"Easiest battle I've ever been in!" Fred boasted seconds after the three Psycho Rangers had rematerialized in the Envenomed Blade's wardroom.
The teen was in exuberantly good spirits, and why shouldn't he be? Although he'd understood the strategic necessity of it, the limited strikes from hiding which the resistance had mounted had always frustrated and chafed at him. Now he was taking on his foes directly and fucking wrecking them! That was how you waged war!
Justin demorphed almost immediately, which was odd since he'd told Fred a few days ago that, for safety's sake, Psycho Rangers almost never demorphed outside of their own private quarters.
The Red Psycho Ranger, facing him directly, did not demorph and Fred was admittedly in no hurry to do so either. The amount of sheer power he felt in his morphed form was practically addictive!
"I'll report to Queen Astronema that our mission was accomplished," the Red Psycho Ranger announced, and even underneath the electronic tone Fred thought he could hear a sneer.
The reunion between the sensei and his former student had not gone well. The calm, patient, encouraging martial arts mentor the teenager fondly remembered was no more. Tommy was a barely-contained inferno of angry aggression now, and he treated his old pupil with unmasked disdain and superiority.
For his part Fred found himself deeply resenting Tommy's failure to bring him into the Power Rangers, especially given what Tanya had told him in the aftermath of Ivan Ooze's defeat. Yes, Justin had indeed deserved to be a Ranger, but so had he! Tommy should have recruited him the next chance he had. Instead the dark-haired leader had left him to rot and it was only thanks to Justin that he was now finally enjoying the position and abilities he should have held for years.
"Tell her to send me alone next time; you guys slowed me down," Fred quipped, digging the verbal knife in far deeper than he ever had while kidding that dead bitch Karen.
Tommy spun around, going into a fighting stance, but Fred was already prepared for an assault from the volatile leader.
What he wasn't prepared for at all, however, was an attack from behind.
Something swept against the back of his legs and he hit the deck hard. The next thing he knew Justin's left arm was down across his neck, though with the protection of his neck guard he felt no pressure.
"Red Psycho is our leader. Keep pissing him off and you'll end up in more pieces than most of the Sekarian royal family."
In shocked anger at this unexpected betrayal Fred seized Justin's wrist, prepared to break the hold across his neck and probably several bones as well. Justin was a total idiot to attack while unmorphed! As the Gold Psycho Ranger could rip the other boy's entire arm off with almost no effort!
Except Justin had to know that, Fred realized abruptly, and in truth the other boy was the exact opposite of an idiot; he was a genius! So why would he do something so stupid?
His hand still clenched tightly around Justin's wrist, he looked up into his teammate's impassive face, trying to understand . . . and he caught a wink.
"Remember the lesson our Blue Ranger is teaching you, Fred," Tommy sneered down from above him. "It could save your life."
The leader kicked hard at the groin of the prone Ranger before turning on his heel and storming out of the room. Fortunately Fred's armor protected him from almost all of the force of the impact.
Justin released his hold the instant Tommy left the room and stood, bravely offering a hand to Fred. Resisting the temptation to pull Justin down full force onto the steel deck, the Gold Psycho Ranger rose up like a gathering storm and glared at his friend.
"Let's go to my quarters," Justin suggested. Fred followed behind, grinning slightly at the way Justin rubbed at the wrist he'd seized. The sight brought back fond memories of his last day with Cassie.
The two did not speak again until the light gray of the corridor gave way to the varying blue hues of Justin's private chambers. The Envenomed Blade cruiser was the usual transport for the Psycho Rangers, and hence each member had his own room, decorated to his or her tastes. Well, except for Fred, but that would change very soon.
And because the Envenomed Blade was the Psycho Ranger transport of choice, no one had blinked an eye when Justin had ordered that the new Quantrons transported with him from Earth should replace the ones previously crewing the ship. The Psycho Rangers deserved the best and newest of everything, after all.
"I'll give you a chance to morph now, so I don't splatter you across that bulkhead when I hit you," the Gold Psycho Ranger generously offered, pointing to the far wall of Justin's room as he spoke.
"Will you at least listen to my reasons first?"
Leaning back against the wall, his staff pointing menacingly at Justin's face, Fred warned him, "This better be great."
