Chapter 3 - Mysterious Power

"So let me get this straight; the thing with the plane, that was you using ninja skills?" Sinclair Monning asked the man across the table from him. He, Taylor Hicks, Enrique Ramon, and Tempest Strong had left Sky Base earlier to get some lunch in Starkweather Valley. They sat at a round picnic table in Valley Park, near the Game Preserve that edged one part of the city.

Taylor Hicks nodded but waited until he swallowed his bite of hamburger before speaking. "I basically generated a funnel of wind that actually moved us in the direction I needed to go. I had no navigation whatsoever. The only thing keeping us in the air was me," he explained.

"I'm not sure I wanted to hear that," Tempest said, and sat down her fork. She had a rather green tinge to her skin. Her scrummy chicken salad just became less scrummy.

Ram was watching him with narrowed eyes. Sin was surprised. In the short amount of time he'd known Enrique 'Ramrod' Ramon, he'd never seen him with such a serious expression.

"What?" Taylor asked.

Ram shook his head. "You do it on purpose don't you? Despite your skills, you stayed upper-middle range of our class unless you weren't being tested," he said.

Ram and Taylor had been in the Air Force flight school together.

"If you're too good at something, people ask questions. How would a scruffy, wet-behind-the-ears nineteen-year-old know how to pilot an A-10 when supposedly he'd never even been -on- an airplane before?" he asked pointedly.

"Good point," Sin said.

Taylor shrugged. "It's a fine line to walk between doing something you shouldn't know how to do too well and being completely inept at it. I always I wanted to learn to fly a plane. Instead I got a flying Zord. My career path seemed inevitable," he said.

"So why'd you get out?" Sin asked.

Taylor shook his head. "Idealistic differences," he said simply.

Sin understood that sentiment. He and Gore were dishonorably discharged from the Army for just that reason.

"What about this Ninja training? How did you get into that?" Sin asked. "How does anyone if it's this secret?"

"Well, usually previous students recommend new students as they go out into the world. In my case, I had an in with the family. That's a story for another time," Tay said and jumped to his feet.

Sin whipped around, hearing the same crunching, crashing sound as Taylor from the forests behind them. Ram's arm was still in a sling because of burns he'd received in a lab accident but he and Tempest scrambled to their feet when Sin and Tay did.

The vision that made Sin's skills as a sniper legendary caught the movement of something large running away from them. He took off after it. Taylor and Tempest were right behind him.

"I'll just stay here and guard the food!" Ram called after them. He frowned at his arm and the fact that the Morpher he was meant to have blew up on him. He'd give anything to be with them now. His hand dropped to his sidearm, strapped to his thigh, just in case there was actually trouble.

Commander Kragar turned when he heard them coming up behind him. "Ah, Power Rangers," he said.

"Who are you and what do you want here?" Taylor demanded.

"I suppose it won't hurt to warn you. We are the Warstars. I'm Commander Kragar. My most esteemed Captain Drage will be conquering your world and I'll be having this planet for dinner," he said and rubbed his pincers together.

"We'll give you indigestion and gas," Tay said.

"It'll be worth it. I already had a taste. The petroleum based combustion fuel is most delicious. Jet-fuel I believe it's called," he said thoughtfully. As a being that could produce his own meteors, he did enjoy fuel sources.

Tay started. "Did you eat my plane?" he demanded.

"I was in that plane!" Tempest gasped.

Kragar laughed. "It was delicious," he taunted.

"Enough chatter," Sin said and flipped out his Morph Card.

Kragar threw molten rocks at them. They ducked and dove and rolled out of way but the rocks exploded the landscape around them.

"I was just doing some recon. I don't have the time to play," he said and disappeared.

Sin frowned as he got to his feet, dusting himself off.

Tempest got to her feet. She looked around for Tay.

"No one ever looks up," Tay said as he jumped out of the tree he'd landed in. It hadn't been on purpose either. "Come on, we'd better gather Ram up and head back to the base," he said.

Sin nodded. "We have a name now for the enemy," he said.

Tempest nodded. "Yeah, but what are Warstars?" she wondered.

"I have a few contacts that know people who know people. Maybe I can find out," Tay said he led them back to where they left Ram.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sin said drolly. If Taylor Hicks suddenly said he could walk on the moon, he wouldn't doubt it at this point. Tay just threw him a grin over his shoulder.

--/-\--

Devourer

"I did warn you that Earth was well guarded," Sylon told Captain Drage pointedly.

