Through Space
Power Rangers in Space fanfic by Heaven's Archer
AN: To those that are following due to my Avengers stuff sooorrrrryyyyyy, I was rewatching this season and was like 'All my power rangers feels' and needed to write something. I AM working on some more one shots, so please don't hate me. They just aren't flowing right :(
EDIT: Just a fix up of some things I realised I'd missed out when I was editing the first time round. I cut out some things that are still mentioned later and bleh, my bad. (I'll be typing up the next chapter of this after NaNo)
XOXOXOX
Chapter 1: From Out of Nowhere
XOXOXOX
Trei, a young woman from the Catine people on planet L139, or, Kilante as her people called it, walked into the break room with her Kino, an animal related to earth's cats, wrapped around her shoulders. Like all Catine people, Trei had many cat-like attributes. She was lean and moved with the grace of a large cat, movements fluid. Her yellow eyes shone under the ship's lights. She wore the ship's uniform, except hers was black with grey accents, with a white top showing beneath it. Her long, white hair was pulled tight in a high ponytail.
The Kino, Cesta, like most of his species, had a soft coat stripped white and deep blue, with a matching blue collar around its neck with a bulky tag. He was only small, with feet that seemed almost too big. The tag hid a shrinking field which allowed him to remain about the size of his species' kittens.
Trei looked up from where she was eating her dinner at the alert that D.E.C.A began to flash across the monitors.
'Trei, from our current path of trajectory I estimate collision will occur with unknown vessel in 2.5 minutes.'
Her brows furrowed worriedly as she glanced to her right at the map showing Andros' current position.
'Andros is expecting us to follow this path…if we move…' She worried her lower lip, 'Bring up scans on the incoming vessel please, D.E.C.A.'
'Scans show four organic life forms as well as a robotic A.I. All reports show signs of damage to their person. The vessel is a small shuttle class, with limited capabilities and a preset destination. It is unlikely the travellers know how to change its course manually.'
Trei's eyes widened slightly before she jumped up moving towards the bridge. 'Why would they venture into space without understanding their own vessel?'
'The technological level of the ship suggests it comes from Earth.'
:This is the space shuttle. Veer away, you are on a collision course!:
Trei looked down the controls in front of her before glancing again at the visual D.E.C.A was displaying. 'I think you'll find you are on the collision course for us…They are out here alone and they don't know anything…' she murmured softly, to convince herself. Andros would understand that, right? She paused before frowning and letting out a low groan. Andros was going to kill her…
'D.E.C.A, open the docking bay. Tractor them in and then…just be quiet. Maybe they won't touch anything before Andros gets here. I'll track their movements from in here…'
'Initialising.'
'Cesta, go follow them for me,' she murmured as the Kino jumped from her shoulders and landed in a crouch on the floor, all feet flying as he flew out of the room and around the corner.
Trei watched on as the shuttle was brought in and docked and the four hurt youths walked out slowly, obviously watching for any danger. Her eyes widened as she took them in. 'Look at them, D.E.C.A, they look like they were caught in some kind of explosion!' she gasped, watching as they continued to look through the ship, Cesta watching them from the shadows and peeking at them around corners.
'Scans show damage is largely superficial.'
Trei pursed her lips, she wanted them in the med bay… 'Once Andros gets here I'll let him give the final call,' she decided, murmuring quietly to herself.
'A sound decision, Trei.'
She fiddled with a few buttons on the console, revealing a map linked to the tracking system in Andros' morpher. He was coming this way fast.
'D.E.C.A, with our long range scanners are we able to access visual of Andros?'
'Of course, on screen.' D.E.C.A sounded almost offended at the insinuation she mightn't be able to get a lock.
'Oh no...' Trei whispered as she saw Andros being fired on as he attempted to out fly them on his glider.
She watched the other screen as the travellers she brought aboard discovered the engine room and eventually, her food where she'd left it, realising that someone was still on board. She winced, probably not the smartest of ideas to just leave it there.
'Trei, the travellers are approaching the bridge.'
Trei looked around quickly before realising if she left now she'd be seen. Instead, she ducked down behind the furthest consoles, in the opening created by the sides sticking out further than they needed too. From the shadows she could see the teens, slightly, through a small gap.
She watched the teens move in, looking around in amazement, holding her breath as the one in yellow moved within inches before she moved back.
'I don't get it. Someone obviously brought us here for a reason,' the man in red said, almost to himself.
She winced as the robot they brought began to play with things. He better not break anything or change any of the inputs in the systems, though she supposed D.E.C.A would insure he didn't do any real damage. He was probably trying to find out where they were and what brought them here.
She heard a scratch and a growl and saw Cesta hit at the robot, obviously realising he was touching something he shouldn't. The robot let out some unintelligible sounds before running away while the girl in pink picked him up.
'Oh my gosh, you are so cute.' Cesta blinked owlishly at the girl before thrashing around until she dropped him, running into the small space under one of the other command desks.
'That didn't look like any cat I've ever seen,' said the guy in green.
'It looked kinda like a tiger cub…you know, ignoring the blue stripes…' the girl in pink spoke, looking to where Cesta had run. 'He must belong to whoevers ship this is,' she continued. 'You reckon he's been in here the whole time?'
'No, I think I remember him following us earlier! Did whoever brought us here ask you to follow us, little one?' the girl in yellow asked as she squatted down to look at Cesta again, who swapped at her hand as it got too close. She pulled it back with a small curse.
As the teens were distracted by the planets on the viewfinder, Cesta snuck out from under than command desk and ran to one closer to Trei.
The robot began frantically beeping again, calling the attention of the room. Trei looked to one of the screens, where D.E.C.A ran the information that Andros had just arrived back and was headed this way in a different language so the travellers didn't understand it.
Suddenly, the door opened, revealing the red ranger.
'Oh Kitel, I am in so much trouble,' Trei murmured lowly so no one but Cesta heard her. The Kino nodded in agreement. 'You are not helping!' she hissed at him.
She listened as the humans tried to explain themselves to Andros but he backed away and quickly ran through the ship. Unwilling to reveal herself to the other humans, Trei waited until they tried to follow him to stand up from hiding, Cesta jumping back onto her shoulder.
