A/N: Co-Writen with Michelle the Editor, without her this wouldn't be possible. It has been a honor working with her once again. Thanks to everyone who reviewed
Disclaimer: I own Nathalie, OCs - Creators, Stellar and Monster Rangers - Michelle the Editor
Kennedi stood in the middle of the Satellite Base's oxygen plant—a natural-looking robotic forest. It smelled of damp earth and mold, insects whirred around her, and the blue-white light filtering through the foliage made it seem just like an Earth forest in the moonlight. Of course, the light was actually coming from clusters of tubes running from the ceiling into the tops of the trees, and she could still feel the station's engines thrumming beneath her feet.
On a whim, Olympian Orange held out a hand, and tried to summon the nearest tree's roots. They didn't budge. Some of the shrubbery nearby did bend towards her, and Kennedi focused on that. A few greenish buds turned blue, and opened up to reveal clusters of little blue flowers with rippled petals and bright yellow centers.
"Yeah, this is nice, and pretty cool," Kennedi said to Rachel, lowering her hand. The Pink Ranger sat on a boulder nearby, knees tucked up to her chest. Flicking a lock of curly blonde hair out of her face, Rachel got up and came over to look at the flowered bush.
"Marco said it was 51st century technology in his universe," she replied, crouching down to sniff the blossoms. Kennedi frowned in confusion.
"Who's Marco?" Rachel's face lit up in realization, and she straightened, turning back to Kennedi.
"Oh, right—I guess we forgot to explain that. Marco's our mentor, the Black Saturn Ranger, but he got captured about a week ago by the bad guys." Her green eyes grew sad, and Kennedi sat down beside her. Even sitting down, Rachel was obviously taller.
"I hope you guys get him back," Kennedi replied gently. Rachel smiled gratefully at Olympian Orange. She opened her mouth, and looked as though she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure. Kennedi met her gaze. "What?"
"You said you had memory powers?" Rachel asked slowly. Kennedi nodded, and Stellar Pink bit her lip. "Then…well, I've got some really old ones I want to get a better look at, if that's okay."
"Sure, if you want me to," Kennedi replied.
"I mean really old, like five or six thousand years," Rachel replied. Kennedi's hazel eyes widened, and Stellar Pink nodded. "Seriously. I was in suspended animation for all but the last twenty-ish years, as a baby, so I don't remember much, but that's how long they think it lasted."
"Okay, I'll give it a shot," Kennedi said, and took Rachel's face between her hands. Her skin was slightly browner than Rachel's.
Nathalie ran into the Zord Bay, scanned the room, and went for one wall that was covered in tools. The Stellar Rangers' Zords, both a set of giant animals and their Demi-Zords, were lined up in the wide hangar, casting huge shadows against the fluorescent lights overhead. Every noise echoed—which is why the loud clang made Nathalie jump.
"Sorry!" Bryce exclaimed, and Nathalie whirled around to see him and his fellow Green, Tony, standing beside Tony's Wolf Zord. Bryce had somehow knocked off a panel, and Tony was busy screwing it back in. Seeing Nathalie, Olympian Green waved.
"When we get back, I'm going to ask Phoebe for a Demi-Zord—you've got to see some of these attacks!"
"Just upgrade your own Zord, or get Lew to!" Nathalie yelled back, grabbing a couple of tools off the wall. She tried to remember James's rapid-fire descriptions, and Rex's interruptions, and took a few guesses. Putting one of the bizarre little devices back, she ran back for the door, using a burst of deer speed to get there quicker.
The elevator door slid open, and Nathalie was greeted by loud laughter. Kaiden, Charley and a strained-looking Jet were in there, and Charley moved aside to let Nathalie in. She swept her loose, messy hair out of her face and leaned against the silvery wall, trying to catch her breath.
"So here I was, in center stage, halfway between two costumes, covered in purple paint, and crying my eyes out because I could see Bumblebee laughing backstage," Olympian Yellow managed, "And the audience? Dead silent, just staring at me." Kaiden hiccuped, and clapped a hand over his mouth.
The elevator rumbled a little as it passed a deck. For such a high-tech place, it looked almost bizarrely normal. Nathalie began to ask what they were talking about, but Jet caught her by the wrist. She was startled by the almost desperate look in his eye.
