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Chapter 77 – Endgame
For a single moment the Command Centre of Promethea One, the base from which the group designated as Mission Control for the Alliance of Worlds' currently active team of Power Rangers had been filled by a deathly silence as the sheer, numbing and bone chilling scale of what had befallen them and the planet Earth as a whole became clear.
And then that moment which had stretched out for an unknowable amount of time had ended and the dread-filled stillness had been shattered irrevocably as the room had erupted into sound and motion
"The warship 'Soul of the Dragon' was just destroyed! Empire ships are attacking the colony ships directly!"
"Fort Stalwart are reporting that their reactors are damaged! They need immediate assistance, if they go critical the explosion cold damage the colony ships and weapons platforms around them!"
"More Empire ground forces are materialising! Local military and law enforcement in New Delhi, Jakarta and Buenos Aires are moving to engage; Silver Guardian assistance is being requested but they're already stretched thin and-"
"ENOUGH!" Corcus's voice, bubbling and oddly distorted like that of any Aquitian in an atmosphere beyond that of their home-world was booming and forceful; silencing the dozens of panicked and desperate declarations from the staff of the Command Centre, many of whom were not trained warriors though the former Black Ranger found himself willing to admit that there was little, if anything that could have prepared them for this. As his voice reverberated within the spherical room and silenced all chatter Corcus took a moment to steady himself, performing a pared down form of one of his peoples' many meditative rites in an effort to find his proverbial centre; accepting that no matter how well he or those under his command conducted himself the loss of life in this battle would be tremendous and simply resolving to do everything he could to ensure that humanity, a young and relatively primitive species who had nonetheless aided his own people on multiple occasions would have a future.
With that in mind he turned to Billy, Justin, Zebidiah and Grace; the head of Promethea having arrived in the Command Centre the moment it became clear that she was needed.
"Doctor Sterling your knowledge of the assets at our disposal in the battle against the Empire fleet is second to none; I trust you can find workable solutions"
"I'm not a soldier, I'm not a strategist" Grace murmured, suddenly looking and feeling every year of her advanced age yet steeling herself nonetheless and meeting Corcus's gaze with eyes that were resolute and defiant "But I was a Power Ranger for a day and I designed the colony ships and most of our fleet-"
"Then contact the captains of the ships and begin co-ordinating our defences, see to it that the Empire pay dearly for every life they take" seeing Grace nod in understanding before making her way towards one of the many terminals that lined the Command Centre and gather a team of individuals that she would delegate tasks to around her Corcus turned his attention to Billy Cranston
"Naturally you will be providing scientific advice should it be required" he noted before adding "Until then, what of the various Power Rangers in the field?"
"The Delta Rangers have been deployed to Seoul and are already engaging Empire ground forces, trying to limit their advance out of their drop-zone" Billy paused, brushing his newly scarred cheek as he looked away unable to meet Corcus's eyes as his voice cracked "They're not ready for this….that team was never meant….Damn it Corcus they're going to-"
"Quite possibly" Corcus nodded, cutting across Billy's building grief and frustration "But that is the sacrifice all those touched by the Power must be willing to make-"
"They didn't choose this-"
"Nor did any of us" Corcus noted gently "But we do what we must….has there been any word regarding the Aegis Rangers?"
"None" Billy ground out with enough fury to give even the hardened and detached Corcus a moments' pause; under normal circumstances he would have offered what few words of kindness or reassurance he could muster despite the differences between the two of them, Billy's son was after all a remarkable young Aquitian but their current circumstances were anything but normal
"What of the other Rangers?"
"TJ is already in the field" Billy answered coldly "Others are deploying as we speak"
"Good….You are possibly the most experienced former Power Ranger left to us, use your skills to help coordinate them as you see fit" Corcus turned to Justin "What of our other forces?"
"Silver Guardians are deploying from Colony ships and bases all over the planet to respond to Empire forces, a large contingent are accompanying the Quantum Ranger to combat the assault on New York City….Commander Cruger is currently not responding but the Moonbase forces are clearly running their own operations"
"Sabotage and assassinations" Corcus muttered shaking his head, disregarding his own personal distaste for such methods of war and accepting that simply using snipers against dangerous targets and sending teams of specialists aboard the Empires' ships to disable them from within would save innumerable lives.
"Good" he ultimately breathed out "What of the other forces?"
"The militaries of individual nations are being pushed to their limits, although the Empire focusing their attacks on large cities rather than blanketing us completely might buy some time" Justin answered, surveying the spread of the enemies' vast forces across a map of Earth "We've called for aid….the Alliance, hell the entire galaxy knows what's happening here; we've just gotta hold on"
"What of the Ninja Academies?"
"Kazama has returned to the Fire Academy, the different schools are going to be acting in unison" Corcus nodded at that, expecting nothing less than decisive action from the ninjas whose actions he had learned of and been impressed by during his time on Promethea One, with a plan beginning to form in his mind the veteran warrior turned to Zebidiah yet before he could consult with the recently revived sorcerer a skinless, metallic and skeletal hand waved him away
"I must leave" Zebidiah said bluntly "I am needed on the ground" Corcus remained silent for a moment, staring into the twin swirling cosmoses that were the eyes of Zebidiah's new body and processing the words which had been delivered with unshakeable certainty
"Then go….I trust your decision" the admission did not come easily yet it allowed Corcus to breathe a little easier and as Zebidiah left, teleporting out of the Command Centre in a flash of bloody crimson the former Black Ranger turned to face the spherical room as a whole and addressed them perfect clarity and self-assurance.
