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Chapter 60 – Fight The Power

The Aegis Rangers had attacked from all sides and yet it had made seemingly no difference at all.

The blows exchanged between the eight combatants had left the area around them an even more ruined and desolate, the fires that had raged in the wake of the hellish bombardment unleashed by the Draco-Ocidendum had been extinguished in the immediate area and the mountains of detritus through which all-consuming plant matter had grown had been smashed aside and laid low to leave an open expanse wherein the thoroughly destroyed hulk of the ship that the Rangers and their allies had arrived in was entirely indistinguishable from the wreckage around it.

Mercy's body cleared a path through this destruction, revealing the rain-soaked mud as she was set hurtling backwards by a punishing kick from the hind legs of Sutinga, the latest Dark Empire warrior her team had found themselves facing revealing just how absurdly physically powerful they were.

"Try and surround 'em and give me an opening, they can't counter everything!" hearing Marigold call out orders to her fellow Aegis Rangers prompted Mercy to sink her crimson-bladed Power katana into the sodden ground and use it force herself back to her feet, legs shaking and shoulders sagging as she tried to push through the pain that came with every laboured breath. Taking a moment to gather herself she watched as her team-mates rushed into the fray only to be beaten back by Sutinga, whatever modifications and surgeries had been inflicted on the alien had clearly encompassed more than their physical form, their enemy reacting and calculating at incomprehensible speeds that, when combined with their multiple limbs made Mari's exclamation that the alien couldn't counter them all a questionable thing at best.

Tempestus and Aslaug were the first to attack, the Blue and Yellow Rangers having already been rushing towards Sutinga the moment Mercy was flung across the battlefield; they struck from opposite sides and forewent their weapons, their opponent having already proven themselves to be more than capable of parrying their blows with ease. The Yellow Ranger leapt high into the air and letting out a fierce battle-cry as she reared her fist back for an earth-shattering blow whilst the Blue Ranger rushed close and carried his momentum into a low spinning sweep aimed at the aliens' legs only for both of them to be brought to an unceremonious halt as Sutinga's muscular legs and wide-splayed, frog like feet tensed before they leapt into the air; avoiding Tempestus's attack and driving their shoulder into Aslaug's chest, from there they swung their arms outwards and though the powerful young woman managed to angle herself so that she avoided been torn asunder the scythe-like blades attached to the aliens' cybernetic arms still raked across her armour in a shower of golden yellow sparks as she was sent crashing to the ground, from their Sutinga pressed their advantage and as they fell towards the ground they sent their twin tails surging downwards and their pincer tips seized Tempestus by an arm and a leg, as the alien landed the Blue Ranger was hurled from the ground and launched for away, landing in a crumpled heap with a worrying crash as they impacted against the detritus scattered around.

Sutinga was granted no respite however as the next attack came an instant later, Panthera and Kay working in perfect unison as they launched their assault. The Pink Aegis Ranger's weapon tore through the air in a blur of motion as she unleashed one of her customary ranged attacks only for the combined, curved and serrated blades to be knocked up into the air by the aliens' own bladed appendage only for the attack to be revealed to be a ruse when the Green Ranger came hurtling towards Sutinga with the blade of their gladius glowing with an ethereal green light.

"Your attacks are predictable, your attempt at misdirection was rudimentary at best" the many limbed, mutated and enhanced alien stated, their words sounding mocking even with their flat and metallic voice as they blocked the incoming blow with both of their bladed arms, the surface of the metal beginning to glow within moments of being exposed to Kay's weapon yet the two of them remained locked together until a blur of vibrant pink motion revealed that their plans ran deeper than Sutinga anticipated and that Kay's attack was itself another diversion; Panthera leapt into the and grasped her weapons, preparing to bring them down on her enemies' skull for a finishing blow yet she never had the chance. Sutinga's blades began to crackle with arcs of midnight black lightning before they thrust outwards and pushed Kay back whilst in the same moment their tails lashed out to pluck Panthera from the air, slamming the Pink Ranger into the ground and lifting her into the air again before rearing up onto their hind legs and kinking her back into Kay and sending them both toppling to the ground with their armour sparking and smoking.

It was at this moment that Mercy decided she had seen enough and pushed through her own pain to charge the Dark Empire warrior from behind.

"MARI NOW!" she bellowed as she leapt onto Sutinga's back, straddling on the quadrupedal portion of their body as though riding the alien before preparing to drive her sword through their back, weighing her honour and principles against the lives of those she had sworn to protect and finding that their was no debate to be had; the Gold Ranger came rushing forwards with her cloak fanning out behind her and her Buster Pistols at the ready as she prepared to unleash a hailstorm of shots in tandem with her ability to warp and slow time around herself in a limited area of effect.

Something that Sutinga seemed to predict.

They leapt into the air and seized Mercy with their pincer-tipped tails, throwing them downwards at the exact moment that Mari opened fire, the Red Ranger fell in slow motion and was entirely unable to stop or defend herself, nor was the Gold Ranger able to prevent events from transpiring as her barrage of laser-fire struck her friend and leader; leaving Mercy landing in a crumpled and motionless heap with her armour burned, blackened and flickering.

