I hope you cleared your schedule. 46 pages.
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[Sophie was the key to defeating X-Squad] – “Not every scientific problem has a suitable solution,” Jiang said. “The only way to stop the robots is to wipe out their connection to Sophie and the only way to accomplish that is by wiping her mainframe clean. You would destroy the very essence of her, leaving behind only an empty shell.”
[President Cali’s plot was revealed] – Cali shouted, “All of Galaxy Command is a farce and it’s thanks to S.P.D. Earth! All of the planets, all of the representatives, you all think you have some mighty power. It all stems from Earth. Cruger and his Rangers! Galaxy Command cannot survive with so many voices in control! There needs to be a singular voice. I should be that voice!”
Cali revealed. “Barrett Van Tigue has plans for Earth that will cause the final elimination of S.P.D. there. I helped him get just what he needed! I may be headed for prison, but I will laugh in your faces as you watch your precious Rangers fall and die.
[Piggy sacrificed himself to save Syd] – “That is a mistake you’re going to regret for about five minutes,” Vishus whispered into his ear.
“Oh? That long?”
“That’s just the amount of time it’ll take to destroy you,” Vishus sneered.
[The Rangers escaped Fenix Prime] – “President Cali is responsible for this. In fact, he’s responsible for it all, even your sentencing.”
“I don’t understand,” Sky said, troubled. “Why?”
“It was all part of his attempt to shut down S.P.D. Earth and the Galactic Council. But we don’t have time to get into it right now. I’ll explain it all later,” Cruger explained. “We need to get back to Earth as quick as we can. B-Squad is in a fight for their lives.”
[Syd gained some new power] – Syd strapped the Nova morpher to her wrist and pressed the activation button.
“Back to action,” she said to herself, as she went running out of the laboratory.
[Prax called for B-Squad’s surrender] – Boom looked up at the robots, the three escaped aliens, and even the two cyborgs. As his eyes rested on the Pink Ranger among them, he could not see any other alternative. The other members of B-Squad watched as their Blue Ranger’s helmet dropped slowly towards the ground. As if on cue, their own helmets dropped a bit. They knew what he was about to do.
Boom raised his head to face Prax once again. He couldn’t even get to his feet, which he wanted so desperately. If he was going to surrender, it seemed more honorable to do it on his feet.
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“The toughest job that any Commander faces is the fact that those they order into battle may not return,” Cruger said solemnly. “It’s an inevitable consequence of command. You had to experience it. It’s tough and it’s horrifying, I know.”
“I know it was just a simulation, but I had to sacrifice my friends. I consider S.P.D. my family,” Kat said. “I’m not sure I could make that decision again, if the circumstances were real.”
“You could,” Cruger said. “I know it feels like you never would, but when the fate of the planet you’re sworn to protect is in danger, you have to do your duty and the duty of the Commander is to make sure that their planet is protected, not their Rangers. They know the risks and so do you. Those citizens that you chose to protect do not.”
“Now that I have the job, I’m not sure I want it.”
Kat snapped herself out of the memory from her recent past. Her conversation with Doggie Cruger had been replaying in her head since she left Vanguard X. She was headed into a battle whose outcome would hinge on her doing her duty. Even now, it was a duty she was unsure she could carry out. Her mind veered back to that conversation with Cruger.
“I may not like the rules, but I can’t leave the game,” she said aloud.
Doctor Pryce Jensen who was seated next to her in the speeding patrol jeep glanced over.
“What?” he said, looking curious.
“It’s something I told a friend once,” Kat said. “He managed to convince me of something by forcing me to convince myself.”
Pryce didn’t respond. As the silence between them grew, the sound of the jeep’s roaring engine and accompanying siren seemed to get louder. Kat swerved around a right corner. Up ahead, Pryce knew they were approaching their destination. The smoke and scattered fires were a desperate sign.
Boom could barely raise his heavy bones from the ground, let alone his voice. He glanced at his sides and saw that his B-Squad teammates were all also feeling the pain and heavy burden of defeat at their fingertips. B-Squad’s Blue Ranger looked up into the evil eyes of Prax, at the head of his army, bearing down on them, waiting, demanding their surrender. Boom silently nodded his head.
“Well!” Prax shouted in front of them. “Let’s hear it! Do you surrender or die?”
He didn’t believe in giving up, but Boom never knew it would become this hard to fight. He felt alone for the first time since joining this team. It was a feeling that he would never fathom before this day. Space Patrol Delta was a family. He opened his mouth to give Prax exactly what he wanted.
Then he heard the approaching sirens. His breathing seemed to return to normal. The tear that fell from his eye was not joined by any others, as he realized his family reunion had come.
“You want our surrender, Prax?” Boom said, his voice low, practically grunting. “Never!”
Prax chuckled so loud it was no wonder he didn’t hear the approaching vehicle. The patrol jeep screeched to a halt behind the army of monsters and robots as a barrage of laser strikes hit the group just as they turned around. Prax and his army went flying as a result of the attack. Once the Prax got to his feet he saw the identity of the culprits.
“More S.P.D.!” he shouted.
Kat turned off the jeep and stood up on her seat next to Pryce, who had fired the blast at the monsters. He handed Kat a second laser pistol, which she trained on Prax.
“You’re all under arrest,” Kat said, as she nodded to Boom.
Boom nodded back, as he struggled to his feet, along with the rest of B-Squad.
“I don’t think so!” Prax yelled, furiously.
“We’re going to stop you whether you like it or not,” Kat said, as her eyes narrowed on Sophie.
“You and what army?” Prax said, defiantly. “Destroy them all!”
At that moment, B-Squad tried to attack, but were quickly confronted by Blaze, Sophie, Huragi and Relliott. Prax pointed to the patrol jeep where Kat & Pryce were. This caused the Delta X robots to head there, firing their arm-mounted blasters. Kat & Pryce tried to duck for cover, but the open jeep provided little comfort. The villainous escapee Rubexa joined the robots, with her sights on S.P.D. Earth’s Commander.
==========
“We’re approaching Earth,” Z called out from the pilot’s seat of the small shuttle, speeding towards the giant planet.
“Rangers, listen up,” Cruger said, as he pressed the shuttle’s onboard communications panel.
After a few more buttons were pressed he opened a communications channel to Command Central.
“S.P.D. Earth, this is Supreme Commander Cruger. Do you read me?”
“Yes, Supreme Commander,” Niyako’s familiar voice came through loud and clear.
“What’s the situation?”
“Commander Manx has been located,” Niyako revealed. “She and Dr. Jensen are attempting to help B-Squad against the invasion threat. However, they are still gravely outnumbered. I have been unable to contact the Officers.”
“It’s all right, Niyako,” Cruger said. “They’re with me.”
“With you?” Ghiren’s shocked voice came over the channel. “Can you ask them why they deactivated their morpher communication systems?”
“Not now, Ghiren,” Cruger said. “Just send us the coordinates of the battle.”
“Transmitting now, sir,” Ghiren spoke.
“How is the auxiliary station?” Cruger wondered. “Is everything secure?”
“Yes, sir,” Ghiren answered. “We have not been targeted. Prax’s army seems intent on taking the city from the center. B-Squad’s managed to keep them from their goal...for now.”
“We’ve received the coordinates,” Cruger acknowledged. “We’re going to help them. You should expect Sam shortly. He’s bringing an authorized guest.”
“Understood sir,” Niyako spoke, before ending the transmission.
A few seconds later, the doors to the cockpit slid open and Sam entered, with Sky and Bridge close behind him. Sam wasn’t happy.
“I can’t go there,” Sam said, looking at Cruger. “I need Kat to fix my morpher so I can help.”
“I can’t make the repairs it needs,” Bridge concurred. “Kat or Dr. Jensen are the only ones who could.”
“Sam, it’s too dangerous down there,” Z said.
“I can take care of myself,” Sam said, passionately. “Please!”
“I know you can, Sam,” Cruger said. “But Kat is busy and I can’t risk you or her getting hurt because you’re distracted. We don’t have the time. You’ll have to sit this one out.”
“That’s not fair,” Sam said.
“Trust me, Sam. I know it isn’t,” Cruger confessed. “But we can handle this. I need you to follow my orders.”
Sam let out a disappointed sigh.
“Are we ready?” Cruger said, looking to Sky.
“As we’ll ever be,” Sky confirmed.
Cruger nodded, as he turned his eyes back to Z in the pilot’s seat.
“Take us down.”
==========
In the darkness of the rear hall of the old factory, only the light footsteps of Barrett Van Tigue could be heard. Barrett was silent, as he paced back and forth in front of the large metal wall in front of him. He was growing impatient as he waited for his associate to arrive. Finally, he heard her heeled leather boots approaching.
“You took long enough,” Barrett sneered.
“I had to make sure my prisoner was secure,” Vishus said. “I don’t want another one getting away.”
“None of them are going to get away,” Barrett said, with a slight smirk. “Once my equalizer is fully powered, Newtech City will have no choice but to bow before me.”
Barrett pulled the remote from his pocket and pressed a button, which caused the large metal wall in front of them to ascend quickly, sliding upwards. As the two walked further inside, Barrett pressed another button, causing the lights to activate. As he looked upon the large metal creation in front of him, he smiled even brighter.
The red and gold robot was massive. From its sword and shield to its sharp appendages, the robot was a fearsome creature. It was a soldier for success, Barrett thought to himself. Designed to be the perfect warrior, it’s red helmet and color symbolized the fire within Barrett’s soul. His blueprints resembled an ancient knight. He had pictured himself parading through Newtech City in victory inside the giant robot, as if it were his chariot leading him to his kingdom. But, times had changed. It was now going to be his greatest weapon.
His eyes focused on the large silver jewel embedded in the robot’s chest and the two matching jewels that were attached to the robot’s shoulders. They weren’t yet glowing with power and that was why he needed Lady Vishus.
“Okay,” she said, at his side. “Let’s get this over with. I have a prisoner to torture.”
Van Tigue led her to a freestanding control station in the right corner of the room. After he pressed a few buttons, a blue cord with a black tip extended from the console. Vishus grabbed it with her left hand, as Barrett rolled up the right sleeve of her black jumpsuit, where a small port was located.
The female cyborg practically jabbed the connecting device into her arm, as Barrett pressed a few buttons, beginning the uplink between Vishus and the robot. As Barrett looked back up at his creation, he saw the jewel on the robot’s left shoulder beginning to light up.
“Excellent,” Barrett said, with a smile.
==========
It was 7 p.m. in Newtech City and the sun was quickly setting on the battle underway in the streets. As Pryce Jensen fired his laser pistol at one of the Delta X robots firing on the patrol jeep, he was met with a barrage of return fire, causing him to take cover behind the vehicle.
