Disclaimer: I do not own power rangers, Saban/Disney does. Reviews are much appreciated.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
~Neil Armstrong
"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Zack and Billy
Zack suited up as he went over the mission details in his head. They wanted someone to go into outer space and sabotage the invading alien's ship. The thing was hideous from the reports that he had poured through on his way to headquarters. Apparently his name had been thrown out as the possible man for this mission and knowing that he had a bit more experience in facing aliens, as he had faced them on a daily basis back in high school, there was no question that he would do this for his country.
After receiving his first taste of space back in his Ranger days, Zack craved more and wanted to show the rest of the world what was out there. Thus he joined NASA and became an astronaut.
He headed towards the shuttle that sat waiting for him.
"Now there will be one of our top scientists accompanying you in order to activate the bomb," that was news to him.
He halted in his tracks, "Hold up! Are you saying I have to watch out for a scientist who has never been in space while invading an evil alien's ship?" He couldn't believe it, as if this wasn't hard enough.
"Zack are you qualified to work a bomb?" His superior asked.
"Well no… but couldn't you just point me to the right button I have to press?" It couldn't be too hard right, he had piloted a giant fighting machine when he was only a teenager.
"Exactly my point," the man chuckled and walked on rightly assuming Zack was following behind him as the young man muttered under his breath.
They entered the shuttle and Zack could see the back of a blonde head of a man in a matching blue space suit. The man turned and stood at their entrance.
"Billy, my main brain!"
"Zack!"
The two old friends quickly hugged and breathed internal sighs of relief knowing that they could each hold their own. This mission didn't seem so bad now that it was two former Power Rangers working together.
"I see you two know each other. Now lets not waste anymore time. Good luck," And may the Power be with you, the former Blue and Black Power Rangers silently added.
They buckled up as the countdown began, Billy tightly clutching the bomb he had built in his hands.
3
2
1
Blast off!
The pilot led them to the far reaches of outer space and closer to their enemy's grasp.
"Alright guys, this is as close as I can get without alerting them to our presence," the pilot had pulled up close to the dark fortress.
The two nodded and pulled on their helmets, exiting the shuttle with their precious cargo. They walked along the edge of the massive ship until an opening appeared where Velocifighters were flying out. Waiting for a break in the exodus, they held their breath. When, the opportunity came they pulled themselves into the ship and plastered themselves to the wall, hoping to not be seen.
Feeling their way along the inside of the ship they entered a corridor and with the necessity for stealth quickly stripped off their suits, now each in Zack's signature color instead of Billy's. They stowed their suits away in a corner for later, hoping they would get back to them, but they had to be left behind for now as they were too bulky.
"Where to?" Zack questioned the man that solved all his monster problems back in high school.
"We need to get to the core of the ship or at least close to it for the bomb to have the maximal effect," Billy responded, adjusting the bomb in his grip. It seemed much heavier now that they were actually here.
"Right," Zack nodded and led the way with his dancer's grace.
Zack pulled Billy around the corner and they flattened themselves against the wall as a group of Quantrons rushed passed.
They continued on not coming across much trouble as most of the occupants of the ship were focused on the attack on Earth, not expecting an attack on the home front.
Zack's earpiece crackled as the pilot spoke to him, "Houston we have a problem," he sounded panicked. "they've found me!" A loud explosion sounded as Zack ripped the earpiece from his ear.
Billy looked at him questioningly, "Looks like we're on our own, bro," Zack smiled sadly. He knew that this might turn out to be a suicide mission but he had hoped it wouldn't. However Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger and he wouldn't turn his back on his home world now.
His partner recognized the look in his friend's eyes and steeled his own, ready to once again put his life on the line for Earth. "We won't have much time now that they know we are here. Just a little further should be good."
Finding a suitable place Billy attached the bomb to the ship and went about activating it as Zack kept guard. Billy paused when setting the timer, not knowing how long he should set it for.
Zack turned, "5 minutes, Billy, what if they find it?"
"I'm going to get us out of here, come on," he grabbed Zack's arm as he retraced their steps.
"You have a plan!" Zack's face lit up. Of course Billy would come up with a way to save them in the nick of time.
Billy stopped as they reached the spot that they entered. Zack quickly went for their suits but Billy stopped him.
"We won't need those," Zack frowned and followed Billy's gaze to the vacant Velocifighters ominously looming over them.
Zack grinned as the two raced towards them, but his smile faltered as he realized they were one person fighter jets.
"Guess we are on our own after this huh," Zack groused, he was used to working in teams.
"Guess so," Billy didn't like that fact either, but they would just have to make do.
"Race ya!" Zack called and hopped into the jet, trying to figure out the controls.
"You're on!" Billy scrambled into the jet and flew passed Zack giving him a wave as he figured out the controls first, but Zack was hot on his tail. A ball of flame flew out behind them as the bomb they had set went off.
The Velocifighters seemed to be on autopilot presumably headed for Angel Grove as that was where the main assault was. This would put Billy and Zack on familiar territory when they landed.
Billy was having a harder time sustaining the G-forces as they entered Earth's atmosphere since he had not been trained as extensively as Zack was.
The autopilot was disengaged as they reached Angel Grove, but Billy no longer knew which fighter jet contained Zack. So he zoomed around avoiding enemy fire and the large zord as he tried to find a safe place to land.
He rocked around the cabin as he was hit and the alarms started blaring warnings throughout the small cabin. Unfamiliar with the technology, Billy was having a tough time trying to figure out what was wrong and fix it.
His jet started spiraling out of control as he tried to right it and fight back the nausea all the spinning was creating. The world was a blur of green, brown, and blue with some red thrown in from the destruction going on around him. He tried to locate the eject button, however he realized there probably wasn't one as these were dispensable foot soldiers.
The spinning suddenly came to a stop as he crashed and a wave of water washed over him. Oh god, he hoped there weren't any fish around as he opened the cabin and swam out.
It was a good thing he wasn't too far out since he was running low on energy; he had never been through anything so terrifying in his life. He breathed in deeply as he reached shore and did not have enough time to recover before the Quantrons were on him.
XXX
Zack had long since lost track of Billy's jet and was firing upon his fellow Velocifighters who were slow to the uptake that he was no longer an ally.
Once realization hit them though, they all fired upon him at once and he was having a hard time avoiding the flaming missiles. He smashed his head against the back of the seat as he was hit hard. Groaning he glanced out and saw that one of his wings was on fire. He didn't know what to do since he didn't understand what most of the buttons did, it was a stroke of dumb luck that he figured out how to shoot.
The ground was coming up fast as he frantically pressed buttons. Before he knew it is wing clipped the ground and he crash landed in a blaze. Zack stumbled out of the wreckage, coughing from all the smoke he had inhaled. He looked up as blood dripped into his eyes and obscured his view of the advancing Quantrons, but he had no strength left to defend himself as he collapsed.
