Ryuranger
11-24-2003, 10:08 AM
This is my last update until Monday, as I won't have a computer this week.
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“Alien cultures are difficult to understand, and can sometimes seem immoral. What we must realize is that some of our customs seem just as wrong and unjust to them.”
-- Dr. T.W. Drakes, 2103
“Exploring Xenocultures:
The Path to Understanding”
---Ultimate Power Rangers
---Season 05
---Digital Task Force Astro Rangers
---Chapter Seven: Enter Darkonda
The weeks following the Astro Ranger’s battle at Titan were filled with conflict. The ship had followed up a lead on Zordon on a volcanic world in the inner galactic rim known as Aloc Four. The lead turned out to be false, and the Rangers had been forced to battle past an army of Magma creatures to escape.
Following their visit to Aloc Four, The Megaship was ambushed by a squad of criminals known as the Red Star. The Red Star employed mercenaries and bounty hunters to attack the Rangers, but their Megazord managed to fight of the assailants.
After making three more probe drops, the Megaship answered a distress call from a crashed cargo vessel. The Rangers engaged Astronema’s Craterites and Quantrons before they could reach the crash site, then they had to defeat one of her genetic creations, this one having a mushroom motif Justin couldn’t shy away from making fun of.
The Rangers also took the offensive from time to time. They managed to intercept and destroy several patrol ships and supply convoys, and took out a few of Sauron’s smaller outposts.
Due to their extensive battles, Justin and the others talked Tommy into allowing a brief shore leave. They all suspected that Ashley alone was the one who managed to convince him.
Cy directed them to a small planet called Setiacu. Cy assured the teens that Setiacu was of no strategic or political importance and far removed from galactic happenings.
They agreed to spend only a day, and not even an entire day. They’d also use the time to make repairs, gather supplies and rethink strategies.
The rangers and Cy all manned their bridge stations as they traveled towards Setiacu.
“Do they have pools and stuff?” Justin asked.
“Something like that,” Cy said.
“It’s not like any of us packed our trunks,” Tommy said.
“If we can make food in the synthatron, surely we can make clothes,” Chris said.
“Sure, if you want a swim suit made out of lettuce,” Ashley said.
“That might be nice,” Justin said.
“Oh please don’t,” Kat said as she laughed.
A small light beeped on Chris’ console. “I’m picking up something ahead of us on long range sensors. I’m having trouble getting a description…”
“Are we in visual range?” Tommy asked.
“Yes,” Chris answered.
“On screen,” Tommy said as Chris pulled up the image. It appeared to be a cloud made up of small metallic objects.
“Ashley, boost power to the sensors,” Tommy said.
“Sensors at 110 percent efficiency,” she said.
“They’re ships,” Chris said. “Thousands of small ships, no more than a few meters long.”
“Hail them,” Tommy said.
“I’m not getting a response,” Kat said.
“We should go to tactical alert, just to be safe,” Cy said.
Tommy shook his head. “I don’t want us to appear aggressive and risk drawing on an attack. What’s the tactical analysis of those ships?”
“It’s strange,” Justin said. “They each have power, but no individual power source. It’s like they’re all connected somehow. No weapons we can identify, but they do have some rather odd transceivers.”
“Odd how?” Tommy asked.
Ashley took a closer look on her monitor. “It’s not something I recognize. I’m not sure what it does.”
“Bring us out hyperspace. We’ll drop a probe to monitor them and then be on our way,” Tommy said.
Lights started flickering around the bridge as the ship shuddered and was pulled out of hyperspace.
“Report,” Tommy said.
“That swarm of ships has us caught in some kind of energy web,” Justin said. “I’m guessing that’s what those transceivers were for.”
“We’re losing power,” Ashley said. “That web is interfering with all our systems.”
The rangers looked ahead to see a large group of ships jet towards them.
“Polarize the hull plating,” Tommy said. “Bring the Megalasers online.”
“We can’t,” Ashley said.
Tommy watched one of the ships fly out of viewscreen range, and heard a clank as the ship connected to the Megaship’s hull. The other small ships seemed to keep their distance.
A quick flash of pink light appeared that formed into a soldier with an insectoid-type face, whose body was covered in a bulky leathery armor. The creature pulled out a weapon, but Cy was quick to draw both his side arms and blast the creature down.
A flash of light appeared to the right side of Tommy, and he side kicked the intruder in the gut, following with a backfist as two more intruders entered the bridge.
“Morph!” Tommy shouted as the five Rangers transformed into their armor. They batted away intruders left and right as Cy blasted the creatures with his two side arms.
“What are these things?” Astro Red asked.
