The big metal compartment holding the cadets and instructors prisoner was the only thing that saved them. The snow slammed into it with more power than a runaway train. The compartment, not secured to the ground in any way, was bowled over. The walls screeched and bent as the pure power made the thick metal buckle. The people inside were knocked around as the avalanche forced the compartment to roll over several times before it seemed to choose a side. The snow pushed it across the ground and everyone inside was too banged around and disoriented to realize the true danger they were in. The compartment continued to slide until it slammed into the outcrop of rock near the edge. With a screech of metal it flipped over the outcropping to land with some of it hanging off the edge.
SSJZBSAK
Syd watched as the medics that arrived with the medvac loaded the injured cadet into the their shuttle while spouting off a bunch of medical terms she didn't have the time to listen to. She turned and scampered into the shuttle, intent on finding her teammates. She would never forgive herself if the last words she had said to any of them were ones of anger. They all meant so much more to her than she ever thought anyone could and to imagine them in danger without her there to help was heartbreaking to her. She quickly fired up the shuttle and was just about to lift into the air when she saw something that made her blood turn to ice. From several hundred yards back from the mountain she easily saw the avalanche that rumbled down the side.
Syd stared in horror. Please don't let them have been in that. Please let them be safe. She came back to herself, realizing that if they had gotten caught in the avalanche she needed to rescue them. Her training kicked in and she forced the shuttle into the air and toward the disaster, all the while praying her friends were safe.
SSJZBSAK
Z and Jack immediately moved toward the compartment while Sky stood rooted to his spot. Bridge. His teammate, roommate, and best friend was gone. The shear power of the avalanche had to have taken the Green Ranger over the side of the mountain. The climb up had been somewhat steep, so the fall down would not be easy on Bridge's fragile human body. The only hope for Bridge's survival was that he had stayed morphed after the avalanche hit. It did take quite a hit to make a Ranger demorph unwillingly, but an avalanche probably had enough power behind it. Sky felt sick to his stomach. The last thing he had said directly to Bridge was for him to learn when to shut up. This was not what he had in mind.
"Oh Bridge."
"Sky!" Jack called. "Come help us before this thing goes over the side!"
Sky shook himself out of his stupor and rushed to his two teammates. As soon as he got there he realized the problem. The control panel for the forcefield was hanging over the edge and there would be no easy way of getting to it. A shot to the panel could deactivate it or frazzle the circuit so that they couldn't get them out. They couldn't take a chance like that.
Sky moved around the ledge a little more so that he could see inside. Most of the people looked alright. Two cadets appeared to be unconscious and another obviously had a broken arm. The two instructors were moving about carefully, trying to check on the students. But it broke his heart to see that one of the cadets had broken his neck in the tumbling and was quite obviously dead. Someone was going to pay for that. A few others appeared to have minor injuries that weren't emergencies, but still needed to be looked at.
"What do we do?" Z asked.
Jack bit his lip as he considered the situation. The metal was too thick to cut open. The panel was too far over the edge for them to reach and crawling across the top of the compartment was out of the question. Too much weight could easily tip it over the side and none of the people inside would survive that. There really was only one option. They needed the shuttle they had come in. Jack pulled his morpher and flipped it open.
"Syd, we need you to bring the shuttle to the East side of the mountain!"
A squeal of static answered him. Jack shared a worried look with Z and Sky. All animosity between them had been washed away with the tide of snow. At the forefront of their minds they were worried about the cadets and instructors and now Sydney, but at the back of their minds they had to wonder if their green companion was still alive.
Just as the three Rangers were starting to lose hope they heard the comfortingly low murmur of a shuttle seconds before it came up from below the ridge. Syd waved at the three from inside and they waved back. Syd used the shuttle's speakers to communicate with her teammates.
"Is everyone okay?"
"No, there are some injured cadets inside that compartment!" Jack called back. "We need you to lower the wench!"
"Where's Bridge?" Syd asked, ignoring the order.
"Lower the wench Syd!" Jack repeated. He knew there wasn't time to deal with emotions.
Syd did as she was told and the bottom of the shuttle opened and with a mechanical whir the wench lowered enough for Z to grab it. The Yellow Ranger looked at the hook on the end of the wench and then at the compartment before looking at her two male teammates.
"How exactly are we supposed to do this? I don't see anyplace to hook this. If we wrap it around the end then as soon as she lifts it up it'll slip right out."
Jack and Sky exchanged a glance. Both of them knew how this was going to play out. They did a quick rock, paper, scissors to see who would do it. Neither of them ever wanted to let one of their teammates carry out a dangerous mission. Sky won and without hesitation he pulled his morpher.
