Disclaimer: Power Rangers Time Force and all related logos are property of Disney and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission. KJ Sheldon, Lt. James Emery, Trinity Oliver, A.I.S.H.A., Admiral Summers, Camille Summers, Leo Claw and the "Omega Project" are property of yours truly. Sierra appears courtesy of… well, Sierra.
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He'd been in bed for hours, simply staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. The room was completely dark, with the exception of the moonlight that shined through his window. He was surrounded by silence, losing himself in his thoughts.
'She's right,' he told himself. 'We were apart for four years, there's no reason we can't be together now.' It had taken him years to finally get over losing her and move on with his life, burying himself in his work. He became cold and distant, not allowing himself to feel anything for anyone. After losing Jen, it only got worse for him. 'But now, Sierra and I can be together. Yeah, Time Force is going through a rough transition, but they'll always be some kind of invasion, or an attack, or some impending doom that we have to deal with. That shouldn't be any reason for us to be apart,' he thought.
If that wasn't enough, thoughts of the "Final Battle" plagued his thoughts. 'What is it? Will we be able to stop it?' he thought to himself. It had been a little over eight hours since he sent Blake and the cadets to the past, hoping to prevent the time line from shifting, but he couldn't help but think that maybe the cadets were in over their heads. 'They have the training, but none of them have the field time or experience to take on a mission like this,' he thought.
Just then, his thoughts were broken as he heard a voice. It was extremely faint, but it was enough to catch his attention. On instinct, he reached under his pillow for his disrupters, and with one in each hand, sat up and aimed at the direction the noise came from.
"Is that the way you greet all of your guests Mr. Collins? No wonder you sleep alone," a voice said from the darkness.
"Lights," he called out. As the lights came on, he got a good look at her. "Yes, this is the usual greeting that uninvited guests get when they come in my personal quarters at five in the morning," he put the disrupters down. "What can I do for now Admiral Summers?" he inquired.
"I come with grave news Alexander. It is imperative that you come with me," she said.
Alex had already slid out of bed, sliding into his pants. "Go with you? Where?" he asked her.
"To the future,"
*
"Hand me the spectral phase aligner," Camille said, simply sticking her hand out from under the control panel.
Katie quickly reached into Camille's bag of equipment, looking for the phase aligner. "What does it look like?" she asked.
"It has a black handle and three metal tips on the end," she told her.
"Ah," she picked it up, handing it to her. "Here you go. So what are you working on anyway?" she inquired.
"Just a major upgrade for the computer systems. If this works, it will change the way to do things in the lab forever," she told her.
"Shouldn't Trip be down here helping you?"
"He was, but I sent him to bed about three hours ago. I just wanted to get this done. The sooner we do, the sooner we can get the internal sensors back on line," she mentioned.
"So what is the revolutionary new technology you have for us?"
"Hand me the circuit board on the table over there," she paused as Katie picked it up, handing it to her, and then went back to her work. "Up until now, we depended on the computer run our basic functions, but it still had to be programmed. If something went wrong, it meant taking the entire system apart to find out what was wrong, then repair the damage and reassemble it. If the hardware I installed does what I want it to, it will eliminate the need for random systems checks and routine repair work," she told her.
"What? The computer will fix itself?"
"Exactly," Camille said proudly.
"What? How?"
"There, I think that's it," she slid from under the control panel, dusting herself off. "Contact Alex and the other rangers, its time to show'em what this thing can do," she said.
Katie reached for her morpher. "Katie to rangers, please report to the science lab at once," she said, then turned to Camille. "Do you ever miss it?"
"What?"
"Being a ranger? Being out there in the field?" she asked. "I remember after our initial mission to the 21st century, Time Force had us on the streets rounding up common criminals. It was frustration to be so close to the real action, but not being a part of it," she pointed out.
"I miss being a ranger, yes, but I get my fair share of action. The other day I went to the 21st century to help the Ninja Storm rangers. I still get my chance to get out in the field," she said.
"I suppose so,"
"Besides, I'm doing a lot of good down in the special projects division. Because of the work I do down there, it makes it easier for you guys to do your jobs," she said.
Just then, the doors to the science lab opened as Lucas and Trip walked in, each of them making their way towards Katie.
"What's going on?" Lucas asked.
"I just got to sleep. Couldn't this have waited until my shift started in a few hours?" Trip inquired.
"It could have, but this is big,"
Next, Lt. Emery, Adam and Nadira walked into the lad, heading over to the others.
"What's all this about?" Adam asked, yawning and wiping his eyes.
"I have something to show all of you, something that will revolutionize how we…" she paused, glancing around the room. "Wait, where is Alex?" Camille asked.
Each of them looked around surprised that Alex wasn't the first person to show up. It was Lt. Emery who reached for his morpher. "Lt. Emery to Alex, come in," he said.