"Tommy was about to attack you. What I did stopped him in his tracks and made him think that I was on his side."
"You were on his side!" Fred growled. "You should have let him attack me! I could have taken him!"
"I know you could have, Fred, but you don't want to, at least not yet."
"Why the hell not?" the Gold Psycho Ranger demanded in open exasperation.
"Sekarias didn't have to be dealt with now. This mission was a test for you, one set by Tommy. If you'd killed him immediately afterward Dark Specter would probably think that either you'd failed it or that you were too dangerously unstable even to be a Psycho Ranger. He'd have taken your powers away, Fred," Justin concluded gently.
"If you beat Tommy and didn't kill him, though, he'd rally the other Psycho Rangers against you. Even you'd have a hell of a tough time facing all of them at once, and we can't afford to be divided against each other, not when we still have the Light Rangers to annihilate!"
Fred stood silently for a moment, studying the brown-haired adolescent through his helmet's visor, considering what he'd been told.
"So you're saying what? That I've gotta bow and scrape to Tommy forever even though I'm stronger than he is now?"
"Not forever, just for a little while. Tommy's reign as leader is coming to an end."
Seeing his friend stiffen in surprise Justin went on quickly. "He's not going to forgive you for being more powerful than him, Fred. He'll make sure that you always know your "place"; under him. With how much you love showing off I don't think you'll be able to put up with that for long. Am I wrong?"
"No, you're right," the other teen admitted, his posture losing its adversarial bent. "I can't help it, Justin. After going from cowering under that illusionary dome for so long to this . . ."
"I understand," the Blue Psycho Ranger sympathized, and he truly did; he'd been the exact same way when he'd gotten super-strength from that mutant ant-bite all those years ago.
"Tommy isn't a worthy leader anymore anyway, not with the way his neural net works. You and I are the only sane ones, the only people fit to lead this team. It's up to us to get rid of the current Red Psycho Ranger."
There it was, out in the open. Left unsaid was the fact that Justin intended to take Tommy's position himself rather than let Fred assume the mantle of leadership. There was no need for his friend to know of that yet; when the time came the Gold Psycho Ranger would have no choice but to accept Dark Specter's decision.
"You mean kill him?!"
"Yes. The two of you can't co-exist, and I pick you, Fred."
"Thanks, Justin," he said quietly. He demorphed, resuming his normal form and banishing his staff to the pocket of extra-dimensional space it occupied when he didn't immediately need it. "What's the plan?"
"For now let's look an opportunity to kill him during a fight in a way that can't be linked to us. If nothing comes up soon we'll explore other options. Sound good?"
"Yeah," Fred agreed, stepping forward and abruptly snap-kicking the other teen in the torso. The Psycho Ranger doubled over and Fred lashed out with his right fist, sending the genius adolescent crumpling to the deck.
When he had finally caught his breath Justin glared murderously up at his teammate.
"Come on, I told you before that no one does something like that to the Gold Psycho Ranger and gets away with it," Fred chided with a teasing grin.
In a virtual mirror image of what Justin had done mere moments before, Fred graciously extended a hand downward to the teammate he had felled. The Blue Psycho Ranger took it, and was surprised at the ease with which the other boy hauled him to his feet. When they'd met Fred had been fit and lean, but now the biceps on his bared arms were considerably larger than Justin remembered from their sparring match on the mountain. Were the beneficial physical side-effects of being a Psycho Ranger manifesting for him this quickly?
Disgruntled though he was at being caught off-guard, Justin was mostly relieved that he hadn't suffered far worse injury. He never would have dared do to an ordinary, frothing-at-the-mouth Psycho Ranger what he had done to Fred. Even with Fred, rational, clear-minded, and programmed to think of Justin as a friend, there had been a risk. He could have acted on his anger, but the seventeen year-old hadn't let Justin down. He had figured out that there was more going than there appeared to be and had actually let Justin explain before taking vengeance. He was even going to help Justin destroy the Red Psycho Ranger! Between Justin's brains and Fred's brawn, Tommy didn't stand a chance!
It gave the brown-haired teen a warm feeling inside to once again be working toward the same goal with a genuine teammate, an ally he could like and trust. How had he ever managed to go for so long without having a friend like Fred?
