THIS was supposed to be on a simple assignment, now Jasmine found herself bound to a strange capsule, with a toxic vat above her, about to douse her in bubbling green horrors.
How did this happen?
One week ago…
Jasmine was at the sanctum, training with Ryan. It had been over a year since he had been appointed as a ranger by special decree from the Keeper King himself, and the two of them had been spending a lot of time together since Jasmine had also been assigned to be his special overseer, tasked with monitoring him for more signs of taint.
So far, he hadn't had another episode as bad as his one-man assault against ten corrupted scarecrows, but she was always watching.
The two of them were in the arena, sparring. Jasmine had finally grown tired of his subpar CQC skills, and decided to give him some proper hands-on training. The two of them went at each other, launching and countering and evading attacks.
Growing bored of slow pace, Jasmine launched a vicious combo of attacks that planted Ryan into a wall.
"You know if you don't win at least once, your DVD collection is mine," Jasmine taunted as Ryan peels himself from the wall.
"Laugh it up now," Ryan replied as he dusts himself off, "I'm just getting started." He charges at her, launching a series of punches and kicks, putting Jasmine on the defensive as she evades.
"Heh, not bad," Jasmine comments as Ryan takes another swing at her, she sidestepped, grabbing his arm and using his momentum to flip him over. He hit the sparring mat hard, bouncing once as he is sprawled on the ground. Jasmine stands over him, with a victorious smirk on her face, "but still not good enough,"
"Don't count me out yet," Ryan said as he sweeps at her legs. As she tumbles, he then rolls on top of her and launched a punch at her, stopping inches from her face.
They both stay there, breathing hard as sweat glistens their skin. Jasmine looked up at Ryan and gave him a smirk, "Well, it's about time you got me on my back,"
"What can I say; it gets boring with you always on top," Ryan replied
Then they heard a single person clapping, from the bleachers, they could see Mac watching the two of them, "I came here looking to see the two of you pummel each other, I wasn't expecting this kind of show,"
Mac had been at the sanctum for a while now. She had a light chocolate complexion, with long dark hair that was tied in a high ponytail and deep bronze eyes. She was wearing a red hoodie over rip jeans and sneakers. She was found in a magik sanctuary and was picked up by ARGUS, and recently, she'd been training to become a ranger, and Ryan, barely being one himself, had agreed to be her mentor.
Ryan rolled off Jasmine and helped her up, the two of them make their way towards the stands, "Hey Mac, what's up? Haven't seen you around for a few days,"
"Oh, had some stuff to take care of," she said leaning against the barrier of the bleachers,
"Well, it's good to have you back," Jasmine smiled
"Yeah, I know." Mac said, as she came down, "Jasmine, love the hair,"
Jasmine had braided her hair into a fishtail that reached her lower back,
"Thanks," Jasmine replied
"So, what's up?" Ryan asked
"Came to watch you two get it on, apparently," Mac said, "Also, this guy says he knows you,"
She gestured to a guy who followed her down, he had dark chestnut hair and deep brown eyes. He was taller than they remembered, with more defined muscles, visible under his T-shirt and dark slacks, and a dark tan from working at the forges but that warm friendly smile of his was unmistakable.
He grinned at them, "What's up, you two?"
"Simon?" Ryan asked, before rushing the guy and wrapping him in a manly embrace, "Oh man, I missed you."
"I missed you too," he laughed, before wheezing, "about as much as I miss breathing right now."
"Oh, sorry," Ryan apologizes, setting him down.
Simon then looked at Jasmine, "Ma'am,"
She grins, "C'mon Simon, I told you when I first met you; you don't have to call me 'ma'am',"
"I know, but I like the way you expertly hide the swell in your ego every time I do," Simon said
"So, you're Simon Ross," Mac said sizing him up, "I've heard a lot about you,"
"All good things, I hope," Simon said to Mac, "And you are?"
"Mac Torri," Mac extends her hand, "Pleasure for you to finally meet me,"
"Likewise," Simon says as he shakes her hand.
"So why are you here, Simon?" Jasmine asks
"Well, the Foundry sent me back," Simon said,
"Well it's about time," Ryan said, "I thought you'd only be gone a couple of months on that apprenticeship, it's been almost two years."