Sutinga was tackled out of the air before they could appreciate the victory however.

"The savage beast, as predicted" they coldly, the vaguest hints of a pained wince creeping into their tinny and mechanical voice as they shifted their weight upon landing, revealing that at least one of their legs was injured and giving Rensa cause to let out a feral snarl as he stalked them, propulsion system mounted to the back of his Battleizer flaring into life once more as the Black Ranger readied his arm mounted blades and laser cannons before lunging forwards at speed that rendered him near invisible. Sutinga was equal to this however, parrying each of the shots that Rensa fired at them in a relentless barrage with the flat edge of the scythes until the Black Ranger closed the distance and prepared a pair of savage slashing attacks, one aimed at the aliens' neck and the other at their waist, intended to tear their humanoid and quadrupedal sections free of one another.

The blow never landed.

"You have miscalculated" Sutinga taunted as their tails lashed out and first countered by striking Rensa's arms and then snaking around to grasp at the thrusters mounted on his back, in the same instant his scythe-like blades stabbed downwards and pierced the broader blades of Rensa's own weapons; the alien warrior then reared up and kicked the Black Ranger in the chest with all their might and sent Rensa sailing backwards whilst keeping their grip firmly in place, the result was that the thrusters and weapons of the Battleizer were torn away in their entirety and as he struggled to his feet the Black Ranger quickly realised that his higher Morphed state was failing him, his armour returning to its' base form and the familiar bone-deep weariness setting in even as his fellow Aegis Rangers gathered around him and helped him remain upright.

"Lord Carnifex of Wyvern, thirteenth of his name grants proper respect to his enemies and their martial prowess" Sutinga intoned as they strode forwards through the ruin around them "That respect entails learning, he has learned each and every one of your moves and tricks, he has studied you and the results of that study have made me a much greater warrior….I will thank you for your service by granting you swift deaths"

The realisation that they were facing an enemy that had been specifically made to defeat them in a way that none of the monsters they had faced thus-far were sent chills down each of the Aegis Ranger's spines yet as they shared fearful glances, the expressions seemingly easy to read despite the helmets they wore they realised that there was nothing else they could do but continue to fight and hopefully buy the resistance fighters and the civilians around them enough time to escape the Dark Empire forces and as Sutinga continued to approach with deliberate and methodical paces the seven of them exchanged nods of silent confirmation before rushing into combat once again.


Charlie's world had been reduced to an adrenaline fuelled haze of pain as she made her way towards where she knew the evacuation efforts to be taking place; her blood thundered in her ears and her field of vision had narrowed itself down to what was directly in front of her as she allowed herself to think of nothing but her goal despite the pain coursing through her entire body. Every step forward was an act of sheer will for the veteran soldier as she trudged through the mud and debris as fast as her burning and aching muscles would allow, her body was coated in a layer of grime, dirt and dried blood whilst every breath felt like shards of broken glass in her chest and she was certain that several other bones had been cracked or broken over the course of the attack besides her left arm though her arm was a source of agonising misery in of itself; whilst her armour and clothing covered much of the limb she could tell from the odd angle it rested at and the prickling, feverish sensation that spread from the swollen and discoloured limb that it would take several surgeries to repair.

She couldn't focus on that right now however.

Pushing herself beyond what she had previously believed to be her limits she had made it across what had been her resistance cells' base of operations, the shadow of a Dark Empire warship looming over her ominously as she took down any Empire ground troops she encountered with cold, ruthless efficiency despite her injuries; using whatever detritus and wreckage she could wield as improvised weapons before plucking the weapons from her felled enemies until finally she made it to the rallying point where dozens, if not hundreds of fighters, insurgents of all kinds as well as non-combatants including children, the elderly and injured were being hastily ushered into the various vehicles Charlie's forces had managed to gather for themselves all whilst the Dark Empire forces, both those that had teleported down from the warship above and those that were beginning to reach them from the nearest of Harrow Fours' city-states sought to break their lines and kill every member of the insurrection they could find.

"Not today you sons of bitches" Charlie snarled, biting the words out through gritted teeth and hefting her latest stolen weapon, some alien firearm with a wide muzzle and short barrel that discharged crackling bursts of light with effects that made it roughly analogous to a sawn-off shotgun and as she saw that a squad of Dark Empire forces, travelling on vehicles that could best be described as jet-bikes were rapidly speeding towards what remained of her forces' barricades she decided to put the weapon to good use; aiming and firing Charlie was rewarded with a deafening explosion as her shot struck the rider of one of the jet-bikes and as they slumped lifelessly over its' controls the vehicle was sent crashing into the rest of the squad.

Only for those that survived to break off and come tearing towards Charlie herself.

