Prologue

"Tobias? Are you out here?"

Tobias Chan-Aldrige turned around and met the eye contact of his adopted mother, Karen Aldrige.

"Uh-huh." he replied, returning his gaze to the stars above. He didn't know why, but he'd always loved space and things that had to do with space.

"You'd better come in before it gets too late." Karen called. Sometimes she worried about Tobias. He could sit on the porch swing and stare at the sky for a couple of hours without realizing how late it was. She'd seen it happen. "It's a school night, anyway."

"It's Thursday night. Tommorrow's a half-day of school for teacher conferences. Then it's straight off to Spring Break." Tobias replied.

"That doesn't mean you can stay up 'till eleven or whatever." Karen walked out into the warm evening and put a hand on Tobias' shoulder as she sat down next to him. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

"No." Tobias stared distantly at glittering stars; shining like diamonds on midnight blue velvet.

"Well, I'll give you about five minutes, okay?" Karen made a small smile and stood up to go back inside.

"Sure. Thanks." Tobias watched her go into the house. He wished she would just come to understand the fact that he was 17 and really didn't need her to do this to him. In another year or so, he would be legal to move out.

Sighing quietly, he stared into the heavens above and made a wish. A wish that he could find out what ever happened to his birthparents. He'd been told that his mother had died and his father had abandoned him, but, for some reason, he didn't believe it.

Quit kidding yourself, Tobias. he thought to himself as he got up off the swing and headed inside. You have a nice family who obviously care about you. If they didn't then you wouldn't be living with them right now.

He walked inside and shut the porch door. Smiling at Karen and her husband, Thomas, he walked up the stairs to his room.

"Hey, Marco," Harlan Taylor shouted in the hallway of Angel Grove High School. It was second period and all the students were packing up for a ten-day weekend.

Marco Valerte looked up from pawing through his locker to see his best friend grinning at him and pointing at a blonde-haired girl wearing a white shirt and jeans talking to a African-American girl kneeling as she put ice skates in a pinkish-tinted gym bag.

Cassie Johnson and Dina Keithron. The amature figure skater and the cheerleader.

Walking over to Marco, Harlan chuckled, "Are we on for the Surf Spot Arcade?"

"Yep. Hang on a sec." Marco walked over to Dina. He kind of had a small crush on her, but nothing major comcidering he'd known her since they were little.

"So," he started. "Are you going to the Surf Spot today?"

"Sorry. Cassie's gonna practice and I told her I'd go watch." Dina replied, pushing her long blonde hair off her shoulder.

"Ahh...so maybe we'll catch you both later, huh?" Harlan added.

"Possibly." Cassie stood up and smoothed out her oversized, light pink, belted t-shirt the best she could. She dusted off the knees of her black leggings, which had collected a bit of dirt and dust from the floor and picked up her bag. The miniature go-cart-like janitory rovers aren't programmed to clean until the majority of the kids--not including the ones stuck wish detention--have left the building. "Why can't the rovers sweep and vacuum during lunch?" she muttered to herself.

"Don't tell me you don't remember what those varsity football players did to that one rover last time they were set to clean during lunch." Marco chuckled. "They turned it off and did a bit of 'practicing' with it."

"I remember that...those guys got detention for two months for tampering with and attempting to destroy school property." Dina agreed. "Come on, Cassie. Let's go. We'll see you guys around."

"Later Dina, Cassie." Marco nodded.

The two groups went off in different directions; Dina and Cassie going one way, Marco and Harlan going the other.

In another area of Angel Grove, Tobias and his instructor were going over a particular move. Tobias was pretty focused when it came to his training in martial arts, but he couldn't land the jump spinning-heel kick.

"Okay." Sensai DeSantos said. "Let's try that again."

Tobias nodded and aimed for the target pad DeSantos held up on his arm. He jumped and spun like he was supposed to with his leg extended.

"Kiiaah--oohhhf!" Tobias missed the target and landed on his rear.

"Take it slow." The sensai advised as he helped Tobias to his feet. Rocky DeSantos could easily recall the day he'd done a jump spinning-heel kick and fallen out of the ring, injuring his back in a way that pretty much ended his time as a Power Ranger. "Let's try it once or twice more before it gets too late."

Tobias nodded as his instructor raised the pad yet again. He jumped, shot his leg out like he was supposed to, and just nicked the target. He caught himself this time before he could fall.