'Ah!' she exclaimed as the ship rocked, running back around to the command panel and letting her fingers fly across the controls, bring up damage information, scans and weapons systems, as well as a visual on the other ship.
She flung around when the door opened and the Red Ranger came running back in, before turning back and instructing the systems to return fire.
'There are intruders aboard,' Andros exclaimed as he looked at the data, '...Astronema?' he murmured.
'About those intruders…' Trei started distratedly as she rolled over Andros while he ducked, allowing them to switch places quickly as she began monitoring the ships systems and he took over weapons. He was the fighter, while Trei was more passive, better at defending and fixing things.
'You brought them aboard? Where you hiding in here the whole time or something!?'
'…maybe? I had Cesta follow them! They didn't break anything! You should have seen their shuttle, it was shameful. No shields or weapons systems whatsoever. I felt sorry for them!'
'Of course you did…What'd I tell you about bringing on strays?'
'You never told me anything about bringing on strays. I came on when you crashed and patched you up and you brought me and Cesta along for the ride.'
'You wanted to come,' he accused with a small smirk in his voice.
'My origins on this ship are not up for debate in this discussion. The point is I was never told about strays because this is technically the first time I've done it,' they held on as the ship rocked again, Astronema's ship continuing its fire.
'D.E.C.A, power to the Astro thrusters!' Andros called as he held onto the command panel when the ship tipped dangerously sideways. Cesta leaped from Trei's shoulders and onto Andros' as she went flying into one of the side screens.
'Ugh, ouch!' she murmured from where she had, luckily, landed crouching on her feet after bouncing off the monitor. She pushed herself back upright with a wince and moved over to another panel as D.E.C.A relayed that the thrusters were offline.
'It must be the engine!' Trei called over the ringing alarms. 'I will go look,' she called as she sprinted to the lock and opened the door, Cesta following at her heels.
She slid into the engine room as she turned abruptly and saw the four teens looking at her from where they stood on the top of the platform.
They looked at each other blankly for a second before another blast rocked the ship and it began dropping at a remarkable rate. Trei flew into action. She saw the teens already had the loose cable, but didn't know where to put it so she leapt up high, grabbing onto another beam and pulling herself up onto the top of the engine. She reached over and grabbed the cable from the guy in red and pulled her laser tool from her back pocket. She set it to a heat setting and held the cable as she used the laser to solder it in place. She waited until the engine booted itself back up before she jumped down, landing in a crouch and running back towards the bridge where she saw Andros frantically trying to get the ship level again.
'The planet's gravitational pull is too strong!' he called as Trei ran to one of the side panels, fingers flying across the buttons as she diverted more power to the thrusters and the shields. The power going to the weapons systems was promptly redirected to the shields as it became obvious they weren't going to be firing at anything for a while and would instead be crashing.
'Hold on!' she called, Cesta clinging, once again, to her shoulders, 'Get it as level as you can!'
'I'm…trying!' Andros forced out between gritted teeth as the large ship slowly levelled out, but not enough. The uneven ground caught the bottom of the ship, slowing it abruptly and causing the two to fly over across the room, Andros hitting control panels which slowed him down, if painfully, while Trei simply flew straight into another wall.
D.E.C.A luckily took control of the thrusters and quickly disabled them before they sent the ship flying through rocks, which would have caused even more damage. The momentum threw the ship a little further before it came to a stop. Trei got to her feet slowly with a dazed look on her face, while Cesta limped, mewing quietly from where he'd flown into a panel.
'Oh, come here, Cesta. Are you ok, little one?' Trei murmured quietly as she checked her paw, finding nothing really wrong. 'It's just bruised, Cesta. You'll be ok.'
She moved over to Andros and gave him a hand up while the ships lights began flicking on as D.E.C.A began flicking everything on.
'Man, that was close!' Andros murmured as he looked through the viewing screen, seeing how the ship had landed on an angle.
'Far too close for my taste. You said this is Astronema? Why is she attacking us? We usually avoid her notice.'
'She was the one that realised I was a spy at the United Alliance of Evil meeting.' Andros explained quietly.
'How did she notice!? You promised that no one would notice!'
'I don't know! I didn't say anything, that's for sure.'
'How did you even get out with all of them after you, you fool? Are you hurt!? What aren't you telling me? If you're hurt I need to know these things a-'
Andros grabbed her upper arms. 'I'm fine. Stop worrying. We better find those people you brought aboard. Do you even know who they are? What were you thinking?'
'…I felt sorry for them?' Trei answered with a small wince.
'…So you don't know who they are.'
'No…'
'Trei are you serious?'
'What!? It's how I met you, isn't it!?'
'Yes, but that doesn't make it ok for you to use that as an excuse for everybody. You're going to get yourself killed one day, I swear to god.' He went over the door, opening the locks. 'Try and see what you can do with the systems , I'm going to go find out who they are.'
Trei moved over to the panels, flicking switches and bring up internal scans D.E.C.A had run when the ship had come to a stop. She rerouted power from the lower levels of the ship to the engines and shields and turned the Synthetron offline to conserve power. They certainly weren't going to need any food if they couldn't escape from Astronema.
'Sensors indicate that Astromena's ship is landing.' D.E.C.A spoke across the ship to ensure everyone heard.
'Kolna!' Trei cursed before patching herself into the comm system. 'Hurry, Red. I'm going to need some help if we want to get away.'
She tried to reroute some power from the thrusters to the weapons, but it looked like the crash had damaged their targeting and some weapons weren't responding at all.
Andros ran in and a motion from Trei had him working at the central panel.
'Anything coming through at all?' she questioned desperately as her fingers flew across the controls.
'Not enough,' he responded, worried.
'There's just too much damage. I need to repair a lot of this entirely, rerouting power doesn't help if the circuitry itself is broken!'
The door opened at the teens came through again.
'Astronema's forces are disembarking.' D.E.C.A informed them as Cesta jumped from Trei's shoulder to the ground in front of the teens, a large growl that was far too loud for something of his size stopping them from moving forward.
'Quadtrons…' Andros murmured as Trei resisted the desire to hit her head against the wall. She activated the main screen again as the foot soldiers began to port down.
