1.07: DIVIDE AND CONQUER
Xolin was not a creature of patience. She knew that, and she'd even admit it if pressed. It was a fault, she knew, but holy crap it was like the universe *wanted* to test how far it could push her before she snapped. Case in point: her current mission.
No, sorry. 'Mission', because it was clearly really just babysitting.
She'd been 'volunteered' by Iota to deliver a package to Telleros, a Karovian colony. What was inside the package, she didn't know and Iota wasn't keen on telling her; annoying issue number one because if she didn't know, how would she even know if it was worth her time in the first place? And then he'd 'advised' her to take Sel along, so the mostly-untrained yellow ranger could get some 'real world experience'.
Aaaand to top it all off, Iota had taken the Megaship and the two boys and gone to fight some sort of unicorn monster with drills for hands on Eltheris IV—she'd gotten the whole excited scoop from Trok via comm transmission shortly after landing here. Evidently, she'd missed quite the fight, and she was pretty ticked off about that.
Instead, however, she was stuck here. Playing babysitter for the xybrian walking just behind her. Despite the fact that she'd been somewhat opening up over the past few weeks, the girl had barely said five words to Xolin since they'd left the megaship, and by this point in their relationship, Xolin had pretty much settled on 'not giving a shit'. Whereas Trok or Sid would initiate conversation with her, Xolin had better things to do than worry about some quiet teenager's lack of hobbies or…whatever. To Xolin, the relationships worth fighting for were the ones that fought back. Sel was just a big pile of blah.
So yeah, babysitting.
It wasn't like Telleros was a *bad* world, it was just sort of…dime-a-dozen. The city they were in was your standard mid-sized Karovian city, complete with parks, geometric buildings and monuments, and pre-planned city design. It was pretty. It was spacious.
It was boring. KO-35 and some of the other core worlds at least had mega cities with towering skyscrapers you could get lost in. But she'd always found the Karovian sense of aesthetics to be…ocd? Generic?
Bland. That's the word. Bland.
Kind of like Sel over there.
Uuuuuuugh.
At least if it had been Sid or Trok, she could have enjoyed some banter or something. Sel was just as boring as watching paint dry; sort of like a silent shadow that just kind of…lingered there.
The two rangers made their way back to their skycycles, currently parked on the street corner. Just a few more hours, and she'd be back home, and could go kick the crap out of something on the simudeck. It just wasn't the same with a simulation, but it would suffice.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't take notice of the figures moving towards them. Sel noticed however; there were at least eight of them, all civilians wearing various business casual suits, all having begun following them from different directions.
"…Xolin" she noted. Xolin glanced back at her, quickly summing up the situation—more were coming towards them from where she had been walking as well. Immediately she shifted into a battle position, though she hesitated—fighting civilians? This didn't jive.
"…Is there a problem?" she asked warily, making sure to keep as many of them within her sights as she could at any one time. Now surrounded, she allowed herself one split second of surprise as the civilians melted away, replaced by Orange-headed Krybots as they stepped up their pace, now rushing the two girls. Xolin's foot found itself in the chest of the nearest one, before she blocked another's attack with her arm and swung around, her shoe slamming into its face. A dodge and a counterattack later, and she was completely swarmed by the enemy squadron.
Shit, this wasn't good. She'd never actually gotten a chance to fight Troobian tech, but at the very least she'd read up on their capabilities. Orange-heads were the elite vanguard of Krybot forces—encountering a squadron comprised of nothing but them was bad news…and extremely alarming as it meant whoever was after them really meant business. Xolin privately mused on the fact that Capricorn must have really gone out of his way for this one if it meant he had had to go all the way out to buy up Troobian hardware.
Freeing herself from the grip of one of the robots, and creating some room for herself, Xolin pressed her morpher…and nothing happened. Her eyes shot to her morpher in panic as she tried again, still with no response. Her powers weren't working. Ranger dampening fields existed of course—had for centuries, but they were a relative rarity. Since the morphin' grid was well…*everything*, and trying to suppress that would have Bad Consequences for anyone who'd be willing to try, attempts to negate ranger tech usually came in the form of breaking the link to one's power source. The downside to that of course, was that the power source would differ from team to team. One team might use ancient amulets hundreds of thousands of years old that tapped into the grid directly, another team might use their own lifeforce. And still another team might harness some artifact within their morphers.
In Xolin's case, their powers came from the Megaship—a weakness they'd pointed out from time to time, as it meant one only had to break their transfer of energy from orbit to neutralize them, but the assumption had been that it just wasn't worth it because, again, anti-ranger tech had to account for so many variables that most just considered it not worth it. Though, Trok *had* thrown the idea of giving them a secondary 'life force' mode around before. Boy, she really wished she had held him to that right about now.
Xolin knew what she had to do; the mission had never changed. The would-be blue ranger swung around, blocking the Krybot's path to Sel and making sure her teammate had an escape path, "Powers are down!" she shouted, doing her best to keep the hoard at bay, but anyone watching would know she'd be quickly overpowered in a matter of seconds, "Run to a safe place and get help! GO!"
"But what about you?" Sel asked, concerned.
Xolin elbowed a Krybot in the head, smashing into the pavement with her foot when it dropped down, but only getting several more hits from the others for her troubles, "Do as I say!"
Sel stepped back, hesitating. Xolin was about to lose, she couldn't…
"NOW!" Xolin cried, just before she was finally mowed down. Sel finally broke rank, running towards the nearest building—unfortunately, another few Krybot stragglers were incoming, and Sel wasn't fast or agile enough to avoid them. She was caught by one, and not being great at melee combat—especially without her powers—meant that she was helpless as others swarmed in.
"NO!" Xolin roared, splitting into three. While Spirit remained crushed under the weight of her enemies, Mind and Courage raced to the rescue, knocking aside two of the Krybots assaulting Sel. She'd wanted to avoid having to rely on her triforian powers here since she didn't have any backup—these powers were built for out-maneuvering an opponent, not dealing with a hoard. Her three forms were much weaker than her singular entity.
"RUN!" Xolin of Courage screamed at Sel as she fought one of the Krybots.
The xybrian struggled against two of her enemy; "I can't!"
Xolin of Mind snapped in frustrated rage, "Useless! Because of course I'm stuck with the useless pile of—" she grunted as she was hit in the stomach, then delivered a counter-attack, flinging her foe around into another, "Can't even defend yourself, only the Trinity knows why Iota wanted you so bad…"
Sel stopped struggling, at first shocked by the outburst, and then saddened. Useless. That's what she was to Xolin. Could she blame her? Not really. That didn't mean it didn't hurt though. The last few weeks, ever since she'd woken up on Xybria…Sel had tried. She really had. And for a while, she had thought she was getting better in the training sessions, and with warming up to the others. She wanted to be…well, *real*. She wanted to be like them, with them, not separate.
But standing here, now, it was clear she wasn't, and couldn't be. Xolin didn't accept her. Why should she?
Why was Sel even here?
On some level, Xolin knew she'd messed up as the fight went out of Sel, but on the surface in the mist of her rage, she was just further pissed that the girl would give up—it was just further proof of just how utterly useless their fourth member was. They were going to *lose*, and there was nothing she could do about it—and it was almost certainly Sel's fault. This never would have happened with Sid or Trok. "Oh, what!?" she exclaimed bitterly, "Do I have to hold your hand or something!?" Again, deep down she *probably* knew she was in the wrong, but on the surface in her haze of anger, she'd already justified it to herself.
