"Engines are offline," Linnse reported.

Cassie flinched, knowing that if they hadn't been before they were in this until the end now. She tried to force the Megaship out of the way of one of the Parikat battleships, but the starboard thruster was sluggish and she could feel the impact as the other ship's lasers raked their forward shields.

"V1, maintain formation!" Linnse snapped, and Cassie risked a searching look at her tactical display. Rocky was breaking off from the Mega V zords' attack to come to their aid.

She gave up any attempt at evasion and pushed the port thruster to maximum. As the Megaship slid underneath the other battleship, Linnse opened fire with the damaged dorsal laser array. Taking their target by surprise, she managed to take out the battleship's ventral laser arrays. Instead of running, the Megaship crept ever closer, barely staying in the shadow of the battleship as it tried to turn on its attacker.

"Rocky, we can handle it," Cassie snapped, seeing Mega V1 hesitate. "Linnse, what do you have on Megalasers?"

"Starboard and ventral arrays--dorsal, too, but not for long."

"All right. You'll have a clear shot to starboard as soon as I can get it."

"Megaship, this is Mireth," Cestria's voice announced. "What's your status?"

She would have let out a sigh of relief if she had had time. "Mega V2 is out of the fight, and the Megaship isn't far behind. Are you clear?"

"Negative," Cestria answered. "There are people still in the blast zone. Canthris and Zaal are on rescue missions, but our zords are at full-strength. Billy and I are on our way--your own teammates on Lissan will reinforce your Mega V zords."

Before Cassie could ask who was over there, and why Cestria was in Cetaci's zord, she heard Ashley's voice come over the zords comm channel. "All right, Mega Vs, listen up. This is what we're going to do."

Cassie shook her head in silent amusement. Cestria must have given her morpher to Ashley to allow her to pilot the Yellow Aquitian zord. But she couldn't help wondering where Andros was.

The battleship in front of her wavered a little too long in its evasive attempt, and the Megaship spun after it. "Linnse!"

The other woman had seen it, and before Cassie could tell her what to do the Megalasers struck the battleship's engines. The ship broke apart as the engines exploded and sent a shockwave tearing through the hull, and Cassie wrestled the Megaship around and away as quickly as the damaged thrusters would respond. The shockwave wouldn't travel through space, but the debris would.

"Aft shields critical," DECA announced, even as Mireth and Sirethian appeared suddenly on Cassie's tactical display. "Forward shields at twenty-five percent."

"We can't keep this up for long," Linnse muttered, voicing the thought that was on Cassie's mind as well. "You were right when you said the Megaship won't be in the fight much longer."

"Cestria and Billy will keep them off us at least for a little while," Cassie told her, trying desperately to avoid another laser bombardment from what seemed to be the Parikat flagship.

"Cassie." Linnse didn't look up from her console, and the hum of the Megalasers abruptly escalated into a whine. The sound vanished as her fingers danced across the controls. "We just lost dorsal lasers."

"But that's not what you were going to say," Cassie said, as the Megaship banked hard, turning its now undefended topside away from the flagship.

The starboard lasers opened up on the other ship, and Linnse shook her head. "There are two Defense starfighters in the hangar bay."

Cassie had thought of that too, but she shook her head. "I'm not abandoning the Megaship. As long as we have Megalasers, we're more of a threat than any two starfighters."

"We won't *have* Megalasers much longer," Linnse warned. "And the shields will fail before that."

"I'm not leaving this ship," Cassie told her, punching the thrusters as high as they would go. "End of discussion."

***

The Megaship was limping. Andros flinched at the sight of his beloved ship, badly damaged and almost overwhelmed by enemies, trying to hold its own in the middle of the systemwide crossfire. He knew Cassie and DECA were doing their best, but he couldn't help thinking it might be different if he were with them.

It wasn't just sentiment that made him worry for the Megaship's safety, either. The great battleship was the strongest ship they had, and the rallying point of their attack. If it was completely disabled they would have to either let it be destroyed or focus all their effort into defending it. Emotionally, he hated the first option, but tactically, the second one was even worse.

The scanners blipped, giving him an intercept warning, and he reached for the comm. "Canthris to escape pod. Carlos, can you hear me?"

There was no answer. He tried again, with similar results, but he wasn't going to rule out the possibility that they were hearing him and just unable to respond. The comm could be damaged, or just impossible to operate from their end, so he spoke again as he brought the zord's teleportation systems online.

