Last Request
Tommy's life had been thrown off track when he was 16, and he had been kidnapped by Rita and forced to become the Green Ranger. That was only the beginning of the insanity, from losing his powers to becoming the White Ranger, the Red Zeo Ranger, and finally the Red Turbo Ranger. He had almost been relieved when he had handed off his Morpher to T.J. However, it seemed like he was forever changed, not just by his experiences but also physically.
Tommy had always been different from his peers. He had come online as a Sentinel when he was three during the car accident that had left him an orphan. It had been hard for him growing up; his birth family had surrendered him to the Sentinel Guide Center because they were not equipped to raise a traumatized toddler Sentinel. Tommy had been lucky that he had been fostered and later adopted by the Oliver.
When Tommy was growing up, there had always been whispers that he might have been a Prime; those whispers only grew when he presented as an Alpha shortly before Rita had abducted him. Tommy had been tested at a level 6 Sentinel, the highest level having all 5 senses enhanced and an advanced adrenal response. When he presented as an Alpha, he joined the ranks of a small group of Sentinels. Most sentinels were betas and at the most a level 3, though only a small number of betas reached a level 3, most being a 1 or a 2. Alpha and Omegas were the only ones who could reach higher levels, and it was unheard of for them to be lower than a 4. Most high-level Sentinels are Alphas, though occasionally, an Omega came online as a Sentinel. Only a level 6 Alpha ever had a chance of becoming a Prime if he bonded with a level 6 Guide, also known as a Shaman.
Because Tommy was a level 6 Alpha Sentinel, he had always had more advanced senses than his peers, but after he had become a Ranger, they had gotten so much stronger, and it wasn't just his senses. After becoming a Ranger, he had acquired super-human strength, faster reflexes, enhanced speed, and heightened perception. He had also developed what he believed to be mild empathy, as he seemed to know the intentions of the people around him.
He hadn't been the only Ranger to get these enhancements. All of them, even the Guides in the group, had gotten the physical enhancements. Although Tommy was the lone Sentinel to get an advanced adrenal response, he wrote it off because he was the only Sentinel in their pack that was a level 6. The Guides also seemed to get a boost with their mental gifts, and some even developed new, previously unheard-of gifts, such as healing touch.
Another bonus came from being a Ranger; the powers seemed to act as a Conservator. Since becoming Rangers, none of the Sentinels had zones, and none of the Guides were overwhelmed by their mental gifts. Zordon had explained to them that this was known as the Gift, allowing Sentinels and Guides to function while not being mated and keeping them alive if their mate died. The Gift came from the first Rangers. They believe that the Gift had been created to allow Rangers greater longevity during conflicts.
Tommy had thought that once he had given up his Morpher, everything would just go back to the way it was, but he was wrong. The Gift, as well as the physical enhancements, had stayed with him and the others. In some ways, there was a benefit to not zoning, but the Rangers had to be careful not to attract the SGC centers' attention because they didn't need Conservators. Tommy had wanted to ask Zordon about their lingering Gift, but shortly after that, Zordon had returned home, then the control center had been destroyed. Tommy did eventually get his answers, though, but from Andros.
The previous Turbo team, now the Astro team under Andros, had wanted Andros and Zhane to meet their former teammates. Tommy liked Andros, though he thought he was sometimes too uptight. Though it was amusing to see him interacting with his mate, Zhane, who was the opposite of Andros.
Andros and Zhane were perfect examples of everything a Ranger could be. The two of them had grown up knowing about Rangers; in fact, Zhane was the son of the former KO-35 Pink Ranger. Zhane was an Alpha Sentinel Prime and his mate Andros was an Omega Shaman, the two of them were the Leaders, Protectors, and Representatives of KO-35 to the galactic community.
During this get-together, Tommy was able to question Andros about their Powers. Andros had explained that the changes were permanent as far as he knew, but he had never seen a team that had given up their Morphers. He explained the Earth was an oddity, he had never heard of a planet having more than one Ranger team appear, and he had never seen Rangers 'retire' as they had. According to Andros, most planets with a Ranger team only had one, and those Rangers would stay active Rangers until they died and passed their Morphers to the next generation. Most Ranger teams were their planets' only contact with the greater intergalactic community. Andros had explained to Tommy that if he ever meets his match of an omega shaman, he would be considered the Leader of Earth to the intergalactic community, as Tommy was the only Sentinel Ranger with the potential to become a Prime.
