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Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Anubis Crugger, commanding officer of the Space Patrol Delta forces on planet Earth, steps through the front door of the nearby branch of the Colonial National Bank. The tall, blue, canine-like alien surveys the main lobby; his large brown eyes, long pointed ears, and small black nose taking in the scene...
Glass from shattered windows was still strewn around, and tabletops & chairs were broken. Several desks behind broken security doors had paperwork strewn all around them. Here and there, bank employees were trying to clean up the mess amid security officers trying to keep everything calm. He had come here to survey the loss, but also to make sure everything was alright and that all was starting to come together again. Though not commonly known, he also did his own personal banking here as well.
Crugger also noticed the presence of several of his own S.P.D. personnel moving about, collecting evidence from the bank robbery that had been committed earlier this week. The criminal behind the theft- a Fernovian called Hydrax- had been found, judged, & contained already, and was to go before a formal court of law soon to finalize the charges against her.
This was all thanks to the efforts of his recently formed 'B'-Squad Rangers, who had also proved the innocence of another suspect in the process. They were still in the process of coming together and working as a team, and they had quite a ways to go, but Crugger still saw much potential in them. But they had done this on their own. And despite the fact that they were still only S.P.D. cadets themselves.
Crugger crossed his arms behind his back and started to walk forward into the bank, when--
Squish
The S.P.D. commander looked down. He'd stepped in a puddle of green liquid on the black marble floor. One side of his mouth curled down, and he sighed. The high-pressure water had come from the Fernovian herself as she'd used it to cut into the bank. It wasn't one hundred percent H2O and still contained some plant byproduct. So, after being exposed to the atmosphere for a certain amount of time, all of the water had started to turn green.
Cadet Bridge Carson, who was part of the evidence gathering team, came over to him carefully. "Sorry about that, sir. We haven't had enough time to clean up all of that Fernovian water yet."
"I understand." Commander Crugger side-stepped the puddle of green liquid and looked around again. "What is the status here, Cadet?" Carson moved next to the commander.
"Well, sir, we're in the process of removing the old vault access programming so we can install a new one that will accept biometric readings. We're also continuing to collect evidence for Hydrax's trial, and we're hoping to be all clear by sometime tomorrow. In addition to that, I've taken the liberty of informing the local security forces about Fernovian physiology so that this won't happen again. The construction crews should arrive shortly after we're done here, Commander, so that they can begin repair work to the offices and the vault itself. And Colonial National has increased security to protect the branch against any new attacks until the bank is considered secure again."
"Good. Have you finished your report yet?"
"No, Commander. I've been working here, as you ordered, sir."
"Good. Well then, return to base as soon as you're finished here."
"Understood, sir." Cadet Carson saluted, bringing his right arm across his chest horizontally. The commander, almost a full foot taller, returned the S.P.D. salute. Bridge began to turn away.
"Oh, Cadet..."
"Yes, sir?"
"Could you please inform the bank manager that I'd like to speak with him as soon as possible?"
"Yes, sir. I'll do that right now."
"Good." Bridge spun on his heel, and began to walk away. As he did, he slipped and nearly fell in another puddle of green water, but regained his balance quickly and moved on to find the manager. Crugger watched the cadet walk away. In addition to his somewhat quirky personality, Carson had a real nose for police work, and had been key in weeding out Hydrax and capturing her.
15 minutes later, having been assured by the bank manager many times that own his account had not been broken into, Crugger began his return to S.P.D. headquarters, which also served as the training academy for the intergalactic police force. As he walked along, he passes some children, a few of whom are non-humans. They smile and wave enthusiastically at the sight of the tall Sirian in the black, red & white S.P.D. officer's uniform. He smiled as best he could without showing his teeth and waved back. Continuing on, he rounded a corner on the busy New Tech City street. Electric- and fusion-powered vehicles of many shapes & sizes paused at the streetlights, and then went on; some taking off straight up as they engaged their anti-gravity drives. Others parked along the side of the city street, and emptied their occupants so they could continue on foot.
He soon returned to the S.P.D. Academy, a squat, rectangular build covered with windows that sat beside the larger and significantly-more intricate Delta Base. Passing through the double doors, he saw people in both civilian and S.P.D. uniforms moving about.
"Attention on deck!" yelled a drill instructor. A line of trainees behind him stopped cold in their tracks, turned smartly to their left and saluted their Commander; noticing the five interlocked gold triangles on the right side of his uniform, which designated his rank. Crugger paused to return the salute.
"As you were," he commanded them. As head of the Academy, he needed to demonstrate to them how to behave in front of an officer, and what he would do in return. He walked past the line of future intergalactic police officers. Some of them wouldn't be able to complete the training courses, and would drop out. Others will find over time that being an officer is too taxing or not to their taste, and so they would turn to another area of expertise. Their choice. Only a very few will have what it takes to become true S.P.D. officers. Those who succeeded would eventually be grouped into squads of five. Then that small group would train, learn, and grow together to become Power Rangers- the most powerful and influential defense anywhere in the Universe for peace and justice. Currently, there were only four active Ranger squads at the Earth-based S.P.D. Academy, designated "A" through "D". The latter team had only been formed a few days ago, and were still raw recruits in a way.
The elite "A"-Squad was currently defending the somewhat-nearby Helix Nebula, hundreds of light-years away, from an invasion by the Troobian Empire. While the "A"-Squad was off-world, the next team, "B"-Squad was taken up the slack on Earth. Unfortunately, it had been a month since any communication had been received from the "A"-Squad, and the S.P.D. High Command had been forced to officially declare them Missing in Action (MIA). Now, with 'A'-Squad missing, it meant that the Helix Nebula was much more likely to fall under the invasion, and open up a large hole in this galaxy for the Troobians to march through.
As Crugger stepped onto the escalator, he looked up to see Katherine Manx standing at the top, holding a clipboard in one hand. In addition to serving as his second in command, she also ran the research and development labs in the Delta Base. Her feline-like alien ears were hidden beneath her shoulder-length brunette curls, and a light set of small pale brown spots ran under her dark green eyes and over her cheeks. She nodded courteously rather than salute as he reached the top of the escalator. She wasn't really part of S.P.D.'s command structure anymore, but rather a trusted and respected civilian consultant.
"Commander."
"Miss Manx." Crugger nodded in response, continuing on past her, but she quickly fell in step with the tall blue alien. "What is the status of investigation into the Fernovian robbery?"
"We're analyzing the liquid samples sent to us by the crime scene team, and my lab is looking at the car she cut up during the engagement with the Rangers. Also, we're reviewing surveillance footage from the robbery. And the search through her alias' financial records in underway."
"Good. What about the Trirondonian bounty hunter?"
"He's on his way to the station in orbit, and will be deported in a few hours."
A lone figure stands on top of a building a few blocks away from S.P.D. Academy. The humanoid stares at the large Delta Base, deep in thought. His eyes are hidden by a red visor.
"It is time." A beeping sound comes from his left arm, and he looks down. A different voice speaks.
"It'll be good to get out after all this time. I need to stretch my wings out anyways."
"Not yet," the figure responds quietly with confidence. "Just a little while longer, now. I need to do this right, or it'll all go wrong."
"How could it go wrong now? You've only had a few years to get prepared." The humanoid chuckles.
"Be patient. You'll get your outing soon. Then you'll have a chance to rumble with the Rangers."
"Ooh...heh heh. I can't wait for that part."
S'wap! S'wap! S'wap-s'wap! S'wap! S'wap-pishh!
"Aw- come on, man! I didn't miss that last one!"
"Aw- come on, Jack. See for yourself." S.P.D. cadet Elizabeth Delgado playfully nudges her friend's right arm. Cadet Jack Landors glared at her out the corner of his eye through his short almost-black dreadlocks, and then punched a button on the consol next to him. The targeting drone moves forward, stopping inches from his hand. He reaches out and pulls the 4" off-white spherical drone out of the air, turning it upside-down to view the marker underneath. Sure enough, the target drone's computer had registered only five out of six direct hits from Jack's simulated stun weapon. "See?"
"Yeah, it's been tampered with."
"Ha!"
"I wouldn't have missed had it been a real target."
"Really? Like what, exactly?"
"Like a- like a... like a real Krybot! And not those holographic ones down in the Shooting Gallery, either. They don't count, no matter how good the resolution is." Cadet Delgado- nicknamed "Z"- rolls her eyes. "These computers still can't get it right. Besides, it only registers direct hits, not scratches or glancing shots--"
"Enough! You missed; admit it!"
Jack smiles mischievously. "Never." He lets go of the drone, and it floats slowly to the other side of the off-duty lounge. Then he folds up his stunner and puts it back in its holster on his right hip. "Your turn." Z sighs, and focuses on the drone floating 20 feet away, hand near her own training stunner. Jack watches her face until he's sure she was ready. She waits for his order to draw… And waits… And waits… And waits… And waits…
She gets irritated, turning her head. "Jack--"
"Go!" At his command, the drone began to dart randomly around the opposite wall, trying not to get hit. Time in responding to the order was also taken into consideration when keeping score. But within two seconds, Z had refocused on the drone and pulled her stunner, holding it with both hands.
S'wap-s'wap!
"-and he just threw the car at her, and she cut it like a hot knife through creamy butter! And it wasn't that stuff from Montana either, that tastes like olive oil. I couldn't believe Bridge would do something like that. Then I realized what she really was.