"Carlos, I've got a lock on Aura's Power signature, and I think I'm picking up yours, too. If you can, stay close together--I'm going to try and teleport you both out of there at the same time." He didn't know how many chances he would have, with the way the velocifighters were swarming. The Aquitian megazord had taken out most of those in the vicinity before it disassembled, but there were plenty more to take their place.

The hissing sound of Aquitian teleportation sounded in the small cockpit, and he glanced over his shoulder. Carlos appeared behind him, his normally black teleportation turned bright red by Canthris' systems, and Aura was leaning heavily on his shoulder.

About to get up, Andros paused at the sight of the Red Aquitian Ranger. "Aura? Are you all right?"

"No," Carlos said, lowering her carefully to the floor and crouching down beside her. "She got bitten by one of those cat things."

"Zhane told us," Andros said, grabbing one of the consoles as the zord shook violently. The velocifighters had arrived. "Can she fly?"

"Andros, she can't even stand!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Then can you?" Andros asked, glancing across the controls. He could pilot the zord under normal circumstances, but there was no way he could go into battle with it. "I've never flown this kind of zord in my life."

He thought he heard Aura mumble something, but Carlos didn't answer right away. "Carlos--"

"I've only taken them on test flights," Carlos said. "But you could do it if you were morphed. Here."

Andros turned, and found Carlos holding Aura's morpher out to him. "You have the background," he insisted. "You can fly this zord better than I can, morpher or no."

"No I can't," Carlos said quietly. "You have to focus to fly these, and I wouldn't be able to concentrate."

Andros regarded him for a moment. Aura was leaning against Carlos, trembling uncontrollably. His arm was around her shoulders, not supporting her so much as just holding onto her, as though he could somehow stop whatever was happening to her by sheer force of will.

*Or... force of feeling?* Andros wondered, turning back to the controls. "Right," he said aloud. If Carlos said he couldn't concentrate, that was fair warning and Andros would be foolish to ignore it.

He wrapped both hands around Aura's morpher and held it out, bracing himself. "Red Aquitar Ranger power!"

The Power flooded into him, bringing the familiar strength and the not-so-familiar knowledge of Canthris. The sudden faint awareness of Ashley, Cestria, Billy and Delphinius wasn't as disconcerting as it was unexpected, and he wondered suddenly how much of their telepathy was due to the Power they held.

"This is Canthris," he announced on the zords' channel. "I've got Aura and Carlos. Carlos is all right, but Aura needs medical attention as soon as possible."

"What is wrong with her?" Cestria's voice asked, as he shoved Canthris' thrusters to maximum and broke through the velocifighter periphery around Dark Spectre's ship from the inside.

"Carlos?" He couldn't spare the concentration to turn; Carlos had been right about the Aquitian zords eating up attention.

"She's dehydrated from the poison and freezing cold," he said, not sounding very good himself. Andros put it down to concern for Aura and relayed his words.

Cestria wasn't pleased to hear that, and it was eerie to know that before she even replied. "We will have to get her aboard the Megaship as soon as possible," she said, though they all knew it could be some time before that happened. "Canthris, I'm told your assistance would be appreciated by the Defense wing."

"I'm on it," Andros answered, switching to the fighters' intership comm frequency. "Def-1, what's your status?"

As he waited for the reply, he let his tactical map zoom out to give him a better view of the fight. It wasn't going well. The Megaship was still fighting, but a second Mega V zord was drifting, apparently no longer under its own power. The fleet occupying the Rysian system had surged forward again with the arrival of the Parikat ships, and it seemed nothing could halt the launch of an increasing number of velocifighters. The Rangers were outmanned and outgunned, and Andros was no longer sure even the destruction of Dark Spectre's ship could turn the tide.

***

Black shimmered around her, and she felt the magic inside her flare. She frowned a little at the violet swirls in the midst of black, but then the light had faded and her transformation was complete. She could feel strange echoes of Andros, Delphinius, Cestria, Billy and Ashley in her mind, and the panels in front of her were suddenly as familiar as the controls of the Dark Fortress.

Delphinius vacated the pilot's seat without a word, and she slid into his place. There was a flicker at the edge of her awareness, and Delphinius identified it as she was still trying to make sense of the echoes. "Cetaci's awake."

