The Rangers brought the Red Galleon out into the city, quickly finding Lavira's Megazord. It wasn't especially hard, the Megazord had unleashed a fury on the city that even Vekar hadn't. Megaphones boomed out hellish screams as the Megazord lashed out at buildings, vehicles, anything that was unfortunate enough to be within reach. Troy pulled the Red Galleon aside as a truck was thrown by the Zord, narrowly missing them.
"Whoa, she is SERIOUSLY pissed!" Jake commented.
"It's worse than that, look!" Orion stated, pointing to the Zord. The Rangers could see the face in the Megazord's cheeks, modelled after Lavira's own. It had a couple of deep, red streaks running down the cheeks from beneath where its eyes would have been, under the visor. "She's taken the Oath of the Tears of Blood."
"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Noah asked.
"Some of the species in my sector were very warlike, they were constantly battling among themselves." Orion told them. "When a warrior had lost a lot, like their friends or their family, they would become so consumed with rage and grief they would take an oath. They would ritually scar themselves with the Tears of Blood, to demonstrate their grief, and would embark on a mission of death and destruction. They wouldn't stop until they met their own end."
"OK, that is pretty messed up." Noah gulped as he heard this.
"No, it makes this simple." Troy told them. "There's no reasoning with her. She's already decided that this is the end, so we end it!"
They quickly formed up the Megazord, landing on the ground a little way from her, drawing their sabres. Lavira's zord rounded on them.
"Rangers!" She screamed, seeing them. They started to break into a run, straight towards them, but as they approached, the visor in the chest face started to glow. The Megazord was smashed back, hitting the ground hard. Their controls started sparking as they took the hit.
"OK, did anyone get the licence plate of that truck?" Jake asked.
"That blast took out fifteen percent of our power in one hit!" Noah said, checking the damage report. "It's...it's like Vekar's Zord all over again!"
"We can't afford to take shots like that." Gia agreed as they pulled back to a vertical base.
"This Zord is my masterpiece! I took the wreckage of my Beloved's Zord, and turned it into the ultimate weapon!" Lavira stated. "Now I'll finally avenge my beloved Vekar!"
"Your beloved started a war!" Troy reminded her as they threw themselves at Lavira's Megazord, trying to keep themselves out of the way of its main weapon. They could only presume that like their own weapons, Lavira's megazord needed a while to charge between powerful attacks. Troy grappled with her Zord, trying to keep the primary weapon pointed away from them as he started to smash into the armour.
"Your pathetic Megazord is no match for my technology!" Lavira yelled as she managed to get a claw free, clamping it around the Megazord's head. She sent a massive charge through the cockpit, shocking all of the Rangers and causing several explosions in the Megazord's control circuits. They were only saved as Orion finally arrived in the Q-Rex, using his drill attack to separate them.
"Well that trick's new." Jake commented. "She's shorting out our controls!"
"I've bypassed them to back-up systems." Noah replied. "But our power levels are down another 20 percent."
"My Zord took a pasting too." Orion told them. "My levels are down 10 percent just from the residual jolt."
"Then let's bring in some back-up!" Troy announced, flipping out his Ninja Storm key. "Ninja Storm, star striker!"
"Ha! Don't you think I've thought of a counter for that?" Lavira asked, forming up a force field. The Mini-Zord's shuriken simply rebounded off the shield, before Lavira blasted it away. They all watched as the Zord just lay still.
"Mini-Zord!" Emma called out.
"It's alright, it's repairing itself." Troy assured her. "It'll just take a while."
"Look out!" Gia screamed as Lavira got the opening to unleash another shot with her main weapon. This time, she caught both Zords in its wake. Although the hits were glancing, it still caused them serious problems.
"Power levels down to..."
"Don't tell us the number Noah." Troy grumbled. "How are you holding up Orion?"
"Yeah...it's probably best I don't tell you the numbers." Orion answered. "But somehow she's fixed the squeak on my swivel chair!"
