Mr. Underachiever
Is not impressed right now...
I don't know if this should be its own thread or not. It's not a new fanfic series, but it's not a promo or an idea. It's just a one shot SPD fanfic I finished the other day that I thought I'd like some feedback on. It takes place around the same time "Idol" does, but it's sort of an alternative idea to "Idol," where Sky has a brother.
This is just a first draft, so I'm just posting this for some constructive criticism. What's good about it, what sucks about it, etc.
So, anyway, here it is. Power Rangers SPD: "Barricade."
“Ah!†Elizabeth “Z†Delgado, the SPD yellow ranger, yelled as she was thrown to the ground.
“Z!†Jack Landors, SPD red, yelled, running to her side. “This guy’s tough.â€
Lom, one of Grumm and Broodwing’s goons, ran toward Sky Tate, SPD blue, and shot him in the chest with his blaster. Sparks flew from his chest as he fell.
“He’s too strong!†Syd Drew, SPD pink, said as the five rangers regrouped.
Lom had a devilish look on his face as he shot right at the team. They yelled as explosions went off around them and they were thrust into the air.
“Ugh!†Jack said as they all fell to the cold hard ground below. “We’re getting beat out here. We need to fall back.â€
“Not yet,†Bridge Carson, SPD Green, said. “I have an idea.â€
Bridge got up and ran toward Lom. The alien shot at the ranger, but he gracefully jumped over Lom.
“Deltamax blaster!†he yelled, pulling out his weapon while still in the air. Bridge shot a barrage of lasers at Lom’s back as he landed.
Lom screamed as he fell to the ground. The other rangers gathered around Bridge and congratulated him. “Nice work!†Jack said.
“It isn’t over yet, rangers!†Lom said as he got up and faced the team. He pressed a button on a device on his wrist and a giant robot loomed over the rangers. Lom leaped into the air and landed inside the robot. “Grumm will pay me handsomely for finishing you off!â€
The robot tried to step on the rangers, but they jumped out of the way just in time. Jack pulled out his SPD morpher and talked into it. “Kat, send the delta runners!†he said.
Within seconds, the five delta runners arrived on the scene, and the rangers jumped into their respective zords.
Jack, in Delta Runner 1, took the sword attached to the side of his zord and struck Lom’s robot in its legs. As it tripped, a hatch opened on Bridge’s zord, Delta Runner 3. A gun emerged from the hatch and shot a rope around the robot, entangling it. Sky, in Delta Runner 2, flew around the robot and shot lasers at it.
“Enough of this!†Lom said as the robot broke out of its bonds and smacked Sky’s zord, causing him to lose control momentarily.
“You’re right,†Jack said. “Rangers, form the Delta Squad Megazord!â€
“Right!†the others said in unison.
The rangers combined their zords together to form the megazord. The robot shot at the zord, but it jumped out of the way and shot back at the robot, causing sparks to fly from its chest. The robot fell as the megazord landed.
Just as Lom tried to pull his robot up, the megazord grabbed its sword and leaped in the air. It came crashing down with incredible force and struck Lom’s robot.
As the robot began to spark and falter, the megazord grabbed its gun again.
“Time to end this!†Jack said.
The rangers used the x-ray capabilities of their megazord to pinpoint the exact location of the cockpit in Lom’s robot and aimed the gun directly at it.
“Fire!†Jack yelled.
The megazord shot at the cockpit in Lom’s robot and it exploded. Lom ejected himself just in time and fell hard on the ground, some thirty stories below.
The rangers jumped out of the Delta Squad and landed on their feet in front of him. Lom struggled to get back up.
Jack pulled out his morpher and flashed it in front of Lom, who had just barely gotten back on his feet.
“Lom,†Jack said, “You have been charged with disturbing the peace and threatening the security of New Tech City. Judgment mode!â€
He pressed a button on the top of his morpher, and the front plate fell on its hinges, revealing a scanner. The SPD judgment scanner is a very advanced technology. It does not make mistakes when judging criminals, and it places a containment field around the rangers and their criminal, making it impossible for the criminal to escape or attack during judgment. The scanner flashed between a red “X†for guilty and a blue “O†for innocent.
“This is an outrage!†Lom yelled.
The scanner finally made its decision, landing on the red “X.â€
“Guilty!†the rangers yelled.
“RIC!†Jack called, throwing a device that somewhat resembling a bone into the air. RIC, SPD’s Robotic Interactive Canine, immediately ran to the scene and caught the device in its mouth. It transformed into a weapon resembling a cannon, the trigger landing in the Jack’s hands while the other rangers held its sides to keep it balanced.
“Canine Cannon!†they yelled in unison. “Fire!â€
The cannon shot a blast of energy at Lom, and an explosion went off as he fell to the ground.
Jack walked over to where Lom was standing and in its place was an SPD containment card, used for easily transporting the accused back to SPD headquarters, in which Lom was trapped.
“Let me out of here!†Lom protested in the card. “Grumm and Broodwing will not be happy about this!â€
When the rangers returned to SPD headquarters, now de-morphed, they saw their commander, Anubis “Doggie†Cruger, head of SPD Earth, and SPD’s lab technician Dr. Katherine “Kat†Manx looking nervous in the command center.
“Is everything okay, Commander?†Jack asked.
“You guys look worried,†Sky said.
“Cadets, if we look worried it is because we have received a distress call from Unicru 7, a neighboring planet,†Commander Cruger replied.
Kat pressed a button on a remote, and a small hologram appeared on the table. A beautiful young woman with sparkling turquoise eyes appeared in the hologram. She was wrapped in torn cloth from the neck down.
