The Great Eggscapade
by Shadow RangerDisclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, they belong to their respective copyright owners and are used here without permission. No money is being made from this fic.
Authors Note: This is an alternate universe with an alternate timeline. This story takes a lot of inspiration from the 2017 reboot movie’s opening scene.
The Great Eggscapade
"People look at us in awe, admiring us for our deeds. But they fail to understand that we like them are mere mortals following in the footsteps of those that came before. We have strived to understand the workings of the Morphin Grid and the nature of the Power, but those that came before, they created things that we have yet to begin to understand."
A small world, far away from civilisation
Billions of Years Ago (give or take an Ice Age)
First, there was nothing. Then… the supreme being known as The One sent forth a hail of raw matter and energy to plant the seeds of creation across distances too vast to measure. And with that act, the universe was born from the void. Over time the universe evolved, becoming more complex as The Celestials shaped and forged the cosmos according to the divine will.
Eventually, The Celestials withdrew, leaving the universe to plunge into a dark age of ignorance until their chosen successors emerged. It took far longer than the powerful beings had anticipated – for even with the push they had given them, those lower beings still struggled. When they did emerge they worked together long enough to transform their existence into a place where science and the laws of physics dictated the nature of the universe around them. They chose to favour science over mysticism, rejecting the power of the Morphin Grid, preferring to utilise energy from sources that complied with the science they had developed.
Given time the alliance broke down as ambition and greed pitted one race against another. Those selected by the Celestials for their potential as future leaders schemed against each other while presenting themselves as role models for lesser beings to aspire to. It was an age of backstabbing and power plays with the future of the universe in the balance. And the ultimate price was relevancy.
While many races turned on each other, there were still some that were willing to put their differences aside for the benefit of the wider universe. The Morphin Masters had started as a race of humanoids on a small world, but over time had welcomed outsiders into their midst. Working together they unlocked the secrets of Grid Energy and the nature of the Morphin Grid. Through the creation of their Masterforges, they gained the means to create technology infused with the power of the Grid. Using the Master Arches they were able to cross vast distances between Masterforges and eventually reach out to other dimensions and eventually, inside the Grid itself.
It was within one Masterforge in a location far from where the Morphinaut conducted his famous experiments, that the Morphin Masters had attempted to duplicate the power of creation. After sealing crystals capable of storing the raw energy of the Morphin Grid inside a protective shell that would prevent the release of that energy, they believed they had succeeded. When unleashed the raw energy would erupt, the resulting explosion sufficient to obliterate everything in its path. The next phase called for the careful manipulation of matter to create something new in its place. The Morphin Masters had believed that such a device would allow them to become lords over their domain.
Two prototypes were created, but with the next stage beyond their understanding, they soon realised they had created little more than large explosives. It was a realisation that brought an end to their experimentation around such matters: the unlocked secrets of the Morphin Grid and the time of the Ascension required their attention. The two devices were locked away in a storage vault, with plans to dispose of them before the time of the Ascension. Unfortunately, they never had the opportunity to complete the task. The Morphin Masters were forced to accelerate their plans for ascension, causing them to leave behind many of their creations. Even though many of the Masterforges were put beyond use and the Master Arches were disconnected to prevent them from being misused, some of the Morphin Masters’ technology survived. It would fall to others to make such devices safe.
The legendary beings that had first carried the title of Morphin Masters were not the last to bear that name. Long after the Ascension, the descendants of the ancient race had taken it upon themselves to seek out the secrets of their ancestors and to join them inside the Grid. They uncovered the vault deep inside of Masterforge MX-13 and the objects held within. Due to the shape and texture of the two objects, they dubbed them Power Eggs.
They did everything in their power to discern the function and operation of the Power Eggs, before they concluded that their only function was to destroy and should never be used. The Power Eggs were filled with Grid Energy, contained under enormous dimensional pressure and if opened would be responsible for the second greatest explosion in history. The objects held the greatest accumulation of Grid Energy outside of the Morphin Grid itself and that raw power was restrained only by a delicate shell of rock and crystal. It was determined that if either object should break open, the power unleashed could erase existence and replace it with something unknown.
They swore that they would never use the power within the Power Eggs and did all within their power to keep them stable and protected from harm. They briefly toyed with the idea of placing them in another dimension or even taking them into the Morphin Grid when they next attempted their ascension. But they recognised that there were risks of failing to make the transition to the Morphin Grid and accidentally releasing a wave of uncontrollable energy upon the cosmos.
