Part 6 – Rangers Rising
As the team awoke the next morning, Matt started his day the way he always did before becoming a Ranger, a toasted bagel with grape jelly.
As he was eating with his breakfast, his little brother, nine-year-old Eric Aspenov came running down the stairs, and nearly knocked over Matt's breakfast.
"Hey little man," Matt said, "Easy there."
"Sorry Matt," Eric said as he walked over to his spot at the table next to Matt, "Do you have to go to work today?"
"I'm afraid so little guy," Matt said as he ruffled his little brother's thickly-cut hair, "Today's a big day."
"Why?" Eric asked.
"Yea," Matt and Eric's mother, Paula Aspenov said as she walked over with Eric's breakfast, a piece of cheese-toast with a glass of grape juice, "What's so big about today?"
At Steven's house…
Steven was sitting at his table with his mother, Loren Malone and his father, Richard Malone who had actually asked the same question as Paula.
"On that previous Alliance Operation, where my squad was nearly declared M.I.A., we discovered something that might actually help us get Earth back." Steven said.
At Lara's house…
Lara was sitting at the table with her mother, Megan, her father, Alec Jones, and her nine-year-old twin-sisters Erica and Marie Jones.
"What?" Erica and Marie asked at the same time.
"Reinforcements," Lara said, "We found some kind of ancient technology that should help us in our fight against the Serpent Empire."
At Jackie's house…
"Reinforcements?" Jackie's mother, Melissa Nelson asked.
"What kind?" Jackie's father, Paul Nelson asked.
Damien's house…
"You'll see at the conference," Damien said as he finished his breakfast, and stood up, "You'll see, I think you'll like this."
On board the Jörmungandr, Gaeko was observing WarMachine's abilities, his wrist-mounted gun was a pretty devastating weapon.
As WarMachine was practicing, he was using Es'ka as his targets, the assault laser rounds that he fired at the first Es'ka send it flying backwards against the wall, and held him there until he stopped firing.
"B-b-basic assault l-l-laser rounds," WarMachine said, "The f-f-full speed can g-g-go up to o-o-one thousand and t-t-twenty-five rounds p-p-per minute. Fast enough, a-a-as you can see to pin someone t-t-to the nearest wall."
"What elssse you got?" Gaeko asked.
WarMachine held his arm at a ninety degree angle, and spoke, "E-e-explosives." He said.
As he raised his arm to the next Es'ka, his wrist-mounted gun rotated slower than the assault laser rounds, and spat out rounds that exploded on impact with the Es'ka's chest.
"Niccce." Gaeko said.
"E-e-explosive rounds," WarMachine said, "Dangerous w-w-when fired. The f-f-full speed is a-a-around one hundred and t-t-twenty rounds p-p-per minute."
"Ssshow them the coup-de-gras." Gaeko said.
"D-d-disintegration." WarMachine said.
WarMachine raised his gun to the last Es'ka, and three laser beams came shooting out the end of the gun, and virtually disintegrated the Es'ka.
"A-a-all at o-o-once," WarMachine said, "I-I-I don't have a real n-n-name for it. It has e-e-enough power to b-b-burn a hole through anything it touches."
"The Rangersss don't ssstand a chance," Gaeko said, "We arrive in two hours, get ready."
On Mirinoi…
Damien and his team walked into the main atrium where Carter was showing them the stage, "This is where you'll be standing," Carter said as he pointed to the elevated floor with the Alliance's Seal on the floor, "Commander Tate will be making the announcement. Me and Major Collins will be standing beside the stage."
"What do you want us to do?" Damien asked.
"Here's what's going to happen," Wes said as he entered, "You five will stand on the stage, summon your Morphers, morph on stage, and we hold a small conference."
"That's it?" Damien asked.
"Yea," Carter said, "Why, not grand enough?"
"No," Damien said, "It's not that, I just thought there'd be a demonstration or something. I don't think people would be took trusting to seeing just five people morphing into Power Rangers on stage, and that's it."
