Kit Carpenter entered the sixth floor of the building just as he had at all the previous locations - quietly and carefully. Sliding his way through the small ventilation vent and landing at the floor below, he thought that this may be his easiest mission yet.

A master thief, a skill incredibly valued by many and completely looked down upon by plenty more, had never proved too fulfilling a life for the young man. Though it was great to never have to worry about money or material items, possessing them felt hollow and meaningless when they were simply taken from others. The feeling that he somehow didn't deserve the items had always weighed on the back of his mind, no matter what.

The last month had been different. The items Kit sought out and stole were completely unique. Far and away more valuable than anything else he had stolen for himself, the man's employer paid a high price for each of the items thus far. This time would be no exception, he knew. If anything, his target today was worth as much - or more - than any of the previous.

Slipping the small pack off of his back and onto the floor, he unzipped it and quickly removed the items hidden inside. First, a small hand-held blade blaster - simple, but effective. Secondly, and most importantly, the belt-mountable HoloHide that had helped him on so many previous occasions. Kit quickly clipped the device to his belt buckle and flipped its power switch into the 'Activate' position. After blinking in and out of existence for a couple of short seconds - something that would give those unfamiliar with the device a brief moment of terror - the holographic disguise solidified around him.

Concealing his all black body suit, the hologram covered it exactly as he had programmed it to. The dark navy blue outfit worn by the staff of this building was fairly plain. A military-style button up shirt and matching pants, with black combat boots not unlike those that he was truly wearing beneath the disguise. He knew that his own physical features would be hidden as well. His thin, freckled face would appear much older and rounder to those around him. The thin scar going over his left eye would be concealed, as would his notably platinum blonde hair. To anyone that remained a proper distance away, he would look to be an average middle-aged balding man, thick around the waist but just dangerous-looking enough to fit in with the other men in this floor. He had specifically added a comically large tuft of white hair just behind his right ear.

Kit stowed the empty pack back into the air vent, sliding it's removed cover back into place to better cover his tracks. As he holstered his blade blaster, he made sure to disengage it's safety with a quick flip of the thumb. Depending on how the next several minutes were to pan out, he may need to utilize the weapon very quickly. His disguise would work only at a distance. Anyone within a couple of feet of the young man would notice that something was not quite right about his appearance. If the device functioned perfectly, he would have had no need to spend several cramped minutes crawling through the air ducts.

A quick check of his watch startled the man into action. He only had a couple of short minutes before he was to meet the extraction team on the other side of the building. Though almost everything about his employer was a mystery to him, one thing was not - they were always on time.

Exiting the room, the thief found himself face-to-hologrammed face with two employees almost immediately. Dressed in the same navy blue outfits, but equipped with large, automatic-firing blasters, they appeared to have saved the big guns for this floor.

Kit smiled. Despite the brisk pace he had to jump into in order to avoid getting too close to the men, their presence did have a positive side. Their heavy weaponry and stone-chiseled faces told him that he was undoubtedly in the right place. The type of blasters they carried were usually reserved for high-level military combat - or security agents for something very, very important.

The young man knew these weapons well. In just the last three weeks of working for his employer, he had dodged, evaded, or otherwise befuddled dozens of these type of men. He had stolen items much like the one he was seeking today from three different planets and just as many independent space-station outposts. His employer had definitely done his research on the whereabouts of the things he desired - something he should have invested more time into doing about his hired hand.

The man - Graves, as he had requested to be called - thought that Kit had no idea what the items were actually for. Keeping most of his employees in the dark, particularly those that handled them, was the best way to prevent them from getting power-hungry and attempting to keep them for themselves.

Kit, however, was not your ordinary hired henchman. The high price he was being paid for these missions, along with the incredibly high security put into place around these items, had compelled the young man to do some research of his own. What he had found out had cost him greatly, but the amount of power at his disposal was worth any amount of money. He had done nothing with the information - yet - but it would always remain on his mind going forward.

"Hey! What the - "

The thief stopped and quickly turned around. He briefly made eye contact with the guard that had spoken. The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. He saw the look of surprise and anger in the man's eyes and knew the proverbial jig was up. Watching the other man's finger slam into the blaster's trigger instinctively, Kit's left hand flew towards his own weapon.

The guard's rifle made a clicking sound that bounced off of the marble floor and echoed throughout the hallway loudly. Almost in the same second, Kit's own blaster roared to life. A pulsing red bolt of energy shot forward, burning through the atmosphere with an intense crackle. Before his target could even consider what was happening, he was lifted off his feet and sent sailing backwards. He crashed to the floor roughly, smoke billowing from his chest. It quickly was apparent that the man was dead.

Kit stepped forward, slipping the blade blaster back into it's holster and disarming the fallen guard. After briefly looking it over, he clicked the safety off before finally breathing again. That safety switch was the only reason he was still alive, he realized. He did not know how the man had seemed to sneak up on him so silently. The young man quietly chastised himself for being so careless and broke into a run towards his destination.

Almost immediately, the roar of automatic blaster fire tore through the hall. The spot where Kit had been standing just a second earlier was completely obliterated. Careful not to slow his running pace, the thief looked over his shoulder and saw several guards quickly approaching from behind. Two of them were crouched and readjusting their weapons for a more accurate - and more lethal - shot.

The young man knew that engaging the guards at this point would just kill any remaining time he had left to get his item and to meet at the rendezvous point. He didn't chance a glance at his watch once again, but he knew he already was pushing his time limit. Fortunately, his target lie just ahead.

"Blast him!"

Kit heard a woman's voice behind him yelling with authority. It seemed he was now dealing with middle management. He pointed his stolen blaster forward and squeezed the trigger. The metal door at the end of the hallway was no match for the firepower in his hand. In mere seconds, the rapid-firing green bolts reduced the doorway to a smoking pile of gravelly stones. Still not considering he should slow down, the thief leaped through the smoke and into the dim room ahead.

