Mission 11: Part 4
Bharata Timothy sat down on a stone bench and wiped away some sweat as the Nova Rangers combed the ruins of the old Roman Forum. It had been two days since the Xeno assault near Vatican City and since then, the Nova Ranger had launched an aggressive counterattack to flush a cell of the aliens out of Rome. Although the monstrous Croc Bot had been driven off, the remaining Eidolon foot soldiers had been wiped out along with the help of some local UNAF allies.
Despite the recent successes, the Rangers' one remaining goal was to track down the elusive hybrid monster and they were getting close. Unfortunately, they were all tired and the oppressive heat of the summer sun above wasn't helping matters. Ella sat down beside Bharata and folded up her hand scanner while calling out to the others, "Looks like the place is clear. I'm not reading any more traces of alien bio signs."
Erik nodded as he helped Erin climb down from a rocky vantage point, "Same here. Maybe when we check in with the base later, we can have Lucy do a few more scans of the city too."
The Yellow Ranger nodded in agreement as she took a drink of water from a water bottle and handed it to Erik. She glanced over to Martin who was finishing up a scan of his own sector, "Captain? What do you say we call off the search for now and regroup back at the hotel? After these past two days, I think we could all really use a break."
The Red Ranger gave a reluctant nod and walked over to join his team, "All right, but I just hate to give up this search especially when we're getting so close."
"The noose must be getting pretty tight," Bharata noted, "We've already got UN patrols covering most of the tunnels and thoroughfares in the city. That thing's gotta be tired of running by now."
"Well... unlike the rest of us, those Xeno monsters don't really need any food or sleep. Right now a cold shower, a big lunch, and a long nap is sounding pretty good."
Martin checked the time on his morpher and glanced back to Erik, "All right. You guys rest up for now. We'll continue our hunt later tonight if need be."
"You're not coming with us?" Ella asked in confusion.
"I'll shower up and grab a quick meal," Martin replied leading the way out of the Roman ruins, "I've got something important to take care of."
As the other Rangers got up from their resting spots, they exchanged a puzzled shrug before making their way from the Forum grounds and leaving the ruins in peace again.
Sometime later that afternoon, Ella Catalano relaxed in the comfort of the hotel room she was sharing with Erin for the trip. She dozed peacefully enjoying the comfort of the soft feather bed and the cool refreshing feel of air conditioning until she felt a hand gently nudge her awake. The Pink Ranger opened her bleary eyes from her nap and gave a yawn at the sight of Erin at her bedside.
The Yellow Ranger stepped back and tiredly flopped back down on her own bed, "Hey Ella, the front desk just called, "There's someone downstairs who's here to see you."
"Did they say who it was?" Ella asked while rolling out of bed and straightening up her mussed hair.
"Nope. But if it's a bunch of our adoring fans, tell them to come back at around sixteen hundred hours," Erin yawned, "We need our beauty sleep right now."
Ella sighed and shook her head to herself as she left the room and took the elevator downstairs. When she reached the lobby of hotel, she was surprised to find her Aunt Michelina as well as her grandmother waiting for her. Ella gave a puzzled look and greeted them with a hug and kiss on the cheek, "Zia? Nonna? What are you two doing here? Is everything okay?"
Her aunt put a loving hand on her cheek and led them outside to an outdoor garden patio of the hotel, "Carmella, we came to talk to you about what happened a few days ago."
As they sat down at a patio table, Ella raised her hands apologetically, "I know... I know... before you say it, I'm sorry for getting angry and storming off Nonna. I shouldn't have lost my temper and been disrespectful."
Her grandmother shook her head and reached out to take her hand, "No dear, I should be the one apologizing to you. I had been a little insensitive too."
"Wait... what? But you said..."
Ella's grandma gave her hand a squeeze, "I had been speaking to Michelina about this and she told me how she thought Erik was a wonderful and polite young man when she sat down and ate with him. I suppose it wasn't good that I jumped to any conclusions about him without taking any time to really speak with him and understand his situation."
Ella blinked in surprise, "Nonna... thank you, but I don't understand..."
Her Aunt Michelina smiled gently, "When we heard on the news about another alien attack nearby, we started to worry about you. We were scared you'd get hurt or that we wouldn't get another chance to make things right with you if you were still angry. These last few days you've just been so busy and we haven't gotten a chance to sort this out either. We wanted to do this while you were still here."
The Pink Ranger shook her head and gave them both a hug, "Zia. Nonna. We're family. As mad or emotional as I might get, I'll still love all of you guys... whatever happens. I hope you know that, right?"
