In her room, Z slips into the dress provided by Lina, Z holds a dainty clutch purse, which contains some money, and her SPD. Under her dress, strapped to her thigh is a recording device.
After leaving, Z arrives at the location. If there was one thing Z hated more than anything it was waiting around. A childhood spent on the streets taught her to keep on the move at all times. Staying still for too long usually led to trouble and meant that you were attracting the wrong kind of attention. She had been inside this warehouse for the last couple of hours with no sign of anyone significant from Lothor. That left her with nothing to do but attempt small talk with the other girls. Some of them were engaging but most of them were extremely vapid, to the point that Z thought they were actually proud of their stupidity.
She had just finished a rather tedious conversation with a girl by the name of Kasey, who's proudest achievement was successfully finding the perfect shade of foundation to match her skin tone. Every fibre of Z's body wanted to pour scorn on the girl but instead she had to twirl her hair around her finger and remember to giggle at the right moments. She didn't want to draw more attention to herself than necessary, she was literally in the lion's den right now.
"Jeez, I thought she'd never shut up", another one of the girls groaned and flopped down next to Z, "did you know her ambition is to be one of the Kardashian's", the girl shook her head, "product of the reality TV generation right there".
Z had noticed this girl a couple of times, hard not when she was dressed in a yellow corset top and tight blue hot pants. The yellow ranger had to admire her glossy blonde hair. There was something different about this girl from the others, she seemed smarter than anyone else she had talked to, "Gia Morgan", she offered her hand to Z.
"Elizabeth Daniels", she replied with the fake name Kat had created for her, "but you can call me Lizzy".
"You seem different from the others Lizzy", Gia began, "tell me, what is a well educated individual like yourself doing here".
Internally Z snorted, she had no formal education to speak of. Almost everything she learned had been scavenged from discarded library books or from the older kids on the street. Mind you, compared to Kasey and the others, Z must've looked like a genius, "Could ask you the same question", she shrugged in an attempt to turn the conversation back to the brunette.
"Family matters mostly", came Gia's non committal response, "and money, I hear you can make a lot of money working for this Lothor". That was something that Z definitely agreed.
Their conversation was cut short by the main doors to the warehouse opening and then very quickly closing. Z was immediately on alert, only to be surprised by the number of people entering the warehouse. She immediately recognised Lothor and his right hand man but the others were unknown to her. Judging by the way they were walking in together they were his entourage.
Out the corner of her eye Z could see Gia tensing up. Z had to wonder why because there was no obvious sign of a threat from the men. Pushing that aside the yellow ranger slowly got up and began to join the other women. She made sure to keep the small bag donated by Kat within close reach, something about this situation was beginning to feel dangerous.
Lohor gently raised his arm, bringing to halt the rest of his crew. Z carefully observed the bodyguards fanning themselves out around the warehouse, enclosing the girls in a semi circle, "Good evening ladies", he began with a smooth voice, "I apologise for keeping you waiting".
By now Z's danger-sense was really buzzing. The excessive muscle in the room and the general demeanour of the group didn't make this feel like an ordinary meeting. This felt more like an ambush, "Most of you have come here seeking employment within my organisation", Lothor continued, "however, I have learned that one of you isn't who they appear to be". Now Z really was ready for action, had her identity been discovered that quickly?
"If there's one thing the family doesn't tolerate, it's a rat", Marah continued, "we also do not tolerate failure". She clicked her fingers and two of the bodyguards grabbed one of the men out of the crowd. Z recognised him as the chief recruiter in the city, he had been the one to welcome her to the warehouse earlier in the day.
The man was shoved roughly to the ground, landing firmly on his knees. He began muttering something in a language Z didn't understand but suspected it was probably Alien, "Oh stop begging Carlo", Marah snapped at the man, "your failure brought SPD into our midst and for that, you must suffer the consequences". Before Z could react, Marah had pulled a handgun out of her jacket and aimed it squarely at the man's head. A fraction of a second later there was a loud bang and the man's lifeless body slumped to the ground.
The gunshot had an immediately effect on the girl's with the majority of them crying out in panic and shock. It took Z a few moments to realise she hadn't reacted like the others and quickly feigned distress at the lifeless corpse on the ground. "That's your only chance Miss SPD officer", Lothor shouted over the despairing cries, "the next bullet has your name on it". Z cursed herself, the recruiter was a terrible person but he didn't deserve to be executed. She must've slipped up during the day, that was the only way Lothor could've been tipped off to her presence. The question now was, what was she going to do?
A hundred metres or so away from the warehouse, Lina was completing her drive to the location of the meeting. Taking an SPD Cruiser would've alerted Tate to her departure and announced her presence to everyone in the area. Instead she had to commandeer a civilian vehicle and drive to the outskirts of Newtech. The green ranger hadn't been involved in the execution of the mission but she had sat in on the planning and briefing sessions. That gave her excellent knowledge of the lookouts and their scope on the surrounding area.
Abandoning the car near a large warehouse, Lina spotted her target standing in the window of the building on the other side of the street. She waiting until the sentry was looking the other way and sprinted towards the building. Pressing herself against the wall, she inched across until reaching the door. Carefully pulling the door towards her, she inched up the metal stairs until the blonde haired guard came into view.
