"Welcome, Bastion and Puck!" Zordon bellowed from his tall tube.
Bastion turned around towards Zordon and jumped in shock at the disembodied head now speaking with him. Puck stared in fascination before reacting, "Whooaa!"
"Whhoo are you? And how did I get here?" Bastion slowly asked.
"Do not be afraid, Bastion. You are with friends here. This is the Command Center of the Power Rangers. I am Zordon, their mentor. When you consented to an alliance with the rangers, we teleported you and Puck here," Zordon explained.
Still amazed at Zordon's tube apparatus, Puck asked, "Are you really here?"
"Not entirely, Puck," Zordon answered. "In a decisive battle, I was transported to another dimension. Thanks to Alpha's efforts, I am able to project my image, voice, and some of my power to this world."
"Incredible..," Puck quietly opined.
Zordon continued, "Bastion: we understand that you have significant experience against Faulkner in battle. Please tell us about your history; any knowledge about our enemy could bring us closer to defeating him."
"I come from a place called Eptina. In most recent history, the most powerful nations in Eptina were my home the Pharastia Kingdom, and the malevolent Junaris Empire. After heavy conflicts, the Empire defeated my home Kingdom, and as a result, I spent most of my life with my makeshift family, avoiding the empire's forces while my father trained me to pilot an ATAC."
"ATAC. That's what zords are called where you come from, correct?" Billy checked.
"Yes, Billy. It means All Terrain Armored Combatant," Bastion confirmed. Continuing, Bastion narrated, "As my training neared completion, my father Kamorge and I made plans to unite with Kingdom allies to drive out invading empire soldiers, not just from Pharastia, but from all affected nations. Our plans took a sudden turn when we encountered a powerful Empire force, which included Faulkner, their general. Faulkner lost his family in the war, and the Emperor coaxed him into blaming Pharastia for the tragedy. As a result, Faulkner grew into a bitter and abusive soldier and eventual general of the Empire. My father shielded me and my friends from Faulkner's intended assault, but at the cost of his own life.
I knew then I had to put a stop the wars any way I could. Almost predicting my own destiny, I came to learn that Kamorge was not actually my biological father, but had been working as a bodyguard to the man who was: the King of Pharastia.
This revelation introduced a new and vital piece of knowledge: As Prince of Pharastia, I was the only one who could use the legenadary Ultragunner ATAC. My team and I obtained the Gratia stone from its keepers, and with it, I reactivated Ultragunner. Its tremendous might turned the tide of the brutal battle, and it was looking like we would soon bring peace to Eptina."
"But then Faulkner introduced an X-factor of his own: Zulwarn," Puck aided.
"Zulwarn. That's the zord he brought here, isn't it?" Kimberly determined.
"It is," Bastion verified. "Zulwarn was a long dormant ATAC from older times. Only Faulkner was insane enough to reactivate it. As you've seen, it needs human blood to run. While Faulkner was quite psychotic to begin with, old legends suggest that Zulwarn forms an eerie, symbiotic bond with its pilot, pushing that pilot to obsessively use the mech more often, and kill more people to feed it. It's an evil machine, and when it was revealed, we knew we had to destroy it, but that was going to be an extremely difficult and dangerous idea.
In our first encounter with Faulkner's Zulwarn ATAC, he hexed us with its dark magic; every ATAC on our team other than mine was reduced to half of its normal power."
Trini's eyes lit up as she proclaimed, "That's exactly what happened to us!"
"You're lucky that's all he could manage," Bastion told her. "We later discovered that he can dominate other people's minds with that power. He turned several of my friends into his mindless servants, and tried to do the same to me. But I discovered that if my force of will was strong enough, along with that of my friends, Ultragunner can counteract Zulwarn's darkness."
"Your light stopped the miasma," Tommy recalled.
"With that, we had what we needed to put an end to Faulkner's rampage. Together we battled him and his troops, which included our possessed friends. Even with our powers at full strength, Zulwarn's frightening attacks laid waste to many of my allies' ATACs. But we eventually taxed his defenses to their limits and got the upper hand. Having a feeling that the light of the Ultraguuner was the only way to completely destroy Zulwarn, I closed in to finish the job. We fought hard, and when I was ready to unleash my strongest attack, he was apparently thinking the same thing: our energies collided, and I think the resulting reaction is what brought us here." Bastion concluded his tale.