The teens began to try and convince them that they used to be the Power Rangers, and Trei and Andros shared a look. They kept talking about their journey and Trei largely blocked them out. Where they expecting for them to be concerned now? They very well may be the rangers from Earth, but at this moment in time they were otherwise occupied. What their mission was wouldn't mean anything if they couldn't get off this Kitel-forsaken planet.
'D.E.C.A, what's our status? Can we take off?' Andros asked.
'The Mega Accelerator is disabled. Launch isn't possible. Mega lasers are also disabled. Mega decks 5 and 6 are on auxiliary power.'
'Some of that is my doing. I'm shutting down everything that isn't vital and closing off the decks we don't need right now. I haven't been able to get to the lasers, I think that the circuitry is fried from what I'm seeing here. I'll need to go down physically, see if I can perform a quick repair to the thrusters, just enough to get us going again. Once we're in space I can activate the secondaries and they can take some of the edge off the primaries until we get to a safer spot where I can repair them completely.' She finished, frustrated.
'Great,' Andros muttered as Trei began rerouting all power from weapons and secondary functions to shields.
'The Quadtrons are moving into attack position against the megaship.' D.E.C.A informed the teens.
'Oh sweet Kitel, D.E.C.A, any good news!?' Trei asked desperately.
'Get down to the thrusters, see if you can do those repairs. I'll hold off the Quadtrons.'
Andros ran to the door with the travellers following him after a brief moment.
Trei quickly ran some more scans to find out what she could before going out there. She grabbed a small repair kit on her way out as she ran out the door, ducking under the ship before quickly approaching the thrusters, sparing a glance at the fighting teens about 20m away.
Cesta jumped off her shoulders and sat down if front of her as she knelt down in front of him, reaching around him to undo his collar. 'Go help Andros, ok? But top priority is ensuring none of the Quadtrons reach the ship.' The Kino bared his teeth as he began running as soon as the collar was off, his strides growing longer and longer as he grew back to his full size without the tech in the collar keeping him kitten-sized. He was about shoulder height when he finally reached Andros, swatting away a Quadtrons trying to sneak up on the red ranger with a large paw.
Trei moved to the two biggest thrusters, the primaries, and looked them over. She opened a panel on their sides, seeing some of the circuitry fried and setting off sparks. She disabled the power flow to those before ripping out a few wires and stripping them before reconnecting them to allow the power to flow around the damaged circuits.
She repeated the process on the other side before hurriedly rebooting them and allowing the power to flow through again.
'How's that looking, D.E.C.A?' she called to the AI as she closed the panels again.
'Scans show that temporary repairs should hold.'
Trei spared a glance at the fight, seeing that the Quadtrons were being taken care of easily. She decided she had time and reopened the panels, setting about doing a more proper, longer lasting repair.
'That should be enough for now. I can fix them properly when we are elsewhere.' She murmured as she put the last wire back in place, flicking a few switches.
She closed the panels once again and moved back inside the ship towards the bridge, sparing a look towards the battle where Cesta had pounced a Quadtron trying to reach the ship and ripped at its throat with his teeth. She quickly began adding more and more power from the engines to the thrusters which responded well. She powered them down again until the others got back onboard. Trei turned on life support again in the levels without damages now that D.E.C.A had been able to bring the engine back up to full power, but held off on the ones that had been damaged by fire or something else, preferring to conserve the power and instead putting those levels on total lockdown until proper assessments could be made.
She glanced at the viewing screen again, seeing Andros power down and watched as the girl in yellow walked around him in a slow circle, looking at him up and down. Well then, ok, Trei raised an eyebrow as she blatantly 'checked him out' as the humans would say.
She walked to another panel, bringing up the state of the weaponry and shields. With the engines back fully online, the shields were recharging at a good pace but the majority of the main weapons were completely offline.
She patched herself through to Andros' morpher, seeing him introduce himself to the travellers and decided it was obviously ok to call him by his first name where they could hear now. 'Andros. D.E.C.A and I finished a more complete damage assessment. Are you available to assist?'
:Yes, I'm on my way.: was relayed through the comms and Trei cut the connection, isolating the biggest issues that needed to be fixed immediately as Andros and the others moved back onto the ship. Cesta sat on his haunches when he reached the entrance of the ship, keeping a look out.
Trei started speaking as soon as she heard the door open, signifying Andros arrived back on the bridge with the others in tow. 'I repaired what I could of the thrusters while you were fighting, but much more damage and they'll become unstable and I doubt I would be equipped to fix it. The lasers are still totally offline and neither myself nor D.E.C.A can reach them at all. I'll need you to go see what you can do, since you know them better. I'm assuming its circuitry damage.
'I'll go double check the engines. They seem fine, but no harm in checking them in person. There is significant damage on decks 5 and 6, so I locked them down and removed all power from them until I could look at what the damage is exactly. D.E.C.A's eyes and ears in there were damaged in the crash so she can't tell us remotely.'
'Sounds like a plan. Trei, this is T.J, Ashley, Carlos and Cassie, they're power rangers from Earth. Guys, this is Trei.'
They chorused their hellos and Trei smiled, 'It's nice to meet you all. I was the one that brought you aboard, you seemed a bit clueless out there.' She tilted her head as she took them in
'Hey, you're eyes…they're yellow.' Carlos murmured wide-eyed.
Trei blinked, 'Oh, I'm not human,' she explained, 'no matter how much I look it despite the…odd colouring.'
'So you're a…alien?' Cassie asked tentatively.
'…to be honest you're all aliens to me just as I am to you. I'm a Catine. We're very much humanoids. In fact we share most of your physiology just…'
'With a few more cat-like enhancements,' Andros finished for her. 'Trei's people are from the planet Kilante a couple of galaxies over. She…hangs around.'
'I'm the mechanic and medic for this crew. While Andros goes galvanting around in red spandex I take care of the systems.' Trei said, raising an eyebrow at Andros as he gave a small smile. 'I know this ship's systems back to front and while I'm no surgeon, I know my way around the med bay pretty well.'
'Cesta's hers, you know, the Kino.' Andros said, gesturing to the screen where the huge animal had laid down with its head on its paws.
