Invasion of the Vorticons

[Lord Zedd]

The sound of Zedd’s metal coated fingers rapping against his staff lightly echoed around them. He impatiently listened to the exchange before him, only tolerating Graowr’s banter because the subject was destruction. But even that wondrous topic was losing appeal.

“I think this is it,” Grace announced as they stopped. She kept her eyes on the datapad in her hands, but the others gazed at the facility before them.

The factory appeared to be a small fortress, with a thick stone wall that was at least ten feet high surrounding it on all sides. The building itself towered multiple stories upwards, with thick smoke bellowing from the stacks. Even from the ground, they could all see a large, strange contraption being assembled on the roof. The only break in the wall appeared to be at the front door, and the lack of any apparent personnel made it more of a benefit for the Imperial squadron than the Vorticons.

“I’m picking up some odd chatter on this thing,” Grace continued. “A language I haven’t seen. But then, that’s probably more likely than not, in this place.”

“I don’t see anything, though,” Cade said as they all scanned the building from their standing point.

A thunderous boom echoed through the area, and a red laser blast pierced Zedd’s right shoulder. The five Stormtroopers jumped in surprise, but the dark lord didn’t so much as budge at the assault.

“This is it,” Zedd deduced aloud for any that might doubt that fact.

“…Fuck!” Knox yelled as he raised his rifle. That shot hadn’t come from the factory, so where was the source? This was not a good place to be surrounded.

“Multiple life forms coming our way!” Grace yelled as she lowered the beeping datapad.

“To the entrance!” Zedd ordered. “We will hold at the chokepoint they have so generously provided us!”

Graowr took off running first, approaching the two guards that were running out of the facility. With a flying jumpkick she disabled the first Vorticon in short order, then turned around and blasted the gun from the second creature’s hands with a swift Ki blast. As the being stumbled from the explosion, she closed the gap and sent it to the floor with a powerful punch.

Just as she finished with that, the Stormtroopers arrived, followed by Zedd.

“Fortify this position!” Zedd instructed them. “You will hold here and let no more Vorticons in.”

“Is this a good idea?” Laci mumbled as she looked to Hunt, while Knox and Cade quickly began moving whatever loose debris they could find to use for barricades. At least this entrance was defensible, but there was no telling how many people would be coming for them in short order.

“I don’t know, but I think we’re kind of in it, now, you know?” Hunt shrugged as he ran off to assist. Laci sighed and joined in the effort to fortify the chokepoint.

Zedd turned his attention to Graowr before he continued. “Come, Cerulean Obscenity! We will march into the heart of this crumbling, low budget facility and strike true terror into the hearts of these canine pests. We will only rest after each and every one of them has been slaughtered, and when all of their work is but mere scraps in the ruins of this tower. When we are finished, the only place that will contain the name ‘Vorticon’ will be the extinct species registrar!”

“’Kay,” Graowr shrugged.

Zedd visibly recoiled from the lackluster response, but didn’t let it get to him. She was a necessary inconvenience. He instead looked to the troopers. “Defend this position. Leave them unable to aid their screaming compatriots.”

The Stormtroopers didn’t directly respond, as all five had bunkered down in some way to combat to imminent horde. This was a satisfactory response to Zedd, as he knew that the one time he could count on these fools was when their own safety was in jeopardy. He marched forward, with Graowr skipping alongside him. A lightning bolt from his staff blew the door off the hinges, and they entered the factory.

The first floor appeared to be an R&D facility, with various projects all over the place. Graowr was quick to counterattack a Vorticon that approached her from the side, while Zedd unleashed another bolt into one near him. Graowr continued her battle against the nearby Vorticons, while Zedd pursued two more over near a small lab table.

With a downward swing of his staff, Zedd removed one of the blue beings from the equation, but was suddenly distracted by the contents on the table before him. Before him lay a small, ornate dagger that appeared to have the components of a musical instrument. At the center of the blade was an unmistakable, golden coin. He was looking at the Dragon Dagger.

But how? The Dragon Dagger was a weapon from the Green Ranger powers, which had been destroyed in his own realm and shouldn’t even exist here. In his time murdering his way across the known universe he had never once encountered a creature remotely resembling these ridiculous Vorticons. The only explanation, then, was that someone else from his world had brought it here. And that someone would have to know what the Green Ranger powers were in the first place. Lord Zedd did not like that.

“Where did you get this weapon!?” Zedd demanded of the remaining Vorticon, striking him to the floor as he spoke.

“The dagger!?” The Vorticon answered in confusion.

“Yes, the dagger,” Zedd snarled. “Where did it come from?”

“…A woman gave it to one of our scouts in Darkshire,” the wounded Vorticon spat out, completely perplexed by Zedd’s attention to this weapon.

“I hope for your sake you can be more specific than ‘the shire that is dark,’” Zedd growled.

“It’s a settlement in the Pale Moors!” the Vorticon continued as Zedd brought the pointed end of his staff towards his neck. “The…the only one, really! Anyone knows about it!”

“Fine,” Zedd accepted this answer. “What was this woman’s name!?”

“I think…I think she called herself Dulcea,” the Vortion responded.

Zedd felt a momentary surge of fear and panic. That was one of many names he certainly didn’t want to hear. If she was here before him, there was no telling what sort of groundwork she had laid to thwart someone like him. The shock turned to anger as he drove his staff into the fallen xeno.

He turned and looked at the Dragon Dagger. Why had she given away such a valuable weapon? If she was here, who else could be? Alone she was nothing, but together with her allies there was a true threat.

“Zedd!” Graowr shouted as more Vorticons flooded in from a staircase nearby.

Zedd gave a slow nod of acknowledgement. The priority, for now, was obliterating this facility and all of its occupants. He snatched the Dragon Dagger, as it was rightfully his, and marched back into the action.