Mission Log: Supplemental 02

The sounds of missile pods whistled through the air before detonating in a series of loud explosions and lighting up the darkened Scandinavian skies. From her snowy foxhole, Sergeant Clarissa Lewis huddled with her small fireteam and watched as the Nova Megazord did battle with a Xeno Titan just off the coastlines of Denmark. Despite the rush of heat from the explosions, the air remained frigid and snowy over the icy tundra lands on the outskirts of Copenhagen.

"The Xenos picked a great time to stop in for a visit, don't you think Sarge?" Corporal James Cambell muttered as he tucked in his thermal scarf and rubbed his gloved hands to stay warm. Clarissa snorted in amusement toward her Canadian second in command as she continued to watch the giant mechanized fighters tangle. "December 24th? And here I almost thought they'd forgotten to give us a Christmas gift."

In the other end of the snowy trench, Private Marina LeFevre of France took a moment to watch the megazord battle with a pair of small binoculars, "Anyone want to take a bet on how long it takes the Rangers to bring that Titan down?"

Beside her, the fourth member of their squad Private Diego Madrigal of Mexico sighed and kept his eyes on the snow covered woods just north of them, "I think we'd be better off keeping an eye out for trouble. Who knows how many Xenos are still out there?"

Clarissa nodded and slapped in a fresh ammo clip into her assault rifle, "Diego's right. I want everyone here to do an ammo check and stay alert. I'm guessing there's still a company strength unit of Eidolons lurking in those woods."

James readied his rifle and took up a defensive crouch, "The UNAF defense line was spread out a little thin on the enemy's last push. If the aliens advance from the woods, our team is going to be hard pressed to stop them."

Clarissa grimaced while the megazord and Titan kept slugging it out. He was right. About a quarter mile north of them was a thick stretch of trees skirting the coastlines where the giants were battling. Dead ahead was a wide open field of frozen ice, likely part of a smaller fjord that had frozen over. If Clarissa's defense pocket was going to be able to hold their position, they'd need help. She reached for a small radio transmitter and sent a message, "Lewis to Atlantis Base, we could use some help out here."

She waited a moment before Dr. Lucy Beckett's voice came in from Ops, "What's the situation Sergeant?"

"Requesting reinforcements and fire support for our position. We are under threat from an enemy company. If we get overrun, that may put the rest of our line in jeopardy."

Behind her computer, Lucy pulled her attention away from the Rangers for a moment to survey the situation of the other UNAF ground troops there. She shook her head and gave an apologetic sigh, "I'm sorry Sgt. Lewis, we don't have any reserve units to spare at the moment. I'm routing local Danish defense units to reinforce you, but it's going to take some time. They're still about 10 minutes out."

Clarissa ground her teeth and suppressed her own anxiety, "Understood Dr. Beckett. Lewis out."

She looked to her squad mates and they all seemed to pick up on her discomfort. Marina sighed while thumbing the safety on her weapon, "Bad news Sarge?"

Clarissa took her spot in the trench and steadied her own gun, "Dr. B said we're on our own… at least for the next ten minutes."

"Plenty of time…" Diego mumbled, "You'd think the Xenos would have gotten the hint already. They already took a pounding and the Rangers will probably trash their Titan soon too."

More weapons fire was exchanged between the two giant while the four troopers watched for a moment. James smiled, "It's times like this I kinda wish I was Ranger."

"Why? Because they could wipe out a company of enemy troops, no problem?" Diego asked.

"Sure, but also because I'll bet their suits have some warm temperature control feature. It's freaking cold out here."

"Ironic coming from the Canadian," Marina teased with a gentle smile, "You guys are supposed to be super nice, right? I'm surprised you're even out here fighting a battle at all and not rolling out a welcome mat for the aliens."

"Right back at ya Frenchie," James retorted with a teasing grin.

The small squad shared a nervous chuckle within the snowy trench as Clarissa kept her eyes forward. Normally she'd tell the others to cut the chatter, but given the situation, it was probably best she let them ease some of the tension with a little humorous banter.

