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Chapter 29 – Parthian Shot
"Let's do this" Mercy managed to breath out despite her obvious trepidation, squeezing Aslaug's hand for reassurance before the Aegis Rangers, with the exception of Kay whose addition to the team was something that the Red Ranger was still struggling to process or come to terms with made their way towards the Command Centre.
It was the morning following the attack on the moon of Anvil Six, early enough that the sun was yet to venture above the horizon, giving the pre-dawn gloom a sense of peaceful stillness entirely at odds with maelstroms of conflicting thoughts and emotions that were the Ranger's own minds.
Following being pulled back from the battlefield they had been given medical treatment and a few hours to recuperate; though the idea of sleep had seemed utterly ridiculous to Mercy and she was almost certain that her friends had been of a similar opinion, each of them having spent their brief respite alone trying to steel themselves for what was to come; too spent to even speak to one another.
"Whatever happens today, know that I've enjoyed the time I've spent with you" Aslaug's voice was barely audible as she leaned down and pressed her lips to the wound on Mercy's head which even now was the source of a dull throbbing pain; the Red Ranger looked up and saw that the taller girl was offering her a smile of grim determination, icy blue eyes as piercing as ever against the black ink surrounding them and made all the more fierce by the fact that her face was mottled with purple and yellowing bruises. Beside the pair Rensa wore a hard but largely inscrutable expression with his eyes hidden beneath his filter goggles as always, as bleak as Mercy found the idea it seemed that the Black Ranger had made his peace with his own mortality a long time ago; Tempestus wore a similar expression in attempt to convey the image of dutiful stoicism that an Aquitian warrior was supposed to be though Mercy had heard him through the walls during the night, the fluent stream of quiet chanting in his native tongue sounding unmistakably like prayers. Panthera's eyes were narrowed, her tail standing erect behind her and she twirled one of her throwing knives between her fingers in a clear attempt at distracting herself, though which facet of their current situation she was trying to avoid thinking about was open to interpretation.
Eventually they could delay what was to come no longer and the entrance to the Command Centre opened with a hiss to allow them inside.
They were confronted with a shocking sight the moment they did so
"What sorcery is this?" Aslaug demanded as she gestured at Zebidiah Lord, or at the very least something that resembled him; a shimmering and transparent image of the robed and bearded man stood in the Command Centre, the edges of his form becoming incoherent and fading into wisps of incorporeal smoke giving the projection a wraith like appearance
"An AI built on his mind?" Panthera guessed "That's dirty, not something I'd expect from Lightspeed"
"No, what you're seeing is solely a result of Zebidiah's own….God I hate the word, but magic" Grace Sterling explained as she announced her presence, beside her was Kimberley Hart who looked as though she hadn't slept and Kay whose body language changed from eagerness that bordered on excitable to crumpling and looking away as they saw Panthera's glare.
"Indeed" Zebidiah, or whatever part of him was present nodded "My body is broken but I can still magically project my consciousness, I can't aid you in battle but I can still teach and advise. Grace tells me it might be possible to make this less taxing on me by fitting me into a tube like Zordon's….it would seem that fate has a cruel sense of humour"
"I'm glad to see you back with us sir" Mercy said earnestly, the idea of losing another of the people she had known her entire life was one that had made her almost physically ill; though her expression hardened as she added "But we've got work to do, so what's the situation and what's the plan?"
"Agreed" Kimberley nodded, a glimmer of pride in her charges showing despite her weariness "Bring the colony on screen!" she called out to the small fleet of Lightspeed personnel staffing the Command Centre and a three dimensional image of the colony that the Dark Empire had effectively laid siege to was displayed in the central viewing globe, rotating slowly with several annotations and smaller images around it highlighting certain details which Kimberley began to explain.