“Grumm and the Troobian Empire have enslaved our planet,†the woman said. “They have set up a barricade around it, so we can’t escape. Please send help as soon as possible.†The message ended.
“That girl was pretty hot, huh?†Bridge whispered to Jack, who chuckled.
Sky, however, was not amused, and kept a stone face as Jack smiled.
“Will you two focus?†Z sternly said.
“Right,†Jack said, regaining his focus. “So, what do we need to do?â€
“We don’t know yet,†Kat replied. “The barricade needs to be taken down before we can enter the planet and save the civilians. Currently, we don’t have any technology to do that.â€
“We’ll try to think of some plans, but in the meantime, you are dismissed,†Cruger said.
The rangers saluted as they left the command center.
“So the fight earlier was pretty brutal, huh?†Bridge said as the rangers headed to the break room.
“Yeah, I almost didn’t think we were gonna come out of it alive,†Z replied.
The five rangers entered the breakroom and were taken aback when they saw someone.
“Hey, who are you?†Jack demanded. “You’re not SPD.â€
“He must be an intruder,†Syd said.
Jack began to pull out his morpher, but the man was unphased.
“Jack, stop,†Sky protested. “He’s not a criminal.â€
“Huh?†Jack was confused. “You know this guy?â€
“Of course he does,†the man said. “I’m his brother.â€
The other rangers were confused. “His… brother?†Z asked.
“Yeah, and I’m really offended by the way I’m being treated right now,†he said as he got up from his seat. “Sky, you didn’t tell them I was coming?â€
“I didn’t know myself, Jordan,†Sky said with a stone face.
“How’d you get in here?†Jack asked. “This break room is off-limits to any guests without a badge.â€
“Good thing I have one then, huh?†Jordan pulled his SPD guest badge out of his back pocket and showed it to the rangers.
“And how did you get that?†Jack asked. “You have to be invited by SPD to get a guest badge, and you clearly weren’t.â€
“Some D- or E- G-squad cadet gave me one,†Jordan said. “I told her I was Sky’s invited guest. Naturally, she believed me because of the Tate family’s natural good looks. She even let me put my things in his room.†He walked over to Sky, put one arm over his shoulder and grabbed Sky’s chin with his other hand. “Well, some of those looks were lost on Sky, but come on, you can’t tell me you don’t see that family resemblance, eh?â€
Sky quickly shook Jordan off of him. “What do you want, Jordan?â€
“What, I can’t spend some time with my little baby brother?†Jordan asked in a seemingly joking way.
“No,†Sky quickly retorted. “Now what do you want? Is it money? Do you want money? You usually do.â€
“Do you really think that little of me?†he asked, now seemingly only half-joking.
Sky was quickly losing patience with his brother. “I never see you unless you want something, so what am I supposed to expect?â€
“I’m so hurt right now,†Jordan replied, still half-joking.
“I don’t have time for this,†Sky snapped. “If you want something, say it now, or get out.â€
Jordan opened his mouth to speak, but stopped.
“Time’s up,†Sky said. “Get out.†He grabbed his brother by the collar and forced him out.
“Wait,†Jordan said as he was halfway out the door. “There is something I want.â€
Sky reluctantly let him go and tried to hear him out. “Go on,†he said.
“I want to join SPD, and I want you to help me train. You know, help me get into shape before basic recruitment.â€
Sky wasn’t impressed in the least. “No,†he said without hesitation.
“But, Sky, I—â€
“No. You would’ve been better off asking for money.â€
“Come on, Sky, I—â€
“I said no. You never take anything seriously, you’re lazy and unfocused. So tell me, why would I waste my time helping you, just for you to blow it off when you get bored of it like you do with everything else?â€
“But I’m telling you, this time will be diff—â€
“Get out!â€
Jordan dejectedly left the room. Sky turned around and saw his teammates’ awkward looks, but he was unphased. “So who’s up for some foosball?â€
“Okay, team, we’ve come up with a lot of ideas so far,†Kat said in the command center. It was about two hours later and the rangers had regrouped with Kat, Commander Cruger, and Boom, Kat’s assistant technician, to come up with ideas to get inside Unicru 7. “But it doesn’t appear that any of them work on a very large scale.â€
“It looks like the only way we can get into the planet is if we destroy the barricade,†Z said.
“But how are we going to do that?†Boom asked.
“We could take our megazord into orbit and shoot a whole into the barricade,†Jack suggested. It doesn’t have to be big, just enough to get a rescue team though.â€
“That is a good idea,†Syd responded, “but we don’t know enough about the barricade to know if it will work. For all we know, the lasers could ricochet right off it.â€
“Plus, sending a megazord into space could alert Grumm,†Sky said, “and if he finds out what we’re doing, we could send his own robots out to stop us…â€
“…And then we’re back to square one,†Jack said dejectedly.
“Well, maybe we could just send out my zord,†Sky suggested. “It can fly, and the lasers should be strong enough to get through the shield.â€
“We can’t send out any zords,†Kat said. “They’re not capable of prolonged periods of time in orbit.â€
“Cadets, it seems that we’re at a standstill here,†Commander Cruger said. “The communication between Earth and Unicru 7 has not been completely cut off, so we will try to find some way to get in contact with them to learn more about the barricade. Until then, you are dismissed.â€
The rangers saluted and left the command center.
Sky made it back to the break room later than the rest of the team. As he was about to enter, he overheard them talking and decided to stop.
“So what’s the deal with Sky and his brother?†he heard Jack ask.