Simon shrugged, "I extended me stay."
"Of course you would," Ryan said,
As they walked out of the arena, Simon was talking to them about his plans, "I was actually here on official business. The Keeper wants to lay blueprints for something big,"
"What?" Mac asked
Simon ignored the question, "I was sent by the Master Builder to liaise, since I'm from here." Simon said,
"Do you have any clues to what she wants built?" Ryan pushed
"All I can tell you is that it's some kind of airship, a very special one,"
"Airship? Like a warbird?" Jasmine asked
Simon just shrugged, "I've been sworn to secrecy,"
"So, where are these plans anyway?" Ryan said
"Why? Planning on stealing a peak?"
"A quick one,"
"Sorry, they've already been sent." Simon said, "my time will be split between here and the Foundry for this project."
"On another note," Mac grins, "It'll be Ryan's birthday soon,"
"Not for another couple of months." Ryan protested
"Can you believe he's turning twenty years old?" Mac said, "You should really get us something nice to commemorate the occasion."
20 years old was a special milestone for a magus, it marked the completion of their magikal development. Most magi treated it as their own debut into full adulthood.
"I should get you something?" Ryan asked with a raised eyebrow
"Yeah," Mac answered, "I mean, it's your birthday and all, but you should really give back to the people who make it special; the rest of us."
"Which reminds me, you should avoid lawyers around this time." Jasmine advised
"Lawyers?" Simon asked
"Yeah, whenever a notable magus reaches the big two-oh, estate lawyers start sniffing around," she explained, "when I turned 20, I was hounded for weeks."
"Why?" Mac asked, "did you get a big inheritance?"
"Not really." Jasmine shrugged, "I never even met my dad, and my mom was a mundane, so I don't have much in the ways of a family legacy. My sister had something squared away though, not Reins money, but enough to keep me comfortable for a while."
"Yeah, well I've been speaking with this lady that says she's the lawyer in charge of the Reins estate." Ryan said, "We sort of bumped into each other after my big coming out at the 1st branch, and she's kept in touch."
"Pretty soon, you'll get access to that sweet family fortune, and of course you'll spend a little bit of it on your loyal protege, won't you?"
"I got you, girl," Ryan smirked, fist-bumping her.
"I've been meaning to ask; Mac, how's it been as Ryan's protege?" Jasmine asked
"Well, he is a terrible teacher," Mac exclaimed,
"What?" Ryan exclaimed, in mock offense, "and here I thought we were having a moment."
"I mean he sucks. He couldn't teach a fish to swim," Mac continues, ignoring him,
"No need to spare my feeling or anything," Ryan muttered, "I mean; I'm just standing right here."
"But he does give good advice, on occasion," Mac offered.
When they started, Ryan had discovered that Mac held a deep distrust of people, from her time on the streets, and he had spent time to get her to open up more.
As the quartet wandered the grounds, they conversed among themselves, reminiscing on times shared. Both Mac and Simon compared their own adventures against the other.
"Y'know, sometimes it feels like only yesterday you brought a building down on me," Jasmine said with a fond smirk.
Ryan sighed, "You still haven't let that go?"
"I don't think you ever really apologized for that," Mac said
"I think Mac is right; you never gave me proper apology for that."
"You know the story, Mac?" Simon asked
"Of course, it's one of the most hilarious things I've ever heard," Mac snickered
"I actually haven't heard that story," Simon said
"You haven't?" Mac exclaimed, "Well lend me your ears, my good man, and I shall regale you with a great tale of the meeting of Ryan and Jasmine,"
As they laughed, Jasmine's ranger badge buzzed. She pulled it from her waist and played the received message,
"PROCTOR JASMINE SUMNER, YOU ARE BEING SUMMONED BY OPERATIONS."
"Understood, I'll be there in a minute," Jasmine said, "Looks like I gotta go,"
"Be seeing you," Ryan said as they fist-bumped and she ran off. "So where were we?"
"I was about to tell the story of Ryan, the mundane," Mac grinned.
