Mission 5: Part 1
Bright light filled the large transporter room as the Nova Rangers returned to Atlantis Base from their latest skirmish with their alien enemies. As the five rematerialized from the teleporter and stepped off the transit platform, they were met by the sight of Dr. Lucy Beckett waiting patiently. She adjusted her glasses and straightened her lab coat primly, "Welcome back Rangers. That was quite a show you put on this morning."
From where she stood, she could see that the exhausted Rangers were all haggard and covered in dirt and smoke from the recent op. After fighting off an alien threat in Turkey, they had stayed to help some of the local fire crews rescue civilians and battle the flames.
"Considering that firebomb, I'm shocked that only one building was completely lost," Lucy commented while the Pink Ranger Ella chuckled lightly.
"I'm sure the Chinese Embassy there will understand... at least I hope they will."
"Tell me about it," Erik sighed tiredly while checking his wristwatch. "After all that, I can't believe it's not even lunch time here."
"Agreed. It was pretty rude of the Xenos to wake us up at three in the morning," Erin added while rubbing her eyes and giving a yawn.
The Red Ranger removed his combat helmet and tiredly wiped some grime from his brow, "Which is why I think we should all hit the showers and get some shuteye right now. I'm sure the General will postpone the debriefing."
"Martin, before you go, there's something else," Lucy said with a mildly uncomfortable grimace as she started walking alongside him, "Caldwell said he wanted to talk with the team about..."
The doors of the room swished open and a young man in his late twenties entered with a wide grin. He was a handsome man with short dirty blonde hair and green eyes. "So these are the rising stars of the UN Defense forces! I can't believe I finally get to meet you!"
Everyone stopped and stared at the newcomer wearing a pressed blue oxford shirt and dressy slacks with shoes. In one of the man's hands was an expensive camera. Judging by his accent, he sounded like he might be British.
"And just who are you?" Bharata asked with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.
The man gave a gracious smile and extended his free hand, "Nigel Moseby, news correspondent of the BBC. Pleasure to meet you!"
Martin glanced toward Lucy who replied with a helpless shrug before turning on the visitor with a frown, "We don't allow news reporters free reign on the base. Who gave you clearance to be here?"
"I did Captain," came the voice of General Caldwell as he entered the room, "Though very reluctantly."
"Sir? What's going on here?" Ella asked in confusion as she stepped forward.
The older Canadian General gathered everyone together and grimaced slightly, "It seems the UN politicians are playing some games right now and they want more transparency in the current war effort. Many on the International Oversight Committee think that our operations here and the Nova Ranger program should be more... accessible to the public. That is why Mr. Moseby and several other people from the press were sent as embedded reporters to cover the activities of the UNAF."
"Sounds more like political grandstanding to me," Martin said sourly, "For all we know the IOC is either doing this to score some brownie points with the public or to snoop around on us. Maybe both"
Moseby raised a placating hand and waved it off, "I assure you that isn't the case at all. I understand your concerns. Military people have never liked us journalists meddling in your affairs and criticizing you. I promise you Rangers that I'm actually a very strong believer in your cause."
Erik grimaced and gave an uncharacteristic frown himself, "No offense Mr. Mosbey, but even if that's true... the last thing we need to do right now is to babysit a civilian. We're busy and there's a lot of danger too."
"You'll hardly know I'm here," Nigel replied smoothly, "If anything, the world deserves to know more about the people behind the Rangers helmets... the truth of what great heroes you are. The five of you have been gaining quite a bit of notoriety around the globe and I want to put that on full display... of Captain Martin Sterling, the steadfast exemplar of American courage and leadership... or Erik Dobermann, the big German attack dog with a bigger heart for the wounded... there's Bharata Timothy, the fearless hero of the South Pacific... and Erin Reilly, the Emerald Isle's linguistic prodigy..."
"I'll give him a few points for the flattery," Bharata muttered to Erin quietly while Nigel turned to Ella and stopped, "And you... Carmella Catalano. Wait! Hold that pose!"
The Pink Ranger stood dumbfounded as the reporter pulled out his camera and snapped a few quick pictures of her holding her own combat helmet... all with her mussed hair and grimy face.
"Brilliant! Truly smashing!" Nigel said examining the digital shots before lowering his camera, "You're very photogenic Miss Catalano. Those shots would be perfect for a front page story. It's so real... and natural. You weren't by chance a model were you?"
