Rangers in Space: Chapter Twenty-four
Secret City
The Megaship drifted alone in space near Aloc. Plasma
leaked from its war-torn vents. The vessel's engines whined with protest. The
five rangers were at their bridge stations within the vessel.
"Report," Tommy said.
Kat's fingers moved across her control panels as lines
of data flashed across her console. "We're broadcasting distress signals on all
frequencies."
"Polarize the hull plating," Tommy said. "Weapons?"
"Hull plating is at 30 percent," Justin said. "Plasma
cannons and Megalasers are offline."
Cy shook his head. "Our thrusters are offline. We're
not going anywhere."
Chris gave another report. "The Tark are coming into
firing range."
"Hold onto something," Tommy said as he and the others
braced themselves.
The Tark ships, spear-shaped vessels with tan-tinted
hull plating, move forward towards the Megaship and fired streams of particle
energy. The blasts exploded against the Megaship's hull as the enemy vessels
passed by.
"Now," Tommy said on the bridge. "Hull plating to
full. Megalasers and plasma cannons, online. Thrusters ahead. Target the lead
ship and fire."
The Megaship's systems came up to full power and the
saucer-shaped vessel streaked forward. Darts of blue and red energy shot from
the Megaship's weapon turrets and exploded against the lead ship, piercing
through its armor and destroying the vessel in a cloud of fire.
The two allied ships opened fire with bursts of
torpedoes that exploded against the remaining ships, gutting them with fiery
explosions and shrapnel.
"Stand down," Tommy said. "Kat, tell our new friends
good job. And bring in the Delta Mega to help us with repairs. We may have been
playing dead, but we didn't have to act too hard."
The pronged vessels were Basf ships. The Basf lived on
the outer rim of the galaxy near the Prizelus sector. The apparently
emotionless race was the latest addition to the Allies efforts against Sauron.
The Basf had cloaking technology that made them a valuable asset.
The Basf people were mostly humanoid in appearance.
Their eyes were solid black slits. They had sharp, angular facial features.
The Delta Mega moved into position and started repairs
on the Megaship. The Delta Mega downloaded a cache of information and data
files into the Megaship's computer during the repairs.
***
Tommy sat alone in the Situation Room. He reviewed a
set up data pads on recent battle campaigns across the galaxy. Each data pad
had the same basic theme: engage and retreat. The Allied forces were constantly
on the defensive. No one had any word of Zordon's whereabouts.
The sleeves on his jumpsuit were rolled up. His zipper
was down to his stomach, exposing his red undershirt.
The doors slid open and Justin walked in. His
appearance was similar. He tossed a data pad onto the main table. He didn't
look happy. "Here's the last of the reports from the Delta Mega."
"I take it it's not good news," Tommy said as he
lifted the data pad.
"That's one way of putting it," Justin answered. "The
Confederation's Second Fleet lost the Prizelus Sector. Only 13 ships survived...out
of 220."
Tommy sighed with frustration and dropped the pad. He
leaned forward, his elbows on the table as he placed a hand over his forehead.
The Confederation, an Allied group of pirates and smugglers, was vital to
holding the fourth quadrant of the galaxy from Sauron.
"That was one of our largest fleets," Tommy said,
rubbing his eyes with frustration. "All those people..."
Justin took a step forward, his brow knitted with
anger. "We can't keep going on like this, Tommy. We're losing, and we're nowhere
close to finding Zordon. We can't just stay on the defensive like this. We need
a solid victory."
"I agree," Tommy said as he slid the data pads aside
and looked up to Justin. "We're rendezvousing with a mixed battle group near
the Drilax System. We're going to regroup and cut hard into Sauron's
territory."
***
Astronema stood on the bridge of the Dark Fortress.
She watched with a cold and emotionless face as the enemy ships went up in
flames. The victory was meaningless to her.
Astronema's plan to use the Psycho Rangers to drain
Sauron of his power – while destroying the Rangers – had failed. She needed a
new plan, but inspiration alluded her.
Eclipter walked over to Astronema's side.
"Princess...Pratorite Rashanar has sent word from Vongnar. He has reported
success with the Xynzon Plot."
A cold smile crossed Astronema's face as a thought
struck her. The Xynzon Plot was one of the many projects that Sauron's
underlings oversaw. Each project was designed to gain favor in the Dark Monarch's
eye. But Astronema had different plans in mind for Rashanar and his Xynzon
Plot.
"Tell Rashanar not to proceed until I arrive,"
Astronema commanded. "I need to provide him with some new direction."
Rashanar designed the Xynzon Plot to gain favor with
Sauron. But when Astronema was finished...the plot would be the end of Sauron.
***
The Graveyard was a whirling mass of broken starships
that stormed through the darkness of space. Gutted vessels twirled around a
cluster of gravity anomalies and other spatial tears.
The ships were ancient and nearly unrecognizable. The
vessels were all that remained of a battle that raged eons ago. The story of
the battle was one of time's oldest and strangest mysteries.
One of the hollowed out cruisers was serving as a
meeting ground.
Vea'ra walked along a narrow passage that ran along
the spine of the dead ship. The lights on her EV suit illuminated the
battle-scarred deck plating and walls. Bits and pieces of steel floated through
the weightless environment as if propelled by air.
Vea'ra was one of the few Taileon to survive the
destruction of her homeworld. She had worked for the smuggler Durak ever since.
She had met the Rangers during one of their early missions after leaving the Terran
system.
A group of three humanoid men in EV suits walked
towards her. Their leader was gray skinned with brown eyes. Every ridge and
curve on his face was accentuated with segmented pieces of protruded bone.
The leader took a step forward, a smug grin on his
face. "I didn't think you would actually come, Orphan."
It was a demeaning nickname for her homeless people.
But she ignored it, despite her anger. She had little time. "I'm not surprised,
Damahr. It seems you're always wrong. That's why you're licking the boots of
Astronema instead of leading your people yourself."
Damahr was from Vornholt, a rust-colored world near
Edenoi. His people had joined forces with Sauron at the start of the war,
before the fall of Eltar. But it seemed like Astronema didn't know about the
race's genetic tendency for treachery. Or their selfish greed.
Vea'ra tossed a data pad forward, sending it floating
towards the three Holts. Damahr caught the pad and reviewed it. He double
checked its readings with a data pad of his own to ensure the pad's accuracy. A
sizeable amount of gold-pressed latinum had been deposited in one of his many
accounts.
"Hmph. So much latinum, for such a trivial piece of
information. You're either desperate or foolish," Damahr said.
"Give me what I want," Vea'ra said.
Damahr tossed her a small pack of data cards. The data
pack went floated forward. It's contents held the key to finding Zordon.
Divatox was keeping him deep in the galactic core, an area dense with stars
that were nearly impossible to navigate. The data pack had Zordon's
coordinates, along with a detailed star route to his location.
"There," Damahr said. "Now to finish the deal. He
suddenly pulled a disrupter from behind his back and vaporized his own men with
pulses of white energy. He aimed the weapon towards Vea'ra and fired.
She acted on instinct, leaping upward to avoid the
blast and letting lack of gravity jet her backward while she pulled two
blasters from her leg holsters. She faced her opponent while floating backward,
and fired rapid shots of bright-red plasma that exploded across the deck and
against the bulkheads.
Damahr dove to the side and ricocheted off the
corridor wall before bouncing back towards Vea'ra. He opened fire with blasts
of white energy that streaked past Vea'ra.
Vea'ra used the weightless environment to flip upward
and slam through a shaft above the corridor. She entered an above level of the
ship.
