Power Rangers & All associated trademarks are property of Hasbro

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

Chapter 61 – We The People

The Command Bridge of the Empire warship Draco-Ocidendum was filled with a deathly silence and a tension that hung heavy in the air, a barely constrained primal and visceral thing that threatened to spill out into violence at slightest provocation. More than half of the bridges' posts and terminals stood vacant and much of the stone covered walls and furnishing that had once glowed with a fiery orange light bore fresh battle scars in the form of scorch-marks, cracks and in some places being shattered entirely whilst mechanical components beneath them sparked dangerously; the warriors that remained bore similarly fresh wounds and scars after the carnage that had taken place here and their armour and weapons were still stained and dripping with the same blood that was pooled and spattered across the walls and floor, many of those who had remained loyal to the rightful master of their vessel and head of their Knightly household had been felled by those who sought to usurp him whilst the traitors themselves had been killed without mercy or hesitation with those who had slain them taking grisly trophies in the form of severed hands, heads, jawbones, wings or in one particularly bloody case a heart that had been ripped from its' owners chest.

At the head of it all was Lord Carnifex of Wyvern, thirteenth of his name.

The Acheron hybrid and exiled General of the Dark Empire was equally as blood-soaked as his followers and his golden eyes were filled with some insatiable bloodlust that left his mind buzzing and every fibre of his being singing with exhilaration yet the warrior was forced to master himself and kept his half-frenzied gaze downcast as he knelt before the holographic image of Lord Zedd himself, the pale, translucent and steadily flickering projection exuding an aura of silent and all consuming terror as it loomed and towered over the draconian warriors.

"The Aegis Rangers live" Lord Zedd's distorted and rumbling snarl was oddly breathy as it sent tremors through the floor of the Command Bridge, as though the arch tyrant were mere sighing in mild disappointment.

"They ran like cowards my Lord, they were defeated and fled; their insurrection failed and Harrow Four remains within your grasp" Carnifex replied carefully, measuring each word deliberately and forcing the clipped and cultured tones that had come to define his speech into place lest any small trace of the fury and volcanic fire that still coursed through his veins spill out into his words and invite Lord Zedd's wrath.

"And yet they are still alive and capable of running, meaning that they are capable of becoming a thorn in my side again" Lord Zedd countered, his voice holding the barest minimum of malice yet still being a fearsome thing that would have left a lesser being whimpering "Explain"

"Those entrusted with defending your world were lacking my Lord….their forces were nowhere to be seen and they failed to lay siege to an enemy that had entrenched themselves" Carnifex fought the urge to bristle visibly at the thought of the cowardice and incompetence shown by the world of farmers

"My forces cut them down by the hundred and destroyed their encampment, forcing them to flee yet we were unprepared and for that I take full responsibility my Lord; I did not know that the Rangers still had access to their Zords, they were not used when they fought on Mercator-"

"And the ships that these rebels and traitors fled in were not fired on" Lord Zedd interjected coldly, his words taking on an unmistakably mocking edge as he added "I can only assume that it was because you were unleashing a barrage upon the Rangers and their Zords and you've been holding that information back to present it to me lie a trophy?"

"No my Lord" Carnifex answered quietly, stooping lower in to his bow as he offered an explanation for his failings, pitiable as it felt "My ship and resources are simply too depleted to launch such attacks….and I was dealing with traitors within my own household"

"And I see that you were victorious, I presume that you fought with your usual honour and dedication"

"Custom was followed my Lord" Carnifex replied, seeing that each of his remaining Knights stood taller with pride and allowing himself to puff up only to feel his world to fell as though it had shattered by Lord Zedd's next words

"You are a fool and a relic of an Empire that no longer exists!"

"My Lord, I beg-"

"You served the Empire well under the previous Lord Zedd, under my father" Lord Zedd ground out, hateful arcane light flaring from beneath the visor of his faceplate whilst the screech of metal on metal from the plates of his armour sounded like wailing voices "But I am Lord Zedd now, my father is gone and his spirit perverted by Zordon's influence, my father stands against my vision and my Empire and it's time you accepted that his way is not mine….He faced his enemies in honourable combat between champions and he failed, as do you; I expect those who stand against me to be crushed entirely so that they can never rise up again"

"I understand my Lord"

"Do you?" Lord Zedd demanded furiously "Yet again the Rangers have escaped you!….Harrow Four remains within my grasp however so I will grant you one more chance to redeem yourself as a reward for that meagre success; you have one, final chance to remake yourself and become worthy of the honours I grant you before I decide that you are of no further use to me"

"Your will is my command my Lord" Carnifex murmured "I will see the Rangers laid low, at any cost"

"See that you do" Lord Zedd snarled before his projection vanished, air rushing towards the space it had occupied in a chilling, haunting gust that went almost unnoticed by Carnifex as the Acheron hybrid retreated into his own thoughts.