"We can't get people off of the colony yet, not when we know that Lord Zedd is cloaked above the moon with who knows how many ships; teleportation still isn't possible either. But we've managed to make contact with the population of the colony after the company that founded it gave us unrestricted access to their communications network" Kimberley managed a weak smile as she delivered the news which presented the first silver lining to be found "The Putties aren't attacking the production facilities or the infrastructure of the colony like we thought they might be attempting to….we thought they'd attempt to repurpose it for their own goals but they seem to be mining something out of the moon"
"What are they taking?" Tempestus asked
"We don't know" Grace answered "We weren't aware of anything valuable on that moon"
"But we've managed to use the camera feeds within the colony and the communication to direct the population away from the Dark Empire's ground troops and they don't seem to be sending any reinforcements in" Kimberley added
"Probably because they're just gonna destroy it from orbit when they're done" Panthera hissed; a bleak statement which nonetheless was greeted with nods of agreement.
"Which is why we should act fast" Kimberley stated bluntly "Some of the Putties were mining under the space-port, a group of workers detonated the power supply of one of the ships to destroy them which drew the attention of Lord Zedd's monster, Howl the Moving Castle….they've since escaped but the monster is still in the area"
"The space port has a thin shield around it, much like the forcefields around the entrances to Aquitian cities" Grace explained, nodding to Tempestus "Meaning that there's enough of a shield to keep the artificial atmosphere in but ships can come and go freely-"
"And also that a Dark Empire ship could fire a mutagenic grenade" Zebidiah added, Mercy's eyes widened as comprehension dawned on her
"You want us to attack Howl the Moving Castle and force Lord Zedd to grow his monster so you can see where his ships are!"
"Exactly" Kimberley admitted "It's a risky play but the priority is getting people to safety and we can't do that until we can see the enemy ships"
"You're Zords are ready to be deployed" Grace added, a flicker of nervousness crossing her features before she added "The person supposed to be overseeing the technical side of your operations is aiming to be here as soon as possible and in the meantime I'll be providing assistance; I never had the opportunity to use Zords as a Ranger but I happen to know a little about building my own giant mecha"
"What happens if Lord Zedd shows up again?" Panthera's voice was not raised but words silenced the Command Centre all the same; after a moment of heavy fearful silence as they each considered the ramifications of her question.
Oddly and yet almost predictably it was Kay that answered her
"Then the six of us will just have to be enough" the Green Ranger then turned to Kimberley and asked, almost meekly "Do you have it?"
"I do" the former Pink Ranger nodded and reached into her pocket and produced a device which made the other Aegis Ranger's eyes widened. The Dragon Power Coin had been fitted into a new Morpher and now rather than the chimeric fusion of bastardised parts stolen from other Morphers it resided in an Aegis Morpher with the same sleek and minimalist design as the others, though it was finished in a glossy black rather than silver and the zigzagging track which ran from the coin to the far edge of the Morpher was, instead of black the same shade of Green as Kay's armour. The human Acheron hybrid slipped the device onto their left wrist and examined it for a moment before turning to Mercy and taking a single step towards her, hand outstretched
"Shall we, cousin?" Mercy stared at the hand for a moment and struggled to deal with wave of emotions that threatened to swallow her; the person before her was a murderer, they were also a Power Ranger however and the fact of who and what they were and how it related to Mercy's own past simply could not be forgotten or overlooked. The Red Ranger looked to her friends and saw that Aslaug was trying to silently convey that she would follow any decision Mercy made. Tempestus's face was inscrutable, the Blue Ranger pragmatic enough to accept that they would need assistance whilst Rensa seemed relatively unperturbed, likely having committed many acts that would horrify the other Rangers in the name of simple survival; Panthera's eyes flashed with anger and her expression morphed from furious, to hurt and finally simple acceptance.
Mercy clasped Kay's hand and nodded.
"It's Morphing Time"
"Osore!"
"Sabre-Beast!"
"Plesion!"
"Ursa Titan!"
"Red-Tailed Hawk!"
"Dragonzord!"
Six streaks of light illuminated the Command Centre as the Rangers teleported away and those that witnessed couldn't help but feel a measure of hope despite the situation.
Whoever had built the colony on Anvil Six Beta had at the very least been diligent in its' construction and seen to it that the protective domes would shield their inhabitants from the cold void of space under even the most dangerous of circumstances. The Mining Putties had burrowed beneath not only the colony itself but also the infrastructure which ran beneath its' paved roads and began excavating with the pickaxe and shovel-like appendages as they worked tirelessly to achieve Lord Zedd's goals yet there was seemingly risk to the integrity or stability of the colony itself whilst the fighting that had taken place within had failed to damage the structures.