If Sel was going to reply, Xolin never witnessed it. Sel was struck in the back of the neck by some sort of electrical device that immediately knocked her out. Xolin's eyes widened as she—they—knew what was coming. Xolin of Mind, pinned under numerous Krybots, was next—and with her, the remaining two Xolins immediately succumbed as well, before melting away and reuniting with their sister.
"What do you mean kidnapped?!" were the first words out of Trok's mouth. Under normal circumstances, Sid would have snorted at Trok's questioning of the obvious. It meant they'd been captured, obviously. But under the circumstances, he'd let it slide. He was just as concerned, after all.
They both sat in the workbay, Sid having been giving Trok a primer on some of the craziest worlds he'd been to, when Iota had come down to them with the news.
Iota elaborated "As in, we found their skycycles parked with no one around. The office reported getting the package, so we know they made it, and shortly afterwards we have numerous witnesses reporting seeing Krybots in the area".
"…Troobians?" Trok asked confused, "What do they have to do with this?"
Sid shook his head, his arms folded as he leaned back in his chair, "Probably nothing. Capricorn probably just bought some stuff off the nearest arms dealer".
Even without a visible face, Iota seemed to fall into a bit of reluctance to explain this next part, "…It wasn't Capricorn".
"…I'm sorry?" asked Sid, pulling himself forward.
Iota sighed, pulling out a small holographic generator and placing it on the table. A map of galaxies appeared, before zooming in on a blinking light in one of the spiral formations, "…Both Sel and Xolin have been implanted with nano-tracking devices".
Sid grunted as he leaned back and crossed his arms again, "...Should I be right to assume that's true for Trok and I too?" he asked, annoyed, but not really shocked at this point. Iota made a noncommittal noise that pretty much signified 'yes'. Trok seemed a bit more concerned at that, but Sid just replied with a sarcastic "Hmm".
"You understand why, of course" Iota replied, "Anyway, we've traced them to this sector in the Itassitar Galaxy".
"…That's Alliance space" Sid said with concern, once again leaning forward so he could get a better look at the map.
Iota nodded, "And near the location of a hidden SPD base we stumbled on a few months back. We don't know what its purposes is, but we do know it's off the official records".
"…The hell does SPD want with us?" Sid asked, a bit taken for a loop at the turn of events. As if they didn't have enough issues with just Capricorn and whoever hired him—and privately, he wondered why SPD was buying off Troobian hardware. Unless SPD had been the ones hiring Capricorn and Naga in the first place…but considering the sheer level of destruction during the Arkilla mission, that didn't seem likely; and besides, why would Capricorn flee Alliance space towards Onyx if he was hired by SPD? So yeah, that little theory didn't pan out.
Iota shrugged, "That, I'm hoping will be answered by your rescue mission".
"When do we go?" asked Trok, now anxious to save Sel and Xolin.
"We'll be arriving in a few hours" Iota replied, "So be ready. Unfortunately, we don't know anything about the interior layout of the base, or defensive capabilities, so you'll be flying blind".
"Mmm, peachy" Sid sighed as he watched the blinking light on the map, "…Because assaulting hidden bases without a plan is always a surefire method for success".
She awoke disoriented. It was kind of like how when you hadn't gotten enough sleep, and so if you were awoken you were super groggy and not completely sure of anything around you. She remembered…something. What had she been doing?
The first thing she noticed was that her arms were restrained somehow…and her legs too. She was strapped to some sort of…bed? No, a board? Some kind of flat surface.
Xolin's eyes fluttered open, taking in her surroundings. It was dim and cramped, and very spartan. Four simple offwhite walls surrounded her, flanked by an old scuffed up tile floor and an office ceiling. The only lights came from small florescent lamps spaced along the walls.
Right; she'd been fighting and…crap. She struggled, suddenly realizing what had happened. She'd been captured. No use though; her bonds were metal. Briefly she considered splitting, but decided against it. It was best if she waited to see what her situation was before revealing her trump card.
"Ah, you're awake. Good" said a voice. She looked over, seeing a man in a black jumpsuit standing by the door, arms folded behind his back.
"…And you would be?" she asked crossly, giving her bonds another tug.
He took his weight off the wall, crossing the small room over to where she was, and pulled a helmet-like device hanging from the ceiling down over her head, before strapping her into it, "I am the one who will be asking the questions" he replied, "Answer truthfully, and you will not be harmed. Lie, and…well…" he waved a small remote in his hands as he stepped away. Xolin grimaced.
"Question one: are you Xolin, of House Avaris?"
"No".
A powerful shock flooded Xolin's body. She squealed in pain, breathing heavily as it passed. Damn, that had *hurt*. What had they even done? Was it like…some sort of electrical or magical charge, or had they tapped in to her nervous system somehow, or…
"And now you know what will happen when you lie" the man replied, matter-of-factly, "We will not tolerate insubordination".
"Who are you?!" she demanded to know, her voice rising in anger. Another shock; she cried out.
"As I said, *we* will be asking the questions, not you" the man stated.
Xolin panted, "Go to hell!"
Another shock. The man shook his head slightly, "Question two: Who commands you?"
"Why…would I tell you?" Xolin gritted, just before another shock to her system caused her to shout out in pain again. She panted, but was resolute; she wouldn't be coerced by *anyone*, especially not with these tactics. She was nothing if not absolutely obstinate.
"Who commands you?"
"Santa Clause"
Zap.
"Who commands you?"
"Zordon of Eltar"
Zap.
The man sighed, "…We can do this all day, if you'd like. But eventually your body *will* give out" he nodded at Xolin's body, already exhausted and covered in sweat just from those few zaps.
"That…would suck" she breathed out, expecting another shock. To her surprise, none came, so she took a moment to compose herself, slowing her breathing a bit.
The man paced across the room, "Let's try a different track. Question three: what was your involvement with the Arkilla incident?"
"Incident?" Xolin asked. She had a pretty good idea what he was going on about, but well, best to play dumb for now.
The man sighed, "Several weeks ago the Arkilla spaceport was savagely assaulted by a band of pirates and three unidentified rangers".
Xolin shrugged noncommittally, "I've never been to Arkilla".
Zap. Xolin grunted in pain.
"Lies will not be tolerated, Ms. Xolin. You *will* give us the answers we want" the man said, his back to Xolin with his hands clasped behind him. He snapped his fingers and the door was opened by two black armor clad figures. The man nodded at them, "Take her to her cell, we'll begin again shortly".
Xolin of course did her best to struggle as they undid her bonds, but their grip was absolute as they took her away, her body still wracked from her torture. She struggled all the way down the hall, almost getting away once, before a third armored grunt grabbed her. They dumped her unceremoniously onto the floor in a dimly lit cell, closing the door behind them as she forced herself back up, throwing herself at her exit. The door wouldn't budge, but that didn't stop her from continuing to try, despite her body being extremely fatigued.
Even as she did, thoughts were going through her head. This wasn't Capricorn's doing, she was sure of that now. Perhaps it was another group employed by the mysterious man with a briefcase? And then there was the fact that he man who had interrogated her seemed to be particularly interested in the whole incident on Arkilla. Could it be possible this was some sort of black ops SPD group? If so, why bother with Troobian hardware? A cover?
Hrn.
Her legs finally gave out as she slumped down into a sitting position, her head dizzy and her breathing a bit labored. Whatever that torture machine was, it had done a number on her. She was fairly convinced he'd been telling the truth when he'd said that continued use of the machine would kill her. She took a moment to calm her body, briefly meditating, which seemed to give her back at least a portion of her strength. At the very least, she was less dizzy now.
That's when she heard a noise, at the other end of the cell. Opening an eye, she caught sight of Sel sitting in the far corner, huddled up in a ball. Well, at least she wasn't dead.
Yet.
