Last time, on Rescue Task Force Lightspeed...

Disaster struck Earth as a group of sleeping demons were awakened and unleashed upon the world, with the mission of preparing for the coming of a being known only as the Emperor. These demons, Diabolico, Jinxer, Loki, Vypra and Dara, took control of a team of researchers to gain form while they regained their power, and began their task of attacking the Earth.

A special task force designated Lightspeed was sent into action, the project having created five Rangers to battle the power of the demons. However, the first mission has ended in tragedy, with the death of four of the Rangers, and the last remaining Lightspeed Ranger, Major Kendrix Morgan, is running out of time.

Kendrix screamed as she continued to back into the water of the ocean, firing at the vampires, but the undead warriors kept coming, some even going into the water, despite their bodies beginning to burn. "Get away from me!"

"Sir, Major Morgan is almost surrounded! She's gonn'a die out there!"

Mitchell frowned and nodded. "Open the beach side passage, the Major knew where to go for safety."

"She's a good...fifty feet from the lift, sir. She'll never make it, not with those things gunning for her like that."

"Do it, lieutenant!" Mitchell snapped. "It's the only chance she has!"

Kendrix glanced back as her helmet's audio sensors picked up a drowned out sound, noticing the seabed passage hatch opening on the ground. "Perfect, now I just need to get to it," she muttered, moving deeper into the water. "How insane are those blood suckers, they're dying just coming after me!"

She looked back to see a vampire jump up and fly over her, landing behind her and screaming as the water burned it despite its armor. "Get back!" she yelled, slamming her fist against the side of the vampire's face and knocking it completely underwater, where it burned away into ash. "That's ten down, only seven to go."

She continued towards the lift, reaching it and locking the holding clamps around her feet. "Captain, I'm on the lift, get me out of here!"

"You got it!"

The woman sighed as she sank down into the water, the vampires screeching in anger while their prey was taken to safety beneath the waves. Kendrix breathed a sigh of relief as she arrived in an access tunnel, the water above the ground held back by a pressure field until the cover hatch slid shut. "Alright, I'm in the beach side access tunnels...you got any maps to get me to home base?"

"We're working on it major. Just hold tight for a bit."

Operation Lightspeed
Part 1
A New Hope

Diabolico, despite the fact his soldiers had failed for the moment, smiled in amusement.

"I don't see what's so funny!" Vypra spat in anger. "She got away, from the vampires following your orders."

"I would watch your tongue in the presence of my brother!" Loki snapped, holding up his axe in preparation for a fight. "He is the one in command here, as decreed by the Grand Dame Bansheera herself!"

"Yet who is failing in their task already?!"

"Quiet!" the golden demon finally stated, turning for face his brother and Vypra. "I would recommend, Vypra, that you do watch how you speak to me in the future. I am indeed, empowered with authority from not only from Bansheera, but from the Emperor as well. As your commander, I am fully allowed to give what orders I see fit. We have already eliminated four of the five Rangers that opposed us. This last one has proven to be rather resourceful, despite her losses, and I find that something to respect and admire, even in a human."

"You would say that," Vypra retorted. "being that you raise that foolish girl as if she were one of us, telling her that she's your own daughter!"

Diabolico snorted, walking towards a chamber where Dara was nursing the demon infant Impus. "In many ways, she is, Vypra. I raised her like she was my own daughter, and I will continue to do so. Or do you have a problem with that?"

The demoness growled, but said nothing, storming off to a distant section of the palace. Loki frowned as he walked over to his brother and sighed. "Diabolico, I don't like her attitude. She has too much...ego about her, it's like she's planning something."

"Let her," the golden demon stated. As long as she stays away from Prince Impus and my daughter, she will not risk my wrath."

"Speaking of Dara, she has a point...why do you continue to act as if she is indeed one of us? She's half mortal now, but even your blood can't get that out of her."

"I don't know...maybe that small spark of compassion even demons hold," Diabolico replied, looking into the chamber to see Dara taking care of the infant demon. "You know our kind came from the fallen, that there was a time even demons could love. Perhaps that is why I care for her."