"Oh right," Ryan said, "It started with a hot substitute teacher on the last day before spring break…"
As a Proctor, Jasmine was among the upper echelon of the Rangers corps, but it also meant that she would occasionally be sent out on inspections around the zone.
She had been assigned to a ARGUS outpost in Oregon to assist the local rangers in the investigation of strange disappearances and their relation to recent spikes in ravager activity detected in the region. She was to spend the next week at the outpost, investigating the area to determine the cause and relation of these events.
However, when she and the local rangers were patroling one of the forests where these ravager activity had increased that they were ambushed by a small army of ravagers, much more that was expected. Instead of being torn apart though, they were captured and taken prisoner, spending the last three days in a cell.
)]≥(
Now
As the glass lid of the capsule sealed shut, Jasmine noticed the vents above her, connected to their sacred vat, containint some sort of mutagenic catalyst to aid in this horrific process. A drop of oily green liquid dripped onto her forearm, and she flinched at how much it burned.
She could almost admire the infrastructure that went into this whole setup… almost. The abominable contaption in which she was currently trapped in, the profane glyph formula engraved around the machine, and across the walls of the cavern, even the many pens and cages for the finished result; the ravagers.
They meant to turn her into one of those things.
She would not let that happen.
A the far end of the chamber, she sees a cage with the few remaining kidnapped civilians, huddled away from the cage entrance as possible. They all looked disheveled and haunted by their experiences the last few weeks. Jasmine also sees the local rangers that were captured with her.
"Oh Pure One, hear our prayers and accept this tribute!" screamed a man in dark green robes adorned with gold.
He has pale skin and dark eyes, with arcane tattoos across his bald head. He stood by the control panel for the machine, along with five female cultists, all dressed in similar robes, who chanted with him and surrounded the machine in the middle of the chamber.
"Wait!" Jasmine yelled loud enough to stop the chanting. The man looked up at her, "This is all for the Pure One?"
"Yes," came a slow reply from one of the women
Jasmine started laughing,
"What's so funny?" the man demanded
"I've met the Pure One, almost two years ago. I think his name was… Henry? … Kevin? No. His name was… Ed! We called him Ed."
"You met the Pure One?" a red haired woman queried, "But you're…"
"Alive? Yes… isn't that curious?"
"He showed you his favor?" a blonde woman sneered, "how is that possible?"
"Showed me favor? No, if I remember correctly, by the time we were done with him, there was not much left of him."
"No!" another woman cried
"You lie!" the man yelled
"No I don't. A crazy woman –not unlike yourself— actually managed to resurrect him by sacrificing herself and her children, including her unborn baby. We were to be the offering they left for him. So, if I'm still here then what do you think happened to him?"
"No," one of the women wailed
"Not so sorry to say; he's gone,"
"NO!" The man screamed, "Do not believe her. She is trying to tarnish our faith."
"I'm really not; I'm just trying to tell you that you're wasting your time." Jasmine said, "besides, they guy isn't a god, he's just really poor at blending in."
"Pure One, we offer this heathen to you, please hear our prayers," the man chanted loudly, "accept this tribute and show us your favor."
"There's no one listening," Jasmine sang again, "also, why are you praying? This whole messed-up ritual doesn't seem to need it."
As they continued their chanting, the ground shook, causing dust to rain down on them,
"What was that?" one of the women asked
"Nothing, we need to finish this ritual," the man informed her, "This blasphemer is special to the Pure One, her sacrifice will reward us with a truly powerful ravager"
"The Pure One?" a voice echoed through the chamber, "Isn't he dead?"
A section of wall crumbled, and through the gaping hole, Ryan emerged, donned in his black dragon leather jacket, underneath that he wore a red and gray top and dark gray cargo pants with boots and his special casting gloves, his ranger's combat belt secured firmly around his waist with its many pockets and pouches.
"That's what I've been trying to tell them," Jasmine said, "And you should know more than anyone. After all; you took him down yourself."
"Did I?" Ryan said with a shrug, "Eh, doesn't matter,"
"Blasphemer!" the man screamed, "I will not allow you to blaspheme against the anointed Pure One."
