Author's Notes: Well, this took much longer than I anticipated. My work schedule got screwed up, and it takes me almost two weeks to recover from just one week of third shift. I apologize. And to be honest, this chapter didn't come easy to me. I doubt I'll ever try to write action again. Only one more to go besides an epilogue. Thanks to all who have stuck by me this far. Enjoy!
Chapter 26: All in it Together
Conner, Kira, Ethan, and Trent, morphed and ready for a fight, piled into the back of the rental van with Rocky at the wheel. The plan was for them to get a thirty minute head start in front of Tommy in order to give them time to get in place under Zeltrax's nose and lay low until the Black Ranger arrived. Elise had convinced the team to let her come along, and while Tommy wasn't happy about it, he conceded after she argued a good point that she knew Zeltrax best. Also, he had enough experience with guilt himself to understand that she probably felt the need to redeem herself for what she did, even though it wasn't her fault. His original plan was to have her come along on the Black ATV with him, but after further consideration, he decided that it would be a good idea for Rocky to have another civilian partner on the search and rescue mission. Not wanting to put all their eggs in one basket, she followed along behind them in Tommy's SUV.
Tommy paced frantically for the half hour he had to wait until he could leave. Haley and Trini both wished there was something they could do to help, but both of them knew him well them enough to that it would be smarter to leave him alone. He was clearly in no mood for artificial comfort, and they would only be adding to his distress if they said something to make him snap at them, thereby making him feel bad. In the meantime, the two women kept glued to the command center console and monitored the tracking device that Billy wore. The signal hadn't moved at all in a while, but watching it not move gave them something to do to stay out of Tommy's way.
Eventually, the thirty minutes that seemed more like thirty days passed, and it was time for Tommy to leave. They had agreed not to have the Rangers contact him when they were in place since they didn't know if Zeltrax might pick up the signal. The cyborg was probably much more on edge after capturing the intruders, and this plan would only work if the ambush was a surprise. Their idea was that they would call only if they weren't ready or if something went wrong, otherwise, Tommy was to take no news as good news.
"Alright, I'm outta here," he said to Trini and Haley. The Dino Thunder Rangers' technical expert simply nodded to him, still unsure of what to say, but Trini just couldn't let her friend of nearly fifteen years walk out the door without so much as a goodbye and good luck.
"Tommy," she called out, running after him. He stopped his progression and turned towards the beautiful Vietnamese woman, who then threw herself into his arms. "Bring them back to us, and bring yourself back too," she whispered into his ear with tears in her eyes.
The Black Ranger shouldn't have been surprised by Trini's sudden display of affection, but he was anyway. Not only had they been friends for a long time, but she was Kim's oldest friend, too. He knew the sense of loss he was feeling right now was nearly as bad for Trini as it was for him. He returned her ardent embrace, willing his own eyes to stay dry, although he was not entirely successful. "I will, I promise," he whispered in return, and he meant it with every fiber of his being. He would bring Kim and his baby home, along with his friends and his team, or he would die trying.
His helmet was perched atop the seat of the ATV, and it took only a few seconds for Tommy to latch it in place. Without looking back, he swung his leg over the machine and fired up the engines, taking off through the cave towards whatever fate awaited him.
At the warehouse, Rocky parked the van in the same place that he had before, and Elise pulled up along side. The two civilians crawled into the back of the van where the Rangers waited to confirm their plan. "OK, guys, we're here. The duct entrance is on the back of the building. We accessed it by climbing a tree and crawling across a branch that hangs over the roof. It's a very tight space. We'll have to crawl single-file, and very slowly at that because the duct is aluminum and noisy. Maybe I should go first since I know the way," Rocky started. Although Conner was technically the leader of this end of the operation, he had no problem with the older, more experienced ex-Ranger taking the reins. He nodded his consent to the idea.
"What about Elise?" Kira asked.