Damahr crouched low on the deck plating and sprang
forward towards the opening above. He flew upward with his weapon blasting –
but Vea'ra was gone. He narrowed his brow with anger and activated a small,
wrist-mounted scanner. Vea'ra was slipping away into her ship.
He activated his ship's beacon and called the vessel
towards the nearest docking port.
***
The freighter, a diamond-shaped vessel with octagonal
solar panels on its flanks, was opening fire with its forward blaster quad.
Vea'ra turned hard to port and climbed upward. She
armed her aft torpedo launchers and fired a volley of three missiles. The
missiles streaked towards the sides of Damahr's vessel. Damahr fired his
ventral thrusters and rose above the missiles while launching a group of
decoys. The missiles exploded against the decoys, saving Damahr from death.
Damahr lowered his ship back down in time to see
Vea'ra's vessel streak towards him. She opened fire with lances of blue energy
that exploded against his dorsal shield emitters. Vea'ra passed over Damahr's
ship and launched aft torpedoes. The torpedoes exploded against Damahr's ship
and ripped the vessel to shreds.
Vea'ra angled ship towards the nearest clearing in the
debris and fired her afterburners. She had no time to waste celebrating her
minor victory.
***
A small dwarf star was feeding off of a red giant.
Tendrils of solar energy connected the two stars. Streams of solar flares were
sucked from the giant and absorbed into the dwarf.
The two stars' struggle was a never ending mystery.
The smaller star would grow as it absorbed the giant. Then the process would
reverse. It was unexplainable. And the resulting energy made the entire region
unstable.
It was the perfect meeting place for the mixed battle
group near Drilax.
The Megaship speared into real space at the edge of
the system and angled towards the fleet. Five Titan attack cruisers formed the
core of the fleet. Each cruiser was slender and sand colored, with jagged
plates of armor extending from its hull.
The attack cruisers were the latest ships to be produced by the simian
warriors.
The small fleet stretched across the Megaship's
viewer.
"Hail the lead ship," Tommy said.
"Channel open," Kat said.
A simian warrior appeared on the main viewer. His fur
was dull gray and his armor bronze. Tommy clenched onto the forward console,
his knuckles turning white. Seeing the Titan race still reminded him of
Shannon's murderer.
"We are glad you could join us, Terran Rangers," the
commander said. "I am Tragdar, commander of the fleet."
Tommy nodded. "I look forward to speaking with you.
We'll bring our ship in for docking. Megaship out."
The viewer deactivated.
A signal on Chris's console lit up. His fingers danced
across the control console. "An unidentified ship is entering the system on an
erratic vector."
"On screen," Tommy said.
The forward viewer showed an image of the approaching
fin-shaped ship. The vessel was leaking plasma.
"Hail them," Tommy said.
"Their comm system is down," Kat said.
Justin activated his tactical scanners. "They've taken
heavy battle damage...but it could be a trap."
"Life signs?" Tommy asked.
"One," Chris answered. "Very faint. The Titan ships
are arming weapons and moving in on an attack vector."
"Kat, tell them to stay put," Tommy said. "Cy, get us
closer to that ship and get a tractor beam ready. Polarize the hull plating."
The Megaship moved closer towards the vessel. Ashley
reported from her station. "Their engines are going to overload..."
"Justin, Chris," Tommy said, "morph and head into the
ship. Save whoever's on board. I want to know who they are and why they're
here."
***
Astro Black and Astro Blue landed on the deck of the
damaged craft. Conduits exploded around them as the deck plating shook. Fires
dotted the corridor, providing the only illumination.
"Nice place," Astro Blue said. "And I thought we had
it bad."
Astro Black activated his helmet scanner. "She's this
way," he said, nodding towards the bridge. Come on..."
They ran through the damaged corridor and approached
the bridge door. They didn't bother trying to open it with conventional means.
Astro Black downloaded his lance and swung downward, tearing the door from the
bulkhead.
Astro Blue hopped in first. Consoles in the small
bridge were erupting with flame. He noticed Vea'ra hunched over the forward
flight control station. "There she is."
They moved further onto the bridge. A support beam
exploded from above and fell towards them, but they merely knocked it aside as
if it were paper.
Astro Blue gently scooped her into his arms. Astro
Black fit a small brace onto her arm. The brace emitted an energy shield that
would protect her from the vacuum and pressure of space for a short period of
time while providing oxygen.
The ship suddenly lurched as explosions sparked all
around them. Kat's voice came through their helmet's comm system. "Justin, the
ship's falling apart, you have to get out of there!"
A conduit beneath their feet exploded and hurled the
three of them into the corridor. They scrambled to their feet and ran towards
the docking ring as explosions ripped around them. They leapt through the ring
and out of the ship as it expanded in a ball of flame. The shockwave knocked
them hard against their backs and sent them flailing through space, crashing
against their Cyber Sliders.
They pulled themselves onto the Sliders and returned
to the ship.
***
Vea'ra lied back on the Megaship's medical bed. She
was still unconscious, but her vital signs were stable. The rangers recognized
her from one of their early missions, shortly before getting the Delta Mega
from Phantom Ranger.
"Well," Tommy said as he, Cy, and the other five
rangers gathered around, "anyone have any ideas as to why she's here."
Zhane arced an eyebrow. "Who is she again?"
"Vea'ra," Chris answered. "She works for Durak."
Zhane recognized the name. Durak was one of the
galaxy's top smugglers and information brokers.
"Guys..." Ashley said, her eyes fixed on a data pad. She
had downloaded the data pack they found on Vea'ra onto the pad. "You're not
going to believe this...that data pack she had. It has a way to find Zordon."
The rangers' eyes opened wide.
Justin shook his head at the thought. "How do we know
if we can trust her? Her and her big boss almost got us killed."
"Even if it's true," Zhane said, "what about the
battle group? We can't just abandon them. We're committed."
Tommy sighed. A part of him couldn't believe what he
was about to suggest. "We'll split up. One team will stay here in the Megaship.
The second team will go and see if Zordon is really where this data pack says."
***
Tommy and Ashley decided to go to the core alone with
the data pack. They would scout the area, and if Zordon was there, they would
send the proper signal back to the Megaship.
In the meantime, the rest of the rangers would take
the Megaship and join in the battle group's efforts against Sauron's forces.
The shuttle was still docked at the Megaship's ventral
port as Tommy and Ashley sat at the forward station, getting the shuttle ready
for launch. Their fingers moved across the control consoles, running various
diagnostics and system checks.
"I don't suppose this thing turns into a Megazord,"
Tommy joked as he ran a check of the weapon systems.
Ashley smiled. "Not yet. But give me a few minutes."
She downloaded the data pack's contents into the
ship's navigation system.
Cy's voice came over the shuttle's comm system. "We're
ready to get underway."
Tommy nodded. "Good luck guys. Separate the docking
clamps."
"Separating docking clamps," Cy said. "Good look to
you too."
The shuttle dropped from the Megaship. The engines
flashed with blue light as the small ship streaked forward into hyperspace.
***
The Megaship was in formation alongside the battle
group as it traversed through hyperspace, slingshot ting around the rim towards
the other side of the galaxy. CY, Zhane, and the other rangers gathered in the
situation room for a mission briefing.
Cy activated the table's central holographic emitter.
An image of a massive space station appeared. The station was like a web of
various hull components strung together without much thought to design.
"This is the DaVreen shipyards," Cy said. "It's
located near the Jolna Compact and Vongnar. The entire area of space is clouded
with Nebula storms except for one main route.
"A small task force of Frayloth and Gernaydin ships is
launching a frontal attack through the main route. They're just a diversion.
Our battle group is going to maneuver through the Nebula storms and destroy the
station."
"How bad are these storms?" Chris asked.
"Bad," Zhane said.
