Chapter Twenty-Six: Time for the Big Guns
"This is Tria. Michael, what is wrong?" The Triforian said over the secured network.
Michael contacted her in hopes of trying to receive aid from her planet in the oncoming attack from the Alliance on his planet, KO-35. He explained to her what had occurred with him. He explained how he had been framed for something he had not done, and how it was the last piece of evidence he needed to know there was a cancer within the Alliance.
"... Michael, listen... my planet is also in danger. I can't leave them now to help your planet. Please... understand that-"
"Tria, listen," Michael began, interrupting her. "I have access to the Alliance's communications. I already forwarded the access codes to your comm experts. They have no plans to attack you."
"He's telling the truth, Tria." Over the network, Tria heard Kamen's voice.
"Kamen?"
"Yes, it's me. Michael visited me with the same proposition. If we are to survive, we need to stick together." Kamen said.
He knew that without the Alliance protecting Edenoi, he needed to form new friendships. He left King Lexian in what he hoped was a secure location and left with Michael. His hope was that if he could gain the support of KO-35 and Triforia, those planets would be willing to help Edenoi battle Count Dregon.
Kamen shuddered as he thought of Dregon. The Count was unleashing another wave of assault on Edenoi as he had left with Michael. He hoped with all his might this investment in friendship would be profitable later.
"Okay... When do we meet?" Tria said, unconsciously summoning her Power Staff as she accepted Michael's invitation.
She could almost hear his smile over the communication line. "We will be approaching Triforia in the next five minutes or so."
Tria wished him well and prepared to board the Astro Megaship. She knew she was boarding with a goal: to battle the Alliance.
"I can't shake him!"
Luka yelled, trying to dodge the blasts from Novact's ship, the Dark Wave. Sweat dripped off her brow onto the console as she frantically tried to maneuver her ship through an asteroid field in the outer borders of the M51 Galaxy.
Doc was in the room in which he selected when he was asked to accompany Luka and Louse on their trip to return Princess Momomille and her bodyguard, Joe Kenig, to their home planet. As Luka maneuvered the ship quickly, Doc's possessions flew around the room. His need to have everything organized had taken the better of him and he was doing everything he could to scurry around his cabin, trying to put everything back in order. He wasn't faring well.
Joe had taken residence since Novact started following them in the ship's main blaster room. The hologram of the area immediately surrounding the ship showed the asteroids which were the ship's closest concerns. In between taking shots at the Dark Wave, Joe would target the asteroids and blast them. He had his hands full also ensuring the ship was hit with a minimal amount of debris from the cascading asteroids' explosions.
Louse continued monitoring the communications. Every few moments he attempted sending a broadcast to the United Alliance. Everytime he tried, though, he received no response. With his latest attempt, he pounded the console in front of him.
"Stupid piece of garbage! Argh! Why isn't this working!?" He yelled to the empty room.
He buried his head in his hands and pulled at his hair. The princess sat back in the main common area, sitting at the chair she sat in when Captain Louse had first tried flirting with her. The situation in which she currently found herself was very different than that time. She looked at the table, her thoughts back on her family on Rashon.
I never thought I'd be separated from them... What would've happened had I not been the one to go to the Alliance's conference? Would I be in the same situation as they are now? Who would be in my place instead? Father? Mother? One of my siblings? Surely they would've done better than me in this situation... But... they are not here... I am... Maybe they would've been a better representative to escape Rashon, to bring back some sort of salvation, but I can't think that way! I must live up to be that person. This is the hand the universe has dealt me. Now, let's see what kind of card player I can be.
Miha nodded and stood up, walking into the room Louse was in.
"I'm all in." She said, confidence dripping from her tongue.
"...Huh? Wha...?" He said, lifting his head out of his hands.
"You said when the Alliance fell, that we would become pirates. Well, I am telling you that I'm in. Until Rashon has its independence restored, I am in your band of pirates."
Marv Louse smiled for the first time since Novact had begun firing on them.
"Sounds great. Glad to have you aboard." He said, trying to act as if he was confident they would get out of the situation in which they found themselves.
Then, suddenly, it happened. Novact's ship fired and missed, but it hit an asteroid just right so that the debris ricocheted directly into one of the engines.
"We're hit!" Luka screamed, astonished.
That ship had been with her since she was promoted to the rank of general. The ship, at the time, was one of the most sought after amongst those in the Alliance. The process of elimination for who would be the ship's pilot had been narrowed down to either Luka or Commander Risp. Both had great battle records and were highly decorated. As her ship spiraled down, she thought of how happy she had been to have been selected to have the ship over Risp. She had been very concerned, because Risp's exact rank in the Alliance had been kept confidential, even to that very day. The ambiguous title of "commander" was all Risp's file had ever revealed.
