A/N: Ok, my story is WAY A/U by now, but this story begins loosely where "Super Megaforce" the episode begins, and will cover events from there my way. I would honestly say, if you haven't read "Nowhere to Go, Noone to Help, Nothing to Lose" and "Flight of the Privateer" that you'll probably get completely lost. Still, I hope you all enjoy it.

Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, characters, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights is to be considered purely the creation of the author.

Timeline: Directly before the start of "Super Megaforce"

Rating: T-there will be mild adult themes and language.

The unmistakable form of the Red Galleon made its way through the skies, heading for their next location. This one was very different. This time they weren't in a race for treasure. This time they weren't following one of Tensou's cryptic poems to look for more Ranger Keys. This time, they weren't expecting to encounter some small force sent to stop them in their latest quest, this time they were heading straight into battle. This time, they were there to lay their lives on the line to save hundreds of others.

Their newest foe, Prince Vekar, seemed to have taken a far more direct stance in this than his brother. After almost a month of playing tit-for-tat with his underlings and his henchmen, he had finally presented himself, 'gracing' the world with his presence. They had now seen the face of this new monster, and in his first demonstration of his power, in his first grand standing was to put the Rangers on notice that come sunrise, he planned to wipe Harwood County, their home city, and everyone foolish enough to still be there off the map. It was a direct challenge to the Rangers, one they knew that they had to accept.

As the ship sailed over the clouds, despite the usual level of trepidation, there was also a slight sense of happiness underneath it all. For the first time in three months, they were going home. For most of the team, they were going back to where they had grown up, to the streets that had shaped them into the teenagers that would pick up the fight for the Earth just over a year previously. For Troy, he was going back to the first place he had ever really settled, to the first place he had ever really felt like he had friends that would always be his friends. Not just passing acquaintances that would be there for him for the few months until his parents got a new job and moved on, only to forget his face and stop e-mailing a few weeks later, but people he had every confidence would always be a part of his life, no matter where they all ended up.

"Well, there it is." Noah told them as they started to approach the city under darkness. "Home sweet home."

They all assembled around the monitor, seeing the city before them. It had been a long time for all of them. As much as they had considered the tactical point of view that the best thing they could do, especially now that they knew that someone else, the mysterious privateer Lafitte was also looking for the Ranger keys, they knew that they had no real choice but to come and take on this fight. Not just because they had all promised to protect the Earth, and all its people beyond all else, but because this was their home. If they allowed Vekar to sweep through Harwood at will, if they didn't stand up to him now, then the entire war would be for nothing. Although there had already been battles, all of them were just feeling each other out, feints and jabs. This would be the real opening salvo.

"There are so many lights." Emma commented. "Vekar announced his intentions. Why are so many people still here?"

"He only gave them until sundown before putting up his roadblocks." Jake reminded her. "Not everyone will have made it out."

"I guess we knew not everyone would leave." Gia sighed. "Sick, injured, people with kids, people who have nowhere to go..."

"Not to mention some people just might have just refused to leave." Troy answered. "Some people just aren't willing to give up yet."

"Well, no one ever said this would be easy." Noah commented with a shrug. "There's nothing like innocent bystanders to make a battle more dangerous."

"Come on guys, let's set this thing down." Troy announced. "We'll need to be on the ground when the show starts."

As they parted, and headed their own ways, Gia made her way into her quarters, Emma went with her. She saw Gia lying back on her hammock, staring at the ceiling.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Emma asked her. Gia didn't answer her. It had only been a couple of hours since Cat, her girlfriend, had officially ended their relationship. Gia hadn't said anything at the time, but she had told Emma pretty much immediately afterwards. She told Emma everything. Gia just continued to stare at the ceiling. "Gia?"

"I'm fine Emma." She replied. It was easily the least convincing thing anyone had said in a long time.

"Gia, if you want to talk..."

"I really don't." Gia told her. "All I want to do is break something, and I'll get plenty of chances to do that tomorrow. I just want to rest."