Cy nodded in agreement. "I piloted a freighter once
through the Nebula Inferno of Qo'nos. We should make it. It's the Titan ships
I'm worried about. They're larger."
"But still maneuverable," Zhane said.
"What kind of defenses are we up against once we make
it to the shipyards?" Justin asked.
"The station itself is armed with Nadion pulse
cannons," Cy said. "The station's defense group consists of Vihes, Kyrana, DaVreen
and Vongnar ships. The Vongnar will likely hold back while the other ships
engage the decoy fleet."
"Then what?" Zhane asked.
"The station has seven structural integrity weak
points. Once we destroy those weak points, the station will collapse."
"Sounds easy enough," Justin said sarcastically.
***
The shuttle speared into real-space. The stars around
them were dense, a clear sign that they were near the galactic core.
"Just a few more jumps and we should be there," Ashley
said. "Unless this data pack is a sham…"
Tommy nodded. "I'm starting to think we should have
explored that possibility a bit more before coming out here," he said, only
half joking.
"What fun would that have been," Ashley said.
Tommy shrugged. His sensor panel started blinking
before he could answer. "We've got company. A wing of light freighters,
probably patrols for Divatox. I hope the weapons in this crate are working."
"Not well enough to take on six ships," Ashley said.
Tommy nodded in agreement. "Plot us an escape vector.
We'll have to fight our way around them."
Tommy polarized the shuttle's hull plating and brought
the phase cannons online.
"Got it," Ashley said. "Head 217 mark 8."
"Hold on," Tommy said as he swung the shuttle into a
hard dive and turn. The attack freighters followed while igniting their
thrusters for a burst of speed.
"The freighters are entering firing range," Ashley
reported.
The ships opened fire with rapid-fire blasts of green
energy that streaked towards the shuttle. Tommy brought the ship up in a steep
climb and banked to avoid the blasts. He brought the shuttle around in a loop
and aimed its nose back at the freighters.
The shuttle's phase cannons fired streams of energy at
the two ships. The phase blasts exploded against the enemies' hull plating as
the shuttle passed above them, continuing to fire all cannons.
Tommy activated the ship's hyperspace drive. The
shuttle shot into warp, with the freighters not far behind.
"Those ships are pursuing," Ashley said. "And they're
gaining on us."
"Can this ship go faster?" Tommy asked.
The freighters launched missiles charged with jade
colored energy. The missiles slammed against the shuttle's dorsal hull. Tommy
and Ashley shook within the cockpit on impact.
"I didn't think it was possible to fight in
hyperspace," Tommy said.
Ashley shook her head. "Neither did I."
***
Three Frayloth Talvoth-class Warbirds dropped out of
hyperspace on the outskirts of the DaVreen shipyards. Five of the smaller
Gernaydin assault ships fell into position alongside the main cruisers. The
Gernaydin ships had green-tinted hull plating across a teardrop-shaped hull and
edged wings, tipped off with blade-like nacelles.
The shipyards' defense fleet reacted. Jagged DaVreen
ships flew forward with a wing of Kyrana assault raiders shaped likes birds of
prey. Vihes assault ships moved flanked the Kyrana ships. The Vihes ships
resembled pods with jagged plates of armor extended backward and twin cannons
aimed forward. A single red deflector array made the pod look like a Cyclops.
The white-furred Admiral Trefli'ah stood on the bridge
of the lead Frayloth cruiser as the enemy approached. "Admiral to Gernadyn
attack force...peel back the enemy's Vihes ships, attack pattern Rigel beta. Port
gunners, target the Kyrana escort wing. Starboard gunners, lay down covering
fire."
The battle started.
The DaVreen ships opened fire with spheres of
crackling energy that slammed against the Frayloth cruisers. The Kyrana ships broke
formation and opened fire with rapid bursts of jade-colored energy.
The winged Gernadyn ships broke formation and fired
lances of plasma energy that exploded across the pod ships' hulls.
The pods scattered formation and ignited their
thrusters to counter attack. The pods fired darts of orange energy that
splashed across the Gernadyn ships' shields, exploding across the hull.
The lead Frayloth cruiser opened fire with a full port
cannon barrage that sent bursts of blue and red energy darting through space,
exploding against the Kyrana ships. One of the light assault raiders turned
hard to starboard to avoid a blast, but one of its wings was ripped to shreds
by the cannon assault. The ship went spinning out of control.
The DaVreen ships looped around and aimed their
cannons towards the ventral side of the Frayloth ships while trying to sneak
upward.
"Full axis rotation starboard," the admiral commanded.
"Fire all ventral cannons."
The lead Frayloth rotated so its belly cannons were
facing the incoming DaVreen ships. The cannons opened fire, spraying blue and
red energy darts that exploded against the lead DaVreen ship. The first barrage
of blasts ate away the ship's shields. The next volley of plasma and disrupter
blasts exploded through the ship's hull, ripping apart armor plating.
***
The Megaship climbed upward as a nebula lightning
burst scorched the side of the ship's hull.
"DECA," Cy said. "Transfer auxiliary power to
maneuvering thrusters, and emergency power to hull plating."
"One of the Titan ships," Justin reported. "They're
opening fire on us!"
"What?!" Cy said. "Hail them."
"No response," Kat said.
Chris shook his head as he reviewed his sensor
readings. "I'm not picking up any life signs on the ship that's attacking us.
It's like their whole crew just died."
Kat's monitor flashed. "I'm picking up a message from
the lead Titan ship. They swear they're not responsible. They think someone has
taken over the rogue ship."
"Just what we need," Justin said sarcastically.
The Titan ship fired again, striking the Megaship's
hull. The energy discharge attracted a bolt of nebula lightning that nearly
ripped through their hull.
Justin looked to Cy. "If we return fire, we'll just
attract more of that nebula lightning. Our weapons are like magnets to it."
Chris turned towards them. "We can board the ship and
regain control. We'd have to take Zhane with us."
Cy nodded. "You three go to the engine room and get
Zhane. Do whatever you can to stop that Titan ship."
***
The Titan ship's corridor was bronze plated with dim
red lights signaling battle readiness. The four Rangers entered the corridor
through the docking port, and immediately found two bodies of Titan warriors
slumped against the walls.
Astro Pink shook her head. "What happened to them?"
"We don't have time to figure it out, Kat," Astro Blue
said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Astro Black activated his helmet icon and scanned the
interior of the ship. "I can get us to the bridge," he said as he started
forward. "This way..."
An artificial wind suddenly blew through the corridor.
The dead Titan warrior reanimated and slowly climbed to their feet. Their eyes
burned with deep red fire. Their wings turned into black flame.
One of the Titan's lunged forward and swung his blade
towards the Rangers.
"Silver Blazer!" Astro Silver shouted as he used his
arm-mounted sword to knock the villain's saber away. Silver Ranger brought his
blade back down in a diagonal arc that tore through the Titan's armor and flesh
like a blade through a cloud of sand.
The Titan's body crumbled and turned to ash. Astro
Silver dashed forward to the second Titan and swung his Blazer upward in a
diagonal arc that tore through the simian like paper. The second warrior
crumbled and turned to ash.
The remains of the two warriors started to pulse with
energy as two small clouds of crimson smoke arose. The two clouds rose above
the deck and phased through the bulkhead.
The Rangers stood in silence.
"What the hell was that?!" Astro Blue said.
"Pa Reens," Astro Silver said.
"What's a Pa Reen?" Astro Black asked.
"They're creatures from the Astral Plane," Astro
Silver said. "Someone had to have brought them here. Used them to take control
of the ship and its crew."
