Mission 10: Part 2
Bharata Timothy kept a vigilant watch as the UNAF troop transport ship sped along the skies at the edges of the Ural Mountains. After being teleported to Moscow Russia, Nova Squadron and Captain Austin's team of STAR troopers were welcomed warmly by Major Petrov whom they aided in the recent battle of Kursk. The grateful senior officer offered the use of an aircraft and the rescue mission was underway.
Having been put in charge of checking the geography and doing the intelligence work for the mission, he eyed a map of the terrain on a portable datapad and reviewed the drop plan again. He handed off the datapad to Martin and secured his rappelling harness, "Everything checks out. We're set to go sir."
"Good work Bara. You're going to be on point when we land. Erin and Ella, you both know your part of the plan, right?"
From her spot on a bench of the hold, Erin patted a large backpack between her and the Pink Ranger, "Yes sir. We're going to be extremely careful with this large bag of C-4 explosives."
Across the way, Captain Austin and his black clad troopers went about checking their weapons and readying their gear. The leader of the STARs idly glanced over and slapped in a fresh power cartridge in his rifle, "The pilot told me we'll be at the periphery of the Parallax bubble in a few minutes. I heard it's supposed to be pretty freaky inside one of those things. Nothing we need to worry about is there?"
"The only thing you'll have to worry about is keeping any of the Xeno sentries off of us," Erik answered as he held the repaired Parallax Inhibitor, "As long as you guys stay near me, you should be fine."
"Sounds fine with me," Captain Austin said as he got up and headed for the exit hatch of the ship in order to prepare for the drop, "Captain Sterling, do you want to make another little contest of this second joint exercise?"
"The only thing I want is to get Dr. Beckett home safe and sound," Martin replied calmly as he joined his counterpart. They secured their own harnesses and cords as the hatch opened and the troop transport leveled off and began to hover. They could see a snowy rocky mountain plateau about fifty feet below them and the edges of a large glowing Parallax bubble surrounding the immediate area.
From the cockpit of the transport, the copilot stuck her head back in the doorway, "Captains, you are clear for drop. We'll be standing by for extraction and wait for your signal."
"Understood. Wish us luck. Bara?"
The Green Nova Ranger gave a thumbs up and jumped from the aircraft, rappelling down on his cable and nimbly landing on the cliff edge. He kept watch as the two teams quickly followed behind and slid down on their ropes to join him. Once they were all on the ground, the transport craft rose in the air and took off to fly a holding pattern around the mountainsides. The STARs immediately fanned out into a defensive formation and covered the approach of the Nova Rangers behind them.
As the allies carefully made their approach toward the cave and the edge of the anomaly, Erik activated the Parallax Inhibitor and stepped forward bravely as it radiated a protective aura of particles to counter the effects of the distortion. While the Rangers fell in line with Erik, the STARs hesitated for a moment prompting Ella to give a mild chuckle of amusement, "What's wrong? I didn't think a bunch of big tough Special Forces guys would be afraid of a little time bubble."
Captain Austin snorted and waved his men forward to join the Rangers. While they walked into the murky swirling vortex of displaced reality, the STARs couldn't help but marvel for a moment at the thrill and the terror of passing through such a strange phenomenon. At the lead of the party, Bharata already morphed and led the way using the advanced navigation tools and sensors in his helmet. The Green Ranger guided them through the narrow winding mountain approach to the lip of the cave mouth, "All right. We made it. Sensors are picking up strong subspace transmissions coming from inside the caves. I'm guessing that's the epicenter of it all."
Martin nodded and joined him at the front of the formation, "Thanks Bara. Erin and Ella, get those explosives ready. Captain Austin, you and your men are with me."
The group made their way deeper into the dark caverns and followed the bright light of their powerful flashlights. They passed several Eidolon soldiers and Reaver hounds frozen in place in the corridors of the cavern avoiding them just enough to keep the effects of the Inhibitor from freeing them from their stasis. Eventually, the rescue party followed the signals until they reached a large wide upon cavern where they found the source of the signal along with Lucy and Commander Vivisectus.
