Episode 2 – A New Mission
"Resurrect Operation Overdrive?" Rose utters. "You've got to be kidding me?" She remains on the stairs, looking down at Mr Hartford.
"Look," Mr Hartford begins. "I get it. I know this must be difficult for you. That mission ruined our lives."
"And the lives of Liam, Ben, Travis and Sophia," Rose quickly adds. "Have you learned nothing?"
"Rose, I didn't come here to rewrite the past," Mr Hartford responds. "But we can still do some good." He walks up to her, pulling a tablet from his bag. He hands over the tablet to Rose, who reluctantly accepts. She sees a graphic with several points noted on it.
"So that must be the crown and the remaining jewel," Rose notes at one of the points. "These other two could be singular jewels. What does General McKnight think about this?" Mr Hartford looks back at Rose uncomfortably. "He does know about this, right?"
"Not exactly. He shut down Operation Overdrive because of this. I didn't want to bring this to him without talking to you first." He takes back the tablet and puts it back into his bag, pulling out what looks like a business card. "My address is on there. Have a think about it and come back to me." He hands over the business card and ascends up the steps. He stops as he reaches the door at the back of the hall. "I really hope I hear from you." Without turning back, he exits the hall. Rose is left standing on the stairs, looking at the business card.
She gets home later that night, placing her bag onto the kitchen counter. Rose pulls out the business card that Mr Hartford gave her. She stares at it again, before placing it down beside her bag. Rose turns to her fridge and takes out a bottle of water. Walking over to her couch, she turns her TV on and sits down.
"We're here with Veronica Robinson," a reporter on the TV starts. "Veronica, how does it feel to be the youngest driver to ever win the championship?"
"It's really overwhelming," the woman on the TV responds. "But I couldn't have done it without the support of my friends and family. But, more than that, I want to thank my team. I wouldn't be where I am today without them. Oh… and it's Ronny." The woman's smile beams though the TV. Rose picks up the remote and turns the TV off, leaning back on her sofa.
"Where would I be if my team were still around?" she asks herself.
"Come on Rose," Liam tries to encourage the Pink Ranger to participate. "I want to hear what you think."
She looks over at the business card on her kitchen worktop. She gets up and walks into her bedroom, opening her closet. Rose rummages through her closet, coming across her Operation Overdrive uniform stored within a suit bag. Taking it out, she sits down on edge of her bed. As she examines her old uniform, a single tear comes down her face.
A few days later, Rose walks up the long drive way to a big house on a solitary plot of land. Carrying a big bag on her shoulder, she takes out the business card that Mr Hartford gave her.
"I guess this is it," Rose looks up from the card. She finishes walking up to the house, standing at the front door. Rose's finger hovers over the doorbell. "Come on Rose, you can do this." She presses the doorbell and begins her anxious wait. Time stands still for her in this moment. "This is a bad idea." She turns back from the door, just as it opens.
"Hello?" Rose hears a voice behind her. She turns around to see a young man standing in the doorway. "Can I help you?" Rose smiles nervously.
"I'm sorry," Rose stutters. "I think I may have the wrong address. I'll just go." She turns to walk away again.
"The wrong address?" the young man states. "In the middle of nowhere?" Rose stops dead in her tracks.
"You're right," she turns back. "I'm here to see Mr Hartford?"
"Come in," the man answers. Rose accepts the invite and walks into the manor. "I'm Mack." He puts his hand out.
"Rose," she shakes his extended hand. Mack escorts her into the parlour.
"Take a seat," Mack directs her to the sofa. "I'll go get my Dad. Is he expecting you?"
"Yes, yes he is," Rose smiles as she sits down, holding her bag in lap. Mack walks out of the parlour. Rose looks around the room as she waits, Mr Hartford soon joining her.
"I wasn't sure if you'd come," Mr Hartford startles Rose and she jumps up from her seat. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Mack stands behind him.
"It's okay," Rose responds.
"Mack, could you leave us to it?" Mr Hartford asks his son.
"Oh, yeah," Mack replies. "Nice to meet you." Rose waves him off.
"I didn't know you had a son Mr Hartford," Rose declares. Hartford gulps.
"I like to keep my business and personal life separate where I can," Hartford responds, unusually stammering. "And you should call me Andrew."
