Chapter 37: Excuses
It was almost too easy.
Bringing her blade down on the head of the lizard in front of her, Zriac growled under her breath as it rolled away unharmed. What remained of the mechanical foot soldiers were being mopped up with extremely unconventional tactics and it seemed to be working to their advantage, even if she did have to take a few moments to figure out who had rigged up a fire hose to spew actual fire. The hastily cobbled flamethrower had done its job and had held the line until their main fire-slinger had caught up from his battle. To refer to the Ultra Ranger to be something as crude as the fire-slinger wasn't really in line with her way of thinking but it would only be for this battle. A wicked smile played over her lips for a fraction of a second as she thought of what the night would hold…only for her to be brought back to reality as the lizard's tail slammed into her chest. She stumbled back as she gasped desperately for breath and threw the laser blade at the chest of the beast, struggling to take a few steps back for the follow-up. Channelling the power into her legs, she leapt off the ground and delivered a punishing kick to the handle of her blade; pushing the weapon through the flesh of the monster.
"Very charming; I suppose that will have to be rectified in the next creation wave."
The voice made her pause for a moment as she bent over the pick up her bloodied weapon. The monster, while grievously wounded, hadn't erupted into a fireball yet but it wouldn't be getting on its feet anytime soon. Not if it wanted the remainder of it guts to stay inside its body. Wrapping her fingers around the neon green splattered handle, she lifted the energy blade up and converted it to its shorter beam dagger mode. She could see the battles of the others due to the video feed on the inside of her visor but nothing could have wrenched her away from the figure in front of her. Given that she had seen him only a few hours ago there was no change in his outward appearance, there was probably no change in his inward appearance either.
"Sradil."
The word fell from her lips like a drop of poison and, while she couldn't see his face, his body shifted subtly to reflect his smug attitude. The leader of the force was in front of her and, if she didn't know any better, was probably going to challenge her to a duel for leadership; much like what he had proposed before he had unceremoniously left the Rangers. That being said, there wasn't much she could do to avert the coming fight and was looking forward to it, which wasn't very leader-like. Allowing the power to wash over her body and ease the aches in her muscles, she took a few steps back from the former Ranger and prepared for the inevitable first punch. The former Cyan Ranger always liked to open with a punch as he thought it was the quickest and easiest way to fell an opponent. In truth, she had thought that way as well, up until she had challenged an off-world Ranger from Earth.
A slight tensing in his muscles was all the warning she received before his opening attack, a left hook that would have smashed into the side of her helmet. Diving to the ground, she rolled once before sweeping out with her right leg – catching him off guard. She didn't know what he had been doing since he had left the Rangers, but it was clear to her that he hadn't been keeping up on his training. To fall for such an obvious counter was practically screaming the degradation of his skills; especially as the Ranger she remembered on the battlefields of the past would have been embarrassed if such a move had gotten the better of him. Lunging forward, she tightened the grip on her beam dagger and thrust the weapon towards the chest armour of the ex-Ranger. In hindsight, if she had been just a little bit faster or struck with a little bit more force, she might have averted the following events that were to come…or everything could have spun off in an entirely different direction.
Nevertheless, the Cyan Ranger's fall down placed the weak point of his chest armour just out of reach of Zriac's arm and, as such, her blade scraped harmlessly off the armour. Lidars rolled in a similar fashion before leaping onto his feet to look at the Black Ranger. His monsters were falling around him, even though they were fighting back to the best of their ability against the Rangers and the Elders who had come with them. He had heard stories of the mighty Red Ranger and of his wrenching choice to willingly turn his back on his team to save them from themselves. In fact, despite what he had said, he had convinced himself that the former Ranger was a Huran he could seriously look up to. To see him back on Huran and fighting alongside the Rangers he had tossed aside so quickly was…infuriating wasn't even the word he was looking for. He would make an example of the Black Ranger and vent his frustrations out on the traitor to the cause. Leaping at the Black Ranger, he pushed the power to his feet and unleashed a barrage of kicks on her frame, kicks that she was barely able to parry in time. Harder and harder he kicked at the Ranger, unleashing all of his frustrations on her – the upstart who had literally come in from nowhere and had thought herself worthy of leading the team that was rightfully his.