At his side, he saw Kat’s leg flying into the air, connecting with the chest of Rubexa. The Lynx native’s feline fighting tactics, however, did little damage to the much-bigger alien criminal, who struck back with a fierce open-palmed strike to Kat’s chest, sending her crashing to the ground next to Pryce.
“So, is this part of your brilliant plan to stop them?” Pryce said, sarcastically.
Kat gathered herself, as she fired back on Rubexa, still holding her chest from the alien’s attack.
“We have to get to Sophie,” Kat said, as she peeked around on Pryce’s side, joining him in firing on the robots. “She’s the only way to even the odds.”
“I still don’t see how that can help, given what Dr. Jiang told us,” he surmised. “She’s not going to listen.”
“I wasn’t planning on talking to her,” Kat said, as she jumped back to her feet and tried to lunge at Rubexa.
The monster, however, grabbed both of Kat’s arms, restraining her and causing her to drop her pistol. Kat let out a cry of pain from the monster’s grip. This drew Pryce’s attention, but he was still under attack by several firing robots and couldn’t leave his position.
“Kat!” he yelled, in fear for her safety.
At that moment, a fierce explosion landed at Rubexa’s back, causing her to release Kat, as she flew to the ground in a barrage of smoke and damaging sparks. Kat also hit the ground nearby. As she looked up at the source of the blast, she couldn’t help but smile.
In the distance, the clearing smoke revealed the arrival of Newtech City’s finest heroes. The Red Ranger came into view first, holding his twin Delta blasters, which he had combined into one powerful weapon. It was he who had fired on Rubexa. At his left side, Shadow Ranger appeared. Flanking them were the Green, Blue & Yellow Rangers. They stood tall, side by side.
As the group’s presence became apparent to the monster army, Shadow Ranger turned around behind them, where Sam stood with Cash several feet away.
“Go, now,” Cruger ordered.
Sam looked furious, as he nodded, grabbing a hold of Cash’s arm, teleporting both of them away from the battlefield. Cruger watched that spot until he was convinced they were gone.
“Keep telling yourself you did the right thing,” Z said, at Cruger’s side.
“I will,” Cruger said, as he turned back around to face the fight ahead.
“Sophie!” Bridge shouted, as he spotted the Pink Ranger in the melee, fighting with B-Squad’s Green Ranger. “What is she doing?”
The Blue Ranger tried to run, but the Red Ranger grabbed him by the shoulders, stopping him.
“Wait!” Sky yelled.
“Something’s wrong with her,” Quinn chimed in, as he was standing nearby.
“We have to help her!” Bridge yelled.
“We can’t like this,” Sky said. “This looks more dangerous than I thought. Let’s go S.W.A.T.. Ready?”
With one swift motion all five Rangers had their morphers reaching for the sky.
“Ready,” they yelled together, “S.P.D., S.W.A.T. mode!”
They were instantly outfitted in their S.W.A.T. gear, now holding their Delta Enforcers. Four of them rushed into the fray of battle. One of them, however, had stopped. Z had caught sight of something in an alleyway that led to an adjacent street. It was only a quick flash since the figure was running at a high speed, but her blond hair flapping in the wind was unmistakable.
“Syd?” Z called out.
As she started to make her way in that direction, two Delta X robots fired on her. The Yellow Ranger flipped out of their line of fire and went back to work, as they blocked the alleyway in front of her.
==========
A few blocks down that adjacent street, Barrett Van Tigue and Lady Vishus were walking back towards the main area of the factory, where a bound and gagged Piggy was waiting. Both of them were smiling.
“The robot is fully charged,” Barrett said, proudly. “In a few minutes, its systems will be fully operable and then Newtech City will fall at my feet.”
“I can’t wait,” Vishus said, before giving him a contradictory look. “Actually, I can wait! It gives me time to finally kill Piggy!”
As they approached, Piggy appeared to be struggling in his restraints, trying to speak through the gag in his mouth.
“Begging for mercy?” Vishus said, as she pulled him off of the floor. “Too bad!”
Vishus wrapped her cybernetic hands around the alien’s throat and began to squeeze, causing Piggy to squeal. His muffled screams caused her smile to widen.
“I just came to say goodbye, Piggy,” Barrett said, as he waved at him from several feet away. “It was nice knowing you, but it’ll be even nicer not knowing you!”
“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you!”
The sound of Syren Dean’s voice instantly caught their attention. Barrett and Vishus both turned to see the young blonde. When Barrett turned, he expected to see more than just her. He smiled as he saw she was standing before them, just as she had been twenty minutes before, all alone. In her baby blue tank top, long-sleeved white hoodie and blue jeans, Syren Dean hadn’t changed one bit.
“Syren, you’re back,” Barrett said. “I missed you.”
“Well, rest assured, we’re not done yet,” Syd said, staring a hole through Barrett.
“Neither are we!” Vishus sneered as she tossed Piggy into a wall, knocking him to the floor.
Vishus walked closer to Syren, matching her look of fury.
“Well...I think I’ll let you two ladies sort this out,” Barrett said, with a smile. “I’ve got an important meeting to get to.”
Barrett trotted off towards the rear of the factory. As Syd tried to follow, Vishus cut off her path.
“What’s wrong? Afraid you’ll lose...again?” Vishus asked, with a wink.
“You attacked me from behind last time. You won’t get the chance to make that mistake again,” Syd said, as she raised the sleeve of her white sweater, revealing the Nova morpher on her wrist. “I came ready to play.”
Vishus’ eyes grew wide as she saw the device.
“S.P.D. Emergency!” Syd shouted, as she twisted the morpher’s throttle, instantly morphing.
Vishus instinctively took three steps back away from the newly morphed Ranger. She stood watching in shock at the figure that now appeared before her. She was like no Ranger Vishus had seen before. Most of the suit was a shiny silver, except for the blue and gold short vest, matching blue boots and gloves, and the helmet on her head. Her badge, belt and S.P.D. insignia all matched the golden morpher strapped to her right wrist.
“S.P.D. Nova Ranger!” Syd shouted from behind the helmet. “You’re going down.”
The blinking sirens on both sides of the Ranger’s helmet lit up brightly.
“The only question is,” Syd said, slyly. “Are you going to come quietly, or are you going to help me test out these powers?”
“Oh, you know me,” Vishus said, sneering. “Always willing to help a fellow woman!”
Vishus let out a loud scream, as she took flight, attempting a flying kick on Syd. With her heightened senses, however, the Nova Ranger was ready. She took two quick steps to the side, causing Vishus’ kick to fly right past her. The cyborg regained her footing quickly, but before she could turn to attack again, Syd was already there, with a pair of swift punches that connected with Vishus’ face. Nova Ranger followed up with a punch to the stomach, which sent Vishus tumbling to the ground several feet away.
Syd pulled the throttle on her morpher and twisted it again.
“Thunder mode!” she yelled, as her gloved hand began to glow with energy.
Vishus let out another battle cry as she got to her feet and raced towards Syd. Nova Ranger extended her palm towards Vishus, causing a wave of blue lightning to shoot out, striking Vishus before she could reach her. The cyborg’s body went flying into the air, contorting in ways that Syd had never seen. She lit up in sparks as she fell to the ground once again.
“I’m starting to like this,” Syd said, victoriously.
She walked closer to Vishus, standing above the cyborg that was holding her chest.
“You’re out of time, Vishus,” Syd said, seriously.
“So is Newtech City,” she grumbled from the ground. “Barrett...he’ll destroy them all.”
“How?” Syd questioned. “What’s he planning to do?”
“I’ll never tell,” Vishus said, angrily, as she struggled to her feet. “And, unless you intend to destroy me, I won’t be letting you find out.”
“We’ll see about that,” Syd said.
==========
Decked out in S.W.A.T. mode, Shadow Ranger swiftly cut through one of the Delta X robots, disconnecting its head from its body with a swipe of his Shadow Saber. In one fluid motion he slid the sword into its S.W.A.T. blaster mode, firing the weapon on another Delta X robot, sending it flying through the air and crashing to the ground. This one, however, was still in one piece and still moving. He narrowed his eyes on him and pounced again.
Several feet away, Z Delgado used her Delta Enforcer to swipe away the firing arm of one robot, as she kicked it in the chest, sending it flying. Another came at her from behind, but she ducked its attack and fired her Delta Enforcer, sending the metal soldier flying backwards in a barrage of sparks.
Near the S.P.D. patrol jeep, Pryce Jensen found himself firing again at a few of the robots. Just then, Rubexa popped her head around the jeep, laughing loudly. Pryce struggled to refocus his weapon on her, just as she was blown away from him by a golden stream of lasers. Pryce turned to see the Blue Ranger had fired on the alien.
With his Delta Enforcer still drawn, Bridge helped Kat to her feet and rushed her over to the jeep next to Pryce, taking cover from the intense fighting happening all around them.
“Are you okay?” Bridge asked them.
“We’ll be fine,” Kat spoke up before Jensen could. “You have to get back out there.”
“What’s wrong with Sophie?” Bridge wondered, intently.
“Dr. Jiang’s working with Van Tigue,” Kat explained, still panting from Rubexa’s earlier attack. “He reprogrammed Sophie. She’s the one controlling X-Squad.”
“Oh no,” Bridge said, sadly. “We have to do something.”
“We can’t get to her,” Kat said. “But you can.”
“What?” Bridge appeared confused.
Kat grabbed a hold of his arms.
“Bridge, listen to me. The only way to stop the robots is to break their connection to Sophie,” Kat revealed to him.
“Okay,” Bridge said, taking a deep breath. “How do I do that?”
Pryce sighed at Kat’s side. He fired his weapon at another approaching robot as he turned to Bridge.
“The only way to do it is to wipe Sophie’s mainframe,” Pryce said, still having trouble believing it himself.
“We can’t—“ Bridge said, giving Kat a worried look that she couldn’t see through his helmet.
In this case, though, Kat knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Bridge, there’s no other choice,” she said. “You have to stop Sophie. The robots are practically indestructible and the monsters are still fighting back.”
“I—I can’t,” Bridge said, thinking back to his failure to rescue Sky on Fenix Prime.
“You have to,” Kat said, as she narrowed her gaze on him and mustered every once of strength she had to raise her voice. “That’s an order, Officer!”
Bridge’s gaze fell to the ground.
A few yards away, the Red Ranger was fighting hand-to-hand with Prax. The two matched blow for blow, and kick for kick until Prax swatted away one of Sky’s attacks and pulled him close.
“I thought you were in prison,” Prax sneered.
“I escaped,” Sky said, defiantly.
“Naughty boy,” Prax said, as he pushed Sky away and went for a kick to his head, which the Red Ranger blocked.
Sky spun himself around, scoring a spinning kick of his own on the monster. Prax fell to the ground.
