What follows here is the one-shot edition of the 2nd draft of my Power Rangers fanfic project called The Weapon. Originally published in multiple parts on Fanfiction.Net, the chapters were eventually assembled under one massive manuscript that was hosted on the old DTM Webstation. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only surviving version of that second draft.
A year later, The Weapon would eventually be replaced with an updated version under the new title Power Rangers: Wraith.
A word of warning; this is being copied and pasted from the original Word document file as is with only mild edits for the sake of legibility. There are some typos and errors to be found here and there, so be forewarned.
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is (C) BVS Entertainment.
-o-
Past Events Prior to the Weapon
1997 AD
The Machine Empire vetoes Mondo’s bid for leadership. Because of Mondo’s failure, the Empire is no longer considered a serious threat. As a result, the Machine council voted to remove Mondo from the reigns of the Empire and banish him, as well as his Royal Family. The Empire would be ruled by the council until 1999 A.D. when Aradon, king of the Northern continent of the Machine homeworld Gorah Khan, is declared Emperor, although he would still be known as a king. Aradon is the first machine to hold that title since the age of the Machinists.
Invasion fleets of the United Alliance of Evil attack Eltare. The battle ends with the Alliance capturing Zordon, the embodiment of the light side.
1998 AD
Mondo and his band of rebel machines join the United Alliance of Evil, who embark on a campaign to conquer the universe. The Alliance is crippled when a mysterious energy wave wipes out most of the evil powers. Mondo is one of those casualties.
Aradon begins the process of repairing the tarnished reputation of the Machine Empire.
1999 AD
Andros meets veteran Power Ranger Thomas Oliver and works with him and the other Space Rangers on a top-secret operation known only as Black Matter. This mission is completely independent of the Serpenterra mission, which would be executed two years later.
2000 AD
General Venjix amasses his forces to search for Serpenterra. In addition, he pulls the strings to plunge the Aradon-led Machine Empire into war with the Varox Contingency. The war would last three years, with many casualties on both sides.
The Space Power Rangers disband to pursue other interests. Andros and TJ Johnson, who has reacquired the technology necessary to rebuild his Turbo morpher, continues to work with Thomas Oliver on random missions, most of them involving Venjix.
2001 AD
Because of attacks by temporal fugitive Ransik, Albert Collins forms the Silver Guardians, with Eric Meyers, the Quantum Ranger, as leader of the group. When the situation with Ransik was resolved, Collins appoints his son Wesley, who had been part of the Time Force group assigned to capture Ransik, as co-captain along with Meyers.
Carter Grayson, appointed commander of Lightspeed Rescue after retirement of former captain William Mitchell, initiates the Ranger Recruit, in which worthy candidates would be selected to become Mark-II Lightspeed Rangers. Grayson would serve for one more mission as a Ranger next year in the Serpenterra campaign.
2002 AD
Ten Red Rangers, assembled by Red Zeo Ranger Thomas Oliver, were faced with the task of preventing rebellious Machine generals from acquiring possession of Serpenterra, the personal war zord of Lord Zedd that has been buried on the moon for quite some time. They succeed in stopping the rebels and destroyed the monstrous zord.
The Wild Force Power Rangers eventually defeat the Master Org and retire their positions as Wild Force Rangers, each one going their separate ways. Cole Evans, an orphan, was brought in to live and work in an animal shelter, owned by a local friend of Jason Lee Scott, the original Red Ranger.
2003 AD
Red Space Ranger Andros & former Ranger Ashley Hammond are engaged to be married. The plan and date of marriage has yet to be determined.
The Machine Empire eventually defeat and eradicate the Varox contingency with the assistance of the GSA strike force originating from Mirinoi, home to the Galaxy Power Rangers. In the wake of the war, most of the Machine colonies as well as the homeworld itself are ravaged.
2004 AD
An alien craft crashes on Earth. The ship is empty…
-o-
Gorah Khan. The wrecked homeworld of the weakened Machine Empire.
The buildings are now charred wreckage of burnt steel and molten lava. The mines and factories spew out flames and light-covering smokes that fill the skies. Within these massive dumps, cogs and other heavy robots deal with the reconstruction and salvage of their battered world, which was crippled after a lengthy battle with the Varox bounty hunters years ago. It resulted in the loss of some seventy million troops and widespread damage to all the cities. This planet had not seen sunlight for quite some time.
In the sky, a light beam cut through the black clouds and struck the charred surface of Gorah Khan. The Cogs observed this light as it grew brighter and brighter. The beam managed to tear the clouds apart, letting sunlight through for the first time. Emanating the beam was a strange sort of battleship; practically round in shape. The beam continued to glow brighter every second. The smaller Cog looked in awe and looked down at the ground, realizing what was going on; the mysterious object was cutting through the planet.
Before panic could occur, the scenery fell part. Giant chunks of the planet flew away as the beam intensified. Debris that was laying around started to levitate from what was left of a ground. A bright flash covered the planet’s volume and when the light cleared, all that was left of Gorah Khan was several chunks of asteroids and metal debris. The battleship flew through the planet remains, ramming through asteroids with hardly a dent or scratch.
-0-
It has been two years since Cole Evans joined with nine veteran Red Rangers in the mission to prevent the corrupt General Venjix from acquiring the massive war zord Serpenterra. Two years since he has learned of others just like him, fighting for a common goal.
Two years since the Wild Force Rangers killed the Orgs for good.
Since then, things have changed. His friends have went separate ways; Alyssa completed her school studies and went on to teach at an elementary school in Stone County. Taylor re-joined the Air Force and is currently fighting a scuffle overseas. Max and Danny travel around the world… doing stuff. The loner, Merrick, also travels to seek answers, leaving Cole to tend with the local animal shelter that was established in Turtle Cove, his current home.
Although he misses his days as a Power Ranger, he is glad that the graver threat to Earth has been eliminated and that he can rest easy.
-o-
The hidden Control Center that was developed is the current headquarters of one Thomas Oliver, who now looks over the network of activity through advanced technology that seemed to have originated on Eltar. The chamber hasn’t changed much in the past seven years since he stumbled across it. It was still advanced despite its age. It consisted of nothing more than three chambers; the main Mission center that held all the intergalactic scanners and communications systems, an equipment room, and a training area capable of creating various holographic opponents at various skill levels.
Although he is not exactly fond of underground bases, Thomas was glad that it was conveniently built under the 20 acres of land that he happened to own, where he eventually built a small house. With the exception of the Black Matter and Serpenterra missions, he has not kept in touch with many of his friends. However, the one person he had kept in touch with frequently was a man who became a right-hand man.
-o-
Andros peeked out the porthole of his personal chamber on board the Astro Megaship Mark-II. He viewed the various stars and nebula that the ship was passing through. He found it hard to believe that all this could have been wiped out had Venjix succeeded in acquiring the massive zord, a zord that took a long time to dig out. Life on board the ship had been quiet for the past year or two. Along with TJ, Zhane, and the faithful robot, Alpha-7, Andros had not encounter any major disturbances. Nor did he have any reason to. So he lied on his bunker and proceeded to fall asleep.
-o-
Theodore J Jarvis Johnson, or TJ as he’d usually like to be called, casually walked through the empty halls of the Megaship, carefully studying the open panels and circuit boards. The ship seemed almost similar to the original Astro Megaship that he used to call home for a time, but she didn’t feel the same. Neither did she work the same.
For one, there was no zord cockpit. Everything was operated from the main bridge. The usual rest room, where access to the Galaxy Gliders was possible, is also noticably absent from this vessel. Instead, the room was now a tactical command room, the same room where ten Red Rangers discussed their battle strategy to prevent Serpenterra from falling into enemy hands. There was no Simu-deck, a holographic room that could recreate locales. In its place was a rather bland training facility.
In TJ’s mind, this was a different Astro Megaship. One designed for hard-boiled battle missions, not the usual space-faring type that he had grown accustomed to.
Feeling rather bored with walking around the ship decks, TJ headed towards the bridge, where he saw Zhane, the usually happy Silver Ranger, tense as he struggled with many of the ship’s scanning controls.
“What’s the matter, Zhane-o?” TJ asked cheerily, trying to lighten up the moment.
Zhane looked at his friend with graveness. “Trouble” was his only answer.
-o-
About an hour later, the collision alarm sounded and the ship rocked. Andros woke up almost instantly and proceeded to the bridge while putting on his uniform jacket. When he got there, he viewed the screen, which was indicating that they were in an asteroid field. Andros’ first instinct was to check the sensors and navigation screens. The readings seemed to have stunned him momentarily, but he snapped out of it before TJ and Zhane arrived.
“What happened?” asked TJ, somewhat perplexed.
“We’re in an asteroid belt,” said Zhane as he headed for the helm. He managed to safely navigate the Megaship so that they wouldn’t collide with any more rocks. “I didn’t think there would be an asteroid belt here.”
Andros looked at Zhane dumbfounded, “That’s because there isn’t supposed to be.”
“What?”
“According to this,” the Kerovan explained, “we’re supposed to be passing by Gorah Khan, the scorched homeworld of the Machines. But the planet isn’t there.”
Zhane looked up at the screen and looked at the navigation screen, “But that’s impossible!”
“Serpenterra before we blew it up?” TJ suggested.
Andros shook his head, “Can’t be. The planet was there just last week.”
Zhane stood up and looked at the screen, the asteroid belt that was once a planet, “Could it be possible that there’s another Serpenterra out there that we don’t know about?”
The other two looked at their blonde friend with tension. It is possible.
-o-
Mariner Bay. Once a city bristling with activity. A city known for its clean beaches and monuments. A place that was once home to the Lightspeed Rescue organization that bred the first Power Ranger team designed by humans.
Now the city lays in ruin. In the middle of the streets, a Varox bounty hunter randomly fire energy bolts that take down entire buildings and blow apart human bodies. His screams are incoherent, but his rage is directed at those he sees. In a quick instance, the Varox is shot from behind and knocked on his back. He staggers back to his feet and looks ahead to see six people in multi-colored costumes, each holding a lance with a V-shaped cannon at the end of it. The Varox recognized them to be Power Rangers, though not any he has seen. The last time the Varox had encountered Rangers was when they were working for the Machines in their hunt for the Gold Ranger.
No matter, he thought to himself, he would accomplish his mission.
The Varox ran towards the six. As if realizing the enemy’s next move, the one in Red pointed his weapon at the creature, the others following suit. After a split-second, the one in Silver ordered, “FIRE!” Six continuous streams of beams impacted the Varox’s chestplate, resulting in a series of explosive impacts that sent the Varox hurling towards an automobile. A full minute has passed and the Varox did not move.
“Is he down?” the Blue one asked with concern.
“Of course not, Chad!” the Yellow one said excitedly.
“He didn’t blow up!” the Green one rebutted.
The Red Ranger of the group took a small step forward. Ignoring the Silver one’s warning, he proceeded to approach the fallen Varox, who looks unconscious. The Ranger turned towards the others and gave a thumbs up, which calmed his friends. All of a sudden, the Ranger heard a beeping sound coming from the Varox. He turned and looked down at the corpse, seeing that it was glowing. Electrical surges pulsated from the corpse and the Ranger ran.
“RUN!” he ordered with a hint of panic in his voice.
The Rangers ran from the corpse, but the next thing they saw was nothing but a white light that enveloped the surroundings. The force of the blast sent the Rangers flying and proceeding to cause nearby buildings to crumble and fall. Multiple explosions were heard, screams of panicked people were evident, but another loud bang would be heard, along with another light…
-o-
Thomas Oliver observed what happened in Mariner Bay through the monitor in his control center. He could not believe his eyes. The Varox were not known to be commit suicide, but even so, they’re necessarily known to cause a destructive blast upon death. When the smoke cleared, a good portion of the city was literally blown to pieces. Not one building was left standing; only rubble filled the streets and the rotting human corpses that weren’t buried in the rubble… well, let’s just say they don’t look appealing now.
Disgusted at the sight of the ruined city, Thomas turned off the monitor and slumped into his seat, burying his face in his hands. He mourned for those lost, then looked up and realized if the Rangers fighting the Varox survived… of course not, he thought to himself, no one could survive a blast like that… not even a Power Ranger…
-o-
Although it wasn’t comparable to a hydrogen explosion, the blast was big enough to be seen from Turtle Cove. On the roof of the animal shelter, Cole Evans observed the blast. Being the least experienced Ranger, he didn’t know the exact cause of such an explosion. The fact that he was no longer an active Ranger didn’t comfort him one bit. Behind Cole, a pair of jet fighters flew by, apparently headed towards the wasteland, wherever it was.
-o-
Taylor didn’t know what to expect; her experience in the Air Force and her two-year tour of duty as a Power Ranger didn’t prepare her for the devastation that had besieged Mariner Bay. Over her comm system, she heard nothing that was coherent; supposedly pleas for assistance, scramble orders. It was hard to determine who was talking to who.