To know her ship was failing hit her hard. The ship had always been for her a symbol of her acceptance by the Alliance. That symbolism made her remember Louse's words about the Alliance being on the brink of failure.
Could it be? Is this really the end?
Before she could think more on the subject, she spotted a desert-like planet in her peripheral vision. With the last ounce of energy her ship could muster, she directed it to the planet.
On the Dark Wave, Novact's pilot turned to his commander.
"Would you like me to further pursue the craft, sir?"
Novact shook his head. "No need. That ship and its inhabitants are done for."
Then, looking out the window at the M51 Galaxy before him, Novact turned around and approached his communications officer. "I want you to call on a few legions from Gamma Vile. I think it's time to take control of the rest of The M51 Galaxy, since The Alliance is finding themselves... preoccupied."
Novact finished this command with a smile on his face. He was glad he was making himself to be the dark wave Master Vile had predicted he could be.
Meanwhile, on the desert planet, the crew of five pile out of the ship. Luka turns to look at it, fighting back tears. For one last time, she approached it. Smiling, she blew it a kiss.
"Thanks for all of the memories, my friend. 'The Sentai' is no more."
Louse put his arm around her and leaned his head against hers. "It's okay, Luka. We're still alive. That's what's important."
Nodding with her lips puckered into her mouth, she turned to go back to the three newcomers. They all looked nervous. They were all scared.
Before they could take ten steps away from the wreckage, three nonhuman men approached them, weapons drawn. The five assumed battle stances.
The first walked forward, putting away his sword. "We read a ship had entered our atmosphere, but seeing how in distress you all are, I can see you are no threats." He motioned for the other two to put their weapons away as well.
Bowing, the one who seemed to be the leader who had first addressed them continued. "Let me be the first to welcome you to our humble planet, Corsair. These are my associates: Treacheron and Barbarax. Please follow us to our planet's leader. I am sure he will be most pleased to meet you. My name, by the way, is Villamax. A pleasure to meet you, regardless of the circumstance."
Zordon sat in the main council room, staring at the ceiling awaiting Sentinel Knight to begin the proceedings. The room was quieter than he was used to. Not only was it due to everyone in the room being somber because of the latest happenings in the Alliance, but also simply due to the fact they were down to only ten members from the usual fifteen. When Zordon thought of this, he shook his head. He could not remember the last time in recorded history an active council had so few in number.
Estro approached Zordon, hand extended. "What a pleasure it is to see you again, Zordon."
Zordon did not offer his own hand. "Did you presume I wouldn't have made it back?"
Caught off guard by Zordon's abruptness, Estro placed a hand on his chest. "Oh, my! I did not mean to suggest anything of the sort! My apologies! I'm just glad to see you is all!"
"Sure."
Unsure what to do, the undiscovered traitor within the ranks of the Morphing Masters took his seat. As he did, Sentinel Knight and Ivicar entered the room.
"We have a transmission from Michael of KO-35, transmitting from space. He would like to speak with us. Please be seated, everyone." Ivicar said.
Ivicar had dark circles around his bloodshot eyes. It seemed the pains of this war were starting to take its toll on the old war general. He slowly took his seat as Sentinel Knight stayed standing. The podium in the center of the semicircle glowed until it showed the main control room on the Astro Megaship. Seen on screen were several crewmen Michael had picked up along the Karovan System, along with Michael, Kamen, and Tria.
"Birds of a feather..." Estro said, half under his breath.
He looked around the room for approval of his comment but did not get the satisfaction. He then folded his arms and legs, rolling his eyes at the lack of humor among his colleagues. He was glad, at least, that he was able to continue sewing the seeds of distrust between the fugitive Morphing Masters and those who had stayed behind and were duped by him.
"This is Michael from KO-35. I send this message to my friends, the Morphing Masters, to please end this nonsense. I have been a Morphing Master for seven years now. I have fought alongside each one of you and deliberated about the Alliance's affairs with all of you during that time. You know me... I am no traitor."
Estro stood up. "The last time one of you traitors said something of the like, and we believed you, it ended with me having to save Magnus and myself from becoming separated into molecules! Isn't that right, Magnus?"
Looking down, not wanting to make eye contact with his friend, Magnus did not reply. He did not know what to think. He thought he had seen with his own eyes Tria try to destroy them with an implosion device. If Kamen was with her, Magnus was starting to lose the ability to make up more excuses for him.
"What!? You're the traitor, Estro!" Tria yelled, pounding her fist into the console next to her.
Tria's eyes glared with so much fury one would've believed she could burn holes through the hologram to melt Estro in his place. Her anger filled even more when she saw what she swore was the hint of a smirk on Estro's face. The smirk sat there as if to say, "I got you. I tricked you and everyone else. Game over. I win."