"Moving forwards our goal is not to defeat the Dark Empire but to save humanity" the words echoed around the Command Centre "To that end our efforts and those of our allies in the field are to be focused on the goal of evacuating as many of Earths' most populated cities onto the colony ships in preparation for a full scale exodus from the planet. Humanity has made itself at home among the stars since learning that your species was not alone in the galaxy and even if your world is taken from you today I have no doubt that humanity itself will continue to prosper and change the galaxy for the better….We will be the ones to ensure it; may the Power protect us all"
What had once been the office of the United Nations in the city of Geneva had been repurposed since Earth had joined the Alliance of Worlds decades ago and now served an equally noble yet mode widely reaching goal; the Palace of Nations as it had once been known now played host to emissaries, dignitaries and delegates from cultures all across the Alliance of Worlds many of whom did not yet have a consulate or embassy on the planet yet. The palace, though it was rarely called such any more had remained largely the same from an outsiders' perspective though a notable change was that the flags of each member state which had once lined the path to its' entrance had been replaced instead with the flags of a united Earth and the iconography of various other planets within the Alliance along with intergalactic bodies such as Project Lightspeed itself; another notable difference was the sheer volume of armed personnel present on the grounds of the building at any given time as the palace was almost always filled with members of interplanetary governments whose fate could feasibly lead to hostilities on an unthinkable scale if any harm were to come to them.
Unfortunately those guards soon found themselves overwhelmed as the open and sizeable grounds of the building proved themselves to be exactly the kind of terrain suited to an Empire attack. Whilst on the west coast of America where the Delta Rangers had fought Broodwing prior to the emergence of the Empire fleet it had been mid afternoon in Geneva the attack had come in the dead of night, the darkness being split first by countless flashes of teleportation which were then swiftly followed by floodlights sweeping the grounds to highlight the source of the sudden shift in the air pressure.
Putties, countless thousands of them warbling in unnerving unison and advancing in a shambling parody of organisation with their eye sockets giving off a faint glow of deep red magical light; a wide semicircle of bodies that enveloped the front and much of the sides of the building as they descended inexorably upon it and paid no heed to the sound of weapons being hastily readied and aimed by trembling hands until a single voice rose above the sound of moving stone, all but deafening with the force of the speakers' conviction
"OFFENES FEUER!" with that the first volley was unleashed and the soldiers protecting the palace and most importantly those inside its' walls began their counter-attack; thin beams of light fired from laser weapons being joined by the muzzle flash of more conventional weapons and the coloured flashes of more alien and esoteric photon and plasma devices until the air was filled with a cacophony of explosions, low warping bass tones and high pitched hissing shrieks of the air itself being torn asunder though all of it was undercut by the steady and unrelenting sound of the Putties footsteps and their incessant chattering, the soulless constructs never breaking their stride and with every body that collapsed to the ground and shattered being seemingly replaced by another identical construct in an instant until hope began to slip away from the defenders and the realisation that their positions would be overrun long before they could thin down their enemies' numbers set in.
Fortunately they were not alone.
Vice Admiral TJ Johnson of Project Lightspeed, the former Red Turbo Ranger and Blue Astro Ranger had seen fit to attend a meeting within the Geneva Office of the Alliance following his gifting of a spaceship to Zhane and Karone, appearing in person to both explain his allocation of those resources and provide an update on the situation of the Power Rangers; both those who would soon be defending Earth and those who had been lost in Empire space but would seemingly be rejoining them in short order. It was for this reason that when the sound of shattering glass reached the ears of those who continued to empty their weapons into the tide of Putties that hope was reignited, for that sound was followed first by a streak of vibrant cobalt blue light and then by the sight of Vice Admiral Johnson, Morphed and in the armour of the Blue Ranger landing between them and the Putties with his axe in hand.
And then the Putties were cut down in swathes.
A crescent shaped wave of royal blue surged outwards from the blade and into the encroaching automatons as he landed and delivered a wide slash in a single motion before following immediately a spinning motion that unleashed another wave and from there TJ wasted no time in drawing the blaster pistol holstered at his hip and charging into the mass of animated bodies, gunfire from his human allies chipping away at the Putties all the while. The moment the Blue Ranger reached the Putties' lines the onslaught continued and took on a more deliberate and enraged tone to the impersonal culling that he had administered up until this point, the first construct he reached being struck with a kick in the chest that not only shattered the central circular plate of its' torso but also flung it backwards to similarly shatter and destroy more of its' kind in a devastating chain reaction and from there TJ was simply a whirlwind of destruction; the butt of his pistol collided with the face of another Putty with enough force to crack its' stone surface and leave the magical light on one of its' eyes flickering before he swung his axe downwards to cleave thing from shoulder to opposite head then followed up by decapitating another Putty and driving his elbow into its' chest to shatter it.
But then the Putties began to treat him as a serious threat.
The soldiers continued to fire and a few brave men and women charged into the mass of warbling bodies, throwing grenades and fixing bayonets as they watched the thousands of flailing grey bodies descend upon the Blue Astro Ranger, rushing into the space he had created like water flooding into a drain and it came clear that no matter how capable any single fighter may be such an enormous weight of numbers would be insurmountable.
Until a flash of teleportation split the night sky once again.
This time the light was a pale grey in colour, a shade that seemed as though it should not have been possible of glowing or being incandescent in such a way and before that light had even fully subsided or rush of air caused by displaced atmosphere properly dispersed bursts of light began to rain down from above, tearing fist-sized holes into the bodies of the automatons they struck until the warrior responsible landed in a crouch behind TJ, rising to their feet and transforming the weapon in their hand into an axe of their own whilst bringing its' blade arcing upwards to cut through a trio of Putties in a single slash.
"I thought you retired?" TJ noted, a small grin on his battle-scarred face beneath his helmet
"We never get to retire really….Events like this bring us back"
"Does this mean I have to give up the office? I'd just gotten around to decorating it" TJ punctuated the statement by firing over the newcomers' shoulder to dispatch another Putty and took in the sight of the dull gunmetal armour and signature burnished gold, almost Y shaped trim of the Titanium Ranger's armour covering the feminine curves of his predecessor and once Pink Ranger Dana Mitchell.
