"Who are we?" Sid asked the others as they pulled out their morphers, "Let's show him. Transform!"

Together and as one unit, the rangers activated their morphers, their suits forming around each of them. Red, blue, green, yellow, and black. The five rangers assumed fighting formations as they replaced their civilian counterparts. The golden armor of the Lights of Andromeda surrounded the four core rangers, while Nikki's suit received her black and violet Phantom Mode armor. Each wielded their signature weapon.

"Sid Drake!" the red ranger shouted, "Peacekeeper Red!"

"Xolin, House Sais!" the blue ranger shouted, "Peacekeeper Blue!"

"Trok, Clan Tesei!" the green ranger shouted, "Peacekeeper Green!"

"Sel of Xybria!" the yellow ranger shouted, "Peacekeeper Yellow!"

"Nikki Manuel!" the black ranger shouted, "Peacekeeper Black!"

"Who are we?" Sid asked Alpha, "We're the-"

The five rangers roared as they got into formation, pillars of their chosen colors erupting behind them, before those pillars vanished in the wake of a giant explosion.

"POWER RANGERS!"

"...Impossible" Alpha gasped, completely at a loss, "How!? I stripped your universe of its Morphing energy! You should be cowering, waiting for the end of your pathetic lives! HOW?!" How did they keep coming BACK?!

In response, Sid tossed the Eltarian conduit at Alpha's feet. As the antipode digested this fact, Sid stepped forward, pointing his ax at him, "It's OVER, Alpha! You've got no one left to fight for you".

Alpha kicked the conduit off the side of the platform in a fit of rage, before summoning his own twin swords, "I don't need anyone" he growled, "I'll kill you all myself!" With a roar, he charged.

The rangers issued a battle cry as well, and rushed forward, deflecting Alpha's laser blasts as they came at him with their weapons. A moment later, the two sides met, and did battle.

Power Rangers Peacekeepers

Series Finale

3.14: The Trolley Dilemma, part four of four: Delenda Est

Sid was first into the fray. The red ranger leaped into the air, as did Alpha, their weapons smashing into each other at full speed. As Alpha landed, Sid crumpled to a heap behind him, his suit sparking as the antipode rushed forward, slashing through the green and blue rangers easily. As they tumbled back, Alpha found himself on the defensive, deflecting laser shots from the yellow ranger's bow-blade. As he did this, the black ranger cloaked, flanking him before striking with a series of quick jabs from her energy wrist blades. Alpha, despite being taken by surprise, quickly countered her, taking the black ranger out with a few short attacks.

Seeing him turn his attention on her, Sel began firing more rapidly, even has he closed in, deflecting each shot. When he was almost upon her, she extended her bow's blades, engaging in a short exchange before he tossed her aside with a solid hit.

Sid came in from the back, his ax swinging down and delivering perhaps the first clean hit against Alpha. The red antipode wheeled around, blocking Sid's next attack.

"Is this all you can muster?" Alpha sneered, "After all your boasting and insistence at not dying, I would have thought you would have put on a better show".

"Give it a moment" Sid replied, breaking his hold against Alpha. Trok and Xolin came in from behind and the sides, and the three rangers struck together, pinning Alpha between their weapons. For a moment it looked like they had the advantage, but all too soon Alpha powered up, pulling himself back to his full height as he spun around, a cyclone of energy spinning out and hitting each of the rangers in turn.

POW.

Alpha dropped one of his swords, his arm suddenly flung back from a sudden shot. There stood Sel, her bow aimed and priming for another shot. Growling as he stepped over Trok, Alpha summoned his weapon back to him, charging the yellow ranger. She pulled her bow back, allowing it to collect energy from the Lights for a singular powerful attack.

He was almost on top of her. She fired.

He deflected—though he was forced to stop in his tracks, blocking the super-powerful blast with his twin swords before pulling it aside.

It was all Nikki needed.

The black ranger leaped over the yellow ranger, using her as a springboard as she came down on the prone antipode with her energy blades. It was close; she almost made it past his defenses, but in the end he overpowered her, forcing Nikki to carry the inertia of his hit by sliding by him, rolling back as she grabbed her daggers.

"SEL!" she shouted, now on the other side of Alpha. Her daggers flew through the air, missing the antipode and heading towards Sel. The yellow ranger intercepted the weapons, loading them into her bow. By now Alpha realized what was happening and had turned his attention from black to yellow.

Too late.

The powered up daggers shot at Alpha, impacting him directly. The red antipode staggered back from the blows, giving Sel a chance to close the gap between them, uppercutting Alpha with her bow. Attempting a second strike met with failure however, as Alpha grabbed her weapon by the blade and threw her into Nikki. The two rangers tumbled back.

Having a second to catch his breath, Alpha thrust his sword into the air, charging it with power before swinging it towards the incoming green and blue rangers. Trok was thrown back by a blast of energy. Xolin narrowly dodged, though hesitated when she saw Trok fly back. It almost cost her; a second lightning bolt nearly roasted her. The blue ranger, having had enough, split into three, evading Alpha's attacks as she closed in.

Sid watched Alpha attempt to swat away the trinity of Xolins as they swarmed him with grim amusement. Still, things weren't looking too good; there were minutes left on the clock, and they were barely scratching him, much less dismantling his machine. The Lights at least had seemingly evened the battlefield for them, but unfortunately they didn't really have anything that could tip the scales further; zords were out, and the battlizer had already been reduced to scrap.

Sel opened fire with another barrage as Trok wrapped his hammer mace around Alpha. The antipode yanked the chain, throwing Trok towards him. The green ranger was batted aside as Xolin's three forms rushed in again, followed by Nikki.

Screw it; they had him occupied. Sid broke from the fight, heading for the control console that lay before the nexus. Sid ignored the unfathomable levels of power emanating from the central pillar, instead focusing on the controls. Something had to undo this, and in a way that wouldn't end with like, six different apocalyptic scenarios all at once.

Three maybe?

Sid would settle for just three apocalypses right now.

Alpha crushed a reunited Xolin into the ground as he caught sight of Sid's actions.

"NO!" he roared, blasting past Trok and Sel, unconcerned about them as he prepared to strike Sid down. The red ranger barely avoided the sword strikes, spinning around to face his foe. He flipped back, avoiding another assault.

Trok steadied him as he nearly crashed into the green ranger and Sel, "Boy I wish you hadn't gotten the battlizer killed already!" Trok grunted.

"Preaching to the choir!" Sid replied with a hint of panic, just before the three rangers broke rank from Alpha's new attack.

Alpha lunged at Sid, "Relying on toys you've already used up is a poor strategy".

Sid blocked Alpha's attack—though just barely, "I don't think I asked for your tactical advice" Sid grunted. The rocket boosters on armor of his boots activated, and the red ranger launched, pushing Alpha back., "TROK, NOW!"

Trok's hammer began to glow green as he powered it up. The green ranger swung back as Alpha neared him, then swung forward.

Alpha flew forward.

Xolin's lance loaded into Sel's bow, the latter fired the lance like a harpoon into the airborn Alpha, a mixture of blue and yellow energy swirling around it as it impacted him. Alpha dropped to the ground.

"Lights of Andromeda, fireball mode!" the four core rangers shouted, racing together towards their downed foe. Their forms vanished, replaced by a gigantic cascading wave of power that rammed into Alpha as he was standing back up. It pushed him back, threatening to consume him.

...Then it stopped; Alpha was successfully holding it at bay with his weapons, planting his feet on the floor. Then he pushed his swords forward, and broke the rangers' assault. The four power rangers were thrown back, landing in a heap on the ground.

From behind Alpha, Nikki was already lining up her own finisher. Alpha however used the power he'd collected from the last attack to wheel around and cut her down. He panted, "You...you don't understand when you're beaten. When you're outmatched. You don't know when to lay down and die with dignity!" He stepped forward, winded. As Sid staggered to his feet, Alpha added, "I told you before, child. Heroes don't exist".

"Allow me to disagree" the battered red ranger panted as his team, began to pull themselves back up as well.

"And what do you think makes you a hero, boy?" Alpha asked him, "Hm? Your 'tenacity'? 'Stubbornness'? Your ability to not know when to fold? Those aren't heroic traits, those are traits of stupidity, the kind that gets you removed from your gene pool".

"Cute" Sid grunted at the insult.

Alpha continued, "You think that because of your stupidity, that because you're fighting against the odds, that that makes you in the right. That it makes you 'heroic'. It doesn't matter if you have the blood of trillions on your hands; you're the 'good guys' because the narrative is convenient".

"Says the jerk who came to *our* universe where we were minding our own business!" Trok exclaimed.

"Yeah, sounds like projection to me" Nikki concurred with a grin.

Xolin rose to her feet, her hand clutching her other arm, "You're always trying to make us look as bad as you, but we're not the ones who invaded another universe. We're not the ones who started senseless wars to keep everyone occupied while we ruined their universe".

