[center]Chapter 8: New Eden[/center][/b]

[i]Two hours later...
Cell Block F, below Sessrumnir Tower, Folkvangr[/i]

A woman in her early twenties walked through the halls of the jail, humming softly to herself. It was a habit of hers, singing as she went about her work. Her on-and-off beau had told her of their recent prisoner, and given her full permission to do whatever she wished. It was only her order that had kept him from using too much of his own type of humiliation. Wouldn't leave much room for her to leave an impression.

She had long blonde hair with silver highlights and a reddish tinge to her skin, her eyes a glowing mixture of red and green. As she moved, the changing light made them almost seem purple every so often. For clothing, she wore a very dark gray tank top with a red Omega symbol on the abdomen, along with a black miniskirt. On her forearms are two mechanical devices. On her left, a mechanical armband that serves as her way of producing an invisible kinetic barrier shielding of mass effect around her body without any need for actual armor that she found to be aesthetically unappealing. On her right, an implanted connection to a red omni-tool of the Milky Way, the source of a vast majority of her powers.

As per usual these days, Lieutenant Commander Jessica Mireu was flanked by two of their weaker operatives, the black-clothed Omega soldiers. Their Hunters, to be distinguished from the Mgalekgolo, were only for the stronger opponents or stealth operations. Not to say that they weren't invisible, finding their ways around here. A prison with invisible guards wasn't exactly a panopticon, but it generally worked nonetheless.

The song faded out as she saw someone else walking away from the direction of the cells. Someone familiar.

Elori was all business, as usual, walking with her spear in her right hand. The court mage did not require an escort, as she could easily manifest elemental guardians if she so desired. She held a syringe in her left hand, the mild sedative already administered to the prisoner. Absently, Jessica wondered whether her "twin" could have acquired a truth serum from the Phantom Corporation while she was out on her latest mission, or before or after it.

"Hello there," the red-eyed lieutenant commander greeted her, stopping beside her. The fact that she stopped without being ordered was a matter of training, though it usually did not extend beyond that with Jessica. "What did you give? Anything to force her to talk"

"No. Just something to keep her weak for a few minutes. You'll need to do some of the work yourself." Rather than look at the infiltrator agent, Shadowflash stared at the syringe. With minimal effort, she decomposed it. The glass was manipulated to turn into a ball of sand, the steel a ball as well. Both were just put into her pocket without another word about it. The needle had been of her creation to begin with, simply used to house the fluid given to her.

Those fangs were bared, a smile to her. "Now, dear. You don't suppose that I [i]like[/i] to have a bit of a challenge? Thank you for the opportunity."

Finally, Elori Shadowflash turned to her. "You [i]know[/i] that she won't join you, won't want anything to do with you. It never works. You come, you fight, you destroy, you corrupt, and it always ends the same."

Jessica put a hand to Elori's cheek. She felt the woman flinch, but no attempt to move her away just yet, a fact that kept her smiling a bit longer. "Some of us call that a working system, dear Elori." She moves a bit of hair away, touching a spot on Elori's neck that she surely remembered due to an event earlier in her life.

Finally, sorceress grabbed her hand, pulling it off and shoving it aside, annoyance and anger in her gaze. "Just go there. You have about fifteen minutes."

Only then did the Jessica frown. "Maybe I'll have Elena let me have a little drink if you don't behave yourself." With that, she let Elena's personal assistant walk away, fists clenched.

=====

[i]One hour prior...
Garage, AEK Base[/i]

Vism 'Fal followed Simon, who was holding Kira's data crystal chip as the program and human discussed plans to help their captive allies. His brother and sister, Doc called them. Not by blood or species, but by the battlefield.

The human was walking around their one aircraft, using his electric shocks to jumpstart it. It was what Kira called an AV-14 Attack VTOL, or a "Hornet." The  itself had been scavenged from the [i]Archangel[/i]'s more disorganized areas, mostly inoperable. Some work from their mechanic and the AI had fixed that, and made it have a degree of stealth capability. However, being but on aircraft meant that they still needed to stay hidden, to make sure they were not attacked by too many others to make their work more difficult.

