Disclaimer: The usual stuff. Most, if not all, of the characters in this story are mine and are the rightful properties of Saban/Toei Entertainment. Blah, blah, blah, -blah-blah-blah…

The planet Eltar: Home of the now supposedly extinct Eltarian race. Without any natives, it was hard to tell if planet had always been barren down to the bedrock or if this was the result of the attack by Dark Spectre’s forces. It little mattered now. What mattered was could life return to this world? Suddenly, something stirred, he had long gotten use to the silent planet and upon hearing and seeing a rock stir, and he was both elated and wary, though Zordon had supposedly eliminated all evil in the universe… again, supposedly.

“Hello?” the Phantom Ranger called out. He turned around and saw a pile huge boulder start to move. “Who’s there?” he asked and stood back in a defensive position. “I will not repeat myself!”

“Stand down Phantom Ranger.” An electronic voice responded. “We came here together, remember?” The boulder was moved aside and when the dust settled, it revealed the Blue Senturion.

“Ah, Senturion, where have you been?” The Phantom Ranger sighed. “It’s almost been a whole day since I last saw you. Why didn’t you keep communications open?”

“I did. There must have been interference as I was searching underground.” The robot seemed distracted.

“So… what did you find?” Phantom Ranger noticed that the robot seems more than a bit morbid, almost sad. “Be he’s a construct a machine.” He thought. “But then, so was Alpha…”

The Blue Senturion looked off into the distance for a moment, then back to the hole he crawled out of; finally, he turned back to the Phantom. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all.” He said slowly… sadly.

“There were no underground shelters?” Phantom Ranger pushed on.

“Yes.”

“Then surely-!”

“Nothing.” The Senturion turned back to the hole and stared into its inky depths.

“…Oh… oh no…” the walked over to the hole. Maybe the Senturion’s optic scanners had malfunctioned. He was still suffering from minimal damage during the fight on the planet.

The Senturion’s memory banks brought up records the unit had stored in confidential part of its data banks. Because the artificial emotion chip was linked to the neural net, any ‘traumatic’ events could cause and overload and immediate shutdown and stasis. To a human this would have been called a daydream, day-mare, or traumatic flashback. It tried to block the memory access but ever since the Zordon Wave’s pass, the unit had been incapable of overriding the access of certain memories.

The Senturion recalled arriving to Eltar with Demetria and witnessing the destruction and carnage that was now Eltar.

The Senturion’s protocols immediately took prime directive of its actions: Search, Enforce, and Neutralize Target, Uphold law, Rescue Innocents, Offend Native lawbreakers.

Following its prime directives, the Senturion left Demtria unguarded. The Senturion had spotted several cogs, being lead by none other than Prince Gasket, disowned prince of the Machine Empire.

The Senturion quickly reassessed the situation and realized that it could not protect Demtria against such staggering odds. Yet, it would only be a matter of time before they would find them for they had arrived in a canyon. The Senturion opted to be bait while Demtria continued her search for Zordon and the Eltarians.

“May the power protect you.” The beautiful Inquris mentor whispered to the Senturion as she retreated down the canyon and into darkness.

“To you as well, wise Demetria.” The robot replied without looking. It was already taking aim at its first target: Prince Gasket. The Senturion fired.

Archerina, Prince Gasket’s wife, his love, his treasure, leaned over to whisper rusty nothings in her lover’s ear as they always did. Even evil, nevertheless, their expressions of their love were genuine to the utmost that most almost did not understand how they could be evil.

Archerina never told her love what she intended to say. Even if she did, she would never had known that they would be her last words as the Synergizer’s beam punctured the back of the frame work that developed her ‘skull’.

Prince Gasket could not compute what had happened. One moment his love was by his side cheering him on as always, the next he was staring at her face as her optic receptors lit up light strobe lights and suddenly exploded, and smoke emitted from her mouth.

