Chapter 7 - Idol Thoughts
Brad Kelly leaned forward in his director's chair, watching intently as Dax prepared for the big dramatic moment. The actor narrowed his eyes, trying to dredge up the emotion needed to deliver the crucial lines. "I'm not going to fight. The Droobiaks may be attacking, but this is MY prom man!"
"Cut!" Brad yelled into his megaphone. He lowered his face into his palm and sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you? You need to emphasize the right words."
"Sorry," Dax said, looking sheepish. They had just cut short the thirty-fourth take in a row.
"Don't be sorry, just...let's just do it again." Brad gave Dax some time to get his mind back into the scene, before ordering the crew to resume filming.
"I'm not going to fight. The Droobiaks may be attacking, but THIS IS my prom MAN!"
Brad cringed from Dax's up-and-down delivery. "Cut!" he screamed again. He could hear the other actors and crew members groaning and cursing around him. "Jeez Dax, can you just say the line so it sounds natural?"
"I'm sorry!" The pressure was beginning to show in Dax's tense voice and facial expressions. He lowered his head and slowly ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. After several long seconds, Dax looked back up and got defensive. "Why are all over me like this? I thought actors were supposed to interpret the script."
Brad stared at him in disbelief. Interpret? Is that what we're calling it these days? The pressure was beginning to get to him as well. Although principal photography was supposed to be completed this week, they still had about nine days' worth of scenes to shoot. The cast and crew had been working around the clock in a struggle to beat the deadline. Brad had spent nearly all of yesterday on set - with most of that time devoted to watching Dax mangle his lines. And if that wasn't enough, there were rumors that people had begun to lose faith in his skills as a writer and director. Bunch of know-nothings, Brad thought. He had come to this franchise with so many big ideas. He sure wasn't going to let anybody tell him that he had to stick to the same old Masked Rider formula. As a veteran of the television industry, he knew what worked and what didn't. This movie could be great, if people would just allow him to follow his vision...
"Alright," Brad said. "Why don't we just take a little break here, okay? Let's pick this up in five minutes." That suggestion was for his own benefit as much as it was for Dax's. The cast and crew began to disperse, with some of them muttering about the delay and making no effort to hide their displeasure. Brad just sat there, hunched over in his chair.
"Mr. Kelly!" His assistant Susie came running to his side.
"What?" he curtly replied. What are you bothering me about this time?
"The second unit's almost ready to shoot the fight scene," she said. "Do you wanna take a look at their plans before they start?"
"No," Brad said without even looking up at her. "I'm sure they know what they're doing."
"That's what you said the last two times, Mr. Kelly."
Brad kept staring at the ground. Susie was an enthusiastic young woman, but he didn't need her advice. Not most of the time, and certainly not now. He didn't need to hear about these trifling little distractions.
"I just think you should take a look. Our last shipment of explosives was so big the FBI even called about it."
Brad finally turned his head to look her in the eye. "Hey Susie, can you get me a beer?"
Susie gave him a disapproving look. "I don't think you should be drinking on set...sir."
"Please."
"Alright Mr. Kelly. Whatever you say."
Brad leaned back in his chair as Susie left him. Of all the things to bother him about, he couldn't get why she would bring up the explosions. Kids these days love explosions, he thought. They think they're neat and groovy and all that. He knew that his keen understanding of current tastes and trends was just one of the reasons why he was in charge. As he looked around the set, Brad wearily contemplated his importance to the entire production. All these people depend on me. I need to do what I do because no one else can.
He saw Dax returning to the area. Noticing that Dax was looking directly at him, Brad reciprocated the eye contact and gave his young actor a reassuring nod before calling for everyone to get back to work. "And...action."
"I'm not going to fight. The Droobiaks may be attacking, but I have a LIFE of my OWN you know!"
"Cut! What are you doing Dax? What was that?"
"I think this line sounds better than the one we have in the script."
"I don't CARE what you think!" Brad yelled as his temper suddenly flared. He had tried to accommodate Dax's limited acting skills before, on top of everything else that he had to put up with. But every man had his breaking point, and he had just been stretched past his own.
