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Chapter 27 – Perfidy
The dust covered and barren ground that formed the surface of the moon of Unus cracked and splintered with each step Lord Zedd took, the towering and armoured warlords' three-toed and clawed feet which were reminiscent of some ancient saurian sinking into the ground as he strode throughout the base of operations that Paradoxa had founded.
He had found it unimpressive.
Paradoxa's excuses had been feeble and lacklustre in the face of Lord Zedd's disgust at the lack of progress her Vanguard Fleet had made and the ruler of the Acheron people and their countless vassals had met each of the insectoid hybrids' attempts at reasoning with swift and decisive action to remedy her failures.
When questioned as to why her warship, the Heliothis had remained grounded for the duration of her campaign thus far Paradoxa had argued that it had been prudent to keep her command ship safe from harm so that it may serve as a base of operations; Lord Zedd had demanded that the slaves begin laying the foundations for a palace like outpost upon Triforias' first moon. When the swarm of enslaved workers began to drop like flies, either killed in accidents caused by their massively expanded workload or simply dying of exhaustion Lord Zedd had responded by having Gibil create droves of Putties specially modified to undertake the task; now the Dread Forge worked ceaselessly and was overseen by the same Putties that it churned out; Lord Zedd had sneeringly informed his underling that her piecemeal, grasping attempt at warfare was a relic of an outdated era and that full-scale automated decimation would soon become the hallmark of the Dark Empire.
Paradoxa's final concern however had been a reasonable one, with such rapid and large scale expansions there was a very real chance that the Triforians below them would learn of the outposts' existence before they were ready; the tyrant's answer to this had come in the form of his own magic, applied in vast quantities and even now Lord Zedd could feel a dozen sharp tugging sensations at the back of his mind like fishing-hooks whose lines lead back to the ward and rune engraved pillars of stone he had erected at the very edges of what would become the outer limits of this outpost; the pillars themselves had been simple things, a dozen or so feet in height and angular blocks made from the stone quarried on Unus itself yet once imbued with Lord Zedd's arcane magic they had blackened and the Acheron glyphs carved into their surface had begun to glow as they created an aura around the area which ensured that no magical or technological efforts to see within would succeed.
The Alliance would not be able to find the Unus outpost unless they physically wandered into it, with a side-effect of the magic being that the outpost now boasted its' own cursed atmosphere, a permanent night whose sky was filled with roiling clouds and screeching winds which gave the impression of having left Unus and entered somewhere else entirely.
None of these facts were of immediate concern to Lord Zedd as he strode away from the foundations and unremarkable beginnings of what would become a palace and towards the vast structure of the Heliothis which as of yet had still not left the dusty surface of the moon though he had felt other ships brush against the magical barrier which he had put in place and transmissions pass between them. Since Lord Zedd has assumed direct control of the Vanguard Fleet and its' expansion the once proud Paradoxa had found herself delegated to little more than an administrative role in his efforts, keeping the warlord appraised of scouting and raiding parties findings and occasionally directing the warships which had formerly been under her sole command and as he drew close to the hulking and distinctly centipede-like form of Heliothis he saw that Paradoxa herself stood at the foot of one of the many ramps leading into the vessel; Lord Zedd mused that it was good that she had finally learned to anticipate his demands, travelling the length of a ship which housed countless thousands to reach its' command bridge was simply inefficient.
"My Lord" Paradoxa bowed on a single knee and cast her eyes downwards whilst Lord Zedd let out a single rumbling chuckle as he heard the subtle change in her tone, where once she had been reverent and eager to serve there was now a note of bitterness at the command that had been taken from her.
As if she believed that she was ever truly in charge.
"What news Paradoxa?" he demanded, gesturing for the hybrid to return to her feet "What do your fleet have to report"
"The Sleipnir has confirmed that its' hit and run attacks on the Alliance outpost at Promixa Three was conducted with minimal difficulty, the bombing runs caused considerable damage and the Sleipnir received only minimal damage before the Alliance counter-attack forced the captain to pull back" Paradoxa began, her smooth voice devoid of emotion as she relayed the simple facts "The Typhon and the Hydra conducted their attack on Alliance supply lines and destroyed several cargo vessels before being intercepted, though the Hydra is in need of urgent repair-"
"Good" Lord Zedd's deep voice came as a low rumbling purr as he processed the information
"My Lord" Paradoxa took a moment to consider her next words carefully, realising that she was no longer in the favoured position that she had once held "May I ask what your goal is in these attacks?" she took care to keep any hint of accusation from her words despite the fact that in the weeks since Lord Zedd had arrived he'd had her ships sent on an endless string of missions against targets seemingly chosen at random without ever deploying ground troops
"Simple Paradoxa" the tyrant grunted "To inconvenience the Alliance and throw them into disarray as much as possible, whilst at the same tie allowing our attacks to simply become and accepted fact of life for them….so that when I make a decisive strike we have the element of surprise"
"I understand" Paradoxa bowed her head, admitting that the plan was a sound one even if it took her own callous disregard for the lives of her underlings and extend it into a reckless wastefulness.
