Andros eyed the six robots lined up side by side. He had to admit they looked impressive. He caught Karone's eye but looked away. Feeling the tension in the air, Karone cleared her throat.
"Well...the easy part of this plan is done. The hard part unfortunately still looms ahead," she began.
"And what is it exactly that is looming?" Andros interrupted.
"In order to drain Dark Specter's powers with these robots we need to infuse a core with Dark Specter's energy. We need to get close enough to steal some energy," Karone explained.
"That's suicide," Cassie exclaimed.
"That's why I think I should go and get it...alone. I'll program the container to return to the ship once it's been filled...in case...I don't make it," the newest Ranger murmured.
"No.…absolutely not. It's too dangerous and I don't want to risk you being found out," Andros remarked.
"Honestly, Andros. I'd rather it be me than one of you. We can't get close enough with the Megaship. He'd notice before we could do anything," she sighed.
"So how were you planning on doing it then?" TJ interjected.
"Using a Galaxy Glider."
"Karone…that is too dangerous," Andros said once again, trying to snap Karone out of following along with her plan she had concocted. "There is no way I am going to let you go alone,"
"Andros, this is a one person job," Karone said darkly. "I am not going to ask one of our friends to risk their lives to do this," she said in a softer tone, trying not to explode at Andros being so overprotective.
"Well then I will do it," Andros said stubbornly.
"No!" Karone snapped, finally starting to loose patience at her older brother. "If you got captured, then Dark Spector will have your knowledge about everything, the zords, us…I am going, and that is final,"
"Stay in constant contact," Andros sighed. Karone couldn't help but smile and give her brother a hug.
"I will. I promise. All we need to do is track the Dark Fortress. Darconda will be getting in touch with Dark Specter no doubt," she said, dragging everyone out of the engine room and back to the bridge.
"D.E.C.A. lock onto the coordinates of the Dark Fortress. Set up scanners for Dark Specter," Karone ordered the computer system.
"Affirmative," D.E.C.A's cool voice responded. As Karone waited for the Megaship to get close to the Dark Fortress, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see it was Andros.
"Um…can we talk?" he asked.
"Yeah…" Karone said, and the got off the bridge and went out the doors. "So…what did you want to talk about?" she asked him, hoping it wouldn't turn out to be another argument.
"I wanted to apologize…" Andros said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "I never meant to disregard your plan…or anything like that, but I didn't want to risk losing you again, when I finally found you after all these years."
"I know…" Karone sighed, "It will be ok Andros…I am not going to get myself caught," she said pulling Andros into a hug. "Better get back to the bridge before everyone thinks we are bickering a storm before I leave," she said pulling away, giving her older brother a smile.
Andros nodded and they returned to the bridge just in time to see both Dark Specter and the Dark Fortress appear on the viewing screen.
"Man, he's even uglier up close," Zhane remarked.
"Yeah...believe me, he's not picnic. He could really use a breath mint," Karone said with a giggle.
"Well... you should get going. Don't want to lose him," Andros murmured, handing his sister a communicator.
"I guess so. Wish me luck," she said, addressing the rest of the team. She strapped on the communicator and headed for the transportation room. She grabbed the container she would need and jumped down her shoot. She appeared in space in her suit.
"Time to see if the invisibility feature I had Alpha install in my suit works," she said to herself, pressing the number 4 on her communicator. She instantly became invisible. Good, she thought to herself…she just had to make sure not to run into any Quantrons, Darconda, or Ecliptor while being invisible. She landed nimbly on her Galaxy Glider, and silently headed towards Dark Specter. Karone inhaled silently through her nose as she began to get closer and closer to Dark Spector's form, starting to get a little nervous. Karone knew she could do this, but was starting to think about what she would be leaving behind if she got caught or worse. You are going to be fine Karone, she thought to herself. Just a few more feet, and Karone would be able to start to collect some energy from Dark Spector. She finally got close enough, and opened the canister to start the energy absorption process.
The rest of the team was still on the Megaship watching. They saw Karone appear before them and suddenly disappear. Andros panicked.
"Karone! Come in," he said frantically.
"Shut up I'm trying to concentrate," Karone hissed back.
"You disappeared," he said.
