A/N: Here it is! My version of the Silver Ranger's arrival! Note that I'm going to be playing a little loose and light with the episodes. Hope you all enjoy it!
Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, characters, events etc. Anything not associated with these rights is to be presumed to be purely the creation of the author.
Rating: T – May be some adult themes and languages.
Far away, well beyond the reaches of our solar system, a man in a long, flowing coat, with a huge, feathery boa and a large, floppy black hat stood on the entrance ramp to his space ship, with a large smile plastered on his face. His thin, dark moustashe looked slightly crooked on his lip with his smirk as he looked over the city from the entrance to his ship.
KO 35 was not a world that hadn't seen war. It had been under siege once before, under the orders of the Overlord, Dark Spectre, but that was a lifetime ago. Many of the younger citizens had never known real war, real destructive malice, real evil like this. In the fifteen years since the Space Rangers had fought their final battle on the planet's surface, they had been pretty much at peace ever since. That, of course, had its disadvantages. By the looks of the pitiful resistance the planet put up to his forces, it seemed like they were no longer able to repel the ferocity of an invasion like this.
The capital city, Elaria, was a beautiful place...at least...it was when it wasn't crumbling and burning to the ground. Skyscrapers of glittering white stone, shining steel and glass reached up into the sky to dizzying heights. The streets were lined with trees and plants that were maintained day and night by the authorities, and pristine streets that ordinarily never showed the slightest hint of mess or litter. Right now though, none of that mattered. The air was thick, heavy, and filled with the stench of burning, and distant cries for help and alarms. The buildings were crumbling and burning, and wherever he could see people, they were either running for their lives, or engaged in a futile battle with his forces, being cut down where they stood.
A dark shape appeared in the sky, before soaring towards him fast. As it came closer, it seemed more like it was falling than it was flying, given the speed of its descent. He barely flinched as the massive, hulking form of his henchman Kolo landed near him, sending up chunks of tarmac as he slammed into the ground on one knee. His cymbals were clipped to his armour. His right hand, which was larger than a bowling ball when clenched into a fist, was closed tightly, like it was holding onto something of such value, the creature valued it far more than its own life. An unconscious form was draped lifelessly over his left shoulder, being held there with one hand.
Lafitte smiled as he saw Kolo arrive. He had been sent into the city on an important mission, one that was more important than anything...one they still had to be paid for! His employer had insisted that he would only get paid upon proof that he had returned with what he was looking for. He strolled out to his henchman as some of his puppet Rangers arrived, providing covering fire as they made their way back to his ship. His forces were small, but had impressive power. As the Alien Rangers and Galaxy Rangers approached, maintaining a perimeter, his other puppets dealt with the few remnants of the security forces. Lafitte approached slowly, chuckling as he saw the body on Kolo's shoulder. It hung lifelessly, and the head was covered in thick, dark blood, the hair matted to the scalp. Lafitte grabbed the hair, yanking back the head to look into the face of a Hispanic man.
"And you thought this planet would be a better place to live than Earth Carlos." He taunted the unconscious former Ranger. "I suppose right about now, you and your team are missing the paparazzi."
He looked to Kolo and sighed.
"I really don't think we need souvenirs do you?" He asked. Kolo just grabbed Carlos' jacket in one hand, and with a grunt, threw him several feet, where he landed in a heap on the ground. Lafitte just held out a hand.
"I presume you have something for me?" He asked. Kolo just dropped the five Space Ranger keys into Lafitte's outstretched hand. He lifted up his trumpet, and sounded a note, signalling to his Ranger puppets that he was indeed finished with this world. They all returned, each of them turning back into keys as they approached him. Lafitte and Kolo turned and walked onto the ship, the ramp closing behind them. Before long, they were blasting off, leaving KO 35 far behind to pick up the pieces. Lafitte was confident they would rebuild, and he knew that their defenders would recover in time, he was not being paid to end lives or destroy the planet. All he was there to do was collect the keys.
He opened up a communications link as Kolo went to the bridge, holding his communicator to his ear.
"It is done." He stated with a smile. "No, it was no more trouble than I would have expected. What would you like me to do now?"
He listened with interest and nodded in understanding.