"You can pretend it's gray on gray all you want, but at the end of the day you're just a monster, no matter your intentions" Sel added, her tone one of disgust and absolute hatred.

"You could have always found another way" Sid told Alpha, "But you chose not to, and we refuse to be the scapegoats for your mistake".

Alpha turned, looking at each ranger in turn as they surrounded him.

"Enough talk".

Raising both swords and crossing them, Alpha began to summon even more power from the nexus; Morphing energy pooled out like a lightning bolt into his weapons, channeling down into his body. He nearly stumbled, grunting from the sudden harsh influx of power. The rangers backed off, knowing that getting close to that would be bad news.

Alpha dropped to his knee, his arms falling to his sides as he simply couldn't take anymore. Energy crackled around him, his entire body now supercharged by the captive grid. He forced himself to stand, and prepared for his attack.

Sid's eyes widened in panic, "EVERYONE, *MOVE*!"

They weren't fast enough. Alpha's attack came down on each of them, his super-charged blades leaving his hands as he guided them, cutting through each ranger in turn. Explosions erupted, sparks flew. The rangers were thrown back as Alpha brought his two swords back together, and brought them down on the prone Sid.

The red ranger countered just in time; with his ax having landed a few feet behind him, Sid was forced to rely on his armor's energy wrist blades. He extended them, red energy meeting Alpha's brilliant-white weapons. Sid struggled to hold his ground, and his body even began to form a crater into the platform they were fighting on as his body was pushed further and further down. He grunted in pain, his blades threatening to break.

"Yes, you feel that, don't you?" Alpha asked him as he stepped closer, keeping a constant pressure on Sid, "The whole weight of the universe, crashing down upon you. You know the only reason you haven't been cut in half is because I've allowed you a moment of reprieve, yes? If I pressed even a bit harder..." he trailed off, and willed his swords to move down.

Sid shouted in pain as his energy blades began to overload. His powers were about to give. Alpha laughed as he savored this victory.

"Hey, Alpha!" Trok shouted from behind. Alpha diverted his attention, then saw what all the commotion was about: the green ranger had loaded his hammer into the yellow ranger's bow.

"Eat it" Sel grunted before firing. Filled with yellow and green energy, the hammer's impact was enough to break Alpha's grasp on Sid, his weapons falling away as the antipode stumbled back. Sid gasped as Xolin and Nikki helped him up.

"We need a plan" Nikki told Sid urgently, "His power levels are off the damn charts. We can't take him conventionally".

Sid and Xolin shared a knowing glance, "Then we don't" Sid said, "Alpha's already got a fatal flaw. We just have to keep him occupied until his body gives out from the sheer amount of power he's ingested".

Nikki frowned with worry, "You think we can do it before everything goes up shit creek?"

"Any idea how long we have?" Sid asked her.

Nikki glanced back at the nexus, getting as many sensor readings as she could while Trok and Sel kept Alpha busy, "...Not that I'm an expert or anything but...four minutes, maybe?"

Sid digested this fact, "...Good luck to all of us" he said with uncharacteristic finality, before rushing back into the fight. Nikki and Xolin glanced at each other, and with a shrug, summoned their weapons again and followed suit.

Sid used his rocket boots to lift himself over Alpha, delivering a series of energy blasts from his wrist armor while he was above, distracting the antipode from Sel and Trok as the red ranger landed in front of him, again drawing his energy blades. The two clashed briefly before Sid backed off, evading a strike.

All of this was to give Nikki time. She'd summoned Isdilian's old sword and shield, combining them into the Sentinel Cannon, and was now aiming at her opponent. Xolin rushed past Alpha's side, delivering a cheap hit to his abdomen with her lance.

There.

Nikki fired the instant she had a clean shot. The powerful wave of energy actually made Alpha stumble forward. The antipode spun around to face her, but before he could Sel let loose another highly-charged shot from her bow, hitting Alpha from the side. This gave Nikki the chance she needed to re-charge her own weapon.

It was not to be; enraged, Alpha struck his swords into the platform, allowing cascading waves of power to rush forth, forcing the yellow and black rangers to abandon their positions.

Trok and Xolin came in from the other side, using Sid as a launching point as they came down, firing blasts of green and blue energy from their wrist gauntlets. The two summoned energy blades as they landed, each flanking Alpha from different directions as he was forced to fend both of them off.

There; Nikki had another shot. She fired again, hitting Alpha right in the side and allowing blue and green to get lucky hits in.

Sid lunged; parrying Alpha's attack before jumping back and using his rocket boosters to fire energy blasts at the antipode as Trok and Xolin came back to the fore. Hammer and lance in hand, they pushed him back several feet before he countered and landed twin solid punches that threw them to the ground, sparks erupting from their suits.

Sel fired again; again from behind.

Enough. ENOUGH!

"ENOUGH!" Alpha roared. He summoned his power, lifting his feet off the ground as he began to hover, preparing to end it all with a single solid attack. The air rippled, reality quickened. It almost seemed to dim everything else except the nexus itself.

He then suddenly dropped back to the ground; his body beginning to shake and convulse as electrical bolts raced across his armor. Sparks and miniature explosions ripped across his body as he screamed in pain. His body was beginning to burn itself out. Alpha dropped to one knee, his armor smoking.

"What's wrong?" Sid grinned as his team reassembled, "Something you ate?" That was what they'd been waiting for; Alpha had been unable to keep hold of the power he'd amassed, and now his body was paying for it.

Alpha stuttered, "You...can't...I won't...let you..." Somehow, through sheer force of will, the red antipode stood back up, channeling what power he still had into his next attack. As the rangers charged, he sent several bolts of energy out, each of them missing the power rangers.

No longer afraid to get up close and personal, the rangers surrounded Alpha; Nikki and Trok flipping over him as Sel, Xolin, and Sid attacked from the front. The five heroes attacked in tandem, keeping Alpha barely able to fend them off all at once.

He got a lucky shot in on Sid; knocking the red ranger back. This then gave him the opportunity to flip Xolin and Sel, but they literally rolled with it, landing safely behind him as Trok and Nikki pressed the attack from the rear. Sid delivered a super-powered kick from his side, throwing Alpha right into the waiting arms of green and black, who in turn delivered super-powered punches. Alpha flew back, rolling to a stop.

He'd barely gotten back to his feet when the rangers closed in on him again. Each came at him in turn, wearing him down further and further even as he fended them off consecutively.

"...How?" he asked in shock as he fought, feeling the tide slowly and irrevocably turning against him, "How is this possible? How can you do this?!"

Sid kept him occupied as Xolin came down over Sid's head with another kick. Sel and Nikki opened fire as Trok came in for another series of jabs. He knocked aside Trok, then grabbed Sid and Xolin and thrust them back. Nikki decloaked from the side, coming down with a kick to his head, before landing gracefully. He'd just turned to her when Sid and Trok struck from behind.

"This is impossible!" Alpha cried, firing a beam of energy that Sel dodged as she came in with a flip, delivering another solid kick. He was just too slow, too singular. He couldn't be everywhere at once. And just kept countering him, keeping him occupied. Alpha fought as hard as he could, with every inch of strength, skill, and power he possessed.

But the end was no longer truly in doubt.

Another volley from Sel dashed any hope of counterattack. By the time Alpha rebounded, she and Trok were leaping off of Sid and Xolin, coming down on him with their bow and hammer, both charged and ready. The green and yellow rangers struck, and upon landing allowed Sid and Xolin to jump off of their shoulders, ax and lance charged up and ready. The next series of weapons landed home, striking Alpha.

All four rangers, now together, locked their arms together as a platform, giving Nikki a boost as she launched from them, flipping up into the air. She summoned her daggers and flung them at Alpha, before following up with a beam blast from her armor gauntlets. Alpha staggered back, his armor black and charred from the constant barrage, his form smoking from the assault.

Nikki came down, and the two fought. She got in a few good hits, including a solid uppercut, but he still had superior strength, grabbing her arms.

"I will *break* you!" he growled at her.

"Hardly" she replied, "You're beaten. Oh, and say cheese".

"Wha-" was all Alpha managed to get out, before she used him as a brace to kick him back. As Alpha stepped backwards, he noticed what she'd meant. To his side, the other four rangers had assembled their weapons together.

"Defender Cannon!" Sid shouted, "Ready and-"

"FIRE!" all four rangers commanded. Their energy intertwined and pooled, spinning around into a singular beam of white light. Alpha tried to dodge, but he was too slow, too injured. The beam cut right through him—and behind him. Part of the attack went behind him, striking the nexus directly.

The result was indescribable; there was the sound of material breaking and then…everlasting light, even though it was only momentary. As vision returned, the rangers found themselves with quite a sight; the Nexus was gone, and it was like they were swimming in golden water; rippling effect coming off the walls. Bits of Morphing energy fluttered down, like dandilion seeds.

