Alarms blared throughout the entire Lightspeed complex, causing the three active Rangers to race to the aqua base bridge. Ryan noted that his father wasn't yet there, but when he saw the image of the Titanium Ranger on the main screen, he didn't need to wait for more detailed orders.

"Time to head out," he stated before racing off down the main corridor. The three readied their Changers and transformed, soon reaching the garage bay and climbing into one of the ready armored humvees. Ryan started the ignition and shoved the gas pedal down the minute the engine fired up, tearing off down the tunnels toward the surface.

Meanwhile, Captain Mitchell and Doctor Fairweather finally arrived on the bridge to see the main screen's display. "Good god," the captain whispered as he saw the Titanium Ranger standing amid burning debris. "Where are the Rangers?!"

"They already left," an ensign replied. Mitchell turned to Fairweather with dread. He hadn't yet informed anyone else of who the Titanium Ranger was. If they couldn't get a hold of Ryan in time, they could very well lose their own Rangers all over again.

Ryan brought the humvee to a screeching halt as they arrived at the scene. Fires burned everywhere while vampires swarmed about to attack people. Strangely, the Titanium Ranger was not there now like he had been when the alarms had gone off. Regardless, the Ranger climbed out of the vehicle and quickly drew their sidearms to bring down the vampires

"Where did he go?!" Ryan exclaimed once the vampires began to flee from their retaliation. "He was plain as day on the main screens, why isn't he here now?!"

Steel vs Titanium

"Status report!"

The bridge was a panic, though Mitchell and Fairweather were, at the moment, the only people who knew who the Titanium Ranger was. One of the young ensigns quickly turned from her station to respond. "No sign of the rogue Ranger," she stated. "But we've gotten word for the Rangers to stand down." There was a flash of prideful anger in the woman's eyes, one that, after her statement of why, Mitchell quite well shared. "CyberForce has sent their tin cans in to do the job."

"Damnit!" the captain swore. "I knew MacKnight would get his hands in this mess. He has no idea of the full situation, and if Carter shows up, those damn machines will-"

"Don't think about that," came the reply from Angela. "We can still get him back, we just have to get a little time."

Mitchell nodded, but he wasn't so sure. "I hope so," he muttered. "Put me through to the Rangers, ensign. Doesn't look like I have much choice in the matter now."

Back at the battle, the Rangers very much had their hands full. Vampires were all over the place, swarming the three with numbers like hadn't seen before. Kelsey brawled with a few of them before leaping up to go sailing above the undead creatures, then drew her Tonfas out of subspace to blaze through her opponents and cause them to explode. His Aero Blades flashing as he made his own attacks, Joel spun about through the air and came slashing through a pair of vampires, then twisted back on his heel to slam his elbow into the head of a third. It was then that he noticed an open manhole nearby. With a grin under his rebreather, the man leapt up over another pair of vampires, stabbed them both in the back with his Aero Blades, then dropped both into the hole to send them into a burning death as they hit the water.

Ryan, however, was very much occupied by the large group that was trying to swarm him. With a yell of anger, he swung hard, Shield Saber blazing as it cut through several of the creatures and caused them to erupt in flames. "When the hell is this going to end?!" he cried, bringing the Saber crashing through another cluster of vampires.

"Rangers," the helmet coms squelched. "This is Mitchill. Good work, return to the aqua base immediately."

"What?!" Ryan exclaimed. "Return to base?! We haven't even found the Titanium Ranger yet!"

"But I found you!"

Before Ryan could react, the Titanium Ranger was already dropping down from above and slammed into the Red Ranger with a boot to his face. Ryan quickly recovered back to his feet, but the minute he was up, he went flying back from a powerful blast to his chest at point blank range. His armor crackled from the shot and shut down, leaving Ryan to groan while trying to shake off the wave of disorientation. "Holy shit, that hurt," he muttered.

"That's not the end of it," the Titanium Ranger hissed while stepping over and aiming his weapon at Ryan's chest. "I'm going to finish what I should have done the last time, Mitchell."

"No!" came the cry from Kelsey. "You can't kill him! He's not your enemy, none of us are!"

With a growl, the evil Ranger spun about to fire off a shot that exploded in front of both of the other two Lightspeed Rangers. "Save it!" he screamed. "I'm done trying to reason with you all! My orders are clear, Rangers; if you will not join me, I must destroy you all!" He paused as he glanced back to Ryan. "But I can't take his life," he whispered. "I can, however, take this!"

Just as he reached for Ryan's morpher, Titanium Ranger was surprised by an attack from Joel's Aero Blades. He stepped back, startled, but kept his guard up. "What are you doing?!"

"It looks to me like the Titanium Ranger isn't the man he thinks he is!" Joel snapped angrily. "You're nothing but a coward! All you can do is stand by as innocent children die, and then you throw the blame on the one person you should be trying to help!"

The man quickly recovered and instantly tackled Joel to the ground. Grabbing him by the throat, he began to choke the Green Ranger, raising his visor as he began to speak. "Don't you ever call me a coward!" he screamed while standing up and throwing Joel hard to the ground. "I died to save this city once already, and the only cowards are that son of a bitch and his father!"

