Ch.3 White Diamond in the Rough

8 years ago – December 26th, 2032

[Play Fate Zero, Tragedy and Fate on You Tube]

Walking ever so slow a young man puts one foot in front of the other ahead of him in a city torn asunder. Flames engulfing the land to the left and the right of him, in the distance he can hear voices, screams for mercy and screams of death. The boy's eyes are lifeless, as he walks his fear of death giving way to hopelessness. Even so, the boy walks on as his legs weaken and his lungs fill with smoke he walks on.

Suddenly he feels a tug at his leg followed immediately by a soft cry for help, "Please... Don't let me die here." It was a man stunk under some debris. The boy's lifeless face became one of panic as tears tried to make their way to his eyes but were swallowed by the heat of the atmosphere before they could make their way down the boy's face.

The boy tries to pull his leg away but the harder he tries the more tightly the man's grasp becomes. Harder and harder and harder and harder! Without thinking the boy takes a nearby rock and smash! The sounds of the man's cries cause Neo to wake in a cold sweat.

Present Day - In Mar's orbit

He takes in his surroundings, he's in his zord hovering over the atmosphere of Mars they must have arrived while he was asleep.

That day I let a man die and selfishly thought only of my own salvation. Since then I told myself, I had to... or we'd have both died. Anyone else would have done the exact same thing, right? Or maybe if I were the one to die... he quickly shakes the thought from his mind balling his hand into a fist he looks at the red gauntlets over them. Red Ranger... This is what I'm here for.

As he begins the ship's landing sequence.

Present Day – Approaching Vordes

Roy exits hyperspace just outside of Vordes' orbit he exhales a sigh of relief that everything worked properly. All the sensors seemed to normal as he scanned the planet searching for the exact location of his destination. Suddenly he's shield takes a hit from above. His eyes search frantically for the sources of the attack and then boom another hit. Unsure of the origin Roy burst into evasive maneuvers trying to buy himself time to think of a proper counter-strategy. He takes note of how much more time until he has a lock of where he needs to land on world hoping they can figure this whole thing out. The reads 30 seconds. Darn it, they can shot me down half a dozen times in that time. He decides to take a shot in the dark deciding the most likely point to be the origin of the attack would likely be from behind. He loops so that he is now facing the opposite direction and fires a few quick shots. Success. One of the drones goes spinning out of control before exploding. I knew I could face the enemy here but not so soon. Suddenly he's hit by a blast with way more power than before dropping he's shield percentage into the single digits. Mothership? Without thinking he flies straight for the surface of the planet as the timer deducing his destination finally hits zero. But, as he enters the atmosphere of the planet he's hit with another blast, this time forcing the extra Vector attached to his own to separate and spin-off to some unknown region of the planet. Roy is thrown out of his Vector right after re-entry, hitting the ground with a thud and knocking him out.

[Play Battlefield Ambiance on You Tube]

"Oh man." said the voice of a woman in a rather annoyed tone," Why is it that Sam only sends me on these reconnaissance missions in the middle of the night? He says It's because there a lower chance of enemy detection, but if that's the case anybody should be able to do it."

Suddenly she sees a figure on the ground just in front of her. Not knowing whether its friend or foe the young soldier takes cover behind a nearby tree and approaches slowly. Eventually, she is to able to make out the form of a young man apparently clinging to life.

Still, hesitate she makes her way towards the unconscious man in front of her. She had heard the stories of people being indoctrinated by the empire, posing as victims in distress and destroying their enemies from within. The tales always portray the culprits as something other than humans. And as far as she knew Earth still wasn't under The Empire's control.

Finally, she was just beside him, she could see a green glow emitting from the device on his arm, As her white hair caught a gust of wind. In a stern voice, she whispered, "Hey, are you still alive?" the next thing she knew she was on the ground kneeling next to him, his head the closest part of his body to hers. As she reached down to try and help the young man, only to be distracted as she caught a glimpse of the cracked black box beside him, in it a device similar to the one he was wearing on his arm. As she reached for it a wave of energy washed over her, It was a feeling like none she had never felt before. It sent shivers down her shine, but also warmth the likes of which she had not experienced for some time.

