Beyond the bright blue skies of planet Earth, a small group of space ships belonging to the U.N. Armed Forces began to gather together in high orbit. Despite the advances in space flight from the knowledge of the Adventi aliens, the defense fleet of Earth was still very limited and small. None of the space craft there could have been considered any larger than a frigate as the ability to create any sort of capital ship like a carrier or cruiser would have been much too time consuming and costly.

As the Terran fleet gathered around the lead ship Exeter, Captain Arthur Hood of the UK stood at the bridge looking out over the starry expanse and waited. His First Officer, Commander Miranda Lau stood nearby monitoring the communications between the ships before looking up, "Captain, sensors are starting to pick up signals that match deep space telemetry. We've got a large number of spacecraft headed this way… they look like Xenos vessels."

"What's their E.T.A?"

The Asian officer checked her data pad, "At sub-light engines, they'll be in range in approximately five minutes, sir."

Hood nodded grimly and began to call out several orders, "Raise shields. Shift the fleet into spread formation... all rail guns and point defense cannons stand by to fire."

As the Terran space fleet went to battle stations, Captain Hood turned to his communications officer, "Signal ground control to power up the orbital defense guns. We're going to need all the extra firepower we can get up here."

He had been referring to the planet's Aegis Defense System, a collection of ground based and orbiting cannons that could be directed to fire on enemy space craft. Because Earth could not muster a great armada to defend itself, this had been the next best option in case of another alien attack. Right now, the older British space captain could only hope that it would be enough to drive back the resurgence of their terrible enemy.

Long minutes passed until a large group of menacing alien warships appeared on the sensors and regrouped to meet the meager Terran resistance in space. Hood had seen those space craft five years before and they were no less terrifying this time around. He gripped a nearby handrail and prepared to take command of the battle, "Lock on targets, prepare to fire... Heaven help us all."

Bright light lit up the large sterile research and development lab as the Nova Rangers gathered together after lunch for a meeting with Dr. Lucy Beckett. The young brunette scientist in a white lab coat waited patiently as the five assembled around a table where two objects sat along with a steel briefcase. When they were settled, Lucy adjusted her glasses and addressed the squad, "Welcome to the R&D lab everyone. This is where our science division studies alien tech and works on advancing your field equipment."

She put on a pair of lab gloves and gingerly picked up the first object on display, a sleek silver laser pistol, "I'm sure you're all familiar with current las-weaponry?"

Bharata nodded, "Just a little. Those kinds of guns haven't been too common in the regular armories up to now."

Lucy nodded, "We're very close to finding ways to mass produce them quickly and cheaply so we expect laser weapons to be phased into modern U.N. forces soon. These Nova Blasters however are much more powerful and energy efficient. I estimate it to be roughly five times stronger than the output of a standard las-rifle."

The Rangers all gave impressed nods before she continued, "We're still trying to figure out a way to replicate the stronger Adventi plasma weapons, but for now these upgraded blasters will be your standard sidearm in the field along with these… the Nova Strikers."

The Rangers all looked on as Lucy put down the pistol and picked up a sleek compact object resembling a weapon handle with a handguard. Giving it a flick, a long blade extended out and the metal began to radiate light and energy.

Lucy held the blade up and explained, "These vibroblades will serve as hand to hand weapons and are also boosted by Adventi tech. The vibrating energy fields created by the Strikers are designed to disrupt the molecules of objects they come into contact with, so they should be very effective at cutting through many things, including metal armor plating."

The Rangers exchanged grins and low whistles until Erik scratched his chin, "So… what you're saying is that they're kinda like a cross between big switch blades and Jedi lightsabers, huh?"

Everyone paused to stare at him in silence, "What… hasn't anyone here seen all those old Star Wars movies from a hundred years ago? They're classics!"

Erin couldn't help but smirk a little while adding, "Yeah... but they should have stopped at the tenth."

