Legal: I do not own Power Rangers, or the associated names, places, names, characters, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.
Rating: T – there will be some adult themes and language.
A/N: Yes, I'm BACK! I know it's been a while, but I'm back and ready to start writing again! The con was great, and once again I will say if you get the chance, I would urge ANY PR fan to go at least once!
Anyway, hope you enjoy the start of the new story!
The only word to describe the atmosphere on the Sky Ship was tense. Things were tense, and more than a little dangerously quiet. As a result of recent developments, the team had more than a few issues to deal with, several new problems, but more than anything, it had thrown up a few issues between members of the team. As things stood, those issues right now were slowly bubbling just under the surface, like a saucepan with the surface just waiting to allow the first bubble to pop through.
The team was pointedly aware that now more than ever, they needed to pull together. Vrak and Vekar had shown that they were in no danger of letting up the pressure any time soon, and things were only getting tougher, so the team was aware that now was not the time to air grievances. They all adopted the approach that if they had nothing nice to say, they said nothing...which made the ship more than a little quiet. They drifted around quietly, exchanging some greetings and pleasantries as they went about their business, but little else.
Gia had taken the de facto leadership of the team, and was functionally the captain after Troy left to recuperate following his battle with Lafitte. It wasn't a job she had asked for, or particularly relished. Troy had only named her as his replacement because in the few instances he hadn't been with the team before, they had looked to Gia for leadership by nature. Gia took the responsibility seriously, and wanted everyone to be safe, but there was always a part of her that wished Troy would come back so that she wouldn't have the responsibility anymore, not least because she was painfully aware of the fact that Emma, while never saying anything, had to have a little resentment about the fact Gia was filling Dead Man's Shoes...and those shoes just so happened to belong to Emma's boyfriend.
Emma was becoming a lot more quiet and introverted, largely because Troy was no longer on the ship. While they had kept a lid on things for the sake of their friends, who had to leave loved ones behind, they had always taken a certain measure of strength from each other. It wasn't as though Emma was weak, but she couldn't help thinking about Troy, wishing she knew what he was doing, how he was getting on learning to cope following the amputation of his leg. She wished she could be there for him, and wanted dearly to be by his side, but she had to stay with the team. She spent longer and longer taking pictures over the side of the ship and scrolling through them on her camera, doing anything she could to fill the long days.
Noah and Jordan had pretty much sealed themselves in the workshop, working on Noah's latest attempt to create the cannon he had tried to deploy in battle. So far, the only thing anyone knew about how progress was going was some loud banging, some raised voices when nerves were frayed, some colourful curses when something went wrong...and the occasional explosion when something went VERY wrong! As long as they didn't wreck the ship in the meantime, the others knew it was for the best to just leave them to it. It was their way of coping.
Jake had taken to working out alone, for longer periods of time. He had said he just wanted to be ready for if they had to do battle again, but the way he would walk out of the room any time he saw Orion told the whole story.
Orion was also quiet, and spent a lot of his time in prayer, ever since he figured out that Argus was his friend and former comrade Marv. He had figured it out between things Argus had said and done in battle, not least of which was his use of a technique he had only ever seen Marv use. Now that he had explained, none of the Rangers were exactly surprised that he had refused to destroy him when he had the chance, but that didn't mean that right now, some of them weren't concerned for their future battles. Jake had called Orion on the fact he hadn't destroyed Argus, and Orion had already said in front of the whole team that he wouldn't do it.
As Gia was at the table, consulting the map, Tensou flew over, landing next to her.
"That's the fifth time you've looked at the map." Tensou told her. "Malta's not changed location in the last five minutes!"
Gia just sighed. They knew where they were going, they had already figured out who they were trying to find to get them the Dino Thunder keys, and as a bonus, they hadn't even had to hit Tensou over the head to find out, something that he was grateful for.
It wasn't exactly hard to find out where they were going. Kira Ford was one of the world's most famous singers, and had been on tour for months. A ten second Google search was able to give them her touring schedule, meaning they would know where she was, right down to the exact arena at any time. Finding out where the former Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger wasn't the problem though.
"I know Tensou." She muttered. "I just..."
"You were hoping the map would somehow tell you how to get to her?" He asked her in response. Gia just glared at him. She knew that finding Kira wasn't a problem, the problem was how exactly they would get to her. Kira's fame was as much of a problem as it was a benefit. The fact was that they were still wanted fugitives. It was risky enough going into some cities. Approaching a rock star who was pretty much constantly surrounded by security and police pretty much everywhere she went was not a simple prospect.
"I don't see you coming up with any ideas." She said gruffly. Tensou just looked to her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean..."
"You're right Tensou." She conceded. "Knowing where she is won't really matter if we can't get to her."
"You could always use a little force." He suggested. "It would look good in front of The Armada if you kidnapped her. At least it wouldn't look like she volunteered to go with us."
"I really don't want to use force if I don't have to." Gia told him. "Those security guys have family, it's not their fault they're in the way, it's not like they're X-borgs. We can't exactly just beat the crap out of everyone that gets in our way."
"So what are you going to do?" He asked her. Gia just sighed and shook her head.
"We'll call that plan B." She told him. "But as for plan A...I'll let you know when I figure it out."
Just then, there was a loud bang from the direction of the workshop, at which Noah came out, his hair smoking slightly.
"Um...first aid kit?" He asked. Gia just pointed, at which he headed out of the room.
"I just hope I figure it out before Noah blows up the ship." She grumbled.
Up on The Armada Command Ship, Damaras made his way down the corridor towards his own private chambers, casting a critical eye around as he went. X-borgs were doing a variety of tasks, from patrols of the corridors, to mundane tasks like cleaning and basic maintenance.