So instead, they searched for ways to communicate with the ascended Morphin Masters. They knew that the only place the Power Eggs could be safely diffused was inside the Morphin Grid, but they needed help to get them there. They received the response in a vision and a prophecy that upon a distant world, their ancestors would emerge to take custody of the Power Eggs and place them where they could not cause harm. The prophecy directed them to the planet where the Morphinaut had completed his great experiment. It was there that they would be able to open a portal into the Morphin Grid, allowing the Morphin Masters of old to step through and take possession of the dangerous objects.
At the time their ancestors had encountered the planet it had been barely formed and had been considered a safe location for a Masterforge. Now life had emerged, but travelling there would take a long time – for the connection between the many planets that had once allowed their ancestors to cross the cosmos in moments, had been deactivated when they had left and had long since fallen into a state that prevented reactivation. Their insight promised a journey that would take generations to complete, a sacred pilgrimage to be carried out by those that came after them – for the Morphin Masters had already sworn that nothing would prevent their attempt to follow their ancestors, leaving the task to the next generation.
After centuries of preparations, they were ready for the long voyage that would see them cross the universe. Their ancestors had recognised the difficulty of completing the task and that their descendants faced a long and difficult journey without the benefit of the Master Arches to shorten the distance. It had also become clear that even their most advanced ship would fail to travel the journey without needing to refuel and restock its supplies. And despite the longevity of those making the journey, there was no way that they would live long enough to see its completion.
An so the plan was developed, to allow for stops along the way for refuelling and recovery from the rigours of long-term space travel. Using the old network of Masterforges as stopping points along the way, the crew would settle on worlds for a time to raise a new generation of travellers before moving on; the elders of their race would spend most of the journey asleep, awakening only when their advice was needed.
The odyssey of a single ship evolved into a fleet of vessels including those carrying parts and supplies. It was an armada leaving their home behind to begin what some had dubbed the Great Eggscapade.
The existence of the Power Eggs was not the great secret that the Morphin Masters had hoped. Some wanted to use the Power Eggs for their twisted purposes and did not care about the damage such objects could cause. There were some trapped inside their dimensional prisons who realised that an explosion capable of destroying the universe could break the walls of their cells and give them the freedom they craved. After billions of years of incarceration, they did not care about the price of their freedom. While other villains and pirates tried and failed to steal the Power Eggs as the armada continued its long journey, those darker forces turned their attention to the Morphin Masters themselves. In the end, the Morphin Masters were mortal with all the failings of mortal beings. They could be corrupted by promises of reward… it was only a case of finding the right mind and fuelling the darkness within.
The armada was far from home and still a great distance from its destination. Many of those who had started the journey so long ago had either perished from old age or had chosen to remain on the worlds where they had taken shelter to allow others to take their place. The younger members of the crew were idealistic but had not seen the cosmos when it was at peace. They lived their lives in space, pursued by villains who wanted to stop their journey and steal the Power Eggs. The universe had changed since the quest had started and not all of those changes had been for the better. The cosmos was filled with war, crime, and suffering. The cosmos called out for an answer to the struggles its people faced, but none stepped forward.
That is when a faction emerged with the suggestion that they should end their journey and instead use the power in their possession to stop the darkness that was taking hold of the cosmos. They argued that their duty should be to restore hope and order to the universe. Their arguments were made with the best of intentions, but their plans were turned down time and again. Resentment set in as those seeking to do what was right found themselves blocked by those who allowed an ancient promise to prevent them from taking action. As the arguments intensified, the darker beings drew upon the anger and resentment, twisting the desires to use the Power Eggs for good into a craving for power that would lead to the rise of an enemy within the ranks of the Morphin Masters, a traitor willing to kill his brethren for what he believed to be the power to recreate the universe as a place of peace and order. At that point, the arguments turned to violence as those convinced that their way was the correct choice tried to seize control of the Power Eggs.
Those that had been corrupted by the dark influence attempted to seize control of the fleet. They were unsuccessful but managed to gain control of some of the ships in the Armada. They used those vessels to pursue the rest of the fleet, attacking their former allies as they picked off ship after ship. They were relentless, forcing those guarding the Power Eggs to constantly battle for survival. They took control of the havens that had been earmarked as rest stops. They claimed the Masterforges they encountered and whatever technology survived within.
