Streaks of Purple Saga Volume One, Heather Ray [i love reading .TXT] 📗

The Purple Ranger's face was grim as she watched the image of the moon slowly enlarge with proximity. She frequently glanced back at the coordinates she had retrieved.

When she hovered a mile from the proposed location of the moon palace, she lowered the aerodynamic craft to the ground. Then, she exited through the hatch, and hovered to the ground with her own energy.

"Just in case," she decided, lifting her hand. Her fingers sparked with energy, creating a weak breeze in the vacuum of space. Moon dust stirred, blowing over the craft and covering the gleaming metal.

After a few minutes, there was no trace of the vessel.

Satisfied, the Purple Ranger oriented herself in the direction she decided the palace must have been. She bent her knees and pushed forward, carefully modulating her physical strength so as not to fly off the surface of the moon due to the low gravity. With each bound, she covered meters of terrain.

She chewed her lip, her brow beading with exertion. Physically, she was under no strain, but with the added effort required to hide her newly intensified magical power, she could barely think.

For a brief moment, she considered that her action was too hasty. She had never known the true extent of Regita's power until she experienced it. The flood of energy nearly enveloped her... it was all she could do to maintain consciousness. At first, it was hard to keep her own memories straight from Regita's.

After taking some time to orient herself during the trip to the moon, she managed to get a decent grip upon her new powers.

But she still didn't know quite how to Ascend.

That fact disturbed her, for she still couldn't reach her whole strength. She could only pray to whatever deity listened that she had enough strength to get Erol and get out.

Originally, her blind fury had convinced her to eradicate Rita and her entire troupe. But with Regita's calm logic relaxing her frustrated mind, she realized how foolhardy it would be to face the queen in this state. She would come back in a few weeks, after she had fully mastered her new capabilities. And with Erol and the other Rangers at her side, the moon forces would collapse.

Get in, get Erol, get out. A simple plan, but the execution of it was far more complex.

After half an hour of careful bounding, Kreia paused. Through her armor she felt a strange... tickle that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. She recognized the sensation, even though it was slightly different.

There was no air on the lunar surface, so there was nothing to actually carry the magical charge. But she could still perceive the aura of faint magical energy. It was too weak for her to have discerned before, but her magical senses were heightened a dozen-fold thanks to Regita's added power.

Closing her eyes, Kreia blocked out the physical world and relied on her sixth sense. Her palms held out in front of her, she slowly crept in the direction of the magical energy, feeling a buzz on her hands that intensified as she drew closer.

Finally, she stopped short. She could almost feel the wall erected before her.

Her eyes slid open, marveling at the flat expanse that met her gaze.

"A cloaking shield," she analyzed, "creating the illusion of blank space. And if I disturb the energy field, it'll alert Rita to my presence."

One hand lowered, balling into a fist. The other inched slightly closer to the invisible shield, right to the point that just preceded making contact.

Silently, she summoned a flare of purple energy around her body. Then, with the caution of expertise, she gradually modified it. The energy flickered and died, until finally, she vanished from visual perception.

Her own aura had matched the exact frequency of the energy field.

Then, with no further hesitation, she stepped through.

Goldar lumbered into the queen’s private quarters, as always bowing his head immediately. “You summoned me, my Queen?”

Rita faced the balcony, gazing absently at the starry sky unhindered by an atmosphere. “The palace grounds have been compromised. We have a visitor, Goldar.”

The Titan started visibly. “That’s not possible!”

Rita sighed with a tone of long suffering. “Anything is possible,” she corrected, folding her hands behind her. “As we speak, the Purple Ranger is approaching the palace gate. She thinks

I have not detected her presence, but she has grossly underestimated me.”

Goldar rumbled with fury. “I will eliminate her.”

Much to the warrior’s consternation, Rita laughed derisively. “A Ranger who has the ability to penetrate my shield is more than a match for you,” she mocked, finally turning around. She fixed him with an appraising glare. “You couldn’t even defeat the Green Ranger.”

Goldar bristled…literally. Rita smirked at his anger, knowing full well he would never act upon it.

“I no longer have a weakness,” he reminded her bitterly. “Her attacks will not penetrate my armor.”

Rita waved him away. “Just keep her busy for a few moments. “I must assemble my own assault.” She grinned wickedly. “Oh, this is going to be such fun!”

Goldar shivered at the murderous look in his mistress’ eyes. Not waiting another moment, he hurried out the door.

Each step she took was taken with the greatest of caution. Within the invisible bubble of synthetic atmosphere, the rules of Earth gravity applied. Also, there was air to breathe, and the temperature was even warmer than the sunniest summer day in Gateway City.

It was more or less hospitable for human life. But that didn't mean traps didn't lie beneath the gray dust under her feet, or behind a large boulder.

Kreia paused a few yards from a rather small doorway on one side of the imposing alien palace. Her observation trailed to the small ship parked nearby, which barely had enough room for a single passenger.

"This must be the vessel Cherise detected," she realized, "This entrance can't be the main one. If I'm lucky, it will bring me to some lower level, perhaps a storage room. The easiest way to go unnoticed."

"If your goal was to come unnoticed," came a sharp growl, "then you have failed quite miserably."

Kreia whirled, her gaze falling upon Goldar. He strode toward her confidently, apparently appearing out of nowhere.

In the darkness of the lunar night, his usually brilliant armor failed to gleam. And his obvious lack of wings made his overall appearance much less intimidating than she recalled.

Still, part of her newfound confidence had to do with the incredible bounds her abilities had taken.

"Is that you, Goldar?" she asked, her tone mock disbelief, "Without those magnificent wings, you're nothing more than a blue monkey!"

The beast's face twisted into a horrible snarl. "You've just guaranteed a painful death, Girl."

With that, he released a feral shriek, and launched himself into the air.

Kreia found herself greatly impressed; even without the wings, Goldar was able to practically glide through the air. His agility was phenomenal, and his speed was almost blinding.

Goldar launched a series of flaming golden spheres from his sword, each pelting the ground below with meteoric force. A series of handsprings kept the Purple Ranger out of harm's way, and she kept zig-zagging around the area to keep Goldar from detecting a pattern.

Goldar landed, a cold smirk on his face as he raced toward the Purple Ranger, who had just recovered her balance.

His eyes widened when his body froze in place.

"I suppose it's not the honorable way to get rid of you," Kreia sighed, her hand glistening with purple energy, "But I have no time to waste."

While one hand kept the Titan steadily in place, the other crackled with a potent sphere of purple-gold energy.

"Now hold still," she advised, her voice without mockery nor malice,

"This will only hurt for a moment."

All Goldar could do was watch in astonishment as the sphere of energy, almost the size of the Purple Ranger's helmet, crashed into his abdomen.

“Idiot,” Rita grumbled, pressing her fingers to her forehead as she leaned heavily into the back of her throne. “He just had

to announce his presence, instead of taking advantage with a surprise attack. Oh…I have a headache…”

“Relax, Empress,” the warrior at her side advised, “Goldar is no match for her. But she will not raise a hand against me.”

Rita glared at her champion. “Don’t presume such,” she advised him. “You have to be ready for surprises. This Purple Ranger is almost as much of a loose cannon as you are.”

He smirked with amusement, his face hidden behind his helmet. “Almost.”