One final powered kick finally broke through her defences and smashed into her chest, sending her flying back. Lidars chuckled darkly as he walked over to the slumped form of the Black Ranger and, almost casually, wrapped his fingers around her armoured throat. Lifting her into the air, he paused a moment to savour the sight of the helpless Ranger in his grasp and then slammed her onto the ground repeatedly. His grin grew wider as the sounds of helmet on stone echoed around the battlefield, temporarily deafening lasers and explosions. A sizzle of energy in his torso made him peer down to see an angrily burnt streak on his armour. The whelp had gotten off a good slash with her laser blade but that would be the only hit she would be allowed to land. Tossing the Black Ranger into the side of a nearly demolished wall, he lifted his left arm and tapped his right wrist.
"I trust you remember this weapon. All those hours practicing with it will be your downfall, little girl."
Zriac shook her head as pain stabbed her body. There was no denying she had gotten extremely lucky with the swipe from her beam dagger but she would need more than luck going forwards. Closing her eyes briefly, she allowed more of the power to wash over her, temporarily re-energising her body and blocking the pain from her mind. It was only a temporary solution and could only be used a few more times but she hoped it would give her an advantage over the psychotic Ranger. Making an over-exaggerated show of picking herself up, she looked up into the 'face' of Lidars' Power Weapon: the Shield Axe; reminding her, once again, of how idiotic that name really was. While a shield with axe blades on the sides didn't really encourage fear in their enemies, it was doing a fairly solid job of intimidating her as it had become twisted and warped, a fair reflection of its bearer. In the past, it had been a rounded shield in the style of the Pink Zeo Ranger's Zeo Shield with thin protrusions that allowed energy to form into a fairly accurate representation of axe blades. It wasn't the best weapon in their arsenal but it allowed the Mega Blaster to be formed.
The weapon in front of her was very different. It looked like an old type of shield she had seen in the history recordings. It was shaped very much like a reverse teardrop with the bottom point replaced with a metallic spike. On either side of the shield were the blade emitters, the energy now coloured a dark red to reflect the colour of human blood. Scratches, dings and gouges scarred the face of the shield, which had been painted over to mimic an ancient Tri-Spino Dragon. As Zriac had seen the Battlizer Zord of the Orange Ranger, she could see there were many difference. However, any thorough analysis of the outer face of the shield was put on an abrupt hiatus as the Cyan Ranger rushed at her with his weapon held over his head. Waiting until the last possible moment, the Black Ranger flipped away, using her backward momentum to kick her legs at Lidars' chin. The calculated blow struck home, slamming into the bottom of his helmet with enough force to leave a visible dent in the material. Acting while her enemy was still recovering, Zriac dashed forwards and executed a series of moved with her blade; moves that left the Cyan Ranger reeling from the flashes of light and swift movements.
It was plain to see his plan was falling apart at the seams, but he had come so far and to retreat now would be unthinkable. Partly because the fallback point for the monsters was his forward base but mainly due to the surprise he had left in case he fell. The surprise that, by now, would have finished fully powering up and would be just waiting for him to come for it. The only caveat was that it was back in the Main Base, built in secret inside one of the mountain ranges. Today had to be the day everything changed for the better. The Rangers would be wiped from the surface of the planet and the power given to the people to do what they saw fit. Swiftly angling his body, he threw the shield at Zriac like a discus. The energy blades smashed against Zriac's chest and dug deep into her armour. Judging from her scream of pain, the blades must have dug deeply into her torso. Well, if that killed her then it would prove that she had been unsuited to leading the team from the start, though it did seem a waste of the hours he had spent…
"Why did you go to all this trouble to create monsters, when you know for a fact that it never works?"
