Fandom Power Rangers: Bio Strike

[PenBlade1326]

Watching Jane shut this geek-a-troid up for good was a delight. Drew and Olivia stood back and watched her unleash the fury on him, leaping high up in the air like a plane and come down with enough force to break a ton of cinder blocks in half. Puns and cheese aside, watching her fight was...fun? She fought with determination, like she'd had something to prove as mentioned earlier. Olivia couldn't help but notice while Jane lacked in some levels of maturity and a 'by the book' attitude, she had her own flare, her own charm. Something irreplaceable among them all. Drew, on the other hand noticed only that Jane wasn't that same tomboy he had met so long ago. She was different...if anything, she fights a lot better. But something is alluring about her...just what is it?

After she finished him off, Olivia let her gloat, knowing it was just her style and her thing. Who didn't want to gloat after saving a lot of lives in a badass fashion? Meanwhile, Drew pointed at her. "Hey now hey now, no need to gloat. You don't want us to show you up, do ya?" he asked her teasingly, grinning under his visor.
But not a minute later, Modetron had returned as a giant with two big back up bots. Another part of the formula.

"I don't see why we haven't programmed anything on standby at this point." Olivia noted.
Maybe just expecting big vehicles to appear when needed was too much to ask? Why even call for them, just have them read to go next time. As the Zords arrived per Jane's request to HQ, Drew and Olivia hopped up in Racer and Medical's cockpits.
Good old fashion Zord fighting. Nothing like it! Jane, Calvin and Tidal provided firepower on the trio of bots while Lucas managed to trip one. Olivia flashed the sirens on Medical, pushing down on a button that sent out a blind flash of light at the enemies. Just as the Doomtron Lucas knocked down got up, it and the others had been blinded.
Drew quickly approached in Racer zooming through the street, not hitting any cars in his giant one, using a ramp-like structure to leap up in the air and dash across all three of the robots' chests, sparks flying on contact with the hood of his Zord, Drew coming to a screeching halt beside of them.

 

[Lady Insanity]

Modetron and his Doomtrons staggered back, sparks flying and metallic groans escaping them as the Rangers made their assault. Modetron whined as the Rangers attacked, ordering the Doomtrons to fire out at them, blasting the Zords with their cannons. Jane and Calvin evaded aerial attacks, but everyone on land probably wasn't as lucky.
From the ground, Tanner moved out from the wall and just stared at the giant vehicles fighting off the giant robots. He knew this was all a thing, just he'd never seen it before...incredible.

Modetron glared at the Rangers in their Zords, Jane firing a solid beam at him. Sparks flew. "Alright guys. Let's bring 'em all together!" Jane said in the comm to everyone. Calvin nodded, saluting in his cockpit as a soldier does. "Roger that."
"Initiating combination sequence!" Jane said enthusiastically, taking normal procedures to start combining them all. Figured to make two robots against three to put numbers out there.
Jane initiated for Bio Strike Megazord to combine, leaving Tidal alone in charge of Shadow Strike. If things got hairy, she had a back up plan. She always had a plan. Part of the imagination thing.
Once the main five Zords combined, Jane and Calvin joined everyone in the shared cockpit. "Bio Strike Megazord, ready!" They called with the others, the robot taking a stance along side Tidal's.

"Those toys don't affect me. Our party is still larger! And we're cooler, too!" Modetron defended...hiding behind the Doomtrons. Jane chuckled cockily. Clearly she was going to have a lot of fun taking him down.
"That's what they all say. Let's take 'em down!" She said to the others, controlling the Megazord forward. Modetron sent the Doomtrons after them, greeting both Megazords with punches and assaults of their own.
Calvin and Jane would put up defenses however they could, using the arm blasters for starters to soften the Doomtron they faced up.

 

[PenBlade1326]

Okay, blasts from Doomtrons on average Zords aren't fun! No leverage to balance with! Yikes!
Taking orders, or just hints to get things going like normal, from Jane felt a tad odd. Especially with Drew having just been elected team leader officially. But today was a day she got to shine a bit. Drew personally felt the group owed her an apology from before. And Olivia agreed, but also thought it right to let the girl shine in her own way. After all, she may not be a military-trained fighter, but she's just the right kind of rough and rowdy girl the world depends on her to be. And she's perfect just as she is.

"Right with ya." Drew said, initiating Megazord combination with Jane and the others. Racer conformed to torso and head mode, Medical to leg mode, combining with the other Zords along side Tidal's own mecha, the main five arriving in their cockpit. "Bio Strike Megazord, ready!" They'd called out with the others, hands on the controls, ready for action.
Of course Modetron would say he wasn't afraid. Then again, he was hiding behind Doomtrons as he said it. But all of the field commanders say this rubbish. Doomtrons were coming after them, making a real ass of themselves by greeting the Megazords with attacks straight off the bat. Drew kept things steady as possible, Olivia balancing the main power grid.
With the blasters from Calvin and Jane, Drew saw the opportunity to summon the Megazord Saber and swing it at the Doomtron, slashing across its chest, massive sparks flowing. Olivia followed up the sword slash with a kick from the Medical side of the legs, right in its gut!

On the monitor to the side, Olivia checked the progress of Tidal fairing on his own with the other Doomtron.

 

[marorda]

"Gah!" Lucas covered his eyes from the sparks emitting in his zord, and then quickly had to steer it away from running right into a building. Dammit, being blasted was horrible. Luckily, Tidal's Tank was a bit more durable. Its armor kept the worst impact from the blast left some scratches and dents on the outside at worst. Could be easily repaired, more easily than fried controls. Jane continued telling them what to do, and today, in this case, they didn't mind at all. They owed her an apology, and honestly? Letting her take charge was pretty good, not? Jane got her chance to shine, and they'd all properly apologize to her once Modetron was dealt with.

"On it!" Lucas said as he initiated the Megazord combination. Together they could deal with being blasted a lot better. Heck, together they could deal with everything a lot better. At least... the stuff Armada threw at them anyway. Hauler transformed into the other leg and combined with the other four main zords into the Megazord.
"Let's do this," Tidal said, transforming Tank into his own Megazord. Two zords against three robots. This was going to work out just fine. And if things got bad... well, they'd just combine into Tank Strike Megazord, right? They even had more zords left to summon if need be,
"Bio Strike Megazord, ready!" Lucas said along with the others, hands on the controls and ready to kick the shit out of the Doomtrons and Modetron.
Shadow Strike Megazord, ready!" Tidal said, hands on the controls as well.

It felt like it had been a while since Tidal had used Shadow Strike, and damn was he eager to blast his cannons and some Armada scum. And he had one Doomtron all to his own. Once he was done laughing at Modetron. All high and mighty, definitely much better and more awesome than they were... that perfectly explained why he was hiding between the two Doomtrons. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen Armada send down something this pathetic." When he was done laughing, he slammed a button and fired his cannon at the other Doomtron.
"Tidal... you're scary when you're in a good mood," Lucas commented from Bio Strike Megazord before going in for a kick on their Doomtron.

 

[Lady Insanity]

"Not as nearly as scary as Jane when she's amped up." Calvin butted in on Lucas and Tidal, pointing out in the cockpit that she was going nuts with the controls, added another layer of chaos to the punches, kicks, blasts and slashes being delivered at the Doomtrons. It had been a while since two individual Megazords fought side by side. The Zord duo was fun whenever it popped up. But with so many other Zords and other possible combinations, why just limit themselves to one specific thing?
Jane dominated the controls and swung the Megazord saber diagonally across the Doomtron's chest. Sparks flew, but the robot proved durable and swung its arm back at them, striking the Megazord in the chest. The one fighting Tidal fired a massive shot right back at him in the chest.

