CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
The soiled, tattered body of the Crimson MegaZord disassembled even quicker than it had assembled. It wasn't long before the six Zords it consisted of retreated from the lunar surface, and disappeared into the starry depths of space. And thus, its six pilots were left standing in its place on the moon floor.
Meanwhile, the Astro MegaZord slowly shifted back into it's original state, as the Astro Megaship Mark II. The spacious vessel had come a long way since it's unveiling at the N.A.S.A.D.A. Spaceport on Earth. It's once shining silver and blue body was now mired in dust and filth. In several spots, it's outer covering had been dented and cracked. It's various thrusters blinked on and off as it came to a rickety, rough landing next to the Rangers. As the exit hatch slowly lowered to the ground, revealing the Red Space Ranger and Red Turbo Ranger, it became difficult to imagine that this ship had been brand new less than forty eight hours ago.
Yet even the condition of their ship could not erase the smiles from the faces of the Red Rangers. The eight defenders of Earth exchanged relieved and heartfelt hugs, handshakes, and high fives. Their laughter echoed throughout the Sea of Tranquility, as the first sounds of decency and virtue to grace the moon since the arrival of Venjix and his forces.
And then their heads turned, to watch the mountainous flames dance below the rippling oxygen field. They each felt the heat against their red suits as the last remaining bits of Serpentera, and the Machine Empire's legacy of evil and hatred, burned to the ground.
Turning to look at each other through sweat stained visors, the eight men nodded to one another.
Andros did the honors. "Power down."
The eight Red Rangers instantly vanished. Standing in their places were the men who'd risked their lives for a planet they called home. For billions of innocent faces, most of which they would never see.
Standing between Carter and Cole , T.J. placed his hands on their shoulders. "Guess we didn't do so bad." he said with grin.
Cole managed a shy smile, and nodded.
Carter chuckled. "Yeah. We did okay."
Dusting the dirt off his leather jacket, Jason looked to Tommy, to find that the veteran Ranger had already been looking at him.
He smiled. "So what do you say bro? Think this was one for the books?"
Tommy returned the look, and held out his hand. "Definitely one for the books."
The two old friends slapped hands once again.
"Ehem," Andros coughed an attention getter over his teammates. Stepping in front of his teammates, the seven men noticed there was something very different about him. His eyes seemed to have a certain twinkle that they had lacked before. It was as if the battle had changed him in some miraculous way…
"Before we…head home. I just…well, I just wanted to say thank you, to all of you. For putting your lives on the line, for putting your trust in Tommy and I, and helping us to save the world from a-" For a brief moment, he turned his head back to the dimming fire. "-terrible threat."
Tommy nodded, and moved to stand next to his partner. "We, as well as the entire Earth, are in your debt."
Shaking away a nagging thought of his friends on Mirinoi, Leo nodded. "We know you both would have done the same."
Wes stepped forward, his arms crossed in front of him. "And without your leadership, this mission might not have been the success that it was."
The Silver Guardian reached out his hand, which Tommy gladly accepted.
But before they two men could even loosen their grip, a faint, yet distinctly familiar sound made it's presence felt among them.
The eight men froze, letting their senses guide them. It wasn't long before they verified what they were hearing.
It was a voice, a man's voice. This individual, whoever he was, was crying. Sobbing in fact. And yet, it wasn't coming from anywhere close by. No, the voice had an automated tone to it, as if it were being transmitted through a communicator of some sort.
Tommy looked down at Wes' arm. The two men locked eyes, as they realized not only where the voice was coming from, but who it was.
Releasing Tommy's hand, Wes held his Chrono Morpher up to his lips, and pressed the transmission button.
"Eric?"
"Sending transmission." D.E.C.A.'s robotic voice called over the intercom.
Standing on the bridge of the Astro Megaship Mark II, the nine men stood straight and tall, attempting to muster as much dignity as the could under the circumstances. Their clothes were filthy, their bodies ached with pain from the previous day's encounter, and their eyelids were heavy from lack of sleep.
But they all knew they couldn't put this off any longer.
Tommy stood above Andros' seat at the Captain's console. The others had all urged him to be the one to tell them, as he had had known him prior to the mission. With a heavy heart, Tommy had accepted, although even now, he wasn't quite sure what he was going to tell Delphine. After all, he hadn't really known him that well…
At his left stood Jason, who unfortunately had known him even less than Tommy had. Even during his time as the Gold Ranger, he had barely gotten to know any of the Aquitar Rangers. He'd been far to wrapped up in matters at hand. For this he felt guilty. Jason only hoped that wherever he was, he understood.
To his right was Andros, who had heard several stories about the legendary Aquitar Rangers as a child, though he'd never dreamed he'd actually get the opportunity to work with one. Although now that he had, he certainly wished it would have ended under different circumstances.
At the lower consoles stood the remaining four. Leo, flanked to the right by Carter, had barely slept at all. This whole incident forced him to dwell on Mirinoi even further. About the sacrifices and casualties that he, and god forbid his friends, would be forced to suffer through if in fact, the planet went to
war.
At Leo's left stood Wes, flanked by Cole. Though desperately trying to maintain his dignity and composure, Wes could barely keep his eyes focused on the viewport, which had now been transformed into a large visual receiver. His eyes kept darting over to Eric, who had chosen not to be a part of the message. Yet even so, he continued to stand straight and tall, as if he were on screen. Though in his heart, Wes was glad that he wasn't. Although he still wore his usual cold expression, his cheeks were a light pink, dry from the tears that had run down his eyes, and dropped on to his uniform. It had been so surreal, seeing and hearing Eric cry like that. He'd been so wounded, so vulnerable. It was so unlike him, such a far stretch from his usual cool, withdrawn personality. In a way, it was interesting to see such a different side of his partner…
But in a lot of other ways, it wasn't.
