The ship rocked and Andros stumbled slightly as it did, his hands flying over the controls, trying to regain the ship's equilibrium.
"DECA, have we lost them?"
"No Andros. The three velocifighters are still following us." A familiar frown creased Andros's face as he thought quickly.
"All right. Power up the Mega lasers. I'm tired of this."
"Powering lasers." Andros's hands flew over the firing controls as he turned the ship around suddenly. Locking on, three bursts of laser fire later there were three explosions and he sighed, satisfied for the moment the ship wasn't in any more danger.
"Are we clear now?"
"Yes. Scans show no more fighters in the area."
"Good. Were are we exactly?"
"We are in the Ashanti nebula, near the asteroid belt." Andros frowned, leaning back in his seat.
"How much damage is done to the ship?"
"Minor damage to Mega decks five and six. Aft stabilisers are offline." Andros leaned forward and played his hands over the controls.
"Right. Let's set down here and I'll begin repairs."
"Landing on that asteroid will be tricky and not the safest option."
"I know, but it's the only choice we have."
"Understood, beginning landing now." The ship slowly descended towards the asteroid's surface and landed gently. With a small sigh, Andros powered down anything that might be detectable from space and stood up.
"Thanks DECA."
"Your welcome Andros." The ships computer watched as he left the bridge and headed for the engine room. Every time they had an encounter with Dark Spectre's forces and survived, the very first thing Andros would do was go check on Zhane. And that's what he was doing now. DECA thought to herself if she could sigh, she would.

Andros keyed in the code to enter the hypersleep chamber. The door opened and he slipped inside. It had been just on two years now since Zhane had been placed in the chamber and it had been a very long two years. Andros went over and placed his hand on the glass and managed a tiny smile.
"Well my friend, we survived another one. If I keep this up the poor old MegaShip isn't going to be in much better shape than you." Andros's eyes flicked over to the readings on the medical equipment, but they were still much the same. Zhane was healing, slowly but it still didn't show when his best friend would wake up. "I miss you. I truly wish you were here with me." The loneliness in Andros's voice was easy to hear in confines of the small room. Sighing, he closed his eyes a moment, once more remembering that terrible day on KO35. But there wasn't any point in living in the past, for the moment, he had to try and concentrate on getting through the present. Giving the container one last pat, he left the chamber and headed for the repair bay. He had a lot of work to do.

Over the last two years he'd travelled from one part of the galaxy to another. Sometimes he'd stop by ranger friendly planets to resupply, and helping out when the odd occasion called for it. He'd spent a lovely three weeks on Aquitar, having a small break and spending time with the Aquitian Rangers, something he hadn't done in a while. They had made sure he felt comfortable and relaxed while he was there. They had also done some minor upgrades to the MegaShip, which he had been grateful for. He had then encountered the Phantom Ranger on the odd planet here and there. The Phantom had been following some rumours about a massive attack against a major planet but so far had nothing more solid to go on. The two of them had done some snooping around, but to no avail. Andros had been on his way to Onyx to do some more snooping when he'd encountered the fighters that had attacked him on sight. Something was stirring in the camp of the forces of evil, and he was trying to track down what. Rangers from all over were getting busier and busier and it was starting to worry a few of the more experienced and longer serving rangers. As he got the tools he needed to repair the stabilisers he began going over once again the bits and pieces he had picked up over the last few weeks. Something major was happening and it wasn't good. Absently his hands moved automatically to repair the broken stabilisers while his mind mulled over the facts. Sighing, he knew he wouldn't get any answers from what he had so far and concentrated on his work. He hoped to pick up some more information on Onyx. And he devoutly hoped that what ever he found out they were up to, he'd be in time to stop it.

Pulling the cloak up further over his head, hiding his features from what would defiantly be unfriendly eyes inside, Andros stepped inside the tavern and quietly slipped over to the bar. Ordering local ale, he took it and went and sat in a dark corner, his eyes scanning all around him. It had taken him longer than he thought to repair the MegaShip so now he was racing against time. While they had been hiding in the asteroid belt, he and DECA had noticed a marked increase in the number of the Evil Alliance's ships travelling between systems and he instinctively knew that his time was running out. Hence the disguise and the sneaking into the town. This was the fifth outpost town he'd been to and he was getting tired. If he didn't get anything here, he'd head back to where he'd hidden his glider and get some sleep. Then he'd come back and try again. But then suddenly he hit pay dirt.

The two monsters - a golden winged monkey and a skeleton on legs - walked in, laughing and chatting quite loudly. Andros smiled slightly as he remembered where he'd seen them before. It was the same two monsters that he and Zhane had spied on a couple of years ago, just before the invasion of KO35. They got their drinks and settled at a table near his. This couldn't have been more fortuitous if Andros had planned it; these two didn't know how to keep their mouths shut about anything. Cradling his drink, Andros leaned forward slightly to try and hear them better.