"Good. You're doing better, Tobias."

"Thanks,"

"Well, it's almost 8. This lesson is dissmissed. I'll see you on Saturday, okay?" Rocky said, doing a slight bow. Tobias followed his lead and nodded.

Without another word, Tobias turned and went to change clothes.

Meanwhile, at the Angel Grove Ice Arena, Cassie was practicing some jumps. Dina smiled and clapped a bit as her friend landed a double axel.

"Good one!" the cheerleader shouted. Cassie paused and looked at her friend while shaking her head.

"Are you kidding? I wobbled on my landing." she replied.

"I didn't see that."

"You weren't looking at my skates then. You were watching the rest of me."

Just then, Harlan and Marco showed up.

"Hey, ladies. We miss any big falls or accidental loosening or removing of teeth, perhaps?" Marco asked.

"No, Marco. You didn't." Cassie replied, skating over to where the other three stood. "What are you guys doing here, anyhow?"

"We got bored and Marco kept losing quarters 'cause his mind was more on the fact you could have a supernova wipe-out and he wouldn't be there to see it." Harlan snickered. Marco rolled his eyes and kiddingly shoved his friend.

"Well, gentleman. You didn't miss anything but me screwing up a few double-axels."

"I still say it was perfect." Dina argued.

"And I say you weren't watching my feet."

"Allrighty then, Cassie." Looking at her watch, Dina blinked. "I need to be getting home. My mom'll ground me if I get back too late."

"Your mom will ground you? Come on, Dina-roo. You've got to be kidding." Marco teased.

"Make like a rat and be quiet." Dina rolled her eyes.

"Rats aren't quiet. They can be just as noisy as a cheerleader."

"I suppose you'd know, Rodent-Boy."

"I need to be getting home, too." Cassie interrupted the two before any more insults could be exchanged.

"We can walk you two home. After all, Marco doesn't live that far from you two." Harlan added.

"Let's go." Dina agreed as Cassie undid her laces and put on her shoes. After her friend was done, the cheerleader stuck her toungue out at Marco. Marco replied to that by crossing his eyes and sticking his toungue out in return.

The four walked out of the arena and into the night. There was very little cloud cover that night, so the stars were very visible. The shimmered and sparkled in the evening skies.

"What a night," Harlan said, looking up so his chin was about where his nose would have been.

"Yeah," Cassie agreed. "The way the stars look against the sky reminds me of this ice skating costume I've always liked..."

As they walked by a series of alleyways, a sound got their attention. It was like a metallic sound along with lots of solid things hitting walls and other such stationary objects.

"What was that?" Dina wondered.

"It's probably some cat or dog messing with trash bins, although why do they try to tear them open when you can run them over with a car and not destroy it?" Harlan shrugged.

"Wait a second. How would you know you can run trash bins over with a car and not take them out?" Cassie asked. Harlan grinned sheepishly. Just then, the noise got a bit louder. A small cry caught their attention. It didn't sound anything like an animal of any type. It sounded rather human.

"Let's go." Marco started jogging in the direction of the alley nearest to them.

"Right," Dina agreed as she followed. Cassie and Harlan exchanged glances and then chased after Dina and Marco's retreating backs.

There was mainly darkness and shadows, except for the areas that were illuminated by moonlight. The sounds got louder as they came to the back of a warehouse not far from the main road they'd been walking along.

"I am going to be sooo ground--" Dina was cut off as Marco grabbed her arm and lead her behind some barrels and drums. Harlan and Cassie followed suit.

"Shhhhhh! Look at that!" Marco hissed, pointing at the warehouse's loading dock. Just inside, the four teens spotted 10 or 13 monsters being fought by what appeared to be a Red Power Ranger. One of the monsters was different from the others. It looked like a mix of a dog and a crocodile. The other monsters were all very much crocodilian, but seemed to have some robotic build to them. They would be replaced everytime one of them was taken down for the count.

"Spiral Saber!" The Red Ranger shouted. This Ranger was very obvously female, concidering her build and the short little skirt. She brought the sword into the dog-like crocodile monster and sent it flying into a wall. "Had enough, Dingodile?"

"In your dreams, Ranger!" Dingodile replied, climbing to his feet. He pulled a flame thrower-looking device and blasted the Red Ranger. With a cry of pain, she collapsed to the ground, her sword flying out of her hand.

"We should do something!" Cassie whispered.

