The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 69 - Choice

The Progenitor’s teleportation wasn’t instantaneous to those within the effect.  They had attempted to explain it before, something about being accelerated to near the speed of light caused some form of time dilation.  It didn’t make any sense to her, but no doubt Becca would dig into the math with the same fervor that she always did. 

If Rebecca wasn’t the most educated human on Earth by the end of the month, Nicole would eat her scarf.  That girl could devour knowledge and never seemed to forget anything she learned, and now she was in one of the greatest archives of knowledge in the local star system.  The Sylan might have more general knowledge, but Maraline seemed certain that the Progenitors were still more advanced when it came to the source technology.

The dilation of time did give Nicole a moment to think, even as she watched the blur of red light that represented her girlfriend trail around her in a gentle spiral.  Putting everything on her shoulders wasn’t healthy, and the more that Nicole pondered things, the more she realized how she had all but manipulated Grace into going along with her. 

That part hurt, but their friends’ lives were in danger.  The conversations to come would be worth it if they returned in one piece.

Their friends’ lives were worth more than their relationship, and the cold math of it sank deep into Nicole.  She didn’t want to think like that; reducing her friendships and love to cold calculus.  

Any further thoughts on the matter were pushed out of Nicole’s mind as the ground rushed to meet them.  The sprawling expanse of Minneapolis grew by the second.  Their twin trails of light danced past a jet taking off from MSP, no doubt giving everyone inside the scare of their lives.  Even with five years of alien invasions, air travel hadn’t been interrupted.  The lack of infrastructure disruption was simply another subject to talk with Maraline about when the world wasn’t falling apart around them.

Nicole’s second planned landing went smoother than her first, and she reached out to grab Grace’s hand without hesitation.  Her girlfriend did the same and the pair shared a look of resolve.  That moment was shattered by a blur of green soaring over the nearby rooftop as Kayla crashed into the ground beside them, leaving a crater in the asphalt. 

“Goddamn does that bitch hit like a truck,” Kayla said, picking herself up with a groan.  “At least my suit’s still intact…  Probably wouldn’t be walking this one off otherwise.” 

“Probably,” Grace said.  

“Oh hey, you caught up!” Kayla said, then paused.  “Nicole, you sure you’re good to be here?  Last I saw, you were bleeding from the eyes.” 

“Eh, that was thirty minutes ago,” Nicole answered with a shrug.  “Progenitor tech is something else.” 

Kayla didn’t answer right away, not that she had much of an opening to do so.  Debris flew into the air, the crashing sound followed an instant later.  Grace and Nicole shared a singular look, then a solemn nod.

“Roll the Dice!” 

Red flashed and Nicole reached deep to draw on the power within, keeping it subdued for the moment to avoid backlash.  Her own burst of speed was less than a second behind Grace’s, and the two Rangers took off at a dead sprint before vaulting over the row of buildings between them and the battle.  Nicole barely noted that Kayla took longer to follow after them, and was moving far slower than either of them despite Nicole making sure she didn’t cross the threshold and morph on her own.

The Sylan didn’t need to know that she had figured out how to morph again, especially without needing a working morpher to do so.

They crested the rooftops, the scene before them unravelled almost immediately as Nicole took stock of the situation.  Carlos was down, Devon’s shield had chunks carved out of it but he was still standing, and Jeff had half a haft of his spear left, and it wasn’t the pointy end. 

“Let me go first,” Grace said, her voice coming at speeds beyond normal human comprehension. 

Her feet touched down on the lip on the rooftop, a sparkle of red heralded her axe coming into being.  Grace tipped forward in slow motion, then the edge of the roof exploded as her girlfriend turned herself into a crimson comet.  Guiana flowed smoothly from an aborted strike against Devon, and caught Grace’s axe with her own blades and a smile on her face. 

The smirk almost immediately dropped as Guiana was bowled over and slammed into the ground from the force of the blow.  Grace didn’t let that opening go to waste as she snapped a hand out and grabbed Guiana by the throat, keeping her skull buried in the concrete.  A hundred feet down the way and Guiana rallied, bringing a leg up to kick Grace away.  She took the hit, her forcefield barely sparking as the momentum was bled off with a few expert twists that would make any gymnast jealous. 

Nicole would know.

It was one thing to hear that Grace’s morpher was upgraded, it was an entirely different matter to see those upgrades in action.  Her girlfriend was completely unruffled, and decidedly pissed if her rigid posture was anything to go by.  For once, Nicole wasn’t eager to jump between her and a threat. 

