The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 26 - Line

Nicole’s limbs trembled as she drove her blade through one of the connecting tissues of the massive beast.  She was gasping for air within her helmet, adrenaline the only thing keeping her upright.  She couldn’t rest, not yet, not until the beast was dead. 

Phasing through another angry swipe, Nicole continued to methodically take the beast apart.  Much of her anger was still there, simmering deep, but she’d exhausted herself in expressing the rage she felt over the senseless loss of life.  Nicole knew she would see Maraline again, and she would make her answer for this atrocity. 

This was far beyond the pale, a war crime by every definition that humanity judged them, not that she could expect aliens to hold to those same standards.  No, they were fighting a war for survival, and Nicole was a soldier in that very battle. 

She phased through a return swipe, her very being fraying at the edges as the claw scythed through where she hovered in the air.  There was no pain from it, and she never experienced such fatigue when passing through walls and such, but a living being of such size was doing something to her from repeated avoidance. 

Attrition wasn’t an option, not if that was the price of avoiding the blows.  No, she needed to finish the fight if she was going to survive.  Her blades could pierce it, she was able to score hits, sever limbs, but she was struggling to finish the creature off.  Even with the pincers gone, she needed to end it. 

Mind racing, she tried to remember all she could about biology class and the insects covered.  All she could think of was the same as dealing with any creature—sever the connection to the brain and bring it down from there.  Even if it was just an oversized insect, it would need to be reinforced to survive the larger carapace and the weight of its own organs. 

Plan of action decided upon, Nicole leapt up, passing through the creature’s head just as it tried to bite.  Even lacking its pincers, she wouldn’t have done well against those crushing jaws.  That same hollow sensation came as she exited the other side, and immediately turned solid, dropping to the thing’s carapace.  Spots filled her vision, and she was gasping for every breath, but she had work to do.  She looked about, and ran to the nearest segment between the head and rest of the body. 

Blades in hand, Nicole dropped into the gap and began hacking away at the softer flesh within.  Thankfully there was no smell, the helmet doing an amazing job filtering the air.  The creature screeched and thrashed, her suit flared and sparked when the joint compressed on her, but she didn’t let that stop her. 

When the creature dropped, Nicole made sure to finish severing what she had been cutting, just to be safe.  The tail end was still thrashing, and some random fact about some insects having hind brains popped into her head.  She would need to deal with that, but she was completely spent.  Maybe Grace could have at it with her axe, because Nicole’s daggers just weren’t up to the task. 

Boots back on solid earth, Nicole bent over to catch her breath.  Running footsteps had her glance up, the other Rangers moving to join her.  She flashed a thumbs up, then went back to trying to keep from passing out.  She was mostly successful, in that she didn’t black out until Grace was there, holding her up. 

She wasn’t out for long, coming back out of it with Grace still holding her aloft and helping her over to a bench.  It was unfortunately segmented to prevent someone from laying on it, which meant she would be stuck sitting up instead. 

“Are you back with us?” Grace asked. 

“Barely,” Nicole answered.  “I got it, right?” 

Grace looked back behind them, at the massive creature that was almost as wide as the entire road.  “Yeah, you fucking got it.” 

“Good,” she said breathlessly.  She really needed a nap after all that.  “So much for getting a room tonight.  After that, I’m fucking spent.” 

Someone coughed and Nicole suddenly remembered they weren’t alone.  At least she was wearing a helmet, so nobody else could see her embarrassment.  She knew that if she dropped the transformation, she would be out cold almost immediately.  That trickle of power was the only thing sustaining her, and even that was at its limit. 

“Well, hookups aside,” Kayla said, looking about.  “Emergency services should be moving in soon.” 

“I’ve already signaled them,” Carlos confirmed.  “We should be good to clear out once the police take over the scene.” 

“How often do creatures like that show up?” Devon asked, looking back at the carcass.  “I’ve never seen anything like it on the news.” 

Carlos sighed, leaning against the wreck of some car, watching the emergency crews as they hurried into the area, moving to some of the fallen civilians to check them over.  “This is the largest mutant I am aware of, almost by a factor of two.  This is a concerning level of escalation and I’m almost concerned—” 

“That we might have decided to eliminate you?” 