The answer undoubtedly lay in the structure of his previous neural net. With extreme bloodlust and aggression as your dominant emotions you didn't generally feel the need for companionship, friendship, or indeed an entire host of other things. It made for a satisfying existence in its way, but such a narrow one! This was better; it was much better.
ΩΩΩΩΩ
Opening his eyes Billy glanced over at the chronometer sitting on the small bedside table. Wha . . . he'd overslept! His left hand scrambled at the device, checking the alarm setting. It was set correctly, but the alarm switch had been flipped to off, and he had a pretty good idea of who had done it.
After a quick shower, tooth-brushing, shaving and all of his other morning routines Billy got dressed and headed for the kitchen, from which the scent of fried tagor eel was already drifting throughout the apartment. His favorite breakfast (living on Aquitar had required him to adjust his palate considerably). To Billy this was as good as an admission of guilt
Turning from the stove as he entered the room, the woman he loved shot him a brilliant smile, and for a moment the young adult forgot all about being annoyed.
"Good morning, my love. Did you sleep well?"
"I slept too long," Billy replied meaningfully, taking his place at the table. "Someone switched off my alarm."
"But did you sleep well?" the dark-haired beauty persisted, skillfully using a spatula to flip an eel from the skillet to the plate in her left hand and then repeating the trick. "Did you fall asleep quickly last night, without trial or difficulty?"
There was only one answer he could make to that question, and to avoid having to give it the glasses-wearing, light-haired man looked down at the plate she put in front of him, and the glass of water she set next to it. Aside from a brief grace the only sound in the kitchen for some minutes was the scraping of utensils and the eating of eel. When Billy had finished he looked up to find his spouse sitting in her place across from him, her head cocked in that curious way Aquitans were so prone to do and her eyes upon him as she patiently awaited his answer.
"No, I didn't," he admitted at last.
"Then you needed more rest, did you not?"
"I needed to get up at the proper time to continue my research," Billy protested.
"Then why do you not have Cestro awaken at the same hour as you? Is he not helpful, not an asset to you?"
"Of course he is!"
"Then why do you allow him to sleep later?"
How on Aquitar had this gotten turned around on him?
"Because . . ." Billy began and stopped.
"Because he needs rest to do his best work, and so do you," Cestria admonished.
Checkmate, Billy conceded with an inward sigh.
"Don't you get tired of taking care of me?" he asked wryly.
Standing up she walked around the table, leaned down, and gave him a quick kiss.
"While I was a Ranger I protected this entire planet and eventually I did grow weary of that duty and responsibility. Now I protect you, even from yourself, and that I will never tire of, my husband."
ΩΩΩΩΩ
The Command Chamber, the living quarters, Billy's lab, the medical wing, and the recreational area for the Light Rangers were all within the same small section of Inqertus, Aquitar's largest on-planet military base. Centuries of practice and tradition dictated that Aquitar's Rangers were not subordinate to the planet's military, but they did cooperate closely with it and with the rest of the League's forces. He met regularly with the GLL's highest-ranking officers and the smooth coordination this had produced had proven essential in prosecuting the war.
Perhaps, if Earth had had a similar relationship with its Rangers . . . Billy shook the useless thought away as he entered the communal living area, which was about twice the dimensions of the Angel Grove High gymnasium, but far less empty. It boasted a viewing screen, sparring mats, exercise machines, bookshelves filled with discs for mobile readers, a dartboard, a dining table, chairs, and couches
Centrally placed was a deep pool of water and Delphine, the White Aquitar Ranger and his wife's best friend, was at that moment standing on its surface, absorbing the pure elemental water energy which the Aquitar Rangers required to survive.
Over on the sparring mat Aurico, the Red Aquitar Ranger, was fighting energetically with Corcus, the Black Aquitar Ranger. Observing the match was T.J., the Red Turbo Ranger, and Billy guessed the bald African-American android was slated to face the winner.
Curled up on the couch in front of the viewing screen were Ashley and Carlos, watching some Aquitan drama. Since their reactivation Ashley had frequently been in the company of Carlos, a claim no other member of the team could make. It was as though she believed that by spending enough time with him she could somehow force him to remember himself and bring back the Carlos she had known. The logical impossibility of this proposition didn't seem to discourage her efforts in the slightest.
