by Angel Mouse.
KO35
The two kerovan Rangers led the way through the rubble and destruction, heading deeper into the ruined city. Cam glanced around, frowning.
"When our Academy was attacked, the destruction wasn't this bad. But this looks old." Merrick, who had been bringing up the rear, nodded in agreement.
"When Anamaria was attacked, it was the same. But I agree, this damage does look old." Andros and Zhane exchanged glances.
"How old do you think Andros?"
"Probably at least thirty, perhaps forty years old." Andros pointed out to a building that was their destination. "That's the old military headquarters. The access to the underground storage bunkers and hangers was going to be put in there. So if there's anything to find, we'll find it there." Billy thought a moment and looked at Andros.
"Won't we need some gear to find these underground bunkers? We'll need torches and things like that." Zhane grinned and clapped him on the back.
"Never fear, the Silver Ranger is here." Andros gave a small laugh.
"Zhane, you've been spending way too much time watching Earth television."
"Says the person addicted Xena Warrior Princess."
"Hey!" The other male rangers laughed and Ashley just shared a grin with Karone. Their respective partners had certainly lightened up and became more relaxed since defeating Dark Spectre and Co. It was nice actually. Laughing, Zhane walked over to his glider - the gliders having silently followed along behind them - and opened a side compartment, taking out two scanners and a couple of torches. He threw a scanner to Andros and then the torches to Ashley and Merrick.
"One thing I learnt with my time with our forces is always be prepared. Come on; let's find these places and then go. It's kind of creepy being back here with no one about." Andros nodded, opening the scanner and beginning to search.
"I know. But, at least in our own time it's full of people." The assembled rangers nodded and began to pick their way over the rubble, making sure that they didn't injure themselves and fall down any holes. Andros led the way, with Zhane close behind him. Merrick brought up the rear and Ashley stuck close behind the two of them, making sure she shone her torch in front so they could see where they were going.
After about twenty minutes climbing through the rubble they came into a spot deep inside the ruins of the military headquarters. The two veteran rangers conferred a moment and then put away their scanners.
"This is it. There's an access panel under this rubble. Guys, give us a hand." Wordlessly, Merrick handed Karone his torch and joined the four other male rangers. They worked quickly and fast, removing the rubble and debris from over the access panel. As one, the male rangers grabbed some levers and gave a mighty heave and with a resounding crash, a thick steel door opened with a clang. That was the thing about being a power ranger, it enhanced your natural strength enormously. Grinning sheepishly at each other the men looked at the girls who had just exchanged rolled eyes and smiled.
"Boys will be boys." The male rangers just laughed and taking the torch from Ashley, gracing her with a quick kiss on the cheek, Andros began the descent down into the underground chambers.
To say that it was a mess down beneath the city was an understatement of massive proportions. It was obvious to the more experienced rangers that this was where the people of KO35 had retreated. Merrick looked around and murmured softly, but in the stillness his voice carried more than he thought.
"Looks like this was their last stand." Andros and Zhane both nodded.
"That was the plan that they were making when we left home a few months ago. But there were contingency plans so our people weren't completely wiped out. A few would have hopefully gotten away." The two rangers shared a glanced but then turned back to their duties. They left unspoken the hope that their words were true. They made their way through the debris until finally they began to come into cleaner and clearer areas. There was dust everywhere but no damage. Zhane and Andros moved over to a main control area, closely followed by Billy and Cam whose curiosity was peeked by all this fascinating technology. Merrick hung back, following the girls who had been keeping quiet. They knew that anything they could offer at the moment would be redundant. Andros and Zhane knew what they were doing, after all, they had been in a similar situation before. Andros and Zhane headed directly for a panel on the sidewall and studied it a moment in the light provided by Ashley's torch. Zhane looked at Andros.
"What do you think?" Andros touched a couple of controls and then shook his head.
"Looks like all remaining power was diverted to the underground hanger. Understandable really. Come on, we won't get anything working here. Let's head there, you never know what we might find." Zhane nodded and they turned to see Cam and Billy, heads down and over an open panel, having borrowed Karone's torch. The two rangers couldn't help laughing out loud and both heads popped up, their glasses reflecting the torchlight. Grinning, Andros walked over and patted them both on the back.
"Guys, there's plenty of time for that once we've found something for you to play with." Sheepishly to the two rangers laughed and straightened up. Zhane grinned to himself as he lead the way out of the control room, scanner in front of him again and Ashley by his side so he could see where he was going in the dark. Andros reclaimed Karone's torch and threw it to Merrick for him to bring up the rear again and headed off after Zhane. Merrick waited for the others to proceed him out of the control room but spoke softly as the blue and green rangers left before him.