Modetron stepped out from behind the Doomtrons blowing a raspberry at the two giant robots opposing him. "You think these things are tough now? Way till you see what my giant self can do!" He said, rubbing his nerdy hands together and plopping them on the Doomtron's heads.
Both Doomtrons turned into bad CGI-looking dragons. They'd both flown up in the air, screeching and flapping their wings.
Jane and Calvin's heads both tilted. "He made dragons out of them?" Calvin asked.
"Bad looking dragons, too...I could do better in photoshop." Jane commented.
And on the ground as Tanner watched...he vocalized the same thing. "Dragons?!"
---
On the main ship of the Armada, Volmour coughed slightly as the visuals came up on the screen from Earth. "Are those....oh what do the humans call them? Dragons?" He asked himself, wondering what the Hell his robot was capable of...how?
---
Modereon laughed maniacally. "Yes! Dragons! After all, I'm the modding expert! Now go, my minions, destroy them!" He said, sounding like a LARP-er gone mad. The dragons, badly animated with Modetron's power, flew toward both Megazords, blasting them with fire and slashing them with their wings, striking from every angle.
Calvin and Jane held it together, sparks flying and alarms ringing. "Alright, that does it. I'm bringing in some back up." Jane said, about to call in an aux Zord.
Calvin sighed in relief. "Thank God. What's it gonna be? Siren to get those handcuffs and armor? Drill to cut them all down? Astro to fly up high and catch the dragons?" Calvin asked her. Jane shook her head. "Nope! Summon Bio Sub!" She said, slamming the button down. He nearly spat. She's calling the submarine?! How's that thing that becomes legs gonna help?
"Relaaax," Jane said to sooth everyone's thoughts in their heads, "I'll make it work. I didn't get called human Spirit of Imagination for nothing!" She said.

From where it had arrived before out the Zord bay, Sub appeared when they needed it most. Jane used the Jet arm to fire a distracting laser up at the dragons as they flew around them.
From then, Sub initiated auto combination, the Megazord hitting the air and detaching Medical and part of Hauler, Sub splitting and forming two new feet from the knees down like last time they'd used it.
"Sub Strike Megazord, ready!" Jane called out alone, clearly more enthused than the others...using feet to fight dragons? Heh? Modetron laughed at the Zord.
"Ha! New boots aren't enough armor to protect you from my dragons! Nor my power!" He gloated, his nerdy voice not making a good case for himself.
Jane snickered. "Ha! New boots are all we need. After all, using a little imagination puts you leaps and bounds over everyone!" She said...indirectly quoting Dr Wilson in the message to the Colonel. He said that, right? Leaps and bounds? And now it literally applies to her. "Now let's shut this bitch up!" Jane took full control, taking Calvin by surprise by using Sub's feet to bounce the Megazord upward, the new power inside it leaping up to catch up to the dragons, using buildings as stepping blocks to get higher and bounce up and up and up. Jane trhusted the Megazord to roundhouse one dragon in the head, using the Jet arm to blast and solid beam at the other, switching and repeating the attacks on either dragon. The Megazord them tun;bed down in a dismount, landing on its feet, the dragons landing on top of each other, reverting back to Doomtrons on the ground. A perfect line up for a certain brooding bad bay in a Tank to destroy them, leaving a certain geek for the others.

Modeteon panicked. "My dragons! No!" He said, freaking out, all alone.
Jane laughed...a little too much. "And you're next!" She said. Calvin just watched as Jane did all of that...damn, she stole the whole show! "Hey now, no need in you having all of the fun!" He said, taking a second to fire a few rounds for the mini gun on Heli at Modetron, sparks flying from him as he stagger around. The others had a chance to attack, having some fun before Jane finished him. Jeez, the girls a combat hog! But...that was okay. Sort of.

 

[PenBlade1326]

Holding it together after getting a few hits back wasn't a problem. Dealing with Tidal and Jane in good moods? Not a problem. A problem though? Modetron turning the Doomtrons into dragons. The one thing they hadn't fought in real life. Robots, aliens, a once evil Ranger, and now...dragons.
"Are those dragons?" Drew asked.
To pile on, Olivia adjust the glasses she wasn't wearing and leaned forward in the cockpit. "Dragons? Those are a thing now?" She asked softly. Clearly everybody was surprised MOdetron transformed the Doomtrons into the beasts. And that stood for everyone...

Back at HQ, Dr Wilson and the Captain were monitoring the battle from the base. As the dragons spawned, they looked at one another. "Dragons?" They said, shrugging and eyeing the battle once more.
---
Confused as Volmour, Urthemial and Splica sat in their thrones and tilted their heads as they witness Modetrons fight as a giant. "Dragons? Just what kind of power does this bot have?" Urthemial asked.
Splica shook her head. "I have officially made a mistake in alliances. Should have started my own faction. Then I wouldn't be associated with your kind..." She said.
"Oh shut up, woman." Urthemial told her.
---
The dragons, as bad as they looked, packed a punch. Flying around, attacking every which way and making things really hard for the Megazords. Drew and Olivia nodded as Jane promised to bring in some extra hardware, holding it together as best they could. Drew attempted swinging the saber at the beasts, but those CGI monsters kept flying away!
Olivia looked at Jane as if she'd suggested using a Bio Blaster against a giant. Sub? Really? Sure it proved powerful against Marin in the past for Olivia's birthday, but had they used it since? Maybe once or twice. But never against anything flying...oy.
"Are you absolutely sure?" Drew asked just before Jane said she had it under control. True, she was the spirit of imagination...even quoting Wilson. Back in HQ, the old man smiled a bit.
Best to just sit back and not complain.

As Sub deployed and combined with them, Jane alone called out Sub Strike Megazord. Maybe because she was more energetic...this just didn't seem like a good plan. Hopefully she knew what she was doing.
Really they had hoped that. Drew and Olivia tightly held on as Jane wildly took control and made the Zord bounce up, using buildings as trampolines and bouncing around up in the air. Jesus Christ this was crazy! It was like a ride!
The Zord kicked and blasted at the dragons, sending them down to the ground back as Doomtrons, the Megazord making a surprisingly steady landing. Olivia let out a sigh of relief. Drew just let out a wild 'wooooooo!' as the whole thing went down. being shaken around like that was kind of fun, actually!
"I'm gonna be sick..." Olivia commented, half jokingly. Drew smiled under his visor. "Hey now, Calvin's right. Don't hog all the fun." He said to Jane, switching into gear and slashing the saber at Modetron following Calvin, slashing down his chest.
Olivia simply held it all together, not putting an attack in, instead forwarding power to offensive systems for the others.

 

[marorda]

"True that," Lucas agrre with Calvin, grinning under his visor. Jane going full tomboy fury was indeed a tad more scary than Tidal in a good mood. The fight was chaotic, but so far it was working and really it only added to Jane's unique charm. And then things got weird again, turning the Doomtrons into...
"Yup, those look like Dragons to me," Lucas said, rubbing his eyes... over his visor. "Dragons..." He was a little stunned. Dragons in a ham? Sure thing. Dragons in this world? Nop nope nope. Even if they looked like bad CGI, it were still dragons in the real world. "Looks like they ommented softly in reply to Olivia's question.
"Well shit, I'd hoped we'd seen enough dragons for... Forever," Tidal commented from his cockpit. Dragons. Again.
---
On the ship, Actera droppd her business for a moment, curiously eyeing the monitors showing the battle the nerd Modetron had been fighting with the rangers. "Dragons, huh? Most interesting," she commented before returning to her work. Modetron... Interesting fellow.
---
So not only dod the dragons look terrible, they were also terrible to fight. As in... Much better than they had anticipated. They may ght need some more fire. To, you know, fight fire with fire? Tidal tried his best firing at them, but the damn things just evaded him. Meanwhile Lucas just assisted Olivia with keeping the Megazord steady. Yeah, some extra help was appreciated. So both were relieved to hear Jane was going to call backup. But what backup?
"The Sub...?" Lucas just sounded confused. How was a thig meant for aquatic combat going to help with aerial combat? Sure, Jane and her imagination could probably handle it, but still... Sub?

Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, it actually worked out quite well. Sure, using buildings as trampolines did end up with Lucas feeling a little bit funny, but at least he wasn't the only one.
"Not just you..." he said to Olivia. Bleh, let's not do that again soon. Please.
"She's not hogging all the fun," Tidal chuckled as he charged up his Zord's blade for a finisher. "I get to blow up two Doomtrons." And fire off that blast! With the Doomtrons gone, all that was left was for Jane to finish Modetron.
"He's got a point," Lucas said, also forwarding power for the others to use. After all, a kick wasn't going to do as much as blasts or a finisher or anything. Right?

 

[Lady Insanity]

Jane bust out laughing as everybody reacted to her course of action and it actually working, also taking up for themselves and not letting her have all of the fun for one day. She sat back and let them all do as they pleased to Modetron or the Doomtrons.
Modetron let out continuous yelps and grunts with every attack landed his way.
"Stupid Rangers! This was supposed to be my game, it was supposed to all work out!" He said, angrily shaking his fists around and pounding them on top of a building in frustration. Jane rolled her eyes under the visor.

Back to action and back in focus, she forwarded everything on Modetron. Calvin followed suit, diverting power to attack systems as Olivia and Lucas were.
"Alright Modetron, enough whining and clowning around. It's about high time you get your sorry, loser, cheating ass out of our city. You're about to be space dust." Jane said, forwarding power to the finisher. As Tidal finished off the Doomtrons, she prepped the attack for Modetron, remembering what Sub can do for it from last time they'd used it. Neat-o! And it's a shade of blue, so it corresponds with the girl using it! Extra neat-o! The Megazord began hopping around slightly, boosted with power and agility.
"Sub Strike Finisher!" Jane called out, putting it in motion, the Megazord cartoonishly jumping up in the air and kicking not once, but twice at Modetron, diagonal aqua slash trails left behind from either leg. The kicks got Modetron right in the chest, sparks flying from him as he stagger around.
"Oh crap..." Was....all Modetron said. No speech or last words, really? Hmm. Modetron fell over in an explosion, finished off once and for all. Jane leaped up in her seat, forgetting she was still on Squadron Mode and bounding to the very top of the cockpit and back down in her seat. She laughed at herself and pumped the air with her fists, victory! "Threat terminated." She said, still half way laughing to herself. Calvin grinned under his visor, a single clap following their win and a small exhale.

As per normal, Jane and Calvin exited the cockpit with everybody following the destruction of both Modetron and the Doomtrons. "Power down." She said, him following suit, reverting back into civilian form down on the ground. From his hiding spot, Tanner continued to watch them all. He'd come out and walk over to them when it didn't feel as...weird.
Jane waved at the Zords as auto pilot kicked in and they returned to base. "Bye bye, big machines of Armada crushing doom." She said, mostly talking to herself. As if the Zords could even talk! Talking Zords? What kind of nut job would ever believe that?
Calvin glanced at the others, popping his knuckles and wondering what was next. A few minutes went by of everyone just resting and catching their breath after a fight.
"So uh, Jane..." Calvin started. She had glanced over. "About what went down earlier in the Corner..."
She mentally rolled her eyes. "We kind of want to apolog--" Calvin started again. She interrupted. "About what in the Corner? You meeeean when you guys talked about me as if I weren't there, like I was a kid?" She asked. He hung his head.
"Yeah...look we didn't mean to talk like that. Just being put on academic suspension is kind of a bummer and we don't want you to fail because you're out fighting with us." He said. C'mon, someone else chime in...Calvin thought. Apologies are hard to do apparently. Really all she needed was reassurance she didn't have to be a perfect student or anything to survive. She just needed to know being herself was simply...enough.

 

[marorda]

Lucas and Tidal just let Jane have the finisher. She more than deserved it. Sub Strike Megazord jumped high into the air, which really fit considering Jane did a lot of high jumping too with her Squadron powers, and landed on Modetron, kicking him twice in the chest. And there they were. The very promising sparks of a monster about to go boom. No epic villainous speeches or interesting last words. Just a plain, boring "oh crap". It was sort of disappointing, really. But also so much of a relief to see Modetron fall down and explode. The damned nerd robot was gone, once and for all. Jane was excited and jumped up, seemingly having forgotten about her superpower jumps. Just a little higher and she'd bump her head into the ceiling! Lucas chuckled at her enthusiasm. And over in his own cockpit, Tidal grinned widely. Doomtrons: cleared up. Modeteron: taken care of by tomboy fury. Neat! "Great work, Jane!" he complimented.

The two exited their cockpits, following Jane and Calvin's exampled of reverting back to their civilian form. They watched their Zords auto-pilot back to the Zord bay, where they'd receive necessary repairs and get recharged for when they'd inevitably be needed again. Jane had an excellent way of describing them exactly for what they were. Big machines of Armada crushing doom. Awesome machines of Armada crushing doom. "The best thing of dealing with that nerdotron is that we won't have to fight dragons anymore," Lucas commented quietly, though those close to him would probably be able to hear him. Dragons were good, as long as they remained inside a game, and all of them would remain outside of it. Tidal just vaguely nodded. It had been pretty cool in a way to run around in an armor and slice at a dragon with a sword, but... fighting giants was a lot more comfortable inside a big giant of his own. It evened the score.

A few minutes passed and Calvin walked up to Jane to apologize, but it seemed he could use a little bit of help. Or at least others chiming in also.
"Making you feel like shite was the last thing we wanted to do," Lucas weighed in. "You're our friend and we just worry about you. Not because we think you can't handle yourself, but because we care. We all do." Tidal nodded in agreement. He really wasn't good with apologies, and being his blunt self, he'd probably make things worse instead of better. So he wisely kept quiet, though it was clear that he, too, felt bad about making Jane feel like a little kid. Of all people he should know not to do that.

 

[PenBlade1326]

Rattling around in Sub Strike wasn't as bad as they'd remembered. Kicking around to finish the enemy off was a bit odd compared to the usual style of slashing or shooting. But they'd done this before, so who were Drew and Olivia to complain? Letting Jane finish off Modetron was the right thing to do, in part of this being a direct tie in for her, as well as a way to start apologizing. What better way to show this girl you're sorry than to let her make a giant monster or robot go kaboom? Hell, give her a big blaster and a room full of grunts and she'd probably think it was er birthday.
Drew and Olivia both extended arms out slightly as Jane leaped up following Moderon's demise, thinking she'd jumped a bit too high in the cockpit and bumped her head. Reminded Olivia of that song...12 Little Monkeys Jumpin' On The Bed? Or was it 10...how many monkeys? Mental note to self, look up how many monkeys are jumping on the bed. She thought to herself.

As everybody exited the cockpits and demorphed, it wasn't too long before Calvin and Lucas both started apologizing to Jane. They'd all clearly upset her...sue she's the feisty tomboy, the fighter, the gamer, but she was still a person with feelings. Even if she wasn't the type of person to show them. Drew knew that. As did Olivia.
"Lucas and Calvin are right, Jane...back in the Corner we were just brainstorming. You're more than proven you have your own skills that make you great...you're part of this team. One of the best, even." She reassured her.
Drew nodded, gently patting Olivia and Calvin's shoulders before easing to the front of everyone toward Jane. The battle had literally just ended and they were having this talk? That's different...normally they have to go back to base or something before this kind of debrief.
"I think I know what's on your mind, Jane. We all talked earlier like we knew what was best, Lucas and Olivia even agreeing to tutor you, but all of us made it seem like we were trying to push you in certain directions. I...uh-we never want to make you feel like you're less because of your age or grades. Back at the Corner we just wanted you to be good in school...but it looks like there's more to what's upsetting you now. Ya know, uh...just a little while ago I was blocking everyone out. Just so you know...that doesn't have to be the case for you. I'm here...we're here." Drew said, heartfelt.

