1.01: LESS THAN PERFECT, part 1

Arkilla. By all accounts it was a gem of a world. A bit rough, being on the outskirts of the Alliance, but a gem nonetheless. Not that you'd be able to particularly tell from orbit, mind you. From space it looked like a dime-a-dozen ice ball that the outer fringes of any star system would contain thousands of. And yet…tectonic activity allowed for an under-ice ocean teeming with alien life. Temperate oases full of evergreen forest pockets, encircled by ice walls, pockmarked the surface. A powerful magnetosphere allowed for stunning auroras at night. Massive fog-covered ice mountains created breathtaking vistas. Ice chasms crisscrossed the surface.

And of course, there was the capital. Arkilla City was a gem in of itself; a major port settlement for wayside travelers looking to rest between Alliance space and wherever else they were going to or coming from. Beautiful brightly-lit towers stretched up above the ice canyon it was located in, and housing districts sat under the ice, with a view of the ocean and all its wonders. People of all kinds came to Arkilla; it was a trade hub, a central nexus of culture and society. Rough and tumble maybe, but cosmopolitan.

But of course, being 'rough and tumble' meant that the local law enforcement always had to deal with…less than reputable members of society-such as the two streaks of light that were currently making a B-line for the capital city below; one green, the other blue.

"Attention unidentified craft, you are within unauthorized aerospace. Power down your vehicles and prepare to submit to SPD authority. Failure to yield will resort in lethal force. This is your final warning".

Several more streaks of light now tailed the first two, all of them white. To someone watching, they might have been forgiven for thinking it was an unusually colorful, if brief, meteor shower. That is, until the streaks began to twist and turn, moving in ways that would be impossible for average chunks of rock and ice.

As the streaks entered the lower atmosphere, their speed decreased dramatically, until they vanished completely, in their place now a number of small, personal riding craft, each occupied by a single figure. The first two, the green and blue ones with black accents, were ridden by, predictably, rangers of their patron color. Both were of the same design—the blue and green on their suits accented by black going up the inside of their legs and wrapping around their belts, before going straight up and widening across the chest, the split between the two colors being tied together by silver trim (and a silver belt), dividing the suit in an angled design. The chest continued the theme, being overlaid with angled trim of the suits' patron colors and an abstract rendition of their helmet visors in the center. The visors themselves were basic and angled, both unique from the other. Above the visor lay another stylized black piece that reached up and behind the head, the symbol an almost further abstract of the chest symbol. The visors effectively split the helmet, with the bottom half consisting of a black color with a blank faceplate connecting directly below the visor. The neckpiece was of the suits' patron color, cutting off with a silver collar at the neckline. Light silver and black armor wrapped around the suits—as boots, as wrist guards, and as shoulder pieces.

The other vehicles, the white sky bikes with the armored black and white figures, well…

"E Class SPD forces" the green ranger, male, called to blue, "At least seven of them. I told you this was a bad idea!"

Blue, female, scoffed, "They're just mass produced grunts, Trok. They can't hold a candle to real ranger powers. We can take 'em!" with that, blue veered off sharply, twisting her skycycle about in impossible ways, throwing herself directly at the enemy.

Trok grimaced under his helmet as a laser blast nearly melted his leg off, "You know, when Iota told us to keep a low profile, I don't think this is what he meant!" He sighed inwardly in aggravation. Trok looked up to her, really he did. But dang she didn't know the meaning of the word 'stealth'. How the heck were they going to explain *this* to the boss?!

The two rangers proceeded to turn on the suddenly hostile SPD craft, signaling the beginning of a furious dogfight. Blue shot right between two enemy cycles. As she did, she tapped her controls, letting two grappling guns on the sides of her vehicle fire and latch onto the SPD bikes. As she soared past, the two SPD skycycles were dragged with her, colliding into each other and exploding in a furious storm of smoke and debris.

"Down to five, now!" she cheered, pumping her fist in the air as if to make her point. Her self-satisfaction came to an abrupt end however, when a laser blast from another bike hit her in square in the primary engine. "Uh…uh…" she sputtered, noticing the black smoke and fire beginning to consume the back of her craft, and as her vehicle began to lose control, "…Uh oh!"

"Xolin!" Trok shouted, noticing his teammate's dovetailing into the cloud layer above the capital. The green ranger pulled away from his attack, immediately flying off to assist the blue ranger.

Xolin shooed him off, "…Don't worry, I…I got this! Just keep them off me!" she shouted, while still struggling to stay seated in the centripetal nightmare that was her immediate existence. She wasn't…*worried*, exactly. Maybe slightly concerned. Sure, she might be plummeting to a painful death but…er…okay, maybe just a little worry.

"But—"

"Do as I say!" she shouted again, as another laser blast nearly took off her head, "I GOT THIS! WATCH YOUR SIX! WATCH *MY* SIX!"

Green narrowly avoided a stream of laser fire, as he reluctantly returned to the fray. Xolin flipped on her thusters, "Please be okay, pleaaaaase be okay" she worriedly mantra'd to herself. To her extreme relief, the skycycle's thrusters activated with no issue. It wasn't anywhere in the same neighborhood to being a perfect solution; thrusters weren't built for flying a ship, just for minor navigational corrections, but at least she could get herself to stop spinning…

There, thank the Trinity. She had stopped tumbling aimlessly…of course there was still the problem of the city down below. And, y'know, the fact that it was approaching. Quickly.

…Rather quickly, in fact.

Really, really quickly.

"…Oh, this is gonna suck" she muttered to herself, gripping her controls tightly. Her best bet now was to somehow glide in, y'know, at paint-splattering speeds…within a city with lots of buildings. Another barrage of lasers firing past her alerted her to another SPD soldier on her tail. "Man, today just *sucks*".

Putting her thrusters on full burn, Xolin forcefully swung her machine around, still plummeting, to a full one hundred eighty degrees, just as another series of lasers sizzled past. It took her a moment to aim her skycycle correctly but…

Xolin pressed the 'fire' button, and the SPD skycycle lit up like a roman candle. Satisfied, the blue ranger flipped her vehicle back around and her mind returned to the more pressing concern. Those buildings, for instance, were getting pretty big. She managed to correct her direction just as she grazed by the highest-most towers, currently gliding many stories over a thankfully long stretch of freeway. If she hadn't been confronting her own mortality, she might have stolen a brief half-second to admire the beauty of the city; high brightly-lit skyscrapers bunched together with the faint golden glow of dusk bouncing off of them, wide freeways of hovercraft intersecting below, a vibrant cornucopia of activity from all the ads and lights and sounds and people and…everything, below. And all of it sat within a large ice canyon, a dark bluish white now that the sun wasn't directly bouncing on all of it, and very much a contrast to the darker makeup of the city skyline, or the even darker bluish sky. It was almost scenic.

…And, predictably, that was when the city began firing on her. Automated defense systems in case of stray asteroids or debris, she figured. Not that it made things any less annoying. Or terrifying.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!"

Up ahead the highway made a sharp right turn. There was no way she could maneuver that; her bike was running on inertia and gravity, and little else. Two SPD skycycles flanked her. The building at the end of the road approached rapidly.

"…WELP"

Xolin had nothing to lose. The blue ranger leapt off her bike in a single fluid movement, bringing her legs up and wrapping her arms around them as she flung herself down. The skycycle slammed into the side of the building in a blaze of glory, giving her the opening she needed. She hit the interior floor of the structure and rolled, allowing her inertia to let her get back up and keep running as the wreckage of the bike exploded, ripping through what looked to be a warehouse.

Of course it was a warehouse.

Reaching the end of the scaffolding she was on, Xolin flipped off, just as the explosion consumed the entire area. The blue ranger landed in a heap on the ground floor, debris from the partially destroyed building raining down around her. Xolin groaned as she staggered back to her feet. As if to signify she meant to do that, the blue ranger simply began brushing herself off.

…Unfortunately, her pursuers weren't quite so willing to go along with it. As she got her bearings, she realized the burning building was in the process of being surrounded. She saw white armored troops arriving at every entrance and piling in. Immediately, she took up a defensive position, waiting to see what they did next. This was…actually not good, at all. The leader of the group, his armor a bit more imposing than the mass produced models, stepped forward.

