The instant the Rangers appeared they summoned their weapons, alert for any immediate threat, but none was apparent. Before the attack Morrigan had been inhabited only by a small colony of miners and their families. It was a rocky, barren world with no native life, little water, and a thin though breathable atmosphere. The planet's only real value lay in its mineral wealth, which greatly aided in the construction of new starships.
The Light Rangers had appeared a few feet from Morrigan's sole settlement, nestled in a small valley. There was no sign of life amongst the silent, pre-fabricated hab units, but extending outward from the edge of the town was a wide, flat path cut into the rock. Further in the distance along this road lay the scattered, ruined shells of Quantrons, several of which seemed to be still sparking!
Without a single word needing to be said the Rangers ran along the path. They stayed together as they advanced, although since the Turbo powers' greatest physical enhancement was to swiftness, the Robot Rangers could have easily outdistanced their fellows and made it to the mine entrance first. In a situation such as this one, in which every second lost could mean another innocent life lost, it was tempting to do exactly that, to get there as quickly as they possibly could.
Bitter experience, however, had taught all of them the importance of not getting separated. The ten of them working together had defeated the Psycho Rangers several times. The occasions when they'd been split up and then had to fight had not ended so well.
Leaping over the Quantrons lying across the path they quickly reached its end, a tunnel entrance leading into the innards of the imposing mountain which loomed above the valley.
Now the Quantron wreckage was mixed with fallen Eltarians, Aquitans and Triforians. None stirred, though Delphine and Ashley in particular searched for even the faintest signs of life. It was a vain effort; the Pyscho Rangers seldom left survivors among the soldiers they faced, and this occasion had been no different.
The mine was lined with bright lights set into each wall at fifteen foot intervals, while the surface of the floor was smooth as an undisturbed pool. They continued to move quickly, but more cautiously now. If Billy was right, and he had seldom been wrong, the Psycho Rangers had lured them here as part of a trap. As Billy had said in the past, however, forewarned was forearmed and they had no intention of being taken by surprise.
The tunnel burrowed two hundred yards into the mountain, the corpses of GLL fighting men and women strewn grotesquely along its length. At the end of the tunnel an open pit led down into darkness, the metal grooves set in the sides showing that this was an elevator shaft down to a lower level. Right before the shaft lay a Marine captain, a laser pistol still clenched tightly in his right hand.
His head was missing.
Built into the left wall at about waist height was a control panel, presumably for the elevator. It had clearly been blasted, but lying right beneath it-
"Wow!" Justin breathed, stepping forward to stare at the control panel and the cut open Quantron prone in front of it.
"Careful, Justin!" T.J. snapped.
"Don't worry, I think I know what happened," the android exclaimed excitedly. "See, one of the defenders shot the controls to keep the Psycho Rangers and Quantrons from using the elevator. So they took this Quantron and they sliced away his entire front section," he indicated the exposed inner workings of the bot's head, chest, and torso-"and then they used parts from him to cross-wire the controls, substitute for the damaged circuits, and call up the elevator!"
"We haven't seen any sign of the miners," Aurico observed. "The actual mineworks must be further down."
"Then we could still be in time!" Ashley speculated hopefully.
"Justin, can you summon the elevator?" Delphine asked.
"Yes!" the Blue Turbo Ranger replied definitively. Reaching into the damaged panel he took the exposed end of a short length of wire spliced onto a longer one, and touched it to the other exposed wire visible. In less than five minutes the elevator ascended into view. It was a vast open box with a lighted ceiling and a floor, but no sides. It was large enough to accommodate dozens of people at once, so the Light Rangers had no problem fitting onto it.
"Is there something else we have to do?" Tideus asked curiously as they all stood waiting. Then without warning the platform abruptly began descending into the stygian depths below.
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The instant he saw the Rangers disappear into the mouth of the mine on the viewing globe Billy activated the comm and called his wife, as much for the comfort of hearing her voice as for relying the request he knew he had to make.