"Mr Hartford is fine," Rose fakes a smile. "So, I'm here. What's your plan?"
"As I said," Hartford begins. "I won't be trying to rewrite the past. But, I can't sit back and do nothing."
"So the plan is to recruit another four Rangers to join me? We go on epic missions and recover the pieces of the Crown?" Rose's sarcasm runs deep.
"I wouldn't say an adventure. We now know how dangerous the Crown is when it's in the wrong hands."
"No. You do not get to do that."
"Can we stay on task? We need to make sure the Crown isn't misused. You helped bring it to the surface." Rose opens her mouth to speak. "By my orders." She stops. "By my orders. I know that. But this is where we are now. I could do this without you. I'm asking for your help though." Rose paces around the room, her head spinning.
"How do we stop it from happening again?" Rose asks. "How do we guarantee we don't lose another team? How do you know we won't be back here in another five years having the exact same conversation?"
"I can make all the promises you want me too," Mr Hartford responds. "I'm not going to do that. We put together a new team, I'll let you explain the risk. You can share as much or as little as you want. An Operation Overdrive you can believe in again." Rose stares into space as she stops pacing.
"Do you have a team in mind?" Rose asks solemnly.
"They're on there way here now," Mr Hartford responds. Rose's gaze darts towards Hartford.
"I thought you said you didn't know if I would come?" Rose snaps. "Was that another lie?"
"It's not exactly a short journey Rose," Hartford declares. Rose realises he has been tracking her.
"So, you've been watching me," Rose states. "Why am I not surprised?"
"I couldn't wait forever for you to make a decision," Hartford tries to dig himself out of the hole he has created. "Come with me." Mr Hartford walks through the other side of the parlour, Rose grabbing her bag and following.
From the hall, Mack has listened to the whole conversation.
"What has he gotten himself into?" the young man asks himself.
Reaching an elevator, Hartford presses onto the control bad. He enters as the door opens, holding the door for Rose. The elevator takes a short journey down to the basement. The elevator opens, revealing a lab in the manor's basement.
On the walls, the former Pink Ranger sees the five Control Drivers on the wall, the teams weapons laid out over a table. She walks over to the table, examining her Drive Geyser. Running her hands over it, she is filled with nostalgia for the past.
"Do you have access to everything?" Rose asks as she picks up her weapon.
"The zords are still in the bay, it may be tricky getting them to you," Hartford responds. "But, I'll make sure you have them if you need them."
The two hear an alert sounding, Hartford going to a computer on a desk in the corner of the lab.
"What is it?" Rose asks as she moves in behind Hartford.
"It's your team," Hartford replies. "Are you happy to meet them?"
Rose ponders the question. Does she really anymore about this than she did five years ago? Can she trust him? Can she put her life in the hands of a new team? And their lives in hers?
Although unsure of the answers, she walks back across the lab, picking up her bag that she left at the door of the elevator.
"Let's do this," Rose proclaims, pulling her uniform from the bag. Hartford smiles back at her.
In the parlour, the three new recruits sit waiting for Mr Hartford to explain why they summoned them. They sit awkwardly, there eyes darting around their surroundings. They are soon joined by Mr Hartford and Rose, who has changed into the old Operation Overdrive uniform. The three jump up.
"Thank you all for coming," Hartford welcomes the three to the manor. "My name is Andrew Hartford. This is Rose Ortiz." He smiles as Rose maintains a cold and stern look. "Rose, this is Will Aston. Will is a security expert, advising businesses on appropriate security measures for their high value items." Will nods in response. "This is Dax Lo. Dax is a stunt double. He is trained in multiple martial art disciplines." Dax smiles back at the two." And last, but not least, this is Veronica Robinson, she…"
"She is the youngest Championship Race Driver in history," Rose interrupts. "And she prefers Ronny."
"Always nice to meet a fan," Ronny laughs.
"That explains who we are," Will takes over the conversation. "But who are you two, and why exactly are we here?"
"Yeah," Dax continues. "Your invite said you needed me for some kind of operation?"
"Operation Overdrive," Hartford begins. Five years ago, a government project called Operation Overdrive was formed. Its mission was to recover mythical artefacts left on Earth over the years. The final mission was to find the Aurora Crown, one of the most powerful artefacts to ever find its way to Earth." Hartford begins to stutter a bit.
