Power Rangers

"What does this do?" Horus asked as he walked around the Necrontyr device that the Mechanicum had recently found.
"I am not sure yet," the Emperor replied. He had been studying the device for a few days, but was no closer to determining what function it might serve. He had yet to allow power to the construct. He didn't want anything like the body swapping incident with the Aeldari artifact.
"It doesn't look like the one that attacked me," Ferrus said. He was sitting as far away from the construct as he could get while still being in the same room. The Primarchs were all curious about the device, but Ferrus was clearly warier of it than his brothers.
"Correct," the Emperor said. "This has the feel of a prototype. Most likely some form of experiement."
"What kind of experiment?" Perturabo asked.
"I'm not sure," the Emperor repeated. "I was hoping to determine its likely uses before applying power, but it seems like we will need to."
"I have a bad feeling about this," Konrad said. Sanguinius nodded his agreement. The Primarchs all moved away from the device. The Emperor carefully applied power to the machine. It glowed, and then something like a gateway appeared briefly. There was a loud banging sound, and the gateway fluxuated. The Emperor went to shut the power down, but the gateway seemed to grow in size, swallowing the Emperor and all eighteen Primarchs.
They came out in an area that looked like a mine. It was clear that they weren't where they were supposed to be.
"Where are we?" Angron asked.
"We're not at the Palace," Vulkan said.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Angron said.
"I'm sensing something strange, Father," the Lion said. The Emperor turned to look at the Lion. "I haven't felt anything like this before. It feels like some form of non-essence."
"I think I can feel it too," Magnus said. "Sort of like being around one of the more powerful psykers. It's like a bulge in the warp."
"I sense it too," the Emperor said. He was still working on determining the nature of the mind that he was sensing.
"Who are you guys?" came a voice from behind them. The group turned in the direction of the voice, many of the Primarchs shifting into ready stances for fighting. Ferrus tucked his hands in his pockets. There were five teenagers standing there. They also looked ready to fight.
"I am Charles Smith," the Emperor said. It was obvious from the way the teenagers were dressed that it was M3 or earlier. "These are my sons."
"All of them?" One of the two girls asked.
"Yes," the Emperor said.
"We're adopted," Horus said. He figured that was safe to say because the Emperor had used the same name as the other time they were in M3.
"But some of us are blood related," the Lion said.
"We all say we are blood brothers," Omegon said. Omegon was interested in getting to actually experience M3 with the others. Alpharius had told him everything, but it wasn't quite the same.
"Who are you?" Horus asked.
"I'm Jason," said the boy who spoken first. He wore a red shirt.
"I'm Kimberly," said the girl who had asked if they were all one family.
"I'm Billy Cranston," said the black boy. "Like Billy Cramston of Crayons..."
"Billy!" Jason said sharply.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Billy said, though he didn't continue his original sentence.
"I'm Zach," said an Asian looking boy.
"I'm Trini," said the last girl. She didn't look happy to have found the Emperor and his sons.
"What are your names?" Kimberly asked the Primarchs.
"I'm Lion," the Lion said. The others followed behind, those who had chosen last names left them off.
"I am Alpharius," Omegon said ending the string of introductions.
"Those are some strange names," Jason said.
"We got to pick them," Horus said.
"That's cool," Zach said. Jason then stepped up to the Emperor.
"What are you doing in the gold mine?" Jason asked.
"I was showing my sons the area," the Emperor said. "We are visiting Angel Grove." The Emperor had taken the name of the town from Jason's surface thoughts.
"Why would you want to visit this town?" Trini asked.
"I am showing my sons different mining techniques," the Emperor said. "Angel Grove is also a good example of a town with a mixed industry."
"That's true, we fish here too," Jason said. The watch that Jason was wearing went off just then, and he stepped to the side. He didn't realize that he was still close enough to be heard by the Emperor and the Primarchs.
"What is it, Zordon?" Jason asked into the watch, revealing it to be some form of comms device.
"There's a powerful psychic signature near the mine," came the distorted voice of Zordon on the other end. "It's close to you, do you see any one up there?"
"Just a guy who managed to adopt eighteen sons," Jason said.
"Interesting," Zordon said. "Make sure they don't see you when you come down."
"Will do," Jason said, the channel closed, and Jason stepped back over to the rest of the group.
"They keep the big earth-movers over there," Jason said, pointing to where the miners parked the larger vehicles overnight. "I remember loving earth-movers when I was little like your sons."
"Thank you," the Emperor said. He lead the Primarchs away, but stopped as soon as the teenagers couldn't see them. They waited a few moments before turning around and following the teens. After a short way the teens vanished down a wide crevasse. After a moment they heard five splashes.
"Feet first then," the Emperor said, and stepped over the side. The Primarchs followed suit, all angleing so that their feet were down. Sanguinius caught himself from actually using his wings to stop his descent. The Emperor had been hiding Sanguinius' wings while they spoke to the teens, and he didn't want to make things weird if he looked like he was hovering. They all surfaced after entering the water.
"I don't see them," Angron said looking around.
"They're below us," the Lion said. "There must be a cave or something like that."
"We will have to swim down and see then," the Emperor said, once again leading the way. The Primarchs all inflated their multilungs, another of their extra organs; it allowed them to hold their breath for longer, before following their father. Jaghatai reached the bottom first, and was very confused. It was obvious that the ground was not where the water ended, the Emperor continued forward, gracefully rolling out of the water to the ground below. The Primarchs followed at various levels of grace. Fulgrim managed to be the most graceful, and no one was surprised. Angron was the least graceful, but he enjoyed it. Sanguinius was annoyed because he could have glided, if his wings weren't sodden.
They all stood, casting quick glances up at the suspended water, Sanguinius puffed out his feathers so they could dry. There was only one exit that didn't involve getting back into the water, so they went that way. The exit lead into a tunnel that turned from being a rough, natural tunnel, to the smooth walls of a ship.
"I don't recognize this mark of ship," Perturabo said. Ferrus nodded his agreement.
"We aren't on our Terra, are we?" Horus asked.
"I don't think so, Horus," the Emperor said. "I believe the ship to be xenos in origin though."
"That would make sense," Perturabo said.
"It's been here for quite a long time," Ferrus said. "It must have some good rust resistance."
"Like ceramite?" Vulkan asked.
"Maybe," the Emperor said. "We should go quietly."
The Primarchs nodded as they continued through the halls of the ship. They were following the strange sense that the Lion had picked up on. It helped that the five teens were heading in the same direction as the source of the sensation. They stopped near a door and listened in.
"Do you think the guy with the kids is the source of that reading you got?" Jason asked.
"I'm not sure," Zordon replied, his voice was still distorted, though it was clear he wasn't speaking over a vox channel. "However, I think we can ask them ourselves. Alpha?"
The door opened and a short, odd looking automaton stepped into the hallway. it spotted the Emperor and most of the Primarchs. Corvus had gone into the shadow walk nearly instantly.
"Come on then," the automaton said, waving a hand at them. The Emperor stepped forwards, the Primarchs all fell in behind him. Ferrus quickly tucked his hands back into his pockets. The room they entered had clearly been the bridge of the ship, when it had flown in space. There was a strange platform towards the middle of the room, though it was the far wall that held the strangest thing. It was a large face, made out in the microfilaments of the wall.
"Who are you?" the face asked, the voice was that of Zordon, and explained the distortion.
"I am Charles Smith," the Emperor said.
"I want the truth," Zordon said. The lighting on the wall around the face turned red with annoyance.
"What truth?" the Emperor asked. "Do you have proof that I am lying?"
"I can tell," Zordon said. "I want to know real name."
"You wouldn't believe that if I told you," the Emperor said. His real name sounded strange to him at this point in time. He had changed it over the years to fit with the naming conventions of the time, and occasionally made up his own original names.
"Try me," Zordon said.
"No," the Emperor said. "I am called the Emperor of Mankind."
"That's a title," Jason said. "And why won't you tell us your name?"
"Names contain power," the Emperor said simply. He had no intention of giving his real name to anyone, not even Malcador knew it.
"I also won't call you that," Zordon said. "What shall I call you?"
"Lord," Horus piped up.
"As my son says," the Emperor said with a nod in Horus' direction.
"Did you all lie to us as well?" Kimberly asked.
"No," Horus said. "Though some of us left off parts of our names."
"Such as?" Kimberly pressed.
"Lion El'Jonson," the Lion said.
"Jaghatai Khan," Jaghatai said.
"Leman Russ."
"Rogal Dorn."
"Konrad Curze, though I originally chose Night Haunter."
"Ferrus Manus."
"Roboute Guilliman."
"Mine's more like a title, Magnus the Red."
"Horus Luprecal."
"Lorgar Aurelian."
"Corvus Corax," Corvus said, startling everyone as he dropped out of the shadow walk.
"Alpharius Omegon," Omegon said. This caused some raised eyebrows. Alpharius almost never used his full name, so it surprised the other Primarchs.
"What about the rest of you?" Trini asked.
"We only chose the one name," Fulgrim said. "Not all of us felt the need of last names."
"That's weird," Zach said.
"Where are you from?" Zordon asked.
"That question is harder to answer than you might think," the Emperor said. "I believe that we are from a different dimension."
"Sort of like how the turtles were from a different dimension?" Magnus asked, catching on quickly.
"Yes," the Emperor said. "The Necrontyr device might have been a form of escape attempt, to avoid the end of their race."
"So there's possibly a Necrontyr who is loose here?" Horus asked.
"It is a distinct possibility," the Emperor said.
"I'm lost," Billy said.
"We are from a dimension separate from this one," the Emperor said patiently. "We were brought here by a device that I was studying. It seems to have remained in the dimension that we are from. The being that made the device is possibly in this dimension."
"I think I got it that time," Billy said, though he didn't seem completely convinced of that.
"It's weird for us too," the Lion said.
"How do you get back to where you are supposed to be if the device is where you came from?" Jason asked.
"There are people where we are from that will work to return us to where we belong," the Emperor said.

