The Terran Ranger Saga Volume 6 - Heather Ray (read novels website TXT) 📗

building, Rocky turned away from the Viewing Globe, and returned his attention to Billy's desktop unit. He quickly scrolled through the text files of the Megazord, as well as the shared abilities the six combined zords had to offer. His patience wore as he screened each page, occasionally glancing up at the crowd still huddled around one of the workstations. Somewhere in the middle of that assembly was Billy, working with the amazing discovery Regina stumbled upon.

He knew Billy was hard at work, trying to find a way to exploit the weakness the scans he commissioned revealed. He knew that the key to finally defeating this foe rested on Billy's current work.

But he also knew the Rangers wouldn't last long without finding a way to construct the Hyperflame shield around the Alligator. Without the added protection of the superheated aura, the razors thrown by the monster would eventually tear the Alligator to pieces, or at least disrupt the systems enough to force the leg of the Megazord to separate.

It was impossible to tell how long it would take for the Megazord to be up and running again.

Rocky was determined to help. He knew he could find the specifications. While the CAC was essentially designed for Billy to be at the helm, he'd been working alongside the original Blue Ranger ever since the inception of the Terra team. He may not have been a natural computer genius, but he knew enough about the Zords' basic functions, as well as the data systems in the CAC, to be of some use.

"I'll be damned if I don't contribute," he groused, the tension in his body bringing him to punch the keys with exaggerated force.

He exhaled deeply when he finally found the specifications he needed, to program the Megazord to do exactly what the Rangers planned.

"Yes!" he whispered, pumping his fist proudly. He quickly activated his wrist communicator, his copper eyes focused on the paragraphs he needed. "Guys, are you there?"

^Tell us you've got some good news, Rock,^

Zack beseeched.

"Absolutely. There is a way to reroute the Hyperflame to the Alligator, but it'll only work if the Alligator's energy-reception capacitor is still functioning."

^In English?^

Kim requested. ^We're dealing with a really high-stress environment, and the simpler the directions, the better.^

Despite himself, Rocky grinned proudly at the masked compliment. No one had ever accused him of being too technical for common understanding.

"Kat, check out the system status screen of the Alligator. It should be right beside the manual controls for the Megazord leg."

^I found them.^

"Great. Now, there should be a steady green light next to an icon that kinda resembles a pair of crossed wires. Is it glowing green?"

^It's...blinking. What does that mean?^

Rocky frowned slightly. "That means the capacitor is slightly compromised, but mostly effective. Press the icon once, and a number should appear next to the light."

^The number is...74.^

"So the capacitor is 74% effective. That'll have to do. Now, if you press the icon one more time, a small screen should come up, with a blank for a numerical code. When you find it, you have to plug in the code 68473, which'll connect the Alligator's capacitor to the Hyperflame Shield generator onboard the Phoenix."

^Okay...done,^

Kat said, after a few moments.

"Now Tommy, you've got to repeat what I told Kat, in order to channel the Hyperflame into the Alligator's capacitor, but your code is 10006. That should do it."

After a long silence, the communicator came back to life. ^It's working!^

Kat called. ^Now we're back in the game!^

^Thanks, Rocky,^

Tommy said. ^We're lucky to have you on our side.^

Rocky beamed with excitement as he leaned into Billy's chair.

Chapter Forty-Three

^I've had enough of these childish games,^

the iron monster growled, holding his ax to his chest. Alexis frowned, as the menacing voice that channeled into her vessel vibrated in her mind.

"What is he up to...?" she wondered, her fingers hovering over the trigger for more feather missiles to launch. She pulled further from the stationary monster, glancing for a moment at the Megazord just barely on her back viewscreen, still motionless while the Rangers tended to their pressing problem.

Suddenly, Alexis screamed as the helmeted head of the large creature appeared in front of her without warning, laughing mockingly. Desperately, Alexis yanked the wheel with all her might, veering out the way as a stream of flames suddenly poured from the monster's mouth. While the flames didn't score a direct hit, the Zord was unable to pull completely out of the way, and the entire vessel shook as the right wing sliced into the side of the floating helmet.

"Where did that come from?!" she demanded, struggling with the helm to pull out of the spin the damaged ship fell into. Her eyes widened as the foreboding face of the cliff approached.

