Morning broke over Harwood, on what was, if Mavro was to have his way, Earth's final day. The citizens were stirring, most of them having hardly slept, giving the impending destruction coming their way.
On the Armada Command Ship, Mavro surveyed the Earth from the window, feeling the same thrill he always did before laying waste to a planet. While he generally tried to invade planets rather than annihilate them, he did on occasion make an exception. Usually when his primary analysis showed him that the planet didn't possess any natural resources of any real worth to him, but this time the decision to go in full force was personal. This planet hadn't just dared to oppose him, refused to acknowledge him as the superior being and accept his rule, but he had lost two sons to the war. They had dared to attack and murder two members of the Royal Family.
Redker came to his side, visibly brimming with excitement. He was eager to prove himself to his uncle. He knew that someday the empire would be bequeathed to him, and he wanted to ensure that his uncle believed that his empire would be left in good hands. He wanted to impress him by showing he could be just as cruel and pitiless as Mavro.
"Begin the decent." Mavro instructed him. "The Earth has enjoyed my mercy for long enough."
Down on the Earth, the few citizens of Harwood who could manage to get some sleep among the ruins of the city were waking up, looking out on the morning sky. Instead of hope though, most of them felt only despair. The morning brought with it the threat that Mavro had left them with. He was coming back, and this time, he had every intention of sweeping across the planet, destroying everyone in his path. As the ships started to come down, darkening the sky and blocking out the sun, the citizens started to crawl out of their hiding places. The ships stopped their decent, hovering above the city as land forces teleported into the street. It seemed as though Mavro wasn't content with just blasting the city into rubble from a safe distance, it looked like he wanted the more visceral feel of destroying them directly.
Redker pushed his way to the front of the army, positioning himself between a couple of Kingsmen. He smiled as he saw the citizens standing before him, lining up opposite the army. A few of them had hastily armed themselves with whatever they could lay their hands on, grabbing pipes, bricks, sporting goods, kitchen supplies...anything. Redker looked to them and let out a small laugh.
"Now, this truly is pathetic!" He taunted them. "Do you really think that you're going to do anything to us with those?"
"If you want this planet, you're going to have to fight for it!" Ernie yelled as he gripped a five-iron tightly in his hands. "If you're going to kill us anyway, then we're not going to lie down and wait for it!"
"You really think you have any hope against me?" Redker asked him in response. "I am Redker, nephew of Emperor Mavro, and the rightful heir to the Empire! Do you know what that means?"
Just then, a few of the robots flew backwards as they were hit with power blasts. They citizens all looked up as the Corsair Rangers marched out of the shadows, onto a balcony high above them, their weapons at the ready. The citizens cheered as they saw them.
"It sounds to me like the Emperor is running out of heirs!" Troy announced. "Maybe he should quit while he's ahead!"
"You...you're still alive?" Redker asked.
"Yes, and as long as that's the case, we'll never stop fighting!" Emma called out. "You're done!"
"Please, look at your position, there are six of you!" Redker announced.
"You might want to count again!" They heard someone say. Troy and the others looked to a side street as the seven Mighty Morphin' Rangers walked out, showing themselves for the first time in almost twenty years.
"Wait...who are they?" Gia asked.
"We don't have the keys anymore...Gosei's ritual!" Noah called out. "It must have turned the keys back into the Ranger powers!"
"That's a good guess." They heard Rocky say as the Zeo team came out of another street.
"It's been a long time." Cassie announced as the Space Rangers showed up. "It's been a long time since we even showed up on Earth."
"Gosei re-powered all the Rangers?" Redker shrieked as more and more teams started to show up.
"Galaxy, Lightspeed, Time Force!" Noah added, rhyming off the teams he could see.
"Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, SPD!" Jake responded. "Mystic Force, Overdrive, Jungle Fury!"
"RPM, Samurai..." Emma added. Just then, there was something that even she didn't understand. "Wait...Megaforce?"
"The Megaforce Rangers are here?" Noah asked. "How does that work?"
"Where did all of them come from?" Redker screamed as he looked around in shock. "Emperor Mavro, help us!"
A few blasts came down from the ships over the city, slamming into the ground, sending up debris. Jason gestured to the citizens.
"I appreciate your will to fight, but the best thing you can do is clear out!" Jason called out to them as he opened fire with his blade blaster. "Leave this to us!"
"Yeah, that's all great in theory." Kira added as she hacked down some Bruisers with her Ptera Grips. "But what exactly are we going to do about those ships? No one has any Zords!"
"It looks like someone's got that covered." Troy added with a smile as a ship dropped out of hyper drive, beginning to fire on the fleet. Gosei's ship flew straight at the fleet, distracting their fire as it headed straight towards The Armada Command Ship. "Alright, let's show these guys what happens when you mess with the Earth!"
