Cosmic Squadron Stellarman Phase 25: Burial
Disclaimer: I do not own or make any claim of ownership upon the Super Sentai series, which belongs to Toei. Stellarman and its various characters are mine, and if you're interested in using any elements from it, just ask me.
The lights in the hangar crackled, flickered then went dead.
"Real tight ship you run here, Thebes," Burn laughed and circled toward the image of her outlined against his visor.
"Look who's talking. You don't even know what you'll do if you get away with these things, do you?" Thebes asked, sounding infuriatingly calm.
"I was thinking I'd start with busting up your dumb little fort then go and try 'em out on some of those guys impersonating me and my old friends," Kyle said then silently dove to the other side of the hangar without making a noise. Just as quietly he jumped, aiming the heel of his boot at Commander Thebes's neck. The instant before his blow landed, she ducked. Burn landed awkwardly, then the next thing he knew something exploded against his back. He went flying but recovered and landed in a crouch, more surprised than hurt.
Thebes was still standing where she had been. How had she hit him? How had she known his attack was coming in the first place?
"Blastfire!" he yelled, abandoning subtlety. Thebes caught the fireball in flight and with a grimace crushed it between her hands. He performed another flying kick, connecting with her midsection this time and knocking her back. He punched once to her middle then once to her temple. She groaned and slumped over.
Right away she pushed herself to her knees, and Burn ran for where Monoceros was docked. He pressed his palms against the nearest leg and summoned all his Starlight. A wave of dark red spread from the point of contact, creeping over the robot's white armor. Then he ran over to Delphinus and did the same, and within a matter of moments both robots had turned the same red as his battle suit.
Thebes was on her feet, and swept her arm in a wide arc in Burn's direction. A violet wave formed and shot at Burn, but he was expecting it this time and jumped inside Delphinus. The red Monoceros thundered up, and Thebes hurled herself out of the way to avoid being squashed by the enormous unicorn. Delphinus jumped up and landed on its back, and then to Thebes's horror Monoceros's horn extended into its blade form. It sliced an inverted V into the hangar door then charged through.
"Oh no you don't…" Thebes whispered to herself, then shut her eyes and concentrated harder than she had in longer than she cared to remember.
A violet glow swallowed her, and then face of Maria Craice Thebes peeled away. In her place was a creature the same color as the light surrounding her. From her shoulders sprouted numerous delicate blooms, and while her blank face showed wrinkles, there was no mistaking the anger burning in those dazzling eyes.
Grimacing with pain wracking her aged body, she flew out of the hangar in pursuit of Burn.
She didn't have far to go. Before they'd cleared half a mile that dragon robot of his rose out of the trees on its hydraulic hind legs. Draco turned and exhaled a barrage of fire at Thebes but she crossed her hands and a transparent violet barrier formed between herself and the fire. It passed around her without doing any damage, but she launched another glowing crescent that likewise glanced off Draco's neck. She kept them flying even as Draco took a Beta Unit in each claw and flapped its wings. In another second it was off the ground and heading for the horizon at something approaching Mach 20.
Her body was engulfed in searing pain as she flew as fast as she could to keep up with Draco. Slowly, imperceptibly, she started to gain on the robot dragon. Then she noticed something below, a brown and yellow giant with four arms stomping southward.
A Truthbringer. Heading back toward Sol Dome
What did it matter? What was there to save? And if Burn got away he could probably use those robots he'd stolen with his own.
But as she passed by one huge arm flashed out and grabbed Commander Thebes out the air. In another second Draco was only a bat-like shape in the far distance, and Prox Nemesis was crushing the life out of his tiny captive.
Worlds away, Erica shrieked in pain and collapsed on the floor of her new chambers. The sleek red-skinned servants Meghris had appointed her were immediately by her side.
"What's wrong, my lady?" the one on her left asked, his handsome face covered with a look of worry.