“Archerina? Archerina?!” Gasket shook her as a human would, denying the harsh reality that his love was…

“Destroyed? No!” Gasket quickly accessed the damage and though Machine Monarch classes were capable of being rebuilt, the damage was to her memory banks, her soul. Every memory chip was either obliterated or melting before his sights. She was truly lost to him now. “No! Noooooo!” the Prince cradled Archerina’s remains in his arms as he dropped to his knees.

The Senturion did not know how to compute any of this. It was frozen as the processors tried to calculate what it was ‘feeling’. Finally, it came: Guilt. It had never felt guilt in destroying a force of evil before… why now. Though Archerina was not its target, she was evil and would eventually become a target. She was evil, not an innocent. So why did the emotion chip send feelings like it had just committed… No, no… a Senturion? Commit murder? …It was…impossible.

The voice of a Cog suspended the processing of the dilemma. “It came fro-!” another blast from the Synergizer silenced the Cog forever.

“There!” Prince Gasket drew his sword and pointed in the direction the blast came from and fired his own destructive beam. The Senturion barely dodged the blast and sent flying through the air. Somehow, it managed to land on its feet and keep going for cover, blasting as many enemy hostilities as possible before diving behind temporary safety.

“A BLUE SENTURION?” Gasket spat its name with such disgust it was indescribable as nothing more than blind raging hate. “I want it brought to me operational! But if it won’t cooperate… DESTROY IT!!”

All the remaining Cogs locked their sights on the rock the Senturion ducked. Simultaneously, the faceplates of each Cog split open to reveal their optic blasters; and opened fire. In moments, the boulder was obliterated. When the dust settled, there was no Senturion. Only a freshly burnt whole in the ground into an underground tunnel marked the escape of the Blue Senturion.

The Senturion had only seconds to reassess its position. Debris of rock had struck the optic visor and taken night-vision offline; audio receptors were flooded with noise from the optic blast. With only had infrared vision available, visual was minimal, if not at all. The Senturion looked up as its audio receptors picked up movement from above. Quickly, but as silently as possible, the Senturion backed away from the hole until the wall hindered any further retreat.

“Don’t ju- stand th-ere!” Prince Gasket raged, his voice broken by the noise in the Senturion’s audio receptors. “Get down there and get him. Before my beloved is laid to rest, I want his Black Box in my hands!”

The audio receptors were almost fully functional again. The Senturion locked all available targeting sensors on the only way in, or out for that matter, the hole. The emotion in the voice of Sprocket caused the reevaluation of the Senturion’s action reactivate. A Cog spear thrust from the hole and embedded itself into the rock floor.

The Senturion did not move. All targeting sensors remained locked for a target. On the left side of his vision a roster screen of enemies scrolled for a cross-reference with the screen on the right of enemies. A match for Cogs processed. That was good. All systems needed to process on the task at hand.

Murderer…?

Hold. Process later. The Senturion sent an interrupt throughout his logic system’s neural net.

Destroyed an innocent?

Process later.

Guilt...?

PROCESS LATER!

A Cog, unit#3842-K2, slid down the spear into the tunnel, its back to the Senturion. The Senturion crept behind the Cog and crushed its neck to the size of a soda straw before it could react. Its body hung like a rag-doll in the Senturion’s grip.

The remaining Cogs were growing impatient with unit #3842-K2’s lack of response. Another Cog, unit PIII-B554, lieutenant class, silently volunteered to investigate next. PIII-B554 illuminated its optics to light the way as it slid down the hole. As it touched the floor it turned and found the Senturion… and the Synergizer pointing and touching PIII-B554’s head.

The Senturion put a digit to the lips of its faceplate, signaling PIII-B554 to remain silent. The Cog understood and accepted the demand. PIII-B554 noticed that, in its free hand, the Senturion held the head of #3842-K2, its protective cerebral casing removed, exposing the internal mechanisms.

The Senturion aimed 3842-K2’s optics array at a nearby wall. The Senturion wiggled a digit inside the cranial cavity of the Cog until it found the switch it was looking for. The Senturion looked at the confused PIII-B554 just as the Cog realized what was going on.

