Disclaimer: If you saw the character on TV then Haim Saban owns it. If the only place you saw it was in a fanfic by Robert Gutheim or Mistri Xades then guess what: We own it! This is a new International Writing Collaboration which covers a lot of territory and several time zones since Robert lives on the East coast of the United States and Mistri.... well he lives all the way over in Australia, so as you can see it even covers two different hemispheres. This comes after Facing the Truth and is the next part of the ? parter. It takes place very early March 97. Mistri of course owns the Equinox Powers. Mistri owns Vadaei, [that's pronounced VAY-di-I,] the Phaedos Powers and their bearers, Mistri, Geneva, Calcia, Edy, Asharani, Karei, Vedi, Dalila and Bambi. These nine characters cannot be borrowed, as Mistri is using them in a story for publication. They are protected under international copyright law.

Taming The Equinox
by Robert and Mistri

Last time on Viva La Resistance.....

It was the first of March. Suddenly, a flock of birds came shooting into the base, reforming into the Phaedos team, which had been on temporary leave.

"HAMMOND! MIRINOI! PARK! HART! KO-35! LEE!"

~*~

Everyone came running, and the called people assembled. They listened grimly.

"If we want to obtain the Equinox Powers, we have to leave now," said Karei. "There are no buts, ands, ifs, and whys."

"Why?" asked Carter. Karei rolled her eyes.

"We can take our time then. Besides, the UAE is partying over the fact that we lost another teammate. They think we're not capable of standing up to them. They won't notice if we leave," said Geneva.

"I assume that you are going?" asked Andrew, Maya, Adam, Kim Hart, Andros, and Chad simultaneously.

"No. You are," replied Geneva, Calcia, Edy, Asharani, Karei and Vedi to their colour counterparts.

"I'm in," said Andrew.

"So am I," said Maya and Kim, together.

Adam looked at Andros and Chad and answered, "We're in too. But why us?"

"One of us has to go with you. Mistri knows the most about them, so in any case, he would have to come anyway. Maya and Andros were chosen because they're alien. We said that the Powers would respond well to each of the planet that birthed a power. We're hoping we can override that," said Vedi.

"Andrew. No known weaknesses. You also know how to keep things quiet. Adam. Noble. You have a calming influence. Kim. Gymnast. Bright and cheerful. Chad. Exuberant. Full of energy," said Asharani.

"Do you accept this responsibility?" asked Mistri. They nodded. "Do you promise to uphold our secrets, the secrets of Phaedosian lore?"

"We do," they answered. Mistri tapped a few buttons on his morpher. And the entire Equinox team, plus the remaining Phaedosian warriors teleported to the NinjettiMegaShip. On the bridge, the Phaedosian females went over to a console, and tapped a combination. A panel opened.

They went over, and inserted their Turbo Keys into eight slots.

Then, calling out their power, they twisted their key.

"WIND CHASER TURBO POWER!"

"DUNE STAR TURBO POWER!"

"MOUNTAIN BLASTER TURBO POWER!"

"DESERT THUNDER TURBO POWER!"

"RED LIGHTNING TURBO POWER!"

"PHANTOM STEALTH TURBO POWER!"

"COMET FLAME TURBO POWER!"

"LUNA VELOCITY TURBO POWER!"

The girls nodded, and teleported away. Mistri slid into a seat.

"Andrew, weapons. Kim, communications. Adam, defense. Chad, accelerators. Maya, jump drives. Andros..... go unpack yourself, and come relieve someone here."

Andros nodded.

~*~

Meanwhile..

Carter was thinking about the current situation.

"Council, assemble."

The Council minus Mistri, Karei, Andros, and Adam assembled in the Conference Room.

"OK we are short one whole team with Phaedos and parts of a few others. The Council is also short two members not counting Phaedos. This brings our total strength to thirty one members."

"So we should manage ok. If necessary I bet we could use our Ninjetti powers at this point if we had to," Zhane said.

