CHAPTER 2 — Rangers to the Rescue

|| Aquila Hyperion Galaxy, Planet Xybria

The outskirts of Xybrian civilization were a quiet place.

Isolated from the lustrous metropolis Illumise due to geological inconveniences, the populace around and atop the Yepamu Soro mountain range had instead resorted to the establishment of a self-preserving network of mountain towns.

One such village existed in the middle of Mupata valley: Guta. Bolstered by farmer families that had rooted themselves to the town since its conception, generations-worth of farming experience had created a skilled and reliable workforce. Because of this, Guta had been crowned an agricultural paradise, the prosperous, year-long harvest seasons serving as the Shanda network's most consistent source of income and food dispensation.

It was a day like any other. Farmers tended to crops while artisans converted the harvest into food, clothing and furniture. Children herded young-ling animals with the assistance of canine companions. Meanwhile the town's elders, which served the dual role of supervising scholar and technician, converted any material leftovers into a special powder designed to revitalize the energy nodes that fueled Guta's households.

And on a day like any other, they came.

Cloaking systems disengaged to reveal alien spacecraft. Prismatic particles crackled and popped as the fleet's presence dominated the sky, casting a foreboding shadow above the village. Long, crimson barrels mounted on support pillars rotated in downward arcs, their tips glowing with energy.

An innocent countryman's scream was drowned out by the deafening crescendo of crimson beams. Extended bursts of concentrated plasma shot out in bright streaks, carving blazing trails across Guta. Wood was reduced to splinters, straw to ash and stone to dust.

Secondary craft — a wider, boxy variant lacking in heavy weaponry — hovered closer to the ground. Spear-shaped landing gear snapped open like a predator's maw and bit into Gutan soil as rear entrances creaked open and unloaded the passengers: A race of chitinous, pitch-black humanoids equipped with orange carapace armor, cross-shaped helmets and pincer blades.

'Silencers!' roared a terrible warlord.

The disjointed mass of creatures bunched and turned to face their leader. A man of terrifying stature, he was a warrior clad in crimson silk, gunmetal armor and a bull-horned helmet. Ghastly war paint curled underneath his slanted eyes, forming a pair of ashen claw marks that did little to mask the hardened features of his bearded visage.

'Destroy it all!' he cried out. His lips twisted into a sinister grin at the sight of the Silencers stabbing the air.

The swarm promptly scattered in groups of threes and fives and flooded Guta's narrow streets. They swung their pincer blades gleefully as they ransacked property and harassed innocent bystanders. Though silent in their rampage, the glint in the Silencers' bead-shaped eyes displayed perfectly the pleasure they derived from inflicting pain.

The warlord watched the chaos unfold before him. 'Finally,' he breathed, 'our thousandth planet. Our thousandth trophy! The master will be most pleased.'

'You're too dramatic, Traitor King of Vaxia.'

The man turned to meet his accomplice. 'Silence, Cain! Don't you dare speak that title ever again,' he warned with a curved talon.

Magnificently accoutered in sapphire body armor and topped by a platinum shawl that glimmered with starlight, Cain was a tall and lean young man. His braided hair, white as winter snow, was held back by a four-pointed corona, while his high cheekbones were accentuated by a jaw-piece the color of obsidian.

Cain craned his pale face to meet the warlord with a hawkish glare. Despite his authority, the older man tensed.

'Empty hands do not scare me, king Hanoi,' Cain said.

Hanoi snorted at the boy's effrontery. He nodded at Guta. 'Go, then. Join the Silencers.'

Cain made to step forward, but his path was blocked by Hanoi's gauntlet.

'Never,' the king rumbled, his eyes blazing with fire, 'ever forget who's in charge.'

Cain tilted his head. 'If that will keep you out of my way,' he conceded and pushed past Hanoi's arm.

Drawing the Blade of Torment from his back, Cain rolled his wrist and felt the weapon's weight. A curved saber that matched the owner's fierceness, its blade was chipped throughout the rune-inscribed surface. To Cain, who had proudly donned the Galactic Swordsman title, displaying the steel's ferocious bite meant more than the superficial beauty of its cobalt shimmer.

Never, ever, forget who's in charge, Hanoi's rang inside Cain's head. A smirk split his lips; a gesture that betrayed menace in two words, sworn in silence.

For now.

Fear had taken over.

It manipulated the Gutan mass with a puppet-master's finesse, tugging at their group subconscious on invisible strings. Drunk on fear, the fleeing farmer families crammed the alleyways in a manic search for escape. Those ostracized from the press of bodies, the stragglers unfortunate enough to linger, were culled by Silencer blades and walls of laser fire.

All except for one, elderly man, who had proven a skilled combatant against the alien invaders.

Short and scraggy, the elder fought back with his walking cane; a carved flute of auburn wood. The Silencers skittered closer like ants on the hunt, cross-shaped helmets buzzing. They came at the elder with a savage wanton, but were met with agile maneuvering. The elder swept his cane low, aiming to destabilize his taller adversaries by aiming for the back of their legs. Wherever he dashed, Silencers turned over and slammed to the ground.

