A/N: This is the promised, serialised continuation of my RPM series. What I intend to do here is document the Rangers and their adventures as they work to rebuild the world from scratch. There are no guarantees how long this will go, but since my other continuation, Jungle Fury Normal Life just hit 120 chapters...Anyway. Anyway, hope you all enjoy it. Now for the usual stuff.

Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights is to be considered purely the creation of the author.

Rating: T – May be adult themes, including violence and mild language.

It had now been a few hours since the Rangers had left the dome. Hicks was sitting at his desk in his office, shutting himself away from the others after they departed. He had removed his jacket, and simply thrown it into the corner rather than making any effort to hang it up.

His feet were crossed on the desk, and he was leaning back on the leather-bound office chair. He casually sipped a glass of bourbon despite it only being a little after midday. In his other hand, he was holding a crumpled, taped-up piece of paper, staring at it sadly. It was the picture she had drawn for him shortly before he found out about her feelings for him. It still hurt to think about the night before, when they had opted to end things rather than risk hurting each other further down the line by drifting apart. Gemma would be needed to leave the city, to go in search of the other colonies, while he found himself hopelessly tied to this place. He wiped his eyes with the heel of his palm as he thought about her.

"Hicks, Mike..." Vasquez came into the room, her words tailing off as she saw him. She knew he was upset about Gemma leaving, but she had no idea it had affected him so deeply. "Are you...?"

"What is it Vasquez?" He asked her, interrupting her question. They had shared a lot during their time together working under Venjix. While the fact he and Gemma had feelings for each other wasn't exactly a secret, she had an idea exactly how deeply they had become involved. He had excused himself immediately after they left. The others had simply accepted this and let him be, but clearly he had retreated there to escape. She could tell by his tone that he wasn't ready to talk to her yet.

"Mike just wanted to give you an update on the rebuild." She told him, putting a report down on the desk. "He wanted to see you, but everything's in there. I can tell him you're busy."

"Thanks Vasquez." He responded, flashing her a quick smile. Vasquez just turned and left the office, leaving him alone. He knew she wanted to help him, but right now, he just wasn't ready to talk.

Meanwhile, Gemma was in the VTOL jet, speeding its way across desert. Ziggy was sitting across from her, his head rolling gently with the movements of the jet as he slept peacefully. She was grateful that he was taking this opportunity to rest. Since Gem was busy flying the jet, it meant that she had time to herself to reflect. She pulled out Hicks' dog tags out of her shirt and began stroking them with her thumb.

She hated how she felt being separated from him like this. They had only been together a short time, they hadn't even had the opportunity to go on a real date, but she already felt a sharp pain in her chest any time she thought about leaving him. When he had been taken over by Venjix, it was all she could do not to end up going completely insane. Standing against him, being forced to watch him was more painful than anything they had done to her while they held her prisoner.

"Hey guys, head up." Gem announced as the jet pitched violently. "The distress signal originated only a few miles from here."

Gem hurriedly stuffed the dog tags back inside her shirt as Ziggy started to come to. He looked around wearily as he rubbed his eyes.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up." He mumbled. "Do we have any idea...?"

"I'm picking up something on the scanner." Gem told them. "It's a city!"

Ziggy and Gemma climbed through, making their way into the additional seats in the cockpit, strapping themselves in as Gem blasted past some tall, jagged cliffs. As they cleared a natural stone basin, they all looked on in awe at what they saw.

"Well I didn't expect anything like this!" Ziggy gasped as they stared out the cockpit. While much of the landscape was rocky and desolate, there was a large area that sprang up from the earth like a heavenly oasis. For almost ten square miles, the city was surrounded by high, impenetrable steel walls, behind which was a lush, green forest, interspersed with crystal blue lakes.

The city itself was awe-inspiring. It rose out of the ground, reaching towards the heavens in glittering glass and steel. In this broken world, it looked like this place had, if not survived untouched, if anything improved. In its centre was one particularly dominant building, which appeared to be almost half the size of Corinth City all by itself, and extended high into the sky in a pointed spire, scraping the cloud line.

"I can't believe anywhere like this exists." Gemma whispered, barely able to believe what she was seeing. "I thought Venjix destroyed everything!"

"Well everything can't be that great." Gem reminded them. "They did send out a distress signal."

"Do a scan, find out who's here." Ziggy instructed him. Gem performed the appropriate scan.

"There are approximately 7 million people in there." He informed them. "There's no trace of active Venjix warriors."

"There're no Venjix drones in the area?" Gemma asked them. "Then why did they send out a distress signal?"

"I guess we can ask when we land." Gem suggested with a shrug. "I think I can open up a channel..."

"Gem, look out!" Ziggy screamed, pointing to the glass. A huge energy blast flew towards them, slamming into the jet. The craft pitched and shook violently and the Rangers were thrown around in their harnesses.

"What the hell was that?" Gemma shrieked.