"We have you surrounded, do not attempt to escape. You are charged with multiple counts of trespassing, violation of aerospace, failure to yield to authorities, and vandalism".

Under her helmet, Xolin's eyebrow arched as she put her hands on her belt, "…Vandalism? What…" she turned her vision to the the burning wreckage around her, "…Oh, riiiight, the building. Duh. My bad".

The SPD commander brought out his judgment scanner, which unsurprisingly declared her guilty in a heartbeat. "You are under arrest by the authority of Arkilla E-Squad Battalion. Prepare for sentence".

Xolin made a short, dry chuckle, "Sorry. I don't much feel like being part of someone's trading card collection. Not this way, anyway" out of nowhere a lance appeared in her hand, "But you guys are totally welcome to try".

"Target has chosen force" the officer commanded to his troops, "All units, take the criminal down!"

Outnumbered at least twenty to one. No way to escape. Stranded on a hostile world. Not good odds. Definitely not a good start to a mission. And Trok! Where had he—

Xolin's thoughts as the enemy soldiers closed in were shattered as another large chunk of the wall in front of her was ripped apart, laser blasts once again filling the air over her head with blinding light and thunderous fury. For a second, she swore the entire building was coming down, or that SPD had trained the city defenses on her, or both. But then, she realized with relief that the cavalry had arrived in the form of a green skycycle which emerged through the hole, gunning down the equally stunned SPD soldiers…before turning his attention to the supports of the building itself.

Wait, what. No. Nononono. OH SHI-

"TROK, WHAT ARE YOU—" her words were drowned out by the unearthly chaos of reality crashing down around her.


New hired hands often complained about dank, dark, and cramped feel of his ship. He was always baffled about this; did none of them ever find themselves in the employ of any other pirate lord ever? Or a Vile mercenary band? How was it he only ever got the freshest of meat?

For his part, he loved his ship. Bright lights bothered his vision, and he enjoyed the atmosphere the shadows provided; it always helped to unnerve visitors or prisoners. It wasn't the biggest or most powerful ship out there, but it was his. He knew every creak, every loose wire, every stain. Here, he was *The* Pirate Lord. Pipes stuck out of the walls, the floor consisted of grates covering knotted up wires, and bare twisted struts jutted out at random intervals like knives. Even the bridge contained few types of comfort to more…squishy types, mostly just existing to house his throne, a few status stations to his back and side, and the main screen.

They called him Capricorn; a nickname given to him when he was young, on his first pirate mission onboard a Eurasan Clan vessel. See, he resembled a humanoid goat…thing, so…well, *they* had thought it was clever. Capricorn had taken that name and owned it. To him, it *was* his real name; whatever one he had been given when he was created was lost long ago; destroyed in whatever evil lair he had been concocted from. It was probably something lame anyway, like 'Goat Master', or 'Robogoat'. He was an imposing sight; he was almost seven feet tall with Greek style hoplite armor plated over his hide, and four large horns twisting out over his head.

"We've docked" a rough voice from behind his command chair stated. Vl'nox, a varox, and one of his longest-lasting crewmembers—he had actually come with the ship when he bought it. It was something about 'sentimental value' or some nonsense. Whatever, he had proven a loyal –and more importantly, capable— minion. The haphazardly but full-body armored and fearsome-looking bounty hunter made a pass around the edge of the bridge, coming to Capricorn's left, "Shall I alert the crew?"

Capricorn nodded, then stood up, "They know the mission objectives; have them fan out. The Objective must be secured before it leaves this planet".

Vl'nox bowed slightly, "It will be done" he stated, before turning to leave. Capricorn remained behind for a moment to ponder, glancing at the viewscreen, out at the busy thoroughfare that was the landing bay of Arkilla City's spaceport. The payoff for this mission was absolutely insane; whoever wanted the objective was desperate. For a moment Capricorn entertained blackmailing them for more money once he had what they wanted, but soon dismissed it; pulling that on an employer who could dish out this kind of cash probably meant he'd be dead within a week. He'd played this game long enough to know when being a scheming backstabber was a stupid idea. And regardless, he'd soon be swimming in credits. Well, not literally swimming, since they were an electronic form of currency but…well.


"Please remember to take your belongings with you as you exit the transport. We appreciate you choosing to fly with Aeurola Spacelines today. Thank you, and have a nice day".

Sid idly wondered why businesses bothered with fake pre-recorded pleasantries as he grabbed his backpack from the top rung of the transport he had been riding for the last several hours. It's just, no one actually believed the message itself really cared, or that the person who had recorded it really had the capacity of empathy for every single person in the billions who would hear it every time they stepped off a space transport, right? But if they didn't, it'd still be committing a social faux pas because people would get the idea the company couldn't bother.

Hrn.

He was thinking about this too much. Sid shrugged and exited the ship, finding himself in the midst of the Arkilla spaceport, a gigantic open parking lot, ringed by multi-tiered walls covered in shops and services, the interior filled with transports and cargo vessels, and thousands upon thousands of people making their way from one place to another; a sea of people, as one would expect from a major metropolis. From his vantage point, Sid could also see it wasn't even the largest of the landing pads—up above him loomed a number of towers, all part of the same complex, reaching up to various heights. This was the center of the city, its beating heart.

"I do love scenic worlds" the early-mid 20-something-year-old male whispered to himself, before adjusting his bag and turning to go. He fished a small note out of his pocket, looking it over for the umpteenth time. The email had been fairly vague, just a name, an address, and promise of 'high pay' for his services. Sid wondered how someone this far out even knew about him; usually he had to work hard to sell himself to skeptical would-be employers. And what would this person even want with Sid? He was an odd-jobs kinda guy, y'know, jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none sort of thing. Except not really a jack, more of um…an '8' in the deck, he guessed. Maybe a '5'.

…Sigh. This was totally a trap. But then, Sid couldn't figure out why *him*. It couldn't be a scam, you didn't need a person's physical body to steal their bank account. Not that Sid even *had* anything in his bank account, hence his actually-coming-out-here. And like, they had paid for his trip and everything. So, y'know, suspicious. Either he was going to be harvested for organs, or he was about to be thrown into some sort of clandestine gang war.

"This was a bad idea" he muttered, looking around, "A really bad idea".

His train of thought was brought to an abrupt end by the sound of commotion not too far away. He turned his attention to a group of various aliens—two tengas and…a piranatron? Huh, didn't see many of them these days. Also, there was an aquitian. Looked to be an older dude too. Huh.

…Oh! They were shaking the aquitian down, it looked like. Duh. And of course none of the guards were coming to assist. Sigh.

"Excuse me!" he said, swaggering up to the group, "Is there a problem here? I couldn't help hearing all the noise".

One of the tengas turned around to look at the newcomer. Sid never much liked tengas; they were kind of like one of those scary bedtime story monsters. Y'know, when you'd have a nightmare as a kid of a large black-feathered human-sized bird creature carrying you off. It didn't help that it always looked like they had some sort of disease either. piranatrons were better; though that was mostly because he had no idea what any of them looked like under their copper fish-themed armor.

…Really, did anyone know? He made a mental note to search 'piranatron' later.

"None of your business, human. Be on your way" the bird creature crowed, annoyed that it had been interrupted.

Sid sighed and grinned, "Sorry, but I'd like to hear it from the old man" he said, pointing to the elder man who, if one had been living under a rock for…well, centuries, looked as if either his head was swollen, or as if he was wearing a strange helmet of some sort. To anyone in the know of course, he was just your average aquitian, an aquatic humanoid alien with a thick protective skull to house their enlarged brains.

The aquitian gave Sid a knowing nod. Sid nodded back, "Okay guys. Step away from the old guy".

"You gonna make us?" cawed the other tenga. All three took an aggressive stance against the human.

"You really want to do this in the middle of the spaceport?" asked Sid, casually tossing his bag aside, "I can walk out of the police station without a problem" his voice took on a dangerous tone as his grin widened, "Can you?"

