tA/N: A very pleasant Wednesday from the Great State of Texas (although it's another dreary, rainy day). Welcome to the main event of the Project Phoenix series. As a disclaimer, this series is inspired by Kctimes2's The Adoption. Before reading this, you should read The Crane's Destructive Path and its accompanying one shot, Granted Wishes.

A/N 2: In this chapter, the Rangers arrive on Triforia to begin the process of breaking Flammia's iron grip in the galaxy and Jayden meets some of the remaining brave Triforian intelligence officers who are continuing to fight against all odds.

A/N 3: Couples featured are Jayden/Mia, Memily, Lantonio, Jason/Kat, Adam/Tanya and a slew of other old-school pairings. You'll have to read on to see if there is Tommy/Kim at the end...hehe.

A/N 4: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers doesn't belong to me. Used to be Saban, then Disney, then Saban, now Hasbro owns them.

Chapter 30: Fight For Your Liberty 2

November 14, 2012

Triforia

The exiled leader of the planet Triforia bit his lip hard.

He'd seen the determined look the Phoenix Ranger had in many a Ranger throughout the galaxy over the years. All of these Rangers had become legendary champions in their own right - including Jayden's father. Trey had related to Aurelio many times the famed "look" that Tommy had in and around some crazy battle.

In fact, it had been the opinion of Triforia's rulers that Jayden's father and his team of Zeo Rangers deserved the planet's medals of honor for facing and beating the Machine Empire, who Triforia had a long, sad history with. The Machines had been fond of raiding Triforia for gold and other things over periods of time.

So when the Machines had attacked Earth and Triforia's rulers saw that the Zeo Rangers had a chance of stopping them, they sent Trey to Earth to help the Rangers.

That said, Aurelio thought, Jayden did not know what he was asking for.

They had double agents, Aurelio had told Jayden, that was true. But it was hard to do. Not only had Aurelio's own family turned against him, but most of the planet's most talented fighters, the military and even the majority of the planet's intelligence forces served Flammia now - on pain of death if they didn't. Any small misstep and people were going to be killed.

Then again, it's not like the situation would be better if they did nothing anyways. Flammia no doubt would get wind that Jayden was coming to save their planet sooner or later.

Aurelio sighed. The hell with it, he thought.

"Very well. I will see about bringing them in tonight to form a plan," Aurelio told Jayden. "In the meantime, you should probably rest. You and the other Rangers have had a long journey just to get here."

After the Rangers left, Aurelio looked at Trey and his wife hard. Though he would permit Jayden's request, he still had concerns.

"What's wrong?" Oralie asked.

"That Jayden kid is impulsive just like his father," Aurelio said, a bit of grouchiness in his voice. "He just doesn't know what he's asking for."

"Oh come now, enough with the pearl clutching, dear," Oralie said. "What's the matter with you all of a sudden?"

"I just..this is a bad idea to bring our brave people that are still keeping tabs on her in here," Aurelio said. "We're just totally outnumbered, dear. Our families, the military, our best fighters, even some of our best intelligence now serves the enemy. Doesn't that scare you? One false move and the few that still protect us will be exposed and killed. I don't know about you but I don't want that on my conscience."

"It is scary, no doubt," Trey said as he made his voice known, "but Rangers including the latest crop, the Samurai team, aren't afraid of a major challenge. Jayden's friend from the Samurai team, Antonio, told his team when Jayden returned as the Phoenix, that there's no shame in fighting and losing, but there's a lot of shame in not fighting at all."

"We have to be brave and have hope. We have to take material risks, dear," Oralie said. "We already lost everything when those goons overran our planet. What more could we lose by trying to fight back? Now is our opportunity to take back our planet wide democracy."

"Something else to consider. People have already died because of this army and more people will die," Trey said. "Any of the Rangers who have come to fight with us including the Phoenix himself could die. If you're gonna go, why not do it taking risks?"

Aurelio nodded, sighing dejectedly. He had to admit, that Antonio kid for being young had his head on straight. The beatings that democracy had taken throughout the galaxy because of this evil dictatorship had taken its toll on everyone.

Nonetheless, Antonio was correct. They had to fight sometime.