"That may be the case," Carter said, "But we don't have any way to give a demonstration."
"In the meantime," Commander Tate said as he pointed at the stage, "I'd get up there, we've got about one hour before the show starts."
Damien shrugged, and stepped up onto the platform, then turned around to offer a hand to Lara who accepted.
"Such a gentleman," Lara said as Damien helped her onto the stage, "Thank you."
"I don't really feel good about being a news story," Jackie said as the curtain closed.
"Neither do I," Damien said, "But Carter does have a point, we need to keep the people's spirits up. Maybe a new team of Power Rangers is exactly what they need."
"Maybe you're right Damien," Lara said, "Maybe you're right."
The crowd soon started to gather outside the base, and as they were escorted into the atrium, Damien took a peak outside the curtain.
He saw his mother and sister where there, Matt's mother and brother were there, as were Steven's mother and father, Jackie's mother and father, and Lara's mother, father, and little sisters, but his father wasn't.
"Are they out there?" Lara asked.
"Everyone but my father." Damien said.
"I'm sorry," Lara said as she put her hand on Damien's shoulder, "That really doesn't matter now, we still have work to do."
"You're right," Damien said as he sat on the floor, "Well, we're going to be here a while, might as well get comfortable."
As the team took their seats around Damien who started working on his phone.
"Several years after we lose Earth, and we still haven't made any real advancement in phone technology other than just adjusting the size," Lara said, "It's weird, isn't it?"
"Yea," Damien said, "Especially after the resizing the suits did."
"The suits?" Matt asked.
"You didn't see the size of the original Red Cosmic Rangers?" Damien asked.
"Cosmic Ranger," Steven asked, "Is that what we're calling ourselves?"
"I just thought 'Cosmic Power', Cosmic Rangers." Damien said.
"I like it actually," Jackie said, "It has a nice ring to it."
"I'll admit it does," Lara said, "I wonder though, what were the two species we didn't know?"
"Maybe we should find out," Matt said, "We should find out who our predecessors were."
"Yea," Damien said, "We should do research, study our star-charts, and see what we can find out."
The lights then came flashing on, and Lara spoke as she checked her watch, "That was an hour?" She asked.
"Oh damn, it's time," Damien said as he checked his watch, and stood upright, "We better get ready," he then stood in the center of the seal, "Matt, on my right. Steven, on my left. Jackie, next to Matt. Lara, next to Steven."
As the team took their places they saw Commander Tate's silhouette walk up to the podium, and thunderous applause erupted from the crowd. Carter then walked up to the right side of the stage, while Wes stood on the left side of the stage.
Commander Tate tapped the microphone twice, "Testing, testing," he said into the microphone, "It's working. I want to thank you all for coming to this momentous occasion. I don't think it was a week ago that the Alliance was formally created. But today marks another chapter in the story of the Alliance. On the first expedition to a distant planet, Major Grayson's team discovered something that could very well be what we are looking for to give us the edge in humanity's fight against the Serpent Empire."
"You c-c-couldn't be m-m-more right," a voice said from the balcony as WarMachine suddenly appeared with a small group of Es'ka, and Gaeko.
"Gaeko," Carter said as he, Sky, and Wes grabbed their Prehenderats, "Who's your friend?"
"I-I-I am WarMachine," WarMachine said, "And I'm n-n-not here f-f-for you. I-I-I'm here for your friends," WarMachine raised his arm toward the stage, and spoke, "Explosive."
Carter tried to rush into the curtain only to have WarMachine fire three rounds into the curtain which exploded, and sent him, Wes, and Sky flying.
Carter landed in the crowd who had also been launched backwards, he looked up to see the curtain smoking, and shouted, "NO!"
WarMachine laughed, jumped down into the crowd, and started walking toward them, "Y-y-you think this is the f-f-first time I have tangled with w-w-warriors like them," he asked, "I-I-I have killed many. And I have killed m-m-many that are b-b-better than them," he raised his arm, "Assault Rounds."
