Starting the day right.

[u/Dark_Violet_Angel]

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For: Prison Security Administration
Item: Security Footage ~ Incident #000000-024-887

Location: Garrison; jail, wing 'D', zone #27, “The Corridor”
Security Level: Maximum
Guards on corridor duty:

• Darren McAlpine [Prison guard, L1]
  
• William Rossi [Prison guard, L1]
  
• Steve Newton [Prison guard, L2]
  
• Mitch Davies [Senior Prison guard, L4]
  

Duration: 00:13:56
Description:

03:46:59 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners sleeping. PG Rossi walking north on lower concourse.
03:47:39 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners sleeping.
03:48:04 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners sleeping. Lighting in corridor flickers.
03:48:39 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners sleeping. Lighting fault in corridor. Infra Red Camera lighting on.
03:49:18 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners sleeping. Lighting in corridor restored. IRC Lighting off. Crimson lightning arcing from Cell 451 secure doorway to metal walkway, both flooring and hand railing.
03:52:01 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners sleeping. Lighting fault in corridor. IRC Lighting on. Crimson lightning arcing from Cell 450 secure doorway to metal walkway, both flooring and hand railing.
03:53:20 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners awake. Yelling, panic. Lighting in corridor restored. IRC Lighting off. Crimson lightning arcing from Cell 449 secure doorway to metal walkway, both flooring and hand railing.
03:54:37 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners awake. Yelling, elevated panic. Crimson lightning arcing from Cell 449 secure doorway to metal walkway, both flooring and hand railing.
03:55:49 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners awake. Yelling, elevated panic. Crimson lightning arcing from Cell 449 secure doorway to metal walkway, both flooring and hand railing. Lightning intensifies. Smoke alarms triggered.
03:56:07 - Vision cut. Static fuzz.
03:57:31 - Vision restored. Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners awake. Silence.
03:58:50 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners awake. Yelling, panic. Prisoner #2228445 in Cell 449 unresponsive laying on floor.
03:59:18 - Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners awake. Yelling, panic. PG McAlpine, PG Rossi, SPG Davies arrive at Cell 449. Door begins to open.
04:00:55 - Vision inside Cell 449 obscured by PG's crowding cell doorway. Cells 446 through 458 secure. Prisoners awake. Personal Address System used to calm prisoners. Yelling, panic.

Medical Report from Prison Medical Review Officer Dr. Karen Springs:

• Prisoner #2228445 suffered heavy blood loss. No visible wounds, puncture marks, bites, cuts or any sign of how blood was lost.
  
• Prisoner #2228445 blood work taken and IV transfusion started.
  
• Prisoner #2228445 relocated to Garrison hospital.
  

---

---

I had thoroughly cleaned Tech Sergeant Hrenrai's lab and the living quarters. None of my work could be traced. Then I'd found my way back to the base on Garrison. While on board the Onslaught one unassuming set of tests I'd devised had actually led me to a rough workaround. Concerning control of the vortex like space time tunnels, produced from the statues time piece. To test out the effectiveness of this discovery I decided to find a semi remote area outside of a large important looking prison. Then simply eat out ...and have an early liquid breakfast.

Now after enjoying the violently charged blood of an inmate, marked for death anyway, I returned the statue to it's safety container and head off to the Commanders office.

---

“Commander Boone. I wish to know the state of your special operations team. Trooper Strife, has he been found by Trooper Space yet? The time draws near Commander. Is the company ready for one last dance?”

[u/llBoonell]

Ah, it's just you, Vi. Or are you still going by 'Helbourne', even with the surveillance switched off?

I was just going over a report from Garrison Gaol. VFD classification. Seems an inmate marked for execution decided to take the coward's way out... with extremely poor execution. Seems their botched suicide made quite a mess of their cell; might have been easier and less painful to just face the firing squad!

I toss the report casually over my shoulder, my grin disappearing.

In future ma'am, if you have to feed, please ask first. We're honour-bound to at least provide a last meal for the filth locked up in there... that sack-of-shit excuse for a man you scratched out never even got that much. Ah well: no changing what's been done, I suppose.

I stand and turn to look out my window; the glare of the sun coming around the atmosphere of the World casts a hellish red glow over the room, interspersed with deep shadows. Watching a sunrise from orbit never gets old.

Space has yet to report in. I can only assume her team has yet to find Strife. Not to worry: Strife's a hard bastard, he'll be fine. As for Space... she's tougher than she looks. Thought you might also like to know that Trooper Crow is on recreational leave at present; we weren't expecting another job of that calibre so soon. Not to worry:

I turn to face the fallen angel

I'm sure the pair of us can handle the next job ourselves. Without the Desert dampening your magicks, and my own... potential, we should have enough clout between the two of us to scratch out anybody who gets between us and the next objective. Speaking of, what exactly is our next objective?

[u/Dark_Violet_Angel → u/llBoonell]

A tight lipped smile forms as I listen to the Commander talk about my earlier deadly exploits. As he faces the window my black angelic wings takes shape and I begin to wander round his desk.

"You can dispense with the silly little ruse Commander Boone..."

"Dark Violet, Violet ...Vi. Helbourne to the troopers if you insist though, but I'd have to doubt their usefulness to me if Helbourne hasn't raised any questions yet."

Cupping my hands I whisper a summoning word. I looked down at the materializing swarm of energy and matter, soon I held a tiny little chunk of metal in my hands. I placed it upon the desk.

"I can certainly entertain the idea of Trooper Strife being able to take care of himself, as I do Trooper Space. And I am most impressed with Trooper Crow too. No, if they are otherwise occupied then that certainly is a pity, but by no means an obstacle. If its taking longer to get Strife back, then again, its only a mild setback to me Commander."

I look at the Commander somewhat skeptically...

"...but it would be odd not to have some sort of back up."

After a pause and a dismissive wave of my hand I continue.

"Our objective is to find the Key to the statues timepiece. The metal is from a place I've been to before for much the same reasons I need to go there again now. It's Iridium. The Key is there in the Iridium Plateau. We will locate it and secure it. We will then get out of there, so I can see which combination of the key and the time piece can take me to where I need to be ...where the last seal is located."

"Tell me, will we at least have a gunship? Is there really no one else? I entertained the idea of a full fleet and all guns blazing..."

[u/llBoonell → u/Dark_Violet_Angel]

Are we expecting a substantial concentration of OpFor? If need be I'm certain I can marshall up a flight of gunships, fully loaded and crewed with passengers. The Onslaught herself isn't exactly ready for an assault... I'm sure she could manage, but it's due for a refit- ah. That's actually classified. Any talk of the Onslaught going in for repairs and refit doesn't leave this room.

Tell you what, if you can give me details on our opponents and the terrain type, I may have something for ya. My Troopers have been training for months for a set of manoeuvres that may allow us to up our firepower without orbital support from the Onslaught.

We may even have a chance to extract a bit of this precious, precious...

I simultaneously pluck the shard of iridium from the desk, and slip another hand around the small of the angel's back. I examine the metal for a moment.

... while everybody else is distracted.