Mission 8: Part 1

Warmaster Hellspont waited patiently in the command chair of his dimly lit flagship as the newest data reports came in from his subordinates. From the Xeno Machina base on the far side of the moon, a large number of alien troops and ships waited in the dark lunar shadows while final preparations were made. Before he could scroll through another report, the biomechanical general glanced upwards as his forward viewscreen lit up and an audio transmission of the monstrous Xeno Machina Overlord Phaeton came through. The massive being made of machines and organics which had been fused to the core the ship spoke in his deep thundering voice, "Warmaster. The time draws near. What is your progress?"

The general rose slowly and set his datapad down, "Lord Phaeton, everything is going as planned. The assault forces and landing parties are ready for the signal."

"And what about the saboteurs on the planet?"

Hellspont nodded, "We've landed a number of our small covert teams on Earth during the last several raids. They've set up the subspace emitter towers and are preparing to coordinate the signals."

The Overlord's voice rumbled, "This plan is ambitious Warmaster, but it carries great risk. Creating interlocking subspace folds to this degree still carries a moderate probability of secondary problems."

"Within reasonable limits my lord," Hellspont responded, "Our engineers believe this plan will work and so do I. Once the emitter towers activate and link their signals, they'll be able to open up large pockets of folded space allowing us to directly transport our forces from the moon to the planet."

"A creative way to circumvent the Terrans' orbital defense guns," Phaeton admitted, "But their armies will eventually respond."

Hellspont smiled, "True, but only in a limited capacity. When we activate our emitter towers on the planet, the signals will temporarily disrupt many of the planet's sensors giving us a brief window of opportunity to strike while they are blind. I will send a small task force of our ships to draw the Terrans' attention to space while our ground units teleport and move in for the kill."

The Overlord made one final transmission before signing off, "You are committing a great deal of resources to this operation Warmaster. See to it that it succeeds."

The Warmaster paused and gathered his thoughts before giving a resolved nod toward one of the cybernetic bridge servitors, "Signal the fleet and raise alert status of the ground forces. in 48 hours, the operation will commence."

The chill of the early spring season hung in the air as dim rays of sunlight struggled to fight past the gray clouds above Atlantis Base. The ocean was choppy that day and the waves splashed loudly against the floating city's piers while pristine white icebergs floated by in the distant waters. Despite the unpleasant weather outside, Erik Dobermann milled about his quarters taking some time to clean his room. While he tidied the place up, he cheerfully sang along to a German opera called the Magic Flute while it played from the speakers of his computer.

He grinned while singing the part of the bumbling bird man Papageno in his deep baritone voice as the cheery music of Mozart continued to play. When he turned around with a handful of dirty laundry, he stopped singing in surprise when he found Erin leaning in the corner of the doorway. The Yellow Ranger's arms were crossed and she wore an amused smile, Aww, why did you stop? You were just getting to the good part."

"Erin? How long have you been there?" Erik huffed in embarrassment as he quickly stuffed his dirty laundry in the hamper and turned the music off.

"Long enough," the young Irish woman chuckled as she entered the room, "I actually didn't know there were any pleasant sounding German operas. Whenever I speak the language, I always feel like I'm threatening to kill somebody instead."

"German is not an angry language… just misunderstood" Erik sighed, "Now do you mind? I was planning to make a video call to my daughter soon."

"Sorry boss. Sarah will have to wait today," Erin said as she clapped the shoulder of the squad's XO, "I actually came by to get you. Caldwell called an impromptu squad meeting in half an hour."

Erik gave a discouraged sigh and closed his laptop. It seemed that the video call would have to wait after all. He nodded and began to follow the Yellow Ranger out of the room, "By the way Reilly, as your senior officer I'm giving you a direct order to not tell anybody about this. You know that, right?"

"My lips are sealed sir."

A little while later, the two Rangers headed to one of the large briefing rooms of the central base where they joined the rest of their teammates along with General Caldwell and another soldier wearing the distinct black uniform of a STARCOM trooper, an elite special forces wing of the UNAF. He was a tall handsome young man who was about the same general age of the Rangers. He was fair featured with a broad muscular build and an imposing look in his eye. General Caldwell cleared his throat as everyone turned their attention to him.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice Rangers. I wanted to introduce you to Captain Jeffery Austin of the American Marine Corps. He commands a detachment of the Special Tactical Assault and Recon Commandos."

Austin sat up straight and gave a crisp nod toward the others while still wearing his stoic expression. Caldwell continued, "At present, the UN has been changing the deployment of its forces in the wake of the alien attacks these last few months. As you can imagine, there's been a lot of shifting of units around and Captain Austin's company has been one such unit. They're going to be temporarily based here for the time being while their orders are being sorted out."

"If I may, what does all this have to do with us General?" Erik asked curiously.

"I decided that Nova Squad might benefit from some friendly joint training exercises with the STAR troops. They've been proving themselves to be very effective against the other Xeno incursions across the world of late."