Her Nonna smiled, "Of course dear. Even if you're in the military, you know we still can't help but worry... or want what's best for you."
"I know Nonna. Thank you," Ella said as she stood up, "Now why don't we go get some lemonade and biscotti and enjoy the rest of the afternoon, hm?"
Before anyone else could reply, Ella's wrist morpher sounded a warning chime. She looked up and saw her fellow Rangers assembling again in the hotel lobby while shaking off their own weariness. She turned to her relatives with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry guys. Duty calls."
"Go," her grandmother smiled while giving a small wave, "Make us prouder Carmella."
The Pink Ranger returned the smile and headed into the lobby to rejoin her teammates and head off into battle, armed with the love and support of her own family behind her once more.
Meanwhile, across the city at the central gymnasium, Christina Lasky took off her sweats and began stretching out before her competition in the Womens All Around event. A fair crowd had turned out and there was a sort of electricity in the air, whether it was from the competitive lineup today or her nerves, she couldn't be quite certain. She still had about half an hour before the competition started but she'd use every moment to get loose and focus on her last shot at an individual gold in the event.
Amid the murmurs and bustle of the crowds and other teams present on the floor, she stopped and turned when she heard her name called out from behind. To her surprise, she saw the Red Nova Ranger approach with a tired but serene smile. In an unusual sight, he had dressed down to civilian clothes wearing a sporty red polo shirt with a USA team logo to show his support.
"Martin? I... what are you doing here?" Christina asked in shock while greeting him with a hug.
"What else? I came to cheer you on today," he chuckled as he let go of her and held up his special ID badge granted by the IOC, "You know, it's amazing how far this thing can get you through security lines."
Christina shook her head and laughed quietly, "I thought you and your team were busy hunting down that alien these last couple days."
"We were, but I think I'd be a pretty crummy friend if I didn't come here to show some support. After all, this is your big moment."
"Thank you... I don't know what to say," she said.
"You don't have to say anything Chrissy. Just go out there and give it your all. Your team believes in you... and so do I."
They exchanged a smile before Martin stopped and made another observation, "You're wearing a red uniform with a matching ribbon in your hair?"
"What can I say?" she shrugged playfully, "The color's kinda grown on me recently."
He grinned and stepped back, gesturing toward the main floor of the gym again, "You should get going. Your team needs its captain now."
Christina gave a wave and headed back to the floor while Martin nodded and made his way up to the stands to watch the events. It was at a time like this, he wished Ella was here with him to explain the finer points of judging the events. For now, he would just have to place some faith in the power of fortune and the officiating judges too.
An hour passed and the competition eventually got underway. As he sat in the stands watching a rotation or two, the Red Ranger tried listening to the chatter around him to gauge who was doing well and how the event was progressing. While he continued to watch the other gymnasts compete, he spotted Christina waiting in line to perform her routine on the uneven bars. It was at that moment, he heard his wrist morpher go off and he turned away to speak quietly into it, "I'm here. What's going on?"
"The Xeno is back," came Lucy's reply on the other end of the radio, "It looks like it just crawled up from the waterways and is headed toward the central stadium downtown."
Martin grimaced as he glanced toward the gymnasium floor and then back to his wrist, "Are you really sure it's the Croc Bot? It's not a false alarm?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Lucy insisted with a hint of impatience in her voice, "And where are you Martin? Your nav beacon isn't with the rest of your team."
"I'm... doing some PR work," he said evasively.
"Well the Xeno is getting closer and I've alerted the rest of Nova Squad. You have to get going now."
The Red Ranger scowled and nodded, "Understood. I'm on my way."
He rose from his seat and took one more look out toward Christina as she stepped up and took her place on the floor to begin her routine. He gave a wistful shake of the head and began to hurry away from the gymnasium, "Fly high Chrissy. I hope you can forgive me."
On the streets of downtown Rome, a hail of laser rifle fire rang out from a squad of UNAF troopers as they desperately tried to slow the advance of the Xeno hybrid Croc Bot. Despite the soldiers' best efforts, their weapons did little to get through the alien's tough armor as it neared the central Olympic Stadium where the great torch continued to burn.
"Stand your ground men! We can't let that thing get into the stadium!" the sergeant of the squad shouted as he tried to keep the spirits of his troops up, "We have to protect the civilians and the torch inside!"
The soldiers exchanged a hesitant look between each other before Croc Bot reared its tail up and smashed the pavement in front of him with a powerful blow. The shockwave sent a line of rocks and concrete spraying everywhere as the sidewalk split apart and the soldiers dove clear of the attack. The crocodilian Xeno gave a triumphant roar and began to plod forward until it stopped at the sight of five new defenders rushing onto the scene from the sidestreets. In a flash, they converged together and barred the monster's path toward the stadium.
