Thank you to all the lovely people who took the time to write little reviews after reading the first couple of stories I wrote :). I aim to please, and your responses are much appreciated! Koulagirl, thanks for leaving that little note :). My RB account is inactive at the moment, but I'm still around. And I have missed these characters.
This story is about Trini, told from Trini's point-of-view. The Junior Team don't appear in this story, so it's only the first six Rangers from the show. Enjoy!
Faith
"Are you okay?" I asked, stepping through the doorway in a shower of sparks. "My name's Trini. I'm here to help."
Our scan had told us that somebody was on this part of the ship, but I was lucky to find the young man so quickly. It looked like the wall and half the ceiling had collapsed in around him, and he was lying in the corner trapped under a pile of tangled debris. He was all of twenty, probably the youngest crew-member onboard, with a deep gash on his forehead under a mop of matted brown hair. Hearing my voice, he turned to face me. I could see the desperate fear in his eyes, but as he ran his gaze over my costume, a tiny spark of hope flickered to life.
"I'm stuck," he called, struggling in vain to pull his leg free of the wreckage. I was immediately by his side, lifting pieces of debris off him and throwing them across the room. Even though his leg was half buried, it didn't look good. At least there wasn't much blood, but once the adrenalin wore off, pain would kick in with a vengeance. All around us, lights flashed, sirens sounded, and the ship rocked with the battles taking place on the decks above and below us.
"It'll be okay," I said. I had to keep him talking. Distract him anyway I could. "What's your name? What happened to you?"
"I'm Gavain," he continued. "I heard the alarm, and I just checking there were no passengers back here when these metal… things came through and attacked me. Do you know what's going on?"
"Your typical mad conqueror with an army of robotic foot-soldiers," I explained, and indicated the window. Far below us, the planet Dhalia floated in the vacuum of space, the long curve of the Milky Way visible in the distance. "He hijacked the ship to crash it into a city down below. It's always ego. The problem," and I carefully pulled away a tangle of sparking electrical wires, "is that with this ship's hyperdrive engines, the explosion will destroy a continent." I paused, and met his gaze. "I think the metal is jammed in here solidly. But I am going to get you out of here. Don't worry."
Gavain grimaced. "Because we're not about to die?" he asked weakly.
"Have some faith," I offered, as I continued trying to dig him free. His face fell, and I frowned. "I'm sorry, I said that without thinking. I'm from Earth, and my family has always had strong religious beliefs. I don't know much about your planet's customs. Are you spiritual at all?"
"No," he replied. "It never interested me that much."
"Fair enough. It's not for everyone."
Despite everything happening around him, Gavain smiled. "That's refreshing."
"I know it's old fashioned," I continued. "But it helps me, you know? It tells me that everything happens for a reason, and that in the end, everything will be okay. Some days I need that."
Gavain laughed. "We're twenty minutes away from smashing headfirst into a planet," he said. Through the window, I couldn't help but notice that the planet was indeed growing ominously larger. "Not to rain on your parade, but do you know something I don't?"
"Five somethings," I said. "I'm not alone, and neither are you. My team-mates are onboard as well. We heard your captain's distress call, and came as soon as we could. Right this second, Jason is confronting the tyrant on the bridge. Tommy will be fighting his way through to the escape pods, while Zac should be rescuing the rest of the crew…"
A handful of jetfighters suddenly shot past the window, fleeing a large sleek spacecraft of pink and gold that was rapidly closing in on them.
"That's Kim, my best friend," I continued, "taking care of the attack squadron so we can make a safe descent. And Billy will be in the bridge with Jason, trying to reprogram the ship's flight computer." I threw a final piece of metal away, and frowned beneath my helmet. Everything else was jammed too tightly to move, and from the look of it, Gavain's leg was still held fast.
"It's no good," he said, his struggle confirming my suspicions, "I still can't move." I was about to reply when his eyes suddenly flew wide, and I turned to see what had caught his attention. It was then I noticed a second doorway leading deeper into the ship. A dozen robotic soldiers filled the corridor, murderous intent on their steel faces as they marched towards us two-by-two. The floor shook under the rhythmic pounding of their metal boots.
"They're back!" he said, and tried desperately to break free. "We have to go!"
"Don't worry," I said quickly. "The thing about these guys? They have a power unit in their chest, just under their left shoulder. It's small, and very unstable."
Raising my hands, I summoned my Power Daggers with a thought, the weapons appearing in a flash of yellow light. I waited until the leading pair of soldiers had just reached the doorway, when I launched both daggers straight towards them, then leaned down to protect Gavain – the room lit up with twin explosions as the robots were ripped apart, showering us with pieces of metal. But Gavain stayed safe, the debris all bouncing off my suit and helmet. Not only that, but the door was now blocked with flaming wreckage, trapping the rest of the troop in the corridor.
Gavain reached for his ringing ears. "That helped?" he shouted.
"Actually it did," I said. Standing up, I saw what I'd hoped for, that the explosions had dislodged several of the pieces pinning his leg to the floor. Using the extra leverage, I widened the gap as best as I could. Taking Gavain's hand, I carefully slid him out of the wreckage, and finally pulled him free. He winced, his leg twisted at a decidedly unnatural angle. Helping him to his feet, I put his arm around my shoulder, and we made our way over to the second doorway and out into the corridor.
Through the orbital shield, we watched for a few seconds as the ship plunged ever closer towards the planet's surface, and I felt his grip around me tighten. Then, the deck began to shudder beneath our feet. It felt like more soldiers were closing in, but after a few seconds, Gavain recognised the sound of the ship's thrusters kicking in. For a tense minute, nothing happened, and we held our breath. Finally, the ship came to a shuddering halt, and I let out a sigh of relief as we were slowly but surely pushed back out into deeper orbit. The planet was safe.
Gavain turned to me. "Your Billy?" he asked.
I laughed. "Alien technology and programming code in a foreign language," I said softly, and shook my head. "And it took him all of ten minutes."
"Was that why you were so calm?" Gavain asked. "I get from the suit that this probably happens to you a lot, but the whole time we were falling, you didn't even raise your voice. Were you that sure we'd be okay?"
"Let me tell you a secret," I said. "My faith is pretty strong, but even I have days when I don't feel sure of anything."
"Even a Power Ranger needs something to believe in?"
"Well that's the thing," I said. "On those days, I believe in my friends, and I believe in the reason we were all brought together."
Gavain nodded, and looked away. "Thank you," he said.
"Don't worry about it," I smiled. "Now c'mon, let's get that leg looked at, and get you home to your family."
The End.
