MMMR: Parallel Works Aether

The time is now...

The time for our rise...

The time to make the sacrifice...

The time to claim our inheritance...

The time to tell our oppressors that we will not go quietly in the night!

The time to tell our adversaries that we will not vanish without a fight!

The time to reach the stars and carve out our mark...

The time to live out our story and create the ending that we desire...

Even if the boundless depths of the universe stand against us...

We will take these legs and move forward...

This oath do we four, the Forsworn of Four, take in the presence of those who have gathered to us!

Apart, we are but mortals doomed to die...

Together, we four and our hosts, stand unbreakable...

For we shall pierce the heavens! Conquer them! Destroy them! And Create them in our image!

He remembered that oath far too well...

Many years after that war, it still remained etched upon his memory...

The Oath of the Spiral Generals...

The Guardians from four corners of existence who came together against the heavens.

The Heavens that had declared that they were to be destroyed with all of their people.

But though they knew the odds, they wouldn't, they couldn't stand down. They were compelled to defy...compelled to rise
and fight...

At the time, he was known as Aether and though barely more than a boy, his people rallied to him...

Water, Fire, and Spirit were all older than him, but they looked up to him as their leader...

Everyone did...The Plants...The Mystics...The Domineus...Humans scattered across the stars...Even the Cybernetic Primes...they looked to him to lead them against the Blackened Heavens...

So he charged...

Centuries...Millennia and Generations passed as the war waged...

The Armada grew as more and more people, entire galaxies in fact, joined the struggle realizing that they were not immune to the Antithesis of their existence...

They fought with everything at their disposal...Their Memories, Their Anger, Their Hate, Power drawn from the essence of the Cosmos, Light from the stars to brighten their Darkest Hours, Ghosts within the shells of the machines they created.

The machines that were eventually called mecha: Mankind's Eternally Christened Heraldic Arsenal

The mecha within the Armada were too vast for Aether to keep track of alone. They existed in many names and shapes, with sizes ranging from the exact size of a humanoid to his own flagship which was the size of an orbital moon, and even the massive Cithonian battle-worlds of the Thirteen Primes. Their numbers likely ranged far beyond countable measures, with races and species that Aether himself would have never thought possible if he hadn't seen them
himself.

But their enemy was greater...always greater...

The Antithesis were vastly more numerous and prepared for the endless war that shattered the skies of multiple galaxies. They claimed to have purged themselves of all life for the sake of their goal, they stated that the destruction of Aether's people would ensure the survival of existence. Their methods of combat were both deadly and powerful, sometimes sending their commanders to self-destruct themselves within the stars of occupied star systems, taking adjacent systems and billions of people with them.

They too fought with mecha, black, lifeless machines that mocked the Armada's spirit. They too were vast in shape and size, but were more numerous and sometimes carried plagues that infected their destroyers and turned them against the Armada. Some warriors even turned against the Armada and sided with the Antithesis, believing that the Armada was acting destructively and selflessly.

Cowards, Aether regarded them as spineless cowards as his spiral blades wiped away all traces of their existence. But though most of the Armada remained true, there were those who broke away from the original intent to form their own goals. After his galaxy was destroyed, Fire became a thief without reason or purpose who used his vast power to steal away stars to try and recreate what this war had taken from him. One of the thirteen primes became distrustful of both his brothers and the Armada and stole away with his followers aboard the Cithonian Destroyer of Unity and Coronation.

Then it happened, as he neared the very threshold of the Antithesis home galaxy, the Messenger appeared to him. Calling himself Tabris, the boy of celestrial aura came as neither an enemy nor an ally, but as one to bring forth a message a last message from they who had bestowed their power upon the peoples of the Armada.

Aether himself had never met them, but he knew of what they were called: The Makers, Forerunners, the Ancestrial Beings, Predecessors, Protheans, the Markers...all of whom reportedly vanished before the arrival of the Antithesis...all save for whichever one of the Celestrial Seeds of Life that Tabris had been birthed from.

Tabris came to deliver his message and leave Aether to decide what to do with it. The message from the Forerunners was like a horrific nightmare. One that Aether knew was weakening the very foundation of his soul as he witnessed it's entirety. As he lied in his bed recovering from the ordeal, his soul, his mind and his heart waged war within his very being as what he was to do when he emerged. He wished to never experience the fulfillment of what the message spoke of, but his oath still beat within his heart.