The three aliens looked at each other for a moment before grumbling. "…You win this time, human. Watch yourself" said the first tenga as they began to walk away.

Sid just gave him a cocky smile and a fake salute, "I'll keep that in mind".

"Oh, thank you for that" the elderly aquitian casually brushed himself off, "They were *quite* persistent".

"It's no problem, really" Sid replied in earnest. He picked up his bag off the floor, then paused, "What was that about, anyway?"

The aquitian shrugged, "Just some common thugs looking for some change. Come now, we should speak in my office" he said, his voice carrying the usual 'bubble' accent that most of his species had when speaking land languages—though it was noticeably less present than usual. Whoever this guy was, he'd been away from home for quite some time. He waved Sid to follow him as he turned.

Sid's eyebrow arched, "…Come again?"

The aquitian turned back again, the two of them just sort of staring at each other for the briefest of awkward seconds. "…The employment position. I assume that's why you are here, yes? You are Sid Drake?"

"I...wait, you're…" Sid looked down at his paper, "…Coros?" Hrn. He hated being blindsided like this.

The elder chuckled, "Indeed I am. It is good to finally meet you. My employer has said many good things about you".

Now Sid was *completely* taken off guard, "Wait, what? Your employer? Who—"

Coros chuckled again, "Come, come. We can discuss everything in my office. But not here". The aquitian once again motioned for Sid to follow him. Sid sighed; this was *totally* going to end in organ harvesting, wasn't it?


Eugh. She'd be scrubbing dust and debris out of her hair for weeks. Part of it reminded her of the dust storms growing up in the arid badlands of Triforia…she hated it then, too. Granted, she hated most of her childhood, so not much was new there. Xolin absently combed her fingers through her black hair for the umpteenth time as she glanced around the corner of the alleyway the two of them had ducked into. The city street seemed clear of hostiles—by now night had settled, and the entire strip was illuminated by artificial light. The next target was clear even from here—the Arkilla spaceport, the massive towering , monolithic complex in the center of the city; the hub of all commerce in this trade town. She smiled to herself; downtown was a dang good place to hide in plain sight. She and Trok had both forgone their ranger attire, instead returning to their civilian forms. Even in SPD space, a triforian and a horathean wouldn't be too out of the ordinary, especially not for a port city like Arkilla. She just had to blend in and look like she was supposed to be here. And it wasn't like a triforian couldn't just pass off as an indiscriminate human anyway—and there were still more than a few human colony worlds waving the Alliance flag. Even the ceremonial tattoo around her left eye could be ignored as a fashion statement unless one had really brushed up on obscure triforian subcultures.

Heh. She wished it was.

"What do you even call that?!" she exclaimed to her companion, as they rejoined the busy city life. She was obviously referring to the whole 'bring the house down around us' fiasco.

Trok shrugged, kind of uncomfortably, "You were surrounded, our cover was blown, I had to do something. So I thought, 'what would Xolin do?'"

Xolin eyed the horathean suspiciously. The green scaly patches that covered much of his head and limbs should have made him an imposing sight, but somehow, they only served to make him even more like the adorkable kid she was leading around on deadly mission after deadly mission. Well, not *actually* a kid. Late teen, maybe? Very late teen. But still, a good few years younger than her. Wait…how fast *did* horatheans age?

Regardless, she pressed on, "So months training together, and the only thing that comes to mind when you think about me is 'blow buildings up with us inside', huh?" her voice was even, peppered with bemused sarcasm.

Trok shrugged again, "You uh…did sort of botch the whole 'undercover' thing with an aerial dogfight. In broad daylight".

The triforian wheeled on her teammate, an annoyed expression plastered on her face, "Not my fault! And what are even the chances they detected our approach with a trajectory like that? We should have just been considered space debris!"

"Space debris with morphin' grid energy readings, maybe" Trok said with a knowing smirk, continuing to walk.

Xolin glared at him impetuously as he passed her by, "…You know, I think I liked you better before you learned to snark". Trok just snickered.

She sighed as she resumed her walk, now behind Trok, "Guess I better call the boss. Let him know we landed alright". She grimaced inwardly as she tapped into her wrist morpher; she wasn't looking forward to this call at all. But, well, she supposed it was better to get it over with now instead of him calling them later concerned about their lack of progress. Detaching a small device from her morpher, she placed it in her ear and dialed.

"We made it to Arkilla" she said, after making sure the connection had gotten through, "Enroute now to the spaceport".

"Enroute? I thought you said you landed" came the response. No real outward emotion to it, but that was Iota for you; all business.

Xolin chuckled nervously, "We uh…had to take a slight detour. We're in the city, just…a bit off of our destination".

"By 'detour' she means she crashed into a random building" Trok smirked.

"…What was that?" asked their boss, concern laced in his voice.

"Nothing!" Xolin continued to laugh nervously, before giving Trok a withering glare, "Nothing. Trok's just being his usual charming self. We're fine. Everyone's fine. No need to be alarmed. We've got this".

"You're a terrible liar, Xolin"

Xolin sputtered, red in the face, while Trok looked like he was about to double over laughing.

"Let me remind you that this mission is supposed to be subtle. Undercover. Incognito. Get in, get the girl, get out without being noticed. It's a stealth mission, not a combat mission. The stakes on this one are impossibly high. Don't make me regret letting you play squad commander. Get your objective, and get out as quickly as you can".

"I…" Xolin sighed, knowing from experience that arguing with Iota was fruitless, "Yes sir. We're pretty sure SPD lost our trail after we landed anyway".

There was a slight pause, "…SPD's not who I'm worried about".

The two rangers glanced at each other as he said this, now somewhat concerned and confused. "…Sir?" Xolin asked warily. Unfortunately for them, she was not about to get clarification.

"Just do your jobs. Iota out".

"Always a sociable guy, that one" Trok said, as Xolin's link went dead. She just sighed and returned the earbud to its place on her wrist morpher. "What do you think he meant be 'the stakes are impossibly high', anyway?" Trok asked.

Xolin shrugged as they turned a corner, "Heck if I know. He never lets us in on the actual strategic details". She couldn't help but feel a bit hurt at that; no matter how much they accomplished, she could tell Iota was keeping things from them. It was just…frustrating. She never doubted they weren't making a difference; they had defeated countless monsters since she had joined up, but…well. And then there was this mission…something just felt a bit off about it

"…Not sure if it's all really classified by the organization, or if he just doesn't trust us" she continued, a bit quieter than before.

"Well, given the situation…" Trok turned back to see Xolin giving him another withering glare, which he just took in stride with a large troublemaking grin. She was just too easy sometimes. "You didn't tell him that we need new skycycles, huh?"

"…I hate you" she deadpanned.


Sid had to hand it to the aquitians; they knew how to decorate. He had been expecting your average office; big desk, fancy chair, probably a full wall window overlooking the spaceport promenade, somewhere underneath the landing deck. And yeah, all three of those were things he found once Coros opened the door. But then there were the aquariums. Not like, fish tanks, but like, the walls themselves were one giant ecosystem filled with all sorts of flora and fauna from Aquitar. Vibrant and elaborate alien coral and fan seaweed made a playground for all sorts of bizarre creatures swimming in and around the entire room. The water cast a soft blue light on the interior of the room, only dissipated by the lights coming from the window. Sid had to admit, it was kind of impressive for an office; it really set a unique mood. And he figured it was a way for Coros to keep from getting homesick.

…But jeeze, this must have been expensive. How important was this guy? What did he even *do*?

The other thing Sid noticed upon entering the room was the girl. She had green hair and a small crystal on her forehead; Xybrian, Sid guessed, and looked to be…fairly young, actually. seventeen…ish? She looked at him for a moment, making direct eye contact with no expression on her face, before returning her gaze to the spot on the aquarium just opposite of her.

…Yeah, this wasn't weird at all. Sid made a mental note to bug out the second the March Hare showed up and asked for more tea.

"Please, have a seat" Coros said, motioning to a chair as the entered the room. Coros took his seat behind the desk, while Sid elected to remain standing. He crossed his arms expectantly, his eyebrow arched. Coros cleared his throat, "…Yes, well. First of all, I would like you to meet Sel" he said, motioning to the Xybrian in the corner of the room.

