On the Red Galleon, Jordan started to come to, finding himself in the medical bay. Tensou was watching over him, tending to his injuries. While the Galleon, and his powers had taken the brunt of the damage, he had still ended up pretty banged up. He groaned as he felt every inch of his body aching.
"It's at times like this; I REALLY miss my Robo Knight Armour." He muttered. While it did sacrifice some of the adaptability of the Ranger suits, the Robo Knight Armour did have a few advantages, not least of which was the ARMOUR in addition to the usual protective powers. Jordan couldn't count the number of times he'd gone through buildings with little more than superficial bruising.
"You need to lie down." Tensou told him. "You're in no condition to go anywhere."
"The others...we need to find..."
"We're already looking for them." Tensou informed him. "The ship's repaired itself enough to get airborne; we're already in the air. You just need to rest."
"OK, OK, I'll lie down, just stop..." His words tailed off as he thought of something. "Uh...Tensou?"
"What is it now?" Tensou asked him.
"Um...if we're both in here...who's flying the ship?" Jordan asked him.
On the ground, the Rangers had only just gotten to the edge of the city. Jake had, unfortunately, rendered the patrol car they'd been lent inoperable in their battle with Argus. It was a sacrifice he had to make to give Orion the space he needed to get his breath back, but it now meant that they were once again on foot, heading for the mountains.
"Rangers!" A Kingsman yelled as they arrived at the edge of the mountains. They all looked up, seeing three Kingsmen, backed up by no less than two dozen Bruisers...they didn't even want to know how many X-borgs were lined up behind THEM. The Rangers, exhausted, beaten, and weary, barely able to stand, faced them down.
"Oh, come ON!" Jake complained. "How many of these fuckers is he going to throw at us today?"
"Don't worry, we won't finish you off." One of the Kingsmen stated. "We're just here to soften you up while the Prince powers up his Megazord. He wants to finish you himself."
"And...things just keep getting better." Noah responded. "Without the Megazord..."
"We need to make this quick!" Gia told them, pulling out her morpher. "If the Prince is coming, we'll need everything we have left!"
Before they could morph though, there was a hail of fire, and around half the army fell, completely blown to smithereens. The Rangers all looked up in time to see the Red Galleon flying into view.
"Jordan!" Gia called out excitedly. "I hate to admit it, but I am glad to see you!"
"He couldn't have picked a better time for an eleventh hour save." Jake agreed.
Another salvo from the Red Galleon's cannon, and most of the army was gone. Only the Kingsmen were left. A figure swung down, through the dark on a grapnel, landing between the Rangers and the Kingsmen. He landed between them, and all the Rangers stood, staring at the arrival. All of them stood, completely stunned by his arrival. Emma started to tear up.
"Troy?" She asked, beholding the man she loved, standing only a few feet in front of her, staring down his opponents. He held up a hand.
"You've all done well, rest up." Troy declared. "I'll take care of them. I'll need you on top form soon."
"Troy, those aren't just bruisers!" Gia called out. "They're so much more powerful!"
"They're not the only ones." Troy answered. With that, he broke into a run, straight at them.
He ducked under the spears of the first two as they swung for him, rolling through, back to his feet, and hit the other with a massive flying kick, sending it backwards. He turned to face the other two.
"You think you have a chance?" They asked. "You think an ordinary human..."
"Who said anything about me being ordinary?" Troy asked, flipping out the Red Morpher. His first attack was just to gauge their strength. Since it didn't even fall, he knew he needed to morph. Fortunately, he had retrieved his morpher from Jordan when he rescued him in the mountains. He transformed into the Red Corsair Ranger, levelling his sword their way. "One chance to leave...that's all you get!"
They prepared their weapons to fire power blasts, but Troy launched into a backward somersault, their blasts flying underneath him and destroying the third, who was rushing from behind, trying to impale Troy while his back was turned. The Red Ranger landed and faced them.
"If you're going to attack from behind, try to be quieter about it." He stated with a smirk. "Now, it's just the two of you!"
