Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers.
A/N: And this one comes out as well! I always say, my stories will finish, no matter how long it takes. Still, I hope to get more constant updates from here on out.
"Get away from the door!" Captain White shouted to the civilians near the steel enforced main door to the command room. Some began to scatter, but it was too late for most. The doors exploded off their hinges with a loud and bright blast, filling the entry way with smoke.
The entire morale boost the refugees had gotten from defeating that Serpent and the Ranger piloting it had been quickly quashed when Cestro had just returned with another one not long after, bringing a a considerable amount of backup this time. This time there was no defense against the arrival of the Serpents, but to their surprise, they were being raided rather than outright obliterated. Captain Alan White glared as he stood next to General Griffin, watching as a battalion of armed Aquitian soldiers stormed into the room, led by none other than the morphed Red and Blue Alien Rangers.
Aurico pointed to the three that were clearly in charge: Eric, Alan, and Kyle. The three men were standing side by side, and made no movements as the two Rangers approached them. Kyle silently glanced around as the Aquitian soldiers finished securing the room, and the humans were detained properly, many simply holding onto their loved ones while at gunpoint of these aliens.
"Not a bad resistance," Aurico admitted. "Years of experience has taught your military well."
"We like to be prepared, even with the Rangers around," General Eric Griffin sneered. "Good thing, huh?"
"Not quite enough, though," Aurico said in a mocking tone. "Call off your forces and surrender. Live under our rule, and no one else has to die."
Alan White, though, was already reaching for his pistol. "You stupid sons of..."
Cestro's blade was at his throat in an instant, and Alan slowly let go of his weapon, instead going back to staring down the Rangers with a deadly look.
Griffin raised up his left hand, looking to the side. The sudden movement made Cestro move his blade to the general's neck, who only looked back at the Ranger with a curious glance. After a second, Cestro lowered his weapon, and the general looked back over to the computer operator he'd originally looked to, and gave a quick hand signal. The man hesitantly nodded, and quickly got to work at the consoles, under the watchful eyes of his captors.
"There. It's over," Eric said, lowering his hand and looking back to the Alien Rangers. "We're in retreat, you've won. No more casualties."
"Right...but we still have some questions to be answered," Aurico said coldly.
"What a coincidence, so do we," Captain White remarked.
"You're already utilizing the Crystal of Darkness, aren't you?" Kyle asked offhand, watching the carnage downtown on the monitors around them. "It really is a power to behold if it can power that fleet..."
Aurico and Cestro frowned under their helmets, looking to each other. Aurico nodded to the Aquitians, and several kept their eyes on the three of them while they stepped back.
"The Crystal of Darkness is a guarded secret," Aurico commented. "How did he find out?"
"He's the one that knew. But how?" Cestro agreed. "We need to find out more. Let's take him to be interrogated separately."
Aurico nodded in agreement, and the two rejoined the group.
"Everything alright?" Alan asked, mockingly.
"How do you know about the Crystal of Darkness?" Cestro bluntly asked Kyle, causing everyone to look at him.
"I know about plenty of things," Kyle answered simply and shortly.
"I want to know...what you know..." Cestro slowly said.
"If you only knew how wrong you are," Kyle replied.
"You, you, you, and you," Aurico said as he pointed to four special forces members of their detachment. "Take him to the main ship. We'll give him the special treatment. As for the rest of these, round them up!"
"Get them contained. We'll get the info we need from those who have it!" Cestro ordered. "Move out!"
The four Aquitian special forces members silently led Kyle out one exit, while the rest of the troops began rounding up the other people in room. The Alien Rangers, meanwhile, simply turned and walked out the door.
Jason slowly opened his eyes, looking around the room he was in. It looked like some sort of infirmary, and he was lying in a bed. He brought up his right hand to rub his eyes and...missed? He jumped in place as he looked to see his hand wasn't even there, instead he just had a wrapped up stub.
"What the...!?"
Kimberly jolted awake in the chair next to his bed.
"Jason, you're awake!" she said with a smile as she quickly collected her thoughts.
"What's happening? Where are we? What happened to Earth? Where's my..." Jason began asking a million questions a minute, looking at the medical equipment all over him and around the bed, and fumbling with it in his left hand.
