Chapter Ten. Taken.
Previously On Poké Rangers Cosmo Force...
Having defeated the Tyranniking space pirates, the rangers and the crew of the Night Hawk continued on towards the Stronghold. While en route, Doctor Katongo consulted with a Canardian technician about something. Leaving the Night Hawk, Falco informed them that they were to guard a weapon known as the Nightfire Cannon and stop it from being stolen. However, as it was unveiled, they promptly found it swiped from under their noses, forcing them into a desperate search for the thief. Eventually Max worked it out, and the five of them confronted the crook, defeating her with the Nightfire Cannon. Eventually, Falco revealed everything to be a simulation, testing whether or not they were ready for the weapon.
"Okay, let's try it one more time," Doctor Katongo said, looking across at the makeshift target range from where he was sat behind a computer. "I just need one more shot with it to accurately complete my calculations and work out what sort of condition the weapon is in."
On the range, the five cadets looked at each other, before Max picked up the Nightfire Cannon again, rolling his eyes.
"You sure I'm best suited to firing this?" he asked. "I mean, if you're wanting to test the recoil and all that, maybe Sandy should..."
"Based on my assessment, you're probably the middle point of physical strength in that group," the Psorian remarked. "Anything you can deal with is something that those slightly below you will be able to cope with, while those above you will be the same."
"I feel mildly insulted at this point," Diana remarked. "Somehow, I'm not sure how. But I imagine that I'm considered one of those two weaker than you. Actually, that's almost certainly it."
"You and Cadet Miele," Doctor Katongo pointed out, much to Nick's chagrin. "But that's just my opinion. I would say that due to her Blackhound heritage, Cadet Yushaa has better than normal physical strength while Cadet Garcia's cybernetic enhancements come into play and give her an obvious advantage there."
"I'd give the Psorian some due," Lily said, smirking. "He obviously knows what he's on about."
Shrugging indifferently, Max quickly made to prepare the weapon, feeling it charge up in his hands.
"Okay, pull!" he called, glancing over to Doctor Katongo. At his order, the Psorian hit a switch, summoning a holographic image of a fully grown Tyrock onto the firing range. Not hesitating, Max brought the weapon to bear and fired at the figure, watching the illusion shatter under the blast. Just like all the previous times he had unleashed the potent blasts from it, he felt the recoil quite heavily.
It was that that he vocalised first as he looked over to the Psorian.
"Is there anything that you can do about the recoil?"
"Sorry, that's not something that can really be managed," Doctor Katongo said, apologetically. "The output of energy is so great that you can't temper the recoil effect without losing some of the punch."
"Knew it'd be something like that," Sandy mused. "Not because of any technical knowledge of the weapon, but just because that's the way mrek pans out."
It seems like the end of time
Poké Rangers Cosmo Force logo appears in the starry sky.
Like something bad is coming.
It fades out to reveal the galaxy, filled with planets.
We're living in an unsafe world
The Stronghold appears. The Council can be seen in the background.
The cracks are coming through.
Max appears in his quarters. Max Redwood. Red Cosmo Ranger. Created by Hotrod198.
Darkness rising and falling
Sandy appears in the computer room. Sandy Garcia. Blue Cosmo Ranger. Created by PikaFlash.
Means the universe is calling.
Lily appears in the combat arena. Lily Yushaa. Black Cosmo Ranger. Created by Cyborg-Lucario.
Poké Rangers: Cosmo Force.
Nick appears in the engine room. Nick Miele. Green Cosmo Ranger. Created by Blazin' Saddles.
Nothing is quite as it seems
Diana appears in the armoury. Diana Camerons. Yellow Cosmo Ranger. Created by PikaGod.
We're losing it all.
The five rangers morph into their ranger forms.
We need a brand new salvation
Sabli Romerenko appears, before being taken over by Oblivion...
Something to save us...
The Night Hawk flies through the galaxy. Falco and the crew appear.
Poké Rangers: Cosmo Force.
Cosmo Fighters are launched. They transform into the Cosmo Megazord.
From the stars and the distant past,
The rangers pose with their weapons, before firing them.
Come to conquer, you'll never last.
Poké Rangers Cosmo Force created by Blue Bongo. All rights reserved.
Cosmo Force!
"What's happening then?" Max asked, looking across the mess hall to where Falco was sat on his own with a cup of hot dark liquid, musing over a series of reports. After the weapon testing session with Doctor Katongo, they'd come up for something to eat. "Anything that we can help out with? Anything at all?"
"There's not a whole lot," Falco replied, not looking up. "The sum total of events worth noticing in the galaxy across the last twelve hours include the robbery of a bank on Tranger where a substantial amount of money was stolen, a grave robbery on Earth where the body of a former officer of G-Force was stolen..."
"That's senseless!" Diana exclaimed. "Desecrating the grave of a law enforcement officer. Honestly, some criminals."
"... An attack on a ship in orbit of Blarg and an assassination on Naki."
"Always cracks me up when I hear about Blarg," Nick commented. "Sounds like a place someone couldn't think of a name for, so they called it that instead."