"…So how much have you told them?" Xolin asked hoarsely, her tone bitter. She hadn't really thought about Sel while being interrogated; but a sinking feeling filled her as she realized that the girl most likely wouldn't have responded well to torture—likely she'd already spilled everything to them, and Xolin would be pissed if all her pain had been for nothing.
"I haven't told them anything" the girl replied quietly. Xolin frowned; that didn't seem likely.
"…Not even after they interrogated you?"
She shook her head, "They haven't done anything to me. I woke up in here".
Xolin sputtered. "Wha—". Of course. Of *course*. Sel was so friggin' special, why would they dare harm her when they had a cow to slaughter like Xolin? Eugh, typical reality; life was out to get her. She sneered at Sel, now extremely annoyed, "…They haven't done *anything* to you?"
She shook her head again. Damnit all.
"That's great. That's just…that's great" Xolin spat out. She wasn't even sure what she had wanted to hear out of this; did she really *want* Sel to suffer? But she was just so…irritated at her own misfortune, it just didn't seem right.
"You're angry with me" Sel said, quietly.
Xolin glared at her, "I told you to run. Why didn't you?"
"I did".
"Not until it was too late" Xolin clarified, "You hesitated, and it cost both of us. You could have gotten help".
Sel looked down, ashamed, "I'm sorry".
"Why didn't you run?" Xolin needled her again.
Sel thought for a moment, "…I didn't…" she sighed, "…I didn't want to abandon you".
Xolin's eyes perked up in surprise as she hadn't expected that answer. But the immediate good feeling she got from it was quickly twisted into guilt, only further fueling her indignation. She glared at her teammate, then looked away in self-righteous contempt, "Useless".
Nothing further was said between them.
One could be forgiven for thinking Sid was slacking off. To all outside observers, it would have seemed he was taking a nap on the couch in the observation lounge. The lights were off, and the windows were filled with the streaks of passing stars. But Sid was not slacking off, not by a long shot. He'd been in this position for almost an hour, going over battle plans and strategies, trying to come up with the best plan for success with what little he knew about the whole situation.
He knew they'd need to get in and out quickly; a covert SPD base would likely be swarming with defenses, and the Megaship, while powerful, wasn't built to take on enemy fleets by itself—you'd need something much larger, like a battleship. But the fact that they were still able to track Sel and Xolin's positions was good—they'd be able to lock down on where they were in the base.
Which was *very* good, because until they arrived, he wouldn't even know what the base was going to look like, much less its internal layout—which of course made planning an actual rescue mission almost impossible. Which in turn of course meant that most likely, they wouldn't be *able* to just get in and get out—they'd have to find some way to delay the inevitable while they searched the labyrinth. And so here Sid was, trying to brainstorm ways to keep the Megaship from getting blown up upon arrival.
Wait.
What if they gave them more than one target to shoot at? Sid mused; they had four other zords to call on. If they set them on autopilot, or linked them into Iota's command…hrm. This could work.
He opened his eyes when he sensed another presence. Sure enough, there was Trok, leaning over the side of the couch, looking down at him.
"Problems?" Sid asked, reading the young man's troubled face.
Trok shrugged half-heartedly, "I dunno. I just…I'm bored and I want to be there already" he grumbled, "…I hate waiting".
Sid smiled. He'd been on the ship long enough that sometimes he'd forget just how new Trok was at this, "I always hated the waiting too. Can't do anything except worry about how everything might go wrong".
"How do you deal with it?" asked Trok, "Like, I can't *do* anything else; it's all just…white noise. And I just can't take it".
Sid shrugged, "It just gets easier eventually. You become a bit desensitized to it".
"But what about *now*?" Trok groaned, slumping against the couch. Sid almost laughed, the image of this physically imposing alien whining like a bored fifteen year-old. Trok wasn't fully grown of course; he was still smaller than your average horathean, and his green scales weren't quite so spikey as they'd be in a few short years, but Sid still had to remind himself that he *was* still a teenager.
"You care about them" Sid replied earnestly, "That's natural. For now? Go ahead and train in the simudeck; at the very least it'll keep your body occupied until we get there".
Trok thought about that for a moment, then nodded as he stood up, "That might work; thanks. You gonna join me?"
Sid shook his head, "Nah, I got my own methods".
"Such as napping?"
A small, wry smirk appeared on Sid's face as he closed his eyes again, "Such as 'planning', smart guy. Go get your ass kicked by holograms for a while".
Trok huffed good-naturedly, before leaving Sid alone to his thoughts.
"Who do you work for?"
Zap.
"Why did you attack Arkilla?"
Zap.
"Who are your team members?"
Zap.
Hanging by the chains on her wrists, Xolin's breath was sporadic and haggard, her hair a complete and utter mess that obscured most of her face. She said nothing as the attacks kept coming; originally she had snarked back each answer, but by now she simply didn't have the strength to be clever anymore, so she had settled instead for simply being silent, broken only by the whimpers whenever the pain coursed through her body.
"You *will* answer my questions" the man said calmly, yet firmly, as he paced across the small room. If he was growing in any way agitated or impatient, he didn't show any sign of it—denying Xolin even that small comfort.
"Make me" Xolin managed to croak out. She felt extremely ill. In fact—oh, yeah, there it went. All over the floor.
Great. So much for dignity.
The man sighed, snapping his fingers—obviously they'd have to try again later. Once again, the two guards entered the room, and once again they uncuffed her, before dragging her back to her cell and tossing her inside. She landed face-first, and this time didn't bother to move, instead simply slumping to the ground; to hell with anything. Her body attempted to dry heave, but there was simply no strength left.
Maybe she should give up, she thought, then was immediately revolted at herself for that. Not only did Xolin not give up, she didn't ever betray her allies. But gods…she wanted to die—and she had a sneaking suspicion that might not be far off at this point. This had been the third session; she didn't know how many more her body would be able to take before it just gave up. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she took a deep, stabilizing breath. The dizziness was almost unbearable and her muscles ached with a dull thud.
She could do this. She could…shit. The others didn't even know where they were. She'd try to break out herself, but at this point her body was so weak and pitiful she didn't know if she could even stand up, let alone walk or fight. She didn't have her morpher, she was on a station she didn't know the layout of, and her only support was…her.
She was going to die.
"You're hurting"
Speak of the devil. Xolin managed to look up at Sel, who was crouched over the triforian with an expression of concern etched on her face.
Xolin grunted, "No shit".
"Give me up"
Xolin nearly choked, "…Excuse me?"
But Sel's face was earnest, "They're after me, right? Just…tell them what they want, and they'll let you go".
Xolin's face contorted from surprise to anger, "You want me to betray *everyone*?!"
Sel's eyes widened in horror, "No, no! I mean…I didn't…"
Xolin closed her eyes again. "They aren't after you—for once. They want information, about all of us. If I tell them, then that puts everyone else in danger—and I'm not a traitor".
"I'm sorry" Sel replied, flustered, "That…didn't come out right".
"No, it didn't".
Sel winced at Xolin's bite. Why was communication so difficult? She just couldn't…do it right. She couldn't do a lot of things right. "What I meant was…" she sighed, "…I wish I could take your place".
"What?" Xolin asked, surprised.
"You're hurting" Sel explained, "I can feel it. In here" she pointed at herself. She'd been feeling it since they'd arrived; and it had only been getting worse. Xolin wouldn't last much longer like this, "And I hate it. I hate seeing it, I hate feeling it. I don't like what it's doing to you. And…and I…" she trailed off.
Xolin's many emotions finally settled on 'compassion'—an oddity for her. Her expression softened, "…And you feel helpless".
