"This is Channel Seven news at ten, Ivory Glade's news leader, bringing you news, investigative reports, sports, and weather you can rely on. Now, here is our lead anchor, Kevin Carson."
"Good evening, I'm Kevin Carson. Tonight's top story: two Ivory Glade citizens were found dead early this morning, apparently killed by stab wounds through the back. Neighbors called 911 operators around 6 a.m. Friday to report the couple, Leonard and Joyce Hopwood, facedown on their front porch. The authorities responded to the call and found the victims shortly afterward. Police have no one in custody as of now and no public suspects. The couple did have one child, a son who has been missing since the Ivory Glade invasion, whom investigators continue to seek as one of several missing persons reported since June. No evidence has been confirmed by officials. Kathleen Stern, a neighbor of the Hopwoods', has been in shock since the discovery."
"I don't know who could have done this. It's so...I mean, who would do something to such nice people? Unthinkable."
"Stay tuned to Channel Seven for further developments on this story..."
Soleron waved his hand over the black plate below the monitor and instantly the images faded out, even if an uncomfortable echo of the words remained in their imaginations. It was not the first time he had watched it, the live broadcast had aired hours ago, but after every viewing it became harder to rationalize out what was truly happening. The news report was only part of the entire story, and probably not entirely accurate at that, and the genuine facts he knew were disappointingly few in number. Running a hand through his wavy hair, he traced the golden cord around his forehead that honored his lord and prince. A lost prince.
Walking over to Rade, who stood at one of the main computer terminals of Control Point, the former Ranger insisted, "Tell me again why we cannot locate Prince Hopwood."
The mechanic sighed, but he knew better than to disobey Commander Soleron. "Alpha Complex uses photons to transmit digital signals to and from any point where light is available, even sunlight reflected off the moon if it is strong enough. Everything is in working order but no trace of the prince exists. I've relayered the system three times now, just in case, but still nothing. The only plausible hypothesis I have is that, according to you, his Ranger talent involved barriers and cloaking, so if some residual OmniTech energy is inside him, or if he has another power source, it is possible he could be using it to hide. Needless to say, he does not want to be found."
"He is acting irresponsible again," snapped Soleron, slamming his balled fist into the nearest wall and causing the terminal to tremble. "Just like he ran before after he first came here. When it is necessary, he fights, but when he has a choice, he runs away."
With a frown and an agreeing nod, Rade glanced at the console one more time and clicked his tongue. He was about to deliver another report of nothing, Soleron was sure of it, when suddenly his eyes went wide and he exclaimed, "Something has been detected."
Soleron hurried to Rade's side to see for himself. "Can you identify it?"
"Does Laurasia do the Lion Dance?" the technology-oriented Omnian replied with a sly, amused smile. "Give me a second or two to bring it up." And, true to his word, mere seconds later a visual image, slightly wavery due to the scarcity of light outside, formed on the screen. "Looks to be a ship, Commander, and a beauty at that."
With squinted eyes, Soleron focused on the shaky sight and spread his thought out to try and identify what it might or might not be. "It looks familiar," he mused.
"It would," replied Rade immediately. "That design is definitely Omnian in origin, although those details are alien to me, and it seems to be flying smooth enough to be powered by nanofission, but that could just be the reception. A strange combination, Commander." His voice trailed off, because he must have been thinking too, before it picked up again with renewed excitement. "I know! Those ships are Omnian! To be specific..."
The heavy, icy tone of Soleron finished the sentence for him. "Solar research ships." Rade nodded. "So this means either other Omnians did live and are coming here to search for other survivors, meaning us, or..." It had to be said sooner or later, and Soleron had always been a sooner type person. "Or it is the ship Arcanza and his companions fled from the planet in."
Rade tensed more with every word. "It might be Lady Feilia, too, or anyone from New Omnis, since Courot, D'Aretiv, and Mnsomey were all killed."
"Assemble everyone here immediately," the ex-Ranger instructed him. "We cannot waste any time in finding out who is here and why." As the other man ran to deliver the urgent message, Soleron closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Damn it, Prince Hopwood, where did you disappear to now?" he growled.
Meridian Eye VIII was a beautiful ship. Such a smooth, sleek flight, equipped with state of the art defenses, that had been futuristic back when it had been built on Omnis, drawing power from a core that could supply energy for constant hyperspeed lasting one thousand years. No wonder nobody could chase Rapture Legion when they escaped on this very craft all those years ago. And now it was carrying twelve of the most deadly forces in existence.
