"War Part 2"
STARING TEAM: ORIGINAL
Jason's looked up from the flashing, metallic control panel in front of him, his hand on the piloting throttles as he looked out. His vision was that of star filled space beyond his thick cockpit glass which gleamed at the rays of sun hit it from behind the mass of vessels beyond. At they got closer it got to a point that no matter where they looked the ships seemed to go on forever. His mind was racing with a million thoughts, not in the least of which was "this is it." As he thought this he looked down upon his dashboard seeing a picture of him and his family on a day he remembered fondly. He smiled at this and suddenly his joy turned to grief remembered their fate and that...this...all of this was the cause. 'No!' He shook his head 'it's those bastards up ahead who did it and now it's time to make sure that doesn't happen to anyone else!" His anger then melted as he heard Kimberly's voice.
"So...what's the plan?" Her voice was quivering with fear as it came over the intercom, for the first time since their early missions she, all of them, were afraid of death.
'And why not?' He thought 'look at the odds.'
"We engaged them and give the Ninja's a chance to yet through" he replied sternly, clearing the intrusive thoughts from his mind.
"Great. So has everyone made out their will?" Zack responded.
"What's the point?" Replied Kim "no one left to leave anything too. Whoever finds my IPod can keep it."
Billy was sitting quietly in his cockpit, looking out at the monstrous moving forms of metal that were getting closer by the second. He could feel the sweat pouring down his brow and felt his body tense. Looking down at his hands he could see them shaking on the controls. Even when he had taken this 'mission' he had never really been afraid. He had always taken Zordon's word about the power protecting them literally. Now for the first time it didn't seem that to be very likely. 'But a suicide mission is what heroes do isn't it?' He asked himself.
"Some superhero I am" he spoke out loud with the channels open "superheros aren't afraid of death are they?"
"We aren't superhero's Billy" Trinny replied "we're human. It's ok to be scared."
He nodded, trying to smile under his helmet "Trinny I love you."
"Don't do that Billy. We are going to get out of this" came her stern response.
"I know. But…just encase" he shot back.
"Ok. I love you too."
Zack looked down at his scanning display and spoke up.
"Hey Jace, they are kilometers away now. If we want to join up we better do it now."
"What? And give them one target instead of five?" Kimberly cut in.
"No" Jason responded quickly "he's right. We are stronger in 'Megazord' form. If we start taking too much heat then we gave separate. Let's bring 'em together."
With a whirling of metal and the folding of forms the five Zords once again became one. The final stage completing as Kimberly's Zord turned and formed the chest piece.
The cockpit walls and floors opened as their cockpit chairs moved into place. Kimberly lastly coming up behind Jason in the main piloting position
"All systems are online" Billy reported "Megazord functioning at a hundred and fifteen perfect if we push it."
"Push it" Jason replied.
"Right" Billy nodded and started to work on the correct buttons.
"Alrighty, I am giving us our sword and activating cannons" Zack added.
Finally after what seemed like hours the fleet was now seconds away from colliding with the Megazord and the other five 'Ninja Zords' behind them. The original Megazord now had its large sword in hand and its shoulder cannons were pointing ahead with the humanoid shape flying horizontally, head titled up.
"Alright…stand by for a full attack volley on the front line" Jason braced himself.
Zack nodded silently and readied his hand on the controls.
"They are in weapons range!" Shouted Trinny "their firing!"
From the first line of alien vessels lines of red energy burst out, colliding hard with the forms of the Zords as they straightened and moved in for the attack.
The Megazord halted and twisted to an upright position as it moved in, cannon's firing and hitting two vessels to explosive results. It then came down upon a third swinging its sword and slicing it in two, then turning and doing the same to another, and another, the cannons firing and Jason piloting to dodge weapons fire, not totally successful as impacts colliding upon its shields.
Kimberly turned her head right and looked out passed the chaos and flashes as they ducked down under another ship and saw the Ninja Zords managing to weave their way through.
"There doing it. Diana is reported heavy resistance but no losses as yet" Kimberly reported.
"It's six ships! The main target is but one. How can all hundreds of you not destroy one humanoid craft?" Zedd roared in anger at his crew.
"They are reporting some impacts, we will get through I'm sure my Lord" came the tactical officers reply.