Kragar gave an impatient slash of his arm. "Nonsense. The Power Rangers are nothing. My recon tells me as much," he said.

"We shall just have to keep trying until we've destroyed them," Captain Drage stated.

"Of course," Sylon said. "I'll keep the Oozers and the Ooze on standby when you need them," he assured humbly.

"Send for Lieutenant Kuufor," Drape told Kragar. The Commander saluted and went to do as he was told.

"I'll take my leave until you have need of me," Sylon said and gave a curt bow and left the bridge. When he arrived in the quarters he was provided, he dropped his disguise and shook himself.

"That disguise makes my skin crawl," a voice said from within the darkness.

"Imagine how I feel. It's my skin. What are you doing here, Azula?" he demanded of the shadowy figure perched in a chair. She was a young woman with light skin, dark hair pulled back into a wild ponytail, and pale, pale golden eyes.

"I brought you the Ooze," she said and handed him a canister. "You don't need much and it will get the job done," she informed him.

He nodded and set the canister aside. "You shouldn't be here. What do you think would happen to you if you were caught? They'd think you were human," he pointed out. His lips curled as he looked at her. "For all intents and purposes you are human," he said.

Azula frowned. "It's not my fault. You're the one who pulled my spirit from my body before I died. I don't have any other options except to possess humans. This one, however, I think is the best yet," she said and gestured to her body. "The things this human can do are amazing for their standards. I'll have to show you sometime," she said and reached her hand out to him.

He knocked it aside. "Don't touch me with that human's hand. When the Power Rangers have been eradicated, I shall locate Skycrest and reproduce your real body," he said. "Go now," he said.

Azula seethed silently. Her magic was part of her spirit. In a bright flash of lightning, she disappeared.

Sylon frowned. She was mad at him. He'd have to find a way to make up for it soon. He picked up the canister of Ooze. Until he could, he'd have to deal with these disgusting insect creatures. They were only slightly less disgusting than humans.

--/-\--

Sin stood at the edge of Sky Base, looking down at the mist formed by the waterfall. It was a curious but that isn't why he was here. Ever since he bonded with the Blue Morpher, he'd been drawn to places of high concentrations of water. He also spent too much time in the shower lately. He wondered if it was some sort of side effect or if it was supposed to happen.

It wasn't like he could control water with his mind or anything. That'd actually be pretty cool.

"Thinking of jumping?"

Sin glanced back to see Gregory Houston coming toward him. He grinned. "I'm not that crazy. I'll leave that to Taylor," he said. Gore's mouth tightened slightly. Sin knew Gore was still sore about Taylor. Gore was supposed to get the Red Morpher, but because the Morph Card for it had been lost, he'd had to use the Black Morpher instead. He was now bonded to it.

"Came for a reason?" he asked.

"Came to fetch you. Doc wants us in the Lab," Gore explained.

Sin nodded. The two of them walked in companionable silence through the gleaming white buildings of Sky Base. Gore and Sin had grown up together, and were old friends. They'd enlisted together, they made it to the same unit, they'd disobeyed orders together, and they'd gotten fired together. When Sin was hired on at Astral Dynamics Security Force, he'd recommended Gore as well. They'd both been selected for the Morph test when the Dynamic Morphers had been discovered. Gore had been chosen to test Red and Sin was fine with Blue.

Then monsters began attacking Starkweather Valley, the city below Sky Base and they'd been forced to act before the other test subjects had arrived. Little did they know that they would become molecularly bonded to the Morphers.

Sin was fine with Blue. He had a gun. Well, it was sort of like a gun. He was happy.

The entered the Central Citadel, the tallest building and nerve center of Sky Base. The Lab was on of the lower levels. They went there.

Inside the Lab was the center of the Morphing Technology an advanced race of ancient aliens was working on prior to their mysterious disappearance. "You wanted to see us, Doc?" he asked the slight figure.

Doctor Lark Walker looked up; a petite girl with gray eyes and red hair. "Yes," she said simply.

Lounging around the Lab was Taylor, Tempest and Ram.

Sin was used to dealing with Lark. He waited patiently for her to get around to telling what it was she wanted.

Lark put a few finishing touches on a code she was working on. She began printing new cards. The process would take several hours. "I found the codes for the Macro DynaZords," she announced with a proud smile.

"I helped," Ram pointed out. He was finding ways to make himself useful, including putting to use his surprising knowledge of computers.

