So far: Leo has just come back to Mirinoi after taking part in the Forever Red mission (A story about it is on my profile) to find the planet being fought over by the settlers. He stops a skirmish but is seriously weakened and collapses. After he wakes up he and Kendrix are finally honest about their feelings for each other and kiss, only to be interrupted by their friends. Leo then finds out that Maya has sided with the Mirinoians after her sister was killed by a military issue gun. Leo has also discovered that they can have power over their chosen element when they are not morphed (NOT MAGIC, this power was used on their Sentai version – Gingaman).Maya attacks them but it is revealed that demons are influencing the actions of the settlers and natives but cannot gain any control over Kendrix for reasons unknown. Leo kills the demon after which Stannon orders his soldiers to have Maya executed. The team resists and with Mike remaining as a double agent the rest are now on the run as fugitives.

Author's Note: Thanks for all of your reviews; you guys make me really enjoy writing. Red Tornado the e-mail did not come through.

Enjoy

CHAPTER SEVEN

Leo felt familiar sensation of electricity running through his body as his protective suit enveloped him. The suit had covered him just in time as the bullets began to beat down on them like the rainstorm. Kai was not as lucky as a shot hit him in the shoulder just before he finished morphing.

"Kai," said Damon urgently, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," insisted Kai, "The suit is dealing with it."

"Yeah, but are you-," Maya begun.

"The suit is dealing with it," repeated Kai.

"Right guys," said Leo, "When I give the word we run. Maya do you know a place where we can hide. Not with the villagers. We don't know if they've been infected."

"I know a place," she said.

"Right," said Leo, "When I give the word, we run." Then the soldiers opened fire again but this time Leo, empowered by the suit, unleashed a massive mane of fire that cut across the ground leaving a burning wall in between them and their opponents.

"Now we run."

Over the roar of the fire, Leo heard something.

"This is not over Corbett. We will get you. You will pay for this treachery."

"Everyone, this way," said Maya urgently, "They're gonna call in reinforcements any second now." They followed her through the dense foliage, hacking away at any impediments with their sabres.

"Where are we going?" asked Kai through gritted teeth. His wound was not as trivial as he had made it out to be and he could feel the blood trickling down his shoulder under his suit.

"Just a little further," she said as they sprinted, bullets whizzing around them, one ricocheting off Leo's shoulder. Ahead of them, Leo could see a rope tied between two trees with a strange sign hanging from it. It was a sheet of white cloth with a Mirinoian symbol that he did not recognise painted on it. "There it is," she said, "Make for the barrier!"

Barrier?

Then, when she came into contact with the rope, she just disappeared. No bang, no flash of light, no nothing to explain her disappearance, she just vanished. Then, just as surprising as her disappearance, her head appeared, floating in mid-air. "Come on," she said, "They can't follow us over the barrier, only rangers can get across." Within seconds, the other four crossed the barrier and the gunfire was instantly silenced. Leo turned around and he couldn't even see any pursuing soldiers.

"Where are we?" he asked Maya.

"Gingaman no Yo Sa," she said, removing her helmet, "The Fortress of the Galaxy Men. This place was to be the stronghold of the warriors who possessed the Quasar Sabres. It hasn't been used for three thousand years as the only one who can cross the barrier have to have ginga blood in their veins. Basically, they have to be, or have been at some point in their lives, a ranger."

It truly was a fortress. It was a large, rectangular building built on to a massive rock and it was so large it was practically a man made mountain, with small windows dotting the construction like holes in cheese. The gate was three metres high and one metre across and below it was a thin causeway that attackers would have to walk across, in single file, to get to. That was the only way in.

"I would not want to attack that," said Damon, "That would be utter suicide."

"Power down," said Leo. As one, their suits vanished. Instantly Kai collapsed to the ground, a thick river of blood pouring from his shoulder. He gripped his wound, trying to quell the flow. Oh you fool, thought Leo, Why did you not say it was serious? He then thought, wouldn't you have done the same?

"Quickly," ordered Maya, "Get him inside. I know what to do."

Leo and Damon carried Kai while Maya lead them through a series of long, twisting halls. Finally, they stopped before five doors with a descending flight of stairs in the middle, between the Lion door and Gorilla door. Each door had a large bronze medallion with a different symbol etched in each one.

A Lion.

A Gorilla.

A Condor.

A Wolf.

A Wildcat.

"Quickly," commanded Maya, "Get him inside his room." She held Kai's hand to the door depicting a gorilla and the door silently swung inwards. The room, if it could be called such, mainly consisted of a series of rock pools in varying sizes. Maya commanded them to place Kai in the water and when they did, a miracle occurred.

The wound disappeared.

"The rooms are designed to keep us at our full potential," informed Maya, "In the Great Dimension War fought three thousand years ago, such quick sources of healing were a must have. He is going to need some rest though, so take him to the end of the room and you'll find a bed. Put him there and come back."

When that was done, she led them down the flight of stairs in between the Lion door and Gorilla door. At the bottom was a small round room. The only piece of ornamentation that existed there was an extremely familiar boulder. The stone that formerly held their sabres.

"How did that get here," asked Kendrix, the scientific curiosity in her voice evident.

"I don't know," said Maya, "Maybe it moves whenever the fortress is awakened. Who knows? I certainly don't."

"So what do we do know fearless leader?" asked Damon.

"Nothing," said Leo, "It's almost night time any way so I suggest we take a page from Kai's book and get some rest. We'll think better in the morning."

One rule defines Leo's character; You can never rest until you've done something. If your team says you need rest; lie. So he sat in the living room that was near the entrance when he was sure everyone was asleep, planning. Or rather, trying to plan. He could not think of anything that didn't involve large amounts of civilian casualties. He created a flame in the fireplace, hoping that the welcoming heat would help him think.

It didn't.

"What do I do?" he said out loud.

"What you do," said a voice, "Is follow your own advice; get some rest."

He turned to the source of the noise and for some reason his heart skipped a beat.

Only Kendrix did that to him.

"I can't," he said, "I need to think, I need a plan, I ne-." She smothered his sentence with a kiss and held him tightly.

"I think that can wait til tomorrow," she said and she kissed him again. This kiss was more serious and he understood what she was telling him. He responded and they lost themselves in each other, feeling the other's heart beat against their own.