The portal brought us out into a wooded area that was by the nearby beach. This was a place I sought refuge in sometimes to think, but it was isolated enough that no one would ever come here. I took a deep breath as the portal closed behind me, and my mind slowed down from racing with basic reactions to trying to wrap a logical mindset around the problem at hand. Fight or flight cooled down, and find myself confused for a few moments. In a matter of less than five minutes my entire world had just changed, and I hadn't even seen it coming. Then again, the same thing had happened when Evan was struck by lightning, the only difference was it wasn't as apparent then as it was now.
I turned my gaze to Lexa, who had taken a quick glance around at the trees, and then back to me. Surely this was not her first trip to another world, which was apparent, but there was still a glimmer in her eyes that displayed her lack of experience, but then again, I only had memories of Mobius, I had never actually seen it. Our gazes met, and for a moment I was unsure of how to proceed.
"Thank you," I told her. "I'm aware of what you gave up to save my life." She nodded at me slowly, as the reality of her present situation sank into her fully. "Maybe you can fill in some of the grey areas for me; like how you got here, how many ships there are, that kind of thing."
"There is only one," she replied in thought speak. "It is a standard exploration vessel. Six Personnel, the rest is all automated."
"So there are only six Mobiums on board?" I asked.
"Five now," she replied softly.
"Right," I said. "Um, well, don't most of the ships in the fleet carry droids too?"
"Yes," she replied. "The ship has a compliment of three thousand standard defense droids, as well as deployment ships to match the full compliment. The main star bay holds ten defensive craft for immediate defense purposes, but the crafts possess atmospheric packages which allow them operation in atmospheres as well."
The news was not what I wanted to hear, but better than what could be expected. "Three thousand soldiers, five commanders, and ten fighter craft…Well, I have my work cut out for me then I guess. How much do you know about the planet, and about me?"
"The regional authorities of this area have cooperated with us to the fullest extent of their abilities," she replied in thought speak. "I did not know the specifics on your person until our paths crossed moments ago, merely that the main law body provided with a good deal of data that was only viewable by the Commander."
"So they have everything Blake has on me since they contacted me," I said aloud. "That's great. Try to do someone a favor, and this is what you get."
"Commander Polaris then compensated them with what they would perceive as advanced technology," she continued. "However, he merely just provided them with an antiquated star drive, good for only intrasteller travel within this system, nothing that could provide us with a problem later. He also assured them that he would take no action to invade the planet, as long as you were delivered promptly."
"Well that sounds like a good deal," I said, switching to thought speak. "I wouldn't be one to turn it down if it was my country on the line. One person for an entire planet."
"Upon returning to the ship though," she continued, "he then sent a signal back to the fleet to request additional ships on scene, including several larger capital ships."
"Why would he do that?" I asked her. "If he was only after me he would have enough power to do that already. Unless he planned to go back on his deal and invade anyway."
"Trius and I were dispatched to apprehend you," she concluded. "That is all I know at this point."
"Okay," I said aloud slowly. "We have a ship in orbit with overwhelming numbers sent here to retrieve me, and more reinforcements on the way. On top of that, the country I am in is also committed to delivering me to them. I need to call Sean." I took out my cell phone, and quickly punched the speed dial to his name, and hit send. Several rings later he finally picked up.
"Hello?" said his voice on the other end.
"It's me," I told him. "Are you at home?"
"Yeah," he replied slowly. "What's going on?"
"I'm opening a portal to your location," I told him. "I need you to go through it, and meet me immediately."
"This is kind of a bad time," he replied. "I was about to take one my kids to soccer practice."
"Sean," I said. "This is a bad time in ways you cannot even begin to imagine right now. It is imperative that you do this."
There was a pause on the other end for several moments, and then finally he responded. "Alright." I closed my phone, and ended the call, then spooled up my mental energies and summoned a portal to Sean's house. The portal flashed and whirled for several moments before Sean finally stepped through it, and into the forested clearing. Lexa regarded him coolly for a moment, and then looked at me. Mentally, she read as uncomfortable, but that couldn't be helped at the moment.
"Who is this?" she thought aloud, shifting her sense which came across as pre-eminently defensive.
"Please speak aloud," I said aloud to her so Sean could hear. "Verbal communication is the main means of communication here."
"On this planet?" asked Sean with a good deal of confusion in his voice. "What's going on?"
"Sean," I said, beginning introductions. "This is Lexa. She is, well I guess at this point you could say was, in the Mobium Star Force."
