The setting sun cast a golden glow over the Florida coastline as Tommy Oliver crouched in the brush, carefully adjusting the placement of a small, discreet sensor in the dirt. The tiny device, one of Billy's latest creations, was meant to passively scan for unusual energy signatures. Tommy wasn't exactly sure what it was looking for—just that Billy had insisted they plant them at key locations.

And it just so happened that this key location was close enough to not only Elgin Air Force Base, but the Schmitt Gymnastics Performance Center, allowing Tommy to arrange a visit with Kimberly.

"You're spending a suspicious amount of time fiddling with that thing instead of hanging out with me," Kimberly teased from behind him, arms crossed as she watched him work.

Tommy smirked. "I am hanging out with you. Just multitasking."

"Yeah, yeah," Kimberly said with mock exasperation, leaning against a tree. "I should be mad, but honestly, I'll take what I can get."

Tommy secured the sensor, dusted off his hands, checked to make sure it was transmitting, and stood up. "There. All set." He turned to Kimberly with a smirk. "Now, about that thing I was gonna tell you…"

Kimberly arched an eyebrow. "You've been leading up to something for the last ten minutes. Just say it already."

Tommy chuckled. "Okay, fine. So, guess who had a date?"

Kimberly narrowed her eyes. "...You?"

Tommy rolled his eyes. "No, not me."

"Rocky?" she guessed.

"Nope."

"Billy?"

"Try again."

Kimberly thought for a second, then her eyes widened. "Adam?!"

Tommy burst out laughing. "No, he and Tanya have been going out for a while now. It was Kat."

Kimberly blinked. "Kat? Kat Hillard went on a date?"

"Yep."

Kimberly smirked. "Good for her. Who's the lucky guy?"

Tommy grinned. "You may remember him. Friend of Billy's, into aerospace engineering…"

Kimberly's face scrunched in thought before realization hit her like a lightning bolt. "No way. You don't mean—"

Tommy nodded, barely containing his amusement. "Yep."

Kimberly's jaw dropped. "Hal Elliot?!"

Tommy laughed. "Ding, ding, ding. Give the lady a prize."

Kimberly shook her head in disbelief. "Wow. I mean, I always thought Hal was a decent guy, but also was… interesting. When everyone was doing karate, he picked Krav Maga. He and Billy were friends, even if he and Trini never saw eye to eye on anything."

Tommy smirked. "Yeah, Trini probably had thoughts when she found out."

"Oh, I bet she did." Kimberly grinned before her expression shifted. "Speaking of Trini, she called me earlier—something about you signing some barbecue petition?"

Tommy winced. "Oh… yeah, about that."

Kimberly crossed her arms. "Thomas James Oliver. Please tell me you did not sign up to move Trini's Forest Spirit Statue."

Tommy sighed. "Look, I get it—Trini's passionate about that thing. But this time, it's not just about a barbecue pit. A lot of the profits are going to fund a new Little League field, refurbish two nature trails, set up bird feeders, create a community garden, and help Ernie out with upgrades to the Youth Center."

Kimberly gave him a skeptical look. "Uh-huh. And let me guess—Rocky's the one who convinced you?"

Tommy scratched the back of his head. "More like… I got caught up in the pitch for the community improvements and helping Ernie with the Youth Center."

Kimberly smirked. "Trini's gonna murder you."

Tommy sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Kimberly shook her head with a laugh. "You're lucky I like you, Oliver."

Tommy smirked. "So I've been told."

Kimberly rolled her eyes but then her expression turned serious. "Actually… speaking of the air force base, I overheard something the other day while I was at Elgin for a PR event with Team USA."

Tommy's eyebrows raised. "Oh?"

Kimberly nodded. "We were there for an autograph session and a gymnastics exhibition. You know, the usual 'thank the military personnel for their service' thing. Anyway, while we were getting a tour, I overheard some officers talking about 'recovered components from Angel Grove.'"

Tommy's stomach tightened. "Angel Grove?"

Kimberly nodded. "And that wasn't all. A few guys were also talking about something called 'Genie rockets.' Apparently, they're a backup option if the Power Rangers can't defeat a monster. They said a local commander has 'release authority' from the 'National Command Authority.'"

Tommy frowned. "Genie rockets?"

Kimberly sighed. "I don't know what they are, but it sounded important enough that I remembered it."

Tommy exhaled. "Billy's been picking up some weird readings from Air Force fighters—first around Groom Lake and Elgin, but now near Angel Grove."

Kimberly's eyes widened. "So… you think they did recover something from Angel Grove?"

Tommy nodded slowly. "We never did account for all the Thunderzord wreckage after Rito destroyed them."

Kimberly pursed her lips. "So what—you think the Air Force picked up the pieces and started figuring out Ranger technology?"

Tommy exhaled. "Wouldn't be the craziest thing we've seen."

Kimberly then added, "One more thing. When the Machine Empire first showed up, the fighters scrambled with full missile loads."

Tommy looked at her. "And?"

Kimberly crossed her arms. "They came back without them – or at least a lot fewer of them."

Tommy's eyes narrowed. "They fired them?"

Kimberly nodded. "And later, on the local news, I saw ground crews painting silhouettes under the cockpits."

Tommy's breath caught. "Quadrafighter silhouettes?"

Kimberly nodded. "The Air Force shot down a lot of them."

Tommy ran a hand through his hair, processing that. "This just keeps getting bigger."

Kimberly sighed. "Yeah. And I really don't think we're gonna like where this leads."

"You can say that again," Tommy said, just before he was interrupted by a series of beeps.

"Tommy, there is a monster attacking Angel Grove," Zordon said.

"I'll be right there," he said. He gave Kimberly a look.

"At least we got a chance to catch up," she said.