He ran forward, firing his pistol, evading return fire on his way, before launching into the first, slashing across him in motions so fast, the other Rangers could barely see it. In the last, the blade had powered up, and it sliced him clean in half. It was only then that they saw a Ranger Key in the Power Lock.
"Holy crap, how did he...?" Gia started to stammer.
"I guess he wasn't kidding when he said he was going to train." Noah said, his mouth hanging open. "I only saw like...five hits...and I never even saw him put the key in the lock!"
Troy was already on the last Kingsman, battling with him ferociously. The robot managed to send his pistol flying, but in response, Troy managed to slice off the hand holding its spear, literally disarming it. As he tried for a kick though, it caught his leg with its one free hand.
"That was careless Red Ranger!" The Kingsman told him. "The Prince only said he wanted your friends! I am sure he'll be delighted to know..."
Troy just tapped the side of his leg, at which the lower half of it disappeared. He then jumped straight up, slamming his one remaining leg into its chest, knocking it flying several feet. He kipped up back to his leg, and started hopping quickly towards it. He threw his Sabre at it as it tried to get up, cutting off its other arm, before diving forward. He snatched up his pistol, turning a key in the lock and levelling it at the robot. It stared straight down the battle.
"Oh, and in case you just missed it," Troy said, before pulling the trigger, blowing its head to smithereens, "a one legged man just beat you in an ass-kicking contest!"
As he de-morphed, his prosthetic re-appearing in place, the others rushed to his side. Emma threw her arms around him, overjoyed to see him return. She couldn't even bring herself to say anything. She just held him.
"Troy!" Jake screamed. "Dude, you...you're back!"
"Your timing could not be more welcome!" Gia agreed. "And that...that was incredible!"
"I've been working hard." He told them. "Now, we can catch up later, check it out!"
They all watched as a familiar white streak descended through the sky. Troy gestured to the Galleon.
"Everyone suit up, we still have work to do!" He told them.
Prince Vekar landed in his Megazord, right in the centre of Harwood.
"Rangers, you have defied me for too long!" He announced over the loud hailer. "Destroying Argus was the last straw! Now the whole city will pay for your insolence!"
"You've done enough damage Vekar!" Troy declared as the Megazord landed, swords drawn, facing off against The Armada Megazord. "It's time to choose, live or die, I really don't care which!"
"You think that thing scares me?" Vekar declared. "I already defeated it once at full strength! This time, I'm going to turn it into scrap!"
Before he could attack though, he was blind-sided as Orion arrived in the Q-Rex Zord, raking his drill downward as he landed. He faced off against Vekar.
"You again?" Prince Vekar screamed. "You all continue to oppose me, even when you already know it's hopeless?"
"After what you did to Andresia, you don't deserve to live!" Orion snarled. Vekar just laughed as he smashed into his Zord, knocking it to the ground.
"Oh, that...don't you realise that was just another day for us?" Vekar asked him. "It was nothing personal! Besides, you give me too much credit for that. It was my father that had your planet destroyed!"
He stood before them as the two Zords faced him. Both of them were already damaged, and hadn't had time to effect full repairs. He just snorted.
"You can hit me with everything you've got, it won't make a difference!" He declared. "I will prove once and for all that I am the rightful heir to the universe!"
"You know what, that sounds like an idea." Troy said, pulling out the Mystic Red Key. "Let's blitz him!"
"Troy, that will..."
"Trust me! It'll work!" He interrupted Gia. "Mystic Dragon, Mystic Spell Seal!"
The Mystic Dragon flew into view, beginning to enact its spell. Vekar just laughed.
"Is that all you've got?" He asked, throwing aside the arms of his Zord, ripping the magical binds apart.
"Not quite!" Jake added. "Ninja Storm, Shuriken!"
The Minizord launched its shuriken attack, but Prince Vekar powered up his chest beam, blasting them apart before they got to him.