[i]"Vism, you need to go in there and get them out,"[/i] K1-R4 told Doc. [i]"That signal leads under the Sessrumnir Tower. We all know what A-Sayf said about that place."[/i] Prison cells, occasional "interrogation." [i]"If they stay there too long, we could have a major situation, be it through breaking them down or altering their minds."[/i]

Without pause, she gave the rundown to both of them, Fixer busy finishing up the preparations of their entry vehicle. [i]"We have a short window within which to operate. A few hours with those planes mostly out of the sky. If we waste this, they could be long gone in a short time. Goodman and I will try to stay in contact and in the air further out of sight, so you can contact us when you need evacuation. But you need to go in, get them, and get out. Anything else is secondary, though if you manage to kill any higher members, I wouldn't be against it. Just try to keep it quiet, clean, and without alerting anyone later on."[/i]

The young boy opened the cockpit, climbing in. How he was such a good pilot with [i]no eyes[/i] was a mystery, even though he did need a spotter in the form of Kira or one of their organic aids on occasion. "Sparky," he called back to nothing, though he knew he was heard in other areas of their base by his friend. "Keep an eye out, wouldja?" The robot was being left there to act as a security, but they still needed to make sure that the purpose of their hideout was not exposed as something other than a run-down home as it was seen above.

The Elite heard the construct's beep in response, but didn't understand it. He assumed it meant an affirmative response. Rather than question, he picked up his necessary equipment. A small bag with his medical supplies, an Energy Sword hilt, and a sleek, blue gun with two separate parts connected by the silver trigger mechanism between them. This plasma rifle would have to do. He put the hilt at his waist with his bag, the Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle on his other side. As his last piece, the Sangheili medic took a silver cylinder with three blue lights coming from it. This "cloaking" equipment piece would allow him to turn mostly invisible for twelve seconds at a time, but could only be used three times, even with their improvements on the Jiralhanae design.

After he had climbed up on to the wing of their aircraft, the thing was off, flying down the corridor they had made for more stealthy entrances and exits to keep from being spotted. As they lifted off vertically for a moment, he thought over what he had to do, watching the hall go by as they left more horizontally. He would likely have to jump off in order to get into the building, using his camouflage to get past security to down below.

Getting back [i]out[/i] on the other hand...that was a bit of an issue.

=====

[i]Cell Block G[/i]

Adán hated himself.

He had to get free from this table, these three, and get out. Even with that other man, likely the CEO of the Phantom Corporation if the name "Rivers" that was mentioned meant anything, gone, the wounds remained, his body still dripping from blood spilt. He had seemed to enjoy it, letting the children watch. They were what, twelve? Twelve, and those demonic kids were already torturing for fun. At least those tentacles were no longer holding him down.

The man in red samurai armor stood against the wall, his arms crossed as he watched. The tentacle-using man was gone, but some unnatural force still held him still. What was this?

The two children, now in their normal clothing--a navy-and-silver outfit for the boy, orange and purple for the girl--looked around the area for which tool to use. They had to get any information they could out of him, or so he assumed. "Rivers" just wanted it for fun, to enjoy himself. On the other hand, these twins had a purpose. Maybe they had been ordered by their parents. It would not surprise him.

Letum looked to the now-silent samurai. "Keep him still." So it was telekinesis. "Mom's orders."

No hint of recognition, but no ability to move. Great.

"Let's do it the easy way," Nyx said. "Could be pretty fun."

Letum shrugged. "Sure."

With that, the two drew their signature weapons, the princess reaching to her back as her brother grabbed his weapon from his hip. Hers was the Celestial Scythe, a crimson-bladed scythe with a black handle. His, on the other hand, was a longsword known as the Zodiac Blade, the metal blade of unknown composition marked with a snake, a lion, and a rabbit along the side on the grip, blade, and cross-guard respectively. Both were symbols of their status within this empire, likely unbreakable.

Adán took this time to speak, grunting as he tried to escape his invisible binds to no avail. "You aren't....getting....[i]anything[/i]....out of me. Get that through...your thick skulls..."

The princess of the Omega Empire smiled, then giggled before speaking. "That's funny. You think you can hold out. You'll bow to us by the time we're done with you."

Letum began the explanation, holding his sword against the man's chest to stop him from trying to fight. Only when he was sure that he had control did the boy let go, and begin pacing, back and forth. "We have a system in how we deal with those such as you. We used to practice. Paint the man, cut the lines. Paint the man, cut the lines. That's a good way to learn it all. But we changed it a little in these last two years." In his free hand, a white light danced along the fingertips of the Omega prince. "Good guys used to use this, I think. They used to try helping with it. Not a bad way to condition, though. Restorative magic."