"She'll follow along sandwiched between the Rangers. That way, since she's not armed, she'll be somewhat protected," Rocky answered.
"That's fine. How does this sound? Once we're inside, we'll all hide. Trent can break away and check out the situation on the ship. He can camouflage himself using his Ranger power and once he has everything scoped out, he'll come for us." Elise didn't feel strange giving orders. They were a team, and everyone was welcome to make suggestions. It also helped that since she fought the Dino Rangers for so long, she was well aware of their special powers, strengths, and weaknesses.
"Good idea," Conner agreed. The kids still thought it was kind of creepy working along side the woman who used to be their mean principal, but she was quickly making up for those wrongdoings with her willingness to risk her life in order get Kim back.
"OK, Ethan, check outside. Make sure there's no one hanging out around the perimeter before we move in," Rocky instructed.
"All clear," Ethan replied after doing a brief inspection of the warehouse grounds.
The team, led by Rocky, started for the woods behind the building. At first, the Rangers all pondered the wisdom of heading in morphed, but then decided that it didn't matter since Zeltrax already knew who they were in civilian form. The suits, shiny and brightly colored as they were, were poor camouflage, but the protection they offered outweighed the chance of them becoming a distraction. Once safely among the trees, they regrouped under the large, sturdy maple that they guys had climbed earlier.
Rocky started up first, followed by Kira, Ethan, Elise, Conner, and finally Trent bringing up the rear. They were impressed by how easily Elise scaled the branches, and within a couple minutes, they were all gathered around the opening of the duct. Rocky never bothered to replace the grate when he left before, so he immediately lowered himself down into the dusty space. The Rangers and Elise did likewise, and soon the vent to the storeroom was right up ahead.
The first thing Rocky noticed when he peered down into the small room was that the amber casing containing Kim was no longer lying there. He tried not to panic inside, hoping they weren't too late and the rock had already been destroyed. He tried to concentrate on the brighter possibility that maybe she had been moved closer to Jason and Billy. The next piece of bad news was that the crates that Billy had so carefully stacked were now scattered all over the floor. Zeltrax must have determined how they got in last time and had the Drones demolish the structure. Now this time, he might be the one losing his shoe.
"You'll have to lower me down there," he whispered to the Rangers behind him.
"No, there's an easier way," Conner responded. "Get over to the other side of the hole."
Once Rocky was out of the way, the Red Ranger swung his legs through the vent, and in a blur of red spandex, his super-speed powers rapidly teleported him down to the floor. Trent had similar ability, but since Kira could only fly in super-dino mode and Ethan, Rocky, and Elise had to climb down the old-fashioned way, he stacked the crates back up.
Soon, everyone was lined up on either side of the storeroom door, which had been left open by the 'Drones. Conner peeked around the corner, and seeing nothing but the ship in the main space, he nodded to the others. "The coast is clear. Go on, Trent." For now, the rest of them were to hang tight where they were.
"Ok, I'll be back as soon as I can," the White Ranger assured them, and then with the power of his Dino gem, he blended seamlessly into his surroundings.
Trent snaked along the inner wall of the warehouse until he was about fifteen feet from the ship. This was where he was going to have to make a run for the boarding ramp uncamouflaged. Unlike Tommy's full invisibility powers, Trent could only 'blend in' when up against something. If he got much more than two feet from a wall, the chameleon-like cover disappeared and he was visible again. There was still no one around, and it was beginning to make him nervous. It must mean that Zeltrax and the Tyrannodrones were all onboard the ship, which was going to make sneaking in much more difficult. Suddenly, he had an idea. Raising his communicator to his mouth, he called Dr. Oliver, Conner and the others to run it by them. For the safety of Kim, Jason, and Billy, he left them out of the conversation.
"Dr. O, they're all inside the ship. I have to find a way to draw them out."