"It didn't come from the city." Gem informed them as he struggled to maintain control, his vision restricted by smoke billowing from one of his wings. "Hang on, here comes another!"

He managed to swerve, avoiding the second blast. It was then that Ziggy noticed another blast coming from one of the high peaks. Despite the damage, Gem managed to avoid it.

"I think I know why they sent out a distress signal." Ziggy told them. "Someone out here is seriously anti-social."

The jet shook as another blast slammed into it. Alarms started to sound, and Gem struggled to maintain control.

"It looks like we're going to have to eject!" He told them. "My controls are almost completely out. I can make it inside the wall, but I can't control the landing. I'll need to ditch it into the forest to prevent it hitting the city."

Ziggy and Gemma both tightened their harnesses as Gem locked in the course. He activated the switch, blowing the top. The three Rangers all fired off their ejector seats.

They hurtled towards the ground, detaching themselves from their seats. Gem and Gemma watched in horror as the release in Ziggy's chair misfired, leaving him strapped into it. It spun out of control, hurtling towards the ground far from the wall as their chutes deployed. Gemma was winded as the harness tugged painfully against her when her chute deployed, slowing her descent. She breathed a sigh of relief as Ziggy finally managed to release himself and deploy his chute.

"He's too far out; he'll never make it inside the wall!" She yelled to her brother.

"He has his morpher. He'll be alright." Gem told her. "Now we just have to worry about where we're going to land."

Back in the city, Summer was sitting on a table in Dr. K's lab, fidgeting nervously as the tiny doctor worked. Sam and Tenaya were there to support her.

"Dr. K, it's far too early for a scan to work." Summer sighed, watching as she worked frantically on something. "Nothing will show up on a sonogram for weeks yet."

"The scanners at the hospital will not show anything yet." Dr. K agreed. "However, I think this might work."

She held up a scanning wand for them to see. Summer looked at it a little sceptically.

"Um...isn't that for scanning Venjix technology?" She asked her younger friend. Dr. K rolled her eyes.

"I've adapted it to scan for sound as opposed to technology." Dr. K informed her, gesturing for her to lie down. "It won't show an image, but it should be able to find a heartbeat."

Summer lay down on the bench, staring up at her nervously. Tenaya held her hand softly to comfort her. Dr. K ran the scanner over her abdomen, trying to find a heartbeat.

"Why are you doing this?" Summer asked her. Dr. K looked to her, trying to decide if she should tell her.

"Summer, you did go through a major battle while you were pregnant." She reminded her quietly. "I just want to..."

"You think I might...?" Summer began, starting to rise from the table. Tenaya and Sam grabbed her gently, stopping her from getting up.

"Summer, she's just being cautious." Tenaya said, semi-truthfully in an effort to calm her.

"Summer, you have to try and relax." Sam told her. "This won't do any good."

"I didn't know I was pregnant!" Summer yelled. "Oh my God, the baby, did I...?"

"I just want to see how the heartbeat is." Dr. K assured her, beginning to regret telling her the truth. Summer had clearly been thinking about this possibility for a while. She had thought that this scan might put her mind at ease, but now it had only brought the thought to the fore of her mind. "Please, try to relax. If your heart rate is elevated, it may throw off the scan."

Summer lay back down, her mind racing as she thought about what could have happened. She had suffered extensive injuries, even despite the Ranger suit as a result of the battle, and especially the final blast. Of course back when they first became Rangers, Dr. K had warned her about the dangers of becoming pregnant. She hadn't really listened to her then, getting pregnant was the furthest thing from her mind. Right now though, she could almost remember her saying something about morphing while pregnant. She wasn't sure what would happen, or what if any affect it would have on the baby.

Dr. K continued to run the wand over her abdomen, seeming to take hours. Summer was finding it harder and harder to stay calm.

"Are you sure it's working?" She asked her. Her grip on Tenaya's hand tightened.

"Summer, just give this a chance." Sam told her.

"I can't hear anything!" Summer yelled, becoming noticeably agitated. A tear started to run down her face. "Oh my God, please no!"

"Summer, calm down..."

"There's no heartbeat, it's too late, it..." Suddenly, Dr. K held up a hand, smiling as she found just the right spot.

"Here." She told her, turning up the volume on the computer the wand was attached to. Summer whimpered a little, finally managing to hear it. It was tiny, weak as a result of the baby's early stage of development, but she definitely heard the heartbeat. "Your baby is fine."

"That's my baby?" Summer asked her for confirmation. It had terrified her not knowing one way or another what was happening. The thought had occurred to her a couple of times that there may be complications with the pregnancy as a result of her injuries in the battle. It terrified her to think that she might have already lost the baby, but being unable to know for weeks. Now though she had the confirmation she needed to alleviate her nerves. She smiled as she listened on. It was the most amazing thing she had heard.