Upon reaching Lucy, the effects of the Inhibitor washed over her and she stumbled backwards into the Rangers. She blinked in confusion and looked about in disorientation suddenly being surrounded by the Rangers and UNAF soldiers. Unlike her normally prim and composed self in her lab, she now looked haggard, frightened, and vulnerable. Martin immediately held her steady and looked her in the eye, "Hey Luce. We're here for you. You're safe now."
Through her cracked glasses she gave a relieved sob and buried her head into the shoulder of her friend, "Oh God... Martin? Is that really you?"
He put a gentle hand over her head as he held her for a moment, "Easy does it. We're going to get you out of here. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
She raised her head up and frowned to herself tiredly, "I… I think so."
Erik glanced over and caught sight of the small bruise and cut on her forehead where the Xeno had backhanded her, "Looks like just a scratch Doc. I'll take care of it when we get to the transport."
Dr. Beckett brushed aside a loose strand of her dirty blonde hair and struggled to get her brain in gear again, "Oh my gosh... that Xeno commander! He's right there! And the Parallax module..."
"No worries Dr. B. We're all over it," Bharata called as he gestured to Ella and Erin who were finishing planting some explosive charges on the transmitting device. As he said that, everyone noticed the Inhibitor's shield begin to flicker.
"Captain Sterling? What's going on here?" Austin called hesitantly as he and his men continued to stand guard over the room.
Lucy rose to her feet and pushed past everyone toward the device. Erin glanced up in surprise, "Doctor? What are you doing?"
"I've got to shut this thing down first. If I don't, the Inhibitor will give out and we we'll all be trapped here. We have to stabilize the subspace field or it's only going to keep spreading and detonating those bombs won't help."
"But the Xenos will be unfrozen! We'll have to fight our way out of the cave!" one of the STARs protested while gesturing to the frozen Vivisectus.
Captain Austin grimaced before turning back to Lucy, "It looks like we're screwed either way. Do what you've got to do Doc."
Lucy nodded and quickly went to work on the module typing in key codes she had set herself so that she could disable the device. Moments later, the device powered down and the Parallax field subsided, freeing everyone trapped inside it. As that happened, all hell broke loose in that cave. Several STARs opened fire on some of the Eidolon guards at point blank range while the Rangers began to make a hasty retreat for the exit.
The Xeno commander Vivisectus turned and blinked in shock as he spotted the new intruders amid the ensuing chaos. He was struck several times by laser rifle fire but the las bolts harmlessly bounced off his armor. He reared up and roared furiously, "Rangers! What are you doing here?"
"Okay... time to go!" Ella called as she pushed Lucy over toward a group of the STARs, "Go with them now Doc! Hurry! They'll get you to safety!"
While they escaped, the mantis monster began to advance on the Rangers and spread his razor pincers as Captain Austin and the remaining STARs began a close quarters firefight with the Xeno foot soldiers in the caves. The Red Ranger brandished his morpher quickly, "All right, let's put this guy down as a team. Ready?"
"Energize!" came the unified response as all five teammates activated their moprhers and called upon their Ranger suits.
Vivisectus recoiled for a moment from te bright light before he saw the five draw their Nova Striker blades which glowed menacingly. Erik and Ella raised their guards and nodded as the Blue Ranger gave a shout, "Let's take it to em!"
The Blue and Pink Rangers charged first and clashed their blades against the metal claws of the alien. As the alien turned them aside, Bharata and Erin wove in and tumbled nimbly through the melee blocking strikes from the secondary blade arms of the insectoid's shoulder appendages. Despite their teamwork, the Xeno held them to a standstill and moved to dodge a blow from the Red Ranger next. Vivisectus parried aside Erik's next blow and kicked Erin aside while blocking Ella and slashing Bharata away.
Amid the chaos, Martin darted in to cover his comrade and grappled with the commander for several moments. Despite his best efforts, the Ranger was overpowered and thrown aside by the stronger Xeno. While the others continued to tangle with the commander, Bharata tried to rise to his feet again but was tackled by one of the Xeno Reaver hounds who had broken loose in the chaos.
The Green Ranger gasped as the mutant dog snarled furiously and snapped its large maw at him, all while trying to pin him to the ground. Seeing his comrade's plight, Captain Austin glanced over and pulled a frag grenade from his belt, "Lieutenant!"
Bharata watched as the STAR tossed him the grenade and let it roll into his hand. The Green Ranger quickly pulled the pin and stuffed the explosive down the mouth of the beast before throwing it off of him with his feet. "Whoah! Bad dog!"
