Golden Warriors
Trey stood on the edge of the balcony, looking out over the capital city of Triforia, his gaze stern but troubled. The golden sheen of his personal Zord,
Pyramidas glimmered in the light of the three moons that hung overhead. His brown eyes and tanned muscular face were an emotional void. He wore his traditional black tunic and pants with a golden sash, the tradional look of a Triumvirate Senator. The blue, vertical mark over his left eye was dimmed by the shadows that hid his face. His room was lavishly furnished. A large bed,
several times the size of a king size, dominated the center of the room, while wardrobes and various other types of furniture lined the walls.
The triangular door of the room opened slowly, the three sections sliding into the top and lower sides of the doors, revealing a thin, almost wiry youth about 18 earth years old. He entered, bowing his thin-faced head as he entered, his left eye branded with a horizontal red mark, and bent to one knee. He rose,
making sure he kept his head lowered, handed Trey a small, scroll, and left as silently as he entered. Unrolling it, he read each line slowly, hoping that he would not see the words he knew would there.
Suddenly, the large form of Auric the Conquerer stepped from the shadows,
holding a large, golden longsword in his hand. His armored face showed no sign of emotion, nor did it meet the gaze that Trey looked upon him with. “Does it say what I believe it says?” he said, in voice that sounded like that of a saturday morning cartoon super-hero.
“That and more,” he replied. ” The Helltide was spotted approximatly 1,000,000 kilometers from the Earth. Gravitic sensor nets confirmed it this morning.”
“Then it is time. Just as Zordon said?” Auric asked, his voice portraying the concern his face was unable to.
“I would believe so,” he said, not betraying his stern visage.
“What did you mean by ‘and more’?” he asked.
“The Senate has refused my petition to help them. They believe my past involvment with the Terran Rangers has weakened my resolve.”
“Has it not? Human emotions can imprint themselves on anyone,” said a third voice, seemingly from nowhere. A portion of the wall seemes to shimmer for a moment before a black armored form stepped out. His helmeted face showed no look of what was within, and a red plate gave it some semblance of a face.
“My resolve has not been weakened, Tal’Ken. I just do not wish to see the chosen destroyed by a maniac,” Trey replied.
“Do you wish to help them?” it asked.
“You know we do!” Auric replied.
“Trey may go at any time. As the Gold Ranger, he has no formal ties to the Triumvirate Senate. But you, Auric. Your hands are tied. You are forbidden to interfere in these matters any more than you have already.” Tal’Ken said.
Auric thought to reply in anger, but held his tongue, “I am aware of that.”
“But, I cannot betray the Senate. What the Masters decree as law, must be followed to death and beyond. You handed down those laws yourself.” Trey said, his brow furrowed.
“Have you not done this before? Did you not go against them once before to help the Zeo Rangers? And, are you not a Master yourself?”
Trey was caught. Between loyalty to the friends of the one who had carried his powers and almost died, or the people he was born of. “Damn you, Tal’Ken!”
Trey yelled, his blood boiling. “You know I must choose my people over my friends! You know that I cannot leave my duties here!”
This time, it was Tal’Ken who bit his tongue. Trey was handled easily, and goading him to anger would be beneficial to the cause. “How important do you believe yourself? There are many on your world with power equal to yours. It will not fall without you here!”
Trey’s expression softened. “You… are… right, Tal’Ken.”
“Then go. Help them if you are so concerned for their well being!”
Trey’s eyes changed their hue, from a muddy brown to a burnished gold and began to glow. The Golden Power erupted from its psychic confines within his mind, elating in newest taste of freedom. It flowed through him unabated like a river over running its banks. All over Trey’s body, black energy slithered like a serpent, covering him from head to toe until his features were barely recognizable. Portions of the blackness began to shape themselves and change color, shifting and and expanding until Trey’s chest and shoulders were covered by a golden chest shield. The same happened to small bands that had just formed on his foreams and calves, and the breas beneath them became snow white.
Where his face used to be, now was a black helmet, adroned by a tree-like symbol with six arms. The armor and garments solidified on his body, and the Gold Ranger once more stood ready to do battle.
The armored “phantom’s” helmet almost seemed to smile for a moment at the same time that a dark red jewel on his chest glowed sinisterly. He watched in amusement as Trey placed a hand in front of his six armed visor, and light spewed forth. Seemingly out of nowhere, a staff appeared, topped with the same symbol on his helmet, and a bladed portion on the end.
Trey heroically ran to his balcony and jumped to the elaboratly decorated,
wide railing, with a cat-like ease and grace. Holding his staff to the air, he screamed aloud, “I call upon the power of Pyramidas!” A golden blast shot from the extended staff and struck a nearby pyramid at its summit. The ground lurched as Pyramidas’ main boosters came on-line and multi-thousand degree fire shot from them. It rose imposingly from the tree shrouded area of the gardens,
the light of the triple moons illuminating two sides of its surface.
Trey, awed each time he saw the collossal ships’ power displayed, jumped from the balcony as golden light consumed his form, then streaked for the humongous ship. The Republican Guard of Triforia wasted no time in attacking it with laser fire. Blue explosions rocked the ship as each connected with the barrier system, and was deflected, yet still, the Zord rose slowly but sure from surface.
“WARNING: BARRIER SYSTEM AT 71% AND FALLING. RECCOMEND RETALIATION WITH MAIN GUN,” the computer said in a hollow voice. The main gun was Pyramidas’ best weapon when not joined to the ZeoZords his terran compatriots piloted, but at such close proximity, the resulting tectonic upheaval it caused would sure kill his friends and loved ones still inside the Triumvirate Senate building.
