PROO-01 Dreamtime Police

[Lord Pouchlaw]

Chapter Six: Mission Time.

The training under the Freedom Fighters couldn't have gone better. They liked being around older humans for some reason and they preformed better around them too. Not to mention Knight and his team learned quite a bit from their new friends. Even going so far as mastering a few new Mobian based weapons as well. Geoffrey St. John was especially impressed with the officers, albeit their being human, since they were police in their own right. After a few more weeks, they were presented back to Lord Pouchlaw for final evaluation.

Pouchlaw smiled as he hopped down the line up of his graduating Dreamtime Police Rangers. They had extremely high grades and exemplary comments from the Mobian instructors. "Yas blokes are the best we've ever trained. Yas work together as a team and yas impress yer instructors. Now yer ready for yer first mission back on Terra; payback against Din'grr's monsters who wiped out yer training units. But first, suit up."

The five began their sequence as they brought their morphers over their chests and activated the Academy symbol. "Code Name..." And then Knight shouted, "Kangaroo!" Hector shouted, "Hedgehog!" Daz shouted, "Yak!" Trent shouted, "Lion!" Lastly, Hal shouted, "Panther!" Their individual morphing sequences then occurred, as they shouted, "Operation Red!" "Operation Blue!" "Operation Yellow!" "Operation Green!" "Operation Black!" Then the their uniforms appeared over their bodies along with their gloves and boots. Their shiny belts appeared around their waists and then their animal shaped helmets came spinning down out of the sky as they reached up and caught them, before pulling them down over their heads. Finally their surroundings returned to normal as explosions of colored smoke erupted from behind them. The view around them made a 360 spin before stopping to reveal them in heroic stances. "Operation Outback! Dreamtime Police!"

A portal opened over the Terran Outback and the five rangers came flipping in somersaults as they landed on the ground and immediately began to assess their surroundings. The nearby dingo monsters, known as Barkers, were caught off guard when the rangers appeared but now they were beginning to growl fiercely.

The rangers then spread out and began fighting against the barkers using their graduate abilities. The uniforms were excellent in protecting them from the strikes which the barkers could dole out upon each one of them.

Then the rangers had their weapons in hand as they began shooting and slashing the barkers left and right.

When the rangers regrouped, the barkers were fleeing the scene with their tails between their legs, each monster vanishing in a flashy teleport. Knight commented, "Is everyone okay?"

Hal remarked, "I don't like the way they fled just now. That seemed way too easy. Old Parcelpaw put a worse hurt on us than these guys did."

Suddenly, a large armored dingo warrior appeared with his sword at the ready. "I am General Sharpfang. Master Din'grr sends his regards." And the rangers were the ones caught off guard as all five of them were caught in an explosion which originated from the battle sword. "And now you die!" He immediately leaped toward the downed rangers.

But as Knuckles had learned on day one, Knight was never completely down as he fired off his blaster while it was still in its holster; a blast which sent Sharpfang flying backwards and into a large boulder. Then the rangers were back on their feet again bringing their ranger weapons together. "Police Cannon! Fire!" And they activated it, sending a powerful charge toward the dingo general causing impressive explosions.

Sharpfang growled as he activated a button on his bracer. "I'm not out of this yet, Rangers!" And an explosion went off and the gases from the smoke caused the general to grow. "What are you going to do now?"

Knight was already on his communicator. "We need the zords, Pouchlaw!"

"Their on their way, mates!" exclaimed the head kangaroo. "Cream 'im good!"

And the Outback Zords then came out of a giant portal and landed in a row for all to see. The five rangers then pressed a button on their morphers and their were instantly inside of their zords, where they saw their Mobian Instructors playing co-pilot. "Take the helm!" exclaimed Knuckles toward Knight.

With the rangers in position, the zords charged forth and after each landing a blow against the giant general, Knight shouted, "Megazord sequence, guys! Now!" The Kangaroo Zord leaped up each of his feet landed in slots within the Yak and Lion Zords. Then the Panther Zord came apart and came together on the Kangaroo Zord's arms. And finally, the Hedgehog Zord bounced up and affixed itself to the Kangaroo Zord's back where as a killer spiked helmet unfolded from the Hedgehog Zord which fit over the Kangaroo Zord's head perfectly. All five Rangers and their Mobian co-pilots then found themselves on the command bridge as the Megazord struck its pose. "Operation Outback Megazord! You are under arrest!"

