Planet Earth, Orion-Cygnus Arm.

It was a historic day in the history of interstellar travel. On the day of April 28th, 2022, the first shuttle flight targeted outside the Solar System was set to launch. Astronauts Yuri Michaels and Gregory Packer were manning the shuttle, which was set for a launch at 15PM, local time. But before they could take off, the two were seeing to their loose ends.

Namely, Yuri was seeing to his childhood friend, Pamela Jones. "Can you believe it, Pam?", Yuri said. "I'm about to really go where no man has gone before. This is going to be something else."

"I know.", Pamela responded, dejectedly. "It's just a shame that I'm probably going to lose you in the process."

"Hey, don't sweat it.", Yuri put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll be back before you know it. So will Greg. It's not like anything's going to happen out there."

As if on cue, Gregory appeared and patted his co-pilot on the shoulder. "Hey, rookie. I think they'll be expecting us at the launch pad soon." Yuri nodded and walked off. Gregory then turned to Pamela. "Hey, don't worry about Yuri. I'll be there to help him prevent a screw up." With that, he turned and walked off with his co-pilot.

"I can only hope you two have good luck.", was all Pamela could say as she saw the shuttle take off, departing for distant galaxies, with no guarantee of a return.

A guarantee that soon became even more unlikely 40 minutes later. Objects fell from the sky, namely helmets. Those who went near the helmets found their heads trapped by them, being transformed into black-suited beings with various different-coloured logos. In the days to come, they came to be known as Detainers. As the newly created Detainers began to attack those who remained unaffected, large tower-like gears plunged into the ground in various major cities, as if to make a statement. As various alien creatures emerged from the gears, a message was broadcast. The message depicted a white cloaked figure, who had a very clear message.

"People of Earth. Please attend carefully. You now enjoy the generous protection of the Gingaku Intergalactic Samurai Clan, as does every other inhabited planet in this universe. As long as you avoid resistance, we can assure you a relatively normal status quo. If not, then actions will be taken to dissuade resistance. So says Lord Gingaku."

Pamela could only hope that Yuri and Gregory were okay, wherever they had ended up.

Five Years Later. Planet Psyga-6, Archer Nebula.

Glom Harborg was running. The era of Gingaku had been rough on him, as it had so many others. He had been forced to turn to crime in order to support not just his wife and spawn, but also the various others in his neighbourhood. While he had managed to stay hidden for a while now, he had been sighted on the holo-viewers at the marketplace and been forced to flee. Now, for one act of clumsiness, his likeness, a yellow squid-like creature with a beak and 4 legs, dressed in workers fatigues, was now being transmitted from the Dark Gear, along with the voice of their current dictator Metaro blaring out.

"Be on the lookout for this creature. He is wanted for the theft of 5 Lakefruits from the Market in Sector 6456.", Metaro's distorted sounding voice blared. "A reward of 50 Ginlars and 5-cycle work-unit exemption will be offered to the one who captures him."

"'50 Ginlars' for a couple of fruits? That seems low." Glom turned around to see a strange creature standing there. It looked mammalian, but not like any mammal Glom was familiar with. This one had hair exclusively on the top of its cranium, with most of its skin exposed. The creature was dressed in black overalls, with a a strange red-striped insignia with some stars in the corner, on its lapel. The creature gestured to the alleyway behind them. "Come on, if we go this way, I think you'll be safe.

But unfortunately, Glom did not speak this creature's strange linguistics, nor did he have a translator like the Gingaku members carried to facilitate communication. But it could tell that the creature was likely trying to offer help. But not being able to ascertain the mammal's intents, he hesitated. Unfortunately, in that hesitation, Glom and the mammal were captured by the Detainers, who were being led by a Commanaga, a creature that human readers would note resembled a leaf.

"Take these two to Metaro's office.", the Commanaga ordered. "A common thief and his potential accomplice. This should be motivational to the others of this planet.

Across the planet, Spaceport Notraider.

As the latest shuttle transporting workforce units came in, three figures, who were certainly not work units, snuck off to the side as the others disembarked. These three consisted of a humanoid woman, with an odd complexion, a humanoid male and a bull-like humanoid robot. "We've gotta love these Anti-Perception Kits that we stole from the lab on Miranoi.", the robot declared.

The woman shushed him. "Tarrant, not so loud. Any sufficient noise we make can easily make us visible to the Gingaku goons."

"Luckily for us, no seems to have noticed.", the third member of their party replied. "Now then Mila, do you have any idea why we came to this planet?"

Mila shook her head. "Not a clue, Slash. I just got something telling me that we should come to this planet. You've probably felt it too."

Tarrant thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, I've been feeling like there's a little voice in my head, telling me that something big is waiting to happen."