"Of course, I will return to Earth as you wish." Lafitte then hung up, looking to the Ranger Keys. "This is the part I always look forward to. Pay day!"
Meanwhile, back on Earth, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, hidden by their cloaking technology and cloud cover, the Red Galleon was coasting, waiting on the next signs of The Armada's forces.
Although they had been spending the last couple of months traversing the globe in search of Ranger keys, following cryptic clues from their robotic parrot companion Tensou, the last clue was somewhat less helpful than usual. In fact, it wasn't really a clue at all. However, for a clue that didn't really give them any indication of where to go, they were surprisingly upbeat and cheerful. The last clue they had received hadn't been about a Ranger key, but had been an indication that soon they would be getting a sixth Ranger.
As Gia came into the main room, carrying a coffee mug, she chuckled as she saw Jake frantically vacuuming the ship. The rest of the guys were also cleaning up, dusting and straightening the place out. It wasn't as though they were habitually or deliberately messy, but five teenagers living on a ship did lead to a certain level of mess.
"Guys, seriously it's not like the Pope is coming or anything." She reminded them.
"Come on Gia, you heard Tensou!" Noah said as he fluffed up a pillow on the couch. "Jordan's coming home!"
"I know, but seriously...it's JORDAN!" She reminded them. "It's not like we don't know the guy...or he's that important or anything...seriously, we all saw what his room was like back home!"
"It's not like we couldn't have done with cleaning up anyway." Troy told her.
"Yeah, besides, you can deny it all you want. We all know you missed him as well." Emma stated as she put some things away into storage. Gia would deny it, she and Jordan had always loved teasing and taunting each other back in Harwood, but that was just the nature of their friendship. Deep down, they both really cared about each other, but many seeing them bicker would have thought otherwise. Gia just smiled as she sat down.
"OK, I guess it'll be good to see the big lug." She admitted. Although he had appeared to them a few times in projections, but none of them had seen him in the flesh since the last battle on Harwood beach, when he had disappeared. Gosei had taken him to the Library before his own disappearance. Jordan had told them he had been taken there for special studies, which had resulted in Jordan creating their new powers and zords. That was when he had revealed that Jordan was, in fact, his son, and was half-Eltarian. "I suppose it would be interesting to see his new look in person."
"Admit it Gia, you missed him as much as we did." Jake pressed on as he started to wind up the power cable to the vacuum cleaner.
"Yeah, you don't have to act in front of us." Noah told her.
"Besides, I think you lost all your 'tough girl' cred when you had your turn in the Mr Brainfreeze outfit." Emma teased her.
"Guys, it is WAY too early for all this." She grumbled.
"Then just admit it. You missed him." Troy chipped in, shoving her gently. Gia just groaned.
"Alright, fine, I'm looking forward to seeing him!" Gia rushed out. "There, I said it are you happy?"
"Ecstatic." Noah told her. "Now, will you do something to help?"
Gia just rolled her eyes as she got off the couch and started to help them clean up, secretly just as thrilled as the rest by the thought that soon, they'd be getting their good friend back on the team!
Back on his ship, The Fancy, Lafitte was sitting at his dining table, lined with antique tableware. Either side of his place setting was an assortment of cutlery of all shapes and sizes, made from precious metals, the handles encrusted with jewels. By his massive, golden chalice, also bearing gems of obscene size, were fifteen of his Ranger keys, the ones he had been paid to collect from Aquitar, Miranoi and KO35. He held the Red Space Ranger Key, inspecting it with a satisfied smile. Although he was being paid handsomely for the job, having this power, power his employer had promised him he could keep for himself, was a reward he couldn't place a value on. He had already lost fifteen of his puppets to the Rangers, but with these new keys, he was confident he could get them back with interest. He looked up as Kolo came into the room, carrying a large serving platter. He laid it down before him, taking off the golden, jewelled cloche revealing the meal inside. Lafitte smiled to see the roast dinner before him, looking up to where the Sentinel Knight was waiting.
"You've outdone yourself as usual." He complimented his puppet. The Sentinel Knight bowed his head, before leaving Lafitte to his meal. He started to stuff a lace napkin into the collar of his shirt, before reaching for a bottle of wine, pouring it into his goblet.
