Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter 44 – Go Galactic

Tommy and Kim were just as mad at Eric as Kira and Connor had predicted. In fact this was probably the angriest they'd ever been at him. Eric had been raised not only knowing he had Power Rangers as his family members, but that the four who were closest to him were four of the most powerful Rangers, and people, in existence. As such he'd somehow gotten it into his head that he was invincible. He had a sister who was, and somehow that translated to him as well, so he saw nothing wrong with what he'd done. Apart from grounding him for doing something so stupid, Tommy and Kim had had a very long talk with their son, trying to make him understand that he wasn't invincible, and that they might not always be able to save him if he went running into unknown situations. They thought, hoped, that they'd gotten that through his head, but only time would tell.

After their sojourn with the Lightspeed Rangers, Kira and Connor's return to Reefside was heralded with normalcy in that Mesogog would send a monster, and they'd respond in kind, destroying the monster once, then again when Mesogog grew it big. They also joined the Jungle Fury Rangers relatively often. They always knew when Dai Shi launched his own attack, and if Mesogog was quiet at that moment, the two teleported to Ocean Bluff. This rarely backfired on them for by the time Mesogog discovered they weren't in Reefside and got it together to launch an attack they had usually returned by then.

The end of February came and with it the Rangers' next big villain attack. They hadn't entirely been sure who would be next, whether it would be Trakeena or Astronema, for Trakeena hadn't attacked Earth, so they weren't sure if they'd see her or not. They should have known, however, that any villain Thrax revived would be attacking Earth, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise when Trakeena did indeed show up. What should have come as even less of a surprise, though in truth surprised them the most, was that Trakeena, having no set city to attack like Gruumm, chose to attack not a place, but Kira and Connor. Although Trakeena herself had no grudge against these particular Rangers, Thrax did and they should have realized that with no previous set target, he'd point her in their direction.

"What are these things?" Kira asked as she and Connor were surrounded by some kind of foot soldier while out at the park.

"Some villain's foot soldiers?" He guessed earning an eye roll.

"Wow good guess." She deadpanned.

"Well how am I supposed to know?" He countered, launching a kick at one of them who went to attack. "You're the one who's supposed to know every Ranger and every villain there is."

"Yeah yeah." Kira muttered, though in truth she was a bit peeved that she didn't know these guys.

"They're called Stingwingers." Said a voice from off to the side. Kira and Connor turned to face the new comer, or rather six newcomers.

"Lost Galaxy Rangers!" Said Kira, recognizing the suits immediately. "How did I not recognize their foot soldiers?" She asked, more to herself, though Connor certainly heard her. "Must be having an off day…"

"We could sure use some help!" Called Connor.

"That's what we're here for!" Maya returned. The five Rangers, and the Magna Defender, each launched on the attack, taking the Stingwingers on and felling them one by one. Although Kira and Connor were glad for their help, they were by no means going to sit around and do nothing and so they joined in the battle. Between eight Rangers, six of whom were morphed, the foot soldiers didn't last long.

"Power down!" The Rangers called once the last of the Stingwingers were finished.

"Thanks!" Kira said as they rushed over to their allies.

"No problem." Kendrix answered, giving the younger woman a hug. Although the Lost Galaxy Rangers were some of the least known Rangers when compared to the others, for they lived on Mirinoi and not Earth, their closeness to Kira's Aunt Karone, and ability to teleport from planet to planet within minutes, meant that she'd seen them at least once a year for nearly as long as she could remember, Connor joining in that more extended Power Ranger reunion as of the one held in summer of 2005.

"How are you?" Maya asked coming in for a hug next, while the guys slapped Connor on the back before saying hello to Kira as well.

"We're good."

"Except for apparently some Stingwingers appearing on Earth." Connor added.

"Yeah, now that my brain's actually working it's not that surprising really." Said Kira. "Given Thrax revived her."

"Yeah, not too surprising." Damon agreed.

"Come on, let's head back to the house. Mom and dad will want to see you." Hearing no complaint from the Lost Galaxy Rangers, Kira and Connor told them to hold on, a hand on a shoulder or back would do, and then teleported to the Oliver house. Kim and Tommy were less surprised to see the Rangers then Kira and Connor had been and welcomed them all with open arms.