Captain Austin smirked slightly, "Thank you General. The STARs will be more than happy to help bring Nova Squad up to scratch as an elite combat unit too."

"Up to scratch?" Ella interjected with a defensive edge in her voice, "Are you saying we're not an elite unit too?"

Austin regarded her with an indifferent glance, "You Rangers may have faced some dangerous Xeno field commanders, but you've all been fighting with the benefit of your combat suits and your special weaponry. We STARs don't have those luxuries and we don't need them to defeat our enemies either. It's all a matter of superior skill, discipline, and aggression."

"I think you left out inflated egos too," Bharata muttered but he was silenced by a stern look from Martin. The Red Ranger grimaced, clearly unhappy with the current situation and having his team insulted, but he opted for diplomacy.

"If the General feels it's a good idea, then we look forward to the war-games."

Caldwell nodded and rose from his seat, "Very good. Nova Squad, you are dismissed. I've still got a few more matters to discuss with Captain Austin here."

The Rangers rose and saluted before heading out the door toward the central atrium of the base. While they walked together, they all wore sour faces and muttered amongst themselves. Erin was the first to give a huff, "Can you believe that guy? I mean, I know STAR troopers are good and all, but what a colossally arrogant asshole."

Bharata sighed, "Well, I guess it's kinda to be expected. The guy is an American after all."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Martin frowned indignantly.

"Don't misunderstand us sir," Ella said gently, "What we mean is that Captain Austin strikes us as someone who represents a lot of the bad things we think about some of the people from your country. For example, you guys can sometimes be kinda pushy and overly competitive."

"You guys often think the world revolves around you and disregard what the rest of our countries think," Bharata added.

"Don't forget being prideful, aggressive, and zealously patriotic too," Erin chimed in.

The Red Ranger waved a hand in exasperation, "Okay! Okay! Geez, I get it! But you guys don't have a problem with Lucy or I."

"Don't worry Captain. We actually like the two of you, as well as most of the other Americans serving here on the base. You guys really aren't like that," Erik said trying to calm everyone down, "Bottom line, I think the general squad consensus is that we don't like Captain Austin very much."

Martin shrugged and clapped Erik's shoulder, "Well, I'm not too thrilled about training with him either... especially after he dumped on you guys back there. But you heard the General. We'll just have to keep an open mind and try to be gracious winners... that is when we show up the STARs during the joint exercises."

Erik looked at him in surprise and began to laugh while they headed back toward their quarters, "Ah... there's that old American hubris showing up again. Why am I not surprised?"

The tall golden grasses of the Serengeti Plains swayed gently in the wind as a small company of Xeno Machina foot soldiers finished the preparations on the subspace emitter tower they had built. From a distance, the sight of a large alien machine jutting out of the landscape looked completely out of place on the warm sunny grasslands of Africa. In the near distance, some zebra and gazelles grazed on some grass and paid the Xeno intruders no mind before moving on their way.

While the enemy soldiers continued to work, they got a small portable generator running in order to build up an electrical charge. As it energized, one of the Eidolon troopers looked to the squad's leader. "Are you really sure this is going to work sergeant?"

"It's got to," the alien sergeant replied as he monitored the rising power levels of their apparatus, "We've done our part and it's up to the other strike teams across the globe to have their towers ready. If we can establish this subspace field and link it to the others, there should be enough power to start directly teleporting our units from the moon over here."

"The Terrans won't know what hit them," the subordinate trooper smiled tensely from within his helmet as a structure on the top of the small alien tower began to open up and fan out like some kind of mechanical flower. A purplish glow began to emanate from the tower as the air rippled and the fabric of real space and subspace began to be manipulated. All over the world, Xeno Machina towers activated from the dense Amazon Rainforest to the sprawling Serengeti Plains to the rocky Steppes of Russia and so on. As each tower went online, the frequencies of their subspace signals resonated together and caused the areas around them to bend and distort ever so slightly.

From the plains of Russia, the highest ranking member of all the alien strike teams sent a transmission back to the moon while his own troops watched in awe at the sight unfolding before them, "Warmaster Hellspont? We've done it. A subspace fold has been successfully established. We are ready to receive the first wave of reinforcements."

And so it began at several points around the world where large numbers of Eidolon shock troops, drone soldiers, and heavy Xeno equipment began to be funneled through in preparation for a major ground attack on the planet. The aliens knew it was only a matter of time before the UNAF detected the unusual signals but by then it would be too late. The subspace field emitters would interfere with Earth's scanners and hopefully confuse the remaining defense fleet orbiting the planet as well. If all went according to plan, it would only be a matter of time now before the Terrans would be enveloped in a vicious surprise attack.

