The Queen has hijacked the disclaimer saying that I don't own any Galaxy Rangers characters. There are one or two characters that are mine I imported from other fics. And if you've been reading them and paying attention you know who they are and where they are from.
Okay this has gone on long enough! Time to bring Eliza back home! But will the Rangers have to sacrifice one of their own to do it?
Power of The Heart
"Sir! Incoming transmission from an unknown source!" A technician shouted to Commander Walsh. "It's somehow blocking all our other signals!"
"I think I can guess who it is," Commander Walsh growled.
The image of the Queen of the Crown was on screen. "Greetings Galaxy Rangers. I hate to call unannounced but I just couldn't help showing you my newest weapon."
"I don't suppose you'd rather show us some older weapons huh?" Doc asked.
"Interesting you should mention that," The Queen smiled. "Behold my new and improved space gun. But this one does not rely on the orbit of a star to power it. I have a new and more powerful source. Observe the city of Areston on the colony of Mars."
Everyone looked in horror as a bright red beam shot out of the weapon. Using a small hyperspace relay it directed a punishing blow to a small area on Mars. "She just destroyed an entire city in our own solar system!" Doc yelled,
"And I will do more than that if you do not agree to my demands and surrender at least one million humans to my psychocrypt," The Queen purred.
"You're insane!" Walsh snarled.
"There were over a ten thousand people in that city! And half of them were humans! I can't believe she's doing this again!" Niko was furious.
"I can," Zach growled. "She's not exactly imaginative when it comes to her world domination plans."
"Oh but I do have some imagination Captain Foxx," The Queen held up a psychocrystal. "This gun is specially formulated to use the life force contained in a psychocrystal. And guess which one I am going to use on Earth?"
"No…" Zach's blood ran cold as he recognized Eliza's crystal.
"Fitting isn't it? Using the only psychocrystal made from a human to destroy the Earth?" The Queen smiled. "Of course the only down side is that the crystal will be shattered after a few uses. Oh well I will miss my prize toy. But I desire revenge even more. You have twenty four hours to decide. Surrender or Death." She cut off the transmission.
"If she uses that gun not only will the Earth be seriously damaged…" Doc said.
"Eliza's crystal will be destroyed…" Zach realized. "And her body will be nothing more than an empty shell."
"She's finally tired of playing games and is calling you out," Shane told him.
"The Queen is not going to win this time," Zach growled. "This time I'm going to bring Eliza's crystal home…or die trying. I swear it."
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Finding the planet the space gun was on was the easy part. It was actually a large armada class ship the weapon was situated on. Right over the planet of Tortuna. Large enough to be a small moon. It was a combination of Andorian Cloaking technology and Doc's hacking skill they were able to infiltrate the ship.
Unfortunately they had not gone far when they had ended up in a large firefight with several crown agents.
Then something unexpected happened. A huge explosion from behind the Crown Agents took most of them out. They saw a figure covered completely in black with a black and silver mask on.
"I should have known you'd show up!" The figure said.
"What are you doing here?" Zach barked at the mysterious figure.
"Earth isn't the only planet threatened by this weapon," The figure in black spat. "The Queen will not hesitate to use it on other worlds that are threatening to break away from the Crown Empire."
"You know her?" Doc asked.
"Yeah it's Shadow Dagger otherwise known as…" Zach began but an explosion cut him off.
"Reinforcements! This way!" Shadow Dagger shouted and lead them through the corridors.
They managed to make their way to the room where the space gun was. They were blocked by a slaver lord.
The slaver lord then changed it's form for a moment. "Zachery…" Eliza called out before her image was replaced by a slaver lord.
"Eat light!" Shadow Dagger prepared to blast it.
"NO!" Zach knocked away her aim. "That's my wife!"
"Not anymore!" Shadow Dagger snapped. "She's a slaver lord now damn it!"
"If we blow up the space gun, the Queen can't use her psycho crystal to destroy planets!" Niko said.
"Is that all?" Doc used his powers to open up his CDU and called out his tweakers. "Tripwire! Pathfinder! Go disrupt the main programming and overload the system!"
