Power Ranger Origins: The Reign of the Morphing Masters

[ShinySephiroth]

Chapter Ten: The Intergalactic Conference

Master Michael, in his cyan robe, urged Zordon to follow quickly. Zordon and Michael were assigned to head security at the Intergalactic Conference. Zordon looked down at his wrist tech, re-reading the assignment parameters and which team he would lead. Heading South Wing was Commander Zedd. Zordon had North Wing, while the newly promoted Commander Rahp was assigned to East Wing. West Wing would be guarded by Master Michael and his troop.

As Zordon took position with his team, he saw a rainbow of robes march to their places on the stand: Sentinel Knight in red; Ivicar in blue; Dulcea in green; Tria in black; Gerlit in pink; King Estro in yellow; Orion in gold; Delphine in silver; Kamen in violet; Animus in orange; Magnus in crimson; Dimitria in brown; Gosei in gray.

Sentinel Knight walked to the audio station, placing the voice amplifier and language synchronizer to his throat. He began speaking to the leaders from around the galaxy who had gathered to listen to counsel from the Morphing Masters. Sentinel Knight's speech seemed to be a precursor to the Gold Warrior drama for those in attendance: it touched on the importance of following laws which were already established, and the consequences on an intergalactic scale for not abiding by the laws.

Very intelligent... Zordon thought. In case the Gold Warrior incident became a widespread thing, Sentinel Knight was already influencing the people to side with him. He looked at each member of the council. Tria wore a disgusted look on her face.

Zordon chuckled to himself. Apparently Tria has caught on to his intent as well.

He then saw Master Estro. He kept glancing at a door in Commander Rahp's sector. When Zordon looked at it, a feeling he could not describe descended upon him.

Dread...? He thought. It washed over him. Looking back at the council, he noticed Master Ivicar was staring at the door as well, with a look of concern on his face. What settled things for Zordon was when he heard Sentinel Knight stumble in his words as he, too, looked to the door.

Zordon tensed. He pushed a button on his wrist tech to send a message to Commander Rahp to investigate. As he did, a message flashed on the screen telling him his communications were blocked. He stared dumbfounded at the screen. It made no sense to him, since Research and Development were the ones responsible to ensure communications were working before the conference. He and Burai had double checked everything immediately before the conference. That was why he was late in meeting with Master Michael in the first place.

Zordon tried communicating to Michael. He received the same error message. Zordon's eyes began to glow with White Energy. He focused all he had on Master Michael. Michael's head jerked up, sensing Zordon. Zordon had not practiced this mental capacity in a while, so he was happy to discover it was working. Michael looked at Zordon, puzzled. Zordon pointed at Rahp's sector and motioned for him to go toward it. As Michael began to move, Zordon rushed to the door.

The Masters must've felt it, too... What is happening!? How did this happen!? Who could've had access to the communications to jam everything? Zordon jumped over seats and zig-zagged through aisles, at times having to push people out of his way. Michael was in a similar situation.

By that time, people began to notice the commotion. Commander Zedd sent a few of his men over to where it appeared Zordon and Michael were heading. Rahp noticed as well, and asked for a few men to follow him to the door in his sector.

Sentinel Knight decided to address the situation: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure our securi-" He got to that point in his sentence simultaneously with two other events: Commander Rahp and his men arriving at the door; the door exploding, with ten Blue Globbors pouring in, and a platoon of Tenga Warriors.

The conference hall erupted in shouts. Zordon plowed his way through the crowds, but the sheer number began to overwhelm him. His eyes were glowing and his arms pulsing with energy he had charged up as he saw the explosion. The masses of people continued to prevent him from reaching Commander Rahp.

In the presence of danger, the greater good must be upheld... Zordon thought to himself. He sent out a blast from his person, sending people and Tengas alike flying about, slamming into walls and into others who were surprised to find themselves victims of a second blast whose origins they could not pinpoint.

Michael ran to Zordon. "Where did that blast come from!?" Zordon pushed him out of the way and kept running, yelling back at him to stop wasting time and to destroy the enemies.

The battle raged on. Innocents were attacked by Blue Globbors, causing many soldiers to stop in their tracks, not wanting to hurt civilians and intergalactic leaders who were junctioned to them. Zordon began charging his arms to attack them, yelling at the soldiers as he did. "Don't let this become like Decrof! Attack!"