"Besides Carter, if necessary I'm sure Powermatic would have no problem recalling my grandfather," Sue said.

"Thing is Sue your grandfather is a pretty powerful trump card and I'd rather not have to rely on it too often," Carter explained.

"Should we consider electing interim people to the Council until Andros and Adam return?" Kim Coltran wondered.

"I'm not sure we will need to. As it is I'm surprised Ashley didn't jump up when they called out Hammond," Carter surmised.

"We will need to get everything figured out," Dana pointed out.

"OK, Kim, you're in charge of seeing how the Departmental assignments are affected. I know some departments like Medical and Counseling are understaffed."

Kim then called up a few figures on her terminal.

"Sci Tech looks to be intact. Cooking, well it just has Brianca and Rocky, Fitness is missing the other Kim, Adam, and Andros, Counselors isn't as bad as it looks Cassie, Ashley, Tanya, and Sasha are available, Medical, well Dana is around, Leo and Kelsey."

"OK, Sue, check with Brianca see how she wants to handle it since her department seemed to get hit the hardest," Carter passed out.

"Gotcha Carter," Sue acknowledged.

"I think Medical can get by with what it is if necessary I'll borrow some of the more scientific people from Sci-tech," Dana said. "Where is Team Phaedos as it is?"

"Well Mistri is off with Andros, Andrew, and the other borrowed rangers, and the rest are on compassionate leave due to Rachel's death."

After the meeting Sue headed for the Quarters being shared by Brianca and Carlos.

"Something up Sue?" Brianca wondered.

"Your department with the current situation is down to two people," Sue said.

"You've gotta be f'ing kidding I can't cook food and keep Rocky at bay simultaneously. I usually have one or two other cooks keep Rocky occupied so we can the food prepared. You all better have a plan to get me more staff," Brianca said.

"Most of team Phaedos is on compassionate leave and who knows when they would be back. It might be quiet for a bit but you never can tell."

"At least Andrew being gone won't cripple us when it comes to the MegaBattleZord. Most of the other teams well they will be affected. I think only Astro is left uncrippled besides us."

"Who knows it could be a fair amount of time before the UAE attacks again." Sue commented.

Werrrrrrrrrrooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg Werrrrrrrrrrooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg Werrrrrrrrrrooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg Werrrrrrrrrrooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg Werrrrrrrrrrooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg Werrrrrrrrrrooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg Werrrrrrrrrrooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg Werrrrrrrrrrooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg

"Then again maybe not," Brianca commented sarcastically in response to the alarm going off as they both headed for the War Room the rest of the Rangers also heading off for possible battle.

They arrived and stood shocked..

~*~

Everyone had unpacked, and they were in the kitchen area, just chowing down on the first seven things to appear from the Synthetron.

"What happens now?" asked Andrew.

"Well," said Mistri. "I engage three jump drives, and we find ourselves pretty far away from Earth. Then we begin training."

And with that, he pressed a few buttons, and in a streak of light, they disappeared.

"This is going to be the worst time of your life. I now have to, while you are morphed, dump literally thousands of volts of Power into you. It could quite literally kill you. But if we don't do it, you could get killed summoning the Equinox."

They looked at him, and they morphed. Mistri morphed, and then initiated program Alpha1a. Power began to surge through all of them, Mistri directing the flow. One by one the others begged off. And when they did, Mistri just noted the level.

"Okay...." he said, when Andrew finally begged off. "If I could, I'd run a program and figure how much of that was the Power protecting you. Because, we have to get your personal resistance up. You will not be morphed when you summon the Equinox."

"You will know better ways for yourself to up your own resistance. Do them. As for lunch.... it will be in fifteen minutes, after which I expect everyone at the Simudeck at four. Three hours. Be there."

And with that, Mistri turned and left.

The others looked at each other. "Welcome to your heaven," said Adam.

"Welcome to your hell," added Andrew.

"Welcome to the Equinox Zone," finished Chad.