"Cut and heal, cut and heal," Nyx muttered to herself. "Killing you isn't enough. Cutting won't do it. But if we hurt you, then heal the damage..." That kind of disturbing, psychotic smile did not belong on the face of a child approaching puberty.

"It will last for a very long time, long enough to get what we need," Diana's son said, with a cruel smirk of his own. "One of two things will happen. Either the constant pain will cause you to give in, to give us the information we need, or the healing will change your mind. Might make you join us, then give what you know."

"Go to hell," Adán spat. He glared at the samurai, the one who was facilitating this without a word.

"Might as well start before mom or dad gets angry," Nyx told her brother, a bit of fear in her voice.

The prince gulped, but gripped his blade tighter. "Yeah, you're right." The two walked up to the metal table, their weapons in one hand each, their others covered in the light of a Chi Heal.

It wasn't long before the screams echoed throughout the underground.

=====

[i]One year after the fall of the[/i] Archangel
[i]New City development of Callaghan's City[/i]

The quartet landed on the next rooftop after sliding across another air conditioner and under another safety bar, three of them rolling to cushion their fall as another winced from the sharp impact. Abigail was with three others. After the assault on Mayor Callaghan's penthouse in the one-hundred-ten story Shard by one Runner, surveillance was still being reestablished.

However, these people, having seemingly come right out of the sky like aliens, had helped to quickly establish order, eliminating Runner after Runner with efficiency not seen in the police at all, even with Project Icarus. Several Runners and Trackers of different tiers had been assassinated, quickly and quietly. The City didn't care. The City didn't need to care about disorder, with Callaghan's new aid adding to the parkour-trained Pursuit Cops.

A man from New Eden, with dark skin and shaved black hair, wearing an orange T-shirt and dark pants. Clarence E. Kreeg, though they called him simply "Kreeg."

Faith Conners had short black hair and a tattoo "tag" under her right eye, both eyes dark. She wore a black tank top and white pants, along with red, modernized shinobi tabi shoes that split the big toe away from the others on both feet, the same kind of shoes Abigail herself wore. A circuitry-like tattoo marked her right arm from the shoulder to the elbow, a red, fingerless glove on the same hand.

The last among them, the one who had not rolled, was not a Runner at all. The white, long sleeved shirt bunched up at the elbows, the blue vest labeled "CPF" and marked on its left pectoral by a silver badge, the blue pants, the white gloves. These all identified her as a Blue, a member of the City Protection Force, a junior officer as a cop. Or an ex-Blue, as Faith said, one named Kate. Hard to make Abigail tell that as straight truth. She looked very similar to Faith, really. It was as if they were related, two people who had taken so completely opposite roads in life, the cop and the criminal.

As one of the black-clothed soldiers, one armed with a taser, jumped the gap, Kreeg ran around behind him. He grabbed the helmet, pulling the opponent's head back to show his neck before he could even react, and gripped the taser arm with his right hand in the same motion, electrocuting the pursuer with his own weapon before throwing him to his side, off of the roof with a kick to the abdomen. He kept running, another guard in front of him falling off of the roof, screaming to his death from another jumping kick, but an ice shard slammed into his right leg, freezing it to the ground in a cold restraint. The man swore, trying to pull it out, and shouted to the others. "Need some help here!"

Kate turned on the spot as he was held, aiming her Colt M1911 service pistol at the incoming soldiers behind them as one jumped the gap. The first bullet hit him in the chest, the momentum only slowing him slightly, weakening and distracting him from the landing. Though he landed, the target did not roll as he should have, stumbling enough for the next bullet, a shot to the forehead, to kill him, sending him falling backwards off of their high perch.

As Kate distracted more of the incoming soldiers, Abigail and Faith kicked repeatedly at the ice, cracking it with them and stomps. Finally, it was broken enough for them to pull him out.

This, too, was problematic. A fireball hit Kreeg in the back, causing him to scream in agony as the back of his shirt caught fire for several seconds before putting itself out with the help of fast patting from both women, leaving him severely wounded.

As the strange chasers came, Faith turned to Abigail briefly. "Get Kreeg out of here, now!"