“Well now, someone found their claws,” Guiana said with a grin as she wiped a smear of blood across her face.  Shit, Grace had actually scraped her skin raw, not that the Sylan seemed to mind.  “Also, interesting that the two of you are late to the party.  I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important.” 

“We had plenty of time to finish up,” Grace said casually.  “Probably could have gone for round two with how things were going.” 

Nicole wanted to smack her, facepalm, and shrink away all at once.  Now was not the time for dirty jokes, even if they were serving the purpose of taunting the enemy.  Guiana was in many ways more dangerous than Bartran, and Grace was provoking the woman that kept up with a Source empowered Ranger until they had burned themselves out.

Those memories wouldn’t fade anytime soon. 

“Adorable,” Guiana said, twirling a blade.  “Is your little girlfriend okay?  I can’t help but notice she isn’t joining us tonight.” 

Nicole flipped the enemy General off, which got a laugh from the woman. 

“Nah, she’s letting me take a shot at you first,” Grace said, casually, resting her axe against her shoulder. 

“That, or she still hasn’t recovered from her earlier experience.”  Guiana dropped into a low stance, blades gripped tight.  “Very well then, let us dance.” 

The Sylan General burst into motion, her blade going right for Grace’s neck.  Her axe moved just enough to catch the blade on the haft, Guiana’s eyes dilated ever so slightly, and the dance was on.  Shockwaves ripped through the air with each clash, and Nicole could only smile as she watched her girlfriend keep up, no matter how much she wanted to jump in and help.

Grace asked for an opportunity, and she had some sort of upgrade from The Progenitor that was giving her confidence.  Yet, Nicole couldn’t help but fear that it was a false confidence borne of a major power increase.  That same experience had helped push Nicole further, and nearly cost her everything when that power became too much to control. 

It was intoxicating, even as it tore Nicole apart. 

The morphers had limitations built in to prevent that according to Rebecca, which should prevent Grace from suffering similar backlash.  The real danger was in the feeling that came from wielding such power.  Nicole knew it well, but Grace always had more self control.

She just needed to trust her girlfriend. 

Kayla was down in the mess helping the others, but Nicole knew better than to try and assist.  Without being morphed, she was too tempting of a target for Guiana to take a swing at.  No, Nicole would watch and wait.  The moment that Guiana stopped holding back and went for the kill, that was when Nicole would step in. 

The vulnerability would be too tempting for the General, and that was when Nicole would draw on the Source and put an end to the battle.  She would only get to use that trump card once, and Nicole was planning to get the most mileage out of it that she could manage.  Be it in this battle or the next. 

Guiana was as swift as ever, her motions a struggle to track even with Nicole’s Source enhanced vision.  Despite that, Grace was keeping up with her every action, blocking a heavy strike and flowing into a seamless parry before retaliating with a thunderous hammer blow of her greataxe.  If the stakes weren’t so high, Nicole would be taking the time to appreciate how much ass her girlfriend was currently kicking. 

A ducked blow flowed into a shoulder check that sent Guiana stumbling back.  The General regained her footing almost immediately, but Grace was upon her, swinging her axe with both arms.  Guiana bent back to avoid the lethal strike, then flipped to the side to avoid the follow up.  As Nicole watched the dance her eyes narrowed. 

If Nicole hadn’t fought Guiana before, she might even think that Grace was winning. 

That wasn’t the case, not with how much Guiana was holding back.  Each close call could hardly be called such, not when Nicole knew from experience what the woman was capable of.  Those near misses were calculated, with the woman matching her speed to give the impression of a disadvantage. 

Worse, Nicole couldn’t tell if Grace was pulling a similar trick or not.  There wasn’t any time to practice, to find their new limits, or become comfortable with their new capabilities.  Nicole had spent days training under The Progenitor’s watchful eye, and she still struggled to thread the eye of the needle and push herself right to the limit. 

Grace had no such training.  She may as well be freshly morphed and right back at the Renfaire for all the experience she had fighting at this new level.  The difference maker was that Guiana had centuries of experience pushing herself to these extremes and beyond.  Each exchange was just a hair faster, moves that Nicole could follow at the start were becoming strained, and Grace was pushing herself to match them each time. 

Did Grace even realize she was doing it? 

That thought was almost enough to get Nicole to jump in, but she refrained from doing so.  It wasn’t time, not yet.  Kayla had rallied their team, but they were still within striking distance.  At any point Guiana could stop holding back and strike out at any of them.  Nicole needed to be ready to step in and protect them if that happened. 

