Note: From this chapter onward, the story completely divulges from the original material. For instance, the villains that Scorpius sends will most likely be new. Or let's say, the dynamics of all Ranger relationships spiral out to different paths.
Chapter 6. Showdown at the Steel factory
Terra Venture. A new morning has begun for the journeymen & journeywomen of the Human space colony called Terra Venture. Commander Stanton was as vigilant as ever in the Main Control Room, issuing commands to officers; some of whom lacked the understanding for such urgency when there were no monsters on the scanners. The male leader addressed this issue by stating:
"We've got to be prepared for one. Just because no is attacking now, does not, by any means, guarantee they won't attack soon."
As a tsunami this one time explanation convinced every one of the need to do their specific jobs. Kai, his long-lasting trustee, pushed him to cultivate a more foresightful mindset. The Power Rangers were their ace defense card; the adversaries that would be deemed to strong for the military were 'delivered to them' in some way. One would not need to look back far into the past for evidence. Two days – that was the time interval since the last time an opponent arrived on the scene that was too cunning or dangerous for the military to deal with. Who says there won't be more of that?
At a separate location. Five Human males were traversing on beige cobble pavement, with 2 being of non-military background.
"Have all resources continued their normal production level?"
"Yes. None have faltered throughout the week."
"A noteworthy accomplishment."
"That it may be. Yet, the demand for steel is rising."
"I would assume it has something to do with the constant destruction of buildings."
"Yes. The space opponents do tend to wreak havoc that causes extreme property damage."
"Not to mention death."
"Without a doubt."
"I had my reservations on building a steel factory onboard a Space Station. Luckily, Commander Stanton's & Co's prediction had been correct."
"Even that, we must believe that the suffering won't last forever."
"Couldn't agree more."
In space. Mekasta was practicing different moves with her cyan blue hued sword: swipes, slashes, piercings, blocks, swift angling. Sweat beads were prominently laying on her forehead up to this point; yet, she continued.
"My Queen has put my name forward as the one to neutralize the Power Rangers. My name. It is obvious that some of the Royals are annoyed of these Type I Humans persistency to defy the odds."
Another 5 minutes of practice were enacted before the in shape brown haired female decided that the practice was sufficient enough for her mission. Through her deep breathing, the mind wandered back to the previous topic.
"If I had to bet, the obvious one, who would neglect there existence, is Crius. Nemesis would be my 2nd one on the list. This whole scenario was most likely conjured up by Atlas."
Suddenly, a gold armored being came into her room.
"Leader Mekasta. We'll be in great proximity to Terra Venture within an hour."
"Very well, Trodius. In 10 minutes I'll explain the course of action."
"The men will be prepared."
"I would expect nothing less from you."
He left her alone in the room again. The repercussions in case of failure were strongly pressed into her mind. That came down to the fact that Euphrosyne had pursued one of her people's involvement over the other Royals. With the regaining of normal breathing, in a split second, Mekasta erased the largest possible amount of insecurity from her mind.
"This is my task now. And I will not fail My Queen."
Determination within her eyes skyrocketed upward.
Back at the Human Space Station. The Yellow Ranger was walking through a clothes shop with her colleague – the Pink Ranger. Leo did suggest to her to go with Kendrix on the 'new wardrobe' mission; she did spent the evening pondering about such an activity. The only disadvantage she managed to came up with was relative newness. Yes, they were both Chosen Ones. Yes, they both lived within the same place. Though, let us not forget, they were from different worlds: Kendrix – Earth, while Maya – Miranoi. Some insecurity still trickled throughout their time together on Terra Venture or the Astro Megaship. It seemed that the lone deterrent would be enough for Maya not to take Leo's advice onboard. Then… It struck her in the fleeing minutes before submergence into the dream world. The passion, the attraction and allure she felt towards Leo twisted her mind upside down. This led to her presenting the idea to Kendrix the next morning. Due to the caring nature of the blonde female, she barely hesitated to accept the invitation.
"How about this one?" – Kendrix asked her female colleague.
Maya made a normal glance at the piece of clothing that Kendrix was holding. It was a pine green, middle length skirt. The Yellow Ranger only needed 5 seconds to reply with:
"No. That's not it."
"Fine."
She smiled put the hangar back on the rail.
"We'll just keep looking."
A short period of silence.
"I assume you did not shop on your native planet."
"Not at all, Kendrix. We made do what the surroundings gave us."
"Logically."
"But I do have to say, I'm quite enjoying this experience."
"Glad to hear it, Maya."