The shaken UN soldiers looked up and saw the five young Nova Rangers approach slowly and confront the monster with calm determined poise. As they passed the scattered soldiers, Erik turned his head and gave a small reassuring look to the sergeant, "Thanks for holding the line sergeant, but we'll take it from here. Have your men fall back and guard the doors."
The sergeant nodded in relief and gave a wave, "Yes sir! You heard the man troopers! Fall in and cover the doors!"
As the soldiers withdrew to safety, Martin stepped forward with a stern glare at the alien and raised his morpher, "This ends today Xeno! We're not going to let you harm any more people in this city! Rangers?"
The others raised their morphers and the five called forth their powers in unison, "Energize!"
Croc Bot stopped for a moment as he watched the five young people disappear in a brilliant flash of light before emerging in their battle suits. They drew their blaster pistols and vibroblades while getting into position for one last decisive battle. Erin was the first to sprint forward firing a hail of blaster bolts to distract the alien before leaping high into the air, "Let's give this thing an Olympic sized headache!"
Using the momentum of her sprinting high jump, the Yellow Ranger hurtled forward and delivered a powerful flying jump kick to the Xeno's skull as it shook off the incoming laser fire. Croc Bot staggered back several paces as she backflipped off and rolled clear while it brought its tail around for a powerful counterblow. As Erin evaded the strike, Erik sprinted in from the flank and swept in low, grabbing the monstrous alien's tail and gripping it firmly to restrain it.
The crocodilian whirled around on him and snarled, but the Blue Ranger used his great size and enhanced strength to lift Croc Bot by the tail and begin swinging him around. He kept spinning the alien for several revolutions, building momentum before letting go and hurling the Xeno as if performing a track and field hammer throw.
Croc Bot hit the pavement hard and rolled over into a stunned heap right in the path of the charging Pink Ranger. As the Xeno scrambled to its feet, it lashed out trying to strike at her but Ella threw herself into a gymnastic maneuver, cartwheeling into a high spinning vault to dodge the attack. After tumbling clear, Ella swept her Nova Striker around at full power and slashed at a vulnerable part of the Xeno's tail, severing it from it's body.
Croc Bot stumbled again, both from the pain and being thrown off balance by the loss of its tail now. Upon reeling sideways, Bharata caught the beast's arm and turned inside of it to use its own weight and momentum to his advantage. The Green Ranger gave a shout and hurled the Xeno to the ground again using a brutal judo style shoulder throw. The stunned and wounded alien again tried scrambling to its feet, but it was met by another hail of blaster fire and then thrown backwards by an overcharged shot from the Red Nova Ranger's blaster pistol.
As the other Nova Rangers regrouped around Martin, he twirled his blaster with a flourish and holstered the weapon before raising his morpher up, "Dr. Beckett? Send in the big guns!"
"Understood Captain!" Lucy responded as she punched in the transporter code from her console and teleported the Nova Rangers' Prism Cannon.
Croc Bot gave another furious snarl and slowly pulled itself to its feet, but it found itself staring down the five Rangers forming up around their heavy field gun. Each Ranger swiftly loaded a canister into the weapon and charged it up while taking aim.
"Locked and loaded!" Erik called as the crocodilian opened it's wide jaws and the Rangers targeted its exposed maw.
"Fire!" Martin shouted as he pulled the trigger and unloaded a powerful beam of white hot light into the hybrid Xeno. Croc Bot disappeared in a searing flash of light and a large fireball erupted high into the air overshadowed by the stadium's great Olympic Torch.
After the shockwaves subsided and the fires in the street died down, the UN soldiers who were present gave a cheer and ran out to congratulate the Rangers along with several other civilians who had taken cover from the streets. Not surprisingly, swarms of local police converged on the scene to block off and secure the area around the central stadium. Amid the confusing bustle of all the people gathering around, Erik spoke into his morpher, "Atlantis Base, Croc Bot has been destroyed. Mission accomplished here."
"We read you loud and clear Lieutenant. Good work out there," Lucy responded while Erin and Bharata exchanged a high five. As he was mired down by some of the local authorities and a few people from the news, Martin turned to Ella, "Looks like we're going to be stuck here for quite a while. Ella? I need you to do something for me."
Back in the R&D lab of Atlantis Base, Julian West reclined in his chair drinking an energy drink and relaxing during his breaktime until he heard his own radio comm going off. The lab tech kicked his feet down off his desk and picked up his headset, "I'm here."