"Anyways, we got her, and she's going on trial in a few days as soon as the DA is ready. But I can tell you this- when I went to her house, there were soooo many different and pretty flowers there, Mom, you wouldn't believe it!"
Cadet Sydney Drew's blue-gray eyes sparkled as she remembered the wide variety of exotic alien flowers they'd found. She leaned back on the pink comforter on her bed as she raised the recording datapad over her head. Her shoulder-length blond hair spread out under her. She reached down with a hand and smoothed out some wrinkles on her standard gray-&-pink squad uniform. The same hand reached up to play with a blond curl in her hair.
"Anyways, things are going great here. R.I.C is doing fine since that upgrade Bridge and Boom gave him. He likes me a lot now, and I just love him. He even powers down at the foot of my bed at night sometimes. He reminds me so much of Pookie and Moosle that I miss them even more!
"Ooh- I wish I was going on that trip with you to Archon Beach! I've seen holos of that planet before, and I just love the water and how it glows like--"
"Ranger Cadet Drew, report to the Command Center immediately." It was a base-wide general broadcast. Sydney glared at the speaker mounted in the ceiling of her shared barracks. She sighed, and paused the recording to her parents, got up off her bed. Making sure she had her S.P.D. Delta Morpher strapped securely to the back of her belt, she left the room. They were just so uncomfortable to lie against, especially positioned at the small of her back.
. . .
The Command Center was located in the forward upper levels of the Delta Base. Shaped like a large octagon from above, it was the heart of S.P.D.'s operations on Earth, and used advanced communications, surveillance satellites, and elaborate sensors to detect possible threats. This was also where Commander Crugger was usually found, dealing with the day-to-day operations, from behind his large desk. Kat Manx was also a frequent visitor here, though she usually worked from the main information pedestal located at the center of the room.
Cadet Schuyler Tate was currently standing in front of one of the large sensor displays built into the walls of the Command Center. With his dark blond hair cut short to fit Academy regulations, he kept himself fit and ready to carry out any order. It was a mark of pride that he was in the top percentage of cadets ever to go through the Academy, specializing in criminal profiling and weapons usage. In fact, because his personal standards were so high, he'd received the nickname "Sky" because, to everyone else at the Academy who knew him, the sky was the limit on perfection. His father had been one of the first S.P.D. Power Rangers, and had been killed in the line of duty. Even though it had pained & haunted him for years, Sky was making sure to follow in his father's legacy- to become a great Ranger himself. The only thing that stood in the way of his efforts, in his mind, was Jack Landors; who had been assigned to the Red Ranger position. Sky had been insulted and mystified that, as the best, he had not been chosen as leader of the 'B'-Squad over a petty street thief. And when Landors had become the permanent leader, it only angered him further. Fortunately, for his pride's sake, he was currently operating as second-in-command. But that wasn't enough.
Sky looked over his shoulder as the Command Center's thick double doors opened to reveal his squad mate, Sydney Drew, walk in casually and up to him. "Hey, Sky. What's up?"
"I don't know. But, the Commander wants to see you immediately, Syd."
"Are you coming too?"
"No."
"Oh. See ya later." Sydney crossed the room and stood in front of Commander Crugger's large desk. She brought her heels together, chin up, shoulders back, and arms at her side. Then she saluted- crossing her right arm across her chest. Commander Crugger acknowledged her with his calm, deep voice.
"At ease, Cadet." Syd crossed her arms behind her back, at parade rest. "There's been an unusual energy disturbance in sector 10-7. It hasn't been identified because the emissions are too low to get an exact fix, and it seems to be moving throughout the city. Go there and investigate. If it moves again, report it immediately, and then keep following it until reinforcements arrive."
"Yes, sir."
"Dismissed."
The Delta Cruiser was a simple 5-occupant, electric-powered vehicle that S.P.D. personnel used for inner-city travel. It was a speedy and agile little jeep liveried in black & white, and sporting a pair of red strobe lights on the back roll bar. Sydney quickly drove out of the underground parking lot beneath the Delta Base, and made her way to the seaside shipping zone, located within sector 10-7.
There were several huge cargo ships at port, unloading and loading goods in large containers in rust reds & grays. After finding an appropriate place to park out of the way of the dock workers, Sydney got out of the Delta Cruiser, pulled out a hand-held energy wave detector from the back, and turned it on. The dome-like detector had a screen mounted on the top which would show her what kinds of readings it was picking up. Syd's training with the device told her that she needed to eliminate background 'noise' before she went on; the energy signature that had been detected was faint, and unidentifiable. So, one-by-one, she eliminated the infrared & ultraviolet settings, photons, neutrons, and several others because they were not unusual.
Then she set out among the large cargo containers and storage buildings along the waterfront, occasionally passing one of the large orange colored overhead cranes. After twenty minutes, she pulled out her Delta Morpher, switched it to Phone Mode, and speed-dialed Delta Base.
"Delta Base, this is Cadet Drew in Sector 10-7. I haven't found any unusual energy readings yet. But I am continuing my search."
"Understood," the voice on the other end responded; one of the technicians working in the Command Center. "Keep us advised. Out." Syd replaced her morpher, and continued to scan the buildings and cargo containers.
. . .
From on top of one of the containers, the humanoid figure secretly watched as the young blond S.P.D. officer walking among the structures. She was wearing a dark gray & pink jump suit that had a short skirt, with black dress shoes. She was trim and fit. Cute in a way, but—
What's this-? The figure looked closer… She wore the standard Police badge on the right side of her chest, branded with a Doberman in silhouette- the symbol of S.P.D. And she had her standard issue stunner on her belt. He watched as she pulled out some sort of comm unit from her belt, and speak into it. His advanced hearing picked out the short conversation. Cadet Drew, was her name. She was nothing but a cadet! And out here all alone without close support. How careless. Then he realized what she had used to call home- a Delta Morpher.
That makes her a Ranger, he thought to himself. S.P.D.'s 'A'-Squad was off-world now, so… Cadet Drew must be from the less experienced 'B'-Squad. Perfect, he thought.
. . .
The sensor in Sydney's hand started warbling something fierce. She looked at the display. The readings were increasing rapidly. She stopped moving, searching around for the energy source. She looked again- the signal was jumping all over the place so fast that the sensor couldn't keep up with it! Something wasn't right. Shifting the sensor to her left hand, Sydney pulled out her stunner with her right and armed it; making sure the safety was off. Glancing at the sensor again, the signal was now very close, but still moving very quickly.
Then it stopped. It stopped about 20 feet ahead. She looked up…
The human-shaped figure was dressed in white with jagged black stripes running across his arms, legs & chest. There were a few highlights of gold along the edge of the chest armor attached around his neck & shoulders. His belt was also gold, as were the edges of his boots and wrists. His head was encased in a white smooth helmet with a jagged wing-shaped opaque red visor covering his eyes. A small thin black crest rose from between the V-shaped point on his red visor. He also had an ornamental white dagger hanging from the left side of his belt. A white device with black & gold highlights was mounted just above his left wrist.
The figure spoke unaccented American English with a deep, distorted voice.
"Greetings, Cadet Drew." Sydney's eyes went wide. He knew her name!
"Who are you?" The energy wave detector was screaming for attention, but she didn't notice it now.
"What is the standard procedure for meeting with an unrecognized life-form?" Sydney was confused.
"What?"
"Did you not hear me, cadet?"
"I said who are you?"
"Aren't you going to call for backup? You are all alone out here, and confronted by something you've never seen before. Who knows what kind of threat I am to you or to this city. Go ahead- pull out your morpher." Sydney focused her stunner on the white-&-black figure, and slowly set the scanner down. As she pulled out her morpher, getting ready to call for back-up like the figure suggested, suddenly he disappeared.
Just as unexpectedly, her morpher disappeared from right out of her hand as well! She spun around, thinking maybe she'd dropped it. She gasped when she turned- the figure was standing right behind her, holding her morpher in his own hand! She tried to grab at it, but he yanked it away.
"Well, now, what is this?" Now she had reason to move on him. He'd taken something of hers. She brought the stunner around and pointed it right at his chest.
"S.P.D.! Give that back to me now!" The figure cocked his head to one side as he looked at the morpher again.
"Really? Now why should I do that? This would fetch a handsome price on the black market. Or maybe I could sell it to someone important, like an enemy of yours. Perhaps to the Troobians? I know they'd certainly be interested."
"I said give that to me now!"
"What are you going to do if I don't?" Sydney tried to make another grab at the morpher, but he just stepped back again. She held her stunner with both hands now.
"I'll shoot if you don't!"
"Okay. Here--" He threw the morpher high in the air. As expected, Sydney's eyes followed it up, and her stunner's aim dropped. The figure took that moment to snatch the stunner from her hands. Confused by the action, Sydney looked down again, missing where the morpher landed. Her own weapon was pointed at her now. The figure chuckled.
"Huh- that was too easy." He glanced at the stunner's power setting. His hand wavered as he tried to get a closer look. Sydney reacted instantly- bringing her arm around to hit his helmet. He ducked under the slow swipe and backed-off again. She tried to spin-kick him, but he blocked her leg with his left arm, putting her off balance. He had close-range combat training. He aimed the stunner at her and pulled the trigger.
S'wap-puu!
The blue stun pulse hit her in the stomach. She immediately fell to the ground and didn't move, eyes closed. The white-&-black figure stood over Sydney's limp form. He placed the stunner back in the holster on her belt. Then gently, he put his arms under her legs & back and easily lifted her up. She was light as a feather with his superhuman strength. He walked with her over to the side of a building, out of sight and carefully set her down against the concrete wall.
