It was another beautiful day on Phaedos. Of course, Phaedos was as dangerous as it was beautiful, but that was also an everyday reality. As long as you stayed on the high plateau, rather than in the jungle, you had enough peace to enjoy the scenery.

Dulcea was blind to it. Not because she did not appreciate it, because she did. But today she was just too preoccupied. For the last hour her finely honed instincts were screaming their warning at her. Something bad was about to happen. She hadn't felt this worked up in a long time, not since...

...not since Ivan Ooze.

She forcefully shoved those memories into the back of her mind once again. Ooze was dead and gone. The present was bad enough without bringing in the past.

There! The planet spoke to her. Something was descending through the atmosphere, pushing the air aside arrogantly, at odds with the planet itself rather than being in harmony with it.

Dulcea moved to the very edge of the plateau that was her prison. She tilted her head towards the sky.

The sky darkened.

Lightning flashed.

Thunder rolled.

And doom descended upon Phaedos.

The machine's shape offended her. It was a huge dragon, a mockery of the noble beast that had inspired more than one Zord. There was nothing noble about this dragon. It tried to make up with size and power what in lacked in spirit. It roared, its' voice oozing power and arrogance. Every animal within a hundred-mile radius--no matter how big, not matter how fierce--quavered in fear. Dulcea did not.

The dragon landed. She felt the forest scream as hundreds of trees died. She felt the ground groan as it struggled to bear up under the machine's weight. She waited.

Red eyes turned towards her, flashing in challenge. The eyes weren't real, of course. They were merely part of the fierce image, built to intimidate. She felt the machine's real eyes, its' electro-magnetic sensors, focus solely on her. She knew the machine's masters awaited a response.

She stood tall and defiant; that was all. These cowards deserved nothing more than simple acknowledgement. Not her respect, and certainly not her fear.

To her mild surprise, they seemed to realize that quickly. She felt power, building and building and building; more power than she had ever thought possible. Her whole body tingled with it.

Then a black circle of destruction spread out from the dragon's feet, and Dulcea knew she faced her end.

Let it be said: she met it with honor, with courage, and with dignity, the same principles she lived her life by. She did not falter for a second as she died. The only thought in her mind?

It would be good to see Zordon again.

Phaedos died a few seconds after she did.

(SCENE CHANGE)

Quiet reigned on the bridge of the Astro Megaship. Abnormally, it was not comfortable. The Astro Rangers, all six of them, worked in tense silence. They didn't need to communicate; their thoughts were identical.

Lerigoti had been murdered.

Karone had been kidnapped.

Evil had crept back into the galaxy while they weren't looking.

What did it take to end this? Zordon had sacrificed his powers and his very life! Wasn't that enough? Would this war never end?

Then DECA didn't just break the silence, she shattered it. "WARNING! Level 12 shockwave approaching! Impact in ten seconds!" Sirens began to scream.

The Rangers reacted like the well-oiled machine they were. In under five seconds all six were strapped securely into their stations. Shields and hull integrity had been raised to maximum. They had to be: Level 12 was the highest rank in the shockwave category system. They were almost unheard of.

The first wave sent the Astro Megaship spinning backwards like it had hit a wall. Further shocks buffeted the mighty vessel, causing several secondary systems to blow out. But the ship was also a Zord, and they were built to take punishment. The blue craft rode out the storm.

After two minutes, it was over. "Damage analysis?" Andros asked.

"Primary systems on-line at 70," Ashley reported to her husband.

"Three secondary systems off-line; the rest are at 20," TJ gave his own report.

Zhane tried to settle his queasy stomach. "It could have been much worse," he rasped. But he knew that it a way, it WAS much worse. He knew the search for Karone had been temporarily postponed. They needed to know what had caused that shockwave, and where it had come from.

Level 12 shockwaves were not caused by nature.

Cassie already had the long-range sensors on-line without needing Andros' order. Even at 70 efficiency, they were still formidable. She simply had the scanners look along the direction the wave had come from. After a minute or two, she began to get results.

"The shockwave originated on the planet Phaedos," she started, and everyone noticed Andros start at the name. "Zooming in..." she continued. Then stopped. Then did the scan again. And again.

"Cassie?" Andros was beginning to get a very bad feeling about this.

Cassie's face had gone pale. "The scanners must have been damaged more than I thought," she whispered. "According to them...Phaedos doesn't exist anymore." She looked at her fellow Rangers with tears in her eyes. "There's nothing left but rubble."

Andros could barely get the word past his suddenly dry throat "DECA?:

Even the computer seemed subdued. "In theory, the explosion of a planet could cause a Level 12 shockwave."

If the previous silence had been uncomfortable, this one was excruciating. Without saying a word, each of them realized that their retirement was over. They silently said goodbye to their hopes of a normal life.

Shaking himself, Carlos turned back to the helm. "Setting course for the Phaedos system, maximum hyper-rush."

As the Megaship surged forward, the other Astros turned towards their leader. He knew their unspoken question. "Phaedos is special because it's the home of the Ninjetti powers, one of the most power Ranger energy sources in existence. It isn't used much, because only the most noble, the most pure-hearted Rangers can use it. Out of Earth's Rangers, only Tommy Oliver, Adam Park, Rocky DeSantos, Aisha Campbell, Kimberly Hart, and Katherine Hillard ever used it."

Sick with realization, Ashley spoke slowly. "So, if the planet's destroyed..."

"The Ninjetti powers are destroyed too," Andros finished grimly. "That's the motive."

"How..." Cassie cleared her throat and tried again. "How many people live there?"

"That we know of? Only one." The Red Astro Ranger gave a bitter smile at their surprised looks. "One very important person. Dulcea, a Morphin Master. Very beautiful, very intelligent, and very deadly. Reputedly the best fighter in the galaxy. Which is why I'm sure whoever did this didn't dare confront her face to face."

"No, they just blew up the entire damn planet from under her feet," TJ hissed angrily. The rest agreed with him.

Three hours later, the shocked Rangers gazed at the new asteroid belt that was now Phaedos. They didn't bother looking for life signs. No one could survive that, not even a Morphin Master.

Instead, they looked for an ion trail--and found one easily. Suspiciously easily, in fact.

"They might as well have left a neon sign saying, 'follow us!'" Carlos commented.

Andros was not in the mood for humor (even less so than normal). "DECA, extrapolate their course to a likely destination."

The course came up on the main viewscreen, and all humor died from the Rangers' faces.

The people who had murdered a planet were heading directly towards Earth.

NEXT TIME: Sparks fly, tempers flare, and illusions are shattered as the Ranger Reunion gets underway. Tommy confronts Kimberly, Katherine confronts Tommy, and the Rangers as a whole confront the one issue that could shatter their friendship forever. And those are just the problems they KNOW about...