Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Fight for M51
Burai greeted the ten Morphing Masters as they entered the main Research and Development room. He was surprised to see them; he hadn't heard that they should have been expecting the Morphing Masters to arrive that day. Burai walked over to them as they entered. He noted they all wore stern looks on their faces.
"Is there a problem, Master Sentinel?" He asked.
"We are opening the Droid project." Sentinel answered briefly.
Burai's eyes widened as he walked quickly with the Masters to keep up with their stride. He was surprised at that revelation. He knew Zordon had been anxious to get the project up and running, but he also knew that the Masters had said the project would only be used when it was absolutely necessary. Before Zordon had become a Master, they had said the power needed to be diverted to the Droids would be too much of a liability. They feared it would cripple the Alliance's defenses across their jurisdiction.
Sentinel Knight continued to make his way to the Droids. As he did, he thought of the consequences that action could have. On one hand, he saw the impending doom coming from the enemies surrounding the United Alliance. Lord Zedd was a rogue randomly appearing and causing havoc; Tria, Kamen, and Michael were vigilantes with their own objectives, wanting to take down anyone in their way; Master Vile was amassing a large empire and, according to new reports, was restarting his campaign on M51; Rita was currently in control of the palace holding the coveted Zeo Crystal; Count Dregon was finishing his objective of taking control of Edenoi; there were and may still be moles with the Alliance. He knew he had to up the stakes to be able to meet the enemy on their level.
On the other hand, he feared that diverting so much of the energy from the Alliance's reserves would weaken their headquarters' barriers. If they were to be attacked while the Droids were online, they would need to rely solely on the troops and vehicles left behind to defend themselves. Sentinel knew that their numbers were dwindling and they were being spread thin, but he had no other choice. The Morphing Masters had made a commitment long ago to defend all who fell under their jurisdiction. He felt as though if he didn't do everything he could to help those whom he had promised to help, he had failed as the presiding member of the Morphing Masters.
The eleven of them entered the Droid Holding Bay. They looked at the five Droids: four of them were designed as vehicle type mecha, able to bullet through defenses at high speed; the fifth was the one Zordon had piloted when the Alliance had first encountered the Dark Cloud on Mirinoi, before it had possessed Commander Zedd. It was a humanoid robot, meant to help the Alliance with infiltration and getting into areas too dangerous for mortals. It would be able to, with the use of its humanoid hands, use control panels to deactivate power barriers or simply open bridges, or deactivate bombs. It was basically to be used as a nearly indestructible humanoid in situations where mortals would be obliterated.
Zordon looked at the Droids with pride. He was excited to be getting them off the ground and into a field where they could shine. He turned to face the other Masters.
"These Droids are meant to promote teamwork: we will fight in our individual vehicles, with standard Alliance formations. To surprise the enemy, however, we will add one technique... the Droids can combine." Zordon said.
The Masters seemed surprised by the concept. Zordon continued, "The four flight Droids will combine with the humanoid Droid to form a Megadroid. The two black and silver colored Droids attach to the red humanoid Droid's arms to increase its arm power, while the two yellow and black colored Droids attach in a likewise to the humanoid's legs. They then will be a massive fighting machine, which I have named Leopardon."
Ivicar nodded and placed a hand to his face, thinking. "So, we need five pilots. Who will pilot these machines?"
Zordon pointed to four of the Morphing Masters. "These four scored the highest of those of us who are Morphing Masters."
Those he pointed to were Delphine, Dulcea, Gosei, and Orion. Burai turned away with a look of defeat. Zordon had purposefully mentioned "who are Morphing Masters", because if he hadn't he knew he would have had to include Burai. Zordon did not know from where his dislike of Burai had originated. He did not realize it was from when Burai had beaten him when they first encountered each other during an earlier round of The Trials, when Burai had first revealed his ability to summon the Dragon Shield and Dagger. Zordon did not realize since that first encounter, he had wanted to assert some sort of dominion over Burai. It was the part of him that was selfish and arrogant.
Sentinel Knight cleared his throat before he began speaking. "The first place I wish for you to battle is the M51 Galaxy. We cannot let Master Vile's forces take the rest of the system. Afterward, gather your forces and head to Earth's moon and rid it of Rita's forces, by any means necessary..."
The five Masters knew what he had meant by "any means."
"After that, we need to go to Edenoi and stop Count Dregon."
Magnus looked up, curious that Sentinel would say that.
"But, they are no longer under Alliance jurisdiction." Gerlit said matter of factly.
Sentinel placed a hand on the small Liarian's shoulder. "Yes, but there are many innocents on that planet. We can't let them be taken by that vindictive psychopath."
