"So what do you say? A little easy work for a little leeway."
— Contractor
Line Rockets is an in-progress Buzz Lightyear of Star Command fan comic about a convict named Jax who, in exchange for early release from prison, agrees to assist Star Command in infiltrating and taking down a drug ring she used to be a part of. You can read it here,
here or even here!
The other major players include:
- Enora, Jax's antisocial caseworker whose motivations are unclear.
- Ves, Jax's very skilled brother who still remains employed in the drug ring, and is the remaining right hand of:
- Zod, Jax's former boss, now the head of the large operation the "good guys" are attempting to dismantle.
- Enif, Ves's assistant and apprentice. Inattentive and a bit ditsy, but very smart and ruthless just like her boss.
- Ochak, Appears in flashbacks, presumably Jax's only real friend from her days as a criminal.
- Rose, Jax's old friend and one of the only people she can trust. She used to sell weapons to Zod.
- Penumbra, a former Zurg operative who defected, reluctantly now on the Zod side of the conflict. Not that he has much choice.
Through a Contrived Coincidence XR, who Jax is not fond of, becomes Jax's partner; and the two are forced to put up with each other for the duration of the mission.
WARNING! This page contains spoilers! They are under spoiler covers, but because this comic is in-progress, if you read them you will still have to wait for them to come to be in the comic itself. I recommend not actually looking at them. I mostly made this page so I could keep myself on track! - hazardgirl
Dear Tropers, this comic provides examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Gender-flipped. Especially freeing for XR, for whom the law is just about his entire life despite being the only member of the team openly accepting of moral ambiguity.
- Antihero: Both Jax and XR, though whether or not they qualify as "heroes" is up for debate.
- Ascetic Aesthetic: The Parhelia's motif, in stark contrast to the Zeerust of Star Command (and some of the other planets).
- As You Know: Enif starts to do this in Chapter 4 while talking to Ves, but he cuts her off, reminding her that he's the one who gave her the information in the first place.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Jax for XR, eventually the Parhelia for Star Command.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: So very, very much. Enough that they're assumed to be a couple because of their constant fighting.
- Break the Haughty: Jax succeeds so often in her criminal endeavors she begins to think she is untouchable. The moment she's alone, she is captured, tortured and raped.
- Cain and Abel
- Cluster F-Bomb:Jax: Just shut the fuck up, XR! I am not keeping things from you! But I am sick to fuck of your bitching! I can drive a ship if I have to, so either shut your fucking mouth and get behind the fucking controls or get off this fucking ship and find your own fucking way to wherever the fuck you want to go! I'm done with this!
- Crapsaccharine World: One of the major points of the comic is to deconstruct the suspiciously Adventure-Friendly World of the original series.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Jax's capture by a rival gang.
- Dangerous Deserter: Penumbra. If he's going to die, he's going to do it on his own terms.
- Darker and Edgier: Than Buzz Lightyearof Star Command, which is a major goal of the comic.
- Divided We Fall: The Parhelia and Star Command have a bigger enemy to face than each other, Zurg and his new army.
- Does Not Know How to Say "Thanks": XR has never before experienced the kind of respect Jax shows him. It takes him a while to realize that's whats happening, and even longer to talk to her about it.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Jax is completely oblivious to how XR is affected by her state of undress.
- Expy: A Hot-Blooded yet somehow innocent Action Girl with No Social Skills teams up with a Deadpan Snarker undercover soldier to defeat A Villain Named "Z__rg" and save the galaxy with their love.
- Family-Unfriendly Violence: Unlike the original series.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Jax and XR's high-tension sparring match in Chapter 7.
- Just a Machine: A major source of conflict in the comic.
- Kick the Dog: When a rival gang captures her, Jax gives away valuable information, but that wasn't the point of the capture.
- Ladykiller in Love: Depending on your view of XR, he's this when he begins to fall for Jax.
- Missed Him by That Much: XR and Booster in the spaceport.
- Misfit Mobilization Moment: Pretty much the entire comic is this.
- Neck Lift: Jax does this to Penumbra after they beat the crap out of each other.
- Neutrality Backlash: Happens to Star Command, though they are not aware of their own neutrality.
- Nobody Can Die, Nonlethal Warfare: Subverted, and lampshaded.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: By the end of the comic, the galaxy is taking its first steps into war, and Space Rangers are refocusing their efforts. Civilians have made a dent in the Galactic Alliance system of peace-keeping, holding promise that when it all ends, there will be major alterations to galactic law. No more chances for casual wacky adventures, Star Command plans are being locked down tight and the entire galaxy is faced with change.
- Oblivious to Love: Of the unworthy of love variety. XR tries to flirt with Jax multiple times, she never picks up on it.
- Personality Powers:
- Jax is no-nonsense, hot-blooded and violent by nature. She uses fire-powered-fisticuffs.
- XR is the most animated cast member, accustomed to being used and believing he personally doesn't stand for anything in particular has an immense array of weapons and gadgets.
- Ves is cold, clinical and methodical. Despite having natural powers like his sister, he prefers knives and small, quiet guns.
- Enif is energetic, bubbly and ruthless. She uses acrobatics, and colorful katanas.
- Penumbra is pragmatic and down-to-earth. He uses infantry-centered weapons and is no stranger to hand-to-hand combat.
- Police Are Useless: As Big Damn Heroes Space Rangers are incredibly adept. At actual law enforcement, well...
- Running Gag: Jax casually pushing XR over with her foot, Jax Comically Missing the Point when XR tries to flirt with her, them being assumed to be a couple.