“No clue,” Cy said as he fired two more shots. “Maybe new bio weapons for Sauron.”
“Intruders have entered engineering,” DECA reported.
“Chris, Ashley, go,” Astro Red said as they ran to the turbolift. “Keep your comm lines open.”
Astro Black and Yellow ran to the turbolift.
***
The three insectoid invaders in the engine room were tampering with the Mega Accelerator when lances of cyan energy pierced them and they collapsed to the ground. Mega Black and Yellow ran into the room with their Astro Snipers in hand.
“There were only three of them,” Astro Yellow said over her helmet’s communicator.
“Wish we could say the same up here,” Astro Red said. “See what you can do.”
“Right,” Astro Yellow said as she walked over to a terminal on the side wall in engineering. She removed the plating from the way and began fiddling with wires.
“What’s the plan?” Astro Black asked.
“Those small ships out there are linked, right?” she said.
Astro Black nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well,” she explained, “I’m betting if we fry the systems on the ship attached to our hull, we’ll take out the whole swarm.”
“Worth a shot,” Astro Black said. “How exactly?”
“By overloading the hull plating,” she said.
“That doesn’t sound so…” Astro Black was cut off as three more soldiers appeared. He blasted one in front of him, and backfisted one that snuck up to his side. “I’ll cover you.”
***
Astro Red used his Drill Saber to stab through a creature’s chest, and after he pulled out his sword, he spin kicked the soldier across the face.
“Tommy,” Astro Yellow said. “It’s about to get bumpy.”
“What do you…” before Astro Red could ask, the deck started to shake violently.
Blue sparks and electric flashes danced across the hull as Astro Yellow overloaded the plating’s defensive fields. The energy pulse generated by the overload slammed into the alien ship attached to their hull and overloaded its systems. The resulting feedback was enough to disable every ship in the swarm.
The deck started shaking as Tommy powered down his armor. “Whatever she did worked,” he said as he examined the ship’s systems. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Agreed,” Cy said as he grabbed the throttle control and pushed the ship to hyper-rush velocity.
***
Astronema was standing at her command post as Eclipter approached her side.
“The swarm has failed,” he reported.
“I knew they would,” Astronema said. “Nothing but a wasted experiment.”
The swarm had actually been a race of insectoid-like humanoids that traversed the galaxy, mostly keeping to itself and operating under a hive mind. Sauron had bent that hive mind to his will.
“Are the Rangers still on route to Setiacu?” she asked her prized warrior.
“Yes, princess,” Eclipter said.
“Excellent,” she said as a twisted grin spread across her face. “Send our new infiltration prototypes to Setiacu at once.”
***
The Astro Megaship approached Setiacu at impulse speed as the rangers manned their stations. The ship’s hull plating had been severely damaged, but all other systems were operating normally and Cy was confident he could repair the plating with Ashley’s help.
The rangers watched the viewscreen as the gold, white and blue world twirled in the distance, surrounded by sleek space stations. Each station was highly ornate with symbols and carvings from more than 1,000 cultures.
The Megaship wore its latest holo disguise, the Titan’s Hammer, as it moved in towards the control station.
“Open a channel,” Tommy said.
“Channel open. Audio only,” Kat said.
“This is the Titan’s Hammer, requesting permission to dock,” Tommy said.
What they heard over the comm. line shocked them. They expected to hear greetings and landing instructions, but heard only screams, explosions, and a single mad voice laughing.
“Quite a party down here,” the screechy voice said. “You should come join.”
“Where is that coming from?” Tommy asked.
“Looks like the main city,” Kat said.
“They’re under attack,” Chris said. “Some kind of fortress and Craterites. Lots of them.”
“Let’s go,” Tommy said as they all ran from the bridge.
***
A dark fortress hovered over the pleasure planet’s capital city, blotting out the sun as hundreds of Craterites leapt to the surface. Fires tore through the streets as people everywhere ran in panic.
The fortress opened an iris port on its ventral side and reigned destruction upon the city in the form of blinding energy blasts.
The five Rangers raced to the city on their Cyber Sliders. This was the worst attack they’d seen yet, and had trouble believing Astronema would launch such an attack. They had no doubt she would be cold hearted enough, but Astronema always operated with precision and specific targets of importance in mind. The attack they witnessed was sloppy and relentless.
The Rangers leapt off of their Cyber Sliders and into the fray.
Astro Red flying sidekicked a soldier down near a pile of flaming debris and a row of half torn columns. He turned to his right and knocked a Craterite’s saber away before backfisting that soldier across the face. He snapped to his left and outer crescent kicked a soldier down, then skipped forward while jump kicking a soldier in the head.
