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Chapter 56 – Skyfall

The Ragged Ones, or at least the trio of shrouded warriors representing them and their attending Putties, each of them sculpted into feral and snarling hunting beast had begun to prove that their fearful reputation from the moment they stepped into the darkened hallway to confront the Red, Yellow, Pink and Green Aegis Rangers; though it soon became apparent to the murderous enforcers themselves that whilst the populace of Mercator could be easily brought into compliance through fear and butchery the warriors that they currently fought were Power Rangers and would be far more difficult to cut down; this unrelenting and unshakeable refusal to be denied their victory on all sides had led to the two parties breaking off and pitched battles taking place along the length of the hallway.

Panthera, in destroying the first of the hunting beast Putties had drawn the attention of the rest of the pack along with whatever ire their primitive minds could muster and at present four of their number remained, stalking and scuttling around her on twisted and elongated limbs ending in hooked and serrated claws that served as digits whilst low, guttural snarls escaped from their bestial and snout like maws.
The Pink Ranger herself stood in a wide stance with her tail swishing behind her, curved blades at the ready and muscles coiled, she was grounded and steady yet at the same time ready to spring into motion at a moments' notice. The air was charged and the teal-skinned alien took slow, steady breaths beneath her helmet as she took care to keep all four of her adversaries in view as they prowled until, with some unseen signal passing between them the Putties charged and leapt as one; they were faster and stronger than the average Dark Empire construct by far yet they were still little more than a pale echo of the speed and strength at a Power Ranger's disposal and Panthera reacted in the only way she knew how.
The first Putty was broken apart as the Pink Ranger back-flipped away from its' attempt to pounce on her, landing in a crouch and springing upwards to deliver a crushing kick to the circular plate in its' torso which remained low to the ground with its' animalistic gait. The remaining trio sprung after her again and Panthera span aside, allowing the first Putty to sail past her before lashing out with her hooked blades and driving a second Putty head first into a wall before cleaving the third in half at the midsection, her follow up attack saw her boot crashing down on the bisected, yet still animate Putty whilst her blades tore through the automaton that had been smashed against a wall leaving only a single target remaining. The lone Putty turned and snarled before bounding towards her again, Panthera simply combined her weapons and hurled the projectile that they formed at the thing and burst into motion to chase after it, her weapon decapitated the Putty with ease and the Pink Ranger came to a halt as she drove her elbow into the chest of the still flailing thing before reaching out and catching her weapon as it returned to her; unable to resist the urge to flourish as she did so as she relished her brief sense of victory.

Aslaug had found herself engaged in single combat with a member of the Ragged Ones who had quickly revealed themselves to be entirely inhuman in their form as the battle went on, Aslaug was yet to see her enemies face yet she had learned that beneath their robes the alien boasted a serpentine body that was likely a mass of dense muscle along with four arms, each ending a pincer capable of crushing stone, steel and any opponent that stood against them; Aslaug however was a proud tribal warrior and was no stranger to single combat.
Thus far she and her opponent had managed to keep each other at bay, the Ragged One using their extra limbs and twisting body to avoid the Yellow Ranger's blows whilst Aslaug parried with the shaft of her axe as she did once again when her adversary came rushing at her. The aliens' lower pair of limbs flashed out and Aslaug parried, knocking them upwards only to be forced to step back as their upper pair of pincers came crashing down towards her shoulders, at which point the Ragged One attempted to press their advantage and use their serpentine form to slither behind Aslaug in a single fluid movement yet the Yellow Ranger was prepared for this; using the base of her weapons' shaft she lunged with all her might, shoulder crashing into her opponents' shrouded face and the axe handle breaking ribs before she kicked the alien away and let out a roar of effort as she used both hands to grasp her axe and bring it overhead for a finishing blow; the red haze of warfare that had set in quickly dissipating as she realised that her opponent had been felled and their skull cleaved in two. Her hands trembled at the sight of the bloody mess before her and Aslaug promptly began reciting the customary rights of her people before she allowed herself to proceed, whatever the circumstances of their battle had been this had been an honourable duel between two warriors after all.

Kay was wreathed in emerald light as they fought, holding nothing back and using the powers of the Green Aegis Ranger to their fullest as they engaged another of the Ragged Ones; this alien resembling some skeletal carrion bird or feathered saurian; what could be seen of their body beneath their torn and billowing robes of ash grey and midnight black revealed a broad and curved beak filled with fangs that protruded from a hood beneath which glowing yellow eyes glared and taloned, clawed fingers and emaciated arms covered with feathers, the hands clutching at a pair of daggers held in reverse grips whose blades curved forwards. No words passed between the two as they fought, only low crooning hisses of pure rage from the alien warrior as they weaved around the Green Ranger's glowing fists in a blur of motion and dragged their blades across the surface of the dragon shield adorning their chest, sending showers of sparks the same shade of green as their armour cascading to the ground before leaping into the air and performing a two-footed drop kick that sent Kay sliding backwards across the ground until they came to a halt as they dropped to a crouch and sunk their fist into the floor. As the Green Ranger rose to their feet the green glow that enveloped their fists spread to encompass their entire body and the two combatants locked eyes despite their faces being hidden before charging at one another and meeting in a shock-wave of force that shook the entire corridor and was felt several floors down; the Ragged One lashed out with their blades yet their assault came to an agonising halt as the Green Ranger expertly avoided their left hand, the blade narrowly missing the visor of their helmet before their own left hand flashed out to grab their opponents' right, seizing the limb by the wrist and twisting it at an unnatural angle that broke the wrist and then shattered the elbow. The alien let out a sound of pure agony that was quickly cut off, reduced to a gurgling gasp of shock, fierce yellow eyes widening and then dimming as the glowing form of the Dragon Blade appeared in Kay's hand and they thrust the blazing gladius into the chest of the alien before vanishing once again and unleashing one of their signature energy attacks from their palm; leaving nothing but smoke and the stench of burning in their wake and destroying all evidence of what they had done and the opponent that had been cut down. A Power Ranger Kay may have been, but their approach to combat was still one based on the principles of Lord Zedd and the Dark Empire, mercy was not a luxury that they afforded those who sought to harm them no matter how sickening they found the results.

Mercy fought with what she assumed to be the leader of the trio of the Ragged Ones, the two of them seemingly gravitating towards one another the moment the fighting had begun with no terms offered and no quarter either given or asked for. The leader of the Ragged ones appearance was entirely hidden from view, their billowing and tattered robes were filled with a bottomless void of darkness that was clearly magical in nature whilst their hands were covered in bloodstained bandages and crackled with arcs of acid green lightning that seemed to be burning the aliens' own flesh if the horrendous and acrid stench were any indication. The two of them moved at incomprehensible speeds, the darkness of the long and narrow corridor being filled with rapidly fading contrails and afterglows of vibrant green and crimson as the two weaved, zigzagged and leapt around one another, exploiting any weaknesses they could find.
Mercy found herself flung to the ground with a booming impact by one such opportunistic strike, a somersault that had transitioned flawlessly into a flying kick had left the visor of her helmet with a single large crack running along it' surface before the alien had performed a second somersault as Mercy was falling backwards, bringing both of lightning-wreathed hands together and delivering a hammer-blow to the Red Ranger's chest that left the silver diamond shaped armour in the centre of her chest and the red and white around it scorched and blackened. A wild and frantic kick from Mercy pushed her opponent back and she quickly carried the motion into a handspring that brought her upright once again, yet the leader of the Ragged Ones launched a fresh assault immediately and the two of them exchanged blows at lightning speed in a display of flashing lights; the Red Ranger blocked the aliens' left jab by driving her elbow into the limb with a pivoting movement which she carried into a spinning backhand and spinning, leaping kick that was expertly avoided, the Ragged One responded by leaping forwards with their palms outstretched and the acid green lightning around them growing in intensity. Mercy, seeing the attack coming reacted on pure instinct and pushed her opponents' limbs aside before lunging forwards in a way that she had certainly, if unintentionally learned from Aslaug and headbutted the alien; learning as she did so that was whatever lay within the veil of unnatural darkness that hid them from view was still a living creature as a pained sound and the sensation of cracking bone greeted her. The Ragged One let out a grunt of exertion and the crackling energy that engulfed them flashed outwards and hurled the Red Ranger down the corridor with smoke trailing from her armour; Mercy rolled to a stop, landing in a crouch and manifesting her katana in a pulse of crimson light before leaping into the fray once again, her heartbeat hammered in her chest and blood thundered in her ears as her entire world was reduced to nothing more than her opponent and the clear, straight line between them.

