A/N:
Apologies for the brief absence everyone. I've been dabbling in some other fandoms recently and working to finish another project. Time to get back to business here so hope you like the start to this next multi-part plot.

Episode 9: Part 1

A spray of white powdery snow flew through the air as Ethan Larson skidded to a halt at the base of the hill where a large cozy winter lodge sat. He took a moment to adjust his skis before he was joined by his other Ranger friends who arrived on their own skis or snowboards. With Christmas and New Yeas having come and gone, Amber had returned for the new semester starting soon at the university. Until then, the five friends decided to catch up and enjoy the last days of their winter vacation enjoying the snow at a local ski lodge just outside the city. For those who were natives of the mountain states like Colorado, skiing and snowboarding came natural to many of them and was an immensely popular activity during the cold months.

For the Advent Rangers however, there was a slight catch to their plan. Since they were spending a few days at one of the public ski lodges, they still needed a chaperone and their Ranger mentor Kara Bishop volunteered for the task. Why she did so, they couldn't be certain but there was no doubt she had her own reasons.

As the glare from the early afternoon sun lit up the ground and snowy slopes, Amber removed her white rimmed goggles and took a deep breath of the cold fresh mountain air, "Ah… this was a great idea! The perfect way to spend the last few days of our break."

"How about we head back inside the lodge to warm up?" Gabby suggested as she unfastened her pink boots from her snowboard, "We can grab lunch and have something hot to drink."

Tyler nodded and loosened his red scarf as he tucked his own board under his arm, "Sure. I wonder if we're going to find Aunt Kara still sitting in the central hall by the fireplace. She seemed pretty engrossed in her project since this morning. I wonder what she was working on?"

When the five had left after breakfast that morning, Kara had been parked by the fireplace with the thick dusty tome given to her by the scribe Simeon along with notebooks and a bunch of regional maps. Tyler didn't have any time to ponder the question as he felt a snowball splatter off his shoulder.

"If you keep talking like that, you're going to jinx us," Eli pointed out as he rolled another snowball in his hands, "We came here to relax, not to be put to work, remember?"

"I don't know… Tyler still kinda has a point," Ethan reluctantly admitted, "It has been a little while since the last Nephilim attack and if she's working something Ranger related..."

The Green Ranger was suddenly silenced as he was hit by the next snowball. He wiped the snow off slowly and gave a low growl, "All right Holt, you're asking for it!"

Ethan tore off his green winter hat and fumbled to run with his skis on while trying to give chase to Eli in order to tackle him into the snow. The two girls looked to Tyler and he threw up his hands with an impartial shrug, "Hot chocolate anyone?"

Some time later, the Rangers dressed down from their winter gear and gathered in the dining hall of the lodge to have lunch. They were met there by their mentor who was drinking a tall cup of coffee and paging through some of her notes. As they sat down with their trays, Gabby took a seat beside the older Gold Ranger and gave a curious look, "Hey Aunt Kara, what's going on? You've been holed up here since last night with your head in the books. Don't you want to come boarding with us later?"

Kara gave a tired look and shook her head, "I'm afraid not Gabby. I've been doing some more research from the tome and came across some interesting passages. Something that I think might have to do with this stretch of the mountains."

"Oh no… here it comes," Eli sighed quietly while giving Tyler a light elbow in the side.

"That's why you wanted to come here with us?" Amber asked as she peeked over the notebooks and maps that Kara was opening.

"One of the major reasons," Kara admitted while taking a sip, "And to make sure nothing untoward was going on during this little field-trip either."

Ethan rolled his eyes as he ate his sandwich, "Come on Ms. Bishop, we already live in a college dorm. It's not like we specifically need to come here for any hanky panky to go on."

Everyone stopped and stared at him in silence for a moment, including Kara with a pointed glare. Ethan sighed defensively, "Not that it would. I'm just saying… geez, you guys know what I mean."

Kara waved it off, "Anyway… I was paging through the Book of Enoch and came across some passages mentioning someone who might be able to help us in our fight against the Nephilim."

Amber tilted her head curiously, "Really? Who?"

"I have reason to believe that there is a Celestial hermit who resides in these mountains… a being by the name of Ixion. It's said that he was an ancient angel of Fate and Prophecy as well as a master craftsman who could fashion things out of light itself."

"And you think he might be able to use those skills to help us?" Tyler asked, "Like to give us a weapon, or a hint about the future?"

Kara shrugged, "I can't be sure. Very little is known about Ixion, even among the Celestials. It seems that he preferred to live as a hermit away from the Heavens so that he could hone his craft and not be bothered by those who he didn't think was worthy of helping."

"Those he didn't think were worthy? Geez, he kinda sounds like a prick," Eli chimed.

"Oh you would know," Gabby muttered to gently razz him.