"Captain get down!" Charlie heard one of the rebel soldiers under her command call out to her and yet she raised her weapon again and continued firing, picking off another of the rapidly approaching riders, this time however her enemies were ready for her and managed to avoid a collision; the jet-bikers surged closer and Charlie watched with a sinking feeling of dread as one of them drew a heavy, spike cudgel with clear murderous intent and at that point she finally threw herself aside and let out yell of pain as she landed on her broken arm; the fresh jolt of pain was enough to force her to drop her weapon and she frantically scrabbled in the mud to reclaim it until the air above her was filled with flashes of light and a sizzling, metallic stench followed by several crashes and yells of pain; rolling over to see what was happening Charlie narrowly avoided being hit by one of the jet-bikes as it sailed over her and came crashing to a halt, the remaining enemies having been cut down by a volley of laser-fire from the turret of one of the few remaining vehicles at her forces' disposal.

"Captain, are you okay?" before she could answer Charlie found herself being dragged to her feet and carefully examined by a small cluster of her forces, some she recognised as being natives to Harrow-Four and others from off-world

"Your injures, we need to get you-"

"What's the situation soldier?" Charlie snapped, cutting across her underlings' concern and forcing them to focus on what was indisputably more important

"Captain, your arm" a pale-faced and shocked looking resistance fighter reiterated, producing a knife with which to cut away Charlie's clothing and begin trying to set the shattered limb

"Report soldier! What's the situation" Charlie barked, the already sheet-white soldier paling further still and stammering until a more experienced fighter interjected

"We're moving out and splitting up; the Silver Ranger is en route to teleport forces from off-world out, the fighters from Dread are creating a safe-zone for extraction; the local forces are going to be reinserting themselves and spreading out; Harrow Four is bust but they'll be spreading out to other planets in the sector"

"Understood" Charlie nodded curtly, taking a moment to process the information before asking

"Empire forces?"

"Inbound Captain, those bikes were just the first wave….but we should be able to hold the line until extraction and split their forces-"

"No, not without the Aegis Rangers you can't….they're fighting one of the Empire's modified troops and if that thing overpowers them then we're all dead" Charlie fell silent once again, gashed open and blood-stained brow furrowing as her thoughts reached an inevitable conclusion

"How long until you can evacuate?"

"As soon as we get everyone onboard transports….we'll never make it running on foot, not even with the jungle gone" the most experienced of the group of fighters that had come to her aid answered "Maybe five minutes" Charlie let out a wordless snarl as she clutched her ruined arm to herself before nodding towards the weapon slung over the soldiers' shoulder; a heavy duty photon blaster of a model that Charlie was not entirely familiar with but knew well enough to appreciate, deciding that whilst it wasn't the weapon she had called her 'Enforcer' it would serve her purposes

"Give me your weapon, I'm going back"

"Captain you-"

"The Rangers need help, if the Rangers fall there is nothing between the Alliance and Lord Zedd if he decides to launch another invasion fleet. I'm going back!" as her voice rose the soldiers who had been under her command fell silent and after a moment of tension filled by the sound of rain pattering against the twisted metal that surrounded them the weapon was unslung and handed over and Charlie; secure in the knowledge that her resistance cell knew their duty and would fight to the bitter end if the situation called for it trudged and limped towards one of the jet-bikes that was still relatively intact, mounting the vehicle and bringing its' engine shrieking into life as she prepared to return to the Rangers.

"It's just one of those days isn't it?" she grumbled to nobody in particular before speeding off.


The Aegis Rangers continued to struggle against Sutinga to the best of their abilities but could do little more than keep the monster at bay and avoid killing blows that came in dizzying maelstroms of attacks that would have torn a lesser warrior limb from limb.

Panthera was the latest to be sent hurtling through the air as her attacks were blocked and countered with mocking ease; the many limbed monster parrying the Pink Ranger's attacks with their own blades before hurling in her in a wide arc that carried her towards a twisted and jagged spire of metal that had once been an integral support strut of the ship the Rangers had arrived in, the teal-skinned alien avoiding being skewered as she pulled her body into a back-flip and landed dramatically on the wreckage.

Sutinga paid her no mind however, calculating the limited threat that the Pink Ranger posed before disregarding her and turning their attention elsewhere. A swift and unfeeling analysis informed them that the Black Ranger was too weary to be any real threat at all, Rensa had employed his Battleizer far too early and used it to save those of little strategic importance, if Sutinga were still capable of giving a twisted and sneering smile with what remained of their face beneath their mask they certainly would have. The Blue Ranger was dismissed in turn, his fighting style being simply unsuitable for the fight he had found himself in as Sutinga's reflexes and centre of gravity created by their body type made them far more difficult to throw off balance than the average opponent; the Gold and Green Rangers however were quickly and quietly regarded as priority targets owing to their ranged abilities and Sutinga prepared to engage.

Only for the Yellow Ranger to intrude upon the aliens' thoughts with a crushing blow to the skull.

