A/N: I was told I was mean to leave it like I did. Therefore, another chapter. I mentioned Andros's first team in the Red Fraternity if you want to see their eventual fates. I think the hardest part here was remembering that these kids are between thirteen and fifteen years old.

When Zhane was 13 years old, he finally achieved his greatest dream. He had known that he would become a Silver Ranger ever since the day his Uncle Kartai had shown him the light inside of him. That had been one of the longest periods of time that he had stayed on a planet, before his mother's death that is. His mother, a former green ranger, had become a merchant after her retirement. Up until the days before his fifth birthday, Zhane and his mother had traveled a great deal.

That it had taken nearly 10 years to find the morpher he had been promised on that long ago day had not been a surprise. In fact, Zhane had thought it would take longer. After all most humans didn't get a morpher until they were 18.

It was a day he would never forget.

Zhane and Andros had gone to Eltare to retrieve Andros's injured teammate, Analyn. She had had a nasty run in with some smugglers and had needed medical aid beyond the colony's abilities. Kartai was waiting when they landed on Eltare with a purple robed figure.

"Greetings Uncle Kartai," Zhane said. He gave a short bow of respect to the Purple Ranger before focusing on his uncle. "How have you been?"

Kartai held up his arms and pulled the teen into a quick hug. "I've been just fine; my research has been proving interesting. What about you, Zhane?"

"I thought I would never get off KO–35, Andros sprung me because I begged him to." Zhane turned and gestured to Andros, "Have you met Uncle Kartai?"

"We have met," Andros replied as he stepped forward, "when we brought Analyn here."

"I'm sure your teammate is ready to go home," Kartai said genially. "However, that is not why I'm here today. Andros, Zhane, this is my teammate Ranger Mykol, a Purple Ranger. Mykol has told me that now is the time for Zhane to accept his morpher."

"His morpher?" Andros asked incredulously.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Zhane told him with a mock pout. He turned to Kartai, "Now? With what team?"

"With the Astros," Mykol said quietly. He lifted his head, allowing his face to be seen including the fact that his eyes were violet. "You deserve a morpher, and being the Silver Astro Ranger is your destiny. With a six ranger, the Astro Rangers will prove key to ending this war although it may not come about the way you expect."

Zhane looked over at Andros; his friend looked white as a sheet. "Is there anything that I have to do now?" He said, "Or do the Astros have to make the request?"

"As long as Andros has no objections, the morpher is already waiting for you. All that must occur is your acceptance." Kartai replied.

Andros shook his head, as if to brush off some odd thought, "I would be crazy to object. Any Red Ranger would be crazy to reject a Silver Ranger." He gave Zhane a brilliant smile, "Especially for that ranger to be you. Welcome to the team."

"Then you should get your teammate Andros, while Zhane and I go to get his morpher. We will meet you back here." Kartai said.

"All right," Andros replied.

Zhane followed Kartai into the Ranger Hall, where the Rangers kept their oldest and most valuable records of ranger lore. Instead of going to the Records, which Zhane had visited with his mother, they went through an unremarkable wooden door that lead to a flight of stairs to an underground complex. There was a large, metal door that opened when Kartai held up his morpher, beyond the door was a short corridor with a cross corridor about six paces from the door. Beyond the cross corridor was another door, this one made of dark wood with frosted glass. As they passed the cross corridor, Zhane glanced both ways and saw other doors on each side.

The glass and wood door was their goal; beyond it was a small well appointed chapel. There was an altar at the far end of the room covered in a silver cloth. On the wall above the altar was the symbol of the Light, a sun in glory made of clear glass and silver. On the altar, a dark wooden box waited.

"Open it," Kartai instructed him.

Zhane reached trembling hands for the box; he paused for a moment, and then opened the box. Inside sat an object that he had seen in his dreams, the Digimorpher. "I have dreamed of this," he whispered.

"Use it well."

"You have got to be kidding me!"

Zhane rolled his eyes, he had been settling into his quarters when DECA had summoned him to the bridge. Jos could be heard from the lift at the end of the corridor, and he was clearly not happy with the Astros's new team member. It was a fair bet that some of the others were equally unhappy although Analyn seemed indifferent. Zhane entered the bridge to find Andros squaring off against Jos, Neverro, and Loryn while Analyn stood to one side. "Look" He said, catching everyone's attention, "I have always been a silver ranger, I just never had a team or a morpher. Now, whether you like it or not, I have both. Silver Rangers are different; each one of us has our own style. You don't have to like it, but I'm not going anywhere."

