Chapter One
A New War Begins
Years before the Black Cross war broke out, and the Power Rangers emerged as heroes, Dr. Daniel Kuchar worked as a member of Future Science Laboratories, the world's foremost science division founded after the Day of Unification, where the brightest minds in the world worked together for one goal: the betterment of humankind.
Dr. Kuchar put his hands through plastic tubing into a pair of sterile gloves, using them to brush a small hamster's head and feed it a little bit of lettuce. "There you go, little guy," he said. "Ready to run through it again?"
The little hamster's ears perked up and it looked up at him with far more intelligent eyes than the average rodent of its kind. Dr. Kuchar smiled. "Ready? Go!"
Just like that, the hamster took off across its enclosure, racing at three times the speed any hamster should be able to run. It reached a tall, smooth wall, flexed its tiny little haunches, and leaped high into the air, snagging the very top and pulling itself up.
"Good boy," Dr. Kuchar said, working himself around the enclosure to more closely observe the rodent as it quickly made its way through a series of tests designed to challenge its strength, agility, and intelligence. While it was in the middle of a complex puzzle, a door on the far side of the room opened, and Dr. Kuchar's colleague of the past five years entered.
"Your test subject has arrived," the man said, setting a stack of files down onto the desk beside Dr. Kuchar.
"Oh, good."
Dr. Kuchar pulled his eyes away from the hamster and glanced up. Dr. Ivan Callahan was a tall man, towering at nearly 6'7", with thick curly black hair and a short goatee on his chin. His face was stern, with sharp, laser-focused eyes that showed just a hint of the clever, calculating mind that lay behind.
Dr. Callahan leaned in, looking through the glass as the little hamster made a series of jumps across rickety platforms, crossing to the other side with ease. "Seems our nanites are performing well with this test subject," he said.
Dr. Kuchar smiled. "Yes," he said, watching the little guy carefully navigate a series of traps meant to trip it up. "Yes, they are."
Dr. Callahan picked up a canister of what looked like glowing white liquid. "And none of the earlier volatility?"
Dr. Kuchar raised his hands and carefully grabbed the canister from his associate, placing it back on the desk next to his pack of poker cards. "Well, no," he said. "Not at the moment. And not for the last several tests. But we do have the shut-down switch on standby just in case."
Dr. Callahan nodded, pressing his hand against the glass. "It is remarkable, isn't it?" he said. "Just imagine it, an army of cybernetic super soldiers."
Dr. Kuchar looked up at his partner. "Soldiers?" he said. He shook his head in disbelief. "Doctor Callahan, is that all you think this project is for?" He brushed his hand along the canister and looked out at the little hamster doing more than any other of its species could have ever dreamed of in its lifetime. "This project is about more than just soldiers. These nanites can work a fundamental change in the human body on a molecular level. With this technology, we could eradicate disease. The transformed body could heal itself from any injury, any malady, anything. Everyone would be able to perform at their peak physical capacity. They could run faster, jump higher, perform superhuman feats with ease, and never become tired. With enough fine tuning, we may even get to the point where every person can alter their own bodies at their own will. Everyone could be whoever or whatever they want to be with no limitations. It would be absolute freedom. Far more than just mere soldiers."
Dr. Callahan raised his hands. "Alright, alright," he said. "I'm just saying. We're in a strange political time, and if this Unification thing doesn't last, they might be nice to have on our side. That's all."
Doctor Kuchar sniffed. "Yes, I suppose so," he said, shaking his head. The two doctors went back to watching their test subject as the little rodent crossed the finish line in the fastest time it had managed so far. After ringing the bell, it ran straight back to Doctor Kuchar for some food.
"Oh, good boy," Doctor Kuchar said, petting the little creature and getting it out some more lettuce. He took a breath and looked back to his colleague. "I think we've done about all we can do here. It's time to move on to our human testing." He pressed a button on his desk. "Please send in our volunteer."