From a hiding place behind a statue Lafitte had taken from a world long ago, a stranger appeared, crouching down and beginning to sneak over slowly. He was a tall man, close to six feet, and heavily muscled, like someone who had known years of hard labour. His blonde hair was filthy, and straggly, sticking out wildly in all directions. He had grey eyes that were as cold as flint. He had a dull, hammered metal bracelet on his left wrist, and was wearing rough jeans and a dull, grey shirt. He slowly stalked Lafitte as his attention was taken up by the meal.
The stranger gripped a pole-arm weapon in his left hand, his grip tightening around it. He had stowed away on The Fancy with only one goal in mind. His heard pounded as he crossed the couple of feet between him and Lafitte's throne, each step feeling like a mile as he neared to completing his mission.
As Lafitte finished pouring, the stranger was almost right behind him. He picked up his goblet, and took a long swig, but as he was putting it down, he paused. A reflection on the polished surface of the chalice revealed the intruder. He placed the goblet down and sighed.
"It's rude to turn up to dinner unannounced." Lafitte told him in an exasperated tone. The intruder let out a huge yell, and jumped into the air, driving his blade towards Lafitte's exposed back. The Privateer threw himself aside just as the pole arm was rammed through the back of the chair. Kolo came storming back into the room, smashing the intruder across the room with one of his cymbals. Lafitte just looked to the pole-arm weapon impaling his chair, right where he had been sitting, it's aim clearly intent on piercing his heart.
"Do you know what that chair is worth?" He taunted the stranger. As the man in grey flicked up onto his feet, Lafitte finally got a good look at him. He smiled. "You? Well, it has been a while. Tell me, how did you escape...?"
The intruder let out a huge, impassioned yell as he lunged for Lafitte, pulling out a device that looked like a cell phone, and a Ranger key in the other hand. In a flash of light, he transformed into a Silver Corsair Ranger. He had a long-barrelled blaster in his hand, which he fired directly at Lafitte. Kolo quickly leapt between them, using his cymbals to block the blasts, sending them ricocheting around the room, destroying many of the treasures Lafitte surrounded himself with.
The Silver Ranger converted his blaster into a trident, rushing at Kolo with murderous intent. The massive gorilla blocked the blow, which rebounded off his armour harmlessly. The Silver Ranger took a hard shot in response. When he landed, it felt like all his bones had jumped from their sockets from the force of the hulking gorilla's blow.
"I keep telling you, it was nothing personal! It was just business!" Lafitte told him in a casual tone. "There's no need to take it to heart like this."
"That's easy for you to say!" The Silver Ranger responded. Lafitte blew his trumpet, at which a number of his Ranger puppets appeared. The Silver Ranger saw he was hopelessly outmanned, and relaxed his grip on his trident.
"I'm glad to see you finally seeing sense." Lafitte told him, extending a hand. "Now, I quite like the look of these impressive new powers you acquired. I'm sure my employer would pay handsomely for..."
Before he could finish, the Silver Ranger had noticed something. The other Ranger keys sitting by his place setting. He converted his trident back into blaster mode, firing some shots to pin down Lafitte and his cohorts. Lunging over the table, he snatched up the Alien, Space and Galaxy Ranger keys. Seeing this, Lafitte pulled out his own blaster, opening fire.
"No one steals from me!" He screamed as he fired. The Silver Ranger took the blasts in the chest, but fortunately the suit took the damage, saving his life. He activated his morpher, teleporting off the ship as Lafitte and his Ranger puppets moved to surround him.
"Where did he go?" He screamed. "He can't have gone far!"
Kolo just pointed out the window, at which Lafitte ran to see what he was pointing at. Lafitte felt his temper flaring up as he saw a ship beginning to fly away.
"The Free Joker?" She yelled. "He DARES to use my old ship against me? Blow him out of the sky!"
Over in the other ship, the Silver Ranger took the controls, de-morphing as he got into the pilot's seat. The Fancy had much more firepower than his own ship, and he knew that sticking around would only result in his destruction, something that would bring his own mission of revenge to a premature and messy end. He began making evasive manoeuvres as explosions went off all around him.
He started activating the controls for light-speed travel, plotting his escape route, but just as he fired up the engines, The Fancy got in a lucky shot, hitting one of his engines.
