The published FF.Net version.
Disclaimer: The author of this piece would like to state that 90% of the characters featured here are properties of BVS Entertainment Inc and not that of the author. 10% of the characters featured here are original creations of the author. Also, the author understands that this piece automatically negates events that occur any and all PR incarnations that occur after Power Rangers Wild Force. Just thought we should be clear on that.
-o-
“What do you mean ‘we have a problem’?” Jason Lee Scott confusedly asked over the phone.
Cole stared at the news report on the television set. The report concerning the destruction of a rogue planet thanks to a space craft was certainly a problem. It’s a little far-fetched, especially since the only true planet-killer ever conceived was destroyed; Cole personally saw to that. Yet here was a newscaster informing us of a rogue planet’s destruction.
“Are you watching the news on Channel 52?” he asked the original Red Ranger.
“Yeah,” responded Jason, although his tone wasn’t serious. In fact, he seemed rather amused and let out a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Cole asked, curious as to the laughter on the other side. Then he realized what the joke was: the “news report” was fake. The “broadcast” was actually a low-budget science-fiction movie. Adding insult to injury, the “news bar” disappeared to reveal the logo of the movie channel that was not visible at first due to the near-transparent state of the symbol. Cole mentally smacked himself for having thought this to be legitimate news and let out a laugh of his own. Cole apologized to Jason over the phone.
“S’okay, rookie,” Jason said in a lighter tone, “if you see any more B-movie special effects threatening Earth, kid, let me know.” He soon hung up the phone and Cole followed suit. Cole soon climbed up the stairs, letting out a giggle once in a while. Now that he thought about it, that spaceship sure looked fake…
-o-
“Another planet blown up,” TJ stated as the Astro Megaship Mark-II approached what appeared to be another asteroid belt, although there were also bubbles floating around.
Andros looked up the star charts in the memory banks. TJ piloted the Megaship, skillfully and carefully maneuvering the vessel so that it doesn’t hit a flying rock or bubble of blob. Zhane controlled the power systems so power was evenly distributed to shields and engine power. Alpha 7 relied on his quick processing power to make minor repairs to systems.
Zhane watched one of the consoles bleep at regular intervals. “Try to take it easy, TJ,” the Silver Ranger advised, “this Megaship isn’t as well equipped as the old one. It can’t handle the maneuvering you’re doing.”
“Fine,” TJ said with a smirk, “when this case is done, we’re building a better Megaship.”
The two Kerovans looked at their Terran friend with quizzical looks on their faces. The light hearted moment ended with a buzzing sound from the tactical station. Zhane rushed to the console and brought up a hex-chart on the tactical screen. The hex-chart is an integrated mapping system that replaced the older radar; the starmap is made up of hexes and a colored hex indicates a ship or other object. The blue hex in the middle of the map is the Megaship. To the upper left of the blue hex was another bogey four hexes in size, blinking at once.
Zhane observed the bigger bogey on the screen. The software could be malfunctioning, as usually a group of fighters would cause each of the red hexes blink at their own pace. Then he figured it out; it wasn’t a group of fighters. It was a giant spaceship.
“Guys,” Zhane concluded, his voice carrying a bit of worry, “I think we found our planet killer.”
-o-
The cage seems familiar. So did the backdrop. A perfect recreation of Rita Repulsa’s dark dimension that was often used as a prison or secret hideaway. Thomas Oliver would usually be impressed with such things, such as the recreation of his eternal rival, Goldar. He would be impressed with the skill this opponent would produce as he launched every single attack in Goldar’s book and the ability to block Thomas’ own attacks.
But when your life is on the line, he thought, you can’t take your mind of things.
After a short round of hand-to-hand combat, Goldar pull out his sword. Thomas, anticipating this action, pulled out his own blade, a finely-crafted double-edged sword. Goldar jumped at Thomas with great speed and rage, but Thomas managed to leap out of the way. Both swords struck each other, with both opponents successfully managing to block the other’s various strikes. It took a mistake from Goldar to give Thomas an opening; a somewhat cumbersome right sword slash that the former Green Ranger managed to sidestep. Before a reaction from Goldar could happen, Thomas leaped above his adversary and left out a quick slash across Goldar’s neck. Thomas landed and turned quickly to see a thin space between the gold warrior’s head and neck. But just as the head flew away, the fallen warrior disappeared and the arena soon converts back to a green cubed-shape room with a light on each corner. Thomas wiped the sweat off his head and checked the nearby monitor with “1:12” blinking on the monitor.