PIII-B554 looked up and realized that it was still under the hole. Above, the remnants its troop was poised to strike. Realizing the situation too late…

The Senturion flicked the switch in 3842-K2’s head, activating the firing mechanism for the optic blasters. The resulting explosion signaled the Cog troops to plunge their spears into the hole, impaling PIII-B554.

“Skrrkwawk!” was the only audio emitting from the Cog as it tried to shout a warning. By the time the Cogs clambered down into the tunnel, the Senturion was gone.

“It will not take them long.” The Senturion calculated. “Traces are extremely evident.” The Senturion turned and activated the floodlights on its chestplate.

Back in the tunnel.

“I think he went this way sir.” A Cog said to his Prince, pointing at a large hole blasted into the side of the tunnel into a cavern. Suddenly, a beam of energy incinerated the Cog were it stood, almost instantly. The remaining troops looked up and saw Prince Gasket’s rapier still crackling with residual energy from the recent discharge. Without a word, their Prince pointed to the hole and the Cogs responded immediately to his silent command.

As the last Cog disappeared into the cavern, Prince Gasket dropped into the tunnel and peered into the inky blackness. No matter how intense his optics burned with night-vision or rage, he could not see the Senturion, or his troops.

“You will pay for this Senturion! You and all your kind!” Prince Gasket’s voice boiled with rage; growing louder, building to a scream that threatened to be heard by the whole planet. “You…”

Though he was far away, Sprocket’s voice echoed through out the cavern; snaking it’s way through tunnel after tunnel, losing sustenance during it’s journey but keeping just one word as it finally reached it’s Target…

“…Murderer!” the word was like a fist. It pounded into the Senturion’s audio receptors, reverberating over again, and again.

“Status Request: Optical / Audio Receptor damage repair time.” Senturion ‘thought’.

Working…

Analysis: Sixty seconds.

“Good. Immediately activate Blue Senturion arrest mo-!”

The Senturion tripped over something. The Senturion tried vainly, and unsuccessfully, to regain its balance but crashed through several stalagmite pillars in the process. Its metal body made a loud clang that echoed throughout the cavern.

Blast! What obstruction had caused this?

Spectra-vision online.

Audio-receptors… testing…

For a moment, all the Senturion could hear was a high pitched squeal of microphone-feedback.

Audio-receptors online

The Senturion, remaining low, looked back at it’s legs and saw a… hand… a metal hand. The Senturion picked up the hand and upon closer examination determined its owner.

“Alpha…” came a voice. It was small, young, and rich with innocence of youth. However, there was something else to the voice, something alien, that had not been heard by a Senturion before. The closest description would have been an ‘angelic singing quality’. “Alpha’s back…”

The Senturion’s optic sensors only registered a glimpse of a small figure in silhouette before it quickly retreated into a cave opening.

“No little one! That’s not Alpha.” Came another voice. This voice was older but of the same qualities as the younger one. “Alpha Five and the Power Rangers said to stay hidden.”

The Senturion’s scans could not make out anything with x-ray or thermal scans. Using the lights on its chest plate, the cave lit up like a jack-o-lantern. Inside, a huddled mass shirked

The Blue Senturion became frozen for a moment as it scanned its first look at the inhabitants of Eltar. Never had it seen an Eltarian other than Zordon, whose visage was only a representation, nor were there any visual files on Eltarians in its files. The Eltarians were beyond logical descriptions for the Senturion’s onboard computers. If the Senturion were human, it could not use any other words than… beautiful.

The Eltarians were…

“Dead.” The Phantom growled as he crawled out of the hole. He turned his head to the Senturion. “Finally coming to I see…”

“’Coming to’? I have not moved anywhere Phantom Ranger.” The Blue Senturion stated obviously.

“Nevermind. What happened here Senturion?” Phantom Ranger asked almost forcefully. “What happened to the Eltarians? Who did this?”

The Blue Senturion did not respond. It turned and started walking off.

“Where are you going?”

“To make a grave…” the Senturion muttered.

The Phantom Ranger reluctantly followed, mumbling under his breath. “… This whole planet is a grave…”