Chapter 4 – Bad Feelings Creeping Up
October 1 2002 – NASADA Base, CA
The Californian base of NASADA was small in comparison with some of the other facilities at Hexagon's disposal. The base consisted of one large hangar, a few outbuildings and a runway, all of which has been cleared for today's special launch. The call to assemble the team had been given by Tommy and the red rangers were making their way to this isolated part of California. Inside the hangar, Andros and TJ stood at the bottom of the Megaship's boarding ramp. At the side of the ship stood Storm Blaster, loaned to the Space Rangers by Charlie Stewart, the Blue Turbo Ranger, "I still don't see why we have to leave our ship", Cassie grumbled as she loaded a suitcase into the back of the jeep.
"I think it's for the best", Ashley replied, "I really don't want to spend several days stuck on a ship with ten other men".
"Three was bad enough", Karone added.
"Hey standing right here", TJ exclaimed.
Cassie smiled and walked across to her boyfriend, "Aww we're just teasing you Teej", she ran her hand down his chest and gave him a kiss, "I always thought you looked hot in red".
The sound of Storm Blaster's horn instantly broke the mood, "Come on ladies, we've got a long drive ahead of us", Carlos shouted from the driver's seat of the car.
"Yeah we won't be long, geez", Ashley shook her head and turned to face Andros, "promise me you'll try and return in one piece".
"I always promise you that Ash", the Red Space Ranger stated.
"Yeah and one day you'll keep that promise", she touched his shoulder that had been damaged during the skirmish with the Cogs. Andros winced at her touch, gritting his teeth against the pain, "Just be careful alright", Ashley stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
Andros pressed his forehead against Ashley's, "Take care Ash, and tell Carlos not to drive like a maniac. I promised Charlie that she would have her car back in one piece". The yellow ranger chuckled and slowly backed away from Andros, reluctantly letting go of his hands. The two red rangers gave the rest of their team a final wave before Storm Blaster roared out of the hangar. Andros sighed and checked his morpher, "The others should be arriving soon", he said to TJ.
"Good because I'm itching to get this mission out the way", the Red Turbo Ranger sighed.
"Not enjoy your time back on Earth?" Andros asked.
"It was good to catch up with my parents", he began, "but I like our life back on Karovia. We've attracted a crowd everywhere we've gone", he paused for a brief moment, "now I know why we left the planet behind".
Andros nodded slowly as he could hear a vehicle approaching the hangar, "Well here we go and remember, we're one big happy ranger family", TJ snorted but reluctantly nodded in confirmation. A large black hummer pulled up inside the hangar and two people dressed in identical blue jumpsuits stepped out. One of them was wearing a red beret and the other a baseball cap, "You must be Wes", Andros shook the hand of the man in the beret, "and Eric too, this is a surprise".
"My buddy here isn't the only Time Force ranger to have a red suit", Eric smirked and shook the hands of the two Space Rangers, "plus I'm looking forward to the reactions of the Hexagon crew".
TJ laughed loudly, "I like you already Eric".
Before the quartet could get to know each other better, another hummer pulled up except this one was bright yellow. The man in the driver's seat nodded to Wes and Eric and grabbed an orange jacket out of the back. The other man was dressed in blue jeans, a red t-shirt and a red padded vest. His long black hair looked tangled and it was held in place with a torn piece of red cloth, "Afternoon gentlemen", Carter Grayson stated, "this is Cole Evans, Red Wild Force Ranger".
The man with the straggly black hair nodded shyly but his face brightened up when he saw the two Time Force Rangers, "Wes, Eric, good to see you", he greeted them warmly.
"I see you already know the Silver Guardians", Carter said. He looked at Eric and frowned, slightly surprised to see the Quantum Ranger, "Allow me to introduce the Red Turbo Ranger, Theodore Jay Jarvis Johnson".
"Please call me TJ", the Red Turbo Ranger shook his hand, "no please do, it'll take you all day to say my full name", Cole laughed nervously at the joke, "and to my right is Andros, the Red Space Ranger". Andros smiled politely and shook the hand of the young man.