"We'll keep the others off your back!" Carter shouted as he tackled some of the X-borgs, tearing through them with the Rescue Bird. "You deal with fish face!"
"With pleasure!" Jake answered as the Corsair Rangers headed towards Redker. The Commander took on a guard, metal claws shooting out of his wrist armour.
"You think I'm a weakling like Vekar?" He roared. "I'll make you wish you were never born!"
Up on Gosei's ship, the Blue Centurion, the Sentinel Knight, Gosei and Jordan were standing on the bridge, steadying themselves as the ship was rocked by the return fire from The Armada.
"So this is your plan?" Jordan asked him. "We fly one ship right into the heart of The Armada?"
"Shields are taking a pounding!" Alpha 6 told them. "The Armada must have been practicing!"
"OK, there's no way we have enough firepower on this thing to take on the whole fleet." Jordan stated.
"You're right, that's why we're going straight to the heart of it." The Blue Centurion told him. "This kind of ship has a technical name. They call it a boarding torpedo."
"A boarding...? Oh you have got to be kidding!" Jordan said as some of the consoles started to explode.
"I'm on it!" Alpha 5 said as he ran to repair the damage.
"You didn't think you brought that armour for nothing did you?" The Blue Centurion stated, preparing his blaster. "Stay the course, and bring us in as close to the bridge as you can."
Jordan powered up into his armour as the ship accelerated, and an armoured ram formed up at the nose of the ship. Jordan and the others braced for impact as the ship tore into the side of the Command Ship, ripping inside it. There was a blast, and the nose cone disappeared, just as the ship's forces all started to flood the corridors, seeking the intruders.
"He'll be up in the bridge!" The Blue Centurion told them as he opened fire. "We need to get there!"
Back on the streets of Harwood, the streets were a war zone as the combined forces of all the Ranger teams kept the Armada busy. The White MMPR Ranger sliced down a Kingsman that was about to attack the Green MMPR Ranger from behind.
"You know, you may be a clone Tom, but the original is still the best." Tommy teased him. Tom swung around, firing a blast from his Dragon Dagger, taking down another couple.
"Just keep telling yourself that Tommy." He replied. "Maybe you'll convince yourself."
"How are the new guys doing?" Cole asked as he smashed through some more troops. Kelsey managed to get a look over.
"That all depends on if you prefer your fish as sushi or well done!" She said with a smile. Redker had managed to cause the team a few headaches, and get some licks in, but emboldened by the presence of all the Rangers that came before them, the Corsair Rangers were not to be denied. He started to power up a huge power blast as the team all faced off against him.
"Alright guys, I feel like having my fish smoked!" Troy stated as he put a key into his blaster. Everyone else followed suit, forming up a firing line as Redker prepared to launch his attack.
"Final STRIKE!" They chorused together, firing off their blasts. It struck Redker's attack, before starting to slowly push through it, driving it backwards. He let out a huge scream as he took the hit, before falling to the ground and exploding. Troy and the others turned back to their battle.
"Mavro should really be more careful with his heirs." Troy declared. "Come on guys, there are still more troops to go!"
As they went back into the fray, finally feeling the scales tipping in their favour, they could only turn their attention to the troops still in the fight, and be glad that Gosei, for all his inscrutable plans, seemed to have come through for them in the end.
Back on The Armada Command Ship, the boarding party were fighting their way through the ship, heading towards the bridge. The Blue Centurion saw a Kingsman activating a security panel, starting to seal down some bulkheads. He ran over to the nearest one as it was about to come down, holding it up with all of his strength, dropping his blaster as he did so.
"This way!" He yelled at them. "The Bridge is this way!"
Some troops opened fire on him, punching through his armour, and tearing pieces off the robot as he struggled to keep the bulkhead open. Jordan, Gosei and the Sentinel Knight all rushed through, moments before his grip failed. The Blue Centurion, fell, his legs crushed under the bulkhead as it sealed them in. Jordan ran to his side.
"Hold on, I'll..."
"Never mind me; your mission's too important!" The Blue Centurion told him. "Hand me my blaster and get going."
"But...but you..."
"I'm done for, but I can take some more of these guys with me before they take me out!" He told Jordan. Jordan just handed him his blaster. "Finish it!"
"You know it." He replied as he got up, returning to the fight. The Blue Centurion saw some more soldiers coming, and took careful aim.
"Come and get me!" He stated as he fired, taking some of them down as they all rushed towards him.
Meanwhile, Mavro was on his bridge, keeping track of the intruders as he kept an eye on what was going on down on the Earth. His plans, his invasion were being unravelled before his very eyes. It had all seemed so simple at the beginning, he was expecting to face humans armed with sticks and stones, but now...there were literally Rangers crawling out of the woodwork. Dozens of Rangers, many more than he had ever imagined it was possible to see had shown up in defence of the world that he had come to loathe. When he destroyed Eltar, leaving the Morphing Grid hanging by a thread, he had been certain that he would never face this level of resistance.