"We failed to recover the Crown and five jewels," Rose interjects. "They were thought lost until jewel signals were detected recently. I was part of the original project. I was the Pink Ranger."
"Pink…" Dax utters.
"Ranger?" Will finishes off the short question.
"As in the Power Rangers?" Ronny states, excitement filling her voice.
"That's right Ronny," Hartford answers. "I'm offering you the chance to become the Power Rangers Operation Overdrive." The three look at each other, reactions of shock, mystery and excitement visible to Mr Hartford and Rose. "Ronny, you'll become Drive Yellow. Dax, Drive Blue. And Will, you'll be Drive…" Hartford stutters once again. "Drive Black."
"Maybe we should drop codenames going forward," Rose mutters to Hartford.
"Agreed," he quickly responds.
"This is awesome," Dax replies. "I knew I was ready for a leading role."
"I've seen, what are they called?" Ronny furrows her brow. "Zords! I can't wait to drive one of them." Will does not share the same feelings as the other two.
"Hang on guys," Will states, turning to face Rose. "If you were part of the original team, why do you need us? Why not just ask the other members of your team to return?"
Silence fills the room, Dax and Ronny's excitements now contained and Hartford left lost for words.
"The life of a Power Ranger is a dangerous one," Rose finally answers. The three recruits look at her seriously. "We can't ask the other members of the team to return. Do not accept this lightly." The three look deeply at each other. Although they have just met, they have quickly developed a bond of concern.
Alarms break the silence in the room. The four Rangers look round in confusion.
"Maybe you should come downstairs," Mr Hartford advises the team. He begins to walk back through the parlour towards the elevator. The four follow on, Will, Dax and Ronny remaining reluctant. They step inside and the door closes and begins its journey down to the basement.
"Mack, I really don't think you should be down here," the five hear a choice as the elevator door opens into the lab. They see Mack being shooed away from the Ranger gear by an older man. The older man notices the new arrivals entering the basement lab. "I'm sorry sir, I tried to stop him."
"Another recruit?" Will asks in a sarcastic tone.
"Recruit?" Mack replies, repelling the older man away so he can stand before the team. "Recruit for what?"
"This is my son Mack," Hartford ignore his son's question. "And my butler Spencer." Spencer waves awkwardly. "Spencer, can you take Mack back upstairs please?" The butler tried to grab onto Mack, but he grabs his arm away.
"Dad, what is going on here?" Mack asks. "Who are these people? What is this place?"
"We're the Power Rangers," Dax jumps in before Hartford can answer.
"I guess someone made his mind up," Ronny states. Mack's jaw drops.
"Dad, you're friends with the Power Rangers and you didn't tell me?" Mack is near shrieking with excitement. "So, who are you? Zeo? The Space Rangers? Ooh, I got it. Ninja storm. Right?"
"They're here to become Rangers," Hartford responds. Now, can you please go upstairs. It's too dangerous for you be down here."
"So, it's dangerous for him, but not us?" Will snaps, still concerned about Rose's vague and ominous warning.
"We are still short a Ranger," Rose says without thinking.
"We are?" Ronny quickly follows up.
"No, we're not," Hartford responds. "I'll be taking the position of the Red Ranger." He turns to look at Rose. "I won't ask you to do anything that I'm not willing to do myself."
"Aren't you a little old for that?" Dax asks, immediately regretting it. "I meant…"
"I can do this Dad," Mack interrupts. "I can be the Red Rangers." Hartford is yet again left without words.
The alarms in the lab go off once again. Hartford shakes off his feelings and quickly goes to his computer, quickly realising why he had come down to the lab.
"Rose, I think you should have a look at this," Hartford says to the Pink Ranger. She moves in to view the computer screen, the others crowding round her.
"What are those things?" Mack asks. On the screen is white and red foot soldiers.
"The white ones are the Guardians of Atlantis," Rose explains. "We fought them five years ago on the mission to recover the Crown." Rose's voice cracks, holding back a lump in her throat.
"I haven't seen the red ones before," Hartford takes over. "We should head out there right away." Will walks away from the group.
"Not all of us have agreed yet," Will begins. "You've given us more questions than answers today."
"So, I missed the start of the presentation," Mack walks over to Will. "But, I've read everything ever written about the Power Rangers. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's like… being asked to serve your country. But… it's the Earth your serving instead." Mack's powerful words hit not only Will.
