"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Tanya snapped as they managed to set the transport back up on its wheels, getting a good look for themselves.
The impact of the transport left imprints in the ground, and there was an imprint of where Adam should have been, but he was gone.
"Where the hell did he go?"
"Guys, we should really get back to the Command Center. Now that Zolara has defected with the Eltarian crystal, it's only a matter of time before Astronema mounts a full-scale attack against Eltar. We have to be ready," William mentioned.
Tanya fell to her knees, kneeling over the spot where Adam was crushed with the transport vehicle with tears in her eyes. "I never got to tell him I loved him," she sighed.
Tommy walked towards her, but Katherine but a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Tommy tacitly agreed, and Katherine walked over to her. "Tanya, we don't know for sure what happened to Adam. Right now, we have to get back to the Command Center. Zordon will know what to do," she said, trying to comfort her.
Tanya reluctantly stood up, wiping the tears away from her eyes.
"I'll see if I can get the transport restarted. If not, we're in for a long walk," Tommy said.
*-*
The doors to Astronema's thrown doors slid open, and he stepped in cautiously. After realizing no one else was in the room, he headed over to one of the main control panels, going through information on the computers.
'According to this, the Zeonizers are being held in containment room C. That's three decks away from here,' he thought to himself, trying to come up with a way to get there undetected. So involved in his thoughts, he didn't hear the doors open again.
"Phantom Ranger? What are you doing? You're not authorized to access those files," a voice said.
He quickly turned around, finding himself face to face with Ecliptor. "You're paranoid, aren't you Ecliptor?" he asked him.
"Paranoid of what?"
"Astronema has grown quite fond of me the last few weeks. I've been able to do what you couldn't; defeat the rangers in battle. Soon, I will be her new general, and you will be reduced to a mere foot soldier in her army," he told him.
"You're out of your mind, Astronema is like a daughter to me. My trust in her is absolute," he said firmly.
"But is her trust? If it were, she would have informed you of her newest plan to defeat the rangers once and for all. If it were, she wouldn't have told me first," he said.
He paused slightly. "I am aware of the plan,"
The Phantom Ranger heard the insincerity in Ecliptor's voice, and decided to use it against him. "Then you know Astronema plans to use the rangers morphers to create neuro-tronic bombs. I have been ordered to modify the morphers and teleport them just outside the Command Center, and at the right moment, blow it off the face of the planet," he told him.
He paused again. "I know. I am here to assist you. Astronema ordered that we work together to ensure its success. Besides, without the proper encryption code, you wouldn't be able to gain access to the containment room,"
"I was hoping you'd say that. Take me to the morphers so I can begin the modifications," he said.
Without a word, Ecliptor turned around, leading the Phantom Ranger out the room.
*-*
The four of them returned to the Command Center, only to find it in ruins.
"Oh my God," Katherine sighed as she got a good look at what was left of their base of operation.
It was Tommy who pointed to burn marks on the walls. "Look, disrupter fire. There was a battle here," he mentioned.
"From the looks of it, main power is off line and secondary systems have been disabled as well," he glanced up. "Oh no," he sighed.
The others turned their attention to the tube in the contained Zordon… or at least where the tube was suppose to be.
"Oh God, they destroyed Zordon," Tanya cried.
"No, from the looks of it, his entire tube has been removed. He was kidnapped," William said.
"That's it, its over. Astronema and Dark Spector have won," Tommy sighed.
"We can't give up Tommy," Katherine said, reaching out towards him, but he snatched away from her.
"We shouldn't have come here. I put my wife in danger, my unborn child in danger, and now even Zordon is gone. We have no powers, no zords, no Command Center and Adam is gone. There's nothing left," he snapped.
"I was against coming here, I wanted to stay at home and raise our family, but eventually Astronema will lead her forces to Earth and wipe us out. We're the last chance Earth has to stop this invasion from happening, to save…" she was cut short.
"No, we're not the last chance Earth has. We're not rangers anymore, we gave our powers to TJ and the others. This isn't our fight anymore," he said.
"We can't just give up Tommy," Tanya sighed.
"So what should we do? We're powerless and defenseless; maybe if we go to Astronema and ask nicely, she'll stop the attack. Adam is gone, the Phantom Ranger is captured and we can't even defend ourselves, much less stop an army. Its over," he snapped.
"Not necessarily," a voice said.
The four of them turned around and saw him standing behind them. It was obviously a ranger, but none of them had even seen a uniform quite like his. There was a white stripe across his chest, and inside the stripe were five multi-colored squares.
"Who are you?" Katherine asked.
"I'm Andros from KO-35, the last of the Astro rangers," he said, removing his helmet.
"Do you know what happened here?" William inquired.
"When I arrived, the Command Center was being overrun by Quantrons and Cogs. I did my best to hold them off, but I could only do so much. Zordon contacted me telepathically just before he was captured and told me to assist the four of you in any way I could. Although the morphers you have contain no power signature, I was able to track you with the embedded homing signals in each one, which is how I knew where to find you. I managed to teleport one of your friends on board my ship before he was destroyed," he explained.
"Adam," Tanya said eagerly, taking a step forward.
He nodded. "Yes, he was injured, but he will recover. He is resting as we speak," he said.
"Can I see him?"
"Yes, all of you should come with me. I have a plan that will help shift the balance of power in this war, but I'll need your help," Andros said.
They all looked at Tommy, who still had a monotone look on his face. Finally, Katherine reached out, grabbing his hand, and he cracked a smile.
"Alright guys, lets do it," he said.
*-*
Zolara walked into the thrown room, kneeling down in front of Astronema. "I present to you the Eltarian crystal," she said, handing it to her.
Astronema took the crystal, admiring it. "Finally, we will be able to harness the power of the crystal and destroy the forces of good once and for all. Evil will reign through out the universe," she said with a sinister smile on her face.
Just then, Ecliptor walked into the room, bowing slightly in front of Astronema. "My Princess, I am pleased to report that your plan is going ahead of schedule," he said.
"Plan? What plan?"
"To use the ranger's morphers as a bomb and destroy the Command Center," he reminded her.
"Destroy the Command Center? We have already have Zordon, and the rangers are powerless. What would be gain from destroying the Command Center?" she asked him.
"But my Princess, the Phantom Ranger told me that you…" he paused, realizing what happened. "Oh no," he sighed.
"What have you done?" she snapped.
"I gave him access to the morphers," he said.
"Stop him!" she screamed.
Ecliptor ran out the room.
~
As rushed into the containment room, where The Phantom Ranger had all five morphers in his possession.
"Stop right there traitor!" Ecliptor yelled, pulling out his sword.
He lunged at him, but the Phantom Ranger disappeared into a stream of light.