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Twice Chosen
"So… nobody even knows the Crystal's there?" Liv looked at Zordon in surprise as we gathered in his chamber, looking at his projected face once again. "Even after Goldar broke open that pit?"
"Only Rangers and outsiders are ever aware of the exact location of the Crystals of their own worlds," Zordon explained. "It is the nature of the power of Zeo; if natives were able to tap the power of their own world's projection of the Crystal, the results would be… unpredictable."
"Some kind of environmental disaster?" the Blue Ranger asked.
"At the very least."
"Is that why Rita was trying to drain the power from our Crystal rather than just… take it from her own planet?"
"Indeed," Zordon nodded. "Those aware of Zeo Crystals can at least theoretically channel the power of each crystal if they are careful, but to deliberately attack your own planet's crystal would be complex at best and dangerous at worst."
"OK, so because the Crystal can protect itself from natives… that means we're the only people on this planet who can even see the damn thing?" Thresh asked incredulously.
"The forces of the Capitol would obviously be aware that something is there after the battle, but unless they deployed a suitably advanced research team in the moments after your defeat of Goldar they will be unable to find the Crystal," Zordon affirmed. "Even out in space, very few are ever made aware that the core purpose of all Rangers is to protect the Crystals on the planets they defend, although many are also called into action to defend against particular enemies that come to their worlds. Of those who know the existence of the Zeo Crystals, only Rangers ever know the exact connection between where a team is positioned on a planet and the location of that planet's Crystal."
"And there are probably a few worlds without Crystals where other forms of life have developed, right?"
"Most astute," Zordon nodded at Liv.
"Well, life finds a way; if aliens exist, there have to be some that don't quite follow the 'rules' of evolution we're familiar with, right?"
"It is nevertheless an intelligent observation," our mentor seemed to 'nod' at Liv. "You are to be commended for your insight."
"Right…" Thresh nodded, his expression cautious even as he listened to our mentor's words.
"Getting back to that fight, how come you didn't mention the Megazord before the big moment?" Glimmer stepped forward to look curiously at the large face. "It might have been good to know what we could do-"
"I did not tell you because I did not believe it would be possible."
"Oh," I said, once again struck at the notion that we had been basically a desperate hope on Zordon's part more than a real choice-
"I did not believe it because so few teams before you have achieved the necessary communion with each other necessary to create a Megazord that quickly."
"You mean we beat your expectations?" Liv looked at Zordon with a new grin, and even I found myself fighting down the urge to smile.
"Be assured that you would have surpassed the expectations of many of my peers," Zordon affirmed with a smile. "Your names will be etched alongside the great Ranger teams of history that have come before you for your achievements on this day… and yet I feel that your team's next challenge shall be a more personal one."
"Right…" I said, stepping forward to address Zordon myself. "So, with Rita dealt with… are you ready to discuss what we do about the Capitol?"
"…That is a difficult question to answer," Zordon said after a thoughtful pause, turning his gaze to look directly at me, the size of his head making the gaze even more intense. "You must understand that as Power Rangers, you cannot use your power for personal gain or escalate any battle you become involved in. Keeping these rules in mind, under normal circumstances you would be forbidden from taking action to essentially stage a coup of your world's government."
"Even when our leaders are all pricks?" Glimmer asked.
"From what I have determined while studying local news, I… acknowledge… that this is a situation where exceptions must be made for the good of the innocent," Zordon responded. "However, the rules cannot simply be ignored whenever you disagree with them, or we become the very evil we have sworn as Rangers to oppose."
"We don't want to take charge ourselves; we just… we don't want the Capitol to continue ruling the way they are," Peeta said, looking around at the rest of us as he continued. "There has to be… we can agree on that, right?"
As I looked around the room, I was strangely proud to see the rest of the team nodding in agreement with Peeta's words, before I turned back to look at Zordon.
"Your lack of interest in such a goal is the main reason I am having this discussion," Zordon affirmed. "So long as you do not do this with the goal of taking power yourselves, you may act against the Capitol's forces, but I must ask that you adhere to these revised rules."
"Go ahead," I nodded in understanding at him, the rest of the team gathering behind me.
"Obviously your identities must remain secret, but so long as you make it clear to the public as soon as possible that you are not setting out to depose the Capitol and then position yourselves in its place, you are free to act against their soldiers and leaders," Zordon continued. "You may also use the Zords to aid you in attacking particular Capitol strongholds, but I will not tolerate you simply using them to attack the Capitol's ground forces."
"In other words, I can't just get into the Mastodon and start stomping on Peacekeepers?" Thresh asked.
"Quite," Zordon said, his gaze focusing on Thresh before he continued. "You may oppose the Peacekeepers in battle yourself, but you must avoid using your weapons against them; with your powers, even in your unmorphed states, you are sufficiently powerful to oppose most of them in direct combat."
