Disclaimer: The Power Rangers are the property of Saban Entertainment and I lay no claim to them. The character of Mackenzie Dekalb is property of Karilee who can be contacted at kajwr@twcny.rr.com. The character of Cassandra Jensen(the Emerald Ranger) belongs to Helen who can be contacted at helen0724@yahoo.com. Jeffery Kincaid, Lord Crucible, and all other characters relating to them are mine. Should anyone wish to use my characters contact me at foi72@yahoo.com.
Where He's Going
by John Chubb
The med bay was occupied by their newest patients for the day. The Alien Rangers of Aquitar, and their aide Cestria, brought their ship in for a crash landing which they barely survived. They now laid on biobeds while surgeons attended to their injuries. Not far away was their seventh patient, the Gold Ranger Trey of Triforia. Doctors looked over the Triforian's injuries, and while the injuries were not at the stage where Trey would have to split into his three componet parts. They were grave nonetheless.
Trey suffered his injuries when he brought in the Carrierzord Pyramidas for a landing not long after the Alien Rangers had their hot landing. While repair crews began work on Pyramidas and the Alien Ranger's battleborgs Tommy, Kimberly, Katherine, Rocky, Adam, Aisha, Tanya, Jason, Alpha 6, and Billy stood vigil over their fellow rangers from another planet. Billy stood special vigil over Cestria.
They were glad that the ranger healing was working overtime as the doctors tried to help it along with the Aquitarians and Trey. Tommy still needed reassurances however and stopped a blue skinned, three-eyed doctor named Ibris as she was coming out of the med bay. "Are they going to be all right?", he asked.
"They are stable for the moment.", Ibris said. "But it is still too early to take them off the critical list, even with ranger healing."
"Do you know how long it will take them to fully recover?", Adam asked.
Dr. Ibris sighed. "They have sustained grave injuries. I don't know what happened to them, but I believe that I can say that if they didn't have their ranger powers on them then they would not have survived this long."
"You mean to say that what happened to them was done when they had ranger powers?". Rocky said remembering the back injury he had sustained when he had the power of the Zeo Crystal. Even with ranger healing it still took a while for that injury to heal. Dr. Ibris nodded 'yes'.
"You haven't answered my friend's question.", Kat said. "Do you know how long it will take them to fully recover?"
Dr. Ibris sighed before answering. "At best guess, I'd have to say…four to five earth days."
"And the fleet moves out in three.", Jason had said.
"Do not worry rangers. I shall stand watch over them while you are gone.", Alpha had said. All the rangers thanked the little robot then turned their attention back to the injured Alien and Gold Rangers.
"What happened to them?", Kim asked looking on.
Adam then spoke. "Kincaid and the Nightfighters are going through the flight logs now. With any luck he should be able to tell us what happened."
Kincaid emerged from the Aquitarian ship. In his hand was a data pad with the flight information and personal logs converted to English. Cassandra was looking over the logs in Pyramidas, and was coming out with those.
"Does yours read the same as mine?", Cassandra asked.
"Like a what's what of sins and injuries?", Kincaid asked. "Yeah. Trey and the Alien Rangers had it bad."
Cassandra was reading over the logs. "They were kept at one of the Luciferian research sattelites hoping to run 'experiments on ranger powers. Test their limits, how they work, and how to make their own evil rangers if they're lucky."
"And what better lab rats than rangers themselves.". Kincaid made no attempts to hide the disgust in his voice.
"Will they be able to join the battle?", Cassandra asked.
"The council of generals decided it would be a good idea to move out soon.", answered Kincaid. "They will wait however to see if anymore ships come in. But we're going to be moving out in three days time."
"Did you talk to Tommy about this?", Cassandra asked.
"Yeah, and he thought that it would have been a better idea to wait for more ships to come but the council thought otherwise. They said 'no matter what happens we would still be outnumbered and out gunned."
Cassandra sighed then said, "Well there's one thing that they are and we're not." Kincaid asked what it was.
"Outclassed.", she said with a smile.
Kincaid couldn't help but chuckle. "Let's check out those ships some more.
After the check, the crews found no booby traps of any kind. The ships were clean as were the battleborgs. The Alien Rangers were still being monitored with a final report yet to be given. Kincaid took it upon himself to look at the nebula clouds that swirled outside the base where ships were still coming in.
The number had reached two hundred and forty. An intelligence report was supposed to come in soon but regardless of the report, the generals ordered the fleet to move out in three days.
Kincaid looked out among the ships and nebula clouded space and wondered how he got to where he now stood in life. It was only five years ago that the divorce of his parents had broken his family apart and changed Kincaid's whole life. Five years since he was harassed by bullies looking to build up their own self worth at the expence of his own. Five years since Kincaid looked for a new life in the lakesidetown of Port Clinton, Ohio. Two years since Mark Kinega brought Kincaid into the team known as the Night Rangers, and one year later Kinega betrayed them. And it was only a few months ago that Kincaid was brought into a group of ragtag Power Rangers called the Nightfighters that were fighting to free their homes from Lord Crucible.