She managed to send an order to her wingman to survey damage in other parts of the city while she searched for any potential survivors. When the other jet was out of sight, Taylor searched for a suitable landing spot. Miraculously, there was a stable platform perfect for landing. Upon making contact with the ground, Taylor leaped out of the cockpit and looked at the wreckage that was once Mariner Bay.
My God, she thought to herself, how could this happen?
—
The Astro Megaship Mark-II continues to navigate the asteroid belt, which was once the Machine Empire’s homeworld. It was hard to believe that just a week ago, the planet was just recovering from a war with the Varox that had happened years prior. Yet now that planet is gone and this collection of asteroids is what is left of that world.
On the main bridge, Andros brought up any information pertaining to Gorah Khan’s status prior to its destruction. TJ was at the helm, trying to steer clear of any asteroids that may pose a threat to the ship. Zhane did all he could to boost power to the new shield generator, but the last collision had damaged the power accelerators. All in all, a busy day.
Andros slumped on the seat in front of the console. “How could an entire planet be destroyed?” he asked himself.
“Is it possible that a super torpedo was used?” asked Zhane, referring to a drill-tipped warhead that was theoretically capable of destroying entire planets. TJ shook his head on that note, “They were no longer in production since the fall of the Alliance.”
Andros stiffened as he saw data come up on the console. “According to this,” he explained, “Gorah Khan was recovering from a massive war with the Varox.”
Zhane stared at the data that was brought up. “But that war was years ago,” he stated, “they couldn’t have been recovering for this long.”
Andros looked ominously at the main viewer. No more asteroids in sight. “Have we cleared the field?” he asked.
“Yeah,” responded TJ, “just now.”
“Stop the ship,” Andros ordered. TJ shut down the engines, causing the Megaship to slow down and eventually held its ground.
The three Space Rangers (actually two Space Rangers and one Turbo Ranger) looked on as the viewer showed the endless void of space. Many planets. Many moons. Many potential targets to whoever or whatever is responsible for this devastation.
One of those potential targets could be Earth.
—
In all her years in both her professions, Taylor has never seen a city backdrop quite like this. Even as a veteran Air Force pilot, she could not bare to see many scarred and rotting corpses, laying around the wreckage of a city. Behind her, something struggled to emerge from the ruins. Taylor turned to see who was emerging.
It was a Power Ranger, although not similar to any PR that she has known. She knew, possibly through the Silver Guardians, that Mariner Bay had their own set of Rangers, but she also recognized what they looked like. What was emerging from the grave was not the traditional Lightspeed Ranger that she did recognized. The Ranger, covered heavily in dust so it was hard to determine who it was, struggled to get back on his feet, but collapsed on the floor again. Taylor rushed towards him and attempted to help him…
The Ranger looked up at Taylor and soon lost consciousness. Probably dazed, she thought to herself. Feeling obligated to do so, she decided to check around for this Ranger’s companions. Knowing where to look was the problem.
—
“Hey rookie.”
Cole turned around to see the original Red Power Ranger, Jason Lee Scott. He seemed surprised by his sudden appearance.
“Hey, Jason.” Cole said nervously, “what are you doing here?”
Jason shrugged, “Enjoying the view.” That was a sarcastic remark, although Jason could not allow himself a smile.
“With a mushroom cloud from afar,” suggested Cole, letting out a half-smile, “I doubt you can enjoy it.”
“Possibly,” the veteran Ranger replied, returning a smile, “but when you’re doing the Power Ranger thing for as long as I have, you tend to let these things slide.” That last comment caused the younger rookie to chuckle, which made Jason’s smile wider… before it faded when he spoke, “but this kind of thing,” he paused slightly, “you can’t let it slide.”
Jason stood beside the rookie and stared at the smoke. It has been seventy-five minutes since the blast occurred and no one in Turtle Cove, or anywhere for that matter, seems to know what the cause of the blast was… or how much damage it has done.
Cole turned to the veteran who has been on the job since day one. He looked into his eyes to see sorrow and anger. He came with one conclusion: Jason has no idea what’s going on either. That isn’t much comfort for the rookie.
“I wish I could do something,” the only words Cole could let out. Jason nodded in agreement, “So do I, Cole. So do I.”
—
Thomas Oliver sat in front of the computer monitor for the past half-hour, unable to find the right words to type. He didn’t know Carter Grayson much, but knew much about him, especially his recent promotion as Lightspeed Rescue’s new Commander. After some thought, he began typing on the keyboard.
From : Thomas Oliver
To : Carter Grayson, Lightspeed Rescue
Subject: Hoping for the best
Hey man. I saw what happened just a while ago. I’m sorry. I hope everything goes well with the rescue operation.
Your fellow Ranger, Thomas Oliver.
He stared blankly at his message for another hour. He can’t think of anything else that will comfort his friend or ease the pain because the truth is there isn’t anything else to say. With great reluctance, he clicked on the Send button.
—
A rogue planet, a world without a star to revolve around. Practically uninhabited.
In an instant, a beam cuts through the sphere. An instant after, the beam halts and the rogue world begins to shatter into pieces. Asteroids and gelatinous globs abound, a spherical battleship flies through the debris without a scratch… without a dent… a seemingly invincible, powerful machine…
—
In his office, Commander Carter Grayson was frustrated. As the head of Lightspeed operations, he was faced with a lot of paperwork. Today, the paperwork came piling in more than usual. Casuality reports, damage reports, assessments, various other documents filled his desk and dressers. At times, he wished he was still on the Ranger team. This time, he wishes the new Rangers led by Chad Lee were alright.
Things seemed hopeless as Carter checked his Outlook for more potential e-mails about scared people wondering where their family and friends are. He was courteous enough to reply with a generic reply.
“We’re doing everything we can to find any survivors,” the message would say, “the best thing to do is keep your head up and pray.”
It seemed to be mostly that kind of message that filled his Inbox. Carter was just about to quit when one particular message caught his eye. This one was different from the rest. It was from Thomas Oliver.
—
Cole Evans and Jason Lee Scott stood atop the roof of the Turtle Cove animal shelter, staring at the large smoke cloud emanating from afar. As much as they wanted to, they knew they couldn’t do much to find out what was going on except wait for any news report or anyone associated with Lightspeed is willing to let out.
Jason placed a hand on Cole’s shoulder, trying to comfort the younger man, “We better go inside and continue with our day.” he suggested.
Both Red Rangers proceeded down the steps and into the storage area of the shelter. Cole decided to stick around and help out at the shelter while Jason left to make a few calls.
Cole told Jason, “If you get the chance, call Tommy.”
Jason seemed surprised by this, “Why?”
“Well,” the Wild Force Ranger began, “didn’t he mention that he had a command center someplace where he lived?”
Jason smiled and nodded at the rookie’s thought. Considering his “bro” had a control center under his house, it’s possible he knows something about the blast. He promptly rode his motorcycle to his friend…
—
From : Carter Grayson, Lightspeed Rescue
To : Thomas Oliver
Subject: Problems
Thanks for the spirit booster, Tom. You can’t imagine how much that makes me feel better.
Things have been really hectic this past day. The same can be said for today. It’s getting to the point where I may have to get a new hard drive just to store these millions of e-mails. People worried about their loved ones, their friends… we should have been better prepared.
No word on the Rangers that fought that bounty hunter… I think you called it a Varox at one time. My guess is that he had some sort of miniature nuclear weapon that was probably responsible for the blast and… all this. That has to be a good way to start off your career as a Ranger… Christ, this is tough on me. My friend Chad was the leader, the rest of them were rookies… I hate to assume the worst case scenario, but I have to accept the fact that they’re all dead… damn.
I have to go. Thanks again for the gesture. Carter
—
The Blue Lightspeed Power Ranger’s last known visual was the Red Ranger running from the Varox corpse. Soon after, a white light illuminated and then everything went black.
Upon regaining consciousness, he found himself laying near a jet with the markings “Yellow Eagle” on it. He stood up and say its pilot, Taylor. “Thanks” was the only thing he could come up with it.
Taylor heard the Ranger and rushed to him. “You shouldn’t push yourself,” she advised, “you were buried under several tons of rubble.” She was exaggerating of course, but the Ranger sat down slowly.
“You must be Chad Lee,” Taylor stated bluntly, “from Lightspeed Rescue.”
“Yeah,” the Ranger nodded, confirming his identity, “that’s me. And you are?”
“My name’s Taylor,” the former Yellow Wild Force Ranger told him, “I used to be a Ranger.”
Chad smiled at that remark, “You’re retired?”
“Yeah.”
“Smart move.”
The two shared a small giggle at that remark. Chad soon got serious again, “Did you find the other Rangers?”
Taylor shook her head slowly in disappointment. Chad looked down, feeling sad. Somehow, he believes he is to blame. Taylor couldn’t do much but offer a warm hug, to which Chad accepted.
“We’ll find them,” Taylor said, trying to comfort the distraught Ranger. But even she is uncertain of that statement.
—
From : Commander Carter Grayson, Lightspeed Rescue
To : Admiral Gordon Harris, Lightspeed Task Force
Subject : Reinforcements Requested
Admiral Harris, I am sending you this e-mail because all other avenues of communication has been severed by the incident involving the bounty hunter and the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers. I formally request the assistance of Lightspeed Task Force to aid in salvage and rescue operations. I understand that is not the primary focus of the division, but I do not see any other way.
I anxiously await your answer.
Carter Grayson, Commander
Lightspeed Rescue
—
Gordon Harris sat in his office in the main headquarters of the newly established Lightspeed Task Force, an organization which was founded by former Captain William Mitchell to handle missions that Lightspeed Rescue was not equipped for. He read the e-mail sent by Commander Grayson about a request for assistance.
Harris, a grey-haired gentleman in his mid-40s, pressed a button on his intercom system. A minute later, the door opened to let in a younger man in camouflage gear enter. He saluted the admiral, as it is with any military organization.
“As you were,” Harris told the soldier, “have a seat.”
The soldier sat down slowly. Harris handed the soldier a green binder with the Lightspeed emblem on the front cover. The emblem was the tradition one seen in Lightspeed Rescue, except the usually blue icon within the circle is red and the circle is orange in tone. The soldier opened up the binder to several text, diagrams, and other notes.
“That’s all the statistics concerning the Mariner Bay incident gathered through our networks,” Harris explained as the soldier looked through the pages of the document, “most of what you’re seeing is speculation, theories, anything that could be a possible scenario.”
The soldier looked up at the admiral. “Anything we DO know, sir?”
Harris nodded, “According to Lightspeed Intelligence, there was a sudden surge within the bounty hunter the Rangers were fighting just prior to the explosion.” A slight pause, the soldier stiffened as Harris continued, “the surge went off a few seconds after the hunter in question was slain by the Rangers.”
“With all due respect, sir,” the soldier interrupted, “that’s common knowledge within Lightspeed.”
Harris leaned closer to the soldier to whisper in his ear, “There is reason to believe that there is another one of those bounty hunters loose.”
The soldier stood up slowly, unable to understand. “Another one?” he asked.
Harris nodded, “Also within that document was reports of a two-man aircraft that was uncovered in the Amazon just three weeks ago.”
The soldier flipped through the pages to see some photographs, concept drawings of an alien spacecraft. As the admiral stated, there were two seats within the main cockpit of the craft. Further in the document showed two empty chambers under the nose of the aircraft, presumably where the power source of the ship was.
“I assume that whatever used to be in here,” the soldier stated, “was used as the ‘bomb’ in question.”
Harris nodded gravely.
The soldier placed the binder on Harris’ desk and stood straight, “What are your orders, Admiral?”
Harris opened his desk drawer and pulled out a blue folder, no markings on the cover. He passed it on to the soldier, who accepted it.
“I want you to form two teams,” Harris said, “one team will co-ordinate with Lightspeed Rescue to assist in their operations. The other team will seek out the other bounty hunter and stop him from destroying anything.”
“But Admiral,” the soldier asked with curiosity, “how will we stop him without forcing him to blow himself up?”
Admiral Harris slumped on his chair. By that reaction, the soldier got his answer, somewhat. He saluted and left the office. Harris stared at the binder. His soldier brought up an interesting point; how can a menace like be stopped?
—
From : Admiral Gordon Harris, Lightspeed Task Force
To : Commander Carter Grayson, Lightspeed Rescue
Subject : Request Granted
Commander Grayson. I have reviewed your request for assistance and have granted it. Reinforcements should be arriving tonight. Good luck.
Gordon Harris, Admiral
Lightspeed Task Force
—
Cole Evans woke up the next day in the basement of the animal shelter (he’s been living there since his Wild Force campaign ended). He turned on the television set and tuned to the News Network, hoping to see if more information on the blast was found. Another live news report aired, not on Mariner Bay. Cole read the byline displayed on the bottom of the screen.