Out of nowhere, the long, brown haired female abruptly stopped walking. A surge of vigor within her emotional state not only led her to take the accentuated clothes hangar with both hands, but also wrapped the mind around visions of a possible deep connection with Leo. The liveliness was observed by the Pink Ranger.
"Is that what you want?" – she softly asked.
"Yeah."
Maya arranged her face in a cheerful manner.
"And I know the remaining two parts."
"It's good that we're moving forward then."
She immediately glanced at Kendrix.
"Definitely."
They both giggled a bit; their closeness or bond appeared to strengthen quite significantly.
Two hours later.
"Shhhhhhhh! Shhhhhhhh! Shhhhhhhh!"
Such a sound was echoing through the massive facility; its cause being water cooling down an alloy of iron and coal that is worded as either 'steel' or 'cast iron'.
"Someone get ready a new batch!" – a male shouted.
"I don't think so." – a female said callously, arrogantly.
In less than 5 seconds, she dropped down from the ceiling and kicked the male at minimum 10 meters (~33 feet) to his left.
"What is going?!" – another male questioned, puzzled by the new arrival.
"How the hell is she?!" – a third male inquired.
Soon, the Steel factory was converged on by gold armored beings, which most possessed swords and a couple possessed guns.
"Get out of here!"
"Run! Run!"
Chaos erupted in the factory; the Humans started to depart the facility at an enormously high speed.
"Should we shoot them?"
"No need, Trodius. They will deliver the message to the 5 Humans well enough. Now…"
The Esteem Bishop's eyes locked onto the male warrior.
"….We need to get into position."
"Right away."
Mekasta had achieved the 1st of 3 parts of her plan. Now came the most uninfluenceable faze – getting your opponents to the spot where she wanted them to be.
On the Astro Megaship. Suddenly, a disharmonic sound erupted on the Bridge.
"Hold on!" – Damon shouted.
"What is it?" – Leo questioned.
"Dangerous activity?"
"Right, Kai. It is happening on Terra Venture."
"Where exactly?"
Damon pressed some buttons, a visual came up on the Main Screen.
"It looks like a factory." – Leo stated.
"The Steel factory to be exact."
"That means you know where it is?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
Damon stood up from a chair.
"Then we can get there in time to stop them."
"Should we wait for Kendrix & Maya?"
"No time, Kai. Let's make our way to the factory, while you call them and tell them to arrive there too."
Kai showed a growth in confidence with his next facial expression.
"Good enough for me."
"Alright then. Let's move." – Damon urged.
In no time, the 3 Power Rangers rushed out off the Bridge.
"So… What do you think about my new clothing?"
Kendrix reluctantly, a bit disgusted by herself ran her eyes from the ground upwards Maya's entire body. What would be the best way to describe her new appearance? Flaming. Two attributes led to that conclusion. First, the color – every single visible clothe was dyed in fire orange. It definitely made her appear more energetic, lively. Second, the arrangement – Maya now wore comfortable, ornament covered sneakers, low socks, a folded design, medium length skirt, plain shirt with almost nonexistent sleeves.
"It… Complements your character."
"That's how I view it, too." – the Yellow Ranger stated, unable to contain the joy she felt within her.
Suddenly, their communicators turned on.
"Kendrix! Maya! Come in!"
The Pink Ranger was first to respond.
"Yes, Kai. What's going on? You sound a bit… Stressed? Is Scorpius attacking again?"
"We're not sure, Kendrix. Though, it's safe to say that the enemy has been tracked to the Steel factory. We need you to meet us there!"
"Okay. We'll be there as soon as we can." – Maya voiced.
"Alright."
The line went dead.
"We should hurry." – Kendrix said.
"Yeah."
The female Rangers started to run.
Less than a 100 meters away from the factory's land. Leo, Damon & Kai were looking around in case there was enemy outside the factory waiting to surprise them. None of them could see one; proved by Damon stating:
"They don't appear to be scouting for our arrival."
"I would have to agree."
"There is one other thing."
"That being?" – Leo inquired.
"No civilians look to be running away from the factory." – Kai replied.
"You believe they managed to evacuate?"
"That would be my bet."
"Strange, but beneficial for us." – Damon mentioned.
The Rangers were smart, wise for the decision to scope out any opponent around the facility. The problem came to the reasoning. Their collective agreement to label an enemy in the surrounding area as one to produce a shock was wrong. Not that they could manage to see him or her anyway. A being stood at the higher part of the facility, carefully, meticulously hidden from sight.
"I've got 3 Rangers coming inside."
"Just 3?"
"Yes, leader Mekasta."
