CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Andros! No!" T.J. shouted.

At the sound of T.J.'s voice, the five Generals and their henchmen looked to the roof. At the sight of the eight new intruders, the Cogs instantly rushed for the dormant weapons on the conveyor belt. A storm of laser fire engulfed the room as they aimed toward the humans and fired.

But the Red Space Ranger heard nothing, as gravity guided his body down toward Steelon's. He was no longer inside the moon base. His psyche had warped him into a vortex of blackness, created by his own anger, hatred, and bitterness.

There was a loud clanging sound as Andros landed atop Steelon. As the Kerovan and the android collapsed to the ground, the hammer flew through the air, landing near a group of wooden crates.

"Jump!" Jason called, trying desperately to avoid being pierced by laser fire. At his call, he, Tommy, T.J., Carter, Wes, Eric, and Cole let go of their respective places from above, and began their descent to the ground.

Jason kicked off his steel footing, executing a series flip in mid air, to land perfectly on his feet.

Tommy did a forward somersault through the air, and landed atop one of a crate. Feeling the wood give a bit under his weight, he quickly leapt off, and side kicked a Cog in mid air.

T.J. simply let his body soar through the air, as he kicked off toward an unarmed Cog. Just like his former Space Ranger partner, T.J. landed with a clang atop the steel body. A quick punch in the robot's lifeless face silenced it.

As he jumped, Carter aimed his Rescue Blaster at the five generals, and sprayed them with some laser fire of his own. The evil robots scattered, leaving Leo and Aurico undefended as he landed.

Wes bent backward, and hooked his knees onto his steel footing, letting himself hang for a split second before releasing his weight, and back flipping on to the cement floor.

Eric leapt the steel, but let his body fall backward in mid air. Catching sight of a Cog, he twirled his body counterclockwise, and made contact with the steel soldier, letting his opponent take the entire force of his fall. Eric landed lightly on his elbows, but then quickly kipped up.

Remembering his old tree swinging techniques, Cole leapt from one steel beam to the next, until finally leaping into the air. Kicking off the pillar, which held the restrained Leo and Aurico, the Red Wild Force Ranger back flipped, and landed next to Carter.

In a blinding rage, Andros simply threw fists of fury into the lifeless face of Steelon. After landing a perfect blow to the robot's optical modifier, cracking it, the Kerovan felt Gerrok grab him by the back of his coat, and hurl him off the fellow general. Andros landed hard on the cement floor, but was prepared to launch himself into a second attack…

…until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Looking behind him, Andros saw the comforting, calming expression of his partner Tommy, restraining him from battle. Andros breathed a relaxing sigh, once again forcing himself to bottle up his anger. He stared a hole through Steelon…

Once again, Venjix gestured with his right hand. On command, the Cogs instantly rallied behind him, like dogs answering their master's call. "What's this?" the evil general demanded. "More vermin?"

"More intruders?" Gerrok shouted, as he assisted Steelon to his feet.

"Impossible!" Tezzla shrieked. "I don't believe it!"

Tommy smiled. "Believe it." He said, with a confident calmness, the heat of battle burning within him, as he clenched his fists. He hadn't felt that burn in a long time.

"You know," Jason said. "If you miss King Mondo that much, we'll be happy to help you join him in the scrap heap."

Cole shot a finger at his opponents. "We're not going  to let you bring back Serpentera!"

Venjix crossed his mechanical arms. "Inconceivable. How many heroes does that pathetic planet have?"

"More than you can handle, I assure you." T.J. cried.

"So back down Venjix!" Wes ordered. "Before you and what's left of your empire are destroyed."

The evil general motioned to the Cogs behind him. "You humans obviously haven't mastered basic arithmetic. My Cogs outnumber you far too greatly. It would be much wiser for you yourselves to back down."

Tommy shook his head. "Sorry rusty, that's not in our job description."

The evil general's head bowed a bit, as if accepting Tommy's answer. "Have it your way then. The abolishment of the human race begins with the ten of you."

Venjix shot his robotic finger forward toward the Rangers. "Cogs! To battle! Bring me their cold hearts on silver platters!"

At Venjix's command, the Cogs charged weapons in arms, prepared to do as they were built to, fight at the will of their master.

But the eight humans showed no fear, charging forward into the fray of machinery, prepared to fight to the death for their cause. A cause called virtue, the cause called justice.

