The blockade runner moved smoothly through hyperspace nearing Naboo. Inside the diplomatic vehicle, Trini, Jason, and Zack practiced katas along with Zeb, a Lasat member of the ship's crew, as Billy uploaded the stolen Imperial codes to the data pads they would be using for their mission to steal an Imperial supply train on the nearby planter, Ilea Three. Kat stepped onto the bridge of the diplomatic ship and saw the pilot and co-pilot looking over their instruments. The Co-pilot turned and stood from her seat. She was a petite human with short dark hair with a brightly colored pink streak in it.
"Kat," she said with a nod.
"Sabine, Hera, how are we doing?"
"We'll be arriving shortly," Hera answered as she turned in the pilot's seat to look at Kat. Kat smiled at the Twi'lek woman. Her pale green-yellow skin and bright red lips gave the alien woman the appearance of something almost right out of an old Star Trek episode. Her faded leather bomber jacket and ever-present goggles on her forehead reminded Kat of pictures she had seen of pilots during World War II.
"Thanks," Kat said with a slight nod. "I'll go inform the others."
Kat entered the ship's hanger finding most of the others still going about their activities. "Everyone, get ready. Hera says we'll be arriving shortly."
"Alright, let's go get these supplies," Zack said with a broad smile as he clapped his hands together.
"Easy Zack," Trini laughed.
"Yeah, man, anything could happen on this trip. We need to take it one step at a time," Jason said clapping his hand on Zack's shoulder.
"Affirmative, for instance, if the Empire suspects that their codes may have been compromised, they could have updated them and the ones we have would be rendered useless," Billy said as he handed out the data pads with the codes in question on them to his fellow rangers.
"Not much for pep talks are ya kid?" Zeb asked with an amused laugh.
"Has anyone seen Tommy?" Kat asked with a slight shake of her head.
"The Jedi?" Zeb asked. When Kat gave a nod he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb toward the turbo lift that Kat had used to come down to the hanger. "I think I saw him in one of the cabins up on deck two. Left out of the lift, second one on the right."
"Thanks, Zeb," Kat said as she made her way to the turbo lift.
She followed Zeb's directions and soon found herself standing outside of one of the cabin doors. She knocked on it hoping that Zeb had been right. "Come in!" Tommy called from the other side. Kat pressed the door control and the door slid aside. When it did she found Tommy sitting cross-legged on the floor with his eyes closed, one hand folded over the other, and his thumbs pressed together. Several small items in the cabin floated in mid-air as he meditated.
"We're almost to Naboo. I thought you'd want to know."
"Thanks, Kat," he said as the items gently floated back into place. he stood and sighed. "I think we'll need to wrap this up and get back to Earth as soon as we can."
"Is something wrong back home? Surely, Zordon and Alpha would have contacted us if something was going on."
"You're right, but, I sense that Zedd won't wait much longer to unleash his next plan, and something about it felt…" he said trailing off as if in thought.
"What is it?"
"Familiar, dark and twisted, but familiar."
Before either could say anything else there was a loud beep as the droids intercom came to life. "Attention, attention, we're arriving over Naboo," Hera's voice said over the ship's speakers. Both Tommy and Kat excited the cabin and headed to the Turbo lift took it up to deck one, and entered the bridge. Through the ship's front view screen, they saw the blue and green planet that oddly reminded them of Earth.
"Strap yourselves in," Sabine said with a smile.
A few short minutes later the rangers made their way through The Royal Palace, escorted through the palace by members of The Royal Guard and an elderly woman named Edora Mar'shan, one of Queen Ardalia's most trusted advisors. Each of the rangers marveled at the high-ceilinged hallways, made of marble and decorated with elaborate and beautiful sculptures and works of art. Finally, they entered the throne room. On the elaborate throne sat, Queen Ardalia the current Queen of Naboo.
She wore a dark red dress trimmed with gold her face painted all white except for to red circles on her cheeks below her eyes and s single vertical red stripe at the center of her bottom lip. Her long light brown hair turned into an extremely elegant updo.
"Your Highness, may I present: The Power Rangers," Edora said motioning to them. "Jedi Knight, Commander Tommy Oliver, Lieutenant Kat Hillard, Lieutenant Jason Scott, Lieutenant, Trini Kwan, Lieutenant Billy Cranston, and Lieutenant Zack Taylor."
"Your Highness," the rangers said together as they bowed slightly in respect to the ruler of Naboo.
