Commander Tate led Lauren through the rear entrance to avoid as many people as possible. The group made their way towards Doctor Manx's lab where the rest of The rangers was waiting, Boom burst through the door looking a little out of breath, "Sorry to interrupt but we've got a situation brewing", he wheezed.
Without missing a beat, the assembled party bundled out the room and scampered towards the central control room. Waiting for them were Demi and Ariel who were observing a number of monitors. Curiously though there was nothing but static on the screens, "Report Officers", Tate snapped at the pair.
"A Squad know about our surveillance", Demi replied, "rewind the monitors back by five minutes Ariel". The red astro Ranger did as instructed and swiped backwards on the screens. SPD has taken control of several key security cameras in the vicinity of the compound where A Squad were currently hiding out. Until their reappearance yesterday they hadn't been picked up on any recorded footage, leading The rangers to suspect they hadn't left the building. The ambush in the industrial district changed that theory and this was about to prove it, "Watch very carefully", Demi added, "starting with the monitor on the far left".
Lauren And the rest leaned towards the indicated screen and waited patiently. Several seconds passed until the image suddenly cut out, displaying only static, "I didn't see anything", Lauren grumbled, "was there some kind of technical failure?"
"Keep watching", Ariel pointed at the next monitor along as that too suddenly turned to static.
The gathered Rangers watched in amazed as one by one the screen blacked out in perfect sequence from left to right until only one remained, "They're systematically destroying the feed", Bridge pointed out.
"Thank you Officer Carson for pointing out the obvious", Tate growled, "how is this even possible?" he directed his comment towards the Special Operations Officers, "these are ordinary traffic cameras, not one installed specially by SPD".
"You train your Officers well Commander", Andros commented, "unfortunately they are aware that Special Operations is now involved. A Squad worked closely with them on a number of occasions and they will be well aware of our standard tactics".
A feeling of dread washed over Lauren as she focused on the final screen which had yet to be taken out. She could see a shadow approaching the camera and something told her that she knew exactly who was going to appear. Sure enough her worst fears were confirmed when the new A squad red Morgana appeared on screen, plastered with the same smirk she always had. The rogue ranger gave a cheeky wave before blowing a kiss to the camera. Lauren's cheeks instantly flushed red and it didn't help that several pairs of eyes flashed in her direction. Moments later Morgana strutted away and the image cut out just like all the others.
Lauren felt the intense scrutiny of every person in the room, she didn't need to be telepathic to know what they were thinking, "Just say it", she mumbled, "whatever you want to say just say it".
"I'm sorry Shiba but we have to ask", Demi began, "has Dayu had any contact with anyone in the last 24 hours".
"Nope, look we just finished dealing with the psychos", Lauren snorted sarcastically, "and something tells me you're not truly sorry".
"I beg your pardon", Demi cried in shock.
"You've had it in for Dayu from the very beginning", Lauren fired back, "no wonder she felt like no one trust her".
"Yeah and look how trusting her turned out for you", Demi countered, "the only bed Dayu got you into was a hospital bed".
Fury pounded through Lauren veins and for a brief second she wanted to slap the arrogance out of the Special Operations Officer. A firm hand on her arm immediately pulled her back from the edge, "Now you listen here", Jessi began "whoever you are, just because you wear a fancy uniform doesn't give you the right to insult Lauren like".
"No but this badge give me the right to question a person of interest how I see fit", Demi flashed her SPD licence in the former nova ranger's direction.
" How about i shove your badge up your ass and slap the shit out of you" Jessi snapped.
" Bring it " Demi taunted
"Demetria enough", Andros scolded his daughter, "I thought I raised you to show respect to others". The yellow Space Ranger retreated into herself, mumbling an apology, "Arguing amongst ourselves never works, I learned that from bitter experience". Lauren once again noted the haunted look in Andros's eyes, like an old soldier remembering a long forgotten battle, "A Squad might know all of our tactics so maybe it's time to create something new. To do that, we need the team as strong as possible". Andros nodded, "now you're all dismissed, I need to have a thorough debriefing with Officers Hammond and Greyson".
Lauren read between the lines, the two Special Ops officer were about to get a telling off from Andros the father and honorary uncle, not Supreme Commander Andros. Jessi took Lauren back to the Shiba Mansion, Lauren hoped Dayu was still there.