The Dig (Part 2): Cataloguing

Posted on Tue Mar 1st, 2022 @ 7:14pm by Kilena Keithron & Damien McGinnis & Spencer Gustaffson

2,239 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: The Invasion
Location: Archaeological Site 3 Archiving Tent, Mirinoi
Timeline: 1500 Hours, November 14th 2050

Damien walked into the archiving tent carrying a box of artefacts dug out from the site. He looked around, checking no one was looking before beginning to dig through the box, pulling out what looked like a red and blue roulette wheel.

"That's just stupid..." He said, pausing as he noticed what looked to be a stone base "Well, since I've got all the pieces for the toy..."

"Do not do that. You do not know what it is." Kilena said as she came in behind him carrying a trap filled with cups of cold water that she had been passing out.

"It's some kind of spinning thing." Damien said, before his face fell "Damn, it's missing the piece to hold the wheel on..."

"Drink some water." She ordered using the no-nonsense tone of hers. "Maybe you are being a big child because you are dehydrated." She declared hopefully.

"Yes ma'am!" Damien gave a mock salute before addressing the man in the blue uniform who was entering with his own crate "Apparently, we need to have a glass of water before we can have any fun, buddy."

Spencer shrugged at Damien's comment, and gently put the crate he was carrying down, taking the cup gratefully off the tray Kilena was holding. "Considering the weather, I don't mind. Dehydration is a terrible thing. It can even cause brain damage, if you're not careful. And none of us roughnecks can afford to lose more brain cells than we already burn through on a Friday night."

He looked over at Damien and the device. "I don't know if that wheel fits with the other device." He gently picked up the stone base, and turned it over, then shook his head. Something was making sense in his mind. "No, see, this doesn't have a groove for a wheel - it needs a ball of some kind. There's a pair of indents here, like cups. About... forty miilimeters in size, I'd guess. Maybe polished glass, or some kind of crystal? Then that spins, which affects this thing here, which I think is like a clock crystal - piezoelectric. I don't know what it would do other than that. Maybe charge the sphere somehow, like a power battery."

He looked at the other two, thinking. "Did you guys see any crystal spheres out there that might fit this while we were digging around?"

"Not me, nope." Damien said, looking to Kilena "What about you? See any kind of crystal spheres laying around?"

Kilena looked at the man and shook her head offering a smile. "Afraid not. I have been making sure people drink water." The woman said hating how easily the lie came to her.

Spencer could tell that he was being lied to by both of them. The look between the pair was an unmistakable one of conspiracy - and Kilena had been involved with the digging effort. But he decided that right now, it might be best not to push it. After all, with the unusual things happening and the scuttlebutt at base, it was often best to keep your head down and get on with your day. Leave knowledge to those who needed to know it. Still, as he held the stone in his hand, he got a sense of warmth from it, and had a sensation that he'd somehow known what it was for - even if he he didn't know why it was for that, or what it would do. But some mysteries were best left unsolved. "Oh, that's a shame. But hey, hydration is important when you're exercising like this, so, thank you."

"Better luck next time. Should check outside with the archaeologists." The woman suggested trying to buy them some time.

He was about to pass the stone back to Damien when the floor shook with the cry outside. He braced himself, lowering his center of gravity so he didn't end up slamming into something. "What the hell is going on!?"

There was a sudden cry from outside and a blast that shook the floor sending Kilena into the table spilling the water that was in the cups on the tray.

"Hey uh... New guy... Make sure everyone here's secure!" Damien barked the order, struggling to keep his own balance "Kilena, with-"

Before he could finish giving the order, the entrance wash shredded by a blast that narrowly missed Damien's left shoulder. Through the smoke, a group of drones burst in, flanked by a large figure clad in steel coloured armour, bright pink blades on it's forearms with a red strip across it's cylindrical torso armour, what looked like magnets on it's helmet and jet boosters on it's shoulders.

"We're here for your find!" The figure yelled, speaking in a synthesised male voice "I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Magnatron, and I'll be your raider today!"

“I do not care who you are.” Kilena commented.

"Let's dance, bozo..." Damien grimaced as he charged in, taking a swing at Magnatron, only to have his hit caught before he was hurled across the tent "That'll leave a mark..."

"I was hoping to have some fun here today." Magnatron said "Guess the Power Rangers aren't coming to play..."

Kilena looked around trying to work out what find he was in about as the drones came as her making her retreat back a few steps before she span low knocking a few back. She moved to Damien and hauled him to his feet. “What find are they on about? The crystal has not been found.” She whispered.

"You catalogued everything?" Damien hissed as a trio of drones charged in, taking a series of swings at the pair, each strike being parried "Is it that time yet?"

“Everything that was found since we got here when the archeological teams have allowed it.” Kilena said as she noticed Spencer and the fact the drones were aiming for him. She dived over the table knocking him and the wheel to the floor. She gasped as she saw the flash of a blue crystal roll away from them as the wheel shattered.

"There it is!" Magnatron shrieked "Grab it!"

"Don't let them get it! To hell with it!" Damien yelled, twisting his wrist as his morpher appeared and his crystal appeared in the other hand, slamming it into the morpher, cocking it and pulling the trigger "It's morphin time! Red Ranger power!"

