Mission 14: Part 3

Loud explosions echoed in the air as clouds of dirt and rock erupted from the town's safety bunkers. Flames began to rise and plumes of thick black smoke began to rise as one by one the civilian shelters built into the nearby hills began to cave in. The Xeno Comander Decimus fired several blasts at the entrances of the bunkers while a line of battle drones stood adding to the destruction with their own weapons. As he stood by, the clone solder Taldyr watched the sight feeling a little helpless.

He knew he shouldn't have been feeling any pity for those human civilians in there who were likely dying. After all, they were with the enemy and he had been trained to hate them... but he was starting to find that it was harder and harder to do that. He had witnessed acts of mercy, friendship, and cooperation between the humans on the battlefield and begged the question... could their race really be all that bad and irredeemable? If anything, the Terrans were fighting to protect each other and their homes. It was more than Taldyr could say about his own kind. What exactly were he and his clone brethren fighting and dying for anyway? Why were they letting themselves be given orders from rulers who didn't seem to put a value on their lives in the first place. He knew he was doing that dangerous thing called thinking again, but he couldn't help it as he continued to watch the needless massacre unfold before his eyes. As much as he tried to deny it, he was beginning to feel a little sick inside.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a laser bolt cut through the air and blasted a drone from behind. Decimus and his Xeno cohort slowly turned from the slaughter only to catch sight of five Nova Rangers arriving on to the scene followed by a human soldier carrying a long rifle. The commander rotated the weapons on his arms and gave a laugh, "Finally... the Nova Rangers. I've been waiting to meet you."

"What is that thing? Jake asked quietly to Bharata as he moved off to the end of the formation, "That guy is like a walking tank."

Before anyone could answer, the Rangers took a look at the scene and froze in horror realizing that they had come too late. The bunkers had been under heavy fire and several were already burning or caved in. Erik clenched a fist in fury and turned toward the fearsome alien leader, "You monster! I remember you from Dubai! What have you done here?"

Decimus laughed, "Reminding the people of your world that their champions, you Nova Rangers are not all-powerful. You couldn't save these people and in the end you will not be able to save this entire planet either. You people of flesh and blood are still so weak... so bound by limitations."

"Yeah, well we've been doing a pretty good job of kicking your asses in every battle we've fought against your kind," Ella retorted angrily. "If you think killing a bunch of helpless civilians is some boost to your ego then that's pretty disgusting!"

Decimus took a step forward, "Consider this act a warning human. This is all just a prelude of the horrors Warmaster Hellspont and our Overlord Phaeton can bring to this planet."

As the Xeno spoke, Jake continued to stare at the destruction and carnage before him. The light of the fires and the smell of the smoke began taking him back to that horrible three day battle in London five years ago. He remembered seeing destruction around him and the cries of trapped civilians and his own dying comrades while they fought off the first alien incursion. The mixed feelings of anger and fear in the wake of such a merciless enemy came rushing back and Jake found it paralyzing. The Rangers could not save these civilians here just as he could not save his own squadmates in that battle. He wanted to hurt the aliens and make them pay for every single person who was lost.

At the head of the formation, Martin clenched a fist and steadied his own emotions which had begun rage as well. "We may be too late to save everyone here, but we're not going to waste this chance to avenge the victims either Xeno."

Erin turned her head, "Captain, we should advance with caution. That Xeno's armor shrugged off most of our weapons in the last battle."

"Understood Erin. Jake?"

The Silver Ranger blinked and took a second to focus through his blinding hatred of the Xenos bubbling up from his gut. "Sir?"

Martin drew his vibroblade, "Do you still think you can morph?"

Jake readied his rifle and crouched low, "I think I've got enough power for one more."

"Stand by and get ready to make it count Corporal. Nova Rangers? Let's go!"

Jake raised his rifle and took aim before firing at a Xeno battle drone. The shot struck the droid in the knee and blew the joint apart causing it to topple over in a disabled heap. While Jake reloaded and lined up another shot to cover the advancing Rangers, Decimus waved his troops onward, "Attack! Kill the Rangers!"

While the remaining warriors and drones charged, Taldyr stayed back, "Commander! We should stay down and take a defensive position to meet the human attack. If we charge, those units will be vulnerable to their sniper."

The unhinged mechanized commander growled and whirled around on his subordinate in fury, "You were warned clone! You've questioned my orders for the last time!"

Decimus armed a grenade launcher from his shoulder arsenal and took aim at Taldyr. The Eidolon clone soldier dove clear of the first shot and rolled on the ground firing several blots from his blaster spear on his commander. The shots struck Decimus but did very minor damage leaving scorched score-marks on his outer hull plating. The commander fired one more grenade which landed near Taldyr and exploded, throwing his second in command backwards into the dirt. Before he could see if the blast had in fact killed the traitorous clone soldier, Decimus turned to meet the oncoming charge of the Nova Rangers after they had carved through his other foot soldiers.

