Book 1- Why Dragons like Gold
By Alura Nescire
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own Power Rangers.
Chapter 1: Flight and fight
-four years ago-
"Are you going somewhere, Alura?"
The Pyramid pilot turned her head to see her father watching her. She simply continued to pack her weapons. She couldn't delay.
"Father, please don't use my name," she said, picking up her Gold Power Staff. "You know why."
Her Father handed her a weapon which she had dropped.
"I don't care if it puts me in danger," he said. "I want to call my daughter by her name." She momentarily stopped packing, but then started again, determined not to be distracted. "You know that I love you, don't you?"
"Yes Father, of course."
"So tell me where you're going."
"…Terra 16."
Her father thought for a moment. "Earth? Why?"
Alura picked up a lazar pistol then put it back down. "The United Alliance of Evil seems to be targeting that planet at the moment, and Rita Repulsa has chosen a likely candidate for the Dragon coin. I have to help him."
Her Father sighed. "You had the dream again."
"I have many dreams." She finally turned to face him. "But this one is for sure. The Earth will fall if this warrior becomes evil. The Power is too strong within him." Alura squinted, as if trying to remember something. "It's so strong I can't even sense what colour he is." She looked back at her Father, and then shook her head. "Still, regardless of colour, I have to help him." She looked down in shame. "I'm sorry Father."
He just nodded. "I think that your Mother would have done the same."
She brushed past him, going silently to the Pyramid, leaving him in the now empty weapons room.
-present day 1996-
The earth's desert reminded Alura of her home planet. She didn't have time to observe it however. She was under attack. After years of rivalry, Rita, Zedd, and Mondo had joined forces and united for one purpose; to steal the Gold Ranger power and destroy the troublesome Gold Ranger.
She was tossed around in the pyramid as Mondo's Quadra fighters attacked her from all sides, and they were closely followed by Serpenterra, Zedd's enormous Dragon ship. How many days had it been? 10? 20? Even more? She just couldn't manage to shake them. She put her helmet back on, tucking in her long brown hair and tinting the visor to its darkest. I have to hide my craft, she thought, even if they catch me; the Pyramid must never be used for evil. She maneuvered the Pyramid through a stone arch, momentarily scattering her enemies. She quickly activated the cloaking device, and the pyramid turned invisible. She quickly landed it silently between large outcrops of rocks as here enemies sped over her. Good, she thought, picking up her sword and re holstering it. That'll buy me some time. She climbed though the side hatch and exited the pyramid. She ran forward, co-coordinating herself with this unfamiliar environment. She stopped and hid behind a large boulder as she heard her enemies arguing up ahead.
"You must have let him escape…"
"No, you must have let him escape!"
Alura was both pleased and surprised. They had referred to her as a 'him'. She had managed to conceal so much of her identity over the years; they didn't even know what gender she was. They only knew that she was the gold ranger and that she had the most power of any ranger that they had ever seen. Her enemies continued to argue.
"This truce hasn't helped, Zeddy. We should end it!" screeched Rita in frustration.
"You heard my wife, Mondo. The truce is off!"
Alura heard Mondo gasp. "You… villains! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you! You can find the Gold Ranger on your own then. My superior technology is bound to find him first! Cogs, find the Gold Warrior."
Alura narrowed her eyes. She hated cogs. The stupid robots were ruthless and had attacked her many times before.
"Fine then," retorted Rita. "Tengus, find the Gold Ranger first!" Alura had fought Tengus before too, and she hated them just as much as cogs.
Alura took a deep breath and remained calm. This was probably the most danger that she had ever been in. She weighed up her options. She could fight, but it would drain a lot of her power. She cursed quietly to herself. She hated running from enemies, but she figured it was either that or die in this case. She would rather die another day.
All of a sudden a cog appeared next to her. She smashed its face with her fist, shattering most of its head, but not before her enemies heard the cog emit a high pitched noise. Knowing that her cover was blown, she bolted out from behind the rock and into the open.
"There he goes!" cried one of the Tengus, hot on her trail. The other minions began chasing her too, trying to trip their opponents all the while, each of them eager to please their masters. Alura didn't have to turn around to know that she was hopelessly outnumbered. She ran as fast as she could, kicking up dust and sand as she ran.
Suddenly, a ship landed in front of her, blocking any means of escape that she had planned. A large wolf like figure jumped out of it. It was Herox, the toughest bounty hunter in the galaxy.
"I've got you now, Gold Ranger!" he barked, drawing a dagger from his belt. "Not so tough now, are you?"
