Zephyrus of Eltar said no without a second thought, and Xect threatened to stab T.J through the heart. But the Red Ranger remained unflinching.
"Guys," T.J said with a sympathetic tone. "I completely understand why you'd be reluctant to help me, but-"
"But our lives are meaningless to you," Xect spat. Their yellowish eyes glowed with malice. Like most pre-metamorphosis insectoids Xect was unmistakably gorgeous. A beauty nearly inconceivable to humans, but utterly repulsive to their own kind.
"That's not true," T.J said. His gaze was fixed on the insectoid. What he failed to articulate with words he hoped to make up for with intensity. "I… I know our people have had a rough history but I wasn't a part of any of that."
"Do not assign agency to my people," Xect warned, "The Warstar were little less than slaves to the Armada."
T.J raised his hands. "I meant no offense. Trust me, I understand where you're coming from."
Xect narrowed their eyes, but they didn't attack him, so that was a win as far as T.J was concerned.
"Why did you even think coming to us was a good idea?" Zephyrus asked.
"Because what SPD is doing to the Hive-Worlds, is unacceptable," T.J replied with a frankness that startled the duo. "Their occupation is unjust, and King Dex, who is a friend of mine, should be ashamed of his inaction."
"Your token activism is as meaningless to me as it is to my people," Xect hissed. "Protestors are being arrested enmass. You feign sympathy when your support is ill placed empathy at best."
T.J chuckled dryly. "Man, you should really brush up on Earth politics before saying stuff like that." Then, he gave a far too earnest sigh. "Look, I'll be honest. I know you don't have any real reason to trust me, and I know it's a big ask. But… if you don't help me my team is toast and… I know I'm not much, but I'm the best hope we have to stop Supreme Chancellor Zartus."
Zartus… the name alone electrified the air. Years ago, during the age of Eltar, Zartus had been Supreme Guardian of the Greater Eltarian Empire.
Now Eltar was in ruins, rendered inhabitable by Dark Spectre, and their whole empire followed suit. But when the Eltarian commissioned Intergalactic Police was restructured into the Space Patrol, Zartus had been inherited as well.
With him, many had come to learn, came much of the disease that plagued the Eltarian Empire.
"Nobody can stop Zartus," Zephyrus said with icy sincerity. The Eltarian before T.J was only about a hundred years old, still very young for his kind, but he'd been alive long enough to see exactly what the Chancellor was capable of.
"Not alone," T.J said. "But all of us together… That's really our best shot." T.J let his words settle around them for a few quiet moments. This was his last chance, and he knew that whole heartedly. If this failed he'd have to leave, have to figure out a different way to get Kimi and Ayron out of SPD custody.
"That's why…" T.J continued, "I need your help. It's why I need you to take me to Jack Landors"
T.J's gaze fell on Zephyrus. He knew that the Eltarian was his best hope. He felt a dark pang. If it had been Zordon in T.J's place he would've had these two teens on his side after the first sentence. Zordon had that air, that raw presence. T.J only had a cheap facsimile of that, but he needed it to be enough, even just this once.
To his immediate dismay, it was not Zephyrus who spoke, but instead Xect. Their gaze held a potentant emotion swimming in their yellow eyes. an emotion that left T.J dreading the words that would soon escape their lips and seal his team's fate.
"How can you be sure that whoever replaces Zartus will be any better? So few people in this universe are kind to the Hive-Worlds."
"I…I can't," T.J admitted, "I'm sorry. But, I can promise you that doing nothing, that not taking the leap, not having faith in a better tomorrow, will ensure things never improve."
Zephyrus sighed. "This is pointless. What you speak of is… impossible…"
"But we have to try," Xect said after a few tense breaths. "We will take you to Jack Landors."