Scorpio: Scorpion Rain

Scorpion Rain is the second episode of the Scorpio arc, and the twenty-third overall of Power Rangers: Neo Zeo.

Summary
Sabrina makes a run for it, and unexpected help arrives in the form of an old enemy of the Emperors.

Plot
Alpha 5 was enjoying his first real vacation in a long time. It had been weeks since the last monster attack, and months since the Rangers had needed to use their Zords. Now they had plenty of experience—almost a year's worth—under their belts, and knew what to do in a standard fight. He was getting back into rhythm, and part of that rhythm was upgrades.

Alpha had re-found one of the secret chambers he'd used for designing and inventing new gadgets. Ordinarily he would have brought Casey in to help, but he kind of wanted to do this part himself. It would be fun to surprise them with something new. His main problem at the moment was what to build. He had the resources, thanks to the Phantom Ranger, but none of his ideas were coming together.

The robot tore yet another half-finished sketch off his pad and groaned, throwing down his pen. "Why is this so hard all of a sudden? I know how this technology is supposed to work! But what does the team actually need? They have Zords—two sets of them—and plenty of hand-to-hand weapons. Maybe I should rebuild the Zeo Cycles? Though with the teleportation system it doesn't seem like we really need them . . ."

He got up and began to pace around, stepping on a few other rejected sketches by accident. The papers were slippery, so he started picking them up to throw them away. They held things like Zords, upgraded Ranger forms and various weapons, none finished and some crossed out. A few didn't look like Zeo-related weapons at all; they were doodles based on other Rangers' arsenals, mostly as described to Alpha 5. One in particular showed the Red Space Ranger in a kind of armor, with wings.

Here Alpha 5 paused. "Hmm . . . this battlizer idea could still have potential. It's a shame there's only one, though. Doesn't seem quite fair to the other Rangers. Oh well."

He put the stack of papers away, and turned back to the fresh pad. As he picked up the pen again,he heard footsteps. That was odd. The Rangers rarely came to the base without being asked. Hurrying to the door, he looked into the hallway. He couldn't see anyone out there.

"Hello?" His voice echoed. "Is someone there?"

He listened for a minute, but there was no response. Just as he was about to dismiss it as his imagination, Sabrina appeared in the passage. Spotting him, she hastened forward, into the light. Alpha took a step back as he saw her, startled.

She looked like she'd wandered through a rainstorm. Her legs were muddy, one of her shoes was missing, and her hair and clothes clung to her skin. There was a strangely intent look in her eyes.

"Sabrina, where have you been? Nobody's seen you since yesterday!"

"I need a ship."

Alpha paused, taken off-guard. Sabrina halted and stared at him. She was breathing hard; had she walked all the way here?

"I need a ship," she repeated. "Long-distance travel. Would the Super ZeoZord do it?"

"What are you talking about? And what's happened to you? You missed the fight entirely, and I haven't been able to get ahold of you."

"Are you listening to me? I. Need. A. Ship!" Sabrina repeated, sounding frazzled. Without waiting for an answer, she fumbled in her shorts pockets. Coming up with a communicator watch, she hit the button, disappearing in a pink flash.

"Wait!" Alpha cried too late. Dropping his papers, he ran back to the main control room, where he immediately started a scan for the Pink Ranger. Thankfully soon he found her, but the location wasn't very comforting.

"Sabrina," Alpha said through the comms, with as much authority as he could muster, "What are you doing in the Zord hangar? You need to stop and explain right now, or I'm not opening the doors to let you out. I'm locked onto your lifesign now, I could teleport you in here any minute if I wanted to."

For a minute, there was no response. Just as Alpha was reaching for the teleporter, Sabrina spoke again, hoarsely.

"I need to get out of the system. Things have changed."

"You'll need to be more specific than that." Alpha added, in a more encouraging voice, "If there's anything I can do to help, I really want to, just tell me what I can do."

"You can open the door and let me leave."

"I need to know why first! You can't just leave the planet on a whim, we need you!"

"This isn't about whims, Alpha. This is family."

With that helpful bit of information out of the way, Sabrina closed the channel. An alert came up, telling Alpha 5 that Super ZeoZord I had just been activated manually.

"No, wait!" He protested, but the Zord was already freeing itself from its supports. "I told you, I'm not going to let you out—"

That point was soon rendered moot. With a powerful kick, Super ZeoZord I caved in the outer doors. A second blow ruptured them, and a third widened the hole enough to climb out. It took off, shooting up into the atmosphere.

"Rangers!" Alpha finally shouted, "Get to the Power Chamber!"

oZo

Meanwhile, in a distant part of the galaxy, another Alpha unit was dealing with a situation he couldn't explain either. He stood on the bridge of the Astro Megaship. The doors behind him hissed open, and his own Rangers entered the room.

The Red Ranger, Leo, was the first to speak. "What's the problem, Alpha?"

