PHAETON's Fanfic Challenge: "Dark Millenium"

[DigificWriter]

This is the start of my answer to PHAETON's "Dark Millenium" challenge. I hope you all enjoy it and leave me feedback.
[Note: This first part doesn't yet contain the requirements for the challenge, but I'll be working them into the story soon]

Power Rangers: Dark Millenium

Prologue
Unknown planet
The Year 1998 A.D.:

The Princess of Darkness, Astronema, formerly known as Karone, stood on arocky precipice, flanked by her most trusted servant, Ecliptor. Suddenly the air in front of them began to shimmer, and their master, Dark Specter, appeared. Both Astronema and Ecliptor dropped to their knees as Specter appeared.
"Rise," he commanded. When they had risen, he began speaking.
"Astronema, as the most powerful of my warriors, you are in charge of conquering this pathetic universe. Begin the attack," Specter said.
A smile crossed Astronema's lips, and she bowed.
"I will not fail you," she said. "Come, Ecliptor. We must return to the Dark Fortress."

***

The Dark Fortress:
Astronema and Ecliptor materialized aboard her fortress, the Dark Fortress, which was in orbit near Earth's moon, and she immediately began barking orders to her crew.
"Elgar, get your skinny ass up here," she bellowed.
"I'm here, your evilness," Elgar said as he came running (actually more like stumbling) into view, knocking over Quantrons in his haste to reach Astronema's location. When he reached her, he bowed, but she ignored him.
"Get up," she barked.
"Sorry," he said, struggling to get back to his feet.
"Send out the following message to the rest of the UAE: Begin the attack."
"You betcha, Astronema," Elgar said, hastily moving to carry out her order.
"Ecliptor, I want you to inspect the troops. Make sure they're ready to attack Earth on my command. By the time the sun sets, I will have accomplished what the rest of Dark Specter's soldiers have only dreamed of doing: I will have conquered Earth and crushed the Power Rangers once and for all. Once Earth is under my control, I'll take out Dark Specter and establish myself as the true Queen of Evil."

***
The planet Eltar:
The huge gear-shaped fortress of the Machine Empire came to a halt in orbit above the planet of Eltar. The peaceful grey-green orb spun silently beneath the fortress, unaware of the chaos that would soon engulf it.

On board the fortress, King Mondo, the robotic monarch of the Empire, stared down at the planet and then smiled with glee. He turned towards his wife, Machina.
"This is a glorious day for us, my dear. Today we will conquer Eltar and make its pitiful inhabitants bow before us."
"Of that I have no doubt, my husband," Machina said.

Down on the planet's surface, a huge army of Cogs, the Empire's robotic footsoldiers, materialized in the midst of a small city. Without any warning whatsoever, the Cogs began attacking nearby citizens, who ran for cover. However, they were cut down almost immediately by an aerial assault delivered by the Quadra Fighters, huge machines piloted by the Cogs.
"Please, leave us alone," a frightened citizen begged two Cogs, who had cornered her and her small daughter. The Cogs responded by simply stabbing the woman with their spears. They then turned their attention to her daughter, who was sobbing.
"Get away from her," a voice said. The Cogs spun around to see the Phantom Ranger, a tall figure clad totally in black and silver armor, rushing towards them. Without waiting for him to reach them, the Cogs assumed battle positions, and one of them hurled its spear in the Phantom Ranger's direction. He dodged the weapon and leapt into the air, delivering a devastating kick to the Cog's midsection and sending it flying backwards. Its comrade tried to mount an offensive, but was just as quickly dispatched.
"Are you alright?" the Phantom Ranger asked the little girl, bending down to help her to her feet. Suddenly, though, she began to scream, and he looked up to see a huge army of Cogs headed in his direction.
"Get out of here and find someplace safe," he told the girl, who scampered off.
As the girl ran off, the Phantom Ranger engaged the Cogs. Despite his best efforts, they quickly overwhelmed him, and he was pinned to the ground. One of the Cogs raised its spear, poised to drive the point deep into his chest, when it suddenly collapsed in a shower of sparks.
The Phantom Ranger looked up to see a team of five costumed warriors heading in his direction. These were the Turbo Rangers, or, more accurately, robotic replications of the Turbo Rangers, who were firing their weapons as they ran. Created by the legendary sage Zordon, who was now in the clutches of the evil Dark Specter, and his trusty robotic ally Alpha 5, the Robot Rangers, as these five warriors were affectionately known, had been severely damaged while defending Eltar against an attack launched 6 or so months earlier by Dark Specter's forces, and the Phantom Ranger was glad to see that they were back in action.
"Are you okay?" the robot Red Turbo Ranger asked as he and the other Rangers reached the Phantom Ranger. He nodded.
"You won't be fine for very much longer, I'm afraid, Rangers," a voice said. The 5 Rangers spun around and came face to face with Mondo and Machina, who had materialized on the planet's surface and were flanked by a huge army of Cogs.
"Bring it on, Mondo," the Red Turbo Ranger said as he and the others assumed a battle stance.
"Cogs, get them," Mondo ordered, and a huge army of Cogs rushed at the Rangers.