Just then, the Titanium Ranger was surprised again by the blade of Ryan's sword. He backed away slowly, but the axe blade in his own hands came about for action. "What now, murderer?!"

"Stand down!" the Red Ranger ordered. "I don't want to kill you, but you're really pushing your luck, pal!"

For a moment, he didn't move. Then, the Titanium Ranger laughed. "An arrogant asshole, just like your father, Ryan."

"I'm nothing like my father!"

Again, the evil Ranger laughed while backing away from his enemy. "Stop playing the martyr, Ryan!" he replied. "That got old years ago!"

"Who are you?!"

Before the Titanium Ranger could answer, another blast startled him. The four Rangers turned to see the CyberForce Rangers in fighting stance. It was then that Joel swore under his breath; this was the last thing they needed at the moment.

"Titanium Ranger," came the soulless metal voice of CyberRed. "You are ordered to stand down and surrender yourself. You must comply, resistance is futile."

He again chuckled, but the axe in his hand shifted into blaster mode. "So Mitchill has robots doing his bidding now," the Titanium Ranger hissed. "How so ironically fitting."

It was then, just as Ryan was about to get into the fight again that the coms of the human Rangers squelched. "Rangers, return to base immediately."

"That's a negative," Ryan snapped back. "No way in hell, Captain, are we gonn'a let them do our job for us!"

"If you don't listen to my goddamn orders," came the furious reply, obviously not Captain Mitchell. "I'll have you all hung six ways from Sunday, do you understand me, Mitchell?!"

Ryan groaned now, as all three Rangers realized who had tapped into their com lines. "MacKnight," he hissed under his breath. "I don't trust your machines, General, not after how badly they botched up the last time."

"Neither do I, " Kelsey added.

There was a resound grunt from the other end of the comline. "I assure you, the CyberRangers are more than adequate to get the job done. Besides, your place is not to think on that, your place is to follow my orders. This is my project, Mitchell, so you and your delinquents fall back, or I'll have you in the brig so long, you'll be pulling out gray hairs by the time I even think about letting you out!"

Joel growled and quickly shut off his end of the communications link. "Ignore that fucker!" he spat. "He doesn't know what the hell he's doing!"

"But he is in charge," Ryan reluctantly acknowledged. "Until the project director sees that MacKnight is out of his league, we have to listen to him above all things." He tapped his helmet to hook back int the aqua base communications net again. "We'll pull back, but we're staying here for when your tin buckets fail, MacKnight."

There was a moment of silence from the other end of the line. "Very well," MacKnight finally replied. "Just make sure you observe only, or you know what I'll do. MacKnight out!"

Even as the three Lightspeed Rangers could only watch the battle, CyberBlue ran over and picked up the Titanium Ranger, displaying strength only a machine could posses, and prepared to throw him to the ground. Just as quickly, the Titanium Ranger swung about and was lifted from the machine's grip by sheer velocity. The force of his feet slammed into CyberRed, sending it to the ground. Titanium Ranger brought about his weapon and prepared to fire at the downed CyberRed.

The red plated machine quickly moved aside just as the bolt flared out from the barrel of the Ranger's weapon. CyberPink ran up even as the Titanium Ranger landed, moving to tackle him. He quickly escaped its grasp and knocked her way, leaving a massive gash in the plating of its body. As he moved away, he was slammed by CyberGreen's powerful impactive punch. He went flying back and crashed into the ground, driving up a mound of concrete in his path.

Before he could get up, he was crushed by the grip of CyberRed and flung a second time. As he realized just how powerful these machines were, Titanium Ranger raised his weapon to fire. Before he could react, however, the five robot Rangers aimed their own blasters and fired, causing a flux that erupted around him. He knew that he was done if he didn't escape; these were foes who had no other thought than what they were programmed to do.

"I am not seeing this," Joel whispered. He glanced to Ryan, who, having opened his visor, was all too horrified at the sheer inhuman actions of the CyberForce Rangers. "They're gonn'a kill him!"

Just as the man uttered those words, a ball of light appeared beside the Titanium Ranger. Dara's image took full shape as she hissed angrily at the CyberForce Rangers, then snapped out her hand to fire off a burst that exploded around the robots. She took the moment of distraction to grab her fallen comrade, taking him back to Skull Castle in a flash of light

"Subject escaped," CyberRed remarked in its monotone voice. "New orders received, returning to base for repairs now."

As the CyberForce Rangers left, the Lightspeed Rangers looked on shocked. What they had just seen was unbelievable. "They almost killed him," Kelsey whispered, not sure if she was in horror or mere surprise at what they had seen. "We couldn't even scratch him, and they almost killed him."

"No, they haven't beaten him yet," Ryan replied. He narrowed his eyes at the departing Cyber Rangers. "He's still a threat, and he'll be back." He paused for a moment. "A bunch of robots shouldn't be trusted with this job." At that moment, Ryan's comline beeped

"Ryan, this is Mitchill. Return to base at once, we have some bad news."

The speaker squelched and died, leaving Ryan to look at his fellow Rangers in confusion. "Best get going," he stated. "I have a feeling this news is going to be pretty bad."