"SPD Emergency!" In a flash of blue light he stood before them morphed and ready. "Hook it under my belt."
Z hesitated for only a second before she did as he ordered. The hook fit snuggly under his belt and once she was sure it was secure she patted him on the shoulder. Sky gave Jack a thumbs up to indicate he was ready to go. Jack then made a motion that told Syd to wench Sky up. The wench slowly began to pull up and a few minutes later Sky was lifted off his feet. Syd carefully maneuvered Sky through the air until he was hovering right in front of the control panel. It required a code.
Sky hissed angrily before a thought struck him. "Instructors, did anyone see the access code?"
"I didn't." Instructor Reece called.
"4-7-2-6-8-3-6-4-2-1-8-4-9-2-1-0." One of the cadets announced.
Sky hid his surprise well and instead asked the cadet to repeat it slow enough for him to enter it. The panel flashed green and the force field deactivated. Immediately the two Instructors inside helped the surviving cadets out and with the help of Z and Jack they began to check the cadets for injuries. There were some broken bones and a few concussions, but other than the one cadet that had been killed, there were no real serious injuries.
Syd was just about to move Sky back over the ground when the shuttle's alarms blared an intruder warning. She gasped and spun the seat around and found a new Purplehead Krybot charging for her. She kicked up both her feet and caught the robot in the chest. It made a hissing sound and grabbed her feet, pulling her out of the chair. She hurriedly reached down and pulled her blaster and got off one good shot. The Krybot was knocked backwards and it gave Syd enough time to get up. The Purplehead recovered quickly and kicked Syd's morpher out of her hand before she could morph. Both of them were thrown to the side as the unmanned shuttle veered off course and out of control.
Still hanging below the shuttle Sky gave a cry of surprise as the shuttle veered away from the safety of the ground. Without thinking he looked down and immediately wished he hadn't. He was high enough up that he wouldn't survive a straight fall and the shuttle was moving further away from the relative safety of the steep, but not as deadly, hill. It was too late for him to release himself. He only had two choices to save himself. Climb up the wench into the back of the shuttle or wait until it got close enough to the ground to safely release himself. It wasn't a hard choice. If he could get inside the shuttle he might be able to help Syd fix whatever problem she was having. That was easier said than done. The rope was behind him and attached to his back, so there was no easy way for him to grab it and climb up it. It was going to take a lot of skill and even more luck.
Standing on the ridge, Z and Jack could only watch in horror as the shuttle zoomed drunkenly away as if no one was in control. Z tried to talk to Syd via her morpher, but she was still answered with static. There was nothing they could do except watch on and pray that they didn't lose anymore teammates.
Inside the shuttle Syd was struggling against the powerful Purplehead Krybot. She hadn't been able to morph yet and her blaster was out of range as well. The shuttle was bucking crazily without a pilot, but the Krybot seemed to be handling it much better. It managed to land a kick to Syd's head that sent her crashing against the wall. She fell to the floor and didn't move. The Purplehead then turned and started toward the open cargo bay where the wench had been sent down. With a smooth metallic sound one arm transformed into a devastating looking cannon.
"SPD Emergency!"
The Purplehead spun back around and ducked a wild punch to the face. In that position it lunged forward and slammed Syd backwards. The Pink Ranger retaliated by pulling her Deltamax Striker and she stuck it across the head with the handle part. The robot wasn't affected in the least and kneed her hard in the gut. Syd grabbed an overhead bar and kicked the Purplehead square in the chest. The robot stumbled back a bit and she kicked it again, sending it flying against the wall. The shuttle tilted dangerously and even though she knew it was risky she rushed for the pilot seat. She was just able to grab the control and pull it out of the dive it had been on, but not hit the autopilot, when the Krybot wrapped and arm around her neck and yanked her out of the seat. Syd kicked and struggled, but now that it had her in its grasp it was too strong for her to escape.
"Now you die little Ranger." The Krybot hissed.
"You first."
The Krybot's head was blown off by the point blank shot. The arm around Syd's neck loosened and without sparing a glance at Sky she leapt into the pilot's seat. She pulled the shuttle back under control and then turned on the autopilot. With the threat gone she leaned back in the seat and caught her breath. She spared Sky a brief look as the Blue Ranger dropped into the co-pilots chair.
"Are you okay?" Sky asked.
Syd let out a shaky breath. That was the closest to death she had ever come. "I'll be alright." She paused and looked down at the path of destruction the avalanche had left. "I'll be better when we find Bridge."