The Rangers split up to attack their opponents, their year spent as Zeo Rangers had taught them everything they needed to know about how to work together to contain and eliminate a large enemy force.
Astro Red round kicked a soldier in the gut, then knifehanded the Craterite in the back. He turned to his left and leapt towards a soldier. But as he set up to flying punch the Craterite, a blur of yellow energy swept the soldier away and replaced it with a small alien child. The switch happened too fast for Astro Red to avoid slamming his fist into the child’s face. The young boy screamed as he blacked out an fell to the ground.
“No!” Astro Red shouted as he leaned over and scooped the unconscious boy up in his arms. Bright red blood was across the child’s face.
The yellow flash bounced off of several columns before landing on top of what had once been an atrium. He laughed at Astro Red as the Rangers gathered besides him. “You really should try to watch your aim.”
“You’ll pay for this!” Astro Red shouted.
“Temper, temper,” the creature said.
“Who are you?” Astro Pink shouted.
“I am Darkonda,” he said as he bowed mockingly. “A pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Now if you’ll excuse me I must be going.”
Darkonda flashed away in a streak of yellow light.
***
Setiacu was run as a business, and like all businesses, it had a manager: Ketarin. Ketarin’s face was pale blue, and his bald head was covered with blocky stumps. He had invited the rangers to his office to thank them for their assistance.
The six rangers sat around a rectangular table in Ketarin’s office as he poured them glasses of a green tinted liquid to drink.
“If not for your assistance, the casualties would have been much worse,” he said as he took a seat at the head of the table.
“Have you heard anything from the boy?” Tommy asked, visibly concerned.
Ketarin nodded as he looked over a data pad off to his side. “I did manage to track him down. He’s undergoing Tensian Spore treatment. He should make a full recovery by tomorrow. I could arrange a meeting if you would like.”
“Please,” Tommy said as he nodded.
Ketarin took a deep breath and leaned back. “Now, I would like to repay you if I could…”
“That won’t be necessary,” Tommy said politely.
“Yeah,” Justin added. “We’re not in this for rewards or anything.”
“The reward I offer is simply knowledge,” Ketarin said. “As you can imagine, many people from many different worlds pass through my resort. People tend to talk.”
“What sort of information do you have?” Cy asked.
Ketarin’s face was beaming with pride. “A few days ago a group of Krysh paid a visit to my resort.”
“Krysh?” Chris asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Ketarin nodded. “They are a band of mercenaries for hire. They stayed here under fabricated identities with the intent of harassing my good-willed customers. We of course, had them under surveillance.”
“What’d you find out from them?” Ashley asked.
“They were traveling from the Valjoran System near the Unknown Regions,” Ketarin said. “After falling back from a hit and run mission of little consequence, they sought cover near the Argolos Nebula for repairs. The Nebula interferes with sensor data, so they knew they could hide there for as long as they needed.
“While in that sector of space, they discovered an uncharted planet. A jungle world that by all accounts seemed uninhabited to them…except for a large school of Piranthocs.”
“Our translators didn’t pick up that last word,” Tommy said.
“Piranatrons,” Cy said. “They saw Piranatrons.”
Ketarin nodded. “Yes.”
“They’re all extinct except for the ones enslaved by Divatox,” Chris said. “That means…”
“Zordon,” Justin said.
“Do you have the coordinates for this nebula?” Tommy asked.
Ketarin’s face grew less positive. “Unfortunately no. But I know someone who does. I can give you his coordinates and he will lead you in the right direction.”
“Thank you,” Tommy said.
Ketarin nodded. “It is the least I can do for your assistance. You Rangers are a rare breed this day and age. I’d like to stay on your good side.”
***
Astronema was not happy. She wrinkled her brow as she watched a replay of the battle on Setiacu.
“Who dared to attack without my command?” Astronema asked. “I had my own plans for that world.”
“A little competition never hurt anyone,” a demonic voice said from the entrance of Astronema’s bridge. She turned to face Darkonda.
Eclipter had his sword drawn in less than a heartbeat. He swung at Darkonda, but the demonic creature blocked the blow with his own sword.
“Eclipter,” Darkonda said with a hissing laugh as he held the android’s sword at bay. “Is this any way to treat an old friend?”
“Eclipter,” Astronema said in a firm voice. “Who is this intruder?”
“I’m in the running for Sauron’s new right hand man,” Darkonda said, “our friendly neighborhood lord of darkness isn’t too happy with your lack of results.”
Astronema aimed her staff as Darkonda’s head. “I suggest you get off my fortress,” she said in an icy cold tone. “I’ve never liked having company.”
