RANGERS poured in from all over the 45th. All those who weren't on assignment reported back to the Sanctum for further instructions, while those on assignment were told to be on high alert. Jasmine and Ryan burst through the swirling vortex of a warp gate onto the cobbled grounds of the portal bay of the Sanctum, they were met immediately by an officer who ushered them to get clear of the gate while it recalibrated for the next portal.
Once they left the portal bay, they made their way towards Plaza 1 where they met up with Mac.
"Hey guys," Mac said, "What's up?"
"We got recalled," Ryan said, "guess it wasn't just us?"
As they were walking, they ran into Simon,
"This is crazy," Simon said, "the entire Sanctum s in a state,"
"I guessed," Jasmine said, "We just got an alert for a code red and a recall order,"
"For real, when was the last time there was ever a Code Red State of Emergency?" Simon asked
"Not in a long time." Jasmine said,
It was then that their badges beeped again, alerting both Jasmine and Ryan.
"JASMINE SUMNER, RYAN REINS. YOU ARE TO REPORT TO THE KEEPER'S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY."
"Alright," Jasmine acknowledged, she then turned to Ryan, "Let's go, the Keeper is waiting,"
"Yeah, I'm coming too," Simon said, "I was on my way there already,"
"I wasn't going there originally, but I'd hate to be left out." Mac grins as she follows them to the Plaza 1.
)]≥(
As Ryan and Jasmine entered the Keeper's office, Mac and Simon were waiting just outside, until Stephanie beckoned them in. Once inside, they could tell something was wrong from the atmosphere in the room. The body language of Stephanie and G was basically advertising that there was a serious problem.
"Stephanie, what's going on?" Ryan asks with a suspicious look, "You haven't looked that tense since that parent-teachers meeting when I was 12."
"There's been a breakout at Attraxus Prime. Several days ago, an inmate just walked out of her cell. Before anyone knew what happened, she had killed several guards, released eighteen high security prisoners to serve as a diversion, and escaped without a trace."
"That sounds bad," Ryan said simply
"You said she," Jasmine commented, "Do you know who it is?"
Stephanie sighed, "Unfortunately yes. The inmate was currently in her fourth year of a 100-year life sentence for multiple counts of felonies, such as homicide, arson and treason, to name a few, and she once was an elite ranger here at the 45th."
Jasmine's eyes widened, "No. Not her,"
Stephanie nodded solemnly, "Yes, unfortunately it seems that Jessica Dawson is on the loose."
"Why wasn't she executed, like I recommended?" Jasmine demanded
"She's smart," Stephanie said, "she came into contact with multiple high valued targets that are on our most wanted list before she was caught. She took a deal to provide all the information she knew in exchange for a life sentencing in prison with certain… liberties."
Seeing Jasmine so visibly shook gave Ryan concern, "So, who is this Jessica Dawson anyway?"
Jasmine sighed, "She was my former mentor, before she went rouge."
"And then she went on a rampage, killing –and I kid you not— hundreds of people in the span of two years, it was Jasmine who brought her in." Stephanie said,
"She has a preference for killing nox cultists, and rangers." G added, "which was why we recalled all non-active operatives from the field."
"Okay, odd combination of victims," Ryan asked, "So what are we doing here?"
"Given the state of emergency we find ourselves in, we have jurisdiction on this, so I'm sending out teams to track her down." Stephanie directed, "However, Jasmine, you are grounded, and are to be confined to the Sanctum until further notice."
"What!?" Jasmine exclaimed, "With all due respect ma'am; that's BS! I should be out there. I trained with her; I know how she thinks."
"Yes, and she know how you think as well." Stephanie countered, "the last thing I need is a cat-and-mouse confrontation between the two of you."
"Simon, with your preliminary Foundary certification, I can appoint you as an official ARGUS technician. You can assist Mas with fortifying the Sanctum defenses with G." Stephanie, looking at him, "That will be all."
Knowing a dismissal when they heard one, they made their way out of the office, with Jasmine storming out in a huff.
As they left the Main Hall, Ryan caught up to Jasmine, whose mood was only getting worse.
"Dumb question, but are you okay?" he asks concerned
"I'm fine," she snapped,
She clearly wasn't.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ryan said,
"I'm already grounded," she sneered, "I don't need a damned babysitter,"
"I'm your friend, not your babysitter," Ryan said, firmly, "If anything, you're my babysitter,"
Despite herself, Jasmine chuckled at that,
"You don't need to worry," she said, taking a deep breath, "I'll be at the archery range, I just… I want to be alone right now."
Jasmine then turned a walked off before Ryan could respond.
"She is definitely not fine," Mac commented joining Ryan
"Glad it isn't just me that thinks so," Ryan said
"Should we go after her?" Mac asked
"Hell no," Ryan replied, "I might get hurt."
)]≥(
After parting ways with Jasmine, Ryan and the others wandered the plaza, chatting and catching up. It wasn't long before curiosity had gotten the better of them. So they went down to Records department in the Main Hall, where they looked up everything they had on one Jessica Dawson. The results did not disappoint.
With the records in hand, they retreated back to Ryan's room. After becoming a ranger, Ryan was moved to the Ranger dorms. Incidentally, his room was few doors down to Jasmine's, thought Stephanie assures him that was just a coincidence.
The records were contained in a number of sage boxes, versatile magik hard drives, though the ones from records were configured as storage devices used by scribes for permanent archiving. Once they unsealed it, they plugged the devices into readers and projected its contents.
They had spread out by the couch and armchair, sifting through the dossier scattered on the coffee table with food items. The dossier consisted of several documents, and they were swapping between themselves.