"Burai?" Zordon said.
"Yes, Master Zordon?" Burai replied, feeling scorned.
"I need you to stay behind and monitor the Droid levels. I trust no one else with this task." Zordon said.
A bit of guilt had been welling up within Zordon as he saw Burai's reaction to not being selected as one of the pilots. Zordon knew that he was going to have Burai monitor the Droids before he had even entered the room, but when he saw how hurt Burai had been, he felt as if he needed to add some bravado to the giving of the assignment. It was the part of him that felt great empathy for those around him. At times, Zordon thought there were two different personalities stuck inside his mind.
"You sure, Master Zordon?" Burai asked.
Zordon suppressed the need to roll his eyes. Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have said it had I not been sure. I don't randomly give out assignments to people. Use your head! He then turned his back on Burai and walked toward his Droid.
"Yes, I'm sure. Now get to monitoring." Zordon said.
Smiling, Burai bowed to the Morphing Masters and went to take his post in the Droid Holding Bay. As he did that, Estro walked to Sentinel Knight.
"Zordon is quite the genius, isn't he?"
Sentinel nodded. "Yes. Although it is debatable Michael is more intelligent, Michael is only human. He couldn't live long enough to accomplish everything Zordon has. He is truly a gift from Eltar to the Alliance."
Estro smiled. "He sure is... None of this would've been possible without him..." He then turned and walked out the door.
Sentinel cocked his head to the side. Estro's such an odd man.
Sentinel walked over to a console and typed in his passcode. He searched for Zordon's file and pulled it up. Estro's words reminded Sentinel of just how much Zordon had done for The Alliance. He looked over the projects Zordon had under his file, still under development: a Droid-style five piece spaceship modeled after the Astro Megaship titled "Mega Voyager"; a teleportation system which would tap into the Morphing Grid, enabling one to bend space and time to teleport long distances, unlike what the Alliance currently used; an upgrade to the Droid project for mecha called "Ectomorphicons"; a visual monitoring system which would be able to read the environment being monitored, then run what was monitored through a databank to pull information about what was being seen without needing to waste time searching through a library of data. The system was titled "The Viewing Globe Project".
"To the M51 Galaxy, everyone." Zordon said over the communication's network.
He had already instructed the other four pilots on how to activate the machines. He followed his own instructions and inputted the passcode.
"Log on!" Zordon said.
"Orion here. This is great!" He said as he activated his control panel.
"This is Gosei. All system's go."
"Delphine here. Ready to rock!" The Aquitian said, losing her normal composure due to the excitement she had over piloting a Droid.
"Great set-up here!" Dulcea said, looking around.
"Megadroid power, on!" Zordon said as the Droids powered on.
The Holding Bay doors opened and the Droids began flying off into space. Burai couldn't help but smile as he saw them pull out.
"May the Power protect you!" He yelled as they flew away.
"Delphine here. This system is amazing! It is so intuitive! I already seem to know how to drive this thing!"
Gosei replied over the network. "I do, too! It's almost like second nature to me!"
Moving at super speeds, they were already approaching the M51 Galaxy. As they approached the outer border of the system, the Masters saw several of Vile's ships surrounding a planet's moon.
"My information system says that planet is uninhabited, and all intelligent life actually lives on the moon." Gosei said.
"Then let's go! Stick close together for battle formation!" Zordon commanded.
In a tight pack, they flew down. As they did, they saw a giant in gold armor blasting through one of the cities of the species who inhabited the moon.
"Alright guys, let's get them!" Zordon said.
"Right!" The other Masters replied.
The warrior, Goldar, caused his sword to appear when he saw the vehicles descend. Zordon's Droid landed and began sprinting forward on its two legs, as the other four hovered around him. Goldar charged up his sword and sent a flame ball at the Masters.
"Ahh!" They yelled as they were hit.
Zordon thought of how grateful he was for the first attack he had against Lord Zedd. Due to the information he had gathered at that time, Burai and Cestro had worked on increasing the armor around the Droids. Had they not done that, the Droids would not have survived Goldar's blast.
"You and your weapons are no match for me!" Goldar declared, sticking out his chest in defiance.
"Alright, guys! Let's see what this machine can do!" Zordon said. He input some data and his Droid hit Goldar.
"Yes! Zap him again!" He ordered. All five Droids then bombarded Goldar with attacks.
"Argh!" Goldar yelled as he was hit hard. He flew backward and landed on his back.
"Alright!" Orion yelled, feeling the energy of battle fuel him with excitement.
"Let's send this guy back where he came from!" Zordon yelled.
"Right!" Orion and Delphine said.
"Right!" Gosei and Dulcea said as well.