"OK guys, I think we can safely say we're in trouble here." Troy answered. "Everyone focus, we've got a serious fight on our hands."
Meanwhile, up on The Armada Command Ship, Emperor Mavro and Redker were watching the battle with interest. Redker just smiled.
"Well, who'd have thought that Lavira could make herself useful?" He asked. "She really was holding back all this time! I guess all she needed was the right motivation."
"That is my son you are talking about!" Emperor Mavro warned him. Redker realised his error and immediately backed up.
"Um...the rest of the fleet has arrived." Redker told him. "We are ready for the order to attack."
"Hold off on that for now." Emperor Mavro stated. "Have a contingent of Kingsmen prepared to help Lavira. It looks like the tide is turning."
"Still, she's done a number on those Rangers." Redker complimented her. "To think, she almost ended up being your daughter-in-law."
"Don't remind me." Mavro replied. "At least she has made herself useful."
Back at the site of the battle, Lavira's Zord staggered, being blind-sided by a Mega Roar attack from the Lion Zord. Her Zord was smoking, and some of the armour was beginning to show signs of damage.
"Come on guys, we have to pour it on!" Troy called out, slamming some more keys into the locks. "Ultimate Super Mega Cannon!"
They opened fire, at which Lavira powered up her force field again, but the Rangers poured on all the power they had, battering through. The shield shattered, leaving her exposed. Orion powered up the Q-Rex's ultimate attack, ripping through the Zord, which started sparking and massive clouds of thick, oily smoke billowed out.
"No!" Lavira screamed as her controls exploded before her. She watched as all her systems started to fail. "I was so close!"
The Rangers watched as Lavira bailed out, landing on the ground a little way from them as her Megazord exploded.
She picked herself up off the ground, glaring at the Rangers.
"Curse you Rangers! You destroyed my beloved! You destroyed my life!" She screamed. "Have the courage to face me, or the rest of the city will face my wrath!"
"Whatever you say!" Troy answered as the Rangers all bailed out of their Zords, landing in the street right in front of her. "If this is the way it has to end..."
His words were cut off as five Kingsmen blasted them all to the ground, forming up around Lavira. One of them bowed to her.
"We are here by order of the Emperor." He informed her. "We're here to assist you!"
"Well I hope he doesn't expect me to thank him!" Lavira snarled. "You destroyed my Prince!"
"Your Prince brought it on himself! He attacked the Earth and we defended ourselves!" Troy reminded her. "If you want to go the same way, then that's fine with us!"
Lavira braced herself, before her shoulder-mounts opened up, and she fired a barrage of missiles. The Rangers were all thrown off their feet, landing in a heap on the ground. Their powers had taken a beating in the battle already, and they could tell that Lavira was serious about her self-destructive mission. Emma was the first to her feet. She started to make her way towards Lavira.
"You...you do all of this in the name of the Prince?" Emma asked her. "You would cause all this suffering, destroy God knows how many innocent lives because you lost your fiancée?"
"I would tear this whole universe apart atom by atom for him!" Lavira screamed. "His murder WILL be avenged! You will suffer for destroying my Love!"
"THAT ISN'T LOVE!" Emma screamed back as she slammed the pink Mighty Morphin' key into her morpher, taking the small power boost from the transformation. She launched herself straight at Lavira, who was setting up another salvo. She managed to shoot them out of the air, catching Lavira in the explosions.
"Come on guys, let's give her a hand!" Troy commanded as he turned into the Red Mighty Morphin' Ranger. The others all quickly followed suit, taking the battle to the Kingsmen, leaving the way clear for Emma to face Lavira herself.
Back on The Armada Command Ship, Emperor Mavro watched on as the battle raged on Earth. He smiled to see the Rangers in action. He had seen the beating their Zords had taken, and he knew that with each passing moment, they were using more and more of their power. It didn't matter to him what happened to Lavira, indeed now he knew how unstable she was, he was sure he'd probably had to get rid of her for his own safety if she won. All that mattered right now was that the Rangers were weakening with every passing moment.
