2"Earth."
Her mouth curled upward as a strange smile tugged at the corners of her lips. For the first time, in a long time, things were finally going her way. The depths of her green eyes now shone with hope and sparkled with renewed life as she looked upon the blue marble planet through her ships window.
"I never thought I would track you to here of all places."
Turning away from the window, the young woman set her sights once more on a flashing red light emanating from the control panel. Grazing her hand over the pulsating light, she felt a shiver of excitement run through her entire being. Finally, she had found him and finally she would get the answers she needed. A sigh of content escaped from her lips, as she spoke almost breathlessly.
"Finally."
Ashley pouted as she sat down in the cafeteria with the other rangers, Andros, for obvious reasons, was not present. Undoubtedly he was still sitting in the same chair, at the same control panel, in the same room, that he had been for days. Andros was of course, scanning the galaxy in search of not only Zordon but his sister Karone as well. Unfortunately the results for both were the same as he was having no luck finding either.
"He could at least eat." She muttered under her breath. Her hand landed on the table with thud as it dropped in exasperation, causing the other rangers to turn their attention to her. "Well, couldn't he?"
Zhane had stopped mid-chew to look at her. It wasn't like the usually cheerful yellow ranger to look so frazzled, but he knew where her mind was. "Ash."
Small bits and pieces of his partially chewed up breakfast, sprayed out onto the table as he said her name. Taking a swig of water from his glass, he swallowed the remaining contents before continuing, "you know how Andros is when he's focused on something. He's not going to let it go until the job is done. Whether it be, running a simple systems check or finding Zordon."
Playing with her acrylic nails, Ashley sighed, "yeah, I know," she stopped, before standing abruptly, "But just sitting there day after day, wasting away isn't going to do us, him, Zordon or his sister any good either."
"You're over exaggerating things, Ash. Andros is fine. Just because he misses breakfast everyday doesn't mean he's wasting away." TJ argued gently before finishing up his own meal.
Zhane nodded in agreement with TJ. "He's right, Ash. Andros never really was a breakfast person." A lop-sided grin formed across his face, "I remember this one time–"
Ashley threw her hands up with a frustrated sigh, leaving the cafeteria before Zhane couldn't finish his sentence. The others watched after her, exchanging looks of concern with one another. Zhane stood up quickly, following after her, "Ash! Ashley, wait. Aw, come on." He stopped a few steps out into the corridor, watching her go. "Ashley, everything will be alright!" he called after her. Still, she kept walking, disappearing as she turned a corner.
Zhane sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. He knew better than to go after her when she got like this. That was a job only Cassie could do, it was one of those things that guys like him didn't understand. At least, that was what Ashley had told him the first time he had tried to comfort her during one of those times. No offense was meant by it of course, nor had he taken any to it. Guys like him. The Silver Ranger had always wondered what Ashley had meant by that. He wasn't sure whether he would like the answer to that question or not, so Zhane decided it was best to leave it alone.
A light hand on his shoulder, brought his mind back to the present situation. Turning his head slightly, he saw Cassie standing behind him. She offered him one of her patented, 'I know how you feel' smiles before patting his shoulder reassuringly and taking off down the ships corridor after Ashley.
Yeah, Zhane thought to himself, as he watched the Pink Ranger disappear at the end of the corridor, this was definitely one of those times. He turned to look at TJ and Carlos who merely shrugged their shoulders in reply and went about picking up the empty plates that littered the table.
Yawning, Andros leaned back in his chair as he waited for the scan to be finished. He had been awake for a few hours now and had already scanned ten sectors along with the quadrants located within them. Funny how he always did so much work and yet felt like he had accomplished nothing as he had little show to for it. He scowled as he thought about this. Funny was not the right word for this. Other 'f' words came to mind. Frustrating. Fruitless. Foul. Any of those would do, but this was certainly not funny. Zordon, Karone, not so much as a clue had turned up for either yet. No, funny was definitely not the word. There was nothing funny about it. Nothing at all.
Andros sat up with a start as a streak of light caught his attention on the main viewing screen. At first glance it appeared that the source of this disturbance was no more than a meteor burning up in the Earths atmosphere. Then, Andros looked closer.