Lucy waved it off and opened up the steel briefcase on the table. Within it was five small devices which looked like futuristic wristwatches. All of them had a slight elliptical shape and sported a few buttons along with a small digital monitor. "These are our crowing achievement… your Nova Morphers… lightyears ahead of my own father's original Alpha morphers."

She held the first one up and handed it to Martin, "These will provide your team with advanced nanofiber battle suits allowing for enhanced speed, strength, stamina, and agility."

Martin smiled as he put the morpher on his wrist and saw it briefly give off a red light. "Thanks Luce… they're amazing."

The scientist returned the smile with a pleased nod before handing the morphers off to the others, "I'd like to begin the first field testing this afternoon… if you think they're ready Martin."

The Red Nova Ranger turned to the expectant faces of his new team before giving a slow nod, "We might as well. If there's anything we need to fine tune with the tech, better we do it sooner rather than later."

"Awesome!" Ella grinned as she exchanged a high five with Erin and Bharata.

Martin crossed his arms and cleared his throat authoritatively to quiet them before a chime sounded and the voice of General Caldwell came over the speakers, "Attention all Atlantis Base personnel, this is General Caldwell. We've just received word that the U.N.A.F. space fleet has engaged an armada of Xeno Machina ships over Earth. Our alien enemies have returned."

At the mention of the monstrous invaders, everyone's expressions in the lab dropped and the Rangers' blood ran cold.

"All base personnel are to go to battle stations immediately and await further orders. This is not a drill."

As the announcement cut off, the interior lights within the base changed colors from a calm blue to that of red while a low level warning klaxon began to sound.

Erin turned to the others with wide eyes and a trembling voice, "Is this for real? The Xenos are really back?"

Erik maintained a grave expression as he watched Martin reach for his radio comm bead. "I'm here sir… yes… right away."

As Martin cut off the call, Erik tilted his head curiously, "I take it that was General Caldwell?"

"He's calling for Nova Squad to report to the Command Tower ASAP," Martin nodded as he quickly gestured toward the door.

Ella took one more fearful look toward the weapons on the lab table before speaking up, "Is he really going to send us out to fight? I… what are we going to do, sir?"

Martin quickly glanced to Lucy and saw her give a slow nod. Though she tried to maintain her cool composure, there was an unmistakable trace of fear and concern in her features. Martin fixed his team with a steely look and began to head for the door, "We're going to do our jobs Lieutenant. Now fall in."

At the heart of Atlantis Base stood a tall central tower that loomed over all the other structures. After taking a turbo lift all the way to the top of the great structure, Martin led the team into the command center of the entire base. In many ways, it resembled an impressive air traffic control tower lined with windows and control monitors. The command crews in the tower were already buzzing about with activity, taking readings, going through emergency defense protocols, and prepping flight assignments for the base's fighter squadrons.

At the head of a long table with a holographic tactical display, General Caldwell stood and greeted them. The calm and kindly expression that the older general normally wore had been replaced with a grim and focused look. "Rangers… I wasn't expecting to activate Nova Squad so soon, but I'm afraid we have little choice in the matter now."

The members of Nova Squad exchanged uneasy looks before Martin spoke up, "What do you need us to do, sir?"

Caldwell gestured to the holographic display showing the current battle going on above the planet. "The Xenos have come back with an even greater invasion force than last time and things are not going well for the fleet up there. They're outclassed, outnumbered, and barely holding their own, even with the Aegis Defense Systems."

The map magnified into a view of low orbit and the Rangers saw a few alien blips getting through and heading for the surface of the planet. Caldwell pointed his finger and circled the largest blip which was headed toward Paris, France.

"The fleet is going to attempt to cripple the enemy armada in space, but we're going to need to assist them on the ground. Several Xeno drop pods have broken through our screens and are headed toward some of our strategic points. The largest one here is landing in Paris, the location of a critical power generator for one of our orbital defense guns. I'll need Nova Squad to stop them and protect the population center in the city."

Erin frowned as she studied the screen, "General… how are we going to get to Paris in time? We're in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."