"Hello" Sid said casually, waving his hand before continuing to keep his arms in the folded position. She said nothing in response, instead simply making eye contact one more before returning to her vigil. "…Right" he turned back to Coros, shrugging, "Okay…?"

"Forgive her; she's a very quiet type. Don't take it personally" Coros said. He began looting through his desk drawer, eventually finding a small button which he pressed. A panel in the middle of the desk rose up, revealing a small compartment with a box. Oh god, this wasn't good. Small, hidden boxes were *never* good. "I apologize for the…unconventional situation" the aquitian continued, "Time, and secrecy, has made the usual method of doing things unwieldy"

Sid eyed his potential employer. This was sounding worse all the time, "…So what exactly do you want out of me?"

"I understand you were once a ranger. Red ranger, in fact. SPD D-Squad, Mirinoi division? During the War?"

Shit.

"…Yeah?" Sid asked hesitantly, now definitely sure he didn't like where this was going. His eyes went back to the small, black box. He pretty much knew what was inside. Sure enough, Coros opened the box, and a wrist morpher lay inside. "No deal" Sid replied briskly as he began walking to the door, "Sorry for wasting your time".

"I need a protector. A guardian. Your file fits that; you were chosen out of hundreds of options. You are the most qualified—"

Sid cut the old man off with anger in his voice, turning from the door, "No. You chose wrong. If you've really studied my file, then you knew exactly what my answer was going to be before I even walked in here". Never again. Never, ever, ever again. Not after…well.

Coros sighed, "And I'm afraid that's an answer I cannot accept".

Sid pressed the door button several times to no effect. Hrn. He glared back at the elderly aquitian, "Let. Me. Go" he growled, anger seeping through his clenched teeth. This wasn't happening. He had absolutely *no* intention of playing this game—not today, not ever.

Maddeningly, Coros continued on as if nothing had happened, "The girl in front of us represents a major investment for my organization. The details are not important just yet, but suffice to say numerous hostile parties are looking for her. If they were to take her into their custody, the consequences would be…catastrophic".

"For you, anyway" Sid added, still futilely, but absentmindedly pressing the door button.

Coros turned his gaze from Sel to Sid, almost unnervingly so, "For everyone" he corrected him, his voice low, quiet, even.

"…Right" Sid said, "Now, can you let me out? I'd rather not have to crash through your window". Really, he'd rather not. All those shards, and the tumbling several floors down, and having to explain to the police…just way too much work involved.

"Your personality files suggested you were the heroic type. I must say, even with your…background, I'm surprised you're not even willing to listen to me" Coros calmly placed his hand together on the desk in a steeple formation.

Sid's eyes narrowed as he let go of the door, making a few steps toward Coros's desk. Oh no. They were NOT playing this game with him, "Oh, I've already listened to you, and I'm pretty sure I've got the jist of things. You're an amoral under-the-table megacorporation who probably got in a bit over their heads with something and now you need a hero to fix your mess-ups. Except you're doing a really bad job of trying to manipulate me into doing it, so it'd be better for everyone involved if you just let it all drop and let me go. I already gave you my answer: I'm not interested".

Seriously. The sheer amount of gall this whole setup took. Luring Sid here after studying his entire personal history, then locking him in a room with friggin' McCrazypants until he agreed to fight for them, despite *knowing* full well that not only would he never put on the ranger uniform again, but knowing exactly *why* he wouldn't?

…Who even *does* that?! What kind of sick freak tries to strong-arm a random war vet into a private mercenary service? There were plenty of people willing to play hero in the universe. Choose some random wide-eyed adventurer to be your meat puppet. He had already seen way more—lost way more than he ever wanted to. Never again.

A sudden light rumble shook the room. Earthquake? No, too quick and clean. Sid's experience had taught him that abnormal ground shakings were usually bad ideas. His priorities suddenly shifted, "Uh…what was that?" he asked, now a little concerned.

"Company" Coros replied plainly, without even a hint of emotion.

Son of a…


She swore; it was like EVERYONE WAS OUT TO GET HER. The subway was out, the tram system was out, she couldn't get a hovercraft to stop…and this place didn't even have any sort of teleporter network. It was totally unfair!

"COME ON!" she shouted, kicking the elevator door. It was supposed to take them up several stories to the next level of the city, but they had been standing here for at least five minutes. *Seriously*, this was the worst system of public transportation she had ever—the door opened. *Finally*.

"'Bout friggin time" she exhaled in exasperation as she marched inside.

Trok, for his part, had just sort of tried to make himself invisible. As people made curious glances at Xolin's inane rantings at the inanimate elevator, Trok just kind of nervously chuckled, scratching the back of his head, and generally staying a few feet away from the screaming triforian. Maybe if he was lucky, they'd think he was an unrelated passenger. He sighed and boarded the elevator after his mentor.

It wasn't like he didn't like Xolin; far from it. She was smart and capable and beautiful and…man, she knew so many awesome things—like how she was always training him how to fight in new styles; it was like she never ran out of new tricks and tips. She was like the cool older sibling he had never had back home. …Er, rephrase. She was like the older sibling he had wished he never had back home. She was demanding; always expecting the very best and never accepting anything less from him—she pushed him to be the best he possibly could. But she was also kind and understanding, quickly coming to trust and even respect him, even though she was way more capable and trained. But at the same time…well, there was this.

She was still ranting about public transportation. Trok knew to just nod and smile while she did so. Sigh. Like an elder sibling, no matter how cool, she could be *really* embarrassing at times.

Still ranting. Now it was about how the city was inconveniencing her.

Sigh.


Sid felt another rumble. And another. And another. Each one was a bit stronger than the last, and each were evenly spaced apart.

"…Footsteps" he whispered, looking in the direction he thought they might be coming from. Whatever was coming, it was big…and probably not very nice.

Coros nodded, "I would assume that would be the 'hostile parties' I mentioned".

Sid glared at his imprisoner, bile rising up inside of him. This was all calculated. Coros *knew* he'd be needed convincing, so he had made sure there was no way Sid could resist, "…You set this up. You son of a—"

Coros's voice was even, controlled, yet filled with urgency. "I would take the morpher, Sid Drake of Mirinoi, of clan Ash'anta. If you wish to save not only yourself, but the girl as well, then take the morpher and do what you were trained to do. What you were born to do".

What a bunch of... 'What he was born to do'? Who even talked like that, outside of recruitment posters? Sid's fists bunched up. His eye twitched. He was about to punch the old man out…but the footsteps. The footsteps. Glancing over to the girl, he exhaled, anger leaving his body. Closing his eyes, the looked down for a moment, coming to a decision. God damn it. "…What's your purpose here?" he asked, looking Sel dead in the eyes, "Who are you?"

She looked away, "…I don't know" she said softly. Something about it…maybe it was the soft almost broken nature of it all, maybe it was aura of pitiful emptiness she exuded, but something got his attention. He sighed; she didn't deserve to die, regardless of anything else.

He hated mind games.

The once and again red ranger resigned himself, regretfully picking the morpher up off the desk. "Here's the deal" he said, strapping it to his wrist, "I'm going to save you and your princess over there. I'm going to kick some evil space alien butt, win the day, all that jazz. And then?" he slammed his palms onto the desk, leaning over and leering at his would-be commander, "And then we're going to have a nice, long chat about personal boundaries".

A small smirk formed on Coros's mouth. He had what he wanted, after all. Sid resisted the urge to punch him right into the fish tank, "I look forward to it" the old man grinned.

At that moment, the fish tank behind them…well, exploded. Glass and wall debris threw itself out into the room, water and aquatic life knocking Sid back as the entire aquarium emptied out, flooding into the middle of the room. Looking back at the point of detonation, Sid found an imposing sight; a large, eight foot tall tank monster. Two tread legs, two arms with guns galore, and a head folded down into the large, armored body, a large gun on top.