The Reaver rolled clear several meters toward the wall and turned to charge again before it exploded into a mess of bionic parts and muscle tissues. As the battle raged, some of the splatter hit Ella's suit causing her to recoil in momentary disgust, "Ohh! Geez Bara! Gross!"
As the Rangers struggled to keep Vivisectus tied down, Captain Austin reloaded his rifle and shouted as one of his men carried another wounded STAR toward the exit, "Rangers! You have to move! We can't hold this position forever!"
The Red Ranger slashed Vivisectus and ducked aside as Erik sent the monster flying back toward the Parallax tower with a powerful kick, "You heard the man. Let's go! Lt. Reilly, I think now would be a good time to bring the house down."
"Yes sir!" she replied eagerly as she pulled the detonator to the C-4 explosives.
"Where do you Rangers think you're going?" the Xeno shouted as he rose to his feet and began to pursue the retreating human Rangers and soldiers.
Ella activated her force shield and turned to help cover her allies as they fled, "Sorry ugly! We've got a plane to catch! Hit it Erin!"
The Yellow Ranger pushed the detonator and the explosives erupted into a spectacular explosion. The blast engulfed the murderous insectoid alien and spread through the inner cave incinerating the Parallx tower as well as the other Eidolon soldiers and Reaver hounds nearby. As they dashed for the exit of the cave, the Rangers felt the shockwave of the blast right behind them and raised their shields just in time to let the sheer force of the explosion throw them out into the open.
Up ahead on the cliff side, Dr. Beckett and some of the STARs turned around when they saw the Rangers and the rest of Austin's men tumble to safety amid the edge of the blast. Everyone took several moments to recover after having been shaken up and began helping each other stand. Erik shook his head out and tapped the side of it, "Damn girls... you laid those bombs out pretty well. My ears are still ringing."
"You don't suppose anyone survived that blast, do you?" Ella asked, "I'd imagine those charges probably caused a huge cave in."
Bharata stood scanning the area by the smoking cavemouth with his sensors before pointing his finger in shock, "Uh... guys? Don't speak too soon. Look!"
To everyone's amazement, they watched as the mangled form of the Xeno commander Vivisectus staggered out of the cave. His armor was scorched, burnt, and torn in several places and he was missing two appendages: one of his normal arms and one of his additional mantis claws. He dragged himself forward and trudged along with a drunken gait while speaking, "You think you can stop the Xeno Machina that easily? I... will... eviscerate all of you."
Now that they were in open transport range, Martin hit a button on his morpher calling Lucy's lab tech back at Atlantis Base, "Julian! We could use your help right about now. How about sending us that Prism Cannon?"
"Right away Captain! Stand by!" came the younger man's reply as he keyed in some commands from the lab and teleported the Rangers their heavy cannon.
The STARs backed off and watched with impressed looks as the Rangers quickly formed up and loaded the cannon in the wake of the advancing alien. As they finished loading and aiming, Erik turned to Martin, "Isn't this all a little much?"
Erin turned her head, "Nope. The Xeno brought his little knives to a gunfight, right Captain?"
The Red Ranger locked on target and pulled the trigger, "Except we just brought a howitzer instead. Fire!"
The Rangers fired the cannon and a powerful beam of concentrated energy slammed into the Xeno destroying him where he stood and incinerating the remainders against the mountainside. The STARs stood speechless at the sight of such a powerful weapon and gawked as a small rockslide began to roll down the other side of the cliff as a result of the discharged energy.
As the UNAF transport aircraft came back around the bend of the mountain and began to descend, the Rangers continued to watch the small avalanche they had caused from the destruction of the Xeno leader until Bharata piped up, "Okay... maybe it was a little much after all."
Everyone stopped and stared at him for a long moment before the Rangers and a few of the STARs nearby broke out into giddy laughs of relief, glad to be free of their harrowing ordeal. As the Rangers lowered their cannon, they glanced over and caught the haggard but exhausted face of Lucy watching them with a gentle smile. She gave a small thumbs up and they couldn't help but smile in return as the allied transport craft landed and extended its loading ramp to the rescue party.