"That's good. I was a bit worried last time that the alien would get big and we wouldn't have full-sized Zords," Taylor admitted.

"We got lucky," Sin agreed. "Is that why we were brought here?" he asked.

"No. I wanted to see everybody, too," Gore stated. "I've been thinking, we didn't exactly ask for this team, but here we are. It would benefit everyone if we met here on a regular basis and started a training regimen," he said.

"That's good idea. I've already started working with Doc," Taylor said. "Wind Techniques will go a long way in helping her control the Sky Powers of her Morph," he said.

Sin raised a brow at Lark. She nodded. She had indeed begun training with Taylor Hicks.

Gore looked steadily at Taylor. "That's not exactly what I meant," he said.

"Well, I can teach the rest of you basic techniques but I am a Wind Master. The only way I've ever been able to move dirt around by hand and my Water Technique is far from exemplary but I can show Sin a few things. A group training session every other day is pretty much a given. We need to work as a team, we have to learn to rely on each other," he said.

Sin stepped back a few paces. He leaned against a console beside Tempest. She was watching the show with wide eyes. Sin grinned.

"Yes, exactly," Gore said tightly. "Group training," he agreed.

Taylor nodded. "Then I will scout a location with plenty of room for it. I wonder if there's a simulator around here somewhere," he said, talking to himself.

"What about the Warstars?" Tempest asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Still waiting. These things take time to find out," Taylor answered. He clapped his hands together, "right then, a training area. If these people had warriors, there's probably a place for them," he said and started to leave.

"I'll come with you," Ram said and followed Taylor out.

Lark was already working on the computers again.

Sin straightened up. "Spend some time with Tempest. She's your partner. Don't be a horse's rear," he told Gore. "I'm gonna go help Ram and Taylor," he said and sauntered out.

Gore looked at Tempest and she bestowed him with her best smile.

"Well, let's go see how good you are with the gloves," he said. No reason to be a horse's rear to her, after all.

"Prepare yourself," she warned as she followed him out of the Lab.

--/-\--

Devourer

Lieutenant Kuufor in the form of flying turtle shell entered the bridge and transformed into his true form, a turtle-esque being. "You sent for me, mon Capitan?" he asked in a high nasally voice.

"Good, good. There are some pests on Earth. See that you are rid of them," Drage ordered.

"I will see to it at once," he said and turned into a flying turtle shell again and left the devourer.

--/-\--

Instead of finding somewhere on Sky Base to spar, Tempest and Gore went down to Starkweather Game Preserve to spar with the earth under their feet. Gore found out rather quickly that Tempe did have skills. He took the opportunity to show her a few kickboxing moves she can incorporate.

She was a fast learner and wanted to measure up to the rest of the team. Her opinion of Gore was going up a bit as well. He was actually pretty patient with her. Not at all the jerk he ends ups being when Taylor's around. Men and their egos.

They were both barefoot in the dirt. They weren't able to do anything fancy like Taylor, but they could both feel the connection to the land and were enjoying it.

Gore held up a hand and paused their training. She paused and understood why. There was a high pitched whirring and whining sound vibrating the air.

They watched as turtle shelled UFO zoomed overheard in the direction of the city. In the distance they saw it split into multiple crafts.

"That's not good, is it?" she asked unnecessarily.

Gore shook his head. "Nope. C'mon," he said and took off running after the flying turtle shells. Tempest ran behind him.

--/-\--

Innocent Starkweather Valley citizens were going about their daily business. Surely the event of earlier that week was an anomaly and they wouldn't be plagued by alien monsters again. Power Rangers has swept through and ended any threats and all was well again.

When the UFOs appeared above them, they looked up, wondering what was going on. "What is that?" one woman wondered.

"Run!" someone else yelled as all over the city, Oozers seeped out of the ground and herded the hapless humans into a bunch as they panicked. The UFOs sped over them and shot nets at them. The nets scooped them up and carried them away.

The Kuufor UFOs carried their captive to a seaside cliff out of the way.

Kuufor reformed. "Ah, zee Earthlings. Such ugly specimens, but I know people who'll pay for the chance do experiments on you," he said and rubbed his hands together.

Dynamic Black and Yellow arrived and pulled their Blasters, placing their Microzords on them.

"Snake Bullet!"

"Tiger Bullet!"

They fired but Kuufor ducked and the blasts bounced off his hard-shelled head. "Ah, so you're zee pests. Excellent! I know people who'll definitely pay for Power Rangers," he said greedily.