Her role was to be the unexpected trump, and she needed to play it properly. 

Even as Nicole watched the battle, it became clear that the objective of this fight needed to shift away from their old standards.  Much as it hurt to consider, fighting to win was not their current goal.  They could lose this engagement so long as they managed to get everyone back to The Progenitor’s ship in one piece.  Just watching Grace fight was enough to convince her of that.  If their entire team were that capable, they could hold off any of the enemy Generals, maybe even defeat them, but only if they were together. 

As nice as that thought was, it would be for nothing if Guiana managed to pick one of them off before they could stage a retreat.  The morpher upgrade had been accomplished in under thirty minutes on a first attempt.  How long would it take to get everyone up to that same standard?  An hour at most? 

The city could be devastated in that timeframe, but the end result… 

Nausea rippled through Nicole as she considered the lives on the scale.  How many children would be subject to the very fate that nearly broke her?  The entire city would blame her team for failing them when they were needed most.

Who was she to place lives on the scale and judge their weight? 

The frantic pace of the battle continued to escalate in minor increments, and once clean blocks were now near misses that sent sparks flying as the kinetic barrier was stressed by the glancing impacts.  Grace wasn’t keeping up as well as she could anymore, and Guiana’s smirk was growing. 

“What’s wrong, little kitten?” Guiana taunted, now blocking Grace’s strikes with ease.  “What happened to those adorable sharp claws of yours?” 

Grace said nothing, continuing the damning dance as more sparks shot into the air from each exchange.  The others were now far enough away that Nicole was comfortable approaching, but her gut told her it wasn’t yet time.  She was missing something important, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. 

The warmth of the Source was growing from a minor irritation into something that demanded her full attention to keep from giving in to the temptation it offered.  She knew that she could turn the tide of the battle in an instant, but then they lost a major advantage.  Several advantages now that she thought of it. 

The Sylan weren’t aware of The Progenitor.

Any attempt to teleport away would reveal too much.  Their arrival might have been noticed, but there was no reason to give them the answer wholesale.  No, information security was the name of the game, and Nicole needed to play along.  Tactical advantages in this war were rare, and they had secured several. 

It was up to her to ensure they kept them. 

But at what cost? 

Nicole stepped over the edge of the building, letting herself fall.  Both blades were drawn as she drew deep upon the Source.  Nicole did all she could to keep from crossing the threshold that would let her morph once again, towing the line as closely as she could.  The ground rushed up to meet her, and Nicole twisted at the last moment, her coiled legs then shot out, pushing her off the wall just before hitting the ground. 

The concrete exterior of the unfortunate building shattered under the force, sending Nicole rocketing towards the battle in a spray of debris.  Guiana’s attention drifted to her mid-flight and Grace hadn’t missed the lapse.  She moved faster than ever, demonstrating she too had been holding back, pressing that slim advantage even as Nicole closed the distance.  It was well timed, and against any other opponent it would have been devastating.

This wasn’t any ordinary foe.

Guiana blurred into motion, deflecting Grace’s improved speed in a flash of steel and turned to meet Nicole’s charge with an almost casual air.  This was the woman that she fought all those weeks ago, the woman that came so close to ending her life.  It was clear that she was determined to force her to either show her hand or put her down. 

Nicole couldn’t let either of those outcomes come to pass. 

The Source pulsed through her veins as Nicole brought her own daggers up, knowing she wasn’t fast enough to match the General.  What she was doing went directly against her promise to Grace, but there wasn’t another option, not if they wanted to preserve their secrets. 

Nicole was too slow.  Guiana would block the initial strike with insulting ease only to follow that up with whatever counterattack that she wished.  Nicole didn’t know the woman well enough to say if it would be a toying strike, or something debilitating.  Hell, she could escalate and go straight to a fatal strike and there wouldn’t be much that Nicole could do in that situation.

Was it worth it? 

If Guiana followed through, Grace would be right there as Nicole took the blow, injuring herself when it could be avoided.  All to keep an advantage in the war.  Tactically it was sound, and intellectually she knew it to be the right call.  Was their fragile relationship really worth preserving in the face of all there was to gain?  Was it worth sacrificing to ensure a temporary advantage? 

How was that even a question? 

Guiana brought her blades around, slapping aside the strike with an expression of pure condescension writ upon her face.  The blades moved in almost slow motion, flowing from the deflection right into a strike that Nicole knew would end her involvement in the battle before it had begun.  Nicole had made her choice, and this was where her gamble would either pay off or blow up in her face. 

Guiana’s blade came down and Grace screamed.