"...N...No..." Alpha wheezed, on the floor and obviously in a catostrophic amount of pain. He grasped helplessly at the energy particles that hovered about, in full knowledge that his plan was done. With barely a minute and a half to spare.

So close.

He'd been so close.

"I'm...sorry..." he muttered, presumably for his daughter.

"...We did it!" Trok said, marveling at the visual result, "We did it!" He and Xolin shared a tight but brief hug.

The others had just begun to celebrate as well at the fact that simply blowing it up hadn't ended in unfathomable destruction, when suddenly the entire base shook violently, the lights flickering. The Morphing Grid energy began to dissipate, returning to the rest of the universe.

"...What was that?!" Xolin demanded to know, panicked.

Nikki raced over to the control console and began to work through it as another quake threatened to knock Sel and Sid over the side of the platform. Trok headed over to help Nikki.

"...Remember how in order to do this, Alpha had to absorb the power of the universe twice-over in some sort of paradox?" Nikki asked, though she didn't wait for an answer, "Well bad news; this nexus only held one universe of power. There's a secondary nexus above this one, and it's still on the countdown sequence, which I can't abort!" Nikki reported, even as her hands raced across the controls, trying to find *something* she could do.

"This whole place is destabilizing" Trok added, looking over the console. The others regrouped around the two of them, "The process depended on the two nexuses working in tandem. With one gone, the other's about to blow! The universe can't handle the fact that there's an entire nexus of its own power inside itself!"

"This is what happens when you mess with paradoxes" Sid frowned, "How bad are we talking?"

Nikki opened a new window, "...How does a radius of several hundred thousand light-years sound?"

Another quake shook the room, this one more violent than the last two.

"...We need to leave" Sid said as he turned to exist, "Come on!"

Three of the rangers followed him. They stopped, realizing one had stayed behind. Another quake.

"...Nikki" Sid said as the black ranger stood there, head down. That was right; in all the chaos he'd kind of forgotten where this was all going.

"Sid..." she replied, turning to him, "You know I have to". Part of her didn't want to. Part of her was absolutely terrified of the thought of leaving everything she'd known behind, possibly forever.

He nodded regretfully, "I know".

To Nikki's surprise, it wasn't Sid who crossed the gap between them first. She found herself suddenly in a tight grip of a hug from Trok. She returned it as the others approached, ignoring the next quake as well as they could.

"You're coming back someday" Trok muttered as they broke their hold on each other, "Understand? I'm not letting you say no". He wasn't entirely serious of course, he knew the chances of her return were iffy at best, but he couldn't help it.

Under her helmet, Nikki smiled sadly, "Yes sir" she said, mocking but in good humor. Then she turned to Xolin. They didn't need words as they also gave each other a hug. They'd already said what they'd needed to. An odd friendship had developed over the past few weeks, to be sure, but neither had regretted it one bit.

"Thank you" Sel said as Xolin and Nikki broke contact, "For...everything, really".

"I'm sorry you and I didn't get time to know each other before" Nikki told her, "It was a rough time for me".

"Maybe next time" Sel told her, as hopeful as she could muster. Nikki nodded in response, even though both of them knew the chances.

Finally, Nikki turned to Sid. One more hug followed, and then another seperation. Another quake.

"I hope you find what you're looking for" Sid told her.

"Likewise" she replied. When they lingered, she added, "...Goodbye, Sid. Be happy".

Xolin, Trok, and Sel were already beginning to head out. Sid turned, but not before replying, "You first".

Nikki couldn't help but giggle at that. She watched them go, watched them not even look back. Watched them vanish from sight, just as another quake began to rip the base apart.

She had work to do.

The black ranger turned back around to the console, trying to find the way out. She knew there was one; Iota had been very clear they'd established a subspace link with their home universe in order to keep up on news.

"What...what are you...doing?" Alpha wheezed; he knew he didn't have much time left. He'd been mortally wounded, and even if he hadn't been, the seals on his armor were failing...it was only a matter of time before the antimatter of his body met the matter of this universe. Yet he couldn't help but be curious as to the black ranger's actions.

"Iota left me his data. I can't save your universe, but I *can* save some of your people" Nikki replied, knowing this wasn't good news, but still stressing what she *was* offering to the dying man.

His response was bewilderment, "...Why?"

She stopped, regarding him. He was broken, physically and psychologically. He'd been broken for a long time. He couldn't even contemplate why she'd help him. Nikki glanced between him and the countdown, which was nearing its final seconds.

"Because we're the good guys" she replied. She meant it, too. A second later she'd removed her data storage from her morpher and inserted it into the computer. Her program transferred over, and her physical form evaporated, her morpher falling to the floor with a harmless clank. Alpha stared at it for a moment, mystified, but then he began to laugh. It was a hearty laugh, one made by a person who'd just finally gotten a really funny joke after years and years of not being in on it.

The countdown hit zero.

Two seconds later, the quakes worsened, and the entire chamber was consumed by an expanding fireball as the station began to implode.

The activity in the hanger bay of the Antipode Base was that of controlled chaos. Numerous ships were taking off to escape back to the fleet, while other forces were holding off the encroaching krybot army as best they could. It was a losing fight though, and they only hoped they'd be able to hold until as many ships as possible had left. Gunfire rained back and forth between the front lines.

And then something amazing happened; a subtle wave of energy, like a breeze, rushed through, and everything that had deactivated when the Morphing Grid had vanished began to work again. Almost immediately the tide turned; the defending forces were again on the attack, keeping the krybots at bay as the remaining troop ships took off.

The wave expanded outwards like a bubble in all directions; barely visible and ethereal, but golden in sheen. It blew past the fleets, and the various mega-accelerators and other generators powered by the grid came online once more.

The wave continued, faster and faster, in all directions. It expanded into every galaxy, every cluster. On Eltar, the mages had begun to panic due to the sudden failure of numerous protective wards they'd placed over ancient dumpsters they'd imprisoned evil forces in over the eons. On Aquitar, the Eternal Falls began to flow again. KO-35's cities lit up once more, their power grids coming back online. Triforia, Edenoi, Mirinoi, Horath...the bubble expanded. What had once been Alliance space, Troobian space, the League, the Imperium, the Wildlands...all of it restored.

And further out, the wave went. Beyond known space. Into the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies, and beyond, faster and faster.

Life would continue. Stars would continue to be born. The danger had passed.

The four power rangers ran down the hall, away from the central nexus.

The base was already rupturing; explosions were ripping out walls, hallways were beginning to disintegrate. Knowing there was no way they'd make it on foot, Sid summoned the skycycles as they came to a giant hole in the ground.

The quakes got worse. Trok's countdown reached zero.

An eerie yellow light filled the hallway behind them. As they looked back, they saw the all-consuming fireball headed their way. Sid yelled at the others, ordering them onto the skycycles as the vehicles arrived. Each grabbed their cycle, with Sel taking Nikki's as they veered off in the only direction they could go: down. The fireball followed them as they weaved in and out between the beams and debris of the base that was rapidly falling apart around them.

Outside, the base was visibly starting to implode, its structure collapsing inward as it was consumed by its own destruction. As the apocalyptic storm built within its hull, the battle came to its conclusion as the krybot forces commanding the troobian and Antipode-owned SPD vessels shut down, no longer receiving a signal from their home base. The mercenary forces the Antipodes had hired were doing exactly what the All-Flags Navy was doing; leaving. One by one, two by two, the ships that had been pounding each other into submission began to warp out, leaving the doomed station behind.

Inside, the rangers were only barely ahead of the fireball; unable to find an escape, they had no choice but to continue weaving in and out through the destruction, through half-destroyed hallways and open abysses.

Ahead though, they saw stars. They saw an exit!

And then just as they neared it, the base collapsed around them; the hole vanished. Explosions ripped through where the base collided with itself. The rangers barely evaded crashing in, but without a way out, they were-

The end of a gigantic sword shoved its way through the hull above them, nearly impaling them. Then it pulled back, taking the hull with it. The rangers looked up at the starry sky to their savior.

The Defender Megazord. It flung the chunk of metal it was holding with its sword away, then extended its hand to the sky cycles. As they docked with the zord, it flipped around on its axis, transforming back into megaship mode, blasting away at top sublight speeds from the remains of the Antipode Base.

All around them, the remaining stragglers of the fleet were warping away. Two seconds later, the Defender Megaship did the same.

Two seconds after that, the base imploded...and then reality exploded, instantly taking the black hole with it.

The rangers raced onto the bridge, taking their helmets off as they hurried to their designated stations.

"I have never been so glad to see you assholes" Sid told Tesas and Sitras as he took the captain's seat.

Before anyone could reply, the ship shook.

"Report!" Sid ordered.

Trok brought up a holoscreen at his station, "...We've got an incoming quantum wake!"