Darkonda laughed. “Who thought after being raised by this block head you’d have a sense of humor. Very well, I’ll be going. But don’t be surprised if you bump into me again soon.”
Darkonda knocked Eclipter’s sword away and disappeared in a blur of energy.
***
It was the oddest hospital Tommy had ever seen. It appeared more like a zoo to him, with various animals and insects locked in cages, making noises as medical personnel fed them.
He walked down a circular hallway made up of white arches connected with a gray chained mesh. He eventually made his way into a large waiting room that was packed with the families of those wounded in the attack. He pulled out the data pad he was given and took a second glance at the pictures Ketarin gave him. The parents of the boy he had injured looked human enough. The only visible notices he saw were larger pupils and brown spots running from their temples and down the sides of their necks.
A white robed doctor, a Elanian, walked up behind Tommy and placed his hand on the ranger’s shoulder. “May I help you, young one? I am Doctor Krayra”
Tommy turned to face the doctor. He had a scaly face and head with no noticeable nose or lips.
“Um, yes,” Tommy said as he consulted his pad. “I’m looking for the parents of a boy who was injured. His name is Icheb. He’s a Voran.”
The doctor sighed. “Yes, Icheb…I’m afraid his parents didn’t survive the attack.”
Tommy rolled his hands up into fists and took a deep breath to control his anger. “Can I see him?”
Krayra nodded. “This way.”
Tommy swallowed the doctor through the halls as he observed even stranger creatures locked in cages. “What are all these cages for? It looks like a zoo.”
The doctor cocked his head. “I am sorry, what is a zoo?”
Tommy detested when translators failed. “It’s a place on my world where animals are held for display.”
“Intriguing,” Krayra said. “We use them all for medical purposes. Some of the best medicines and treatments were created by nature herself. Take for example Icheb’s treatment with the Tensian Spores. Those spores can be used to cure anything from the common aliment to reattaching severed limbs.”
“Where do the spores come from?” Tommy asked.
“Tensar,” he said. “Only Tensar. They are quite wealthy as a result.”
Tommy nodded. The doctor pointed off to a side circular door. “This is Icheb’s room.”
“Does he know about his parents?” Tommy asked.
The doctor solemnly nodded. Tommy sighed as the door irised open and he walked inside. Icheb was lying on a fanned out bed, his dark hair a tossled mess. He looked to be around eight Earth years old.
“Hey, Icheb,” Tommy said as he walked inside.
The boy’s face lit up. “Are you the Ranger?”
Tommy nodded. “One of them,” he said as he tugged at his red undershirt. “I’m the red one.”
“It was an accident,” Icheb said. “Don’t feel guilty. I’m just glad you’re real”
“What do you mean?” Tommy asked.
“Teacher always said that those stories about Rangers were just stories, but I always hoped they weren’t,” Icheb said.
“How come?” Tommy asked as he took a seat near the bed and leaned forward, giving the child his attention.
The boy slightly waved his head back and forth, a gesture Tommy assumed was the equivalent of a shrug. “I just hoped. I really liked the stories. The stories said we had Rangers on Vora a long time ago.”
“What were they like?” Tommy asked.
Icheb smiled, his eyes bright as he told the tale. “They were Jakrai, outcasts cuz they couldn’t read minds like the rest of us. People back then were mean to the Jakrai, did bad things to them. Some of the Jakrai got real mad and started to hurt everyone else cuz they didn’t wanna be hurt anymore. They tried to take over and the bad gods helped them.
“The good gods like Mikhail, he’s the god of lightning, he’s my favorite, they picked five Jakrai and showed them love so they wouldn’t be mad anymore. Then each of the good gods gave one of the five Jakrai a power. They had a really big fight and the good Jakrai beat the bad ones. That’s when people started being nice to all the Jakrai.”
“That’s a cool story,” Tommy said as he grinned. “Are there still Jakrai on your world?”
He nodded. “My sister is one. My…” he stopped in midsentence as his face became sad. “My mom and dad didn’t like that at first but they loved her anyway.”
Tommy nodded. “They sound like good people.”
Icheb nodded.
“Ya know, what happened here…” Tommy shook his head. He had mentally prepared a speech to give Icheb, but nothing seemed appropriate at the moment.
“Why did it happen?” Icheb asked.
“Well, there are just some bad people out there. People that like to pick on those weaker than themselves,” Tommy said.
“Like bullies?” Icheb asked.
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, just like bullies. I’ve never liked bullies.”
“Me either,” Icheb said. “They’re like the bad people that picked on the Jakrai.”
“Exactly,” Tommy said. “That’s why I’m a Ranger. I don’t like to see people get picked on or hurt because of bullies.”
