[TheFightingSpirit]

Incursion Twenty Six: A Rallying Cry

In the ready room, Ken and Brad sat reading their course textbooks.

Despite needing to be on hand at HQ nearly twenty four hours a day, they’d figured out a way to keep up with their university in Fort Lowsdale.

When it turned out to be impractical to commute after all, Catherine had pulled a few strings for them here and there. Twice a week essential, hard copy work would be mailed to them, and in return they would telecommute for the non-optional lectures. Naturally, that meant a lot of hard work on their part, but it was surely worth it.

Maria peeked in from the corridor and spotted the two of them. She walked over. “You two hiding out on your own again?”

“We have school stuff,” said Ken.

“Oh, sure.” She sat down with them at the table and eyed the bullhorn of the, so far quiet, alarm system. “But wouldn’t you like to get out and do something else?”

Brad narrow his eyes. It sounded suspiciously like Maria was fishing for a very specific answer.

When neither of them made an attempt to reply, she continued. “I mean, I get that university is important for you guys, but, and don’t think I’m being forceful about this, it’s pretty boring running Robert through drills on his own.”

Surprisingly Ken laughed. “How’s Rob doing exactly?”

“Taking to it well, all things considered.”

“All things considered…” He shook his head and smiled. “The dude has been friends with my sister for years now, he hates authority just about as much as she does.”

“Well, I didn’t say it was easy,” Maria said with a shrug. “Infact, I’m pleading with you. Join us, I’ve got Catherine coming down and Allison said she’d pop in when she gets back from the camps. We need the practice.”

Brad closed his textbook. “You mean, we need practice.”

“For prosperity then? The ranks are ... talking, and it’s not great.”

“Let them talk,” said Ken. He folded his arms and leaned back on the chair’s hind legs. “Why would that bother me?”

Maria’s face fell, and Brad knew the joking was over.

“Like it or not, Ken, you four are now part of a military organisation.” She stood. “Yes, the army works with civilians, but you can’t slide by anymore without following a little protocol. I’ve spoken to couple NCOs who are questioning how sensible putting amateurs in charge of national safety is.”

“You heard me, Maria. Why should we care?”

Brad shrunk into his chair. A lot of the time he felt like a minnow in a storm, like the only one who wasn’t angry at everyone, and the only one who didn’t jostle for pole position. Brad didn’t want any of that.

“Do you want to know what happens when your support system stops believing you?” she said. “It can get ugly. If all you have to do is half an hour to an hour of training a day to keep them off your back, then I’d do it if I were you.”

The alarm sounded.

Brad calmly slid his books into his bag and stored it in his locker.

Here we go again.

o0o

The rangers arrived morphed at the scene of the incursion signal; a small abandoned warehouse in the city’s soon to be redeveloped, and aptly named, ‘rust belt’.

Inside a woman was waiting for them. She wore a long winter coat and a wide brimmed hat pulled low.

Red Cross played it safe and launched into a well practice schpeel. “I’m sorry miss, but it’s not safe here. Run to the main road. Our people will meet you there.”

The woman started laughing, a pleasant laugh at first, building to a great shrieking cackle. She threw the hat and it soared over their heads like a UFO.

“Oblivion…” White Cross muttered.

“Lady Oblivion,” The Black Water general insisted.

Red Cross found himself snapping. From training to this… he’d certainly sleep soundly tonight. “Whatever. What do you want?”

A subtle click sounded off to the right. Rather worryingly it reminded Yellow Cross of a grenade’s hammer being released.

Instinct kicked in and she dove out of the way. Before she could warn the others, the grenade exploded releasing a noxious cloud of gas. She rolled backwards further to avoid breathing it in as it spread.

Shrouded within the obscuring gas, she heard their spluttering coughs and feared the worst.

Lady Oblivion smirked. “Ha, that was easier than I thought.”

She didn’t see me make the dive!

Indeed the infected ex-human melted back into her component black sludge and escaped through a drain set in the floor behind her.

When the gas cleared, Yellow Cross rushed to her teammate’s aid only to find them unmorphed and sleeping soundly. “At least you’re all breathing.”

She let her armour shimmer away and unclipped the radio from her belt.

o0o

Her day didn’t get any easier from then on. Just as soon as they’d lifted the unconscious rangers into four beds in the sick bay, the alarm sounded.

Knowing the situation, Cadet Ferris contacted Maria and Catherine directly.

<I’ve picked up another incursion signal.>

“Report.”

<Well ma’am, it’s looking a lot like Oblivion and a small-fry mutant, only their leaving a whole mess of Black Water in their wake...>

Maria glanced at her comrades, out for the count. Great time to take a nap guys… but don’t worry, I’ve got this.

She turned to Catherine. The Captain merely nodded deferring entirely to her second in command.

“I’m taking my old squad out, Catherine. Want to join us?”

“I’ve got plenty of work to do here but …” She shrugged it off. “You know what? I think I will.”

o0o

Minutes later the two captains stood in front of a fully suited up squad of eight veteran soldiers. Under General Bryant’s regime Maria had been kept out in the field as commander during the almost daily incursions. These eight men and women were 'her boys'.