The deck plating before them erupted, causing a
shockwave that knocked the four Rangers backward. Four lifeless Titan warriors
climbed from the hole in the deck plating. Their eyes were glowing with the
crimson fire of the Pa Reen, and their wings were black flame.
***
Tommy and Ashley were jolted in the cockpit as another
blast struck the shuttle's hull. The lines of hyperspace in their view port
came to a halt as the ship fell back into real-space near a brown and green
planet.
"Where are we?" Tommy asked.
Ashley shook her head. "I have no idea. Navigation
systems and sensors are offline."
The freighters speared into real-space, jetting past
the shuttle and circling around to attack like a group of sharks.
Tommy's fingers danced across the control panel. With
weapons and hull plating offline too, he did not have a lot of options. "I'm
taking us towards the planet. Maybe we can lose them in the atmosphere. They
don't look designed for planetary flight."
The shuttle ignited its thrusters and looped back towards
the planet. The freighters started closing in on the shuttle and opened fire
with rapid blasts of green energy. Most blasts darted across the shuttle and
streaked past the view port. Other blasts exploded against the dorsal hull
plating and exploded near the shuttle's main engine.
The shuttle went spinning out of control towards the
planet's atmosphere.
***
Astro Silver and Astro Blue spun forward while
thrashing through two more Titan zombies. The zombies turned to dust as the
crimson clouds of the Pa Reen floated through the deck plating.
The Silver and Blue Rangers were covering Astro Black
and Astro Pink, who were trying to open the entrance to the Titan ship's
bridge. The large metal doors clanked open, revealing the dimly-lit battle bridge.
A group of dead Titans leapt forward, taking the
Rangers by surprise. Astro Black downloaded his staff and swung the weapon
through the Titan warrior, causing the zombie to dissolve. Astro Pink held her
weapon forward and fired rings of pink energy that ripped through the rest of
the creatures.
"We're in," Astro Black said to his teammates.
The four Rangers entered the bridge and sealed the
door to delay any other un-dead Titans from trying to stop them.
They heard laughter echo across the bridge walls. The
crimson clouds of the Pa Reen suddenly gathered in the center of the bridge and
started to circle around. They circled a man wearing a dark robe who stood at
the center of the bridge. Lines of blood formed a demonic pattern at his feet.
He stood at the center of the pattern.
A ruby held a black cloak around the stranger. He held
a broad, double-edged sword with a white gem at its hilt. His hair was white,
and his skin black. His eyes were deep purple.
"Who are you?" Astro Blue asked.
The villain extended his hand. Invisible forced of
energy slammed the Rangers backward and pressed them against the bridge walls.
"I am Ortu. A mere traveler who was...hitching a ride."
Astro Silver struggled against the force to aim his
arm-mounted blaster. "Great...sense of humor..." he triggered a volley of golden
energy darts, but the Pa Reen acted as a shield that protected the villain.
"Don't try that again," Ortu said as he used invisible
energy to pull the blaster out of the Silver Ranger's hand. "Not that you'll
have much time to try."
The villain tightened his invisible grip on the
Rangers, nearly crushing their ribs. The bridge shook violently from a powerful
lightning burst, breaking the villain's concentration. The Rangers dropped to
the ground.
"Now!" Astro Blue shouted as he fired his Astro
Sniper.
Pa Reen deflected the blue energy darts as Astro
Yellow moved in from the side, slinging blasts of yellow energy that the Pa
Reen deflected as well.
Astro Silver retrieved his Silver Blazer and aimed the
weapon at the deck plating. He triggered a volley of golden energy blasts that
exploded against the demonic symbol on the deck. The symbol was broken, and the
Pa Reen disappeared.
Astro Black pounced forward before the evil magick
user could react and slammed a hook punch across his face. The villain went
stumbling into unconsciousness.
***
The shuttle had crashed against the planet's surface
near a ring of woodland surrounding a jagged spire of rock that pierced into
the sky. The shuttle itself was a useless wreck, and it was a wonder the two
rangers survived.
Dark clouds covered the night sky above, and a
chilling breeze was blowing down the mountain side. They brought various pieces
of wood and dried leaves into the shuttle so they could use it as a shelter and
keep warm while trying to get a message to the rest of their team.
Tommy tried to rub two sticks together and start the
fire, but he could not ignite the flame. "This was a lot easier in theory than
in practice..."
"I take it you were never in boy scouts," Ashley said.
She was trying to rig her portable scanner to get a signal off of the planet.
Tommy shook his head. He continued to try and work on
the flame. "I never saw the attraction. Besides...I was always busy with martial
arts."
"What got you started with that anyway?" Ashley asked.
Tommy shrugged. "I got picked on a lot as a kid. It
was mostly my own fault...I'd see other people get hassled by bullies, I'd step
in to try and help. That never went very well. What about you? Why kick
boxing?"
Ashley smiled at the memory, her eyes still on the
portable scanner. "They were passing out fliers for free lessons one day in
junior high. I never actually considered going...but my Dad found the flier in my
book bag. He flipped out. Said a kick boxing class was no place for girls."
"I'm sure you took that well," Tommy said.
"Oh yeah," Ashley said sarcastically. "I went to that
class three days a week and practiced at home on the other days. It drove my
dad nuts."
The shuttle suddenly lurched and tipped to the side.
Tommy and Ashley went slamming against the storage lockers as the rear of the
shuttle was ripped off. They reached for their morphers, but it was too late.
An unseen monster fired beams of energy that caused the two rangers to vanish.
***
The Megaship was back on course, leading the task
force towards the outskirts of the nebula storm. The rangers learned that Ortu
had stowed aboard the Titan ship near the spaceports of Lodosazbar before the
battle group's rendezvous. He was a dark mage in Sauron's employee.
A skeleton crew manned the Titan ship so it could join
the rest of the battle group.
"We're approaching the edge of the nebula," Chris
said.
"Zhane, get ready for a hyper-rush-one jump," Cy said.
Zhane made the calculations. The ship fleet was going
to skip through space from the edge of the nebula to the station itself. Only
the Megaship had the precision necessary to make the jump, so the other ships
in the battle group slaved their computers over to the Megaship.
The battle group jumped into hyperspace. The jump
lasted less than a fraction of a second, then the station grew larger in the
Megaship's forward view port. A dozen or more Vongnar ships– heavy cruisers
and lighter attack ships– flew in defense formation around the station.
"Signal all ships to attack," Cy commanded. "Pattern
starburst-nova."
Allied freighters opened fire with a volley of
concussion torpedoes, proton missiles, quantum missiles and torpedoes. The
Vongnar ships started to break formation to try and avoid the missile barrage
streaking towards them with red and blue pulses of light. The enemy ships did
not react fast enough to the sneak attack.
A volley of missiles exploded against the dorsal side
of a Vongnar ship. The ship was crushed and exploded violently, the shockwave
damaging another two ships. Two ships were destroyed total, and another five
badly damaged.
The Megaship thrust forward towards the top of the
station as the Vongnar ships regrouped and opened fire with pulses of purple
energy. The allied freighters opened fire with rail cannons and plasma cannons,
laying down cover fire as the larger ships moved in.
Justin aimed the Megalasers at a Vongnar ship
approaching their port side. The dorsal lasers fire darts of blue energy that
sprinkled against the Vongnar ship with a series of sparks and explosions. The
Vongnar's shields collapsed as Justin triggered the plasma cannons, sending
darts of red energy spearing through the enemy ship's hull.
A Titan ship moved in and fired twin lances of blue
energy. The energy streams exploded against the ship, causing the Vongnar
vessel to rip in half.
"The station is aiming its Nadion Pulse Cannons,"
Justin reported.