Martin led the way with a leaping slash attack that raked the thick armored flank of Decimus causing only minor damage. As he rolled past, Erin and Erik attacked together with their own vibroblades in a direct frontal assault. They slashed the front of the mechanized monster's body, yet their blades only cut in about an inch and stuck. The Xeno growled and swiveled his body on his axis throwing the two aside only to meet a hail of blaster fire from Bharata and Ella on the other flank. Like before, their laser weapons deflected off and did very minimal damage to the commander which only seemed to enrage him more. Decimus produced a flamethrower from his arsenal and fired a withering gout of flames which the Green and Pink Rangers barely warded off with a quick draw of their shield mode.

From the rear rank, a sniper bullet hit the Xeno's arm and threw off the aim of Decimus just a little while the shot deflected away in a shower of sparks. From his crouching position, Jake scowled at his enemy and loaded another shot, "Well you're a thick skinned bugger now, aren't you?"

Jake's distraction bought Ella and Bharata just enough time to deactivate their shields and fire overcharged blaster shots to momentarily stagger Decimus. The Xeno stumbled back momentarily as the other Rangers regrouped.

"What now Captain? Our weapons aren't getting through that armor," Erik called out in concern.

Martin gritted his teeth, "Lucy? Have you got any good news for us here?"

The Rangers heard her furiously typing and transmitting new data to them, "I've scanned the enemy. It looks like there's an organic being fused with the core processor. The problem is, it's under all that central armor plating made from a newer alloy we haven't dealt with yet."

"All right... we'll pull a demolition job and then throw the kitchen sink at this guy," Martin nodded, "Lucy, send Bara a couple magnetic explosives. Bara I need you to get in close and stick those bombs on that monster."

Bharata found two magnetic charges instantly transported to him and he gave a nod while activating his stealth feature again, "Understood."

The Red Ranger pointed his blade forward, "Let's slow up that Xeno and give Bara his opening."

No sooner did Decimus shake off the last attack, he found four Rangers rush him together and try to restrain him momentarily. He gave a furious roar and pushed back while Bharata rushed in from behind and leapt atop the Xeno, planting the magnetized explosives to the top of the monster's box frame. With a violent whip of his arm, Decimus threw Ella and Erin away before using his other arm to backhand Erik and Martin aside as well.

"You really think you can match my strength Rangers? Don't make me laugh!" Decimus roared as the five gathered together again.

"We'll see who's going to be laughing Tin Man," Martin retorted, "Prism Cannon!"

In a flash, Lucy transported the Ranger's energy cannon to the battlefield and Decimus stopped as he saw the barrel of a powerful new gun leveled at him. Once the cannon was loaded and aimed, Erin gave a thumbs up, "Let's put this guy down!"

Off to the side, Jake watched as the Rangers fired their cannon and discharged a powerful beam of positron energy. The bolt struck Decimus head on and detonated the charges that Bharata had placed which caused an even greater explosion. For a moment, it looked like the Xeno commander had been destroyed, but the Rangers all froze in shock as they saw a large hulking figure emerge from the smoke and flames. To their horror, Decimus plodded on and leveled his own guns and missile pods. The entire front of his sloped body armor had been scorched and mangled but it held, just barely.

The surprised Rangers didn't have any time to react before Decimus returned fire and blasted the five with a merciless hail of rockets and blaster fire. The five Nova Rangers were repaid in kind as they were engulfed in an equally great blast and swept aside violently. Once the fires died somewhat, Jake watched in horror as his fellow Rangers all lay on the ground, battered and barely conscious. All five of them then demorphed leaving them completely vulnerable to any follow up missile barrage.

"This is the end Rangers," Decimus gasped as he readied one final barrage of his weapons.

"Not so fast Decimus!" came a sudden voice from off to the side. Decimus turned in surprise only to see the battered and bloodied form of Taldyr leveling a rocket propelled grenade he had recovered from a fallen battle drone.

Taldyr growled and pulled the trigger of his weapon, "You've been relieved of command."

The projectile rocketed forward and struck Decimus head on. The Xeno violently staggered sideways as the blast mangled the last of his heavy armor, exposing his vulnerable interior.

"Damn you Taldyr!" Decimus sputtered as the Eidolon weakly collapsed back to the dirt.

At that moment, Jake saw his chance and sprinted forward with his morpher, "Energize!"

From the smoke of the battlefield, the Xeno turned in surprise to see one last Ranger rushing forward and transforming in a flash of light while in mid-stride. "Who... who are you?"

Jake ignored the question and focused solely on taking down the target to save his comrades. "Fusion Striker, rifle mode!"

Again the wrist mounted weapon formed up around Jake's hand and unloaded a punishing hail of energy bolts at the weakened Xeno leader. Decimus stumbled drunkenly to the side and activated his chainsaw arm. The Xeno took a wide awkward swing once Jake had gotten near, but the Silver Ranger easily evaded it and used his momentum to bound up and strike a final blow. He converted his weapon to blade mode and drove it into the exposed center of Decimus to cause catastrophic damage.

To Jake's surprise, the upper torso of Decimus instantly erupted into a violent fireball which threw him backwards along with his fellow teammates and caused him to demorph as well. As the smoke began to clear and the fires subsided, the six unmorphed Rangers slowly pulled themselves up to survey the aftermath. They had won that battle, but just barely. Their faces were covered in grime and their whole bodies ached from the punishment and physical exertion of the fight. While Martin and Bharata helped Ella and Erin sit up, Jake struggled to catch his breath and fumbled for his cigarette box in his shirt pocket. As he took one out, he lit it with trembling hands and took a puff before Erik sat up next to him and reached out for the cigarette.