"So how are things on Mirinoi?" Kim asked as they all sat around the kitchen table, Tommy bringing over some snacks.

"They're good. The people of Terra Venture certainly seemed to have settled down into life on Mirinoi." Said Maya.

"I should hope so after fifteen years." Muttered Mike.

"Hey, it's a very different way of living." Maya defended.

"Yeah, the people of Mirinoi live how we believe the first humans lived during prehistoric times." Kendrix added.

"But they're not living that way." Said Damon. "We rebuilt Terra Venture! Half the people of Mirinoi aren't living like the people of Mirinoi anymore!"

"Ok fine, most of us are no longer living in huts with no indoor plumbing and sleeping on dirt floors, but it's still a big change, and not just for us, but for the people of Terra Venture too."

"None of us are denying that Maya." Kai said soothingly.

"And what's new with you guys?" Tommy asked. "The family alright?"

"They're doing great." Leo said. "The kids are at home with Hannah and Shondra."

"And if it were anything less then the fate of the universe they'd never forgive us for leaving them alone with all the kids at once." Mike added. Leo and Kendrix, who had been dating when Leo teamed up with the others for the 'Red Mission', had gotten married soon after. A couple years later Kendrix gave birth to twin boys, who proved to be more and more like their father everyday, much to their mother's dread; as far as she was concerned, one Leo was enough. Maya and Damon had gotten together as well, having fallen in love sometime during the multitude of hours they'd spent together during the early months of re-building Terra Venture, Damon being the head mechanic on the project, while Maya was the native consultant, if titles were necessary, what with her knowing all about Mirinoi. They had a six-year-old daughter as well as a nearly two-year-old son. Kai had gotten together with a girl named Hannah, whom he'd had a major crush on during their time as active Rangers. They had a five-year-old son, and were both perfectly content with him being an only child. Mike too had gotten together with someone from their time as Rangers, though the real person one of Trakeena's monsters had impersonated. Shondra, Maya's childhood friend, had been released from the stone prison all of Mirinoi had been trapped in when the Rangers had returned the Quasar Sabres to the stone. She and Maya had immediately re-started their friendship, though this time completely including Kendrix who had felt quite left out when Shondra's impersonator had come to Terra Venture. The real Shondra was kind and welcoming, everything Maya had said her to be, and it didn't take long for Mike to fall in love with her. What had taken longer was for Shondra to reciprocate those feelings, not knowing Mike and then being introduced to Terra Venture and finding, like her and Maya's entire tribe, that their lives were going to be incredibly different from then on.

As Power Rangers, the team needed a command centre of sorts with the capabilities to monitor the planet, and in their case the surrounding planets, as well as to communicate with the Command Centre on Earth, and the other Rangers on Aquitar and Triforia should help be needed. Mirinoi was the only place they could build such a command centre, what with it being the home of the Quasar Sabres, and the source of their power. Technology was brought to the tribe, and while most embraced it, others were less keen, only accepting it and not causing trouble because it was for their saviours, the chosen five who possessed the power of the Quasar Sabres. Eventually though, the newness of it all had worn off and Shondra had then turned her attention to Mike and neither had looked back since. The two of them had the largest family with four children, Shondra always having wanted a family and Mike not finding any reason in him to disagree with her. They had three sons and a daughter, in that order, all ranging from seven years old down to six months. No matter what changes their lives had brought, leaving Earth, becoming Rangers, discovering the Lost Galaxy, settling down on an entirely new planet and starting families, none of them would change a thing.

"Good. We're really glad to hear that." Kim said. "I know I've said it a thousand times, but we worry with you guys being all alone on Mirinoi."

"If we were actually alone, and didn't have all of Terra Venture and the tribe with us, I might agree with you." Said Damon with an indulgent smile. If it was anyone but Kim who constantly worried over them they might have gotten annoyed given she said that every time she saw them. But Kim worried about everyone she cared about, it was a fact of life, and if Kim wasn't worrying about at least someone's happiness and safety, then they'd start to get worried themselves.

"So what happens now?" Connor asked. "I mean we know Trakeena's lurking around, and there's not much we can do till she shows up and launches a real attack and not just foot soldiers, but what's your plan?"