"Does that mean you'd prefer it if we used those… Ninjetti outfits again?" I asked.
"Ninjetti?" Peeta looked at me.
"Like the masks we were wearing earlier," I explained as I looked around the room. "Apparently the Ninjetti were one of the first cultures to harness the powers we're using when we morph."
"Nice," Rue grinned.
"And to answer your question, Katniss," Zordon cut in, "Ninjetti would be preferable as a default combat style, but you are under no obligation to dress in any specific way when mounting your new campaign, so long as you do not disclose that you are the Power Rangers."
"Uh… not meaning to be nit-picky, but even if we do all that, we should also do something to suggest we're working with the Power Rangers," Liv raised her hand.
"We're working with- girl, we are the Power-" Thresh began.
"But we don't want to be living this way for the rest of our lives, right?" Liv cut him off. "If we want to have some kind of normal life once this is all over, part of that means we need to find some way to… well, bring ourselves back to life without making it clear that we're the ones in these suits, you know?"
"In other words, we need to do something to show that we're still alive as the lost Tributes of the last Hunger Games that also shows we're working with… well, us," I said, nodding cautious understanding of Liv's point. It would be a complicated story, but if we were careful about it, we might just be able to do it… and it could even help us win support if we could somehow show our faces during our planned campaign…
"What's so funny?" Rue asked, making me aware that I was laughing.
"Just… is this our lives now?" I said, bringing myself under control as I indicated my surroundings. "I was just a hunter a few weeks ago, and now I'm basically preparing to use alien technology to fight the whole country while trying to figure out a way to make it look like we're working with ourselves…"
"That is a very odd way to describe what we're doing," Rue commented, even as she smiled at me.
"Maybe, but we'll make it work," Peeta commented, an encouraging expression on his face as he looked at me.
"And we're only fighting the people who genuinely like Panem the way it is," Liv cut in. "So long as we make it clear just how much things suck for those who don't realise it and how we can help resist the Capitol, I think we have a good shot."
"Exactly," Glimmer nodded. "We've got the Girl on Fire here; that's got to earn us a few points."
"Wait a- are you saying-?" I looked between them both.
"You are the leader," Glimmer shrugged. "It's pretty much your job to take point."
"But that's- I'm not-"
"Hey, even if I didn't like you getting the attention during the interviews, I'm not going to ignore that you did a good job there," Glimmer pointed out.
"She's right," Liv nodded, smiling encouragingly at me. "You're a lot better at making an impression on people then you think; just… be yourself and say what you feel about things."
"Didn't the Academy teach you about… presentation?" I asked, stopping myself from using the phrase 'selling yourself'; I didn't want to make Glimmer think I thought she was that kind of girl.
"Yeah, we were told how to make ourselves appealing to sponsors, but that's not the same as what we're going for here," Glimmer pointed out. "The goal right now isn't to win sponsors and get people to pay money for our survival; we want people to stand behind us as we inspire a revolution, and frankly you've got the most appealing backstory."
"You do?" Alpha looked at me curiously. "Why is that?"
"You don't know already?" Thresh asked. "When you've got access to all this shit?"
"We did not wish to intrude on your privacy until you were ready to share it with us," Zordon put in. "Alpha accessed enough information to understand the context of the world we now inhabited after your presence reactivated him before the presence of the Power Coins allowed him to restore me to consciousness, but he would not access your private records without your consent."
"…Thanks," Liv nodded at Zordon and Alpha with a smile.
"Yeah," I followed her cue, before I took a breath. "And to answer your question… I joined the Games to save my sister."
"Your sister?" Alpha asked.
"It was her first time in the Reaping and she got chosen as Tribute, so I volunteered in her place."
"Ah," Alpha said, before he glanced back at Zordon. "Tributes can be chosen from any age between twelve and eighteen, but volunteers typically only happen in districts such as One and Two, where they have exclusive academies dedicated to training potential Victors."
"I see," Zordon nodded in new understanding before he looked at me. "That was a brave action, Katniss; you are to be commended for your courage."
"Thanks," I glanced back at him, surprised to find myself feeling touched at his compliment.
"But that's exactly why you have to be the one to do this," Peeta looked at her with a reassuring grin. "None of us made the same kind of impression that you did; we were all just part of the system, but you made a choice to save a life even before the Games started."
"That was just… anyone could have done that-"
"But the fact is that you're the one who did it," Liv cut me off, a solemn expression on her face as she looked at me. "You joined the Games to save people, Katniss; if any one of us can convince the people we're here to help, it's you."
"So long as you just do it," Glimmer cut in.
"What?"
