(Author Note: Well...I haven't updated this in forever, I know. This is a chapter designed to help me get back into the think of things and establish a jumping-off point. Sorry if it isn't very exciting. I promise the story proper is in the works. Just bear with me! TL;DR: I'm back.)

"The Zangyack, eh?"

As Don watched the enigmatic Enter nervously, AkaRed did nothing. All either of them could do right now was analyze.

"Yes." Replied AkaRed. His solidly cross-armed stance indicated authority, but it was clear to Don that he was just as cautious. "Now, we believe our final base is compromised. If this place is seized, the resistance is over; and the Zangyack will have conquered what we know of this universe."

"Why does that concern moi?" The computer entity asks. He seemed receptive to going to Hyper Space before. Why was he playing coy now? Seems like he's the debating type. Great, another Basco.

"If they get us, they'll no doubt demolish this computer and the space within..." Replies AkaRed. "...and by extension, you."

The last comment made Enter's eyes furrow a bit. AkaRed got him!

"Wait...when this place is attacked, this unit will be destroyed, anyway. You've already signed, sealed, and delivered your group's death warrant!" Enter replies.

"No. This passage is hidden from regular view; and this computer is so old, it cannot be tracked by contemporary scanners." Replies AkaRed. "If it is compromised by chance, I've accounted for that as well. I had a teleport spell cast on the core processor. Since the processor is linked to this computer, it will be whisked away if discovered."

"How could you do that?" Asks Don, before mentally correcting himself. "Oh, yeah...Every Sentai Red power. MagiRed's magic..."

"Precisely." Says AkaRed to Don, turning to look back at a confused Enter. "Besides, Hyper Space is vast. There are other computers in the universe to draw from, correct? So, what say you, Enter? Destruction at the hands of Zangyack? Or a last-ditch gamble for justice?"

A tense silence filled the air. Don hadn't even accounted for the destruction of the computer.

"Sigh, very well. I'll help your little menagerie." Replies Enter, moving the goggles on his forehead with his right hand. "When will we need this caper to begin?"

"Now." Says AkaRed.

Don sighed a breath of, well, it wasn't relief...something else. Anxiety began to overtake him. Just how far were the Zangyack, anyway?


"You want me to WHAT!?"

Marvelous couldn't believe his lower earlobes.

"Ackdos Gill-sama has discovered the planet containing the hideout of the last remaining resistance." Explains the voice on the phone; Damaras, Gill's right-hand. "He'll be sending the Go-Busters and some Gormin in to rile them. The five of you are to back them up with an invasion force, issued by Bacchus. You are to cease your pursuit of Basco ta Jolokia and head to the planet Sedon forthwith."

"Screw that stupid shit!" Marvelous yells, loud enough for Basco to hear. "Basco's right in front of me! Gill can go to hell! I'm not letting Zangyack take my vengeance from me!"

"Listen, Captain." Damaras says...unusually politely. "I respect vengeance. And if it were me leading this empire, I'd leave you to it. But Gill-sama's authority is absolute. And your team is on thin enough ice as it is. If you don't want to be executed, you better get your ship over here. YESTERDAY."

"How are we supposed to get there from our end to Sedon in less than a day, anyway!?" Replies Marvelous.

"I don't know. You're resourceful. IMPROVISE. Your life depends on it."

And with that, the call ends. He couldn't believe it. He was about to strike down the plague of his entire life and Zangyack waits until NOW to give them an order! Damn it all!


While Marvelous was being chewed out, (So Basco assumed) he handled his own call.

"Hiya, Red." Basco says to his caller. "I'm kind of tied up at the moment."

"What's happened?" AkaRed asks.

"The Gokaigers happened." Replies Basco. "Somehow, they caught up to me. I'm about to off Marvelous. Whatcha need?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to delay your vengeance a bit long, my friend." Says AkaRed. Basco knew that tone of voice. Stuff's going down.

"This is 'cause of the loss of that ship, right?" Basco asks.

"Yes." Says AkaRed. "With that sensitive navigational data in enemy hands, I have no other choice. I'm initiating the Hyper Space Project."

Basco lost all expression on his face. So, it had to start this soon!?

