Summer Cove Police Station, somewhere in the offices, Constable Trevor Reed and Constable Spike Skullovitch were writing up reports. They had been attending a relatively straightforward and as it turned out quite pointless call about an unlicensed street party when they had seen the Lion Ship flying overhead on its fated flight. They hadn't known at the time what it was, but when a gigantic ball of flame flew overhead, low enough that it had set off car alarms and rattled windows in the street, it was their duty to at very least see what it was.

Spike stared at his half-page, rapidly tapping the end of his pen on the page, trying to think what to write. He had excelled in the Police Academy, and while he knew writing reports was a part of the job and accepted that, he honestly had no idea what if anything he was supposed to be writing. He looked over to Trevor as he tore off his eighth page, putting it aside and continuing to write.

"What are you writing?" Spike asked him.

"I'm writing down what I saw and what happened." Trevor told him. "You should do the same."

"That's just it Trevor, how exactly do we write up what happened when we have no idea what happened?" Spike asked him.

"We just write what we do know and what we saw and heard." Trevor said matter-of-factly. "I thought they covered this stuff with you at the academy. According to your file you excelled at procedure."

"I did it's just…what EXACTLY do we say?" Spike asked him. "And how the hell does it take you eight…wait…is that NINE pages?"

"I just believe in being thorough." Trevor sighed.

"You're seriously writing while we're talking?" Spike asked him. "Also, how the hell do you get nine pages out of what we saw?"

"Details Skullovitch." Trevor stated. "They're important."

"WHAT details?" Spike asked him. "We saw a massive fireball in the sky, we followed its path, then we found tracks in the ground and a crater in a mountain…and oh, we arrived in time to see something flying away."

"Details Skullovitch, DETAILS! EVERYTHING!" Trevor snapped at him. "You never know what's going to be important!"

"But this is all pointless! There was nothing there!" Skullovitch told him.

"Even if you have nothing to say you write a report that says you have nothing to say!" Trevor told him. "Because if you don't, then that only leads to questions later about what you saw, what you heard, things you said, things you know. If it's in the report, then you have something to fall back on. If you don't then people can start making inferences into what you really do know."

"But that's just it, we don't know anything!" Spike reiterated.

"We know that an object fell from the sky, and we know it's not there now." Trevor reminded him. "We also saw it flying away, which suggests that someone flew it and that it's not a meteorite. Those things alone mean we know something."

"Space ships?" Spike asked, shaking his head. "Man, I miss Panorama City. There the bad guys quite literally crawled out of the cracks."

Just then, the door burst open. The Captain came in, along with two men in suits and a woman in a suit.

"Reed, Skullovitch, are these your reports?" The Captain asked.

"Yes." Trevor answered. "Who are the suits?"

"We're from NASADA." The woman told him, putting down a form. "I'm going to need you both to sign this."

"What is this?" Spike asked her.

"By order of the Federal Government both of you are subject to classified information." She informed them. "If either of you discuss what you saw today with anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, you will spend the best years of your lives in solitary confinement."

"You know what you were saying about this being pointless?" Trevor asked him, gathering up his report and handing it to her, before signing the document. "Now it really was."

Spike was utterly confused, but after signing the document and handing over the report, he followed Trevor out of the room. He had to quicken his pace to catch up to him.

"What the hell was…?"

"Skullovitch, what part of 'non-disclosure' do you not understand?" Trevor asked him.

"But…this is…"

"Listen Skullovitch, I don't like it any more than you do, but since all this shit started going down in this city, stuff like this has been happening more and more." Trevor told him bluntly. "I've seen people I know, GOOD people, having their lives ruined. People who have served this city for decades drummed out of the job because they saw something or said the wrong thing, and ninety-nine times out of a hundred it had something to do with aliens or those people running around in the brightly coloured suits."

"Wait, you're blaming the Rangers for…?"

"What I'm saying Skullovitch is that in the last year I've seen more records redacted or shredded than I have in the rest of my years on the force!" Trevor told him. "So, if you plan on keeping that badge, you need to learn that when someone tells you it's time to shut your mouth and walk away, you shut your mouth and walk away!"

He straightened himself out and shook his head.

"Now, how about we take a little sweep of the streets near the grocery store?" He asked him. "Claire has Hayley for a while. I'd like to get some of that cereal she likes."

Back at the Ranger Base, things weren't any more enlightening as time went on. Mick had gone to explain Viera's return to Principal Hastings so that she would know there was someone else in the school. Quite what the long-term plan was no one had really figured out yet. While on her previous visit she had attended the school under the pretence of being Sarah's cousin, no one really knew if she'd be up to going anywhere or doing much of anything. She had still barely said a word since they had found her in the Lion Ship.

