Disclaimer; I do not own the Power Rangers

A/N: Well, I haven't been attacked with flaming pitchforks yet (yay!) So I'm continuing. In this chapter, we meet the rest of the MCs. As a reminder, none of them are Power Rangers nor will they be Power Rangers. I'm also working hard to find flaws for my characters to display.

Their arrival at the camp was notable only because they were being chased by a pair of Grinders. Nicole had chosen the cliff side retreat because of the protection it provided, but also because there was a good spot for making a stand before you actually got to the camp. That particular place on the trail was lower than the camp, making it easier for the sentries on guard to provide cover. It proved unneeded in this instance, because Lance, unable to take the ATV up the trail to the camp, stopped, threw himself out of the ATV and unleashed a magical explosion that caused the bikes the Grinders were using to implode and take the Grinders out with them.

As Nicole picked herself up from the rocks, having been thrown by the backlash, she demanded, "Couldn't you have done that before?"

Lance gave her a tired grin as he picked himself up off the ground, "And let you miss out on the fun?" He sobered instantly, "I can't do that all the time, Aunt Nicole. It's hard to focus it, and I don't have the kind of power Dad did, much less Mom."

"First off, it's just Nicole, same as it's always been," Nicole told him as she picked up her bike, "Second, don't think you have to be all powerful. Just knowing that you can handle yourself against Grinders if you have to is better than I can say for some of these idiots."

"Hey!"

Nicole glanced up and scowled at the older man who was leading a group down the trail, "Bite me, Eric McKnight. I'm just calling it as I see it." She pointed, "Lance, this is Eric McKnight, brother to a Red Ranger and one time ninja student. McKnight, this is Charles Lancelot Rocca, or Lance, he's a Ranger kid and apprentice Healer. Also, he's family."

"Nice to meet you," Eric said, nodding absently to Lance, "What about Briarwood?"

Nicole shook her head slightly, "The Gate's been sealed. They had Venjix 'bots get in, killed a few people." She hesitated, "Eric, my brother Chip and his partners, they weren't there, nor any of the other kids."

Eric paled, "Oh Nicole, I'm so sorry."

Nicole smiled, "I tried, you know? It looks like we have to go to Corinth."

"What about Lance?" Eric said.

"Change of scenery," Nicole said, "besides, we need a healer."

"Right," Eric agreed.

Nicole smirked, "Besides, you saw what he did to those Grinders. You can't deny that he's impressive." She eyed the group coming down from the camp, "Rawlings, William," she called, spotting her dark skinned mechanic.

"'Sup, Boss-Lady?" Will asked as he joined them.

Nicole gave him a withering look, and pointed at the ATV, "We need that converted ASAP. Also, plan a complete overhaul for my bike. If we're going over the mountains, we need everything in peak condition."

"Right on," Will said with a salute.

Nicole shook her head and pointed at Lance, "Get your bag, kid and let's go."

The camp, as Nicole thought of it, consisted of twenty-five people between fifteen and thirty who had survived the Battle of Sacramento and had avoided the Venjix patrols. Nicole had started with protecting the four fifteen year olds, but she'd met up with Eric's group six months back when they'd left the city to the more violent survivors who were already adapting to Armageddon by encouraging anarchy and the law of the jungle. Eric was leading a group of Ninja students from the Wind Ninja Academy, they had been off campus on some sort of training mission when Venjix broke through the Academy protections. Eric himself had never completed Ninja training, but Will, the student-teacher of the group, had met Eric through his father and Eric's brother and had found the forest ranger after getting his class free of Venjix's net. That had brought the group from five to fifteen, with the final ten being a group they'd rescued from a Venjix prison camp.

As Nicole looked around, she worried how people were going to react to her news. She whistled, "Everyone, gather around." She ordered. "Lance, stand here beside me." When everyone was settled and could hear her, she began, "All right, as you might have surmised, my trip to Briarwood was a bust. I was told that while yes, they had been accepting refugees at first that is no longer the case. Venjix managed to get some of those droids of his in with some refugees and caused a lot of havoc."

"More than that," Lance said bitterly, "Three of the Mystic Rangers died defending Briarwood. The other two had been called away to deal with an issue between Fire Heart and the Fire Sprites. Those bots killed ten people that I know of, one of them, Caidy Russell, were being trained as the next Mystic Red. The Vampire Queen's daughter Anna is probably going to be a paraplegic for the rest of her life. The Gatekeeper is blind, the Solaris Knight and the Crimson Warrior are still healing. No one has seen the Oracle since the attack either, but we're hoping he escaped and wasn't killed."

"This is Charles Lancelot Rocca," Nicole continued, "his parents were Mystic Rangers, and he's been training as a healer, Mystic and a knight since he was a child. Lance offered to come with us when I mentioned that we needed a healer and I accepted." She smiled at the kid, "His dad was the Mystic Yellow, and my soul-brother." She glanced at the group, "Given the results of my journey to Briarwood, being one healer and no refuge, I propose we utilize our fall back plan and head to Corinth City as soon as we're assured that winter is gone. We'll vote using the pebble method after dinner. Anyone with questions should see their section leader."

Slinging her arm around Lance, Nicole steered him over to her tent, "You'll room with me, Lance," she told him. "Everyone in the camp has a section leader that they look to in an attack. The sections are each responsible for an aspect of camp. Eric, for instance, handles sentries. Will is our head of mechanics. I'm scout leader, and by nomination, I serve as tie breaker and head honcho for the group as a whole. We have a hunting team, lead by Rob, and a camp team, led by Macy. I'll introduce you to Macy after you put your bag down. She'll be your section leader; she's an RN and handles our injuries so you'd be working with her anyways."

"Right," Lance agreed. He slung his bag into Nicole's tent and the pair headed over to a gray haired woman who was overseeing dinner preparations.

"Macy," Nicole said, "got five minutes?"

Macy smiled, "Of course, Nicole."

"This is Lance," Nicole said, "Lance, this is Macy."

"Pleased to meet you," Lance said politely and shook Macy's hand.

"You too," Macy said.

"I'm putting Lance in your section," Nicole said, "don't break him." She turned and headed away, leaving Lance and Macy to regard each other warily.