Xingdao System: Planet Lucerin
Docking Ports, 20:35 (local)

Qua'lia crossed her arms and tapped her foot as she waited in for the cargo shipment to be delivered to the docking port. Thor vigilantly stood watch while Skyler sat on a crate playing a game of solitaire with a deck of cards she carried. The Pink Ranger turned her head when she saw Sera approach and come to sit down by her on a nearby bench. She offered Qua'lia a bottle of water that she carried from the ship, "Hey... everything okay?"

"Sorry. I'm just on edge," Qua'lia admitted, "I just want to get this job over with and get out of here."

"You don't like taking a little break and having a quiet assignment for once?" Sera asked.

"It's not that... I'm still just a little frustrated. I feel like I've been sidelined and it troubles me more that these orders are coming from Captain Raines and Aaron is okay with it too."

"You feel like they're not trusting you? Or that you've fallen out of favor?" Sera suggested.

Qua'lia shrugged, "I don't know. I just can't help but feel something might be off. No offense, but I'm a little confused as to why you're here and not back on the starbase."

Now it was Sera's turn to shrug, "To be honest, I'm not quite sure either. I was asked to come along and do this because the captain felt it would be a big help to you."

"And you're okay with that? I mean... you're still royalty and all. I've never thought of you as a snob or anything, but isn't it kind of odd that you still want to get in the muddy trenches with us?"

"I admit... it's still a bit of a culture shock," Sera said, "But without a planet to call home and being the ruler of very little now, it is teaching me a few things. For one, I have a responsibility to others and if that means risking myself to do it... then so be it. But I'm also learning that because I have next to nothing now, I can start relating more to the common people like all of you. I'm in no position to argue so I can't say doing any particular tasks are beneath me either. You know?'

Qua'lia stopped and thought it over, "Yeah... I guess so."

Part of Qua'lia's frustration had been coming from a place of her personal pride and her desire to prove herself to others. She had to admit, Sera's new attitude was a humbling one and perhaps it was best Qua'lia do the same. After all, she was still from the regular enlisted ranks and she had to be careful not to forget where she came from either. There was still part of that young Lacerian girl in her, scraping by on a poor desert planet looking for something better and she would remember it.

As she and Sera exchanged a quiet smile, one of the porters came by with an anti-grav lift that carried some crates. The beared man pushed it along and approached the crew, puffing from the effort, "All right. Your delivery finally came in. Sorry about the wait."

"It's about time," Skyler said as she gathered her cards and walked over to join the others, "Now who's going to sign off on these forms?"

A shot from a plasma rifle rang out and struck the porter right in the chest, killing him dead. No sooner had the porter collapsed with a smoking blaster wound, everyone else turned as a group of U'shan Dragoons emerged from hiding and cut off their avenue of escape. By now, other people in that section of the docking port began to scramble and flee in terror. The sergeant of the Dragoons leveled his rifle at Qua'lia, "We can sign off on those for you. These crates are now the property of the U'shan Empire."

"Like hell they are. This is my cargo!" Skyler growled as she pulled her blaster pistol from her hip and fired several shots which clipped one soldier. The other U'shan let loose with a volley of rifle fire causing everyone to dive for cover behind the crates. Some of them were shredded by the plasma bolts but Skyler and Thor were quick to recover and return fire with their own weapons. Qua'lia gripped Sera and kept her protected while several more shots streaked by overhead. "Are you okay Princess?"

"I'm fine Qua'lia... but look!"

Sera pointed to a small fallen crate that had been blown open by a rifle shot. In it, she was surprised to see a pink artifact disc that looked just like the item the other Rangers were going to the auction for. But how did it get here? Qua'lia didn't have any more time to think about it as Sera dove forward and grabbed the disc while Qua'lia laid down covering fire from her blaster. As Sera scrambled back into cover, the Dragoons advanced to try and close the noose. Qua'lia turned to Thor and motioned for a flank maneuver, "Lt. Julut!"

