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Chapter 80 – Legendary Battle
Lord Zedd raged as he fought the Aegis Rangers, furious at their persistent refusal to bow before his might and simply die as well as the limitations that made themselves known as they imposed themselves upon him; reminding the armoured warlord that no matter how chimeric and adaptable his Acheron genetic make up was and no matter how much further he had enhanced and improved himself until he stood alone at the pinnacle of biological design he was still in fact a mere mortal. His magic had been taxed and his body ruined to their breaking points even before he had arrived at Angel Grove and since then Lord Zedd had only pushed himself even further beyond what should have been possible in open defiance of the very idea of limitations; the battle with first his father and then his traitorous spawn had taken a monumental toll on him and though his body could heal at an incredible rate the warlord was still slowly beginning to feel fatigue setting in in a way that he hadn't experienced in years, his torso and midsection burned with every movement in the wake of the assaults from various weapons that had torn holes in his flesh and feedback from his damaged cybernetic right arm sent jolts of pain through his body at random intervals whilst his movements had become sluggish in comparison to the inhuman display that he had been capable of previously, his armour weighed heavy on his form and each use of his dark magic burned and seared his flesh and bones from within.
All of which amounted to just enough of an advantage to keep the Aegis Rangers from being cut down in mere moments.
"Mari MOVE!" Mercy's voice came as a panicked yell that could almost be called a scream as Lord Zedd came charging towards the Gold Ranger with his sword held overhead, blood coloured lightning dancing between its' twin blades as he prepared to cleave her apart. The Rangers' last direct conflict with the warlord had been before Marigold's time as a Ranger as they had not encountered him on Unus and as such this was the first time she had faced the supreme leader of the Dark Empire in person; until that moment she had been firing her Buster Pistols into his armoured form relentlessly as she was the last of her team to still have access to her weapons yet as Lord Zedd bore down on her the sheer overwhelming sense of primal dread that the tyrant exuded washed over her and Marigold found herself rooted to the spot in terror, unable to shoot or simply flee
Yet not entirely hopeless.
Time slowed to a crawl around her as her unique abilities were manifested once again and though Lord Zedd was still frighteningly fast, moving at greater speeds than any human could achieve even in this delayed state it was enough to create an opening, first Marigold aimed her pistols and fired and then assistance came in the form of Mercy and Tempestus who had been moving the heavily injured Zebidiah to relative safety. The Blue Ranger entering the fray low to the ground and delivering a series of fluid, graceful and punishing blows to Lord Zedd's legs whilst Mercy leapt high enough into the air to deliver a single crushing punch to their opponents' chest despite his towering nine foot stature. It was at that moment however that Lord Zedd, through a combination of arcane power, willpower and simple, insensate rage managed to overcome Marigold's manipulation of the flow of time and unleashed his fury upon them in the form of a concussive blast of force that hurled the three Rangers away in different directions.
"Truly, I expected better from those who dared attack me in my own palace" Lord Zedd allowed himself a low, rumbling chuckle even as viscous black blood stained his teeth and dripped from the grill of his faceplate and each breath he took was a laboured act of will; he hefted his sword once again and almost predictably felt a shift in the air around him as another Ranger came charging at him.
It was the Black Ranger.
"Impressive" the tyrant conceded as he swung his sword at Rensa's neck only for him to seemingly vanish in a streak of darkness as his Battleizer pushed his abilities to insane levels and allowed him to move faster than the eye could see; Lord Zedd however was equal to this display of power and simply whirled around with his weapon held downwards to block the inevitable blow from behind. Rensa emerged again in a blur that was accompanied by the dull boom of the sound barrier breaking as he slashed at the broken sections of warlords' armour to tear at the flesh below yet he was halted by his opponents' sword and his entire body visibly crumpled as his momentum was snatched from him.
"Fool" Lord Zedd snarled before twirling his massive sword and tearing through the blades of the Battleizer, ripping them away completely before kicking out at the Black Ranger's chest and sending him hurtling backwards, Rensa hit the ground and bounced several times before coming skidding to a halt in a motionless heap; the remains of his enhanced state fading around him as his armour reverted to its' base form and flickered slightly as its' wearer struggled to stand.
Then it was the turn of the Pink and Yellow Rangers, Aslaug and Panthera lunged at Lord Zedd from opposite sides without allowing him even a moments' respite and struck him brutal precision; the Yellow Ranger bellowing with rage as she put her enormous strength to use by driving her fist into the exposed and ravaged flesh beneath the warlords' armour and created enough of a distraction for Panthera to use her claws and alien agility to scale his back, legs locking around his neck as she sought to break or simply unfasten his helmet so that the Rangers would have a clear shot at his head. Lord Zedd was not so easily bested however and simply reached over his shoulder, seizing the Pink Ranger by her tail and hurling away from him, she sailed through the air and struck the rocky face of the quarry with a resounding impact before falling to the ground and struggling to recover though the tyrant had already disregarded her and instead delivered a crushing blow to Aslaug's helmet which shattered it entirely whilst at the same time leaving the muscular woman staggering in a disoriented daze that left her open for a killing blow.
Such a blow never came however as Kay rejoined the battle.