The silence around him grew ever more profound, the air itself seeming to tremble as the tension steadily reached a fever pitch.

Carnifex had failed, again and again he had fallen short of what was expected and demanded of him by his Lord, he had failed in his duties as a Knight of Wyvern and brought shame upon himself, his household and the world of Wyvern as a whole until even those who had sworn fealty to him eagerly awaited his downfall and now the scarlet-scaled monster found himself forced to choose between two equally central tenets of his being; between the principles of honourable and valiant warfare and the simple, tangible conquest and victory that had eluded him.

The sound of blood dripping from his armour echoed in the silence.

"Orders my-" the Knight of Wyvern fell to ground lifeless and with their head reduced to a smoking and bloody stump and the sound of the three-barrelled cannon stored under Carnifex's mechanical left wing unfurling served as warning for the warriors that remained though it was far too little, sparks and screams and sizzling blood filled the air as Carnifex unleashed a firestorm that tore through bodies with ease, his body began to glow with golden fire as he slaughtered the remains of his bridge crew until he unleashed his magic out in a wave of searing death and drew his sword to gut any that remained.

None did.

"YOU HAVE ALL FAILED ME! YOU HAVE ALL HELD ME BACK AND KEPT ME FROM MY VICTORIES!" he roared in a fit of pure, insensate rage before addressing the ships' computer; eyes gleaming with sudden malice "DEACTIVATE ALL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS OUTSIDE OF THE BRIDGE! OPEN ALL AIR-LOCKS! PURGE THEM, PURGE THE UNWORTHY!" the ships' systems complied silently and without hesitation and Carnifex didn't need to check any of the now half-melted consoles of the Command Bridge to know that at that very moment the crew of his massive vessel were being culled by the thousand.

He smiled.

He had promised himself on Mercator that he would be denied no longer, that he would not be constrained in his pursuit of vengeance against the Aegis Rangers and now his words finally rang true; there was no honour in this act, it was the simple wanton slaughter that Lord Zedd demanded and it left him with nothing to rely upon, nothing to fear or be concerned by beyond himself and his blood feud.

He was free.


The battle for Harrow Four had ended and though the Aegis Rangers had fought off the Dark Empire forces to call it a victory would be a brazen lie.

The Zords had been retrieved by some application of Billy and Justin's genius, the creation of a teleportation system capable of doing so had been deemed of paramount importance as the mecha could not afford to be simply left on the battlefield to captured or destroyed by the Empire.

The Aegis Rangers themselves had been aboard one of the many transports that had followed the Megalodon to aid in Zhane's evacuation efforts; the return to the resistances' hidden base within an asteroid field taking several hours in which the seven of them had mercifully managed to get a small amount of rest.

They had been joined by several guerilla fighters, the injured but defiant Charlie amongst them, though far fewer than they had arrived with which only served to demonstrate exactly how effective the Dark Empire had been in their assault; upon their return the Rangers had naturally been called upon to give their reports and be debriefed on what had occurred which had been an ordeal in its' own right that had taken several hours more and been followed by physical and psychological checks to ensure that the Rangers were still ready to face the next inevitable threat before finally being allowed to return to their quarters or any other business that they might have on the base.

Despite it all Mercy was not tired.

Or more accurately she was weary in a way that sleep would not cure; her mind had been restless and it had felt as though no assurances that any of her friends, even Aslaug could give would silence the nagging voices in the back of her mind that insisted that she could have done more, that more lives could have been saved and that their successes should not have been so costly. Finding herself without many of the distractions that she would normally have attempted to quiet those voices with Mercy had sought to outrun them, figuratively at least as she donned clothes not entirely dissimilar to the grey fatigues she had worn as a Lightspeed cadet which in turn had been based upon the uniforms worn by Andros's Astro Rangers and begun jogging through the base despite the many bruises and other injuries still covering her body; even crossing from one enormous, hollowed asteroid into another and then another through the series of airtight tubes that connected them and served as roads until eventually she was halted by a familiar voice whose words it seemed would forever hold a mocking edge no matter how sincere they were.