"Welcome Rangers," Queen Ardalia said with a slight smile. "I am Queen Ardalia, I welcome you on behalf of The People of Naboo."
"It is our honor to be here, Your Highness," Tommy said with a nod.
"The honor is mine, Commander to have one of the few Jedi left in the Galaxy among us. It is a great shame to me and my people that The Emperor was born here. It is my hope that this conflict can be ended soon, and democracy restored to our galaxy."
"If The Force wills it, Your Highness, it will be." Queen Adalia gave a nod before turning her attention to one of the guards.
"Captain, please take our friends to get ready for their mission."
"Yes, Your Highness," a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties with short dark hair said as he stepped forward. "Please follow me. We'll go get changed, then head to the hangar and take off of Ilea Three.
Sometime later Tommy and the others rode in the passenger area of the stolen Imperial Shuttle as the captain landed at an Imperial Facility on Ilea Three. Each of them wore the grey and black uniform of an Imperial Officer.
"Show time," Tommy thought as he slipped his lightsaber into the shoulder holster hidden under the grey jacket of the uniform he wore and then quickly double-checked the blaster pistol in his hip holster.
Giving each other one final nod, the rangers walked down the boarding ramp of the shuttle marching side-by-side playing the part of Imperial Officers perfectly. They marched up to who looked to be the officer in charge. She was a stern-looking woman with a cold face, sunken-in dark brown eyes, thin lips, and a hawk's beak for a nose. "Ma'am, my squad and I are reporting for escort duty," Tommy said as he and the others saluted the woman. She looked at them with an appraising eye, looking for even the slightest flaw in their uniforms. Thankfully, she found none.
"Credentials," she said in a cold tone. Tommy handed her a data pad with all of their forged I.D.'s again she looked over the pad and handed it back to Tommy. "Skiff four, starboard stern of the train when we get going," she said pointing to the appropriate skiff before walking off. The rangers began walking to the skiff where a Scout Trooper was waiting at the controls.
"So now we have to get on the train at the rear, fight our way to the front, take control of the train, figure out how to uncouple the cars, and signal the LAATs?" Zack asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Well, if only one thing's going to go wrong on this job, at least we got it out of the way early," Jason said.
"I think we're going to need a lot of luck to pull this off," Trini said as they neared the skiff.
"I'm starting to think there's no such thing as luck," Tommy said before he and the others boarded the skiff.
As they took their positions, the two lead skiff's repulsors came to life easing the crafts off of the ground and they began moving towards the front of the train. When they did the massive repulsors on the train kicked on and with a booming, sound the train lifted off of the ground and slowly began to move through the broad gates of its track.
"Billy, do you have their communications jammed?" Tommy asked quietly.
"Affirmative, Tommy."
Tommy gave a nod before turning and walking back to Jason. "Jase, remember, when I give the signal take out the pilot, then we all jump for the train."
"You got it, bro," Jason said with a nod. Tommy moved back to his post on the skiff. A few long minutes later, Tommy felt a tremor in The Force telling him the time to move was now. He looked at Jason pressed his right index finger to the right side of his and flicked it forward.
Jason stepped behind the Scout Trooper, grabbed him, and tossed him off of the skiff before he knew what had happened. With the skiff's pilot gone the six rangers leaped from the skiff, landing on the back of the rear car.
Sensing several Imperial Stormtroopers on the other side, Tommy summoned his lightsaber and activated it, the distinctive snap-hiss and the bright glow from the green blade filled the air. "Stay behind me," he ordered before opening the door. For an instant the Stormtroopers on the other side stared at Tommy in shock, taking advantage of this Tommy quickly cut down the two Stormtroopers nearest the door.
"Target the Jedi!" the Stormtrooper sergeant ordered. The other troopers quickly raised their blaster rifles and opened fire. Following guidance from The Force Tommy moved his lightsaber at inhuman speed, deflecting some blaster bolts away from himself and the other rangers, and reflecting others back at the troopers as he moved down the car. As he neared one of the many troopers, he used The Force to pull the trooper to him and spin him around in the air so that he faced the other troupers. Tommy took control of the man's finger, forcing him to shoot several shots at the other troopers before a blaster bolt caught him in the chest. Tommy tossed the dead Stormtrooper aside and slashed at another trooper before moving his blade defensively again as the rest of the troopers continued to fire at him. Seeing and opening Kat burst through the door and moved to a forward-facing bench, crouching behind it. She then pulled her blaster pistol and began returning the quickly thinning Imperial forces. As Tommy and Kat cleared the car, Jason, Trini, and Zack opened fire with their blaster pistols on the guards on the other skiff guarding the rear of the train.