OMINOUS SPACE CRAFT DESTROY ROGUE PLANET
“Oh no,” Cole said to no one in particular. His first instinct was to call Jason at his house.
“Hello?” Jason answered, as if he woke up just now.
Cole summed up the news report with a single phrase that seemed appropriate, “We have another problem.”
“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…
—
“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.”
—
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.
—
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 depressingly.
“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…
—
Jason Lee Scott didn’t know what to expect; he had heard about his longtime friend’s secret control center, but he didn’t think it would be this well-equipped or advanced. The technology in Thomas Oliver’s lair was far superior to the old Command Center and Power Chamber that he had seen. The sight of it just makes him wonder.
Thomas sat near a round table and pressed a button on a nearby console. Out of thin air, two glasses and a bottle of blue liquid suddenly materialized on the table. “Kerovan Brandy,” Thomas identified the liquid in question, “I never touched the stuff. Brave enough, bro?”
“Sure.”
Thomas poured the beverage into both glasses and gave Jason one of them. They both stood and held glasses together for a toast.
“To Mariner Bay,” Thomas toasted, “may the city recover from its worst tragedy.”
“Amen, bro,” Jason concurred. He took a sip of the ale as Thomas did the same. Both made disheartening expressions and placed the glasses back on the table. “Bro,” Jason offered, “next time you get alcohol, it better be from Earth.” Thomas couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s remark.
“Where did you get this set-up?” the Red Ranger asked curiously.
Thomas hesitated for a moment before he answered, “I built it.”
“Yeah right.”
“No, really,” insisted Thomas as if he was being interrogated, “Andros gave me a module that allowed me to use the Morphing Grid to create a command center and…” A slight pause, then he cracked a smile when he noticed Jason’s confused look, “… forget it. The less said, the better.”
“Right” was Jason’s only answer.
Suddenly, the mail manager made a typing sound. Thomas proceeded to the computer and accessed his inbox. He clicked on the item entitled “Lightspeed”. A message replaced the menu. Jason approached his friend as he read the message:
From : Carter Grayson, Lightspeed Rescue
To : Thomas Oliver
Subject : Lightspeed
Tom, I got word from Lightspeed Task Force’s C-N-C that there could be another Varox roaming around. I think we’re going to have to bring in the big guns to track this guy down. Let me know. Carter
“Well?” Thomas asked Jason, seeking advice.
Jason frowned, “A bounty hunter blew up and nearly leveled an entire city.”
Thomas went over to the comm system and pressed the button marked “ANDROS” on it. It took a while, but the comm system could not acquire a communications link. “I can’t get to the Megaship.” Thomas announced defeatedly.
Jason looked on as the monitor showed an ERROR – CONNECT FAILED message. “Maybe they’re out of range,” he suggested, “no matter how advanced something is, there are always limits.”
“Perhaps…”
—
The last thing Andros of KO-35 saw before passing out was a red torpedo rapidly approaching the Astro-Megaship Mark-II, well certain of the final killing blow. He remembered thouroughly that a piece of debris impacted his head a millisecond after the viewer exploded.
When he woke up however, he found himself in one piece; a little battered and bruised, but in one piece nonetheless. He looked around and saw the Megaship’s bridge, or rather, what’s left of it. The various computer consoles and display screens were either destroyed completely or short-circuited. Burnt-out power cables were hanging from the ceiling. The main viewer had a hole in it, revealing a small flame on the other side. The main elevator shaft to the lower decks has completely caved in. And his two partners, TJ and Zhane were knocked out during the one-sided attack.
Regaining his composure, Andros approached what was left of the Maintenance station. He checked the console’s broken Plexiglas and saw an gray knob behind the screen. With proper care, Andros positioned his arm so that he could reach the knob. Upon making contact, he pressed the knob inward, which resulted in the emergency lights going on. Unlike most of the ship’s other systems, the lights had their own power source.
Andros noticed that Zhane and TJ had regained consciousness.
“Am I dead yet?” Zhane asked jokingly.
“No,” TJ teased, “not yet.”
Andros almost let out a smile; even in the grimmest scenario, they manage to lighten up the moment. As the Red Ranger helped his friends back to their feet, he heard creaking sounds emanating from the ground. After a while, the creaking was followed by a banging sound, although the ground doesn’t seem to be weak of extra weight.
“Maybe we should get out of here,” Zhane cautioned, “before the bridge caves in.”
“Right,” TJ agreed, “We’ll take the gliders.”
—
The Space Rangers on their Galaxy Gliders (TJ as Red Turbo uses the Blue Glider) observed the damage done. The exterior of the Megaship is a wreck. One of the engines was vaporized by the projectile impact, there are many visible hull breaches on the ship’s aft, and what was once blue or red is now a dark brown or completely black color. Miraculously, the only part of the ship that seems to be in one piece is the front port and the main hangar nearby.
Fortunately for them, the ship that managed this damage did not see fit to destroy the ship, since it was no longer a threat. However, that meant the ship was farther away and this time, the Rangers would have no way of tracking it down.
Zhane observed another ship approaching and directed the other Rangers’ attention to it. The ship had a similar shape to a passenger airplane, although it generally is a little bigger and the wings were slightly bent upwards. Launching from behind the vessel, two smaller fighter craft popped out. Andros immediately recognized them.
“Quadrafighters!” he shouted.
The Rangers prepared for a fight, but the two fighters did not attack. In fact, one of the pilots spoke within a handheld comm. The Rangers have seen Cogs talk, but it was the message that surprised them.
“We’re here to help…”
—
Taylor was relieved that someone from Lightspeed had brought more soldiers to help with the salvage operation. To her surprise, the U.S. military managed to send some of their own to help out. Unfortunately, Chad Lee’s worst fear was confirmed, when soldiers found the dead bodies of the five rookie Lightspeed Rangers. Those five, along with another seven hundred fifty people, were uncovered and sent to be buried at various cemeteries.
It is no surprise that Lightspeed Rescue commander Carter Grayson’s work has been cut out for him. Writing casualty reports, obituaries, bringer of bad news to those who lost loved ones, and hosting a ceremony for the fallen. But despite this, he knows he has another problem in his mind, namely the other Varox running loose on Earth with the same capacity for destruction.
At 9 P.M., Carter was still working on the reports, as well as assisting Task Force soldiers with whatever he knows about the bounty hunter that caused the disaster. He did receive a call from Joel Rawlings, who hoped for nothing but good. Carter appreciated the call and he needed something like that to lift his spirits.
There were times when I wish I hadn’t taken this job, he thought to himself.
—
A military weapons depot in Stone Canyon. Home to many nuclear and hydrogen weapons that the government had kept in hiding for the past several years, a small contingent of army soldiers as well as several Lightspeed Task Force soldiers were blocking the main exit out of the complex. Aiming at a particular creature with an armored chestplate…
—
Cole Evans, Jason Lee Scott, and Thomas Oliver watched a B-movie production in the theatre room of Thomas’ house. The pathetic special effects, cheesy costumes, and other low-budget intricacies were the cause of much laughter from the Rangers. However, the movie was interrupted with a special news report.
“No,” Cole said amusedly, “No way I’m getting fooled twice!”
The report showed a female reporter standing in front of a raging wall of fire. Loud explosions and crumbling sounds, as well as various screams, is heard in the background.
“For those who received this report now,” she began as the Rangers watched, “there is a massive firefight in the weapons depot in Stone Canyon. Word is that the military forces stationed here are fighting some kind of monster.”
Cole’s jaw dropped at the mention of the word ‘monster’. The second Varox was engaging military forces in a nuclear weapons depot.
—
The Varox was held at bay by weapons fire from the soldiers. The Varox managed a couple of his own shots that knocked down or vaporized three soldiers at best, but could not get a clear shot. Then it occurred to him; there are nuclear weapons in the other room.
The head soldier appointed by Admiral Harris noticed that the bounty hunter was running into the nuclear depot. “HOLD YOUR FIRE!” he commanded, “YOU’LL HIT THE FRICKIN’ NUKES!” The others stopped shooting. The soldier, wanting this situation to be handled carefully, ordered his men to aid in the evacuation of Stone Canyon. “If the nukes go off,” he explained, “I want more people alive than dead.”
The soldier ran after the hunter while the rest ran out. The room had various nuclear missiles and warheads stored here. The fact that one small spark can set these things off made chasing the hunter much more difficult. After a moment of searching, he found the bounty hunter standing in front of a big metal box marked “SUICIDE BOMB” in red bold letters.
The Varox, beneath his mask, smiled, “You managed to find me, human. I’m impressed.”
“Impressing you is the last thing I’m gonna do, freak!” the soldier taunted, although he was scared out of his pants.
“Yes, it IS the last thing,” the Varox said, “that you or anyone else on this planet is going to be doing soon!”
The soldier aimed his blaster at the hunter. The hunter laughed, “Are you actually dedicated to shooting me with that toy blaster?” The soldier didn’t flinch.
“Tell me something,” the Varox asked with a fiendish tone, obviously aware of the soldier’s nervousness, “do you really want to risk an entire city’s well-being for one shot at me? Don’t you know that this suicide bomb will destroy everything and be the catalyst for the master plan?”
—
“Master plan?” Admiral Gordon Harris heard the soldier ask through the hidden transmitter that was working perfectly, “what master plan?”
Several members of the Lightspeed core group, including Task Force Admiral Harris, Lightspeed Rescue Commander Carter Grayson, Lightspeed military General Kory Membla, Lightspeed Ranger leader Chad Lee, and other scientists were surrounding the radio receiver. They heard a muffled laugh, presumably from the Varox bounty hunter that they has spent a great deal of time searching for. Carter, not forgetting about the “other party” involved, has a live radio feed linked to Thomas Oliver’s control center, which was being heard by Oliver, Jason Lee Scott, Cole Evans, and Silver Guardians leaders Wes Collins and Eric Myers.
—
The soldier aimed his blaster at the hunter’s mask. This did nothing but incite a laugh from the hunter.
“Since you’re going to die anyway,” the hunter said, “it won’t matter if I tell you that we’re preparing this world for the Wraith, the ultimate weapon.”
—
In the city limits, the roads are filled with military trucks, common automobiles, armored tanks, and running soldiers. Because of the minor inconsistencies, vehicles were moving slowly. Various officers were directing traffic, but many people were too scared that they abandoned their vehicles on the road and simply ran. A riot was about to occur at the dawn of potential destruction.
—
The Varox stood proudly near the SUICIDE BOMB container. If the soldier could see his face, he probably was smiling devilishly. Suddenly, the Varox approached the soldier slowly, promptly the man to raise his weapon, aiming it at the hunter’s head. The Varox stopped when he was almost face to face with the soldier.
“I know about your hidden transmitter,” the Varox said, causing a slight sting in the soldier, “if you are listening to me, here is my demand; let me leave with this SUICIDE BOMB and I will spare the city.”
The soldier was visibly shaken, but he didn’t scream or whimper. In fact, it almost seems as if he wants to blast the Varox’s head off at point blank range. Then again, the Varox could easily dodge the bullet, hit a nuke, and blow the city up.
—
The officials within the room decided to go for a vote as whether to answer his demands or reject it. Decision is split fifty-fifty, save for one. All eyes now laid on Carter Grayson, the last man to make a vote. On the one hand, handing that Varox a weapon of mass destruction means committing many lives to die in the near-future. On the other hand, declining the Varox and causing a firefight will result in one of the nukes going off and wipe out the city, which is still filled with people.
With much weighing, Carter let out a defeated sigh and voted to hand the Varox hunter the weapon.
—
The soldier, unable to believe what he has heard, told the Varox that the weapon is his. The Varox nodded and turned. In a quick instant, the soldier felt the full brunt of a hard right fist and was knocked out. The Varox approached the suicide bomb and placed a round metal object on it. Pressing a button on his wrist device, both the Varox and the bomb disappeared.
—
Thomas Oliver couldn’t believe what happened. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Jason noticed his friend’s blank state. “Tom?” he would ask. Thomas didn’t say anything for a while until the transmission ended.
“Jason,” he said in a low, shocked tone, “That son of a bitch just handed the Varox the key to the end of the world.”
Jason didn’t answer. But he stared in disbelief as his best friend got up and stormed out towards the heavy duty door.
“When the dipshit gets over here,” the Ranger groaned as he left the room, “let me know.”
—
A battle cruiser run by the last bit of the Machine Empire towing the battered Megaship to KO-35 isn’t so much a humiliating sight, as far as the Kerovan is concerned. The fact that this sole ship IS the last bit of the Machine Empire left is a scary thought.