Estro smiled visibly after that, for everyone to see. "Oh, yes. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it? And yet, here I am sitting with my fellow Masters, not floating in space like a vigilante."
"When I get you, I'm gonna rip you in half!" Tria yelled.
"And look everyone. Look at how upset she is! Not becoming of someone who is 'innocent', is it? Not able to control your anger?" Estro stated giving Tria a quick wink.
Tria unconsciously summoned her Power Staff in her hand as she saw the wink. Kamen placed his hands on her shoulders, hoping to calm her down. Never breaking eye contact with Estro, she shrugged Kamen's hands off violently.
"Did you call us solely to yell at us?" Ivicar asked, looking annoyed at the situation.
Kamen shook his head. "No, Master Ivicar. We really only want the chance to be able to discuss things in a non-violent nature."
Orion grunted, pointing to the bullet wound in his leg which was still healing. "Non-violent? Is that what you call what you did on Edenoi, Decade?"
"This isn't going well..." Michael muttered under his breath.
"You're tellin' me..." Tria replied.
Michael straightened himself. "Sentinel Knight, I am sure yo-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the Morphing Masters witnessed a flash of light dance across the hologram, followed by a loud boom. When the camera had readjusted itself, a hole was seen where one of the doors into main room used to be. DECA could be heard over the alarms ringing throughout the Astro Megaship.
"Warning: Intruder! Warning: Intruder!" She continually announced.
Zordon was shocked at what he saw. Lord Zedd had somehow gotten onto the Astro Megaship, and was blasting his way through the entire vessel. No one knew but Zedd why he was there. While flying through the cosmos, Zedd had spotted the Astro Megaship and felt a powerful energy source inside it. He teleported into the ship and had started blasting his way from room to room, attempting to find what he felt.
Zordon shook his head. "That power hungry monster must be looking for the Mega Accelerator..."
Orion's eyes widened. "So that's where you guys ended up putting it? Oh, great! One of the universe's most powerful engines is now in the hands of traitors!"
"Or worse... Lord Zedd might get it..." Delphine said, eyes glued to the scene unfolding in front of her.
The crew had started shooting at Lord Zedd, but it seemed to do little more than annoy the powerful creature. He summoned his Z-Staff and began destroying crew members, sometimes three per blast. The scene was a desperate one to watch.
Tria and Kamen confidently stepped forward, recovered from the blast which had sent them reeling back.
"It ends here, Zedd!" Kamen yelled, revealing the Decade Morpher.
Tria gripped the Power Staff. "Nothin's gonna stop me from kickin' your tail."
"Ecto-Phase: Activate!"
"It's morphin' time! Gold Ranger power!"
Once the two had finished morphing, Lord Zedd found himself facing the two powerful warriors, Kamen Rider: Decade and the Gold Zeo Ranger.
"This should be... fun!" Zedd yelled, a bit of glee able to be detected in his voice.
Pointing his staff forward, he shot Silver Zeo Energy toward the two fighters. They both leapt out of the way just in time. Decade produced his sword from the pouch on his belt as he flew through the air.
"Dimension slash!"
Simultaneous with Decade's attack, the Gold Ranger pointed the Power Staff at Lord Zedd.
"Gold Blast!" She yelled, sending several golden orbs of Gold Zeo Energy at Lord Zedd.
Zedd quickly blocked Decade's attack followed by grabbing his arm and pulling him toward Zedd's bosom. Zedd then used Decade as a shield. The Gold Ranger's attack blasted Decade in the back.
"Ahhh!" Decade yelled.
He had never felt anything so powerful in his life. The pain was almost unbearable. It was so much that he had no power to rip himself away from Zedd's grip.
"Haha! Yes! Feel the pain! Get used to it! You are going to feel worse soon!" Zedd threatened as he tossed Decade to the side.
Going into Shadow Mode, the Gold Ranger pounced onto Lord Zedd. The attack proved effective and sent Zedd to the ground. As the Gold Ranger exited Shadow Mode, though, Zedd fired a blast at her from his spot on the floor. Before she could have fully recovered from Shadow Mode, the blast hit her and sent her flying into a wall.
Michael, finally gaining consciousness, stood up on the other side of the room. He saw his crew fleeing out of the room as the three super powered fighters knocked each other around. Stumbling over to a console, he began typing to DECA, beginning by inserting his security passphrase. A message flashed on the screen:
*Master Michael: What is your request?*
He typed madly as Decade stood up. He activated a mechanism on his belt.
"Rider Kick!" Decade yelled.
