Via Pacifica: Planet Laguna
Central Command Bunker, 10:42 hours

The glare of the morning sun lit up the bright blue skies as Commander Nessus stood on the surface of Laguna taking in the planet around him. He had decided to survey the main defense bunker that Xerxes had ordered him to defend and he noted the shape of the tall mountain which the bunker had been built into. Inside that hollowed out mountain was a giant electromagnetic track which served as the launch point for the interstellar missiles housed below. Despite the U'shan garrison which had been left here, Nessus predicted that there would be a significant battle here very shortly. It was a prime target for the Star League and he knew it was not a matter of if they would come, but when. His thoughts drifted again to wondering if the Rangers would be there too. He had wanted to get revenge on them as well. Even though it had been the traitorous general Kharon that had maimed him, even the Odyssey Rangers shared some responsibility for his humbling failure at Charybdos.

Nessus took a long moment to listen to the quiet nature around him as the birds chirped from the nearby woods and the sun glistened off one of the waters of the countless massive lagoons which covered the surface of this world. The air was warm against his face and he was grateful that he could still feel that much sensation after having been effectively transformed into a cyborg geared for war. He had become a pure instrument of violence and now he truly was one with his new improved suit of powered armor. His idle thoughts were interrupted as he got a radio call from one of his soldiers monitoring the system, "Commander... we've just detected an enemy fleet entering the edge of the system. It looks to be the Star League's forces."

Nessus nodded and put his helmet on over his head, "Very well. Secure all sectors and go to condition red. We're going to stand here and face the enemy attack. Also... prep the other surprises we have ready for our guests."

With that, the U'shan commander stepped on to a nearby elevator hatch leading back down into the main bunker. If the Power Rangers and their foolish allies were looking for a fight, then he would be more than happy to give them one.

Meanwhile, a coalition fleet had already arrived over the lush planet of Laguna. As the Star League begin to clash with the U'shan vessels in orbit, smaller ships were launched to land troops and start their attack on the surface. Among the lead landing craft were Skyler Orion's ship who took off from the Odyssey's hangar. From her cockpit, Skyler steered her sleek freighter into Laguna's upper atmosphere while being escorted by a group of Alliance Valkyrie fighters of Zephyr Squadron.

"This is the Lusty Scoundrel to Zephyr Leader. We're entering the planet's atmosphere. Stand by," she called on her comm earning some surprised looks from the Odyssey Rangers who were strapped in nearby.

"Lusty Scoundrel?" Qua'lia asked with a raised eyebrow, "Is that really what you named your new ship?"

"You like it?" Skyler grinned as she took a swig from a flask and gripped the control console again, "Maybe a bit on the nose, but it's got a little more flair than the old Crow, don't you think?"

An equally bemused Keith looked to Sage and Geordi but both ensigns simply shrugged their shoulders in passive acceptance. The distorted voice of Lt. Joshua Sterling came in over the radio as the allied ships continued their descent, "Getting hot enough for you over there Miss Orion?"

"You haven't seen anything yet but keep your pants on right now flyboy," she teased back, "We need you to keep us covered once I land the Rangers."

A few seats over, Aaron secured his GSA field gear and looked over to the rest of the assault team. Joining the Rangers was Keith and Thor who was busy prepping a bandolier full of his favorite lightning grenades. Aaron gave his large Caltarian friend a bemused look, "You sure about carrying all that ordnance, big guy? I'm worried if you sneeze wrong you're going to wind up nuking half the planet's surface."

"Oh you'll thank me later," Thor said with an eager smirk as he took a moment to prime his laser rifle too, "One can never have too many lightning grenades."

The Scoundrel shook a few more times as it entered Laguna's skies and pushed through some pockets of air turbulence. The freighter and its fighter escorts descended from the skies leaving streaks of smoke and light as they angled toward the large mountain where the central command bunker was located. As they soared toward their target, they admired the vast water filled craters which dotted the planet's surface and the wide stretches of green woodlands between them.

Skyler checked her sensors and angled lower, "We're nearing the drop site, but I'm picking up several enemies on the radar."

"Zephyr Squadron will shield you and the Rangers from air attack," Sterling answered as the Alliance fighters angled away to stop the U'shan aircraft and launch their own airstrikes on the bunkers below, "We'll keep the blueskins busy up here until you're done. Good luck!"

The Scoundrel dipped low and quickly touched down near the foot of the mountains where one of the large lagoons lay. The hatch opened and the Odyssey Rangers scrambled out along with the others while their Alliance comrades in the air roared by and lit up the skies with fire and explosions. Skyler locked the hatch behind them and pulled her blaster pistol, "I'll keep the lights on for you when you get back... just don't take to long."

"Understood," Aaron answered as he waved his team on to the edge of a woodland clearing, "Let's go Rangers. We've got to hurry and disable that missile launcher. Sage?"

The Yellow Ranger led the way with a handheld device which scanned for energy lines leading from the bunker while Thor and Keith rounded out the forward ranks with with their blaster rifles at the ready. They pushed through some dense foliage and then through some rocky crags at the edge of a lagoon before Sage scanned a service elevator leading down to the recesses of the the facility. "Jackpot."