Ultimately, Aether awoke and personally led the charge into the home system of the Antithesis. As he mowed through their ranks, the message still replayed within the depths of his mind, driving despair into his heart. But instead of allowing that despair to weaken him, Aether embraced it. Transforming it into an Anti-Terror Foundation that enflamed the light of his soul and fueled his Piercing Advance. Entire planets...Fleets...Even the Star of their world was no match for his power. Even when cast into a Labyrinth formed from his own fears, one that replayed the entirety of the message over and over again and again, Aether utterly destroyed it and chose to show the Antithesis that The Drill, the evolution of his race, would not be stopped because of fear projected and forced upon them.

So Aether threw himself from his Flagship Cathedral and descended upon the Antithesis Homeworld. There he found it devoid of all life...just like their defenses were. What he found there was Regret, Panic, Despair, Fear, and above all else Emptiness.

Finally, Then the Antithesis revealed itself, a singular black being devoid of features or of a soul. It knew of it's doom, it admitted that Tabris' message was it's true final gambit. To reveal to Aether the truth of both the Antithesis' origins, it's goals, and what would occur if the Doom foretold within the Message was brought to light.

Aether smirked, even as the Antithesis replayed the full content of the message within him...That the power the drives on the Armada would one day destroy it...both knew that this would bring little change to what was about to occur. Aether gathered his power and resolved to fulfill his oath: The Antithesis was the enmity of the heavens...a great skyward dynasty that laughed upon the mortal race and their struggles and only now feared that a mortal would climb the stairs of Olympus and usurp their place as masters of their fate.

Aether had now pierced those heavens...he had conquered them...now he would destroy them...and create his own...

Antithesis did nothing to prevent it's own destruction, Aether now doubted if there was ever anything to slay. But as soon as it was gone, the Antithesis homeworld and all of it's own mecha and weaponry faded from existence and died.

The Armada...against odds that no being ever had to fear...had won.

Then why were soldiers crying out in pain before death consumed them?

Hearts shattered, Wills were confounded and Spirits fell when the Armada realized the cause.

Aether, their hero and their leader, had turned against those who had served and fought alongside him for countless years.

Angered, enraged, betrayed on the edge of realized victory, the vanguard of the Armada warred against their fallen hero. Aether cared little to even honor their efforts with a fight, he simply destroyed them. Most fell before his blades, some were ripped apart from by the fists of his Black Mecha, a gunman powered by his resolve and now reflected his red-hot malice, and others were destroyed by his Aura of Anti-Terror, crying out as their egos collapsed and were absorbed and burned as fuel for Aether's betrayal.

With the Vanguard defeated or scattered, the rest of the Armada remained unaware when Aether leapt upon his Cathedral Flagship and assumed Direct Control of the moon-sized battleship...transforming it into a great black mecha that dwarfed all but a few of the Armada's arsenal in size.

Spirit remained shocked as he witnessed the transformation of his comrade, he realized before all others as to what was about to occur and turned around his Absolution to find the only thing capable of standing against Aether's madness.

Aether, was nearly blinded by tears as he stood upon his transformed Cathedral Mecha. It was as though the very stars in the skies had turned against him. The numerous warriors of his Armada cried against him in every tongue, known and unknown. It was though his heart shattered into a thousand pieces as he prepared his drill to attack. He did not want to this, every fiber of his soul was crushed as he thrust through the Armada, but his mind was set on what had to be done.

The Message must not be fulfilled.

The Nemesis had to be stopped, no matter the cost.

But there was still one who remained to oppose him. As Aether's drill was shattered and he was forced back, Aether marveled upon the great mecha that dwarfed his own in both size and power. Spirit and the remaining Primes had combined his Memory with that of their Matrix, allowing for Spirit's Absolution to transform the Cybernetic Homeworld into it's First and True form. United behind Spirit's Prime Absolution, the Armada regathered and warred against Aether.

Outnumbered and surrounded, Aether at times contemplated allowing his death when even those who abandoned the Armada rejoined just to stand against him.

Ironically, Aether had become the very Antithesis that he had sworn to destroy.

But Aether was as intelligent as he was powerful and he was not completely alone. A few from the vanguard stood besides Aether, amongst them a Viralant Warrior whom the Antithesis had made immortal to serve as witness to the destruction of his world and people and swore an oath of service and loyalty to Aether. Even after surviving an attempt on his life, this warrior stood besides Aether believing that the Hero knew what he was doing. There were others too, dis-illusioned youths who even attempted to aid him in his duel against Spirit's Prime Absolution, they hardly put up a five minute fight.

Aether broke down into tears...he had even turned his followers against his brothers...