"Like what?" Harlan wondered with a hint of sarcasm. "She's a Ranger. Don't you think she can take care of herself?"

Four or five of the crocodile robots ran forward and dragged the stunned Ranger to her feet.

"Wait," Dina murmered. "There are only five of those lizard robots with the Red Ranger and Dingodile. Where'd the other five go?"

A soft, almost mechanical, growling sound came from beind them. Turning, the four saw the other five crocodile robots.

"Right there." Marco answered. "They're right there."

Before they could go so far as to attack, Harlan threw a nice upper kick and sent one of the monstrous reptilian robots flying.

"Kiiaaah!"

This kind of puzzled the remaining crocodile creatures. They really weren't too sure what to make of this powerless human that had just taken down one of their own. After a second or two, they came to a conclusion.

Attack!

Cassie decided to referece upon the kickboxing classes she'd taken previously that year. As one of the monsters charged her, she did a high upper kick and sent her attacker to the ground. Another came up behind her, and she did what almost could have been a sit spin if she'd been ice skating. The move had the same result as a drop-sweep kick and the other monster was on it's back.

"Aiyyaah!" Marco snorted in frustration as he swung and missed one of the crocodile monsters. He tried again and get dealt one in the stomach. "Third time's a charm." he muttered as his foot flew up and struck the creature in the chest, sending it reeling into a few drums.

The noise of the other struggle got the attention of Dingodile and the Red Ranger. She'd broken loose and was now on her offensive again.

"Ah! So you have a few friends to help you, eh?" Dingodile chuckled. "Well not for long! Crocatrons! Destroy them!"

It was about then that two things happened. One, about 14 more Crocatrons appeared and attacked.

"Ayyiiaaaaah!"

Two, Tobias showed up. He'd been walking home like he always did when he was returning from his martial arts lessons, come across the sight of some of his schoolmates and a Red Ranger fighting off a group of monsters, and decided to help out.

"Tobias?" Dina asked in surprise as she struggled free of the Crocatrons that had her pinned.

"Uhh....hi Dina." Tobias replied, ducking a swing and dealing his own. He spotted the Red Ranger's sword and rushed to get it. The Red Ranger, on the other hand, was being lifted by her throat. She struggled desperatly and was thrown to the floor, where she landed on her side and struggled to get to her feet.

"Hey Red!" Tobias called as he retrieved the sword and side-kicked an on-rushing Crocatron. The Red Ranger jerked her head in Tobias' direction.

"Catch!" he shouted, tossing the sword toward her. The Red Ranger grabbed it up and whipped it into a few Crocatrons. She then returned her attention to Dingodile, who was approaching fast. She kicked him in his scaly gut and knocked him back.

"Thanks," the Ranger murmered. Dina, Marco, Harlan, and Cassie charged Dingodile and sent him to the floor like a foursome of tacklers in a football game.

"Arrrrggh!" the monster hit the floor and scrambled up, backing off as toward the Crocatrons. "You haven't seen the last of me." he vowed as he and the Crocatrons vanished.

"This has turned out to be one weird night." Harlan muttered as he turned to look at Tobias. "Your name's Tobias, right? I never thought you could fight like that. Those were some cool moves."

"Same to you." Tobias smiled, then turned to the Red Ranger. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine...you all shouldn't even be here. I could have defeated them by myself." she replied with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Hey," Cassie stepped forward a bit. "We just helped you and now you're acting like a snob? What's with that?"

"What do you want?" the Red Ranger grumbled. "A medal? I appreciate you helping, but it was a stupid move. You could have been killed. Then what?" she asked, looking at the five. When no one volunteered an answer, she nodded. "That's what I thought. You should get back to your homes. You shouldn't even be out this late."

"What about you? Are you sure you'll be all right?" Dina asked.

"I'll be fine. I'm a bit scraped up, but that happens. Now do yourselves a favor and get out of here before someone comes along and jumps you all." the Red Ranger moved a few feet outside and spoke into a small device beneath her moon-white glove.

"Galaxy Glider! Hang ten!" she ordered. No sooner had she said it, a red hoverboard appeared and came to a stop a foot or so off the ground. Without another word, the Ranger leaned forward and took off, sending a bit of dirt and wind flying. Her form seemed to melt into a streak of light as she powered off into the night.

"Man," Harlan sighed as he and the others watched the red streak of light vanish. "That is one Ranger with a 'tude problem."