As time passed and their effort to take the Power Eggs failed, they managed to seek out, locate and obtain the creations of the ancient race. They empowered themselves using the sacred tools and then renewed their efforts against those who denied them their true prize. They started to turn on each other, recognising that the Power Eggs would only be able to grant one of them their desire and that in the end, the only way to guarantee that they would be that candidate was to remove their opposition.
Time passed as a long-drawn-out war saw a crew led by one renegade monk pursuing generations of fleeing loyalists. The renegade raised an army from worlds he corrupted to his view. He rediscovered the limited powers his heritage granted him and willingly wielded the untamed magic from the darker parts of the Morphin Grid against his foes. He hunted his former allies and their descendants, destroying everything they built, ever aware that time was running out. When they reached their destination he knew that his chances of obtaining the Power Eggs would disappear.
More time passed. For those who came after the schism, there seemed to be only a constant state of warfare and readiness for battle. The trek across the universe had been filled with discoveries and terror. Somehow a few of those that had started the journey remained, but by this time their bodies were so broken by the ravages of time that they could endure only minutes outside of their suspension capsules. Physically broken and mentally exhausted, they yearned for death but forced themselves to live long enough to see the armada reach its destination. Many of their brethren had been lost, and thousands of families had been decimated. The one that had led the rebellion had somehow survived without ageing and had proven to be a deadly foe. And so, they continued to run, making their final dash to where the Morphin Masters had promised to meet them and take up the burden of guarding the Power Eggs.
The Armada or what remained of it was nearing its destination, but every day was proving to be more and more difficult. The ageing ships were failing, and the supplies to replenish their parts were either exhausted or destroyed by their pursuers. The enemy had passed them at some point, conquering worlds ahead of them to form a blockade. The armada had been forced to deviate from its planned course and although they had picked up a few allies and some replacement ships, they knew the odds of them successfully reaching their final destination were higher than ever.
And their enemy was relentless, allowing them no rest. Even when they encountered friendly worlds that offered some aid, their enemy would show his hand by attacking. He ravaged whole planets just to spite his former kin, all the time attempting to take the Power Eggs before they reached their destination. But in the end, he failed to prevent them from making a final push. Three vessels slipped away from the armada, two seeking to end their desperate quest and the other holding the key to what came after their success.
It was with great relief that they finally reached their destination. Even though their instruments failed to locate the Masterforge where the Morphinaut had based his laboratory, they knew they were finally within the reach of the original Morphin Masters. That doing so had required the sacrifice of most of the armada to slow their tormentor long enough for them to land upon the primitive world, spoke of their dedication to their cause. Their tormentor, once one of their greatest leaders and most inspirational speakers made his betrayal worse as he mercilessly slaughtered his former allies. As the first ship plunged through the atmosphere of the tiny planet fate had chosen as their final battleground, they hoped that he would finally receive his due punishment at the hands of their ancestors. In the end despite the large number of ships that had departed, only one remained to make the promised delivery.
The huge freighter touched down upon the tiny planet. It was not quite a crash but was far from being a controlled landing. The freighter had broken apart as it had smashed its way through a forest, scattering remains for miles around. Of the crew, only six had survived the impact, five warriors and their master. They had little time to lick their wounds or mourn the deaths of their comrades. Their enemy was not far behind and they knew that if they survived the day, it would only be because the prophecy came true, and their ancestors were truly waiting for them.
But there was a problem. They were early. Too early for there to be a chance that their ancient kin would turn up in time to prevent a confrontation. The stars they remembered from the ancient scrolls did not match those in the sky. They knew that all they could do was delay their foe as long as possible and hide the Power Eggs where their ancestors could retrieve them at a later time. But against an enemy that had taken the title Dark Lord and forsaken their power, they doubted they would last that long.
This was why the master known as Zarba had fled the impact zone, leaving his warriors to try and delay their foe long enough for help to arrive or for the surprise Zarba had set in motion to trigger.
"Power forgive me for what I am about to do," Zarba whispered as he placed the small capsule on the ground and checked the modifications he had made. The device would function at least long enough to protect the Power Eggs from harm until they were taken beyond the reach of those who could misuse them. He covered the box with soil, rose shakily to his feet and moved as far as possible from his previous location. The most important thing now was to slow their foe down, allowing the power cells on the box time to charge fully and activate the force field.