***

I'll be back later with more.

[PHAETON]

good start, i look forward to the rest of it.

[DigificWriter]

Here's the first part of Chapter One.
[Note: PHAETON's guidelines still aren't in this part, though they WILL be in the final part of Chapter One.]

Power Rangers: Dark Millenium

Chapter One

The planet Aquitar:
Billy Cranston, Earth's original Blue Power Ranger, walked along the shoreline of Aquitar's main landmass with his Aquitian wife, Cestria. The two were celebrating the recent news that, after several tries, Cestria had finally become pregnant with a child who, when he or she was born, would carry the genetic profile of both a Terran and an Aquitian.
"Billy, have you ever thought about returning to Earth," Cestria suddenly asked.
Billy stared at his wife in surprise.
"Occasionally, but not seriously," he said. "My life is here. Why?"
"I've been thinking about what a monumentous event the conception of a half-Terran/half-Aquitian child is; despite our obvious differences, our two planets have become inexplicably linked, both through our relationship and the service that Cestro and the other Rangers have rendered in defense of both planets, and I was hoping to further this link by having our child born, not on Aquitar, but on Earth," Cestria said.
"Are you sure?" Billy asked. "We have no way of knowing what effect Earth's atmospheric conditions will have on our child."
Cestria nodded. "I'm sure," she said.
"Then I won't stand in your way. I'll make sure our child is born on Earth," Billy said. He then smiled. "Can you imagine what my friends are going to do when they find out that they're going to be the godparents to a half-Aquitian child?"
"I doubt their reaction will be unpleasant, given how they responded to your decision to remain here," Cestria said.

Suddenly, a swarm of Piranhatrons, the robotic footsoldiers of the space pirate Divatox, appeared.
"Cestria, get out of here," Billy shouted. He'd never before encountered the Piranhatrons in person, but recognized them because he'd decided long ago to keep himself familiar with the evil forces that existed in the galaxy in case he was ever called upon to render assistance, not as an active Power Ranger, but as an ally/mentor to the active Power Rangers.
"I'm not going to leave you here," Cestria said.
"Yes, you are. I'm not going to lose you and our baby," Billy said. "I'll be fine. This thing might not work very well any more, but it still works." He brandished his old Power Morpher and prepared to morph.
"Billy, no. It's not safe," Cestria cried.
"I don't have a choice," Billy said. "Now get out of here."
With tears streaming down her face, Cestria took one final look at her beloved and took off down the beach, pausing once to look back long enough to watch Billy morph. Seconds later, he was surrounded by a swarm of Piranhatrons, and she lost sight of him.