"Sorry you had to go through all of that," Kimberly empathized.
"Thanks for not leaving me to do it alone," Bastion told her.
"Bastion, if we're gonna help, we need to get the Ultragunner back and fix it." Puck remineded Bastion.
Realizing Puck was correct, Bastion spoke with an air of worried concern, "Oh my god, that's right. How are we going to do that? We'd need to tow it to a workshop somehow."
Jason smiled and told Bastion and Puck, "Sounds like you need a zord carrier. We can help you with that."
Puck checked, "You can? Really?"
"We sure can," Jason verified. Turning his attention upwards, Jason told his mentor, "Zordon, we'll go retrieve Ultragunner from the park."
"Good thinking, Jason," Zordon praised. "The zord hangar should have what we need to rebuild Ultragunner."
Billy mentioned, "While observing your battle with Zulwarn, I developed some ideas for enabling Ultragunner to work our zords more efficiently."
"I know the Ultragunner inside and out if you wanted to talk about it!" Puck added.
"You, me, Trini, and Alpha should meet up with the others at the zord hangar," Billy suggested.
Briefly thinking over the proposals, Zordon agreed, "Very well. Rangers, friends, we will reconvene here after the zord repairs are completed."
"Come on, Puck. You're gonna love this!" Trini lead as she, Billy, and Alpha-5 briskly walked out of the ring of control panels towards the side exit.
"It's morphin' time!" Jason commanded the remaining power rangers. The 4 teens reached behind their lower backs for their morphers. In sequence, Tommy, Zack, Kimberly, and Jason each called forth the spirits of their powers.
"Dragonzord!"
"Mastodon!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Tyrannosaurus!"
Colorful lights enveloped the rangers as they flew from the command center to the park near the Angel Grove business district in streaks of light. Bastion now stood alone with Zordon in the command center. Zordon spoke, "Bastion, I would like to discuss some very specific matters with you personally. Please enter the secret chambers to the left." A hidden door then appeared at the left end of the command center opposite the viewing globe's podium. Confused curiosity in his expression, Bastion slowly walked towards and then through the newly revealed entrance.
The red, green, pink, and black rangers materialized in the park a few short yards away from the disabled Ultragunner. Jason shouted, "Let's do this! I call upon Titanus!"
Titanus, the great white brachiosaurus zord carrier marched across the lands between its hiding place and the beach park. When it was sufficiently close to the Ultragunner, Jason instructed, "Zack, Kimberly, take the controls."
"Right!" Kim and Zack said in unison. "Hya!" they both shouted while leaping for the entrance to Titanus' bridge.
Bastion walked into the dimly lit chamber, growing ever curious of its purpose. Inside he saw a control panel, a large screen, and a glass tube similar to the one that contained Zordon's image in the main part of the command center. Opposite the apparatus was a large bed with a border of small white lights. The energy tube started to glow as several lightning bolts materialized. Finally, Zordon appeared inside the tube. "You have our sincerest gratitude for protecting this world's people from Faulkner. However, I cannot in good conscience send you into a zord battle without offering you a measure of protection against further injuries," explained Zordon. "Observe," he finished.
Scenes from the rangers' battle against the Gnarly Gnome started playing on the screen. Bastion observed the ranger's morphing sequence, their battle against the Gnome, its growth to giant size, the zord summonings, and finally the zord battle. The zord battle contained high impact strikes, and a scene where the Megazord was knocked off its feet and fell to the ground. Zordon resumed explaining, "When battling in their zords, the rangers face immeasurable dangers. Enemies that size are capable of striking with crushing force. If the zords' armors do not hold, the rangers face risk of serious injury. Furthermore, if the zord is taken down, the height of the fall poses an equally serious danger. It is for these reasons that the rangers must morph into their uniforms before accessing the zords. Their power suits enhance strength, speed, stamina, and most importantly, physical resilience. With powers active, the rangers can withstand and recover from attacks that would be lethal to civilians. It is with that in mind that I would like to offer you this." A power morpher appeared on a flat surface on the control panel attached to a strange device. Bastion walked up to the device and slowly picked up the morpher. Looking at the coin inside, Bastion saw an odd, symmetrical design featuring one large shape in the middle, and 2 smaller shapes on the sides.
After staring at the power coin for several seconds, Bastion turned his attention back to Zordon and asked, "You're asking me to become a power ranger?"