"Up Over and Gone!" shouted both Hector and Sonic as the megazord changed into a whirling buzz saw which rocketed across the landscape and blasted the General right off his feet, crashing into the ground with impressive explosions. And just as he was beginning to get up, he saw the megazord lift its Police Rifle on high and then lowered to aim directly at him. "Guilty!" And the rifle fired blasting the general's battle sword into pieces and sending his armor into particles. The General then fell over and exploded multiple times as the Megazord turned around and allowed the rifle to rest over one shoulder. "Case Closed!"

Every Ranger and Mobian aboard the Megazord were cheering and giving each other high fives. It was a major victory and they had real reason to celebrate. They had defeated their first major enemy and they had avenged their former training units.

End of Chapter Six.

[Lord Pouchlaw]

Chapter Five: If You Thought Boot Camp Was Hard...

The first afternoon under Pouchlaw was completely brutal.

They had their gear up front and he wasn't playing kid games during the training. Perhaps what made the training ever more humiliating was the fact that Lord Parcelpaw of the Couriers Way would come flying out of nowhere with a sword in paw and he would pound the human officers down at the speed of lightning. Once they were all down, he would smile with a sniff, then he would head off on his merry way. That told the rangers that his involvement was planned. And that was starting to piss off not only Knight, but his teammates as well. It was time to teach some kangaroos a lesson. Even if they were the instructors.

That night during a private pow-wow where no kangaroo ears could overhear them, they discussed how to take Parcelpaw down the next time he made an appearance with a sword in paw. After some careful planning they made their quiet plan and come the morrow, things would be different when the Courier Lord made his appearance.

The next afternoon it was more grueling training under Pouchlaw. He was very tough. But when he made the slight movement that he had made the day before, the team tensed up and put their plan in action. And not a moment too soon as Parcelpaw came barreling through the training yard. But this time the humans were ready for him. The moment he sped toward Hector, officers Knight and Hal initiated the trap, catching the boomer by his legs and flipping him up in a backward somersault before slamming on the ground on his back and then... he found five power swords pointed at his muzzle, chest, and his sheathe.

Parcelpaw's eyes were wide as he lay there. This was the first time something like this had ever happened to him. He uttered a small measured half chuckle. "Uh... yer going to let me up, aren't yas?"

Not a one of the five rangers budged... at first.

The kangaroo lord paled as he saw that they weren't smiling. Lord Pouchlaw was watching from the side but hadn't said anything, yet.

But then Knight said, "What was it that Parcelpaw did yesterday after putting our asses in the dirt?" He paused as he glared at the kangaroo. "Oh yeah... I remember now."

All five humans then sniffed somewhat haughtily then slyly smiled as they began to head off on their merry way toward Pouchlaw.

Lord Parcelpaw started laughing. "Ah get it now! This is payback for what Ah did to yas yesterday!" And he hopped up to his feet and retrieved his sword... and put it back into his belt holder. "Well done, officers. Yas did exactly what Pouchlaw and Ah were 'oping yas would do."

That stopped all five humans in their tracks. What they plotted as revenge was part of the plan too.

Pouchlaw smiled. "Some recruits and rangers never get the teamwork lesson until far into their adventures. Suffering 'umiliating defeats at the paws of their enemies. Yas five seemed to get it in less than one day. Now we can give yas the real training. Not working as a team would 'ave just 'eld yas back until yas did get it. Are yas okay, Parcelpaw?"

He grinned. "Ah'll live. That was some flip they did to me. But Ah did sort of earn it. They are the first to do something like that to me. Ah 'ope they don't disappoint us in the rest of their training. Good job, Rangers. Ah'll be by later to check on yas. And not with a sword in paw this time." He then turned and hopped off fast to resume his rounds.

Pouchlaw then took the five officers off to a fortress just outside of the academy grounds. "This place was once the 'eadquarters of another ranger team. They called themselves the Adventure Guardians. They were being led by an evil spirit, but at the time we didn't know that. During a mission on their 'ome world, the evil spirit crossed the path of the wrong power'ouse and 'e got destroyed. The team then lost all of their powers, but gained new ones. Their old base 'ere was then abandoned, save for a group of instructors who upkeep the place and train people in special tactics. These instructors are known as Mobians. From 'ere on out, they will 'elp me train yas for what yas will surely be encountering. Ah 'ave warned these blokes and luvs not to go easy on yas since yer not teenagers."

