Mission 4: Part 1
The sounds of deep steady ocean waves recorded from an Atlantis Base weather post filled the training room as the Green Nova Ranger Bharata Timothy went about his martial arts movements. It had been several weeks since he had been wounded on a mission to an alien outpost in Mexico and now that he had fully recovered, he wanted to get back into form by doing something to focus his mind and body. To him, that activity had always been the Indonesian martial art of silat.
As sunlight filtered in from the windows of the room, Bharata moved slowly and methodically going through the fighting movements of the kata to demonstrate his poise, control, and balance. To him, his martial arts had always had a calming regenerative effect on his mind and he hoped it would do the same to help his body fully recover. On that particular day, his teammate and fellow Ranger Ella Catalano had come to join him in hopes of learning something new.
While Bharata continued to gracefully move as if in a meditative trance, Ella stood on the mats nearby trying to imitate his every move. Despite her best efforts, she was finding it a bit hard to keep up. Once Bharata had finished, he opened his eyes and found the Pink Ranger already walking up and handing him a water bottle. "Well Bara, I have no idea how you do it. For a guy who took a las bolt a few weeks ago, I can't keep with your moves."
Bharata smiled and took the bottle gratefully, "Don't worry Ella. Just stick with it. Once you get used to the basic movements, you can learn to do them without even thinking."
"Yeah, I noticed you were kinda in the zone there. You're not feeling any lingering pain or stiffness from the injury?"
The Green Ranger shook his head and walked over to where he kept a green towel. He wiped his brow with a smile and said, "Basuki Surya... the silat teacher who had raised me had once stressed a very important lesson when I was young. He said that endurance of mind can be more powerful than the endurance of the body. Doing these movements and focusing on the sounds of the waves has been a big help in my physical therapy."
As much as he hated to admit it, Bharata didn't have as strong a physical build compared to his fellow male Rangers on the team. Even worse, his relative skill and agility in martial arts really didn't do much to help him when modern combat often came down to firearms and laser weapons. That was where the focus and discipline of silat came in to compensate. That stillness of mind and hidden depth was what made Lieutenant Timothy a good intelligence officer and a soldier who could overcome those disadvantages yet still succeed.
"I'm glad to hear it then," Ella said with a supportive smile while she patted her friend's shoulder, "Hopefully things stay quiet so you can fully recover and..."
She was cut off as both of the Ranger's Nova Morphers began to beep signaling a call to General Caldwell's tower. Bharata chuckled and shrugged, "And it would seem you spoke to soon. Come on, let's see what insane plan the Xenos are up to now."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the district Erin Reilly stood in a weapons testing room of the base's R&D lab with Dr. Lucy Beckett. The two young women waited within in an elevated observation deck and watched as the Red and Blue Nova Rangers made last minute preparations below. The test room had already been reinforced with extra heavy steel walls and heat resistant plating, but as an added precaution the two men morphed into their Ranger suits.
As Lucy did some last minute calibrations to her sensors, another younger man in a military technician's uniform entered. He was a shorter man with a lean build, tanned skin, and light colored hair. He carried in a data slate and spoke distractedly while he entered, "Sorry I'm late Dr. Beckett. Here are the corrected calculations you wanted on those power amplifiers and..."
He stopped in surprise when he saw Erin and froze up, "Uh... hi."
Based on his accent, he sounded like an Australian and a quick glance at the service patch on the shoulder of his uniform confirmed as much. Lucy sighed and took the data pad, "Thank you Julian. Lieutenant, this is Julian Wilson one of my aides and probably the best technician I have. Julian, meet the Yellow Nova Ranger Lt. Erin Reilly."
"Oh wow! It's an honor to finally get to meet you ma'am," Julian exclaimed with a star-struck expression as he shook her hand.
"The pleasure's mine sergeant. Thank you," Erin answered politely trying to extricate her hand after an extended moment of handshaking.
"Oh... sorry," Julian said sheepishly as he let go.
Lucy rolled her eyes slightly and cleared her throat, "Julian... don't you have some more devices to start cataloguing?"
The younger aide glanced to Erin, then gave a hopeful look toward the other Rangers down below in the test area, "Yes, but can I please just stick around and observe the tests on the new modifications for the Rangers? We all put a lot of work in on them."
Lucy eyed the younger tech with an inscrutable look before finally relenting, "All right. Please just stand back and let me finish this last diagnostic?"
"Sure! Thanks Dr. B!" Julian said excitedly before giving Erin another polite nod and giving the two girls some room on the balcony.
While Martin made a final check of his Nova Morpher down below, Erik readied a Xeno blaster spear in his hand. The spear was standard issue to the enemy infantry and served as both an effective melee weapon and blaster at the same time. As Martin took his place at one end of the room, Erik faced him from a short distance and leveled the spear in blaster mode.
From the observation deck, Lucy spoke into a microphone while checking her data monitors, "All right you two, all systems are go up here. Once you're ready, we can start the field test."
Erik gave a nod and charged the blaster spear before turning to the Red Ranger.