Though the space-port still smouldered and thick pillars of black smoke rose and choked the air as fast as the artificial atmosphere could purify itself and disperse them.
Vali stalked the burning wreckage of what had been a cargo lander of intermediate size intended for transporting goods to and from spaceships to vast to land in the limited space which was now scattered and strewn across the vicinity in piles of twisted and shredded debris, snarling as they sniffed the air for any trace of their quarry.
The population had mounted a small but admittedly impressive of resistance, taking to guerilla fighting and hit and run tactics with a willingness that the monstrous creature noted would likely be useful to the Dark Empire once humanity had been conquered and the most worthy traits bred into the Acheron species. Since using a makeshift explosive to ignite the power supply of the cargo lander and engulf a fleet of worker Putties in the resulting blast however the inhabitants of the colony had gone to ground, seemingly vanishing entirely; Vali had initially wished to round of the stony automatons not modified to serve as a labour force and tear this entire colony asunder only to be ordered to halt by Lord Zedd himself, the warlord chuckling darkly as he explained that he sensed trickery was afoot and ordered him to instead hunt down the natives alone whilst the warrior Putties acted as guards.
It seemed that the monster would have a far more worthwhile opponent however.
"Rangers" Vali's sneer was thick with phlegm and mucus which hung from their snarling maw in ropey strands yet still managed to convey open mockery and derision as the Rangers teleported into the surrounding area, streams of light materialising in some impossible to discern point above and tearing downwards. As the Rangers manifested, atmosphere from wherever they had come from rushing outwards in wisps of mist and small shock-waves that rippled the air around them Vali was somewhat surprised to see that there were six of them present; a Green Ranger stood close to the Red at her left hand side though they were clearly not the same Ranger whom Lord Zedd had laid low in their previous encounter. To the Red Ranger's right was the Yellow Range and Vali sensed the Black, Blue and Pink moving to surround him.
"Finally come to die in battle?" Vali growled, artificial muscles that powered his mechanical limbs coiling and stinger like tail rattling in warning as the sound of the weapons in the shoulder pylons reloading filled the air "No japes today Red Ranger?"
"Sorry, I'm not here for your Vali-dation" Mercy retorted before springing into motion, a slight shift in her stance serving as the monster's only warning before she rushed forwards. Vali let out a furious howl in challenge as their clawed feet dug into ground beneath them as they unleashed twin barrages from their shoulder pylons, the rockets forcing the Red Ranger to leap aside and evade as they impacted around her and set the air ablaze.
Only for the Green Ranger to leap through the flames, ethereal green light coalescing around their fist.
"Die!" Vali roared, tail arcing over head and firing its' laser weapon; the Green Ranger met the beam of searing light by driving their own glowing fist into it and whilst they were ripped from the air and their momentum robbed they were left unharmed by the exchange.
Before Vali could hope to launch a counter attack the Red Ranger came streaking out of the flames like a crimson comet and launched a spinning heel kick which caught the monster in the gut, leaving them reeling and gasping for air with no chance to brace themselves as the Green Ranger simply appeared beside him, moving too fast to be seen and drove their elbow into their armoured and helmeted skull with enough force to fling them backwards.
When Vali rose to their feet it was on legs that seemed unwilling to cooperate and the monster spat out a mouthful of viscous black blood before reaching up with a clawed hand to rip their helmet away, seeing that its' surface had been partially collapsed by the Green Ranger's blow.
There was little warning before the onslaught began anew with the Black Ranger rushing close in an effort to attack from behind, daggers manifesting in twin flashes of deep violet light which alerted Vali to his presence; the monster lashed out and parried the first blow with the blade of his mechanical stinger before forcing Rensa aside by firing another burst of purple light from the weapon mounted above it. Only for the Blue Ranger to collide with his chest with earthshaking force and land a double palm strike which made the arcane light issuing from the cracks in Vali's rippling obsidian flesh to flicker and waver as he gasped for air. In response Vali launched himself forwards and unleashed a storm of blows, his metallic claws ripping through the air and scoring the ground as Tempestus weaved and span around them in his signature fluid and graceful way until a single blow managed to connect and sent the Aquitian skidding backwards.
