Mission 14: Part 4

A bright light shone down from the ceiling of the sparsely furnished interrogation room while Erin Reilly sat across from the prisoner on the other end of the table. Sitting in a chair across from her was the captured clone soldier Taldyr who regarded her with a steady, even expression. Standing behind Erin were two armed UNAF marines watching and waiting for any possible sign of danger. If Taldyr was intimidated, he didn't show it and continued to regard the Yellow Ranger in silence.

Erin sighed and placed a small device on the table. Her trusty universal translator which she had cobbled together with Julian's help would serve to try and facilitate the questioning as she downloaded her current information about Adventi language into it. If there was some similarity with the Xeno's native speech, then she hoped the device would help and maybe even collect more data so she could refine the translation program more at a later time.

"All right... let's try this again," Erin began.

Taldyr sighed and glanced at the guards before looking back to her, "I have already told you. My name is Taldyr. I am an officer of the Xeno Machina forces."

"What were your forces doing in East Africa?" Erin asked while watching him.

"We were looking for supplies. We needed to service our aircraft and drones after being defeated in your central desert lands."

Erin narrowed her eyes, "Okay, a large part of your forces were raiding for supplies, but your commander..."

"Decimus."

"Thank you. Commander Decimus," Erin corrected herself, "You and him were leading in the slaughter of hundreds of innocent civilians. Non-combatants."

"I did not lead or approve that action," Taldyr protested with steel in his voice, "I was simply following the orders of my leader."

Erin tapped her fingers on the desk, "And why would your commander want to butcher countless non-combatants? Those who posed no threat to you."

Taldyr fell silent for a moment before speaking, "Decimus... he was... I believe he was not mentally fit to lead any more."

"Oh yes... we saw that," Erin replied, "You turned on your own ranks and even surrendered to us. I want to know why."

Taldyr grimaced and rustled the chains which bound his wrists and his ankles to the table of the room, "I told you... Decimus was going to get everyone killed. He did. I did what I had to so that he could not lead any more of my kind to a meaningless death."

"You mean to tell me that you Xenos care about each other? We haven't seen that before," Erin said patiently, "All we've seen is your kind mercilessly killing our own."

The clone trooper sighed and leaned forward, "I am telling you the truth. There are some of us who different. Some of us have begun to think about what we see and ask dangerous questions... ones that could get us executed among our own kind. We were bred to be obedient unquestioning soldiers... but part of me has begun to wonder if that is really such a good thing."

"So are you still loyal to the Xeno Machina? Are you still serving them?"

Taldyr gave a conflicted look, "I am uncertain who I am loyal to anymore. I sympathize with my warrior brethren, but I cannot serve an overlord that values our lives so little either."

Erin took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. She had a feeling this was going to be a long night.

As he watched Erin continue trying to communicate with the Xeno, Bharata stood with General Caldwell behind an observation window in the base's detention facilities. He glanced over and saw an unusually grim crease in the base commander's features, "General? Is something wrong?"

Caldwell gave a tired sigh and looked to her with concern, "I'm sorry Bharata, my mind was elsewhere at the moment. I was just wondering if getting any information out of this alien soldier is really going to do us much good."

Bharata tilted his head curiously, "Sir?"

"Regardless of what this Taldyr tells us, the fact still remains. There was a major massacre in Tadjoura and we failed to stop it."

The Green Ranger grimaced, "General, we were already spread thin and not expecting to fight such a large force there. We couldn't have known the enemy was going to do such an unexpected thing."

Caldwell folded his hands and paced slowly, "Regardless, we still have to answer for it. In the coming days, I'll be meeting with members of High Command and an inquiry panel from the UN on the matter."

"I'm sure you'll be able to make them understand what happened... right?" Bharata asked hesitantly.

Caldwell frowned to himself, "I can't say for certain. Politicians and bureaucrats don't always understand what it's like to be on a battlefield or have the fog of war make decision making difficult. For them, they tend to only care about the bottom line numbers and optics... how things look so that they can put a positive spin on it and sell their agendas to the public."