"Yeah." Sky agreed softly. He didn't want to point out the fact that it was highly likely that they wouldn't find Bridge alive. Despite what people thought of him, he wasn't heartless. "C'mon Syd, Jack and Z need the shuttle."
"Right."
Back on the ground Z and Jack watched as the shuttle headed back their way. It had killed them to only be able to stand around and watch as both of their teammates were in peril. They had both been impressed when Sky had flipped himself upside down and showed his upper body strength by pushing himself up the chain and into the shuttle. They had held their breath when he disappeared inside as the shuttle was plummeting toward the ground. Now that the shuttle was stable and headed back to them they could breathe a little easier.
"I told him all those rope climbing exercises would come in handy." Instructor Reece said proudly.
"You told him a lot of things Sebastien, most of them you heard from me first." Instructor Nelson-Reece teased, trying to lighten the mood.
"How can you joke around at a time like this?" One of the cadets demanded. "Someone is dead, we're all banged up, and one of the Rangers is missing and probably dead."
Jack opened his mouth to reprimand the cadet, but Instructor Reece beat him to it. "Cadet Thomis that is enough! No one needs to be reminded of the severity of the situation, Cadet! It is not healthy to dwell on the negative, Cadet! Now, you will apologize to your fellow cadets, to me and Instructor Nelson-Reece, and to the Rangers for your rude and unprofessional behavior!"
"I'm sorry." The boy mumbled.
"I don't think anyone heard you boy!" Reece barked.
"I said I'm sorry!"
Jack and Z shared a look. Their three teammates had made note a few times of how the survival training had been the toughest part. Now they understood why. Instructor Reece looked simply fierce as he glared down the sulking cadet. It made them glad that they had been able to skip doing all the training the original members of the B-Squad had.
The shuttle buzzed over their heads and landed back in the now abandoned enemy encampment. The two Rangers and the two Instructors helped the cadets over the outcropping and toward the shuttle. Sky and Syd were already standing outside waiting for them. Everyone helped get the cadets settled before they stepped outside to talk.
"We need to get the cadets back to base." Jack said.
Instructor Reece gave him a slightly disapproving look before replying. "No, we need to get them back to base. You four have a teammate missing and your duty is to him."
"He's depending on you." Instructor Nelson-Reece added.
SSJZBSAK
When the avalanche hit Bridge had been swept away with it. It carried him over the edge and through a steep, but not fatal drop. He had been knocked unconscious somewhere during the first half. It had then kept pushing him down the rest of the mountain through some jagged rocks, a few long drops, and then a 630-foot free fall into a raging river. Had he hit solid ground his powers probably wouldn't have been enough to save him, but the water. Once he hit the river his life was saved by the fact that somehow he had remained morphed. His unconscious body was carried away by the swift waters within minutes his body was several miles away from where the avalanche had deposited him.
He drifted in and out of consciousness for a while. There were brief images of big rocks and being deep underwater during consciousness and dark room and hurtful words in unconsciousness. He wasn't awake when the rapids led him over a waterfall, but that was the last thing his suit could take without him lending conscious power to it. He was lucky enough to escape the undertow of the waterfall and in semi-consciousness managed to grab a log to float on.
Pain was the first thing he recognized when he finally came fully awake. He felt like he'd been put through a dishwasher and washing machine at the same time. His body was sore and his head felt like it was filled with cotton. He couldn't even remember what had happened at first, but he slowly began to remember things. The search and rescue mission that had turned into a hostage situation, the battle for those hostages, and the last thing he remembered clearly was an avalanche mowing him down and sweeping him away.
Bridge used his feet to paddle toward the riverbank as the tried to sort out what to do next. Once there he sprawled on his back as he took note of the situation. He was separated from his teammates and lost. A glance down at his sides didn't improve the situation any as he found both his morpher and his blaster gone. He was soaked to the bone and there was enough of a chilly wind to worry him about hypothermia.
"Ironic that I'm going to have to use the survival training I was taught by the people I came to rescue." Bridge said to himself.
He sat up and was kneeling on one knee when something strange caught his eye. Before he could get a really good look the water exploded upwards. Bridge scrambled backwards as a green figure dropped onto the riverbank in front of him. His heart thundered in his chest as he stared in disbelief. It was the Greenhead Krybot and Bridge had no way to morph.
TBC
Thanks go out to the following people for their kind reviews: garnetred, MzDany, jessica, My heart beats only for you, Jillie chan, jesusfreak1, and Trunks lil' sis. Your reviews brighten my day.