Icheb and Tommy continued to talk, neither one of them noticed a blur of yellow light approach the building.
***
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“Alien cultures are difficult to understand, and can sometimes seem immoral. What we must realize is that some of our customs seem just as wrong and unjust to them.”
-- Dr. T.W. Drakes, 2103
“Exploring Xenocultures:
The Path to Understanding”
---Ultimate Power Rangers
---Season 05
---Digital Task Force Astro Rangers
---Chapter Seven: Enter Darkonda
The weeks following the Astro Ranger’s battle at Titan were filled with conflict. The ship had followed up a lead on Zordon on a volcanic world in the inner galactic rim known as Aloc Four. The lead turned out to be false, and the Rangers had been forced to battle past an army of Magma creatures to escape.
Following their visit to Aloc Four, The Megaship was ambushed by a squad of criminals known as the Red Star. The Red Star employed mercenaries and bounty hunters to attack the Rangers, but their Megazord managed to fight of the assailants.
After making three more probe drops, the Megaship answered a distress call from a crashed cargo vessel. The Rangers engaged Astronema’s Craterites and Quantrons before they could reach the crash site, then they had to defeat one of her genetic creations, this one having a mushroom motif Justin couldn’t shy away from making fun of.
The Rangers also took the offensive from time to time. They managed to intercept and destroy several patrol ships and supply convoys, and took out a few of Sauron’s smaller outposts.
Due to their extensive battles, Justin and the others talked Tommy into allowing a brief shore leave. They all suspected that Ashley alone was the one who managed to convince him.
Cy directed them to a small planet called Setiacu. Cy assured the teens that Setiacu was of no strategic or political importance and far removed from galactic happenings.
They agreed to spend only a day, and not even an entire day. They’d also use the time to make repairs, gather supplies and rethink strategies.
The rangers and Cy all manned their bridge stations as they traveled towards Setiacu.
“Do they have pools and stuff?” Justin asked.
“Something like that,” Cy said.
“It’s not like any of us packed our trunks,” Tommy said.
“If we can make food in the synthatron, surely we can make clothes,” Chris said.
“Sure, if you want a swim suit made out of lettuce,” Ashley said.
“That might be nice,” Justin said.
“Oh please don’t,” Kat said as she laughed.
A small light beeped on Chris’ console. “I’m picking up something ahead of us on long range sensors. I’m having trouble getting a description…”
“Are we in visual range?” Tommy asked.
“Yes,” Chris answered.
“On screen,” Tommy said as Chris pulled up the image. It appeared to be a cloud made up of small metallic objects.
“Ashley, boost power to the sensors,” Tommy said.
“Sensors at 110 percent efficiency,” she said.
“They’re ships,” Chris said. “Thousands of small ships, no more than a few meters long.”
“Hail them,” Tommy said.
“I’m not getting a response,” Kat said.
“We should go to tactical alert, just to be safe,” Cy said.
Tommy shook his head. “I don’t want us to appear aggressive and risk drawing on an attack. What’s the tactical analysis of those ships?”
“It’s strange,” Justin said. “They each have power, but no individual power source. It’s like they’re all connected somehow. No weapons we can identify, but they do have some rather odd transceivers.”
“Odd how?” Tommy asked.
Ashley took a closer look on her monitor. “It’s not something I recognize. I’m not sure what it does.”
“Bring us out hyperspace. We’ll drop a probe to monitor them and then be on our way,” Tommy said.
Lights started flickering around the bridge as the ship shuddered and was pulled out of hyperspace.
“Report,” Tommy said.
“That swarm of ships has us caught in some kind of energy web,” Justin said. “I’m guessing that’s what those transceivers were for.”
“We’re losing power,” Ashley said. “That web is interfering with all our systems.”
The rangers looked ahead to see a large group of ships jet towards them.
“Polarize the hull plating,” Tommy said. “Bring the Megalasers online.”
“We can’t,” Ashley said.
Tommy watched one of the ships fly out of viewscreen range, and heard a clank as the ship connected to the Megaship’s hull. The other small ships seemed to keep their distance.
A quick flash of pink light appeared that formed into a soldier with an insectoid-type face, whose body was covered in a bulky leathery armor. The creature pulled out a weapon, but Cy was quick to draw both his side arms and blast the creature down.
A flash of light appeared to the right side of Tommy, and he side kicked the intruder in the gut, following with a backfist as two more intruders entered the bridge.
“Morph!” Tommy shouted as the five Rangers transformed into their armor. They batted away intruders left and right as Cy blasted the creatures with his two side arms.
“What are these things?” Astro Red asked.
“No clue,” Cy said as he fired two more shots. “Maybe new bio weapons for Sauron.”
