trans_9 | Meet-n-Greet

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Meet-n-Greet

After being released from stasis, having the slime removed from their bodies and clothed in the creepy, pulsing leaf-suit that everyone wore, and being taken to the Weapons & Possessions lockers to collect their belongings, the new arrivals would find themselves standing in the Observation Deck. Round windows lined the fleshy walls, revealing the bright display of lights that was inter-dimensional travel. They would also discover that there were people--members of the command staff and crew that had woken earlier--waiting for them.

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Billy looked young too. That meant no one knew him. It also meant he was going to have to explain himself again. But he doubted Billy would have the same reaction his team did. Or even Adam. Both Billy and Adam was shy, but Billy was more scientific, whereas Adam was more....thoughtful. But they were still sixteen year olds.

Andros debated waving to Billy and opening up that conversation early. It would be so nice to just hang out int he background, behind Adam. And pretend that no one else was there. Maybe there was a crevice he could sneak into for a little bit, and deal with all of this later.

But he couldn't do that. For one thing, he had a responsibility as Red Ranger. And two, Billy looked like he'd been there longer than they had. No doubt he had information that was useful.

"Billy." Andros chose not to wave or offer his hand. There were enough people in here, maybe they'd let him go without some form of tactile contact. He decided to circumvent the entire impending conversation. "I'm a Ranger from 2002, I'm from a space colony. I know you, you don't know me." There. End of conversation. Or so he hoped.

Well, that would explain why Adam had stuck to someone so quickly. The common bond of the Power. He takes a deep breath, not entirely surprised, and moves to addressing this mysterious Ranger. Going into business mode when all he wants to do is ease Adam's discomfort is hard, but he manages a little of both by stepping closer to his friend, briefly squeezing his shoulder. If only this were a dream.

"Hmm. That there's still a need for active Power Rangers that far in our future is unfortunate, but I can see myself being involved for a while. And there are crew members from thousands of years before and after us, from universes similar and radically different from ours. A relatively brief time discrepancy isn't unheard of. And since you have me at a disadvantage---how should I address you?"

Deep breath. Billy takes a minute to compose his thoughts and explain this whole mess. "Unfortunately, Adam, all of this is reality. Stacy has abducted a crew from a multitude of universes, all with different skills that would be appropriate to a military setting. Our structure reflect that. I've been selected to help lead a group of engineers. We primarily develop communications technology and weapons. Almost everyone is in combat training, in addition to their specialties. And given the sorts of monsters we've already faced, we need it." He does not want to tell the hallucinogen fruit story right now, but there's a prime example.

"I had hoped I was the only Ranger chosen, but we weren't so lucky."

Adam blinked at him. "I just saw you yesterday," He deadpanned.

But really, he understood all that Billy told him and tried to wrap his mind around it as he processed it and sighed. It really all made sense and while he wasn't one to freak out and all, he kind of wanted to now. If only for the sake of the fact that they were all on a mysterious ship that was alive. Um. Weird.

"So, what does Stacy want us to do exactly in the meantime. I mean, she is taking us from our normal lives and all," Or rather, what was he himself going to do. Adam was the guy in the background, the shy guy. Stacy choosing him of all people was still mind-boggling. Billy was a genius, his choosing made sense.

But Billy's last line was rather sad. He knew Billy didn't mean it in a sense that he hoped he was the only chosen one because he felt obligated, but rather that he didn't want anyone else taken from home. "Well, as freaked out as I am about this place, Billy, I'm glad I have a friend here."

"You can call me Andros, I'm the Red Space Ranger." It was odd talking to Adam and Billy when they were so young, expecting them to know and have seen things and people that they hadn't yet. "So people have been taken from different dimensions, and obviously, different time periods within the same dimension."

This Adam was different than the Adam he had come to know, even a couple years later when they first met. He was still so unsure of himself, his skills and his abilities. What would happen that would change the young man so much, from this shyness to the ex-Ranger who morphed with a broken morpher. "I had hoped that the universe wouldn't need Rangers, I almost thought that time had come. But it won't be an easy fight. I'm sure our respected teams will be able to handle themselves without us for a while." He hoped. It wasn't as if, in his timeline, Zordon could just go make another red morpher, grab another ranger and tell them to get to it.