Slash pulled out a yellow sphere from his pocket. It was mounted in a metal frame like a globe model, with the base having "09" written on it. "You think it's got something to do with these?", he asked.

Mila and Tarrant pulled out their own spheres, coloured green and black and numbered "07" and "05" respectively. "It could be the Cosmo Spheres trying to tell us something, but I'm not sure.", was Mila's response. "If they are trying to tell us something, then what?"

Gingaku's Temple, Unknown Planet.

In a dark room, the white-cloaked figure of Gingaku was greeted by his shadow, Dark Soul, a warrior in a tunic, wearing an ornate mask over his face and carrying a sword. "My Lord, I have news for you. An arrest has been made on one of your frontier worlds.", the masked man reported.

Gingaku was unimpressed. "This is a matter for the ruler of that sector of space. I shouldn't be called upon for such trivialities. Local matters of no concern."

"Yes, my Lord. But there seems to be some trouble. Metaro's server-droid has reported a jurisdiction problem." To demonstrate, Dark Soul brought up a holographic image of said server-droid. It had a female appearance, with a white plastic composition and pink "hair".

"Secretary Unit R-283 reporting in. A work unit was captured in the removal of Lakefruits that did not belong in its possession. He has already had a punishment allocated to her. However, a non-terrestrial life form was caught attempting to aid in a rescue attempt. Lord Metaro is requesting advice on how to proceed." The robot said all of this, without missing a beat.

Gingaku was now intrigued. "An offworlder, hmmm? I suppose if I were to see this offworlder, I could request for him to be transferred to the appropriate authority for his punishment. Send me a visual."

"At once, Lord Gingaku." The android uploaded an image of the human prisoner. "According to our interrogation, his name is Yuri and he hails from the planet Earth. No other data is available, as the prisoner's mind has been wiped of all else."

Dark Soul reacted to the image of the prisoner. "No, it can't be." He turned to Gingaku. "My Lord, surely it wouldn't do to let this planet hopping criminal live on."

Gingaku was shocked to see his servant's bloodlust. "It's not orthodox, but you have a good point, my loyal servant. Droid, schedule an execution. Broadcast universally."

"At once my Lord." With that, the call ended.

Planet Psyga-6, Metaro's office.

Yuri was just sitting back on the sofa provided by the Gingaku goons. He supposed that was one good thing that could be said about them, in the midst of all their galaxy conquering. Though to be honest, he didn't really remember what life was like before they took over. He had just woke up in the woods of a planet one day and found that they were everywhere. All he had been able to ascertain from the stuff he had been found with was that his name was Yuri and he came from a planet called "Earth". Other than that, all he could recall was a giant lion in space. Everything else was a blur. So since then, he had spent every waking hour sneaking from planet to planet until he could get home. Without a workers permit, he couldn't go through any legal customs, forcing him to stick to being covert in his travels. Until right now, where he had stopped to help that man and been caught for it. Now he was waiting for his own sentencing, while that man had been found guilty and forcibly converted into a Detainer. And since he couldn't read any of the magazines, he was stuck pondering over the strange red globe he carried everywhere with him. He didn't know where it had come from, he just knew that it was with him for a reason. He just didn't know what it was.

Yuri was snapped out of his reverie by the arrival of a Commanaga. "We've decided your punishment. Come with me." The brute dragged his prisoner into the office of Metaro and departed. Metaro was a metallic being, with an indent in his forehead and golden and green armour. He also had a black collar with a cape bellowing down.

"So, what've you got lined up for me?", Yuri asked. "A slap on the wrist and then you send me back home?"

"That would normally be the case with unlicensed offworlders.", Metaro replied. "But Lord Gingaku decided that you should be used to make an example to the people."

"That's never good news.", Yuri commented.

"Indeed.", R-283 replied. "You have been sentenced to execution. Detainers, take him to the beast."

Yuri was shocked to hear this. "Wait, there's a beast?", he asked and he was dragged away. "Don't I get a phone call?"
But Metaro ignored him, instead turning towards R-283. "Prepare for a broadcast to be made. All events for today are cancelled." He turned around and prepared himself for the transmitter.

"People of the universe. I am Metaro, ruler of the Archer Nebula. Today, this offworlder was captured intruding on my planet Psyga-6. (An image of Yuri appeared) His name is Yuri and he hails from a backwater planet known as Earth. When captured, it turned out that he possessed no legal papers allowing him access to my planet. As such, he will soon be fed to my pet, as a warning to all those who wish to follow in his example. And to drive my point home, the entire execution will be shown live as a special treat for all of you."

In the streets of Psyga-6, Mila, Tarrant and Slash looked at the image of the human on the monitor. "You think that guy could be the reason the Cosmo Spheres told us to come here?", Slash asked.