"DECA." He began, standing from his seat at the controls as he moved closer to the screen for a better look. "Zoom in. Here." Andros placed his finger on the image. DECA complied, enlarging the image of the area he specified. The source of the light he had seen, it wasn't a meteor at all. It was a ship. Why would a ship be parked near the edge of the Earths atmosphere? He examined it more closely. It was a small, modest ship, not even half the size of their own. The weary hazel eyes of the red ranger widened suddenly as he noticed the distinct markings on one of the ships wings. "It's–-"
The young womans eyes took in her surroundings with scrutiny. "So, this is Earth." A hint of disappointment lingered in her voice. She had heard stories about the planet from other travelers and now found them to be nothing more than old wives tales. It was a lot less green and a lot more, well, brown than she had expected. A smile crossed her lips as she thought to herself, there is one good thing about this miserable planet. She knew that she would never be discovered. They would think she was one of them easily enough for she was human but an Earthling? She laughed at the thought, no. Far from it. Even after so many years of being attacked by aliens, the people of this planet still considered themselves to be alone in the universe. Their closed mindedness would lead to their downfall, just like what had happened on KO-35.
The Kerovians were much smarter and more advanced than the Earthlings would ever be, however, that lead to their over confidence. The thought had never crossed their minds that brain over brawn does not always win the war, especially when the brawn out number the brain. No, that was a lesson they had, had to learn the hard way. Now? Now KO-35 lay in ruins, along with every other planet in the Kerova system. In fact, compared to the fate of some of the other planets, KO-35 had gotten off easy. For you see, many of the other planets, no longer even existed. This was due to the fact that KO-35 had, had their own Power Rangers to help them in their time of need.
She scoffed, venom seeping idiocy into her voice, "Power Rangers."
Pulling a small tracking device out from underneath her cloak, she looked down at it, the red light was pulsating faster now. She knew she was close. Pushing aside her excitement, she continued on until she found herself at a local bar. The place was old, run down and from the sounds of things, noisy. That means it's busy, which means more witnesses, she scowled. This was going to make things more difficult than she had planned on. A lot of innocent people could get hurt if she were to make one wrong move. Then again, a lot of innocent people would soon die if she didn't take a chance. While she assessed the situation, she noticed how strange she must appear to the Earthlings, in her oversized cloak. Drawing attention to herself was the last thing she wanted to do. Her target would see her coming more easily, if he knew that she was searching for him. If he did know, all would be lost, and things would become a lot more dangerous.
Deciding that, that wasn't a risk she was willing to take, she made her way down a side alley and out of the public eye. Sweeping a hand over her body, her current clothes shifted into new ones. Casting a glance down, she smiled in approval of her own handy work. Yes, these would do well. Now he would never see her coming, until that is, it was too late. Even by then, she had planned on being gone and back on her ship before he could figure out what had happened. That is, if everything went according to plan.
"It's Eltarian. The markings on the ship confirm it." Andros, finished explaining to his teammates. The other rangers exchanged looks of confusion, fear, and finally, hope. Maybe this was a good thing? On the other hand, they knew that Eltar had been taken over when Zordon had been captured. This could be bad. Very, bad.
TJ was the first to speak up, motioning towards the screen, "But why would a ship from Eltar be here?"
"That's what we need to find out." he moved over to another panel, bringing up the schematics of the ship on screen. "What I do know is that, this is no war ship."
"Well, yeah." Carlos agreed, "You can tell that just by looking at it. I mean, the Astro Mega Ship is two, if not three times, the size of that ship."
"Maybe it's a survivor from Eltar looking for us!" Cassie jumped in, ever the optimist. She really did believe that was who this ship belonged to. If not, then what other reason could there be? "Who else would fly all the way from Eltar to Earth, if not someone searching for the Power Rangers?"
Andros, ever the pessimist, shook his head. "I wish I could agree with you Cass, but I just don't see it. Unless they were close with Zordon, they wouldn't know about rangers from Earth." He held up his hand as she began to protest, "remember, I didn't even know there were Earth rangers until I met all of you."