Damaras was now more keenly aware than ever that he was surrounded by robots pretty much all of the time. When Argus had gone to Earth against his orders, at first he had suspected a malfunction, but now he knew differently. Lavira had told him herself that she had activated an over-ride programme within Argus' base codes that allowed her to assign him to a non-existent ship, one on which she was listed as the Chief Tactical Officer, meaning that as long as Vekar wasn't around, she had functional control of him.
He was furious when he found out, and had threatened to have her executed for treason, but a simple command from her had turned several of the droids against him. Although he valued the robotic soldiers highly for their lack of fear and self-preservation instincts, it had always troubled him that their loyalty was never REALLY loyalty. They only did what their programming allowed them to do. While that was generally for the best, with living soldiers like most of the Commanders, he could understand their motivations and guarantee their loyalty by pandering to those motives. In the case of the robots, as he had found out to his cost, if that programming was changed...their loyalty changed too!
Now, he found himself on a ship, filled with robots, with no idea how many of them he could rely on. Lavira had warned him, reminded him that as the chief science officer, she did all the programming and maintenance of all the weapons on the ship. Potentially, every single X-borg and bruiser on the ship could turn on him in an instant if she ordered it. The only reason she hadn't already had him gunned down was because while she suspected he wasn't loyal to the prince, she had no proof, and knew she would have to answer to Vekar if anything happened to Damaras. Right now, his very life relied on the prince believing he was loyal.
He closed the door, and jammed all surveillance within the room as he looked for his encoded communicator. He activated it, bringing up a line.
"What is it Damaras?" Vrak asked in an impatient tone. Damaras had been convinced some time ago that Prince Vekar was a liability. He knew that Vrak was by far the better tactician and leader, and had been plotting with him to overthrow Vekar. He knew that what he was doing was a risk, but having fought for the Royal Family for so long, he was convinced that his loyalty required him to take care of any threat to the throne, even if that threat was within the Royal Family itself!
"Lavira suspects my loyalty." Damaras told him. Vrak just looked into his screen.
"Is that all?" He asked.
"What do you mean, 'is that all?'" Damaras asked pointedly. "She suspects my loyalty! If the Prince..."
"My little brother is as foolish as he is conceited." Vrak told him. "You have undermined him for years without arousing his suspicion."
"Lavira is no fool!" Damaras reminded him.
"She is a glorified mechanic!" Vrak stated.
"She turned Argus with a single command, she turned the droids on me with a simple command!" He yelled, relaying the incident to Vrak. "I am surrounded by soldiers she could order to eliminate me at any moment!"
"You always knew this was a risky course of action." Vrak answered. "Still, don't worry, I have things well in hand."
"Did you not hear what I said?" Damaras asked. "If she ever becomes convinced of this, she has an army at her disposal! We're both finished!"
"Trust me." Vrak said with a smile as he signed off. Damaras just growled in frustration as he put the communicator away. He already hated the fact that his fate was now very much in Vrak's hands. Now, he could only hope that Vrak's confidence in his plans wasn't misplaced.
In a hotel room in Valeta, Malta, Kira came in the door with a bell hop, who was carrying her bags, and Marge, her manager. She had more luggage, but most of it were costumes and props for her concert in the city the following night, and so were being taken to the venue. She only had her own bag with her, but made a habit of getting bell hops to take her to her room so that she could question them about the local area. One of the things she loved about touring was getting the opportunity to see different places and immerse herself in different cultures.
"So the bus tour begins in an hour?" Kira asked. The bellhop just nodded.
"Yes Ms. Ford." He replied. "It'll pick up right outside..."
"Excellent." Kira told him, handing him some cash. "And the restaurant can accommodate a vegan diet?"
"It can indeed." He assured her. Kira just smiled.
"Well, book me a table for four people at eight then." She answered.
"I'll do that right away Ms. Ford." He assured her as he left. Marge just shook her head.
"I'll never understand you." She told her. "You're actually paying over the odds to ride on a bus that's older than your Grandfather, has dodgy suspension and no air con?"
"You have no sense of culture." Kira said in a small laugh. "Taking a ride on the Leyland is kind of like taking old Route 66!"
"Well, I like my air con." Marge replied, opening up a tablet as Kira started to unpack. "Anyway, since we have an hour, I thought I'd show you the concept sketches for the new t-shirts."
"Sure, whatever." Kira replied as she came closer. Marge started to scroll through some ideas. "That's a little close to last year's...that one's kind of dull..."
Her jaw dropped as she saw one.
"Oh, my God!" She exclaimed. "That's it!"
"Really?" Marge asked her. "I thought..."
"Marge, that is absolutely perfect!" Kira yelled in delight. "It's...my God, if we market those...we won't be able to keep them on the shelves! Who came up with this?"
"One of the newbies we picked up." She replied. "She's more than a little...well...she's a whack job!"
"Some people say the same thing about me." Kira reminded her. "Bring her in here! I want to talk to her now! If her work's this good, I want to see more of it!"
"OK, if you insist." Marge sighed. She dialled her phone, finding the number she was looking for. "Hey, it's Marge here, Ms. Ford saw your idea for the t-shirt design, she says she wants to see you."
"She does?" The voice on the other end asked excitedly. "I mean...she really likes it?"
"Yeah, she wants to see more of your stuff." Marge replied. "Gather some of your work and come up to the Penthouse as soon as you can."
"Kay kay!" The girl on the other end replied as she hung up. Marge just sighed and shook her head.
"I will never understand your taste." She commented. "But as long as you keep churning out the hits, who am I to argue?"