"We contacted Cassie and the others." Kendrix explained. "They're letting us commandeer the Astro Megaship." Kendrix and her Space Ranger counterpart had grown quite close over the years after Cassie had stuck to Kendrix's side like glue for nearly two weeks upon learning the power of the Quasar Sabres had brought her back to life.

"Though with permission this time." Said Leo. "And it's a real ship, not a museum."

"I still maintain you wouldn't have gotten that thing up and running if it wasn't for yours truly." Said Damon, earning a playful smack and eye roll from Maya.

"Alpha's there now getting things set up." She said. "Along with getting used to his new upgrades."

"He was so happy when we had Alpha 5 teleport him in from Mirinoi." Kai added. Alpha 6 had remained with the Lost Galaxy Rangers throughout all these years, Alpha 5 having teleported the necessary equipment to Mirinoi to maintain him, but he'd gone fifteen years without any form of upgrades or re-wiring, making the robot feel quite worn out. Now with the help of his Alpha predecessor, as well as Billy, the Alpha who had served with the second team of Turbo Rangers, the Space Rangers and the Lost Galaxy Rangers was feeling like an entirely knew bot and loving every moment of it.

"This way we'll also be able to monitor Trakeena's movements." Said Mike. "No doubt she's back in the Scorpion Stinger hovering around Earth and if she tries to go anywhere else in the universe we'll be able to follow her." Tommy nodded, knowing exactly how important it was to have an arsenal that matched your enemy's; if they could travel in space, you needed to be able to do so too.

"Mom I'm hungry! When's dinner?" Eric's voice yelled out through the house as the front door suddenly slammed open, Eric having been picked up at school by Ethan and Trent today, both of whom were also entering the house as well, though at a more leisurely pace and without all the yelling. Eric ran into the kitchen and stopped seeing his family wasn't alone.

"Eric you remember the Lost Galaxy Rangers?" Tommy asked his son. Eric nodded his head slowly, he did remember them, though not very clearly, it had been a year since he'd seen them, and a year was a very long time for an eight year old.

"Oh, hey!" Trent and Ethan greeted upon entering the kitchen and seeing their fellow Rangers. They too had met the Lost Galaxy Rangers a few times and so knew them on sight, even though they didn't actually know them personally.

"You forgot this in the car dude." Trent added, handing Eric his backpack.

"Thanks." Eric said, then turned back to his mother and his original line of questioning. "When's dinner?" Kim smiled and shook her head.

"Now I guess." She answered, getting up and heading over to the oven to being pre-heating it. "You'll stay for dinner of course." She addressed the Lost Galaxy Rangers, though it wasn't really a question. Knowing they didn't really have a choice, none of them put up any argument. Dinner passed pleasantly enough, everyone enjoying the time to catch up, and five of the six Lost Galaxy Rangers to find out what had been going on with their native planet, apart from Thrax of course. After dinner was when the Rangers were called back into action. Alpha 6 contacted his friends from the Astro Megaship telling them he'd detected Trakeena's energy in the park once more. Kira and Connor accompanied the Galaxy Rangers there but what they saw was not what they'd been expecting.

"What the hell is that?!" Connor gasped, staring at this weird sphere that was glowing an ominous green and oozing green slime every time it moved.

"You have got to be kidding me." Leo muttered.

"What?" Kira asked.

"That's Trakeena." He answered.

"What?" Came the expected reply. "That's Trakeena? Your arch enemy is a glowing, oozing sphere?"

"No," Maya assured them. "And it's not a sphere, it's a cocoon. Trakeena's inside it."

"She wants to turn green again, to absorb all the insect DNA of her heritage. It's her most powerful form." Kendrix explained.

"And a very unoriginal plot." Mike muttered.

"Well then we've got to stop her. Destroy the cocoon." Connor said.

"Easier said then done." Damon said pointing just off to the side of the cocoon where Diviot and Villamax had appeared with a large contingency of Stingwingers.

"You guys think you can handle any Stingwingers that get passed us?" Mike asked. "Stop them from getting into the city?"

"No problem." Connor said and he and Kira fell back, each finding a vantage point to watch the battle from and ensure it was contained to this area of the park.

