Chapter 10. A parting gift. Part 1
Two days after the defeat. Another new dawn for the inhabitants of Terra Venture; the much needed and inevitable resting hours have passed for most people. There was intense activity at the Command Center of the Space Station. At least 7 military members gathered around an oval table; Stanton had arranged for it to be assembled in one of the spare rooms. Most of his colleagues attributed this action to the recent massacre at the Detention Facility. Out of the several people present in the room right now was Captain Nistov. Inconspicuously, he was the one that the Commander's eyes focused on.
"I've gathered you all here for a briefing at a setback we suffered a couple of days ago."
Everyone else remained silent; this was taken as an act of confirmation.
"What were our total casualties?" – one inquired.
Stanton showed a facial expression of concern.
"23."
"18 of whom were found dead in the Detention Facility." – Nistov quickly added.
"Such a tragedy."
"These… aliens… have proven to be more dangerous than previously thought."
"I would be inclined to agree, Commander." – a male stated in a deep voice.
The same person turned to face Nistov.
"What of the lethal blows that our comrades sustained?"
"As the medical examiner has informed me, each of them was extinguished with a close combat weapon."
"A noteworthy fact, Captain. I'll take it to the Colony's Council."
"About the enemy's strength,…"
The Commander gasped.
"…it is extraordinary. Such a conclusion is proven by the well-known fact that even the Rangers could not defeat 2 of them."
Rather than a shockwave through their mental spheres, it appeared more as a charge for more proactiveness in assuring security on Terra Venture.
"Keep me up to date on any obscure activities. That's all."
With that remark, the meeting concluded.
At a café. Two fairly recently acquainted Humans were lavishing in each other's presence.
"You definitely look to have been through a lot."
"Well,… that comes with the occupation. It's just sad it didn't have a list of dangerous when I signed up for it."
Both giggled a bit.
"At least you weren't as incapacitated as your friends were, Damon."
"I rate your care, Khadija."
From the side, it looked to be joyous time for both people. Damon had changed from his mechanic bound outfit to a more colorful, tropical one; the shift exaggerated by the two unbuttoned clips on his evenly distributed indigo and teal blue, vertical striped T-shirt. When it came to mocha brown skinned female, she wore a fabulous magenta pink dress with snow white circles going down from the top of thighs downward. A special sight was her eyeliner. It was uncommon to see her with it, given the fact that it was censored in her professional working environment. Height wise – both were similar; when it came to age, Damon was a couple of years older, yet they were both in their 20's.
Out of nowhere, she leaned in closer to the table and slowly moved her left palm over his right one. Since the male chose to leave it there, in a few seconds their skins connected.
"Tell me about your hobbies."
"Sure. I consider only two ways of time spending as hobbies."
"What are they?"
"If you must know,… Lady Khadija, it is working with elementary machinery or watching movies."
"We can find a common theme on the second one, Damon."
They both sparkled substantial amounts of wittiness when addressing one another. Before making a retort, the male took a sip of his coffee.
"Am I sensing your crave to watch a movie together?"
"My, my,… looks whose being a genius."
"Rising genius, actually."
They giggled once again & with little negotiating agreed upon a time to go watch a film together.
"Thanks for the time, Damon. I really have to go back to work now. Give me best wishes to your healing friends."
She removed her palm, stood up and walked over to his right. He barely had enough time to shift his sight about before a caring, amorous, but short kiss rested on his cheek.
"See you soon."
The nurse took a few steps before the Green Ranger retorted with:
"Back at you, Khadija!"
She couldn't resist showing a cheerful smile; her date contemporary had just shown his affection for her with several people around to here. A clear example.
At the Sports Center. To say that the Yellow Ranger felt greatly frustrated with how the confrontation with Denirium & Horacio ended for her side, would be a severe understatement. Maya had trapped her mindset in a continual spiral of two events: hit as hardly and with as many variable angles as the mind could muster, rest until the body was able to do it again, then repeat. She ran as fast as she wanted to the Sports Center today just to get her frustration out on the punching bag. It had been paying dividends up until this point. Her breasts were still a little sore form the axe slash across them; the nipples felt the largest quantity of pain. Rather than the previous outfit, Maya changed her clothes again (doesn't it make it 4?). This time she wore nothing that inspired any excitement in most Humans – a tight to her skin black full, one-piece, restrained swimsuit with white edges going the entire length. In addition, both the elbows & knees were weaved with a chiffon white, woven material.