"Julian? Great! I'm glad I caught you," Ella said on the other end of the line, "Is this a bad time?"
"Not at all Lieutenant. How can I help?"
Ella cleared her throat, "Well... this is going to sound like an odd request, but I need you to turn on the television and tell me if the results are in from the Womens' All Around gymnastics event."
Julian shrugged and pulled out a datapad to try and stream the news results. He flipped through the pages for several moments before he found the right event and saw a live medal ceremony going on. "Hey Ella, looks like some American won the event... Christina Lasky?"
As she looked about the chaos of police and press on the streets in Rome, Ella gave a bright laugh on the other end of the line, "Thank you Julian! I'm glad to hear it, and I think Captain Sterling will be too."
"Um... glad I could be of help," the lab tech responded as he glanced at a few more articles buried within the news updates. That was when a post or two caught his eye and he reached for his comm, "Wait Ella! Have you seen this little blurb about Miss Lasky in the gossip section? They aren't talking about the captain in here too... are they?"
"Sorry Julian, I've gotta go... uh, my hands are kinda full at the moment with the cleanup crews," Ella called as she quickly ended the transmission.
Julian could only be left scratching his head in confusion before giving a shrug and going back to his lunch break.
A couple days passed and a warm summer breeze blew through the plaza as Martin stood on a raised walkway admiring the early evening view overlooking the historic Trevi Fountain. From that vantage point, he could see the normally crowded square begin to clear out. With the Olympic Games winding down in a few more days, all those tourists and visitors would be moving elsewhere in the city's downtown to celebrate one last hurrah. Despite the recent Xeno attack during the last few days, Martin couldn't help but wish he could stay a little longer to enjoy the sun, the sights, and the relative peace that had begun to return to the city.
"Are you really sure you don't want to come with us tonight Captain?" Erin asked over the radio of her morpher. "You do know General Caldwell gave us a special three day extension and a little more latitude to use the transporter."
"I know," he said, "I promise I'll join you guys in a day or two. There's something I still need to take care of here."
"You'll be missing out tonight sir," Erin laughed gently, "Ella and I are going to Milan to buy some nice dresses and shoes before we join the guys in Monaco. They liked the idea of hitting the casinos and they wanted two beautiful ladies on their arms to give them good luck."
Martin chuckled, "I'll make it there for a beach day with you guys, but until then, I'll wire you some money Erin. Knowing how good you are with the cards, I figure you can make me a little profit too."
"Give me a ten percent cut and you've got yourself a deal."
"Good night Lieutenant," Martin sighed with a smile as he ended the radio call with Erin.
As he stood quietly for a minute enjoying the peaceful fading sunlight, he heard a voice from behind and turned to see a familiar girl approach. "There you are. I got your message."
Martin gave a soft smile and nodded as Christina walked over to join him at the railing. "Hey. I wasn't sure you'd be able to get away from the crowds to make it here."
Christina brushed aside a strand of her long brown hair and smiled warmly, "Well, I guess I just wanted to see you before you left so that I could thank you… for everything. I wanted to thank you for protecting me and for believing in me when I was down. I like to think that it helped me win."
Martin returned her smile and looked back toward the lit up waters of the great fountain, "Chrissy… I'm so sorry I missed the rest of your competition and your medal ceremony too. I really wish I could have been there, but I'm still very happy for you. You reached your dream."
Christina laughed softly and touched his arm, "It's okay Martin. You had a job to do… just like I was doing mine. Except in your case, you were actually doing something important like saving the lives of a few million people in this city."
Martin laughed, "It doesn't make yours any less important. My job is to keep people safe. Yours is to inspire others and give them hope, and I think you did an amazing job of it."
Christina blushed slightly as Martin cleared his throat, "So... this is it for you? Retiring from competitive gymnastics?"
She shrugged and nodded, "Yeah. To be honest, I'm actually looking forward to not having to train day in and day out. I was thinking of maybe becoming an instructor, and also taking up some endorsement offers. It'll be nice to have a little extra money and to just get out and live life a little, you know?"
"I'm glad for you."
Christina turned back toward him and tilted her head curiously, "So this is it for you too, huh? You're really going to be leaving soon?"
Martin sighed and took her hands, "I'll be due back in Atlantis Base in a few days. My team is going to need me."
She glanced down for a moment, "Will one more day really matter? I uh… I was actually hoping you could stay just a little longer. I was hoping maybe you could stick around long enough to come to the closing ceremonies with me?"