"YOU WILL NOT HURT MY FRIENDS!" their voice echoed as they unleashed their full magical might in a single, unrestrained blast that the power of the Morphing Grid transformed into something unspeakable; Lord Zedd was flung from his feet as yet another hole was torn into his leathery hide by a beam of emerald light which struck with a force that no words could describe and left him feeling as though every fibre of his being had been set ablaze yet even as he landed several dozen feet away the raw and bloody flesh began to knit itself together once again, this time slowly but inexorably returning to something functional, if still outwardly ruined.
"Is everyone okay?" Kay managed to ask before sinking to their knees and becoming intimately aware of the blood trickling from their nose beneath their helmet in response to their onslaught; the world span around them until they heard the sound of their friends rushing towards them and pulling the Green Ranger to their feet
"It's okay, we've got you" Panthera's voice was welcome and soothing despite the situation yet even as she spoke Kay felt something twist within themselves before a sensation like water rushing down a drain preceded their higher morphed state failing and their armour reverting to its' base form, twin capes trailing in the breeze as they reappeared.
Then Lord Zedd rose to his feet again.
"You tried everything, you've thrown all of your strength at me Rangers and yet here I stand. You have achieved nothing" the warlord hefted his weapon and the Aegis Rangers braced themselves as he continued "Now you're all out of tricks….it's time for this farce to end"
To say Princess Shayla distrusted the science and technology of humanity or any other species was a vast understatement; the regent and ruler of the Animarium viewed the works of iron, oils and plastic which the people of Earth touted as the source of their progress to be nothing more than facets of the same pollution and corrupting filth that had allowed the Org threat to return to the world over twenty years ago and even though that ancient enemy had been vanquished the poisoning of the planet was abhorrent to her and the gifts of machinery and computers it bore were unwelcome on her island sanctuary.
Which was why she regarded the communicator she had been given in order to contact those organising the defence and possible evacuation of Earth with utter contempt and disdain and kept it at arms' reach, adamant in her refusal to wear the cursed thing. She had been given the device by Taylor when the Eagle Ranger had first arrived on the island to inform the Princess of the Dark Empires' attacks across the world but was yet to use it since Taylor, with her position within Project Lightspeed had been able to relay any information to all parties that needed it but now that Taylor had taken to her restored Zord and was making her way to New York Shayla was forced to confront the matter herself. In preparation for this she had moved away from the vast swathes of humanity, gathered from different cities across the world that her three remaining Rangers had visited along with others that had been simply teleported there by the Alliance; in truth she was unsure of what to say to them as whilst she could converse in any of their languages and make herself understood each of her guests lived lives beyond her comprehension and hailed from an Earth entirely removed from what she had fought for and whilst the Animarium was her domain the people currently inhabiting it were not her subjects and she had no claim to authority over them or right to demand that they cast their technology aside so instead she had simply retreated to the centre of the magical island and seated herself by the pool whose waters could reflect any location on Earth. She would address the people of Earth in due course, in the meantime however it was time to deal with their leaders.
Finally she reached out and took the communicator, forcing herself to grip it firmly and with no hint of fear as if it were a Wild Zord or other beast that could sense her reluctance and hastily fumbled with it, attempting to mirror actions she had seen Taylor make before until eventually the thing made an odd crackling sound and a voice, distorted by distance escaped from it.
"Princess Shayla of the Animarium, this is Doctor Justin Stewart, former Blue Turbo Ranger….It's good to hear from you"
"I-" Shayla paused for a moment as she struggled to find the correct words; she knew of the Turbo Rangers and found the idea of the Morphing Grid manifesting itself in the form of cars and other things that belched smog to be utterly repellent yet a Power Ranger was an ally at all times. Before she could find the words she sought however Justin took her silence as an opening and continued.
"We can't thank you enough for your help, we were planning to have everyone transported directly to the colony ships" he paused for a moment and when he spoke again his voice was strained "We weren't prepared to be attacked on as many fronts as we were and our ability to teleport everyone was limited….We've also lost several colony ships"
"So Earth may yet fall?" Shayla asked fearfully, the idea of her Animarium becoming the final war-zone where the ultimate fate of humanity chilled her to the bone and images of the refugees gathered here being hunted down by enemies from the stars that set island ablaze with their weapons made her want to retch.
"No" Justin answered firmly "They got a few good hits in early but here's the thing about the Alliance Princess….We've got allies. We're taking control of the battle in space and taking out Empire ships, that means that there's a limit to how many giant monsters we're going to have to deal with so your remaining Wild Zords won't be stretched so thin"
"Thank you for your kindness" Shayla noted, appreciating this Ranger whose own Zord had been a simple machine recognised that those she cared for were not "And may your battle go well, for all of our sakes"
"We'll have the refugees taken care of as soon as possible" Justin noted, seeming to sense something going unsaid "Those who can be returned to their cities will be, any whose homes were destroyed by the Empire will be relocated….likely on one of the remaining colonies if they haven't got anywhere else-"
"There's no need" Shayla interjected abruptly "I am a guardian of Earth Justin Stewart, from a time before your colony ships and skyscrapers….I may not understand the ways of the world below any more but believe me when I say that I have not and will not waver in my duty; those he need shelter will find it on my Animarium for as long as they need it"
"Thank you" Justin breathed out "I'll keep you informed of any updates" with that the communicator which Shayla viewed with perhaps a modicum less suspicion fell silent and the Princess considered for a moment before swirling the surface of her pool, stirring its' waters to view each of the remaining Wild Force Rangers in turn.