He watched through the potholes of the ship as the Astro Megaship, battered and ravaged from its encounter with the planet-killer ship, was being towed. Surprisingly to him and his fellow Rangers, the Machines were taking good care of the ship, doing some ship repairs, refitting with replacement parts… heck, they were even adding a fresh touch of paint on some parts of the ship that desperately needed it.
Despite this, he could tell by his friends’ facial expressions that they weren’t exactly on friendly terms. After all, the last time he and the Empire had met, they took out their head generals.
When the three entered the throne room, they had expected another machine to be sitting at the throne. Instead, what they saw definitely surprised them; a human male, presumably looking to be in his mid-30s, with light-brown hair and green eyes. One hand was a cybernetic hand, while the other was a regular human hand… minus one thumb.
“Greetings,” the humanoid said courteously, “my name is Aradon.”
The three looked at each other confusedly, then turned to face the man standing before them. “Aradon?” Zhane repeated. Aradon was widely regarded as Mondo’s mortal enemy and bitter rival for the throne of the Empire.
Aradon nodded and smiled as he noticed the confused and stunned expressions of his three visitors. “I’m guessing you’re surprised that the new ruler of the Machine Empire,” Aradon paused a bit, trying to rephrase himself, “or rather, what’s left of it, is an android replica.”
Replica, Andros thought to himself, it makes sense.
The three sighed in relief as Aradon waved his hand away at the two gold-armored Cogs, who promptly exited the room. Aradon’s smile quickly faded as he stood and approached the three. “What happened to you three?” he asked.
Andros stiffened, “Before we answer that, would you like to tell us how you’re going to rule an empire whose homeworld was blown apart by a planet-killer?”
“My dear,” Aradon rebutted, “Gorah Khan was the homeworld, not necessarily an Empire in itself. We have five other colony worlds that make up our Empire.”
Now it was Zhane’s turn to cut in, “Colony worlds that followed Venjix and Mondo, not you.” Andros shot Zhane a glance, but Aradon raised his hands, although Zhan’s statement did aggravate him slightly. “Obviously you’re not up to speed with our politics,” he said calmly, “those colony worlds saw a corrupt general serving a corrupt purpose and they went on the side of one who saw the light.”
Aradon noticed the non-believing expressions on his visitors’ faces. Aradon simply shrugged, “I’m a monarch, not a philosopher.”
The three Rangers looked at each other in disbelief, probably thinking the same thing; no wonder Mondo hates this guy.
—
A rather annoyed Thomas Oliver stared blankly at Lightspeed Rescue commander Carter Grayson, who was confused to his reaction. Jason Lee Scott and Cole Evans watched from one side of the room as the former Red Lightspeed Ranger and the Red Zeo Ranger went into a heated battle of words over Carter’s vote to hand the rogue Varox the Suicide bomb.
“What did you expect me to do?” he barked, “There were volatile nuclear weapons in there! I couldn’t risk blowing up a shot to capture one potential bounty hunter–” Thomas cut Carter off at that moment. “The most ‘volatile’ nuclear weapon are now in the hands of a deadly hunter who will stop at nothing to blow us all to hell!”
“What’s so bad about a suicide bomb?” Cole whispered to Jason while the two were bickering.
“It’s not really a bomb,” Jason whispered back, “it sends a worldwide signal to every nuke that causes them to self-destruct. Considering how many hidden nukes are out there…” Jason finished his answer by motioning his left hand across his neck in a cutting motion.
Carter’s face grew angrier; he couldn’t believe that this guy is blaming him for something he believes he had no control over. “I have to consider the safety of thousand of people,” he remarked coldly, “I’m not the same man I was two years ago, Oliver. I’m the head of Lightspeed Rescue, which says a lot more than what you’re doing!” This prompted Thomas to go into a fighting stance. Jason stood up and tried to calm his friend, but Thomas wouldn’t have it.
“Back off, Jason,” he told his friend, “this is between me and Mister Lightspeed Rescue over here.”
Carter took off his uniform jacket and went into his own fighting stance. “I’m not a fan of fighting,” he said sternly, “but if I have to, I will fight you.”
Cole took a step forward in an attempt to calm the two, but Jason stopped him. “Don’t bother,” he advised, “they’ll just kick your ass too.” Cole did as he said.
Thomas stared at Carter with rage. Carter stared back at the former Green Ranger with a slight hint of anxiety, although he didn’t show it. Both motioned in a circle for two minutes, neither one attempting or even hinting at making the first move. Thomas breathed heavily while Carter let out quick huffs. Jason noticed that Thomas was willing to get into this fight, while Carter would do anything to get out of it.
“Tom,” Jason said softly, not caring whether Thomas was listening or not, “as much as I don’t like what Carter did, that’s no reason for this stupidity.” No answer from Thomas, just as Jason expected.
“Remember the old days, Tom? Remember when we were under that shark’s spell that brought us against each other?” Still no answer.
“Listen to me, bro. Carter’s not the enemy.” Jason said calmly, although Thomas isn’t even acknowledging it, “This isn’t going to fix things. You’re better than this.”
Carter stopped and let his arms hang. He looked over to Jason, who was smacking himself on the forehead as if saying, “Carter, you idiot!” When he noticed Carter letting his guard down, Thomas proceeded to take a step forward, about to make the first move, but Jason stepped in.
“Get out of my way, Jay.” Thomas barked.
“No way, Tom,” Jason declared, “you want him, you have to go through me.”
Thomas looked at his friend. “My problem’s with Mr. ‘I’m da head of Lightspeed.'”
Jason seemed disappointed by his friend’s behavior. “Look, bro,” he advised, with a bit of threat behind it, “You’re angry and I can understand that. Fighting doesn’t solve anything, but if you really need it, then fight me, not this idiot over here.” The ‘idiot’ response got to Carter, but decided against retaliation. He seems angry at me too, he thoughtfully concluded.
Thomas pulled out his Zeonizer from his pocket. Not exactly what I wanted, Jason thought. Since he couldn’t get Thomas to change his mind, he decided to play along and pulled out his own Morpher. “If we’re going to do this,” Thomas said forcibly, “we’re going to do this outside.”
—
“What you’re about see,” Aradon stated in an auditorium with the three Rangers, “is what we know about this planet-killer as you call it.”
Aradon pressed on a button and an image appeared on the giant viewer. The pictures showed of a spiked egg blueprint, followed by several satellite images of a black egg-shaped object in planetary atmospheres. During the clip show, Aradon dictated his notes to his three guests.
“The ship that you’ve encountered is called the Wraith,” he began, “a weapon of unlimited power. It is, remarkably, the most well-armed and well-armored vessel that the Machine Empire has ever encountered.”
“So,” Zhane interjected, “you’ve dealt with this before.”
Aradon nodded, “The destruction of Gorah Khan was the second meeting with the Wraith. The first meeting was near a disputed sector of space where various planets were found to be missing. An battalion of ten battlecruisers and fifty destroyers were sent to either possibly disable or preferably destroy the ship in question.” Andros noticed a bit of sadness in Aradon’s tone, “The entire battalion lasted all six seconds, fallen under a hail of pulse weapons.”
Aradon pressed another button, the image changed to one of the Wraith’s spikes that the Megaship encountered. “Each one of these spikes,” he continued, “has about 12 pulse cannons, the red spots on the surface.”
TJ studied the spike closely while Zhane looked past Aradon to view the outer pothole.
“How would this ‘Wraith’ blow planets apart?” TJ interjected with interest, “I doubt that those cannons will do the job?”
“Of course,” Aradon answered. He pushed another button and an image of the Wraith’s front view was brought up; a round shape with a red pulsating hole in the middle. “The Wraith uses a super laser,” he continued, “whose design is based on the laser weapon of Serpenterra, except somewhat stronger.”
“Wait,” interrupted Andros, trying to keep up, “are you saying that Wraith is a smaller, but stronger version of Serpenterra?”
Aradon nodded.
“Great,” TJ groaned, “several hundred pulse weapons, tough as nails armor, AND a planet-killing super-laser. It can’t get any worse, can it?”
—
Out on an open field, two longtime friends face each other in combat for the first time in a long while. Some distance apart, Thomas Oliver and Jason Lee Scott locked eyes with each other for some time. Each one holds their respective morpher, waiting for the right moment. Near the house, Carter Grayson and Cole Evans watched the fight from afar. They were about to see a sight they never thought possible; the battle between two Power Rangers.
There have been Ranger battles among each other before, but this was different. There are no spells involved, no misguided loyalties, no evil agents… just two longtime friends venting out their frustrations… or rather, the frustrations of one.
Jason looked at his friend; Tom had some anger built in him, he thought to himself, and he needs to vent it out. Thomas looked back at his friend; Jason knows I need to vent my anger, he thought, but not on him.
“I was going to let this pass, Tom,” Jason said, “but since you really need this, then I should let you know that I’m not holding back.”
Thomas nodded with reluctance, “Agreed. Let’s do this.”
Both Red Rangers stared each down a short while longer before calling out in unison, “IT’S MORPHIN TIME!”
Two flashes of light enveloped on both Jason and Thomas. When both faded, they were replaced with the Red Power Ranger and Red Zeo Ranger, both of them brandishing their respective Power swords. Neither one made a move for a minute. Then the battle begun.
Red Zeo leaped to the air, raising his sword above his head. Red Ranger also leaped with his sword above his head too. When the two met, both swords clashed together, causing a slight spark of red energy. The two landed on their feet and began dueling. Red Ranger managed to block off Red Zeo’s attacks, and Red Zeo managed to do the same. A mistake on Red Zeo’s part allowed for an opening, and Red Ranger took advantage with a spinning heel kick to his opponent’s hand, disarming him of his Zeo sword. Red Zeo would leap from Red Ranger’s sword strikes until he was in a favorable distance. Taking his Zeo Blaster, he fired a laser beam at Red Ranger. While the Power sword deflected the beam successfully, more shots from Zeo Red managed to keep Red Ranger off-balance. After blocking a few blows, a beam finally impacted Red Ranger, knocking him down.
Red Ranger groggily got back on his feet and turned to see Red Zeo leap, motioning for a jump kick. He recognized this move as the “Zeo Flying Power Kick,” an effective maneuver. Red Zeo flew at incredible speed and managed to land the kick on Red Ranger’s head, knocking him down.
Looking ahead behind his mask, Thomas frowned. “I expected more from you, Jason,” he taunted, “You’re a little out of touch.”
“Don’t worry, bro,” Red Ranger rebutted as he struggled back to his feet, “I’m just getting started.”
Drawing his Blade blaster from his holster, he fired several charged shots at Red Zeo. Although the first shot missed, the second shots onward did not and Red Zeo was jolted to the ground, but soon recovered quickly. Both Rangers attempted another round of hand-to-hand combat, showing off their martial arts prowess. Each attack was blocked, each move countered once or twice, each attempt at a finishing blow missed. After sidestepping one of Red Ranger’s roundhouse kicks, Red Zeo thrust his head with full force at Red Ranger’s face. Taking advantage of his opponent’s stunned state, he leaped with another Power Kick attempt in mind, but Red Ranger blocked the maneuver with his arms and countered with a swift kick to the head of Zeo Red. Thomas could do nothing except wait until his body impacted the ground.
Seeing Red Zeo struggling to his feet, Red Ranger rushed towards his opponent and went for a sliding kick, effectively tripping Red Zeo back on the black soil of the battle field.
—
Near the house, Cole Evans and Carter Grayson watched as the two veteran Power Rangers fought it out. Carter hung his head in depression.
“Damn,” he groaned, “why is this my problem?”
Cole couldn’t understand, although chances are he wasn’t meant to. So he sat patiently on the ground while Carter grumbled.
“When Captain Mitchell stepped down and offered me command of Lightspeed Rescue, it was a thrill. I’m not just some second-string Red Ranger that got the role because I was chosen by a government-sanctioned organization that knew how to develop the technology.
“I wasn’t chosen by a sage or a floating head or by pulling a sword out of its stone. I was given a duty as a Ranger by a man of the people. I like to think I did my job well… well enough to earn a promotion. But the job as Commander was too much for me. It’s not all I expected it to be.”
Cole paused for a moment before thoughtfully telling Carter his feelings on the matter. “From what you tell me,” he suggested innocently enough, “is that you were an idiot to accept the promotion in the first place.”
Again with the idiot, Carter thought. It did NOT sit too well with him, but he agreed with Cole for the most part, although he didn’t want to openly admit it.
“Look on the bright side,” Cole offered, “Wes and Eric aren’t around to call you an idiot.”
Carter looked at the rookie Ranger. That one look was all Cole needed to get the “Shut Up” message.
—
After a half hour of various moves and countermoves, Red Ranger and Red Zeo stood at a distance from each other, both firmly clutching their blasters with both hands. Traditional martial arts did not work. Swordplay did nothing to end the fight. It would be luck of the draw. Without hesitation, Red Ranger fired several blasts, but Red Zeo managed a high leap and fired a flurry of laser bolts at Red Ranger, who managed to dodge most of the incoming fire before getting blasted on the chest and was subsequently knocked down.