Hartford walks over to the workbench at the corner of the lab, retrieving a briefcase from it. He places it in front of the team, opening it and turning it to face them.
"These are your Overdrive Trackers," Hartford explains. "You'll use them to summon your Ranger powers." Rose walks over, her hand hovering over her morpher. Hesitating, she finally picks it up. Ronny and Dax walk over next, Hartford signalling the correct Tracker for them to pick up. They do so and move aside. "Will, it's time to make a decision."
Will's eyes stare intensely at the briefcase. He finally walks over and stops at the case.
"I'm not sure about this," Will states. He picks up the tracker. "But, I'll give it a go." Hartford smiles back at the new Black Ranger. He spins the case back round towards him. He picks up the tracker, his mind racing.
"It's time to go to work Rangers," Hartford states. Mack's face drops. His father walks toward him. "You're the most precious thing in the world to me. I don't to put you into any danger." He pauses, placing the morpher into his son's hand. Mack looks up in shock. "But, I can't protect you from the world forever. Be careful out there."
"Thanks Dad," Mack smiles back looking at his new morpher. Hartford walks back to his computer.
"I'll co-ordinate from here," Hartford declares. "Rose, you take point. Head up to the garage. You'll find uniforms up there. Ronny, you're driving the jeep." A smile beams across her face. "Good luck Rangers."
The Rangers go up to the garage and find the four uniforms hung up on hoops beside the jeep. Ronny's eyes light up at the jeep.
"This things a beauty," she states.
"You need to concentrate," Rose takes charge. "Put your uniforms on." The four pick them off the hooks.
"Is there someplace we can change Mack?" Dax asks.
"I'm not even sure these will fit," Mack replies, looking at his own and the other uniforms. Rose sighs.
"Put them on over your clothes," Rose declares. "They'll secure themselves to you." The new rangers comply, placing the oversized uniforms on. The uniform seals around them.
"This is incredible," Dax states. "It's like my clothes have vanished."
"Wait until you morph," Rose utters in response.
They get themselves into the jeep, securing their seatbelts. Ronny, from the driving seat, sees a display in the front of the vehicle with the location of the monsters.
"Let's do this guys," Ronny's smile stays glued to her face. The garage door opens and the team races out.
The Rangers arrive near the beach where the previous team fought the Atlantean Guardians. Rose is reliving her worst nightmare.
The five exit the jeep, standing before the two sets of foot soldiers.
"Those things look even uglier in real life," Ronny declares. The foot soldiers suddenly become aware of the team.
"So what exactly do we do now?" Will asks the Pink Ranger.
"Follow my lead," she responds, stepping forward. She takes out her Overdrive Tracker from its holster on her sleeve. She flips the morpher open. "Overdrive Accelerate." She rolls the morpher down her arm, sparks of pink energy appearing from it. Her morphing sequence activates, the Pink Ranger powers forming over her. She pauses for a second, never thinking she would need to do this again. The morphed Ranger turns to her new team. "Now it's your turn." The four nod, taking out their Overdrive Trackers.
"Overdrive Accelerate," the four call, rolling their own morphers down their arms. The four morph into their Ranger suits.
"Wow, this feels great," Mack declares, the new Rangers looking at their powers.
"Yeah," Ronny adds. "I'll be faster than ever now."
"Let's take them down," Dax is pumped.
"And how do we do that?" Will asks a further question.
"The Powers will help and guide you," Rose declares. "Let's go."
The Pink Ranger runs into the foot soldiers.
The head lights on Mack's helmets glows, a weapon appearing in his hand.
"Drive Lance," the Red Rangers calls as he takes hold of his weapon. The Atlantean Guardians fire ice blasts at the Ranger. He ascends into the air, avoiding the blasts and landing in the middle of the group. Mack thrusts the Drive Lance into the foot soldiers, taking them down. One of them jumps forward to attack. The Red Ranger digs the weapon into the ground, Mack jumping up and kicking the foot soldier in the air.
"Drive Slammer," Will summons his own hammer weapon. He throws the weapon into the foot soldiers, it spinning round and knocking them over. The Black Ranger leaps forward, grabbing his weapon and slamming it onto the ground as he drops. The ground rips apart and takes down the foot soldiers before him.
