Reefside, California
"Are you sure you want to do this? Lightspeed Rescue is more than capable of dealing with this without you," Tommy said as he leaned up against the wall, watching her as she packed her belongings.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're going to miss me," she said with a giggle.
He blushed. "Its just that… I mean," he paused. "I don't like that Conner went, and now you're going too. I just want you to be safe," he said.
"I will be. You said it yourself, Lightspeed Rescue is capable."
"Just be careful."
She zipped up her suitcase, and then walked over to him, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll contact you as soon as I get there. Don't worry, I'll solve their morpher problem and be back before you can get yourself into any more trouble," she said.
Tommy cracked a smile as Hayley grabbed her bag, walking out the room.
Mariner Bay, California
The Admiral ordered an emergency meeting of the senior staff, and as soon as he did, Captain Mitchell got nervous. The last time the Admiral called a meeting, it was to inform him that android rangers were taking over Lightspeed Rescue. 'And we all know how badly that turned out,' he recalled. The Captain set on one side of the table, along with Mrs. Rawlings.
"Admiral, is everything okay?" he asked, breaking the silence between them.
"Everything is more than fine, its great. The aliens are promising to provide us with everything we need to bring peace to the world. This is truly a great day for our planet," he told them.
"With all due respect sir, doesn't it all seem a little convenient? They just show up and promise to give us world peace, but what do they get in exchange?" Mrs. Rawlings inquired.
"They're only here to supervise the changes. Once everything is…"
"Changes? What changes?" Captain Mitchell asked.
"Right now, the president is in a meeting with the other world leaders and the United Nations. We're going to eliminate boarders dividing our countries; no more separate countries. Once the merger goes through, we will all be one country, one planet. Zak'eth is here to ensure that it all goes well, and once the merger is complete, he will provide us with technology to benefit all mankind," he explained.
"Sir, eliminating countries will…"
"It is just a small token of good faith for the world. We've all been separated from one another in one way or another; by race, my countries, by gender, by beliefs, but no more. All nuclear and chemical weapons are going to be disposed of, and there will be no threat of war from anyone on the planet," he said.
"Disposed of? How?"
"Zak'eth is going to take them and eject them into space where no one can reach them. Finally, the Earth will be at peace."
"Or we'll be an easy target for an alien attack," the Captain mentioned.
"I understand why you're skeptical about it, but once Zak'eth explains it to you, you'll understand as well," the Admiral said. "I've scheduled a meeting with Zak'eth for you. He'll be expecting you at 2100 hours."
"Sir, I think it would be wise if…"
"It wasn't a request Captain. All senior staff will join Zak'eth for the meeting. Its important that you share in our vision for a new world," he said.
He sighed. "Very well sir."
"Good. Don't worry Bill, everything is going to be just fine," he said, walking out the room.
Once the doors closed, Mrs. Rawlings turned to the captain. "Something is going on," she said.
"I think so too, but we can't be sure until we actually meet this Zak'eth for ourselves," he said.
"I'll have a talk with Kelsey, see what she says about it."
"That's a good idea. In the meantime, how is work on the titanium morpher going?" the Captain asked.
"Very well, actually. The new staff we hired is going a great job. I wish they'd been here when we originally designed the morpher, they would have been a great help," she mentioned.
"Good. Until we figure out what's going on, report directly to me. Don't say anything to the Admiral until we've discussed it first," he said.
"Understood."
The Aqua Base itself was much bigger than she imaged it would be. There were long corridors, subsections, and more turns than she'd ever seen before. It was more a labyrinth than anything else. She kept looking along the walls, hoping to find a "you are here" sign of some kind, but no such luck.
"You lost?" a voice asked.
She turned around as a man walked towards her. At first glance, it was obvious that he worked for Lightspeed Rescue, considering he was wearing the jacket.
"I think lost is an understatement. I've been down the hall six times already," she admitted.
"Where are you trying to go?"
"To the briefing room. I'm supposed to meet Ms. Fairweather there."
"You mean Mrs. Rawlings?"
She paused. "No, Ms. Fairweather."
"Mrs. Rawlings is Ms. Fairweather, she got married and doesn't use her maiden name much anymore."
"Oh. How about Mrs. Fairweather-Rawlings then? Maybe it would just be easier to call her by her first name."
"Either way, I can take you to her, I know this place like the back of my hand," he paused. "I'm Ryan. Ryan Mitchell," he introduced.
