Chapter Five
Day 10.
The sun rises above the sky of Eltar.
112 traumatized souls teleport into the atmosphere.
And the mighty Zords fall down unto the surface.
The Power Rangers have returned.
Location: Hospital, Eltar.
Tommy wonders frantically through the corridors.
In search of Trini.
His friend.
He cannot find her.
//log.on/red/tommy/01/ It's not right. That she is the one to die. How could I let this happen. For all I had done to save her. Maybe she was meant to die that day. Die with Billy and the others. I cannot determine that. I know that together we could do this. We could lead an army. But now I am alone. And with her abandonment, I have become a vessel. Open as could be. Useless. For all the loss I have felt. All the pain. The tears. Never have I become so incapacitated. Her loss is an awakening. A light. Telling me that I can chose. That I am not a slave to fate. That I can do whatever it is I must do. To throw away all my burdens. To become as free as the air. Let the universe crumble. Who am I to defy an Empire? And just when I reach this nirvana I am reminded of reason once again. For my angel flies in through the doors. As beautiful as ever. Xenia. She meets me and all time freezes. All thoughts dissolve. I am here to protect. To ensure happiness. And I cannot ignore that. Alone I am not. She may not be by my side, but she is with me always. Xenia. You are everything. //log.off/red/tommy/01/
And in that hallway they kiss.
And all is tranquil for a brief moment.
The eye to this storm.
Day 13.
//log.on/yellow/trini/02/ I'm dead? It's everything I feared. Not dead. Pain. It proves that I'm alive. Pain is real. I am alive. My arm is gone. There's a knifing explosion of hell all along my spine. And my muscles scream for death. A headache that could splinter a mountain. I am alive. And with that life comes all the pain imaginable. My left eye is gone, blood spews from punctures I never new I had. I'm covered in my own discharges. The one bloodshot eye I have stings when it views the black structure I lie within. I don't know where this place is. All I know is that I am alive; and feeling absolute agony for being so. I have lost all sense of pride. Kill me. I beg. Kill me now. //log.off/yellow/trini/02/
Out of the darkness comes a single geometric light.
The sound of pistons and hydraulics.
The sound of torture.
It doesn't feel the slightest compassion for her.
It doesn't feel anything.
It is a machine.
Programed.
And it grips the human flesh that is her remaining ankle.
Trini would scream, but she doesn't have a tongue to do so.
A murmur of emotion escapes her body.
It drags her mangled skeleton.
A trail of thick blood follows.
Trini has life.
Unwillingly.
Day 12.
Location: Machine Escape Pod.
Rocky:"You got that com. link up yet?"
Tanya:"Just about...Done."
Rocky:"Good, now we can begin."
He turns to the battered machine lying across the pod.
Rocky:"Let's wake up our little friend here.
He walks over to Price Sprocket and touches his palm to it's skull.
The artificial intelligence mirco-cells within his armor initialize the robot's power console, and it regains it's consciousness.
Rocky:"Cue the transmission."
Tanya follows her orders.
As the Prince's optical sensory lens active he peers in on an approaching ranger.
Rocky punches his fist into it's face then turns his attention towards the broadcast device, and the entire technically applicable universe.
Rocky:"A machine lies here before me. A thing that has the power to alter this war. It is of the royal family of my enemy. What I am here to do is simple, I am to show the great King Mondo and the people of this universe that if they decide to annihilate my people, there will be consequences, and they will be great. For them to know that the Power Rangers will never allow for their victory, but only for their defeat. Now as I unsheathe my sword you may be asking yourself; does a machine feel pain? Well to answer you, no. But this victim of mine is no ordinary machine. Somewhere in it's construction it's creators got this great idea to make it more sentient. Therefore this thing not only feels pain, but also gets the chance to experience all the wonderful emotional gratification in torture. For the next hour you are going to watch me piece by piece inflict the most amount of agony on this little bitch as I am capable. And let me assure you now, I am very capable."
Rocky Holds his promise true.
And Prince Sprocket's "life" comes to a close exactly on hour later.
