"Soul's Bonds", Chapter 19
*choo choo choo*
Chapter 19 (Sky)
"Well, Cadets, as you know, there are only the four of us remaining to protect the Earth," Cruger told us when we'd arrived at Delta Command, crossing his arms and leaning back against the center console. "Seeing as how we are not in the best shape, as much as I hate to do it, I have sent a request to SPD Headquarters for help." I grimaced, this news making me start to feel like a failure again... "Until I get a response, however, we need to take the initiative and get some answers before the assassins can keep chipping away at our numbers. Cadet Carson?" Bridge stepped forward. "You and I shall go back to the scene of the attack. Your powers may allow you to see things the rest of us cannot. I don't want to waste any chance that we might still find Syd before they can do anything to her. Go and find R.I.C. to assist us and meet me back here."
"Yes, sir," Bridge said, saluting and leaving.
"We'll go with you," Z and I said simultaniously, but Cruger shook his head.
"I will not allow it," he said firmly. "Cadet Tate and Cadet Delgado, both of you look dead on your feet. You two will stay behind and rest; if you are too tired to fight, it could be a severe hindrance in battle and lead to one of you getting captured or killed. I know you are worried about Syd," he added as we both opened our mouths to protest, "and I know there's a possibility we could get attacked while doing our investigations, but that is why I am going with Bridge instead of sending him out by himself. You know I will call you if anything happens or we require your assistance, but right now, unless either of you spontaneously develops psychic powers, there is nothing you can do except take care of yourselves. I would rather you be well-rested in mind and body in case we need to attempt to rescue Syd or get a chance to contain another assassin. Understood?"
"Of course, sir," I said, and Z and I unhappily saluted him, turning to go just as Bridge came back in, followed by R.I.C. Bridge looked very uneasy, so I squeezed his hand and managed to give him a reassuring smile as we left. I was feeling very restless now, so while Z went to her room to take a nap, I aimlessly wandered around the base for a while, and was just considering having a workout when my communicator beeped. I answered, hoping that it was good news this time. "Sky here."
"I hate to bother you, but Commander Birdie is on the line," Kat told me. "He wanted to speak with you since Commander Cruger is out."
"OK, I'll be right there," I said, feeling frustration and some dread gnawing at me as soon as I'd hung up. I was hoping Birdie would have responded after Cruger came back, as I didn't relish the thought of speaking with him. While the long-standing animosity between he and Cruger was gone, Birdie now tended to hold us to a higher standard than anybody else in SPD because of the fact that we beat Emperor Gruumm, so I knew he wasn't going to be happy about our request for help. My stomach churned painfully once more as I composed myself as best I could, entering Delta Command again, standing beside Kat and respectfully saluting the image of Commander Birdie on the central projector. "Good afternoon, Supreme Commander, sir," I said. "How may I assist you?"
"Good afternoon," he replied in his usual rather stiff manner. "I received a message from Cruger that you Earth Rangers are having trouble dealing with an alien threat. Now... he has always spoken very highly of you, Cadet Tate, and I expect a lot from the son of a great Red Ranger like your father, Benjamin. Can you explain to me why your squad, one of the best in the galaxy, is suffering so much?" Trying hard not to snap at him, I explained the situation, but left out our theory about the aliens being Tri'rym, fused with human souls, as we still had yet to confirm whether it was true or not. "I see," said Birdie when I was finished. "Well, I am sure you have done the best you can. Clearly, these aliens must be a very worthy adversary if they can even top Cruger's best, and he would not have asked for help if he did not truly need it." I nodded, not missing the slight sarcasm in his voice, waiting for him to continue. "As it so happens, three of our most elite officers are on their way back from a mission in the Hinx Nebula. They are called the Sun Vulcan Squad and have special training in martial arts and stealth combat, which it seems best suits your situation. I hope they will be sufficient to do your team's work and ensure that there are not- ah- any more unfortunate casualties."
"Thank you, sir. When can we expect their arrival?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice level, as I was fuming.
"Within the next week," replied Birdie. "I know it sounds like a long time, but it is the best we can manage. I will send them to Earth as soon as they are prepped, and I expect that you will treat them with the same courtesy and respect you would me. They will take command of the operation against the assassin group in your place. If anything changes I will notify you, but in the meantime, I hope you can keep what is left of your squad afloat."
"Of course, sir," I said, gritting my teeth. "Will that be all?"
"Yes. Good day, Cadet Tate. SPD Command out." His image vanished. My face burning, I turned to go.
"Sky..." Kat began, moving to put a hand on my shoulder, but I walked away before she could say anything to me. Feeling very much like I wanted to beat on something after everything that had happened that day, I decided to take my rage out on a punching bag, imagining Birdie's smug face pasted on it with every blow I threw.
THWACK. Thud. Punch. THWACK.