The alien was sent lurching sideways as a flying knee-strike left one of their antenna reduced to a crumpled and twisted mess and forced them to apply their weight to legs that were already damaged and less than optimal after earlier exchanged; Aslaug wasted no time with formal challenges or other such niceties and simply continued her assault the moment her feet touched the ground by bracing herself and swinging her axe in a two-handed blow aimed at Sutinga's torso

"Your strength is noteworthy" the monstrous create stated flatly as they countered "But your attacks are one dimensional, lacking in versatility" Sutinga's tails arced over their body, the edges of the pincer-like limbs holding Aslaug's axe at bay before they stabbed at the centre of her chest with their bladed arms

"As are yours" the proud tribal warrior retorted with a grunt of exertion as she ripped her axe free of Sutinga's clawed tails and used its' blade to parry the monsters' own as she span away from the attempt to impale her. She had fought since she was a child and whilst she might not have the extensive knowledge of the other fighter that they seemed to have of her and her team she had seen enough of their attacks and had enough experience from other battles to make inferences and predictions and so she dropped into a crouch and sank the blade of her axe into the soft, muddy ground without hesitation; her choice being proven correct as Sutinga's scythes crackles with energy once again before the monster unleashed a shock-wave of concussive force that would have sent her flying backwards if she had not expected and prepared for it.

The moment the rushing winds subsided a counter-attack was unleashed

"Now!" the Red Ranger's voice called out and Aslaug quickly ripped her axe free of the ground, holding the flat of the blade out for Mercy to use as a spring-board before hurling her towards the alien they fought with her katana at the ready, its' blade pulsing with fiery red light. The blow was blocked and the impact of metal on metal sent a second shock-wave ripping through their surroundings

"Your aptitude for joint efforts and preference for working with the Yellow Ranger has been documented" Sutinga offered in their aloof and mechanical tones, even as they and Mercy struggled against each other with sparks flying from the point where their blades met

"Your ability to inspire others and lead those around you has also been documented Red Ranger" the alien added "Your death will serve to demoralise all those who stand against Lord Zedd; a strategic victory" with that they lashed out at blinding speeds once again and it was all Mercy could do to keep her skull from being pierced and smashed open; as it was she was left momentarily blinded by both the pain of her neck being forced backwards with frightening force and the triangular visor of her helmet shattering when Sutinga's tails struck full in the face. Still struggling to see Mercy prepared to charge again, glancing briefly at the Battleizer fitted over her Morpher and silently hoping for anything at all that might help her yet no answer came and no burst of hitherto unseen power revealed itself to her as Sutinga rose up onto their hind legs and kicked her in the chest. Mercy's momentum was stolen from her and the wide, padded toes of the aliens' frog-like feet latched onto her armour, holding the Red Ranger firm as they plucked her from the ground and slammed her down into it with a thud that left her already scuffed, blasted and damaged armour flickering around her; from there it became painfully obvious that she was entirely at Sutinga's mercy, the monster readied their blades and it was clear that the killing blow would come long before Aslaug or the other Rangers could reach her.

Then something entirely unexpected happened.

"GET CLEAR!" From her position trapped beneath Sutinga's webbed foot and immovable grip Mercy was treated to several sounds of confusion and surprise from her team as they scrambled to comply with the familiar voices' order, then she had a mere fraction of a second to process the sound of some sort alien propulsion system roaring closer before Sutinga was flung several dozen feet a way in a deafening collision of metal on metal and artificially augmented flesh and bone been mangled.

"STAY DOWN!" Mercy's attempt to leap to her feet was pre-emptively halted and instead the Red Ranger rolled over on the rain-soaked ground and saw that her rescuer was none other than former Silver Guardian Specialist, former traitor to humanity and the Alliance of Worlds as whole and her fellow member of Karone's Guerilla faction, Charlie Morales. The older and more muscular woman looked decidedly worse for wear, sporting several bruises and cuts that had left her covered in dried blood along with a clearly shattered arm yet still she had returned and carrying a highly dangerous weapon to boot which Mercy noticed as Charlie took a firing position and readied said weapon with her one mobile arm. A moment later the shrieking of metal being torn assaulted her ears, made all the more horrific without her helmet to filter the noise and she turned to watch as Sutinga pulled themselves free of the twisted and mangled remains of the jet-bike that Charlie had sent ploughing into them; one of the aliens' tails had been ripped away, their left arm had been ripped away at the elbow in what Mercy was certain Charlie would consider a form of justice and the monsters' scaly, sea-green hide and beige underbelly and chest had been lacerated in countless places with some of the wounds still having fragments of metal protruding from them.

It was at that moment Charlie simply fired the weapon, wasting no words and targeting what were clearly the fuel-tanks of her stolen jet-bike rather than Sutinga themselves, the resulting explosion forming a blossoming fireball that reached high into the air and left Mercy frantically covering her eyes from the blinding, searing light until she was tackled to the ground; the immediate panic at the sensation vanishing as she recognised the familiar weight as belonging to Aslaug.