Sel nodded numbly, averting her eyes in shame. She looked down at the ground, "…I'm sorry for being useless".
Now it was Xolin's turn to wince. Sel was so young; she could see that clearly just as the girl was sitting over her. Trok was that young too, wasn't he? That sensitivity, that naivety…she'd probably messed him up real bad back when they'd first met—the Trinity only knew why they'd bonded so well. She remembered when she and Trok had first been teamed together; she'd been with Iota a couple of weeks, and hated the idea of having someone so…underwhelming accompany her into battle. She'd always have to watch his back, and during training she'd give him hell.
But for all his dorkiness, Trok never gave up. He was a wall, an immovable object, and his optimism was infectious. And slowly but surely, he began watching her back too. And then Sid…
Man, she was bad with people. And here was a kid, just like Trok…though less of a wall, more of a doormat. Less optimistic, but just as empathetic, even if she wasn't good at displaying it.
How could Xolin just lay on the floor when someone needed saving? How could she be so useless?
With a loud groan, Xolin managed to pull herself into a sitting position, though she had to pause because her head was spinning too badly. Then she gripped the door to the cell.
"What are you doing?!" Sel asked, now very concerned as Xolin began the long, arduous task of pulling herself to her feet-*without* emptying what was left of her stomach.
"What does it…does it look like?" she asked, a pained expression on her face, even as her legs shuddered under their own weight, "One of the cardinal rules of being a ranger; we *never* give up. I'm going…going to break us out and get the hell out of here".
"But you can barely stand!" Sel exclaimed, alarmed.
Xolin's free hand gripped her abdomen in pain, "I'm Xolin of Triforia. I'm friggin' incredible, and I don't *ever* quit. It doesn't matter how I feel, I'm going to complete my mission". Her voice was low, almost a whisper, and extremely hoarse, but Sel couldn't deny the core resolute defiance within. Xolin thought for a moment, glancing back at the cell door she was holding onto for dear life, her breath slow and haggard. "I…I have an idea".
"Who do you think's gonna win?"
"Hrm?" Ulthar grunted, having just been woken up from a half-doze. The older tangarian guard usually used this time to catch up on lost sleep; it wasn't like they were really necessary anyway—the security doors were more than enough to keep everything locked up. And if those weren't, man, this place had so many security systems and SPD guards it wasn't even funny. So no, Ulthar had absolutely no qualms about using 'company time' to take care of himself.
"The game" the felonian elaborated crossly as she put her reading material down, "Were you sleeping again?" She probably intended to look cross, but to Ulthar, the cat people always amused him; to him their 'annoyed' expression just looked adorable. At any rate, he ignored her protest, instead aiming at her first question, "Gotta support the home team" he grinned, "Tangarian Hotshots all the way. You?"
"Ichthyite Leviathans" she replied, with not just a little smug satisfaction out of the reaction she knew it'd get out of her partner. Before he could properly respond however, a pounding came at the door. A young woman's voice called out to them, muffled by the thick armor between them.
"HELP! I NEED HELP IN HERE!"
The two guards looked at each other and sighed. Ulthar replied, still sitting down in his chair, "Yeah? What's up?"
"My roommate's passed out…she's not breathing! I need help!"
The two guards snickered. Ulthar called back, "Finally gave in to the torture, huh? Yeah, those devices are a real pain".
"I think she's dying! Don't you still need her?!"
"Command probably *would* prefer she remain alive as long as possible" the felonian said to her partner. Ulthar sighed again, getting to his feet before he slid open the small window in the middle of the door, peering in to see the triforian laying on the ground in a heap. In front of him stood the xybrian, panicking.
"Please, she's my friend!"
"I know how this works" Ulthar said dryly, "I open up, check on her, then you conk me on the head from behind and lock us inside while you run. That about right?"
"But…" Sel seemed confused, "There's only two of us in here. And I'm right here".
Ulthar mused it over, then nodded, "Eh, alright. Stand back, prisoner. I want your back against the far wall and your hands up where I can see them. Understand?"
Sel nodded and did as she was told. Ulthar nodded to his partner, who got up and drew her gun. At the count of a silent three, Ulthar pressed the unlock code into the keypad, and opened the door. The two guards moved inside, keeping their focus on Sel. Ulthar knelt down to check on Xolin while the other kept her gun trained on Sel's chest.
"Make one false move, and I take you down, understand?" she asked. Sel nodded in fear, her breath shaky. She dared not to look at the two forms rising behind the two guards, both of them silent and otherwise unnoticed by the occupants of the room. Neither guard noticed Ulthar's gun being drawn out of his holster, and Ulthar was extremely shocked when his fellow guard was pistol-whipped in the back of the head, her unconscious form dropping to the floor.
"What the—"
Xolin of soul made sure the gun was set to stun—she wasn't a barbarian—and let Ulthar take a nice, long nap. The three Xolins reformed into Xolin of soul, and she nearly collapsed; had it not been for Sel grabbing her, she would have hit the floor herself. The two looked at each other, both a little surprised that Sel had put Xolin's arm around her.
"…Grab the other gun" Xolin said, hoping to diffuse the awkward situation, "You'll need it".
Sel did as she was told, then began helping Xolin out of the cell. Xolin grinned wanly as they exited, "Now…shut the door" she said, before dropping into Ulthar's chair.
Again, Sel did as she was told, but to this she also smiled, remembering the conversation she had had with him. "…What now?" she asked her teammate. Xolin looked down the hall; no guards or alarms yet. Obviously no one had looked at a camera monitor…yet. She leaned back, resting as best she could, "…We need to find wherever they're holding our morphers. Then we need to find where the docking bay is, and somehow steal a ship".
Truth be told, they *could* have just had Iota manufacture new morphers in case of emergency; since they drew their power from the ship, it was really a simple matter to create a new set and deactivate the old ones via remote. But having loose evidence lying around was probably a bad thing—and they kinda needed those morphers *now*. At the very least, Xolin could use the morphin' energy to sustain herself until they got off the station.
"Right" Sel said, hesitant, "…And how do we do that?"
"Computer monitor" Xolin pointed matter-of-factly at a panel on the wall a few feet down the hall, "Get to it".
Sel nodded, and got to work.
Sid checked over his skycycle for what he was sure was the fiftieth time. He knew he was just being paranoid, but there was always that nagging pull in the back of his mind. You know the one.
"This is a risky plan".
Sid turned to Iota, who had been standing at the door while the two rangers had been doing their final checks and preparations. Sid shrugged, "It's the best I've got. Unless you've got a better idea".
He shook his head, "I brought you on for this very reason. Wouldn't be appropriate to not allow you to work. Besides, risk isn't always a bad thing".
"Speaking from experience?" Sid asked, a bit acidly. The comment went over Trok's head, but Iota's slight nod definitely indicated he'd gotten it.
He changed the topic slightly, "We'll be arriving in a few minutes. I've set the ship AI to work with the other auxillary zords upon dropping out of hyperrush. And of course, set them to disengage and return to the Megaship if they start to take heavy damage".
Sid nodded. A smart move; he didn't want to risk any more on the mission than he absolutely had to.
"I still think you should consider taking the base out".
Sid glared at the man…thing. "I'm not a butcher, I don't *do* 'sanitizing'. Besides, I doubt we have the firepower to take out everything. Best to get in and out with minimal casualties, instead of laying waste to everything and someone escapes to bring back word".
"And if they trace the operation back to us?"
Sid sighed. That was always a possibility; and frankly, the more missions they went on, the more likely it was to happen. But then, they had already gone to great lengths to capture two of their team, so it was also clear that they already had a good idea about the situation. The worst was already upon them—though for some reason, they hadn't bothered to let the rest of the universe know who they were.
