On The Armada Command Ship, Lavira was sitting with Prince Vekar as the medical droids worked on him. Her armour had done its job, shielding him from the worst of the blast and the heat, but his use of the Solar Flare, a technique that even Argus, arguably one of the most powerful swordsmen in existence, was hesitant to use, had almost killed him.
He was unconscious, and the droids were working on replacing the burned flesh on his face and hands. They were confident that he would survive the internal injuries he had caused himself through his carelessness, but the one thing that hadn't changed about the Prince in the time he had started training with Argus was his arrogance. The droids were working furiously to try and ensure that he would have little or no noticeable scarring. The last thing any of them wanted was to displease him and risk him taking it out on those charged with his care.
Argus came into the room, standing by Lavira's side.
"You wished to see me?" He asked her. She wiped away a tear as she continued to look over the Prince's injured form.
"The Rangers have gone too far this time." She told him. "We cannot allow this insult to stand."
"Damaras will order out next move on the Rangers when the time is right." Argus assured her. "He is already..."
"We will NOT wait until that copper-headed moron is ready to do something to avenge this attempt on the Prince's life!" She snapped at Argus.
"In the event of the Prince being incapacitated, command falls to Damaras." Argus reminded her. "It is his place to co-ordinate the campaign."
"I am sick of the avalanche of ineptitude in his command!" She yelled. "You are the Prince's personal bodyguard! It is your place..."
"It is my place to remain by the prince and ensure his safety." Argus interrupted her. "On the ship, he is safe. Anything further must be specifically ordered by the current General, and at present, that is Damaras."
"But your Prince..."
"I have no interest in your emotional response." Argus cut her off. "If that is all...?"
"Actually, there is one more thing I have to say. She came over to Damaras, leaning in closely so that the medical droids wouldn't hear her. Getting close to the receiver, she whispered.
"Command over-ride, Alpha 28081993!" She whispered. It activated something within Argus' programming, a back-door programme she had installed in his central command protocols. She had programmed it in without anyone's knowledge, intending it as a last resort in case they somehow lost control of Argus. She took a step away from him, straightening herself out. "Go to Earth and seek a battle with the Rangers. Avenge your Prince."
"It will be done." He responded with a little bow, before turning and leaving the room. Lavira returned to the Prince's side, placing her hand on his arm gently.
"Make them pay Argus." She snarled. "Make them PAY!"
Back within the visions, Jake found himself sitting at a desk, going through some documents. It took him a little while to get his bearings. He had a look around seeing he was in some kind of...well...cave was probably the most accurate description. While there were a lot of computers and monitors around, the rough, rocky walls did not give it the appearance of a basement or bunker that had been specifically built for the purpose. In another corner, there was kind of a gym, a few pieces of equipment, all of which was surprisingly clean and well-maintained, like it got plenty of use. The heavy bag looked a little worn, but that just gave him the impression that it too saw a lot of use.
The desk in front of him was littered with paperwork, something which seemed more than a little out of place given all the computers around the place. Why would anyone with access to this kind of technology not use it to assist with paperwork? As he looked to the paper in his hand, he saw scientific equations, data...but strangely, it was stuff that he recognised. It wasn't as if he recognised it because of his shared knowledge of past Rangers...he had been doing these exact same equations only a year ago.
"This...this is...High school work!" He stated, looking through some of it. Some of the other papers had red pen marks on them, notes and corrections in the work. As he picked up one paper, he looked to the title page.
"Reefside High School Science department." He read aloud. "Care of...Dr T. Oliver, PhD."
He got up, looking around for something reflective, eventually finding a computer screen that had been turned off. He looked into it, and saw a familiar face.
"I'm Tommy again?" He asked, looking down at his clothing. He was wearing Khaki trousers, and a black T-shirt, with a chequered shirt over it. In the pocket was a pocket protector, with a few pens in it. He saw the red pen in his other hand. "Wait...what? Tommy went from working for Anton Mercer to...teaching High School science?"
Just then, he heard a crash from the corner of the room. He furrowed his brows.
"Careful Ethan, do you have any idea how much that cost me to put together?" He heard a female voice asking. He rounded a corner, finding a red-haired woman standing by one of his computers, surrounded by parts and tools. There was some rustling coming from underneath it, and a pair of legs sticking out, indicating there was at least one other person in the room. Some more parts came flying out a second later. "Seriously Ethan, is that necessary?"
"Man, where did you get these parts Hayley?" The voice asked as another part came flying out. "I swear, I haven't even SEEN one of these since Grad school!"
"Ethan, what the hell are you doing?" Tommy asked. "I asked you to update the system, not tear my computer to pieces!"
"No offence Dr O, but I DO know what I'm doing with this stuff." Ethan replied.
"We know Ethan; we all saw that Time magazine article." Hayley told him. "We all know you're on the top ten list of those under thirty to watch in technology."
"Not to mention I launched the fastest-growing software company in history." He replied, coming out from under the computer. "Trust me, when a guy that earned 1.3 billion dollars in his first year of business agrees to update your computer for free...it's best to listen."
As Ethan looked to Tommy though, both of them shifted shape. Noah found himself looking straight at Jake.
"Wait, Jake?" He asked. "Where are we?"
"My tech is not outdated!" Hayley snapped, picking up one of the components. They just looked to her, but as she stared at them, clearly unhappy, they remembered that this was a memory. It had already happened, meaning that she had no idea of their interactions. She continued to respond as she had at the time. She was still seeing and hearing the scene as it happened.
