Mission 8: Part 2
Tall dark plumes of smoke spiraled up into the skies as the sounds of explosions and weapons fire filled the air of Kursk, Russia. In a flash, the Rangers of Nova Squad were teleported from the transit platform of Atlantis Base to the small Russian city which had devolved into a warzone. No sooner had the Rangers been sent, several fresh platoons of UNAF soldiers arrived on aerial troop transports to help support the Russian military forces who were holding the line against the mass of Xeno Machina invaders. Right on the heels of the Rangers, Captain Jeffery Austin and his company of STAR troopers teleported in and took to the field as well.
At the moment, the situation was looking grim. The small city had become a hotly contested battleground with the alien invaders holding the southern half while the UN forces repulsed them from the northern end. Despite having initially been caught off guard, the local Russian forces had fallen back and put up a stubborn defense until help began to arrive. Although they had been given a very quick rundown of the situation, the Rangers were all shocked that the Xenos had been able to slip by the planet's defenses and begin launching massive ground attacks.
"How the hell did this happen?" Ella remarked in dread as the top of a distant bell tower exploded in a cloud of flames and pebbles, "Where did all these Xenos come from?"
"I agree. It doesn't make sense. If the initial reports are right, how are they landing whole companies at a time?" Bharata mused while the team hurried to the frontlines to assist in the city's defense.
Martin wore a grim face as he loaded a fresh power pack into his rifle, "We'll worry about that later team. Right now we have to try and halt the enemy advance here. If the Xenos break through Kursk, they'll have a direct route north to attack the capital of Moscow. We can't let that happen."
Upon nearing the front lines on the city, the Rangers waded through rubble and several bombed out buildings where the local civilians had fled from. Here and there smoldering fires burned intermittently while bodies of human soldiers and Xeno troopers lay scattered about an open plaza up ahead. From the looks of it, the clearing had become a no man's land as a result of the back and forth fighting.
At the forward barricades, the Rangers were met by an older UNAF Major with a Russian flag patch on his shoulder. His face was covered in grime and he looked as grizzled as his troops who were presently keeping the invaders from advancing any further.
"Sir, I'm Captain Martin Sterling of Nova Squad. We're here to help," the Red Ranger began with a salute as the rest of his team nodded.
"Captain Jeffery Austin, 9th STAR company also here to assist sir," the STAR commander added as his team joined the others on the battle line.
The Russian commander sighed and pulled out a map while everyone knelt into cover at the sound of mortar fire. "I'm Major Mikhail Petrov and I am glad to see you guys. Our units have checked the Xeno advance in this sector but it looks like they may be massing their strength to make a push soon. So far the aliens are dug in up ahead and the alleyways of the city are too narrow for us to get any heavy armor or artillery through."
Captain Austin squinted through the smokey warzone and tried to survey the ruined terrain, "We may be able to make a countermove here but we need to find out where the main line of alien troops and equipment is coming from. If we can cut them off, it may help hamstring their offensive."
"Agreed," Martin nodded as he tapped his comm, "Atlantis Base, we need a better look at the map. Do we have eyes on a viable target?"
Back in the base, Lucy furiously worked her keyboard and went through sensor data. She stopped a moment when she picked up an odd reading on her console. "Captain... our sensors are picking up something funny. I'm reading unusually concentrated subspace signals coming from the southern edge of Kursk. They seem to be distorting all the particles of the area and making it hard to get a clear read on it. There's an odd circular movement suggesting polarized waves of..."
"In simple English Lucy. We're a little short on time here," Martin prompted.
"Right... I'm guessing the Xenos are using devices to create dimensional folds... miniature wormholes to bend realspace and let them travel about. What a remarkable application, don't you think?"
An explosion went off nearby blasting back a few UNAF soldiers. Erik immediately rushed over and pulled out his medkit to help patch up one of the injured soldiers who had taken shrapnel in his arm. Major Petrov scowled, "So that's how they're doing it? Our objective will be to hit those positions generating those portals."
"I'm sending you five the general location of the subspace anomalies," Lucy said to the Rangers,
"I can't lock on specifically because those waves are jamming our sensors and it's only getting worse. Right now, Caldwell says the fleet and the orbital guns upstairs have been temporarily blinded."
Erin pounded her fist, "Okay. Then we don't have a lot of time to waste. The sooner we can knock those generators out, the better."
The Red Ranger surveyed the battlefield again as a new volley of blaster fire erupted between the two sides, "Okay. We'll make a straight run and knife our way through the Xeno line. Ella, once we get to those transmitters, we'll need you to plug in and disable those devices. Understood?"