And then the two met.

"Holy shit, holy shit" Mercy breathed out, voice and hands both trembling as she realised that she was in fact still alive before turning to see her adversary; the shadows that had hidden the figure subsided to reveal feminine features, pale lilac skin, silvery hair and four fiery orange eyes yet the most important detail to Mercy was the thin trickle of indigo blood trickling from the aliens' mouth as they attempted to speak before finally wavering and collapsing to the ground, lifeless and unmoving.

"It's over, we did it" Aslaug's voice brought Mercy to her senses and out of the dazed and stunned state she had been in; the Rangers had fought plenty of enemies before but this had felt different somehow, more personal despite their adversaries being unknown to them. After a moment the Red Ranger shook her head and quickly checked that Aslaug, Panthera and Kay were all unharmed before replying.

"It's not over, not yet….We still need to find a control room"

"We're close cousin" Kay assured her gently, their oddly musical voice strained by the exertion "What I know about Empire design tells me that"

"Besides" Panthera added, her voice a mix of optimism and caution "If the Ragged Ones are their best fighters then they weren't here for no reason"

"Good point" Mercy nodded in agreement "Then let's go, Kay lead the way; the sooner we find it the sooner we can contact the others and get out of here" with that the four Rangers set off, making their way through the darkness without issue or further interruption until after traversing several corridors and ascending several levels through the massive, twisting spire with its' many reaching branches they found the light of a room that had not been dimmed serving as a beacon, the deep red of its' emergency lightning drawing them in.

They had found a control room.

"Okay….Kay, start it up" Mercy breathed out as they entered, taking stock of their surroundings and seeing that the technology whilst using similar principles to achieve the same goal as its' Alliance counterparts was vastly different in its' approach and aesthetic, giving it the feeling of being some twisted mirror image; such observations were halted however when Mercy saw that Kay was yet to move and that the Green Ranger suddenly looked nervous, their demeanour at odds with the aura of power that their armour and stature provided them.

"I would….Rather someone else did it" Kay admitted quietly, looking away as though ashamed "It was my mistake that brought us here, I don't-"

"Kay" Panthera stepped closer to them, resting her helmet against theirs and bringing her tail around both of their waists "All we can do is try….And I trust you" the Green Ranger still seemed and uncertain and Mercy, keenly aware that she was intruding on something personal between her friends rested her hand on the Dragon Shield

"You've got this" Kay nodded slowly before murmuring a reply

"Okay….Okay, I'll try; but they'll shut down communications as soon as they realise what they're doing so we won't be able to talk for long"

"Then we send an SOS, all frequencies; not just Alliance ones" Mercy offered "Since the Empire already know we're here there's no point being stealthy, let the whole galaxy know that the Power Rangers are in Empire space"

"That" Aslaug noted, smirking slightly beneath her helmet "Sounds like a challenge to Lord Zedd….I've always admired your bravery"

Mercy couldn't help but smile at that as Kay began to work.


The battle continued to rage elsewhere in the twisted maze of the communications tower and Rensa and Marigold continued to cover the unconscious form of Tempestus even as they were left awed and stunned by the display of skill, experience and raw, unyielding power from Rocky as the newly made Blue Thunder Dragon Ranger continued to face of against Cleobis-Radix yet despite the creation of this new Power Ranger the Acheron Hybrid, whose hideous form was both plant and animal simply refused to be bested.

"Die!" the scream, which buzzed and vibrated through the air; assaulting the ears like sandpaper was followed by the sound of dozen or whips cracking as Cleobis-Radix unleashed their latest attack, their false arms formed of multiple other limbs unfurling and lashing out as multiple hooked and barbed tendrils sent hurtling towards the glowing form of the new Power Ranger. Rocky responded with a burst of blinding electric blue light and incomprehensible speed, appearing to be in multiple places at once as he stabbed and slashed with his halberd in a series of fluid, spinning attacks which left a trail of after-images behind him each of which seemed to act independently of one another. Cleobis-Radix's eyes shifted to a chalky pale grey colour as a pained chittering escaped them, their vine and tendril like limbs retracting with smoke and sizzling fluids in their wake where several of them had been neatly severed yet still Rocky pressed his advantage further and charged, leaping into the air and visibly gathering as much of his newfound power to himself as he could physically control before hurling his halberd at his opponent like a javelin.

The result was catastrophic.

Marigold and Rensa shielded their eyes as the darkness that had been imposed over their impromptu battleground was instantly illuminated, the Black Ranger wincing at the sensation before his visor filtered out the painful light; an instant later a booming explosion accompanied by a low warping bass-note ripped through the communications tower, the apocalyptic sound of a thousand storms condensed into a single moment being followed by rushing winds and a shock-wave that threatened to destroy everything in its' path

"COVER TEMPESTUS!" Marigold yelled over the cacophony, physically throwing herself in front of the unmorphed and unconscious Aquitian and taking the brunt of the impact that sent her sliding backwards until the shock-wave subsided and the scale of Rocky's attack was revealed in full.

It had been utterly devastating, walls, floors and ceilings had been destroyed along with the blast doors that had been intended to corral the Rangers and keep them from their objective, even in the darkness that her visor sought to overcome Marigold could see that nothing but rubble and twisted metal remained of much of the section of the tower that they had found themselves in and Rocky stood at the epicentre of the blast, surrounded by glowing and molten wreckage and debris.

Yet something was wrong.

The attack had clearly taken a toll on the veteran Ranger that went far beyond simple exhaustion, even as he stood in the now ruined hallway the hastily made Morpher Tempestus had provided him with continued to thrum and whine yet now the noise had a distinctly ominous feeling about it and his morphed state flickered around him at random but frequent intervals, the glow that emanated from within the armour becoming irregular and swirling and patches of the armour fading out of existence entirely for brief moments and one such disappearance of a section of his helmet revealed that Rocky was bleeding from the nose and mouth.

Before Marigold could demand to know what was happening however she heard the distinctive crackle of a comms channel opening and allowed herself to feel a brief spark of hope which was quickly shot down when, instead of Mission Control, the commander of a rescue mission or perhaps even her family she was greeted by Mercy's voice.

"What happened?" the Red Ranger demanded urgently "We felt that blast"

"Rocky happened" Mari answered simply "We ran into the guy who was talking to us over the intercom earlier….Looks like he's down now"

"Don't take chances, we'll make out way to your position as soon as we can" Mercy assured her, pure unbridled happiness creeping into her voice as she added "Kay says they can send an SOS out any minute now….this is a long range comm tower, the signal is gonna reach Alliance space" hearing that an end to the nightmare that being stranded in enemy territory had been was in sight Marigold breathed a sigh of relief and felt herself relax in a way that she had been entirely unable to do for some time

"Got it….we'll see you soon" with that the comm channel was closed and Mari turned to Rocky, aghast as his armour continued to fluctuate "What's happening to you?"