- Secret Weapon: Zurg has a new one almost every episode, but this time it's a Secret Army.
- Shout-Out
- Primus's name is a reference to Rossum's Universal Robots.
- Jax: "Okay, okay, don't go all Ellen Ripley on me!"
- Sidekick Graduations Stick: XR is one of two main characters, neither of which is Buzz Lightyear.
- Soldier vs. Warrior: XR vs. Jax
- Space Opera: Loosely.
- Stranger in a Familiar Land: Jax, who has been in prison for five years.
- Sympathetic P.O.V.: A major theme of the comic. While Buzz Lightyear of Star Command's main focus is on the best of the best, Line Rockets follows the story of a depressed and chronically unlucky ex-con, and Team Lightyear's very own Chew Toy.
- The Smurfette Principle: Averted. With Enora, Enif, Jax, Nida and Rose the comic adds (much-needed) female characters to the original BLoSC cast.
- True Love is Exceptional: XR doesn't believe Jax is "girlfriend material", because she's a violent, crude and unfeminine bad girl. he ends up proposing to her.
Characters:
"Oh, cry me a river! I'm not pushing you around! I just need you to stay out of my way."
Jax, A former criminal who used to work for Zod, but was captured. She was in prison for five years before the start of the story, where she is given leave from her seven-year sentence to help take him down. If she is successful, she won't have to worry about being hunted by him when she is released, and she will gain early parole. Or that's the idea, anyway.
"And my team... they're all good people, and I'm not like that. So if I need to get knocked around a little so they can save the galaxy over and over again, it's a small price to pay. And anyway, I like being a part of it."
XR, Star Command's only robotic Space Ranger. Up until this point he has worked exclusively with Team Lightyear. If you need to read this character page to know who XR is, chances are you're not going to understand a big portion of the comic. He has his own character page on the Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command page, but since he plays a very different role in the comic from the cartoon he has some new tropes of his own for this page as well.- Innocently InsensitiveXR: First of all, I'm not going to mess up. Second, even if I did, So what? Someone else would put away this Zod guy, you'd go back to prison for another two years and have to eat prison food for another two years? You're a "bad guy"! You can handle it. But it's not going to happen because you're on the side of good, now. The winning side? You should be happy!Jax: Are you even... Listening to what's coming out of your mouth?!
- Motor Mouth: He's not actually that bad, but to Jax who doesn't speak much herself he's a major nuisance. That might have more to do with what he says, instead of how much he says.
- One Riot, One Ranger: XR underestimates himself. Luckily, his team doesn't.
- The Friend Nobodylikes: The comic takes a turn for the meta when XR explains to Jax that he knows nobody respects him, and that's why he acts so ridiculously sometimes.
"I appreciate that, sir; but this is my responsibility, and I do prefer to think my credentials mean something."
Enora Cooke, Jax's case worker. Enora genuinely wants to help Jax and seal the gaps between Star Command and the criminals they put away, but it almost constantly met with resistance. Her motivations are unclear but she tries to do the right thing, even if that doesn't always correspond with what others tell her the right thing is. She is a bit socially awkward. While Jax represents the "criminal" side, Enora represents the paper-pushers.
"He has to know this is all in vain. I'm going to find out anyway. I always do."
Ves, Jax's ambitious and ruthless brother. Where Jax has often failed, Ves has often succeeded. He used to run their family's fishing company before it faced some troubles and he dropped it to find morally questionable opportunity on Trade World. He recruited Jax into Zod's gang and is still Zod's right hand. However, he's not fond of orders that don't please him, and Zod knows this, so they must maintain a balance between them.
"Aye-aye, Cap'!"
Enif, Ves's bubbly, positive and ruthless right hand. Little is known about Enif's past other than she's a "blue-blooded" Tangean, she's very young (though nobody knows how young) and she is an extremely high-functioning individual. Despite this mystery, she has a huge presence in the Parhelia, and often acts as Ves's eyes, ears, and even voice. She seems to thoroughly enjoy her job, and gets along well with just about everyone. She's good natured, silly and helpful. However, she's not nearly as laid-back as her attitude suggests, and everybody knows it. She's domineering, sharp as a knife and extremely intelligent.
"I don't care whether or not people are aware of it... I may be 'man-made' but I'll be damned if I'm going to go around calling myself 'servant'. Organics may have given us life, but it's no charity."
"Primus", Formerly known as Autopilot 99. Alleged robot supremacist, really all he wants is a little justice. Primus has been a part of the Parhelia for over five years, and is head of security. However, recently there has been an extreme amount of strain between he and his superiors. Zurg's new army includes intelligent hornets, which he sends to attack the Parhelia almost daily with the war on their heels, and the Parhelia shoots them down like they would any other intruder. Primus obviously has some very strong reasons for fighting against this. They're sentient robots, and so is he. He can't shoot down his own kind! And asking him to do so is madness. Of course, the Parhelia would kill any intruders, organic or otherwise, sentient or non-sentient, but Primus never really thought about the moral implications until it started to affect him, personally.
"Fear is a powerful tool, Jax. Use it."
Zod, The head of a large gang. He used to be the head of a drug ring on Trade World, and employed Ves and Jax as his lieutenants before Jax was caught by a rival gang, then arrested. In the five years Jax was in prison, Zod has developed an empire and absorbed multiple gangs into his command. His motives are currently unclear, but he has a suspiciously strong grip on the mission Jax and XR have been sent on by Star Command.