Dax looked down and loudly exhaled in frustration before shooting back. "You know, Johnny Depp doesn't have to put up with this. Neither does Christian Bale."
"Dax, you are no Christian Bale."
Dax raised both of his hands to his mouth and gasped in utter shock. There was no hiding the deeply wounded expression on his face. Dax stood still for several long moments, completely stunned by Brad's words. Finally, his eyes narrowed as his anger came back and he regained control of himself. "You and me, we are done professionally." With that, Dax stormed off shouting curses all the way back to his trailer.
Brad threw his megaphone to the ground and cursed as well. Now things were really bad. He didn't understand how the situation had deteriorated so much, under his experienced guidance. Just thinking about that brought the headaches back. He needed some relief, fast. "Susie? Where are you Susie?" The girl was nowhere to be found.
"SUSIE WHERE'S MY BEER?"
Dax sat at his desk with his head resting on his arms. The trailer's lights were off, and closing the blinds was the first thing that he had done after slamming the door. Dax didn't want anyone to see him like this. He didn't even want to look at himself, keeping his head turned away from the mirror in front of him. Dax knew how uselessly mopey he looked. He didn't like it, but at the same time he felt comfortable wallowing in this mood.
"It's just not fair," he said to himself. Everyone's always on my case. No one lets me be who I am. Dax was serious about being a good actor, but Brad was always trying to micromanage him. It was killing the art. He grew even more depressed just thinking about that.
The trailer was suddenly rocked by a series of explosions from outside. Dax heard the terrified cries, as well as a man shouting for everyone to run for their lives. They're really filming the rest of the movie without me, he thought as he buried his face in his arms. Subsequent explosions came out exactly as he had imagined they would, each one mocking him with the fact that he was missing it all.
A girl shouted his name as she pounded on the trailer's door. "Come out Dax!"
"Who are you? What do you want with me?"
"It's me, Kira! We gotta go!"
"Leave me alone. I'm still mad at you for throwing away my marbles."
Outside, Kira screamed in frustration.
Eric Myers watched a small hologram of the Yellow Dino Ranger as she gave an update on the situation.
"We've engaged the trolls. Most of them have fled into the woods already."
"What about Dax?" Tommy asked. "Is he alright?"
Kira sighed. "Dax is just fine."
"Good," Tommy said. "Just secure the area and wait for reinforcements. Don't chase the trolls by yourselves."
"Okay Dr. O. Kira out."
The hologram on the middle of the table vanished. Eric looked around the six-sided table to see what the others had to say about the situation. As usual, they sat there quietly waiting for guidance. Cam, T.J., and Wes were all staring up at the big-screen monitor with Tommy's face on it, mounted behind the empty seat that he never actually sat in. Andros's rarely occupied seat was located to the right of Tommy's. A full body hologram showed Andros sitting there, looking similarly attentive.
This was Tommy's inner circle, meeting together in what he dubbed "the Power Chamber." Eric couldn't think of a more fitting name. Inside the walls of this secret bunker, the six of them made decisions that determined the fates of entire worlds. They were the ones who had crafted the interplanetary alliances that safeguarded the Earth. They were the ones who had foiled the occult conspiracy to reopen the gates of the Shadow World, and it was they who had crushed the avatar of the Machine God. The six of them were so powerful and influential that Wes had once remarked that they were a step above the Pentagon. Tommy had not disputed that comment.
"This offensive was well-planned," Tommy said. Eric saw the look of quiet anger on his face. He knew that it wasn't just because Tommy had been attacked, both the day before as well as just a few hours ago. It was deeper than that. Tommy felt guilty because he had failed to detect the scheme and prevent the harm that it was causing to others. It was a feeling that Eric had seen quite often over the last five years.
They had all been taken by surprise. During a seemingly normal afternoon, an alien battleship suddenly appeared in the skies above Reefside. Monsters and robotic soldiers deployed from the ship, joining forces with Tommy's enemy Zeltrax. Future Rangers from Space Patrol Delta appeared as well. Tommy's inner circle knew of SPD, since they had helped to establish its secret operations in New Harbor not long before recruiting Eric and Wes. But despite the knowledge that they would play a part in SPD's future rise, it was still jarring to see the results years before their actual work. More worrying was the impact that SPD's time travel had made on the timeline.
