Chapter 26 – Ghosts Of History
Outskirts of Hunston Valley
Up in the hills overlooking the city is a quiet stretch of road that leads towards the next town. Parked up at the edge of the road was a grey sedan with a figure standing beside his vehicle. He was in his late thirties with light brown hair and thick stubble. He was just over six feet tall and was dressed casually in a pair of beige cargo pants and a long sleeved grey t-shirt. He lent on the guardrail and looked down to the city below. As he took a drag on his cigarette he heard a voice call out, "Those things are bad for you Sarge".
US Army Sergeant James Phillips tilted his head slightly towards the speaker, "Private Randall, you're late".
"Dock it from my pay", Chase replied without emotion. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a flash drive, "That's the latest information from the most recent attack", he continued, "I'm still not sure why you want all this". Sergeant Phillips had been one of Chase's superiors prior to his discharge from the army. The black ranger hadn't been too fond of him at the time. He was a real career soldier, eager to climb up through the ranks as quickly as possible. Worst of all he wasn't too concerned about who he stepped on to get there.
"That's classified information Private", Phillips responded as he placed the drive into his pants. He took another drag on his cigarette, "Come on Chase don't look so miserable, we're both getting what we want. You get some extra cash and I get to put together a project that's sure to make me an officer".
Chase snorted, "The way I remember it you threatened to stop my pay out if I didn't help you". Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of his communicator. The black ranger read the incoming message, "Well this has been a riot but I have to go", without so much as a farewell he turned around and walked back down the road.
"Same time next month", Phillips smirked. He dropped his cigarette butts and crushed it into the dirt. He wondered how Chase was going to get back to the city, he never saw him driving a car to their meetings. The Sergeant's own cell phone vibrated and he read the text he had received. Putting his cell back in his pocket, he jumped into his car and sped towards Hunston.
Hunston Park
Sparks flew high into the air as the latest monster from the Deboss swung its giant hammer into the chest of the five rangers. The monster had a globe shaped head with orange ruffles around his neck. The rest of his body was various shades of orange and yellow, except for its arms and legs which were purple. "Man this guy packs a punch", Tyler coughed.
"Typical of the Deboss, sending an autumn themed monster", Ivan added. He was the first to his feet, assisted by his sword for support. He charged the monster and brought his blade crashing into its hammer. The creature blocked the attack and responded by ramming the gold ranger in the ribs. Ivan crashed to the ground near the other fallen rangers.
"If Chase doesn't get here soon, we'll need to call on Kiera for back up", Koda called out. The other rangers had agreed that Kiera would only come and assist the rangers if they desperately needed the support. Her knowledge of the lab was too valuable to lose. Suddenly several pulses of black energy struck the monster, sending it reeling across the park.
"You're late Chase", Riley stated.
"Yeah not for the first time today", he replied whilst continuing to fire. With the extra support, the rangers were able to regroup. All the rangers except for Chase were now armed with a blade and took it in turns to slash the monster. Akida recoiled from the blow but he wasn't giving up yet. Summoning a giant nut shaped grenade, he threw it towards the rangers. Chase spotted this straight away and blasted it out of the air with his Dinovolver.
"I think it's time for the lance team", Tyler suggested but before he could continue, several small rockets landed in a circle around the rangers and the monster.
Humans and monster alike looked at the rockets in confusion. After a few moments they began to pulse with blue energy, "Guys I think we need to get away from them", Shelby said and rolled out of the field, closely followed by Koda. Chase could see that the field was about to close so he pushed Riley out of range just as him, Tyler, Ivan and the monster was enclosed in an energy field.
"What the hell is this", Tyler slashed at the shield with his blade but it bounced straight off. Akida charged at the shield but he too was thrown back by some blue energy.
"Not bad, a monster and three rangers", Chase knew that voice, he turned around and saw Sergeant Phillips again, this time flanked by several soldiers.
"Sir, what about the others", one of the soldiers called out.
Koda, Riley and Shelby all had their weapons at the ready, "No don't attack", Tyler said, "return to base and catch up with purple and first red", he added. The three rangers didn't look too happy about this but they slowly began to move away. When it became clear that the soldiers weren't going to stop them, they sprinted towards the nearest teleportation point.