It had been a desperate and, in his mind, a cowardly act to run from what should have been the final battle, but a promise had been made generations ago, a covenant bound by honour to safely deliver the Power Eggs to the Morphin Masters in the knowledge that they would then protect them. And Zarba realised that despite how much he loathed himself for his actions, keeping the Power Eggs safe from a madman who wished to use their power to enhance his power was worth any sacrifice. Zarba knew that he was going to pay for his actions – there was no way that he would survive this encounter with his ancient foe. There was nowhere to run and no way to defeat such a warrior in combat; Zaiten had lived much longer than Zarba and his experience was much greater.
He sensed the moment Maz engaged the enemy forces. Maz was a large warrior, easily towering over most of those he encountered and made up the muscle of Zarba’s elite squadron. His natural size and durability were enhanced by the armour he wore and the power he channelled through his control medal. In combat, he could stand toe to toe with any opponent and usually emerge victorious.
Sadly, while the power he drew from his talisman aided him against soldiers fighting on behalf of the Dark Lord, against their commander it was less effective. The talisman allowed Maz to use his willpower to create weapons and enhance his strength. But the dark energy his enemy wielded disrupted those powers just as it did most other forms of magic. The dark powers of the Morphin Grid provided the same protection from harm as those from the light side of the Grid. so long as they were used to bring chaos and destruction.
In the end, the enemy proved too much for even the mighty Maz to handle alone. The huge warrior was cut down by a blade of black energy. It was the second blow that ultimately killed him.
"Thank you, my friend," Zarba whispered as he felt Maz’s passing. "Your sacrifice will not be in vain. I promise. We will end this evil today."
Tyerri did not fare any better in her confrontation. Although she used her powers to the fullest potential to boost her speed and agility, his resistance to harm prevented her from causing damage. An unfortunate misstep on her part allowed the villain to corner her and with no more room for manoeuvre, she was rapidly defeated.
As was the case with Cera. Fuelled by his anger at the loss of his comrades, Cera drew upon his talisman to toughen his armour, turning him into a battering ram. He was perhaps the first being who could claim that he managed to knock the Dark Lord off of his feet, but in his blind rage, he had forgotten that the Dark Lord did not travel alone and was not above calling on reinforcements when the odds turned against him. Cera did not even receive the honour of dying by his enemy’s hand as the moment Zaiten determined that the powerful combatant did not possess his stolen property, he left. And poor Cera was left to be savaged by the throng of beasts that followed the villain’s command.
Zarba was hit by the emotion of his comrade’s death but knew this was the wrong time to mourn them; their sacrifices had bought Zarba precious minutes. And even as he continued to work, he knew that somewhere the enemy had just been confronted by two more opponents. It was a testament to the Dark Lord’s skill that he easily dispatched one opponent before giving Ty his full attention.
Determined not to waste the opportunity he had been granted, Zarba continued his preparations. The trap had been set before the crash, knowing that neither he nor his companions would be leaving the planet alive. He had not anticipated losing so many warriors upon impact and had had to adapt the strategy when he realised that only his bridge crew had survived.
The Lost Brother had proven himself a dominant and unrelenting foe even without the constant energy he received from the Morphin Grid. But by drawing upon the dark energy directly he had left himself vulnerable to the reckless behaviour it was known to induce. And that meant that where he might have detected the trap Zarba had devised, in his current state he had overlooked the danger. He had been so angry when he had wiped out the remainder of Zarba’s fleet, that he had failed to notice one of the ships that should have been there was missing, wrongly assuming that Zarba and his team possessed the only vessel to survive the conflict and had never considered the possibility that there was a second ship tracking the activity on the small planet, ready to fire at Zarba’s command.
"Zodin, we are in position, have you acquired the target?" Zarba asked.
Silence was not a good sign. A combination of the loss of their ship’s transmitter array and the interference created by so many types of energy interacting in the atmosphere made long-distance communication difficult. He could only hope that his signal was getting through even if he could not hear the reply.
"Zodin?"
