Chapter 6: Assembled

Back in the year 2990, Carter and Taylor had returned from their mission, successfully recruiting Ethan James to the cause. Carter patiently sat down at one of the lab's computer stations to go over the limited information he collected on General Axis.

Taylor on the other hand paced around the room with arms crossed while glancing back at the time portal every few seconds. But still it stood, inactive, as it had been for the last hour.

"Taylor, he won't just appear if you stare long enough," Carter said. "It's like a watched pot."

Taylor shook her head. "One of us should have gone with him. Either of us could have easily convinced Ethan alone."

"I know. But he needed the push. In the few years I've known Jason, I've seen the kind of potential he has. He's sharp, he's passionate, and he wants to make a difference. But he won't grow unless we let him."

"He's also nervy, overly emotional, and child-like. I know you believe in him, but he's still just a novice. They didn't give me a plane and say 'good luck' my first day in the Air Force. You have to earn your wings before you can fly."

"This isn't the Air Force—"

"You think I don't know that? You really think after two years of fighting everything from a giant monster camera to a damn karaoke machine that I don't know the difference? But earning it applies everywhere."

Carter stood up from his console. "Look, I made the decision I thought was best to help Jason. And I stand by it."

Taylor scowled sharply at him. "Help…? Where was our help? Where was this 'Lightspeed Rescue' when Master Org was trying to destroy the world?"

Carter walked up a little closer to her with arms slightly raised. "I have no idea who that is!"

"Bull. Shit… You may come from the past, but no version of you, your little Red Ranger club, or any team was around when we needed it most!" Taylor turned her back to him while her crossed hands gripped tighter to her arms. "...Cole kept us strong, even when we had nothing but the clothes on our backs… We should have died that day… Even though we won, a lot of innocent people weren't as lucky."

Carter tried to reply, but hesitated, thinking upon the implications. "It can't be… Captain Mitchell would have… Taylor, I had no idea."

Taylor took a deep breath before loosening her arms. "Forget about it. I've just been… frustrated, recently. That battle's in the past, where it should be. Let's focus on winning the present one."

Just then, the time vortex sparked and flickered before activating again. The pair quickly turned around as the white and blue hues radiated across the room.

Professor Knox speedily walked in from another part of the lab. "Looks like our Ranger-in-training has finally returned!"

The trio gathered around the vortex and witnessed Jason exit it along with Kendrix right after.

Carter grinned. "You see, I told you. Nothing to worry about."

Taylor could only stand there and endure the words this time.

Kendrix walked up to Carter and shook his hand. "Carter Grayson, it's been awhile."

"Always a pleasure, Kendrix. Sorry to have to rush the reunion, but we need to get to the Operations Bay next door. Ethan James is already there working on something to help us out."

"Nice!" Jason replied. "Not that there was any doubt your mission wouldn't be a success."

"Alright everyone, proper introductions to come. But first, let's all head to the next room."

The team started walking towards the Operations Bay, a base built specifically for emergencies wherein the Ranger Academy stations could not be accessed. The next door over had the familiar hexagonal pattern hovering over the entrance.

Kendrix walked inside, looking excited by the futuristic displays, screens, holograms, and gadgets, but not overwhelmed by it.

Jason started to walk in right after her, but Taylor held him up. He stood at attention and tightened up his body, bracing himself for the worst.

"Not bad, kid."

Jason sighed in relief as he relaxed his muscles. "Heh, I'm really gonna have to earn that first name, huh?"

"If that's too much to ask, I can always start calling you 'toddler'."

"No no, 'kid' is fine. And thanks, Taylor."

Jason and Taylor then filed into the Operations Bay, a simple layer with a hexagonal table gracing the center and the Chronic Storm logo etched into it. But unlike the table held up in the Queen's chambers, this one was divided into the five colors of the Chronic Storm team. The design came from the original thought of having six Rangers in total. But the Queen and her scientists had the weakened Morphing Grid to consider and decided to scrap the Sixth Ranger initiative while keeping the hexagonal design.

Ethan could be seen in the back of the room sorting through some data from a 3D computer screen. He looked especially animated and wide-eyed with every response from the touch-based system.

Taylor shook her head. "He still hasn't wiped that look off his face."

"That's why he's here," replied Carter.

Ethan noticed the others and walked towards them. "Wow, allow me to say once again, I can't believe all the amazing tech you guys have here! I shouldn't be surprised, this being the future and all, but still, this is comic book level amazing!"

"Whoa, Ethan James." Jason shook his hand. "It's an honor to meet you."

"Likewise, teammate. And with any luck, this tracking algorithm I've been working on should help us weed out this General Axis guy."

"You work quick," Jason said. "And with tech that's completely foreign to you. Amazing."

Ethan grinned with a subtle shrug of his shoulders. "One of several benefits to being a proud geek, my friend. And, I figured out where the video games are in this time!"

"Quantum Racers 3," Jason smirked. "If you feel like losing."

"Ohoho, so racing's your thing? Alright, I'm game. Let me teach you a thing or two later."