Zeltrax was able to escape from the battlefield with some advanced technology, which he integrated into his own cyborg body. That technology saved his life several months later, from Tommy's own hand. The obsessive villain lied low for a brief period, before returning to plague Tommy's life. Without any powers of his own at that point, Tommy was nearly helpless as Zeltrax stalked his friends. He eventually prevailed, but that final series of battles with Zeltrax had a profound and lasting effect on him.
Tommy swore to redouble his efforts, just like he said had after the Great Invasion of '98. And once again, he fell short. Already on edge over his recent failures, Tommy was devastated when the Corona Aurora crisis began. He and his inner circle had been caught off guard once more. And when Hartford handed the completed crown over to Flurious, the six of them felt as guilty as if they had done that with their own hands. Flurious was defeated that day, but only because he was too weak to harness the full power of the Crown of the Gods. It was a battle won by luck, not by any smart actions on their part. "We were all so weak," Tommy said. "Never again."
The six of them stepped in before the Sentinel Knight could foolishly scatter the jewels and the Crown again. Tommy, T.J., and Cam each took a jewel for themselves, while Eric and Wes were given shared possession of another. Hartford was allowed to hold on to a single jewel, but only because he already had a high tech facility to store it in. Tommy's plan was to keep the jewels separated for security reasons, but close enough to be quickly reassembled if the need arose. He asked Eric and Wes to relocate to California, a request that they happily agreed with since it coincided with the opening of the new Silver Guardians headquarters in Sacramento. The rest of the world, and most of the other Rangers themselves, believed that the jewels had been dispersed to the far reaches of the universe. In reality, the six of them had hoarded far more power than anyone else would have been comfortable with.
Tommy was a man who continuously strove to improve himself. With his indomitable willpower, he had corrected the error of their ways and taken the necessary steps to protect the universe. Leaving his job as a teacher, he threw himself entirely into his work with the Power Chamber. Tommy's rigorous attitude was something that Eric respected as well as envied. He knew in his heart that he needed to become the kind of man that Tommy was. Someone who was the best at what he did, rightfully commanding the respect of others.
Eric snapped out of his contemplation as Tommy spoke again. "Any updates on the others?" Tommy asked.
"Rose is still in London," Eric replied. "She's pretty far from all of this, but we told her to keep her guard up anyway." He wished that he had more to contribute to this meeting.
"Dominic was almost speared while jogging in the woods near the Pai Zhua Academy," Cam said. "Nick's alright, but he reported some troll sightings in the forests of Briarwood. We think they might be gearing up for an attack on both sides of the portal."
Tommy nodded, clearly taking in what Cam had just told him. "Now that he has the Darkheart, Karnac can easily reclaim his throne," Tommy said. "A lot of trolls still haven't accepted our replacement."
"We'll need to move some more forces into the area," T.J. said. "Cam, what about those new Rangers of yours?"
"Oh, you mean the Samurai cult?" Wes asked, smiling.
God Wes, it's no time for jokes, Eric thought. He shook his head and tried to think of a way to come out of this meeting looking better in front of their peers. It was tough when his partner always questioned what the group was doing.
"I'll admit that the children of the Shiba clan are a bit...antisocial," Cam said. "But they're well-trained. Dedicated."
"And too young," Tommy said. "They're still naive and impressionable. Look, we've all got big plans for the Samurai Rangers. But they'll need a couple more years. Perfect soldiers aren't made overnight."
Eric spoke up, sensing an opportunity. "The Silver Guardians can secure the area around Briarwood and Ocean Bluff."
"Good," Tommy said. "Deploy them as soon as you can."
Eric saw Wes glancing over at him. While his partner didn't have a problem with him making decisions, he had been worried that they were overstretching their forces. Eric had deployed the Guardians time and again, whenever Tommy had expressed a need for manpower. It had gotten to the point where there weren't enough personnel to fully man their own headquarters.