"When?" Basco asks.

"We booted up the computer. There was an entity inside acting as gatekeeper to Hyper Space. It's agreed to help us." Explains the Red Sentai ranger. "Don and it are performing the final calibrations as I talk. You need to be here now."

"What about the pesky pirates?" Asks Basco. "If we don't off 'em here, it'll mean problems down the line. They're a liability. Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"I agree with you, but the rebels come first. The time it'll take to defeat them is one more minute of a head-start Zangyack gets. Even with the magic cloaking, this place isn't foolproof. Please, Basco." AkaRed pleads. "Trust me on this."

Basco sighed heavily. If they rebels stood and fought, they'd be finished. It was only a matter of time. Drat. He hated change.

Besides, he had NEVER heard AkaRed beg before. This was the big one.

"Fine, fine. I'll be there before dinnertime." Replies the privateer.

As the call ends, Basco hears that all-knowing chuckle.

So, this was it, huh?

"Hey, Marvey-chan!" Basco says. "I gotta cut our lovely visit short. I have more important things to do. People to see and all that."

"Funny." Marvelous says, aiming his gun at Basco. "So do I. I should just ignore 'em all and blast you to smithereens. Maybe I can finally live in peace."

"Easy words for you...sell-out." Basco replies.

He usually maintained a happy charade; but he just couldn't be arsed to maintain it right now. His hatred for Marvelous spanned the cosmos. A small part of him wanted to say "screw the rebellion" and just rush at Marvelous with all he had. And that scared him.

As the two stared each other down, Basco saw Gokais Yellow and Blue rush up to Marvelous.

"We gotta go! Damaras-"

"I know." Says Marvelous to them.

Basco wasn't stupid. Marv wouldn't have been summoned if they hadn't been found out. It all made sense now. The Gokaigers' goal had to be Sedon.

"Wanna have a race, Marvey-chan?" Basco says. "Let's see who gets there first!"

Mustering all the speed he has, Basco aimed his musket at Marvelous and instead fired shots directly in front of him. The smoke was instead a screen for him to get to the cockpit. Why was he so awesome?


"Gokai Change!"

"MMAAGGIIRRAANNGGEERR!"

"Jinga Maagi Majuna!"

Using a Magiranger teleportation spell, the Gokaigers whisk themselves into the cockpit of the Gokai Galleon.

Immediately reporting to various stations, Marvelous and the other prepare to leave.

As the other three Gokaigers get ready to depart, they all notice the glazed, otherworldly stare overtake Marvelous' face again. His mind is still on the battlefield with Basco. He doesn't even need to say "Set sail!," they're already off.


Sand, sand, and more sand.

The scanners weren't picking up anything whatsoever.

As the Go-Busters traversed the sands of Sedon, (alongside a minor Gormin troupe) they only felt the heat. And the sand.

With Hiromu scanning the air around him, the monotonous beeping of the scanner annoys everyone else.

"Still nothing." He replies robotically. "Continuing search."

As the soldier troupe struggles to keep up with the three battle-slaves, the front-most Gormin struggled to justify why they didn't just blow up this desert rock instead of searching for this one resistance cell. Wouldn't it make more sense to just scatter the haystack instead of crawling around for the needle? Oh well, he was a grunt. What did he know?

"You there."

The soldier turns to see Buster Yellow looking at him with dead eyes.

"Keep up or become scrap."

Nodding nervously, he resumes his place in the troupe formation. His thinking had let him stray away.

Meanwhile, Hiromu continues scanning. After five more minutes of nothing happening, he notices an odd dip in the scanner audio.

"Odd." Hiromu states. "Audio lag around sector nineteen point eighty-four."

The other notice, but don't seem to react.

"Probably interference. The sand around here is presumably weakening our signal strength." Replies Ryuji.

Ignoring them, Hiromu begins proceeding eastward. As he walks, the audio pitch lowers further. Everyone can hear it now.

The Busters nod in unison and begin moving eastward. The Gormin stand motionless for a time, until a snap from Ryuji's fingers gets them to follow.

As they walk, Hiromu presses his hand into his right ear.

"Red Buster to Gigant Horse."

A feminine voice answers.