So the old bird thinks I'm not good enough. What does he know? I thought furiously. He's far away at SPD Command in his cushy office. He doesn't know what it's like to fight these things. He doesn't know how it feels to have two of your comrades vanish without a trace, to be completely helpless and practically have to stand by and let your enemies hurt them, or to come within inches of losing the person you care about most... but what if he's right about me?
"I hear that Commander Birdie gave you a hard time," said a voice behind me, making me jump. I hurriedly saluted Cruger as he entered the workout room behind me.
"He did, sir," I said, taking off my boxing gloves and reaching for a towel. "He not-so-subtly implied that we're in a tight spot only because I'm an awful leader. He also brought up Dad. Said he expected more from me, being the son of such a great Ranger."
"He had no right whatsoever to say such things to you," said Cruger, crossing his arms and showing his teeth. "He is not the one putting on the suit and risking his life. He's not even here on Earth, watching this crisis unfold. How quickly he loses confidence in us because of this one incident..." I wanted to agree with him, but my fears and concerns tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.
"That might be true, but what he said about me is also true, sir. The fact remains that ever since I became Red Ranger, bad things have happened to our team that could have been prevented. Twice now one of my fellow Rangers has been captured by the enemy. It was because of my stupidity that Bridge almost died. Now, we're not good enough to stop the assassins, so we have to get help. And what if one of us actually DOES get killed next time? If Jack was still here, or if someone else had been leading us, we wouldn't be in this mess, sir."
"How do you know that?" Cruger asked. I couldn't think of a retort and merely clenched my fists. "Listen to what you always tell your teammates and stop pitying and doubting yourself, Sky. I will not stand here and let you blame yourself for things beyond your control. I don't know how you got it into your head that what happened to Bridge was your fault, but it was not. The same goes for what just happened to Syd. And you must remember, these assassins are stronger and craftier than the Troobians were at their height and are fighting a completely different kind of war- using fear and cunning as their main weapons, wearing us down both physically and mentally. To make it worse, we have little information on them like we did with Gruumm and his minions, putting us at a severe disadvantage. My asking SPD Command for help was not meant to insult your ability to lead your Rangers, it was out of necessity. Even at near-full strength, we were barely scraping by. Now, with Syd being held prisoner, Tessie unable to fight, and Bridge still suffering from the aftereffects of his captivity and near-death, it would be dangeous to continue fighting on our own; in fact, it would be probable suicide. Do you understand?" I nodded. "Do not sell yourself short, Schuyler Tate. You have made mistakes, yes, but so has every Red Ranger before you. The important thing is that you are learning from them and improving yourself. If you were doing as bad a job as you seem to believe you are, I would have demoted you by now. You are one of the finest Rangers I have ever had the priviliege of having under me, and I consider it an honor to have you as my comrade and as my friend."
"Thank you, sir," I said, swelling with pride at the compliments. "If you don't doubt me after all of this, I'll stop doubting myself."
"That's the Sky I know," he said, patting my shoulder. "Even though we're going to have some help, and you'll have to obey the Sun Vulcan Squad when they can make you, you are still very much going to be needed in the coming days, weeks, or however long it takes until Earth is peaceful again. I can't have my Red Ranger feeling unfit to lead now."
"Yes, sir. So were you and Bridge able to find anything useful?"
"Ah, about that..." Cruger held up what I recognized as Ka'ladra's sword. "We found this at the site of the battle, but have not been able to get useful information out of it yet. Unfortunately, I... foolishly neglected to take Bridge's mental state into account when I brought him there. He had a severe panic attack when he touched this with his gloves off; I'm guessing it dredged up the memory of when he almost died. It didn't pass within a few minutes, so I had to bring him back to base and carry him up to bed when we got here. I've been forewarned he's been having the attacks, of course, but..." He trailed off, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"Oh. Is... there anything I can do to help, sir?" I asked a little lamely.
"Yes. Please... stay with him until he snaps out of it," Cruger told me. "Maybe if you're there with him, he'll calm down faster. And when he does... send him to me so I can apologize for my ignorant, neglectful mistake. I will be in Delta Command in case we get contacted by the assassins."
"Yes, sir." We parted, he headed toward Delta Command, me going to my dorm room. Bridge was curled up in a ball on our bed, breathing fast and shallowly, holding his chest, and shivering. "Bridge?" I asked tentatively, but he didn't respond. So I did the only thing I could, my feelings of love and protectiveness toward him swelling up and washing away my doubt and fear. I lay next to him, kissing his forehead and wrapping my arms around him, pulling him close to try and ease the shivering. "It's okay, li'l pussycat," I assured him as I began stroking his hair. "You're safe here. Nothing's going to hurt you anymore, I'll make sure of that. I'll protect you..." I held him for a long while as the trembling subsided, and he buried his face in my chest, crying quietly.