"Alright guys! Let's power it up!" As Zordon said this, he placed his hands on the control devices on his panel. "Activating Megadroid battle mode!"
As the prompt appeared on the other Droids' screen, Zordon's co-pilots initiated the voice activation system by saying, "Two, one, power up!" They then placed their hands on the control devices they had.
The computer's voice system echoed through each of their cockpits. "Megadroid sequence has been initiated."
Gosei and Orion's Droids slipped onto the humanoid Droid's arms seamlessly. Suddenly, Gosei and Orion were teleported into Zordon's cockpit. He smiled as he greeted them. Everything was going according to his plan.
Dulcea and Delphine's Droids strapped onto the main Droid where his "shins" were. The two female Masters suddenly found themselves joining the three male Masters. They nodded at Zordon as they went to work. Zordon turned to face out the cockpit at their enemy.
"Megadroid: activated." The computer announced. Leopardon was complete and staring at Goldar.
"Let's do it!" Zordon yelled. They charged toward Goldar.
"I am a supreme fighter! You stand no chance against me!" Goldar warned.
Leopardon swung a fist at Goldar. Goldar easily sidestepped the attack and swung his blade. The next thing the Masters knew, they saw Orion's ship get chopped off Leopardon.
"Haha!" Goldar laughed, thinking of how easily he had done his deed.
"Uh..." Zordon said, unsure what to do.
"Divert main energy to the Power Sword!" Orion said.
"Right... Charging up Power Sword!" Zordon said, snapping out of his stupor.
Using their power, they summoned a sword from the Morphing Grid. It appeared in a crackle of lightning. Goldar took a step back in fear. He could sense the power the sword emanated.
"See you later, freak!" Dulcea said as she activated the sword's finishing move.
Morphing Energy surrounded the sword as they struck at Goldar. The blow would've surely destroyed Goldar, had not Leopardon been too slow to actually strike him. Goldar simply took another sidestep and chopped off the remaining arm.
"Systems are failing!" Gosei reported.
"I believe we need to regroup in space." Delphine said.
Zordon pounded his fist into the console. "Fine! Everyone return to your Droids and regroup in space."
Suddenly, Burai's voice was heard over the intercom. "No! There's one more thing you can try!"
As Zordon went to reply, Goldar kicked Leopardon in the chest, sending it to the ground.
Burai continued, "Divert your energy to the legs. Then you can perform the 'Tornado Kick'."
Delphine input the correct code and did as Burai suggested. Leopardon suddenly floated up and began spinning. Before Goldar could react, both of Leopardon's legs kicked him in the face.
Goldar, picking himself up, roared. "How can you think to defeat me without any arms!?"
Zordon smirked. "It's merely a flesh wound. Orion? Gosei? Get back into your Droids and fire on him. The three of us will control Leopardon."
They did as he said, teleporting back into the Droids attached to the humanoid Droid's arms.
Goldar looked around. He relaxed from his battle stance and laughed. "You may have won this battle, Morphing Masters, but you cannot hope to win this war. You could hardly battle me, how do you think you would have fared against two of me? Or me with a squadron of space jets? Hahaha! You have failed! You cannot save the M51 Galaxy!"
And with that, he disappeared.
"He has a point, Zordon." Burai said over the intercom.
Zordon wiped blue hair from off his brow. He saw the power readout Burai sent him. They were critically low.
"We have enough power to go back home. Let's do that." Zordon commanded, disheartened.
Dulcea and Delphine stayed attached to form Leopardon, so that Zordon's Droid had enough power to get back to their headquarters. Zordon turned on his holograms and looked back on M51. He buried his head in his hands as he saw the system become overrun with Vile's forces. Each planet began to be overcome by the swarm.
On one of those planets, Villamax directed Louse and his comrades to their leader, Captain Mutiny. As they approached him, they saw him speaking to a female humanoid.
"So, yer sayin' that the Queen wants you to help me out here? What was yer name again?"
"I am from Egypticus. My name is Hexuba. The Queen has integrated us into Master Vile's empire after my King, Sphinx, signed a treaty with her. I am here to be ensure you do things according to Master Vile's orders."
"What!? The Queen said I would be in charge of my own empire!" Mutiny raged.
Hexuba nodded. "You are... but as long as you reside in M51, you are in Vile's jurisdiction."
Mutiny's shoulders fell in defeat. "I can't argue with The Queen, I serpose. She be too powerful to contend against. Ah! My faithful servant Villamax! What do we have here? Prisoners for my camp?"
Villamax bowed. "No, your highness. These are people stranded on our planet. They were caught in the crossfires of the war during a mission to drop off two civilians." He said, relaying the information Luka had given him while they had approached Mutiny's castle.