"Well, you're an ugly one, aren't you?" Sid asked, actually a little impressed. This wasn't your average run-of-the-mill monster. Noticing Coros now lying still under the ruins of his desk, Sid moved to guard Sel, placing himself in between her and the monster. Sid couldn't say he was really broken up about Coros; but he had bigger things to deal with right now anyway.

The tank looked at Sid, then at the girl, who was now out of her chair and backing up. At least she wasn't completely catatonic; some level of self-preservation by his appointed charges was always appreciated by Sid. "Scanning: Objective located. Beginning retrieval operation" its mechanical voice stated, with absolutely no hint of emotion.

Sid moved to activate his morpher, "Sorry sparky, this one's mine. But I'm sure you can get one just like it off the internet for che—"

Sid never got a chance to finish his sentence, instead finding his body being flung like a ragdoll through the window. He slammed into the side of one of the food stalls on the promenade below, crashing into the booth in a heap. Screams and shouts combined with the world spinning around him to provide him with a particularly unhelpful symphony of crazy. By the time he was starting to get his bearings again, an SPD officer was helping him to his feet and telling him to run, before charging into the fray himself, along with numerous other officers. The tank had dropped itself to the street level of the promenade, Sel in a heap behind it—Sid surmised it had incapacitated her somehow. Whoever wanted her, wanted her alive and intact. Good to know. The other thing he noticed was that all of the SPD officers were activating low-level E-class white armor over their bodies, but none were suiting up as rangers. And predictably, they were being blown apart by the tank.

"Where's your ranger team?!" he asked one of the guards who had just been thrown back by an indirect hit. Lucky for him he didn't seem that hurt, just a little dazed.

"Offworld. Won't be back until tomorrow" the guard grunted as Sid helped him up, "Thank you. Now get out of here, hurry!" he ran off, back to the chaos as Sid just stood there. He looked down at his morpher, brushing over it with his other hand. No rangers? This wasn't good. The guards weren't quitting, Sid had to give them that-but they just weren't up to the task. And many more innocents could get hurt.

Damnit all.

Suddenly, the tank began to shift and change, compartments opening up and…oh god. Sid's eyes widened in terror as he realized what it was about to do. Jumping over a busted counter and laying low, he barely missed the onslaught as the tank monster began to simply lay waste to anyone and everyone with a massive barrage of weapons fire, ranging from bullets and grenades to full on artillery fire. Within a second the promenade had turned into an apocalyptic hellstorm.


The outer ring of the spaceport was now just a few blocks away now, thank the Trinity. So predictably, that was when the side of one of the port towers decided to randomly explode.

"Huh. That…happened" Trok said dumbly, watching the smoke beginning to rise from the hole in the structure.

Xolin sighed, this day sucked. "Of course it happened. Why not? Everything else is in the gutter tonight. Bleh. Come on, we gotta hurry!" she said, breaking into a sprint. Trok quickly followed suit.

"Think it's related to Coros?" asked Trok, keeping back with Xolin. She nodded glumly.

"An explosion just happens to rip through part of Spaceport tower five, where we were supposed to meet him? Yeah, I don't do coincidences".


The tank surveyed the wreckage of what once been an indoor marketplace. The civilians had fled, and guards were all down. Situation was resolved.

…Except…

A plum of smoke vanished, replaced by a red ranger, a large double-sided axe in hand, having just used it to clear a path in the smoke.

"Okay" Sid said, brandishing his weapon at his opponent, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let's try this again. I'm Sid, and you're…?"

The tank turned its attention back on the red ranger, "Threat located. Preparing to terminate".

Sid snorted. Well, *he* was just a bundle of personality, "Sorry, the correct answer was 'I'm going to give up and OHSHI—" the red ranger barely dodged another projectile from the monster's primary cannon. This was bad; the tank was likely at least a class B on the monster scale, possibly class A-he seriously doubted one ranger had enough firepower to take this thing down, especially not his own power set which as far as he could tell was primarily built for melee. If only he had like, a power cannon or something. Or a zord.

…Did he have a zord? A quick mental scan revealed, nope, he was out of luck. Dang. Another blast drove Sid out of his hiding spot. He was now in a constant game of hide-and-seek, except it was more or less 'find cover and then watch it blow up'. All in all, not a game he had particularly missed.

"I can't even get close to him" Sid muttered to himself, just before launching himself to new cover yet again, "I need someone to keep it busy". Grabbing his pistol, he took a few shots, watching in annoyance as they were simply deflected by the strong armor of the creature. Sid rolled his eyes in disgust, "Because of course the side arm is useless. Why wouldn't it be?"

Sadly for Sid, that little dig cost him dearly; the monster had gotten a chance to finally lock on to him. At that moment, Sid discovered two things. One: it doesn't matter how many times you've faced your own mortality, your life will always flash right before your eyes just before the end. And two: man, taking the equivalent of a platoon assault to the face friggin' *hurt*.


All hostiles had been neutralized, the Objective was secure. The entity known as Artillar had draped the girl over its shoulder and was now making its way down one of the hallways. Since leaving the promenade it had encountered a handful more hostile targets; they had also been quickly neutralized. One mission objective remained; return to Capricorn's ship. It mapped out its route from its position, ensuring it wouldn't get lost.

Alert. Two more targets were incoming.

"…Wow. This place got *destroyed*"

Trok peered around the devastated corridor. The power here had gone out, leaving the debris-ridden hallway dim and eerily quiet, the only sounds being the crackling of electricity and the slow dripping of water as it pooled on the floor. …Well, that and the ever present thumping noise of something moving. Neither he nor Xolin had morphed yet; it was probably best not to get SPD on their tail if they could help it.

"Scanner says she's close" Xolin replied. She had shifted her morpher to holographic display mode, allowing her more control over its functions, as well as giving her an extremely helpful sensor system.

"Uh…"

Xolin looked up at Trok's sudden stopping in his tracks, "…What? I haven't—huh".

Ahead of both of them stood an eight foot tank robot.

"Found her" Trok said lamely, pointing at the unconscious female draped over its shoulder. Xolin sighed and shut off her holographic display, mildly annoyed.

The tank turned around, each step shaking the ground around them so it could meet its new opponents.

Trok backed away , "Uh…morph now?" he asked, fairly certain he knew where this was gonna go. And fairly eager to get to that part, because the tank was closing in on them really fast and this wasn't cool.

Gods, finally. Xolin grinned as she gripped her morpher, "Oh yeah. It's game time!"

Artillar opened fire with its two shoulder cannons, the two rangers rolling under the barrage as they transformed into the green and blue rangers, before jumping up and landing a double kick on the tank. Unfortunately for them however, it didn't even faze it.

"Tough hide" Xolin dodged the creature's massive left arm and swung around to the back, bringing out her lance and continuing her attack from the back "Try to blunt your way in" she ordered, noticing her lance wasn't doing much good. Up front, Trok gripped his hammer, hoping to bash through Artillar's main body cavity.

Bad move.

The front panels of the tank flipped open, and Trok got a face-full of missile swarm. The resulting explosion threw the green ranger through the wall, and he collapsed in a heap.

"TROK!" Xolin shouted in panic. For a brief moment she was half-convinced he had just been vaporized, until she saw his body fly through the wall. Her face twisted in rage; *nobody* hurt her protégé! She screamed in rage, hitting the robot with as much force as she could muster, her lance charging up with blue energy as she swung it back and then down.

The tank stumbled forward, a satisfied smirk forming under Xolin's helmet. Her moment of triumph however, was cut short as the monster once again turned around.

"…Uh oh" was the last thing Xolin managed to utter before the right arm punched her into another wall.

Targets neutralized.

"HEY, SIR SMASHINGTON!"

Artillar turned to see the red ranger standing a few feet down the hall, now somewhat haggard and breathing heavily, burn marks pockmarking his crimson suit, and a stray pole in his hand. The tank aimed its main gun.

"…Not this time" the red ranger grunted, grasping the pole in his hands and thrusting himself at the monster. Aiming his makeshift weapon, Sid leapt up and shoved it into the barrel of the main gun. "Check and mate" he said smugly as he dropped back down.

Boom. The monster's head shifted and shook, a muffled thump heralding a plume of smoke rising from the creature. A short moment of uneasy silence ensued, followed by the tank teetering and falling over on its back, completely lifeless.