Alura was quite offended at this. She had always felt tough in her Ranger gear, even if the armour was the weakest ranger armour ever to be put to use. But, in her opinion, the black and gold went together nicely. Not that she could help what armor she wore, it wasn't exactly her choice. Her golden shoulder shield caught the sunlight as she blasted Herox to the desert floor with an energy ball, but by now she was totally surrounded. The Tengus and Cogs saw their chance and began to close in on her. She stood defiantly against them, moving her hands and feet into a fighting stance. If she was going down, then she was going down fighting.
They almost had Alura when the nearest of her enemies were knocked back by five brilliant flashes of light. There, between her and the enemy, were the Power Rangers. Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Pink. Earths valiant had hoped not to drag them into this, but in her fatigued state she was grateful for the help.
"You will not harm a friend of the Power Rangers!" the Red Ranger shouted, raising his fist angrily. He glanced sideways at the new Ranger "You alright?"
Alura just nodded, careful not to speak. She didn't want to reveal herself, even though that Red Ranger's voice sounded familiar to her…
"You will pay for this attack!" shouted the Green Ranger.
"You will pay for interrupting this attack, Rangers!" screeched Rita. "We had it planned out perfectly!"
"Sorry Rita," said the Red Ranger, drawing his weapon. "We don't run to your schedule."
The Rangers ran forward, pushing the enemies further away from her. The power rangers fought with impressive skill; however Alura did not have time to observe them. She had her hands full with Herox, who had stood back up and was advancing towards her with the dagger.
She grabbed his arm as it came down, the blade stopping only inches from her helmet. She grabbed her sword and slashed him across the chest, sparks flying as metal met metal. This knocked him backwards, but he soon came at her again. She fought against him, lashing out with her sword, striking him, but he was so big that it didn't seem to affect him much at all. She eventually managed to get the upper hand, throwing him to the ground and kicking his dagger away. She saw the other Rangers fighting against too many enemies for them to handle, and she knew that they couldn't go on like this for much longer.
She shot an energy bolt at a cog that the Red Ranger was struggling with. Its robotic head smashed as it hit the ground. The Red Ranger looked up to see where the bolt had come from, and then realized that it came from the mystery Ranger.
"Thanks." He said. The gold Ranger simply nodded. Regroup. The word came to the red rangers mind.
"Regroup?" He said out loud. The Gold Ranger just nodded once again, and the Red Ranger was smart enough to recognize telepathy when it was used. The word had come from the mystery Ranger. "Guys, regroup!"
The others came over to them, looking a bit worse for wear. Before they could do anything, the Gold Ranger secured a forcefield around the Zeo Rangers, stopping anything from getting to them.
"What the-?" exclaimed the Blue Ranger. "Is he trapping us?"
"I don't think so," said the Red Ranger. "I think he has a plan."
Alura began to glow a solid gold colour, gradually getting brighter and brighter as she built up more energy. The cogs and Tengus were wary of this, and were smart enough to stay back. Herox, however, had different ideas.
"Look out!" exclaimed the Pink Ranger as Herox grabbed the knife and ran towards the Gold Ranger. No, thought Alura, I haven't charged enough power… Just as Herox reached her with the dagger outstretched, she released the power she was storing. It flowed out of her like the shock wave to an explosion, and picked him up, as well as the cogs, the Tengus, Rita, Zedd and Mondo. They were picked up in a mass of energy and dust, screaming the whole time as they were deposited miles away from the six rangers.
The rangers covered their eyes as the wave passed over them, but they were protected from it by the forcefield. It kicked up so much dust that the rangers couldn't see the gold ranger outside. Finally the dust subsided and they could see the gold ranger once more. The Ranger brought down the forcefield around them, with her back to them.
"Wow," said the yellow ranger. "That was incredible, how did you do that?" The ranger went to speak, but couldn't. The Ranger tried to walk towards them as her breathing became staggered, and she collapsed to her knees.
"Guys, he's hurt!" yelled the Green Ranger as they all ran to her. A pool of blood quickly built up around her, soaking into the desert sand. Damnit, she thought, clutching her wound. I wasn't quick enough… As the others supported her as she collapsed completely. Nearby was Herox's knife handle, but the blade itself was nowhere to be seen.
"Get him to the command center!" shouted the Red Ranger. "Quickly!"
As Alura closed her eyes, she saw a flash of light and felt herself being teleported… the fatigue swept in … then nothing.
A/N: Hi everyone! This is my very first fanfiction, so please leave a review if you enjoyed it :) I'm really excited to join the fanfic community, and I have more chapters written if you guys want more. Just let me know!
Regards, Alura (obviously, not my real name, but I thought it sounded cool :P)