Bright Skies (Multi - Season Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt #62: Zords (vehicles), T)
-Yawns- I's getting sleepy. But that's what happens when the evil people who do the scheduling give me a morning shift out of the blue. And quite frankly, no decent, intelligent person should ever be forced out of bed before noon. Evil, evil people.
Author/: Tsukino Akume
Fandom/: Power Rangers Time Force moving into S.P.D., multiple Rangers from each season
Characters/: Wes (Time Force), multiple Rangers from other teams (Literally too many to list)
Pairings/: Post - Wes/Eric, Rocky/Adam, Shane/Dustin, Hunter/Cam, Carter/Dana, Andros/Ashley, Zhane/Karone, Carlos/Ronny, Jason/Taylor, Conner/Ethan, Justin/Rose, Tommy/Kimberly, Tyzonn/Mack, Cassie/OC, Nick/Maddison, Zack/Aisha, Trent/Kira, Post - Billy/Cestria. Future Ryan/Carter and Billy/Hayley. More couples will most likely be mentioned, but not shown.
prompt/: #62: Zords (vehicles)
Rating/: T (For non - graphic mentions of people having babies and being violent with one another)
Disclaimer/: I don't own the Power Rangers, but if Disney's hiring any new writers I volunteer.
Summary/: When Wes' life starts to fall apart, an accident gives him a chance at a fresh start in New Tech City, with Space Patrol Delta. But even a new life has its ups and downs - and weird friends. Meanwhile, Eric tries to move on.
Warnings/: A mentally handicapped person living in a medical facility, angst, male and female slash, non-cemented couples (In otherwords, pairings that will be separated), children created by scientific means, character death
Author's Notes/: This was *so* much fun to write. BlackCrimsonLight, phantom_blue, and my brother all deserve credit for suggesting various parts of the chapter.
Sadly, I'm not so sure how I like Cruger's part at the end. But it demanded to be written, because Cruger is secretly evil.
"Hey, Wes? Have you seen Andros around anywhere?"
He glanced up. "Sorry, Jase. Last I heard he was somewhere around Tech. Tommy said something about a mission for A Squad coming up, so he's trying to get them outfitted."
Strangely, Jason seemed to perk up at this. "So A Squad's busy?"
Wes tilted his head, studying him. "I think so. Why?"
"Uh, nothing. I just ... gotta talk to Andros. Hey, do me a favor and make sure B Squad stays in S.P.D. for awhile, would you?"
He shrugged, feeling more than slightly curious. "Sure."
"Thanks, man."
Wes leaned back in his chair with a soft sigh, bracing his arms behind his head. He'd hidden himself in a corner of the Squad Common Room to work on his next lesson plan for his private class, because the Officer's Common Room had been surprisingly overcrowded today. He found that it was a nice way to work on blending in with his surroundings, as none of the cadets had noticed him yet, and he'd had a rather peaceful day. But still ... his Squad had been sent out on patrol with G Squad again, and while he knew Shane would take care of them, he still wished ...
"Wow, she's *hot*!" he heard Jack exclaim. He glanced up to see the teen staring after someone who'd just passed him.
"It's good to know that you find her attractive, Jack," Bridge commented casually, almost thoughtfully, and Wes fought a grin. So that's who Jack had been staring at. "But calling her 'hot' when you're not referring to her having a temperature is sort of derogatory, don't you think? Unless she actually has a fever - then that's a different story. But since I just saw her this morning, it's highly doubtful she's developed a fever that fast. Unless it's an alien strain, and we were all vaccinated when we joined S.P.D.
"So, since she doesn't have a fever, that would mean you used it in a derogatory sense. And if you used it in a derogatory sense, that would mean you just insulted her. And since I know *she's* too nice to tell you if she's offended - "
"Bridge!" Jack interrupted, sounding exasperated. "Would you just get to the point already?"
"Oh. Okay."
There was a muffled thump as Jack was swiftly pinned against a wall. "What the - ?!" he sputtered.
"Keep your hands off my little sister if you like being able to use them." Bridge tilted his head. "Was that better?"
"Mmm ... It gets the point across faster, but I think it lacks that certain flare that says 'Bridge'," Syd commented, blowing lightly on her nails.
"Wait - *that's* your sister?" Jack said incredulously.
"Yup. That's Heart." Bridge's voice was completely fond and full of affection. He paused to wave cheerfully back to Heart, who had stopped to send him her own enthusiastic greeting. He let go of Jack as someone else came up behind Heart, making the other teen stumble. "Sorry, guys. I'll be right back - more people to threaten."