"Uh, excuse me? No one's selling me," Yellow declared, placing a fist on her hip.

"But I will! For a very high price I zink," he said.

"Not going to happen," Black said.

"Oozaires!" he called. Oozers seeped from the ground around him. Yellow and Black sprang into action to engage them.

--/-\--

Lark was working in the lab fine tuning the programming for the Macro Zords. It was unnecessary but she felt better doing it. The Alien Alarm System went off. The deafening tolling from the Citadel made her wince. "Dr. Walker Note-to-Self: Located and adjust Alarm System alert tone," she said out loud. She pressed a button and the screen lit up to show the scene at the cliffside. She opened a communications channel. "All Dynamic Rangers to the Lab. You, too, Ramon. There's an alien abducting humans. Strong and Houston have engaged," she said.

"I'll take the shortcut," Taylor stated in reply.

"Of course he will," she muttered and began setting the coordinates for the teleporter.

--/-\--

Taylor gave Sin and Ram a quick salute and ran to the nearest wall and jumped up on to it. He Flipped out his card and held up his arm. "DynaMorpher! Red Ranger Power!" He slid his along along his Morpher.  Red energy surrounded him. It formed a red and white power suit, a side arm blaster and a helmet. His power suit was emblazoned with the Air symbol wings. His helmet had a dragon motif and was crested by the Scared Face.

With that he jumped. He used both the wind and his Morpher's innate locating beacon to guide him to the cliffside where the captives and his team mates were.

Yellow and Black were engaged with the Oozers. Yellow wielding her Land Claw and Black his Land Axe.

"Dragon Bullet," Dynamic Red entered the fray.

"Re-enforcements," Yellow said, grinning under her helmet.

"So I see," Black said noncommittally.

"Ahaha! More merchandise! My sales, zey will be spectaculaire," Kuufor said eagerly. "Take zis!" he said and blasted the three Rangers with lasers from his shell head.

The beams hit the Rangers and knocked them backwards.

"Phoenix Bullet!"

"Shark Bullet!"

Dynamic Blue and Pink appeared and fired on the alien. The joined the other's and helped them to their feet.

"So you're big shortcut didn't knock off too much time," Blue pointed out with a grin behind his helmet to Red.

"Ah well. What can I say?" Red said and pulled a Card from his belt. "Sky Sword!"

"Sea Sniper!"

"Sky Shooter!"

Several more Oozers went down.

"Sacre bleu! Looks like I'll have to damage zee merchandise just to get it to behave!" Kuufor spat and then spat large flaming rocks at them. They exploded around them.

"This guy is getting on my nerves," Blue declared.

"Tell me about it," Black said and got to his feet. Oozers were reappearing. He helped Yellow to her feet and the two of them engaged the Oozers.

Red and Pink charged another set of Oozers. Blue sake back and took cover, firing his Sea Sniper at any stragglers.

"Phoenix Fire!" Pink jumped, swirling through a group of Oozers, leaving a swirl of flame in her wake.

"Dragon Blast!" Red caught the air under his feet and used it to push his way through another group of Oozers, slashing red energy from his Sword.

Yellow relied on years of training, using the balls of her feet to almost glide through the Oozers, slashing with expert ease. "Tiger Shock!" she said, leaving behind crackling electric yellow energy.

Black relied on sheer brute force and power, hacking into the Oozers with devastating blows. "Snake Bite!"

All around them, Oozers exploded.

"It's time to finish zis messy business once and for all and take my stock," Kuufor stated and suddenly crackled with energy. He fired innumerable flying shells at the four standing in the open. They were hit, each shell exploding as it hit. Throwing the each several feet.

"Damn," Blue said and ran out from his cover and jumped. "Shark Snipe!" He fired directly into what he assumed was a face. Being a sniper by training and trade, he wasn't really used to such close combat, not even working security for Astral Dynamics. Kuufor fell backwards and thrashed around like a turtle on its back.

The other's scrambled to their feet. "Good shot," Black said.

"Yes, yes. Sinclair's a good shot, we get it," Pink said.

"We have to take care of that thing," Yellow said, nodding toward Kuufor.

Kuufor had managed to regain his feet. "Now!" Red said and ran forward with Pink.

"Phoenix Fire!"

"Dragon Blast!"

Still rocking from the hits from the Sky Rangers, the Land Ranger's went on the offensive. Yellow went low and Black went head on.

"Tiger Shock!"

"Snake Bite!"

