The Rangers were all preparing for the inevitable battles ahead. They knew that by defying Gates, they would be forced to go up against everything the military of Corinth had to throw at them. Flynn and Ziggy were busy working on the lockdown system Dr. K had set up in case of an all-out assault on the base. The Garage was a virtual fortress at the best of times, having been tested as capable of withstanding blasts from pretty much anything short of the Zords, but once the lockdown codes were entered, it would be virtually impenetrable.
Flynn flipped out his cell phone, dialling Sam. He knew she was still at the lab, but he also knew that if they went through with their decision to defy the military, there was a chance there would be repercussions for their loved ones. Ziggy knew that it was unlikely anyone knew about the connection between him and Ms. Foster's orphanage, so calling her would only risk alerting the authorities to it. It was just as well, since it was unlikely they would be able to support themselves AND all the kids at the orphanage. Summer was calling her parents to tell them to pack their bags and head for the Garage as well.
"Sam, it's me darlin', listen, I need you to come to the Garage." He rushed out. "I know you have a lot of work..."
"Flynn, I can't explain, please just come and pick me up." She rushed out in a panicked voice as she started gathering some things together. "I've found something important; I need to get out of here..."
Her voice was cut off and he heard an alarm screeching in the background.
"Shit! Someone's got my computer tapped!" She screamed. "Flynn, security's coming to arrest me; I need to get out of here!"
"Sam, I'm coming!" He called out as he heard some crashes. "Just hang on!"
He threw on his jacket, before sprinting to his Hummer.
"Flynn, where are you going?" Scott asked him.
"Sam's in trouble!" He called back. "It looks like this is starting a lot sooner than we thought."
As the doors opened, Flynn gunned the engine, blasting out of the Garage towards the Central Command building. Sam was in trouble, and he was possibly her only hope.
Meanwhile at the central command building, Sam was busy downloading her research to a disk. She had read the diary that she had been sent, and from that had figured out that the rose and the energy cell were clues. All she needed to do was a little research before she managed to put together a paper trail that connected all of the recent events together. However, now she realised exactly how dangerous that knowledge was. All the evidence pointed to Gates, and he was now the head of the military.
As she completed the download, she heard the siren of the building's intruder alarm, indicating that the threat level of the breach had been raised. The guards were now entitled to use deadly force if she didn't go quietly. She looked down in horror as her computer screen showed a flag. Someone had tapped her computer and could see what she had been researching. As the files started deleting, she realised it had to be Gates. The guards would soon be coming for her; they knew exactly who had caused the security breach, and where she could be found.
As a guard came into her office, she grabbed her walking stick, smashing it over her his head, before shoving him out the door. She slammed the door closed, before jamming it in place with her walking stick. Hobbling over to her desk, she pulled out her blaster and set it to a stun setting. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but she knew that they would be under orders to take her into custody. As she took cover in the corner, she heard a commotion outside, before the door flew off its hinges. She fired a blast, narrowly missing the man who came in.
"Don't shoot! It's me!" Hicks yelled as he covered the door. "Come with me!"
"Aren't you with the Scorpion Cartel now?" She asked him. "Why should I trust you?"
"I'm probably your only chance of getting out of here." He told her. "Come on!"
Sam still wasn't sure she could trust him, but considering she still wasn't fully recovered from her spinal injury, she knew it was unlikely she would be able to fight her way out by herself. Hicks helped her back to her feet and guided her through the door. She looked around at the lab, seeing a number of stunned guards littering the floor. Clearly Hicks had gotten the drop on them. As they raced to the door, more guards filed down the corridors.
"Look, she's with that traitor Hicks!" One of them yelled. "Get them!"
They made their way towards the door amid a storm of laser blasts, finally making their way to the entrance lobby. Hicks sealed the door, trapping the guards behind them, but as they turned around, they saw that there were a dozen guards waiting there, their weapons trained on them.
"Drop your weapons and get on the ground!" One of them screamed. "Do it now or we'll fire!"