“Yeah, I didn’t even know he had a brother,†Z said.
“He doesn’t like to talk about him very much,†Syd replied. She went on to tell the Jack and Z about how Jordan was never committed to anything the way that Sky was, which always disappointed him. Jordan jumped from major to major in college until he dropped out, then it was from trade school to trade school, then job to job.
When Sky first joined SPD, Jordan would occasionally up, usually to hit him up for money or various other things. Sky would usually be guilted into giving it to him, only to never hear from Jordan again until a few months later they’d do it all over again. Sky had always wished that he and Jordan were a lot closer, especially since their father was gone and their mother was not very emotionally stable.
Listening to Syd tell Jack and Z about Jordan made Sky realize that he may have been a bit too hard on him. For better or worse, Jordan was essentially the only family Sky had left, so the least he could do was give him a chance.
To Sky’s shock, Bridge walked out of the break room and saw him leaning over the door. He awkwardly looked at Jack, Z, and Syd, who were looking back at him in confusion. Sky tried to act inconspicuous as he walked away.
Sky headed to his and Bridge’s crew quarters where he saw Jordan looking at a picture of their father, an ex-SPD red ranger. Jordan turned around and acknowledged him.
“Dad was really something else, eh?†Jordan chuckled dryly.
“Yeah, I remember the time he took an entire robot down by himself, with no megazord,†Sky replied. He felt a little sad reminiscing about his father because it made him miss him more.
Jordan chuckled again. “Hey, look, I’m sorry about before. I’m just getting my stuff, and I’m gonna get out of your hair.†He picked up his bag and began to leave, but Sky stopped him.
“Leave your stuff in here,†he said, “and meet me on the training field at 1400 hours.â€
Jordan looked confused. “What? I don’t understand—â€
“Just be there,†Sky said with a completely straight face. “Consider it your first official SPD order.â€
Jordan still seemed confused, but went along with it. “Sir, yes, sir,†he saluted.
Sky and Jordan stood in the middle of the field as they watched the various C- and D-Squad cadets, as well as the new recruits, training.
“So what made you change your mind about helping me?†Jordan asked.
“I haven’t yet,†Sky replied. “Look, even though you’ve made some decisions that I haven’t necessarily agreed with, you are my brother, and I love you. You and I are pretty much the only family we’ve got. So the least I could do is give you the benefit of the doubt and hear your case. So tell me, Jordan, why do you want to join SPD?â€
Jordan sighed. “I just feel like, at this point in my life, it’s time to get serious. College didn’t work out, trade school didn’t work out, and keeping a decent job is hard when you haven’t finished either of those. It just seems like SPD is my last chance to have a decent life. I’m not any younger, Sky. Jumping around from job to job and begging different people for cash isn’t working for me anymore.â€
Sky nodded. He wanted to believe that Jordan was sincere, but he still wasn’t sure. Nevertheless, he replied, “I understand, Jordan.â€
“So you’ll help me train?â€
“No. At least, not yet. Listen, unlike my love, my help is not unconditional. If you want me to help you, you need to prove to me that you’re serious.â€
Jordan seemed puzzled. “And how am I supposed to do that?†he asked.
Sky looked at him with a bit of a smirk. “Well, now, that’s up to you to figure out, now, isn’t it?â€
“We are currently in a stalemate,†Dr. Manx said in the command center the next morning at 0600 hours. “The Troobians have cut off all of our contact with Unicru 7. We have no way of getting their help to learn more about the barricade.â€
“So we can’t help them?†Syd asked.
“It appears to be that way, Cadet,†Commander Cruger said.
“Wait a minute,†Sky interjected. “We can’t just give up and let these innocent people be enslaved by the Troobians.â€
“But what can we do?†Z asked. “We don’t know how to get past the barricade, and even if we did, Grumm probably has forces all around it.â€
“Sir,†Jack said to Cruger, “Bridge and I have come up with an idea. What if we sent out one of our transports at top speed and slammed it into the barricade. The impact doesn’t need to be big, but hopefully it’ll be enough to at least partially disrupt the shield.â€
“Yeah, and then we can send out a rescue team to go in after the barricade is broken,†Bridge added.
“If we’re lucky,†Jack continued, “Grumm will be more concerned with the destruction of the barricade, so we can sneak our forces in.â€
As they were talking, Sky thought he heard someone on the other side of the door, but he shrugged it off. It was probably just a C-Squad cadet.
“Jack, there are two problems with your plan,†Kat said. “One, we don’t even know if the impact will even slightly damage the shield. Two, even if it could, we don’t have any unmanned transports. Somebody would have to be piloting it into the barricade, but they wouldn’t be able to eject if they were traveling at top speed because the force would be pushing them back in.â€
Commander Cruger seemed a little uneasy by this idea. “Cadet Landors,†he said, “you do realize what you and Cadet Carson are suggesting is basically a suicide mission?â€
“Maybe,†Jack said to the group, “but what other choice do we have?â€
___________________
A few hours later, Sky was walking out of the command center when he was stopped by a C-Squad cadet dragging Jordan along with him. “Sir,†the cadet said, “I saw this man snooping around the weapons room. He says he’s with you.†Sky didn’t even try to conceal his anger.
“You know, it’s funny,†Sky angrily said to Jordan in his quarters. “For a brief second, I actually thought you were serious about joining SPD. I was even willing to help you train. I figured you’d at least wait a whole twenty-four hours before you spat in my face.â€
“It’s not like that,†Jordan insisted. “I just thought that—â€
“No, no, I’ve got it all figured out,†Sky interrupted. “You must have made the wrong guy angry at you, so now he wants you ghosted. So you came here, tried to get in SPD, maybe keep a low profile for a bit. They’d easily let you in because you’re my brother, so you’d have free reign to do whatever you want.