With his adversary fallen, Red Zeo threw away the blaster and made a leap in the air. He positioned his right arm so that the tip of the elbow would hit. Red Ranger noticed his adversary above him, but did not move out of the way. Instead, he simply crossed his arms across his chest and soon extended them. A brief flash occurred, blinding Zeo Red temporarily but not enough to knock him away. Zeo Red did feel a pain in his elbow, as it collided with a golden plate. Zeo Red stood quickly and observed his fallen opponent. Behind the mask was a shocked expression. Slightly audible, he mouthed the word “Impossible.”
The distraction in place, Red Ranger lifted his foot across Zeo Red’s head, knocking him silly. When Zeo Red got himself back together, he looked ahead at his Ranger opponent and saw him forming a ball of red energy. After a moment, Red Ranger released the ball and saw as it impacted and knocked down Zeo Red. Once fallen, the uniform of the Red Zeo Ranger faded and left behind the defeated Thomas Oliver. Red Ranger demorphed soon after and went to check on his friend. Thankfully, Thomas was still breathing.
“You okay, bro?” Jason asked worriedly, offering a hand.
Thomas nodded slowly, taking the hand of his friend, who helped get back on his feet.
“Thanks, man,” Thomas said, embarrassed, “I needed that.”
“No problem, bro.”
As the two Rangers recovered, Thomas’ wrist communicator made a light tone, indicating that he was receiving an e-mail. Jason motioned him to go ahead while he recovered. Thomas gave a small smile, nodded, and rushed towards the house.
—
From : Andros, KO-35 Mailer-Unit 001
To : Thomas Oliver
Subject : Trouble In Space
Tom. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to reach you the past few days, but we’ve had several problems. As I type this message, we (TJ, Zhane, and myself) are guests of Aradon, the new ruler of the Machine Empire… or rather what’s left of it. It’s a long story, one that I don’t have time for so I’ll get to the point.
We’ve been tracking several asteroid belts that used to be planets, one of them being Gorah Khan. After some searching, we eventually found a massive spiked vessel, presumably the cause of all this destruction. We tried to engage it, but all that left us was a burning hulk of a ship.
Surprisingly to us, Aradon’s battlecruiser picked us up and agreed to assist us with repairs to the ship, as well as shed some light on this machine. From what we know, it’s called the Wraith and it has a superlaser similar to Serpenterra, but more powerful. Aside from this, there’s little else we know.
I’m hoping that you can help us out with this. Thanks. Andros
Thomas turned his chair away from the message and looked ahead at Carter with a quizzical look. “The Varox said that he was preparing this planet for something called the Wraith, wasn’t he?” he asked.
Carter nodded slowly. Thomas stood up and stared blankly at the Lightspeed commander. “Do you have access to the archives?”
“Yes” was Carter’s soft reply.
“Good,” Thomas said, obviously pleased, “I want you to find whatever you can on this ‘Wraith’ and copy the files to disk. Then come back.”
“Right” was Carter’s other reply.
Thomas managed a quick smile before his face went firm. “This is more important than your job.” he told him, “This does not leak to anyone except fellow Rangers. Is that understood?”
Carter hesitated slightly. He did not want to comply, but then he does not want to lose the trust of the veteran. With a defeated tone, Carter answered, “Perfectly.”
Thomas noticed the look of guilt on Carter’s face and dropped his head down. He soon looked up and placed a hand on the former Lightspeed Ranger’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I went all out at you,” Thomas said in an apologetic tone, “I didn’t mean to. I’m just frustrated at all this.”
“Don’t worry,” answered Carter, allowing himself a smile, “this thing’s been hot on all of us.”
“Just the same, I don’t want anything we’re doing to leak out,” Thomas’ tone changed to a stern commander, “We’ll meet again tomorrow morning.”
With that, Carter gave Thomas a salute and walked out the room. Thomas waited until the door was shut, then gave a salute of his own. He allowed a grin. Even though things seem badly, he has a plan that requires something from the old days. Something that is vital…
Enough of this, he thought, time to get to work.
—
In a desert backdrop, a sole black hummer can be sighted racing at incredible speeds, causing sand to fly out from under the vehicle. The hummer would soon approach a rock formation and stopped about a mile away. The passenger door opened and out stepped Wes Collins carrying a shotgun. He turned his head to the other side of the vehicle to see his friend and partner Eric Myers, also carrying a shotgun, climbing out of the other side. Both looked at the rock formation ahead of them, knowing the path ahead will not be an easy one.
After a brief moment of silence, Wes spoke with a light tone, “Let’s go.”
—
Damn, Carter Grayson thought to himself as he stared blankly at a monitor screen with various figures, why did they change to a new OS?
Accessing the archives was a difficult process because Lightspeed had opted to dump its traditional Windows operating system (the same 98 version they’ve been using since Lightspeed’s inception six years ago) with a new one of their design. This new system had so many new algorithms and coding techniques that it made hacking anywhere from very difficult to virtually impossible depending on the files you were trying to access. The archives, Carter noted, are normally un-protected so that it would be quicker to access.
But when Carter called up for files on the Wraith, he couldn’t get through. Every time he attempted to open up the Wraith files, he was met with a ERROR – ACCESS NOT ALLOWED message. He tried entering his access code, but the system would not give. Carter cursed himself silently as the machine started taunting him with the ERROR – ACCESS NOT ALLOWED message. Carter knew he would have to search for the right code to open those “restricted” files, but he was presented with another dilemma; why would anyone keep him from accessing the Wraith files?
Realizing a plan, he pressed a button on his comm system. “Reno,” he said in a tone suited for an executive officer, “I can’t access the Wraith files. Could you help me with this?”
“Sure,” a rugged voice blurted over the speaker, “I’m on my way.” -*-
Carter stared at the monitor for a moment until he noticed Reno through the window. The door opened at Carter’s command. Walking in was a tall man in his mid-30s, wearing a green shirt with blue pants. He had the look of a bodybuilder and the intelligence of a genius. Some people referred to Reno as the miracle man of Lightspeed since his induction into service two years ago.
Reno saluted Carter (with Carter returning the salute) and approached the system. “Something wrong, sir?” he asked in his usual rugged tone.
Carter turned to look at Reno’s face. “You do realize that anything we do or say comes out of this room?” he asked in a stern voice.
Reno looked back at Carter with a confused expression. He took a breath and stated, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, sir.”
Both men let out devilish grins; in the years that Carter served as commander, Reno had been the former Lightspeed Ranger’s trusted friend and confidant, a role he takes very seriously. Out of all the Lightspeed officials and non-Rangers that Carter has worked with, Reno has been the one to help out with various paperwork and other things that are required of a commander.
Carter pointed at the screen, specifically at the locked Wraith files. “So what do you make of this?”
“Looks like a standard Level-2 clearance file,” Reno answered lightly at he studied the statistics, “so you should be able to access it.”
“Except I can’t,” Carter said impatiently, “and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to override it because of this damned system.”
Carter stood and offered the chair to Reno, who accepted by sitting down. Reno was typing on the keyboard, trying every code that he knows. “This may take awhile, sir,” he bemused, “you may want to sit down.”
—
The Astro Megaship has seen better days, Andros thought to himself.
As Andros surveyed the halls of the ship, he could see panels laying around along with various bits of debris. On the up side, the ship had been repaired to the point where it can operate under its own power, but it still required some repair work, specifically in restore lost systems like weapons and shields.
After Cogs finished installing a workable drive, Aradon’s flagship escorted the Rangers to KO-35, where a team of mechanics and technicians would continue to refit the ship. Zhane decided to overlook refit while Andros and TJ stayed with Aradon to discuss battle strategies concerning the Wraith planet-killer.
Unfortunately, no method was developed in tracking its whereabouts, only the trail of asteroid fields that fill the void of rogue planets. After some time, a conclusion was developed by TJ. “Noticed how this thing is going after wasteland planets?” he asked, “with the occasional living world?”
Aradon nodded his head slowly. “It is somewhat of a pattern,” he stated matter-of-factly, “however, that doesn’t help us with finding the Wraith.”
Suddenly, sirens sounded and cogs were seen rushing towards battle positions. The bright white lights dimmed and started to pulsate in a red haze. Andros and TJ stood up looking around at the chaos occurring in the ship. “What’s going on?” the Red Space Ranger asked.
“Trouble” was Aradon’s brief and self-explanatory answer.
—
A regular debriefing for former Wild Force Ranger Taylor concerning her involvement in the recovery of survivors in the Mariner Bay incident was nothing special; the usual debriefing procedure that is common with most military forces. She saluted her officials, packed her bags, and left the base in her yellow Jeep, ready to take advantage of her leave.
Riding by the clean Turtle Cove beaches, she contemplated several things; Chad, the Ranger that was uncovered in the debris, was a close friend to the commander, who himself was one. She thought of the time she met Eric and how they acquainted with each other… hard to believe these two met due to a speeding violation. And then she thought of her other Ranger friends. She had not seen them in a long time and sometimes worry about them, despite her somewhat cold exterior.
After riding around the streets for a while, Taylor headed home for a much-needed rest. She couldn’t contribute anything else when she was a Ranger, let alone tired.
—
“Man,” Wes Collins complained, “you’d think he’d warn us about the heat!”
Eric Myers looked back at his friend, now wearing nothing but a black T-shirt and underpants, and couldn’t help but laugh at Wes’ expense. “Relax,” he comforted mockingly, “as soon as I find a nice sombrero, I’ll let you have it.”
Wes snorted, embarrassed at himself.
Some time later, the two came across a strange formation of rocks. Looking up, they noticed a structure of unknown origin. The structure seems to be in ruins but from their current position, the Silver Guardian/Time Force Rangers couldn’t tell for sure.
“Since we’re close,” Eric announced, “maybe we should take five.”
Wes nodded in agreement and slumped on the ground while Eric sat down. He then pulled out two pocket-sized silver bags, toss one to Eric, and opened it up. Eric stared at his package for a moment and opened his as well. The package is actually a food ration and contained nothing more than various dried banana slices, cracker crumbs, and other dehydrated crumbs. Wes took a pitch of the contents and dropped them in his mouth while Eric consumed the contents from the bag as he would a drink.
“Nothing like crumbs to fill your batteries, right?” Wes asked jokingly.
Eric didn’t answer, but didn’t ignore his partner either.
Wes’ smile faded and decided to bring up another subject. “So I heard you and Taylor had a date last week.”
Eric looked at his friend as if he was disillusioned. “I don’t believe a visit to the Weapons Museum is considered a ‘date,’ Wes.” he groaned in depression. Noticing his friend eyeing on him, he surrendered his confidentiality. “It went okay,” he said matter-of-factly.
Wes waited for Eric to answer, but nothing. “That’s it?” Wes asked with mock impatience, “It went okay? That’s all you have to say.”
Eric looked up at Wes’ disbelieving face and grinned devilishly. He then announced with triumph, “It’s more than you need to know.” The response was Wes moaning and Eric felt satisfied with himself. “Okay, stop crying, dipshit.” Eric told him, “We have work to do.”
—
The main viewer showed a cross-shaped vessel practically the same size as Aradon’s battlecruiser. The vessel was commonly operated by rogue pirates that served under the banner of the former Alliance.
The bridge of the battlecruiser filled with cogs and infantry-cogs going back and forth, prepping the ship for combat. After reaching weapons range, the cruiser fired its disruptor cannons at the stern of the pirate cruiser. The bright orange energy beams were blocked by a greenish energy field. The pirate ship managed a burst of energy torpedoes directed at the battlecruiser’s engine, but the torpedoes missed their mark, allowing the battlecruiser to fire two more disruptor beams at the pirate vessel, blocking the beams with their shield.
In the tactical center of the ship, Aradon was barking orders to cogs while the two Rangers watched from the sidelines. They were willing to help, but since they don’t know much about the new Machine tech, they opted to stay out of the way until they were needed. Aradon watched the display screen, showing the pirate cruiser launching small fighter craft. They seemed like the new streamlined Velocifighters, except they were moving at a high speed and were firing pulse weapons.
Noticing this, Aradon turned to the two humans. “I assume you know how to pilot a fighter?”
Both nodded.
“Good,” Aradon said, “then get onto Quadrafighters and give us a hand.”
—
After a slow and steady climb, Wes Collins and Eric Myers reached the top to survey the strange structure. As it turned out, the structure seems to be recently built. It’s strange because just several minutes prior, the structure was in ruin. Wes and Eric stared at each other for a moment before approaching the nearest wall. On the wall were some designs, not necessarily engraved, but as if it was drawn with charcoal. Wes rubbed off a part of the design and inspected his fingers to find them covered with charcoal.