Giving the green ranger a dirty look, Lily spoke up, directing her request at Falco.
"Let me see that," she said, holding out a hand. "The report on the assassination. I wouldn't mind having a look at it."
"This is classified information, Cadet Yushaa," Falco remarked, before holding it out for her to take. "But not top secret. Something on your mind?"
Not immediately replying, Lily opened up the folder and began to flick through it, a small whistle emerging from her mouth as she dropped it onto the table.
"I recognise this MO," she said, looking back to the Aerobian. "I know who did it."
Looking impressed, Sandy reached over to the folder and took a quick glance over it, her visible eye taking it all in immediately.
"Everyone has a vague idea who did it," the blue ranger remarked. "Proving it's another matter. And I'm impressed you can make that conclusion just by reading a few notes on the hit."
"It's not how many notes are there," Lily pointed out. "It's what is in there. Which would you rather have? A five hundred page book on the movements, actions, crimes and diet of a criminal, or a bit of paper with five words on telling you that he's in that big warehouse."
"If that's the case, it's not very specific," Nick said. "It could be any warehouse. On any planet in any system in... This one universe. Galaxy, whatever you want to call it."
"You're missing the point," Lily replied. "It's probably not the greatest example, but I think it works. Why have a lot of padding when a few to-the-point words will work just as well?"
At that point, Falco got up, a resigned look on his face.
"Cadet Yushaa, a word please," he said, the resignation not masking the hard edge in his voice. "In my office."
"Can I at least finish my orange soda?"
"Now!"
With that, the Aerobian got up and stormed out, just as Chebek and Blister came into the mess hall from another entrance, both in the middle of a discussion while, for some reason, carrying a laser cutter and a welder's mask. No sooner had they sat down, did Lily get up to follow Falco out of the room.
"So, I tell you," Chebek said, speaking louder than he had to. "In piebola, Earth vs. Dinos is one of the biggest rivalries out there. I tell you, when they play each other, it gets really violent. Those piebola hooligans do their best to recreate that epic battle between the two planets from a while ago. Remember, when the Dinosians came back to try and conquer the planet that they had abandoned."
"Apparently they didn't believe in the age old policy of move it and lose it," Blister remarked, sagely. "Then again, they were lead by that guy who was a complete..."
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Well, having taken that much impact to his 'back door' has got to have some effect on his ability to run a planet and coordinate a war."
"I forgot how homophobic you were, Blister," Chebek laughed briefly, before losing his smile. "But, that's not funny. Or right. It's the complete opposite of both."
"Neither is racism, but the Commandant still has it in for Chameleos," Blister pointed out. "But back to piebola rivalry, I personally like it when Zangovia play Sevino. Now that turns out into an actual battle, not just a bunch of drunken humans trying to whale on a bunch of drunken Dinosians. There's that whole bitter enemy thing between the Zangovians and the Vypras. The stadiums fill with rivers of blood when they play each other."
"Ah, guys?" Nick asked, looking over to them. "Hate to break it to you, but those two planets haven't played each other at Piebola for quite a while. For exactly that reason, that the fans kept killing each other, torching the stadium etc. A referee was once hit with a ball of toxic sludge before kick off. Apparently he wasn't wearing neutral enough colours."
"It's a holo classic," Diana remarked. "One minute he's leading the team out, the next minute one of the Vypra's decide that silver is too close to white and throws it at him."
"Where are you going with this, Cadet?" Falco asked, sat behind his desk. "What do you know about the hit that took place on Naki?"
"Just that some of the specs look similar to something that I recall," the black ranger replied. "Shot in a public place with a KAR-790 Sniper Rifle. One straight through the head and two in the body. Nobody saw anything of the shooter. These are trademarks of the White Death Assassination Society."
"We're well aware about that," Falco said, not looking impressed. "We know it was the White Death, but the question is what can we do about it? What can anyone do about it? It's impossible to get undercover cadets in there, nobody's willing to talk about it. Even those members that we do capture would rather bite out their own tongues than talk."
"I know how to get close to them," Lily replied, jerking her head over to Falco's filing cabinet. "You've read my file, haven't you, Sir?"
"Of course," the Aerobian answered, following her gaze over to the cabinet. "That isn't the issue, Cadet Yushaa."
"What is then?"
"It may seem a little unnecessary and pointless. That was four years ago. You were fifteen when we brought you in. I doubt that the same protocol exists now as it did then."
"This is something I can do," Lily pleaded, her expression changing from confident to desperate. "Let me go for him. I'll not just get the sniper, I can get the guy at the top. Even if their protocol has changed, it's not that much of an issue..."
"Lily," Falco interrupted, the use of her first name startling her into silence. "Do you trust me as your Commandant?"
"Sir, I honestly can't think..."
"Yes or no. Do you trust me as your Commandant?"
"I have faith in you, your judgement and your abilities, Sir," Lily replied, softly. "I don't trust anyone 100%. But, if I were to do so, then you would be at the top of my list. I've come to respect you."
