Goodbye and Welcome

Rancrew was standing in formal attire, holding a bouquet of flowers with one of his hands. He was in much better shape than before, although there were still a few scratches on his face. Which combined with his serious attire looked slightly awkward.

He started at the small grave in front of him, placed in an equally small graveyard. He looked over at the two names on it, and after a small pause placed the bouquet on it.

“So…”

The words got stuck in his mouth.

“I guess…”

Another pause.

“Ah, I give up. What kind of an idiot talks to a grave expecting a response anyway. Take care, wherever you are.” - As he said this, he turned around and began walking out, doing a small hand wave motion as if saying goodbye with his back turned.

Despite clearly wanting to say something the words got stuck in his mouth.

“Ahh, I give up. What kind of an idiot talks to a grave expecting a response anyway” As he said this he started to move away towards the exit, which is where he spotted the chairman who was wearing a similarly formal looking suit.”

While walking towards the exit, he lifted his eyes and saw the chairman standing. He was dressed in a similar formal attire, but it suited him much more.

“You’ve got great taste.”

Rancrew said after noticing how similar their suits looked.

“Likewise… Have you said your pieces?”

“There wasn’t much to say…” As Rancrew said this, he looked back at the grave. - “You really aren’t the type to waste time, are you?”

“I fear my position doesn’t allow me to do that. Though, you agreed to help.”

“Half-agreed. I said I’ll see what I can do, a trial period if you’d like.”

The chairman chuckled slightly. - “You really are just like he described you”

“Hmm?” - Rancrew did not hear what the chairman said.

“No. It’s nothing… Well then, shall we get going? The plane is just about to arrive.”

They left the graveyard together, walking down a hill. At the bottom of it, the military aircraft was already parked and ready to go. It looked like a mixture between a helicopter and a place. Nevertheless, to Rancrew the more impressive part was that he did not see or hear it approaching.

The two of them made it inside of it and were greeted with a luxurious interior. The chairman signaled for Rancrew to take one of the seats, and his face melted comfortably as he sank into the chair.

The plane started to go up. Rancrew started at the graveyard as they were rising. However, as soon as the hill behind it disappeared from his view, revealing a giant crater, he promptly closed the shutters to the window.

“So, I know I agreed to help, but I’m not quite sure what you expect from me. You can’t possibly expect me to rush to the battlefield and try to fight the aliens myself, right?”

Despite knowing it was a ridiculous suggestion in and of itself. Something about it felt real enough for Rancrew to actually consider the possibility of that happening.

“We can’t deny the possibility of you going on a mission, but it’s not our main priority. Everything is written here ”

As the chairman said this, he placed a thick stack of papers on the table between the two of them.

Rancrew seemed a bit overwhelmed with the amount, the chairman just sighed and continued his explanation.

“The Ranger Association has prepared a specific facility in order to train the next generation of Rangers. Before your father passed away, we talked about stationing him there full-time in hopes of him finally finding a successor.”

“So basically, a teacher?”

“More or less.”

“You know… My grades weren’t always the best. Are you sure it’s fine to leave a bunch of kids under my care?”

“It will be fine. Other rangers from your father’s squad will be training your class too. I don’t doubt they’ll receive the best education possible. For now, I would just like for you to focus keeping your identity secret and finding the right person for the suit.:”

“Talking about other rangers reminded me, but I wanted to ask. Won’t they suspect something? Not only do I look way too young to be the same Red Ranger, but I also don’t know any of them personally.”

“In many ways your father acted independently. While he was part of the “Sun Squad”, together with Green, Yellow, Pink and Blue, none of them really know the person under the mask. Especially with the other suits already changing their mantle a handful of times. Therefore even if it was your father here, it would’ve been his first time actually meeting the people under the suit. As for the reason for your young appearance, there’s also an explanation for it, but first. How much do you know about the suits themselves?”

“I guess as much as the next person. Each ranger suit comes with its own unique ability. You need a high compatibility to get a suit.”

“So you’ve got a grasp. Well, let me explain in more detail either way. The way we’re able to discern what is unique about each suit usually comes after several transfers of it. In your father’s case, we had a few hypotheses but since the suit never got passed on we were never able to confirm it. That is, until now”

Rancrew looked slightly confused.

“The Red's unique ability is to keep decelerating physical aging.”

“Bit of a convenient time to find out, but I get the idea. Physically young, huh“

“Mentally too”

“Hey!”

“Don’t take it personally, unless you’d prefer to act as a middle-aged man”

Rancrew thought about it. “I guess you do have a point.”

It’d be wrong to say either of the two men were shy, and yet none of them seemed to say anything now that the business aspect of the conversation has concluded. Then Rancrew seemed to remember something.

“That’s right, since you two were friends I guess it’d be fine to tell you. “

The chairman looked with an inquiring stare.

“My dad, he had cancer. He said he wanted to keep it a secret, so I assume he hasn’t told you.”

“No. It’s the first time I’m hearing of it. But it would explain his haste.”

“Haste?”

“To find the successor. Though it was in both of our interests. But recently he was pretty adamant about meeting the class.”

“I see. Do you think any of them seem like they could be the right candidate?”

“We’ve had success with the program for other rangers. But as for the Red Suit… I’m not sure. If anything it’s a question I’ll be asking you soon. You have the suit after all, and at the end of the day, you might be the person who understood Arcland the most”

“Well, I’m not as picky as my dad so hopefully it won’t take too long.”

There was a brief silence again, perhaps because the conversation seemed to get slightly more serious.

“Well, I said one thing you didn’t know about my dad. Now it’s your turn.”

“Hmm… How about that one time…”

Once the ice between the two of them broke, the two spent chatting away at all kinds of random topics, most of them involving Arcland in some capacity..

“We should be coming close by now, Rancrew. Open the window”

“Sure.”

After lifting the shutters off, the association came into his view

“Woah! It’s huge!”

The large complex must’ve been at least the size of a small town. It stretched pretty much all the way to the horizon. Despite its massive size, something about its design made it seem discrete.

“I’m always amazed when I see it too. It truly is the manifestation of our efforts in this fight.”

Rancrew was still glued to the window

“Rancrew”

It was only after the chairman directly called for him did he seem to get unglued from the window.

“I would like to welcome you to the Ranger Association” - As he said this, he extended his hand for a handshake

Rancrew started awkwardly scratching his head with one hand.

“I said it’s not 100% set in stone, but…- “ He accepted chairman’s handshake -

”I’ll be in your care.”