What, no reviews pouts? Come on guys… I no this is no drama like "Shiera" or suspense story like "Karone", but I thought it will attract at least some attention. If it keeps like that I just won't bother on the follow-up I started on, and concentrate more efforts on my other projects…

Oh, and Amichai died three years ago. I checked.

It's Monday night in the story, changing into Tuesday.

6. Shadows Approaching

"As far as my eyes can see
There are Shadows approaching me
And to those I left behind
I wanted you to Know
You've always shared my deepest thoughts
You follow where I go"

"Old And Wise", by "The Alan Parsons Project"

With eight planets and three military forces to alert, the Rangers had no choice but to split up, each taking a separate route for the time being. In his mind, Andros knew it was necessary. Looking down at the Megaship's controls, however, he felt fear gnawing at him nonetheless.

"Engage, DECA" he said. "Maximum speed"

The deck trembled under his feet as DECA complied.

"Estimated time of arrival to Aquitar, three hours and fifteen minutes"

"Thanks, DECA"

Aquitar, being the only planet that had both an army and a Ranger team, was the most important planet in the so-called Rear, or Alpha, Front. Therefore, it only made sense that Andros, leader of the Astro team, will be sent there.

Perhaps taking the Megaship wasn't such a good idea, he thought as he sank into the command chair. He refused Melissa's offer of a quicker, smaller courier ship. At the time, he thought that he would be more comfortable in the familiar spacecraft; it didn't turn out this way. Last time he's been alone on the Megaship, he believed that he was alone in the universe, too. Those memories, and others, weighed heavily on his heart. Alone. That word spelled the fear that he never admitted. It stood for everything that ever went wrong in his life.

Not just his own life. Different memories drifted through his head, memories of another time, another person: the one whose Crystal Andros inherited. Kaylan's life was sipping into Andros's mind. The red Ranger knew, now, how lonely was the famous assassin: mistrusted on both sides of the conflict, despised by his elder brother, cared for only by his sister. That ancient offence, coupled with Andros's own past, was almost too much for the teenager.

I'm not him, Andros reminded himself firmly, and I'm not alone, either. He closed his eyes and turned his focus inward: his seething mind was not the only thing he sensed. There was Zhane's familiar, blazing persistency; the keen intensity of Karone's mind; Melissa's sorrow and faith; and the star-like quality that was Ashley.

Melissa called Ashley "Hope", he thought. It's just so fitting. The yellow Ranger was the eternal optimist, always looking for – and finding – the silver lining of every cloud. Andros once mistook her optimism for innocence. Now that he knew better, he only valued her more for it.

Thinking of his girlfriend's unvanquished cheerfulness made him feel slightly better. I'm not alone, Andros reminded himself. Coming to think of it, I never really was on my own, even if I didn't know it at the time. I made it through then; we'll most certainly pull it through now. He opened his eyes. The memories were still there, but their edge was dulled. We are going to win this war.

Cassie silenced the alarm and pulled herself to a sitting position. It was 2 a.m., Angel Grove time, but the pink Astro Ranger felt widely awake: any minute now, her spacecraft would reach the Bookala solar system. She took out a pocket mirror and checked her hair. The tight braid she made before falling asleep looked neat enough. As for her everyday clothes… She morphed, and took off her helmet: she'd better look as representative as possible.

The nav system bleeped: the courier ship has just dropped out of hyperspace. Cassie walked the 1.5 meters to the controls, and turned off the cloaking mechanism. Bookala's Space Transportation Control Center hailed her immediately. Cassie licked her lips nervously, and opened the visual channel.

"I am Cassie Chan, pink Astro Ranger from Earth", she said, looking straight into the camera and praying that the Bookalan automated translator really could handle English. "I bring you a message of the highest priority"

There was a short pause, and then, a clearly mechanical voice came through: "Please wait". After a few minutes of nerve-wrecking silence, her craft's screen switched on to show two clearly alien creatures.