Spencer didn't know exactly what this 'raider' was, but he had to be bad news. And worse, the goons with the guy were focused almost entirely on him. That was another thing he didn't have a reason for, but this time he did have a response. Rather than try to grab for the rifle he'd set aside when they were hauling, Spencer grabbed the K-BAR from its sheath and immediately started a charge at the gray-helmeted drones. He was confident that however skilled they were in melee, he was better. Before he could get the knife into one of his enemies, though, Kilena launched herself over the table to protect him, which knocked him down - and then, on the floor, there was the blue crystal he'd seen in his mind when examining the small base. So, he'd been correct - they were lying to him, they'd found it. But there was a time and a place for everything; now was the time for a real fight. They could hash anything personal out later.

He reached out to grab the crystal and slammed it into the small stone holder, holding the collected unit - the crystal seemed to flash for a moment, and the image of the wolf passed across the face of the Blue Solar Crystal to indicate that Spencer was now bound to it. Rolling away from Kilena, he saw a device like the one Damien was wearing on his wrist amongst what was collected - except with blue and silver highlights, strapping it on as though he'd done it before. Maybe he even had, in his dreams. He looked at the three drones with a wolfish grin as he came up on one knee, then stood. "If this does what I think it will... well, you'd better start praying."

Placing the core crystal into the morpher, pushing forward on it like a joystick. "What are you supposed to say for the change to happen? Oh, right! It's Morphin' Time! Blue Ranger Power!"

As soon as the trigger phrase was said, the nanopolymer fipers started flowing out of the morpher into Spencer, taking him into a part of the Morphin' Grid briefly as the suit formed around him. Since this was his first ever morph, there wasn't much runoff energy, so thankfully, rather than a six-story fireball, there was just a shimmer in the air around him as the mask of his helmet came down. He could feel the myoelectrics in the suit urging his muscles to push and be stronger. He could almost smell the enemies, and as one of the drones seemed to go for Kilena as a way of getting to him, Spencer leapt over her and came down with a diving kick into the drone's head, driving it back. His stance was low, similar to one used in Wolf Kung Fu. His voice was full of confidence, too. "How about you pick on someone who can fight back, cowards!?"

He knew the attack was coming, the only question was where it would come from.

Kilena was too shocked for a second before she stood up and flicked her wrist revealing that she was a ranger too. “It's Morphin' Time! Pink Ranger Power!” She morphed as well leaving the monster in a state of annoyance at three rangers and no crystal. "I can fight back," Kilena said with a shrug.

"Now this is a party." Damien smirked inside his helmet, pointing at Magnatron "You ready for round two, clunky?"

"Who are you calling clunky?!" Magnatron yelled, charging in to attack.

"How about a little super hero team up?" Damien asked as he side stepped Magnatron, catching hold of one of the thrusters and swinging the monster around by it, tossing it in Spencer's direction as he yelled "Blue boy, think fast!"

It was convenient that fast thinking in a fight was one of a few things Spencer was good at. He'd been watching both the minions in front of him, and the monster behind them. On reaction alone, his hand found the holster at his side, drawing the Solar Weapon therein, and folding the blades downward, looking similar to a pair of claws. From his low stance, he lunged forwards, meeting Magnatron in the air, slashing down with the clawed weapon and sending showers of sparks from the points where his claws bit into the metal, damaging the raider. Still, the enemy was obviously not done yet, and took advantage of the fact that Spencer was fighting from instinct rather than training in his new abilities, trying to grab for the morpher on the young man's
wrist. It didn't get pried off thankfully, but Spencer was indeed thrown off into the center of the goons who'd seen what he could do now. But Magnatron hadn't quite hit ground yet and was quite worse for wear.

"Pink! Subdue him!"

With that resolved - he had faith in Kilena's ability, at least for the moment - attention got turned back to the goon squad. He knew which one had been on point trying to attack him before he'd been transformed. That would be his target. He charged at that one, the claw weapon ready and slashing as soon as he could get stuck into the fight.

Kilena rolled her eyes at how all the men on the team thought it was okay to yell at her instead of speaking normally. She could hear quite well through the communication system. She pulled out her weapon moving it into Crossbow Mode as Magnatron tried to move towards her. “Libra Strike,” she said thinking it was a good name for the barrage of energy arrows that flew at her opponent.

Magnatron staggered back as the energy arrows impacted his chest. As they did, Damien squared up in line with the monster, his sword in his hand as he inserted his crystal into the back of the handle, cocking it.

"Time to finish this." He said, the blade beginning to pulse with red energy as he got into attack position "Solar Weapon, sabre mode. Final strike!"

He swung the blade forward, a wave of red energy striking the creature in the chest, lightning crackling across it as the monster collapsed to the ground, exploding in a ball of fire.

"Well that as they say, is that." Damien said with a nervous laugh as the sword disappeared from his hand "Kilena, go check for casualties. Blue boy-"

"We've got a problem!" A young cadet yelled as he came running in "We just got word. They're attacking Earth."

"Okay, new plan." Damien said "We're heading back there. Cadet, check on the wounded. We'll take a shuttle back to Earth, along with the stowaway and a few people to serve as back up. Try and turn the tide."

"Good luck with that." The cadet said "Reports are saying they're being led by you."

“You?” Kilena demanded off the cadet as she glanced at the blue and red rangers. Neither of them knew what to answer.

 

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