He had not been able to sense her before. She had offered to take over the controls if it would help him concentrate, and he had given her his morpher with only the slightest hesitation. Now, with Cetaci only a vague shadow against her own consciousness, Delphinius could lean over her shoulder and point to a single point on the tactical map. "There."

She magnified the port side of Dark Spectre's ship, and Delphinius pointed again. "How close?" she asked, glancing up at him. The view through his visor was a little disconcerting, and it took a moment to realize his eyes were closed.

"Within a hundred meters of the hull," he said at last. "I'd have to be closer to say exactly where."

She shook her head, not questioning. "That's amazing. A hundred meters is close enough." Her eyes roved across the magnification on her tactical screen, and she found what she was looking for. "There's our way in."

He stared at the tactical map as the Zaal zord swung around, heading for the most recent wave of velocifighters. "What do you intend to do?"

"I intend to get Cetaci," she replied. The velocifighters broke formation at her rapid approach, and the shields absorbed their rapid and disorganized fire without difficulty. The velocifighters hadn't expected trouble while they were still inside Dark Spectre's shielding.

"How much physical impact can this thing take?" she asked, but even as she posed the question she knew the answer.

"It can't take crashing into the hull at this speed, if that's what you're asking," Delphinius said, bracing himself against one of the consoles.

"I'm not going through the hull." The last of the velocifighters cleared her screen, and she pointed. "That's where they're coming from."

The launch bay in front of them was open, surrounded by a luminescent two-way forcefield. It would admit ships coming or going, while holding in a minimal atmosphere and keeping out interstellar dust and meteoroids. She had taken careful note of the launch bays' locations when studying Ecliptor's plans, keeping them in mind as a potential escape route should anything go wrong.

Interesting that her "potential escape route" had just become her best way *in* to the heavily shielded and armored ship, she reflected

She felt Delphinius tense as the zord accelerated, but he kept his reservations to himself. The glow of the forcefield filled the forward screen, and then its light flashed through the cockpit as the Zaal zord cruised into Dark Spectre's ship without incident.

"Did you know it would be that easy?" Delphinius demanded, his tone holding something she didn't recognize in it.

"Here's the hard part," she said. She didn't bother to tell him that if their timing hadn't been exactly right, they would have run into a departing velocifighter wing as they entered, and even zord shields might not withstand point-blank laser fire from multiple ships. "Where is she?"

He pointed at the tactical map again, and she shook her head. "No; *where* is she? Show me, out there." She nodded to the forward screen, rapidly filling with the launch bay's far wall.

He pointed again, down and slightly to her left.

"You never answered my question about impact resistance," she said mildly, and the thrusters fired again as she tilted the nose of his zord straight down. "Hang on."

Still holding onto one of the consoles, he grabbed the back of her chair as the zord slammed into the deck. The metal plating crumpled beneath them, ripping away from the zord as they crashed through to the next level, and then the next. "Tell me when!" she shouted, over the sound of tearing metal and overstressed thrusters.

She could sense his incredulous horror at this treatment of his zord, but he didn't hesitate. "Another thirty meters down and... more that way."

His directions were far more precise than she could have hoped for, given the circumstances, and she killed the thrusters. Two more decks slowed the zord's determined path of destruction, and it skidded some distance across the third deck before the friction of shearing walls and ceiling brought it to a halt.

She glanced up at Delphinius, and found him looking a little paler than usual. "How close?"

"Closer than I would have dared," he answered, giving her an uninterpretable look. "You are more insane than I gave you credit for."

She shrugged, pulling herself out of his chair and triggering the hatch release. "Whatever it takes."

He didn't answer, and when she looked back she found him with his eyes closed again. "She's on her way," he muttered, his expression twisting into something else she didn't recognize.

She scrambled up the ladder anyway, pulling herself out onto the top of the zord and looking back the way it had come. From Delphinius' directions, she knew she had overshot, but it was just as well. There would be no getting into the zord from the front anyway, not with it smashed up against the decks the way it was.

A flash of black caught her eye, and she heard Delphinius on the ladder behind her. "Get back," she hissed, seeing the glint of silver behind Cetaci as she ran.

He paid no attention, clambering up beside her as she drew his blaster. Siting down the barrel, she picked off three of the pursuing quantrons before Cetaci reached the zord. She continued to fire as the former Aquitian leader leapt onto the back of the zord and hauled herself up, a feat Kerone found impressive even in the midst of her concentration.

