Operation Lightspeed

On Alia and Ryan's nineteenth birthdays, the time came for Alia to leave the Skull Cavern. Ryan and Alia were training again, this time with swords, and Ryan was defeating Alia when Diabolico and the other interrupted.

"My lord," said Ryan, as Alia bowed.

"Is it time?" asked Alia.

"Yes, Alia, but first, answer me this: what are you feelings about those you served, more specifically, myself?" asked Diabolico.

Alia paused for a moment and then said, "You took care of me when I had nothing and no one and for that, I am grateful. But I don't love you anymore than you love me—which is to say that you don't love me. You and I both know I'm just a pawn in your plans like my husband is. I'm not as precious as Impus because I'm just a half-blood, regardless of my level of power. Queen Bansheerawould say the same if she were still alive. The woman I am today, it's because of you. Because of that, my duty and obedience is to you, nothing more, nothing less."

"Wisely spoken," said Diabolico. "And speaking of your duty and obedience, the time has come for you to fulfill that to me. Alia, you must now infiltrate the humans' ranks of the Aquabase."

"What would you have me do there, my lord?" asked Alia.

"Your magic half counteracts the effect water has on your demon half. As such, you will go the Aquabase as an advisor and their ally. Gain their trust, tell them only what's necessary, learn everything you can so we can prepare our warrior and then when the time comes, you will let them know where your true loyalties lie," said Diabolico.

"As you command," said Alia. "I will go."

"Must she, Diabolico?" said Ryan. "Captain Mitchell's quarrel is with me, not her. I want to go with her."

"Absolutely not," said Diabolico. "Remember, you are not to be seen by your father or sister until your twentieth birthday."

"And the Captain's quarrel with you is mine as well, beloved," said Alia. "Ryan, you once told me that any pain I had was yours too. Well, your father hurt you, so that makes your pain mine. When the time comes, you'll prove to him what a mistake he made when he abandoned you."

Ryan nodded. "That I will," he said. He kissed her once more. "Return to me every week and keep in touch, my love."

"I swear it," said Alia.

Finding the entrance to the Aquabase was not a problem. Unlike Vypra's magic, Alia's was more powerful and she was able to scry it. She only told Ryan of the secret entrance's location and then entered it herself.

Intruder alarms went off when she came in and she was immediately surrounded by the Aquabase's guards and the base's boss and chief scientist.

"Put your silly weapons away. I'm not an intruder nor am I here to harm any of you," she said, rolling her eyes."I know who and what you are. You're Captain William Mitchell, Ms. Angela Fairweather of Operation Lightspeed Rescue."

"How do you know about us? Never mind. How'd you get in here?" asked Ms. Fairweather. "How did you even know where to find us?"

It wasn't like Alia could say she'd simply scryed them and used a spell to unlock the entrance, so instead she said, "I have my ways for finding out information and getting in places. As for my finding this place, I just followed you here."

"Who are you and what is it you want?" asked Captain Mitchell.

"My name is Alia Lamia Daemin. I just wanted to speak to you regarding your operations."

"What do you know about it?" asked Captain Mitchell.

"Enough to know that you'll all be destroyed unless you're better prepared. Your base in its current location is well enough, but you've no idea what you're up against or how to fight it," said Alia.

"And you can help us, how?" asked Ms. Fairweather.

"I have information regarding the demons. Information I offer you in exchange for but one thing in return: that you allow me to stay here. I'm willing to work to earn my keep if need be. Do we have a deal?"

There was a moment's silence and then Captain Mitchell said, "We have a deal."

Alia smiled as she was given her own quarters and shown around the base. They were playing right into the palm of her hand. Before going to bed that night, she glanced at Captain Mitchell and his daughter Dana who were hugging. Anger and jealousy washed through her.

Dana has her father's love and devotion, but Ryan and I never had such a thing. A father should love all his children, not just one or none! She silently swore that they would both pay dearly for the harm they'd caused her beloved.

XXX

Time passed and Alia worked with Lightspeed. Before long, she not only worked as an advisor, but also as an assistant to Ms. Fairweather in helping her create weapons and Ranger Morphers.