"Are you saying they might try to target us... or Atlantis Base?" Bharata said.

"Difficult to say," Caldwell shrugged, "I hate to admit it, but if we don't play ball with the world governments or make nice with them at times, we risk having them put pressure on us in unpleasant ways, the worst being a change in management."

Bharata looked up in concern and clenched a fist indignantly, "They wouldn't dream of replacing you... would they?"

"Not unless I have anything to say about it," Caldwell said putting a firm reassuring hand on the Green Ranger's shoulder, "I want to eliminate this alien threat as much as everyone else, but I'm going to do my best to make sure every person under my command lives to see that day too. For now, you and the other Rangers just worry about doing your jobs. Let me deal with the politicians and protecting the people of this outpost."

"Yes sir," Bharata nodded while turning to leave the room.

Caldwell scratched his chin, "Bharata, where is Lieutenant Dobermann right now?"

Bharata halted, "Erik is staying up tonight helping our medical staff with the injured civilians we took in for treatment. I have a feeling it's going to be a late night so I'm going to go try to get some food for him."

"Thank you Lieutenant. I think he'd appreciate that," Caldwell nodded before turning back to the interrogation window in silence.

Meanwhile, Martin reclined at the desk chair while taking a video call in his bedroom. On the other end of the line, Christina Lasky sat combing her hair while they talked. She had put on some night clothes and looked ready to go to bed soon. She gave an apologetic look, "Are you really sure it's okay? I know it's kinda late by you right now."

Martin nodded with a gentle smile, "Yeah, don't worry Chrissy. I'm actually glad you called. After everything that's gone on lately, it made me feel better so thank you."

Chrissy put down her comb and studied him while putting her hair up into a messy ponytail, "I've been following the news reports. After I heard about those battles in Dubai and then the tragedy in East Africa... well, I got kinda worried and I had to see how you and the team were holding up."

"We won that battle by the skin of our teeth," Martin admitted, "The team seems kinda discouraged right now and we've all been feeling a little shaken. In a way, it was a little bit of a wakeup call... that we need to step up our game. Our team could only do so much in Tadjoura and I can't help but wonder if there was something else I could have personally done to prevent that massacre. Maybe if I had more intel, or made a better judgment call somewhere?"

"Martin... nobody is blaming you for what happened," Christina said comfortingly, "If what you told me is true, then your team did the best it could. You can't put the entire weight of the world on your shoulders and you can't be in a hundred different places at the same time either. You Rangers are only human."

"That's what the Xeno said too," Martin muttered glumly.

Christina fell silent for a moment and tried to put on a positive face, "Well hey, look on the bright side. At least there aren't any more alien troops directly menacing the planet. Things should be a little more quiet and peaceful now, right?"

"I guess so."

"Great, then maybe that means you could schedule some time off and come visit soon?" Christina asked hopefully, "I do have a birthday coming up and I'm hoping you can make it. I figured maybe we could take another day or two and I could show you around my hometown."

"I'll see what I can do but it might be tough right now," Martin answered apologetically, "At the very least, I have a gift that I can still mail you... just in case."

Christina gave a tired yawn and smiled, "You're just lucky I'm too sleepy to press you more on the issue. I still miss you though."

"I miss you too Chrissy, but you know I have to be here for my team right now. They need me."

She nodded, "It's okay, I understand. Stay safe and go take care of your team?"

"I will. Get some rest sleepyhead."

Christina laughed before kissing her fingers and putting them to the screen and signing out, "Talk to you later flyboy."

As the call ended, Martin sat back and looked outside at the night sky from his window. He knew most of the team were keeping themselves busy with other tasks to keep from being down about the recent events. It was probably best to follow up on Chrissy's suggestion to check up on everyone and try to keep them positive. After all, that was his job. He had done that for her once and now it looked like the team could use some motivation too. And he knew the exact person he wanted to speak to first.