"How soon will they be inside?"
"Less than a minute."
"Then rush to your position, Trodius. The other 2 will come too late to affect our current plan."
"Understood."
Out in the distance.
"Only 3? Still a majority."
The being smiled.
"They do not comprehend what kind of battlefield their entering. Which… Is what makes this battle all the more amusing to watch. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Traditional evil laughter at the end.
Merely a minute into the entering of the building. The process of producing steel required high temperatures; yet, when the product came to be, the temperature needed to be severely lowered. Rationally, a cooling step was added to the process. What is the best known temperature annihilator? Amusingly, it is the most abundant chemical compound on Earth; it being – water. So, when applied in the cooling of the steel product, its temperature raises to a level, in which the liquid becomes vapor. The larger the production the scale, the more steamy the factory becomes. None of the 3 Rangers had any expertise or intuition based knowledge of how much steel was being produced. The only thing that they witnessed was an obvious, relatively thick fog within the building. Being the leader, Leo whispered:
"Keep your eyes peeled, guys."
He swiftly darted his eyes to both of his sides.
"The enemy is hiding somewhere in the fog."
They took a few steps together in a coordinated motion.
"This is not like Scorpius's at all."
"I know what you mean, Kai. Why would he or Furio change their approach to threatening us so drastically in a few days?"
"You are suggesting a new foe?" – Leo inquired the Blue Ranger.
Said person was not sure of the newness of their enemy. His mind quickly harkened back to the encounter with the yellow armored warrior. The killing of the monster, who had stolen their sabers, was as clear of a separation of a different allegiance as one could possible require.
"I'm not guaranteed, Leo, but there is something different about this entire situation."
"I'm beginning to understand your thinking."
The most muscular male aimed his head upward for a couple of seconds. The 3 Power Rangers weren't in any rush to examine every part of the factory. The limited visibility spelled the word 'Trap' all over their mind wall. One thing is knowing what is going to happen; an entire different task is anticipating how it will transpire.
Very soon. A substantial support beam was being used as an obstructing agent within the surrounding water vapor fog. The closer being had a rifle aimed forward; the further distanced one pushed a palm onto the column, had narrow eyes circling the entire degrees of a circle.
"Anything now?"
"You're in luck, Mekasta. I've located the 3 Power Rangers."
"Excellent. Where?"
"Barely 20 degrees to my rifle's left."
She smiled vigorously.
"Wonderful."
A swift & secure line is established with another being.
"Trodius. Are you all in position?"
"Exactly as you instructed, Mekasta."
"Alright. Get ready to grab a saber."
The line goes dead.
In the meantime. The 3 Power Rangers were still cautiously making their way through the Steel factory. With all of his miniscule looks to the ceiling, Leo had yet to identify an enemy above them somewhere. Kai & Damon had been looking to their nearest side, respectively.
"You've still got them all on sight?"
"Just about."
"In what formation they're in?"
"Straight line, Mekasta."
"Very well. Shoot the furthest one now. Now!"
All of a sudden, Leo stopped; the other two Rangers swiftly reacted.
"What is it, Leo?" – Kai questioned.
"I thought… I heard something… In the fog."
"Are you sure?"
Before either Leo or Kai could answer Damon's question, a laser bolt hit him in the left chest area; maybe two centimeters lower and it would have been over for the Green Ranger. Still, the strike knocked the Human male to the ground.
"Damon!" – Leo shouted, while seeing his companion fall.
Suddenly, a thumping sound emerged from the space in front of us. Unpleasingly, it grew larger and larger. Kai grasped what was been enacted in the World.
"Leo! Up ahead!"
The Red Ranger instantly switched his sight's orientation. A terrific response. Given the fact that a similarly colored armored being with a sword came rushing in with a swing at his upper body. Luckily for Leo, Kai managed to pull out his Quasar saber and meet their enemy's blade before it reached its destination.
"Not so fast."
The trio were caught off guard by this sudden sequence of events. So much so, that 3 other armored beings darted similarly to a deranged group of people form their left side. In a grim manner, one took advantage of the situation so perfectly as he grabbed Damon's Quasar saber. Said black skinned male could not resist; the pain from the bolt was overwhelming the mind.
"Hold on!"
The Red Ranger took out his weapon.
"You're not leaving with that."
"Such…A foolish attempt." – Mekasta maliciously stated.
In a swift move, 3 flying stars appeared in the well nurtured brown haired female's left hand.
"Glory to My Queen."
The projectiles were thunderously released into the fog; their intent – obvious damage.