“And that’s your in, right? Then you can steal all the weapons and supplies you want and just ditch. Yeah, it would ruin my reputation and my entire career, but you don’t care about that, do you? No, you don’t because all you ever think about is yourself. Let me guess—you were going to steal a couple of transports while you were at it, too?â€
“Sky,†Jordan said, “you’re not listening. I wasn’t trying to do anything like that. Will you just let me explain?â€
“No,†Sky interrupted again. “I don’t want to hear it. There is nothing you could possibly say to me at this point. In fact, there’s nothing you could say to me ever.â€
Jordan looked dejected, but Sky didn’t care.
“You know, ever since Dad died,†Sky continued, “I always wished we were closer. But you know what? I don’t anymore. I’ve realized that over the last few years, my life has been a million times better because you haven’t been a part of it! So from now on, don’t call me, don’t come visit me, don’t write to me, certainly don’t ask me for anything… just don’t anything me. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.â€
Jordan was almost speechless. “Sky…,†he tried to let out.
“No,†Sky stopped him before he could. “Don’t.â€
“B-Squad, please report to the command center,†Kat said over the intercom. “B-Squad, please report to the command center.â€
“I have to go patrol now,†Sky said as he quickly grabbed his jacket off his bed and headed out the door. “By the time I get back here, you better be gone.â€
“I don’t see anything,†Jack said as the rangers stood outside a warehouse looking for any suspicious activity.
“Yeah, I thought Kat said there was Krybot activity out here,†Z agreed.
Bridge had the power to see any recent energy readings in a given place. He took off his left glove and waved his hand around the area as a green aura trailed it. “There’s nothing going on here,†he said.
“This is so strange,†Syd said. “Why would we be all the way out here if there’s nothing going on?â€
A barrage of explosions went off around the cadets, and they all fell to the ground. Sky tried to reposition himself on the ground and saw an army of Krybots, Grumm and Broodwing’s robotic footsoldiers, standing right in front of them. The rangers got up and prepared to attack.
“Let’s do it!†Jack yelled as the cadets charged toward the Krybots. Sky was surrounded by about seven of them. One tried to swing at him, but he ducked the robot’s arm. He then punched it in the torso and it flew back.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Z use her power by replicating her self seven times, one time to fight each Krybot. He also saw Bridge jump off a stack of boxes and punch a Krybot in the head.
One of the footsoldiers grabbed Sky’s arms from behind and put him into a grappling hold. The remaining six soldiers began to attack Sky, but he pushed his feet off the ground and kicked each of the Krybots. He then kicked off from one of the stacks of boxes and got out of the grappling hold.
He saw Jack getting thrown into a wall, but Jack used his power to go through it. The Krybots looked around for a brief moment until Jack’s arm, blaster in hand, came back out through the wall and shot each of the Krybots.
Sky figured it would be a good idea to use his power as well. He swung his arm around in front of him, and a blue shield materialized. He ran toward the Krybots and the shield smashed into each of them, destroying them all.
Syd, the last of the cadets, ripped her necklace off and put it in her fist. Her fist turned into gold and she smashed the last Krybot’s head with it.
The cadets regrouped. “What was that about?†Jack asked.
“Sir, we destroyed all the Krybots,†Jack said as the cadets stood in the command center with Commander Cruger and Kat for debriefing. “But we still have no idea what they wanted or why they were there.â€
Cruger scratched his chin. “Grumm is definitely up to something,†he said. “We’re definitely going to keep a watchful eye on that warehouse. In the meantime, however, Dr. Manx has some good news. Kat?â€
“I’ve taken one of the suggestions you all made yesterday about taking the zords to Unicru 7,†she said. “My team and Iâ€â€”meaning mainly Boom—“have been working so they can handle being in orbit, so you should, hopefully, be able to use them to get past the barricade and help the people.â€
The cadets cheered. “That’s great, Kat,†Sky said.
“It’s not quite done yet,†Kat continued, “but hopefully we can have it done by—â€
Just then, Boom ra the command center. “Kat, Commander, cadets,†he said, panting, “one of the transports is gone, and it’s headed right for Unicru 7!â€
“What?!†Commander Cruger said incredulously.
“Who would do that?†Syd asked.
Kat quickly checked the security screens. “The transport is only light-years away from the barricade,†she said. “It could crash at any minute.â€
The whole thing was strange. Who would do something like that? And how would they have been able to get so far without anyone noticing?
For a second, Sky thought it might be Jordan, but that wouldn’t make any sense. Jordan would have no way of getting in one of the transports without and SPD access key, and Sky had his right in his…
Sky frantically checked his pockets and didn’t feel his access key. Oh, no…
“No!†he yelled.
“Rangers,†Cruger said, “head into one of the transports and go straight to Unicru 7. If you can’t stop the other transport, just worry about getting inside the barricade. Go!â€
“Yes, sir!†the rangers hastily saluted as they left the command center.
Sky’s mind was in a frenzy as they entered the ship. What had he done?
Syd drove the transport out of the SPD head quarters and into orbit. As they rode in the ship at top speed, the rangers saw on the viewing screen that the other transport had crashed into the barricade, leaving a hole in it.
The rangers sat in silence as they realized what just happened, especially Sky, who was trying to conceal his tears.
“What just happened?†Bridge finally said.
“Somebody just crashed into the barricade,†Jack replied.