 

[Lady Insanity]

Jane threw her hand up and blew a raspberry at everyone, facing them all in a line. "Jeez, cut the crap already. With all of the feely stuff and apologizing it's starting to feel like a Hallmark movie." Jane said. Of course...she didn't like feely crap. But that didn't mean at all that the apologies weren't greatly appreciated. The look in her eyes said 'thank you guys', but her words said 'tomboy tomboy tomboy.' She'd placed her hands on her hips and paced back and forth.
"Look, I know what you guys all mean. And I get it, I do. Just maybe cut the crap with the tutoring and pretending to be my dad?" She asked, aimed at Lucas specifically and teasingly. "Also maybe remember I'm here, and like Olivia said, I'm one of the best. I can take you all on." She joked defensively. Olivia's comment did make Jane feel special, so why not use it to add another layer to her tomboy exterior that's all jokes? She smirked slightly.
Calvin did too. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to face you on a bad day." He commented. Jane laughed. "Damn right you wouldn't."

All was forgiven. Just Jane wasn't into that crap, so by joking around with everyone, that's how she let them know it was okay. She didn't respond to most of what they said, and this bares repeating, she ain't into that feely crap.
Disregarding apologies with humor aside, another player had stepped into the conversation. Seeing it was safe and clear, Tanner emerged from his hiding spot and presented himself to everybody.
"Evening, all." He said softly, hands together, uptight and utterly annoying to Jane. Maybe polite to the others, but Jane found him ever annoying. And this was gonna be her brother in law! Crap!

"I saw what you all did...it was pretty amazing, if I do say. Thank you all for getting me and the other people out of that game." Tanner said properly. Jane rolled her eyes as Calvin took it as a genuine compliment. "Hey, not a problem. But really Jane got us all out of there." He said.
Tanner nodded. "Indeed. However she didn't do it alone. We all played a part in the dragons demise. Just I'm saying it was a team effort, despite her ability." Hey, the guy was a rich prick sometimes but he wasn't wrong here.
Calvin nodded in response. Lots of nodding going on here. Jane just waved her arms around. "Hey. Hey now, no talking like I am no here. We all played a role, yeah yeah yeah. Tanner I've been a Ranger long enough to know about team work." She said, her tongue out at him. How mature. He scoffed the rich boy scoff. Her face turned red, almost comically from the others' standpoint. "Why you little..." She began, followed by unrecognizable muttering. Tanner raised a hand at her. "Buh buh buh. Jane, you're making your veins pop out again." He said. She growled.
Calvin laughed slightly at the two bickering. Already like siblings...yeesh. Honestly though? As immature as Jane could be, he'd have her no other way.

Moments went by. The two stopped for the moment. "Anyway, if we're all done being rich pricks or apologetic dorks, I'm gonna go home. Lots of studying to do. Something I picked up on was ya gotta really read between the lines. That, and C's get degrees. Just gonna do what I can and remember some of those study tricks." She said.
But just before she could go...Jane got a text. It was...bad. Her worst nightmare. Jane grew pale, her skin white as a sheet. Calvin raised a brow. "What's the matter?" he asked her, seeing her observe the text on her cell phone she'd gotten from her pocket. "I forgot something...the worst part of my day....dress shopping. With mom and Christy...oh God kill me now, please..." She said, clearly full of legit dread. Oy vey....
Calvin and Tanner both shared a snicker and a chuckle at Jane's misery at the mention of dress shopping. The expression and vocalization of her sorrow was so pathetic...it was morbidly funny!!!!

 

[marorda]

"Hey!" Lucas replied to Janes comment, defensively raising his hands. He... He didn't do that... did he? Being compassionate and just trying to help, being a friemd and advising a friend who asked for help... Sure, Jane was just teasing, but still!
"You sure about that?" Tidal teased back as she said she could take on all of them. "Pretty sure I could easily take you on... If you're not facing a bad day." On a bad day however... Yeah, that may be a not so great idea.

It was a relief to see all had been forgiven. Jane was joking around again like her tomboy self should be, the city was safe once more, people were freed from th game. A good end of the day. Jane being herself again got stressed out only more as Tanner presented himself. Already the two acted like siblings... but the kind of siblings that more hated each other than anything else. Or so it sem ee. Still, seeing how the two got along made Tidal and Lucas chuckle lightly. Hmm... How much of a good idea was it to laugh at the tomboy while she was in thmidst of her fury? Probably not at all.

Jane said her goodbyes to everyone,mready to head home and start studying, making use of the tricks she had picked up on this adventure. But before she could leave, she received a text that made her turn white as a sheet. As if she had just received the most terrible news. But as she said what it was... A tomboys worst fear... The two guys had to do their very bst not to burst into laughter. Sure, you wouldn'tnhav to ask either of them along for dress shopping too, but Janes reaction was just too funny!

 

[PenBlade1326]

Both Drew and Olivia snickered slightly at Jane's teasing Lucas. Maybe being a father-persona is just Lucas' personality. Or a mother in some cases. But that's just call for more teasing.
"Face it guys. On a bad day, we'd all lose to Jane. That fury's got some major benefits for hitting stuff. And pulling by the ear..." Drew said, rubbing his ear in remembrance of that one time she dragged him and Lucas by their ears....ouch. Olivia shot him a look. "Sometimes I'm rather happy the team started with only three. I'd hate to have faced Jane before she mellowed out any." She said. Really, Jane could be scary sometimes. But again, Olivia would have her no other way. It's nice to have a comrade who's not professional and is down to Earth. And is good at hitting things in the face.

However it was great see that all was forgiven. Just they'd all have to keep Jane in mind as a comrade and not so much a kid that needs to be worried about. They want her to succeed, though! Really, they all want one another to succeed.
For now it was especially good to see Jane back to herself, not stressing over a video game robot making her prove herself. Cracking jokes and spilling minor profanity...that's their girl. Of course Jane grew a little irritated when Tanner came over. His awe of the Rangers was appreciated, Drew and Olivia smiled at him. But Jane of course was the type to bicker with him and get annoyed. Already those two are like siblings...siblings in law, anyway.

"I trust Tanner is trustworthy with your identity? We do have to keep identity as low key as possible in order to protect those close to us, after all." Olivia stated. Everyone had someone outside the team who knew. An outlet. A shame this was Jane's, but...
"Oh I'm sure it'll be fine." Drew said. Perhaps a bit too optimistic.
Just as Jane was about to leave and apply her study skills and make an effort to save herself from suspension, a text message had nearly put her in cardiac arrest it would seem. Dress shopping with her mother and sister/the bride. Ohhh yeah. There's gonna be a wedding! Of course shopping needs to be done!
Seeing Jane turn pale and nearly freak out was almost too priceless. Drew and Olivia couldn't help but laugh slightly. Olivia was reminded for a split second of alternate reality/future mind warped Jane she'd seen before. All girly and in that dress...*cue fit of laughter*. Awful context, but still.
"Not just dress shopping. Probably also shoes, make up, jewelry..." Drew listed off to further torment Jane. Olivia covered her mouth as a laugh escaped her lips. Why was seeing Jane so upset so funny? Didn't they just apologize for making her upset? Maybe she just had a thick skin, hence Jane's bounce back to normality. But that was over a serious issue...this is just funny because she hates girly stuff!