"I've got to lose this obstacle…"
She landed a punch with a knuckle before needing to readjust her breathing. For the past two days, the female had been struggling to sleep peacefully. Strangely, it had less to do with the Unknown, than with an alarming signal of suffering. Though it was faint, it had a toll on her mental health. The Human did figure out the origin's relative distance from her; it clearly originated from a faraway planet. One that would take several days to reach, she thought.
"I'm not giving up. We must become stronger or the future of the Universe and everyone we are sworn to protect will be massively under threat."
To push the agony residing within her emotional state to new heights, a sudden rush of intimate pleasure threw her mind off the repeating action sequence.
"Haaaa! That sensation!"
She slowly pushed her head back, engaged her mind in a chaotic idea run-through.
"I must practice! I must satisfy this craving! I must be present by the healing Kai! I've got to do better!"
Attacking so many fronts was useless; none of the Rangers could achieve any of those similar feet in a short timeframe. The laws or foregone conclusions about the need for Humans to rest would not allow such accomplishments.
Swiftly, a voice came echoing softly from the close, directly opposed corner.
"Relax, my Sensational Maya."
With the Miranoi native being so intrenched in one's activities, the surveillance of the surroundings had vanished. This lent a particular being the opportunity to arrive unseen.
"Leo?!"
"That would be me."
She resided to stand only a meter (~3 ft) from the standard sized punching bag, while her intimate partner walked closer.
"How you're holding up?" – she inquired with compassion flowing from her voice.
"Appearance wise, I'm definitely the best I've been in a week or so."
He put his hand on the punching bag; Maya's eyes influenced more than anything the upcoming statement.
"I can tell that you've been struggling for some time now."
"The way things have gone… has… unbalanced my state."
"A logical reaction, Maya."
Driven by instincts, the Human male walked over to her; slowly, carefully put his palms on her neck. She could feel the tension in the room rising; as well as, her lustful crave enlarging.
"I also overheard that your craving something immensely."
The way the male said it imprinted a message of dual understanding of the situation into her mind.
"The 'Strong connection' needs to be fed. Right now."
Leo showed a graceful smile.
"I want that to. The question is – do you have any doubts of… going hardcore in this moment?"
So much passion was noticed by the Yellow Ranger in those 2 words. It burst the crave even higher. It achieved a point that she could not manage to push back.
"No. Let's do it."
Getting confirmation of the mutual, unconscious or conscious desire, he untied the knot that held the tight, black, one-piece swimsuit up against her skin. In a split second, she was completely naked and they thrusted their faces into each other; thereby, entering a passionate, crude, impulsive based kissing session. In the midst of it, you could hear the loud, unbalanced moans coming from both Maya & Leo. Amazingly, in less than a minute, the female pulled the male's ash grey, basic pants down to his knee level.
"I want you… in me. Please, Leo. Get busy there quick."
Being incentivized and craving a release of the built up energy residing within him, the Red Ranger started pushing the Yellow Ranger to the nearby wall. She was submissive to his will. As soon as her back flattened to the wall, the male took the initiative in breaking the kiss & interlocked their intimate organs.
"Haaaah!" – screamed Maya.
The rush of staggeringly hard to grasp delight had reached her mind. Now the kissing took to the back stage, while near automatic penetration became the star captivator. Their living essences became solely focused on this moment they were sharing together.
20 minutes passed. The water molecules were releasing their energy into the air surrounding two people; the process chemically being treated as: evaporation followed by condensation. The humidity had a clear effect on both Leo & Maya. The female felt it stronger than the female, due to the fact that she was still naked under the shower head, while he was around an extension from the wall covering his arms with a special ointment. The close proximity presented themselves with a decent opportunity to exchange thoughts; which they did.
"So what has been troubling your mind so overbearingly?"
Maya massaged the shower gel around her entire neck with intensity, then let it be rejuvenated.