"Car secured, let's move up," Tommy said as the other rangers entered the car.
"Right behind you, Tommy," Zack said as he moved toward the front of the car.
"Hold on, Zack. The costume party portion of this operation is over," Tommy said looking at his team. "It's Morphin' Time! Dragonzord!"
Smiling, each of the other rangers pulled out their hidden morphers and held them to the sky.
"Mastadon!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Triceratops!"
"Sabertooth Tiger!"
"Tyrannosaurus!"
"The next car is an open flat freight car. Let's cross quickly," Tommy said before opening the door.
The six rangers ran out into the open car. Thankfully, it was still widely open with the containers on it stacked neatly on either side. As they moved across the car a group of Scout and Stormtroopers excited the car ahead of them, and two stormtroopers armed with heavy cannons emerged onto the car's roof.
Seeing the situation, Tommy was thankful he had decided to put the two hilts of his lightsabers together. He pressed the lower activation switch, then defensively held the now doubled-bladed lightsaber.
"Come on, come on, target me," Tommy thought as he looked at the troopers with the heavy cannons. He heard the faint whirl of the barrels begin to spin, much like a Gatling Gun. He began to spin his staff-like weapon as the blaster bolts from the heavy cannons came at him.
Deflecting the bolts back at their respective senders, Tommy watched with a grin as the two troopers were cut down. The other troopers, now without cover panicked and froze in fear.
"Take them out and move up!"
"Got it," Jason said as he made his way up the open car, slashing with his Power Sword and firing his Blade Blaster.
He glanced over and saw Trini duck under a Scout Trooper's vibo riot baton and stab him in the back of the knee where his plastoid armor offered no protection. "AAAAHHH!" The trooper screamed in agony as the blade of Trini's dagger cut through the tendons in his knee. A second Scout Trooper swung his baton down at Trini, but the yellow ranger used her second dagger to block it. Then, suddenly a steel arrow with pink fletching struck the second Scout Trooper in the center of the chest with a pronounced thunk as it embedded into the trooper's chest. The trooper gasped, dropped his baton, and slowly fell backward.
While this was going on, Zack used his Power Ax to cut through Scout Troopers and Stormtroopers alike. Billy used his Power Lance to clear the area around him as he spun and flipped gracefully as Imperial Troopers around him continued to fall, Kat providing cover fire from her Power Bow as her team continued to move forward.
It continued car after car, and finally, they reached the foremost car, another flat open car they were met with no resistance. But, a tremor in The Force gave him a warning. He looked at the engine and saw a Stormtrooper with a rocket launcher getting ready to fire. He reached out with The Force and moved his left hand right across his body sending the trooper flying off of the train, however, as he did he managed to fire the rocket. The rangers breathed a sigh of relief when the rocket missed their car but relief quickly turned to horror as the rocket struck one of the pile-ons, destroying it and sending the rear of the train into a wild slide, scraping the wall of the canyon and taking out the next pile-on.
"Oops," Tommy said in an almost deadpan tone. "Jason, Zack uncouple the cars from the engine, Trini keep them covered. Billy signal the LAATs, Rouge Squadron, and Han and Chewie. Kat, come with me," Tommy said as he and the others struggled to keep their footing as the train slid from side to side as it wound its way through the canyon.
"What are we going to do?" Kat asked as she and Tommy began making their way back through the train.
"I might need you to cover me if any reinforcements show up. With the train sliding around like this, the LAATs won't be able to pick up the cars, I'll have to try and steady them with The Force."
"Won't that be difficult?"
"Yeah," Tommy said as he suddenly came to a stop. "This is about midway, I think I'll have the best bet of trying to steady this going from hear." He sat cross-legged on the floor, closed his eyes, and reached out with The Force focusing on the train. Up front, the others managed to uncouple the cars causing them to slow. Sensing his opportunity Tommy began to try and steady the train, groaning with effort, sweat quickly began to leak down his face and pool in the bottom of his helmet.
"I can't believe it, but, I think he's doing it," Kat thought in amazement as she felt the train begin to steady.