*******************************

Malcador headed to the research lab that the Mechanicum adept had told him the Necrontyr device was being held. He was mildly annoyed with the Emperor. His master had promised a game of regicide, and had not even made an excuse for why he hadn't shown. 

"Is this device really so....." Malcador's voice trailed off as he entered the room. The question left unfinished as he realized that the Emperor wasn't there. He reached out and did a psychic scan of the entire Palace. The Emperor wasn't within the reaches of the Palace.

"Valdor?" Malcador asked into the vox. "Have you heard anything from the Emperor recently?" 

"No," Valdor replied. "Why do you ask?"

"He has given us the slip," Malcador said. "He's not in the Palace, neither are the Primarchs."

"Can you determine where they were last?" Valdor asked. He was going to have a discussion with the Custodians on Emperor duty for the day. Malcador focused, finding the psychic spoor of the Emperor, and realizing that it hadn't left the room by any normal means.

"They were here, and now they aren't," he said to Valdor. He then changed the channel. "Arkan Land, I would like to see you in the research lab with the latest Necrontyr device."

"I'll be there momentarily, lord," Arkan Land was one of the best with archeotech. He was also well trusted by the Emperor which was good enough for Malcador. Malcador also found that it was less strange to talk with Land, who appeared almost un-augmented, which was very strange for a magos of Land's standing. While it eased Malcador, he was also aware that it caused Land problems with the Mechanicum, who espoused augmentation to be closer to the perfection of the Omnissiah.

"What is it, Lord Sigillite?" Land asked as he entered the room. 

"This device, do you know anything of it?" Malcador asked.

"No, lord," Land said with a shake of his head. "The Omnissiah was investigating it."

"I know," Malcador said, his patience growing thin. "He has vanished from this room, along with all eighteen of the Primarchs."

"I will check the monitors for this room," Land said quickly. "That should give me some place to start from."

"Very good," Malcador said. "Let me know when you have learned something." He then turned and strode from the lab. He was pleased that the Astronomican hadn't failed, so the abscence of the Emperor could be kept quiet form the masses.

****************************

"I still have some questions," Jason said. Zordon indicated his agreement with Jason. 

"I have questions of my own," the Emperor said. "You are the hosts, so it makes sense that you begin."

"How did you guys get down here?" Jason asked. "I can understand you having the lung capacity, lord, but your sons shouldn't have that kind of lung power."

"My sons and I are not normal humans as you are," the Emperor said. A glance was exchanged between the teens, but they kept quiet. "We have extra organs that allowed my sons to hold their breath for long enough."

"I probably could have done without the multilung," Vulkan said. "Though that's only because I'm bigger than my other brothers."

"Were you adopted?" Trini asked, looking at Vulkan.

"No," Vulkan answered. "Father made all of us, though I don't know why I'm dark while everyone else is light."

"Variety," the Emperor said.

"Why couldn't we see you when you first came in?" Kimberly asked, looking at Corvus.

"I can remove myself from the conscious thoughts of those around me," Corvus answered. "I use it as a reflex when I don't want people to see me."

"Why are you hiding your hands?" Zach asked Ferrus. Ferrus answered by pulling his hands out of his pockets. 

"What happened?" Billy asked, surprised.

"I was training on a construct, seems it had enough power to activate and attack me," Ferrus said. "I killed it in a lava flow, this was the result."

"So--- if your hands get really cold and you try to lick them...?" Zach asked.

"Yes, my tongue will get stuck to my hands," Ferrus said with a chuckle. 

"What about static electricity?" Billy asked.

"The metal, called necrodermis, forms a farraday cage around my actual hands and lower arms," Ferrus said. "It's highly conductive though, so the charge hits me where the necrodermis stops."

"I bet that hurts sometimes," Kimberly said. 

"If the discharge is large enough my arm can go numb," Ferrus said.

"Does anyone else have something they are hiding?" Alpha asked.

"I'm called Magnus the Red because I like having my skin be red like my hair," Magnus said. He had adjusted his appearance to a more normal color, he changed back as he said that though.

"That's different," Zach said. "Anyone else?"

"I have wings," Sanguinius said. The Emperor dropped the psychic field he was using to hide the wings. 

"Can you fly with them?" Billy asked before anyone could stop him.

"When they are dry, yes," Sanguinius said. 

"That's cool," Billy said, Sanguinius smiled, his wings were still damp from the swim.

"I would like to ask my questions now," the Emperor said, turning to Zordon.

"Alright," Zordon answered. "We will answer what we can."

"Who are you?" the Emperor began.

"I'm Zordon, of Eltar," Zordon said. "In a technical sense, I'm dead. My mind is trapped in this ship."

"I'm Alpha-5," Alpha said. "I help Zordon, and keep him company."

"We gave you our names up top," Jason said.

"What is this ship?" the Emperor continued.

"It's my ship," Zordon said. "Alpha and I crashed here 10,000 years ago trying to save the Zeo Crystal from Rita Repulsa."

"There's more to this story," Horus said.

"The Zeo Crystal is the source of all life on the planet," Zordon explained. "Rita Repulsa was once a friend of mine, who became enslaved to power."

"You are a xenos though," Roboute said. "Why would you care about the life of this planet?" 

"The Zeo Crystal is fragmented across all planets that have life," Zordon answered. "Rita wanted to unite the entire Crystal, thus having power over all life in the galaxy."

"It seems that you were only partially successful," the Emperor said.

"Rita was stopped for 10,000 years when I crashed my ship here," Zordon said. "It was the only way to deal a serious blow to Rita. I had to use myself to bring the ship down at the right place."

"I saved him by downloading his mind into the ship," Alpha said. 

"You fought her alone?" Magnus asked.

"No," Zordon said. The face on the wall became a sad one. "I had a team, and they all died trying to counter Rita."

"Has she resurfaced?" the Emperor asked.

"Yes," Jason said. "That's part of how the five us came to be here." He stopped and looked at Zordon.

"They're here, so it doesn't much matter at this point," Zordon said.

"We became the Power Rangers in order to prevent Rita from getting the Zeo Crystal," Jason said. "No one's supposed to know that we are the Rangers."

"We are all good at keeping secrets," Omegon said. 

"That's good," Billy said. 

"So you were once a Power Ranger," Sanguinius said, looking to Zordon. 

"Yes," Zordon answered. "I was the Red Ranger, before Jason. I teach them now, and guide them."

"I have another question, if you're done," Jason asked. The Emperor nodded. "What is a Necrontyr?"

"A Necrontyr, is a member of an ancient xenos race," the Emperor said.

"Their homeworld was inhospitable, so they learned to travel the stars," Horus said.

"On their travels they met another ancient xenos race called the Old Ones," the Emperor said. "The Necrontyr hated the Old Ones for they were the opposites of the Necrontyr. However, they had nothing that could be used effectively against the Old Ones."

"They looked out amongst the stars, and found a strange sentience that was eating the energy of a star," Perturabo said. "The Necrontyr named them the C'tan, or star gods. They made bodies of living metal, necrodermis, for the C'tan."

"The C'tan entered their new bodies and the Necrontyr began to worship them as gods," Lorgar said. "Then the C'tan turned the Necrontyr into slaves."

