The Phantom Princess, Chapter 14
On Eltar, Shadow was already dressed and ready to start the day. He looked outside at the courtyard and watched the Elite Guard go through their morning drills. He smiled. Lots had happened the previous day and he was happy. His little sister was back, he had Cassie around and Fadus was making changes to ensure he and their sister had no issues moving forward.
Their sister. He couldn't believe he was saying that now.
He left his room and headed out to the dining hall. Having so many power rangers around and that Trey was even sticking around made him feel as if being a Prince wasn't so bad.
Until he and Cerina started arguing.
Given the circumstances now, he did his best not to argue with his sister. He had just gotten her back. Fadus and himself were listless without her around. Now things were moving fast, trying to stop the Machine Empire from taking her out, her and Zhane were going to get married and now he and Cassie were courting.
Entering the dining hall, Shadow saw Cassie there, grabbing a plate to eat. The seamstress had indeed made Cassie an outfit. It was a one shoulder pale pink shimmering top, with an asymmetrical flowing bottom, the left hip being the shortest part to the right hip with the longest bit of fabric. Under that top was a white lace trimmed body suit. Her hair was piled upon her head, a few long curly strands falling from the top of her piled hair.
Shadow walked over to Cassie and kissed her cheek. "Morning, Cassie."
Cassie blushed.
Shadow grabbed his food and turned to sit down as Cassie went to grab one more item before joining him. As she sat down, Fadus came in carrying a box. He looked annoyed. And looking like that first thing in the morning was a bad thing.
"She's gone."
Shadow swore right away. Cassie eyed him because she didn't think Shadow knew such words. Zhane had been right about her wanting to leave. And they just ignored it. "Did she leave that for us?"
"Yeah. At least she listened to you to at least tell us where she's going." Fadus sighed.
Fadus waited until everyone was there, then he stood up. "Rangers...Cerina left Eltar."
Andros shook his head.
"Let's open the box." Fadus flipped open the lid and a holographic image of Cerina in her ranger suit appeared.
"Fadus, Shadow...I know you two are going to be mad but me and Justin; we went to KO-35. So he could complete his mission. Cause Gasket and Archerina are at mom's summer palace." There was a pause. "I can take on Gasket and Archerina and I promise I'll win. They want me gone…well they have to work for it. I want to know how they survived Dad's sacrifice. I want to know why their future selves want me gone. Obviously, I did something to make them mad."
"I took OMEGA and I know Andros is already trying to come up with a plan. Andros, I will have Omega record anything out of the ordinary in the area of the summer palace and transmit that to DECA, so you have as much information as possible."
"Well, at least she knew we were going to follow," Trey commented.
"And Andros will need as many people as possible to come after us so I used the chamber under our home to help restore the remaining Thunder Rangers morphers. All but the White Tiger. I did try, but Trini had told me that Dad and Alpha made that morpher and I wasn't able to restore it. I don't know what they did. And they aren't around to ask. But you do have Dragonzord at least. I couldn't restore the Thunderzords, there wasn't enough time. Maybe if I try harder, I could. But as far as Thunder powers and weapons go, they're available. Be safe everyone. And again, Shadow, Fadus...trust me that I can do this." Then the image flickered off.
Fadus watched as the inside of the box opened up, revealing the Lion Thunderzord coin, the Firebird Thunderzord coin and the Red Dragon Thunderzord coin. "I'll be-?!"
"Where is the Unicorn and Griffin...crap Trini and Billy are with her." Shadow said then he realized what was happening.
"At least she and Justin aren't alone."
Zach reached for his morpher and grinned when he held it.
Andros took charge right away. "DECA, fire up the engines. We leave in 10 minutes." He then noticed that Zhane wasn't there. "It looks like Billy and Trini aren't the only ones with her." Andros had a determined look on his face.
Trey stood up. "I'll stay here. The rest of you should go."
Tommy had the Dragon Dagger with him and he looked at Fadus as Shadow readied himself to go. "I'll stay too." Tommy held out the Dagger to Fadus. " But Prince Fadus...you need to go after her."
Fad didn't know what to say.
"Go, I can handle things without a zord or morphing."
Andros placed a hand on Fadus' shoulder. "Tommy's right. Cerina needs her brothers to go after her. I won't let anything happen to you."