Delphinius ducked back into the zord, and she motioned for Cetaci to go after him. The White Ranger actually hesitated, but for once she did what she was told. Kerone fired once more before grabbing the edge of the hull and swinging through the hatch.

She staggered a little as she hit the deck, and Cetaci steadied her. Delphinius put a foot on the ladder and reached for the hatch, slamming it shut behind them. Holstering his blaster without comment, she slid into the pilot's seat and ignited the thrusters again. The real trick now was getting out.

"Damn you!" She had been expecting Delphinius to explode, and she tried her best to tune it out as she eased the zord out of its impact site.

"Damn you and your invincibility!" Delphinius shouted. "What were you thinking! You must have known when Carlos and Aura were away, so *why* didn't you come back?"

"I--I found something," Cetaci answered, sounding the slightest bit shaken at his vehemence. There was a pause and the sound of movement, and then she added, "One of the aliens used one to cut us all off from the Power."

Kerone wished she could spare the time to be impressed. Those spheres could spell doom for the Rangers, but if Cetaci had managed to bring one back intact, it would at least give them a fighting chance of figuring out how to counteract it.

"Damn you for always being the hero," she heard Delphinius mutter, and there was a waver in his voice that she had never heard from an Aquitian. If it had been one of her teammates, she would have said he was crying, but she didn't dare turn around and find out.

Despite her concentration, zords just didn't hover well, and going up was a lot harder than coming down had been. She tried to follow the track she had made on the way in, but it was a narrow corridor and she was hitting decks everywhere she turned. *It's like the ship wasn't designed to fly through,* she thought, irritated with the time it was taking.

At last they broke through into the launch bay again, right on the tail of another wave of velocifighters. The wing tried to turn on them, but between the zord's weaponry and their own crossfire in the confined space, more laser fire struck the velocifighters than the zord. For a brief moment, there was fire all around them, and she could only put her faith in the shields as the zord blasted its way out of the launch bay.

The launch bay, needless to say, had not been designed to handle firefights, and it began to collapse behind them as the Aquitian zord sailed out into the freedom of space. "They won't be launching anything else from *there*," Kerone murmured, satisfied with whatever luck had turned a bad situation into a positive development.

"There are at least two other launch bays," Cetaci began, but Delphinius cut her off before she could continue.

"Shut up, Cetaci," he told her tiredly.

Cetaci quieted without protest.

*TJ,* Kerone thought, diverting as little concentration as she could from the zord. She felt the flicker of awareness as she linked with him, and knew she had his full attention. *We're away.*

***

TJ looked up, startled to hear Kerone's voice in the cramped cockpit of the Sirethian zord. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, and he waved off Saryn's questioning look.

*I have Delphinius and Cetaci with me,* Kerone was saying. *We just cleared the shields, and we should be out of blast range in... thirty seconds.*

"Got it," he said aloud. Saryn raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged self-consciously. *I don't even know if she can hear me...*

*I can hear you,* Kerone's voice answered. *We're about to be intercepted; give me a few more seconds.*

*Right,* TJ thought carefully, a little unnerved to have her responding to his thoughts.

"Kerone?" Saryn asked, and he nodded.

"She and Delphinius got Cetaci; they're trying to get out of the blast zone now. Billy, do you have them on tactical?"

"That's affirmative," Billy answered, not turning. "Another thousand kilometers should put them outside of the worst of it."

*A thousand kilometers, Kerone,* TJ thought, not sure she would hear him at all. Even if she did, she could probably see that as well as Billy. But it made him feel like he was doing *something*.

*Thanks,* she answered. There was an agonizingly long pause, and then, *We're clear. Do it, TJ.*

TJ pushed the trigger.

***

"V1, pull up!"

Rocky veered out of the way at almost the last second, seemingly untroubled that he had been on a collision course with one of the Parikat cruisers. Ashley sighed, shaking her head again. She was no wing commander, but the Mega V pilots needed all the help they could get.

"V1, back up V3," she ordered. At least Justin had a basic grasp of flight and tactics. He had kept Rocky in line this long, she almost hated to ask him to keep doing it. But someone had to keep Mega V1 from being blown to pieces.

