The FF.Net Published Version, which diverges from the 1st Draft considerably.
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.
Note from Author: Sorry to take this long, here is the second to last chapter of the story.
-o-
The four Red Rangers grouped together and faced their stunned adversary, who pulled out a remote device. Carter recognized it as the launch control for the suicide bomb. The Rangers stopped and watched in shock as the Varox positioned his thumb on the red button of the device.
“I see you know what I hold in my hand,” the hunter said in a sinister tone, with a smug look behind his mask. “You acknowledge the destructive power that I possess.” The Rangers did not move a muscle. The Varox pushed the button and…
… and nothing. The Varox pushed the button on the controller again and still nothing. Behind their masks, the Red Rangers let out a collective sigh of relief, as they watched the Varox bounty hunter frantically pushing the button numerous times for something… anything to happen. But nothing did. The Varox let out a rageful scream, leaving him open to the flurry of energy blasts shot from the Rangers’ respective blasters. This move stunned the Varox and knocked him down, with one of the beams dissipating the controller as well.
The veteran approached the fallen Varox slowly. “Looks like your plan didn’t work out as expected,” he called out triumphantly. “Surrender now while you have the chance.”
“NEVER!” the hunter screamed. Jason soon felt a forceful blow of a Varox side kick that caused great pain to his right arm. Carter jumped in with his lance weapon, but the Varox took down the Lightspeed Red Ranger with a green projectile. This left Wes and Eric to fight the Varox on an even playing field.
-o-
The laser port of the Wraith – the one weapon that is used to destroy a weakened planet – makes the Megaship seem pea-sized, but that would not deter Andros from his plan. In the bridge, tension mounted as the Space Rangers waited for their friend to give the order to fire a weapon salvaged from a previous joint mission. He checked on the other ships; drawing the other weapons’ fire while desperately trying to damage the Wraith by any means possible. An estimated count of a hundred super-nukes were deployed and impacted, but not much significant damage had been done. But even if the Wraith is not destroyed, its laser must be taken out before it destroys another world.
“Fire the weapon.”
The Wraith fired its own laser that is relatively half the size of the blast port just as the Megaship fired the Serpenterra Laser. The two lasers clashed with each other, neither one giving ground to the other. However, the Megaship has a limited power source for its laser, Andros surmised, while the Wraith can apparently keep up with its own, so it’s a game who can outlast the other…
Meanwhile, Aradon’s flagship witnessed the destruction of another Gladius vessel caused by enemy projectile fire. The king sat helpless as the little invasion fleet was suddenly taken down by the awesome power of the Weapon. He noticed on one of the viewers that the Megaship was struggling to keep the Wraith’s laser from destroying another world by firing its own laser, but Aradon knew that the Rangers could not keep up for long.
“Report on the battle!” Aradon ordered. He was not expecting any gratifying news.
“All seven GSA vessels have been destroyed,” the Cog lieutenant reported with a grim, robotic tone, “our sister ship is also on the verge of destruction. We have managed to cause twenty-five percent of damage to the enemy, but not enough to stop it entirely.”
The other Machine vessel was clearly catching flames. It managed to fire several of its polaron torpedoes which managed to take out a small chunk of the Wraith’s surface, but the small chunk managed to collide with one of the ship’s wings, causing it to spiral out of control until crashing onto a spike, blowing that up. Aradon watched the destruction of his second vessel with depression and hopelessness. He didn’t know what to do. His battlecruiser was now the sole remaining bit of Machine Empire left in the universe. In his mind, he was contemplating on the next move; should he stay and assist the Rangers in the fight against the Wraith, risking his empire for a cause? Or should he retreat and rebuild his empire? When Aradon stood, he realized that there was only one answer to his dilemma.
“Navigator,” he said in a somewhat sad tone, “approach the Megaship.”
