Chapter 14 – Operation Ground and Pound
Previously - "This is a lot to take in", he continued, "but all I can ask you to do is trust me. I will send you our creation as soon as the Captains give the word", he paused briefly before adding, "good luck". With that the video stopped playing.
"I've confirmed that we've made contact and the delivery will be made to the desert outside the Power Chamber", Anna stated, "it should be here any minute".
"Well we'd better go take delivery", TJ said to everyone. The ranger retrieved their helmets and stood closely next to the non rangers. In a flash of light they all disappeared from the garage.
The group landed safely and looked around the desert, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, "I don't see Commander Cranston's delivery", TJ said as he shielded his eyes from the sun.
Anna pulled out her dimensional drive from her pocket and tapped a couple of buttons, "It should be here in thirteen seconds", she turned to an open region of desert, "from over there". She fished around in her pockets and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, "You may want to cover your eyes, oh and stand back".
As soon as she finished her sentence there was a blinding flash followed by a massive bang. Everyone except for Kris and Anna were knocked to the ground by the shockwave of an explosion. "Sorry should have warned you about the effects of dimensional travel".
"Don't mention it", Carlos grumbled as he brushed himself down. He stopped though when he caught sight of the massive vehicle in front of him. It looked like a giant truck with two trailers attached. On the trailers were doors with the numbers two through to five.
"May I present to you Artillatron", Kris began, "possibly the largest moving vehicle ever created".
"It's..", Billy was stunned into silence as he looked at the giant zord, "morphanominal".
"Thought you'd approve", Kris smiled, "but if you think this is impressive, wait until you see what's inside". Using a remote control he had retrieved from his jacket, he opened the doors on Artillatron to reveal four different vehicles. There was a blue police car, a green dump truck, a yellow bulldozer and a pink and white ambulance. The front of Artillatron opened up to reveal a red fire engine, "These are the rescue zords, bet you can't guess which vehicle belongs to who", he added.
"They're incredible", TJ gasped with awe.
"Yeah General Havoc won't know what hit him", Charlotte added.
"It's good to see that Billy's a genius in other dimensions as well", Cassie said as she gave the former blue ranger a nudge.
Billy was still in awe of the creations, "It's amazing to think that", he paused as he didn't know how to address an alternate version of himself, "someone without any prior knowledge of zords or the morphing grid could come up with this".
"Commander Cranston is a genius", Anna began, "I've heard that you're smart Billy but the Commander's IQ is off the scale. It's why he's the commander of the Earth's defence systems as just 19".
"Man I can't wait to try these things out", Carlos said with excitement. Just then the rangers communicators went off and the green ranger answered the call, "Carlos here".
"Ay yi yi Carlos, General Havoc and Metallosaurus are back and they're attacking the city", Alpha cried.
"Don't worry Alpha we're on it", Carlos replied, "looks like I'm going to get my wish".
TJ approached Kris and Anna and shook them both by the hand, "Thank you, we'll never forget this".
"Want to know the best way to thank us", Kris replied, "take care of General Havoc and Divatox".
"Yeah and give them a shot or two from us", Anna added.
TJ nodded and the rangers fell into line, "Back to action", the red ranger called. In a flash of light they had teleported into Artillatron. With a rev of the engine, the massive carrier zord lumbered away across the desert.
"Come on I'll show you the Power Chamber", Billy said to Kris and Anna and teleported them into the building.
Downtown Angel Grove
Back in the city, General Havoc was causing carnage in the street with the newly repaired and upgraded Metallasaurus. He had re-enforced the outer hull and repaired the damage caused by the Turbo Megazord. He had also upgraded the weapons systems so there were additional cannons in the robots chest. "Ah what to destroy next", he laughed gleefully as Metallasaurus took aim at an office block. Using its tail the robot turned the building into rubble in a matter of seconds, sending debris raining down on the sidewalk below.
General Havoc was about to select his next target when he caught sight of a massive trailer heading in his direction. There was only one group of people that could belong to, "It's can't be", he cried, "I damaged your megazord".
"Oh you'd better believe it buddy", TJ called back. "Now shall we show him some rescue zord power", he said to the other rangers. He opened up the doors on the trailers and the rescue zords were released. TJ quickly followed in his own rescue zord.