 

[Lady Insanity]

Drew listed off more torturous things to shop for. With every listing, Jane let out a whine-shriek of pure dread and overly expressed agony. She sunk to her knees and exhaled. Jane tightly placed her hands over her ears. "Please God no...anything but shoes and makeup...God let there be no jewelry!!!" She cried out, truly freaked by the mere mention of shopping for it all. And with her bride-to-be sister and her mother...it'd be worse because those two looove to shop. And look at things with flowers and...petticoats. Would it be too late to hope Modetron was still alive and he'd come back to squish her into a Jane-sized pancake?

Tanner put a hand up as he laughed. To answer Olivia for a moment. "The secret is safe with me. Frankly I'm still partly puzzled as to why none of you make a profit off of saving the city, but Jane cleared it up sort of. You keep the city safe and that's all I and anyone could want. Besides. It'll be nice for Jane to have me to talk to. Outside the team and all. I got a feeling we're gonna be really close from now on. Huh...sis?" Tanner said, promising to keep it quiet...as well as teasing Jane a peg more.
As he said sis, both he and Calvin knew Jane was going to murder him. "Oh and do make sure you don't pick a white dress. Don't wanna clash with the bride. And maybe something frilly. I get the feeling you'd be cute in something frilly. Just ask any of the guys here. Especially the grease monkey over there." he said, pointing out Drew. He sounded awfully concerned earlier. Maybe it meant---Jane cut him off and rose up faster than a squirrel on LSD. Jane got right in Tanner's face. "Tanner. Run." She said...tomboy fury engaged.
Calvin have him a look that says 'dude legit run for your life.' Tanner gulped and let out a nervous giggle, nearly leaving a smoke image of his body behind as he bolted away. For a rich guy who doesn't do much, he sure can run. Jane looked at the others. "Later, guys." She muttered before dashing off after Tanner. She let out profanities and minor curses as she chased him, swinging her little tomboy fists around in the process.
---
All in all, Jane chasing Tanner and going off to shop with her mom and sister for the upcoming wedding, Jane had learned a lesson from today. As the day transitioned into night, and night turned into day, she applied that lesson.
First of all, C's really do get degrees. Jane would apply her studying from Dragon Quest and Lucas' tips, well enough to keep her at a C average. Not perfect, but it suits her just fine!!! Bye bye academic suspension! Second of all, she'd learned that while she indeed isn't perfect in school or even at her old radio job, she is good at one thing. No...she's perfect at it. Kicking ass and working with her friends. Being perfect at this wasn't hard. The whole team was perfect for it. She was only a sixth of the Ranger pie. Mmm...pie.
Speaking of jobs, though, Jane did end up with a new job. Turns out that in between the events of Modetron's attack and the upcoming days (or next Arc) she'd received an email from the developers who hosted Dragon Quest against their wills, really. They were so appreciative that she'd freed them from his clutches, they ended up giving Jane that job of testing anyway! So now, Ranger stuff aside, she works as a part time, from-home video game tester! Woohoo for Jane!!!
A new job, a newfound confidence in herself knowing she was a freaking hero, and a stronger connection to her friends. Even with these good things, it had also been revealed that Jane still has an unresolved insecurity. Knowing she's enough as herself is good...but it's an issue still. Her family still knows nothing of her true self. In their eyes, she's a little girl and forever will be. She'll have to work hard to one day make that change...and face her insecurity as the youngest Ranger. Until she's one day realized as an adult she won't stop! But fear not. The tomboy remembers the victory she just had, and knows that she's awesome! The team is awesome! And Tanner is....well, still Tanner. He didn't grow at all, really in this little adventure. Gotta work on that.
Tomboy gamer fury won the day. Jane's not done, and neither are the Rangers. No more evil video games and no more dragons! Rest easy world, the Blue Ranger's got your back!

End of Arc 25.

 

[marorda]

Arc 26: Honor Among Thugs

Thankfully, after Modetrons defeat, everyone was allowed a few days of silence. Sure, there was the neverending mandatory training, but no Armada attacks. Not even Dytrons making a weak attempt to wreck the place. It was almost as if Armada was anticipating something. And the same thing... the same thing applied to HQ. There was a certain tension. Something was going to happen soon, but right now nobody at HQ really seemed to be able to tell just what or where this thing was going to happen. Obviously, as things usually are when a world is attacked by aliens and evil robots from outer space, whatever it was had something to do with... well, space. There were the quietest whispers of an alien being, a lone creature traveling through the galaxy, but that was all they seemed to know for sure. Or at least the only thing they were willing to tell. Last night, something odd had happened outside the city, but it had definitely been noticed inside the city too. It had seemed like a shooting star, leaving a trail in the sky. But then there had been the ear shattering sound of impact, and the earth had shook. Whatever exactly was going to hapoen, this had to be it.

So... Eveline had made that teasing joke nobody made a few days back. Or rather, nobody said it out loud. When Lucas mentioned Jane had teasingly told him to stop pretending to be her dad, she had burst into laughter, stated it was nonsense, and that he definitely was more of a momma duck. Oy. The last few days he had spend mostly at college, working on assignments. And he had received some good news: he had enough credits and decent enough marks rompotentially graduate earlier than expected. Whoohoo! But way to up the pressure too. Hence the many hours spend at college this week. Last night, when everything shook, he had pretty much leaped out of bed. Figuring out the earth had stopped shaking and nothing seemed damaged, he had simply gone back to sleep. But it was no miracle everyone had been summoned in HQ the morning after.

Tidals last couple of days were troubled. There had been some fragments of memories lingering in his mind, and it wasn't anything too pretty. Days of being a thug, things he had done, people he had harmed... Not really enough to make sense of, but enough to feel bad about it. Even if he knew why he had done it all. And given that some peopl had definitely deserved what was coming at them. He hadn't cared much for others other than himself. The Lone Wolf, they called him out there. It was simoly what he was. A Lone Wolf. And now he had found his pack. More or less. Deserved his poace after some trials, but he knew damn well there was plenty of unfinished business out there, and the others might not be too happy if they ever figured things out. Miraculously, he had slept really right through th events of last night, so he was clueless as of why everyone had to gather in HQ first thing in the morning. Well, they'd figure out soon enough.

Everyone was lined up in the main command center, the screen showing a visual of the Wastelands, as much as that was possible. The Captain and Wilson seemed both eager, and minorly terrified of whatever it was that couldn't be seen on the visual. What had happened?

(Yaaas. Kicking it right into action! Time for some fun and out if character behavior! XD
Pen, basically... Just have the Captain ans Wilson tell of the meteor, at a t crashed in the Wastelands... The usual stuff ) )

 

[PenBlade1326]

Reports coming in from last night indicate something most powerful had entered through the Earth's atmosphere and made contact in the wasteland. A meteor of some kind, judging by scans from the satellites. Whatever it was, it showed readings of immense power and resources, possibly valuable to Inezia and other cities. There was an energy signature that didn't match any known signals, but whatever it was it was very powerful. Dr Wilson picked up on the atmospheric intrusion last night when it crashed on Earth, shaking the world and rumbling the ground. Captain Scott had been asleep, but definitely felt the rumbling.
---
Of course he wasn't the only one to detect it. Emperor Urthemial and Empress Splica detected and energy signature entering Earth's atmosphere. A meteor. Resources and a new power source seemingly inside of it. They both detected it as the Earthlings slept, already plotting to send their forces down in the wasteland and retrieve it for their own gain.
---
This morning was off to a rocky start. Regulations aside, Olivia didn't plan on meeting so early with everyone. Late in the night last night, a rumbling sensation awoke her as she slept in her bed in the base. It had been just business as usual for the past few days following Modetron's defeat. Olivia archived it as she or Dr Wilson did all of the field commanders.
IN more exciting news, Olivia did receive a message from her mother. A broken up message due to comm signals being a bit rough, but a message that was easy enough to make out. Basically along the lines of 'I love you sweetheart, I miss you and your father terribly', stuff like that. Not too important to mention, but it did happen.

