Mission 7: Part 1
"Okay Julian, now adjust the power output a little bit more," Dr. Lucy Beckett said as her lab assistant cranked the power generator a little higher. As she studied the numbers coming in over her datapad, she eyed the lab table where a large blaster cannon sat plugged into the generator by a cord. She was simulating the flow and dispersal of electro particles to see if the new weapon she had developed would be ready for a field test. The figures of the Prism Cannon were good, but not exactly where she wanted them to be either. It could possibly work in battle, but it was still a little risky.
"Shut it down," Lucy said with a discouraged sigh as Julian obeyed her and powered down the cannon. She set down her work and removed her glasses, rubbing her eyes in mild frustration, "This is very annoying! I still can't seem to get this completely right."
Julian eyed the large cannon and sat down nearby, "Cheer up Dr. Beckett. We're getting pretty close. I'm still amazed you were able to get a working prototype going within a couple months of the Rangers finding that Adventi data cache."
Lucy put her glasses back on and brushed aside some of her dirty blonde hair which had fallen loose, "Well… all those alien schematics aren't going to do the Rangers much good if we don't figure out how to recreate some of that hardware."
The young lab assistant took up the data slate and gestured helpfully toward the door, "You've been at this for the last eighteen hours boss. You should probably take a breather and try looking at it with a fresh set of eyes tomorrow. I can stay here and keep working at some of the bugs until you return."
"Maybe you're right," Lucy sighed as she rose from her chair and shrugged off her labcoat.
Julian began poking around at one of the cannon's circuit boards, "I heard the Rangers were going to be hanging out in the West End today checking out that new bar and grill that opened up. I think it was called the Sundog."
Lucy eyed him as the young man continued with a sigh, "I wish I wasn't on duty today. I'd go join them... maybe show Erin some cool geometry tricks to use at the billiards table and..."
He paused, cleared his throat and focused again on his project, "You know what? Never mind. I'll just shut up and get back to work boss."
Lucy smiled slightly and shook her head to herself in amusement before leaving the lab. Had it really been eighteen hours? Time had really gotten away from her, she thought to herself as she passed through the bustling hallways of the base. There were times she could get so wrapped up in her projects that she'd forget to sleep or eat, but food in the West End did sound tempting. As she passed through the central base's main atrium, she looked up to the bright afternoon sunlight streaming down from the glass ceilings. Maybe her lab assistant was right. She could probably use a little fresh air and sunlight. With that, she strolled for the nearest monorail terminal and decided to try and join the Rangers at this new establishment.
The sounds of clinking glassware and the smell of good food wafted through the air as the five Nova Rangers sat together around a table in the Sundog bar. Despite the popularity of the new place, they had found a corner table to partake in some squad bonding time over some drinks and a game of poker. When Lucy walked in, she looked around and found the Rangers in the middle of a game so she walked over and sat down in an empty stool at the bar counter nearby. Aside from her rapport with Martin, the idea of fraternizing with the other Rangers still seemed a bit uncomfortable to her. She had a professional working relationship with the others and for the time being, she was comfortable with keeping it that way. To see the Red Ranger trying to bond more with them now seemed... well, strange to say the least.
From across the table, Erin eyed Erik and Martin then tossed in several more poker chips to raise the stakes of the game. Bharata and Ella grinned in amusement as they sat out the hand and watched the betting war escalate. "Well Captain... you're next. What'll it be?"
Martin slowly glanced at Erik and back to Erin, staring her down for a long moment. He idly tapped his finger several times on the table before finally giving a sigh and tossing his cards, "Shit. I fold too."
Erik smirked slightly and stared down his teammate but the Yellow Ranger wasn't giving any hints of what was in her hand. He matched her bet and kept his eyes fixed on her, "All right Reilly, I'm betting you've got nothing. I'm calling your bluff so show em."
Both Rangers showed their hands, Erin's Full House over Erik's Straight. The Blue Ranger stared in disbelief at the cards before giving a mild cuss in German and reaching for his mug of beer. "Damn it! I really thought we had her that time!"
The rest of the table broke out into laughter as Erin grinned and took a shot of Irish whiskey before shuffling the cards again, "You're gonna have to do better than that if you wanna beat me Dobermann. Now this next game is going to be called Read em and Weep..."
"I'm already weeping," Martin quipped with a small laugh as he divvied up his remaining chips between the others, "I'm going to count on you guys to win back the rest of my money from Patti McCardshark over there."
"Where are you going sir?" Bharata asked as he took up a new poker hand.
The Red Ranger gestured over toward the bar counter where Lucy was sitting alone eating a sandwich, "Off to keep a friend company."
As the game continued, Lucy glanced over and saw Martin calmly plop himself down on the barstool next to her. She kept a cool expression and watched her old friend, only to see a slight grin of amusement on his face as he said, "Eh... what's up Doc?"
Lucy sighed and shook her head with a mild smile, "For God's sake Martin, that's such a lame joke."
