Disclaimer: If I haven't told you that it's mine, then it belongs to Saban or Disney or whoever.

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: And you said Seren was going to be a brat:P

Mz. Daydream: Thanks. I figured I should make Andros and Ashley actually attempt to raise their children for once. :P

C.C.C: I would love to be Ashley, too! In this story, anyway, at least for a few more chapters. :P

Jenny: Yeah, I chose Different Defenders. You were the one who chose Out of the Darkness, weren't you? I should just let you name all my stories for me... Ryan's your friend, but you were too mad at Aidan to be nice to him. :P

DizneeDol: Thanks. It's okay that you didn't review! Don't worry about it. Good luck with school.

the-power-of-love: Thanks, here's more.

Mel: Yay, you have no homework! I do... but doing this is more fun. :P There was a storm? I guess that means it didn't affect me.

Chapter 11

The Megaship was cool and quiet, Deca's eye watching over everything and everyone. The AI's presence had made the rangers, Ryan especially, uneasy for the first few days, but after two weeks of living on the Megaship, they had come to rely on the ship's computer just as much as their predecessors had.

"Ryan?"

"Tem!" Ryan gasped, whirling around in his chair. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I thought you heard me come in," the yellow ranger protested as she stepped onto the bridge. "Watcha doing?"

"Nothing," Ryan said. "Just... thinking."

"Thinking?" Tempest repeated skeptically. "You?"

"Shut up," Ryan said with a small grin. "And yes, I was thinking."

"What about?" Tempest asked, plopping down in the seat next to him, somehow managing to sit cross legged in the chair and still look comfortable. "Battle plans?"

"No," Ryan said. "I don't know... maybe just... what we're fighting for."

"I thought we knew what we were fighting for," Tempest said warily. "Unless I missed something, we were against the Overlords, and -"

"Not that, Tem," Ryan said. "We know who we're fighting against, but have you ever thought about the people that we're defending?"

"No," Tempest admitted with a rueful grin. She looked at him knowingly and added, "Have you?"

"Not really," Ryan said. "Maybe I would have, if I could just remember..."

"Remember what?"

Ryan sighed. "You were just a baby when the Overlords came, Tem. You don't remember... but I should. I was nine, I think, when it happened. Nine-year-olds have memory. I've got nothing."

"Are you sure it's gone?" Tempest asked. "Maybe you didn't want to remember, and you buried it."

"I'm sure," Ryan said. "I've been looking for something to unbury, but it's just gone, like it was never there."

"Maybe you're not supposed to have it yet," Tempest suggested. "Maybe it's one of those things were it comes when it's needed."

"I think knowing who I am is needed," Ryan said.

"But it's not," Tempest said. "Not really. Who you are is you, not your name, or your family."

"Fine," Ryan agreed. "But I'd like to know where I came from."

"So would I," Tempest said. "You said I was a baby. Why didn't they kill me? They must have killed my parents, and brothers and sisters, if I had any."

Ryan shrugged. "We'll probably never know. Maybe when the Overlords came to sell everyone into slavery you were hidden, or asleep. They couldn't have done a very thorough job searching, not if Auntie was able to get seven of us in such a short time."

Tempest sighed. "You're probably right... I just wish there weren't so many maybes."

The alarm shrilled, and Tempest jumped. "Deca?"

"Skylar and Ximena are on KO-35," Deca reported. "There is no sign of Spyridon."

"Where are they?" Ryan demanded, leaping to his feet, reaching for his morpher and flipping it open.

"They are currently outside the home of Andros and Ashley," Deca replied, sounding worried.

"That's bad," Tempest said. "I don't think we should wait for the others."

"Don't worry, they were rangers," Ryan told her, although privately he agreed with her. "Deca... tell them to hurry."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashley stirred in her sleep and rolled over, trying to get comfortable. She was nearly in her fifth month of pregnancy and her stomach was more than just slightly swollen now.

Andros mumbled something as she pulled out of his embrace, and his arms twitched slightly, trying to pull her back. Ashley smiled and shifted so that she was facing him before easing back into his arms, and hoping that she'd be able to sleep on her left side for longer than she'd been able to on her right.

As Ashley settled back into his arms, Andros's eyes flickered open, and he readjusted his hold on her before falling back asleep. Ashley rested her head on his chest, the sound of his deep, even breathing lulling her back to sleep until Ashley heard a sound much more alarming.

Breaking glass.

"Andros," she whispered, knowing instinctively that something was wrong. Aidan and the twins were heavy sleepers, and wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night to wander around. "Andros, wake up."