"V4 and V6, with me," she said, coming around to follow the leading edge of velocifighters. With everyone else occupied by the fleets, the Defense wing was having trouble holding its own against what was now a swarm of literally hundreds of the little quantron-piloted ships. They were using the Red Aquitian zord to rally around, but it she could see for herself that it wasn't enough.

"Andros," she told the comm, keeping an eye on her tactical screen as Emily and Ali followed her into the fray. "You've got friendly fire coming in at..." She frowned at her readout, hastily realigning it with his zord's spin. "45 by 60. What's your status?"

"Outnumbered," he reported. "But full strength. You?"

"Two of the Mega V zords are down," she told him. "And Rocky's losing shields. We're good otherwise." *Good being a relative term,* she thought, sparing a single glance for the Megaship.

A brilliant flash of light cast unnatural shadows across the inside of her cockpit before her forward screen went dark. "What was that?" she demanded, searching her tactical map.

"Dark Spectre's ship," Andros said.

She looked up automatically, but the screen was still dark, dimming the stars and keeping the harsh light of the explosion from blinding her. "They're clear?" There was no need to specify whom she meant.

"Kerone, Delphinius and Cetaci are on Zaal," Andros answered. "The zord suffered heavy damage, but they're all right."

"Ashley!" Ali's voice brought her back to the velocifighters just as the three zords dove into their midst.

"V4, V6, don't underestimate the Defense fighters," Ashley told them, rolling out of the way of the fighter Ali had started to warn her about. "We're just reinforcements."

*Reinforcements we desperately need,* Andros said wryly, and she started. She could almost see Aura's zord around him as he spoke, and she knew suddenly that Aura and Carlos were behind him.

*That's spooky,* she told him. *Don't do that.*

"Sorry, Ash," Andros' voice said over the comm. "It's this weird Aquitian link. I think it's acting as an amplifier."

"Worry about it later," she suggested, grinning at his sheepish tone. "Behind you!"

Canthris banked sharply, and a Defense fighter came out of nowhere to target Andros' pursuer. Ashley slammed her own zord forward to help Emily out, and a Defense fighter flitted between them as it fell into formation with two of its wingmates. She couldn't help but think it monumentally unfair that nothing seemed to have changed with the destruction of Dark Spectre's ship.

***

"If there were any justice," Cassie muttered, feeling the Megaship tremble beneath her, "the velocifighters at least would have blown up with Dark Spectre's ship."

Linnse banged her fist down on the console. "I just lost weapons."

"Damn." Cassie didn't have time for further comment, trying as she was to keep the Megaship from ramming into one of the Parikat cruisers. The flagship just kept pummeling them, and now the rest of the fleet seemed to be getting in on the act. Cestria and Billy were helping, but it just wasn't enough.

"So how's Phantom?" Linnse asked, leaning back in her chair and putting her hands behind her head.

"Fine," Cassie replied, through gritted teeth. "If you're not going to help, at least be quiet."

"I *can't* help!" Linnse exclaimed, frustrated. "This is a no-win situation, and the sooner you accept that the better our chances of getting out alive!"

She didn't answer, and another laser blast clipped the Megaship's bow. She did have a brief moment of satisfaction as Linnse scrambled to grab the console before the violent jolt knocked her out of her seat, but it was quickly overshadowed by DECA's announcement. "Forward shields have failed. Estimated two minutes to aft shield failure."

"Come on," Linnse said, grabbing her arm. "We're leaving."

"I'm staying here!" Cassie argued, put Linnse would not be put off.

"I'm not letting this ship take you with it," she said firmly, dragging her out of Andros' seat. "Let's *go*."

The ship bucked, throwing them both against the second row of stations. With the inertial dampers down and the shields gone, there was nothing gentle about the impact, and it was a horrible sensation to feel something snap as she slammed into the status console.

"Hull breach on deck three," DECA announced. "Bulkheads are sealing now. You will not be able to reach the hangar bay once the Megalift loses power."

The Megalift doors opened at the back of the Bridge, rather pointedly Cassie thought, and Linnse pulled her toward them. "Let's go," she repeated.

Cassie took one step and felt herself stagger as a sharp pain shot through her chest. She gasped, putting out one hand to catch herself, and Linnse ducked under her arm and pulled it across her shoulders. "You'll be all right! Come on!"

The ship rocked again as the Megalift doors closed behind them, less violently, and Cassie thought it must have hit what was left of the aft shields. "Aft shields have failed," DECA told them. "Incoming enemy vessel."