"It's good to see you Dana" TJ continued, even as he put down one automaton after another in rapid succession "I'd salute but my hands are full at the moment"
"Likewise TJ" Dana replied, breaking a stony body apart with her knee and adding "I'm not officially out of retirement….I've been out of the loop since Unus, convalescing. I saw the attacks on the news and assumed that this would be one of the locations to be attacked, what's happening?"
"They're everywhere Dana….Lord Zedd managed to get an entire fleet into orbit, the ships are attacking our defences and ground troops are hitting major cities all over the world" TJ admitted, suddenly sombre as he delivered words that made the Titanium Ranger's blood run cold "I don't know if the Power Rangers can save everyone this time, there just aren't enough of us left"
From the moment the colossal Empire ships that had appeared without warning in Earths' orbit began disgorging their equally vast amounts of troops, both living infantry with all the attendant equipment one would expect from such a force and endless tides of Putties certain key locations around the world had been put on high alert as protocols that humanity had hoped would never have to be tested came into effect; New York city was one such location and this foresight quickly found validation as the invaders began targeting major cities across the globe, cutting down defenders and civilians alike as they rampaged outwards from the locations they had arrived at, the only limiting factor to their reach seemingly being the amount of open space required to teleport such massive armies safely.
When the Empire came to New York city it was only natural that their forces appeared first in Central Park.
As the shadow of a behemoth, axe-shaped vessel fell over the city the first waves were teleported down to the ground and tides of warbling and flailing Putties were joined by small teams of well armed and trained Empire warriors, aliens from countless planets united under a single banner and given strategic targets to eliminate whilst the automatons attended to the bulk of the resistance and heavy armour in the form of hovering tanks and artillery pieces along with various other mechanical implements of death were made ready for use against any fortifications or armour levied against them. The people of Earth once again proved themselves tenacious to the bitter end however and before those forces could advance beyond the limits of Central Park they had been counter-attacked by military forces joined by dozens of squads of Silver Guardian specialists armed with the most lethal weaponry that the Alliance could provide who had been laying in wait for the inevitable attack on New York.
With all of it having been lead by Eric Myers, the Quantum Ranger.
At that moment Central Park and several city blocks in any given direction beyond it were an open war-zone where the air was thick with smoke and the screams of the wounded and dying, the afternoon sky prematurely darkened by the Empire warship above blocking out the sun leaving those below fighting in an unnatural twilight that was lit by raging fires and the flashes of countless weapons. Those looking on, including several dedicated news crews making their way as close to the violence as they dared and several civilians armed with the bravery which bordered on lunacy which all New Yorkers were famed for witnessed human soldiers using high calibre weapons firing solid slugs to rip through armour, flesh and animated stone alike before finally being overrun and dragged down by relentless Putties, the hovering and crescent shaped tanks of the empire unleashing volleys of purple light into the sky in an effort to bring down fighter jets and drones which responded by streaking overhead to deliver explosive payloads into the midst of the invading forces and dozens of tanks, human and design though with turrets featuring alien weapons that had been positioned behind makeshift barricades firing on a series of many legged contraptions of alien design which bounded towards more populated areas of the city as though they were living rather than simply piloted.
Yet the Quantum Ranger saw none of this.
Eric himself had received word from his forward operatives, word which had cost several dozen lives to deliver of a warrior who was almost certainly an Acheron hybrid and likely the commander of the enemy forces who had come to lead from the front; upon learning this he had delegated command to several of the officers closest to him and entrusting them with several key objectives before setting off alone, heading deeper into the park until he found his opposite number similarly unaccompanied at the edge of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis reservoir. The Acheron Hybrid had introduced themselves as Illhveli and the locale was at least somewhat fitting for the beast as he resembled some twisted and monstrous land-dwelling whale from the folk-tales of ancient seafaring cultures.
He towered over the Quantum Ranger and at its' widest point his torso was easily twice as broad yet the powerful and muscular form was rendered sickly in appearance by corpse-grey flesh littered with swirling black veins which spread outwards from some crusty barnacle like substance that Eric had quickly realised was not truly part of the monster, but rather some symbiotic fungus which had burrowed into it and formed an armoured epidermis. Illhveli's gait was hunched like that of a gorilla, allowing a series of multiple dorsal fins gracing his back to be seen as he held himself aloft on both his feet and the knuckles of his hands, all of the hybrids limbs were massive and powerful ending in four webbed digits whilst their bulky form lacked any neck to speak of; the beasts' head was a long, broad an ugly thing entirely reminiscent of that of a whale yet littered with more of the symbiotic armour which transformed it into an armoured battering ram. Their mouth was a fang-filled overbite and steam issued endlessly from a hole atop their head whilst the monster had eyes at all, clearly using some other method to locate his foes
A method which was proven to be effective once again as the Quantum Ranger was sent hurtling backwards, his spine exploding into blinding pain as he shattered the trunks of several trees on impact only to see their collapsing forms by caught and hurled aside by a still advancing Illhveli as he tried to pull himself to his feet.
"THIS IS ALL THAT STANDS BETWEEN THE DARK EMPIRE AND DOMINATION?" the monster challenged, his voice a low, mournful wail that made Eric's teeth rattle within his helmet yet the Quantum Ranger made a herculean effort to not only stand but also begin forming a plan.
Whatever his opponents' abilities or accolades in the art of space fighting or large scale warfare may have been it seemed that little if any of it carried over into single combat where their approach had simply been to unleash one crushing linear assault after another in an effort to overwhelm his opponent through brute force.
The monster had gotten overconfident and Eric intended to make them pay dearly for that.
