Aisha DeSantos was not a happy camper as she looked around the 'Tech bay and shook her head. Cables snaked across the floor, leading to each of the ten menacing looking omni-techs hung from their launching cradles. Technicians were working their way back and forth between the ships as they prepared them for their first mission. She had a bad feeling about this set up. She hadn't been happy about the stipulations the military had put on the project in order to get permission to deal with the Draconic Threat. Her time in Africa attempting help stop the plague ravaging the animal population had left her with a deep mistrust for anything military.

Intellectually she understood that the US military was entirely different from those of various African nations that had ravaged their population in one brush war after another as they fought for control of limited resources there- many times destroying those very resources in the process. They had exacerbated the problems already prevalent on that continent to the point that to Aisha it looked like they would never be capable fighting their way out of the crushing poverty that dominated the landscape. She'd seen whole villages wiped out or enslaved by what amounted to mercenaries in military uniforms in the name of "protecting the peace". That had left a bad taste in her mouth for anything with a gun. Of course her own experiences at the hands of those so-called "military personnel" hadn't done much to improve her opinion.

She was still having problems separating her own prejudices against those military regimes from the very professional volunteer armed services she'd been dealing with back here in the States. She couldn't complain about the way she'd been treated here- always with courtesy, respect and professionalism- but she still shuddered from certain sights. She tried to tell herself that this wasn't Angola, and that these weren't the same men who'd carried out the atrocities she'd experienced in the conflict between the FLEC and the Angolan military, but it was difficult sometimes. If it weren't for Rocky's steady support, she didn't think she would have ever been able to readjust.

She smiled at the thought of her new husband and the gentle strength he'd given her since he Kimberly, and Adam had rescued her last year- how he'd held and comforted her through the flashbacks, how he'd been so gentle and patient with her, bringing back the strength she'd lost in the military prison. Those thoughts gave her the strength to deal with all the uniforms she had to see every day, and she actually found herself smiling for the first time in days.

"Aisha!," an excited voice came from across the bay. Looking over she saw Kim's petit form was waving frantically at her.

Altering her course, she quickly stepped over a power conduit and made her way to where Kim was standing by the doors to the main complex. "What's up Kimmie?" She smiled at the fact that Kim was still wearing pink after all these years.

Kim grinned at her and bubbled, "I was in the galley and guess who I ran into?"

Aisha found herself smiling at her petit friend's enthusiasm and unable to resist asking, "who?"

Suddenly Kim reached through the double doors behind her and yanked someone into the room, probably with more strength than she'd intended. They were all still adjusting to the effects of the "treatments" as Rocky liked to call them. A tall lanky form stumbled through the doors and sprawled onto the floor. At first, Aisha didn't recognize the brown haired man, until she realized it was the hair. Gone were the long locks of soft brown hair, only to be replaced with a more modern spiked and gelled coif. "Uh hi," Tommy Oliver smiled up at her from the floor.

"Tommy!" Aisha squealed and launched herself at her former leader, sweeping him into a hug.

After a moment, Tommy managed to gurgle in her embrace, "Aisha… ribs… I need them."

"Uh sorry," Aisha muttered as she let him go and stepped back to appraise her old friend.

"What has Billy done to you guys?" Tommy asked. "It's like wrestling Amazons or something."

Aisha felt herself blush at the gentle reprimand. "I guess we're still adjusting to the conditioning," she said. "Billy says that we should become more accustomed to what's happening to our bodies in a few weeks."

"Yeah," Kimberly said. "I know Adam will be glad when we do. He accidentally ripped the shower head off in our quarters the other morning just trying to adjust it."

"So if I agree to this, that's what I can expect?" Tommy asked sheepishly, "Tossing my friends around like rag dolls, and destroying the plumbing?"

"Billy says that the proto-phyre affects each of us differently." Kimberly told him. "Zack hasn't shown the least amount of increased strength, but don't try to race him anytime soon."

"That fast huh?" Tommy asked.

"Let's just say, don't get between him and the door anytime soon. The man has reactions like you wouldn't believe."

"Zack always had good reactions," Tommy said.

"I know," Kim giggled, "But now if he doesn't stop and think about what he's doing, he finishes things he starts in about a third of the time." Kim suddenly blushed deep red as she winked over at Aisha. "Trini is NOT happy with him about some things right now."

Aisha just smiled at her friend's embarrassment. There were some things that although were accepted as part of their married friends' lives were still difficult to imagine. Even Aisha had to admit that some of the pairings had turned out strange. Who would have ever thought that after coming back from Florida that Kim would have gone for Adam of all people? Then there was her and Rocky- friends since second grade, but not until he'd come crashing through that Angolan prison wall with Adam and Kim in tow, hell bent on rescuing his 'Sha, had she ever thought of him as anything other than a brother. Thank God for Amnesty International's Human Rights Watch.

"So how many of the old gang is here?" Tommy asked.

Kim smiled and answered ticking their old teammates off on her fingers, "Trini, Zack, Billy, me, Adam, Aisha, Rocky, and now you and Kat." She looked over at Aisha and smiled. Aisha could see the apology in the former Pink Ranger's eyes. "Jason is flying in this afternoon."

"It's okay, Kim," Aisha told her. "I'm not angry. I understand, and it really has nothing to do with Jason himself per-se. It's what he does for a living," Aisha told her friend.

"I don't understand," Tommy said questioningly. "What's wrong with what Jason does for a living?"

Aisha shrugged and looked down, "I'm just not comfortable with this team being attached to the military." She saw from the corner of her eye, Kim gesturing gently to Tommy.

She felt Tommy gently cup her chin and raise it so that their eyes met. "I understand that you've been through a rough time, Aisha. We all do, but you have to realize that this is Jason we're talking about- the original big brother. He not only won't hurt you, he won't let you come to hurt either. It's the way he is."

Aisha nodded her head, "I know that Tommy. Like I said, it's not Jason I have the problem with. It's those stripes on his sleeve." She took a deep breath, "But I understand that we need him. That he's one of only ten people in the world who can pilot those damn things," she gestured savagely with her thumb back toward the omni-techs hanging in their bays. "I just have to get over my own issues."

Tommy smiled at her, "I know 'Sha." He pulled her into a brotherly hug. Pulling back from her, he sighed, "You have a problem with his career. I'm just wondering how we're ever going to get him and Billy in the same room again."

"Don't worry about Billy, he'll do what he has to," Kim said firmly from next to them. "He always has."

Tommy turned to face Kimberly and asked, "Anybody able to find out what the problem between those two is?"

Kim shook her head, "No, and if you ask either one of them they'll deny that they're not speaking, but we haven't been able to get them in the same room since just before Billy left for Aquitar."

Tommy just grinned at her, "Then I guess I'm going to have to bust a couple of my Bros' heads."