“I thought you’d admire it actually, given the company you keep!” Sky said, as he pulled his Delta Enforcer on the monster, pointing it down on him.
“Need some help?” the Yellow Ranger called out as she joined Sky at his side.
“I’m good.”
“Well...I need to go check something out. Can you spare me?” Z asked.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure, but I need to go. It might have something to do with Syd,” Z revealed, catching Sky off-guard.
Z knew Sky must have been concerned.
“Go,” he said, resisting every urge to go with her. “We can handle these creeps until you get back.”
The Yellow Ranger nodded, as she went sprinting down an adjacent alleyway.
On the other side of the street, Blaze was bearing down on B-Squad’s Duc Sato once again. All of his artificial skin had been burned away thanks to B-Squad’s Yellow Ranger. Blaze now wanted revenge. In that moment, their motivations matched. But, despite the looks of the two, Duc was the one in more pain. He clutched his chest with one hand and his blaster with the other. He fired on Blaze, but the cyborg took to the air, jumping over the laser strike. He came down with a fierce kick, which caught Duc in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground. His blaster rifle went sliding into the road, out of his grasp.
“It’s time to end this vendetta,” Blaze shouted furiously, as his glowing cybernetic eyes burned.
Just then a powerful laser blast hit the cyborg’s chest, sending him flying off his feet through the air. As Duc watched his flight and fall to the ground nearby, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the Green Ranger in his S.W.A.T. gear.
“Quinn, it’s been too long,” Duc said, sarcastically.
“I wouldn’t leave you hanging buddy,” Quinn said. “Can you take it from here?”
“With our help he can,” Meg Thurman’s voice was heard approaching.
The other three members of B-Squad joined Duc at his side. Boom handed the Yellow Ranger his rifle back.
“Then go to it, B-Squad,” Quinn said, smiling beneath his helmet as he rushed back off into the battle.
“Ready to end this?” Casey asked Duc.
“I’ve been ready for years,” Duc said, as he turned back to Blaze, who was struggling to his feet.
The other B-Squad Rangers joined him. With all blasters focused on Blaze, the cyborg saw the impending danger in front of him.
“You can’t contain me!” Blaze said. “I’m not an alien!”
“Well, you’re definitely not human!” Boom shouted.
“Let’s see what the morpher has to say about it,” Meg said, as she pointed hers at Blaze and activated judgment mode. “Blaze, you’re accused of attacking S.P.D. personnel and conducting terrorist attacks on both Earth and Fernovia.”
Blaze looked stunned when he realized that they weren’t trying to charge him for killing Mr. and Mrs. Sato.
“...and murder,” Duc said, underneath his breath.
As the red “X” imprinted on the cyborg’s face, he realized his fate.
“Guilty!” the four B-Squad Rangers yelled, as they trained their weapons on him together.
They stood in their square formation and all fired at exactly the same time. As their laser blasts connected, they became more powerful. They struck Blaze as a singular laser attack, igniting him instantly in flames. As the smoke cleared, there was nothing left but a containment card. B-Squad’s Yellow Ranger walked over and retrieved it.
“Joubutsu,” Duc spoke quietly in his native language, as he held the card tight in his hand and looked to the sky.
Casey sighed, as she walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. B-Squad’s Green Ranger knew Japanese and knew that Duc was sending a quiet wish that his parents would now rest in peace.
==========
S.P.D.’s auxiliary station on Earth looked deserted, despite the flashing sirens on the four corners of its roof. There was indeed an emergency underway. As Sam materialized in the street a few yards away from the station, his thoughts were back in that battle. At his side, Cash Donovan looked around, curiously.
“Man, kid, that’s some power you got there,” he said. “Is this the place?”
He pointed to the station.
“Yeah,” Sam said quietly. “Ghiren should be right inside waiting for you.”
Cash began walking towards the entrance when he realized Sam wasn’t at his side. He turned to see Sam looking in the opposite direction.
“Aren’t you coming?” Cash asked.
“I can’t,” Sam said, shaking his head. “I have to go back.”
“Why?” Cash asked.
“Because...it’s my destiny,” Sam said, as he turned to Cash.
Cash nodded, realizing it wasn’t his place to interfere. He watched as the teenager teleported away, just as quickly as they had arrived.
“Good luck,” Cash called out before heading inside.
==========
Back on the battlefield, B-Squad found themselves with little time to rest, as the Delta X robots continued to swarm them, firing on them whenever possible. Their superior Officers also had their hands full.
Shadow Ranger slashed at the monster Relliott, but he used his super speed to avoid the Shadow Saber attack. He swiped at Cruger’s back, sending him staggering forward, where the menacing form of Rubexa was waiting. She swiped at Cruger’s chest sending him flying backwards, as his chest lit up in sparks.
Sky continued to hold Prax at bay with his Delta Enforcer, begging him to move.
“It’s all over,” Sky said.
“You have no idea how wrong you are,” Prax said, as he got to his feet. “You don’t know what you’ve walked into, Red Ranger!”
“I know enough,” Sky said.
Prax laughed loudly, as he lunged at Sky. The Red Ranger fired his Delta Enforcer at Prax, but was shocked when the blast did little damage. The laser beams seemed to deflect off Prax’s silver armor. Within seconds, the green insectoid was upon him, swiping at Sky’s chest with his claws, causing Sky to stagger backwards. Prax followed up with a kick to the Red Ranger’s head, sending him to the ground.
“Now, who’s in trouble?” Prax said, as he stood above Sky.
Several meters away, Quinn managed to dodge several bomb attacks, as they shot out of Huragi’s shoulder-mounted cannon. The Green Ranger took to the air, firing on the alien criminal with his Delta Enforcer. Huragi dove out of the way of the assault, firing his cannon once again. This time, the small bomb hit Quinn, sending him crashing to the ground.
As two more Delta X robots descended upon the patrol jeep, Kat & Pryce continued to fire, while keeping cover behind the vehicle.
“You know, this isn’t what I expected when I requested to join S.P.D. Earth,” Pryce grunted, as he dodged a laser blast that broke the jeep’s taillight near his face.
“You mean they didn’t warn you to expect the unexpected?” Kat said, as she fired a few more laser blasts of her own.
“I must have missed that memo,” Pryce said.
At that moment, Sam Hastings materialized in front of them. He ducked the fire of the Delta X robots, kneeling next to Kat, who now looked shocked.
“Sam! What are you doing here?”
“I came to help,” he said quickly.
Pryce leaned over closer to Kat’s ear.
“You said to expect the unexpected,” he said, sarcastically.
Sam handed her the Omega morpher.
“It’s not working. Bridge said it’s because it needs Jack’s blood to power it,” Sam explained. “Can you fix it?”
“Probably,” Kat said, angrily as she began examining the morpher, amidst several laser blasts landing around them. “But, you should really be back at the station where it’s safe.”
“You’re starting to sound like Supreme Commander Cruger,” Sam said.
“Be careful, kid,” Pryce said. “She’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Pryce, shut up...and give me your pistol,” Kat said. “I need to hook the Omega morpher into another power source. It’ll just take a few tweaks.”
“Why do you need my pistol?” Pryce said, looking stunned. “We’re under attack!”
As if he needed proof, another barrage of lasers hit the jeep at that moment.
“Pryce, give it to me! You should have made these modifications a long time ago,” Kat said.
“You can’t be saying this is my fault,” Pryce said, looking shocked.
“This isn’t the time for arguing,” Kat said.
“You’re tellin’ me,” Sam said, looking annoyed at their bickering.
“Look, just trust me,” Kat said to Jensen.
“You’re gonna owe me big time,” Pryce said.
“Fine,” Kat said, as she extended her hand.
Pryce let out a frustrated grunt as he handed her his pistol.
“Thanks,” Sam said to him.
“I hope you’re ready for this,” Kat said to him, as she went back to work on the morpher.
Several feet away, the Blue Ranger blasted his way through four Delta X robots, with his eyes focused on his target. Although, honestly, Bridge Carson could never think of Sophie that way.
Once he was past the robots, he saw her aiming at B-Squad in the distance.
“Sophie, stop!” Bridge called out, drawing her attention.
He watched her weapon lower for a moment, before she turned it on him and fired. The blast from her Deltamax Striker struck him quickly. Since he was in a dead run, the force of the blast sent him flipping backward into the air and falling to the ground. Before he could get completely to his feet, she was on top of him, kicking his Delta Enforcer out of his hands.
She aimed her Deltamax Striker at his chest, as he got to his feet. He could see her finger on the trigger.
“Sophie, please,” Bridge said, somberly. “It’s me, Bridge. You can’t do this. This isn’t you. Please, just listen to me.”
“This...is me,” Sophie said, her voice vacant, devoid of the life he knew she carried within.
“No,” Bridge said. “Our Sophie would never help these criminals.”
“Your Sophie?” the Pink Ranger spoke, as her head tilted slightly, almost in curiosity.
“Yes!” Bridge said, as he walked a bit closer, only to feel the point of the Deltamax Striker poking against his S.W.A.T. vest. “Sophie, I know Dr. Jiang did something to you—your programming, but you’ve grown beyond it. You didn’t need him, remember? You don’t need him to be yourself.”
As Bridge cursed his genetic power for not being able to read her mind, he reached out his hand, staring into the visor of her tilted helmet. As his hand raised, Sophie brought her head up to look straight at him.
Then she fired.
The blast from such close range sent Bridge flying backwards, several inches off the ground. The sparks coming from his chest left a trail, as he collided with the wall of a building.
==========
Inside the factory, Lady Vishus stood her ground against Nova Ranger. She punched Syd across the helmet twice, with each fist, but her attack had little effect on the Ranger. When she attempted another round, Syd grabbed both of her wrists, twisting them away from her. This caused Vishus entire body to twist. Her back was now to Syd, while her arms were forcibly crossed over her neck.
With one swift motion, Syd yanked on Vishus arms, sending her into the air and flying over her head. Her body crashed to the ground behind the Nova Ranger. Vishus landed with a huge thud, as her chest collided with the floor. Syd took her fighting stance, as she saw Vishus was still not down for the count.
“Don’t you ever just give up?”
“To you...never!” Vishus sneered, as she grabbed at her chest. “Besides, you’ll never stop Barrett before he unleashes his robot on the city.”
“Robot?” Syd said, curiously.
Vishus chuckled.
“This city won’t know what hit it. Then again, neither will you!” Vishus said, as she took off, running towards Syd for another attack.
Before she could reach the Nova Ranger, her entire body was struck by a powerful laser blast, which had come from behind Syd. The Nova Ranger turned to see a familiar face standing at the entrance to the warehouse.
“I thought you could use some backup,” the Yellow Ranger said. “Nice suit. I thought it might come in handy.”