"I'm okay, I'm okay" she assured breathlessly as Aslaug lifted her to her feet and cupped her cheeks gently; the larger woman acutely aware of how much power she held in her hands whilst Mercy's helmet was sheared away and the two of them locked eyes despite the visor between them, their fellow Rangers gathering with their weapons held at the ready going almost entirely unnoticed as the two of them found their focus narrowed down to nothing but each other until Mercy reached up on her toes and planted a gentle kiss on the side of Aslaug's helmet, realising that her lip had been cut by fragments of her shattered helmet upon seeing the small spot of blood she left behind. She took in the sight of Kay and Panthera al but clinging to one another and Mari and Tempestus supporting the weight of an exhausted Rensa whose morphed state flickered sporadically around him before her deep brown eyes narrowed as they locked on her target

"I told you to go, I told you to evacuate-"

"The others are gone, the evacuation is under way. Everyone is either heading for an extraction point or splitting up and heading into the other Empire settlements to start over and build new cells" Charlie cut her off, each work growled through clenched teeth as the veteran sought to both push through the pain and keep her anger in check until her tone changed, becoming softer and yet somehow more fiery as she added "And you don't give me orders kid, I'm the Commanding Officer here and I am not gonna be the person who leaves the Power Rangers behind….Karone would have me ejected into space" Mercy paused, faltering a moment before a smile fuelled more by the giddiness of rapidly fading adrenaline than anything else plastered itself across her face

"Thank you" she managed before giggling, the sound soon giving way to a hysterical fit of laughter as she wheezed out her next words "Studied all of our moves….but they didn't see that one coming"

And then the fragile sense of peace and victory was shattered

"Oh that is not groovy, not groovy at all" Tempestus's deadpan voice was enough to cause the rest of the Aegis Rangers and Charlie to follow his gaze upwards, a slew of curses and frantic exclamations spilling from them as they saw the Draco-Ocidendum, still looming silently over them and filling the steely grey skies with its' haunting presence fire a single projectile which began to glow and burn as it streaked down towards them.

A mutagenic grenade had been fired and the Rangers were still unable to summon their Zords.


The Command Centre of Promethea One and the Inner Sanctum of Karone's hidden asteroid-field base had been in a state of frantic, almost feverish activity since the moment they had learned of the personal warship of Carnifex of Wyvern appearing above Harrow Four, a small but well-versed collection of humanities' finest minds spread across the two sites working towards the single goal of getting the Aegis Zords to their Rangers despite the vast gulf of space that separated them.

Zebidiah had watched on in silence as the realisation dawned on him that they would not succeed.

Billy, Justin and Grace had enlisted the aid of Professor Rawlings, formerly Fairweather in a fit of near-desperation; the mind behind the Lightspeed Rangers and their Zords had been teleported from her station at one of the other colony ships and heavily armed space stations that hung in orbit around Earth as a final line of defence.

The four of them had discussed quantum mechanics, dismissed countless options as unfeasible or simply unworkable with too many variables and considered just as many only to be forced to abandon each half-formed plan in turn as it became painfully clear that they would require infrastructure that simple did no exist yet and would take weeks if not months to create, Justin succinctly noting that they would be useful for missions in the future but were meaningless at that moment. Zebidiah had been asked for his opinions and input, the former Lord Zedd being the undisputed expert in the realm of the arcane amongst them yet with his powers so heavily curtailed by the near-death of his physical form the sorcerer was forced to admit that there was little he could do safely; Zebidiah's attention however had strayed away from the scientists and been focused on Karone and Corcus, the former villain turned Pink Ranger and rebel leader and the former Black Ranger and stoic warrior turned strategist working closely despite their vastly different approaches to war as Karone contacted her forces on the surface of Harrow Four and the two of them began issuing orders to them directly, lending their expertise to each squad and seeing that they reached safety, or at least the closest thing to it they could find.

And then the inevitable disaster had struck.

"The Aegis Rangers were successful?" Zebidiah's psychic projection within its' tube arched an eyebrow with the question "I presume that's the cause of the panicked screaming I can hear"

"Why would that lead to-oh, oh no" Grace trailed off, hands flying to her mouth as she realised what had happened.

"Zebidiah is right" Karone admitted, her expression suggesting that the words caused her physical pain "The Dark Empire officer that was acting as the spearhead of the attack was defeated however the Empire ship above them reacted exactly as expected, by firing a mutagenic grenade and pulling back….The Aegis Rangers and our guerilla cell on Harrow-Four are now surrounded by Empire forces moving in from elsewhere on the planet whilst also having a giant monster capable of simply crushing them underfoot to contend with and Zhane won't reach them until it's far too late at this rate" there was a heavy, claustrophobic silence that hung in the air following Karone's simple, honest and yet agonisingly bleak summation of things; a vacuum where their hope had been that seemed to choke and strangle until Billy's clenched fist struck a console, the dull thud jolting them all to their senses

"Control your-"

"DAMN IT NO!" Corcus's rebuke was cut off as the former Blue Ranger raged "NO PROBLEM IS WITHOUT AN ANSWER, THERE MUST BE A WAY!"