"You don't take breaks….I can respect that" Mercy skidded to a halt and turned to come face to face with Charlie, noting as she did so that the older woman was a bloodied mess with a bandage wrapped prominently around her forehead at an angle that partially obscured one of her eyes, her skin was covered in countless cuts, burns and bruises that would be forced to heal at the normal rate without the assistance of the Morphing Grid whilst her left arm was held close to her body and completely and thoroughly encased in bandages and other, more advanced forms of protection that repaired the shattered and ruined limb, performing minute surgeries even as she went about her day.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep" Mercy mumbled, instinct and her own biases causing her to become visibly tense which only made Charlie scoff and shake her head in disbelief

"Still?" she chuckled "You still think I can't be trusted or that I'm gonna stab you and your friends in the back?"

"Not ruling it out" Mercy answered, managing a weak smile and shuffling awkwardly as she to evade the issue with humour; brown eyes darting away from Charlie in slight shame and embarrassment as she remembered how the former traitor had continued to fight against a warrior of the Dark Empire despite being vastly outmatched.

"Good you're getting smarter" Charlie snorted, clearly joking as well and leaving Mercy somewhat off balance by doing so "Still amped up after the fight?"

"Not quite" Mercy admitted with a sigh, realising that she had no real connection or relationship with Charlie and that the conversation regarding her perceived failings might be easier because of that "It's just….We failed, badly and people are dead because of it, I just wish that I could have done more"

"No" Charlie drawled the word out slowly "People are dead because Dark Empire soldiers killed them, which is what Dark Empire soldiers tend to do"

"That's not what I mean and you know it" Mercy snapped "It's just….so many people, so many good people are gone and we were supposed to be taking Harrow Four; we were supposed to be freeing that world from the Empire and now we've retreated so it feels like it was all four nothing-"

"Who told you we were done with Harrow Four?" Charlie's voice suddenly had an edge of pure ice and steel "Not every battle ends the moment the giant robot stops the giant monster; we're not done with Harrow Four, we just had a setback"

"How?" Mercy asked, blinking rapidly as she tried to process the news

"Our fighters pulled back but all of our spies are working their way back into Empire society, splitting up and moving through different settlements on Harrow Four and forming new cells or heading off world….My strike teams will be ready to free worlds from Empire control when the time comes but in the meantime the we carry on laying foundations and working in the dark; initial reports suggest that your team did us a huge favour as well"

"What do you mean?" Mercy cocked her head, the obvious answer was that the Ultrazord had saved the entirety of the guerilla forces and the civilians travelling with them but she sensed that Charlie was talking about something else and was proven right when the covert operative chuckled darkly

"A picture's worth a thousand words kid and we've got a picture of the Ultrazord staring down an Empire warship until it backed off….A lot of people on Empire world wanted to fight back but didn't think they could win, you just gave them hope"

"We gave them hope?" Mercy repeated slowly taking the fact in and allowing a wide smile to form on her face "Then we keep fighting, keep pushing until the entire Empire stands up against Lord Zedd"

"That's the plan kid, that's the plan….now go get some rest, you've earned it" with that Charlie turned and strolled away, leaving Mercy to her thoughts and the Red Ranger found herself surprised by the fact that she was still smiling and the realisation that whatever Charlie was and whatever she had done the two of them had undeniably forged some kind of friendship in the fires of battle.

Which was unexpected but not unwelcome.


Marigold, like many of her team-mates she suspected, was utterly exhausted and yet completely unable to rest after the events of Harrow Four. The Gold Ranger had made her way to the common area shared by the Aegis Rangers with doors leading off to each of their quarters in an arrangement that was not dissimilar to their previous living arrangement on Promethea One though far more Spartan and far less spacious or comfortable, finding none of her team-mates there she had first attempted to sleep only for it to prove futile and in all honesty had completely lost track of time, with no sunlight artificial or otherwise to inform her and only the cold gulf of space and glaring, flickering lighting of the base in its' place. Eventually she had given up on sleep and began meandering aimlessly through the base, realising just how much Karone and Zhane must trust her and how high her unofficial clearance must be as she wandered into the bases' improvised Zord hangar where she found Tempestus stood beside his father, the current and former Blue Rangers talking animatedly until they noticed her arrival.

"Ah, Miss Utahima….Marigold, can I call you-"

"Call me Mari" the Gold Ranger smiled, noting that Billy seemed a little less certain of himself outside of the context of Mission Control that had formed most of their interactions

"Is there anything I can help you with Mari?"