Recently Justin had succeeded in perfecting his psyche-copying machine for the Robot Rangers, but the breakthrough had come far too late for Carlos. Worse, thanks to the infiltration attack three months ago by the Matter Master, there were no longer any spare bodies available for a saved consciousness to be uploaded to. Billy had been sparing as much time as he could to spend constructing new bodies, though the work was slow going. The Robot Rangers were likely the most complex androids in the galaxy, especially given the innovations Billy had installed, and replicating their forms was neither quick nor simple.
Further complicating the effort was the difficulty of obtaining several of the rarer necessary parts in a galaxy riven by war. Thus none of the reserve bodies in his lab were more than three-fourths completed at most, though that could change if the chance arose to scavenge parts from a destroyed Robot Ranger. That doing so would make Billy feel like a ghoul would be secondary to the vital importance of restoring the Robot Ranger in question.
There was no sign of Tideus, the Yellow Aquitar Ranger, or Cassie, and Justin and Cestro were undoubtedly hard at work in the Command Chamber. They were working, while he had slept in. With a twinge of guilt Billy turned around and headed toward the Command Chamber. There was nothing he'd needed in the communal room except to see the Light Rangers, or most of them at any rate.
Justin and Cestro were indeed in their seats before the Command Chamber's central computer, Billy saw as he entered the room. He'd been driving them hard since Triforia fell and along with it their most powerful member. Maybe it was time they were allowed to relax too.
"Okay, guys, it's break time," Billy announced as they both swiveled in their chairs to face him. "Today's your day off."
Cestro inclined his head far to one side and questioning, "Why do we have today off?"
"Because I've had you working in here for weeks, researching historical records, studying new technological advances, and brainstorming with me on ways to defeat the Psycho Rangers. It's time you were free to have fun for at least a day."
"Billy, we know the need before us. We wish to help," Cestro announced.
"Yeah!" Justin agreed earnestly. "And researching with you IS fun! We're Blue Rangers; this is what we do! Oh, and last night after you went to bed I thought of a way we could install a pulse laser in Carlos' left arm! Here, let me show you the schematics," Justin offered, hitting a few keys to bring up a diagram on his screen.
"You're both sure?" he asked, only to receive two firm nods. "Okay, let's see what you've got," he said to Justin, stepping up to look at his screen.
ΩΩΩΩΩ
The alert, when it came late that afternoon, was as jarring as ever. Practically leaping out of his seat Billy dashed to the viewing globe.
"This is Captain Herlin," an Eltarian said, "of the Morrigan task force. A dozen UAE vessel have attacked and have taken down the shield. They've just landed a force of Quantrons and the Psycho Rangers on the planet's surface!"
Morrigan was a major source of raw materials for GLL spacecraft construction. Unfortunately the mineral-rich world was located in a narrow area of League space jutting out into UAE territory. Prior to the fall of Triforia it had been considered only a matter of time before the planet would have to be abandoned. With the serious losses the UAE fleets had incurred in the attack on Trey's home, however, holding Morrigan had become a much more militarily viable option. At one of their weekly military meetings Admiral Telan had speculated that with the current state of the UAE's naval force, they would be unwilling to commit the number of ships needed to attack Morrigan.
Without enough ships to battle through the protective task force an attack on the planet was not possible, since naturally Morrigan was shielded. The dawn of this war had seen the installation of planetary shields on a widespread basis for the first time in galactic history. Given the tremendous energy requirements involved, not even a moon-sized forcefield could withstand much orbital bombardment, but then such was not the purpose of these shields. Instead they were meant to guard against enemy teleportation, completely blocking the beams. Thus being able to achieve sufficient navel superiority to bring down a planetary shield was an essential and unavoidable first step in any effort to take an enemy-held world.
"But the miners are safely aboard your ships, aren't they?" Billy asked urgently. That had been the contingency plan outlined by Admiral Telan, if Morrigan was assaulted and its shield breached.
"We rescued the dependents and off-duty miners, but we were unable to get a lock on anyone from the shift currently in the mines. Over three hundred people are still down in those tunnels! A small number of Marines volunteered to teleport down and defend the mine entrance, but against the Psycho Rangers . . ."