Chapter 19 (Sky)
"Well, Cadets, as you know, there are only the four of us remaining to protect the Earth," Cruger told us when we'd arrived at Delta Command, crossing his arms and leaning back against the center console. "Seeing as how we are not in the best shape, as much as I hate to do it, I have sent a request to SPD Headquarters for help." I grimaced, this news making me start to feel like a failure again... "Until I get a response, however, we need to take the initiative and get some answers before the assassins can keep chipping away at our numbers. Cadet Carson?" Bridge stepped forward. "You and I shall go back to the scene of the attack. Your powers may allow you to see things the rest of us cannot. I don't want to waste any chance that we might still find Syd before they can do anything to her. Go and find R.I.C. to assist us and meet me back here."
"Yes, sir," Bridge said, saluting and leaving.
"We'll go with you," Z and I said simultaniously, but Cruger shook his head.
"I will not allow it," he said firmly. "Cadet Tate and Cadet Delgado, both of you look dead on your feet. You two will stay behind and rest; if you are too tired to fight, it could be a severe hindrance in battle and lead to one of you getting captured or killed. I know you are worried about Syd," he added as we both opened our mouths to protest, "and I know there's a possibility we could get attacked while doing our investigations, but that is why I am going with Bridge instead of sending him out by himself. You know I will call you if anything happens or we require your assistance, but right now, unless either of you spontaneously develops psychic powers, there is nothing you can do except take care of yourselves. I would rather you be well-rested in mind and body in case we need to attempt to rescue Syd or get a chance to contain another assassin. Understood?"
"Of course, sir," I said, and Z and I unhappily saluted him, turning to go just as Bridge came back in, followed by R.I.C. Bridge looked very uneasy, so I squeezed his hand and managed to give him a reassuring smile as we left. I was feeling very restless now, so while Z went to her room to take a nap, I aimlessly wandered around the base for a while, and was just considering having a workout when my communicator beeped. I answered, hoping that it was good news this time. "Sky here."
"I hate to bother you, but Commander Birdie is on the line," Kat told me. "He wanted to speak with you since Commander Cruger is out."
"OK, I'll be right there," I said, feeling frustration and some dread gnawing at me as soon as I'd hung up. I was hoping Birdie would have responded after Cruger came back, as I didn't relish the thought of speaking with him. While the long-standing animosity between he and Cruger was gone, Birdie now tended to hold us to a higher standard than anybody else in SPD because of the fact that we beat Emperor Gruumm, so I knew he wasn't going to be happy about our request for help. My stomach churned painfully once more as I composed myself as best I could, entering Delta Command again, standing beside Kat and respectfully saluting the image of Commander Birdie on the central projector. "Good afternoon, Supreme Commander, sir," I said. "How may I assist you?"
"Good afternoon," he replied in his usual rather stiff manner. "I received a message from Cruger that you Earth Rangers are having trouble dealing with an alien threat. Now... he has always spoken very highly of you, Cadet Tate, and I expect a lot from the son of a great Red Ranger like your father, Benjamin. Can you explain to me why your squad, one of the best in the galaxy, is suffering so much?" Trying hard not to snap at him, I explained the situation, but left out our theory about the aliens being Tri'rym, fused with human souls, as we still had yet to confirm whether it was true or not. "I see," said Birdie when I was finished. "Well, I am sure you have done the best you can. Clearly, these aliens must be a very worthy adversary if they can even top Cruger's best, and he would not have asked for help if he did not truly need it." I nodded, not missing the slight sarcasm in his voice, waiting for him to continue. "As it so happens, three of our most elite officers are on their way back from a mission in the Hinx Nebula. They are called the Sun Vulcan Squad and have special training in martial arts and stealth combat, which it seems best suits your situation. I hope they will be sufficient to do your team's work and ensure that there are not- ah- any more unfortunate casualties."
"Thank you, sir. When can we expect their arrival?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice level, as I was fuming.
"Within the next week," replied Birdie. "I know it sounds like a long time, but it is the best we can manage. I will send them to Earth as soon as they are prepped, and I expect that you will treat them with the same courtesy and respect you would me. They will take command of the operation against the assassin group in your place. If anything changes I will notify you, but in the meantime, I hope you can keep what is left of your squad afloat."
"Of course, sir," I said, gritting my teeth. "Will that be all?"
"Yes. Good day, Cadet Tate. SPD Command out." His image vanished. My face burning, I turned to go.
"Sky..." Kat began, moving to put a hand on my shoulder, but I walked away before she could say anything to me. Feeling very much like I wanted to beat on something after everything that had happened that day, I decided to take my rage out on a punching bag, imagining Birdie's smug face pasted on it with every blow I threw.
THWACK. Thud. Punch. THWACK.