"Cassie Chan", said one of them, speaking heavily accented English. "I am Junthar, a linguist. I serve as speaker to my people. My comrade is Hyquastry, Chief of Staff of our Armed forces. What is the message you bring us, pink Ranger?"

"The message is recorded, speaker. I must not speak of it over the comm"

The speaker translated her words to the Chief of Staff, and nodded as he heard the reply.

"Teleportation coordinates are being sent to you craft's computer as we speak" he informed her.

The coordinates flashed across the command board. Cassie held her fingers over the keypad.

"Teleporting to the surface… Now"

Lexian, king of Edenoi, flipped the disk in his hand once more. "So this is a Rangers' war, is it", he sighed, "And Edenoi's Rangers are summoned, too"

"This isn't only Power Rangers' war", answered TJ evenly. "Melissa is calling all the warriors of the Light"

A faint smile crossed Lexian's wizened features. "Melissa, you call her?"

"That's her name"

"Few call the Yuria by their name", explained the king, speaking kindly. "Ever had they been of the mightiest, most respected beings among the people of Light"

"I think she prefers to be called Melissa," said TJ simply. "She needs your help and, quite frankly, we all do. It's a pretty big war we're heading into"

"The greatest in almost ten millennia", said the king softly. "Understand, blue Ranger; my grandson and only heir is one of our Rangers. Should I have my wish, he would remain here. But," he raised his hand, silencing TJ, "This is not my decision to make. It is his". Lexian sighed again. "He will say yes, as will Zarius, Farian and Dorais, his teammates", said the old man quietly. "I'll call them in and let you talk to them yourself"

Trey, lord and Gold Ranger of Triforia, looked curiously at the disk bearing Phoenix's emblem that lay in his palm. "There's more to her than Phoenix, isn't there", he said. He flipped the disk over, and nearly dropped it as he saw the symbol on the other side of the disk. "The Êjérnor emblem!"

Carlos smiled at the gold Ranger's excitement. Shiera, however, remained expressionless.

"Phoenix is Yuria Melissa of Netherie", she said.

"Indeed", whispered Trey. In his palm, the symbol shifted, the colors and lines drifting to create a similar, but not identical, emblem. "This is the Yuria's call for war. The long-prophesied war, at last!"

"We live in interesting times" said Carlos matter-of-factly.

Trey smiled wryly at that. "You will need both Triforia's Defense Troops and myself, I presume?"

"Everything is recorded on the disk", said Carlos.

"We need to get going", added Shiera. "Carlos needs to get to Inquiris, and I have to pay a visit to Horath"

"I see", nodded the golden Ranger. "Is anything else I can do for you, before you leave?"

Both teenagers shook their heads.

"Thanks, but no", said Carlos.

"May the stars shine on you paths", said Trey.

"And light the way till morning comes", completed Shiera. "Have luck".

"We certainly got the worst of assignments", muttered Ashley into her helmet's comm. She and Zhane were sitting, morphed, in the front line of the UN assembly.

"I can do the speech, if you want", offered Zhane.

"I don't have a problem speaking in front of an audience," explained Ashley, "But I'm about to tell the people of my planet that they're stuck in the middle of an interstellar conflict they know nothing of"

"You're also about to tell them that other planets are sending their own troops to help here", pointed out Zhane.

"Somehow, I don't think it'll cheer them up"

"Are they really that xenophobic?"

"You have no idea. For the first years, people wouldn't believe that the Rangers really were the good guys"

"I didn't see that in the data banks!"

"Probably because it's not there"

The secretary of the UN finished her speech, and got off the stand. This was Ashley's signal. Zhane heard her taking a deep breath as she got up.

"Just do it", he whispered encouragingly.

"Thanks", she answered, spreading the sheets of paper in front of her and smoothing them over. She took another stabilizing breath, and switched from Ranger comm to mic.