"Thank you. Now, do you recall what happened the last time you rushed off to try and chase down a lead?" the Aerobian asked. "A Mystigar decided to hunt you down. And the White Death have killed more than the Mystigars have over the years."
"I'd still rather fight a member of the White Death than a Mystigar though," Lily replied, quickly. "If it came down to it."
"That's not my point," Falco said. "My point was that you do tend to rush in half cocked. We are going to head to Naki, yet we're all going as a team. Once we land, you are free to sniff around for any leads that you think you might be able to find. Once you find them, you can follow them up on the condition that you let us know your movements so if you do drop off the grid, we can show up and help you."
"You might cramp my style."
"Unfortunately, that comes with the territory. I have faith in your ability to get a result here, Cadet Yushaa. None of us will leave the Night Hawk to come looking for you unless you get an absolute sniff of something for us to come and find."
"Oh... Thanks, I guess."
"I'm putting a lot of trust in you here, Cadet Yushaa," the Aerobian remarked, dryly. "This is something that if you get wrong, a lot of pressure is going to come down on the both of us. I'm sure you intend to do the best that you can, but I'm just giving you that warning."
"And I intend to take that warning on board, Sir."
"Good."
A few hours after the Night Hawk had landed on Naki, under the pretence of needing to refuel, Lily had slipped away from the ship and began her quest to hunt down the figure behind the recent assassination. The way the White Death had previously operated, to her knowledge had consisted of hiding out above relatively reputable business places while on a planet where a hit needed to be carried out. They would make a deal with the owner to offer protection to him or her on an indefinite basis as long as they sheltered a White Death assassin who was in need of a base of operations.
Still thinking, she kept on walking. As Falco had said, things could have changed in the four years. Maybe the operating practices had been altered, but somehow she doubted it. The handler that she had always worked with had informed her that they had gone about it for the last two hundred years prior, meaning she was staking her entire process on guessing that they weren't going to change it in four.
That was when she saw a possible place that could be linked to her hunch. Although the White Death had an open door policy for members, prompting the inclusion of species far and wide, they all eventually started to take the same demeanour after so long. The dead eyes, the slumped posture. When she saw how the constant killing at the drop of a hat eventually took its toll on the assassins, she couldn't help but feel lucky.
No matter the being, she thought. No matter what species, what mental fortitude and what type of outlook on life, they all end up the same way after a certain amount of time. Even those that enjoy it at first eventually become sick inside.
The Poké Alien stood next to the door had that look. Above the door, there was a sign that revealed the building to be some sort of jewellery store. Thinking it through, it struck her that the place was a perfect place for the White Death to hide out. With that still in mind, she started to walk towards the entrance, determined to get a look inside. The Poké Alien, a blue skinned Tatiarite, a Medicham creature, didn't even give her a second glance as she walked past him.
Moving into the entrance room of the building, the black ranger was immediately greeted by the owner of the store, the blue haired figure of a male human moving through the rows of golden trinkets with a smile at her.
"Welcome," he said. Although he smiled at her, the grey eyes were narrow on her, as if he didn't quite trust her. "Welcome to Biel's Jewellery Store. How may I help you?"
It was at this point that she noticed his eyes were the same colour as his suit. She found herself wondering if that had been deliberate or accidental. Something about him didn't sit quite right with her, even though he looked to be friendly enough.
"Actually, I'm looking for some..."
"You're in luck," Biel said, clapping his hands together in an exaggeratedly friendly way. "I have something very special in. Alrugian Hago Box. Used to hold memories, thoughts, emotions. You ever been to Alrugia?"
"No, but that's not..."
"Wonderful place," the jeweller continued. "I mean, the horribly whipping deserts aren't nice... Well, to be honest, I've never seen them but you hear such stories, don't you?"
"Are you Mr. Biel?" Lily asked, trying to get a word in and interrupt him before she lost her patience. It was close to happening, her ability to wait wasn't the greatest in the galaxy.
"Actually, I prefer Chester," Biel replied. "But I suppose in the formal sense of this world, I am. I own this place. So, about the Alrugian Box..."
"I'm not interested."
"Ah, tough negotiator," the jeweller said, reaching down under one of the cabinets to take out a surprisingly plain wooden box that had been painted red. "I appreciate that. Have you ever paused to consider your emotions? The exhilaration of joy, the exhilaration of anger, the exhilaration of even getting hurt."
"You need to work on your pitch. You said exhilaration three times there."
"Such is my belief in the power that utilising your own emotion as an aphrodisiac," Biel said, confidently. "You cannot imagine it until you try it. Joy, is pretty explanatory. What about anger... You ever get that angry feeling?"
"I'm feeling a bit of it now," Lily muttered, before raising her voice. "I'm really not interested in the box, so..."
"What about pain?" Biel interrupted. "Have you ever felt the wonders of masochism? Erotic asphyxiation?"
"What?"
"Strangling yourself to enhance pleasure."
"Ok!" Lily exclaimed, slamming both hands down onto the desk. "I'm really not in the mood for this! I just want some information!"