As a light snow continued to fall over the battlefield, Diego wiped his rifle down and nudged James, "You sure that's the reason why you want to become a Ranger? I figured it'd be to flirt with Lt. Reilly or Catalano."

James laughed again, "As great as that would be, I don't think officers and enlisted would mix well like that."

"Oh I don't know about that," Marina sighed as she handed a canteen of water over to Clarissa, "Corporal Massey's a Ranger. I thought I recall you once saying to me in passing that you thought he was kinda cute."

Clarissa frowned slightly as her cheeks flushed in mild embarrassment, "I... don't remember ever saying that. Why don't you three quit running your big mouths and keep your eyes on that treeline."

The other three troopers exchanged an amused look and turned back to their duty. After a long pause James smirked, "It's gotta be that limey accent, right? Girls go crazy over it and think you sound like James Bond."

He laughed some more before Clarissa gave him a swift punch in the arm, "Screw you Campbell. Eyes forward already."

Moments later, their banter was broken up as Diego gave a sharp hiss, "Sergeant, we've got movement. Contacts in the treeline headed this way... looks like a few advance scouts."

The megazord battle continued to rage in the background as the thin UNAF forces held their line. The attack was coming and despite the odds, Clarissa was determined to not let the aliens break through and get a shot at Copenhagen... especially not on the eave of Christmas. She gestured quietly and kept her eyes on the treeline. "All right, spread out. Hold your fire until those scouts get close. We don't want to give away our position too early.

The squad of troopers cut the banter and all became dead serious as they readied their weapons and waited patiently. A few tense minutes passed in silence save for the icy whistling winds. As the alien scout troopers neared, the din of the howling winds reached its peak which drowned out other noises. Clarissa smiled and barked an order to her troops, "Open fire!"

The fireteam let loose a short controlled volley of fire which surprised the alien scouts who were out in the open. As the snowy wind died down, five Eidolons collapsed to the snow in bloody heaps having been shredded by a hail of armor piercing bullets.

"We're not going to have much time before the others get wise and come in force," Marina noted as she cocked her rifle. "We're going to have to find way to crack the enemy's morale."

Clarissa continued to watch the front as her mind raced for a solution to their desperate situation. Then it struck her, "Wait... that's it! We're going to crack them!"

Diego raised an eyebrow, "Sarge?"

"Look," Clarissa said pointing out to the frozen ice field ahead of them lying in front of the forests. "The Xenos have to pass over that small frozen lake to get at our position. We can stop them if we draw them out and crack the ice. Let the terrain beat them instead."

"How do you intend to do that?" James asked skeptically as he reloaded his gun.

The sergeant turned to Diego and Marina, "LeFevre? Madrigal? I'm going to need C-4. As much as you can spare."

"What's the plan Sarge?" Marina asked while pulling a couple small bricks from her kit.

Clarissa gathered the explosives and placed them all in a pouch. "Campbell and I are gonna run out into the middle of that ice field and plant the charges. Once the Xenos make a general advance, we blow the charges and drown them. Marina, Diego, you two keep us covered while we're out there."

The cautious Mexican trooper bit his lip and nodded, "It's a risky plan, but it just may work."

James unloaded all his extra gear and rolled out of the trench before quickly helping Clarissa out, "Let's go! I'm right behind you Lewis!"

Both friends scrambled out into the snowy darkness and split the supply of explosives. As the snowy wind howled, they worked quickly to plant the charges in a long line on top of the ice before they could be spotted. Before they could regroup, Marina gave a panicked hiss over the comms, "Clarissa! James! Hurry up! They're coming!"

In the darkness, they could see a large body of enemy troops moving from the treeline with red glowing eyes activated in their helmets. With their infrared sensors, the two humans would be sitting ducks if they didn't hurry back. As soon as they regrouped, a hail of energy bolts erupted from the advancing line of Eidolons as they hurried forward to pick off the two Terran soldiers.