"Are you telling me she is another Mobium?" he asked. I quickly explained to him what had just happened as well as what Lexa had just told me about the forces that now faced me in opposition. Sean took it all in stride, and slowly went over it all in his own head.
"So," I stated, "basically what it all means is that I now have two armies after me; the law enforcement of the planet Earth, and a robotic army sitting in orbit."
"But why?" asked Sean. "I mean, what reason would the Mobiums have to come after you at all? All this time, your family has been removed from their civilization, why would they finally arrive like this, and try and take you in?"
"The Emperor probably wants to cement the deal," I said. "That way he can insure his continued reign."
"There has been several acts of civil disobedience on some of the outer worlds," said Lexa aloud, the first thing she had said since Sean arrived.
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"Recently, the Empire has been pursuing more aggressive policy when it comes to the stars," she said. "We have been expanding, sometimes at the cost of civilizations that were already present on these planets. Some people feel that the size of the Empire was adequate before, and that this expansion is unnecessary."
"And the Emperor must be afraid that if they find someone like Keith, he could be an icon for the opposition movement," said Sean. "They went you dead before you cause a problem, or at least have the chance too."
"Wonderful," I said. "I'm going to be killed for minding my own business."
"Mobiums, do not kill other Mobiums," said Lexa. "Placed in custody perhaps, but you would not be harmed."
"Are you sure of that?" I asked her.
"Yes, of course," she said. "It is one of our core laws."
"Things change," I told her.
"Not this," she said. "This is one of our most sacred laws. Not even during the civil war were Mobiums killed."
"And you think when the ships guarding Mobius were destroyed, the operators on board did not perish?" I asked her. "Mobiums do not openly kill Mobiums, but it does happen." She remained quiet for several moments. She already knew this, but it was the legacy of socialization process of growing up in Mobium culture that made her defend her culture. The Mobium culture for all its moral upholding had its flaws, just like any other. Murder didn't exist, in any form, but that didn't mean that Mobiums couldn't perish in wars, or other instances by the hands of other Mobiums. Maintaining order always comes with a large price.
"There is one other thing," she said, regaining her composure. "It's about Commander Polaris."
"What about him?" I asked her.
"Commander Polaris was a disciple of Harabec Storm, the Supreme Commander of the Fleet," she told us. "Polaris is the next step in the chain of command, which means not only is he a skilled leader, but a talented warrior too."
"Oh, shit," I said.
"What?" asked Sean.
"Harabec Storm was one of the initial members of the prototype armor program," I explained. "He was roughly the equivalent of a Colonel in the Star Force when my family was exiled, but before he betrayed my family, he was the leader of the Royal Guard who was outfitted with the armor. The same armor I use in Guardian Mode."
"So what you're saying is…." Sean started.
"…Is that Harabec Storm was the first 'Power Ranger' by our definition of the term," I concluded. "And the being who is trying to 'apprehend' me is his protégé."
"Huh," said Sean, taking a moment to fully realize the situation. "We're screwed."
"Yup," I responded, smiling. "In a way, we have never been before."
"What do you want to do?" asked Sean seriously.
I sighed, and took several steps towards the forest clearing, forcing my hands into the pockets of khakis. It was a warm day, and the sky held a good deal of clouds, with sun peeking out every now and then. Didn't this thing usually happen with dark clouds, and no light, or at night perhaps? We were discussing a situation that was most certainly going to result in my death, and I was bathing in a ray of sun at the moment. I chuckled softly to myself, and then turned back to face the others. "We're going to have to do what we always do. I don't think I can give up without a fight."
"You are vast outnumbered," said Lexa. "And reinforcements are on the way. There is no telling how soon they will be here."
"We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it," I told her. "At the moment, we have to deal with the conflict at hand, and that's the ship sitting in orbit."
"Hang on just a moment," said Sean. "I can't just dive back into this. I have a family I have to take care of, and if we are facing invasion then I need to look to them first, before I can even begin to consider helping you."
"Sean, they have my file," I told him. "This means that they know who you, and your family are, and if they can't get me, they're going to go after the people I care about first, and you're going to head the list."
"Don't you think I know that?" he asked. "Which is why I have to start now."
"Sean listen to me," I told him. "Get your family together, and all the equipment you have from before, and we'll all relocate somewhere."
"What are you going to do create a command center in the middle of nowhere?" he asked.
"If I have to," I told him. "But now, let's tend to your family." Our conversation was interrupted as over head there was a loud crash as two craft raced overhead.