She suspected the young man must have felt it too because just then he'd awoken and proceed to grab the young soldier by the arm for only an instant before he slipped back into the realms of unconsciousness.

"I must be crazy." The young soldier thought to herself as she tossed the young man over her shoulder and proceeded to carry him back to base.

It didn't take long for the base to come into view. It was nothing special, just the opposite, it was made up of a few make swift shacks and some Alliance grade tents in the middle of a dense forest. It was apparent that the fighting had taken its toll on its people. Unlike the alliance who had an uneasy treaty with the empire for some time. This planet wasn't a part of that alliance and so they'd been at war with the empire for the entire eight years since they stop receiving alliance support. The soldier was dressed in dark-colored rags and covered in dirt and grime more closely resembling vagabonds then any kind of official military. And the light of hope and aspiration in their eyes has long since become a thing of the past.

As she approaches the base a floating ball of light approaches her. "Ayala, you didn't finish your reconnaissance checks, you're normally so efficient." Only then did he notice the extra passenger slumped over her shoulder."Company?"

"The unwanted kind. But, I couldn't just leave him to die out there. We're all we got on this world."

"No, you did the right thing." Sam reassures her as he notices the black box in her other hand, "What's that?"

She shakes her head, "Not sure, but he seemed very adamant on making sure I didn't open it."

It was then that Sam noticed what looked like a Morpher emitting a green glow on his wrist. "I'm going ahead to the infirmary, I'll have him prep a room for him."

As she makes it to the room she dropped him on the bed like a ton of bricks. Rubbing her shoulders in relief.

"Ms. Landors." Kat says entering the room, "I'd appreciate it you wouldn't give my patients more injuries before I can assess the ones they already have."

"I apologize... for not being sorry." Ayala smirks, "It's his own fault for sleeping in a ditch out there. Imagine if the enemy got a hold of him before I did!"

"Even so," She begins her examination, from checking his pulse to his temperature and everything in between. "If he is who Sam thinks he is this could be a boom for the war effort, he might even be able to help us get Cruger back."

Ayala's face scrunches up in confusion, "Am I missing something? Just who the heck is this guy?"

Kat rolls his wrist in a way that Ayala can see the Morpher attached to his arm. "He's a power ranger," Kat said with a weak smile that could only be described as guiltily hopeful.

"Power Ranger?"Ayala takes a step back," but, they don't exist..."

"Well, someone somewhere out there must have found away."

"Power Ranger?" Ayala whispers under her breath as she takes another step back and then another and then another until she finally hit the wall behind her with a clump. Kat's eye's turn to her in concern only to found Ayala's eyes locked on the ground."Power Ranger? So what's that mean? Does he just show up and save the day? Does he make all the blood, sweat and tears we've shed go away, is that it? All this time... Where were they eight years ago?"

"Ayala..." Sam starts to confront her, but she walks off.

"I'm finishing my rounds."

Several Hours Later

[Search Bleach OST Here to stay on Youtube]

"Ugh." Roy groaned waking from his rather unpleasant slumber. Slowly as his vision began to clear, he could make out an unfamiliar surrounding. He felt a chill wash over him as realized that he wasn't inside of a residence or a hospital. Rather, he was resting under the stars in a small shack-like structure in the middle of a forest.

He rose into a sitting position taking note of the bandages around his shoulder and midsection only then did he realize that there was no one in the immediate area. He tried to remember what unfortunate event he was involved in that led to his current situation. He thought back, and the memories of the explosion blasting him from his ship return all at once. He grabs his chest relieved by the fact that he was still alive. But the sudden movement of his arm caused him to almost yelp in tremendous pain, was it broken? "Saved by forces unknown yet again."Roy thought to himself, "I guess I should look around and found whoever saved me. I should at least give them my thanks before I head off."