“Quick,” he told to no one in particular, “but too easy.”
Climbing from his control center to a round room made completely of marble, Thomas walked towards an empty display case and placed the sword on its stand. The sword, miraculously, didn’t get damaged at all; the training room was designed to be as realistic as possible, thus adding the threat of property damage, injury, and even death. Not exactly an appetizing session for a regular student, but for Thomas Oliver, it’s as close to the real Ranger deal as he can get these days.
Entering the living room, which resembles the typical household living room, he noticed someone standing in the front door. He managed to put on a clean T-shirt and walked towards the door to open. It was Jason, his longtime friend.
“Did you kill anyone?” the Red Ranger asked, noticing Thomas’ sweaty appearance.
Thomas simply shrugged his shoulders, “Holograms don’t count, bro.”
Jason shook his head in disappointment, letting himself in. Thomas simply rolled his eyes around and let out a sigh.
-o-
Andros, Zhane, and TJ looked at the hex-chart’s four-hex bogey, still perplexed by their single-pulsating behavior. Since its discovery, work on keeping the Megaship in top condition doubled as they attempt to pursue the
“Tell me it’s a glitch,” TJ groaned, “Please tell me it’s a glitch.”
Zhane shook his head. Andros slumped and turned. TJ threw his arms back and went back to the pilot’s seat. “That’s no glitch, guys,” answered Zhane depressedly.
“And neither is that!” Andros cried nervously as he pointed to the main viewer. The bogey was a large spherical object with several spikes placed at various positions. Other than a few faint light sources and certain red points on each spike, the object was completely black. Upon closer magnification, there are various potholes with spewing steams.
“We need to get closer,” said Andros, “If this ship is responsible for the destruction of those two planets, it needs to be stopped.”
The Megaship began to slowly gain speed as it followed the massive ship. Upon reaching range, bright blue laser beams fired from the Megaship’s main cannons. Each beam managed to blast the surface of the planet-killing vessel, but no damage marks were made. The red points on the three nearby spikes began to glow brighter until the spike was visible to the naked eye. The Megaship continued speed towards the surface of the ship, firing more lasers that seemingly did little or no damage.
Realizing that the lasers weren’t making a dent on this ship, TJ switched to proximity torpedoes, a new addition to the Mark-II. Targeting one of the vents, he fired one torpedo, a bright green light that completely contrasts the red glowing points. The torpedo, however, exploded upon impact with steam from one of the vents. The red points dimmed down and each released a red spark directed at the Megaship. Noting this, TJ turned to the Red Space Ranger with concern and anxiety on his face.
“Can the Megaship withstand about a hundred projectiles?” the Red Turbo Ranger asked. The Kerovan looked on as red spots on the viewer grew closer and wider.
“Let’s get out of here,” Andros declared as he took control of the piloting system. The Megaship managed to avoid one or two projectiles, but fell into a storm of projectiles that collided all over the ship. At first, each impact was blocked by a blue energy field that would occasionally appear. After the first forty hits, each impact caused an explosion. Under a storm of red projectiles, the Megaship was covered in explosion after explosion, looking somewhat like a fireball.
Within the Megaship, consoles exploded, sparks flew off fallen cables, and fires started in various panels within the halls of the ship. Zhane was flung back by the tactical console’s sudden explosion, TJ was knocked unconscious by a piece of debris that flew from one of the auxiliary panels, and Alpha 7 was crushed when his regeneration chamber suddenly caved in. Only Andros struggled to maintain his composure so that he would be able to steer the crumbling Megaship away from the massive bogey and its projectiles. The DANGER signal soon flashed on the helm console, indicating that the ship’s hull integrity was almost gone. Andros pulled whatever energy was left to the engines, but problems grew worse when the computer (or what’s left of it) indicated that one of the projectiles had landed a hit on one of the Megaship’s main engine, thus slowing down the ship.
Andros stood helplessly in the middle of the Megaship’s bridge. He stood and watch as the viewer’s last image is that of a red projectile moving closer…
TO BE CONTINUED…