Martin stopped and blinked in surprise. The thought of Lucy flashed briefly in his mind and a pang of guilt tugged at his heart. Still, there was another part of him that wanted to just get away from Atlantis Base and the war just a little longer… to just be in the moment right now. To just live.
"I… well… I suppose I could try asking General Caldwell. After all, I'm sure the IOC wouldn't mind some extra security being on hand either, right?"
Christina laughed and squeezed his hand, "Great!"
Martin took one last look out toward the fountain before frowning slightly, "You know, I just realized something. If I do stick around tonight, I have nothing planned at all."
Christina gave a thoughtful look before taking his hand and leading him from the plaza, "That's okay. We'll improvise. Maybe dinner, drinks, and then find a fun dance club? See where the night goes?"
"Sounds like a plan," the Red Ranger laughed as they walked, "You know, Ella told of me of this great little place to eat near the Coliseum that her aunt owns. It's called Buona Fortuna and they have the best ravioli..."
Late that night in the Command Tower of Atlantis Base, Lucy entered the operations room and found Julian sitting at her station covering the night shift. He was idly paging through a Popular Mechanics magazine and he sat up when he saw her. "All's quiet tonight Dr. Beckett. Nothing going on from the dispatches."
Lucy nodded and put on her headset while relieving him for the late night shift, "Thank you Julian. Status of the Rangers?"
The young tech scratched his chin a moment, "Umm... as far as I know, they were going to visit Northern Italy and enjoy the last couple days of their vacation. Erin mentioned they were going to Monaco. Otherwise, Captain Sterling is still in Rome tonight."
"Oh? Why is that?"
Julian shrugged, "I don't know. General Caldwell didn't really say, but gave him permission to stick around. If I had to guess, the captain probably had a date tonight."
"What?" Lucy gasped in shock. Her mind began to race and she took a deep breath to not give away any hint of panic or outrage, "What makes you say that?"
Julian reached for a datapad and pulled up a couple tabloid articles on the news feed, "I dunno. I saw this earlier and it sounded pretty crazy. Those gossip columnists will write anything to get attention, huh?"
"Yeah..." Lucy said blinking in dismay at the screen, "I'm sure it's nothing."
"Okay... well if that'll be all, then I'm going to bed. Good night Dr. Beckett."
Lucy watched him depart the room in silence before slowly reaching for her radio transmitter. She punched in a direct command to open up a private channel and she waited for a response.
Meanwhile back in Rome, the hotel room door closed as Martin and Christina returned from their late night out on the town. As they made their way inside, they shared in some laughter and fell over each other on the bed, wrapped in each others arms. As she lay back, Christina giggled and gave a coy look, "You know... the last time we were in this position, there was a vicious alien tearing the city apart."
"Well I don't see any Xenos tearing up the gardens or throwing park benches around, do you?" Martin smiled as he leaned down and kissed her. They lay there for a minute sharing a deep passionate kiss before the chime of the Nova Morpher sounded again. The Red Ranger stopped and sat up for a moment looking in exasperation at the morpher on his wrist, "Sterling here."
To his dismay he heard Lucy's voice on the other end, "Martin? It's Lucy. I... I know it's late by you, but you missed your last check in."
"Sorry... I uh, kinda lost track of time tonight."
Lucy's voice paused a moment, "I see... is now a bad time? I wanted to talk, and to ask you about something."
"If it's okay with you I'm a little tired. If it's not important, I think I'm going to call it a night. Okay?"
Lucy sighed nodded and ended the transmission, "Yeah... maybe tomorrow. Beckett out."
The Red Ranger lay on his side and felt Christina reach over and touch his check, "Ranger business? Is it something urgent?"
"I… no… it can wait," he said slowly before removing his Nova Morpher and putting it on the night stand. Even after doing that, he paused for a long moment as if trying to make sense of everything.
"Are you sure everything is okay?" Christina asked again, "I'd understand if you had to go."
Martin shook his head wistfully and tried to dismiss Lucy from his mind, "Sorry, it's nothing... really."
"You're positive?" she asked in concern before he rolled back over and drew her close again, "Martin? What are you doing?"
"You know us being together like this is a little risky right? I'm still a Ranger and that means that there's a pretty good chance that on any given mission I could get killed or horribly wounded."
He was silenced as she pulled him in and answered his question with another kiss, "If that's the case, then let's make the time we have together here count."
A/N:
And so all our heroes ended their vacation on a high note by getting lucky that night: some at the casino, and some in other ways. Looking forward, the squad will be headed back to normal action and the start of a Sixth Ranger arc. Until then, I'll be putting this one on temporary hold to finish working on another fic. Thanks again for reading everyone!