In the distance, he heard the cries of battle as Ty battled with the Dark Lord. Zarba knew that despite the bravery shown by his warrior, it would not be enough. The armies standing against him had never been enough to stop the villain’s rampage. The three talismans now in his possession following the deaths of Maz, Cera and Tyerri proved how formidable he was.
Zarba pushed himself to move swiftly across the surface, dragging himself through the dirt, mud, and torn-up landscape. His movement did not go unnoticed, and the enemy sent a bolt of energy in his direction. Debris rained down around him causing him to dodge and roll for cover. He had avoided a direct hit, but his leg had been injured. Still, with Ty doing all he could to distract the villain, Zarba endured and pushed onward to find the beacon that had been dropped during the landing. If direct communication was out, then he hoped that this would work as an alternative.
He had not been expecting to see Stooth again. After she had engaged their foe alongside Ty, Zarba had been unable to sense her energy. He had believed that she had simply passed away. Instead, it seemed that Zaiten had injured her and then thrown her broken body away from the battle. Somehow, she had managed to hold on a little longer, although a rapid assessment of her injuries told him that she was so far gone she would not last more than a few minutes. Indeed, he barely sensed her life force even when he was kneeling next to her.
Her body had been torn apart and she lay twisted on the ground, unable to move from where the enemy had carelessly discarded her. What remained of her armour barely clung to her charred skin. Zarba did not doubt from the awkward angle of her limbs that her spine was broken. Still, she gave him a slight smile as he approached, and he was relieved that she both knew and approved of what was going to happen. At least he knew that somebody approved of his plan.
"I’m sorry," she said.
"Rest my child," he replied softly. She had been the youngest member of his elite forces, but he had always thought of her as possessing skills and wisdom beyond her age. "Your duty is complete. Go to those that wait for you on the other side. I will be with you shortly."
She smiled gratefully and closed her eyes. For a moment he felt the spark of life within her glow brightly and then it was extinguished. She was gone and, in the distance, he could sense Ty faltering. Soon he would be all alone. A small weight in his pocket confirmed that Stooth’s talisman had returned to his possession, just like those held by her fallen comrades.
He continued to crawl across the battlefield until he reached the beacon. For the first time, he felt some hope that his plan might still work. The beacon was intact but would require modifications to boost its signal. The internal power cells would never sustain a signal powerful enough to draw Zodin’s attention, but he hoped that he could substitute them with the talismans he had recovered. A lot of power would be lost in the process, but he knew that if it worked the beacon’s range would be massively increased. With luck, Zodin would be listening.
"Zodin, we are almost out of time. Have you locked onto the target?"
There was no reply, and he knew it was too late to try again. Ty had fallen and Zarba realised that he would soon be joining his elite in the next world. He did not spare a glance as he heard heavy boots crunching on the ground. His hand reached out to grab Ty’s talisman as it was thrown in the dirt, followed by the head of the fallen warrior.
"I expected more of the great Zarba," the Dark Lord stated as he closed the gap between himself and the fallen commander. "I never expected to find you crawling about in the mud like an animal. I’m a little disappointed that the man who dared to steal from me is reduced to such things."
"Zaiten!" Zarba managed in response, daring to speak the name of their ancient foe.
Zarba tuned out the gloating as he concentrated on using the power that the villain had unwittingly granted him. In his hand, he held five talismans that had been connected to the Morphin Grid. And although they had never served as more than simple batteries with five of the talismans in his possession, he knew that he could conjure anything he desired, so long as he could maintain his concentration. And what he needed most at that moment, was a way to boost the signal from the beacon and then shield the planet from the horrors he was about to unleash.
"You should have joined me when I gave you the choice, Zarba. But I suppose you are too much like your father, and his father, and his father… Your line has a troublesome habit of refusing my offers." His hand reached out and seized the monk by the neck. "So, tell me, Zarba, where are my Power Eggs?"
Even now, Zaiten was nigh unstoppable. His connection to the powers of the Grid had enhanced him beyond belief and Zarba dreaded to think what the madman would do if he had possession of the Power Eggs as well.
Unfortunately, there was no safe way to destroy the Power Eggs. The only option had been the safe removal to another dimension, which according to their ancestors’ instructions, could only be accomplished on this world in the future. To destroy the Power Eggs or even just damage them, risked the uncontrolled release of the energies they contained.
"Where are they?!"
