Power Rangers Operation Outback
Episode One: Dreamtime Police
By Darrel James Vanwinkle
September 13th, 2012
Episode One: Dreamtime Police
By Darrel James Vanwinkle
September 13th, 2012
Starring:
Officer Lawrence Knight, Red Kangaroo Outback Ranger
Officer Hector Florian, Blue Hedgehog Outback Ranger
Officer Darlene Hayes, Yellow Yak Outback Ranger
Officer Edmund Trent, Green Lion Outback Ranger
Officer Hal Tailor, Black Panther Outback Ranger
Allies:
Lord Pouchlaw
Lord Parcelpaw
Lady Riff
Lord Crocofang
Lord Shadowtail
Enemies:
Master Din'grr, Dreamtime menace
Barkers, grunts
Chapter One: Off the Book.
Training Camp 35; Somewhere in the Outback; Australia; Planet Terra.
"Hey Knight! We're about ready!" The fellow officer in training suddenly shut his mouth when he saw the other loading live ammo into his handgun. "What are you doing?"
Officer Knight glanced up at the other officer of the training group he was with. "There have been reports of turmoil in the Outback at the other training camps. I am just making sure I have some protection. Would you rather be caught with your pants down like the other camps did?"
The fellow officer simply frowned. "Captain McCougan won't like this. But I won't say anything. I hope you don't have to use that thing. Now let's get going."
The second knight stood up and placed the loaded handgun into his holster. "It's for an emergency only. Don't worry. I'm trained in the use of firearms. As are you."
Moments later, Knight and the other officer met up with the other officers in training as they lined up to be debriefed by Captain McCougan.
"Men and women... game plan is as follows: from here you head out through the Outback and you find the enemy camp. If it isn't wearing a uniform, you take it out. And guys... we've had some odd reports from the other camps in the past few days. Don't take any stupid chances out there. If you come across something weird, alert the others as loudly as you can. I don't want to lose any of my unit today. Now get going."
Officer Knight said, "Sir! Permission to buddy up, just in case!"
Captain McCougan glanced at the most ready of his officers. "..." He paused as he sensed the tenseness in the unit. "Permission denied. Get going."
"But sir-"
"I SAID NO! GET OUT OF MY FACE OR I'LL LOCK YOU UP! NOW GET OUT OF HERE!"
Once they were off on the training mission, Officer Knight defied orders and buddied up with the officer who had caught him loading live ammo. "Not a word. Let's just watch each other's backs. The Captain doesn't have to know."
"He's gonna kill you, Knight," said the officer as they moved through the overgrowth of the Outback toward the staged enemy camp.
Not long into the exercise, the officers slowly became aware of how quiet it continued to get as they continued to put distance between themselves and the camp. It began to be a deafening silence. And a casual glance around made Officer Knight even more uneasy since they should have been able to see at least four other officers making their way through the overgrowth. But it was just the two of them.
"Hold up a moment."
The other officer stopped. "What's the problem?"
"Slowly pan over our surroundings. As you know, you and I are the best stealth officers out here, right?"
"Right. So what's up?"
"Since we are the best, point out to me where the other officers are in the overgrowth. We should be seeing their movement right now but I see nothing."
The other officer took a quick and studious panning gaze around their immediate spot. "Oh my god... you're right. Where are they?"
"In trouble, I imagine. Now you know why I wanted to buddy up. Whatever is out here doesn't dare make a move on us when we're together. But had we been separate..."
"...we'd be toast. I wish I had a loaded firearm now."
Just then, both men heard a muffled shout in the direction of their training camp. Then all was silent again.
The other officer quietly said, "This just stopped being fun, Knight. What do we do?"
"We keep going. But stay together. If I lose sight of you, the safety is being switched off and I'll go live."
"If I lose sight of you, I may end up screaming. I hate to admit this but I'm scared."
But moments after they started moving again, they stumbled out into a clearing where they saw the fallen bodies of their fellow officers in training and gathered in the clearing were what had to be the ugliest humanoid dingo creatures the two officers could imagine. Then the beasts growled menacingly at the two newcomers.
End of Chapter One.
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