Red fired another round of elemental shots, but her HUD warned of dwindling ammo reserves. The brief relief from Blue's arrival was fading fast as more enemies surged into the battlefield. The Elvanurus were relentless, their ranks seemingly endless. "We're not done yet," she muttered, resetting her stance as her dual pistols hummed with diminishing energy. Her HUD flickered with warnings—low power, minimal ammunition, environmental hazards. Every alarm added to the mounting pressure, but she couldn't afford to stop. Not now.
As the Elvanurus pressed forward, the Rangers instinctively tightened their formation. Their HUDs lit up with incoming threat markers as the enemy advanced, surrounding them from all sides. The crushing wave of combat pressed closer, their weapons blazing with ancient energy. Blue's shields buckled under the constant assault, the barriers flickering and fading as the Elvanurus began tearing through the defense.
"Shields at 15%," Nova's voice echoed in his mind, calm but urgent. Blue grit his teeth, knowing they wouldn't hold much longer.
"We're getting overrun!" Pink shouted from her position, the cool edge in her voice cracking under the pressure. Her sniper rifle, still glowing with precision energy, fired another round, but the enemies kept coming. Her HUD flashed with alerts as they climbed toward her perch, faster than she could reload.
"Hold on," Blue called, though the words felt hollow. He was struggling to keep up. His body, still worn from the brutal teleports, screamed in protest as he forced himself to work faster.
Black swung his axe in wide arcs, cutting down enemy after enemy, but his movements were slowing. The renewed strength he'd felt when Blue rejoined the fight was fading, replaced by the raw exhaustion that had been lingering beneath the surface. His HUD was flashing with warnings of critical system failures. He grunted, his voice ragged. "There's too many of them!"
The truth was undeniable. The Elvanurus were everywhere, and they weren't letting up. Even Yellow, with all her fluid grace, was finding it harder to dodge and strike. Her HUD blinked with every incoming threat, the sheer volume of data overwhelming her systems. She slashed with her daggers, but there was no end to the enemies pressing in around her.
The drones from Edenoi darted through the chaos, desperately evacuating the last of the support crew. They whirred and beeped, issuing alerts, their sensors scanning for survivors. But as they moved, the Elvanurus soldiers became nothing more than targets, their efforts overshadowed by the looming threat of Blood Plague. Each drone took fire, trying to divert attention away from the fleeing crew, but the battlefield was a whirlwind of destruction.
Any marines or support personnel were stuck on Ceres. They were nothing but targets now, sacrificed for the sake of the Rangers. The energy beams fired at them from the enemy forces lit up the dim chamber like a strobe light, but the drones executed evasive maneuvers with mechanical precision, trying to hold off the Elvanurus as they made their escape.
Red glanced at her HUD again. "We're running out of options," she muttered through clenched teeth, her hands shaking as her pistols sputtered, the elemental energy running low. The moment she was out, the real desperation would begin.
Blue's gaze darted around the battlefield. Their backs were against the wall—literally and figuratively. His shields were barely holding, and the team was breaking under the sheer force of the Elvanurus assault. He could feel Nova analyzing the situation, running countless scenarios in the background, but none of the outcomes looked good.
"We need to retreat," Nova said quietly in Blue's mind. "If we stay, we won't survive this."
Just then, the Grid went cold. A chilling silence swept over the battlefield, as if the very air had thickened. It was a sensation shared by all—the sensation of a storm shifting, its path changing unexpectedly. The familiar hum of the Morphing Grid faded into an eerie stillness, and with it, the Rangers felt a wave of disorientation wash over them.
Emerging from the shadows of the enemy ranks, a figure materialized—tall, commanding, unmistakable. Blood Plague. His crimson armor blended into the darkness, exuding a chilling presence that sent a wave of unease through the Rangers. He moved with calculated grace, each step asserting his dominance, and the Elvanurus forces rallied at his presence, emboldened by his mere existence.
Under the dim chamber light, his armor shimmered, etched with intricate symbols, but it was the sound that unnerved the Rangers most. As Blood Plague advanced, his armor emitted a low, eerie hum, a haunting melody that grew louder with each movement, seemingly synchronized with the pulsing energy of the Morphing Grid.
The armor was more than a protective shell—it was alive, tied to the Grid in ways the Rangers didn't fully understand. With every step, his presence amplified, sending ripples through their own connection to the Grid. The Elvanurus armor had always been mysterious, but now, in Blood Plague's presence, its connection to the Grid was unmistakable.
Each strike against the Elvanurus forces produced that same eerie hum, a resonant energy that seemed to deflect attacks, as if the Grid itself was protecting them. The Rangers felt the vibration in their bones—a twisted echo of their own power, singing back at them.
"Blue…" Nova's voice whispered in his mind. "Do you feel it?"
"I do," Blue replied, his gaze locked on the spire in front of him. The Elvanurus forces had always been formidable, but this connection to the Grid made them exponentially more dangerous. It was as if the Grid was playing both sides of the conflict, amplifying Blood Plague's strength and dulling the Rangers' attacks.