Caldwell gave a grim smile and pointed to the monitor showing several small satellites over the Earth, "You're going to use the Trans-Orbital Relay Assembly to teleport there. With that network of satellites, we'll be able to transport you and other small assault teams wherever there's trouble."

"Understood General. We're on our way," Martin said as he and the others gave a salute and headed for the turbolift. As he turned to go, he stopped as he heard Caldwell call out to him.

"Captain Sterling… godspeed out there."

The Red Nova Ranger gave a resolute nod to the General and headed toward the door following the rest of his team.

A short while later, the Rangers were directed to a large spacious room with a wide circular transport platform raised a few inches off the floor. Above the platform hung several odd devices which played a part in manipulating matter and energy, allowing for it to be teleported away via the relay system.

As a few base technicians stood behind a console to operate the platform, the Rangers made last minute preparations to deploy. All five of them had donned battle gear consisting of dark blue fatigues with black flack jackets and combat helmets. Along with their gear, each of them carried compact assault rifles, FN 2000's which had been modified into laser weapons.

As they stood on the transit platform, Ella gave an uneasy look, both at the thought of going into combat and being teleported for the first time in her life. "Uh... guys? This is supposed to be safe, right?"

Erin scratched her chin trying to calm her own nerves, "Well... yeah, even though we're getting our atoms scrambled and reassembled on the other side of the ocean. No worries... heh."

"Lock and load people. The enemy is on the move and we've got a job to do," Martin said as he took his place on the platform, "Besides... I hear Paris is lovely this time of year."

Bharata turned to Erik with a mildly shocked look, "Did Captain Sterling just crack a joke?"

The German didn't get a chance to answer as Lucy's voice came in over their comms, "Standby for transport Rangers. From here on out, I'm going to be here in the command tower monitoring your tech and acting as your eyes in the sky."

"Like a guardian angel..." Martin quipped grimly, "Ready when you are Luce."

In a flash, the transporter activated and the Rangers were momentarily blinded while feeling their whole bodies tingle. Several heartbeats later, the light faded and the five Rangers found themselves standing in what looked to be the city of Paris. A large monumental column rose up behind them giving them a landmark before they spotted several plumes of billowing smoke rising up in the near distance.

Warning and police sirens were already blaring and the square that the Rangers were standing in was quickly being evacuated by terrified civilians. Bharata scanned the area and looked for any signs of immediate danger, "Okay... where are we?",

"La Place de Bastille... and there's the July Column" Erik replied as he waved the others to follow Martin west toward the heart of the city's downtown.

"Lt. Dobermann is correct," Lucy said over their comms, "We're picking up a concentration of enemy bio signs about one kilometer west of your position. It's right around the building where the cannon generator is located."

The five Rangers hurried down the winding streets of Paris until they came to another open square where a fierce fire fight was already raging between Xeno forces and another UNAF squad. They got down low as several searing laser bolts streaked by and scorched nearby cars and buildings. Peering through the smoke of the battle, they were surprised at the absence of the typical Xeno cyborgs used for grunt infantry. Instead, the enemy were more humanoid in appearance, wearing dark form fitting armor suits with conical helmets and carrying spear like weapons which doubled as blasters. Unlike the original clunky cyborgs, the new Xeno infantry moved and reacted a lot like regular human soldiers.

Along the allied skirmish line several dead and injured Parisians lay on the pavement. Erik was the first to drop to his knees near an injured civilian woman who moaned with a terrible burn on her leg. He immediately pulled out a small medical kit and began administering first aid while waving to a slack jawed Erin to help the victim. Another explosion rocked the square and Martin barked out another command, "Timothy! Catalano! Lay down some covering fire so Dobermann and Reilly can get the survivors clear!"

Bharata and Ella joined several other UN troopers on the line and fired back against the enemy while Martin crouched and shook hands with the other squad's acting leader, a petite young woman with lightly tanned skin and light strands of hair peeking out from her helmet.

"Sergeant Clarissa Lewis... where is your leader, Lt. Finkel?"

"He's dead Captain," she replied quickly, "We tried to push those new Xenos back, but they put us in a crossfire and dropped him. We're holding the line until reinforcements arrive."