Across town in the West End of Atlantis Base, Jake Massey sat at the counter of the Sundog bar. The Silver Ranger idly smoked a cigarette while nursing a half empty pint of beer which sat in front of him. Given that it was already a bit late in the evening, the popular bar and grill was a little on the quieter side tonight and that suited Jake just fine. Right now, he just wanted to think over everything that had happened recently and make sense of it. On one hand, he knew he should have been happy and excited. He had joined an elite combat unit and made a major contribution in his first major battle. He had morphed successfully and while it resulted in the destruction of a Xeno commander, it had been a hollow victory too.

As he watched the trail of cigarette smoke slowly drift upward, he thought about the hundreds of innocent helpless civilians who had been butchered and how that triggered the same feelings he had in his first encounter with the aliens. He had come close to letting his feelings get the better of him and he had been rebuked by his commander. If anything, he felt in over his head at the moment he and wondered what his parents and the British government were thinking in assigning him to this post.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard someone sit down at the counter beside him and order a beer, "You look like you could use some company. Do you mind if I sit?"

Jake turned to see Martin and moved to stand while nearly dropping his smoke into his beer glass, "Captain Sterling? Sure... please sit down, sir."

"At ease Jake," Martin said waving it off, "No need for all the formalities here. I see you've found your way around the West End here. It's a nice corner of town isn't it? Almost makes you think for a minute we weren't on some giant floating military base."

Jake nodded and sat down. "Yes sir... I uh, wasn't expecting to see you out tonight. Err... care for a fag, sir?"

The Red Ranger blinked in confusion before seeing a proffered cigarette and not picking up the British slang word. He shook his head before being served his own beer, "No, thank you. I came to see how you were holding up tonight."

"Well Captain... to be honest, I'm a bit knackered at the moment," Jake answered before seeing Martin give another puzzled look, "I meant tired, sir. It's English."

"I speak the same language here."

Jake waved it off and took a drink, "No mate, you speak American. I meant real English... the Queen's English."

Martin sighed patiently and took a drink himself, "How have you been adjusting to your new post here? I figure you're still settling into your quarters and all?"

"That part's fine sir," Jake answered, "It's just more difficult with the actual Ranger stuff. I mean... a few days ago I was very excited to join the team, but after that battle... I'm beginning to have my doubts. Being a Nova Ranger isn't as fun or glamourous as it looks, is it?"

"I'm afraid not," Martin replied flatly.

Jake paused a moment and snorted, "They don't pay us enough for this shit either."

"No... they don't."

Jake sighed and took a long puff of his smoke, "You know, these last few days I can't help but wonder if I'm jinxed in a way. I mean, when I fought my first battle in London, my whole squad got wiped out. I come here for my first Ranger battle and you guys nearly got killed by that Xeno, yet a bunch of civilians still get slaughtered. Seeing that made me feel so hopeless and angry all over again. I just wanted to lash out and hurt those aliens back... like how I almost shot that trooper Erin saved. Maybe I wanted to try and assert some kind of control over this madness again... to avenge those people, or maybe my old squadmates... I can't be sure. It's an ugly business this war."

Martin nodded quietly, "I understand the feeling of losing people and wanting to hurt those responsible for their deaths. I've been there too and it's why I became a little uncomfortable when you joined the team and began asking about it."

Jake turned with a puzzled look as the Red Ranger sighed, "To be honest Jake, I saw a lot of myself in you... being a rookie Silver Ranger, having your old team wiped out, and dealing with the aftermath in your own way."

He pointed to Jake's beer and cigarette.

Jake stopped and gave a thoughtful nod before putting his smoke out in an ashtray, "How did you pick up the pieces and bounce back sir? How did you get strong enough to deal with it?"

Martin smiled gently, "I never fully recovered Jake. There are days I still think about taking revenge on the Xeno who hurt me... Warmaster Hellspont. But I still had a lot of help from people who reminded me that there was so much else to fight for, and more reasons to live than just my own issues."

"The others?" Jake asked curiously.

The Red Ranger nodded, "My new team, Dr. Beckett, and now you. All of them friends, and people who I want to prevent the same thing happening to. That's why I'm here tonight, not as your C.O. but as a new friend who can help you try to find your own way."