"If you think we're going to let Trakeena turn green again, you're sadly mistaken." Leo informed their enemies.

"Try and stop her." Villamax sneered.

"Oh we will, have no doubt about that." Kai sneered back.

"You guys ready?" Leo then cried.

"Ready!"

"Go Galactic!"

"Magna Power!"

"Galaxy Red!"

"Galaxy Blue!"

"Galaxy Yellow!"

"Galaxy Green!"

"Galaxy Pink!"

"Magna Defender!"

"Power Rangers Lost Galaxy!"

The five core Rangers each pulled out their Quasar Sabres while Mike called on his Magna Sword. They charged the Stingwingers, not giving an inch as they fought their way to Trakeena, determined to stop her from turning green if nothing else. Of course Villamax and Diviot weren't going to make it easy for them and joined the battle themselves.

"Transdaggers!" The Rangers called on their secondary weapons while Mike changed his sword to Blaster Mode.

"Magna Talon!"

"Cosma Claw!"

"Trans Blaster!"

"Delta Daggers!"

"Beta Bow!" The addition of the variety of weapons the Rangers now had saw to the end of the Stingwingers, the six Rangers then turning their sights on Villamax and Diviot.

"Transdagger Star Formation!" Leo called out and Rangers joined their Transdaggers together for a powered up attack, exactly like any of the giant blasters other Ranger teams created when they combined their weapons. "Fire!" Mike joined in the attack, powering up his Magna Blaster for a more powerful attack. The combined blast was enough to seen the two minions thrown backwards, giving the Rangers enough time to turn their attention to Trakeena and her cocoon. Mike stood back, ready to hold off any attack while the five core Rangers once again pulled out their Quasar Sabres and prepared to deal with Trakeena.

"Lights of Orion Activate!" Summoning their most powerful ally, the sentient Lights of Orion, the Rangers raced towards Trakeena.

"Power Up Mode!" Using their most powerful attack, the Rangers merged with the Lights itself, flying towards Trakeena as a wave of energy. Normally, this attack would see the Rangers pass through their enemy before re-materializing, the power of the Lights passing through the villain being more then enough to destroy it. This did not hold true this time around. Whatever the cocoon was made of, it repelled the Lights and the Rangers were thrown backwards, landing hard on the ground.

"What happened?" Maya asked as they all took stock of themselves trying to determine any injuries or abnormalities and were thankful to see that they were all in one piece, and even if the Lights had not had the impact they usually did, they hadn't left them. Turning towards the cocoon, the Rangers noticed that the Lights of Orion had had some impact, but not one they'd expected. The cocoon had burst open, but instead of destroying it and at least harming Trakeena, it appeared it had done nothing but crack open the cocoon for there stood a fully powered up Trakeena.

"Aw man…" mumbled Kai.

"Not good." Damon agreed. Trakeena growled at them and bent forwards, readying to charge causing the Rangers to fall into fighting stances, holding their Quasar Sabres aloft. The battle began and in her green form things were going about as good as they had the last time, meaning not well at all, even after all these years. At least they weren't until Trakeena suddenly dropped as if she'd been hit hard, though none of the Rangers' attacks had made contact.

"What's going on?" Kendrix asked. "We didn't even hit her!"

"No clue." Mike answered for them all. Just as suddenly as she'd fallen Trakeena got up again pulling out a bottle containing a recognizable green liquid that they knew made the monsters grow.

"Not good." Damon said again as they watched Trakeena grow to epic proportions. The last time she'd been this big had been when she'd come to Earth for the first time and they'd teamed up with the Lightspeed Rangers, Trakeena having mutated due to the poison Olympius fed her.

"Which is worse?" Leo asked. "A giant Trakeena who's green, or one who's a mutated mindless monster?"

"Trick question." Maya answered as they dodged a giant food that stomped their way. "They're both equally bad."

"We need the Galactabeasts!" Cried Kendrix.

"Did we ever figure out how they got to Earth the last time we needed them?" Kai asked. The others shook their heads. "Didn't think so." They might not know, but the Lights of Orion certainly did, for it had been them that brought the Galactabeasts to Earth. The Lights began to glow, surrounding the Rangers before expanding outwards, the outline of the Galactabeasts forming inside the Lights as they faded, leaving behind the fully formed Galactabeasts.

