Chapter 4
The Chief was right. The G-Force Team spent most of the night inspecting their equipment and vehicles, and coordinating with the Red Rangers and other Federation Forces, to ensure that everyone knew what they were doing. At three am they stumbled into bed, exhausted, but eagerly anticipating the battle that was to come.
Mark followed Princess into their quarters and fell onto the bed the moment he saw it, barely taking the time to remove his shoes. Princess giggled slightly, encouraging the Commander to sit up while she removed his clothes, before divesting herself of her own garments.
"Come on, Commander." she purred. "You can't fight the Spectrans without being clean, can you?" She reached over to grab his hands, dragging Mark into the shower.
The Commander didn't protest. The hot water felt good on his aching muscles after their long day, and Princess didn't just have cleanliness in mind.
By the time they actually got back to bed, the Eagle was smiling, drifting off to sleep with his arms wrapped around his beautiful Swan. But his rest was disturbed by a strange dream.
He was standing on the Bridge of the Phoenix, looking around at his Team. Jason, Princess, Tiny… Keyop… They all had worried expressions, but some of them hid their thoughts better than others.
"Tiny, withdraw." Mark ordered the Owl.
"Mark, are we… abandoning ship?" Princess gasped.
"We can't stay here." the Commander replied curtly.
There was a moment of stunned silence, before Jason stood up from his seat.
"I agree." he said grimly. "Let's go."
Mark gave instructions to his Team, telling them to get to their individual vehicles. They had to move quickly before the corrosive gas surrounding the Phoenix ate its way to the Bridge.
The Phoenix was about to be destroyed, and the Commander knew it. They all knew it. The fact that no one was protesting his orders was proof enough of that.
Wasn't the Captain supposed to go down with the ship? But the Commander refused to take the easy route. This battle wasn't over yet.
The Eagle boarded his Summit Jet, pulling away from the ship as soon as the auto-release was engaged, hovering in the air behind the Phoenix and observing the rest of his team leaving their red and blue warship. The Spacemobile, the Galacticycle… and after a moment, the Space Buggy. As soon as the last G-Machine was away from the Phoenix, Mark broadcast a message to all of them from his communicator.
At first, his message was mundane: a warning to maintain radio silence, and instructions as to the tactics he wanted them to use in the remainder of this battle.
But this was not the last battle they would fight that day. There were three more mecha attacking the Earth at that very moment, and even when this fight was over, there was another combat to follow.
They had to regroup.
"When our task has been completed… there are still three more mecha to be destroyed." the Commander told his team. "We will regroup and meet in Geneva, at the United Nations Headquarters there."
But, this wasn't enough. Even the ever-optimistic Commander could see that there was a distinct possibility that they would not emerge victorious from this encounter.
"If… if we do not succeed in this endeavor," the Eagle said slowly, "make your way to a deserted area, de-transmute, and execute Command Code 3210 in your implants; with a duration of twelve months. You'll know what to do, after that."
His heart wrenched at giving this order. They didn't know what that particular Command Code would do to them, and the Eagle sincerely hoped that they would never have to find out. But if the Spectrans emerged victorious, and were able to take control of the planet, it was the only way they could survive.
And they had to survive.
If they didn't survive, they would never regroup, and never be able to drive the Spectrans away from the Federation… away from Earth.
"We must survive this." the Commander urged his team. "No matter what happens, we must survive, if we are to endure. Only if we are alive, can we defend the Earth, and fight for the Federation. Even when this battle is over, we still have work to do."
He paused before giving his final instruction.
"At all costs, I order you to survive."
He took a deep breath before going on.
"If anyone can win this fight, can do this with me, you can. Have faith, G-Force." the Commander assured them. "It has been my honor to work with you all. You are my family, and my Team."
He closed his eyes, knowing that these were the last words he might ever say to his teammates… his friends… his family.
"G-1, over and out."
He terminated the communication, not waiting for any acknowledgement that would just make the inevitable more painful for all of them. The Eagle flew back into the clouds, watching the other three vehicles moving away, just as the Spectran Pterodactyl mecha appeared on the other side of the hill.
A volley of missiles came from its mouth, and the Phoenix exploded, destroyed before his eyes. Mark had not been her primary pilot, but she felt like his ship all the same. A tear slid from his eye, as he mourned the loss of an old friend.
But now, he had work to do.