Twice more he sparked and exploded. Blue rushed forward again, but he didn't fire, he knocked the alien over the cliff and fell with him into the sea. The alien struggled fiercely and Blue, finding himself shocking maneuverable, knocked himself back and aimed his Sniper. "Shark Snipe!"

He fired several times, hitting the alien from slightly below. The alien blew out of the water and landed on a beach. Blue jumped out after him. He wasn't even wet it appeared. "That was a trip," he said as the others ran down to join them.

"That's nothing," Red said. "You're journey's only just beginning," he said.

Blue nodded. "Shall we?" he asked, nodding toward the alien finally gaining his feet.

"Yes, let's," Red agreed. "Bring them together!"

They combined their weapons. "Dynamic Cannon!" They pulled out new Cards.

"The Shining Power of the Sky!" Pink and Red put the cards into the Cannon.

"The Raging Power of the Land!" Black and Yellow their cards into the Cannon.

"The Serene Power of the Sea!" Blue put his card into the Cannon.

The Cannon Charged.

"Zis is no good," Kuufor uttered.

"Dynamic Cannon Fire!" The Cannon fired a powerful blast of golden light and electricity that tore into Sclumorg. He flew into the sky from the force of it and exploded. They turned away from the sight, Red still holding the Cannon.

With Kuufor out of commission, the nets around the captured humans disappeared. "We need a damage control contingency," Pink murmured to herself as she stepped forward to deal with the confused and rightfully terrified people.

"That's not a bad idea," Red said and stopped dead. Just for a second, he thought he saw someone in the crowd that he recognized, but when he tried to look closer, there was no one there.

"Uh, something's happening," Yellow said, hitting Black on the arm urgently to get attention. "Something bad!" she shouted in the end.

--/-\--

Devourer

Captain Drage rounded on Sylon. "Your Ooze had better be what you said it is," he snarled. "Or your life won't be worth the dirt on that planet," he warned fiercely.

Sylon was unperturbed. "Launching Ooze," he said and hit a button the Captain hadn't even realized had been installed on his command console. A canister, perhaps the size of a pill bottle was fired from the Devourer.

--/-\--

It hit the ground where Kuufor had exploded. Ooze exploded everywhere and brought the pieced back together. Not only did the Ooze reintegrate the alien but it began to increase its mass.

"I must get a sample of that stuff," Pink said quietly.

"Really? You want a sample of the green slime that did that!" Yellow squawked gesturing wildly at the now giant Kuufor.

Kuufor looked at himself in surprise then laughed. "Ah, now zis I can work with!" he said and attempted to squash the Rangers with one shelled hand.

From her vantage point, Azula clapped her hands. Having created the Ooze herself, she knew it work perfectly, but it was still gratifying to watch it work perfectly. She was disguised as a human girl. Well since she inhabited a human girl, it was an easy disguise. She was dressed as a human girl. There had been a strange moment when the Red Ranger had looked directly at her. It made her uneasy. It was almost as if he'd known she wasn't a prisoner.

She bit her lip. She definitely would not mention that to Sylon. He was uptight enough as it was. She sniffed as she watched. She was a bit disappointed. Surely the Skycrest Guardians had been clever enough to predict that eventually the Ooze would be used for this purpose.

As it turned out, they were.

"Guys, check your arsenals," Ram communicated to the Power Rangers.

As they scrambled away from the giant alien now shooting fire at them, the Rangers reach into their belts and pulled out newly minted Cards.

"It's Zord time," Red declared. "Dragon DynaZord!" He slid the Card through his Morpher. The Card disappeared and above him a swirling red portal appeared in the sky.

"Phoenix DynaZord!" Pink slid the card through her Morpher. The Card disappeared and a swirling pink portal appeared beside the read one.

"Snake DynaZord!" Black slid his Card through his Morpher. The Card disappeared and swirling black portal appeared on the cliff face.

"Tiger DynaZord!" Yellow slid her Card though her Morpher. The Card disappeared and swirling yellow portal appeared next to the black one on the cliff face.

"Shark DynaZord!" Blue slid his Card though his Morpher. The Card disappeared and a swirling blue portal appeared on the water's surface.

The Dragon DynaZord was similar in shape and size to a jetliner except more agile. It shot out of the red portal which closed behind it.

The Phoenix was slightly smaller, about the size and shape of a stealth bomber. It screamed out of the pink portal which closed behind it.