Zhane nodded. "I hate to agree with Andros but he's right. The ship could very well belong to a scout of Dark Spectres." He noticed the pleading look on Cassies face and was about to continue when Andros put a hand on his shoulder.
"Zhane. I want you to take your galaxy glider and go investigate that ship. See what you can find, maybe there's a clue as to who this visitor is and why they're here. Make sure that you're quick about it, get in, get out. Got it?"
"I'm on it Andros."
Andros paused a moment, "DECA. Track the energy signature that came from that vessel earlier then program the coordinates into the system. That way, the rest of us will be able to teleport down to Earth and land exactly where they did. Maybe we'll find something."
"Programming coordinates now." DECA replied. "Programming complete." DECAs light flashed with satisfaction. "Good luck rangers."
She waved a hand in front of face, fanning a thick cloud of smoke out of her way, as she entered the bar. He would choose a place like this, she thought to herself as her eyes darted about the room. The ability to read energy signatures had become a welcoming presence within the last year as it made it much easier for her to spot her intended target. There were a large number of suspicious looking characters in the room, and without it, she could have been there a lot longer than she needed, or missed him all together.
Moving away from the entrance, she made her way further into the bar. The one whom she had been searching for was seated by himself, at a table in the very back. This concerned her. What was his reasoning? Perhaps he couldn't find any other place to sit. Or maybe he preferred hanging back in the shadows where he wouldn't be bothered. She knew that his type certainly weren't ones socialize unless it would benefit them directly. There was one more reason lingering the back of her mind however. What if he had known that she had been after him? Positioning himself in the back of the bar would certainly make her leaving without him noticing her much more difficult. Obtaining the item which had the information she seeked would also prove to be a challenge.
Sitting down at an empty table beside her, she sighed. Originally she had planned on walking behind him and lifting the item from one of his pockets. This would be impossible now as there was a wall behind him, not to mention to the side of him as well. She should have known this wasn't going to be easy. He was a professional after all. An underling, but a professional none the less. If this was going to work, adjustments would need to be made. If not, this would turn out to be messy. Her eyes narrowed as she frowned. She hated making a mess because where there was a mess, there was a trail. A trail was the last thing she needed, or wanted for that matter.
"There has got to be another way." She tapped her fingers on the table impatiently as her mind worked feverishly. "But what?" Patience was not one of her strong suits, especially not in this situation. Time was one luxury she didn't have and being patient required a lot of it. If only she had, had more time. Her face brightened a moment, as an idea came to her. It was risky, but it would work. It had to. It's all she had left. One chance. A last resort. She wouldn't pull something like this if it had been some rookie with a short fuse. It'd be too dangerous and if she were caught in the act, everyone in this bar would become a victim. This is a professional she's dealing with, she reminded herself. If she were caught, he would merely go after her and pay no mind to anyone else who was around. After all, he didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to himself anymore than she did. Then again, the item she was after was of extreme importance and he may be willing to do anything or destroy anyone, for that matter, to get it back.
Nodding to herself, she stood up from the table, her chair pushing back as she did so. "It's a chance I'll have to take."
As he approached the ship on his galaxy glider, the Silver Ranger looked about through his helmet anxiously. Despite the scan DECA had run earlier before he had left, he was still leery to the fact that there may be others nearby. If there were, Zhane knew he would be virtually defenseless against them.
"Well," he began as he neared the ship, "here goes nothing."
After one last quick look around the immediate area surrounding the ship for any further disturbances, the Silver Ranger picked up speed on his galaxy glider, closing in on the ship. While being no where near the size of the Astro Mega Ship, it was larger than he had expected and with some guidance from DECA, Zhane managed to find a way into the ship, without bringing too much attention to himself. After all, they didn't know if there were others on the ship. DECA, had of course, checked for this before he had left but the scans were not always accurate. The Silver Ranger sighed, he would just have to trust DECA on this one.