“I guess this is it,” Wes concluded, “call Tom. Tell him we found it.”
Eric pulled out his cell phone, touched a few buttons, and waited for a signal. On the other line, Thomas Oliver answered with a slight hint of a depressive tone. “Hello?”
Eric noticed the depression on the other side of the line, “You okay?”
Thomas stated it bluntly, “I got my ass handed. What’s up?”
Eric paused for a moment, looking at the structure that had finished forming itself, before answering, “I think we’ve found your wrecked ‘command center…'”
No answer on the other line. Eric probably assumed he lost the signal, but checked that the timer was still going. Finally, Thomas spoke, albeit with a hint of uncertainty, “Are you sure?”
Eric looked around once more before responding awkwardly, “I guess.”
“Okay,” Thomas said, still uncertain, “I’m on my way.”
—
The pirate Velocifighters came in swarms, shooting down Quadrafighters with their missiles and using pulse weapons to weaken the Machine battlecruiser’s shields. In the cockpit of one of the Quadrafighters, Andros checked for a weak point in the pirate cruiser’s defenses. Noticing a nearby Velocifighter, Andros veered his fighter for a collision course. At a decent range, he fired the Quadrafighter’s plasma rings at the incoming target, promptly destroying it and proceeding for the pirate cruiser.
TJ had his own problems trying to destroy torpedoes that were further weakening the cruiser’s shields. He fired one of the specially-equipped polaron torpedoes at one of the Velocifighters and watched as the light-blue bolt smashed through one Velocifighter after another until it impacted the pirate cruiser’s stern shield. TJ targeted the cruiser itself and noticed that the pirate ship had one force shield surrounding the ship as opposed to a shield for each side of the ship. Because of this, TJ grinned and pressed on an intercom system.
“Andros,” he yelled loudly enough to make him audible amid the firefights, “the pirate ship only has one shield surrounding the whole ship. Another torpedo should drop the shield.”
Andros didn’t answer his friend. Instead, the Kerovan headed straight for the pirate cruiser. TJ realized his friend’s course of action and decided to provide cover fire for all incoming enemy fighters. One Velocifighter managed to slip by the two R at high speeds. TJ could do nothing but watch as that one suicidal fighter managed to punch right through the battlecruiser’s shields and crash right into one of the ship’s wings.
Within the battlecruiser, computer consoles blew apart and bulkheads flew, resulting in the destruction of several cogs in the room. The tactical center of the ship also suffered, with debris flying and several cables hanging loose from the ceiling. Aradon managed to avoid damage, although his infantry was not lucky enough.
Within weapon range, Andros guided his Quadrafighter above the pirate cruiser. The cruiser fired its own laser weapons, but the Red Space Ranger managed to expertly dodge the incoming fire and retaliated with a couple of polaron torpedoes at one of the ship’s engine. One torpedo was met with an energy shield, but the second torpedo managed to impact the engine, causing a cascade of explosions to occur.
Over the comm, Andros informed the squadron, “The pirate ship is vulnerable! Let’s take it out NOW!”
Ten Quadrafighters began launching their torpedoes at the pirate ship while the others finished off the remaining Velocifighters. The pirate ship attempted to turn for escape, but could not evade or withstand the barrage of torpedoes. In a matter of seconds, the flaming hulk of the vessel blew apart, debris scattered throughout space. The enemy has been vanquished.
“We did it!” TJ declared over the comm system, “we won!”
There were slight cheers over the comm system of the battlecruiser. Despite the damage and losses suffered, they have survived. Suddenly, the celebration halted as quickly as it begun when a warning signal sounded. One of the Cogs still standing in the tactical center checked the scanner.
“My liege,” the Cog said in its mechanical voice, “there is a massive vessel approaching.”
Andros heard the Cog’s warning over the comm. As he looked on, he noticed an spiked, egg-shaped vessel approaching. He recognized the spikes, the red weapon ports, the steam. It was the threat they were chasing after. The Wraith.
TJ observed the ominous ship approach the battered fleet. In his mind, he knows that they do not stand a chance.
Aradon observed the Wraith from what’s left of his throne room. He sat on his battered throne and clutched both hands together, contemplating his next move. He could strike the enemy, but they’re significantly damaged from the battle with the pirate ship.
“What’s our status?” Aradon demanded.
One Cog answered, a slight hint of pity in the mechanical voice, “My liege, the ship is a wreck. Our shield system is malfunctioning, our weapons are at 30% efficiency, and we have almost no maneuvering power. We have lost twenty-two Quadrafighters out of the thirty-three.”
Aradon stared blankly at the approaching Wraith. “Recall all Quadrafighters back to the ship,” he ordered with reluctance, “we have to retreat.”
—
Thomas Oliver stood in front of the structure, staring as if it was a ghost from the past.
In some ways, that’s exactly what it might have been. The original home base of the original Power Rangers, destroyed once by means of an implosion device, but was soon restored and served as a entryway to the underground Power Chamber base. That base, along with this structure, was destroyed during the Turbo Rangers’ battle with pirate queen Divatox and the ruins has been dormant all this time.
… or so everyone thought.
In front of him was the very structure thought to have been destroyed and never to return and yet here it is, just as it appeared ten years ago. Realizing he wasn’t alone, he turned towards the two Silver Guardians. “You guys better regroup with the others,” he ordered, although unsure of himself. “Form whatever strategy you can to find and stop the Varox.”
“What about you?” Eric asked implicitly.
Thomas gave a sigh. “I have an old acquaintance to meet with… sort of.”
—
“Recall all Quadrafighters back to the ship, we have to retreat.”
At the command of the Machine King Aradon, the fledging battlecruiser, along with several Quadrafighters that have survived the encounter with a pirate cruiser just moments ago, slowly turned away from the Wraith planet-killer that was fast approaching their . Because of a ramming attack by one of the pirate fighters, the battlecruiser suffered heavy damage to their main engines and thus was unable to outrun the ship.
In the cockpit of one of the Quadrafighters, Andros looked ahead at the awesome size of the enemy. Their first encounter with this massive object, even at full operating capacity, had nearly resulted in the destruction of their vessel. The other Quadrafighters simply flew around to the side of the battlecruiser, but a couple were looking in the direction of the ship.
“Whatever you do, do not fire.” Andros commanded to the other fighters through the comm, “we don’t have the firepower.”
Much to the surprise of Aradon (and the confusion of his two allies), the Wraith simply passed by the fleet without laying a single shot. In fact, the Wraith did not even bother to slow down. It was as if it did not notice the relatively small (and drastically weakened) Machine fleet. In the tactical station, Aradon watched the main viewer as it displayed the giant spiked vessel pass by them at intense speeds. Fortunately for them, none of the spikes were in the cruiser’s path.
TJ looked on as the Wraith flew towards a blue sphere. “What is that planet over there?” he asked over the comm.
It took a moment before he heard a distorted Aradon over the comm. “It’s a rogue planet,” he said, “No life signs.”
On the one hand, a sigh of relief. On the other hand, another planet was about to be destroyed.
—
For the first time since retirement, Thomas Oliver stepped into the empty room known as the Command Center. He didn’t know if this place had been around during their tenure as Zeo Rangers, even though the Power Chamber was much better equipped to deal with the invading Machine Empire… that last thought brought a slight chuckle to Thomas. It was hard to believe that there is nothing left of the regime… all thanks to something known as the Wraith.
Shaking his head, Thomas approached one of the consoles, specifically the one with the Numeral Pad. Keying in the numbers 5 – 3 – 9 – 4 and following that combination with a Pound key, Thomas turned to see a door of light emanate from the other side of the room.
Glad to see this still works, Thomas thought to himself as he approached the door of light and took the first step.
—
“I did it, Commander!” Reno informed Carter Grayson with confidence, “I’m in!”
The former Lightspeed Ranger approached the computer console and watched as various satellite pictures (the images were displayed in four shades of green due to Lightspeed’s older satellite systems) were on display in a slideshow. The images showed nothing more than a black mass behind a starfield and close-up images would should various rocky spikes. Carter’s jaw dropped at the next image, which featured a beam of light cutting through a spherical object, most presumably a moon or planet.
Reno looked at the images with astonishment. “Whatever this ‘Wraith’ is, sir,” he said impressively, “it’s one powerful ass kicker.”
Carter didn’t register Reno’s remark. He stared in awe at the bland yet disturbing images of a powerful threat to this planet. He couldn’t find the words to describe the image he saw. After a minute of silence, Carter approached the keyboard typed in “suicide bomb” as his next search term. Reno expected those files to be classified, but to their astonishment, only one file on the suicide bomb was available and this was viewable to all levels. Even the rookie cadets could study these plans.
“Why would Lightspeed keep the Wraith files classified but not the bomb, Reno?” Carter asked.
Reno did not answer for a while, as he was studying the bomb plans. After a moment, he spoke with an ominous tone, “The bomb plans are pretty detailed, sir. I can’t answer your question as to why.”
Carter read some of the bomb details. There was a lot of information here that should be classified but for some reason isn’t. “Reno, make me a copy on CD.” he told his assistant, “I’m bringing some of this to the Rangers.”
—
The Space Rangers and Aradon observe the Wraith as it approached a nearby rogue planet, presumably its next target. Left without options on how to stop it, they could do nothing but watch as the Wraith fired several of their pulse weapons at the planet. However, they’ve noticed that the flurry of energy projectiles from the Wraith did not destroy the planet. As they learned before, the Wraith usually destroyed worlds using a super-laser… so why the weapons fire on the planet?
For three straight minutes, they’ve watched the Wraith fire various projectiles at the same rogue planet. Finally, the barrage of projectiles stopped and a blue beam emanated from the Wraith to the rogue world. After several seconds, the planet was consumed in an aura of blinding light and what remained were several asteroids. The Wraith soon veered away from the rumble.
In the tactical room of the battlecruiser, there was silence, save for the background noise of engine humming and computer bleeps. Andros displayed a sense of confusion through his facial expressions, while TJ scratched his head. Aradon stared blankly at the viewer before approaching a console and pressing a few buttons. The viewer showed the Wraith and its barrage on the planet. Another button click and it showed the Wraith using its super laser to destroy the rogue planet. Another button click and it showed the asteroid field.
Turning to his crew, Aradon stared for a moment and spoke softly, “I believe we’ve learned something about our enemy.”
TJ caught on to what the Machine king meant. “The laser isn’t strong enough on its own, so the Wraith uses its weapons to cut the planet down.” TJ noticed nodding heads of the crowd, so he continued, “so we have to figure out how to use that to our advantage.” The nodding heads stopped and now made faces filled with confusion. Silence filled the room until Andros spoke up.
“I have an idea,” he said in a light but serious tone, “but we’re going to need a very important piece of hardware.”
—
The chamber of light seemed familiar to Thomas. The control panels and the optical read-outs were the same as before. Although he had been unconscious most of the time, Thomas recognized this place as the hidden laboratory where Zordon and Alpha Five had experimented with a new Power Ranger, the White Ranger. Aside from the fact that it had collected dust over years of inactivity, it is relatively unchanged, as if he had been there for the first time. Clearly, the multiple destructions of the structure above did not affect this chamber at all.
Thomas decided to due away with the nostalgic feelings for the moment and concentrate on the matter at hand. Beside the lab table were several file folders. Curious, Thomas thought to himself, I had never known Zordon to be keeping notes on paper. Grabbing the stack of files, Thomas opened one of them and studied the various documentation. He chuckled to himself; the first folder contained documentation of the White Ranger project. Another folder contained implemented features into the White Ranger project. Everything seemed ordinary; typical schematics, abilities, and other…
Thomas backtracked through the documents he scanned through until he found the one marked “GS-01.” Taking the document from the folder, he scanned through the document, looking at handwritten words and diagrams. When Zordon briefed Thomas long ago, he explained that the White Ranger was supposed to be more powerful than any other Ranger, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about a “GS-01” of any kind. Thomas sat on a chair near the lab desk and began to read the document with interest and curiosity. Although the information is rather outdated, it could hold something worth mentioning.
For several pages, the document was simple properties of energy absorption through a process unfamiliar to Thomas. The next part of the document had an interesting theory about an ability to gather the absorbed energy with a Ranger and use it to release a discharge of energy that would devastate everything in its path. This did not make sense to Thomas; why would Zordon implement a destructive power into the White Ranger matrix?
Another curious dilemma strikes Thomas in the third and final part of the document. In the final three pages were schematics of the White Ranger, except the schematics included components not installed in the final product. In fact, Thomas’ eyes widened when he read that the additional components could not be found and therefore, compensations had to be made. Thomas sat there confused. Missing components? Compensations? What does all this mean?
—
“Zhane,” Andros spoke through the comm in an empty room, “how’s the repair work going?”