"No, I just couldn't sleep so I went for a walk….I never really realised how big they are" she shrugged before nodding towards her Zord, the colossal form of the Winged Lion towering over her as it filled what had once been a vast chasm of a mine with a hastily built scaffolding surrounding it where dozens of human, alien and even robotic engineers and other skilled individuals worked to ensure that the massive machines were ready for their next engagements

"It's always something when you see them from the outside, they feel smaller from the cockpit" Billy nodded, giving her an understanding expression as he voiced Mari's thoughts perfectly "Justin and his team are working on the Zords, Tempestus was just offering a fresh pair of eyes on another problem"

"Teleporting the Zords in Empire space is inherently more difficult than doing it within the Alliance" Tempestus chimed in "And overcoming that problem is not something that can be done quickly or easily….though we do have several ideas"

"And just as many setback" Billy noted, though it was with no hint of annoyance as he turned back towards his son "The amount of power involved in teleporting something of this size across the distances we need to is tremendous"

"But you made an artificial Zeo Crystal" Tempestus countered "The Zords already respond primarily to the Power of the Morphing Grid, could we not simply supply them with more power? Is that not how you teleported yourself into Empire space?"

"A feat that required orders of magnitude less power and was accomplished with more resources than I have access to here….there's also the risk of detection if we discharge power like that" Tempestus frowned and paused as he considered his fathers' words, certain that there was an answer to the conundrum that presented them

"What about the Teleportation Gates that the Dark Empire uses to move its' fleets?" he asked eventually

"Do you propose we build or steal one?"

"Does Karone have agents in a position to help us do either?" Tempestus's question caused Billy to raise an eyebrow, first in shock that such a suggestion had come from his son who had clearly grown beyond the somewhat linear teachings of the Aquitian warrior caste and had begun using all of his skills and knowledge to great effect and secondly that the idea was, at least hypothetically workable.

Marigold watched the discussion and found herself feeling something of an outsider, a not uncommon occurrence for the young woman who had been the last Aegis Ranger to receive her powers

"Are you groovy?" Tempestus asked, stirring Mari from her own thoughts to see his coral pink eyes filled with concern as he gazed at her

"Yeah" she offered a bright smile, only for it to quickly falter as something compelled her to be more truthful "I mean kinda, I don't know….Am I cut out to be a Power Ranger, because it still feels like I'm always barely scraping by?"

"You are a most excellent and bodacious Power Ranger" Tempestus offered earnestly, his particular choice words enough for Mari to let out a gentle chuckle whilst Billy stepped closer.

"Mari I'm not usually one for overly emotional discussions, I don't do well at them but I can assure you that you have been nothing short of phenomenal" the veteran Ranger assured her firmly

"But I was never meant to be" Mari muttered, a touch of bitterness creeping into her voice "The others were hand picked or literally born to do this, I'm wearing a dead woman's Morpher"

"And if Kimberley were here to see you she would be proud of the way you've carried on her legacy" Billy swallowed thickly, unusually emotional as he was forced to consider the friends he had lost

"You guys fought off a different monster every single week for years….Since I became a Ranger I've watched planets be burned to ashes and-"

"Because the threats we faced are entirely different to what your team are dealing with and to pretend otherwise is ludicrous" Billy interrupted "We faced a single Empire Outpost, led by someone who had been imprisoned and cut off from supplies for millennia; your team are facing a well oiled and well supplied war machine using more effective tactics than Rita Repulsa ever did and whilst we had Zordon of Eltar for guidance, you have to make do with the experience of former Rangers and hope that it's enough. To compare the two is a disservice to you"

"I...thank you" Mari mumbled "And for what it's worth, you've been a great teacher to us"

"I do try my best" Billy managed a bright smile "After all you and my son are….friends?"

"Friends Father" Tempestus confirmed

"Yeah, just friends, definitely just friends" Mari sputtered, the insinuation catching her off guard enough to leave her choking on air and leaving the three of them laughing hysterically as the tension that they had been suffering under finally dissipated and in its' wake Marigold found herself finally feeling as though she might just be suited to being a Power Ranger after all.


The Inner Sanctum in which Karone conducted and oversaw her operations was kept dark and gloomy and that darkness was, to Rensa at least comforting in the way that an old blanket kept since childhood might be and the Black Aegis Ranger had found himself taking a seat and promptly curling himself into a comfortable if oddly contorted position wherein he was perfectly capable of lashing out or leaping into action at great speed yet was unmistakably relaxed, lithe and wiry muscles far less coiled than usual.

To Zhane and Karone it was an odd sight, yet one they couldn't help but enjoy

"Not that we mind you being here….but is there anything in particular we can help you with?" Zhane asked with an amused snort at the sight of the youngest Aegis Ranger in a position that reminded him oddly of some half-feral or stray animal that had made its' way into a city on KO-Thirty Five before sharing a glance with Karone, this was her Command Centre after all as well as being one of the few places that they two of them could find any privacy for a reasonable amount of time on the base yet the Pink Astro Ranger seemingly had no objections to the young man's presence.