"But it never gets old, does it?" he replied gesturing for the bartender to pour him a small tumbler of whiskey.
She suppressed a chuckle while taking a bite of her late lunch, "You're not drunk, are you Captain Sterling?"
"Only buzzed... and it's okay. I'm off duty today," he replied as he paid for his drink, "You want anything?"
"You know I don't drink Martin," she said pointedly.
"Right... sorry," he said ordering her a glass of tropical fruit juice instead. Once she was served, he watched her finish the food before taking a sip of his drink, "Is everything okay Luce? You seem a little troubled."
She frowned slightly and took a sip of her juice, "Sorry, I was just thinking about a new weapon I was developing for you guys. I reverse engineered a high powered cannon but I just can't seem to work the bugs out."
"It's all right," he said gently, "It's not like you're under some time crunch here. I'm sure General Caldwell wouldn't want you to rush the development along either."
The scientist shook her head, "No Martin, you don't understand. Caldwell isn't putting pressure on me. I am. What if the Xenos attack again and the Rangers get in a bind? What if you guys need my new weapon in a life or death battle but I can't deliver?"
"That's a lot of what-if's Lucy," Martin said calmly, "Regardless of whether or not your weapon is field worthy, we'll do what humans have always been good at doing... adapting and finding a new way to survive."
"You seem awfully confident in that new team of yours," Lucy noted as she placed a gentle hand on his wrist, "They're starting to grow on you. I can tell you've been acting a little differently."
They stopped as they heard another rowdy exchange at the card table nearby as Erin won another big hand and more drinks were passed around. Martin gave Lucy's hand a little pat as he rose from the bar counter, "Come on Luce. Why don't you join us? They're a fun group and Lord knows it's been a long time since either of us have really had any of it. Maybe let them get to know you a little bit too?"
She gave a conflicted look to her friend before grimacing and turning away, "I don't know Martin... maybe another time. I've been working late and I need to rest. I... thanks for the company."
The Red Ranger quietly watched her head out of the bar and shook his head slightly before getting pulled back to the table by Ella for another round of cards and beer.
A few days passed and Dr. Lucy Beckett sat tensely at her control station in the Command Tower of Atlantis Base. From her forward position in the base's Operations room, she watched as the Nova Rangers charged into battle against the newest threat sent by the Xeno Machina aliens. Hurried chatter from other controllers and combat operators filled the air as General Caldwell sat calmly at his own station directing the flow of information while issuing battle orders.
While many around the world had begun to recognize the way that the Nova Rangers would quickly respond to attacks and deal with the alien menaces, they often didn't realize the great efforts of the UNAF support staff helping facilitate the battle. Combat controllers helped navigate and coordinate allied troops on the ground while dealing with civilian evacuations and temporary shutdowns of utilities. Engineers stood ready to man the Orbital Relays and provide the Rangers with any additional weapons or gear they might need. From her console alongside the general, Lucy had a full panoply of tactical information, communications, vital signs of the Rangers, and scanning equipment to help give the team the edge they needed so that they could focus on the battle while the base support staff could deal with everything else.
Right now, a battle was raging on the streets of Mumbai India as platoons of UNAF soldiers fought to dislodge small pockets of Xeno troops while the Rangers tangled with a giant heavily armored biomechanical monster. Unlike some of the recent humanoid commanders, the enemy assault was being driven by a large mechanical spider-crab type horror which tore through the streets with its multiple legs and blasted gouts of super-heated plasma from it's maw. Chaos was beginning to ensue as civilian casualty reports started coming in with dozens already killed.
"Did I ever tell you guys I hate spiders?" Erin muttered over her comm as the team of now morphed Rangers regrouped and drew their blasters.
"Cut the chatter Lieutenant. Let's see if we can't slow this thing down," Martin called as they all opened fire in unison. The Rangers' volley of powerful blaster shots hammered the spider-crab's forward armor but Lucy watched as the creature's hull deflected the main brunt of the attack.
"Rangers, your blaster pistols barely registered any visible damage on that machine's armor. I'm reading high levels of radio signals coming from the center of it's armored thorax so that's where we need to strike. I'm guessing it's being remotely controlled and that area is it's nerve center. I'm sending you the new tactical data, but you're going to need to use more concentrated energy weapons."
"The Nova Strikers?" Bharata asked as he drew his, "I'm not sure we're going to be able to get close enough. This is going to be like trying to slay a huge dragon."
Martin nodded, "Split up everyone. Erin and I will draw that thing's attention. Erik, set up a vault attack and take a shot at that thing!"
The Rangers split out wide and quickly changed tactics. While the Red and Yellow Rangers continued to pelt the large spider-crab with blaster fire, Erik and Bharata flanked the beast and locked wrists to set up Ella for a flying attack. While the monster was distracted, Ella ignited her Nova Striker and vaulted high off the other male Rangers to try and get at the huge war machine's thorax. As she grabbed on, she gasped when the monster bucked violently and reared up on its multiple legs which caused her lose her grip. The Pink Ranger tumbled into a recovery roll only managing to slash at the beast's side with a glancing blow.