Less than a minute later, the door to the lab opened, and a young man stepped in. He wore a bright smile, and his wavy dark hair bounced as he walked. At the moment, he was wearing white scrubs for the procedure, but still had a small pride pin attached to his collar.
"Ah, Mr. Santori," Doctor Kuchar said, "Are you ready for the procedure?"
The young man grinned. "Well, Doc," he said, spreading his arms, "I'm still a little skeptical that you can actually improve on perfection, but I'm willing to see you try."
Dr. Callahan grunted with disapproval while Dr. Kuchar smiled. "Well, then," he said, gesturing to a nearby table. "Take a seat and we'll get started."
"Sure thing," Santori said. He hopped up on the table and let a couple of assistants strap him down. "Careful," he said flirtatiously to one of them. "I'm ticklish."
The assistant blushed but continued her work. Everyone else in the room hurried around, making sure all systems were functioning normally and everything was ready to go. "I want someone on the shut-down switch at all times," Doctor Kuchar said, injecting a syringe into the nearby canister and filling it up with nanites. "We don't want anything to go wrong."
He crossed back over to where Santori waited. "Now, this is probably going to hurt quite a bit," he said.
"Can't wait," Santori said, smirking even though his eyes betrayed a little anxiety. He turned his tanned arm so that Doctor Kuchar could more easily reach the inside of his elbow. Doctor Kuchar grasped the arm firmly and injected serum into it.
Withdrawing the needle, he stepped back. Everything was normal for only a few seconds, and then Santori started to convulse, straining against his bonds as veins started popping out all the way up to his shoulder and he let out a scream of agony.
"Shut it down," Doctor Kuchar shouted to the assistant hovering over the shut-down switch. "Something's gone wrong."
"Shut it down," Dr. Callahan repeated.
"No!" Santori shouted, doing his best to contain his screams as the veins started appearing across his face. "Don't shut it down. It's working. I can feel it. I can do this."
Drs. Kuchar and Callahan looked at each other. Dr. Kuchar looked at the assistant, nodded, and held up his hand to wait. The assistant raised their hand off the button. Santori kept struggling, his veins now starting to glow and his forehead beading with sweat. Dr. Kuchar swallowed as he watched, while Dr. Callahan rubbed his right arm, right over the spot where his sleeve covered up his Black Cross tattoo.
Soon, he thought to himself.
Twelve years later, after the war was over, a large truck pulled into an EAGLE base just outside of Turtle Cove, backing up and docking into an open bay. "Well, we're here," the driver said, putting the vehicle in park. "You start helping them unload, Eugene, and I'll talk to the foreman."
"Sure thing, Mr. Farkus," his companion said, opening his door and getting out. Mr. Farkus got out on his side, walking around the truck and greeting a tall man in an EAGLE uniform.
"Commander Stone," he said. "Nice to see you again."
"Nice to see you too, Mr. Farkus," the commander said, accepting the clipboard the driver handed him and signing off on the delivery. "I see you made good time."
"Hey, sir," one of the soldiers called over, helping carry a large crate between four people. "Where do you want these?"
"Just take them into Storage Room D," Stone said. "We'll sort them out from there."
Mr. Farkus took back the clipboard and stretched his back a little. "It is so nice not to have to worry about the war anymore," he said. "Do you know I actually got to spend Christmas with my family last year?" He watched as more and more crates were offloaded. "What are you going to be doing with all this, anyway?"
Commander Stone shrugged. "Mostly just keeping it in storage," he said. "At least until another war breaks out."
Farkus scoffed. "Hopefully not in my lifetime," he said. He stretched again and stashed away the clipboard. "Anyway, I should help them out so we can be done faster."
He followed Eugene and two more soldiers up into the truck to pick up another box. This one proved to be much heavier than expected, and Farkus strained his back trying to pick it up.
"Whoa," Eugene said. "What's in this one?"
"Probably heavy ammunitions or something," one of the soldiers said. "Hey, I think we're going to need two more on this one," he shouted down to the crew.