Thor turned and gave a silent nod of understanding as he fell back to get into position for a new surprise attack. Qua'lia did the same and called to Sera and Skyler. "Hold up right here! Keep them busy for just a few more seconds!"

No sooner had Qua'lia positioned herself, the Dragoons closed in and encircled the two other girls. They raised their guns threateningly, "Drop your guns right now humans! Wait... where are the other two?"

Skyler and Sera both raised their hands slowly and waited before Thor and Qua'lia surprised the enemy from the corners of some nearby cargo crates. The U'shan foot soldiers were caught flat footed in the open and they were quickly gunned down by the two Alliance security officers. Once the smoke cleared, Sera gave a deep sigh of relief while Skyler helped her up and holstered her pistol. The pilot gave an appreciative nod to the two officers and smiled, "Nice shooting and even better timing."

"Those guys almost put a fight," Thor muttered as he picked up a couple of the plasma rifles.

Qua'lia shook her head before Sera came forward and presented her with the pink disc, "Here. I think think belongs to you."

The others gathered around as Qua'lia studied it more closely and saw that it had a symbol that looked like the constellation Draco, even more appropriate given the vaguely reptilian features her own race. The Pink Ranger held the object and frowned, "I still don't understand... what is this thing doing here?"

Skyler crossed her arms and casually leaned on the grav-lift, "I guess there's no point in me keeping quiet any more. Your captain was pulling a switcheroo."

Sera's eyes went wide, "Hold on... you were in on this whole thing?"

"I was helping coordinate and pull the inside job for you," Skyler nodded, "Those porters we met earlier were on our side. They worked for the casino and we paid them to smuggle this thing out before the auction even began. What we delivered was part of a little surprise they wheeled in for the U'shan instead."

"Then the other Rangers were decoys this whole time," Thor surmised, "To draw the attention of the Imperial agents who would be at that auction?"

"You got it, tall dark and handsome," Skyler said with a wink, "But it looks like the U'shan had a few contingencies of their own. We should get out of here and pick up your friends before the port authorities come and start asking us why this whole place is shot to hell."

Qua'lia continued to stare at the disc, "This was all part of the plan. Aaron did trust me after all... and I almost blew it."

Sera put a supportive hand on the Ranger's shoulder, "Come on Qua'lia. Don't say that. You did your job and it all worked out for the best."

That was when the Pink Ranger's morpher chimed and the communicator sounded. It was Aaron's voice, "Qua'lia... are you there?"

"We're here sir. Everything is okay. We've got the cargo and are on the way home now."

"Yeah... about that. Our plan has hit a little bit of a snag," the Red Ranger answered.

Back at the Grand Casino, a small group of armed U'shan soldiers held the Rangers in a suite at gun-point and kept the Rangers' wrists bound so that they could not use their morphers either. The leader of the gunmen got close to Aaron's morpher and spoke, "If you want your friends to survive, you'll have one hour to come to the roof of the Grand Casino and surrender yourself... and don't try anything cute Pink Ranger."

As the transmission cut out, the others looked to Qua'lia as she stood with a grim expression her face. Sera gave a concerned look and asked in a quiet voice, "What are we going to do now?"

"The answer is simple," Qua'lia smiled as she slotted in the pink disc to her morpher, "We're going to go save our friends."

A while later, the rest of the Odyssey Rangers sat huddled on the rooftop patio of the Grand Casino under the watch of the U'shan agents. They had shed their disguises and wore menacing looks until their own commander arrived some time later. The officer who had been present at the auction had traded in his dress uniform for a suit of powered armor and he touched down on the roof using his jump jets. As he flipped open his visor, he gave a smug smile as he looked over his captives, "Well this is quite a surprise. I came looking for a prize, but I had no idea I would be getting five more before the night is over. You Odyssey Rangers don't know how much trouble you've been causing for us recently. Once I bring you in and present you to the Exarch himself, I'm going to become very rich and famous."