Back at Skull Castle, Dara winced as she carried the form of the Titanium Ranger. She'd made it just in time, it seemed, for her to save the man before he could be killed by those soulless machines. "Take it easy," she whispered to the Ranger. "You're going to be all right."

He groaned moments before his armor fluxed and shut down, revealing the face of Carter Greir. He gasped for breath, as if having been in armor was a great drain on his body. "I failed," he replied. "I failed to destroy them, and I failed against Lightspeed's robots."

"Hush," she ordered. "They merely had surprise on their side, you did not fail us." She smiled as she helped him to a bed and laid him down on it. "You will destroy them."

He slowly nodded, but said nothing as he passed out into sleep. Dara could see the exhaustion on his face, and it worried her. Was the power of the Titanium Morpher too much for him? He'd been able to sustain the armor for such a long period of time, maybe it was impossible for that much power to be active in a human's body for so long. She'd have to recommend to her father that Carter limit the time he spent with his armor active.

"Sleep well, my knight," she whispered while kissing Carter softly on the lips. Turning she closed the door behind her and placed a ward of protection on the room. She didn't trust Vypra to leave the man alone, so measures such as this were needed.

Deep in the shadows as Dara walked away, Vypra grinned while watching her nemesis. She had seen most of the exchange, but the fact that the girl still had so much of her human side left disgusted the demoness. "So," she hissed. "The little bitch has feelings for our Ranger. No doubt Diabolico makes no attempt to remove such problems, that fool."

As the black humvee was taken to be refueled, the three Rangers walked through the corridors toward Captain Mitchell's office. Their armors were still active, but they had unlocked their helmets to hold them in their hands. Ryan sharply opened the door, not even knocking, but Mitchell knew well it was no use to insist. "I'm glad you three returned safely."

"What the hell just happened out there?!" Ryan shouted. He noticed the look of shock in his father's eyes, and in Angela's, then slowly breathed deeply to calm down. "Sorry," he added. "But after that near massacre we just watched-"

"I know," the captain said, interrupting Ryan. "But, right now, we have other problems."

"What other problems could we have?"

He sighed and stood up from his desk. "A lot, Miss Winslow."

"I know we got a delusional Ranger on our hands, a bunch of robot ranger wanna-bes trying to replace us, our leader is on vacation, another of us in on the disabled list and we have another problem," Joel cracked. "What, are you getting rid of our free time as well?"

He glared at the man for a moment. "This no time for jokes, Mister Rawlings," Mitchell spat. "The situation with the Titanium Ranger is more serious than we though, considering I discover who he really is."

"Really?" Ryan quipped, cracking his knuckles. "Good, then I'll go and teach him a thing or two about-"

Mitchell shook his head. "No, Ryan, you won't, because you know him just as much as I do."

Pausing, Ryan looked at the captain oddly. "Then that should be even more reason for us to take him out!"

"Would you kill your own brother?" Mitchell stated while bringing up the image that had led to his discovery. He noted the confused look on the faces of the Rangers from his words. "The Titanium Ranger, Ryan, is Carter Greir."

Even as Ryan stared in horror with realization, the other two Rangers glanced at each other, not quite understanding. "Isn't Carter the Red Ranger who died in the first battle?" Kelsey asked. It wasn't quite making sense. "How can he be the Titanium Ranger?"

"I don't know yet," Mitchell replied. "All I know is that it's him, and somehow, the demons brought him back to fight us, though I'm not so sure he's completely in control of himself."

Ryan finally came out of his horror to finally ask the question now on his mind. "So why join them?" he said. "He's one of us, how can he just go and help the beings who are-"

"Look, Ryan, I don't know!" Captain Mitchell spat. He quickly breathed deeply to calm down, then sighed. "I just know that it is him. Maybe the demons did something to his mind, but I know that he can't be doing this willingly." He again sighed and dropped into a chair. "I just wish I could figure out how they made him get involved in what happened with the orphanage."

Kelsey scratched her head, trying to remember what had happened. "That's the weird thing," she said while looking at the image on the screen. "When we accused him of being part of that slaughter, he acted like he didn't know what we were talking about. He may not really know what he'd involved with."

"Could be all lies to make us feel sorry for the jerk."

"Enough Joel," Ryan barked. "The Captain's right, Carter wouldn't do that crap, not of his own will. The demons must be controlling him some how, and I don't think he really knows what he's doing."

That though, was the troubling part. "But we have the CyberForce Rangers then to worry about," Kelsey stated. "They just about killed him. I know that you don't put much faith in them, but-"

"Is there any way we can inform the General of this?"

In response to Angela's query, William Mitchell only shook his head. "Absolutely out of the question," he said quickly. "If MacKnight knew about this, he wouldn't hesitate to have Carter eliminated." He paused. "And even if he'd take him alive, he'd only do it to put him on trial for show, then have him put in front of a firing squad." Mitchell dropped his head and took a deep breath. "Rangers, we have to get to Carter first, or his life is over."

In the clearing on Miradon, Kendrix backed away slowly while the form of Matthew Corbett stepped towards her from the trees. "Matt, is it really you?"