Kara shook her head, "You misunderstand. He was an angel of Fate and Prophecy. He probably did what he did so that he wouldn't inadvertently alter fate. If the Celestials had access to such advantages, it could throw things out of balance, even by their standards."

"Well, things are already out of balance," Ethan pointed out, "These Nephilim have already rebelled and are trying to blow up the world. If our trying to stop them isn't a worthy cause, then I don't know what is."

Kara grimaced, "I hate to turn this into a sort of business trip, but I think it's something worth investigating further. Who knows when we'd need the extra help?"

Amber wrung her hands, "Do you know where this Ixion guy lives? Where are we supposed to find him?"

Kara pulled out some maps where she had been marking up some areas, "Based on the vague notes of the text, it says Ixion resides in a crystalline palace, seated upon a snowy crown of ice."

Tyler frowned in thought as he eyed the maps and thought it over, "A snowy crown of ice… that could refer to Snowpeak Valley. It's ringed by small peaks of ice and kinda looks like a crown from above, don't you think?"

The others eyed the map and exchanged low mumbles of agreement, though they sounded a bit uncertain themselves. Gabby rose from her seat, "All right then. That seems about as good a place as any to start. Maybe we can find a safe place to morph and then do a flyby to scope the area out?"

"It's not a bad idea," Eli agreed as he took the map and looked it over, "It doesn't look like it's too far from here. When do you want to go?"

"Maybe when we have a little more information," Kara replied halting everyone, "None of us quite know what sorts of dangers to expect. If Ixion prefers not to be bothered, he's probably set up means to keep people out. We should approach carefully. I'd like a little more time to plan things out first, okay?"

"No complaints here," Amber sighed in momentary relief, "In the mean time, I wouldn't mind a nice easy cruise down the bunny hills this afternoon."

"Then I second the motion and move for dessert," Ethan remarked, raising his cup of hot coco and earning a round of agreement from the rest of the table.

Meanwhile, there was much less joy and levity from within the halls of the floating Celestial fortress known as the Sanctum. The Nephilim Umbriel stood overseeing the construction of some new Sanctum troops. He wore a dark expression on his face as he stood watching from a balcony and waited patiently. Finally, one of the side chamber doors opened and the female Nephilim Samandriel approached quietly.

"Umbriel… you wished to speak with me, brother?"

The male angel glanced over his shoulder until she joined him at the balcony and he gestured out to the courtyard below where new Sentinels and Cataphractos were being assembled, "Tell me Samandriel… what do you see?"

She paused in quiet confusion before looking out over the scene, "I see the Sanctum replenishing its numbers from the recent battles."

Umbriel regarded her with a cold scowl, "Do you know what I see? Waste. Wasted time, wasted resources, and wasted troop numbers."

"Umbriel, these soldiers can be easily replaced," Samandriel reminded him but he waved her off and turned away.

"That may be sister, but it doesn't help things when it hurts the morale and confidence that the Nephilim Heralds have in us," Umbriel corrected her, "Those Advent Rangers… those children are making us look like fools. Your aggressive actions have cost us many warriors and Ithuriel deigns to sit holed up in his study instead of directing a war effort. We've already taken great risks to rebel from the Heavens and now there has been talk the faith of our followers has been shaken."

Samandriel's expression grew taut as she thought it over, "Brother, allow me to deal with this. I will make them see the error of their…"

"No," he interrupted her tersely, "You have done enough right now. I will deal with this myself and put a stop to the Rangers once and for all."

The female Nephilim gasped slightly, "You? By yourself? What do you intend to do?"

"I will show them the might of the Triumvirate," Umbriel said as he began to stalk off, "My oculus spies tell me that the Rangers are away from the city in a nearby mountain resort. I will destroy them there and bury them in the ice."

"But what about…"

Her brother cut her off, "Leave the city. We can drain the life forces of the citizens at our leisure and destroy Hyperion Falls later. Until then, I want you and Ithuriel to oversee things here and wait for my return. I also want our troops to be ready to deploy out in due time. Is that understood?"

Umbriel headed out the crystalline door and began to make his way to leave the citadel. If he was going to destroy these young Rangers, now would be the time and he would not fail where his siblings had failed.

Later that day, a light haze hung over the tops of the mountain slopes reducing the glare of the late afternoon sun. It would be a few hours before dusk and a drop in the temperature. A light snow system was already predicted to be on its way causing many older parents and their young children who were also staying at the lodge to start heading indoors. While the mild snow storm wasn't expected to be very dangerous or severe, many of the locals knew it was better to play it safe and get indoors when the time came. Even in the modern age, weather in the mountains could always be a little unpredictable.