"Now you die Ranger!" Vali howled, spinning to thrust their bladed tail at the Blue Ranger's gut which his opponent responded to by whirling aside and simply catching the mechanical and yet skeletal appendage, grasping it firmly in both hands before planting his feet and hauling the monster off balance and using their leverage to throw them through the air.
Aslaug saw the monster hit the ground with enough force to shake the ground and rattle the debris that littered it before rising once again, clearly dazed and staggered this time and decided that it was time to end this battle once and for all, manifesting her axe in a burst of golden yellow light she sprinted forwards and called out to Mercy
"Let's finish this beast off!" she closed the distance and swung her axe with a war-cry, letting out a snarl through clenched teeth as Vali caught the shaft of the weapon and the two of them grappled with it and the Yellow Ranger was forced back a single step, the monster stabbed downwards with his tail which Aslaug countered by twisting her axe and using its' shaft to parry in a display of utmost skill as she kept her opponents' tail and fangs at bay.
Seconds later Mercy arrived and Aslaug's gambit paid off.
The Red Ranger weaved under the Yellow Ranger's outstretched arms with her katana manifesting in a pulse of crimson light.
"I WILL EAT YOU ALIVE!" Vali screamed in agony as they staggered back, purple light spilling from a gaping wound slashed into their chest; both Mercy and Aslaug readied their weapons and prepared to charge once again but were denied as the monster let out an ear-splitting roar and unleashed a storm of rockets from their shoulder pylons, blasting everything around him in a firestorm of deafening explosions whilst firing his tail-mounted laser into the flames intermittently.
Until Panthera entered the fray.
The Pink Ranger's combined blades tore through the air and sheared cleanly through the centre of the monster's cybernetic tail and before Vali could even articulate his rage and pain Panthera herself was upon him, sliding low to the ground and kicking at one of the mechanical joints of his legs, buckling it as she passed before leaping into the air and catching her weapons as she lashed out and drove her knee into his face before separating her weapons as she landed and slashing downwards with the pair of curved forward blades she now wielded.
Vali caught her wrists, large and powerful hands closing around her forearms as he dragged himself to his feet once more and lifted the Pink Ranger from the ground, letting out a low rumbling chuckle as Panthera attempted to struggle free.
Then he saw green light gathering in the corner of his eye.
Kay struck the monster with cataclysmic force, the nexus of emerald light enveloping their fist bursting out from the point of impact as arcs of green lightning whilst Vali was flung from what had once been a landing pad, landing in a crumpled and smoking heap several dozen meters away.
"Are you okay?" the Green Ranger asked, offering a hand that still crackled with stored power
"We need to finish him off!" Panthera insisted as the other Rangers gathered around them, leaping to her feet without taking Kay's hand.
"Agreed" Mercy nodded, confidence suddenly filling her voice as she addressed her fellow Rangers "Power Blaster!" five of the Aegis Ranger combined their weapons into the now familiar cannon and Kay watched as Vali struggled to rise, coughing mouthful of thick tar-like blood before making a decision. Mercy was left dumbfounded as the Green Ranger took a position behind her and clasped firmly onto the Power Cannon, streams of energy transferring from their glowing green hands to the weapon until it fired.
The burst of iridescent white light, crackling with rainbow coloured arcs of energy seemed far larger and more destructive than it had before and when the blinding corona subsided Vali could be seen lying lifeless and motionless on the ground with smoke and flames surrounding them
"We did it!" Kay cheered as the Ranger's weapons vanished, turning to Panthera and plainly hoping that their shared victory would go some way towards repaired their utterly broken friendship, as brief as it had been.
"Don't celebrate yet" Panthera answered coldly, making no effort to look at the Green Ranger as she spoke
"She's right" Mercy admitted though she seemed far less hostile than the Pink Ranger, simply weary "We know what comes next"
It gave Paradoxa no small amount of satisfaction to watch Vali fall, the abomination with no Acheron blood made from scraps of flesh and genetic material and spawned from a glorified, oversized test-tube who had dared to presume themselves to be the insectoid hybrids' equal was left laying motionless as the Aegis Ranger's weapons cut them down; the Green Ranger's presence amongst them giving an additional reason for her twisted smirk, she had not truly known that Lord Zedd's progeny and the product of his research and experiments had defected from their side when she had accused them of such, but their presence here would absolve her of any future suspicion or guilt.
