking his head. Niko smirked and, turning to Zachary, asked, "So what's the plan for today, Captain?"

"Doc suggested running a crosscheck on all the victims to see if there were any similarity." Pausing to think for a while, Zachary finally continued, "Niko, you and Goose will go to the wreckages of the buildings and examine them."

Gooseman frowned, "But Captain, what's there to examine? Ashes?"

Niko chuckled and Zachary explained, "You're good at tracking, aren't you, Goose? You do just that, and Niko will take a look at the rubble with her psychic powers if she doesn't mind."

Surprised, Niko challenged, "Now why would I object?"

Zachary's face turned grim, and Niko realized that he was serious; dead serious. "People were burned alive in there, Niko," he said quietly and slowly, as if his words could burn the entire field if he wasn't careful. "It could be..." He couldn't find the right words, and the sentence was left hanging incomplete in the air. But he didn't really need to complete it. The others realized the meaning just as if it wasn't missing a word or two.

Niko shuddered, but her face remained stoic and she bravely declared, "I'll do it, Captain."

"Niko, are you-" Gooseman began, but a glare from Niko stopped him dead in his tracks.

"If I don't do it, we might never stop these attacks," she stated matter-of-factly. Gooseman shrugged, "All right, then."

Turning to the captain, Gooseman asked, "But what will you do, captain?"

"I think I'll get Brutus and patrol around here," answered Zachary. Niko smiled, "Sounds good to me. When do we start?"

Nodding over to Ranger One, Zachary smirked, "As soon as Doc wakes up."

"You mean if he wants to wake up," Gooseman said, rolling his eyes. Zachary activated his wrist comm, and with a mischievous grin, said, "GV, would you mind setting Doc's alarm loud enough so it could wake him up?"

GV jumped around in the screen excitedly and replied, "I personally think it's already loud enough to wake the dead."

"That'll be just fine, GV," Zachary chuckled.

0839
Onboard Ranger One on Planet Prairie.

Zachary looked at the map again. Somehow, he couldn't decide where to patrol first. He would like to have a run-in with the bandits so he could find out who they were. But where would they strike next?

Hoping that Doc would have a clue at the time, Zachary walked over to Doc and his computer and asked, "So Doc, any leads yet?"

Doc noted Zachary's apparent anxiety and laughed, "Whoa, what's gotten you all jittery, captain?"

"I don't know," Zachary admitted. "Something about this case just doesn't feel right."

A series of blips came from his CDU, prompting Doc to shift his attention to it. Once again, the all-too-familiar "NO SIMILARITIES FOUND" error message appeared. Doc sighed, "Look, I've sent in all my tweakers on the job. If they find anything, you'll be the second to know."

Despite not entirely satisfied, Zachary nodded and returned to the map. He began to wonder if the targeted places were all connected with a mine shaft or something. That would explain why the law here could never catch the attackers. Once they've burnt everything up, they fled underground.

Almost unconsciously, Zachary grabbed a pencil and began circling the target areas. From each circle, he drew lines that symbolized each escape routes that the bandits could possibly take. Once he was complete, he found himself with a series of webs connected at the center...

A mountain.

Zachary frowned. He didn't realize that the bandits could be hiding in a mountain. But then again, there were almost no settlers in the mountain ranges. And the ones that did settle there became the first targets.

If he couldn't find the bandits during a raid of theirs, then he would pay them a visit.

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0845

Zachary glanced once again at the map. That mountain was the only key he'd found. He'd traced and retraced the lines. That's an obvious pattern; too obvious for the sheriff to overlook. Maybe he was blackmailed into lying? Zachary didn't know. But one thing was certain; this could be a deadly trap.

Then he began to think of how there were almost no witnesses. He became confused. The raiders took enough care to leave no witnesses or evidences, but they were careless to leave such an obvious MO. It was as if they were luring the law to something...

But what?

Suddenly, everything seemed a lot more dangerous. A bad thought passed through his mind; what if the whole scheme was merely a bait to lure the Rangers to a trap? But who?

The Black Hole Gang? Possible. They'd do anything for some money. But they were reckless. Surely they couldn't perform loads of strikes without leaving even a single clue.

The Queen of the Crowns? Not likely. She wouldn't kill humans. She needed them for her Psychocrystals.

Brappo? Highly unlikely. "Why did I even suspect him?" Zachary scolded himself.

SCARECROW??? It's very possible. And considering his previous crimes and how elusive he was, he's the main suspect in this deadly crime.

But there was one thing Zachary had to admit. The raiders were professionals. They left no clues whatsoever of their identities. This might be a trap, but in the end, they'd have to face each other one way or another. The question is; HOW?

