*✧ ───────── ✧*

"Echo!"

I groaned as I was lifted to my feet by Sky and Bridge.

"Sophie... he took her."

Sky steadied me by my shoulders, "We know. We're looking for her."

"No you don't understand," I said, "He's going to use her to wake up Goradon. She's the series one processor. She's the one he was looking for. We have to find her."

"We're going to find her, we have a lead. You're going back to SPD." Sky ordered.

I tried to protest but he led me over to the squad car to transport me back.

*✧ ─ ✧*

"Kat, I'm fine. We need to find Sophie."

"We've been fighting with the defense system all day. You need to get some rest."

"I'm fine Kat," I huffed, "Let me help."

"Fine, but you're going to be running scans for cyborgs in the area and sending coordinates to the Rangers," Kat sighed.

I shrugged before walking over to the control panels to get started, "That's fine by me."

"How are the defense system updates going?" Cruger asked.

"We're dealing with complex logarithms, Doggie. The computer has to calculate the precise sequence to create phase two. It takes time."

Cruger growled at Kat's response. Before he could say anything the base shook from the force of an explosion. Alarms blared through the room and Cruger steadied them both, "The question is, how much time do we have?"

"Echo, expand the parameters to the outer sections of town. We have to speed up the search."

I nodded before typing in the new search zone into the computer.

Another blast shook the room, "Goradon is attacking!"

"Phase two won't go online, we can't stop it," Kat said helplessly, "Doggie?"

"Call the Rangers," he ordered, "Send in the zords."

As Kat deployed the zords I tried my best to narrow down the search. I was getting a hit out in the woods, a secluded area outside of town with a warehouse.

"Kat, I think I got something," I said.

Kat looked over my shoulder at the screen, but when I turned back it seemed that the blue dot that was once there was suddenly gone, "It... it was right there?"

From behind us Cruger whispered, "Brilliant Sophie. She knows I can hear hyper-frequencies."

Kat looked at him confused, "What?"

Cruger looked at the sector on my screen before he began to walk out, grabbing his morpher on the way.

"Where are you going?"

"To a fight," he answered before the door to the command room shut behind him.

"Does he know where she is?" I asked.

Kat looked at me worriedly, "We can only hope."

"He can't take down Valko alone, he doesn't know what he's up against."

"Cruger knows what he can handle," Kat tried her best to comfort me, "He'll get Sophie and bring her back."

Kat turned back to the defense system. Before long a beep was heard and Kat sighed in relief, "He found her. They're on their way back now."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, "And the Rangers?"

"They're still dealing with Goradon."

"Kat! Need a little help here!" Jack said over the com.

"Hang on, we're giving it everything we got," Kat said.

The door to the command center slid open and in walked Cruger and Sophie.

She pulled me into a tight hug that I returned gratefully.

Alarms began to blare as Kat told us to hang on. The base began to shift, morphing into a final zord.

"Fire!' Cruger ordered. Goradon was blasted back, hissing in pain. "Rangers, return to base immediately."

The rangers tried to argue before eventually coming back into SPD.

"Sophie, you're okay!" Bridge cheered.

Sky pulled me into a hug before looking me over to see if I was okay.

"I'm fine," I whispered.

"Rangers, we cannot defeat Goradon with our weapons. And phase two isn't finished yet."

Kat looked down at the system nervously before Sophie spoke up, "I can do it."

Everyone looked at her in shock.

"If you plug me into the SPD mainframe, I can sequence the algorithm for phase two."

"You could also destroy SPD from the inside out." Kat pointed out.

Bridge responded, "She could also fry her circuits if she gets too close to the anti-virus firewall. I trust her. Guys?"

"I trust her," I said, Sophie gave me a small smile.

Syd nodded, "Let her do it."

"Definitely," Z said.

"We have to try," Jack said.

"Sky," Cruger said, "It must be a unanimous decision."

Sky looked at me, it wasn't until he saw my nod and smile that he responded, "Apparently I'm a monster too. So no more judgements. You're alright in my book."

"Then it's agreed. Get back to your zords and prepare to upload."

The Rangers saluted before dismissing.

"Okay," Sophie said, plugging herself into the system by her arm, "I'm ready. Initiating sequencing."

Kat and Sophie began to type furiously. After a few seconds there was a ding and a robotic voice announced, "D.B.D.S. phase two, online."

Kat looked up in shock as the control room activated into phase two, "We're in business. Attention, all cadets to the safety zone immediately. This is not a drill."

"Good job," I cheered, and Sophie smiled.

"You too Echo, get to the safety zone."

I nodded before giving Sophie a squeeze on the shoulder and heading back to my dorm.

*✧ ─ ✧*

I had to stay in my locked dorm room until the battle was over. When the doors slid open the hallways were flooded with people rushing around SPD trying to get back on schedule.

That night at dinner I waited patiently at our table for the rest of the B-squad. I looked around the mess hall trying to spot them and when I did I rushed over to Sophie.

"I knew you could do it," I said.

Sophie smiled, "Thank you for believing in me. And guess what? Cruger assigned me to become an I.T. specialist. I ship out for the Theta Quadrant tomorrow!"

"That's great!" I smiled sadly.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely be back to SPD to visit my favorite squad."

She pulled me into a side hug as we walked back over to our table.

"It's gonna be amazing, Echo. I'm overhauling their defense systems, I'll be able to use my programming to help everyone in the galaxy!"

"You're gonna do great," I said.

"What are you going into? When you get out of SPD."

"I'm not sure yet," I said, "Haven't thought that far ahead."

Sky sat down beside me with his tray of food, "I'm sure she'll graduate the top of her class and become one of the best detectives SPD has ever seen."

I could only smile as the rest of the Rangers cheered in agreement.

Sophie and I walked back to our room. The night went by quickly as we packed her bags up and sat them by the door to be carried down to transport tomorrow. That night I fell asleep quickly, but something was shifting. I could feel it.

Something had changed. And the scary part was I couldn't figure out what it was.

»——•——«

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