"Information?" Biel asked, sounding surprised at her request. "You want a Nyurian informing pendant? I have one in stock, only two previous owners. Although I am obligated to let you know that both of them did kill themselves, but possibly not of this beautiful little piece."
"White Death!" she yelled. "Are they here or not."
"What's the code?" Biel asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "If you're a member, then surely that's something that you'll know."
"The code?" she replied, a note of panic unwittingly creeping into her voice. "Of course, the code."
Behind her, the door opened. Without needing to turn around, her sense of smell informed her that the Tatiarite had walked in. Her ears picked up the way in which he cracked his knuckles in anticipation of some action.
"You've got three seconds," the Poké Alien said, darkly. "To either give the man an answer, or get out. If you've done neither by that point, then..."
Deciding that her current approach wasn't working, Lily made the quick decision to change tactics. Turning, she spat in the direction of the Tatiarite, sending a corrosive blast of purple poison at him. Her attack swift, he hadn't had the chance to try and dodge, the attack hitting him in the face. A split second passed before he hit the ground, screaming in pain and clutching at his wounded eyes. Bending down, Lily scooped up the blaster that had dropped from his jacket as he had fallen, moving to point it at Biel.
"Shall we try it again?" she asked. "As I said, I'm really not in the mood."
"Okay, you win," Biel replied, smirking at her. "You can have the Alrugian Hago Box for a decent price. I'll give you it for four hundred credits."
Eventually, she had managed to prise herself away from Biel and his enterprising tactics of trying to sell things to make her way upstairs to what she assumed was the base of operations for the White Death. Forcing her way into the pair of small rooms above the shop, her suspicions were confirmed by the contents of the inhabitable areas, all the various tell tales signs there. Signs that might not have registered to an ordinary person, yet she knew what to look for. The general order of the room was her first clue, there was barely any mess. If she hadn't known better, she might have said that nobody had lived here for a while.
"And yet," she said, glancing over at the table. She saw crumbs there, accompanied by an empty plate. "There's exhibit A. Exhibit B is the fact that it looks like nobody has been here. Exhibit C..."
Letting it hang, she reached under the table and pulled out a datapad that had been left there.
"... Is right here," she finally finished, turning the item on. "Let's see what instructions you got here."
In her hands, the item was just as she remembered it from her past. It might have been a slightly newer model, yet it worked in exactly the same fashion. Holding down three of the unmarked buttons at the same time, the screen changed to reveal several hidden words.
"Nakatomi Square. 4 PM. Docherty McDonagal."
Putting the item in her pocket, Lily glanced up to the clock to see that there was half an hour left before the event took place. She knew that Nakatomi Square was just around the corner, and it wouldn't take too long for her to get there. With that in mind, she took her radio from her pocket and activated it.
"Night Hawk, come in. This is Cadet Yushaa, over."
"Read you loud and clear, Cadet Yushaa," Payne's voice said, softly. "What's up? Over."
"Need a name check," she said. "Name McDougal, Docherty. Possibly someone native to the planet, but might be an off worlder. Over."
"I'll have Techno 9 run the check," Payne replied. "Anything else? Over."
"Not right now, but if anything comes up, I'll let you know. Over."
Moving into Nakatomi Square, the black ranger immediately moved over to a decent point, one of the large stone white pillars on the edge of the square and began to lean there, taking in the atmosphere of the area and trying to spot anyone possibly out of the ordinary.
Still looking, Lily was alerted by the beep of the radio in her pocket, immediately moving to fish it out.
"Yeah, this is Lily. Over."
"Cadet Yushaa," Payne's voice said, speaking low and swift over the airwaves. "We've got a match for Docherty McDougal. One possible match on Naki today. McDougal is a senator from the planet Fernando. Over."
"The planet Fernando? Over."
"That's what I said, isn't it? He'll be meeting a sponsor in Nakatomi Square in a few minutes. Why did you want this information? Over."
"I found his name on a datapad," Lily answered. "It was in an apartment I believe might have been inhabited by the assassin. Over."
"That's worrying," Payne said. "Hold on a second, I'll transfer you to the Commandant. Over."
The next thing she heard was Falco's baritone over the connection, the Commandant speaking quickly.
"Cadet Yushaa," he said. "This is indeed worrying. If someone is going to try and kill McDougal, you have to stop them. Alone. We won't be able to get down to help you in time."
"I'll do my best, Sir," she replied, looking around the area. Towering above the square, she could see that there were a few buildings, yet none that really stood out in their design.
"How do you think they'll go about it?"
"My best bet would be that they'll try the sniper route again," Lily remarked, moving away from the pillar. "Just got to figure out where and when the shot will come from."
"We will arrive to back you up shortly," Falco said. "In the meantime, everything... pends... n... you. ...det Yu... ood ... ck."
Shaking the radio, Lily looked down at it, wondering what had just happened. Such was the technology in the item that they would still work almost flawlessly in extreme adverse conditions. In the past, she had heard how one cadet had managed to get one to work in an electric storm.
Her thoughts that the signal had gone were quickly interrupted as a new voice emerged from the device.