“Who would do that?†Z asked.
“Who would even think to do that?†Syd asked.
“I know who,†Sky said, as he let the tears fall down his face.
This is just a first draft, so I'm just posting this for some constructive criticism. What's good about it, what sucks about it, etc.
So, anyway, here it is. Power Rangers SPD: "Barricade."
“Ah!†Elizabeth “Z†Delgado, the SPD yellow ranger, yelled as she was thrown to the ground.
“Z!†Jack Landors, SPD red, yelled, running to her side. “This guy’s tough.â€
Lom, one of Grumm and Broodwing’s goons, ran toward Sky Tate, SPD blue, and shot him in the chest with his blaster. Sparks flew from his chest as he fell.
“He’s too strong!†Syd Drew, SPD pink, said as the five rangers regrouped.
Lom had a devilish look on his face as he shot right at the team. They yelled as explosions went off around them and they were thrust into the air.
“Ugh!†Jack said as they all fell to the cold hard ground below. “We’re getting beat out here. We need to fall back.â€
“Not yet,†Bridge Carson, SPD Green, said. “I have an idea.â€
Bridge got up and ran toward Lom. The alien shot at the ranger, but he gracefully jumped over Lom.
“Deltamax blaster!†he yelled, pulling out his weapon while still in the air. Bridge shot a barrage of lasers at Lom’s back as he landed.
Lom screamed as he fell to the ground. The other rangers gathered around Bridge and congratulated him. “Nice work!†Jack said.
“It isn’t over yet, rangers!†Lom said as he got up and faced the team. He pressed a button on a device on his wrist and a giant robot loomed over the rangers. Lom leaped into the air and landed inside the robot. “Grumm will pay me handsomely for finishing you off!â€
The robot tried to step on the rangers, but they jumped out of the way just in time. Jack pulled out his SPD morpher and talked into it. “Kat, send the delta runners!†he said.
Within seconds, the five delta runners arrived on the scene, and the rangers jumped into their respective zords.
Jack, in Delta Runner 1, took the sword attached to the side of his zord and struck Lom’s robot in its legs. As it tripped, a hatch opened on Bridge’s zord, Delta Runner 3. A gun emerged from the hatch and shot a rope around the robot, entangling it. Sky, in Delta Runner 2, flew around the robot and shot lasers at it.
“Enough of this!†Lom said as the robot broke out of its bonds and smacked Sky’s zord, causing him to lose control momentarily.
“You’re right,†Jack said. “Rangers, form the Delta Squad Megazord!â€
“Right!†the others said in unison.
The rangers combined their zords together to form the megazord. The robot shot at the zord, but it jumped out of the way and shot back at the robot, causing sparks to fly from its chest. The robot fell as the megazord landed.
Just as Lom tried to pull his robot up, the megazord grabbed its sword and leaped in the air. It came crashing down with incredible force and struck Lom’s robot.
As the robot began to spark and falter, the megazord grabbed its gun again.
“Time to end this!†Jack said.
The rangers used the x-ray capabilities of their megazord to pinpoint the exact location of the cockpit in Lom’s robot and aimed the gun directly at it.
“Fire!†Jack yelled.
The megazord shot at the cockpit in Lom’s robot and it exploded. Lom ejected himself just in time and fell hard on the ground, some thirty stories below.
The rangers jumped out of the Delta Squad and landed on their feet in front of him. Lom struggled to get back up.
Jack pulled out his morpher and flashed it in front of Lom, who had just barely gotten back on his feet.
“Lom,†Jack said, “You have been charged with disturbing the peace and threatening the security of New Tech City. Judgment mode!â€
He pressed a button on the top of his morpher, and the front plate fell on its hinges, revealing a scanner. The SPD judgment scanner is a very advanced technology. It does not make mistakes when judging criminals, and it places a containment field around the rangers and their criminal, making it impossible for the criminal to escape or attack during judgment. The scanner flashed between a red “X†for guilty and a blue “O†for innocent.
“This is an outrage!†Lom yelled.
The scanner finally made its decision, landing on the red “X.â€
“Guilty!†the rangers yelled.
“RIC!†Jack called, throwing a device that somewhat resembling a bone into the air. RIC, SPD’s Robotic Interactive Canine, immediately ran to the scene and caught the device in its mouth. It transformed into a weapon resembling a cannon, the trigger landing in the Jack’s hands while the other rangers held its sides to keep it balanced.
“Canine Cannon!†they yelled in unison. “Fire!â€
The cannon shot a blast of energy at Lom, and an explosion went off as he fell to the ground.
Jack walked over to where Lom was standing and in its place was an SPD containment card, used for easily transporting the accused back to SPD headquarters, in which Lom was trapped.
“Let me out of here!†Lom protested in the card. “Grumm and Broodwing will not be happy about this!â€
When the rangers returned to SPD headquarters, now de-morphed, they saw their commander, Anubis “Doggie†Cruger, head of SPD Earth, and SPD’s lab technician Dr. Katherine “Kat†Manx looking nervous in the command center.
“Is everything okay, Commander?†Jack asked.
“You guys look worried,†Sky said.
“Cadets, if we look worried it is because we have received a distress call from Unicru 7, a neighboring planet,†Commander Cruger replied.
Kat pressed a button on a remote, and a small hologram appeared on the table. A beautiful young woman with sparkling turquoise eyes appeared in the hologram. She was wrapped in torn cloth from the neck down.
“Grumm and the Troobian Empire have enslaved our planet,†the woman said. “They have set up a barricade around it, so we can’t escape. Please send help as soon as possible.†The message ended.