"Cestria, can you, Healer Verok and the other apprentices on-base make your way to the infirmary in our section?" he asked.
He heard his wife ask Verok, and the assent. "Yes, we can," she confirmed. "Do we need us to teleport there? Which of the Aquitan Rangers is injured, and how badly?"
"None of them so far," Billy admitted, "but I'm afraid they all will be, and I need you there and ready to treat them when they arrive."
He wasn't being pessimistic or betraying a lack of faith in his Rangers. In fact, given the situation, all of the Rangers returning injured or damaged was probably the best case scenario.
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When the platform came to a halt the Rangers stepped out into a tunnel much like the one they had just left, with similar lighting. This tunnel, however, branched off in three separate directions, with no indication of which way to go.
Cursing the fact that they hadn't gotten a map of the complex, Aurico turned to T.J. and the other Robot Rangers.
"Can you hear anything?" he asked.
Focusing purely on his auditory sense T.J. nodded. "There are voices down that way," he said, indicating the tunnel on the left. "They sound like Psycho Rangers".
"Then that is the way we must go," Aurico declared.
Only a short way down the tunnel it opened up into a large, irregularly-shaped cavern, most similar to an elongated oval. Here the signs of mining were clear in the rough, rounded walls and the various gaps and trenches in the ceilings from which ore deposits had been extracted. The only thing smooth was the surface of the floor. Six larger hemisphere lamps were embedded equidistantly around the area, providing sufficient illumination to see the five Psycho Rangers.
They were standing in front of one of the four egresses from this chamber, the passage directly opposite the one whereby the Rangers had entered.
"It's about time!" Red Psycho snarled, his electronic voice echoing in the confined space. "Too bad you cowards weren't here soon enough to save all of the marines we slaughtered."
"Cowards? You're the ones who've barely poked your heads above ground in the last two and a half months. In fact, you still haven't!" Tideus taunted.
Even as the Yellow Aquitan Ranger spoke the Light Rangers were slowly moving forward, splitting up into pairs, Corcus and Carlos drifting far to the right, Ashley and Tideus were next, T.J. and Auricon came solidly down the center line, Delpine and Cassie took the left and Justin and Cestro went out on the far left.
"Meeting you underground seemed appropriate, since we're going to bury you here," Blue Psycho chimed in. "Look around, Rangers. This is going to be your catacomb."
"You're the ones in a grave situation right now," Aurico riposted. "Your masters won't be able to pull you away this time, and you don't seem to have any Quantrons left to back you up."
"The remaining Quantrons are further in, hunting the miners," Red Psycho Ranger spat. "We didn't need their help to deal with you. We have everyone we need right here."
"It sure doesn't look like it," T.J. commented.
Even through the electronic masking, there was a smile in the Red Ranger's tone as he replied, "Look again."
From a circular hole in the ceiling near the left wall, one only a few feet in diameter, a dark form dropped down, his legs barely needing to bend to absorb the impact of his landing.
At first Justin and Cestro's hearts leapt as they beheld the staff-bearing figure, thinking that the reports had been wrong, that Trey had somehow survived and escaped the conquest of Triforia. It took only seconds for them to see that this wasn't the Gold Ranger armor they remembered, but the more stylized and ornate armor of a Psycho Ranger.
Then there was no more time to think at all, because the Gold Psycho Ranger used the short-range, semi-solid teleportation ability which had been Trey's most distinctive power. A black blur smashed its way down the entire Ranger line.
For the Aquitan Rangers, the experience was like being struck head-on by a Delorsal whale; for the Robot Rangers it was more akin to being hit by a Mack truck. Either way, though, all of the Light Rangers were down by the time the gold and black figure rematerialized near Corcus, and the Psycho Rangers were charging forward, howling with bloodlust.