"Well . . . I'm not entirely sure there is a problem," the robot said slowly. He gestured to the viewscreen, and the ships flying past. "I've seen five squadrons of Stingwingers go by, but they're not heading for the colony. I'm not sure where they're going, actually."

"They're up to something," the Green Ranger supplied helpfully.

The Blue Ranger—Kai—snorted. "When aren't they?"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Leo asked. "Let's see what the bugs are planning."

"Right." Alpha took the controls, and the Astro Megaship followed the latest swarm. They stayed reasonably far behind to avoid being spotted. Moving quickly, the Stingwingers led them around a nearby moon, right to—

"A portal?" Kendrix exclaimed. The Pink Ranger looked both surprised and fascinated. "I wonder if it's like the one that took us to Mirinoi in the first place . . ."

As they watched, the Stingwingers flew through it. They vanished with little white flashes.

"Where do you think they're going?" Damon asked.

Kendrix was already typing, but apparently didn't like what her screen showed her. She frowned. "The scanners can't get past the portal itself."

Leo shrugged. "Well then, only one way to find out." He flashed a grin at his older brother. "Shall we?"

Mike returned the grin, but shook his head a little. "Guess we don't have a choice. But I don't think everybody should go—Terra Venture might need help and we don't know if we'll be able to communicate through that thing."

He didn't mention the connected possibility that they wouldn't be able to get back, but everyone else had already picked up on that anyway.

"Right," Leo said. "Mike, Kai, and Maya can stay. Kendrix, Damon, we're taking the Jet Jammers."

oZo

Sabrina worked the controls of her Zord feverishly. She kept looking back, waiting for her team to appear. She'd already turned off the comms so they couldn't keep demanding answers from her, as Alpha had repeatedly tried to do before. The moon was coming up fast, but unlike last time, Sabrina wasn't gunning for the Equinox. Her destination was a little further away this time.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement, and looked around. A small, black ship was keeping pace with her. She studied it, but there weren't any Windjammer symbols or paraphernalia on its hull. It looked rather like a beetle, in fact.

"I don't think so, Scarab Rider."

Facing forward again, Sabrina pushed her Zord to go faster, zooming towards space. Her pursuer kept pace with her, trying to get ahead and cut her off. Sabrina swerved, shooting straight down, and the ship dove with her. Zigzagging in every direction, Sabrina tried to shake her pursuer, with no success.

As she swung around towards the moon again, Sabrina froze. A violet portal had opened in the sky above the Equinox. From it issued hordes of. . . she couldn't tell, she was too far away to make them out clearly. They looked familiar, though. Sabrina sped towards them.

The Scarab Rider seemed interested too; she moved with Sabrina, but not towards her. The Pink Ranger wasn't paying much attention to her anymore, though; she was staring hard at the incoming creatures. They were small, maybe the size of a man, but flying on their own. The swarmed down towards the Equinox, and the Windjammers were already coming out to meet them. Their numbers had dwindled thanks to repeated Ranger battles. The new creatures rained yellow lasers down on them, swarming the ships.

Now Sabrina recognized them. Stingwingers. Thinking fast, she began working over the comms system again—but not to the other Rangers' frequency. Alpha came through very briefly, but was drowned out by white noise.

"Stingwingers, listen to me. This is Scorpina—focus your attacks on the rear of the Equinox. Its command center is back there," she ordered.

Her communicator whined and squawked. At last, Casey's voice came through. ". . . Think I got it now."

"Sabrina, what are you doing?" David demanded.

"Making some new friends. Or some old friends, I'm not entirely sure yet," Sabrina replied.

Some of the Stingwingers had paused, and seemed to be looking in Sabrina's direction. The last of the Windjammer ships fell, flaming, towards the moon and exploded. Leaning forward again, Sabrina switched the frequency.

"Repeat, this is Scorpina, focus your attacks on the command center in the rear of the Equinox."

A new, electronic voice came on. It sounded male, and vaguely British. "Who is this? Why are you attempting to direct the tactics of my troops?"

"You're working for Scorpius, correct?" Sabrina asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Put me in contact with him."

The stranger chuckled. "Why should I do that, miss?"

Sabrina grinned briefly. "Trust me, he'll be grateful if you do."

oZo

Inside the Equinox's bridge, Libra and Cancer were monitoring the controls. If the room had been big enough it would probably have been crowded full of Zodiac Emperors, but now they were scattering through the ship.

"What's the status on the torpedoes?" Libra asked, as Pitch staggered into the room.

"They're warming up now," he panted, collapsing into a chair. "You'll see when they're ready."

Nodding, Libra leaned over and activated the comms. "Emperors, have you reached the entrances?"

"Yes," Aries replied.

Taurus snorted. "Wait until these creatures try to pass me."

Leo's only response was a roar of defiance. Nodding, Libra sat back again and looked to the viewscreen. The Stingwingers had withdrawn and seemed to be waiting for orders. Cancer huffed quietly as he manipulated the controls.