Zhane took a while to answer – probably due to the comm system on the fritz – but sounded cheerful when he did. “We’re almost ready to go. Better shield system, better armor plating.”
“Good,” said Andros, who sounded more serious, “we’re going to need a little extra something.” As he spoke, TJ walked into the room, but the Kerovan did not take notice.
“What do you mean?” Zhane asked confusedly.
Finally noticing the other Ranger, Andros turned to him and asked, “Remember the Serpenterra salvage operation from two years ago?”
“Yeah” was TJ’s only answer.
“Do you know if the laser was found?” Andros asked.
TJ did not understand at first, but soon realized what he was asking. “Last time I checked, it looked to be in one piece,” he explained in a confused tone, “but nobody ever tested it to see if it worked.”
Andros turned back to the comm system, “Zhane, see if you can get the weapon and load onto the shuttle compartment. Use whatever power relays you need.”
There was a moment of silence on the other line. Andros had thought that the signal was lost, but after a while, Zhane answered, “No problem.” As the comm light went off, Andros stood up quickly and turned to TJ, who figured out his friend’s plan of attack.
“What better way to kill a planet-killer,” TJ smugly suggested, “than with Serpenterra? Or rather, its laser?”
—
Thomas’ study into the White Ranger files intrigued him enough as to spend an hour through the notes. Noticing how much time has past, he set aside the files and approached a computer console. He keyed up the word “Wraith” and the screen displayed over two hundred different entries concerning the term “Wraith.” At first Thomas thought his search parameter was too general, but then remembered former Ranger William Cranston saying that the database “knows” what to look for. Thomas also remember Billy explicating telling him not to ask, so he didn’t.
The files concerning the Wraith proved to be more useful than Thomas had hoped for. Most of the Wraith’s functionality was clearly explained, including the less-than-powerful laser beam that only destroys ravaged planets while causing healthy worlds to become wastelands. In other words, Thomas concluded, a bigger Serpenterra with more guns. Other files has incidents and known encounters with the planet-killer.
One particular file was especially interesting. HISTORY OF THE WRAITH was the header. Thomas selected the file and read an extensive essay. He learned that the Wraith was a weapon built by an ancient civilization, designed to destroy their enemies effortlessly. Most of this information seemed trivial, except for one portion. Thomas had to read and re-read this segment several times, and each time he read it, he couldn’t believe it.
During the days of the Repulsa wars, Eltarian troops commanded by Zordon uncovered and used the Wraith to destroy most of Rita Repulsa’s border worlds before abandoning the weapon. However, they did not shut down the Wraith and thus the ship went about its original program; destroying uninhabitable worlds high on resources.
I can’t believe it, Thomas mouthed. Zordon had a part in this thing’s rampage?
Desperate to search for more, Thomas skimmed through Zordon’s journals that dated to the period in question. They confirmed his fears about Zordon’s involvement:
This weapon seemed like the perfect foil to take out the threat of Rita and end the Repulsa regime. However, it was difficult to control, so I set its mission parameters to go out and destroy rogue worlds that were under Rita’s control.
Thomas didn’t understand that particular statement and continued down towards the entry’s final lines:
The Wraith did not receive any orders to halt its assault and in fact, none of us, not even myself, had thought much about it. By the time we realized our error, the Wraith was gone. Its destination… unknown. Its purpose… mindless destruction. Its target is simply rogue worlds… but I have no doubt that it will stop there. It is a weapon capable of defending itself and will stop at nothing to complete its mission.
Although Andros had told him in his recent email that the Wraith was still pursuing rogue worlds, the thought of Earth being a potential target certainly cross Thomas’ mind. However, with Andros taking care of that problem, he needn’t worry. So Thomas concentrated on the White Ranger project files, knowing that something within the files could possibly be adapted to the Zeo Ranger powers and could be of help to their conflict against the Varox threat.
—
Jason wanted to wait for Thomas to get back, even after Wes said he’ll be a little late. But time is of the essence. He stood in front of a small crowd, consisting of the two Silver Guardians, Carter Grayson, Blue Lightspeed Ranger Chad Lee, and Cole Evans.
“Okay,” he began, “you obviously know about the Mariner Bay incident and its cause of the widespread destruction.”
Everyone nodded in affirmation. Jason continued, “Then you probably also know that there is a second Varox running around with a government-built weapon known as the ‘suicide bomb’ which is a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.” Jason gestured to Carter, who clicked on a remote towards a video monitor. The monitor flashed open and displayed an image of wasteland as Jason proceeded with his commentary, “Thanks to Carter’s information, we managed to use the scanner to search for the device, which is found here.”
Carter stood and approached the monitor image of the wasteland. “The Varox hunter is hiding in one of these caverns,” he lectured, trying to keep it in a tone as to not sound boring, “but they’re all interconnected with each other, so it could lead to a central hub.”
“That hub,” Jason decreed, “is where we’ll find our bomb.”
Jason pointed to Wes, who stood and approached the console and pressed a few buttons. The wasteland image faded to a schematic of an armored van. “This is an experimental battle van,” Wes began enthusiastically, “it’s got missiles, lasers, mines, armor, rockets, the works.” His tone adopted some seriousness. “We’ll be riding this through the wasteland, in case our friend has some surprises for us.”
“I’ve already made a post to send two squads of troops to meet us as the rendezvous point.” Eric added, “they’ll take a while, but they’ll be there.”
All the rangers voiced their approval except for Cole, who was feeling left out. Noticing the rookie ranger, Jason approached him and laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You’re coming along too, Cole.” he comforted, “We need all the help we can get. Powers or not.”
Cole looked up to the veteran Red Ranger and smiled. “No problem.”
—
As the others prepared for battle, Jason made one last attempt to contact Thomas in the Command Center before leaving. Unfortunately, the comm signal could not get through to either Thomas’ cell phone nor his communicator. So Jason took a piece of paper, scribbled some words, and ran out the door after leaving the note on the table.
The note read “Don’t be late bro.”
—
“The suicide bomb is ready to go.”
The rogue Varox bounty hunter sat in a chamber with a console connected to several red canisters. On the visual, he sees an armored battle van storming through a deserted wasteland and smiles. They will come, he thought, and I will destroy them with one blast of this weapon.
The Varox looked on the viewer and saw that the target was within the blast range of the bomb. “Good,” he said devilishly to no one in particular. “They’re right on time.” Grabbing his pulse rifle, he walked out the cavern and stood still, awaiting his visitors.
—
Several hours have past since KO-35 mechanics have cleared the Megaship for departure. With new modifications and the installation of a new weapon, the Space Rangers were more than ready to take on the Wraith in a second confrontation. The GSA military managed to spare several ships; five Gladius ships and two Corsair ships. The Gladius-class vessel is similar in shape to the Megaship, except slightly smaller and more compact. The Corsair-class vessel can essentially be considered to be a flying battleship, complete with aircraft carrier.
Andros oversaw final testing of the Megaship’s new systems to ensure compatibility. When everything was set to go, he opened a comm link to the seven GSA cruisers and two Machine battlecruisers commanded by the Machine king Aradon.
“This is it,” Andros announced with a hint of nervousness, “we’re going to pursue a seemingly invincible enemy and do whatever we can to make sure it does not become a threat to civilization. This is quite possibly the biggest threat since Serpenterra and this time, we’re on our own. The other Power Rangers have trouble back home on Earth and can’t help us out.
“This is our only shot at taking this thing out,” he continued, “if we don’t win this fight, we won’t be getting another shot. Chances are we may not survive the encounter, but if we don’t, let’s hope we take this thing with us. Good luck to all of us.”
On that final note, the small assault team proceeded to leave KO-35’s orbit and seek out the Wraith planet-killer…
—
As Wes Collins drove the armored battle-van through the wastelands, the other Rangers for this mission (Jason Lee Scott – original Red Ranger, Carter Grayson and Chad Lee – Red and Blue Lightspeed Rangers using the new morphers developed by Lightspeed, Eric Myers – Quantum Ranger, and Cole Evans, the only Ranger without a morpher) were looking tense. Not one of them broke the silence that was considered to be intensity. No word from Thomas Oliver or any of the others in the past hour.
“Do you think Tommy will get back in time?” the rookie asked.
Jason let out a small grin. “He’ll show up,” he answered calmly, “he’ll be a little late, but he’ll show.” He turned his head to see Carter in deep thought. “Something on your mind, Carter?” he asked.
Carter shook his head. “I just have this bad feeling.”
As if on cue, a hard impact shook the Rangers up. Wes tilted his head to the front view of the van to see a figure firing energy projectiles… it was the Varox hunter. The hunter continued his barrage of fire as the battle-van avoided any nearby explosions. Wes pushed a button which uncovered a control lever with a trigger. Eric took control of the lever and pulled the trigger, resulting in a barrage of missiles to launch from the top launcher of the battle-van. All the missiles managed to successfully take down the Varox, but not necessarily destroy him. Eric, somewhat shocked that the hunter was able to survive that attack, fired more missiles. This time, the Varox dodged the flurry of warheads and fired a concentrated beam at the launcher, blowing it up instantly.
In the battle-van, the other Rangers held on to the side bar. “Stop the van!” Jason called out to Wes. “I’m going out there!”
Eric got up from his seat and clutched his helmet. “So are we!” he cried out. He soon passed a bracelet-like device to Cole. “Push the button to get you to the co-ordinates.” he ordered. Cole placed the bracelet and pushed the button. He soon flashed red and disappeared.
The Varox started at the approaching vehicle and smugly grinned behind his mask. He crossed both his arms and started to emanate a slight red glow around him. When the battle-van reached range, the Varox thrust his arms forward and let out a blue fireball at the vehicle. The fireball managed to impact the hood of the van, smoke coming out of it and eventually the vehicle exploded. The Varox stared into the flaming wreckage for a moment before walking into Wes’ flying kick.
—
The strike force lead by Andros and Aradon have managed to find their target. Conveniently enough, the Wraith had just destroyed another lifeless rogue world. Its next target was another rogue world nearby, only this one has life forms.
On the bridge of the Megaship, Andros sat in the command chair and observed the massive object. Despite major refit, the ship is still no match for the Wraith.
The strike force broke off into small groups, with the Megaship and battlecruisers firing laser weapons at a distance. Three Gladius ships provided cover fire while the other two attacked the surface. The Corsairs, the more heavily armed ships, dropped several nukes onto the surface of the Wraith. While the nukes did explode upon impact, they did not do much damage. The lead Corsair broke formation and proceeded to fire flak at a nearby spike, but soon fell into a storm of pulse weapons. Fortunately, a Gladius attacked the tower with its own weapons and attracted the spike’s fire, allowing the Corsair to launch several missiles at the base. After a while, the base was destroyed and the spike soon floated away.
The Megaship managed to avoid the onslaught of projectile fire, casually firing torpedoes at the spikes to attract fire. On the bridge of the lead cruiser, Aradon observed the MS under fire. Now was his ships’ chance to strike.
“Contact the other cruiser,” Aradon commanded to a nearby Cog, “tell them to switch to polaron weapons and destroy whatever towers you can.”
The second battlecruiser approached a nearby tower and fired its weapons; brilliant white beams and torpedoes flew and impacted the spike’s base, eventually obliterating it. Aradon’s ship aimed their weapons on the surface, but did not dent them.
Aradon spoke over the comm, “It seems we are making some progress.”
Aradon spoke too soon, as he observed on his viewer that from the flaming pit, another spike emerged from under the second battlecruiser, impaling the ship with little effort. “I spoke too soon,” he said regretfully, “the Wraith’s regenerative properties are much stronger than anticipated.”
Andros nodded as he heard Aradon’s comments. “Then it’s time we did something about it.” he spoke. He turned to TJ, who was manning the weapons station. “Is the laser ready?” he asked.
“Yes” was TJ’s confident reply.
As the Megaship flew into position, the two Corsairs managed to wipe out four more spikes. The lead Corsair would continue to launch nukes onto the surface of the ship. The first several nukes did not dent the surface. The last two nukes, however, managed to rupture the surface to the point where flames began to spit out, taking out the unfortunate Corsair that had caused its destruction.
Zhane checked the scanners for progress. “We’ve lost two ships,” he exclaimed, “but we’ve managed some damage.”
Andros didn’t pay much attention, not when he had to evade more projectiles. Even with a faster engine, the Megaship was still getting nailed by various weapons, but fortunately, unlike the first encounter, they won’t spell a quick demise. Meanwhile, the two Corsair pair dropped more nukes onto the crack and fired several missiles at more spikes, causing a huge eruption of flames that decimated one Corsair and impacted the other, spiraling out of control and to colliding with a nearby Gladius, destroying both ships.