Zebidiah's manifestation closed its' eyes, an entirely unnecessary gesture but one that the sorcerer performed anyway as he began both gathering his magic to himself in terrifying quantities, causing several machines dedicated to keeping his failing body alive to emit screaming warnings and error readings and mentally preparing himself for what would come next.

"I can help" the simple words caused a fresh silence

"I thought you said there was nothing you could do?" Karone demanded

"I said there was nothing I could do safely" Zebidiah corrected "At this juncture my own safety is no longer a concern"

"Zeb" Grace's voice was a stern warning and a plea all in one yet as he turned towards her the former warlord seemed not to have heard her.

"I am going to open a portal, one large enough to send the Zords to the Rangers; they will need to be made ready so that they are fit to pilot upon arrival; this will take everything I have and I will likely be unable to communicate with you all for some time, I expect I will have enough magic remaining to keep my body alive but no more than that. This is not a goodbye this is a farewell for now, thank you Doctor Sterling; you have been a friend these last twenty years and I look forward to seeing you through the eyes of whatever mechanical home you find for my soul" with that Zebidiah turned away from Grace's stunned, ashen face and focused his attention on the viewing globe where the image of Karone and her own Mission Control team was still displayed "Karone, Billy you would do well to have something in place to move the Zords after the Rangers are done with them on Harrow Four, there's little sense in leaving them to be destroyed"

"Of course" Billy nodded, his previous anger vanishing and being replaced by a profound sadness; despite Zebidiah's assurances that this was not permanent and despite everything that had happened between the pair since the Blue Ranger's teenage years the former Lord Zedd's current line of conversation felt painfully like a self sacrifice and a goodbye

"And Billy, Justin, Karone….I trust that one of you will explain things to my Grandchild" Zebidiah fixed them all with a stern glare that gave way to glowing, warm pride "Tell Kay that I'm proud of what they've become in such a short period of time"

"We will" Justin murmured, nodding in understanding and with that final confirmation given and with lives hanging in the balance with each passing moment Zebidiah decided that there were no more reasons to dally or delay what needed to be done; with a single reality-warping burst the former Lord Zedd unveiled his true arcane might, focusing on both where he knew the world of Harrow Four to be and the Aegis Zords in the depths of Promethea One below him and focusing every ounce of his remaining magical strength into tearing a hole and forging a bridge between those two points. Alarms screeched and blared throughout the Command Centre as the effects of his magic became known and Karone frantically answered incoming communications from her forces on the ground.

Yet Zebidiah heard none of it, his astral projection fading out existence as his mind gave into the darkness and silence that engulfed it.


The lurching, tingling feeling of teleportation combined with the sudden sensation of having ones' mind accelerated and expanded outwards to control a much larger body was one that had become familiar to each of the Aegis Rangers after piloting their Zords as many times as they had; yet to feel it here and now, on a world far from the reach of the Alliance, where their defeat beneath a stormy sky and the shadow of an Empire warship had seemed almost certain had left each of them stunned and confused for several moments.

More importantly however it had given them fresh hope.

"Okay we'll the how, why and what the heck later! Right now we've got a job to do!" Mercy called out as she found herself in the cockpit of the Hawk Zord after what felt like far too long and brought the avian mecha wheeling around in a wide arc so that she could take in the sight of what Sutinga had become. The Empire's latest monster had been reanimated and grown to a behemoth size by the mutagenic grenade and was now large enough to reach the extraction point that the retreating resistance were setting up and crush it underfoot in a few strides though their transformation had been more than a simple increase and size; raw and bloody sinew beneath their green flesh with its' mottled black markings that had been exposed by the jet-bike crashing into them and the subsequent explosion had grown, mutated and intertwined and now Sutinga's remaining tail was dragged into a more central position whilst the pincer at its' tip had grown into a larger, bulkier and overall more frightening thing whilst the aliens' modified flesh had grown through their cybernetic left arm and fused itself with the damaged limb in gruesome fashion, wires and cables that had hung loosely where the arm had been severed at the elbow were now a series of thrashing, prehensile whips that sparked dangerously. Legs that had been broken now sported jagged bone spurs and metal that had been worked into the monsters' skeleton now lay exposed and had fused with wreckage that had been embodied in their torso to create a grisly exoskeleton of jagged metal blades covering partially exposed organs.

Yet even as they regarded this grotesque and titanic enemy the Rangers felt no fear.

"No time to play around" Mercy noted, the cockpit of her Zord fulfilling the roles of her now removed helmet "Mari, Kay give us an opening and we'll go straight to the Ultrazord so we can end this quickly"

"As you wish cousin" Kay's melodic voice answered, tinged the vaguest hints of laughter as their mind melded with that of the Dragonzord and allowed them to share the sensation of flight along with the near-sentient machines' own primal fury. A moment later Mercy felt the Hawk Zord shudder in the air as the Dragon and Winged Lion Zords tore through the air beside it and unleashed their various weapons at Sutinga's reanimated and screaming form; the Red Ranger then turned her attention towards the ground where she saw that the Blue, Yellow, Pink and Black Rangers had moved their respective machines into position and with a single mental command, delivered in perfect unison a familiar synthetic yet feminine voice sounded through each of the seven cockpits.