"No, it's just too bright everywhere else" Rensa murmured, his voice a soft and gentle thing as always that stood in stark contrast with his ghoulish appearance. Upon hearing the answer Zhane and Karone shared another glance, this one far more poignant as they considered the reply; true enough Rensa's bottomless and midnight black eyes were not meant to handle any amount of light, being honed in the abyssal darkness of his home world but he still wore the specially made contacts designed by Billy that had replaced his old filter goggles and as such should not have been suffering any ill effects from conditions that would otherwise be blinding and agonising for him; the two Astro Ranger quickly realised that they were being lied to.

"Rensa, as the leader of the resistance cell and Commander of this base you must understand that I don't take kindly to being lied to?" her words were given with the air of teasing yet with something beneath them that made it clear that if Rensa wished to remain in her inner sanctum he would have to be more honest and forthcoming; the teen unfurled and repositioned his limbs with a dramatic flopping motion common to adolescents all across the galaxy and let out an annoyed huff, blowing strands of glossy black hair with chemically altered green tips from his face before choosing his words

"I want home" he sighed "But I don't think I know where home is any more"

"Oh" Zhane mouthed, not expecting this and feeling suddenly woefully unprepared "Did something happen between you and the other Rangers?"

"No" Rensa shook his head emphatically "They're the only people I at least sort of feel like I belong with here….I'm not like them, I don't know what peace is the way they do; but I'm not like my people any more either and trying to fight alongside them made that clear, I've changed, being a Ranger has changed me….I think the only person that would understand is Andros but he isn't here"

"He isn't" Karone nodded "But for what it's worth I know my brother is proud of you and sees you as his own child….and I understand what you're going through; I have been more than one person in my life and I know how it feels when you don't know which of those people you are any more"

"And just because you've changed and grown doesn't mean you don't still have a part of that old self with you" Zhane added, suddenly more serious than the demeanour he usually portrayed yet with no less kindness "You'll always have that fierce kid, crazy enough to fight anything but still kind enough to try and tame the monsters that wanted to eat them that Andros found on Dread, just like I'll always have part of who I was before the wars, all of the wars and Karone will….you get the point"

"But if I only have parts of different versions of myself then where do I fit" Rensa hissed "My people don't….to venture off and try and become something else is death, we're strongest together"

"So are we" Karone answered without hesitation "And never think you're alone, not for a moment"

"Your team would do anything for you Rensa, you should honestly know that by now" Zhane told him, trying his hardest not to sound as though he were chiding the boy and adding "And so would we"

"Indeed" Karone nodded "If you're ever unsure of where you belong then know that you will always have place here, with us….with family"

"You can call me Uncle Zhane if you really want" the Silver Astro Ranger grinned; Rensa for his part found himself almost overcome by unfamiliar pangs of emotions, his people did not declare or show affection in the way that many cultures within the Alliance seemed to; one fought alongside and protected their kin and lived to eke out their bleak and meagre existence another day and that action alone conveyed all the affection and trust that was needed. Now however the pallid and emaciated looking boy stared at his long and spindly fingers so that he could avoid meeting the gaze of the two remaining Astro Rangers as he realised that whilst his future might not be certain there was a light at the end of the tunnel, even if the metaphor was an ill-fitting one in all honesty.

"I'd like that….Uncle Zhane"


Kay had been informed of Zebidiah's fate several hours ago and had been numb ever since.

Their Grandfather, the former Lord Zedd was still very much alive and that single fact was something that the Green Ranger clung to and took solace from yet it made little real or practical difference as the grand sorcerer's consciousness was no longer tethered to the physical plane in any meaningful way; Zebidiah's body was alive but in a fugue state as the last, flickering dregs of his arcane power worked in tandem with the vast array of medical equipment and healing magic being used by Promethea One to keep him in a form of stasis and slow his inevitable ending and it was unknown if or when Zebidiah would be able to return from the equivalent of a magical and psychic coma that he had been thrust into.

Upon learning this Kay had begun simply wandering the vast asteroid base in search of a sense of calm or peace that continued to elude them, inhuman black and pink eyes downcast and unfocused as they moved without conscious effort and direction and lost all sense of time, a feat made all the easier by the fact that Kay had become accustomed to the twenty four hour day of Earth whilst the base was kept at a constant level of light and worked on a schedule based on KO-Thirty Fives' days which did not equate exactly. The Green Ranger had, without intending to made their way a location within the base they now called home that they often frequented with Panthera when the two of them wanted some privacy and were otherwise unable to find it.

Which was where Panthera had found him.

