Disclaimer: I own nothing anyone recognises.
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AN: I apologise for the delay compared to my usual update pattern; RL issues meant that I just didn't have as much time to write as usual, but I hope to get back to a more regular pattern now.
AN 2: Some dialogue here was taken from moments in Mockingjay, but I've put my own spin on it given the new context.
Twice Chosen
"You're sure that we can do this?" Liv looked anxiously at Alpha as she stood beside him while the robot examined the control panel. "I mean… OK, you're still fine, but the rest of this ship…"
"The engines are basically ruined unless we can get the parts, but the rest of the actual hardware is still good," Alpha affirmed as his hands moved over the controls, the rest of us watching. "Assuming we can access the networks, finding the Sword of Light should be straightforward enough; given its importance it's one of those artefacts that we always know the location of."
"And it's going to just be… lying around somewhere?" Peeta asked.
"Obviously actually retrieving the Sword will be more complicated than just going off and picking it up," Alpha explained with a shrug. "The Grid takes steps to keep these things secure so not just anybody can use them, but actually accessing them is simple enough if you know what you're looking for."
"OK, so even with all that, you're both sure it's still easier than us trying to find those Morphin Masters?" Thresh asked.
"The Masters take active steps to stay hidden to prevent others doing to them what Vile did to Zedd, and Alpha and I have essentially been gone for so long that the modern Masters would be unaware of our continued existence," Zordon explained. "Even if we knew of their current location, the Masters and their associates would actively hide from what would appear to be a potential attack using outdated access codes, but the Sword of Light will at least allow us to find its location."
"How does that-?" Glimmer began.
"I… think I get it," Liv cut in, looking thoughtfully at Zordon. "It's like… passwords on a computer system, right? Some systems won't let you log in using old passwords, but others will at least let you view the databases even if you can't do anything with that access?"
"As good an analogy as any," Zordon affirmed. "Even when we have found the Sword's location, certain protocols will remain that must be taken into account if we are to retrieve the Sword for our own use."
"What does that mean in this case?" Liv asked.
"Most specifically," Zordon responded, "in any situation where the Sword of Light is required, whatever Ranger team wishes to use the Sword next, their Red Ranger must be the one to retrieve it."
I was grateful that I was only in the presence of the other Rangers and Rue when I practically stumbled over my own feet at that declaration.
"Me?" I looked up at Zordon in shock once I'd regained my balance. "I- I'm going to- I have to-?"
"You must leave Earth to retrieve the Sword of Light and affirm your acceptance of your duties as the Red Ranger of your world."
Leave Earth…
Every time I thought that I had faced the limits of what I had been expected to do, it felt like the world came up with something new to hit me with. Leaving District Twelve for the Games would have been daunting even if I hadn't been all but certain I was going off to my death, I'd already visited more Districts than any non-Victor ever expected to see, and now I was being told I'd have to leave the planet?
"So… how does that work?" Glimmer cut in. "Do I need to give her a lift?"
"While the Pterodactyl is capable of space flight, it would not be capable of such a long trip as this is likely to be in any reasonable time frame," Zordon informed Glimmer. "Alpha and I will be able to draw on the energy of the Zeo Crystal to boost the teleporter to send you away once we have identified where you need to go, and the Sword will enable you to return afterwards."
"…Right," I said, nodding in acknowledgement even as I fought down my own fear.
I'd only joined the Games to save Prim, and now I was basically expected to represent my whole planet while retrieving some legendary weapon…
Damn you, Gale, I suddenly thought, clenching my fists as I thought about my former hunting partner. In that moment, I hated Gale for forcing me to deal with even more responsibilities when I was already struggling with a situation that was apparently complicated even by usual Ranger standards.
"Hey!" Alpha said, looking back at us with a shocked tone to his words. "Your President is making a statement about us!"
"What?" Thresh and Liv looked at the robot in shock.
"Get that on the… viewing globe thing!" Glimmer waved an impatient hand at the glowing object in the centre of the room.
"Of course," Alpha said, reaching over to adjust the controls on another panel.
"-when they first appeared, I will admit that I was just as intrigued by their existence as I am sure the rest of you were," President Snow said as his image appeared in the globe, wearing a dark red suit with a blue shirt underneath it, the usual rose on his lapel. "Regrettably, while they initially appeared to be our saviours when confronting the golden monster that threatened District Eleven, their actions since then have proven that they seek only violence rather than to truly help anyone."
"We what?" Liv stared at the image incredulously.
"Panem has lived in peace since the Dark Days because all of the Districts respect the law and order of the Capitol," Snow continued. "Whoever these Power Rangers are, they reject the system that has kept us safe and stable for decades in the name of pursuing their own agenda and seeking further violence. They have lashed out at the people-"
"We need to morph," I turned to address the rest of the team, even as I waved Rue to the side.
"Katniss, you cannot-" Zordon began.