Marina and Diego opened fire to try and draw the attention of some of the attackers but Clarissa and James scrambled for their trench in a desperate dash, all while dodging enemy fire. Just as they neared the trench, James gave a cry of pain and pitched forward into the snow as an enemy blaster bolt tagged him in the thigh. Clarissa stopped and spun around, debating what to do. She was under heavy fire and had to blow the charges soon, but she couldn't leave her friend and teammate there either. No sooner had she paused was when she heard several sharp reports of another rifle. It sounded like a Terran weapon and each of the four shots struck a target, dropping them in the ground as well.

A new voice sounded over the radio and surprised Clarissa. It was the distinct voice of an Englishman, "Better get moving luv. Your wounded comrade's not going to save himself."

Clarissa reached down and grabbed the wounded James, half pulling and half dragging him through the snow the rest of the way. He left a faint trail of blood in the snow and gritted his teeth through the pain, "Thanks for the save Sarge. I'm sorry I got hit."

"Don't sweat it Campbell," she grunted as they both fell back over into the safety of the trench again, "The important thing is you're okay."

She looked up in surprise and gasped as she spoke again, "All right team, report..."

Standing in the trench with her troopers was the morphed Silver Nova Ranger casting some warm encouraging light in the snowy darkness. He set down a sniper rifle and readied his own personal weapon to return one more salvo. He fired off his Fusion Striker and the troopers watched in awe as the spray of super powered laser fire mowed down a row of incoming aliens.

"Corporal Massey... what are you doing here?" Clarissa asked in astonishment.

"I thought you could use a hand Sergeant, so here I am," he winked back, "Dr. Beckett said you needed help here and that megazord was getting a little cramped."

"I... I don't know what to say," she stammered.

"How about give the word to blow the charges?" Diego called handing her the detonator switch on the remote control, "Those Xenos will be on top of us any minute!"

Clarissa grabbed her helmet and ducked while hitting the trigger, "Get down!"

The soldiers all ducked in their snowy trench as the C-4 explosives went off in the ice field, detonating right in the heart of the aliens' advancing column. The Eidolons who weren't blown up, froze and panicked as the icy ground gave way underneath them. Scores of them fell into the dark icy waters or flailed about helplessly as they were left completely defenseless. As the blast faded and a cloud of snow rained down, Clarissa, Jake, and the rest of the fireteam peeked their heads up and gave a cheer as the enemy company was completely neutralized.

As Marina and Diego tended to the wounded James, Jake looked over the horizon to see the Nova Megazord stand triumphant over the smoldering ruins of another Xeno Machina battle titan. As the megazord powered down, several UNAF Marauder gunships swooped onto the scene with their buzzing engines before touching down gently nearby. Several platoons of local Danish soldiers disembarked and moved to secure the area, but the battle was already won. The scattered pockets of remaining Xeno infantry were in full retreat.

Clarissa took off her helmet and gave a deep sigh of relief as she let the cool refreshing air wash over her. The heat from her sweating had caused a small cloud of steam to rise up from her helmet as her light colored hair wavered in the wind. She felt an encouraging hand give her a pat on the shoulder and turned to see Jake give a nod, "Nice job out there Sergeant. As far as I can tell, you and your team just saved the whole defense line here against five to one odds.

"Well... I had a little help," she admitted giving him a small sheepish smile, "Thanks."

Jake turned to see a few Danish medics hurry over to take a look at the wounded James. "Better see to your squadmate. I've got to get back to mine before I get in too much trouble."

He gave a small casual salute before rushing off amid the clamor of reinforcements. Clarissa stood watching him go for a moment, seemingly lost in thought before she heard Marina and Diego approach, "Sergeant? What are our orders?"

Clarissa thought for a moment before nodding, "Let's get back to base camp and keep James company. I imagine he won't want to spend Christmas morning alone in a hospital ward."

A few days passed and the Christmas holiday came and went. Despite having been called into duty on that holiday, the Nova Rangers and several supporting infantry squads from Atlantis Base were in good spirits after their successful defense of Copenhagen. Casualties were minimal and in a stroke of divine grace, there had been no deaths among the UN troopers in that battle. On that particular morning, Clarissa Lewis made her way toward the officers' wing of the base and headed for a conference room there.