Together with six people, they managed to heft the thing up and carry it down out onto the bay, following the others down a short hall and into a large storage room, Commander Stone following them in to supervise the proceedings. Finally, they reached a good spot and dropped the box on the ground with a heavy thud.
"Whew," Eugene said, wiping his forehead. "Hope there aren't any more like that."
The group were about to leave the room when they heard a loud bang behind them. Everyone froze, turning and looking back to see that nothing had changed. Then the box they had just brought in jumped an inch off the ground with another loud bang.
"What the heck?" Farkus started to say, but Commander Stone put his arm against him to hold him back. He switched on his comm.
"This is Commander Stone," he said. "I'm going to need backup in Storage Room D. Immediately."
The box jumped again, more violently this time. They heard another bang, then another, and then a giant metal claw like a crab's burst through the top, sending wood flying everywhere.
"Make that armed backup," Commander Stone said. "We have an unidentified bogey in Storage Room D."
The claw burst through again. Another arm appeared, this one with an articulated hand and fingers. "Move in," Commander Stone shouted to his troops. "We can't let it escape." He glanced back at Farkus and Eugene. "You two stay back."
He and his soldiers moved in, drawing their weapons and closing in, just as the wooden box exploded into pieces. Farkus and Eugene heard two quick slices as two heads went flying. "Open fire!" they heard Stone shout, as another two slices cut one soldier in half, while another was stabbed through the chest and tossed against the wall. Gunfire echoed around the room as the intruder appeared from the smoke, every bullet bouncing off its metal body without a scratch.
It was bulky and humanoid, with a crab claw on one arm and a spinning sawblade at its chest, which it used by grabbing another soldier with its articulated hand and pulling them onto the blade.
"What the hell is this?" Commander Stone said, backing up. He switched on his comm again. "Forget the backup. Get the rangers here now!" He switched off the comm and shouted to his troops. "Everyone, fall back." He turned to the two civilian truckers. "You two, run, n—"
He was cut off as the metal creature's claws suddenly burst from his chest, lifting him into the air and ripping his body apart. Farkus and Eugene stared as the creature stomped toward them, its eyes zeroing in on them. The two truckers let out a scream and ran as fast as they could down the hall. They only made it halfway before the creature coiled up its back legs and launched itself after them, landing on Eugene's back and slicing his head off with one smooth stroke. It then tackled Farkus and knocked him to the ground, Farkus only having time to cover his face as the creature's blade stabbed right at him.
The attack on the base lasted for over an hour. The base's remaining personnel opted to maintain their distance, locking down each area the monster was in and firing upon it from the outside. Their efforts proved futile, however, as each area they locked down only stayed that way for a few minutes, the creature slicing its way through the heavy steel doors as it worked its way to the base's central control room, slaughtering every single person unlucky enough to not escape in time.
Finally, the base's survivors barricaded themselves in Central Command. "We have to hold it here," the general said. "We can't let it get whatever it's after."
The creature's claws pierced the door, ripping it open. "RPGs ready," the general said. Two of his men held up grenade launchers as the rest ducked down behind safety barriers. "Ready. Aim. Fire!"
The RPGs were launched the moment the creature ripped open a large enough hole for it to step through. The rockets hit it square in the chest, knocking it square in the chest and exploding. The general and firing officers ducked down to avoid the blast, and looked up to see the hallway beyond the door in flames.
"Yes!" the general shouted.
The creature appeared in the doorway again, stepping through almost completely unharmed. "No, no, no," the general said. "Fire again!"
Too late, the creature lunged forward, slicing through the RPG wielders like paper, then grabbing the general's face and forcing it down onto its sawblade. It was about to move on to the remaining soldiers when a laser blast struck it right in the back.
The creature turned to find a newcomer, clad in red and hovering on rockets attached to his belt, flying into the room behind it. "That's as far as you go, whatever you are," he said.
Behind him, four more newcomers, clad similarly in blue, yellow, pink, and green, appeared.