Trey was also correct that more people would die, whether anyone liked it or not.

"Fine. We must take risks," Aurelio said. "We should alert the remaining military that we think we may be able to trust."

Agreed," Trey said. "I'll get right on that."

Nov. 15

Triforia

Eight hours later, Jayden was suddenly awoken from his slumber by an urgent message that boomed throughout the cavernous place that everyone was staying at.

"REPORT TO THE MAIN THRONE ROOM" it blared. It was a good thing he'd gone to bed early and still snuck in eight hours of sleep, otherwise, he'd have been grouchy. But this was important.

When he arrived in the main room, he saw his father, Trey and two people who he supposed were Triforian but he had never seen them before.

"Good morning, young Phoenix," Aurelio said.

"Good morning, your Majesty," Jayden said, bowing before the exiled King.

"Please don't do that. It makes me feel old," Aurelio said.

"Sorry to wake you, Jay, but these two can only barely get away now to talk to us," Tommy said, nodding to the two Triforians, one being a female and one a male. This is Aneirin and that's Chrisoula. They're a married ouple, but most importantly they are two of the remaining Triforian intelligence officers who are still fighting against Maligore's forces."

Jayden mutely nodded. It had to be really, really tough to be doing intelligence against people they thought had been their friends - potentially on pain of death.

"It's nice to meet you both, I'm Jayden Oliver, Phoenix Ranger from the planet Earth," he said.

"So the legend of the Phoenix is true," Chrisoula said. "Many were led to believe it was only a myth."

"Nope, it's real and I'm him," Jayden said. "How many of your intelligence officers have gone to the dark side? I really don't want to ask but I'm afraid I need to know what I'm up against."

"Unfortunately I'd say about 80% would be an accurate number," Aneirin said. "My three older brothers have worked in Triforian intelligence circles for five centuries and they were turned to the dark side when the planet was taken over. They had no choice."

"Either join Flammia's army or die?" Jayden said.

"Pretty much the gist of it," Chrisoula said. "I have eight siblings, five sisters and three brothers. Most of them are now loyal to her. My family is so broken I can't ever get it back."

"Just so you know," Jayden said, "the monster who is leading these assholes...her better half is the Pink Crane of Earth, but she sacrificed her soul to save me. I'm going to make sure that sacrifice pays off. The person you see leading these clowns is not who she really is."

Both intelligence officers nodded glumly.

"In all seriousness, we do have some intelligence to inform you of. We have been made aware that Flammia's top scientist, Serpentes, has been overseeing construction over the years of Flammia's version of...what do you call them? Zords?" Chrisoula said.

Tommy's face went white as a sheet. 'Great,' he thought. 'Another obstacle we don't need.'

"Our sources close to her army have taken readings on these Zords...they aren't quite as powerful as the Ninjazords, but they're close. I would say a fight between her Zords and the Ninjazords could go either way. And the other people you brought...their Zords would be useless," Aneirin said.

"Are you trying to tell us those things are on their way...here?" Aisha asked.

"We can't be for sure, but we have reason to believe Flammia could deploy them here," Aneirin said.

"Do you know of anyone who could help us get inside the palace? Maybe storm it before she and her clowns here can form an attack?" Tommy asked.

"I might know someone...let me place a few calls..." Chrisoula said.

In the next few hours, Chrisoula and Anierin left briefly, and call after call was made. The Rangers felt tight as this process was going on. They felt the gravity of the situation. Everything was being risked, right now. It was true, one false move and they could all die.

Finally, about four hours later, both intelligence officers returned with a clipboard; on it were about four sheets of paper.

"This is what we've been told. These are your instructions for how to try a sneak attack. I don't need to tell you, you're probably only going to get one shot at it," Chrisoula said. "I am afraid we can waste no more time. We must return to our work. Good luck, young Phoenix."

A few moments after the two Triforian intelligence officers disappeared, Ninjor walked over to Jayden, who was looking at the instructions that had been laid out, and read over them carefully as well.

After about 10 minutes, Ninjor stood up, giving the Rangers the look that it was time to listen up and listen good. It was clear he had a plan. Jayden rejoined the rest of the Rangers, knowing that even though he was the Phoenix, Ninjor still held seniority in these types of matters. In his first time in this environment, Jayden preferred to defer to his experience.