Alia's quarters were magically sealed so no one could enter without an invitation or hear what they didn't want her to hear. In her quarters once a week—occasionally, oftener if the situation called for it—she opened a portal to the Skull Cavern and gave her weekly reports, visits, and did her usual training. On the base, she quickly gained a reputation for being beautiful and dangerous, much to her guardians and husbands' pleasure.

After nine very long months, the day everyone had been waiting for arrived. Alia was monitoring the tomb through one of the cameras where the demons were and watched as nomads opened the tomb. Because of a spell she'd used, only she could hear everyone's cries of freedom. She let out a smug grin.

The time has come. Before long, Mariner Bay will be reclaimed to its rightful owners once again. Queen Bansheera may be gone, but her people and her bloodline will live on forever.

Regaining her composure, she got up and went to fetch the Captain's daughter and her husband's little sister, Dana Mitchell.

"Dana, we've got a problem."

"What is it?" asked Dana.

"Look, one of the satellites caught this about five minutes ago," said Alia.

Dana's eyes widened as she watched the video. "We have to tell my father."

Alia nodded and the two of them went into his office were he was having a meeting with some men. But it ceased when they came in.

"Captain Mitchell, my apologies for the intrusion, but we need to speak with you, it's urgent," said Alia.

Captain Mitchell excused the men from the meeting and stood up. "Yes, Alia, Dana, what is it?"

"It's happened, Father," said Dana. "The demons are free."

Captain Mitchell's eyes widened. "How? When?"

"From what we could see, about ten minutes ago, some nomad travelers found the tomb and ignored the warnings on the wall, thinking the tomb possessed great wealth," said Dana. "They opened it and now our fears have come to pass."

"We've got reports of them being sighted throughout the city already," said Alia. "Captain, it's time."

"You know what to do," said Captain Mitchell.

The two women nodded. Alia went to get the Morphers while Dana went to get their Power Ranger candidates: Carter Grayson, a fireman would be the Red Ranger. Kelsey Winslow, an extreme sportswoman would be the Yellow Ranger. Chad Lee, an aquatic animal trainer would be the Blue Ranger, and Joel Rawlings an airplane stunt pilot would be the Green Ranger. And that was only if they accepted the jobs.

When she came back to the office, she found the other Rangers had already arrived and they were all looking confused and even a little angry. Captain Mitchell, however, was smiling.

"Welcome to the Lightspeed Aquabase," said Captain Mitchell.

Joel stormed up to the Captain's face. "I don't know who you are, but this is illegal. This is kidnapping!"

"Please sit down and behave, Mr. Rawlings," said Alia. The minute she came in their sights, Joel whistled low at her.

She certainly was beautiful with her long dark hair, dark blue eyes, wore a black shirt and a black jacket with black jeans with black boots. She had a Bulgarian accent. However, she was not amused by Joel's flirting. She narrowed her eyes at him and held up her wedding ring before placing the silver case on the table.

"Oh, and please refrain from that kind of behavior. I'm a married woman. And for your information, we didn't kidnap you. We summoned you, there's a difference."

"She's right," he said. "And as for whom I am; I'm Captain William Mitchell; none of you will be held against your will, you're free to go."

"After you hear us out, first," corrected Alia.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" asked Carter.

"Everyone, this is Alia Lamia Daemin," said Captain Mitchell. "Aside from being assistant our chief medical officers and scientists, she's also our advisor on mystical and demonic beings."

Everyone except Dana stared.

"Did you just say 'mystical and demonic beings'?" asked Kelsey.

He nodded. "If you'll all sit down, Alia will explain."

They obeyed and then Alia stood in front of them and began talking. "What I am about to tell you may seem difficult to believe to the narrow-minded, but I can assure you, it's the truth. Five thousand years ago, this part of the world was inhabited by demons of great power, who only served the darkness. They sought only to destroy and conquer, not caring who or what got in their way. After some time, there was a warlock who sealed them away in a tomb in the desert far away from here. But no prison ever lasts, at least, not forever. For many centuries, those who knew of what had happened, either by history or legend took care in watching over the tomb lest the demons escaped and returned to Mariner Bay.

