Disclaimer: I own not the Power Rangers.
A/N: Taylor's story is begun. This is in part because I just can't see Taylor go: "Superhero? Me? Ok!" I'm sure she argued far worse than I've written. About Lightspeed. I needed a reason for Taylor to miss almost two years of duty in the Air Force. When she became a Ranger, that is, took the morpher from Shayla, Lightspeed knew. I don't know how. Since Taylor's Air Force, she was formally reassigned to Lightspeed, thus keeping her service record spotless, but ordered to stay in Turtle Cove, where she's needed.
The plane was flying smoothly, much to Taylor's disappointment. She liked it when the plane jumped, it made it more exciting. She leaned against the window and stared outside, thinking of the story of Animaria and the Princess. Suddenly, through a break in the clouds, she saw something, land. She turned, "Mommy is the plane landing yet?"
"Not just yet," her mother said.
"Then what's," Taylor turned back to the window, but the land was gone. "I thought I saw the ground."
"Maybe you saw the Animarium," her mother offered with an indulgent smile.
"Really?" Taylor asked, turning to stare out the window again.
"It's Tanya Sloan with KWIND, good morning Southern California. The temperature is 72 degrees and rising, it looks like it's going to be another bright and sunny day."
Taylor jerked awake and groaned as her hand connected with the alarm. Six am was too early, and it made her wonder why she was in the Air Force. Then she rolled out of bed and smiled, because she was flying today. She wrapped her old and ratty bathrobe around her as she stuck her feet in her slippers and headed for the coffee. Tabby, her calico, was waiting on the counter, and took her arrival as a signal to demand breakfast. "Hush," Taylor told her, grabbing a mug and filling it from her automatic coffeemaker. "I'll feed you in a minute." She picked up the bear salt shaker and poured the contents into her coffee. It was a mix of powdered creamer and sugar, and it was easier to fill the novelty shakers her mother kept giving her with them than measuring out each time she had a cup. After drinking for a moment, Taylor felt awake enough to open a can of cat food and put it on the floor. Tabby jumped down and began to eat. Taylor grabbed a toaster scramble from the freezer and dropped it in the toaster as she sat at the table, staring out into the predawn world as her brain began to wake up. After eating, Taylor showered, brushed her teeth and dressed in her uniform; it was time for another day chasing clouds.
Today, Taylor was assigned a routine training flight at 0900, so it was still cool when she climbed into her jet. Take off was a breeze and then the moment that Taylor was really looking for; the moment when she was no longer bound to the earth, but instead was free to play amongst the clouds. As she turned south to fly over Turtle Cove, she noticed that the radio's promise of a sunny day was almost accurate. There were clouds, but not so many that Taylor could go to the limits of her jet's capabilities. Her captain led them into the clouds, and Taylor shook her head, this was a good way to get lost.
Suddenly, her radar began to beep a collision warning. "Captain," she began.
"I see it," Captain Morgan replied.
"What is it?" Korrigan asked.
"I wasn't being literal," Morgan said.
"No, but I see it," Taylor said. And she could, it was rising up beside her plane, a bright yellow eagle. "Captain you wouldn't believe this if you were the one seeing this."
"What is it Earhardt?" Morgan asked.
"A giant, yellow eagle," Taylor replied. "Twice as long as my jet, incredible wing span; I can't tell if it's a machine or alive." The eagle screamed, loud enough that Taylor could hear it through her helmet even, then banked away. "It's moving away, sir, I'm following."
"Careful Earhardt," Morgan warned.
"Always," Taylor said. That snort was Haskins, who had served with her on the flight carrier the year before. She banked her plane to follow the eagle, and in minutes, the clouds cleared. "Captain Morgan," Taylor said.
Her radio squawked and then a shrill tone emerged, causing Taylor to yank the cord from the radio with a violent curse. She looked up and yelled as she swerved the plane around the Eagle, which was now heading for her. That reminded her of what she'd seen, and she glanced down. Sure enough, there was an island of land floating below her, in the shape of a turtle. Taylor banked the plane to see more, but the instruments began to beep. Then the alarms began to sound. Taylor considered everything, but then the engine went out. Taylor took a deep breath as the second engine went out, closed her eyes and ejected.
