Written by DTM666
Disclaimer: The author of this piece would like to state that 90% of the
characters featured here are properties of BVS Entertainment Inc and not that of
the author. 10% of the characters featured here are original creations of the
author.
Also, the author understands that this piece automatically negates
events that occur any and all PR incarnations that occur after Power Rangers
Wild Force; hence no Dino Thunder or Ninja Storm is featured here and hence
Tommy is not a doctor of anything. This is an AU, so to speak. Just thought we should be clear on that.
Intro to Wraith
Hello. Chances are you've probably either stumbled upon or even better, actually
read this story many ages ago when it was first posted as Power Rangers: The
Weapon. Power
Rangers: Wraith is essentially the Director's Cut of that particular story. It's basically a moderate
retooling with several scenes edited, added, changed around, or dropped entirely. There
were so many edits and additions that needed to be done that the story had to be
extended from its original twelve chapters to fourteen, simply because there's a
certain limit I impose on myself for the length of each chapter.
Despite its flaws, I felt happy with the end result of The Weapon and thought it was a good first effort at PR fanfic writing (that I actually finished up.) As time and perspective passed by, I thought that it could have used a bit of a reshuffling in terms of material. So this is the end result.
Even if you have already read this, I urge you to give it another read, as there are some new things added here and there. It's not a pure rewrite, but I hope the new revision will make this a better read than originally conceived. Reviews & constructive criticisms are always welcomed. Enjoy.
---
Terran Year - 2004 A.D.
Gorah Khan. The homeworld of the Machine Empire. An empire run by machines.
Once, it was a prosperous Empire before it was ruled by a corrupted regime who veered its soldiers in an everlasting war against organics. Once, it was ruled by Mondo, the most ruthless of all the machines within the Empire. Once, it was the most feared political power that remained a constant threat to both the forces of good and the United Alliance of Evil.
Now it was a crumbling Empire where the leadership had been in dispute ever since Mondo was forcibly removed from power after his failure to conquer planet Earth and his subsequent demise in the Alliance Wars. While most recognized former Mondo rival Aradon as the true Emperor, there were those who supported former Mondo general named Venjix, who had orchestrated the war that pitted the Empire against the Varox Contingency of bounty hunters. The war lasted several years before Aradon-led fleets ultimately destroyed every single Varox colony, practically making the Varox extinct.
This planet had not seen sunlight for quite some time. The buildings of Gorah Khan, once of clean, sleek construction, are now charred wreckage of burnt steel and molten lava. The mines and factories spew out flames and light-covering smokes that fill the already-red skies. Within these massive dumps, cogs and other heavy robots deal with the reconstruction and salvage of their battered world, which was crippled after the final battle with the Varox months ago. It resulted in the loss of some seventy million troops and widespread damage to all the cities; the result of a Varox genocide attack that nearly crippled the Empire were it not for the sudden unification of all political factions towards one common cause: to exterminate the Varox threat.
In the sky, a light beam cut through the black clouds and struck the charred surface of Gorah Khan. The Cogs observed this light as it grew brighter and brighter. The beam managed to tear the clouds apart, letting sunlight through for the first time in months. Emanating the beam was a strange sort of battleship; practically round in shape, but had an organic feel to it. The beam continued to glow brighter every second. The smaller Cog looked in awe and looked down at the ground, realizing what was going on; the mysterious object was cutting through the planet.
Before panic could occur, the scenery fell part. Giant chunks of the planet flew away as the beam intensified. Debris that was laying around started to levitate from what was left of a ground. A bright flash covered the planet's volume and when the light cleared, all that was left of Gorah Khan was several chunks of asteroids and metal debris. The battleship flew through the planet remains, ramming through asteroids with hardly a dent or scratch.