Back at the new city, Gemma crashed through some tree branches as she made her way towards the earth, shielding her face with her hands as branches whipped her flesh painfully. She finally came to rest as her parachute got caught in the branches. As she swung above the ground, she looked down, finding herself only about six feet from the ground. Timing it so she was suspended above flat ground, she released her chute, tumbling to the ground.

"Well that was smooth." She muttered as she pulled herself up onto her butt. "Just as well Gem didn't see that."

Just then, she noticed a rustling in the undergrowth. Looking around, she tried to get a bearing on who was there.

"Gem?" She asked nervously. "Gem, is that you?"

A shot rang out, hitting the earth just a little way from her. Suddenly, there was a rustle from the other direction, and a few men broke through the undergrowth, pouring rounds into the undergrowth. Most of them disappeared into the undergrowth, firing rounds as they went, pursuing whoever had attacked her. One remained behind with her.

"It's alright, they're gone." He assured her. Gemma looked up at the stranger. He was, without exaggeration, simply breathtaking. He was around six-foot six, and wore a white, airy shirt draped over his shoulders, which he left open, revealing his statuesque toned chest and abdominal muscles. His trousers were tight, showing his legs to be no less impressive. He had a strong jaw and cheekbones, covered by tanned, smooth, unblemished skin. He had icy blue eyes, and long, flowing blonde hair that made him look far more like a painting of some fictional hero than a real soldier. He turned and looked down on her, flashing her a smile, rimmed with perfect white teeth. "You are safe."

Gemma never spoke as he offered her a hand. She just took it, at which he effortlessly helped her out of the mud.

"My name is Julian. Welcome to Eden." He greeted her. "We found your craft in the jungle."

"Sorry about that." Gemma told him. "We were shot down..."

"The mutates." He interrupted her. "I'm sorry, but not everyone around here is friendly. It was some of them that attacked you here."

"What did I do to them?" She asked him. He shook his head.

"Sadly they don't need a reason to attack. Usually we manage to keep them outside the wall, but unfortunately that doesn't stop them making the occasional incursion, or taking pot shots at our air craft." He told her. "We found a man dressed similarly to you a little way off. He landed in the nearby lake. I presume he is with you."

"That's my brother Gem." She informed Julian as he gestured to the woods. A couple more men appeared, carrying weapons, but also carrying blankets. One of them offered her a blanket, which she was grateful for, being dirty and wet as a result of her somewhat less than controlled landing.

"Come, we have a vehicle. I shall take you to The Spire." He told her. "I have a vehicle nearby..."

"We have another friend with us." She told him. "He landed somewhere outside the city."

"Then Heaven help him." Julian replied. "I promise we will do what we can to trace him, but outside the wall, he is defenceless against them."

"Ziggy isn't exactly helpless." She replied, casting a look out towards the wastes. Although Julian had found her and Gem, she had no idea where Ziggy was, or what was happening to him. She was right that he wasn't helpless, he had his morpher with him, and he had showed himself to be more capable than anyone gave him credit for as a result of his time with the Scorpion Cartel. She just wished she was as confident as she sounded to her rescuer.

Out in the wastes, Ziggy finally disentangled himself from his parachute. He looked around, finding himself standing on a rocky plain about a mile or so from the wall.

"I guess I'm walking." He grumbled, beginning to make his way towards the city. As he started to head in the direction of the glittering metropolis, he paused for a second, hearing a slight crunch.

He turned slowly to see what it was, finding no one there. He couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched, and since he had already been shot at once, he was reluctant to ignore such suspicions.

As he turned back toward the city, starting to walk a little more quickly, he heard a slight buzzing sound, before his feet simply stopped moving and he fell face-first to the ground. Looking down, he saw his feet bound by bolas.

As he looked towards a rocky crag a little way away, he saw a hideous creature rushing out, carrying a lariat, swinging it over its head. He reached for his morpher, but the creature managed to lasso his hand. Another that he hadn't seen emerging from behind him managed to hook his other hand, at which they pulled sharply, separating his hands and preventing him using his morpher.

He struggled, but they were too strong for him. As he struggled, another creature came out, carrying a rifle. It was a hideous, twisted creature with a hunched back. Its limbs looked thin and frail, but it carried itself with confidence, and the way it carried its rifle indicated it was stronger than it appeared. Its skin was a sickly pale green, and covered in scars, warts and boils. Its nose was turned up at the tip, giving its face a slightly squashed appearance.

"Ok, you are definitely not Grinders, or robots." He stated, eyeing up the creature as it inspected him. "I just hope you aren't one of those cannibalistic..."

"Actually, I'm a vegetarian." The creature interrupted him in a slightly gravelly voice emanating from its throat.

"You can talk?" Ziggy gasped. The creature just hefted its rifle, smashing the butt into his head, knocking him unconscious.

"These normals talk too much." It stated. "Bring him to the master. He will know what to do with him."