"Trodius. Get the saber back to the ship. I'll take care of the rest."
"Of course."
He ferociously glanced at the two warriors around him.
"Move back to the rally point! Now!"
With little commotion the golden armored trio dash with deep strive towards the exit of the factory. Leo's determination to return the Quasar saber to the rightful owner blinded his hearing. An entirely different approach was that of Kai's. He had engaged an enemy in a standstill & still managed to overhear a distinctly separate sound. Whatever was creating it, appeared to be edging to closer to them with every second. The Blue Ranger clearly delt with the enemy's surprise the best; the Red Ranger got disharmonized, somewhat indecisive, while the Green Ranger was aching in pain on the astoundingly dry ground.
Suddenly, the armored standoff participant stated:
"You really are persistent,… Mild Human."
"Don't worry! I still got stuff to show you." – Kai expressed with his teeth grinding and emotion stirring within him.
A miraculous realization of the incoming specific sounding object thrusted the Asian decent Human male to change his tactics a bit.
"Leo! Concentrate! Incoming fire!"
Luckily, the shouting stabilized Leo's thought process & determination; the indecisiveness disappeared. Not a moment to soon, given the fact that the 3 flying stars appeared to the left of Leo.
"I see them!"
The Red Ranger knocked all the projectiles down to the ground. The sound of metal clashing hinted to the Esteem Bishop what had taken place just now.
"Well, well, well… They might put up more of a challenge than I'd thought."
The illustrious female took a couple of steps back and initiated a slow walk to her left. Her confidence was greatly high. Main reason – the fulfillment of the minimum requirement. Trodius journeying to the ship with a Quasar saber would be enough for the Royals. By the brown haired female, the current ongoing event's theme was enough to avoid harsh criticism from Euphrosyne.
As soon as the yellow armored being saw Leo's weapon powering towards him, he broke the weapon lock with Kai and tracked back a few steps.
"We got ourselves some breathing room." – Kai mentioned, a bit out of breath.
"True, Kai, but we still need to get back Damon's Quasar saber."
"Yeah. I know, but… I do not see the remaining opponents hear being passive in our movement away from here."
Leo stepped forward, angled his saber downward. Kai stood back, to the side of him; his weapon was aiming upward.
"The let's start slashing some enemies."
The male duo stood with strong conviction in their eyes. Their lone visible enemy comprehended such a fact.
"Someone's eager to get injured."
He angled his blade in a straight line between their bodies. The fog around them was becoming far less of an obstacle with every second passing. When the mentality of a person changes, it might trigger the mind to analyze the surroundings in an opposite manner. One thing is certain – there will be more blood spilled.
Less than 5 minutes later. The female duo come to the aid of Damon, who, at this point, was greatly soar and had barely managed to move over to a column. It supported his significantly drained body in an upward position.
"Damon!" – Kendrix exclaimed.
She noticed the wound so close to the heart.
"Are you lethally injured?"
"No, Kendrix. Just… Greatly… Exhausted." – Damon turbulently, in between breaths answered.
Maya quickly examined the belt area; a crucial object was missing.
"Where's your saber, Damon?"
"The yellow armored dudes took it."
"What?! That' awful."
"Definitely, Kendrix. We can't let them get off Terra Venture with it."
"Sadly, Maya. I… Can't… Move fast enough."
The newly, flaming orange dressed female rested her palm on his right shoulder.
"I understand, but we must now waste any more time."
"Right. I can hear swords clashing. I assume that is where Kai & Leo are."
"Oh yeah."
Maya put together a plan in an astonishingly short period of time.
"Kendrix! Go after the saber."
Their eyes locked; the Pink Ranger's mind already to piece together her companion's scheme.
"Alright. What about you?"
"I'll release Leo to help aid you in your part of the mission."
"Are you certain you & Kai will able to deal with the remaining enemies here?"
"It is our best option, Kendrix, and you know it." – Maya stated with as much reassurance as she could muster up.
When dealing with dire situations, most often than not one must be able to put all their trust into a colleague, despite the gruesome implicated conclusion that might come to existence as a result of it. The Pink Ranger hesitated only slightly before commenting:
"That I do."
She graciously hugged Maya before running off into the fog the way both of them came in just moments ago. The Miranoi native swiftly changed her position to be directly in front of Damon; a caring facial expression manifested itself soon after.
"You'll be able to walk out of here?"
"Yeah. Don't worry about it. Who knows…Ehhh."
A receptor transmitted bolt of pain caught him midsentence.
"…You might defeat the armored dudes by then."
"Let us hope we will."
"Good luck, Maya."