"The origin appears to me to be off the Space Station."
The stopped the water running, spun around 180 degrees, looked lustfully at her extended right leg before going back to covering some part of her body in shower gel.
"I'd assume it's not a happy one."
"You'd be completely right, Leo."
While the Red Ranger ran through possible countermeasures against said sign, the Yellow Ranger got back to cleansing herself with hot water.
"After we finish here, we've got to call a meeting in the Astro Megaship."
"We're going to decide on my inkling."
"Yeah…"
Leo accepted a quite cynical outlook of what their future might be.
"It could be the Unknown again, Maya. We must be willing to destroy them if we want to possess any chance at surviving another encounter as the last one. Like we go in hardcore on our pleasure trips, we're going to have to take the same approach against this enemy."
Maya understood the motives for choosing such an outlook; however, she was less vicious in hers.
"They are extremely powerful. The Quasar sabers do not bridge the gap. Yet, I'm not sure we have to make them lifeless, Leo."
"I'm not keen on the idea myself, Maya, but we must keep in mind that this last attempt was not the full capacity of our enemy."
She sensed a shot of fear come up in her emotional state.
"Then that would be make the situation dire, Leo."
"Exactly." – the male stated confidently.
If one of your character traits is compassion, it is extremely improbable that the same person possess a ruthlessness trait. Such a being might exist, but he or she would be plagued with stress from the two opposing mentalities. When one urges to care for the misfortunate, the other might pose a vision of extinguishing the misfortunate. In short, the balancing act is a tall order.
On a cold, wintry landscape. Two beings stood in front of a jet black, metal obelisk; one turned to the other.
"What is the purpose of this mission?"
"The purpose, Fazda, is for you to show your resilience." – the newly promoted General Vorgton stated in a cold-hearted manner.
"What does our Emperor want me to do exactly?"
"The object in front of you must be cut at your knee level."
The ruby red female insectoid walked over to the obelisk, brushed its surface & then turn around.
"It is strong."
"Correct. Emperor Scorpius requires more proficient, lethal fighters than before."
"Since Furio's departure."
"Since his demise."
The General walked closer to her, extended a long sword in front of her.
"By our researchers, this blade will suffice in accomplishing your task. The disadvantage – your persistence at it."
The female comprehended the reality; moreover, inquired for confirmation.
"How much time do I have.?"
"12 hours."
He nodded his head, started pacing towards the dead landscape.
"Best not disappoint me or the Emperor, Fazda. I'll be back at the deadline."
In a split second, Vorgton vanished. The sole being in every direction wasted no time in partaking in the ordered activity.
At the Palace. A harmonic dinning masterpiece was letting itself be known to the World; everything set up in the room, where it was occurring, was immaculate. The person that organized this had high standards.
"You look discouraged, cousin?" – the embodiment of female beauty asked her guest.
"I just feel… confused, Nemesis." – Euphrosyne answered with little emotion shown.
She took a swig of a pink beverage with her left hand.
"Ah. What a sensation."
The most ruthless Demigod would not allow an unresolved substance to bring the dinning experience with her cousin down.
"There is little to be displeased about, my beautiful cousin. Our joint escapade was successful. By my estimations, Crius will be back in about 5 days."
A stupendous seductive, cunning smile showed itself.
"Isn't that what your magnificent observant mind came to?"
"A similar position."
The smile from such a one of a kind being started to eat away at the apathetic, discouraged chains that binned the brown haired female Demigod's emotional state.
"I was pleased with the way Denirium & Horacio handled the Rangers."
The smile appeared again.
"They did not get discouraged & dominated their foes. A treasurable memory,… wouldn't you agree, cousin?"
The tone that the long, lush, fertility radiating deep purple haired female had chosen was in another stratosphere in terms of intoxication compared to anyone that her guest heard. Couple it with the want to get remove those emotional shackles, you get a sight of rejuvenation. A rational outcome.
"You are nothing, but shrewd when it comes to your behavior, cousin."
Finally, the predominantly acrobatic female Demigod returned a cheerful grin back. This instance incited the host to come to a conclusion that unresolved substance was dead.
"Each of us has had years to cultivate certain traits."