Hovering in space, just out of range of any Earth telescope's view, was a large blue ship. The Astro Megaship, as it was called. A red streak of light whizzed up to it and dissapeared inside.

Upon landing, the Red Ranger removed her helmet and let her long, chest-length dark brown and blond streaked hair fall down from where it had been pinned up.

"Lunandria! You're back!" a cheery robotic voice said. The Red Ranger turned her hazel-greenish gaze toward the door to see a red and gold robot walk in, lights flashing.

"Hi Alpha." she murmered as past him through the door and down the hall to the Bridge. Alpha followed her.

"How did it go? I saw that a few teenagers like yourself stopped by to help you out."

"They're not like me." Lunandria muttered.

"They seemed rather nice, and they obviously knew some self-defense." Alpha trailed off.

"What are you talking about?" The Red Ranger turned to look at Alpha.

"I'm just mentioning the fact that perhaps they could be your teammates." At those words, Lunandria's eyes got big; fast.

"My what ?! Teammates? I don't think so, Alpha. DECA? Do a scan for the Dark Fortress, or anything that could possibly be a member of Vortrexis' fleet. Parallel thirty-two-point five."

<Scanning parallel thirty-two-point five.> DECA confirmed.

"Lunandria, won't you give them a chance?" Alpha wondered.

"No, Alpha. I don't need them." Lunandria replied stubbornly.

"You know, your father said the same thing to DECA and I once. It's funny, I guess. You're so much alike."

"What? My father didn't want teammates either?" Lunandria looked at Alpha with one eyebrow raised.

"No, he didn't. Not at first. But with a little encouragement, he accepted them as teammates and one of them, later, as his wife. Your mother." Alpha explained.

The Red Ranger thought for a few minutes. Did she really need the help of strangers? She recalled on her mother telling her once that her father had almost never gotten to know her well enough, let alone trust her and her friends enough to be Rangers and fight by his side. Could she do the same thing and attempt to trust those who might not be trustworthy?

"Alpha?" she asked after a few minute or two.

"Yes Lunandria?"

"I...I'll...give them...a chance." she said quietly. "Teleport them up here."

<Teleporting now.> DECA replied.

Cassie, Harlan, Tobias, Dina, and Marco walked in silence for a few minutes. They were heading to Harlan's house, considering it was closest. >From there, they had decided that Cassie, Tobias, Dina, and Marco could all call their parents and assure them they hadn't been killed or anything.

"Is it just me, or do any of you all think the Red Ranger's a jerk?" Harlan asked suddenly.

"I think you might be right, Harlan." Marco muttered.

"You don't know that. She might have been under stress. I mean, she wasn't expecting us to show up. If we had gotten hurt or killed, she would have had that on her mind." Dina stated.

"Or she could just be a jerk," Harlan grumbled.

"You notice she was alone. Maybe her team got killed or something. That would put anyone in a bad mood." Tobias said flatly. The others all stopped and looked at him.'

"That, too," Cassie added.

"Whatever!" Harlan threw his hands up. "She was just mean. That's all I--" he stopped when he felt something strange happen.

"Whoa!" Cassie cried out. Apparently, she felt it too. The all felt very strange, like something was surging through them.

Before any more words were spoken, they became sparkling streaks of yellow, pink, white, black, and blue and rocketed upward through the night sky.

The five confused teens landed in a strange place. Five large glowing slide-looking things were imbedded in the wall directing outward.

"Whoa! Where are we?" Tobias wondered, looking around.

"Hi! Welcome to the Astro Megaship." a cheery voice said from behind them.

Cassie, Tobias, Dina, Marco, and Harlan turned to see a red and gold robot, standing about five feet tall, waving at them.

"Why does that name seem familiar like I might have heard it before...who are you?" Cassie asked.

"My name is Alpha 6."

<I am DECA, the Astro Megaship's onboard computer.> a new voice said from above.

Looking up, they saw a security camera with a red light in it peering down at them.

"The Astro Megaship? Is that the Red Ranger's space ship?" Marco looked out a window at the stars outside.

"Yes," a new voice startled them. There, in the doorway, stood a girl about 5' 6". Her hair was deep dark brown and long, perhaps to her chest, with blonde stripes. She was wearing a grey-silver jacket and pants with a red, form-fitting shirt. In her hands, she carried a long black box with silver lining.