"Oh come on, did you think that would work?" He asked, firing his Armada Arrows at the two Megazords. The Rangers struggled to keep them standing.
"Activating Turbo Falcon!" Troy announced as it broke through the dimensional barrier, blasting at Vekar's Zord. He shrugged off its blaster fire, and smashed it out of the air, sending it spinning back towards them.
"This is getting sad now, how many of your toys do you want me to break?" He taunted them. "Face it, I win, you lose!"
"Not quite, you see...there are two things you don't know about Megazords...the first is that they are powered by the pilot! That means the longer a Zord is in use, the more power you use, the more the pilot is weakened by the battle!"
"And we've just forced you to take on a whole fleet of Zords single-handed!" Noah told him. Troy pulled out his Ranger Key, which started to glow.
"Now guys, time to show you something else I picked up!" He told them. "Ultimate Megazord Combination!"
The Rangers all watched as their own Corsair Keys started to glow. They followed Troy's lead, turning them in the power locks. Before they knew what was happening, the Q-Rex, the Megazord and the Turbo Falcon had all joined. They watched the power levels surging through the roof on their consoles.
"Troy...how did...?"
"Let's just say I had a teacher who really showed me what I can do!" He interrupted Emma. "Now, let's take him down!"
"What...what's happening?" Prince Vekar screamed as he saw the jump in their energy levels, which now eclipsed his own! He realised to his horror Troy had been telling the truth, his own Zord was using power the whole time, his power levels were falling, and continuing to fall, but with the new combination, the Rangers had gained a significant power boost. "No! This can't be! I was so close to proving myself to my father!"
He steeled himself, facing down the Rangers as they came towards him.
"These stupid readings have to be wrong...I am the most powerful being IN THE UNIVERSE!" He roared. The Rangers fired missiles at him, but by now he couldn't dodge their attacks anymore. His Zord was taking heavy damage with every hit. A strike from their drill knocked out a lot of his support systems. Vekar looked horrified as his control console started to explode all around him. His instruments weren't wrong, he was...and in his arrogance, he couldn't conceive that he was about to lose everything!
"Let's finally rid the Earth of this creep!" Troy declared. "Final Strike!"
Vekar could only watch as the Megazord's fist flew straight into him. The Zord went into critical mass, and collapsed to the ground, becoming engulfed in a series of explosions. Orion got up from his seat.
"Orion, it's over!" Jake told him.
"We need to be sure!" Orion yelled. "I'm not letting him get away! He's not getting a chance to hurt anyone else!"
"Orion, come back!" Gia called, but he had already bailed out. The other Rangers followed him, ending up on the ground by the burning wreckage of Vekar's Megazord. Orion started to make his way towards it.
"Orion, it's over!" Troy told him. "He's..."
"I need to be sure!" Orion screamed, throwing off his helmet. "I need to see for myself! I need to know!"
Just then, some of the wreckage started to move. They all watched as Vekar started to climb out, heavily injured, bleeding badly, and most of his body burned. He tumbled down the wreckage as his strength failed him.
"No, freaking WAY!" Jake murmured. "How could anyone survive that?"
Orion gripped his Silver Spear, and started to stride towards the Prince, his face a mask of pure hatred. Vekar saw him coming, but he didn't even have the strength to get up. He held up a hand.
"Please, have mercy!" He begged him.
"You, who have visited so much suffering, who's done so much evil...now have the nerve to ask for MERCY?" Orion screamed at him.
"Please, I'll do anything!" He begged, tears running down his face. Troy stopped the others as they were about to approach Orion. Killing someone in the heat of battle was one thing, what happened with Marv had obviously upset him, but even then, Marv attacked him. This...this was no act of war. This was a helpless foe, broken and defeated.
"We know why you want to do this Orion, believe me. You may have more reasons than most to put this scum out of his misery. Every one of us has plenty of reason to want the same, in fact we all do." Troy told him. "We won't stop you Orion, it's up to you!"