"I don't know how much longer I've got" Rocky admitted, the realisation that he seemed to be talking about more than his morphed state a truly chilling one "Something's not right about this suit….either the Morpher or the fact my Power coin is broken, it hurts kid, it really hurts and I don't think I can keep this up for long-"

"AN INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT!" Cleobis-Radix announced their continued survival as the erupted from a pile of debris and rubble some distance away, having been flung back and buried by the force of Rocky's assault; the alien sending their remaining tendrils ripping through the ruined space and tearing gouges into the armour of the Black and Gold Aegis Rangers as they rushed forwards to protect their fellow Rangers, Mari once again placing herself in front of Tempestus and Rensa leaping over Rocky with his daggers manifesting in his hands as he cut away another of Cleobis-Radix's tendrils.

The three Rangers who were still conscious regrouped and saw that the alien they fought was in a truly pitiable state, viscous sap-like blood which had the shimmering and changing colour of spilled oil dripped from countless wounds and their mottled exoskeleton was cracked in multiple places whilst the amount of limbs that they had lost was clearly beginning to hamper his ability to move yet despite it all the Acheron Hybrid remained defiant and Marigold realised that this was not a fight that they could easily win, nor was it one that they had the luxury of allowing to continue and so she quickly searched for a way to end it.

Settling on simple lies and bluffing

"You've already lost, you just don't know it yet" she announced, puffing up her chest and forcing as much sneering and gloating disdain into her voice as she could, her tone becoming something utterly foreign to her "The other Rangers made it to the control room, they've sent word to the Alliance….It's over, this entire planet is about to have ships appearing in high orbit; this world is about to be taken and the Zords are being deployed right outside, if I was you I'd run" Mari hoped desperately that the ruse would be convincing, or at least that the alien would be forced to consider the possibility that she was telling the truth and as Cleobis-Radix's compound eyes shifted to a pale yellow and their remaining tendrils shuddered it seemed that her ploy had worked, even as Rensa and Rocky struggled to hide their surprise; a moment later the aliens' eyes shifted to a blazing, hateful red and it became clear that whilst he may have believed the threat, that might not be a good thing as rather than cower or flee Cleobis-Radix reared up to their full height on their remaining limbs and replied with cold finality.

"Then we are at an impasse, the Dark Empire is already sending reinforcements and you are a fool to believe that your feeble people are the only ones to unlock the secrets of Eltarian war machines. FOR THE GLORY OF LORD ZEDD!" somewhere beyond the communications tower the sound of screeching metal tore through the air and ahead of the Rangers Cleobis-Radix teleported away in a flash of light; there was a single moment of confusion and steadily mounting tension before what was about to happen seemed to become painfully apparent to Rensa, Rocky and Marigold in the same instant and the Blue Thunder Dragon Ranger turned to his younger allies as he let out a yell of warning

"GET DOWN!" the instant he spoke the ruined corridor they had fought in along with everything around it was torn apart as something huge came thundering through it, striking from the outside of the massive tower and ripping through its' armoured construction with no effort at all before being withdrawn just as easily.

It was at that moment Marigold realised that the colossal mass had been an enormous fist.

"Oh my god" she breathed out as she realised what she was seeing and understood, from both history lessons and simple deduction how it had come to be.

The previous Lord Zedd, Kay's Grandfather who had gone on to become Zebidiah Lord after being transformed in the wake of Zordon's final sacrifice had expanded Acheron technology in ways that the warlike and all-consuming species had never dreamed of before, one such instance being his mastery of the Eltarian war machines known as Zords; with Serpenterror being the most famous and Cyclopsis, the Zord piloted by Goldar being another noteworthy example. It stood to reason that several unsuccessful prototypes had been made and rather than being simply scrapped these titanic monstrosities had been entrusted to the wards of certain key planets and settlements within the Dark Empire; as Marigold, along with Rensa, Rocky and Tempestus who was steadily regaining consciousness peered out of the vast hole that had been smashed into the building they occupied they saw one such prototype or Pseudo-Zord waiting for them outside. Overall the thing resembled Cyclopsis, yet it was roughly two thirds the height with a more squat and lumbering build to it and an unpainted, gunmetal finish that had been stained by the acrid smoke that belched from within it, the thing being powered by some mundane fuel or power rather than the Morphing Grid.

"We don't have Zords do we" Rensa asked with a sigh

"No" Mari answered sadly "We don't" Rocky merely braced himself and squared his shoulders despite the pain he was clearly in and his Morphed state failing around him, grinding out an a reply through clenched teeth

"Well then….this just became a little bit more difficult"


The world of Wyvern was a fiery hell-scape of apocalyptic proportions that had resembled the images of eternal punishment or the fiery end of all things that were shared by countless cultures and species across the galaxy for millennia before the Dark Empire had claimed the world as their own and the various knightly houses and religious orders of the planet, whose society had been at a feudal and primitive level at the time of their discovery had been turned to the task of defending, expanding and further indoctrinating the Empire. Wyvern was a smaller world when compared to others that had borne sentient and sapient life and was situated far from the heat of its' sun; however where most worlds on the edges of their star-systems were barren and icy places Wyvern had the dubious gift of being perpetually ravaged by volcanic activity far beyond anything seen on Earth, along with intense magnetic storms and other equally tumultuous phenomena. The skies of Wyvern were a dull, burnt orange and choked with smog and ash to such an extent that the dim light of the sun barely pierced them, the sky glowing faintly like embers whilst the majority of the light on the planet came from the vast rivers and seas of molten rock that covered its' surface which reflected off of vast mounds of a fungus that grew in dense clusters and had a texture that resembled shards of glass; this fungus served as the lowest rung of the worlds' food-chain and seemed to, in some twisted way set the tone for the brutal way of life, the lower gravity and intense electro-magnetic fields had led to the evolution of monstrous predatory beasts that flew or simply hovered with the use of magnetism despite their massive size and swooped down on unsuspecting prey from the peaks of the enormous cliffs and mountains of jagged, jet-black rock which covered vast swathes of Wyverns' surface; the gorges valleys and chasms at the bases of these landmarks being where the people of Wyvern had settled and made their homes, primitive stone structures bolstered by the technology, raw materials and slave labour that the Dark Empire had provided to the world that gave it such fierce and dedicated warriors.

Outside the limits of one such settlement Lord Carnifex of Wyvern, thirteenth of his name meditated in peaceful solitude.

There were no spaceports capable of refitting and repairing the Draco-Ocidendum on the planet and the inhospitable climate would likely ravage the vessel if it attempted to land, as such the Dark Empire had constructed several space stations around the world that served both as trading posts and a tacit threat and whilst his vessel was being attended to, a mercy the Acheron hybrid had not been certain he would receive, he had chosen to return to his home in search of some inner peace that he knew would not come until he avenged himself and delivered his Lords' justice unto the Power Rangers.