"Rigthy-O Docko!" Pathfinder said cheerfully as the tweakers went to work.
"Good plan! But I find that grenades are a bit more effective," Shane smirked. With a twinkle in his eye he threw them expertly at the Crown soldiers surrounding them and then a few in the gun itself.
"Fire in the hole!" Shane roared.
BOOM!
More explosions started to appear. "We wiped out all the data Doc!" Pathfinder said as they returned to Doc's CDU.
"Let's go!" Shadow Dagger yelled. The Rangers started to run though an open door.
"Wait! Eliza!" Zach turned around looking for her.
He saw everything as if it were in slow motion. Instead of Goose running towards the them he ran towards the slaver lord containing his wife's crystal. The slaver lord went though an open door. As it started to close, he caught up to the slaver lord, grabbed the crystal from it's holding place, disintegrating it. Right behind Shane were several Crown soldiers and another Slaver Lord barking orders to capture him.
Shane turned and tried to run back through the closing doors of the other room. Zach tried to run towards him.
One crown agent grabbed Shane's legs, causing him to fall just feet from the closing door.
"Captain! Catch!" Shane roared. He tossed the crystal through the door just before it closed on him. Just before he was overpowered by several crown agents.
"GOOSE!" Zach yelled as he leapt forward. He caught the crystal just before it hit the floor. "Eliza…"
"Come on!" Zach was dragged away by Shadow Dagger.
The next thing Zach knew he was in the Ranger One, flying away from the exploding starship. "GOOSE!" Zach yelled.
"He's not dead," Niko's face was stern.
"But he will soon wish he will be," Jezzel had taken off her mask and revealed herself as Shadow Dagger. Soon they were in hyperdrive flying away from the ship.
"Shane…" Niko closed her eyes, fighting the tears in them.
"It wasn't a total loss," Doc said somberly. "We accomplished our mission. We did destroy the weapon, saved Earth and got back Eliza's crystal. But at a price."
"Goose…" Zach looked down at the crystal in his hand.
Dozens of memories swirled in Zach's mind.
The first time he met Shane Gooseman and was made a member of his team.
The time Zach had cracked his helmet on a mission and Shane selflessly gave him his own, depending on his bio-defenses to survive the coldness of space.
The time Zach and Shane were stranded with Zozo on a desert planet. Zach had been badly wounded, and Shane had to help patch him up and take care of him in order to survive.
The time the Queen of the Crown had infected his arm with a rogue psycho crystal and it tried to kill him. The way Shane had not only saved his life but saved the entire ship by taking command when he was incapacitated.
The time they had posed as a rock band. The fun they had playing and how he discovered that the Goose was really good with a guitar.
He remembered all the times the two of them stood alone in the Cryocrypt. Silently understanding each other's pain.
The time Shane tried to bake cookies with his children. He made a mess but somehow it made his children feel better about their mother's absence.
All the times they've shared riding on the range. All the battles they were in. The shoot outs and secrets they shared.
A fuzzy image of the time Zach got drunk and Shane helped him calm down. And then in turn all the times Shane got hyper on Lingling berries and Zach had to calm him down.
All those times, all those memories came to him.
He realized that Shane was just as much a part of his family now as his wife.
He knew deep down that his wife would never want another life sacrificed for her own.
Zach closed his hand over his wife's crystal. "We're going back."
"Back? Back where?" Jezzel asked.
"Back to Tortuna," Zach growled. "We're going to rescue Goose or die trying."
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Shane snarled in agony as a Crown Agent used an electric taser on him again. He was shirtless and strapped to a lab table. He was bruised and beaten.
"The effect of the drugs have taken place," A Crown technician spoke. "His bio defenses are incapacitated. Even without his badge the subject would have been able to use them to some degree."
"And now, they are useless," The Queen stood over him gloating. She indicated two Crown Agents with sledgehammers. "Break his legs."
Shane could not help but scream in agony as the Crown Agents mercilessly used their tools on him. "Your screams of agony bring me such pleasure," The Queen laughed. "A fitting punishment for one who took away my favorite toy."