As he lowered his arm towards Carter a barrage of bullets came flying out of the curtain followed by Damien and his team jumping out of the curtain in their armor.
"WarMachine eh," Damien asked as he leveled his Prehenderat towards WarMachine, "I would have gone with Hybrid Lizard."
The crowd was in shock, there were a team of Power Rangers standing in front of them wearing diamond-like metal armor.
"S-s-so you are the new P-P-Power Rangers," WarMachine said, "You w-w-will die the same way t-t-that your predecessors did."
"We'll see about that," Damien said as him and his team fired several shots into WarMachine's chest, causing him to stumble backwards, "Major, get everyone out of here!"
As Carter started to lead everyone outside the atrium, the Es'ka jumped down with Gaeko, "I know Gaeko's your villain boss," Matt said, "But you mind if I take him this time?"
"Be my guest," Damien said as he and his team put their blasters away, "Let's get them."
As the Es'ka charged, Damien dodged the punch from the first Es'ka, grabbed his arm, swung him into the body of a second Es'ka, and planted his foot into the first's chest, knocking them both backwards. Another Es'ka jumped at Damien who grabbed him as he came in, and used the forward momentum of the Es'ka's movement to swing him around, and throw him into a small crowd of Es'ka going after Matt.
"Thanks," Matt said as he kicked Gaeko backwards to give Damien a small wave.
Gaeko went in for a haymaker, only to have Matt dodge the swing, and jab his thumb into Gaeko's eye. He then went low, landing two rapid blows against Gaeko's stomach, and then gave him a hard-right uppercut, sending him flying backwards. Gaeko came in once more, and tried to grapple Matt, as soon as Gaeko had his arms on Matt's shoulders, Matt grabbed Gaeko's arms, and jumped, kicking him in the chest which sent him flying backwards, out of Gaeko's grip.
Lara ducked underneath the punch from the nearest Es'ka, landed a punch against the creature's throat, then grabbed the second Es'ka's arm, bent it upwards in a chicken-wing hold, kneed the creature twice in the gut, and then threw him into the first Es'ka. Another Es'ka came in with a high-kick, Lara ducked under the kick, and as the Es'ka came down, Lara grabbed his legs in-between hers, and flipped over twice, slamming him into the floor twice.
Jackie rolled underneath one Es'ka's kick, using her momentum to swipe one Es'ka off its feet, she then turned around, hitting the Es'ka in the back of the knee, dropping him to the ground, and one strike on top of his head sent him falling to the ground. The next one came in low, only to have Jackie step to the side, swiped the Es'ka off its feet, and brought her foot down on top of the Es'ka's skull.
Steven dodged WarMachine's swing, and gave him a quick punch to the gut which didn't seem to faze him that much. The next strike that came in was a haymaker that barely missed Steven by one inch. Steven then came in low, and delivered two punches to WarMachine's chest, the one on the lizard side did faze him, the one on the mechanical side didn't.
WarMachine grabbed Steven around the throat, and lifted him above the ground, "It seems we have a white sheep here," he said as he raised his gun, but before he could raise it, Steven grabbed his Prehenderat, and fired three rounds into WarMachine's lizard side.
WarMachine dropped Steven, and staggered backwards, Damien rushed up to his friend, and put his hand on his back, "You ok?" He asked.
"Yea," Steven said, "It's his lizard side, that's his weakness."
"Good eye," Damien said, "Let's get the Carbines."
The team quickly converted their blasters into P-Carbines, lined up in a firing-squad formation, Damien in the middle, Matt on the right, Steven on the left, Lara kneeling in front of Steven, and Jackie kneeling in front of Matt.
As they fired at the two, WarMachine and Gaeko landed against the wall of the atrium, and fell against the floor.
"Well," Gaeko said as he and WarMachine stood up, "Color me impresssed."
It was then that soldiers from Colonial Defense busted through the door of the atrium, led by Major Adam Winters, "COLONIAL DEFENSE," he yelled as they ran in the door, "PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN!"