Then, he went back for the morpher. Eyeing the device, he shifted the black side latch to Phone Mode, and pressed the grey button on top. The black door popped open. Inside was an elaborate video display with moving icons. The lower section had an orange numeric keypad, with CONNECT and DISCONNECT buttons. The upper section had a system menu. He selected the "Search" option, which caused the morpher to change displays. Conveniently, one was labeled "Delta Base (audio)".
Ahh- so much like the cellular phones of old, the figure remembered. He activated the circuit, then the CONNECT button.
"Attention S.P.D. Delta Base: one of your cadets is injured beside one of the buildings on the New Tech City loading docks. Come and get her. And consider having her go through the standard operating procedures again on meeting an unrecognized life-form. This was a fortunate day for her." The voice on the other end was stern.
"Who are you? Identify yourself immediately!"
"I am the one who injured Cadet Drew. Come down on this signal to find her." The figure left the comm open, set the morpher in the unconscious figure's limp hand, and walked away.
Minutes later, another Delta Cruiser appeared carrying 'B'-Squad members Jack, Z, and Sky. After briefly looking over their unconscious comrade together, Jack pulled out his own Delta Morpher and contacted Commander Crugger.
"She's here, sir. She seems alright, but she's been hit by some sort of light energy weapon. Some kind of stunner, maybe."
"Jack…" He turned to see Z walking towards him with the energy wave detector. It was silent in her hands. "Look at this. The memory card says it picked up high levels of beta neutrinos for a few minutes, then they disappeared." Jack turned back to his open morpher and reported what Z found. Commander Crugger responded.
"Bring them both back to base. I'm going to have Cadet Carson go to that location, and I want Delgado waiting for him there."
"Yes, sir." The three squad mates picked up their limp friend. Then Sky drove Syd, Jack, and the scanner in their Delta Cruiser back to the Delta Base, while Z stayed behind with the other. She kept her own stunner out at the ready, just in case, until Bridge showed up in a third Delta Cruiser from the Colonial National Bank.
Commander Crugger ended the recorded conversation, and then turned to the two 'B'-Squad cadets in front of him. Sydney was in the base's infirmary, and hadn't woken up yet. The medics were reporting that she had indeed been hit by an S.P.D. standard issue stunner, and would awaken in a few hours. Bridge and Z were still working the fight scene down at the waterfront.
"Well," he asked them, "What do you think?"
"Sir," said Sky. "Do we know who it was who was talking?"
"Our voice analysis team is working on the distortion, but they haven't come up with anything yet."
"He's good…" Jack commented to himself out loud, nodding his head slowly.
"What was that?"
"Hmm? Oh- I was just thinking of something. This guy is cocky. He knows what he's doing. And he easily beat Syd within moments. He had an advantage over her, and could have hurt her a lot more. So, why didn't he?"
Sky responded. "Maybe hurting her wasn't his objective. Maybe it was something else."
"Something on the docks?"
"That's why I have Delgado and Carson there now," Commander Crugger interjected.
. . .
Z examined the spot where they had found Sydney. There were no traces of blood or other body fluids, and that had been confirmed by the staff at the infirmary on-base. In fact, the worst that had happened was Syd had some bruises on an arm and leg, and the stun blast had discolored her skin a little. All would heal quickly. So that meant, it had been done with the least amount of force in a quick period of time. Z looked over her shoulder at what Bridge was doing.
Bridge, on the other hand, wasn't exactly helping with the situation. He was pacing back and forth with no particular purpose in mind, a gloved hand to his mouth, mumbling to himself.
"Bridge, what do you got?"
"-accelerate at 4.1 to reach equinox-"
"Bridge?"
"-divided by π, and rounded to the nearest thousandth-"
"Bridge!"
He looked up, startled out of his thought-process. "What?"
"What have you got?"
He thought for a moment. "A dilemma," he answered genuinely, not thinking of how it sounded. Z rolled her eyes and stood up.
"Clearly," she mumbled to herself as she walked over. "What's wrong?"
"No, not 'What's wrong'. 'What's right'. I mean, nothing is ever wrong, it just needs to be interpreted correctly." Z just stared at him, slightly annoyed even though she knew he meant the best. Bridge removed the glove from his right hand. Then he moved the uncovered hand in a circular wiping motion in front of him; a light green mist followed its motion. He was using his unique genetic gift to see the after-effects of what had happened. "This is where Syd and the attacker stood," he said, pointing right in front of them. "But I don't understand..."
"What is it?"
"The attacker spends most of his time here, but he's also everywhere at once. All around us. Even up there." He pointed to the top of the cargo container next to them. "But how could he be everywhere at once?"
"I found some footprints in dust over here that weren't Syd's. Maybe they belong to him." They both walked over to where Sydney had been laid down. Sure enough, there was a pair of human-sized footprints in the dust. Bridge waved his hand again over the footprints.
"Yup, he was here too," he said, reading the residual aura of the attacker.
"So, if we follow these, then we might be able to figure out where he went, right?"
"Yeah, sure," Bridge said, replacing the glove on his hand. "But there's so much area to cover, and his presence is disappearing fast." Z grins slyly.
"Then I guess we just need a few more sets of eyes." Her eyes glow brightly for a moment. Suddenly three copies of Z appear out of nowhere! Her own unique genetic gift allows her to create multiple tactile 3D illusions of herself that can think and act independently from each other. Without a word, the four Zs and Bridge go out in different directions, scouring the area for any other signs of the mysterious attacker.
A technician walked over to Crugger in the Command Center and whispered in his pointed blue ear for a moment. After sending the tech away, he turned to the others. "Cadet Drew has awakened. Go find out what you can from her." Jack and Sky saluted and then left.
Sydney was in pale green hospital pants & shirt, lying on her back in bed. A nurse walked away, having just performed a simple examination of her injuries and making sure everything was alright. Syd looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember all of what had happened. It was coming back quickly- how her sensor had started to detect strong energy waves, the arrival of the attacker, and then nothing.
Just then, Sky and Jack walked into the infirmary. Jack was the first to speak.
"Hey. How are you doing?"
Syd smiled a little. "I'm okay." She tried to look around them. "Where are Z and Bridge?"
"There at the port, looking for this guy."
"Can you remember what happened?" Sky asked.
"Mmm, most of it. I was walking along one of the storage buildings when the scanner in my hands started detecting the energy signals that the Commander had told me about. Then this guy just suddenly appeared in front of me."
"Did he teleport in?"
"I didn't see it. He was just there all of a sudden. He was really fast, too."
"What did he look like?"
"He was shaped like a human, but was wearing a white skin-tight suit all over his body. And he had black stripes and a gold belt too. He wore a white helmet with a red visor, too."
"Was there anything else about him?"
"Oh, he had a kind of dagger hanging from his belt, too. And some sort of device on his wrist. His left wrist, I think." Syd reached for a plastic container with a straw coming out of it. Jack looked at Sky.
"Anybody we know?"
"I'll have to look," Sky replied. "But he doesn't sound familiar."
Syd put the water container down, and sighed. "It all happened so fast. First he was there, then he took my morpher. And then he took my stunner, and when I tried to get it back, I guess he shot me." She cocked her head to one side, confused. "I didn't have a chance to call you. How did you find me?" Sky hesitated, but Jack went right to it.
"He used your morpher, and he called us." Syd was surprised.
"He called you?"
"Not us, just the base."
"Oh." Sky took over.
"Did he say anything to you?"
"Yeah. He said something about what I was supposed to do when I-" She paused for a moment, trying to recall exactly what he had said to her. "-encounter 'an unrecognized life-form'. After that, he told me to get my morpher out. So I did. And just as I was doing that, it disappeared! And when I turned around, he was holding it." She half raised a hand to her mouth with concern. "He didn't take it, did he?"
"No, no, no. We got it back," Jack assured her.
"Wait a minute-" interrupted Sky. "You said he told you to take it out?"
"Yeah. I didn't get that." Sky exchanged looks with Jack, and then turned back to Syd.
"What did he want you to do that for?"
"I don't know. I wasn't going to until he said to." Sky turned to Jack, ignoring Sydney.
"First he tricks Syd into pulling out her morpher, then he takes it but doesn't keep it. Then he attacks her, but doesn't do anything other than stun her. And finally he calls to let us know she was hurt…?"
"Yeah. This is getting weirder by the minute." Jack turned back to Sydney. "Did he say anything else?"
"Well, when I tried to get my morpher back, he just threatened to sell it on the black market. Or to the Troobians." Syd's voice took on a whining tone. "And he called me careless!"
"It doesn't sound like he's working for the Troobians if he said that."
"But how can we know that?" Sky countered. "We can't just assume that based on one eyewitness's account. It's also way too early to assume anything about this guy." Just then, a feline-like alien doctor walked into the room and over the bed. He put a clipboard down at the foot of the bed, and went over to Sydney.
"Good afternoon, cadet. How are you feeling?" His small yellow eyes watched her expressions calmly.
Syd answered "Okay," with a timid smile. The doctor reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a pen-like device. Pressing a button on the back of it, he shined a light into one of Sydney's eyes for a few seconds, and then turned it off. He reached down with a gloved four-fingered hand and felt her wrist for her pulse. After about a half minute, he pulled back, and started writing on the clipboard.