The officer's voice trailed off, but he didn't have to say the rest. He and Billy both knew the truth, and so had the Marines when they had made the choice to go down to the planet.
The rest of the Rangers came running into the chamber as Billy asked, "What about reinforcements from other planets?" This was also something he knew the answer to, but he had to ask.
"Per order of the League Council, Admiral Telan is unable to dispatch any additional ships or troops to a Class C or below world unless he can be certain that the attack is not a feint meant to lower our defenses for a strike against a more populated planet," Captain Herlin admitted.
Inwardly Billy cursed. The scourging of Triforia had resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, and the escaping refugees had spread stories of the horrors they'd witnessed to every world of the League. So, too, had tales of suffering come from the peoples of the six worlds recently liberated from UAE control. The end result had been to terrify much of the populace of the GLL, and the Council had responded by confining the military to a more defensive role than seemed wise. Instead of making the most out of the impressive fleet superiority they now possessed, the GLL's ships were, for political reasons, largely confined to an overly cautious garrison duty.
"I'll inform the Rangers, Captain, and get back to you momentarily."
Billy deactivated the viewing globe, erasing the image of the surprised officer, and in a few terse sentences related the situation to his team, which was already morphed and ready. Then he added his own thoughts.
"This is a trap," he asserted with unusual bluntness.
"Did our agent tell you this?" Cestro asked curiously.
"He didn't have to. The Psycho Rangers themselves, attacking a world with almost no ground forces in place to resist them, at a location you can't teleport into or out of? It has to be a trap."
"And we will beat it like we always do," Tideus boasted, and Billy didn't have to see beneath the helmet to know there was a smirk on the Yellow Ranger's face.
"It isn't just us who'll be trapped," T.J. pointed out. "They will be too. This could be our chance to finally finish them!"
"You don't have Trey to aid you anymore," Billy reminded them, swallowing down the lump that rose in his throat at the words. He hesitated for a few seconds before finally saying, "You don't have to go."
These words seemed to startle the Rangers.
"Billy, we cannot abandon hundreds of people to death without at least trying to save them," Delphine said gently. "It is our task to defend the innocent."
The White Rangers' words touched his heart, but Billy's logical mind was still screaming that sending the Rangers to Morrigan would be a terrible mistake. There was no telling what the Psycho Rangers had planned, and facing whatever it was in a place where easy retreat was impossible was far too great a risk.
What other choice was there, though? Delphine was right; every one of the Light Rangers would rather take the risk of going in than stay back and allow hundreds to die in their place. That mindset and morality was why each of them had been chosen to be a Ranger in the first place. Even if he could somehow persuade them to stay here, there was no time for him to do so; the miners were in danger right now!
"Like when they sicced the Pyro-Hydra on us, this'll backfire on them," Aurico cracked and the tension broke as a collective groan arose from nearly the entire team at his horrible pun.
The Red Aquitian Ranger frequently reminded Billy of his favorite comic-book hero, Spider-Man. Like Peter Parker, Aurico had a definite fondness for lame humor and awful puns in battle. Also like the webspinner, he was very good at what he did, fighting with a skill and insight which belied his seemingly light-hearted manner. That was why Delpine had made him the field leader of the team before Billy had ever come to Aquitar. Even his fellow Red Ranger T.J. had come to accept deferring to Aurico in the heat of combat.
"Don't worry, Billy, we'll beat them," Justin reassured him, and as always it slightly threw Billy to see that his Robot Ranger friend was taller than he was while in a morphed state.
"I know you will," Billy responded, smiling with an effort. He switched the viewing globe back on and asked, "Captain, please give a set of coordinates near the mine entrance for the Rangers."
The Aquitan shield would drop automatically with a teleportation beam sent from this console and in less than a minute he had all the codes ready for the roundabout, hop-scotch pattern he intended to employ to get the Light Rangers to Morrigan.
"Teleporting now," Billy said, and his Rangers transformed into columns of differently colored light before shooting up into the heavens.
"And may the Power protect you," he whispered in a fervently heartfelt plea.
ΩΩΩΩΩ