Knight couldn't help but to comment, "We're going to be trained by cartoon characters now? Will they melt if we pour dip on them?"

But before Pouchlaw could respond to that question, a red blur blitzed out of the fortress and quickly had Knight on the ground, but keeping the human in place was not going to be so easy since he was still fired up over Parcelpaw's stunt. The red echidna with the white spiked gloves and sneakers continued to try to beat the man into the ground. Knight continued to fight defensively until he tricked the echidna into batting his sword out of the obvious hand only to get a blaster shot from the still holstered ranger gun. The red echidna was thrown back into the wall of the fortress but he was up again in a heartbeat.

"So you want to play rough, do you?" shouted Knuckles as he started to pull out his chaos emerald in preparation for an attack, but the blaster went off again, sending the emerald to the ground. Knuckles then slowly glanced from the emerald to the human officer. "Nice shot. You have had prior firearms training, haven't you?"

Knight smiled briefly then aimed the blaster not at the Echidna's head, but at his groin instead. "Four years of it. So you and your friends are going to be our instructors." He paused. "You're strong, Knuckles. But I guess you would have to be to stand up against Doctor Eggman and his idiot forces. You're okay." And he re-holstered the blaster as he winked at the red echidna.

Knuckles went over and retrieved his chaos emerald, putting it back into storage. "I'm going to like having you around. All the others we've trained have been rather lame."

End of Chapter Five.

[Lord Pouchlaw]

Chapter Four: Code Name, Morph.

"All right, Officers..." said Lord Pouchlaw. "Let's see yas morph into action. After yas do that, Ah'll show yas the rest of yer gear and yes... yer zords."

Knight struck a pose as he brought his morpher over his chest and activated the Academy symbol. "Code Name... Kangaroo!" A flare of red light went off from his collar as he brought his arms down to his sides as he stood at attention. "Operation Red!" His surroundings suddenly became like the Outback with Ayers Rock in the background as his morphing sequence began. The flaring light from the collar coated his body from the neck down forming his all Red Dreamtime Uniform with White Gloves and Black Boots. A shiny golden belt appeared around his waist and then his kangaroo shaped red helmet came spinning down out of the sky as he reached up and caught it, before pulling it down over his head. Finally his surroundings returned to normal as an explosion of red smoke erupted from behind him. The view around him made a 360 spin before stopping to reveal him in a heroic stance. "Outback Officer Red! Kangaroo Ranger!"

Hector struck a pose as he brought his morpher over his chest and activated the Academy symbol. "Code Name... Hedgehog!" A flare of blue light went off from his collar as he brought his arms down to his sides as he stood at attention. "Operation Blue!" His surroundings suddenly became like the Japanese woodlands with a large emerald floating in the background as his morphing sequence began. The flaring light from the collar coated his body from the neck down forming his all Blue Dreamtime Uniform with White Gloves and Black Boots. A shiny golded belt appeared around his waist and then his hedgehog shaped blue helmet came spinning down out of the sky as he reached up and caught it, before pulling it down over his head. Finally his surroundings returned to normal as an explosion of blue smoke erupted from behind him. The view around him made a 360 spin before stopping to reveal him in a heroic stance. "Outback Officer Blue! Hedgehog Ranger!"

Daz struck a pose as she brought her morpher over her chest and activated the Academy symbol. "Code Name... Yak!" A flare of yellow light went off from her collar as she brought her arms down to her sides as she stood at attention. "Operation Yellow!" Her surroundings suddenly became like an ancient Tibetan temple as her morphing sequence began. The flaring light from the collar coated her body from the neck down forming her all Yellow Dreamtime Uniform with White Gloves and Black Boots. A shiny golden belt appeared around her waist and then her yak shaped yellow helmet came spinning down out of the sky as she reached up and caught it, before pulling it down over her head. Finally her surroundings returned to normal as an explosion of yellow smoke erupted from behind her. The view around her made a 360 spin before stopping to reveal her in a heroic stance. "Outback Officer Yellow! Yak Ranger!"