"Easy officers," Damien said, "We got this."
"I said put them down!" Adam exclaimed.
"Ssseemsss you have other thingsss on your mind," Gaeko said, "Goodbye."
In a flash, Gaeko and WarMachine disappeared into the air, "Damn," Damien said, "They're gone."
"Hey," Adam said as he ran up to Damien with his own P-Carbine, and held the barrel in his face, "I said put your weapons down."
"Easy there Major," Damien said as he disassembled his P-Carbine, and put his blaster way, "It's away."
As soon as Carter and the rest of the audience reentered the room, Adam spoke, "Soldiers, arrest them."
"Hey," Carter said as he, and Wes walked up to the Damien and his team, "Stand down officers."
"I've can handle this Major Grayson," Adam said, "Arrest them."
"You'll do no such thing officers," Carter said as he walked up to Damien, "Are you alright Sergeant?"
"Perfectly sir," Damien said, "But Gaeko and WarMachine got away."
"Excuse me," Adam asked, "Sergeant? Major Grayson, I demand and explanation!"
"I believe I can answer that," Commander Tate said as he entered.
"Ten-Hut," one of the soldiers exclaimed.
"Commander," Adam said, "Why are you here?"
"Because of our announcement," Commander Tate said as he put his hand on Damien's shoulder, "The announcement of our newest soldiers," he then turned his head towards Damien, "May I introduce…," Commander Tate then turned towards him to give him his name.
"The Red Cosmic Ranger." Damien said.
"Way to hold out on us," Adam said, "Colonial Defense had every right to know about this."
"It was new to us Major until several days ago when your son found the Morphers on a distant planet." Carter said.
"My son shouldn't even be in your little operation," Adam said, "I never wanted him in your personal army Major."
"Personal army?" Damien asked.
"You heard me right boy," Adam said, "How do we know that you aren't any better than the Serpent Empire?"
"Because we're fighting the Serpent Empire," Damien said, as he walked up to Adam, "And I'll have you know, you glorified police officer that if it weren't for you, those two overgrown lizards would have been nothing more than slime on the floor over there."
"You insolent little…" Adam began before Sky cut in.
"Enough," Commander Tate exclaimed as he pushed Damien backwards, "Sergeant, that was uncalled for, don't ever do that again."
"My apologizes, Commander." Damien said.
"Good." Commander Tate said.
"This is a formal request Commander," Adam said, "I want proof that these super-powered freaks are working for us rather than against us."
"They just saved the colony," a voice called out from the crowd.
The person that stepped forward was Damien's sister, "Ellen." Adam said.
"I saw them," Ellen said, "They were fighting those lizard freaks the whole time you weren't here. They're here to protect us."
"You don't know that," Adam said, "And I didn't see them protecting us," Adam then pointed at Carter, "Major, I expect you to keep your dogs on a leash."
"You will respect my men when in my presence," Commander Tate said as he stood in front of Adam, "You're out of line Major, now take your men, and get out of here!"
As Colonial Defense left, Commander Tate turned towards Damien, "It seems you got your demonstration Sergeant." He said.
"And we have some new protectors," Ellen said as she looked at Damien, "So… Cosmic Rangers eh? This is the announcement my brother was talking about?"
"Big brother?" Damien asked.
"Yes," Ellen said, "You know him?"
"Yes. I spoke with him before the ceremony," Damien said, "He told me not to disappoint his little sister. So, tell me did we disappoint?"
"You certainly did not." Ellen said.
A great applause erupted from the crowd who all gathered around to shake the hands of the colony's newest Rangers.
The next day…
Damien brought Maria, Ellen, and Allie to one of his favorite breakfast destinations.
As Damien walked up to the window, and Damien's friend Eli, a large African-American colonist, originally from New Orleans who was an Army Cook stationed in New Orleans, was transferred to Mariner Bay, and made friends with Adam.
"What's up Eli," Damien said as he walked up to the window.
"Hello there, Sergeant," Eli said with a friendly chuckle before grabbing Damien's hand, "What'll it be this time?"