"And now the time for the decisive strike is upon us" Lord Zedd's voice became a fierce and menacing growl "Our target is a manufacturing facility on one of the moons of the world the Alliance call Anvil Six"
"As you wish my Lord I-"
"You will have your flesh crafter create something suitable for the task….they at least produce work of an acceptable standard" Lord Zedd stated coldly "Then you will prepare the Heliothis for our departure"
"Our departure my Lord?"
"Indeed….I will be overseeing this attack personally" Lord Zedd's eyes glowed with malice "You will learn how surgical strikes are to be conducted"
The lack of ground deployment or boarding actions on the part of the Dark Empire had meant that in the several weeks that had passed since the Aegis Rangers had arrived at Promethea One they had found themselves with enough free time and freedom to begin making the colony ship their new home and settling into something approaching a routine and sense of normality.
The Rangers each received considerable financial compensation for their service to Project Lightspeed and whilst Rensa and Aslaug were raised in cultures with little if any understanding of or use for money, relying instead on barter and Mercy and Tempestus saw being a Power Ranger as a duty and an honour, Panthera certainly saw being paid as something of vital importance and had been steadily working to ensure that owning her own spaceship again would eventually be in the realm of possibility. Owing to the nature of being a Power Ranger and that a stricter training regimen or new requirements could be opposed on them at anytime as they were expected to be on call at all times getting a job was in fact a difficult prospect, not that Panthera was interested in something so mundane in the first place; the Pink Ranger used the electronics of dubious origins she had procured from Piggy to establish herself within the population of the colony and through a combination of contacts both on Earth and in the larger galaxy and simple bribery of those responsible for checking incoming transports she begun a roaring trade in all manner of good that were not technically permitted on Promethea One, thought she limited her activities to harmless items and reasoned to herself that whilst she may once again be part of a smuggling operation she would have no part in arms dealing or anything similarly illicit.
Rensa, when not taking part in the extensive training sessions that Mercy still put the Rangers through on a regular basis was happy to simply explore the city, especially during its' artificial nights when it was often dark enough to remove the filter goggles that prevented him from being blinded by simple daylight. The Black Ranger's affinity for slinking into confined spaces and climbing combined with his ability to cling to walls and ceilings with ease and the inhuman ways in which he could move had become a regular sight and inspired something of a fan-base leaping between buildings and scaling sheer surfaces in displays that put even the most adept parkour practitioners to shame before he found something else to occupy his time. An advanced colony ship it may have been but Promethea One was still a city and like any city it had its' poor and struggling citizens and it also had its' crime, both of which Rensa had turned his attention to soon after inadvertently discovering them; he would now often spend his evening either flitting between soup kitchens and shelters where those who had lost jobs on the colony and didn't have the means to return to Earth came for food and shelter or simply patrolling the streets until the image of the Black Ranger had become synonymous with the children in those parts of the city.
Tempestus had arguably been the most proactive in his search for self improvement and development; the Blue Ranger had initially considered enrolling at the university which worked closely with Promethea and Project Lightspeeds' shared base; the Blue Ranger had learned however that the campus would not be taking on new students for some time yet and had been prepared to simply wait, what had not expected was for Grace Sterling herself to take a sudden interest in him. The scientist surprised Tempestus by informing him firstly that she knew his adopted father Billy Cranston, who may have been the only person in the world to turn down a job offer from her and secondly that news of how gifted the Blue Ranger was with machinery had reached her, in the end Tempestus had been allowed to join Grace's personal team of scientists and engineers in the repairs of the Zords and several other side projects where both his intellect, insight as a Ranger and strength granted by Aquitian physiology had proven immensely useful. In what little spare time he had left he had begun to devour books on human history, sociology, psychology and politics at an impressive rate, realising that his time away from Aquitar had changed him in a fundamental way and that he needed to better understand the society he had found himself a part of; even if much of it scared and frankly disturbed him.