Illhveli charged once again again rather than brace himself to receive it the Quantum Ranger rushed outwards, readying his sword as he did so and analysing the body of the Acheron hybrid in minute detail with each step forwards; whilst a Power Ranger's armour covered their entire body the monsters' did not and a fraction of a second before they could collide with one another Eric dropped low and slid between his opponents legs whilst slashing at the calf of one leg and stabbing into the inner thigh of the other before leaping to his feet behind him, from there Eric simply unleashing a devastating kick to his now hobbled enemies' spine which sent them crashing to the ground. From here the Quantum Ranger shifted his signature weapon into its' pistol form and levelled it directly against the smoking blowhole on Illhveli's skull before snapping off a dozen shots in quick succession.
It was merciless, it was entirely without honour and it was the kind of execution of an opponent that would see him rebuked by any of his fellow Power Rangers, yet most importantly to Eric himself it was effective.
At least until the gloom caused by the warship hanging over Central Park and a sizeable portion of the city around it was illuminated by a single weapon aboard the enormous axe-shaped vessel being discharged; the lack of a resulting explosion sending a chill through the Quantum Ranger and prompting him to leap away from the body of his fallen foe in preparation for what was to come whilst in the same instant opening a comm channel
"Doctor Rawlings" he all but barked "Mutagenic Grenade has been fired, enemy fighter will be enlarged in T minus fifteen seconds, repeat enemy fighter-"
"I hear you Myers" Doctor Rawlings, formerly Fairweather answered; the Lightspeed scientist had overseen two teams of Lightspeed Power Rangers along with several classified Silver Guardians missions and was no stranger to either the perils the Rangers faced or the peculiarities of Eric himself and was currently providing logistical support from her location on one of the many beleaguered Colony Ships in orbit.
"Is it ready?" Eric asked, unashamed of how frantic he sounded
"I might not have the same flair for the absurd as Doctor Stewart and prefer my own designs but I can replicate his work easily enough with the time and resources available to me" she answered with no small amount of self-satisfaction before confirming "The Q-Rex Zeta has been rebuilt, it's operational and ready for deployment"
"Good" Eric growled, before allowing a chuckle before uttering words similar to those used by the Power Rangers he had watched saving Angel Grove as a child
"New York needs Dino-Zord power!"
The city of Seoul, South Korea had been one of the first to be assaulted by the Dark Empires' ground forces and as such was not granted the same luxury of time to prepared itself that subsequent locations across the world had. The assault had come at roughly mid-morning, with commuters still filing into the densely packed cities' dozens of train and subway stations whilst its' streets were utterly filled with countless vehicles which had predictably resulted in a crushing press of bodies as those vehicles were abandoned and tides of fleeing pedestrians were left stampeding over one another as a state of terror set in when the Empires' invasion force teleported into position; appearing first in the open plaza outside of the city hall and turning their heaviest weapons on the artistic work steel and glass before advancing out into the city as a whole where local law enforcement did everything in their admittedly limited power to keep the alien force at bay until reinforcements from the military could arrive. It was a horrifically one-sided battle however and those who stood against the tide were quickly cut down as this particular force was, likely owing to the proclivities of its' commander was heavily mechanised and featured large amounts of mobile weapons' platforms.
Including a Zord.
In truth the machine that accompanied the invaders could only fairly be described as a Pseudo-Zord as it liked any connection to the Morphing Grid and was powered my more conventional means yet to those who fled from its' monstrous might such distinctions were unimportant. The Zord was clearly based on some horrific apex predator from a world within the Empires' grasp and rather than the simple bipedal and humanoid structure of war-machines such as Cyclopsis its' body was long and segmented like that of some immense centipede. Each gunmetal coloured and grime encrusted segment of the things' rear half sported a pair of skeletal and many jointed legs which allowed it to power forward on innumerable pistons and servos whilst mounted on the back of its' hindquarters was a small power plant which had been broken into smaller, interconnected sections and belched out cloud of noxious green smog which clung to the machines' pitted and corroded surface; the appearance of the metal giving the distinct impression that this was an earlier prototype Pseudo-Zord. Its' upper body was raised upwards, creating an almost ninety degrees bend in the mechas' back brining its' massive yet slender form several stories into the air; there were no spindly and insectoid mechanical limbs here and instead the uppermost section of the segmented machine which accounted for roughly a third of its' total length was comprised of freely rotating sections, each armed with a pair of larger and heavily weaponised limbs; on the creature this machine was based upon such limbs might have been intended for burrowing or capturing prey but here they were simple tools of destruction with each skeletal yet powerfully built upper arm branching out into a pair of slimmer and independently moving limbs at the elbow joint which in turn led to a simple vibrating ultrasonic blade, blunt crushing implement or enormous series of whirling, grinding teeth and blades in place any functional hands. The Pseudo-Zord had a somewhat overlarge head mounted on a relatively spindly neck, the head being a streamlined an arrowhead shaped thing that was utterly featureless save for a series of hexagonal screens along its' uppermost surface which gave some indication of where its' cockpit was located.
It was clear to any who saw the war-machine for even a moment that the thing was intended to engage in single combat with mecha of a similar stature or perhaps even rip down weapons emplacements targeting more conventional giant mecha and aircraft; in lieu of such targets however the segmented titan found itself put to terrifying use on the city of Seoul itself and by extension those who attempted to defend it, scuttling through the streets in a lithe and fluid way that nothing of its' size should have been capable of whilst swinging its' multiple arms into buildings and using its' various grinding, slashing and crushing implements to rip through steel, glass and concrete until debris rained down onto the streets where armed police officers and the first waves of the military and Silver Guardian specialists were attempting to set up defensive perimeters. Blockades, tanks, impromptu weapons emplacements and anyone manning those defences who was unable to flee fast enough found themselves either either a victim of falling rubble or the Pseudo-Zord itself as its' limbs came downwards in low arcs that tore through the street to break the defensive lines and allow the tide of Putties and smaller tanks and other mechanised elements of the invasion force to move deeper into the city.
Until the morning sky, rapidly being obscured by plumes of smoke was split by five streams of coloured light that streaked across it.