Now there was the small matter of alerting her master of Vali's demise.
"My Lord" her words were silky smooth and calm as usual as she rose from the command throne which she had retaken in Lord Zedd's absence whilst opening a holographic command channel and sank into a steep bow as the communication was answered
"The Aegis Rangers have returned….Including the Green Ranger, I believe it is Kay wielding the Coin once again. Vali has fallen-"
"What of the mining efforts?" Lord Zedd rumbled, his holographic form revealing that he was within a closed off and hidden area of the medical facilities aboard the Heliothis where injured officers and crew who could not be easily replaced were restored to their former glory by whatever horrific means necessary. Paradoxa was briefly distracted by the disconcerting image, the towering warlord still wore his signature mask though much of the bladed armour that encased his torso had been removed to reveal that his entire right arm was robotic and had been removed to be repaired separately whilst much of the leathery and crimson coloured flesh which covered his slab like muscles was burned, scarred and perforated with holes where machinery had been grafted into his body.
There was also the small manner of being operated on at that moment, seemingly without anaesthesia. Lord Zedd's chest hung open, floods of dark blood cascaded from the cavity within which organs, as unique and mismatched as those of any Acheron could be seen alongside yet more machinery and artificial components whilst he was attended to by an alien being that appeared to be a sentient mass of tentacles, each translucent blue appendage enhanced with a series of cybernetic implants and augmentations.
"The Putties are unaffected my Lord" Paradoxa managed to answer, catching herself before she drew her masters' ire "The Rangers attacked Vali directly"
"Then we should act with discretion before they turn their attention to them" Lord Zedd noted with some agitation, though whether it were due to the matter at hand or simply the discomfort of having much of his respiratory system on display was something Paradoxa didn't dare guess
"Yes my Lord" she answered simply
"Recall the Putties, mining teams and all….they can be re-sculpted should the need arise" he remained pensive for a moment before adding "Fire a mutagenic grenade; Vali should be allowed to fight to the very end and perhaps he will swallow my bastard whole in the process"
"As you wish my Lord" the transmission ended and Paradoxa returned to her command throne as she made herself comfortable, her crew hastening to act on their new orders whilst she allowed herself a smile at the idea of her problems simply consuming one another.
The seemingly inevitable had happened and the six Aegis Rangers watched as the glowing form of the mutagenic grenade tore its' way into the artificial atmosphere of the colony and hurtled downwards to impact against the body of the Dark Empire's latest monster.
Vali rose from the ground with a primal scream of rage, the monster's reanimated body convulsing and contorting unnaturally as it grew in size; whatever foul concoction and dark magic the projectile had contained causing his mechanical components to expand along with his flesh whilst his severed tail regrew itself, thick and ropey strands of obsidian coloured sinew covering the mechanical limb like webbing before knitting themselves together into what the Rangers supposed the limb originally looked like before it had been removed, a muscular limb ending in a bulbous stinger and covered in plates of a dark and marbled, glossy brown whilst clouds of smog and pillars of flame erupted from emptied missile racks within his shoulders. The light that emanated from the abominations' chest cavity reignited, though this time rather than its' previous purple it was a brilliant white and the Rangers stared up at their opponent with grim resolve save for Kay who had never seen this tactic of the Dark Empire's in person before
"Do they always do this?" they asked, there voice conveying an emotion somewhere between horror, awe and childlike wonder at the sight
"Only when they want to make a point" Rensa murmured
"Captain Hart, they've fired the mutagenic grenade; if you follow the trajectory of the shot you'll have the location of their ship" Mercy informed Mission Control, voice almost vibrating with urgency
"Ships are preparing to teleport in" Kimberley replied calmly, knowing that the greater mobility of the Alliance fleet would be decisive. Mercy turned to the other Ranger's and issued a now familiar command.
"We need Aegis Zord power!"