"You two are like two peas in a pod. I can't wait to see what you can do with working technology." Billy and Cam laughed softly, having hit it off really well immediately. They followed Karone and Andros, Merrick falling into step behind them. Both Billy and Cam had realised there was no point in trying to see who could out do the other in the brains department. Cam's research into previous ranger teams - again at Dustin's bequest - had provided him with some insight and information about the first blue ranger and he knew that they would both work better together. Merrick's dry delivery of the words showed a side that he rarely showed. Grinning, the three rangers followed the light in front of them. Zhane and Andros made their way deeper into the underground bunker until they found themselves in front of a large door. The seven rangers stood there until Zhane just shrugged and went over to the control panel and grinned at Andros.
"Couldn't hurt to try." He began to type in a code, followed quickly by another and with a creaking and groaning, it began to open. They all stepped back and Andros just grinned at Zhane.
"They didn't change our access codes after all these thousand of years, handy to know." Zhane nodded, waiting for the doors to finish opening.
"Yeah, nice to know that they thought of us after all this time." Nothing more was said as the doors finished opening and half a dozen lights flicked on. They all gasped and the three Kerovan's exchanged glances.
"No way, it's not possible is it Andros?"
"The Mega Ship mark two had just been finished being built last week, it just needs testing. I was going to surprise you guys yesterday, but we all know how yesterday turned out. Let's go aboard, see if it's the same one or a later model." Andros suddenly smiled at the other rangers. "Now we know how we're going to get around. It's a lot better than the gliders." The others laughed and they approached the ship and Andros entered his access code. Here to, the doors slid open and he frowned slightly, looking over at the others. "It's like that they knew to put it here." The others nodded and they entered the ship. Lights began to come on and Andros glanced at Zhane. "Zhane, take Cam, Billy and Karone to the engine room, Ashley, Merrick and I will go to the bridge."
"Okay, come on guys, let's get you something to play with." The two groups spilt up and headed off.
Andros led Ashley and Merrick into the bridge. The Mega Ship was on emergency lighting so they weren't in total darkness. They finally got to the bridge and Ashley pointed to the sign on the wall.
"Look Andros." The sign said Astro Mega Ship mark five. Andros nodded as he stood at the main controls, glancing down at the control panel.
"It's similar but certainly more advanced than our old Mega Ship Ash." Merrick had been wandering around and stopped in front of a panel that was lit up as well. He looked up at Andros.
"Andros, is this important?" Andros walked over and looked at it. He reached out and pressed a few buttons and then smiled.
"Well done Merrick. This is very important. Hold this for me please." Andros knelt down and removed a panel, handing it to Merrick. Merrick just watched him while Ashley walked over. Andros reached into the circuitry and smiling, connected something and then moments later most of the panels on the bridge began to light up. He got up and replaced the panel, taking it from Merrick. "Thanks." Andros grinned at Ashley.
"Andros, what was it?"
"Just this. DECA, system report please." A camera swivelled around and Ashley gave a laugh of delight. Impulsively she embraced Andros and they both smiled widely.
"Oh Andros, I'm so pleased."
"Andros. Ashley. It is good to see you again after all this time. A system report is as follows. The Mega Ship engines are shut down, life support and my systems are running on battery back up power, there is only enough power to run these systems for another three hours." Andros nodded.
"It's good to hear your voice DECA."
"My sensors detect three unknown power signatures Andros."
"I thought they might. The first is Merrick; he's with us here. He's the Luna Wolf Wild Force Ranger. The others are Billy Cranston, the Blue Wolf Ninjetti Ranger and Cam Wantabe, the Green Samurai Ranger."
"I'm detecting differing temporal signatures on these powers as well Andros."
"That's right DECA." Andros shared a grin with Ashley; DECA never missed a trick. "We have been brought forward in time by Dulcea. There is a new type of evil in the universe and we have been brought forward to fight it."
"I understand Andros. I will endeavour to help as best as I can once all my systems have been brought online."
"Great." Andros brought his wrist up and hit his communicator. "Zhane, how's it going down there?"
"We're just finishing doing the diagnostics. We'll have to replace a couple of components but there shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully we'll have them up and running in about fifteen minutes."
"Great. Good job." Zhane's laughter came over the small speaker.
"We may have to pry Cam and Billy out of here by the end of the day, I've never seen anyone drool so much over technology." They could hear shouts of 'hey' in the background, obviously from the aforementioned rangers.
"Just so long as everything starts working again we'll be fine. DECA's back on line to."