"She's been over there a while." Sarah commented, looking to Viera who was still standing over the corpse of the man who came with her. He had died of numerous injuries only moments after the Rangers found them. In his final act, he had ensured that she had reached the safety of Earth, and that she had been discovered by those she could trust. It was clear from his uniform he had served her household, but exactly who he was none of them knew. Since Viera hadn't said anything, none of them even knew the man's name. Viera seemed distraught, and had just stood over the body, her hands resting on it gently for hours. "Do you think he was…special to her? Like…maybe more than just a guard?"

"His uniform placed him as one of the Palace Guards." Redbot informed them. "But he must have been very devoted to her. His injuries were mortal, but he managed to hold on much longer than he should have."

"What's she saying?" Calvin asked Hayley as he noticed she was whispering something. Hayley's exposure to the Ninja Steel had left her with a natural affinity for language. She only needed to hear the language being spoken for a few minutes before her brain started to make the connections and form up the framework of the language. It was still quite trippy to her now that she had actual conversations with her dog Kody. She watched Viera carefully.

"She's reciting funeral rites." She told him. "She's also thanking him for his service and his protection."

"So, he was a guard." Calvin replied. "Then I guess he did his job."

"Yeah." Brody agreed. "And he paid the ultimate price doing it. Whoever he was, that kind of devotion goes way beyond just collecting a pay check."

Back in the Lion Galaxy, a couple of weeks earlier, the capital lay in ruins, and the palace was all but falling down following the uprising. By now, news of Viera's proclamation on her vision for the future of the Lion Galaxy had spread right across her domain. To say that opinion was divided was an understatement.

There were some that supported Viera's new image of the future for her people. Those who were sick of constant war, and of those that simply took what they wanted without regard to who owned what they wanted. Others who were fed up of seeing their loved ones die for stupid causes that were not their own, or in the crossfire of another grudge just by virtue of living in the wrong place.

Unfortunately, in all her optimism, in her thoughts of people thinking of their families and friends and thinking of not seeing them killed or maimed, she had underestimated how many people did not want their lives to change. Many had been fighting their wars for generations and knew literally nothing else, people who would seek out and destroy people of other worlds and exterminate them yet when asked having no idea why other than that was the same enemies their parents fought.

There were those who had fought so long that they truly enjoyed it. Who fought for no other reason than they were so immersed in violence that they only derived pleasure from the suffering of others.

There were those that saw their position in life, their very social standing potentially threatened by the prospect of peace, professional warriors who would find themselves with no place in society and needing to find new paths in life and start all over again from the bottom rung. Generals, officers, people of prestige who would have to start all over again.

Finally, there was the group she had utterly underestimated the sway of…those for who profited from the status quo. Mercenaries, warlords, arms-dealers both legal and illegal. There were many for whom a galaxy in a constant state of war was a gold mine. They cared nothing about who they provided their weapons or skills to, so long as they were paid. Bloodletters who profited from pain saw the prospect of peace as losing that revenue flow. When the uprising began, no one found it difficult to get all the weapons they needed to use against the current Queen. After all, they could always get their payment later.

Viera found her forces quickly overwhelmed and had been forced back into her palace. It was only a matter of time before the last lines of defence fell before her overwhelming enemies. The one that finally took the palace was a man named Tiberius. A powerful man who had his eyes on the throne for many years but had nothing like the support he needed to attempt a coup against her father. He was bald, with a heavily scarred face, giving him the appearance of a bizarre red prune. He only had one eye, the other being lost to battle some time ago, and covered with a metal patch that was riveted directly into his skull. He ascended the throne with a cocky gait as he approached, finding the crown on the ground directly in front of it. As he picked it up, his elite dragged Viera, Reynold and some of her guards into the room. They were all forced to their knees as he turned to face her.

"I wish I hadn't had to cause so much destruction." He taunted her. "But I suppose it will give me ample opportunity to redecorate."

"Please, I beg of you…."

"You're going to beg me for your life?" He laughed. "This is the strength and power of compassion your Queen has been preaching about!"

His men laughed as he approached her, seizing her face and forcing her to look at him.

"Your father had his arms ripped from his body and even then, he still had the courage to die with a little dignity." He continued.

"I wasn't going to beg for my life." She whispered, flicking a glance in the direction of her guards. "I was going to beg for theirs."

"Viera, no…"

"Be SILENT Reynold!" She interrupted him. She knew that Reynold and his sons were among those that had been captured. She did not wish to see them slaughtered. She couldn't bear to know they lost their lives because of her.

"You really think…?"

"You know as well as I do that the Royal Guard swear fealty to the throne, not to the one who sits upon it." She interrupted him. "I know I can expect no mercy from you, and I would not give you the satisfaction of asking for it. But I appeal to your self-interest. Spare these men and they will serve you."

"I suppose I might like to get to keep something from this palace." He replied as he placed the crown on his head. "But you needn't worry, you will not die either. But believe me, you will soon wish you had."