"So you're all red rangers", Cole began, "this is so cool".
"Most of us", Wes nudged his partner, "right Eric".
The Quantum Ranger grumbled at the jibe from his friend, "So where are the legends", he emphasised the last word of his sentence in sarcasm, "bit impolite to keep us waiting".
"Just a minor delay", Carter replied, "in fact I think that's them now". Another vehicle approached, this one a black SUV with darkened windows. It pulled up outside the hangar and Jason slowly got out of the passengers side, "Problems?" Carter asked.
"Picked up an additional passenger or two", the original red ranger stated. He then began to look at the assembled crew of red rangers. He paused at Eric's smiling face and resisted the urge to shake his head, "Some of you I recognise", he began, "others I'm not so familiar with". He stopped in front of Cole, "You must be the new guy".
"Hi I'm Cole", the Wild Force ranger held out his hand but Jason didn't shake it. Instead he patted him on the shoulder and walked by.
Cole's shoulders sagged but Carter whispered in his ear, "Ignore it, just a little bit of rookie hazing".
TJ snorted and mumbled, "Bullshit", under his breath.
"Something to say TJ", Jason frowned in his direction.
"Me", TJ tried his best to look innocent, "never said a word". He looked past the group and noticed Tommy standing by the SUV with a blonde haired female. In her arms was a small child who was only around a year old, "Perhaps we should give the legendary Tommy Oliver some quiet time", he nodded at the scene developing behind him. "Follow me fellow red rangers, I'll show you the living quarters".
"Just don't go in Karone's room", Andros added, "she'll kill us if anyone got into her stuff".
As the red rangers trooped onto the Megaship, Tommy was still standing next to the SUV, "Kat I'm sorry but I've got to go", he said to the blonde haired woman.
"So you keep saying Tommy", Kat replied, "in fact you've been saying that an awful lot recently". The harsh tone in her voice upset the child in her arms and he began to cry, "I'm sorry Ben but Daddy has to leave again for a while".
"Can we not have this conversation now", the Red Zeo Ranger sighed.
"That's your problem Tommy, later never comes with you", the former pink ranger stated, "when were you going to tell me about the assignment to Mercer Island?" Tommy looked sheepishly at the ground, "Yeah that's what I thought".
The sound of Jason's voice calling him from the Megaship grabbed Tommy's attention, "Look we'll talk about this when I get back", Tommy replied, "I promise".
Kat let out a deep sigh and continued to comfort their child, "Yeah, sure", without another word she entered the SUV and slammed the door shut. The vehicle drove away without another word being said.
"Bro we've got to go", Jason grabbed Tommy on the shoulder, "everything alright?"
"Yeah fine", Tommy said quickly, "best not keep the others waiting". He crossed the tarmac and headed for the Megaship, leaving a very concerned Jason far behind.
Astro Megaship
The new version of the Megaship had an additional feature that the previous version didn't have, a strategy room. The original Megaship wasn't designed to be a long term base of operations but it was the only craft Andros could get his hands on during the siege of KO-35, forcing him and the other Space Rangers to improvise. When the Mark Two Megaship was commissioned, it was specifically designed to accommodate a fully team of rangers plus up to eight other guests for a year at a time. Fortunately due to the peace brought to the galaxy by Zordon's sacrifice none of the extra features had been used, until now.
"Leo and Aurico are on their way", Andros announced to the assembled red rangers. They sat around a circular table with small data pad in front of them, "Aurico was held up with some official business on Aquitar but they should be here in a few hours". The Red Space Ranger looked around and made a mental headcount, "No Rocky?" he asked.
"He couldn't make it", Jason stated, "how about you share with the others what you've found so far", he added, quickly changing the subject.
Andros turned around partially to activate the central viewing screen but he also did it to hide his smirk of satisfaction. There was no love lost between the pair and perhaps the mission would run smoother without his presence, "Before I begin does anyone need a recap about the Machine Empire", he asked.
