Power Rangers Chronic Storm 1: The Axis of Power

Chapter 13: Time

The Kingdom of Earth began assembling its own forces to defend the city of Neo Angles and the Queen's palace. Hundreds of people stood just outside the city walls, armed and ready to face the threat, should it cross their rocky borders to the west. Their eyes and bodies trembled upon seeing the fleet above; a line of vessels draped across the midday sky, hovering overhead like thick, dark clouds settling into a storm. Everyone sensed the fear exuded by those adjacent to them, knowing they could be wiped out in half a moment. But still, they dutifully marched forward.

Robots, humans, and several alien species normally ran many of the day to day functions within and around the city with flying commercial vehicles up above and down on the sky streets and regular streets alike. But on this day, only panic and chaos paved the busy roads. The civilians looking up above were all made morbidly aware of the foreboding fleet staring down upon them from the stratosphere.

Carter, Ethan, and Taylor touched down on the Earth's surface under the watch of a handful of Axis' warriors and henchmen. The Triforians surrounded the Rangers as their blasters rattled with anticipation in their hands while sneering and snickering amongst each other. The trio instinctively grabbed at their wrists, only to feel nothing. Even still, they prepared to fight.

Just as soon, a bevy of lasers fired from above blew the warriors and henchmen off the surface. The Ranger trio shielded themselves from the recoil and soon realized that their captors were no more.

"Uhh... what just happened?" Ethan asked. "Friendly fire?"

"No." Carter pointed up to where the Astro4 appeared soaring through the sky. "It's the Megaship!"

The Astro4 landed near the trio and they quickly boarded. The ship took off just as soon, flying towards the city while the Rangers ran up to the bridge to greet Alex.

"Alex! Great timing," said Carter.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting, but I couldn't risk a direct confrontation until you were far enough away from the ships still on the horizon."

"So, what's the plan?" Ethan asked. "We do have one, right?"

Alex nodded. "We're heading to Time Force Headquarters. They just informed me of a recent transmission that sounds important."

"A transmission?" Carter asked. "From who?"

"We're still figuring that out."

Carter nodded. "Let's hope it's good news."

Not too much time passed before the Astro4 touched down on the silver, square landing dock of Time Force HQ near the center of Neo Angles. After Professor Knox uncovered the lost secrets of time travel years ago, Queen Diane passed a motion to ensure the responsible use and monitoring of this potentially devastating rediscovery. In response, Time Force came to be, an organization retrofitted from what was once just a Police Department. Knox would go on to work with Time Force for the better part of a decade to develop his first of now two temporal vortexes. And Captain Logan, a former political associate of Queen Diane, stepped up to head the organization.

Time Force members stood in wait as Alex and the Rangers disembarked, including the Captain himself. Logan was a relatively tall man with short brown hair and a couple stands of white mixed in.

Alex saluted him.

Logan saluted back. "Alex, great to see you alive and well."

"Thank you, sir. Have we made progress on the transmission that was sent to us?"

"We have. Rangers, right this way."

Logan led the team down a series of dark silver halls. He continued updating the team as they walked, "It took us a while to descramble the message even with our best and brightest on the job. It seems to come from neither this time, nor this dimension."