The battle had been fierce, full of darkness and horror. With death in every corner, she knew it would not be long before Sirius would fall to its knees and be at the mercy of their enemy. Isinia stayed close to young Mora, just hours before she had promised Andros and Ashley that their daughter would be kept safe. She would keep her safe from harm, but now she was beginning to wonder if she would be able to keep that promise.

Young Mora for the last half hour had been crying continually, sensing something was very wrong. She was in an unfamiliar place and did not recognize the kind woman dog standing near here trying to calm her down.

"Shh, Mora it's okay." She moved the little doll closer to Mora knowing it was the only thing that seemed to bring the young child comfort and reassurance. "Everything is going to be okay." Isinia watched as Mora's cries became whimpering sleep and watched as the child closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. She let pout a sigh of relief grateful the child was asleep. "Sleep well, child, this will all be over soon." She gently rubbed Mora's head.

"Yes it will." An eerier evil entered into the room, hiding in the shadows.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" she demanded. The darkened figured stepped forward. Isinia eyes lit up in fear, her heart began to pound rapidly against her chest and she came face to face with the intruder. "You!"

Carlos the black ranger wasn't sure how much time had gone by. A few minutes? A couple of hours? He couldn't tell by the blackened sky, due to the heavy smoke filled surroundings, which made it almost impossible to breathe. The once beautiful grass filled meadow had been completely destroyed; most of the grass and flowers had been burnt to a crisp, covered now in blood and dead bodies for fall warriors. The trees that once stood tall were no longer standing. The few small buildings around them had broken in walls and now were burning, filling the sky with smoke. This once glorious place had become a wasteland of death. It didn't seem to matter how many they had taken down, it was relentless, more just kept on, coming in a killing spear, destroying everything in sight.

The last time he remembered they were under this kind of pressure, was back when the command center had been destroyed, where he and his friends nearly lost their lives. For a moment Carlos thanked God that Justin wasn't with them this time, as he looked around the dead bodies that lay around him. All brave Sirius warriors who had fought bravely right to the very end. Carlos' only hope was that he could do the same. He made a promise to himself that he would fight to his very last breath, until the very life was pulled right from him. He would never stop fighting.

"Carlos, I need your help!" cried out Cassie.

"Hang on Cass, I'm coming!" Carlos used his blaster and blasted at the enemies around him, taking only a few down and slowing down the others. He moved faster than he ever had before and joined Cassie, side-kicking and punching the surrounding Bluehead Krybots away from her, but they weren't about to go down so easily.

"Thanks. I thought they almost had me."

"You okay?" His voice was full of concern, knowing they had been fighting for so long, nonstop, without even getting a chance to take a quick breather.

"Yeah." She took a moment to gather her breath, but a moment too late. An Orangehead Krybot joined the scene and blasted right at Carlos and Cassie before the pink and black rangers could even move to avoid the blast. They had heard their friends calling their names, but it had been too late.

Cassie and Carlos hit the ground hard, harder then they ever had before. They both could hear their teammates crying out their names, trying to get to them, but couldn't get pass the mass army before them. Their ranger powers began to fade in and out. They could feel their hearts racing, knowing that if they stayed demorphed they wouldn't stand a chance. It would be the end of them, for both of them.

"No, not now! I'm not ready!" Carlos cried, trying to stay in control as he tried to power up, but he was failing. The battle had worn him down. He was losing control and soon started to feel the painful effects of a forced demorph. A quick look towards Cassie showed she was in the same state. The blast had been too much for them to handle, and not a minute later the two were back in their SPD uniforms, now torn into pieces and bloody.

Both of them attempted to push themselves to their feet, but fell right back down. They couldn't move. They couldn't fight. It was over, it really was over for them. They had done all they could, but it hadn't been enough. They would die in battle; die as heroes, as power rangers. It would be an honorable death, but that still didn't take away the pain and the fear they both felt, for those they would be leaving behind.

"Carlos, I'm scared." Cassie turned to him, fear in her eyes, fear of knowing they didn't have much time left. The Orangehead Krybot made his way towards them along with a few Bluehead's. The other rangers tried to stop them but were unsuccessful in their heroic attempts to reach their friends.