"I'm not going to just charge off and attack Snow, Zordon, but we can't let him say this stuff about us without responding."
"OK, that's more justified," Alpha nodded as he looked up at Zordon.
"She's right," Peeta said firmly, moving to stand beside me. "If the Power Rangers are going to do anything to change Panem… we have to do more than show up and hit monsters or smash things."
It was things like that which reminded me why I had begun to think somewhat fondly of Peeta before he made everything complicated during the interview. Even when we were dealing with dangerous situations, he had a way about himself that made it seem that he just genuinely wanted things to be better rather than accept the world was as bad as so many people believed it was.
As the five of us moved into position, I tried to ignore Snow's voice as he continued to talk about how the Capital served as the 'heart' of Panem and was supplied by the Districts in an ancient contract. Even if Gale's current actions were extreme, I was fairly sure that the Capitol's only real purpose right now was as a symbol that nobody was prepared to stand up to. They might have wanted us all to believe that we needed them, but I couldn't think of anything they did for us beyond send out Peacekeepers and organise the Games.
I couldn't do anything as just one Tribute in the Hunger Games, but as the armour of the Red Ranger formed around me, I was prepared to do something I would never have thought I was capable of before I found my way to that cave.
"We're ready," I said, as I turned to look at Alpha. "Can you set up a signal that lets me broadcast to Panem and talk with Snow?"
"I can do that," Alpha seemed to grin at me (as much as it was possible when he didn't have a face to grin with) as he turned to Zordon. "Shall we?"
"It is an unconventional way of doing things, but this is an unconventional team," Zordon said with a grin. "Go ahead."
"On it!" Alpha said, reaching over to adjust a few controls on the side of the central globe.
"It is the duty of all citizens of Panem to report any sightings of these criminals-" Snow was saying, before Alpha pointed at me.
"Criminal, President Snow?" I cut in, hoping that this particular gambit wasn't going to backfire horribly on me. I was relieved when Snow stopped talking as soon as I spoke, clearly aware of my own presence in this conversation, but I couldn't show that relief as I focused on making my statement. "Is it criminal to want to give people a chance at a better life?"
"You have said yourself that you are alien to this world, my friend-"
"Friend?" I repeated, not bothering to hide the mocking edge to my voice. "Believe me, President Snow, we are not friends; I could never be friendly towards someone who would do the things you have done."
"All I have done is to secure peace in Panem-"
"When you have to threaten people on a semi-regular basis, you don't have peace; you have control," I said, unsure if I was going to say this properly but determined to get it all out there. "And if the only way you can maintain any kind of control here is to threaten people, you clearly know that you're going to lose that power because the only reason you have such authority is because you keep people too afraid to act against you."
"I do only what is necessary to prevent further revolution that would put the people of Panem at risk," Snow retorted, his whole manner cool and collected even as I challenged him in a way I couldn't remember anyone confronting him in any of his previous televised appearances. "I have the respect of the people-"
"You have the fear of the people," I cut him off, refusing to let him finish his next wave of lies. "The Districts have been kept under your power for decades because you won't accept that you don't need to threaten everyone else. If you were a truly good leader- if the Capitol as a whole were actually good leaders- you could lead through example and make this country better, but clearly all you want to do is keep everyone under your thumb."
"The world is a harsh place that requires a firm hand to control it-"
"It can be better if you give it a chance," I retorted. "We believe in what the world can be, but you clearly gave up on the human race a long time ago."
"Are the people expected to just believe that outsiders such as yourselves have our best interests at heart?" Snow said, his tone cool despite the harsh gleam in his eyes. "You come to our country, revealing nothing about yourself before you interrupt a long-standing tradition-"
"Just because something has been that way for decades doesn't mean that it always has to be that way," Liv spoke up, stepping forward to make her own contribution to this conversation. "We rescued the tributes from the Games because we thought it wasn't fair for children to be condemned for the sins of their ancestors, and we're going to end the Games because it's not fair for anyone to be forced to suffer like that."
"And that's not alien morality; it's just common sense," Thresh observed, his tone making it clear that he was smirking under his helmet.
"Do you feel that you have the right to offer us your moral perspective on anything?" Snow responded. "When one of your own is mounting assaults on our people and your own actions have focused on attacking the society we have built?"
"OK, first off, we are only attacking your own symbols of power," Thresh put in with a dismissive shrug. "You don't get to complain about us smashing up the place where your soldiers stay when they spend most of their time oppressing people who are just trying to survive."
"And at least we try not to kill anyone when we're going out like that," Glimmer added, her arms folded as she glared at the globe displaying Snow's image. "If the only way you can enforce authority is making people afraid of you, you're not good leaders; at least Red cares about the rest of us as more than mindless soldiers."