Loki sighed as he set the handle of his axe against the ground. "And your grooming her to be the Prince's bride once he matures...is that also mere compassion?"

Diabolico chuckled as he walked from the doorway and to the mirror again. "Oh, now can't a father have some ambition for his daughter? Besides, unlike Vypra, Dara actually seems to have some feelings for the little prince. What kind of father am I if I don't support her? When the Grand Dame arrives to oversee our mission, she will undoubtable reward Dara for her service by making her Prince Impus' queen."

Loki nodded as he glanced back into the chamber and sighed. "I have to admit, even for a half mortal, Dara is lovely. I just hope you know what you're doing, brother. I rarely question your judgement...but I can't help the feeling I have that something may go wrong."

Diabolico nodded as he patted Loki on the shoulder. "Your concern for her is well taken. It shows to me that your care for her as well, something I thank you for. Right now though, we have this last Ranger to handle. Our vampire forces are almost gone, I need some more to resume the attack. I'll return shortly, keep an eye on Vypra for me."

"Brother, allow me," Loki stated, lifting his axe up with pride. "It will let you safe guard Dara and the Prince here, and you've already spent enough of your own blood on the ones you raised. You must recover your strength."

The golden demon gave a smile and nodded. "Very well. The task is yours, Loki. Return well."

"As always," the demon replied before vanishing, appearing again in the cemetery Diabolico had used to create his forces. He cut his arm lightly with his axe, blood pooling down into his palm. "Rise, servants of the Dark...Childe of the Night, I call you forth! My blood brings you life, awaken now to my service!"

A good two dozen fresh vampires burst out of the ground, some in terrible physical condition from years of rotting, but they would do well for the task needed. Loki smiled as he cast his magics and armored his new servants, then teleported them away. "Maybe the Will of Darkness be served!"

Kendrix sighed, walking slowly through the underground access tunnels. "Captain, any word on getting some navigation through this tunnel system?"

"We're working on it, Major, just hang tight until then."

The woman leaned against a wall, then looked down the passageway, hearing something growing near. "Uh, Captain, have you sent anyone to find me?"

"None, why?"

Kendrix then swore as a dozen vampires appeared from the shadows, backing away. "I've got company! I'm gonn'a need back up, now!"

"Run, now! Get out of there!"

Kendrix quickly complied, racing down the tunnels with the vampires right behind her in chase. "Damnit, how soon can you get a crack squad down here?!"

"Tracing your signal...you're in section 15C, we can get a team down there in thirty minutes."

"I don't have half an hour!" the Major snapped. "I've got vampires aiming to get a piece of me, and they're gaining fast!"

Joel smiled as he brought his plane in over Mariner Bay, reducing his speed a bit and grabbing his radio CB mic. "Mariner Bay control tower, this is Joel Rawlings, I'm about fifteen minutes from the landing zone, hope it's clear."

"Mister Rawlings, I'm sorry, but the air field is closed off, the entire city is in a state of emergency. Unless you're out of fuel, you can't land here, you're gonn'a have to head out to another airport."

"State of emergency?" Joel muttered. "Look, I got places to go in this city, so you best let me land this thing."

"I'm sorry, but the city is nearly on the verge of martial law, we've got a massive crisis going on here. You've got to land at another air field."

Joel sighed as he shut off the radio in disgust. "Sorry, Kels, but we're gonn'a be up here a little longer, something major's going on down there. Hope it's not something like back in o' one..."

"God, the streets are a wreck," Kelsey mused, looking out the window to see the devastation from earlier. "There's fires everywhere, something really bad happened."

"What is that?"

Diabolico smiled, glancing back at his brother. "It's what the humans call...and airplane. A vehicle of air travel, it seems the humans have learned to build machine that let them fly. Looks like this one's been forced to leave the area."

"Perhaps you should teach the fool a lesson in nearing our claim," Loki stated with a smirk. "It is our task anyway to kill as many humans as we can."

The golden demon sighed and shrugged. "Very well, if I must."

As Joel headed out over the ocean to circle around, a blot of lightning lashed out from nowhere and slammed through the plane's left wing, its pilot yelling as he lost control. "Shit, what the hell hit us?!"