The hatch leading to the elevator was dug into the face of the rock formations and securely locked with steel bolts. Geordi took a moment to look for any linked devices or switches, "Hmm. I think I might be able to find a power source and hack the systems but..."

"But we don't have time... and I have a better idea," Keith interrupted as he reconfigured his rifle and stepped forward. The security officer took aim and fired short concentrated bursts of plasma at each of the locking bolts. One he had melted the edges of the steel bars, Thor came forward and used his great strength to tear the heavy metal bolts clean off.

Keith gawked in surprise as the Rangers piled into the elevator hatch, "Huh... I wasn't expecting that. But I guess this works too."

"You think that's scary? Just wait till you see him in a fight. He'll go berserk and start pulling people's arms clean out of their sockets," Aaron quipped with a grim laugh, "He'd probably beat you to death with it too."

Keith stared incredulously wondering if Aaron was being serious or simply exaggerating. He decided it was probably safer not to ask as he saw the burly Caltarian snigger quietly at the comment.

Geordi quickly reached for the controls of the lift and activated it to descend deeper into the base. "All right gang. We're in. Where to?"

As Sage directed him to the correct floor with her scanner and schematic layouts of the base, Qua'lia charged her plasma rifle and furrowed her brow in worry, "I don't know about the rest of you, but this doesn't sit well with me. There wasn't any resistance and we got inside the bunker too easily. Almost like it was..."

"A trap?" Rin asked nervously as the lift reached its stop. The Rangers hurried out just as the lift doors went on lockdown behind them.

"Hmm... that's no good at all," Geordi muttered in dread.

Thor shook his head and took the point of their formation to check for any enemies lurking down the large underground corridor which opened up before them, "I'm not surprised if they're trying to lure us in. We'll just have to find another way out then."

Aaron checked the scanner with Sage and nodded tensely, "All right. We can worry about that later. It looks like this access corridor branches off just up ahead. One path should lead to a missile storage silo. The other looks like it goes to the central controls of the main launcher. Rin, Keith, and Thor, your job is to secure the missile silo. The rest of us will go and disable the main launcher, Everyone got that?"

The two teams split up down the hallway and hurried to do their jobs. They knew there was a battle raging outside and their allies were counting on them. The longer they waited, the more danger the Odyssey was sure t be put in. They could only hope that it wouldn't come to that.

Elsewhere high above the planet, Captain Raines and Princess Sera looked on from the rear line as the Star League's forces made their push into Laguna. Sera called over the comms to Dominic, "Captain Raines? Any word yet from down below?"

Raines grimaced slightly as he kept his eyes focused on the space battle raging some distance away, "So far so good, Your Highness. Skyler says the Rangers have landed on the surface so all we can do is wait and hope for the best."

His attention was drawn away as Hawa spoke up from nearby, "Captain? We just picked up a new ship that jumped in near Laguna on the far side of the planet. It looks to be some kind of small scout shuttle."

"One of ours?" Raines asked.

Hawa shook her head, "No sir. It looks like a private vessel so we can't ID it easily. They look like they're headed toward the planet as well. They must be insane if they want to fly right into a warzone."

Raines crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, "Agreed. Keep an eye on it as best you can. If they're smart, they won't try to get in our way here."

Back down in the bunker, Keith, Rin, and Thor sprinted down the underground passageway they were assigned to before they reached a junction. Rin looked around and growled, "Damn. Which way? The missile silo must be close."

At that moment, an entry hatch from a nearby hallway opened up and the trio were surprised when they ran right into a group of patrolling Dragoons. The two sides halted with startled gasps before Thor gave a roar and opened fire with his rifle. One of the troopers was blasted aside while the others turned and ran. It hadn't registered in their heads yet that they outnumbered the Alliance invaders. All they knew was that a large scary alien with a big gun was now coming after them.

"Raaaagh! Come back here and fight me you cowards!" Thor snarled loudly as he went charging down the hallway after the fleeing U'shan soldiers.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Keith called in outrage before Rin grabbed his wrist and tugged him along.

"Come on. It looks like we're going this way instead."

The group charged down the hallway chasing the guards until they reached an entrance to the main missile silo located deeper inside. As they paused and regrouped, the Dragoons all turned around and suddenly realized they had an advantage now. They quickly formed ranks and leveled their energy rifles at Thor who suddenly halted at the foes arrayed in from of him. While most others would retreat or flinch in fear of a firing squad, the Caltarian warrior quickly reached for a lightning grenade and hurled it at the enemy instead. The equally surprised Dragoons suddenly broke rank and recoiled as they tried to get clear of the live grenade. As they scrambled in a panic, Keith and Rin rounded the corner behind Thor.

"Get down!" Thor shouted as he tackled the two humans while the bomb went off. The grenade filled the other half of the corridor with a surge of crackling electricity which seared the bulkheads while a concussive blast of sonic energy reverberated through the steel and momentarily deafened everyone.