"English, Trok!" Sid demanded as she ship began to shake even worse.

In response, Trok flipped the viewscreen to the rear camera. A wave of...something was headed for the Megaship, even at FTL speeds. At first it looked like the fireball, but then as it got closer, the white and red made way for the blackest of nights. The void of all voids.

"Can we go any faster?!" Xolin asked, panic rising.

Sitras shook her head in terror, "We're already going at maximum hyperrush!"

"We're not going to make it!" Trok exclaimed. He looked around, thinking it might be the last time he saw any of them. Sel met his gaze, then put her arm on his shoulder in reassurance, even if she didn't know if they were going to make it either.

At least they were all together.

"Yes" Sid growled as he took count of the number of light-years they'd traveled, "We ARE. HANG ON!"

The wake closed in on the ship. The ship shook, vibrating at dangerous levels. Lights flickered, consoles sparked. The engines pushed themselves to their absolute limits. The wake vitually touched up against the rear of the vessel, scorching the ship with incomprehensible energies. It even seemed to almost push the ship further ahead, like a tidal wave would push an ocean-going vessel. The rangers grabbed hold of their seats as reality came undone, and everything went white.

Xolin's Personal Log:

Eight hundred thousand light-years. That's the diameter of space that's just...gone. I'm not a math person, so don't ask me to explain how or why; I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

Eight hundred thousand. That's the entire Argolis galaxy, plus everything orbiting it and then some. We lost an entire galaxy. And I thought that, you know, there'd be a hole or something. But apparently that's not how space-time works. There's just...nothing. If, for instance, you want to go from the Ithar Galaxy to the Ophan I Galaxy, there's simply eight hundred thousand fewer light-years between them.

I can't get over that.

I asked Trok, but hell if I could get an answer I could wrap my head around.

If there's a silver lining to this, the Argolis galaxy was sparsely inhabited; I guess that was sort of the point though, the Antipodes wanted someplace out of the way and private. Only a handful of worlds had colonies, so a few million people at most are...well, Gone, I guess. And that sounds awful, but at the same time I can't help but wonder what it would have been like if a heavily populated galaxy like Andromeda or the Milky Way had gotten it, where hundreds of billions of people live.

It's been...weird. Since escaping, I mean. We had to put into port; the ship got pretty banged up by the wake and we kind of just barely limped in. But we made it.

We're alive.

Most of us, anyway.

But it feels like the universe is almost just holding its breath right now. What do we do? Where do we go? Everything's in chaos, there's just not a lot of coherent movement right now. So, for the moment at least, we're staying here. Waiting.

I hate waiting. I just helped save the universe and now nothing's happening and I just need to know what's going to happen next or I'm going to actually lose my mind.

Sigh.

I'm going to let some steam off in the simudeck.

Trok found her sitting in her room. She'd left the door open, which had to have been a conscious decision considering doors on the Megaship closed automatically.

"...Sel?" Trok asked. She'd been staring off into space, currently sitting on the side of her bed. "Are you okay?"

She blinked, seemingly coming back to the present, "...Oh, sorry. I was just..." she trailed off.

"Thinking? Trok offered, stepping inside.

"Sort of".

"You uh...left your door open" Trok said, sitting down at the end of the bed. He was so glad to have her back and yet...now he felt this weird uneasy divide between them. He'd wanted everything back for so long and yet...maybe that wasn't possible anymore.

Her response was muted, distant. Almost more like how she'd been when they'd first met, "I don't like closed doors".

Trok wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he didn't. He just kind of sat awkwardly, wondering if he should go. That train of thought ended when she spoke again.

"I've just been...I came here, thinking I could just...I don't know" she admitted, giving up trying to explain herself, "It's my room, but it doesn't feel comfortable. It feels distant. Alien".

"We...we left it just how you left it" Trok said, not understanding. When she didn't respond, he asked again, "...Are you okay?"

This had been the first peace and quiet she'd gotten since...well, since she'd revolted against the Antipodes and been trapped in that pod. The first time she'd just been able to sit down and think.

And she was rapidly beginning to realize that was a very, very bad move.

"I...don't know" she admitted, finally. "I just...have a lot to process, I think".

Trok frowned in sympathy, "Look, I was going to invite you to the simudeck with me, Xolin, and Tesas and Sitras. We were going to blow off some steam while we're stuck here at this outpost. But if you'd rather-"

"No" she interrupted softly, still keeping her gaze on the far wall, "Go on and have fun with Xolin and the others. I just...need to be alone right now. Okay?"

Trok nodded, accepting her choice even if he was still very concerned, "Yeah, okay" he said, getting off the bed and heading for the door, "...Hey, Sel?"

"Hm?" she asked, finally making eye contact.

"I'm just glad you're back" Trok said in earnest.

She nodded, "Me too". She said nothing else, returning to her thoughts. Trok lingered for a moment longer in concern, but finally forced himself to leave.

This wasn't right.

He had, like, a million messages to deal with. So much paperwork.

Yet, instead of Iota's office or the bridge or his own quarters, he found himself here. In her room. Nikki's room. He'd come ostensibly to clean it out, get it over with, but the truth was...she hadn't really done anything with it. It was just about as pristine as it had been when she'd moved in.

Somehow, her room was even more impersonal than Sid's was. She'd been even more of a ghost than he'd been, and he hadn't even thought that possible. Even he still had a few things he carried with him...moreso since moving onboard. But this room was desolate.

His heart ached. He hoped she was going to find what she was looking for, he really did. He knew what it felt like to live like an empty shell, consumed by one's past, and he didn't wish that on anyone.

Nor did he want to keep experiencing it himself. He didn't know what the future held, but he knew he couldn't go back to aimlessly wandering. He couldn't go back to not existing.

Silently, Sid left the room. He hadn't cleaned it; he hadn't needed to. It was already ready for the next occupant.

He had work to do.

"I'm worried" Trok said, just before banking the turn with his go-kart. They'd chosen the Kingdom of Atlantis level; a series of tubes beneath the ocean with tight corners.

Xolin grimaced, somewhat ahead of Trok and already dealing with the next major obstacle on the track; a slippery area where a bunch of eels had been dropped. She got caught up in it a bit, but remained firmly ahead of Trok, "She's probably been through a lot. Who knows what the Antipodes did to her".

"Trapped in that pod, having your power sucked out" Trok muttered with distaste, "Barbaric". He picked up a new weapon; a pack of guided missiles. The kart ahead of him, Tesas's, exploded in a blaze of glory, Trok couldn't help but grin as he heard the aquitian curse. Loudly.

Xolin thought for a second, "Maybe Nikki can-" she stopped when she suddenly realized what she was saying, "Huh...you know, I didn't realize how much we'd sort of started to rely on her".

"I miss her already" Trok muttered.

Xolin braved another turn, "You miss everybody" she teased.

Trok followed her, "Well, everyone's important!"

Xolin couldn't help but smile at that. "Yeah, I guess they are..." Her train of thought was broken when her kart was suddenly struck from the rear, her speed drastically decreasing as the missile did its work. Trok zipped ahead.

"HEY!" she shouted as her kart picked up speed again.

"EAT DIRT!" Trok laughed as he drove off. He still wasn't in the lead mind you; Sitras was still somewhere way ahead of everyone. But any chance to irritate Xolin in a game was time well spent.

"Oh, he is *so* dead" Xolin cursed as she sped off after him.

It had been three days since the Battle of Erebus. Nearly three days since they'd limped into port. Not that Sid could really tell one day from the next. He'd taken a few naps here and there, but there had been so much work to do. Between keeping tabs on the ship repairs (they were at an out of the way independent trader station and while nothing had happened yet he didn't entirely trust them) and finalizing the dissolution of what remained the Peacekeepers, as well as dealing with all the fallout from the battle...sleep had sort of taken a backseat.

Besides, he was still sort of worked up after the whole thing.

Still, it was starting to wear on him. Sid entered the workbay, getting himself a fresh cup of coffee from the synthatron. They really needed synthatrons installed in more rooms, crew dynamics be damned.

He hadn't noticed her when he'd walked in, but when he turned around to leave, he jumped, "AH!" There was Sel, sitting in one of the chairs. Silently. In the dark. "...Sorry" Sid said, "Didn't see you. Scared me a bit".

"Sorry" she replied, "I was just..." she trailed off, not sure how to finish that statement.

"...Not sleeping?" Sid said wryly as he took a sip of his drink, fully aware of the hypocrisy, "It's three AM".

"I needed to be out of my room" she muttered listlessly, "It was...I just had to be out". She couldn't explain it further. She'd just needed to go somewhere else. She'd been in the lounge for a while too, before she'd needed to leave that place too. This room was starting to become a bit stifling. Maybe she'd go back to wandering the empty halls again.