"It seems like it.", Mila answered. "But the question is 'why?' What's so special about an out of place human on this planet?"

"I suppose we'll find out by locating and rescuing him.", Slash noted. "The execution pit isn't far from here, let's go."

Elsewhere, the Detainers had reached the pit and were preparing to throw Yuri in there. "Can't we cut a deal?", asked the prisoner. But the Detainers, not possessing a will of their own, simply ignored this and threw him into the pit. Yuri landed fairly softly, to find himself surrounded by bones of different shapes and sizes. "Whatever's in here must be something terrifying.", he said to himself. /

As if on cue, a humanoid wolf with blue skin and a tuft of white hair emerged from the shadows. It had no clothes, barring a loincloth and something dangling from a string around its neck. There was also a collar around its neck, which seemed to be causing it pain. The creature lunged at Yuri, who dodged to the side and grabbed a rib that was left over from a previous victim. He swung the makeshift weapon at his would-be predator, damaging the collar slightly. It was then that the predator spoke. "Help…me…."

"You can talk?", Yuri asked. Then he realised. "That collar… its restraining you from doing anything."

"Destroy… collar….", the wolf growled out. "Please."

"I'll try.", Yuri responded. "But it's not going to be easy to break with what I've got here." Then the globe in his pocket began to glow, as did the object around the wolf's neck. There was a flash that knocked the two back.

When their vision returned to normal, the wolf's collar crumbled to dust, to which he took a deep breath. "Thanks for that. I couldn't control myself with that thing limiting my thinking ability. How'd you do it?"

"I'm not quite sure myself.", was Yuri's answer. Then he noticed the globe in his pocket was still glowing. "Can I have a look at that thing around your neck?" One look showed that it was almost identical to the globe, only the wolf's was blue, had different symbols and was numbered "03". "They're almost the same. Oh by the way, my name's Yuri. What's yours?"

"Let me think. Oh yeah, it's Jiro.", was the reply. "So where'd you get that fancy ball? I got mine when an evil empire wrecked my planet. Not Gingaku, a different group. I was just a cub when that happened."

"I don't know where I got this thing.", Yuri said, holding up his globe. "I just woke up one day and it was lying next to me. I haven't even figured out what these symbols mean." As he said this, he slid one set of symbols to align with the others, creating the image of a lion. The globe then flashed again. "Ok, it's never done that before."

"Hey let me try.", Jiro said, moving his own globe's symbols into position, creating the image of a wolf, which flashed. "Woah, that's new."

At the top of the pit, R-283 observed the events transpiring beneath her. "The execution as planned has failed." She turned to the on-duty Commanaga. "You are to see to it that both of them are terminated."

"Right.", the Commanaga nodded before jumping into the pit.

The Detainers were about to join him, but suddenly, three figures appeared and started attacking them with weapons. The droid registered a slender green-suited fighter, armed with a rapier, an armoured black-suited fighter armed with and axe and an average-built yellow fighter wielding a knife. All three had the same insignia, a stylised Star, and the same object, a red blaster, on their left arms. The three made quick work of the Detainers and pointed their blasters at her. "Give us one good reason why we shouldn't just deactivate you and sell you for scrap.", the green fighter said. R-283 recognised the pitch as that of a female.

The droid then put her hands up. "If you spare me, then I can guarantee that you escape from this planet.", she said. "I can also attempt to ensure the safety of the one about to be executed, as I assume you came here to save."

"You mean the prisoner you just sent your goon in to kill?", the green fighter responded. "No thanks. I'll handle them myself." With that, she jumped into the pit, leaving the Android in the hands of her two associates.

In the pit, Yuri and Jiro came face to face with the dispatched Commanaga. "Since the mutt can't be trusted to get rid of you human, I've been sent to do the job myself." He brandished his staff before bashing it into the ground.

"Let's see you try, blockhead.", Yuri said. He inadvertently raised his globe, which caused a gauntlet to appear on his arm. He looked at it and saw that it was a some sort of gun. It was coloured red and had a star symbol in black with a white outline decorating it. "I don't know what just happened, but I assume I could use this as a weapon." He flicked down a trigger handle and aimed at the Commanaga, shooting him with enough force to knock him back. "A little underwhelming, but still good."

The Commanaga recovered quickly from this shot. "You'll pay for that."

But before he could make good on that threat, he was assaulted by the newly arrived green fighter, who knocked him back again with a slash of her rapier. She then ran over to Yuri. "You're okay now sir. Me and my team are here to -" then she noticed the gauntlet on his arm. "That's a Cosmo Morpher? Then that means you must have a Cosmo Sphere."

Yuri was confused, but presented his globe. "You mean this thing?"