Aslaug and Mercy had spent a good portion of their free time simply exploring their new relationship and as tentative and slow as that exploration was it was one that they were both grateful for. The Yellow Ranger had found that whilst few in number there were in fact a handful of Silver Guardian cadets on the base, primarily those who would go on to become engineers, scientists or in rare cases pilots for Project Lightspeed or Promethea; though the distinction between the two organisations was meaningless to a point and whilst they would not be sent into active combat upon completing their training the same degree of physical fitness and ability was expected of them, which was how Aslaug had found herself becoming something of a leader or in some cases honorary older sibling to them by first taking charge of their physical training and pushing each of them to new heights that they had not believed themselves capable of.
For Mercy things felt a little more complicated, the Red Ranger had thrown herself into her training and pushing her team-mates in an effort to silence the gnawing and whispering doubts in the back of her mind; to her it felt as though each of the other Aegis Rangers knew themselves better than she did, Rensa helped the downtrodden out of sympathy as he knew hunger and fear all too well, Aslaug pushed the warriors around her to acts of greatness be they cadets or her own people and would almost certainly go on to become a great leader one day, Tempestus learned and created almost compulsively and Panthera was simply a being of barely contained chaotic energy.
Mercy had been made for a specific purpose and she realised that beyond the Red Ranger she simply didn't know who she was or who she wanted to be.
A problem that would likely present itself again as Marigold Utahima made her way out onto the rooftop where Mercy was currently practising several kata, clad in a red tank top and grey yoga pants.
"Good morning" she beamed happily "I brought you breakfast, you always skip it and it isn't good for you"
"Thanks" Mercy came to a halt and took a glass of orange juice from the older teens' hand as she turned to face her; Marigold, or Mari as she was often called obviously didn't have a lecture or class that morning and yet already looked remarkably well put together in a simple white sundress and matching jacket, despite the fact that there had been a party in the student housing below the Rangers the night before where Marigold's impressive singing voice had clearly been heard into the early hours of the morning.
Overall Marigold seemed to have her life organised and was generally on track in a way that Mercy couldn't help but find a little intimidating.
"Are the other Rangers not training today?" Marigold asked in a pleasant enough tone, although Mercy had learned enough over the last few weeks to know that this was simply an opening gambit; she was unsure of whether the young woman had been put up to the task by someone within Lightspeed, perhaps Kimberley Hart or if Mari was an eldest sibling and this kind of behaviour came naturally to her but as well as becoming a friend to the Rangers after helping them settle into their new home she had also taken to trying to steer Mercy towards a productive use of her time.
"They will be later, just 'cos we haven't been deployed for a few weeks doesn't mean we can get lazy" Mery began after swallowing a mouthful of food "Aslaug's walking Klo, Rensa was busy last night so he's asleep, Tempestus left early to work on something and….I'm actually not sure where Panthera is-"
"That might be for the best" Marigold noted with a sigh and a shake of her head at the thought of the Pink Ranger's antics before returning to her train of thought "What about you have you got any plans for today?"
"I uh-"
"Training, right" Marigold fought to keep a disparaging note out of her voice "Mercy you need to find something else to do with your life, being a Power Ranger….I suppose it's like being an athlete or idol, it comes and goes"
"Is that really the comparison you're going with?" Mercy arched an eyebrow, more than a little irked by the comment
"No offence" Marigold added quickly "I know it's important but...what about after? Anyway, I brought a copy of the university prospectus; all of it not just the tech campus. You should thing about applying"
"To do what?" Mercy was honestly baffled and simply couldn't admit the true scale of her utter loss of direction to the older girl
"Anything you want to put your mind to" Marigold shrugged "I've heard you talk about the history of the Power Rangers, you know more random trivia than anyone I've ever met...and well, you're a Power Ranger yourself. Maybe you could be a history teacher one day" Mercy fought the urge to visibly wrinkle her nose at that idea, though Marigold seemed to sense that it was not as appealing as expected
"Okay maybe not, come and meet some of the other students with later though?"
"I can't today, sorry" Mercy shrugged, she felt Marigold's eyes still on her and realised that she was waiting for an explanation and whilst Mercy was growing steadily more irritated with her attitude this happened to be an instance where she was happy to give her reasons
"Me and Aslaug….it's date night"
"Oh" Marigold's eyes seemed to light up "You two are adorable together, what have you got planned?" suddenly Mercy decided that perhaps Marigold wasn't as bothersome as she thought.
