Mission 16: Part 5

Ella Catalano walked quickly down the hallways of the sprawling Xeno mothership with Julian following close behind. As the Pink Ranger made her way past alien soldiers and drone workers, she remained silent letting the only sounds she made come from her boots on the deck plating underneath. As they moved at a brisk but not too hurried pace, Ella could swear she felt her heart beating out of her chest, She had to get back to the shuttle and possibly take on a few guards there, but she also felt conflicted knowing her teammate Martin was likely in mortal peril from the traitorous Taldyr as well.

The two backtracked their steps until they reached the entryway to the underground lading pad where their shuttle was taken. She gripped her blaster spear and gave a slow nod to Julian as he clung to the box containing their own valuable cargo, the new Conduit helmet. As they made their way onto the outer landing pad, Ella could see a small control booth off to the side which likely operated the hanger doors above as well as the docking clamps which kept the shuttle in place. Even if she morphed now, it would still be problematic to fight all the clone soldiers here because it was bound to raise an alarm. For now, she'd have to keep on with the subtle route. Both she and Julian made their way up the boarding ramp of the shuttle before they were stopped by two Eidolon guards.

"Halt! What do you think you're doing?"

Ella exchanged a quick look with Julian before speaking, "We're picking up a few extra items from the shuttle. They had been misplaced."

"We were told by our sergeant not to let anyone on this shuttle until it was inspected by the science drones," one of the guards growled.

Ella didn't let them intimidate her and stood her ground, "We were given direct orders by Lieutenant Taldyr and he said it was very important. Unless you want your sergeant dragged into this, you'll let me pass. I'm sure he won't be happy having you waste his time."

The guards stepped aside grudgingly, "Proceed, but we will escort you while you are aboard."

"Fine. Let's go," Ella huffed as she led them up the ramp and into the cargo hold. Once they were inside, Ella gestured Julian toward the corner, "Go set that crate down over there."

As Julian complied, Ella turned on the nearest guard and swung her spear weapon around, cracking the skull of one Eidolon trooper. As he staggered in surprise, Ella leveled the blaster end and shot him point blank. The trooper flew backwards into the bulkheads and slumped over leaving a blue bloody smear down the wall. Without wasting a second, Ella turned on her heel and shifted her stance to deliver a roundhouse kick to the head of the already stunned second trooper. As he fell, the Pink Ranger finished him off with a blaster bolt to the back.

Julian could only stare in shock at the deadly but efficient ferocity of Ella as she pulled off her helmet and smoothed out her mussed hair with a satisfied nod. The relief only lasted a moment as one last Xeno emerged from the front cabin of the shuttle. They hadn't expected anyone else would be aboard and were caught flat footed. The Xeno turned his blaster spear on the startled Pink Ranger and fired but Julian jumped in the way and pushed her aside. Ella fell over in shock and raised her weapon to fire back at the last alien in the hatch. The bolt struck the Eidolon in the head and the trooper spun sideways before collapsing.

The Pink Ranger took several breaths and turned in horror upon seeing her fellow comrade beside her. Julian lay on the deck moaning in pain where a smoking blaster wound continued to sizzle from his side. It looked like he had been hit just above the pelvis and just under the tip of his lower left ribcage. Fortunately the armor had absorbed some of the blast, but he looked to be in pain and Ella didn't have the medical training to assess the wound. "Oh no. No, no, no. Julian… are you okay?"

He moaned softly, "Ella… am I going to die?"

She shook her head and put a reassuring hand to his cheek, "No. You saved my life so now we're going to do the same. You're one of us, remember?"

"I'm not a Ranger Ella," he groaned.

"No, but after what you did just now, you'd certainly qualify. Now lie still and rest. I'll get help and make sure you can save Erin's life too. Okay?"

Julian nodded weakly and lay back while sucking in air to cope with the pain. Ella headed back toward the boarding ramp and stopped when she saw Erik, Bharata, and Jake enter the hanger and morph. "What the…"

The Blue Ranger pulled his blaster pistol and fired at two guards standing nearby and dropped them, "Let's light em up boys!"

