Power Rangers Time Force and all related logos and characters are property of Saban and/or Disney. I am using them without permission, but promise to pay royalties when I make my first million. Camille Summers, Lt. James Emery, Leo Claw and the Sphere of Omara belong to me. Special thanks to Cmar: I love you more than you know.

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~~~

He'd remained silent the entire trip, never saying a word unless it were to confirm course and speed. Lt. Emery sat across from him, unsure of why he was even assigned to the mission. 'I'm sure the Commander could have handled this by himself,' he thought to himself.

While he was in the academy, everyone was aware of the reputation that Commander Alexander Collins had established for himself. No non-sense, by the book, unwavering. Most of the officers who made it through the academy eventually quit when assigned to Commander Collins, being in his presence alone was enough to send a shiver down his spine…

… but he knew the Commander a little better than others.

Lt. Emery was well aware of the shaky history between Captain Scott and Commander Collins, how she broke off their engagement to be someone from the past. During Jen's missing to the 21st century, the Commander was even more on edge than normal. He was strict on the junior officers, coming down on them for the simplest things. Including him. He recalled a few times when the Commander lectured him on the importance of protocol, and how following the rules and regulations was the backbone of any successful organization. But beneath all that, he knew that Alex was hurting, and was lashing out to cover his own pain.

Once he was given a Morpher and allowed to work with the other rangers, he was convinced it would give him a chance to get to know the Commander better, but it was quite the opposite. He began to see even less of the Commander, but based on what the other rangers had to say about him, he came to the conclusion that behind those deeply tinted sunglasses was a big softy.

"Commander," he called out, breaking the silence between them.

"Lieutenant," he answered, never taking his eyes off the controls.

He paused, trying to come up with something to say. "Um, according to the coordinates, we're on our way to Omara," he brought up.

"That's right,"

"Are we going after Commander Oliver and Lt. Park?" he asked them.

"Something like that,"

"I'd just feel more comfortable if I knew more about the mission we were on. It would allow me…" he was cut short.

"You know what you need to know. Now shut up and…" he paused, finally taking his eyes off the controls as he turned to Lt. Emery. "James, sorry about that. I'm just under a lot of pressure here," he sighed.

"Permission to speak freely?" he requested.

"Granted,"

"What the hell is going on? Rumors are going around the academy that Harvengers are on their way to Earth, that Admiral Logan had Tommy and Adam killed. If I'm going to be able to help you on this mission, you need to tell me what's happening," he said.

He nodded. "Its all true. It was reported that the Admiral ordered the shuttle shut out of orbit, but I suspect that Tommy isn't that easy to get rid of,"

"So that's why we're on our way to Omara?"

"Just in case he was destroyed in that shuttle, we still need the sphere of Omara,"

"I've done my homework on the sphere of Omara. Legends foretold that only someone who wasn't meant to exist would be allowed attain the sphere,"

"Yes. Many have tried to get the sphere, but wasn't able to gain access into the temple. For those who were meant to exist, they wouldn't be able to read the riddle. It would appear as gibberish," he said.

"So what happens when you don't solve the riddle?"

"You're killed instantly,"

"Oh great. So how are you planning to get into the temple?" he noticed the emotionless expression on Alex' face. "You weren't meant to exist?"

He shook his head. "How much do you know about the ranger's mission to the 21st century to capture Ransik?" he inquired.

"I know Jen dumped you to be with that guy in the past, but that's about it," he didn't realize how bluntly he'd said it until it was too late. "Sorry,"

Alex sighed. "Wes. His name was Wesley Collins,"

"Sooooooo, the two of you related?"

"Distant, but yes. Originally, Wes was supposed to be destroyed defending the city from Doomtron, but because Jen and the others changed history, he was allowed to live. He was eventually married, had a child, who is my direct descendant. That one incident allowed me to come into existence," he explained to him.

"So they were meant to go to the past?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes,"

"But if you existed before they went back in time, how were you able to go back in time to save Wes so that you could exist to go back in time to save Wes? If he was supposed to die, you shouldn't have existed to even go back in time in the first place to save…" he held his head in pain. "Oh God, this is why I try to avoid time travel. It makes my head hurt," Lt. Emery sighed.

"I don't fully understand it all either, but…" he paused as a light on the panel began to blink. "There's a transport in progress," he said.

"Where?"

"Here. Something has been teleported here,"

"Life signs?"

"None. I'm going to check it out. Man the controls,"

"You got it,"

Alex stood up, making his way out of the main bridge. As soon as the doors opened, he saw them. "What the hell?" he mumbled.

"What is it?"

"Its Camille and Trip," he said, staring down at their lifeless bodies.