Kay was a blur of motion, weaving around blows that were unleashed upon them almost faster than the human eye could see whilst unleashing an equally devastating rain of kicks and punches yet the entire time the wore a smile of pure excited happiness that seemed to make their vivid pink irises shine even brighter against the blackness of their eyes
Sparring matches were fun after all and Kimberley Hart was a truly impressive opponent when she stopped holding back.
Kay leaned back and allowed a spinning crescent kick to sail over their head, rustling their black and white, unnaturally spiky hair as it did so; Kimberley carried her momentum in to a leaping turning kick that would have crushed Kay's cheek if it had made contact, yet Kay continued to deftly evade the attacks, cartwheeling over the low spinning sweep that the former Pink Ranger attempted to kick their legs out from under them with.
The moment Kay landed they sprung into action and launched their counter-attack, leading with a spinning heel kick which Kimberley, still rising from her crouched position responded to by first striking the back of her opponents' knee then simply grasping the limb and pulling them off balance.
Kay managed to land a wild, thrashing kick at Kimberley's midsection as they fell and force her to release them before scurrying to their feet, lacking some of their usual grace after having the wind knocked out of them. The moment Kay was upright Kimberley was on them once again in a maelstrom of blows, left jab, right hook, right elbow, spinning left elbow followed by a backhand and then a haymaker, yet at the end of it all Kay not only remained standing but was also still grinning like a lunatic and entirely unharmed, having blocked every single blow.
Kay responded with a solid punch of their own which Kimberley, being the more experienced fighter by a wide margin managed to catch and turned the human Acheron hybrids' own momentum against them, dragging them almost to the ground and leaving them staggering as they quickly sought to regain their balance whilst she used the opening to perform a particularly acrobatic motion that was based partially on something from her former career as a gymnast and resulted in Kay toppling to the ground with the former Power both above and behind them, using her thighs to grip their neck until finally they tapped the padded surface of the mats to signify their submission.
"I almost had you" Kay laughed breathlessly as Kimberley helped them to their feet, currently they wore a simple vest and sweatpants which was by far less distasteful Kimberley than the jumpsuits which resembled a prison uniform that they had been given to wear day to day.
"I'll let you think that" Kimberley countered, words dripping with sarcasm "We'll just blame it on the oxygen starvation" Kay grumbled inaudibly until another voice interrupted them.
"Kimberley I'm sure that these training sessions are more for your own benefit than anyone else's"
"I mean they're the best workout I've had in years" she noted "I haven't been this in shape since I was twenty one" Kay simply fell silent for a moment at the sight of the newcomer; the gymnasium had been kept empty for the training session under the guise of cleaning and maintenance as the Green Ranger was yet to be reintroduced back into mainstream society yet sitting cross-legged before him and levitating several inches above the ground in a casual display of magic power and control was Zebidiah Lord.
"Grandfather" Kay bowed their head and refused to meet his eye
"Stop that" Zebidiah seemed to be fighting the urge to snap at them "We don't bow here….especially not to me, I'm not Lord Zedd, not any more"
"Zebidiah" Kimberley interjected as she sensed the sudden tension building between them "What can I help you with"
"We have a meeting" he answered simply before returning to his feet and striding away. Kimberley watched the robe-clad former tyrant leave and then turned to Kay to find the Green Ranger staring at his retreating back.
"Have I offended him?"
"No, I don't think so….he's hard to genuinely offend" Kimberley tried to assure them, sure that the sight of the Green Ranger so visibly upset would be disconcerting, if not terrifying to most people
"He's just not sure how to deal with you….I mean it's pretty safe to say your family situation is a unique one" she added with a small smile "And you probably remind him of some painful stuff-"
"So he just sees a monster when he looks at me" Kay sighed, their tall and powerful frame visibly crumpling with defeat "The same as everyone else, which is why I can't be around anyone else"
"That will change" Kimberley promised "The Power Rangers should work as a team, they always have….you're not going to be kept in isolation forever"
"No, just until I'm useful" Kay sneered "I thought I could be more than a weapon here" without waiting for an answer they stalked away, leaving the gymnasium and being confronted by a pair of heavily armed and armoured robots that Grace had built for the sole purpose of guarding the Green Ranger and could loosely be said to resemble Alpha Five, though far more robust in their design.
Kimberley found herself unable to fault Kay for their anger and at the same time incredibly worried that the approach Project Lightspeed was currently taking would only lead to more problems further down the line.