Z stared after him. "You know, that's not the first impression I got from Bridge at all. I would never have guessed he could be so ... "
"Creepy?" Jack muttered, dusting himself off.
Z gave him a dirty look. "Hypocrite."
"Congratulations, Jack," Sky mocked, patting the other boy's shoulder as he passed. "You just hit on Bridge's thirteen-year-old sister."
"Wait - what?!" Jack demanded. "There is *no way* that girl is thirteen!"
"Heart hit puberty kinda fast; that's why Bridge and her dads are so protective," Syd explained. She paused. "Oh, and just so you guys know? Bridge's threat goes for me an' Sky, too."
Z looked at Syd, bewildered. "How long have you guys all known each other?"
Syd shrugged in disinterest. "Practically forever. Besides, you'll feel the same way eventually. Scared another one away, Bridge?" she continued as he wandered back over.
"Yup," he returned, sounding pleased. "Heart says 'hi'."
"She having any problems?" Wes spoke up absently, scanning through his data pad again. He didn't know how Cam had managed to make him one that tapped into his SightMap, and he'd learned a long time ago that it was better not to ask.
All five teens jumped at the sudden sound of his voice, although Sky and Bridge recovered quickly, while Syd just shot him an annoyed glare. "Nope. She said she's been around Hawk and Casey all day, and they always give off good energy when they're together." Bridge told him after a pause.
"Wes?" Z asked curiously. "Oh, sorry. It's Sir now, isn't it?"
"Technically, but don't worry about it too much," he dismissed with a smile.
Sky came up behind him, leaning over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. "New class schedule?"
"That's right. You coming?"
"Wouldn't miss it." Sky's tone was short, but he could read the sincerity behind it. He smiled up at him, and felt Sky shift slightly as his expression relaxed a bit.
"Great, you're all here."
Jason sounded entirely too pleased, and Wes found himself glancing up as Sky's stance shifted again.
"Sir?" Sky asked warily.
"B Squad, you're about to do a very important training exercise." Jason paused, turning to him. "Hey, Wes. You wanna help Dustin and Taylor, Andros, or pretend you have no idea what's going on?"
Wes raised his eyebrows.
****
"Are you sure we have clearance to do this, Sir?"
"Relax, Cadet Tate. Captain Andros gave us his permission, and he's gonna talk to Cruger." Jason assured him through the comm. link.
Taylor looked at him in amusement. "I thought the plan was Andros is *distracting* Cruger."
"What was that?!"
"Nothing, nothing! Relax. You've got clearance, B Squad. Now head out."
"Sir!" they chorused.
Wes lifted his morpher. "Eric, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Wes. We gonna get this show on the road, or what?"
"They're on their way out now. Are you and Q-Rex in position?"
"Ready for damage control. So who do you think we should watch out for?"
"Jack," Taylor responded immediately.
"Z," Dustin answered.
"Sky," Jason contradicted.
Wes frowned. "Probably Bridge or Syd."
Karone looked thoughtful. "Bridge," she declared firmly.
"Geez, you guys sure have a lot of faith in them," the Quantum Ranger said wryly.
"Who do you think is going to be trouble?" Wes retorted.
There was a pause. "Karone said Bridge, right? I'm going with Bridge. Twenty bucks," he added.
"You're on."
Jason's brilliant idea had apparently been to get Andros to allow B Squad to 'borrow' A Squad's Delta Runners. There were several reasons for this: for one, B Squad had no Zords of their own to go with their new morphers. While Dustin and Taylor were willing to build a second set specifically for B Squad, they needed to know more about their skills as a team, and more specifically for Jack and Z, who they'd never seen in action before, to know what would work best for them. The third reason was that no one had ever been in the unique situation of having two Ranger teams with one set of Zords, and they weren't sure how the Power would compensate for knowledge in this case.
So, Jason had elected to allow B Squad a 'practice run' with the Delta Runners, to make sure there were no problems when they tried to use them. Andros had somewhat reluctantly agreed to his logic, and had been volunteered to distract Commander Cruger, as no one was quite sure what his thoughts on 'borrowing' Zords would be. And while Tommy was still technically in charge of all Rangers in S.P.D., Cruger had become increasingly more involved with the news that Emperor Grumm was headed their way.
Dustin and Taylor's job was to monitor the training exercise, record all information they received, and use the data to either solve their problems, or plan for a new set of Zords. Karone was, as usual, playing KIA, because all KIA seemed to like to record anything they wanted to term a 'major event' for S.P.D. Wes was there to keep in touch with Eric, as his morpher was the only way to communicate with him on a line S.P.D. couldn't trace. Eric meanwhile, had morphed and was standing by with the Q-Rex in case anyone's Zord got too out of control.