Bharata sprinted around the teams flank and drew his glowing Nova Striker blade. Using the advantages of his momentum and natural agility, he tumbled toward three Xeno drones nearby and effortlessly cut them down. Meanwhile, the Silver Ranger pulled his own Fusion Striker in rifle mode and aimed it at the control booth where two more clone troopers were holed up. He fired once and the bolt shattered the glass, striking the first Xeno in the throat. As the alien slumped over on the control panel, his comrade scrambled to shove him off and hit the emergency alarm. He never had a prayer. Jake swiftly lined up a second shot and used his uncanny sniper's aim to gun down the last trooper.

"Nice shooting Jake," Erik said giving the younger Ranger a pat on the back while they approached the shuttle ramp. Ella hurried out in relief and grabbed the Blue Ranger by the arms.

"Erik! Thank God you're here! Hurry! Julian's been shot!"

Erik immediately powered down and shot a look to the two other male Rangers, "Both of you stay here. Bara, wire the last of our explosives to the shuttle's docking clamps. Jake, if anything comes through that hanger door, I want you to shoot it in the face."

Jake powered down and took up a sniping position on the ramp. He kept his Fusion Striker primed and went for a cigarette in his supply pouch, "Yes sir! Sounds like my kind of job."

Ella led Erik into the shuttle and handed him a medkit as he bent down to examine Julian. He quickly went to work probing the wound and then cleaning it, "Well now… it doesn't look like it hit any vitals, but it's still deep. Sit tight Julian, you're going to be okay now."

Ella hung off Erik's arm as he continued working on stabilizing the injury. He spoke idly, "All our C-4 has been planted. Did you get the helmet?"

"We did," Ella sighed, "But Taldyr turned on us. He took Martin hostage."

Erik simply nodded, "Hmm, I see. Everything is going according to plan then."

The Pink Ranger reared back in surprise, "What? What the hell are you talking about? Martin is danger! We have to try and help him!"

Erik shook his head and rose to his feet. He walked over to a small platform shaped device which was in the corner of the cargo hold and connected it to a datapad to be used as a control device, "Martin and Taldyr made a commotion to draw more guards off their posts for us. The two are staging an act to reinstate Taldyr."

"What?" Ella blinked incredulously, "I thought he was on our side."

Erik nodded, "He is. Taldyr's going to spy for us behind enemy lines. He said he also wants to try and talk other clones into starting a rebellion and defecting over to our side. If Hellspont is going to trust Taldyr in returning to their ranks, they had to make everything look real and have Taldyr appear to still be a loyalist in front of the others."

"What does this device have to do with saving Martin?"

Erik handed her the datapad, "This is a portable short-range transporter. It's locked on to his morpher and when he gives the signal, you beam him back so we can get the hell out of here."

Ella glanced at the datapad, "Okay… but what's the signal?"

The Blue Ranger smiled and put a reassuring arm around her shoulder, "Trust me, you'll know when it's time."

Warmaster Hellspont waited patiently in a wide spacious gallery of the Xeno flagship's command deck looking out over the lunar landscape. As a nearby hatch opened, he watched as Taldyr entered followed by a large platoon of Eidolon guards. As they approached, the Warmaster saw the Red Nova Ranger being dragged roughly by several of the guards. Having been offended by him wearing clone trooper armor, the guards had removed his disguise, leaving him exposed in his blue UN military undershirt and slacks underneath.

The Warmaster folded his hands behind his back and watched in cool amusement as Martin was unceremoniously dumped before his feet. The guards circled around and held their weapons at the ready cutting off any means of the Ranger's escape. As he was just starting to recover from the effects of the stun blaster, Martin slowly rose to his knees and looked up to see his mortal enemy, the Xeno general who had murdered his former team.

Hellspont grinned, "Captain Martin Sterling… at last we meet again, this time in person."

Martin slowly recovered to his feet and glanced around at the horde of Xeno soldiers surrounding them, "I've got to say Hellspont, you look like you've really let yourself go. That remote control droid I fought looked a lot scarier than you do now."

The Warmaster's lip curled into a sneer, both amused and enraged at the Ranger's defiant insult. "I don't know whether you're incredibly brave to come here, or incredibly stupid."