Kay had spent their time on Promethea One both studying and being studied, they were given an education without the Dark Empire's biases despite how little they seemed to have informed Kay's own thinking and allowed to train regularly and had access to books, television, radio and the internet although all of these were monitored; at the same time their activities were studied and a battery of medical and psychological tests had been undergone simply to understand how the fusion of human and Acheron genetics functioned.
Kimberley realised it would be enough to send anyone crazy and resolved to bring the issue again in this meeting and every subsequent meeting until something was done.
"Commencing final approach on target"
"Preparing to drop to sub-light engines"
"Primary weapons batteries are primed, port and starboard batteries and missile ports priming. Shields at full power"
"Silence" Lord Zedd's voice echoed throughout the command bridge of the Heliothis without having to be raised, a low menacing wave that was felt as much as heard whilst the warlord himself stood before the throne which served as Paradoxa's seat when she captained the vessel; his vast size was too large for the seat so instead he simply loomed over the crew whilst the crimson lighting shone on his bladed armour and made him appear more menacing than usual.
At his right hand, denied her customary place at the head of her own vessel was Paradoxa whilst to Lord Zedd's left standing in a position of equal authority to the head of the Vanguard Fleet in a display that Paradoxa could only see as open mockery was Gibil's latest creation, made wholesale from genetic manipulation, twisted engineering and sciences that defied description.
It was a truly gruesome thing.
Even standing hunched over with its' knuckles dragging across the floor it was roughly seven feet tall with rippled, leathery skin of a deep jet black which was split and cracked in countless places allowing the bright purple light of whatever infernal power animated the abhorrent creature to shine through the fissures in its' torso. Its' back was covered in a thick pelt of wiry, bristly fur of a dull gunmetal grey colour which was thickest and shaggiest around the things broad and muscular shoulders.
The thing boasted five limbs, all of which were mechanical to some degree; carrying itself on a pair of digitigrade legs ending in padded paws with wide splayed claws which had been enhanced with armour and stabilisers grafted to the flesh and bone, its' tail was segmented and twitched incessantly and had the overall appearance of a scorpions' stinger that had been redesigned to be more lethal, the bulbous mass at the tip of the tail tapering down to a curved blade whilst a projectile weapon of some kind was mounted above it. Finally the things arms had been removed entirely and replaced with large and powerful mechanical substitutes whose inner workings could be seen, fluids, gears and pistons never ceasing in their movement with armoured pylons reaching upwards from the shoulders which housed more powerful ranged weapons.
The things' head was as grotesque as the rest of its' form, white eyes set into a lupine skull with the same leathery black flesh and adorning a helmet resembling that of some ancient gladiator, complete with a crest of swept forward horns.
Paradoxa's attention was quickly pulled away from Gibil's creation which Lord Zedd has praised as a work of arcane art and sickening genius before naming it 'Vali' after some ancient beast of legend; instead she focused on the sight displayed upon the viewscreen before her.
Anvil Six was an entirely barren world, its' surface having been torn asunder by countless extinction level events caused by meteor impacts and the clouds of dust and debris flung into the worlds' atmosphere choked its' skies even now whilst hundred of meteors that had failed to find their mark hung in orbit around the world, creating a ring of debris around the planet and its' two natural satellites, one of which was the target of the upcoming attack.
Paradoxa was unimpressed.
The moon, apparently undeserving of a name in its' own right was a small sphere with an icy surface upon which several armoured domes had been erected to both protect and contain the artificial atmospheres of the settlements that had been constructed within.
The insectoid hybrid had learned that the sprawling and admittedly impressive production facilities that had built on the moon were not in fact part of Project Lightspeed or in fact any part of the Alliances' internal structure or hierarchy, instead belonging to a private company which had taken advantage of the cheap and unclaimed real estate that the moon offered. Above the settlement hung a single artificial and largely automated satellite with several visible weapons systems, Paradoxa couldn't help but sneer in utter contempt as she realised that this was the extent of the resistance that they would face.
"Open fire" Lord Zedd ordered and instantly the space before the Heliothis was set alight, the primary weapons battery mounted at the prow of the monstrous ship reducing the satellite to a handful of twisted and scattered fragments and a cloud of fine, dust-like debris.