"Who else?" he replied while walking into the clearing. "You've, uh, been having some problems, I see. This Lightspeed project of yours, quite a mess things have been for you."

She blinked. "How did you...are you..." She should her head. The Matt before her couldn't possibly be the stonic and cold warrior that she had felt in MegaSilver. Yet, somehow, there was something disturbingly different about her old friend. Something in his eyes, his voice. Something was off. "It doesn't matter. Everything just went to hell back there. I only was there to get the Ranger program up to speed, but then Ila went missing, and then we lost all the other Rangers, and now..." She stopped, about to break into tears.

"It's okay," Matt replied, walking over and taking gentle hold of her cheek. "I'm here now, and you are going to get through this." He smiled, but something about it bothered Kendrix. Matt was acting very forward to her, something he wasn't like.

"Matt," Kendrix began. "You should go back and take my place. You're a better leader than me, and the Bracer should synch with you just as well as it did for me."

There was a faint laugh from the boy. "Kendrix, you know I would look horrible in pink," he replied. "Besides, you're doing fine, save that you should let go more than you have been."

The look on her face told how much she didn't understand what he meant. As a result, Matt sighed and stepped away a bit. "Kendrix, I think you've realized by now that you have another power within you."

Her eyes steeled briefly. "The power from the Sabers?" she asked, careful not to say too much. Something now was really wrong.

"Yes, your Saber powers," Matt agreed. For a moment, he paused. "Those powers are very much active within you, and can be used to strengthen the Lightspeed powers. You only know a fraction of what you can do with them. You need to be more aggressive or cold toward your enemy. That will fuel your rage."

For a moment, Kendrix almost accept his words. But then, she shook her head in protest. "No, when that power kicks in, I lose control!"

"The fury gives you power," Matt replied, taking a step toward Kendrix that caused her to back away. "Don't fight it!" he continued. "Let it all out against your enemies! Believe me, the Saiman wouldn't hesitate to do the same if they had the Saber powers."

That then confirmed her fears. "Saiman?" she spat, quickly moving away from Matt and looking around. "Is that their name? If so, how do you know it?!"

Matt paused, hesitating as he struggled to find an answer. "Why do you question this? I have my ways of knowing."

"Like how you knew that Lightspeed is in a hell of a mess?"

He shrugged. "I did tell you going back was a bad ide-"

That's when the hands came up, curling like claws. Kendrix let out a low growl which signaled that she had seen what was wrong; this was not Matthew Corbett. "Matt never said that," she hissed. "He told me that going to Lightspeed was the best thing I could do, that I had a duty to help that program." She tilted her head slightly, like a feral wild cat looking at its prey. "Who are you?"

"Matt" frowned, then blazed with flames before being revealed instead as Vypra. She gave a snarl of anger at the woman, at her illusion having been seen through. "It seems that you know your friend better than I could find," she hissed while Kendrix moved back. "However, now you have revealed to me who the Red Ranger of Miradon is. I thank you, Pink Ranger!"

"You could at least get his title right," Kendrix replied. There was something of an amused tone in her voice now. "He's the Ranger of Light, witch, and he's going to wipe the floors with your precious Emperor!"

In response, Vypra spread her wings and flashed out her claws. "How dare you speak that way about Asmordian!" came the angry retort. "I should tear out your heart for that!"

She stepped forward, then halted when the blazing silver streak of light slammed into her. As it raced off into the forest, the Saber of Heart was stabbed into the ground before Kendrix. She blinked, looking at the weapon given her, then let her urge take grip and reached out to grab the hilt of the Saber. "You made a big mistake here," she remarked while drawing the Saber from the ground. "I know who MegaSilver is after all, and unfortunately for you, he dropped me my old blade!"

Vypra snarled and came to her feet just as Kendrix raised the Saber towards the sky and was engulfed in a blaze of pink lightning. She raised her arms to block the blinding flash that followed, but as the light faded, she found herself now faced with the Ranger of Heart, Delta Pink. "By the Emperor," she whispered in fright. "It can't be!"

"It very much is," Kendrix replied, her voice warped by the helmet she wore once more. "Now, how about you get the hell out of here before I proceed to thrash you around?!"

The demoness roared, racing forward and drawing her own sword. The blade clashed violently against that of the Delta Saber, sending sparks into the air when the unholy aura of Vypra's weapon was struck by the divine powers of the Saber of Heart. With a grunt, Kendrix brought her left foot up and gave the demoness a swift kick to the ribs, then spun about for a roundhouse that brought her to the ground.

The tip of the Saber quickly found its mark, aiming for Vypra's neck. The demoness gulped in fear, then vanished as a blaze of flames, leaving Kendrix to look about and breath a sigh of relief. It was then that she stabbed the Saber into the ground and unlocked her helmet. "I know you're here!" she called into the forest. "No use hiding, MegaSilver!" Then there was a smile. "Or should I say, Matt?!"

The silver armored form stepped out of the trees, which even now faded and revealed themselves as the interior of a large cavern. "Never could fool you," the distorted voice replied while MegaSilver reached up to his helmet and unlocked it to take it from his head. The golden blonde hair and silver streaks revealed themselves, as did the emerald green eyes. "By the way, the fact that she didn't have the silver in her hair couldn't clue you in that it wasn't me?"