"People's souls…Aren't toys for your amusement…" Shane growled defiantly.
"Oh but they are. And what is this interesting little trinket?" The Queen dangled Shane's small crystal he received from Cheyenne in front of his face. "A token of love from Ranger Niko perhaps?"
Shane growled fiercely. He was tasered again. "Very pretty," The Queen put the crystal around her neck. "A woman always admires a man who brings her jewelry."
"Here is Mind Net, my Queen," A Crown Officer handed her the mental weapon.
"Do you know why I'm not going to take you to the psychocrypt, Ranger Gooseman?" The Queen asked bitterly. "It's because I've discovered that Supertroopers make lousy slaver lords! I made the mistake once of trying to use Kilbane as a slaver lord and instead of creating an obedient servant he broke my machine! It seems that Supertroopers are too willful to make slaver lords."
"However…" She smiled as she prepared Mind Net. "If I break your will perhaps it might be easier this time around. Then again I think I'll just be content with breaking you! Not to mention I could always use your DNA for enhancements on my troops."
"What's the matter, Mergle?" Shane taunted. "Didn't you ever hear of the Want Ads?" He roared as he was tasered again.
"You insolent creature," The Queen wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I am going to enjoy turning you into the mindless animal you were born to be!"
Shane didn't show it, but deep down he was terrified. Supertroopers were usually not conditioned to stand up to mental attacks. Even with what little training Niko had given him he knew he was in no condition to stop her.
He was right. He felt her shatter through his defenses instantly. She tore at his memories like a vulture eating carrion. All his most private dreams and secrets were stripped from his mind and torn from his very being.
And he felt her laughing as his helplessness. Taunting him on how weak he truly was and how pathetic his dreams were.
And he believed her.
All his fears and terrors were laid open. Exposed. And she used them against him. He was forced to relive nightmarish visions of the past as well as his fears of being abandoned by his friends and everyone he knew, only to be shoved in a cold coffin, never to escape.
He felt his mind shatter into thousands of pieces and fell into a vortex of pain and despair. Then darkness mercifully claimed his being.
"That's enough for now," The Queen purred in triumph. "I don't want him turned into a complete vegetable until the other Rangers arrive. That was quite informative…Yes, quite informative indeed…So there are other Supertroopers alive are there? Not for long…"
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"You hummings are crazy…" Geezy grumbled. "There is no other word for it!"
"For once I am in complete agreement with you Pedulant," Jezzel snarled as they made their way though the sewers into the palace. "Foxx forget Gooseman! He's as good as dead if he hasn't been turned into a slaver lord already!"
"No! Galaxy Rangers don't trade in one life for another!" Foxx snapped. "Eliza would never want that."
"Captain I sense we're close…" Niko blinked. "I…feel Shane. He hasn't been turned into a slaver lord yet. But…He's in pain. A lot of pain."
"The Queen hates all of you with a passion," Geezy sighed. "She will take her time torturing him before she simply throws him into the psychocrystal."
"Then we'd better not waste time and get a move on!" Zach snapped.
"Why you all bring Geezy into this?" Geezy whined.
"Because you know every entrance in and out of the palace," Jezzel said. "Being the good sneak thief that you are. And we are going to need all the help we can get on this fool's errand. Since I was imprisoned the Queen has done some redecorating so I can't be much help in directions."
"You do look familiar," Geezy gave Jezzel a look.
"I'm a Po Mutant like the Queen," Jezzel gave the partial truth. "She imprisoned me in another dimension a long time ago."
Of course she did not mention that she was really the Queen's daughter.
"Hmmm I do remember stories my grandfather told me of others like the Queen when she first created the Crown Empire but it was said she killed them all," Geezy said.
"Not all of us," Jezzel narrowed her eyes. She then put her mask back on. "I don't want the Queen to know I'm still alive just yet."
"That is very wise," Geezy nodded. "For the Queen is a jealous and wicked foe."
"Tell me something I don't know," Jezzel hissed.