"Oh, and for the record, the power of the Green Ranger has fallen into the wrong hands," I said, deciding that I could at least share this even if I wasn't going to give him any more specific details. "We are taking steps to restore that power to one who is worthy of it, and once that has been dealt with…"
I turned my gaze to the globe directly, hoping that the intensity of my scare came across properly despite my eyes being covered. "We will be dealing with you, President Snow, and everyone who has spent so long living in the lap of luxury just to keep the common people down."
"Maybe you tell yourself that this was done to punish the Districts for their rebellion, but at what point did that stop being an excuse?" Peeta put in, stepping in alongside me. "There are few people alive now who were present during that rebellion; eventually you have to let it all go, or everything becomes pointless."
"Humanity needs the authority of the Capitol to avoid a repeat of our past near-destruction-"
"Humanity needs to be given a chance to be free of your oppression and realise it won't repeat its old mistakes," I said resolutely. "The Green Ranger will not be a threat to Panem once we've dealt with the current holder of the power and chosen a new bearer, and after that, we will not rest until your oppression of the people of Panem has ended and this society is free to rebuild without your influence."
"You believe that you have the right to dictate what is best for this society?"
"We believe that you don't have that right," Glimmer shrugged. "We're just here to give humanity the chance to have some freedom; once we've kicked you off your throne it's up to the people who they put in charge, since we can be fairly sure they won't put someone like you in that kind of position again."
"So enjoy yourself for the next few days, because once we've dealt with the current Green you're next," Thresh said, folding his arms and sounding like he was grinning under the helmet.
"You cannot do this," Snow said, and I wondered if I would have admired his sense of self-control if I didn't hate everything he stood for. "Panem needs-"
"You had almost seventy-five years to treat the people of Panem the way they 'need' to be treated," I cut him off. "If you wanted to remain in power, you should have done something to show us that you deserved to have that kind of power, rather than treat everyone like they're always going to be criminals because of something that happened basically before everyone alive today was even born. We will be coming for you, President Snow, and once we're through with you… then we'll see what the people really want."
It might have been an overly melodramatic way of doing things, but I was determined to make an impression and affirm that we were dedicated to our current mission. With that last statement made, I waved a hand at Alpha and he cut off the transmission, leaving me to turn and smile at the rest of the team as our helmets opened.
"Good job," Peeta smiled at me.
"We made a good impression, anyway," Thresh nodded as he looked around the room. "Now we just need to keep that up."
"Pretty sure we both have faith in your ability to pull that off," Alpha put in, his voice again giving the strange impression that he was 'smiling' even when he didn't have a face that could do that.
"Agreed," Zordon put in, a more obvious expression of approval on his face. "And I can confirm that we have just identified the current location of the Sword of Light."
"Already?" Thresh asked.
"Tracking the Sword is not a challenge with my level of access," Zordon observed with a smile, before he looked more seriously at me. "If you are to retrieve the Sword, Katniss, it may be advisable to bring other Rangers with you to assist you if anything comes up at the other end."
"Comes up?" Glimmer asked. "There's going to be a problem?"
"It would be advisable to make sure," Zordon said. "Other Rangers should recognise Katniss Everdeen's status and authority as Earth's Red Ranger, but given the nature of the Sword and the interest it would attract, we must be prepared for all possibilities."
"But we still need someone here in case anything comes up, and we need to choose someone to be the new Green Ranger…" Peeta said thoughtfully.
"Which is why you should stay."
"Me?" Peeta looked at me in surprise. "Katniss-"
"You get people in a way that… well, that I'm not sure the rest of us do," I said, looking apologetically around at the rest of the team for a moment before I looked back at my original partner in the Games. "If we have to analyse someone's motives and determine if they can be trusted, you're the best candidate for doing that."
"Then I'll stay too," Glimmer said, stepping forward to shoot Peeta a brief glance. "No offence, but you can be a bit too… trusting at times."
"Trusting?"
"You seriously thought we wouldn't just kill you so long as Red was still in play; you underestimated just how far you could push us before you'd get on our nerves."
"…Fair enough," Peeta conceded, giving Glimmer an uncomfortable look.
"Hey, I'm not going to do that to you now; I'm just saying that the Twos in particular were all for stabbing you the moment you became more trouble than you were worth."
Peeta just gave her an awkward nod of acknowledgement, clearly lost on how to properly react to that declaration, before he looked at me. "Is that-?"
"That's fine," I nodded at him in assurance, hoping we both understood the question I was intending to answer before I looked over at Liv and Thresh. "Besides, if I'm going to another planet, I think taking our resident genius and our current powerhouse is probably a good call."
"It is a good plan, Katniss," Zordon said.
"A trip to another planet?" Liv grinned at me. "Count me in!"
"Guess I can come along," Thresh said, even as an eager gleam in his eyes showed he was just as keen about this idea as Liv was.
"OK, so that's sorted." I turned to look at Zordon. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"You will find the Sword on the distant planet of Mirinoi."