Once a Ranger
Chapter 9: History Lessons
By Daylight
Through the window, Trey could still make out two of Triforia's three moons set against the yellow tinted sky. The largest was a mere thin crescent of purple while the other hung next to it, a full red-gold orb. Both shone only dimly, drowned out by the glare of three large orange suns, but they were still beautiful. Trey tore his eyes from the sight. There would be other times to let his thoughts drift out beyond those moons.
The Lord of Triforia shifted his gaze back to the datapad he'd been reading. Finishing the last few lines, he put his mark of approval on the proposal and put the pad down. He was reaching for another when the doors made a loud, creaking groan marking the entrance of his steward and advisor, Arkant. The man's long, grey-streaked, black hair was swept back from the tanned, umber skin of his face. His dark robe made a familiar whoosh, his staff a rhythmic click as he crossed the marbled floor of the large room. The throne room, like the rest of the palace, was designed in a time of great opulence on Triforia when people cared much for grandeur and the procurement of wealth. It was certainly a majestic room, large and open. Brown and gold, the ornaments were decorated in traditional geometric patterns, everything defined by the sacred number of the Triforians. There were three windows, three columns, three steps up to the dais, and three thrones. But only one throne was occupied.
"My lord," pronounced the steward as he reached the dais. "Your guests have arrived."
"Thank you, Arkant. Please show them in."
His advisor gestured to the pages standing in wait by the massive doors. They quickly responded by pulling back on the heavy, metal handles allowing entrance for the colourful group of youths. The visitors entered hesitantly feeling awkward in the grand setting.
The gold ranger stood, his arms open wide in greeting. "Welcome rangers."
"Trey." Tommy crossed the room ahead of the others. Meeting Trey in the middle of the room, he grasped his hands in both of his, a wide smile on his face. "It's great to see you again."
"It's great to see you too, my friends."
Gazing over the former zeo rangers, Trey was pleased to see them all in good health. Then he turned to the Kerovian rangers. He inclined his head in their direction.
"Andros. Zhane."
They responded with nods of their own, Zhane adding a 'Your Highness', his tone bitingly sarcastic, but stepped back as Andros shot him a sharp gaze. Trey chose to ignore the obvious antagonization.
"I hope all goes well for you and your planet," stated Andros diplomatically.
"We remain at peace," replied Trey in kind. He turned to address all the rangers. "I received your message and will gladly return to you the Zeo Crystal. However, it is being kept safe in a temple several hours walk from here and a deflector field has been set up around it, so we will have to travel by foot."
"No problem," Tommy answered.
"Yeah," joked Adam. "We can always use the exercise."
"Then we will leave at once." Trey gestured to his steward. "Arkant. Take care of things while I'm gone."
"Of course, my lord," he replied with a bow of respect. "And please be careful."
Trey couldn't help a small smile pass by his lips. "I'll try. You know I always try."
"If only you'd try a little harder," muttered Arkant to himself as the rangers headed out the door.
ooooo
The rangers soon found themselves trudging across the dunes of red-brown sand that spread from the capital in every direction. The town stood on the edge of one of the few rivers. A stretch of blue lined with green that wound through the desert. The layers of brown, peaked buildings melded in with the landscape, the spires of the palace towering over them. It all faded in the distance as they walked, the moons ahead of them the suns at their backs.
Leaning towards his friend, Adam questioned, "Is it just me or does this journey seem eerily familiar?"
"It's not just you," replied Rocky. He jogged a few steps ahead to where Trey and Tommy led the group. "Hey, Trey this desert of yours doesn't happen to contain any invisible quicksand or mysterious exploding rocks, does it?"
Trey raised an eyebrow and shook his head.
"This isn't the Dessert of Despair, Rocky," disparaged Tommy.
"Just checking. You never know what's out there," Rocky asserted, falling back into step with Adam.
"There isn't anything of that kind here," assured Trey calling back to them. "You have nothing to worry about."
"Except for the gophers," Zhane whispered moving up next to Rocky.
"What?"
"They like to wait in their holes and take off the feet of weary travellers."
"We're talking gophers, right? Small fury animals, like to dig?"