"Nice to meet you Ryan Ryan Mitchell. I'm Tori Hansen," she smiled.
"Are you one of the new staff members?"
"I'm here to be a Lightspeed ranger," she told him.
He giggled. "You? Really?"
"Yes. What's so funny about that?"
"Its just that… well, you're so short," he said as they began to walk.
She blushed. "I am not short, I'm just… height impaired."
"This your first time as a ranger?"
"No, I was a ranger back home."
"Which color?"
"Blue. Well, it was more of a sky blue, really," she said.
"I was the Titanium ranger. With any luck they'll get it working again," he said.
"Titanium? That isn't a color."
"It was more like a silver color," he pointed out.
"So why not call it the silver ranger?"
"That just sounds silly."
"So what do you think the aliens want?" Ryan asked, changing the subject as they walked.
"The Admiral seems to think they're here to help us end war and hunger, but my dad isn't so sure."
"You dad works here?"
"Yeah, he's the Captain."
"A regular family affair, huh?"
"You could say that," they stopped at the entrance to the briefing room, and he stepped aside, allowing her in first. "Here we are."
"Where are the others?" she asked.
"Not sure, they'll be along soon."
Just then, someone else walked into the room, looking around the room. "Wow, I'm so tripped out, I can't even deal. This place is huge," he said, glancing around at everything.
"Ethan?" Tori asked.
He looked up. "Evil ninja hottie? I mean, Tori?" he responded.
"Its good to see you again."
"You too."
"Wait, you were evil?" Ryan asked.
Tori nodded. "Yeah, once."
"Me too."
"Really?"
"Yeah, tried to destroy the other rangers," he said.
"Let me guess, sixth ranger, right?" Ethan asked.
"How'd you know?"
"I've been brushing up on my ranger history."
"Are you here for one of the Lightspeed morphers?" Tori asked, getting back on subject.
"Yeah, you?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know which color you are yet?" Ethan asked.
"No, you?"
"You're here for the pink ranger," Mrs. Rawlings said as she walked into the room with a small, metal box in her hand. "Tori, Ethan, welcome to the Aqua Base," she said cheerfully.
"Thanks. So, what color am I getting?" he asked.
The door closed, and Mrs. Rawlings walked over to one of the control panels.
'Communications disabled,' the computer announced.
"Listen, there isn't a lot of time. There's something going on, but we're not sure what. Until we're sure, the only people I want you to talk to about this are me, the captain, and each other," she said.
"What about the other rangers?" Ryan asked.
"No, not even them. It may be nothing, but until we're sure, its better to be safe than sorry," she said.
"Okay, but what color am I getting?" Ethan repeated.
Mrs. Rawlings set the box down on the table in the middle of the room, opening it. "Tori, the pink lightspeed morpher is yours. Ethan, you will be the red ranger," she announced, handing both of them their morphers.
"Sweet, red! Conner will be so jealous," he said, putting his morpher on.
"Where are the other rangers?" Ryan asked.
"I don't know, no one has seen them since they came back from the meeting with the alien," she said.
"I'll try to contact them, see if…"
"No, there's something I want to check out first. The three of you stay here, I'll contact you as soon as I know something," Mrs. Rawlings said, walking out the room.
Reefside, California
"So this is your brilliant plan? Sitting here waiting?" Jason asked as he sat down at the table across from Tommy.
"Its been working so far," he took a sip of his drink. "Conner and Ethan are there, Hayley is out there, and the other rangers are more than capable of…" he was cut short.
"I know they can do it, but there was a time when you would have wanted to be in the middle of the action. What happened man? You're letting this school teacher/secret identity thing go to your head," he said.
"Its not a secret identity, I am a teacher."
"You're a ranger, you'll always be a ranger. I say we ranger up, head out to Marnier Bay and lend a hand."
"But we don't have our powers, what good could we do?"
"We both know for a fact that my old morpher still works, and you still have the red Zeo morpher. We managed to stop the Machine Empire with'em a few years ago, and I'm sure they have more than enough power to kick some alien ass!" Jason said.
"Haven't you been watching the news? The alien is here to support unification. They're here to help."
"You spent all that time in school getting your PHD, but you can still be pretty naïve about some things, can't you? You really think some being from another world came here with unlimited powers, and his only goal is to find a way to help mankind?"
"Zordon did," Tommy mentioned.