"Can the history lesson guys! I think I found something!" Doc told them. "I'm getting some interesting readings this way."
They came out of a grate into a huge darkened room filled with test tubes and other scientific equipment. "What is this place?" Doc looked around. "Looks like something out of a Frankenstein movie."
"The Queen's science labs," Geezy told him. "Terrible place it is. Many a prisoner has come into these labs and few have come out alive."
"Shane's nearby, I know it," Niko looked around. "Not in this room but close…"
"Why didn't she just take Gooseman to the psycho crypt chamber on the other side of the palace?" Doc thought. "Doesn't make sense."
"It does if she wants to set a trap," Zach growled. He thought he saw a dimly lit face and let out a gasp. "What the…?"
Jezzel turned on the lights to reveal dozens of huge stasis tubes with several wrinkled naked figures inside. "Are those…Gurkins?" Zach asked. "Are they alive?"
"These are cloning tubes," Jezzel realized where they were. "And depends on your definition of alive. But in a few days they are going to be viable."
"Clones? She's making Gurkin clones so she can have more slaver lords?" Niko gasped.
"Ahh the Queen must be very desperate if she has to resort to this," Geezy honked. "Clones can be very unstable even in the best of conditions. They will not last long as Slaver Lords."
"I suggest that we don't give her the chance," Jezzel took out some bombs from her satchel. She looked at Zach's hard face. "Don't give me that look Galaxy Ranger. Do you really want to condemn living beings to a fate worse than death? Besides even if the process doesn't work well it will work long enough for her to keep trying and improve her cloning technology."
"She's right," Doc nodded as he worked on the computer. "Unless of course someone corrupts the data so it will be a long time before she tries it again."
Niko let out a loud scream. "Niko?" Zach reacted quickly.
"He's hurt…I can feel it," Niko could barely keep the tears out of her eyes. "That witch…She's doing something to him!"
"You go ahead and rescue the Gooseman," Doc said. "Jezzel, Geezy and I will shut this down! We can't…Oh man…No!"
"What?" Gezzy gulped. "It's a trap! I knew it! It's a trap!"
"Not exactly! I just stumbled into one of the Queen's new plans. She just put this in an hour ago and didn't put in all the locking protocols. Must have been in too much of a hurry," Doc showed them on screen.
"They're going to try and make clones of Goose!" Niko snarled in anger. "And use them to power her slaver lords!"
"I am so going to shut this down!" Doc growled. "Captain! Niko! Go! I'll be there as soon as I finish this!"
"It seems that sentiment of yours Captain was not actually useless after all," Jezzel hissed as she set the bombs. "She would have to capture the Supertrooper!"
Just then the door opened. There were two Crown guards and an insect like lab technician carrying something in a case. "Oh my!"
"Intruders!" The Crown agents prepared to fire. But Zach and Jezzel were quicker.
"Oh no you don't!" Zach easily grabbed the crown technician and saw what he was carrying. "What do we have here?"
"That's Goose's badge!" Niko told him.
"Th-The Queen ordered me to study it's secrets," The lab technician gulped. "And find ways to apply it to a new batch of special soldiers…"
"I'll bet she did," Zach growled. "Where's the Galaxy Ranger you took this from?"
"Lab Seven…Down the hall and to the left," The lab technician whimpered before Zach knocked him out.
"I don't suppose you know a way into there through the vents or anything Geezy?" Niko asked.
"Afraid not," Geezy shook his head.
"So we'll do this the hard way," Zach growled as he readied his blaster. "Come on Niko!"
Once again Zach and Niko found themselves running down the corridors firing on any Crown agents they saw. Then they ran into a huge obstacle. A twelve foot tall giant metal robot obstacle with several lasers and claws pointing at them.
"Eat lightning!" Zach snapped as he fired his thunderbolt at the robot. But it wasn't harmed in the slightest. "This could be a problem."
"It's shielded against laser blasts and our thunderbolts!" Niko yelled. She screamed as she and Zach were picked up by the claws.