"The gophers here have bodies this long." Zhane held his arms out as far as he could. "And mouths this wide." He moved his hands until they were about a meter apart.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Whatever you say, but I'd keep an eye out for any gopher hills if I were you."
Rocky's eyes immediately started scanning across the landscape nervously.
"Zhane," admonished Andros.
The silver ranger couldn't help the mischievous smile that crossed his face. "What?" he asked failing in his attempt to act innocent.
Finally catching on, the former blue ranger rolled his eyes while Adam and Tanya laughed. "Very funny."
Grinning, Zhane shifted back to his position at the back of the group. Rocky followed him and the two proceeded to get into a pointless argument over whether something of that size could be called a gopher. Adam frowned noting the way the Kerovian ranger seemed to be avoiding the people at the front or more specifically Trey. Leaving Tanya's side, the former black ranger shifted his pace to meet that of Andros.
Mindful of those ahead and behind him, he whispered, "What's with Zhane and Trey?"
Shaking his head, Andros whispered back. "It's nothing, really. Those two have just never gotten along." He glanced back at Zhane. "Trust me, it's much better that they avoid each other. You don't want to get caught between them during one of their arguments."
Adam wasn't sure he understood, but nodded and moved back to Tanya's side. The former yellow ranger smiled at him and slipped her hand into his. Smiling back, he squeezed her hand holding on as they continued to walk. Rocky and Zhane having finished their argument moved up beside them. Zhane raised an eyebrow at the couple. Rocky merely grinned.
Up ahead, Tommy was making small talk with Trey. "Your planet is amazing."
"Thank you. We were very lucky not to be touched too greatly by the recent war."
"The war?"
"The recent invasion of the Alliance of Evil," explained Trey. "People have begun to call it the Second Great Galactic War."
"The Second Great Galactic War?" Rocky who had been listening in frowned. "What was the first?"
Zhane gave him a blank look. "Sometimes I forget you guys don't know things most little kids 'round here would know."
Crossing his arms, Rocky let out a snort. "Well, sorry. We don't get out to space much."
"Maybe it's time we gave these guys a little history lesson," Andros remarked. "It might come in useful."
"Good idea," responded Zhane slapping his best friend on the shoulder. "You do it. You're good at lecturing."
Andros rolled his eyes, but began anyway. "Several million years ago, the war between good and evil began…"
"Not that far back!" Zhane protested. "We don't want you going on all day."
"I thought they might find the story of the first civilizations interesting."
"You would. Start with Zordon."
"Zordon?" Tommy's ears had definitely perked up and the others were now looking at Andros intently.
"Alright," the red ranger relented. "Over 10,000 years ago, Zordon was one of the most prominent wizards in the universe. He had been locked in a battle with Rita Repulsa back when she was just a general in Lord Zedd's army. They spent 2000 years searching for magical artefacts with which to defeat each other."
"During which Zordon found the power coins and used them to create the first rangers," put in Adam. "We learned that when we met Ninjor."
"Zordon found the power coins, yes," agreed Andros, "And he also found the technology with which to create the first morphers. He wasn't actually the original inventor of the power ranger technology."
"But he did invent the first Zords though that's kind of obvious from the name," Zhane pointed out.
"No one knows for sure where he found this technology, but he must have been the first to access the morphin gird in millions of years."
"He was also the first to coin the term power rangers."
Andros glared at Zhane who careful stepped out of hitting range.
"Now, as you may or not know, the universe is divided into four parts. There is the Sector of Light, which is controlled by all that is good; the Sector of Darkness, which, as long as anyone can remember, has been controlled by all that is evil; the Wastelands, which consists of mainly deserted and abandoned planets; and beyond is the Outer Regions, which is mainly unexplored. The area of space between the Sector of Darkness and the Sector of Light is called the Disputed Regions as it often changes hands."
"Yeah, and guess where both your galaxy and ours happen to be located." Zhane gave the gold ranger a sidelong glance. "Trey here is lucky having his planet so much closer to the interior of the Light Sector."
Frowning, Trey shook his head. "We are just as vulnerable to attacks from pirates and other roving villains."
"And yet, you don't seem to be fending off invasions every other year like we do."