"Rangers your zords have an additional mode", Kris called out over the radio, "push the red button to activate high stance mode".
"You heard the man", Cassie said to the others and pushed the button on her zord, "high stance mode activated".
"High stance mode activated", the others replied. The zords slowly transformed into their own warrior mode. They were smaller than a megazord but they were much more manoeuvrable.
"You think that will be enough to defeat me", Havoc snorted, "Metallosaurus attack". He moved the robot towards the rangers and swung his tail in their direction. The lighter zords were able to jump out of the way and began a co-ordinated attack on Metallosaurus.
"Alright let's try this", Charlotte said and activated her zords main weapon, a high powered sonic beam. The blast damaged the tail and lower body of Metallosaurus, rendering the tail largely inoperative.
"My turn", Carlos added and charged up his weapon. In vehicle mode his zord carried a large number of metal balls. In warrior mode they could be used as projectile, which the green ranger fired at high velocity at Metallosaurus. The cannon balls slammed into the chest of the robot and large metal panels fell to the ground below. Smoke was beginning to pour out from Metallosaurus.
"I'm not done yet rangers", General Havoc cried out and activated the robotic dinosaurs flamethrower.
"I don't think so", TJ replied and activated his special attack. A high powered water cannon appeared on his zords arm and extinguished the flame thrower. In addition the cannon had enough force behind it to damage the head of the zord.
"Look out he's going to fire his chest cannons", Ashley called out.
Cassie manoeuvred her zord into place, "Not if I have anything to do about it". Her zord carried a projectile weapon that looked like a giant hypodermic needle, "Huh I guess Commander Cranston has a sense of humour", she commented. Throwing it at the chest mounted cannons on Metallosaurus, she was able to jam the robots weapon systems. When General Havoc tried to fire, they exploded and caused significant damage to the robot.
"Damn you Power Rangers", Havoc roared, "don't you know how I am". He somehow managed to summon enough power to Metallosaurus' arms. The robot swiped all of the zords away, sending them crashing to the ground.
"How can he still be standing after that?" Charlotte commented as she righted her zord.
"I think it's time to bring them together", TJ said to the others, "activate the Rescue Megazord". The warrior robots changed again back into their car forms and slowly came together. The green and yellow rescue zords folded up at the end to form the legs of the megazord. The blue rescue zord slotted into position to become the lower body of the megazord. The pink zord split in two and formed the arms of the megazord. Finally the red rescue zord joined to the top of the giant machine. A slot opened in the top of the red vehicle a head and the Rescue Megazord was complete. It was the same height as the Turbo Megazord but it looked more imposing.
"I turned one of your megazords to scrap metal and I'll do the same to this one", General Havoc boasted. He tried to punch the Rescue Megazord but the rangers machine just took the blows without even flinching. Sending power to the tail, General Havoc attempted to wrap the tail of Metallosaurus around the megazord. The rangers were wise to this attack though and casually flicked the tail away before punching Metallosaurus in the chest, rocking the giant machine.
"Let's finish this", TJ began, "artillery power activate". Summoning two cannons from Artillertron, they perched onto the shoulders of the Rescue Megazord. Powering up the first weapon, a flamethrower, the megazord burned the outer shell of Metallosaurus to a crisp. The other weapon, a gatling gun, tore into the body and riddled it with bullet holes. The onslaught was finally too much for Metallosaurus. It lurched to one side before falling to the floor, exploding on impact.
The Rescue Megazord stood tall over the wreckage as the rangers jumped down to the street. Slowly walking through the debris, they tried to find any trace of the General. After a few moments, Ashley found something in the wreckage. It was General Havoc's face mask, "Well looks like that the end of him".
"I dunno Ash", Carlos replied, "I've seen plenty of horror films. Just when you think the bad guys gone, he comes back for one last attack". Suddenly the rangers were blasted from behind, knocking them to the ground. They slowly turned around and saw the battered form of General Havoc. His armour was missing in places and the metal that was still present was badly burned. Without his face mask, they could finally see the disfigured face of General Havoc underneath. It was pale as it hadn't seen daylight in years. His face was covered in scars that looked like they were from old burn wounds. There were also some fresh wounds from the destruction of Metallosaurus.