"Good, now engage cloaking systems and remain hidden until further notice" Lord Zedd turned to the savage monster that Gibil had created "Vali, join the Putties and prepare to engage the enemy"
"Yes master" he spoke a throaty and gurgling snarl before turning and stalking away, a vast amount of Putties had been forged for this attack, both standard combat models and more specialised types that Lord Zedd had ordered the construction of with limbs sculpted to resemble various tools and implements; to Paradoxa everything about the mission seemed to be a counter-intuitive and ludicrously wasteful parody of her own attack on Triforia to the point where she could no longer bite her tongue and keep her concerns to herself
"My Lord" she rose her voice and for a moment allowed herself to forget her place "I'm afraid I don't understand your intentions"
"Unsurprising" Lord Zedd responded with an almost amused edge to his voice "What do you think my goals are in this mission Paradoxa" fighting to keep her composure in the face of the open mockery and insult to her abilities she considered for a moment
"The modified Putties led me to believe that you intended to overtake this facility, kill or enslave the occupants so that we could use it as a secondary outpost, perhaps the beginnings of a shipyard within Alliance space….but destroying the satellite serves only to alert our enemies"
"Perhaps your thoughts are not so small and linear after all" Lord Zedd mused "Your ideas are sound but inaccurate….I have several goals for this mission which will become clear as it progresses, but as to the satellite" Lord Zedd's eyes blazed with magical light which caused the visor of his helm to glow threateningly
"Vali is no general….simply bait"
Mercy had known emphatically that she didn't want to use the predictable standby of 'dinner and a movie' for her date with Aslaug, feeling that it felt like an activity more suited to her entire group of friends than just the two of them and frankly she felt she could do better. Instead she had spent several days trying to find out exactly what the colony ship had to offer in terms of entertainment that wouldn't break the bank as the Rangers were now entirely responsible for their own living expenses and she was at least attempting to be responsible in that regard.
She had been surprised to find that the colony ship housed a zoo, though upon reading an explanation that each colony ship included a zoo, aquarium or other similar repository of Earths' wildlife as part of their commitment to continue humanities legacy should the worst case scenario ever occur and Earth be destroyed Mercy could admit that it made a bleak sort of sense; with Aslaug's fondness of animals well known to her, especially those of the large and predatory variety the zoo had naturally been the first location that Mercy had taken the Yellow Ranger to when they departed early in the afternoon.
Of all the animals to be displayed Mercy had not expected her date to be utterly taken with the penguins, Aslaug however found the sleek yet clumsy birds both adorable and hilarious in equal measure and lowered her guard to a degree which Mercy had not seen before, even with them living together for several months as she laughed at a particular penguin which she insisted was trying to glare at her; Mercy had found herself laughing when they entered the insect house and the taller girl was swarmed by so may moths and butterflies of rare and vibrant species that she had needed to be searched by the staff to ensure that she wasn't unintentionally smuggling any of them free when she left.
From there they had explored the city in which they had themselves as they made their way towards their next location, though Mercy used it as a chance to introduce Aslaug to a fun pass-time that she herself hadn't found time to enjoy for quite some.
Namely rollerblading
Whilst Aslaug may have been a dynamic fighter and physically capable in most regards and whilst she had learned to ride a motorcycle with little trouble it seemed that rollerblades were entirely beyond her as she staggered and skidded with all the grace of a newborn deer; Mercy using the Yellow Ranger's sudden lack of balance as an excuse for constant physical contact and closeness.
Eventually and with thankfully minimal stumbling they had reached their current location; the colony ships' artificial day and night cycle had begun to darken the inner surface of the dome that enveloped them, creating an artificial sky whilst lights flickered into life throughout the city, Mercy and Aslaug however were situated in a sizeable park with only the blackness of space above them. There were several points where the armour and solar panels that covered the exterior of the colony ships' dome were absent and this was one of them, the town planners responsible for designing the layout of Promethea One had allegedly placed the park here so that those using it could stargaze and occasionally see the Earth itself in the distance; Mercy had brought Aslaug here and had asked Panthera for a small favour which the Pink Ranger had obliged, thought not until she was finished tormenting the Red Ranger and upon arriving Mercy had found a picnic basket and flowers.
As she laid with her head in Aslaug's lap with the Yellow Ranger gently stroking her curly hair she decided that the date was going well and was more than a little proud of her efforts.
Then her communicator began to chirp insistently.
"Oh come on!" she cried as she bolted upright, the urge to rip the device from her wrist and crush it underfoot was undeniable and she found herself unable to keep her voice entirely calm or level as she responded
"What is it?"
"We need you in the Command Centre" Kimberley's voice replied, before asking in a concerned tone "You okay?"
"Bad timing" Mercy ground out simply
"Duty calls" Kimberley answered, her shrug somehow carrying into her words "Stand by to teleport"
"Right" Mercy ended the communication with a sigh before pulling herself to her feet and offering a hand to Aslaug
"I'm sorry about this" she sighed "The Empire couldn't have waited just one more day?"