The blue ranger planned on sneaking up on the sentry, subduing them enough to calm them down and take her to Bridge in the command position. She inched closer until she was practically in touching distance of her target. The guard though had sensed her presence, dropping her shoulder and grabbing Lina's outstretched arm. With a firm throw, Lina was tossed over the guard's shoulder and landed painfully on her back, "Jesus Barbie, it's only me", the blue ranger groaned, "good reflexes by the way".
"Not as dumb as I look", Syd smiled and flicked her hair over her shoulder. Lina resisted the urge to roll her eyes, clearly the pink ranger hadn't realised that her comment wasn't exactly flattering, "What are you doing here? Tate will toss you back into containment for this".
"I don't care", Lina groaned as she slowly sat up, "you've seen the extra muscle arrive and you're going to need all the help you can get".
Syd frowned at the blue ranger, "How did you know about that?"
Lina waived her morpher in the air, "Used the radio function, been listening in all afternoon". A loud blast immediately got the attention of the B Squad rangers, "Gunshots", Lina gasped, "now I'm definitely going with you", she grabbed Syd hand and practically dragged her from her lookout perch.
The gunshot had also gotten the attention of the other SPD officers and soldiers in the area. Some of them weren't even bothering to hide their presence any more. One or two even openly gawped at the sight of the blue B Squad ranger dragging her team mate down the street, "Ears open and blasters ready", Syd was able to stammer out, despite the quick pace that Lina was forcing her to move at.
"I seriously underestimated you Sydney", Lina said when they paused at a small wooden hut, "you're a damn fine officer". Her few short weeks out of containment had forced Lina to eat a lot of humble pie. Time Force had looked down on everyone when the truth was, everyone in SPD were excellent at their jobs. It only made her regret her past behaviour even more.
The pink ranger smiled gratefully at the praise but their moment was interrupted when the door to the shack opened, revealing an angry looking Bridge, "I would say I'm surprised that you're here", he began slowly, "but I'm actually more surprised it took you this long to get here". Lina remained stony faced under the intense glare of the red ranger, "You know that Tate will be aware of your presence by now".
"That I can confirm", JJ added as he stuck his head out the command post. He was rubbing his right ear whilst holding a headset at arm's length away from his body. Even from a distance everyone could recognised the angry barking voice as Commander Tate's. The green ranger offered the headset to Lina, "I think it's for you".
Lina took a deep breath and went to take the headset from JJ. She was prepared to accept whatever punishment the Commander was about to dish out, even the inevitable return to containment. To her surprise Bridge took the headset from JJ and turned it off, "It would probably be a boring conversation anyway", the red ranger shrugged and tossed the headset back into the command post.
"Bridge Carson deliberately breaking the rules", Lina smirked, "I must've been a bad influence on you".
"Maybe", Bridge replied, "you might be rude, arrogant and disobedient but you've done as much to ensure the success of this mission as anyone else". He extended his hand towards Lina, "Which is why I'm exercising my authority as field commander, hand over your morpher". The blue ranger hesitantly passed her morpher over to Bridge who flipped it open and tapped a few commands into the keypad. The device flashed bright blue before he handed it back to Lina, "I've enabled the morphing capability", he continued, "can't have you going in there unprotected".
Lina didn't know what to say as she silently accepted the morpher back from Bridge, "I don't deserve this", she muttered softly.
"Hey you're one of us", Syd nudged her in the shoulder, "no point having a blue ranger that can't morph".
"You can't begin to atone if we don't give you the chance", JJ added with a small smile.
"Welcome to B Squad rookie", Bridge patted Lina on the shoulder and began to lead them towards the warehouse.
The blue ranger smiled warmly before realising what Bridge had said, "Hey I'm no rookie", she snapped.
"You're the new member of the team aren't you?" he shrugged, "plus you have nicknames for the rest of us, only fair that you have your own". Outwardly Lina didn't look impressed but inside she finally felt part of the team, although that would probably all change when Commander Tate was through with her after the mission, "C Squad, Captain Misho, check in", Sky called into his morpher.
"C Squad ready for action", a voice called back.
"Misho here", another voice responded.
"Possible hostile action", Bridge continued with his orders, "SPD officer in danger. B Squad is going in to offer assistance, C Squad secure the perimeter don't let anyone escape. Captain Misho your units will back us up, come in through all entrances one minute after my signal". There were a couple of confirmation calls back through his morpher confirming that his orders had been received. "What do you say rookie, fancy leading the call on your first assignment?" Bridge said the blue ranger.
"Why not", Lina shrugged, "probably be my last assignment once Tate's through with me". With everyone in a line she called out loudly, "SPD, Emergency".
It had been a while since Lina had morphed and it felt good to feel the familiar burst of power wash over her. If she was honest with herself, she had secretly admired the B Squad's uniforms. They looked much more professional than TimeForce. She immediately noticed the difference between the suits though. Time Force had been designed for power and strength which sometimes impeded her mobility. Her new blue suit felt much more flexible, "Shame this is the last time I'll wear it", she mumbled sadly to herself.
That was a concern for the future though. Pulling out her Deltamax Striker, she joined her team mates in a charge towards the warehouse. They had a friend to rescue.