"Why were they teleported here?"

"The Harvengers must have invaded Time Force. Jen probably had them teleported here to keep them safe," Alex said.

"So these Harvengers; they're the big bad, huh?"

"Trust me, no living being has faced these things and lived to tell about it. They are the single most dangerous race in the known universe. They make the Vorhsoth look like fluffy bunnies," he told him.

"Great. I was just thinking to myself when I woke up this morning that I could sure go for a hopeless battle, followed by horrible death," he said sarcastically.

"Well kid, you came to the right place,"

He sighed.

*

Admiral Logan grabbed Lucas by the throat and lifted him off the ground. "One of you tell me how to operate the slipstream, or he dies,"

"If we tell you, you'll kill him anyway," Jen said.

"Well, you're right," he said, snapping Lucas' neck, then let him go as Lucas' body fell to the floor with a sickening thud.

Ensign Claw rushed over to Lucas, checking on him. "Oh God, he's dead," he sighed.

Katie made it back to her feet, picking up a metal pipe and rushing towards the Admiral. She stabbed him through the chest with it, and then lifted him up, swinging him and throwing him up against the wall. "Your ass belongs to me," she snapped.

Jen and Ensign Claw grabbed Lucas, pulling him to safety as Katie continued her attack on the Admiral. He tried to pull the metal pipe out his chest, but Katie bent it, then gave him a sabat kick that send him tumbling over a table.

"V WEAPON ON LINE," she called out, and within moments, her cannon materialized in her hand. As the Admiral got back to her feet, she aimed and fired, blowing a hole in his chest. The Admiral's lifeless body fell to the floor, and Katie walked over to him again, this time aiming at his head.

"Your time is up," she snapped.

"Actually, your time is up," the Admiral groaned.

Before Katie could fire, another Harvenger came up from behind, literally punching a hole through her back. Its fist came out through her chest, and when it snatched it back, Katie fell to the ground. With Katie out the way, the second Harvenger rushed over to the Admiral.

"You are injured,"

"I will be fine. I need more parts,"

"Where are the others?"

"They escaped during the battle,"

"Find them and convert them. Our time is nearly at hand," the Admiral told him.

"The entire building has been secured, only a few members of their personnel remain. Once those force fields are down, they will all fall to the Harvengers,"

"Excellent,"

~~

Jen and Ensign Claw drug Lucas into the main shuttle bay, quickly making their way over to one of the shuttlecrafts. Jen opened the door, and the two of them carefully pulled Lucas inside, closing the door behind them.

Once inside, Jen rushed over to the controls. "Computer, engage the cloak," she said.

'Cloak is active,' the computer announced.

"What are we doing?"

"We're staying in here, we'll be safe," she said.

"We have to go back to Katie, she was hurt,"

She sighed. "There's nothing we can do for her now, not without the sphere of Omara," she paused, turning her attention to the controls. "With the sensors, we'll be able to track the Harvengers, and with the cloak on, we'll go undetected," she explained. She walked over to Lucas, going down to both knees and rubbing his face gently. "Oh Lucas, I'm sorry I couldn't help you. You were truly the best of us all," she sighed as a tear rolled down her face.

"We're in deep shit here, aren't we? For all we know, those things have infected everyone in the entire building, and the rest are dead. Assuming that Tommy and Adam are dead, and Commander Collins and Lt. Emery never made it to Omara, we're the only ones left," he explained.

"No, Nadira is out there somewhere. I saw her escape through one of the service crawlways during the fight. We'll have to find her soon though, or she might has well be dead,"

"Call her on your Morpher,"

She shook her head. "No, they might alert them to her presence. We'll just have to hope she's okay out there," just then, one of the controls on the panel began to beep. Jen quickly turned to them, going over the readings. "We have bigger problems,"

"What?"

"The Harvengers are going over the secondary power systems. If they get them off line, the force fields keeping them in the building will go off line. They'll be able to get out and infect the entire city," Jen sighed.

"We have to stop them,"

"You came up with that one all by yourself, huh? I know we have to stop them, but how?"

"I don't know," Jen sighed.

*

"There was a core breach and I was trapped inside when it exploded, but I managed to switch on the phased cloak and get out of there," Adam noticed the sphere in her hand. "Great, you got it,"

"Yeah, but now we don't a way back home," she said.

"Um, guys," Tommy called out. "That's the least of our problems,"

The two of them turned around only to see an armada of Omaraian troops making their way towards them, all of them with weapons in hand.

"Oh great," Adam sighed.

Within moments, the entire armada had surrounded them. The Omaraian general approached them with a weapon in hand, pointed at Carmen's chest. "By order of Admiral Logan and the Omaraian government, you are under arrest for violation of the…" he was cut short as Tommy stepped inbetween the weapon and Carmen.