"Tough luck, then! Get them to the barracks!" Mutiny demanded.
"On your order!" Barbarax said, signalling for Treacheron to follow suit.
"But, Captain-" Villamax started.
Mutiny hit Villamax with his hooked hand. "Just shut yer mouth about how it isn't honorable, will ya!? I'm sick and tired of yer yappin' about this!"
Doc and Miha hid behind Joe as he and the two Alliance soldiers got ready to fight.
Villmax wiped blood from his mouth. He and Mutiny had been at odds since this war had begun. Villamax had not wanted to join forces with The Queen, saying she was too deceitful and that an empire built on deceit would just cave in on itself, because no one could be trusted. Captain Mutiny had ignored him at that point and made a deal with the Queen, being too tempted by the power she promised.
Villamax drew his blade and joined the five "prisoners". He pointed his sword at Mutiny. "You were once an honorable fighter. You would've never before lowered yourself to capturing innocents! They have nothing to do with what is happening here!"
"Ha! That's what makes you weak, Villamax! You'll end up being destroyed because of yer dumb code. Mark my words!" Mutiny then ordered his minions, the Swabbies, to surround the traitor and his guests.
All the while, Treacheron thought about joining with Villamax, but he kept looking around. He knew Villamax wouldn't get out of this situation in one piece, and did not know if it was wise to go to a side which was obviously going to lose.
Villamax laughed. "That may be so, Mutiny, but not before you and your greed get you into a partnership which will end up spelling your defeat."
As Barbarax, Treacheron, and the Swabbies advanced upon Villamax and the unfortunate crew who happened upon the planet, the Dark Wave flew overhead. It began firing upon everything in its sight, including Mutiny's castle.
"That fool, Novact! The Queen told him not to attack this planet!" Hexuba yelled.
Villamax turned to Louse. "Here is our chance! Follow me!"
As everyone scurried to escape the Dark Wave, Villamax took Louse and his crew to the docking bay where Mutiny kept his empire's ships. As Doc looked upon the vessel Villamax was directing them to, he was amazed.
Louse was right! We're going to be pirates! Doc thought. He looked around the vessel: it looked just like a pirate ship.
"Hold onto this vessel! The Galleon is a fast girl! Haha! Let us go into the universal kai!" Villamax said, beginning to steer the ship.
"'Kai'? What's 'kai'?" Miha asked.
"It's from an old language. It means 'sea'. I find that language beautiful, so I occasionally use words from it. My apologies to all of you for the confusion!" Villamax said as they dodged fire from the Dark Wave.
Soon after that, they were out in space. Novact's ship became preoccupied with all of the other vessels which had begun to fire upon the Dark Wave. Growing calm, Luka approached Villamax.
"Why are you helping us?"
"Because what was happening to you was not honorable. Now, I am truly sorry for all of this... Please, let me know where I can drop you all off, and we will part ways."
"Well, if you could leave us-" Louse began.
"No!" Doc cried out.
They all turned to him, confused.
"What is it?" Joe asked, slightly annoyed.
"Look where we are! We're in a pirate ship with a real live pirate!" He said, waiting for it to dawn on them.
Louse slowly realized what Doc was implying. He began to smile. He looked at the other three to see if they were on the same page. Each of them began to smile. Louse winked and nodded at each of them. They nodded in return, as if giving them their approval.
He turned to Villamax, who was extremely confused at the silent gestures the five were giving each other. He had one hand on his sword, expecting to be assaulted by the people he just helped.
I've saved a bunch of maniacs! He thought.
Louse extended his hand. "Villamax, I wish to introduce myself. My name is Captain Marv-"
He stopped. He thought of his name: Marvin Louse. He won't take me seriously with a name like that! What kind of pirate is named Marvin? I need to make this showy!
"...elous. Yes, Captain Marvelous. Me and my band here wish to be pirates. Will you take us under your wing?"
Villamax considered the five in front of him. They all seemed solid. He thought about how he could mold them into the fighters they needed to be, with the ability to get what they needed done, but honorably.
"It willg be my pleasure! From now on, I, Villamax, will be your mentor, Captain Marvelous!"
. . .
"Ahhh!" Scorpius yelled.
The transformation was getting worse. He felt himself grow larger inside his armor. In his chambers, he screamed in pain as the transformation continued. He ripped off the armor and ran to a mirror to see what he had become.
What he saw frightened him. He had lost almost all of his Humanity. He was still humanoid, but his features were insect like. The serum Finster had given him was helping him tap into the basal power in his DNA, but was causing him to lose what evolution had given him: Humanity.