-o-
Eric and Wes took turns in attacking the Varox with various kicks and uppercuts, all of which the Varox blocked or dodged. Whenever one Ranger got knocked down, the other would come in and continue his barrage of attacks. Carter and Chad leapt into action and landed flying kicks on the back of the Varox hunter. The two Lightspeeders crossed their V-Lances together and fired an energy discharge that electrocuted the Varox. Carter rushed towards the Varox to attempt the finishing blow, but the Varox managed to snap out of his delirium and pull out a hand blaster. By the time Carter noticed the weapon, it was too late. He soon felt the immense pain caused by a blaster shot to the chest. The Varox charged at the fallen Ranger and gave a quick, fiercesome kick to the groin. Carter now cried in pain and agony, holding his sensitives as the Varox stared down.
“You’re pathetic.” he taunted unceremoniously. “I fought Putty Patrollers that were more tough than you are. You’re a joke.”
As Carter moaned in pain, the Varox pulled out his sword and turned 180 degrees with the sword extended, seeing sparks fly followed by an audible “argh”. He looked down at the fallen Q-Ranger and noticed the blood flowing from his suit. Behind his mask, the Varox grinned. He could smell the blood of his enemy… and saw victory within his grasp.
“YOU!”
The Varox tilted his head back and forth, looking for the one who called out. He saw nobody but the fallen Rangers. “OVER HERE!” the voice called again. No one around, the hunter thought. Now annoyed, the Varox fired shots everywhere, hitting nothing in particular.
“SHOW YOURSELF, COWARD!” the hunter roared. He soon heard a sound and turned to see another Red Ranger. This one in particular, the Varox hunter did recognized. He raised his arms and positioned them in a boxing stance. The hunter grinned, although the other Ranger could not notice it. “So,” the Varox spoke, “you are still alive.”
Still alive? Thomas thought. What does he mean?
“When last we fought,” the hunter continued in a quiet tone, “you and your fellow Rangers defeated me… thwarted my attempt in assassinating the Triforian prince.”
Thomas did not answer, either because he did not want to or because he could not answer. Instead, he slowly walked towards the hunter in a steady pace as he continued to taunt him… remind him of a past encounter. He blocked the words from his mind and focus on his gestures. Noticing that the Varox was about to pull out a weapon, Thomas pulled out his own Zeo Blaster and fired a couple of rounds at the Varox, who effortlessly blocked the oncoming projectiles. The hunter leaped towards the Ranger. Perfect, thought Thomas, just as I had hoped for.
Red Zeo waited until the Varox was just above, at which point he leaped straight up and landed an uppercut across the hunter’s face. Both managed to land on their feet, with the Varox slightly stunned and almost losing his footing. He fired three more projectiles at Red Zeo, but Thomas managed to side step each one. He ran and switched to a sliding movement which swept the Varox off his feet and on his rear end. Thomas spiraled away from the hunter, firing occasional bursts from his blaster, which the Varox once again blocked expertly.
“Your weapon is no match for me!” the Varox taunted. “I am better than before!”
The momentary distraction gave Eric Meyers the opening he needed. Pulling out his Quantum Defender, he fired a charged bolt of energy at the Varox’s back. Sparks and slight bits of metal burst from the Varox as he screamed in pain. He turned to see the culprit, who fired another burst at him. The Varox blocked the shot, but his wrist pads were damaged in doing so and slipped off. The Varox’s taunting words were replaced with cries of agony and pain. Soon agony turned to anger as the hunter fired a wave of bolts, damaging the Quantum Ranger’s armor and stunning him momentarily. The Varox turned and saw Chad Lee run towards him, but soon the Ranger was kicked away by the Varox.
Suddenly, the Varox felt a slight shock. He didn’t feel much pain, but he lost most sensation of his limbs. When he lowered his head, he noticed there was a sharp pointy piece of metal impaled through his chest. The Varox turned to see the Red Zeo Ranger holding the sword.
-o-
TJ was desperately trying to balance the power feed between the batteries and the Serpenterra Laser, but the laser was simply taking too much out of the ship. The laser clash between the Wraith and the Megaship had lasted over two minutes with virtually no give. After boosting extra power from the auxiliary ports, the console exploded, sending TJ flying across the bridge. Zhane ran to check on the Terran.