"So what do you think?" the blue one asked. "A member of the Iron Legion we missed."
"If he is," the pink one said, "then he shouldn't be any tougher to deal with than the Iron Dragon."
The creature turned to fully face the rangers, it's glowing eyes narrowing.
"Go!" the red one ordered.
Pink and Green raced forward first, snagging the metal creature by the arms and lifting it into the air, holding onto it tightly as it struggled to break free.
"Dayton, now," the green one shouted.
The yellow ranger raced up to face the creature. "Let's see if you're any prettier underneath the mask," he said, grasping the head and pulling with all of his might. It was sure on there tight, he thought to himself. He pulled and pulled, and, finally, it came free, taking the whole head with it. He yelped and tossed the head away, only to find wiring sticking out of the socket left behind.
"It's a robot?" the pink one asked.
In their surprise, the robot found its opening to break itself free. It raised its claw and slashed the green ranger across the face, shattering his visor.
"Aah," he shouted, letting go and plummeting to the floor.
"Kenny!" the pink one shouted. Before she could react, the robot brought its claw around and stabbed her in the gut. It didn't manage to go all the way through her suit, but it did enough damage to slightly pierce her stomach underneath and draw blood.
"What the—," Peggy said, before Dayton flew up and grabbed the robot from behind, pulling it away and locking it in a full nelson. The robot struggled and fought, but Dayton held on.
"Sean," Dayton shouted. "Shoot it with an arrow. Now!"
The blue ranger drew his bow and an arrow materialized on the string. The second he fired, the robot grabbed Dayton by the arm, squeezing so hard his suit shattered under its grip.
"Aah!" Dayton shouted, losing his grip. The robot pulled him around itself and threw him into the path of the oncoming arrow, knocking it out of the air and sending the ranger flying into the nearby wall. It then set its sights on Sean, shooting toward him on rockets of its own, slashing right through his bow and aiming for his face.
Inches from the ranger's helmet, the robot found itself bound by the red ranger's whip. "Gotcha," the ranger said, yanking the robot back and slamming it into the ground. The robot sat there, headless, on the floor for just a moment, before getting to its feet. Rather than going after a ranger or soldier, however, it started marching toward the central computer console.
"Hey," Joshua said, pulling back on his whip. "I didn't say you could move."
He was just strong enough to stop the robot in its tracks. It stopped for a moment, started its sawblade spinning, and flexed its arms against the whip. After a moment of strain, the whip shattered, and the robot broke free. It reached the console and started typing something in.
"Stop it!" Joshua shouted to his team. As one, the five rangers raced forward, trying to grab the robot and pull it away from the computer. Every move they tried proved futile against it. Dayton tried to grab it and pull it away with his tremendous strength, but it locked itself to the floor and refused to budge. Sean and Kenny both tried to strike it with their projectiles, but the machine deflected the attacks with its claw. Joshua stabbed it through the chest and Peggy set off explosives around it, and it barely even reacted.
Finally, it found what it was looking for. It pressed a command key and a disc popped out of the console. It grabbed the disc, stashed it away, and then spun in a circle with its claw out, slashing all five rangers across the chest, shattering the armor there and throwing them backwards. Joshua sat up in time to see the machine pick up its severed head off the floor, start up its rockets, and take off into the sky, bursting through the ceiling on its way.
"After it," he shouted, starting up his birdies. "Don't let it get away!"
He chased the robot up through the ceiling and out into the air over Turtle Cove. He chased it for some distance, but failed to catch up as it proved to be surprisingly fast in the air. It zigzagged and weaved around buildings and then, suddenly, it disappeared completely from Joshua's radar.
"What the heck?" Joshua said, slowing down. He tapped at his visor, switching between every form of detection he had. Nothing picked it up. It was gone.
His teammates appeared around him, likewise tapping on their visors.
"Anything?"
One by one, they all shook their heads.
"What was that thing?" Peggy asked.
Joshua shook his head. "I don't know."