CHAPTER SIX

Luna straddled the back of the chair and rested her arms on top. "Okay, so this display shows a gridded out version of Newtech City?" she asked, nodding to the screen in front of her.

"Right." Kat smiled. "And we can overlay various filters over the top of the grid, so we can watch out for environmental as well as human-made threats." She tapped a button on the console. "For example, here's one that overlays pollution levels. As you can see, it's a little more concentrated over the docks and airport, but not really over downtown."

"Well, that's 'cause everybody downtown takes the mag-lev or the bikes, right?"

"Exactly."

Luna whistled. "The city's changed a lot in ten years," she said. "I feel like I've missed out on a lot."

Kat placed a hand on her head. "You've changed too," she noted. She grinned. "And I don't just mean your hairstyle. Ten years ago, you could've cared less about all this," Kat pointed out, waving a hand around Ops.

Maybe I found a reason to care, Luna though to herself. Out loud, she said, "Hey, so what about this filter?" She pressed a button.

"That one looks for radiation levels. Because of all the nuclear and other power we use around here, it watches for spikes…" Kat trailed off, leaning in closer to the display.

"Kat? Where'd I lose you?" Luna questioned.

"One sec." Kat turned, and hit the base-wide comm system. "B-Squad, report to Ops ASAP!"

"What's happening?" Luna asked her. Her godmother was officially all business now. Kat was rattling off orders to the other people in the room, asking for various reports and alerts. Luna watched with interest.

The doors slid back, and Jack sprinted inside, followed closely by the rest of B-Squad. Before the doors could slide shut again, a blue paw shot through and Commander Cruger stepped in. "Kat. Report," he said.

Kat looked up at him. "I was doing a scan over the last 12 hours of energy levels in the city. All look normal, then, I took off the gamma filter, and I found something." She cast the display from the monitor up to the holographic display in the center of the room. Luna wasn't sure what they were looking at, big flashes of green coming and going on the monitor.

"Malfunction?" Cruger suggested.

Kat's eyes flashed. "Not a chance. I designed that program myself." Her green eyes dared him to suggest it was a flaw in her algorithm again.

Cruger, wisely, chose a different option. "Rangers!"

The entirety of B-Squad jumped. Even Sky jerked a little. Cruger definitely noticed. "Investigate those coordinates."

"Yes, sir," Jack said, and they almost had to pull the doors open when they didn't slide back fast enough.

Cruger's dark eyes followed them out. "They're acting…oddly. Wonder what it is."

Luna stood up. "You," she told him. "You are the it."

Cruger looked at her. "Excuse me?"

"You've got them so afraid to make a mistake around you that it's affecting their performance," Luna informed him. "Just because you're having a crappy few days doesn't mean you get to take it out on them. That's not what a leader does."

"And what does a leader do, Cadet Oliveira?" Cruger questioned her.

Luna got out of her chair and marched up to him so they were toe to toe. "Takes responsibility for his own actions. Acknowledges that he has a problem and works with his team to resolve it."

There was silence in Ops. Out of the corner of her eye, Luna saw Kat nodding approvingly.

Impulsively, Luna wrapped her arms around Cruger's waist and gave him a hug. "You know you don't have to go through this alone, right?" she asked him, looking up.

Cruger looked like he wanted to say something. At the last minute, he stepped out of her embrace. "You're dismissed, Cadet Oliveira."

Luna felt the tops of her ears turning red from embarrassment. "You would've talked to Dad," she offered as a parting shot, before stomping out of the room.


Piggy's
Somewhere in the city

"The string lights are new," Z noted, wrinkling her nose. "Ew. And the smell."

"It always smells," Syd retorted.

Z grimaced. "No, this is worse."

Sky looked at Jack and Z curiously. "How do you guys know about Piggy's?" he questioned them.

Jack eyed him. "Who doesn't?" he countered. Then he nodded. "Oh, right," he said. "'Cause Z and I are heinous criminals, so we must know all the shady folks out here."

Sky shook his head. "I didn't say that."

Jack glared at him. "I think it was implied."

Z stepped up between the two of them, a hand on Jack's chest. "So, can we maybe focus on the sketchy energy spikes instead of your little cat fight?"

Sky glared at Jack over the top of a second Z Delgado clone who was likewise holding him back from decking the Red Ranger. "Lead the way, oh Fearless Leader," he gestured to Jack.

"He can lead you right on out of here," Piggy cut in. "Your argument's scaring away my regulars. This place was packed a second ago."

