How did I know I would end up posting here?
Many thanks to Wild_Force71 for the idea, because until she pointed out I could do this, I had no ideas whatsoever. :)
There were several minutes of chaos as the ranger teams sorted themselves out and figured out transport. They eventually settled on taking two cars per group instead of shoving six or seven people into one vehicle. Finally, with several calls of good luck, they set out.
Admidst the commotion, however, no one noticed another figure make its way out of the shuttle and sneak away.
Commander ‘Doggie’ Cruger walked through the halls of his base, his mind turned towards his rangers hopefully in 2006 by now. It went without saying that he was worried about them, even if it wasn’t his way to display his concern openly. B squad was used to danger, they lived with it every day, but this… this was different. The idea that someone would use such low methods to destroy his rangers made him want to howl with frustration, and he couldn’t imagine waking up one day and having no memory of any of them ever existing.
Walking into Kat’s lab he stopped dead.
“Kat?”
“Commander?”
“Why is RIC still here?”
“Excuse me?”
“RIC. Why isn’t he with the rangers?”
The feline scientist looked perplexed. “He isn’t?”
“Kat, he’s right over… there.”
In the far corner, behind some obscure pieces of equipment, a metallic leg poked out. Focused as she was on her work, Kat had likely not noticed. It only took a brief glance to see that RIC was a mess: wires had been pulled out and the usually bright eyes were dull. Someone had gone to great lengths to make sure the robotic dog was unable to join B squad on their mission to the past.
It was a devastating blow. Without RIC the team wouldn’t be able to use the K9 Cannon if they needed to, and worse, Jack wouldn’t be able to utilise the battilizer function of his morpher. Granted, they would still have access to SWAT mode, but sometimes Jack’s battilizer was more effective and with RIC here…
“Kat, can you fix him?”
“I believe so. Bridge and Boom upgraded him with modern technology so replacing parts won’t be a problem. It shouldn’t take long, Doggie.”
“Good. Get on it. The rangers will need him.”
***
A few hours later RIC was charging through doors as usual, fully functional.
“Omega, are you ready?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. You’re already familiar with time travel, so I shouldn’t need to remind you about protecting the time line. Do what you can to assist the other rangers.”
“I will sir, but…”
“But what?”
“What about this time, sir? With B squad already twenty years in the past and me following them…”
“I am more than capable of protecting this city for the doubtless short period of time you and the others will be gone.”
“Yes sir. Of course, sir.”
Cruger shook his head inwardly as Sam made his final preparations. While obedience had its place, he found he’d become accustomed to the tendency B squad had to bend the rules, their willingness to defy him. Even Sky wasn’t blindly obedient anymore. He missed their defiance already and he hoped they’d find out who was behind this and soon. He wanted his rangers back, safe and whole.
There were several minutes of chaos as the ranger teams sorted themselves out and figured out transport. They eventually settled on taking two cars per group instead of shoving six or seven people into one vehicle. Finally, with several calls of good luck, they set out.
Admidst the commotion, however, no one noticed another figure make its way out of the shuttle and sneak away.
Commander ‘Doggie’ Cruger walked through the halls of his base, his mind turned towards his rangers hopefully in 2006 by now. It went without saying that he was worried about them, even if it wasn’t his way to display his concern openly. B squad was used to danger, they lived with it every day, but this… this was different. The idea that someone would use such low methods to destroy his rangers made him want to howl with frustration, and he couldn’t imagine waking up one day and having no memory of any of them ever existing.
Walking into Kat’s lab he stopped dead.
“Kat?”
“Commander?”
“Why is RIC still here?”
“Excuse me?”
“RIC. Why isn’t he with the rangers?”
The feline scientist looked perplexed. “He isn’t?”
“Kat, he’s right over… there.”
In the far corner, behind some obscure pieces of equipment, a metallic leg poked out. Focused as she was on her work, Kat had likely not noticed. It only took a brief glance to see that RIC was a mess: wires had been pulled out and the usually bright eyes were dull. Someone had gone to great lengths to make sure the robotic dog was unable to join B squad on their mission to the past.
It was a devastating blow. Without RIC the team wouldn’t be able to use the K9 Cannon if they needed to, and worse, Jack wouldn’t be able to utilise the battilizer function of his morpher. Granted, they would still have access to SWAT mode, but sometimes Jack’s battilizer was more effective and with RIC here…
“Kat, can you fix him?”
“I believe so. Bridge and Boom upgraded him with modern technology so replacing parts won’t be a problem. It shouldn’t take long, Doggie.”
“Good. Get on it. The rangers will need him.”
***
A few hours later RIC was charging through doors as usual, fully functional.
“Omega, are you ready?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. You’re already familiar with time travel, so I shouldn’t need to remind you about protecting the time line. Do what you can to assist the other rangers.”
“I will sir, but…”
“But what?”
“What about this time, sir? With B squad already twenty years in the past and me following them…”
“I am more than capable of protecting this city for the doubtless short period of time you and the others will be gone.”
“Yes sir. Of course, sir.”
Cruger shook his head inwardly as Sam made his final preparations. While obedience had its place, he found he’d become accustomed to the tendency B squad had to bend the rules, their willingness to defy him. Even Sky wasn’t blindly obedient anymore. He missed their defiance already and he hoped they’d find out who was behind this and soon. He wanted his rangers back, safe and whole.