"Gigant Horse here. Your status?"

"Mistress Insarn." Hiromu replies. "We have noticed an odd scanner-pitch decrease in sector nineteen, as well as some odd numerical readings on our scanner. Requesting scan of immediate area."

Typing sounds are heard.

"Hmmm...It isn't just audio issues." Insarn says through the communicator. "The numbers I'm pulling up show a change in landmass by that area."

"Requesting orders." Hiromu says robotically.

"Wow, they really made you drones straightforward, huh?" Insarn asks. "If it were me, I'd've at least let you keep your wit. Oh, well. For now, remain there. I'll patch you through to Ackdos Gill-sama soon. To be safe, mobilize the Gormin and wait for an attack order."

"Affirmative."


"Lord Gill-sama."

Removing herself from her chair, Technical Officer Insarn rushes to the foot of her Emperor's throne.

"What?"

"The Go-Busters and I have noticed some irregularities in sector nineteen. I think we've found the rats." Insarn says.

The triumphant tone to her voice belies the nervousness in her heart. After her failure to secure potential drones for the Loyalty Project a year ago, (something which Bacchus had to bail her out of; leading to the Busters' induction into the Zangyack) Gill's interest in her has plummeted. And she knows what happens to those that lose his interest. If she were to die, all of her research and hard work, wasted. No, she's the greatest scientist in the universe! She refused to doubt her own work! Even if this was an insignificant crumb compared to other achievements, she didn't care. Baby steps.

"Ah! Finally did something right for a change, Insarn?"

"H-Hopefully, my lord."

Taking the communicator out of her hand rather forcefully, Gill puts it near his head.

"Busters! This is your master speaking." Gill says. "Proceed two miles south of your current location and prepare for orbital bombardment. Once those lasers strike, I want you to advance on that hole and kill every living thing in it. Zero survivors. That includes the Gormin too when you're done. Understand?"

"Affirmative!"

"My lord..."

Into the room walks Chief of Staff Damaras. Great...It wasn't just Gill-sama but his pet, too. That meant more judging eyes on her. Just lovely.

"With all due respect, why bombard an area based on pure conjecture?" Damaras asks. "A few more scans, perhaps?"

"No." Ackdos Gill replies. "Sedon is a complete desert. Deserts are monotonous, depressing, and simple. Anything penetrating that wasteland is an indicator of life. We've cornered them. We're sticking to the original plan. Insarn, you finally did something worth noting, so I'll let you handle the bombardment. Damaras, o ye of little faith, will mobilize the Gormin squads. Nobody plots against Zangyack and lives to tell about it. Well, what are you simpletons standing around for!? Move out!"

Hello, promotion!


The camera pans outward to a full-on view of the Gigant Horse. As the ship moves closer to the planet, two purple lights begin shining from the eyes of the horse statues that decorate the ship's front side. As they increase in intensity, they solidify into beams of light that travel toward the planet. A scene switch shows blank desert...which is immediately fried.


And...that should do it!

His hard work finished, Don crawls out from underneath the Motherboard and looks at AkaRed.

"All done!" He says, the faint glimmer of a smile across his lips. "Should be good to go!"

"Very good." Replies the Red Sentai ranger. "Enter, how are you faring?"

"Tre magnifique!" Replies Enter, his voice echoing from the Motherboard screen.

Things were going according to plan, it seemed. If they were fast enough, maybe they could get this done before-

BOOM!

And so much for that.

Whatever that sound was, it rocked the cavern they were in. That meant only one thing.

"Enter, are those modifications complete!?" Says a nervous AkaRed.

"Qui." Replies Enter, speaking through the Motherboard. "Get your people now! This'll take some time!"

"Understood." AkaRed says. "Don, watch the Motherboard!"

"But-"

He was already gone.


The Sentai Red rushed past inquiring voices and confused exclamations.

Pushing others away, AkaRed found himself surrounded not by the caverns he had spent a year protecting.

Instead, all was in ruins. Charred corpses and mangled bodies of the dead decorated the rockfaces...what was left of them.

As he made his way to the front of the cavern, both he and Jiraiya saw them.

The Zangyack.

This was it.

The beginning of the end.