The arm that Lord Zedd had taken from him as punishment for his failures had been replaced, leaving the draconian hybrid with yet more cybernetic augmentations; his entire right arm being similar in design but of a lighter shade of metal than his left forearm and the wing that laid over his shoulder like a cape and was yet to be littered with the countless dents, scratches and grooves that marred the surface of the rest of his mechanical components and armour, telling a story of hard fought battles; a shortcoming that would likely soon be corrected. At the moment however the metallic surface was being tested, Carnifex needed to know if it were capable of withstanding the heat of his own arcane attacks and had chosen to meditate in a location where the limb would be subjected to similar conditions; sitting cross legged beneath a cliff where a river of lava spilled over the edge like a waterfall, his crimson scales entirely impervious to the molten rock cascading over them and the sound of rushing liquid, punctuated by the shrieks and roars of enormous winged, reptilian apex predators vying for dominance above him oddly soothing.

His peace was interrupted by the sound of armour plates clanging against one another and footsteps rushing towards

"My liege, my liege!" the voice was young and the urgency in the speakers' tone was enough for Carnifex to open his slitted, golden eyes though it was not enough to keep the anger in them from showing plainly, a sight which left the intruder upon his privacy recoiling in fear.

"Speak whelp!" he barked, his usual cultured tones falling by the wayside as he addressed the newcomer, a much younger native of Wyvern, pure-bred and without the added strength that came with Acheron descent their scales were a mottled golden brown and ash-grey, their armour was ill fitting which marked them out as a squire or retainer who was yet to ascend to full Knighthood within his household of warriors; meaning that anything that would see the juvenile intrude upon his masters' privacy in such a manner must be of utmost importance, or else they were simply a fool with no regard for their own life.

"The Draco-Ocidendum just received a call for aid within the Empire, sent on all channels-"

"And you would have us run to coddle cowards who cannot defend themselves from curs and vermin" Carnifex scoffed, his disgust for the criminal scum and agitators within the borders of the Empire he served was matched only by his utter contempt for those weak enough to fall to such dishonourable enemies and still have the temerity to call themselves warriors. The adolescent visibly panicked, faltering and stumbling over their words as they made to reply.

"My liege" they began again "The call for aid comes from the Capital City of Mercator….their shipyards provided many of the vessels in your fleet, we are bound by oaths and honour to join them on the battlefield-"

"You are correct" Carnifex bit out slowly, his initial ire at the initiate before him daring to speak out of turn subsiding as he realised that they were correct in their assessment of the situation; moreover they had courage despite being a serf raised to the station of warrior whilst the Draco-Ocidendum was prohibited from replenishing its' losses by Lord Zedd himself.

"You have more to say" the saurian warlord stated matter-of-factly, sensing as much from their demeanour "Speak"

"My liege the call for aid spoke of insurgents, those same enemies whom Lord Zedd himself charged you with hunting down" they paused, faltering before delivering the rest of the news as they struggled to gauge how the last matter of importance would be received before finally blurting out "The Power Rangers are working alongside them"

"THE POWER RANGERS!" Carnifex was on his feet in an instant, lava being flung out to the sides and golden flames spewing from his maw with each word as magical energy seared the air around him, making it ripple and shimmer

"THEY DARE DEFILE THE DARK EMPIRE WITH THEIR PRESENCE!" he continued, his voice trembling with righteous fury before dropping to a low, calculating snarl as he turned away from the serf and spoke into a concealed communicator "All warriors are to report to their stations and prepare for battle, make the Draco-Ocidendum ready for war immediately….It is time we regained our honour"


Elsewhere within the vast expanse of space that fell within the Dark Empire's crushing grasp a lone ship lurked in the darkness, it was currently hidden from view and rendered all but impossible to detect by any scanners by an impressive cloaking field and array of other countermeasures yet if it were visible the sight that would have greeted any onlookers was that of a sleek and streamlined oceanic predator, hunger and menace forged into a metallic form in a vessel whose name was known and discussed in hushed whispers by every pirate, smuggler and bandit across the galaxy though now the ship was being used for far more militaristic ends.

As the Megalodon prowled through the void Karone found herself drumming her fingers impatiently against the arm of her seat aboard its' small and minimalist command bridge.

"Status report"

"Karone" Zhane murmured gently "There's three of us here, if there was anything to report we would have told you" the Silver Ranger's observation was correct of course though the truth of his words did nothing to stop the Captain of the former pirate ship from scowling slightly at them whilst Cullis, the third member of their greatly reduced crew continued to check countless readings close by.

The various resistance cells and insurgencies that their guerrilla campaign within the Dark Empire itself had morphed into had kept them appraised of events unfolding on various Empire worlds and whilst they were simply far too few in number to be everywhere at once or observe and know everything it was at least enough to provide Karone, who had taken up Andros's role as overall leader and her closest allies a feel for how things were progressing. It seemed that the various fleets moving to the edge of Empire space were not, as she had first feared the preparations for an all out assault but instead Lord Zedd securing his borders after being forced to retreat and whilst it seemed unlikely that the Alliance would press the advantage in such a way the knowledge that the supreme leader of this twisted and ghoulish regime was so obviously concerned and attempting to disguise his fear with a show of force both concerned and utterly delighted the former Princess of Evil.

Another development had been that Karone's insurgency had become far more active, it had been mere days since the destruction of Unus and Lord Zedd's forced retreat and she knew that those forces that had been sent to the border would not remain there indefinitely; as such she had ordered the leaders of the various factions under her command to take advantage of the situation in any way they saw fit, as vast as the Empires' force were they still had their limits after all and would not be able to respond to several dozen assassinations, uprisings, raids and highly destructive acts of sabotage all occurring within a short space of time. Karone had also instructed her followers to pay close attention for a group of individuals that matched the description of the Aegis Rangers though she had been careful not to inform her underlings of exactly who they were as she understood what could happen if that information was to fall into the wrong hands, moreover it was still uncertain whether or not the group of lost Rangers had found their way into Empire space at all and as hard as the decision was Karone was unwilling to waste the current opportunity to search for them without more concrete evidence.

Which was why the Megalodon was currently cloaked and waiting in an asteroid field to ambush a routine patrol scheduled to arrive within the hour.

"We're being…..We're receiving a transmission, a pre-recorded one" Cullis announced as the tense silence within the bridge was interrupted the urgent chirping tone of an alert, the silkworm like aliens' eyes narrowed as they added "The transmission is unencrypted and being sent on all frequencies….Empire and Alliance" the information was enough to give Karone pause, though she quickly made a decision

"Play the message" Cullis nodded and proceeded to do as instructed, the message featured video as well as audio and both Karone and Zhane let out gasps of surprise as they were greeted with the sight of Mercy Jackson, the Red Aegis Ranger removing her cracked helmet to adress the camera as she spoke; the vague forms of the Green, Pink and Yellow Rangers in the background of the message.

"I am Mercy Jackson of Earth, Red Aegis Ranger and sworn enemy of Lord Zedd" the declaration was brazen and enough to leave Karone open mouthed at the nerve of this Red Ranger as she continued to speak "My entire team and I have taken control of the communications tower within the Capital of Mercator. This is a rallying cry to all Alliance forces and an open challenge to Lord Zedd….come and take your world back, if you can" with that the transmission ended and the previous tense silence aboard the Megalodon was replaced with one of utter, profound shock which Zhane finally broke after processing what he had just witnessed for several seconds

"She is definitely not the same child that she was when we first met her….I mean it's obvious that the Green Ranger coached her on what to say-"

"Or maybe it's not her at all" Karone warned, brow furrowing as she added "I think it's a trap, why would she send out a rallying cry-"

"She didn't….I met this Red Ranger, she's clever" Cullis murmured, a calculating expression crossing his features "She formed an alliance of convenience with me, destroyed an Empire warship from the inside, kept resources from the enemy and freed prisoners all with no time to plan….she'd be a valuable asset to our efforts"

"So what do you think she's doing here?" Karone asked cautiously

"Calling for help without looking like an easy target, negotiating from a position of power" Cullis answered simply "The open challenge to Lord Zedd was ingenious, it will sow dissent when he doesn't reply, and we know that he wont; but Power Rangers don't take and hold cities or worlds" the last fact was uttered so matter-of-factly it made Karone wonder how she hadn't seen the obvious ploy for what it was before and yet again she found herself impressed with Mercy Jackson, who had clearly grown into a capable leader.