“That girl was pretty hot, huh?†Bridge whispered to Jack, who chuckled.
Sky, however, was not amused, and kept a stone face as Jack smiled.
“Will you two focus?†Z sternly said.
“Right,†Jack said, regaining his focus. “So, what do we need to do?â€
“We don’t know yet,†Kat replied. “The barricade needs to be taken down before we can enter the planet and save the civilians. Currently, we don’t have any technology to do that.â€
“We’ll try to think of some plans, but in the meantime, you are dismissed,†Cruger said.
The rangers saluted as they left the command center.
“So the fight earlier was pretty brutal, huh?†Bridge said as the rangers headed to the break room.
“Yeah, I almost didn’t think we were gonna come out of it alive,†Z replied.
The five rangers entered the breakroom and were taken aback when they saw someone.
“Hey, who are you?†Jack demanded. “You’re not SPD.â€
“He must be an intruder,†Syd said.
Jack began to pull out his morpher, but the man was unphased.
“Jack, stop,†Sky protested. “He’s not a criminal.â€
“Huh?†Jack was confused. “You know this guy?â€
“Of course he does,†the man said. “I’m his brother.â€
The other rangers were confused. “His… brother?†Z asked.
“Yeah, and I’m really offended by the way I’m being treated right now,†he said as he got up from his seat. “Sky, you didn’t tell them I was coming?â€
“I didn’t know myself, Jordan,†Sky said with a stone face.
“How’d you get in here?†Jack asked. “This break room is off-limits to any guests without a badge.â€
“Good thing I have one then, huh?†Jordan pulled his SPD guest badge out of his back pocket and showed it to the rangers.
“And how did you get that?†Jack asked. “You have to be invited by SPD to get a guest badge, and you clearly weren’t.â€
“Some D- or E- G-squad cadet gave me one,†Jordan said. “I told her I was Sky’s invited guest. Naturally, she believed me because of the Tate family’s natural good looks. She even let me put my things in his room.†He walked over to Sky, put one arm over his shoulder and grabbed Sky’s chin with his other hand. “Well, some of those looks were lost on Sky, but come on, you can’t tell me you don’t see that family resemblance, eh?â€
Sky quickly shook Jordan off of him. “What do you want, Jordan?â€
“What, I can’t spend some time with my little baby brother?†Jordan asked in a seemingly joking way.
“No,†Sky quickly retorted. “Now what do you want? Is it money? Do you want money? You usually do.â€
“Do you really think that little of me?†he asked, now seemingly only half-joking.
Sky was quickly losing patience with his brother. “I never see you unless you want something, so what am I supposed to expect?â€
“I’m so hurt right now,†Jordan replied, still half-joking.
“I don’t have time for this,†Sky snapped. “If you want something, say it now, or get out.â€
Jordan opened his mouth to speak, but stopped.
“Time’s up,†Sky said. “Get out.†He grabbed his brother by the collar and forced him out.
“Wait,†Jordan said as he was halfway out the door. “There is something I want.â€
Sky reluctantly let him go and tried to hear him out. “Go on,†he said.
“I want to join SPD, and I want you to help me train. You know, help me get into shape before basic recruitment.â€
Sky wasn’t impressed in the least. “No,†he said without hesitation.
“But, Sky, I—â€
“No. You would’ve been better off asking for money.â€
“Come on, Sky, I—â€
“I said no. You never take anything seriously, you’re lazy and unfocused. So tell me, why would I waste my time helping you, just for you to blow it off when you get bored of it like you do with everything else?â€
“But I’m telling you, this time will be diff—â€
“Get out!â€
Jordan dejectedly left the room. Sky turned around and saw his teammates’ awkward looks, but he was unphased. “So who’s up for some foosball?â€
“Okay, team, we’ve come up with a lot of ideas so far,†Kat said in the command center. It was about two hours later and the rangers had regrouped with Kat, Commander Cruger, and Boom, Kat’s assistant technician, to come up with ideas to get inside Unicru 7. “But it doesn’t appear that any of them work on a very large scale.â€
“It looks like the only way we can get into the planet is if we destroy the barricade,†Z said.
“But how are we going to do that?†Boom asked.
“We could take our megazord into orbit and shoot a whole into the barricade,†Jack suggested. It doesn’t have to be big, just enough to get a rescue team though.â€
“That is a good idea,†Syd responded, “but we don’t know enough about the barricade to know if it will work. For all we know, the lasers could ricochet right off it.â€
“Plus, sending a megazord into space could alert Grumm,†Sky said, “and if he finds out what we’re doing, we could send his own robots out to stop us…â€
“…And then we’re back to square one,†Jack said dejectedly.
“Well, maybe we could just send out my zord,†Sky suggested. “It can fly, and the lasers should be strong enough to get through the shield.â€
“We can’t send out any zords,†Kat said. “They’re not capable of prolonged periods of time in orbit.â€
“Cadets, it seems that we’re at a standstill here,†Commander Cruger said. “The communication between Earth and Unicru 7 has not been completely cut off, so we will try to find some way to get in contact with them to learn more about the barricade. Until then, you are dismissed.â€
The rangers saluted and left the command center.
Sky made it back to the break room later than the rest of the team. As he was about to enter, he overheard them talking and decided to stop.
“So what’s the deal with Sky and his brother?†he heard Jack ask.
“Yeah, I didn’t even know he had a brother,†Z said.