"I just…I just felt like something was crushing me," she gasped, traces of the sensation still lingering as she got up. The other servant gently stroked over her body looking for injuries until she knocked his hands away. "Keep those to yourself, I'm fine. I can barely feel it anymore."
He bowed in submission. "As you say, my lady," he said and retreated to a respectful distance.
Erica shook herself, then before the Rigelians could argue she flew out her window and across the Ikardaa skyline. She looked down at the low stone buildings, quite a few of which were still in ruins from Niikarao's thankfully brief rampage. Thankfully brief because the others had put a stop to it.
The call for her to come and save Ikardaa seemed ironic in retrospect, and yet it made a horrible kind of sense at the same time. She'd been tossed aside in no time by the two space demons' ultimate form, yet her father had intended for her and her alone to come to the planet's defense. With the Starlight coursing through her to a level she'd never thought possible, she might have just managed it, if they'd had a chance to meet and reveal her true form beforehand.
Erica hovered over the middle of the city, looking down at her dazzling skin. The answer for why she'd always had such an affinity for Starlight. She was Starlight. Not only that, she was a Shakai. The only offspring ever produced between two of her own kind. A cold sensation settled over her as she realized felt no desire to test her new limits, or even to get used to the opulent conditions Meghris was giving her on this hollow metal ball he called home.
She hadn't even seen Meghris since he'd pulled away the human covering and shown her what she really was. And when he left, he just turned his back and walked away. No, "hope you like your new home," or "I've been waiting a long time to see you again." Meghris hadn't even given her specifics on what he expected her to do now that the danger was past.
Meghris. Not her father, Meghris. It didn't matter if she was a human with a military nut for a mother or an alien with an alien lunatic for a father, she had people who saw her as an asset. Not parents.
Not unlike Daniel. And Bohdi. And Aki. And the Ashfords…
She sighed and flew off over the city, pondering what exactly Meghris had in mind for her, and if there was any way out.
Thebes braced herself for the pain, even worse than having a huge monster crushing the life out of her, and called up every bit of Starlight she could muster. A violet wave surged out from her body and pushed Prox Nemesis's fingers apart enough for her to fly up out of his reach.
A death ray ripped from his gaping mouth and she felt its heat as she zoomed to safety. She pelted the monster's face with bolt after bolt, catching him between the eyes and actually knocking him off his feet. Thebes fired another bolt into his eye, but couldn't deny the pain of her efforts anymore and dropped from the sky. She hit the ground, turned transparent for a second and then turned corporeal again.
And miles away, Caitlin awoke from the stupor of Valentine's anesthetic gas. With a strength she'd never known without the amplification of her battle suit, she pushed the lid off her pod and stepped out. Intricate orange lines covered her flesh like circuitry. She looked around the narrow room where the pods were, and for a second was almost blinded by the colors of Valentine's plating and the orange light pouring from Aki's pod.
Valentine looked up from her console in surprise even as her fingers continued to fly performing the operation on the others. "Caitlin, are you all right?"
"What happened to my eyes?"
"Your sight's been improved by all the Starlight you're taking in. Probably your other senses too. It'll take some getting used to."
"That's not all," Caitlin said. "Thebes is in trouble. She's got Starlight too, and she was using a lot, then she just stopped…"
"Commander Thebes has Starlight?" Valentine asked, but then returned her attention to the procedure. "Maybe you should relax and let the upgrade sink in, Catie. This is probably all really disorienting."
"I'm not imagining things, Valentine!" Caitlin snapped, thumping her fist on her empty pod. "I could feel it! Purple Starlight like Erica's!" Angrily, Caitlin stomped over to the only other pod where the gas had cleared. Aki's. She wrenched open the lid and pulled her teammate out.
"Murza-werz…" Aki mumbled groggily.
"Come on, Aki, we got work to do," Caitlin said.
"Catie, please," Valentine pleaded. "You're not recovered from the procedure yet. Nothing's happening and even if it were you need to take some time to adjust to your new sensations."