But rather than complain about that, Wes chose to speak up about another one of his pet issues. "Speaking of the Pai Zhua, I was wondering if we could talk about letting R.J. in again. I think it'd be good to get some new perspectives around here."
Tommy frowned and shook his head. "No, Wes. It's best to keep things between ourselves. The more people we let in, the less control we have."
Eric remembered that that was the same reason why Carter had been left out. Carter was a great hero and a trusted ally, but he was also a soldier who answered to another set of masters.
"What do you guys think," Tommy said as he looked around the table. His tone made it clear that he wasn't asking a question.
"Tommy's right," Andros said. "We should only let in people we trust."
"I agree," Cam said. "We don't need some surfer dude keeping us from getting things done. I had to put up with that kind of thing all the time on my team."
T.J. sat up straight as he looked up at Tommy. "You know I'm with you all the way man."
Eric felt tensed as everyone turned their attention toward him. He hesitated before turning to look Wes in the eye. Wes had gone over all of his reasons for admitting R.J. before, when the two of them had been alone together. But Eric trusted Tommy's decisions, and he knew better than to contradict his leader anyway. "I think Tommy knows what he's doing," he said. Wes looked down and sighed, disappointed.
"It's settled then," Tommy said. "Let me know when the Guardians arrive in Briarwood."
Eric turned away from Wes, looking up at Tommy again before nodding. "You got it."
"Okay," Tommy said. "I know this was supposed to be a regular meeting, before all this stuff with the trolls came up. You guys have anything to discuss?"
"The Army robotics lab is making lots of progress," Cam said. "But they're having some problems writing their software."
"I think they could benefit from studying Venjix," Tommy said.
Venjix. Eric felt uncomfortable at the very mention of the name. He would never forget the stories about Venjix that Tommy and Andros had told him shortly after his recruitment. Eric had been shocked by the scale and cruelty of the robot's deeds.
Venjix was once the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Legions, a title bestowed upon him by King Mondo after numerous conquests across the universe. He had ravaged hundreds of worlds. The luckiest victims were enslaved or destroyed. Those who were not so fortunate had been subjected to Venjix's twisted cybernetic experiments.
Eric had breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Serpenterra explode with Venjix inside of it. He was dismayed when the robot's remnants were later recovered from the wreckage. Venjix's memory units were still intact, surviving his body's destruction in an utter fluke. If it had been up to him, Eric would have finished the villain off for good. But he was still a young Ranger then, fearful and lacking in vision. Not like Tommy, who had ordered the team to preserve Venjix should he prove useful sometime in the future.
And sure enough, that time had come. Although he was cautious about sharing the decision-making, Tommy was far more generous with technology. Building up allied forces was one of Tommy's favorite strategies, and the reason why the Power Chamber had helped to transform New Harbor into the military-industrial center that it was.
"Anything else?" Tommy asked.
"My forces will be engaging the pirate clans soon," Andros said. "I'm sorry I can't be there with you guys."
"Don't worry Andros," Tommy replied. "You just take care of things on your end." He looked around the table again. "Well I guess that's it for now. Good luck, Rangers. May the Power protect you."
"Your actions here have caused history to be altered. And now these shifts are beginning to affect the future."
-Alex Drake, "Fight Against Fate"
November 18, 2007
I'm writing this because I still can't believe I didn't know about the Corona Aurora. It's like it was in this great big blind spot of mine. I thought I was better than this.
I spent so many years going through all your files, Zordon. Everything you left me. Why didn't I ever see this coming? I must have skipped over it, carelessly. Or maybe I did read something about it, but I just forgot. Yeah, that sounds about right. Because there's no way you could have missed it. You didn't miss anything.
What's wrong with me? I've tried so hard to live up to you. But I just keep FAILING. I'm so sorry, Zordon. But I promise you, I won't give up. I will never give up. I will keep trying and pushing myself until I'm as great as you were.
Don't worry Zordon, I'll never forget you. And I'll make sure that others don't forget you either.