Eli slid to a stop in the snow as he and his friends finished their most recent course on the slopes. He zipped up his blue coat a little tighter and looked to the hazy skies to make an observation, "Hmm, looks like snow is on the way."

Amber slid up beside him and shook some snow from her skis, "You don't think it's anything we have to worry about, is it?"

As much as the White Ranger personally loved snow and winter, she was from a flat Midwestern state and wasn't familiar with the behavior of the local terrain.

Ethan chuckled and joined them, "Probably not. On the plus side, it'll put a bunch of fresh powder of the slopes. Worst case, we get snowed in for a little while tomorrow."

Gabby gave a playful giggle and hooked her arm around Tyler's, "A good reason for all of us to stay in and cozy up with that hanky panky you were talking about Ethan."

The Green Ranger rolled his eyes at the gentle teasing while Tyler suppressed a slight rush of blood to his cheeks. He decided to clear his throat and change the subject.

"Look at it this way, we've already had two good days of skiing and boarding. Let's try to stay positive here, huh?"

Eli kept his eyes on the skies and frowned slightly as he stopped and pointed to an unusual object, "Uh guys… speaking of bad weather… what do you all make of that thing?"

Everyone stopped and followed his gaze to where a figure was seen quickly descending from the cold misty skies. The Rangers' felt their bodies tense and their blood run cold as the figure neared and they could spot several glowing wings protruding from the back of the figure. It was a hooded being with a fluttering white cape behind it and golden armor.

The figure rocketed toward them and landed a hundred feet away kicking up a great cloud of snow and ice which momentarily obscured the Rangers' vision. As the wave of wind and snow sprayed the five and buffeted them, the Rangers could feel a tremor underfoot signaling the raw power of this new entity.

When the cloud of ice cleared, the skies began to darken a little more and the hooded angel became more visible. Along its whole right arm it carried a cross shaped shield of steel with a sword hilt protruding from the top, perhaps serving as a built in sheath for the weapon. The newcomer in magnificent armor slowly raised its head and removed its hood revealing the face of a man with fair features and short slicked back silvery hair. His expression was hard to read but it almost seemed to convey a mixture of amusement, boredom, and contempt all at the same time.

Gabby blinked a moment before speaking, "I'm guessing you're not Ixion… are you?"

"Foolish girl," the mysterious being said in a menacing voice, "I am Umbriel, Commander of the Nephilim Angels and First Lord of the Triumvirate."

The Advent Rangers were all taken aback by shock for a moment before Umbriel spoke again, "You Rangers have bested several of our warriors, but it isn't until now that I can finally see you up close. If I'm to be honest… I'm not impressed."

Tyler scowled and called out loudly, "This city has already been threatened by an angel who was too impressed with himself. My own father struck him down and helped destroy his armies."

"Ah yes… that Pretender known as Gideon and his motley band of demons?" Umbriel scoffed, "That was decades ago child. We Nephilim are something else entirely. We have a mandate to rule over you and to shape this world as we see fit. The High Heavens have abdicated their responsibility to curb your sins and excesses so we will do what they do not have the stomach for. We will bring humanity to heel."

"By enslaving us?" Eli challenged, "If you want to try and take away our free will, then you've got another thing coming."

Umbriel laughed derisively, "Do I? You arrogant children have yet to be truly challenged by a real Celestial. You've stood in our way long enough. Once I destroy you five, your city will help us open the Eternity Gate and remake this entire world."

"You can try, but you'll have to go through us first to do it," Tyler answered defiantly as the Rangers all brandished their medallion morphers.

"Lux Aeterna!" the five called in unison as they were enveloped in a wash of prismatic light.

Umbriel continued to stand and wait with an impassive expression on his face. If these young heroes actually thought that they could stand up to him, then he would indulge their notion for a few moments. As the Rangers emerged from their nimbus of light, Umbriel reached for the hilt of his blade and slowly removed it from the sheath within his shield. Even in the light mists, the impressive blade caught the light and lit up with a glint of radiance giving the Rangers another moment of pause.

Ethan was the first to summon his battle axe and grip it, "Come on everyone, don't let this overgrown pigeon scare you."

The others followed suit and called their personal weapons. Despite the situation, the Rangers still felt a twinge of fear and uncertainty. Even now they didn't feel as strong, as ready, or as well equipped to take on such a powerful foe. None of them had expected to come face to face with the seeming leader of the Nephilim forces so soon, but the point was moot. This was beyond their control and their only real option was to accept the reality that they would have to stand and fight.

"Are you guys ready to do this?" Gabby asked nervously as she leveled her rapier.

"As ready as we can be," Tyler answered waving the others forward with his own blade, "Come on!"

Umbriel smiled slowly and took a ready stance. As he raised his shield and spread his wings, he dug his heels into the icy ground and met the full force of the Rangers' attack.