"Like I said, we get by in the Academy because we know how to make a dramatic impression, but that's not what we need right now," Glimmer affirmed as she looked at me. "You need to tell everyone that we're here to stand up to the Capitol and the Rangers are going to help; they'd never believe it from the rest of us."
"'Specially not if it came from you," Thresh pointed out.
"…Harsh but fair," Glimmer nodded at him after a moment's thought, giving him a brief nod of acknowledgement before turning back to me. "We can film it for ourselves first if you're worried about screwing up a live broadcast, but trust me; we do a run-through with you being yourself and we'll definitely earn points."
Even when I was standing in the cavern where the zords rested when they weren't in use, I couldn't believe that I'd let myself get talked into this. The zords were all set to an automated system where they would make just enough movement to give the impression that the Rangers were in control, and Alpha had plans to splice in footage of us on our suits later if it seemed like it was needed, but for the moment the goal was to focus on the six of us outside of our armour.
"OK," Alpha said as he stood in front of us, apparently acting as the camera for our current broadcast. "Just go with what feels right, and I'll relay it back to the ship; we can decide what we do with it once it's done."
"That works," Liv grinned at the robot before she turned to me. "OK, just stand in the middle and keep the bow obvious; everything we can do to suggest that you're not the Red Ranger is a good thing right now."
"Shouldn't we hold some extra weapons if we're doing this?" Thresh asked.
"For the moment we should give the impression we've just been helping the Rangers by telling them what's going on here; we don't want to get people thinking too much about the idea of us in the field," Glimmer explained. "Red having a bow works because people back in Twelve know she's a hunter according to Yellow, but we want her to be our clear leader and not the Red Ranger, which means doing it this way."
"That… sounds complicated," Rue said.
"Which is why it's the kind of thing we cover at the Academy," Glimmer shrugged. "Not my favourite kind of course, but it's good to know."
I just nodded at Glimmer's words, fighting back my own thoughts on what she'd told us about the Academy's lessons so far. I could appreciate that the Academy at least gave people a choice about whether they wanted to go in for the path of becoming Careers or just intended to take a more conventional career path, but the idea of people teaching children Prim's age how to win the Games would never sit well with me…
"Let's do this," I said, turning to look at Alpha, wanting to get on with this before I lost my nerve again.
"Right," Alpha said, taking up a position in front of us as the rest of the team (when had I become so comfortable thinking of us like that?) gathered behind me. Alpha held up a hand, lowering his fingers to count down before he pointed at me to start.
"We," I said, hoping that I wasn't going to sound stupid, "are the lost Tributes of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games, and we are here to confirm that we are not dead."
"Yep," Glimmer grinned, stepping forward with a cool grin on her face. "And to confirm, you can consider the Games concluded, because none of us are killing each other."
"But to answer the obvious question, we're here because of the Power Rangers," Thresh added.
"They saved all of us and brought us to their base to talk with us about the world we lived in, and it didn't take long for all of us to decide that this didn't work," Peeta affirmed.
"The Rangers came here to protect us from things like that big golden guy who attacked District Eleven, but they're also going to help us deal with the people who've kept everyone in the Districts under their thumbs for the last seventy-plus years," Liv put in.
"I get that we're just kids, but is it really fair that we all have to pay for a rebellion that happened before most of us were even born?" Rue said.
"Exactly," I said, nodding in approval at Rue as I heard the zords moving behind us. "When my father died in a mining accident, my sister and I were left to fend for ourselves for months while our mother dealt with her own issues; shouldn't a good government be willing to do more to help us than give out food in exchange for more places in a death contest?"
"And if anyone thinks this is just a bunch of loser Districts complaining about being hard done by, I'd like to point out that I spent years training to be the best at the Academy, and when the time came… there was nothing worthwhile in that training," Glimmer cut in with a bitter glare. "All that training prepared me for was killing other kids who didn't even want to be there and still weren't ready to kill me in turn; they were only fighting because they wanted to stay alive, not because they wanted me dead."
"The Capitol lets the Games go on because it encourages the idea that we're each other's enemies, but the only enemy out there is the Capitol," Liv said firmly. "The Rangers want to help us change things, and you can help us do that; join us in standing with the Rangers as they topple the corrupt-"
Liv's speech was interrupted when there was a sudden blaring screech from the tunnel that led to the ship. As soon as we heard it, Alpha turned around and began to hurry back towards the ship, leaving the rest of us to run anxiously after him. Even when we weren't morphed, it was easy to jump down the rocks in the cavern and hurry back into the ship, making our way to Zordon's room.
"What's wrong?" Liv asked as we all came face-to-face with our strange new mentor.
"I have intercepted news broadcasts from various points in Panem," Zordon reported grimly. "The Peacekeeper facilities in Districts One, Two, Five and Six have just been attacked, and according to available data, the party claiming responsibility for these assaults is District Thirteen."