Zhane spotted the Megaship with relief. Galaxy Gliders were fast, but he couldn't outrun the Velocifighters for much longer. He dodged their fire, but they were catching up.
"Deca," he yelled into his communicator. "Fire the Megalasers!"
He let out a breath as the Velocifighters were destroyed.
"The rebels have been captured?" Andros repeated.
Zhane shook his head. "They surrendered. They figured it was their best chance for survival if we lose."
"I'm picking up a fleet of Velocifighters," Carlos said grimly. "Heading - heading for Earth."
Andros closed his eyes for a moment. "So this is it."
He took a deep breath.
"Let's rocket!"
Cassie and Carlos were fighting together, and they were doing well for quite awhile. Several dozen Quantrons fell beneath the blast of Cassie's Satellite Stunner and Carlos' Lunar Lance.
"Watch out!" Cassie cried, and Carlos ducked, allowing Cassie to zap the Quantron behind him.
"Whew," he sighed.
Then they were both thrown backward when the ground shook under fire from the Velocifighters.
"Duck!" T.J. shouted as the started to climb to their feet again.
"Where's Zhane?" Cassie demanded. "I thought you two were together."
T.J. pointed to the sky. The Mega Winger had taken on the Velocifighters.
"He'll be all right," T.J. said. "Let's go."
They nodded, and took turns sheparding the frightened citizens of Angel Grove to safety.
Andros knocked several Quantrons out of the way and looked for Ashley. They had been fighting side by side on a rooftop, but had been separated by the masses of Quantrons. He groaned as he saw Ecliptor and Darkonda both coming his way. He figured he had a few minutes before they made their way up from the ground. He was startled to see them stop, but then he understood when he saw the familiar blast of Ashley's Star Slinger.
"Red Battlized Ranger!" he shouted, leaping off of the roof. Ashley was stronger than he was, and he knew it, but he wasn't about to let her take on Ecliptor and Darkonda alone.
He sent several rockets into Darkonda, who had just sent Ashley sprawling. He turned to fire at Ecliptor, but Ecliptor had vanished.
"Red Ranger!"
Andros swore as he heard Ecliptor's voice behind him. He was hit from behind even as he started to turn. His armor disappeared as he fell. Andros landed hard across the hood of a car, then tumbled to the ground.
"Andros!"
Ashley elbowed several Quantrons out of her way to get to him.
"Let's get out of here!" she said, pulling him to his feet.
"You're not going anywhere!" Ecliptor and Darkonda cried together.
Andros was hit by Ecliptor's blast and flew backwards. Ashley landed next to him, wincing with pain from Darkonda's. As they lay there trying to catch their breath, their suits vanished.
"Run!" Andros shouted, as he and Ashley managed to get to their feet. They got away only because the sheer numbers of Quantrons prevented Ecliptor and Darkonda from chasing them.
Zhane was in trouble. The Mega Winger had been able to withstand the Velocifighters for almost two hours, but the tide was turning. There were simply too many of them for Zhane to catch, and the Mega Winger was taking too many hits.