'Ultrazord activation has been initiated'

From there the process began as it always did, the Osore and Sabre-Beast Zords forming legs to support the Ursa Titan Zord as it reshaped itself into a torso whilst the Plesion Zord unfurled and created a pair of arms along with the left shoulder cannon before the Hawk Zord swooped into place to create the head of the Megazord; from there the Dragon and Winged Lion Zords disassembled themselves and, with some reconfiguration became additional armour and weapons until the Ultrazord hovered above the battlefield carrying its' lance and shield, carried by three pairs of wings to appear as some armoured angelic figure.

'Ultrazord activated'

The words were punctuated by another rush of acceleration as the minds of the Aegis Rangers were networked together, each of them feeling the others at the edge of their consciousness as thoughts began to blur into one another.

"So how are we doing this?" Panthera asked, her consciousness reaching out and preparing to take control of the cannons mounted on the Ultrazords' shoulders but not immediately firing, Mercy paused and considered before answering

"They don't seem too smart now?" her words were punctuated by a metallic shriek from Sutinga as the reanimated monster pawed at the blasted ground with an unnaturally twisted limb

"No" Tempestus murmured quietly "The side effects of the mutagenic grenade….or perhaps of the reanimation process itself, it robs the recipient of much of their higher brain function; they're likely unable to analyse and predict our moves now"

"They're no longer a warrior, just a beast" Aslaug grunted

"Then we hit them hard and with everything we've got" Rensa snarled

"Agreed" Kay added.

"We're using a giant robot to take down an alien zombie….what has my life become" Mari almost managed a chuckle before Mercy's consciousness reached out and each of the Aegis Rangers followed her lead, the seven of them readying the Ultrazords' massive lance and aiming it directly at the monster below them; the head of the weapon was formed of the Dragonzord's tail and the spaces between each individual segment glowed with an ethereal green light that rapidly began to shift into a brilliant, blinding light until the Rangers finally unleashed their attack with a shared battle-cry

"ULTRA IMPACT!" the steel-grey skies were illuminated and the explosion of raw power was both seen and felt as a tremor through the ground in Dark Empire settlements almost halfway across the world of Harrow-Four and when the afterglow of the Ultrazords' attack subsided the enormous robot hovered above the epicentre of a crater that spanned several miles. The entirety of the jungle of omnivorous plant matter and the sea of detritus that it fed upon were simply gone and rain sizzled and evaporated in the air simply through its' proximity to the vast machine.

Most importantly however there was no trace of Sutinga at all.

"Rangers" a wheezing, breathless and pained voice sounded through the cockpit of the Ultrazord

"Charlie?" Mercy asked, dread sinking into every fibre of her being only to be washed away as the veteran whom she had shown no consideration for spoke again

"Yeah I'm still alive, I took cover the second your toys turned up….I have word from Zhane, he'll be ready to begin evac in minutes and it looks like you've scared them Empire forces enough for them to fall back. We win this round"

"We haven't won yet" Mercy countered coldly before taking direct control of the Ultrazord and bringing down to land in the crater its' attack had formed and readying its' cannons, lance and shield; assuming a combat stance as its' giant armoured cranium turned and glared up at the Draco-Ocidendum.

The sight of the Ultrazord placing itself between the world and the Empire warship was a metaphor none who saw it could miss and the image would likely be forever burned into the collective psyche of those the Dark Empire called its' subjects.


The temple atop the spine of the hull Draco-Ocidendum wherein honour duels and similar ritual affairs took place had been, prior to this moment had been considered a sacred ground; a place where even in the vast and cold expanse of the void those native to the blazing world of Wyvern could honour their ancestors and practice their ancient warrior customs.

Now it was simply a slaughterhouse.

Blood sizzled and boiled as it pooled on the hard marble floor and spattered across walls laden with mosaics depicting battles that had come before whilst the bodies of those who had dared to rise up against Lord Carnifex of Wyvern, thirteenth of his name lay torn asunder and broken open, some of them still twitching as the last vestiges of life left them yet Carnifex himself noticed none of this; his golden eyes with their slitted pupils glowing with inner dark magic that spilled out from within him as shifting and roiling flames and a sense of pure, unspeakable hatred as he strode closer to the last of his enemies to still draw breath.

Carnifex had been sure to keep the one responsible for this failed uprising alive until the end, forcing him to watch what became of his fellow would be usurpers.

"Please, I yield, mercy my lord!" the wounded and bloodied Knight of Wyvern pleaded, their voice as cracked and broken as their bones and armour yet Carnifex repaid them with cold and predatory silence as he stalked closer with deliberate steps, each pace forward leaving fragments of rubble behind as his talons carved into the ground beneath them; seeing that the twisted and gutted form of one of the traitors cohorts still twitched Carnifex hefted his double-edged and burning sword overhead and brought it down with a roar, a fresh wave of the coppery stench of blood filling the air as the blade tore through flesh, skull and brain before being buried in the ground beneath them.