The Silver Ranger moved down the vessels main corridor quickly, knowing that time was not to be wasted on a mission like this. Admittedly, it was hard for him however as the walls were decorated with metallic, albeit colorful, sculptures on the walls. They were not overly ornate but they did make the passage way a lot more interesting to walk through than the plain, dull, gray walls of the Astro Mega Ship. He stopped briefly and upon examining one, found that they even though they appeared to be popping out of the walls, they were quite flat. Reminding himself of his reason for being there, he continued on down the corridor. As he continued, he noticed that the closer to the end he came, the less decorations there were. They became replaced with black panels which had a silver border. Within the black there were small dots of light the colors of red, yellow, white and blue. Zhane paused once more to studied a particular section. It wasn't long before he came to the conclusion that each light was suppose to represent a star.
How clever, and not to mention convenient, he thought to himself. These were meant to be maps in which one could navigate by. No more mess to clean up after a search. No more rolling up maps. No more shards of broken laminate embedded into his flesh. Andros would be jealous. He looked more closely and found that there were even numbers engraved in the silver outline to use for coordinates. Yes. Andros would be jealous. However, the Silver Ranger reminded himself, he wasn't there for sight seeing. He was there to find out whatever he could about this unknown visitor and report back as soon as possible.
A moment later, he found the bridge. He was surprised to find that, no door blocked his way, in fact, there appeared to be no security on this ship what-so-ever. If there was one, it wasn't aware of his presence. Glancing around the bridge, he decided that this ship was considerably older than any he'd ever been on. Perhaps that accounted for the interesting mapping system he had encountered just moments ago in the corridor. He wondered what type of person, or creature for that matter, would use such an ancient craft. Not giving it another thought, he began searching for any secret compartments that may be hidden within the consoles. Nothing. Stepping back from the controls, his eyes searched the room once more. The more he learned about this ship, the deeper the mystery became. What of its inhabitant? He still had yet to find anything as to indicate who they may be. Or more importantly, what their intentions were.
The Silver Ranger moved towards the other side of the room as something caught his eye. It was piece of paper, sticking precariously out of compartment. His swift movements created a slight breeze which caused the paper to flutter out and drift down towards the floor. Kneeling down Zhane snatched it up off the floor to examine it. The edges were slightly torn and frayed, and it was a discolored tone of white which was closer to that of a light tan. As he knelt there, he flipped over the parchment, his eyes scanning the text for any clues. His eyes strained from behind the helmet while attempting to decipher the writing as the quality was poor due to aging and the handwriting itself was sloppy. Slowly he rose to his feet, eyebrow raising as he read the note and all that was between his jaw and it hitting the floor was his helmet. Shaking his head he placed the piece of paper back into his precarious position and teleported out to his galaxy glider. He had to get to them, before it was too late.
Calmly, nonchalantly, she walked towards the door. The plan had gone perfectly, if she did say so herself. She had gotten what she was after and her victim hadn't had a clue. Now the door was safely within her range, and he still hadn't the faintest idea of what had happened. This had been easier than she thought...
As he dips a hand into his pocket to play with his new found treasure, he finds it to be empty. He howls angrily, knocking over his table as he stands in fury, his eyes burning red. His eyes glare about the room icily, freezing all those within his path. Except... one. Charging after her, he bellowed, "THIEF!" His voice booming throughout the entire building, causing it to shake momentarily.
..Or not, the girl finished thinking to herself. Her pace quickening, she hurried out the door, plowing through a group of people that was just coming in. As the young woman ran, her disguise broke away like bits of glass shattering, dispersing outward from her body, the cloak returning once more.
"THIEF!" The man shouted again, pointing frantically after the stranger who had just run out of the bar. One of the individuals who hadn't been knocked completely over by the perpetrator is already after them, hot on their heels.
Don't look back. Just keep running. Don't look back. She kept telling herself in her mind. With her being this close, there was no way she was going to give up and accept defeat. No way. Against her better judgement, she glanced back behind and scowled. Power Rangers. No, giving up was out of the question, especially to them. She had worked too hard for this, she would not.. her thoughts were interrupted as she suddenly found herself on the ground, arms pulled up behind her back roughly. Grimacing, but not crying out in pain, venom spewed forth from her mouth in Eltarian. Lashing out at her captor, she struggled to break free. "Let go of me!"
She cried out as they rummaged through her pockets, fishing out the item she had taken. "Give it back! You have no idea what you are doing!"
