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Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do not own Doctor Who, the TARDIS or K-9. I do not even own the Externals, which are based on a combination of races from the Star Trek Universe. They all belong to their respective copyright owners.
Authors' note: This story is set in multiple time zones however for COE purposes it follows on from the events in Entering Lightspeed. Parts of this story also take place from the Doctor's point of view.
To Protect Those That Serve
It was a terrifying time for the Lightspeed Rangers, Earth's newest defenders. Sure the older Rangers had warned them that encountering such vermin was a part of their jobs, and Joel even seemed to enjoy doing so, but after they walked away, they knew they'd need a shower.
"Just remember, be honest and don't show any fear," Captain Mitchell advised. "The slightest hesitation and they'll eat you alive."
Unlike the Rangers of Angel Grove, the Lightspeed Rangers' identities were not a complete secret although that information had been limited to certain higher ranking military personnel. It was only because they were not officially part of the military that they were not paraded around and used for morale boosting operations. Somehow the news they would face their foes morphed did little to comfort them.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Press," Captain Mitchell said as he walked out before the hungry eyes of the reporters. "I would like to introduce you to the Lightspeed Power Rangers and declare this press conference open!"
"Councillors," Zordon greeted.
He had been expecting to hear from them for a while. His informants had warned him of the legislation that had been recently passed, granting the Council a right to send representatives to oversee the day-to-day operation of Ranger teams on Council affiliated planets. Now it seemed they were going to use their legal positioning against him.
"Zordon, a pleasure as always. We are here to discuss the appointment of our representative. Since you have not objected..." He paused expecting Zordon to offer some sort of challenge. They knew Zordon was knowledgeable about the laws that applied to the
Grid Masters. This time they had the advantage since he didn't know about their new law. Zordon studied the councillors. He knew they were expected him to question the basis of their decision, so he didn't. He didn't need to, not really. He only needed to remind them of something they continued to overlook.
"I have not protested because the legislation does not apply," he rumbled. "Earth is not a Council affiliated world. You have no authority over the Rangers."
"But we do over you," one of the councillors pointed out, smugly. "We could have you removed from Earth and install a replacement if we wanted to. You are there only because we allow it."
If Zordon had not researched the subject he would have been concerned. Since he had approached the subject with his students, he felt he was in the stronger position.
"You could," he allowed, waiting for the look of triumph. "However the Rangers of this world have a right to decide who they will listen to. They are not obliged to work with your representative, nor would I order them to. They have been made aware of their rights. Any attempt to force a new mentor upon them could be mistaken for an act of aggression. You are aware of how the Rangers deal with their enemies."
He watched the look of horror at the possibility that the Rangers of Earth would refuse any sort of mentorship. It left the Council with the unfortunate choice: either they allowed Zordon to retain his place and in doing so lose the only leverage they held over the
Grid Master, or they could call his bluff and hope that the Earthlings would be reasonable. The thought of so many powerful Rangers without guidance forced them to be cautious. Zordon knew at that moment that he had won the battle.
"You will regret this Zordon. You can only hide behind the humans for so long. Sooner or later this body will have its way and you will answer for your actions."
"If that is all councillors, I have work to do," Zordon said before nodding to Alpha to end the transmission. "Quickly Alpha, program the construction drones to rebuild the upper section of the Command Center. Transfer and data stored there to the archive and lock the Power Chamber against outside teleportation. The Council will not wait long before trying this again and I fear the threat of uncontrolled humans will not stop them next time."
Zordon had been preparing for this scenario for a while. Fortunately even if the Council got its way, it could only force him to allow access to the original Citadel. The remainder of Power Mountain, including the areas that had the Zord Bays, the Zeo Crystal and the Turbo Rangers' equipment was outside that area.
"Ai-yi-yi, lockdown in place Zordon!"
"Very well Alpha, transport one of your spare bodies to the Command Center and then contact Lerigot. I believe the time has come to take him up on his offer."
Yes the Council would want to interfere, questions would be asked. But that didn't matter so long as his Rangers were protected. And Zordon would do anything to make sure that they remained safe.
For a long time he had served his political masters, those that kept him secured in a bunker for his own protection. He had designed them suits of unimaginable power, which they had used to keep their country, their planet, safe. But that had changed when he had discovered how they had treated those that wore the suits once their tour of duty ended.
Had he known when he had started that the one year shutdown protocol he had installed in each of his creations would lead to the deaths of the innocents that wore them, he would have shortened the time. To him the brutal murder of their own troops only proved the need to limit their access to his creations; such a corrupt power could never be allowed more than six working models at a time out of fear that they'd use them against their own population.
Still the discovery of just how barbaric the generals could be, the thought that they had pretended to cease their policy of destroying the test subjects only to carry out the executions from a distance, had finally forced his hand. He had stopped producing the Power Suits the day he had learnt the truth and nothing the men had done since had convinced him to change his mind.
Oh they had asked, bribed and threatened him in an attempt to make him cooperate. They had used techniques reserved for interrogation of spies to discover his secrets. They had caused him pain and had even threatened to kill him. And through it all he had refused to comply.
Then just recently one of his captors had made a mistake. He had stated quite clearly that they had found a machine capable of decoding the mysteries of the Power Suits. That could not be allowed. He would take whatever steps were necessary to prevent, even if it meant destroying those he had so wanted to help.
End of Part
<post_date>2013-07-01 12:00:01</post_date><post_modified>2022-11-15 14:09:33</post_modified>