Enraged at realizing the full price of his action, Aether broke through the Armada's ranks until he found the Cybernetic Prime now known as the Fallen. The Prime reveled in the irony of this situation and the machine's laughter sickened even Aether. He had no qualms with personally crippling the traitor and taking his face, momentarily allowing the Prime to dance around in fear and pain before Aether ended it's life. He then took the Fallen's spark and used it to form his own Matrix, one that would allow him to assume Direct Control of the Fallen's Destroyer of Unity and Coronation, transforming it into it's true form.

A massive mecha that would rival Spirit's Prime Absolution in both size and power.

Aether didn't try to remember the rest of that battle. Though he knew what had happened...he had destroyed the Armada...They fought to the end, even after Aether defeated Spirit and purged his former brother of all memory of who he was or what he was capable of, destroying him entirely was something beyond Aether, physically, mentally and spiritually. But the Armada had to be destroyed, in order for his Heaven to be realized, all who would identify it as Hell had to be surpressed, converted, or slain.

Even then, they would not yield. Water still led them, even though she had no power to oppose Aether and Fire fought as well, if only because he utterly hated Aether. He knew now what had to be done, he willed the Destroyer to turn from the Armada and did nothing to block the attacks the it's soldiers threw at him. He welcomed them, not only did they do little to harm him, but they reminded him of just how far he had fallen.

But the Nemesis had to be stopped.

So Aether came upon the bright star known to many as Alpha Centauri and once more transformed the Destroyer to Coronate his new reign as King and Unify the power of his cosmic entity with his own. The Armada caught up in time to watch Aether vanish within the massive star and cried at what they saw as suicide, the ultimate form of cowardice.

But it was much worse...

A great outflow of heat and power enveloped the Armada, it's only salvation emerging from Water's sacrifice as she extended her very being to protect her people from this Supernova. She cried out in pain as Aether's intention showed itself, to the Armada it seemed that their Fallen leader had become a god in both name and size.

Looking at him directly burned the eyes of any unprotected warrior as Aether's ethereal form stood amidst the Cosmos and looked down upon the Armada that now seemed to small to him despite it's great size.

Angered when Water was utterly evaporated by Aether's emergence, Fire gathered up his own stolen power to sing one last serenade. Angered by betrayal, and grieved with the loss of two of their faithful heroes, the Armada launched their assault on Aether. They knew that they would not win, even Fire, now of a size comparable to Aether, knew that he would not win.

But unlike him, they would not betray their oath.

It was over in an instant...

He grabbed Fire and used his own power to cause his brother's to abandon him and utterly crushed him. What remained, he sealed within Fire's favorite instrument and cast away. But the Armada refused to yield, they kept advancing for him and defeat after defeat, they refused to give up. Even when Aether called for the surrender of their leader, they cried out in one voice that each and every one of them was their leader.

Aether lost his composure, as his mighty ethereal mecha destroyed them, Aether cried at the agony his soul suffered.

No general should have to turn against their own soldiers...

Why couldn't they understand what he had to do?

Why!

Why couldn't they submit!

Then the ultimate irony was fully realized in Aether's heart and he grew silent.

Victorious and alone, Aether shed the almost divine form that he taken and returned Alpha Centauri to it's original state, praying to never have to use that power again. He released the Destroyer from his service and allowed it to travel through the deep reaches of the Cosmos, reprogrammed by the rage of it's former master and acting on the directive to feed it's power.

The Last Prime conceded to defeat and Aether spared him and his people, allowing them to use their All-father, as their homeworld, but limited their energy supply. Aether would allow them to have a golden age, but after that, they would have a shortage and Aether knew this would trigger a war.

A war to distract them from rising...

Though his own world had been destroyed by the Antithesis, he knew of where his people had originated, as well as where many humans and Spirit himself had come from. It was here that Aether came to rest from his labors. The Cathedral Flagship would rest within a pocket dimension within the world's moon while it's core would become his own city within a pocket dimension created upon this world but apart from it.

Upon this world, he would remain as a silent overseer. Mankind would be allowed to advance and grow and war amongst themselves. But He would be there to draw the line and push them down if they ever grew too powerful. Those with the potential to awaken the Power that he himself held would be thrown into the depths so that they and their descendents would not spread their helix to others of this doomed race.

It was here that he would resolve to create a greater solution to the message that still plagued him even now...

The World of Earth.

Author's Notes:

There you have it, the first of the Parallel Works concerning Mighty Morphin Mecha Rangers!

I didn't put in names, but I didn't make it too hard to figure out who's who in this series. Right now, you'll likely have
more questions than answers, but hey! That's what this is all about!

I have no idea as to how many of these I will make, but if anyone has any requests, then shout them out and I will
deliver!

Thanks for reading!