"Zhane is right," declared Analyn. "All you are doing is sounding like idiots." The pink ranger crossed her arms and lifted her chin, "Having a Silver Ranger on the team makes us stronger, better able to do our job. Besides, up until the moment Andros told you that Zhane was our sixth ranger, you thought Zhane was a great guy, why does that change because he has a morpher?"

Jos threw his hands up, "Of course you'd take Andros's side."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Analyn asked.

"Stop it," Andros snapped, "everyone just stop. Jos, back off. Analyn, thank you for your support. The fact of the matter is, even if I didn't want Zhane to be a Ranger, I'd have been an idiot to say so right in front of Ranger Kartai. Fact of the matter is, we need all the help we can get. Dark Spector isn't going to go away just because we wish really hard." He glared at his teammates. "Jos, walk with me," he said finally. "We need to talk, apparently."

The blond haired blue ranger opened his mouth, and then closed it at Andros's glare. He followed Andros closely as the red ranger stalked off the bridge. Zhane watched the two of them head for the lift with a frown. "It's not you."

Zhane turned to find Loryn, the yellow ranger, approaching hesitantly. "Jos has been, less than pleasant to be around for some time. It's not you."

"I'm just an excuse?" Zhane suggested, glancing from Loryn to Neverro and Analyn.

"Something like that," Neverro agreed. The lanky black ranger grinned at him, "Jos has an embarrassing crush on Analyn, who has an embarrassing crush on Andros who is clueless as a rock."

Zhane chuckled, "Sounds about right for Andros. He's special like that. Now then, are there any other questions about me? I'm fully capable of explaining most things."

The yellow ranger half raised her hand, and then slid it over her close cut black and red streaked hair. "Just one," Loryn said, "why didn't you ever say anything?"

Zhane shrugged, "I was a Silver Ranger, and I've known that all my life. The Astros didn't have a Silver morpher, so why should I consider it a possibility. Unlike most other colors, Silvers don't have a defining trait except that we're good. Well, some Silvers have a looser definition of good than others. All I ever had to do was be myself, because I am the best me I can possibly be."

"Who told you that?" Neverro asked with a snort.

"My mom," Zhane said quietly. He looked away, rather than see the pity that was sure to show up in Neverro's eyes. Zhane's history was more of an open secret amongst Andros's teammates than anything, but that didn't mean that Zhane enjoyed knowing that the Rangers were aware of his history.

"She was right," Analyn announced, "you're great. Now, did you get everything settled in before you came up here or would you like some help?"

Zhane shook his head, "I didn't have much worth keeping, actually. I'm not a materialistic sort of guy."

"Says the man who keeps a battle ship for his personal use," Neverro muttered.

"The Delta?" Zhane replied, "She isn't actually a battleship. The Ilandians decommissioned her before Mom bought her. She could become a battleship with a little work, but she's a merchant ship now."

"My dad said the Delta was fully armed," Neverro said, half challenging.

"No," Zhane shook his head, "only a third of the weapons work. Her shields were full grade back when Mom bought her, but they haven't been overhauled or updated in twenty years. Most of the weapons ports are blocked closed, and she doesn't have any kinetics at all. Not to mention that MOE isn't battle class grade. You'd have to have the key cards to upgrade MOE's programming, and then you'd have to stock the kinetics, repair the ports and overhaul the shields."

"Why don't you?" Loryn asked, "It's not like KO-35 couldn't use the extra fire power."

"Maybe for the Rangers," Zhane said, "but MOE and the Delta are all I have of my mom. I don't want anything to happen to them." He considered for a moment, toying with the phoenix charm he wore around his neck. "I'll talk to Andros about it. He'll know what to do."

Loryn smiled brightly, "Sounds like a plan."

"Agreed," Zhane said, giving the pink ranger his most charming smile. He hoped it was enough to hide the fact that somewhere deep inside, he knew this wasn't his team. Mykol's warning that the Astros would win the war in an unexpected way nagged at him, keeping him too aware of his uneasiness.