"I've got no doubts there. Tommy, are you sure?"
"Now that I know Dragonzord was originally yours... Yes, I'm sure." If Tommy wanted to be fully honest, he was making sure he wasn't around Kimberly. If he was honest with himself, there were still lingering feelings there that he was trying not to have rekindle just because.
"Ok then." Fadus took off his crown. "Trey, do me a favor, cousin. Tell the counsel what's going on. Shadow and I are going after Cerina."
"They will not be happy, but I shall tell them."
KImberly took her Fire Bird morpher and Jason hesitated before taking his Red Dragon morpher.
"What's wrong bro?"
"It feels weird. Having a morpher again."
"I know what you mean, Jay, but Trini and Billy need us, not to mention Cerina and Justin." Kimberly remarked.
"I know."
Andros was already walking out of the dining room and heading to DECA. Shadow and Fadus grinned at each other. They were about to forefill something they had always wanted to do-fight together as rangers-and now they would.
Back on Omega...
Billy and Trini were watching as Omega was transmitting all the data it was gathering to DECA in hopes of helping Andros. "It seems like Cerina is convinced that he will come after her."
"She told me he was a good strategist so it would make sense sending the data. Then again...what if the others are coming after us."
"Well then Trini, it's going to be fun explaining why the 2 most rational members of the original team decided to follow a headstrong princess into a fight." Billy grinned.
"I can almost hear Jason now... 'You two should've tried to stop her...blah, blah, blah...' I've learned that while Cerina is headstrong and cautious, she also wants this done and over with, get her life back. I have to admit...so do I..."
"You will Trini. Both of you..." Billy leaned in to kiss Trini and she smiled in the kiss.
Beta discreetly entered the bridge and waited for them to notice him being there.
Billy was the first to notice. "Beta! Is something wrong?"
"Not at all. I wanted to thank you for not only fixing me but also improving my design and systems. Your skills are indeed impressive."
Beta wasn't a tall, lanky designed robot anymore. He had a far more sleeker design, his systems now included a jetpack and upgraded weapons systems, along with a processor speed he didn't know was possible. Beta felt as if he could take on the universe with his new and improved design.
"Think nothing of it. If you're going to protect Princess Cerina, you should have the full capability to do so."
"Speaking of, looks like we're about a half hour from KO-35," Trini said, interrupting the pair.
"As much as we should go tell Zhane and Cerina and wake Justin...I think we should wait, give them time..." Billy assumed.
"Justin is awake. As for Lord Zhane and Princess Cerina..." Beta said delicately.
Trini laughed.
DECA broke orbit as Andros put in the coordinates to KO-35.
Fadus was in the ranger costume of the Green Ranger, his helmet under 1 arm. He felt odd being the Green Ranger again, but seeing Shadow across the bridge of the Astro Mega Ship in his Phantom Ranger suit eased his nerves.
"Looks like DECA is getting pockets of data from Omega Ship." Cassie informed Andros.
"Good. any data we can use?" Andros asked.
"Looks like there are enemies gathering around the Summer Palace," DECA stated. "I am still cyphering the pockets of data."
"They know something we don't...why would they gather in one place?" Carlos thought out loud.
"It might be...they're expecting a fight?" Jason spoke up.
"Like Gasket and Archerina is hoping Cerina shows up..."
"Let's not jump to worse-case scenarios here," Shadow replied. "It could be they're going to make themselves known."
"Wouldn't that mean taking over the planet?" Ashley asked.
"MY people just got back to KO-35. They're not losing our planet again. The Machine Empire must end here. Today. Otherwise, they will continue to come at the universe."
"We're here to help. The machine kingdom doesn't have an army. We...we ARE an army." Jason remarked.
"If those Mercerites are there though..."
"TJ, it doesn't matter. We fight. And we'll win."
Andros and Jason's words resonated with the rangers and Fadus and Shadow knew then that their father had chosen well.
"Andros, more information has been decoded. Most of the energy signatures are indeed Mercerites," DECA interrupted. "Also, it appears that Omega has been able to locate some technology that is from the future...It's also located 2 signatures. Gasket and Archerina would be my guess."