"Drive Vortex," Dax summons his weapon, a blaster that attaches to his hand, with turbines in the front. The Blue Ranger aims the weapon at the ground. Firing the Drive Vortex, a burst of wind takes Dax into the air. He flies through the foot soldiers, blue wind energy taking out the foot soldiers as he goes.
"Drive Claws," Ronny starts taking out the enemies with what appears to be big shovel hands. She knocks her weapons into a rockface. Ronny uses her weapons to hit the falling debris at the foot soldiers.
"Drive Geyser," Rose calls, taking hold of the water blaster. She pins around to avoid energy attacks. She runs forward, rolling over the back of one of the white foot soldiers, kicking another away as she expertly takes down her enemies. The Pink Ranger flips back to avoid another blast, firing her weapon.
Mack powers up as he charges, racing through the red foot soldiers, a faint outline of the Dump Driver Zord covering him. The rest of the team finishes off their battles, destroying all of the foot soldiers, coming back together.
"That was easy," Dax declares.
"You need to take this seriously," Rose snaps at the Blue Ranger.
"Chill out Rose," Mack responds. "We beat the bad guys, what's the worst the can happen?"
As Mack finishes the golden phrase, the team are struck by white and red energy blasts. They are all knocked to the ground.
"You were saying?" Will scolds the Red Ranger. The five get themselves up, looking out to see where the blasts came from. They see two figures standing on a ridge overlooking them.
"Who are they?" Dax turns to Rose.
"What are they?" Ronny does the same.
"I have no idea," Rose utters.
"Don't you know it's rude to talk about people as if they're not there," one of the figures speaks. The Rangers see a monster in a white body suit, adorned with icicles and grey skin. She is holding onto a staff with a piece of ice on the end. "What do you think Moltor?"
"Couldn't agree more Glacia," Moltor replies. Moltor is a red monster, with horns coming from his head and silver teeth covering his chest. "Maybe we should teach them a lesson?"
"You're all fired up, why don't you show me how it's done?" Glacia responds. "I'll back you up with more Chillers if you need them." Moltor laughs.
"My Lava Lizards are much stronger than those weaklings," he declares. He summons his two sabres and jumps down to face the Rangers.
Rose quickly takes out her morpher, turning the open screen to the side and scans the two monsters.
"That's impossible," Rose despairs as she looks at the screen on her tracker.
"Come on guys," Mach pulls his Drive Sabre from his belt and charges at the Moltor. The Blue Black and Yellow Rangers do the same.
"Wait," Rose calls out. "You don't know what you're getting into." But her calls fall on deaf ears. "My God." She puts down her trackers and takes out her Drive Blaster, running after the team.
Mack lifts his weapon above his head as he draws close. He tries to bring it down onto Moltor. The monster reacts quickly, pulling his swords up to block the incoming attack. Moltor knocks the Red Ranger away.
Will and Ronny come in next, but Moltor spins and slashes through the two Rangers. They drop to the ground as Dax and Rose attempt to break through. Dax manages to avoid an attack, striking his weapon into Moltor. The attack lands, but doesn't do much to him. Rose fires her blaster, knocking Moltor off balance. She converts her blaster to sabre mode and the five Rangers come together to attack. This time, with the team working together, they manage to battle back against the powerful monster.
"I didn't think you were so weak Moltor," Glacia laughs as the ice Queen watches her fiery counterpart.
"Weak?" Moltor snaps. "I'll show you weak. If you play with fire, you're going to get burned. Witness the power of my fire army."
The Rangers look up to see a giant monster crashing through the nearby forest. The monster is a giant dragon like monster, with two cannons on its back.
"How are we supposed to fight that thing?" Will asks. Rose takes out her Overdrive Tracker.
"Mr Hartford, we need the zords," Rose speaks into the Morpher.
Hartford is watching the events from his lab, Spencer watching in.
"I'm sending them to you now," Hartford responds to Rose. "When you board the zords, place your Overdrive Trackers into the Control Drivers and Megazord sequence will initiate."
"You got that guys?" Rose asks the team. They nod their heads.
Along the shore line, the zords race towards the scene. The Rangers jump onto their zords. They place their Overdrive Trackers into place as orders. The team spin the bottom of their morphers.