“He doesn’t like to talk about him very much,†Syd replied. She went on to tell the Jack and Z about how Jordan was never committed to anything the way that Sky was, which always disappointed him. Jordan jumped from major to major in college until he dropped out, then it was from trade school to trade school, then job to job.
When Sky first joined SPD, Jordan would occasionally up, usually to hit him up for money or various other things. Sky would usually be guilted into giving it to him, only to never hear from Jordan again until a few months later they’d do it all over again. Sky had always wished that he and Jordan were a lot closer, especially since their father was gone and their mother was not very emotionally stable.
Listening to Syd tell Jack and Z about Jordan made Sky realize that he may have been a bit too hard on him. For better or worse, Jordan was essentially the only family Sky had left, so the least he could do was give him a chance.
To Sky’s shock, Bridge walked out of the break room and saw him leaning over the door. He awkwardly looked at Jack, Z, and Syd, who were looking back at him in confusion. Sky tried to act inconspicuous as he walked away.
Sky headed to his and Bridge’s crew quarters where he saw Jordan looking at a picture of their father, an ex-SPD red ranger. Jordan turned around and acknowledged him.
“Dad was really something else, eh?†Jordan chuckled dryly.
“Yeah, I remember the time he took an entire robot down by himself, with no megazord,†Sky replied. He felt a little sad reminiscing about his father because it made him miss him more.
Jordan chuckled again. “Hey, look, I’m sorry about before. I’m just getting my stuff, and I’m gonna get out of your hair.†He picked up his bag and began to leave, but Sky stopped him.
“Leave your stuff in here,†he said, “and meet me on the training field at 1400 hours.â€
Jordan looked confused. “What? I don’t understand—â€
“Just be there,†Sky said with a completely straight face. “Consider it your first official SPD order.â€
Jordan still seemed confused, but went along with it. “Sir, yes, sir,†he saluted.
Sky and Jordan stood in the middle of the field as they watched the various C- and D-Squad cadets, as well as the new recruits, training.
“So what made you change your mind about helping me?†Jordan asked.
“I haven’t yet,†Sky replied. “Look, even though you’ve made some decisions that I haven’t necessarily agreed with, you are my brother, and I love you. You and I are pretty much the only family we’ve got. So the least I could do is give you the benefit of the doubt and hear your case. So tell me, Jordan, why do you want to join SPD?â€
Jordan sighed. “I just feel like, at this point in my life, it’s time to get serious. College didn’t work out, trade school didn’t work out, and keeping a decent job is hard when you haven’t finished either of those. It just seems like SPD is my last chance to have a decent life. I’m not any younger, Sky. Jumping around from job to job and begging different people for cash isn’t working for me anymore.â€
Sky nodded. He wanted to believe that Jordan was sincere, but he still wasn’t sure. Nevertheless, he replied, “I understand, Jordan.â€
“So you’ll help me train?â€
“No. At least, not yet. Listen, unlike my love, my help is not unconditional. If you want me to help you, you need to prove to me that you’re serious.â€
Jordan seemed puzzled. “And how am I supposed to do that?†he asked.
Sky looked at him with a bit of a smirk. “Well, now, that’s up to you to figure out, now, isn’t it?â€
“We are currently in a stalemate,†Dr. Manx said in the command center the next morning at 0600 hours. “The Troobians have cut off all of our contact with Unicru 7. We have no way of getting their help to learn more about the barricade.â€
“So we can’t help them?†Syd asked.
“It appears to be that way, Cadet,†Commander Cruger said.
“Wait a minute,†Sky interjected. “We can’t just give up and let these innocent people be enslaved by the Troobians.â€
“But what can we do?†Z asked. “We don’t know how to get past the barricade, and even if we did, Grumm probably has forces all around it.â€
“Sir,†Jack said to Cruger, “Bridge and I have come up with an idea. What if we sent out one of our transports at top speed and slammed it into the barricade. The impact doesn’t need to be big, but hopefully it’ll be enough to at least partially disrupt the shield.â€
“Yeah, and then we can send out a rescue team to go in after the barricade is broken,†Bridge added.
“If we’re lucky,†Jack continued, “Grumm will be more concerned with the destruction of the barricade, so we can sneak our forces in.â€
As they were talking, Sky thought he heard someone on the other side of the door, but he shrugged it off. It was probably just a C-Squad cadet.
“Jack, there are two problems with your plan,†Kat said. “One, we don’t even know if the impact will even slightly damage the shield. Two, even if it could, we don’t have any unmanned transports. Somebody would have to be piloting it into the barricade, but they wouldn’t be able to eject if they were traveling at top speed because the force would be pushing them back in.â€
Commander Cruger seemed a little uneasy by this idea. “Cadet Landors,†he said, “you do realize what you and Cadet Carson are suggesting is basically a suicide mission?â€
“Maybe,†Jack said to the group, “but what other choice do we have?â€
___________________
A few hours later, Sky was walking out of the command center when he was stopped by a C-Squad cadet dragging Jordan along with him. “Sir,†the cadet said, “I saw this man snooping around the weapons room. He says he’s with you.†Sky didn’t even try to conceal his anger.
“You know, it’s funny,†Sky angrily said to Jordan in his quarters. “For a brief second, I actually thought you were serious about joining SPD. I was even willing to help you train. I figured you’d at least wait a whole twenty-four hours before you spat in my face.â€
“It’s not like that,†Jordan insisted. “I just thought that—â€
“No, no, I’ve got it all figured out,†Sky interrupted. “You must have made the wrong guy angry at you, so now he wants you ghosted. So you came here, tried to get in SPD, maybe keep a low profile for a bit. They’d easily let you in because you’re my brother, so you’d have free reign to do whatever you want.