"Hey, Wes? Did the floaters ever figure out why that still works, dude?" Dustin asked suddenly, nodding at his wrist, which displayed an image of the Quantum Ranger just above his morpher.
Wes sighed, feeling irritated at the memories of all the tests he'd had to go through when his morpher had suddenly started communicating with Eric's again. "Billy said he thinks it's possible that it still had enough energy left in it to keep just the communications functions going once it was repaired. Hayley thinks it's a technological miracle that it works at all, and that Time Force might be involved somehow. Kat thinks it has some sort of self-repairing function, but this all it was capable of doing on it's own."
"So no one knows," Taylor said dryly.
"No one knows," he confirmed with another sigh.
"Um ... Can someone please tell me what exactly I'm supposed to be driving?"
"What was that, Cadet Delgado?" Jason asked. "Say again?"
"Can someone please tell me what I'm driving?" B Squad Yellow repeated. "I mean ... Jack's got that police car thing, Sky's got a helicopter, Bridge is driving a semi, and Syd's ... *kinda* looks like an ambulance. So what is this thing supposed to be?"
Wes bowed his head to hide his snicker. The Delta Runners had all been the first Zords Dustin, Taylor, Carlos, and Ronny had collaborated on, with a lot of help from the Morpher Project and a few people from the Techs. And the entire process had been a nightmare of arguing, debate, fighting, and eventual compromise.
Dustin had wanted cats. Taylor insisted birds would make a better base for the Zords. Carlos thought they should be better oriented for space battle, and Ronny wanted something fast. The resulting arguing had almost scrapped the project all together until Billy had been brought in to mediate, being the single person in S.P.D. to have both the experience working with multiple Zord designs, and the knowledge of how to build and maintain them.
After consulting S.P.D. regulations and a few more mediated deputes, they used a combination of technology gained from studying Storm Blaster and the Turbo Powers - with Justin's permission of course, and the information on the Lightspeed Rescue Zords brought by Angela Rawlings, their original creator. A great deal of thought had been put into each Zord's design and specialties, as well as the movements and capabilities of the Delta Megazord. Of course, that wasn't to say that Dustin had managed to slip a bit of his own sense of humor into the way certain things worked, or Taylor hadn't gotten her flyer, or Ronny her speed.
Having the most seniority, Dustin had claimed Delta Runners 3 and 5 as his project; one with the extra cargo space he'd insisted might be useful (and his specialty 'attack'), and one with aquatic capabilities - no one had questioned why. Delta Runner 2 was Taylor's angel, and she took great pride in it's maneuverability and hidden attack of its own. Ronny had designed all the specs of Delta Runner 1, and almost nothing could keep up with her precious baby.
Delta Runner 4 was Carlos' work. He designed it to be able to break through anything, with armored plating that could withstand nearly everything thrown at it. The floodlights he'd added as an additional safety precaution, claiming that at least one of the Zords needed to be armed with high powered lights. As a result of being more concerned with strength and usefulness, he'd never bothered with a particular design to base it around. Instead, they'd all dubbed it as -
"That's Carlos' Rustbucket," Jason answered her with a grin of his own. "And no, we don't really know what it is, either. And asking the mechanic who made it just makes him mad. Rustbucket is fine."
"Are you kidding me?" Yellow demanded.
"If only," Taylor sighed.
"Did anyone else hear that?" Red asked suddenly, sounding wary.
"Hear what?" Pink wanted to know.
"Someone just said - hey! Bridge, watch it!"
"Sorry, Jack!"
Jason sighed. "Let me guess; Jack met Heart today, didn't he?" he asked the room at large.
Wes tried not to smile. "Yeah. He said she was hot."
He leaned forward over the com. "Cadet Carson, please remember that this is a *training exercise*, not bumper cars. Save your personal problems for later."
"Sorry, Sir." Green returned cheerfully.
"And doesn't he just sound it," Taylor murmured, amused.
"Look, why don't you all just take a bit to get used to the controls before we try any drills, okay?" Jason told the comm. at last, sounding more than slightly exasperated.
"Not a problem. Watch this," Blue announced smugly.
And for a few minutes, they were all treated to an impressive aerial show. Loops, acceleration, swift stops; Sky had it all under control. He must have been spending extra time in the flight simulator, Wes mused to himself.
At least, they *thought* he had it all under control.
"Cadet Tate," Taylor said sharply. "Tate, pull up. Sky! You're going to hit that - "
Everyone in the room froze at the sound of grinding metal.
"I don't wanna know. I don't wanna know," Jason whispered, covering his eyes with a hand. "I just made $100; I don't wanna know why."