"What's wrong?" Andros muttered sleepily, opening his eyes as she poked him hard in the ribs.

"I don't know," Ashley whispered, holding her stomach protectively. "Someone broke one of the windows..."

That was all Andros needed to hear to come wide awake. "Stay here."

"But Andros-"

Ashley's telepathic words were cut off by Andros's. "Stay here, Ash. I don't want you or the baby getting hurt."

The dark silence was shattered by a child's scream, and Ashley found it hard not to scream herself. "That's Jenny."

"Stay here," Andros said again, running out of the room. He skidded to a halt just outside of his daughter's room, leaping back as he recognized the two figures who emerged from it. Skylar and Ximena, who Ryan had claimed were the favored servants of the Overlords Idris and Ailbhe stepped out of the twins' room, each holding an unnaturally still chlid.

"Let my daughters go," Andros ordered, falling into a defensive stance.

"Can you handle him?" Ximena asked Skylar, who nodded and thrust Marieke into Ximena's arms. Ximena dropped both girls on the floor a safe distance away from Andros and headed down the hall. "I never did like that boy..."

Andros went cold with fear. They were going to go after Aidan as well... and there was no way he could stop them.

"Andros, what's going on?"

Ashley's voice snapped Andros out of his dazed state, and he charged at Skylar just as he heard Aidan start shouting. The boy's screams were cut short, and Andros nearly collapsed.

"Aidan!" he shouted telepathically. "Can you hear me?"

"Dad?"

Andros's relief at hearing his son's voice was short lived.

"Andros!" Ashley screamed. "The other one, he's here!"

"Fight him, Ash," Andros said, dodging a blow from Skylar's sword, unable to recall ever feeling this helpless. No matter how hard he fought, he was never going to be able to save all of them.

"I am fighting," Ashley told him, and he could hear the panic she was trying to suppress. The thought of losing his unborn child was almost too much for Andros to bear.

"Andros!"

He went weak with relief as he heard Ryan's voice, and a second later the red ranger was at his side, pressing a blaster into his hand. "Where are they?"

"Ximena went after Aidan," Andros said, his uppercut forcing Skylar back. "Spyridon... oh god, he's after Ashley."

"Go," Ryan said, stepping between Andros and Skylar. "Matt and Ciaran are already in Aidan's room. They'll take care of him."

Andros turned and sprinted back to his room. He wasn't sure how, but Ashley was still on her feet, although she didn't look to be that way much longer, not with the beating she was taking. She kept her arms clasped around her stomach, leaving her upper body completely open to attack as she managed to land a kick for every ten of Spyridon's blows.

"The child must not live," Spyridon shouted, his sword poised to strike. He took a step forward, and Ashley backed away. He was forcing her into a corner, and she knew it, but there was no escape.

Andros fired just as Spyridon raised his sword, and Ashley leapt out of the way, rushing over to his side, nearly dropping down at his feet.

"The child must not live," Spyridon repeated. "The child will not live..."

Then he vanished from their room, and Ashley's body fell limply against Andros's. He caught her as he started shaking, nearly dropping her. "It's all right, Ash," he murmured, trying to convince himself. "He's gone now."

"What about Aidan?" Ashley asked, looking more afraid than Andros had ever seen her before. "The twins?'

"Come on," Andros said, leading her cautiously out of the room, prepared to fight again at a split seconds notice, but all was silent except for the weary sighs of the rangers.

Aidan was standing next to Ryan as he was attempting to wake Jenny. Tempeset was shaking Marieke, but with no luck.

"Andros," Ashley whimpered as she saw them, clinging to his arm. "They're... they're not dead, are they?'

"No," Ryan said calmly, looking up at her as he demorphed. "They are not... they were just knocked unconscious."

"Let's get them to the Megaship," Andros said, still supporting Ashley, who was starting to sway on her feet. Her forearms were bruised a deep purple from where Spyridon had repeatedly pummeled her, trying to kill the unborn child. One eye was blackening, and her lip had been split open. Andros noticed for the first time that she was limping, putting almost no weight on her left leg.

Aidan seemed to be in fairly good condition, only a few cuts and bruises, and he seemed well enough to at least hover around the rangers asking questions.

Ryan nodded, and stood, handing Marieke to Tempest as he lifted Jenny into his arms. Andros wrapped his arms around Ashley's waist, allowing her to take all her weight off of her hurt leg, and closed his eyes, breathing deeply to calm his nerves.

Ryan raised his communicator to his mouth. "Deca, teleport twelve."