Andros was almost at a loss as to what to do about Adam. It had taken a bit for the shock value of being in space to wear off on his new teammates, but he had been trying to kick them off his ship at the time. Trying to figure out what to do now was hard.

"What kind of situations are we talking about Billy?"

To Adam: "It may have felt like yesterday, but no one's certain how long Stacy has kept our bodies in stasis. She's been releasing crew members from the pods seemingly at random. My release was a while ago. It's difficult to keep track of Earth time here, but my best estimate would be at least two months." It was an eerie thought. They could've been unconscious for a few weeks or thousands of years.

"As for the situation, shortly after I awakened it was discovered that several crew members' brains had been infested with parasitic creatures known as Yeerks. Controlled by those parasites, they attacked the other crew members and nearly took control of the ship. We managed to save everyone, but just barely. One of those Yeerks is still alive, and a trial to determine its fate is taking place. And that's just the beginning."

"Shortly after, a portion of the crew was sent down to an almost Earth-like planet to retrieve several pods. There, we discovered that nanites had destroyed the entire human population in just a few hours. The only traces of life left were the plants, scattered human artifacts, and large animals that had apparently escaped from a zoo. I nearly defeated my own crew by inching too close to fruits that released hallucinogenic gases when ripe. Even the most innocuous looking things could be lethal." Not his proudest of moments there. Billy looks rather sheepish, scratching the back of his neck and glancing at the floor.

"Then, we learned of an inter-dimensional menace known as the Ohm. It was responsible for the nanite attack, and ended life on every sentient planet that had had contact with that Earth. That's what we're up against, as far as I know. Definitely a far cry from Pudgy Pig." A small, almost bitter chuckle follows that statement.

Time to lay out the job offerings. "In the meantime, we're doing the best we can to prepare for further battles. I'm sure you can both easily find a place in the structure. We have security personnel, medics, engineers, scientists, physical trainers, and tacticians. I'm sure one or more of those departments would be happy to take you on, Andros."

Billy then turns back to Adam, offering him an encouraging smile. "Adam, you would be an excellent addition to the physical trainers as a martial arts instructor. We have our bases covered regarding armed combat training, but the skills you offer are in demand. And I'm glad I have a friend here too."

"That's... a lot of stuff happening," Adam said dumbly, looking rather wide-eyed and astonished. But he still listened intently to Billy's adventures, even giving a shy grin to his friend when the blond gave that sheepish look. He gave a slight blush himself when Billy mentioned how he actually would be a great asset to the ship. "I... I don't know. You guys seem to have so many people, you sure no one else has already started what I would only be repeating?"

"There's a trial?" That seemed like putting monsters in jail instead of blowing them up with their megazords. It just wasn't done. Evil was evil and good was good. Except where Karone was concerned. That was different. And Eric. And Tommy. It just -was- different. It had to be. But a trial? Andros was stunned, and probably looked it too. "Isn't that kind of like putting Rita Repulsa on trial? Or one of the monsters?"

Andros listened as Billy talked about the different missions he had gone on. It was different, but their ranger skills would be useful. Provided Billy could restrain himself from mistakenly getting everyone killed. Both Billy and Adam looked, not to mention sounded, a bit discouraged. Feeling compelled as Red Ranger, Andros opened his mouth.

"We do the best we can. As Rangers, our powers lie not only in our skills but our ability to think and work as a team." I'm such a hypocrite. " Can you honestly say that your the same person who picked up your morpher that first day? Or a year from then? We all have skills, skills that were necessary to our teams. You're doing fine. We all will. We're Rangers, and when have you heard of the Rangers loosing?" And since they didn't know about Rangers loosing, Andros wasn't going to be the one to bring up the battle of KO-35. What they didn't know, wouldn't hurt them.

Sighing, he got back to the subject at hand. "Medics, I don't think that would work out very well," besides his penchant for ending up in the med bay, that didn't qualify as good work experience. Neither did trying to fix his own wounds with DECA helping. Thinking about his options, Andros found it hard to narrow it down. After running the Megaship alone for two years, he was used to doing, well, everything. Security and tactical were natural, with his skills in watching (it wasn't spying, really) and as a ranger. Training and engineering were other options. "I'll have to look into it. Is there a specific protocol involved?"