The same female copilot gave a wave and grinned, "Hey! Looks like you guys could use a ride. You want a lift back to Moscow or what?"
Upon finally returning to Atlantis Base, General Caldwell and a large group of fellow servicemen and civilian staff were there to welcome the Rangers and the STARs home from their rescue operation. Not only had they succeeded in rescuing Dr. Beckett, but they had stopped the Parallax Crisis and took out another Xeno field commander in battle. As they stepped off the transit platform, the surprised rescuers were met with a loud chorus of cheers and applause from their colleagues.
As people there began to make way and mill about the transporter room, a medical team stepped forward and met with a few of the STARs who had been hurt in the operation. Caldwell stepped forward with a warm smile and addressed his young charges, "Nova Squadron. Captain Austin. Well done... all of you."
"Thank you sir," the soldiers all replied straightening up while giving exhausted salutes.
Caldwell turned to Lucy and put his hands on her shoulders in a fatherly way, "Dr. Beckett... welcome home."
She tiredly nodded and returned the smile, "Thank you General. Glad to be back."
As Julian Wilson stepped forward to happily greet his boss and lead her away to the infirmary, General Caldwell pulled the Rangers and Captain Austin aside, "Everyone, you've done a spectacular thing these past few days but this conflict is far from over. The Xenos have still landed a number of their forces through those portals and they'll be lurking... ready to strike from the shadows."
"We'll be ready for them," Jeffery Austin said firmly, "And we'll beat them wherever whenever they show their ugly faces. Hopefully they learned a big lesson from all this."
"Yeah... to leave all the mad science to the professionals like Dr. Beckett," Ella quipped earning a few laughs from the others.
Caldwell stepped back, "Well... I'll let you all rest and recover tonight. I'll debrief you tomorrow afternoon at thirteen hundred hours. Dismissed."
Everyone watched Caldwell depart before Captain Austin turned to the Rangers, "Well... it's been fun, but I've got see to my men. I don't imagine my unit be stationed here at Atlantis Base for too much longer, but the General said we might still be called in here from time to time."
"Thank you again for you help today Jeff. We probably couldn't have done it without you," Martin said quietly.
Jeff kept his chin high and silently sized up the Rangers one last time before turning to walk away with an amused snort, "Well... I guess there might still be some hope for Nova Squad yet. Just remember you owe us. I'll see ya round Sterling."
As they watched him depart, Erin sighed and crossed her arms, "I don't know guys. I still think he's kind of an asshole."
"Yeah, but for now let's just be glad that asshole in on our side," Erik answered with a quiet smile as he put his around the others and led them toward the exit of the room amid the praise and chatter of the other base personnel.
As evening set in over Atlantis Base, the gentle sounds of the calm ocean waves echoed in the air. Even the occasional roar of jet engines from the runways of the floating station's North End was strangely absent. For now, an unusual quiet and stillness set in as there were no Pegasus or Kestrel fighters flying patrols tonight. From the balcony of her little apartment in the West End, Lucy Beckett stood looking out over the glittering lights of the city against the night skies. It was a beautiful sight and after her harrowing experience, she was glad to be back in the familiar safety of her home. After a long shower and a hot meal, she just wanted to enjoy the comfort of clean clothes and a good book tonight. That was until the door chime sounded.
She glanced over in surprise and ambled into her living room, "Come in."
As the door swished open, she saw the Red Ranger enter wearing a tired but relieved expression. Like her, he had cleaned up and was wearing his normal duty uniform along with a faint smile, "Hey Luce. Sorry to drop by unannounced. I know it's kinda late, but I wanted to check up on you to make sure you were doing okay."
She returned the smile and nodded as he entered the apartment and walked into the living room, "Thanks, and it's okay. I'm doing good now."
She gestured to the kitchen area, "I already ate, but can I get you anything? Water? Coffee maybe?"
"No. That's okay," he said gently while walking out on the balcony overlooking the city, "I just came for the company. How are you holding up?"
She shrugged and joined him while they leaned on the railing side by side looking at the lights, "I dunno… as well as one can be after getting captured and nearly killed by a pack of murderous aliens. To be honest, I have no idea how you Rangers do it… going out there day after day, risking your lives and facing down those horrifying monsters."
"After this battle, I take it you'll never want to leave your lab again?" he said lightly nudging her shoulder with his.