"You're right, Trent. We all stand a better chance in a fight where it's wide open. Cause a distraction, and when they come out, Rangers engage. They're waiting for us, let's not disappoint them. I'm already on my way. Once they're off the ship, we'll keep them busy outside. Trent, Elise and Rocky need to find a way in and find Kim and the guys. I'm coming through the front door, so I'll make sure it's left wide open. Maybe we'll just have to steal the whole ship." Tommy didn't know why he hadn't thought of that before, but it was brilliant. If they took the ship, then Kim and the rest of the civilians would be out of the vicinity of the fight.
"Can we fly that thing?" Elise asked. She had no idea where Zeltrax got it, but she had never seen anything like it.
"Billy should be able to figure it out. OK, I'll be approaching the warehouse in about five minutes. I'll wait until I hear the fighting start before I come in. By then, hopefully Rocky, Elise, and Trent will be onboard and ready to pull out. Before you fire her up, let us know so we can get clear of the exhaust. Now, let's move." Tommy could almost hear the clock ticking away at Kim's life, but he tried to push it to the back of his mind or he wouldn't be able to focus.
Trent moved very carefully away from the wall. He knew he was a wide-open target if they happened to be watching from the ship. On his way around the room, he had passed some old metal barrels in the corner. They were empty, but should make sufficient noise to bring the 'Drones out of the ship if blasted with his Dragon-sword. Taking a deep breath, he took aim. A series of laser arrows shot out of the end of the feather-shaped weapon, and the impact they made created an earth-shattering crash and a series of fiery sparks.
The rest of the Rangers hiding in the back room heard the noise and took it as their signal to move in. They didn't want Trent to be standing out there alone when Zeltrax appeared. Rocky and Elise were to stay put until the right opportunity to get onboard without being seen arrived. The four Rangers stood united around the ship's ramp, a formidable force that would intimidate even the most ruthless opponent.
As expected, the team didn't have to wait long for the enemy to emerge. In typical Tyrannodrone style, the big lugs ungracefully clodded down the ramp, too stupid to be concerned with their own well-being. The four Rangers immediately charged the lizard-creatures, but surprisingly, it didn't take long for them to recover from the unexpected ambush and begin to fight back.
Conner could easily tell why these were the 'Drones that Zeltrax chose to defect with him. What they lacked in IQ points, they made up for in sheer brutal strength. None of the other mutants that the Rangers fought in the past seemed so powerful. Soon, the warehouse was alight with laser fire. At this point, the score was even, four against four, but if any of them could have torn their concentration away from the intense battle for even a second, they would have definitely notice a couple of very serious issues.
First, they had to eliminate at least one of the 'Drones, and fast. In the past, although they were almost always outnumbered, the Rangers never had any trouble defeating the lizards. This time, though, just when the odds should have been in their favor, they found themselves evenly matched with their opponents not just numerically, but in skill as well. Trent still had to slip away to the ship while also attempting to clear a path for Rocky and Elise to get onboard safely, and if he left now, the 'Drones would easily gain the advantage.
Ironically though, the biggest problem facing the team was not who they were fighting, but who they weren't. Zeltrax had yet to emerge from the ship, and it was starting to make everyone very nervous. It was as if he knew their plan. Unfortunately, they didn't have a chance to think too hard about it, because seconds later, the dark silhouette of the Black Ranger appeared in the doorway.
Tommy could see right away that things were not going as planned. Zeltrax was no where to be found, and the Rangers were obviously struggling with the 'Drones. Trent was still fighting with the team, and that meant that Rocky and Elise were still hiding out. It was time to tip the odds in their favor.