"Well duh...that's what invisible means," she retorted. Ashley couldn't help but laugh at Karone's remark. The communication fell silent for a few minutes while Karone got in position. She opened the canister and the Rangers could see it sucking in Dark Specter's energy.
"Just a little more," Karone breathed, capping the container just as Dark Specter started to notice. Dark Specter turned towards Karone's direction, and breathed heavily as he felt someone still draining his power, but then abruptly stopped. Even through the mask, his foul breath hit Karone, and it stank. Finally Dark Specter turned away, giving Karone a chance to have her Galaxy Glider turn around slowly, and quietly away from him. Just as she was leaving, Ecliptor appeared before Dark Specter.
Karone was about to stop and listen in…but she knew that she couldn't listen in without getting captured, so she turned away and headed back to the Megaship.
She hopped off her glider in the transportation room and demorphed. She held the container at a distance and headed for the bridge.
"Miss me?" she asked. Andros spun around and grinned.
"Maybe," he said.
"Oh please. You were worrying like a little girl," Zhane teased.
"Well I got what we need. The only thing is...Alpha's going to need to install this. We can't touch it...it would not be pretty," she explained.
"None of us would look very nice as lava people," she added as an afterthought.
"Lava people? What happens exactly if we touch it?" TJ asked in concern.
"Well...you become lava people..." Karone said, giving him a look that said 'don't be so dense'.
"Now Alpha, be careful with this. Remember you need to set the drain ratio to 16 2/3 percent for each robot," she continued, addressing Alpha.
"Right away Karone," he said cheerfully. He took the canister and disappeared.
"So you can relax now that I'm back and I'm safe," she said, noticing Andros still looked on edge.
Andros gave his little sister a smile; glad she was back, safe and sound. "I am relaxed," he said, although it really didn't sound like he was.
Ashley gave Andros' hand a squeeze. He looked at her and couldn't help but feel relieved now. The two women he cared about most were safe for now and that was all that mattered.
"I swear I am relaxed, Karone. Let's go see how Alpha is doing," he said and began to walk off the bridge.
The rest of the team followed Andros down to the engine room. Alpha was closing up the last of the robots. He turned to look at the Rangers.
"They are all ready," the small robot announced.
"Great, thanks Alpha," Karone said, giving him a smile before turning to her friends.
"Should we give them a try?" she asked.
"Sure but what do they do?" TJ questioned.
"Well they help people. At least that's what they are programmed to do," Karone explained.
"Um...I think people would freak out a little if the saw a robot coming up to them," Carlos voiced.
"They won't hurt anyone. Come on, we can test them out and fix them if there are any problems," Karone sighed.
"Do they clean?" Zhane asked as they headed for Earth.
The Rangers appeared on Earth with the new robots. Karone switched each of them on and they each walked off in different directions. Andros watched as the red robot assisted an elderly woman across the street. The Blue and Silver robots made their way over to a nearby soccer field. A ball came flying and the Blue robot caught it.
"Here you go children," it said, handing the ball back.
"Thanks mister," one of the kids playing said.
"Would you like a referee?" the Silver robot asked politely. The child nodded.
"Looks like people aren't scared of them," Cassie whispered in Carlos' ear.
Andros turned to his sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" she asked.
"So are they really sucking energy from Dark Specter right now?"
"Well they should be. We can check when we go back to the ship," she answered. Just then Zhane joined in on their conversation.
"So what happens if say Quantrons attack? Would they fight?" he inquired.
"Yeah, hopefully," the blond said with a nod.
The Rangers watched as the robots continued to help and interact with the surrounding civilian population. Karone couldn't help but grin wildly. Her plan was working. They were helping people and getting rid of Dark Specter. She finally looked at the rest of the team.
"Come on. Let's round them up and get back to the ship. I want to see how much energy we've drained," she called.
"She's obsessed," Zhane whispered to Andros. They both laughed. Shortly they were all back on the ship. Karone had hooked the robots up to the computer system and was pressing a lot of buttons.
"You're sure you know what you're doing, right?" Andros asked, leaning over her shoulder.
"Yes, I know what I'm doing. Stop looking over my shoulder," she said, swatting him away.
The computer started beeping loudly and immediately Andros thought his sister had messed something up. But he realized it was just calculations.
"Well it's a start. They drained about 10 percent of his energy," Karone announced.
"That's great. Only 90 percent to go," Carlos said.