“And that’s your in, right? Then you can steal all the weapons and supplies you want and just ditch. Yeah, it would ruin my reputation and my entire career, but you don’t care about that, do you? No, you don’t because all you ever think about is yourself. Let me guess—you were going to steal a couple of transports while you were at it, too?â€
“Sky,†Jordan said, “you’re not listening. I wasn’t trying to do anything like that. Will you just let me explain?â€
“No,†Sky interrupted again. “I don’t want to hear it. There is nothing you could possibly say to me at this point. In fact, there’s nothing you could say to me ever.â€
Jordan looked dejected, but Sky didn’t care.
“You know, ever since Dad died,†Sky continued, “I always wished we were closer. But you know what? I don’t anymore. I’ve realized that over the last few years, my life has been a million times better because you haven’t been a part of it! So from now on, don’t call me, don’t come visit me, don’t write to me, certainly don’t ask me for anything… just don’t anything me. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.â€
Jordan was almost speechless. “Sky…,†he tried to let out.
“No,†Sky stopped him before he could. “Don’t.â€
“B-Squad, please report to the command center,†Kat said over the intercom. “B-Squad, please report to the command center.â€
“I have to go patrol now,†Sky said as he quickly grabbed his jacket off his bed and headed out the door. “By the time I get back here, you better be gone.â€
“I don’t see anything,†Jack said as the rangers stood outside a warehouse looking for any suspicious activity.
“Yeah, I thought Kat said there was Krybot activity out here,†Z agreed.
Bridge had the power to see any recent energy readings in a given place. He took off his left glove and waved his hand around the area as a green aura trailed it. “There’s nothing going on here,†he said.
“This is so strange,†Syd said. “Why would we be all the way out here if there’s nothing going on?â€
A barrage of explosions went off around the cadets, and they all fell to the ground. Sky tried to reposition himself on the ground and saw an army of Krybots, Grumm and Broodwing’s robotic footsoldiers, standing right in front of them. The rangers got up and prepared to attack.
“Let’s do it!†Jack yelled as the cadets charged toward the Krybots. Sky was surrounded by about seven of them. One tried to swing at him, but he ducked the robot’s arm. He then punched it in the torso and it flew back.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Z use her power by replicating her self seven times, one time to fight each Krybot. He also saw Bridge jump off a stack of boxes and punch a Krybot in the head.
One of the footsoldiers grabbed Sky’s arms from behind and put him into a grappling hold. The remaining six soldiers began to attack Sky, but he pushed his feet off the ground and kicked each of the Krybots. He then kicked off from one of the stacks of boxes and got out of the grappling hold.
He saw Jack getting thrown into a wall, but Jack used his power to go through it. The Krybots looked around for a brief moment until Jack’s arm, blaster in hand, came back out through the wall and shot each of the Krybots.
Sky figured it would be a good idea to use his power as well. He swung his arm around in front of him, and a blue shield materialized. He ran toward the Krybots and the shield smashed into each of them, destroying them all.
Syd, the last of the cadets, ripped her necklace off and put it in her fist. Her fist turned into gold and she smashed the last Krybot’s head with it.
The cadets regrouped. “What was that about?†Jack asked.
“Sir, we destroyed all the Krybots,†Jack said as the cadets stood in the command center with Commander Cruger and Kat for debriefing. “But we still have no idea what they wanted or why they were there.â€
Cruger scratched his chin. “Grumm is definitely up to something,†he said. “We’re definitely going to keep a watchful eye on that warehouse. In the meantime, however, Dr. Manx has some good news. Kat?â€
“I’ve taken one of the suggestions you all made yesterday about taking the zords to Unicru 7,†she said. “My team and Iâ€â€”meaning mainly Boom—“have been working so they can handle being in orbit, so you should, hopefully, be able to use them to get past the barricade and help the people.â€
The cadets cheered. “That’s great, Kat,†Sky said.
“It’s not quite done yet,†Kat continued, “but hopefully we can have it done by—â€
Just then, Boom ra the command center. “Kat, Commander, cadets,†he said, panting, “one of the transports is gone, and it’s headed right for Unicru 7!â€
“What?!†Commander Cruger said incredulously.
“Who would do that?†Syd asked.
Kat quickly checked the security screens. “The transport is only light-years away from the barricade,†she said. “It could crash at any minute.â€
The whole thing was strange. Who would do something like that? And how would they have been able to get so far without anyone noticing?
For a second, Sky thought it might be Jordan, but that wouldn’t make any sense. Jordan would have no way of getting in one of the transports without and SPD access key, and Sky had his right in his…
Sky frantically checked his pockets and didn’t feel his access key. Oh, no…
“No!†he yelled.
“Rangers,†Cruger said, “head into one of the transports and go straight to Unicru 7. If you can’t stop the other transport, just worry about getting inside the barricade. Go!â€
“Yes, sir!†the rangers hastily saluted as they left the command center.
Sky’s mind was in a frenzy as they entered the ship. What had he done?
Syd drove the transport out of the SPD head quarters and into orbit. As they rode in the ship at top speed, the rangers saw on the viewing screen that the other transport had crashed into the barricade, leaving a hole in it.
The rangers sat in silence as they realized what just happened, especially Sky, who was trying to conceal his tears.
“What just happened?†Bridge finally said.
“Somebody just crashed into the barricade,†Jack replied.
“Who would do that?†Z asked.
“Who would even think to do that?†Syd asked.
“I know who,†Sky said, as he let the tears fall down his face.
Last edited by a moderator: