Nemean Expanse, (En route to Starbase Elysium)
Starship Odyssey, 02:10 hours

It had nearly been an entire day since the discovery of the carrier ship Acropolis and the escape from the planet Charybdos. Save for a few brief pauses to rest the engines, the Odyssey and the Acropolis raced back toward the Via Pacifica at their maximum warp speed. They did not know yet if Xerxes and his fleet of U'shan warships had attacked the starbase and they hoped to reach it in time to warn the forces of the nascent Star League which was gathering there.

On the bridge of the Odyssey, things were quiet and the lights were dimmed as only a few officers stood at their post for the night watch. Nearby, Captain Dominic Raines sat at his desk in his ready room working over several data slates at once. He was busy making bullet point notes for a report all while making preparations for the coming battle. He was brainstorming ways to squeeze every possible ounce of efficiency from the ship and the crew because he knew they would certainly need it in the next 48 hours. On his lap was another data slate with some possible ideas for starship battle tactics and countermeasures as well. He paused and looked up a moment when he heard the unexpected sound of his door chime. "Come in."

He was surprised again when Hawa entered and gave a casual salute, "Captain? What are you doing awake at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same thing Commander," he replied as he gestured to a chair in front of his desk.

The dark skinned woman sat down and looked at the mess of data slates, and then to her colleague, "Checking up on on a friend. What's all this, Dom?"

"What does it look like? I'm preparing for battle," he replied going back to his work.

Hawa shook her head and took the datapad from his hand insistently, "No. It looks like you're making a mess now. You haven't slept since we left Charybdos."

"That doesn't matter. If our allies get attacked at Elysium, they're going to need us as soon as possible."

She gave him a level expression but continued to argue, "Dominic, we've been pushing maximum warp for quite a while. You know the ship's engines can't go for prolonged periods of time burning like that, and neither can us humans. You're not going to be any good to the crew if you can barely stand up during a battle situation. Please Captain... get some rest."

He considered it and hesitated before Hawa reached over and patted his hand, "Don't worry Dom. I'll look after things right now and since I'll be in temporary command right now, I'm issuing a shipwide order for everyone off duty to get some sleep."

The captain relented with a chuckle and gave her hand a squeeze before standing up, "Maybe you're right Hawa. I'm lucky to have you as my First Officer... and luckier to have you as my friend here."

She gave a smile and a small salute as they walked back outside to the bridge, "Any time Captain Raines. We'll see you at 09:00 hours then."

Dominic excused himself from the bridge and made his way down the quiet corridors of the ship. He enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and the empty hallways, only rarely spotting a member of the smaller night shift crew going about their work. As he passed the messhall, he stopped when he spotted a familiar person sitting alone in the dim lights of the dining lounge. As he entered, he saw Dr. Amira Farbanti sitting at a table looking out the wide viewport at the starry expanse outside. She appeared to have gotten out of bed and gone for a walk as she covered herself in a silky blue night robe. It was an unusual sight seeing her so casual and dressed down but Dominic stopped staring and went to the food replicator to fetch two cups of hot tea. As he approached the woman in the dining hall, he quietly cleared his throat, "Hey. I guess you couldn't sleep either? I'm glad I'm not the only one."

Amira turned in surprise and looked to him before giving a relieved sigh, "Oh... Captain Raines. It's only you."

He offered a cup of tea, "Do you mind if I join you?"

She nodded and gratefully took the warm drink as he sat down across from her. She studied him curiously for a moment and tilted her head, "I didn't think you would be up at this hour, much less passing through here."

"I was on my way to bed actually," Dominic explained, "I was working on preparations for the coming battle, but my First Officer was very insistent that I get some sleep. Still... I figured I could spare just a few more minutes here."

Amira gave a wistful look and sighed, "I'm afraid I can't be any more productive at the moment for your engineers. All I can do right now is sit here helplessly and feel worried."

Dominic took a sip of tea and gave a gentle look of understanding, "Ah... you're worried about Pavonis. It's looking like your homeworld might be a battleground in the coming conflict."

Amira nodded, "Yes. I do fear for my family and my people in general. There's a selfish part of me that wishes we rejected the offer to support the Star League and I wish I could blame Princess Sera for that, but I know that's not fair. It's not her fault."

"You're right," Raines agreed, "Sooner or later, the U'shan Empire would probably come for your world too. Maybe it's better to stand and fight while you still have a chance."

"That's easy for you to say," Amira pointed out, "When you and your crew were stranded out here, you had no choice but to fight... to get caught up in our war."

He shook his head, "No. Those of us members of the Alliance might have been forced to fight, but we still have everything to lose out here. We're still here because setting things right with Arcadia and keeping the rest of your planets safe is just the right thing to do."

Amira smiled and set down her tea before she rose and went to stand over by the viewport, "You share the same heroic altruism as your Rangers, Captain. I do admire that about you, and I probably should be thanking you too."

He got up and joined her, "Oh? For what?"

"Everything you and your Rangers have done for the people of the Via Pacifica. As much as I hate to admit it, I think you've all given the people here hope that they can come together again to fight off a common enemy, and maybe coexist in peace again."

Dominic gave a wry snort of amusement, "Well... we still have a long way to go and we might have a battle left to fight at Elysium. Is there anything else I can do for you in the mean time?"

Amira walked over toward him and stopped to quietly look up to his face, "Stay here just a little longer? Tell me everything is going to be okay and that Pavonis will be safe? Please?"

Dominic paused for a moment before stepping forward to close the distance. Maybe it was just the dim light, or the atmosphere. Maybe it was the unusual sight of Amira looking so scared and vulnerable right now but he did the only thing he could think of. Captain Raines gently put his arms around her and held her in a comforting hug. For now, he set aside his own attraction to the woman and focused on his role as her friend and the commander of the ship, "I promise everything is going to be all right. I'm not going to let the U'shan hurt your planet or any of you on this ship."

He could almost feel Amira give a small nod of satisfaction as she settled into his arms and rested her cheek against his chest, "Thank you... Dominic."

Meanwhile aboard the carrier ship Acropolis, the Odyssey Rangers and their allies took some time to rest and explore their new ship. During the downtime when they weren't traveling in warp, a small number of crewmen from the Odyssey came aboard, volunteering to help man the other controls of the older vessel. Despite the antiquity of the starship, it was well preserved and functioned surprisingly well. Down in the engineering section of the carrier, Geordi was already busy and getting some help from Tiah in doing maintenance so that they could get a little extra power and efficiency from the old reactor cores. By the Blue Ranger's estimation, the Acropolis could be very formidable if they let the Pavonians at Starbase Elysium do some work on modernizing parts of the ship.

In another section of the ship, Rin and Qua'lia busied themselves with scrounging for supplies and equipment. While they could always requisition some things from the Odyssey, the Green and Pink Rangers wanted to do an inventory of things that could be salvaged and used for now. With some of the others up on the command deck, that left Ensign Sage Dael alone for a while to decompress after the recent events at the planet of Charybdos. She had been startled and disturbed by her brother Ash's sudden and violent betrayal of Commander Nessus in battle. She wondered what exactly his agenda was or who's side he was really on. As the Yellow Ranger strolled aimlessly, she stopped when she came across one of the hangars which held Skyler's ship. Inside, she saw the smugger doing some cleaning and spot checks of her frieghter's outer hull.

Upon Sage's approach, Skyler turned and gave a friendly wave, "Sage. This is a surprise. I thought you'd be on the bridge charting star systems or something."

"I wasn't in the mood," Sage shrugged as she came over to watch Skyler, "I guess I just needed some air."

"Right then, care to help wiping down some sensor panels?" Skyler asked cheerfully while tossing her an extra rag.

Sage sighed and took the rag before climbing up on the hull to help Skyler with the busy work. The two girls worked in relative silence for a few minutes save for Skyler humming a quiet tune to herself. As Sage finished wiping down a sensor panel, she was surprised when Skyler asked out of the blue, "You're still worried about your brother, aren't you?"

"I... yes," the Yellow Ranger admitted, "But I was also worried about some other things too. I kept thinking about what he said about that GSA super weapon and how the U'shan Empire might be trying to copy it."

"A weapon that can collapse a star does sound pretty horrible," Skyler agreed as she scrubbed thoughtfully.

"I mean... I get why Ash would try to do all this," Sage grimaced, "But it upsets me at the thought of the other people who suffered because they got caught up in all of this. For one thing, Aaron and his father. I can't help but feel a little guilty for some reason."

Skyler shook her head calmly, "You shouldn't feel that way Sage. Captain Russo did what he thought was right, to protect others and his family. Nor can I really fault him for agreeing to a deal like that. After learning that, I don't believe Aaron really faults his father either... not if he's being fair and honest with himself."

"Maybe you're right," Sage admitted as she sat back and toyed with the rag, "I guess if I'm being honest with myself, there's just one other thing that's really troubling me about all this."

Skyler stopped and casually came to sit down beside her friend, "Oh? What's that?"

"Maybe part of me is just scared that if I got desperate, I could wind up the same way as Ash."

Skyler tossed her rag into Sage's face, "See? Now you're just being daft. That's a whole lot of rubbish right there. You're a Power Ranger, and a pretty good one at that. Your brother did what he did because he was cut off and had no one else he could rely on. You on the other hand have a team of Rangers and a crew on this ship who care about you and will always have your back. At least that's how I see it."

Sage paused to think it over and gave a warm smile, "I... thanks Skyler. I appreciate that. And I think you should know I count you in that number of people as well."

"Cheers. Glad to hear it," Skyler grinned giving the Yellow Ranger's hand a squeeze, "And just to show you what a good friend I am, I'm willing to make you another offer. That when we find your brother, I'll even help bring him back over to the side of the good guys."

"And how are you going to do that?" Sage asked curiously.

Skyler flipped her hair over her shoulder and waggled her eyebrows suggestively, "Oh you should know by now luv, I have my ways."

This time Sage laughed and threw the rag into Skyler's face, "All right Orion. Maybe as a last resort. Until then, let's get back to work wiping down your ship."

On the bridge of the Acropolis, Princess Sera sat lost in thought as she sat in the command chair. Her sun globe glowed with a warm light nearby on its stand while a few junior officers from the Odyssey worked at some of the bridge stations. At the main door, Thor stood guard for a shift before he would return to the Odyssey. The large Caltarian security officer kept a vigilant watch over the safety of the bridge crew prompting Sera to idly shift her gaze about the room. Her gaze finally settled on Aaron and she decided to get up and walk over toward him. He seemed preoccupied with his work as he fiddled with the controls of his console and input new information. Sera cleared her throat and tried her best to adopt the formal bearing of Captain Raines for a moment, "Lieutenant? I'd like a status update?"

The Red Ranger looked up in surprise for a moment before he saw the princess break out into a playful chuckle. He smiled and retained enough bearing to give a semi-serious response, "Captain. The shields of the Acropolis are powered up to about 70 percent right now and the energy cannons should be online by the time we reach Elysium. The targeting array is still a bit old and finicky but I'll see what I can do to improve the accuracy of our weapons."

"Err... thank you?" Sera said, "I'm not even sure what the correct response is, or what Captain Raines's procedure is for running things on the bridge."

"I'm guessing you didn't come over to check on the ship's defenses then?" Aaron asked.

Sera shrugged and kept her voice low, "Well... I did, but that's not the only reason. I wanted to just check on you. See how you were holding up after everything recently."

"I'm fine," he answered, "I'm glad we all got away safely and I think these new zords will be a huge asset in battle."

Sera shook her head, "That's not what I was talking about. I was referring to everything about Sage's brother and the things about your father. We've been so focused on the mission lately, it seems we sometimes forget to take time for ourselves."

Aaron paused and looked at her before turning to give Thor a quiet nod nearby. The Caltarian tilted his head before giving a mild sigh of annoyance and walking off to a far corner of the bridge so that Aaron and Sera could have a more private conversation. Finally, the Red Ranger stopped working and gave a sigh, "I'll be honest, I've been thinking a lot about it recently... feeling some regrets and maybe a bit of anger too."

"At your father?" Sera asked.

"No," he answered shaking his head, "But I do wish I could call him right now and speak to him. I want tell I'm sorry for ever having doubts about him or his own courage. If anything though, I also feel angry. I wish I wasn't actually right about this conspiracy. I'm angry at the people in the GSA who did this to my father, and part of me wants to get even right now."

Sera gave an understanding look and put a hand on his shoulder, "I know how you feel Aaron, but being driven by a desire for revenge isn't the right way. It's only going to blind you in the end. Trust me."

"I know Princess," he said softly, "We have to focus on a potential battle with the U'shan first. Are you going to be ready?"

"I thought I would be," she admitted furrowing her brows slightly, "I had made a promise to the Star League that we would use this weapon responsibly for the good of everyone. But it's still a strange feeling... having such a powerful weapon like this at my disposal and knowing just how much devastation we could cause with it too."

Aaron gave a thoughtful look and smiled to her, "I like to think there was a reason we were chosen to become Power Rangers, Your Highness. We were entrusted with great powers and weapons already and so far we've done a fair bit of good with them. There's also a reason you've been on this journey with us and wield this power now. I believe you'll do just as fine with it."

"You really think so?"

The Red Ranger gave an encouraging nod and reached over to give her hand a gentle squeeze, "I do."

The princess of Arcadia smiled and seemed to regain a little bit of confidence from that, "Thank you Aaron."

She stepped back towards the command chair and gave a resolute nod, "All right... let's go turn the tide of this war."

Elsewhere, the U'shan Exarch known as Xerxes stood at the bridge of his flagship looking out over the forward viewing gallery. The tall blue skinned alien folded his hands into the sleeves of his fine robes and continued to regard the flowing warp space before him with calm disinterest. So far, everything had fallen into place. He had made his calculations and if his probabilities were correct which they almost always were, then victory was almost completely assured today. He heard the doors behind him open followed by the familiar footsteps of Captain Cepheus. The veteran ship commander stopped and gave a respectful bow to the Imperial official who was leading this theater of operation.

"Lord Xerxes? You summoned me?"

"Yes. We arrive at Pavonis very soon. I wanted you to give me a status update," the Exarch answered without turning his head.

Cepheus straightened up, "My lord, all the ships in our fleet are armed and ready for battle. The Star League has gathered more ships at Elysium but I believe we will still be able to catch them off guard."

Xerxes turned his head slightly to look at his subordinate standing behind him, "Good. And what of Nessus and Kharon?"

"I have not received any response from them yet," the ship captain reported, "I imagine that they are still too far out in the Expanse to communicate with us in time. If that is the case, then that means the Rangers are still out there as well and unable to help their allies."

The Exarch turned back to the galley windows and gave a small smile, "I suppose that is good news as well. It's a pity Kharon and Nessus have not secured the Rangers' super weapon yet. I would have loved to use it against the rebellious people they are trying to protect."

Just then, there was a slight rumble as the flagship Akula dropped out of warp space and found itself at the edge of the Pavonian system. Mere heartbeats later, a fleet of U'shan warships reverted back to realspace and joined in the formation around the Akula. Several more cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and corvettes dropped out of warp and positioned themselves to form a menacing armada against the smaller coalition force that had gathered to defend the space around Elysium.

Xerxes observed the large beautiful starbase floating over the blue green planet below and couldn't help but admire its beauty. He hoped it wouldn't be a bloody protracted fight here. It would be a terrible shame if Elysium was devastated in the battle and he wanted to take it as whole and intact as possible. Not only would be a prime location for the U'shan Empire to expand their reach, but it would be a way to end the Star League with one decisive blow. He gave a small chuckle as he watched the distant flotilla of the coalition ships scramble to meet the coming attack of the large invading force.

"Lord Xerxes, we've entered the Pavonis system," Cepheus announced, "The fleet is signaling ready and the enemy is moving to defend the space station. What are your orders?"

The U'shan noble gestured forward and spoke with confident conviction, "All Imperial forces, commence the attack. Seize the starbase and destroy any coalition ship that gets in your path. We will crush the enemy here and now. This ends today."