"Well. Looks like you're almost ready to return to duty." Syd smiled, pleased at her quick recovery. "A few more tests and you'll be cleared in just a few minutes if everything is good. I'll have the nurse come in momentarily." He turned to leave and nodded acknowledging at the two standing next to him. "Cadets."
"Wait a minute--" Bridge stopped walking suddenly. He slowly looked around the waterfront.
He and the four Zs had scoured the docks for nearly an hour and found nothing new. The real Z had reintegrated her other selves back into her own body, and was alongside Bridge now.
"What's wrong, Bridge?"
"Something's not right." He removed his right glove, and waved his hand in front of him. An unusual amount of residual energy was resting a few feet ahead of them. "He's been here recently." Z looked at the ground around them for new clues.
"I don't see anything."
"Perhaps you're not searching in the right direction." Z and Bridge looked up at the same time. 60 feet above them, on one of the huge rolling load/unload crane's cross braces, stood the white figure. He casually was leaning against one of the four main legs of the crane. "This is a three dimensional world we are on. You must think in three dimensions." Both 'B'-Squad members spread apart, and took up defensive stances. Bridge pulled out his Delta Morpher and opened it, but didn't look up immediately. Z shouted up to the figure, holding her open Delta Morpher to him. It displayed her S.P.D. badge and identification, proving her authority.
"S.P.D.! You are under arrest for attacking an officer!" Z announced. "Come down here immediately!"
"Are you sure you want me to do that?"
"If you don't, we will be forced to take action!"
"Then, strike a pose and suit up, Ranger, because I am refusing to follow your command in this matter." Z looked at Bridge.
"Let's do what the guy says."
"Right."
Both glared at the figure, and switched their Delta Morphers to Change Mode. At the same instant, they both pulled their arms back, and shot them forward again, activating the morphers' primary function.
"S.P.D. Emergency!"
"S.P.D. Emergency!" The Delta Morphers encased the two humans in a pair of bright energy fields, blocking them from view for a moment...
What appeared to be a holographic green figure projected from Bridge's Delta Morpher, and then flew back into the glowing orb of energy surrounding him. The hologram hardened upon contact with his body, and suddenly morphed into a new layer of armor. Then, a rounded helmet with a black visor materialized over his head. When the transformation had completely encased him in a skin-tight suit of green, black, and silver armor, Cadet Bridge Carson was now ready to take on this intergalactic threat.
"S.P.D. Green Ranger!"
A similar transformation was happening to Z- a holographic yellow figure projecting from her Delta Morpher, and then flying back into the glowing orb. The hologram hardened upon contact with her body, and morphed into a layer of armor for her. A similar round helmet with a black visor materialized over her head. When the transformation had completely encased her in the skin-tight suit of yellow, black, and silver armor, Cadet Elizabeth Delgado was ready to engage this new opponent.
"S.P.D. Yellow Ranger!"
The two glowing orbs of white energy disappeared, leaving in their place two radically different-looking figures in their place. The Ranger suits were asymmetrical in their coloring. Yellow's had a black left arm, and a large "4" extended across half of her upper torso. On the Green suit, it was the same, except for the blocky "3". The white & black figure standing on the crane support above was impressed, though he didn't show it externally. Of course, seeing a live morph was always exhilarating to him.
"Finally. Now we get to it. Yee-ahh!" The white figure jumped off the support. Not that surprising to the two Rangers, he landed perfectly on his feet 20 feet in front of them. He thrust his right arm forward. "Attack!" Both Green and Yellow charged forward.
Yellow reached the white figure first. She swung out with an arm, which he easily deflected. Green came at him from the side, and tried to grab his waist to lift him up. But the white figure saw him, and kicked out with his right leg, which sent Green flying through the air several feet. He landed with a grunt. Yellow came back and punched him with her fist. The figure dodged, only just, and grabbed her arm. Holding on tightly, he swung her around in front of him, then kicked her. She crashed to the hard concrete.
Green got back up. He jumped a dozen feet into the air with as little effort as the white figure had used to jump off the crane. Having just grounded Yellow, the figure turned just in time to see Green diving towards him with his legs out. Mere inches from collision, he brought both arms up under Green's legs, doubling him over, and making him crash to the ground. The white figure stood aside a few feet, allowing the Rangers some space.
"He's so strong!" Yellow said, moving a white glove to her stomach as she stood.
"And fast," Green added, shaking his head clear. Though the S.P.D. Ranger armor suits could deflect and absorb an inhuman amount of damage to the user, they couldn't stop everything.
"Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet, Ranger. Ee-yah!" In a blur of motion, the white figure disappeared behind them. They turned to follow him, only to see him zoom past them in the opposite direction just as quickly. Lagging mere seconds behind trying to keep up with his blurred form, the Rangers were suddenly attacked by a fast series of jabs and cuts to their bodies. The two Rangers grunted as the blows hit their armored forms, but they couldn't even raise a finger; he was so fast. The final blow came when the figure held his arms out and slammed into both of them, dropping them to their backs. The blur came to a sudden halt a dozen feet away.
"This is Earth's defense? Two against one, and I'm still beating y-- Uugh!" The white figure was surrounded in a flurry of sparks as several laser blasts slapped into him. The volley of impacts pushed him back, and he fell down hard with a grunt.
Three new Power Rangers ran onto the scene. S.P.D. Red Ranger- a large black "1" on his chest- held aloft his two Delta Blasters, keeping aim on the downed figure, while S.P.D. Blue Ranger "2" and Pink Ranger "5" ran over to their fallen comrades. Pink helped Yellow up. Yellow looked at her armored squad mate.
"Syd! You're all right!" Inside the Pink Ranger suit, Cadet Sydney Drew smiled.
"Yup. I'm fine now."
Green, now on his feet, regarded Blue. "You guys had some good timing there, Sky." Cadet Sky Tate nodded in his Blue Ranger suit.
"We got your message, Bridge. Good work."
Meanwhile, Red Ranger held the white and black-striped figure at bay, still lying on his back. "Turn over, and put your hands out to either side!"
"Do you really think that you can stop me all by yourself, Red Ranger?"
"I said turn over!" ordered Cadet Jack Landors from inside the Red S.P.D. armored suit. "Sky, help me out here." Blue moved to Red's side.
"You heard him, whitey. Roll over," ordered Blue. The white figure sagged, and shrugged.
"Oh... very well. I can tell when I've been outclassed." He slowly rolled onto his stomach, and placed his hands on either side of his smooth white & red helmet. As Red raised his weapons to the air, Blue reached down to his belt buckle and removed a pair of Containment Cuffs. Then, he knelt down next to the white figure, and took a hold for his left arm.
As Blue's fingers came in contact with the suspect's wrist, the white figure suddenly shot his arms downwards under himself, flying backwards and slamming into both Blue and Red. The two Rangers lost their balance and fell down themselves, while the white figure regained his feet, and looked down at them. "However, this is not one of those times," he pointed out to them.
Then, he looked at Yellow, Pink, & Green a few feet away, drawing their weapons. "You have escalated the situation beyond what was needed." Then he calmly reached with his right hand for the dagger hanging from the left side of his belt. He drew the white, gold, & black weapon, which had a bird-like head with a golden crest on it at the bottom of the handle. There was a white/black feather-like pattern along the entire blade's length. With a flick of his right wrist, the dagger's handle rotated 180º, and the tip of the dagger's blade extended to double its original length. "White Drago Sword, ready."
The story is continued in Chapter 1- The White Stranger, Part 2!
Author's Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any relation to any real person(s) and/or events is coincidence unless stated otherwise. Appropriate credit will be given where due.
While it is based on both the 2004 television series "Power Rangers Dino Thunder" and 2005 television series "Power Rangers S.P.D.", I claim no ownership to any of the characters, events, & locations from those respective shows. And with the use of crossovers (taking elements from one story and using them in another un-related story), I claim no ownership those stories, characters and/or events & locations. They are copyright and the ownership of their respective companies/individual owner.
The scenes, events, and some of the imagery of this story are of my own creation and are not to be used without my expressed permission & authorization. The text of this story is not to be used publicly or on the Internet without my expressed written permission.
Special thanks to J. Douglass for helping me edit this story.
Glass from shattered windows was still strewn around, and tabletops & chairs were broken. Several desks behind broken security doors had paperwork strewn all around them. Here and there, bank employees were trying to clean up the mess amid security officers trying to keep everything calm. He had come here to survey the loss, but also to make sure everything was alright and that all was starting to come together again. Though not commonly known, he also did his own personal banking here as well.
Crugger also noticed the presence of several of his own S.P.D. personnel moving about, collecting evidence from the bank robbery that had been committed earlier this week. The criminal behind the theft- a Fernovian called Hydrax- had been found, judged, & contained already, and was to go before a formal court of law soon to finalize the charges against her.
This was all thanks to the efforts of his recently formed 'B'-Squad Rangers, who had also proved the innocence of another suspect in the process. They were still in the process of coming together and working as a team, and they had quite a ways to go, but Crugger still saw much potential in them. But they had done this on their own. And despite the fact that they were still only S.P.D. cadets themselves.
Crugger crossed his arms behind his back and started to walk forward into the bank, when--
Squish
The S.P.D. commander looked down. He'd stepped in a puddle of green liquid on the black marble floor. One side of his mouth curled down, and he sighed. The high-pressure water had come from the Fernovian herself as she'd used it to cut into the bank. It wasn't one hundred percent H2O and still contained some plant byproduct. So, after being exposed to the atmosphere for a certain amount of time, all of the water had started to turn green.
