Lee Burton 2002
Legal Crap: I do not own the characters used within this story, all characters are copyright by MMPR Productions/Disney. The "transit" system mentioned is borrowed from Rain Fletcher's Earthsiege as a means for FTL travel. The concept and use of the word "Avatar" to describe the holographic ship aid is borrowed from Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda all rights related to this belong to the property holders.
Author's Note: The following story starts in an AU version of the PRiS era during the infamous Countdown. The remainder takes place during Billy's trip to Aquitar to aid in the conflict with the Hydro Contaminator's during PRZ.
Chapter One: Escape
Aquitar Ranger Command, 2000
"Quick! It's over this way!" A voice shouted as three figures sped through the cold metal hallways, barely slowing down to make a turn as a barrage of laser blasts pelted the wall behind them.
"The shuttle bay may be damaged! Billy, you had best put on your Oxidizer now." A young woman garbed in white shouted back as best she could while running.
"Thanks Delphine!" Billy replied as he pulled a retainer like device from his pockets and put it in his mouth.
Making their way down another hall, they arrived at a closed door. A man dressed in red placed his hand against a panel on the door, but the door visibly jammed as it opened.
"Damn! Help me out with this Aurico!" Billy muttered and began to pry the door open, which started to budge with Aurico's assistance. Their efforts were hampered by another barrage of laser fire as the invading Quantrons turned the corner.
Delphine began returning fire with a small blaster she pulled from her belt. "Aurico, this is taking too long, we need to transform!"
"Yes, it's Morphin Time!" Aurico agreed, and the two were surrounded in a blinding flash of light before being protected by their respective Ranger armor.
Aurico, empowered by his transformation into the Red Aquitian Ranger, managed to get the door open.
"Quick Billy, you need to get to your ship! We will hold them off!" Delphine shouted back as she dodged another volley of shots.
Billy managed to squeeze his way through the door and once on the other side he turned to check on his companions only to see them overwhelmed by the invading troops. He watched in horror as the close range blaster shots ripped through their armor and the two Rangers crumpled to the ground defeated and likely dead.
"No!" He cried, but suddenly realized his error as the blaster fire was now concentrated on him, and without Ranger powers, he was in some serious trouble.
Realizing he had no choice but to flee, Billy scanned the bay for his ship, praying it was untouched. Luckily, it seemed to have fared far better than the other ships in the bay, as many had been crushed by falling debris. He bolted towards the ship as fast as his legs would allow, wishing he had the enhanced speed and reflexes that his Morphin ranger powers once provided.
Arriving at the ship, he gave it a quick once over before making his way up the ladder and into the craft.
Once he was inside, Billy made his way to the cockpit. "Avatar, Start the engines, we're about to take some serious heat!"
As he reached the cockpit, a hologram appeared of a young blonde woman. "Billy, what's wrong?"
"The entire complex has been overrun by Quantrons, the rangers are dead. We need to get the others." Billy explained as he strapped himself in. He could see that the Quantrons had infiltrated the bay and were checking for his life signs.
"Engines are standing by. Docking clamps are unresponsive though." The hologram replied.
"We'll just have to bust our way out of here then!" Billy said as he turned his attention to the controls and put the throttle to maximum. The ship jerked violently as it struggled to free itself, and in a sudden burst of power, ripped away from the docking clamps and headed for the exit.
Alerted to their presence, the Quantrons turned their aim to the fleeing craft.
"We're under attack, but the blasts are not powerful enough to breach the hull." Avatar responded as they continued towards the exit.
What they didn't see was the Quantron setting up the Rocket Launcher.
"Ten seconds to the gate." Avatar reported and a few tense seconds passed before she exclaimed "Incoming projectile weapon!"
In an attempt to avoid the rocket, Billy jerked his controls to the left, but was unable to move in time and the projectile passed through the hull and detonated, rocking the ship violently.
"Damage report!" Billy cried out as he tried to keep the craft from veering into one of the walls.
"Explosion in the engine room, plasma intercoolers are offline." Avatar replied, her holographic image fading in and out from the damage. "We're clear of the complex."
The ship rocketed out of the fallen complex and headed towards the atmosphere, a trail of smoke following behind.
"Do we have enough power to clear the atmosphere?" Billy asked, suddenly concerned about the intercooler failure.
"We should be able to make it through the atmosphere, however, the chroniton field generators are overheating, and any attempt to jump to transit could detonate the reactor." Avatar explained after a few moments of calculations.
"Could we lower the generator temperature if we totally depressurize the engine compartment?"
"Exposing the engine compartment to space decreases the probability of a reactor explosion by 13%"
"What does that bring us to?" Billy didn't really want to hear the answer, but he needed to know anyways.
"82%"
"Fantastic." Billy replied angrily.
"Sarcasm never suited you Billy. We're entering the thermosphere by the way." Avatar replied with a crooked smile as the ship began vibrating from the entry into the upper atmosphere.
"Enemy craft approaching, we need to get out of here and fast." Avatar warned as three of Mondo's Quadrafighters approached from the rear.
"How long until we clear the atmosphere, we're going to have no choice but to jump to transit. Depressurize the engine room, begin charging the coils, and lay in a course for Earth." Billy ordered as he rerouted a small amount of power to the weapons system.
"Twenty seconds to clear the atmosphere."
"Please record a message on my mark, and transmit it repeatedly on all Ranger carrier frequencies. Mark. SOS, this is Billy Cranston requesting assistance, Aquitar has fallen to Dark Specter's forces and my ship is severely damaged. I am attempting to make the jump to transit and make my way to Earth to gain the assistance of any available Power Rangers. If you are engaging the enemy, good luck, and may the power protect you."
"Five seconds." Avatar reported, and only a second later, the ship lurched from a laser blast from one of Mondo's fighters. "Aft hull plating is depolarized, another hit like that and we lose the engines."
"Disengage the safeties, and jump to transit on my mark. May the power protect us." Billy choked out as he tightened his harness to make sure he didn't get killed from whiplash.
"We have cleared the atmosphere." Avatar reported and Billy then triggered the jump. "NOW"
The engines on the tiny ship began to glow a fiery blue color, and only a second before the ship vanished, one of the Quadrafighters let off a blast at the ship.
Billy felt the transit system start to kick in, but a sudden violent shake indicated something was wrong.
"WARNING: Emitter failure, chroniton leak in reaction chamber…" Avatar started to report before everything faded to black.
A moment later, the tiny craft vanished in a blue stream headed for Earth.
To be continued...