She nodded and rushed as fast as a leopard to the aid of the Blue, Red Ranger.
"Tshccc! Tshccc! Tsccc!"
The powered up duo of Kai & Leo were downpouring the yellow armored being with different angles of slashing. Up to this point, they had achieved some progress. Their enemy's left hand was incapacitated to a point, where if they knocked his sword out of his right hand, he would not be able to hold it with the left hand. Throughout their engagement, laser bolts would fire at a chaotic timeframe. Due to their immense determination, mind engulfment of the battle, the bolts had not yet managed to hit them. Not even once. One direction was at their level; the other – higher up. Mekasta also stood about 3 meters (~10 feet) from them on a metal walkway; her cyan tinted blade was aimed downward.
"Come on. Just knock them back long enough for me to power this blade through their skulls."
"You will not last long."
"Keep talking like that. We're almost done with you." – confidently, mockingly said Kai.
"Hah. And your friend's Quasar saber? What of it?"
"It will be ours once again."
Suddenly, Leo's strike sent his opponent back a couple of steps. Coincidentally, he know stood directly below Mekasta.
"Yes."
A vicious smile announced his presence.
"That will do."
The possible killing blow to be executed on Leo was withheld due to a sound of someone's fast movement.
"Where is that coming from?"
"Leader Mekasta. I see another Human coming to your location! He's moving at an alarming rate!"
The brown haired female quickly pieced together the identity of said being.
"One of the two unreported Rangers."
In less than half a minute. Maya rocketed into the sight of everyone nearby; the liveliest of the 5 Rangers accomplished a stupendous feat. She used her acrobatics to produce a long jump, which was of such altitude that her feet cleared Leo's body and reached its intended destination. The speed overwhelmed the yellow armored being's senses. Moreover, his reflexes were too slow to counter the incoming diagonal kick from the Yellow Ranger.
So, in a snap of a finger, the enemy was down on his back with a broken lower skull. Within seconds of landing, Maya lays the final blow to her opponent with an upward slash in the vicinity of the broken lower skull.
Naturally, Kai, Leo were taken back a fair amount by this sequence of events. The latter's inner mind processes were far more relevant to the bond he shared with the female. The Red Ranger saw her rush in into the fight and enlarge their chances of victory without spending a minute in the battle. Add the fact that they were in a celestial resembling interlock, his fondness of her exploded to a whole other level. But… The priority now was winning, not daydreaming.
"Glad to see you here, Maya."
"Likewise, Leo."
"Where's Kendrix?"
"She's on the course of returning Damon's saber to him." – the well nurtured female let out.
A swift change in the viewing direction.
"I know you heard that,… Scumbag."
"Indeed I did,… Vermin. Come here and receive your reward… if you dare."
The addressing was brazen compared to the other words, while the ending was overflowed with malice.
"So there are more of them then we thought?" – Leo asked.
"Most likely."
"If you sent Kendrix after them, I assume you have a plan, Maya?"
"Right, Kai. Leo, go assist her. Me & Kai will get rid of these guys here, while you focus on taking back the Quasar saber."
With just recently seeing Maya's improvement in the battlefield, Leo didn't seriously think of arguing in this situation. After all, time was definitely not on their side.
"You two be safe. We'll meet at our home afterwards."
"Count me in!" – both Kai & Maya shouted simultaneously.
And with that, there will only be 2 eligible Rangers left in the Steel factory. The fight is far from over.
In an open area on Terra Venture.
"Move it! Move it! Move it!" – Trodius screamed.
The trio of Mekasta's mission's participants were closing in on their space ship. For the male second in command, the securing of the Quasar saber was half of the mission. The other – getting it onboard Mekasta's ship. They had been keeping their pace at a rate that they either would not get exhausted or caught. Sadly, the latter proved to be revoked, when the Pink Ranger appeared from out of nowhere in front of them.
"Hold it right there!"
She took out her Quasar saber, enacted a spin with it. The trio stopped their movement; when the blonde female got into a fighting stance she added:
"You've got something that belongs to my colleague!"
Immediately, the trio pull out their swords.
"Oh really, Human? If that is true, then why are you here?"
"I'm taking it back with me."
"Not while I'm standing, Girly."
There were 10 meters (~33 feet) between the two sides. Trodius barely let a minute pass before closing in on the Pink Ranger.
"Attack!"
Kendrix was not a slow thinker; her mind capabilities were fairly above average for a Human. Not a week passed since she last saw a person with golden armor on them. Said person was formidable; all 5 of them had to be immersed in the moment to defeat him. Now – there were 3. The task at hand was of extra difficulty. One does not need to be a genius to realize what happens to the Pink Ranger if she's beaten.