Cadet Bridge Carson, who was part of the evidence gathering team, came over to him carefully. "Sorry about that, sir. We haven't had enough time to clean up all of that Fernovian water yet."
"I understand." Commander Crugger side-stepped the puddle of green liquid and looked around again. "What is the status here, Cadet?" Carson moved next to the commander.
"Well, sir, we're in the process of removing the old vault access programming so we can install a new one that will accept biometric readings. We're also continuing to collect evidence for Hydrax's trial, and we're hoping to be all clear by sometime tomorrow. In addition to that, I've taken the liberty of informing the local security forces about Fernovian physiology so that this won't happen again. The construction crews should arrive shortly after we're done here, Commander, so that they can begin repair work to the offices and the vault itself. And Colonial National has increased security to protect the branch against any new attacks until the bank is considered secure again."
"Good. Have you finished your report yet?"
"No, Commander. I've been working here, as you ordered, sir."
"Good. Well then, return to base as soon as you're finished here."
"Understood, sir." Cadet Carson saluted, bringing his right arm across his chest horizontally. The commander, almost a full foot taller, returned the S.P.D. salute. Bridge began to turn away.
"Oh, Cadet..."
"Yes, sir?"
"Could you please inform the bank manager that I'd like to speak with him as soon as possible?"
"Yes, sir. I'll do that right now."
"Good." Bridge spun on his heel, and began to walk away. As he did, he slipped and nearly fell in another puddle of green water, but regained his balance quickly and moved on to find the manager. Crugger watched the cadet walk away. In addition to his somewhat quirky personality, Carson had a real nose for police work, and had been key in weeding out Hydrax and capturing her.
15 minutes later, having been assured by the bank manager many times that own his account had not been broken into, Crugger began his return to S.P.D. headquarters, which also served as the training academy for the intergalactic police force. As he walked along, he passes some children, a few of whom are non-humans. They smile and wave enthusiastically at the sight of the tall Sirian in the black, red & white S.P.D. officer's uniform. He smiled as best he could without showing his teeth and waved back. Continuing on, he rounded a corner on the busy New Tech City street. Electric- and fusion-powered vehicles of many shapes & sizes paused at the streetlights, and then went on; some taking off straight up as they engaged their anti-gravity drives. Others parked along the side of the city street, and emptied their occupants so they could continue on foot.
He soon returned to the S.P.D. Academy, a squat, rectangular build covered with windows that sat beside the larger and significantly-more intricate Delta Base. Passing through the double doors, he saw people in both civilian and S.P.D. uniforms moving about.
"Attention on deck!" yelled a drill instructor. A line of trainees behind him stopped cold in their tracks, turned smartly to their left and saluted their Commander; noticing the five interlocked gold triangles on the right side of his uniform, which designated his rank. Crugger paused to return the salute.
"As you were," he commanded them. As head of the Academy, he needed to demonstrate to them how to behave in front of an officer, and what he would do in return. He walked past the line of future intergalactic police officers. Some of them wouldn't be able to complete the training courses, and would drop out. Others will find over time that being an officer is too taxing or not to their taste, and so they would turn to another area of expertise. Their choice. Only a very few will have what it takes to become true S.P.D. officers. Those who succeeded would eventually be grouped into squads of five. Then that small group would train, learn, and grow together to become Power Rangers- the most powerful and influential defense anywhere in the Universe for peace and justice. Currently, there were only four active Ranger squads at the Earth-based S.P.D. Academy, designated "A" through "D". The latter team had only been formed a few days ago, and were still raw recruits in a way.
The elite "A"-Squad was currently defending the somewhat-nearby Helix Nebula, hundreds of light-years away, from an invasion by the Troobian Empire. While the "A"-Squad was off-world, the next team, "B"-Squad was taken up the slack on Earth. Unfortunately, it had been a month since any communication had been received from the "A"-Squad, and the S.P.D. High Command had been forced to officially declare them Missing in Action (MIA). Now, with 'A'-Squad missing, it meant that the Helix Nebula was much more likely to fall under the invasion, and open up a large hole in this galaxy for the Troobians to march through.
As Crugger stepped onto the escalator, he looked up to see Katherine Manx standing at the top, holding a clipboard in one hand. In addition to serving as his second in command, she also ran the research and development labs in the Delta Base. Her feline-like alien ears were hidden beneath her shoulder-length brunette curls, and a light set of small pale brown spots ran under her dark green eyes and over her cheeks. She nodded courteously rather than salute as he reached the top of the escalator. She wasn't really part of S.P.D.'s command structure anymore, but rather a trusted and respected civilian consultant.
"Commander."
"Miss Manx." Crugger nodded in response, continuing on past her, but she quickly fell in step with the tall blue alien. "What is the status of investigation into the Fernovian robbery?"
"We're analyzing the liquid samples sent to us by the crime scene team, and my lab is looking at the car she cut up during the engagement with the Rangers. Also, we're reviewing surveillance footage from the robbery. And the search through her alias' financial records in underway."
"Good. What about the Trirondonian bounty hunter?"
"He's on his way to the station in orbit, and will be deported in a few hours."
A lone figure stands on top of a building a few blocks away from S.P.D. Academy. The humanoid stares at the large Delta Base, deep in thought. His eyes are hidden by a red visor.
"It is time." A beeping sound comes from his left arm, and he looks down. A different voice speaks.
"It'll be good to get out after all this time. I need to stretch my wings out anyways."
"Not yet," the figure responds quietly with confidence. "Just a little while longer, now. I need to do this right, or it'll all go wrong."
"How could it go wrong now? You've only had a few years to get prepared." The humanoid chuckles.
"Be patient. You'll get your outing soon. Then you'll have a chance to rumble with the Rangers."
"Ooh...heh heh. I can't wait for that part."
S'wap! S'wap! S'wap-s'wap! S'wap! S'wap-pishh!
"Aw- come on, man! I didn't miss that last one!"
"Aw- come on, Jack. See for yourself." S.P.D. cadet Elizabeth Delgado playfully nudges her friend's right arm. Cadet Jack Landors glared at her out the corner of his eye through his short almost-black dreadlocks, and then punched a button on the consol next to him. The targeting drone moves forward, stopping inches from his hand. He reaches out and pulls the 4" off-white spherical drone out of the air, turning it upside-down to view the marker underneath. Sure enough, the target drone's computer had registered only five out of six direct hits from Jack's simulated stun weapon. "See?"
"Yeah, it's been tampered with."
"Ha!"
"I wouldn't have missed had it been a real target."
"Really? Like what, exactly?"
"Like a- like a... like a real Krybot! And not those holographic ones down in the Shooting Gallery, either. They don't count, no matter how good the resolution is." Cadet Delgado- nicknamed "Z"- rolls her eyes. "These computers still can't get it right. Besides, it only registers direct hits, not scratches or glancing shots--"
"Enough! You missed; admit it!"
Jack smiles mischievously. "Never." He lets go of the drone, and it floats slowly to the other side of the off-duty lounge. Then he folds up his stunner and puts it back in its holster on his right hip. "Your turn." Z sighs, and focuses on the drone floating 20 feet away, hand near her own training stunner. Jack watches her face until he's sure she was ready. She waits for his order to draw… And waits… And waits… And waits… And waits…
She gets irritated, turning her head. "Jack--"
"Go!" At his command, the drone began to dart randomly around the opposite wall, trying not to get hit. Time in responding to the order was also taken into consideration when keeping score. But within two seconds, Z had refocused on the drone and pulled her stunner, holding it with both hands.
S'wap-s'wap!
"-and he just threw the car at her, and she cut it like a hot knife through creamy butter! And it wasn't that stuff from Montana either, that tastes like olive oil. I couldn't believe Bridge would do something like that. Then I realized what she really was.
"Anyways, we got her, and she's going on trial in a few days as soon as the DA is ready. But I can tell you this- when I went to her house, there were soooo many different and pretty flowers there, Mom, you wouldn't believe it!"
Cadet Sydney Drew's blue-gray eyes sparkled as she remembered the wide variety of exotic alien flowers they'd found. She leaned back on the pink comforter on her bed as she raised the recording datapad over her head. Her shoulder-length blond hair spread out under her. She reached down with a hand and smoothed out some wrinkles on her standard gray-&-pink squad uniform. The same hand reached up to play with a blond curl in her hair.
"Anyways, things are going great here. R.I.C is doing fine since that upgrade Bridge and Boom gave him. He likes me a lot now, and I just love him. He even powers down at the foot of my bed at night sometimes. He reminds me so much of Pookie and Moosle that I miss them even more!
"Ooh- I wish I was going on that trip with you to Archon Beach! I've seen holos of that planet before, and I just love the water and how it glows like--"
"Ranger Cadet Drew, report to the Command Center immediately." It was a base-wide general broadcast. Sydney glared at the speaker mounted in the ceiling of her shared barracks. She sighed, and paused the recording to her parents, got up off her bed. Making sure she had her S.P.D. Delta Morpher strapped securely to the back of her belt, she left the room. They were just so uncomfortable to lie against, especially positioned at the small of her back.
. . .
The Command Center was located in the forward upper levels of the Delta Base. Shaped like a large octagon from above, it was the heart of S.P.D.'s operations on Earth, and used advanced communications, surveillance satellites, and elaborate sensors to detect possible threats. This was also where Commander Crugger was usually found, dealing with the day-to-day operations, from behind his large desk. Kat Manx was also a frequent visitor here, though she usually worked from the main information pedestal located at the center of the room.
