The day before the big match, Brie woke up, finding Chas dead to the world on the bed next to her. He hadn't slept well for a while now, between the pain of his injuries and the stress of his campaigning, but last night, he'd just kind of crashed out the moment he hit the mattress. In some ways it was good to see him getting some rest, but it was unusual to see him sleeping so late. Having been in the military, he was used to early wake up calls, but right now he seemed to be in a deep sleep, and showed no signs of moving.
"Chas, it's time to get up." She whispered, shaking him gently. "You have to get ready for the family fun day at the plaza."
Shortly after Ziggy had agreed to take part in the game, he had come up with the idea of having a family fun day the day before the game in the central plaza. Due to the violent nature of Lightningball, it was not really a family-friendly spectator sport, and Ziggy had thought that since some of the money was going towards the orphanage, it would be nice if the kids could have something to enjoy too. As a result, the fundraising had become a two-day event with a carnival for the kids on the first day, and the Lightningball match to cap off the proceedings at the end of the second day. Chas had been all for the idea, despite the extra effort. He had to acknowledge that the idea of having a fun day for families would definitely raise his profile.
Chas just grunted and pulled the covers over his head. Brie just prodded him hard in the ribs, rousing him with a start.
"Chas, you're meant to see the doctor before you get there." She reminded him. "It's already 8:30. If you don't move, you're going to be late for the set up!"
"Is it really that late?" He yawned, pulling himself up from the bed, though the effort took much of the strength he had. He held his head as he tried to get his bearings.
"Is everything alright?" Brie asked him, becoming a little concerned.
"I just zoned out for a second there." He told her, shaking his head to focus. "I can't believe I've slept so late. I really need to hit the shower."
"I'll make you something for breakfast." She told him.
"No, I'm already going to be late." He replied, kissing her cheek as he grabbed a towel. "I'll grab something on the way."
"Chas, maybe you need to take it a little easier." She said, feeling his forehead. "You don't look too good."
"I can't slow down, my dad's probably already..." He noticed the newspaper on the doormat and picked it up, reading the headline and dumping it straight in the trash. "My dad isn't resting, neither can I."
"Your dad isn't campaigning by himself though. He has a whole cabinet of spin doctors on his payroll." She reminded him. "Chas, you can only do so much, it isn't good for you to run yourself down like this."
"Brie, we'll talk about this tonight." He replied, making his way to the shower. "Right now, I have some things to take care of."
Meanwhile, over at the Garage, the other Rangers were preparing for the day ahead. Since Dr. K still hadn't completed the schematics for their assault on the factory, she had given them all permission to take the day off to help with the family fun day. Ziggy was rushing down his breakfast excitedly, hoping to polish it off as quickly as he could. He had been lent a minibus so he could bring Ms. Foster and all the kids from the orphanage to the plaza for the day.
"Whoa, slow down there!" Summer laughed, seeing him shovelling away cereal so quickly it seemed unlikely he could breathe. "We still haven't set up the stalls at the carnival yet. There's no point bringing the kids to an empty plaza."
"I know, I guess I'm just a little excited." He told her, casting a quick look over to the door to the infirmary. Summer could see the look in his eyes and knew that he was thinking about Tenaya. "I guess I just thought this could keep my mind off things."
"I'm kind of looking forward to it too." She told him with a huge grin on her face. "It's been ages since I've seen those kids. I'm sure they'll love this."
"I know they will." Ziggy replied as he finished off his cereal and took the bowl back to the kitchen area. "I always love it when I get a chance to do something for them. This will be great!"
"I agree..."
"...It'll be super fun..."
"...We can't wait!"
Ziggy and Summer had to try not to laugh as Gem and Gemma bounded into the room enthusiastically, carrying a couple of crates of tools and materials for the preparation of the stalls. They had already painted each other's faces; Gem's was painted like a falcon, while Gemma had gone for a tiger, obviously in reference to their Zords.
"I see you're getting into the spirit of things." Ziggy said with as straight a face as he could under the circumstances.
"We're heading out to the plaza now..."
"...we're really psyched to set up..."
"...want to come with us?"
"Thanks, but I have a few things to sort out here first." Summer told them. "I was planning on helping Ziggy collect the kids."
"I'm really looking forward to meeting them!" Gemma gushed, making her way to the door to the guy's room. "Come on you two! It's time to go!"
Scott followed her, taking one of the crates from her hand helping load it into his car as Dr. K arrived in the room in time to see him opening the door for Gemma. Her mood darkened a little as she saw this. While the Rangers were getting the chance to go to the carnival and have a good time, she was going to be back at the base, still trying to come up with a strategic model for their assault. This just gave Scott and Gemma more time together.