Red's eyes narrowed. She could feel the strain, the way her connection to the Grid seemed to falter with each passing second in Blood Plague's presence. "We've faced him before, but never like this," she muttered, her voice low. "He's stronger."
"Stay focused," Blue urged. His drones whirred to life again, firing at the droids and Elvanurus soldiers, but he could feel it too—that suffocating presence, the Grid responding to Blood Plague in ways it never had for them.
The crimson-armored commander moved forward, his pace measured, deliberate. And then, without warning, he struck.
Blood Plague grabbed an Elvanurus soldier by the arm and flung him like a rag doll into the Rangers' ranks. The force was monstrous, far beyond what any human could muster. Black moved to intercept, raising his axe just in time to deflect the incoming body, but the impact still sent him staggering backward.
The hum of the Elvanurus armor grew louder with each clash, a symphony of chaos that filled the air. Blood Plague was relentless, closing the distance between him and the Rangers with terrifying speed. His hands, massive and armored, gripped another of his soldiers by the throat before hurling him at Pink Ranger with the same brutal onslaught. She fired a precise shot, but the soldier's armor vibrated with that same singing sensation, the energy dispersing as the body slammed into her, sending her crashing into a wall.
"Pink!" Yellow called out, rushing to cover her, but Blood Plague was already there. He reached out with a hand, faster than she could react, lifting her by the neck. Yellow struggled, her suit's camouflage flickering, but the sheer power of Blood Plague's grip was overwhelming. Her HUD flashed warnings as her armor's shields buckled under the pressure.
Blue and Nova thought in unison. They had to evacuate, now.
"Fire at will!" Blue thought, as his drones surged forward to intercept Blood Plague. The drones fired precision shots, aiming for the gaps in Blood Plague's armor, but each shot deflected harmlessly off the crimson plates. Blood Plague's armor sang with every impact, the resonance warping the energy attacks before they could land a critical hit.
"We can't let him take us down one by one," Red thought, her heart racing as she watched Blood Plague toss Yellow aside like a broken toy. She hit the ground hard, her suit's systems struggling to reboot as she groaned in pain.
Red gritted her teeth, eyes narrowing. "We need to fall back—now!" she shouted. "We can't win this fight like this!"
"We're almost there!" Blue yelled back. He and Nova were working frantically to modify the damaged teleport spires into a functioning pad. His spare drones hovered around the spires, syncing their energy to boost the signal, but the task was proving more difficult than expected. The interference from the Grid, the way Blood Plague's presence distorted their connection—it was all slowing them down.
Blood Plague didn't give them any more time. With a roar, he charged forward, his deep crimson armor blazing with power. The room trembled as his fists collided with the ground, sending shockwaves through the chamber. He grabbed Black Ranger, twisting his arm with enough force to snap the bones beneath the armor. Black screamed, collapsing under the pain, but Blood Plague didn't stop. He grabbed a downed marine, using him as a battering ram to smash through the remaining energy barricades.
Red fired at him, her pistols spitting elemental rounds—fire, ice, electric—but Blood Plague shrugged them off as if they were nothing more than sparks. His crimson armor seemed to absorb the energy, amplifying his strength with each step forward. The hum of his armor grew louder, an ominous melody that felt like the Grid itself was working against them.
"We're not going to last much longer!" Pink Ranger's voice was shaky as she tried to aim through the pain in her side. Her shot rang true, but again, Blood Plague's armor sang with the impact, deflecting the energy with ease.
Blue worked faster. His hands moved like lightning across the controls as Nova calculated furiously, the two of them working in perfect harmony to rewire the teleport spires. Time was running out, but they were close—so close.
"Almost there," Blue muttered, sweat dripping down his brow as his suit's systems blared with warnings. The reactor was nearing critical mass. They didn't have much longer before the entire asteroid erupted in a fiery explosion that would wipe out everything.
"We don't have time for this!" Red shouted, her voice filled with frustration as she continued to fire at Blood Plague. But he was relentless, unstoppable. His deep crimson armor seemed to glow with power, the resonance of the Grid amplifying his every move.
Then, with a roar of fury, Blood Plague surged forward again, his fist crashing into the ground mere feet from Blue. The impact sent shockwaves through the chamber, cracks splintering the floor beneath them. Blue stumbled, his fingers slipping from the console as Blood Plague loomed over him.
Red acted on pure instinct. With a surge of adrenaline, she launched herself at Blue, her boot connecting with his chest in a swift, brutal kick. The force of the kick sent Blue flying backward, directly into the newly activated teleport spire.
Blood Plague turned his attention to Red. She braced for the impending blow, her mind racing with thoughts of her team. The connection to the Grid flickered as she felt Blue's presence slip away.
The last thing Blue saw was the terror in Red's eyes, the flicker of hope extinguished as the world exploded around them.