U'shan Star Empire, Ixion Sector
Orbit over Planet Calypso, 1400 hours

The remnants of the Star League's fleet sprinted ahead toward the equally small fleet of U'shan rebels and their super weapon. Even as sunlight crested over the orbital horizon of the large blue ocean planet below, the colossal visage of the Typhon Cannon cast a menacing shadow over the battlefield. The frighting super-weapon almost seemed to be shaped in an appropriate form for the planet it was orbiting around... a titanic steel jellyfish over the watery world of Calypso below. At the heart of the allied formation, the five Ranger zords deployed from the hangars of the Acropolis carrier and joined the battle. In the cramped cockpit of her swan zord, Ensign Sage Dael steered into position while her brother Ash sat close behind her hanging on. The Yellow Ranger flipped her comm switch on, "All right everyone, I'm in position. You okay over there Rin?"

"We're ready to rock and roll," the Green Ranger Katrin Niall answered as Princess Sera sat with her in the cockpit of her aquatic themed zord, "Geo? You guys okay over there on the other end?"

While the blue centaur zord coasted forward in space, Geordi Corrina steadied his vehicle while Keith joined him in his own cockpit, "The megazord will be a bit cozy this time around but we're ready over here."

At the head of the zords' formation, Aaron readied his own controls from his red lion while keeping his eyes on the super-weapon in the near distance, "All right Rangers... we've got a lot of people counting on us so let's make this shot count. Odyssey Megazord, form up!"

Each of the Rangers punched their controls causing the five giant zords to realign and quickly fuse together into its giant humanoid robot form. Once the Odyssey Megazord had taken shape and the riders braced themselves in their command perch, the Rangers hit the jets to go full throttle toward the enemy. Qua'lia kept an eye on their own fleet nearby and then looked back toward the Typhon Cannon, "I admit I'm a little concerned. What if that gun does the same thing it pulled at the Cocytus nebula?"

"Unlikely," Ash answered tersely as he focused on the scans of the giant weapon, "Xerxes already took a gamble and damaged the weapon by discharging it in reverse. The cannon is supposed to collapse stars and compress gravity to weaponize the resulting back hole instead."

"If there's one thing we know about Xerxes, he's risk averse... especially when it comes to his own life," Sera agreed grimly as she clutched her seat's harness.

"We may as well try to use that to our advantage then," Keith agreed as he pointed toward a swarm of incoming U'shan fighters, "Heads up!"

The megazord shook as it plowed through a wave of incoming fire with the Star League ships behind it. Rin gritted her teeth and kept her controls steady through the turbulence, "Easy does it everyone. Stay on target."

At that moment, streams of supporting fire from the Acropolis flared out around the sides of the megazord while the GSA fighters from the carrier Albion cleared a path around the flanks. Hawa's voice cut in over the comms and spurred the heroes on, "Keep going Rangers! We'll cover your approach!"

"Aye, Commander! We're on it!" Sage answered as the Odyssey Megazord plowed forward toward some small escort destroyers forming a defense line in front of the cannon.

"Our crewmates were kind enough to roll out the red carpet," Aaron said with a tense grin, "What do you guys say we return the favor?"

Ash's stomach dropped as the Rangers put their megazord into a spinning maneuver to dodge some incoming fire while also pulling out its glaive weapon. As the Odyssey Megazord whirled and changed direction with surprising agility in space, it brought its Solar Splitter around in wide arcs carving through the hulls of the smaller escort ships. The megazord kicked off of the last flaming debris of an enemy warship and used its momentum to close the distance with the cannon. Even despite the zord's huge size, the Typhon Cannon loomed over them and its true size and scope became more apparent now that the Rangers had begun to close the distance.

"Damn... and I thought that thing looked big from a couple hundred kilometers away," Keith mused before Qua'lia gave him a light nudge in the shoulder.

"Look alive Petty Officer. You've got the explosive charges?"

The Silver Ranger collected himself and nodded as he held up a large rucksack that he carried with him. "I just hope this will be enough."

"It will be," Ash answered in a serious tone, "Just remember, we need to make it to the cannon's reactor cores. I'll show you were to place the charges."

Geordi glanced over and surprised everyone by giving him a quiet warning, "Just remember, don't get any funny ideas out there Ash. Sage might trust you, but the rest of us don't."

"Geo, now is not the time," Sage scolded her friend. She appreciated her friends being concerned and understood why they would be suspicious, but she still couldn't help but feel a little defensive toward her own family.

