Power Rangers Galactic Force

Chapter 4: Infected

The two thieves adapted well to the group. The commander had given them both their uniforms and blasters the next day. Amable had a gold star on their left breast of the jacket and Oliver had a silver star. Despite everyone's initial reservations, they were getting along well. However the GRF was not the most pleased about Oliver being a part of the group.

It was to be expected. He was a printed lifeform, afterall. The normal orders were to destroy printed lifeforms. They were not seen as having any free will. They were not treated as living lifeforms like the rest. No one valued them in the Resistance since all they ever did was aid the New Galaxy in destroying more and more.

Was what they said entirely true? Not really. Printed or not, they all had some capability to think for themselves. It was just that disobedience when you were printed meant inmediate death. They were able to keep tabs on them a lot better than organic lifeforms. That was what Oliver had explained to everyone about the situation.

Raffael had been the most vocal about his distaste for the rule. He refused to sit back and let the Resistance talk about Oliver that way. Oliver was a valuable member of the group. He wasn't going to hear anyone say otherwise. He really liked Oliver.

The two of them got on very well. They were inseparable on most days. Raffael had found a close friend. Oliver didn't seem to know what to think of the sudden friendliness shown to him, but had taken to it well. He had grown attached to Raffael and would go to him for help if Amable wasn't available.

Amable kept to themself at first, afraid to interact much. They slowly opened up more and were soon teasing the others and having fun. They were still very protective of Oliver, always keeping a worried eye on him. No one could blame them after everything that they had probably heard and seen happen to printed lifeforms.

Training was slow as usual. They had three recruits to train and each was at different levels. Raffael got put with Jae for most of his training. Amable trained a lot with either Carlito or Maxi. Oliver was with Nico.

Raffael got flipped onto his back and landed with a thud on the floor. While the mat was there to help break falls, it still hurt a bit to land so roughly on it. That was probably going to leave a mark for a few days. It was rare he came out of a training session without a new bruise to show for it. Jae did not go easy on him ever.

He wanted it that way. The harder the trainer, the faster he had to adapt. He was doing quite well to keep up with her. Still couldn't win a battle, but Raffael wasn't sure he'd ever get to that point. If Nico and Maxi weren't able to and they had been training together for seven years, he doubted he stood anymore of a chance than they did.

"Almost a minute. You're getting better, kid." Jae held out a hand to him, a proud smile on her face.

Raffael took it and got pulled back to his feet. "Thanks. Are we ever going to start fighting with weapons?"

"If you want to try, we can focus more on that starting tomorrow." Jae replied. "I just wanted to get you more flexible before anything."

"I feel pretty flexible." Raffael replied. "I didn't know my body could bend in some of these ways before now."

Jae laughed as his statement.

Beside them, Amable was learning how to block blows with Maxi. Carlito was watching them from the ground, giving pointers to Amable where he saw fit. Amable was slowly getting better at predicting each blow and able to start blocking.

"You're not used to hand-to-hand combat, are you?" Maxi questioned.

"Not really. Mostly trained in long-range." Amable replied. "I know the basics, but that's about it."