"Nice hair," Marco commented.

The girl rolled her eyes slightly and walked in the door.

"Maar-co." Cassie elbowed him.

Tobias smiled at her. The Red Ranger was beautiful in his eyes.

"So, Miss Red Ranger. Why are we here?" Marco asked.

"My name is Lunandria. You're here because...I...need your...help." Lunandria's eyes lowered to the floor. "I've realized that I can't fight Vortrexis alone."

"You're saying what? You want us to be Rangers?" Cassie asked.

"Yes."

"Feel free to explain who this Vortrexis is anytime." Marco added

"Vortrexis is who Dingodile and the Crocatrons work for." Alpha said.

"So we're gonna sit here in a space ship and defend the Earth from this Vortrexis guy; whoever he is?" Harlan asked.

"I really don't know. I don't spend all my time orbiting Earth. There are other things too." Lunandria replied. She set the box down on the table.

"Before I give these to you, I need to make sure you know the ground rules."

"Okay, shoot." Tobias said.

"One, don't ever use your powers for selfish reasons. Two, never escalate a battle. Three, you can never tell anyone you're a Power Ranger. Understood?" Lunandria said.

"I dunno..." Marco said. Lunandria gave him a rather questioning look. "Kidding! Just kidding."

"Just ignore Marco, Luna." Dina sighed as the Red Ranger turned and opened the box. When she turned back to them, she was holding two morphers in one hand and two in the other. Alpha had joined her and was holding a rather oblong, silver tinted morpher.

Walking up to the five, she began.

"Cassie," she stated. "You are the Pink Space Ranger. Your special weapon is the Sattelite Stunner."

"Cool. Thanks." Cassie smiled as she took the Astro Morpher. She felt a rush of energy, almost like when they'd teleported to the Megaship.

"Marco." Lunandria continued. "You're the Black Space Ranger. Your special weapon is the Lunar Lance."

Marco nodded as he took his Astro Morpher. He, too, felt strange as he held it in his hand.

"Dina," Lunandria's voice wavered faintly. "You...are the Yellow Space Ranger. Your special weapon is the Star Slinger."

Dina smiled as she took her Astro Morpher and Lunandria made an attempt to smile in return, but failed. To Dina, there was something rather familiar about this Red Ranger. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

The Red Ranger moved down the line and in front of Tobias.

"Tobias," she said, putting the Astro Morpher in his hand. "You are the Blue Space Ranger. Your special weapon is the Astro Axe."

"Thank you." he murmered. He felt his heart begin to pound. He did his best to ignore it and smile. Once again, Lunandria did her best to smile in return, and this time suceeded.

Alpha came up and handed the DigiMorpher to Lunandria, who handed it to Harlan.

"Harlan, you are the Silver Ranger. Your special weapon is the Super Silverizer."

"Would that make me the leader?"

"No." Lunandria's voice went flat. "It wouldn't. I am the leader."

"Oh.." looking down at the DigiMorpher. "What is this? One of those cell phones or something?"

"It's called a DigiMorpher, Harlan." she sighed. Harlan nodded, shooting a glance at Marco.

"Can I ask a question?"

"What?" Lunandria sounded like she was getting a headache.

"What's with your hair?"

"It's a natural, inherited trait from my father." She replied. "Alpha, I'm going to take a nap. Have DECA wake me up in a few hours."

"Pleasant dreams." Alpha said. To the new Rangers, he added. "Come on. I'll show you around the Megaship."

Tobias couldn't help but to wonder why the Red Ranger had seemed uncertain or something while giving Dina the Yellow Ranger's powers as he watched her back retreat out the door and down the hall.

Lunandria sighed as she entered her quarters and removed her jacket. She took it, her belt, and Astro Morpher, and set them all on the chair by her bed.

Brushing her hair out and then laying down, she couldn't help but think on what she was doing. There was no going back now. She had teammates.

One of them was rather familiar in a sense. She felt like perhaps there was something more there than just the Yellow Ranger's powers.

She sat up, opened a dresser drawer, and removed a picture. It was of a man and woman in wedding attire. The man's shoulder-length, dark brown and blonde striped hair was pulled back into a ponytail. The woman's hair was tied back with a yellow ribbon.

Sighing, she set the picture down on the chair and lay back down, staring at it.

"Am I doing the right thing, Dad? Is it what you'd have done?"

Without another word, she sank into sleep.