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The Black Aquitan Ranger had barely regained his feet when crushing blow to the top of his helmet laid him down again. From the ground he saw Carlos shoot his attacker with the Turbo Thunder Cannon, the point-blank blast sending the Gold Ranger doppelganger reeling back although it did no visible damage. Carlos fired again, but the shot went wild when Green Psycho's horned battle lance smashed into his throat.
Shifting his laser pistol into a dagger, Corcus rose to one knee, only to be sent flying down yet again by a kick directly on the visor of his helmet. An enormous pressure manifested above his windpipe as the Gold Psycho Ranger used the butt of his staff to pin Corcus down by the base of his throat.
He slashed at his attacker's leg with his sword, the hit merely skipping off the Psycho Ranger's armor. He shifted his dagger back to a pistol, and the Gold Ranger used the end of his staff to bat the weapon from his hand before slamming it back to its original position.
A flare of blinding golden brilliance erupted from the end of the staff, not in a sudden flash, but in a steadily brightening glow. Dropping his sword Corcus grabbed the staff to try to shift it even as he became conscious of a terrible feeling of heat.
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Energy balls from Psycho Yellow's Sling struck both Ashley and Tideus as they stood, the impact knocking them back on the ground. Ashley rolled as soon as Psycho Yellow's shadow fell over her and the boot meant to stomp her chest instead cracked the cavern floor.
The Yellow Aquitan Ranger fired his pistol point blank while slashing at her with his sword. Psycho Yellow's attention immediately shifted to him and energy bolts leapt from her hands, sending Tideus smoking and rolling along the cavern floor.
Behind Psycho Yellow Ashley got to her knees and applied both of her Star Charger's at maximum to her opponent's back. The Psycho Ranger jerked and dropped as the electrocution briefly incapacitated her, Ashley rising as Psycho Yellow fell. Then a watery scream erupted from behind Ashley, cutting off almost immediately. Since she had never heard a Psycho Ranger scream before, Ashely instinctively whirled around to see which of her teammates was in trouble and how she could help.
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The razor-sharp edge of the Pscyho Sword was cutting into T.J. and Aurico's breastplates before they could even stand up. T.J.'s initial parry was met with incredible force, the Red Psycho Ranger steadily pushing T.J.'s blade back down toward him.
Aurico rose up and intervened, bringing his own sword down across Red Psycho's wrists and forcing the evil Ranger to disengage his weapon from his two enemies'. With sword and dagger Aurico struck at the leader of the Psycho Rangers, giving T.J. time to collect himself and join the fight.
Keeping Aurico's blades high, Red Psycho unleashed a powerful side kick to the Aquitan's torso. When Aurico doubled over the Red Psycho Ranger brought his sword down in a swing which gouged a thin slit in the Aquitan's helmet.
Now T.J.'s Lighting sword was thrusting into Red Psycho's side, however, putting the evil Ranger off-balance and buying Aurico time to recover, the two Light Rangers working together like the well-oiled machine one of them actually was.
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An explosion of pain swept through Delphine as a blue energy arrow struck her squarely over the heart.
Cassie counter-attacked with her Turbo Wind Fire Bow, shooting from one knee. Then the Pink Psycho Ranger disappeared, using one of her favorite tricks: invisibility. Cassie wished they were outside in the loose dirt instead of fighting on this rocky floor; there was nothing to betray where-
Cassie stumbled back from the impact of the energy arrow, loosing her own arrow in response, but hitting nothing.
Then Delphine was sliding across the floor, wildly waving her sword and dagger to each side of her as she did so. Cassie saw the dagger blade seem to strike solid air, and put an arrow into Psycho Pink, returning her to visibility.
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When he saw the blade of the double-headed axe falling down toward him Justin could only brace for the blow, but it didn't hit him.
Instead the Psycho Axe sheared through the barrel of first his right Turbo Blaster, then his left, destroying both weapons before the prone Blue Turbo Ranger could even pull the triggers.