If he chose to visit it with his entire team, he would probably send them to their deaths. But if he visit it alone... There would be less casualty, and less chance to get his cover blown. Should he wait to tell them? Zachary thought for a while, but finally decided against it. The longer he waited, the more chance the raiders would get to launch another strike.

Once he'd made up his mind, Zachary folded the map and placed it safely in his pocket. He grinned as he walked to Doc's quarters and knocked at the door. "Door's open," came Doc's reply.

Zachary walked in and found Doc still running the crosscheck program. Swiveling his chair, Doc turned to face Zachary. The hacker seemed less than happy, but he still managed a faint smile. "Found anything?" Zachary asked.

"Nada," Doc sighed in defeat. "I've scoured through every single file concerning the victims. But my tweakers just couldn't find anything. Those raiders are pretty darned smart." A pause, and then he grinned, "Hey! Maybe that's what we should call them. The Flame Raiders."

He stopped himself and seemed to be reconsidering. Then, he quickly added, "No, not that. The Flamers!"

Zachary chuckled. Even when things didn't look promising, Doc still managed to amuse himself. Mentally reminding himself to focus on the reason he was there, Zachary smiled, "Um... Great name, Doc."

Doc noticed Zachary's nervousness and frowned, "Something wrong, Captain?"

"Err... Nothing," Zachary lied. "I'm going to patrol the place. If you hear anything from Goose or Niko, report."

Doc didn't believe that at all. But there was nothing he could do. Zachary was his superior. It meant that Doc couldn't force him to tell what was actually on his mind. "Okey-dokey," Doc finally answered despite the bad feeling that things would go wrong. "Just don't get lost in the canyons."

Opening the door, Zachary paused and smirked, "I won't." Then, he was gone.

0854

Glancing around the area to try and notice anything that looked particularly suspicious, Niko asked, "Is this the place?"

Gooseman clambered down from his cybersteed, Triton. He knelt down and ran a hand over the tracks. It was wagon tracks. "Yup," he answered, straightening himself. "This is the place."

Niko grimaced. The place was literally in ruins. The house and barns were burnt down, and the stench of death still lurked around the place. Gathering up all the courage she had, Niko jumped down from her cybersteed and slowly walked among the debris.

Ashes and burnt wooden planks were everywhere. Then, her gaze landed on something burnt. Its shape somewhat resembled a human; a scorched human. Niko gasped, and after seeing what it was, Gooseman frowned, "Are you sure you're sure about this?"

Niko knelt beside the corpse. She closed her eyes in grieve and whispered, "I've got to be, Goose. Do what you can. I'll check on this one."

Pressing her badge with her right hand, Niko placed her left one on the corpse's temple. Images began flooding her mind.

The barn and house, before it was burnt, was beautiful. The victim, who grew up there, played a lot in its halls and stables. The scene fast-forwarded to several men standing in front of the house. The girl, now an adult woman, picked up a rifle and took a shot. The bullet hit a tall, bulky guy. He turned to her. It was Ryker Killbane! But instead of writhing in agony like she thought he would, his body turned to stone. Another man stepped in front of her. He lifted his glasses, and WHOOSH! Everything around her turned red-hot. She was dead after a fiery demise.

Niko gasped and stopped her mental probing. She stood up, staggered and would've fallen if Gooseman didn't catch her. "Whoa, girl," he joked. "Take it easy. You okay?"

"I t-think so," Niko whispered, stuttering. She looked back at the disfigured corpse and shuddered. Her feelings were mixed with pity, sadness, confusion, and fear. Gooseman noticed her reaction and became worried. "What's wrong?" asked Gooseman.

Niko paused as she gathered her thoughts. "It's bad. Really, really bad," she finally answered.

"What is it?" Gooseman inquired, slightly dreading the answer.

"It's Killbane," Niko finally answered, her voice barely audible. Gooseman stepped back, his face shocked. He mumbled, "What? Why?"

"I don't know," Niko admitted. "But that dead woman saw him. And also another person. He could kill with his eyes."

Gooseman gaped in horror. There was only one person he knew that could kill with his very eyes... "Did she feel anything that resembled heat after that guy opened his glasses?"

This time, it was Niko's turn to be surprised. "Why, yes! How did you know that?" asked she.

Gooseman clenched his fists in anger. Memories of the past flooded him, and he tried his best to dismiss them. He closed his eyes and muttered, "Both of them are Supertroopers."

"What?!" Niko exclaimed in disbelief.

Gooseman opened his eyes and stared back at her, his face grim. "They're Supertroopers. And they're here to kill. We've got to get back and report to Zach now. Things ars getting real ugly around here."

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