PoV: Cassie

We did it. I can't believe it.

The Kandrona Dome is gone. The place that haunted our nightmares, the place that so personified "hell on earth" that it should have had "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here" written on its' entrance, has been totally destroyed. The involuntary Controllers are free, even now running up to the surface. The Yeerks in the Pool are dead.

As are the voluntary controllers.

Up until now, we've avoided killing human hosts, even the voluntary ones. It still felt too much like murder. But we no longer have that luxury. The war has been escalated by both sides, into an open, all-out full-scale war. And in any war like that, there are casualties. Jake brought the issue up while we were preparing for this attack. None of us objected to his plan.

Those people betrayed their planet and their entire species, of their own free will. They knew full well what they were doing. And while I will still lose sleep at night, when I see their terrified faces again and again, I've made my peace with this decision.

But I can't help wondering if even I've been hardened by these past two years.

We rematerialize on the surface, next to the McDonald's that acted as a front for the Pool. That building has now collapsed, exposing the tunnels beneath. A flood of crying, laughing former Controllers streams out of those tunnels, quickly overpowering the few shell-shocked guards on the surface. Already the sound of police sirens and fire trucks fills the air.

The Yeerks have just been exposed.

We stand there a moment, soaking in the image. After fighting a guerilla war for so long, after barely keeping ourselves alive...we're winning.

Then a roar throws the crowd into an even greater fervor, and I realize we forgot something very important.

Visser 3.

The other Rangers and I quickly and instinctively form up into a circle, pointing our weapons skyward. It sounds like he's using a flying morph...

Then his massive form rounds the corner of a nearby skyscraper, and my jaw drops in shock.

WHERE

DID

HE

GET

A

DRAGON

MORPH!!??

Please tell me he can't breath fire...

FWOOOSH!

Well, that answers that question. The Rangers, including me, scatter like bowling pins to avoid the jet of flames. Even with our suits, it HURTS!

Jake is on his feet first, with his Power Sword out. He fire a blast of red energy at the dragon...and it dissipates harmlessly against the armored hide. Apparently dragonhide is as tough in real life as it is in fantasy.

(FOOLISH HUMANS!) the Visser roars in our minds. (IF I DON'T KILL YOU, THE BUG FIGHTERS WILL!)

Bug fighters? What...oh. Yes, there they are, coming towards us in a steep dive. We're in big trouble.

Then the wrist communicators Zedd gave each of us crackles. I hear Zedd's voice. "Rangers! Now that the Yeerks have upped the stakes, you can answer at the same level. Call forth your Zords!"

I'm about to ask him what he means, when suddenly I realize that I already know. Knowledge of a mighty yellow cat suddenly fills my mind, and I know exactly what to do. We all do.

"WE NEED DINOZORD POWER NOW!"

Withing seconds our Zords answer our call. The crowds have actually stopped screaming now, and are watching in helpless amazement.

The Saber-Toothed Tiger approaches me, roaring its' greeting. Without hesitation, I leap 30 stories straight up into its' cockpit. The instant I land inside, I know what every last switch and button does.

Now I truly understand why they call it "The Power".

"Rangers, log on!" I hear Jake call.

"Marco here! Anyone have some grapes they want pressed?"

"Tobias here! This kicks ass!"

"Aximili here. This is most impressive, my Prince."

"Rachel here! Let's get'em!"

My turn. "Cassie here! Lets fry some dragon!"

Unfortunately, Visser 3 has taken one look at our mecha and is now headed rapidly in the opposite direction. But the bug fighters are still coming in, twelve of them. They split into six two-ship groups and attack all of us.

I'm the closest one to them. I activate my cannon, incinerating one fighter with one shot. The other banks away, and my next shot misses, but my third shot doesn't.

With that done, I look around the battlefield. The Triceratops shoots down its' Bug fighters with virtually the same results I had. The Dragon uses its' hand missles. The Mammoth freezes the wings of its' opponents, and they spiral helplessly into the ground. Up in the sky, Rachel literally flies rings around the two fighters attacking her, before effortlessly knocking them out of the sky. Finally, the Tyrannosaurus has waited until the last two Bug fighters have swooped close to the ground, firing their weapons. Jake shrugs off the blows and leaps into the air. As he passes in between the alien ships, his legs shoot out and crush them. The very ground shakes as he lands.

As one, we look around for more opponents. But all opposition is gone. Visser 3 has disappeared, along with the few remaining Controllers. The battle is over, and we've won.

I pick up a new sound on my audio sensors. Cheering. The crowd is cheering us. Not just those who escaped from the Pool, but everyone else too. We're finally getting appreciation for what we've done.

"Guys..." Marco's voice sounds, for once, completely serious.

"I know." Jake sounds like he's crying.

I have tears leaking out of my own eyes. Like Winston Churchhill said, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. It is, however, the end of the beginning."

To be continued...