The station spat out a volley of 20 orange-tinted
energy spheres. The spheres blasted against the allied fleet, skinning the
starboard side hull of a Titan ship and exploding against the other attack cruisers.
The smaller Avinza Raiders managed to evade the blasts
and move in on attack runs towards the Vongnar ships. The Raiders opened fire
with pulse cannons that exploded against the Vongnar shields.
***
Tommy moaned as he sat up, rubbing the back of his
wounded head. Ashley was on the concrete ground besides him. She was regaining
consciousness too.
"You okay?" he asked her.
Ashley nodded. "Where are we?"
Tommy shook his heads. A line of human-like men and
women spanned underneath a concrete archway. The ground was paved with the same
material, which resembled concrete. "It looks like some kind of city..."
The lines of people were moving into a central tower
structure. Various buildings dotted the perimeter of the small city. Quantrons
marched about at various intervals. Three of the soldiers, along with a bounty
hunter, moved towards Tommy and Ashley. The green-skinned bounty hunter had a
mouth that resembled a fly trap and dark red eyes. His hair was long and black.
The villain wore rugged plates of gray armor and had slender blades extending
from his arms.
Tommy and Ashley rose to their feet and readied their
wrist morphers. "Install! Astro Ranger!"
They input the code 3-3-5-enter. Nothing happened.
"What the-" Tommy started to say.
The bounty hunter extended his hand and shot two
spheres of energy that wrapped around the rangers' arms and formed wrist
bindings. The wrist bindings made the already-injured rangers weak, and they
almost collapsed to the ground.
Quantrons grabbed them and pushed them into line with
the rest of the humanoids. One of the girls, dressed in rags, looked back at
the Terrans. "Where did you come from?"
"Near the core," Tommy said. "What is this place?"
The young woman's gaze grew distant before she even
heard the question. "The core...their range is larger than I thought."
Ashley tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"Mass teleportations," she said. "Most of my planet
was uprooted and brought here. The same is true of many worlds."
"What planet are you from?" Tommy asked, although he
suspected that he knew the answer.
"De'journel," she said.
Ashley and Tommy exchanged knowing glances. They had
been to the world. It was completely deserted. The natives who were not
teleported away were twisted and transformed into living weapons by Darkonda.
"What is this place?" Tommy asked again.
"No one knows," she said. "A few of my people once
escaped to the edge of the city. It's protected by a dome."
The bounty hunter growled at the woman and rangers. He
spoke an unintelligible language. He aimed an arm blade at the rangers and
muttered again. Tommy took a bold step forward. "I could say the same to you..."
The bounty hunter swung his blade down towards Tommy's
head. Tommy stepped backward and held up his wrists. The blade snapped through
his bindings. His strength returned and he spun forward with a reverse sidekick
that crashed against the bounty hunter's chest.
"Burn knuckle!" Tommy shouted as his fist radiated
with fiery energy and slammed against the bounty hunter's chest, cracking his
ribs.
Tommy turned, keeping his hand ignited as he ripped
Tommy and the young woman's bindings off. "Come on..." he said as they sprinted
away from the oncoming group of Quantrons.
***
Rashanar stood in the main lab of the city's central
building. A view port looked down to a metal pit below. A slender emitter
extended from the ceiling towards the center of the pit. The villain was a
member of the Lkitrnzizzit race. His deep eye sockets and slimy blue skin made
him look more like a monster than made. He had no lips or hair.
A group of civilians entered the lab below and stood
beneath the emitter. Rashanar smiled at the fear that crossed their faces. The
pain they were about to experience was one of a kind. And for such a worthy
cause.
He activated the emitter. It sent a burst of energy
that seemed to consume the civilians molecule by molecule and suck them up. Their
DNA codes and molecules were digitized and stored into slender, rectangular
chips that slid out from the evil scientist's console.
Astronema stepped up from behind him and removed one
of the disks. "Excellent," she said as she looked the disk over. "With these
DNA codes, we can double our army and our labor force."
Rashanar nodded. "Sauron will be pleased."
Astronema glared at him. She slammed the end of her
staff against his gut. She leaned down and spoke into his ear. "Your allegiance
is with me. And me alone."
***
Their presence remained. In the void. Darkness. They
were empty. Or free. Bottomless. Existence torn. Astronema created them. Now
they were gone. But still. Energy cannot be destroyed. They remained. Their
energy lingered. Rebirth. They needed Rebirth. Astronema created. Astronema.
Rebirth.
The spirits of the Psycho Rangers reached out towards
Astronema's presence.
***
A Nadion pulse blast slammed against the Megaship.
Explosions sparks across the bridge as power conduits erupted. A duo of Vongnar
ships descended on the Megaship and opened fire with blasts that exploded
against the ship's hull.
Emergency claxons sounded along with crimson emergency
lights, the sole source of light on the war-torn bridge.
Chris's fingers moved across his control panel. "The
Titan ships have taken out two of the weak points. That's five total counting
the ones we took out."
Justin manipulated his control. He adjusted the
targeting scanners to lock onto a Vongnar ship closing in on their starboard
side. He triggered a volley of plasma darts that exploded against the enemy
ship and destroyed it.
"Where are those Raiders?" Cy asked. "They're supposed
to be watching our flank."
Another blast impact rocked the bridge.
Cy activated the Battleizer, on loan from Tommy.
"Delta Mega, Install!"
The delta-shape ship appeared moments later and fell
into formation besides the Megaship. The Delta Mega ignited rapid-fire yellow
energy darts at an approaching group of Vongnar ships. Delta Mega cleared a
path as the Megaship moved closer to their next target on the enemy station.
"We're closing in on the next weak point," Chris said.
"We're all clear."
"Fire Megalasers," Cy commanded.
Justin locked weapons on target and triggered a burst
of blue energy darts that exploded against the station, cracking through armor
and obliterating the weak point. "Only one left."
"New problem," Chris said. "The last weak point has
been reinforced with multi-layered regenerative deflector shields. The Titan
cruisers haven't been able to break through."
"We'll have to use our beam cannon," Cy said. "Get
ready to form the Megazord."
"No can do," Zhane said over the comm system. He was
in the engine room. "The fusion program is offline."
Kat's console displayed a transmission. "The main
battle group says they have to break off soon."
"Fine," Cy said. "Tell all our ships to concentrate
fire on the last structural weak point. Lay down heavy laser fire, then blast
it with torpedoes."
"Cy," Justin said. "We don't have enough firepower to
get through those shields. We were expecting a weak point, not a miniature
fortress."
One of the Titan ships ignited its thrusters and
charged forward towards the last structural point. Kat's monitor blinked. "The
Titan's lead ship...they're going to ram the last weak point."
The Titan ship opened fire with streams of cyan-tinted
energy that pounded against the deflector shield. Nadion pulse cannons ate away
at the cruiser's hull, but the ship continued its advance.
The Titan ship collided with the station. Massive
explosions started ripping across the shipyards with a fury of flame and twisted steel. The Titan
ship was consumed by the blast. The entire vessel erupted into a sphere of
flame.
"Let's get out of here," Cy said, his eyes glued to
the view port as the shipyards fell.
***
The Megaship arrived at the rendezvous site, but the
shuttle was nowhere to be found. Cy, Chris, Kat, and Justin managed to track
the shuttle's hyperspace trail to a planet deep in the core. Zhane had traveled
with the Mega Winger to make repairs to the Delta Mega and his own Mega Winger.
The Megaship entered into low orbit around the world
and scanned its surface. Cy leaned over Chris's shoulder as the sensor station
displayed results. "It looked like they were teleported away...the pattern looks
familiar, but I can't place it."
Cy's eyes opened wide. He recognized the pattern. He
turned to Kat. "Contact Kruger. We're going to need his help."