"Oh God," she whispered, her arms trembling with exertion as the Eaglezord sluggishly obeyed her command. "Pull UP, DAMMIT!!

"

"ACTIVATING EMERGENCY TELEPORT,"

the computer suddenly announced, much to Alexis' surprise.

"No!" she commanded, pulling her hand from the wheel, "I'm not leaving!"

With that, a concentrated burst of purple energy flashed in her palm, and streaked toward the teleportation relay. Upon impact, the entire circuit board exploded, sending sparks of electricity flying in all directions. Still, the Purple Ranger's focus was completely set upon the approaching cliff wall.

"Come on..." she muttered, sweat dripping down her forehead as she glanced at the bottom of the viewscreen, "only twelve meters to the top..."

She breathed in exertion, pulling back on the wheel to increase the angle of incline with all her enhanced Ranger strength. She fought to hold the ship steady, and closed her eyes when the cliff filled the screen in front of her.

Clenching her teeth and holding on for dear life, Alexis shook and swayed as the Eagle barely pulled over the cliff, scratching the entire bottom of the hull against the jagged face, and skidding across the rocky terrain of the plateau. The screen died before her, the lights flickered constantly as the ship continued to skid, and consoles exploded with the force of the impact.

"Reverse engines!" she realized, straining to reach the switch. But when she activated the engines, more sparks flew from the console.

Then, Alexis realized she was completely powerless to slow the Zord, which continued skidding across the plateau, tearing through each boulder it came across. She struggled to hold on as the force of the trek attempted to throw her violently from her station, until, to her horror, the forward screen exploded, throwing large shards of glass everywhere.

With the golden eye of the Eaglezord gone, Alexis was finally afforded a front view of where the ship was going. She gasped in horror when she saw the edge of the plateau swiftly approaching.

Paralyzed with fear and shock, the Purple Ranger watched helplessly from her chair as the Eaglezord catapulted off the cliff, gliding through the air with the momentum it retained. She shivered as the darkened sky filled her view, until the head of the Zord tilted downwards.

That's when her view shifted to the trembling Pacific Ocean.

Chapter Forty-Four

"Dammit, she's in freefall!" Rocky growled, slamming his fist into the closest console. "What do we do now?"

He turned desperately to Billy, who was at the main teleportation relay, surrounded by Brittany, Tanya, and Anthony. Regina was still at the mainframe, watching with interest as she observed a strange flux over the creature at the point of impact with the Eaglezord. David, Aisha, and Rebecca remained with Rocky, watching in horror in the Viewing Globe as the Eagle catapulted to destruction.

"We can't teleport her out," Billy muttered, wiping the sweat off his brow. "With the onboard teleportation relay on the Eagle down, we can't get a lock on her while the ship is accelerating like this. It's impossible!"

"It'll only get faster, until it hits the water," Anthony said quietly.

"Hitting water at this speed is the same as smashing into concrete," Brittany commented. "Is there any way she'll survive it?"

"Not surrounded by tons of iron," Tanya said quietly. "She's got to get out of there."

"Rocky!" Billy shouted. "Get on the line. Tell Alexis she has to evacuate. Get her out of the ship! It's her only chance!"

Rocky nodded, and lifted his wrist to his mouth, his eyes never leaving the Viewing Globe. "Alexis? Do you read?"

After an intolerable silence, she responded weakly. ^Yes.^

"Listen, Lex, you've gotta get out of the Eaglezord. If you fly through the broken windshield, you should be able to pull out of the way fast enough to avoid getting hit by the ship. But you've got to move now."

"Twelve seconds to impact," Billy stated, glancing back at Rocky.

^But...^

"Don't argue with me, Lex," Rocky said sternly, but calmly. "You're running out of time."

Chapter Forty-Five

The Purple Ranger was shaking violently, watching the water get ever closer. She didn't need Rocky to tell her she needed to evacuate. She remembered enough physics to know that a vessel smashing into the ocean at that rate would be reduced to shrapnel. She'd be buried within an iron coffin, assuming enough of the vessel remained in one piece to sink into the ocean.

Taking panicked breaths, Alexis pulled her body