Back at the Steel factory. The previous mysterious figure that oversaw the 3 Rangers entering the building felt a rush of excitement in his emotional state.
"Amusing. There will actually be two fights with the Type I Humans. Aaaah! What joy."
The figure was waying his options by moving both of his palms up & down.
"Wondering… which one should I see?"
The vigor flourishing within the Yellow Ranger creative a momentous passive – incredibly rapid analysis of the battlefield. The duration – unknown; yet, the mere existence at the moment paid dividends in her & the Blue Ranger's current campaign.
"Take out the riflemen on this level."
She looked up.
"I'll engage the two upstairs."
"Alright. Just be careful."
Kai sprinted to the somewhat direction of the laser origin.
"You too." – the female whispered.
Luckily for her, there were metal, wielded together interjections; probably there two support the above her head metal walkways.
"Gotcha."
Maya's right foot sprung back, in a ¼ pipe with her toes being pressed against the inner material of the ornamented fire orange sneakers. A split second later – she was rocketing again.
"She's moving."
"I can see that." – Mekasta expressed, traces of annoyance being revealed.
Using her unique (compared to the other Rangers) acrobatic skill, she jumped with one foot, completely in control of weaving through the air, of a the metal support piece to another one, landing with a different foot. Due to the relative low elevation, only 10 seconds were needed for her to appear on the level of Mekasta & her compatriot.
The vapor around her was hindering her vision; not to mention, the sweat from the high temperature in the structure had already drenched her energetic attire at least halfway. All that being said, the opposing side's presence wasn't concealed. Not that Mekasta wanted that; she did just moments ago relish the challenge of an interchange with the Yellow Ranger. Why else would she encourage her appearance?
A static minute forward. Mekasta's colleague had Maya in his weapon's sight, while the Esteem Bishop of Euphrosyne was holding her cyan tinted sword upward from about the lower part of her right breast. Neither of them said anything until Maya did not close the distance between them to about 6 meters (~20 feet). The gap was diagonal; it would take the Quasar saber wielder a longer route to get to them. Unless – she jumped over from her walkway to theirs.
"Well,… Lady. Why don't you come over?"
She moved her weapon a bit and added with a ruthless intent:
"I've got something to give you."
"Don't really feel like it, Vermin. I much rather see your heart lasered through."
This did not startle or enrage the Miranoi native the slightest.
"Fine."
In a few seconds, Maya sprinted once again. Euphrosyne's loyalist shot; it was deflected. Another shot did not land while she jumped over from one metal surface to the other. Because of the closeness, a 3rd pulling of the trigger was thwarted. The flaming orange dressed female slashed the gunmen in a downward away across his entire front upper body. The body fell slowly to the metal floor. Throughout this motion, Maya did not rush in showing Mekasta her seemingly unbendable determined face.
"You've accomplished a lot."
She moved a step to her left.
"Even though you're physically weaker than me."
The distance between them was of such that a single step with a weapon would be classified as an attack. By this point, there wasn't much of the Yellow Rangers casual clothes that weren't wet.
"Don't think that such a reality will stop me."
She got into a fighting stance.
"Two of your minions did not fare against a 'Weaker One'."
The annoyance of Euphrosyne's subordinate raised a significant amount.
"True. Yet, we'll see how much you've got remaining in that puny body."
Her opponent's preached brazen attitude just incited Maya even more. The determination within her brown eyes sparkled as bright as a star.
"Then let me get in the spirit. Go Galactic!"
In several seconds, the Yellow Ranger was suited in her fighting outfit. A swift nudge of the weapon wielding hand.
"Let's go!"
"My thoughts exactly!"
And the two females' weapons clashed. In essence, 3 separate fronts had materialized over the duration of this encounter.
Open area.
"This is getting tiring! Get her!" – Trodius shouted.
Surprisingly, Kendrix was holding her own against the 3 of golden armored fighters. Just now, she pushed Trodius a couple of steps back; one of the other was sour with one shoulder – the Pink Ranger had graced it twice with her saber. Since this was his dominant hand, it encumbered his ability to lay strikes on his opponent.
Three blocked attempts from the least disturbed one of the trio. On the third one, their weapons locked in a standstill of such.
"Mmmch! Mmmch!" – the blonde was carefully letting out.