The zords line up. The Dozer Driver puts its shovel into the ground as the zord opens up and straightens out. The back of the Sub Driver moves up, revealing a fist. They move in and attack to the Dump Driver. The top of the Dump Driver moves up. They flip over, coming down to the ground, forming the Megazord's legs. The Speed Drives races towards the Megazord, driving up it as it ascends from the ground. It tops at the top of the Megazord, forming the Megazord's chest plate. It opens up and connects to the top of the Megazord, the head popping up. The Gyro Driver flies in, the helmet piece separating from the back. The wings fold up and the front of the zord connects to the back of the Megazord. The helmet attaches to the head. Mack's control Driver detaches from his cockpit, the Red Ranger taking his morpher. He descends from his cockpit.
He ascends into the team's cockpit, the other Rangers joining him.
"DriveMax Megazord, online," the Rangers call, setting their Control Driver's into their new home. They push their controls forward, placing their Overdrive Trackers in place.
"Transformation complete," Mack declares.
"Operation Overdrive," the team call. The Megazord stands tall with its shovel and pick-axe weapons in hand.
"I'm digging this," Mack jokes as he spins his controls. The DriveMax Megazord uses its shovel and directs it underneath themselves. Dirt begins to pile up, trapping the monster into place.
"Combining weapons now," Rose declares. The Megazord places the shovel and pick axe together, the two reconfiguring into a sabre. The Megazord extends its arm out. Power emanates through the Megazord and into the sabre.
"DriveMax Sabre," the rangers call. The Megazord spins the sabre around, completing a full rotation. The Operation Overdrive symbol appears before the Megazord. "Drive Max Strike." The DriveMax Sabre strikes through the symbol, landing a powerful blow against the monster. The monster drops to its knees, falling to the ground and exploding.
"It's not over yet Rangers," Moltor announces. The monster gets itself back to its feet, racing towards the Megazord.
"What's going on?" Mack calls out. The Rangers are rocked in the cockpit as the monster takes hold of them. The DriveMax Sabre falls to the ground as the Megazord can no longer hold it.
"It's got us trapped," Rose shouts to the team.
"We have to get free," Dax adds. The Megazord knocks the monster away from it with its arm.
"Let's kick it into Overdrive," Mack declares. He spins his control driver. The DriveMax Megazord extends its leg, grabbing hold of the monster. Power flows through the leg as the zord lifts the monster up and kicks it away. As the monster lands on the ground, it explodes.
"Ahhhh," Moltor calls outs. "I wasted my creation."
"We should retreat for now," Glacia declares. "There doesn't appear to be any sign of the Crown here."
"Fine," Moltor acquiesces. The two teleport away.
The Rangers return to the Hartford Mansion following their first battle.
"Well done Rangers," Mr Hartford begins. "You fought well today. But, I need to be frank with you all. I didn't know monsters would be going after the Crown as well. I told you this mission would be a dangerous one. But, it's more dangerous than I imagined. If any of you want to walk away, now is the time." The team look at each other.
"I'm in," Rose declares first. "I don't have a choice."
"I'm in too," Ronny adds. "I've never been one to back out of a challenge."
"I'm used to taking on risk so that others don't have too," Dax exposits.
"I suppose I'm willing to see how this plays out," Will utters softly. Hartford looks at his son.
"Mack?" he address him. "You're unusually quiet."
"You think I'm ready for this?" Mack responds. Hartford sighs.
"As a parent, I want you as far away from this as possible," he answers honestly. "But, as head of this operation, I can't think of anyone better." The Red Ranger smiles back at his father.
"Then I'm in too," Mack finally gives his answer.
"I'm glad to hear it Rangers," Hartford says to the team. "Well you should get some rest. Tomorrow, we start training." Four of the Rangers turn and head of the lab, leaving only Rose and Hartford.
"You saw the jewel signals again today, didn't you?" Rose asks abruptly.
"I did," Hartford responds. "They were faint. I didn't get an exact reading. How did you know that though?" Rose takes out her Overdrive Tracker, turning into its scanner mode. She hands the morpher over to Hartford. He studies the readings on the screen, his face dropping. "Where did you get these readings?"
"From the scans I took of Moltor and Glacia," she responds.
"These readings are off the chart. This can only mean one thing…"
"Moltor and Glacia are powered by the jewels."
To Be Continued