"Didn't make looking for those a priority."

For a moment, they were silent. And then, both Kendrix and the teenage boy named Matt Corbett laughed. He smiled while shrugging, then slung his left arm back with helmet in hand. "They're a rather prominent feature," he replied. "Plus, I don't recall ever having blue eyes. That's Mike."

For a moment, Kendrix felt like she needed to slap herself in the head for having missed the most obvious of details. Granted, it have been rather dark, but Matt's eyes were unmistakable, even in the blackest dark, because they seemed to shine with their own light. "Sorry, guess I was just desperate for an answer."

The boy nodded, but then smiled. "Well, I have one then," he replied. "And yes, it regards your 'rage form'." Matt sighed, took a deep breath, then continued. "The powers that the Sabers gave us are like primal energy. Without the Sabers to act as a control rod, whenever we tap into that energy, we go feral. Now, obviously, some of us are better at controlling it than others."

For that, she smacked him lightly on the side of the head. "Arrogant brat," Kendrix quipped, but she smiled all the same. "By the way, you have got the others worried sick about you. What the hell were you thinking, taking off like that, with no note or word of where you were going?!"

His smile faded. For a moment, Matt gave no answer. It was then he finally looked Kendrix in the eyes. "I wasn't thinking," he replied. "I was following the call to my heart. I only realized after I'd gotten to Earth that I didn't tell anyone, but, hey. I'm an irresponsible kid after all." He smiled again. "It's a surprise that I was able to finally gel us Deltas together as a team, let alone save the universe as a ten-year-old."

"Yeah, and considering the package you've got Ma'aya set to deliver in several months." Kendrix groaned a bit while Matt again dropped his head. "I honestly don't know what to think of that, Matt. I thought you had more restraint than that. You could have at least-"

"We're already married," he replied before looking up again. His response surprised Kendrix, but it had to be said. "In the eyes of the Miradonians, we were married the minute we first met. I know that won't hold up in terran legal views, which is why we had things formalized." He smiled weakly. "Jera preformed the ceremony while Captain Stanton was there as legal witness. We're still planning a more formal ceremony for everyone else to attend, since only the four of us, five now including you, know." For a moment, he said nothing more. And then, when the thought in Kendrix's mind brushed his own, he smiled. "And in case you were wondering, Ma'aya is the one who instigated the bedroom antics. She is why I know about the beastial mode."

For a moment, Kendrix almost laughed. She never thought that Matt would have been one to get tied down to a girl so early in his life. "Like you objected, I can guess."

"Never argue with a girl who can break your legs and is in one hell of a horny mood," he replied while scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "I'm not going into any more details, thank you very much." He paused again, then glanced to the Saber of Heart. "However, we should probably get that back to the Stone of Ages. I only brought it to you because I knew you could use the armor against snake bitch back there."

Kendrix nodded, pulled the Saber from the ground again, then followed Matt out of the cave and toward where the Stone of Ages truly stood. She glanced to the blade of the Saber for a moment, then, stepping up to the Stone, slid it back into its place beside the Saber of Light. A flash, and her armor de-energized, returning to flecks of pink light.

The boy nodded when she glanced to him. "You have your duty to Lightspeed," he stated before lifting his helmet up to put it back on. He paused before locking it back into place. "You have to accept that things happen that you can't control, and you can't blame yourself like this every time something bad happens. If you did that, you'd drive yourself insane." He smiled. "Besides...you don't wann'a end up like me, do you?"

Kendrix couldn't resist a giggle. "Matthew Daniel Corbett," she remarked. "Being like you is the last thing I want." She stopped, then gave the boy a light swat on the rear end that surprised him. "Besides, I'd look horrible in red."

Back on Earth, General MacKnight strode onto the bridge of the aqua base, then glanced to see Captain Mitchell at on of the com boards. "Captain, I want you to scramble the CyberForce Rangers," the general ordered quickly. "Present these aliens with a target they can't miss, and we'll destroy their Ranger."

Mitchell frowned before finishing his conversation and quickly turning off the link. "General," he began, standing up straight and turning to face MacKnight. "With all due respect, I hardly think that is a wise-"

"Did I ask for your opinion?" the General hissed. "No, I gave an order. Now carry it out!"

With grunt, Mitchell nodded and turned to one of the com-officers. "You heard the general," he stated, thought his voice was strained with anger. "Order a scramble of the machines." He then turned fully away from MacKnight. "And give Ryan the order," he whispered. "I have a bad feeling about this."

As the chaos had just begun, Chad slept soundly, but his mind was haunted by horrible images, visions of the horrible future that would await Earth. He could see the death of his fellow Rangers as they fell at the hands of the demons, what would happen without him there to help. As much as his heart believed in it, he did not see the appearance of the ancient warrior, dropping his hopes, until the moment he snapped away with a cry.

"You see now that I was right..."

Chad looked about, trying to find the source of the voice. "Chao?" he asked to the air. "It can't be..."