Sid frowned. He'd been told about this from Trok and Xolin, but he'd sort of put off dealing with it, due in part to how busy he was and in part because he wasn't really sure how to deal with this. Now he just sort of felt guilt over having not done anything, "...Sleep in here, then?" he offered, "I can see the bags under your eyes even in the dark. Have you slept at all since getting back?"

"I..." she hesitated, "Sleep is a bad idea". This conversation was becoming uncomfortable. She got up, "Sorry for startling you. I'll find somewhere else to-"

"It doesn't stop, does it?" Sid asked her sadly, with full understanding.

That did it. She wasn't even sure what about it had did it, but it did it. "...No" she admitted, her voice cracking as the tears began. Sid drew her into a hug as she began to let it out. No words were exchanged for quite a while. No words were necessary.

Trok's Personal Log:

It's weird, coming back. On the surface, everything almost feels like it did back then. And yet...it doesn't at all. Everything's different. Everything's going to be different.

Sel's not doing well. I'm doing what I can to help, but this is way beyond me. I know mega-accelerators and particle beams. Psychology wasn't ever really my thing.

Xolin was right; we're really kind of missing Nikki right now. She knew how to keep people stable. How to stem damage.

It's weird. Everything's weird. Technically the Peacekeepers are gone, technically we're not really on duty anymore; mission's over. But at the moment we're all still hanging around the ship like nothing's ever changed, even though in a few weeks at most we're all going to be leaving. It's weird to think about.

Part of me doesn't want to leave. Scratch that, most of me doesn't want to. But I know I need to. So much has happened, and I just...I can't. I need time to process. We've been fighting nonstop, and I haven't had time to consider everything. I got in this to have adventures, see new places, and there's that old saying, right? Be careful what you wish for?

I don't want to end up like Sid...or Sel.

The wars left so much destruction. We're at least partially responsible for that. I think I'd like to spend some time fixing things instead of breaking them.

Three Weeks Later

And so they found themselves back on KO-35.

Sid stepped out of the changing room decked out in a full suit and tie, and looking fairly unhappy about it. As he entered the main room, he saw he'd been beaten by both girls, both of them wearing formal robes of their respective homeworlds.

"...Where's Trok?" Sid asked.

"Here" the Horathean replied, stepping out of his own changing room looking less like someone about to go to a memorial ceremony and more like...well, Conan the Barbarian if he had a few more clothes on. Leather and fur armor and golden trinkets were the rule of the day here.

"...Seriously?" Sid asked him.

Trok immediately felt self-conscious, "It's...traditional dress for a khan's son. Even in exile".

Sid sighed with regret as he glanced between Trok and the classy robes Xolin and Sel were wearing, and then the monkey suit he had on, "...I should have gone Native Mirinoite" he said flatly.

Xolin gave him a puzzled look, "...What?"

"Nothing, come on" Sid said, waving them to follow.

"Do we have to do this?" Xolin asked in distress as they left the main area of the changing rooms and headed down the hall, "You know this is just going to be one giant guilt trip, They are doing it just to pin all the blame on us because we led them into war". No, she wasn't bitter at all about how the pre-battle conference had gone. No siree.

"It's the right thing to do. We DID have a hand in every casualty that happened simply because we asked them to follow us" Sid replied.

"If we hadn't, then everyone would be dead" Xolin grumbled back.

"It's still our responsibility" Sid relied, "Besides, everyone's in sort of a fragile state right now. It'll be good to have the people responsible for leading them to victory hanging around. It'll be a bit of a unifying factor".

"Better than everyone being at war" Trok added.

Xolin frowned, "Oh yeah, I'm sure they'll just load heaps of praises on us" she said flatly.

Sid gave her a wry look as they walked, "Has anyone told you you're a real downer?"

She shot him a very similar look, "Fine. Don't come crying to me when they crucify you".

"Actually, I think the Eltarians are more a fan of whatever the magical equivalent of drawn and quartering is" Sid joked back.

"Oh, even better".

"Can we stop talking about this?" Trok asked.

"Please" Sel added, obviously still very sleep deprived. She hadn't said much today, but right now all the others could do was stick around her, keep her occupied.

They arrived at the door, each ranger somewhat anxious about what lay beyond it. Taking a deep breath, Sid followed through, "Come on guys, it's just one night of fake smiles. We've literally handled worse".

When KO-35 had offered to host this ceremony, it had been an easy choice to use the old Senate Hall of the Confederation. For one, it was a large building no longer in use. For two, the fall of the Confederation was almost a symbol for the destruction the Antipodes had caused. So was the fall of the Alliance, but at the same time considering the current fate of the Alliance and the ongoing wars, it wasn't really a good place to host this.

The hall was filled with people hailing from every corner of the known universe, mostly those who had fought in the battle and-or loved ones, but also their political backers—diplomats and politicians. This was a chance to forge ties, build alliances in this new, weird post-antipode world where much of the old order had been overturned.

The four rangers wandered in, a bit overly cautious as they took stock of the chamber. It was long, consisting of two parallel seating areas high above the central valley. At the far end was the consul's podium, where leaders would dictate to the rest of the chamber. And there in the center, above the central hall, was the speaker's podium, connected to below via stairs and to the seating areas via catwalks.

"So now what?" Trok asked.

"Now...we mingle" Sid said, putting on a smile and walking forward.

Xolin sagged, "Ugh. Got enough of this back home" she grumbled, before sighing and switching to 'mingle' mode.

"You made it!" a very familiar voice said. B'rnix came wandering up in a slightly tipsy walk, carrying a glass of...something, "Well, most of you!"

The group shared a series of looks, frowns crossing from one to another. Sid spoke, "...It was her choice".

"A pity" the varox slurred, "A toast then! To the finest companion on my wacky misadventures!" he wobbled, a little woozy.

"...How many have you had?" Xolin asked him, suspicious.

He laughed, "Not as many as I'm going to". B'rnix wandered off, off to make nice with the next group.

Trok blinked with surprise, "...I didn't think they were serving alcohol here".

"They're not" Sid replied flatly.

The memorial ceremony went along as well as could be expected. As the room filled, the actual ceremony began, remembering the thousands who had been lost in the assault. Remembering the millions who had been caught in the quantum wake.

Remembering the millions who had been lost in all the wars up to this point.

It was incredibly uncomfortable for the four rangers at parts. How much of it was their fault? Even ignoring the fact that thousands had died in the battle, they'd fought the battle with the idea that it was to keep the base from self-destructing...and then the quantum wake had happened anyway. Several hundred light-years just...gone. Millions of people just gone.

Was that their fault? In the end there hadn't been any way they could have prevented it...but how responsible were they?

Sid was keenly aware of some of the looks they were getting, ranging from curiosity to surprise to...well, he'd caught sight of a distinct glare Lasandra had given him when they'd gotten to the Eltarian portion. Thanks to the temporary loss of the Morphing Grid, the Eltarian forces had lost more than most of the other parties due to their near-total dependance on it.

Sid didn't meet her gaze for long.

Speeches happened. The rangers didn't really pay attention to them that much; most of them were empty platitudes and calls for unity. You know, vanilla stuff.

And then the rangers had been asked to take the stand. They'd never been asked to write a speech. Xolin gave Sid a dirty look; here it was, the chance to string them up as scapegoats. Sid frowned in response; she was probably right.

Trok was the first to stand. They'd brought this all on, they had a responsibility to see this through...and he wasn't a coward. Sel was next to join him as they walked towards the speaker's podium. Sid nudged Xolin, then followed suit. With a sigh, Xolin did likewise.

With purpose but with reluctance, the four rangers assembled in the central podium, surrounded by the audience gathered. Ahead, in the consul's stage, sat the assembled heads of state of the various powers they'd assembled—or at the very least, in some cases their representatives.

"Four million people that existed a month ago do not exist today" Lasandra stated sternly from the consul's stage, "An entire galaxy is missing. A scar exists in spacetime that will always remind us of what happened there".

The rangers kept their heads down as the blows continued to come.

"You led the force that fought the Antipodes. You're the team that took the reigns and decided history regardless of what anyone else felt or thought, and assumed all of the consequences therein. You will always share in the blame in the result. There are people who did not come home from that battle; there are whole colonies who simply vanished without a trace".

"But" said King Ihara, standing up next to her, "It is just as important to count the living as it is to count the dead. And just as it is on you that people are gone..." he smiled, "It is also on you that we are all here. That many more people had homes to come back to".

The rangers dared to look up.

Ihara nodded, "And we will never forget that. While we were bickering amongst each other, fighting pointless wars and being manipulated, you worked to save us, without support and without recognition. If it had not been for you, none of us, not a single person in the entire universe, would be here to mourn the dead. Not a single person would have remained to stand here now. We would have been nothing more than a footnote in someone else's history. We owe you our lives. And because of that, we celebrate *you*".