Sky took a breath, and then turned to the snout-nosed alien. "Yeah, we heard about your good fortune," he told Piggy.

"Oh yeah? Well, thanks for stoppin' by." Piggy turned to head back into his trailer, but Sky sidestepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"What's the rush?" Bridge queried. He waved a hand around the empty tables. "Not like you've got anybody waiting on reservations."

"The rush?" Piggy repeated. "Uh, you're SPD. Not exactly the type my clientele wanna dine with."

"Dine?" Syd's eyes widened. "This place is a roach-infested germ farm."

Piggy smirked. "Thanks! I did my best."

"Look, Piggy, we're just here for information," Z stepped forward. "We got some reports of some energy spikes around your, uh, new place here."

"And I don't think your new overhead lights are the cause," Jack added.

"Oh no," a gravelly voice spoke up. Jack turned to see a lone figure sitting at one of the tables. "No, that would be me."

Sky narrowed his eyes at the interloper. He reminded Sky a bit of that old movie The Terminator, with his one mechanical, red eye. "Looks like Piggy's new place has a rat infestation," Sky muttered, one hand on the blaster holstered at his side.

"I hate rats," Syd agreed, reaching for one of Piggy's metal chairs. Her fist turned to a dull silver. Behind him, Sky could sense the others dropping into defensive positions.

"Calm down, karate kids. I'm just here to give you a message." The alien stood up, tossing a small silver ball between his fingers. "Or, rather, your boss." He made eye contact with Sky, and then tossed the Blue Ranger the silver orb. Sky caught it one handed.

"What are we supposed to do with this?" Sky demanded, but the alien had disappeared.

Bridge came up behind his shoulder, studying the silver orb. "Turn it on," he offered, pointing to a blue button on the bottom of it. "Except, you know, not here, 'cause it's for Commander Cruger, and none of us is….are…am…Commander Cruger."

Sky shot the Green Ranger a look. Bridge shrugged, unfazed. "I'm just sayin'."


SPD Headquarters

Sky tapped gently on the door of the quarters that belonged to Luna. Cruger had her assigned temporarily to quarters by herself, but not too far away from Syd and Z. Temporary, Sky though to himself, waiting for an okay to enter. He had a feeling Cruger wasn't going to send Luna back to Ceres V.

At least, he sure hoped not. He was just getting used to having her back.

"Hi."

Sky blinked as Luna appeared in the doorway. She'd swapped out her SPD fatigues for a simple pair of denim jeans and a neon-purple Lycra crop-top. She'd pulled her hair back into a ponytail and he could tell from the redness around her eyes and the fact that most of her makeup had been rubbed away that she'd been crying.

"Oh. Hey," Sky murmured, guiding her into her room and sitting down with her on the bed. "Are you okay?"

"No," Luna said into his shirt. "Sky, why did I even come back? You're busy with your team, Cruger could care less that I exist…everybody around here has a life and there's no place for me here."

"Your place," Sky cut in gently, "is right here." He gave her a hug. "Hey. I know it's gotta be hard," he told her. "We've kind of been going nonstop since you got here. I promise, it's not always like this."

"Kinda feels like you get a monster of the week every week," Luna said, and Sky chuckled.

"Yeah, kinda does," he said. He lay down on the bed and pulled Luna down with him, resting her head between his shoulder and his neck. "Look, when things cool off, I'm gonna force Jack to give us some time off," he said. "Play some antigrav ball or holochess or something."

"Doggie actually gives you time off? He seems like he's got such a stick up his-"

"It's actually in the handbook," Sky cut her off, poking her nose. "He's not always like this. Whatever's going on…it's really personal."

"None of this is ringing a bell," Luna said. "What Kat told us…my dad never said anything to me or mom about it."

"Neither did my mom, or my dad, when he was around," Sky told her. "My guess is Cruger played this one pretty close to the chest. I don't think he talked to anybody about whatever is going on."

"Except Kat," Luna pointed out.

Sky nodded. "Except for Kat."

There was another tap on Luna's door. Reluctantly, Luna crawled over Sky and made her way to the door. Syd was standing there. She caught Sky's eye behind Luna's shoulder. "Oh!" She grinned. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Shut up, Syd," Sky called to her with a smile as he sat up.

"Oh, no, absolutely not," Syd replied with a wide smile. "I'm going to refrain from saying anything else, because Cruger is in Ops and they've determined the orb isn't a hazard, so they want us all there to see what it is…now that we know it's not gonna blow us all to smithereens."