The soldiers still hesitated. Suddenly, a blast from seemingly out of nowhere caught Zordon in the thigh. Zordon fell to the ground, clutching his thigh and screaming in pain.

Zedd, from up in his makeshift sniper's nest, lowered his blaster. "There is a fine line between getting things done, and doing them right..." He muttered to himself as he left his post. He had seen how Zordon had blasted innocent people out of his way to get to the Blue Globbors, and he did not want Zordon to continue running about in his current temperament. He ran to Zordon.

"Master down! Someone get medical he-!" Before he could finish his sentence, Zedd flew into the closest wall. When he looked up, he saw Master Vile standing over Zordon.

"Vengeance is mine! Your little conference was the perfect target. Now, surrender to me the Zeo Crystal, or I crush this Master under my feet!" Vile placed his foot on Zordon's head upon finishing his hostage demands. Zedd tried to stand, but couldn't.

Magnus and Kamen, who had been battling nearby, took down some Tenga Warriors and approached Master Vile. Vile wagged his finger at them, saying, "No, no, no! Not another step!"

Kamen got into his fighting stance, looking down at Zordon. "Who said I care what happens to him?"

Magnus chuckled and lifted up his sword. "Defender helmet!" Electric currents surrounded him as his helmet appeared. He ripped off his robe to reveal full body armor. Magnus' people had come together and commissioned the Alliance to outfit their best fighter, Master Magnus, with an electronic suit to assist him in battle. Orion placed his stamp of approval on the project and Zordon had finished it a mere three months earlier. He also modified Magnus' sword to become a blaster if needed. This was a part of the Alliance's initiative to create a defender specifically outfitted to fight Master Vile and his forces. Magnus was the prototype of the Defender Initiative.

The armor was blue in color. There was a silver faceplate in place, with a slot serving as a visor on the helmet. A pair of horns protruded from the helmet, one horn on each side. An emerald gem was found on the helmet as well as the belly of the torso. He wore a blaster on his belt that had the ability to become a blade, and a long flowing cape tied around his neck.

Kamen produced a glowing saber from a pouch on his belt, activating it. He lifted it up and yelled, "Now!" Armored Magnus turned his blade into a blaster and began firing as Kamen charged toward Vile.

As they did, they suddenly found themselves in a foggy wasteland. They turned to find a figure laughing at them.

Kamen gripped his saber. "Madam Woe..."

Magnus, voice more gravel-like through his helment, laughed. "This should be fun..."

Meanwhile, back in the main plane of existence, Master Vile looked around. "What!? No one else!?"

At this provocation, a rustling could be heard. Beaten and bruised, Commander Rahp lifted himself up from debris and rubble. He limped forward.

"Let... him... go..." Rahp slowly lifted up his blaster to shoot. Master Vile pointed his staff and shot the blaster out of Rahp's hand. Clutching his scorched hand, Rahp continued to limp forward.

"Give up, human!" Vile ordered.

Determined, Rahp continued. Zedd tried to shout to Rahp, to tell him to stop, but he couldn't gather enough breath to do so.

"Vile: stand down! Your troops have fallen! Now, let Master Zordon go and we will ensure you won't be hurt." Master Dulcea yelled this from the doors through which Vile's troops originally appeared. She, Gerlit, and Dimitria had run to the North Doors and wrapped around to attack the enemy from behind when the explosions had first begun. Upon their success, they entered to save whoever was still trapped in the conference hall.

"Tsk, tsk." They heard, but were too late to react. Novact and Rito slid out from their hiding places with blasters pointed at the Masters. More Tenga Warriors ran in, almost as if on cue.

"Where is my crystal!?" Master Vile screamed, growing more impatient.

Zedd wished he could do something. He knew it was hidden in Lightning Cruiser, who was being fixed in the main Research and Development lab. He, however, was still unable to speak, let alone move. He would've sacrificed the crystal to ensure Zordon stayed alive, who already risked so much to save him on Solaris 8's moon. He felt he owed him. Because he could not speak to reveal the Zeo Crystal's location, he also felt as if he had failed him.

Master Vile applied more pressure on Zordon's head. Blood started trilling out from his nose. The Masters stared at Vile and the forces around them.

Novact sneered at the Masters. "Give up now, and I will only punish you with what you offered me: solitary confinement for life." He laughed. He felt his betrayal of the United Alliance was finally paying off. He hoped that soon, he would be able to see all of the Morphing Masters either behind bars, or destroyed.