Prisoners of War (Part One)

Posted on Sun Sep 24th, 2023 @ 5:00pm by Markus & Julian Blackford

1,147 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Secret of Corvus
Location: Kaldore Flagship Brig
Timeline: Unknown

The cells were dark, the metal walls unpainted from their almost obsidian hue, purple and green plasma conduits visible pulsing within the walls. The energy field over the front of the cell was shimmering with a green static. The floors and walls had a slimy blue substance along it.

The forcefield shimmered as it vanished, a Drone tossing a dishevelled young man with red hair inside, wearing a shredded GPF cadet uniform. He looked up, a look of fear on his face as he locked eyes with the other young man in the cell.

"How long have they had you?" The man asked, his voice shaky "What facility were you taken from?"

Julian sat against the cell wall, eyes closed, trying his best to ignore the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure how he'd been sitting in this cell. He'd given up trying to count the days a while ago.

He sighed, opening his eyes, and looking down at his wrist where the strange device with the Silver Crystal lay inert. Ever since he'd somehow activated the device during his escape attempt, the Kaldorians had tried on multiple occasions to get him to transform again. Normally by beating him. But, no matter what they tried, the Crystal refused to activate, and Julian stayed as he was.

Hearing the approaching drone, he quickly stood up, fists clenching. Surely they couldn't be back for him again. But when the Drone threw the young man into the cell, then walked away again, he let out a soft sigh of relief.

Hearing his questions, he simply shrugged. "I don't know." He admitted. "How can anyone count days in here?"

He just shook his head in response to the second question. "They didn't take me from any facility." He explained. "I'm not GPF. I'm a civvie."

"Damn. First Human I see and he's a civilian. No offence." The man with red hair murmured, his voice still shaky "As far as I know, I've been here for 4 days. I was keeping a tally in my old cell but they moved me here..."

Julian chuckled, shaking his head. "None taken." He said, offering, what he hoped looked like a kind smile. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, glancing around the cell, the smile quickly fading. "What about you then?" He asked, moving to sit down against the wall then "Where were you taken from?"

"Newtech City." The man replied, cautiously holding a hand out to Julian "Markus Oliver. GPF Cadet senior grade."

Julian glanced at him, before slowly accepting the outstretched hand, shaking it twice before dropping it again. “Julian Blackford. Semi-Professional actor.” He said, offering a weak smile.

"Semi-Professional?" Markus cocked an eyebrow "What does that even mean?"

Julian couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. "It means that I have an agent, and auditions booked, but have yet to do any actual professional work." Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. "And right now, it looks like I won't be attending any of those auditions."

"Well, we'll have to make sure you make it to those auditions." Markus replied "Step one, we make an escape plan. Now, they're changing cells at regular intervals to prevent planning, so we need to make it quick. We need a tactical edge. Any ideas, Semi-Professional Actor?"

Julian sighed, slumping back against the wall, looking around the cell, running a hand through his hair. "I dunno. One of us pretends to be injured and gets a guard to come and help, then we jump him?" He suggested, shrugging. "I dunno. They don't exactly cover 'Jail Break' in acting classes." Glancing over at Markus, he raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't they have an escape class at the Academy?"

"No." Marcus replied near instantly "Not by the stage I'm at anyway. Perhaps later in training. If we had some kind of tactical advantage, maybe that would work..."

Julian nodded, glancing down at his wrist, which he realised he'd been covering, obscuring the strange device attached from Markus' view. Biting his lip, he slowly dropped his hand. "Well, I have this... thing." He said, raising his wrist, showing him the device. "I don't really know what it does, but when they attached it to me earlier, it... caused me to transform."

For the briefest of fractions of second, there was some kind of expression flashed across Markus' face, then, as quickly as it had appeared, it had vanished. He locked eyes with Julian, a serious expression on his face.

"I've seen one of these before." He noted "On the arm of a Power Ranger. Is that what you are, Julian? Are you a Power Ranger?"

Before he could stop himself, Julian let out a bark of laughter, before clearing his throat. "Sorry." He said, glancing up at the door, hoping he hadn't been loud enough to warrant a visit from the guards.

Glancing down at his wrist, he turned his arm around, getting his first proper look at the device that was attached. "I'm definitely not a Power Ranger." He eventually said, dropping his arm again. I don't even know anything about the Power Rangers, or at least, I know whatever knowledge is public."

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. "How the hell can I be a Power Ranger?!" He eventually blurted out. "Isn't there some kind of selection process to stop people like me from becoming a Power Ranger!"

"Beats me. Never met one." Markus shrugged "For all I know, you're exactly the type that normally become Power Rangers."

"I thought the Rangers worked with the GPF?" He queried. "I assumed someone like... Well, someone like you would be a Ranger."

"No sir." Markus noted with a shake of his head "Rangers are still outlawed to my knowledge, so any collaboration between them and the GPF would have to be strictly off the books. Anything else risks causing all sorts of issues for higher ups and we both know how much people high up in organisations hate issues."

"Outlawed?" Julian muttered. "I had no idea." Shaking his head, he chuckled. "Yeah. Management everywhere hates dealing with paperwork." Sighing, he leant back against the wall. "So, if Rangers are outlawed, how the hell do the Kaldorians have one of these?" He asked, waving the device on his wrist around. "Surely there shouldn't be any kind of technology around that enables the creation of new Rangers."

"Do these guys strike you as the type to care about Alliance laws?" Markus asked "Afterall, they have abducted alliance citizens, and pretty sure I heard of them having a red Ranger running around for them."

Julian sighed, running a thand through his hair. "Alright, alright. I get it." He said. Leaning against the wall, he sighed again. "Alright. I guess it's time to get this plan started."

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

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