"WE'RE IN POSITION!" Jack Landors bellowed into his comms as he and the other Lightspeed Delta Rangers materialised on one of the peaks of the mechas' streamlined cranium, the Red Delta Ranger quickly manifesting his pistols and firing and the hexagonal armour in attempt to breach the cockpit which yielded no visible results.
"GET DOWN!" Bridge warned, sprinting forwards and tackling Jack to the metallic surface of the Zords' head where the two of them, along with their team-mates scrabbled for purchase as a limb ending in a vibrating blade broader than any of them were tall came ripping through the air as the machines' pilots attempted to remove them from its' hull. As the five of them staggered to their feet Jack quickly realised that his confirmation of their arrival had gone unanswered by Mission Control, meaning that they were likely overwhelmed by the sheer scale of carnage being unleashed across the world and that his team were acting effectively alone
"We're never gonna beat this thing in a head to head fight and we don't have Zords of our own" Jack accepted bluntly before quickly adding "We need to find its' weak points and take 'em out"
"That engine on its' back looks pretty weak" Z noted with a calculating tone "If anyone can buy me some time I think I can do some damage"
"If anyone can strip a Zords' engine it's you" Jack chuckled grimly, before being taken in first by Piggy and then Project Lightspeed the two of them had spent several years living on the streets and in that time had acquired several unsavoury skills which included a proficiency for quickly and efficiently dismantling cars; though admittedly this was an altogether different endeavour
"We'll cover you" Syd chimed in "Bridge, can you stick close to me and give me a heads up while I try and work on this things' arms?"
"I can try" the Green Ranger answered
"Jack, we're going for the head" Sky interjected "I think I've got an idea to get through this things' armour"
"Then let's do this!" Jack exclaimed, pausing for a brief moment to rest a hand on Z's shoulder; realising that this was a battle for the fate of the planet and any of them could perish, including his adoptive sister
"Stay safe" he managed to croak out "All of you"
"Especially you" Sydney murmured as she pulled Sky into a crushing hug that the Blue Delta Ranger felt through his armour and then, with the moment crushed and shattered beneath the weight of their circumstances the five of them split up and attended to the matter at hand.
"What's your plan Sky?" Jack demanded as he and Sky crawled whilst prone across the sleek surface of the Zords' streamlined head, all the while listening to sound of grinding and shrieking metal that had begun to fill the air and inform them of their friends' progress.
"I managed to open….I don't know a manual for what the suits can do"
"Of course you found a manual" Jack snorted "Only you could find a manual for being a Power Ranger"
"I guess a directory would be a better word, or a list of subroutines….Look, I saw you create a pair of pistols out of thin air and wanted to see what else we can do because these aren't just Ranger suits, they're Lightspeed Ranger suits" Sky fell silent for a moment and his voice was thick with emotion as he added "Jack….I can call up one of my Dad's weapons and I think that's how we're gonna win"
"Whatever-" Jack's reply was cut short as the two of them were forced to roll frantically aside when the pilots of the Pseudo-Zord seemed to realise that they were still being attacked by individuals clinging to the hull and briefly ceased their attack on their surroundings to bring one of its' many limbs to bear, this limb ending in a series of of rotating saw blades came perilously close to the Red and Blue Delta Rangers before suddenly falling limp and collapsing
"What the-" Sky demanded, risking a glance over the edge of the Zords head and letting out a thrilled yell "It's Syd! She's managed to break through some the workings of its' arm! They're immobilising it piece by piece!"
Then an explosion rocked the entire Pseudo-Zord and for a moment Jack and Sky were forced to cling on for dear life
"That's gotta be Syd!" Jack yelled before leaping to his feet and simply barrelling forwards "But this is still gonna take too long, come on, whatever your plan is it's gotta be now!" hearing this Sky rushed into place beside his leader and friend and for the second time in a short space of time simply acted on pure instinct and emotion, allowing himself to enact his plan without hesitation, doubts or second guesses and uttering words that made him closer to the father that had been taken from his far too soon.
"Rescue Bird! Separate, Rescue Drill!" at the Blue Delta Ranger's command the entirety of the airborne and mobile weapons platform that the previous teams of Lightspeed Rangers had used did not manifest, instead through sheer power and the will of the Morphing Grid alone Sky manifested the oversized and pistol-gripped drilling weapon that had formed the beak of the mechanical bird and swiftly, just as comprehension dawned on Jack what was happening, thrust the drill into the armoured hull of the Empire-made war-machines' cockpit and brought the drill screaming into life.
The air was filled with the sound of metal being shredded and sparks of coruscating, deep blue power until finally Sky ripped the drill free and turned to Jack
"NOW!" with no more words needed the Red Delta Ranger drew his pistols and simply thrust them into the opening left by the drill and opened fire; after several discharges of fiery red light the Pseudo-Zord fell still and silent, sagging forwards with its' weapons tearing into the ground until they came to a stop now that none of its' crew remained to pilot it and as Jack and Sky stood victorious upon the head of the felled mecha the Red Delta Ranger saw that despite all odds there were still helicopters in the smoke-filled morning sky belonging to news crews desperate to document events which would certainly change the course of history for all of humanity; seeing them Jack couldn't help but stand a little taller with pride
"Let 'em see us" he beamed beneath his helmet "We might not be Mercy's team….But the Power Rangers are back"
"Jack" Sky's sombre tone stole any sense of victory to be had with a single word "Look" Jack did as he was asked and recoiled in horror at the sight below; with the Pseudo-Zord brought a halt the remainder of the Empire forces in the area had turned their attention towards it and whilst tanks, aircraft and artillery pieces were continuing onwards the enemy infantry, including hundreds of Putties were already scaling the machines' legs and lower torso in an effort to reach the Delta Rangers.
The battle was just beginning.
Lord Zedd had abandoned all pretence that this war was not personal.