"Looked like a lightning bolt...but there's no clouds anywhere, and it didn't fry us!"

"It's not gonn'a matter that it didn't fry us, we're going down! Hold on!"

As the plane streaked towards the water, Joel pulled back on the control yoke, managing to bring the plane to a semi-controlled glide into the ocean, the impact slamming him against his straps. "Ow!"

"That's gonn'a leave a mark in the morning," Kelsey remarked, taking off her restraints and grabbing her bag. "Come on, we gott'a get out of this thing before we sink!"

Joel gave no arguments as he kicked open the door on his side and got out just as water began to flood in, Kelsey following him and swimming away from the sinking plane. "Damnit...insurance is never gonn'a believe this! I've got a near perfect record too!"

"We best get to shore," Kelsey replied, starting towards the beach. "Come on!"

Joel sighed, following Kelsey to shore, then hit his feet on something metal. "Hey, Kels, over here. Something weird about this spot."

"What'd you find?"

"Some kind of metal panel of something," the man replied, ducking under water and tapping at the hatch, then came back up. "Sounds hollow, I think there's a tunnel or something under here. Help me get it open."

Kelsey nodded as she ducked under the water and searched for some large seams to the panel, then found a pad near it, pressing it hard. The hatch slid open, pressure field snapping up instantly while the lift came back up. "It's some kind of access port!" she stated as she came back up from under the water. "I say we go down and see what it leads to."

"Are you..."

"You got a better idea?" the woman retorted quickly, locking the holding clamps around her ankles. "Hold on, we're going down."

Joel sighed as he got on the lift, yelping as it descended and took them both under the water, then through the pressure field, soon arriving in the access tunnels. He got off the platform and looked around while Kelsey removed the holding clamps. "Never knew this was down here...what the hell are these tunnels?"

"From the looks of it, access passages."

"But for what?"

Kelsey sighed, looking down the tunnel and noticing a large cluster of wet foot prints leading down a corridor. "Well, someone's been here rather recently, let's follow them and see where it leads."

Kendrix continued running, stumbling on a piece of scaffolding and hitting the ground. "Damnit," she swore, looking back to see the vampires approaching. She got back to her feet and continued running, failing to notice that two of the morphers had fallen out of the bag she was carrying on her shoulder. "Captain, I'm running out of safety space here!"

"A team should be there in about fifteen minutes, just hold on!"

She growled and turned a corner, the vampires catching up fast while she began to wear out from exhaustion. Stumbling again, her armor shut down from power expansion, the woman breathing hard as she tried to run as fast as she could. "I don't think I can last much longer..."

Kelsey frown as she and Joel continued down the tunnels, then found a pair of objects on the ground. "Hey, Joel...take a look at this," she called, picking up the devices and handing one to her companion. "Seen anything like this?"

"Never," the man replied looking at the object and noticing the green stripe on its face. "Wonder what they are."

One of the crew of the aqua base snapped awake as he picked up a pair of signals on his screens. "Captain Mitchell, you're not going to belive this, but I've got tracer signals coming from two of the morphers."

"What?"

"They must have been dropped when Major Morgan was running," the man replied. "I've got two definite human lifesigns down in the tunnels...how the hell did they get in there."

"Forget that," Mitchell replied firmly. "How much longer till our team gets to Major Morgan?"

"About ten minutes, there's no way she'll make it though."

"Raise these two on the coms," Mitchell ordered. "Kendrix needs help, and she needs it fast."

"But sir, we have no idea if..."

"Do it, private!" the officer snapped. "These two could be our last chance right now!"

Kelsey and Joel were still examining the morphers when they both beeped, Kelsey almost dropping the one in her hands. "Whoa! I think these things are radios or something."

"I'm sorry if we've startled you, but this is an emergency. My name and rank is Captain William Mitchell, I'm part of a project called Lightspeed. The devices you have right now are products of our work, they're called morphers. Put them on, fast."

"Uh, beggin' your pardon, Captain," Joel replied. "But what the hell do this things do?"

"They're transformation changers. Major Kendrix Morgan is down the tunnels ahead of you, and is under attack from what we can only term as vampires. You two are probably the only chance she has. Put on the morphers!"