"We'll only have eight shots before they come within range. The next batch of torpedoes weren't ready yet. Unless you want to bring in your human captives, test them out perhaps?"

"Not yet," Libra said. "They are not prepared."

"They won't have time to get prepared if we all get killed off."

"We will not be defeated. These creatures will not get past the other Emperors, regardless of their power."

"You know, just saying something isn't going to happen won't keep it from happening."

"You're right. I do know that," Libra said, a little testily. Turning back, she noticed something on the viewscreen, and paused. "What are those?"

"Huh?" Cancer rotated his eyestalks towards her.

"I'm picking up an unfamiliar signal." Libra typed in a command, and the screen zoomed in. Three small vehicles had just appeared, flying towards the Stingwingers. They were brightly colored, red, pink and green, and had open cockpits.

"Closer, give us a better look," Cancer said, getting up and moving behind her. He knocked over one of the chairs as he did.

Libra obeyed, typing rapidly, and soon three Rangers in small vehicles were visible, flying towards the Stingwingers.

"Those . . . they must be the wielders of the Quasar Sabers Ophiuchus mentioned," Libra said slowly. "In which case, Scorpius is their enemy as well as ours. Perhaps . . ."

As she trailed off, the three Rangers opened fire on the Stingwingers. They scattered. Splitting up, the newcomers pursued them, shooting them down when they could. Near the edge of the battlefield, Super ZeoZord I began to move again, towards the Equinox. By now, three of the other Zords had arrived, and along with the Scarab Rider's ship were attempting to cut it off.

"Looks like we get to use our torpedoes after all," Cancer said, and returned to his console. He used his forelimbs to manipulate the controls with surprising speed. The Equinox rumbled as its torpedo ports opened.

"I'm opening communications with the Rangers," Libra said.

"You're—" Cancer paused and thought about it. "Good luck with that."

"Luck has nothing to do with it."

oZo

"Sabrina, seriously, this isn't fun anymore!" Casey snapped. Super ZeoZord II tried to flank its quarry, but Super ZeoZord I just shot straight up and went over the other Zord. "Right, three dimensions. Keep forgetting about that."

"Don't you guys understand? We can destroy the Zodiac Emperors. All of them." Sabrina sounded breathless and desperate.

"Then why are you running like this?" Violet retorted.

"Guys, we have company," David said. "Four o'clock, look."

Two of the Galaxy Rangers blasted down an oncoming Stingwinger, then separated to take on more of the insectoid monsters. The Super ZeoZords halted, their pilots staring in amazement at the new Rangers.

"Where did those guys come from?" Casey's voice had gotten very shrill all of a sudden—but in a good way this time, like when she'd met the Phantom Ranger.

"I'm picking up what looks like a portal behind the incoming Rangers," Alpha 5 reported.

Sabrina jumped in. "A portal?"

After a moment's pause, Super ZeoZord I turned and shot towards the oncoming Rangers. Sabrina flew right over their heads. At once Super ZeoZords II and III charged after their fleeing teammate.

"Wait—she has a point, guys. We might not get a chance like this again. Taiysa, you follow her, the rest of you help me with the Equinox," David ordered.

"But—" Casey began. The other Rangers were already on the move, closing in on the Equinox. Reluctantly, she followed.

The Scarab Rider's ship zigzagged through the Stingwingers in pursuit of the rogue Super ZeoZord. It, in turn, tried to evade its pursuer, but couldn't quite shake her. Fortunately for Sabrina, the portal was closer than she'd expected. Her Zord vanished through it in a white flash.

"Sabrina!" Casey yelled through the comms.

oZo

Sabrina walked slowly down the passage of the ship, looking around herself as she went. Although she was morphed, she'd removed her helmet and was carrying it under her arm. Thus the nostalgic smile on her face was clearly visible. Ahead of her walked a robotic monster with, of all things, a huge white ruff done in metal around its neck.

"So you've been on Earth for thousands of years?" It asked, in the same vaguely British voice that had broken into her communications earlier.

"Until just recently, yes."

"Fascinating. But if I may ask, what's kept you away for so long?"

Sabrina shrugged. "This and that. Mostly a lack of transportation to this end of the galaxy."

"Scorpina?" The voice was gravelly and masculine.

Hearing it, Sabrina stopped in her tracks. Recovering, she hastened forward, past the robot and into the main chamber. Mist poured out of pillars scattered around the room. In its center sat a blobby, tentacled creature.

"Scorpius?" Face lighting up, Sabrina ran forward and caught the creature's foremost tentacles in both hands. One reached up to brush her face.

"Welcome home, little sister."

Allies

 * Alpha 5
 * Alpha 6

Villains

 * Ophiuchus
 * Earth Empress Virgo
 * Air Empress Libra
 * Water Emperor Cancer
 * Windjammers
 * Scorpius
 * Deviot
 * Stingwingers