Disclaimer: As much as I would like for it to be, Power Rangers is not my creation.

Jessica01: You'll find out all those answers in this chapter.

Phantom Rogue: Yes, I'm evil, but I love it! No, DECA's not evil, and you'll find everything else out by reading.

Ch. 29 The Rescue

When the materialized on the Bridge, Andros wasted no time running to the sextuplets nursery. The other rangers and his siblings followed close behind, having no idea what Darkonda had meant, although Ashley was beginning to put the pieces together. When they arrived at the nursery Andros fell to his knees beside one of the over turned cribs and Ashley fainted at the sight of the destruction. Zhane rushed to comfort his friend while T.J. and Carlos held Ashley.

"We'll get them back, Andros," he whispered carefully, not wanting to upset Andros but his friend turned on him anyway.

"We!" he screamed, throwing a piece of wood against the far wall. "No, I have to get them back! I promised and I failed again!" By now tears were pouring down his face and when his eyes landed on Ashley he broke down completely.

"It's okay," he heard Cestra soothed softly as she sat down beside him. She pulled him onto her lap and began rocking gently. Soon, Andros was completely exhausted and Aidan carried him to the Med Bay, where Ashley was being checked.

"She's fine," Alpha reported. "The shock just got the best of her."

"Why didn't DECA tell us someone was onboard?" Michelle questioned, glancing up at one of DECA's eyes. Zhane rushed to the main control panel and found that DECA's wiring had been disconnected.

"Who did this, DECA?" Zhane asked, once she was up and running once again.

"There was a spy onboard," DECA answered. "I tried to warn everyone but he got here to quickly and shut me down. What has happened?"

"Do you know who it was?" he asked, hoping that it was a familiar enemy, one that would be rather easy to track down.

"It was Elgar," DECA replied. "He has taken them back to the Dark Fortress."

"How do you know where they are?" he questioned.

"I made Andros place a tracking device on each baby," the computer answered smugly. "They are undetectable unless you know what to look for." Zhane couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he hurried back to the Med Bay.

"It was Elgar," he stated once he was back in the room, happy to see both Andros and Ashley awake. "They are on the Dark Fortress." He glanced over at his best friend and added, "It seems those tracking devices are coming in handy after all." Andros smiled and pulled Ashley into a tight hug.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered. He felt her laugh and pulled back just enough to look into her eyes. "What?"

"You put tracking devices on our children? Their only two months old!" she replied.

"I didn't plan on using them yet," he defended. "I just thought they'd come in handy when they started to crawl and especially when they start to walk." They all headed toward the Bridge, intent on developing a plan to get the new members of their family back safely.

"I want to go," Ashley stated stubbornly. She was sitting on Andros' lap and his arms tightened around her. Although he really didn't want her to go, in fear of what might have already happened to their children, he knew there was no need to argue with her.

"Ashley," Zhane began, a bit surprised that Andros had nothing to say, "we need someone to stay here in case they try to contact us and you know Andros would just give us away." She smiled a little at that but shook her head firmly.

"I'm going," she stated again. "I'm not going to sit back while everyone else goes and saves my children."

"Fine," Zhane replied. "Aidan, Cestra, and Michelle, you guys stay here and the rest of us will go. Andros, Ashley, Karone, and I will go in one group and Carlos, Cassie, and T.J. will go in the other." Finally content with the groups they moved on to the actual plan. Karone gave DECA a basic layout of the Dark Fortress and she gave them a general location for the sextuplets, who were all luckily in one area. They divided the area in half and Karone gave the second group a more detailed description of the area they would be covering. After they had prepared they headed out on their Galaxy Gliders, hoping to catch a ride on a Velocifighter. The spotted a couple not to far ahead of them and made their move. One team hopped on one and the other took the other.

Once they had arrived on the Dark Fortress Karone used her magic to make them invisible so they could get out of the Cargo Bay undetected. Once they were in a secluded area she made them visible once again and they headed off to their assigned positions. It wasn't long before Andros and Ashley's group heard the sounds of crying reach their ears. As they neared the door Andros heard the all too familiar sound of a belt hitting skin. They knew better than to charge into the room but Zhane kept a firm grip on Andros until the sounds had ceased. Karone quickly made them invisible again to insure their safety while Darkonda and several Quantrons filed out of the room. Andros and Ashley hurried into the room, making their way first to the inured baby, Brytan. Andros swore vengeance on Darkonda once again as he checked his son.

"Ashley," he managed through the tears, "go check on everyone else." He carefully picked up his son, intent on holding him until he was better. He watched as Ashley went over to the makeshift cribs that had been set up where Zhane and Karone were each holding a baby. The rest of them lie in the bed staring up at her. They seemed, at least to her a little relieved to see her and for that she was glad. "Guys, we have them." Within seconds bright lights filled the room giving away the arrival of the rest of the rangers. They hurried over and grabbed a baby ready to teleport back up to the ship when Darkonda and Ecliptor appeared in the doorway.

"You're finally here, Red Ranger!" Darkonda began and the babies shook. Andros held Brytan closer as he began to shudder.

"I don't have time for you, Darkonda!" he yelled. "DECA, get us out of here!" They materialized in the Med Bay and Andros carefully placed Brytan on one of the beds. "Give me a scanner," he whispered, trying to stay strong long enough to see what was wrong with his son. Zhane handed him one without question and Ashley went to stand on the other side of the bed. Andros looked down at the scanner, amazed at what he saw. It seemed that all the damaged done by Darkonda was already beginning to heal and would be completely gone within minutes. "He's going to be fine." He looked over at Ashley and smiled. "He's going to be fine." She ran around the table and wrapped her arms around him. He returned her hug but kept his eyes on his son making sure that he didn't roll off the bed or anything. After Brytan was moving around, in the comfort of his own crib, Andros decided to check all his children to make sure they were okay.

"So, they're all okay?" Ashley asked as Andros put away the scanner and began pushing one of the cribs back towards his quarters. As he nodded she questioned, "Where are you going?"

He keyed open his door and pushed the crib in as he answered, "There's no way I'm letting them out of my sight for a little while. There's plenty of room in here for them." Ashley nodded, knowing, just as he had earlier, that there was no need to argue with him. She secretly agreed with him but she would never tell them that. When they finally went to sleep that night Andros once again promised never to let his children get hurt again and although he knew it was impossible he promised to protect them forever.

A/N: I'm a day early. Yeah! Sorry to leave you with a cliffie for so long but I wanted to built some suspense. Did it work?Please Review!