"I can't believe it. Dark Spectre did what no one's been able to do since the dawn of time. Eltare over run and apparently he's captured someone pretty important." The skeleton laughed cruelly.
"And did you hear what Divatox did to the Rangers on Earth? Destroyed their command centre and left them powerless!" The monkey joined in on the laughter.
"Now if only Zedd and Rita were still there, they'd be having a field day. Speaking of which, I have to go. Rita called for me to join her. Apparently there's some huge meeting of all the villains and generals of the Alliance of Evil. It's being held on Gratha. Did you want to come?" The skeleton shook its' head.
"No. Sis is still mad at me after that debacle with the Machine Empire. You go ahead, I'll be here when you get back." The golden monster drained his drink and left. Andros waited a few minutes so that it wouldn't look suspicious and then left. Eltare had been attacked and over run! Damn, that wasn't good. He'd have to hurry if he wanted to sneak into Gratha and be there when this meeting took place. There was nothing he could do for Eltare right now. But this meeting would probably hold the key to the Alliance's plans for the next few months, and that he might be able to do something about that.

Andros had left the MegaShip in orbit over a nearby planet that was friendly, although it was hidden. He had morphed and left on his glider, heading towards Gratha. Once there, he hid his glider and donning his clock again but remaining morphed he began searching for the meeting's venue. After a few hours fruitless searching, he came upon the open grounds where the meeting was being held. It was being held in the ruins of an ancient temple and Andros grimaced at the choice of location. The Alliance of Evil had no respect for anything. He saw all sorts of villains and their escorts walking in, or teleporting in. So, deciding on his course of action, he slid down the rocky outcrop he was hiding behind and fell in slightly behind a contingent of piranatrons. And then, he was inside.
He walked around carefully, doing his best to be unobtrusive. It was a skill that he had mastered over the past few years and something that Zhane was better at than he was when they had been on these types of missions together. He was hard pressed not to laugh when Divatox and Rita had their encounter, and was impressed at the power that Astronema was displaying, and the restraint. He watched Astronema for a few moments as she wandered around the grounds. She was a mystery to him. Dark Spectre's favourite and most powerful Lieutenant, especially with Ecliptor at her side, was a force to be reckoned with. Andros hadn't encountered her on the battlefield yet, but knew better than to be over confidant when he did. He was careful to keep moving when Divatox stared at him, and he moved away from her. Just then, the gong sounded for them to be seated. Seeing no other choice, Andros took a seat at the end of the table, keeping his head down and not saying anything. He glanced along the table to see Astronema looking at him, absently playing with the locket around her neck. It was a surprisingly gentle and human thing to be doing and idly Andros wondered where she was from. No doubt he'd find out in short order when he began to encounter her more often. Just then Dark Spectre appeared and began speaking.

Andros's heart almost stopped when he heard Dark Spectre say that he had captured Zordon and was draining his powers. Without Zordon, there would be no Power Rangers - anywhere! Zordon was the key to the creation of all the existing Ranger powers across the universe. This was bad. Very bad.
'Hey! You to good to drink with us?" Divatox's words stunned him out of his thoughts.
"Who are you anyway?" Andros turned and looked at her, suddenly getting a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"I'll tell you who he is, he's a spy!" Astronema's words forced him into action. The machine general next to him tried to pull out a sword, but Andros sprang up, throwing his chair at him and knocking him down. He backed up towards the wall, but knew that if he got caught there he'd never get out. With a leap he jumped up on the table, calling forth his spiral sabre and began to fight his way out. He could hear Dark Spectre calling for him to be destroyed, but Andros was too good for that. He fought off the golden monkey and then suddenly, his cape was dragged off him. A gasp went through the assembled villains as he was revealed to be a power ranger. He stood up proudly, taking up a fighting stance. He wouldn't go down here. Not with the information he had.
"He has heard my plans! Destroy him!" A few of the more eager villains stepped forward and tried to get him, but Andros fought them off with exceptional skill. Deciding discretion was the better part of valour in this case he raised his hand.
"Galaxy Glider, hang ten!" His glider appeared next to him and with a leap he was on it, racing away. He ducked for his life as Dark Spectre himself took a swing at him. The last thing he heard was Dark Spectre yelling out.
"Get him! Destroy him!" Laughing softly, Andros increased the speed on his glider. He had to get away, and get away quickly.

He had been travelling a few minutes when suddenly laser blasts streaked past him. He turned in time for the next volley to streak towards him, he managed to deflect most of them with his sabre, and until one particularly hard shot knocked his sabre out of his hand. He cursed softly and speeds up, trying to get in front of the fighters. He got far enough in front of them to allow him to turn around and carry out his slightly crazy plan. It was one worthy of Zhane he thought.
"Astro blaster dual mode!" He drew his Astro blaster, separated it and began firing at the fighters. Luck and a lot of skill were on his side as he destroyed both of them. Smiling beneath his helmet, he holstered his now back together blaster and went after his tumbling spiral sabre. Once he had it back, he sped on his way home.

And when he got home, he got a surprise that was to change his life, forever.