So the old bird thinks I'm not good enough. What does he know? I thought furiously. He's far away at SPD Command in his cushy office. He doesn't know what it's like to fight these things. He doesn't know how it feels to have two of your comrades vanish without a trace, to be completely helpless and practically have to stand by and let your enemies hurt them, or to come within inches of losing the person you care about most... but what if he's right about me?
"I hear that Commander Birdie gave you a hard time," said a voice behind me, making me jump. I hurriedly saluted Cruger as he entered the workout room behind me.
"He did, sir," I said, taking off my boxing gloves and reaching for a towel. "He not-so-subtly implied that we're in a tight spot only because I'm an awful leader. He also brought up Dad. Said he expected more from me, being the son of such a great Ranger."
"He had no right whatsoever to say such things to you," said Cruger, crossing his arms and showing his teeth. "He is not the one putting on the suit and risking his life. He's not even here on Earth, watching this crisis unfold. How quickly he loses confidence in us because of this one incident..." I wanted to agree with him, but my fears and concerns tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.
"That might be true, but what he said about me is also true, sir. The fact remains that ever since I became Red Ranger, bad things have happened to our team that could have been prevented. Twice now one of my fellow Rangers has been captured by the enemy. It was because of my stupidity that Bridge almost died. Now, we're not good enough to stop the assassins, so we have to get help. And what if one of us actually DOES get killed next time? If Jack was still here, or if someone else had been leading us, we wouldn't be in this mess, sir."
"How do you know that?" Cruger asked. I couldn't think of a retort and merely clenched my fists. "Listen to what you always tell your teammates and stop pitying and doubting yourself, Sky. I will not stand here and let you blame yourself for things beyond your control. I don't know how you got it into your head that what happened to Bridge was your fault, but it was not. The same goes for what just happened to Syd. And you must remember, these assassins are stronger and craftier than the Troobians were at their height and are fighting a completely different kind of war- using fear and cunning as their main weapons, wearing us down both physically and mentally. To make it worse, we have little information on them like we did with Gruumm and his minions, putting us at a severe disadvantage. My asking SPD Command for help was not meant to insult your ability to lead your Rangers, it was out of necessity. Even at near-full strength, we were barely scraping by. Now, with Syd being held prisoner, Tessie unable to fight, and Bridge still suffering from the aftereffects of his captivity and near-death, it would be dangeous to continue fighting on our own; in fact, it would be probable suicide. Do you understand?" I nodded. "Do not sell yourself short, Schuyler Tate. You have made mistakes, yes, but so has every Red Ranger before you. The important thing is that you are learning from them and improving yourself. If you were doing as bad a job as you seem to believe you are, I would have demoted you by now. You are one of the finest Rangers I have ever had the priviliege of having under me, and I consider it an honor to have you as my comrade and as my friend."
"Thank you, sir," I said, swelling with pride at the compliments. "If you don't doubt me after all of this, I'll stop doubting myself."
"That's the Sky I know," he said, patting my shoulder. "Even though we're going to have some help, and you'll have to obey the Sun Vulcan Squad when they can make you, you are still very much going to be needed in the coming days, weeks, or however long it takes until Earth is peaceful again. I can't have my Red Ranger feeling unfit to lead now."
"Yes, sir. So were you and Bridge able to find anything useful?"
"Ah, about that..." Cruger held up what I recognized as Ka'ladra's sword. "We found this at the site of the battle, but have not been able to get useful information out of it yet. Unfortunately, I... foolishly neglected to take Bridge's mental state into account when I brought him there. He had a severe panic attack when he touched this with his gloves off; I'm guessing it dredged up the memory of when he almost died. It didn't pass within a few minutes, so I had to bring him back to base and carry him up to bed when we got here. I've been forewarned he's been having the attacks, of course, but..." He trailed off, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"Oh. Is... there anything I can do to help, sir?" I asked a little lamely.
"Yes. Please... stay with him until he snaps out of it," Cruger told me. "Maybe if you're there with him, he'll calm down faster. And when he does... send him to me so I can apologize for my ignorant, neglectful mistake. I will be in Delta Command in case we get contacted by the assassins."
"Yes, sir." We parted, he headed toward Delta Command, me going to my dorm room. Bridge was curled up in a ball on our bed, breathing fast and shallowly, holding his chest, and shivering. "Bridge?" I asked tentatively, but he didn't respond. So I did the only thing I could, my feelings of love and protectiveness toward him swelling up and washing away my doubt and fear. I lay next to him, kissing his forehead and wrapping my arms around him, pulling him close to try and ease the shivering. "It's okay, li'l pussycat," I assured him as I began stroking his hair. "You're safe here. Nothing's going to hurt you anymore, I'll make sure of that. I'll protect you..." I held him for a long while as the trembling subsided, and he buried his face in my chest, crying quietly.