The Snake DynaZord was long and agile, about the size and shape of a zip train with four segments. It barreled out of the black portal which closed behind it.

The Tiger DynaZord was big and blocky, about the size and similar to a bulldozer with wicked jaws instead of a scoop. It roared out the yellow portal which closed behind it.

The Shark DynaZord was about the size and shape of a military submarine. It glided out of the blue portal which closed behind it.

The five DynaZords fired on Kuufor, knocking him back.

"You guys! She didn't find the combination sequence!" Ram said urgently. "I'm looking, but you'll have to keep him busy until I can find it," he said.

"Doc, Zords combine. It's kinda their thing," Red said with a sigh.

"I was looking for it," Pink said tightly.

"Never mind that. Let's take these beauties for a test drive," Blue said. They nodded and pressed the eyes of their Morphers and transported to the cockpits of her Zords. Each cockpit had an independent card reader similar to that of their Morphers.

"Errr. Take zis, you expired meat sacks!" Kuufor crackled with energy moments before splitting out more flying turtle shells. They spiraled away from him and went on the offensive with the Zords.

Many of the flying turtle shells zoomed into the sky after the sky bound Zords, firing on them.

"That's it. Come and get me," Red muttered and he gripped the yoke. When one or two shells got too close, he depressed a firing mechanism on the point of the yoke. Dragon opened its mouth and fire shot out.

"I don't suppose now would be a good time to point out that I don't know how to fly," Pink questioned.

"Just relax. The Zord knows what to do. You just guide it," Red told her.

She nodded and gripped the yoke. She squeaked when a flying shell buzzed her tail. She spotted a road tunnel. "I hope he's right about this," she said. The Zord responded easily with a little guidance from her. She zoomed into the tunnel but the shells were right behind her.

Red had to grin. "When you come out of the tunnel, come straight, don't slow down," he said.

She popped out of the tunnel and was stunned to see he'd positioned the Dragon right in her path.

"Trust me. I got this," he said.

He flipped the cover off another button on his yoke. He fired when she was in just the right position. Several missiles dropped from his middle and honed in on the shells. Each missile hit a shell and they exploded around them both.

"Thanks," she said.

"Schedule it, Doc. Flying lessons," Red said.

Several of the flying shells crashed into the ocean after Blue and his Shark. "Do you seriously think this was a good move on your part?" he asked with a wide grin. He'd never been a Navy boy but this was some seriously cool stuff.

Perhaps they realized the mistake they made coming into the water after him. They turned and began speeding away.

"Oh, no, you don't," he said. His sonar tracked them easily. "Weapon's systems, online. Acquiring target," he said. Several missile silos stuck out from the Zord. The targeting systems locked on to the shells. "Bogeys acquired. Firing missiles," he depressed a button on his yoke. Missiles zoomed through the water, connecting with the shells. Explosions churned the waters.

"Well that's them out of the way," he said. He made a gun with his finger and blew on his imaginary barrel.

His celebration was too soon. From nowhere, another shell crashed into him. Or tried to. The Shark opened massive jaws and clamped down. He had some difficulty controlling the Zord as it thrashed around with the shell. "Ah, here we go," he said when he finally regained control.

He opened the jaws and the shell tried to get away, emerging from the ocean. Shark jumped out of the ocean at his command and clamped jaws around it again, hitting it just right. The shell exploded. He landed on the shore was able to maneuver even out of water.

Overland, more shells buzzed around firing on Snake and Tiger. They titled on their sides and rolled along like grotesque wheels. They fired as the Land Zords pursued them.

Yellow was having a blast. The Zord drove better than the ambulances handled for years. She hit the gas and jerked the yoke, avoiding laser blasts.

"You were a paramedic, right?" Black asked as he came up beside her.

"Trying to say something?" she asked.

"No, not at all," he denied, but felt a certain sympathy for the patients she transported. He picked up speed and snaked his way through the shells ahead of them, ready to end this. "Prepare yourself," he warned her. His Zord moved more like an actual snake than a train. When he got ahead of the shells, he jerked hard on his yoke, making a U with his Zord.

The shells bounced into him and ricocheted. Tiger caught one in its powerful jaws. Yellow pushed the break and at the same time, turned the wheel. The shell smashed into the others but she continued spinning. Finally she released her hold on the shell and it's went flying. It landed with an explosion.

"Not one word. Ok. My high school boyfriend liked to race. I picked up a few tricks," she stated before her partner could say anything else about her driving.