"On our way," Luna said smoothly, letting the door slide closed on Syd's amused face.

Sky and Luna entering Ops together raised some eyebrows, none higher than Cruger's. But nobody said anything, considering they had bigger problems to deal with.

Cruger set the orb on top of the console in Ops. "They've determined it is some type of holographic communicator," he told the team.

"So, we should turn it on," Bridge said, with a 'told you' look to the rest of the team.

Kat fiddled with it, and a green-blue hologram of an alien appeared. Sky noted that Cruger's eyes narrowed and became significantly more, well, doglike, at the sight of him.

"I hope you enjoyed your last sunrise, Doggie Cruger," the alien from Piggy's said. "I have navigated two star systems to find you. We will meet this afternoon for your final afternoon."

Cruger's upper lip curled back over his teeth in a low growl. "I will not fight you, General Benaag," he said.

Sky met Jack's eyes. General Benaag? Jack mouthed. Sky shook his head. No clue.

"I will see to it that you will," Benaag continued. Then, his image faded.

The Rangers pounced on their leader, all talking over each other. "Who is that guy?" Sky asked.

"How do you know him?" Syd wanted to know.

"You've gotta tell us something, sir," Bridge put in.

"Please?" Luna begged quietly from Sky's side. Z put a hand comfortingly on her arm.

"They have a right to know the truth," Kat's voice cut in. It was quiet, but there was authority in her tone. She gave Cruger a look that plainly said 'if you don't tell them, I will.'

Cruger met his goddaughter's eye…and then sighed.

"Many, many years ago," Cruger began, leaning heavily on the console, "I was the Commander in Chief of the Sirian Army. Infantry, primarily. Sirius was peaceful…but all that changed when Emperor Grumm and the Troobian army attacked out planet. They were relentless. We battled the Troobians for months without sleep." He closed his eyes, pressing one paw to the bridge of his nose. "We had to pull every available soldier out to the frontlines. But we were no match for the Troobians. We were vastly outnumbered."

Luna swallowed, reaching for Sky's hand. Sky slipped his fingers into hers.

"And while we fought the soldiers on the advancing edge…Grumm turned General Benaag loose on the city that we had to leave defenseless." Cruger looked at his rangers. "We were overrun. We lost. I was the last Sirian standing, and Grumm chose to let me live with my failure."

Nobody on B Squad moved. Nobody spoke. They were too busy looking at their commanding officer in a new light…new understanding.

And Luna began to realize that maybe she and her godfather weren't so far apart after all.

There was a muted boom from somewhere in the city, and the entire SPD HQ rocked. Bridge stumbled into Z and the Yellow Ranger manifested a clone to help grab him and keep him upright. Sky threw up a shield to keep a chair from sliding into himself and Luna.

"What was that?" Cruger demanded, all business suddenly.

"More energy spikes!" Kat yelled from in front of the energy reader.

Cruger snapped his fingers. "B Squad, suit up!"

"Yes sir!" the team chorused, moving into the center of the room. Jack stepped up, looking at his team.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

Jack nodded. "SPD, Emergency!"

Luna gasped, watching the multicolored energy burst from the morphers and filled the room, even cutting through the glaring red emergency lights. Where her friends had just stood, five Power Rangers, fully suited up, had taken their places. Jack spun on his booted heel and led them out the door.

The Blue Ranger stopped in the doorway, turned back to Luna, and snapped off a sharp, two-fingered salute. Then, Sky was gone.

"Wow." Luna breathed. She looked at Kat. "That was so cool!"

Kat, however, did not look amused or impressed. "You should be out there with them, sir," she said. "Not running from these memories."

Cruger rounded on her. "I am not running from anything," Cruger argued. "And we have other things to worry about right now."

"Like you withholding the most important piece of information from them?" Kat demanded.

Luna looked at him. "Doggie, what is she talking about?" she asked. "What aren't you telling them….telling me?"

"You're a team," Kat called him out. She pointed at Luna. "You two are practically family. You shouldn't have secrets!"

She held out a silver box. The box had metallic blue and red piping around it. Cruger eyed it warily. To Luna, it looked like he was barely keeping his temper in check.

"You're letting fear rule you," she heard herself saying. She looked up at her godfather. "I know, because for the longest time after my father died, I lived the same way! I was in hiding, terrified that Broodwing would find me too!"