Max, the Shark Ranger was travelling between each of Earths' largest and most vastly stocked zoos, aquariums and other such human inventions where examples of rare and exotic animals could be found so that they too might be rescued as per Shayla's own instructions; as many of these places were in large cities he had also managed to rescue several hundred more people in the process who had been visiting those establishments when Earth was attacked; currently Max was fighting against a small group of Putties beside an expansive pool and cleaving them apart with his arm mounted blades before finally kicking one of them into the unnaturally lifeless water only for its' surface to be broken with an immense splash and the stone construct to sent sailing through the air as an Orca struck it with its' tail.
Swirling the water again revealed that Merrick had engaged the enemy head on in the city of Lagos; it was the dead of night there and yet the events unfolding could be seen clearly owing to the many light sources available which Shayla was disheartened to note included raging infernos as the besieged city suffered the Empires' wrath. The Wolf Ranger himself tore through his enemies with the berserk and hateful fury that had possessed him ever since Zen-Aku's passing, allowing him to rampage through Empire Putties and living enemies alike until finally he reached the many limbed horror leading the enemies' charge whom he promptly began to savage and maul.
Finally Shayla brought Taylor to the surface of the water and watched in mild confusion as her healed and reforged Zord weaved between countless flying machines locked in some twisting aerial duel and began tearing aircraft that belonged to the Empire apart with its' beak and talons; this was war as humanity had instructed her Yellow Ranger to wage it and it was entirely removed from anything Shayla understood.
What she did understand however, as she reflected on all the information available to her was that hope was not lost and she rose to her feet she realised that she finally had words to inspire those who had found their way to her island.
In the void of space surrounding Earth the battle for the planet was going much as Justin had described; the opening salvo of the Dark Empire fleet, made all the more devastating by the unannounced suddenness with which it had come had been a devastating one and their could be overstating of the damage that had been wrought as lives had been lost on an unthinkable scale as entire cities were devastated or simply razed from existence whilst each Alliance warship, colony or orbital weapons platform that was lost carried a death toll that ranged from the hundreds to hundreds of thousands. However help had come and all was not lost, with reinforcements coming from all across the Alliance to defend humanities' home-world the Empire fleet soon found itself vastly outnumbered and whilst each axe-shaped Acheron vessel was vastly more heavily armed and well-suited to the art of destruction than any individual Alliance ship the tide began to turn as the enemy found themselves isolated and picked off, with each ship that was destroyed and reduced to wreckage floating in the void in turn reducing the threat that the Empires' ground forces presented.
All of that was currently unimportant to Karone however
The Pink Astro Ranger had allowed her world to be reduced to a narrow tunnel of vision that included herself, her opponents and the clear direct path between them.
"Computer, status of evacuations?" she demanded, voice cold and fierce as something of her old self slipped into her words though the synthetic voice of the ships' AI was toneless and dutiful in its' response
"Ninety three percent and counting Captain"
"A minute more" Karone all but hissed through her clenched teeth as she considered her situation; the ship that she and Zhane had been given command of so that they might rendezvous with the Aegis Rangers at the edge of Alliance space was armed but it was no warship and its' crew were far from the hardened warriors that the rebel leader had come to expect herself to be surrounded by, therefore it had been no real surprise that over the course of the battle the relatively small and feeble vessel had received several grievous blows that left damaged beyond its' ability to truly continue the fight in any meaningful way. It was at this point that the Pink Astro Ranger had morphed and ordered the complete evacuation of her ship onto any nearby Alliance vessels or colonies able to receive them whilst at the same time searching for a suitable target for her final gambit.
And now she had found one.
"Evacuations have been completed Captain, this ship has received extensive damage, hull breaches on multiple levels. Recommended course of action; abandoning ship"
"Not yet" Karone answered, mildly surprised by the suggestion from what must be some new model of AI before adding "Prepare teleportation for these coordinates" beneath her helmet the Pink Astro Ranger allowed herself a sinister smirk that was much more in line with what might be expected of her former self, which was fitting in a way as she once again found herself tapping into the ruthlessness and brazen nerve of Astronema in the service of protecting lives.
"Confirmed" the ship answered and Karone braced herself in preparation, forcing herself to not consider what could go wrong. Upon scanning the entirety of the battle occurring around Earth she had found that a lone Empire warship had broken away from the assault on the planet and its' defences to instead focus on the moon, more specifically the Lightspeed Moonbase and whilst was only logical that Lord Zedd would want to retake the base of operations that had served his parents well in his conquest of Earth the palace was now a hub on information that simply could not be allowed to fall into enemy hands; further investigation had revealed that the Empire had begun teleporting Putties onto the moons' surface and the constructs which needed no air and could survive in almost any climate had already begun scaling the walls and assaulting the ramparts.