It threw Tommy that someone like him could be considered the Prime of Earth; several other Prime pairs were much older and more experienced than him. He felt some despair at the news; so far, Tommy had met every level 6 Guide. There were only about 20 of them, so they threw a SGC mixer introducing high-level Sentinels and Guides every two years. Tommy was an oddity because a high-level Guide never came online when he had; this was often the case because nature provides, after all. Tommy knew that his Guide was out there because he had been visited by their spirit animal, a gyrfalcon, ever since he came online.
It takes a unique Alpha to settle down with a Beta, and the issues were only exacerbated by the Sentinel/Guide dynamic. Tommy had tried to curb his instincts and drives in the past by dating Kim then Kat, both of whom were Guides, but neither had worked out. Even though both betas had dumped him, he knew that he had driven them to leave. Tommy knew in the back of his mind that he would only ever be able to settle down with a Ranger, and finding a Shaman Ranger would be next to impossible. The odds were not in his favour.
However, the most disturbing thing discussed was that most Rangers had a 10-year life expectancy. Most Rangers were killed before they made it to their 30s. Rangers never seemed to die of natural causes or old age; they all died violently at the hands of their enemies. There were even some planets that saw the Rangers as a curse. As an omen that evil and suffering was to come.
Tommy had left that gathering disturbed and unsettled. It wasn't until six months later that he saw Andros again. At the memorial service for Zordon, Andros and Zhane had approached Tommy with a final message from Zordon addressed to Tommy. Andros and Zhane stood apart from the other Rangers during the service that had taken place at the site of the destroyed command centre. Andros was not popular with most of the Morphin, Zeo, and the one lone Turbo Ranger, because he had been the one to kill Zordon. Zhane stuck close to his mate, acting as a buffer from the grieving and angry Rangers.
Tommy, however, understood Andros's actions. Tommy had been an active Ranger longer than anyone else on Earth, and he understood that sometimes there were decisions that had to be made as a leader to keep everyone else alive. He respected Zordon's choice and Andros for having the fortitude to go through with it.
After the ceremony, Andros had taken Tommy aside and told him that he had a message from Zordon to Tommy back on the Mega-ship. Andros explained that after the final battle, he had discovered two messages saved on his Morpher; one had been for him telling him to help Tommy in whatever way he could on Tommy's final mission. The other message was addressed to Tommy.
Only Tommy, Andros, and Zhane returned to the Mega-ship as the rest of the Astro team spent time with their respective families.
"Sorry, this place is a bit of a mess; we are still finishing repairs." Andros apologized as he led them towards the bridge.
"Don't worry about the mess. It's still awesome to be on an actual spaceship." Tommy said as he curiously looked around.
"It's not much of a spaceship at the moment because it's going to be grounded for at least a month as we make repairs," Zhane said as he threw himself down in a chair once they reached the bridge.
Andros just rolled his eyes at Zhane's antics before coming over to the central console and bringing up the message from Zordon.
"The message has been encrypted. Only your codes can open it." Andros said as he moved out of the way so Tommy could reach the console.
Tommy walked up and looked down at the console. It was more advanced than anything he had seen, including Billy's odd inventions. There were no buttons, only a screen with tiny icons that Tommy assumed was in place of physical buttons. He had never seen a touch screen in real life. He had only thought that it was something from science fiction. Tommy tapped the icon that had his name on it.
"Please give the authentication code." DECA, the onboard AI, spoke.
"Tommy Green Alpha Two," Tommy said.
"Voice print confirmed, authentication confirmed. Beginning play back." DECA said.
"Tommy, if you hear this, I am dead." Zordon's voice filled the bridge. "Tommy, I am entrusting you with the task I was first sent to Earth to oversee. Though Rita was a threat, the threat that she posed was not our original purpose on Earth. Encoded in this message are coordinates to the location that my Ranger team was sent to protect. I would like you to search it out and protect it from anyone who would do evil with it, completing the mission that my team died for. You will need Andros and his technology to complete your task. Only they will have the tools to help you now that the control centre has been destroyed. I only hope that you can be more forgiving than I was able. Good luck, Tommy."
There was silence on the bridge until DECA's voice cut through.
"Coordinates received, plotting location." The AI's voice said.
The viewing screen was soon filled with a picture of the Earth before the image zoomed in to a location several kilometres inland from the coast of Antarctica.