Sergeant Phillips eyed his prizes like a child on Christmas Day, "Alright put them into their own containment fields and take them back to base. This will show those spineless politicians that the Army is much better than some wannabes in spandex". Chase bore a hole into the Sergeant and clenched his fists but he was powerless to prevent himself and the others from getting taken away.
Underwater Lab
Almost immediately after reporting in at the Dino Mansion, Kiera had teleported herself, Jason and the other rangers to the underwater lab. She had transferred most of the valuable equipment to the Mansion but there were still a couple of powerful computers left behind. As Shelby and Riley entertained the Plesio Zord, Koda and Jason stood next to the purple ranger near a computer. "I didn't know that the army possessed technology like that", Koda said to the original red ranger.
"Doesn't surprise me at all", Jason replied, "remember Lightspeed Rescue?" Koda nodded, "After the Aqua Base was destroyed, Carter, Miss Fairweather and Captain Mitchell returned a few days later but everything had been stripped bare".
"The government covering their tracks?" Koda asked.
"Probably", Jason sighed, "a similar thing happened when our Thunder Zords were destroyed. Tommy also reported that large amounts of the Dino Thunder Zords were missing after their final battle with Mesagog. He didn't have any proof but he thinks that government assigned cleanup crews kept some for themselves".
"I remember the story of that army general's robotic Lightspeed rangers", Kiera added without looking up from her screen, "Conner never did forgive his Uncle for that".
"I love story time as much as the next girl", Shelby called over, "but shouldn't we be finding the others".
"That's what I'm doing", Kiera replied, "I'm hacking into the Pentagon to see if there are any bases nearby".
"I thought you said that would draw unwanted attention to us", Jason stated.
"I know, that's why I'm doing this here rather than back at the Mansion", Kiera responded, "I'd like to see them find us under all this rock and water". She continued to type until a few minutes later she got a hit, "Found them, there's a base thirty miles away", she stood up from her chair.
"You coming with us?" Riley asked the purple ranger.
"Wouldn't miss it", she smiled and inserted her Energem into her morpher.
"Alright everyone, let's bring the rest of our team home", Shelby began, "Dino Spirits, Dino Charge", she called. The rangers morphed and disappeared in a flash of light.
Anderson Army Base
After being transported in a sealed army truck, the rangers were unceremoniously dumped into a cell. The room they were being held in was totally bare with white walls and a small glass window. The monster had been separated from them and taken to another part of the base. Their Dinovolvers and in Ivan's case his sword and brace, had been taken from them. Fortunately the soldiers were unable to operate them so they couldn't be forcibly demorphed.
With nothing to do the trio sat in silence for what felt like hours. They weren't sure if they were being monitored as there was no obvious sign of a camera. Eventually Tyler couldn't take the silence any longer, "Why would they capture us?" he began, "we're the good guys".
"Back in my day lower ranked personnel would do anything to get promoted", Ivan replied, "perhaps this is something similar".
Chase shook his head, staggered that the military hadn't changed much in three hundred years. Looking back he couldn't even tell you why he had signed up. He was a bright but lazy student at High School so after graduation he didn't have too many prospects. Then his best friend Jeremy announced that he was joining the army so Chase decided to follow him. Whilst the army gave him some much needed discipline, it wasn't really a good fit for him. After Jeremy's death he had grown to despise the entire institution. After a few more minutes silence he decided to speak out, "Guys this is all my fault".
Tyler turned his head, "Why would you say that?"
"The guy that captured us, I know him", he sighed. "Ever since the Deboss began attacking I've been feeding him information about how they work and what their attack patterns are. I've given him some observations about us".
There was a brief moment of silence before Ivan spoke, "Why would you do that?"
"I didn't have a choice", Chase sighed, "he blackmailed me. If I didn't help him, he would instruct the Army to stop my discharge payout. I couldn't afford not to do it, I didn't tell him anything about who the rangers are or anything".
Tyler remembered that before the black ranger moved into the Mansion, he had been living out of his truck. As far as he was aware he didn't have a permanent place to call home until he moved into the Mansion. "Chase I'm not happy but I understand the position he put you in".