'It looks kind of like a tiger.' Cassie mentioned.
'Kinos are much bigger than tigers, though they are quite similar to the 'big cats' of your planet. Kinos are highly intelligent though, native to my world. They bond with a Catine and stay with them for life.'
'Wasn't he like…tiny?' T.J asked reserved as he thought back to the fight remembering the big cat batting enemies aside with his paws.
Trei laughed, 'If he stayed that big he'd never walk around the ship comfortably. His collar contains technology that shrinks him back to the size of a cub. I took it off so he could help.'
'I'll go work on these weapons systems. Where'd you put the kit?' Andros asked before Trei handed him the kit she'd used to work on the thrusters. All of the Earth Rangers bar Carlos moved off with him, curious as to the systems.
'Um, do you know what we could do to fix Alpha? His circuitry's gotten a bit fried and none of us understand him.' He asked nervously.
Trei raised an eyebrow before gesturing for him and Alpha to follow her towards where the engines were as she started talking. 'I'm sure it's easily reversible. I need to run a few checks but D.E.C.A will tell you what to do. If you attempt to repair him around here I can help if anything goes wrong. I'll just be on the engine over there,' She handed him a smooth, metal cylinder with a button in the centre of a dial on the top.
'Uh…what's this?' he asked, eyes wide.
'Oh, you don't have these on earth?' She asked curiously.
'Definitely not.' He murmured, glancing at it worriedly.
Trei took her own out of her belt. 'It's fairly straight forward. It's your standard, multi-purpose repair tool. This one mostly utilises lasers but by turning the dial up top you activate the different functions.'
She flicked it on and showed the short laser line (about 5in long) that came from the opposite end of the cylinder to the 'on' switch. She quickly took him through the different functions and what they did before leaving him to D.E.C.A while she climbed up the platform to reach the upper levels of the engine, sharp eyes looking for any cracks or other damage to the engines or cables.
'Connect terminal B34 to terminal M78.' D.E.C.A intoned as Carlos fiddled with Alpha's circuits, handing the repair tool to Alpha while he used his hands for a moment.
'Easy for you to say, do you know how many little terminals there are in here?' he asked rhetorically, but D.E.C.A being D.E.C.A…
'3 billion, 4 million, 700 thousand, 903.'
Trei smiled to herself, letting out a snort of amusement as she leapt off the platform, grabbing on an overhead beam and using momentum to swing herself up onto it, straddling it as she used her new spot to easily access some of the cables that looked slightly loose.
'Ah!' a small bang followed the cry and Trei looked down as the robot 'sneezed'. 'Are you alright down there?' She asked worriedly.
'I think so?'
'No, you connected the incorrect terminals.' D.E.C.A informed the teen.
'Damn it!'
Trei laughed, letting herself swing around until she was hanging from the beam sloth-style before letting go completely, and freefalling a moment, spinning mid-air and landing on her feet in a crouch at the last second. She moved across the Alpha and Carlos and brought out a smaller version of the tool she was using before. She activated a small magnetic pull to grab and hold one of the tiny wires and using an identical one to gently move other wires around until she found the right terminal.
'That's the one…' she connected it swiftly, 'Alpha come over here,' she moved him towards a small alcove in the room where she had some more tools and spare parts.
'I can't see any way to fix your old speech board, but I have a spare…' her tongue poked out to the side of her mouth as she fiddled slightly removing the old speech board and checking out the old voice chip. 'I don't have one exactly like this but…'
Her ears picked up Andros talking to the other rangers downstairs, saying they knew nothing about what they were getting into and sighed. You basically had to force him to accept your help, because Kitel knows he wouldn't accept it any other way.
Trei had found him and his friend, Zhane, about 4 years ago when their ship crashed on Kilante. She had managed to get aboard and found them both unconscious on the bridge. She'd moved them both to her home not far from where they'd crashed and treated them there. They'd been unconscious for 3 days. When she wasn't looking after them, she had repaired what she could of their ship. Some of the areas had locked down after the crash, but she'd managed to gain access to their thrusters and the engines, fixing those to the best of her abilities with the parts she had on hand.
It hadn't been prefect, but when they'd woken up and healed it was enough to get the off the planet…with Trei and Cesta onboard. She'd convinced their ship's AI, D.E.C.A, that it was in their best interests for her to conveniently not mention it until they were far enough away from the planet for the trip back not to be worth it.
But she'd proven her worth of the last 4 years when it came to mechanics and the systems of the ship and, even if she didn't enjoy fighting herself, Cesta had helped them out of a few tight spots.
She looked up as Andros moved towards her, 'Need any help?' he murmured as the other former rangers talked about what they needed to do now.
She gave him a knowing look before speaking, 'If you are offering it. Hold this and this here while I slot in the new chip.'
Andros spoke quietly to Alpha about his purpose, distracting him from the person fiddling around in his circuitry. Trei slotted one final wire in place and…
'Aiyiyiyiyi! I can speak again! This is fantastic! I thought I'd never be understood again!'
'I didn't have a chip with his old voice, I do apologise,' Trei spoke up from the other side of the room where she was replacing the chips into their holders back on the shelf.
'Oh, that's alright, Trei. I'm quite happy with this one, thank you.'
'I'm glad,' the girl smiled before turning to Andros. 'I'm going to go grab Cesta and head back to the bridge. Run a few more tests.'
'Sounds good. I'll meet you there later.'
Trei moved to the door where Cesta jumped up to greet her. She laughed quietly as he rubbed his head into her side, causing her to stumble slightly as well as wince from the reminder of her bruises from the crash. She placed her arms around his neck, hugging him tight as he raised his head, lifting her off the ground slightly and nuzzling her neck.
'You gorgeous, gorgeous boy,' she whispered into Cesta's fur as he placed her back down. He licked her face, eyes twinkling as she laughed and rubbed at it.
'Ok, boy. Ready to come back inside? We'll be lifting off as soon as Andros finishes up.'
The Kino nodded his head and Trei placed the tag on the collar close to his neck, watching as the technology sensed the chip in him and activated its field. He shrunk slowly back to the size of a tiger cub and she placed the collar back around his neck before opening her arms which he jumped into before sitting himself on her shoulders.