"What was that?" asked Sean.
"Personnel Transports," announced Lexa. "They most likely tapped into your communication device."
"Great," I said over the building sound of a hovering craft. The brush around me kicked up as the wash from a craft above centered over us. "Sean, get moving, Lexa go with him. I'm charging you with his protection."
She looked at me skeptically for several moments, almost if she was unsure whether or not to follow me command. I opened a portal to where Sean had come from, and at the same instant a large door above me opened in the craft. Instantly objects were discharged from the craft like bullets from a gun, and they fell about us in a circle, as another object slowly descended from the craft.
Track Insert – Pat Benatar "Invincible"
"Go now," I shouted at Sean. Wasting no time he stepped into the portal, and Lexa followed behind him reluctantly. I turned to see that the objects that had fallen were actually Mobium Battle Droids, robots that looked like a cross between the robots from the Terminator movies, and the regular solider droids from recent Star Wars movies. Landing in front of me, the object turned out to be the Mobium I had faced in the store before. He looked different now, clad in grayish battle armor that had a futuristic twist to it. Slowly around me the droids came to life, and I took up defensive position in response.
"You are ordered to stand down now," said Trius, who was beginning to sound like a broken record. You ever get that sinking feeling? This was the moment when everything started closing in around me. "We will open fire." At his side, his Enea appeared again, and the high pitched whine indicated he had charged it up, ready to release a volley at me. His droids were keyed into his mental signature, and he only need to think the order for the droids to comply, so I knew the moment he tried to attack, so would the rest.
"Emergency Power," I said aloud, my Power Lens reacting by charging up, and glowing as the grid began to flow through it. The only problem was that with emergency, I wouldn't be able to activate the Guardian Armor, I would have to rely solely on the regular Ranger Armor for this task. I had no idea how I would stack up against these forces, especially against Trius, but I was about to find out.
Trius sensed the growing energy of my lens, and though I doubted he knew what was happening he was cautious enough to be on guard, and leveled his weapon at me, dropping into a defensive position as he did. The droids matched his move with their arms pointed towards me, an energy weapon mounted on their wrists. The situation was tense, and I knew I only had to go through my usual morphing sequence to set everything off, and have a volley of shots fly in my direction. And if you don't know what I was going to next, you should probably go back and read the last story.
"Ranger Form, ENERGIZE!" I cried, slamming my fingers on to my lens. Instantly volley of energy bolts tore across the clearing towards me. In half morph, I pushed myself off the ground with my mind, flinging myself into the air, leaving the bolts to impact on the ground flinging up a small dust cloud. The morph completed in mid-air, and I pulled my Enea from its holster, charging it up, and setting it to the highest discharge mode. I fired it at the targets below, aiming for droid, and droid commander alike, hoping the bolts would find their marks, as I let the mental energy subside, and I fell back to the ground. Igniting my Psy Saber in my off hand, I charged forward at the nearest droid, slicing up wards, and as my body came around as the blade went through the droid, I leveled my blaster at the next closest droids torso, and fired, putting a hole through it. Leaving the weapons suspended in mid air with my mind, I let my grasp on them go, only to grab them again with the opposite hand from before. Bringing them back across my body, I again leveled them out. Bolts again tore towards me across from the clearing as the droids closed in around me, and I dropped to the ground below as they screeched over my head.
I spun around slashing the legs of two of the closing droids, and sending their torsos to the ground, and standing up forcing a mental shield up around me, which immediately absorbed bolt after bolt of weapons fire. The weapons fire though drained me as each hit impacted on the shield, causing me to reinforce it. I couldn't stay like this for a long time. So I dropped the shield, and charged the closest droid. Leaping into the air I sliced him down the center, and then as I went to spin around and take another horizontally across the torso, a bolt of energy hit me from behind, and I fell forward. The droid I was going to attack, back handed me, and sent me careening into the air, until I landed back into the circle I had created before. Again the droids opened up with weapons fire, and using the strength I had left, I put up another shield, but again it weakened fast. Trius was obviously experienced in combat, and being a Mobium he understood what it took to wear one down, something I wasn't used to with my human opponents. As the shield weakened I began to feel the impact of the bolts on my own skin like they were hitting me, and as the shield grew weaker, the impacts began to produce pain. Finally I cried out in pain, and leapt into the air, the shield gone. The droids reaction time was faster though, and bolts slammed into my chest plate forcing me to fall to the ground, and around me my armor began to loose cohesion until it practically evaporated off of me, rather painfully I might add. Summoning up all last bits of energy I opened a portal beneath me, and fell into it.