"It's cool, we got along at first, then it kind of went pear-shaped," Ryan said, "Jasmine, you okay?"
"Nooooo, I very much enjoy being restrained and dangling over a vat of toxic sludge," Jasmine snapped sarcastically,
"Yes ma'am," Ryan said as he rested Draxonn against his shoulder, the black three-foot long night iron sword with a straight box-cutter blade gleamed in an almost sinister light. He gripped the handle of the sword tightly as blue flames ignite along the blade, adding an eerie aura to it.
Focusing his power, Ryan swung his sword, sending out a burst of flames directed at the vat above her, shattering it, and spilling its vile, toxic contents. It washed over one of the cultists, who screamed in agony as it burned through her, though the others managed to back away.
While the cultutsts were distracted by her screaming and trying to get away from the toxic spill, Ryan pulled out his wand to free Jasmine, only to discover that she had freed herself from the restraints already in the distraction he had caused. She then took little time to remove herself from her confines and join up with Ryan.
"How'd you do that?"
Jasmine just looked at him like he'd asked a stupid question. "Thanks for the diversion, it made things a lot easier for me."
"You dropped this," Ryan said as he returned her belt and gear,
"This place is a maze. How did you find this?" She asked as she put it on.
"I went wandering for a bit," Ryan shrugged in response, as they free the captive civilians and other rangers.
"You were wasting time?" she accused,
"They kept you a prisoner here for days, sue me for thinking you'd be good another half-hour."
"I cannot believe you," Jasmine said, "I sent that distress beacon three days ago,"
"You should thankful I was free," Ryan said,
"Of course you're free, you don't go on missions without me,"
"But you can go solo? How's that fair?"
"SILENCE!" the robed man screamed, "You filthy ARGUS dogs! You have made a mockery of this sacred ritual. I will kill you, you do not deserve to be offered to the Pure One for reckoning!"
"Sheesh, he's a bit overdramatic, isn't he?" Ryan said
"And I had to spend three days with him. Do you know how irritating it is to be sermon-ed at by a crazy person while you're in a cell?" Jasmine said pointedly, "let's just finish this up so we can get out of here."
"After you, boss," Ryan said, turning to the other freed rangers, who had armed themselves already with magik or whatever they found nearby.
"Alright, here we go." from a special pocket located on the back of her belt, Jasmine drew her weapon, a composite bow with multiple strings that ran through a series of pulleys that looked like miniature spoke wheels. Along the polished leather grip, written in bronze was the name ORION, and was studded with dials and buttons and a scope.
[Ranger belts are magik tools, their pockets and pouches are treated with space magik allowing them to hold more inside than they typically should. They all have a capacity and weight limit for what can be stored inside.]
She then pulled three arrows from the quiver pouch next to the bow holster. She fired two arrows with the head glowing yellow at the family, which erupted in a smoke bomb.
"You take them up close; I'll provide support from afar." Jasmine instructed
"Yes ma'am," Ryan grinned as he charged
"Destroy them!" the robed man ordered as a slaughter of chimeras emerged from their cages and attacked. [Quick little aside here; a group of chimera is called a slaughter, I learned that on the Magikal Geographic Channel.]
"Chimeras? Haven't seen those in a long time," Ryan said as he slid under one, the plunged his blade into a second ones face, then he pulled his wand and shot a bolt of energy at one that was going after his back but they keep coming. At one point, Ryan found himself overwhelmed as several chimeras tried to pounce on him at once, only to be instantly vaporized as Ryan releases a massive surge of storm magik. He drops to a knee, breathing deeply as he tries to gather himself. He then sees Jasmine launch a volley of arrows at the chimeras that went for her, moments later, all the chimeras had disintegrated.
"Is that all you got?" Ryan asked as he got his second wind
The man pulled out a guardian totem, "not even close,"
Activating the totem, they watch as is transforms and expands into a hulking ten-foot tall automaton.
The other cultists call forth more enthralled ravagers, until they are looking at a small army.
"You just had to ask," Jasmine chided as she nocked an arrow and the glowing cryatalling arrowhead. She fired it, but instead of going into the amassed forces against them, it went to the far wall.