So perhaps the group targeting them wasn't SPD proper, but some sort of black ops group, like an SPD equivalent to them? Thinking about *that* was absolutely terrifying, even if it almost certainly existed. At any rate, there was something here Sid wasn't seeing, but then that seemed to be the status quo around this place. Sigh.
He replied, "If it's really SPD, then it could start a war". The fact was sobering, but absolutely true. If they were somehow linked back to the Confederacy, then the Alliance wouldn't hesitate to start the next great war—they'd been licking their wounds since losing the entire Local Cluster of galaxies; if they could claim a just war in order to extract vengeance, they'd be on that like crazy. But… "That said, since they went out of our way to take two of our people, I'm going to assume the cat's already out of the bag. Otherwise, well…I'm hoping they'll just chock it up to some renegade group and we can go lie low somewhere for a while after this".
Iota said nothing that might indicate approval or disagreement, instead he simply said, "Good luck".
Yeah. Luck. Sid grimaced as the armored figure left the room, before glancing back at Trok, who met his eyes with his own knowingly, before both returned to their duties.
"You nervous?" Sid asked him.
Trok paused, considering. He exhaled, "…You know, I just realized. On every mission up till now, Xolin's been with me, even if she wasn't physically next to me. She'd…always just be there, before the mission, preparing with me. Or over the communicator. Or right there fighting next to me". He fidgeted with his hands, clearly distressed at the situation.
Sid placed his hand on the kid's shoulder comfortingly, "And she'll be with us here too. We'll get her back. Both of them".
Trok nodded with just a hint of hesitation, "…Yeah. This time, I'll watch *her* back".
Iota's voice came on over the comm, "Dropping out of hyperrush in fifteen seconds. Be ready to launch".
Sid nodded at his teammate, before morphing into the red ranger and mounting his skycycle. Trok did likewise, and a scant few seconds later they could feel the Megaship slowing to slower-than-light speeds. And a split second after that, the doors to the launch bay opened to the void of space.
Informally, they called his lonely position 'the crow's nest'. There was some technical name for it, of course, like 'astro-spacial lookout specialist' or…something. Whatever, it wasn't like anyone ever used the technical term, or like he cared. Basically, he was security's ace in the hole; the guy who kept an eye on everything and made sure it all ran smoothly. It was quiet, it was out of the way, and it was how he liked it. Working for SPD's black ops arm had its perks—especially when you weren't the one working on the front lines, but instead in some backwater research station where nothing ever happened.
So you could imagine his surprise when he console started beeping, alerting him to incoming hyperrush vibrations—unscheduled hyperrush vibrations. Hrn. He made ready to alert the base commander of the situation, when more alerts went off—unauthorized computer access down in the prison wing. He quickly scanned his eyes across the various camera feeds of the area, sighting the two perpetrators.
…Wait, weren't they the two terrorists they'd apprehended? He'd not known why they were so important to the brass, why they'd gone out of their way; deep into Confederate space to grab them, and why they hadn't just executed them, but who was he to argue policy? But now they were out of their cages and making a play for escape. Immediately he sounded the alarms, sending a quick message to the commander. But before he could even finish the text, the console beeped again. He'd forgotten about the unscheduled warp signatures, and now he'd paid the price with an unregistered ship entering the immediate region.
…And immediately four more vessels of similar size appeared around it on the sensor grid. They hadn't warped in, they'd just…appeared. The ships were small, but…were those morphin' energy readings they were giving off?
…Uh oh. Those weren't just ships. Those were zords. They had a small fleet of zords flying straight for them. *Shit*.
As he panicked, he idly heard the sound of a laser pistol sending a guard to the ground, as on the camera feed the two prisoners began to storm their way through the base. Another beep alerted him to plumbing issues in the men's bathroom on deck three.
…See, most people said Mondays were terrible. No, Mondays just dragged a bit and were generally monotonous. But Thursdays? Thursdays friggin' *sucked*.
Twin skycycles, one red and the other green, soared out of the hanger bay of the Megaship, quickly veering off towards the station as the fleet moved into position against the defending forces—two large SPD ships of the line, each well over a kilometer in length. Their design was basic and utilitarian; blocky and boring with their color being a mixture of greys and black. In contrast, the forces opposing them were much smaller; each well under a hundred meters and sporting a verifiable rainbow of colors. The Defender Megaship, in black and gold, led the charge—followed by the four Guardian zords, in red, blue, green, and yellow.
"SPD to unidentified vessels, you are within restricted astro-space. Stand down and prepare to be boarded. Failure to comply will result in immediate termination".
"Looks like we angered the hive" Sid mused, as he and Trok headed straight for the station. It, like the ships, was blocky and grey, essentially being a half-pyramid floating in space, with the area under the base curving down into a point.
"I've got a lock on their position" Trok said, "Deck four".
"Then let's go commit a jail break" Sid replied, as the two veered off.
Above and behind them, the lightshow had begun. The zords were faster and more maneuverable, but the warships still had an advantage in sheer firepower. And since the zords couldn't shoot to kill, they were essentially handicapped.
Oh well, guess they just had to do this fast.
The small fleet of zords whipped around the larger behemoths, avoiding the strafing beam fire and laser turrets as they closed in, returning fire on the enemy weapon systems.
…And that was when the station's hanger bay doors opened, and a swarm of enemy fighters began pouring out.
"Oh" Sid muttered, feeling really stupid for not having considered this, "*Crap*".
They were making better time than she had thought they would. While Xolin still had to be supported by Sel's weight, they'd already managed to make it half-way to their destination. It was, as best Xolin could figure, some sort of security locker room—predictable. She just wished the alarms would cut out already; it wasn't like everyone in the base didn't already know they'd broken loose by this point, anyway.
Boom. Xolin knocked another errant guard down with another shot from her pistol as he had turned the corner. If Sel was the legs, Xolin had become her arms, running and gunning all the way to freedom. Though as they ran, Xolin began to realize she was feeling…well, better. Not even close to one hundred percent, but far better than she would figure she'd have to; she could almost *feel* energy seeping into her. She stole a glance at the woman supporting her body as they turned another corner. She couldn't…could she?"
"Hey, Sel?"
"Yeah?" she asked back.
Xolin struggled to format her question, knowing just how weird it was, "…I don't suppose xybrians have any sort of healing powers, do they?"
Sel blinked, almost stopping in confusion. "Um…not that I know of". Her expression became a little more downcast—she was useless once again.
"Oh" was all Xolin replied with, "Good to know". Awkward. So very awkward.
Boom. There went another guard. They set them up, she knocked them down. Boom, another one. Boom. Boom. Boom.
"We should be almost there" Sel said matter-of-factly. Xolin was a bit surprised that she'd been able to memorize the layout of the base so well, but then the girl seemed to have her talents after all. Y'know, like how Xolin was *definitely* starting to feel better.
Then the base shook.
"Attention all hands. Five hostile megaships detected in our astrospace. Prepare to repel borders. Attention all hands…"
The two girls looked at each other, stopping for a moment before Xolin paused to take out two more guards—one in front and one that had appeared behind. "Looks like the cavalry came" Xolin grinned, "Wanna bet they're our ride?"
Sel nodded hesitantly, a small smile forming on her face.
Xolin smiled back, "Come on. Let's get our gear and get out of here".
The sky was ablaze. For Trok it was almost overwhelming; all the fire and chaos around him. Sid veered away from an enemy fighter's firing path, before unloading his own pepper fire on the opposing vessel. Its engines burst into flames as it spun out of control, ramming itself into its nearest ally.