Her captor, only forces her up onto her knees, pulling her arms back more as his hands tighten their grip on her wrists. The Pink Rangers gloved hand reaches down and pushes her hood back, locks of strawberry blonde hair cascading onto the young womans shoulders, a loose strand of hair falling into her face.
"Uh huh. Why don't you tell us what you were doing then?" The Blue Ranger inquired. Silently, he couldn't help but wonder if this girl were the one whom that ship belonged to or if they had run into just another common thief. Directing his gaze past the group, he saw the man she had stolen from, approaching.
The young woman almost leapt out of the Red Rangers grasp, when she saw the man coming up to the group. This wasn't happening. It just wasn't. How ironic the situation had become. I guess the Power Rangers aren't so perfect after all she sneered inwardly. Tightening his grip on the young womans wrists once more, the Red Ranger pulled her back down to her knees.
Watching as the Black Ranger goes to return the item over its owner, she lashes out once again, almost knocking the Red Ranger over in the process. "No! You can't!" Struggling to break free, she yells, "No! Dooon't!" as the Black Ranger reaches out to give the man his stolen property.
A silver figure materialized from appears out of no where, snatching the item out of the strangers hand as the Black Ranger lets go. The stranger growls in frustration at the loss of his precious treasure, but manages to maintain his cool. "I need that back." He turned towards the Silver Ranger, holding his hand. "Now." A sharp edge apparent in his tone.
"It doesn't belong to you!" She yelled at him, her brow furrowing in anger.
The man glared at her with a gaze that could turn anyone into stone. Staring at her with a fire in his eyes, he sauntered over to where she was being held prisoner by the Red Ranger. "Quiet thief!" He hissed at her, as raised his arm and brought it down upon her, slapping her across the face. As his hand made contact with her cheek, it made a sickening cracking noise, the force turning her head sideways.
She quickly recovered however and shot a glare right back at him, spitting in his face. "Why you little.." he exclaimed as he raised his hand to strike her once more.
"That's enough!" The Silver Ranger has circled back around by now, his blade at the strangers neck, forcing him back away from the girl. "Guys, it's ok. She's not the enemy. He is!" he called out to his friends.
Chuckling, the stranger took a couple steps back away from the Silver Ranger and the others. "You don't know what you're talking about ranger." He smiled wryly.
His weapon readily positioned, the Silver Ranger followed the man as he stepped back, eyeing him wearily. "Oh, I don't, huh?" The Silver Ranger brought his super silverizer down, slashing a device concealed beneath the strangers robe. As the device shorted out, the stranger was sent flying backwards with the shower of sparks that followed, shifting into his monster form in mid-air. Staggering to his feet, the monster merely smirked as he began laughing.
The Red Ranger let go of the young woman, assuming a defensive position in front of her along side his teammates. What kind of business would this girl have with this monster. No, this was no ordinary monster. This was a rogue mercenary. What was so important, he wondered, about the item that would cause this strange girl to risk her life. What if this was all a charade? What if the two were actually working together. She could be merely another monster in disguise. At least if she was working with him, that was what he hoped. For if she were working with him, and she were human, humanity was worse off than he expected. He glanced back, keeping an eye on her while watching the monster at the same time. The Red Ranger didn't like this, not one bit.
A startled cry filled the air as Darkonda appeared seemingly from out of no where and grabbed the Silver Rangers wrist, bending it back with a violent jerk. All in one swift movement he stole the item from out of his hand and threw the surprised Silver Ranger into the group standing nearby.
"How convenient for me." His gaze turned on the young woman standing behind the rangers. "And how very unfortunate for you." Darkonda chuckled, sporting a discolored toothy grin. He waved the item around in his hand tauntingly, laughing as the girl forced her way through the group, only to be held back by the Red Ranger. How ironic, Darkonda thought to himself, a smug expression crossing his face.
The young woman struggled to break free from the Red Ranger who gripped her arms tightly once more. "No! Don't let him get away!" As Darkonda slowly disappeared from sight, the girl whirled around, kicking the Red Ranger in the stomach causing him to stumble back, releasing her from his grip. She ran towards Darkonda, falling to her knees as he and the monster vanish from her sight.