"Okay, that's one example, but…"
"The alien rangers," he brought up.
"True, but that's it."
"Tre from Treforia."
"Yeah, but..."
"Andros, Dimitri…"
"Fine, you made your point, but something in my gut tells me this is wrong man. We should get out there, just in case," Jason said.
Tommy took another sip of his drink. "I'll tell you what. I'll give Hayley a call to see how things are going. If it sounds like something is wrong, we'll go out there and check it out," he said.
"Good, I'm dying for some action."
Mariner Bay, California
"Hand me the particle aligner," Cam said, staring down at the morpher on the table, simply sticking his hand out.
Hayley reached over, grabbing the aligner, handing it to him. "What do you think the problem is?" she asked.
"It looks to me like the power source is emitting too much power, and the conduits that route that power can't support it. Energy leaks from it, making it almost impossible for anyone to control the power," he said.
"Good guess."
"More than a guess, look," he motioned for her to glance down. "These are the conduits, you can see they've been burned, and no doubt leaking energy. The human body isn't meant to deal with that kind of energy directly," he said.
"All we need to do is realign the particle stream, and find a conduit strong enough to support the morpher energy," she said.
"I'm working on it, but I can't think of anything that could… unless…"
"Unless what?"
"You see how there are only four conduits here…" he was cut short.
"If we add additional conduits, the energy would be evenly divided into each one, allowing it to stabilize," she said.
"Great minds think alike," Cam confessed.
"How long will it take to make the modifications?" she asked.
"About an hour, maybe two. Even when its done, it will still generate more power than I've ever seen."
"Good. When this is over, I'd love to see some of the other stuff you've been working on," Hayley mentioned.
"Same here, your work with the dino morphers was nothing short of brilliant," he said.
"Thanks."
"How's it coming in here?" a voice asked.
Hayley turned around as the Admiral walked into the room. "Just fine, we've figured out the problem and working on it as we speak," she said.
"Does the project require both of you?"
Cam looked over at Hayley. "I can handle it,"
"No, I guess not."
"Good. I want you to join the captain and the others in their meeting with Zak'eth," he told her.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Okay," she turned to Cam. "I'll be back as soon as I can," she said, then followed the Admiral out the room.
Turtle Cove, California
Even on the Animarium, the alien ship hovering over the city blocked out the entire sky. The entire Animarium was dark, and the torches Shayla lit weren't providing enough light. She sat down near the fountain, letting out a sigh. Something was wrong, she could sense it, but she didn't know what it was.
"Princess?" a voice asked.
Because it was so dark, she couldn't tell who it was, but it was obvious that someone was coming towards her.
"Who's there?" she called out.
The figure came closer, and soon, she was able to see who it was. "Its me, Taylor. Why are you sitting up here by yourself?" she asked.
"Taylor, its good to see you. I am always here," she stood up, walking over to her. She was a few feet away, and the sacred water began to boil. Almost at the exact same time, Shayla fell to her knees, holding her head in pain.
"Princess? What is it? What's wrong?" Taylor asked, rushing over to her, helping her up.
"S-Something… evil," she groaned. "I can hear them, in my mind, they're planning something."
"Who is… it's the aliens, isn't it?"
"Too many voices, I can't understand them all," Shayla cried.
Taylor stood up. "Shayla, I'll find out what's going on. Where do you keep the Growl Phones?"
Marnier Bay, California
Captain Mitchell and the others stood a few feet away from the light coming from the ship, feeling uneasy about going in.
"I don't like this, it feels wrong," Mrs. Rawlings mentioned.
"Agreed, I don't think…"
"We have to go. We all agree something is going on, but until we go there and look around, we won't know what it is. Besides, it's only a matter of time before the Cam gets the titanium morpher working. If something goes wrong, the others will be able to mount a rescue," he said.
"Maybe we're reading too much into this. Maybe there's nothing wrong," Hayley said.
"Maybe," he sighed. "Well, lets get this over with," he said, stepping into the light.
The three of them stepped into the light, and it seemed to surround them somehow. There was light all around them, but they continued forward. Within seconds, they passed through the light, and found themselves on board the alien ship.
"Whoa, this was interesting," Hayley said.
Mrs. Rawlings looked around, and much as she didn't want to admit it, was impressed with the overall design of the ship. "No welcome wagon?" she asked.
"Guess not."