"Exactly.", was the woman's reply. "Insert it I to the Cosmo Morpher, say Cosmic Energy, Unleashed and press the sphere to your right. Then you'll be able to fight like me." Suddenly, the Commanaga recovered and began grappling with her. "And I could really use your help with this guy."

Yuri nodded. He inserted the Cosmo Sphere into the centre of the gauntlet, before saying "Cosmic Energy, Unleashed." He then knocked the sphere to his right and pulled the trigger. A star-shaped beam was fired from the nozzle, which flew back around and hit Yuri, transforming him into a suit much like his would-be rescuer, but in red. It was also themed after a lion, whereas hers was themed after a chameleon. "Woah, this is unbelievable.", he said as he checked himself over.

Jiro seemed excited by Yuri's change. "Maybe I can do that too." He held up his own Cosmo Sphere, only for nothing to happen. "How come I don't get one of these cool blasters?", he whined.

Yuri ignored him engaging, the Commanaga in combat and landing a few punches on him, while taking a few in return. "Man, one-on-one fighting isn't as easy as they make it look in the movies.", he said.

"Perhaps you could do with a weapon on par with mine.", the Commanaga said as he pushed his staff forward."

"'A weapon'?", Yuri thought. "Then he turned to his new ally. "Do these suits come with weapons we can use to fight back?", he asked.

"Indeed they do.", she answered. "Just do this." She pushed her hand forward and generated energy versions of three components, a blade, an axe-like lower blade and a handle. She grabbed the handle and flipped out a second blade, hidden within. "Cosmo Blade!", she declared as she ran forward to continue her attack.

"Good to know.", Yuri nodded. He mimicked her gesture, conjuring the three components. "I think I should try for something a bit more powerful." He grabbed all three pieces and stuck them together to form a sword. "I'm going to call this thing 'Cosmo Saber!'." He then ran forward and Egan swinging his new weapon, knocking the Commanaga back.

"So I'm dealing with two of you costumed clowns, huh?", the Commanaga grunted. "That won't make a difference."

"Can we shut this guy up?", Yuri asked. "Like, for good?"

"As a matter of fact, there is.", his ally told him. "Just insert your Cosmo Sphere onto the hilt and attack while pressing the trigger in the handle." She removed the Cosmo Sphere from her Morpher to demonstrate, placing it on her Cosmo Blade's underside. "Now you."

Yuri nodded, removing his own Cosmo Sphere and placing it on the hilt of his Cosmo Saber. The weapons were immediately supercharged with energy, which was unleashed when the two did a slashing gesture while pulling their triggers. "Cosmic Final Attack!", he declared.

The two slashes hit the underprepared Commanaga, causing him to spark. "Looks like it was my head on the block here.", he managed to say before collapsing and exploding, leaving behind a burnt out corpse..

With their enemy defeated, Yuri willed himself to return to normal and the powers flowing through him obliged. "Alright, I've got some questions. Like, who are you?"

The green woman also powered down, to reveal a mostly humanoid woman. "My name is Mila. My team and I came to this planet in response to a message from our Cosmo Spheres. I didn't know what it could be until I saw you on the screens, Yuri. And when I came to rescue you, I was right. You have a Cosmo Sphere. You can become a Power Ranger."

"'Power Ranger'.", Yuri repeated, before having a realisation. "They were practically everywhere on Earth. Where were they when these Gingaku guys conquered the universe?"

"Everything happened so fast.", Mila answered him. "None of the universe's Ranger teams could unite in time to prevent total planetary takeover of their worlds. Some tried to fight, but ended up being captured and taken to the Gingaku brainworld. Since no-one but the elite of the elite know where that is, no-one's been able to stage a rescue." She then turned to Jiro. "As for your question, I don't quite know myself. You'll have to come with us so we can figure it out."

"Why not?, anywhere's better than this dump.", Jiro replied. "So where's your ship?"

"We don't have one…yet.", Mila replied. "For now, we're waiting for the right time to attack and hijack one. Now, let's get out of here before Metaro sends more goons after us." She began climbing out of the pit, followed by Yuri and Jiro, the former of whom was having more flashes of memory. Namely of a shuttle being attacked by Gingaku's Dark Gears and someone crying out for help.

Gingaku's Temple, Unknown Planet

Gingaku and Dark Soul had witnessed the entire abortive execution attempt from afar. "So not only did we fail to put Yuri to death, but he has joined up with a new team of Power Rangers.", Dark Soul growled. "Disappointing."

Not quite.", Gingaku countered. "These Rangers have access to massive amounts of Cosmic Energy. Enough to completely restore a life. I must have that power for myself." He then laughed evilly, knowing that the Rangers would be the target for all units in the future.