***
The Megaship regrouped in the Rigel Expanse with
Kruger's flagship and small flotilla of Rigelian ships. Kruger’s vessel was a
heavy dreadnaught named Boss One, and
the Rigel ships were a mix of heavy battle cruisers and lighter assault
frigates.
Kruger's image was on the Megaship's forward viewer.
The rangers and Kruger had shared data on the teleportation readings.
"Your timing could not be better," the blue-furred K-9
said. "We've tracked the signal from the De'journel abductions. It's safe to
say your teammates were transported to the same place. Slave your navigation
systems to my ship. We'll escort you to this hidden planet."
***
The Astro Megaship dropped out of hyperspace alongside
Rigelian battle cruisers and assault frigates. The planet ahead was protected
by a group of Vongnar attack ships and Jolna frigates. The ships were in
formation around Astronema's Dark Fortress.
Chris reported from his station. "There's some kind of
city on the surface. Its protected by a giant dome. Our sensors can't recognize
the material."
Kat looked back to Cy. "That's probably where Tommy
and Ashley are."
Cy nodded. "Polarize the hull plating. Kat, signal the
Rigel ships to fall into screening formation around us. We have to make it to
the surface."
"What about the dome?" Chris asked.
"Does it extend under the surface?" Justin asked.
Chris cracked a grin when he studied the readouts.
"Not far."
"Then we can use the Megatank to drill our way under,"
Justin said.
The Megaship and Rigel ships flew in formation towards
the planet's defense fleet. The more maneuverable, beetle-like Vongnar attack ships
broke formation and moved to intercept the allied flotilla.
The Vongnar opened fire with neon-purple energy blasts
that streaked towards the allied ships. Cy piloted the Megaship through evasive
maneuvers as Justin brought the plasma cannons and Megalasers online.
"Hold on," Cy said as he triggered the ship's
afterburners.
Justin locked on weapons and started firing. Blue and
red darts of energy shot from the Megaship and exploded against the enemy
ships.
***
Tommy, Ashley, and the woman named Neiah ducked for
cover near a store building. Quantron patrols were criss-crossing the streets,
searching for the three escaped prisoners. The android soldiers were getting
harder to avoid by the minute.
Tommy served as look out as Ashley inspected her
morpher. Neiah looked panicked. She grasped onto Tommy's shirt. "How were you
able to do that? You'll be tortured to death when they catch us."
"Well," Tommy said, "we'll just avoid getting caught.
Ash, how's it look?"
The morphers are working fine," she said. "There's
definitely a jamming field keeping us from morphing or communicating. My guess
is it's coming from the central building."
"Makes sense," Tommy said. He looked to Neiah. "Do you
know anything that might help us."
"The central building is their headquarters," she
said. "We can't go there."
"Be an optimist," Tommy said. He looked to Ashley.
"Here's the plan. We head deeper into the dome. They won't suspect us to go
back the way we came. We'll ambush a patrol, take their weapons, then...get into
the main building somehow."
"Okay," Ashley said. "What are we waiting for?"
The two rangers and Neiah started to move out.
Explosions rang out around them before they moved far. Tommy and Ashley rolled
for cover while pulling Neiah down with them.
The green-skinned bounty hunter had a mouth that
resembled a fly trap and dark red eyes. His hair was long and black. The
villain wore rugged plates of gray armor and had slender blades extending from
his arms.
Tommy looked back to Ashley. "You two go."
Ashley nodded. "Don't be too long." She knew it was
pointless to argue. And she knew they had to bring down whatever jamming
covered the dome area. They ran off.
The bounty hunter, jSugfnd, charged forward and swung
his blades like scissors towards Tommy's neck. Tommy sidestepped and slammed a
round kick against the villain's chest before smashing a round kick against his
face.
***
The Megaship broke through the atmosphere and moved
close to the surface. The ship arced towards the dome within sight distance.
Chris finished scanning the dome and its equipment.
"Done," Chris said. "I know where we need to hit. Drop
us off bearing 7 mark 709."
Cy arced looped the ship towards the south side of the
dome while the three rangers moved into the docking bay. Cy opened the bay
doors and the Mega Tank dropped towards the surface. The tank armed its drill
and dove beneath the earth.
***
"Astronema," Eclipter said. He and the princess were
on board the Dark Fortress bridge. "The Rangers' ship has entered the planet's
atmosphere."
"Have they," Astronema said. She turned and glared at
Eclipter with ices of ice an expression just as cold. "Let me make this clear:
I am tired of the Rangers interrupting my every move. You are my right-hand
general. Cut off their ability to launch attacks."
"But princess-"
"Think," Astronema said. "The Mega Voyager, Delta Mega
and Mega Winger are not in use. Find them and destroy them. Psycho Yellow must
have left residual energy behind that even you can track."
***
The Mega Tank burst from the ground on the outskirts
of the city. A cluster of stone and bushes concealed the tank as the rangers
hopped out of the cockpit.
Chris opened his scanner. "We're close enough to
pinpoint troop deployments."
"Let's morph," Justin said.
They readied their morphers. "Install! Astro Ranger!"
They input the code 3-3-5-enter into their morphers. Nothing happened.
Chris wrinkled his brow and looked to his scanner.
"There's some kind of dampening field. We can't morph."
"Great," Justin said sarcastically. "Next time we go
on a mission like this, remind me to morph before we break into the
enemy stronghold filled with people who want to kill us."
"We'll be okay," Chris said, his eyes on his scanner.
"The energy field surrounding the dome is the same field blocking our powers.
Once the field is down we can morph and signal the ships in orbit. Then they
can start landing inside the dome and getting people off this rock."
Justin checked to make sure his blaster was charged.
"Let's try to avoid as many patrols as we can. We'll have enough target place
once we reach the main building."
***
Ashley snuck into the main compound of the secret city
along with Neiah. They watched in horror through a small view port as a group
of civilians were converted into data and stored onto cards.
"God," Ashley whispered. "That's what they're doing
here."
***
Justin, Chris, and Kat moved to the base of the
central complex. Chris looked over his portable scanner. "The transmission
cluster is at the top of this building. Guards are stationed just outside the
entrance to the roof."
A burst of light flashed nearby as a group of
Craterites dropped to the ground.
"Damn," Justin cursed as he opened fire. He plasma
blaster shot bursts of orange energy that exploded against the soldiers. "Cover
me, guys. I'll go plan the charges."
"Be careful," Chris said as he and Kat aimed their
weapons at the approaching soldiers and opened fire. Justin entered the
building.
***
Justin ran up the winding stairs. A group of Quantrons
charged down the steps towards him. He jump kicked the first soldier away and
blasted the next two at near-point-blank range. Explosions sparked across their
chest as they flipped backward.
Justin heard fighting from a level above. He moved
farther up the stairs and saw Ashley, spinning forward and bringing an axe kick
down on a creature's collar bone.
"Ashley!" Justin shouted.
"I was wondering if you guys would show up," she said
as she kicked the last Quantron away.
"Come on," Justin said. "We have to blow up the
transmission array that's blocking or morphers. "
Ashley turned to Neiah. "Find somewhere to stay out of
sight. You'll be safer."
***
A group of Quantrons stood on the roof near the
transmission array. The door to the roof shattered in as three Craterites fell
through and crashed to the pavement. Ashley and Justin moved in, triggering
blasts that exploded against the first three Quantrons.
The soldiers charged towards the rangers. Ashley
ducked under a boomerang blade and slammed a round kick against a soldier's
chest.