Karone would put a stop to it.
The tingling of teleportation began to encompass her body, accompanied by a sudden rush of acceleration and the air taking on a charged quality which would have prickled her hair and made breathing a distinctly uncomfortable experience were it not for her armour until finally her plan was put into motion and Karone's world vanished in a flash of white.
And a moment later she was on the moons' surface, quickly reorienting herself and leaping into battle.
"DESTROY THEM!" the familiar war-cry left her lips without conscious thought as she re-materialised amidst a group of the black-ops specialists forced to fight a more conventional battle who manned the palaces' defences whilst clad in streamlined and armoured spacesuits and as Karone leapt down and charged across the moons' cratered and craggy surface to get to grips with the Putties, the moons' lowered gravity did nothing to hinder her movement as she suit adjusted to compensate for it whilst above her the sky was illuminated by an enormous ball of flames. The Pink Astro Ranger had employed a strategy very similar to that which had served her well against Yokai's warship when she and Zhane had first met the Aegis Rangers, namely teleporting her own ruined ship directly into the opposing vessel to cause an apocalyptic destruction as the two vessels could not occupy the same space yet in this instance her plan had encountered a single, insurmountable hurdle.
The shields of the Empire vessel were still functional.
"Damn it!" Karone snarled, even as she shattered the nearest Putty beneath her fist she felt the moons' surface shake as a barrage from above illuminated the air close by and likely obliterated the hapless individuals it struck; risking a glance upwards even as she kicked another Putty backwards however the Pink Ranger saw that amidst the flames of her own ships' internal atmosphere being sucked out into space the shields of the enemy ship currently raining death down upon her was flickering in and out of existence.
"This is Karone, Pink Astro Ranger. Moonbase respond!" she demanded, having to wait only a moment which she spent ploughing through yet more Empire infantry until a voice crackled into her helmet
"This is Eugene Skullovitch, acting Commander of the Moonbase-"
"The Empire ship above you is suffering from an overworked shield generator, you have a window of opportunity….focus your orbital weapons on its' prow, force them to direct their shields forwards at full power; I will contact my brother, Andros will attack from the rear"
"Much appreciated" Skull replied "Acting Commander Farkas Bulkmeier is currently preparing to lead a counteroffensive against those Putties, you won't be out there alone for long"
"Much appreciated" Karone turned Skull's words back to him before ending the communication and shattering another Putty.
The loss of her ship was unimportant, she still had work to do.
With the destruction of the Battleizer forms wielded by both the Green and Black Aegis Rangers, along with Zebidiah Lord being removed from the immediate area as even his new robotic body could not withstand the damage done to it well enough for him to continue the fight the scales of Aegis Rangers battle against Lord Zedd had tipped once again, this time in the warlords' favour as those who fought against him, already as weary and bloodied as Zedd himself were pushed to their very limits by the act of simply holding the line and each passing moment demanded more from them that they struggled to find the strength to give.
Yet Mercy continued.
"YOU'RE NOT GONNA WIN ZEDD! I WON'T LET YOU!" the Red Ranger screamed, voice raw and cracking as she charged at the armoured tyrant and as she did so her armour began to glow, the edges of her form becoming indistinct and seeming to blur out into reality around her as she forced as much of the power of the Morphing Grid into her burning muscles as she could manage yet, that same blind fury that propelled her also kept her from seeing this development. Instead she focused her entire being into the motion of leaping onto the blade of Lord Zedd's sword and vaulting off of its' surface to deliver a crushing knee strike to the warlords' chest which was left exposed by their broken armour; the blow was catastrophic and the ground and air were both shaken by the raw power Mercy unleashed. Lord Zedd's wrist gave an audible before hanging limp whilst one of the blades of his monstrous sword was warped and dented and the tyrant was sent skidding back with his chest partially collapsed by the blow.
And then Lord Zedd retaliated.
There were no words, no declarations of rage or the warlords' inherent superiority instead Lord Zedd simply struck swiftly and silently, the only sound coming from the earth-shattering explosion of force as his gauntleted left hand, wreathed in fire and lightning struck Mercy in the chest whilst she was still in mid-air to send her hurtling backwards like a crimson comet, sailing across much of the quarry they fought in before hitting the hard ground and tearing a deep furrow into it before she came to a stop, her scorched and ravaged armour smoking and flickering as her world spun around her, her senses rattled so thoroughly that she could comprehend nothing but intense, blinding pain, the sensation of blood trickling from her lips with each agonising breath and the distant-sounding bleeping of an alert displayed across what remained of her visor that attempted to inform her that among other injuries she had several broken ribs.
The sound of fierce yells of determination brought her back to her senses however.
Mercy tried to stand yet her body refused and fought against every attempt she made until finally she was forced to reach the gut-wrenching compromise of at least dragging her battered body into a position from which she could see events unfolding whilst at the same time being entirely unable to intervene no matter how much she wanted to fight by her friends' side.