"I wasn't going to say anything. That was impressive," he assured her.

With tacit agreement, the Rangers turned their Zords to their final enemy. They took out any straggling shells.

"Blasted Rangers!" Kuufor snarled.

"All right, amigos. Combination is a go!" Ram announced triumphantly.

"Just in time," Red said and pulled a card from his belt. "Let's show the Warstars a proper Megazord," he said. He slid the Megazord Card through the reader on his console.

The other Rangers pulled their Cards and did the same; activating the combination sequence. . "Dynamic Megazord!"

The Snake Zord twisted its tail around and connected with the Tiger Zord. The bodies rose as the heads stayed stationary, forming the legs. The Dragon Zord maneuvered down and connected with Snake and Tiger, becoming a torso while its tail became a sword. Shark Zord and Phoenix Zord changed into arms and connected to the Dragon torso. Finally a helmeted head sprang from Dragon Zord's back crested by the Sacred Face.

Each of the Rangers was transported to a shared cockpit.

Black blinked and looked around. "Ok, this is kind of cool," he admitted.

Blue grinned. "Yeah. Kinda," he drawled.

Pink rubbed her hands together. "I can't wait to explore the programming that went into this," she declared and gripped her yoke eagerly.

"Yeah, it's awesome. Now kick some alien tush," Yellow declared eagerly.

"Newbies," Red chuckled, conveniently forgetting that he was once a newbie. "I'm with Tempe. Let's end this guy once and for all," he said.

The Dynamic Megazord strode forward.

Kuufor took a few steps back but threw lightning attacks at the Megazord.

"Dragon Sword!" The Megazord reached behind its back and pulled the blade from its back. It swung on Kuufor several times. The alien stumbled back.

The Megazord replaced the Sword. "Let's try this. Dynamic Head-butt!" Red said and pressed a button before him. The others followed suit.

The Dragon Zord's head detached from the Megazord's chest. Each arm swung forward as the Phoenix and Shark head detached. Each leg kicked out as the Tiger and Snake detached. Each of the Zord head's slammed into the alien before curving back to reattach to the Megazord.

The Megazord drew the Dragon Sword again and took to the air, hovering above the wounded. "Time to finish this. Don't worry, we'll give your boss you're resignation," Red said and pulled another card from his belt. The others pulled the same card.

They slid the Cards through the readers. The Dragon Sword caught flame. "Dynamic Astral Strike!" The Megazord zoomed forward and slashed through the alien. It zoomed away, hovering a safe distance as the alien exploded.

"We did it!" Yellow and Pink both exclaimed in surprised surprise.

"Damn right we did," Blue confirmed.

"Not bad. Not bad," Red said blithely.

"There should have been no doubt," Black said.

Red gave him a thumbs-up and grinned even if it couldn’t be seen.

--/-\--

Devourer

Sylon ignored blustering from Drage and Kragar. "The Ooze worked. It was your man's ineptness that lost the day," he pointed out to them. "Choose more wisely next time," he said and left the bridge as they glared at him.

"When we have this planet I will get the secret of the Ooze from him and dispose of his arrogant carcass," Kragar seethed.

"Until then, we need him," Drage said a little more calmly.

Still within earshot, Sylon smirked. Good luck to them trying to kill him.

--/-\--

Sin stood on the cliff where the humans had been held captive. While they'd been battling the alien, an Astral Dynamics insertion team had been sent to sort out the civilians and get them home or medical care.

All was calm now. Serene and peaceful. The ocean had even washed away traces of the battle fought here. Somehow that made him smile. As much as it was obvious Sky Base had been intended as a haven for the three central elements of its society, Land, Sea and Sky, the peaceful waterfall/stream/lake thing was nothing like the wild untamed sea calling to him.

He should probably talk to Taylor about the draw the sea had over him but right now he just wanted to swim. He took off his belt and began removing his boots. When he stood back up to remove his jacket he saw people on the beach. A group of perhaps eight men and women near his age. They were dressed as if for yoga except they had no mats and they waded part way into the ocean.

A woman faced the others and began leading them in a series of martial arts moves. Fluid and gliding, but he had a strong suspicion that the moves would be catastrophic if used in combat. From his vantage point and the eyesight he'd always been gifted with, he could barely make out her features. She had red hair, short and bouncy but her features were ethnically ambiguous. He started when he realized they weren't in the water. They were standing on the water. Each of their movements also compensated for the rhythm of the waves gently lapping the shoreline.