Six mechanical titans were summoned to the colony of Anvil Six Beta in blinding coronas of coloured light and the Rangers were teleported into the cockpits of their respective Zords; each of them experiencing the rush of the consciousness being accelerated as it merged with the machine.
"We need to form the Megazord!" Mercy ordered as the Hawk Zord soared above the buildings that the Sabre Zord and Osore Zords skulked between, their massive forms possessed of more menacing grace than something of their size should have found possible whilst to the distance the Plesion and Ursa Titan Zords could be seen converging on the reanimated Vali from the sides in a flanking manoeuvrer
"I don't think this one will give us the chance" Aslaug replied as her mecha rose up onto its' hind legs to tear at the monsters' gut before being forced back by its' thrashing tail.
"I'll buy you some time" Kay's voice sounded eagerly over the comms and a shadow fell over Mercy within the cockpit of her own mecha as the Dragonzord soared over her, its' massive form close to filling the space between the Hawk Zord and the domed roof of the colony. The Red Ranger watched, momentarily stunned as the Green Ranger brought their monstrous machine crashing into Vali, letting out warped and mechanical shrieks as it did so and attacking with unspeakable ferocity; buildings and small spacecraft were crushed underfoot as Vali fought to free himself from the Dragonzord which clawed and bit at him, its' tail driving into the monster's right shoulder and tearing a deep wound into the mechanical limb and pylon.
She quickly took the initiative and seized the opportunity
'Megazord activation has been initiated' the synthetic voice announced as the five Aegis Zord came together, their individual limbs retracting and new components unfurling until finally the combined form of the Aegis Megazord was completer and each of the Rangers felt their mind rush again as their consciousnesses brushed against one another within the matrix formed through their connection to the mecha.
'Megazord activated'
The announcement from the machines' own artificial intelligence came as the almost panoramic viewscreen of the cockpit came into life and displayed Vali managing to hold the Dragonzord at bay, mechanical hands clenched around its' neck and maw whilst the reanimated monster arced his tail overhead and drove its' stinger into the machines back with enough force to make the ground tremble.
"We've gotta help!" Panthera's thought was almost yelled directly into the other Ranger's minds and the Megazord sprung into motion, sprinting forwards as the Pink Ranger assumed direct control. Seeing the attack coming the monster hurled the Dragonzord aside thought the Green Ranger made sure rip a wound into Vali's snout with his mechas' own tail-mounted weapon as he did so; seeing their opponent let out a howl of incoherent murderous fury before charging at them the Blue Ranger spoke up
"If I may do something bodacious?" Tempestus quickly took control of the Megazord from Panthera and moved the gargantuan mecha with incredible fluidity and precision to bring it passed Vali's wild slash in a quick sidestep whilst hooking its' right arm around the monsters' and grabbing his shoulder and kicking at the back of his legs to send the reanimated horror crashing to the ground.
Vali made to rise only the Dragonzord to let out a piercing shriek as it deployed its' claw mounted rockets which streaked across the space port and ripped into the monsters' left arm; exploding in a shower of cybernetic shrapnel and bloody viscera.
"End this quickly!" Aslaug roared as she took control of the Megazord and seized Vali's tail, using it to hoist the now one armed monster to hist feet and deliver a brutal haymaker which partially collapsed the bones of his snout and sent him staggering away.
"While he's stunned" Rensa urged "Finish it now!" Mercy agreed and gave the order, all five of the Rangers within the Megazords' cockpit sharing the same thought as she spoke
"Mega Sword!" the Megazord reached over its' back drew the massive double-edged claymore that materialised along the Plesion Zords' collapsed tail, drawing it and grasping it in both fists as all Five Rangers shared control of the mecha and brought the weapon down in a diagonal slash, a flash of blinding light and shock-wave which seemed to shake the entire colony to its' core bursting from the impact as Vali writing and sunk to his knees and let out an enraged howl before finally exploding.
"Target destroyed!" Mercy exclaimed, almost giving in to the urge to cheer in triumph before Kay's melodic voice filled the comms, far more cold and detached than usual.
"We're not finished yet" before Mercy or any of the other Aegis Rangers could ask what they meant the sky was split by a shriek from the Dragonzord before the monstrous machine surged into the air and sped directly towards the thin shielding above them that served as an exit.