"You missed," Ryan commented, looking back at her,
"Oh, did I?" Jasmine smirks at him, "Keep them distracted while I get my preparations ready."
"Okay," Ryan said as he raised his hand and a glyph formula glowed to life over his gloved palm;
Flame type: Phoenix Fury!
The glyph transformed into an eagle with flaming wings and red eyes. The eagle flew towards the enemy with a fiery trail behind it. It flew straight for the enemy creatures and blew up, taking a chunk out of their numbers. The surviving enemies charged towards them, but Ryan and the other rangers fought them back, he had erected a wall of fire between the army and Jasmine to give her room to work, but it would not last long.
"Anytime now," Ryan called to Jasmine as he faced the guardian.
"Done," Jasmine said as she fires the last crystalline arrow, then she pricked her thumb and draws a glyph formula on the ground. With a final effort, the glyph lights up, as do the six arrow she fired at the walls of the cavern, each point connected by a line of light to draw a much larger glyph formula in the air,
Holy art; Divine Gate Choir!
The glyph shined brightly like a star, bathing the entire chamber in its golden light. Any savage the light touched disintegrated instantly.
When the glyph faded, the enemy army was no more and the purifier family was left dazed. After bathing in the light, Ryan's skin felt raw, fragile, although there was also a warmth inside that made him feel lighter.
"The holy light that purifies all darkness…" Ryan muttered, "When did you learn to do that?" He had heard of this cast, and given his recent… condition, being exposed to it had caused him to jump, but apparently, it didn't have much of an adverse effect on him.
"I'm a Proctor, and have a vested enmity towards all things the Nox Courts stand for, of course I'd be armed with purification magic." Jasmine said,
The cultists were now left with no more minions to throw. They put up a meager resistance still, but were soon overpowered by the much better trained rangers. After subduing the cultists, Ryan and Jasmine went about identifying them.
"So, they're behind all this trouble?" Ryan asked, "Who are they?"
"Terrand Savisa, former arkan turned dark priest of this Nox sect." Jasmine sneered, "he was quite devout, and completely devoted himself to their cause. Used his research into the ravager phenomenon to make his own."
"Wow, that's twisted."
Jasmine just shook her head, as if to say; these people are crazy, "Anyway, we took down their sect a few years ago, but he and several others managed to escape when we raided their compound."
Ryan whistled, "And they only started back up now?"
"It's not that easy to create this workshop of horrors." Jasmine said, "you need a specially desecrated space to accumulate enough chaotic magic for their purposes, then to build their machine, and create the catalyst. It's a heavy investment."
"Which means they might have a sponsor backing them," another ranger mused
"That's lovely," Ryan sighed, "So, what happens now?"
Jasmine pulled out her badge, a silver compact with the Ranger emblem on the face,
The symbol glowed and a holographic screen appeared over the surface and she read out the objectives she had brought up on the screen, "Well, my orders were only to investigate, but Nox Court activity generally warrant a Seek & Destroy response."
"That doesn't look too bright for these poor saps,"
"Are you feeling sorry for them? They're fanatical zealots." Jasmine snarled.
"And I get that," Ryan defended, "I'm just wondering, you've done the seeking, and we've pretty much destroyed their operation, what now?"
"Well, they were dealing in ravager production, that's a category 1 offense, and also runs the risk of contamination." she said, gesturing to the black blight that had tainted the skin on their arms, "We'll have to send them to quarantine. With any luck they'll get banished."
Ryan shuddered, banishment was the harshest punishments that ARGUS enforced for only the vilest of offenders, even worse then execution. The exact details and techniques of the process were highly confidential, known only to the Special Punishments Bureau at the 1st branch, and the horrible fate that awaited those who suffered it were a mystery to all, but it served to deter most from serious criminal acts.
"You want to call it in, or should I?" Ryan asked
"No, this was my assignment," Jasmine said, as she took her badge and spoke to it, "Badge, contact dispatch."
"Confirmed." The badge chimed, "Connected."
"This is Ranger Jasmine Sumner. I have found a Nox Court ravager production lab. The situation is in hand." Jasmine said into the badge, "Be adviced; they were dealing in human abduction and experimentation, and I have civilians with me, send custodial services to my location."