She realized that the length of the fight would soon become an unmistaken hazard. Grimly, an alternative was nowhere near a fruition. Damon's Quasar saber was still on the belt of Trodius, which is the sole reason why the blonde female was here. Of course, if the trio of them were terrorizing the inhabitant of Terra Venture, she would have to engage them then also.
"Hhhraaah!"
A quite enraged Trodius pleased by the locking of the Pink Ranger's weapon, launched at her waste at full force. A few seconds and the battle was over. Until… Trodius was tackled to his left side by the Red Ranger. They both tumbled a bit; the latter quite enjoyed the unnatural movement. He achieved his goal.
Soon, their main target stood up from the surface. The rage being oh so hardly contained anymore.
"You… Insolent… PEASANTS!"
"I've come to stop your robbery of our friend."
"That so?! We'll just have to challenge that conviction!"
Trodius launched at Leo; they were now exchanging blows separately from the others.
"Mmmm. These particular Type I Humans appear to have been working on their combat skills since the death of our scout. The strive for greatness. They might possess that attribute within them."
The turn of the tide. Kendrix managed to encumber the other armored being; now both of her opponents were more injured than her. That is… before one landed a slash on her left shank.
"Aaaaaah!"
She hobbled a few steps backwards.
"Try this."
Sensing his chance, one of them burst after her. Sensing her fragility, she screamed as strongly as possible:
"LEOOOOO!"
This struck the Leader of the Rangers core being. The mind, accompanied by strong emotions, quickly arranged a required sequence of events.
Leo repelled an incoming strike from Trodius, at an ultra-pace lowered himself to the ground and knocked him off his feet.
"YOU!"
Then a burst towards his comrade. Kendrix analyzed the situation as best as possible and had to risk it. The lung from one of the golden armored enemies was withheld by a downward pointing Quasar saber.
"Tsssssssh!"
The blades were sliding against one another. The dynamic – strongly dominated by Euphrosyne's loyalist. Reason being – Kendrix's stamina was greatly depleted.
The Red Ranger wayed his options & similarly to the Pink Ranger risked his life in the next motion. The sense of victory overwhelmed the armored one's senses; especially – the hearing. Add in the fact that his eyes were focused on Kendrix, there is little surprise when at least half of his waste is cut by a maximum paced Leo. The hit proved to be enough detrimental to his health that a fall of utter defeat manifested itself in the World.
"Thanks, Leo."
"Any time, Kendrix."
"There will be retribution for such an atrocity."
"My calculations object to that."
The two Rangers look at each other; miraculously, get a plan across with only facial expressions. In a joint attack effort, they become too hard to handle for the shoulder hurt fighter. That leaves one remaining enemy – the saber acquirer Trodius, who just so happened to be back on his feet when his comrade fell.
The realization that you underestimated the opposition is one that no warrior wants to admit. This often is the result of the realization's timeframe. When it arrives, the battle is largely in your opponent's favor. Trodius had imagined that 3 fighters could easily take down 1 Type I Human, regardless of the fact that he or she possessed an ancient weapon. To him, skill mattered more than random talent. The way reality had transpired was grim for him. The chances of him escaping to Mekasta's ship appeared to be less than 1 out of 10. The exhaustion from the battle hindered his ability to run off. Moreover, it did not let him get in the best fighting stance, when the Power Ranger duo arrived in front of his face. The lackluster repelling of Kendrix's strike let to a significant injury to his forearm. Then the suffering came to an end with Leo's upward slash from his waste to even the entire neck.
"Eeeeh."
That was the last word that left Trodius's mouth.
In the distance. The mysterious figure was processing the battle.
"Their formidability has grown. I can't lie about that. 5 v 1 is hazardously lower tha in the difficulty scale. My cousin's judgement of the Quasar saber's power might be… incorrect."
Past front's end.
"We did it, Leo. We retrieved Damon's saber."
"I know, Kendrix."
The helmetless male got a revelation; the female noticed it.
"What have you found out?"
He slowly turned his head.
"Their mysterious goal."
"Mysterious? What was cryptic about what they were doing?"
"They did not teleport to Scorpius's ship like Furio did in the past."
He took a needed breath.
"Which tells me that…"
"They were journeying to a space ship."
"Exactly, Kendrix. We might be able to find out, who are we dealing with."
"Alas, that'll have to wait, Leo."
Her facial expression showed concern.
"We still have to help Kai & Maya back at the factory."
"Right."
Put back his helmet on.
"Let's move."
The Pink Ranger barely managed to nod before she was struck with 3 small knives scratching her collarbone.
"Eh!"
"KENDRIX!"
Just as Leo was turning at the knives direction, a hooded figure landed a heavy uppercut on him. Now, both rangers were incapacitated.