"I'll be back when it's over," he said.

Hal was among those who had arrived for a mass brief after they'd been called in. Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Martin, the commander of the 4450th Composite Fighter Squadron, was waiting as they arrived.

"Okay, folks, listen up. There's a monster on the loose, and radar's also picking up a likelihood of bandits incoming. Enola fight, two F-16s with Genies and a B61, is to go airborne and orbit over the NTC, fighters from Nellis will cover them. Boxcar flight, also with Genies and a B61, is going to fly towards Naval Air Station North Island and take ground alert there. Everyone else in elements of two. F-15s will be call signs Topaz, Jade, Opal, and Garnet. F-16s not on nuclear alert will operate under the call signs Outlaw, Toyota, Diamond, Showtime, Hustler, and Buick. All Eagles have four Slammers, four nine-mikes, and full guns. All Vipers have at least two Slammers, two nine-mikes, and full guns," he said. "An E-3, call sign Robin, will vector you—"

A klaxon sounded.

"Navy and Marine birds will be up as well, and several Navy vessels will try to pick off enemy fighters as they approach. Stay below 55,000 feet – it's open season up there for SAM units," Martin said. "The Aegis ships will be on special-auto."

Hal and Wally took their folders, revealing they were Toyota flight, fifth in line for takeoff behind Enola, Boxcar, Garnet, and Outlaw flights. When they got the green light after requesting clearance to take off, Hal and Wally pushed their throttles forward.

The F-16s leapt into the sky from the runway of Angel Grove International Airport. The F-16s quickly made their way to a point. Hal made sure his IFF was on. No use getting blown out of the sky by the Navy – there were plenty of Quadrafighter jockeys who would be trying to do that with malice aforethought. Weapons… Toyota flight was lucky – they had four AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles and two AIM-9 Sidewinders. Plus, he had a full load for the M61 cannon.

"Toyota, Robin. Nine bandits inbound, bearing from Trumpet 2-9-2 at 70," a controller on the E-3 Sentry said.

"Roger," Wally said. The two F-16s turned to kill the bandits. "Dragon, take some from the right, I'll go to the left – that way we don't double-target someone."

"Got it," Hal said. The Falcon's APG-68 radar soon had lock on two Quadrafighters.

"Fox One, Fox One with two Slammers," Hal called out as four blips vanished as the guided missile cruiser USS Anzio unleashed its missiles.

Hal's missiles worked perfectly. The AIM-120s closed the gap, their fire-and-forget capability allowing him to concentrate on the next shot… almost, almost…

Four of the blips vanished from the screen. The last one broke in front of Hal, who fired a third AMRAAM, and watched as it hit.

"Robin, Toyota, bandits splashed," Wally said.

"Copy, Toyota, sky's… wait, head for Trumpet. Multiple bandits got past Garnet and Topaz," the controller said.

The return to Angel Grove hadn't been what Trini Kwan had wanted it to be. The sirens had sounded, and she knew she had to get to cover – she wasn't a Power Ranger any more.

"Move!" Bulk shouted. He and Skull were springing into action. She'd heard from Kimberly and Billy about them making the Junior Police Patrol, and she'd been willing to give them a shot.

"You, too, Trini!" Skull shouted.

They had grown up – Trini had remembered Billy telling her about the time they'd taken on Scatterbrain. But this was something else.

"But…" she said.

"Shelter, now!" Skull said, then he softened. "I'll go back and look for Billy and the others," he added.

As they headed for the shelter, Trini could see one of the Quadrafighters coming in… and she knew it might be too late to run. The next thing she knew, Skull had pushed her down, and was on top of her – shielding her with his body, for what little good it would do against the weapons on that fighter…

Hal Elliot was in a zone. Almost immediately, he knew that this lead fighter had made its pass.

"Too close for missiles, switching to guns," he said aloud, not knowing or caring that the radio had picked it up. Then he pulled the trigger, and watched as the Quadrafighter caught the burst.

Trini heard Bulk whooping loudly.

Skull got up.

"The Air Force just blasted it out of the sky!" Bulk shouted. Trini saw an F-16 turn hard and fire a missile – she watched, and saw a second Qaudrafighter take a hit and spiral towards the warehouse district and docks.

The she heard the sonic boom as the F-16 began climbing like a rocket in hot pursuit of the last fighter, one that had broken off from its pass on the Youth Center. Somehow, she figured that its decision wasn't going to matter in the mind of that Air Force pilot.

"Get em!" she heard Skull shout. Just what was going on?

The Zeo Megazord made quick work of the monster. Now, the Power Rangers were moving to take on the Machine Empire forces attacking Angel Grove proper.

"Never mind, it looks like the Machine Empire is retreating," Bill said.

Kat was worried. She and Hal had been supposed to meet at the Youth Center, and some of the Quadrafighters had attacked.

She hoped Hal was okay.

"Looks like a Quadrafighter is trying to escape," Tanya said.

"F-16 in pursuit," Rocky said, surprised. "What is…"

The last Quadrafighter had little chance. Hal got a radar lock with his last AMRAAM and sent it off towards the retreating aerospace fighter. It scored a hit but detonated too far for a sure kill.

The wounded Quadrafighter began heading back, trying to turn into Hal's attack to evade, its pilot deciding that if the end would come, he'd try to take humans with him, but the AIM-9M Sidewinder was an all-aspect infrared-guided missile.

"Fox Two," Hal said for the second time that day, and watched the missile go in and score the kill.

"That's six for Dragon!" Wally called out.

Hal could care less about the score. He and Kat were supposed to go over trigonometry at the Youth Center before this attack.

"Please, Kat, just be okay when I get there," he whispered. This was not how he'd wanted the day to go.