As Roy tried to stand he suddenly realized that his leg was chained to a nearby tree. "What the... What the hell is this?" Roy yelled in panic, only now realizing his Morpher was gone.

Only seconds later he saw a great deal of movement in forest brush. "Damn it," he whispered under his breath. As the figures got closer their shapes and forms became clear. Roy's eyes were struck by shock as scavengers, vagrants and all other manners of vagabonds of all shapes and sizes came into view out of the darkness of the forest.

"Damn it all. Have I been captured by the enemy?" Slowly a ball of light began to approach the young Ranger."Stay back!" he shouted, "I may not be at 100 percent right now but I have more than enough power to deal with lowlifes like you."

Suddenly from off in the distance

"Who you calling lowlifes!" a voice rang in Roy's ear. As he looked over to the direction the voice was coming from he saw her short white hair messy hair shaved on the right side while being long enough to hang over her left eye, her eyes were a calm amber and her skin dark. He grabbed on to the chain attached to his leg and raged, "Are these you're men? If I were you I'd order them to let me go if you know what's good for you!"

As she approached him, he said nothing. He merely observed until she and he were finally face to face. Then she spoke, "You know, injured people should really rest in bed." Without another word and with no hesitation at all, she knocked him off his feet and simultaneously threw him back into the bunk where he was previously resting in one swift movement.

He was more surprised than hurt. Once he finally stocks it off. He yelled, "What the heck was that?" both out anger and out of surprise of her combat prowess.

"Careful now," she states plainly, " I promised Doc I wouldn't rough you up too bad. I even went out of my way to bring you back to our base, and how do you repay me? By insulting my fellow soldiers! You got a bad attitude you know."

"Wait I didn't even..."Roy pondered her words carefully." Did you say... fellow soldiers?"

"That's right." Ayala can see the uncertainty in his eyes, she stands up, "You look confused, this is Vordes, Welcome to the resistance."

"This is Vordes?" Roy begins to put the pieces together, "So I made it here after all." He looked at Ayala, "I take it you're the one who saved me? Thanks for that." Ayala doesn't answer she simply looks away a frown craved into her face before walking off.

"I see you're awake." Kat walks in, immediately moving to check his heart rate with a stethoscope.

Roy motions towards Ayala, "That girl..."

"It's best if we give her some time to cool down."

Roy reluctantly agrees, "By the way is there someone named Doggie Cruger around here? I'm supposed to hand over the Morpher for this planet's ranger to him."

Kat remains silent as she puts away her stethoscope.

"He was captured by the enemy a couple weeks back." A floating ball of light enters the room.

"Holy crap, this night light just spoke to me!"

"Ranger, this is Sam a former SPD ranger from the future, he originally came back to help at the beginning of the war, but without a stable connection to morphing grid, he's been stuck here. He's been helping us with personnel and logistic ever since."

"Ranger? The name's Roy. And if Cruger isn't in charge here then who is?"

They look at each other then back at him."Cruger was never in charge here, like us his role was purely advisory until recently the public wasn't even allowed to know we were providing Vordes with military support advisory or otherwise."

"Because their not part of the Alliance?"

"There may not be much of one, but there is an army out there! Who's calling the shots if Cruger isn't?" They both look towards the door that Ayala stormed out of. "That can't be right, she's no older than I am."

"In times of great need age has never been a factor in terms of the heroes that rise up, you only need to look into a mirror to see that."

"Hero, huh?" Roy thinks for a moment "I'm going after her."

[Play Fate Ever-Present Feeling kie nai omoi on You Tube]

Ayala sits alone by a pond surrounded by trees the rising sun gently creeping over the horizon. She squints as the new day's light hits her eyes skipping a rock over the pond as subtle retaliation.1,2,3,4,5, 5 jumps before the rock rests in the waters of the pond below.

"Not Bad." said a voice from just behind a nearby tree, "But, my record is seven."It was the Power Ranger.