So much for no casualties. But then, that had always been more of an operational guideline than a hard-fast rule. One had to defend themselves, after all—Sid had been very clear on that before they had left.
Above, the Megaship swung around into Megazord mode, its feet slamming down into the side of one of the warships as it pulled out its sword and charged at one of the weapon turrets. The turret was slashed in half, and the Megazord followed it up with a hit to another turret a few paces beyond as it kept running, before transforming back into ship mode and evading the return fire from other turrets.
"Found a landing spot!" Sid said, just before another fighter was taken out of commission, "Follow me!"
The two skycycles closed in on the space station, landing on its side and quickly attaching themselves to the hull. With a brief thought, the rangers activated the gravity boot systems in their suits—a helpful design feature in cases like this.
Trok pulled a…well, a torch of sorts out from the back of his sky cycle, specially designed for cutting through hull plating. Ideally, when breaching a hull you'd have a dedicated assault pod, but the Megaship wasn't equipped for, y'know, heavy war assault stuff, so they'd had to settle on something less impressive. Trok had cobbled it together about a month ago, just one of his personal projects that had actually bore fruit—though he'd never imagined they'd actually find a use for it.
"Mind you, I have no clue where we're going to end up once I punch through" the green ranger said.
Sid shot at another fighter with his sidearm as it passed by, discouraging it from trying another strafing run. "As long as we're close to the girls, it doesn't matter".
"They're on the move, you know" Trok replied. He'd been watching their signatures, and just shortly ago they'd begun to move.
Sid kept firing, "Then we should probably make this quick. Give them an escape route and all that. Do your thing, I'll play defense".
"Sid!" Trok called. The red ranger turned, and was greeted with Trok's sidearm weapon landing itself in his hand. Sid nodded briefly, before turning back and unleashing double the fire he'd been capable of a second ago. Just then, the blue guardian zord brushed past just overhead, causing the fighter swarm of disperse and regroup, before engaging the larger craft.
Trok took the torch and extended its legs, letting them attach to the hull, before turning the device on and letting it drill a hole into the armor of the station—all the while trying his best not to think about the fact that any second he could be vaporized by an incoming fightercraft.
He failed in his second objective.
Xolin was *definitely* feeling better. She was now supporting her own weight, for one. Sel had seemed skeptical when Xolin told her to put her down—and even Xolin had half thought she was crazed, but here she was, keeping pace with Sel as they neared their destination.
One lone guard stood in their way in front of the door…which of course was unfortunate for him, as he soon discovered when his head was slammed into said door and he immediately lost all awareness of everything.
"This lock requires a handprint signature" Sel said, noting the device on the door. In response, Xolin simply pulled the glove off the downed guard's right hand, and then stuck it onto the lock. Immediately it opened. She then let the body drop to the ground, giving Sel a look that explained she was quite pleased with herself, before further opening the vault and entering the room. Sel looked down at the body, then stepped over it before following Xolin.
"A question" Sel stated, as Xolin scanned the small room with her gun, just to make sure the coast was clear.
"Hm?"
Sel hesitated. How to ask this without…well, messing it up? "You…hrn".
Xolin glanced back at her, seeing the indecision on her face, "Oh, just ask. I hate it when people beat around the bush".
Sel grimaced, "…You said they weren't after me. So why wasn't I being interrogated?"
Xolin paused. That *was* a good question, and one she'd idly wondered herself. SPD's goals, in what limited context she'd gotten, didn't make a whole lot of sense. If they knew who they were, then how didn't they know who commanded them? And if they were looking for information, why *not* go after Sel, who was easily viewable as the more break-able of the two?
Whatever. They could sort it out later, when they were safe back home.
"I don't know" she said, "These people haven't really given me a lot to work with". Secrets. Always more secrets hiding from her. She was starting to hate her job; she liked things to be straightforward and blunt. But her job had only served to reinforce how little she knew about anything. All this damned sneaking around…
Xolin eyed the two morphers sitting in the center table of the room, which was some kind of small armory. Aside from their morphers, numerous other artifacts and weapons could be found hanging from the wall, or in cases, all along the edge of the small room. Consolation prizes from other prisoners, perhaps? Or science projects of some kind? Maybe both?
Meh.
Xolin took the butt of her pistol and smashed the clear case containing their morphers. More alarms sounded of course, but you could barely hear them over the symphony of existing ones. It didn't matter now anyway; because for the first time since coming here, Xolin finally felt safe again. She pressed the button on her morpher.
…And nothing. Damn.
"They've still got a dampening device running somewhere" she hissed, before slamming her fists down on the table. "Damnit!"
"Hang on" Sel cautioned. She was already at a console in the corner of the room, operating away.
"…What are you doing?" Xolin asked.
Sel said nothing, instead just continuing to work. Xolin tried to be patient, but her annoyance grew and grew as Sel just continued to work. Then, just before Xolin was about to speak up again—far more cross this time, a console in the far corner of the room opened, revealing a small device inside.
"I thought the dampening field might still be employed, so I tracked it down when I was at the map console earlier, and got the codes before they started locking everything down".
"…They didn't have any sort of protection on it before lockdown?" asked Xolin, *very* surprised.
"They did, just not as much".
"You can hack?!"
Sel rubbed her arm self-conciously, "I…maybe? I don't know. Things just sort of...appear".
Xolin blinked. What kind of…she had some sort of computer interfacing powers too? What was *with* this girl? "…What *are* you?" she asked in disbelief.
Sel looked down, and Xolin knew it had been the wrong thing to say. Really, she'd probably known it was a bad move from the get-go, but she couldn't help herself.
She put up her hands in protest, "…Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I meant like…you've got abilities. Powers. I'm just kind of…in awe, I guess".
"I thought I was useless" Sel muttered.
Xolin's expression became downcast, "…I was wrong. I'm sorry. I was frustrated and…well, I'm not exactly a people person. But you're not useless. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have made it this far".
Neither looked at the other, the entire situation becoming incredibly tense and awkward. Thankfully, that was when more guards finally made it to the entrance of the room. The two rangers finally made brief eye contact; they'd have to deal with this later.
"Put your weapons down and your hands where we can see them" the lead guard ordered, his own weapon aimed directly at them. In one fluid motion, Xolin's gun-wielding arm swung around, opening a volley of shots at the anti-ranger device. It exploded in a shower of sparks, and at that very same moment Xolin's other hand had clasped itself around her morpher, her finger desperately pressing the button over and over.
In a flash of blue light, Xolin had been replaced by the blue peacekeeper ranger. Swinging back around in a three sixty degree motion, she pulled her own sidearm out of its holster and with both guns opened fire on the guards. A flash of yellow, and her accomplice rammed herself into the opposing force.
"What the—" the lead guard had little time to contemplate his sudden reversal in fortune as Xolin's foot found itself planted firmly in his cheek, a split second before his body hit the floor. The guards hadn't stood a chance. It felt good to be ranger'd up again; Xolin had felt rather vulnerable here without super-powered armor to break things with. Good thing that was over.
"How far away is the launch bay?" she asked the yellow ranger.
Sel mused, for just a second, "…That way. Two decks down, four sections over".
Xolin grimaced, but braced herself, "Long trip, huh? Fine, lead the way. And don't stop; if anyone gets in your way, take 'em down, fast and hard".
Sel nodded wordlessly, and the two rangers were off once again.
This was taking longer than he would have liked. SPD built their bases to last; that was for sure, but Trok was beginning to sweat under his helmet as he slowly but carefully continued to burn a hole through the station's armor. Idly, he paused to check the status of the girls on his morpher's holographic display.
…Uh oh.
"Uh, Sid?" he asked, concern rising in his voice, "We got a problem".