"Yes! Great, thanks Andros."
"Okay, let me know when you're ready to bring the engines online."
"Will do." Andros closed the channel and grinned at the other two.
"Things are going well."
"Andros, did I hear you correctly when you said Zhane is in the engine room?"
"Yes DECA, is there a problem?" For a moment the computer was silent and then the view screen sprang to life.
"There may be. Watch please Andros, this will not be easy." Concern on his face, Andros turned to the view screen, Ashley standing next to him and Merrick behind. The images showed a battle and suddenly, in what seemed like a horrible flashback, Andros and Zhane were fighting together. The only difference this time was that Ashley and Karone were with them as well. Andros clenched his hands; he had a terrible suspicion he knew where this was heading.
Zhane's grin didn't fade as he closed the channel from Andros as his gaze fell onto the two rangers that were pouring over the schematics for the engine that were helpfully located on the wall of the engine room. Karone was providing light for them and smiling as well. Their enthusiasm was infectious. Zhane moved over the main control panel and began to perform the checks needed to bring the engines online. He located the two crystals that would need replacing and moved over the where the spare parts were normally stored and opened the cupboard. Taking out two dark blue crystals he turned to find Billy and Cam standing behind him, eager smiles on their faces. He laughed and held them out, knowing what they wanted.
"If I show you where to put them, you can install them yourselves, if that's what you'd like to do." The eagerness on their faces was transparent.
"Please."
"Okay, come with me." He led the two rangers over to the main engines and opening the access panel pointed to the two blue crystals. "These crystals relay the power reaction to the thruster array. But as you can see one is cracked and the other is burnt out. Take them by the ends, don't grab the middle of them, and ease them out. Then replace them with the new crystals." Zhane turned to Karone. "If you could hold the torch steady for them please Karone." Karone smiled.
"My pleasure." Zhane moved away to let her stand behind them, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and a squeeze as he moved back over the to the main panel. The emergency lighting provided just enough for him to see by, plus the fact that he had practically grew up in the Mega Ship and this later model was so close to his own version that it didn't matter too much. Going through the read outs, he kept half an ear for the guys behind him as he worked but they were going well. Besides, Karone was watching them and she'd had her share of repair duties on the Mega Ship over the years. Suddenly, a reading caught Zhane's eye and he frowned, shaking his head. It couldn't possibly be active, could it? His frown deepening, Zhane moved over to the hidden access panel at the back of the engine room, not noticing Karone watching him with concerned eyes.
"Zhane, what's wrong?"
"Not sure. The system shows most of the power has been diverted to the cryo chamber. But that's impossible, no one's in it." Karone frowned, recognising the tone.
"Zhane, perhaps it's not a good idea…" Zhane shook his head as he entered his access code. Not surprisingly, the door sprang open and he pulled it open all the way. Curious now, Billy and Cam finished their work and followed Karone as she walked over to him. She put her hand on his shoulder and looked at him.
"You don't have to go in there you know." Zhane's eyes were troubled but he nodded.
"I know, but I have to. I have to know." She nodded and he walked into the room, moving slowly over to the chamber that was in the centre of the room. Cam shot a curious look at Karone, a question in his eyes but Karone shook her head and he nodded. They followed him slowly into the small room and Zhane had finally reached the chamber. Reaching out with a hesitant hand, he wiped away the frost on the top of the chamber. Taking a deep breath he looked down and then gasped, staggering back. Karone was at his side in an instant.
"Zhane! What's wrong, what is it?" He just pointed a look of horror and despair on his face. Karone looked down and gasped herself. Just then there was the sound of running feet and Andros burst into the small room, the others close behind him.
"Zhane…" Andros's voice trailed off when he saw where Zhane was standing. Zhane whirled around - his whole demeanour horrified but also angry. As angry as they had ever seen anyone.
"How. Could. You."
"Zhane I…" Zhane shook his head fiercely, his blue eyes hardening like steel.
"I told you what that thing did to me. How it made me feel. And you did this to me. YOU DID THIS TO ME AGAIN ANDROS! HOW COULD YOU!" Zhane was screaming now, tears streaming down his face. And with that, he took off running blindly out of the room. Andros went to follow him but Merrick stopped him, shaking his head.
"He's really hurting right now. I'll go. I know how he feels." Andros nodded finally and Merrick left at a quick run. Andros turned then and stared at the cyro chamber, guilt all of his face.
Zhane's still form was lying there, the soft beep of the machines the only sound in the small room.
Tbc.. In our next chapter, explanations are given, forgiveness sort and a battle is fought.