She had already resigned herself to the fact that there was a lot more in common between Scott and Gemma than there was between Scott and herself, Gemma was a lot more capable than her, and she was now one of his comrades in the field. It was only logical that he would pay more attention to the Silver Ranger than to her. That didn't ease the uncomfortable, sometimes painful twisting feeling in her gut any time she saw them together. Dillon loaded the crates into the back of his car and looked over to Summer.
"I'm going to help Ziggy round up the kids." She called over, pre-empting his question. "Take Gem with you, he'll need a ride."
"Whoa, I always wanted to ride in your car." Gem gasped as he looked over it. "It's so big and powerful...I bet it's fast..."
"Gem, could you do me a favour and not talk?" Dillon asked him. Gem just nodded as he got into the car. Dillon went over to Summer's side and put his arm around her.
"Have fun with the ankle biters." He told her, leaning in to kiss her. Summer kissed him, before he turned and left, getting into the car and peeling out of the Garage, with Scott a little way behind.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us Doc?" Ziggy asked her. "Come on, I promise I'll get you some cotton candy. I'm going to be doing my magic act!"
"Ziggy, I have no desire to fill myself with processed sugars and food colourings, and while I am aware that magic exists, given the existence of certain Power Ranger teams before the Venjix attacks, I sincerely doubt you have any genuine magical ability and rely on obvious and tedious sleight of hand deception." She replied in a sigh, focusing on her work to take her mind off the image of Scott and Gemma going to the carnival and having the time of their lives without her, and no doubt just getting closer. "Besides, I really want to finish organising an attack strategy for the assault on the factory."
"Where's Flynn?" Summer asked as she realised that he was noticeably absent. "I haven't seen him all morning."
"Flynn left on a special assignment for me earlier this morning." She told them both. "All going well, he should not be more than a couple of hours. I'm sure he'll be back in time to eat as many sausages of questionable origin as his heart desires."
"It kind of sucks he'll miss the start." Summer commented. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do to help?"
"It is a one-man mission Summer. He will be fine." She replied, still not entirely happy at being kept in the dark as to Flynn's whereabouts.
"He will be fine." Dr. K repeated. "Now, I believe you are due to collect the children from the orphanage."
"Um...Dr. K?" Ziggy asked nervously. "Is Tenaya well enough to go? After what happened, I think she could do with some cheering up."
"She is still badly injured following her recent ill treatment." Dr. K told him, but seeing the look in his eyes, she just sighed and shook her head. "I'll check over her when she wakes up. If she's strong enough, I'll let her go."
"Thanks doc." Ziggy replied, making his way over to the minibus. "Come on Summer, it's time we picked up the kids."
Meanwhile, Flynn was far outside the dome, driving the Lion Hauler through the desert. The doctor had sent him to go in search of the resistance fighters, knowing that once they destroyed the factory, there would be more captives than they could evacuate with the Zords, meaning that the only alternative was to send them to the Resistance.
He checked his scanners again, noting that there were still no signs of life out here. He was grateful that Dr. K had given the Lion Hauler a short-term upgrade to its cloaking technology, rendering it almost invisible to Venjix's scans. He headed out in the direction of the last known location of the Resistance. Tenaya had told them all she could about them, and the one thing he knew for certain was that they had no vehicles, meaning that they would likely not have gone far from their old camp.
He pulled the Lion Hauler over as he arrived by some cliffs, stepping out of the cab and taking a look around. He had never been terribly convinced by the wisdom of going out with the dome by himself, but Dr. K had made a good case and talked him into it. D46, the leader of this group of guerrillas, had already encountered Dillon, Tenaya, Ziggy and Summer, and so was unlikely to hear them out if they tried to talk with him. Gem and Gemma were far from ideal in the role of negotiators, which only left him or Scott, and Dr. K had her reasons for sending him in place of Scott.
He heard some rocks shifting and looked up to the cliffs. He operated the enhanced vision mode, finding someone nestled into the rocks, watching him. He got a closer look, seeing that he was carrying a shotgun.
"Hold it right there!" He heard a gruff voice barking from a little way behind him. He held up his hands in a gesture to indicate he had no intention of attacking. About a dozen guerrillas made their way out of their hiding places among the rocks, and advanced slowly, pointing their weapons his way. Some had merely pistols or crossbows, while the more fortunate among them had procured shotguns, or even a couple of AK 47's. He felt his Nitro Blaster being pulled from the holster, and watched as it was thrown aside, though made no attempt to stop this happening. He was here to negotiate, not start a fight. The last thing he wanted was to start one before he got a chance to speak. "It's a new colour, but I recognise the spandex. You're one of the ones who's friends with D44 aren't you?"
"He goes by Dillon now." Flynn told him, figuring that the man shoving a blaster into the small of his back was D46. "I only came here to talk."