Hurling the useless pieces he held up at his attacker, Justin summoned his Turbo Blade. Though more than willing to oppose any of the Psycho Rangers, he held a special grudge against the Blue one. It was only the Blue Psycho Ranger who insisted on calling him a second-rate robot replacement, an inferior copy of the original, virtually every time they met. So he wasn't the first Justin; he had all of Justin's thoughts and memories, right up until shortly past Justin's thirteenth birthday. He often wished that they could somehow make it to Earth and find Justin; he was sure that together the two of them could take down this Blue abomination with no problem.
Twisting his waist the Blue Psycho Ranger brought his axe down across the approaching Cestro's chest, immediately went back to attack Justin, but the latter had rolled away and regained his feet. With their foe whipsawed between them both Light Rangers lunged forward as the Blue Pscyho Ranger shouted "Psycho Spin!"
Justin and Cestro were each struck multiple times by the whirling Psycho Axe, flung to the ground with their armor charred and smoking.
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In horror-stricken disbelief Ashely saw the Gold Psycho Ranger's staff, glowing at one end, burn its way through the Black Aquitan Ranger's armor, and then his neck.
Quiet Corcus' telepathic death-scream struck the remaining Aquitan Rangers even harder than the Gold Psycho Ranger had. There was no mistaking the agony, the despair, as their friend perished.
Even as Ashley was struggling to process what she had just seen the Gold Psycho Ranger came up behind Carlos, who was locked in battle with Pscyho Green, and laid his staff across Carlos' neck, pulling back on it with all of his undoubtedly incredible strength.
Though he had no need to breath, Carlos's head was still wrenched backwards and Pscyho Green was able to slam the horned tip of his lance into Carlos' chest again and again, striking the same spot each time.
Ashley stepped forward to help when an energy burst to her back sent her down to her knees. She could hear Tideus shout as he attacked the Yellow Psycho Ranger, but most of her attention was focused on the Green Psycho Ranger driving his lance into Carlos' chest, ripping the head first to the left, then to the right, shredding Carlos' delicate internal circuitry.
Two of her teammates, her family, were gone, and two Psycho Rangers who had killed them were now free to kill the rest. The eight of them remaining could not hope to stand against six Psycho Rangers, and they couldn't teleport out either. All of this went through Ashley's processor in an instant and only one course of action presented itself to her.
Her helmet disappeared in a flash of yellow and Ashley screamed. Her sonic scream blew all three of those before her off their feet, their armor straining to withstand a force powerful enough to cut through solid steel.
Along with the tightly-focused sonic attack waves, Ashley's sonic scream machinery also emitted an enormous level of non-destructive noise outward in every direction. Billy had constructed the implant so that it would send a signal an instant before it was employed, shutting off the other Light Rangers' auditory sense, making their helmets go soundproof.
Blue Psycho had constructed a similar defense for the Psycho Rangers, designed to shut off their ability to hear sound at a certain decibel level. Unfortunately, this would only take effect a second after hearing the noise, while the Light Rangers would be shielded a second before the noise. Thus, in this defined space, with the noise echoing off every wall, the Psycho Rangers were partially deafened and disoriented before their protection kicked in.
Furthermore even the special toughened glass the light hemispheres were constructed out of was not able to withstand this kind of stress. They began shattering, and as they were breaking Ashley turned her head upward, her sonic scream blasting into the rock ceiling and spreading ominous cracks outward from its point of impact toward the other holes in the roof.
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All of the Rangers had a thermal vision option, but here it did surprisingly little good. The Rangers' armor was designed to mask their heat signatures, and of course the chunks of the ceiling which were beginning to fall emitted no heat to make them visible, though their presence was certainly felt. Nor could the Rangers rely on sound to navigate in the darkness, not with Ashley's sonic scream cutting everyone off completely from that sense.