She moved back up to the bridge, where Cesta jumped off and began chasing the coloured lights that D.E.C.A started moving around the room to amuse him. She moved to the central panel, sending all the internal scans up onto the screens before moving so she was standing in front of them, tilting her head.
'From the looks of things…the thrusters should hold out for a while, especially if we mostly rely on the secondary thrusters once we get into orbit, give the primaries a break…'
'The repairs you made had been sufficient, Trei. However, further damage may cause greater damage than can be repaired with what we have on board.'
'I know,' the Catine sighed, turning her gaze to the engine read outs, 'The engines are working full capacity…the weapons systems are online. Andros only had to replace some wires…'
D.E.C.A gave a beep, 'Andros is requesting you at the docking bay to help him land the shuttle on the ground.'
Trei gave a start, 'Oh, they aren't coming with us?'
'Andros isn't letting them.'
Trei raised an eyebrow and gave an annoyed look, 'Of course he isn't.'
'It would be better if he allowed others to help. Your mission has a greater chance of success with a bigger team.'
Trei gave a large sigh, 'The mission needs the power rangers, that's what it needs. Not just a single power ranger, no matter how good he is.'
D.E.C.A beeped her agreement as Cesta leapt onto Trei's shoulder and she made her way to the docking bay where Andros was talking to the former red ranger. 'You'll have enough supplies and gas to get back to Earth.'
'Hey, man, thanks,' T.J said, holding out his hand to shake as Andros slowly took it, looking slightly wary, but seeing that's obviously what the Earth human wanted. Andros moved slowly to the docking panel as Trei jumped into the shuttle's pilot seat to navigate it down and reprogram it.
'You guys can ride down with me or walk off. Either or,' I smiled at them and fiddled with the panel, frowning at the simplicity of the technology. 'Oh goodness, this is some serious downgrading…' Trei murmured as Andros let off a small smile at her teasing. She flexed the joysticks to get a feel for the manoeuvrability and adjusted some of the levers until the read outs where what she needed.
The two male rangers elected to jump in with Trei, eager to see how she piloted it, 'It's not like it's flying anywhere special, I just need to turn it a bit and give you preset coordinates,' Trei frowned in confusion as Carlos and T.J closed in around the panel.
'Yea, but we have no idea how to do any of that, let alone fly it. It'll be a nice…learning experience.' Carlos smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Trei raised her eyebrow but took it slowly and patiently, over exaggerating her movements so that they could see what she was doing and what switches, levers and buttons did what. As soon as Andros disengaged the shuttle from the docking bay, Trei brought the thrusters upwards to 5%, moving the shuttle slowly forwards and way from the Astro Megaship. She waited until they'd completely cleared the other ship before pressing some buttons and taking the wheel to slowly it downwards in a curving turn to park it alongside the megaship, just far enough away to not be damaged by the bigger ship's take off.
'Well, you guys are all good to go,' she spoke brightly, turning to the two rangers. 'It was a real pleasure to meet you both.' She looked confusedly at the hands the men were holding out. '…I do not understand?'
'Oh! You shake it, man. It's something people do in our culture.' T.J explained as Carlos gripped her hand tightly in his and moved it up and down gently. Trei was careful to keep her sharp nails away from his hand. She shook T.J's hand as well before smiling at them.
'This is how we say farewell on my world,' she explained before grabbing Carlos' shoulders and bending him so she could press his forhead against hers before speaking gently 'No matter where your journey may lead, may the jungle welcome you home. And then you say, Kitel keep you and yours.'
He repeated her words. 'Who's Kitel?' he asked curiously.
'Kitel was one of the first Catines. He was the first to bond with a Kino, Menti, and thus was responsible for the most important thing for a Catine to this day. Our bond with our Kinos is a bond between two souls. It is a treasure.' She giggled as Cesta nuzzled her neck, 'He is revered kind of like one of your earth gods. Though, Kitel was a figure in history, not religion.'
She repeated the farewell with T.J, smiling gently at them both. 'It was truly amazing to meet Earth's warriors.'
'I'm sorry we couldn't stay to help,' Carlos started but Trei held up a hand, stopping him.
'Andros is very stubborn, but he is good of heart and has his reasons. Maybe we will meet again in brighter times.' She quickly programmed in the auto-pilot, setting it for Earth and followed them out of the shuttle to where the girls stood at the base of the ramp. She gave them the same farewell and Cesta nuzzled their legs before the two strode up the ramp and gave them a final wave before closing it up and making their way to the bridge.
She quickly assumed her place behind one of the consoles as Andros doubled checked the systems once more.
'Initialising thrusters,' Trei murmured quietly while Cesta glared at Andros, who looked at the Kino wearily.
'And…engage.' The ship lifted off the ground with a soft hum as Trei slowly increased the power before Andros took them straight out of orbit.
She looked towards him out of the corner of her eye as she walked around the bridge doing some final evaluations on what they would need to fully repair the ship.
'Don't look at me like that,' Andros snapped at Cesta, causing him to hiss and spit at the teen before he leapt onto Trei's shoulders.
'Don't blame Cesta because you are actually doubting your decision.' Trei said cheerfully, causing the uptight teen to groan slightly as he fiddled at the control panel.
'No you too, Trei.'
'I'm just saying that the universe needs the power rangers. All of them. You know that.'
'Well they're never going to get all of them, are they?' he spat at her.
Trei spun around, fury in her eyes, 'Zhane knew what he was doing and he would hate that you are closing yourself off like this. He would want you to gather more people and take them down.'
Andros refused to comment so Trei left the controls to D.E.C.A and retreated to her quarters, Cesta at her heels.
XOXOXOXOX
Trei leapt over the moss covered rocks, jumping onto a small formation next to a 'stream' before using that momentum to leap upwards and grab onto a small platform that hung from the ceiling where she slept. She'd gotten permission to use the deck (deck 7, usually used for extra cargo space, but was more often than not empty) to make an area as close to her own planet as possible, the air was hot and slightly humid with less oxygen than the human planets. The shrubs, flowers and small trees grew thick on the dirt ground she'd laid all those years ago.