Zarba retorted in his native tongue, throwing out a string of insults. The villain growled a response and threw him to the ground angered that the monk had dared to refer to the grand design that had allowed him to access an unfathomable level of power as a mere tool. He kicked Zarba hard in the stomach and stomped down on his back, causing him to howl in pain. He raised his hand to unleash a killing blast of dark energy before regaining control.
The instinct had been there to kill and destroy. Had he done so, he would have lost his opportunity to regain his most prized possession. Zarba had been able to manipulate his emotions, blinding him with anger – for now, he could perceive the spells that Zarba had attempted to use. He laughed.
"Oh, you are a sly one Zarba, I will grant you that much. You almost tricked me into killing you. Fortunately, I am not so easy to manipulate. I guarantee I will kill you, but not until you have told me what I want to know. Then you can join your friends in the afterlife."
But Zarba was not paying attention. His mind was focused on distracting Zaiten, preventing the villain from sensing the location of the two small objects he had hidden and buying as much time as possible for his allies to spring the trap. His attention was drawn to the talismans he had recovered from his fallen team. While they had proven suitable for allowing his companions to fight back, they had never been deemed as truly useful. Those who decided such things claimed that the impure mix of materials made them unreliable and little more than batteries. Zarba however had discovered that those imperfections allowed them to absorb the genetic traits of their users and pass them on to subsequent avatars when it was advantageous to do so. And more importantly, in this case, they could be used to direct all forms of magic, even simple spells.
"Those chosen by these talismans, should they be strong enough and prove themselves worthy of the power within, shall inherit the legacy of those that came before," Zarba mumbled as he slid the fifth talisman into the beacon, boosting its power. He used the last of his energy to lock the power of the talismans away from those who would abuse them. "Let those that are worthy unlock the gifts and possibilities they represent. Above all: protect this world for as long as it needs defending and shield the Power Eggs from all that would seek their power. I beseech you noble ancestors to watch over the Power Eggs until the time arrives for you to retrieve them."
"Enough of this game," Zaiten growled as he raised his golden staff and drove it into the ground. He was Zaiten and he was not going to be denied his prize by a mere wizard. His staff pulsed with energy, fuelled by his fury. The ground quaked in response.
The staff Zaiten carried was evidence of how far the once noble being had fallen. It was forged from relics he had stolen from his fallen foes. A small piece here, a tiny memento there. And given the size of the trophies he claimed, Zarba was horrified to think how many warriors Zaiten must have destroyed to gain the metal needed for such a staff.
"I tracked you and your little squadron across countless galaxies to this wretched world," he hissed. "I have fought and defeated all those that dared to stand in my way and now I have you at my mercy… It’s time for you to end these games and tell me what you did with MY property?!"
"You’re already too late," Zarba answered. "The Power Eggs were never yours to claim and have been sealed away forever."
"You always were a stubborn fool," Zaiten lamented, a hint of the fondness showing for just a moment. At one time he had called Zarba a friend, but those days were over. "Very well. If you will not tell me what I want to know, you shall die with your friends. And once you are gone, I will rip this planet apart until I find what you have kept from me."
He raised the staff to deliver a killing blow but paused as a rumbling sound filled the air. A smile graced Zarba’s face as the huge shadow passed over them. Help had arrived.
"Well done, Zodin."
"Zodin? Zodin is dead! How can he be here?" Zaiten demanded, then stopped as for the first time he questioned his success. "No, he can’t have survived. Not after all the things I did to him."
"He is far more resilient than many believe," Zarba told him confidently.
Not to mention his loyal companion had an innate sense of self-preservation and had set up a survival strategy with countless backups and fail-safes.
"There was nothing left of him. I made certain! I ripped him apart and ground up the pieces. And even if he did manage to save his program, there was nowhere for him to transfer his functions to. I fought what remained of your fleet. I destroyed every ship you possessed and then I watched your base burn to the ground!"
"Every ship?"
"I was there!" Zaiten snarled. "I watched as every ship you had was blasted out of space before you turned and ran away in your little shuttle."
He paused, mentally rerunning the events in his head. The battle had been a glorious last stand by Zarba’s forces as his armies had cut them down in their hundreds. He had watched as the command ships had crashed onto barren worlds and rejoiced when they had detected the lone vessel known as Sky Dragon withdraw from the combat.
"Why… why did you choose that ship?"