Cadet Schuyler Tate was currently standing in front of one of the large sensor displays built into the walls of the Command Center. With his dark blond hair cut short to fit Academy regulations, he kept himself fit and ready to carry out any order. It was a mark of pride that he was in the top percentage of cadets ever to go through the Academy, specializing in criminal profiling and weapons usage. In fact, because his personal standards were so high, he'd received the nickname "Sky" because, to everyone else at the Academy who knew him, the sky was the limit on perfection. His father had been one of the first S.P.D. Power Rangers, and had been killed in the line of duty. Even though it had pained & haunted him for years, Sky was making sure to follow in his father's legacy- to become a great Ranger himself. The only thing that stood in the way of his efforts, in his mind, was Jack Landors; who had been assigned to the Red Ranger position. Sky had been insulted and mystified that, as the best, he had not been chosen as leader of the 'B'-Squad over a petty street thief. And when Landors had become the permanent leader, it only angered him further. Fortunately, for his pride's sake, he was currently operating as second-in-command. But that wasn't enough.
Sky looked over his shoulder as the Command Center's thick double doors opened to reveal his squad mate, Sydney Drew, walk in casually and up to him. "Hey, Sky. What's up?"
"I don't know. But, the Commander wants to see you immediately, Syd."
"Are you coming too?"
"No."
"Oh. See ya later." Sydney crossed the room and stood in front of Commander Crugger's large desk. She brought her heels together, chin up, shoulders back, and arms at her side. Then she saluted- crossing her right arm across her chest. Commander Crugger acknowledged her with his calm, deep voice.
"At ease, Cadet." Syd crossed her arms behind her back, at parade rest. "There's been an unusual energy disturbance in sector 10-7. It hasn't been identified because the emissions are too low to get an exact fix, and it seems to be moving throughout the city. Go there and investigate. If it moves again, report it immediately, and then keep following it until reinforcements arrive."
"Yes, sir."
"Dismissed."
The Delta Cruiser was a simple 5-occupant, electric-powered vehicle that S.P.D. personnel used for inner-city travel. It was a speedy and agile little jeep liveried in black & white, and sporting a pair of red strobe lights on the back roll bar. Sydney quickly drove out of the underground parking lot beneath the Delta Base, and made her way to the seaside shipping zone, located within sector 10-7.
There were several huge cargo ships at port, unloading and loading goods in large containers in rust reds & grays. After finding an appropriate place to park out of the way of the dock workers, Sydney got out of the Delta Cruiser, pulled out a hand-held energy wave detector from the back, and turned it on. The dome-like detector had a screen mounted on the top which would show her what kinds of readings it was picking up. Syd's training with the device told her that she needed to eliminate background 'noise' before she went on; the energy signature that had been detected was faint, and unidentifiable. So, one-by-one, she eliminated the infrared & ultraviolet settings, photons, neutrons, and several others because they were not unusual.
Then she set out among the large cargo containers and storage buildings along the waterfront, occasionally passing one of the large orange colored overhead cranes. After twenty minutes, she pulled out her Delta Morpher, switched it to Phone Mode, and speed-dialed Delta Base.
"Delta Base, this is Cadet Drew in Sector 10-7. I haven't found any unusual energy readings yet. But I am continuing my search."
"Understood," the voice on the other end responded; one of the technicians working in the Command Center. "Keep us advised. Out." Syd replaced her morpher, and continued to scan the buildings and cargo containers.
. . .
From on top of one of the containers, the humanoid figure secretly watched as the young blond S.P.D. officer walking among the structures. She was wearing a dark gray & pink jump suit that had a short skirt, with black dress shoes. She was trim and fit. Cute in a way, but—
What's this-? The figure looked closer… She wore the standard Police badge on the right side of her chest, branded with a Doberman in silhouette- the symbol of S.P.D. And she had her standard issue stunner on her belt. He watched as she pulled out some sort of comm unit from her belt, and speak into it. His advanced hearing picked out the short conversation. Cadet Drew, was her name. She was nothing but a cadet! And out here all alone without close support. How careless. Then he realized what she had used to call home- a Delta Morpher.
That makes her a Ranger, he thought to himself. S.P.D.'s 'A'-Squad was off-world now, so… Cadet Drew must be from the less experienced 'B'-Squad. Perfect, he thought.
. . .
The sensor in Sydney's hand started warbling something fierce. She looked at the display. The readings were increasing rapidly. She stopped moving, searching around for the energy source. She looked again- the signal was jumping all over the place so fast that the sensor couldn't keep up with it! Something wasn't right. Shifting the sensor to her left hand, Sydney pulled out her stunner with her right and armed it; making sure the safety was off. Glancing at the sensor again, the signal was now very close, but still moving very quickly.
Then it stopped. It stopped about 20 feet ahead. She looked up…
The human-shaped figure was dressed in white with jagged black stripes running across his arms, legs & chest. There were a few highlights of gold along the edge of the chest armor attached around his neck & shoulders. His belt was also gold, as were the edges of his boots and wrists. His head was encased in a white smooth helmet with a jagged wing-shaped opaque red visor covering his eyes. A small thin black crest rose from between the V-shaped point on his red visor. He also had an ornamental white dagger hanging from the left side of his belt. A white device with black & gold highlights was mounted just above his left wrist.
The figure spoke unaccented American English with a deep, distorted voice.
"Greetings, Cadet Drew." Sydney's eyes went wide. He knew her name!
"Who are you?" The energy wave detector was screaming for attention, but she didn't notice it now.
"What is the standard procedure for meeting with an unrecognized life-form?" Sydney was confused.
"What?"
"Did you not hear me, cadet?"
"I said who are you?"
"Aren't you going to call for backup? You are all alone out here, and confronted by something you've never seen before. Who knows what kind of threat I am to you or to this city. Go ahead- pull out your morpher." Sydney focused her stunner on the white-&-black figure, and slowly set the scanner down. As she pulled out her morpher, getting ready to call for back-up like the figure suggested, suddenly he disappeared.
Just as unexpectedly, her morpher disappeared from right out of her hand as well! She spun around, thinking maybe she'd dropped it. She gasped when she turned- the figure was standing right behind her, holding her morpher in his own hand! She tried to grab at it, but he yanked it away.
"Well, now, what is this?" Now she had reason to move on him. He'd taken something of hers. She brought the stunner around and pointed it right at his chest.
"S.P.D.! Give that back to me now!" The figure cocked his head to one side as he looked at the morpher again.
"Really? Now why should I do that? This would fetch a handsome price on the black market. Or maybe I could sell it to someone important, like an enemy of yours. Perhaps to the Troobians? I know they'd certainly be interested."
"I said give that to me now!"
"What are you going to do if I don't?" Sydney tried to make another grab at the morpher, but he just stepped back again. She held her stunner with both hands now.
"I'll shoot if you don't!"
"Okay. Here--" He threw the morpher high in the air. As expected, Sydney's eyes followed it up, and her stunner's aim dropped. The figure took that moment to snatch the stunner from her hands. Confused by the action, Sydney looked down again, missing where the morpher landed. Her own weapon was pointed at her now. The figure chuckled.
"Huh- that was too easy." He glanced at the stunner's power setting. His hand wavered as he tried to get a closer look. Sydney reacted instantly- bringing her arm around to hit his helmet. He ducked under the slow swipe and backed-off again. She tried to spin-kick him, but he blocked her leg with his left arm, putting her off balance. He had close-range combat training. He aimed the stunner at her and pulled the trigger.
S'wap-puu!
The blue stun pulse hit her in the stomach. She immediately fell to the ground and didn't move, eyes closed. The white-&-black figure stood over Sydney's limp form. He placed the stunner back in the holster on her belt. Then gently, he put his arms under her legs & back and easily lifted her up. She was light as a feather with his superhuman strength. He walked with her over to the side of a building, out of sight and carefully set her down against the concrete wall.
Then, he went back for the morpher. Eyeing the device, he shifted the black side latch to Phone Mode, and pressed the grey button on top. The black door popped open. Inside was an elaborate video display with moving icons. The lower section had an orange numeric keypad, with CONNECT and DISCONNECT buttons. The upper section had a system menu. He selected the "Search" option, which caused the morpher to change displays. Conveniently, one was labeled "Delta Base (audio)".
Ahh- so much like the cellular phones of old, the figure remembered. He activated the circuit, then the CONNECT button.
"Attention S.P.D. Delta Base: one of your cadets is injured beside one of the buildings on the New Tech City loading docks. Come and get her. And consider having her go through the standard operating procedures again on meeting an unrecognized life-form. This was a fortunate day for her." The voice on the other end was stern.
"Who are you? Identify yourself immediately!"
"I am the one who injured Cadet Drew. Come down on this signal to find her." The figure left the comm open, set the morpher in the unconscious figure's limp hand, and walked away.
Minutes later, another Delta Cruiser appeared carrying 'B'-Squad members Jack, Z, and Sky. After briefly looking over their unconscious comrade together, Jack pulled out his own Delta Morpher and contacted Commander Crugger.
"She's here, sir. She seems alright, but she's been hit by some sort of light energy weapon. Some kind of stunner, maybe."