Outside ten Republic Era LAATs streaked through the sky heading for the train. The lead LAAT steadied itself over the front freight car and lowered its massive magnetic clamp. It attached to the train a heavy metallic thunk. At every fourth car, the process was repeated until all of the LAATs had attached to the train and began to lift it into the air.
Tommy breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he pulled himself to his feet. He took a few unsteady steps before his balance fully returned.
"Come on, let's get out of here," he said as he and Kat began making their way back to the front of the train. By the time they had, Han had positioned The Millennium Falcon near the train. The rangers jumped from the train to The Falcon and entered the ship through the top hatch.
"They're aboard Han, let's help Luke and the others deal with those oncoming TIEs," Leia said as she left the cockpit, heading for one of the turrets followed by Corporal Jansen, who would man the other turret.
"You got it Your Worship," the smuggler said as he eased the throttle forward. "Chewie, angle the deflectors forward." The Wookie roared approval as he made the necessary adjustments.
As The Falcon and The Imperial TIE Fighters neared one another a volley of red blaster bolts erupted from the freighter's dorsal and belly turrets and were joined by another large volley of red blaster bolts from the arriving Rouge Squadron: twelve of The Alliance's best pilots led by Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles.
Although smaller in number, the skill, determination, and the better-built X-Wings made quick work of the TIEs. As soon as they cleared the atmosphere of Ilea Three the rebel craft all made the jump to hyperspace, heading to rendezvous with the main fleet. Once there they would begin to take inventory of what they had recovered from the train.
Several hours later, Tommy was sifting through one of the enclosed freight cars now held in the main hanger on Home One. Billy and Kat worked with him while Zack, Jason, and Trini searched another car. "Hey, I think I've got something," Kat said holding up an old-looking book. Despite its age, it appeared to be in remarkably good condition. "Aren't these Jedi Symbols?" she asked pointing the the emblems on the cover.
"They are," Tommy said as he took the book from her outstretched hand and studied it. It was kept shut with a steady lock with no place for a key. Tommy smiled as he focused on the lock With The Force, it took a few tries to get the fine control just right but eventually, he was able to unlock it.
"Whatever is in that book, must be of incredible value to be locked so securely," Billy said when the lock popped open.
"Let's hope so," Tommy said as he opened the book. After a few seconds of reading his eyes went wide. "I-I don't believe it!"
"What is it?" Kat asked.
"Master Yoda told me this was lost, it details how to make High-Republic Era Jedi Battle Armor. It's incredibly light, durable, and lightsaber-resistant. Jedi stopped using it when the secrets to forging it were lost."
"Maybe with the connections the Alliance has, or maybe even with the capabilities we have at The Command Center, perhaps it might be possible to forge a new set," Billy said rubbing his chin in thought.
"Let's hope so Billy," Tommy said with a nod.
"Guys come here!" they heard Trini yell.
"You gotta see this!" Zack yelled. Tommy, Kat, and Billy shared a glance at one another before running out of their car and over to the car where their friends had been searching.
"What is it?" Tommy asked.
"These," Jason said showing them an open wooden box lined with what appeared to be blue felt on the inside. Sitting on the felt were six golden coins much like their own only instead of dinosaurs the images on them showed a falcon, a frog, a crane, a bear, a wolf, and an ape.
"Th-those are…" Billy said his mouth hanging open in shock.
"Power Coins," Trini said with a nod.
"Come on, we better get these back to The Command Center," Tommy said tucking the Jedi Text under his arm and raising his communicator.
"Right, let's hope we're right about that armor, and the coins," Kat said as they pressed their communicators and began teleporting back to their home dimension and The Command Center.
Lord Zedd stood on the balcony of his throne room, looking out toward Earth. He saw the rangers streak to the blue and green world that both he and Rita Repulsa had failed to capture numerous times. "So they've returned at last," a voice said from behind Zedd.
The grotesque warlord turns to the speaker and laughed evilly. The speaker was shrouded in black robes, the hood hiding their face. "I see the process is complete," Zedd said, a hint of dark glee in his gravely voice.
"Yes, My Lord," the robed figure said with a bow.
"Then go, and upon your success, you will become my Empress of Evil."
"It will be done," the robed figure said before she approached Zedd, affectionately stroking the side of his metal mask with her hand, her nails painted in alternating black and pink. Without lowering her head, she stood on her toes and softly kissed the radiator-like face plate of Zedd's makes before leaving the throne room.