The other Aegis Rangers had followed her lead and charged and were now paying dearly for it, Lord Zedd sinking his now damaged sword into the ground with its' one unbent blade and flexing the fingers of his right hand which twisted back into joint with a grinding of damaged components and a shower of sparks before he batted Rensa and Kay aside with a single contemptuous backhand. Tempestus made to charge and deliver a series of his usual graceful attacks only for Lord Zedd's talons to tear deep scores in his armour as he simply kicked the Blue Ranger back and sent him crashing into Marigold. Panthera and Aslaug joined the fray only to be dismissed with equal ease as the Pink Ranger's desperate attempt to pounce on Lord Zedd from behind was brought to an end by a savage elbow to the gut that left Panthera collapsing to her knees, as Lord Zedd wheeled around to grab her in his mechanical right hand Aslaug simply charged and delivered a kick to the limb with all of her might which was rewarded with a splash of coolant and some other equally unnatural fluids as something vital within the limb was ruptured and left the hand twitching and shuddering. Lord Zedd responded to this with a furious backhand and Aslaug, whose helmet had already been shattered earlier in the battle collapsed to the ground with a gash that spanned from her forehead down her right temple to her cheek spilling blood into an icy blue eye that was now swollen closed and the burly young woman spat out mouthfuls of blood as she struggled to stagger to her feet, grasping at the ground with enough force to crush it beneath her palms only for Lord Zedd to loom over her, kicking her over before she could rise and splaying his clawed fingers wide as he reared back to deliver a killing blow in the form of an open handed slash that would tear the Yellow Ranger's skull away from her body,
Mercy could no longer watch idly and despite her bodies' refusal and the apparent impossibility of the situation, with tears streaming from deep brown eyes and a hoarse, ragged scream of grief, rage and simple desperation the Red Ranger forced her wounded body to move.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" her words echoed around the Quarry, Mercy's voice amplified a thousandfold as time slowed and laws of nature were suspended for an instant that felt like an eternity. In open defiance of what should have been possible Mercy was across the battlefield and directly between Lord Zedd and Aslaug in an instant, the blurring warping glow of her armour magnified as much as her voice as she saw the tyrant turn to face her in a slow motion and delivered a single punch to the centre of his face and watched as a shock-wave rippled outwards, destroying his helmet entirely to give Mercy her first look at the true face of Lord Zedd; his flesh was a deep, hellish crimson and his eyes were entirely filled with blazing red with no iris or pupil to be seen and whilst his features were oddly humanoid there was still a blunt, primal aspect to him that was only increased by old battle scars that had removed his nose and turned his mouth into a lipless snarl filled with the fangs of an apex predator, freed from his helm the curling horns that sprouted from his helm seemed even larger and more prominent whilst at the same time it became clear that they were set within a mane of glossy black locks that now cascaded over armoured shoulders.
And then the moment ended as time seemed to remember its' purpose and Lord Zedd was flung through the air like a rag-doll and Mercy rushed to Aslaug's side it seemed outwardly that she simply vanished
"Are you okay? Aslaug talk to me-"
"I live" the Yellow Ranger managed to slur out through what was likely a cracked jaw before the eye she could still open widened in something akin to reverent awe as she whispered "Mercy….your armour"
"Wha-" it was at that point, even with the ground rumbling as Lord Zedd leapt to his feet once more that Mercy managed to come to her senses and realise exactly how she had managed to act at all, let alone deliver such a decisive blow; the answer came in the form of a fiery red glow beyond that of the rest of her armour manifesting around her left fist and forearm where her Morpher rested and a message displayed across the inside of her cracked visor.
'Battleizer: Activated'
Eric had taken to the cockpit of the Q-Rex Zeta and promptly shifted the latest iteration of his Zord into his humanoid, battle-mode configuration wherein it retained the enormous shoulder-mounted weapons batteries of its' Spinosaurus form and wielded a colossal sword made of the dinosaur modes' fin whilst the saurian head rested on its' chest and its' tail had split apart and relocated itself to become a winged propulsion system capable of allowing the sleek and streamlined but still massive machine to move with incredible speed and agility,
Which was exactly what was needed in the battle against the reanimated Illhveli
The monstrous whale-monster had been robbed of much of their higher brain function by the process which had reanimated them though this had made them more dangerous in a sense, the Acheron hybrid now fighting with reckless abandon and simply charging forth with no sense of self-preservation and seemingly immune to pain whilst leaving a trail of carnage in their wake which the Quantum Ranger tried to mitigate as best they could.
"Come on!" he spat furiously as his latest attempt to deliver a swift and decisive blow to the enlarged monster failed, he had attempted to bring his Zord rushing passed his opponents' side and deliver a slash to the flank that would cripple or kill only to be batted aside by oversized arm at the last moment but Illhveli let out a low, wailing war-cry whose pained groaning sound was the stuff of nightmares before charging forwards and driving their blunt, whale-like head covered in a layer of symbiotic living armour into the Q-Rex Zeta to send it hurtling backwards; the building it crashed through collapsing in a cascade of stone, steel and fire whilst alarms blared within the Zords' cockpit.
Forcing himself not to think of the damage done and the lives potentially ruined or even lost by that single failed attempt Eric forced his war-machine to its' feet, the Q-Rex now relying on its' pilots force of will to drive it forwards in the same manner as the Aegis Zords was quickly proven to be a crucial design choice.