Cole nervously raised his hand, "Who are the Machine Empire?"
"Have you been living on a desert island or something kid", "Eric snorted.
"No the rainforest", Cole replied without missing a beat, "news coverage isn't great out there".
"Alright for Cole's benefit", Tommy began, "the Machine Empire were the primary enemies of the Zeo Rangers". The viewing screen showed some images of the Empire's royal family as well as a few images of the Zeo Ranger's battles. "Until recently we thought they had all been destroyed, either during our final battle or by Zordon's energy wave".
"But they weren't all gone", TJ interrupted Tommy's monologue, "this is General Venjix and he's been slowly recruiting the remnants of the Empire and gathering them on the Moon".
The image then changed to show hundreds of Cogs evacuating the surface, "What are they digging for?" Wes asked.
"Serpenterra", Jason replied, "Lord Zedd's old zord", the screen showing a huge metal dragon flying over what they assumed was Angel Grove, "extremely dangerous but it had extremely poor gas mileage".
Cole whistled, "That's one big zord, so what's the plan to stop this thing".
"That's why we're here", Tommy began, "we need to come up with a sound strategy to stop this thing before it reaches Earth". The image changed to display a piece of machinery, "This is a Neo Plutonium reactor which we understand the Machine Empire is planning to use to power Serpenterra".
"A head on assault is out", Jason continued, "but if we can overload the reactor then it might just be enough to destroy Serpenterra for good".
Andros immediately frowned, "Do you know how dangerous that plan is?" He leaned across the table and looked directly at his fellow red ranger, "If that thing is damaged or shut down in the wrong order then it will send a radioactive cloud for millions of miles".
"We've seen the destruction a faulty Neo Plutonium reactor can do", TJ visibly shuddered, "a whole system was rendered inhabitable for several millennia when a reactor went critical". He too placed his hands on the table, "I'm happy to put my life at risk for the planet but you're talking about playing Russian Roulette with every single living thing on Earth".
"We've thought about that", Tommy interjected, "our scientists believe that if you remove the reactors core first then overload the power systems, it'll be completely safe".
Carter, Wes, Eric and Cole sat back whilst this argument was taking place, none of them knew anything about Neo Plutonium reactors but the scenario that TJ gave didn't sound particularly appealing, "Are we sure this is the best option", Wes began, "I mean Time Force has some impressive weapons, perhaps we could see what they suggest".
"There's not enough time", Jason replied, "based on the information the Space Rangers gave us, Serpenterra will be fully active within 48 hours from now".
"Then it sounds like have no choice", Cole said firmly, "what do we need to do?"
Eric leaned back in his chair and laughed, "Kid you've got balls, I've got to admire that".
"Stop calling me a kid", Cole shot back.
"Eric no one asked for your opinion", Jason added with venom.
The Quantum Ranger leaned forward, "Is that an order from the oh-so special original red ranger", his voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Knock it off Eric", Wes hissed.
"This isn't helping", Andros raised his voice over the burgeoning argument, "perhaps we'll have a few practice runs on the Simudeck to see if this will work". With no objections TJ stood up and led the others down to the Simudeck, "Eric", Andros called out and the Quantum Ranger stopped, "look I'm not their biggest fan either but we need to work together if this is going to work".
"I know but I'm not standing for any crap either", Eric replied, "I wanna save the Earth as much as they do but if they're going to be a bunch of dicks then I'm going to give as good as I get". The Quantum Ranger stood a little taller but kept his gaze on Andros, "Got a problem with that spaceman?"
When Andros didn't reply, Eric turned around and followed the others to the Simudeck. The Red Space Ranger sighed, he had a very bad feeling about all of this.
A/N – Everything's simmering away nicely and surely it's only a matter of time until someone snaps. You might've noticed I've lifted a few lines of dialogue directly from Forever Red, a little bit lazy but if it's not broken and all that.