Drew on the other hand, had a normal couple of days. Armada-fighting, training, auto shop, and doctor's appointments for Isaac. Ever since becoming leader, Drew had also taken a few new responsibilities in training. And...paperwork. Oy. Filing reports was a duty of his now. And it wasn't too fun. Isn't being leader simply a formality? Oh well, it wasn't too bad. What was bad, however, was being woken in the middle of the night by a huge Earthy thump. Something must have hit hard...it shook everything. Hell, it made a book on a shelf above Drew's bed fall and knock him on the head! Not a pleasant way to be rudely awoken in the night! Gahh!

Meeting early in the morning was unplanned. Of course Drew and Olivia both assumed and predicted the reason. Whatever made the Earth shake must have demanded their attention.
Dr Wilson and Captain Scott seemed most eager. The team had been lined up accordingly for this meeting, briefing on the situation. "Rangers," Captain Scott greeted everyone, "good morning. I'm sure you're all wondering why we've called you here." He said. Drew nodded.
"Something has crashed in the wasteland. A meteor from space. My readings show it has immense power. Valuable resources and minerals have been detected. As well as a strange energy source. Unknown, but it could be valuable. This meteor is of high value, and could prove useful. I've pinpointed it's location to somewhere in the wasteland. It is located in a place very dangerous, though. Scavengers, thugs, and other pleasant things are known to rule the area. We'll show extreme caution, but it is critical you obtain and recover this meteor." He said. "Questions?"

 

[Lady Insanity]

A certain tomboy was still proud of their victory the other day. Going into a video game, kicking butt and saving the city (or a pocket of the citizens within the city, really) made her day. Not to mention the new testing job for the game developers out of gratitude. That's rad! So is knowing she can study better and keep her grades at a C average. She won't officially be off of academic suspension until the semester is over and she's passed all of her classes, but currently things are looking good for her. A huge weight off of Jane's shoulder's. Speaker of her shoulders...the dress. Oh God.
The dress she ended up having to pick out for Christy's upcoming wedding is so....ew. She does't have to be a bridesmaid if she doesn't want to, her sister has more than enough eager friends. Whew. But the dress shows Jane's shoulders...is up above her knees, and it's almost too tight to breath in. It'd be a real shame if something happened to it and it had to be thrown away....mischief for the future? Maybe. But the present has some other plans apparently. Last night, something shook the whole house! Massive, whatever it was. Jane didn't wake up b it, but her parents did. They talked about it all through breakfast. That and Jane's college so far. Ugh. Whatever shook the house shook the city...and it didn't give anyone good vibes.

Calvin was wide awake when it happened. As late as it must have hit the Earth, Calvin was wide awake and felt the impact! It made him loose his balance as he did a night routine with Max and a few soldiers. Nighttime training to work with some night vision gear for proper testing. Calvin was standing on a beam overseeing the troops working with the gear when something shook the ground. Knocked hum flat on his ass and the soldiers as well as Max on their backs! It's a wonder they weren't called to investigate sooner than the morning. Other than that, Calvin had just gone through the motions of daily soldier/Ranger life.

Meeting early in the morning and having to bare the artificial sunlight of the dome was...brutal. Jane wasn't much of a morning person, as seen in the past in times pike this. She might seem okay, but mornings make her so....bleh. Calvin was wide awake, but only because he'd been awake all night. Hell, he woke up at midnight so he wouldn't sleep during training! This moment felt like the afternoon to him! Hopefully he wouldn't get his days and nights mixed up...
Line up with the others at attention in the command center of HQ, Calvin and Jane listened to the briefing. A meteor had hit the Earth last night, insert some scientific crap here, bing bang boom they have a mission to go get the meteorite. Jane raised a hand up for a question. "You said it's an a place ruled by thugs, scavengers, people like that? What's the deal with handling them?" She asked, curious what to do if they should run into said people out there.
Calvin nodded. "Yeah, what's the protocol for handling wasteland inhabitants? My men and I have only ever fought monsters and Dytrons out there." He added. "And might I ask exactly what's in this meteor?" Calvin escalated further. Wilson said valuable materials. He wondered if it was anything specific?

 

[marorda]

Any questions, they asked after telling a meteor crashed and they had to obtain it. After mentioning how dangerous it's going to be. Of course there were questions. How would they get there? Get the meteor back here? Wouldn't that thing be too large or heavy to simply haul back? Besides the scavengers and all, what made that place so dangerous? Oh wait... it was the Wastelands, of course. Where the water could melt off your face and robots ran free. Jane and Calvin raised excellent questions. What would they have to do when they ran into people there? Tidal sure had an idea or two, but it was highly unlikely anyone would want to hear those ideas. As for Lucas, he just really didn't like the idea of going into the Wastelands again. Granted, one time it gave them two new teammates, and another time he found his sister back... but generally the Wastelands just were bad news and nasty memories.

"Aah, scavengers, thugs and all the pleasant folk," Tidal said with sarcastic joy. "Such nice memories, as far as they're still there. Any chance you can tell us if the area belongs to any gang in particular or whether they're fighting over it?" Both would be dangerous to head to, but if there were multiple gangs fighting over one particular turf... it might be wise to stay away lest they'd get involved n a gang war. "And how would we get there? We can't exactly have a driver drop us off at the spot. It would draw too much attention, and if we're gonna work with potentially dangerous things, drawing a lot of attention is the last thing we want." He still had his ideas on how to handle the people there. If thugs ruled the place... threat them as thugs treat other thugs: fistfights, accidents, and the occasional murder. Not that he'd actively go out and kill thugs... Just if it happened, there wasn't much to be done about it. Simply the rules of the Wastelands. Or the lack of it. Going out there and get a meteor - or just anything of possible value - out of territory known to be swarmed with people trying to find, obtain, and keep valuables at ALL costs... this was going to be an interesting mission, one way or another.

Leave it to Tidal to be an expert on Wasteland business. After all, wasn't that the exact situation he came from? He knew the Wastelands like no other, knew what to do and what not to do out there better than any of the others could even guess. So it definitely was a good thing they'd have Tidal with them out there. Lucas was sure that with Tidal around, they had at least a bit more success out there. "How are we going to do it?" Lucas asked. "I doubt we can just wander into that area, pick up the meteor, and leave as if it's nothing."
Tidal shook his head. "We definitely can't just to that," he confirmed. "If it's even remotely valuable, they will try anything to keep it. Anything. Murders aren't uncommon out there. Especially not among thugs and scavengers. There's no honor among thugs."

 

[PenBlade1326]

Dr Wilson raised his hands at all incoming questions. "I believed transporting the meteor will be...difficult. Oddly enough, I'm picking up a mostly hollow reading on it. It may be lighter than we expected, but the energy coming from within sounds dangerous. I haven't go much to say on transporting it. Perhaps the best thing would be to break it up and store pieces in a truck." Wilson said. Given how alien the meteor was it was hard to judge what to do. Especially since he hadn't encountered the thing personally.
"But just how? Like Tidal said, the place is crawling with thugs and we can't just wander around with a military grade vehicle. We'd get swarmed." Drew stated. Captain Scott put up his hand this time.
"I have something on that. While we have no way of knowing exactly who is running the area, we do have a protocol for dealing with whomever it is. Treat them as you would any enemy. If the thugs attack you, you have a right to defend yourselves. But do not, and I repeated, do NOT kill them. If we started killing our own kind, we're no better than the Rexian Armada. At best, disable them if they get too violent. But do not kill them under any circumstances." Captain Scott said. A firm believer in not killing humans at all, regardless of circumstances.

