Far away from Earth was the newly christened Sibuna System. With six Earth-like worlds orbiting a central star, it was slowly becoming a central hub for trade and transportation in this corner of the galaxy. Several of the planets were occupied by refugees from worlds that the Armada has destroyed. The fourth planet from the star was Onyx.
The Onyx people had suffered greatly just over three years ago. They were persecuted by The troobian empire. They had nearly been completely wiped out during an attack on their home but they were saved by the A Sqaud. Grumm had then attacked A Sqaud's ship and seized control of them. Making everyone think they were dead.
The fall out of this incident had seen the removal from office of the incumbent President and the establishment of a new council. It wasn't long after this that Grumm was defeated. All of the warlord's generals had been destroyed or captured at the same time, bringing peace to the majority of the galaxy. It didn't take long for evil to re appear
Even though she had been gone for over a month, it still hadn't sunk in for the former Ranger. The former ranger had returned, hoping that to find something of use on Onyx. But other than a few spare electronic parts, she had found nothing.
Yesterday her routine had been interrupted by the appearance of a space ship. In a bizarre twist of fate, the pilot was another ranger, the red astro ranger. Charlie didn't know what to make of Ariel Greyson. She was direct and blunt, almost bordering on rude. She was also extremely anti-social, ending their conversation yesterday by walking back into her ship and leaving Charlie alone in the desert.
As Charlie approached the ship, the rear door was open. Walking slowly through the main door, Charlie's jaw dropped as she got her first glimpse at the Astro Megaship. The corridors were plain grey, interrupted occasionally by a pair of sliding doors. There was no sign of Ariel so they moved further into the ship. Charlie paused briefly outside the engine room to marvel at the sheer size of the crafts engines. Periodically she felt like they were being watched as she could hear a mechanical buzzing echoing through the corridors.
After getting lost in the identical corridors a few times, Charlie eventually arrived on what she assumed to be the bridge of the ship. There were two standalone consoles in the middle of the room, all covered with various controls that meant nothing to Charlie. Around the room were more control panels and viewing screens and directly in front of Charlie was a central window, giving them a view outside the ship. As she looked around she noticed Ariel's uniform jacket hanging on the back of what she assumed was the captain's chair, "She's around somewhere", she said as she gently touched the item of clothing.
"I wonder where this all came from", Charlie said to no one in perticular.
"The main space harbour on KO-35", a voice stated. They turned around and saw Ariel walking onto the bridge, "KO-35 has some of the best ship builders in the galaxy". She brushed past Charlie with barely a glance and retrieved his jacket, "I wasn't expecting visitors today", she added.
"Look man im sorry for breaking onto your ship", Charlie began, "i just want some answers".
Ariel didn't respond and walked over to one of the consoles on the wall of the bridge. After pushing a few buttons an image began to play. It was a leather suited female, "Her name's Trakena. Trakena is after a Quasar Sabre".
"As in the?" Charlie asked.
Ariel glared at the former green ranger, as if to say she was coming to that part, "The United Alliance of Evil or the Armada if you will is made up of a number of groups, each with their own agenda. Some of them have found their way to Earth, like Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd. Others like Astronema and Trakena have focused their efforts on other planets on the edge of the galaxy". Ariel paused for a moment as her jaw clenched, like she was trying to suppress a painful memory. She took a deep breath and continued with her slideshow, bring up an image of a brown armoured monster that looked vaguely familiar.
"Hey thats who killed Gwen", Charlie said.
"This is Sledge, possibly the most powerful force of evil in the galaxy", Ariel continued. The next image of Sledge showed him destroying planets." he is unbelievably strong. Rumour has it that he once destroyed an entire planet with a single blow".
"I can believe that", Charlie stated, "we fought him and it was only with your help we were kinda victorious".
Ariel waited for another smart comment from the others but none was forthcoming. Deciding to continue before any of them had a chance, he brought up an image of the woman, "Finally we have Trakena. Lethal in hand to hand combat and in the use of magic", the image moved and showed her blasting an unsuspecting combatant with purple lightning from her staff. "I managed to infiltrate a recent UAE meeting recently and she was dubbed the new Princess of Evil".
"She's kind of cute", Charlie muttered.
Ariel though wasn't in a joking mood, "This isn't a laughing matter and nor is a game", she snapped.
"Calm down", Charlie soothed.
The red ranger took a few deep breathes before continuing, "I'm sorry but they've done more to harm peace in the galaxy in the last few years than anyone has managed in centuries. She's conquered hundreds of planets and been responsible for the deaths of millions of people", she paused before continuing, "and Sledge has destroyed many planets ". Almost instinctively Charlie was by her side but Ariel flinched at her touch like she had been electrocuted.
"So what can i do?" Charlie asked.
"Nothing", Ariel replied, much to the surprise of the former ranger, "this is mine and Demi's fight and Our fight alone". She shut down the on screen images and began to fiddle idly with some controls.
"Look I know im not a ranger anymore", Charlie began, "but i can still be useful".
"I told you I was fine", Ariel snapped, "now if you'll excuse me, I need to run a systems diagnostics check". The former ranger was reluctant to leave but after a few moments, Charlie walked off the bridge. Once Ariel was sure they she gone, she ran her hands through her hair in frustration and lent back in her chair.
"She can be a great help Ariel", Demi called out.
ariel sighed, "I know Demi i guess im use to it being just us. Plus she's already someone, I don't want her to lose another". Demi didn't respond and left Ariel to her systems check.
Dark Fortress
High above the planet, there was a ship. It was a circular disk with communication towers and docking ports sticking out into space. The craft was grey in colour unless its cloaking system was engaged. It would then disappear into space, briefly leaving behind a green line pattern in the darkness.
Inside the Dark Fortress, Trakena sat on her throne and looked down at the planet. After the red space ranger had crashed her initiation ceremony, she had tracked her to this corner of the galaxy. Her fighters had damaged his ship and caused it to crash onto the surface below. The warlord wondered what the chances were of the ranger crashing on a planet that she had attacked just a few days before. She must've gone to check on SPD, how foolish of her she thought.
Trakena had ordered the ranger's execution at the earliest available opportunity and she knew that she could just descend to the surface below and kill her at any time. She didn't have her ship, or any backup, it would be easy. Perhaps a little too easy. The argument was that defeating a fully armed and prepared enemy would crush their spirit even more when they were inevitably defeated. Plus destroying a weakened enemy, where was the fun in that?
For now she decided to gather as much information as possible.
"Is something troubling you Princess?" Deviot asked as he carefully approached her throne.
"Just thinking Deviot", she replied, "why would the red ranger come to this planet? She has no allies on this planet. In the past when we've fought, she normally leaves the surface within a matter of hours".
"Perhaps her ship is extensively damaged", Deviot offered as a suggestion.
"Come on Defiot, you know as well as I do how strong they build ships on KO-35", she began. "I'm still picking up her life signs so unfortunately she isn't dead", She stood up and walked a little closer to the viewing screen, "Perhaps we were too hasty to declare SPD dead".
"We haven't picked up her morphing signatures though", Deviot replied, "I'll have the Sringwingers keep an eye on the situation but for now I suggest you get some rest".
"Yes it has been a long day hasn't it", Trakena responded with a stretch, "call me if anything changes". Leaving Deviot behind she covered the short distance to her chambers in a matter of seconds. Once the door was secure, Trakena looked in her mirror and allowed her hair to return to its natural state, shoulder length brown. No one had seen her with her natural look in over a decade.
She inspected her eyes and they were more bloodshot than usual. When Vrak had named her his successor, he had infused her with some of his own power. Trakena did feel more powerful but strange at the same time. She was getting tired quicker and also having some weird dreams. Shaking this off as a side effect of Vrak's power, she sat on the edge of her bed and unzipped her boots before removing her leather gloves. As she drifted off to sleep, her final thoughts were about the red ranger and now satisfying it would be to end her life, once and for all.