Finster looked at Scorpius through his hidden camera system. Like any good scientist, he always kept tabs on his experiments while taking meticulous notes.
"Oh, my... the transformation is going deeper than I had expected. I must have miscalculated something. I wonder how this will affect his mentality..." Finster said to himself in his laboratory.
He pulled out his notes and went over what he had observed in the mental condition of those who he had used to get to the final product. "Well... I guess all he'll lose is his ability to follow through logically... Nothing too serious for him as long as he continues to surround himself with competent generals... But this is not anything I want to keep myself around. I must leave the premises!"
Walking over to a control panel, he activated his "special code": Unknown to Scorpius, Finster never trusted him. When Finster created his lab, he ensured he would be able to escape at any time by turning his lab into a mini spaceship. Suddenly, Finster's lab shot out from the Scorpion Stinger and landed on the planetoid over which Scorpius was still hovering: Earth's moon.
As the pod landed on the Moon, Rita saw it. She called for her best fighters to meet with her.
"Scorpina! Goldar!" Rita yelled.
"Goldar is gone. He is on task for your father."
Rita grabbed Scorpina by the collar of her kimono and pulled her close. "Listen here, Earthling. I'm in charge around here: not my father. Next time my father says he wants something done, you ask me first. Understood!?"
Scorpina pulled herself away and stared at the girl, shocked. She had no idea how threatening Rita could be. She bowed and said, "Yes, my empress."
"Now, something just crash landed nearby. Go check it out!"
A few moments later, Scorpina returned with Finster. Rita pointed a finger at the canine.
"Who are you!?"
"My name is Finster. I am a scientist."
"Ah... Finster... I remember your name. You used to work for Zordon and Orion at the Alliance labs."
"That is right." Finster said as he began to look around the palace.
"... You were expelled because you were not allowed to function as you wanted, correct?"
"Why, yes! That is true!"
"Then you shall work for me! Ah-hahaha!" Rita declared. Scorpina lowered her sword, disappointed in not being allowed to destroy the creature.
Finster cocked his head. He was weary of starting another collaboration. "What if I refuse?"
Rita pointed at Scorpina. "Then she'll get to show you her... scorpion stinger, if you get my drift."
Scorpina nodded and smiled.
"Oh, my... well, then... Where do I start, my empress?"
Rita pointed to a door which spiraled down to the Caves of Deception. "There is a certain artifact I have under this palace. I want you to research it and try to figure out how to get to it."
"Yes, Empress. If you don't mind me asking, what is the artifact?"
"The Zeo Crystal." She said, matter of factly.
"Curious..." Finster thought. What are the odds I get caught up with three different lunatics trying to get the same power source? Fate must have something interesting in store for me!
And with that, Finster was escorted to a section of the palace where he would be able to set up his laboratory.
Sentinel Knight looked at Ivicar. They sat across from each other in Sentinel's private office. They had been deliberating since Zordon and the Droids had left for M51 about what they were to do with Edenoi.
"Okay, after Zordon drives Count Dregon away and saves Edenoi, this is the course of action we will take?" Ivicar asked.
Sentinel placed a hand to his face, exhausted. "Yes, they will join the Alliance cadets we have already sent to Xybria. We will use it as a type of camp where they can be monitored. We don't know which Edenites we can trust, so until we can sort things out, that's where the Edenites will be relocated."
Ivicar nodded. He looked at the miniature version of the Morphing Masters' symbol sitting on Sentinel's desk. He pointed at it.
"That's been a part of our lives for a long time, hasn't it?" He smiled.
"Yes, yes it has."
"Has it all been worth it, old friend?" He asked.
"Yes, every last sacrifice. I will keep fighting 'till the end. The universe needs order and what the Venerated Ones have put into place is the best order there is. As long as we follow the order, there will be no complications."
"Sentinel... we've been following the order and, well... look where we are."
"That's because we have had cancers appear inside the Alliance. They have corrupted that which is good."
Ivicar shrugged. "It doesn't matter why... Sentinel, we need to have change. We need to break protocol and do something."
Sentinel laughed. "What do you propose, Ivicar?"
"We need to start from scratch, perhaps. Make the Alliance start off with just us, then we carefully select who will be allowed in. They will need to show us their loyalty."
Sentinel laughed. "Sounds like a monarchy, Ivicar. Perhaps a strategist like you can see how on paper that would work, but... what about the people? While we go through a reorganization process, what will happen to the civilians? They will be under Master Vile's thumb!"
"Perhaps you're right, Sentinel. It was only a thought. I want to save everyone just as much as you do."
"I just pray that we will get through this without lasting repercussions. We've never seen a threat this big. We must prevail."