"Your friends did save some of my men the last time they were out here, so I'll give you a pass this once." D46 replied. "Get in the bus, turn around and get to hell out of here."
"I wanted to talk to you about something. We share an objective, and we have a plan that could be mutually beneficial." Flynn told him. "I know you probably don't want to listen, but I have a gift in my vehicle. Call it a good will gesture. Just listen to what I have to say and if you aren't convinced, I'll be on my way."
The back of the Lion Hauler opened up, allowing access. D46 made a hand gesture to two of his men to check it out.
"There are thick seams of iron ore in these cliffs." Flynn stated. "It blocks scanners and hides your bio signatures. That's pretty clever. It fooled my sensors."
"Sir, the crates check out." One of the soldiers called back. "He brought us provisions."
"There's food, clothing, medical supplies, weapons and ammunition." Flynn informed him. "That should help out."
D46 was thrown a blaster from one of the crates, and he inspected it, finding it to be fully operational.
"You have two minutes." D46 told him.
"We're going to destroy the Alpha Project factory." Flynn informed him. "We know you want that as much as we do. However, our vehicles will not be sufficient to bring back all the prisoners. We will take all the prisoners we can, however, were hoping that if you co-ordinated your attack with us, then you and your men could evacuate the other prisoners to the safety of your camp."
"Is that all?" D46 said sarcastically. "Do you have any idea how many people are in there? We barely have enough resources to go around as it is."
"We will support you in any way we can." Flynn told him. "We can arrange similar deliveries to be made at intervals to keep you supplied, and evacuate small groups back to Corinth on the return trips."
"You want to weaken my army?" D46 asked, cocking his blaster. Flynn prepared for the worst. He knew his suit would protect him from the first blast, but that didn't mean its protection would hold out indefinitely, and with these numbers, he was bound to find the suit's limit a lot more quickly than he was comfortable with.
"I only propose that we evacuate those unfit to fight." Flynn replied. "I have heard that you have children out here. Sick and injured too. As another gesture of good will, I'm willing to take back some of those most vulnerable."
"Sir, perhaps we should think about this." One of his soldiers suggested. "We're already stretched pretty thin. Maybe sending some of the non-combatants to Corinth would ease the strain."
"I have room for about a dozen in the back of the Lion Hauler." Flynn informed him. "Perhaps I can manage 15 at a squeeze."
"That still leaves us having to take a lot more refugees than we can manage." D46 replied. He put his blaster down, allowing Flynn to turn and face him. Flynn recalled his helmet, though D46 did not reveal his face in return, leaving his mask on. He didn't want to give anything away yet. He started pacing as he tried to gather his thoughts.
"Venjix sends a number of transport vehicles to the compounds to deliver goods and pick up completed units every three days at exactly noon." D46 informed him. "The last pickup was today. There are always six trucks. If you manage to take out the factory without destroying all the trucks, then you should be able to get most of the prisoners back."
"Thanks, my boss will be grateful to know that." Flynn replied. "If you want to round up the most vulnerable, I'll take them back to the city."
D46 made a hand gesture to two of the troops on the top of the cliff.
"Bring the children and the weakest casualties." D46 ordered them. "There are 15 spaces, let's make them count."
Flynn put his hands down as the few lucky refugees that had been chosen to return to Corinth with him made their way down a rocky path towards him. There were about six kids, varying between 8 and 13 years old. A couple of badly injured people were helped towards the Lion Hauler by soldiers. The last couple of spaces were filled by a couple of women, there to take care of the children. D46 had held him to his word and sent the 15 that were the least helpful to his cause, those that used provisions, but in return offered no practical support in combat. A few farewells were exchanged as the last of the supplies were unloaded, and the refugees got into the vehicle.
"We'll attack the complex in three days at midday." D46 stated. "If your weapons can do what you promiseā¦"
"We'll live up to our end of the bargain." Flynn responded. "Just remember that we're allies. That includes Dillonā¦"
"We'll support you where we can." D46 told him. "But tell my 'brother' from me. Don't think this means I can trust you."
Flynn nodded in understanding, at least feeling a little better that he could help the few refugees D46 had allowed him to take, and that in three days, they could potentially free a lot more, and destroy the blueprints for the doomsday weapon Venjix was building.
As he got into the cab, he called up a monitor to check on his passengers.
"Alright folks, next stop, Corinth City." He announced as he turned the Lion Hauler around to head for home. In many ways, he had achieved all he could expect to. He had delivered their gift. Whether or not D46 would live up to their bargain, he would have to wait to find out. Right now though, he had bigger things to worry about. To make enough room in the back for the supplies, and the refugees, Dr. K had no alternative but to remove the energy generators that powered his weapons, meaning that he was unarmed. All he could hope was that the cloaking upgrade held up until he was back in the city.