Beneath her helmet, Syd smiled. Syd gave a quick glance to see Vishus was still down. She turned back to Z and pointed towards Piggy’s fallen, bound body.
“Piggy’s hurt,” she told Z. “I have to go after Barrett. He’s got some kind of robot that he’s going to release.”
“Go,” Z said. “I’ll finish things here.”
Syd nodded, before running off towards the rear of the warehouse.
In the darkness of the factory’s rear hall, Barrett stood at the control station on the ground. He adjusted the headset he wore, before pressing a few of the controls. A small graphic on the station showed him that the robot was indeed fully charged and all systems were online.
“Perfect,” Barrett said aloud. “It’s time for Newtech City to see my true power.”
His left hand drifted to a control panel on the far side of the station. He pressed a few commands, causing a large retracting door to begin sliding. Barrett glanced between the robot’s legs to make sure the door was moving. As the setting sunlight began to creep into the warehouse, he smiled. Before this day was done, he knew he would have the entire city under his thumb.
But as the door opened completely, the sunlight began to form around a figure that was standing in the doorway on the inside of the warehouse. Barrett squinted until he was finally able to make out who had entered without him noticing.
“Not you again,” Barrett said.
“I can’t let you do this,” Syd said, beneath the Nova Ranger helmet.
“You can’t stop me,” Barrett said.
Barrett ran back to the control station to activate the robot, just as the Nova Ranger took to the sky, flipping all the way to the top of the robot, landing on its shoulder. She looked down on Barrett from there.
“I’m taking you in,” she said.
“I’m not an alien criminal,” Barrett said. “We both know S.P.D. can’t contain me.”
“Special circumstances, Barrett,” Syd said, darkly. “Why do you think I came to Purgatory in the first place? To get what we needed to bring you in. Your dealings with Prax, the fact that you hired the terrorists that attacked Fernovia...it’s enough to book you a spot in the next containment card.”
Barrett stared at the control station for several moments, as he heard her speak. Then he looked up at her.
“I don’t think so,” he sneered, as he pressed a button on the control station.
His robot sprung to life, catching Syd off-guard. With a few quick movements, the robot shook the Nova Ranger off of its shoulder, sending her falling to the ground below. Syd took a moment to gather herself from the fall, just as she saw Barrett running past her, headed for the robot.
She made it to her feet and grabbed her morpher’s throttle. Her right glove once again turned bright blue, as energy built up in it. She twisted both arms together, pulling them back to build up pressure from the energy, as the energy formed a glowing blue ball.
“Nova strike!” she yelled, as she pushed her arms forward, sending the energy blast out towards Barrett’s feet.
The blast sent the running man flying forward into the air and falling to the ground.
“You can’t beat me, Barrett,” Syd said, as she began walking slowly towards him. “Not like this.”
He turned over in pain, as she walked up to him.
“I don’t have to beat you like this,” Barrett said, as he sent a judo kick to her stomach, causing her to stagger backwards momentarily. “I’ll beat you from up there.”
He pressed a button on his headset, which caused a grappling cord to fly out of the robot and grab hold of him, pulling him quickly inside. Before Syd could do anything, the robot was moving. With each step, it caused the ground around her to quake a bit. As it marched out of the warehouse, the Nova Ranger followed.
In the cockpit of the mighty robot, Barrett could see on his scanners that she was following him. He turned the robot around and glared down at her and the warehouse. With a swift command, the robot’s golden eyes fired two beams of fire towards the Nova Ranger. The first hit the warehouse, causing the structure to catch fire. The second would have hit Syd, if she hadn’t seen it coming.
She twisted her morpher’s throttle quickly and extended her arm, creating a strong forcefield that deflected the fire blasts, sending them away from her. Unfortunately, this caused a nearby-parked car and a small building to catch fire instead. This stopped the Nova Ranger in her tracks. When Barrett saw her worrying about the flames, he turned his robot and refocused on the city.
==========
It was tradition in the Drew household to sit down together and take in the news. While her daughter was never a fan, Shannon Drew often forced a young Sydney to watch, feeling that she needed to have some knowledge beyond herself in this world. These days Shannon had no problem seeing her news program of choice. Her husband was still at work and Syd had moved out.
Her current houseguest, the young Anna Storm, had fallen into the routine with pleasure. The two found themselves treated to a live news report on the Global News Network. Footage was being shown of the Galactic Council President Ottomus Cali being practically dragged from the Galactic Council Center on Andruss III.
“This is shameful behavior!” Cali yelled to the press as he was led towards an S.P.D. patrol car. “I do not deserve to be treated this way!”
Shannon shook her head, still stunned by the treason that had been explained to viewers by Global News Network anchor Cassidy Cornell, whose face now replaced the live footage.
“Truly shocking,” Cassidy said. “It is unclear what will become of the Galactic Council in the wake of this controversy, but we can assure you that we here at Global News Network will keep you informed.”
Just then, Cassidy put a hand to her ear, as if she was hearing words from off-stage. Her classic news reporter look was replaced by one of fear, as she looked back up at the camera.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re receiving a breaking news report from Earth,” Cassidy revealed. “It appears that a group of alien criminals is attacking Newtech City. The city has long been a haven for criminal activity and it appears that one battle may be growing out of control. Space Patrol Delta has responded.”
Concern grew on Shannon’s face as she thought of her daughter. She looked over at Anna, who seemed glued to the news report as well.
“We’re getting word that the attack on Earth may be directly related to the Galactic Council President’s resignation, but those reports have not been confirmed as of yet,” Cassidy explained. “Our news satellites are picking up a direct feed of the attack in progress and we will be switching over to the live feed in a moment. We warn you that the footage you’re about to see may be disturbing.”
Shannon looked over at Anna, wondering if she should turn off the news report. The live feed filled the screen and Shannon was still looking at Anna when she saw the twelve year-old’s eyes light up. Shannon looked back at the screen where they both saw an unfamiliar Power Ranger in a silver suit, putting out several small fires using her morpher powers. They both noticed she was clearly female.
As the feed played out, Cassidy’s voice could be heard in the background.
“This is truly amazing,” Cassidy commented. “It appears that the Nova Ranger has returned. Last seen aiding S.P.D. Earth in their final battle with Gruumm, this Ranger from the future is single-handedly putting out those fires.”
“Nova Ranger,” Anna said quietly, as she stood up and walked closer to the television.
Shannon watched the girl.
“Anna, what is it?”
“Nova...it’s a nickname the kids at the group home gave me,” Anna said, still mesmerized by Nova Ranger’s movements.
Shannon’s own mind began to race as she thought of the anchorwoman’s words about Nova being from the future.
==========
With the flames around her now put out, Syd turned her attention back to Van Tigue’s robot, which was stomping its way towards the center of Newtech City. She looked back at the warehouse, which was still on fire. She had to make a decision.
Syd ran after the robot.
As she got closer to the ground battle happening on the streets, she saw the other Rangers in the heat of battle. Through the crowd, she saw him. The Red Ranger was fighting fiercely with Prax. Her eyes veered away from him and rested on another object in the distance. It was the Blast Buggy she had seen on the monitor in Pryce’s office. She looked back up at Van Tigue’s robot as it crushed a van.
The Nova Ranger took off at a high speed, running towards the Blast Buggy. She pulled her morpher close to her mouth and activated its communications system.
“Dr. Jensen, this is Sydney Drew. If you can hear me, please respond!”
As Kat fired her laser pistol from behind the patrol jeep, Pryce had taken cover behind her when he heard the call come through on Kat’s communicator. He grabbed it from her back pocket and answered.
“This is Dr. Jensen,” Pryce said.
Kat turned her attention to the call.
“Doctor, Barrett Van Tigue has a robot and its heading towards the center of town. I need to stop it,” Syd said, as she reached the Blast Buggy. “I’m at the Blast Buggy. I saw plans on your computer that showed this thing transform. Can it stop the robot?”
Pryce peeked his head around the jeep and saw the size of Van Tigue’s robot stomping down the far street.
“No,” Pryce said. “Not on its own. But, those plans you saw, they were for a zord combination. The Blast Buggy would need to link up with the Delta Megazord.”
“That means you’ll need B-Squad,” Kat chimed in. “I’ll call them. Syd...good luck.”
“Thanks,” Syd said, as she hopped inside the Blast Buggy, strapping herself into the cockpit.
The Blast Buggy was speeding away within seconds, as she chased after Van Tigue’s robot. Syd accessed the vehicle’s full power, which caused it to roll even faster, speeding between the legs of the robot. Once she was several feet in front of the massive robot, she spun the Blast Buggy around to face it. She activated the flight mode, sending the vehicle into the air.
In the cockpit of the robot, Van Tigue looked surprised at the vehicle heading towards him. The Blast Buggy’s mounted blaster fired, hitting its target in several places as it flew over the head of Van Tigue’s robot.
Inside the cockpit, Barrett was rocked back and force. His control panel began to smoke a bit from the damage. The Blast Buggy landed on the ground behind him.
“You’re going to pay for that,” he said, as he regained control of the robot, sending its foot down towards the Blast Buggy.
Before it could connect with the vehicle, the robot was hit with fire more intense laser strikes, seemingly coming from five different directions.
“What?!?” Barrett shouted, as he turned the robot quickly to see the blasts had come from the five approaching Delta Runners.
==========
Back on the ground, the Red and Green Rangers fought near one another, as they had their hands full with Prax and Huragi, respectively. Sky found that his Delta Enforcer blasts seemed to have no effect on the alien with his armor activated. This forced him to fight hand-to-hand. Quinn was doing the same, as he had little time to get a good shot off on Huragi before the escaped criminal would fire one of his bombs at him.
Several feet away, Shadow Ranger also had his share of action. Rubexa and Relliott had joined forces, both attacking him at the same time. Just as he fended off an attack from Relliott, slashing him with his Shadow Saber, Rubexa was right there, firing her highly-charged blaster at him. Cruger lit up in sparks from the blast, as he fell to the ground, hearing Rubexa cackling happily, as she came closer.
He looked up at the alien criminal, just as a booted-kick came up, stopping her laugh as she was nailed in the head. Cruger’s eyes grew a bit wider as he saw the boot belonged to the Omega Ranger. He got to his feet in time to see Sam charge his morpher’s throttle.
“Hyper mode!” Sam yelled, as his palm glowed yellow.
The speeding punches from his strike hit Rubexa so quickly that she had no defense. Soon, her entire body was smoking from the energy strikes, sending her flying into the air and crashing to the ground.
Shadow Ranger walked up behind Sam, grabbing him on the shoulder.
“I thought I told you to stay behind,” Cruger said sternly.
“You want me to help her get back up?” Sam said, a bit cocky.
“That won’t be necessary,” Cruger conceded, just as both of them were hit with lightning-fast energy strikes, sending them both falling to the ground.
