Civilian Powers??

Posted on Tue Jul 18th, 2023 @ 10:03am by Kilena Keithron & Valdana 'Dan' Raadax & Damien McGinnis & Spencer Gustaffson & Ellie Evans & Keon Seong & Jamie Bullock

2,060 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Invasion
Location: GPF Academy
Timeline: 0000 Hours, November 20th 2050

After the last couple of weeks, Kilena finally found herself back in the familiar confines of her bedroom at the base. The room, though modest in size, held a sense of comfort and security that had been sorely missed during her time away. She sighed deeply, savouring the sensation of being free from the constant tension that had accompanied her every move.

As she unpacked her belongings from KO-35, memories flooded her mind. The adrenaline-fueled chases, the risks they had taken, and the countless close calls were now behind her for at least a little bit whilst the Kaldor Emporium licked their wounds. Kilena could not help but feel a mix of relief and accomplishment of the time on KO-35 though there was an overhanging what the hell happened with her finding the Zords and the strange trance.

Running her fingers over the familiar trinkets on her dresser, she smiled. The small photographs of her family and friends reminded her of the support she had around her. The soft glow of the desk lamp illuminated her favourite novel lying on the nightstand, tempting her to immerse herself in its pages. Kilena decided to resist and headed out to the common area that was only lit up by several barely illuminated lamps but it was empty which only served to remind her that everyone was asleep after the clean up operation.

Spencer had found himself unable to sleep here at the base currently; at least sleep without falling down from exhaustion. It hadn't even been a month, but his perspective had changed almost completely. Before this, he was an eager Cadet who'd fallen into something well over his pay grade. Now, he'd seen the lack of support from GPF command when they needed it most, and the loss of a Ranger - no, the loss of a friend - bothered him. His focus was on getting back at the invaders, finding out what they'd wanted on Earth and what they'd gotten out of it. There was a shiver of fear running along his spine every time he stopped to think about it. That meant he was going to make every effort to avoid thinking about it. His every move and every thought was full of tension, the worry about when the next attack could come.

Everyone else had gone to bed since the first stage of the cleanup was done. There was still enough to do in the common area that the Blue Ranger could occupy his mind with it. Whatever he could find wrong, he set right - pictures needing to be rehung, benches that weren't quite in their right spots, books that had been stacked up rather than put into bookshelves, and dirt from potted plants that hadn't yet been swept or mopped. He was trying to distract and exhaust himself, focusing on this small project in the common area rather than trying to think about the terrors that waited outside.

“How come you are not asleep?” Kilena asked as she noticed that someone was in the set of rooms. They had not really had time to catch up properly between debriefs and meetings. She moved over and took the opposite side of the table he was attempting to right.

Spencer nodded appreciatively to Kilena, accepting her help with the table. When they got it back upright, he shrugged with one shoulder. "Just didn't feel comfortable in my old bed, honestly. Plus, I'm worried about what happened - and how quickly it could happen again. It might just have been a few weeks, this time. What happens next time, when they'll come back with a ship bigger than ours, and something that can properly take on our zords?"

He looked down at the table - there was obviously something more, but it wasn't something he wanted to talk about. The loss of someone under his brief command stung. She'd agreed to the teleport when they saw the activity at the hangar, of course, but the fact remained that it had still been his call.

Kilena made to open her mouth to speak but someone else wandered in.

"We'll just have to get a bigger robot," Keon quipped quietly from nearby. For him, this was all jet lag. He was more than worried about his own compatriots, but with the scene at Angel Grove how it was, it was likely the ghost hunt had been postponed. Or so he assumed.

The assumption let him focus on the fact that he just got himself into a mess of trouble. Rangers. Zords. Monsters and wars. This was not what he had in mind when he agreed to investigate ghosts. Not one bit.

"Jokes aside, isn't this what all this is for?" Keon waved a hand around the base. It was evident now that his Korean accent had all but faded. "Worrying too much is bad for the health, or so my mother used to say."

"Sounds like a smart cookie, your Mom." Damien said as he stepped into the room, taking a bite out of the apple in his hand, his red and black pyjamas clashing with his fluffy yellow pikachu slippers "Is this a private future insomniacs of the Alliance club meeting or can anyone join?"

Spencer couldn't help but chuckle at Damien's comment. He looked over at Keon with an amused expression still on his face. Still, he took a breath and his expression turned more serious. "You've figured me out already. I worry, you know that."

"I guess you can join," Kilena commented looking away from him to start picking up more stuff that had not yet been tidied away. "They won't come back for a while. Tail is between their legs." Kilena had seen the reports on the location of the fleet and it was far away for now.

Ellie and Jamie were chuckling about something as they stumbled onto the group by surprise.

"Oh. You're all still up," Ellie noted. "We just landed an hour or two ago..."

"The jet lag is killer," Jamie added, pulling up a seat. "Though I guess that's not why you're all still up."