Blaster fire roared behind him. He heard the bolts both ricochet off of and tear into the walls outside. Kit found himself in a small office-looking room. Though it didn't look it, it seemed to actually feel a little different than it's holographic training simulation had. He couldn't quite put his finger on what had changed, however. The same stone walls, designed to look both modern and classic at the same time. The large window that overlooked the city skyline - it currently blanketed in the black stillness of night.

Leaping behind the big oak desk in the center of the room, Kit began tearing through it's drawers as the blasts outside drew ever closer. Panic washed over him as drawer after drawer failed to yield what he was searching for. Scrambling to quickly dump each of them out instead of carefully searching through them, the contents of the desk drawers settled at his feet. Assorted stylus pens, touch screen tablets, and even actual paper files began to pile up. On a normal occasion, he would have stopped and reviewed some of the information he was uncovering. This was no normal occasion, though.

"Stop right th-"

Kit barely looked up as he lifted the heavy hand cannon and blasted the life out of the first guard to reach him. Down to the last drawer, he was ready to leave the office behind and attempt an escape without just as the item clunked to the floor.

He almost laughed aloud. The bulky, old-school cell phone looked - no, was - absolutely ancient. Having taken them for granted for so long, the archaic device put the marvels of modern technology into perspective for the man. He grabbed the thing and tucked it into an empty cargo pocket, firing the heavy blaster without aim through the doorway and into the hallway beyond. The group of guards had reached the room and dodged his shots easily, separating to the small space on either side of the doorway out in the hall, sending their own blasts in reply to his. A small silver canister hit the floor quietly just in front of the desk, and a giant explosion rocked the room.

For several long, screaming seconds, the young man lay broken against the far wall. The well-built desk had saved his life, but had been reduced to splinters in the process. The security team seemed to be working carefully, and he no longer had any place to hide from them.

The ringing in Kit's ears was accompanied by short blasts of blackness in his vision - his sense of sight leaving him along with his consciousness. The man realized he had hit his head in the blast - hard. Warm blood ran down the back of his neck. If he didn't do something very soon, he would lose consciousness completely - and then likely his life, as well.

The man had never been more happy to have done his research before a mission. Though he knew that Gloom would not be happy about it, a quick change of plans was required.

As blackness started easing in on the sides of his vision, Kit flipped the ancient-looking device open and quickly tapped out a four-digit number.

2-5-8-0

A couple of security team members finally decided it was their time and stepped into the office. Through the smokey grenade haze, it took them a couple of seconds too long to spot the outline of their target.

A pale silver light filled the room, and Kit found himself lifted from the ground by some unknown force. His holographic disguise blinked completely out of existence, and his stolen rifle was ripped from his hand as both of his arms were lifted straight out to his sides.

The guards pointed their blasters at the thief, now covered completely by the silvery light, and began to fire. Kit winced instinctively as dozens of green bolts sped towards him. Just as he thought he would be killed, the projectiles were sent flying in every direction except for his own.

Kit felt completely engulfed by warmth. His muscles seemed to grow to the point of nearly exploding as they filled with white hot power. The strange sensation that the blood on the back of his head was running backwards, back into the wound, was something he had never felt before. A dark shield seemed to lower in front of his eyes, dimming his surroundings. Bright, computerized text lit up centimeters in front of his eyes, providing him a barrage of analytical information about his surroundings while somehow still not inhibiting his vision. It took a couple of blinks to realize that he had not passed out and he was not dreaming.

The young man raised his left hand in front of his face and was startled to see that it was now covered in a pristine white glove. He had known what to expect the device to do for him, but he had no idea how it would actually look and feel once it was done. A quick glance down at his body further proved the reality of the situation.

He was the Silver Space Ranger. The first one in, according to his research, several decades. Like the rest of the ranger-related items, the DigiMorpher had been missing for nearly fifteen years. Like many of those same items, he had just stolen it.

"What the hell!?"

Another guard burst into the room. Unlike his cohorts, he didn't seem to be bothered by the young man's change of appearance. He fired his blaster almost at random, moving it from right to left and sending bolts of energy glancing all around the cramped stone office

Kit reacted instantly, without considering his options or even formulating a plan. Somehow, his mind felt like it had grown just like his muscles seemed to have. His somehow just knew what needed to be done, and was completely confident that it would work.

"Let's do this!"

The young man's voice sounded deeper and more sure than he ever recalled it sounding previously. He ducked down and somehow avoided the lightning-quick blasts coming towards him. At the same time, he slid forward and raised his left knee. As it connected with the security guard's abdomen, the man was sent flying backwards and screamed in pain. He smashed into the remaining stone around the door frame and it crushed beneath the force of his momentum. The guard was sent back into the hallway he had came from, knocking down two of his allies as he flew.

Kit did not stop there. As soon as his knee sent the first man flying, the Silver warrior straightened his right knee and formed a powerful spinning kick. The remaining three guardsmen blocking the doorway were sent into the wall to their right, yelping in pain.

The young man paused for only a second to take in the situation at hand. Despite his feeling of immense power, he knew that he could eventually be overwhelmed by the security team. Again, with an actual plan as something of an after thought, he turned and leaped out of the window behind him. He extended his arms at his sides as he and the glass were sent falling out into the night.

An engine roared, and tires squealed. A riderless motorcycle lifted off from the ground so far below him. As ranger and cycle quickly moved towards each other, the two sides of the vehicle lifted up to form a flat, horizontal board. The wheels ascended into the bottom of the craft as it began powering upward incredibly fast. The clean white boots on Kit's feet landed on the board and instantly felt securely attached. Just a second later, both ranger and glider sailed off into the night.