Luna grabbed his arm. "You're a lot stronger than me, Commander," she said, using his formal title, because it seemed more appropriate. "You shouldn't have to live like this. You have a good team under you who would help you!"

"This is bordering on insubordination!" Cruger exploded. He glared at Kat and Luna. "I suggest you leave my sight while you can!"

"And I suggest that you stop living in the past, and go help your team!" Kat snapped back. She tossed the box on the console.

"Get out!"

Luna looked from Cruger to Kat, and then rushed out of the room, following Kat. "Kat, wait!"


"There's one of the things causing the spikes!" Z directed one of the MegaZord's arms toward a protrusion sticking out of a (thankfully) abandoned construction site.

"What would happen if we just pulled it out?" Bridge wondered.

"Let's find out," Sky offered. He powered up the foot of the MegaZaord, ready to kick it loose.

"Cadet Tate, freeze!"

Sky's gloved fingers slipped off the joystick and he frowned. "Commander?"

"Don't touch those spikes. Return to base immediately."

"Sir, with all due respect," Sky gritted his teeth. "Pick a lane! First you wanted us out here dealing with the spikes, and now you don't want us touching them?"

"Holy-" he heard Bridge swear in his ear, shocked that Sky had just told off their commanding officer.

"Sir," Jack cut in, trying to diffuse the tension, "maybe we ought to try a search grid for General Benaag? Or instead of removing the spikes, run an analysis on them?"

"I agree, sir," Sky said, trying to control his emotions. "Ah, that is, I agree with our squad commander."

"Holy-" That one came from Syd.

"You have not come up against anything like General Benaag," Cruger said through his headset. There was a moment of silence, and then, Cruger barked,

"Rangers! Return to base A-SAP! We've been had!"

"Sir?" Sky blinked, confused.

"We've spent our time focusing on the distraction!" Cruger sounded pissed. "Benaag and Grumm's classic trick! We've focused on the spikes-"

"When the real motive wasn't in the city!" Sky gasped. "Jack, we gotta get back to base!"

"Already on it." Jack's voice was grim.


Back at SPD HQ, the red emergency alarms had been silenced, but SPD HQ was on lockdown. Nobody was allowed in or out of the building. The mood in Ops was grim. Cruger was furious that he'd been fooled by Benaag again. Just like on Sirius…just like-

"Sir?" The tentative question came from Boom, one of the technicians that ran the design lab for SPD. Boom was a classic screw-up, but absolutely brilliant with robotics.

Cruger looked at him. "Yes, Boom?"

The younger man swallowed. "Uh, sir, I've been trying to reach Dr. Manx about the energy levels and the spikes, but she's not answering her communicator."

"Find me security footage from the building from ten minutes ago," Cruger ordered him. "Find her."

"Y-yes sir!" Boom said, nearly tripping over his own feet on the way out.


Luna pulled her knees up to her chest and balanced on the edge of the fountain outside SPD HQ. The tremors had subsided, for the moment. She looked over at Kat, who sat, arms crossed, mouth in a thin line. If Kat could've purred in frustration, Luna knew, she probably would have been at that moment.

"So," Luna said, breaking the tension, "are you going to tell me what you meant by Doggie not telling us the whole story?" she questioned. "'Cause I feel like that's not something you can just leave hanging like that," she added.

Kat sighed. "Stubborn old dog," she muttered.

Luna bit her lip. "That's what Dad used to say sometimes," she said. "Whatever Cruger's not telling us must be something really bad. 'Cause I thought he told my Dad everything, and Syd's mom and Bridge's dad, and Sky's mom…I thought they knew everything about him."

"Not everything," a low voice said.

Kat and Luna looked up to see two figures standing above them. One, Luna recognized as the figure from the holographic message. The General. He was flanked by a couple of Emperor Grumm's lackeys, the silver-headed things that Sky had told her were called Krybots. The Krybots yanked Luna and Kat off their seats. They were hustled off the plaza and into an alleyway, out of sight of the cameras of the SPD building.

A lone man was standing in the alley. He was wearing dark clothing, and didn't seem at all fazed by the sight of two struggling women, the General, and the automaton Krybots. "The famous Dr. Manx," he said, his voice a low, gravelly sound. "And you must be Luna. I've heard so much about you."

"Who are you?" Kat demanded.

The man's eyes flashed red. "I am Emperor Grumm. And you…you're both bait."


Author's Note: And thus ends "Shadow, Part 1." I had hoped to get it out for Power Rangers Day, but you know, I plan, and Rita Repulsa laughs. So...yeah.