Ihara began to clap, and soon enough the other representatives stood and began to clap as well. And then...and then the rest of the room began to do the same. A standing ovation spread through the senate chamber like wildfire, and the rangers couldn't believe it. Each stood, mouth agape as the impossible washed over them. Eltarians, triforians, humans, aquitians, machines, horatheans, and over two dozen other species joined in. Trok couldn't help but be a little giddy despite everything; it was what he'd always wanted and could never get because of the nature of what the Peacekeepers had been.

Recognition.

He grabbed Sel and Xolin into a tight hug from the sides, using them as leverage as he jumped for joy. Sid just marveled at it all. He glanced at Lasandra, who despite her earlier glare gave him a begrudging look of respect. His father, too, gave a look of approval as he clapped.

Realization sunk in. Despite everything...they were heroes.

Sometime later, the reception had set in. People were talking, enjoying themselves, reminiscing.

Trok and Sel found themselves at one of the many food bars, eying the snacks. They happened on a large plate of aquitian calamari. Trok eyed Sel, "...Bet you I can eat the whole thing".

*That* got her attention. The edges of her lips curled up as she gave him a conspiratorial look in response, "You're on".

As Trok began the absolute debauchery, Xolin rolled her eyes and looked away, turning her attention to the conversation between Sid and his father. Anything was better than watching the children embarrass them all.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do next?" the admiral asked Sid, before taking a sip of his drink.

Sid shook his head, "Not really. I've been sort of busy dealing with, y'know, the end of the world and all. Why?"

His father seemed to contemplate his answer, trying to decide where to start with this, "...The Peacekeepers taught the Confederacy an important lesson. We shunned rangers and riders and got burned in response. If you hadn't been there..." he trailed off, but then shifted gears back to the original topic, "Anyway. A few of the former Confederate member worlds have been talking".

"...Getting the band back together?" Sid asked.

His father shook his head, "No, nothing quite so overt, none of the worlds are ready to hand themselves over to yet another alliance or organization. However, a number of them are interested in a new ranger organization. Not clandestine like the Peacekeepers, but out in the open, and properly funded".

Sid gave his father an odd look, "...Really? We just got our shit wrecked by SPD, again, and we're already ready for a principle building block of the police state?"

"The problem as it's seen is that the rangers never should have been an arm of any particular government. It never should have been a combined military and police organization. However, that doesn't mean the idea isn't worth pursuing. As the Antipodes demonstrated, there will always be threats that normal military forces aren't equipped for fighting".

Okay, this was getting interesting. Sid's interest piqued a bit as he took a bite out of his sandwich, "Where are you going with this?"

"We're looking at building an international task force organization, free of any particular state. Each member world would contribute funds and resources. And as it would be independent but overseen by each state, it wouldn't be used as an offensive force".

"And it wouldn't be a military operation?" Sid asked him.

The admiral shook his head, "It would be a civilian organization, though it would be observed by various military and political voices".

"...You really think that would work?" Sid asked him skeptically.

His father shrugged, "Honestly? I don't know. But I do know we need something like it. If it turns out to be a bad idea down the road, then we'll just have to deal with it then".

Sid frowned; he didn't want to turn this opportunity down, especially when he and his father were just starting to work well together, but… "...Actually, I was thinking of stepping down as a ranger. I don't regret what I've done at all but...it's someone else's turn. I can't keep doing this, it..." unwelcome memories briefly flashed through his mind, "…No. I'm sorry". He couldn't; the aquitian therapist had been right. He couldn't keep fighting day in and day out. Not with his issues. One battle at a time would be fine but...again, like Epsilon had said back in the pocket dimension; he couldn't win forever. Eventually it would all come crashing down again.

And besides, he didn't want to be stuck here forever, not when everyone else was moving on.

His father caught his pained expression and understood, "...Actually, I wasn't intending you to continue fighting on the front lines".

Sid's expression shifted to one of confusion.

His father gave a small but satisfied smile, "I'm looking for the best of the best commanders. Those who will teach and guide their teams".

Admiral Drake's son's eyes widened in surprise and shock, "Wait, you...want me to..."

"Help lead the new Peacekeepers, yes. And yes, that's the name currently being tossed about, in remembrance of your team's achievements".

...Oh. Well, dang. Sid wasn't entirely sure how to take this. His father continued, "You would be responsible for commanding multiple teams in your sector. This includes missions, training, and all the logistics junk for your sector. You would be teaching, training, and then deploying. In addition, you would be offering assistance to independent civilian teams who reached out for support".

Sid was taken aback; his father didn't just approve of his actions, he wanted him to up hi game further. But this was so much more than Sid was used to, he didn't…

"I've seen your mission reports, watched you and your team in action" his father said upon seeing Sid's torn expression, "You're a natural tactician, better than myself even. You know how to inspire loyalty and zeal. You know how to outsmart your opponent. And you're not half-bad at logistics. You can do this, I believe that now". He extended his hand as if reaching out for a handshake.

"Take the jooooob" Trok whispered not-so-quietly into Sid's ear from behind. Irritated, Sid waved him off like a fly, but his father almost broke into laughter.

"I'd take the kid's advice".

Sid glanced at the encouraging Trok, both thumbs up and a fistful of calamari sticking out of his mouth, then back at his father.

Oh, what the hell.

Gripping his dad's hand tightly, Sid accepted, not completely sold but deciding to jump in on a leap of faith anyway, "Alright. I'm game". His father nodded in appreciation.

"Welcome aboard, Commander Drake".

...Man, that felt unexpectedly good.

Xolin had turned her attention elsewhere now, preferring to simply watch the goings on of the crowds of people around her. She became so immersed in it in fact, she didn't even notice the king walk up next to her. He began to sample the food, "So, have you considered my offer?"

Xolin nearly jumped, but composed herself quickly, "I..." had she? She looked over at where Sid was shaking his father's hand—evidently he was going off in that direction. Trok was leaving. Nikki was gone.

And where was Xolin? She didn't want to be drifting forever. She didn't want to simply be a piece of loose debris cast off from her home. She wanted more, even if she was terrified because she didn't think she could handle it. Long ago she probably would have said she could, but that had been borne out of arrogance and stupidity.

But as she had stated to Epsilon, the others did trust and believe in her, and she trusted in what they thought.

So maybe she could.

"...Yes" she told her king, finally, "I'm interested".

Ihara smiled, "Good. Welcome aboard, Xolin".

Sel watched the event unfold, suddenly feeling alone as the others all got wrapped up in their own conversations. While she'd been imprisoned, they'd all been moving on with their lives.

Where would she go?

She quietly left the floor, heading up into the senate seating area above, which was now sparsely populated as most everyone had moved down to either the central valley or out into one of the ancillary rooms. There she sat, watching everyone scurry about, back and forth.

She'd always felt different, alone. But now that feeling had been magnified, like she was just some passive observer.

"Sometimes I too like to disconnect, to watch".

Sel turned, seeing Elder Sesh sitting next to her, looking over the railing. He continued, "As much as I love our people's mental connection and wouldn't trade it for anything, sometimes I really do prefer to watch from afar. You get a point of view you otherwise miss, one that is important for dealing with non-xybrians" he turned to face her, "Hello again, Sel".

"Hi" she replied, "It's...good to see you. For real, this time".

"And it is good to see you have returned in one piece" Sesh replied, "Though perhaps...not entirely, am I right?"

She blushed, embarrassed a bit, "...Sid told you?" she ventured as she looked away from him.

"He did indeed" said the old man, "Though I can tell even from here you are not doing well".

Was it that obvious? "I...it's been hard. Things happened and I can't...it won't..."

"I want you to do something for me" Sesh told her softly, "I want you to come with me".

She blinked in surprise, "Come with...you?"

He nodded, "Back home. To Xybria. We can help".

"...Can you make it stop?" she asked in a quiet voice.

He shook his head sadly, "Trauma is like any experience. It stays with us forever, becomes part of who we are. It cannot be removed, not without removing part of your own development and a part of who you are. However, with time and effort, we *can* learn to live with it, to work around it. We can help you, Sel. We xybrians have the link, the hivemind we all experience. Our thoughts, our emotions".

"But we established long ago I don't have that" Sel mumbled, depressed, "I can't connect with other xybrians. I haven't even had so much as a hint of precognition". She'd read up on her people's culture and society of course. Xybrians didn't have *true* precognition, at least not in the traditional sense, despite what it looked like to outsiders. Rather, xybrians had the power to read minds, and could 'predict' by subconsciously guessing when they read another person's intentions or goals. In young, untrained xybrians this could result in sudden prophetic episodes. In older, more experienced members of her species, this could lead to long-lived plans—hence Xybria's relative stability and peaceful nature.

"But that was before, when you were a child of the Morphing Grid. How about now? You came back as a full-blooded xybrian, didn't you?" Sesh asked.

Sel nodded, that IS what she'd willed when she'd left the grid.

Sesh spoke again, "And considering your experience with the dreamlands, I would imagine your skills would already be formidable. I want you to try something. Just...sit there, quietly. Let it all fall away".