"What does it matter now? I'm here, aren't I?"

Hellspont turned to Taldyr, "How did this happen Taldyr? Were you working with this Terran?"

Taldyr shook his head, "No. After the defeat of Commander Decimus, I was captured. This Ranger forced my troops and I into taking him back here. He made me lie about stealing that shuttle and forced me to fly it here at gunpoint."

"And why did you?" Hellspont asked. "Eidolons are bred to be proud soldiers. You should have had no reservations about dying."

Taldyr kept his gaze steady, "I felt I would do more good if I could continue to serve Warmaster. You said yourself that I am special and I saw a way to deliver one of your enemies to you."

"Then where are the other Rangers?" Hellspont demanded.

"I came here alone," Martin interrupted, "You and I have unfinished business Hellspont. I honestly don't give a damn about Taldyr or his troops. He was my way in here to find you… so I took it."

"You expect me to believe that?" Hellspont scoffed incredulously.

"You didn't think I'd have the stones to come all this way to face you in person on your own ship. Whatever happens, a great blow will be struck on either side. Either the Xenos lose their Warmaster, or the Terrans lose their Red Ranger."

"You actually think you can dictate the terms of a fight? That you have any leverage here?" Hellspont asked.

Martin smiled, "I'm calling you out right here in front of all your men. You wouldn't want to lose face now… would you?"

The Warmaster growled as the Red Ranger continued to defiantly goad him, "Of course, you could just make this easy on yourselves. Tell your troops to lay down their arms. You can all surrender to me and I'll take you to General Caldwell. He's a pretty reasonable guy and probably won't have too many of you executed."

Hellspont ground his teeth in fury before gesturing to two menacing battle drones standing nearby, "Kill him."

The two humanoid drones both drew large fearsome axe weapons that powered on to show jagged whirring chainsaw teeth on the blade edge. As they advanced, Martin swiftly morphed and held his ground, sizing them up. Moments later, both drones sprung to try and saw him in half with their chain-axes but the Red Ranger swiftly drew his blaster pistol from his holster first. Like a cowboy gunslinger, he fired a pair of snap shots from the hip that struck the drones in the head, instantly killing them. As both drones collapsed to the ground, Martin twirled his pistol and trained it on Hellspont but the other Eidolon guards raised their own blaster staves menacingly forcing a new standoff.

Hellspont continued to watch the sight unfold, seemingly unperturbed. He slowly raised a hand urging his troops to lower their weapons and stand down. "You are arrogant beyond belief Red Ranger, but you are amusing. I will enjoy killing you slowly."

The Warmaster drew his own vibroblade and ignited it with energy. He prepared to step forward and wade into battle himself but Martin shook his head. The Ranger produced a small remote detonator forcing everyone to stop in their tracks. Hellspont glared at the Ranger furiously, "What is the meaning of this?"

Martin holstered his pistol while keeping his other hand on the detonator, "By the end of this war Hellspont, you and I will fight… and I will kill you. But not today."

The Red Ranger glanced quickly to Taldyr and the Xeno soldier gave an almost imperceptible smirk and nod of the head. The Ranger hit the trigger and the explosives which the Rangers had laid at various points around the alien base went off. Several loud explosions echoed in the halls causing massive chaos, damage, and confusion among the aliens. While sections of the base rattled, power was lost to several decks and facilities while the communications grid went down as well.

Before the Warmaster or his guards could process what happened, they stared in shock as the Red Ranger was locked into a transporter field and teleported away from the room. Hellspont slashed at one of the ship's bulkheads and roared in a blind fury, "Find that Ranger! Bring me his head!"

Moments later, Martin found himself back in the hold of the shuttle. After rematerializing, he stumbled off the platform and gave a sigh of relief. "Perfect timing."

Ella dropped the datapad and rushed over, throwing her arms around him in relief, "Captain! I'm so sorry about leaving back there! Why did you keep that plan secret? You scared the hell out of me!"

Martin gave a surprisingly gentle smile as he hugged her back and gave her a little kiss on the side of the head, "I'm really sorry about all that Ella. I had to make it all look real for everyone. I still think you did great today."