All across the planet and in the gulf of space beyond it his forces were approaching the battle with ruthless precision; humanity after all had produced the largest and most consistent pool of Power Rangers of any species in the known galaxy with a new team seemingly manifesting to combat every threat against Earth, thus making the Empires' targeting of as many major cities across the globe as possible in a single fell swoop a logical solution. From there Lord Zedd intended to harvest the broken remains of humanity, the species was a viable source of labour and their genetics would go onto to create new generations of Acheron hybrids, possibly even spawning more like his own genetically engineered bastard who were compatible with the Morphing Grid whereby a new age of Acheron supremacy would be ushered in. With Earth and its' assets firmly in his grasp Lord Zedd would have access to the secrets of the Alliances' more powerful and reliable teleportation systems and from there the true conquest would begin as his forces harnessed the ability to appear anywhere in the galaxy at will to lethal effect. The breaking of planet Earth would herald the beginning of the end for the current order of things.
Yet at that moment Lord Zedd cared about none of it.
Instead he simply drank in the choruses of screams that reached his ears and basked in the destruction as Angel Grove burned around him. In truth whilst the planet was far larger than the Triforian moon of Unus and whilst the act of traversing the Dark Dimension with his armada had drained him greatly the armoured tyrant could have wrought an apocalyptic level of damage on the Earth with a single sustained and concentrated attack if he so chose, wherein Angel Grove would be the epicentre of a blast that splintered the entire continent of North America and unleashed disastrous forces on the rest of the planet in the form of tidal waves and other catastrophes. The reason that he had not done with was simple, yet something far removed from the cold and calculating facade Lord Zedd presented to his followers; Angel Grove was where both his mother and father had been denied their rightful victories time and time again, where Zordon had made his home and given the power of the Morphing Grid to humanity.
He wanted to watch this city die.
"For Primator!" the tyrant bellowed as he strode down a wide, open pathway between a small park upon which the monster his father had created had fought against the Power Rangers as he did so he hefted his enormous sword, its' twin blades parallel and with crimson lightning crackling between them before unleashing a burst of raw and destructive arcane energies that tore through everything in sight, setting the greenery ablaze and destroying several buildings with ease; the warlord strode through the flames and destruction still brandishing the weapon which warped and distorted the very air around it with the hateful energies it harnessed until he came to the location of another indignity that his bloodline had been forced to suffer and in an instant another area of Angel Grove that amounted to several city blocks was razed from existence.
"For Skelerena" the tyrant growled, words reverberating beneath his grilled faceplate until a low, rumbling chuckle escaped him as he heard the sound of aircraft approaching from above.
"You will not die like warriors, you will die screaming!" Lord Zedd roared, spreading his arms wide and gathering his dreadful power to himself as he gazed upwards and saw a trio of fighter jets, human designs that been modified with alien technology after their initial construction not only approaching at tremendous speed but also rapidly descending.
The first aircraft exploded in a ball of flames as Lord Zedd unleashed bolts of lightning from his clawed and armoured fingertips and then the ground cratered beneath the tyrant as he crouched and hurled himself into the air with all his might; a second fighter jet being obliterated as he he cleaved it in two with a single slash of his monstrous sword and from there he seized the final jet by the tip of its' left wing before its' pilot could escape and, even as gravity began to impose its' will Lord Zedd span in the air at speed that promised tremendous internal damage to the human pilot before sending it hurting downwards and careening into a series of warehouses where it exploded, another location that had been chosen for the defeat that it represented
"For Pirantishead!" Lord Zedd declared fiercely as he fell to the ground, landing in a crouch and completely unharmed as the ground shattered beneath him and unleashing yet another burst of dark magic as rose to his first, the air swirling around him until even the most minute specs of dust threatened to eviscerate anyone caught in the blast yet as quick as it began the attack dissipated, visibly faltering and dispersing as Lord Zedd's head snapped to the side in response to some siren call that only he could hear.
A call that he answered without hesitation.
The city of Angel Grove itself was quickly rendered unimportant yet Lord Zedd still inflicted frightening damage upon it, tearing landmarks, industrial and residential areas alike asunder with a murderous bellow escaping from his lips as he lowered his head and simply charged like a wild animal; destroying everything in his path and reaching impossible speeds until he had reached the outskirts of the city, arriving at a quarry that had long since been abandoned though if he had stopped and taken notice he might have seen that a museum had been built in honour of what had transpired here in decades gone by. As it was the warlord leapt down into the quarry and let out a wordless roar of challenge that was answered by a lone figure clad in robes who stepped out to meet him.
"Hello Orcus" Zebidiah Lord noted tonelessly before casting his robes aside to reveal the robotic form beneath where metallic limbs and components could be seen peeking out from unfinished synthetic flesh; Lord Zedd bristled at the use of his name rather than his rightful title by this feeble and broken shell of a thing that had once been his father and as his eyes glowed with his hatred he made his feelings known.
"Look at what they've done to you….You were already a ghost of the Lord Zedd you once were, now you're even less than that….Truly you should have accepted an honourable death on the end of my sword"
"We both know that neither of us would be satisfied with that" Zebidiah mused, his voice warm and cheery as though this were simply a meeting between father and son and none of the galactic urgency of their situation concerned him
"You would never be happy with any conquering of Earth that didn't involve me being here to see it" Lord Zedd let out an animal snarl as the android who had once been his father laughed and added "Well Orcus here I am and I have to say…..even the being that I once was wouldn't be proud of you. All this conquest and none of it done honourably or according to the Acheron way, tell me child what champions did you defeat to claim this planet?" hearing this Lord Zedd paused, the ground cracking beneath his feet as bloody lightning flashed around him and the wind howled like tortured souls in response to his rage until finally his fury peaked and the tyrant let out a booming chuckle, rich with mirth as he realised Zebidiah's intentions
"The Aegis Rangers stormed my Palace, they will not be coming to save Earth so instead you wish to stand in their place; you wish to be the Earth's champion and face me….as Acheron culture dictates" his voice became a mocking sneer as he spoke until finally he readied his sword and added "Do you actually believe that you can defeat me?"