Cassie groaned. "More of them? From where?"

"Origin unknown," DECA responded. The Megalift faltered briefly and the lights dimmed. "Routing emergency power to the Megalift."

"Thanks, DECA," Cassie murmured, knowing the computer was doing everything it could to get them off the Megaship alive. "Start download program DECA one."

"Unable to comply," DECA replied.

Cassie froze. "What?" If DECA went down with the Megaship, Andros would never forgive her.

"I will not comply until the Megalift reaches the hangar bay," DECA informed her. She sounded--just slightly--smug.

Cassie sighed, exchanging glances with Linnse. "She won't leave until we do."

"Then come on," Linnse said, urging her forward as the lift doors opened again. "You'd better take Phantom's fighter--will you be able to get inside?"

"Yeah," Cassie muttered, pausing inside the bay doors. "DECA, get out here *now*."

The data port in the hangar stored only one kind of data: a copy of DECA's basic programming, into which her sentient component could escape in the event of the Megaship's destruction. A "soul vessel", Ashley had called it once, and Cassie could only assume she was repeating something Andros had said to her.

But the data port did not snap open and deliver the cube into her hands the way Andros had described it. She glared up at the ceiling. "We don't have time for this, DECA!"

There was another long pause, and she felt Linnse shift impatiently. "DECA?"

DECA's tone sounded distinctly startled when she finally spoke. "The Megaship is no longer under laser bombardment. The enemy ship has opened fire on the Parikat fleet."

***

Andros felt his heart clench as the Dark Fortress wavered into view directly above the Megaship. It dwarfed the damaged battleship, giving the impression of casting a shadow even where it didn't. It spun lazily for several long seconds, broadcasting no signals, taking no sides.

He didn't know where the Dark Fortress had come from. He didn't know when its EM cloak had been completed. He certainly didn't know how close the massive ship of evil was to being finished, though the structural lines grew more solid every time he saw it. But right now, there was only one question on his mind.

Who did the Dark Fortress answer to?

Ecliptor's unmistakable voice came over the intership comm frequency, broadcasting on a wide band to anyone who would listen. "Where is Astronema?"

Andros swallowed, knowing it wouldn't even cross his sister's mind to hide. Kerone's voice cut through the fighter chatter a moment later. "This is--Astrea, on board the Aquitian zord Zaal."

The chatter was subtly more muted, and Andros realized it was dying off. The velocifighters were slowing, as if confused by the openly broadcasted conversation, and the Mega V zords were soaking up the reprieve. Even the Defense fighters were coasting, taking half-hearted shots at anyone who got too close but not actively pursuing.

"And who are your enemies, Astrea?" Ecliptor demanded.

Andros frowned, staring from his tactical map to the comm. There was something terribly surreal about this whole situation, and it sounded somehow... set up. If Kerone had had this planned from the beginning--but she couldn't have. She would have said something, at least to him if not the rest of the team.

"Anyone who serves Dark Spectre is my enemy," Kerone replied at last, and Andros winced.

There was a pause where time seemed to slow, and the oppressive sense of minutes ticking by elsewhere weighed down on Andros. It was as though the battle had resumed all around him and he just couldn't turn fast enough to register it, couldn't move fast enough to do anything about it.

The scanners chimed their abrupt warning as laser arrays all across the Dark Fortress powered up, and he was thrust back into realtime in the blink of an eye. The lasers were another new development, Andros thought distantly, watching the ship discharge its own waves of velocifighters into the center of the Parikat fleet. For one eternal moment, their target was unclear.

Then the Dark Fortress opened fire on the vessels surrounding the Megaship.

***

Ashley closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the massive destruction taking place around her. They're the enemy, she reminded herself. Most of them weren't even alive. Not the velocifighters, anyway, and probably a good portion of the occupying fleet as well.

But there were living beings in the Parikat fleet, and though she *knew* they were irredeemably evil, it pained her to watch the pyrotechnics display. It didn't hurt so much with her eyes closed... in the darkness it was easier to focus, to remind herself that these were beings that would have destroyed her and everything she loved in a heartbeat.

*It was them or us,* she reminded herself. The Power agreed, oddly. It was a strange feeling to think that, but she could almost sense it inside of her, like an... observer. It mourned the loss of life, but *only* the loss of life. It did not regret in the slightest the destruction of such an evil in the universe.