"Now their proving to be far more useful than once assumed."
"Exactly, Euphrosyne."
The pink beverage entered the other female Demigod's throat.
"The four participants will, most likely, have to be present at Crius's landing."
"True. If he hast truly found the thing he had been searching for all this time,…"
"…he will be as lively as he once was."
Both Demigods showed off a smile & got back to their meals. The females' unconsciousness both had invigorating, explicit, sensational visions that were in a loose transformational condition. In a sense, they were trans-stable.
An hour later, kitchen of the Astro Megaship.
"It looks like I'm the last one to come." – said the good spirited Green Ranger, while walking over to the main counter.
Kendrix, Maya & Leo watched his coming to forefront. Soon, the quartet were on opposite sides of the main counter; Pink & Green – on one, Red & Yellow – on the other.
"I'm certain that you we're the last one to visit Kai in the Medical Center, Kendrix."
"That I was, Leo."
"How was his condition?"
The blonde female tried as much as possible to keep the 'negative' emotions at bay; yet, a margin of the grimness of the reality still got past the filters.
"The doctor said he won't be participating in anything physically demanding for a week."
"That's tough."
"Sure is." – Maya added.
"Despite our hindrance as a group, we might have to confront the Unknown once again."
Damon & Kendrix are intrigued by the Red Ranger's proclamation.
"What makes you say that, Leo?"
"Maya's special gift."
A brief moment of silence; said interval gave the Pink Ranger enough time to recollect any activity that her female companion conducted that was extraordinary.
"She sensed someone in pain?"
"Not so much this time, Kendrix. I feel that there is a devastating aftermath on a planet far, far away." – Maya explained her thinking in a calm, collective manner.
The intimate exchange with Leo may have harmonized her state of being.
"How far is this place?"
"By what Maya had told me,…"
Leo straightened his back.
"… at least a several day trip with the Astro Megaship."
"A risky endeavor, don't you think, Leo? I mean, Terra Venture will be left unprotected."
"I understand your concern, Kendrix, but we really don't have many other options. This enemy is stronger and, may in fact, be larger than Scorpius. We could practice and confront them here once again."
"Or?" – Damon inquired.
"Or we make way for that planet & see what we find there."
"Practice is good, but experience is better." – the Yellow Ranger stated with resounding confidence.
In the upcoming couple of minutes, a mutual decision is achieved. The Rangers decide to travel to Maya's instinctively pinpointed place. The Red & Yellow Rangers were already fully settled on what they wanted to do. For the Green Ranger, the Yellow Ranger's last statement rang home. Being a mechanic by trait, his mind would quickly peace together the notion that gaining true experience supersedes constant, fixated, circular motions. For the Pink Ranger, it was her innately characteristic compassion. She valued kindness fairly high. So, if one is true to oneself, one cannot ignore their unique approach; even if it might lead to their destruction. This is a classic case of being truthful or disingenuous. In such an instance, a middle ground doesn't exist.
Out in space. At this point, the Astro Megaship had created significant distance from Terra Venture; the ship's crew had split up. Damon was the only one on the ship's Bridge; not a wild situation. He could more than adequately pilot the ship. Leo chose to take a nap, recharge himself. That left the two females – Maya & Kendrix. The first one looked out into the darkness of space through one of the side windows, pondered about the past or the future.
"How everything has gone upside down. At first when all of us got our Quasar sabers, I was happy beyond my wildest dreams. Then the 'strong connection' arose with Leo. It pushed my joy into the impossible realm once again. It certainly looked that we were the Chosen Ones and, crucially, were a match for Scorpius."
Suddenly, she took out her saber, turned it around several times.
"Then came the Unknown. A class above Scorpius's creatures. They… dashed the Chosen Ones' status… extremely well."
This train of thought created a natural displeasing effect on the emotional state. An empirical rule – not all realizations are pleasant.
"Maya,… are you well?"
The Yellow Ranger looked to her left and saw the Pink Ranger come up to her side.
"As well as one could be, Kendrix, after our misfortune at the hands of the Unknown."
"It was a setback, Maya. I can't deny that. But we must remain optimistic about our abilities. You yourself said that only the Chosen Ones can wield the Quasar sabers."