As Eric had willpower to spare.
"ZETA MAX CUTTER!" with a single roared command the Quantum Ranger brought Q-Rex flying from the wreckage and hurtling along a New York street that would be busy in any other circumstance with its' sword at the ready; the Zords' leaping bounds quickly gave way to true flight as its' thrusters reaches full power and contrails of fiery red light followed behind it whilst its' weapon began to glow with the same light. Illhveli let out another wail and charged once again, yet this time Eric's assault was more successful and as the Q-Rex swung its' sword the monsters' cries became even more pained revealing that they were not impervious after all and the ground beneath them shook with the impact of the monsters' right arm falling and crushing several of the cars lining the street which had somehow avoided being destroyed.
The victory was short-lived however and Eric was once again almost flung from his seat in the cockpit as a series of explosions rocked his Zord.
"What the hell?" he demanded to the empty cockpit before the various sensors of the Q-Rex made him aware of the source of the attack, namely the Dark Empires' own air support. The battle for the skies above New York had been raging for some time now though Eric had forced himself to simply focus on the task at hand and it seemed that whilst the defending forces had managed to make considerable headway there were still a few lone alien fighters performing bombing runs or packs of them hunting down anything that they deemed a target and it was the latter that targeted the Quantum Ranger's mecha; a handful of the thing unleashing a stream of rockets and laser fire which created enough of an opening for Illhveli to swat the Q-Rex around the head with their remaining arm and send the war-machine staggering again.
"Damn it all!" Eric snapped before avoiding another rampaging blow and frantically trying to turn the massive cannons mounted on his Zords' shoulders towards the Empire aircraft above him yet was rewarded with nothing but a sense of steadily increasing frustration as his targets banked and weaved through the air to avoid each salvo in turn whilst Eric was forced to defend himself from attacks both from above and at round level as Illhveli charged again.
Then help arrived.
The first Empire fighter was snatched out of the air by a blur of golden yellow motion that Eric struggled to comprehend the nature of, understanding only that the forces involved must certainly have been fatal for the pilot before a moment later the same incomprehensible blur wheeled around and swooped into the fray once again, become distinct enough to identify as it did so and leaving the Quantum Ranger with a renewed sense of hope as he saw that it was a Wild Zord and a familiar one at that.
"Good to see you darling" Eric all but purred into an open comm channel, enjoying the brief sense of relief that washed over him despite the severity of the situation.
"Be smooth later, deal with that thing now" Taylor admonished, though with a more playful tone to her voice than she normally allowed "The Harrier Zord and I can take care of the fighters"
"Yes ma'am" Eric answered, giving a mock salute within his cockpit before turning his attention back Illhveli and narrowly avoiding another charge before raking the Q-Rex Zetas' sword across the back of the titanic beasts' legs to halt its' advance before preparing a final blow, deciding that this battle had gone on for far too long already.
"ZETA MAX STRIKER!" the Q-Rex Zeta leaned back and Eric forced the Zord to channel as much of the Morphing Grids' power as it could handle until warning sirens blared within the cockpit before launching a maelstrom of fiery red bolts of light into the sky which formed a swirling nexus in the sky above him before raining down a relentless storm of destructive force onto the wounded and reanimated monster he fought which was torn asunder until its' ravage body finally exploded in a flash of light and an accompanying shock-wave
"Nice shooting" Taylor's voice filled the cockpit of the Q-Rex and Eric allowed himself a small smile before turning his attention to the ongoing battle for New York as a whole, tapping into communication feeds between his own Silver Guardians and the military forces they fought alongside it became clear that the Empire forces were being largely held at bay and that the warship in orbit above the city had run out of reinforcements to send them but a decisive counter-attack to reclaim the city would still need to be launched and Eric realised that there was only one possible candidate for the role of leading the charge.
"Hey Taylor" he chuckled "How about we finish this off?"
The sensation of her Battleizer activating was like nothing that Mercy had ever felt before, where Rensa's higher morphed state was achieved through the melding of an entirely different Ranger's armour onto his own to produce devastating effects that taxed the Black Ranger immensely with each use and Kay's enhanced form was a product of their own magical abilities surging forth and being boosted by the Power of the Morphing Grid Mercy wielded a device that had been made specifically for her to be used at this very moment and all she felt as crimson light engulfed her was a sense of serene calmness as her mind became still and silent.
Then the power rushed through her body in a way that defied words as her armour began to transform.
The edges of her armour, which had become an indistinct blur as it seemed that reality itself warped around her outline began to solidify again as the crimson light that seemed to shine from within her solidified, though rather than something crystalline and shimmering like the Green Ranger's gauntlets this deep red armour was sleek and glossy in appearance and practical in design. Additional armoured skirts formed on her hips, reaching down to her knees and her upper left arm whilst her chest became encased in an armoured vest whose design mirrored the curved lightning bolt pattern of the armour below it and from there the white portions of her armour, the lightning bolt swooshing across her torso, left forearm, both lower legs and her entire right arm shifted to a bright and metallic silver as yet more additional armour formed including a single angular and stylised wing-like decoration adorning her right shoulder that appeared as though she were wearing a part of the Dragon shield. Additionally a silver armoured gorget formed around her neck and collarbones whose jutting and sharp angles gave it the appearance of a cruel beak whilst the rear of this piece of armour and her new chest piece formed a connection point for a pair of wings; mechanical and streamlined things whose silver forms reflected the sunlight until the were splayed wide and contrails of crimson light began to stream out from each individual segment of them as Mercy rose slowly into the air with dust swirling around beneath her as her new powers created a vortex.