There was no response.
"Computer, what is the location of Counsel Member Collins?" Lucas asked.
There was no response.
"What the hell is going on?" Nadira asked.
"The computer can't respond because I had it off line while I was working," Camille said, walking over to the controls. "This isn't how I wanted to show you guys, but this will be a good trail run for my program," she said.
Just then, a woman materialized in front of them. Adam was the first to recognize her. "Aisha?" he asked in amazement.
"In a manner of speaking yes. This is A.I.S.H.A; Artificially Intelligent System Hardware Application," Camille introduced. "Or A.I.S.H.A for short," she added.
"But why can I see through her?" Nadira asked.
"Shes a hologram, but programmed to be self aware. She'll be able to handle most of the major functions in the science lab," she said.
"Can she tell us where Alex is?" James asked.
Camille turned back to the computer, inputting a series of commands. "She operates on vocal commands, which will eliminate the need to work in front of the computer in the traditional sense," she said.
"And it's just an amazing coincidence that she looked like Aisha Campbell?" Adam asked her.
"No, that was intentional," Camille admitted, then turned to the hologram. "A.I.S.H.A, are your internal sensors on line?" she asked.
'Affirmative. Internal sensors are on line,' she responded.
"What is the location of Counsel Member Collins?" she inquired.
'Alex is not in the building. He left at 0511 hours,'"Where did he go?" Lucas asked.
"And why didn't he take his morpher?" Trip added.
'Alex' destination is unknown, and according to my sensor sweep of his quarters, he did take his morpher with him,' A.I.S.H.A said.
"So why isn't he answering?"
'There appears to be a residual traces of a temporal flux coming from his quarters. That suggests that he went through an interdimensional vortex of some kind,' she said.
"From his quarters?" Trip asked.
"Can you tell us where the vortex originated from?" Adam asked.
'The vortex doesn't match any conventional means of interdimensional travel done from Time Force. The techonology involved seems to be far beyond anything on record,' A.I.S.H.A told them.
"Alex went to the future?"
'Apparently so,' she said.
"Can you get a lock on him and teleport him back?" Trip asked.
'Negative, unable to establish a lock,'"Can you open a vortex to the exact origin that the original vortex came from?" James asked.
'That would required an established lock, which again, I am unable to do,' A.I.S.H.A said.
"Whatever happened, they went through a lot of trouble to make sure that we wouldn't be able to track him," Trip said.
"So what do we do?"
"I'll work with A.I.S.H.A on finding a way to get a lock on Alex' morpher and teleport him back. Adam, get to Alex' quarters and see if there were signs of a struggle. Maybe he was taken against his will," Camille said.
"I'm on it," Adam said as he rushed out the lab.
"What about the rest of us?" James asked.
"Just stay on standby. When we do find out what happened to Alex, you need to be ready to make your move on a moments notice," she said.
James nodded.
*
The two of them materialized in front a building… or at least what was left of it. The sky itself was dark, but Alex quickly noticed it wasn't naturally dark. There were buildings everywhere, all of them on fire and burnt to the ground already. There were bodies scattered through out the area, most of them burned, others covered in blood.
"What is this place?" he asked.
"Welcome to the future. The year is 3030, and this is New Silvers Hills, California," she told him.
"But how can that be? What happened here?"
"War, a terrible war. Millions of innocents were killed, not just in the city, but all over the world. The rangers did their best to defend us, but ultimately fell as well. This is what's left of Time Force headquarters. There are only a handful of us now, doing our best to resist, but I'm afraid it isn't won't be enough to stop them," she said.
"Them? Who are they?" he turned to her. "Camille, you have to tell me what happened here," he insisted. "Does this have anything to do with the final battle?" he inquired, recalling what Khalil told him a few days ago.
"Yes. Two renegade rangers from our own time went rogue, and with reinforcements and supplies from other realities, staged a mutiny, traveled back to your point in history and eventually destroyed Time Force," she sighed.
"But how?"
"There was a temporal explosion of some kind. The explosion was enough to send a shockwave through the entire universe, destroying everything in his way. A rift in the space/time continuum opens in the past, a rift so big that the past, present and future collide, annihilating everything," she explained.
"You said something about a temporal explosion. Our sensors detected an energy spike in the past, and if it isn't stopped, it would lead to a temporal explosion, but Trip insisted it wasn't strong enough to do any serious damage,"
"He was correct, one explosion wouldn't be enough. It took three explosions to cause the damage you see here," she said.
"But that doesn't make sense. If they came from the future and did this, coming to the past would alter future history and they would be destroyed as well. It would be as if the entire invasion never happened," he mentioned.