"Calm down, calm down," Kimberly gently interrupted him, putting her hand on his only remaining one, and another on his chest. She noted with worry that his heart seemed to be pounding a million times per second. "You're okay."
"I'm not okay, Kimberly, I'm missing a hand!" Jason said, still panicking. "What happened to the invasion?"
"We had to retreat," Kimberly solemnly said, watching the Jason's face drop into a horrified expression. "They were overrunning us. Tommy and Zack barely got you out in time."
"So...we're...?" Jason asked again, trying to get a feel for the area.
"We're on the Triforian command ship," Kimberly explained. "We're going to regroup, make a new plan, and attack in full force. We managed to get almost all the Rangers, so we'll be able to hit with more force than ever before."
Jason finally slowed his breathing to a bit of a more acceptable level. He was still freaked out, but he knew he had to get under control as soon as possible. He looked back to Kimberly, realizing that this was really the first time they'd seen each other in years. He'd barely paid attention back at the construction site, but she did look well. He could see the worry in her eyes, and immediately began to revert back to his old habits.
"You're looking good, these days, Kim," Jason pleasantly said, forcing up a smile.
"It's good to see you again, too," Kimberly said, laughing lightly.
"You been here with me all this time?" Jason asked.
"Ashley and I have been trading off mostly, with another Ranger filling in here or there," Kim answered. "We're all still here for you."
"I know..." Jason mumbled, looking away from Kim. "I screwed up. Big time."
Kimberly just shook her head, but said nothing. What was she supposed to say, after the awkward times that they'd been through?
"Is Kyle here?" Jason asked. Sure he didn't like the guy, but Kimberly did, obviously. That was reason enough for him to care about his safety.
"No," Kimberly simply replied. "He's...we don't know," She decided it may be best not to delve into the whole 'Aquitian Contact' conspiracy just yet.
"You called me almost every day," Jason said, looking over to her again.
"You never turned off your phone," Kimberly replied.
Jason closed his eyes and smiled.
"I...I freaked out, you know?" Kim said, trying to explain herself. "When you left, it was like a chain reaction. The team just sort of split apart."
"What do you mean?" Jason asked, opening his eyes again. "Everyone started marrying each other and falling in love..."
"We had the big celebrations, and some of us were still very close...but a lot of people got distant. Way more distant than people that have been through what we have should," Kimberly explained. "It all started with me and you...I don't know. I thought I could fix it, somehow."
Jason sighed, and just silently watched her. Kimberly instantly shook her head, though.
"Forget all that," she quickly said, remembering the more pressing matters. "What happened to Billy?"
"Aquitar got him, and did all that to him," Jason said as Kimberly brought her hands to her mouth in horror. "Trey helped him escape."
"I barely recognized him," Kimberly whispered. "I can't believe those...those monsters were our friends."
"We thought they were," Jason said, shaking his head. "They'd been plotting it for awhile, they had to have been."
Kimberly shook her head. This was so much to take in all at once. The years had been harsh on them all, and this was a pretty big climax to top it off. She took a deep breath, and almost jumped a bit when she felt Jason take her hand in his. She looked at him and saw him giving that familiar, comforting smile. She smiled back, put at peace by the fact that after all kinds of conflict and strain...some things really never changed.
Kyle Maddox remained silent as he walked down the halls of the military base, with a special forces Aquitian on every side of him. The four of them towered above him, and were incredibly bulked up. With his fairly average stature, they hadn't even seen the need to handcuff him. He looked around the hallway they were walking down, it was very plain, very empty. Wide open, with no obstacles of any sort in the way. Just the five of them.
Perfect.
The Aquitians were stunned when Kyle suddenly dropped down low and slid back along the floor. He immediately placed himself behind the group, then stood up and threw a high spin kick that swatted the first one to turn around aside. Wasting no time, he immediately grabbed the second Aquitian that had been near the back, holding him in place while his other two teammates opened fire with their rifles. The Aquitian was killed instantly by the blasts, but Kyle reached onto the dead warrior's belt and pulled a small, fist sized metal stick from it. After that he shoved the slain warrior forwards, knocking the two attackers over with ease. Kyle spun the stick around, and it quickly expanded into a full size staff.