"Okay Erik, I'm sure you've always wanted to take a few shots at your C.O. before, right?" Martin said as he pressed another button on his morpher.
"Only you sir," the Blue Ranger joked while giving a laugh, "But just think... if you do wind up getting shot, at least I'll be right here to give you first aid."
"Then I'll pray that your aim isn't as bad as your jokes Lieutenant," Martin quipped dryly as Erik laughed loudly again.
Moments later, a small circular dome of glowing blue translucent energy began to radiate from Martin's Nova Morpher and it formed a round battle shield. As Martin raised the personal shield up, he braced himself while Erik fired several energy blasts from the Xeno spear. Erin and Julian watched in wonder as the spear blasts struck the shield and deflected away harmlessly. Beside them, Lucy watched the control monitors and observed some of the test data coming back about energy absorption and shield strength.
"I've got to say Erin, that data you saved from the Adventi outpost has been a real treasure trove," Lucy grinned excitedly, "This could be start of several new innovations in our tech."
Erin watched as Martin dug in his heels and held his ground against more concentrated blaster fire from Erik before turning back to the scientist, "So you've been playing with the schematics of those force fields that trapped us?"
"Among other things," Lucy said while keying in several codes, "The designs for that force field technology was the inspiration for this new personal shield mode I've installed on your morphers. If we apply it to a larger scale, it might even be able to improve the shield strength of our space ships too. But there's still so much data to go through. I'm sure that in time I should be able to design all kinds of new upgraded equipment for the team."
As Erin continued watching the weapon tests, she considered how the idea of a new force shield function on their morphers was pretty remarkable. Any extra advantage or protective tool that the Rangers could call on was a welcome one. Moments later, all three Rangers stopped as their morphers sounded with a familiar chime. Duty was calling and they had to answer it.
"Thanks for helping with the experiment guys," Lucy called over the speaker, "I think I'll have enough data to use right now."
"And just when I was starting to have fun," Erik smiled before Martin deactivated his shield and gave him a gentle punch in the shoulder.
"All right, enough clowning around big guy. We've got a date with the General. You too Reilly. We'll meet you at the turbolifts."
Erin gave a dutiful nod and headed for the exit to the observation deck, "Sorry Doctor B. Gotta run. Julian, it was nice meeting you!"
"Yeah... same," he said lamely as she rushed toward the elevators and likely didn't even hear him.
As he stood watching the departing Yellow Ranger he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see the pointed look of his boss patiently holding up a data slate, "Sergeant... if you don't mind? We've got a lot of work to do."
When the light faded from the transporter process, the five Nova Rangers looked around to find themselves in Manila, the capital city of the Philippine Islands. A warm tropical breeze blew through the humid air as bright sunlight glared down from above. The Rangers had been teleported to the roof of a small office building near the heart of downtown and from their vantage point, they could get a clear view of the bustling city. Down below, crowds of festive people were already dressed in colorful clothes and moving in clusters toward the heart of the city.
"Stay sharp Rangers. The Xenos picked a bad location to infiltrate today," came the voice of General Caldwell over their comms, "With the city celebrating a cultural festival today, it's going to be especially hard to keep track of everything."
"Understood General. We'll keep a low profile and monitor the sector for any enemy activity," Martin responded over his wrist morpher. As he ended the transmission, the Red Ranger gave his team a cursory glance before gesturing for them to head for the stairwell leading down. The five had come without their tactical gear and carried concealed weapons under their duty uniforms.
Despite the potential threats near the city of Manila, Caldwell had told the Rangers to try and blend in as UNAF troops on recreational leave. If they had come in full battle gear, it was likely to draw a lot of unwanted attention and concern at the civilian festival currently taking place. Once the Rangers made their way down to the street level, Erin took a look around admiring the colorful street decorations which fused cultural elements of Spain with the sensibilities of an Asian Pacific island people. "Hey Bharata, any of this look familiar to you?"
The Green Ranger smiled and gave a sigh while adjusting his glasses, "Well... it's not Jakarta, but it's nice to be back home in the South Pacific."
"Hmm... and I thought Mexico was a little warm," Erik muttered while putting on some sunglasses and wiping his brow, "This humidity is stifling."
Martin idly eyed the streets while they walked through the festival crowds. He pulled out a small scanning device and spoke quietly, "Remember the mission briefing everyone. A Xeno drop pod is supposed to have landed somewhere around the city's bay area. If there are any enemy aliens running around here, then it's our job to root them out."
"And you want to start by homing in on the residual engine readings of the pod?" Ella asked while pulling out her own scanner.
"Exactly," he nodded, "We'll split up for now and make a sweep. Erik and Erin, you two take the district's east end. Bharata, think you'll be okay on your own taking the west? I figure you'll blend in better around here."
The Green Ranger nodded enthusiastically, "Yes sir. You can count on me."
"Good. Ella, you're with me. We'll canvass the north side of the district."
Bharata rolled his eyes gently in amusement as he saw Ella give a small excited fist pump before walking off to follow their commander.