"Don't be, I'm right here with you." Carlos reached for Cassie's hand and squeezed it tightly. "It's going to be okay, Cass."

Cassie's eyes filled with tears. She began seeing her life flash before her eyes, as the blast came right at them, hitting them harder than ever before. She felt pain all over, a burning sensation. She could hear her teammates cry out to her and then she heard nothing and the pain was gone. It was so unreal. That feeling, and then she saw a familiar face. It was the Phantom Ranger.

"It's all right Cassie, you're safe now." His voice was calm and gentle.

"Phantom Ranger?" her voice was faint and unsure. "Alistair..."

"Yes, it's me. It's all right, everything's fine now." He held out his hand for her to take. "Come now, it's time to go. Everyone's waiting for you."

"Wait, Carlos, where is he?"

"He's waiting for you to join him. I'll take you to him."

"Wait, the others. The other rangers, I need to go back to them. Help them."

"Everything's going to be okay, Cassie. I promise you. Please, we need to get going."

At first Cassie could feel the urge of wanting to go back to her friends, help them in this battle, but soon the feeling was gone and she was at peace, knowing she had done her part and knowing they would do theirs. This was the end, her time in this battle was over and it would be a new beginning for those who would come after her. They may have lost this day, but she knew the rangers would win again one day. The deaths would not go in vain.

"What's it like?"

"Peaceful. Better than you ever dreamed." He slowly took Cassie's hand and the two began to walk towards a bright light where they disappeared.

"No! CASSIE! CARLOS. NO!" roared Ashley, running towards her fallen friends, only to have Andros pull her away.

"They're gone, Ashley. There's nothing we can do for them." His voice was soft, filled with pain and anguish. He was the leader. He was supposed to protect them and he had failed. It was not the first time he had lost teammates, years ago before he met Ashley, he and Zhane had four other teammates who all had been killed in a battle. The same battle Zhane barely survived. He had never felt so much guilt and then again when Zordon ordered him to kill in order to save billions of lives. He thought the days of losing his friends was behind him, but now years later, two of his closest friends had fallen in battle. "I'm sorry."

Ashley dropped to her knees, pounding her fist on the ground. "No! They can't be gone. They can't be!" she cried. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. They were supposed to save the day just as they always had.

TJ took in their surroundings; the Krybots were zoning in on them. They were outnumbered a thousand to three. There was no way they could defeat them all. "Andros, we're in trouble!" Although he wanted a moment to be able to mourn for his friends, they didn't have the luxury. The battle was still going on and it wasn't going to end anytime soon.

"I know. There's just so many of them!" Andros announced. He was scared, scared to death they would fail, scared they would all lose their lives. He was the leader. He wasn't supposed to be afraid; nothing was supposed to scare him, but… In the end, when it all came down to it, he was scared just as much as they were, maybe even more. He had been in situations like this before. He has faced death in the eyes before, but somehow he always came out on top, but this time he feared his luck may have finally ran out.

"Don't give up rangers. They haven't beaten us yet!" roared a voice.

Andros turned around and saw Commander Cruger and an army of Sirius Warriors heading right towards them. "Commander Cruger, I..." Andros didn't even know quite what to say.

"It's all right, Andros." Cruger patted the red ranger on the shoulder understanding he had been through a lot. "We'll beat them; gather your team together and we'll finish them." Cruger held his shadow sword tightly in his hands. He was ready for battle, ready to fight to the very end.

"Right!" Andros gently helped his wife to her feet. "Come on Ash, we still have a job to do. Do it for Cassie and Carlos, do it for them."

She nodded her head and got to her feet, getting into a fighting stance followed by TJ and Cruger and the others. "For Cassie and Carlos," she said, as they went into battle, knowing this might very well be the last battle they would ever fight. Ashley's thoughts moved towards her daughter, hoping and praying she would be safe.

Swords clashed together, blaster blasts went off into a storming battle. Battle cries and howls were cried out, as the storm continued to reign on, battle ships flew above them blasting everything in sight. Until there was a massive explosion taking everything with it out of sight, until only darkness was left and then…

"Noo!" Zhane yelled and jolted up from his sleep. His body was covered in sweat; his heart was pounding. He took a few moments to gather his breath and then turned to his nightstand and looked at his clock. It was 1 AM. He ran his hand over his face and pulled the covers off of him.