Meanwhile, back in the safety of Atlantis Base the Green and Pink Nova Rangers took a leisurely walk around the West End after a little shopping trip. They had gone to buy some more cooking ingredients for another one of Ella's culinary experiments… or abominations depending upon one's point of view. While they strolled down a busy thoroughfare, Bharata took an apprehensive glance in the grocery bag that he was carrying for his friend, "Tuna fish, marshmallows, and picante salsa… do I even want to know what you're planning to make?"

"Not unless you want me to spoil it," Ella replied cheerily while failing to notice her teammate's mild grimace, "It's still a tossup between using them in quiche or a casserole. What do you think?"

"Uh... surprise me," the Green Ranger answered wryly.

As they continued on down the street lined by rows of shops, they came across a pair of black uniformed American STAR troopers strolling down the sidewalk. As they passed the Rangers, the two young special forces soldiers exchanged a look before turning around and following along. The first one, a Hispanic-American looking man sidled up alongside Ella and gave a suggestive smile, "Well hello there chiquita. Where are you off to in such a hurry today?"

Ella raised an eyebrow and gently brushed him off, "Off to do something much more interesting than talk to you. Excuse me."

The STAR trooper continued on and put a casual arm around the Pink Ranger's shoulder trying to flirt with her some more, "Oh come on now girl. I just want to talk. No harm in that, right?"

Ella patiently removed his hand and gave a level glare, "No... but let me make this clear. I'm not interested, okay?"

The soldier persisted until Bharata stepped forward and got in the way, "Listen friend, the lady asked you to leave her alone."

The STAR trooper growled, "I wasn't talking to you, you four eyed twerp. Get outta my face!"

He gave the Green Ranger a violent shove causing Ella to spring into action. She immediately stamped down on the trooper's foot with her own and then knocked the wind out of him with an elbow to the side. As the Hispanic man fell to his knees gasping, his companion, an African-American trooper moved to try and restrain Ella. No sooner had he reached out his arm was when Bharata swiftly seized his wrist and twisted the arm into a painful joint lock to force the other STAR trooper to the ground.

The trooper flailed helplessly for several moments before Bharata was surprised from behind and grabbed by a pair of strong hands. Having been caught off guard, Bharata was put in a tight headlock by a third burly STAR trooper who had arrived and Ella gasped as she recognized the face of Captain Jeffery Austin.

"Captain! Let go of him!" the Pink Ranger shouted in outrage while the other STARs recovered to their feet, angry at having been humiliated just now. Jeffery tightened his grip and scowled.

"Like hell I will Lieutenant! This guy attacked one of my men. You think I'm going to take that lying down?"

"Hey! Break it up!" came the angry shout of Martin followed by the other Rangers, "Captain Austin! Stand down right now!"

By now, other civilians on the street were stopping to stare at the unusual sight of a soldiers' scuffle out in the open. Erik and Erin immediately began to wave the onlookers off and get them on their way, "Come on! Clear out! Keep it moving, huh? Nothing to see here!"

Meanwhile, the Marine captain scowled again and shoved Bharata away, obeying only because Martin was technically senior to him in rank.

"Captain Sterling! Are we glad to see you!" Ella gasped in relief as the Rangers and the others STARs became locked in a sort of face-off in the streets.

"What the hell is going on here?" Martin demanded heatedly, "Were you two fighting just now?"

Bharata raised a hand, "Sir, we can explain. The facts is..."

"The fact is that your officers attacked my men and they should be punished," Austin cut in angrily, "Your squad has no discipline and they're not reflecting well on you right now Sterling."

The Red Ranger glared angrily at the captain of the STARs as the conflict began escalating more, "We're here to break up a fight Captain, not start another one. But if that's what you're asking for..."

The standoff was interrupted as emergency warning sirens began to sound and the Rangers' Nova Morphers went off. Whatever differences the two squads of soldiers were having, it would have to wait.

"We'll sort this out later," Jeffery said pointedly to Martin, "Right now, I think our troops should take out some of this pent up aggression on the Xenos instead. Don't you think?"

"Fine by me."

Jeffery stopped a moment more as his own troops hurried off to suit up and prepare for battle, "Oh, and Captain? I think we can count this as our first joint training exercise. Be sure to have your people pay attention. Like I said, I have no doubt they might learn a thing or two."

As the STARs departed, the other Rangers waited as Martin wore a scowl and clenched a fist. Erik hesitantly, cleared his throat, "Everything okay boss?"

"Erin was right. That guy is a colossal asshole," the Red Ranger muttered, "All right squad. Let's get moving and suit up already! I want us to be the first ones on the next battlefield. Got it?"

Not surprisingly... there were no objections to that sentiment at all.

A/N:
Lots of thanks to all the people still following along here! Now begins a shift into the somewhat longer arc based plots. In this first major plot, I'm going to be playing fast and loose again with some theoretical science, especially as it relates to subspace, dimensional folds, relativity, and all that jazz. If Star Trek can get away with it and still tell a cool story, then I'll see if I can't do it too.