She wasted no time in briefing them. That way none of them had the chance to question her. “I’m sure many of you chat with Staff Sergeant Cartwright, but here’s the deal. Captain Moses and I are still military, through and through. And as your commanding officers, we need something from you.

“Earlier today the Cross Rangers were hit with a powerful sleeping gas. As we speak the enemy is marauding around the city, spreading the infection. If you’re not going to do it for the rangers, you’re damn well going to do it for the civs. And that’s an order.”

Catherine raised an eyebrow momentarily, but quickly squashed any emotion to the back of her mind. She’d never seen Maria get so heated in front of the troops. The captain had always lead by example, as a loyal friend and fellow squadie.

“Sir, yes, sir!” The squad roared.

Perhaps they hadn’t needed coaxing, but Catherine knew Maria; she had to let off steam somehow. Indeed it looked as though the troops agreed with her... in their own way. This was a job and a duty, not for themselves, or their feelings, or their emotions and irritations, but for the people who counted on them to save the day.

o0o

Lady Oblivion and her pet monster - an emaciated skeleton of a beast with three heads - laughed as the humans scattered in every direction imaginable. They’d already torn through three blocks of the city, seeding their infection as they went, and were about to push into a forth.

Up ahead was the national train station; the perfect way, Oblivion thought, to disrupt lives. She smiled. “Go my pet. Spread the disease!”

The creature leaped forward on all fours. It grabbed up people who couldn’t run fast enough with it’s wide, gaping jaws, bit into them once and threw them away. The puncture wounds bled black.

Seeing it’s enjoyment, Lady Oblivion moved on toward her goal. She swung her staff at anyone who refused to move quick enough for her liking, great bursts of dark power exploding all around her.

She got all the way to the main entrance of station with very little resistance until two women stood in her way. They both wore the one uniform that angered her more than anything in the world.

“You will get out of my way,” she sneered.

“I don’t think so,” said the smaller of the two. “I don’t get out much anymore, so… put it this way, I’m going to have fun stopping you.” The woman shook out her wrist, revealing a compact, box-like object with a circular dial on top.

The second woman showed little emotion. She pushed up her sleeves, revealing the full extent of the back of her hand wherein glittered a tell tale circular clan symbol.

Lady Oblivion hissed. “Magi!”

“And you’ve met me before,” added the magi with the glowing hand.

o0o

Maria crossed her arms at her waist and summoned her morpher.

“Cross form!”
“Clan form roulette!”

Hearing such calls the three-headed beast wheeled around without command and bore down upon them.

Maria swung her arms in wide arcs and recrossed them over her chest. Energy, both red and yellow, surged from the gem set into her morpher and condensed into her half yellow, half orange armour.

Catherine struck the roulette dial against her palm. Her body was covered in CrossTrinity’s base form armour. The wheel lost momentum and clicked to a stop on the red section and the tribal lines on her suit shifted to match. The fire staff appeared in her hands in a burst of flame.

The two rangers dove out of the way of the monster. Yellow Cross threw a sonic boom its way before it could regain its bearings.

Meanwhile, CrossTrinity focused her attention on Lady Oblivion.

“Honestly? I thought No-one was annoying enough, but you just had to crawl of the woodwork and complicate matters, didn’t you?” The two opponents circled each other, both looking for an opening the other refused to give. “Lieutenant Hennings… Celeste. If you’re in there please listen to me. You’re hurting people. Stop this.”

Lady Oblivion quirked an eyebrow. “Seriously? I’m no more and no less than Oblivion. Call me what you like, but the infection cannot be stopped.”

CrossTrinity sighed. “I was hoping you’d stand down, but, if you are that far gone, then…”

She jumped into the air, bringing her staff down on Oblivion in a flaming hammer blow that knocked her flat.

Closer to the station building, Yellow Cross grappled with the monster, trying her best to keep its three snapping heads at arms distance. Wherever she caught flesh, she popped a small concussive blast of sound between it and her palms. Eventually, she managed to knock it away a metre or two.

“Resonance advent!” The low thrum of her attack washed over the monster pinning it in place with layer upon layer of acoustic destruction.

She raised a hand. Her squad leaped from the shadows and trained their guns on it.

She gave the order: “Shoot to kill.”

Where the bullets of semi-automatics lanced through it the resonance field became a jagged, inward pressing, omni-directional wave that shredded the beast outright.

With one opponent down, the soldiers spun to Lady Oblivion and CrossTrinity.

“Hold until you have a clear shot.”

Seeing her pet’s destruction, Lady Oblivion melted into her liquid state. As far as she cared, it didn’t matter whether she stayed or not. No-one would certainly be overjoyed to hear the four block hold they now had on the city.

Before she slid away back into the sewers her voice taunted the rangers. “Do your worst, magi. You’re already too late.”

o0o

It may have taken well into the night for the sleeping drug to pass out of their system, but the four rangers woke, refreshed and confused, to find Maria and Catherine by their sides.

“What happened...?” said Ken.

“What happened?” Maria smirked. “The way I see it an operative was in the field without the proper training needed to recognise the signs of an incoming grenade.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I should have known you’d work in your drills somehow… alright, we’ll join you, right Brad? … Brad?”

The green cross ranger had fallen asleep once more. This time from exhaustion.