I literally fell through the world, and then through the floorboards as the portal opened in the ceiling of Sean's basement which caused me to fall onto his cement floor. I let out a gasp of pain, and instantly hands were on me helping me up. Pain came from every part of me, and a simple lifting of my shirt revealed a great deal of bruises.
"I've never taken a beating like that before, not even from Evan," I told Sean, who had been the one to pick me up. His gear looked like it was ready to assemble, and there was even a packed bag or two. Sean's foster children which were only several years younger than me were gathered around sitting on furniture on the ground floor, and Lexa was floating nearby, her gaze casted out from the subterranean windows of the basement.
"How many did you get before they took you down?" asked Sean.
"Four or five droids at most," I said softly, and then moved over towards the sofa across from his foster kids who were silent. "I need to rest if I'm going to port all this at once."
"Have you figured out where we're going to go?" asked Sean.
"There's an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Wilmington with an old office loft," I told him. "I thought we'd start there."
"Sounds roomy," said Sean sarcastically.
"Where is your wife?" I asked him.
"Gathering up the last of the necessities upstairs," he replied.
I nodded even though his back was turned to me, and looked to his kids, "I'm sorry about this." They merely nodded back, seeming somewhat unemotional in the process. I guess in a way they were used to moving a lot, which sounds bad, but it was true in all reality I guess. I looked up to Lexa and considered her situation for a moment. She was on an alien planet, with alien people, caught up in something because she had made a simple choice about what she was going to do, and that choice separated her from everything she knew. I wondered if she was reconsidering her views on life at that moment. Honestly though, and I didn't know if I could trust her, and part of me considered leaving her behind to fend for herself, just so she couldn't give away the location of where we ended up. But at the same time she did end her career, as well as any chance of going back to her home to save my life, and that concept hadn't been lost on me.
"I'm almost ready," announced Sean.
He was immediately followed by his wife who had a half packed bag coming down the stairs. "Sean, two dark vehicles just pulled up outside."
"You're down now," I said standing up. "Lexa could you put a shield up at the door to the basement while I open a portal."
"Affirmative," she said, walking over to the doorway, and casting a mental field about it.
"No rest for the weary," I said, as I began to spool up my mental energy. Slowly a portal formed, and Sean went through first, followed by the rest of his family. I raised the equipment he had made ready, and slowly mentally carried it through the portal using my telekinesis. Once everything was through, I looked back to Lexa, and for a moment considered leaving her. "Lexa, you're next." Without a word she dropped the mental shield, and proceeded through the portal, as the door above the stairs burst open. I could see the shoes of the approaching persons as I stepped through the portal, and sealed it behind me.
Night fell about us. I had gone back to Sean's house, as well as my apartment when I thought the coast was clear, and borrowed several appliances which we placed in the upstairs loft, which had some basic remodeling done to make into a habitable living space. Below the loft, we stored the equipment, and Sean had spent most of the later afternoon, setting it back up. I had managed to get access to the power grid, so we had everything going, and this far west outside of town, no one would ever really stumble upon us, or the power, unless they were looking for it. As Sean's wife tended to the kids in the loft, and Sean worked on the equipment, I suddenly found myself without a task to complete, and realized that Lexa was no longer present. I walked towards the open door, and found Lexa perched against the wall of the former factory. Her gaze was to the sky, and in the darkness I could barely make her out. She was attractive, especially by Mobium standards. Her face was very attractive by human standards, but some of her Mobium features would cause her to stand out in a crowd. Her eyes or rather her pupils were light orange, and her dark blue hair seemed a little bit lighter now, and she wore it in a ponytail, a style very common among Mobiums, it wasn't just a human thing.
"How are you doing?" I asked her.
"I have had better experiences in my life that I enjoyed more," she replied.
"Me too," I countered.
"If you had informed me when I awoke from my sleep cycle that I would be aiding a member of the Mobium Royal Family by night fall, I would have believed you to be deceitful," she stated. "Yet, here I am."
I slowly leaned up against to the factory wall next to hear, and relaxed. I could feel the aches in all my joints, not to mention all the bruising from both encounters earlier today. "The universe puts us in strange circumstances sometimes."
"Would you be willing to answer an enquiry from me?" she asked me.