When the blast subsided, the three got back up and carefully crossed the scorched hallway. Through the smoke, they could see the sprawled out Dragoons who had been mangled in the blast. Rin shook her head and slapped her alien comrade's arm with a mixture of relief and outrage, "Great work... but seriously, what the hell Thor? You're insane, you know that?"

"Say what you will, but I found the missiles too," Thor answered smugly as he pointed out to the huge cavernous chamber that opened up before them housing many large interstellar warheads beyond in secure shelves. Keith smiled and stepped forward as he looked around the stockpile.

"This is great! Let's contact the others and..."

"And I wouldn't do that if I were you Alliance scum," came a raspy voice from the shadows.

Everyone stopped and turned with a start as they saw an armored alien warrior drop from some of the rocky stalactites of cavern ceiling. The alien had a lizard-like appearance with sharp features and earthy brown scales. The suit of powered armor that it wore was bulky and rounded, lined with spikes on the edges giving it the the appearance of an armadillo lizard. The rounded shoulder plates folded downward forming large forearm shields which the alien raised menacingly as weapons. "I won't let you interfere with our plans here and neither will Commander Nessus."

"Nessus? How can that be?" Rin gasped in shock, "I thought we stopped him. I thought he died back on Charybdos."

The armored lizard alien scoffed, "Oh he's very much alive, girl. If you say you've fought him before, then that means..."

"That's right," Rin answered as she raised her morpher up and prepared to activate it, "I'm an Odyssey Ranger and you're not going to stop us. Right Keith?"

Keith glanced over in surprise as he gripped his morpher with uncertainty. He looked to the alien and then to the restored morpher which Dr. Farbanti had given back to him. He knew that the mission had to be completed and that the Rangers were counting on him. He still had his doubts that he could step in and join this team by becoming a Power Ranger, but he felt he had to try. Even by herself, Rin was not afraid to face down this monstrous alien and he couldn't let her battle it alone either. He raised his wrist and stepped forward while taking a deep breath. "Yeah... okay. Let's do this."

As Thor leveled his rifle at the armored alien foe, the Green Ranger led the charge, "Odyssey Morpher, lock in! Stellar Shift!"

On the other side of the underground base, the other Rangers quickly and quietly made their way through the hallways of the bunker complex before they reached the central launch facility. The found themselves on a scaffolding overlooking a wide launch corridor. Along the sides of the hollowed-out mountain walls were tracks fixed with electromagnetic conductors which stretched far above and out of sight.

"Amazing..." Geordi mused quietly as he surveyed the facility, "This must be the heart of the electromagnetic railgun which launches those missiles."

"We can admire the tech later Geo. Our job is to disable to launcher right now," Aaron pointed out, "Where are the controls?"

Sage scanned the cavern and pointed the way toward a large computer console situated down a side passageway tucked aside from the central chamber, "I think I have a lock on it Aaron. This way."

"Not so fast Yellow Ranger," came a familiar voice as a large figure stepped out into the open, barring the team's path from entering the command room. To the Rangers' shock, they all stared at the equally familiar and radically altered visage of Commander Nessus. The U'shan commander that they had battled on many prior meetings wore a new suit of powered armor. The suit was sleeker and more streamlined than before but gave the commander a larger stature. The polished white steel reflected the light from above and looked to be made of a thicker, more durable alloy. Several new weapon pod attachments were fixed to the suit and while the new helmet maintained a single glowing cyclopean eye, it now bore coiled steel from the sides which gave the intimidating appearance of a ram's horns.

"Whoah... no way," Geordi exclaimed in dread.

Qua'lia narrowed her eyes and tensed for battle, "Nessus? Is that really you?"

"In the flesh," the commander quipped, "Or what's left of it anyway. It would seem I have your dear brother to thank for my new situation, Yellow Ranger."

Sage recoiled in fright as the enemy took a few steps closer. Aaron stood his ground and did his best to keep his team steady, "We thought you were dead for sure Nessus. We saw what happened on Charybdos."

"Yes. Fate is strange," Nessus laughed as the glowing optic sensor on his helmet flared brightly, "but Xerxes gave me a second chance. You took my limbs, my glory, and the megazaord on Charybdos. Now I will take your lives."

At that moment, the doors to the central bunker locked behind the Rangers and they saw a group of of Dragoons fan out on some nearby platforms, aiming down on them with their rifles. Qua'lia clenched a fist, "What do you think you're trying to do here, Nessus?"

"I'm not just going to destroy you here," he laughed in reply while gesturing toward the missile tracks, "I'm going to make sure you look on helplessly while I we eliminate your fleet as well."

Geordi growled, "You're forgetting one thing Nessus. There's only four of us here, and we've got another two Rangers dealing with the other missiles in storage."

"I think not Blue Ranger," Nessus answered shaking his head, "I've already sent an Imperial Auxiliary to deal with them. But consider yourself lucky. You get the privilege of dying by my hand today."

"I think your revenge can wait a little longer," Aaron answered raising his morpher and spurring the others to join him, "Ready everyone? Odyssey morphers, lock in!"

Nessus grinned with eager anticipation and armed his weapons as he watched the Rangers transform in a brilliant nimbus of prismatic light, "Stellar Shift!"