"Are you sure you will be able to pull this off?" the captain questioned the person to his left, the only other present with him on the bridge.
The person nodded, saluting with the right hand laid over the heart and left in a fist over the right. "I promised you I could. If their technology is similar to the old style, they should know we are here now. After meeting them, the rest will be easy."
"You know how important this meeting is," growled the higher-ranking person. "If we slip up even slightly, you-know-who might realize we are here..."
Another salute was followed with, "And you know my word is gold. You have my word, captain, that I will reach them, we will be on our way back to New Omnis, and all our problems will be solved."
That feeling of unease permeated Control Point, adding another chilly level to an already cold room, and Brittany could see it in all of her friends and unlikely allies. Each person had a unique reaction but it was all the same discomfort. Alex stood with his arms crossed and stared blankly at the monitor displaying the object of everyone's nervousness. Becky and Cecil stood together, as close to holding hands as they could be without actually doing so, and not for the first time Brittany wondered if something was going on between them that they were not telling. Then just as quickly dismissed the idea; keeping secrets was neither of their personalities, maybe they were slowly falling for each other. Since the murders and Craig's latest vanishing—maybe old habits really were hard to break—Amber looked like a lost little girl who wanted to be anyplace else no matter where she was. Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was their uncanny resemblance to one another, or maybe it was something even deeper. On the other hand, Bane certainly seemed giddy even though it was probably the fiftieth time he had heard this briefing. His crystalline eyes blazed with excitement.
"So what if it is?" Alex asked coarsely.
Talyserys, the former Green Ranger, the golden-eyed holy fortress, answered, "We cannot know until we know for certain who it is and what they want."
"The ship switched to stationary status recently," Rade reported. "About ten miles east of Alpha Complex, near the remnants of Neo Twilight City."
It was Becky's turn to speak up. "What if it's Arcanza's back-up? We should be out there crushing it with the Megazord." Turning to her red-clothed companion she attached gently, "Right?"
To his credit, Cecil handled the unexpected question well. "There are a number of what-ifs to address before we do anything certain. My suggestion is sending out a welcoming committee to find out for certain." Soleron, leaning against the mainframe and hiding between and behind Laurasia and Seraide, nodded his agreement. "I volunteer myself," the Omni Ranger leader continued, "and Brittany."
Brittany's jaw dropped immediately after the nomination. Quickly collecting herself, with a reminder that, in addition to obeying Cecil, it was her responsibility to defend Earth from possible dangers. "All right," she agreed.
"Good luck," Pyrial told them, but his wish was overrun by Bane demanding, "Why am I not going? I am a New Omnian; I will be able to identify them."
"And if it is not them," responded Cecil coolly, "you will be upset, which would affect your performance in battle if it became necessary. Brittany and I can handle it."
Amber strode forward, her hand laid gently around the ShadowTech Band, and informed them, more than suggested, "I will be going along as back-up, waiting outside the ship, just in case you need me."
"Fine, it is settled!" Laurasia gasped. "Now go!"
Cecil gave her a wry smile as he closed his fist and extended the shiny Omni Morpher out before him and exclaimed, "It's morphing time!"
"Omni Cerberus!"
"Omni Sphinx!"
"Omni Titan!"
And, in the instant it took to teleport from one point to another, the three of them were standing among the ruins of that dreaded city no one wanted to remember existed. The magnificent ship, decorated with alien words that probably spelled out the ship's name in its native language, was opened at its unguarded entrance. The Black Ranger hung back as the Red and Yellow proceeded up the long inclined plane into the alien wonder of technology and aerodynamics.
Lights pulsed inside, radiating from lines embedded in the walls, and twisting around monitors and keypads that changed too quickly to read. Brittany looked around at the computer systems and breathed heavily; it was like being inside the world's most advanced computer that just happened to also fly. How many times she had dreamed of this opportunity.
A door at the end of the corridor was opening and a woman was approaching them slowly and regally. Brittany caught a glimpse of shadows of other people through the door but it closed before she could discern anything else. The woman who stopped before them was tall and muscular, with curled light blue hair and a frosty smile that reminded her of Bane's.
"Greetings, Rangers," she told them. "I am Lady Feilia, High Lady of New Omnis and Captain of Meridian Eye VIII." And the woman who Arcanza raped to sire Bane, Brittany realized sadly, then stole her son and trained him to be evil. "It is imperative I speak with Commander Soleron immediately."
Cecil nodded, but asked of her, "Why Soleron?"