Sid blinked. "…Huh. That…went easier than I expected". The red ranger moved around the dead creature-being careful in case it wasn't really offlined for good. He'd done this before; he knew how this kind of stuff worked. Rangers *never* won that easily. "Alright" he said, grabbing Sel, "Come on, we gotta…go somewhere. Hrm" he stopped as he settled her over his back. Where *was* he going? Sid supposed he could go back to see if Coros was still alive, get paid for all this bull at least. Then again, considering the whole situation, maybe it was better if he just cut and ran now, instead of trying to explain to the police why he was wielding unregistered ranger powers and fighting a giant tank monster over a probably-underage girl.

Hrn.

"Okay buddy. Put the girl down".

Sid glanced to his right, where the voice had come from. Another ranger, female, stood her lance at the ready. Another sound, to his left, indicated a second ranger, male, with a hammer. Because of course it had been too easy. Of COURSE it had been too easy. He inwardly cursed himself for a moment for his inattentiveness; this never would have happened before he…er, 'retired'. Stupid rusty reflexes. Sid wondered for a moment if the two newcomers represented the same faction as the tank. Probably not, honestly, which meant they were likely Hostile Faction Number Two.

"I don't suppose we could talk this out?" Sid asked, feigning diplomacy.

The female ranger took up a fighting stance, "Give us the girl, and sure. Why not?" Oh, belligerent sarcasm. Sid liked her.

He gave a dry single chuckle, "Sorry, no can do. I gotta get paid somehow. Raincheck?"

"Last. Warning" the female ranger said. Her tone of voice pretty much told Sid all he needed to know about how much she was bluffing; i.e. not at all. But then again, would she risk hurting the girl? Maybe this faction didn't care if the girl was intact for whatever reason, unlike whoever sent the tank. Or maybe she was just a foolhardy idiot. He could work with that. But what about the other one? Sid stole a glance at the male ranger.

"And what about you?"

"Er…" the male seemed taken aback. He wasn't used to being called on. The girl ranger called the shots, huh? He gathered they were a two man team; not a full one, and the girl was obviously the senior.

"Talk to me, not to him. Put the girl down" the girl repeated.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I cut you in two" the girl threatened.

A goofy smile formed under Sid's helmet, "And risk hurting the girl?" he asked, hoping to pump a bit more information out of them. To a small bit of surprise to Sid, the girl hesitated. Interesting; why did everyone want this girl in one piece? What had he gotten himself into? Hrm. "…What's she to you, anyway? Why is she important?"

"You don't know?" she asked, somewhat surprised herself, it sounded like.

Sid shrugged, "I'm just a mercenary. I do the thing, I get paid. Simple enough". Not…really, but for the purposes of this conversation, sure. But he made a mental note to interrogate Coros later for the whole story. Er…if the old man was still alive, that was.

"…It's classified"

"Oh, of course" Sid replied, with not a little sarcasm. He idly wondered if she really knew either.

"Uh…guys?" asked the guy ranger.

"Put. Her. Down" the girl shifted her stance.

"Guys?"

Sid cocked his head, "…Make me".

"Uh…"

"Don't tempt me!"

"Xolin?"

"Come at me, bro"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT?!" the two of them shouted turning on the other male ranger.

The guy ranger pointed, to which the other two looked over at the remains of the tank monster. Er, well, where the corpse had been. Now it was back up, standing on its two legs. Yep, it had been *way* too easy. Because of course.

"Oh" Sid said, "…Crud". This…this was not good.

Artillar turned and faced the rangers, guns all at the ready, and pointed up at the ceiling in multiple directions.

"…This is gonna suck" the girl sighed.

Sid inwardly agreed, "I hate everything" he muttered.

Boom.


She awoke to agony. Every inch of Xolin's body ached; areas she didn't even know *could* ache hurt. Every movement she made was pain.

"I hate *everything*" she managed to croak out.

"What…happened?" she heard Trok ask. Where was Trok anyway? Her eyes blinked open, finding herself in the middle of wreckage. Just…wreckage everywhere, obscuring the night sky beyond. …Oh, right, the tank. It must have brought down the entire ceiling on top of them—and likely the floors above as well. No wonder she hurt.

"…We got crushed" Xolin replied as she tried to sit up—'tried' being the operative term. She slumped back down, breathing heavily in heavy pain. She instead decided to let her ranger powers fix her up and flood her with the morphin' grid equivalent of painkillers first.

"I am afraid you three don't have the luxury of lying around right now"

Xolin struggled to turn and see the source of the new voice. There stood the elderly aquitian, her contact here. "…Coros! What…" Coros knelt down next to the blue ranger as she managed to sit up. She noticed Trok next to her, as well as the other ranger—red, huh? Looked like her and Trok's power set, but that would mean…uh oh. Oh no.

"Long story short" Coros said to all three of them, "the monster has the girl. We don't have much time before he reaches his ship. You *must* intercept them and win the day".

Red spoke up, "Look, no offense, I'm sure this is hugely important. But if they're yours" he waved at Xolin and Trok, "Then I'm out. You've already got mercenaries".

Mercenaries!? Xolin glared angrily, "Who are you calling a mercenary!? I'm—" her would-be rant died as Coros waved her off.

The aquitian replied calmly, "I told you. You were selected from hundreds of candidates. You weren't employed to be a random brute mercenary, Sid. You're supposed to lead this team"

What?! Xolin gaped at the two of them. No! She was leader! This…this wasn't fair! Not fair at all! She had been training Trok for *months*! They couldn't steal her right at leader away now, not on her first mission without Iota on the field. No no no no—

"No" Sid replied.

Yes!

The red ranger staggered to his feet, "I don't lead teams. Why won't you leave me alone?"

Xolin blinked. What was *that* supposed to mean?

Coros stood up as well, his hands sliding into his pockets, "Please Sid, reconsider. Believe it or not, this really is a mission of intergalactic importance. The fate of the known universe rests on you".

"Right. And why should I believe anything you say?" Sid asked, venom dripping from his tone, "You've done nothing but try to manipulate me from the moment you met me".

The aquitian sighed. He had hoped to do this later, but perhaps he had misjudged Sid, "Very well. I represent an organization known as the Peacekeepers. We are a ranger unit charged with defense of the member worlds of the Confederacy".

Sid snorted in contempt as he folded his arms, "Nice try. But we all know the Confederacy banned all ranger and rider projects after the War, when we split from the Alliance and SPD".

"Officially, yes. Unofficially, the Confederacy still recognizes the threat posed not only by SPD and the Alliance, but the other major local powers as well. The Vile Imperium, the Pirate Consortium…and our troubling reports of resurgence in activity in the Machine Empire, amongst others. The universe needs rangers, Sid. Heroes. Those who will fight and defend their homes when no one else can. We may not be…*officially* condoned by the Senate, but make no mistake, we *are* the good guys".

"So the reason a bunch of covert ops Confederacy types are prowling around in SPD-held territory…?"

"Classified for now, I'm afraid" Coros replied matter-of-factly, "We have many enemies. If you're not willing to join, then you're a potential security risk, and I've already told you far more than you're supposed to know"

Uh huh. Yeah, this totally sounded legit, and not in any way a practiced speech. "Right, okay. So, assuming for a moment that I believe a word you're saying—which I don't for the record, what's up with the girl?" Sid asked, curious.

"Let us just say she is a child of extraordinary importance and power, even if she doesn't look like much".

So basically, classified. Great, "Welp, thanks for the pep talk. I'm out".

"Sid, wait, please" Coros pleaded. For the first time, Sid thought he heard genuine concern coming out of his voice. Probably another trick but…why wait until now to pull out the acting chops? The aquitian continued when Sid did indeed pause, "I can't tell you why she's important, but I can tell you that she *is*. You were chosen for your experience and intelligence. While circumstances prevented you from rising very high in the ranks, your file puts you as one the most well-equipped people to handle this. The other two are green, they need you, if only just this once".

"Green!?" Xolin spoke up, incensed, "What do you mean green!?" She had been at this for *months*. She was a veteran!