“Intruders have entered engineering,” DECA reported.
“Chris, Ashley, go,” Astro Red said as they ran to the turbolift. “Keep your comm lines open.”
Astro Black and Yellow ran to the turbolift.
***
The three insectoid invaders in the engine room were tampering with the Mega Accelerator when lances of cyan energy pierced them and they collapsed to the ground. Mega Black and Yellow ran into the room with their Astro Snipers in hand.
“There were only three of them,” Astro Yellow said over her helmet’s communicator.
“Wish we could say the same up here,” Astro Red said. “See what you can do.”
“Right,” Astro Yellow said as she walked over to a terminal on the side wall in engineering. She removed the plating from the way and began fiddling with wires.
“What’s the plan?” Astro Black asked.
“Those small ships out there are linked, right?” she said.
Astro Black nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well,” she explained, “I’m betting if we fry the systems on the ship attached to our hull, we’ll take out the whole swarm.”
“Worth a shot,” Astro Black said. “How exactly?”
“By overloading the hull plating,” she said.
“That doesn’t sound so…” Astro Black was cut off as three more soldiers appeared. He blasted one in front of him, and backfisted one that snuck up to his side. “I’ll cover you.”
***
Astro Red used his Drill Saber to stab through a creature’s chest, and after he pulled out his sword, he spin kicked the soldier across the face.
“Tommy,” Astro Yellow said. “It’s about to get bumpy.”
“What do you…” before Astro Red could ask, the deck started to shake violently.
Blue sparks and electric flashes danced across the hull as Astro Yellow overloaded the plating’s defensive fields. The energy pulse generated by the overload slammed into the alien ship attached to their hull and overloaded its systems. The resulting feedback was enough to disable every ship in the swarm.
The deck started shaking as Tommy powered down his armor. “Whatever she did worked,” he said as he examined the ship’s systems. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Agreed,” Cy said as he grabbed the throttle control and pushed the ship to hyper-rush velocity.
***
Astronema was standing at her command post as Eclipter approached her side.
“The swarm has failed,” he reported.
“I knew they would,” Astronema said. “Nothing but a wasted experiment.”
The swarm had actually been a race of insectoid-like humanoids that traversed the galaxy, mostly keeping to itself and operating under a hive mind. Sauron had bent that hive mind to his will.
“Are the Rangers still on route to Setiacu?” she asked her prized warrior.
“Yes, princess,” Eclipter said.
“Excellent,” she said as a twisted grin spread across her face. “Send our new infiltration prototypes to Setiacu at once.”
***
The Astro Megaship approached Setiacu at impulse speed as the rangers manned their stations. The ship’s hull plating had been severely damaged, but all other systems were operating normally and Cy was confident he could repair the plating with Ashley’s help.
The rangers watched the viewscreen as the gold, white and blue world twirled in the distance, surrounded by sleek space stations. Each station was highly ornate with symbols and carvings from more than 1,000 cultures.
The Megaship wore its latest holo disguise, the Titan’s Hammer, as it moved in towards the control station.
“Open a channel,” Tommy said.
“Channel open. Audio only,” Kat said.
“This is the Titan’s Hammer, requesting permission to dock,” Tommy said.
What they heard over the comm. line shocked them. They expected to hear greetings and landing instructions, but heard only screams, explosions, and a single mad voice laughing.
“Quite a party down here,” the screechy voice said. “You should come join.”
“Where is that coming from?” Tommy asked.
“Looks like the main city,” Kat said.
“They’re under attack,” Chris said. “Some kind of fortress and Craterites. Lots of them.”
“Let’s go,” Tommy said as they all ran from the bridge.
***
A dark fortress hovered over the pleasure planet’s capital city, blotting out the sun as hundreds of Craterites leapt to the surface. Fires tore through the streets as people everywhere ran in panic.
The fortress opened an iris port on its ventral side and reigned destruction upon the city in the form of blinding energy blasts.
The five Rangers raced to the city on their Cyber Sliders. This was the worst attack they’d seen yet, and had trouble believing Astronema would launch such an attack. They had no doubt she would be cold hearted enough, but Astronema always operated with precision and specific targets of importance in mind. The attack they witnessed was sloppy and relentless.
The Rangers leapt off of their Cyber Sliders and into the fray.
Astro Red flying sidekicked a soldier down near a pile of flaming debris and a row of half torn columns. He turned to his right and knocked a Craterite’s saber away before backfisting that soldier across the face. He snapped to his left and outer crescent kicked a soldier down, then skipped forward while jump kicking a soldier in the head.
The Rangers split up to attack their opponents, their year spent as Zeo Rangers had taught them everything they needed to know about how to work together to contain and eliminate a large enemy force.