He engaged the Tyrannodrones aggressively, slashing and parrying with his Brachio staff like a man possessed. If Zeltrax was too chicken shit to come out, then he would make sure the cyborg really had something to be scared of once he eliminated his support. Working his way into the conflict, Tommy tried to get in a good position to take over Trent's spot. For a split second, he considered just going onboard to rescue Kim and his friends himself, but thought better of it, still hoping to draw Zeltrax out of the ship. There couldn't be any fighting up there with Kim and the guys so vulnerable. When they commissioned Trent to sneak aboard, it was with the specific instructions that he get in and take off as soon as possible as to keep out of the crossfire. Tommy knew his anger with Zeltrax at the present time would prevent him from making the level-headed decisions necessary to make it out with them in one piece. It was something that he wasn't crazy about acknowledging in himself, but he wouldn't dare do anything to put Kim and his baby in harm's way. The White Ranger had the skill and the sound judgment to accomplish the task with minimal risk to the innocents, and so Tommy decided to leave things alone. Now he just had to give Trent a chance to break away.
The perfect opportunity presented itself at last when the 'Drone Trent was fighting went for what might have been a fatal blow to the White Ranger. The mutant had forced the young man to his knees, but just as it was preparing to deliver a devastating slash across the Ranger's throat, Tommy swooped in and inserted himself between the opponents, effectively blocking the Tyrannodrone's attack with his Brachio staff. Trent understood this as his cue to get outta dodge and he slid out from beneath the brawl. He didn't think he should board just yet, since Zeltrax was still up there and there was still too much gunfire for Rocky and Elise to safely sprint across the expanse of the warehouse, so he waited hidden beneath the boarding ramp for the right chance.
From their little prison, Jason and Billy could hear the conflict going on outside. By now, they had expected to have been already freed and on the way out with Kim, but there they sat. Instinctively, Jason just knew it was time to take matters into their own hands. "Billy, something's wrong. This is taking longer than it should. Maybe we'd better see what we can do from here incase Trent, Rocky, and Elise can't make it. Take a look at the door, is there any way we can get it open?"
"I've been thinking the same thing myself. It looks like there's an infrared sensor controlling the lock. If we can find a way to interfere with the signal, we may be able to force the door open manually." At that moment, Billy would have given anything for the tools and other equipment he had in his parent's garage back in his Ranger days. This was going to be a difficult task to undertake with nothing but what they had on them. Looking around frantically in the dimly lit room, the reflection of the tiny red LED's off of Jason's communicator gave him an idea. He was glad that he had built them along side Haley. It was going to save the time since he didn't have to figure out the mechanisms. "These communicators operate on a pretty high frequency. If I can jack it up a little bit more, it would probably come close to an infrared wavelength. The lock sensor works like a simple switch. There's a receiver on the opposite side of the door frame. When it's on, the circuit is complete and the door remains locked. If I can position the communicator in the sensor's place and find the right frequency, it should interfere with the signal and we should be able to open the door manually."
"Let's hope it works." Jason found himself feeling a little nostalgic for the old days. He didn't realize how much he missed the action and the adrenaline rush that came with Rangering. They might not be in spandex, but that was really the only difference. Billy was even using his genius to get them out of a jam just like he did way back then.
"I wish I had more light, but I'll have to make do," Billy added as he strained his contact-lensed blue eyes to get the communicator apart.
"Hold on a minute!" Jason exclaimed suddenly. He reached into his front pocket and pulled out his keychain, from which hung a miniature flashlight. "This oughta help."
"It's a good thing you remembered this now, because if I had caught you with it later, I'd have shoved it up your…"
"Got ya," Jason cut him off as he moved to hold the light above Billy.
Twenty minutes later, Billy was still working on the communicator adjustments. Turns out, on that same keychain, Jason had also had a Swiss Army knife, which was a real lifesaver with its various tools and gadgets. "Are you almost done? I don't think these batteries will last much longer." Already, Jason noticed that the light was getting dimmer.
"Yeah, one more turn of this little screw and it should be done. They're still really going at it out there. What are we going to do it we get out of here? We can't leave Kim here on the ship, and we can't carry her ourselves." Billy had been glad for the distraction provided by fixing the communicators. It kept his mind, as well as his eyes, off the slab of amber.