"I admire your loyalty to us though", Ivan added, "and I think you felt that you owed the army something".
Chase smiled under his helmet, "No such thing as an ex-soldier is there". He breathed a sigh of relief, Tyler and Ivan had let him off lightly. He hoped the others would be just as forgiving. The trio descended into silence again until the cell door opened about ten minutes later.
Sergeant Phillips walked in with a smug look on his face and once again he was flanked by two other soldiers. "What do you want with us?" Ivan asked.
"You secrets of course", Phillips replied, "if I can give the military details about your ranger powers, I'll be promoted for sure".
"You're messing with forces that you don't understand", Tyler stated, "you can't hope to control that monster you captured".
"You underestimate the US Army", he smiled. He nodded his head and the two soldiers stood over the red and gold rangers. "Since we can't access your weapons, we'll start by finding out who's under the helmets". He reached down and his hands found a couple of catches at the side of Chase's helmet. He was about to pop them open when the bases alarm sounded, "The place better be on fire", he groaned and pulled out a walkie talkie, "this had better be an emergency".
"Sergeant we've been invaded", a voice replied, "loads of those white suited creatures. Not only that, the monster's escaped".
"All under control is it", Chase smirked. Phillips didn't get a chance to respond as the glass window shattered as the blue and green rangers jumped into the room. The soldiers nearest the door got a boot to the head courtesy of Shelby. Riley took care of the other soldier and Koda brought Phillips to his knees with a sharp blow to the kidneys.
"I've found your weapons", Kiera entered the room with two Dinovolvers, Ivan's Thunder Blade and Ptera Brace. She tossed the weapons to the appropriate ranger, "Now let's go, that monsters on the rampage".
"I'll be out in just a second", Chase called out. The others nodded and left him in the room with Sergeant Phillips, "I think our deals off Sarge", he spat.
Phillips frowned before a look of realisation appeared on his face, "Randall?" Chase didn't acknowledge him, choosing to smash him in the temple with the butt of his Dinovolver. He gave Sergeant Phillips one last look before leaving to meet up with the others.
Dino Mansion
With all seven rangers united, the monster inside the Anderson base was quickly destroyed. Unfortunately they couldn't prevent the deaths of seven army personnel. The rangers had hung around until a relief unit had reached the base. They looked on with a sense of satisfaction as Sergeant Phillips was taken into custody, misappropriation of government property and intelligence being one of many charges he was facing. Later that day Chase confessed all to the rest of the team. They were annoyed but after Tyler and Ivan backed him up, most of their anger had dissipated.
The following morning Chase was in the back yard of the Mansion. He hadn't slept much the previous night due to concerns over money. Without the Sergeant's extra payments, he would struggle to pay the rent this month. He was idly drinking his coffee when Koda pushed the back gate open, "Morning Chase".
"Hey Koda, I wasn't expecting to see you here", he replied.
"Well I've come with an offer", he threw a black t-shirt over to Chase. The black ranger opened it up and saw it was for his sister's repair business, "For some reason Chloe seems to like you. When I explained that you had run into financial issues she offered you a job".
"I don't what to say", Chase replied, slightly stunned.
"Yes would be a good start", Koda smiled.
Chase placed the t-shirt on in his lap, "I didn't think you liked me".
Koda sighed, "Well you've grown on me and I can't see a team mate out on the streets".
"Thanks man", he replied, "I'm sorry again for going behind everyone's back, guess I'm still getting used to being part of a team".
The blue ranger smiled, "Just don't let it happen again and remember we've all got to watch each other's backs". He indicated for Chase to hurry up, "Now get dressed, Chloe wants you at the store in an hour", Chase groaned but it was slightly playful. He was grateful to Koda and his sister for offering him this chance. The rangers had also given him another chance and he wasn't about to screw this one up. Grabbing his t-shirt he raced inside to get ready for his first proper day at work ever.
A/N – You might remember a mysterious phone call that Chase got in chapter 9 (or possibly 8, it was a while ago), well here's the answer to that little riddle. Just a quick response to a guest review AlexHeycox. Firstly thanks for your review and comments. Unfortunately the pairings for this story will be Chase/Kiera and Tyler/Shelby but thanks for your suggestion.