"Aki, let's go," Caitlin said, dragging her teammate along. Aki hung around for a second, peering into the red pod on the end whose occupant still awaited the system now glowing through her skin. They dressed as quickly as possible could and hurried out of Valentine's lab. To Caitlin's relief it was on the main level, same as the mecha hangar, to which her hunch lead them. It was no feat noticing two of the Beta Units were gone and the door hacked open.
"I knew it!" Caitlin said triumphantly. "Something did happen!"
"You ready to try this again, Catie?"
"Cosmic Evolution!" they called together, and as always the celestial discs flew from their rings and engulfed their bodies. As Aki and Caitlin disappeared to be replaced by StellarBlue and StellarPink once again, there was no tingling, no pain as their Starlight was amplified by their transformation. They ran to their Ptolemic Machines and charged out through the opening.
After a minute at the controls of her Ptolemic Machine, Pink was noticing the colors and motions of everything around her starting to steady themselves. They were still brighter, more lucid than she was used to, but she had a feeling she adjusting quicker than Valentine had thought she might. She smile faintly, then saw it.
There was a four-armed shape on the horizon, and a few seconds later Blue recognized it.
"But we killed that thing…"
"Maybe Vayon put him back together," Pink ventured. "What's that on the ground?"
"It looks like the purple Shakai, doesn't it?"
"It does," Pink said as Prox Nemesis brought a titanic fist down toward the helpless glowing form below.
"Fox Fire!" Pink screamed and her fox's weapons buffeted the multi-armed monstrosity. He swayed, but didn't fall.
"Bas-Eye!" Blue followed, aiming the eyes of her lizard robot at the monster's offending arm. The shots hit home but only seemed to make Prox Nemesis angry as he uprooted a tree and threw it at Lacerta, knocking it onto its back.
"Girls!" Valentine's voice, almost drowned out by static, came over their communications channel. "You should have access to enough Starlight to control StellarSavage by yourselves now! Call the other Ptolemic Machines!"
"Ptolemic Machines, launch!" the two yelled then scattered just in time to avoid Prox Nemesis rolling himself up into a thundering at them. He veered sharply and charged again, chasing them back the way they'd come. Approaching were Lupus, Hydra and Aquila.
"Star Cross!" Blue commanded and as always the robot animals reconfigured themselves into body parts while Blue and Pink rose out of their individual Ptolemic Machines. In another second they were sitting in the cockpit inside StellarSavage's head, and saw the armored brown ball closing in on them again.
StellarSavage reached out to kick Prox Nemesis but the monster suddenly rolled out of the way of its foot and smashed the robot into the air. Again it turned and rumbled in their direction.
"Serpent Salvo!" Pink shrieked as StellarSavage launched itself high into the air. Hydra's heads spewed their laser bolts, ripping tons of dirt into the air. Prox Nemesis sounded as if he was laughing as StellarSavage returned to Earth, then vanished into the clouds of dust. A second later a cry of surprise tore across the field. The dust cleared to reveal the monster sprawled in a hole.
He jumped to his feet and rushed StellarSavage, throwing punches with all four arms and roaring like a demon. The Serpent Salvo flew again but the shots didn't even darken his armor plating. StellarSavage backpedaled but Prox Nemesis was faster than he looked and slammed the two fists on one side into StellarSavage's chest, then the other two into its back
"Think we can use the Beta Units that aren't ours?" Blue asked.
"What's wrong with Corvus?"
"It's got no range attacks and we don't have anyone to put the wings back on anymore, remember?" Blue retorted.
"Ursa, launch!" screamed Pink, but even as she felt her Starlight reaching out to new lengths she'd never imagined, she couldn't feel any contact. What she could feel was pain as the spike atop the monster's shoulders suddenly extended straight up and sent red lightning shooting into StellarSavage's body.
"Guess we're on our own," Pink said. "You said you fought this one before?"
"Yeah, but he only had two arms, and they didn't look as thick then."
"Then we'll have to look for a weak point."