"But it ain't shielded against us! Da! Da! Da! Ta Ta!" Tripwire the Tweaker flew in along with a few other Tweakers and attacked the robot's programming. It dropped Zach and Niko and started firing on Crown agents.
"Why you…" One Crown Agent tried to shoot Zach from behind but he ended up getting blasted from behind.
"Admit it, what would you do without me?" Doc smiled as he held his blaster.
"I don't want to find out," Zach grunted. "Did you set the traps?"
"The bombs will go off in ten minutes and Jezzel and Geezy are taking care of a few more friends," Doc said. "Come on! Let's get the Goose and fly outta this joint!"
"Fine with me! Here's Lab Seven!" Niko used her large blaster to blow open the lock. "SHANE!"
They found Shane strapped to a lab table. He had been badly bruised and beaten, his shirt had been stripped from him, revealing several marks. His legs were at an odd angle.
"What did she do to him?" Niko helped free him.
"His legs are broken…" Doc realized. "Come on we have to use our series five charges to help heal him." He took Shane's recovered badge and held it to Shane's chest then activated it. "Come on Gooseman, don't go on me now!"
"D-Doc…?" Shane blearily opened his eyes as his body healed. "No…It's a trick…"
"His bio defenses aren't healing as fast as they should," Niko said.
"D-drugged me…" Shane gasped. He managed to sit up slightly and gasped. Then threw up some green bile.
"Easy Gooseman," Doc grabbed a handkerchief and cleaned up his face.
"Just concentrate on your energy healing him," Niko said. Then she gasped.
"What?" Zach asked.
"She used Mind Net on him…Oh Shane…" Niko held him. "It's all right. I'm here now…"
"We're not the only ones," Zach growled realizing they were not alone in the room.
"I knew you were a fool Captain Foxx but really this is too much," The Queen sneered. She had Mind Net as well as dozens of Crown Agents with her. "You should have run away when you had the chance. At least you would have had your wife back. Now you have nothing."
"You monster!" Niko snarled. "You tortured him with Mind Net!"
"It also helped me discover many interesting things about you and Ranger Gooseman," The Queen smiled. "Especially about a certain female Supertrooper under the sea. And this lovely little trinket she gave him." She indicated the crystal around her neck. "Even with such primitive designs clearly Supertroopers are far more useful than I anticipated. I look forward to studying her…"
"Go…to hell bitch…" Shane snarled barely able to stand. Even though his legs were healing he still needed to hold onto Doc and Niko for support.
"This time I'll make sure I'll break you!" The Queen hissed as she prepared the Mind Net device. "Feel how pathetic you are when you can't even help your friends! You'll watch them go into the psychocrypt one by one as you realize how you failed them!"
"The only person that's going to fail is you," Zach held his hand over his badge. "Everyone! Link together!"
They held each other's hands as Niko created a large shield around them. "You can resist all you want Galaxy Rangers!" The Queen laughed as she turned Mind Net on to maximum power. "But the four of you have no chance against the power of Mind Net."
"She's right…" Niko felt her shields weaken. "My charge is running out. I can't hold on much longer…"
"Hang on! Don't give up!" Zach shouted.
"Oh go ahead and give up!" The Queen laughed as they weakened under the pressure. "You four are finished."
"There are not four of us Queen…There are five!" Another voice broke through loud and clear. Suddenly the rangers felt their energy increase.
"What…?" Zach gasped as the psychocrystal he had in his pocket began to glow brightly. "Eliza?"
"It is Eliza! I can feel it!" Niko gasped as he shield strengthened.
"She's somehow using her life force to help us!" Doc realized.
"Impossible!" The Queen's eyes widened as a fifth figure stood among them.
"Not impossible," Eliza's life force shone brightly as she seemed to stand with the rangers. "The power of my husband's love and his friendship with the other rangers has made it possible for me to stand against you! You will never use me for your dark purposes again! NEVER!"
"This can not be!" The Queen found her own power weakening as the psychic shield not only extended, but started to force itself back to her.
Then the crystal around the Queen's neck began to glow. "What is this?" The Queen gasped.
Then she had a powerful psychic vision. A presence made itself known to her.