'Run!' he cried out to his fellow citizens, striving to reestablish some semblance of order. 'Everyone, evacuate to the riverbank and cross the bridge!'

Rich and deep, the elder's voice carried over the wind, invading the mob's chaotic holler. Individuals from within managed to regain their senses and in turn coaxed their surrounding fellows into seeing reason. One by one, the Gutan populace tempered their distress and sought exodus according to the elder's instructions.

The children and elderly took priority. One young girl broke away from the line and sprinted toward the elder.

'Elder Mukoma! Where's mommy, sir?!'

'Run, child!' the elder warned. 'Run as far as your feet can take you!'

'Help! I'm scared!' she wept and clung to his robe.

Unable to deny the girl's plea for aid, elder Mukoma clasped her hand in his own and distanced them from the thick of combat. They evacuated to the serpentine alleys, where laser fire was restricted by sharp turns and labyrinthine complexity.

Passing through several junctions in order to throw off the pursuers, elder Mukoma and the girl managed to cross three blocks before sheltering themselves inside an abandoned stable. Elder Mukoma quickly slammed the wooden doors shut and hid the girl behind a haystack. She was a delicate thing, sun-kissed and filled with freckles. She wore her dirty-blonde hair in two, short pigtails.

'What's happening?' she hiccuped. Her chestnut eyes were watery and her breathing was labored. 'Where is mommy? I'm scared!'

'Dearheart,' elder Mukoma began, wiping the droplets streaming down the girl's rosy cheeks. 'It's going to be alright.' He paused, as if he were uncertain of his own words. Swallowing, he concluded with: 'It will.'

Footsteps stomped closer. Approaching with creeping menace, a Silencer trio inspected the building, bumbling in an incoherent language. Elder Mukoma hurriedly seized the girl in a tight embrace and pressed them both against the hay.

'Speak not a word,' he whispered to her gently. The girl nodded.

The Silencers exchanged garbled tongue clicks, a form of communication that matched the aliens' primal savagery. Elder Mukoma held his breath as the invaders tore down the doors. The Xybrian sun stabbed the stable interior, a blinding beam of light separating the shadowed room into two, even halves. The elder heard wood splintering, saw shapes dancing under the light's warmth and readied his walking stick. Nothing would stop him if it meant protecting Guta's future.

The sky suddenly roared. A powerful blast came crashing down like a thunderclap, and the shock-wave that followed blew away the Silencers. The first thing elder Mukoma did was instruct the girl to swallow so as to unclog her ears. He then assured her everything was fine. For all that, he felt compelled to peek outside from the window closest to the vandalized entrance.

'Girl,' he gasped upon witnessing. 'Come! Come and look!'

The young girl joined the elder. What she saw took her breath away.

'It's the Power Rangers!'

A crimson streak sundered the clouds.

Reaching velocities impossible for standard-issue Xybrian aircraft, a one-of-a-kind fighter jet rode on blazing afterburners, the fuel combustion and soot merging with water vapors to produce fiery red contrails.

Fashioned after the Xybrian falcon, the cockpit was supported by a sturdy fuselage, reinforced with a secondary layer of maroon plating and topped with a pair of horizontal and vertical stabilizers on the rear. In essence, the craft designated Sky Alpha resembled more so a rocket than a conventional plane.

It was the Supersonic Fighter Zord.

'Rangers,' the pilot addressed a closed communications channel. 'Guta needs our help. Thin out the Silencers upon arrival and await further instructions.'

He pushed the flight stick forward and the Fighter Zord dove, coming in mere inches from the rooftops. The mounting pressure pushed the air at breakneck speed, with the Fighter Zord's subsequent rise generating a powerful shock-wave discharge that knocked out an entire lane filled with Silencers.

At the same time, two oversized land vehicles intercepted the menace at Guta's outskirts. A combination of plated shock absorbers and superchargers restraining the raw power of towering, rumbling engines, the Supersonic Carrier and Jeep Zords trained their mounted artillery on the cornered alien bunch and fired away with rockets and beams alike.

The Silencers faded in the inferno.

'Targets neutralized!' the Zord drivers, two per vehicle, exclaimed.

'Excellent work. Power Rangers, eject!' the Fighter Zord pilot commanded.

With the press of a button he shot out of the aircraft and dove headfirst where the battle was at its thickest. He flipped forward once, twice. On the third flip he extended his legs and stuck the landing. When he straightened, he was flanked by four other rangers that shared the same, color-coded suit and striking silver 'V' crest on their chests. One by one, they proceeded to call out their titles and strike a heroic pose.

'A brighter tomorrow! Red Supersonic Ranger!'

'Knowledge shared! Blue Supersonic Ranger!'

'Inspiring chivalry! Black Supersonic Ranger!'