“That must be Relliott,” Sam said, grunting beneath his helmet.
Sam remembered the monster that had tried to abduct him. He & Cruger got to their feet, just as the monster’s stopped right in front of them. He kicked Shadow Ranger in the head, causing him to stagger away. He went for the same tactic on Omega, but Sam saw it coming, blocking his leg away. The monster went for a punch, but Sam caught his fist in the palm of his hand. This began a struggle for control between the two, until Shadow Ranger appeared back at Sam’s side, with his Shadow Saber in hand. He slashed at Relliott’s unprotected chest, sending the monster falling back to the ground.
“Thanks,” Sam said.
“I owed you one,” Cruger retorted, just as both were struck again from behind.
From the ground, they could see that several of the Delta X robots had now targeted them to aide the two monsters.
“There’s still too many,” Cruger grunted.
As if on cue, sirens could be heard descending towards Earth. The two Rangers looked up to see three shuttles landing nearby. Within seconds, their hatches were open. The trio of S.P.D. Rangers from Triforia stormed out of the first vehicle, with their weapons drawn. They ran into the fray of Delta X robots, slashing each one they passed with their blasters. Representative Trecineas exited right behind them, with his own laser pistol drawn, firing on the robots.
The second shuttle carried four of Fernovia’s best. The four familiar Rangers stormed out into the battle as well, heading towards the Green and Red Rangers. Behind them, their representative, Urgundii stood just inside the hatch of his shuttle, armed and watching.
The third shuttle deposited five S.P.D. Rangers who were normally stationed on Aquitar. That group set their sights on the robots as well and began firing their large blaster rifles on them. Representative Pheon exited the shuttle after them. Armed with his own blaster, he ran over to Sam and Cruger, who had gotten to their feet.
“Sorry we’re late,” Pheon said. “It took a while to round them all up.”
A few stray blasts from the Delta X robots fell near their feet, causing all three to flip away.
“Welcome to Earth,” Cruger said, sarcastically.
Pheon nodded, almost smiling, as all three of them fired off attacks. Nearby, Rubexa had gotten to her feet and had the trio in her sights. She chuckled once again, as she aimed her blaster on the three males, whose backs were now turned to her.
“Perfect,” she said.
“Hold it!” Geltran, Triforia’s Red Ranger, shouted.
Rubexa turned to see all three of the Triforian Officers with their weapons trained on her. Their blasters were similar to Earth’s Deltamax Strikers, but thicker. Each had three barrels, instead of one.
“Let’s do this!” Zex, the Triforian Yellow Ranger said, at his side.
Triforia’s Blue Ranger, Trename, looked off for a second at his uncle, Trecineas watching in the distance. He nodded to him. With redemption in his grasp, he turned back to his team.
“Ready!”
With one swift motion, Zex flipped into the air, landing on the shoulders of her two male teammates.
“Trifold blast!” the trio shouted, as they brought their weapons together, sending a massive triangular energy strike towards Rubexa.
The alien criminal was enveloped in a powerful explosion. The finishing strike left nothing behind but smoke and a containment card, which Trecineas picked up, nodding back to his planet’s protectors.
Several feet away, Bridge made his way out of the rubble that Sophie had left him in. He still couldn’t believe that she could turn against him. He knew a lot about cybernetics, thanks to Sophie and his own cybernetic replacement. His cybernetic arm formed a fist, as he struggled with the emotion inside. In the distance, he could hear her footsteps approaching.
“Don’t do this,” Bridge said, his voice dark, full of fear.
“We are unstoppable,” Sophie said, her voice still vacant, devoid of all the personality that he had come to admire in her.
With her Deltamax Striker in its blast mode, she fired on the Blue Ranger, as she ran towards him. The first few strikes hit him, but with his S.W.A.T. armor activated, it did little damage. Bridge flipped away, grabbing his Delta Enforcer from the ground. From one knee, he hopped into the air, flipping over the running Pink Ranger. He fired on her just as she turned back around to face him. She lit up in a barrage of energy blasts.
“Sophie!” Bridge yelled instinctively, without thinking.
The Pink Ranger fell to the ground and he ran over to her. As he looked down on her, he saw her helmet raise a bit from the ground. She appeared hurt.
“Bridge...” she said.
Bridge felt relieved. Her voice sounded almost normal. In fact, he thought she sounded a bit afraid, vulnerable.
“Sophie,” he said, as he knelt beside her. “It’s okay.”
At that moment, her Deltamax Striker was pointed directly at him again.
“No. It is not,” she said, as she fired, sending Bridge’s body tumbling across the street, sparking with damage.
She had tricked him, he thought. Her cognitive systems were still active. He just didn’t know how to return her to normal. As she got to her feet, he was still down. His morpher sounded. He grabbed it.
“Yeah.”
“Bridge, you have to stop Sophie,” Kat said, as Bridge heard laser blasts in the background. “You have your orders.”
“But—Kat, I can’t. I’m supposed to protect her,” Bridge said, desperately trying to defy her expectations of him.
“You know what you have to do,” Kat said. “You’ve come so far, Bridge. You have protected her. But now, it’s the city that needs your protection. It’s the only way to stop this. I can try to send Sky—”
“No!” Bridge said, quickly, resigning himself to his assignment.
He had been Sophie’s leader. He would have to stop her. Without another word, he deactivated the call and fought his way to his feet, staring at the Pink Ranger standing almost a yard away from him. It was a standoff and at that moment Bridge took a deep breath, realizing there was only one way to protect Sophie now and that was to make sure that her actions didn’t hurt anyone else, because that would hurt Sophie to her core.
==========
Back inside the warehouse, Z found herself kneeling at Piggy’s side, as she worked to untie his restraints.
“Piggy, can you hear me?” she called out.
She began to hear his groggy grunts.
“My head is pounding,” he said, as his eyes fluttered open and he saw the Yellow Ranger looking down at him. “I must have a concussion. I’m clearly hallucinating.”
“Shut up, Piggy,” Z said. “I hope you can walk.”
“I’ll try,” he said as he sat up. “Do you smell smoke?”
The Yellow Ranger looked up. She couldn’t smell much from inside her helmet, but her S.W.A.T. scanners worked overtime as she glanced around the warehouse and indeed picked up the heat of fire in the back of the warehouse.
“We need to get you out of here,” Z said, as she turned back to Piggy.
Piggy nodded, just as something else came into view behind Z. It was Vishus wielding a lead pipe.
“Look out!” he shouted.
But before Z could react, Vishus hit her from behind, striking her in the back with the pipe. The Yellow Ranger fell to the floor, as Vishus raised the pipe again.
“You all make me sick!” she yelled in fury.
Piggy made his way to his feet and tried to fight Vishus for the pipe, but she tossed him to the floor quickly. She laughed as she saw him fall.
“You idiot. You’re no match for me,” Vishus said, not seeing the Yellow Ranger get to her feet behind her.
“And you’re no match for me,” Z said, angrily.
Vishus turned quickly, only to be struck across the face by the Yellow Ranger’s punch.
“But we already established that at the mansion,” Z said, as she scored a kick, knocking Vishus backwards. “So, your days of threatening people are over!”
Vishus squealed in pain, as she tried to block Z’s barrage of kicks and punches, with little effect. Vishus kept moving backwards until she finally saw a way out, as she glanced up and saw her sword stuck to a piece of wood, where Piggy had thrown it to cut Syren’s ropes.
Vishus blocked Z’s next punching attempt and planted her foot in the Yellow Ranger’s side, pushing off towards the ceiling. She used the momentum to carry her up to the wood plank, which she grabbed a hold of with one hand.
Z quickly recovered and took to the air, grabbing a hold of the wood as well. With both of their weight hanging on it, it began to break. Vishus grabbed her sword and began swiping at the Yellow Ranger.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that,” Z said, as she sent a forceful kick to Vishus stomach.
This caused her to let go of the wood and began falling downward. As the Yellow Ranger watched her, Z heard the grinder below start up. She glanced over at the control lever and saw Piggy had activated it.
“Noooo!” Vishus yelled, as her body fell into the metal grinder, breaking instantly into a thousand pieces.
The machine began to spark and jam from the mix of hair, clothing and metal circuitry inside. Piggy deactivated it, as the Yellow Ranger dropped to the ground and walked over to his side.
“Was that considered murder, Officer?” Piggy asked her.
“I don’t know,” Z said. “But we’ll keep it our little secret.”
==========
From inside the cockpit of the Blast Buggy, Syd got used to the controls of the vehicle. In fact, she was ready to stop Barrett Van Tigue for good. She activated the communications console and opened a channel to the Delta Runners.
“B-Squad, I hope you’re ready to take this to the next level,” she called out.
“Syd!?!” Boom yelled from inside Delta Runner 2. “Is that you?”
“The one and only,” Syd answered.
“What’s going on?” B-Squad’s Pink Ranger, Meg Thurman wondered.
“I’ll explain later,” she said. “For now, we have to stop that robot. Dr. Jensen wants us to activate the new Delta Blast Megazord combo. Ready?”
“Ready!” the four members of B-Squad shouted together from their cockpits.
With Delta Runner 1 working on remote, the five zords combined to form the Delta Squad Megazord.
“Now it’s my turn,” Syd said, as she took the Blast Buggy to the air once again.
The Buggy began its transformation. But this time, it began to break apart on cue. As it passed Barrett’s robot, a sharp blade slid out in front of the Blast Buggy, which maneuvered past the robot’s sword and struck it near its neck.
Inside the cockpit, Barrett was rattled once again. As he helped the robot regain its footing, the Blast Buggy came apart, joining with the Delta Squad Megazord. The mounted blaster on top of the vehicle formed a blaster for the Megazord, while another part of the Buggy formed a protective shield over the chest. The rest of the Blast Buggy attached to Syd’s old Delta Runner 5, the arm of the Megazord.
As all of the pieces came together, the Rangers inside of the cockpits shouted with confidence.
“Delta Blast Megazord!” they called out in unison.
They brought the Megazord up to Barrett’s robot, trying to fire their new blaster, but Barrett used the robot’s shield to block the blaster, keeping it from aiming. Barrett brought the robot’s silver sword around, striking the Megazord in the chest. It staggered only a bit, as the new chest plating took the brunt of the damage. The Megazord fought back, bringing up the bladed Blast Buggy attachment on its left arm, striking the robot in the chest, causing it to spark a bit and fall backwards to the ground.
“Good shot,” Casey called out from inside Delta Runner 3’s cockpit.
The Delta Blast Megazord stood above Barrett’s fallen robot. But their victory was short-lived, as Barrett focused the robot’s eyes on the Megazord, sending two streams of fire towards the large Megazord. The Rangers’ cockpits began to explode with fire damage, which sent the Megazord crashing backwards onto the ground, causing a bit of a shockwave to rattle the concrete underneath them.