Trok sat down on a pile of debris, a bit confused, "Yeah, I'm green. She's blue".

"…Not now, Trok" Xolin sighed in annoyance, before turning her attention back to the ingrate who just insulted her awesome skills, she didn't even care if it was her mission contact, "I'm Xolin of Triforia! I'm *awesome* and skilled and can handle anything you throw at me. I don't need some washed up quitter mercenary" she pointed at Sid, who seemed a little taken aback, "To hold my hand and make sure I'm okay, got it!?"

"Someone's touchy" Sid replied. Evidently that was the wrong thing to say, because even with her helmet on, Xolin looked like she was going to murder him. Thankfully, Coros intervened.

"You are still young, Xolin. And these orders come directly from Iota" he said. The anger seemed to somewhat subside from her body, replaced by disappointment as she turned her attention to the aquitian.

"Iota? But…why?!" she asked. Sid was quickly building a makeshift list of her psychology in his head; driven, high-strung, cocky but with a very delicate ego. She had skill, but was also fairly new at this, as Coros had said. She'd won some victories, but hadn't really had a bad defeat yet. As for the other one…he was really inexperienced. And if he was taking cues from Xolin…oh boy. These two were going to get slaughtered by the tank robot. Just like them.

Sigh.

He repressed memories as the others continued talking.

"Xolin, you have shown much promise, but you aren't ready for leadership yet. Your er…stunt upon arriving here is proof of that" Xolin moved to counter, but Coros cut her off before she even opened her mouth, "And don't bother lying about it, I saw the footage on your way here. You need to refine your skills, and Sid would have made a perfect mentor in that regard".

"Even now Iota doesn't trust me" Xolin muttered, her fists balling up, "Months of this stuff and he still thinks I'm just a kid".

"…It takes more than a few months to be an expert at this stuff" Sid finally spoke up quietly, but with an air of gravity that hadn't been there a second ago. He looked down at the rubble at his feet, "How much?"

"How much what?" asked Xolin, hands on her hips impatiently.

"…How much are you willing to pay me?" he clarified, his gaze turning to Coros.

"Fifty thousand credits" the old man replied, not missing a beat.

Dang. That was a lot of money, even he had to admit. They must have been desperate. Sid closed his eyes and exhaled. Damn it. "…Fine. You've got me for the rest of this mission. I'll make sure everyone gets home safe".

"And then?" asked Coros.

Sid returned to looking at the rubble, "…And then I take my fifty grand and go on vacation or something. I dunno. Just not here, and not with you".

Coros nodded, "Thank you".

"Thank me *after* I've saved the day" Sid replied, glumly. He looked at Xolin, "You guys coming?"

Xolin folded her arms, "Why should I take orders from you?" she sneered.

"Because I'm the best thing you've got" Sid replied, not entirely confidently, but still rather glumly.

"And because it's an order" Coros added, to which Xolin let her arms back down in a defeated snit. Sid could tell she was going to be a joy to work with. Oh well, better get this show on the road. The quicker he saved the princess or whatever, the quicker he could get the hell out of here. The red ranger looked over his morpher while the blue ranger and the aquitian talked. Hrm, it seemed that the tank was already near the closest launch pad.

"If we're gonna do this, we gotta do it now" Sid said, "Big guy's already almost to home base. Everyone, follow me" with that, Sid turned and headed down the hallway at a low run. Trok shrugged and followed, leaving an extremely grumpy Xolin behind.

She sighed, "I hate my life" the blue ranger said, before chasing after them.

Coros watched them vanish around a darkened pile of debris for a moment, before pulling a communicator out of his pocket. "Coros here. Big fish has swallowed the bait. He wasn't too happy though, you'll need to entice him further once the mission is complete".

"Understood. Good work, Coros".

"The girl wasn't too happy either. May want to settle her down before she does something reckless".

"She'll live" said the voice, "Xolin's impatient and headstrong. But she'll learn, sooner or later. The Megaship is enroute. Keep tabs on them until I arrive. Iota out".

Coros snapped his communicator shut, shoved his hands back into his pockets, and strode off, hoping to get out of the warzone before more SPD troops arrived. The less questions, the better.


A new ranger! Holy crap! Trok was beside himself, this was a really awesome turn of events. Xolin didn't seem happy for some reason, but he didn't get why. Another ranger meant another friend, another comrade to the team. And Sid seemed pretty cool—and most of all, experienced.

"So, uh…my name's Trok!" he said to Sid, fairly clumsily. He mentally cursed himself. Don't be so needy! Let him breath. He didn't want the new leader to hate him already.

"Trok huh?" asked Sid as they ran, "….That's Horathean, isn't it?"

Trok beamed in gratitude, "Yes sir! Glad to meet you!"

Sid laughed and shook his head. They came to a stop at a pair of elevators, Xolin rounding the corner right behind them, "No formal ranks here, kid. I'm just your substitute teacher".

"Care to explain to me why we stopped at a pair of elevators when the power's out, oh glorious leader?" asked Xolin, again with not just a little sarcasm.

"You're going to be just peachy to work with, aren't you?" Sid grumbled. He didn't even bother to look in her direction, instead grasping at the space between the elevator doors. He pulled them open after giving a small grunt. They were a bit more stubborn than he had expected, even with his ranger powers.

"I'm just saying" Xolin retorted. He may have stolen her right as leader, but damned if she wasn't going to fight for it to her dying breath.

Sid said nothing in response, instead simply pulling off the control panel inside the elevator and going to work. He began pressing buttons on his morpher, activating the holo-display for a moment, before two ports opened up on the side, "Everyone better get inside. This thing is about to get supercharged with morphin' grid energy".

"What are you gonna do?" asked Trok, curious.

Sid smiled, "An old trick I learned at the academy. Watch". The red ranger connected his morpher to a couple of wires, and immediately, the elevator lit up and shut the doors.

"Awesome!" Trok said, clearly impressed. Xolin just watched in quiet annoyance; why was Trok suddenly such a big hero worshipper of this guy? He showed up literally out of nowhere.

"Next stop, top floor!" Sid pressed the button on the elevator wall, and the room shot up a three times the normal speed.

"Is this safe?!" asked Xolin worriedly, gripping tight to the railing as the entire room shook violently. As soon as she finished asking though, the entire group got swept off their feet and onto the ground as the shaking stopped and the elevator opened.

"Probably not" Sid replied gingerly, standing up and brushing himself off. He stepped out onto the launching pad, followed by the other two, "But it's quick". The place was quiet; most of the civilians had escaped during the earlier confrontation with the monster, when SPD evacuated the building. And if they hadn't then, they surely would have when part of the roof collapsed—as all three of them could attest to. And indeed, to their right, a large gaping hole lay where part of the tower had once been. Sid grimaced; he wondered just how stable the rest of this launch tower was.

There was no visual sign of the tank yet, but it was a big space port; numerous ships of varying sizes and shapes were littered about, empty and devoid of occupants. Not as many as when he had arrived here earlier; a number had evidently fled, but plenty still remained behind.

"So, what now, glorious leader?"

"Will you stop calling me that? My name is Sid" the red ranger called back to blue.

"What, trying to be humble, now?"

"…You are such a child" he said, as he started to become genuinely irritated with her. She huffed. "Oh, what?" he asked, "Are you really that thin skinned? Fun-fact, not everything is about you".

"And you would know?" she bit back.

He chuckled, "Well, I *am* better than you, so…"

"Excuse me?!" Xolin flared up in righteous indignation. They were never going to find his body; she would make sure of that.

"Guys!" Trok called, now over behind one of the vehicle and peering around the side. Sweet jeeze, could they be any louder? And here he had thought he was the kid in the group, "Not right now! Look!"

The other two rangers huddled over to Trok's position. Sure enough, there was the tank…and a bunch of other monsters and creatures. Because the tank hadn't been enough. Sigh.

Sid's mind raced with battle options. "Okay. So uh…plan. I distract the tank. Trok, keep the others occupied. Xolin, you grab the girl. Go!"

"Got it!" Trok said enthusiastically. Ranger battle!