“I’m okay.” TJ yelled, trying to be heard over the loud noise caused by the laser, “but I can’t control the power from here!” He turned to Andros. “We need to get out of here!”
Andros observed the viewer. The Serpenterra laser was indeed dying out and the Wraith’s more powerful laser is beating them. Zhane observed the power regulators screens, where they showed various indicators in red. “The batteries are overloaded!” he called out, “If we don’t shut the laser down, the ship is going to blow up!”
TJ shook his head. “And if we shut the laser down, the ship is gone anyway!” He tilted his head towards the viewer. TJ’s panicked look was quickly replaced with that of shock and angst. He anxiously pointed his finger to the viewer. “What the hell is that?!”
The Rangers turned towards the viewer and noticed Aradon’s battlecruiser, slowly but surely approaching the Wraith’s laser. The battlecruiser was attracting the fire of the Wraith’s various turrets… or rather, the ones that are still functioning.
On the bridge of the cruiser, Aradon stared at the lightshow caused by the two colliding lasers. He stared at the small speck that is the Astro Megaship, desperately struggling to keep its ground but is nearing defeat. Aradon held his hands together with his elbows placed on his chair’s arm supports. He stared for a full minute and motioned towards the Cog navigator, who nodded slowly and programmed the ship for a collision course.
The battlecruiser started its approach to the Wraith’s main laser. Various projectiles were fired in order to keep the ship away, but it kept on going despite direct hits to weapons and other vital components. The cruiser positioned itself to fly against the force of the Wraith’s laser. It was now close enough to the main port, but not necessarily touching it or making any attempt to crash into it.
“What is Aradon doing?!” Andros cried as he saw the battlecruiser park itself above the laser.
Debris and sparks flying about the bridge, Aradon stared down at a red button sticking out of the palm of his right hand. He stared at it. He contemplated and looked back at the history of the Machine Empire. Its corrupted rulers and its lost wars brought about a black cloud to a society that the creators hoped would be the pride of the universe. Aradon looked one last time at the deadly beam firing towards the little ship. It cannot keep up with the attack much longer.
“All I wanted to do was atone for the sins of the Empire,” he said quietly and to no one in particular, a slight touch of sadness in his voice, “I wanted to save this Empire from its dark period. In the end, I will be responsible for its end.” He paused for a moment and let out a small smile and closed his fist. “In the end, the Empire deserved to die.” Aradon declared, three seconds before the bridge exploded.
-o-
With one final strike, Red Zeo stabbed the Varox with his sword through the back, deep enough that the blade bursts out from the chest. He pulled the blade from the defeated adversary who did nothing but laugh despite his predicament. His laughter lasted until his body crashed onto the dirt. The threat was far from over. Thomas saw the body glowing a faint blue, realizing that he may have inadvertently activated his nuclear device.
Chad sees the buildup of energy caused by the Varox corpse, just like before. Chad knew what would come next and he knows that this blast was something he would not survive. Thomas stands there staring at the glowing corpse. In a quick reaction as the Varox showed signs of exploding, Thomas thrust his arms in a cross position and cried out a phrase that couldn’t be made out. What followed was a bright light and what would follow, just as it did the first time around… didn’t happen. Within an aura of light, a silhouette of black is seen, sucking in the light. The light continue to suck into the silhouette as it grows red bit by bit.
Thomas screamed in agony, his body unable to bear the overwhelming pain despite its morphed state. Through his eyes, he saw nothing but blazing white light and slight streaks of red. He heard loud screeching that caused his ears to bleed. He started to cry, but instead of clear tears, they were blood red. His vision was soon blurry and nothing but red was the only thing he could see.