"I don't know. I don't even know if we're alone up here. Zeltrax or some of his goons might be standing guard outside this very door, but we can't just do nothing. We have to try something." Jason sounded desperate. It was not in his nature to stand around and wait for someone else to decide his fate.
"I know. Alright, get down on your hands and knees." Billy realized how that sounded as soon as he said it, and by the expression on Jason's face, he did too. "Don't get excited. I have to stand on your back to reach the top of the door."
"That's more like it…" And he knelt on the hard metal floor and braced himself to accept Billy's weight. "Try to hurry…"
Back outside, the fight continued to rage on. Tommy couldn't get over the strength of these 'Drones. He knew he shouldn't be surprised since they were mutants after all. Clearly, they had been mutated even further.
The battle was still evenly matched, but then suddenly an idea for eliminating all the mutants at once struck Conner right out of the blue. It was one of those rare moments when he actually displayed the intelligence that Tommy knew had to be in there somewhere. Hanging from the rafters on the ceiling, he spotted a huge steel crate suspended by chains on a pulley. It had probably been used as a way to use the full volume of the warehouse by being able to store things up high as well as on the floor. There was no way of knowing if there was anything inside it or not, but even if empty, it still had to be pretty heavy. If they could lure the 'Drones underneath the crate, Kira could then fly up there and cut the chains with her Pteragrips and it would come crashing down on them. Even if it didn't kill them completely, they'd be disabled and immobile where they could be easily finished off. The trick now would be to let the other Rangers know of the plan without the mutants figuring it out.
Without breaking his concentration on the fight, the Red Ranger inched backwards towards the empty space underneath the crate. Kira and Dr. Oliver were fighting behind him, so the movement naturally forced them back, too. They didn't have the benefit of seeing each other's facial expressions because of the dark visors, but Conner could have sworn he felt the Yellow Ranger give him one of her 'what the hell is that idiot doing now?' scowls under her helmet. It was going to be harder than he thought to get his point across. The only thing he could do was continue to push and once everyone was in position, he'd have to hope they figured it out. Ethan was still engaged in a fierce battle across the room, but if they could nail three out of the four mutants with the crate, the last one would be a breeze to destroy if it didn't just run away out of cowardice.
Tommy was initially irritated at having his space cramped. Conner seemed to be endangering them all by forcing them into such confining quarters, but then he thought about it a little more. The Red Ranger seemed to be doing it deliberately, and that meant he probably had a plan. Between slashes and parries with his staff, he subtly glanced around until his eyes eventually led him up. He saw the crate and instinctively knew what Conner had in mind. Kira still hadn't seemed to catch on, though, so Tommy worked his way into her fight and fixed it so that he was battling two 'Drones at once.
Kira was convinced that both Conner and Dr. Oliver had lost their minds, but her confusion dissipated in a split second when she heard her mentor call her name while in the midst of the battle. She looked up in time to see him discreetly motion towards the ceiling with his free hand, and she realized what he was trying to tell her. With her 'Drone currently occupied, she morphed herself into Super-Dino mode, releasing her delicate wings from her suit. One powerful leap, and the Yellow Ranger was hanging from the rafters near the crate. The chains were pretty thick, so she immediately got to work with her Pteragrips until she got a better idea.
Un-holstering her combination laser gun/sword, she carefully took aim at the pulley holding the tension on the heavy iron chains. Kira thought targeting the object supporting the four chains would be more efficient than blasting each chain individually, and she was an efficient kind of girl. Looking down on her teammates, she saw that there would be no better opportunity. "Guys!...Now!" was the only warning she gave them, but it was enough. Her point-blank shot at the pulley sent the crate crashing to the floor just as Tommy and Conner flipped backwards out of the way.
If they had some butter and maple syrup, they could have had a nice stack of Tyrannodrone pancakes. Two of the mutants were crushed entirely, and the third's lower body was pinned underneath the crate. Tommy decided to have mercy on the creature and put it out of its misery with the formation of an energy orb that he sent sailing at the 'Drone's head. When the smoke cleared, it lay motionless.
