A/N: Gaby appears courtesy of Camille!
Reefside, California
"This is Cassidy Cornell for Reefside news. The unidentified object that hovers over not just our city, but the entire state of California, has stopped. With moments before it was to collide with the planet, it stopped, and is maintaining its position above the state. As you can see, the only things visible are the lights that are all along what we're assuming is a ship. According to my sources, rangers from Silver Hills attempted to intercept the object in space, but neither the red ranger nor the Quantum ranger have been heard from since. Its still unknown exactly what…" she stopped as a panel in on the ship opened, and light began to shine through. "… it looks like something is happening, a hatch is opening and…" she dropped the microphone as a figure began to emerge from the opening.
At first glance, it was humanoid. Its skin was gray and somewhat scaly, with deep black eyes, but no signs of ears, a nose or a mouth. Its fingers were at least twice as long as a human's, and there were only three on each hand. The light was still blinding, making it difficult to see anything, but soon, the light died down, and the life form touched down. Local police, and military that were on hand quickly surrounded the creature, aiming their weapons at it.
"Put your hands in the air," one of the officers ordered.
The being took a step forward, still showing no signs of any emotion what so ever. "I come… in peace," the being said, or at least, a voice came from the creature's direction. It had no discernable mouth, so it was difficult to tell if the life form truly said anything.
The officers almost instinctively lowered their weapons, all of them tacitly agreeing that the creature posed no threat.
"I must speak with your world's leader at once, it is a matter of great importance," the being said.
Marnier Bay, California
"The alien is requesting a meeting with the world leaders. I've been asked by the president to accompany him along with the rangers in the event something were to happen," Admiral McKnight said.
Captain Mitchell had his arms folded, still with a skeptical look on his face. "I'm not sure that's a wise idea. We don't know this things intention, it wouldn't be a good idea to take all the rangers. If something were to…"
"I agree with you Captain. I will have three of the rangers join me, and the remaining three can remain on the Aqua Base in the event something does happen. However, this creature has made it very clear that if it wanted to destroy us, it could have by now. I believe it will be safe," he said.
"Have you selected your rangers yet?"
"Yes, my grandsons Conner and Eric will assume control of the green and blue lightspeed morphers, and I believe you know the yellow ranger," he said, motioning towards the entrance.
Captain Mitchell turned his attention to the entrance as she walked in.
"Kelsey?" he inquired. It had been years since he'd seen her, and with the exception of her hair being a little longer, she looked exactly the way he remembered her.
"It's a pleasure to be working with you again, sir," she said, saluting him.
"Admiral, with all due respect, do you think its wise to involve your grandchildren? Neither of them…"
"Conner was the red ranger in Reefside just a few short months ago, and his twin brother trained and the ninja academy in Blue Bay Harbor. I trust the two of them with my life, and I believe they will make fine rangers," he said.
"As you wish sir."
"Have you completed your recruiting for the remaining three rangers?" Admiral McKnight asked.
"Yes, I too have selected former rangers. One from Blue Bay Harbor, one from Reefside, and one of the original lightspeed rangers," he said.
"Have you found a way to compensate for the Titanium morpher? The last time, it proved to be… unstable. Will you be able to assign someone the titanium powers without damaging the host?" he asked.
"No sir. I've taken the liberty of hiring addition staff members to assist Mrs. Rawlings here in the base, Cam Wantabe, and a young lady from Reefside will be joining us as well. Until the titanium morpher can be used safely, only the red and pink morphers will be active," he said.
"Very well."
"Leave a com open at all times sir. At the first sign of trouble, the others will be able to move in and get you out of there," Captain Mitchell said.
"Should we go in morphed?" Kelsey asked.
"No, we don't want to appear hostile, and going in morphed will give the appearance that we're on the defensive. The alien has come to us in good will, and until something indicates otherwise, we should do the same," he explained.
"Understood, sir."
"Kelsey, the green and blue ranger are in the briefing room, bring them up to speed with what we're doing here, and inform them that we should be ready to go at 1400 hours," the Admiral said.
"Yes sir!" she said, rushing out the room.
The Admiral waited until she was gone to walk over to Captain Mitchell, motioning for him to follow. The two of them exited as well, walking down the corridor on their way to the launch bay. "I don't have to tell you Bill, this is a chance of a lifetime. We have an opportunity to establish first contact with an extraterrestrial being. We're witnessing history Bill, what we do here will be taught in history books ten years from now. Its very important that everything go smoothly," he explained.