After the team split up, the Green Ranger strolled through the streets full of festival goers. The air was filled with the sounds of music and laughter while the smells of freshly cooked seafood, rice, and noodles wafted from some concession stalls that had been set up. As much as Bharata wanted to mingle with the neighboring people of his home country, he had to focus his mind on the mission. People's lives were at stake and his team was depending on him to be vigilant. He pulled out a small scanner from his belt and began to search for any traces of an energy signature matching a Xeno drop pod.
After a while of coming up empty handed, Bharata stopped to buy some barbecued pork on a skewer while taking one last scan. As he continued to observe the crowds and stand off to the side, he listened on his comm while Dr. Beckett checked in with the others from Atlantis Base Ops. When she finally got to him, Lucy transmitted some new data to his scanner, "Lieutenant, our satellite sensors are detecting a lot of signal interference in your area. You might want to move toward the outer corner of your sector to get some better scans."
"Copy that Dr. Beckett, but I think I'm going to keep trying a little longer here," Bharata replied calmly as he began walking again. "Something tells me that if we know this could be a potential blind spot, then so do the Xenos."
"There is some logic to that, and the area is heavily populated too," Lucy conceded, "Do you know something we don't?"
Bharata grinned slightly, "Nah. Just call it a hunch. Timothy out."
This was where his training as an intelligence officer might come in useful. While gathering data and information on the enemy was always important, sometimes you needed to rely on some instinct in order to intuit your opponent's moves. Here he was, trying to blend into a jungle... albeit a concrete one with lamp posts and sky scrapers instead of trees and brush.
As Bharata wove his way through the festival goers, he stopped when he saw a parade of masked dancers go by. They were dressed in colorful costumes of Indonesian design and wore intricately painted masks adorned with feathers and other plumage.
Near the tail end of the parade, a group of the dancers quietly broke from the procession and headed off down a side alley of the crowded street. The Green Ranger frowned while watching the unusual display and moved to follow after the masked performers. As he continued to tail them from a safe distance, Bharata watched as the suspicious band of dancers gathered around the front walk of a tall glass office building. The Green Ranger edged around closer and took cover behind some low hedges only to see a group of young women approach. If Bharata had to guess, the girls were probably all high school students who had come out to enjoy the festivities today. To his horror, Bharata watched as the giggling girls approached the masked dancers asking to take some pictures with them.
As soon as the girls gathered around to pose, the masked dancer holding the camera pulled off its colorful garb to reveal a bio-mechanical humanoid. The Xeno turned it's head and pulled off the colorful mask, replacing its face with a new half robotic one. The civilian girls froze and began to cry out in terror but they were immediately silenced as the other masked performers around them pulled off their robes revealing the armored suits of Xeno-Machina foot soldiers. The Eidolon foot soldiers grabbed the students and roughly clamped down on their mouths while the Xeno commander laughed, "What a bunch of stupid humans. You'll be perfect additions to our plan."
The Xenos quickly turned and barged through the front doors of the office building scattering all the people in the front lobby. As civilians within the building scattered and fled in terror, two security guards rose from the front desks to try and halt the invaders. Before the guards could draw their own weapons, the Xenos pulled their blaster spears and fired a volley of energy bolts which tore up the lobby and killed the two guards immediately.
The dual-faced Xeno commander stood impassively watching as the lobby cleared before turning to his troops. He waved to the first squad, "First squad, start placing the bombs in the building. The rest of you follow me. We're going to head upstairs and use these hostages as human shields."
As the Xeno strike force split up and continued their plan to terrorize the city, Bharata quickly rushed inside the building and slipped off into a side janitor's closet to hide. No doubt the Xenos would start placing guards at the doors and threaten to harm the hostages if anyone from the outside tried to rush the building.
The Green Ranger reached for his comm and transmitted an urgent message, "Atlantis Base! Nova Squad... this is Bharata. We have a Xeno terror attack in progress. They're barricading the building around my position. They have explosives set and a hostage situation as well. I'm inside the building but am cut off. Please advise."
The comms were silent for an agonizing minute before he heard Martin's voice respond, "Sit tight and hold your position Bharata. We're on the way to help."
"Sir... the enemy is setting explosives and will likely threaten to kill their hostages. We can't risk a direct frontal assault."
"I understand Lieutenant," Martin answered, "We're going to evacuate the surrounding area while Caldwell comes up with a plan. Until then, we'll need you to keep your head down and be our eyes and ears over there."
"Yes sir. Standing by," Bharata replied quietly as he secured the door and pulled the concealed laser pistol that he had tucked away.
While he waited, the Green Ranger took several deep breaths to calm himself. He had to focus now and consider his options. Even if he morphed, he was severely outnumbered and outgunned. With the complications of bombs and hostages in the building, his options of effecting a rescue became even more limited. He was only one man and if he was going to help defeat this new enemy, he'd have to rely upon his smarts. For now, Lt. Bharata Timothy could only pray that his teammates and the support crews back in Atlantis Base would be able to come up with a new course of action and fast before any more innocent lives would be harmed.
A/N:
Special thanks and shout out goes to TheDaydreamer25 for contributing her OC of Julian Wilson to the story. He'll make another great addition to the supporting cast!