The little girl nodded, pulling the man's arm over her shoulder to keep him up, and limped on her way to the nearby rooftop access, kicking it open with a hard strike. She knew why Faith would stay with that Blue, aside from a more personal reason. She wasn't a Runner, wasn't able to do some of their more complex stunts without aid, without a spotter. It didn't mean that Abby trusted the woman, helping them or not. She wasn't one to help the authorities from the City Protection Force.

She continued through the door and let it close behind the two of them, the two behind giving cover with gunfire and unarmed combat skills.

The trip down the flight of stairs was more or less uneventful. A slide and shove under a descending metal barrier at the back, a few doors punched open afterward to move forward. However, they ended up at an elevator, these white hallways the same color as it, a full-length glass window taking up an entire wall, likely bullet resistant. It was on a very low floor, and they needed to get down immediately, to get as close to Leaf as they possibly could. Faith knew where she was, where Drake might also be if he was still alive. But they had to get downstairs sooner than they were going. And so came the wait.

After some time, Faith came with Kate. The latter had a rather nasty scorch mark over a large part of her left arm and leg, smoke still rising.

"Got the door barricaded."  The older female Runner laid the Blue against a wall as she spoke quickly. "Doubt it's gonna last more than a few seconds, though. I saw about three of them are still around. One's got an electric shock. All could easily make a breach." She looked back to the Blue who looked so similar. "It's gonna be okay, sis. You're gonna make it. We can keep Running, keep out of sight, get out of the city."

The allied Blue winced, holding her scorched side. "We have to jump some day, Effie," she gasped to her twin sister. "Can't keep living on your 'edge.'"

The Runner opened her mouth, about to respond in defiance of her fatalism, when the sound of cracking glass could be heard. She turned, as Kreeg saw the cracks spidering out from the window. It wasn't exactly bullet[i]proof[/i], but rather would sustain a shot or two. Blame the fast rate of construction after the November.

Two more bullets crashed into the glass, both making it through this time and causing a large enough shatter for a person to fit through. Each hit a Conners sister before she could even react, Faith still turning to see what was going on, and Kate too wounded to do anything. Luckily, the physics here caused snipers' bullets to not obliterate the head of the victim, instead just causing an entry wound. In seconds, a heroine and her sister slumped over, dead and bleeding.

The twelve-year-old Abigail was horrified. Faith, though twice her age, had always been thought of as a friend, a mentor. Of course, Leaf was her actual Tracker, but she was more of a mother figure. Though she felt less compassion for the ex-Blue sister, she still was sad about that demise as well.

Briefly, Abigail looked to the window, needing to know who had fired the shots. Outside, she saw a dark figure in the distance, someone lying on his or her stomach and looking through a sniper's scope. If she had blinked, Walters would have missed the human figure simply disappear. No flash, no fade. Just a ripple of the figure's appearance, then disappearance entirely.

The wounded, surviving Runner moans in the same anguish that she felt, falling back against the elevator doors. As far as they both knew, they were the last surviving Runners. At all. He grabbed for the Colt M1911 that their Blue ally had dropped on death, holding it in both hands as he aimed down the white corridor, determined, though tearful and in agony. "Abby..." he gasped, just pointing the gun as the footsteps of incoming soldiers could be heard. "Abby, I'm a goner." When she opened her mouth to speak, he pointing to the now-shattered window with the black handgun momentarily. There was one of those unnaturally clean rooftops out there, with a rooftop access point to go into the office blocks directly. She had to get down and out, had to get to Leaf, to their hideout to be safe again from these superpowered freaks. "Go. Find her."

Nothing but a depressed glance to the recently deceased. Abigail came to Faith's corpse, taking her single red, fingerless glove off of her right hand. A keepsake, to remember her, remember the brave Runner who had halted this "Citizenship Program," even temporarily.

The man of African descent narrowed his eyes as the footsteps became very close. "[i]Go, Walters! [b]Go now![/b][/i]"

Not even thinking, she ran to the glass, diving through headfirst. She landed in a somersault, then came back to her feet again. Don't think, don't think. Just run, run, run. She could hear the electric shock as the invaders killed Clarence E. Kreeg, but didn't stop for an instant. Think about it later. Have to get out, to live.

"We've got another one!"