A cause called life.

Faced with three mechanical attackers, T.J. ducked underneath an overhand blow, and kicked the first Cog to the ground. Blocking a punch, from the second, the Red Turbo Ranger delivered a right hand of his own directly into the torso of the robot, sending it flailing backward. At the sight of a kick, T.J. grasped the steel leg in his mighty grip, and ducking into a Sweep Kick that took his opponent's footing. He quickly followed up with a chop to the robot's throat, silencing it. But as the young man's attention returned to his remaining two challengers, he found himself at the mercy of their combined power. The two Cogs hurled T.J. on to a wooden crate, resulting in the loud smacking of flesh against wood. Bravely, the young warrior grasped his stomach in pain, but found the strength to shoot a kick back into the torso of one of his attackers. As the damaged Cog fell to the floor, the other locked it's hands and raised them for an overhead strike, but T.J. dropped to the floor, and scissored the robot's knees, sending it face first into the crate. The wood splintered as the robotic soldier broke through it, and lay still on the cement floor.

No force imaginable could stop the flow of adrenaline through Tommy's body. Once again, the boy was back. Kicked into the grasp of robotic attacker, Tommy quickly wriggled out of his jacket, leaving the Cog empty handed. Yanking the jacket downward, along with the Cog that held it, the veteran Ranger smashed the golden domed head of the robot with his knee. He then leapt into the air, twirling into a cyclone spin kick that knocked against the side of another robot's cranium. As another soldier charged, a silver colored sword in it's grasp, Tommy ducked down, and back dropped his opponent high into the air, sending it crashing to the ground. His muscled burned, his breath was fast and hard. Now he remembered why he'd loved this so much…

Desperately trying to cover for Carter as he used his Rescue Blaster to free Leo and Aurico, Eric blocked a staff blow to his gut, and shoved the weapon back into the Cog's torso. He then flipped the weapon in a one hundred eighty degree vertical turn, sending the soldier flying on it's back. Suddenly, the Quantum Ranger felt something hard knock him in the back of his skull. Falling to face first to the floor, he saw the multicolored splotches start to appear in his field of vision.

This wasn't good.

Feeling two Cogs pull him up by his muscled arms, he could see just enough to make out another soldier in front of him, aiming a silver sword at his torso…

Just then, a black clad form leapt in between him and the sword. Eric recognized the Aquitian prisoner, as he grasped the handle of the weapon, and flipped the Cog over. With the sword now in his own hands, the Aquitian executed a downward blow that severed the head of the attacker. Eric's two captors instantly tossed him aside, but they were too late. In one swift motion, Eric's savior swiped the blade at waist length, striking the two soldiers down.

Eric rose to his feet, standing face to face with the man who'd rescued him.

Or rather, not a man at all. This being had a gold cranium, lined and dotted with purple. "What are you supposed to be?" he asked. "Sebastian, the Friendly Squid Ranger?"

The Aquitian frowned. "I am Aurico, Red Aquitian-"

"Look out!"

Using Eric's shoulders for leverage, Leo Corbett was able to flip over the two Rangers, and land in a head scissor position with a Cog, who held a sword in its hand. The Red Galaxy Ranger did a backflip, sending the soldier's head slamming into the concrete with his feet.

Leo rose to his feet, and looked to his wrist. "My morpher!" he shouted. "That robot has got my morpher!"

The four men looked to see the five generals walking out of the base, on to the rocky landscape of the moon.

"No!!!" Andros shouted. He couldn't let Steelon get away. He'd waited to long to extract his vengeance. He took off in pursuit of the evil generals, but was stopped by an abrupt staff blow to the stomach. Andros felt the wind rush out of him as he collapsed to the floor. His attacker picked him up from the floor and tossed him into a pile of crates. As the dust scattered, Andros could feel the flames burning inside his stomach.

Not here, he told himself. And not now.