"Acknowledged. Support is on its way."
"Now what?" Ryan asked, after she put her badge away
Jasmine just shrugged, "Well, we have to wait for custodial to take these idiots off our hands, then, they're not our problem anymore. But for now, this cavern is contaminated, we need to clear all these mundanes out of here and destroy this place," she looked around at the massive cavern they were currently in.
"Leave that to me. As a demolition specialist, destroying things is kinda my job," Ryan said as he cracked his knuckles.
Almost an hour later, Jasmine watch from a distance as Ryan's handiwork destoyed the cultists workshop completely. He was really helpful at demolision work, though she'd never admit that to his face.
Custodial Services had arrived to take away the cultists and tend to the civilians.
"I think you used too much Blavac gel," Jasmine commented as she can feel the shockwave from their position,
"Really? I don't think I used enough," Ryan snickers as he tossed the detonator away
"You are such a troublemaker,"
"Hey if I don't use it, someone else will," Ryan shrugged. He then turns to the dozen or so rescued civilians who are being treated by healers and other specialists. "What happens to these poor saps?"
"Well, Custodial is handling them. They'll heal them up, give them a quick memory dusting and send them on their way. Anyone who shows signs of contamination will be kept under monitoring."
Then, Jasmine and Ryan's badges both buzzed at the same time.
"Huh, looks like we both got a call," Ryan said
"Well that can't be good," Jasmine replied
)]≥(
Back at the Sacntum, Stephanie is on the phone in her office when G, her head of security, walks in.
"Yes Mr. President, the UFO sighting over New Mexico is being handled. No, it wasn't actual aliens, it's never aliens. My people are already on the scene, I know you're new to this, but we've been doing it since this country was founded. Alright, I'll see you in a few weeks for dinner, say hello to your wife for me."
She hangs up the phone and massages her temples.
"So boss lady, what's got you with such an unattractive look on your face? Which, I must say, is quite a feat for you," the skeleton man asked
"How would you know?" Stephanie mocked, "You're a walking biology class dummy,"
"I was once a man, though." G said, "and that man would've found you attractive."
"Aw thanks," Stephanie said with a weak smile. She then taps on a report on her desk, "Tell me G, what do you know about the magik criminal community?"
"Can't say I ever had the pleasure," G said as he took a seat,
"You've never dealt with any black market smugglers or rouge assassins?"
"I'd expect you'd have more experience with that world than me, given your checkered background as a former name on the most wanted list."
Stephanie smirked, "Please, we never qualified for 'most wanted', Julia and I were too smart to be that notorious. The highest ARGUS ever rated us was 'public menace'."
"Until Matthew."
"Until Matthew," she agreed, sighing wistfully, "He was something; convincing both of us to switch sides and 'work for the good guys'. I never would've imagined it. I still can't believe he managed to get into both our pants. Yeah, that man was trulyone-of-a-kind."
"So what's with your sudden interest in The Underground?" G asked, "Thinking of changing sides again?"
"Nah, but recently there hasn't been any chatter going on down there." She said, "My sources say that some big players have been making moves, and that got me thinking about the Sydnecasci?"
G chuckled, which was quite the feet for a man without a lungs, or a throat.
"Please, the Sydnecasci are a myth. A scary story you told naughty kids; be good or they'll take you away in the night."
"Well every myth is based on some truth." Stephanie countered, "Every cabals I've ever heard of was founded on the legend of the Sydenecasci. It represented power, influence and reach,"
Stephanie's mind turned to the incident during the Summit.
"Remember last winter, during the Ares incident?"
"Yeah, upstart Keeper tries to overthrow ARGUS leadership. Happens every few centuries."
"Crowley was responsible, but someone else was backing him," Stephanie said, "someone we never identified."
G sighed, "And I heard what happened to him, his backers clearly don't leave loose ends."
"Yeah," Stephanie said, she then picked up a report on her desk, "Ever since then, I've been going over all these reports from all over the zone with more attention." She dropped the report on the desk, "According to this, a raid in Illinois found a local gang moving high-end tactical-grade casts, not the kind of thing you commonly find on the street. A patrol in Kansas found an illegal warp-gate with authentic codes. And chatter says there might be a sleeper cell in Salem with ties to one or more Nox Court sects."