He produced two halves of what she recognised as a Leonus collar from within his cloak. Viera struggled as her captors twisted her arms, forcing her over. Tiberius placed the two halves together around her neck, while another sparked up a torch.

"Long live the king." He declared as she felt the metal heating up. She didn't know what exactly he would do with her, but whatever it was, she was at least grateful that as long as Tiberius kept his word, those she cared about would be spared.

Back in the present day, in the Ranger Base, it was starting to get late. The team wanted to stay with Viera, to hear what happened to her and to ensure she would be alright, but the more time wore on, the more it became clear that they would eventually have to go home. Their parents would start to ask questions eventually.

"You guys should go." Brody told them. "Mick, Redbot and I will be here if she needs anything. Levi, tell Tom I'm sorry I had to cancel."

"It's alright, he'll understand." Levi assured him. "You know where I'll be if you need anything."

"Guys, there's…there's one other matter." Calvin stated. "What do we do about…you know…him?"

He pointed to the body under the blanket.

"I mean…pretty soon we're going to have to do something right?" He asked.

"What do people do in the Lion Galaxy?" Hayley asked Mick. "Do they bury their dead?"

"It varies from place to place, but in general they cremate their dead." Mick told them. "I could arrange that, but first we need to get Viera to leave whoever that is."

"Sel." She finally said.

"Viera?" Sarah asked.

"His name was Sel." She informed them. "He and his family protected my family as long as I've lived. We grew up together. I appointed him as my bodyguard to replace Drillion."

"So, he was the one that got you free?" Sarah asked.

"He and his family did." Viera answered, looking to them with tears in her eyes. "Now, because of me, they're all gone."

Back on her planet, only days before, Viera was in her cell, lying on the floor completely spent. Tiberius hadn't been exaggerating with his promises of his cruelty. He kept her alive as a prisoner, a slave to demonstrate his power. He delighted ensuring every waking moment of her life was spent in agony, torturing her endlessly. He loved to inflict much of the pain himself, but when he had other matters to attend to or he grew weary, he would get one of his men to carry on. She was allowed respite only long enough to eat and to rest and heal enough to ensure she would not perish. Tiberius wanted to enjoy his favourite toy for as long as he could.

Her ankles were both chained to brackets in the walls, while her hands were shackled behind her back. The collar prevented her from shape shifting, making escape impossible. She was wrenched from her slumber as the lock on the door triggered. She used her forehead to push herself up to her knees, looking to the door as a man came in.

"Guess what? It's my turn now." The man taunted her. "Perhaps I can be the one to win the kitty and finally hear you beg for merc…"

His words were cut off as a sword came through his chest. The man sank to his knees, at which she saw Reynold standing behind him. He pulled the sword out.

"Was the word you were looking for 'mercy'?" He asked, before striking the man's head from his shoulders. Three others came into the cell, Sel and his two brothers.

"Reynold, what are you doing?" Viera asked him.

"I believe the technical term would be treason!" He replied, striking the chains off her ankles. Sel helped her to her feet, before Reynold broke the chain securing her wrists together.

"Reynold, I cannot allow you to do this!" She told him. "You were spared because…"

"I was spared by your compassion, the very compassion I believe in with every beat of my heart." He told her. "That is why we must set you free if the Lion Galaxy is ever to know peace."

"You can't risk your lives for me!" She yelled. "I ORDER you to…"

"Well, the one benefit of you not being Queen is you can't really order us to do anything anymore." Sel said with a smile. Reynold seized her face, making her look at him.

"I told you, I believe in your vision more than anything I ever have." Reynold told her. "We must get you out of here."

"I will not leave…"

"You're going if I have to carry you!" Sel interrupted her as an alarm sounded. "The others must have noticed we've abandoned our posts! We have to go!"

"Reynold, you can't do this!" Viera told him.

"Viera, I will likely never know a galaxy without war, but I wish so fondly that future generations may have that I am willing to sacrifice my life for it."

"We all are." Sel told her.

"My entire bloodline is in this room, and it is very likely by the time this day is done it will be no more." Reynold said to her warmly. "Please, my Queen, do not let that be in vain."

"Dad, this is touching and all that, but we've got company!" One of his sons stated, readying his rifle and firing a shot.

"Your Lion Fire Armour is in the Lion Ship along with a chest. It is one of my family's most treasured heirlooms." Reynold told her. "Sel will take you to the ship. GO!"

Viera hugged Reynold, before Sel took her hand and ran with her out the door. Reynold looked to his other two sons.

"My sons, sell yourselves dearly." He stated. "Make every drop of blood count! FOR THE TRUE QUEEN! FOR VIERA!"

"FOR VIERA!" They screamed as they rushed into battle, buying Sel the time they needed to flee to the ship.