"Well, well, well," it said in a dark, crackling tone. "Cadet Yushaa. Most impressive that you managed to work us out to this point."
"Who is this?"
"Have a guess," the voice replied. "Walk away, now. You're not going to stop us from completing our task."
"Do you really want to bet?" Lily asked, roughly. "Where are you? I'll come over and you can say that to my face."
"Very well," the voice answered. "If that's the way that you want to do things, then on your head be the consequences. I'm in the alley about fifty feet to your right."
Glancing around, the black ranger saw the location in question. Not hesitating, she began to walk over quickly.
"We're going back down to the planet?" Nick complained. "What was the point of landing, making a big show of refuelling and then coming back up into orbit again?"
"To drop off..."
"Other than to drop Lily off so she can do her lone Blackhound thing," Nick corrected himself. "I mean, wouldn't it have been better to just hang around the space port under the pretence that we need to complete some repairs?"
"The point of this was not to draw attention to Cadet Yushaa on her task," Falco said, verbally reprimanding him. "Having a ship such as ours hanging around on planet would have had the less scrupulous citizens of that planet a fraction more suspicious of someone asking questions."
"What I don't get," Diana mused. "Is why Lily seems to think she can track these guys down. I mean the White Death aren't easy to find. What makes her think that she's going to make it work where everyone else hasn't?"
"She never told you, did she?" Falco asked, bemused. "She has her reasons."
"Reasons for having such a dramatic sense of self belief?" Max asked. "Come on, Sir. What possible reason could there be for her to..."
"You ever wonder about her past?" the Aerobian wondered. "It's all in her personal file. Obviously, I can't reveal the exact nature, but in her past, she has had association with the White Death."
"Oh come on, Sir!" Sandy exclaimed, suddenly looking interested. "You can't leave us hanging on that note."
"Cadet Garcia, I'm not going to tell you any more. If you wish to know, then that is something Cadet Yushaa will have to tell you herself. How would you feel if I started to reveal your personal information without your consent?"
"Mr. Griote," Techno 9 suddenly piped up. "There's something that you should know about."
"Well, hello, Lily."
Now that she could hear the voice without the electronic interference, Lily felt some shimmer of recognition run through her being. The figure in front of her was a Bluken, a tall Blaziken-like Poké Alien. The majority of the fur on his body was white, while the mane at his head was a powder blue colour. He was also wearing a pair of cream coloured pants and a jacket in the same colour, but with no shirt. In his hand, he held a radio not unlike the one she had in her pocket, albeit with a few minor modifications in comparison to the one she had.
"You!" she exclaimed. "It's you."
"I'm touched that you recall me, Cadet Yushaa," he said. "Touched that you remember good ol' Blazi."
"Blazi Kirzinger," Lily snarled. "Typical that you'd be here. Not that it matters, I'm quite happy to see you."
"A hark back to the good old days?" he asked, his smirk growing by the second. "Which Yushaa is it that's come to see me? The one who whores herself for Cosmo Force, or the one I knew. The one who was so happy bringing about a White Death to those she was paid to dispose of."
Smirking back at him, Lily reached around to her back and brought out the Cosmo Blaster she had brought with her, pointing it at him.
"Guess," she replied. "You're coming with me. Where's the assassin?"
"What assassin?" Blazi answered, grinning. "I'm not worried. Because I know that you're not going to arrest me."
"Oh yeah? What kind of lunatic foresight tells you that?"
"Because I have this," the Bluken said, holding up his radio. As he did so, she managed to get a better look at it, realising that it could have almost doubled for a remote control.
"Unless you do what I say," he snickered, holding the remote up high for her to continue to see. "I will destroy the Night Hawk and everyone on it."
"That's impossible!" Lily snarled, desperate to get at him. She wanted to hurt him as much as was physically possible. "You can't be able to do that."
"I have a mole at the space port. When it came down earlier, he made you all as Cosmo Force. As a result, I paid her quite handsomely so that they could put a few rather neat little explosive devices on board. Just in case something like this happened. Even enabled me to hack into the communication line and draw you here."
"You said he and then changed it to she," Lily suddenly said, forgetting that it wasn't relevant. "Are you...?"
"All in mind to confuse and frustrate you," Blazi replied. "They did do this. Even if you don't believe me when I tell you it, I suggest that you do unless you want to hope and pray for eternal rest."
When she didn't reply, he continued to speak.
"Of course, I could be persuaded to deactivate the bombs," he said. "If someone were to do me a favour. You've cost me the assassin who was going to shoot McDougal. He's not in any fit state to do the job now."
At those words, the Tatiarite who she had encountered at Biel's shop early stepped into view from an offcut of the alley, one side of his face heavily scarred from her blast of corrosive poison, even though it hadn't happened that long ago. The eye on that side of his face was milky white, no longer seeing anything.
"So, I guess if this hit is to go ahead, the only option is for you to step into the breach for poor Jeffrey here."
"Jeffrey?" she asked, startled by the revelation as to the Tatiarite's name. "An assassin that you were going to trust with something like this is called Jeffrey?"