And it was not happy.
"Suffer witch…" A golden haired mermaid with green eyes snarled. Instantly the mermaid changed into a huge sea monster with red eyes and huge fangs.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" The Queen screamed as the Ranger's psychic defense turned into an attack and overwhelmed the Queen and Mind Net. The rangers saw a giant astral projection of Cheyenne with claws and fangs seep out of the crystal and hit the Queen. The crystal around her neck exploded into tiny pieces.
"AAAHH! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" The Queen gasped as both the crystal and Mind Net fried her both physically and mentally.
"The Queen! Protect the Queen!" One loyal Crown Agent yelled as she collapsed. "Get her to the med lab! The rest of you! Destroy the Galaxy Rangers!"
The psychic shield extended again, frying nearly every Crown Agent in the place. "Retreat! Retreat!" The Crown Agents decided that saving their Queen was their priority and grabbed her unconscious body to take her somewhere safe.
"What just happened?" Doc asked as Niko's powers faded as well as the image of Eliza and Cheyenne.
"A lot of psychic power in one place," Niko gasped. "And the Queen got the brunt of it. Come on! Let's go! Goose can you walk?"
"I…" Shane began before he passed out.
"I'll take that as a no!" Zach hoisted Shane over his shoulder. "Let's get out of here!" They ran out into the hallway.
"What the hell was that noise?" Jezzel asked as she and Geezy ran up to them.
"The Queen getting a taste of her own medicine," Zach growled.
"Let's go hummings before the…" Geezy jumped up and down.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
"Bombs go off!" Geezy gulped as the building began to shake.
"Let's get out of here!" Doc yelled. "This whole place is gonna go down!"
"No, just the east wing," Jezzel snorted. "This way!" She led the group into another hidden tunnel to safety.
Meanwhile some Crown Agents were looking after the Queen. "Is she dead?" One officer said.
"No, she is badly injured though and has burn marks on her chest and neck," A Crown medical technician looked her over. "Get her to the rejuvenation chamber! Immediately!"
"When will she regain consciousness?" Another Crown Officer asked.
"Hard to say," The medic said. "There are signs of severe psychic backlash. It could be days. Maybe even weeks. And if she does awaken…There is no guarantee what the state of her mind will be."
"This information is classified," The Crown Officer spoke. "No one must know about this until the Queen recovers."
"Understood," The medic nodded.
"In the meantime I suggest that we tighten security on Tortuna and the Empire," The second Crown Officer spoke.
"Yes," The First Crown Officer agreed. "I believe the Queen has been far too lenient on her people. It's time we put these aliens in their place. We shall run the Crown Empire the way it should be run."
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It wasn't long before the Galaxy Rangers had made their way to their ship. "Farewell hummings, Geezy must report this to the resistance!" Geezy told them before he slipped away.
"Hmph, this was not an exercise in futility after all," Jezzel smirked. "Not only did you end up destroying the Queen's cloning operations and her space gun, you took her on and defeated her."
"We did it because we stood together," Zach looked at his wife's crystal. "All of us."
"We have to get back to Earth," Doc said. "Goose is in real bad shape. His bio defenses look like they're still not working properly."
"The Queen must have pumped him with drugs to suppress them," Niko growled. "And heighten his torture."
"She always did like to gloat too much," Jezzel took off her mask.
"Thanks Jezzel for all your help," Zach sighed. "But we have to go."
"I understand," Jezzel backed away.
Jezzel watched them board the ship and it started to take off. "Those humans are quite something. They are far more powerful than I gave them credit for," Jezzel said. "And ferocious warriors."
"It's a pity they'll never survive," Jezzel smirked to herself as she pulled out a small device and activated it. "But those Galaxy Rangers are a threat to my empire. And as useful as they are…Threats must be dealt with."
She smiled. "Sorry Captain Foxx but you will never even get to Earth and reunite with your beloved wife. I've programmed another destination for you and your friends. A place from which you will never escape alive!"
Dum Dum Dum! Find out what happens next in the second part! Down The Dark Path!