Towards the outer edge of the base was one of the smallest of the hollowed out asteroids upon which a relatively small environmental dome had been constructed, roughly the size of a small street in total and yet whatever this particular section of the Empire's mining operation had been initially intended for it had clearly gone unfinished and incomplete when the mine was abandoned and Karone's forces were yet to complete it as there was always other, more important work to be done. The result of this was that the environmental dome may have served its' purpose and kept the vacuum and freezing temperatures of space at bay whilst giving any who ventured inside an impressive view of the endless void beyond but gravity within the dome was both drastically lessened and oddly skewed; mining and construction equipment had been moved to this particular dome simply to keep it out of the way until it could be cannibalised for parts and the odd angles that the various hooks and chains floated in the air at showing how forces had been warped whilst benches that had been fastened to those chains and small crates and sheets of rusted metal floated in the air to serve as stairways and platforms, giving the entire interior of the dome the appearance of some insane maze or puzzle.

Panthera's sensitive ears popped as she entered the dome and it took her a few moments of shaking her head with her tail stood erect behind her and clawed hands outstretched before she could orient herself well enough to find Kay, once she had however making her way towards them was a simple enough thing; whilst the Pink Ranger herself had been born and raised in space and had never visited her home-world the fact remained that she was a Felidae and descended from tree dwelling apex predators and the act of leaping from one platform to the next in graceful arcs and catlike motions with the reduced gravity carrying her further pleased something deep in the recesses of her mind until eventually she reached where Kay sat

"Hey" she drawled huskily as she back-flipped over the arm of the bench that the Green Ranger was sat upon, hovering several dozen feet in the air before using her momentum to sprawl out lazily and rest her head on their lap with their tail swishing happily.

"Hey" Kay murmured quietly, the vivid pink irises of their eyes seeming to lighten and glow as they took in the sight of Panthera making herself comfortable, something made all the more prominent by the obsidian they were set against though the teal skinned and violet haired alien girl could still see the ghost of sadness that refused to leave her partners' eyes

"Zebidiah's gonna be okay" she assured them, her low and husky voice gentle and soothing as she laced her clawed fingers through Kay's "You know that right?….You wanna talk about it?"

"I can try but I don't know what to say" the Green Ranger sighed remorsefully, their experiences in all things were limited by the discrepancy between their artificial age and how long they had truthfully been alive and whilst this meant that they had the ability to enjoy a great many things for the first time with a more adult mind it also meant that every instance of grief and tragedy was a new and horrific thing to them.

"Well I'll listen if you find the words" Panthera assured them, prompting Kay to try, gently stroking the fur of her tail as they did so

"It isn't like when Kimberley died, that was different; that hurt….it hurt so much" they shuddered at the memory "But it was final, this is….is it bad to say that it's worse in a way, that the not knowing when I'll see my Grandfather again is almost worse?"

"No, not at all" Panthera promised him "I'd made peace with my sister being gone, then the Dark Empire used her against us….it's not the same but I know what you mean"

"It's going to be hard knowing that he isn't out there any more….Even when we were stranded on Mercator I knew that my Grandfather was looking for us with the rest of Mission Control, that he would use his magic to do anything he could to help us; and he did and now he's gone"

"But not forever" Panthera reminded them softly, reaching up and running clawed fingers through hair whose spiky rigidity was as inhuman as they black to white gradient it naturally possessed and gently scratching at Kay's scalp "Grace is one of humanities' best….and humanity has come pretty far in the last twenty years or so, they're not just that backwater nowhere filled with monkeys that are really compatible with the Morphing Grid for some reason"

"I just wish I had answers" Kay breathed out, managing to crack a small smile at Panthera's comment about Earth "I wish he was still here to guide me and see what I can become, I want him to be proud"

"He already was" Panthera answered without hesitation, fierce amber eyes suddenly seriously "And so am I….you are amazing, not just as Ranger but as a person….and you're magic, you've come so far so quickly it's incredible"

"You think so?" Kay asked, willingly allowing themselves to be distracted by the more pleasant subject of their arcane abilities; though they still hunched in on themselves as doubts weighed upon them "I know it's gotten stronger but I don't know how much control I really have over it"

"Then let's try and find out" the Pink Ranger suggested as she sat up, leaning close and bringing her lips to Kay's gently grazing them with her sharp teeth before adding "Try and do something that takes some control"

"Like what?" Kay asked before their eyes widened as an idea struck them and they searched for a suitable target whilst gathering their arcane power to themselves; an aura of pale light coalescing around them whilst a sudden breeze ruffled Panthera's Mohawk-like hair and the human Acheron hybrid turned their attention to the crane that their bench was held aloft by in the reduced but still present gravity and specifically a broad, flat sheet of metal that formed part of its' operators' cab.