"Honour duels are too the death coward, die with the same honour you fought with" Carnifex finally spoke and no trace of their clipped and distinguished tones remained, every word being a hate-filled guttural snarl that reverberated in the chests of any who heard it; looming over the last of his enemies Carnifex reached down and grasped the usurpers' skull between his mechanical, clawed hands before placing a taloned foot on their chest. The last of the rebel Knights of Wyvern continued to beg and protests until their voice was reduced to awful, choked scream before the sound of flesh and bone being rent filled the air and a splash of arterial spray coated the wall and floor; Carnifex glared down at the severed head that he had ripped from its' owners body and watched the last of the light leave its' eyes, keeping it in his grasp for a moment before casting it aside and opening a comm channel

"Report!" he demanded, his bloodlust not yet sated and reducing him to an almost frenzied state that he struggled to return from

"My-my Lord" one of his loyal warriors stammered "The Alliance has begun to evacuate and our ground forces have been eliminated, Sutinga has been defeated-"

"Destroy the Alliance ship!"

"My Lord we no longer have the arsenal to do so, our exile and campaign against the Silver Ranger has drained-"

"FIRE A MUTAGENIC GRENADE!"

"My Lord we already did" the admission stunned Carnifex into silence, only for the follow up to enrage him further "The Aegis Rangers have somehow gained access to their war machines despite being so far from their stronghold….Sutinga is gone my Lord and the Ultrazord remains"

Carnifex let out a howl of indescribable fury that seemed to carry throughout the very hull of the Draco-Ocidendum and let those aboard it know that their end was near.

Author's Notes:

Okay so we're three quarters of the way through this arc, just one more chapter to wrap it up with.
Then we've got four more arcs to write and the story is over.
I'm going to be entirely honest I think this is going to be the first last and only thing I write for the Power Rangers community. I say that because:
A) The feedback I get on this story relative to those I write for others communities is frankly abysmal, there's just no incentive to write something that nobody is reading.
B) The recent spree of Power Rangers actors coming out as Trump supporters, homophobes, racists and other forms of bigoted scum quite honestly makes it difficult to support this franchise any longer.
So yeah, I like the concept and the potential of Power Rangers more than I actually like Power Rangers itself so I'm not going to abandon this story after over a year of writing, but once it's over I'm out.
Unless and until the community and the Powers that be organising things decide to live up to the spirit of what PR is supposed to represent then I don't want to be part of it.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Eight combatants and one of them has way too many limbs, I really do enjoy giving myself awkward jobs don't I.
That dismissal of Tempestus and Aslaug was just to give a better idea of how this monster fights and how fast they are.
Panthera and Kay tag-team, the main attack you ignored was just another feint.
Mari's plan would have worked normally, it was a pretty solid use of what she had at her disposal.
Nope, Battleizer mode is not gonna be an auto-win in this story, you can get torn right out of that armour if you're not careful.
And that's why they're so damn good, they already know the Rangers moves.
Charlie really was the MVP.
The Empire has hover-tank, did you really think that the Masked Riders were the only people with Jet-Bikes?
I hope my writing in this scene captured just how frantic and fast paced the violence seemed in my head.
So the resistance evac is still underway and going well.
Of course she went back.
Sutinga can calculate as much as they want, if Aslaug decided to make herself a problem then she's a problem and you've gotta deal with that.
Aslaug has a point, Sutinga really wasn't that in depth with their own style; just parry and counter.
The best cold analytical minds don't ignore emotional and psychology, the incorporate it into their logic and do things like pick targets whose death will demoralise their allies.
All those countermeasures for the Rangers….did not expect to be the victim of vehicular homicide though.
So Mercy and Charlie obviously need to have a talk next chapter.
You knew the Rangers were gonna get the Zords but you knew I wasn't just gonna give them out for free by having one of the scientists figure it out; the question was always what do they have to trade for it.
The answer was Zebidiah….He isn't actually dead, but launching seven Zords across the galaxy whilst already using most of his magic to stay alive has basically put him in a coma, he's effectively gone until Grace can put him in a new body.
I'm all for the monsters getting even more gruesome as they grow, really play into that body horror.
And now for the Ultrazord to make it's return, it's actually been a few months since I've wrote them.
The fight was quick because there was no reason to drag it out, Sutinga lost the intelligence that made them a threat when they were reanimated.
No they didn't kill Charlie by accident with the blast.
So yeah, Carnifex has retained control of his ship and forces….In brutal fashion.
RIP that guy.
And he won just in time to find out that his plans have gone to shit, again…..Oh he is pissed.

Thank you to Blue Legends for their reply on the last chapter.
I'm glad you like the monster of the week design.
The character interactions are always fun to write.
You got more Charlie content this week, enjoy.

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