"Corporal... mind if I borrow that for a minute?"

Jake handed Erik the cigarette and watched in shock as the Blue Ranger took a long drag and exhaled. "Dankeschon." (Thank you very much)

"I thought you didn't smoke, sir."

Erik handed the cigarette back with a trembling hand as well and nodded in thanks, "Yeah... well , I'll make a little exception today."

The Rangers all sat and watched as the bulky smoldering remains of Commander Decimus slumped over and went inert. A few dying clouds of sparks erupted from some of the mechanical joints while a fire continued to burn from the Xeno's ravaged upper body. The last of Decimus's organic parts and central processor burned in flames as a gout of smoke billowed from the missing upper right quarter of the mechanized monstrosity.

Upon regaining their footing, the dazed exhausted Nova Rangers staggered forward and saw the form of Taldyr slump over on his side. The wounded Eidolon clone soldier lay in the dirt and limply let go of his weapon when he saw the Rangers approach. He breathed heavily and some of his bluish blood had dried alongside the grime and smoke on his face. He kept his eyes fixed on the Rangers, neither showing anger or fear... but rather an unusually quiet steadfastness.

Jake moved forward and loaded one last bullet into his sniper rifle while giving a look of contempt to the fallen Xeno trooper. He began to raise his weapon and point the barrel at Taldyr, "You Xeno son of a bitch... you're responsible for butchering all those helpless people... all of you. I'm not going to take that sitting down."

He suddenly felt a hand reach out and move his rifle aside firmly. He stopped and glared at Erin who met his expression with just as much seriousness, "Jake! No! Don't do this."

"With all respect Lieutenant Reilly, these bastards just massacred countless innocent people here. I think we're well within our rights to finish this last one off."

Erin kept her grip firmly on the rifle and held her stern gaze, "This one helped us back there... and he willingly disarmed himself. I think he wants to surrender."

"Xenos don't surrender Lieutenant. You know that," Jake protested.

"Put down your weapon Corporal. That's a direct order," Erin insisted as she interposed herself between Jake and Taldyr.

"That's enough!" Martin barked sharply causing the whole squad to jump in surprise, "Stand down... all of you."

Jake grudgingly lowered his weapon and scowled as Erin stepped aside. Martin stepped forward with his blaster pistol drawn and stood over Taldyr. He glanced to Erin and was reminded of a similar argument he had with her on the streets of Paris in what now seemed like a lifetime ago. They had been in similar positions, but how much had changed? How much had they all changed? He took a deep breath and locked eyes with the Yellow Ranger, "Erin... do you think you can talk to him?"

Erin blinked in surprise for a moment before giving a hesitant nod, "I... I think so. I'd like to try. I think something may be different this time."

The Red Ranger gestured toward Jake, "If that Xeno raises one finger to harm Erin, you take that shot Corporal."

Jake kept his rifle at the ready, "Yes sir."

Erin waited and then nodded to her captain, "Thank you Martin."

Erin slowly stepped forward and bent down over the wounded alien trooper. She cleared her throat and spoke a few simple words of the Adventi language hoping it might carry over, "Can you understand me?"

Taldyr raised a curious eyebrow and nodded slowly responding in his own similar tongue, "Yes... I think so."

"Thank you for the help," Erin said slowly, "We can help you too... but you have to give up."

Taldyr nodded and laid his head back with a sigh, "I accept."

Erin turned back to her team, and tried to keep her own knees from shaking too much in excitement. "He's surrendering everyone. This is unprecedented... we have a live prisoner of theirs."

"We've still got a lot to deal with here," Ella pointed out grimly as she gestured to the smoldering civilian bunkers. She turned to Martin, "Captain... what are your orders?"

Martin looked soberly to the bunkers for a moment before composing himself in the wake of the massacre that still occurred, "Erik... treat this Xeno's wounds, then start in on any civilians. Bara, Ella, and Jake, you three start looking for any survivors in the shelters. Do what you can."

Erin stepped forward, "And what about me?"

"Get on the comms and tell Caldwell what happened. Tell them there are massive casualties. We're going to need as many medical and recovery crews as we can get here."

Erin watched as the other Rangers somberly went about their tasks while Martin grimly turned away and looked out toward the quiet waters of the coastal city. He remained silent until she spoke again, "Sir, we barely defeated the Xenos today... but it doesn't feel like a victory either... does it?"

He gave a deep sigh and looked back to her slowly, "If the Xenos wanted to pay us back for all the losses we've dealt them... then they certainly made their point today."

A/N:
Hey all, apologies for my screw up last chapter. I had accidentally posted something from another story in place of the chapter so thank you to Stormasius for bringing it to my attention. Also, for those familiar with the dystopian sci-fi franchise Warhammer 40K, Commander Decimus was heavily based off of a war machine called a Dreadnought so a little credit goes to Games Workshop for that idea too.