Olivia nodded. Really, he had a point. If they kill their own race, are they any better than the enemies in space? Oh, a rhyme! "So defend ourselves, but don't kill anyone. Perfectly understandable, I know. However, I'm unclear as to how we actually do this. Like said before, it's unwise to just waltz in and take what we want in our gear." She said, concerned.
"That's why I have an idea. Scavengers, thugs, whoever is out there will be an issue for the military and City Defense forces. Especially if they knew the Power Rangers were rolling in on their turf. They are scavengers either by circumstance or by choice. If they have power out there, we can assume they chose to be out there for whatever reason of their own. Which is why, in order to get what we need and get is safely, you'll have to blend in."
What's he getting at? "I don't understand..." Olivia said.
"Tidal, you've had experience as one of the 'thugs' out in the wasteland. I'd appreciate your input here." Captain Scott said. "Personally, I believe an infiltration mission is key. Go in undercover posing as thugs in a rusted truck, maybe two, and going in as if you belong there among those people." He suggested. Just throwing it out there on an almost joking sounded whim. Surely that wouldn't be the course of action selected. "Not exactly by the book. But I think after dealing with Colonel Smith before, we don't do much by the book these days."

 

[Lady Insanity]

"Sooo don't mortally injury anyone out there. Got it." Jane said. Really that was fair. Sure people out there might not be the most pleasant individuals, but they're still people. Bad or good, being human was enough to not hurt them. Self defense was still a fair factor, however Jane understood why the Captain didn't want them killing people. And she agreed. She'd go crazy and beat some ass, but she'd never kill a person. Different from fighting robots and monsters.
Calvin nodded his head and glanced at Tidal. "Honor among thugs? Speaking as the person of honor here, I'd say maybe it's possible. After all. You used to be a thug before your memory got wiped and you were made evil. Now you're pretty honorable." He said to him Honor among thugs? Not so silly.

Moral issues with killing people and being no better than the Armada aside, Captain Scott proposed something a bit off the wall. Going out in the wasteland undercover as thugs themselves? Sure that might get them a little disclosure, but it was a bit odd. "Captain, I'm sorry but...given that two of our group are an awkward redhead and a somewhat ditzy intelligence agent--no offense guys--and a goody two-shoes mechanic--also no offense--I'd say that us posing as a group of thugs is a a little coocoo bananas." Jane said. She called out Lucas, Olivia and Drew respectively...but hey, she's not completely wrong. And she really didn't mean any offense. Just...they weren't thugs, and they couldn't act like so...could they?

"At least Tidal was a thug. And you and me well....hey, we could try and pull it off. We all could. What do you think, Tidal?" Calvin said, glancing at Tidal and asking what he thought. Really, even if his memory is wiped, he's surely got to remember something.

 

[marorda]

Not killing any thugs out there. Got it. Fighting, however, was something that was bound to happen. And things may get out of hand, Tidal could tell. It was a shame they had no way of telling who'd run the area. That would give him a bit of a better idea of the potential dangers. Some gangs were far more dangerous than others. Some were unorganized, sounded a lot tougher than they were. Others... well... others could pose a serious danger. Like those who'd managed to hijack technology and build their own from the scraps they found. Thugs with alien weapons... yeah, that could be troublesome. Sure, not killing them was the best course of action if City Defense wanted to remain the better party compared to the Rexian Armada, but it may prove more difficult than they were expecting. Lucas simply nodded. Not killing sounded good, not getting killed even better. Seemed like they were all on the same boat with their opinion on not killing. Of course they were. It would be weird if someone were to shout killing thugs was alright, not? Even Tidal seemed opposed to killing, and he used to be a thug himself! Though his words on murders being a common thing... well, that somewhat unsettled Lucas.

Blending in? Tidal couldn't help but chuckle and glance at the rest of the team. "Blend in?" he asked, still chuckling. "So if I'm getting this right, you want the lot of us to go out there and pretend to be thugs in order to get to the meteor?" That was what the Captain just said, after all. Oh, this was gold. Seemed like he was right. This was turning out to be an interesting mission already. He glanced at his friends again. "Well, that's going to be interesting with those guys." He grinned, his face showing more amusement than it had since.. well, ever. "As Jane pointed out, not all of you are exactly.. thug material, so to speak."
"Hey!

"The lack of it," Tidal repeated himself to Calvin. "Who I am now could hardlt be different from who I used to be, believe me. I've lived my whole life out there and know like no other how thugs out there lack honor. I've seen people being murdered over as much as a stolen bag of apples. The only thing they won't do is hurt a child. Other than that... Well... You're going t see for yourselves."

Still, if this were what had to be done, it would be done. "But with the right disguises and mindset... it may work just for long enough to get that meteor back here."
"So we're really going to do this? Act like a bunch of thugs out there?" Lucas said, vaguely gesturing somewhere to the distance. He was in disbelief. Acting like thugs was really quite the opposite of what they were supposed to be doing, wasn't it? Though technically it was infiltrating to do what they had to do. Kinda. Nobody knew what was inside that meteor, if there was even anything inside there at all safe for valuable minerals and a strange reading. Eeeeh. If being poofed into a game was out of their comfortzone, this definitely topped it for him.

 

[PenBlade1326]

"I am fully aware that you're not all one hundred percent likely to pass for streetwise thugs and common criminals. But as Tidal said, with the proper gear and mindset, anything's possible. I can have a couple of trucks waiting for you by the gate of the dome. This meteor could be a great asset. We need it, Rangers. And I fear the Emperor and Empress may already be planning to get their hands on it as well." Said the Captain.
"I'm not a goody two-shoes..." Drew said to Jane, shaking his head, still hung up on that comment.
"Ditzy? Am I really ditzy?" Olivia asked. She never thought she was ditzy...is she ditzy sometimes? But she's the smart one! Drew, Wilson and the Captain didn't comment. "Uh...what matters is you're a brilliant agent, honey." Said her father. She nodded. "Thank y-...hey wait a minute!" Olivia replied. She is not ditzy!!!!

Drew let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. It looks like we don't have much choice. Let's all just do what we can to blend in in the wasteland so we can get what we need." He said. Really, if this is the safest means of grabbing the meteor...then they'd best get on it.
"Just one thing. How do wasteland thugs typically dress?" Drew asked Tidal. Olivia looked at him...really, how are they gonna have to dress? Do they need to carry weapons to pose tough with? Oh crap, will they have to get poorly done tattoos?! Oh crap...
---
Indeed up above in the main ship of the Armada, Urthemial and Splica planned to go after the meteor. A powerful signature reading came from within, as well as useful materials and minerals that could benefit the Armada. "Rexia is know for fine resources. That space rock has similar readings! It isn't from our world, but it is powerful." Splica said, reading over power readings again from the rock detected.
Emperor Urthemial nodded. "Indeed. I'll have Deathtrons and Dytrons alike searching for it in the wasteland. That's uncharted territory, no place for the foolish Rangers to be. It will be ours for the taking. And any fool humans to get in the way will face our wrath!"

 

[Lady Insanity]

Calvin nodded his head at Tidal. Honor among thugs may be lacking for many, however in rare cases it could exist. Knowing people got killed over bags of apples was unsettling, though. "Hey, it's not like posing as thugs is really the weirdest thing we've ever done, right?" He said to Lucas, question what the Hell they were all doing. Or at least planning to do.
Jane also nodded. "Exactly. Put on some thug costumes? Sure. Beats having to dress up like school girls and Dytrons. Remember that nightmare?" Jane asked around...mentally and physically shuddering. If anyone else had saw her in that costume? She'd have killed herself. And then whoever saw her. She'd make it happen. Grr.