"You're correct, but the invasion force are rangers. Evil rangers. Because of the levels of radiation they're morphers emit, the shifts in the time line does not effect them. Through out the entire invasion, they never made demands, never made it known what they were after, they simply came in and began destroying everything and everyone in their way," she sighed.
"I can't believe that rangers would do this, it just isn't possible," he said, looking around at the destruction.
"That's what you said for years, even after they murdered Tommy and captured Jen, taking her to a interrogation camp. You refused to believe that anyone who was entrusted with the power of ranger technology would be capable of something like this, and it wasn't until they murdered Sierra in cold blood that you realized…" she was cut short.
"The others? Did they survive?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Trip and I survived, and there were a handful of others. Everyone else is gone," she sighed.
"Me? What happened to me?"
"You were killed about a year ago. When got word that Jen and Tommy's children were being held on an alternate reality, and you tried to lead an assault against the rangers, but failed. James managed to escape; bringing your body back with him, but by then, it was too late. There was nothing we could do for you," she told him.
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.
"By telling you what to expect, you should be able to prevent this from ever happening and save history, future history. Stop the temporal explosion," she said.
"How? What do you want me to do?"
"Any day now, your time, will you receive a distress call from an alternate reality, they'll claim to be under attack by a race of beings called the Leorians, and they need immediate assistance. What you don't know is that the Leorian race was the first to be conquered by the rangers and they're setting a trap for you. Nadira and Katie will be sent to help the Leorians, and they will be the first of countless millions to be slaughtered as a result. The renegades will then go to your point in time and will quickly take control of the lab, then use the slipstream to bring reinforcements from other realities. Within a in few years time, everything and everyone will be destroyed," she explained.
"Its been a while since I've been in temporal mechanics, but a sub-space rift, even influenced by the radiation emitted from the morphers wouldn't be enough to annihilate the entire world," he brought up.
"You're right, it will take three. Three distinct rifts opened in the exact same place, each being exposed to radiation from the morphers,"
"Three? But we only detected one energy spike," he said. "And how will the renegades be able to produce three rifts and all of them be exposed to radiation from the morphers?" he asked.
"I don't know," she admitted.
"So if you were no match for them in the future, what makes you think I'll be able to do anything to stop them?" Alex asked.
"You won't have to stop them, simply prevent the incident from ever happening. Whatever you do, do not respond to the distress call," she said.
"But by telling me this, isn't history changed. Maybe the invasion won't even happen," she said.
"You're trying to be optimistic about a situation that results in the death of nearly everyone on the planet. I know what you're thinking, that maybe you'll skip the wrong distress call, resulting in the death of innocent lives on another world. I'm telling you, whatever you do, do not accept any distress calls. If you do, this will be the result," Camille warned.
He sighed. "I understand,"
"I have just enough power to send you home. If you're successful, none of this will have happened and the future will be saved," she said.
"I'll do my best,"
"I know you will," she sighed, pulling a small device out her pocket, handing it to him. "This will get you home. Good luck Alex,"
*
"A.I.S.H.A, tie in the internal sensors to the long range sensors, see if that will be enough to pin point Alex' location," Camille said, still sitting in front of the computer screen.
'I have already tied both systems in, and the scans proved to be unsuccessful. We are simply unable to scan beyond our own time,' she told her.
"There has to be a way to bring him back,"
'If there is, we'll find it,' A.I.S.H.A. assured her.
"Wait, what's this," she turned to the screen. "We're picking up an incoming transmission. It's a distress call," she said.
'My sensors indicate the distress call is coming from an alternate reality. The call is from Time Force, they are under attack by a race of beings known as the Leorians,' she said.
"We have to help them, but we have to find Alex, too," Camille said.
"We'll go. Just contact us if you find Alex," Katie said, stepping forward.
"Good idea. Nadira, go with her. If you need reinforcements, contact us and we'll see what we can do," she said.
'I have the coordinates set and I'm activating the slipstream portal now,' A.I.S.H.A. said.
Within seconds, the portal opened, and the two of them stepped through. As soon as the portal closed, there was a stream of light, and he appeared.
"Whoa," he mumbled, struggling to get his balance.
"Alex! You're okay," Camille said, rushing over to him, helping him get his footing. "We've been looking all over for you,"
"I just got an interesting visit from Admiral Summers. She warned me about an evil group of rangers from the future who plan to invade and take over the past, rewriting history as they go," he said.
"Did she tell you how to stop it?"
"Yes. She warned me that they'll be a distress call, and that one event will trigger the beginning of an all out invasion," Alex said.
Camille paused. "A distress call? It wouldn't by chance have anything to do with the Leorians, would it?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact it…" he glanced over at the screen, getting a look at the incoming transmission. "Oh no," he sighed. "It's begun,"
~~
Preview: EndgameNext time on Parallels II: With history already set into motion, the rangers prepare to face their gravest challenge… the Power Rangers.
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