Panthera watched as a sparking, crackling light that reminded her of tools that she had seen used in shipyards burst from their index and middle fingers which Kay then used to begin burning something into steel that glowed red-hot under the magical assault

"It's something humans sometimes do on dates….I think, they use trees for it but there aren't any here" Kay looked sheepish and Panthera looked at their handiwork realising that it was a carefully and immaculately formed "K & P" inside a heart.

At which point she laughed so hard she nearly fell from the floating bench

"You like-"

"I love it" she cackled, leaning close and kissing them again "And in all the languages I know from all the worlds I've visited, there are no words for how adorable you can be sometimes"

"Only sometimes?" the self-satisfied, teasing tone that made Panthera purr had finally made itself known and at that point she promptly pounced on them and within a matter of minutes the two were greatly thankful for the privacy that they had in this place.


Aslaug was asleep when Mercy returned to the common area that the Aegis Rangers shared between their cramped rooms and the brown-skinned girl found herself smiling fondly at the sight of her girlfriend sleeping on a sofa with a fur blanket draped over her broad and muscular shoulders, clearly having fallen asleep waiting for Mercy to return.

There was no denying that the accommodations the Rangers had found themselves in were a step down from what they had become used to yet the seven of them made do with what was available, each of them had a small bedroom that was truthfully barely larger than a storeroom though Mercy and Aslaug shared a bed more often than not as did Panthera and Kay whilst the common area was what had apparently been intended to act as a meeting area for shift managers and overseers of the Empires' mining colony; the limited space was dimly lit and chilly at the best of times and had been furnished with chairs and a table that had been improvised from unused crates along with the threadbare sofa and fur blankets that had been traded and bargained for with one of the many resistance vessels that frequented the base. The walls and floor were bare and untreated metal that was corroded and uncared for in several places with the sole decoration coming in the form of graffiti from the bases' former occupants, a series of glyphs that Rensa had informed them all were curses upon the Empire as a whole and the Black and Red Rangers had agreed should not be covered over.

Mercy paid little mind to her surroundings however, simply climbing onto the sofa and sequestering herself beneath the blanket along with Aslaug, burying herself in the sleeping Yellow Ranger's chest only for the larger woman to be woken by the creaking of the old and worn furniture

"What time is is?" Aslaug asked in a groggy, almost growling tired voice

"I honestly have no idea" Mercy admitted with a yawn "I lost track and my watch doesn't mean anything here" Aslaug simply made a low non-committal noise and this and, clearly still sleepy wrapped an arm around Mercy's waist whilst her free hand stroked loose curls whose dyed-red tips had long since grown out

"Are you okay?" she asked, painstakingly cautious with each touch "Your helmet was shattered and your ribs-"

"I'm okay" Mercy assured her "Just bruised and sore….but this is nice" content with this Aslaug made herself comfortable once again and the two of them remained like that for an amount of time that neither of them made any effort to keep track of, simply taking from one another's presence until finally a thought occurred to Mercy

"Hey, do you know where any of the others are?"

"No, they were gone before I got here and if they've been back since then they chose not to wake me" Aslaug answered, seeing the sudden concern in the Red Ranger's large brown eyes she added "You're worried about them?"

"That mission was rough for all of us" Mercy answered simply "Even though we won I came away feeling like we'd lost and it could so easily have been so much worse for us….I just want to make sure that everyone's okay and not carrying it around with them"

"You truly are a great leader and I was right when I chose to follow you" Aslaug murmured, still clearly not entirely awake "A fierce and shrewd warrior on the battlefield and kind-hearted off of it, you see your warriors as family"

"You are my family" Mercy answered without hesitation "All of you are, how could you not be after everything….I just wonder if I'm doing enough"

"You do more than anyone has any right to ask and all of us appreciate you greatly for it" Aslaug gently kissed the top of Mercy's head and added "If any of the others were here they would say the same" Mercy smiled softly at that and left a trail of gentle kisses along Aslaug's jaw even as she allowed herself to get lost in her own thoughts; even with no particular cause and her earlier concerns assuaged she found herself worrying that she wasn't doing enough, that there was something she should be doing for her team that would help them all deal with the weight on their shoulders only for her concerns to be both pushed aside and increased a hundred times over by the shrill chirping of her communicator

"Mercy here, what's the situation?" she demanded, both she and Aslaug forgetting their tiredness in an instant; once again forcing themselves to be ready for whatever threat the Dark Empire sent their way, only to find herself relaxing and letting out a sigh of relief at the sound of Justin's familiar voice