"Wait!" Xolin said, but it was already too late; both Trok and Sid had raced out to meet the bad guys. Idiots! And why was Trok suddenly so star struck!? Ugh. Trok didn't have the skillset to fight off multiple opponents! Damnit. Xolin raced out behind them, hoping to somehow salvage what she assumed was going to be a very unpleasant affair.


Capricorn was having a very good night, all things considered. Artillar had taken out most of the SPD forces in the building, leaving the rest scattered and dazed. He had the girl, for which his employers would pay him handsomely for. And best of all, no muss, no fuss. The goat pirate lord was about to leave this two-bit world just after getting here, and he was going to be friggin' rich.

"Good work, Artillar" he said, highly impressed with his simple-minded thrall, "secure her in the hold. We have a rendezvous in the Randian sector to make".

At his command, the rest of his crew began to prepare for takeoff. Two of them, the two tengas Sid had seen harassing Coros earlier, got the girl off of Artillar. Sid also took note of a few others; a varox, that piranhatron from earlier, and a stag beetle monster.

Fun group.

"Nuh, uh, uh" the red ranger said, coming out from around a corner, soon flanked by green and blue, "Put the girl down".

Capricorn, almost to the door to his ship, turned and faced the rangers, "…and you would be…?" he drawled out, slightly amused by this turn of events.

"Power Rangers, duh" Sid said, brandishing his axe, "Now how about you do as I said?"

The goat chuckled, and then responded with joviality "I think not. Boys, show them what happens to interlopers"

The other two rangers brought out their weapons. Sid nodded. This was familiar. "Right, remember the plan. Xolin, girl. Trok, monsters. I got tankenstine over there. Go!"

"Wait…damnit!" Xolin called, again ignored as the other two broke rank. The blue ranger immediately noticed her target; Sel was being dragged into the ship by the two tenga. Okay, easy enough. She could take them out, then get the girl to safety. Then hopefully she could pull Trok out before he was crushed into the dirt. Stupid friggin' plan by the glorious leader, by the way. Sure, send the inexperienced member up against multiple opponents, including what looked to be the brains of the operation. Perfect. Why not.

She was going to throttle Iota when she saw him.

Charging up her weapon, she flew past the rest of the battlefield and cut into one of the tenga. He fell over in a flash of sparks as she quickly incapacitated the other, grabbing Sel by her right arm. "Okay, let's get you away…" she whispered, more for her own benefit than the unconscious girl. Then she heard a cry. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Trok collapsing after being cut through by the goat monster's sword.

"TROK!" she shouted, dropping Sel. Gripping her weapon, she flung herself into her teammate's opponent. The two traded a series of blows, a seeming match for each other. This wasn't so hard! Psh, 'green'. Right.

"XOLIN!" Sid called out, rolling out of the way of Artillar's arms, "What are you doing?! Get the girl!" Was she *trying* to spite him?

Xolin looked over where she had left Sel—the tengas had scurried inside the ship, and the varox was carrying the girl inside. "NO!" she shouted, but her moment of distraction cost her dearly; Capricorn's blade cut through her like butter, a shower of sparks erupting from the point of impact. Xolin collapsed to the ground next to Trok.

"NO!" Sid broke from his fight, making a direct beeline for Sel—and was immediately cut down by Artillar's guns as soon as he had a clear shot. Rookie mistake…

"…That's it?" asked Capricorn, in an earnest bit of confusion, "That was…easier than I expected. Heh. Pathetic" he kicked Xolin over as she struggled to get back up, then walked towards his ship.

"What should we do with them?" asked the varox.

Capricorn looked back at the three injured rangers, "…Destroy them. We don't need anyone fol—" the pirate trailed off as he began to hear something; a spaceship thundered in. Except it wasn't a regular transport it was… "…A Megaship. Defender class" he whispered to himself as the black and silver triangular warship soared in. It was sleek even with the undercarriage, almost invisible in the night air, and as he well knew, armed to the teeth. The rangers' cavalry had arrived. He spoke up to the rest of the crew, "Never mind! Leave the wounded, everyone get onboard. We're taking off, NOW!"

The remaining crew shuffled aboard, and a few seconds later it lifted off the ground. The Megaship attempted to shoot it down, but the pirate vessel quickly veered off into the distance. It was not pursued—the Megaship had other concerns to deal with.


Sid was getting really tired of waking up in an unfamiliar place after feeling like he had been trampled via stampede. "Ugh…my head".

"Welcome back to the world of the living"

Sid looked over as he sat up in a…medical bed. There in front of him stood an armored ranger-like figure, though very different in design than the rest of the team. More like a knight, almost.

"Ugh…and you are?" Sid asked, realizing he had shifted back to civilian form.

The figure bowed slightly, "I am Iota. Welcome aboard the Defender Megaship. I hope you enjoy your stay. You have of course met Xolin and Trok" he motioned to the triforian and horathean sitting up in the other beds next to his, where Coros was looking them over.

"Psh. Yeah, thanks for nothing, buddy" Xolin shot angrily, folding her arms in contempt even as Coros waved his medical scanner over her, "Your plan pretty much netted us zilch; the bad guys got away with Sel, and we got nothin' but a bunch of cuts and bruises for our troubles".

"Not my fault you can't follow orders" Sid bit back, "If you had done what I told you, you'd have the girl and everyone would have gone home happy".

"Y'know, except Trok" Xolin said, waving to the horathean, "I don't know what you learned at 'The Academy', but I don't do 'acceptable losses'. I take care of my team!"

Oh, she did NOT. Sid jumped off of the medical bed, his face contorted in pure rage, "How DARE Y—"

"Enough!" Iota cut in, "It wasn't the best plan, Xolin is right. But it is clear you need to learn the importance of teamwork and the chain of command" he said, directing his attention to the seething blue ranger. "You can reflect on it while we are en-route".

"En-route to where?" asked Trok, eager to steer the conversation away from the fighting. He hated the fighting.

Iota seemed a bit hesitant, "We are tracking the enemy ship. We believe…Capricorn, as we have identified him, is heading for Onyx. We are in pursuit".

Predictably, both Sid and Xolin's faces drained of color.

"You can't be serious" Sid said, "Onyx is a deathtrap".

"This is why subtlety is a virtue" Iota replied, once again eying Xolin. "Rest up; we'll be arriving in a few hours. And next time, I expect a better plan" he said, aiming at Sid this time.

"You abduct me, and then tell me I'm not performing up to standards?" Sid asked incredulously, "Who do you think you are?"

Iota looked Sid over, "…I am the man paying you a small fortune. And I am also the man who knows, as well as you do, that you are capable of so much more than the stunt you just pulled. You're already along for the ride, so you may as well make the best of it" with that, the knight figure left the medbay, Coros in tow. Sid was left with a slight headache—he wasn't sure if it was from getting hit in the head with missiles and entire buildings, or from the gall-ridden inanity that had become the last few hours of his life. He and Xolin looked at each other, viewing the other with nothing but contempt, before averting their eyes in disgust. Trok sighed; so much for teamwork.


Sel awoke to quiet; only creaking metal and the low rumbling of engines. Her cell was small and dirty, and the ship was dark and cramped.

"Good morning" said a voice. Sel looked over, seeing a large goat monster sitting in a chair just outside of her cage, "Glad to see you've finally decided to join us".

"…Who are you?" she asked quietly, trying hard not to show fear…she wasn't succeeding very well, "Where am I?"

The goat chuckled softly, "I am Capricorn, a pirate captain. We are on my ship, and you are my honored guest. As for where we're going well…does Onyx ring any bells?"

Sel swallowed, terrified, "…Why?"

Why? Why did they want her? Why did anyone, everyone want her? She couldn't even remember anything from more than a few months ago. Coros found her on Arkilla and…why did everyone want *her*?

Capricorn rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as if pondering himself, "That's where your er…buyers have elected to meet. I wouldn't get too comfortable here if I were you, it's not that long a trip at the speeds we're going" the goat bleated in laughter, leaving Sel alone in her room. She simply sat there, silent. Alone, with nothing but her thoughts and fears.

…Why her?

TO BE CONTINUED…