Trent struck a pose as he brought his morpher over his chest and activated the Academy symbol. "Code Name... Lion!" A flare of green light went off from his collar as he brought his arms down to his sides as he stood at attention. "Operation Green!" His surroundings suddenly became like the jungles of Africa with Pride Rock in the background as his morphing sequence began. The flaring light from the collar coated his body from the neck down forming his all Green Dreamtime Uniform with White Gloves and Black Boots. A shiny golden belt appeared around his waist and then his lion shaped green helmet came spinning down out of the sky as he reached up and caught it, before pulling it down over his head. Finally his surroundings returned to normal as an explosion of green smoke erupted from behind him. The view around him made a 360 spin before stopping to reveal him in a heroic stance. "Outback Officer Green! Lion Ranger!"

Hal struck a pose as he brought his morpher over his chest and activated the Academy symbol. "Code Name... Panther!" A flare of black shadows flowed out of his collar as he brought his arms down to his sides as he stood at attention. "Operation Black!" His surroundings suddenly became like a top secret debriefing room with a wall map in the background as his morphing sequence began. The spooky shadows from the collar oozed over his body from the neck down forming his all Black Dreamtime Uniform with Off-Black Gloves and Off-Black Boots. A shiny ebony belt appeared around his waist and then his panther shaped black helmet came spinning down out of the sky as he reached up and caught it, before pulling it down over his head. Finally his surroundings returned to normal as an explosion of black smoke erupted from behind him. The view around him made a 360 spin before stopping to reveal him in a heroic stance. "Outback Officer Black! Panther Ranger!"

All five new rangers then leaped into a group formation and shouted, "Operation Outback! Dreamtime Police!"

Lord Pouchlaw hummed. That last part wasn't planned, but the more he mulled the title over in his head, the more he liked it. An off-shoot of the Dreamtime Warriors who worked for 'Mom'... he would have the Dreamtime Police. "Ah like it. Now, let's get yas mates geared up properly."

Swords, spells, vehicles, and finally their zords were all presented forth to the team. Since they were officers, Lord Pouchlaw was making sure to give them everything up front. No way was he going to go through the crap Lord Kiel went through with his first project team.

"Using yer spells will become second nature to yas. And when upgrades are ready for yer gear and powers... everyone gets them at the same time. No one gets left out."

Knight then asked, "What about the Battlizers? Not that I am greedy or anything, but when do those come into play?"

Lord Pouchlaw grinned. "When Ah say so... unless yas want to kiss my backside without my washing it... right in front of yer fellow teammates."

That got the most obvious results from the team. Disgust. Although Knight knew full well what the joke was and he actually laughed about it. "We'll see."

More disgust was displayed. "Enough, Knight. It wasn't funny the first time," stated Daz.

Knight smiled. "For you, Daz, I won't joke about it in front of you anymore." But the moment Pouchlaw and I get in private... we are going to laugh so much.

Daz smiled back. "Thank you, Knight."

Lord Pouchlaw chuckled. "Okay, mates. Let's get yas started in some 'ard core training. Yer geared up; time to learn 'ow to use it."

End of Chapter Four.

[Lord Pouchlaw]

Chapter Three: Team Mates, Mate.

Meeting with the only other officers to survive the ambush was both a happy relief and a sad revelation. There had been forty training camps and every camp had been attacked. Only the five of them survived the initial onslaught from Master Din'grr. But he would show them he had compassion for their situations, if needed.

Lord Pouchlaw said, "At ease... Ah am Lord Pouchlaw. Yas five were the only survivors of that attack. Yer lucky we could reach yas in time to save yas. All of yas agreed to my offer for training and the Ranger team so yas could give payback to Din'grr. But for now, introductions..."

He turned to 'he who apparently had a sense of humor in the face of adversity' first. "This is Officer Lawrence Knight. But 'e prefers to be called Knight. And we will 'onor that request. As well as all requests regarding names. Knight was with Training Camp 35; the 'ardest 'it of the camps. Ah won't say what they did there."

He glanced at the geeky officer with a sigh. Why is there always a Sonic fan in these groups? "This is Officer 'ector Florian. 'e said we could call 'im either 'ector or 'eck. But if anyone called 'im by that girly sounding last name, 'e would black their eyes."

He smiled as he looked at the prettiest one there. "This is Officer Darlene Hayes. She 'as given us permission to call 'er by 'er child'ood nickname... Daz. Which was short for Dazzler. She also admitted that she used to pretend that she was the Couragean called Darla Diamond."