Astro Red round kicked a soldier in the gut, then knifehanded the Craterite in the back. He turned to his left and leapt towards a soldier. But as he set up to flying punch the Craterite, a blur of yellow energy swept the soldier away and replaced it with a small alien child. The switch happened too fast for Astro Red to avoid slamming his fist into the child’s face. The young boy screamed as he blacked out an fell to the ground.
“No!” Astro Red shouted as he leaned over and scooped the unconscious boy up in his arms. Bright red blood was across the child’s face.
The yellow flash bounced off of several columns before landing on top of what had once been an atrium. He laughed at Astro Red as the Rangers gathered besides him. “You really should try to watch your aim.”
“You’ll pay for this!” Astro Red shouted.
“Temper, temper,” the creature said.
“Who are you?” Astro Pink shouted.
“I am Darkonda,” he said as he bowed mockingly. “A pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Now if you’ll excuse me I must be going.”
Darkonda flashed away in a streak of yellow light.
***
Setiacu was run as a business, and like all businesses, it had a manager: Ketarin. Ketarin’s face was pale blue, and his bald head was covered with blocky stumps. He had invited the rangers to his office to thank them for their assistance.
The six rangers sat around a rectangular table in Ketarin’s office as he poured them glasses of a green tinted liquid to drink.
“If not for your assistance, the casualties would have been much worse,” he said as he took a seat at the head of the table.
“Have you heard anything from the boy?” Tommy asked, visibly concerned.
Ketarin nodded as he looked over a data pad off to his side. “I did manage to track him down. He’s undergoing Tensian Spore treatment. He should make a full recovery by tomorrow. I could arrange a meeting if you would like.”
“Please,” Tommy said as he nodded.
Ketarin took a deep breath and leaned back. “Now, I would like to repay you if I could…”
“That won’t be necessary,” Tommy said politely.
“Yeah,” Justin added. “We’re not in this for rewards or anything.”
“The reward I offer is simply knowledge,” Ketarin said. “As you can imagine, many people from many different worlds pass through my resort. People tend to talk.”
“What sort of information do you have?” Cy asked.
Ketarin’s face was beaming with pride. “A few days ago a group of Krysh paid a visit to my resort.”
“Krysh?” Chris asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Ketarin nodded. “They are a band of mercenaries for hire. They stayed here under fabricated identities with the intent of harassing my good-willed customers. We of course, had them under surveillance.”
“What’d you find out from them?” Ashley asked.
“They were traveling from the Valjoran System near the Unknown Regions,” Ketarin said. “After falling back from a hit and run mission of little consequence, they sought cover near the Argolos Nebula for repairs. The Nebula interferes with sensor data, so they knew they could hide there for as long as they needed.
“While in that sector of space, they discovered an uncharted planet. A jungle world that by all accounts seemed uninhabited to them…except for a large school of Piranthocs.”
“Our translators didn’t pick up that last word,” Tommy said.
“Piranatrons,” Cy said. “They saw Piranatrons.”
Ketarin nodded. “Yes.”
“They’re all extinct except for the ones enslaved by Divatox,” Chris said. “That means…”
“Zordon,” Justin said.
“Do you have the coordinates for this nebula?” Tommy asked.
Ketarin’s face grew less positive. “Unfortunately no. But I know someone who does. I can give you his coordinates and he will lead you in the right direction.”
“Thank you,” Tommy said.
Ketarin nodded. “It is the least I can do for your assistance. You Rangers are a rare breed this day and age. I’d like to stay on your good side.”
***
Astronema was not happy. She wrinkled her brow as she watched a replay of the battle on Setiacu.
“Who dared to attack without my command?” Astronema asked. “I had my own plans for that world.”
“A little competition never hurt anyone,” a demonic voice said from the entrance of Astronema’s bridge. She turned to face Darkonda.
Eclipter had his sword drawn in less than a heartbeat. He swung at Darkonda, but the demonic creature blocked the blow with his own sword.
“Eclipter,” Darkonda said with a hissing laugh as he held the android’s sword at bay. “Is this any way to treat an old friend?”
“Eclipter,” Astronema said in a firm voice. “Who is this intruder?”
“I’m in the running for Sauron’s new right hand man,” Darkonda said, “our friendly neighborhood lord of darkness isn’t too happy with your lack of results.”
Astronema aimed her staff as Darkonda’s head. “I suggest you get off my fortress,” she said in an icy cold tone. “I’ve never liked having company.”
Darkonda laughed. “Who thought after being raised by this block head you’d have a sense of humor. Very well, I’ll be going. But don’t be surprised if you bump into me again soon.”