"Anyway," Andros strategically interrupted. "At that time, there were a number of evil empires occupying the Sector of Darkness, but they had never been too much of a threat as they were unorganized and spent most of the time squabbling among themselves. The side of good had been able to hold them off for several millennia. Then Dark Spectre appeared. He was more powerful than any that had come before and he used this power to unite the empires forming the first Alliance of Evil. They immediately began a full-scale attack on all galaxies still controlled by good. This was the Great Galactic War."
"It was during this war that Master Vile conquered the galaxy M-51," elaborated Trey. "Many refuges from there settled on Triforia bringing with them the Golden Power Staff and Super Zeo Gems, while others hid the Zeo Crystal in the Caves of Deception on your moon."
"Your descendents came from the galaxy M-51?" commented Tommy. "I suppose that means the Zeo Crystal really does belong to you."
Trey put a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "The crystal belongs to whoever needs it."
"Right."
"At the time, Eltar was the only planet with rangers leaving the rest of the galaxies in great danger," Andros continued. "But Zordon got together with warriors from three of the most prominent planets and taught them how to create morphers and Zords. These planets, Triforia, Aquitar and Sentura, along with Eltar, became the Four Founding Planets creating the Union of Light. Each with their own ranger team, they spearheaded the destruction of the evil armies forcing them back into the Sector of Darkness. Unfortunately, it was during that battle that Rita tricked Zordon, trapping him in a interdimensional time warp."
"And that is the story of how Zordon became a big, floating head."
Shaking his head at Zhane's bad attempt at a joke, Andros continued. "Many other planets have since joined the Union which is still governed by a High Council made up of representatives from the Four Founding Planets. It has become the main governing force in the Sector of Light."
"Unfortunately." Zhane cursed.
Trey was quick to counter. "The council maintains order and protects all people within the Union."
"Protect? That may have been their original purpose but now they're nothing but a bunch of ignorant, power-grabbing bureaucrats who know nothing of the real battles going on. Where were they during the war?"
"Admittedly, they were unprepared for recent events, but they have done a lot of good and with the new mutual defence treaty they're creating, they'll be able to do much more."
"As if the treaty will ever go through. They'll still be arguing about it by the time the next war comes along."
"Well maybe if you and Andros would throw your support in…"
"I think you're forgetting that neither of us are looked on particularly favourably by the council. Especially after that incident with Andros and..."
"If you're going to let a few misguided individuals…"
"Why we would want to support such idiots anyway…"
"Hey! Hey!" Tanya interrupted. "Calm down, you guys. We need to concentrate on our mission. Let's stay away from the political talk for now. Alright?"
The two continued to glare at each other, but they closed their mouths tightly, their lips thin and moved back into their separate places in the line.
"Thanks," was Andros' grateful response to Tanya.
"Anytime," she replied with a warm smile.
The remainder of the journey continued on in silence.
ooooo
The temple appeared at first as a mere shimmer of a mirage on the horizon. As they drew closer, they could clearly make out the typical pyramid structure of the building. Steps led up to massive doors accentuated on both sides by three intricately carved columns. Engraved into the seam between the doors was a familiar shape. As he reached the first step, Trey raised his hand, shimmering streams coalescing to form his Golden Power Staff. He was about to ascend when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Looking behind, Trey was surprised to find Zhane with a look of concern on his features.
"Wait. There's something…." For once, the silver ranger seemed to be at a loss for words.
Trey glanced at the others finding them equally confused, except for Andros. The red Kerovian ranger had his hands clenched, his weight on the balls of his feet, while his eyes darted around as if searching for something. Shifting his gaze back to Zhane, Trey found him staring intently at the entrance to the temple. The gold ranger might disagree with the silver ranger on many things, but he trusted his instincts. Raising his staff, Trey let its light illuminate the doorway. Beneath the glow, the shadows of the columns, originally outlined by the descending suns, lengthened and flickered. It seemed nothing more than a trick of the light, but then slowly, they began to shift and stretch, the outlines transforming from simple lines into humanoid figures. And as they watched what once were two-dimensional shapes expanded outward becoming solid and flowed towards them as walking absences of light.
"It them," said Andros. "They're here."
Next:
Chapter 10: Back to Action
The rangers face their first battle against their new enemy.