It was the day they were due to arrive at the edge of the desert that the group met their first problem. Thalia had been sleeping in at the time, enjoying the feeling of not having to get up at six to train with the Commander like she had done every day for several months.
    Thalia wasn't sure what woke her up; the sunlight or the heat. She sighed and sat up, trying and failing to shake her messy hair out of her eyes. She sighed and after a moment of thought, put it up in a high ponytail. She could hear Clancy and Vern playing cards outside of their cabins, arguing about whether an ace should be high or low.
    Thalia ignored them, however, and stood up, walking to the desk resting on the opposite side of the cabin. She sat down, pulling a notebook and pencil out of her backpack resting beside it. She breathed a sigh and started to write.
'Hey dad,
    I've gone on another mission, so I hope you haven't already tried to visit me. I won't be there, if you did. I'm currently on my way to Gold Dust Valley, then I'll be going to Ft. Savannah. I'm helping a couple cadets with an energy problem. They both seem pretty funny, and I brought Logan Keyes with me. You never met him, but he's a friend. You never did get to meet any of my friends, did you... Oh well. They're nice, I promise.
    I miss you a lot; Toby does too. He's adjusted well to the base. And it's easier now that I don't have to watch him. He's actually managed to make friends as crazy as him too. They're cool kids.
    The funny thing about my mission is two of my friends, Kevin and Venom, got a mission they day before I left for-'
    Thalia was cut off abruptly as a loud shot crashed though the stead sound of wheels on the tracks. She yelped and shot to her feet. "What the hell was that?!" She demanded, shouldering open her cabin door. But as she walked out into the main corridor, she froze. There was someone there she'd never seen before. A bandana covered his nose and mouth, and a Stetson just like Thalia's was on his head. Other than that, he wore clothes common to grasslands or wooden; some sort of natural climate as opposed the the old west.
    But instead of those features, Thalia couldn't seem to take her attention from the pistol pointed at her chest from the other end of the corridor. Silence filled the car, accompanied only by the chugging of the train around them.
    Then, all at once, activity filled the room.
    "BOOK IT!" Clancy shouted bolting past her. Before she could think, Thalia was dragged back in his place and shoved back, feeling someone catch her. The man glared at her before heading forward, lifting his gun towards Clancy.
    Clancy gasped sharply and ran to his left. He heard a gunshot behind him, but he was already through the door opposite his own cabin. He heard a yelp of alarm as he slammed the door closed behind him, but knew he couldn't leave again. "I'm sorry ma'am, I-"
    Clancy stopped short as he realized the woman in the dress was not a woman, but a very familiar ginger. His eyes widened and he clapped a hand over his mouth as Logan glared at him. "Not a word, Barlow."
    Suddenly a bullet crashed through the door and both recruits ducked down.
    "What the hell did you do?!" Logan shouted in alarm.
    "I was about to ask you the same thing!" Clancy replied.
    Logan sighed. "I needed a change of clothes remember? This was all I could find on the train!"
    Despite their intense situation, Clancy couldn't help but burst out laughing.
    "Shut up, I had no choice!" Logan said. "Now tell me what the hell is going on!"
    Clancy struggled to get a grip. "I-I dunno, I just heard a gunshot and I ran out and there's some prick with a gun. I think he has Thalia and Vern!"
    Outside, Vern eyed Thalia. "Come on, quietly." He said. Thalia nodded and the two attempted to tip toe backwards towards the car door with the intention of escaping to the next.
    "Who is he?" Logan asked.
    "How should I know?!"
    They both jumped as the attacker shouldered the locked door with a loud boom. "We need to get outta here." Logan said. He looked at Clancy. "Do your science thing, quick!"
    "There is no 'quick', Keyes, I can't think that fast!"
    "Do you want me to do the Irene Adler thing?! Because I'll do it! I wanna live!"
    "He'll do it! He's crazy!" Thalia said, her voice muffled by the door in between them.