"And who do we have the displeasure of making famous?" Rin asked venomously.

The U'shan officer smiled, "Major Shrav of the Imperial Army my dear. You Rangers must have thought you were pretty clever to try and sneak in here to pluck this from under our noses."

He held up the pink artifact disc and studied it, "If these items are so important to you Rangers, they must be worth something. If you tell me what they do and how they work, then I might ask the Imperial government to show some leniency to you."

"Thinking of seizing power yourself?" Geordi taunted, "We'll be happy to show you. Just let us get to our morphers."

"I think not," Major Shrav said, "You will tell me how these work."

At that Aaron began to laugh to himself, "Man, are you full of it. You have no idea what you're dealing with, do you? No matter how this plays out, I promise your plan is going to blow up in your face."

Shrav scowled and gestured to one of his men who backhanded the Red Ranger. Shrav tucked away the artifact into a compartment of his armor as Skyler's freighter approached from overhead and leveled off over the roof. It dropped its rear hatch and both Qua'lia and Thor hopped out. Shrav extended his hands, "This is unexpected Pink Ranger. I didn't know you'd be bringing along a friend. What I'm more interested in is your morpher."

"You want it? You've got it!" Qua'lia answered with a feral grin as she locked in the true artifact disc and activated her morpher. There was an explosion of pink light as she morphed and dashed forward startling the U'shan. Thor used the momentary distraction to catch a pair of laser rifles that Sera tossed from the hatch of the freighter and open fire laying down a deadly arc of plasma bolts. He gave a satisfied roar as he rushed over to aid the other captive Rangers while the enemy began to fire back with disorganized shots.

"Thor! Am I glad to see you big guy!" Aaron sighed as his comrade hauled him to his feet and cut his bonds. The large security officer handed him a utility knife and went back to firing his rifles, "Hurry up sir. Let's get your team back in the fight!"

Meanwhile, Qua'lia tumbled through several gunmen and bashed them aside before coming face to face with the armored Major Shrav. The U'shan fired a few bolts from his arm cannon and took a few wide swings but Qua'lia evaded them with her preternatural grace. She rolled sideways and pulled her blaster pistol hosing him with a few shots in the chest.

Shrav chortled, "You think I'm afraid of you? Your weapons didn't even sting me."

"You want to get stung? I can do one better!" Qua'lia answered as she called on her own personal weapons based on a constellation. In a flash of pink light, she was armed with two large dagger weapons with pink metallic hilts. She twirled them and held them in an aggressive posture, "Draco Daggers!"

A few other gunmen stepped up and prepared to fire but the Pink Ranger flung her daggers to stick them and knock their weapons away. To Shrav's surprise, Qua'lia was able to manipulate the daggers in midair and recall them to her hand. She caught them mid stride and charged the commander,payying his punches and hammering him back with her blades.

Amid the firefight that had erupted, the Rangers were now free and Sage kept her head down from some of the plasma shots while Rin rolled over next to her behind a fallen table. The Yellow Ranger gave a bemused look and tried to crouch as she pulled off the last of the restraints from her wrist. "Damn, it's kinda hard to move in this dress. Not exactly great for gunfighting, is it?"

Rin ripped away the bottom of her dress turning it into a miniskirt and she tapped her morpher, "I guess we'll just have to improvise then. Are we going to have to suit up here?"

Sage poked her head around the corner of the patio couch and saw the remaining gunmen falling back while Qua'lia was locked in battle against the U'shan commander, "Umm... negative. I think Qu'lia's got everything under control."

Qua'lia kicked Shrav back and drove her daggers into his armored thigh causing him to scream in fury before he reached out and grabbed her arm. She cried out as he began to twist it into a painful hold and sneer, "I've got you now Pink Ranger."