"Oh... well... no," Ella replied sheepishly, "I had been asked to consider it back home in Milan during high school."
Nigel grinned and made a grand gesture, "Just think of the headline. This could make you famous... The Italian Beauty of the Battlefield."
"Except I think our Pink Ranger is in need of her beauty sleep right now," Martin said flatly as he cut off the reporter and stepped in, "That goes for the rest of the squad too."
Ella caught her commander's arm a moment and pleaded, "Wait sir... let's not be so short with Mr. Moseby. If you think about it, this could be a great opportunity for all of us."
Martin mulled it over for a moment and turned to Caldwell, "General, is there really no other way around this right now?"
"I'm afraid not son. Politically, my hands are tied at the moment," the older man sighed.
Martin nodded and gave Ella a mild smile of amusement. Despite her occasional flights of fancy as one of the youngest Rangers on the team, Ella had always shown herself to be a very dutiful and responsible soldier up to now. She seemed eager for a chance and he decided he could trust her with this. Martin patted her on the shoulder before heading off with the other Rangers, "All right then Lieutenant. Once you get some sleep, I'm putting you on escort duty. While Mr. Moseby is here, I'd like you to give him a tour and be responsible for him. I'm sure it won't be any trouble?"
"No sir... and thank you," Ella answered dutifully while giving a salute, "You can count on me. I'm sure everything will be just fine."
As the others left, Lucy turned and glanced toward General Caldwell only to see him roll his eyes. He didn't seem too convinced, much less thrilled at the idea of a nosy civilian getting in the way. For now, all he could do was play nice and continue keeping his guard up against the political vultures no doubt circling Atlantis with interest.
Meanwhile, on the dark side of the moon, the Xeno Machina aliens continued to busy themselves within their disabled mothership. The biomechanical monstrosities methodically worked to repair their ship's systems while assisting in the ongoing military campaign against the humans of Earth.
The field commander of the alien force known as Warmaster Hellspont made his way across the catwalks of the engineering deck where several large power generator cores were being worked on. Each turbine looking device had a tangle of coiled pipes and cables which occasionally pulsed and gave them the look of horrific giant octopus type creatures. Down below, work crews of half-roboticized drone slaves labored over their projects. The humanoid aliens whom the Xenos had already assimilated in the past mindlessly milled about like worker bees in a hive.
Upon leaving Engineering, Hellspont made his way into the bowels of the ship where the Xeno Overlord Phaeton dwelled in his lair. As the final gates opened a handful of the genetically engineered foot soldiers called Eidolons who guarded the corridor snapped to attention and let him pass. Finally the Warmaster approached the giant cybernetic overlord whose body was fused to the ship and bowed his head, "I have good news. The repairs are going well Lord Phaeton."
The cybernetic overlord slowly turned his large bionic eyes on the general, "Good. And the campaign against the Terrans?"
"They are… more resistant than we expected," Hellspont admitted unhappily, "They've made progress in adapting some more Adventi technology to help their efforts. Their elite soldiers… the Nova Rangers have been a particular annoyance."
"Those setbacks mean nothing to me Warmaster. Continue with our current strategy," Phaeton answered in his booming voice. "The Terrans haven't detected the other troops that we've been landing during the raids?"
"No my Lord," Hellspont replied, "The humans have been so fixated on the diversion attacks, they've failed to notice any of the infiltrators. Once our troops are in place, I believe they should be able to cripple the planet's defenses."
"Good," the overlord rumbled, "In the mean time, I want you to order another raid… and this time, make sure it's very disruptive."
A few relatively quiet days passed around Atlantis Base while Nigel Moseby made the rounds trying to get some interviews with the military personnel stationed there. Much to his chagrin, most of them remained fairly tight lipped. On that particular afternoon, he settled on interviewing Ella while they ate lunch in the mess hall. As he jotted some notes down in his pad, he leaned back in his seat thoughtfully, "Well Miss Catalano, you've got an inspirational story here. Overcoming the tragic death of your older sister back in Italy when you were young, joining the Air Force and becoming a brilliant computers specialist… not many girls have the guts to do that kind of thing."
"It's not often we're all threatened by aliens from another galaxy either," the Pink Ranger replied as she finished her meal.
Well, you're a Power Ranger now and one of the youngest on the squad. It's great stuff for an article. I think the editors might be interested in a piece like this."