The Dragonzord had retained its' own primal artificial intelligence despite whatever repairs it had undergone whilst in the custody of Project Lightspeed and the Green Ranger had been prepared to have mentally wrestle and grapple with said intelligence as its' base instincts sought to overwhelm their own mind yet that was not what had happened, instead upon entering the cockpit of the Dragonzord Kay had found the mecha urging them onwards, the two of them working in tandem until Vali had fallen and the machine had whispered new thoughts into the Ranger's mind.
The Dragonzord was a hungry, violent and predatory thing that was made for battle on every level; yet at that moment it was undeniably correct.
As the Green Ranger and their Zord burst free of the colony and its' artificial gravity a terrifying sight greeted them; a blue sky like that of Earth or any colony made in its' image vanished to be replaced by the endless blackness of space, speckled with gleaming stars in what would would have been a beautiful display.
Were it not a raging battleground.
The first of the Alliances ships had teleported into the system and launched on all out offensive, their lasers, missiles, photon and other more esoteric weapons turning the void into an eruption of colour with each volley as they attacked a target which remained largely unseen; the Dark Empire ship had kept its' cloaking field active though sections of it could be glimpsed for an instant as each beam of light and explosion crashed into its' shielding, the empty space seeming to ripple like water and reveal the rough scale and shape of the enemies' behemoth of a vessel. The Dark Empire ship responded to the abuse with equal ferocity, its' own broadside weapons setting vast swathes of the space around it ablaze and tearing vast wounds into the hulls of the Alliances' fleet, more than one ship was already limping along with visible heavy damage; seemingly waiting to be picked off by the next barrage.
The Dragonzord's predatory instincts formed a crude plan of action and Kay found themselves letting out a low guttural snarl as they put it into motion, though they were momentarily distracted by an incoming transmission.
"Green Ranger, Kay isn't it?" a voice that Kay had never heard spoke to him on the channel reserved for Mission Control; whoever they were their tone was conversational and unbothered, with a distinctly paternal note to it although the Green Ranger had no frame of reference for such things
"I doubt that our ships would mind a little extra support right now" the speaker continued "But I still have to ask what you're planning exactly?"
"Who am I speaking to?" Kay asked as they urged the Dragonzord forwards as another Alliance ship was struck with a devastating salvo
"I'll be overseeing all technical aspects of Mission Control from here on out, I'm currently inside the Command Centre" the newcomer answered "I apologise for my tardiness but Doctor Sterling has briefed me on the current situation"
"Your ships are outclassed and outgunned" Kay stated bluntly "The Dark Empire ship is using its' broadside weapons batteries rather than its' main guns to make it more difficult to target its' command bridge while its' still cloaked; have all of your ships lock onto my co-ordinates"
"Understood" whoever Kay was speaking to hesitated for a brief moment before giving their assent and in that time the Green Ranger had turned their attention away from the conversation and back to the matter at hand.
Emerald coloured light swirled and coalesced into a stormy, eldritch nexus in the maw of the Dragonzord as it hurtled towards seemingly empty space before first splaying its' clawed forelimbs wide and unleashing a salvo of rockets which streaked outwards and impacted against the forward shields' of the gargantuan cloaked spaceship.
With their target cleanly defined Kay unleashed the Dragonzord's main weapon and poured a blazing torrent of ethereal fire into the command bridge of the monstrous centipede-like vessel; the shields rippled under the assault but held however the damage was done and the Alliance ships began to focus their fire on a single point, lances of searing light and blossoming explosions erupting from the shielding until finally the Dark Empire ship lurched forwards, forcing the Dragonzord and Alliance vessels aside as it leapt into warp and abandoned the besieged colony to escape at faster than light speeds.
"Good work Kay" it was Captain Kimberley Hart's voice on the channel now "Mission complete, it's time to come home"
Kay remained silent and simply opened all nearby comm channel, the cacophony of cheers that greeted them allowing the Green Ranger to feel, for the first time that the Alliance at large could be a home to them and with that thought the Green Ranger smiled whilst the Dragonzord gave a silent scream of victory into the void.
Authors' Notes:
Okay, one chapter left of this arc to write and its' a wrap up….Do let me know if these arcs start to get too formulaic.