He then glanced to the next adult male. "This is Officer Edmund Trent. The bloke is not only interested in law, but 'e is a member of the smart group called Mensa. Like Knight, 'e prefers 'is last name... Trent."

He now looked at the muscular athletic bloke last. "This is Officer 'al Tailor. 'e said we could call 'im 'al. 'e is the most athletic member of yer team. 'e aced the sports and physical boot camp courses they gave 'im in the states. If yas need a gym partner, turn to 'im."

Lord Pouchlaw then hopped over to the podium where he had the rest of the gear prepared. "As Ah explained earlier, yas people get to be Power Rangers. The codename of yer unit will be Operation Outback. This is what the press on Planet Terra will be told about yer Ranger team. Yer to be the Outback Rangers with the sole mission of defeating Dreamtime menaces who target Planet Terra's Australia. Occasionally yas may encounter other Power Rangers and yas may assist them freely. But yer main mission is 'ere at the Academy. Yer to be trained by my friends and Ah. The very blokes and sheila who rescued yas guys. Yas will be stationed in my own Officers Quarters instead of in a standard dorm 'all. That means Ah am directly sponsoring yas blokes. So don't make me regret it. Ah already like Knight; 'e is funny."

He then hopped over to a box and began unloading new uniforms and handed each of the humans a bundle. "These are yer new outfits. Wear 'em at all times, save for bathing. It's yer job to keep them clean, too. So if yas mess them up, yas clean 'em." He then opened the next box and pulled out new wrist and collar combo morphers. "This is the latest thing in morphers. The wrist morpher is keyed to only work for the person wearing the collar of the corresponding color. Like yer uniforms, wear them at all times, except when bathing. To morph, bring the morpher over yer chest, activate the Academy symbol which is a button, then shout, Code Name 'Animal'. In place of 'Animal', insert yer favorite animal type. Then bring your arms down and out to yer sides while standing at attention. Then yas shout, Operation 'Color'. In place of 'Color', insert yer assigned color. When the morphing sequence ends, yas will shout, Outback Officer 'Color'; 'Animal' Ranger. Think yas blokes and sheila can do that little thing? Ah 'ope so because Ah want to see it. Get yer new uniforms on first. 'op to it, mates."

The five adults stripped out of their old uniforms and put on the new ones. One important thing to note here was that when the lady undressed, the four guys formed a wall with their backs to her to give her polite privacy. "Thanks, boys. I'm dressed now."

Lord Pouchlaw thought it was cute. Manners is something he never gets to see from the Boomer Force and Outback Rescue. Probably because they were teenagers.

He then began assigning the colors. Knight got the Red combo. He looked at Hector with a sigh. He could see the man almost silently begging for one color. He gave Hector the Blue Combo. Which made the man happy. The Yellow combo went to Daz. The Green combo went to Trent. And then he started to give Hal the White Combo.

"Black or else," stated Hal.

"What for?" asked the lordly kangaroo with an arched eye.

"Special Ops. I was trained specifically for that. And they always wear black."

Lord Pouchlaw nodded his head. "Very well." He put the White Combo back into the box and he got out the black set and handed them to Hal. "Better?"

"Yes. I promise to work hard every day to show you that I deserve these." And he put them on.

"Ah will 'old yas to that promise. The White Combo will go to whoever the sixth ranger ends up being. 'opefully its another sheila. But Ah'll take another joey."

Daz smiled at that point. "I know a female officer you can pitch the offer at later, Lord Pouchlaw, sir. Her name is Veronica Kane and she is a local hometown girl from Blackall. Her aunt Janet was famous for kicking men in the... well, I'm too polite to say."

Lord Pouchlaw started giggling. "Yas mean Planet Janet went and 'ad a niece? Ah'll tease 'er to no end now that Ah know that! Oh the 'umanity! Ah am destined to be kicked in the prehensile for sure since a roo's sac is on top."

End of Chapter Three.

[Lord Pouchlaw]

Chapter Two: Rescued By a Roo

The second officer quietly said, "I have an idea on how to get their attention focused solely on me. When I do this, you get the fuck out of here. One of us has to make it. You got the gun so it has to be you." And before Officer Knight could ask what he meant by that remark, the other stepped to one side and while facing the dingo humanoids, he started to hum and move in a slow slinky dance like manner as he just as slowly began to disrobe.