"I did. But,… let's not forget that Damon almost got his one stolen at our 2nd conflict with the Unknown."
"Also true. I just don't want you to lose your cheerfulness forever due to this unseen turn of events. That's all."
The words created a positive effect on Leo's girlfriend (even though they haven't called it each other like that) – the fear, worrisome outlook had been stifled. Maybe that was the cause for her to put the saber away.
"I'll do my best, Kendrix."
"So will I."
"We've just got to be in the mindset to fight as soon as we land."
"Noted. Now let's go do something more exciting."
Maya showed a smile first, Kendrix followed suit. The side window was left vacant of any living organisms in a short period of time.
Another day. After a subconsciously grueling 4 day voyage on the Astro Megaship, the team's lusted after place appeared to them on the screen. It was a planet colored in blue & green, just as Professor Eyelawn had stated to Lord Crius on their descent on it. The ship being a sophisticated piece of engineering, it alluded to the water vaporous density on the surface, the chlorine oxide intermixed into it.
"Will it have a damaging effect on us, Kendrix?"
"No, Damon. That type should cause any permanent harm to us."
"Our breathing might just be more difficult." – Leo stated confidently.
In the upcoming couple of hours, the Astro Megaship got closer to the surface, guided by Maya's unreal, unique ability to sense pain millions of kilometers / miles away from her. Even though Crius had left the planet several days of ago, drastic incineration of a settlement is obviously difficult to miss. The water in the atmosphere wasted little time in extinguishing the left flames by the Unknown. Every Power Ranger took in the sight of the degraded settlement from the ship as a concerning one with Kendrix – on the high sensitivity end and Luke – on the low end. Both positions easily understandable: the Pink Ranger's personality embodied, harnessed kindness, which the image expressed a complete lack of; the Red Ranger being the leader of the team had to keep his emotions as stable as possible. Of course, a second overarching negative feeling just increased the tension in the near future; the prospect of facing the Unknown once again loomed over them. Can the previous encounters lead them to a victory without casualties? The enemy had already proven their fierce nation in those encounters; in some cases, being the Hero or Heroine requires the silencing of a life or more. Only the naïve believe in the false idea of 'capture is always the best'.
As soon as the ship landed on the surface, the quartet walked down the platform onto it. Each person examined their ability to breathe in this non-Earth or non-Miranoi air.
"I can take it." – the energetic Yellow Ranger expressed.
"Me too."
"Then we make way for the devastated area."
"Right move, Leo. Luckily, I can see a some sort of a road about 300 meters (985 ft) to our left."
"Move out."
On their way to the assumed pathway, the wind around them instilled curiosity into their minds minute by minute. It wasn't the strength of it that pondered the Humans' minds; there appeared to be… some… kind of other sound origin residing within it. Looking around, one might assume that the fairly short trees around them were creating the sound. A possible explanation, but not what the determined brown haired female chose to treat as a fact. Her cheerfulness from the moment she became a 'Chosen One', consequently, a member of this team, that aspect of her character maintained a stable level until the fight at the Steel Factory. It is there were she witnessed 1st hand the toll of participating in this protector role. Automatically, this resulted in a depletion of the sparkling outlook she had obtained in previous years. Back to their traversing from the Astro Megaship, in about a minute, which had more frequent and barely louder unusual sounds from the surrounding area, Maya stopped moving and said:
"Guys,… we're in trouble."
Naturally, the trio scrambled their looks towards her, sensing a change in the making.
"What's wrong, Maya?"
"The sound from the trees?"
"Yeah."
Damon leaned in diagonally.
"What of it?"
"It…"
From out of nowhere, a figure came flying out to their left.
"TFFFFF!"
It collided hard with the surface; all Rangers immediately turn their faces to the surprise arrival. Said arrival wasted little time in letting them know what were his or her intentions.
"I am… Exceer. The selected person,… who will carry out your execution… for meddling in the Great Ones plan."
The figure raised, from what appeared to be, metal blades with a quite unnoticeable bend backwards. Whoever the being was, it did not waste time in establishing the emotional sphere of the near future.