“Negative,” he said, voice full of power and emotion. “Reenforce Barrier System with all energy reserves and energy of Main Gun.”
“WARNING: DOING SO WILL SEVERLY LIMIT DEFENSIVE POSSIBILITES.”
“I don’t care!” he yelled at the unfeeling machine, “Do it!”
“COMPLIANCE,” it said.
With it’s barriers reenforced, the trip through the atmosphere was much easier, with most of Triforia’s space fleet down for repairs since Varok’s attacks on their planet, he would be able to make it to Earth almost scot free.
Now the hard began. Since the Eternal’s ship was of Eltarian construction,
the power of its sensor nets and scanners dwarfed that of Pyramidas. And to get the ship to Earth in one peice was Trey’s main priority, he never knew when his friends may need the pretection of the Zeo UltraZord. “Computer. Reroute all auxillary power and secondary weapons systems to ECM*. Set course 218.14 mark 17, maximum fold.”
“NEGATIVE. PROTOCOLS STATE THAT SPACEFOLD ENGINES ARE ONLY TO BE USED “HIGH ALERT” CASES. HYPERRUSH FACTOR WILL BE SET FOR_”
“Override! Damn you! Authorization: 3, 9, 2, 7, Gold,” Trey exclaimed, his anger rising.
“OVERRIDE ACCEPTED. TIME DILATION FOR JOURNEY… 2.5 DAYS RELATIVE.”
A red point of light appeared in front of the Zord, fed by an invisible energy field around the ship. A violet-colored vortex roared to life and swallowed it like a shark. It began to shrink, slowly growing redder in color as it contracted. Upon closing, the surrounding space was bathed in the explosion that took place.
Tal’Ken stood on the balcony and laughed silently, watching the spacefold portal in its violent death throes. He waited until Auric left to allow it to escape, growing more sinister sounding with each passing moment. It grew so loud that soon it could be heard through the entire Senate building. Turning from the dark shroud of night that decended on Triforia, he walked back into the room, while his cloaking field encased him once more. “So easy,” he thought, “so devilishly easy…”
Jason Scott sat, his tanned, muscular face not showing the mental battle that was raging insode his head at that moment. His brown eyes gazed deeply onto those of his girlfriend, Emily who sat beside him. Until ten minutes ago, he had been there with his friends, Rocky, Kat, and Tommy, discussing a test. Now with nothing to divert him, he still could not the blonde girl at his side his full attention. He was torn between her and an old nagging, feeling he thought he’d lost a while ago: duty.
Jason wanted so much to be out there with his friends, fighting monsters,
protecting the helpless, and being a hero. It was like a drug, once the action that came along with being a Ranger got into your system, it was hard to get out. Jason lowered his eyes to the table as Emily began talking, noticing for the first time his leg was shaking, almost uncontrollably. He also glanced several times toward the door, feeling as though he should be running for it as fast as he could. Find a private place , and then… morph.
The word touched his inards like a knife. Another addicting thing about being a Ranger, the power. He’d never noticed it before, but a part of almost liked being the Gold Ranger. Not that it was a thankless job, and he did enjoy it.
But, towards the end, he noticed that… he seemed to want to transform, even when there was no danger. It was almost like, he wanted to be the Gold Ranger more than he wanted to be… himself.
He once more tried to focus himself on Emily. Discreetly grabbing looks of her tanned shaply legs, and alluring, hourglass fugure. Then looking at her face, how her blonde hair would frame her slim face in just such a way as to make it look even more beautiful. Her blue eyes did all they could to draw him in as the light played off them, adding a look of depth to them. But even this failed, and his attention remained devided.
Slowly, his attention was ripped was ripped away from his girlfriend to his toughts of battles, power, and victories. They dominated his thoughts until they could no longer be contained, and would not relinquish their hold on him.
It was as thought the Golden Power had taken something of him when it was rejoined to Trey.
Emily watched her boyfriend as he looked about, discreetly, but with ring of franticness to his glances. Emily had always known Jason was tight-lipped. He rarely discussed his feelings with her at all, and his past was more than a mystery. She had decided that he was waiting to tell her when he felt it was right, when they would move to a new level of their relationship. But something told her now, that those answers would never be forth-coming.
She knew Jason loved her. At least she thought he did. And up till now,
she’d never questioned how she felt about him. They seemed to show all the neccessary affection in public and when they were alone, but the rest of the time, he was closed off to her. Like he’d built an emotional fortress around himself and no matter how many times she begged entrance, he would never let her in.
She reached for his hand, realizing it was trembling. She’d never seen it do that before. She’d seen it punch out an opponent, felt it carress he cheek,
and seen it write in a form that resembled badly tied shoes, but never had it trembled. She looked to his face, and covered his hand with hers. There was still a strong look to his eyes, like he could take on the world, but his hands, his strong, steady hands had betrayed him, showing some invisible chink in his emotional armor.
She kissed him, gently, on the cheek, and her brow grew heavy with concern.
“Jason?” she said softly, “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. But, I’ve gotta go.”
“Go? Don’t you wanna talk about it?”
“No. I can’t.”
“Jason,” she said insistantly.
“No!” suddenly full of anger, then softening. “Em. Listen. You know I love you. But, please don’t take this the wrong way. This is something you can’t help me with. If it were anything else, I would tell you. But, I don’t even know what’s wrong!”
He took his hand from hers, and reached down into his bag for something.
After searching frantically, he got up from the table, kissed Emily, and bolted for the door. Emily took off behind him, but was slowed by the shoes she was wearing. When she arrived outside, Jason was nowhere to be seen, and Emily had the strangest feeling, she would never see him again.
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