And perhaps more interesting... or shocking... it was working. They were totally ignoring Knight once the jacket came off and hit the ground. And the shirt was about to be next. The officer was even winking with a smile at the beasts. Knight waited until the shirt was off and the beasts were solely looking at the other before he got too disgusted to watch any further. Then he slowly and hopefully quietly exited the clearing and picked up the pace to get away from there. Once he could no longer hear the officer humming that strip tease theme, he began running.

He wasn't sure how much distance he had put between the ambush and himself, but luck was not to be with him. As he burst out into the staged enemy camp, he saw even more of the beasts ransacking the place. And worse, they saw him. A low growl began as Officer Knight slowly stepped lightly through the camp with his firearm at the ready. He was hoping he wasn't going to have to use it. But he could see that these creatures were trying to surround him. This is NOT how he wanted to die.

But he kept moving. He figured that if he stopped for too long, they would attack him. As long as he continued to move, he had a chance.

But that chance was narrowing down the further he went. There was simply too many of these beasts to keep his eye on all of them.

Then he heard what he really hoped he wouldn't hear. He heard the other officer cry out briefly. Then it was quiet. Now he was all alone in the middle of these monsters. And the gun only had a clip of twelve. He had already counted over thirty of these creatures. He muttered, "What I wouldn't give for a rescue right about now." He then had to stop. They had herded him into a dead end. Now he was stuck for sure. "Great... fine time for God to be on vacation."

He could see the throng of beasts slowly closing in on him now. "I'd even kiss a kangaroo's ass if I could get out of this."

At that moment, directly in mid air behind the heads of the beasts a swirling mass of energy appeared and a partially armored kangaroo wielding a sword and shield barreled through the opening... slamming hard into the beasts, knocking them to the ground. He motioned to the officer to come over to him with a sharp jerk of his head.

Knight didn't need another invite and he leaped over the downed dingo creatures and landed near the kangaroo. "Looks like I get to kiss a roo's ass after all."

The kangaroo chuckled. Then it spoke. Fluently. "Wait until Ah wash it first, mate. Ah know where it's been; yas don't. Dive through the portal; Ah'll cover yas."

Officer Knight nodded in return. At this point, he didn't care if the animal was talking or not. He just wanted to live through this situation. He turned toward the portal and leaped through it in a Superman like pose. And then the kangaroo leaped behind him as the portal closed behind them.

Kangaroo Academy; Officers Recreation Hall

Knight crashed into the top of a billiard's table and just before he could moan from the landing, the kangaroo landed directly on top of him. "Ow!"

The kangaroo giggled. "Yer not that 'urt, mate. At least Ah got yas out of there in one piece." He then hopped off the human and after landing on the floor, he helped the adult man off the pool table. "My name is Lord Pouchlaw. Ah'm the 'ead authority 'ere at the Kangaroo Academy. Yer lucky Ah was watching yer training session. Sadly, Ah couldn't arrange the portal to rescue yer friend... the stripper. Ah never thought a 'uman would do... that... in front of those beasts."

Knight was glad someone other than him thought it was disgusting.

"Ah saved yas primarily to pitch an offer at yas, mate," said the lordly kangaroo as he began leading the man out of the officers recreation hall. "Since yas 'ave lost yer commander and yer unit, Ah would like to present special police training to yas and to others some of my associates went after. So yas won't be in this alone. But there is more. Those beasts work for a Dreamtime menace called Master Din'grr. So in addition to police training, yas and these others will become... special Power Rangers. And no, teenagers aren't the only folk who can become rangers; adults do it a lot. Are yas in?"

Officer Knight stopped and was looking at the kangaroo. "So you don't want me to kiss your ass instead?"

"If yer 'onor demands yas do that, let me wash it first," said Pouchlaw with a giggle. "Yer funny; Ah'm gonna like 'aving yas around 'ere. So will yas accept?"

"I prefer being called Knight, with a 'K', but my first name is Lawrence. And since you did save my life today..." He paused as he looked at the pouched male roo. "I'm... in... why do you have a pouch?"

Lord Pouchlaw grinned. "Dreamtime magic link, that's all. It's not for young; it is for the tools of the trade. Do yas want one yerself? Yas would probably look sexy with one on yer tummy..." He winked.

Knight replied, "I think I would rather kiss your ass." Which provoked more kangaroo laughter. He was glad the roo was easily humored.

End of Chapter Two.

[Lord Pouchlaw]

Power Rangers Operation Outback
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.