For a long minute, she floated in the air, and then the eagle flew up beneath her and hovered, letting her landing on its back. Taylor stared down in wonder as the eagle spiraled down to land on the floating island, on the edge of a large plain. She walked down the Eagle's back, and slipped the last few feet. Then she ran around to look up at it, "Thank you," she called with a wave, shrugging out of her parachute.
"Greetings," someone said behind her.
Taylor spun and found a woman in a white dress, with a flower crown, looking at her. "Who are you?" She demanded, hand dropping for the gun she carried in her pocket.
"I am Princess Shayla," the woman said with a smile. "Welcome to the Animarium. Are you one of the new Warriors?"
"I'm sorry," Taylor said, "but I don't know what you're talking about." She slipped her hand in her pocket, but instead of the gun, she found something, it felt like a ball.
"This is the Animarium, the sanctuary of the Wild Zords." Princess Shayla said.
Taylor shook her head, "Look, I don't know what you're talking about; really, the Animarium? That's a fairytale. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to Turtle Cove." She glanced up at the sun to orient herself, and then headed off, heading east of true north. If nothing else, she'd find the highway.
"Wait," Princess Shayla said. Taylor turned, crossing her arms, "Please, I have been in an enchanted sleep for a long time. I have only awakened because the world is in danger. You have come here because you can help me."
"How?" Taylor asked, thinking, besides calling the nice men in the white coats.
"You have an animal crystal," Shayla said, "given his actions to save you; it is possibly the Eagle Zord's."
Taylor stared at Shayla has her hand went into her pocket. The round object was still there and she pulled it out. Crystal was a good word for it, it wasn't glass, and its yellow tint was distinctive. There was little doubt that the figure inside was the Eagle Zord. "This?" She asked.
"Yes," Shayla said. "Wait but a moment." She turned and ran into the forest.
Taylor looked around the clearing, and was hard pressed to keep her mouth closed as a large black creature wandered out of the forest, followed by a red lion. They wandered across the plain to what Taylor could barely make out as a lake. It was incredible. She'd never dreamed of a place like this before. "Here," Shayla said, "what is your name?"
"Oh, I'm Taylor," Taylor said, turning to the Princess.
Shayla held out a mass of yellow cloth to Taylor, "It is an honor to meet you Taylor. These are for you. Your Wild Force jacket and growl phone."
Taylor took the cloth, and spotted a cell phone on top, "Let me guess, this is the growl phone."
"Yes," Shayla said, "it will allow you to become the yellow Wild Force Ranger."
"Yellow," Taylor said, slipping the phone into her flight suite, "my favorite color." She held up the material, which turned out to be a vest, with what had to be the Wild Force logo on it. Along with the words, "Soaring Eagle". She folded the vest up, "This is great, but how does this work. I mean, I do need to get back, I'm sure they're worried about me."
"I will call you," Shayla said, "when I need you."
"Ok," Taylor said, figuring that if the woman was giving her a cell phone, then she'd know how to use it.
"To return to your home, simple walk into the forest and think of where you wish to be. You will come out in the nearest grove of trees," Shayla said, "that is part of the magic of the Animarium. To return, simple walk into a grove and think of here. The Yellow Eagle and I will await your return."
"Yes, Princess," Taylor said, still not sure if she believed the woman.
Taylor walked into the forest as Shayla had told her to and back to a world that had changed in the short time she'd been in the clouds. No sooner had she walked up to the base that people from some group called Lightspeed Rescue showed up to transfer her from the Air Force. She was ordered to stay in Turtle Cove for the time being. Taylor didn't meet anyone from Lightspeed, but it was clear that she was expected to do nothing while assigned to their operation. A letter that arrived two days later explained that she was a power ranger, employed by the military and therefore under the jurisdiction of Lightspeed. Her paychecks and such would come from Lightspeed and when her time as a Ranger was done, she would be returned to the Air Force.
Two days after that, Taylor morphed and took on an Org for the first time. The creature was easy to destroy, but a clear lesson to Taylor's ability to believe. For the next year, Taylor focused on the Animarium, and the battle against the Orgs. She moved to the Animarium, to be there when she was needed.
Then one day, Taylor came back from buying food to find a girl standing in the middle of the plain, flanked by the White Tiger, a Zord that had proven elusive. "Hello," Taylor said, "I'm Taylor."
"I'm Alyssa."