Sel assumed the meditation position Xolin had taught her. It was hard to focus; so many other things were happening around them, and she started to become frustrated and was about to give up. Except—a cool evening summer breeze. After-dusk. A temple, with calm lanterns lighting it. A tree, rustling through the breeze.

Wait, what? That wasn't her memory. It had only been there for a second, and then was gone. She'd only gotten the barest taste, now all that was left was a vague after-image. A memory of that memory.

"That was..." she breathed, not sure how to describe that.

Sesh smiled in the way that old man did when he's made his point, "We can help you, Sel. Come home. Be among your people. Learn what it means to be xybrian. You won't be trapped, you'll be free to come and go as you please".

"What would I do there?" Sel asked him, "Where would I go?"

Sesh leaned forward, "You would be able to do whatever you wanted. A proper education, perhaps. You would have time to figure out where you would like to be, what you would like to be".

Time. Freedom. Choice. Words that had once seemed so alien and unreachable for her, and now she had all of them. She fought back the swirl of emotions that threatened to burst out, "...Thank you" she whispered.

"No thanks are necessary" Sesh replied, "You are one of us. And we owe you our lives. I would be remiss to allow you to suffer alone". He stood up, "If you will excuse me, I must prepare our passage. Enjoy the rest of your night. Be with your friends".

As Sesh left, Sel looked back down at the crowd. Almost immediately she caught sight of Sid, looking directly at her. He gave her a smile and a knowing nod, and she smiled and mouthed a 'thank you' in response. As he faded back into the crowd, she put her arms around her knees, forming herself into a ball.

And maybe she didn't feel quite so alone.

The woman wore a practical business suit as she typed away a report on her computer. Her phone rang, but she did not care to answer it. A few moments later, a knock sounded on her door. She didn't even look up as she responded, "Come in".

The middle aged man in a business suit and carrying a briefcase walked in, taking a seat in one of the chairs on the other side of the woman's desk.

"...So you failed" she said. Not a question, an affirmation. A statement of fact.

The man smiled, "One never gets everything they plan for. However, I have learned to settle for *almost* everything'". He opened his briefcase, pulling out the ancient Eltarian trinket that had helped to bring the universe to the brink of extinction, that had once been the personal conduit of an ancient unfathomable nightmare of a being before he'd been purged of it by the rangers. The man placed it on the woman's desk. She stopped typing, taking time to look over at the conduit.

The man explained, "The Antipodes and the rangers both played their parts perfectly. While the girl refused my choice, in the end they still managed to set the xenoformer off incorrectly. Because of that, the fabric of spacetime itself has been punched through. It's an open, gaping wound. With a diameter of several hundred light-years, that sphere of missing space as become the single largest rift in the history of this kalpa".

The woman digested this fact, seemingly impressed before simply going back to her work, "Seems you did quite well then".

"Indeed" the man replied with a smile, "To think, millions of years have been spent on this scheme, and now finally the pieces are almost in place. We just have to wait a bit longer for The Dawn".

Sel's Personal Log:

Home. It's a word that's weird for me. I mean, a lot of words are weird for me, considering. But home is...I've moved a lot. My earliest memories are of living with Coros on Arkilla. Then I spent a long time on the Megaship and I felt for the first time like that was home...but then I was kidnapped and spent a lot of time elsewhere. And now that I'm back and it...doesn't feel the same. So much has changed.

And everyone's leaving. I think they feel the same way, even if they haven't said it.

Xybria's my homeworld, even though I was only there once and for a short time, and spent most of it either unconscious or in a giant robot. I wasn't born on Xybria, or any of its colonies. I was 'born' in a tube, formed from the Morphing Grid itself. I was a tool, a weapon.

A puppet.

For so long everyone told me where to go and what to do, even as I fought and resisted. And yet now that I've won, and all I see is a blank canvas, and I'm terrified.

...I should start painting again. Maybe I could get some of my emotions out. Like the nightmares, being trapped, and the pain.

Sometimes I feel like my skin is on fire, even though I know it's not. I hate closed doors. I hate enclosed spaces. I'm afraid…

I'm afraid that this is all a dream and when I wake up I'll be back in that damned pod with no one to talk to and slowly wasting away and...no. Can't think about that. Won't think about that.

Refuse to think about that.

I'm going home. I'm going to get better. And then I'm going to live my life the way I want to, because I refuse to let them win. Not after everything.

The ship was silent and empty. Trok had been moving from one room to the next, taking a moment to get one long good look at each one in turn, even has he had to navigate a bit more carefully since he was loaded to the brim with bags that contained everything he owned.

He passed the workbay, idly remembering all the times they hung out there. All the project he had made. He passed the simudeck. Remember when he got everyone stuck in there by accident because of Capricorn's virus? He passed by each of their quarters; his, Sid's, Xolin's, Sel's, Nikki's...even Isdilian's. He passed by the medbay, and the observation lounge, and the bridge, each one bringing up different memories.

He approached main engineering, seeing the spot on the floor where the others had been tied up by that shapeshifter creature, when Sel had first demonstrated her Morphing Grid powers. Remember that time they'd looped time? Or when they'd boarded that ghost ship? Or the time Xolin had been split in three and couldn't recombine.

So many memories.

"Trok, what are you doing?!" Xolin reprimanded him from down the hall, "Sel's about to leave! Come on!"

Oh, right! "Sorry, coming!" Trok called back, waddling down the hall with his cargo.

Trok met the others outside, in the main hanger bay that the Megaship had been stationed on during their time on KO-35. They were currently high in orbit on one of the Karovian super-stations that handled the bulk of traffic around this nexus of trade. All around them, numerous other ships were parked, and hundreds of people were moving to and fro across the hanger bay.

Three of the team were packed and ready to go, carrying bags and luggage with them. Of the four, only Sid remained casual. Sel watched the xybrian ship she was going to be taking with hesitation and a bit of worry.

"It'll be okay" Xolin reassured her, "We'll all be only a single call away if you need us".

"I know. I just..." Sel fumbled for the words, "It's new. And different. And I don't do well with that".

Sid offered her a smile, "You can do this. You're stronger than you think. You stuck it to the Antipodes for months. You can do this".

"And we'll be right there every week!" Trok said happily, putting his arm around her into a half-hug. She stumbled as she was thrown a bit, "Heck yeah, group simudeck sessions! Group calls, online gaming, you name it!"

Sel couldn't help but giggle at that, "...Yeah. Thanks" she said to the group as she pulled out of Trok's grasp, "You promise?"

"Always" Sid replied.

Out in the crowd, Elder Sesh waved, beckoning Sel to follow. She turned to the others, "...It's time".

The others drew her into a tight hug, but even before they'd broken it Trok was already beginning to panic, "Wait! Wait!"

"What?" Xolin asked.

Trok pulled out his morpher, "Group photo, before it's too late!" The group posed, allowing Trok's morpher to scan them all. With the picture completed, they broke from each other, "I'll send you guys copies, don't worry".

Sel got one more series of hugs, then reluctantly but with purpose began to walk towards Sesh. She turned one last time to wave, then vanished with Sesh into the crowd, towards the xybrian ship.

"...I should get going too" Trok said, his mood turning a bit more gloomy.

"Where exactly are you headed, anyway?" Sid asked him.

Trok pointed to an SPD shuttle at the far end of the hanger, "Some of the Alliance worlds that broke off and declared independence are under Admiral Lacanth's protection. I'm sort-of-not-really enlisting with him. He wants to start a rebuilding project now that the wars over there are calming down a bit; try to help those worlds recover a bit. I'm going to help him since I'm good with designing stuff".

Xolin gave him a hug, "Be careful" she said.

"Yes mom" Trok said with a hint of sarcasm. She rolled her eyes with contempt. As they separated, Trok explained further, "I want to try and undo some of the damage that's been caused because of the Antipodes and...well, and because of us".

"And we couldn't be prouder" Xolin replied.

"We hope you find what you're looking for too" Sid told him.

Trok regarded the two of them for a moment, the two older rangers who had kept him on track this whole time. Xolin, the older sister he'd never had who had pushed him onward, and who had trained him from day one. Sid, the older super-cool mentor who he'd originally had a bit of a hero crush on, only to eventually find him to be a fellow partner in crime. Tears threatened to spill out.

"Thank you" Trok managed, before they drew in for yet another embrace.

"Now boarding: SPD Shuttle A-Fifteen" came the voice over the comm.

"...That's my ride" Trok said, stepping away from the other two rangers.

"Knock 'em dead!" Sid called as Trok backed away further. They watched him turn, nearly run into another guy, and then begin to sprint even with all the bags he was carrying.

"...Think he'll be okay?" Xolin asked Sid, a hint of worry in her voice.

"He'll be fine" Sid reassured her, "He was trained by the best".