Interesting; she still had enough drive and inner spark to question his actions. He supposed the blood streaming from the wound had something to do with her desire to learn about his plans. Over the ongoing din of battle, he could hear two distinctive sets of feet running towards him. One sounded like the familiar Ranger boots on stone while the other…he knew what a Huran sounded as it was running. The Orange Ranger and the traitor to the cause were trying to save the same person…that would be rather interesting to watch the battle dynamic but, unfortunately, he had other things on the table. Psychically ordering Drasil to intercept the Orange Ranger once more, he raised his left hand and summoned his shield to him. He could handle the traitor and, possibly, could sway him onto the winning side.
"I am very well aware that using monsters is a tactic that is doomed to failure. I am also aware that it has its uses, such as dividing a strong team into weaker subunits. The old 'Divide and Conquer' routine that those orbiting Earth are so fond of. However, it has a key role in the destruction and destabilization of any Ranger team. You, of all people, should know what that is."
Flicking her wrist and sending her blood splattering onto the ground, Zriac nodded internally. Hours and hours of research into enemy tactics and battle plans had given her insight into some of the Universe's most notorious evil empires. Though the strategies of Divatox, the Machine Empire, Scorpius and Lord Zedd looked similar; each plan built upon the last to create a dominating force that could easily whittle down the strength of any planet or system in their way. Where they had gone wrong on Earth was anyone's guess, but they had refined one strategy down to its purest and most distilled form. The only one to have succeeded in achieving something semi-permanent with the Divide and Conquer strategy had been Xonix and his strategy during the Battle of Sydney where he had apparently shattered the Ultra Crystals by exploiting their only weakness. However, she had heard of another plan to kill an Ultra Ranger which had met with some degree of success; though she wasn't too sure who that Ranger had been.
"Killing me is not the way to destabilise this team. Even you, in your half insane state, should realise this."
Lidars chuckled darkly, dropping his shield with an exaggerated flourish. The battle between them had been short and extremely fun. Unfortunately, time was not on his side in this fight. There would be plenty of time after the fight to…indulge in whatever pleasures she could unwillingly offer him. He could feel a small cut beginning to widen on his back as he began his final transformation. Wearing the Ranger armour was not in his plans but…well, there was nothing much he could do about that now. A rush of warmth down his back was coupled with a strange sensation of shifting bones as he slowly removed his helmet. There was truth to her words as he had realised that the strategy to isolate any Ranger Leader wouldn't work at all. What she didn't know, however, was that his entire plan hinged on this very concept and, thus, would give him the much needed element of surprise. He watched the Black Ranger stiffen in shock as the first tendrils of metal protruded from his nostrils.
"What…what have you done to yourself?"
Freed from their fleshy sheath, the seemingly living metal pulsed twice with energy before wrapping around the top half of his head with surprising speed. Electric sparks danced on his skin but he paid that sensation no mind; well, he would have to pay it no mind, thanks in no small part to the other, more painful, sensations rippling through his entire body. He smirked as he recalled the shocked expressions on the faces of Dasur and Frenter when he had told them the final piece of his master plan. Of course, he hadn't mentioned anything about sacrificing them…but that part had been accelerated greatly since the beginning of the week. Countless hours of mind-numbing surgical procedures had fitted several tubes worth of liquid metal nano-fibres into his body and it had been a chore to design them into something that would be feared, yet practical to wear. Biting back a scream as the skin and muscle mass around his eyes was stripped away; he closed his eyes and awaited the formation of his 'Ultra Mode'; a name that brought much more irony to mind as an actual Ultra Ranger was on the battlefield. Cold steel pressed against his red and raw flesh, provoking a slightly muted hiss of pain to escape his lips. Knowing better to open his eyes until everything had been locked into place, he chuckled darkly at the looks of surprise and horror he would be, no doubt, receiving from the others.
"I am your destruction."
TBC…