Her head hung low and her gloved hands gripped the ground beneath them. "No.." her voice was soft at first, but grew in volume as she continued, "I was so close. So. Clo-" the girls voice trailed off as she sat there in silence.
Shaking her head after a moment, she stood up slowly, brushing a strand of stray behind her ear. "I– I can't believe it. It was only a matter of time. Only... a matter of time." She spun around sharply, setting an icy glare down upon the rangers. "YOU! This is all your fault! You– you idiots!" Running a frustrated hand through her hair, she began to pace. "Do you have any idea what you have done!?"
Stepping forward cautiously, the Silver Ranger set a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey. Don't worry. We'll help you get it back." His voice is reassuring, although whether he's trying to convince the girl, or himself, even he's not sure.
Scowling from beneath his helmet in suspicion, the Red Ranger spoke up. "Zhane. What's going on here?"
"You don't understand! It'll be too late by then!" She exclaimed, swatting the Silver Rangers hand off her shoulder in annoyance. "Now I'll never find him.." her lips pursed in a slight pout as her shoulders slumped in defeat.
Resting his arm down at his side, the Silver Ranger spoke, his voice taking on a wry quality to it, "We've tracked Darkonda before." He said. "Believe me, it's not that hard."
The Blue Ranger nodded in agreement, stepping forward. "Yeah. He likes to make his presence known." He continued for the Silver Ranger.
Scoffing, the Pink Ranger spoke up, "More like nuisance." Her arms folded over her chest.
Sighing, the young woman shook her head in frustration as she began pacing back and forth again. These rangers truly were something else. Power Rangers, hmph. Space cadets is more like it. "You don't get it do you?! Didn't you just hear what I said? It'll be too late by then and the information won't be any good." Throwing her fist off to the side, she punched a tree, "Damnit! I can't believe this is happening. Not now!"
"Um, excuse me?" The Black Ranger ventured, "What exactly is it that just got stolen?" he inquired as his gaze shifted between the Red and Silver Rangers. The Silver Ranger merely shrugged in reply while the Red Ranger didn't even move. He was either too busy watching their irate friend or didn't know the answer to the Black Rangers question.
The girl seemed to become even more red with anger, causing a couple of the rangers to shrink back involuntarily. Idiots. Morons. A few other choice words entered her mind, including some in Eltarian. What a waste of energy these six were. An imprint of her fist within the bark was visible as she removed it from the tree.
"What does it matter now?" She really did mean it. Honestly, what did it matter? Throwing her hands up in exasperation she began walking away, "I'm out of here. I've got plans to make."
Shaking her head, the Yellow Ranger called after her. "Hey, wait! At least let us help!" It was a genuine offer of course. She really did feel horrible for the mistake they had made and she didn't blame the girl for being as mad as she was.
Lifting a hand, the young woman merely waved her off. "I think you've 'helped' enough." I don't need help from anyone. Especially Power Rangers, she thought to herself with a scowl. Bringing her hand down, she lifted the hood, placing it back over her head.
The Silver Ranger flew in front of her on his galaxy glider, cutting her off abruptly. "Look. I know we screwed up." He admitted, sincerity evident in his voice. Underneath his helmet he winced under her scrutinizing glare. "Okay. So we really screwed up. That makes it all the more reason to let us help you fix things. Together, at least we can prevent any damage from being done."
"Number one. The damage is already done." She calmly said, "Number two. I don't need help." Her eyes glanced over the Silver Ranger and the others. "Especially not from the Power Rangers." The venomous, hateful tone in which she spoke their name sent a chill down the rangers spines. Her expression had also twisted and contorted to one of much dislike. No. It wasn't dislike. It was sheer hatred.
The girl faded away, blending into the scenery until no longer visible, without another word. Although they were unable to see looks on each others faces, they knew that each ranger was as taken back as the next. The sound of silence filled the air as the rangers stood there in shock, unsure of how to react. It would be a few moments before the rangers would be able to regain their composure. The Silver Ranger being the first one to speak. "Andros, that space ship?"
The Red Ranger looked over at his friend.
"It belongs to her."