Cesta ran amok, full sized as he swatted at the shrubs and flowers. A lot of them were poisonous to non-Catines (who had adapted to be unaffected by the strange ecology of their planet long ago), so Andros knew not to come in here. She knew that if she wanted to, she could be alone in a place that reminded her of home.
Don't take the jungle to mean that the Catines were less technologically advanced. It was quite the opposite. Her people had many advanced shielding systems, engines, space travel technology…but they always called the forest home and because of that were some of the most ecology-aware people in the galaxies.
A sharp turn had her bracing herself against a large trunk as the Astro Megaship spun around, a full 180, before a beeping showed D.E.C.A trying to get her attention. 'Trei, Andros has turned the ship around to go collect the power rangers.' Trei laughed and gave a little fist pump, 'Fantastic. Nice work, D.E.C.A!'
'Thank you, Alpha helped as well. Will you join Andros and him in the bridge?'
Trei smiled, 'Sure thing, I'll be there in 5.' She swung down from the platform, landing on her toes and sprinting the hatch, replacing Cesta's collar and putting him up first and running with him on her heels to the bridge where she entered with a grin to Andros.
'Don't say it,' he muttered before reaching over and brushing a leaf from her head.
'It's the right thing to do. It'll make this all the quicker.' Trei promised as she leant back on one of the chairs, absent-mindedly adjusting coordinates slightly to allow for a more exact route before looking over where Alpha was fiddling with a black box. 'You still have those other morphers. It's not that you're replacing Zhane, Andros. It's that you're now helping to achieve what he wanted all the faster.'
Andros pursed his lips before nodding.
With the accelerator at full strength, it wasn't long before they had the planet in their sights again. However, as they arrived they saw something else. Astronema had the other rangers detained.
Andros' brow furrowed as he hit a few buttons, 'Why didn't we see this sooner?' he called.
Trei shook her head, 'The long range scanners were hit, I haven't had the chance to do anything with them. Grab the morphers and get to the doors, I'll bring us in weapons hot and let you straight off.' Trei ordered as she ran to the centre console and began heating up the weapons system. 'I'll bring us in, D.E.C.A,' she murmured as she upped the acceleration and broke the planet's atmosphere, flying fast over the group and causing the Quadtrons to fall over. She wrenched the controller around, braking as she did, causing the ship to perform a 180 degree turn. She heard Alpha bounce against a wall, but didn't have time to worry.
'Fire the mega lasers!' she called as D.E.C.A targeted and fired on the Quadtrons, the humans fleeing as soon as they were let go. She quickly set the ship down and opened the bay doors, watching Andros run out with the space morphers.
Cesta jumped on top of the console, mewing as he faced the viewing screen.
'No, you can stay right here this time, Cesta. They need to finish this one up on their own.' Trei smiled as she scratched him between the ears.
She watched with a small smirk as they all transformed and started kicking ass. The Earthen rangers adapted fast, getting their weapons and throwing out martial arts move like crazy. They instinctively fought together too. Andros was on his own, but that would change. 'Your rangers aren't half bad, Alpha.'
'The Earth rangers have faced far worse.'
'If it's been anything like what we've been through, I don't doubt you for a moment.' She responded solemnly.
The remaining Quadtrons quickly ran off once they realised the battle was futile and Trei let out a small laugh.
'Trei, sensors indicate that Astronema's ship is approaching.'
'Kolna! We're still damaged from that last battle. Power up the shields, D.E.C.A. I want the thrusters and other vital systems completely protected.'
'Isolating and shielding vital systems now.'
She watched in slight horror as the rangers tried to outrun the ship fire, but were still caught in a final round, being blown to the ground.
'Start powering up the engines. I want to be able to lift off the second their feet are in the door.'
She watched as the rangers ran beneath the ship to safety and turned all her focus to rerouting power and getting the ship off the ground. She heard the door open behind her as Alpha continued his muttering and spoke up, 'D.E.C.A, help me get us out of here.'
'Ignition.'
Trei pulled on the controller and set the megaship into a relatively steep climb, sending them out of the planet's atmosphere and into orbit.
'D.E.C.A? Scan the area for Astronema,' Andros asked in a tone that relayed his anger at the evil princess.
'Long range scanners are still down, scanning short range now. Unknown spaceship approaching from quadrant 415.'
'Up on the main viewing screen, D.E.C.A.' Trei asked as she backed away from the controllers, D.E.C.A taking over.
They all watched the ship coming towards them with anger and, in Trei's case, worry. She didn't know how well the temporary repairs would hold up against a full-scale space battle.
'Shield's up on everything,' Andros called, instructing D.E.C.A to take power from where it wasn't needed at the moment to throw full shields up over the entire ship, rather than just what Trei had isolated.
'Hold on, rangers.' Trei called, grabbing onto a chair and Cesta dug his claws into her jacket.
The ship rocked and Andros instructed D.E.C.A to return fire as he fought to right the ship. Trei sat down in one of the chair at the side consoles and started monitoring damages as they occurred, isolating the systems before they had a chance to short circuit something else.
'Shields will not hold much longer,' D.E.C.A intoned as the ships continued to exchange fire.
'Kolna!' Trei hissed as her fingers flew over the buttons, Cesta growling lowly on her shoulders.
'Aiyiyiyiyi! I think I've finally broken the code!' Alpha called triumphantly, causing the 4 rangers not working the ship to turn around.
'What code?' asked T.J, confused.
'The code for the Astro Megazord!'
'Alpha, what's going on!?' Cassie asked, trying to get him to speak sense.
'This box contains the code that links the shuttle to the Astro megaship, creating the Astro Megazord. It's all part of Zordon's masterplan!'
Trei paused in her work and shook her head, 'Not even here and he's still playing 20 steps ahead of us,' she muttered, slightly angry about what she was about to do.
'Give it here then!' She called impatiently, turning around to Alpha, snatching the box and moving to a panel on the side of the bridge, ripping it open. 'You five get to the shuttle, I'm assuming that's where the controls are, right Alpha?'
'Indeed!'