Kelsey shrugged and placed the morpher on her left wrist, strapping it on. Joel sighed and followed suit, shaking his head. "Now what?"

"First off, I need your names so I know who I'm talking to, and what morpher you have, there should be a colored strip on them."

"Kelsey Winslow, I've got the yellow one."

"Joel Rawlings, I've got the green."

"Alright. Enter the code 186754 into the keypad, it'll reset the DNA locks so the morphers respond to you. Once that is done, press the plate switch on the side of the morpher, that'll activate transformation. I suggest you get moving now!"

Kelsey quickly tapped in the code, the morpher giving a confirmation beep. Joel shook his head and did the same, then started running as Kelsey bolted down the tunnel. "Wait up!"

"You heard him, there's someone in trouble down here!" the woman replied, pressing the activation switch on the morpher and being engulfed in a blaze of yellow light, instantly clad in the uniform worn by Julie before her death. "Holy crap!"

"Shit," Joel muttered, activating his morpher and finding himself transformed just as quickly. "Whoa! Where the hell did that rush come from?!"

"These armors are the result of months of work to create powers based on those of the Power Rangers," Mitchell replied over the coms. "The computers will download what you need to know into your minds, and the armor will protect you, but don't push it, we don't know the limits yet."

"Be damn glad you got the Mean Extreme!"

Kendrix stumbled and hit the ground turning back to see the vampires slow down and corner her. "Oh shit," she muttered, looking for any way out. "I don't suppose we could talk this out, could we?"

One of the vampires screeched and moved to grabbed her, then burst apart into ashes, several others vaporizing as energy blasts shot down the tunnel. Kendrix looked up and gasped as se saw what had fired the shots; the Yellow and Green Rangers. "Julie? Garret?"

"Shit, they really are vampires!"

"Joel, forget what you learned on Buffy, and keep shooting!"

Kendrix was in shock at the strange voices. There was no way Mitchell could have gotten new Rangers already, and she had all of the morphers.

Then it hit her; she must have dropped some of them when she had fallen before. It looked like they weren't about to fall into the hands of the demons now though, something that seemed to give Kendrix her strength back as she got back to her feet. "Hey, bloodsuckers!"

A group of the Vampires turned to face Kendrix, the woman smiling as she took stance and readied herself. "Let's see you try me again. Let's Jet!"

Activating her morpher again, Kendrix felt a huge surge of power pour through her, greater than when she had first activated the powers. This wasn't like the tests they had run on the morphing functions, this was stronger. It was the same rush she had felt every time she had morphed with the powers of the Delta Sabers. Part of that was still in her, and it finally had decided to show itself.

Transformation complete, Kendrix held out her hand. "Medi-Boa!" she called, a high-tech long staff forming as energy rush through her arm. It was dark silver with pink streaks down its sides, shaped somewhat like a caduceus. Kendrix rushed at the vampires and swung her weapon, slamming some of the undead aside and impaling others.

"Damn, how'd she do that?!" Joel remarked, ducking as a vampire leapt at him and went flying by. "You'd think these guys would give up."

"They want blood, we got blood," Kelsey replied, moving in a blur and grabbing one of the vampires by the throat before shoving her blaster against its chest and firing, the creature bursting apart into ashes. "Looks like they don't have much brains left either."

Kendrix roared as she proceeded to slaughter the undead soldiers, beating them away with her medi-boa. All the anger that had been building up from the death of her team was now unleashed, proving that despite her color, Kendrix was far from the passive member of the team.

"Major!"

Slamming away one of the vampires, Kendrix turned to see a squad of armed troops around, laughing weakly as she quickly backhanded another vampire. "It's about bloody time!"

"Joel, the Calvary's arrived!" Kelsey remarked, she and her friend fighting their way to join Kendrix and the Lightspeed assault team. "Not a moment too soon, boys."

"All weapons, open fire!" the leader of the team stated, blasts firing out from the pulse rifles and turning the remaining vampires into dust. Kendrix sighed as her visor retracted up, showing her reddened eyes.

"Thank you, lieutenant."

"We best get back to the base, no telling if there's more of these things," the lieutenant replied. "We'll flood the tunnels to make sure."