"That's what you think," Aaron answered as he reached for a small remote device from his pocket and hit the button."You're in for some buyer's remorse. That disc you got at the auction? It was a phony this whole time!"

The trigger activated the fake artifact that Shrav had purchased and tucked away into his armor. The fake disc exploded and caused a powerful EMP burst that knocked out the power from the top floors of the casino as well as short out the Major's powered armor. Qua'lia broke free and whirled around slashing Shrav several more times before striking with both daggers in a charged attack resembling a dragon snapping its maw.

Shrav was blown back from the burst of pink energy and thrown clear off the roof of the casino to plummet to his doom below. Qualia paused and took a calming breath before she felt Thor give her an approving pat on the back while Rin cheered, "Damn Qua'lia! That was pretty savage right there!"

Just then, everyone's attention was drawn back to the Crow as Sera poked her head out and waved, "Hey! It's time to go everyone! The local authorities are on their way!"

The other Rangers didn't need to be told twice as they scrambled up the freighter's ramp before Skyler took her ship into the air and punched the engines to make a quick getaway.

Later on as the Crow hurtled through warp space and cruised back toward the safety of Starbase Elysium, the Rangers and their friends were all in a celebratory mood given their close call. They gathered in the galley of the ship and shared a few laughs over some rations and mugs of hot coffee while some music played from a subspace radio station. While Skyler stood near a counter with Sage spiking their coffee mugs with the contents of a hip flask, Rin and Geordi sat with Thor, patting the big burly security officer on his shoulders.

"I have to admit, that whole rescue was pretty awesome," Geordi smiled, "You guys really saved our skins on that one so thank you again!"

"Not to mention the way you were dual wielding those plasma rifles," Rin added, "That was totally badass, sir. Do you think you can teach me how to do that?"

Despite his generally gruff nature, Thor gave a small sideways grin to the petite Green Ranger, "I think you might need to lift more weights and grow at least another 6 inches Crewman Niall."

At the other side of the galley's table, Aaron and Sera sat with Qua'lia and shared a little toast before taking a sip of their drinks. The Pink Ranger finally cleared her throat and turned to the Red Ranger, "Lt. Russo… I know this might sound silly, but I feel like I owe you a little apology."

"For what?"

"For questioning your orders, and for not having the same trust that you placed in me back there," she answered.

Aaron smiled, "Don't apologize. If anyone should be apologizing, it's me. The less people knew about the heist, the better if something went wrong. I knew if I could count on anyone to follow their orders, it would be you, even if that meant unwittingly taking the artifact back to safety."

"If I can be honest, I admit I was feeling a little confused and frustrated, especially when you got stern with me."

Aaron put a hand on Qua'lia's shoulder, "Trust me, I felt a little bad about it too. Normally I'm glad that you're always here to keep things in order and to offer your input when I'm on the verge of making a mistake. Every good officer needs an even better NCO... and I'm glad I can count on you too. Thank you."

Qua'lia beamed with pride and turned toward Sera, "Well don't feel too badly Lieutenant. Having a little chat with Princess Sera earlier also helped to put some things into perspective for me. Don't sell yourself short, Your Highness. You're wise beyond your years and I'm sure that once we free Arcadia, you'll be a fine ruler one day."

Sera blushed a little bit before Sage came over and lifted her mug, "Hey everyone, let's all raise a glass one more time and hear it for Qua'lia!"

"My hero," Skyler laughed as she surprised the Pink Ranger with a kiss on the cheek.

No. Our hero," Aaron corrected her as the others gave a cheer and laughed at the sight of Qua'lia's scales becoming as pink as her Ranger suit.

The normally stoic Pink Ranger wiped her cheek and gave a sigh before she started laughing along with the others. At the moment, she didn't need to second guess herself in that situation as that was clearly the right and proper thing to do.

A/N:
Little bit of credit here goes to PR: Lightspeed Rescue's Episode 5 (A Matter of Trust) for some adapted plot elements.