"Just hours ago, nomad travelers in the desert who stumbled upon the tomb became greedy when they saw it, thinking it held treasures of unmentionable worth, decided to open it, in spite of the warnings on the walls. The hearts of men are easily corrupted, I must say. Anyway, the men opened up the tomb and the demons were unleashed and the nomads were destroyed. As no demon can touch water with losing its power, the Aquabase is the safest place in the city and therefore ideal for headquarters. Captain, if you would take over?"

"Thank you, Alia," said Captain Mitchell. "With Alia's help, Lightspeed was able to tap into the Morphing Grid and since then, we've developed technology and highly sophisticated weapons that we believe is capable of stopping them. Because of your skills, you've been chosen to use these weapons to defend the city and become the Lightspeed Power Rangers."

There was silence until Kelsey broke it. "You built this whole 'Aquabase' just so the four of us could fight a bunch of angry demons?"

"That's putting it simply, but yes," said Captain Mitchell.

Joel looked as if he was going to lose it. "I heard you out, I think you're nuts, I'm out of here." He put his hands on the table, stood up and was nearly out the door when Carter stopped him.

"That explains it," he murmured. He looked up. "Earlier, when I was saving that little girl, I saw it, that thing in the flames. It was one of them, one of the demons, wasn't it?"

Alia nodded as Captain Mitchell and Dana looked worried.

"There are many demons, Mr. Grayson. But they all have one thing in common, they are dangerous," said Alia. "Now that Diabolico, the master of the demons, and all the others have been freed, they'll stop at nothing to regain what was once theirs."

"One question," said Chad. "How is it you know so much about the demons?"

Alia's lips curled ever so slightly. "I've had experience with demons." Her tone indicated she didn't wish to pursue the subject so she was not questioned any further than that.

Just then, Captain Mitchell was beeped and several images appeared on the monitor. Everyone was quiet with horrified looks on their faces as demons attacked Mariner Bay.

"The city needs you," said Captain. "We won't force you into this decision. It's yours to make."

Carter stood up with a determined look on his face. "I'm in."

"Me too," said Kelsey.

"I want to help," said Chad.

Everyone's gaze turned to Joel who said, "What do we do first?"

Captain Mitchell, Dana and Alia smiled.

Alia opened up the silver case and revealed the prepared Morphers. "These are your Rescue Morphers. You'll wear on your wrist and keep them on you at all times," she explained.

They put on their Morphers and then Dana frowned at the unclaimed fifth one still laying in the box.

"Five?" she said, questioningly.

Captain Mitchell smiled. "You are the fifth Ranger."

"Me?" said Dana, shocked.

Captain Mitchell showed her the profile containing her information. "For eighteen years, I've been preparing you for this. It's yours, if you want it."

Dana just smiled and nodded before putting on the fifth Morpher.

Alia looked pleased. Everything was going according to plan. "Now, Rangers, time to get to work."

The Rangers headed out as the Aquabase's alarms went off. They grabbed their jackets and took the Rescue Rover through the secret entrance and arrived in the city as the demon and his goons were attacking.

"Rangers, listen up," said Alia. She was watching them through the monitors. "What you're facing are the demons' minions they can summon at anytime called Batlings. They carry short swords for combat, but they should be easy to defeat."

"We hear you!" said Joel. "What about Big Red and Ugly?"

"His power is pyrokinesis—the ability to create and control fire. Watch it with him. He's dangerous," she warned.

The Rangers followed Alia's instructions and at first, they were defeating the Batlings, but in their unmorphed forms, they began to lose. The situation became worse when Ghouligan started blasting them with bursts of fire.

Alia let out an impatient growl. If the demons won too early, Ryan would never be able to do what he'd been training for, for so long. After making sure no one was watching, she muttered an incantation and then a shield came up over the Rangers that protected them from the Batlings and demon for just a brief moment, much to everyone's shock.

"Where did that come from?" asked Chad.

"Don't know." Alia lied. "But you need to act, now!

"Rangers, you need to use your Morphers. Say 'Lightspeed Rescue to Morph,'" said Captain Mitchell.

"Got it!" they all said, in unison.

They took their fighting stances and then Morphed into Lightspeed Power Rangers and in their morphed forms, were able to defeat the Batlings and destroy Ghouligan. Everyone cheered on and treated them like heroes, especially those down in the base when they came back.

"You did well…for a pack of rookies," said Alia, making them laugh.