As he let of her, he turned to Erik and the two friends clasped hands, "Erik, great work as well. What's our status?"

Erik led them toward the front of the shuttle, "Docking bay is secure and we have the Conduit. Julian took a blaster shot, but he'll live. Bara and Jake are holding the hanger and ready to blow the docking clamps on your orders."

"All right then. Call them in. Let's get the hell out of here."

Erik reached for his morpher and sent out a call, "Bara? Jake? Let's pack it up. It's time to go!"

Outside in the hanger bay, Bharata nimbly did a spider climb and rolled up the side of the shuttle ramp amid a hail of blaster fire from enemy troops that begun to flood in through the main doors. Several battle drones and Eidolons forced their way through and took cover, having been pinned down by Jake's sniper fire.

The Silver Ranger quickly switched the mode of this rifle to fire its special ricochet bursts and aimed for the walls behind some of the enemies taking cover. He squeezed off a few shots and watched as the bolts zoomed by and bounced off the floors and walls. The ricochet fire bounced about in dazzling geometry and struck down a handful of clone troopers who were trying to advance and take cover behind some supply barrels.

Bharata held out the end of the long central fuse of the explosives that he wired on the shuttle clamps, "Got a light Corporal?"

Jake grinned and pulled a lit cigarette from the corner of his mouth. He used his lit smoke to ignite the fuse before packing his rifle away, "You heard Lieutenant Dobermann. Let's take our leave."

As the two Rangers scrambled back inside and got situated, the Ulysses powered on while the hanger doors above opened up. Several clone troopers who remained on the ground continued to fire at the shuttle, but their small arms fire did very little against the shuttle's shields. The Red Ranger flipped a few switches and keyed in some startup commands of the spacecraft, "Gentlemen, if I'm going to get this bird airborne, I need to know if those docking clamps have been taken care of."

As if on cue, several explosions were heard from below as the C-4 destroyed the clamps and freed the ship. Bharata exchanged a fist bump with Jake and nodded, "That would be a big yes, Captain."

Having decided not to waste any further time, the Ulysses powered on and ascended quickly into the air, out of the underground hangers and into the lunar sky. While chaos still reigned in the Xeno central base, the shuttle's main drive engines flared to life and the Ulysses took off at full speed to escape lunar orbit and the threat of alien pursuers.

The Ulysses continued to roar through space at full speed trying desperately to reach the safety of planet Earth. With the communication relays of the Xeno base temporarily knocked out, the Rangers breathed a sigh of relief as they slipped past the alien patrol ships guarding the moon's airspace. Still, they knew it wouldn't be long before they figured out something was off and the Rangers wanted nothing more than to build as much of a lead as they could before the other Xeno ships would try to chase them down. Right now, they were pushing the engines at full effort at the expense of most other systems on the craft.

While Martin flew the shuttle and navigated, he turned and glanced into the rear of the shuttle where Erik was treating Julian and trying to keep him comfortable. The tech gave a low moan as Erik applied some fresh bandages and antiseptic gels. "How's our patient Dobermann?"

"He's stable, but we should really get him back to Atlantis Base sir," the Blue Ranger answered while giving Julian a small dose of morphine to dull the pain. Julian gave a sigh and tried to touch the blaster wound near his hip but Erik kept him still. Martin nodded and turned back to the helm control, "Ella, take shotgun here and work the secondary systems. I need you to reroute all available power to our engines and shields."

"Are you sure? I'm not exactly an engineer here," the Pink Ranger said hesitantly while taking her seat.

"You're the closest thing we've got so just do the best you can. I'm guessing we might be able to shave our return time in half if we push the engines hard enough. Bharata, I need you to get on the comm. system and start trying to transmit an emergency signal on all UNAF frequencies."

Bharata nodded and took up a side computer console, "I'm wishing Erin were here right about now."

As the others worked, Jake stepped forward, "What about me Captain? What do you want me to do?"

Martin thought for a moment, "Hmm… maybe pray? God knows we could use some help because we're not out of the woods just yet."

Jake chuckled, "Sorry, after some of the things I've done in the field, I'm not exactly sure I'll be high on God's answering queue. How about weapons? Anything I can operate to defend us?"