"It seems like the coordinates are approximately 2 kilometres beneath the ice, on the bedrock beneath it," DECA informed them.
"What the hell could possibly be there?" Zhane asked, flabbergasted.
"I don't know, but it must be important if Zordon is sending us there," Andros said, feeling as shocked as Zhane.
Tommy was silent.
"What are you thinking?" Andros asked.
"What do you think that Zordon meant by 'I only hope that you can be more forgiving than I was able'?" Tommy asked in contemplation.
"Yeah, that was odd. It almost sounded like Zordon was ashamed." Zhane said.
"Also, what is there that was more important than stopping Rita?" Andros asked, causing them all to pause. It was a good question.
"I didn't even know that Zordon had been a Ranger," Tommy said; he had been surprised at the revelation.
"Yes, Zordon was a Red Ranger, but his whole team died containing Rita, or at least that was what the mission report said. I'm not sure how he came to be within the phase tube, but it happened around the same time." Andros explained.
"I hope that what caused that is not what he sent us to look for. I don't want to be out of phase with reality." Zhane said, worried.
"Well, we are going to find out." Tommy stated, "The main problem is that the location is under 2 kilometres of ice, and we are going to have to dig through it somehow."
"Actually, I don't think that is going to be much of a problem. It's probably why Zordon told me to help you." Andros said before explaining. "The Astro-mega ship has mining lasers for when we have to mine asteroids for fuel. It would be easy to reconfigure them to melt through the ice."
The other two young men took a second to think it over but couldn't see any obvious flaws in Andros's plan.
"The only concern I have about the plan is the various governments getting curious about what exactly we are doing in Antarctica," Tommy said, thinking back to the news broadcast he had seen earlier in the week. There was an interest in the Rangers, especially after the Astro Rangers' identities became public. Before this, everyone thought that the Rangers were extra-terrestrial in origin; now, it is known that some of them were domestic.
"I don't understand," Andros said, puzzled, and Zhane wore the same face.
The two of them had come from a society where it was known that they were not alone in the universe and that Rangers were there to protect them. They also came from a united planet in a way Earth was not. Governments were scared, and so were the people, and all of them saw Power Rangers as a possible solution or a threat. Governments wanted to control the Rangers, mainly because of their power, and it scared them that no one seemed to be in control of the Rangers, and they answered to no one. The civilian population saw them more positively as protectors, but groups out there still feared them.
"There will be questions from various governments if we suddenly land the mega-ship in Antarctica. Governments are going to want to know why we are in the middle of nowhere, and if they decide to investigate, they could discover whatever Zordon was protecting. Not only that, you guys are public figures now. Everyone knows that you are Rangers and not only that but that you are not from Earth. While that is not a surprise, because most thought that the Rangers were aliens, the problem comes from the Earth Astro Rangers. Governments now know that there are homegrown Rangers, and I'm sure that they are looking for us to see if we are going to be a threat to them or if they can use us. All unidentified former and future Rangers are going to have to be even more careful now. For example, if I'm seen with you guys, it could expose the other Rangers and put them and their families in danger. Tommy explained.
There was a look of comprehension on the faces of the two Kalorians as they realized the problems they could cause for the Earth Rangers, who still had hidden identities. They had never had to worry about it before because every other planet they had visited was either advanced enough to be a part of the galactic community or too primitive to have an organized government.
"What if we remove the laser from the ship and modify it to run hydro cells, using the water that isn't vaporized to power it. We could load up everything that we need and do a 'test flight' over Antarctica, then offload everything in less than 15 minutes before the mega-ship leaves. We must get below the surface before we are noticed, and then we can cover the entrance, and no one would know. I doubt that there is a lot of surveillance on a massive glacier at the bottom of the planet." Zhane proposed.
"I knew I didn't only keep you for your looks." Andros joked as he gave his mate a kiss. He always loved when Zhane showed his intelligence.
Zhane preened from his omega's attention, while Tommy only rolled his eyes at the couple.
"I guess we have a plan." Tommy said, "Thankfully, it's summer, so I won't have to miss classes, but I do need to go tell my civilian friends that I'm going on a road trip."
"Sure, we'll drop you off. We should have everything ready to go in about a week, the mega-ship will not be space worthy, but it should be repaired enough for atmospheric flight. Don't worry about winter gear. We should have stuff that fits you in storage, and it's much better than anything on Earth." Andros said as they left the ship.