"Did you want something?" Ayala asked now subconsciously trying to beat his record.

"Yes... and no." Roy began, "I wanted to say thanks again for saving my life. Considering how you feel about..."

"Listen! When I save you I had no idea who you were, so don't get the wrong idea, I would have saved anyone else in the same situation."

Roy smiles, "I know you're trying to knock me down a peg, but you've done just the opposite. I'm happy that someone like you can exist even on a war-torn planet like this."

"Shut up!" Ayala snapped, "You don't know anything about me Power Ranger!"

"I don't know anything about you? This coming from the girl that doesn't even know my name. It's Roy by the way."

"Well...um."Ayala sighed taking a sit on a log beside the pond, "I give up! Do what you want." It didn't take long for Roy to plop himself on the log beside her a gentle smile ever-present on his face. It was only then that she noticed the splint encasing his arm."Your arm? Did I do that?"

"Nah it's just a sprain, It was like this before I woke up, unless... You didn't do anything to me while I was out did you?"Ayala recalls carrying and dropping him with little disregard for his well-being but quickly decides to lie shaking her head violently. "You know, that's not inspiring much confidence. Anyways, no worries my connection to the morphing grid accelerates the healing process, or rather I should say the one that I borrowed."

"So Roy, you're really a power ranger, aren't you?"

Roy nods

"You know when I was a kid my parents use to tell me tales about the rangers how they were the greatest protectors the galaxy had ever known. I used to fantasize about meeting one and thanking them for keeping us safe."

"That's actually pretty cute."

"Well nobody asked you." Ayala continued, "Anyways, it's too easy to forget those that shed blood so that the rest of us can live ordinary lives. But, I never thought it'd be my blood being shed or my tears mourning the deaths of my friends. Where were the power rangers then?"She grabs Roy's shoulder and leans in pressing her weight against him"Where were you?" The added weight cause Roy to tumble backward off the log as Ayala soon followed landing on top of him. "Why weren't you there to protect me?" She says as tears make their way to her eyes.

Roy's grabbed her arm resting on his chest," Ayala I'm sorry to tell you this, but eight years ago I was in the exact same boat as you. A powerless child who could only watch as the world fell apart around him." Ayala looked into his eyes expecting sympathy but found a harsh intensity similar to her own. She hops off of him as quickly as she could as Roy moves into a sitting position.

"What am I even doing?" Ayala cried, "I want to help you. I want you to help us, so why? Why am I so angry?"

"You saw the world crumbling around you and resolved to make yourself stronger to survive, more so, you joined the resistance to set things right. That's admirable, you'd make a much better ranger than me."

"What are you even talking about?"

"I'm not like the rangers you read about in children stories," he paused, "If the situation called for it. I'd let an entire planet die."

"You can't be serious!"Ayala looked into his eyes only to see that the intense gaze was still present.

"Come on, we should head back."

"Wait a second! Aren't you suppose to the hero?"

"Ya' know, people keep calling me a hero, I don't believe them yet."

[Play Power Ranger SPD theme instrumental on You Tube]

Suddenly an explosion can be seen off in the distance coming from the direction of the base. The two nod at each other and proceed to rush towards the sound of battle.

Arriving on the scene they are greeted by Kat who tosses Roy his Morpher. "You sure you're up for this?"

"I had better be," Roy answered placing the device on his wrist.

"How'd they find us?" Ayala demanded.

"Not sure, but, we think they followed you when you brought Roy here"

"So it was a trap? And I fell for it."

Roy looks around in a frenzy, "Where's the other Morpher I brought with me?" Kat looks over only to see an empty black box. The confusion in her eyes tells Roy all he needed to know. "Damn it." he crosses his arms as both his hands light up. Spinning both his arms making a large circle he yells.

"Heroic Force! Green Ranger Power!"


A/N: Hey guys hope you're enjoying my story. I'm pretty casual at this so please don't hesitate to lend me any constructive feedback. I really enjoyed writing this chapter because I really enjoy writing character interactions XD