"Impressive Red Ranger" Lord Zedd snarled, spitting out a mouthful of viscous black blood and bracing himself for another exchange of blows, undeterred despite his sword no longer being in his grasp
"Truly, an impressive feat" he continued "But you are far from the first Power Ranger capable of such a technique that I've encountered and you will be neither the first or the last to die by my hand!"
and with that Mercy and Lord Zedd charged at one another, the armoured, heavily bloodied but nonetheless terrifying warlord cracking the ground beneath his clawed feet with each pace forward and a hand outstretched as he made to grasp his damaged sword and tear it free from the ground yer Mercy in her Battleizer form was simply a force of nature; the Red Ranger flew through the air and ignored Lord Zedd's sword in favour of intercepting the tyrant to himself by delivering crushing front kick to his chest, her wings fanning out and adjusting as she halted effortlessly in mid air whilst the towering form of her opponent simply buckled under the force of the blow and with his helmet destroyed Mercy could see Lord Zedd's eyes widen in shock as his momentum was robbed and he was thrust backwards by the blow yet before her could be sent hurtling the Red Ranger grabbed at his outstretched right arm and took by the wrist to pull the tyrant forward to deliver her elbow to his face with crushing force then spin in mid-air and throw him over her shoulder as if it were a simple sparring match.
"I told you….you're not gonna win. You're not gonna take Earth or anywhere else, not today, not ever" Mercy panted out "I won't let you" she punctuated that statement by surging downwards and delivering a cataclysmic axe-kick to Lord Zedd's chest that left the tyrant wheezing and coughing up yet more of his vile ichor whilst his ribs and the various mechanical components that had been added to his chest cavity groaned and strained under the force of the Red Ranger's foot now resting on it, forcing Lord Zedd downwards and cracking the ground beneath him until he lay in a crater in the shape of his own imprint. From there Mercy, knowing that should be able to do so again with the excess power flowing through her summoned her sword in a pulse of scarlet and was only briefly surprised to see that it too had changed her crimson bladed katana now replaced by an oversized odachi of the same colour whose sheer size rivalled Lord Zedd's own weapon yet she found herself able to wield it with a single hand without effort and she held her enlarged blade at the ready as she gazed down at the warlord
"Now surrender and call off your fleet"
"You dare?" Lord Zedd demanded, the words filled with trembling rage and hatred despite his unfavourable position "You dare demand and offer terms-"
"Combat between champions, the Acheron way" Mercy interjected coldly "You represented the Dark Empire and you've lost, now call off your forces" there was a brief moment where everything became silent and even with her heart hammering in her chest and her thoughts racing until they were nothing but an incomprehensible buzzing in her mind Mercy could almost allow herself to hope only for that moment to be shattered irrevocably by the narrowing of Lord Zedd's blazing eyes that preceded a deafening bellow.
"NEVER!" the single word was screamed out and the tyrant unleashed a blast of concussive force that felt to Mercy as though she had collided with a wall, the Red Ranger was sent hurtling backwards and had barely regained her footing on the ground before Lord Zedd came surging towards her again, clawed hands crackling with lightning. Mercy grit her teeth and charged, feet leaving the ground as she flew forwards and prepared to slash at the tyrant with her sword only for Lord Zedd's claw to close around her right arm yet as his own right hand lashed out to crush her skull her own left was thrust forwards to counter it and the pair remained like that, the air becoming charged until lightning flashed and crackled around them as the quarry began to crater under the incomprehensible forces the two warriors unleashed as they grappled to a stalemate.
"You could have ended it!" Mercy raged, voiced ragged as she fought with everything she had yet gained no purchase only for Lord Zedd to offer mocking laughter through clenched fangs in return
"This has been an enlightening experience Red Ranger and I will enjoy adding parts of your armour to my own" he managed to growl out, voice strained with exertion "But in the end my victory was always certain. I have waited so long to claim this world, to purge the Alliance in flames, this is the culmination of my life's work….you think that you alone have the strength to deny me?"
"SHE'S NOT ALONE!" the familiar low, gruff voice was raised to a fierce war-cry as Aslaug came rushing into the fray from seemingly nowhere and took the opportunity presented by Lord Zedd' hands being full to leap into the air and deliver a crushing punch his face that snapped his head back in a spray of black hair with its' force. Mercy wasted no time in capitalising on her opponents' suddenly slackened grip and kicked Lord Zedd away from herself and more importantly Aslaug with all of her might sending him flying backwards before he was unceremoniously blasted out of the air by a lance of ephemeral green light revealing that Kay had rejoined the battle and as Mercy turned towards them she saw that the rest of the Aegis Rangers were standing ready.
