<topstuff>
Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. They belong to whoever hold the copyright. No profit whatsoever is being made from this fanwork.
Author's Note: This is a short chapter. It will have implications later.
Task Force: The New Initiative
"...Latest reports suggest the Interstate will remain closed until the end of the week to allow for resurfacing and a complete structural check. Bomb disposal experts have confirmed earlier reports that the Power Rangers had acted after innocent civilians were threatened by one of the monsters. While the condition of the Yellow, Pink and Green Turbo Rangers remains unclear following their brutal encounters, the three children saved by the other Rangers have made a miraculous recovery.
Meanwhile in international news, the government of Japan has confirmed that its Ultratech force has been decimated by the most recent monster attack to threaten the country's coast. While there were no civilian casualties reported, significant property damage has been confirmed as a state of emergency was called in affected areas. The Japanese government has already sent a plea to other nations to supply 'appropriate aid' against future attacks. Those nations named by the Prime Minister have so far denied having the kind of resources such a request might suggest they possess..."
He sighed as he changed the channel and returned to the report in front of him. The situation in Japan likely marked the end of the Task Force operation: the super soldier project adopted by multiple nations decades earlier. Japan, America, the Soviet Union, China and parts of Europe all had their own teams created under the Task Force Treaty, which allowed for the building and development of such teams on an equal footing. The decimation of those forces in Japan along with the under funding of the Russian project since the fall of the Iron Curtain, not to mention the destruction of the unbelievably small French team months earlier, meant that the delicate balance between nations no longer existed.
Not that it would be a big loss to the United States. Their efforts had stalled the year before the Power Rangers had first emerged. All attempts to make an armour that lasted more than a year had failed. There had been no further significant development except the disastrous Titanium Project - they still didn't know what had happened there - and funding had been repeatedly cut ever since. In fact the apart from the Lightspeed Operation, which was not under government control, the Task Force operation could be best described as a waste of resources.
There were so many ways they could have used the volunteers once their active service ended. The Russians used their former operatives as manual labour, taking advantage of their enhanced strength. They were by no means slaves and well rewarded for their efforts. They enjoyed a healthy and fulfilling life providing they didn't try and leave the country or communicate with the operatives from other countries. The Japanese on the other hand used the retired volunteers to train the next group, believing that having had first hand experience they were best suited to demonstrate the necessary skills. He had heard that in Europe operatives were allowed to go free after their service expired. He snorted; in Europe there had never been a collective approach leading to smaller teams stretching the scarce resources. He doubted there was a single team in Europe that was not patched together in some way.
"The development of new operatives is no longer feasible due to an inability to improve the process and a lack of suitable volunteers," he said, after turning on the voice recorder. According to the reports he had read many of the retired operatives in Japan that could have been used for breeding had been pressed into service, robbing the country of its much needed gene pool. "Since all known first generation material is now beyond use and given the failure of subsequent generations to inherit the desired traits, it is my recommendation that the attempts to create new operatives for the Task Force operation cease with immediate effect."
The ending of the operation did have the advantage that it would allow research to move in a new direction, one that would hopefully prove more productive.
"I recommend we should concentrate on the acquisition of alien technology and those that know how to use it, and adapt it to homeland protection. Further exploration of extra-dimensional energy sources should also be explored; the capture of alien beings for the purposes of research should become a high priority even if this means breaking existing treaties."
It had been a long time coming, but somehow he knew the decision was the right one. Unfortunately that also meant that some of those involved with the project would need to be silenced, but as he signed the order to conduct the autopsies he decided that if nothing else they would serve their country one more time.
End of Part
<post_date>2018-05-04 12:00:01</post_date><post_modified>2022-11-15 14:09:38</post_modified>