Kilena smiled a little at the mention of Jatlag. She could appreciate that to say the least all the space flight in the last week and a half was taking its told on her for sure.

Spencer looked at Jamie and shook his head. "No, it was not. How was your flight?"

"I'm just glad to be home," Jamie answered, glancing at Ellie knowingly.

Valadana looked at the group confused as she came into the lounge still dressed and wearing gloves. "Hey," Kilena called out.

"Well if it isn't everyone's favourite popstar, welcome!" Damien called with a grin, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly "Actually, I had to Google you after pinky mentioned you. I prefer guns and roses but hey, you do you."

Spencer looked over at the new arrival; he'd heard a little bit in the meeting, but he didn't really know about her. Still, she was a Ranger and that meant enough to him, now. He'd try to be social. He wiped the dust off from the table onto his jeans, then extended his hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you out of uniform, Orange. I'm Spencer - Blue."

"I know who you all are but it is nice to be part of the group. Valdana or Dan... Whatever you prefer." The orange-haired woman said shaking his hand with her gloved hand before looking at the rest of the group.

"Are you feeling okay?" Kilena asked knowing that she had been injured the same way as she had been a couple of weeks before.

"I am much better. A few more days and I will be back to normal. Ready to face the world properly. They suggest a statis tube but I do not think I need that." Valdana was not going to miss out on a moment of the fact she legally had to become a GPF Officer and try and keep out of trouble.

"So what are we all doing now as we are all awake? Kilena asked softly moving to sit on the couch.

Spencer nodded, still in a grim mood. "Valdana, then. Thanks for saving us when we got back from Mirinoi. Your emergency beacon saved Kilena's life. I... we all - owe you for that. Thanks. I'm glad you finally joined the team."

He looked at Kilena and winced as she sat down on the couch. "There's still dust in those cushions."

Obviously, Spencer was the kind of man who led too spartan a life to care about dust in cushions. but at this moment, it was his way of trying to do good. He'd struck out once before, and Kyarah had saved him. They'd discovered the versatility and power of their weapons in that fight. And when the others had returned to Earth, they'd brought Zords. Still though, it bothered him. He looked at the others. "I feel like, when I touched the crystal, it gave me more than just a suit and a robot. We'll need that if we're going to even continue being involved with the Force. "

Kilena picked up the cushion and threw it at Spencer to solve the dust problem. By using him to force the dust out. “Of course it did.” Valdana commented before she glanced around the room and saw everyone staring at her confused. “Surely the civilian abilities have kicked in by now?” She wondered.

"Civilian abilities?" Damien asked, "Are you saying we get super powers outside of the suits?"

"I did," Valdana commented.

Spencer smirked at Kilena's solution to the cushion 'problem', and caught it from midair, smacking it a few times to clear the dust out in a small cloud that settled to the floor near his feet before tossing it back. Then he turned to Valdana when she spoke, and remained quiet for a moment. "I don't believe so. How would we be able to tell?"

"It might help if someone could tell us what those powers actually were," Ellie added.

Valdana could only tell them her abilities. She glanced down at her gloves. “No idea mine are… well…” Valdana started but Kilena let out a gasp.

“My new abilities.” She said to Ellie and Damien.

"The whole freaky tikki psychic bit?" Damien asked, pausing "I'd kind of put that down to the whole KO-35 bit. Telekinesis is a thing there and psychic powers didn't seem a huge leap. Thinking it through... Yeah, this makes slightly more sense."

“I can see the future,” Kilena explained to the people who had not been there when she had led the green and red ranger through the forest to where the Zords had been found.

"Really??" Ellie frowned. "I've never noticed anything unusual..."

"Takes a little bit to kick in. You might not be cooked yet."

"You mean I could actually go off and talk to ghosts if I want?" Keon asked, clear sarcasm tinting his words. "I think I still have a lot to digest with suit, ability to fight, and random robots... Zords? My dad was more into the history of all that than I was." If his dad still knew what he was up to now...

"Who knows it's down to you and your crystal," Valdana commented back with a roll of her eyes at the sarcasm. "Me for example my crystal and genetic make-up created a powerful defence mechanism in I have an ability to make poisons so telekinesis manifesting into precognitive abilities is not such a leap.” The singer agreed.

Spencer thought for a moment about her comment, and shrugged. "Well, whatever mine is, it'll probably kick in when it's needed and not a moment sooner. Seems to me like these powers have a very specific opinion about escalation and overkill."

"I can't wait to find out you fly while we're trying to save you from falling," Keon pointed out before his brain caught up with the rest of him. "That'd be mighty convenient. And cool."

"Or maybe you'll get super smell or something." Damien noted, smirking "You know, wolf and all that."

"Just so long as my eyes don't start bulging out of my head or anything..." Ellie frowned, thinking about the giant green chameleon zord she had bonded with.

 

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