"DECA...before telling us anything else, decipher the packets for the next 20 minutes. Then we'll plan."
Beta watched as KO-35 came closer. He noted that there were a few satellites in orbit. Beta knew they weren't there a couple of days ago. "Omega, cut the data feed. NOW!"
"As you wish." All data sending stopped and the Omega Ship activated its cloak."
"Beta, what's going on?" Billy asked.
"Satellites. KO-35 doesn't have them, which means they're Machine Empire technology. Didn't want us to be spotted before we landed."
Cerina and Zhane walked onto the bridge, holding hands. She saw the looks that Billy and Trini had. "What's wrong?" Zhane asked.
"Machine Empire has satellites. If we get closer while transmitting data to DECA, they will know we're coming. So we did a hard stop," Trini explained.
Cerina looked at the satellites on the screen. "OMEGA...approach from the most northern point and hit low orbit asap."
"Cerina?"
"We'll have to sweep low and Justin and I will need to fly in low and go through the back tunnel that way. The rest of you, go attack. I had OMEGA's weapons upgraded. Use Omega as long as possible...just um...let's not trash my ship again."
Zhane chuckled and Cerina swatted at him to shush him.
Beta nodded. "Ok. We go in five."
Cerina then went to get her Galaxy Glider prepped.
Zhane waited until Cerina was out of earshot to say, "This doesn't feel right."
"I agree. $50 bucks says they know we're here or they're expecting us to be here soon." Billy said out loud. "Beta, could we go from low orbit to space pretty fast?"
"We can. You want to do a drop off, go to orbit and take out the satellites?" Beta guessed.
"Yeah. We take out the satellites, so the Astro Megaship wouldn't be detected. Gasket and Archerina may be expecting Cerina but wouldn't be expecting all sorts or rangers coming by."
"Let's understand that all we're doing is distracting them. I just hope Cerina and Justin can work fast."
Cerina pulled her Galaxy Glider into place. She then went to a terminal and after a few keystrokes, decided to record a message for Andros and the others. She kept an eye on the countdown and finished before it hit 0:00. She then hit send, bypassing the stop on the data stream to DECA. She then took a breath and let it out slowly. "This is it. Me versus the Machine Empire. I better win this fight. LET'S ROCKET!"
Andros noticed that the data stream stopped. He tried not to be nervous about it.
"Andros, there is a message in this packet of data, addressed to you," DECA informed him.
Andros didn't care that the others were around. He immediately played it. Cerina came onto the screen." Andros, I need you to listen carefully. There are satellites around KO-35. They match the technology signature of the Machine Empire. Gasket and Archerina are expecting me. And well...can't disappoint them."
"What, what is she saying!?" cried Zach.
"Justin and I are going to take the secret tunnel, the one that ends at the hall outside the throne room. If we get lucky, we'll bypass them both and end this mess...If not..." Cerina sighed. "I need you to promise me that Justin will be safe. He's younger and has his whole life ahead of him. Me...I'm ok now. So I'm going into this fight knowing that it's 2 on 1. I'm not sure if the others will or can deal with the satellites. Me, I'm going to put all that stealthy stuff I learned over the years and get through this fight."
"So do what you do best...And me, I'm going to do what I'm best at." The transmission cut out.
Andros slammed his fist against the panel. "DECA, bring up all the information about the satellites orbiting KO-35." He knew that his mind was the only thing that could help Cerina at this point. Because he was going to keep Justin safe...But this time, Cerina would be too.
Omega descended at a quick pace as the rear door of the ship opened up. A single glider left that doorway, and it started to close back up. As the Galaxy Glider cleared the ship, the Omega Ship shot up into orbit.
Beta nodded as the ship broke the atmosphere and was back in space. "Now here's the fun part-taking out the satellites."
"We could try to do a sort of swing by, shooting them as we go. Maybe pull some of the satellites with us, to follow us…" Trini suggested.
"That's not a bad idea. IF we can get that Machine Empire tech to follow us, we can take them out, then go right for the palace…" Beta sighed. "This fight will be rough. Even if it's just us 4, trying to keep their attention would be our mission. Can't let them realize that Cerina is inside. You 3 ready for this?"
"Born ready," said Zhane, cocky as ever.
Trini and Billy merely nodded.