She punched the door open, sprinting into the next building.

Hell of a life, Running at the age of twelve.

=====

"~She had taken his hand.... She had become like they are.... Come on baby.... Don't fear the Reaper....~"

It wasn't long before she saw the right cell, the plasma barrier behind the bars still allowing her to see her sitting against the back wall, holding her head as she tried to concentrate. The prisoner had been identified through DNA analysis. A known criminal from a world long since conquered, though its puppet ruler was allowed to stay behind for the time being. She watched the captive as she and her escort approached the cell, smiling to herself. Abigail Williams, a Runner trained in multiple fighting styles. How long ago had she visited that world herself? It had to be about twelve years ago. Yes, it was one of her initial jobs, a good test. Not a bad place to train some of these soldiers, either.

"Hello, Miss Walters," she said nonchalantly, and held up her left arm, ignoring the scream from a nearby cell block. A red, holographic display came over the entirety of it like a glove, with buttons, wheels, and other elements represented on the custom omni-tool for her use only. She manipulated a few of its parts for her use, and the light blue barrier of plasma ceased to exist, though the electronic lock on the door did not deactivate.

The Runner was surprised by the deactivation, and pressed her back against the wall, using it to lift herself to her feet with some effort. No words, though. Just that enraged stare. With some effort, she walked toward the bars, but stopped, still wobbling slightly.

"I am the reason you have been treated with such kindness here."

Just a scoff in response. Understandable, but she had been allowed to keep any protective clothing. Most others with this amount of ability would be forced to prison clothing by now. That was something that protected nothing more than decency. Not that Jessica expected a Runner to be wearing heavy armor, or even a large amount of weaponry. Such precautions weighed them down, kept them from maintaining momentum. In all likelihood, the headset and empty tranquilizer that had been confiscated were all that she had. Not even a knife, though it would not be surprising if she had been trained in one's use.

"My name is--"

"I know your name. Don't waste my time." Apparently these rebels had some kind of source to say who she was. Her identity and existence were not common knowledge. She looked away for a moment, up to the ceiling. "Funny. Vermin's even bigger here than in the sewers."

Jessica laughed briefly, though frowning at the insult. "Your time? You have all the time in the world, Abby." Eyes narrowed at her. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Mireu, I have noth--"

"Call me Jess." And she flashed a smile. It worked to relax some. Perhaps she was one of them.

The response was unexpected, to say the least. Abigail dropped to her knees on the steel floor, then to her hands as well. She seemed sick. Maybe she had an allergy to the DataDyne solution used to keep her down for a few minutes.

"Are you oka--?"

The revolting fluid that came forth from her mouth did definitely include some of the juice injected into her. They should have checked her medical records. Couldn't Reaper technology do that?

Jessica knelt before the captive, separated by the bars. "We can get you a doctor if you are willing to help us."

Disgusted, mocking laughter as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "It wasn't...just the juice. I had to hear something...from someone really sc...screwed up in the head.... Something....more revolting....than that sh**. I'll never....listen to you."

"I can make you see otherwise, dear." The insult than made her frown, but she smiled once more as she said these words, watching her for any sudden movements.

The Runner spat at her, then held her stomach, still gasping for breath somewhat. That was when it happened.

The power went down, the lights in the cell block going dark for a second. It was enough to confuse Jessica, to make her look around, serious. She turned to her two escorts. "See about finding the source for this." She looked to Abigail, smirked at her. "I'll see you later." With that, she disappeared in a swirl of darkness, teleporting to another area.

Abigail had been through a lot. She had learned from the best. Learned to fake what she needed to when she needed to. She didn't actually have anything against the woman's preferences in terms of gender, if she had been serious. Rather, she was disgusted that she would try anything on her in particular, after holding her prisoner.

EVE was her blessing this time, it seemed. That sedative reacted differently than it should have. Yes, she was somewhat sick. But she was not drowsy. Not really. Low on EVE, but not drowsy.

The power outage, whatever the source, had disabled the electronic gate. The lights went out for five seconds more, and a series of brutal collisions could be heard. When they came back on, the two were on the ground, one with a broken neck, the other with a line of blood down the wall, his body against it and the back of his gray mask in less-than-stellar condition with the red blossoming beneath it.

But the door was open. And Abigail "Headshot" Walters was nowhere to be found.