"Very astute of you green ranger", General Havoc called out. Without the amplifier in his mask, his voice sounded deep and strained, "It takes more than that to get rid of me", he pointed to his battered face, "can't you tell".
"Give it up Havoc", Cassie shouted, "you can barely stand".
"I'll still got enough power to destroy you", he fired another round of laser but the rangers were able to dodge out the way.
"TJ I think we need the Turbo RAM cannon", Ashley suggested.
"Good idea Ash", the rangers summoned the cannon and pointed at the advancing Havoc. "Last chance to surrender General", TJ said but General Havoc didn't stop. The rangers fired the RAM cannon and it tore through the General's chest. He had just enough time to check the wound before he slowly fell backward. On contact with the ground his body exploded, Divatox's older brother was gone.
"Come on guys let's get the Rescue Megazord back to the Power Chamber", TJ said sombrely. The rangers returned to the megazord and disassembled it. The individual vehicles returned to Artillatron and they slowly drove away from the scene.
Angel Grove, Chelsea District
After the battle Kris and Anna had returned to their apartment to pack up the last of their belongings. With the Rescue Zords delivered and General Havoc gone, there didn't need to stay in this dimension any longer. Aimi and Xander had returned with them to see them off, "So I guess this is it?" Xander began, "I didn't think I would miss you but after you disappeared I kinda did".
Kris smiled, "Remember the first day we met at the airport", he asked the young agent, "we nearly got in a fight in the middle of the terminal. Never did apologise for being an ass that day".
Xander laughed, "Still haven't".
A small smile crept onto Kris' face, "I'm sorry, to both of you. I know I wasn't the easiest guy to work with".
"Even though I didn't always like you, I did respect you", Xander replied before giving his former superior a hug, "Good luck, I glad you're finally happy".
Kris returned the hug and playfully ruffled Xander's short hair, "Nice hair cut by the way, it suits you". He then turned to Aimi, "If someone had told me that the perky young Aimi Miyamoto I was paired with three years would now be the senior field agent, I would have laughed in their face. But you're a fine agent Aimi, you've changed so much in the time I knew you. All for the better I should add".
"So have you", Aimi replied, "I think a certain red head has been good for you". She looked past Kris and caught Anna's eye, "I couldn't be happier for you". She gave Kris a tight hug which the older man returned. Soon she let him go, she stood back and took hold of Xander's hand, "So what's next for you two".
"We continue to rebuild our world", Anna replied, "with the threat of Divatox and General Havoc gone, we can finally relax". He hand them dropped to her stomach, "Hopefully we can bring this little one into a better world".
The jaws dropped on the younger couple, "Kris you sly old fox, congratulations two the pair of you", Xander said.
"Oi less of the old", Kris replied, "we already decided to name the baby after one of you, depending on the sex".
Aimi wiped a happy tear away from her eye, "You've gone soft on us boss".
He smiled in response, "I know and to show how soft I am", he threw her the keys to the apartment, "the lease has been paid up for the next 12 months. You two need your privacy and I know that Cassie is 18 now so this", he opened his arms up, "is now yours". Xander and Aimi were speechless as they looked down at the keys in their hands, "No need to thank me, it's the least I could do my two best friends".
Anna retrieved the dimensional drive and began the activation sequence, "Time of us to go", she began, "it was nice meeting you".
"You too", Aimi replied, "look after him won't you", Anna smiled in response.
"Will we see you again?" Xander asked the pair.
"Possibly", Kris said, "you never know what the future will bring". He gave them a final wave, "Goodbye you two", and in a flash of light the pair were gone, leaving Aimi and Xander alone in their new apartment. They were sad to see Kris leave but they were also pleased they got to say a final goodbye. He had finally found happiness and they couldn't be more pleased for him. After a final look at the apartment, they turned their back and left, closing the front door behind them.
A/N – Yay I remember the secondary set of zords. Slightly different way it was done than the show (no Phantom Ranger for example). That's probably going to happen a lot between now and the end of the series, familiar events but done in a different way to fit in with my universe. I'm pleased that I got to give Kris a final farewell and a happy ending too.