“We have to get back up!” Duc called out from inside the cockpit of Delta Runner 4.
==========
The force of the quaking ground did little to shake the newfound resolve of S.P.D.’s ground troops, as they began to overwhelm Prax’s army, thanks to their reinforcements.
Quinn dodged another attack from Huragi’s shoulder-mounted cannon, just as the alien was hit from behind by a barrage of attacks. As he fell, Quinn saw the quartet of Fernovian Rangers had struck him. He ran up to them.
“Good to see you guys,” he said, happily.
“We heard you could use some help,” Fernovia’s Red Ranger, Frane spoke.
“After you helped us defend our homeworld, we had to come,” Bretti, Fernovia’s Yellow Ranger, chimed in. “...And someone wouldn’t stop trying to talk us into it,” she added, looking at the Pink Ranger.
Quinn smiled, as he glanced at Erial.
“No giving up,” Erial said, thinking back to Quinn’s time on Fernovia.
“That’s right,” Quinn said, as he looked around, noticing they were without their Blue Ranger. “I guess Melyk’s transfer went through.”
Erial nodded.
“We’re still a team, though,” Frane said, confidently. “As strong as ever!”
“It looks like we’ve got unfinished business,” Fernovia’s Green Ranger, Clestro spoke, as he pointed to Huragi, who was staggering to his feet.
“It’s time to put an end to this guy, once and for all,” Quinn said.
“May we do the honors?” Erial asked at his side.
“Be my guest,” Quinn said, as he allowed them to step ahead of him.
“I’ll destroy you all!” Huragi yelled, as he powered up his cannon and fired several of his miniature bombs at once.
As the Fernovian Rangers steadied themselves for their attack, Earth’s Green Ranger took to the air and fired his Delta Enforcer at the small bombs, causing them to explode before they could reach the Fernovian Rangers. This caught Huragi off-guard.
As the Green Ranger was flying over his head in midair, the four Fernovian Rangers combined their weaponry, firing off one giant blast, which lit up Huragi’s entire body. The resulting explosion was so big that Quinn barely made it over the fireball to land behind the flames. He turned to see Huragi’s smoking body. He aimed his morpher and activated its containment mode. With the press of a button, Huragi was recaptured. Before he could pick up the card, Erial did.
“I think this belongs to you,” she said.
Quinn liked hearing the cheerfulness in her voice.
“Thanks,” he said, as he took the card.
Several yards away, Cruger and Sam had managed to corner Relliott. Cruger slashed at him with his Shadow Saber, sending him staggering backwards.
“Time to say goodbye,” Sam said, as he charged up his Omega morpher. “Omega morpher light beam mode!”
Omega Ranger took to the air and brought his glowing yellow fist down, pounding it against Relliott’s chest. The monster exploded, as his body was invaded by the light energy, sending him shrinking into containment.
A few feet away, a Delta X robot grabbed Pryce from behind. Kat turned to fire, but she didn’t want to risk hitting Pryce. Just then, the robot was blasted from behind. Representative Pheon appeared, having fired the shot. He ran over to Kat.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Kat said, as she hugged her old friend.
“You two know each other. Why am I not surprised?” Pryce said, as he got to his feet, disconnecting himself from the fallen robot.
He stomped his boot on the robot’s power cell, but it was still moving.
“These things might actually be unstoppable,” he said, as he looked off in the distance at the Aquitian Rangers, who were fighting several of them, including one robot whose head had been cut off. The robot was still fighting.
“Bridge has to stop Sophie,” Kat said, sadly. “It’s the only way.”
Several yards away, the three Triforian Rangers had Prax on the ropes, with their coordinated attacks. He staggered backwards. After regaining his footing, he twirled his body quickly around, clawing all three of them at once. The three Triforian Rangers fell to the ground, as Prax cackled.
“You’ll never take me!” he yelled.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Sky yelled from behind him. “Oh Murphy!”
“Huh?” Prax said, as his head tilted curiously.
At that moment, the barking robotic canine could be heard approaching behind Prax. The alien turned to see the robotic dog fly past his chest, kicking him. The monster staggered to his knees from Murphy’s attack, just as the dog ran up to Sky, opening his mouth, revealing a red throttle morpher.
“You read my mind,” Sky said, as he strapped it to his wrist. “Red Ranger Battlizer mode!”
Sky activated the morpher, which transformed Murphy instantly into his S.P.D. Battlizer Mark 2. Prax staggered to his feet, as Sky loaded a containment card into the cannon, then pulled it onto his shoulder, as he pulled his morpher on the criminal.
“You’re charged with leading an attack on Newtech City and harboring known escaped criminals,” Sky spoke.
The morpher’s red flashing “x” appeared over Prax’s body.
“No! Don’t!” Prax yelled.
It was too late. Sky fired the Battlizer cannon, causing Prax’s entire body to be hit with a huge explosion of energy. The force was so great that the resulting containment card came flying out of the blaze. Sky caught it just before it flew past him. He looked into the card and saw Prax fighting against his imprisonment.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to do that,” Sky said.
Down the block, the Blue and Pink Rangers seemed to be pacing in a circle, their eyes never leaving the other in the distance.
“I can’t let you continue on like this Sophie,” Bridge called out.
“Then you should surrender,” she responded. “Because, I’m not programmed to obey your commands.”
“That’s the difference between us,” Bridge said, sadly. “I can’t disobey my orders.”
“Then you will die,” Sophie shouted, as she drew her Deltamax Striker once again and sped towards Bridge.
“I’m sorry,” Bridge said under his breath.
The Pink Ranger slashed at his chest twice, causing it to spark a bit. The third time, however, he kicked the Deltamax Striker away. Sophie came back fiercer than ever, going for another swipe at his helmet. Bridge ducked the attack, spinning behind her. With his Delta Enforcer drawn, he fired at her back. Knowing her control panel was located there, Bridge fired with precision. With his Delta Enforcer at full blast power, the energy blasts hit Sophie’s back at point blank range, frying not only her access panel but also the Pink Ranger morpher that was holstered there.
Her entire body began to spark. Her suit fell away like shattering glass. She instantly demorphed, as Bridge watched. Her body stood, paused in place for a second, before she collapsed to the ground, face first. Bridge rushed over to see the blast had caused her morpher to be blown right into her control systems. The Blue Ranger fell to his knees, closing his eyes.
“Sophie,” he said, his voice so low that no one could hear him.
==========
Up above them all, the zord battle had come to a grinding halt, thanks to Van Tigue’s fire attack on the Delta Blast Megazord. Barrett’s robot stood above the hulking piece of machinery. Inside the cockpit, Barrett laughed.
“Not so tough now, are you Syren?” Barrett spoke out. “When are you going to learn that I always win. That’s why I stack the deck!”
At that moment, the Megazord’s Blast Buggy arm flew up, stabbing at the robot with its bladed tip. This caused the robot’s chest to spark with damage and stagger back a bit. The surprisingly agile Megazord hopped to its feet, stabbing at the robot’s arm, which caused its sword to fly from its hands. With a twisting motion, the bladed-arm sliced at the robot’s other arm, causing it to drop its shield.
“Time to take this guy into custody,” Meg Thurman yelled from her cockpit.
The Megazord’s massive cuffs appeared in the Megazord’s right hand. The cuffs were tossed at Van Tigue’s staggering robot, trapping it on its feet.
“Okay, B-Squad, let’s end this,” Boom called out from his zord. “You ready Syd?”
“Always,” she said, as she called on judgment mode. “Barrett Van Tigue, you’re charged with conspiracy to terrorize Earth and Fernovia, obstruction of justice, the kidnapping of an S.P.D. officer and conspiracy to commit murder against an S.P.D. officer.”
As she silently wished she could arrest him for his human crime of killing Mia, her thoughts instead veered to Anna and the justice she would still bring to her. The verdict was in on Van Tigue.
“Guilty!” B-Squad shouted.
The Delta Blast Megazord activated its containment mode. The Blast Buggy mounted on the Megazord’s right arm detached and flew to the ground, forming a shield. With the Delta Blast Megazord kneeling behind it, the Rangers positioned the blaster rifle on top of the Buggy, to steady their aim.
“Syren...you can’t do this!” Barrett yelled.
“Just for the record, the name is Sydney Drew, Officer Sydney Drew,” Syd said from inside her cockpit. “Fire!”
The red energy built up inside of the blaster until it was at full power. Even as the energy blast discharged, Syd could still hear Barrett’s continued screaming. But within a few seconds it was all over. Van Tigue’s robot was destroyed and Van Tigue was contained.
==========
As the Delta X robots all fell onto the ground down below, the S.P.D. forces found themselves glancing up at the Delta Blast Megazord as B-Squad came flying out of their cockpits, landing on the ground, just seconds before the Nova Ranger joined them. A few surprised gasps could be heard from the crowd, as they watched Nova Ranger demorph, revealing Sydney Drew.
Cheers replaced the sounds instantly, as all of the Rangers on the street demorphed. B-Squad was congratulated by the quickly-growing crowd of S.P.D. personnel. Syd glanced through the crowd until her eyes reached one of the taller figures standing amongst them. She sighed as she saw Sky Tate walking towards her. She made her way through their comrades, meeting him in the middle of the celebration.
As their eyes got closer to one another, neither truly knew what to say.
“Hi,” Syd finally said.
“Hi,” Sky said, before grinning at her. “You were amazing up there.”
“Thanks, I—” Syd said, as she took a deep breath, knowing she had so much to say but didn’t know where to start.
At that moment, they heard a car horn honking nearby. The two looked over to see the doors to the vehicle open. Syd smiled as she saw her mother was the driver. Anna Storm jumped out of the car and began running towards her.
“Syd!”
Syd hugged the girl, as Sky looked a bit surprised at Syd’s young friend. Syd looked up at Sky and then back at Anna.
“I have a lot of explaining to do,” Syd said, with a smile.
As she made introductions between the two and her approaching mother, the crowd continued their celebration. B-Squad introduced themselves to the Rangers of Triforia and Aquitar. Quinn & Erial shared a hug, face to face. Sam watched the celebrations and felt a rising curiosity when he spotted the raven-haired girl standing with Syd and Sky.
Then, he noticed two figures approaching the crowd. He was stunned when they got close enough for him to recognize.
“Z!” Sam called out, as he trotted over to her, seeing her helping Piggy along. “What are you doing with him?”
Piggy could hear the contempt in Sam’s voice.
“It’s okay, Sam,” Z said, as she glanced at Piggy, who gave her a nod back.
Back in the crowd, Cruger & Kat were reunited with a hug of their own. The three Council representatives who had come to Earth walked over to them.