"You have to fight in my place," the voice of his deceased brother urged. "Chad, these people are the only thing that can protect the world until the Hunter returns. And it is your destiny to be the Blue Ranger."

The voice faded from his mind, but the pure drive and strength he felt in him did not. Struggling with his injuries, Chad pulled himself from the medbed. He stumbled a bit as he headed down the hallway, soon arriving on the bridge in time to see MacKnight departing down the corridor on the other side. He inwardly smiled before making his way to Captain Mitchell, then came to attention as best he could when Mitchell noticed his presence. "Lightspeed Blue, Chad Lee," he quipped. "Reporting for duty, Captain."

"God, what the hell are you doing out of medbay?!" Mitchell gasped. "Chad, you haven't had time to recover yet!"

The man shook his head. "The demons would not give us time to recover," he replied. With a faint smile, Chad gestured to the main screen. "As such, it is selfish of me do to so while my fellow Rangers must fight this battle."

There was hesitation in the captain's eyes. He glanced to the main screen, then back to Chad, knowing the order than this man wanted to hear. "I can't send you out," he stated. "General MacKnight is trying to lure the Titanium Ranger out using his robots as bait, and I can't do anything but hold Ryan and the others on stand-by."

"Sir!"

Mitchell turned about at the cry. "What is it?!" he barked.

"Lightspeed Red's tracer is headed toward the combat zone!" one of the com officers reported. The 3D-map blossomed on the main screen to display the tracking beacon that was Ryan's signal. "The CyberForce Rangers are already engaged in combat with the Titanium Ranger!"

"Son of a..." Mitchell growled and turn to Chad. "Damn boy doesn't want to let a machine do his job," came the hissed words, but deep down, the man knew that his son was only doing what he felt was right. And, orders or no, William Mitchell knew that he had to do the same.

Turning about to the bridge, he finally resumed the air of command that belonged on him, straightening his uniform top and narrowing his eyes. "Ensign, send a message to Project Director Taggart and inform him of the situation. I then want the Rangers on order to scramble and engage the Titanium Ranger, but I want him alive!" He smiled finally before glancing to Chad. "And make sure they know that if those CyberForce tincans interfere, they are to respond appropriately. We'll send General MacKnight an apology letter later."

Chad nodded as he got the message to join the scramble, and ran as best he could. Mitchell resumed his place at the command of the bridge, now finally doing what he should have done in the first place when MacKnight started to muscle in on the Lightspeed Project. "Let's take back our world!"

As much as they use all the firepower at their command, the robotic CyberRangers now found themselves outmatched by the Titanium Ranger. He was moving about in an erratic and unpredictable fashion, no pattern or system to his attacks.

"Surrender now, or be-" CyberGreen let out just before the axe weapon of the human Ranger swing out and took off the machine's head. With a thump, CyberGreen's body hit the ground, sparks flying out from the severed wires while Titanium Ranger turned to face the rest of his mechanical foes.

He switched his weapon into blast configuration, aiming at the four machines. "I assure you," he said in a cold tone of voice. "I have no problem tearing you all to shreds!"

"Threat assessment," CyberRed chimed while internal scanners and computers processed the new data obtained. "Lethal force required. Preparing for maximum combat protocols."

As the machine ran at him, Titanium Ranger grunted and fired, a massive bolt flying from the barrel of his weapon and tearing right through the chest of the Red CyberRanger. There was a squelch from its voice box, and then, a second shot slammed into the machine to detonate it, sending shrapnel all over the ground. Titanium Ranger grinned under his helmet. Last time, he'd underestimate these machines, been taken by surprise. This time, however, he'd been ready, lulling them into taken him to be a light threat.

And they had payed dearly for it. Two robots already destroyed, with only three left to go. And soon enough, he would be the only Ranger standing here, with nothing to stand the way of his vengeance. "Titanium Cutter," he hissed, raising his weapon up. "Blade mode."

At the command, the axe shifted back into melee configuration. He spun the axe about his his hand, then ran toward the CyberForce Rangers, little stopping the path of his attack as CyberBlue went down, chest torn open from the first blow while the second strike detached its head from the neck of the machine. Spinning about, the human Ranger drove his axe into CyberYellow's head, cleaving deep before pulling the weapon out and turning towards CyberPink.

He hesitated, but he wasn't sure why. Was it because this machine's armor was based on that which Kendrix wore? It was a robot, nothing more than program protocols, wiring and circuits. More so, it was a pale imitation of Kendrix, nothing at all like the tactical genius that woman was.

"Stand down," CyberPink ordered. "Lethal force has been auth-"

He axe came swinging through the machine's chest, coming back down and ripping open its head. With a grunt, Titanium Ranger turned to see that he was still not alone. Four figures stood now at the edge of the battlefield. However, these four were obviously not more of those annoying robots. These were the real Lightspeed Rangers, flesh and blood humans in armor.

"I was wondering when you'd show your ugly ass faces here," he stated while assuming a relaxed posture. "You figured out now that you can't beat me?"

Ryan didn't say anything. He only raised his Shield Saber, opening his visor to reveal hateful eyes behind it. "We know it's you, Carter," he spat before taking a step towards the man he'd once called brother. "Stand down, and we'll do what we can to see you are treated fairly."