"Wow! You really think so?" Ella said imagining what it would be like to be covered in a big newspaper. Her old classmates back in Italy would be sure to be jealous. She shook it off and opened a small plastic baggie that she had taken with her to lunch, "Oh… Nigel, would you like some banana bread for dessert? I like to cook in my free time and baked some yesterday. You can be the first to sample it before I take the rest to my team."
The reporter eagerly nodded and took a bite of the bread he was handed. He immediately regretted it as he felt the equivalent of a tactical nuke go off on in mouth. Nigel forced a smile and swallowed until Ella turned away for a moment to put the bread away. He pulled a small flask of hard liquor from his pocket and took a big swig before continuing on.
"You know Ella, I appreciate that you're probably one of the few people around here who's been willing to get interviewed. Everyone has either made themselves busy or told me to buzz off. What they don't realize is what positive exposure can do for them... for your war effort."
Ella frowned, "This shouldn't be about us trying to be famous here. When my older sister Lucia was killed in a mugging, part of the reason I joined the military was to help prevent others from dying from senseless violence too. All of us in the service are just trying to do our jobs to protect others because many of us feel strongly about this kind of thing."
"Sounds like something Captain Sterling told me the other day while giving me a lecture on ethics," Nigel huffed, "Honestly, how do you Rangers stand serving under such a chilly guy."
"The Captain is just very protective of our team," Ella answered with a small smile, "In his own odd way, he's just showing us that he cares."
"Really? And how much do you care Lieutenant? Sounds like you've got some interesting insight on the matter."
The Pink Ranger flushed slightly and frowned to give him a mild warning. Before she could say anything more, her morpher's signal went off indicating trouble. She immediately rose from the table and grabbed her things, "Come on. We've got a situation."
"It's about time," Nigel muttered while he excitedly jumped to his feet and followed close behind Ella as they charged down the halls of the base toward the command tower.
A short while later, Ella rejoined her squad-mates as they gathered in the transport room and made some last minute equipment checks. While Lucy got behind the console of the teleporter to see them off, Nigel stood near the transit platform listening as Martin gave the squad final orders, "Okay everyone, we're headed back to Turkey. It looks like there's a Xeno raid breaking out in Istanbul this time. Standard procedure, secure the area and neutralize the enemy. Everyone locked and loaded?"
Erik eyed the younger Rangers and gave a thumbs up to their commander, "We're ready sir!"
"Stand by for transport to Istanbul in thirty seconds," Lucy called from the controls.
Nigel furrowed his brow and looked over to the Pink Ranger, "Ella! You have to let me come with! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to cover a huge breaking story!"
"Stand back Nigel!" the Pink Ranger called back forcefully, "The battlefield is too dangerous. Just stay here where it's safe!"
The journalist pulled out his camera and wrinkled his features with a conflicted look.
"Don't do it!" Ella warned him again as if sensing what he was thinking.
"Ten seconds!" Lucy announced.
From their spots on the transporter, Bharata and Erin exchanged a panicked look and moved to block the way but they were too slow as Nigel leapt up onto the transit platform just as the transporter activated.
Several heartbeats later, the five Rangers and their hitchhiker rematerialized on the city streets of Istanbul Turkey. In the near distance of the eastern horizon loomed the distinct form of the great temple Hagia Sophia. The towering minarets had already begun to reflect the orange, red, and gold, light of the setting sun while columns of smoke rose from the west of he district. Crowds of terrified civilians and tourists fled and knocked over several souvenir stands that had been set up along the streets of the historically famous commercial center known as the Grand Bazaar.
Once they had gotten their bearings, Ella rushed over and roughly grabbed Nigel by the collar of his shirt. She throttled him furiously, "What the hell do you think you're doing Nigel? Do you realize what you've just done? You disobeyed an order and now you're going to put the mission in danger!"
"I'm sorry Ella! You have to understand, I couldn't pass on this opportunity to get right into the center of the action. The people have to know!"
"You disobeyed an order and you violated the rules!" Ella insisted while shaking him. If there was anything that set her off as a soldier, it was when people knowingly or carelessly violated orders.
"If you don't get out of the way and let us do our job, there won't be any people left to read your stupid news column Moseby," Erin muttered as she slapped a fresh power cell into her rifle.
Erik grimaced and kept watch on the fleeing crowds of people coming from the west, "The guy's not wearing any homing beacon so they can't teleport him back."
"I know," Martin growled as he listened to Lucy having an apoplectic fit on the other end of his comm. The Red Ranger slowly drew his pistol and gave a cold threatening look toward the journalist, "We'll deal with you later. Stay out of the way and keep your head down. If you put anyone here at risk, I swear I'll shoot you myself. Are we clear?"