“We owe you a grave apology,” Trecineas said.
“Yes,” Urgundii chimed in. “We bear so much of the blame for what’s happened. If you had been at full capacity here on Earth, things may never have escalated so quickly.”
“Gentlemen,” Cruger said to them. “Earth will never fall to evil. As long as we stick together, there’s no threat we cannot defeat.”
“Earth thanks you for your assistance,” Kat said with a smile.
“President Cali’s evil will not taint us any further,” Pheon said. “We will see to that.”
“Kat!”
Commander Manx turned quickly as she heard Bridge’s screaming voice in the crowd. She walked away from Cruger and the representatives. As she made her way through the gathered crowd, she heard Bridge call out for her again. This time she realized that he was below her. She found Bridge kneeling at Sophie’s side, along with Dr. Jensen. Kat joined them.
Pryce spoke, “Her mainframe’s definitely been wiped. She’s been completely deactivated.”
He tried to touch the morpher burned into her back, but it was still too hot.
“It’s been fused into her circuitry,” Kat said, looking troubled.
Bridge closed his eyes, silently cursing himself. They turned Sophie over to see that her eyelids were still wide open. Her eyes, however, were completely white, devoid of any sign of life.
“Tell me you can fix her,” Bridge said, looking at them.
“Bridge—“ Pryce was about to speak, but Kat put up a hand, silencing him.
She turned to Bridge and looked into his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Bridge,” Kat said, knowing Bridge would understand without needing to know the details at this moment.
==========
As the sun rose on Newtech City, the city’s largest symbol of protection was back in place, as if it had never been removed. The Delta Command Base had not changed, but it had felt like an eternity since S.P.D. Earth had set foot inside of the structure. For the first time in weeks, Kat Manx felt secure as Commander of S.P.D. Earth. It had been a few days since the battle and it was beginning to feel like home again. She walked the halls, admiring every inch of the base, alongside Supreme Commander Cruger.
“Almost feels like old times, doesn’t it?” Cruger asked her.
“Almost,” Kat responded. “But we both know everything’s changed. Who would have thought S.P.D. would go through something so devastating, orchestrated by our own people.”
“It was a definite blow, but we managed to stand tall in the end,” Cruger said.
“I still can’t help but think part of it was my fault,” Kat said.
“Your fault?” Cruger said, looking shocked.
He stopped their walk and turned to face Kat.
“How could any of this be your fault?”
“Secrets,” Kat said, annoyed with herself. “If I had told B-Squad about the Van Tigue investigation in the beginning, they would have never gotten involved with Prax without telling me. Not to mention, my tumultuous relationship with Pryce. I was so resistant to his creativity that he kept the Delta X project’s continuation a secret. And don’t even get me started on the entire debacle with the Officers and Z’s death.”
Kat looked down at the ground, shaking her head.
“If we had been more open inside this building, it may not have been taken away so easily,” Kat said. “We condemn Cali for his tactics, but we were just as bad.”
Cruger grumbled.
“I’ll admit that we all may have become a little too relaxed in our positions, but comparing us to Cali who would have preferred seeing Earth fall and us dead is a bit extreme,” Cruger said.
“Still, B-Squad could have died out there. I wasn’t there to protect them when they needed me,” Kat said, as she continued to walk still staring at the floor. “I gave them that huge speech about everyone around here being there, being their “Red Ranger” and on a lot of levels I failed them.”
“B-Squad will be stronger because of their struggle,” Cruger said. “And, given your last personnel report, I don’t think they’ll be worried about leadership for a while.”
Kat sighed, giving him a bit of a smile. She did take comfort in knowing B-Squad would no longer be without a Red Ranger. They turned a corner, continuing on their way.
“Speaking of personnel,” Kat said. “There’s going to be a lot of changes going on in your neck of the woods too.”
“Yes,” Cruger said, nodding. “Rumors are already circulating about who the new Galactic Council President might be. Apparently, our friend Pheon is the top candidate.”
“I’m not surprised,” Kat said, with a smile. “Although, if they finally give him the chance to voice his own opinions, he may never shut up.”
The two shared a laugh.
“There’s so much upheaval amongst the Council,” Cruger explained. “The Barconians have lost their seat due to their secret partnership with President Cali. Their planet is still recovering from his manipulation. Representative Kevlar announced that the Divalians are also pulling out of Council participation.”
“Really?” Kat looked curious. “But they didn’t have anything to do with Sevarus’ betrayal.”
“You know the Divalians,” Cruger said. “They put so much stock in their honor and obedience of policy that they felt it was necessary to withdraw despite the planet being innocent. Cali’s corruption has had such a ripple effect.”
“So, Pheon’s on the short list to become the new President,” Kat said, curiously. “That leaves two open seats on the Council.”
“Actually, there’s probably only one open seat,” Cruger said. “The Council has offered the other seat to Isinia.”
“Isinia?” Kat said, looking confused. “What planet will she be representing?”
“Sirius of course.”
“But I thought planets with less than five members in their population weren’t allowed to hold seats on the Council,” Kat said.
“Sirius has five,” Cruger said, almost grinning. “There’s myself, Isinia, Isobel, Anubis Jr. and...our new addition to the family.”
Kat’s jaw dropped.
“Isinia’s pregnant again?”
“No,” Cruger said. “After our last ordeal, we decided to take another approach to parenthood.”
Cruger pointed behind Kat, who turned to see Sam coming towards them. Kat looked confused again.
“Sam?”
“We’ve decided to try our hand at adoption,” Cruger said, as Sam joined him at his side, smiling.
“That’s wonderful,” Kat said. “Congratulations.”
“Sam Cruger,” Sam said. “It has a nice ring to it.”
“Of course this means that Sam will be coming back to Andruss III with us to live,” Cruger told Kat. “At least until he’s ready to begin his full-time Academy training.”
“Well, I hope you and Isinia will send all of your children to the best Academy that S.P.D. has to offer,” Kat said, with a smirk.
“You know it,” Cruger said, with a chuckle.
==========
On the other side of the base Sky Tate was the one taking a stroll, alongside Cash Donovan.
“This place is huge,” Cash said, as he looked around.
“It’s not as big as Myers,” Sky said.
“That’s true, but I’d gladly take this place over Fenix Prime any day,” Cash said, smiling. “Any word on what we left behind there?”
“I think the word Commander Cruger used was chaos,” Sky revealed. “Things have gotten extremely out of hand there. S.P.D. is waiting for the situation to calm down a bit before sending a squad in to restore order.”
“Warden Gaines made his own bed,” Cash said, angrily. “I still can’t believe he was in the President’s pocket.”
“He wasn’t the only one,” Sky said, with a sigh. “But, if he’s still alive, he’ll pay for what he helped do to us. I just hope the same is true for Morgana and Dru.”
Cash nodded along.
“So, what about you, Donovan?” Sky asked. “Now that you’ve been officially pardoned by the Council, what’s your plan?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Cash said, as they turned a corner, approaching the Rec Room. “I think I’ll search around for a while, weigh my options.”
As they got closer to the door, two female cadets walked past, drawing Cash’s attention.
“You know me,” Cash said, as he took a few extra seconds to look. “I’m always looking for my next adventure.”
“More like conquest,” Sky said. “So, I guess that means you won’t be going back for your princess on Maqua II?”
“Nah,” Cash said, with a nod. “She’s probably moved on by now. I think I have too.”
“Well, you know, there’s always an open slot to join the Academy,” Sky said, as they came to a stop at the doorway to the Rec Room.
Inside, Syd could be seen talking with Quinn, as Bridge sat quietly with them.
“Oh please,” Cash said. “Could you imagine me in one of those uniforms? I don’t think so. I’d never be able to follow the rules...especially that one you told me about fraternization between cadets.”
Sky let out a deep sigh and glanced into the Rec Room, seeing Syd smiling as she talked to Quinn. Sky patted Cash on the shoulder.
“You know what they say, Cash. Some rules were meant to be broken,” Sky smiled, as he walked into the Rec Room joining the others. He turned back to Cash briefly. “Just keep your nose clean, Donovan.”
Cash shook his head before walking away.
==========
Several corridors away, Kat Manx had caught up with Z Delgado.
“Hey, I was looking for you,” Kat said. “I thought you’d want to know Piggy was officially charged and arrested yesterday.”
“Really?” Z said, looking surprised. “For what?”
Kat looked confused.
“You mean he didn’t tell you?” Kat said. “Piggy came to me the morning after the battle. He gave me a huge list of every crime he’s ever committed, every criminal he’s ever dealt with and the names of over a hundred more that he had his suspicions about. He turned himself in.”
“I don’t believe it,” Z said.
“Believe it,” Kat said. “He said he did it for you. Actually, he said he did it to preserve the humanity that you forced him to develop.”
“I can’t believe Piggy’s in containment.”
“Actually, given everything that’s happened and what you and Syd had to say about his actions a few days ago, I made sure Piggy avoided containment. His sentence isn’t too heavy and it’s at a low-security prison here on Earth. Basically, he’ll be doing a lot of community service.”
“Lord knows there’s enough spare parts out there on the street that need to be removed,” Z said.
Kat nodded in agreement, just as Sam turned down the corner entering the corridor. He saw Z and instantly stopped in his tracks. Kat knew what was coming.
“I’ll see you at the meeting,” Kat told Z and continued on her way.
As Kat passed Sam, she nodded.
“Mr. Cruger,” she said, with a smirk before heading around the corner Sam came from.
Sam laughed.
“Mr. Cruger?” Z said, as she walked closer. “What’s that about?”
“Doggie and Isinia are adopting me,” Sam said.
Z was stunned.
“Sam, that’s wonderful,” Z said. “No one deserves a family more than you do, after everything you’ve been through...after everything I put you through. I’m so sorry I lied to you.”
“It’s okay,” Sam said. “Commander Cruger explained everything and he did it in a way that made me sorry...for the way I treated you before I left. I understand now why you did it and I had no right to say that I wished you were dead.”
Z hugged Sam.
“You know, you’re gonna have to start calling him dad,” Z said, with a laugh as they walked away together.
“Yeah. That’s gonna take some getting used to,” Sam said.
==========
Inside the Rec Room, Sydney Drew found herself finishing up the story of where she had been for the last several months and why. Quinn sat on the edge of his seat, listening to her story, which Sky only caught the end of. It was no matter to him, since Z had already filled him in during the shuttle ride to Earth from Fenix Prime. Syd paused several times as she noticed Bridge was listening, but not really as animated as he usually was when a story was told. He hadn’t even talked through this one.
“That’s some story,” Quinn said. “And, you stumbled upon the future Nova Ranger in the process. Cool.”
“Yeah,” Syd said, with a sigh. “Kat’s gonna let Anna stay here. I put my mom out enough and with her here, I’ll be able to keep a closer eye on her.”