"That's not what I like to hear!" replied the red ranger, as he hit the engine on another fightercraft.
Trok glanced down at his display, just to make sure he was correct in what he was seeing, "Um…well, good news, the girls morphed; I'm detecting morphin' energies. Bad news, they're on the move again".
"Towards where!?"
"Um…I dunno, I don't have detailed schematics of the base!"
Sid cursed under his breath. So predictably, that was when a large ship dropped out of hyperrush. A *very* large ship, at least three kilometers in length, and very much SPD in design—a battleship. Almost upon arrival, its bay doors opened and fighters began pouring out, even as its weapons charged up and opened fire on the opposing force.
"…Shit!"
Iota's voice sounded from their morphers, "We can't keep this up. ETA?"
Sid glanced at Trok and the torch, then at the battle above, before looking at his own holographic display. He was going to have to take an educated guess. A risk. Yay.
"…Give me five minutes" he said, before terminating the communication link. He called back to the green ranger, "Trok, pack that sucker up and let's go! We're heading for the fighter bay".
"But it's over halfway done!" Trok protested.
Sid shook his head, "No time! Come on!"
Trok's shoulders sagged as he grumbled, turning the device off before retracting the tripod stands. Sid kept the incoming fighters busy as best he could—thankfully most were still occupied with the zords…though he could tell from here that the team was taking a beating. In fact—yep. A sudden burst of red light indicated that his own Guardian zord had been recalled to the Megaship; too much damage. The others were likely to follow soon. He just hoped he was right about Xolin and Sel's intended destination.
The two rangers were a storm. Together they were simply too much for the poor guards who had only been prepped to deal with experiments and unruly prisoners, not a friggin' assault team. And considering the fact that the base was actual under attack, this meant that what forces they did encounter were mostly frazzled and confused.
In other words, things were awesome.
The doors from the hallway to the hanger bay blew apart.
"Hey kids!" Xolin yelled cheerfully at the various guards and technicians working on the remaining few craft that hadn't been scrambled for the space battle outside, "'Sup?"
Immediately the guards moved to intercept, as the two rangers countered. Xolin charged in, lance in hand, as she dodged laser bullets and swung in, taking out two of the guards in rapid succession, before leaping up and coming down on a third. The pure chaos she was creating was perfect for Sel, who opened fire with her blade bow, picking off unsuspecting guards who were otherwise preoccupied with the berserker blue ranger.
As Xolin flipped back towards Sel, she drew her sidearm as she motioned her other weapon at the yellow ranger, then at the opposing, disorganized force, "Single shot. Do it".
Sel glanced at the lance, then nodded as she knew what Xolin was getting at. She gripped the weapon, sliding it into her bow's firing slot, aimed as the two weapons powered up, and fired. The lance, currently a blue-colored laser shot, cut right into the SPD group, the resulting explosion causing them to be flung about and away, many of them collapsing uselessly on the ground.
But as Xolin's weapon flung itself back to her hands, she realized something was off—more guards were pouring in, both from elsewhere in the hangerbay, and from behind them, from the hallway. Very soon the two rangers found themselves heavily outnumbered. Xolin joked to herself that they'd finally gotten the attention of every remaining guard in the base…though, that was probably true.
Joking aside, she knew they were in trouble. The guards from the hallway had taken the time to arm up—larger guns, heavier armor, more resembling an elite, black-clad form of SPD's E-squad grunt soldiers than the simple security guards they'd been facing.
"Surrender or die" was the simple command given by the lead soldier.
Xolin's voice turned serious as the two rangers moved up, back to back against each other, "…Sel. I'll carve a path for you. Get to a ship and *run*".
Sel looked around at the situation. It was bad; no disagreements there. But she could probably do it; the guards on her end, who had assembled from the fighter bay, were just regular guards. They were the weak links in the force that had encircled them. But she couldn't. No, she *wouldn't*.
"No".
Xolin turned her head, incensed, "…Uh, that wasn't a suggestion. Get your ass to a ship and get out of here. That's an order". She couldn't *believe* they were about to have a repeat of what had happened on Telleros. After everything that happened…of all the bullshit…augh!
But Sel wasn't budging. It wasn't hesitation or uncertainty, not like last time. No, this was determination. This was certainty. "I'm not leaving you behind. I won't betray my team either".
Xolin blinked in surprise, recalling their conversation earlier, in the prison cell. Trok would have done the same thing too. A small smile crossed her face as she turned back to the encircling hoard. She understood.
"…Watch my back, huh?"
Sel allowed herself a small satisfied smile as well as she brandished her weapon, waiting to fire.
"Put your weapons down!" the lead soldier commanded again, more angrily this time, "This is your final warning!"
Xolin cocked her head, "…Make me".
The shooting began immediately, but Xolin was ready. She'd split into three forms, her middle one keeping the laser fire from getting through to her and Sel by deflecting it with her lance. The other two flanked the unprepared soldiers as she slammed right into them, sidearms in sword mode at the ready. Sel and the remaining Xolin swung around, blue deflecting and yellow firing with her bow at the enemy forces while they dealt with the melee Xolin fighters.
Unfortunately, the element of surprise provided by Xolin's trick didn't last, and since the three Xolins were weaker than the real thing…well, it didn't take long for her two meleeing forms to get knocked back in a daze by the firepower aimed at them, reverting back into the remaining Xolin. Soon after, Sel was shot in the chest, the yellow ranger sparking before being knocked into a bunch of crates.
"Sel!" Xolin cried out, just before going down herself. The blue ranger tumbled, having been shot in the back multiple times now that she was completely surrounded and alone. She struggled to pull herself back up, but although she was feeling way better than earlier, her body still hadn't recovered from the interrogation, and she'd only managed to get into a pull-up by the time the SPD soldiers encircled her with their guns. Behind them, she could see them doing the same to Sel.
Damnit.
"Power down and hand your morpher over" the lead soldier commanded her, "Failure to comply will result in your immediate termination".
So. This was how it ended. She wasn't going back to the cell to await more interrogation; she knew that much. And she knew at this point that Sel wouldn't go for it either. Pity, she really wished Sel would have listened to her—though she wasn't complaining.
…Well okay, maybe she'd complain a *little*. She was about to die, after all. She gripped her weapon tighter, getting ready to spring into action.
The rushing sound of an engine and the gasps from the guards alerted her to a change in fortune. Looking up, she wasn't quite sure how to process what she saw. She had been about to *die*. No help was coming, no salvation was henceforth. Yet, there Sid was, riding his skycycle, hovering in the fighter bay over the arrayed enemy.
"I have a proposal" Sid said, "You let them go, and I don't set this room on fire". As if to punctuate his point, Trok rode up right behind him on his own skycycle. "…Do I make myself clear?"
The lead soldier replied, aiming his gun at the red ranger, "…You're bluffing. Hit us, and you'll risk hitting them as well" he motioned at Xolin.
Sid said nothing, instead rising up above Trok so he could get a better shot, while priming his weapons. A single shot fired out, hitting the floor between a number of guards. Their bodies were sent flying in multiple directions. Taking advantage of the momentary chaos, Xolin drew her sidearm blade, sweep-kicking the nearest soldier before wheeling back to her feet. She grasped both of her weapons tightly in her hands as she swung around, cutting into the opposition. Several sounds of laser blasts firing clued her in to the fact that Sel had followed her lead. Within a few seconds, the confused guards surrounding them were down, and few in general remained standing at all.
"…Shall we…elaborate?" Sid asked. The lead soldier grunted in frustration as he looked around, realizing he was outmatched and outflanked; Xolin and Sel had pointed their weapons at him, and both Sid and Trok hovered above and in front, cannons primed. He shook his head; to continue would be suicide, for both him and his men.