"I understand sir."
"While this is a great moment for mankind, it could also prove to do our downfall if something were to go wrong. Have your rangers ready to leave at a moment's notice. Its imperative that this goes off without a hitch," he said.
"I agree sir. If the time comes, we'll be ready."
"I knew I could count on you Bill."
Blue Bay Harbor, California
"Are you sure you'll be okay while I'm gone dad?" Cam asked as he gathered his belongings.
"I am will fine Cam. You are needed elsewhere, and the fate of the world may lie in your hands," his father told him.
Cam walked over to his father, pulling a small device out his pocket and handed it to him. "Right we defeated Lothor… the first time, Hunter and I used these to stay in contact with each other, just in case something ever went wrong. If you need me, you can use this to call me," he told him.
"Cam, Shane and the others are here with me, and if need be, I can contact Hunter and Blake. Go, everything will be fine until you return," he assured him.
"Thanks dad."
At that moment, Tori walked in, bowing slightly to sensei. "Hello sensei," she said.
"Hello Tori."
"I came to say goodbye to Cam," she said cheerfully.
"I will leave the two of you alone," Sensei said, excusing himself.
"So, Lightspeed Rescue, huh?" she asked shyly.
"Yes, they're having a problem with one of their morphers, and since I helped develop the wind morphers, they thought I'd be their best bet to help them get it working again. Something tells me we're going to need all the help we can get," he said.
"Just take care of yourself," she sighed.
"I will. You and the others take care of my father while I'm gone. I don't want to come home to a guinea pig again… again," he said.
She smiled. "Everything will be okay. You just make sure you get back in one piece," she said, wrapping her arms around him.
"I promise."
Silver Hills, California
"Try it again Gaby, they have to be out there," Mr. Collins said as he paced back and forth in the lab, waiting to hear something.
It had been nearly three hours since Wes and Eric went to intercept the alien space ship, but neither of them had been seen since. Even if they weren't able to return to Bio-Lab right away, he was sure they would have contacted him by now.
Gaby, who was head of the science department at Bio-Lab, had been working on a way to establish contact with them since they disappeared. "The communicator relays on the TF Eagle and Strata Cycle are still operational, but they're not responding to hails. I've been working on a way to contact them through their morphers, but the technology they use is beyond anything we have, its going to take time to figure out how to tap into their relays," she explained.
"Do what you have to do, just keep me informed."
She stopped, turning around to face him. "I'm worried about them too, but they're two of the most capable people I know. I'm sure they're fine," she said.
"Lets hope you're right."
Marnier Bay
Conner and Eric sat in the briefing room next to one another, admiring their morphers. While it was the first time Eric had a morpher, it was commonplace for Conner. The design was different, and it contoured to his wrist a little differently than his original morpher, and for whatever reason Lightspeed Rescue felt the need to give him the blue morpher. 'Blue is so not my color,' he thought to himself.
Part of him wished that Ethan and Kira had come along with him, but he understood why they couldn't. If something were to happen, if he and the others failed, they'd be needed as a line of defense. He wasn't alone though, he was with his twin brother. They hadn't spent much time together over the last few years, and this wasn't exactly his idea of quality time with his family, but it would have to do for now. He told himself that after this finished with the alien, once things settled down, he'd spend more time with his brother before heading off to college.
"I can't believe you use to be a ranger, and you never told me," Eric said.
"I didn't tell anyone, I couldn't."
"I get it, but its me man. We tell each other everything, you could have let me in on your little secret."
"No, I couldn't. I didn't even tell dad until after it was over."
"I bet the grandpa would have been so proud of you if he'd known. He was always a career military man, he would have seen it like you were following in his footsteps," he said.
"So did you, in a way. While I was playing soccer, you were in the ninja academy," Conner brought up.
"Yeah, but I dropped out after a few weeks. My friends went to graduate from the academy, but I…"
"You're being hard on yourself man. Someone once told me that you have to believe you deserve it, and when you do, you'll find a whole new level of power," he told him.
"Who? A school teacher or something?"
"As a matter of fact, yeah."