She gave a mild frown and huffed slightly, "It's not like that. I'm just saying I don't think I'm cut out for field duty. You guys make it look so easy when you go into battle."
"It never really gets easier," Martin admitted quietly, "You just learn how to manage that fear a little better over time."
She gave a slightly wry grin, "Really. I have a hard time imagining that the Red Ranger of Nova Squadron was just as afraid as I was."
"Well believe it," he said slowly turning to face her, "To be honest, the thing that scared me most was when that Xeno took you away from us. Without the help of my other teammates and the STARs… well, I'm not sure how I would have handled it."
Lucy tilted her head in slight confusion as she faced her friend, "Martin? What is it? You have a strange look on your face just now."
He stepped forward and closed the distance between them, gently reaching up to brush aside her hair where she had been struck by the alien, "Lucy… I know this sounds kinda weird and maybe now isn't the best time to say this but…"
"What is it?" she asked hesitantly.
Martin sighed and looked her in the eyes, "The thought of nearly losing you... well, it put several things into perspective for me. Things I honestly hadn't thought about for quite some time. Things like how much our friendship means to me… or how much you mean to me personally.
Dr. Beckett blinked in surprise and felt her cheeks grow warm, "Martin… you don't mean like...
"I do," he said touching her cheek lightly and drawing it back slowly.
She glanced aside, "I... I don't know what to say… I mean, this is crazy."
"I know… maybe it is, but I'm not sure I would have been able to live with myself if I didn't get a chance to tell you. This conflict with the Xenos has been hard on us, especially you and I. But you've always been there for me and I think you know you can always count on me too."
"Of course," she replied, "But you and me? Together like that? There are so many reasons that might be a bad idea. I'm responsible for your safety and the maintenance of your weaponry out there. This could jeopardize our ability to focus and could cloud our judgment. Aren't you afraid of what might happen?"
"Of course I'm afraid, but like I said, I'll learn to manage that fear… especially when it comes to you."
He leaned in slowly and moved to place a gentle kiss on her lips but she moved her head away at the last moment. He stopped and stepped back a pace with a mixture of surprise and hurt in his face. She lowered her head and sighed. "I… I'm sorry Martin. I can't do this. Not right now. You know I care about you too, and our friendship means everything to me but…"
"But what?"
Lucy took another deep breath and looked wistfully out toward the glittering lights of the city and what would have been an otherwise perfect romantic backdrop. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm afraid… afraid of danger and uncertainty, especially the kind that comes from um… changing the nature of our relationship like this. I don't want to risk losing something that's already special and precious to me."
He remained silent and tried to keep a stoic face while she continued. "Listen, I've never really had much experience with relationships and I'm not exactly sure I'm cut out for this kind of thing either. I'm flattered you think of me this way and believe me, there's a part of me that would want this too, but I'm just not sure I'm the right girl who can give you what you need right now, especially with all these other responsibilities and things going on in our lives."
The Red Ranger remained silent and took in her words while trying to mask his unhappiness at the unexpected turn of events. "Are you really sure about this Luce? I mean, I'm sorry if I sprung this on you all of a sudden. If you need time to think this over…"
She shook her head slowly and gave a sad apologetic look, "I'm sorry Martin… I didn't mean to hurt you like this."
He nodded and sucked in a breath while trying to maintain whatever shreds of dignity he had left, "I see... well, it's getting late. I should leave now."
She moved to follow him off the balcony but he quickly held up a hand and looked away, "It's fine... I'll see myself out."
Lucy grimaced and tried to reach up and give him a little consoling kiss on the cheek but he backed away again. He forced a neutral expression on his face and gave a military style nod before heading for the door, "Good night Dr. Beckett."
Once the door closed behind him, Lucy exhaled deeply and stood looking out over the city again but this time the lights didn't seem as beautiful or wondrous. She had hurt her best friend and unlike doing differential equations or fixing a mechanical problem for the Ranger gear, this was one problem that had no easy elegant solution.
A/N:
Hey! Hopefully you guys enjoyed the Parallax Crisis arc and despite the kinda downer ending, I did promise a short light hearted plot next. Hopefully our heroes will be able to enjoy their well deserved downtime with some surf, sun, and free passes to a major world festival. After all, what could possibly go wrong?