"It's not a matter of belief" Zebidiah answered calmly, gesturing to the quarry in which the stood "In this very quarry my plans were halted more times than I care to admit….I truly feel that this place is cursed in some way and yet I find myself drawn to it….Allow me to deliver you your first defeat here, son"
With that the current and former rulers of the Dark Empire charged at one another.
Booming impacts thundered through the ampitheatre of the Acheron Palace and the Aegis Rangers, weary and beaten as they were stood at the ready with their weapons in hand to answer the coming threat.
Barely an hour had passed since the seven of them had fought their way through the portion of Lord Zedd's retinue which had been left behind before sealing shut all entrances that they could find to the massive and dimly lit chamber, including the main doors which Kay had effectively welded; in that time the Aegis Rangers had desperately sought for anything that they could use to aid their escape, taking the brief respite that they had been allowed to both rest a little and formulate a plan of action although they had made precious little progress in regards to the latter before the inevitable happened and their location was discovered by the various Empire warriors that had opted to remain behind, forfeiting their right to fight at Lord Zedd's side specifically so that they might be the ones to be honoured for killing a Power Ranger and the inevitable legions of Putties that followed them.
The assault was coming from beyond the doors of the ampitheatre and the massive, ornately engraved metal barrier trembled under each attack from what must have been one or more immensely powerful foes, either in the physical or magical sense. So far the barrier was holding and each of the Rangers were left privately wondering if the act of closing the doors had triggered some sort of arcane protection which they themselves had bypassed though none of them offered this idea verbally, instead being too focused on the minute specks off dust filling the air which the visors of their helmet allowed them to see; the fine debris raining down from the ceiling of the ampitheatre giving the Rangers the terrible idea that whilst the door may hold the walls around it or perhaps the entire structure of the chamber would not.
"Guys" Mercy croaked out, voice cracking and wavering before failing her entirely and causing the Red Ranger to curse herself in her own mind for this failure where it was most important. She cast an accusatory glare to her left forearm where her Morpher and more importantly the Battleizer that had been integrated into it was situated, Justin had assured her time and time again that she would be able to call for the additional power that it promised to provide when she needed it most and the young woman found herself wondering 'If not now then when?' though in truth this was not what infuriated her; she raged at her own inability to speak and to tell her team-mates, her friends and her lover just how much they meant to her and how much they had improved her life simply by being part of it despite the fact that this might be her last chance to do so.
Then she felt a strong hand on her shoulder and recognised Aslaug's touch, as she always would
"We know" the Yellow Ranger assured her, gruff voice gentle and barely rising above a whisper as she leaned close "We know and there is nowhere we would rather be than standing beside you"
"I wouldn't mind standing next to you somewhere else though" Panthera noted in a faux grumble "Maybe at a bar somewhere in Caestus Nebula" the Pink Ranger's comment, delivered in her usual aloof and smokey drawl brought a moment of levity to the situation only for the Aegis Rangers to be reminded of its' bleakness as the sound of movement reached their ears.
"I destroyed the ventilation shafts" Kay noted fiercely as the seven of them honed in on the sound of something or someone working their way through the twisted and mangled remains of the very same vents that the Rangers had traversed.
"Want me to take the shot?" Marigold offered in a hushed whisper
"Not yet" Mercy answered cautiously "Wait until we know what we're up against" the seven of them waited with bated breath, the urgency of their predicament rising to a crescendo as the assault against the entrance to the ampitheatre grew ever more insistent until finally the being that was scrabbling through the ruins of the ventilation shafts made their presence known as they leapt down to the ground and landed in a crouch with an ostentatious black cloak with a high-backed collar trailing over their shoulders and a sword hanging at their hip
"YOU!" Mercy exclaimed in sudden recognition
"Me" Canis sneered, lips peeling back to reveal her fangs as she reared up to her full height, raising her hands to show that she carried no weapons and meant no harm before speaking again "None of us want to be in the position we're in right now so let's not waste time on protracted negotiations, I'm going to offer terms and you're going to accept them"
"Why would we trust you?" Mercy demanded, catching sight of Rensa taking a step forward with his daggers ready until Tempestus gently but firmly held him back.
"Because the invasion fleet Lord Zedd gathered here was meant for Earth and because of what was recovered on Furrous that fleet is already there, they don't need a teleportation gate" Canis's words hit the Aegis Rangers like a tidal wave, none more than Mercy who called Earth home and Marigold who whilst a native of the colony ships was still a human; seeing her leader left numb by the shock of the situation and the terror that was rapidly setting in Panthera spoke up, deciding that she had done business with enough spacefaring criminals of all stripes to do so here with confidence.
"That's one hell of a lie to tell, especially if your bluff gets called….So what're your terms?" in response Canis reached slowly into the folds of her cloak, eyes remaining fixed on the weapons the Rangers wielded until she produced something small and threw it to Mercy who caught it, examining it and realising quickly what the rune-laden stone totem in her hand represented
"This is the relic you used to get to Furrous" she stated
"Exactly….But I can't exactly go back there now can I?" Canis answered with a toothy smirk before adding "But Lord Zedd used his connection to Goldar to take over something called the Dark Dimension, the best I can make it out it's the nexus or junction that these relics use to get people from Furrous back home….except he can use it to go anywhere, that's how he's gone to Earth"
"And what exactly is it you're offering?" Tempestus asked, the Blue Ranger's mind clearly racing at the possibilities being presented despite his fatigued state
"Your Green Ranger is Lord Zedd's spawn, they should be able to use this palaces' magic the way he did….I can't fight Lord Zedd myself but I don't want to be part of his Empire, I didn't sign up to be a lackey"
"So you're giving us the means to fight him for you?" Aslaug noted
"For me, yourselves, the good of the galaxy….All that hero code of honour stuff" Canis shrugged "You figure out how to get that relic to take you where you want to go and you can show up wherever you're needed most; all I want is safe passage to somewhere that's nowhere near the fighting" the Aegis Rangers remained silent each of them processing the information they had been given for several seconds until Rensa broke the silence, his voice tense
"Can we trust her?"