In a surge of adrenaline, and the heart of a lion, the Kerovan kipped up and axe kicked the weapon from the Cog's grasp. He then twirled into a back kick that knocked the robotic soldier on its rear end. As another swung at him with a sword, Andros ducked, and caught the soldier with it's arms up. As the Cog attempted to overpower him, the Kerovan, quickly moved out of the way, and released his grip. The weapon sliced through a crate, giving Andros the time he needed to deliver a second axe kick to the back of the Cog's skull. He turned to see the five Generals still leaving the base…

Having acquired one of the Cog's staffs during the battle, Wes found it fairly simple to block an oncoming shot with another staff. He quickly countered with an overhead shot that silenced his attacker. Wes side stepped a punch, and then twirled around, executing a picture perfect trip using the staff. Suddenly, a laser blast bisected the weapon in his hands. Wes looked to see an incoming Cog, blaster in hand. The Red Time Force Ranger took off in a sprint, lasers nipping at his heels. Somehow this all seemed familiar to him. Suddenly, a second laser blast cut his attacker off. Wes looked to see Carter rushing to his aid, Rescue Blaster in hand.

"Boy, it's lucky you have that thing." Wes commented.

"Yeah you're right." Carter replied.

Suddenly, the Red Lightspeed Ranger took off into a series off front flips, and executed a flying kick into a Cog. As another rushed at him, Carter shot up his forearm, smashing his attacker in the face. A third swiped at his neckline with a sword, but Carter ducked, and smashed the Cog's elbow, hyper-extending the joint. After flipping the robotic soldier over his shoulder, Carter shot a quick fist into the torso of his opponent, silencing him. Finally, a fourth attacker charged Carter with a staff. The young man blocked the staff blow, shot a knee into the Cog's torso, and then a second into it's face.

"I mean, I'm just no good without it." He added.

Flaming fists and lightning fast kicks were just a taste of what Jason was dishing out. As a Cog swung a sword for his skull, Jason ducked, and let a high front kick take the sword from the Cog's grip. The original Red Ranger leapt into the air and caught the weapon, as he made his descent, two quick cross slashes put the robotic soldier down. Jason landed just in time to duck a flying kick from a second Cog, which he quickly slashed as well. But he wasn't fast enough to stop the third one, who used a side kick to knock the sword from Jason's grip. The Cog landed a fist to Jason's face, knocking him to the floor. The android then picked up the dormant sword, and swung for Jason's body…but found nothing. The robot felt a stiff kick to it's rear end, and tumbled into a nearby crate. A quick cyclone kick ended the fight.

Cole caught a high kick from a Cog, and back heel tripped it. As the robotic soldier fell to the ground, the Red Wild Force Ranger snapped a quick fist down into it's torso. He rose to see another charging him, staff held forward. Cole cleverly dodged, the weapon, and used the Cog's own momentum to propel the soldier into the air using his powerful arms. He bent his left knee down and out, and felt the Cog's body crash down on it. Quickly, he dodged a punch, and caught the new Cog's fist. He shot in a blow under its arm, and flipped it over. A stomp to the body silenced the Cog.

"My morpher!" Cole heard Leo shout. The young man looked to see the five generals walking from the battle scene. After feeling a hard kick between his shoulder blades, Cole hit the ground stomach first. But thinking fast, the Red Wild Force Ranger pushed himself up by his arms, and shot his feet up into the Cog's stomach. He then swung his foot around in a kick that echoed off the golden domed head of the soldier.

Cole instantly took off in a sprint, chasing Venjix and the others. He couldn't let a fellow Ranger's powers fall into the hands of the Machine Empire.

As he rushed out of the moon base, his lungs sucking in the air from the oxygen field, Cole noticed a square shaped control panel on the wall near the door. As he glanced to the top of the entrance, he noticed that a folded up steel door hung from above. The control panel must have controlled the rising and falling of the door. Feeling his heart pound with the intensity of the very Red Lion he commanded, Cole could hear his own boots pounding on the rocks below as he sprinted.

Suddenly, the corner of his eye caught a small, thin tube shooting out from Gerrok's wrist. Cole stopped dead in his tracks, and tried to go in reverse…

…but it was too late.

The ground around him burst into dust as Gerrok fired at him. Cole left his feet, and hit the ground hard. Thankfully, the laser blasts had not made direct contact, but had done an excellent job of shaking him up.

Then, he saw the five mechanical monsters step through the cloud of dust and debris. In Venjix's hand, he still gripped the Red Galaxy Transmorpher.

"Foolish vermin." Venjix spoke in an icy calm voice. Stretching out his free left hand, three twelve inch blades suddenly burst from the robot's wrist. "You will be the first to feel our wrath."

As Cole watched the evil Generals close in on him, his stomach tightened. But he was not afraid. He had never been afraid to die for the Earth.

He only wished he'd been given a bit more respect at the end…