"We don't have any forces of Mercator" Zhane murmured as his fingers laced through Karone's "But we can be there relatively quickly ourselves….Is ambushing a patrol worth more than this?" the former Empress of Evil turned Pink Astro Ranger and rebel leader shook her head in silence, now that she had certainty there was only one possible outcome in her mind.

"Plot a course for Mercator"


Billy Cranston, former Blue Power Ranger, currently one of the greatest minds within the Alliance and soon to be considered a traitor and a fugitive looked into the eyes of his wife and saw the same unshakeable resolve there that he was relying upon to get him through what would doubtlessly occur in the coming moments.

"I have everything ready, my teleportation beacon is synced to my communicator…..I leave when you do, I would have it no other way" Cestria informed him, her voice becoming softer with the final words as she rested her forehead against Billy's the sensation of soft skin and hair where an Aquitian would sport hardened cartilage and protective ridges being one that she had become accustomed to years ago.

"Then it's time" Billy said solemnly, taking a slow breath in an attempt to calm the maelstrom of emotions that fought for attention beneath the surface of his calm exterior, with apprehension being the most dominant of them.

"Clear your mind" Cestria murmured gently as she took his hands "We will find our son"

"Go" Billy nodded "You'll know when it's time" with that Cestria nodded in agreement before turning on her heel and leaving; Billy had been in his laboratory when Mercy's emergency transmission from Mercator had reached Alliance space and the former Blue Ranger had been the one to inform Mission Control that the message was genuine and not some attempt to draw them into a trap, his certainty being owed to the fact that the message had been received on his own communicator as well, a feat that would not be possible otherwise. With the Red Aegis Ranger's identity verified Mission Control had naturally been required to assemble within the Command Centre of Promethea One though Billy had bought some time by insisting that he be the one to inform Cestria of these developments in person and promptly making his way to the medical facilities, now that she had departed however Billy stood alone surrounded by strangers casting concerned glances in his direction and the unmistakable medicinal stench of the place scorching his nostrils until finally he departed and made his way slowly and deliberately towards the Command Centre.

He had his own preparations to attend to.

The former Blue Range strode through the hallways of the base and was silently relieved to see that much of the initial scrambling into position and rushing to action had already taken place, leaving him alone with only the sound of his own echoing footsteps as company though as he activated his communicator, a secure device that he had ensured could not be eavesdropped upon he still took care to check that there was nobody present whom he had overlooked before contacting Justin.

"You received the same transmission I did" Billy stated simply, it would be pointless to phrase it as a question.

"Yeah" Justin managed to breathe out, the single word being packed with barely contained joy and fresh resolve as the sound of Mercy's voice, even if he had been unable to see her face had been enough to prove that the Red Aegis Ranger still lived and had gone some way to mending the Blue Turbo Ranger's broken spirit.

"Then you know what happens now" Billy said simply "What's your status?"

"I'm ready to leave….Kazama understands why I can't stay after this" the younger man's voice wavered for a moment before he continued, addressing what was truly important "And the target was contacted….Charlie has a teleporter, we can break her out"

"Good" Billy murmured before ending the communication and taking a moment to clear his thoughts as he neared the Command Centre, putting a stoic mask and neutral expression in place and appearing every part the rational mind that his allies expected to see.

This was the final hurdle.

The moment that the possibility of the Rangers being stranded in Dark Empire space had become a feasible possibility Billy had been forced to confront the fact that there was simply no safe or practical way to teleport them home even if they were found, Empire Space was beyond even the range of the Alliances' more powerful teleporters and the signal from the teleportation beacons would be too weak from such a distance.

The solution that Billy had found to this problem had been a simple, yet perilous one; he intended to teleport himself into Dark Empire space to work alongside the Rangers and bring them home from wherever they found themselves by other means.

Naturally this plan had presented complications of its' own though Billy had strived to prepare as thoroughly as possible; teleporting into Empire Space was an easier matter and only required for the teleporters to be given more power which he had provided in the form of another synthetic Zeo Crystal like that which powered the Gold Aegis Ranger's Morpher, though this instance was more hastily crafted and would likely only last for a single trip, both he and Billy had been preparing what equipment they would likely need to turn the tables on the Dark Empire and set up a position within their borders much as they had done to the Alliance upon Unus whilst Cestria had prepared medical supplies and a stockpile of water from Aquitar itself, the fact that Tempestus would be ill and suffering when they found him was a certainty that she and Billy had mentally prepared themselves for as much as possible.

Contacting Charlie Morales had been the final step of this plan, Billy had known that recruiting the disenfranchised traitor to the Alliance was a gamble but consoled himself with the fact that the idea of a rescue mission and doing for others what the Alliance had failed to do for her would appeal to her somehow; her experience with covert operations and Dark Empire practices was without comparison and the Blue Ranger had found himself forced to conclude that if she accepted his offer she would be an invaluable asset to his plans.

All of these thoughts were forced from his mind however as he marched into the vast spherical room that was the Command Centre which was already a bustling hive of activity with Grace and Corcus gathered before the tube which projected the image of Zebidiah Lord, the sorcerer who had once been Lord Zedd being the one to speak first

"Billy….it seems we've found our lost children" the two of them locked eyes and for a single instant the former Power Ranger felt terror stab into the deepest recesses of his being, Zebidiah knew that he was planning something and as the two stared at one another it became painfully clear that Zebidiah understood that whatever Billy intended to do would take place here and now, the former Lord Zedd had the ability to end Billy's plans before they could truly begin yet instead, after a moment that felt like an age he simply smiled

"Affirmative" Billy nodded "So….back to action then?"


The casing of the teleportation Beacon creaked ominously in Charlie's hands, the former Silver Guardian Specialist having lost less of her strength than one might assume from her current gaunt and almost emaciated appearance despite the bleak conditions of her imprisonment; as she sat huddled in on herself on the small and uncomfortable bunk of her cell she stared at the device with a face that was a blank mask of neutrality whilst inwardly she struggled and grappled with countless emotions which demanded to be given release.

The first to breach the surface of her imposed calm was pure, unrestrained rage

"HOW DARE THEY?" She roared, leaping to her feet and catching herself a moment before she could give in to her anger entirely and crush the teleportation beacon against a wall.

"How dare they come to me for help after everything they've done?" she demanded again, speaking to no-one in particular as she seethed at the audacity of her would be rescuers to make demands and offer terms. She silently festered in her own anger as she considered her situation a while longer, the representative of whatever shadowy cabal within the Alliance was attempting to free her had been a sensei of the Fire Ninja Academy which gave her enough of idea of just how well connected those involved were to be impressed and the ninja had given her a vague explanation of what had happened whilst she had been imprisoned, including just enough information to make a decision.

Paradoxa was dead, and whilst Ivan had not been seen since his escape from the Lightspeed Aquabase some months ago it was safe to assume that he too had perished meaning that, in Charlie's mind at least all bets were off; there was no one left to seek revenge against and no scores left to settle. More important however was the fact that the Aegis Rangers had pushed the entirety of the Dark Empire's Vanguard Fleet along with Lord Zedd himself out of Alliance space though it had been done at the cost of one of Triforia's moons and the Rangers themselves were now missing in action and presumed dead; with those who sought to break her free refusing to accept the seemingly inevitable and instead planning to use Charlie's skills and experience to help track down the lost teens.