"OK, I've figured out this much...I'm Tommy again." Jake told him. "Only...he's older now. Like...my dad kind of old!"
"This was cutting edge Ethan, I built it myself!" Hayley said sharply. Noah just looked to Jake.
"Well, whoever I am...apparently he can be kind of an arrogant jerk." Noah answered. She just thrust the part into his hands.
"Yeah, well not all of us have the benefit of a multi-million dollar company behind us!" She responded. "I didn't see you complaining back in the day!"
With that, she stormed off. Noah just sighed.
"Well, now we're on our own, I guess we have some stuff to figure out." Noah told him. "Like...who exactly I am."
"Well, she kept calling you Ethan." Jake reminded him. "And she said something about a software company..."
"Wait...I...I can't be..." Noah went to a computer screen, and looked at it, seeing himself. He took some time to focus, at which he shifted form, and saw a familiar face. He smiled.
"Oh, my GOD!" Noah called out. "Dude, do you know who I am?"
"Ethan...something?" Jake asked him.
"I'm Ethan James!" Noah told him. "He's on the fortune 500 list! He owns one of the biggest software companies on Earth...he's like...my idol!"
"Wait, if you're in Ethan...that means he was a Ranger!" Jake reminded him. Noah suddenly started to squeal with delight.
"Oh, my GOD!" Noah screamed. "Ethan James was a Power Ranger!"
Jake looked to one of the computers, seeing a symbol on it, one he recognised from the Ranger profiles they had studied when searching for them.
"Hang on, that symbol...he wasn't just any Ranger." Jake stated. "He was a Dino Thunder Ranger!"
"Tommy was one too." Jake responded as a memory came to him. He gestured to his shirt. "I guess that explains the black thing."
"Is he on a mission to wear every colour?" Noah said in a small laugh. He concentrated for a moment, searching Ethan's memory. "Um...alright, Ethan doesn't have any of the keys."
"If Tommy had them, he'd have let the Ranger underground know." Jake added. "He's upgrading his computer system to keep up with them all."
"We know Trent doesn't have them, if he did, he'd have told us when we met him." Noah surmised. "So, that means they have to be with one of the other two Dino Rangers."
"So, how exactly do we find out where we can find them?" Jake asked. "You're not a Red, or a Yellow..."
"Wait, Tommy's the Ranger historian right?" Noah asked him. "Why don't we just..."
He jerked his head in the direction of the computer, at which Jake just smiled.
"You know, sometimes I love the fact you're a genius." He responded as they went to the computer. They started searching through the files, at which Noah just sighed and shook his head.
"No wonder this guy kept losing stuff back in the day." He commented. "Folders within folders...damned if I can figure out his filing system...its pretty non-existent. If his brain's as scattered as his computer system, no wonder he could never remember anything!"
"Come on Noah, he can't be that bad." Jake told him. "He is the most active Ranger there's been! Surely he has to have...OK, that is pretty random."
"Hang on; I think I've found the right file." Noah told him, opening it. "Yes...yes...two more...Red Dino Thunder Ranger, Conner McKnight."
"Conner McKnight?" Jake asked. "I went to one of his training camps! He's awesome!"
"Well, apparently he was also the Red Ranger for that team." Noah said as he stroked his chin.
"What?" Jake asked. "Where is he?"
"I was just thinking...all of these visions...it really felt like they were all connected." Noah told him.
"Yeah, they were all connected by Tommy!" Jake told him. "Adam and Justin both served with Tommy, the Ninjas and the Dinos teamed up, so that's how you ended up with Tori...and Adam again..."
"No, I get the feeling I'm missing something." Noah stated. "If we're looking for the keys, and they belong to one of the other Dino Thunder Rangers..."
He stopped in his tracks.
"We saw the team-up with the Overdrive team." He reminded him. "Conner wasn't part of that team-up...but the Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger was!"
"Was she?" Jake asked. "I didn't see her!"
"We only saw her from behind!" Noah reminded him. "She had her back to us when she was talking to Adam about Tommy being a doctor!"
"So, you think it's the Yellow Ranger?" Jake asked. "Then who is she?"
He found the file, and pulled up the picture.
"Um...OK, that could be a problem!" Noah stated.
"Is that Kira Ford?" He asked, gesturing to the screen. Noah just nodded. "So, we find Kira, and then if she doesn't have them, we try Conner."
"How?" He asked.
"Orion, can you help us out here?" Noah asked. "It's time we were..."
A moment later, Noah slumped backwards, hitting the floor hard. He started to shake his head as he came to. Orion was standing over Jake, and Gia was trying to bring Jake back around.
"You...you've been under quite a while." Orion told them.
"Guys, you wouldn't believe what we've seen!" Noah told them. "We think we know..."
"There'll be time for that later!" Gia interrupted him. "We really wish we could let you rest up, but Argus just showed up in the city."
"Argus?" Jake asked. "Doesn't he normally stay by Vekar's side wherever he goes?"
"There's time enough to worry about that later!" Gia told them. "Come on guys, if we don't get a move on, Manhattan's going to have a lot to worry about!"
A/N: Slightly short chapter, but I really am trying to have this wrapped up before my trip. It will probably be wrapped up in the next chapter or two...hopefully I get them out.
As a quick challenge, can anyone tell me how I came up with Lavira's over-ride code for Argus? Have fun, and thanks for reading.