"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you but this is the easiest way to get in touch with you, our phones don't work out here" there was pause of a single beat before the scientist and former Turbo Ranger who was the closest thing Mercy truly had to a parent added, with a knowing smirk that carried into their voice "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No we were just half asleep" Mercy replied honestly "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, more than okay I was just wondering since a few of us have got some downtime right now you want to watch a movie?" the question stunned Mercy with how mundane it was a Justin seemed to sense as much as he added "Zhane tells me it's a classic from KO-Thirty Five, apparently being from an advanced alien society means you get to make some really good Sci-Fi….Rensa, Mari and Tempestus are already here, he's trying to get Billy to take a break and I wanna see his reactions to bad movie science. Rensa says he thinks he knows where Kay and Panthera are so he's gonna go and see if they're available; are you gonna join us?" Mercy took a moment to process, her exhausted mind still not operating at full capacity and then silently turned to Aslaug who had heard everything and saw her silently shrug and nod before answering

"Sure, I'm guessing you're using one of the briefing rooms with the big projectors right? We'll be there soon" with that Mercy ended the call and found herself silently thankful that even here, countless millions of miles away from Earth or anything approaching home she was not alone, she still had her team, her friends and the people closest to her.

It was enough to make her believe that they might just have a chance after all.

Author's Notes:

And that was the fourteenth arc finished.
Arc fifteen is a "Mid-Season finale" six chapters and it's gonna be fun; although I'm gonna take a break next week so I can plan out a little more and also work on a RWBY project that won't be getting posted until after Christmas.
The story will end with Arc eighteen, so March/April at the latest realistically.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
The Knights of Wyvern got busy and they took trophies….Also, if anyone is wondering about the extra level of violence involved in the last couple of chapters, I've been watching a show called "Drillin'" and that visceral gang violence tapped into the young me.
I realised as I read it back that I write Lord Zedd as a mix of the old Lord Zedd, Salem from RWBY and my sister's Dad.
Carnifex is down to his literal last chance and I think you know me well enough to know that I won't lie about something like that.
Bet you didn't see that coming! Carnifex decided "Fuck honour" at the end of the last arc, now he's decided to get rid of anything that could possibly stand in his way by getting rid of literally everyone around him.
New teleportation system pending.
Trying to jog away from your problems, a sure sign that you need counselling.
Yeah Charlie doesn't have the perks of being a Ranger or having inhuman physiology like Kay.
I feel like that's a major difference between Rangers and people like Karone, Charlie or Lord Zedd, the Rangers don't really appreciate or know how to play the long game because they're used for direct and limited action.
The picture of an Ultrazord forcing a warship to abandon a planet would definitely be used as propaganda.
So, that's Mercy and Charlie on at least somewhat amicable terms.
Why would the base run on a twenty-four hour day when most of the people there aren't from Earth?
Seeing Billy and Tempestus bouncing ideas off of each other was fun….Also the offhanded comment about using the Empire's own teleportation gates is gonna come back later.
Billy just signed up the Marigold Utahima hype squad.
The "Just friends" moment at the end was strictly for my own amusement.
Just take a moment to appreciate that mental image of Rensa.
I imagine Karone can be scary with the discipline when she needs to.
As much as the talk with Tempestus and Mari helped Rensa's identity crisis is going to need the help of someone like Karone to fix it.
Uncle Zhane and Auntie Karone, literal found family.
Of course Kay and Panthera have their own little spot on the base.
The chance to play with a unique location like a half terraformed dome with faulty gravity was too fun to pass up.
Panthera has no concept of personal space lol.
Yep, Kay is experiencing loss and pain for the first time just like everything else.
Panthera being supportive was cute, but not as utterly sickly sweet as Kay doing the most cliché shit ever with their magic.
And of course they fucked in low gravity, wouldn't you?
Yeah the living arrangements are bad….not the worst I've seen though.
Mercy stop trying to carry the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders challenge.
But yay for supportive Aslaug.
Think about it, of course the aliens have their own sci-fi.
And sometimes that is what you need, a movie night and chill with your people….Power Rangers is built on the premise of teamwork and togetherness being the key to a better tomorrow; so compare the end of this scene against Carnifex's scene.

Thank you to Blue Legends for their review on the last chapter.
Gotta give the Charlie fans some food and the non Ranger characters something to do.
I mean Zeb isn't down for the count permanently, but it does kinda feel that way as we head closer and closer to the end.
Mercy's Battleizer will be referenced but I'm saving it for a crucial moment.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review