Nicole’s head snapped up, sighting in on the deep voice that had spoken those words.  Up on a nearby roof, stood a massive figure in black metallic armor.  She tried to take in the details, such as the clawed fingers, and spiked along every potential striking surface, but what drew her eyes was the sword on his back. 

A broad bladed claymore at least a foot wide of that same metal, and almost as long as the armored figure was tall.  It was an intimidating sight, a true Black Knight in every sense of the word.  Dread crept up Nicole’s spine like spreading ice, and she knew that death had come for them. 

“Bartran,” Carlos snarled, falling into a defensive stance.  “It’s been a while.” 

“Two years,” Bartran said, voice deep and reverberating within the metallic helm.  “You escaped me then, but you won’t this time.” 

“Finally decided to kill me?” Carlos asked, hands signaling something to the law enforcement and other responders.  They took the hint and began to draw back. 

Bartran shrugged, then stepped off the building, falling to the ground like a rock, only to barely react to the impact, despite the ground cracking around him.  Nicole had felt the vibrations through the bench, which meant that armor had to weigh even more than it appeared to.  Fuck, this massive bastard was looking for a fight, and had come for them just as they were too exhausted to contest him. 

Nicole couldn’t even stand up, much less put up a fight against a toddler.  They were so completely fucked. 

“For those that do not know, I am Bartran, Supreme Commander of the Sylan Fourth Fleet.  Death has come for you today.” 

Grace stepped forward, axe in hand as she put herself between the armored figure and Nicole.  “Fuck off with that.  Either fight us or shut up.” 

Nicole wanted to protest that, but what could she do?  She wanted to scream at being reduced to a spectator, but she just had to hope that by taking out the mutant, that the others were still fresh enough to stand against whoever this was. 

“I admire your bravery,” Bartran said, unslinging the blade from his shoulder.  “Foolish and misplaced as it is.” 

Then, the street exploded and Bartran was right in Grace’s face.  Nicole’s heart leapt into her throat as his massive sword came down on her girlfriend.  Grace brought her axe up, catching the sword’s blade on the handle, and shifted so it slid along the length and collided with the axe head. 

Grace had to drop to one knee, but she was alive.  A boot the size of her torso kicked her down in the next instant.  Vines entwined the still raised leg that same moment and Jeff dropped from the sky as though he were Cu Cuchulain himself.  The spear impacted a pauldron, and Bartran rolled his shoulder with the impact, deflecting it away.  In that same motion he tore his leg free and backhanded Devon away before the man could get close enough to defend anyone from Bartran’s titanic strikes. 

All of that had transpired before the first pebble fell back to the ground from his initial motion.  Nicole had barely been able to follow it, and she was by far the fastest of those on her team.  She knew they were outclassed, but could they even get away from the force of nature that had come for them? 

Maybe if two of them worked together to stall him, but what good would that do?  No,  they needed to defeat him.  If he was the Supreme Commander, that would put him higher in the ranks than Maraline.  Losing him might just cripple the invasion, forcing them to retreat. 

Carlos was there now, fighting with his own weaponized emergency tool.  They traded blows, and unlike Grace, he didn’t buckle under the force of Bartran’s attack.  Was there really that much of a difference between Carlos and her own team? 

She wanted to help, but try as she might, she couldn’t stand up.  She was completely exhausted, she’d given it everything she had and more, and yet…  Watching on as Devon’s shield shattered, as Kayla’s staff was cleaved through.  She couldn’t just sit idle.  She refused to sit there and watch her friends die, not as long as she continued to draw breath. 

The transformation was doing nothing for her at this point, so she dismissed it.  The crushing weariness that gripped her was almost enough to put her down, but she grit her teeth and through sheer force of will, she stood on shaky legs.  Nicole knew she had some broken ribs from one of the swipes that managed to strike her, and she was bleeding from her nose from the strain she’d put herself under.

That didn’t matter, she knew she had to attempt it.  They hadn’t tested what would happen, but she knew that damage to their suits didn’t persist between transformations, so what would happen if she just immediately transformed again?

She should probably have asked Carlos about that, but he was currently doing his damndest to keep Bartran from killing Jeff, only for him to shift his focus and move to strike down Grace.  No, she didn’t have the luxury of time to second guess things, she needed to act right then and there.  The power surged within her, responding to the raw need she felt in that moment.