He laughed, not able to believe that even still, these four were trying to let him surrender. "I have to admit," Titanium Ranger replied, not raising his own weapon in blaster mode to halt Ryan's march. "You're a bigger idiot than I thought. It took you this long to figure out that it was me, Ryan?! And you still, after all this, want to take me in alive?!"

He had no chance to respond when his comline gave a spurt of static just before an angry voice came on over the speaker. "Mitchell!" the voice of General MacKnight screamed. "What the hell are you doing?! You all are under orders to return to the aqua base for escort to the brig and summery court martial, you son of a-"

"Ignore that order, Ryan," came a second voice that sounded to have just arrived on the bridge, a voice that was definitely filled with more calm and authority; it was Captain Mitchell. "General, your authority has just been revoked, by order of Project Director James Taggart. And if you even think about trying to pull rank, I will have you brought up on so many charges, your head will be spinning like a top. Your CyberForce project has bluntly failed, now get your ass off my bridge before I have you thrown in the brig!"

He had to resist laughing at the conversation that was going on back at the aqua base. Ryan was pretty sure that his father purposely left the coms on, something of a gift to the Rangers for all the crap MacKnight had put them through. He made a mental note that, if they made it out of this fight, he'd have to thank Captain Mitchell for the show. "Orders, sir?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the rogue Ranger.

"I want the Titanium Ranger alive," Mitchell replied sharply. "No pieces missing, Ryan, but if need be, give him a thorough asskicking."

"Yes sir!" he cried, racing towards the Titanium Ranger with Shield Saber ready. "You heard the Captain, bring him down!"

With a snort, the Titanium Ranger aimed at the four Rangers. "Pathetic," he hissed just before firing the large bolt that exploded to knock the four humans to the ground. "You're as stupid as ever, Ryan! You actually thought you had a chance of fighting me?!"

Taking a step toward the four, Titanium Ranger raised his weapon in preparation to fire again, then halted with a bolt of energy slammed down and detonated before him. He turned, then stepped back when he saw the figure clad in the red and black flight jacket and dark grey uniform with red trim. "No," he whispered in fear. "No, you're not supposed to be here!"

"I am supposed to be here," the woman stated while pulling back her left sleeve to reveal the Bracer that was strapped on. She twirled the lance-styled weapon in her left hand about and stabbed it down into the ground. "Because leading this team is where I belong!"

"Kendrix?!" Ryan cried while he and the other Rangers got to their feet. "When did you...how...hell, I thought you wouldn't come back!"

She gave him a smile, then turned her attention to the Titanium Ranger. "I just had a little chat with an old friend of mine who was kind enough to give me a ride home. But, we can talk about that later."

Crossing her arms out at the wrists, left over right, Kendrix brought them back and gripped the Bracer with her right hand. The time of holding on to what her old team had been like was over. This was her team of Rangers, and it was time she stated acting like her own kind of leader. "Speed of Light!" she cried while tapping the activation switch of her Bracer, suddenly swarmed by violent pink energy. The wild roar of a cat echoed out as the armor of Delta Pink appeared over her body, then, in a flash transformed into the armor of Lightspeed Pink.

Transformation complete, Kendrix grabbed the lance weapon out of the ground and spun it about before taking grip of the handle with both hands. "You're already met my new toy," she said to the Titanium Ranger. "This is the V-Lancer, and trust me, Carter, while I'm not going to kill you, you're gonn'a regret siding with the Saiman!"

With a grunt, the Titanium Ranger sifted his postured just as Kendrix ran at him, Titanium Cutter coming up to deflected the blow from the V-Lancer. However, he was taken off guard by the swift kick that came and slammed into his side, sent then to the ground by a quick sweeping kicking that flung him off his feet. He rolled away, raising the now blaster mode Cutter and firing at Kendrix, but the woman swung her V-Lancer and deflected the energy bolt right back at him.

The bolt impacted, sending the Ranger flying back and crashing to the ground while energy crackled over his armor. He moved to get back up, then halted when the blade point of the V-Lancer came to aim at his neck. "Kendrix," he hissed. "Go ahead, finish it! Prove me right about Mitchell!"

"I don't know what those freaks have been pumping into your head," the woman replied just before she pulled her weapon back. "But Captain Mitchell wants you brought back alive. You're his adopted son, Carter, how the hell could you do this?!"

He got to his feet, but backed away. He had seen what Kendrix could do when brought to anger, and right now, it seems like she was only a few steps away from that rage state. "They left me to die!" he yelled. "If you knew what happened to me, you-"

"I was there, Carter!" Kendrix stated while her visor opened. Pained eyes were revealed, but still anger was blazing in those eyes. "You made that decision, not Captain Mitchell! You ignored my advice, ignored my experience, and because of that, it was your fault that you went and blew yourself up to take out that demon! So don't you dare blame anyone else!"

For a moment, Carter Greir could say nothing. His memories flooded back, and Kendrix was right; he had ignored her when she was trying to give him advice, being the voice of experience. He should have seen it then that she knew what she was talking about, and now, it all made sense why.

