Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, Saban/Disney does.
A Past Forgotten
Ashley sighed as she rolled over in bed for what felt like the millionth time that night. Finally giving up on sleep for the night she swung her legs over the side of the bed and slipped her feet into her fuzzy, yellow slippers. She threw a blanket over her shoulders since the Megaship could get quite cold at night and quietly slipped out of the room so as to not wake up her sleeping roommate.
Wandering the halls she found herself on the command deck. So with a shrug she plopped down in front of one of the consoles and logged in with her password. She decided while she was there she might as well run a systems check even though Deca would have alerted them if anything was wrong.
Yawning and snuggling further into her blanket she glanced down at the status bar: 57%. Then, a file caught her eye that was labeled 'Records'. She frowned. She had never noticed that before, then again she didn't spend too much time on the computers when it wasn't necessary, preferring to spend her free time relaxing. Curious she opened the file and quickly flipped through it, revealing that it was a compilation of news articles. Since she had nothing better to do because sleep seemed to be eluding her that night, she went back to the first article and began to read. Subconsciously she had been hoping that some boring news articles would put her to sleep; boy was she wrong.
A rather large image of the morphed Astro Rangers stared at her from the first page, the headline read: "Astro Rangers to Protect KO-35 from Dark Specter". It began: "Yesterday the six Astro morphers were given to six graduates from the Ranger Academy in the hope that they will be able to protect our beloved planet from the evil forces of Dark Specter and his growing army should he turn his sights towards KO-35." Beneath that was a picture of each ranger with a small biography.
His hair was a bit shorter but he still looked so serious and grim, guess some things never change. Andros son of Rankin and Lela has taken up the prestigious mantle of the Red Ranger. Graduated top of his class from the Ranger Academy. One of the best marksmen the Academy has ever seen.
The next image was of the Black Ranger. The man was dark skinned, bald, and had a soul patch. He was built like a linebacker with a look of determination on his face. Jakar son of Jasmine is second in command of the Astro team. Turning his talents from athletics to rangering, he also graduated with high marks from the academy. He also helped build the Serenity Dome.
Then came the Blue Ranger. A man, who looked more like a young boy, with straw colored hair that flopped down into his one blue eye and one green eye sheepishly smiled at the camera. Ezekial son of Maleek and Arwen is one of the top scientists of his generation. He invented the now widely used Xinno gun.
Onto her counterpart, the Yellow Ranger. A beautiful blond with piercing blue eyes and a breathtaking smile was pictured, Tessa daughter of Stryker and Jade. She is fluent in several languages including: Eltarian, Manganeese, Chite, and Zanshin.
Next was an olive skinned girl with long black hair and mesmerizing green eyes, the Pink Ranger. Selene daughter of Krystiano and River. Following in her parents' footsteps, the former Blue and Pink Rangers. She is also the team medic.
Zhane grinned back at her with mirth in his blue eyes. Son of Stryker and Jade.
Wait a minute! Ashley went back up to the Yellow Ranger's bio and reread it 'daughter of Stryker and Jade'. Zhane has a sister! He never talked about her, though as she thought about it, neither Andros nor Zhane really talked about their past. So she continued reading.
Zhane is the first ever Silver Ranger, handpicked by Zordon of Eltar himself who created his morpher.
After that was a picture of the six rangers unmorphed. Andros was front and center in his red uniform, again not cracking a smile. Zhane was next to him with one arm around his best friend and the other around his sister. Jakar was on the other side of Andros with his burly arms crossed across his chest. Selene looked very small and fragile next to him. Ezekial was next to her with a bright smile on his face and his new morpher proudly displayed on his right wrist.
"Rangers Celebrate Their First Victory!" "What seemed to be a scouting crew of Quantrons were easily defeated by the Power Rangers. That will show Dark Specter not to mess with KO-35." Zhane and Jakar were caught exchanging high fives with jubilant smiles. Selene was patting Ezekial on the back who had a smile of relief on his face, he had proven that he could handle being a Power Ranger. And Andros was actually smiling as he looked down at Tessa who had an arm looped through his and was laughing.
"Astro Rangers Forge New Peace Treaty with Neighboring Zinshin!" "Grateful that the Astro Rangers came to their aid the planet Zinshin has finally signed the peace treaty that has been in the works for several years now." The Astro Rangers stood on a stage with their helmets off and medals around their necks as Andros shook the emperor of Zinshin's hand.