"The Necrontyr went to make their move against the Old Ones," the Emperor said, taking control of the story again. "the C'tan offered them immortality in the form of robotic bodies such as the Necrontyr had made for them. The Necrontyr, now bearing a hatred of all living things, accepted without considering the price. The majority of them lost their personalities, and those that kept their personalities only kept part of them. The correct term for them is Necron. Though they have vanished from our dimension."

"So you used Necrontyr because you aren't sure if this is one with an organic body or not?" Billy asked. The Emperor nodded.

"If there is one here, what would it do?" Jason asked.

"I'm not sure," the Emperor said. "It would need allies, but likely isn't fond of life. It's also very possible that there isn't one here."

"There is a race of sentient robots in this dimension," Zordon said. "They call themselves the Machine Empire."

"A Necron might work with them," the Emperor said. 

**************************

Slekth approached King Mondo of the Machine Empire. He was holding a data reader in one hand. It showed a report from a deep sensor probe. 

"I have gotten a reading, King Mondo," Slekth said. He felt that his own Necron form was more elegant than the robots of the Machine Empire, but he only had them to work with. Everything else in this hideous dimension was living.

"Excellent," King Mondo said. "Where?"

"It's on some small backwater," Slekth said, highlighting it on the data reader before handing it to the king of the machines. "Broadcasts from the planet show low-tech compared to our own."

"And it has this wonderous metal like you are made of," Mondo said. Slekth had been attempting to make more necrodermis, to improve the robots of the Machince Empire, but hadn't been successful so far.

"Yes," Slekth said.

"Let's go annex this world for the Machine Empire," Mondo said grandly. He sent a signal to his fleet and they headed towards Earth.

*************************

"So, what are you going to do, lord?" Jason asked as they came out of the crevasse. 

"I don't know," the Emperor said. He wanted to try and work on making his own portal, but he didn't expect to have the resources to hand to make that work. "We will have to wait for the Mechanicum to learn more about the device and activate it again."

"Where will you stay while you wait?" Kimberly asked.

"We could do what we did last time," Horus suggested.

"No," the Emperor said. "This is a separate dimension, I have no access to the money that I used in our other visit to M3."

"M3?" Zach asked.

"This time period," Ferrus said. "We are from M30, the far future."

"We measure time in millenea because of how far into the future we are," the Emperor said. "It's similar to how you currently measure time in centuries."

"That makes sense," Billy said.

"It still leaves the question of where you are staying on the table," Kimberly said.

"We will find some place to stay," the Emperor said. He could encourage someone to take an extended vacation and leave their house open to him and his sons if nothing else.

"If there weren't so many of you I would let you stay in my garage," Billy said. 

"That won't be necessary," the Emperor said.

"Though the offer is appreciated," Horus said. 

"We'll stay out here in the woods around the mine tonight," the Emperor said as the teens left to go to their own houses. The Primarchs nodded their understanding and began looking for a good campsite. Rogal was excited to be able to build a shelter that the Emperor could actually see this time.

The night passed without incident. The Emperor was determined to stay close to the mine in case the Mechanicum got the device working and the portal opened in the same spot again. Rogal was liking the idea that they might stay where they had camped, so he could build a proper shelter for everyone. They had spent the night in simple lean-tos. 

"What are we going to do while we wait?" Jaghatai asked.

"I doubt we can explore the mine when they are working at it," Roboute said. 

"That's likely," Lorgar said. 

"Jason said they fish here, so there's a waterfront somewhere," Sanguinius said. 

"But would that take us too far from the mine?" Horus asked.

"We don't even know if the device works," Perturabo said. "It was making all sorts of loud popping sounds before we went through the portal."

"Hopefully the Mechanicum can fix it," Omegon said.

"Hopefully," Corvus echoed, though he didn't seem to sure on that.

**************************

"Any word from Land?" Valdor asked Malcador.

"Not yet," Malcador answered with a sigh. "He's still reading the auspex readings from the room. He says he has to start back at the beginning of the Emperor's research."

"That could take a lot of time," Valdor said. "It will get harder to hide the Emperor's abscence if this continues much longer. It is hard enough with the serfs being afraid of approaching the residence of the Emperor."

"I will have to find some way of fixing that," Malcador said. The serfs weren't going near the residence because of the howling of Freki and Geri. Malcador wasn't quite sure what to do about the wolves. He knew the howling had to do with Leman missing, 

"I might be able to take them to the Tower," Valdor suggested. "It will calm the serfs, and the Custodians can keep an eye on Freki and Geri."

"That might be the best option we have," Malcador admitted. "They have too much energy for me to take proper care of them."

Valdor left Malcador in the Throneroom and went into the residence. Freki and Geri paused in their howling long enough to determine that it wasn't Leman, and then began again.

"Hush, you two," Valdor said sharply. It did nothing, and the howling continued.

"You didn't do this when Leman went to camp," Valdor muttered, and headed to Leman's room. It was a mess, and it took a few moments for Valdor to locate the leashes and collars that Leman used for the pups. He went back out to the living room and had to catch both pups in order to put their collars and leashes on. 

"Alright, let's go," Valdor said, opening the door to the residence. He had to tug on the leashes a few times, but finally Freki and Geri went with him. He took them to the Tower of the Hegemon, the dwelling place of Custodians. Freki and Geri paused their howling as they walked. He entered the Tower, the wolves in front of him. Tolax was the first Custodian he spotted.

"Tolax, I have an assignment for you," Valdor said. Freki and Geri began howling again as soon as Valdor stopped in front of Tolax. 

"What is it, Master?" Tolax asked, he had to raise his voice to be heard over the howling.

"Our lord has been called off planet unexpectedly and the Lord Primarchs went with him," Valdor said. "I want you to take care of Freki and Geri until Lord Russ returns."

"As you command," Tolax said, he took the leashes from Valdor.

"They will need to be walked every evening," Valdor said. "Make sure you are the one to do it, also they need to be fed and watered."

"Very well, sir," Tolax said. He then got the wolves moving again. I'll have a serf do the walks. There isn't a reason for me to have to do it.

The day wore on to evening, and Tolax found a serf who was willing to approach the howling pups. He attached the leashes, so all the serf had to do was pick them up and get Freki and Geri going. 

The serf did as he had been told by the large Custodian, and after a few tugs got the pups moving. Freki and Geri realized they were being taken for their evening walk, and took off as soon as they were out of the Tower. The unfortunate serf was yanked off his feet, causing him to be dragged by Freki and Geri as they tore through the Palace in search of Leman. Valdor saw the poor serf, and activated his vox bead.

"Tolax, I believe I left you in charge of taking care of Freki and Geri while Lord Russ is away," Valdor said, keeping his voice level.

"You did, master," Tolax replied.

"I also remember telling you that you were to be the one to take them for their evening walks," Valdor said, his tone hardening.

"I felt that there was no need for myself to be the one on the other end of the leash, master," Tolax said.

"Come to the upper pallasade and I will show you why I gave that order," Valdor said and closed the channel. Tolax appeared a few moments later, moving to stand at his general's side. Valdor pointed to where the serf was being dragged by Freki and Geri who were sniffing around, trying to catch Leman's scent.

"I did not anticipate that, master," Tolax said almost instantly.

"You did not think of why they are always howling?" Valdor asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I admit that I did not," Tolax said. "I shall go and rectify the situation."

"A good choice," Valdor said. He watched as Tolax made his way down to the serf, getting the wolves to stop. Tolax took up the leashes and got the pups back on course for their walk. Valdor chuckled to himself and turned away.

************************************

"I hope Freki and Geri are alright," Leman said as he watched Rogal make a more permanent shelter.

"I bet they're alright," Corvus said. "Valdor is probably taking care of them."

"Yeah, he at least needs to be the one to take them for walks," Leman said with a laugh. "They're too strong for Malcador to control them. They wouldn't mean to hurt him though."

"Seeing Malcador being dragged through the halls would be a little funny though," Konrad said.

"I can agree with that," Leman said. "Then I'd feel bad for laughing at Malcador."

"True," Konrad said. He found Malcador to be the hardest to prank after their father. It was hard to surprise him, but he was also hard to get without risk of injury. Konrad knew that any prank he pulled that would result in injury to Malcador would get him in deep trouble, along with making him feel terrible.

"Who do you think is working on the device?" Ferrus asked the Emperor.

"I would guess Arkan Land," the Emperor replied after a moment of thought. "He's well versed in archeotech."

"That makes sense," Ferrus said. 