Orion knew what they were saying, but none of that mattered. All he could see were the corpses he had buried with his own two hands...thousands of them...men, women, children...tears ran down his face as he gripped his Silver Spear tightly and raised it up.
"See you in Hell Vekar!" He yelled. Before he could strike though, he was blasted backwards. The Rangers all went to his side, and watched as Vrak stepped out of the shadows, heading towards his fallen brother.
"Shit! What now?" Jake asked. They all watched as Vrak helped his brother to his knees.
"Thank you my brother." Prince Vekar said in relief. Vrak smiled at him, and drew in closer.
"Long live the King." He said menacingly. Vrak's eyes suddenly went wide in horror as Vrak raised his weapon. With one last scream, the Rangers watched as Vrak brought it down. Vekar fell silent, at which Vrak tossed his corpse aside. He turned to the Rangers.
"Oh my God...he just...he murdered his own brother!" Emma gasped.
"It was all part of my plan all along. You did me a favour Rangers." He told them. "You see, my baby brother was first in line to the throne. Now...I am the true heir!"
"Wait...heir?" Gia asked.
"Don't you think it's a little odd my brother, in all his arrogance always called himself 'Prince'?" He asked them. "He was to inherit once the Emperor died. Now...that goes to me."
"Wait...how could your father still be alive?" Jake asked. "You murdered him to appease The Warstar!"
"Oh...that...you see, Malkor's orders were...not very specific." He told them. "He told me to bring me my father's heart, and that's exactly what I did. The reason my younger brother was the heir and I was passed over...we shared a mother, we did NOT share a father!"
"So that's what he meant when he kept calling you a bastard!" Troy concluded. "It wasn't an idle insult, he meant it literally! You wouldn't inherit because being born of pure blood, your brother was first in line!"
"But that is no longer the case. Now, all I have to worry about is telling dear old dad that his precious baby is gone." Vrak declared. "You did me a favour today Rangers, and for that, I'm letting you leave with your lives.
As he started to leave, he paused.
"Oh, and Pink Ranger?" He said. "You might want to hurry home."
"DAD!" She screamed in horror, before turning and running. The other Rangers went with her, leaving Vrak to leave the scene.
Up on The Armada Command Ship, Lavira let out a cry of anguish as news reached her of Vekar's fate. They had no footage from the ground, but they had seen enough to know that the Megazord had been destroyed. They had performed scans, and could find no trace of Prince Vekar's life signatures. She leaned over the console, weeping for the man she loved.
"The Prince's demise is a tragedy, one that has touched all of our hearts." Damaras stated. Lavira was still crying, but she could feel anger rising in her. She knew that Damaras didn't respect the Prince in the slightest. "We will avenge him as the first order of business."
"There's no need to pretend anymore!" She sneered. "Give up the act Damaras, you finally got what you wanted!"
"Indeed we did." Vrak declared as he walked in the door. Lavira had suspected for a long time that Damaras was disloyal, but now, seeing Vrak on the ship in front of her DIRECTLY after his brother's death, the enormity of the betrayal finally dawned on her.
"You...you both planned this all along!" She shrieked.
"You catch on quickly." Vrak said with a smile. "Oh...and since my brother never DID get around to that wedding...that puts you right back to being a glorified grease monkey."
"You think so?" She snapped. "Well, let's see how you feel when I execute you BOTH for treason! Over-ride Alpha, 28081993! Droids, kill the traitors!"
Vrak and Damaras just stared at her, unfazed. Lavira looked around, realising none of the droids were moving.
"Kill the traitors!" She screamed. Again, nothing happened. Vrak approached her, cradling her chin with his hand.
"Oh, that secret weapon of yours, that little over-ride code? I de-programmed it." He told her. "X-borgs, take Lavira back to her lab. Perhaps some work will keep her mind off her bereavement."
With that, Lavira was flanked by a couple of X-borgs. She realised the position she was in, and submitted, leaving the room. She was now trapped on a ship full of droids that were ultimately loyal to the heir to the throne...and that was Vrak!