He walked out back onto the porch of their apartment and found Karone standing near the railing rubbing her arms. "It's chilly out, you should come inside." He wrapped his arms around her as he tried to warm her up.

"In a minute." She leaned against him when she felt his heart rapidly pounding. "Your heart's racing." She looked to him concerned.

"Just a bad dream." He gently kissed her head. "It's nothing." The last thing he wanted to do was worry her. It was just a dream. It didn't mean anything. It couldn't...

She turned around in his arms until she was face to face with him. "You can't lie to me, Zhane." She knew him well enough to know when he was trying to keep something from her.

He smiled faintly. "Just worried is all. It isn't like them not to answer our calls."

"I'm sure everything's fine, Zhane. Something probably just came up." But in the back of her mind she was feeling and fearing the same thing, but one of them needed to be strong. One of them needed to hope for the best, hope that everything would be fine and that at any minute they would hear Andros's voice. They would hear from their friends, that everything was okay and the mission had been successful.

He didn't answer, just stared into her face blankly, not knowing what to do or say.

"Come on, let's go back to bed." She kissed him gently on the lips and took his hand in hers and led him back inside, to get a few more hours of sleep.

Where was he? What had happened? He tried to move, but couldn't. Slowly he opened his eyes to a horrifying sight. In the distance he could see buildings burning away to nothing. "Oh no." Andros tried to push himself up but was unable to. "TJ, Ash, what happened?" He turned to his friends who were lying next to him, but no answer came from them. They weren't even moving. He heart skipped several beats. 'No!" He cried their names again, but still no answer. "No..." He felt sick to his stomach and gagged and spit up and saw red color liquid, it was blood. He ran his hand over his mouth to double check, maybe he was seeing things, but he wasn't, it was blood.

He started crawling towards Ashley, his wife the woman he loved more then anything, the woman who opened his heart into things he didn't think were possible anymore. "Ashley," he cried her name, but like the others, she didn't answer, only stared at him with a lifeless gaze. "No. No. Ashley," he cried, as hot tears ran down his cheeks. With the little strength he had left, he moved himself up ignoring the pain he was feeling throughout his body as he cradled her in his arms.

He hadn't even noticed the lifeless bodies of the Sirius warriors around him, all that mattered was Ashley, his wife, his best friend, mother of his child, the person he loved more than anything, was gone. "No. No!" This couldn't be it. This couldn't be how things ended for them. It wasn't supposed to be this way. They were supposed to raise their daughter together, they were supposed to grow old together and have a life time of memories.

"Oh, what's wrong, ranger, everyone you love and care for is gone?"

A dark shadow loomed over Andros. "You!" Andros shouted. "You did this." Andros rolled himself over getting to his feet to face his enemy. "Gruumm!" he snarled. Andros the only surviving ranger attempted to lash out at the being responsible for the loss of his friend and destruction on Siruis, but only to be lifted up by Gruumm, holding him by his throat a few feet above the ground.

"You really are pathetic, ranger, not even worthy of killing." Grumm snickered into Andros' face and then threw him to the ground.

"Ahh," Andros cried out in pain; it was all over. He knew he wouldn't in that moment he wouldn't be making it back to earth alive. He had accepted his fate. He was sure he had more than a few broken bones, but he wouldn't done without a fight. He would fight to his very last breath. "You won't win. There will be others after me." He pushed himself up into a kneeling position against a broken-down wall. "They'll stop you!"

"Yes. I've heard about them. Children, but I will have children of my own." Gruumm laughed when he saw the confused and shocked look come across Andros' face. "You really should have listened to your young friend." He moved closer to Andros until he was standing just above him. "Then maybe you could have saved her," Gruumm hissed as he flung a small object into Andros' lap.

Andros eyed the small object and a chill went down his back. His heart began racing faster and faster. The object that Grumm had given him was a small button, a button that belonged to his daughter's favorite toy. "The doll." He stared up at him horrified by the revelation. "It was you..." They had always wondered where the doll had come from. It was in that moment Andros realized that Gruumm had somehow used the doll as a way to spy on his innocent little girl. Zhane had been rigth all along. And he had been too blind to see it.