He saw the Spacemobile and the Galacticycle attacking the ground troops, while the Space Buggy began firing at the giant mecha. The Eagle flew his Summit Jet around the Spectran warship, attacking from the clouds, attempting to determine the Pterodactyl's most vulnerable points. But as he flew by for another round of attacks, something on the ground caught his eye.
The bright yellow Galacticycle was flying through the air. It came crashing down into a sea of Spectran troops, instigating a massive explosion that spread out across the ground.
"Princess, no!" he screamed, but it was too late. The ground below him was now a landscape of blackened and charred metal, littered with the remains of numerous Spectran soldiers.
He had never had the chance to tell Princess how he truly felt about her… and now Spectra had ripped that chance away from him, forever.
He would make them pay.
This primal urge for revenge gave him a sudden clarity, and his eyes fell upon the vulnerable point he had been looking for.
The mouth.
Every time the Pterodactyl opened its mouth, it also opened up a passageway to its interior. He could use that to attack the alien mecha.
Except, the laser guns in his Summit Jet weren't enough. A TBX Missile might have done it, but there weren't any on board his aircraft.
Quickly, the Eagle assessed the situation around him, looking for other armaments he might use. What he found was enough to make his heart leap into his throat.
The mangled remains of the Space Buggy were clearly visible on the ground below. Even as he watched, the Commander saw the G-4 explode under a hail of laser fire, and an empty feeling passed through him as the G-Machine began to burn. The Pterodactyl mecha came close down to the ground, pressing one of its feet on top of what was left of the Space Buggy, crushing it into a yellow-black pulp. Deep down, the Eagle knew that the Swallow and the Owl could never have survived such a thing.
That left only him, and the Condor.
But the Spacemobile was tearing down a hillside, attracting the attention of every enemy soldier in the area. It reached the center of the alien troops before exploding, causing a massive wave of destruction to come shooting out in every direction.
It was at that moment that the Commander knew how he could destroy the mecha. The Condor had shown him what to do, in his last moment of life.
The Commander would use himself as a weapon.
The Eagle moved his aircraft into position, waiting for his opportunity to strike.
The next time the Pterodactyl mecha opened its mouth, the Summit Jet shot forward like a rocket, propelling itself into the very heart of the massive metallic creature, aiming for its complete destruction.
Because destruction was all that was going to come from this day…
"Mark, wake up." Princess urged him. "It's nine am. We need to get going if we're going to deploy by ten o'clock."
The Commander sat up, rubbing his eyes with the back of his fist. His dream had been so vivid, so real…
As real as if those events had actually occurred.
His memories were returning.
"Mark? Is everything okay?"
"Yes… I think so."
"Okay, then let's get going."
Princess was tossing his clothes at him, and in a haze the Commander put them on, his mind still reeling from what he had seen in his dreams.
Was that how it had really happened?
But there was no time to dwell on this now. They were about to begin something…
No.
They were about to end something that should never have been started.
Mark and Princess transmuted just before arriving at the Galaxy Security Main Hangar, and entered to see everything moving along exactly as planned. Jason, Andie, and Tiny appeared less than a minute later, and then Chief Anderson and Colonel Rigel were approaching them.
"Are you absolutely certain that you wish to embark on this insanity?" the Chief asked them dryly.
"Absolutely, Sir." Mark replied seriously.
"See, Anderson?" the Colonel barked, slapping the Chief on the back. "These kids are front-line fighters. They know what they're doing."
"We certainly do, Sir." the Commander nodded. "But this particular Operation needs more than just the five of us. We are glad to see that we can count on the Red Ranger Forces during Operation Homefront."
"I just want to kick some Spectran ass." Rigel grinned.
"You'll get your chance." Anderson grimaced. "I just hope this isn't foolhardy…"
"Only for Zoltar." Jason smirked.
"Chances are, Zoltar won't even be there." Princess pointed out. "He tends to stay on Spectra, now that he thinks the Earth is 'secure'."
"We'll show him the error of his ways." Andie grinned.
"We're all counting on you, Team." Anderson told them. As a 'pep talk', it wasn't the most motivational thing the Chief could have said, but Mark was beginning to understand that the Galaxy Security Leader had a hard time dealing with events that didn't go exactly as he had planned them.
"We won't let you down, Chief." the Commander promised, as he led his team off to the P2. The five members of the G-Force Team flew up to the elevation platform on top of their warship, the dome covering them before they descended down onto the Bridge of the new Phoenix.