"Stow it Rangers. We're almost there," Aaron called over the megazord evaded a pair of torpedoes and carved through the last picket line ship. The Odyssey Megazord soared past one more barrage of enemy fire before it finally reached the giant super weapon. The Rangers punched a hole clean through the outer hull causing the entire structure to tremble before they secured an airlock and an entry point. The morphed Rangers made their way inside the cannon followed by Sera and Ash who had put on pressurized suits and helmets.

"Okay... so just like the Akula raid?" Qua'lia muttered, "Hopefully minus the gorgon robot this time?"

"And remember it's not a rescue operation," Keith added as he secured the charges and hefted his mace weapon, "Princess Sera? Lt. Dael? You two stay back and let us take point."

The raiding party spread out along the corridors with the Rangers holding their blaster pistols and their hand weapons at the ready. Every so often, they could hear distant rumbling vibrations through the steel superstructure hinting that the fleet battle going on outside was probably escalating. Geordi checked a rough schematic diagram of the cannon that Ash had provided and waved the team ahead, "Come on. There should be an access hatch to a turbo lift this way. We'll need to go about fifteen floors to get to the reactor terminal.

"You think we're going to run into any guards along the way?" Sera asked the others in a worried voice.

Qua'lia shook her head and took point as they hurried down the empty corridor, "They're short handed as it is. With the fleet battle going on outside, they're probably overwhelmed right now."

"We can only hope," Sage muttered in dread as she covered their non-Ranger allies and directed them toward the lift in the near distance, "And that our crew can hold out long enough too."


Meanwhile, the warships of the Star League and the Empire continued to close and exchange fire with each other. As flights of starfighters on both sides buzzed about and skirmished with each other, Captain Dominic Raines kept his eyes fixed on the Imperial formation that lay dead ahead. The Star League had formed a bubble screen for defense but now that the Rangers had broken free, they could not simply stay back and hope to survive either. He glanced over and saw Tiah at the weapons control console while Amira stood ready at the Engineering station. Hawa sat beside him in her First Officer chair cutting through the radio chatter but there was one thing left to do. He saw Skyler standing off to the side watching the battle unfolding and called out, "Miss Orion! I've heard from several people you're the best pilot in the galaxy. Is that really true?"

The smuggler turned in surprise and looked at him, "Captain?"

"For what I plan to do, I'm going to need the best starship pilot I can get," he answered, "Could you help us and take the lead spot at the helm controls?"

Skyler blinked again before giving a confident smirk, "I'm always up for a little excitement. Challenge accepted, Captain!"

Normally, she'd argue and try to negotiate some kind of price for her services, but considering the stakes of this battle and the fact that her Ranger friends needed her help... she was willing to make an exception for them. As she got in the chair and manned the helm controls, she gave a thumbs up, "Ready and waiting."

He gave a nod and called out, "Increase to 2/3 speed and adjust heading to 351-mark-10. Commander Jakende, prepare to signal the rest of our fleet."

"You've got some crazy new battle tactics cooked up, sir?" Tiah spoke up with an eager grin, "Cause we could sure use some right now."

Raines smiled quietly and pointed things out to Hawa on a battle map, "We'll break formation and split our fleet into two squadrons. Order them to strike the enemy line there and there. Once it's broken, we'll focus fire on this enemy group and take them out in a melee."

Hawa nodded in understanding and went to work, "Looks a little like Trafalgar. Going back to ancient history, Captain? Because I approve."

Raines glanced over and saw Amira cast a curious look over toward him. He gave her a reassuring smile, "We'll take some inspiration from a famous admiral in Earth's history... from back in the age of sailing ships. Something called the Nelson Touch."

As the bridge crew carried out the order, the Acropolis quickly changed course and the Star League ships surprised their foes by seamlessly dividing into two groups. Without wasting any time, the allies pushed forward and crashed the defense line of the Imperial vessels causing mass chaos and filling space with hails of short range fire and blaster barrages between them. Amid the fierce slugging matches that ensued, the Acropolis's shields and heavy armor were rattled but remained steady.

"Hey! All right! It's working!" Tiah cheered excitedly from her station, "The enemy doesn't seem to know what hit them. They're flailing around like fish!"

"Stay focused Petty Officer," Hawa reminded her, "Maintain the shields and keep firing at your targets."

Before the bridge could celebrate, Skyler cleared her throat and called out a warning, "Uh... Captain Raines? You might want to keep an eye on that ship over there."