"Lexa, please," I told her. "I'm not a prince; you do not need to be so formal with me. Right now I'm just guy on the run for his life right now. We can put formalities aside."
"If you desire," she said.
"What's your question?" I asked her, knowing that that statement might have fallen on deaf ears.
"Your unique ability," she stated, "how did you learn about it? It seems to me that it is not like other abilities I have encountered that would easily be ascertained so quickly."
I laughed, remembering the first time I had portaled, and how much of a shock it had been. My laugh though caused her to flinch, and I could sense she was embarrassed, and I realized that she probably thought she was being to forward. "I uh, I was training once, and I fell towards my back, and I knew it was going to hurt a little, and I was thinking about not wanting to hit the ground, and I fell through, and suddenly I wound up in my dorm room at school, half way across the campus."
"I see," she said nervously.
"So what is your unique ability, as long as we are being candid?" I asked her. She laughed nervously, and then slowly her hair began to change colors, from a light blue to a purplish hue to an orange color that almost matched her eye color. "That is neat."
"Neat?" she asked, unfamiliar with the human slang term.
"Interesting," I corrected myself.
"I am grateful for your opinion," she said.
"Sort of like a mood ring," I stated.
"What is a mood ring?" she asked looking at me curiously.
"Never mind," I said realizing that could take a little explaining. "I am going to go see how Sean is doing."
"Very well," she said, and returned her gaze to the heavens above.
I walked back into the factory. Sean had gotten the florescent bulb above to work, and his area was now lit. One of the monitors was alive, and displaying statistics and everything that was part of the normal grid readout. Sean was punching several commands into his keyboard, and the screen would change displays.
"Are you back up?" I asked him.
"Almost, though it's been a little while since I've done this," he replied.
"I have supreme faith in your abilities," I told him. "You've never let me down before."
"Have you given thought to you're next course of action?" he asked me.
"Trying to," I replied. "I'm still reeling from the beating I took today."
"Yeah," he said. "They got you pretty good. It looks to me like you could use a little help."
"Well who should I go to?" I asked him. "All my former resources are kind of against me now. I'm pretty sure those were Blake's guys at your door today."
"He tried to warn you though," said Sean. "Chances are he's still on your side, he's just trying to do his job. But that's not what I'm talking about."
"What are you talking about then?" I said leaning on the makeshift desk of plywood next to him.
"The same thing I'm always talking about," he said turning to face me. "And now I mean it more then ever."
"Not again Sean," I said pushing off the desk and sighing. Crossing my arms I stood with my back to him.
"Keith, in normal ranger mode you're only using 17 of the grid," he said. "That means the grid can support at least four more rangers, maybe even five if I make some modifications, or fine tune the others."
"If we're going to stop these guys, we're going to need the Guardian Armor, and I need 100 of the grid for that, you know that," I told him.
"You can't take them on, by yourself," he replied. "One against three thousand doesn't work anyway you try and calculate it man."
"And five against three thousand does?" I asked him sarcastically.
"It's a lot better odds then one," he said.
"I'm not putting anyone else in danger," I told him. "And that's final."
"Well if you haven't noticed," he said. "We're all in danger; every last one of us on this planet. Now in case you haven't noticed, Polaris is ordering reinforcements, enough to take this planet, and I don't know about you, but I'm willing to bet a lot of people are going to be willing to fight for that freedom, no matter what the cost. This isn't you're little war with Evan anymore, this much bigger, and this entire world's fate rests on you pulling your thumb out of your ass, and getting your act together."
"Been rehearsing that some?" I asked coolly.
"A little," he admitted quickly.
"It was good," I said complimenting him.
"I got a little time in front of a mirror earlier," he explained.
"Sean, more Rangers mean more potential families who are danger if we go up against Polaris," I told him.
"No more Rangers means he wins," said Sean, "without a doubt. You're good Keith, but you're not good enough alone."
I sighed softly, and turned back around to face him. Reluctantly I began, "It's going to take time to make more Lenses. It wasn't exactly a seven days kind of thing like creation, its more like building a light saber in Star Wars. It takes time."
"Well until you make a move, or they find us, that is all we have," he told me.
"We'll have to be careful who we choose too," I said. "You don't really know someone until they have power in their hands. I'm pretty sure Evan taught us that lesson the hard way." There was a motion to my right, and Lexa stood at the edge of the doorway looking in towards us.
"I can think of one trustworthy candidate already," said Sean.
"Yeah," I replied less than enthusiastically. "I guess so."