She heard, rather than saw, the five rangers race off towards the shuttle dock as she connected the various wires from the box into the Astro megaships mainframe.
'Where are we best off, Alpha?' she questioned, turning to the other being that wouldn't be in a driving seat for a massive robot.
'Zordon ensured the majority of the medbay would remain unmoved, Trei.'
'Then let's get there then!' she called, grabbing the robot's hand and yanking him towards the lower level for the medbay, Cesta following at her heels. They reached it fast and Trei made sure the equipment was stashed in its proper place, just in case.
:Trei, are you and Alpha clear?: asked Cassie over the comm system.
'Yes, we're fine, Cassie. Go ahead.'
The ship creaked ominously and for a moment Trei worried she'd connected something wrong. Then, the ship shuddered as it's parts began to rearrange.
'I really don't like sitting inside the rearranging ship. It doesn't sound very nice,' she muttered to herself as she sat on one of the firm beds. Cesta curled in her lap, shuddering as he seemed to place his paws over his ears in silent agreement.
Trei squealed as what was obviously a blow to the zord had her and Alpha thrown against the wall. She grabbed at her side with a grimace as she felt the bruises from earlier aggravate further and blood trickle from her forehead.
'Are you alright, Trei!?' Alpha asked worriedly as Cesta limped over and nuzzled against her worriedly.
'I'm fine,' she gasped out, using the wall to support herself as she stood up. 'I think we're going to need some seatbelts in here if they plan on doing this again.'
She ignored Alpha's fretting as she braced herself for another hit, it coming not long after. She could hear the shots being fired outside before she felt the zord move fast and a massive explosion rocked though space.
'…I think we got it.' She murmured as she waited for D.E.C.A to announce any damage.
'Astronema's ship has been destroyed,' D.E.C.A intoned. 'Are you ok, Trei?' the AI asked.
'Yes, I'm fine, D.E.C.A.' She paused as the ship began to rumble once more as it rearranged itself back into the two ships.
She pointed Alpha in the direction of the bridge before walking slowly down to her level and removing Cesta's collar, climbing atop him and letting him walk her over to the platform and then carefully scale the rocks nearby until he could step lightly onto the soft mosses and blankets. She carefully crawled off, hissing slightly when she knocked one of the rapidly forming bruises on her stomach.
Cesta laid himself down, and Trei curled up beside him, head on his chest. She had every right to some rest, in her opinion.
'Trei, Andros is asking where you put the spare uniforms.' D.E.C.A asked as she came over the speakers.
'Where they always are…the respective locker in the break room.' Trei muttered, annoyed. She frowned slightly Andros would know that…
'He is also inquiring about any injuries.' Trei rubbed at her face.
'Of course he is. Tell him I'm fine, D.E.C.A.'
'Scans indicate otherwise.'
'Just a few bumps, I'll be fine with some rest.'
'Andros would like you to head to the medbay so he can patch you up. He says even if I refuse to say so, he knows being thrown into a few walls without a ranger suit is going to leave you with a few cuts, especially since in one he got bruises.'
Trei looked upwards, 'Tell him I'll be there once I had a few hours sleep.'
:Trei, go there now so I can check you over and then you can sleep for however long you want.: Andros spoke over the comms.
Trei groaned as she pushed herself upright, climbing onto Cesta's back once again and allowing herself to be carried to the door. 'Just stay in here, Cesta. I won't be long.' He nuzzled her face and she walked slowly up to the medbay, unwilling to move what wasn't needed because at that point her body felt like one huge ache.
Andros was waiting for her and she sat down on one of the beds, shrugging off her jacket with a wince and pulling her white shirt over her head. After being together for four years, they knew that there was a place and time for modesty and it wasn't when you were injured in the medbay.
Andros winced as he grabbed some medicine from a cupboard, beginning to rub it against her bruises, whilst also using the action to check her ribs.
'The walls aren't as soft as they look?' he asked with a small smile.
Trei felt some of the tension for the past day's events drain out of her and she laughed at their usual banter. 'They look like they are lined with pillows, but no, it's all a horrible, horrible trick. I'll need to look into it.'
Andros grinned, 'Well your ribs feel ok, just bruised. No major pains that might indicate something bad?'
'No, just aches.'
He got a damp cloth and wiped at the dried blood on her forehead, causing her to wince slightly, 'This isn't deep enough to need stitches…' he pulled put a small light and had her follow it, 'and I can't see a concussion.'
'I could have told you that,' Trei smiled at him before pulling on back on her white long sleeve shirt and shrugging on her black jacket.
'Well, forgive me if I don't take your word for it.' Andros smirked at her, before she gestured for him to get up onto the bed as she jumped down.
'Your turn, shirt off.' Andros rolled his eyes, but removed his jacket and shirt, Trei rubbing the bruise salve onto his chest and abdomen.
'Well, Mr. Ranger, that damn suit saved you again. You barely have any injuries, as per normal.' She mock glared at him as he laughed and put his shirt and jacket back on.
'Are you able to come with me to talk to the other rangers about the ship, or are you desperate for that sleep?' He questioned as they moved to the door.
Trei groaned, 'Fine. But I don't get woken up afterwards unless it's really important.'
'I can do that,' he smiled at her before leading them towards the break room where the others had gotten changed. 'I haven't shown them their quarters yet so…'
'Well, aren't you all looking sharp.' Trei grinned at the former earth rangers as they fiddled with their new uniforms, complete with colour coded shirts.
'They're more comfortable than they look,' Ashley commented as she tugged on the hem of the jacket.
Trei raised an eyebrow, 'Not all of us get to run around in a body suit when things get hot. Of course they're comfortable.'
Andros gestured for them to follow as Trei gave them a quick rundown on the uniforms. 'Apart from allowing quick identification as a member of the crew of this ship, those uniforms have a tracking chip implanted into the bottom hem of the pants. It allows D.E.C.A to pinpoint your location if you're within range of our long range scanners. They are also high flame resistant, with repel most liquids and are made of a light weight, breathable and somewhat stretchy fabric, allowing for a high range of flexibility and less impediment of movement. While you may, of course, change into other clothes as you acquire them if you are so inclined, it is highly recommended you stick to these whenever possible.'