Darkonda knocked Eclipter’s sword away and disappeared in a blur of energy.
***
It was the oddest hospital Tommy had ever seen. It appeared more like a zoo to him, with various animals and insects locked in cages, making noises as medical personnel fed them.
He walked down a circular hallway made up of white arches connected with a gray chained mesh. He eventually made his way into a large waiting room that was packed with the families of those wounded in the attack. He pulled out the data pad he was given and took a second glance at the pictures Ketarin gave him. The parents of the boy he had injured looked human enough. The only visible notices he saw were larger pupils and brown spots running from their temples and down the sides of their necks.
A white robed doctor, a Elanian, walked up behind Tommy and placed his hand on the ranger’s shoulder. “May I help you, young one? I am Doctor Krayra”
Tommy turned to face the doctor. He had a scaly face and head with no noticeable nose or lips.
“Um, yes,” Tommy said as he consulted his pad. “I’m looking for the parents of a boy who was injured. His name is Icheb. He’s a Voran.”
The doctor sighed. “Yes, Icheb…I’m afraid his parents didn’t survive the attack.”
Tommy rolled his hands up into fists and took a deep breath to control his anger. “Can I see him?”
Krayra nodded. “This way.”
Tommy swallowed the doctor through the halls as he observed even stranger creatures locked in cages. “What are all these cages for? It looks like a zoo.”
The doctor cocked his head. “I am sorry, what is a zoo?”
Tommy detested when translators failed. “It’s a place on my world where animals are held for display.”
“Intriguing,” Krayra said. “We use them all for medical purposes. Some of the best medicines and treatments were created by nature herself. Take for example Icheb’s treatment with the Tensian Spores. Those spores can be used to cure anything from the common aliment to reattaching severed limbs.”
“Where do the spores come from?” Tommy asked.
“Tensar,” he said. “Only Tensar. They are quite wealthy as a result.”
Tommy nodded. The doctor pointed off to a side circular door. “This is Icheb’s room.”
“Does he know about his parents?” Tommy asked.
The doctor solemnly nodded. Tommy sighed as the door irised open and he walked inside. Icheb was lying on a fanned out bed, his dark hair a tossled mess. He looked to be around eight Earth years old.
“Hey, Icheb,” Tommy said as he walked inside.
The boy’s face lit up. “Are you the Ranger?”
Tommy nodded. “One of them,” he said as he tugged at his red undershirt. “I’m the red one.”
“It was an accident,” Icheb said. “Don’t feel guilty. I’m just glad you’re real”
“What do you mean?” Tommy asked.
“Teacher always said that those stories about Rangers were just stories, but I always hoped they weren’t,” Icheb said.
“How come?” Tommy asked as he took a seat near the bed and leaned forward, giving the child his attention.
The boy slightly waved his head back and forth, a gesture Tommy assumed was the equivalent of a shrug. “I just hoped. I really liked the stories. The stories said we had Rangers on Vora a long time ago.”
“What were they like?” Tommy asked.
Icheb smiled, his eyes bright as he told the tale. “They were Jakrai, outcasts cuz they couldn’t read minds like the rest of us. People back then were mean to the Jakrai, did bad things to them. Some of the Jakrai got real mad and started to hurt everyone else cuz they didn’t wanna be hurt anymore. They tried to take over and the bad gods helped them.
“The good gods like Mikhail, he’s the god of lightning, he’s my favorite, they picked five Jakrai and showed them love so they wouldn’t be mad anymore. Then each of the good gods gave one of the five Jakrai a power. They had a really big fight and the good Jakrai beat the bad ones. That’s when people started being nice to all the Jakrai.”
“That’s a cool story,” Tommy said as he grinned. “Are there still Jakrai on your world?”
He nodded. “My sister is one. My…” he stopped in midsentence as his face became sad. “My mom and dad didn’t like that at first but they loved her anyway.”
Tommy nodded. “They sound like good people.”
Icheb nodded.
“Ya know, what happened here…” Tommy shook his head. He had mentally prepared a speech to give Icheb, but nothing seemed appropriate at the moment.
“Why did it happen?” Icheb asked.
“Well, there are just some bad people out there. People that like to pick on those weaker than themselves,” Tommy said.
“Like bullies?” Icheb asked.
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, just like bullies. I’ve never liked bullies.”
“Me either,” Icheb said. “They’re like the bad people that picked on the Jakrai.”
“Exactly,” Tommy said. “That’s why I’m a Ranger. I don’t like to see people get picked on or hurt because of bullies.”
Icheb and Tommy continued to talk, neither one of them noticed a blur of yellow light approach the building.
***