"Please don't get them started again," he hissed. "They've been talking nonstop." Slowly, Nathalie nodded, though she couldn't help grinning. Jet glared at her for it, and Olympian Red handed him a few of the tools.
"Here, be helpful," she said sweetly. The doors slid open, and the two Yellow Rangers stumbled into the Rec Room. There was one table with benches in the middle, and they stopped there. The doors closed again as Charley got to the finale of her story.
"Now I'll always wonder what on earth they were talking about," Nathalie commented. Jet shook his head.
"Don't look at me; I was here from the beginning and I have no idea. I think it was a prank."
"Doesn't that count as an idea?"
"Forget it." They reached the Command Center, and entered the computer-filled room. They were on the dark side of the Earth, and precious little light shone in through the panoramic windows. Elandra, James, Lew and Rex were all working on the morphers, each with a varying degree of mess around them.
"What took so long?" James asked, not looking up. Rex cuffed him upside the back of the head, earning a glare from Stellar Blue.
"Slow elevator. You should fix that," Lew replied, leaning across Rex's workspace to snag a scanner. "Next time I can teleport down." Nathalie set all of the tools down on one console with a small clatter, and stepped back. Swinging a swivel chair around, Jet dropped into it, folded his arms and put his feet up on a console. Something began pinging immediately, and Elandra typed something on one computer one-handed, making it stop.
"Before you ask, no, we have not made any progress," Elandra put in. The red-haired woman flinched, and put one hand on her stomach. Her uniform jacket's lowermost buttons were undone, exposing a plaid shirt beneath.
Turning, Nathalie shoved Jet's feet off the console. Annoyed, the Black Ranger got up and headed for the elevator, muttering something about exploring. Shaking her head, Nathalie started pacing again. She hadn't literally worn a track in the floor, though it wouldn't be long if she kept it up.
"Is there nothing else you could be doing right now?" James asked, in a deliberately weary tone. His handheld scanner blipped, and he punched in a few codes.
"Give me something useful and I will," Nathalie retorted.
"You could always break into the Hexagram for us," Rex put in cheerfully. He was aiming what looked like a red laser pointer at Bryce's morpher. Then his expression grew suddenly serious. "Blimey, I hope Chronos and the Alchemist haven't teamed up. James, is there any way to check that?"
"Right," James said, tossing aside Charley's morpher. He sat back and stretched, pulling his elbow back behind his head. "Nathalie, I've got something useful for you to do. Pick a computer, any computer, sit down, and follow my instructions."
"Got it," Olympian Red said, grinning fiercely and dropping into a seat.
The fire crackled as Chronos poked a log with his stick. Darkness had fallen across the sky a few hours ago, and the moon was now high in the sky. Chronos sat at his make-shift fire in the middle of the forest. The air had cooled off some now since the sun had fallen, and the only heat came from the fire.
Chronos sat on a log he rolled up. He reached into his bag and pulled out an old pocket watch from the eighteen hundreds.
"Only a little more than twenty-four hours to go my love," He whispered, as he snapped the gold watch shut, and looked into the fire. "They are weak without their powers. If they don't disappear due to the altered future, then they will die during their next fight," He paused. "Next time, they won't be so lucky." He laughed. The snap of a branch broke him out of his thought. His head twisted quickly towards the direction of the sound. Out of the darkness stepped five morphed Rangers.
"Talking to yourself, huh?" The Green Ranger, female, asked. She cocked her head to the side, looking Chronos up and down.
Chronos reached towards his bag for his sword. He didn't know these strange Rangers, and didn't want to take any chances. He stumbled backwards over the log, but managed to catch his balance. The Blue Ranger snatched up his bag before Chronos could reach it.
"I am not here to destroy your city, nor harm your people," Chronos said, backing up with his hands in front of him. He ripped his bag out of the Blue Ranger's hands, and the man stepped out of reach. "I am only here for the Olympian Rangers. I mean no harm to anyone else."
"You must be new here. We don't care what you do to the city," The Black, male, Ranger laughed.
"We came here to strike a deal with you," The Yellow Ranger said in a distinct, female New Zealand accent. Chronos raised an eyebrow, confused.
"You aren't the only one with a pesky Power Ranger problem," The Red Ranger said, walking further out of the shadows. "We have a deal for you. If you help us destroy the Stellar Rangers, we'll help you with your Olympian Rangers. What do you say?" He asked, extending his right, red-gloved hand.