They attended lunch, and then they took a slow walk to the Simudeck. Once there, they loaded a random program. And soon they found themselves in a bar on some planet. The planet was Onyx. The bar was Galaxtica Calpi Dimara. The hangout for any evil bastard who didn't want to be picked up by the good guys. All previous differences had to, by law, be put aside whilst on the planet. If there came a disagreement whilst on the planet, that was a different matter.

"I wonder what the others are doing?" asked Maya, whilst drinking a flaming hot drink.

~*~

"Rangers we have a major problem on our hands. Our sensors picked this up on radar," Dimitria said.

"This will require everything we've got. Dimitria, how soon can you and the Professor recall Phaedos?"

"I'd rather not recall Phaedos unless it is absolutely necessary."

"I want all Demona Rangers to man your zords as soon as we deploy. We will probably need everything we've got," Sue ordered.

"OK Rangers this is it. A regular show of force. Zhane, I want Astro ready to form MegaZords soon as they are needed. Tyra, soon as the battle is over I want the Tech Squad to get to work on a remote system for the zords. After all we will probably need some of the Megazords which aren't available."

"Shouldn't you be getting out there into battle?" Dimitria wondered.

"She has a point Carter."

"IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"

"DRAGONZORD!"
"MASTODON!"
"TRICERATOPS!"
"SABERTOOTHED TIGER!"
"TYRANNOSAURUS!"

"ZEONIZE!"

"ZEO RANGER ONE, PINK!"
"ZEO RANGER TWO, YELLOW!"
"ZEO RANGER THREE, BLUE!"
"ZEO RANGER FIVE, RED!"

"LET'S ROCKET!"

"GO GALACTIC!"

"LIGHTSPEED RESCUE!"

"DEMONA RANGER POWER!"

~*~

The Rangers then teleported into battle. In the case of Tyra, Kim Coltran, Sasha, and Janet it meant heading for Airtron to board their own zords. Barakus had taken the time to handle the Launch Controls for the two Jets before taking to the Subzord.

by the time they arrived Joel had taken to the air himself.

"Monster Duplicator Engage," a voice called from the Enemy Base. The Monster then duplicated itself into several enlarged copies.

"Not Good," Sue said. "Go Mega."

The Demona Team then formed their various Megazords. Zhane also took to the Mega Winger while the Astro Megazord was forming.

"We need Dinozord Power Now."

"We need Zeo Zord Power Now."

"Galactabeasts Arise."

"Rail Rescue's on track."

"Galactazord Transform."

What surprised everyone was the Wolf Galactazord was on hand as well.

"The Wolf must have realized we needed help."

"Where is Zeo Zord Two Tanya is too exposed."

"Zeo Zord Four was in charge of towing it out."

After a long battle all the copies were destroyed.

The Rangers then returned to base.

"Talk about a long battle. We really should have recalled Phaedos. Even if Avia Nova would have been without it's wings we needed every Megazord we could get. Thank God those two Strange Megazord's showed up."

"Those strange ones were the Stratoforce and Centaurus Megazords. At one time they were also Galactabeasts but then permanently became zords. I'm still working to figure out where they came from."

Tyra after that battle headed for the Medical Bay so Dana could look her over.

"Things look to be doing good Tyra. I think the fact that Sue had your team take right to the zords helped."

"Thanks," said Tyra slowly.

As they stepped out of the room, no one noticed the eight teleport streams come in and retroform into the unconscious bodies of the eight female Phaedosian Rangers.

Their bodies were burnt, slashed, and oozing blood.

~*~

Mistri recalculated the time of the Equinox, and stared. It was a full six days shorter. His eyes roved around the other consoles, recording the information. He recalculated it. Now it was two months shorter.

"Master of the Equinox! Speak to me!"

"What do you want, White Hawk Ninjetti?"

"Why is the time drawing ever closer?"

"You will need to beat Vadaei and the UAE. To do that, you must gain the power, and then go systematically throughout the universe, forcing them to Earth."

"And then?"

"All will be revealed."