She wasn't quite sure why she had been called in personally and she wondered if it had to do with the battle in Denmark. A slight uneasiness sat in her stomach as she wondered if she was being questioned over having done something wrong. She had followed protocols in battle, she had gone through debriefing with no problems, and she filed her after action report properly. Why would any of the other officers want to talk to her about it?

When she reached the conference room, she opened the door and was surprised to see all six Nova Rangers gathered around a desk waiting for her. Erik was the first to look up and greet her as she approached, "Sgt. Lewis, thanks for coming."

Clarissa stopped before the table and straightened up to attention with a smart salute toward the officers present. "Reporting as requested sir."

Martin smiled warmly and rose from the table, walking over to address her, "At ease Clarissa. You're not in trouble or anything."

She relaxed her stance and tilted her head slightly, "Captain?"

The Red Ranger stood before her and cleared his throat, "Sgt. Clarissa Lewis, up to now your performance in your duties has been exemplary. You've demonstrated competence, courage, selflessness, and leadership in difficult situations. No performance encapsulates that more than your recent actions in the defense of Copenhagen."

The younger trooper blinked in surprise and struggled to find a response,"I... thank you, sir."

Erik grinned and gestured over toward Jake sitting nearby, "Corporal Massey wrote a particularly glowing report about your heroics in holding the line against an entire company of Xeno soldiers. General Caldwell was equally impressed."

"General Caldwell?" Clarissa gasped.

Ella rose with a small black box and handed it to Martin. The Red Ranger smiled again and opened the box revealing a pair of new insignia pins for her uniform, "Yes. That's why he saw it only fitting to give you a field promotion and a citation of valor."

Clarissa looked in shock to see the pins were a pair of golden bars denoting that of a commissioned lieutenant. Martin removed the bars and pinned them to her uniform, "Caldwell thought it was only right that a fellow American officer do the honors for your surprise pinning ceremony. Congratulations Second Lieutenant."

Clarissa beamed proudly and exchanged a salute, "Thank you Captain... and thank you everyone. I don't know what to say... I won't let you down."

The other Rangers applauded and when the clapping died down, Erin came over to drape a friendly arm over her comrade, "Now that all that is out of the way, you've got to uphold some new duties and traditions. All newly minted Lieutenants have to buy lunch for their senior officers on the day of their promotion, am I right?"

"I don't remember that ever being a thing," Bharata laughed giving Erin a playful shove. "Don't tease her."

"Does that mean I still don't get lunch?" Jake chuckled as they all made their way out of the room, "She still outranks me."

"Hey Martin, you think we can promote Jake next week so he can buy us food too?" Erik teased giving his British comrade an elbow.

"You see what I'm working with here?" Martin said with a good humored sigh to Clarissa, "These are your fellow Lieutenants. Don't be like them."

Ella gave him a light slap in the arm while Jake jokingly proposed "fragging" their CO.

Martin laughed and raised his hands to placate them, "All right, all right. Come on, let's all grab some lunch in the West End today."

As she followed behind the others, and listened to the others' banter, Clarissa Lewis smiled to herself. Sure the Rangers were a special unit and all of them were senior officers with more experience, but in a moment like this, they were just like any group of enlisted troopers. They laughed, teased, and bonded just as the members of her own squad. With her new duties and responsibilities around the base now, Clarissa decided to let that moment serve as a reminder to never take that team bond for granted and to not let that new rank make her treat others any differently. If moments like these were what the Rangers were fighting to protect, then she hoped they'd be around to protect many many more in the days to come.

A/N:
While the Nova Rangers are the main heroes of our story I think it's also important to showcase the bravery and selflessness of the ordinary rank and file UNAF troops who fight alongside the protagonists in the background. The runner up OC Clarissa Lewis was a perfect character to highlight the contributions of the common soldiers and I wanted to reward her with a chance to shine out. Thanks again to Charlotte 'Charlie' Hartley for providing this great character to the series!