There had been other choices, better options available. Sky Dragon was heavily shielded with powerful cannons, but it was not the fastest vessel for making a getaway. Now that he thought about it Zarba’s flagship, the Eclipse, had not been at the battle. At the time he had overlooked its absence, but now it appeared to be a glaring oversight.
"The Eclipse…"
"Escaped your ambush," Zarba told him, the satisfaction he felt in the power of his flagship evident. "I like to have a few tricks in reserve. And with Zodin on board, it has been prepared for this moment."
"You knew this would happen!" Zaiten realised.
Zarba had the grace to look a little guilty. He had been gifted with a sense of prophecy as a child and it had guided him in his brief conflict with Zaiten.
"You knew that it would come to this, you even knew that I would defeat your little soldiers. You knew that fighting me would lead to their deaths… all those deaths. You allowed them to die just to bring me here. Why?"
Why indeed? When Zarba had received his vision of the future he had seen only loss without hope. Nothing he had tried in his visions had saved the lives of those at his command and had only led to more death and destruction. But the path he had chosen offered a chance to limit those casualties even at the cost of those who served at his side.
"And now what? Do you plan to use the power of Eclipse to strike me down? Do you think that bombarding me from orbit will be enough?" he laughed. "I’m not one those fools that faced you in the past Zarba. I know what you are capable of… you may have once commanded a legion, but you are still just a priest, not a warrior."
With so much history between them as comrades and enemies, it was inevitable that Zaiten would learn to anticipate his plans, just as he had learnt to predict his.
"I knew that tracking Sky Dragon was too easy," Zaiten admitted. "It was too simple and had to be a trap. So, I took a few precautions to prevent you from targeting me remotely. Your friend will not even detect me. And even if he managed to find me, you know my magic can take a volley from Eclipse."
"You do know me too well, Zaiten," Zarba allowed. "Fortunately, I know you too. I knew there was a chance you would see through my deception. And I would never rely on such an old trick to defeat you. Luckily… I was able to come up with something different. I thought you might have a way to hide from the ship’s scanners, so I chose a target that was not shielded… you just happen to be standing beside me. And as for the Eclipse… you might be able to survive its firepower, but what about its cargo?"
Away from the battle, Zodin had followed his master’s orders and selected a large piece of space rock. With the rock secured to Eclipse, it was a matter of activating the thrusters and propelling the large meteor like a missile through space. And now the massive asteroid that was the Eclipse burned its way across the sky, streaking down upon them, guns blazing, cutting up the ground and throwing debris into the air. But at the speed it was moving there was no way that a vessel that size would be able to pull up and avoid a crash. Zarba’s destruction order was about to be completed and if the vast firepower of Eclipse did not obliterate them, the explosive impact when it crashed into the ground would bring their conflict to a permanent end.
"And your dark magic might protect you from the ship’s weapons, but even your power could not withstand such an impact. There will be no victory here today," Zarba declared. "This is where we shall both die. And when we are gone, the Power Eggs will be taken beyond the reach of anyone foolish enough to seek their power."
"Noooooo!" Zaiten screamed. "YOU tricked ME!"
Zarba took advantage of the distraction to push the last of his power into the talismans, activating the spells he had prepared. The planet’s survival had always been a key part of his strategy. Without the planet, the protection he had prepared for the Power Eggs would never work. The magic he had set in motion would help the small world withstand the force of the impact even though such a spell was not without great cost. Sadly, his actions meant sacrificing all life upon its surface.
He felt the ground heave as the ship collided with the ground a few miles away. It seemed that despite his best efforts Zodin’s aim had been a little off. Still, nobody was perfect. The blast wave from the collision rolled over the landscape, destroying rocks, trees, primitive animals… everything in its path. In the last moment before his annihilation, Zarba saw the blast fling a raging Zaiten far away into the burning sky.
He closed his eyes, accepting that the end had come while hoping Zodin had followed orders and abandoned the ship before it crashed. The Power Eggs were secure, hidden by spells that would allow them to remain undetected until the Ancient Morphin Masters arrived to claim them, Zaiten was vanquished, and the universe was safe. This was the day he would die and when he did so it would be with the knowledge that the third ship that had escaped the battle remained hidden. It would emerge when the fighting was over, delivering the children of his race to their new home. They would be the ones that would guard the Power Eggs until the promised meeting with their ancestors when they would ascend into the Morphin Grid.