**********************************

"This really is a backwater," King Mondo said to Slekth as they approached Earth. "Primitive space flight, they haven't even made it to the next planet in their system."

"True," Slekth said. "It will be good to snuff out the life of this planet and claim the necrodermis there."

"Indeed," Mondo said. "Let us begin the conquest!" 

With that wings of robots were sent to the surface in dropships. These were to be just the first wave of soldiers, shock troops to test the planet's people. King Mondo didn't expect much in the way of resisitance from this planet. Slekth found he agreed with Mondo in terms of how much resistance they would find. He readied his weapons, he would lead the second wave, aimed at locating the source of the necrodermis signature.

*********************************

Jason heard his watch communicator go off. Billy had made one for each of them, and they all went off together. The teens moved into a corner, away from others before Jason activated his communicator.

"What is it, Zordon?" Jason asked.

"Earth is under attack from space," Zordon said. "Find our friends from yesterday and get down here."

"Will do," Jason said and heard the channel go dead.

"How do we go about finding them?" Kimberly asked.

"I don't know," Jason said. "Maybe they are also aware of the attack and will be heading to the mine."

"That does seem like the best place to start looking," Zach said. The Power Rangers slipped away from their school and made their way to the mine.

"Okay," Trini said. "We're here, how do we find those guys?"

"Hey Emperor of Mankind!" Billy called out, Jason quickly clapped a hand over Billy's mouth.

"What are you doing?" Jason hissed. "You know we've got to get around the mine workers."

"I'm sorry," Billy said. Jason gave him a friendly shove to the shoulder. Billy hadn't been ready for it and stumbled. "Whoa!"

"You guys are really loud," came a voice from behind them. The Rangers spun and found the Lion standing there.

"Hey! Where'd you come from?" Zach asked.

"Just over there," the Lion said, pointing over to where the woods started and their camp was set up. "I was seeing how close I could get to the miners without them noticing."

"So it's just you?" Jason asked.

"I'm the only one not at camp," the Lion said. "Everyone else is there, helping Rogal. Perturabo's pointing out all the flaws though."

"I'll pretend I understood that," Jason said. "Zordon wants to see everyone."

"Alright," the Lion said. "Stay with me, Angron's not in the best of moods. He won't like surprise guests."

"That doesn't sound fun," Kimberly said. They followed the Lion back up to the camp. The Rangers were surprised at the quality of the shelter that Rogal was working on.

"You've built this?" Jason asked in awe.

"Yep, I've had a bit of help, but most of it is me," Rogal said. 

"Zordon asked us to find you and take you back down to the ship," Jason said after recovering himself. "Said there's some form of attack from space."

"Interesting," the Emperor said. He didn't like the idea of sending the Primarchs into a fight because they didn't have power armor or weapons. Lorgar was one of the weakest in combat, though they were all capable. They followed the Rangers around to where they could access the ship. Sanguinius didn't look too happy to be getting wet again. 

"What can you tell us, Zordon?" Jason asked as they all arrived on the bridge. Zordon was quiet for a moment before he answered.

"It seems to be the Machine Empire," Zordon said finally.

"Why would they be attacking Earth?" Jason asked. It didn't make much sense for him. "Could they be after the Zeo Crystal?"

"Unlikely," Zordon said. "They are mostly interested in expanding their empire and gaining mineral resources."

"That makes sense," Ferrus said. "They can't make more of themselves, or heal themselves without a large amount of resources."

"We are a fairly mineral-rich planet," Jason said.

"Not as good as Mars though," the Emperor said. "Earth is just the baseline that you have to go on. There are many planets in the galaxy that have far more mineral wealth than Earth."

"That makes sense," Trini said. "That still leaves us with why are they here?"

"They have landed some troops close to Angel Grove, I suggest we learn what interest they have in the planet," Zordon said.

"Should we go as ourselves, or as the Rangers?" Jason said. 

"You should go as yourselves, but be prepared to morph," Zordon said.

"Right," Jason said. "What if they don't listen to us because we're teens?"

"I will go with you," the Emperor said. "I will speak with them."

"What about us, Father?" Horus asked, he had caught the wording the Emperor had used.

"You will stay here with Zordon and Alpha-5," the Emperor said. 

"But I want to stay with you," Horus said.

"No," the Emperor said firmly. "I don't want you there if things go poorly. You do not have weapons or your power armor."

"Lion didn't have either on Caliban," Horus argued.

"Sixteen," the Emperor said sharply. Horus quickly backed down. 

"We'll stay, Father," Horus said in a quiet voice. It had felt like a slap to the face when the Emperor used his number. 

"I'll be back as soon as I can," the Emperor said in a gentler tone. "Wait here for me, and behave for Zordon and Alpha-5."

"I assume this means we can't take him apart and try to rebuild him?" Perturabo asked.

"No," the Emperor and Alpha said at the same time. The Emperor then left with the Rangers. 

"What are we going to do?" Jaghatai asked. 

"We can explore," Roboute suggested.

"Only if Zordon allows it though," Horus said.

"I'll know where you are as long as you stay below the water," Zordon said. "Also Alpha can take you on a tour."

"Thanks, Zordon," Horus said, he managed a flicker of a smile. He was still off-kilter a bit from the Emperor using his number. They followed Alpha as he showed them around the parts of the ship that they could get to.

"This is the training pit," Alpha said. "The Rangers train here to be able to fight enemies that might come to Earth."

"How does that work?" Ferrus asked, there didn't seem to be any form of servitors there.

"We use special hologram technology that allows for phsyical contact," Alpha said. He was somewhat enjoying the questions that Perturabo and Ferrus especially were asking.

"Can we try it out?" Angron asked. He was angry about being left behind.

"Alright," Alpha said. "We should have recordings of Machine Empire soldier robots so you can practice on those."

"I like this idea," Angron said as he looked around the pit for something to use as a weapon. Finding nothing, he set up to fight bare-handed. The other Primarchs arrayed themselves around the pit and dropped into their own positions. Alpha started a simulation,setting a robot soldier in front of each Primarch. They all began to fight, each in his own way, aiming to defeat their holographic opponent.

****************************

The Emperor approached the line of Machine soldiers, the Rangers spread out behind him in a line. He briefly wondered what the Mechanicum would think of these automatons. He found them to be inelegant, but not unwieldly. He didn't notice any form of Necron with these robots.

"Who commands you?" the Emperor asked when no one stepped forward. A robot with some decoration stepped forward, it was accompanied by a smaller, round robot.

"I speak for the Machine Empire," said the decorated one. "I'm called Klank."

"You may call me Charles," the Emperor said. "I speak for Earth."

"So that is what the backwater is called," Klank said. It didn't seem terribly impressed with what it saw.

"It is the craddle of humanity," the Emperor said. "What do you want with it?"

"We want to claim it for ourselves, of course," Klank said. "It is to be conquered for the Machine Empire for a rare resource we have been scourging the galaxy for."

"What resource is that?" the Emperor asked. 

"A very rare metal," Klank said. "Once we have obtained all of it you will be welcome to have back whatever is left of the planet. If of course, you survive our method of mining, that is."

"What method is that?" Jason asked, stepping forward. The Emperor gave him a sharp glance that stopped Jason mid-stride.

"Answer the question," the Emperor said when Klank said nothing.

"We determine how deep, and where, the ore we want is," Klank said. "And then we eliminate the surface layers from orbit."

Jason went to go past the Emperor, but he held out his hand, waving Jason back. Jason glared at him, but he did nothing. There was a brief moment of tense silence and Jason backed down. 

"You are not welcome on Earth," the Emperor said. "We will resist you."

"I doubt that your resistance will be worth the word," Klank said. "Your technology is very much beneath that of the Machine Empire."

"You will find that conquering humanity requires more than just technology," the Emperor said. He knew this from his own experience in the Unification Wars. 

"I doubt it," Klank said. "We have yet to be repelled."

"Well, there's a first time for everything," the Emperor said and turned away. He then reached into Klank's mind to find out what kind of metal they were looking for. The answer gave him cause for concern. He heard the sound of a weapon being raised and turned back towards Klank.

"You will be the first to die, Charles who spoke for Earth," Klank said. He was holding some form of blaster type gun. Klank pulled the trigger, but the Emperor moved at the same moment, causing the energy shot to go wide, striking a tree and exploding it.

"I believe that you missed," the Emperor said. The other robots with Klank raised their own guns.

"I won't miss this time," Klank said as he signalled his soldiers to fire at the Emperor.

"It's morphin' time!" Jason yelled as the soldiers all fired at the Emperor. The light from that many energy shots, and the morphing, caused Jason to lose sight of the Emperor for a moment. Once he was morphed and the barage stopped he found the Emperor unharmed. There was no indication of how that had happened.