---
Andros peeked out the porthole of his personal chamber on board the Astro Megaship Mark-II, now in her second year of operation. He viewed the various stars and nebula that the ship was passing through. He found it hard to believe that all this could have been wiped out had Venjix succeeded in acquiring the massive zord, a zord that took a long time to dig out. Of course, if all the ship's voyagers hadn't been quiet for the past year or two, he would probably be thinking the same thing about some other major threat encountered. Along with TJ, Zhane, and the faithful robot, Alpha-7, Andros had not encounter any major disturbances. Nor did he have any reason to, as things have been relatively peaceful for the most part.
So he sat by his desk and took care of some paperwork, particularly things concerning his upcoming marriage to Ashley Hammond, a former Yellow Ranger now living on KO-35 working as an architect and part-time engineer aboard the J9 orbital shipyard orbiting KO-35's furthest moon. Such details were often a pain for Andros to deal with, but he would gladly take them with open arms. When the necessary paperwork was taken care of, Andros lied down on his bunker and proceeded to fall asleep, something he needed these past few days.
About an hour later, the collision alarm sounded and the ship rocked hard, almost tossing the sleeping Andros off the bunker. Andros woke up almost instantly and proceeded to the bridge while putting on his uniform jacket. He was caught off-guard when the ship shook again, harder than before. He made his way to the bridge, where Zhane was furiously attempting to keep the ship in balance.
"What happened?" asked Andros as he dashed to a nearby console.
"We got hit by a massive shockwave three sectors from here." Zhane said, straining to maintain stable control of the ship, "TJ's in the engine room trying to keep the power distributors from blowing out."
Another hard impact rocked the ship that instantly knocked the two Kerovans to the ground. The bridge lights soon dimmed down, replaced with hard red lights that covered the bridge. Andros made it back to his feet and quickly took control of the helm while trying to bring up a picture on the main viewer. Even during all this, the ship still shook, but over the next minute, slowly settled until it was gone.
Zhane managed back to the navigation station and raised the Megaship's shields. He fiddle with a few console controls before the lights went back to normal. Fumes of gas filled the bridge, but was quickly cleared up thanks to the ventilation system. Andros brought the main viewer onscreen and checked the sensors as TJ, the former Blue Space/current Red Turbo Ranger, walked onto the bridge.
"Everything down below seems fine." TJ said anxiously. "Alpha is working on minor repairs to the outer hull plating, but would anyone care to tell me what the heck just happened?"
"Well, we got hit by a couple shockwaves and now we're entering an asteroid belt," said Zhane as he safely navigated the Megaship through the cluttering of space rocks to avoid further collision and damage. "I didn't think there would be an asteroid belt here."
Andros looked at Zhane dumbfounded, "That's because there isn't supposed to be."
"What?" the Silver Ranger seemed shocked.
"According to the starmaps," the Kerovan Red Ranger explained, "we're supposed to be passing by Gorah Khan, the Machine Homeworld. But the planet isn't in my sensors."
Zhane looked up at the screen and looked at the navigation screen, "But that's impossible! Unless the sensors aren't tuned to this region of space." He glanced at TJ. "We've never even been this far on the old Megaship."
"Sensors are fine." Andros countered, "There's nothing but rocks."
"Could it have been Serpenterra years ago?" TJ suggested.
Andros shook his head, "Can't be. The planet was there roughly less than an hour ago when I did our last scan."
Zhane stood up and looked at the screen, the asteroid belt that was once a planet, "Could it be possible that there's another Serpenterra out there or something similar that we don't know about?"
The other two looked at their blonde friend with tension. It is possible.
---
Earth. Roughly the same day.
The main headquarters of Lightspeed Rescue organization was originally located in a Type-A Aquabase infrastructure on the coast of the Mariner Sea years ago. When the base was destroyed, construction on the new underground base sped up and eventually became the new base of operations, with head offices on the surface and a developing sky base currently under construction.