"You helped too, so thanks," said Carter.

Alia smiled and then looked serious as Captain Mitchell came into view and the applause and cheers ceased at the serious look on his face.

"There is a time to celebrate, but this is not it," said Captain Mitchell. "You see, now Diabolico knows you exist. You think that fight was tough? Just wait."

"But sir, we just destroyed Diabolico, didn't we?" asked Kelsey.

Alia shook her head. "You're mistaken, Ms. Winslow. The demon you fought today, the one who went down so easily, was not Diabolico. That was just one of his foot soldiers, Ghouligan."

"Easily?" repeated Joel, staring at her incredulously. "You call that easy?"

"You want to defeat Diabolico?" asked Captain Mitchell. "Then you've got a lot of work to do. We all do."

Everyone nodded and saluted.

When she got the chance, Alia went to her quarters to get some sleep. The minute she closed the door, something snaked around her waist from behind and nearly jumped out of her skin, but then a familiar voice whispered, "Boo!" and his breath tickled the back of her neck as she turned to face him.

"Ryan!" she breathed. "It's not that I'm not happy to see you, but how did you get in here? What if the Captain or Pink Ranger had seen you?"

"Relax, no one can see or hear me except you. And the spells on your quarters prevent anyone outside from hearing you without your permission, remember? It's just a one-time thing. Vypra owed me a favor. She honed in on your quarters' location and did a little spell so I'd be transported here and could come see you."

"Does Diabolico or Loki know about this?"

He shook his head and smirked. "They may have fallen under Vypra's sleep drug during dinner. They won't notice a thing and I'm yours until the Rangers need you. Then I go back and you see me again later this week."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I can live with that. So, I assume you know about the Rangers' first battle?"

"Everything you know, I know," said Ryan. "The others were watching through a spell, too. Diabolico wasn't exactly pleased with what you'd done today—protecting the Rangers, but he knows why you had to do it."

"I expected as much, but I had to do something to maintain my cover and help make sure you'd get your chance in, didn't I? If I help the Rangers again, it'll be in lesser methods than the shield, I promise you that. The Power Rangers have won the battle, but the war's just begun."

Ryan's eyes darkened at the mention of the Rangers. "I was ready to punch the Green Ranger's lights out for hitting on you like that. He's going to be the first one to go down, I promise you."

"Calm down, beloved," said Alia. "Joel Rawlings may be the Green Ranger, but he's a complete and total idiot. Besides, I'm yours and no one else's for all eternity."

"Got that right," he said, as he kissed her cheek.

"So, what brought you to my door? Missed me?"

"You have to ask? You didn't visit last week. All we got was your message," said Ryan. "I missed seeing you, holding you, the smell of your hair…I just missed you, Lia, so much."

Alia buried her face in the crook of Ryan's neck, breathing in his scent. "I'm sorry. I've missed you too. I would've come last week, but I was so busy preparing for the Rangers and I got so tired…I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I promise."

"Lia?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Ryan's mouth then claimed hers as he kissed her and she responded with equal passion and soon lost themselves in their love. Hours later, they were in Alia's bed, still awake and talking. Alia had her head on Ryan's chest while Ryan had his arm wrapped around her.

"It's four in the morning. You should sleep." Ryan murmured, as he stroked her arm. "You'll have to get up soon."

"You should sleep. You'll have training to do when you get back," she reminded him. "How will you explain your exhaustion to Diabolico?"

"I'll think of something."

She shook her head. "I wish—oh, what am I saying? I'm a witch." She waved her hand and then everything seemed to stop except for them.

"What'd you just do?" asked Ryan.

"It's something I found the other day, just a minor time-stopping spell. It's not much, but it'll gain us another eight hours so we can get some sleep." She yawned as she closed her eyes and snuggled closer. "I don't want you to go back. I want you to stay here."

"So do I, but it won't be much longer, I promise," said Ryan. "Soon, we won't have to hide anymore. Soon, we'll be free and everyone will know the truth."

They finally fell into a deep sleep.

When morning came, Alia kissed Ryan one more time and then he left. Her husband's words rang in her ears. "Soon we won't have to hide anymore. Soon we'll be free and everyone will know the truth." He was certainly right about that.