Andros flew the Megaship past the spikes to the Wraith’s main laser port, skillfully avoiding the majority of the pulse shots. He had to admit that the new thrusters work rather nicely for a quick job. He set aside his impressed thoughts and concentrated on getting the laser, which seemed like it was starting to build up energy. A nearby Gladius swung under the Megaship with blazing speed, drawing the fire of the pulse weapons and allowing the Megaship to continue towards the laser port, which was practically the size of a small starbase. Brushing the sweat off his brow, Andros positioned the Megaship in front of the Wraith’s massive laser and pointed to TJ, who promptly pressed several buttons and inputted various commands to the tactical computer.
The housing that normally held the Megashuttle opened up to reveal a huge cannon with several mini-spikes sticking out of the top and bottom. On the bridge, TJ turned to Andros and gave him the thumbs up.
“Okay,” TJ stated, “the cannon will use up power from the batteries that were designed for it. We can hold a beam for 20 seconds before it shuts down.”
“Twenty seconds?” Zhane asked with concern, “what if the Wraith lasts longer than that?”
Andros shrugged the notion and answered quaintly, “We’ll just have to hope it doesn’t.”
Meanwhile Aradon’s vessel launched the remaining few Quadrafighters it has to attack the damaged towers and take them down. Because of their relative size and mass, the fighters were able to easily dodge and avoid the pulse weapons, causing them to damage the Wraith itself. Progress was being made, but not by much…
—
Wes managed to dodge projectiles from the Varox bounty hunter’s pulse rifle. He fired a couple of shots with his Chrono Blaster at his enemy but the Varox simply shrugged off the attacks and unleashed a barrage of missiles that knocked Wes down. Eric jumped in and delivered several quick roundhouse kicks and uppercuts, all of which the Varox either blocked or dodged. A mistake by Eric allowed the Varox to connect with a fierce clothesline, sending the Quantum flying.
The Varox laughed at his two adversaries. “Is this all you have?” he taunted, “That’s pathetic!”
This brought in Jason, who managed to surprise the Varox with a slash to the shoulder-plate from his power sword. The Varox turned to the veteran and threw a jab, which Jason dodges with quickness and counters with a hard right to the stomach that pushes the Varox back a step. Jason unleashed a quick sidekick to the Varox’s stomach to knock down the bounty hunter. The Varox slowly got back to his feet, but would be stomped on by Carter. The Varox fired a charged bolt at the Lightspeed commander, but Carter dodged the attack and fired a bolt from his V-Lance. The bolt stunned the Varox momentarily.
The four 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.
—
Within the Varox’s hidden chamber, the console was darkened. No blinking lights. No active monitors. Not even a operating generator. Nothing. It remained inactive.
Cole Evans slumped to the ground, exhausted. He raised and studied the wire that pulled from the nearby generator, then took a glimpse at the machine. He cracked a wide smile and burst into laughter.
“The deadliest weapon,” Cole said, embarrassed but relieved, “turned off by pulling the plug off the wall. Who would have figured I get the easy part?”
—
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 sensitive 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.”
-o-
The last thing he saw was a flash of blinding light. Before that, many images filled his senses. Some pleasant, others not so, but all caused extreme pain that he could not block out. Images of the past, images of his past, images of a past he has no knowledge of, images of possible futures, images of impossible futures… all of them distressing.
Almost instantly, Thomas sat up from his bed. Streaks of sweat crawled down his skin, his heart beating quickly and heavily. Looking at his current surroundings, he realized that he was at home, in bed late at night. It can’t be a dream. he thought conclusively. It seemed too real.
He got up from his bed and slipped into a nearby green robe. He walked around the house slowly, looking at the house in general. He looked out the window and saw his pick-up truck in one piece. A little scratched on the passenger door, but in one piece nonetheless. There was another vehicle nearby; a red Beetle, parked on the driveway in front of the truck. Thomas wondered who left it there.
“Tom?”
A female voice… a familiar voice. Thomas quickly turned around and noticed light emanating from the kitchen. Within the light was a petite brunette wearing a black skirt and off-white top with chin-length hair.
“Kimberly?”
The girl nodded gently, her face showing a sense of relief. “Glad to see you remember.” she teased.
Thomas slumped for a moment, his hand firm over his forehead. Pain was still present, although the feeling of embarrassment slowly eliminated the anguish.
“Feeling alright?” she asked. “You looked like crap.”
Thomas grunted. “Yeah. I’m okay.” His mind wandered to other things and finally it came to him. “How long was I out?”
“Jason and the guys brought you back from the military hospital down south around noon.” Kim answered, noticing Thomas’ confusion. “You were knocked into some trance for several hours.” She pointed to a purple manila folder on the round wooden table. “The official report’s over there if you want it.”
Those details seemed tempting to Thomas… a medical report trying to explain how someone could survive a seemingly inescapable death beam. He had to admit in the humorous possibilities. But for the moment, it didn’t matter. What mattered now was that he was okay.
“Thanks for being here.” he said timidly.
Kim sighed heavily. “Someone had to look after you. Besides,” she hesitated, “I didn’t want to lose you.” She looked both ways and lowered her voice, almost whispering. “I promised the newbie Ranger I wouldn’t tell him, but he accidentally bumped his bike into your truck.”
“Don’t worry.” Thomas answered, smiling. “I won’t go three-sixteen on him.”
Kim giggled. “Good, because I know how upset you can be when someone messes with your prized truck.” She looked out at the truck. “I remember after the match for charity a couple years ago when you bought that truck.” she recounted, “I always wondered where you get cash for buying all these cars, but then Kat told me you took up racing and they paid you good.”
Thomas smiled at the thought, but it didn’t last long. He frowned and turned away. His face filled with sorrow and he struggled to keep them in. A teardrop formed on his right eye and separate to collide with the marble tile. He soon started to breathe heavily.
“Are you alright?” Kim asked nervously.
Thomas shook his head slowly. “This whole thing.” he said softly, a hint of guilt hanging on his every word. “I managed to survive this experience. This whole life-threatening ordeal.” He paused to turn towards a small photograph sitting near by. “I managed to live on, but I couldn’t save Kat.”
Kim stood there in shock. A long forgotten wound suddenly reopened.
Katherine Hillard. The former Pink Zeo Ranger. Kimberly’s successor. Thomas’s would-be-fiancee. Years ago, Kat went missing some time after she along with the others stepped down from their roles as Power Rangers. She had never been heard from since. Unsurprisingly, Thomas blamed himself for not being able to figure out what happened to her. That’s what pretty much drove him away from his friends.
“Don’t say that.” Kim told him, desperately fighting to hold back any tears. “We don’t know what happened to Kat. You can’t blame yourself for something you’ve had no power over.” She placed a hand on Thomas’ arm. “The last thing Kat would want is for you to agonize over her death for the rest of your life.”
She held her grip of his arm, bringing a half-smile to Thomas’ face. “You’re right, Kim. It’s just that stuff like this always open that wound.”
“I know.” he murmured. “I know. Sometimes I wonder why I get caught up in this shit.”
Kim said nothing. Instead she placed a finger over Thomas’ lips. Thomas felt a slight chill, feeling a peculiar sensation that he hasn’t sensed in a long time. Time seemed to have stopped, all background noise being silent in Thomas’ mind. The next sensation came as a surprise, as his lips pressed against hers.
-o-
“God it’s good to be home.” TJ mused after he set foot on the platform in the NASADA base on Earth. It has taken the Megaship a couple hours at best to get here, and when the Megaship reached Earth orbit, it was a relief to see that the planet was still in one piece and that the Red Rangers took care of the Varox threat. The two Space Rangers, Andros and Zhane, walked out along with TJ and took in the sight of a spacebase with a city backdrop.
“Thanks for tagging along, TJ.” Andros complemented as he extended his right hand.
“No problem.” TJ said, accepting Andros’ hand. “I’m glad I could help.”
TJ extended his hand towards Zhane and Zhane shook it. The blonde-haired Silver Ranger then turned to his partner in red. “Hey, we better get going, Andros.” Zhane said. “You know Ashley’s gonna blow a fuse again.”
Andros’ cheeks turned slightly red upon hearing her name. “She’s been like that since we got engaged.” he said, trying to hide his embarrassment.
TJ couldn’t help but laugh. “Ah, the rigors of married life.”
“Ha ha.” Andros gawked, tapping his fist onto the human’s shoulder. “Anyway, Zhane’s right. We gotta go.”
With that said, the two Kerovans walked towards the Megaship, leaving TJ alone to watch as his two friends head back home after a job well done.
He turned away and headed towards the parking lot. He smiled as he approached a tall slender Asian woman leaning on the hood of his red Porche. The woman, in her 30s, waved her hand gently as the Red Turbo Ranger approached her.
“Hello, TJ.” the girl greeted. “I trust your mission went well?”
TJ nodded, a huge grin forming on his face. “Yeah, Cas.” he answered, “We saved the world. Again.”
-o-
Over the course of the day, Kim helped Thomas with the cleaning of the house, as well as some chores and grocery shopping. The past couple of days have been so time consuming and so intense that he has forgotten about the basic maintenance of his own abode above his secret command post. Of course, knowing Thomas’ faulty memory, Kim could understand. By the end of the day, the two were sitting at the back porch, looking on as the sun set behind the grassfields.
“Thanks.” Thomas said softly.
“For what?”
“For being there.”
Kim sighed. “I did what I had to. You’re my friend.”
“We used to be more than that.”
“Yeah.” she replied, looking away, “I know.”
For a brief moment, there was silence. Thomas felt a little uncomfortable, but a brief sense of nostalgia overwhelmed the discomfort. Thomas sighed and took a sip of his water.
“I haven’t felt this way in a long time.” he whispered.
Kim nodded, “Me too.”
Thomas got up from his porch and headed into the kitchen. “I really appreciate you staying with me.” he called over the open window as he reached for something in the white fridge. “I haven’t had much practice cooking anything resembling real food, so how do you feel about some eggs?”
Kim took a moment before answering. “Scrambled, please.”
-o-
In his office, Carter Grayson stared at the blank computer screen, wondering about what to put into his official report. He glanced outside to the viewport, which showed construction crews hard at work to cleaning up the wreckage caused by the recent bomb.
Taking of a sip of his tea, a special blend devised by Cole to help with the healing process, Carter began typing down the first words. He had to choose his words carefully in order to keep anything related to the Rangers out of the report. After two hours of writing, rewriting, and revising his official report, Carter read over the report and laughed.
Forget it, he thought, I’ve had enough excitement for one day.
He promptly clicked Delete and turned off his system, before leaving the office for home.
-o-
Eric Meyers knocked hard on the wooden yellow door. His hands were sweaty and his neck felt tight, even though he was only wearing a black T-shirt with red suit. Maybe it was the roses he held firmly in his hands. When the door opened, a blonde-haired woman peeked out, wearing nothing but an elegant yellow robe. Recognizing the tall, she smiled.
“Eric.” she said softly. Eric figured she just woke up.
“Good morning, madame Taylor.” Eric said in an uncharacteristically cheerful tone. “Are you busy today?”
Taylor stared blankly at the Quantum Ranger, before answering. “Are you asking me out?”
Eric considered the question, which made him tense. Finally, he simply answered, “Yes.”
“Well, in that case…” Taylor trailed off and pulled Eric into the house, quickly slamming the door. Across the street, in his red sports car, Wes Collins clapped his hands together and let out a light laugh.
“Way to go, Eric.” he said enthusiastically. “I knew you could do it!”
The door opened again and Eric popped his head out briefly. “GET LOST, COLLINS!” he shouted before slamming the door again. Wes could do nothing but smile at his friend’s fortunes and drove the hummer away.
-o-
Cole,
I’m writing (as in by hand, not by e-mail) to let you know that Tom’s okay. To be honest, I had my doubts, but then again, he and I are getting way too old for this.
You were brave to tag along with us, considering you were the only one without Ranger powers. But I think there’s something we can do to resolve that. Pass by Angel Grove sometime if you’re interested. If not, forget I said anything.
Take care, rookie.
Jason
He read the letter again before folding the sheet into the envelope and inserting the letter into the mailbox. With that piece of business done, Jason Lee Scott turned and went to his custom motorcycle. He made one last look at the tall buildings behind him and smiled. Angel Grove, a small town at one point, has grown into a metropolis in its own right thanks to its distinguished reputation as the birthplace of the Power Rangers.
Content with his business, Jason slipped on a pair of sunglasses and rode towards the mountainside, where he would meet an old friend…
-o-
What had been a powerful weapon of destruction is now floating debris. Even after two hours, the cluttered pieces of rock and metal that had been the Wraith did not float away. In the middle of the debris lies a small purple orb, someone metallic and transparent. After a path was cleared, the orb flew past the debris and headed towards a star in space. Within the orb, one could see an aging sorceress sound asleep. In that sleep, she dreams of a universe ravaged by dark flames. She laughs devilishly as she watches the death and destruction that surrounds her. It is only a dream.
Of course, all that could change soon…