The three of them continued down the hall, making their way towards the only thing that looked like it could be a door. As they walked, the Captain heard something, but wasn't sure what it was.
"Did you hear that?"
"What?" Mrs. Rawlings asked.
"There it is again, a thumping sound," he said.
All three of them paused, listening carefully.
"Wait, I heard it too. It's coming from…" she walked over to the wall, pressing her ear against it. As soon as she did, the entire door disappeared, revealing a room. "That was interesting."
The captain and Mrs. Rawlings walked into the room, where they saw…
"Wes? Eric?" the captain hurried over to them.
The red Time Force ranger and Quantum ranger were chained to the ceiling, dangling on a chain.
"Get us out of here," Wes said.
"What happened to you?" Hayley asked, looking for a way to get them down.
"It's the aliens, they're…" before he could finish his sentence, an energy beam struck him, hitting him in the chest.
"What the…"
Captain Mitchell turned around as the Conner, Kelsey and Eric walked in the room, each of them with V lancers in hand.
"No one will be allowed to interfere with Zak'eth's plans," Conner said.
"Kelsey, stand down. That's an order," the Captain said.
"I don't take orders from you Bill," she said, swinging her V lancer and hitting him over the head, knocking him out.
Conner swung at Hayley, but she ducked, and then hit a leg sweep, knocking Kelsey over. Conner made a move, but the Quantum ranger, still hanging from his chain, kicked the V lancer out his hand. Mrs. Rawlings picked it up, but Eric knocked it out her hand.
"None of you are going anywhere. The unification will be completed, and the world will finally be at peace," Eric said.
At that moment, Zak'eth walked into the room, nodding with approval.
"Very good my children, very good. Restrain the intruders, but bring Captain Mitchell to the conference hall. I have bigger plans for him," he said.
"As you wish Zak'eth," Kelsey said with a devious smile.
Cam was in the Aqua Base, putting the finishing touches on the titanium morpher. He had to admit, the design, though years old, was just as advanced as the work he did on the wind morphers, if not more. He was impressed with the design, and tacitly decided that if he ever had to create morphers again, he would use a similar design.
Once he was finished, he looked down at his watch, and became concerned that neither the Captain nor Hayley had returned yet. He walked over to the control panel, but before he could activate it, it came on by itself.
"Hayley, this is Tommy, do you read me?"
Cam switched on the communications system. "Dr. Oliver, this is Cam. Hayley isn't here, she's on the alien ship," he told him.
"Is everything okay out there?"
"I'm not sure. Something is definitively going on, but I'm not sure what," he said.
"I can tell you what's going on," a voice said. Cam turned around as Hayley walked into the room. "The United Nations came to a unanimous decision. As of this moment, the president has relinquished his command of the country, and the borders between countries have been dissolved. We are no longer a group of countries; we are one planet, unified. Zak'eth was right, the world was in need of cleansing, and now, we are. No more war, no more hunger, and all who live under his rule will reap the benefits of this new world," she explained.
"Yeah, it's the living under his rule part that I don't agree with," Cam said, putting his hands behind his back, slipping on the Titanium morpher without her noticing.
"Cam, what's going on?" Tommy asked.
Conner and Eric walked into the room with their V lancers in hand, pointing them at Cam as Hayley walked over to the communications system.
"Tommy, sweetie, everything here is fine. We have everything under control here, no need to worry," she said.
"Are you sure? Jason and I could come out there and…""Its not necessary, we have everything under control here," Hayley told him.
"If you say so."
"Talk to you soon sweetie," she said, turning off the communications system.
"I don't know what happened to you over there Hayley, or what you're up to, but you'll never…" Cam was cut short as Zak'eth walked into the room, observing the area.
"Never get away with it, you say? I have accomplished in twenty fours what your world hasn't been able to do since its creation, establish world peace. My message of peace has been transmitted to everyone on the planet, and now, your world will finally know what its like to…"
"Know what its like to what? Be manipulated? How are you doing it? Implants? Mind control?" Cam snapped.
"Neither. Those who support unification do so because they believe its what's best for this world," Zak'eth walked over to him, standing face to face with Cam. It was only for a brief moment, but his eyes lit up, more like a flash. "Don't you agree Cam?"
He nodded. "Yes, I understand your vision. Earth will be cleansed, and we will all live in peace… by any means necessary," Cam said with a sinister smile on his face.
coming soon... Incursion