The other Rangers reached for their morphers and gave ready nods before Captain Austin cleared his throat, "Hold on. You didn't forget about us, did you? We came here to kick some ass too."
"You can help hold the line here," Erik suggested as he finished with his other patient.
Jeffery shook his head, "Wrong Lieutenant. We're going to help you Rangers bust through the Xeno line instead. Hell, maybe we'll be able to capture that alien transmitter first."
"All right Austin. You're on. We'll have a little race then," Martin nodded while giving a wry smile.
"Sir? There is the problem of crossing that killzone," one of the STARs pointed out as a few stray shots rang out overhead.
"You just leave that part to us," the Red Ranger said, "We'll lead the charge so try to keep up."
The five reached for their morphers and activated them, "Energize!"
Despite their attempts to look indifferent, Captain Austin and his squad of STAR troopers couldn't help but stare in amazement as the Rangers were engulfed in a flash of colorful light and endowed in their impressive futuristic battle suits.
The morphed Rangers all took up a line formation on the frontline barricade and activated the personal force shields that had been built into their mophers. As they did, the STARS gathered in close order behind them and readied themselves to charge forward into combat.
"All right boys, remember the plan," Austin called, "The Rangers will shield us from the incoming fire until we reach the end of that plaza. We'll break left and take the Xenos in a flank attack!"
The STARs all barked a loud affirmative response in unison before the Rangers dashed forward interlocking their shields into a defensive wall of force fields. A fierce hail of Xeno blaster fire erupted and battered at the shields but the Rangers pushed forward and returned fire with their own Nova Blasters causing the enemy to momentarily slacken their defense. The instant the Rangers crossed the open plaza, they burst over the enemy barricades and broke ranks igniting their energy blades and carving through the Xeno battle drones there.
Meanwhile, the STARs shifted left and rounded the ruins of a bombed out building, sweeping around to surprise attack a large number of the genetically enhanced Eidolon soldiers that were now responding to the Rangers' charge. The STARs wasted no time in positioning themselves to lay down a withering and accurate hail of laser fire to mow down several of the enemies. Once the Rangers broke through, they were surprised to find the STARs regrouping and reloading atop a pile of dead Xeno soldiers. The black uniforms and helmets almost made them look like a band of eerie grim reapers.
"What took you so long chica? I've been waiting here just for you," the Hispanic STAR trooper who had been hitting on Ella before winked as the Pink Ranger approached.
"Garcia! Get your head in the game!" Capt. Austin snapped sharply, "Now is not the time!"
Garcia was about to protest when a shot rang out and the trooper was clipped in the shoulder by an energy bolt. He spun sideways and fell over as the other STARs hit the dirt shouting warnings of, "Sniper!"
From where he stood, Bharata leveled his blaster pistol and scanned the roofs of the buildings around them using the advanced tactical sensors in his helmet. His scanners easily picked up the heat signature of an enemy sniper on the third floor of a nearby building trying to hide behind the wall. The Green Ranger aimed his blaster at the building and fired a pair of shots which hit the hiding spot and dropped the alien marksman.
"Nice shot Bara!" Erin grinned while giving a thumbs up. The Green Ranger glanced a moment to the wounded Trooper Garcia and gave a quiet nod.
"You're welcome. All clear Captain!"
Martin waved the strike team forward through the rubble and ruined city-scape which the enemy occupied. "Let's keep moving! The sooner we get to the other side of the urban center, the better."
After fighting a running battle through the streets of Kursk, the Rangers and the STARs finally pushed to the other side of the sector and came across a band of aliens escorting the sought after signal tower closer into the city on a mobile platform.
"There it is! That's where the enemy signals are coming from!" Erik pointed out but he stopped in surprise when the STARs advanced without warning and launched a coordinated attack on the enemy. Again the Xenos were taken by complete surprise as they were sniped dead before they could even respond. To the Rangers' amazement, a heavily armored vehicle that was escorting the alien group erupted in flames as one of the other STARs snuck around a pile of rubble and destroyed it with a rocket launcher.
"Damn... they're good," Bharata remarked as Captain Austin secured the portable transmitter tower. The trooper nodded to his men and gave a smug grin toward the Rangers.
"He who hesitates is lost. Looks like we won the race Rangers."
Martin shook his head slightly at the petty dig while the STARs exchanged fist bumps and high fives for their initiative, "You forgot that we're the ones who can disable this device. Miss Catalano? If you'd be so kind?"
Ella nodded and approached the emitter tower while powering down. She pulled some electronic equipment from her backpack and plugged in some connector cables to the Xeno device. While she worked to try and hack the command codes and disable the equipment, the Rangers and their allies stood guard over the area and watched in trepidation as the top of the miniature tower continued to glow ominously and give off its signals.