"Jack…" He turned to see Z walking towards him with the energy wave detector. It was silent in her hands. "Look at this. The memory card says it picked up high levels of beta neutrinos for a few minutes, then they disappeared." Jack turned back to his open morpher and reported what Z found. Commander Crugger responded.
"Bring them both back to base. I'm going to have Cadet Carson go to that location, and I want Delgado waiting for him there."
"Yes, sir." The three squad mates picked up their limp friend. Then Sky drove Syd, Jack, and the scanner in their Delta Cruiser back to the Delta Base, while Z stayed behind with the other. She kept her own stunner out at the ready, just in case, until Bridge showed up in a third Delta Cruiser from the Colonial National Bank.
"Attention S.P.D. Delta Base: one of your cadets is injured beside one of the buildings on the New Tech City loading docks. Come and get her. And consider having her go through the standard operating procedures again on meeting an unrecognized life-form. This was a fortunate day for her."
"Who are you? Identify yourself immediately!"
"I am the one who injured Cadet Drew. Come down on this signal to find her."
Commander Crugger ended the recorded conversation, and then turned to the two 'B'-Squad cadets in front of him. Sydney was in the base's infirmary, and hadn't woken up yet. The medics were reporting that she had indeed been hit by an S.P.D. standard issue stunner, and would awaken in a few hours. Bridge and Z were still working the fight scene down at the waterfront.
"Well," he asked them, "What do you think?"
"Sir," said Sky. "Do we know who it was who was talking?"
"Our voice analysis team is working on the distortion, but they haven't come up with anything yet."
"He's good…" Jack commented to himself out loud, nodding his head slowly.
"What was that?"
"Hmm? Oh- I was just thinking of something. This guy is cocky. He knows what he's doing. And he easily beat Syd within moments. He had an advantage over her, and could have hurt her a lot more. So, why didn't he?"
Sky responded. "Maybe hurting her wasn't his objective. Maybe it was something else."
"Something on the docks?"
"That's why I have Delgado and Carson there now," Commander Crugger interjected.
. . .
Z examined the spot where they had found Sydney. There were no traces of blood or other body fluids, and that had been confirmed by the staff at the infirmary on-base. In fact, the worst that had happened was Syd had some bruises on an arm and leg, and the stun blast had discolored her skin a little. All would heal quickly. So that meant, it had been done with the least amount of force in a quick period of time. Z looked over her shoulder at what Bridge was doing.
Bridge, on the other hand, wasn't exactly helping with the situation. He was pacing back and forth with no particular purpose in mind, a gloved hand to his mouth, mumbling to himself.
"Bridge, what do you got?"
"-accelerate at 4.1 to reach equinox-"
"Bridge?"
"-divided by π, and rounded to the nearest thousandth-"
"Bridge!"
He looked up, startled out of his thought-process. "What?"
"What have you got?"
He thought for a moment. "A dilemma," he answered genuinely, not thinking of how it sounded. Z rolled her eyes and stood up.
"Clearly," she mumbled to herself as she walked over. "What's wrong?"
"No, not 'What's wrong'. 'What's right'. I mean, nothing is ever wrong, it just needs to be interpreted correctly." Z just stared at him, slightly annoyed even though she knew he meant the best. Bridge removed the glove from his right hand. Then he moved the uncovered hand in a circular wiping motion in front of him; a light green mist followed its motion. He was using his unique genetic gift to see the after-effects of what had happened. "This is where Syd and the attacker stood," he said, pointing right in front of them. "But I don't understand..."
"What is it?"
"The attacker spends most of his time here, but he's also everywhere at once. All around us. Even up there." He pointed to the top of the cargo container next to them. "But how could he be everywhere at once?"
"I found some footprints in dust over here that weren't Syd's. Maybe they belong to him." They both walked over to where Sydney had been laid down. Sure enough, there was a pair of human-sized footprints in the dust. Bridge waved his hand again over the footprints.
"Yup, he was here too," he said, reading the residual aura of the attacker.
"So, if we follow these, then we might be able to figure out where he went, right?"
"Yeah, sure," Bridge said, replacing the glove on his hand. "But there's so much area to cover, and his presence is disappearing fast." Z grins slyly.
"Then I guess we just need a few more sets of eyes." Her eyes glow brightly for a moment. Suddenly three copies of Z appear out of nowhere! Her own unique genetic gift allows her to create multiple tactile 3D illusions of herself that can think and act independently from each other. Without a word, the four Zs and Bridge go out in different directions, scouring the area for any other signs of the mysterious attacker.
A technician walked over to Crugger in the Command Center and whispered in his pointed blue ear for a moment. After sending the tech away, he turned to the others. "Cadet Drew has awakened. Go find out what you can from her." Jack and Sky saluted and then left.
Sydney was in pale green hospital pants & shirt, lying on her back in bed. A nurse walked away, having just performed a simple examination of her injuries and making sure everything was alright. Syd looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember all of what had happened. It was coming back quickly- how her sensor had started to detect strong energy waves, the arrival of the attacker, and then nothing.
Just then, Sky and Jack walked into the infirmary. Jack was the first to speak.
"Hey. How are you doing?"
Syd smiled a little. "I'm okay." She tried to look around them. "Where are Z and Bridge?"
"There at the port, looking for this guy."
"Can you remember what happened?" Sky asked.
"Mmm, most of it. I was walking along one of the storage buildings when the scanner in my hands started detecting the energy signals that the Commander had told me about. Then this guy just suddenly appeared in front of me."
"Did he teleport in?"
"I didn't see it. He was just there all of a sudden. He was really fast, too."
"What did he look like?"
"He was shaped like a human, but was wearing a white skin-tight suit all over his body. And he had black stripes and a gold belt too. He wore a white helmet with a red visor, too."
"Was there anything else about him?"
"Oh, he had a kind of dagger hanging from his belt, too. And some sort of device on his wrist. His left wrist, I think." Syd reached for a plastic container with a straw coming out of it. Jack looked at Sky.
"Anybody we know?"
"I'll have to look," Sky replied. "But he doesn't sound familiar."
Syd put the water container down, and sighed. "It all happened so fast. First he was there, then he took my morpher. And then he took my stunner, and when I tried to get it back, I guess he shot me." She cocked her head to one side, confused. "I didn't have a chance to call you. How did you find me?" Sky hesitated, but Jack went right to it.
"He used your morpher, and he called us." Syd was surprised.
"He called you?"
"Not us, just the base."
"Oh." Sky took over.
"Did he say anything to you?"
"Yeah. He said something about what I was supposed to do when I-" She paused for a moment, trying to recall exactly what he had said to her. "-encounter 'an unrecognized life-form'. After that, he told me to get my morpher out. So I did. And just as I was doing that, it disappeared! And when I turned around, he was holding it." She half raised a hand to her mouth with concern. "He didn't take it, did he?"
"No, no, no. We got it back," Jack assured her.
"Wait a minute-" interrupted Sky. "You said he told you to take it out?"
"Yeah. I didn't get that." Sky exchanged looks with Jack, and then turned back to Syd.
"What did he want you to do that for?"
"I don't know. I wasn't going to until he said to." Sky turned to Jack, ignoring Sydney.
"First he tricks Syd into pulling out her morpher, then he takes it but doesn't keep it. Then he attacks her, but doesn't do anything other than stun her. And finally he calls to let us know she was hurt…?"
"Yeah. This is getting weirder by the minute." Jack turned back to Sydney. "Did he say anything else?"
"Well, when I tried to get my morpher back, he just threatened to sell it on the black market. Or to the Troobians." Syd's voice took on a whining tone. "And he called me careless!"
"It doesn't sound like he's working for the Troobians if he said that."
"But how can we know that?" Sky countered. "We can't just assume that based on one eyewitness's account. It's also way too early to assume anything about this guy." Just then, a feline-like alien doctor walked into the room and over the bed. He put a clipboard down at the foot of the bed, and went over to Sydney.
"Good afternoon, cadet. How are you feeling?" His small yellow eyes watched her expressions calmly.
Syd answered "Okay," with a timid smile. The doctor reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a pen-like device. Pressing a button on the back of it, he shined a light into one of Sydney's eyes for a few seconds, and then turned it off. He reached down with a gloved four-fingered hand and felt her wrist for her pulse. After about a half minute, he pulled back, and started writing on the clipboard.
"Well. Looks like you're almost ready to return to duty." Syd smiled, pleased at her quick recovery. "A few more tests and you'll be cleared in just a few minutes if everything is good. I'll have the nurse come in momentarily." He turned to leave and nodded acknowledging at the two standing next to him. "Cadets."
"Wait a minute--" Bridge stopped walking suddenly. He slowly looked around the waterfront.
He and the four Zs had scoured the docks for nearly an hour and found nothing new. The real Z had reintegrated her other selves back into her own body, and was alongside Bridge now.
"What's wrong, Bridge?"
"Something's not right." He removed his right glove, and waved his hand in front of him. An unusual amount of residual energy was resting a few feet ahead of them. "He's been here recently." Z looked at the ground around them for new clues.
"I don't see anything."
"Perhaps you're not searching in the right direction." Z and Bridge looked up at the same time. 60 feet above them, on one of the huge rolling load/unload crane's cross braces, stood the white figure. He casually was leaning against one of the four main legs of the crane. "This is a three dimensional world we are on. You must think in three dimensions." Both 'B'-Squad members spread apart, and took up defensive stances. Bridge pulled out his Delta Morpher and opened it, but didn't look up immediately. Z shouted up to the figure, holding her open Delta Morpher to him. It displayed her S.P.D. badge and identification, proving her authority.