"Redker!" He called to his nephew. "Send out the order to the fleet. Begin the decent!"
"I will do exactly as you command Your Highness." He answered as he rushed to the command console. "All Armada ships, prepare your decent, the invasion is about to begin!"
Meanwhile, heading back at hyper speed, Gosei was sitting at a tactical console, when he heard a communication coming through. He opened up the channel.
"All Armada Ships, this is General Redker!" He announced. "I repeat, on the orders of Emperor Mavro, begin the decent! In the name of our glorious Emperor, the invasion is about to begin!"
"That's not good." Jordan stated. "How many ships do they have?"
"Millions." Gosei told him abruptly.
"How many troops?" Jordan asked.
"Considerably more." Gosei answered honestly.
"Then it appears the time has come." The Sentinel Knight replied. "I shall contact the Mystic Mother and tell her it is time for the ritual to begin."
"I'll contact the others." Gosei replied. "Stay close Jordan, you'll be needed soon enough."
Back on Earth, in a hotel, Jason was sitting at a table with his original team, all except for Zack, who was still in Washington, being unable to leave given his position as President. They were all catching up on what had been happening in their lives. They had all been assembled in the hotel, no small feat considering the number of Rangers there had been. Tommy arrived, smiling as he did so, with a huge man standing beside him. He was wearing denims, and a long, heavily decorated buckskin coat. He had some tribal hair decorations in his long, flowing hair.
"Hey guys, you all remember my brother David right?" He asked, gesturing to the man. Kim smiled.
"David Trueheart...I haven't seen you in years!" She replied, hugging him tightly. "What are you doing...?"
"I figured we could use a few substitutes for what we have planned." Tommy told them. "David's kindly agreed to join us."
"Are you sure about this?" Billy asked him. "What we're doing here...?"
"Believe me; I've thought about this a lot." David assured them. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think it was the right thing to do."
"Well...he was a candidate for Gold Ranger if you remember." Billy answered. "If anyone's up to the task, I would say it's him."
"Then I guess all that's left to say is...welcome to the team." Trini greeted him. As they all shook his hand, welcoming him to the team, there was a bleeping sound, at which Jason answered his communicator.
"What is it Gosei?" He asked.
"It's time." Gosei told him.
"Got it." Jason replied, putting his communicator away. He approached the reception desk, beckoning over one of the receptionists.
"I'd like you to send a message to the rooms." Jason told him. "Meet in the main meeting hall in five minutes."
"Certainly sir." The receptionist replied. "And which rooms would you like me to send that message to?"
"All of them." Jason answered.
Back at the site of the battle, the Rangers were nearing the end of the battle. Jake sliced through the haft of his opponent's spear, splitting the Kingsman from head to abdomen with his Power Axe. He circled round behind it, opening out the slide, converting it to cannon mode.
"Gia, watch out!" He called out, pulling the trigger, while the weapon was still lodged inside his opponent. Gia dodged out of the way as Jake opened fire, smashing away the robot's arm, sending its arm and its weapon spinning away. Gia decapitated her foe with one of her power daggers, while throwing the other, which lodged in the skull of the Kingsman Jake was fighting. He managed to pull his weapon free, returning Gia's dagger to her.
"We've got them right where we want them!" Noah yelled as he impaled his foe, before using his Power Lance to pry him apart.
"Keep it up guys!" Troy called out, cutting his opponent in half across the waist. "We've almost done it!"
"Hey Emma, need a hand?" Orion asked as he finished off his opponent with his Dragon Dagger. She tumbled across the ground, landing a little way from him.
"No! I'm going to finish her myself!" She screamed.
"Well...at least take a little boost!" He told her, placing her hand on his chest. The Dragon Shield transferred over to Emma, and she felt additional power flooding through her. Orion gave her his Dragon Dagger. "Go and finish her!"