The robot soldiers charged forward, Klank heading directly for the Emperor. The Emperor manifested a weapon to use against Klank, spinning away before the robot commander could complete his charge. The fight went quickly, the Emperor forcing Klank back, while taking out several of the others who tried to interfere with the duel. The Rangers were also proving to be capable in combat against the robots. 

"Retreat!" Klank called when it became obvious that they were not going to win against the Rangers. He turned and fled with his soldiers, leaving the Emperor and the Rangers standing alone. 

"What kind of metal are they here for?" Billy asked. 

"Necrodermis," the Emperor said. "There must be a Necron with them, and they were somehow able to detect the prescence of it."

"Where would they find that?" Zach asked, then answered his own question. "Ferrus, Lord Manus."

"Yes," the Emperor said. 

"He's safe on the ship though," Kimberly said. "You left them there to be safe."

"They can mine from orbit though," Billy said. "They could take out the ship, that would truly kill Zordon, and probably Alpha."

"That's true," Kimberly said. "That wouldn't be a good thing." 

"We need to get back to the ship," the Emperor said. 

***************************************

"Can we go again?" Angron asked when their fourth round of holograms were all defeated. 

"I need to come up with some different difficulty settings for you guys," Alpha said. "Give me a few moments."

"I have just heard from Jason," Zordon said, a light pulsed from the ceiling with his voice. "They are returning, you should all return to the bridge."

"Alright," Horus said. He had cheered up from the use of the pit. "Thank you for letting us use your training arena."

"You are welcome," Zordon said with a chuckle. Alpha lead them back to the bridge, arriving just before the Emperor and the now demorphed Rangers. 

"Father!" Horus called. "I'm sorry I argued with you earlier. I know you were just keeping us safe."

"That's correct, Horus," the Emperor said. "I prefer to have you with me, but it was too dangerous this time."

"Why are they here?" Magnus asked.

"They seem to be working with a Necron named Slekth," the Emperor said. "It has somehow determined that there is necrodermis here." The Rangers all turned to look at the Emperor, the Primarchs glanced at Ferrus.

"How do you know this?" Jason asked, sounding suspicious.

"I am the source of the psychic presence that Zordon picked up when we first met," the Emperor said. "I read Klank's mind before he fired at me."

"I'll have to stay here, won't I?" Ferrus said quietly.

"I would keep you here if I could," the Emperor admitted turning to Ferrus. "However, they are bringing an orbital mining platform, so it is not safe here."

"Where will I go then?" Ferrus asked. He was fairly certain that he wasn't going to be allowed anywhere near the fighting.

"While I don't like it," the Emperor said. "I think the best place for you will be as close to me as you can be."

"Even if there's fighting?" Ferrus asked.

"Especially if there's fighting," the Emperor said. "That is when you are likely to be in the most danger."

"Alright, Father," Ferrus said. His lack of fear confused the Rangers.

"Aren't you afraid?" Trini asked him.

"Not really," Ferrus said. "I'll be safe as long as I stay near to Father."

"We were also using your training pit," Horus said.

"I hate the pit," Billy said.

"I liked it," Angron said. "It let us learn about our enemy. We could beat the holograms with our bare hands. Even Lorgar was beating his."

"Hey!" Lorgar said.

"It was a compliment!" Angron said.

"Didn't sound like one," Lorgar retorted. 

"Guys," Horus said. "Let's behave."

"It was though," Angron said stubbornly.

"I have an idea," Jason said. "It would put an extra layer of protection around Ferrus."

"What is it?" the Emperor asked. Ferrus looked interested as well.

"We have these large robots called zords," Jason said. "They took on the shapes of the dominant animals on Earth when Zordon crashed his ship here. Some of them have some extra space in the cockpit."

"That might not be a bad idea," Zach said. "They survived being pushed into the mantle by Goldar when we fought Rita."

"That's what I was thinking," Jason said. "Mine has a decent amount of space in the cockpit."

"What does it look like?" Ferrus asked.

"It somehow turned into a tyrannosaurus," Jason said.

"That's odd for 10,000 years ago," Ferrus said. The Primarchs who had been with Valdor in Extinction Park all shared a glance.

"Yeah, but I didn't chose it's appearnace," Jason said. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"No," Ferrus said quickly. "We just had a bad experience with a T-Rex back in our own dimension."

"Ah," Jason said.

"Mine looks like a triceratops," Billy said. "I have room in my cockpit, if you'd rather be there."

"I like that zord better," Ferrus admitted. He liked the idea of protection, but he didn't want to sit out the fighting that was likely to come.

"I would rather you stay in Billy's zord," the Emperor said. He didn't expect Ferrus to like it, but he hoped to convince him. "That will be better than staying with me."

"I can fight though," Ferrus argued. 

"I know you can, Ferrus," the Emperor said gently. "However, the enemy is likely to swarm you once they learn you are the source of the necrodermis."

"I wouldn't be fighting alone," Ferrus said. "There will be you, all my brothers, and the Rangers."

"True, but the enemy has large numbers," the Emperor said. "It wouldn't be difficult to separate you, and prevent us from getting to you."

"You're probably right, Father," Ferrus said, hanging his head. He didn't want to miss out on the fighting. It was what the Primarchs were made for, so it hurt to be side-lined.

"You are meant for war," the Emperor said, picking up Ferrus' thoughts. "But you are children yet. I plan to keep all of you out of the fighting as long as I can. Your wars are for the future."

"When we're adults?" Horus asked. The Emperor nodded. 

"So, you want us safe until we grow up?" Ferrus asked. He didn't think that it would be so bad to have to sit out if all of his brothers were also out. 

"I don't want to lose any of you," the Emperor said quietly.

"I'll stay with Billy's zord," Ferrus said. "I don't want to be the reason for another fish in the tank."

"What?" Billy asked.

"Once there were twenty of us," Horus said. "We were called by numbers before we picked our names. Before we did though, something happened to Two and Eleven. They disappeared and Father got two fish to give us a place holder."

"We call the fish Two and Eleven," the Lion said. "Sometimes Father threatens to turn us into fish when we are being bad."

"Are they the same type of fish?" Trini asked. She was somewhat curious as to how they told the fish apart.

"Yes, but I made Eleven blue so that we can tell them apart," Magnus said. Two was orange, just like a normal goldfish.

"What is the army of the Machine Empire doing?" Jason asked Zordon.

"They seem to be fortifying their position right now," Zordon said. "I have detected military movement which they seem to have also picked up on."

"So we have to wait for them," Zach said. It was one of the rules of being a Power Ranger that they couldn't escalate a situation, which also meant they couldn't really start a situation either.

"Correct," Zordon said. "It's getting late, you should all get some rest while you can."

"Alright," Jason said. It felt weird, but he reminded himself that he had to do this when they first became Rangers and Rita was the threat. They were also getting outside help this time in the form of the military.

*******************************

Valdor had made himself sleep. The duties of Captain-General were many, and it had been several days since he had slept, even before the disappearence of the Emperor. He woke to find himself staring at Geri's butt. He wondered where Tolax was, and how he had missed the two pups getting into his room.

"Get off, Geri," Valdor grunted. He shifted to encourage Geri. At least they aren't howling Valdor thought to himself. Geri got off, and Valdor sat up. He resisted the urge to contact Malcador for information. The Sigillite would make contact when he had something. 

"Here, Freki!" Tolax called from outside Valdor's chamber. "Here, Geri!" Tolax saw that the door to Valdor's chamber was open and looked inside. "Bad wolves!" he snapped when he saw the pups on Valdor's bed.

"They are indeed," Valdor said. "Very bad wolves."

"My apologies, master," Tolax said. He called to the pups and managed to get them to come to him. Valdor departed the Tower and found Malcador.

"Ah, there you are," Malcador said. "I was just looking for you."

"Why is that?" Valdor asked. 

"I'm on my way to talk to Land," Malcador said. "I was hoping for some more normal company."

"Very well," Valdor said, turning to go in the same direction as Malcador. He was well aware that Malcador didn't enjoy talking to the Mechanicum. He didn't mind talking to them, and Land was better than many of the others. They found Land watching a screen showing a pair of servitors working on the Necrontyr device. 

"Do you have anything?" Malcador asked.

"I have determined what the device does, lord," Land answered. 

"And you didn't think to inform us?" Malcador said. It was clear to Valdor at least that events were taking their toll on Malcador. 

"I was intending to wait until repairs to the device were finished," Land said, indicating the screen with the servitors. 