"I enjoyed the time we had" Aslaug assured her, leaning down to kiss Mercy's lips briefly before adding "We'll have other opportunities to do this" the Red Ranger merely nodded with a smile that she would likely have described to herself as goofy; being almost shell-shocked by the kiss to the extent that she almost didn't notice the familiar sensation of teleportation.
When she and Aslaug re-materialised it was in a place that they recognised but had spent only minimal time in thus far due to the Dark Empire's activity whilst having increased being of the sort that did require the Power Ranger's presence.
The Promethea One Command Centre.
Where on the Aquabase Zebidiah, Kimberley and Justin had orchestrated missions from a partially repurposed workshop and laboratory their new base of operations was a marvel of technology. Kimberley had told the Rangers that the Command Centre took a few design elements from the one Zordon had once operated in the desert beyond Angel Grove, whilst to Mercy it looked like something from an anime she had watched years previously.
The command centre was comprised of a large walkway forming an equator around an empty spherical space which reached both above and below them; the walkway was lined with dozen of specialised computers and other equipment that Mercy didn't have names for, each operated by an individual whose clearance was evidently of the highest levels. The space Mercy and Aslaug had teleported into was a platform connected to the outer edge of walkway, positioned between it and the spherical space which could move freely around the walkway allowing rapid access to any part of the Command Centre.
Kimberley, Zebidiah Lord and the other Aegis Rangers were already present when the two of them arrived and wasted no time on preamble
"The Dark Empire just launched an attack on a privately owned manufacturing plant on Anvil Six Beta" Kimberley stated matter of factly "On display please" the empty spherical space was immediately filled by the darkness of space, littered with countless stars as a hologram flickered into life before the image was rapidly replaced by an image of the icy moon in question and a small satellite hanging above it
"This is an old image" Kimberley continued "That satellite was just attacked and destroyed before the ship that did so cloaked itself"
"Meaning that those working on the plant are unable to evacuate, they have no teleporters and there may be other cloaked ships" Zebidiah added solemnly
"Meaning that any of our ships could be flying into a trap….or a minefield" Mercy noted, wincing at the idea
"Precisely" Zebidiah nodded, a growl escaping him a the thought of the Dark Empire's descent into cowardly and unbecoming tactics.
"You're still missing a person" Panthera noted, her largely feline tail standing upright behind her "Justin's replacement, where are they?"
"Waylaid by a previous commitment" Kimberley admitted "They were expected to arrive weeks ago but there have been complications"
"We have Zords" Tempestus spoke up "I've been part of Doctor Sterling's team working on them….they're groovy again"
"That's something" Rensa murmured in his usual quiet and gentle voice before adding "They haven't just attacked the satellite have they"
"They haven't" Kimberley admitted "They've launched what looks like a large scale attack on the plant itself. On display please" the image before the Rangers flickered again, now displaying several instances of Putties surging through factories, warehouses and the town that had been built to accommodate the workers; though those same workers, both human and otherwise fought back as best they could by using machinery and vehicles against the automatons, collapsing tons of warehouse racking down onto them or simply fighting pitched battles with whatever tools they had on hand.
One scene stood out however
"There's their leader" Aslaug snarled as she caught sight of a single monster standing upon the twisted and burning wreckage of a bus in the town and roaring orders to the Putties around it; appearing like some onyx skinned and bipedal wolf monster with a scorpions' tail and cybernetic limbs, several weapons mounted to its' body and a foul glow emanating from within its' torso.
"And that's your target" Kimberley nodded, confirming the Ranger's suspicions "Work through the Putties in the densest areas and converge on the monster….Mercy, you wanna do the honours?" the Red Ranger stared at the image before her in silence for a moment as she accepted the proverbial torch that was being passed to her in Justin's absence, eventually smirking as she gave the Dark Empire's latest living weapon a suitably demeaning name
"Howl the Moving Castle" one of the staff of the newly expanded Mission Control who answered to Kimberley and Zebidiah let out a quickly stifled snort of laughter which confirmed that Mercy's choice had been a sound one.
"Okay Rangers" Kimberley's tone became stern "You know what to do, thin down the horde so reinforcements can sweep it up then take out the head; either the Empire ship leaves system or fires a mutagenic grenade, we're aiming to force their hand.
