Chapter 1 – I'm Running Out Of My Time
August 9 2001 – The Clock Tower, Silver Hills
Until a few months ago, the city of Silver Hills in Washington state was largely unknown to majority of Americans. On the outskirts of the city was the headquarters of medical manufacturers BioLab. Owned by the billionaire Albert Collins, the presence of the conglomerate meant that the majority of residents were also extremely wealthy. However the pleasant calm of Silver Hills had been shattered over the last few months as the city had become the latest location to play host to a team of Power Rangers.
Unknown to the wealthy residents of Silver Hills, their protectors wouldn't be born for almost a thousand years. Two thirds of the Time Force Rangers were from the year 3000 and had travelled to the twenty first century on an unauthorised mission to capture the mutant known as Ransik. The Time Force Officers consisted of the work focused Lieutenant Jennifer 'Jen' Scotts and Cadets Lucas Kendall, Katie Walker and the Xybrian Trip Regis. It was their mission to capture Ransik and capture any prisoners released from a stolen prison ship.
They needed help and it came in the shape of Wesley 'Wes' Collins, son of the owner of BioLab. After earning the red morpher, he found the Officers a home in the old Clock Tower in the center of the city. A couple of weeks later he moved in permanently with the others after a falling out with his father. The team worked well together but there was a small problem in the shape of Eric Myers, also known as the Quantum Ranger. Technically he was the sixth member of their team, however, he was an extreme difficult person to get along with. Their relationship was slowly warming up but Eric still preferred to work solo.
Living in such close quarters, especially in an open plan Clock Tower, created problems but most arguments were usually settled pretty quickly. A running source of entertainment for Lucas, Katie and Trip was the constant flirting between the red and pink rangers. The trio had a bet going for when Wes and Jen would finally kiss each other.
Romance was the furthest thing from Wes' mind when he woke up that morning. His head was pounding, his nose was blocked and his throat felt like his had swallowed a box of razor blades. He got up slowly from his mattress and coughed deeply and loudly. He climbed down the ladder and into the main living area, heading towards the kitchen. The red ranger smiled weakly at Trip and Katie who were studying some footage from a previous fight.
He rooted through the cupboards and found a jar of honey, left over from the first, and last time, that Jen attempted to cook. He smiled briefly at the memory before pouring some into a mug. He began to boil the kettle and turned his attention back to the cupboard, "Guys do have any aspirin?" he croaked out.
"There should be some in the drawer", Katie replied, "everything alright Wes?"
"Yeah I think I've caught a cold from somewhere", Wes said and popped open the aspirin, "I'll be fine after a few of these".
The yellow and green rangers looked at each other in confusion, "How do you catch cold?" Trip asked.
Wes looked at the pair, "Not cold as in temperature. I have a cold, it means I'm sick with a virus", Katie and Trip still looked confused, "you future people are weird", he shook his head and laughed weakly. Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Lucas and Jen in the Tower. They were both dressed in workout gear, "Hey you two have heard of the common cold right?" Wes asked them.
"Is that the excuse you're using for avoiding training this morning", Jen raised an eyebrow and brushed past him to get a drink.
"I'm genuinely sick", to empathise his point, Wes broke out into a coughing fit.
"I assumed that this cold you have causes you to overact dramatically", Lucas laughed.
"Have none of you ever heard of a cold?" the rangers from the future shook their heads, "does no one get sick in the future or something".
Jen shrugged, "Not really, hygiene has greatly improved in the last millennium. The majority of buildings in major cities are protected against bacteria".
"Sounds like a blast", Wes began, "med school must boring in the thirty first century".
"We still need doctors but just not for illnesses", Trip answered in a cheerful manner.
Lucas glared towards the green ranger, "He was joking Trip", the Xybrian blushed and glanced towards the ground.
"Well clearly Wes is in no fit shape to have pancakes this morning", Jen smirked and tapped the red ranger on the cheek, "maybe he should go straight back to bed". Wes was about to open his mouth but Jen stopped him, "And no I'm not tucking you in".
"He'd really enjoy that", Lucas snorted under his breath. Katie and Trip sniggered but a sharp look from the pink ranger soon silenced them.
"Thanks for the concern, even if it wasn't that heartfelt", Wes glanced in Jen's direction, "but I just need some painkillers and some water and I'll be good to go".
"That's great to hear Wes", a blue robotic owl flew into the room and buzzed around their heads, "because I've detected some Cyclobot activity downtown".
"Thanks Circuit", Jen said, "come on sicky", she added with a smiled towards Wes.
"Hey Wes", Circuit called out, "be careful around them". The red ranger frowned at Circuit's words but nodded in acknowledgement. He hurried down the stairs of the Clock Tower as fast as he could to catch up with the others.
Silver Hills Industrial District
The rangers tracked the Cyclobots down to metal treatment plant in the industrial district. The robots had scared away most of the workers and were busy stealing scraps of metal out of the plant. When the rangers arrived on their Vector Cycles they could see one of Ransik's minions, the robot Frax, hustling the Cyclobots away with their haul, "Hey stop right there", Jen called out. The robots turned in the direction of the pink ranger and immediately dropped what they were carrying and began to run away.
"What would they want with all this metal?" Wes asked the team as he dodged the blade of a Cyclobot.
"No idea", Katie replied, "who knows what goes on inside that robotic lunatics head". On catching sight of the rangers, the robot in question immediately began to flee.