The Light Rangers did hold several advantages over their opposition here, however. The Aquitan telepathy allowed Aurico's frantic mental shout of "Withdraw! Withdraw!" to be communicated to all of the surviving Aquitan Rangers at once, and it was soon passed on to the Robot Rangers via radio. Furthermore, the mouth of the tunnel they had come through was still lit, giving them a clear point to head towards in the midst of the enveloping darkness. Finally, they had not been assaulted by a sudden blast of sound, nor did they have the Red Psycho Ranger distracting them through his radio-conveyed scream of "The machine bitch'll bury us all! KILL HER!"
For all of these reasons, the remaining Light Rangers save Ashley were able to break away from their battles and make for their exit without the Psycho Rangers stopping them.
In fact the Psycho Rangers were concentrating on the single thermal signature which shone brightly in the cavern: Ashley's exposed head. This extended use of her sonic scream was taking a great deal of energy, some of which was being given off as heat. For that reason the Gold Psycho Ranger was able to approach and use his staff to smash her head from her shoulders. Thrusting his staff down into the exposed neck cavity, he then unleashed an eruption of power so great it literally blew the decapitated Robot Ranger apart.
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Aurico and T.J. were the first through the tunnel mouth, not because they wanted to be, but because they were closest and both knew the Light Rangers could not afford to be caught up in a bottleneck at the entrance.
Tideus was next, with Cassie and Delphine right on his heels. Justin and Cestro were last, leaving the cavern only seconds before Ashley met her end. They were sprinting toward the elevator when Cestro's psychic cry froze the Aquitan Rangers. They and the Robot Rangers looked back to see Cestro facedown, the Blue Psycho Ranger plunging his axe into the Aquitan.
Justin charged back, putting all of his vastly enhanced strength into a punch which sent the Blue Psycho Ranger skidding down the corridor on his back.
The tunnel was shaking now from the impact of the falling ceiling pieces, two of which had already struck Psycho Rangers within the cavern. Scooping up Cestro in his arms Justin saw the Gold Psycho Ranger emerge into the light and without hesitation he turned and ran.
He couldn't outrun the Gold Psycho Ranger, though, not with the latter's means of movement. Psycho Gold inexplicably wasted a few seconds kneeling at the fallen Blue Psycho Ranger's side; then he was flashing down the corridor, the blur smashing into Justin from behind.
The instant the Gold Ranger completely rematerialized, however, a waiting T.J. shot him with the full force of the android's built-in plasma blasters. Not even this Psycho Ranger could shrug off a hit of that magnitude. He went down himself, the exterior of his armor blackened beyond its normal shade.
As Justin got up and dashed past him with Cestro, T.J. prepared to hit the Gold Psycho Ranger again, but over his radio comm Aurico shouted "Move, now!"
T.J. ran as well, even as the Red Psycho Ranger joined the risen Blue Psycho Ranger.
A dark, sticky fluid was staining Justin's white gloves as he made the elevator platform. A first he though he had sprung a leak, but then he realized the substance wasn't any kind of internal lubricant; it was Aquitan blood, pouring out of the wound on Cestro's back.
"Cestro," he whispered, his world shrinking to just the two of them.
"Thanks-thanks for coming back for me," Cestro stammered through their comm link.
"Just hold on!" Justin urged, shifting his hands to cover the wound. "Hold on!"
The platform began to ascend then, and unable to reach the button with Cestro in his arms, Justin came close to panicking.
At that instant T.J. and Aurico burst out of the tunnel entrance, sprinting toward the rising platform. In almost perfect unison the two leapt and slid aboard on their chests, and just before the elevator controls on the wall were out of sight Delphine blasted them with her pistol.
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He'd been staring intently at the entrance to the mines since he'd called Cestria, hoping, praying, that at any moment the Rangers would lead a jubilant throng of miners out of that hole in the ground, the war effectively won through the deaths of the Psycho Rangers.
Every minute that didn't happen Billy's fear worsened, his brilliant mind struggling to come up with a single course of actions which could possibly save a GLL which had lost its Rangers.
There! There they were! All . . . seven?
Even as Delphine's frantic call of "Code Red! Code Red!" was coming over the speakers Billy was teleporting them straight to the infirmary.
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