'Hearts united! Pink Supersonic Ranger!'

'Burning bright! Yellow Supersonic Ranger!'

'Supersonic!' began their leader, the Red Supersonic Ranger, and all five finished the cry together: 'Supercharged!' The accumulated energy in their suits then spilled out behind them to trigger a multi-colored explosion.

Without a moment to waste, the Rangers readied their fists and charged at the Silencers.

'Pincer blades. Hand-to-hand combat experts, seems like,' the Blue Supersonic Ranger observed as he elbow-blocked a vertical swing. He deflected the blow and answered with a backhanded fist.

'In which case, I'll use this! Supersonic Shooter!' He phased a blaster into his grip and sent the Silencer flying with a three-shot burst to the chest.

'Brilliant execution, sir Brute!' said the Black Supersonic Ranger and swung his Supersonic Saber, the slash overloading a Silencer's carapace armor, causing it to spark. 'However, it is the blade I shall forever turn to when the battle calls!'

The Pink Supersonic Ranger could not help but chuckle. 'Somebody's putting the "Gent" in "gentleman". You could learn much from him, Pyre!' She punched a Silencer, throwing it into disarray, and followed up with a sweeping kick that knocked the alien off balance.

'Well, Star, I can do that and more with just these babies,' said the Yellow Supersonic Ranger and cracked her knuckles. Flanked by a Silencer pair, Pyre spun sideways to dodge the first chop and rode the momentum to grab the second assailant. She then turned the alien around and kicked it in the waist, hurling the Silencer at its companion.

'Easy as pie,' Pyre said and smacked her palms.

Yellow's satisfaction died away the moment she noticed a child being chased by a trio of Silencers. She rushed to them without a second thought, firing her Sonar Blaster so as to attract their attention. Closing the distance between them, Pyre jumped and kicked with both legs, dispatching two Silencers at once. The last alien made to attack her, but Supersonic Yellow was faster. She wove past the swing, answered with an uppercut and spun in place, knocking out the Silencer with a roundhouse kick.

'Are you okay?' she knelt and asked the child. The kid nodded with a bright smile on its face. Pyre nodded. 'Great. Now go and hide, buddy. Let the professionals take care of this!'

'Thank you, miss Yellow Ranger!' the boy said and ran to the nearest adult.

'Good job, Yellow,' said Supersonic Red, who had witnessed the scene play out before him.

Pyre gave him a thumbs-up. 'I never turn my back on those who need me, Ace!'

Ace nodded. He could tell Pyre was smiling behind her helmet. He was, too.

A flash of movement came rushing from the corner of Ace's eye. A cloaked figure, faster than his own shadow, had suddenly appeared behind Pyre. Ace couldn't warn his fellow Ranger about the raised sword in time. In a fraction of a second, the assailant had leapt and slashed Pyre in the back, the gash erupting in a shower of sparks.

Brute immediately recognized the enemy. 'The Galactic Swordsman, Cain!' he cried.

'A moment's respite, a lifetime of regret,' the swordsman grinned as Pyre fell into her fellow ranger's arms.

Ace phased his V-Sonic Sword and pointed it at Cain. The Black Supersonic Ranger stepped forward and placed his hand before him.

'Sir Ace!' Gent declared. 'Grant me the task of confronting this adversary.'

'Gent…'

'Do it, Ace. Look!' Brute pointed to the sky. Ace followed the Supersonic Blue's finger. The enemy ships were lifting off.

'They're not empty!' Star said, her voice strained with anguish. 'I can hear women and children crying out inside each one.'

'Your Fighter is the only Zord that can chase after them proper, chief,' Brute pressed.

Ace nodded and tapped the Sonic Morpher atop his wrist, feeding his retinal display with the necessary information. 'Pink, Blue, take care of Yellow. Black, I leave Cain to you.'

'Roger!' the three rangers answered as one.

Ace mustered the suit's power to his legs and jumped onto the nearest rooftop. The Supersonic Fighter dove at an angle and Supersonic Red followed the downward curve, dashing from one rooftop to the next until he caught up and hopped into the cockpit. Hurriedly he pushed the stirring stick back and the Zord banked, turned and pursued the enemy.

'The Black Supersonic Ranger,' Cain addressed Gent, purposefully oblivious to the fact Brute and Star were retreating with the wounded Pyre.

Gent's focus closed in on Cain, drinking in the subtle shifts in his opponent's stance and the manner in which the Galactic Swordsman wielded his sword. Cain leaned forward, knees slightly bent, and angled his arm so that the Blade of Torment turned over in a stance that ignored any defensive nuance and relished only the attacker's thrill. It was heavily reminiscent of a viperous serpent, poised to assault its prey with lethal venom.

'So!' he spat. 'You think you're worthy of my time?'

Gent simply pressed his heels together, put his spare hand behind his back and cocked the Supersonic Saber at his shoulder.

'I concur.'