The doors to the bridge flew in, and Gosei, the Sentinel Knight and Jordan all rushed onto the deck. Mavro just snarled in frustration.
"You!" He growled as he saw Gosei. "Why won't you Eltarians just die?"
"It's the end of the road Mavro!" Gosei declared as he confronted The Armada Commander.
"Is this where you offer to let me leave with my life?" Mavro asked him. Gosei shook his head.
"It's gone much too far for that." Gosei told him. "You're far too dangerous to allow to live! This ends now!"
"It looks like I get to end the Eltarian race after all!" He declared. The Sentinel Knight and Gosei rushed towards him, smashing him through the rear wall of the bridge.
Jordan was about to join his father in the battle, but as he was about to, he stopped as he saw the other ships resuming their bombardment of the ground. The Rangers below were returning fire with whatever they had. There were a couple of battlizers, and some cannon, but most of them only had hand weapons. They could take down a few ships, but nothing like what they needed to do.
"Damn it, it's not enough!" Jordan screamed, slamming a hand onto the control console. It was only then that a thought occurred to him. He was standing on the bridge of the most powerful ship in the entire Armada fleet! The Emperor was busy with Gosei and the Sentinel Knight! He sat in the chair, looking around at the controls and realised that he was familiar with the systems. In his studies in the Library, Gosei had programmed in knowledge of a lot of alien technology...it seemed that this was technology Mavro had adopted from one of the worlds he had conquered.
"You had this planned all along didn't you dad?" Jordan asked as he cracked his fingers, taking up the controls. "Now to see if I really did waste all that time playing Star Fox!"
On the ground, those Rangers with battlizers and access to heavy cannon had split off from the main battle to turn their attention to the ships that had renewed their bombardment of the ground.
"I've never run my Battlizer like this before." Conner commented to Leo as they fired again and again into the fleet. "I'm not sure how much more power it has!"
"I guess we just keep firing until we run out then!" He answered. "How are things looking over there Mike?"
"I can finally see the end of them!" The Magna Defender called back, helping Damon to his feet after an attack. "This is no time for a rest Damon! Come on guys, do you want to live forever?"*
"Oh that is just perfect!" Wes stated as he turned his attention to the Command Ship, seeing its weapon's ports opening up. "Guys, we've got serious incoming!"
However, completely unexpectedly, the ship turned its weapons on its own fleet! Ships exploded devastatingly under the abuse.
"They're...they're taking out their own ships!" Noah announced.
"Not them...Jordan!" Jake said with a bright smile. "That dude has some seriously mad Star Fox skills!"
"Keep it up guys, they're almost gone!" Shane yelled. "It's working!"
"That's all of them!" Gia called out. "It's just the ones on the ground left!"
"And the Command Ship." Noah reminded her.
"Leave that to Gosei." Troy answered, cutting down another bruiser with ease. "He's gotten us this far, let's see it to the end!"
As Jordan finished with the rest of the fleet, he left the control console, and followed the path his father had taken with Emperor Mavro, which went straight through the ship, all the way to the engine chamber. He could see his father lying prone on the deck a few floors down, and leapt over the guard rail, landing on the deck. He could see Mavro trading blows with the Sentinel Knight a little way off. He went to Gosei's side, helping him up.
"Dad, the fleet's gone!" Jordan told him. "It's just Mavro left..."
"Then my plan has worked." Gosei answered.
"It's a pretty complicated plan." Jordan told him. "But now I'm here..."
They all looked up in time to see the Sentinel Knight screaming out as Emperor Mavro tore him in half with his bare hands. The golden armoured warrior fell to the ground, and stopped moving. Jordan fired his Robo Blaster at him, but Mavro swept the blasts aside. He strode towards Jordan, bearing down on him.
"This is it dad, we'll take him together!" Jordan stated. Gosei pulled out a device, and clamped it to Jordan's armour.
"Sorry son, but that was never part of the plan." He told him. "You'll understand soon enough."
"What the...DAD!" Jordan called out as he disappeared. Gosei pulled out a weapon, which telescoped out into a halberd.
"So, you really want to do this?" Mavro asked him. "Then I suppose at least we should be able to do this face-to-face. Climate controls, alter the air conditions, nitrogen levels 90 percent."
Gosei pulled off his helmet, at which long, white hair spilled down to his waist. His pale blue flesh was almost glowing as he adopted his guard.
A/N: Well, the ending arc is well underway! There's more to come, but just as a fun little challenge...Mike made a statement marked with a *. See if you can figure out where that came from, and more importantly...figure out the connection and why I had him say it!