"People of Earth", she began. "As the secretary said, it is a historic moment, when a Power Ranger first speaks to you all. Unfortunately, it is under grave circumstances that I must do so…"

"Everyone reported in", sighed Andros with relief. "Trey assumed command on the Alpha Front, and all the forces are on their way now"

Billy, who insisted on accompanying Andros from Aquitar to Eltar, stuck out his head from under the console. "Their movement will be detected shortly by Dark Specter's scouts", said the former blue Ranger.

"From what Karone told us, it'd take them a while", replied Andros.

"We will lose the element of surprise", said Billy pointedly.

"No, we won't" answered Andros, smiling mischievously. "For one thing, most of the forces destined for the Gamma and Delta Fronts are deploying to Eltar first; for the other, the Gray Guard's ships are cloaked. They won't be detected"

"Gamma is the enemy's territory, isn't it?" asked Billy, who apparently accepted Andros's explanation.

"And the Delta Front are the planets to be freed", confirmed Andros. "Beta Front is Eltar, and Epsilon is Netherie"

"It's only Gamma and Delta I keep confusing", complained Billy, ruffling his hair.

"You're not the only one stressed", offered Andros. "If it makes it any easier"

"Not really" sighed Billy, "But thanks anyway"

"You're welcome", said Andros earnestly.

Both guys sank back into their work.

From the outside, it looked just like another asteroid, a dead rock in the middle of space. But on the inside, the hidden city of Rt-921/7 was a beehive. The inhabitants were packing in a rush, knowing they may never return.

Karone stood on one of the balconies facing the vast central space, watching the evacuation from above. To her side stood Ghostglare, the unofficial mayor of the asteroid city.

"Some of us have lived her for years", he explained. "This was our hideout right from the start"

"You were one of Melissa's first, weren't you", she commented.

He nodded. "Her tenth", he confirmed. "I have lived here longer than I have lived in any other single place, and it is long since I was young"

"Hard is the life of an Evil-doer", said Karone absentmindedly. Her gaze was locked on something down under.

Ghostglare followed her stare. "Our children", he said. "They are being evacuated separately to a different, safer location"

"Children", whispered Karone. She was holding the railing so hard her knuckles have turned white. "You have children here?"

"They are our pride and joy. They play and laugh like children ought to do, like the children of our many species have never done in all of history". He smiled at the younger human. "Watching our children, we wonder how could we possibly be satisfied by what evil has to offer"

Tears blocked Karone's throat, and she swallowed them back. "Only the ones who never knew love may be satisfied by Evil" she managed to say before her voice failed her.

"You should know, Princess"

"You know who I was?"

"I do", he said, "And to us, you are still a princess: the princess of the repented"

The old monster's words made Karone smile through her tears. "Thank you", she whispered. She raised her hand to wipe her face, but Ghostglare blocked her gently.

"It is allowed to cry for what is lost", he said.

She lowered her hand. "I do not cry for what is lost", she said. "I cry for fear that the beauty that exists may be diminished"

"It will not happen. And even if it would, we will build the beauty again, grander and prettier than before"

She closed her eyes. "Yet it will not be the same, and the thought of all that is lost in war saddens me"

"Hard may be the life of the Evil-doer", said Ghostglare, "But the life of those who do good are none the easier"

Her fists tightened and slowly, the tears stopped. "A wise ancestor of mine said once", she told Ghostglare, her eyes still closed, "That the three most important things that war takes are innocence, Hope and idealism. Yet war may strengthen Faith, Will and our Trust in one another. By agonizing over what is lost yet rejoicing in what is gained, we maintain the essence of Goodness". She opened her eyes. "Thank you for reminding me"

He shook his head, slowly. "No, thank you", he said, "For bringing up those wise words, and for being the one you are"

"It takes the greater courage, doesn't it", she said, "To fight out of love rather than out of hate"

"Aye, it does", he answered.

They stood together in silence, staring into their thoughts, until the sentries arrived to tell them that the asteroid had been emptied, and the troops were good to go.

Next time: "Think of it as if I'm completing Karone's work"

(Honestly, guys, this line doesn't even hint on the bomb that's about to blow the next chapter)