Hiding And Finding Part 1

Posted on Tue Nov 15th, 2022 @ 10:20pm by Malcolm Hendrix & Valdana 'Dan' Raadax
Edited on on Mon Nov 28th, 2022 @ 2:10pm

1,664 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Invasion
Location: GPF Headquarters Ruins
Timeline: 0930 Hours November 16th 2050

Malcolm crouched in the rubble of his lab. When the Imperium had attacked, he'd made a point of smuggling the remaining crystals aboard the Rangrers' shuttle. It was their best hope at keeping them away from the Imperium.

He slowly moved about the area, hearing the chatter of various drones around the area as he did. The translator on his collar wasn't translating their speech. Either it was damaged or their language just wouldn't register.

He moved past a pile of debris, his arm brushing against a collapsed metal support as he did. There was a screech and a crash as the support finished giving way, the remnants of the ceiling above coming down, pinning his leg to the ground, eliciting a scream of pain from him.

It was enough. A trio of Drones rounded the corner, pointing their weapons at him. He closed his eyes. He wasn't a soldier. He had no intention to face his death like one, looking his killers in the faces.

Half the Orange Rangers body felt numb while the other half screamed in agony. The sharp, burning sensation was all they could focus on. Surely this pain would stop soon. Surely there's an end to this. They weren't so sure and ready to give up because of it. They took a moment to gather their thoughts, but even this proved a hassle and a pain as conflicting thoughts corrupted their mind.

They let out a moaning yelp, part desperation and part determination. They had two options: fight or give up. Perhaps against their better judgment, they swallowed the pain and continued onward, but taking at least some care to prevent making it worse. They turned just to see the droid rolling in on the man and raised their weapon firing it in quick succession destroying the things.

"Orange?" Malcolm exclaimed in surprise "The suit, the blaster, it matches. But.... There were only 6 crystals. Red, blue, yellow, pink, green, black. Orange was not part of anything we found..."

He winced as his surprise was superseded by the pain of the debris pinning him down. He looked over to the ranger.

" A little help? " He asked.

The ranger moved to help and easily lifted the debris off the man's leg. "That seems to be the last of them in the area. What are you still doing here?" The person demanded.

"I'm a scientist." Malcolm replied "Your crystal, where did you get it? Because until the last few days I thought there were only six, then a man in a red ranger suit with a sword and shield arrived and now you."

The Orange Ranger shrugged non committedly. They were not telling this man anything, they trusted no one at all. Including a scientist connected to the other rangers. "None of your business but there are still more."

"How do you know?" Malcolm questioned, his expression perking up some "How many? Where?"

"Because I have met them." The Orange Ranger commented with a shake of there head. "Out in the universe. You think this is the only place where rangers exist. The Morphing Grid exists across the universe."

"Well, obviously. KO-35, Miranoi, Aquitar, the list goes on." Malcolm replied "But those planets never came with matching suits. In fact, if you were to compare what came from KO-35 and what came from Miranoi, the only similarities were colours. Mostly. Black and green, always alternating..."

The Orange Ranger just stared silently for a long time trying to work out if the man was jesting with them or not. "Sometimes the Morphing grid spread the powers further." The figure shrugged.

"Fascinating." Malcolm said, a small smile appearing on his face "I really do have a lot of questions for you."

"Maybe another time or place." The orange ranger said staggering forward to lean against the debris that they had shifted moments before.

"Are you alright?" Malcolm asked "I can help, I'm a Doctor. Well, a scientist, but the skills are transferable, or at least that's what my Mother would have you believe."

“I am… I am….” The Orange Ranger started to explain they were fine but a bright flash and what almost looked like glass shattering filled the darkness leaving a woman in its wake as the Orange ranger was revealed.

Orange hair was the first thing that stood out about the woman as she leant heavily on the debris. Bloodshot blue eyes, set elegantly within their sockets, watched readily for the man to realise who she was. Bruises left a mark stretching from just under the right eyebrow, running towards the left side of her lips and ending on her left cheek revealing that she had taken a beating that night.