"What's wrong with that?" Jeffrey answered, darkly. He made to take a threatening step towards her, only for Blazi to stop him with an arm.
"Don't rise to it," he warned.
"Yeah," Lily taunted. "Wouldn't want to lose your other eye, would you?"
"Calm it down, Cadet Yushaa," the Bluken said. "Anyway, back to my point. Either McDougal is dead in the next ten minutes or your friends on the Night Hawk are. There's a rifle at the top of that building up there. I think that's what you'll probably want to use, might not be the best career move for you if someone should happen to see you."
"Happy hunting," Jeffrey taunted. "Give him one right between the eyes."
"Oh, and Lily," Blazi called. "Don't try to call in reinforcements. I've got a spook on the communication line..."
Docherty McDougal was a Landshark, Lily observed, looking through the scope of the rifle. A fully grown one as well, meaning that he had the Garchomp-like appearance in his body, albeit with green scaled skin. Despite wearing an expensive suit, one that appeared to have been custom made to fit his unique appearance, she could tell that he was wearing a protective vest underneath.
"Hence the shot and the eyes comment," she muttered, knowing that she had no choice but to go through with it. At least if she did take down McDougal now, she knew that Blazi was honourable and she and the others could go after him at a later date. That wasn't something that they would be able to do if they were destroyed in a fireball above the planet.
Far below her, the Landshark continued to talk with the being who had given him funding, a black skinned Flottel wearing bright yellow robes. Part of her wondered if the Floatzel-like sponsor had given the order to have the senator killed. It was always a possibility.
"Oh well, nothing but to go with it," she said, tightening her grip on the weapon to help focus her aim. "Sorry that this is the way it had to be."
As her finger crept down towards the trigger, something caught her eye. Something that enabled her to breath a sigh of relief and lower the weapon.
"What is the meaning of this?" McDougal demanded, as Max, Sandy, Nick and Diana lead him away from the middle of Nakatomi Square, away to safer areas. "I demand to know what is going on here."
"All we can tell you is that you're in danger, Mr. McDougal," Max said. "And, we're doing it in your best interests."
"Danger? What kind of danger?"
"Someone wants to kill you," Diana offered. "Which has to be annoying for you. But believe me. As long as you're with us, nothing bad is going to happen to you."
As if to prove her wrong, several bursts of laser fire suddenly began to spray the area in front of them. With each of the rangers reacting to the threat by leaping for cover, Nick took the time to shove the Landshark behind some cover as well, despite the annoyed protests from the senator.
"You had to jinx us, huh?" Sandy called, glancing over to where Diana was huddled behind a bench. "Until you spoke up, we were fine. Now we're getting shot at."
"We have to try and stop this lunatic!" Max yelled, seeing the automatic laser blaster wielding Bluken in the distance ahead. "Before someone gets killed."
"Hopefully it won't be us," Diana muttered. "Anyone else want to ranger up?"
"I'm surprised we haven't by now," Nick commented, ready to activate his morpher. As he prepared to morph, something flashed into the corner of his eye line. Something swift and black. "Huh?"
Running across the square, Lily saw Blazi with his back to her, apparently more focused on trying to wipe out whoever he was shooting at. If she had to wager any of her wages, she would have put it on it being her fellow rangers that had irked him.
Bringing her morpher up, she gave the command, slowly growing to relish the moment.
"Cosmosis!"
Too late, Blazi turned and saw her. Immediately he tried to hit her with the weapon, only for her to duck underneath the blow and kick him in the stomach. Groaning in pain, he threw a slash at her with his claws, the strike managing to break through her attempted block. As she gasped out, having felt the sting of his raking attack, he tried to down her with a spin kick. Again, she dodged the attack and punched him in the stomach, staggering him.
"Where's the threats now?" she hissed, trying to hit him in the face. Her attack would have landed had he not dodged. Opening his mouth up, Blazi coughed up a small flurry of embers towards her, the blasts smashing into her suit and knocking her back.
"Hey!"
Looking around, Blazi saw that the other rangers had gotten out from cover and morphed into their own suits, the four of them now moving towards him.
"Think you should spread the fun around," Max commented. "Yeah? You like that idea?"
Taking the opportunity, Lily moved over to join them, grinning under her helmet.
"Can't believe you guys came," she said. "What about the bombs?"
"Aww, were you worried about us?" Nick asked, sounding like he was smiling as well. "Anyway, turns out it takes more than sneaking a few bombs on board a ship to catch Techno 9 out. She spotted them almost immediately and managed to negate their threat."
"What?" Blazi howled, having heard them. "No!"
"That's right!" Lily exclaimed, stepping forward. "Both your plans have failed, and it's time for you to know the price of failure! Nightfire Cannon!"
Almost immediately, the weapon materialised in her hands, the black ranger quickly moving to aim it at Blazi.
"You're going to see all your old friends soon," she taunted. "Nightfire Cannon! Fire!"