But then, his eyes blazed with red, and he growled, raising his weapon up. "Don't you lecture me!" he roared. "It is no one's fault but that son of a bitch and his father! I don't want to fight you, Kendrix, so I'll leave this time." He stepped back, then halted. "But if you stand in my way again...God help you, because no one else will be able to!"

And he vanished, engulfed by infernal fire. Kendrix sighed, now worried about the man she had once thought dead, but turned to face her team. "Sorry I'm late," she said while walking over to the four. "I needed a talk from an old friend to figure things out." She hesitated for a moment. "We best all get back to base. I didn't exactly give Captain Mitchell the best of explanations when I grabbed back my Bracer and swiped the V-Lancer."

"A job damn well done," said the heavily Scottish accented of Project Director James Taggart. He smiled to the five Rangers, then turned to Mitchell and nodded. "Yeu and yeur Rangers have done well indeed considering the situations," he added. It was then he turned to General MacKnight with an expression that told volumes about how displeased he was. "And as fer yeu, General..."

"Sir, my intentions were to bring this battle with the aliens to a quick-"

A gesture from Taggart silenced the General. "Not a word until I've had my say!" the man snapped angrily. He paused, then, glancing to the Rangers, continued. "Yeu were not given the authorization to upstage Mitchell's project like this at all. Yeu've abuse yeur rank and position, yeu ignored my orders in the matter, and more to the point, yeu have wasted valuable resources on yeur blasted robot project, which now is fit for the scrap yard!" He paused again, taking a breath before walking away from MacKnight. "However, I well recognize the use that yeur robots have, when used in the proper situations. As such, CyberForce is to rebuild."

He noticed the gleam in MacKnight's eyes. "However," Taggart quickly added, wanting to head off any ambitions the man might be trying to have again. "However, when sent into th' field, the machines are to operate under the orders of Capt'n Mitchell and his Rangers, not the other way around. Is that understood?!"

With a defeated sigh, MacKnight slowly nodded in understanding. "Yes sir," he said, though his tone indicated that he was well not putting much effort into his reply.

Taggart nodded. "Yeu're dismissed," he hissed. MacKnight and his aid then left the bridge while Taggart turned back to the Lightspeed team and Mitchell. "And now, we have the task of dealing with yeu, Major Morgan." He paused, now looking quick serious. "We have the matter of yeur little going AWOL on us. Might I hear yeur defense?"

She took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy, not by a long shot, but she owed this man an explanation. "I lost it," Kendrix replied bluntly. "I blamed myself for what happened to Mister Rawlings, and because of it, I could not put myself in that place of command when I risked it happening again." She paused. There were other things that had to be said. "I needed to reflect on things, to make sure I wouldn't put people in that kind of danger again. It has a lot to do with my assignment to Terra Venture, sir, and-"

"And I'm sure that it has to do with when yeu were a Power Ranger under the command of one Lieutenant Matthew Corbett, aye, lass?"

She stopped. How did this man know about that? She had told Ryan that she had been a Power Ranger, but she had never once mentioned that it had been under Matt's leadership. "How did you..."

Mitchell smiled and gave a chuckle. "When you were on your way back from Miradon, Lieutenant Corbett contacted me and told us the whole story, including about how you died while you were out there. We know the whole story, Major, which is exactly why you're not on charges." He paused, glancing to Director Taggart. "The only condition on that, however, is that you remain in service as Lightspeed Pink until the end of this conflict. Does that sound fair enough to you?"

With a nod, Kendrix inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "It does, sir," she replied, glad that her fears were unwarranted. "I'm sorry this happened, and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

With a chuckle, Taggart patted Kendrix on the shoulder. "I'm sure it won't," he said in a friendly tone. "Now, I think it's time yeu all got back to operations as they should be around here." He smiled, turned to Captain Mitchell, and nodded his farewells before departing with his aides.

Meanwhile, returning to his own base of operations, General MacKnight hissed angrily at the outcome of this whole incident. He's lost all his authority over Lightspeed, and now, he, a General, was answering to the authority of a man three ranks lower than him. It was an insult!

"General," Barkley called as he ran over to the general. "We have something you may want to see!"

"Right now," MacKnight hissed, "I'm not in the mood! I just got told off by the project director, so I'm a bit pissed off to high hell, and-"

Barkley nodded, but still gestured for the General to follow him. "I think this will make you fell much better, sir," came his reply. He quickly led MacKnight into a darkened storage room, keying on the lights to reveal a large pile of what looked like robot parts. "These remains are like nothing we've ever seen made on Earth. The technology in them can greatly help up rebuild and improve the CyberForce Rangers."

He stepped over to the pile, then, picking up what looked like an animal styled head, MacKnight looked back to the lieutenant. "Where did you find these?" he asked.

"Just outside of Silver Hills," Barkley replied. He saw the amazed expression on the General's face, and smiled. "There's been reports of some armored vigilante going across the west coast, we think there may have once been a connection."

MacKnight nodded, then looked at the wolf motifed head in his hand. "Get to work right away," he ordered, setting the head down into the pile. "Follow up on these reports and get to adapting the technology in these things to our weapons. This may be just what I need to finally take Lightspeed."

To Be Continued...