Taylor walked up to the two with a heated gaze. "No. Video. Games. We are working here."

Ethan threw his hands up and mumbled, "Chill out, grandma…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Taylor shook her head. "Two Max's on one team. Just what I needed…"

"Alright everyone, take your seats," stated Carter.

The team took their seats around the table in accordance with the color they associated with while Knox sat in the grayed out section of the hexagon.

"Guys, welcome to Chronic Storm," Carter began, "a team made of some of history's Ranger legends in order to help save this time. I know it wasn't easy for you guys to drop everything to come here, but let me tell you how grateful I am that you did. Our mission: save Queen Diane from General Axis and put a stop to whatever he has planned. With Ethan's algorithm in effect, we should have a pretty good idea of where he is soon. Any questions?"

Kendrix raised her hand. "How come you recruited us after our Ranger journeys ended?"

"Good question," Carter replied. "The knowledge and the experience you bring now that you've defeated someone like Trakeena is exactly what Chronic Storm needs. You've all proven yourselves in the times you're from, so we knew what you were capable of."

"And yet…" Taylor looked to Jason while Jason tried to evade her glance.

"We would have run out of power if we tried to recruit another Green Ranger. If anything, we should feel lucky that Jason agreed to this. He didn't have to, he wanted to."

Ethan raised his hand. "Just one thing: what's up with the name? I mean, 'Chronic Storm'? We sound like one of those side effects they speed through during an antihistamine commercial."

"Ha!" replied Jason. "They still do that today."

"Get out. Can't you just cure everything in the future?"

"Most things, yeah. But it gets legally complicated with some genetic conditions post-conception and—" Jason could feel Taylor glaring at him without even meeting her eyes. "Uhh, let's just focus now. Explanations later."

"It was actually Queen Diane's idea," Carter explained. "She had a great way of explaining it, but basically, we're supposed to be incurable pains for our enemies. Something like that."

"Ah, I see," replied Ethan with a nod. "That's kind of cool."

Taylor shook her head and raised her hand. "How are we going to get to a different planet when we track Axis down?"

"We could reconfigure the time vortex as a makeshift Stargate," Kendrix suggested. "Not to transport through time, but at least through space, if that's possible."

"That's genius!" replied Jason.

Knox interjected, "Unfortunately, as Carter implied, the time vortex used almost all of its power during our recruiting trips. It won't be ready for another journey, be it time or space, for quite awhile. But I'm loving the ideas!"

Carter pushed a button on the side of the table. A blue hologram displayed over the center, revealing a familiar spaceship.

Jason felt his heart skip a beat. He knew the ship well.

Kendrix also recognized it.

"For now, we can just use my ship," Carter said. "The Astro Megaship Mark IV. Reinvented and redesigned with more flight capabilities and stealth options than its predecessors. And with General Axis, we'll need both."

Carter turned to Taylor. "You've got more flight experience than any of us. I'll be counting on you to help pilot the Astro4."

Taylor nodded.

Then, Knox pulled up an orange holographic projection of Axis' vessel. Some parts of the ship were noticeably missing from the hologram, but the basic outline was clear. "It was just a quick scan from when he invaded us, but I was able to hastily create some blueprints of his ship so you'll know where you're going in there. But I'm afraid its rather incomplete, as you can see."

"Don't worry Professor," Jason replied. "We'll just blow a couple holes right through his ship and charge the bastards. Heh, it would even make your hologram accurate."

A perplexed Ethan looked back at Jason. "Would that even work…?"

Taylor sighed. "Please do not encourage the kid."

Jason pointed at Ethan. "He's younger than me!"

Taylor's eyes daggered back at him. "Within ten minutes of being here, Ethan created that tracking algorithm. What exactly have you done?"

Jason's open mouth was left silenced, but Kendrix quickly defended him, "He recruited me. And, he helped us stop Villamax."

"Villa who?" asked Ethan.

"Guys, focus," Carter said. Everyone settled down. "Hopefully, it won't have to come to a full on attack. We don't have the firepower to compete with Triforian ships, especially not the one Axis' is flying in now. I had a much less aggressive plan of action in mind."

The computer behind Ethan started buzzing and beeping while the screen flashed red. He quickly ran over to it. Something was being pinged on screen within the reaches of the Solar System.

"Good news, Ethan?" asked Carter.

"Great news. If the tracking data is correct, then he would have to be… there!" Ethan pointed at a planet. "He's hiding out around Saturn's rings."

"No telling how long he'll stay put, so let's get moving. I'll explain the rest of the plan aboard the Astro4, but first…" Carter went into a cabinet behind him and opened it up. From inside, he acquired a large silver case decorated with a black colored version of the Chronic Storm logo. He placed it on the table and pressed his fingers against the sides of the case. It clicked open, unveiling a trio of Morphers. "These are your Chronic Storm Morphers. They have a wide array of features, including communication, mapping, weapons, a heads up display for quick analysis, and of course, morphing."

Ethan smiled and rubbed his hands together. "Just like old times. I'm guessing we take our same color?"