The first recovering Aquitian watched in awe and terror, realizing this human not only was a well trained combatant, but was familiar with Aquitar technology. His thoughts were cut short as that staff was slammed into his temple, sending him incoherently to the floor. Kyle wasted no time and moved forwards, swinging at the other two Aquitians. He caught the first one while he was still on the ground, sending him rolling away. The other one managed to get to his feet, but was rewarded with a quick jab to his stomach with the staff, causing him to hunch forward in pain. Kyle then turned to the other one, who had once again recovered and was moving in. With a powerful upwards swing, he caught him under the chin, knocking the Aquitian backwards, taking note of the blood spraying everywhere, and that the warrrior made no more movement once he hit the ground. Kyle noticed that the staff was bladed at both ends, and immediately stabbed it into the stomach of the other standing Aquitian, sending him to the floor with a gasp as well.
The final Aquitian, laying on the ground and dazed by the blows still, watched in horror as Kyle drew a concealed pistol, and began walking towards him.
"I'm not telling you anything...human!" the Aquitian snarled, as he tried to crawl backwards.
"I know," Kyle said without any emotion, aiming the pistol at him, and firing.
Kyle looked around as the sound of his gunfire echoed through the halls a bit. With a casual shrug, though, he simply holstered his pistol under the back of his shirt once again, and resumed walking in the same direction his former escort had been leading him.
Tideus turned some controls on his console, marching his Serpent through the streets of Angel Grove. He had taken command of this leg of the mission, and was guiding all the manned Serpents through the city, while also advising the air battle above. All and all, though, it was an easy victory. The human's firepower was nothing to them, they were far outnumbered and outmatched.
"Get into formation," Tideus ordered through the radio. "We are sweeping the city in a line. Nothing escapes us, understood?"
A round of confirmations and acknowledgments came through the radio from his forces, and Tideus smiled. The city was in utter ruins. Fire rose high above the buildings as they crumbled into nothing. The sounds of panic and despair filled his ears. People screaming, the Zords moving and attacking, buildings crumbling. Tideus tapped the side of his helmet, though, when he thought he heard some sort of triumphant music playing faintly in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from a musical instrument of some sort. He shook it off though, focusing back on the mission at hand.
"Command to Yellow Lead," the command operator said through the speakers of his Zord. He was in the main command post, high in orbit, monitoring the invasion.
"This is Tideus," Tideus simply responded into it. "Report."
"The Rangers escaped, sir," command reported back to him, hesitantly. "A Triforian vessel rescued them."
"Do not worry," Tideus said confidently. "We have what they want most, remember?"
"Yes sir," command responded.
"Forward that information to the Red and Blue Rangers at once," Tideus said, preparing his rockets. He frowned at the sign of a red dot on his radar. "Command, can you confirm-"
Tideus was cut shortly as a flurry of missiles tore through his line of zords, destroying a couple outright, and knocking his to the ground.
"Sir, we have an enemy Zord in the immediate area!" command quickly replied.
"Where did it come from!?" Tideus shouted as he got his Serpent back onto its feet, stabilizing the systems and immediately started looking around.
"We would have picked it up if it came from sky or land, the ocean's the only place our scanners can't detect! It had to have come from there!"
Tideus stared in disbelief. He saw the source of the missiles, there in the city streets. It was marching straight towards him and the other Serpents. An old, but unforgettable sight.
The Dragonzord.
"Command, I need you to contact Aurico and Cestro immediately and..." Tideus began, and slowly trailed off as he saw another baffling sight.
High atop one of the few remaining buildings, he saw a shadowy figure, playing away on the Dragon Dagger. Now he recognized that music he'd been hearing. How could he forget that tune? He naturally jerked in place when this strange person stopped playing. It was only for a second, though, as the figure then played the alternative tune on the Dragon Dagger, giving the Dragonzord a new set of orders.
The figure then held the Dragon Dagger in it's left hand, facing Tideus's Zord. As it did, a large sword materialized from thin air, and the being gripped it in it's right hand.
Just as Tideus was about to ask the operator what was happening, he realized it would be unnecessary. For that figure spread a large pair of wings from its back, which let out a golden glow. And then, it leaped from the building, flying right at him.
A/N: What's going to happen next? Find out soon, and leave a review in the meantime!