Zarba’s prediction had been wrong. Even though he had correctly foreseen his demise, he had no way of knowing the things Zaiten had done to extend his life; although Zarba spoke of Zaiten as a peer, Zaiten had been born aeons before Zarba. And somehow the steps he had taken to extend his life had allowed Zaiten to survive the impact. However, there came a point where it might have been better had he perished. What was left of him was not a pretty sight. His body had been pulverised by the impact, incinerated by the explosion and crushed under the weight of the wreckage. The limbs that remained attached would likely never function again. His organs had retained heavy damage that was beyond the abilities of the healers to repair, had they been inclined to do so.
When the third ship arrived, they had investigated the site of the battle. They had retrieved the remains of Zarba and his allies. And then they had located the broken form of Zaiten. Having heard whispers of the steps he had taken to preserve his life and the rumours of his experimentation with life after death, finding him alive had been a relief. In his current broken state, he was unable to escape, unable to do anything more than struggle to breathe.
Orders were urgently given, and engineers were summoned and instructed to find a way to rapidly connect and power the required equipment. As the surgeons and healers raced to strip away the body parts that were beyond saving to reduce the amount of work the machines would need to do to keep the rest of him alive, a base platform was erected and provisioned with ample magical and technological shielding. Then the equipment was positioned in such a way that the patient could never reach or interfere with it. A command chair from one of the support vessels was secured to the floor to act as his medical bed for the duration of his time there. Some had objected that the chair resembled a throne, but those protests were ignored when the safety features of the chair were used to hold their occupant in place. And finally, a tissue regenerator and a stasis field were placed to keep him alive. The stasis field would allow only slight changes while activated and the regenerator would correct any loss of tissue.
As walls were added to the makeshift medical capsule, the question turned to what to do with him. They couldn’t kill him now that he was in their custody. Politically it would undermine their efforts to bring order and law to the cosmos. As much as they hated to admit it, he would need to be tried, convicted and then sentenced by the laws they had been pushing. Even if doing so allowed him to escape.
In centuries to come his punishment would be the topic of much debate among those who had fought against him. Many felt that he did not deserve a trial and should have been executed immediately. Others were outraged by the waste of resources needed to keep him alive long enough to face trial. There was nobody to defend him and those who had stepped forward had been exposed as active participants in his crimes.
In the end, it was agreed that they could not execute him. Despite everything that he had done, his captors had gone out of their way to make certain that he would survive. To those who protested the decision, it was pointed out that his survival came at the cost of most of his limbs, his mind and his power. He would never be whole again, just a broken being trapped in a box until his body finally gave up the fight.
It was agreed however that there were no prisons suitable for his incarceration. Instead, they decided to use a decommissioned Masterforge on a nearby planet, far away from the Power Eggs. As the sealing of his prison was completed, the remains of the crash site were removed from the scene of the battle. The planet had been scarred by the impact but had lacked what they considered intelligent life. Those who arrived after the battle, once Zaiten had been secured, chose to make it their new home. The ship they had travelled in was broken down as raw materials for their new colony. In time those that remained would witness the emergence of new life as the planet recovered and they found peace at last.
Earth
Millions of years later
The Power Rangers had triumphed, Rita Repulsa’s monster had been defeated and a little girl had been set free. Most importantly the ancient artefacts known as the Power Eggs had been kept safe. Although the Ancient Morphin Masters had yet to follow through on their promise to retrieve the Power Eggs to a place where they could not cause further harm, the powerful objects remained beyond the hands of evil.
And from the shadows, an old man smiled as he understood that there were still those who would continue to watch over the Power Eggs. His name was Zodin, the last survivor of the tribe of Morphin Masters that had established a colony on Earth. Over millions of years, his race had either died out or integrated with the native humans. He had been the one to retrieve them from their hiding place and seal them in a chest that could only be opened by the pure of heart. He had been the one to set the chest in the sacred waters, hoping the currents would conceal it until the time came for the Morphin Masters to fulfil their promise. He had watched over the planet ever since, waiting for the day when his mission was finished, and he could join his comrades. But it seemed that the time had not yet arrived and that he would need to pass his duty on to the planet’s new protectors: the Power Rangers.
Still, after such a long time, rest came easy for him. All was well.
End