Ethan was momentarily startled by the loud crash, but luckily, so was his 'Drone. As soon as it saw its comrades squashed beneath the heavy metal, its limited sense of self preservation kicked in and it turned tail and ran out of the warehouse. The relief that the Rangers felt was brief, however, when they realized that something, or someone, was still missing. Zeltrax had to be nearby if he wasn't onboard the ship, and most definitely saw what happened to his lackeys. As long as they didn't know where he was, the cyborg had them at a serious disadvantage. The odds were decidedly in their favor now though, and if all four of them boarded together, they should easily be able to overpower Zeltrax, especially in the confined quarters. Rocky and Elise were able to finally come out from the back room, and all of them gathered with Trent behind the ramp to plan their next step, only to see it raise shut right before their eyes.
While all this was going on outside, in the small cargo hold where Jason, Billy, and Kimberly were being held, the former Blue Ranger had finished installing the homemade sensor blocker up on the door frame. He stepped off of Jason and helped his friend up after being on the hard floor with 160 pounds standing on his back for so long. "Well, that should do it," he said. "You ready?"
Jason nodded, then backed himself against the wall on one side of the sliding door as Billy did likewise on the other side. The communicator on Jason's wrist had been wired to send the signal when it was time. With one last look to confirm their preparedness, the ex-Red Ranger hit the button and waited with baited breath. It took a few seconds, but eventually, they heard a click that they hoped was sound of the lock shutting down. There wasn't anything on the door to grab hold of in order to force it open, but the knife proved handy once again, this time as a crowbar to pry the edge from the doorjamb far enough for them to get their hands inside. They knew if the door was too heavy or somehow spring-loaded, their fingers would be crushed, but there was no other option. Pulling with all their combined strength, they found to their delight that the door slid open and stayed open, easily and silently, too.
An initial scan of the hallway outside the cargo hold showed no sign of Zeltrax. A more careful investigation, however, uncovered the cyborg sitting in the cockpit's pilot's chair, seemingly engrossed in the levers, knobs, bells and whistles on the control panel as if preparing for takeoff and the following whine of the engine and slamming shut of the boarding ramp quickly confirmed their suspicion. Both men stamped down their panic, knowing from experience that it could get them all killed. Jason stepped back into the hold with Billy following. "We gotta keep him from taking off. Do you think you can disable the ship?"
Billy thought about it for a second. "Sure, but I need to either get in the cockpit or go outside. The ramp is shut and we can't open it without him hearing us. Any ideas, O fearless leader?"
"We can't let this ship take off. God only knows where he'll take us. I'll distract him. I don't see any other way." Jason was well aware that it could be suicide for them both, but if the cyborg flew off to an unknown planet somewhere, the result would be the same. As he saw it, action was always preferable to reaction.
"You're right. It won't take me long at all to disable the controls and open the ramp. I wish we knew what happened to Tommy and the Rangers out there. The fighting seems to be over, but who came out on top?" Though the possibility of finding their friends dead out there made them both sick, it only strengthened their resolve to save Kim.
"I don't want to think about it. Alright, let's go." Jason silently stepped back out of the hold, prepared to inch his way slowly up the hall to catch Zeltrax off-guard. From there, he had no idea what the hell he was going to do, but they were in full-blown improvisation mode now, so he figured there was no use making any formal plans. Once he was about eight feet from the cockpit entrance, he took a deep breath. Billy was poised right behind him, ready to move in. It was one of those times when they had to rely on the element of surprise, especially since the cyborg still thought they were just a couple of useless drunks.
Jason got as close as he dared and stopped. He took a firmer grip on the knife, his only weapon, eventhough he doubted it would do him any good against that armor. "OK," he whispered, holding up his free hand and raising his first finger in the air. With a steady motion, the next finger followed, and then the third. With that simple count of three, he called out "Hey Zeltrax!"