Ella shook her head as she worked to reroute the power configuration of the ship, "Aside from a single low powered nose blaster, no. Even that's more designed just for blowing up small meteoroids."

Jake furrowed his brow in disappointment while idly scanning the long range sensors. His heart stopped when he suddenly saw several red blips show up on their radar, "Uh guys…. I think we've got some trouble."

A large powerful energy blast of a space cannon suddenly erupted just off the starboard side of the shuttle and rattled it. Erik gripped Julian and held him secure while the shuttle took abrupt evasive maneuvers, 'Shit! Those must be Xeno warships firing on us! How did they catch up to us so fast?"

"They do have bigger engines than we do mate," Jake gasped while another enemy shot went wide and rattled the shuttle.

"Hang on everyone!" Martin exclaimed while steering their ship in an evasive zigzag pattern "Ella?"

"Engines are at 125% thrust. Any faster and we'll burn out our reactors. Let me try something!"

She quickly keyed in several commands and hit the enter key with a smile. "ECM fields activated!"

The larger Xeno ships pursuing the shuttle fired several more blasts from their cannons but a number of their volleys began to go very wide or miss completely. Jake watched the sensors and gave a sigh of relief, "What's going on? Are the enemy gunners drinking on the job?"

Ella shook her head proudly, "No. I just bought us a little time. I reconfigured our shields with electronic countermeasures to disrupt the enemy targeting and radar systems. That should make it harder to lock on to us with their guns or torpedoes."

The Silver Ranger gave her an enthusiastic high five, "Aw, brilliant work luv! We might just get through this after all."

Bharata looked up in a panic from the communication panel and set aside the earpiece, "Maybe not. There's a whole lot more chatter on the Xeno radio bands. That can only mean one thing…"

"Strigons," Martin murmured in growing fear, "If those ships launch even a squadron of fighters, we're dead meat."

As the shuttle Ulysses roared ever closer to Earth at full speed, the large blue globe of the planet appeared on the astral horizon, but it still looked so far away. Several tense minutes passed and Bharata watched in dismay as the distance counter to the planet continued to decrease, but not fast enough. "We're not going to make it… are we?"

"We've come too far to fail now," the Red Ranger growled through gritted teeth as he watched the sensors. Several Xeno fighter craft had been launched and were screaming toward them. The Strigons were faster, more maneuverable, and heavier armed. It was times like this the Ranger wished he was flying a Pegasus instead. "Hang on!"

More time passed and the pursuing Strigons finally caught up and opened fire with a spray of cannon fire and a volley of missiles. Thanks to Ella's disruptor trick on the shields, the enemy missiles changed direction and streaked away harmlessly. While the Strigons made a pass, several of their laser bolts struck the shuttle and hammered its shields. The Rangers were jolted violently before Martin made a gutsy turn and angled through the alien formation to disrupt their attack and buy the Rangers a little more time.

"Shields are down to 70%" Ella called.

The shuttle rocked again as a long range cannon burst from the enemy warships grazed the rear portside of the Ulysses, "Correction, 56%"

In the back Erik took several deep breaths and used a cloth to wipe some sweat from Julian's brow. The sedated tech probably barely knew what was going on at the moment and in a way, that could almost be considered a blessing. It was a terrifying thought to know the Rangers were basically sitting ducks in open space with a small fleet of hostile ships bearing down on them. He wondered for a somber moment what it would be like to be vaporized in a spaceship… or what might happen to his daughter Sarah if he were gone. All he could do was focus on what he could control… to comfort his patient here and protect that life first.

The Strigons made another pass and rocked the shuttle with another blistering strafing run. Jake clenched his fist in frustration while hanging on, "Damn! We can't fight back!"

"Shields are down to 23% Captain. We can't take much more of this," Bharata noted as he looked at another console.

"I'm doing the best I can here Lieutenant," Martin grimaced tensely while trying to evade the enemy fighters and veer clear of their attack angles. "Problem is they're driving racecars and I'm steering an eighteen wheeler."