"Actually, you didn't," Karone informed him, studying the read out. "He missed the building; Q-Rex caught him just in time." She paused, tilting her head slightly, and giggled. "I never knew Zords could glare."
"Ooh! Dude, lemme see!" Dustin said eagerly, peering over her shoulder. He laughed. "Dude, it so is!"
"You wanna try taking that a little slower next time, Cadet Tate?" Quantum Ranger asked irritably.
"Sorry, Sergeant Myers," Blue muttered somewhat reluctantly.
"Bridge! What did you do?!" Yellow shouted suddenly.
The adults monitoring the battle turned to stare as a new image came up, now displaying Delta Runner 4 hopelessly tangled in crime scene tape, courtesy of Delta 3. The blaster was still sticking up from the back of the semi, while Delta 4 revved its engine, trying fruitlessly to break free.
"Sorry, Z," Bridge said mournfully. "I just wanted to see how it would work ... I'll get you out of there. Somehow."
"Okay, who said that?" Red demanded hotly. "Seriously! It's not funny anymore!"
They all eyed the comm. warily. "Cadet Landors, are you all right?" Jason asked suspiciously.
"No, I will *not* get out of the vehicle! What are you - whoa!" Red yelped suddenly.
Delta Runner 1 shot forward, speeding down the street with a loud shriek from the sirens. It darted wildly around trees and around buildings with no apparent direction in mind. And all the while, they could hear S.P.D. Red yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Someone help me! How do I shut it off?! Get me out of this thing!"
"Landors, calm down!" Jason shouted into the comm. "Eric, can you grab him?"
"If he'd stop swerving, I'd have had him already!" Quantum Ranger snapped back. "I don't know if you've ever bothered to notice Jason, but Q-Rex doesn't exactly turn on a dime!"
"Corners like a Buick is more like it," Taylor groused as she and Dustin typed frantically at their consoles, trying to regain control over Delta Runner 1.
"*Hey*! Don't insult the Zord, Earheart!"
"Hey, I hate to interrupt, but what does this button - ahh!" Pink shrieked.
"Sydney! What happened?!" Jason demanded.
A faint wail answered him. "Why didn't someone tell me that was the aqua mode button?!"
"Jack, Syd, look out!" Yellow cried.
They all watched in horror as Delta Runner 1 ran straight into Delta Runner 5, which had been stranded in the middle of the street with it's tires inflated beyond normal use. Delta 5 tipped dangerously, but rebalanced itself. Delta 1, on the other hand, flipped onto its back and stayed there as the two Rangers screamed bloody murder.
Delta 1 rocked for a moment, trying to get back on it's feet. Its progress was halted as at last, the Q-Rex caught up to it and snatched it up in one claw. Standing over Delta 5, Delta Runners 1 and 2 in each claw, Eric's Zord somehow managed to radiate exasperation and irritation.
"Um ... I hate to bring this up, but I think I have a problem."
Jason pressed a hand against his face. "What's wrong now, Cadet Carson?"
"Well, you see, I think better upside down, right? And I was trying to think of a way to get Z free. So, I tried to think and - "
"Bridge, did you try and do a handstand in your Zord?"
There was a long, awkward pause. "You know, these cockpits aren't really as big as they look."
"So. You think they need their own Zords?" Dustin asked, looking around at them all.
"Just maybe," Taylor said dryly.
****
"Captains, Sergeants."
Everyone abandoned their drinks as Cruger entered the Officer's Common Room, forcing themselves to their feet for a weary salute. "Sir."
"At ease." He looked over them all for a moment. "Long day, I see." Something about his tone seemed almost ... amused.
They all looked at him warily. He didn't ... know, did he? Andros was supposed to keep him busy. He couldn't possibly -
"Oh, yes. I had meant to tell you, Sergeant Scott," Cruger said suddenly, sounding almost thoughtful. "Captain Andros shared the most interesting information with me earlier. It seems Cadet Charlesia has managed to program an Artificial Intelligence into her Zord's computer systems, with Sergeant Robinson's permission. Supposed to be some sort of alarm system, she said. When it detects foreign pilot in the Zord, it asks them to remove themselves before at last taking control of the entire vehicle until forcibly extracting them. Of course, the captain has promised me that he will discuss with her the advantages and disadvantages of such a security system. After all, in case of an emergency, it's highly ineffective to only allow one person to pilot Delta Runner 1."
They stared at him. Wes felt his sunglasses slipping down his nose, but he didn't care. Did Cruger just say ... ?
""Well, then. I suggest we all get some sleep. After all, tomorrow may be an even longer day than this one."
Cruger made it halfway down the hall before they heard the sound of his laughter echoing back to them.