However, Thomas no longer saw a plain red crimson mist surround him. Instead, his mind was bombarded with images; some familiar, some not. It was hard for him to tell. He heard almost an infinite number of voices that he could hardly make out. The pain he was feeling made it very difficult to concentrate on what all this meant. His thoughts were sporadic. The one constant in his mind seemed to be that he believed he was going to die. With a great deal of effort, he managed to mutter a single word before the pain overwhelmed him.
Goodbye.
-o-
The other saw the enormous amount of light and flames being sucked into the glowing Zeo Ranger and promptly covered their eyes with their arms. A shockwave sent them to the ground and they wouldn’t stare at the warrior. Thomas’ body began to flicker between the Ranger suit and his civilian form. When he gathered most of the energy his body could take, he extended his arms upward and released another stream of white light, this one more intense than before. After a while, Thomas lost consciousness, but not before hearing a loud bang.
After a moment, Jason weakly brought himself back on one knee, slowly before he gets up on both feet. He observes the surrounding area, expecting scorched earth. Instead, he sees the wasteland unscathed; not even a slight hint of a burn mark of crater is seen. Tilting his head towards the clear blue sky, he let out a sigh of relief. He soon ran towards his long-time friend, who was unconscious but still breathing.
“You did it, bro.” he told his friend.
-o-
The Space Rangers saw Aradon’s ship explode upon impact with the surface of the Wraith. Andros stared ahead in awe. Despite knowing Aradon to be a decent ruler, the last thing he expected… the last thing he would want was to take the last bit of the Machine Empire and sacrifice it so that other races would not suffer the same fate.
“Why?” Andros murmured to himself. Neither TJ nor Zhane heard him.
The explosion caused the Wraith to cease fire. The explosion caused the red-plated laser turret to shatter. The explosion caused the Wraith to be vulnerable to attack. However, the Wraith was still going strong.
“TJ,” Andros asked stunned, “is the laser still good?”
TJ shrugged his shoulders. “I have to see how bad the damage is.” The bridge soon filled with bright light emanating from the viewer. The light dimmed and the Rangers observed a column of light which replaced the front of the Wraith. Zhane rushed to the navigation controls and veered the Megaship slowly away from the column of light. As they flew farther away, they noticed that the light beam was cutting the Wraith apart. Pieces of the planet-killer’s surface began to float away, the towering weapon spikes broke apart and flames shot everywhere. Some of the smaller pieces of debris hit the Megaship, but did not cause much damage.
Zhane checked on the engine status and gave a thumbs up to Andros, who proceeded to push the accelerator to its maximum strength. The Megaship turned one-eighty degrees before picking up speed and flying away from the dying Wraith, which soon created a deafening explosion with a shockwave. The Megaship, at maximum cruising speed, was able to outrun the dissipating shockwave after a full minute. Andros slowed the ship down and slumped back on his chair. They had succeeded… albeit with a little help.
TJ looked at the viewer one last time with perplexion. He turned to the Red Space Ranger and asked “Where the heck did that beam come from?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Andros answered, “it’s over now.” He turned his attention towards the navigation control and plotted a course for Earth.
-o-
Cole ran out from the cavern towards Jason and Thomas. Cole kneeled down to check on the veterans. “Is he alright?” the rookie Ranger asked. Jason shook his head as he stroke Thomas’ head. Cole stood up and saw the other Rangers slowly regaining their composures. Carter managed to pull himself up, but still felt some pain in his groin. Cole smiled at the Lightspeed Rescue commander’s displeasure, but the smile faded before anyone could notice.
Demorphing, Carter pulled out his cell phone. “I’m calling for someone to pick us up.” he told Jason, who was tending to his fallen friend.
It took Carter Grayson all of seventy-five seconds to call for recovery teams. After finishing his call, the Lightspeed commander turned to Cole. “I’m guessing you pulled the plug on the bomb.”
Cole nodded. “I took out the power cells so the bomb wouldn’t able to detonate.” He sighed heavily, prompting Carter to place his hand on the young man’s shoulder. “I hope he makes it, Carter.” he said quietly, referring to Thomas.
“He will.” Carter answered, “He will.”
TO BE CONCLUDED…