Justin spun forward, slamming the handle of his
blaster against a Quantron's chest as he moved towards the transmission
cluster. He pulled out five charges and started placing them along the cluster
as a group of Craterites rushed towards him, their jagged blades ready to
strike.
Justin started to swing his blaster up, but a
Craterite swiped the weapon from his hand and kicked him on the chest. Justin
went flipping backwards, stumbling over the railing. He grabbed hold of the
railing, his feet dangling 20 stories above ground.
"Justin!" Ashley shouted. While she was distracted, a
Quantron pushed her over the railing too. She grabbed hold of the railing to
keep from falling.
The soldiers stalked towards the railing, ready to cut
the Rangers down. Justin pulled the detonator from his pocket and triggered it.
The transmission array exploded, creating a shockwave that blasted the soldiers
off the roof.
The shockwave shook Justin and Ashley loose, and they
started falling towards the ground below. They snapped open their morphers, but
were flailing to wildly to trigger their transformation streak.
A red streak suddenly passed beneath them and caught them.
It was Astro Red. "Hang on..."
He arced his slider downward and skid to the ground
near Kat and Chris. Astro Red hopped off his slider as the gene beast stalked
towards them.
"Let's take care of business, guys," Astro Red said.
The other four rangers flipped open their morphers.
"Install! Astro Ranger!" They input the code 3-3-5-enter.
Energy shimmered around the five Rangers as they
morphed into their armor. They snapped into fighting stances as a group of
Craterites appeared around the monster at the foot of the stairs.
The Craterites and monster charged forward to attack.
"Drill Saber!" Astro Red shouted as he downloaded his
sword and leapt forward.
He speared his blade through the chest of a soldier
while landing at the base of the steps. He pulled his blade out of the
soldier's chest while slamming a knifehand chop against its neck.
Astro Red turned to his left and dashed forward while
thrashing horizontally through a Craterite, his blade sparking against the
soldier on impact. The Ranger turned to his right and circled his sword to
parry a blow before arcing the blade upward in a diagonal strike that slashed
through a Craterite, sending the soldier flipping backward as sparks rips
across its chest.
Astro Pink leapt over a Craterite while slamming her
heel against the back of its neck. She landed while holding her arms out in an
'x' pattern and striking a second soldier in the neck.
Astro Blue leapt up and pushed his feet off the
building. He dove past a soldier while striking it in the neck, rolled across
the ground, and rose to his feet while flipping a soldier over his
shoulder.
Astro Black and Astro Yellow moved in at opposite
sides of the gene beast. Astro Black smashed a hook punch across the creature's
head. The monster used its arm like a club to bash the Black Ranger in the
chest.
Astro Yellow moved in with a jump round kick to the
head. The creature used its club arm to block the blow, and kicked the Yellow
Ranger aside.
Astro Black launched a flying punch towards the
monster. The gene beast slammed its arm against the Ranger and flipped him
over. Astro Black went crashing against the ground.
The gene beast turned to Astro Yellow and fired jagged
beams of energy that lashed against her armor with a series of sparks and
explosions. Astro Black ran to her side and helped her to her feet, just as the
monster struck again. It fired an energy whip that slashed across their armor
with a violent shower of sparks, sending them tumbling backward.
The monster stalked towards the two Rangers.
Astro Red knocked a Craterite away nearby. He saw his
friends in trouble and activated his Battleizer. Astro Red pressed the "one"
key on his brace and leapt forward to attack.
"Riser chop!" he shouted, bringing an energized
knifehand strike chopping down against the gene beast and exploding against its
armor.
"Riser punch!" Astro Red shouted. He slammed a fiery
punch that exploded against the monster, knocking the gene beast backward.
***
Their presence drifted in the secret city. They moved
towards headquarters. An unseen force. No consciousness. No mind. Just energy
with a single desire. Death to their counterparts. The energy drifted into the
lab room.
The power drifted into the machinery. The machines
turned matter into digital code. Energy into digital code. The process could not
be reversed on a specific person. One was dead when digitized. But the presence
could take shape. They entered the machine. Downloaded code.
The emitter in the lab pulses with power. A beam of
bright energy shot forth as code assembled and took shape. The code became
twisted flesh. Armor covered the flesh. The presence entered the drones. The
Psycho Rangers were reborn.
***
"Drill Sniper! Booster Mode!" Psycho Red shouted as he
aimed his rifle at the monster. He pressed the one key on his Battleizer. The
Battleizer transferred a massive serge of energy into the Sniper. "Fire!"
The energy blast punctured through the gene beast and
exploded. The monster's energy overloaded with a massive burst of flame that
consumed the creature.
Astro Red lowered his weapon as the other Rangers
gathered around them. They heard clapping coming from behind them. They turned
and froze with shock. The Psycho Rangers were standing in front of the central
complex.
"No..." Astro Red said. "We destroyed you!"
"Yes," Psycho Red hissed. "You did...and we are going to
make you pay dearly for that."
"Thanks to that digital contraption," Psycho Black
said, "we're back from the dead."
Astro Red rolled his hands into fists. "We beat you
before, psychos, and we'll do it again. For good this time."
The Rangers snapped into fighting stances.
"Astro Red!"
"Astro Black!"
"Astro Blue!"
"Astro Yellow!"
"Astro Pink!"
Together, they shouted: "Digital Task Force, Astro
Rangers!"
The Psycho Rangers and Astro Rangers charged. The two
groups bashed into each other with a flurry of kicks and punches that sparked
against each other's armor.
Astro Red parried a blow by Psycho Red and dashed
forward, his blade held horizontally. Psycho Red brought his blade down as
well. The enemies passed other while thrashing across each others' armor, their
blades sparking on impact.
Psycho Blue launched a spinning-heel kick that Astro
Blue ducked under. Astro Black slammed a hook punch across Psycho Black's head.
Astro Yellow and Psycho Yellow slammed roundkicks against each others' armor.
Psycho Pink and Astro Pink exchanged knifehand strikes.
The Rangers were knocked backward and regrouped.
"Drill Sniper, booster mode." Astro Red said as he
aimed the blaster rifle forward.
"Quadro Blaster." Astro Blue said as they aimed their
combined weapons towards the Psychos.
"Fire!"
Their combined energy blast exploded violently against
the Psycho Rangers, explosions ripping apart their armor. Their armor shattered
with a bright flash of light. The Psychos stood in their monster forms.
Psycho Red fired crimson optic blasts that exploded
against the Rangers' armor., knocking them backward.
The Rangers started to rise to their feet, but Psycho
Blue shot ice blades that exploded against their armor as the other Psychos
charged forward.
"I have a plan," Astro Red said. "Come on."
Astro Red ran back into the complex as the others
followed. "Kat," he said. "Use your helmet icon to tap into this building's
system and take control of the digital device Ashley told us about."
"You think that will work?" Astro Blue asked.
"It brought them here," Astro Red said. "It can send
them back."
***
The Mega Voyager, Delta Mega, and Mega Winger were
undergoing repairs at a science outpost near Aquitar. The outpost was on the
surface of a rocky moon. Patches of liquid dotted the moon like lakes of
boiling mud.
The outpost's control room was only large enough to
hold five control console stations. Space was an issue, since Zhane and two
Aquitions were the only people working in the lab.
One of the Aquitions was Cestro, a ranger of Aquitar.
Zhane called up a data display on his console. "Those
torpedo launchers fit the Mega Winger perfectly."
Cestro nodded while reviewing design specs for the
Mega Voyager. "They should prove most useful."
Power suddenly flickered within the control room as
control panels whined with protest.
"What is happening?" Cestro asked.
"I was about to ask you," Zhane said.