"…Everyone…pull out" he said reluctantly. The guards and soldiers, most of them having just been tossed around like ragdolls, awkwardly piled out, carrying with them the bodies of those who were dazed or unconscious. The lead was the last to go, glaring at the team of rangers before backing away into the hallway himself. Sid and Trok landed their cycles.
"You girls need a lift?" Sid asked good-naturedly.
Xolin chuckled, "You're late".
Sid scoffed, "Late? We got here *literally* as fast as the universe would physically allow us".
"Er…" Trok interjected, "The Hyperrush 10 engine is actually technically in beta trials, and the Megaship can only go hyperrush nine".
Sid glanced over at him, "Hey, Trok?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up".
The group all laughed, Sel included. Xolin moved over to Trok, hugging the green ranger tightly before hopping on his cycle behind him, "Holy crap, you have no idea how good it is to see you guys".
"Bad day?" Trok asked.
Xolin snorted, "Let's just go home, huh?"
"I like that plan" Sid replied, then motioned to Sel, "Come on, princess. Let's do what she says".
Sel nodded, hopping on Sid's craft…just as she heard a slow clapping noise. The others heard it too. All four looked over at the hallway door. Standing there was a human male, mid-thirties, with a business suit and…a briefcase. Xolin's eyes widened.
"…The man with the briefcase" she said. Trok looked at her in astonishment, then at the man. Holy crap.
"Well done" the man said, pushing his glasses up towards his face, "Truly, a spectacular performance by everyone involved. This round goes to you. Normally I'd have just left, but I wanted a good at the heroes themselves".
Sid gripped the handles of his cycle as he gritted his teeth. By all accounts he was just a normal man, if somewhat anachronistic, but something about him weirded him out. Something was…off. Maybe it was simply the fact that he was just…out of place, but Sid was definitely a tad unsettled. "Who are you, and what do you want with us?"
The man looked at Sel, who recoiled a bit, then back at Sid, "I think we all know what I want. As for who I am…consider me a messenger of sorts. Beyond that, well, spoilers aren't really my thing".
"…It's you" Sel whispered, slightly frantic, "The one from Onyx".
"Ah, you remember me! I'm pleased" the man said, with fake polite enthusiasm.
"You're not getting her" Xolin said firmly, "So just keep walking".
The man smirked, "Today I'm not. But someday…well, I'm a patient person. Again, congratulations. We'll meet again soon". He turned to leave, but stopped, "Oh, I almost forgot" he said, an unsettling smile brushing across his face, "Sel. The Knowing Eye Sleeps". With that, the man turned and left, briefcase in hand. Sid noticed Sel was now shivering.
"…Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
She nodded, getting ahold of herself as best she could. She'd just experienced…flashes. Of what, she couldn't say, but it almost felt like…that day, in the mindscape. She didn't know what the 'Waking Eye' was, but… "He's…wrong, somehow. I can't explain it, but he feels wrong" she whispered. Sid and Xolin shared a brief glance, before Sid again turned to where the man had been.
It had been a very weird, and incredibly stressful day.
"Iota to ranger team. Guardian zords are all incapacitated and have been returned to the ship. You'd better be ready to get back onboard, because we have run out of time".
"Roger that" Sid replied, "We got what we came for and are ready to get the hell out of here".
"Approaching fighter bay in fifteen seconds. Get ready".
Sid nodded to the others as his skycycle rose up into the air once more, "Let's go home".
The two skycycles made a turnabout towards the hanger doors, zooming through the protective force field that kept the station from depressurizing, just as the black and gold vessel they called home soared past, allowing them to quickly dock within its side. Seconds later, the Defender Megaship, under heavy fire but still intact, jumped to hyperrush speeds, escaping to fight another day.
"This sucks"
"Ah, it's not so bad" Sid said to Trok. The four rangers currently stood within engineering; the entire room was a wreck, just like the rest of the ship. It had survived intact, sure, but it had still taken a heavy pounding, and numerous systems were damaged or inoperative, and debris littered the ship's interior. "Some new carpet, a paint job, we'll be good to go".
"It'll be ages before we can get back to a friendly port" Xolin sighed, "With SPD on our tail, we can't go back to Confederate space without them knowing".
"It'll be sooner than you think" Sid replied, a bit more serious this time, "I can't imagine SPD will tail us for too long. Mr. Briefcase will probably move on to someone else, just like last time. A few days I'd say, and then we're in the clear".
She grimaced as she checked out one of the power converter boxes on the wall to make sure it was intact, "…Yeah, can we talk about him for a minute? Because he gave me the creeps".
"He felt wrong" Sel said, quiet.
Xolin looked over at her as the xybrian stopped what she had been doing—evidently moving some debris out of the way so they could get closer to some of the engineering consoles. "Yeah, you mentioned that. How do you mean?"
"I…" she shrugged helplessly, "I don't know. He just…does. Like he's not supposed to be. Or maybe he always was".
Xolin narrowed her eyes, "…Yeah, that's not unsettling".
Trok put his hand on Sel's shoulder, "You're safe now though, right? Here, with us, I mean".
"Count on it" Xolin replied, checking the wires inside the converter now, before shutting the box, satisfied, "No one messes with this team and gets away with it". Sel broke into a smile.
"That still leaves his goals open" Sid interjected, "Beyond his interest in Sel, we haven't a clue what's going on".
Xolin thought for a moment, "…It doesn't matter. He's the bad guy, we're the good guys. If his goals are important, we'll find out what they are when it's time".
"You sound fairly confident".
She shrugged as she took a look at the room as a whole, "…Call it faith. I'm gonna go see how bad the situation is in the medbay, if that's okay with everyone".
Sid nodded, "We should probably split up and do some heavy damage reporting anyway. I'll go take stock of the workbay. God forbid the synthatron got hit".
"Mmm. Might actually have to go cook for once" Xolin mused as she exited the room.
"…With what?!" Sid asked, following her, stepping over some debris as he did so. He noted that some of the lights here were out and would need to be checked later. "Megaships don't exactly come with kitchens!"
"…We still got that plasma torch!" Trok called to them.
Sid turned back, "That's not even funny!"
Medbay was a mess, like the rest of the ship. Not like, super-destroyed, but enough chaos littered the room that it was going to take some serious cleaning up before she was able to really even figure out the damage report. Xolin sighed, bending over to pick up one of the shelving units—the ship must have really been rattled hard for the inertia to overcome the internal dampeners.
"Hey"
Xolin turned her head back towards the door. Standing there was Sel, looking just a little awkward. Oh boy. Xolin steeled herself for what she knew was coming next.
"We never finished talking…did we?" Sel asked, quietly.
Xolin chuckled darkly to herself as she sat down on the medical bed, "No. No, I guess we didn't". An uneasy silence settled down on the two of them. Finally, Xolin spoke, "I meant what I said. The second time, I mean" she amended quickly, "I never would have made it off that station without your help. So…thanks".
Sel shook her head, "I never would have made it off by myself either, so…then maybe we're both useless".
Xolin, to Sel's surprise, laughed. "No, no. That just…that just means we're teammates. We're useful to each other, and I…I forget that sometimes. Usually, actually. Bad habit" she looked Sel dead in the eyes, the mirth gone, "You're not useless, and neither am I".
Sel looked away, unsure of what to do in this situation, her hand grazing her other arm in self-consciousness. Xolin smiled, "…You wanna help me get this room up and running again?"
The xybrian looked back at her, and after a moment a second smile formed as she entered the room to help Xolin pull up a second shelving unit.
To be continued…