I don't have Arc 08 planned out just yet, I know what the idea of it is going to be but I don't have any specifics written down; but knowing me that will likely change before it becomes an issue.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?
This obviously wasn't any sort of "Final battle" scenario but I wanted the walk to the Command Centre to feel like it could be, realistically this is the first time the Rangers have been put on the back foot like this and pushed back; they needed to feel that.
I feel like Rensa and Tempestus have been a little overlooked so far and I want to try and fix that.
"What sorcery is this?" sounds a lot less impressive when magic is actually a quantifiable thing in universe.
And this what I'm doing with Zebidiah, I was originally debating killing him off but that would be a waste of all of his potential interactions with Kay, so the compromise is that he's basically just an astral projection whilst his body is in stasis….And the idea of the former Lord Zedd in a Zordon tube is too good to pass up.
Lightspeed could have gotten unrestricted access through the Moonbase but it would have taken more time than just having the company give them a key.
And now we see that those mining Putties weren't made for no reason, so Lord Zedd is showing Paradoxa how to to the whole 'plans within plans' gig properly; this is roughly equivalent to the attack on Triforia except he's doing it more effectively with less resources.
Panthera makes a point, why send a second wave when you can just bomb from orbit?
I actually had to figure out how the Empire ship would fire one of their grenades without sucking the atmosphere out of the colony when they made a hole in the roof.
Little nod to Grace's Promethea Proto-Zord Mech in the comics.
Kay's new Morpher, basically a standard Aegis Morpher but in edgier colours….still better than the bastard Morpher that he had.
Six Ranger Morph for the first time.
Humans are tenacious bastards and I like the idea that even the biggest meanest Empire in the galaxy sees that quality in us and appreciates it.
Again Lord Zedd is clever, he knows that if the standard Putties were recalled or sent hunting then the mining Putties would get ambushed.
"Sorry, I'm not here for your Vali-dation" I needed more puns from Mercy in my life, because she's still a dork and I refuse to believe that being a Ranger has jaded her that much.
Mercy and Kay just opening up with a completely unplanned tag-team attack like that was fun to write.
The Rangers laying the smack down was enjoyable but I'm sorry, as strong as she is she can't just overpower Vali on her own.
"I WILL EAT YOU ALIVE!" my monsters of the week have better threats than canon, just saying.
Oof, that Kay and Panthera situation is gonna be awkward.
None of Kay's equipment has been integrated into the other Ranger's stuff yet.
At least Paradoxa's having fun.
So Lord Zedd has more injures…..but is also capable of having a completely normal conversation with his entire chest cavity opened up and an arm missing.
Normally a Mutagenic grenade doesn't heal injuries it just grows and zombifies the target but this is Gibil's best work so I let Vali/Howl the Moving Castle have his tail back.
Remember Kay only knows what was drilled into their mind in their stasis pod, they've never actually seen what the Dark Empire does.
"We've gotta help!" awww, she does care.
So the Megazord and Dragonzord team-up was nice….but we know what the natural evolution of this is.
You thought that Vali was gonna be a new recurring character, a left hand for Lord Zedd now that Paradoxa has been demoted from big bad to right hand?….Nah, that comes later.
Kay learning to handle the Dragonzord is fun, it's almost an Eva in the way it has a clear mind of its' own.
Remember the Heliothis is massive, it dwarfs the other ships Paradoxa has been sending and the Alliance ships were not expecting it because they've never seen it, even at Triforia Paradoxa kept it cloaked and hidden at the back.
So are new tech-support is here, it's someone Kay doesn't know but we'll just say I made a point of keeping the other Rangers out of that conversation.
Kay might never have seen a giant monster up close, but they definitely know where the command bridge is on an Empire ship.
Thank you to Blue Legends for their review on the last chapter.
Well the former Lord Zedd was never gonna go quietly into the night was he, I could have had that fight go on for ever; made it the last fight from the raid crossed with Merlin's duel with Morgana.
The Rangers were always gonna go back, that's what makes them Rangers.
Yeah Kay's reintroduction needs drama but not the kind where people are trying to fight each other, there's bigger things at stake.
You'll meet them properly next chapter, get ready.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.