It was a proposition that Charlie found herself taking longer to consider than most people in her position would have.

"They're not freeing me" she snorted to herself as the realisation came to her "Just a bigger cage….I'm still the attack dog" the truth of her own words was self evident to her and whilst the idea of being free of her cell and feeling the wind on her skin or eating a substantial meal of her own choosing for the first time in months was appealing to her in the most base and primal way she could not truthfully call the offer she was being given freedom, for her entire life since being inducted into the Silver Guardian cadets as a child the Alliance had used her until finally she had been captured and deemed not worth saving and now they kept her here, not as punishment but simply as containment until she could be used again, to perform the cruelly mocking task of providing a rescue that she herself had not received for others.

It was infuriating.

Yet as she continued to stare at the teleportation beacon in her grasp Charlie's mind continued to race and eventually a new perspective presented itself to her, one not coloured by her spite and bitterness; the Alliance or at the very least Earth and its' people needed its' Power Rangers and whatever acts of treason she had committed had been against Lightspeed and a system that had abandoned her, Ivan had been a committed traitor where she had merely lashed out at those who had hurt her and as she sat alone, surrounded by nothing but the grey walls of her cell she found herself compelled to consider the larger picture and look beyond herself.

Earth needed its' Power Rangers and if she had to allow herself to be used again so that they could be rescued then so be it, Charlie simply consoled herself with the fact that if Project Lightspeed was unwilling to save even the Aegis Rangers then truly everyone was disposable in the eyes of a galaxy-spanning bureaucracy and she, traitor that she was still held the moral high ground.

"Damn it all" she hissed as she braced herself, not knowing when the sensation of being teleported would come only that it would.


Fighting a Zord sized war machine without the use of or access to their own Zords was, even for the Aegis Rangers a task so Herculean that it bordered on lunacy to even attempt it and yet attempt it they did; as Mercy bounded through the hallways of the communications tower that were now illuminated by the flickering blood-red glow of the emergency lighting that had clearly overridden the previously imposed darkness with her crimson bladed katana at the ready and Aslaug, Kay and Panthera at her back the sound of an ongoing battle beyond the buildings' walls growing steadily louder informed her that they were indeed getting closer until finally she came skidding to a halt as she neared her goal, the sight that greeted her leaving her stunned

"Woah" the lone word was hardly adequate yet there was nothing else she could say as she took in the scope of the destruction, walls that had been impervious to the Aegis Ranger's weapons had been utterly crushed and torn asunder by destructive might of the Pseudo-Zord that Cleobis-Radix had taken command of and through the massive hole that had been bored into the side of the tower Mercy could see the machine in itself, its' twisted pilot unleashing its' full power against Rensa who had activated his Battleizer and ascended to his higher Morphed state, Mari who used her unique ability to subtly alter the flow of time around herself to avoid being crushed, a conscious and Morphed but clearly struggling Tempestus and a new Ranger whom she realised could only be Rocky.

"This is gonna a problem" Panthera noted dispassionately

"This will be the kind of battle songs are sung about" Aslaug countered

"We've gotta help 'em, that's all that counts" Mercy insisted, readying her blade and preparing to leap into the fray without consideration until Kay placed themselves in her path and shook their head before speaking

"Let me go first, I'll give you an opening" with that the Green Ranger surged forwards and as they neared the hole that had been made by the squat and brutal mecha whose power supply belched noxious fumes into the night sky beyond the signature emerald green light of their power coalesced around their fists before spreading to envelop their entire body as they ran and leapt. The Pseudo-Zord was turned away from Kay as they arced through the air and by the time Cleobis-Radix had sensed the incoming threat it was too late, the Green Ranger struck the back of the colossal war machine like a comet and sent it staggering forwards whilst the thick and heavy armour plating that shielded it cratered and began to glow under the force of the attack

"NOW!" Mercy yelled and at her command the Rangers, both those beside her and those already on the ground leapt into action and attacked as one to strike Cleobis-Radix and his mecha from all angles. The Pseudo-Zord turned and lashed out, flinging Kay away and high into the air though the Green Ranger landed gracefully in a crouch in the ruined battlefield that the area surrounding the tower had become and as the arm of the war machine extended Mercy made advantage of the opening and forced as much of her power as she dared into the blade of her katana, its' surface glowing a fiery red and leaving a contrail of light behind it as he hurtled towards the arm and tore through the inside of its' elbow. To her sides Aslaug and Panthera launched similar assault, with the Yellow Aegis Ranger bringing her axe down in a mighty swing towards the machines' wrists and Panthera combining her curved blades and hurling them at the eyes of the stylised battle-mask of its' cockpit, a clear attempt to attack the pilot rather than the mecha itself.

They were all unsuccessful.

Cleobis-Radix responded by bringing his war-machines' open palms together, their impact causing a thunderclap and wave of pure concussive force that ripped the falling Rangers from the air and Mercy's helmet cracked further still as she struck the ground with enough force to know that she had bruised and cracked her ribs despite her armour long before the warnings began to display themselves on her damaged HUD, as she dragged herself to her feet and wheezed in pain she say that whilst Aslaug, Panthera and Kay were all relatively unharmed the same could be said of their titanic adversary; neither she nor Aslaug had been able to cleave through the joints of the machines' arm entirely and the Pseudo-Zord remained mobile despite the sparks that erupted from it whilst Panthera's attack had done little more than carve a shallow scar into its' armour.

However they were not alone.

Marigold and Tempestus were the next to act, the Gold and Blue Aegis Rangers clearly trying and succeeding to draw Cleobis-Radix's attention towards them, Mari by readying her Buster Pistols and unleashing a volley of frighteningly accurate shots in the knee and ankle joints of the already staggered machine in an attempt to topple it while Tempestus stood close by, hurriedly working on the controls of a heavily damaged vehicle that the Empire forces had left behind, utterly unperturbed by the fact that it was currently on fire; Mercy and Cleobis-Radix realised almost in the same instant what the Blue Ranger was planning and the Pseudo-Zord lurched forward and made to bat the vehicle and the Aquitian himself aside before it could be used as a battering ram or makeshift explosive.

Only for it to become obvious that Marigold and Tempestus were a diversion when Rensa and Rocky unleashed their own attacks.

Mercy watched in silent amazement as the two of them streaked towards the colossal mecha from opposite sides, the Blue Dragon Thunder Ranger leaving a trail of crackling lightning and an aurora of blue light whose shade and hue shifted constantly as he surged forwards, halberd at the ready whilst the Black Aegis Ranger used the propulsion system of his Battleizer to become a blur of motion as he leapt and bounded closer, preparing to use the oversized blades now mounted on his forearms to tear into his target. The two of them struck the Pseudo-Zord in an explosion of light and cacophony of screeching metal and Mercy, along with her fellow Rangers was left awestruck as Rocky struck first, his weapon leaving his hand and tearing into the midsection of the enormous machine high above him with a devastating impact that saw the entire Pseudo-Zord staggering backwards with pillars of flame spewing from its' ruptured innards whilst shrapnel and debris rained down onto the impromptu battlefield that the area around the communications tower had become. Rensa's attack came a moment later and took full advantage of the titanic war-machines' already staggered condition, the Black Ranger tore into the ankle joins of the Pseudo-Zord with his arm-blades, firing the laser weapons mounted on them and pushing every ounce of his power into the blow so that the sound of metal being shredded was complemented by the dull boom of the sound barrier being broken and finally the Pseudo-Zord began to collapse to the ground, its' legs completely severed at the ankle

"GET CLEAR!" Mercy screamed as the thing began to topple, the force behind her exclamation sending fresh lances of white-hot agony through her cracked and broken ribs which were only left suffering even greater pains as she sprinted clear of where the Pseudo-Zord seemed likely to fall as fast as her legs would carry her until the impact sent her crashing to the ground as it sent tremors through the floor though even then the Red Ranger refused to relent and called out to her friends once again as she struggled to her feet

"IS EVERYONE OKAY?"