Lucas and Trip began to give chase but Jen stopped them, "No, let him go", she said, "who knows what damage the Cyclobots could cause if we let them run riot here". Jen set to work by kicking the closest robot to her in the stomach. A strong blow the back of the head sent it tumbling to the ground, it's circuits completely scrambled. "Chrono Blaster", the pink ranger called out and a weapon appeared in her hand. Firing on the run, Jen quickly eliminated several more robotic menaces in quick succession.
After following their team leader's orders, the blue and green rangers turned back towards the main battle. Lucas grabbed an iron bar that one of the Cyclobots had dropped and swung it towards the nearest assailant. The blow took the head clean off the Cyclobot and it rolled cross the ground. The head stopped at the feet of Trip who kicked it into the chest of the robot nearest to him. It smashed through the Cyclobot's chest compartment and it crumpled to the ground, "Nicely done", the blue ranger tapped his team mate on the shoulder.
The red and yellow rangers were nearby the loading area to the plant. Surrounding the pair were several wooden crates and a dozen Cyclobots. Wes' illness was making him feel a little sluggish but the energy burst he got after morphing was compensating for this, "How you doing over there Wes?" Katie called out.
The red ranger had his Chrono Sabers in hand and sliced one of the robots clean in half, "Surviving", he replied before burying one of his blades in the chest of another Cyclobot.
Katie blasted a robot into pieces with her weapon, showering the area with small metal fragments, "Don't go slacking on me will you", she cheekily replied. She was caught off guard when a robot smashed her around the head with its weapon. The yellow ranger groaned in pain and stumbled away, "That wasn't called for", she quickly turned around and blasted a hole in its chest with her Chrono Blaster.
The yellow ranger staggered around for a moment, shaking her head a couple of times, "Katie, talk to me", Wes shouted in her direction.
"Must've been a strong blow", she replied, "my head's spinning". She crouched forward slightly and coughed a couple of times.
Seeing that his team mate was in trouble, Wes quickly charged up his Chrono Sabers, "Time Strike", he called and a wave of energy swiftly dismantled the rest of the Cyclobots. He glanced over in Katie's direction and she had slumped to the floor, "Hey, Katie how you feeling?" he knelt down next to the yellow ranger.
"Like I've been run over by a train", her voice was scratchy, almost like she had gone without water for several days.
"Concussions can do that to you", Wes replied.
Katie gently shook her head, "No, this feels like something else". Her body began to pulse with energy and she demorphed. Her skin was damp with sweat, her eyelids were dropping and she was struggling to focus on Wes.
"Alright let's move you to a safe place", Wes gently lifted Katie to her feet and walked her to a sheltered spot. Wes turned his attention to the others and it was then that he noticed Jen and Lucas kneeling over something on the ground. A sense of dread washed over him when he couldn't find Trip. He slowly walked Katie over to the pair but she was struggling to put one foot in front of another.
"Wes, what happened to Katie?" Jen asked.
The red ranger was about to reply but he noticed that Jen was breathing heavily. She was looking extremely pale and like Katie, she was covered in sweat, "A Cyclobot bashed her over the head", he replied. He looked down and Trip was lying semi conscious on the floor, "Did Trip get hit as well?"
Lucas shook his head, "He just collapsed and demorphed", the blue ranger began, "there was no one near him, I've never seen anything like it".
Wes nodded in acknowledgement and placed Katie on the ground next to Trip. He turned his attention back to Jen and it suddenly dawned on him that all three were suffering with the same symptoms, "You don't look so good Jen", he stated.
"You're a real charmer Wes", she answered with a weak smile. The smiled slowly faded from her face as she began to sway on the spot. Moments later Jen's eyelids closed and she collapsed in a dead faint. Wes moved quickly and was able to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Jen", Wes shook her gently, "Jen", he added more urgently. He felt her forehead and quickly pulled his arm back, "She's burning up", he muttered to himself. "We need to get them back to the Clock Tower", he called out to Lucas but he didn't get an answer. Wes glanced up and noticed that Lucas too was falling victim to this mystery illness. The blue ranger rocked on his heels and slowly dropped into a crouched position before slumping over heavily.
Wes looked around and all four of his team mates were now unconscious. He checked their vital signs and they were all breathing shallowly and had extremely high temperature. He needed some assistance for them and quickly, "Circuit, I need some help", he said into his morpher.
"What's up Wes", came the reply from the robotic owl.
"The others have been struck down by some mystery illness, I need to get them back to the Clock Tower quickly".
"It's already happened", Circuit chirped sadly.
"Circuit can you focus for a moment", Wes snapped.
"Sorry Wes", Circuit began, "I'll need a few moments to initiate the teleportation function".
"We can teleport?" Wes asked, "then why do we need the bikes?"
"It's still largely untested, Time Force are still working on the technology", Circuit replied.
"Uh, I guess Star Trek isn't a good indicator of the future after all", Wes tried to joke but his heart wasn't in it. The majority of his team had been rendered unconscious by some kind of virus and he had no idea when they had been infected. He knelt down next to Jen and brushed some of her damp hair away from her face, "Please be alright", he muttered. He felt his body begin to tingle before he and the rest of the rangers were teleported away.
A/N – Part three of the Project Hexagon sees us arrive in the Time Force era, my personal favourite PR series so I hope I can do it justice. I certainly don't believe in getting everyone warmed up because we're straight into the action. This takes placed during the "Mark of Venomark" episode and incorporates elements of the following few episodes as well.
