Summary: Unseen by the public eye, there is a secret society named the Ranger Corps. A group of fifty secret agents keep an eye on the country. Aided by a team of headstrong women and genius teens, they work behind the scenes to keep the citizens safe. When they discover an assassination plot, they need to warn the government. The thing is, the government doesn't believe the Rangers, not after they kicked them out. It's up to the Rangers and their "apprentices" to save their country.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Ranger's Apprentice

Chapter One

Someplace in the countryside

A man walked into the cabin. He was husky and well-built, with a rough face and small, dark eyes. The smell of cigarette smoke lingered on him. His boots made loud footsteps on the wooden floor, like it was too much work to actually pick up his feet. The man's breath was raspy, and if you got too close, you could smell the alcohol.

He dropped a brown-wrapped package onto the polished wooden table piled high with papers and dirty dishes.

Another man, this one pale and painfully thin, looked up from his laptop across the room. His hair was straight and so pale it could have been white. There was no warmth in his eyes.

"You got the package?" he asked.

The husky man's beady eyes seemed to shoot lasers through the dusky room. "Of course I got it," he spat. "Who do you think I am, Morg?"

Morg eyed the other man. "I think," he said slowly and quietly, "that you don't have the ability or skill to complete the task."

"We'll see about that, won't we?"

"Indeed we will. Indeed we will. Don't disappoint me. Don't forget that I have access to this country's- how do they put it? Ah, yes- hostile devices."

The husky man glared at Morg and went down the stairs that led to the basement.

In a government building

Representative Arald walked purposefully to a black door at the end of the hallway. He opened the door, and bowed his head respectfully to President Duncan.

"Good afternoon, Arald," the president greeted from behind his desk. The room was decorated with a homey feel to it, like it still held the president's wife's soul in it.

"And the same to you, President," Arald replied.

"Well, Arald, what brings you here today?" Duncan leaned back in his chair. President Duncan and Representative Arald were close friends. Duncan often consulted Arald on tough decisions, and found it easy to confide in his old friend.

Arald took a seat on the other side of the desk. "Not much," Arald responded. "I just thought it would be nice to catch up. We've been so caught up in political matters that we haven't had any private time."

Duncan smiled sadly. "That does tend to happen when you hold the highest seat in the country. You can't exactly hide from the public."

Almost subconsciously, the two men glanced at the empty chair beside Arald. A small sigh escaped into the air.

"I sure do miss Halt," Arald commented.

"'M," Duncan agreed. "He always did cheer up our day with that gloomy face of his." The two cracked a smile. The smile lasted a few seconds before being replaced by two small frowns. "But he chose his path."

Arald shook his head. "I still don't see what he had to gain from that choice. Speaking of which, have you heard anything about them lately?"

"As a matter of fact, I haven't. I wonder what they're up to."

"Technically, they're not supposed to be up to anything," Arald pointed out, almost disapprovingly.

Duncan sighed and massaged his temples. "I know they're not supposed to be doing anything, but do you really think Halt would just disappear like that? Besides, that group has never fully followed the rules."

Arald nodded. "True." A silence elapsed between them, only broken by the intercom sitting on President Duncan's desk. "Sir," a voice said.

Duncan groaned slightly. "Yes, Walter."

"The Ambassador from Skandia is here. Can you meet him now?"

"Oh, goody," Duncan muttered. "Alright. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Yes, sir."

Duncan slumped back. "I swear, every day, I get another gray hair. Do you see this?" He leaned forward to show Arald his graying head. "See?"

Arald laughed. "I don't need you to lean forward. I can see it perfectly fine from where I am," he jibed.

Duncan laughed as well. "Oh, you are asking for it, Arald."

In an undisclosed location

The sound of rapid-fire artillery filled the air and a human cutout got butchered by bullets. Then the shots slowed and bullets appeared in other figures, the shooter never aiming at the same one twice. Not a single bullet has missed, and most were clustered around the heart, head, or other vital organs.

Unnoticed by the shooter, a man stood by the entrance of the practice room. He was on the smaller side, for a man, with a steady stance and grizzled appearance. He wore a dark gray hoodie and loose dark washed jeans. The hood of his sweatshirt hid his eyes. He watched the shooter, staying totally silent and not moving. When the shooter finished the round, he clapped his hands.

"Not bad," he said. "Not bad at all."

The shooter spun around, startled by the voice. He relaxed when he noticed who it was.

"Halt," he complained, "Why do you keep doing that? You know how creepy it is."

Halt chuckled slightly. "So when your enemy creeps up behind you and startles you, you think he'll let you recover first, then attack you?"

The shooter flapped his hand carelessly. "I bet none of them are as silent as you." The shooter was not old, at all. In fact, he was about sixteen or seventeen, still high school age. He had brown hair that covered his eyebrows and warm chocolaty eyes. They were full of youth and humor, alight with mirth.

The boy's name was Will, and he was training under Halt. If the Ranger Corps was still part of the government, his official title would be "Juvenile Trainee". Now, he was just an apprentice. Halt was his mentor and fatherly figure.

Halt shook his head. "Will, Will, Will. What am I going to do with you, Will?"

"Not kill me?" Will suggested hopefully, but there was a hint of a smile in his lips.

Unseen by Will, Halt rolled his eyes. "Come," he ordered, leading the way out of the training room. Will hurriedly put the safety catch on the gun he had been using, and stored it safely before rushing to catch up with his mentor.

Together they walked up the stairs and entered the main floor of the house. It was small albeit bright and cheery. Flowers in the windowsill was a given. That was one weakness of Halt. He always liked fresh flowers. There was a figure sitting at the kitchen table, sitting just so, so that he was just in front of the sun, making it hard to see him.

"I thought I told you not to lean back on my chairs," Halt said sourly.

The figure laughed. "You never changed, Halt."

"Gil?" Will asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

"I can leave if you want," Gil offered, voice full of humor, pretending to stand up.

"No, no!" Will protested hurriedly. "I'm jut surprised to see you, is all."

Gil laughed again and stood up to give Will a man hug. Will grinned but repeated his question. "So what are you doing here?"

"He came to see me, of course," Halt said. "He just missed me so much."

"Really?"

Gil and Halt rolled their eyes. "You're so gullible, it's funny," Gil said. "I came, because we have a mission. For you."

"Me?" Will pointed at himself.

"No, for me," Halt replied sarcastically. "Yes, for you."

"Awesome!" Will exclaimed. What is it?" Will was anxious for another mission. In his short career, he'd already been on two missions: one to recover a stolen piece of information. It didn't seem like much, but it had resulted into an international hunt. The other was to decimate a serial killer who was wrecking havoc on the city of Redmont.

"Well," Halt took over, "before your ego gets too inflated, just know that we would have preferred to use Gilan here." Before Will could react, he continued. "But, the problem is, Gil was training to become a Ranger back when we were still part of the government. So they will remember him. But they don't know you exist."

"So?"

"So, we want you to infiltrate the Capitol building. There is a microchip that they have and we need. We think you're qualified enough to recover it for us."

"Me? Alone?" Will's voice rose in pitch.

"Remember that training session I had you do, where you had to stay in a building for an hour with security guards and cameras and not get caught?" Will nodded. "Well, it'll be just like that, but with higher stakes. Just make sure you don't get caught. We wouldn't want your career ending before you got your ring, would we?"

Gil patted Will's shoulder. "You'll do fine."

"I hope so," Will muttered.

So, how was that? Confusing? It should be at this point. Stuff will unravel over time, though.

On a different note, should I continue this story? Is it good? Is it crap?

Tell me in a review!

-Silver out.