Quickly he grabbed his boots and sidearm and began to make his way down the cliff. Some almost indiscernible movement or sound on his part must have alerted them to his approach. By the time he reached the area of the beach, they were gone as if they had never been there.

He bit back a curse. "I mean no harm!" he called. "I just wanted to learn from you guys!" he shouted toward the thick forests surrounding that particular bit of beach. He had a strange feeling they were watching him.

"Check me out if you want. My name is Sinclair Monning and I work for Astral Dynamics with a guy named Taylor Hicks," he said. No response. He didn't expect one. He wasn't even sure if Taylor's name would even mean anything to them. "I'll be back. Let's just say, he's crap at Water Techniques and they'd probably really help me out. I'll be back when I can," he added, feeling like a dunce talking just in case anyone was listening to him.

His communicator beeped. He frowned and tapped the eyes on his Morpher. "Yeah?" he asked, turning his back to the forests.

"We need you back. I'm teleporting you straight to the Lab," Doc said. Before he could object that he was quite possibly being watched, he was looking at her from inside the teleporter. "What's the big ado?" he asked.

The screen was blinking. "We're getting a call. On an alien frequency that doesn't exist anywhere on Earth," Doc answered.

"Isn't it excitin'?" Ram asked with a grin.

"D'you think it's the Warstars?" Tempest asked.

"Doubt it. They don't know where we are," Gore answered.

"Then who does?" Sin asked.

"Someone with answers," Tay said as he entered the lab. He was covered in sweat and sloppily dressed. He'd obviously been making use of the Arena. "Answer the phone, Doc," he insisted.

Lark opened the communication channel. A man in a white robe holding an intricate white staff was on the screen. He was a young man, no older than any of them, with messy golden blond hair and bright blue eyes and sun tanned skin. "I was beginning to think no one was going to answer," he said in a lazy farm boy drawl.

They blinked at him. He cocked an eyebrow. "Uh, Taylor Hicks?" he asked.

"That'd be me. You must be the White Wizard," he said, holding back a grin.

The other man unsuccessfully suppressed an annoyed look. "When I find out who started calling me that--"

"Give it up, sweetie, there're too many suspects," said a woman's voice off screen, obviously amused.

"Yeah, you included," he shot back with a grin. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm Taran Goldsmith," he said introducing himself to the others, who obviously had no idea whatsoever who he was, even as a joke. "Ya'll wanted information about the Warstars? Well I have it. I'm going transmit a coded file in a few minutes that included our entire dossier on them. Long story short, they're planet traders. They go to a planet, decimate its dominant life forms, strip it of vital resources and then sell it to whoever wants what's left. They've been a nuisance for a long time. What you're dealing with is the Devourer. That's the flagship.

"The Warstars fleet is about fifteen ships strong but Drage is your main guy. If you manage to end him, then the rest of them will erupt into civil war to see who will be the next Captain. They're a bunch of backstabbing bandits. Only Drage keeps them in line," he informed them.

"Who are you and how do you know all this?" Gore asked.

"Well, you could call me...an ambassador, I guess. I sort of, er...run Eltar and have access to its entire galactic database," he answered.

"What's Eltar?" Tempest asked.

"It's the source of all Morphing Technology. It's where the Caervinian scientists learned how to build their Morphers. Any Morph Technology is based in part on Eltarin technology, no matter its origins," Lark answered.

"Got it in one," Taran said with a smile.

"Master Tarantules, files are being transmitted now," came another voice off screen.

A computer began to beep. Lark went over to it and began the receipt of the file.

"I'm also sending ya'll what we know about the Caervinians. They were strong allies of Eltar once. Many of the remaining Eltarins are sad to hear of their fate," he said seriously.

"Thank you, Taran. All your help is appreciated," Taylor assured him. "Though I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting to hear from the top of the rung on this," he admitted.

"I'm hardly top rung," Taran denied flatly.

"Taran, the Ambassador from the Galfreid Alliance is waiting to speak to you," said the same female voice from earlier.

Taran didn't hide his grimace. "Oh to be a Power Ranger again. Excuse me and good luck with the Warstars," he said and the screen went blank.

Sin raised a brow and looked at Tay.

"Don't look at me. The network of former Power Rangers is extensive," he said and walked out of the lab. Sin hesitated a moment before catching up with him to eventually tell about the people on the beach and see if he had any insight. At this point, he wouldn't put anything past Taylor Hicks.

--/End 03\--           

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