Sam and Hicks looked at each other, before getting down on the ground.
"Hands on your heads!" The guard screamed. As they did so, Sam saw their salvation in the form of Flynn's hummer through the glass doors. He drove straight through, showering the lobby in glass. Sam and Hicks protected themselves as much as they could from the glass, while Flynn got out, quickly taking down the few remaining guards that were a threat.
"What's he doing here?" Flynn asked as he saw Hicks helping her up.
"He's here to help." Sam assured him. "Come on, let's go!"
As they got into the Hummer, Flynn looked up to the balcony, seeing Mandrake standing there. He pulled a pair of large laser pistol out of his shoulder harness.
"Hicks, you drive." He told the former soldier, getting into the back and hanging out the window. He morphed into his Ranger form. "I'll deal with the shooting."
Back at the Garage, the Rangers stared at the door suspiciously as it flew open without anyone activating the security system. A car flew into the Garage, threatening to take Scott out. He reached for Dr. K's sonic blaster, aiming it at the car.
"It's me!" Dr. K called out as he stepped out of the driver's seat. "Don't shoot!"
Summer and Ziggy stared at her as Scott just put the blaster down.
"Dr. K?" Summer asked him.
Her words tailed off and all of the other Rangers stood, dumbstruck as they watched Colonel Truman getting out of the back seat. Ziggy held Summer up as she seemed about to pass out.
"Well I'm glad I don't have to pretend anymore." Scott stated as he approached his father, throwing his arm around him for a hug.
"Hey, watch it!" Colonel Truman chuckled as he released him. "I did take a laser to the chest only three days ago!"
"Does someone want to tell us what's going on?" Ziggy asked as he looked around at the bizarre scene. "We were told you were dead. We thought Hicks was fired..."
"That was all part of the plan." Colonel Truman told them. "When I heard the flight recording, I knew that something was fishy. I knew that Dr. K would have had it brought straight over unless something was amiss, so when I heard Marcus saying on the recording that our lives were in danger, I decided to have another look at Marcus' personal effects."
"I remembered that when we were kids Marcus always used to hide his diary, so when we realised it wasn't with his other possessions, I searched his old locker. Eventually I found he had made a hidden compartment in the base where he hid it. Marcus found out that Gates was the leader of The White Rose. He was going to tell dad when Venjix attacked."
"It was then that I suspected that Dr. K was investigating Marcus' death and that she was taken because she suspected something was amiss."
"We suspected Gates was behind everything that had happened, but we weren't sure, so we came up with an idea." Scott told them with a smile on his face. "We made him think he got what he wanted."
"We figured that if he thought he was winning, he'd show us his hand." Colonel Truman confirmed. "Now we know what he was up to. He wanted to seize control of Corinth."
"You mean you knew your dad was alive the whole time?" Summer screamed at Scott, shaking in her anger. She glared between both of them hatefully. "You watched me going through all that when you could just have told me he was alright?"
"Summer, there were lives at stake; we had to be sure no one suspected it was a ruse." Colonel Truman told her. "We needed everyone would react realistically and..."
His words were cut off as she punched him as hard as she could in the face before running from the room. Ziggy rounded on him.
"You know what this has been doing to her." He said coldly. "She's meant to be your friend. How could you put her through this?"
"We didn't want to; we care about Summer, but Hicks..."
"What the hell does this have to do with Hicks?" Ziggy asked him angrily.
"Hicks was in on it too." Colonel Truman replied. "We knew that the first thing he'd do was get rid of anyone that could be a threat to him. That's why I made him responsible for the security arrangements. I knew that Gates would take any excuse to fire him. When we saw that the Cartels were involved, I told Hicks to infiltrate the Cartels to see what he could find out. Gates sold both sides their weapons and told them that they were planning to take their territory. It was all a smokescreen to cover the assassination."