They were interrupted as the doors to the briefing room opened, and she walked in. She was short, with shoulder length brown hair, and wearing a Lightspeed Rescue jacket.
"Whoa," she said.
They looked at one another, then at each other, then back to her. "What?" they asked in unison.
"The admiral said you were identical twins, but wow, I can't tell you guys apart," she confessed.
"I'm Conner."
"And I'm Eric."
"Its nice to meet you both, I'm Kelsey. I hear that this isn't your first time as a ranger Conner," she brought up.
"No, it isn't. I was a ranger a few months ago in Reefside," he said.
"I haven't been a ranger in years, but I don't think this will be a difficult mission. We're just going to accompany the Admiral, that's all," she said.
"We can handle it."
"This is all just so new. When I was a ranger, we had to deal with demons, but they were from Earth. This is the first time we've had to deal with aliens. I mean, I always suspected that there was something else out there, life on other planets, but they're here now," Kelsey said.
"Yeah, it is a lot to take in." Eric said.
"Your granddad says we'll be leaving at 1400 hours, so…" she paused, noticing the confused looks on their faces. "What?"
"When is 1400 hours?"
"Two o'clock," she said.
"Why not just say two o'clock?" Conner asked.
She rolled her eyes. "Come on, we have to meet the Admiral in the launch bay, I'll catch you up on the mission parameters on the way," she said.
Eric turned to Conner.
"You ready for this?"
He nodded. "Lets do it."
It was a sight to behold. The ship was just hovering above the city, if he had to take a guess, at about five hundred feet up. A light was coming from the ship to the ground, and other officials walked into the light, simply disappearing. He assumed there was some sort of teleportation involved, which wasn't too far fetched, considering that they were only a few years away from perfecting it themselves.
This would be he first time in history that all the world's leaders would be assembled in one place at one time. There had been times when there were world summit meetings, but most of the leaders participated via satellite uplinks. It was unprecedented, every world leader from every major power on the planet were going to be assembled in one place. Presidents and political figures from the Middle East, Russia, Canada, everywhere, were all going to be here. He couldn't help but think that this, while a grand moment in human history, it could also be a disastrous one. This would be the perfect opportunity to eliminate all the world leaders at one time, leaving entire planet defenseless. Then again, if the aliens truly wanted destroy the planet, they could have done it from orbit.
"Okay, lets go," he said, slowly approaching the light.
"We're right behind you Admiral," Kelsey assured him.
One by one, they entered the light from the spacecraft. It was an… interesting sensation, to say the least. It was as though the light, swallowed them whole, engulfed them. They continued to walk into the light, and after a few more steps, were onboard the ship itself. It was a long, silver-ish corridor. There were no lights to speak of, but the corridor was well lit. There were no doors along the corridor, at least none that he could identify.
There were others, all of them heading in one direction. He simply followed the others to the end of the hall, coming to a room. The room itself was huge, almost like a coliseum of some kind. The leaders of the world sat in a circle around the room, all of the seats facing towards the middle of the room. Admiral McKnight took the first seat he came to, and the rangers themselves took up position at the entranceway.
It didn't take long for the room to fill up, and once everyone was in their seats, the doors closed by themselves.
There was a flash of light, and when it died down, the alien appeared in the middle of the room.
"My friends, welcome. This promises to be a momentous day for both our species. My name is Zak'eth, my home world is Toriaous, which is, according to your measurement systems, 1.5 million light years from your galaxy. Many generations ago, my home world was plagued by some of the same problems mankind is facing today; poverty, disease, wars, biological weapons, all of it. There were separate religions, separate races, separate factions, all with their own beliefs. After countless billions of my people were killed in senseless wars, mostly dealing with separate philosophies and beliefs, we were able to establish peace. Now, we travel the universe in hope to preventing other races from suffering our fate, with the hope that they will learn our mistakes and not repeat them. I am here, friends, to offer your world peace, to eliminate hunger, angry, malice, greed, all the things that prevent your species from its natural evolution. If you will allow me my friends, I will assist your world in becoming a world of peace and prosperity. I can give you the technology to move your people forward, the opportunity to advance all of mankind. I see great potential for your world, allow me to help you realize that potential," the alien explained to them.
There was rumbling amongst the crowd, most of them talking to one another, and after a few moments of indecisiveness, they all began to applaud in unison.