Emma wasn't happy in the slightest with this answer, but all things considered, they could all do with being well rested for the day ahead. Emma just crawled into her own hammock, pulling a blanket over herself. Gia knew where she was if she changed her mind, and if she wasn't ready to talk yet, then no one could make her.

Meanwhile, in the mysterious dimension known only as "The Library", Jordan was working hard on his latest studies. He had been sealed here following the initial invasion. He had expended pretty much all of his energies, following which Gosei had taken him here, to the Library of Zordon, constructed in a location even Jordan wasn't aware of and revealed to him that he would take on a new role in the war.

Jordan had for the most part come to terms with his true parentage. His Eltarian heritage had expanded his mind into areas he could never have possibly fathomed before. He had spent the time since he was brought here in study and meditation, preparing for a time when Gosei would make his role clear to him.

It had been a while since he had sent a projection to his friends to talk to them. One of the most troubling aspects of the invasion had been Gosei's disappearance. With the exception of a brief appearance to the Rangers to save them from execution and the odd message to Jordan, he had been pretty much completely absent, leaving Jordan to study on his own.

As much as he now had a greater understanding of the universe, and his place in it, he missed his friends dreadfully. A part of him also had to admit missing the action. As the Robo Knight, he had been an important part of the Rangers' war with Vrak. He had grown up obsessed with superheroes, and dreaming of being one himself. While being a Ranger mentor was one thing, he still longed to one day be back in the thick of the action. Now that the Rangers were off to face The Armada especially, he wished he could be right back in the thick of things, to stand with his friends again.

In the end, that was one hope that he believed was closer to fruition. When he had created the Corsair Ranger powers, he had created six keys, making one for himself for the day he would be allowed to leave The Library and rejoin his friends. Unlike the other Ranger Keys, it seemed that the sixth Corsair Ranger Key was inexplicably tied to the Sixth Ranger Keys, meaning that it had remained inert all this time.

However, in their battles with Lafitte, the Rangers had found themselves in possession of fifteen of the Sixth Ranger Keys. In the last few hours, he had found the key giving off massive energy readings, indicating that it was almost ready. As he worked on the finishing touches to complete the key, he couldn't help smiling. He was finally going home.

As he finished it, and picked up the key, inspecting it, he was virtually giddy with excitement. The Robo Knight powers had been a great adventure, but this time he had intended that he would actually be a Ranger. As he marvelled at the key, taking the morpher in hand, he saw a flash of light. He looked up to see Gosei standing before him in his battle armour.

"Dad...you...you're actually here?" Jordan asked him.

"I know what you are planning to do my son." He stated. "I must insist upon restraint."

"Dad, if you're here, then you know what they're about to face." Jordan stated. "You know they're about to face a full on strike force!"

"I am aware of the odds they face." Gosei told him sternly. "Just as you are aware they have considerable power at their disposal now."

"Dad, they might have those keys, but...they'll be facing hundreds! Maybe Thousands!" Jordan insisted. "They could use all the help they can get! I made this key, this morpher so that I could help them! I've been here studying just like you asked for all this time! I want...!"

"This war is about more than what you want. If you have not learned that by now, then clearly your studies are not yet complete." Gosei reprimanded him, holding out a hand. "I will take those."

"But...I created them, they're MINE!" Jordan snapped at him.

"This key has a destiny." Gosei assured him. "But now is not the time."

Jordan knew that he was not to be argued with in a mood like this. His frustration was evident in his expression when he handed over his morpher.

"How old does an Eltarian have to be before his parents let him do as he wants?" Jordan asked him. Gosei just sighed.

"I'm over ten thousand years old. You're 18." Gosei told him. "To us, you're barely out of diapers. Come back when you've seen a couple of centuries pass and we'll talk about you borrowing the ship."

He saw the disappointment in his son's face and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You have a greater part in this war than you know my son." Gosei assured him. "Your chance will come, but it will not be yet."

"Can I at least contact the others?" Jordan asked. Gosei just nodded.

