Disclaimer: Not mine

Juzblue: One of them HAS to die. Unless I decide I like that person too much and figure out a way to let them live. And Aria as leader will be very... interesting is a good word. : )

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Okay, I'll respond to ALL of your review. :P I'm still confused as to Random People 1, 2, and 3 are, so I'm being completely honest when I say I don't know if Aria is Random Person 4. And I told you some stuff, now use it to TAUNT JENNY! (I should stop saying that) And I'm responding to all of your reveiw. Happy now? Huh? Is this nice enough:P I'll avoid the next question, but this chapter might give you a clue. So it's not fair to Issia to kill her 'real' kid, but it's okay to kill her adopted one? Okay, then... And who gave Jenny Time Force powers? That can't be smart... This review was a lot shorter than the last one (not that I'm keeping track.) 7 days until your birthday? By the time you read this, it will probably be 5 or something... Is that supposed to be a hint?

Piper xox Leo: Yeah, one of them is going to die. Sorry. I don't really want to kill them either.

Arwennicole: Andros can't be the leader anymore, because he'd risk everything to keep Ashley safe. That's sweet, but the rest of them might not see it that way. :P

Red Ranger Chick: Hey, someone other than Justin!

Melissa: It's okay, you don't have to write a long review if you don't want to. I like the long, random reviews that have nothing to do with the story, but if you don't feel like writing one, that's okay. :P

gobball: You're not the only one who wants them all alive. : )

Jenny: Umm... argh. You and AH/AY are going to ruin my story if you keep guessing. I'm not sure how to react to the rest, but it sounds like you and Wes need to take a long vacation. :P

LucyE: If you're reading this, I'm glad I made you feel better, and I hope that you had a happy birthday.

A/N: Wow, you people hate Justin. There were 3 votes for him, 2 for no one, 1 each for Andros, Zhane, and Aria, and 1 undecided.

Chapter 5: Before the Battle

The Megship

"Approaching Lamya," Deca announced.

"Cloaking sensors on," Aria ordered from the center seat on the bridge. To her right were Andros and Ashley, to her left, Karone and Zhane. Behind her sat Gabriel and Justin. Cathan was nowhere to be seen as they neared their destination.

"Cloaking sensors on," Deca confirmed.

Aria stood. "Everyone ready?" They nodded their heads. "Right, then," she said. "Hang on, we have to activate the crystals."

"How?" Gabriel asked.

"Touch them together," Cathan said, appearing on the bridge. Several of the rangers jumped, although they did their best not to show it.

"Don't sneak up on us like that," Aria warned him. "Or I might kill you by accident."

"I apologize," he said truthfully. He hadn't meant to scare them. "Are you all doing all right?"

"As well as we can be," Zhane said.

"That is understandable," Cathan said. "This mission can easily become complicated."

"We have to hurry," Aria said suddenly. On the scanner in front of her was the very clear image of another spacecraft. "That's Samael's ship. He's at the edge of the system, but he'll be here soon."

No one bothered to ask her how she knew that it was, in fact, Samael's ship. Instead, they crowded together in a circle, holding out the crystals in the center of the circle. The seven crystals touched together, but nothing happened.

"Dammit," Aria muttered. "Cathan, we need all eight to get the morphers!"

Cathan groaned silently. "Do you trust me?"

"Is that important right now?"

"Answer the question."

"You know I do," Aria told him. "Now do something!"

"Then let down your guard."

The entire conversation took place telepathically, in a matter of seconds, thoughts traveling countless times faster than words. Aria's first impulse was to refuse, but there was no time to argue. Completely knocking down the walls that were her mental blockade, she stiffened as Cathan channeled his power through her.

Energy shot through her entire body, before transferring from her to the white crystal she held clutched tightly in her right hand. As the power flowed into the white crystal, it spread to the other six, sending a radiating glow through the rangers. The instant the light had passed from the crystals to their holders, Aria yanked her hand back, and the light faded as it was absorbed completely into the bodies of its hosts.

"You couldn't have warned me first?" Aria shouted furiously, her blocks shooting back up as they all recovered from the shock. On their left wrists were the familiar weights of power morphers.

"You must hurry," Cathan said aloud. "Samael's soldiers are imprisoned in the stones on Lamya's surface. You must destroy them before Enni reanimates them."

"Come on," Aria said. "Morph by saying your color and then 'power up."

Again, no one bothered to ask how she knew this.

"Ready?" she asked after a pause, trying to settle her nerves. Taking a deep breath, she flung her left arm across her chest, her left wrist just below her right ear, in a similar stance to the one used by the rangers of the lost galaxy. Touching the fingers of her right hand to the morpher, she cried, "White light power up!"

"Red light power up!"

"Yellow light power up!"

"Green light power up!"

"Blue light power up!"

"Purple light power up!"

"Silver light power up!"

"Deca, teleport seven," Aria ordered, her confidence returning as her powers did. Maybe she could pull this off after all.

Cathan watched the rangers, knowing that this second chance was all that there would be. For better or for worse, this was Samael's last war.

The instant that they vanished from his sight, Cathan sank down into one of the seats, his forehed resting in his hands as he tried to relax. Every instinct told him that he should be down there, fighting alongside him. Then he sighed, knowing that the two reasons that he wanted to be down there were the exact reasons that he wasn't.

"Deca," he said, when the silence had stretched far too long. "Are the children still aboard the Megaship?"

"Affirmative," the AI responded.

"Where are they?"

"They are in the holding bay under the care of Alpha 6." Deca sounded dubious, and Cathan hid a smile. "Do you have children yourself, Cathan?"

His smile faded and he glared at the computer. "I do not, if you must know.."

"You want them, then," Deca observed. "Else you wouldn't be so concerned that Andros and Ashley have endangered theirs."

"Someday, I will have a family," Cathan said. "When this has finally ended." He sighed. "I prefer the silence after all. Can you please project the image onto the viewing screen?"

He sighed again as the team down on Lamya came into focus, the desire to join them flaring up again. You help them most by remaining here, he told himself sternly. They can defeat Samael without you.

Cathan wished that it was true.