Nigel swallowed hard and gave a trembling nod while the Rangers sprinted off down the alley. As she had always been a naturally fast sprinter, Ella led the way as Lucy began downloading city maps and tactical data to the Rangers from Ops back at the base. Once they turned a narrow corner into a plaza, a nearby three story shop blew up as a winged figure swooped up from the smoke. The Rangers waited for the debris and smoke to momentarily clear before they saw what looked to be a Xeno Machina field commander gently descend from the air.
It looked like an armored humanoid with two sleek steel wings protruding from its back. In place of its left hand and feet were metallic talons while a strange arm cannon made up the alien's right hand. Two angry motes of light glowed from within the Xeno's avian inspired battle helmet as it touched down amid the smoking rubble. Scattered about the small plaza several dead and wounded civilians lay, the survivors twitching and moaning for help but the Xeno ignored them.
"Rangers, it seems you weren't challenged here last time. I am Cyclonus and I will not let you interfere with our plans any longer."
"And what is your plan?" Erin called out while gripping her rifle tightly.
Cyclonus began to laugh, "What else? To enslave your miserable world. Your resources and your lives will be ours. There's no point in resisting."
"We'll just see about that," Ella replied as she raised her morpher along with the others.
In a flash, the five morphed into their Ranger suits and pulled their blasters. Unknown to them, Nigel had arrived at the scene and began to take several pictures from behind the cover of a ruined building's corner. As he continued to snap photos focusing more toward Ella, he watched as the Rangers fired a volley of laser bolts only to have them deflected by the Xeno's steel wings. Cyclonus drew them up like a protective shield then burst forward plowing through the Rangers in a swift rising swoop before circling back around and unleashing a powerful column of swirling tornadic wind from his arm cannon.
The cyclone beam hit the ground around them and threw the shocked Rangers in all directions with tremendous force. Nigel burst from cover and rushed over near Ella to get a better shot but he momentarily lost track of the alien. As she pulled herself up and shook off the stars in her eyes, the Pink Ranger panicked when she saw the incoming Xeno and the sight of Nigel nearby.
"Imbecile! Nigel! I told you to clear out!" Ella snapped while she leveled her Nova Blaster and tried to take aim again on the Xeno commander. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough time to line up a clear shot. Cyclonus raised his arm cannon and fired a powerful stream of tornadic winds at the Pink Ranger. As the tunnel of swirling air engulfed her, Ella was thrown back hard onto the hood of a nearby car and stunned.
At this point he wasn't sure if he was rooted in place due to fear or the irrational desire for his scoop, Nigel kept snapping pictures with trembling hands until the monster whirled around on him. The Xeno aimed his wind cannon at the reporter and snorted, "You think this is some kind of a game human? You're going to regret playing!"
The Xeno spread its metallic wings out and began to hover before it raced forward and snatched the terrified journalist in an iron grip.
"Help!" Nigel choked out as the Xeno aimed its wind cannon down and took off rapidly into the skies from a powerful jet of tornadic air. The wind howled around the streets and kicked up blinding dust that momentarily blinded the other Rangers as they raced over to help.
When the wind cleared, they saw Cyclonus gliding off in the distance with his victim as Ella rolled off the car with a groan and dragged herself over. As she approached, she grimaced behind her visor when she faced her commander, "I'm sorry sir... I feel like this is all my fault. I should have muzzled Nigel when I had a chance. I screwed up."
Martin watched the departing form of the alien fly off in the evening sky before turning back to the team, "We'll deal with that later. Right now we've got burning buildings and civilian casualties. Erik contact Atlantis and tell them to get an AWACs unit out here. We'll need an eye in the sky to track that Xeno. Erin and Bharata, you two radio the local authorities for help. We'll assist with SAR operations until we can regroup and form a new plan. Let's go!"
As Ella watched the team break their huddle, she looked up toward the darkening skies lit up by the smoldering fires on the streets. She was determined to set things right by stopping that alien and rescuing Moseby, even if he ruined the mission. Right now she was surrounded by fires, smoke, and suffering bystanders. She had to do something to help and if doing her duty meant working through this scene of Purgatory, then she would do it.
A/N:
AWACS- Airborne Warning and Control System, usually a high altitude scout plane with powerful sensors and radar detection
SAR- Search and Rescue