"Well, who else would I speak with?" wondered Feilia. She examined the Red Omni Ranger with her hardened pinkish eyes and frowned bewilderment. Then realization slowly gave way to an empty smile. "Oh, you want to know how I know so much. Well, as you know, Arcanza returned to my planet to take our son when he was a child, and after he did so a man named Professor Donaldson came..."
"The Professor," Cecil repeated drably. "On New Omnis."
Feilia nodded. "He came on a ship called—what was it?—something Destined. No, Destiny. Gemini Destiny."
"We will take you to Soleron and the others," Brittany assured her, but she was silently contemplating Cecil's barrage of questions. It was obvious this was Feilia. Was he searching for something he could use? Raising the Omni Morpher, Brittany instructed her, "Hold on to this and we will teleport there now."
Cecil held up his hand and said, "I will go tell Amber. Go on ahead without me."
"Thank you," Feilia said with a smile as she laid her hand over the cold OmniTech Band and teleported with Brittany back to the waiting group inside the Complex.
Rebecca and Alexander watched from the corner as the happy reunion began. As soon as Feilia had appeared, a sigh of relief mixed with exclamations of joy went up except for, oddly enough, Bane, whose excitement had given way to suspicion. Shortly after her arrival he slipped away without even announcing himself to her. And, as usual, it was Brittany to the rescue as she chased him down to ask her alien co-Ranger what was wrong with him.
"I cannot face her," he answered the unspoken question as he laid on a bed in the living quarters, his eyes locked on the ceiling. "If I revealed who I was, I would be obligated to leave with her, but I already have an obligation as an Omni Ranger here on Earth."
Brittany nodded as she sat down at the foot of the bed. "Understandable," she spoke softly and supportively. "Is that all?"
Bane tensed and snapped his eyes closed. "Leave me," he ordered.
"Are you sure you don't want to dis..."
"Leave me!" he repeated louder and fiercer. Startled, Brittany jumped off the edge of the bed and, collecting herself quickly, left the quarters quickly. Putting him out of her mind, she returned to the gathering at Control Point to learn the reason behind the visit.
It was quite a sight to see indeed. Laurasia and Seraide were ecstatic to see Feilia, a fellow Omnian woman, and were enwrapped in stories of days long passed. With a broad smile across his face, even stone Talyserys was feeling the happiness of the reunion. Soleron had been taken away by Cecil and the two were talking quite animatedly in the far corner. In the close one, Alex and Becky had been joined by Amber.
Finally, the High Lady lifted a hand and silence filtered the celebration from the air. "This get-together has been everything I imagined it to be, but I must conduct some grave business now. Twenty-five years ago, we thought Rapture Legion had been completely eliminated, but it turns out they only moved underground."
"Arcanza was right!" gasped Seraide.
Feilia turned a questioning look to her and wondered, "Arcanza is still alive?"
"No," Soleron interrupted firmly. "But he did say something like that before Lord Oriquin destroyed him."
"Why did you not destroy him, Commander?" Feilia continued questioning him. "Was this recently?" Then, her eyes widening in genuine, unmistakable surprise, she exclaimed, "Lord Oriquin is alive!"
Cecil spoke up and, from their twin expressions, voice the reply Soleron himself would have given, "He is, but he comes and goes quite often."
"I would very much like to see him," Feilia sighed, "but I am afraid the situation is too urgent to dally here longer than necessary. Commander Soleron, your presence on New Omnis is formally requested by the High Lady, so that you and your companions may handle the Rapture Legion situation. In addition, I wish to assert my right to an immediate response."
The sad placement of a hand on a shoulder accompanied Seraide's quiet statement, "Soleron no longer leads the Rangers, Feilia. You have to speak to Cecil."
"And I should speak with Craig first," Cecil added quickly.
"An immediate response must be given immediately," grunted Soleron, his eyes shimmering icy blue as he began the steady and cool calculations that made him such a suitable mentor. "The best course of action I see is to send Seraide, Laurasia, Pyrial, Talyserys, and me to take care of the Legion. We have but to await our young commander's word." He turned his unchanging gaze to Cecil.
Taking a quick breath, the Ranger leader nodded his acquiescence. Then, shifting forward to the center of Control Point, he cleared his throat and spoke, "Craig is not here, but I know him well enough to speak for him. Soleron, you have taught both of us some valuable lessons about leadership, thinking, planning strategy, and the list goes on. On behalf of the heir to the lordship of Omnis, and on behalf of the new commander of the Omni Ranger team, thank you for your service, your guidance, and your example."