"This is it Lavira, you're finished!" Emma yelled.
"You cannot defeat me! I fight for my lost Love!" Lavira screamed, opening fire with some missiles. Emma started playing the Dragon Flute, accessing the protective powers of the Dragon Shield. She swiped at her with the Power Bow, then again with the Power Dagger.
"It hurts to lose someone you love! But you can't be angry at everyone else for that!" Emma screamed. "Love is precious, and it hurts to lose it! But you can't take the end of one love as the end of life. As soon as you stop believing you can love again, you really are lost!"
She powered up her weapons, smashing Lavira back into a building. The others were quickly by her side, lending her their weapons. Emma formed up the Power Blaster. She ran straight for Lavira, leaping into the air as Lavira once again fired missiles at her. They rebounded off the dragon shield though, allowing Emma to clear the gap, landing right next to her. She held the Power Blaster at point-blank range.
"You wanted to rejoin your precious Vekar so much...here you go!"
With that, she pulled the trigger. The blast tore through Lavira, leaving her completely spent. The Commander flopped face-first to the ground, before exploding, just as Emma powered back down into Corsair Mode. The Rangers all assembled by her.
"Emma, that was incredible." Gia complimented her.
"Yeah, that was amazing!" Jake agreed. "You were..."
As she turned back to face them, they could see tears running down her face. She looked up to Troy.
"Emma, I..."
"Don't worry, I won't end up like her." Emma assured him. "I just can't help feeling sorry for her that things had to end that way."
Just then, the sky darkened, and the Rangers could only look up, their hearts sinking. While the Rangers had been busy battling Lavira, the Armada had started their decent to Earth. They couldn't help staring at the sheer number of ships coming down. They could barely even see the sky between ships.
They were all blasted to the ground, and forced to De-morph as the ships opened fire with incredible ferocity, damaging a huge part of the city. Emperor Mavro didn't care about collateral damage, as long as he harmed the Rangers. They all struggled to get back to their feet.
"Man, that was brutal!" Noah groaned, clutching his ribs. "They've never come down in this kind of force before!"
"No...WAY!" Jake gasped.
"There's so many!" Emma added.
"There...there must be millions of ships." Noah stated, trying and failing to get a good grasp on the odds stacked against them. They all knew that The Armada was an immense force, but they couldn't even begin to fathom how huge a force they would be facing. "Where do we even begin?"
"That must be every ship in The Armada's fleet." Gia stated. "I guess the Emperor's finally decided to throw all his eggs in one basket."
"This is beyond anything I could have imagined." Noah stated. Just then, the Command Ship came into view.
"Ha, just look at them!" Redker stated as he stood by the window. "Did they really think we'd let them win? We rule the entire galaxy!"
On the ground, the Rangers watched as it projected a massive hologram of Emperor Mavro. The Rangers finally saw the face of the enemy they had been battling for almost two long years.
"Rangers, this is Emperor Mavro, leader of The Armada and rightful ruler of the universe!" He began his announcement. "Face it, you are hopelessly outnumbered! You cannot hope to stand against a force of this size! We will grind you down until we achieve the inevitable! Save yourselves and your planet any unnecessary bloodshed! Surrender yourselves to me and the rest of your planet will be spared my wrath!"
"Just like you spared Andresia?" Orion roared in anger. "We know your word means NOTHING!"
"We'll never leave the people of this Earth defenceless!" Emma called back.
"We'll never give up without a fight!" Gia added.
"We need to send this guy a message." Noah stated.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Jake asked.
"Is this enough of a message to get the point across?" Troy asked, pulling out his morpher. "If you want this planet, you'll have to take it from us!"
They all morphed into their Corsair Mode, standing in defiance of Emperor Mavro.
"Very well Rangers, then you have doomed yourselves and your entire planet!" Emperor Mavro replied. "Fire at will!"