"So based on what I am reading here, and my experience, this is what I propose," Ninjor said. "First of all, I still think we need about 24 more hours of rest. It has been a long journey and our clocks maybe aren't quite adjusted yet. This is a very dangerous risk and I'm not going to take it at anything less than 100 percent."

All Rangers present nodded in agreement. They were still a little jet-lagged and in no shape to fight yet.

"Now, when we do attack, I propose Mystic Force should be the diversion that draws them out," Ninjor said.

"Us?" all the Mystic Force Rangers said, but Nick was surprised most of all.

"Us, take the brunt of their attack?" Nick asked.

"Yes, Bowen," Ninjor said.

"Think about it, Bowen, it's really sound logic," Udonna said. "They're expecting Jayden, right? I mean, Jayden's literally got a wanted sign on his chest."

"They won't be expecting you guys," Ninjor said. "And because these Ranger powers are fueled by the Phoenix morpher itself, it will lend more power to your attacks. You're also the youngest team that came, so you'll be fresher than some of the rest of us."

"I agree," Jayden said. "For us to infiltrate the Palace someone is going to have to get their attention, draw them out."

"My wind powers," Vida said. "I can use the Magi Staff, wand mode to create a windstorm that can knock out their power. With the added power the Phoenix Ninjetti morpher provides, I don't think that should be too much of an issue."

"Excellent suggestion, Vida," Ninjor said. "Now, while all that is going on. Chrisoula said she has a source that can help get us into the Palace. It is with great fortune that I know this same source; he is a member of the Triforian military that I trust with all my being," Ninjor said. "He knows the Palace inside and out. He can get us in and knows the way to the throne room, the prison cells, etc."

"Damn, I forgot that in a dictatorship, they have prisoners of the state," Jayden said. "How many prisoners do you think they're keeping?"

"A lot. And many have already died," Ninjor said despondently. "We can't do anything about those who have died, but we can try to free the others and save them from the same fate."

"At some point though, we're going to need more bodies to make sure the Ninja Rangers can get to the throne room and the dungeon, among other places, without interference," Maya said. "The Triforian intelligence people are really smart and will send people to try to cut the Ninja Rangers off."

"That is why we brought other teams; that will be the job of Space, Dino Thunder, and Ninja Storm," Ninjor said. "I would send your team, Leo, but I don't think you're ready for a battle of this magnitude yet."

"No, we aren't, unfortunately and it sucks," Leo said.

"You will be some day though," Ninjor said. "Keep the faith and keep at it; we will need you guys at some point."

"Ninja teams, I don't need to tell you guys this but be ready to call the Zords," Ninjor said. "It is highly likely that if we are successful in freeing these prisoners, Flammia will send one or two of her Zords to attack and try and destroy us."

"Get rest, all of you," Ninjor said. "We leave at sun-up tomorrow morning."

November 16, 2012, just before sunrise

Triforia

Following Ninjor's advice, Jayden had spent the whole previous day resting and making sure his clock got on track.

Now, early in the morning, as sunrise approached, he was ready. He'd been up an hour before, stretching, meditating and everything else to make sure he was fully ready mentally and physically for what was coming. It would be grueling.

Hearing his communicator chime, he knew that it was showtime, and left the room he'd been afforded.

"I'm on my way," he said into his communicator as he headed up three flights of stairs to the main room. When he got there, he noticed the Mystic Force Rangers already gone.

"They left about two minutes before you got up here," Ninjor said. "We are waiting on word."

As if it had a mind of its own, Atsila suddenly appeared, squawking in front of all of them. Fire formed from his mouth, dissolving into a shimmering projection onto the wall.

'Watch,' the haunting voice boomed. 'As soon as Ms. Rocca-Thorn cuts the power you should leave.'

They were looking at the Mystic Force Power Rangers and saw Vida use her wind power to buffet the Triforian capital with a massive wind storm. After about five minutes, the power was cut and the image disappeared.

"Let's do it," Jayden said. "Everybody out."

With that, the remaining Power Rangers teleported out, as the battle for Triforia's freedom had truly begun.

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