***

Cestro, the Blue Aquitian Ranger, was in his laboratory fiddling with his latest invention, a portable energy cannon he'd named the Aquitar Power Cannon, when Cestria burst into the room. Cestro raced to his niece and was barely able to catch her before she collapsed.
"Cestria, what's wrong? Where's Billy?" he asked.
"Back on the beach. We were walking when all of a sudden these fish-like robots appeared. He told me to run and then morphed."
"Find the others and tell them where I am. If we can't help Billy stop these creatures, our entire planet's existence could be in jeopardy," Cestro said.
He then pulled out his morpher.
"It's Morphin Time. Blue Aquitar Ranger Power," he called out.
Seconds later, he disappeared, fully morphed, leaving Cestria alone in the lab.

***

Back on the beach, Billy was beginning to regret his decision to morph. Because of the instability of the Morphing Grid, his powers, which were already weak, were growing weaker the longer he remained morphed, and the Piranhatrons were quickly becoming too much for him to handle. As one of the Piranhatrons hit him in the stomach, Billy's powers gave out and he demorphed as he hit the ground.
"Get away from him," a voice shouted. The Piranhatrons spun around to see Cestro racing towards them, firing his laser pistol as he ran. Faced with a new enemy to challenge, the Piranhatrons charged Cestro and began fighting him, giving Billy time to get back to his feet and prepare to re-morph. However, before he could get out the familiar morphing call of "It's Morphin Time," he found himself surrounded by the four other Aquitian Rangers.
"Billy, stop," Delphine, the White Aquitian Ranger, commanded. "We'll handle these creatures. You go to Cestria."

***

Eltar:
The robot Red Turbo Ranger slashed at two Cogs who were trying to double up on him, but the damaged state of his Turbo Blade reduced the damage inflicted to the Cogs, who were able to punch him, knocking the wind from his robotic lungs and causing him to double over.
"Hang on," a voice shouted, and the Red Turbo Ranger looked up to see the Blue and Pink Turbo Rangers rushing towards them, armed with their Turbo Weapons and firing at the Cogs as they came. They were followed closely by the Green and Yellow Turbo Rangers, who were running backwards as they fired at some pursuing Cogs with their Auto Blasters.
"Are you okay?" the Pink Turbo Ranger asked her friend and leader.
"I'll be fine," the Red Turbo Ranger said.
"Good, cause it doesn't look like Mondo's done yet," the Green Turbo Ranger said. "Here come more Cogs."
"Turbo Power Weapons now," the Red Turbo Ranger shouted.
The five Rangers' individual weapons appeared in their hands just seconds before another wave of Cogs reached them.

***

While the Turbo Rangers were dealing with Mondo's Cogs, the Phantom Ranger was facing off with Mondo himself, and wasn't faring too well. For everything else that he was, one of the things that Mondo was not was a fool; he'd learned a great deal of lessons from his attack on Earth and subsequent two destructions, and no longer assumed that he could beat his adversaries on strength alone, which is why he'd stood back and watched while his Cogs wore down the Phantom Ranger before getting involved in the fight himself. As a result, he currently had the upper hand.
"Had enough yet, Ranger?" Mondo asked. "If you surrender now, I'll make your death swift. Otherwise, you will perish slowly along with the rest of this planet's inhabitants."
"Eltar will never surrender to you, Mondo, and neither will I," the Phantom Ranger said.
"Very well then, Ranger. It's time to finish this fight and check up on the progress of my Cogs," Mondo said. He used his staff to knock the Phantom Ranger off of his feet, and then brought it down swiftly, bones crunching as it impacted with the center of the Phantom Ranger's chest.

***

Be back with more later.

[Cuiran]

Good stuff -- I actually had completely forgotten about the Robot Rangers, partly because I still haven't watched the related episode. >_> I'm curious to see where thes one goes.

[DigificWriter]

Thanks for the reply, and hope you'll keep reading. On the subject of the Robot Rangers, I've always liked them, and wanted to use them in some way, and it seemed like including them in the Countdown to Destruction was the perfect opportunity.

[PHAETON]

I enjoy the portion about Billy's sacrifice and the Robot Ranger's reappearance, keep it comming

[DigificWriter]

I've decided that I need some time to re-think this fanfic, so I'm bowing out of the challenge for the time being. However, I should be back with a better version of this fic after I've had some time to think about the best way to meet the challenge requirements.