Billy allows himself to crack a small smile at the idea of a trial for Rita. No doubt she'd grow a monster and have it squish the courtroom. "It's not quite that simple. The Yeerk in question surrendered, and the information it holds may be of use to us. And there are those among us who abhor capital punishment under any circumstances. They're deciding whether it will be imprisoned or executed."

Pondering the Yeerk's fate briefly, he drifts back into Job Hunting Mode. "I can only speak completely accurately about my own department, but in Engineering Allen and I meet potential recruits. Usually we find them, though they've been known to gravitate to the lab on their own sometimes. We have it guarded when empty to prevent theft of materials, and projects are done either individually or with subgroups of engineers with appropriate skills."

"I've loaded a guide to the command structure on your omnicomms. If you're interested in applying for their departments, I'm sure the advisors would be willing to speak with you." With that, he hands Adam and Andros their new devices: the comm ring and the computer-like omnicomm. The Blue Ranger spends the next few minutes outlining exactly how they work.

After the explanation, Billy's mind drifts back to Andros's speech about the Rangers. It had pulled a small smile onto his face. Just like Jason's encouragement used to, it stirred a sliver of confidence in him. They were Rangers, chosen for a reason, and they would pull through. Defenders of justice, conquerors of enormous odds, loyal followers of Zordon. Which reminds him of one more thing. Lowering his voice, he leans closer and gestures for the other two to follow.

"There's a few things you should know about our situation as Rangers. First, Stacy is keeping our morphers under lock and key. She'll temporarily return them to us if she feels that we may need them for a particular mission, but prepare to fight without your powers." That was the easy part, though he doesn't believe Adam and Andros will like it. The next part of what he has to say is what's making him uncomfortable.

"Second, I've broken the oath of secrecy I made to Zordon. On my arrival day, I was quickly introduced to the laboratory facilities by the organic Brainiac 5---there are two engineers by that name, and the other has a robotic body. Upon arriving there and discussing the nature of our work, he deduced from the relative calmness of my reaction to the situation that I had failed to disclose something not entirely normal about my past. In the interest of full cooperation with the crew, and under some distress from my displacement and powerlessness, I confessed everything. As it turns out, a fair number of the crew, him included, were also superheroes with concealed identities in their home worlds."

Sighing softly to himself, he finishes. "Once they learn that you two share a background with me, the others will likely draw the conclusion that you are Rangers as well. I'm sorry. I wish I could have left the decision to reveal yourselves in your hands."

Adma listened quietly and intently, though he looked a bit chastised from Andros's speech. He really couldn't help it, sometimes. He had confidence issues since being a child and while he had come a long way from that, it still came back once in awhile.

But then Billy told them about breaking the oath and Adam continued to stay silent to think this over. But... "Well, before I became a Ranger, Rocky, Aisha and I found out about you guys as well. So it's not like I can fault you for it even if I wanted to. Besides, you said it yourself, they're also superheroes. I think even if they aren't Rangers, superheroes need to stick together, right?" He gave a smirk, if small.

For the most part, it looked like his speech had done the job. Adam didn't have quite the look on his face that Andros had intended, he'd have to work on that. But Billy, it worked rather nicely on. He was comfortable again, confident and in control. That is until he brought up the secrecy oath. Now there was an uncomfortable subject.

"My team had to break it's oath. Sometimes you have to choose and take into account current circumstances. I can't speak for Adam, but he seems to feel the same way. Besides, KO-35 doesn't adhere to the secrecy oath. Earth obviously does. Technically we're not on Earth, so this doesn't count." Did that bad logic work for planetary rangers? And Adam is right. We all need to work together. There may be others who have secrecy vows who are just as uncomfortable."

"Zordon never mentioned an exception for Earth Rangers who were abducted from their planets." No, Billy's not going to agree with the faulty logic. But he will agree with the rest of the Red Ranger's words. "He trusted us to use our best judgment on the battlefield and off, though. Perhaps he could be persuaded that the rulebreaking was beneficial in this instance, and unlikely to cause a disturbance like it would have on Earth."

The slight smile reaches his eyes. He could hardly wait to explain the whole thing to the others at home. "Anyway, now that we've gone over the basics of life on the ship, I can attempt to answer any questions you have about daily life. Or perhaps you'd like a tour? There are facilities to eat and sleep in, of course, but we also have an extensive library and a type of advanced virtual reality simulator known as a Sensorium. The last one in particular is popular, because it can be used for almost any purpose."

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