"Our friends are in trouble, we need that sphere," he told them.

"I understand your plight Commander, but our orders are clear. We will hold you here until Admiral Logan sends a transport to retrieve you," the general told him.

Tommy took another step forward. "We're running out of time. Stand aside," he said firmly.

The general motioned to his troops, signaling them to aim their weapons at the group. "Stand down Commander, I will shoot you,"

Tommy quickly gave the general a leg sweep, knocking him off balance. He grabbed him, putting his arm behind his back and aimed the weapon at the general's head. "Order you men to stand down or I will shoot you," he snapped.

"I know you. You've taken the oath of Time Force, you will not kill a defenseless being," he mentioned.

"You sure about that?"

"Tommy, don't," Adam called out.

"Dad, this isn't the way. We can't sacrifice one life to save another, it isn't right," Carmen told him.

"We're saving countless billions of lives. I say the ends justify the means,"

"The taking of an innocent life can never be justified. We'll find another way to save Camille and Trip," she said.

"There is no other way,"

"If Camille and Trip were here, they wouldn't want it this way. They wouldn't want to live knowing it cost someone else their life,"

Finally, Tommy's conscious got the best of him as he dropped the weapon, letting go of the general. The general turned around, picking up his weapon and aimed it at Tommy. "Give yourselves up and I promise none of you will be harmed," he said.

At that moment, it began to get dark. All of them looked up, only to see…

"The Time Shadow Megazord," Adam said.

The Time Shadow landed about twenty feet away from the Omaraian troops, and Commander Collins materialized in front of them. "General Kovan, what is going on here?" he inquired, never taking off his deeply tinted sunglasses.

"By order of Admiral Logan, I am to…"

"Admiral Logan is dead. He was under the influence of an alien force when he gave you the order to have them killed. I sent them here to retrieve the sphere to save our friends and protect the planet. Stand down," he ordered.

General Kovan nodded. "As you wish Commander," he motioned to his troops, and one by one, they walked away. "Good luck Commander, and may the power protect you," the general said as he turned to walk away.

Alex turned his attention to Tommy. "You okay?"

"I've been better. We have to get the sphere back to Earth, there is only a few hours left before its too late to save Camille and Trip," he said.

He glanced over at Carmen. "Who is this?"

"Lt. Commander Carmen Oliver," she said proudly. "Its good to see you're alright Admiral," she said warmly.

"Admiral? And why wouldn't I be okay?"

"It's a long story Alex, we'll tell you on the way home," Tommy sighed.


~~

The four of them stepped onto the bridge of the Time Shadow Megazord, where Lt. Emery was sitting at the controls. "I take it everything went well," he mentioned.

"Everything is fine. Adam, take the controls and set a source back to Earth at maximum speed. Tommy, Carmen, the two of you come with me," Alex said. Without question, Adam headed to the controls while Tommy and Carmen followed Alex towards the back of the zord. He waited until they were far enough away from the bridge before he said anything. "I'm afraid this invasion is going very badly for Time Force. When Lt. Emery and I left, over 70% of the personnel had already been changed into Harvengers. Jen was able to put force fields in place to hold them all inside, but she failed to realize that the Admiral was sent to Time Force by Chryo Tech," he told them.

"They were already out, weren't they?"

He nodded. "There's no telling how many civilians have already been infected. By based on the rate of infection within Time Force alone, its safe to assume that the entire city has been changed. Even with Camille and Trip, our efforts may be in vain," Alex explained.

"Still, we have to try. There's still a chance,"

He turned to Carmen. "You're from the future, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes,"

"Admiral Summers told me that sooner or later you'd come here, she knew this was going to happen,"

"Think about it; if Time Force existed in the future, that means we eventually found a way to defeat the Harvengers. We do survive," Tommy said.

"No, I told you there was no way to defeat them, but Admiral Summers was working on a way to contain them. Alex may be right, the containment procedures were meant to hold a few Harvengers, not an entire city," she said.

"So you're saying we should just give up?"

"I'm saying before we go storming back into Time Force Headquarters, we need some type of plan," Alex told them.

"Our first priority should be to get to Trip and Camille's bodies,"

"They're already here. Jen had them teleported here," Alex said.

"Why?"

"Harvengers must have figured out our plan and tried to get rid of the bodies. Take me to them," she said.

"They're in the cargo hold. Perform the ritual," he ordered.

"I'm on it," she said, heading for the cargo hold.

"We're not going to get out of this one in one piece, are we?" Tommy asked.

"Not this time," Alex sighed.