At her order, the bright red beam erupted out from the weapon, streaking through the air and crashing into Blazi. Thrown back by the blast, the Bluken let out several screams as he crashed into a pillar and slid down onto the ground, badly wounded.
"Didn't take him down completely," Diana said, surprised. "That's... Strange."
"Doesn't matter," Lily replied, pointing her CED at Blazi. "He's going away, it's just a case of putting off the inevita..."
That was when she was cut off by a thunderous crash as a mechanoid charged onto the scene, the psychotic laugh of a Tatiarite ringing out across the Nakatomi Square.
"Who the mrek is piloting that?" Sandy exclaimed.
The one thing that all five of them realised and quickly agreed on was that Jeffrey's mechanoid was something to behold, it was an almost completely white coloured Blaziken with a multitude of black tattoos across its entire body. The most striking of them all was a skull and crossbones across its face.
"You're not going to take us in!" the Tatiarite screamed. "Never!"
"Where are they suddenly getting these mreking mechanoids from?" Diana yelled, annoyed by what was going down in front of them. "It's starting to get me down."
"Never mind that," Lily said. "We need the Cosmo Fighters! Now!"
Swooping down from the sky above them, the Cosmo Fighters arrived on the scene, the automated transport systems bringing the rangers on board. In response to their arrival, the morph drives activated, transforming the Cosmo Fighter into their Zord forms.
"Activating morph drive 2.0. Cosmo Megazord formation!" yelled Lily.
In response to the command, the five Zords began to change. The Infernape Zord's legs and arms tucked in to form a torso, all while the Grovyle split into two to form a pair of legs which attached to the bottom of the Infernape Zord. Both the Porygon and the Mightyena Zords moved up to form arms that became attached to the shoulders, the Porygon on the right, the Mightyena on the left. Finally, the Ditto Zord moved up to the top of the machine and covered the Infernape head to form an entirely new facial structure.
Not intimidated, Jeffrey began to direct his mechanoid over towards the rangers, activating his controls to attack. The resulting stream of fire quickly raked across the Cosmo Megazord, leaving several burns on the metal, to the apparent anger of some of the rangers.
"That's just rude," Sandy commented. "Leaving burn marks on our Megazord. Think I know what might sort him out. Cyber Pulse!"
Giving her command, the Porygon arm raised up and sent a bright blue beam shooting towards Jeffrey's Mechanoid, the blast bringing the machine to a complete stop. With it immobile, the Cosmo Megazord moved in and kicked the other machine several times.
Recovering some mobility, the Tatiarite in his mechanoid sent a flurry of punches into the upper body of the Megazord, forcing it back away from him.
"You can't win, Rangers," laughed the Poké Alien with the damaged eye. "This is superior."
"Superior like mrek," Diana said. "Giga Slam!"
At once, the legs of the Megazord tensed up, before the robot charged forward to crash a massive glowing headbutt into the chest of Jeffrey's Mechanoid, knocking it onto its back.
"My turn!" Max shouted. "Fire Bomb Blast!"
Immediately, a pair of cannons emerged from the chest of the Cosmo Megazord, sending a barrage of fireballs towards the fallen mechanoid. Rather than let himself be hit by them, Jeffrey moved to counter them, his robot firing a series of fireballs of his own to block them on route to hitting him.
"We have to end this now!" Lily shouted. "Star Blade!"
Raising a hand up to take it, the sword appeared in the grip of the giant machine, quickly being swung to smash into the rising mechanoid.
"Your end is near, Jeffrey!" Nick yelled. "You're going to taste justice!"
"You're right for once, Nick," Lily commented, before raising her voice for the order. "Star Blade Assault."
With the Megazord again bringing the sword up, the blade began to glow with a bright white energy. In quick succession, it slashed out five times, the sheer power enough to send Jeffrey's Mechanoid to the ground where it quickly exploded into countless pieces. Somewhere among them, the rangers knew that the metal card containing his details had landed.
Yet, that was the last thought in Lily's mind as she glanced down from her cockpit towards where she had last seen Blazi. All that remained of him was a puddle of blood, no sign of him anywhere.
"Damn!" she exclaimed, cutting short the rest of the celebrations. "He got away."
"Who?" Sandy asked. "The Bluken? The one who was shooting at us?"
"Do you honestly think I was talking about anyone else?" Lily muttered, grumpily. "Damn, I could have had him."
"Never mind," Max pointed out. "At least we got Jeffrey."
"If that's any consolation," Diana remarked. "Doesn't seem like it."
"Hmmm..."
Having read through the report, that was Falco's only response as he glanced up at Lily, his face surprisingly neutral.
"That's the honest report, Sir," she said. "Couldn't have done much more."
"At least you got the shooter," the Aerobian remarked. "That's one thing. A shame that Kirzinger escaped. Having him in custody would have been quite a coup."
"I was wrong, Sir," Lily replied. "I thought that I could get the guy at the top. Something that Kirzinger said when I spoke to him. I don't think White Death has any one being at the top of the structure. There's probably more than one figure in that position, maybe even as many as five, ten or even twelve. That way, if one of them goes, the entire operation doesn't come crumbling down."