"What does it do?" Valdor asked, wanting to know what had happened to his master.

"It opens a gateway, lord," Land said.

"Do you have any idea where this gateway goes?" Valdor asked. Land shook his head.

"No, lord," Land said. "The device was damaged when the Omnissiah activated it. I will not be able to learn more until repairs are finished. I was going to take the tracking device from a servitor and send it through the gateway to see if we can keep the signal. That would hopefully give us some clue as to where they are."

"Let me know when the repairs are done," Valdor said. "The second they are done, Land. Do not wait again. I have a device that we can use for that test."

"As you command, lord," Land said. "My apologies for the delay in contacting you both with my discovery."

It was just over an hour before Land was ready to attempt his tests. He contacted Valdor just as he had promised. Valdor returned to the lab with the locator coin that he had been given at Extinction Park. 

"This was a tracker device from Thorne's park," Valdor said as he showed it to Land. "It will less likely be taken in for scrap than the raw locator from a servitor."

"You are most correct, lord," Land said. "I suggest setting it in the lab near the device and retreat back here."

"Agreed," Valdor said, he activated the locator coin before retreating. "Are we reading the signal?"

"Yes, lord," Land said with a quick glance. "Activating the device." The gateway opened for a moment before Land shut the power off. The coin was gone. 

"Are we still reading it?" Valdor asked quickly.

"Yes, lord," Land said, there was a tiny hint of pride in his voice. "It seems that the gateway allows for electrical signals to pass back and forth. Even when closed, it is possible this is how the Astronomican is still functioning."

"So, we could potentially send a vox unit through?" Valdor asked. He wanted to know if the gateway opened to the same place every time. He didn't like the idea of having to try multiple times to bring the Emperor back.

"I believe that we can, lord," Land said. He then went and retrieved a vox unit and went to place it in the lab. 

"Wait," Valdor said and took the unit. Setting it to record he left a message on it with a vox code to use for anyone who might find the device. He wanted anyone who might find the unit to make contact with him. He then handed the device back to Land. Another brief activation of the device and the vox unit was gone.

******************************

"That's strange," Ferrus said as he checked the beeping of his auspex unit.

"What is it?" Fulgrim asked.

"I'm reading a signal like a locator coin from Extinction Park," Ferrus said. "It's near where we arrived in this dimension."

"Let's go check it out," Jaghatai said. He was getting bored at their camp. The Emperor nodded and gathered the rest of the Primarchs. They found Billy on their way.

"What are you doing up here, Billy?" Ferrus asked.

"Zordon detected a locator beacon," Billy said. "He asked me to check it out." They followed the signal on Ferrus' auspex and found the locator coin, along with the vox unit. 

"There's a recording on the vox unit," Perturabo said, he seemed excited by that. The Emperor picked up the device and activated the playback. 

"I am Valdor of the Legio Custodes," Valdor's voice came from the unit. "If you have information about the Emperor of Mankind, use this device to contact me. I only seek information."

The Emperor made some adjustments to the device and opened a channel that should reach Valdor. "Valdor, are you reading me?" the Emperor asked. The use of the Extinction Park coin felt appropriately ironic to the Emperor.

"I read you, my king," Valdor replied. His voice was more distorted than normal for a vox transmission. "What is your situation?"

"We are in an alternate dimension," the Emperor said. "There also seems to have been a time shift."

"Father," Ferrus said, an idea stricking him. "If they can send things through the gateway, they might be able to open the gateway and allow me to go back through. If I leave, the Machine Empire might also leave."

"I would like to do that," the Emperor said. "However, I do not know enough. The Necron's place in the Machine Empire needs to be considered."

"True," Ferrus said. He had liked the idea as it would keep everyone safe, and he wouldn't have to sit out any fighting in Billy's zord. "There's also the mind set of the Machine Empire. If they react to being denied like Orks do, it wouldn't be right."

"What did I miss this time?" Valdor asked.

"The Necron who made the device was brought to this dimension by the device," the Emperor said. "There is a race here called the Machine Empire that the Necron has put it's lot in with."

"They are invading this earth because they can detect necrodermis," Ferrus said. "They say they can mine from orbit."

"The price would be quite high for your safety if this Machine Empire destroys that Earth," Valdor said. 

"Agreed," Ferrus said. "That would actually be the opposite of what I was trying to do."

"Do you want me to come over?" Valdor asked. "Or perhaps other Custodes?"

"No," the Emperor said. "I don't want anyone else coming over. Also, I assume you have kept my abscence quiet."

"Yes," Valdor said. "Malcador, Land, and myself are the only ones who know."

"How are Freki and Geri?" Leman asked. 

"I woke up to a full wolf moon this morning," Valdor replied. "Tolax is in charge of them until you return, Lord Russ." The Primarchs giggled at that statement.

"Was it one moon, or twin moons?" Leman asked.

"One, dark gray moon," Valdor said with a chuckle of his own. Billy looked confused, but kept quiet. 

"Bad Geri," Leman said. 

"Are you sure that you do not want support in this invasion, my king?" Valdor asked, returning to the matter at hand.

"My weapons would be appreciated," the Emperor said. "Along with the Primarchs' weapons. A fight seems very likely, and we should be prepared."

"I will bring weapons and have them sent to you," Valdor said. He had already come up with an explanation if anyone asked why he was taking the weapons anywhere. 

"We will wait near the gateway for them," the Emperor said. It did not take very long for Valdor to retrieve the weapons.

"Land suggests that we send the weapons over in two batches, my king," Valdor said when he had returned.

"Very well," the Emperor said. He agreed with Land on that point. The gateway opened for a brief moment, and a neatly stacked pile of melee weapons was there. The Primarchs quickly moved forward, claiming their own weapons, Horus and Vulkan working together to hand the Emperor his sword. There was a surprised sound from Corvus as he found his flight pack amongst the weapons.

"Thanks, Valdor!" Corvus called. 

"You are welcome, Lord Corax," Valdor said. "I thought you would appreciate that as well."

"Yes, I do," Corvus said. His flight pack had its own power source, but it wasn't enough to power his lightening claws as well. This meant that he had the flight pack and his power whip. Konrad had to settle for his power sword and throwing knives, since he could not power his finger-claws. Most of the other Primarchs used swords as their primary weapons. The gateway opened again and a pile of bolters with a small cache of extra clips was there. The Primarchs all claimed their own, handing the Emperor his own.

"We will have to be precise with our shooting," the Emperor said as he noted how many extra clips they had. The Primarchs nodded.

"Valdor, arrange for a rotation between you, Land, and Malcador," the Emperor said. "We will signal when we are ready to depart this dimension."

"As you will, my king," Valdor said. "You are going to ensure the departure of the Machine Empire?"

"Yes," the Emperor said. "I believe that to be the best course of action." The Emperor  closed the vox channel. 

"How is the Astronomican working still?" Magnus asked, the thought had just struck him. 

"It is likely that my will is being allowed to pass back to the Astronomican as the vox signal was able to pass between dimensions," the Emperor said. "It is possible that the device stores some part of the power fed to it so that it maintains a small tear between dimensions despite being off."

"And it wasn't doing it before because it had no residual charge?" Perturabo asked.

"Correct," the Emperor said. 

"Like iPods?" Billy asked. "Or anything else that runs its battery while it's off?"

"Yes," Ferrus said.

"So, who was the guy you were talking to?" Billy asked.

"That was Valdor," Ferrus said. "He's the leader of Father's Legio Custodes."

"He's kind of like an uncle to us," the Lion said. "He keeps us all safe, along with the other Custodians."

"What did he mean by a 'wolf moon'?" Billy asked.

"Freki and Geri are my wolf brothers," Leman said. "Freki is white, while Geri is a dark gray. Geri had his butt in Valdor's face this morning."

"I thought he said someone else was in charge of them?" Billy asked, though he was smiling.

"They don't listen very well when it isn't me or Allfather," Leman said. "They probably went to Valdor because they know him."

"I appreciate you all staying to fight the Machine Empire with us," Billy said, turning from Leman to look at the Emperor.

"It seems only polite," the Emperor said. "We are somewhat responsible for them being here in the first place."

"What of the military action that Zordon detected yesterday?" Horus asked. Billy turned his face downwards.

"They were destroyed," Billy said. "Last night."

"It is not your fault," the Emperor said. "They did what they were trained to do, soldiers must always know that death is a possibility."

"I know," Billy said. "But it still hurts. Power Rangers are supposed to help people, fight the fights that humanity isn't ready for."

"You cannot always fight alone though," Roboute said. "That could cause problems among the Rangers."