"S.P.D.! You are under arrest for attacking an officer!" Z announced. "Come down here immediately!"
"Are you sure you want me to do that?"
"If you don't, we will be forced to take action!"
"Then, strike a pose and suit up, Ranger, because I am refusing to follow your command in this matter." Z looked at Bridge.
"Let's do what the guy says."
"Right."
Both glared at the figure, and switched their Delta Morphers to Change Mode. At the same instant, they both pulled their arms back, and shot them forward again, activating the morphers' primary function.
"S.P.D. Emergency!"
"S.P.D. Emergency!" The Delta Morphers encased the two humans in a pair of bright energy fields, blocking them from view for a moment...
What appeared to be a holographic green figure projected from Bridge's Delta Morpher, and then flew back into the glowing orb of energy surrounding him. The hologram hardened upon contact with his body, and suddenly morphed into a new layer of armor. Then, a rounded helmet with a black visor materialized over his head. When the transformation had completely encased him in a skin-tight suit of green, black, and silver armor, Cadet Bridge Carson was now ready to take on this intergalactic threat.
"S.P.D. Green Ranger!"
A similar transformation was happening to Z- a holographic yellow figure projecting from her Delta Morpher, and then flying back into the glowing orb. The hologram hardened upon contact with her body, and morphed into a layer of armor for her. A similar round helmet with a black visor materialized over her head. When the transformation had completely encased her in the skin-tight suit of yellow, black, and silver armor, Cadet Elizabeth Delgado was ready to engage this new opponent.
"S.P.D. Yellow Ranger!"
The two glowing orbs of white energy disappeared, leaving in their place two radically different-looking figures in their place. The Ranger suits were asymmetrical in their coloring. Yellow's had a black left arm, and a large "4" extended across half of her upper torso. On the Green suit, it was the same, except for the blocky "3". The white & black figure standing on the crane support above was impressed, though he didn't show it externally. Of course, seeing a live morph was always exhilarating to him.
"Finally. Now we get to it. Yee-ahh!" The white figure jumped off the support. Not that surprising to the two Rangers, he landed perfectly on his feet 20 feet in front of them. He thrust his right arm forward. "Attack!" Both Green and Yellow charged forward.
Yellow reached the white figure first. She swung out with an arm, which he easily deflected. Green came at him from the side, and tried to grab his waist to lift him up. But the white figure saw him, and kicked out with his right leg, which sent Green flying through the air several feet. He landed with a grunt. Yellow came back and punched him with her fist. The figure dodged, only just, and grabbed her arm. Holding on tightly, he swung her around in front of him, then kicked her. She crashed to the hard concrete.
Green got back up. He jumped a dozen feet into the air with as little effort as the white figure had used to jump off the crane. Having just grounded Yellow, the figure turned just in time to see Green diving towards him with his legs out. Mere inches from collision, he brought both arms up under Green's legs, doubling him over, and making him crash to the ground. The white figure stood aside a few feet, allowing the Rangers some space.
"He's so strong!" Yellow said, moving a white glove to her stomach as she stood.
"And fast," Green added, shaking his head clear. Though the S.P.D. Ranger armor suits could deflect and absorb an inhuman amount of damage to the user, they couldn't stop everything.
"Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet, Ranger. Ee-yah!" In a blur of motion, the white figure disappeared behind them. They turned to follow him, only to see him zoom past them in the opposite direction just as quickly. Lagging mere seconds behind trying to keep up with his blurred form, the Rangers were suddenly attacked by a fast series of jabs and cuts to their bodies. The two Rangers grunted as the blows hit their armored forms, but they couldn't even raise a finger; he was so fast. The final blow came when the figure held his arms out and slammed into both of them, dropping them to their backs. The blur came to a sudden halt a dozen feet away.
"This is Earth's defense? Two against one, and I'm still beating y-- Uugh!" The white figure was surrounded in a flurry of sparks as several laser blasts slapped into him. The volley of impacts pushed him back, and he fell down hard with a grunt.
Three new Power Rangers ran onto the scene. S.P.D. Red Ranger- a large black "1" on his chest- held aloft his two Delta Blasters, keeping aim on the downed figure, while S.P.D. Blue Ranger "2" and Pink Ranger "5" ran over to their fallen comrades. Pink helped Yellow up. Yellow looked at her armored squad mate.
"Syd! You're all right!" Inside the Pink Ranger suit, Cadet Sydney Drew smiled.
"Yup. I'm fine now."
Green, now on his feet, regarded Blue. "You guys had some good timing there, Sky." Cadet Sky Tate nodded in his Blue Ranger suit.
"We got your message, Bridge. Good work."
Meanwhile, Red Ranger held the white and black-striped figure at bay, still lying on his back. "Turn over, and put your hands out to either side!"
"Do you really think that you can stop me all by yourself, Red Ranger?"
"I said turn over!" ordered Cadet Jack Landors from inside the Red S.P.D. armored suit. "Sky, help me out here." Blue moved to Red's side.
"You heard him, whitey. Roll over," ordered Blue. The white figure sagged, and shrugged.
"Oh... very well. I can tell when I've been outclassed." He slowly rolled onto his stomach, and placed his hands on either side of his smooth white & red helmet. As Red raised his weapons to the air, Blue reached down to his belt buckle and removed a pair of Containment Cuffs. Then, he knelt down next to the white figure, and took a hold for his left arm.
As Blue's fingers came in contact with the suspect's wrist, the white figure suddenly shot his arms downwards under himself, flying backwards and slamming into both Blue and Red. The two Rangers lost their balance and fell down themselves, while the white figure regained his feet, and looked down at them. "However, this is not one of those times," he pointed out to them.
Then, he looked at Yellow, Pink, & Green a few feet away, drawing their weapons. "You have escalated the situation beyond what was needed." Then he calmly reached with his right hand for the dagger hanging from the left side of his belt. He drew the white, gold, & black weapon, which had a bird-like head with a golden crest on it at the bottom of the handle. There was a white/black feather-like pattern along the entire blade's length. With a flick of his right wrist, the dagger's handle rotated 180º, and the tip of the dagger's blade extended to double its original length. "White Drago Sword, ready."
The story is continued in Chapter 1- The White Stranger, Part 2!
Author's Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any relation to any real person(s) and/or events is coincidence unless stated otherwise. Appropriate credit will be given where due.
While it is based on both the 2004 television series "Power Rangers Dino Thunder" and 2005 television series "Power Rangers S.P.D.", I claim no ownership to any of the characters, events, & locations from those respective shows. And with the use of crossovers (taking elements from one story and using them in another un-related story), I claim no ownership those stories, characters and/or events & locations. They are copyright and the ownership of their respective companies/individual owner.
The scenes, events, and some of the imagery of this story are of my own creation and are not to be used without my expressed permission & authorization. The text of this story is not to be used publicly or on the Internet without my expressed written permission.
Special thanks to J. Douglass for helping me edit this story.
Previous part: N/A
Next part: Chapter 01- The White Stranger (Part 2) [link]
This fanfic is intended to answer one question only: What happened to Earth in the intervening years between 2004 and 2025? While new PR series have-and-will fill the gap, I thought PR SPD could easily have taken place in 2005 rather than in the distant future.
. . .
I started this fanfic some years ago, but [still] haven't finished it.
I only intend for it to run 5-6 chapters: each chapter taking up the same space of an entire regularly-timed Episode, but not to appear as a mini-series which runs back-to-back.
"Power Rangers Dino Thunder" and "Power Rangers S.P.D." were the last PR-related series I committed myself to before I learned of- and converted over to- the original Japanese franchise, called Super Sentai. I also thought PRDT & PR-SPD were the best of the Disney-era series (2002-2009), but obviously (and painfully) were restricted due to budget and limited writing.
I liked the more-detailed characters & universe that Super Sentai offered. However, I was/am not yet quite ready to commit myself to a fanfic directly from Super Sentai, so I thought I'd stretch my writing [talent?] on a simple and short PR fanfic to see how it turned out.
Unlike most PR fanfics I've read, this one takes place between specific Episodes from the show itself, but plays out as a fanfic beyond that.
Next part: Chapter 01- The White Stranger (Part 2) [link]
This fanfic is intended to answer one question only: What happened to Earth in the intervening years between 2004 and 2025? While new PR series have-and-will fill the gap, I thought PR SPD could easily have taken place in 2005 rather than in the distant future.
. . .
I started this fanfic some years ago, but [still] haven't finished it.
I only intend for it to run 5-6 chapters: each chapter taking up the same space of an entire regularly-timed Episode, but not to appear as a mini-series which runs back-to-back.
"Power Rangers Dino Thunder" and "Power Rangers S.P.D." were the last PR-related series I committed myself to before I learned of- and converted over to- the original Japanese franchise, called Super Sentai. I also thought PRDT & PR-SPD were the best of the Disney-era series (2002-2009), but obviously (and painfully) were restricted due to budget and limited writing.
I liked the more-detailed characters & universe that Super Sentai offered. However, I was/am not yet quite ready to commit myself to a fanfic directly from Super Sentai, so I thought I'd stretch my writing [talent?] on a simple and short PR fanfic to see how it turned out.
Unlike most PR fanfics I've read, this one takes place between specific Episodes from the show itself, but plays out as a fanfic beyond that.
© 2010 - 2024 EVAUnit4A
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