    "Shut up, you half-wit, we're trying to escape!" Vern snapped.
    Thalia yelped and there was a sudden gunshot. Clancy gasped and quickly squeezed his eyes shut, trying his hardest to clear her mind. He noticed then that it was far easier for him to think when his eyes were closed rather than when they were open. His problem: they were trapped in a room with a window on the side. The train was moving quite quickly and there was a psycho with a gun just outside the door, trying to murder them for god knows what.
    Then he blinked. "Up." He looked above and saw a hatch leading to the roof. He beamed. "We're gonna die."
    Logan groaned loudly. "Not again..."
    But Clancy ignored him. "Keyes, climb up onto the roof through that hatch." Clancy said. "C'mon, I'll give you a boost."
    "What?" Logan asked. "Why do I have to go first?!" Before Clancy could reply, his eyes flashed dangerously. "Don't say it." Clancy smirked. "No, don't you dare."
    "Ladies first."
    "You're dead to me."
    A crack came from the door and Clancy realized it wouldn't hold much longer. He locked his fingers together. "Hurry up!" Logan groaned reluctantly and stepped on her hands and he boosted him up. Once he was safely on top of the train, he held out a hand. Clancy smiled cheesily and grabbed his hand. With a heave Logan pulled him up just as a loud CRACK came from the door and another gunshot split the air. Clancy looked at Logan and snorted. "Sorry, Keyes, I just can't take you seriously in that dress."
    He rolled his eyes. "Come on!"
    As he ran off towards the front of the train, Clancy stopped and took in their surroundings. The train was snaking through the jungle, atop the trees maybe a hundred feet above the ground. Vines fell from the branches as the train chugged past going maybe ten to twenty miles per hour.
    "Clanker, hurry up!"
    Clancy snapped back to reality and followed his friend as they leapt between cars. Then, after they'd cleared about three cars and Logan was on the car ahead, they heard a gunshot behind them. Clancy turn to see their attacker standing on the roof, walking calmly towards them and holding up the pistol. He ducked down as another shot was fired and he grabbed Logan's wrist.
    "What are you doing?!"
    "Trust me, now jump!"
    He leapt over the edge of the train, pulling him behind her. He grabbed onto one of the vines. Clancy's intention was to use the vine to swing back onto the train once a but had passed and they could perhaps knock their attacker off. But the unknown assassin was a far better shooter than they thought. He shot a bullet straight through the vine and it broke above them.
   "Uh oh-"
    And with that, Clancy and Logan both fell down through the leaves below. Clancy felt branches hit him rather roughly, leaves tearing past his skin over and over till he finally hit the jungle floor. He groaned as he got the wind knocked out of him and slowly gained his breath back. He looked around and suddenly noticed his right arm had gone. "AH!" He cried. "My arm's off, I lost my arm! Oh gods, I only got one arm! Ack, how am I gonna science with only one arm?!"
    "Ahem." Clancy looked at Logan to see the ginger standing nearby, holding the metal arm.
    He blinked, then smiled sheepishly. "...Oh right."
    Clancy stood up with a huff and cracked his neck, taking his arm back. "Thank you Logan. You're a really handy guy." He smirked and waved his metal arm in front of his face. "Get it? Handy?"
    Logan just sighed and looked up at the train tracks high above as the whistle faded into the distance. "Of all the people in the world I could be trapped in the middle of the jungle with, it just had to be you, didn't it?"
    "Yup."

"Hurry up!"
    "You try to drive a train!" Thalia snapped. She quickly picked a lever and grabbed it and the train sped up. "Oh no, oh no, okay..." She picked another and yanked on it hard, finally managing to stop it. The real engineer shouted a protest of some sort, but was ignored. "Oh my god, finally..." She groaned in relief.
    "We gotta find Clancy." Vern turned and ran back out of the engine without another word. Thalia quickly grabbed her sword and followed. "Wait up!" She replied.