"Can we afford not to?" Marigold noted, her words given weight by another impact against the door of the ampitheatre "But can we do it, can we actually get into the Dark Dimension?"
"Of course we can" Mercy answered firmly, squaring her shoulders and straightening her back as she gestured first to Kay and then to Tempestus "We've got the most capable magician on Acheron and an undisputed genius along with a relic that's basically a key to the Dark Dimension….besides, it's our only shot at this"
"Pleasure doing business Rangers" Canis beamed, pleased that her impromptu business partners had seen sense; though Mercy paid little mind to her and instead focused on her friends
"Let's do this" her words became more forceful as she added "Let's go save the world"
Author's Notes:
So….Welcome to the finale, strap in it's gonna get bumpy.
Five chapters left to go and the epilogue before this story is gonna get bumpy.
This arc is literally just called "The Finale" and the theme for chapter titles is the episode titles for finales of previous season of Power Rangers.
That being said, let's summarise shall we?:
The Warship 'Soul of the Dragon' was an obvious reference.
Also yeah I really wanted the battles to be occurring in actual places rather than just fictional cities from PR lore for this.
The conversation between Billy and Corcus was interesting to write, because Billy does have a point that none of the Rangers chose to be Rangers but at this point it's also true that it really doesn't matter.
Also, note Corcus admitting that Billy has more experience.
Cruger is doing something and has his own plan, stay tuned.
I think we all knew where Zebidiah was going the moment he left.
The United Nations palace in Geneva is a real thing, you can google it and yes it does have grounds that are large and open enough to be a staging area for the enemy forces in this scenario.
Also, I took care to make sure all the battles were happening in the correct time-zones; if it's earl/mid afternoon in the US the it's late night in Europe and early morning in South Korea.
"OFFENES FEUER!" is obviously open fire, I'm not sure if that's the exact phrase that would be used but I think it's a safe assumption.
A tip for anyone writing a Putty advance is basically to write them as if they were a horde of zombies and then make them more resilient.
I had to find a reason why TJ was already in the palace, but the fact he's the head of Lightspeed gives him one by default.
"Events like this bring us back" yes that was a meta joke about team-ups….Also yeah Dana's back, she was injured on Unus but not killed.
Of course there's an attack on New York city and Central Park was the obvious place to deploy….Also, I am resisting the temptation to blow up the Statue of Liberty just for effect.
With New York being such an obvious target I feel like it makes sense that there were already defenders in place, especially if it wasn't one of the first places to be attacked.
"Civilians armed with the bravery which bordered on lunacy which all New Yorkers were famed for" I said what I said.
Yes we're having monster fights even here and I am really running low on ideas….So have a whale monster because apparently those are a thing in I think Swedish folk-tales, I just remember seeing a post about them.
Execution style shot to the back of the head, because look…..Eric has some issues ago, we haven't forgotten "Trip takes a stand".
Oh you thought while Billy and Justin were away that there was no one capable of making Zords? Rawlings/Fairweather rebuilt the Q-Rex Zeta baby.
"New York needs Dino-Zord power!"….I'm not sorry.
I picked Seoul because Shanghai or Tokyo seemed to obvious and also Train to Busan is a great movie.
The attacks on different cities are coming from different ships and since every Captain/Commander is allowed to personalise their ship and forces it makes sense that some cities are being hit by Putty swarms but others are facing armoured companies.
Also again Seoul city hall is a real place with a big open plaza outside it, you can google it.
Of course they've got a Pseudo-Zord, Goldar had Cyclopsis which was basically a finished product and we've seen prototypes being used defensively, makes sense they'd be sent out on the attack as well especially for a job like this.
The design was based on a combination of the Centaur from RWBY Vol.8 the Tyranids and Imperial Titans from Warhammer 40k; I wanted it to have the feel of being an earlier design that's probably been in a hangar for a while.
Bridge's abilities really should have given his team more of an advantage in canon.
Jack and Z are street kids and I love the idea of them being "Well if you can steal a car you can steal a Zord".
Sky's old man was a Ranger, in this story he was the second Lightspeed Red….So I gave him part of the Rescue Bird; it seemed only right.
They were never gonna beat the Zord….But cracking open the cockpit and getting rid of the crew will get the same result.
But of course it's not that easy.
See Lord Zedd does have sensible reasons for his approach, but they're all really just justifications for doing what he wanted to do anyway.
Yeah he could crack the planet, or at least he could at full strength but he wants to take his time with this.
Have some MMPR shout outs, yes I actually looked up the fight-scenes to see where they happened roughly.
I'll admit that Lord Zedd ripping through fighter jets was actually based on Nappa in Dragonball Z.
Of course they're throwing down in a quarry….The one where the Rangers fought Tommy, that one.
Zebidiah just casually dragging his boy.
Barely an hour, that's how long it took Zedd's forces to mobilise all over the planet.
The Aegis Rangers were basically getting ready for a fight scene like the Mines Of Moria in the Fellowship of the Ring except without plot armour.
'If not now then when?'….I haven't forgotten about Mercy's Battleizer; I'm clearly saving it for the perfect moment.
Panthera's lines in this scene were great.
I told you Canis had one thing left to do in this story.
Canis has wanted out of the Empire since the moment she was forced to join it, she was planning on stealing something from the palace last chapter; she took the same relic that got her to Furrous in the first place, powered by the same magic that Goldar used and is giving it to the Rangers basically in exchange for immunity.
Thank you to Blue Legends for their review on the last chapter.
Well that's how the Rangers are getting home.
And as you can see pretty much everyone is coming together for the big final battle.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.