Martin gave a grim nod, "I guess that's us. We heard the Xenos are trying to capture one of the generators that provides power for the Aegis guns. We have to drive them back from the building and secure that position."

"We have a lot of injured civilians here sir," Sgt. Lewis replied over another hail of enemy fire. A member of her squad gave a pained cry as the trooper spun sideways to the ground. He had taken a glancing blaster bolt to the shoulder and while the flak armor had absorbed some damage, an ugly crater of burnt flesh continued to smoke from the stunned trooper's upper torso.

Clarissa grimaced, "That makes three more members of our squad down... it's not going to be easy."

"Leave it to us," Martin replied as he waved his squad together, "Clarissa, give us some covering fire. My team is going to flank those Xenos and we'll make a break for the generator building."

As Clarissa gathered her ragged squad together and opened fire, the Rangers dashed down a side alley and wove through obstacles on the street amid sporadic enemy blaster bolts. As they ran, Erik gave a grim smile to his Indonesian comrade, "Stay low Bara. You don't want to get hit today."

Once in position, Nova Squad paused, then charged the enemy from the side, putting the Xenos in a withering crossfire of UN laser weapons. With a great burst of speed and agility, Ella bounded up the hood of a car and surprised several more enemy troopers while Bharata came around the side and assisted with his own rifle. After a terrifying moment of ferocious automatic laser rifle fire, a score of the Xenos lay dead while a small pack of the survivors fell back to a safer position a few blocks away.

Martin paused a moment to calmly snipe a fleeing Xeno soldier before turning back to his comrades, "Good job everyone... looks like the training paid off."

As Clarissa and her own team moved forward to join the Rangers in a momentary celebration, Martin added, "Oh... Catalano and Timothy, those were some nice moves back there."

The two younger Ranger grinned in pride while Erik stooped down to examine some of the fallen enemy soldiers. While he did, Erin glanced over them too and frowned in confusion as she saw some unusual extraterrestrial writing on the gear of some of the enemy dead. It looked strangely similar to Adventi, the aliens whose technology had helped humanity.

She didn't have long to study it though as one more enemy landing pod dropped from the sky and landed in the middle of the city street with a great crash. The startled Rangers ducked behind some cover as a small cloud of concrete and debris rained down while the landing pod opened and a larger Xeno monster emerged.

"What in the hell is that thing?" Ella exclaimed in shock as the creature stepped forward to face them. It had a mechanical humanoid body with several cylindrical batteries jutting out of its sides and coils and plugs coming out of its arms. The monster was heavily armored and raised its head to focus its single eye on them, a glowing red light on a featureless head.

"Rangers, that looks like one of the lesser field commanders who had gotten through," Lucy called over their comm. "Quick scans of that thing suggest he might have the means to siphon off energy from the orbital gun generators. You can't let that happen."

"We won't let that happen," Erik answered as he leveled his rifle on the incoming monster.

Lucy's voice rang out, "No Lieutenant! Conventional weapons are not going to scratch that field commander's armor."

Martin nodded and stepped forward, brandishing his morpher, "All right then... looks like we're going to need some extra firepower here. You guys ready to save the world?"

The other Ranger recruits took deep breaths and stepped forward with their morphers to join their leader. Erin surprised everyone by speaking up, "It's now or never... so let's do this."

In union, they punched the button codes on their Nova Morphers and felt the buzzing forces of alien hardware, nanotechnology, and an ambient bioenergy field come together... engulfing the five in a radiant flash of colored light.

A/N:
Sorry everyone, I'll show off the Ranger suits and powers in the following chapter to tie up the little introductory arc. There's a lot going on here with the plot and world building so hopefully you guys were able to follow along. Also fair warning... I'm going to be playing a little fast and loose with the "hard science" elements of this series too as I wasn't an Engineering or Computer Science major.

Finally, a special salute also goes to Charlotte Hartley for her OC, Sgt. Clarissa Lewis that was featured in the chapter. Thanks again for your submission!