He inserted a card into his morpher and flew up into the air. As he did, the cards he carried with him on his belt digitized, creating a diagonal path of descent for him to follow. Each card represented the powers for the projects which had begun over the past decade on Edenoi. When Kamen was brought in as a Morphing Master, Edenoi had access to tech they never did before. As a secret project, they had been developing what they called "The Rider Program". It was to create a series of warriors similar to Zordon's Defender Initiative, specifically to defend Edenoi. When Kamen fled imprisonment from The Alliance after being branded a traitor, he told Edenoi he needed the project expedited. The project had been stalling up to that point because the Edenites could not find a power source for the rider tech. To get the main power functional, Kamen broke Alliance law and routed the Decade Morpher through his connection to the Morphing Grid.
Decade descended, each Rider power energizing him. As he slid through the final "card", his foot made contact with Lord Zedd, who had barely stood up from the Gold Ranger's attack. He soon found himself back on the ground.
Tired, Decade dragged himself to the Gold Ranger. She stood up and they stood, bent over from exhaustion, but nonetheless ready to battle Lord Zedd.
Zedd pulled himself up. What happened next shocked the two fighters. He began laughing.
"Hahaha! You'll have to do better than that if you wish to stop me!"
At that point, Michael walked into the space between Zedd and his two allies. He smiled and lifted up his arm to reveal his modified wrist tech. He pointed to it with his opposite hand.
"Let's see how you do against three of us. Let's rocket!"
As Michael said that, he input the number sequence three, three, and five into the new morpher. Suddenly, he felt the power from the Mega Accelerator begin to flow through him. He closed his eyes for a moment as his body fell in sync with the new energy. As he opened his eyes, the energy washed over him. His new power suit was on and he could feel how powerful it was.
"Hi-yah!" The Black Ranger yelled as he ran toward Lord Zedd, followed by Decade and the Gold Ranger.
That Black Ranger was none other than the Ranger Future: Omega Ranger recognized as the Black Space Ranger. He was in awe as he recorded the events while sitting in the Hall of Legends at his Chrono Workstation. Sam in the year 2050 was shocked to find out how that was the beginning of the Space Rangers.
Back in the event Sam was watching, Lord Zedd shot at the three Morphing powered warriors, but they all dodged him. Pulling out a blaster from a holster, the Black Ranger shot at Zedd. While Zedd blocked it, Decade shot him with his own blaster.
"Dimension Blast!" Decade yelled, landing next to the Black Ranger.
The Gold Ranger landed behind Zedd and slashed him with her staff. Zedd staggered and growled.
You might want to stick around a bit longer... The White Warrior is sure to pop up any minute now! Commander Zedd said, enjoying watching his abductor getting handled.
"Shut. Your. Mouth!" Lord Zedd vocalized.
Black Ranger shrugged at this. "I didn't say anything. Hey, Goldie! I think you hit him too hard!"
She smiled under her helmet. "Give me another shot at him! Let's see how much damage I can do a second time!"
Decade ran his hand along his blade. "I think another meeting with my Dimension Slash should lead the attacks. What do you guys think?"
They sure are getting cocky, aren't they, oh Dark One?
"I will rip you out of my head! Stop your incessant jabbering, you fool!" Lord Zedd yelled at his host.
With the stress from meeting a combined force that could destroy him, and having Commander Zedd mock him, Lord Zedd was losing concentration. He could feel his powers begin to fail him, as well, and the threat of the White Warrior appearing was too much for him. Lord Zedd teleported away. As he did, the surge from his teleportation knocked out the transmission, ending the hologram show for the Morphing Masters.
Gerlit was the first to break the silence. "It appears as if Michael has some new power."
Orion nodded. "I wouldn't doubt he is using the Mega Accelerator as a power source for that Ranger power."
Gosei sat and pondered something else he observed: Zedd's yelling at himself. He thought it was very interesting, because it seemed as if Commander Zedd was alive and well in his mind, causing havoc. He wondered how he could use that against Lord Zedd.
Sentinel turned to face the Masters. "The three of them were a formidable force. I have not seen any group that small be able to take on Lord Zedd to the point that he was so close to defeat. I don't know how the Alliance will fare against them with the added help from Triforia, Edenoi, and the entire Karovan System. We also have to see what is going on around this mess. A second wave of attacks has just hit the M51 Galaxy, and Rita has taken control of the palace of the Venerated Ones on Earth's moon. Who knows how long it will be until she finds out how to get to the Zeo Crystal. Then what will the Alliance do? We need to up the stakes..."
Sentinel sighed. "Zordon... we need your Droid program to go online now."
Orion smiled when he heard this. He remembered when he first greenlit Zordon's idea. He had seen potential in the project and was glad to see it finally becoming a tool in the hands of the United Alliance.
Zordon stood up and looked at the Morphing Masters around him. "Okay, then. Everyone, follow me. I'm going to be needing pilots."