"Aye Captain" Mercy snapped off a quick salute before turning to her fellow Rangers, each of their hands flying to their Morphers in unison as she gave the order
"It's Morphin' time!"
Authors Notes:
So I said I was gonna take a break to plan ahead on both of my ongoing stories….I then did that planning in a manic fit of inspiration; moral of the story is "Don't believe FandomPariah when he says shit like that"
So yeah, welcome to Arc 07 or 'Part one of Act two' however you wanna think of it.
This Arc is titled "Irregular Warfare" with Perfidy being described by Wikipedia as "Disregarding assumptions of fair practice and rules in combat, using stretcher bearers or surrender flags to lure enemies into the open" - I paraphrased a little I felt like it was fitting as Lord Zedd has not only been creating expectations with the intent of subverting them but is using the attack to draw out the Rangers.
But anyway, let's summarise:
In my head Lord Zedd just has a cinematic entrance every time he shows up on screen.
He just came out and cut through all of Paradoxa's bullshit….because Paradoxa was trying to win without also trying to not die in the process and he really doesn't care about that.
Also yeah, Putties making Putties; he's automated the production process.
Hiding an entire outpost at all times like that is probably a drain on some of Lord Zedd's power, so he won't be fighting at his full capacity.
Lord Zedd's been busy and it's not even for any grand attack; it's basically just to create friction in the functioning of the Empire's war machine and at the same time desensitise them because if there's an attack every other day, then the important attack doesn't stand out as much.
So I wanted to spend a little time establishing a new normal for the Rangers, they're not cadets or living directly on a base any more so they're free to branch out and be more of themselves.
Panthera is hustling, Rensa is basically the friendly neighbourhood superhero, Tempestus is building and learning and making himself useful, Aslaug is basically the standard that other Silver Guardians are held to now.
With Mercy being literally born to be a Power Ranger though she's having an identity crisis on two levels because on the one hand she was lied to for years and on the other she doesn't really know who else she is beyond it.
So I felt like I actually had to give Mari a character here, I haven't watched the movie she features in and the Wiki is super vague, I don't know how accurate this is but it felt as though she was just there to be a love interest for DekaRed. Because she's older than the Rangers by between one and three years and is an actual university student with a scholarship I decided to make her the one who has her life together the most and pushes the Rangers in ways that a drill instructor wouldn't.
Being a Ranger comes and goes….I mean except for in SPD, but notice how pretty much every other Ranger has their "Thing" and that's what they go on to excel at after their respective series ends; Mercy doesn't really have that.
I had the Kim and Kay sparring match because a) it's cool and b) because it shows that Kay can be beaten, they weren't morphed and were against a far more experienced opponent who managed to overcome their strength, speed and durability.
And yes Kim won with some Black Widow shit.
Oof the angst and tension between Kay and Grandpa Zebidiah are real.
Also yes Kay has been kept separate for the last few weeks, so the Aegis Rangers don't know that they're around.
Vali, I hope some of you know your Norse mythology…..Also I'm unashamed to say that I typed "Wolf Monster" in Google and got more Furry art than I am comfortable with.
A privately owned moon being used as a factory so that labour laws can be avoided…..Jeff Bezos is that you?
The utter lack of respect Lord Zedd has for Paradoxa at this point is unreal, like "Okay the Green Ranger went rogue but you've been leading the attack for months and you've got a whole one dead Ranger and nothing else to show for it".
Bait….I'm sure you can guess what the trap is.
Dinner and a movie is dead, do better.
It makes sense to me that the colony ships, which are specifically intended to jump away if Earth falls so that at least some of humanity survives have Zoos, Aquariums and stuff like that.
Also the Zoo date was actually based on a date that me and my ex went on to London Zoo roughly this time last year…. There was a Penguin we named "Murder-Face" and I had to be patted down to ensure I wasn't smuggling butterflies.
The rollerblading thing is just a callback to the '95 movie though….Can you hear "Free Ride" by Dan Hartman playing?
You didn't really think they were getting a night off? Surely not.
Flustered and short-circuiting Mercy is great.
The New Command Centre is based roughly on the idea of the Power Chamber, the concept of the entire base being used as viewing globe, ships' bridges from Warhammer 40k and the Bridge in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
So, the Rangers have Grace if needs be but they don't have their official tech-support….that'll become important later.
I'm sorry but the civilians are gonna start fighting back after a generation of this shit and a two-handed sledgehammer to the torso is gonna break a Putty, same way hitting it with a forklift is.
"Howl the Moving Castle"….I'm not sorry, I've never been sorry.
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