Three Strigons screamed by and unloaded a spray of weapons fire on the flank of the shuttle jolting it sideways and shearing through the last of the shuttlecraft's shielding. Several panels blew out and a nearby dashboard sensor erupted into a fountain of sparks as the Ulysses was slammed sideways. One last long range cannon burst from a pursuing warship clipped the tail end of the shuttle and scorched the hull. The cabin lights went dimmer as Ella and Jake began giving damage reports, "Shields are out. Rear number 2 drive engine is disabled. Long range nav sensors are down. Right stabilizer is damaged. Hull integrity is at 80%."

Martin desperately reached for the main console and wiped away a line of sweat from his brow, "Routing all emergency power to polarize hull plating. That should absorb one more hit for us."

As if sensing their quarry was desperate and wounded, the Strigons regrouped in a holding pattern and the Xeno warships stopped firing. A transmission came in over the shuttle's radio, "This is the warship Umbra. Power down your engines and prepare to be boarded. Comply or be destroyed."

Bharata chewed his lip and took a gambit, "Communicators are damaged. Please repeat?"

Everyone looked at him and the Green Ranger shrugged, "If we can keep them talking, it might buy us a little more time."

The voice on the other end of the radio spoke again, this time more angry and forceful, "Power down your engines and lower your defenses immediately. We will not ask again."

Martin cut the engine power and let the shuttle coast along before turning to the team, "Well… this is it. Nowhere left to go."

Jake gave a frown and looked up, "We could always tell them to just go sod off, right? Unless you want to stand and fight when they try to board us?"

Erik rose and joined his friends leaving the sedated Julian sleeping on the cabin floor, "We could try self destructing the shuttle. Maybe take a couple of them with us?"

The Red Ranger touched his morpher and regarded his team with a grim expression, "If you're all willing to die together like that, then so will I."

The Rangers all exchanged a somber nod, preparing to stand and fight when they were startled by several pin pricks of light appearing out the front of the shuttle's window. A volley of superheated energy bursts flared from the direction of Earth and one struck the second Xeno destroyer ship. The alien warship shuddered violently as a squadron of UNAF Pegasus fighters roared into range followed by three UN battle frigates. Having been caught off guard, the Xeno fighters and warships scrambled to take evasive action and regroup.

"Those shots must have come from the orbital defense guns!" Bharata cheered as he marveled at the sight, "We must be at the very edge of their range!"

Three sleek Pegasus fighters soared by and harried the disorganized enemy Strigons, shooing them away from the crippled Ulysses. While the UN pilots did, their wingmen moved to try and get missile locks on the scrambling enemies.

"I can't believe my eyes! Our boys just played a blinder!" Jake cheered pumping fist triumphantly.

As the larger Xeno warships broke formation, they came under a barrage of fire from the Terran frigates' railguns and spacial torpedoes. One of the alien destroyers crumpled under the concentrated fire and was torn apart by several secondary explosions forcing the other warships to disengage and retreat. The Rangers gave another cheer while they watched the last of the Strigons withdraw and flee back with their comrades toward the moon.

As one of the frigates neared, a call came in over the radio, "Ulysses, this is the UNS Olympia. We picked up your distress signal and are here to help. Please say your state."

Martin got on the comms with a relieved sigh, "This is captain Sterling of the Ulysses. We've been better, but we're glad you came. Thanks for the save Olympia."

The young female comm officer of the Olympia shook her head in astonishment as she pulled up data on the Ulysses and its current mission plans. "I can't believe what I'm reading Captain… did your crew really just…"

"Escape the moon and give the Xenos a black eye? Yes… yes we did."

The sounds of the other Rangers cheering and giving each other hugs filled the background before the comm. officer sat back in her seat, "Well… let me be the first to say welcome home Rangers. Stand by for recovery."

"Acknowledged," the Red Ranger smiled as he pulled off the headset and joined his teammates in the delirious celebration taking place within the main cabin of the shuttle. Amid the laughter and banter that filled the cabin, the Nova Rangers all looked out the viewport toward Earth. In that moment, the bright blue glow of their home world never looked so beautiful.

A/N:
We're almost there everyone. I've got one more chapter coming to tie up the series first half. See you then!