-Tommy
STARDATE: 23.13.12074
MESSAGE FOR: Trey, Prince of Triforia; Admiral Cetan, Aquitian High Command; Delphine, Aquitian Rangers
FROM: Commander Kinwon, KDF
TITLE: [URGENT] Must Coordinate Strategy
Friends,
As you're probably well aware of, Eltar fell to Dark Specter's forces thirty hours ago. I have not heard from our friend Zordon since the invasion, and I fear that we may never see him again. His loss creates a great dilemma for my forces. Since the fall of KO-35, my army has survived largely on the aid shipments provided by Zordon's Eltarian connections. I don't know how much longer we can go on without those supplies. But just disturbing is the gaping void that Zordon's disappearance has created in this loose network of ours.
We all owe a great debt to Zordon, but the current situation forces me to address his secretive nature. He only ever shared a small fraction of his knowledge and resources with my people. I do not know the full range of his assets, or the extent of the intelligence that he may have collected on the enemy's forces. My army was so dependent on Zordon that we are completely lost without him. I am sure that the rest of you have felt the impact of his loss as well. Zordon worked with each of us separately, and I doubt that he ever let any of us see the full picture. We are disorganized and vulnerable now, after he was outmaneuvered by Dark Specter. We didn't see this coming, because he didn't see it coming.
The tide of the war is already against us. I ask that we share whatever we have with each other. Also, if any of you can contact Zordon's Phantom Ranger, please do so. He probably knew Zordon better than any of us. We need to pool our knowledge and form a cohesive strategy. Only by doing so do we stand a chance.
Commander Kinwon
Karovan Defense Forces
Space Patrol Delta
Mission Report
Date: 25 July 2027 (sort of)
Sky, I mean Commander Tate, unless you still want to be called Sky,
The mission was a success. I took Gurtan down after chasing him through a hidden time hole that took us back to 2007. I actually carded him two weeks ago, but my ship was badly damaged. First I couldn't come back because I needed to fix my ship, then I fixed my ship, but some Rangers in 2007 needed my help, so I still couldn't come back.
So this shiny knight guy recruited me and a bunch of other Rangers to help another team of Rangers who lost their powers. We fought some bad guys including this really ugly one named Thrax. We totally kicked their butts, and after that we all hung out with each other.
Everyone was so nice, especially the Black Ranger Will. He seemed really interested about where I came from, and we talked a lot. Will told me that he's an artifact recovery specialist, which I thought was really cool. I told him that he was just like that guy who recently found the Golden Gala Diamond after it was stolen 18 years ago. Or will be stolen 2 years from now, except that it was found before I got here which means that it was already stolen, except that the year that I'm in is 2007 and the diamond was stolen in 2009, which means it wasn't stolen yet...
Anyway, things look fine around here so I think it's time that I finally come back. I know you and B-Squad probably miss me. I've already programmed the autopilot to take me back through the time hole. Writing this report will be the last thing I do in 2007, before I erase my memories of everything I did here. Like Doggie used to tell us, time travel is dangerous and we need to be careful not to change anything.
Bridge Carson
B-Squad, Team Leader
P.S. Remind me to wipe your memories too!
National Security Meeting [TOP SECRET] 9/02/2009, 10:06
From: Joseph McKnight, SECDEF
To: Barack Obama, POTUS
CC:
Attachments: SecurityMeeting-1Sept
Mr. President,
As you requested, representatives from the following military branches and Department of Defense agencies met with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Bureau of Extraterrestrial Affairs (BETA) to develop solutions to our current national security issues:
United States Army (USA)
United States Navy (USN)
United States Air Force (USAF)
United States Marine Corps (USMC)
National Security Agency (NSA)
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
Lightspeed Rescue (LR)
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
The meeting was very productive. Everyone agreed that the national security environment has deteriorated over the last few weeks, and that the government needs to make a unified response. To ensure our nation's continual safety, the agencies have decided to work more closely in developing our technologies and human resources. The plan calls for the creation of a new interagency organization, to be called the Joint System for the Optimization of Unique Personnel (J-SOUP).
The meeting minutes are included in the attached file. I will provide you with an in-depth briefing of the details when I return. I warn you that some aspects of our plan may seem controversial. But we must be pragmatic in preparing for any contingency.
Joseph McKnight
Secretary of Defense