"Seraide," Brittany continued, "I shared your love of science and technology and learned a lot from you, too. Being the light of a team dedicated to strife and hardship is not an easy task, but you've really pointed me in the right direction." Glancing in the other direction, she continued with a warm, gentle tone, "Don't blame yourself for misfortunes that happen, Pyrial. One of your successors had an agenda all along and the other has a lifetime of training behind him. Oriquin calls you the heart of the Rangers, you have kept us all alive through our tribulations."
Rebecca nodded to her predecessor and exclaimed with a smile, "We just don't fit in!" Laurasia returned the grin and listened with a sparkle in her dark features. "If you hadn't taught me that I could be happy being a Ranger, there's no way I would've lasted this long. No matter the difference between our world's beliefs, we all have souls, and the legacy of the Pink Ranger is to remind the others of that."
Finally, Alex stepped forward, and Talyserys did likewise. The young man kept the gaze of the one not much older than him, yet showing the gray and hardened signs of age. Swallowing, probably to clear a lump from his throat, Alex said, "Before I knew you, you used to scare me." The Omnian priest chuckled, his golden eyes cloudy but focused. "Now that I really know you," the youth added, "you scare me a thousand times more." Extending his hand, Alex presented the handle and hilt of the Lifeblade. Talyserys accepted the weapon quietly.
"We should move quickly," Soleron announced.
Feilia nodded. "I will contact the ship and tell them where we are."
As she followed through on her words, Cecil grabbed Soleron's arm and pulled him back to speak with him privately. Brittany watched, intrigued, as Cecil lifted up a strange device that looked like a cellular phone and gave it to the ex-Ranger. She caught a couple words, including "Point Navigator" and "never be too careful," but not enough to piece together an entire conversation.
And before she knew it, the Omnians were shaking hands and hugging their Earthling acquaintances and saying their good-byes. Brittany was there waving as the door to Meridian Eye VIII closed and secured, and almost immediately the craft lifted off into the sky, bound for the distant heavens of a world she would probably never see. Bane appeared at her side to watch when he would sure he would not run into his mother. Maybe his reasons for not wanting to meet her really were pertinent.
The five teenagers and their alien ally watched as their mentors disappeared among the very stars that had brought them here a quarter century ago.
"You don't approve of my accommodations?" the Betrayer demanded to know. "I assure you they are only temporary, because soon the Destroyer's empire will rise again under a new guise and usher in the completion of the Trinity."
At the foot of the dais on which the raised chair Michael lounged in sat, the recent arrival shifted his feet uncomfortably. He showed no signs of fear or awe, no trembling respect Arcanza used to invoke in his servants, just ordinary discomfort. Maybe disappointment.
He lifted bloodshot black eyes up, his pointed nose framing a somewhat-handsome face, white hair braided into several strands. Michael never knew dreadlocks were an Omnian fashion, too. But Corout wore them with arrogant pride, and spoke with a bloodthirsty voice. "Lord Tracer, it is not my place to tell a being of the Trinity where he can or cannot live."
Michael spared him an amused smile. "Now give your report."
"The journey was uneventful," Corout began. "We reached Earth earlier today and hung suspended above the ruins of Neo Twilight City until some of the Rangers arrived and escorted 'Feilia' back to Alpha Complex. She was not revealed and successfully convinced Soleron and the other Omnians to return home with her."
The superior nodded as he listened and asked, "And you are certain they have no suspicion that who they believe to be Feilia is, in truth, a soldier of Rapture Hold?"
"Akai has always excelled in her shape-shifting art, Lord Tracer."
Michael laughed with dark contentment. "Ah, yes, a wonderful ploy to lure the Omnians away from Earth and destroy them in space, where the Rangers cannot hear them screaming for help. And in addition, I acquire you and eleven more Rapture Hold soldiers to advance my plans for the Trinity's coming. I applaud you, Corout, on your execution of this plan. Join me for a celebratory drink?"
Corout returned a sinister smile. "Of course, my lord." He took the glass Michael offered him and held it aloft. "May I make a toast to the Trinity of Darkness?"
"You may," the teenaged evil ruler allowed. "And I have a toast of my own." Lifting his drink to the sky, he called out, "To five special people who used to be Rangers, who used to be friends, and who used to be living."
"Here here," muttered Corout, and drowned himself in sweet wine and bitter laughter.
Original Publication Date: 28 July 2000