"And you didn't want to talk tactics darling" Bandora smiled wickedly up at him and then moved forward, leaning over a station and calling out orders "have all capable ships switch into battle mode."
"Understood relaying orders. Shall we do so also your highness?" The officer asked, turning his head to look up at her.
She did not reply but instead looked up across the darkened Command Deck to the throne of Zedd.
"Yes! Dragon mode" he growled an irritated response.
"As you wish" the officer replied.
The bowls of the ship then made a whinnying sound, colossal electrical devices churning as the ship changed form to that of an Earth Dragon. Its serpent form moving with surprising agility.
In the heat of the battle the majority of the other ships did the same, changing to a humanoid form similar to the Megazords. Many of the designs were not familiar to the rangers, obvious of the 'royal' variety. The metallic faces were blank but inside these large bipedal creations still lay the hundreds of crewman. Upon their chests was the symbol of Zedorian Empire. From there 'hands' and various appendages came powerful energy cannons and soon fire was lighting the blackness, the vessels move moving with all the dexterity of the Zord. Zack tried to maneuver the sword to block the multitude of blasts and Jason attempted evasive as best he could, weaving between the mass of vessels but eventually the numbers were too great, several shots fired every few seconds for every single vessel. Impacts collided with the Megazord, hard. The shields had now failed and as several shot hit the 'power sword' it shattered into pieces along with the hand that had been holding it.
Within the cockpit alarms were sounding, sparks flying and wires hanging from above, the majority of consoles were destroyed and the cabin lights dark.
"Everyone, retract! Get back to your own Zords!" Jason called as he looked out, wincing and holding his hand up at a console sparked in front of him, the stars streaking across the cockpit screen as the Megazord span out of control.
They began to moved towards the controls that would activate the sequence but as Billy observed for them "I got no control over anything!"
The Megazord continued to spin, the last of its main power flickering and dying as the never ending array of ships and vessels in humanoid form continued firing mercilessly. A lucky shot managed to hit the already damaged chest piece and the Pterodactyl Zord spun away, being finished off by a pulse of red light, exploding upon impact.
"I think I can get the Tyrannosaurs free!" Jason called out in panic, trying to pull the throttle and steady their spin and failing "Billy transfer all power to my Zord!"
"I'm trying…."Bill called out over the loud sounds of explosions, fire and sparking mechanics "got it!"
The two stumps quickly retracted and folded out as Jason activated the sequence. The Mastodon, Triceratops and Sabertooth Tiger fell gently away from the main body as its head swung back, arms folded out and it became the T-Rex again. Jason quickly brought the boosters online shooting them off and out of the heat of it. Behind them the other three Zords, lifeless and still in there arm and leg forms were promptly engaged, fired upon and destroyed.
"Four down. One to go" Zedd was now standing upon his throne platform, looking out upon the main screen and seeing the Tyrannosaur moving under another ship and towards them, several humanoid battleships in pursuit.
"What about the others?" Bandora asked.
"Let Mondo deal with them. We can take the powers and weapons from those on the planet" Zedd replied as he looked up, waiting with baited breath for someone to finish to job.
However his wish was not granted as the Zord managed to maneuver and miss the majority of the shots, coming steadily closer. He began to shake and brought his staff down hard into the floor of the platform, growing impatient.
"If you want something done right my love…" Bandora said and looked over her shoulder at him "a human expression I learned."
He glared down at her for a moment, he still hated her so. But he knew she was right and quickly became alert again calling out "charge the main batteries and fire at will!"
"Serpentera dead ahead!" Zack called out.
Jason could barely hear him, he was too busy concentrating on his status screen, doing the best he could to maneuver away from blasts and keep them alive.
"It's charging weapons" Billy added "its firing."
Jason had barely a millisecond to react as three large blasts shot out from Serpentera. Jason was able to avoid two, spinning just past the second but the final shot hit. As the Zord slowed from the impact the ships behind opened fire, blast tearing away at the dinosaur form and shredding the metal and plastics. The materials floated away silently and majestically threw the void of space. Finally three more blasts shot out from the large serpent form and hit the target. The Tyrannosaurs let out one final roar and exploded in golden rays of light, pieces of it colliding with nearby ships. And then the fiery display was gone and nothing remained but pieces of the once mighty weapon.
Next: The Ninjetti are able to power through and enter the wormhole but on the other side waits the Machine Armada and their greatest task yet.