Raines looked out across the battlefield as Skyler maneuvered the carrier into position. A wave of dread washed over him as he recognized the same U'shan heavy battlecruiser that the Odyssey had dueled to a stalemate above Arcadia. The enemy ship Kraken bore down on them ready for a rematch and wanting a decisive end to their little vendetta.


Back aboard the Typhon Cannon, the Rangers and their friends passed without incident into the bowels of the giant space-station sized weapon. Once they piled out of the turbolift, they made their way down an access tunnel that led to the central power terminal. Large turbine generators that fed into the central reactors hummed with power while control consoles all showed energy fluctuations. So far, the Typhon Cannon's main energy levels seemed stable but that could easily change again. Ash eyed the area while Sage scanned their surroundings, "We're close to the reactor cores. We can start laying charges here and set up a line for the chain reaction to occur."

Aaron signaled to the Blue and Chrome Rangers, "All right. Geo? Keith? Get to it."

As they began to lay a group of explosives, Sera stopped and turned her head, "Hey... did you all hear that?"

Everyone paused and fell silent, straining to hear above the dim whirring of the turbines. Rin frowned, "I didn't hear anything. Maybe you're..."

"Shh... the princess is right," Qua'lia interrupted raising a hand to silence the younger Ranger. Qua'lia turned her head and used her keen senses to search for danger before she dove clear and shouted a warning.

A coil of hot steel lashed out from the rafters above and struck the floor leaving a charred gouge before quickly retracting back overhead. The Rangers and their allies all ducked for cover as a few more hot glowing tendrils of steel lashed out and threatened them before being pulled back to their source. Once the frightful barrage was finished, a large figure dropped from the rafters and landed on the deck with a loud reverberating thud. To the Rangers' surprise, they saw a large purplish blue suit of Imperial powered armor. The armor was ornate and stylized with gold ornamental trim and a high crest on the helmet. The large rounded shoulder pauldrons were fixed with forward facing crystals that glowed like menacing eyes in the dim light. The vents from the leg joints let out a rush of air as the figure rose and swept his cape aside to expose his two arms.

The large cylopean warrior in the powered armor fixed his eyes forward and regarded the intruders calmly, "Ah Rangers... there you are. It's so good to finally meet the rest of you."

"And just who are you?" Geordi challenged.

The figure laughed and opened the helmet's visor for just a moment to expose the face of the U'shan forces commander, Xerxes himself. The Exarch closed his helm and gave a derisive snort, "You look surprised Rangers. Perhaps you weren't expecting to see me here?"

"Maybe we weren't expecting you to actually fight your own battle for once," Sera countered with a defiant tone as she faced down the Exarch. She pulled out her sun globe and it began to ignite with a threatening glow. Xerxes gave a quiet snarl as she continued to taunt him, "You're desperate right now. The walls are closing in and there are few people left who will fight for you, isn't that right? I know the feeling... because that is what you did to me... to my homeworld. I say this now Xerxes, your reign of terror and bloodshed are over. You are going to pay for the pain and the war crimes you committed against every person in the Via Pacifica and I will make sure of it."

"She's right Xerxes," Aaron said stepping forward and leveling his weapon, "Don't be stupid. No more lives have to be lost today. Lay down your arms and surrender now."

Xerxes scowled behind his visor and readied his weapon systems causing the Rangers to tense up, "You know that's no longer an option for me Rangers. And what of you Kharon? Or is it Ash Dael again? Have you agreed to surrender to them too? Have you given up your own ambitions? Or will you beg for mercy when the GSA tries you for your crimes as well? You're nothing but a terrorist and a betrayer."

Ash froze and remained silent, paralyzed by Xerxes's cutting words. The Exarch charged his weapons and began to levitate off the ground, "You have no hope of stopping me Rangers. If you insist on trying to end this war, I will be more than glad to destroy each and every one of you."

"We insist," Sera answered as the Rangers rallied around her to go into battle.

Xerxes chuckled and prepared to fight, "Then you've just made me a very happy man."

The Red Ranger pointed his blade forward and led the charge into battle, "And now we'll make you a dead one! Charge!"


A/N:
Apologies for the lapse in recent updates everyone. I think everyone's lives have been thrown off a bit lately what with the whole "plague" currently going on across the world. Don't worry though, I'm alive and well and will hopefully have some time to finish this story up very soon. Thanks as always for sticking with it. I hope you readers all stay safe and healthy out there!

Oh, and special credit goes to the late great Raul Julia and the final villain role he ever played for Xerxes's last little bit of dialogue at the end of the chapter. It was too good to pass up ;)