Kendrix sighed and nodded before suddenly demorphing and collapsing, Joel running over and catching her. "Whoa! I think this woman needs a doctor, now!"

Mitchell sighed as he looked through the window of sickbay, seeing Kendrix laying on a bed, fast asleep. "One hell of a day major, you've earned your rest. Just wish you didn't have to see the burden that you did."

"Captain!" Doctor Fairweather called, running over with a file folder filled with print outs in her hand. "I'm glad I found you, you're not going to believe this! Remember when Car..." She stopped as she saw the pain on Mitchell's face. "I can tell you later if need be."

"It's alright, just hurts a bit. You were saying?"

"Well, remember when Commander Greir registered a high level of ability with the Lightspeed powers after several months of training? Major Morgan showed an equally high level when she entered combat, and passed Greir's levels only minutes later, with no testing or training with the powers!"

"Are you sure?" Mitchell replied, looking at the printouts. "This is incredible...how did she do it? I know she designed the powers, but this..."

"We also detected some kind of energy surge boosting the Lightspeed powers," Fairweather continued. "We're not sure what it is, but it seems to be making her the stronger of the five original members of the team. That's not the end of it though. Those two civilians, Mister Rawlings and Miss Winslow, their adaptability was almost off the charts! It's almost like the powers were made for them to use!"

"Doctor, that's impossible. Those two had no experience whatsoever with the powers. I have to admit, they did a good job, but-"

"I can't deny the hard facts," the woman replied. "These two are able to use the powers with more ability than Garret and Julie. It's be best for Lightspeed and our mission if these two became the new Rangers to take the place of Garret and Julie. I'm sorry if I sound uncaring, but..."

Mitchell smiled weakly as he nodded. "Recommendation noted and accepted, Doctor. I'll talk with them and see if they will accept."

Fairweather smiled as she watched the man walk off, then entered sickbay to take care of Kendrix.

"I swear, that was incredible!" Joel recounted, Kelsey smiling as they sat in a dark gray chamber. "I just hope we get out soon, I need to work on seeing if insurance will pay to replace my plane."

"Will a claim of 'demon attack'?" Kelsey replied. "Good luck."

"That won't be needed," Mitchell's voice stated as he walked into the room. "We'll handle the replacement of your plane, Mister Rawlings."

"Call me Joel," the man replied as he stood up and shook Mitchell's hand. "And thanks. She's right, I'm not so sure that insurance would believe this whole story."

"I actually want to talk to you about that," the Captain continued. "Our head researcher, Doctor Fairweather, did some analysis of the data we got from when you two used the Lightspeed powers."

Joel and Kelsey looked at each other, a worried look on their faces. "What exactly is this about now?"

Mitchell sighed as he sat down. "Take a seat, this is going to be a bit. I'm sure you two no doubt know of the events of 2000, what is now known as the Millennial War."

"Yeah," Joel quipped. "Big alliance of evil attacked the whole universe, and kid Matt Corbett saved the universe by unleashing some kind'a wave that nailed everything on the evil side, that's history now."

"Well, what we've recently discovered is that demons, like the ones that sent the vampires you fought today, roamed the universe, slaughtering lives. There's an old tale, in several cultures, that all reference the same thing; a band of demons came to Earth from the heavens to spread death and terror. Several thousand years ago, according to the legends, a powerful warrior fought and defeated them, sealing them in a tomb in what we now know as the Sahara Desert."

"So, what does your whole operation here have to do with it?"

"We began a project to find evidence of either ancient Ranger outposts on Earth, or of the demons in those legends. Major Morgan came to us from the ECD, she was originally with the colony over on Miradon. Her work helped us break into creating our own Ranger powers, and we've been preparing them since."

"Preparing for what?" Kelsey asked.

Mitchell sighed as he continued. "The legends said that these demons allowed themselves to be sealed in the tomb, to be released when the time of the final battle between good and evil would draw near. With these demons having been unleashed, from a tomb in the Sahara no less, all signs have been indicating that this massive war is drawing near. Our job is to make sure it doesn't happen. Major Morgan practically invented the powers you used to save her, and one of the things we learned from the data we recorded is that you two have a higher adaptability to the powers than even the people who trained to use them."