“It’s a big responsibility,” Sky chimed in, as he sat next to her. “She’s the future.”
“I know, but I think I can handle it,” Syd said, as she smiled at him, as Z walked in, taking a seat on the opposite couch, between Bridge & Quinn.
“So, what’d I miss?” she asked.
“I was just telling them everything,” Syd said. “It feels so good to be back home.”
“Yeah,” Z chimed in. “It’s nice to be back here together, especially in this room.”
“We had some good times in here,” Sky said, as they looked around. “I’m sure B-Squad will continue the legacy.”
“I just wish we could all have been here,” Bridge finally spoke.
All eyes fell on him. Z put an arm around him.
“We’re all gonna miss Sophie, Bridge,” she said. “And Jack too. They should both be here.”
Bridge nodded to her, just as Kat walked in carrying three LCD pads. She sighed as she saw the five of them seated in front of her.
“It’s so appropriate that we’re meeting here,” she said. “This is where you all bonded. It’s almost fitting that it’s where you say goodbye.”
All five of the Rangers looked around at their teammates.
“Goodbye?” Sky said, looking curious.
“Supreme Commander Cruger has finalized your orders,” Kat revealed. “I have the new assignments for Bridge, Z and Quinn.”
The three of them stood up, as Kat handed them the pads that told them their futures. Quinn smiled, as he read his.
“You’re sending me to Fernovia?”
Kat smiled. “Yes. As you saw, Fernovia’s S.P.D. Rangers are in desperate need of a new Blue Ranger. Representative Urgundii requested you personally. Apparently, you made a big impact on their Rangers.”
“Especially a certain Pink Ranger,” Sky said, with a smile.
Quinn smirked at Sky.
“Thanks. But still, it’s gonna be hard to leave Earth,” Quinn said, as his face turned somber.
“You and me both,” Z said, as she finished reading her own new assignment. “I can’t believe this.”
“What is it?” Syd asked.
“Z’s been offered a detective spot at the S.P.D. Major Cases division on Andruss III,” Kat revealed.
“Detective?” Z said, surprised.
“Supreme Commander Cruger thinks you’ll be a perfect fit and I agree with him. It’s an elite squad and they don’t recruit just anyone. You’ll get to work on Piggy’s laundry list of criminals,” Kat said. “Plus, you’ll be close enough to peek in on Sam whenever you like.”
“Thanks, Kat,” Z said, with a smile.
Syd came over hugging her.
“This is great. You deserve it,” Syd said. “I would have been lost out there without you to back me up.”
“So, what about you, Bridge?” Sky asked.
“I...don’t understand these orders,” Bridge said.
“Bridge is being sent to Andruss III as well,” Kat explained. “Space Patrol Delta is starting up a new branch there—our own robotics division.”
The Rangers all looked surprised.
“Given the downfall of Vanguard X and our experience in the last year with robots and cyborgs, the Council and the Supreme Commander believe that we can’t avoid the future. So, we’re going to begin experimenting with our own cybernetic creations. We’re going to do this the right way,” Kat said. “Since myself and Dr. Jensen are both busy here, we could think of no better Officer to join their growing team of scientists. Bridge, you can do this.”
Bridge was speechless, as he thought of the possibilities.
“Sophie?” he said, as his telepathic powers worked overtime in reading Kat’s thoughts.
“She’ll be your first project,” Kat said.
Bridge grabbed Kat into a hug.
“Thank you. You have no idea what this means,” Bridge said.
“I think I do,” Kat said. “And don’t worry. Dr. Jensen and I are only a phone call away whenever you need us. That goes for all of you.”
“Good luck, buddy,” Sky called out to Bridge.
“Wait,” Quinn said, looking at Sky and Syd. “What about them?”
“Yeah,” Z said. “What about Sky and Syd?”
“Sky and Syd have their orders already,” Kat said. “Sky will retake his post as Earth’s Red Ranger. He won’t have a formal team behind him, but he will continue to patrol the city, help with Academy training courses and of course assist his Commander in any way she sees fit.”
“Sounds good to me,” Sky said.
“No team, though?” Bridge wondered.
“How will you survive with no one to boss around?” Quinn said, sarcastically.
“It’s okay,” Sky said. “I think I’m gonna like going solo for a while. Plus, I’ve still got Murphy.”
“And what about you, Syd?” Z asked.
Syd tried to hide the big smile on her face, but was unsuccessful.
“My new assignment is...a surprise,” Syd said. “I don’t want to give it away too soon. But, I promise you guys will know before you leave.”
“Speaking of which,” Kat said to Bridge & Z. “Commander Cruger’s agreed to give you two a lift back to Andruss III, so you better start packing. The shuttle back to Fernovia won’t be staying forever either, Quinn.”
“Right,” they said together.
Kat exited the Rec Room, followed by the three Rangers. Syd was about to follow when Sky grabbed her arm.
“So, why are you being so cryptic about your assignment?” Sky asked.
“I just want it to be a surprise,” Syd said. “That’s all.”
“You know I don’t like surprises,” Sky said, smirking.
“Well, Officer Tate, you better get used to it,” Syd said, as she pulled his head down towards hers for a kiss. “Trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about...yet.”
“Yet? What does that mean?”
“Let’s just say I’m not leaving Earth,” Syd said, with a nod, as she walked slowly towards the Rec Room door, with her back to it so she could keep her eyes on Sky.
“Okay,” Sky said, still looking confused. “You just let me know when you’re ready to talk...Nova.”
Syd rolled her eyes.
“Don’t call me that. Nova is Anna’s thing. I was just trying it out,” Syd said.
“What should I call you then?”
“As long as it’s not Syren Dean, it’s fine with me,” she said, with a wink, as she turned to leave.
As she made her way out of the doorway, she peeked her head back in.
“Actually, if you’re looking for a good nickname, you can always try...red,” she said, before walking off.
Sky’s face contorted as he was let completely confused by her statement.
“Wait—what—red?” he called after her.
==========
Sky takes a look around his room, glancing at a picture of his father in his S.P.D. uniform. Sky smiles, as he places the picture on his desk, next to one of Syd. He grabs his cycle helmet and looks up, contemplating the future...
It’s been a tough time for us all. But they say that in the toughest of times, we realize what’s most important in our lives...
Outside of the Delta Command Base, Supreme Commander Cruger waited patiently, along with Representative Pheon, Urgundii and Trecineas, as a long black limo arrived. The doors open and Isinia steps out with Anubis Jr. and Isobel in her arms. Cruger takes his daughter into his arms, as Isinia holds their son.
Behind Isinia, Representatives Delphine & Alaina Doherty exit the vehicle, greeting their fellow council members.
It’s the kinship we share, the relationships that we know will last a lifetime even as they are just beginning...
Sam & Anna are talking when Cruger calls them over. Sam introduces Anna to the Crugers. She smiles, playfully nudging his shoulder. He nudges back only to be playfully pushed by the girl before she sprints away with him in hot pursuit.
We look to the future, hopeful for what joys it may bring but well aware of the long journey that stands in our way...
In the main science laboratory of the Delta Command Base, Bridge stares at a computer terminal, which shows the blueprints of a cyborg. After staring at it, seriously for several moments, he turns away from the desk and stands up.
He walks over to the far wall of the laboratory, where Sophie’s deactivated body is stored. Bridge stares into her blank eyes with hope.
Looking ahead to what may come doesn’t mean that we forget what has passed. We’ll never forget the sacrifices, the relationships, the teamwork or the legacy...
In another corridor, Z Delgado glances at a blank wall in a corridor. She takes a deep breath and places Jack’s memorial plaque back on the wall, gently running her fingers along the crack in the plaque and then across Jack’s name engraved on the plaque. She smiles.
Cash Donovan walks up to her and leans against the wall next to the plaque, smirking at her. Z rolls her eyes.
Sam & Anna come running around the corner, passing them. Sam stops for a moment to glance at Z, who waves to him, before he runs off after Anna.
And as we move forward, we adjust our ways, our thinking, as we learn and build a strong, new legacy that we can all be proud of...
Around an adjacent corner, the two teenagers continue to chase one another. They pass Kat and Pryce walking towards the Command Center. Kat is about to speak out against their running, when Pryce stops her, gently covering her mouth. Kat smirks at him as he uncovers her mouth and points at the Command Center doorway.
Kat gives him a suspicious look as she takes a few steps forward, causing the doors to slide open. Kat is surprised to see a candlelit meal laid out on a tablecloth over the main control console in the center of the room. She turns to look at Dr. Jensen, who smiles. The two walk in together, letting the doors close behind them.
It’s the unknown that lies ahead for us all, but we face it with strength of spirit and courage within our souls. We are determined to live on...
Sam & Anna come running out of the Delta Command Base, as two figures watch from the rooftop. Standing up there, Quinn returns his eyes to view of Newtech City. He points to several landmarks, showing them to Erial as she stands in awe of the view.
Quinn smiles, as he looks to her and she takes his hand.
With the future comes change and while its natural to be afraid, we go on, to protect, to fight, to serve because it is our purpose, our mandate, our calling...
Down below, Anna & Sam go running right past B-Squad. All four of the Rangers are standing in a straight line, side by side, in their suits, with their helmets removed, as another suited figure walks in front of each of them. Duc, Casey, Meg and Boom are all smiling, proudly, as they hold their helmets under their arms. The figure in front of them stops. Wearing the former A-Squad Red Ranger suit, the figure removes her helmet to reveal Sydney Drew.
She waves as she sees Sam and Anna running by. She glances back at each member of B-Squad, giving them an encouraging smile. Syd glances around until she sees Sky in the distance, standing next to his patrol cycle, looking at her. The two share a distant smile. Syd nods to him and he nods back, as he puts on his helmet.
Wherever we go from here, we know that all we’ve built will remain. We know that the strength of our dedication will carry on. Justice will be served. We won’t ever let it die...
Sky looks down at Murphy, as he mounts his patrol cycle and starts the engine, taking off down the street, with the patrol hound keeping pace with him. Sky continues down the road, passing a group of prisoners cleaning up trash on the side of the road. He nods as he passes them.
Piggy walks out into the street, wearing his prison jumpsuit. He nods as he sees Sky ride by. Then, Piggy’s eyes grow wide, as he sees a large piece of roadkill in the street. He picks it up, licking his lips, before the prison guard shouts for him to get back to work.
To let our legacy die would mean we lose our souls, our essence of being. That is a fight I know we’ll never lose...
Sky’s patrol cycle continues down the street, as if it were driving right into the bright sun, gleaming down on Newtech City.
THE END
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So it's all over. If there's any typos please point them out. I read the whole thing and hopefully fixed all errors. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading. Comment, Comment, Comment!