The underground headquarters had the same design aspects as the original Aquabase, but was technologically more advanced and was much more durable than the former base. Something the new commander had stressed heavily during the final stages of construction. While the base was a wonder in itself, the true marvel of technological prowess was the Situation Room, a round room with several screen displays, advanced holographic projectors, and a green, round table. Standing in front of the main viewer was the commander of Lightspeed Rescue; a typical human male in his late-twenties sporting a crew cut and goatee.
"Rangers," the commander said, "This is going to be a tough challenge for you. While you've done well on the first few missions, you're going to be facing a stiff enemy in this bounty hunter."
He turned around to face his six Lightspeed Rangers, already in morphed state. The commander paused, took the time to digest the six before him, in the new Ranger suits that was similar in design to the old Titanium Ranger suit, but without the shoulder plates. Aside from field commander Chad Lee in blue, the other five were new recruits chosen through the Ranger Initiative program which had been similar to what Captain Mitchell used to use to handpick the original candidates for the Lightspeed Ranger program.
"Your skill, determination, and heart got you this far." the commander continued, "But this isn't the typical Vypra flunkie you're used to fighting. This is a Level-5 emergency involving a suspect alien threat. Proceed with caution, as we have very little details on the Varox species other than that they're vicious fighters. Just remember to stay focused and remember your training. The city's counting on you, Rangers. And so am I."
"You can count on us, Commander Grayson." the one in Red said, "We won't let you down."
Carter Grayson, former Lightspeed Ranger, successor to retired Captain Mitchell and the new commander of Lightspeed Rescue, smiled. "I know you won't, Kip. Now get going."
The Rangers saluted and then marched out of the door. Chad began towards the door, but stopped and looked to Carter.
"Keep an eye on them, Chad." he said to the Blue Ranger, to which he replied with a grin before leaving, "Don't worry, Commander. They'll be fine with me."
---
Mariner Bay. Once a city bristling with activity. A city known for its clean beaches and monuments. A place that was once home to the Lightspeed Rescue organization that bred the first Power Ranger team designed by humans.
Now the city lays in ruin. In the middle of the streets, a Varox bounty hunter, the last of his kind, randomly fire energy bolts that take down entire buildings and blow apart human bodies. His screams are incoherent, but his rage is directed at those he sees. In a quick instance, the Varox is shot from behind and knocked on his back. He staggers back to his feet and looks ahead to see six people in multi-colored costumes, each holding a lance with a V-shaped cannon at the end of it. The Varox recognized them to be Power Rangers, though not any he has seen. The last time the Varox had encountered Rangers was when they were working for the Machines in their hunt for the Gold Ranger.
No matter, he thought to himself, I will accomplish the task at hand.
The Varox ran towards the six. As if realizing the enemy's next move, the one in Red pointed his pulse blaster at the creature, the others following suit. After a split-second, Chad Lee, the senior member of the six, gave the signal to fire. Six continuous streams of beams impacted the Varox's chestplate, resulting in a series of explosive impacts that sent the Varox hurling towards an automobile. A full minute has passed and the Varox did not move.
"Is he down?" Chad asked with concern, but tried not to show it.
"No, sir!" the Yellow one said. "He didn't blow up, sir!"
"Be careful, Kip." the Silver Ranger called out to the Red Ranger, "H-He could be faking."
The Red Ranger of the group took a small step forward. Ignoring the Silver one's warning, he proceeded to approach the fallen Varox, who looks unconscious. The Ranger turned towards the others and gave a thumbs up, which calmed his friends. All of a sudden, the Ranger heard a beeping sound coming from the Varox. He turned and looked down at the corpse, seeing that it was glowing. Electrical surges pulsated from the corpse and the Ranger ran.
"RUN!" he ordered with a hint of panic in his voice.
The Rangers ran from the corpse, but the next thing they saw was nothing but a white light that enveloped the surroundings. The force of the blast sent the Rangers flying and proceeding to cause nearby buildings to crumble and fall. Multiple explosions were heard, screams of panicked people were evident, but another loud bang would be heard, along with another light...
To be continued...