No sooner had she plugged in, Ella stopped when she noticed some unusual data readings coming up on her screen. "What the... this can't be right."
"What's going on over there Ella?" Erik asked as he checked the wounded shoulder of Trooper Garcia.
"The data in this thing has become corrupted," Ella frowned with uneasy confusion, "I can't be sure but it looks like there's been some internal malfunction and it's only getting worse."
"Are you sure you didn't do anything to it?" Captain Austin asked accusingly.
"No sir!" Ella said as she shook her head, "If something in this device went to hell, it happened at least several hours ago."
Martin nodded and waved her away, "Okay, pack it in Ella. We're not going to mess with something we don't understand."
At that moment, everyone froze as they saw the glowing top of the Xeno tower change color to orange and then flicker several times.
"Oh boy... that's not good," Erin remarked before several more blaster bolts from alien weapons rang out and streaked by.
The UN allies all turned in shock to see a fresh company of Eidolon soldiers emerge from a nearby sidestreet and attempt to retake the captured emitter tower.
"Damn! Like we didn't have enough to worry about right now?" Martin growled as the STARs began to shout and scramble into a defensive posture.
"Stand your ground men! Don't let the Xenos through!" Jeffery shouted as he hurled a grenade and blasted back a handful of alien troops.
The Red Ranger shook his head in argument and waved the team back, "No! We need to fall back into cover! We're sitting ducks out here in the open!"
"Sorry Captain! I'm not gonna let those bastards retake their device!" Jeffery growled stubbornly as he continued to fire back with his rifle.
Fortunately, the subspace emitter tower decided the argument for them as the orange glowing top of the device flashed and erupted into a translucent bubble of clear white light again. The allies fell back letting a handful of the Xenos approach but the Eidolons were caught in the radius of the energy bubble which had now begun to swallow the tower and spread out over the street.
To his shock the Green Ranger found himself at the edge of the strange anomaly and paused, unsure of how to respond.
"What? What is going on here?" Bharata cried out in alarm as he watched the air ripple violently around him. The objects around him almost seemed to bend and blur in and out of focus causing a slight feeling of disorientation. Before he could be fully enveloped in the strange phenomenon, he felt a hand grab his shoulder and roughly pull him free. He blinked in surprise as he saw Erin tug his shoulder and urge him to continue falling back. "Erin? I... thanks."
"Don't thank me yet," she cried in alarm, "Something's going on! We have to keep moving!"
As the two Rangers fell back to safety alongside their comrades and the other STARs, they watched as a strange bubble of rippling energy particles slowly began to grow from the Xeno tower. The alien troopers who had been caught in the anomaly seemingly remained frozen in place blurring in and out of focus. One moment they appeared to be solid, but then the next minute they would become ethereal before phasing back in again.
"Rangers? What's going on?" Lucy's voice came in over the radio, "I'm reading erratic energy spikes radiating from those subspace emitters... from those locations all over the world, in fact."
"We were hoping you could tell us Doc," Ella responded in worry as she continued to back away from the slowly growing bubble of unstable energy, "Something's gone screwy with the enemy's transport device and it's doing something weird now."
Captain Austin grabbed a small rocket launcher from one of his subordinates and began to load it, "Whatever that thing is, let's blast it before it swallows us and gets any worse."
Erik immediately grabbed the STAR trooper's weapon arm keeping him from raising the launcher, "No! Are you nuts? We don't know what that is! You might blow us all up or make things worse!"
The other STARs disregarded him and began to aim with their laser rifles at the malfunctioning Xeno tower before Jeffery shoved Erik's hand away in irritation. He hated to admit it, but the Blue Ranger had a point, "Hold your fire! Hold your fire!"
Martin kept his eyes fixed on the increasingly unstable anomaly while continuing to back up, "General... a battalion of Xeno troops are stuck in some kind of weird energy bubble but if it keeps up, it may put us and our allies in danger. What are your orders?"
From the base, Caldwell watched the strange phenomenon continue to occur before answering with a grimace, "Nova Squad, I want you and all UNAF forces to pull back and withdraw from Kursk. We're getting you out of there so we can come up with a new plan."
Turning to Lucy, he nodded, "Dr. Beckett? Transport the Rangers and the STARs out of there right now."
The scientist gave a tense nod and punched in the commands to activate an emergency teleport lock. Whatever was going on, not even the Xeno Machina invaders were sure how to respond to this emerging crisis. As she glanced at some of the preliminary sensor reports coming back from the anomaly, she wondered if she'd even be able to make sense of this growing disaster too.