"Where you lead I follow. Always" Aslaug promised
"Shall we end this cousin?" Kay enquired, managing to offer up some semblance of their usual confidence in the face of odds that were still overwhelming.
"This is it, this is the moment we became Rangers for" Tempestus offered, his voice filled in equal parts with trepidation and simple awe.
"For Kimberley Hart" Marigold added, fists clenching at the memory of the veteran Ranger whose mantle she had taken up.
"For everyone" Rensa snarled "Everyone he's taken and everyone who will get to live free with him gone"
"This is the best chance we're ever gonna get to end the war" Panthera noted, the Pink Ranger clearly scared but forcing herself to continue regardless and with the encouragement of her friends ringing in her ears Mercy glanced from Lord Zedd who was already beginning to pull himself to his feet, his chimerical physiology and the unspeakable steps he had taken to improve himself even further allowing him to continue the battle despite his many critical injuries and then back to her team and slowly a smile formed beneath her helmet.
"Let's do this. Let's finish this!" and with that the Aegis Rangers charged as one.
Author's Notes:
So….Next chapter is the penultimate chapter, how's everyone feeling about being this close to the end?
I feel like I should have more to say here but honestly I don't, I'm cranking out two chapters a week and I wrote this two months before any of you will read it so any discussion of current events seems redundant.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Just wanted to open this chapter off with a scene that really set the tone for the fight with Lord Zedd, he is by no means on top form at this point in the fight but at the same time the Rangers are worn out as well and are struggling just to keep pace with him.
I realised writing this that Mari has never actually faced Zedd before.
So Zebidiah's safe….but really, a leg sweep? Come on Tempestus.
Let that sink in for a moment, Zedd can counter Rensa's speed.
Panthera's idea wasn't exactly a bad one.
And we've got our first proper helmet break.
Nice save from Kay but was everything they had left in the tank.
Princess Shayla would definitely look at a communicator like it personally offended her.
I actually had fun working with her character a little bit in this scene, the whole idea of her protecting humanity but being utterly separate from them to the point where she can't relate to the refugees and her moral confusion regarding everything about the Turbo Rangers.
Yay, the tide is turning because those reinforcements made a difference.
Who likes the idea of a human settlement on the Animarium?
Forget the Power Rangers, death by Orca is terrifying.
Merrick is just berserk now.
Zord vs alien fighter jets only ends one way.
Don't get confused, even if the Rangers win….Earth still got its' shit kicked in during the battle.
If Karone's whole plan here seems familiar then good, it's a direct callback to the start of the story where she teleported a version of the Megaship into an Empire warship.
Also yeah, of course Lord Zedd has a ship go and attack the Moonbase and of course he wants it back.
"Destroy them" is literally the only way Karone is ever gonna lead a charge into the enemy.
Imagine being the Empire General who had to spend their last moments living with the knowledge that they were beaten by Bulk & Skull.
And back to the main event….Which is going about as well as you'd think.
I think you knew what was gonna happen here from the moment that Mercy's armour started glowing.
Yeah that punch would have been game over if she didn't have plot armour.
And of course it's Aslaug being injured that's the catalyst….She hasn't lost the eye, she just got her face punched in.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" so….If any of my readers also watch RWBY then you'll know that my wording here was deliberate.
And here, at chapter eighty we get our first look at what's under Lord Zedd's helmet.
I could have been cruel and had a cliffhanger there but I chose not to be.
The Aegis Zords are gone, but we're still getting a Zord fight.
I actually had to re-read the battle of Unus just to refresh myself on everything about the Q-Rex Zeta.
Seriously though, whale noises are not calming….especially in this context.
The main difference between this battle and Unus is that this time the Quantum Ranger actually achieves something when he uses his Zords' special moves.
Okay but if we suspend show logic for a moment then you understand that had to happen eventually right? One side had to try and strafe the Megazord or giant monster with their air support at some point.
Yeah that Empire pilot got splattered across the inside of the cockpit by sheer G-Force.
The Harrier Zord, either Taylor renamed it or it renamed itself but it fits.
And that's the battle for New York effectively over.
Yeah Mercy's Battleizer is basically just an extra layer of armour, including a piece that looks like Deku's collar piece from MHA and a pair of wings that are based on Gundam designs and Deathsaurus from Transformers.
I mean as much as Zedd is giving a typical villain speech here, he's not exactly lying.
She Judo hip-tossed the Emperor of half the galaxy.
I debated giving Mercy a more stylised sword but decided against it, an odachi which is basically a bigger katana felt like it fit the overall aesthetic of her power up better.
Yes I can hear your eye-rolls from here because Mercy gave him a chance to surrender but it had to be done, Mercy is not ruthless, she isn't going to skewer a beaten opponent and, by the rules of the conflict she did have Lord Zedd beaten here.
"SHE'S NOT ALONE!" because and I can't stress this enough, teamwork is and should always be a fundamental part of Power Rangers.
Yes the Aegis Rangers each giving Mercy a one-line pep talk was a little cheesy….But in my defence you're reading a Power Rangers fan-fiction.
So, Lord Zedd's forces are being pushed back all across the Earth and now he's been put on the back foot….The only real question is what tricks does he have left up his sleeve.
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