One of the control consoles flashed as a beam of red
and green light twisted from the screen and materialized into a humanoid
figure. It was Eclipter. The android had managed to track Mega Voyager to the
outpost. Materializing through the outpost's security system caused his
metallic body to appear dark red.
"Eclipter!" Zhane shouted as he snapped into a
fighting stance. He looked back to Cestro and the other Aquition. "Get out of
here. Take cover."
"I can help," Cestro said.
Eclipter lunged forward and chopped down his sword.
Zhane grabbed the android's arm and slammed a round kick against his side.
Cestro slapped his brace's activation panel. "Aquition
rebirth! Pegasaur Ranger!" He morphed into the blue armor of a water-dwelling
creature from his home world's past.
Eclipter turned his head and fired a crimson optic
blast that exploded against the Blue Ranger with a burst of spark. The Ranger
fell backward against his companion.
Zhane kept the android's sword at bay. Eclipter pushed
Zhane against a control console, his back bending. Zhane freed a hand and
flipped open his morpher. "Keitizer! Install!"
Golden energy flashed around him as he morphed into
his Ranger form.
Astro Silver drew his Silver Blazer and extended the
arm-mounted blade. He swung upward diagonally, the blade sparking against
Eclipter's chest. Astro Silver swung his saber downward, but Eclipter parried
the blow and arced his sword towards Astro Silver's head. Silver Ranger
sidestepped and used his weapon to block the blow.
The opponents' blades pressed against each other as
Eclipter leaned forward. "You're not leaving this rock alive."
"I beg to differ," Astro Silver said as he pushed
Eclipter back.
The android swung his blade horizontally, but Silver
Ranger ducked beneath the blow while passing behind the android. Silver Ranger
turned and brought his blade down diagonally. Eclipter spun around in time to
parry the blow and thrash his saber across the Ranger's armor.
Astro Silver swung the back of his hand towards
Eclipter, angling the blade towards the villain's head. Eclipter blocked the
blow.
Silver Ranger looked back to Pegasaur Ranger and the
Aquition. "Go to the zord bay. Now."
The Blue Ranger did not argue. The zords had to be
secured. He left the lab room.
Astro Silver was sick of maneuvering in close
quarters. He twirled his blade, clashing against Eclipter's sword while moving
behind the android. Astro Silver moved towards airlock and slapped the door's
control panel. The door slid open as atmosphere bled out.
"Let's take this outside, rust bucket," Astro Silver
said as he dashed outside.
***
The Rangers lured the Psychos into the lab room. They
scattered about the room, exchanging fierce blows that filled the small lab
with clouds of spark.
Astro Pink fed data on the digital transformation
device to Astro Yellow's computer so she could operate it. "We have to keep
them in the center of the room."
Psycho Blue grabbed Astro Blue by the throat and
slammed him against a wall while swiping ice daggers repeatedly across his
chest. "Tell them that," Astro Blue said
through a clenched jaw as he kicked the Psycho away.
"Keep it together guys," Astro Red said as he slammed
a round kick against Psycho Red's head. "We're almost there. Just hit them with
everything you've got."
The Rangers slammed against the Psychos, pushing them
all in a cluster towards the center of the room. The Psychos knocked them away.
"Again," Astro Red said as he tackled against Psycho
Red.
The Rangers slammed against the Psychos, ignoring the
near-crippling pain of the enemy's counter attacks. They pushed the Psychos to
the center of the room.
"Got it!" Astro Yellow said as she triggered the
device.
The Rangers leapt back as the emitter projected beams
of energy that swept around the Psycho's. But Psycho Red was not about to be
destroyed without taking his most hated adversary with him. The Psycho extended
a red and black tendril that wrapped around Astro Red and started dragging him
towards the field.
Astro Red almost fell into the field, but he held his
ground. The other Rangers grabbed onto him and tried to pull him away. Astro
Red downloaded his Drill Saber and sliced the tendril off. The Rangers fell
backward as the Psychos vanished.
***
The Dark Fortress withdrew from the planet. The enemy
ships left the system shortly afterward. Kruger and the other allied vessels
moved into orbit and started retrieving survivors from the surface.
The Megaship flew alongside Kruger's flagship. The
rangers regrouped on the bridge, their uniforms war-torn and disheveled. The
bridge was in just as bad shape. Several of the control panel's flickered on
and off. Only half the lights provided dim illumination. Some of the control
panels were ripped open because of overloaded conduits.
Chris looked over his control console. "The last of
the shuttles are leaving the surface."
"How many survivors?" Tommy asked.
"200," Chris said softly.
Tommy cursed beneath his breath. The planet De'journel
alone had once supported billions.
"I'm getting a message from Kruger," Kat said. "It's
about Zhane. Something's wrong at the zord outpost."
***
Eclipter and Astro Silver circled around each other on
the moon. The moon's green-brown world was visible over the horizon.
Astro Silver hopped forward and brought his blade down
diagonally across Eclipter's chest, sparking on impact. Silver Ranger thrashed
the android again with a horizontal blow before swinging his blade down in an
'x' pattern.
Eclipter barely moved or seemed to feel the blow.
Silver Ranger struck again with a horizontal slash. He brought his blade back
around for a vertical strike.
Eclipter grabbed the blade. The android twisted the
blade aside and chopped his sword across the Ranger's armor. Eclipter's blade
sparked against the Ranger's armor on impact. Astro Silver was knocked backward
by the force of the powerful blow.
Astro Silver rolled back into a crouched position and
aimed his Blazer forward in blaster mode. He fired darts of yellow energy that
exploded against Eclipter.
The blasts sparked across Eclipter's armor, but he
ignored the attack. He triggered a program within his system that caused him to
grow giant.
Eclipter stalked forward to the dome-shaped outpost.
"Mega Winger!" Astro Silver commanded. The zord launched
and rose up to its warrior mode as Silver Ranger entered the cockpit.
Mega Winger extended his wing blaster and fired rapid
pulses of yellow energy that exploded against Eclipter. Explosions sparked
against the android's armor on impact. The android charged forward with his
sword held high.
Eclipter thrashed downward across the zord's armor and
slashed horizontally. His blade sparked against the zord as it cut across the
Mega Winger's armor. Eclipter swung his sword in an 'x' pattern. The blow crashed
against the Ranger's armor, knocking the zord backward as small explosions
ripped across its armor.
Eclipter stalked forward towards the dome and chopped
downward. His blade crashed through the structure. The impact sent explosions
tearing through the inner docking bays and lab rooms. Crimson energy crackled
around the outside of the dome as Eclipter swung again.
Debris fell upon the Mega Winger zords, crushing them.
Eclipter swung again. His blade sending an energy shockwave that tore the Mega
Winger's zords apart.
Astro Silver activated the Delta Mega. The
delta-shaped zord flew from the dome before falling victim to the attack.
Eclipter turned his attention back towards the Mega
Winger. The android chopped his blade down on the fallen zord, tearing through
part of its armor.
Delta Mega assumed its robo mode and fired gattling
cannons. Cannon blasts exploded Eclipter, knocking him back from the zord. The
extra energy from his crimson power boost was wearing off.
Eclipter activated a button on his sword. The blade
vibrated with fiery energy as crimson power crackling along its edges. Eclipter
swung the blade horizontally. The sword emitted a re, fiery energy wave that
crackled with crimson lightning. The wave tore through the Delta Mega, tearing
the zord in half. The zord's systems overloaded and exploded.
Steam suddenly erupted from the android's body. He
shrunk back to his normal size and green-grid color. He teleported away in a
rippling teleportation wave.
***
The eye of Sauron flashed with power. His energy was
almost at a peak. He sent out a telepathic command to every troop and ship
loyal to him. The command was a simple word: Attack.
To be continued...Countdown to Destruction