To feel sorry on principle and to actually be troubled were entirely different things, Ashley thought. It reassured her to think that that was so; that she could wish things were different without doubting that what she had done was right.

Her comm crackled to life, announcing an override transmission from someone who had the authority to do it. Cassie's voice came through the allcall, sounding tired but triumphant. "Megaship to all ships. Everyone sound off, no status. Mega V, go."

"Mega V1," Rocky's voice replied promptly.

"Mega V2," Jeff answered.

"Mega V3," Justin chimed in. "Way to go, guys!"

Ashley couldn't help but smile.

"Mega V4," Emily said, sounding strangely calm.

"Mega V5." Tessa, on the other hand, sounded more shaken then Ashley had ever heard her.

"Mega V6," Ali reported with a chuckle, and on her tactical map Ashley saw Zhane's zord do a barrel roll.

"Aquitar, go," Cassie said, and all of a sudden Ashley wondered which order the Aquitian zords reported in. Was she second?

"Mireth," Cestria answered.

Into the silence, Ashley shrugged to herself. "Lissan, with Zhane."

"Didn't think you knew I was here," he said dryly, leaning against the back of her chair.

"It's called concentration," she informed him quietly. "Some people have it, some people don't."

"Canthris," Andros said, after a similar pause. "Carlos and Aura are with me."

"Zaal," Kerone's voice put in. "I've got Delphinius and Cetaci."

"Sirethian, with TJ and Saryn," Billy finished.

This time it was Linnse's voice that said, "Defense wing, go."

"Def-1, with everyone accounted for," a voice replied. "Megaship, go," he added insolently.

Ashley heard Zhane snicker, but they both waited on the reply.

"Still here," Linnse deadpanned. "Critical med, check in. Other than you, Cassie."

"Aura," Andros' voice said. "Poison and dehydration. She needs to be on the Megaship as soon as possible."

"Zhane," Ashley put in. "Sprained wrist and multiple hits to the head. Not that you can tell the difference."

"Very funny," he muttered.

"Saryn," Billy added. "I don't know *what's* wrong with him, but he only started talking again a few minutes ago." There was the briefest of pauses, and then he added, "And he wants to know what happened to Cassie."

"Cassie," Linnse said, mimicking the others' check in. "Lacerations and probably a broken rib or two."

"Linnse," Cassie's voice retorted. "Bruises and at least a cracked rib. Not to mention a hit to the head. That one's pending."

Ashley tried not to giggle but it was hard, especially when Zhane snickered. "I could help her with that," he muttered quietly.

"The Megaship's on emergency power, but I think the Medical bay's intact," Linnse said, ignoring Cassie's commentary. "You'll have to teleport yourselves, and I'm not guaranteeing anything, but it's better than nothing."

"Oh, I don't know," Zhane said idly. "Nothing sounds pretty good right now."

"You're going," Ashley told him firmly. "Get out." She activated the teleportation stream before he could protest, and watched with some amusement as he vanished into a whirl of yellow.

*Andros?* she thought, wanting the reassurance of his voice speaking to her.

*Carlos and Aura are gone,* he said, and again she could feel the strange echo of his surroundings in his mental voice. *Did you send Zhane off to the Megaship?*

*Yeah, but I'm not sure he was happy about it.* She hesitated only a moment, not quite long enough for him to answer but just enough time to convince herself she wasn't silly for asking. *Are you all right?*

*I'm all right,* he replied. *Are you?*

She sighed. *We survived. Heck, we *won*. I don't think that part's even sunk in yet.*

*That's not what I asked,* he reminded her gently.

She took a deep breath, staring out at the twinkling points of light through her forward screen. Most were stars, a couple were planets, and some--the flickers, mostly, the ones she almost saw but couldn't quite catch--were ships. Zords that had fought with her, fighters that had fought with them all... and somewhere, the Megaship, with the uneasy shadow of the Dark Fortress looming over it.

Ecliptor was on their side. That must make Kerone happy. It might make everyone else uncomfortable, but there was no question that he'd shown where his true loyalties lay. The Dark Fortress had saved the Megaship, and in so doing, it had saved them all--not just from the ravages of battle, but from the pain of losing a home.

*Yeah,* she thought slowly, smiling a little at the flickers of light on her screen. *I'm all right.*