"Gates kidnapped me when I confirmed my suspicions at the site of the crash." Dr. K began. "He forced me to make the Project Strychnine rigs as a way to combat the Ranger technology if he had to. He took me to a rooftop near the plaza so that I could watch the Mandrake rig take the shot that killed the Colonel. Then he took me back to his bunker and left me there to die."
"You're safe now." Scott assured her, putting an arm around her. Dr. K smiled a little, feeling the warm comfort of the gesture. "Now what are we up against?"
"I'll run up full schematics shortly." She told him, making her way to her lab. Just then, they heard a buzzing coming from outside.
"Let me in, please I beg you!" Chas screamed through the intercom. Scott activated the doors, letting him in. They could see that he had brought Brie and his parents with him. "Gates is insane, you need to stop him!"
"We're just figuring that out." Colonel Truman announced. The Winchesters stood, frozen to the spot by their shock at seeing him return from the grave. "What do you know about this Chas?"
"I'll explain everything, I promise." He told them. "Right now, all I can tell you is that he's threatened to kill everyone I care about if he doesn't get what he wants. He told me that if I told anyone he'd kill them, but I can't let him get what he wants. I figured that you were my only hope."
"You can tell us later." Colonel Truman replied as he heard gunfire from down the street. "Right now it sounds like our co-conspirator is on his way."
"That would be an affirmative sir!" Hick's voice called over the intercom. "I've picked up Sam and Flynn, but we're taking some pretty heavy fire here."
"Who's after you?" Colonel Truman asked him.
"Everyone!" Flynn called out as his Nitro Blaster fired back. "We've got about three truckloads of troops and that Mandrake guy from the other day after us!"
"What's your ETA?" Truman asked him.
"About three minutes!" Hicks answered.
"We can already hear you!" Ziggy responded.
"They're throwing so much firepower at us that I'm not surprised." Hicks told him as a blast shook the vehicle. "Damn it Flynn, could you have chosen a slower car?"
"If it wasn't for this car we'd have been a smoking pile of scrap by now!" He responded. "I'm trying to concentrate my firepower on Mandrake, but he moves like a jackrabbit! He's running faster than..."
"This thing drives?" Hicks suggested.
"Stop slagging off my car!" Flynn snarled.
"Would you two knock it off?" Sam screamed, grabbing a blaster and leaning out the other window, beginning to fire. "We need to stay on top of things here!"
"You had to say it, didn't you love?" Flynn replied as Mandrake leapt into the air. He pulled himself onto the roof of his hummer to intercept him as he leapt onto it. The impact sent Flynn onto the hood. Only grabbing the bull bars saved him from flying off completely.
"Are you alright?" Sam asked him.
"I'm just fine sweet heart!" He replied, getting back to his feet and activating his time manipulation burst, taking the opportunity to knock the warrior from his vehicle. He bounced off the windshield of the lead truck, causing it to swerve dangerously. The two trucks following it collided with it, causing all three to lose control completely and wipe out on the freeway. Flynn breathed a small sigh of relief as he saw that they hadn't exploded and soldiers were beginning to evacuate. "Just make sure they have the doors open. I doubt we'll have much time for a slow stop."
Back at the Garage, Summer returned to the room, morphing with the others as they prepared for their friends to arrive. They pulled out their Nitro Blasters, preparing to cover Flynn's escape. Colonel Truman picked up a blaster and made his way over to help them.
"Summer, for what it's worth, I really am sorry." He told her.
"With all due respect sir," she replied coldly, "we have more important things to worry about."
Chas came to Colonel Truman's side, picking up another blaster.
"I'll help." He told him.
"Are you sure?" Colonel Truman asked him. "You're in admin; you don't exactly see much combat."
"It's been a while, but I can remember which end to point." Chas replied. "I want to help."
Meanwhile, the others were sealed in Dr K's lab, comforting each other in their time of need. Dr. K was feverishly working away on her computer.
"What are you doing?" Mrs. Landsdown asked her.
"While I was being held captive, I managed to steal the motherboard to the weapon which afflicted Ranger Series Black." She began. "I'm currently trying to write a counter programme that will allow us to release him from stasis. We're going to need all the help we can get."