Jake looked to Martin for a long thoughtful moment before giving a faint smile. He picked up his beer glass and nodded, signaling a toast, "I appreciate that Captain. Thank you. Here's to the old Anglo-American alliance, comrades in arms for just over a hundred fifty years now."

Martin clinked his glass and took a drink, "Cheers... and by that I don't mean goodbye or thank you in British."

At that, Jake could only sit back in his seat and give the longest loudest laugh he had all day.

Elsewhere, Dr. Lucy Beckett sat glumly in her lab. She had laid out a large table full of recovered tech from the battles with the Xenos hoping she could come up with a new way to help the Nova Rangers. It was already late and she decided to put in some more work tonight. To do that, she had just brewed herself a fresh pot of strong coffee and armed herself with a full mug. On that particular evening, Ella had come by to keep her company and help her out with some of the electronics they had salvaged. The Pink Ranger had graciously volunteered her own expertise with computers to the cause and the two women looked over the daunting task in front of them. "Well, I'll be honest Dr. Beckett. I have no idea where we're going to start. A lot of this stuff looks like junk."

Lucy paced around the table and took a discouraged sip of coffee, "I don't know Ella. There has to be something here we can use. We can't afford not to figure something out. You saw the specs on that last Xeno commander."

Ella grimaced and spun idly in her seat while her laptop did a few diagnostic scans of a ruined Xeno computer processor. "Don't remind me. It wasn't so much seeing the specs as it was experiencing them first hand."

Lucy continued to poke around the table, "If there are other Xenos out there with weapons and armor like that Decimus character, then we've got to come up with some upgrades to our tech. Unless we do, our current level of weaponry is not going to be strong enough to get through the enemy leaders' armor or shields."

Ella sighed and looked to her laptop as the results came back and showed a negative reading. "Well we're not going to get anywhere looking through this stuff. Xeno tech hasn't leant itself very well to being adapted for other uses. We haven't even been able to get our hands on anything even remotely resembling one of their..."

Lucy stopped and turned to Ella waiting for a response, "Ella?"

The Pink Ranger clicked off her laptop and snapped her fingers before jumping to her feet, "That's it! What we need to go back to is a database!"

She hurried over to another console and pulled up several files in deeply encrypted alien script. "Dr. Beckett, instead combing through the Xeno tech, let's take a look through the Adventi database instead. Those aliens were just as advanced and we still haven't been able to figure out everything from their own records."

Lucy crossed her arms and thought it over while drinking some coffee, "You remember that the Adventi were more of a peaceful starfaring race of explorers, right? If a race like the Xeno Machina is more geared toward conquest and war, their weapons might be more useful to study."

Ella shrugged, "But you still created our Nova Ranger weapons and suits from their schematics. We have to assume that the Adventi still needed to protect themselves while exploring."

Lucy sighed and joined her at the console, "What I did was a stretch and born of necessity at the time. I assume you're pulling up the expanded records your team recovered back in the deserts of Mexico?"

"Maybe there's still something there we can make use of," Ella nodded hopefully while sorting through the files on the screen.

"There's only one problem though," Lucy pointed out, "These particular blocks of data are all heavily encrypted in the alien format. Not even Erin's programs could fully crack the codes and make sense of them."

"True," Ella agreed, "But you're forgetting something too. We have a Xeno prisoner and Erin has a hunch he might have a better understanding of this stuff than we do. She thinks the Xenos and Adventi are linked in some way and..."

"And it's a hell of a risk," Lucy countered, "You're suggesting we have an alien prisoner of war look at these files containing God knows what and trusting that he'll tell us? What if he gets away and brings that information back to the Xenos on the moon?"

Ella gave an unusually serious look to Lucy, "Doctor, I know it sounds crazy but right now, we might not have much of a choice either. Isn't it possible with great risks like this come great rewards too?"

Lucy met the steady pleading look of Ella and turned to glance at the junked Xeno tech on her lab table. She adjusted her glasses and took a deep breath before giving a slow nod, "Maybe you're right... maybe we should try to keep all options on the table, including that one. Now let's get to work."