"Try getting him from behind, right below the shoulders. That's where Bohdi stabbed him before," Blue advised.
Prox Nemesis growled and lunged with two fists again but this time StellarSavage hurled itself to the other side and slashed its up and down across the monster's unprotected back. He growled again, turning and swinging another double punch StellarSavage barely dodged.
"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Pink yelled.
"I got an idea," Blue offered. StellarSavage kept dancing around Prox Nemesis, trying to keep him from realizing where it was long enough to launch an attack. He grunted in irritation, then saw StellarSavage lunging forward, its hand a glowing spike. It ripped into his cavernous mouth, and Prox Nemesis barely had time to gargle in horror and surprise before he exploded again.
Pink and Blue stayed in the robot's cockpit for a second, to make sure the monster they'd just killed didn't spring back from the dead more terrible than before as they dropped their guard. After a while they couldn't wait any longer and disembarked from StellarSavage as fast as they could. They ran to where the purple Shakai was lying and knelt beside her.
"Thebes? Is that you?" Pink asked.
She coughed horribly, and both had no doubt she would've spat blood if she'd had a mouth. "Guess who has a secret?" she half-chuckled, half-gasped. The two of them hoisted her onto their shoulders.
Blue shook her head. "This explains a lot. How you always knew where new robots were when we needed 'em, how you came up with the Battle Dealers…but I thought you guys quit fighting because your powers didn't work anymore. Hell, I thought you guys quit existing." "Most of us did," Commander Thebes coughed horribly again. "I couldn't. I'm not the only one. For right now let's get back to the base. If you can suddenly still fight again, we've got a reason to keep going."
They called Sol Dome to report what they'd found, then had their battered robot run back to for all it was worth, Commander Thebes continuing to coffee and moan as they did. After some especially bad attacks she flashed and turned transparent for a few seconds.
"Cover up the hole in the door," she groaned once they were back inside Sol Dome, and they hastily had StellarSavage gather up debris that it arranged to do a passable job of covering the hole from view.
"Don't worry Thebes, everything's gonna be okay," Blue said in her best assuring voice, which she'd never had much call to use.
"Don't you dare baby me," she grunted. "Maybe I haven't had to do this in centuries, but I was doing okay…"
They reverted to normal except for Commander Thebes, who they hauled out of the hangar supported on their shoulders. The lights were on again and Daniel, Cliff, and Bohdi were running toward them, intricate orange lines crawling over their arms and faces as well. Valentine was behind them and immediately her hand flipped down to reveal a humming parabolic dish she aimed at Commander Thebes, who flickered into transparency again.
"Is that really Thebes?" Cliff whispered.
"Yes, Cliff, it is," Caitlin replied. "What's wrong with her, Valentine?"
"I'll tell you what's wrong," Commander Thebes coughed. "I did something I shouldn't and broke myself."
"Her body's losing cohesion," said Valentine. "I'm afraid Commander Thebes is about to disintegrate…"
"Can't we do anything?" Bohdi asked, but his somber tone suggested he'd already accepted the answer was no.
"Put me down, damn it," Commander Thebes interrupted. Caitlin and Aki leaned her against the wall.
"Maybe we could use the system on her…" Daniel started to suggest, but Comander Thebes glared at him.
"You can't save everyone, kids. If you're going to keep up this fight, you have to face that," she said, turning even more insubstantial. "There's a panel under my desk. In it you'll find directions that'll lead you to something that'll even the field now. Being free of the strains won't be enough, Proxordo's everywhere now. Daniel, promise me something."
"What is it?"
"When you see Erica again, tell her how much of a mess I was. Tell her it was because of losing her. I never should've gone to Meghris, but I…" she sobbed quietly. "I couldn't stand it. I just needed to know there was someone like me nearby, even if I knew her father was going to call her away someday."
She cried a little more, the sounding fading until her body finished dissolving into purple sparkles that were soon lost from sight themselves.
