Chapter one
Some background information... Kimberly left the power ranger team to pursue her dream of training for the Pan Global games. The letter was written and eventually the team transfered their powers on to new rangers. This story won't have the active rangers or atleast not much with them.
A young woman emerged from a building. She had on a complete uniform complete with a helment and weapon. Her mid length brown hair was secure in a tight bun that was regulation for the women in uniform.
"Hart get over here" her staff sergeant ordered.
"Yes sir" she half said, half grumbled. It was a hot one today the reports said somewhere about 110 degrees. It was the kind of day that you would galdly give your paycheck to stay inside for. But those were the normal days for her during her 12 months of deployment thus far. It was her second tour over in Iraq and she still wasn't used to it. She quickly made her way over by her fellow soldiers so that she could get the days schedule. The quicker they do it the quicker it could start so that eventually they could come back "home" and rest.
"Okay here is the mission for the day. We are to take supplies to the new school so that they are prepared for the kids when it opens again next week. We have about 50 boxes to take over for them so we are going to have to take all 8 of the vechiles out today."
"All eight of them" a soldier named SPC Mark Allen asked. "That is quite alot for a delivery mission isn't it?"
"We have the room and extra amo just incase of contact with enemy forces. We are going to have to travel through some known hostile areas to get to the school so I want to be prepared." Staff Sergeant Paul Benson said. "Now I have all the teams divided up and we are a go to leave within the next 20 minutes. If anyone needs to use the restroom I suggest you do it now. The area was sweepted earlier today and again 2 hours ago and we are told its clean."
Twenty minutes later they were all loaded up in the vechiles and ready to go. Kimberly was in the last vechile in the front passenger seat. She started staring out the window once they left the base as to memorize the area for when they returned. When you hear the stories about road side IED's you learn to make notes of any unusual items as that could save your or your buddies life. While looking out her window though her mind started to drift to, what she likes to call, her pre military life. Never would she have thought that this would have been the road she was going to take with her life but after life's heartbreaks this was the life she wanted. She liked the order and predictability of it. Sure her life was in dangerous lands now but it wouldn't always be like that. Once she lived in Angel Grove home to the power rangers. That seems like a million years ago, she thought. While it was fond memories for her it was actually what probably set her life course in this direction after her gymnastics injury that ended her career. She was used to following and taking orders and she liked to be needed. If it wouldn't have been this supply job in the military she probably would have tried to join the police force. She wanted to help people and to her being in the military was like being in an eliete group of men and women who get to protect the United States and all of those who live there. She wasn't a hero by her standards she was a soldier. Sure she did save some lives but the job she did would have been the same job that any number of people would have done if they would have been there and not her.
"Hey Hart" SPC Allen said breaking into her thoughts "get any mail last night?"
Kim rolled her eyes and gave the same answer she always did "Nope. I never receive mail you know that."
"Why not? Everybody gets letters at some point. Are you holding out on us?" he joked.
Mark was a good friend to her.. Probably even her best friend but he never knew why she never got anything in the mail. When you are deployed getting mail is better than finding gold. It gives you meaning and your days purpose. He could never figure out how she drove on without any news from home. "Because I never told anyone I was in the military and there for no one knows I'm deployed." She finally admitted.
"But this is your second tour" he said "you have spent something like 30 months total here between you last and this deployment. Are you saying that through all that time you have never received anything?"
"Nope not a thing" she agreed.
"Why not?" he asked
"Because no one back home talks to me anymore. I guess we all kind of drifed apart from one another and my parents passed away when they got into that car accident. You know that." She decided to give him the edited version as she didn't want to get into the very long story about what happened 4 years ago.
Just then the driver sergent Matt Ardito called out to them "Okay guys we should be there within the next 20 minutes or so. As soon as we get there we need to be prepared to unload all the boxes that we have right away."
As soon as he finished talking there was an explosion knocking their vechile onto its side.