"Power Rangers Stir Up Trouble!" "A citizen of Malon was detained due to Power Ranger error. They thought he was working for Dark Specter. But with some quick diplomacy the matter was resolved." Andros and Tessa were shaking hands with two decorated officials while Zhane and Ezekial hung their heads in shame with glares from Selene and Jakar. It was obvious that the Blue and Silver Rangers were to blame and based on what Ashley know of him, Zhane probably convinced his teammate to go along with him.
"The Princess of the Power Rangers Explains" "The Yellow Ranger held a press conference to explain why the attacks on KO-35 have increased and what the Power Rangers are doing about it." There were several articles similar to this one, and Ashley concluded that Zhane's sister was the face of the Astro Rangers. Which wasn't too hard to believe since Andros was not all that eloquent.
There were numerous accounts of battles, the rangers always victorious.
Then, she came across an article that showed five of the Astro Rangers carrying a casket with a man that looked like Jakar and a sobbing woman was in the background. None of the Power Rangers wore their signature colors; they were all decked out in black with somber expressions. "The Beginning of the End" "The Black Astro Ranger fell in battle the other day. Jakar was murdered by Ecliptor, general of Dark Specter. The power failed him, yet Jakar bravely continued to fight until he was stabbed through the chest. In a fury, the other Rangers rushed to attack as Selene tried to save her fallen teammate. They forced Ecliptor to retreat, but sadly they were unable to save Jakar."
"The Last Three Standing" beneath was a picture of Andros, his arm wrapped around Tessa who was crying as she leaned into his side. Zhane stood on Tessa's other side his hand gripped tightly in hers. She had never seen Zhane look so determined and angry. Before them were two graves bearing the Blue and Pink Astro Rangers' names. And that was all as the article explained that there were no bodies to recover after the explosion, just the Astro morphers. When asked if they would find replacements for their fallen teammates, the remaining trio replied that they would start looking but were wary about their prospects. They didn't want to put anyone else in danger and not many people were volunteering after the deaths of three of their beloved heroes.
"EVACUATE!" "Evacuations have begun as Dark Specter is ruthlessly destroying our planet. Leave now!" The Red, Yellow, and Silver Rangers were shown leading people to ships amidst bombs and flaming debris.
That was the last article, presumably the last one written on KO-35 as everyone evacuated. Ashley knew that Zhane was critically injured trying to protect Andros during the evacuations and was thus put in cryofreeze. But there was nothing about the Yellow Astro Ranger.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Ashley jumped and spun around to see Andros arms crossed and leaning against a nearby console.
"I'm sorry," she quickly closed the file but was filled with a burning need to know what had happened to her predecessor. "What happed to Te-" maybe he would actually open up about his past if she made it seem like just history and not a memory, "the Yellow Ranger?"
Andros thought back on the last time he saw Tessa, and he was brought back to a time when his home planet was razed by the forces of evil.
"Nooo!" The explosion ripped through the air as the monster that was just about to strike him was tackled by Zhane and destroyed. The Red Ranger rushed to his best friend and saw the burnt suit and the damage he had sustained. He quickly picked him up and sprinted to the Megaship. With Deca's help he was able to put Zhane in cryofreeze so as to prevent him from succumbing to his injuries.
"Oh god," The Yellow Ranger demorphed and crumbled as she saw the state her brother was in.
Andros grabbed her in a fierce hug, "Shh, it's going to be ok."
"No!" She sobbed and pushed him away. "He wouldn't want this and you know that. He's as good as dead."
"He's not dead!" Andros shouted, furious that she couldn't see he was trying to save her brother by blood, his brother by choice.
She shook her head, "I'm sorry. I can't-I can't do this," she yanked the morpher off her wrist where it had been for two years and handed it to him. "I can't watch anyone else die."
She gave him a pleading look, begging him to understand, but all he could focus on was the morpher in his hand. They had fought side by side for so long, been there for each other through all the pain and the tears and the joy. And she was leaving him. When he finally looked up, she was gone.
"She stayed with our people to help rebuild," and that was all he said as Ashley watched him walk out of the room.