"The usual for me," Damien said, then looped his arms around Ellen and Allie's shoulders, "And give these two each an order of your Signature Item."
"Feeling generous today." Eli asked.
"You know me Eli," Damien said, "I can't say no to my sister."
"You got it," Eli said, "What about your Mrs. Winters?"
Maria walked up, and decided on a signature item, "I'll take a Number Six." She said.
"Coming right up." Eli said.
"This is a really interesting place," Ellen said, "How come you've never taken me here?"
"I've gotten you food from here, I've just never physically taken you here," Damien said, "I've only come here only a few times myself so."
Ten minutes later Eli's son, Ricky came walking out carrying the food, "What's up," he asked, "Here's your food."
"Here's your money," Damien said as he held out the payment for the food.
The primary food they served at Eli's cart are New Orleans fair, Po-Boys, Gumbo, Jambalaya, and unique beignets.
For breakfast, it was nothing but beignets and breakfast Po-Boys.
Damien ordered an order of three plain beignets with powdered sugar (those are true Louisiana beignets, when you order regular or plain beignets in Louisiana, and you get an order of beignets covered in powdered sugar).
He had ordered Eli's Special Beignets for Ellen and Allie, an order of two beignets served hot, with a scoop of cream, and chocolate chips on top.
Maria had ordered a breakfast Po-Boy with breakfast sausage, eggs, and bacon gravy.
As they ate, Damien kept thinking to himself, "This plan is going off without a hitch."
After finishing, they continued the rest of the way to the colony's hospital.
As they entered, Doctor Bryson was waiting for them in the main lobby, "Sergeant Winters, good to see you." He said.
As Damien shook his hand, he spoke, "Doctor, do you have the items I requested?"
"Yes," Doctor Bryson said, "Follow me please."
As Doctor Bryson escorted them through the hospital, Maria leaned over to Damien, "Where are you going with this," She asked, "You give them a very rich dessert-like breakfast, and bring them here."
"Trust me," Damien said, "There's a method to my madness."
The five of them walked into a small room where Doctor Bryson went into the back room, and came out with two trays that were covered with heavy cloths.
"Here're the items you requested." Doctor Bryson said.
"How fresh?" Damien asked.
"Just last night." Doctor Bryson said.
"Fresh?" Ellen asked.
"Don't worry," Damien said as he walked over to the table, "I wanted to give you a good idea of what happens to people who started smoking as early as you did," he then pointed at the trays, "Go ahead, pull them off."
"Are you sure about this," Ellen asked as she and Allie approached the trays.
"Trust me," Damien said, "This'll be good for you."
Ellen shrugged, she trusted her brother on most things, but trusting him this time was a huge mistake.
When they removed the cloths, they both rushed for the nearest trash can to lose their breakfast.
Damien had instructed Doctor Bryson to show Allie and Ellen a pair of smoker's lungs, knowing that they both had very weak stomachs, and that after seeing that and losing their lunch, they would never look at a cigarette without feeling sick again.
"You're terrible," Ellen said as she coughed from the rancid taste of vomit in her mouth.
"Mouthwash," Damien asked as he held out a small bottle of mouthwash.
Ellen ripped the bottle from Damien's hand, and as soon as she forced the end into her mouth, she began furiously swishing it around in her mouth before spitting it out.
As Allie grabbed the bottle, Damien put his hand on his sister's back, "Have you learned your lesson?" He asked.
"Yes," Ellen said, "Just, take it away! Take it away!"
On the Jörmungandr…
WarMachine roared, "Those bastard h-h-humans," he exclaimed, "I swear I will d-d-destroy those human vermin if it's the last t-t-thing I ever do!"
Gaeko chuckled, "Sssoon he will be dessstroyed," he said, "And the rewardsss of returning the assstrolabe will be all mine."
[Dramatic Music] It seems that Gaeko isn't thinking about sharing the power, there's nothing like some juicy discord among the ranks to shake things up…