They all nodded, looking slightly overwhelmed. 'So these are kinda like some sort of super fabric?' Carlos asked, plucking at the jacket.
'Not really. I could feasibly make one, but it would more restrictive. And since I got sick of the old ones restricting my movement whenever I found myself in a position I didn't wish to be in, well, it seemed silly to make another just as restrictive. Again, not all of us get a super suit, so, I redesigned our old uniforms, made them better…updated their look…They are designed with non-rangers in mind, I will admit. You guys have access to specialty suits that I don't tend to.' Trei flashed them a grin and raised an eyebrow at Andros as he chuckled lowly.
He flashed a quick smile and a glance in her direction, 'Can't say we didn't agree. The old ones did kind of suck.'
'Can I ask why yours is black? It seems a bit odd, especially for a uniform. All the uniforms I know are identical.' Cassie questioned as she looked at Trei.
Trei froze up for a moment, shoulders tensing, before she forcibly relaxed her shoulders. '…Black makes the white more prominent. Grey clashed oddly.' She muttered.
Andros' hand briefly grazed her arm and squeezed her hand before letting go, 'It also was goodfor quick identification of the commanding officer. In most parts of the galaxy, black in used to signify those that work in the background, like mechanics, while a lighter tone which stands out against black, shows someone more in charge.'
'He means more likely to be in charge of communications, of course. No way does Andros tell me what to do.' Trei smiled gently at him as Andros grinned
Andros continued to lead the group though to the bridge, 'Now, the vital systems are run by D.E.C.A. She's got eyes and ears all over the ship.'
'I speak over 3000 languages.' D.E.C.A said, causing Andros and Trei to sigh.
'Yes, D.E.C.A,' they replied dutifully.
'Navigate all known galaxies.'
'Ok, D.E.C.A,' they repeated again as Trei moved over to the side panel.
'Am certified in acute psychological-' Trei quickly hit a button.
'And that button turns her voice off,' Andros relayed as he grinned at the other rangers.
'So, where do we start looking for Zordon?' T.J questioned. Trei smiled slightly, all business. Him and Andros would probably get on well.
'We start by fixing the megaship.' Andros informed.
'I thought you and Trei did repairs?' Cassie questioned.
Trei leant on one of the consoles, holding her chin in her hands, 'Oh Kitel, not enough for a long distance voyage. We don't have that kind of equipment onboard. We don't look it, but we were pretty heavily damaged. I mean, decks 5 and 6 are completely cut off…the thrusters could destabilise if we are hit by anything larger than a rock, long range scanners are still on the blink and the weapons are fried completely in a lot of areas. The repairs we did are good for what we had available, but they were still just patch jobs: rerouting power, reconnecting wires so they skipped damaged terminals…nothing you want to have a possibility of going wrong if we were going to be at risk of being attacked.'
'Right, so what do we need?' Carlos asked.
'What we need, we don't have here.' Andros said.
'Well…we could go to Earth,' Cassie suggested with a small smile. Andros looked down before sharing a guarded look with Trei. 'They'll help us at NASADA,' she continued, looking at them both with a slight frown. The other rangers all nodded enthusiastically, smiles huge at the thought of going home for a bit.
Trei shrugged, shaking her head when Andros looked at her for her opinion. She looked at him meaningfully, telling him with her eyes it was completely up to him. Andros knew she could call in favours on other planets but none that were as close as Earth.
'That's, uh, good. We'll need...help,' he moved to the console, an awkward look on his face. 'D.E.C.A, set a course for…' he looked at the other rangers again, '…Earth.'
The other rangers cheered and Trei rolled her eyes slightly as Alpha moved to take care of it. She moved over to Andros quietly as the others celebrated. 'I'm going to go sleep. Call if you need something.'
'Yea, of course.' He responded. She raised an eyebrow disbelievingly and he frowned, 'I will, promise.'
'Ok then, I'll hold you to that.' Trei slunk out of the room and moved quickly and quietly through the decks before pausing outside the engine room.
She looked to make sure none of the new rangers where nearby before she ducked inside, unlocking the hidden compartment and sliding in, locking it behind her.
'Hey Zhane….you'll never guess what happened today,' she started, sitting down with her back against the cryogenic tube.
XOXOXOXO
AN: I don't even know, guys. I started watching these again recently because of reasons and me being me I got carried away. I don't know if I'll continue this or not (lord knows, I have people who are probably waiting for something avengers related), but I kinda enjoyed writing it. It's a bit choppy though, mainly cos it's hard to casually drop in things about an alien race to try and describe them without it getting uber awkward fast, but I tried :P 20pages, 9.2k words. This is the first two episodes, the two-part "From Out of Nowhere".
Catine (Ka-ti-ne): A race of aliens from the planet Kilante (Kill-ahn-teh). Possess cat-like traits (grace, fluid movement, flexibility). Yellow eyes, hair can be any colour. Form soul-bonds with an intelligent cat-race called Kino. They do have their own language, but it isn't shared with people not of their race.
Kino (Key-no): A race of cats, quite similar to the big cats on Earth. They resemble tigers with their stripes, but the stripes are unusually coloured. They can grow exceedingly large (Cesta is around mid range), but for ease of access, bonded Kino are given a microchip and a collar that reacts to that microchip, activating a shrinking device which makes them smaller. It allows them to follow their bonded Catine into more places. They are extremely protective and while they are unable to speak language, they understand it.
Kitel (Kit-el)– The first Catine to bond with a Kino. He brought the ability to do so to the other Catines' attention. Was the first to discover the soulbonds that existed between the two races. He is revered like a god. His bonded Kino was Mentis.
Kolna (Coal-na): A Catine curse. Kolna was an alien general that found that killing one member of the bond would send the other half mad. He manipulated this fact to greatly inhibit the growing civilisation before the people of Kilante eventually killed him and fought off his army.
IDK, I think that's everything (I'm sorry, I have headcanons about this story that are awks to work in. I've tried to keep these simple and to the point in case I want to work them into the storyline later). At this point it is not going to be an anyone/OC romance. It was not started with that in mind, it is yet to cross my mind. Just close friendships, sibling relationships, that kinda thing.