"That's correct," Carter replied. "Unless you really wanted to be Pink."

"Hard pass." Ethan took out the Blue Morpher and strapped it on.

Taylor and Kendrix followed suit, each taking their respective color Morphers from out of the case. Then, the cabinets in the back opened up automatically to reveal new uniforms; black as the primary color with each respective Ranger color lining most of the edges and creases. Even the unmorphed uniforms took some design inspiration from Operation Overdrive. Queen Diane, who seemed uniquely intrigued by the Overdrive aesthetic, pushed hard for these similarities.

"And these are what we'll be wearing," Carter said. "Light but durable material. Suit up and meet me in hangar bay 2." Carter nodded and walked out of the room.

Ethan looked around at the others while slowly raising his hand. "One of us knows how to get to hanger bay 2, right…?"

Jason chuckled. "Yep, I've been there a few times. Dude, if you thought all this was cool, wait till you see the inside of the Astro Megaship."

"Okay, where has Chronic Storm been all my life? I have died and gone to heaven!"

"You will," Taylor stated firmly. "If you two keep up that devil-may-care attitude. And it's your mother that we have to save. Shouldn't you be a little more worried?"

Jason grinned. "My mother won't give in to those Triforian creeps that easily. She's the kind of person you don't have to worry too much about." He held up his Morpher. "And besides, we're Power Rangers. We never lose and we're not gonna start now."

Taylor walked up very close to Jason. Her gaze seemed intense enough to burn holes through solid steel. "Listen up, kid. Whatever delusion you might have about being this invincible superhero now, drop it. In both my lines of work, you can train, you can prepare, and you can practice every day, every night, until your hands are calloused and your mind can think five steps ahead of your body and you can still die in seconds. So you'd better not give me any of your careless crap. You wanna be a hero? You wanna save the world? Don't talk about it. Work for it. And you might just make it through. No archive footage or comic book will tell you that."

Jason stood silently as his gaze dropped to the floor. What could he say to the face of a real Ranger; one of the Rangers he idolized the most? Minutes after seemingly winning her over, he felt even further behind now, struggling with weighted breath just to make it back to square one, let alone advance from it.

Ethan cautiously raised his pointer finger. "Actually, there was that one issue of—"

Taylor glared at him.

"So, hangar bay 2? This way, right?" Ethan made his way out of the room with uniform in hand.

Kendrix got in between Jason and Taylor. "Taylor, I think he gets it."

Taylor grabbed her uniform and walked out of the room. "He'd better."

Jason could finally breathe again. "Geez… She really doesn't hold back."

"You'll do fine," Kendrix replied with a reassuring smile. "I see a lot of Kai in Taylor. They'll both push you hard and demand a lot, but they mean well."

"Yeah… She's right though. I may technically be a Ranger, but I'm the furthest thing from a real hero. I need some real training, or I'll just be dead weight out there."

"That's what you have a team for. Kai and I used to spar all the time in between shifts. Hehe, he didn't win a lot, but we both needed the practice. Especially since our day jobs on Terra Venture didn't include a ton of combat."

Jason nodded knowingly, thinking back to the exact bits of archive footage showing all of the Galaxy Rangers training at one time or another. But a nervous thought entered his mind, compelling him to think carefully about his next words. "Sooo… you and Kai. You must have gotten pretty close then."

"Yeah, he's always been a great friend to me."

Jason turned away ever so slightly to breath out in relief. "That's great… I mean, y'know, friends and all that. Just great to have."

Kendrix giggled. "Shall we?"

Jason grabbed his new black and green uniform and suited up. "Let's go save the universe."

Jason and Kendrix made their way to hangar bay 2 where Ethan, Taylor, and Carter awaited them. The pair fell in line next to Ethan and Taylor. In front of them laid the Astro Megaship Mark IV, also known as the Astro4. A circular, saucer-like ship with a rounded rectangular prism jutting out of the front. It was mostly clad in black, grey, and navy blue, with red colored communication antennas attached to its backside. The 2-year-old ship had been built primarily to execute stealth missions but possessed just enough ammunition to handle itself in a dogfight, should the need arise. However, it didn't possess any Megazord capabilities, as former versions did. Diane adamantly argued against them, disapproving of their time consuming transformation sequences.

As the team prepared to enter the ship and leave for Saturn, Carter addressed everyone one final time, "Team, this is it. There's no turning back now. Let's save the Queen and stop General Axis."

An entrance panel lowered from the bottom middle of the vessel and everyone boarded.

Ethan looked around at all the advanced displays, monitors, computers, and systems with his mouth wide open, practically drooling. He wanted to touch something, everything, but held himself back.

Taylor stayed focused on using the databases loaded onto her Morpher to study up on the functions of the Astro4. The grimace on her face only grew more sour as she tried to wrap her head around terminology and control systems foreign to her.

Kendrix walked inside calmly, being used to the general layout, as the Galaxy Rangers flew around in the original Astro Megaship.

And Jason found himself just as enamored as Ethan. But every time his senses wandered, he forced himself back into reality. He knew he couldn't be just a fan anymore.