"Hey guys," Zach said as he approached the group. "What's that you have there, Corvus?"

"My flight pack," Corvus said with a smile.

"Your what?" Zach asked.

"My flight pack," Corvus repeated. "It allows me to fly, sort of like Sanguinius."

"That's pretty cool," Zach said. "Could I possibly try it?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Corvus said. "It's calibrated specifically for me. It might not have enough thrust to get you off the ground. There's also the matter of controlling it."

"Fair enough," Zach said. He didn't seem too disappointed, though he did look like he was excited about the idea of trying it. The other three arrived then and they headed down to the ship to plan with Zordon.

"Where'd the weapons come from?" Alpha asked when they entered the bridge.

"We have been able to make contact with our dimension," the Emperor said. "We will be able to depart once the Machine Empire has been repelled."

"You could leave now if you wanted," Jason said. "Or at least get Ferrus away."

"We thought about that," Ferrus said. "However, we don't know if the Machine Empire would just destroy the planet in retalliation. I only wanted to leave to spare your planet."

"But they wouldn't have a need to take our planet," Kimberly said.

"However, they could be angry that they were denied, and take it out of the planet," Roboute said. "There's also the Necron, who has no love for life to begin with who might want the planet destroyed for foiling it."

"I guess," Kimberly said. She didn't seem too happy about the idea that the Machine Empire wouldn't just leave if the necrodermis was gone. She did have to admit that Roboute made a point though.

"How are we going to repel them though?" Jason said. "The military team sent against them last night was destroyed."

"They said they had never been repelled before," the Emperor mused. Konrad perked up at that.

"If they don't know defeat, we can make their first taste of it very bitter," Konrad said. "One sound defeat should be enough to send them packing."

"Or make them fight harder," the Lion said. "If we don't do it the right way they could just take it as a stain to their honor that needs to be cleansed."

"That just means we have to do it right," Konrad said. "If we give them a good pounding, then they will have to retreat in order to do anything about it."

"Konrad's got a point," Ferrus said. "The robots of the Machine Empire cannot heal like organic life can. Even the Necron cannot fix itself without more necrodermis. They would have to retreat to their own territory and rebuild if we do enough damage to their numbers and fleet."

"We can't get at the fleet though," Jason said. "There's no way to go into space. The zords aren't truly space-worthy."

"That isn't a problem," the Emperor said. "I can take a team to one of their ships."

"How?" Trini asked.

"I can teleport a group of us up to their fleet with my psychic powers," the Emperor explained. Teleportation required a lot of focus, and teleporting more than one person was even harder. Magnus could teleport himself, but not anyone else. He also couldn't go very far.

"Okay," Jason said. "While I would like to take the fight to the enemy, I think all the Rangers should stay planetside."

"Agreed," Zordon and the Emperor said.

"Ferrus will also stay planetside," the Emperor said. "I also intend to take a small team."

"Who, Father?" Horus asked. He wanted to go, he adjusted his grip on his power maul.

"I was thinking, Sanguinius, Magnus, Corvus, and Alpharius," the Emperor said. "You will be in charge of your brothers while I am on the ship."

"Yes, Father," Horus said. He was a bit sad that he wasn't going with the Emperor, but he got to be in charge of the planet-side operations. He found that to be a very acceptable trade. The ones going with the Emperor were all well suited to a stealthy boarding action.

"When do we leave, Father?" Magnus asked. He was excited to go with the Emperor on such a mission.

"Soon, Magnus," the Emperor said. 

"What I want to know is why they aren't being more active in their take-over," Trini said. "They seem to be doing a whole lot of nothing."

"I believe they are waiting for their orbital mining platform," Zordon said. The Emperor nodded his agreement. 

"Why didn't they bring it sooner?" KImberly asked.

"Mining platforms need large power generators," Perturabo said. "That way the energy beam that they use goes through the crust with enough force."

"This means that it needs to be a large ship," Ferrus said. "Because there's no resistance in space it takes longer to get ships up to speed. We also don't know what their engine set up is."

"It'll probably move pretty quickly once it gets going," Jaghatai said. "It does have to get going first though. Like Ferrus said, it takes more output from the engines to get over the inertia of the ship."

"That makes sense," Billy said. He seemed to be the only Ranger who had understood the explanation, Alpha and Zordon also seemed to get it.

"It likely isn't far off though," the Emperor said. "We should strike now, while they are waiting."

"Agreed," Jason said. Zordon's face in the wall made a strange motion that was the closest approximation of a nod that he could get to.

"Is there anything you need for this teleportation?" Zordon asked.

"No," the Emperor said. "I just need my four to come to the side with me and we will be on our way." Sanguinius, Magnus, Corvus, and Omegon all headed over to the Emperor, getting in close. Corvus managed a quick wave to Vulkan before they blinked out of existence. 

"What to we do now?" Jason asked. 

"We wait," Horus said. "It's likely that the ground forces will retalliate once they get word that Father is aboard their flagship."

"Horus is probably right." Zordon said. "We wait, and keep an eye on the ground forces."

**********************************

The Emperor, Sanguinius, Magnus, Corvus, and Omegon reappeared in an empty room. They all quickly looked around the room, checking for any enemies. They found none, and went to the door. Cautiously, they opened the door and took a quick glance down the hall in each direction.

"I don't see anyone," Sanguinius whispered. 

"I don't sense anyone," Magnus said.

"This way," the Emperor said as he went left down the hallway. He could sense the engine room close by. The four Primarchs spread around the Emperor, two to each side. Their goal was to disable the engines of the ship, and then teleport away. The Emperor approached what looked like a cogitator unit and after a few seconds brought up a tactical display of the fleet. 

"Seems we have chosen well," Corvus said. "They are crowded together already, this makes our job easier."

"You're right, Corvus," the Emperor said. "It will not take much to get a chain of ships colliding."

"Look," Omegon said as he noticed the tactical read out for the ship they were on. "This is a troop ship. This will go a long way to knocking out their ground forces too."

"Let's get going then," the Emperor said, shutting down the tactical display. They moved on to the engine room. They encountered little resistance. Those they did encounter didn't get a chance to sound any alarms. The Emperor prevented them from sending signals through technomancy, and the Primarchs took care of the robots themselves. Corvus entered the engine room first, in the shadow walk. He came back several moments later.

"There were a few robots," Corvus said. "I neutralized them though."

"Very good," the Emperor said. "Magnus, Sanguinius come with me. Corvus, Alpharius, guard the door."

"Yes, Father," the Primarchs chorused before spliting to their assigned areas.The Emperor directed Sanguinius and Magnus in assisting him in disabeling the engines. A wailing siren started, starteling the Primarchs.

"Corvus, could you shoot the siren sensor?" the Emperor asked without looking up from the station that he was working at. The sound of a bolter firing silenced the siren, and served as Corvus's answer.

"Thank you," Magnus said. 

"You're welcome," Corvus said, he lowered his bolt pistol. 

"We can leave now," the Emperor said several minutes later. The Primarchs gathered around their father and blinked out of existence again.

**********************************

"The ground forces are moving on Angel Grove," Zordon reported.

"It's morphin' time," Jason said. The Rangers all morphed, it had gotten a lot easier after the first time with Rita. Ferrus looked a bit sad, but followed Billy, now the Blue Ranger, to the triceratops zord. Billy didn't yet need it, so only Ferrus got in. Fulgrim waved to Ferrus before the set off.

The Emperor and his four arrived near the zords after everyone else had left. They looked around, and then spotted Ferrus, sitting with his warhammer in the blue zord.

"They all headed into town," Ferrus said. He seemed pretty glum about his lot in the fight.

"We will be back soon," the Emperor said, trying to cheer his son.

"Be safe," Ferrus said. "I think there's a tunnel that will get you out faster, and doesn't involve the water."

"I like that idea," Sanguinius said. The ones heading into Angel Grove followed the tunnel that Ferrus indicated, leaving him alone again. Alpha joined him after a bit.

"Don't be so sad," Alpha said, noting Ferrus' demeanor. 

"I'll be alright, Alpha," Ferrus said. "I know why I'm stuck here, it's just boring. Also, the last time Fulgrim got out of my sight away from home he ended up getting hurt."

"Fulgrim's your favorite brother?" Alpha asked. Ferrus nodded. 

"I'm sure they will be just fine," Alpha said, also trying to cheer Ferrus.

"They will be," Ferrus said. "Even if anyone does get hurt they will heal pretty quickly. That's one of the nice things about being trans human."

"Do you guys ever get sick?" Alpha asked.