Having experienced all the agony he could have possibly felt.
Rocky has just ensured King Mondo's absolute dedication in eradicating the Power Rangers, and all that they stand to protect.
Escalation is a dangerous thing.
Location: The Temple of The New Republic of Eltar.
Tommy stares at the vid-screen.
If his life has not been difficult enough.
He has a world of troubles ahead of him.
And they're all not from the enemy.
But dealing with Rocky and the public's opinion will have to occur quickly.
The enemy will advance at an alarming rate.
And Tommy must collect reinforcements.
The second verse of this war will be of an enormous scale, and the rangers are likely to fail.
//log.on/red/tommy/01/ Give me hope. Give me the strength. Give me victory. For I fear this war will be the end of us all. //log.off/red/tommy/01/
Day 15.
//log.on/green/adam/03/ I used to hear her screams. Every secound. They used to haunt me. But ever since they cut her tongue off...She screams no more. I have no sense of time, not in this place. I don't know what days or month or years mean. I know what a second means. And I pray for just one without constant suffering. I don't have to hear her to know that she's still alive. But even that gives me little hope. They never even spoke to us. Not once. Machines. Never said a word. Just kept eating at my nerves, pulse signals. Is that all pain is? A pulse signal telling my brian something it never wanted to know. They strike randomly, or at least it seems like they do. Keep showing me the light of death, and striping it from me the moment I reach for it. My mind is deteriorating. I once thought there was only so much the human body could handle. But they have proven me wrong. systematic torture, then healing, then back to torture. Inject some sort of re-growth serum that makes this go on forever. And now as they drag me back to another session, I hear hope. I hear machines being mutilated. The sounds of violence. A fight. I can't move. My muscle system has been deactivated. I have no control over my body. But someone does. Someone found a way. I must do the same. It's coming closer. Explosions, bullets, swords. A battle. And then it happens. The place becomes a blaze. My skin begins to melt. And the machine clamped around my leg is consumed by automatic fire. Bullets pound it apart. I can't scream. I can only burn. And then out of the depths comes hope. Hope looks me in the eyes and I'm safe. I am free. He stabs me with a needle and the liquid enters my veins. And my cells embrace it. I am overcome with life. And I become human again. The green armor forms over my redeveloped body. Thank you. I flex my fingers into a fist to make sure everything works. Then I become a weapon. I sprint through hell. I scream her name. No answer. Then the air lock blows. And the fire is swept out into space. So am I. My jet pack works. I summon my rife. And push for full velocity. I enter the ship. Radar says incoming. I ignore it. She is my only priority. And she will live. The wall before me becomes a memory as my grenade tears it apart. Bullets and debris whiz by my head. A few collide with my armor. I pull back my trigger. The slaughter begins. The cogs are massacred. It is beauty. To see them die. It is pure beauty. The scream brings me back to reality. She is alive. It takes all my will to not reload. But it is what I must do. //log.off/green/adam/03/
//log.on/yellow/trini/02/ The fire eats away at my flesh. I feel it. I cry, scream. And then from my bloody ear I hear. I hear the voice. Its yells for me. Trini. Trini. Trini. My name. It wants me to live. It fights for me to live. But I do not. I fight for nothing. I want nothing; nothing but death. And once again I am denied. An injection makes me a Power Ranger again. I cry. He risked everything to save me. Yet I don't want to be saved. I don't even want to move. He pulls on my arm as I kneel. Give me a reason to live! Give me something! Anything! A bullet splinters through his armor, slices his skull, and 03/Green/Adam dies. Right before my eyes he dies. His life ends. And the Cogs advance. Yet I still find no motive to move. The tears flow as the triggers are pulled. As the bullets race forward. I open my heart to them. Let this life end. Kill me. Show me death. In the split second before they penetrate, as the DMT rushes to my brain, he hits me. His shoulder meets mine. And we teleport away from my firing squad. Away from my freedom. //log.on/yellow/trini/02/
"Hello, I am King Trey of Triforia, the gold ranger."