"Okay… new plan?" Erik called as the Rangers all tumbled away from a great sweeping blow by one of the spider-crab's giant forward pincer claws.
Lucy watched the continued destruction of the city and the deteriorating situation as the Rangers were forced back on defense. She looked up and turned to Caldwell, "General… I'd like to try and use the new Prism Cannon. I think it might work here."
The older commander grimaced at his console, "It hasn't been field tested yet doctor. What if something goes wrong?"
"The Rangers are in trouble sir. I know it's a gamble, but I'm confident in my work," Lucy replied as she narrowed her eyes with a determined look. "It's not going to let them down. Please General…"
Caldwell glanced over and listened to the chaos that was barely being controlled by the staff in the tower before he gave a quick nod, "All right Beckett. We'll try it your way."
Lucy nodded in thanks before she reached for her controls and adjusted her headset, "Rangers, regroup and standby for transport. I'm sending you the newest addition to your arsenal: the Prism Cannon."
She flipped a few switches and patched into Engineering, "Julian, deploy the cannon."
"Boss, are you sure? We haven't…"
Beckett shook her head, "We don't have time to debate! The Rangers are in trouble!"
"Understood. The cannon is ready to go," came the immediate reply of her aide.
From her console monitor, Lucy watched as the Rangers gathered and received the sleek futuristic cannon in three parts which automatically fused together. In each of the Rangers' hands were small canisters with headers that had also been teleported to them. The cylinders glowed in different colors corresponding to their Ranger suits.
"Whoah! Nice hardware Doctor B!" Erik exclaimed as the Rangers all took up positions to secure and aim their field gun.
Lucy clutched her headset, "Rangers, this is your Prism Cannon, an adapted Adventi weapon. If you combine those energy batteries, it should have enough power to penetrate that thing's defenses. You'll only get one shot at a time though."
"You heard the lady everyone. Let's lock and load," Martin answered as he plugged in his battery charger. Everyone followed suit and watched as the gun's systems powered up to a full charge. As the giant spider-crab approached and smashed the corner of a small building, the Nova Rangers took aim with their weapon.
"Let's hope this works," Erin muttered through gritted teeth as she heard the Red ranger shout and pull the trigger.
"Fire!"
Everyone watched as the cannon ignited and a brilliant white burst of supercharged positron particles exploded from the barrel. To the Rangers' shock, they felt an electrical jolt from the cannon as a power surge went through it causing a malfunction. The recoil threw the aim off slightly and slammed the end of the gun hard into the shoulder of the surprised Pink Ranger. Ella gave a surprised cry of pain and stumbled over while the positronic blast went wide and missed the head of the mechanical spider-crab. Instead, the stray shot clipped two of the monster's large metallic legs and blew them off at the joint. To everyone's horror, the monster listed sideways having been knocked off balance and plowed into another apartment building nearby, likely inflicting a number of civilian casualties.
"Damn it! Fall back!" Martin shouted at the top of his lungs as the wounded beast fired another gout of plasma along the pavement. While he, Erin, and Bharata hoisted the faulty cannon and retreated to cover, Erik scooped up the injured Ella and helped carry her toward the others.
From her station in Ops, Lucy could only stand frozen in a state of almost catatonic disbelief. Her weapon had failed badly. It had injured a Ranger. Worst of all, the unexpected consequence may have gotten some civilians killed in that ruined building too. This was almost unthinkable for her. She was frozen and didn't know what to do. At that moment, Caldwell took control and barked out an order in a loud voice, "Tactical Station, call in a surgical airstrike! We need to try and cripple that thing before it causes any more damage to the city!"
Lucy stared dumbly at her screen while one of the other combat controllers got on the radio and called in a strike. No sooner had the Rangers and their allied ground troops pulled back, a pair of local Pegasus fighters roared by overhead and fired missiles at the horrific war machine. The missiles struck dead center and staggered the Xeno spider-crab, causing more damage but still not penetrating its armor. Now exposed and suffering two damaged limbs, the giant war machine scuttled quickly to the side and made its escape diving into the waters of the ocean nearby.
A chorus of relieved sighs swept through the tower of Atlantis Base while the situation settled and a new set of response measures were enacted. Damage control, fire fighters, and search and rescue parties had to be organized to deal with the damage from the new alien attack. Martin's voice came through again, "General, enemy ground forces have withdrawn for now but Erik says Ella is hurt. Requesting immediate withdrawal back to base."
Caldwell gave a hard look toward Lucy before turning back to his own station and giving a nod, "Permission granted Captain. We'll see you soon."
How could she be so arrogant? Dr. Beckett slumped down in her seat and pulled off her glasses. She took a deep breath and tried to focus again on helping to clean up this new mess without screwing up again. For now, it was all she could do.