"Sometimes," Ferrus said. "Except Mortarion. He never gets sick. Those of us who do don't stay sick for very long."

"How are they doing, Zordon?" Alpha asked.

******************************************

The Rangers and Primarchs were holding their own against the soldiers of the Machine Empire. Klank was proving to be decent at tactics, but not as good as any of the Primarchs. Horus was also able to play the strengths of the Primarchs against the obvious weaknesses of the robot soldiers. The area was filled with battle cries from the Primarchs and shouts from the Rangers. 

It was into this fray that the Emperor and the four Primarchs with him charged, robot soldiers falling in waves around them. Corvus vanished, turning into a flying ghost killing robots. Magnus was sending psychic bolts about him, he used no physical weapon in close combat, his mind was his greatest weapon, and he used it that way. Klank spotted the Emperor, and moved to restart their duel from the previous day.

"We meet again, Charles who spoke for Earth," Klank said.

"Are you truly robots?" the Emperor asked. "You seem far to emotional for a logic machines with legs."

"What?" Klank said. He seemed genuinely confused by what the Emperor had said. This caused his focus to drop, creating an opening. The Emperor wasted no time, but the small, round robot who had accompanied Klank got in the way. The Emperor swung his sword around and sent the floating robot flying away. 

"Orbus!" Klank cried out. The smaller robot returned to Klank, moving around the Emperor. It extended a probe-like extension from its head and bathed Klank in energy. Klank grew rapidly in size, becoming the size of a building in a manner of moments. 

"That's a problem," Jason said. "We need to call in the zords."

"Agreed," the Emperor said as he retreated from the shadow of the now titanic Klank. He could become that size himself, but it was draining. Magnus looked like he was about to try and become that size.

"No, Magnus," the Emperor said. "You don't have the power for that yet."

"Alright, Father," Magnus said, he looked a bit disappointed. The zords arrived at the command from their respective Rangers. The Rangers were essentially teleported into their zord cockpits.

"That's one giant robot," Ferrus said when Billy was seated.

"Yeah," Billy said. "We might need to combine into the Megazord for it."

"I wish I had more than my auspex unit and warhammer," Ferrus said. 

"Why?" Billy asked.

"If I had more tech I could try and make something to shrink it down," Ferrus said. "My auspex unit won't do that."

"What if we could get a hold of that round one?" Billy asked. "That's the one that made Klank giant in the first place."

"Maybe," Ferrus said. "However, Perturabo or Father would have to do it. I would have to leave the zord if I wanted to."

"We just need a way to tell them," Billy said. "I think I have external speakers on this."

"That would give away our plan though," Ferrus said. "I can't give that in battlecode."

"Can't your father read your thoughts?" Billy asked.

"He can, but he's not in contact with me," Ferrus said. "I'm not psyker enough to initiate a conversation. If we weren't up against robots I would try and cant it in binary."

"What?" Billy asked.

"Binary cant," Ferrus said. "Binary is the language of machines. I could put in a sequence of binary code that would then be relayed over the external vox that would tell the plan. However, the robots would also be able to tell what the plan was."

"That sucks," Billy said. "It was a neat idea though."

"It was a neat idea," Ferrus said. Billy had been manovuering around Klank, trying to get good line of sight for shooting with the zord's mounted weapons. So far the zords hadn't been having much effect against the giant robot. 

"We need a way to bring that robot back down to size," Jason said over the vox.

"What frequencies does this comms device work on?" Ferrus asked Billy, and idea coming to him. 

"I'm not sure," Billy said. "Why?"

"Father has an embedded vox bead in his ear," Ferrus said. "If your systems can match a vox frequency, I can tell him about the reverse engineering without anyone over-hearing."

"You can try," Billy said. "I might not be reachable for a bit guys. Ferrus is trying something with my comms systems."

"Right, let us know when you're back in the chat," Jason said. Ferrus began fiddling with the settings on Billy's comm system. It took a few tries, but he managed to open a channel.

"Father, can you hear me?" Ferrus asked.

"Yes, I can," the Emperor said. "Are you doing this from the zord's system?"

"Yes, Father," Ferrus said. He failed to keep all of the pride out of his voice. "Can either you or Perturabo capture the round robot that made Klank giant?"

"I might be able to capture it," the Emperor said. "However, neither Perturabo or I can disengage long enough to reverse engineer the growth ray."

"That's annoying," Ferrus said. "I don't have the space in the zord to do what I need to do."

"There's an electronics shop not far from here," Billy said. "If all of us can keep them busy, you should be safe there."

"That seems to be the only option truly open to us," the Emperor said. "I will capture the robot and meet you there, Ferrus."

"Alright, Father," Ferrus said. He seemed much happier that he was able to help. He and Billy watched as the Emperor captured the round robot, and then deactivated it. Billy moved his zord over a bit so that Ferrus was teleported out just in front of the electronics store. The Emperor met him there.

"Thank you, Father," Ferrus said as he took the deactivated Orbus. 

"Keep an eye to the fight," the Emperor said. "I cannot garauntee that I will be able to stay close by."

"I will, Father," Ferrus said. He then went into the store and barricaded the door. He kept his warhammer close by him as he began to work. He tried to work quickly, knowing that the others weren't going to keep the robots away for very long. However, he needed to learn the technology of the robots before he could manipulate it.

Klank was proving proof to the zords's attacks, but the Rangers weren't giving up. They did form what Billy had called the Megazord. It looked like a Titan, and that made Ferrus happy. He discovered how the growth ray worked, and from there it was fairly simple to reverse the effect. He took another few moments to imprint a command that would send Orbus to Klank, and use the altered growth ray. He removed some of the barricade and released the robot, after reactivating it. 

Orbus approached Klank, who seemed oblivious as Billy had spotted the robot and laid down surpressive fire to cover its approach. The probe extension extended from Orbus, and Klank found himself getting hit with what was now a shrink ray. This returned the giant robot back to its standard size, right in front of the waiting Emperor.

The Emperor pointed his flaming sword at Klank's throat. Or at least what passed for its throat.The flames licked at Klank's face, but the Emperor stood as if frozen.

"You have been defeated," the Emperor said. 

"We can call more troops in," Klank said. He fell silent for a few moments, clearly trying to reach his fleet. "How did this happen?"

"I told you," the Emperor said. "It takes more than just advanced technology to conquer humanity. Leave with what you have left."

Klank sent a retreat signal to all of his soldiers. Those capable of retreat followed their leader. The Rangers teleported out of their zords, sending them back to the ship. Ferrus removed the rest of his barricade and came out of the electronics store.

"Is it over?" Ferrus asked. 

"I believe it is," the Emperor said. "You did very well, Ferrus."

"Thank you, Father!" Ferrus said, a large grin spreading across his face. They headed back to the mine, the Rangers acting as escort. The Emperor had concealed the vox unit near where the gateway opened. He took it out of its hiding spot and then opened a channel to their own dimension.

"Are you reading me?" the Emperor asked into the vox. There was a long pause before a response came.

"It's good to hear you," Malcador said. Something about the quality of his voice indicated that he had been woken up. 

"It's good to hear you too, Uncle Malcador," Magnus said.

"Are you ready to come back?" Malcador asked. "Land did make sure that Valdor and I both know how to activate the device."

"That is good to know," the Emperor said. "And yes, we are ready to come home." The Primarchs said their goodbyes to the Rangers. They were certain that the Emperor wouldn't want the gateway open for much longer than was necessary.

"Say goodbye to Zordon and Alpha for us," Horus said. "Please?"

"No problem," Jason said with a smile. The gateway opened, and the Imperials stepped back into their own dimension. Once there, the Emperor sent the Primarchs to stand by Malcador as he destroyed the device.

"it's good to have you back, lord," Malcador said. "And I'm sure Tolax will be pleased to have you back, Leman."

"They didn't listen to him did they," Leman said. Malcador chuckled and shook his head. 

"He clearly underestimated how strong those two are, and had a serf try to take them for their evening walk one day," Malcador said.

"That didn't end well," Leman said, though he did think it was funny.

"It was rather comical to see," Malcador said. "Though it made me happy Valdor had offered to have the Custodians take them and not me."

"Valdor told us he woke up to a wolf moon this morning," Leman said. This caused Malcador to chuckle.

"He didn't tell me about that," Malcador said. "Though it would explain the wolf hairs on his robes." The Primarchs all giggled at that. The laughter stopped as the Emperor came over.

"It is done now," the Emperor said. 

"So, the Necron is trapped over there?" Ferrus asked.

"Correct," the Emperor said. They left the lab, stopping at the Tower to grab Freki and Geri.