Every nerve in her body lit up with searing agony, and she screamed as broken bones mended themselves, her cries raw and guttural.  She’d torn muscles before, she’d broken bones, and pinched nerves.  This was all of that and so much more, everywhere, all at once.  The black light of the transformation washed over her, and she felt that familiar surge of power, completely replenished. 

Her entire existence was agony, her mind wanted to curl in on itself and escape from whatever she was experiencing.  Nicole knew she couldn’t endure it for long, but she didn’t need long, just enough time to take the monster before them down. 

The fight had paused, she absently noticed.  She couldn’t hear what was being said over the sound of her own agony, but it was only a moment’s lull before the Commander was back on the attack.  She needed to get up, to stand and fight.  She needed to be there with her friends, with Grace, and come what may, she refused to stay down. 

Because for all that they were, they faced true evil this day.  This may well prove to be one of the pivotal moments of the war, and she was the only one in a position to make a difference.  So, no matter the cost, she would do it, because in the end? 

Rangers held the fucking line.

A flex of will and her blades were back in hand, the small chips in their edge gone.  Nicole forced herself back to her feet, every motion sending waves of pure agony through every fiber of her being.  She didn’t care, she just needed to do something, to contribute to the fight.  She ran forward, the General’s back was to her despite everything, and lunged. 

Her blades hit steel, refracting off without leaving even a blemish, the vibrations setting her nerves alight as if she’d been dunked in a vat of electrified acid.  She kept her teeth grit, knowing how easily she could bite her own tongue off if she wasn’t careful.  

Nicole raised her arms on instinct, catching Bartran’s fist before it could bury itself in her gut.  The impact was as though a cannon had shot her point blank, the force rendering her arms numb despite the transformation.  Somehow she didn’t lose her grip on her weapons and only slid back a few inches.  Lightning arced through her nerves, feeling returning with white hot agony.  Nicole fell into a ready stance as soon as her feet were steady on the ground, though she couldn’t hide how her limbs trembled. 

“You are very interesting indeed,” Bartran said, blocking a blow from Grace with insulting ease even as he spoke with a casual tone.  “Most would have passed out from the backlash a double transformation causes.  Remarkable tolerance for pain, and further proof of why you need to die today.” 

Nicole didn’t have time to dodge, nor bring her weapons to block.  One instant Bartran was a dozen feet away in an unassuming posture, the next his blade was coming for her throat.  She did the only thing that she could, she phased through it.  She gasped, the sensation the closest she could describe to what happened as the blade passed through her. 

The pain was gone, and yet, she felt more frayed than ever.  Nicole wasn’t sure what she was doing to herself each time she pushed her power further than she feared it was ever intended.  There would be a cost to be paid at some point, that much she knew.  Even as the blade passed through her, she lunged forward, unsure if her idea would work or not. 

Her blade phased into the General, but rather than continue with the motion, she dropped the phased shift, and everything turned solid.  Including the blade still embedded within the General.  Unfortunately, the pain returned as well, and Nicole dropped to her knees, her teeth grit so hard she wouldn’t be surprised if one of them cracked.  Her throat was raw and hoarse as she failed to scream, yet wailed all the same. 

Bartran reached down, grasping the blade and pulled, but it did not budge.  Just to see if it would work, Nicole attempted to recall the blade, but only the other blade returned to her hand.  It was worth a shot.

“Looks painful,” Grace said, limping over to Nicole’s side.  It took her a moment to realize she had directed that at the Commander.  Then she kicked at the blade. 

The General reacted a hair too slowly, her foot knocking against it, and for the first time, it was Bartran crying out.  It was an animalistic roar, something primal screaming at Nicole to flee from the predator, but she couldn’t move.  She’d pushed herself beyond the pale, and now she was reaping what was sown. 

The others capitalized on the injury, directing their strikes at the weak point she had created for them, but the Sylan was barely hindered by the blade now fused within him.  He danced back, claymore forgotten on the ground, but the others pressed on, vines, spears and golden lightning all converging in an effort to strike a blow against the enemy commander. 

Just as Bartran began to flag, a flash of deep blue interspersed itself between the Commander and the other Rangers.  Maraline stood defiant, clad in armor of her own cast in deep royal hues. 

“Enough,” she said, her voice carrying across the space around them.  “This battle will cease immediately.”