"UP!" Aslaug's voice called out to her "THIS IS NO PLACE TO DIE!" at those words the Yellow Ranger burst forth from the dust and debris that filled the air, pulling Mercy's arm around her shoulder and dragging her away and to her feet with an impressively fine balance of gentleness and urgency. A frantic yell was about to spill from Mercy's lips yet her steadily growing panic was eased and her words fizzled out on her tongue, replaced with a sigh of relief as each of her fellow Rangers came sprinting or limping into view with Rocky and Rensa at the lead, the Blue Thunder Dragon holding the Black Aegis Ranger upright as his Battleizer faded away and he returned to his regular morphed state.

"It's down but it won't be for long….It's still got two working limbs" Rocky declared bluntly through gritted teeth that became visible as his armour flickered and phased in and our of existence around him, Mercy seeing each time the older Ranger's face became visible that he was bleeding from the nose, mouth, eyes and ears as his cobbled together Morpher and shattered Power Coin continued to cause him considerable harm.

"Then we need to bring that thing down permanently, right now!" Marigold declared, the Gold Ranger filled with sudden energy as her fear and determination met each other and forged steely resolve.

"Cousin" Kay murmured as they turned and gestured to the downed Pseudo-Zord which still lay in a crater of its' own making "A well placed shot to the power system in the torso will disable it" before Mercy could answer the screeching of metal filled the air once again as the damaged and crippled mecha twisted and writhed, breaking the ground asunder beneath it as it began to reach out with its' already sparking and mangled left arm, the limb jerking and shuddering threateningly as though it had a crazed mind of its' own; prompting thoughts that had been forming in the Red Ranger's mind to instantly coalesce

"WE NEED THE POWER BLASTER!" she yelled without thinking before turning to Tempestus who had remained silent as he regrouped with the other Rangers, noticeable only in the way that he swayed on his feet "Are you gonna be okay"

"I have to be" he managed to croak out, voice a barely audible whisper as dry and cracking as his dehydrated skin yet still he persevered and manifested his staff in a pulse of royal blue light and Mercy silently nodded as she readied her katana whilst Aslaug, Panthera and Rensa readied their own weapons. Moments later the Power Blaster was ready and the five of them took aim whilst Mari, Kay and Rocky stood back, the Gold and Green Aegis Rangers attempting to aid the older man in any way they could.

Victory would not be so simple however.

Cleobis-Radix regained control of the remaining limbs Pseudo-Zord enough to bring its' left arm hurtling downwards for a crushing blow, its' palm open as it made to swat the Rangers like a particularly bothersome insect until Mercy took charge, acting on pure instinct with her team-mates following her lead as they aimed the Power Blaster upwards, the beam of brilliant and incandescent white coruscating with arcs of multi-coloured lightning that is discharged rushing forth to strike the oncoming limb in a blinding flash and deafening blast.

"No" Mercy croaked out, fighting the urge to sink to her knees in despair as each of the constituent parts of the Power Blaster faded away, shattering into of embers of coloured light whilst the rapidly subsiding afterglow of the Aegis Ranger's final attack revealed that the Pseudo-Zord, whilst heavily damaged was still largely intact and functional. Its' legs were severed at the ankle and its' left arm was a molten, glowing stump at the shoulder beyond which the twisted and melted remains of inner workings could be seen along with massive damage to the things' armoured hull yet still Cleobis-Radix drove on and the Aegis Rangers watched in silent fright as the mangled mecha began to crawl and drag itself toward them to attack with its' remaining arm, the Rangers realising that without their weapons they were entirely hopeless.

Until a volley of missiles struck the Pseudo-Zord Zord in its' back.

"What?" Mercy demanded as flames erupted from the power systems of the war machine that had previously been belching smog into the night sky.

"We have air support!" Panthera exclaimed, her usually smokey and acerbic voice filled with fresh hope

"They heard your message" Rensa breathed out wearily, the ghost of a laugh tingeing his words as he sunk to one knee in simple exhaustion. Mercy followed the gaze of the Pink and Black Rangers, cycling through various features of her damaged helmet until finally she saw what their eyes had allowed them to find unaided.

The Megalodon, high above them and speeding closer as it slipped through a maelstrom of anti-aircraft artillery fire.

"Thanks for the assist" Mercy beamed the moment she opened a comm channel to the incoming vessel, never imagining that she could be filled with such relief by the approach of a pirate ship before this moment.

"I'd congratulate you on a well executed plan Red Ranger but we don't have the time" Karone's voice answered, cool and calculating as she channelled a part of herself more akin to Astronema than she was comfortable admitting "We weren't the only ones to hear your message and the Empire has reinforcements en route….And from the readings we're seeing it looks like that Zords' reactor is going to go critical, you don't want to be near it when it does"

Mercy's blood suddenly ran cold and words began to leave her before she could stop herself or truly comprehend them

"Wait" the other Rangers, who had tuned their own comms into the conversation between their leader and rescuer slowly turned towards the Red Ranger as she continued "We can't leave the Zord to go critical….we're in the middle of a city, think of the civilian casualties….It doesn't matter that we're in the Empire, people are people" there was a moment where Mercy feared that she might be alone in her convictions, a single terrible instant that stretched out seemingly for an age until Aslaug broke the silence with a soft laugh

"Honourable until the end….where you lead I follow, you know this"

"Duty demands it" Tempestus stated simply, stiffening and readying himself despite his worsening condition

"Tempestus is right, this is what being a Power Ranger means" Mari nodded, the most recent addition to the Aegis Rangers visibly steadying herself

"It's what Andros would do" Rensa added

"Cousin" Kay gestured to the smoking and damaged remains of the Pseudo-Zord again "I might be able to perform a controlled detonation"

"I was worried you guys would say something heroic and dumb" Panthera sighed "We need a plan….I've seen controlled detonations of ships….Kay you'll never make it out we need a-"

"Then I'll do it" Rocky's interjection silenced the Aegis Ranger's entirely, the seven of them turning to see that the predecessors' armour continued to flicker and fail at a slowly accelerating rate and blood continuing to trickle and pour down his face

"No" Mercy breathed out "Don't….Not like this, we can get you help and-"

"I'm already dead kid, my body just doesn't know it yet" the Blue Thunder Dragon Ranger shook his head "Hell, the man I used to be died twenty years ago….I'm not proud of what I've become since then"

"There must be another way, there has to-"

"We don't have time!" Rocky interrupted her with a harsh barking tone which quickly softened as he placed his hands on his successors' shoulders and spoke again, tears visibly streaming down his face as his armour flickered and his voice cracked and wavered "Forget everything I said, you're definitely a real Power Ranger kid and it's all down to you and your team now, you can do this….Go punch a hole through the whole Empire" with that he turned away and began to march towards the remains of the Pseudo-Zord which continued to spew towers of flame, Cleobis-Radix still trying to bring the machine under control even as sections of its' outer armour were reduced to a molten state. Beneath her helmet tears spilled from Mercy's eyes and she let out a single choked sob as Rocky's armour glowed with some hitherto unseen inner light that eclipsed all that had come before it, his slow and purposeful strides giving way to a charge as his halberd appeared in his hands once again; Mercy glanced away for a moment and turned her eyes skyward to wear the Megalodon continued to weave through a storm of incoming fire and rip through weapon emplacements in retaliation even as the first of the Dark Empire's reinforcements began to enter Mercator's atmosphere, the axe like warships wreathed in flames as they descended.