"Yes, Bastion. However, I must impart on you that being a power ranger is a tremendous responsibility. Even with the durability your powers offer, you will still be risking your life every time you enter battle with the forces that threaten the people of earth. Please, take an hour to think it over. You are welcome to observe some of the rangers past experiences in this theater while you consider your decision," Zordon advised.
"What a mess!" Faulkner pined, looking over his damaged Zulwarn ATAC. "But Bastion and those other ATACs have only delayed my victory." Engaging the Zulwarn's console, Faulkner willed the twisted mech to emit its miasma wave. As the dark energies reached several civilians in the nearby suburb, their once lively expressions turned blank and empty as they began obediently walking towards Zulwarn.
"Say when, guys," Zack instructed as he drove Titanus backwards towards Ultragunner very slowly.
"Right there, Zack," Jason confirmed once Titanus was close enough.
Back inside the Titanus bridge, Kimberly advised her teammates, "Lowering the ramp!" A flat platform descended from Titanus' back. "Now for the crane magnet!" She followed up. A large girder suspending a powerful electromagnet deployed from Titanus. Kimberly flipped a switch on the rear control panel activating the magnet. The force pulled Ultragunner several feet into the air where it hovered.
"Wheel droids, now!" Jason summoned. 4 large flat carts, each bearing several wheels underneath rolled out of Titanus's lower cargo holds. 2 of the droids had 12-foot high rear walls while the other 2 had heavy metal rings in front. Jason and Tommy quickly pushed them underneath the corners of the Ultragunner, which was still resting on one knee. Jason and Tommy then proceeded to attach magnetic tethers from each droid to Ultragunner's legs, placing the droids with the rear walls at the back corners.
"All set, Kim!" Tommy shouted. Kimberly slowly reduced the crane magnet's power, causing Ultragunner to gently drop on the wheel droids. A glowing blue energy net appeared between the droids, forming a surface underneath the great white ATAC.
"Hook it up, guys!" Zack instructed, pressing another button. 2 chain-link tow cables bearing heavy hooks blasted out of Titanus's base. Jason and Tommy attached the hooks to the front droids.
"Bring it up, Zack!" Jason shouted back. Zack moved a joystick on the console forward, causing cranks to slowly pull the Ultragunner up the ramp. Once Ultragunner was completely on the ramp, Kimberly flipped a lever, which caused the rear of the ramp to rise up until it was a level platform. Finally, the platform lowered itself into the rear bed of Titanus.
Jason and Tommy leapt high towards Titanus and joined Kimberly and Zack in the bridge. Finalizing the mission, Jason said, "Let's get back to the zord hangar!" With Ultragunner in tow, Titanus chugged out of the park.
Bastion quietly walked around the command center, observing the complex instrument panels and technological structures. He wandered shyly into the zord hangar where Billy, Trini, and Puck were discussing technical details of the zords and Ultragunner. Opting against joining their conversation, he retreated to the main part of the command center and back into the side room. Looking at the tube, still lit with Zordon's glowing image, Bastion said to him, "Zordon? I'll do it!"
"Splendid," Zordon approved. "Before we begin, I need you to produce the Gratia stone you use to control the Ultragunner, along with your new power morpher."
Bastion retrieved the shiny green orb from his pouch and the ranger-morpher Zordon offered him earlier.
"Good. Now bring them together." Zordon gently instructed.
As Bastion touched the power coin to the Gratia stone, the Gratia glowed, dematerialized into white light, and flowed into the coin. The coin blinked with white light briefly as the stone vanished into it.
"What happened? Where'd it go?" Bastion asked.
"Worry not, Bastion, for your stone is safe. To turn you into a power ranger, a bond involving you, your coin, and your zord must be established. Your stone will rematerialize with your power suit when it is activated through the morpher. Now lie down on the operating bed behind you. This process will require several hours, so feel free to fall asleep for the night."
Titanus marched into the zord hangar, stopping in an open bay. The metal ramp once again lowered from its back, and this time, the decorated white Ultragunner was lowered down the ramp and into the workshop. Puck excitedly rushed over to the bay holding his best friend's ATAC while the 4 power rangers driving Titanus leapt out of the zord carrier and into the hangar. Once they were all together, Puck instructed the 6 power rangers, "Alright, here's what we need to do!"