"Alright!" The Rangers cried. "The Lights of Orion!"

"We're back in business!" Leo added. "Let's do it guys, Galactazords transform!"

"Galaxy Megazord!" The Zords combined to form the Megazord, before the Rangers took it one step further. "Lights of Orion activate!" Once again summoning the Lights, the Rangers merged them with the Zords to create the Orion Galaxy Megazord.

"Torozord!" Mike called, seeing that it hadn't just been the Galacabeasts the Lights had brought from Mirinoi. The Torozord raced forward to help the Rangers, though Mike did not join with him for Diviot and Villamax were still on the loose. The Rangers and Trakeena exchanged hits back and forth for awhile until the Rangers noticed a pattern: every time Trakeena expended any energy she grew weak, how weak depended upon how much energy was expended.

"Her transformation must not have been complete." Kendrix concluded. "The Power Up Mode attack must have destroyed the cocoon before it had completed its purpose."

"Meaning the more energy she uses in her green form, the weaker she'll get." Kai said. "She's using the powers she gains when green like she did last time, but the powers aren't all there. She can't sustain it for long."

"Alright, then we just have to hold out for a little longer." Said Leo. "The Torozord up for it Mike?"

"You know it!" His brother called, having alternated his attention between his Zord, and the two minions. The battle continued for a short while longer until Trakeena stumbled and fell, not getting back up right away.

"Now's our chance. Galaxy Megazord Sabre!" The giant sabre appeared in the Megazord's hand and the Rangers used their final attack that usually saw to the destruction of whatever monster they were fighting. For Trakeena however, it didn't see to her end, but saw her shrink back to her normal size, and more importantly, she lost her green form

"My Princess!" Villamax cried, helping Trakeena up. The Rangers jumped from the Megazord, leaving it in tact for the moment as they joined with Mike and faced their arch-enemy.

"Had enough?" Leo asked as each Ranger pointed their swords at her.

"The day will come when I defeat you!" She snarled, looking at them with narrowed eyes.

"Not likely." Damon said.

"Very likely." She returned before a smug look dawned on her face. "But maybe I won't have to defeat you. Maybe I'll leave your destruction to someone else."

"What are you talking about Trakeena?" Kai yelled.

"Oh yes, this'll be good." She said, either not having heard, or ignoring, Kai's outburst. "The Lost Galaxy Rangers, destroyed by one of their own. And all I have to do is be patient and enjoy the show." Trakeena smiled sinisterly, having decided on her course of action. "Let's go." She said, disappearing with Diviot and Villamax following behind not two seconds later. The Rangers powered down and sent the Galactabeasts and the Torozord deep into the woods surrounding Reefside for the moment; they'd decide on a permanent location for them later. With Trakeena gone, Kira and Connor re-joined the Galaxy Rangers, wondering why they all looked quite despondent, as from their point of view things had gone pretty well.

"What is it?" Kira asked.

"We, uh, we have to contact Zhane…and Andros…and the other Space Rangers." Leo murmured.

"Ok…." Connor drew out. "Why?"

"Trakeena said she's going to let us be destroyed by one of our own." Maya explained. "There's only person that could be." With tears in her eyes, Kendrix looked up at the sky, as if trying to locate the ship they now knew to be imminently approaching Earth, as she thought of her fellow Pink Galaxy Ranger.

"Karone…"

A/N - Totally unoriginal plot her wanting to turn green again, but I'm ok with that. I'm less ok, but will live with, the random location of her cocoon in the park. I know it makes far more sense for it to be in the Scorpion Stinger but I then the Rangers wouldn't know she's trying to turn green until it's too late and I didn't want her to be at full power for this battle, so it was placed in plain sight.

I'm also leaving Scorpius out of this, I know he was the main villain for half the season, but for only a one chapter tribute and the big battle at the end it wasn't worth it to complicate things enough to bring him in. I'm going with the excuse that Thrax didn't bring him back to life because he deemed Trakeena the main villain and Scorpius was unnecessary.

Karone/Astronema is coming! The inner Ranger family is finally being brought into the battle proper.

Review please!