"It's time to go" she finally whispered "Seven to teleport" the familiar tingling sensation of teleportation and the accompanying specs of coloured light soon became apparent, though not before Mercy had turned her attention back towards Rocky; the Red Ranger only vaguely aware of Aslaug's fingers lacing through her own as the former Red Ranger made his final sacrifice.

The last thing Mercy saw before teleporting was the blinding flash of an explosion and she knew beyond any doubt that Rocky DeSantos was no more, all that remained of him being the legacy that she intended to carry on.

Author's Notes:

FIRST OF ALL: HAPPY HALLOWEEN (I suppose we could consider this extra long chapter a Halloween special if we're feeling generous?)
So, I'm sorry about the unplanned absence last week; basically it came down to things:
A) This chapter, as I'm sure you can appreciate is huge, there are more scenes and some of the individual scenes are two or three times the average size.
B) Personal stuff, my work schedule is as always insane, my sister has been in and out of hospital and I need to sleep and work on my fitness at some point….Shit happened okay.
But that being said I'm back, I'm rejuvenated and ready to write the final chapter of this arc and what comes after because, to re-iterate we are in the final third of this story now and things will be getting real.

So, let's summarise shall we?:
And straight away we get into a scene that could have been split down into multiple parts, if I wanted to I could have broken this chapter down into two and had the various fights in the hallway take place in various parts but I just felt like it wouldn't really add anything and I'd rather have an overpacked chapter than one that's light on content.
I feel like everything about Panthera's fight with the Hunting Beast Putties was a return to form, it's like her initial introduction in the first arc on Onyx but stepped up several levels.
More monsters that aren't humanoid please, after several decades we can move beyond a guy in a rubber suit.
I feel like Aslaug doing something like giving the last rites to an opponent she killed in single combat is important, she's a warrior, she's no stranger to violence but she's not a complete barbarian.
Kay's fight was quick and dirty, exactly the way you'd expect of someone whose understanding of fighting comes pre-programmed by the Dark Empire themselves; although it's clear that Kay takes no pleasure in it and the complete vaporisation of the body was mainly so that they didn't have to look at it afterwards.
Mercy and her opponent were on some anime bullshit from the get go and that's how I approached writing their fight.
Can you imagine getting headbutted by a Power Ranger? I've been hit in the face with a bike helmet before and trust me it ruins your day.
I like ending Mercy's fights with the Samurai movie cliché, it's also another call back to an earlier arc where she used a similar move on a crowd of Putties.
And finally, they've reached their objective.
Of course Kay is nervous, but that was a nice moment between them, Panthera and Mercy.
Mercy has unlimited sheer gall.
Rocky as the Blue Thunder Dragon Ranger is another study in anime bullshit fight scenes.
Followed up by a big hit that would no doubt have gone onto become a signature move for him.
So people that watched Kamen Rider Zero: One, think of the Assault Wolf form and what it did to Fuwa, then scale up accordingly.
So, the broadcast is definitely going out and there's nothing that Cleobis-Radix can do about it, but remember he already sent out an SOS himself the moment the Rangers morphed last chapter.
You didn't really think he'd be dead so soon?
In all fairness Mari's plan wasn't exactly a bad one, there are some enemies it might've worked against but Cleobis-Radix wasn't one of them.
Lord Zedd had Serpenterror, did you really think that none of his other experiments are still out there in the galaxy?….So, have a diesel-punk Cyclopsis that's classed as a Pseudo-Zord because it doesn't actually run on the Power.
And this is a first, fighting a Zord without using Zords.
You didn't think I'd forgotten about Carnifex did you? Lord Zedd sent him on a penance to hunt down Andros and Karone's insurgencies with limited resources at his disposal.
And hey, we get our first look at his home-world of Wyvern.
Of course he gets a new robot arm and tests it by meditating in lava.
And now Carnifex is on the hunt, he knows that the Rangers are in Empire space, I thought the idea of him having oaths and honour-bindings with the world that made the ships in his fleet was a fun one as well.
Karone figuring out why Lord Zedd does some of the things he does because she used to be the big bad and she knows how to look strong in front of the grunts.
So that was Mercy's message, now the Alliance and Karone's insurgency knows where to find her and the entire Empire just heard the Red Ranger call out Lord Zedd directly, from a communications tower on an Empire world that she'd seized and knows that she got away with it.; undermining the fear he rules with.
So this was Billy's plan; he can't teleport the Rangers back from Empire space because even the Alliance's teleporters have limits, the Rangers themselves needed to jack an Empire comms tower just to contact home. So what Billy is going to do instead is send himself, Cestria, Justin and Charlie to them to form the basis of a new 'Mission Control' with Charlie being sprung from jail and chosen because of her experience in working behind enemy lines and without support.
And yeah Zebidiah knows something is up but he's keeping his mouth shut 'cos he's a real one.
Getting into Charlie's head and figuring out how she ticks was honestly trickier than I thought it would be; basically the key to Charlie is that she still believes in the idea of the Alliance, but at the same time she hates it in practice and can't get past what happened to her.
She's smart enough to know that she's not really being freed at least.
There's a line in Game of Thrones, something along the lines of "We all need a way to tell ourselves that we're decent" and this is Charlie's, she's done terrible things but at least she won't leave people behind.
The Zord fight could definitely have been a chapter of its' own with each twist being the end of a scene but it would have just been too many cliffhangers and scene changes for no reason.
So yeah, Rensa can now activate his Battleizer at will….Mercy needs to catch up; oh and Mari can still do the thing where everything goes slow-motion around her.
I'm sorry but as cool as Mercy and Co making an entrance was, there was no way that was ever gonna be enough.
Oh yeah, everyone needs a medic after this.
I mean "Crash a tank into its' legs" is a valid approach to dealing with enemy mecha.
It's possible to cripple and damage a Zord if you're a Power Ranger but even then it's gonna take a lot of effort, as you can see here.
Also, Aslaug's line to Mercy was an Avengers reference.
Rocky's condition visibly deteriorated as the fight went on.
Nope, as we learned in the second arc against Corax the Reaper; the Power Blaster is a one-shot weapon so you have to make sure you're target is down before you fire it.
Okay but does it count as Dues Ex Machina if you literally set it up a few scenes ago?
I like the idea of Karone both struggling with and at the same time embracing the part of herself that used to be Astronema when the situation calls for it.
I feel that it's important that the Rangers were willing to put themselves at risk to save Empire civilians; that they were ready to act like heroes.
Rocky's goodbye speech had a callback to his argument with Mercy a couple chapters' ago and that felt poignant and needed.
And there it is, the end of Rocky DeSantos; I always planned for the Blue Thunder Dragon to be a one-off character but I do hope you enjoyed it.
One chapter left to write for this arc and it's gonna tie up loose ends and finally establish what will become the new normal for the third act.

Thank you to Blue Legends for their review on the last chapter.
I'm glad you liked Rocky's Morph, it's a shame it was only a one-off but I feel like that's for the best overall.
As for the Dark Dimension; the reason that nobody is using it is because it was Goldar's and with him being dead there's no way to access it….But what if I told you I have plans?

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.