"Everyone deserves some encouragement from their mentor." He answered, before disappearing. Jordan just smiled as he went to figure out what he wanted to say to his friends on the eve of their biggest battle to date as his first Rangers.

Troy stood in the main room, staring at maps of the city of Harwood. Although they had done this many times before, this time seemed very different. Before, they'd had Gosei on their side. While they didn't doubt that he was out there somewhere, and he hadn't just deserted them, there was something comforting about having him sitting on their shoulder, watching out for them.

"I know what you're thinking." Noah told him. "We have all these keys and groovy new powers, but for all that, it was always nice knowing Gosei was there."

"How many times did he seem to have just the thing to save the day?" Troy asked as the Blue Ranger sat with him, setting down a sword. "I can't count the number of times we were facing the big one, and he was able to pull a Zord or a new power up out of nowhere."

"This time, it feels like we've got a lot more to prove." Noah told him. "Not to the world, or The Armada, or even Gosei...but to ourselves."

Troy just looked to Noah thoughtfully. He couldn't really remember Noah ever talking like that. Although the Rangers all had their own mentalities and flaws that marked them as different from the abstract notion of "normal", of all of them Noah was the one who seemed to care the least what anyone thought of him. He had never shown any indication that he was ever concerned that he was never in danger of winning Mr Universe, or being the most popular guy in the room. Of all of them, he was always the one who seemed to content himself with his own abilities.

Over the last couple of months though, since they had adopted the new powers, Noah had taken his training to levels none of them would have believed. Any time he wasn't studying the new powers they had unlocked with the Ranger Keys they had found, and figuring out how to study them to best utilise their special gifts, he was practicing with his swords. It was like when he lost his Shark Bowgun with the new powers, he had embraced the new short-range combat with an obsessive passion, one that rivalled the passion Troy had always had for Martial Arts.

"This time, we're our own safety net." Noah told him. "We pass or fail on our own merits. There's going to be no miraculous last-minute toys just given to us. If we need something, we need to take it for ourselves."

"You've thought about this a lot." Troy agreed, nodding in agreement with the assessment. "So we're on our own?"

"Well, I wouldn't say you're ENTIRELY on your own." They heard a familiar voice say. They both turned to see Jordan's projection appearing before them. He smiled as he saw them.

"Jordan?" Troy asked.

"You didn't think I'd let you face this all by yourself do you?" Jordan asked. "But...sorry, I don't have any new zords or toys for you right now...and the only thing I had on the drawing board...kind of isn't there anymore. What's up Tensou?"

"They keep hitting me over the head!" Tensou shrieked. "Your stupid glitch-infested tracking software..."

"Wow, um...sorry about that." Jordan replied defensively, holding his hands up. He looked to Troy and Noah. "I'm guessing that's kind of a sore point."

"You could say that." Noah told him. "He kind of takes it personally when one of us...you know...activates it. We end up getting pecked to bits."

"So you're basically here as moral support?" Troy asked him, brushing off this conversation. Jordan just shrugged.

"I guess you could say that." He replied. "But having studied the tactical databases of The Armada's previous conquests, I have probably the most complete knowledge of their tactical SOP."

"That...that could be helpful." Noah replied. "I'll just go and call the others. They should all hear this."

"Tensou, would you mind preparing some coffee or something?" Jordan asked him. "I have a feeling this could take a while."

"No worries." Tensou answered. "That's at least something I can do that doesn't involve one of my friends smashing me on the head with a blunt instrument."

"He' never going to let me live that one down is he?" Jordan asked as Tensou flew away.

"Do you blame him?" Troy asked. "Alright Jordan, what can you tell us?"

"Jordan?" Gia asked, smiling a little to see him. "You came back?"

"I had a little time, so I thought I'd help out." Jordan told her. "I might not have the funky armour anymore, but I guess that's all part of being a mentor."

As they gathered around the map, preparing to hear any advice Jordan could give them, they all felt more than a little better. He might not be able to ride to the rescue, or bring them new toys, but even in this capacity, it felt a little more like old times.