The NMS shuddered to a halt.

All the Rangers appeared on the bridge.

A nebulae appeared on the bridge, and circled the group. Finally, its choice was made, and Kimberly Anne Hart was infused with the powers of the Pink Equinox Ranger.

A star appeared, and circled the group, before infusing Adam Park with the powers of the Green Equinox Ranger.

A sun was seen for a brief instant, before it entered Andros of KO-35, thus trusting him with the powers of the Red Equinox Ranger.

A black hole appeared, and instantly, Andrew Kinwom Hammond was chosen as the Black Equinox Ranger.

Chad Lee became the Blue Equinox Ranger as a miniature version of a galaxy whirled around the bridge.

A moon rose out of nowhere in particular, and cast an eerie light on Maya of Mirinoi, as she morphed into the Yellow Equinox Ranger.

And Mistri Xades, once again received the powers of the White Equinox Ranger, as space and time seemed to intersect on the bridge.

The uniforms were their own original power uniform. However, there were designs of the appropriate nebulae, sun, moon, star ect, all over the uniform. They sparkled and gave off patterns of lights.

"We got the Power!"

"What happens to our Zords?" asked Andrew.

And outside the ship, five Zords appeared.

"Initiate MegaZord!" They looked, as Hydro Rescue 2, the Wolf GalactaZord, Pteradactyl DinoZord, Taurus, ZeoZord IV, and the NinjaHawkZord began to transform and resize in ways uncomprehensible.

Taurus became the torso. Hydro Rescue 2 and the Wolf GalactaZord flashed, in blue and yellow light, and became the legs of the MegaZord. Pteradactyl DinoZord flashed pink, and became the arms. Next, the HawkZord flared, and landed on the back, forming optional flight mode.

The bay of the NMS opened, and out flew a shuttle. It zoomed up and formed the head, completing the Equinox MegaZord.

~*~

Meanwhile back at the Power Chamber Dana was looking over some files when she looked over and suddenly saw the unconscious rangers. Her first move was to go to the medical bay communications terminal.

"Ah Carter, it's Dana you mind stopping by Medical. We have a problem."

"Couldn't you just tell me?"

"I think you better come down here."

Carter arrived a couple minutes later Professor Damon a few meters behind him.

"What's wrong Dana. You seemed agitated worst then the clothes going through the laundry?" Carter wondered.

"That," Dana said indicating her patients.

"How long have they been there?" Carter wondered.

"That's the thing I don't know. For all I know they could have been there since before we got back from the battle. I came here right from the After Action Review following the battle. Maybe five minutes later Tyra walked in for a check due to well you know. She had been gone maybe twenty minutes half an hour when I noticed them while looking at some files. It was right after that I called Carter."

"You probably haven't had a chance to examine them huh."

"Not really. It's not like they will die if I don't get to them."

Carter then called Leo and Kelsey in along with Alpha while they worked to at least figure out how Karei, Edy, Dalila, Bambi, Asharani, Calcia, Geneva, and Vedi ended up with that much damage. Professor Damon stood in a corner while they did it.

"Professor, soon as we get this figured out I'm officially requesting permission to contact Xades and the others and recall them from their mission. With most of Phaedos down we need everyone we can get."

"Carter it sounds as if their mission is key to the entire war," Professor Damon reminded him while Dana, Alpha, Leo, and Kelsey worked to get the Phaedosian Rangers tied into every monitor Dana could think of. After about an hours work Dana had the worst of the wounds cleaned up and bandaged. Kelsey and Alpha did most of the work assisting her with the cleaning and bandaging. Leo meanwhile was in charge of monitoring vital signs.

After things were as under control as they could get everyone left the medical bay except for Dana.

"Carter, you think we should contact that lady on Phaedos. You know let her know what happened to Geneva and the others."

"It's too early for that Leo. We know they will pull through. After all the Power isn't just a part of them. I think they are the power. I bet their healing is accelerated forty times faster then yours or mine."

End