"Whoa, hold on," Joel cut in. "Us, better able to use those powers you made? We're just a couple of stunt artists, not trained soldiers."

"Regardless of that fact, you are better adapted to use the Lightspeed powers," Mitchell continued. "I'm gonn'a be rather easy on you two. You preformed will out there, and I'd like you to be the Green and Yellow Lightspeed Rangers. I'll tell you right now, this is voluntary, you don't have to join...but..."

Kelsey bit her lip as she looked down. "What happened to the original people that had the job?"

"They were killed while clearing out civilians from the disaster area," Mitchell replied. "Kendrix is the only survivor of our first mission."

"Survival odds ain't something I like right now," Joel stated. "I'd have to be crazy to do that again."

"Sign me up."

The man stared at Kelsey in shock. "Whoa, Kelsey, aren't you listening?! The man just said that two highly train people who were supposed to be these, Rangers, were already killed! Hell, that lady we helped is the only survivor of a five person crack squad!"

"And he also said we can use these powers better than the people they were being used by," the woman replied. "Joel, we're extremists, we do things other people are scared shitless of even trying. We can do this! Think of the challenge!"

"This isn't a game, though! This is fighting demons, real evil!"

"I won't lie to either of you," Mitchell remarked. "Your lives, should you join, will be in danger. I will understand if you choose to go on your way, and I will not hold it against you, but we do desperately need the help. It could take at least a year to retrain replacements for the team we lost, and by then, the Earth could be a smoldering rock."

Joel sighed as he looked at Kelsey and saw the conviction in her eyes. "God, I know I'm gonn'a regret this," he muttered. "Alright, Cap, you got yourself the Sky Cowboy on the team."

Mitchell smiled as he shook hands with the two. "Thank you...I'll see to it your have quarters here, and we'll get you some fresh clothes. We'll start battle training for you two first thing tomorrow."

"Training?" Joel spat in shock. "First thing in the morning? I thought we get a day or so to get settled in."

"The demons rarely rest, Mister Rawlings," Mitchell replied. "Sadly, that means most of us must do the same."

"Uh, so long as we don't have to wear any uniforms."

The captain smirked as he nodded. "Alright, fair enough...but in return, you follow my orders, understood?"

Kelsey smiled and nodded, giving a sloppy salute. "Aye, aye, mon capitan."

Mitchell couldn't help but laugh as he walked down the corridor and to sickbay, entering to see that Kendrix was awake. "Well, it seems you're back with us. You feeling alright after that beating you took?"

"I'll be fine," Kendrix replied softly. "I failed him. Commander Greir ordered me to get the team back safely, and I failed. I don't deserve to have survived."

"Major," Mitchell stated. "What happened was not your fault, you did the best you could. Hell, the fact you managed to survive says you are very deserving of this position. I can see why you got sent back from the colony. I do want to know something though. We picked up a strange power surge in you while you were fighting those vampires, it happened when you remorphed...just what was..."

"That's been classified by ECD, Captain Stanton's orders," the woman replied quickly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to talk about that."

"This have something to do with those 'Delta Rangers' we read about in your logs?"

Kendrix frowned. "I though that a major's personal logs were private from even a captain. Looks like things changed while I was in space."

Mitchell sighed as he sat down in a chair. "Major, it's well known you had access to the technology of the Astro Rangers, but how you got that access isn't known. I won't pry into it, but I do hope one of these days you'll tell me. Until then, I can wait."

Kendrix nodded as she laid back. "Thank you, captain."

Mitchell smiled slightly as he sighed. "Well, you should be better in the morning. You can help train the new recruits."

"We have new personal for the Rangers already?"

The man nodded as he chuckled and got up. "Our two civilians have agreed to stay on as the Green and Yellow Rangers, we start their battle training tomorrow. I figure you should be there, considering that you are the commanding officer of the team now. Get your rest, you'll need it."

Kendrix gave a weak smile as Mitchell left, closing her eyes. The death of her comrades continued to haunt her mind, not letting her sleep as their deaths continued to replay in her mind.