"I know you from somewhere..." Malcolm said, looking her over for a moment "Did you work in the canteen? Or reception? Or in that little bar in town?"

The woman looked at him confused and shook her head. He was a scientist so it made sense he would not recognise her. “Dan…I had a bigger job than that but for now I was an undercover officer.” She introduced herself. She wore a black outfit but it was easy to see by the way she held herself she was hurting.

"Malcolm." He responded "Now, okay, doctor mode. What hurts?"

"My side. I was stabbed early by that psycho bitch in leather." She did not know how it was possible but somehow whatever her weapon was coated in was deadly. She had managed to get part of the shattered crystal out and keep for analysis but it was not much.

"Lunandria." Malcolm noted as he slowly made his way to the remnants of a storage locker, digging for a scanner "I heard one of the soldiers refer to her. I think they're scared of her."

“Lunandria..” Dan repeated absently as she thought about the woman. “I can not blame them she’s terrifying. I am good but she was something else.” There was something troubling the orange ranger but she would have to put it to the back of her mind and think on it another time.

"There's a bit of shrapnel embedded in your side. It's not deep, I can probably pull it out." He said as he finished his scans, looking around for a moment before grabbing a piece of rubber tubing and holding it out to her "Bite down on this."

“Hopefully it is not any more of the psycho bitches staff.” The orange ranger took the tubbing and but down on it as she lifted her shirt to reveal it.

"Could be." He said "It's metallic. I'm going to count to three then there's going to be a sharp pain when I pull it out. Like ripping off a band aid. You ready?"

Dan gave him a look that spoke volumes and the fact it was going to hurt so much more than ripping off a band aid but nodded. She could do this. She screamed and felt a wave of power come out of her as she did but only a few pieces of the ruins moved.

"Sorry I didn't give you more of a warning." He said sheepishly, holding up the small, jagged piece of metal "I find band-aids come off easier that way."

Dan could not fault his logic at all. It was perfectly true but it did not mean it did not hurt like hell. She was just relieved that the rangers healing ability would now start working. "That is not her staff. This is her staff." She held up a glowing piece of crystal shard that had snapped off in the struggle.

"That is fascinating." He said "Can I have that? I'd like to run some tests."

“No, it stabbed me. I get to keep it.” Dan proclaimed putting it securely into her pocket.

"But it got through your suit." He objected "That may not seem like much given the thing looks like spandex, but a better description would be a hyper durable polymorphic alloy, comprised of various elements that should never be able to interact but are somehow enabled to do so by the morphin grid. It really is fascinating stuff. I tried to cut a bit off of Damien's suit once, the thing just sparked and sent me flying across the lab."

"I know it got through my suit." The woman said looking down at the wound she had as if to remind him that it hurt like hell. "So it has to be something from the morphing grid?" She wondered rising on shaky feet. “We need to figure out our next move and find your young rangers.”

"I ordered them to the launch pad to escape before they and their crystals were captured." He replied sombrely "We need to get you and yours to one as well. If I can get a message to Director Tate, he can send some cover, maybe his Ranger buddies. The ones that were meant to be disbanded years ago but everyone knows better. SPD. The GPF's worst kept secret."

Dan shook her head. "Nothing quite as drastic is needed." The woman said with a shake of her head. The ships were in orbit. She would never get past the atmosphere if she attempted things that way. "We, because you are coming with me, need to get to a teleporter terminal." She mused thinking she knew a ship that was not too far out of range that would be able to get them somewhere safer.

"They're locked down." Malcolm sighed as he leant against the wall "We'd need to either charge in guns blazing, which is suicide, or we'd need to manage to sneak past a small army of Drones. Neither is a good idea."

“I have an idea.” The woman smirked thoughtfully. “Let’s get to Angel Grove museum.” She ordered starting off in that direction before pausing she had to take it slower.

"Lead the way." Malcolm shook his head before following her.

 

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