She smiled, despite herself, "...Flatterer" her expression flattened; morose, "I guess I still just think of him as that little kid I met back when this all started. I kind of forget how much he's grown".

The two watched Trok vanish into the crowd, leaving just two rangers behind.

"So" Xolin said, changing topics as she spun her heel towards Sid, her arms folded, "Commander, huh?"

Sid chuckled nervously, "...Yeah. I mean, it's still all preliminary so far, everyone still has to hammer stuff out and sign treaties and stuff, but...yeah. It looks like Peacekeepers 2.0 is happening" he glanced up at the Megaship, "I'm taking her to Mirinoi for reassignment. Likely one of the new teams we train will take command of her".

"...Hopefully they'll treat her well" Xolin mused, a bit sadly at the fate of what had become their home, "...Do you think this is a good idea?" she asked Sid suddenly, "I mean, another ranger organization? How do we keep things from happening all over again?"

Sid grimaced; he'd been dealing with that train of thought since he'd accepted the offer from his dad, "...I don't know. Not sure we can".

She looked at him, a bit hopelessly, "Then what's the point? We try to protect people, we become an oppressive dictatorship or a clandestine grudge match, we fail the people, but then they realize they can't live without us and start the cycle all over again. Where does it stop?"

"...You can't win every time" Sid muttered to himself, remembering.

"...Come again?" Xolin asked, confused.

Sid explained, "Flip a coin and it has a fifty-fifty chance of coming up heads or tails. Flip it again, and whatever you didn't get last time has a higher chance of coming up. Keep flipping it and eventually the side you didn't get the first time will inevitably show up. Basic probability".

She looked at him with a bit of worry. He continued, "But...if you take it one coin flip at a time, each one still has a fifty-fifty chance. Each one still has a shot at giving you the outcome you want, regardless of the other flips".

"So, what, don't worry about the other flips?" Xolin asked him.

Sid shrugged, "We can't predict what will happen in the future. We can't stop people from being people. All we can do is what we can do, and trust that the next generation will build on what we've done instead of making the same mistakes. Maybe this is the other coin flip—the one that comes up the way we want it".

"...Is that faith I hear?" she asked him coyly.

He smirked, "Gotta believe in something. Otherwise I wouldn't keep doing this".

Xolin was about to respond, but her morpher beeped; her signal that her flight was ready, "...And that's my ride" she stated. The two rangers stared at each other for a moment, letting time freeze for as long as they could make it. Another hug followed.

"Good luck, Minister Xolin" Sid cackled with good humor.

She pushed him away, "Call me that again, I dare you".

He called her bluff, "Sorry, Royal Vizier".

She slapped him playfully as he was too slow to move out of her range, "Dumbass".

"You're going to miss it" he warned her.

"...Yeah, I am" she admitted, then began to back off, "Don't get yourself killed, huh? If I find you went on another suicide mission or some nonsense, I'll raise your ghost myself".

"You don't even know any magic!"

"I'll learn" Xolin replied with a smirk, "Didn't you hear? I'm getting *all* the education".

Sid's smile became earnest, "…Good luck".

"Same to you" Xolin said likewise, then turned and left. Sid watched her wander off, giving a wave the one time she looked back to give him one. Then she vanished, into the crowd, just like the others.

And then there was one. Sid looked up at his ship, towering over him. Already it seemed far emptier, far more desolate. He entered he ship, setting it to auto-pilot from his morpher. It began its lift-off sequence.

Sid Drake's Personal Log:

It's funny, you know? When I came aboard, all I wanted was to be literally anywhere else. I had to be blackmailed and manipulated into sticking around. Iota always played his cards well.

And yet...now? It hurts to leave. It hurts to have them gone. Somehow, in the span of just a couple years, this place became home; a real home, not just a place I was staying at until my business was done.

I regained my person-ness here.

Sid made his way past main engineering, and the work bay, and the medbay. Each room he passed offered new feelings, new memories. Happy memories, sad ones, terrifying ones. They'd laughed here, cried, bled. They'd become a team, a family—bound by friendship if not blood. Each memory was vivid, like ghosts in the corner of his mind.

And if he stopped for just a moment, he could almost fool himself into thinking it was just like it had always had been; that everyone else was still onboard, and they were simply elsewhere on the ship. Any second now, Trok would come running up in a panic over some new experiment he'd been running having gone amok. Or Xolin and Nikki would come down the hallway, arguing about something. Or he'd turn the corner, and Sel would be in the workbay, reading a book.

But the ship was empty.

We all came here as broken people, miserable souls who had slipped through the cracks. People who only barely made it through each day at a time with little to look forward too.

Sel looked out her window as the xybrian ship took off, watching as the starfield replaced the hangerbay. Turning, she gave the shuttle she was in another look-over from the seat she was in.

Somehow...yes. This was a good thing.

We came out of it far different. That's not to say we're 'whole' now, or unbroken. That's not how it works. You can't just 'wish away' scars. They stay with you.

But you can learn to deal with them, to not focus on them. You can learn to lean on each other—to support one another, because that makes you stronger. We came away from our experience as stronger people; better people. My mom once had a saying I think was passed down from her people, that you can't truly enjoy the warmth of the fire unless you've experienced the cold.

Xolin watched as the Megaship took off without her, feeling an odd sense of loss. She stood there for a moment, before turning back to Ihara's personal transport, and continued her walk.

Yeah, we still have our issues, they'll always be there. They didn't just magically vanish; because it's not a book or a video game; there isn't a clear beginning, middle, or end for your 'story'. Your development doesn't get tied up in a nice bow after twenty-two minutes. Life is messy. Our issues will always come back and we'll always have bad days.

But we'll have good days, too.

Trok found the SPD shuttle and got in line. Sighting Admiral Lacanth, the two nodded wordlessly at each other.

Because that's life, right? There is no 'happy ending', there can't be. If there ever was one, it'd be invalidated by the fact that after your happy ending day, there was yet another day after that. And another. And another. The only way your story ends is if you die.

You can't be focused on the happy ending, because then you miss everything else for something that never really comes. And that's a shame, because life is all about the experience.

Sid entered the bridge of the Megaship, the room just as empty as the rest of the ship. Silently, the man dropped into the captain's seat, melancholic over everything.

So we're imperfect. We've got a ton of issues and downsides. But it doesn't matter. We might not be quite at the level of loving ourselves yet—but we do love each other.

...And maybe that's good enough for now.

Sid watched the viewscreen idly as the ship left the hanger bay.

"SURPRISE!"

"AH!" Sid screamed, dropping out of his seat and sprawling onto the floor in a sudden would-be heart attack. He looked up at his would-be murderers.

"HI!" Sitras said with an asshole grin. Tesas waved with her.

"...What the hell are you two still doing on the ship?" Sid asked in bewilderment as he shot up to his feet.

The two shared a glance, then back at Sid, "...Admiral Drake didn't tell you?" Sitras asked, "You're transporting us to Mirinoi. We're enlisting with the new Peacekeepers".

"We're going to be your students!" Tesas said wryly, "All over again".

Sid snorted at the obnoxiousness of it all, then waved them off as he sat back down in his chair, "Fine, fine. Take your stations already, assholes".

The two cadet rangers quickly dropped into their seats at navigation and tactical. As the ship left the no-fly zone around the space station, Sid gave the order, "Sitras, set a course for Mirinoi".

"Course set!"

Sid savored the moment.

Maybe this would all turn out okay after all.

"Punch it".

The Megaship adjusted its course as its engines roared to life, light blasting from its rear as the mega-accelerator powered up. A second later, the Defender Megaship was gone from the system, shooting towards its next destination.

The End

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so, I'm sure you're wondering what the hell that Briefcase Man cliffhanger is all about, considering this series is over and is marked 'complete'. In short, yes, Peacekeepers is done. It's over.

HOWEVER.

I've always had post-series stuff planned, because I've been working with these characters for well over a decade, and I'm loath to say goodbye forever. In particular, the stuff about The Dawn and Briefcase Man were always supposed to lead into the post-series 'movie', and I've also always wanted to release a detailed factbook for all the stuff I lore-built (and some of which never even made it in to the series). When will it happen? In truth, I don't know. It *will* happen someday, I assure you, but it won't be anytime soon.

Truth is, I need a break. A looooong break. There are a lot of original fiction ideas I'd like to try my hand with now that my ever-present project is over. I have a lot of original worlds that need building, and I'm really aiming to publish real stuff down the road maybe hopefully someday if I'm lucky maybe…?

I hope you've enjoyed this insane project of mine (which now just barely exceeds the word count length of 'War and Peace' if I'm right), which took me two and a half years to write, after spending another eleven years or so building it up. If you really did enjoy Peacekeepers, I highly encourage you to leave a review because haha, oh man. With only sixteen reviews this thing is doomed to the forgotten abyss of FF. (But no seriously, let me know what you thought).