"No, no...don't quit on me now damn you!" The Silver Ranger growled in frustration as he punched in the last few commands. His ship sped up to light-speed, leaving The Fancy behind in its wake, saving him. However, it wasn't long before the on-board computers started blaring out warnings. Sparks flew past him as he struggled to maintain control.
"Engine failure imminent." The computer warned him.
"I know."
"Fuel chamber breach." The computer continued.
"Tell me something useful!" He barked in response.
"Hull integrity fifty three percent and falling." The computer continued.
"That's not exactly what I meant." He grumbled. As the ship came out of light-speed, entering our solar system at speed, he struggled to maintain control. He looked ahead to see the few Armada ships assembled just beyond Earth's moon.
"Great, that's all I need." He muttered, gunning the engines for all he was worth. He knew that he was risking a blow out, but with The Armada ahead of him, he was playing the odds. He could push the engines, risk a blow out and maybe die, or he could wait for Prince Vekar to see him, open fire and definitely die. Right now, a slim chance was better than nothing.
On The Armada command ship, Prince Vekar was sitting at his station with a meal in front of him. He no longer had his face bandaged up obnoxiously for a slight injury to his face, now he only had a small band-aid across the bridge of his nose, but he struggled with his fork, trying to use it to cut meat, since his other hand, the one he had used to hit Argus following his latest defeat was now in a cast. Despite what everyone else told him, he insisted he had broken it, and demanded a cast. No one dared to tell him that his fingers were only bruised, or that it was his fault in the first place for pounding on Argus' armour.
As some food flew off his plate as the meat slipped, scattering on the floor, Damaras just sighed, struggling not to laugh at the display.
"This is intolerable!" The Prince whined. "Lavira!"
"What is it your highness?" She asked as she got to his side. He pushed the plate towards her.
"Cut this up for me!" He demanded petulantly. She just took his knife and fork, and started to get to work on her menial task. Just then, there was a loud alarm, and flashing lights.
"What is it?" Prince Vekar screamed in a panic. "What's happening? Is it the Rangers?"
"It's a proximity alarm, a ship is approaching fast." Argus informed him. "Sensors show...it's one of ours!"
"It's going far too fast to be attempting to dock!" Damaras stated, pulling it up on the screen. He stared at it. "Its...it's the Free Joker!"
"The Free Joker? I thought we destroyed that ship!" Prince Vekar demanded.
"Uh...your highness?" Lavira stated warily. "It's...it's coming this way!"
The ship was smoking, and almost completely out of control. The Silver Ranger struggled to stop it slamming straight into The Armada Command Ship. The Free Joker streaked past so quickly that the whole bridge shook. The plate fell from Prince Vekar's table straight onto his lap.
"OW, OW, OW!" He screamed as he leapt up, dancing around like a lunatic. "It burns! It hurts so much!"
"Get the medic!" Lavira called to one of the X-borgs. "Shoot down that ship!"
"Oh, why does everything happen to me?" Prince Vekar whined as she grabbed a napkin, trying to clean him up as much as she could. "I want that ship destroyed!"
"It's on a collision course with Earth, moving much too fast to land safely." Argus informed him. "It will not be a problem much longer."
Back on the Red Galleon, the Rangers were putting the finishing touches on the cleaning when Gia just sighed.
"Isn't all of this kind of pointless?" Gia asked them.
"What?" Noah asked. "You want the place to be ready for when Jordan..."
"That's just it, did none of you remember Tensou didn't say exactly WHEN Jordan would turn up?" Gia asked. "Or where he would end up for that matter?"
"What do you mean?" Jake asked her.
"It's a big planet Jake!" Gia reminded them. "Not to mention Eltarians don't seem to have much of a sense of scale. When he saved us at the White House, Gosei sent us to St. Lucia for God's sake!"
"She has a point." Noah conceded. Just then, there was an alarm. They all rushed up onto the deck to see something streaking through the sky.
"What the hell is that?" Jake asked.
"It looks like a ship!" Troy answered. "And by the looks of it, that's not going to be a soft landing!"
"According to the computer, it looks like it's coming down in Paris!" Emma told them, checking a hand-set.
"Come on, let's go." Troy ordered them as they ran back below deck to track the new arrival.