"Hate to break it to ya, but you kind of are a goody two-shoes..." Jane said to Drew. Really...he kind of was. Not that it's a bad thing. Just the whole boy-next-door thing he had going on wasn't too thug-ish. Slap some grease on his face and put him in leather jacket and maybe you're talking then!
Both Jane and Calvin remained silent as Olivia denied her ditz. She was the smartest woman they knew, but damn if she wasn't also one of the ditziest people they knew...gosh.
The plan was to just go out in the wasteland and be thugs? That's it? Simple enough. But maybe not as simple if they were having to be legit thugs. Sure they wouldn't kill anyone, just defend themselves if need be, but...really, half of them could never be thugs. And to the half that could? Well, that maybe isn't a good thing in retrospect. "I'm assuming thugs dress in mostly leather jackets, plaid shirts, jeans and ratty-ass strips of fabric. And carry tools as weapons. Or baseball bats." Jane said to Drew's question. Really...that's what least what video games taught her.

"Maybe we should stick with the ex-thug and wasteland person?" Calvin suggested, pointing at Tidal. Really, he probably had the best insight here.

 

[marorda]

"So what if you are maybe a little ditzy, sometimes?" Lucas said and coughed. Well, that was awkward. What did you expect of him, really? "Everyone's got their quirks, no? This would just be one of the things that makes you who you are." He smiled. Was that reassuring or only making things worse? Ah well, at least he tried, right? He didn't know what the rest thought, but... he thought it was cute. No way he'd say that out loud though. That'd just be making a fool out of himself. And probably it would out the both of em in an uncomfortable situation. Especially since the Captain, her father, was standing right there. Best just, uhh... Best just focus on other things, right? Like Calvin's comment, and Tidal. They'd have to know how to blend in if they didn't want their covers blown in an instance.

"True it's not the weirdest thing, but it is one of the more uncomfortable things we're doing there," Lucas said. Videogames were one thing, acting as Wasteland thugs, however? Way out of his element there. He just focused on Tidal, waiting for him to explain how they'd best blend in. "Well, you're half right there," Tidal said to Jane. "Jeans, leather, whatever they can find. Just... I don't recall having seen any thugs wearing plaid. Remember what I wore when we met? That's a good representation. And his alternate future outfit too," Tidal nodded at Lucas. Sure, this was more a thing just three of them could know, but it was all to sketch an idea.
"Riiiight. Now I really doubt I want to know what that future you saw looks like," Lucas said. "Anyway, what you're saying is basically that whatever old stuff we can find in the back if the closet would do?" Tidal nodded. "Basically. As long as it doesn't look new or expensive, it'll pass. Really, if it looks expensive, leave it home. Which is why I'd advise we don't wear our morphers out there. We should keep them with us in case of emergency, but if we don't want to get robbed and shot, we'd best make sure nobody sees it."
Lucas nodded. He understood, but it didn't help him feel more at ease. What he recalled from the wasteland of his unwanted and unexpected trip there, it was bad. And now they'd have to act like those bad people. Though some of them hadn't chosen it... But the people they would face probably had. Gulp.

More or less knowing what to expect, everyone went back to prepare for this unusual mission. For Tidal it was really quite easy. A battle on his own turf, sort of. He simply fished his outfit back when he met the others our of the back of his closet. Whelp. The Lone Wolf was back in action. But this time... not so much alone.

Lucas didn't have a hard time finding an outfit either. He still had the things he had worn on his wasteland trip. For whenever he'd need to do stuff around the house. Like painting. Didn't matter if the old stuff got dirty. Perfect for this mission! He pulled an old beanie over his head. Now only some of his red curls poked underneath it. This would have to do. Plus, talk Scottish and throw in the occasional curse in Gaelic... yes, he might just pull this off. Poorly, but if it worked, it worked and he couldn't complain.

Once everyone had prepared themselves one way or another, they met up by the gates, where a rusty truck was waiting for then as Captain Scott had promised.
"Right... before we go out there..." Tidal started. "Just follow my lead. And my apologies in advance. I'm likely going to offend each and everyone of you.repeatedly. I don't mean it, but we gotta pull off the thug act. So don't expect me to act like a nice guy."
Lucas gulped. This didn't really sound promising. He glanced at the others to see what they thought, and how they had prepared themselves.

 

[PenBlade1326]

Captain Scott placed the Rangers under direct orders to venture out into the wasteland and find the meteorite, recover it, and simply deal with anything they meet along the way. Not killing any human threats, however. But if the Armada makes an appearance, nobody's gonna miss a few fallen robots, right? Right. He'd put in a requisition for a truck to be waiting for them at the gates. Wasn't it supposed to be two? Maybe they could only find one that worked enough. Two people ride inside the truck, and the other four ride the truck bed? A shame they don't just take their vehicles. But Tidal's right, nothing too expensive looking! Before they'd all left HQ to go prepare, Drew made something clear for personal reasons. "Okay, no morphers. But I don't like the idea of not wearing them...if you can, just conceal them so they aren't visible. That fair?" He stated. If they can wear them and hide them, that's perfect. If they can't hide them, then....well, best have them ready as possible.

As the team disbanded under orders to go home and change, Drew made a quick stop at the auto shop. His boss kept this old motorcycle out back. It was old, rusted up, kept only for display's sake in the back. But it worked. Hmm. Keeping that in mind, for sure. Drew went home and changed into an old pair of jeans that were stained with grease, obviously just jeans he wore to work. And he dug out the t shirt he'd wore on the day he met Jane and Lucas. It was still greasy from working at the auto shop and it looked so tattered, it was perfect. Old sneakers, adding that rustic charm. He'd messed his hair up to look like it was styled by grease and the wind, so it looked especially messy. Add that with his dads faded leather jacket, and Drew was set on being a thug.
He didn't have an easy time explain why he looked like that as he walked out of his room to Isaac. God, has he finally snapped and gone on a Fonzie phase? Isaac thought.
He made a quick stop to 'borrow' that old motorcycle on his way to meet everyone. And a wrench. Because...weapon just in case? Are those allowed? He stored it in the bikes compartment so it was hidden anyway. As well as a crowbar, again, just in case.

Olivia didn't have many normal clothes. She had her work uniforms, assorted City Defense casual wear, and some completely casual clothing she'd wear on the days she didn't work at all. Those were her rare outfits, really. She sighed, standing across her closet. Going into gang-controlled territory didn't sound too appealing to her. She could handle herself, obviously, and she'd been fighting evil invaders for a long time. But thugs? People? Why does it seem so different?
She let out a puff of air before grabbing at a pair of boots. Rain boots...ugh. Her fashion sense wasn't too expansive. At least the rain boots are dark in color...and they aren't glossy. Like a matte finish. She shrugged and called the old rain boots good enough. Oh! She spotted a pair of pastel-ish pink shorts she wore on occasion, really only when she was on a day off and wanted to try looking normal. But the shorts were....well, for lack of better words, booty shorts. Ugh. She put on a v neck t shirt that was a little baggy on her. Olivia decided to roll it up over her stomach and tie it in the back. She looked at herself in the mirror. Not amused. She put on a pair of aviator sunglasses and headed out to meet everyone, her hair all up in a bun. She didn't look like much of a thug, really. Maybe she could pass for someone who just raided an old store? At least the clothes didn't look new.

At the meeting point, things were looking....great. Dandy, even. "So we're gonna be talked to like crap? I know we're putting you in charge when we meet the thugs, but Tidal I really don't like the idea of you being an ass." Drew said. Sure, as leader he was willing to share the role with everyone when need be, and he'd willingly follow Tidal's word out there around thugs, but still.
Drew was leaned on the motorcycle, crossing his arms, the leather on his jacket rubbing on itself.
Olivia nodded. "And...are these outfits totally necessary?" She asked. Olivia glanced at Drew, then the others. The group posing as thugs was definitely...interesting so far. And knowing how Tidal would speak to them? Better...