She worked through the programme as quickly as she could, ignoring the pain in her fingers. So much of this was her doing that she was desperate to give at least something back to the Rangers. She let out a small yelp as she completed the programme.
"Beginning the download!" She yelled, hitting the command.
"How long will it take?" Mr Landsdown asked her.
"I should be able to release him from stasis within 60 minutes." Dr. K told him.
Back on the road, Flynn climbed back into the vehicle as they rounded the corner onto the street the Garage was on. Hicks floored the accelerator as they lined up with the door.
"Guys, we have company again!" Sam yelled as Mandrake sprinted around the corner, still following at an impossible pace, and with no sign of tiring. Sam fired a couple of blasts, but he seemed to be able to avoid them as he approached.
"They're coming!" Scott shouted, causing them all to take aim. "They have a tail, everyone be careful, but try to get him off them."
They all began firing, narrowly missing the hummer. Mandrake ducked behind the vehicle, while maintaining pursuit in order to avoid the volley. As the hummer flew into the Garage, skidding to a halt, Flynn got out and called forth the Turbo Cannon.
"Close the gate!" Scott ordered as they opened fire, scoring a couple of minor hits, though nothing that stopped the relentless automaton. As the doors almost finished closing, a pair of black hands appeared at the edges, halting them. The mechanism screeched and struggled against his inhuman strength. Mandrake began forcing the doors open again. Flynn rushed forward, pointing the Turbo Cannon directly at his chest.
"Dodge this!" He yelled, opening fire. The blast connected with his chest, sending the warrior flying across the street, slamming into the wall of the building opposite and going straight through it. The Rangers finished closing the doors and sealed them, completing the lockdown procedure.
"We should be safe for now." Scott told them. "Are all of you alright?"
"I'm fine." Sam said quietly, looking over and seeing Colonel Truman. Her confusion was obvious.
"It's a long story." He replied. "One I promise I'll tell you all about later. Did you get the clues I sent you?"
"I did." She replied, handing him a disk. "I've managed to put together an impressive little paper trail. Gates isn't as clean as he thought."
"I knew if anyone could put it together it would be you." Colonel Truman said with a smile. "Now we have the proof, all we have to do is bring down Gates."
"That'll be easier said than done. We still have no way of getting the message out, so we're still pretty much fighting everybody." Flynn responded, looking over the twisted, dented and scorched bodywork of his hummer. It had indeed saved their lives, but it was obvious it was going to take more than a polish and wax to return it to its original state. "I don't suppose the military will cover this will they?"
"I promise we'll pay every penny once Gates goes down." Colonel Truman assured him. "Now, all we can do is get ready. Since we are officially the last obstacle to him seizing control, I think it's pretty fair to assume he'll come to us."
"Well we're all ready to fight." Hicks said in response. He gestured to his suit and smiled. "Requesting permission to change back into uniform sir."
"Permission granted Corporal Hicks." Truman replied. "You've earned it."
Meanwhile, outside, Mandrake pulled himself from the rubble and stepped out onto the street. He was covered in dust, and he had blood trickling down his face from his ears and a cut above his eyebrow. If he had been a mere human, the blast would have been instantly fatal, though the cybernetics in his suit performed a scan and showed him to be merely down to 65 percent efficiency. His comm. Link sprang into life.
"Mandrake, did you apprehend the fugitives?" Gates asked him.
"Negative." The warrior replied, surveying the walls to the Garage. His scan showed that nothing in his personal arsenal would even come close to penetrating the fortress Dr. K had turned it into.
"Did they get back to their headquarters?" He asked.
"Affirmative." Mandrake replied as he took a seat on some rubble and pulling out a small medical kit, beginning to affect some repairs on himself.
"Wait there, Nightshade and I will come." He told his mindless killing machine. "I'll bring some soldiers. It looks like we have a siege on our hands."
"Affirmative." Mandrake replied.