"God, it's just one thing after another since we got back," Cliff said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"You're not backing' out now, are you kid?" Aki said challengingly.
"You think my ego's the only thing there is to me, don't you?" he sighed.
"Cut it out," Bohdi said.
"Really," Caitlin sighed in exasperation. "Can't we at least mourn the dead before you guys start fighting again?"
"Yeah, but not for long," Daniel said. "If she left us one last surprise the most respectful thing we can do is go see what it is, then act on it."
Vayon took in the sight of the red-tinged sky as it finally started to darken slightly with the fall of night. The sky was always a deep red now, thanks to the crystal spires around the globe discharging the Fire of Truth into the sky. It seemed like just the day before when he was trying to make an example of Stellarman, then suddenly they were gone. No force existed that could stand in the way of his greater ambitions, and he started to deploy his followers around the world, growing new spires.
True, other groups had appeared as if from nowhere, attempting to take Stellarman's place. They had cost him a few Truthbringers, set back his plans by decimating the site of a few spires before they could be completed. But none had the power to destroy a spire once it had been activated, and slowly, slowly the glow of the Fire of Truth was spreading to cover the entire world…
His thoughts were interrupted as he saw the huge black shape winging toward Haven. For a moment his blood chilled-had his enemies finally managed to penetrate the city's veil of invisibility-but then he noticed it was too big to be one of those pitiful summonations Dracon V derived their power from. And in either claw it carried something like dead game it was bringing back to its nest.
He vanished and reappeared in the portion of the undercity that he had long ago appointed to Draco. The doors were closing as he did, and just as he suspected two of Stellarman's vehicles were clutched in its talons. Vayon hardly even noticed when Dione appeared beside him, and then Kamandetes in his black armor as usual.
"What have we here?" boomed the master of Proxordo as he inspected the new color scheme on the captured Beta Units.
StellarBurn stepped from his robotic dragon and reverted to Kyle, who wore a triumphant smirk. "A few new add-ons to that awesome robot you gave me," he said. "Thought they might make the job of getting rid of those new teams more interesting."
"And did Prox Nemesis help in acquisition, my young friend?"
"If that's what that four-armed thing's name is, yeah, a little."
Vayon nodded. "And what of Stellarman?"
"You tell me. None of 'em showed up to stop me. Maybe they quit 'cuz their powers don't work no more."
"Well for your trial run with your new equipment, go back there and make sure," Vayon said, not entirely hiding his irritation that Kyle hadn't thought to do that himself.
"Sure. Later. I'm still seeing what you've done to the planet," Kyle said before he disappeared into thin air.
"Master?" Kamandetes asked the minute Kyle was out of sight. "Why do you put so much faith in that…boy? Powerful he might be, but he flaunts your authority and the resources you've given him all the time. What of us, your loyal soldiers who've been by your side since the beginning? Have we not continued the fight even as new enemies sprang up, while he disappeared for months on end?"
Vayon didn't turn around as he answered. "What of your fight with Leagueranger? Didn't they destroy the receptacle for the spire you were entrusted to prepare?"
"Yes…"
"And did we not lose another under your command to that metal organization? What are they called again? And did Haikoga even return from the last mission he led?"
"We did not," Kamandetes reminded him. "I bested their leader in combat myself."
"Oh, is that so? And you wish to upgrade your status to match StellarBurn, I assume?"
"Sir," Dione spoke up with unusual formality. He hadn't enjoyed her company in so long he almost didn't remember how at ease they usually were in each other's company. "When you were away gathering yourself, Kamandetes was the only one of us determined to continue the fight. While he might have been out of line in doing so, he even labored to find a way to create Truthcraft in your absence. Give us the chance to help assure your vision again."
Kamandetes glared at her, but faced forward again as Vayon made a thoughtful sound.
"Perhaps you are, Kamandetes. Perhaps yet more new developments are about to arise, and if so we should be ready to deal with them. Have Haikoga join us in my private chambers tomorrow afternoon. We shall see what we can do about preparing for the future…"