"Yes. It was me. I've been planning this," Gruumm walked back and fourth all the while keeping his eyes locked on the fallen warrior. "It was quite simple really, all I had to do was disguise myself as a doctor and it was over." He laughed. "I'll take good care of her. Although once they're done with her, she'll be very different from the infant she is now." He had big plans for her.

"You're not going to touch her!" Andros, in a blind rage, attempted to strike Gruumm, only to fall right onto his face and have Gruumm stomp his foot onto his chest pressing against his already broken ribs. "Ahhhh!"

"I'm afraid you won't be around for much longer to stop me." Gruumm pulled out a blaster and pointed it right at Andros' face.

Andros stared right into the blaster. This was it. This is how it would all end for him. He felt some relief that he soon would be rejoined with his friends and Ashley, but felt the bitter pain of leaving his daughter behind to this monster, and not knowing what would become of her. He only hoped that somehow, some amount of good would remain in her. That one day she would be saved and be freed from the hell that is before her. His final moments were thinking of Zhane and how things had ended so bitterly between them. If only he had listened... "Forgive me, old friend," he whispered softly. And then he heard the blast of the blaster and then nothing…

Zhane was sitting in the SPD Command Center going over reports when the communication screen opened. An older man's face appeared on the screen. It was King Kinwon. "King Kinwon, I wasn't expecting to be hearing from you until tomorrow."

"Yes, I... I know, my boy." Kinwon sighed heavily, his eyes were weary and full of heartbreak. "Is Karone with you?"

"Um, no, she's back at the apartment getting some rest. Why?" And then Zhane saw it, it was written all over Kinwon's face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," he sighed heavily knowing he was about the shatter the world of the young man. "I just received word from Mirinoi, which has received a distress signal from Sirius. The planet was defeated." His voice was soft and gentle but on the verge of breaking apart.

Zhane held himself together long enough to get his question out, the only one that mattered. "They're all right, aren't they? Andros… Ashley… Carlos… TJ… Cassie. Tell me they're all right." They had to be all right.

The old king swallowed hard, knowing what Zhane was going through. "I'm sorry, Zhane. They didn't make it..."

"No!" he cried, feeling tears rush down his cheeks. He didn't want to believe it. This had to be a bad dream. They couldn't be, they couldn't be gone. "No..."

Kinwon bit his lips hard. He hated having to tell Zhane like this, and the worst was yet to come. "I'm afraid there's more."

"What could be worse than this?"

"….I'm afraid that it seems that your niece may have perished as well or may have been taken by Gruumm's forces. The details are still unclear. We'll know more once the rescue team returns."

"Search teams, you mean." His eyes were red and watering. "Right?"

Kinwon's face fell. "I'm afraid there was only one survivor. Commander Cruger is the only survivor of Sirius. He'll be taken to Mirinoi and later will go to Earth, and be in hiding for sometime."

This had to be some mistake, no one could have defeated all the Sirius Warriors, Andros and the others. This had to be a mistake. There had to be more then just one survivor. Gruumm and his army couldn't have defeated everyone. "Are they sure? Maybe-"

"I'm truly sorry, Zhane, truly I am, but I'm afraid it is all true. I wish it wasn't." For a moment Kinwon just stared at Zhane's saddened and tearing face, and began feeling his heart break all over again. "I'll make the arrangements and send someone to contact the ranger families-"

"..No I'll do it." Zhane knew that it should come from someone they knew, someone they trusted and had personally known their children. He would tell them no matter how difficult it would be. He owed his friends that much.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It would be better coming from me, they know me."

"Of course." Kinwon sighed. "I'll contact you in the morning. Again I'm sorry Zhane. The rangers were true heroes."

"Yes. Yes they were." The communication screen went blank and Zhane was left alone in the room, feeling more alone than he'd ever felt before. He had always known there was a chance something could happen, but he never suspected it would ever come true. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed home. "Hey, Karone, don't go anywhere. I'm on my way home, we… we need to talk. No, when I get home… Okay… See you in a few." He set his phone down and then he lost it, breaking down in uncontrollable tears...