"This is where you'll rest."
She took the 3 small knives out of Kendrix's body & filled every blood releasing whole with a cotton ball.
"You've achieved your goal."
And with that… the hooded figure disappeared from the battlefield in a way that he or she arrived on it.
"Someone's interest level is fairly high."
The mysterious figure in the distance took one more glimpse at the battlefield before his own departure.
While Leo & Kendrix were fighting. Kai traversed through the fog, repelling every laser bolt to the sides of him.
"His time is almost up."
About a minute later, the Blue Ranger was at the riflemen. He tried to whip out a knife and catch with a surprise stab. Sadly, that did not occur. Kai performed a half spinning slash between the chest & waste, before piercing the saber's end through the neck.
Obvious bloodied weapon returned closer to the Human male's body; an examination of a defeated enemy was done in a quick fashion.
"You won't be shooting at my friend anymore." – he stated cold-heartedly.
Then he swiftly rushed to the upper level with the goal of aiding Maya. The ferocious connecting of metals only helped him to get a more accurate assessment of their current position. The fog was fading due to the unpredicted stop in production, but it hadn't faded to a more than unnoticeable state.
A sudden erratic collision of weapons got the female combatants overly close.
"Your strive for victory…should have faded."
"I'm not that easily deterred by harsh conditions, Terrorist."
The cyan tinted sword wielder broke the lock, took a diagonal upward swipe. The Yellow Ranger just spun out of her reach; in doing so, they know stood in an orthogonal state in relation to the metal walkway.
"I will not fall to someone who I clearly have the physical edge over." – she thought.
While both were regaining some breath, Maya's chances of victory increased significantly with the arrival of Kai to her left. The male quickly examined his next opponent. Normally, one should conduct a careful analysis on his or her opponent's weakness. All good in theory. Unfortunately, the battles, which appear in reality, are dynamically so widespread that such a theory sometimes proves to be too ineffective for the moment.
Mekasta took a swift glance at the new arrival, then immediately returned her sight on the much closer opponent.
"I'll handle your…Fellow Vermin… as soon as I'm done with you."
"You should really have learned a skill called 'self-control'." – Maya commentated without much trace of emotion.
The truth hurts; especially when it's coming from an adversary. The Esteem Bishop merely shrugged her shoulders a bit, angled her left forearm in front of her, left the sword in a diagonal downward position more to the right side of her body.
"I've got a tactic."
The Blue Ranger seized the initiative of the battle by being the 1st to move his feet. Naturally, Mekasta had too angle her body in a way that leaves both enemies in her line of sight. Kai bet on Maya somehow determining his method and involving herself in it completely. The Yellow Ranger did ponder a bit, but a special idea from the past sprung her to action.
"Trust your instincts, Maya. After all, they have let you to the relationship that you now have with Leo."
In several seconds, the Yellow Ranger chose to attack Mekasta's left side. The latter red the situation, realized what Kai's plan was, but could not do anything to avoid it. Therefore, the Blue Ranger had toppled her tactically. The in shape female was forced into a position, where the opposing side had two directions of attack. Kai's strike was blocked, then immediately she had to switch and block Maya's one. This dual headed scheme was paying dividends. Evidence being Mekasta's noticeable energy drain with each couple of attacks from both sides. Telepathically, the Ranger duo continued their onslaught. A minutes passed before a breakthrough would flourish.
All of a sudden. Maya's swipe hurt her back.
"Aaah!"
She nudged forward; Kai saw that and with a force behind a strike – knocked her colored sword out of her hands. The Esteem Bishop slowly fell to her knees on the metal walkway. Kai's saber was soon at her upper chin.
"Surrender. You have no weapon & your injured."
"I…will…not… submit."
"Sadly, you've played your cards and lost."
The duo let her breathe a bit.
"Tell us, who ordered you to steal the Quasar sabers?"
"I…will…"
She tilted her head barely upwards, showed an enraged face.
"…NEVER do that."
"Then you'll rest."
In a split second, Maya knocked Mekasta out with a calculated knock to her back part of the skull.
"We can't leave her here." – Maya said.
"I agree. I'll inform Commander Stanton of our situation. He'll send some men to get her to a cell."
"Great. Now let's contact the others and see, how they're doing."
Maya attempted to establish a line between her & Leo, but, bizarrely, there was no response. In a flash, fear appeared in her emotional state.
"Something's happened to them."
"Then we best not waste any time and get to their coordinates."
"Right."
The Ranger duo rushed out to check up on their colleagues' inactiveness.