Eric Meyers visibly flinched as the receiver flickered to life. Sitting in the center of the picture was Delphine, White Aquitar Ranger, and leader of the team that had defended the planet Aquitar for over two thousand years. She sat at what appeared to be a command console. Around her, several other Aquitians wandered about, paying seemingly no attention to Delphine, or their transmission.
"Greetings Rangers of Earth." she spoke into the screen. Her voice was soft and warm. Yet had a commanding tone behind it that was not subtle in the least bit. "I trust your efforts on your planet's moon were a success?"
Taking a deep breath, though trying not to let her notice, Tommy nodded. "Hello Delphine, it's a pleasure to see you again. And yes, thankfully we were successful in destroying the remains of the Machine Empire, and eliminating Serpentera once and for all. Neither will be threat to the universe ever again."
A small smile came across Delphine's face as she bowed her head. "Allow me to be the first to commend you. We are all in debt to you for your efforts."
Tommy inhaled slowly.
This was the hard part.
"Thank you Delphine." he said. "I only wish that I could be speaking to you under more pleasant circumstances."
She frowned, and cocked her head to the left just a bit. "I'm sorry, but I do not understand…"
He stole a quick glance down at the floor, trying to find the words…
"Delphine…Aurico is dead."
With those words, each and every one of the Aquitians scurrying about in the background stopped dead in their tracks, and turned toward Delphine. Hundreds of eyes seemed to stare through the screen, aiming their gaze directly at Tommy. A stunned silence had gripped the other side of the monitor."
Tommy tightened his sweaty grip on the panel in front of him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this uncomfortable. "The…the Red BattleBorg was destroyed by Serpentera. It seemed to result in some sort of…seizure. We rushed him back to Earth, hoping that exposure to water would help, but…
"I don't know if we didn't get there on time…or what it was. But…unfortunately he passed away on Earth. I…I can't tell you how sorry I am. How sorry we all are…"
There was an deafening silence as the Rangers simply stared into the screen, watching as Delphine allowed Tommy's words to sink in. Her head had tilted back into a straight vertical position. And yet, her expression had barely changed at all. Her lips, cheeks, and sensuous brown eyes had remained motionless, as if the news of Aurico's departure had frozen her into that solitary moment.
The purple blotches on her cranium however, had started to twitch and throb at a much quicker pace.
Her eyes fell to the floor. "Indeed…" she said, piercing the silence like shattering glass. "We have lost a valiant warrior…and a true friend."
Covering his eyes with a leather gloved hand, Eric turned his back to his teammates.
"I…I can't help but feel partially responsible Delphine…" said Andros, his voice dragging with it the weight of guilt. "It wasn't Aurico's responsibility to come and help us. Perhaps if I hadn't contacted-"
"No." she interrupted. Her voice left no room for argument. The purple blotches were now starting to throb harder. "Aurico knew the risks of traveling beyond our waters. Every Aquitian does. He did so not out of obligation to you, but by the guidance of a virtuous light in his soul. A light that had always guided him to those in need of his knowledge, his courage, and his many talents."
At last, Delphine looked up into the monitor. In her eyes were something the Rangers had expected to see, but were surprised nonetheless.
Tears.
"I have faith that Aurico left us, doing what he knew in his heart was right. And that my friends, comforts me. "
The eight men struggled to stay focus as they heard Eric's faint sobs from the corner of the room…
Wes' jaw tightened. Just hearing Eric, tough-as-nails, no nonsense Eric crying like that, made him want to cry too.
"We have him here, on the ship with us." Andros said, hoping she didn't notice his eyes occasionally darting away from her. "We'll bring him to you on Aquitar, and will gladly participate in any farewell service you wish to carry out."
Delphine slowly shook her head. "I'm afraid that is impossible."
Andros frowned. "I…I don't understand."
The Rangers watched as a single tear leaked down the smooth flesh, around Delphine's eye, washed over the small patch of golden skin, and dropped on to her black tunic. It was the same kind that Aurico had worn. "His body…more than likely…is no longer with you.
"You see Rangers, unlike your own human bodies, Aquitian bodies can not be preserved. Once our bodies cease to function, the decaying process begins almost imminently. It is a tragic burden that our kind is forced to heed, as we have little time to bid farewell to those we love, such as Aurico. A standard Aquitian body may take up to one standard our to reduce to dust."
Eric suddenly whirled turned back to the monitor, his tear soaked face now bearing a look of horrific shock.
Delphine continued. "However, those circumstances only exist when one has perished under the immaculate waters of Aquitar…"
A gentle breeze of relief rushed through the room, seemingly touching everyone but the Quantum Ranger.
"In an environment such as yours, the process would be far more rapid…taking perhaps half that long…"
They didn't try to stop Eric as he took off for the infirmary, still making an effort to hide his face from the screen.
Delphine's bloodshot eyes did not move. But the Rangers knew she had seen him.
Pushing his way past Cole, Wes rushed after his partner and friend, unable to bear the sight of him running like a humiliated child. Moments later, Andros would follow him.
Delphine closed her deep brown eyes, and slowly lowered her head once again. "A tragic day this is…so very tragic."
As the transmission ended, abruptly flooding the room with static, the seven men simply stood quietly, listening to the distant echo of footsteps rushing down the corridors of the Megaship.