Kincaid also thought about the future and what the upcoming battle would mean. He remembered the time during his hermitage when on a whim he went into the safehouse and saw the book of Zordon. He opened it and saw all of Zordon's knowledge and prophesies for the future. Knowledge that ranged from the Dragon Ranger powers being created to the assemblage of the Nightfighters to the epic battle where it said that 'one would rise' to stand against the darkest evil that would come.
Am I the one?, Kincaid thought. I sure dont feel like it. I never saw myself as anything special, just the 'little guy' like everyone else.
Maybe Tommy's the one. He seems like 'one' material. A good, noble, honorable fighter. Not some brooding loner who ran away from home and talks to ghosts who give him superpowers. Or maybe Jason. Cassandra is a great choice. Maybe even Andros or T.J.
Kincaid sighed and went back into the halls of the base. Well, we'll find out soon enough.
Lord Savrod stood atop the command deck of his flagship looking at the fleet he had assembled together. Perfect, he thought. A general call sent out and a force of 530 battle ready warships now stand ready to destroy the rebels once and for all. He couldn't help but admire the sheer force he had at his command.
"Communications. Put me through to all ships.", Savrod ordered. The comm officer obeyed. And there wasn't a ship in the fleet that didn't have Savrod's face plastered all over their viewscreens.
"Servants of the Luciferian empire. In four earth days we shall embark on a historic journey. A journey that will mean the death of the resistance movement that has held back our conquests for so long. In our moment of glory when the planets under the protection of Eltar became ours, challenger had arised to devalue our victory. We allowed them to run rampant for the last time. Half our world has been destroyed by these 'Nightfighters' and their rebel friends. Now we assemble our might and we will soon go out to crush our enemies. Our course is being laid into your nav computers, and we will follow that course which will lead to certain death for the rebels who dare oppose us!!!"
The roar of the crews onboard the ships was so deafening that it could have transcended the vaccum of space. None of them were aware that as the course was being laid into the fleet computers that there was another ship getting the information as well.
A rebel ship hovered not far from the fleet, taking in the information. The pilot had a look of fear on his face as he realized that the rebel fleet probably had no real chance of defeating the Luciferian fleet. Nevertheless, he'd do the best that he could and right now the best thing to do was to turn his ship around and make tracks towards the ten nebulas belt as fast as he could. Which he did.
The pilot didn't notice a figure wearing armor in a sinister shade of red, and carrying a faraway look in his eyes. The armored figure then turned his attention to the Luciferian fleet. They didn't know he was there either.
The figure did nothing but watch and wait until he would decide the time was right to act.
"Five hundred and thirty ships?", said a shocked General Isho of Tao Ceti V.
"How can we win against that?", another general asked.
Murmurs went through the crowd until one voice rose up stronger than the others. "By coming togehter as a team." All the generals turned to see Tommy, Jason, Andros, T.J., Cassandra, Mackenzie, Kincaid and Ashley standing in the doorway.
Tommy continued to speak. "Someone once said to me that when a unit comes togehter as a team then they'll always win no matter what the odds are. When one watches the other's back as well as the back of their other teamates they form a unit that can overcome impossible odds."
"But the ships they have…", one general said.
"Will be their undoing.", Andros said. "When a force of evil has so much of a superior force they tend to rely on raw power instead of unity and skill. They will put their faith in their weapons rather than in each other. And that will lead to their defeat."
"But what about our crews? A lot of them won't make it. We're not like Power Rangers where everyone beats the monster and comes out okay. People will die in this battle.", a general from Edenoi said.
"My team didn't come back from a happily ever after.", Kincaid said. "My team is dead, and they are not coming back. Sure there have been ranger teams where members come back in one piece. But I know, and Andros does too, that sometimes a teamate will not make it."
Andros nodded and said. "Kincaid understands the reality of losing a team, just as I do. And even though there are red rangers who haven't lost a teamate, they are aware that there are one or two members of the team that may not come back."
Jason then spoke up. "There are people who are going to die in this battle. Some of them may just be rangers. That's a possibility that we have to live with. But we are going to do the job anyway. Will you?"
The generals then talked amongst themselves. After a few moments they faced the rangers. "We move out in two days time.", General Isho said. "All of us."
The day of moving out finally arrived. Cestria, the Alien Rangers, Emily, Mr. Stewart, and Trey would be sitting the battle out as Alpha stood vigil over them as they lay in their biobeds. A skeleton medical and security force was also remaining behind.
The final count was 360 ships. All battle ready. On board different ships were the rangers with their zords standing by.
Defiance sat in a holding bay with Kincaid on board. The fleet was pulling out of the ten nebulas belt and was about to go into hyperspace soon. It's all coming down to this. was the thought running through Kincaid's mind. The course of the ships said that they would intercept the Luciferian fleet around Earth orbit.
Kincaid however knew better. He knew that the battle would not only determine the future of the universe, but his own as well. "It's all or nothing.", he said.
Then the fleet jumped into hyperspace on their way to a battle with destiny.