"It's a sound operating structure," Falco remarked. "Do you believe Kirzinger is one of them? One of those figures at the top?"
"I have no reason not to. He seemed to wield enough authority to be in that position. Just annoyed that I couldn't get him."
"I'm not unhappy with the results here, Cadet Yushaa," Falco remarked. "Although we look at what we did end up with, it seems like a loss compared to what we could have had. However, thinking back to the start, I think everyone concerned would have been satisfied with the capture of the sniper. Look at it that way."
"Thank you, Sir."
"Dismissed, Cadet!"
"So..." Nick remarked, looking over at Lily as she came to sit down next to them in the mess hall, a pensive look on her face. "That's one heck of a secret. That you used to be a member of White Death."
"Yeah..." she said, softly. "Long time ago it was. Well, I say a long time. Four years. In the scheme of things, it's nothing, but it's almost a quarter of my life. My parents were both corporate people. I didn't have much contact with them throughout my life. Eventually, I just got sick of all of it and left home when I was thirteen. Nobody knew what had happened to me. I was trying to find my way in life when I encountered someone in an alley. He was pretty drunk, he attacked me. I defended myself and... And I killed him. Generally, no matter how big or tough someone thinks they are, it's not the case after they've had a face full of poison. I just wanted to forget about it, but it turned out that White Death employs a Dead Mans Boots policy."
"Because you'd killed one of them, they wanted you to join them?" Max asked, interested in the story. "That right?"
"It was a straight choice," Lily answered. "Either I join them, or they'd do me in. What do you think I could have done? Over the next two years, I trained with them, conducted a few hits. Nothing I'm really proud of on reflection, but at the time I felt great."
"It's good to take pride in your work," Sandy remarked, listlessly. "So, how'd you end up at Cosmo Force? Seems an odd career change. Then again, they do say the best gamekeeper is the one who used to be a poacher. Or vice versa."
"If you'll be quiet, I'll tell you," Lily said, darkly. "A day after my fifteenth birthday, I got a contract sent to me. A hit on two people, it was a big business dispute. Someone wanted them to conveniently die so that an issue they were involved in would go away. I don't remember what the issue was."
She paused for a moment to take a drink of orange soda, before continuing her story.
"I tracked them down, checked their movements and just waited for the opportunity to come. When the right time came, I went to confront them before I... I never got their names before that moment. A half-breed Blackhound and a Kobrarian. It was my mother and father."
"No!" Diana exclaimed. "So, you didn't go through with the hit?"
"Oh no, I would have gone through with it," Lily replied, casually. "But what I didn't know was that they had a pair of Cosmo Force issue bodyguards with them. By the time I'd realised who they were, those two were on me. I tried to fight them off, but they were pretty good. They took me down without much trouble, before securing me. And I'm going to tell you that being trapped in one of those CED cards is not comfortable."
"I'll agree with you there," Max muttered. "I know that from prior experience."
"Anyway, by the time I was released, the two of them had managed to track down my contact on that planet and they'd arrested him. Because they were happy to have him, they considered me to be expendable. So, one of the Commandants came to talk to me in my holding cell. They offered me a deal. Full pardon on the condition that I entered rehabilitation. Turns out their idea of rehabilitation was sending me to the Cosmo Force academy. Guess they saw something in me. Of course, I wanted to escape at first. On the first night, I managed to break out of my quarters and made a run for it. It didn't last long, they caught me almost immediately. Just as a precaution, I spent the next two months at the academy strapped to my bed at night. I was deemed a flight risk and it was designed to prevent me doing that. I still tried to work a way out of it, but it was hopeless."
"Then what happened?" Nick wondered. "Or, you could let me guess. You started to enjoy it, right?"
"When the end of that two month period arrived and I was aloud to sleep without being tied down, I found that I didn't want to escape," Lily replied. "I enjoyed it in the academy. I personally think it made me a better person."
"Wow," Diana commented. "If what we get now is you as a better person, I wonder what the one prior to going into the academy was like."
"Mrek you, Diana!"
Author's Notes.
Well, I hope that you enjoyed that. More insight into Lily's past.
Anyway... PIEBOLA! That's apparently what football is called in the future. The English variety of football, not the American Rugby version.
Good thing Techno 9 is pretty sharp. Otherwise it could have all gone horribly wrong.
Thanks for the reviews, all appreciated a lot.
Personally, I think that might be the best name for a villain I've ever had. Jeffrey.
Also, where does that jeweller look familiar from?
The next one is entitled Fire. Short and simple. Preview below.
This is the quarter way point. Unbelievably.
Thanks for reading.
Don't forget to review! Please!
Chapter Eleven, Fire, preview.
Golde: Something's coming up on the scanner, Sir.
?: We need urgent assistance. Fires have broken out all across our planet.
Nick: It came from Forestrin?
Diana: Isn't that the place where you were changed.
Nick: He's acting strange. Well, stranger than normal.
Sandy: Can a guy with three heads ever act normal?
Lily: Can a guy with one head act normal, never mind three.
Coming soon.