"That is interesting, but how are these connected?"
"That's the thing, they aren't connected at all; they're just random high rank criminal activity done by low rank criminals." Stephanie said, "for years there have always been reports and chatter that didn't make sense; leads that went nowhere, locations that didn't exist, shipments that just vanished. What if they're all connected by the fact that they don't seem connected at all?"
"Are you sure you're not just being paranoid?" G asked, "Paranoia isn't a very attractive look on you, just saying."
"This whole thing is driving me crazy," Stephanie whined, "It's a lot more work than I usually tolerate, but if it really is true, then someone is playing a very long game, and now I find out that my sister was somehow involved in it."
"What do you mean?" G asked.
"I heard it from Crowley; she did some off-the-books work for him, involving some silent players in the criminal underworld. He implied that it was this work that brought her to their attention and may have contributed to the attack on the Reins house, and the deaths of my little sister, her husband and his family,"
Tears welled up and started to trickle down her cheeks.
"The Reins tragedy was listed as an accident," G said
"I know you don't even believe that." Stephanie scoffed, "Who else could've pulled off murdering a noble magus family and gotten away with it."
"If you're right, you know how bad that makes things, right?" G said, "It would mean that ARGUS has a massive blind spot that the Sydenecasci exploits. We wouldn't even begin to know where to look,"
"If the Sydenecasci operates where ARGUS cannot see, then that's where we need to start." Stephanie said, her eyes burning with determination, "G, I'm planning something big,"
"Ooh, I love it when you plan big," G said, the only indication for excitement, coming from his voice.
"I've already started laying the ground work, but I need to set some things up." Stephanie said, as she got up from her seat and went to her bookcase. "So I'll be going off grid for a while."
"How far off grid are we talking?" G asked, his curiosity piqued,
"The 'I'm going to need a dozen untraceable blanks' kind of off the grid," she replied
"I can swing that for you," G said as he got up, "but won't having multiple yous out and about defeat the purpose of not alerting any observers?"
"I want them to notice, it will make it easier for me to slip under the radar." she grinned
"Just be careful," G said, "I'd hate to be the one to tell the kid that you're not coming back."
"And you won't have to," Stephanie said.
Before G could leave, a ringing is heard. Stephanie opens one of the drawers of her desk and sees a sat-phone ringing.
She answered it and held it to her ear, "Hello?"
As she listened, her eyes grew wide with concern.
"What? How? When did this happen?" Stephanie said
There was a long pause
"It took that long before you decided to inform me?" she demanded,
There was a pause
"Alright, I understand." She said, "Alright, I'll handle it,"
She hung up the sat-phone, the look on her face grim, "Where is Jasmine?"
"Jasmine went on an assignment a week ago, then went dark, no activity since. Dispatch sent Ryan to investigate and provide back-up. They just finished up."
"Good, recall them both." Stephanie said, "Recall every ranger who isn't on critical assignment."
"Okay, what's happened?"
"There's been a breakout at Attraxus Prime, heavy casualties amongst the inmate and staff."
"A breakout?" G said,
"Yes, and as long as she is free, the bodies will pile up until she finds Jasmine."
"You don't mean… her?"
"Yes, and if she's coming here, we'd better be ready," Stephanie said
She and G rushed to the Rangers Ops Centre, when G called the rangers to attention, they all knew it was serious.
"I am issuing a Code Red state of emergency." Stephanie ordered. That sent a buzz throughout the entire headquarters, "Recall all non-active assets from the field ASAP."
"Yes ma'am!" the analysts replied as they went to work carrying out her orders.
From the Sanctum, an emergency message went out all across the 45th zone. A message that reached every Ranger from the 45th currently out in the field;
ATTENTION:
Dispatch to all Rangers!
Keeper Fairchylde has issued a Code Red State of Emergency!
All non-active Rangers are to be recalled!
Repeat;
Keeper Fairchylde has issued a Code Red State of Emergency!
All non-active Rangers are to be recalled!