Ryan was currently reading her ranger profile summery;
Name: Jessica Anne Dawson
Sex: Female
Current Age: 28
Race: Human-Magus
Blood Type: AB-
Zone/Branch: 45
Rank: A Class
Alias: Siren
Magik Form: Mind; Sound
Status: Rouge [captured]
Career Synopsis:
After completing her evaluation exams, Jessica was awarded her Ranger badge, where, because of her Mind type magik, she was given the alias [Hypnotist]. She was awarded second highest scores, seconded by Rose Sumner [Emerald Sun]
As a ranger, she was extremely competitive of Samantha and the two often competed. Jessica and Rose were close friends and supported each other as they advanced in their ranger careers, gaining promotions and notoriety as time went on.
After reporting to a 'rescue & retrieval' from Rose, Jessica returned with Rose's younger sister, Jasmine. Rose was missing, presumed dead, as well as their mother after a Nox Court attack on their family home. Jessica took up the role of mentor and guardian of Jasmine, helping her pursue her own ranger career.
At a later time, Jessica went on an assignment with a full strike team to bring down a Nox sect that had popped up on ARGUSs radar, where it was discovered that the Nox cultists had been using the corpse of Rose Sumner for forbidden experiments and rituals.
According to eye-witness accounts, Jessica Dawson went into a madness-fueled rage, slaughtering the entire sect; men, women and children, without mercy, and even turned against her fellow rangers when they tried to intervene. From then on she went rouge, originally hunting only nox cultists, going on indiscriminate killing sprees on both magik users and non-magik users. Naturally a Mind-type magik user, she later added sound-type to her arsenal and created a lethal combination in her hypnotic magik art.
She was eventually apprehended by Jasmine Sumner [White Fang], and was sentenced to one hundred years at Attraxus Prime.
"Wow, this is some heavy history," Ryan said,
"Really?" Mac said, "Swap with me,"
"Sure," Ryan said.
He exchanged documents with her and started reading the new material, her prison bio;
Prison Synopsis:
Jessica Dawson is an ex-elite ranger from the 45th branch. After the death of her best friend, Rose Sumner, she abandoned ARGUS and went rouge, leaving a trail of corpses in her wake. She was later defeated and apprehended by her former protege, Jasmine Sumner, and is serving a century life sentence at Attraxus Prime Super-Max Prison.
During her time in prison, she developed an unhealthy affection-turned-obsession with Jasmine Sumner, now claiming Jasmine as her 'one and only soul mate'. She had displayed psychopathic tendencies and behavior with no evidence of remorse or empathy. She has been confined to an isolation cell after an incident in general populus where she murdered three Nox cultist inmates and two guards.
Her lethal hypnotic magik coupled with her obsessive fixations and disregard for life make her one of the most dangerous inmates in Attraxus Prime.
"Wow, this Jessica Dawson sounds like a real psycho." Mac comments as she takes a sip of her soda.
"I know right," Simon said, "It's hard to imagine the things she convinced people to do to themselves."
"No, according to this, she did most of it herself, she just made them help while doing it," Ryan said, taking a slic of pizza.
"Hey, this might be a dumb question; but how long do magi live?"
"It depends on the magus," Simon said, "but our natural lifespan is usually around 200 years, give or take a few decades."
"Hell, I heard of a guy who lived to almost 300." Mac commented,
"Wow," Ryan looked at his own hands, "that's… a long time."
He then tosses another slice to his pet schadenkhat, Riot. The black beast wolfed down the snack happily, before rolling to his side and howling before dosing off.
"Man, Riot has gotten so big," Mac comments, "You have been training her, right?"
"Of course, whenever I'm back at the Sanctum, I never leave my beastie all alone." Ryan defended. Riot was now as big as a dire wolf, and still growing. Ryan was in the process of getting special permission to register her as a mission support beast.
"Still, I can't imagine what those nox cultists did to Jasmine's sister," Mac shuddered, "Sickos."
"Well, that must be the reason why Jasmine hates the nox court," Simon said,
"And she was the one who brought Jessica in after she went rouge," Ryan said, "she probably has some complicated feelings about this whole thing."
"I'd bet,"
"What are the chances she's going to leave this alone like Stephanie ordered?"
"About as likely as it would be if it was you," Mac shrugged,
"Good to know it isnt just me that thinks that." Ryan sighed.
Elsewhere, Jasmine was in the archery range, shooting arrows at savage dummies and targets. As her arrow hit the bulls' eye again, she sighed.
She used to come here with Jessica when she first came to the Sanctum, it was her favorite place. It was where Jess had taught her how to fire three arrows at once.
The trick is to not breathe, Jess used to tell her, not breathing keeps your hand steady and your aim true.
When Jasmine closed her eyes, she could remember Jessica's smiling face even though Jasmine had failed to hit even one of the three targets,
Don't worry, you did great, Jessica praised, you'll be a crack shot in no time. All you need is practice.
As Jasmine released her three arrows in quick succession, she saw that she had missed the bulls' eye of all her targets.
"Dammit," she swore, she then sighed then whispered to herself, "Jess, why can't I bury you?"
)]≥(
Far from the 45th, in a small forgettable town, Jessica Dawson walks into a bar. The grey prison uniform that she had worn while incarcerated had been ditched for less conspicuous attire; a white shirt over black trousers, boots and a wide brimmed hat— all of which she stole. Pity the owner had to come out to check the clothesline before she had a chance to get away, but at least she got a cool hat out of it.
She walks through the bar, and approaches the counter, the patrons are scarce for this time of day but it doesn't concern her. She sits on a barstool and knocks on the counter,
"Barkeep, get me the strongest thing you have,"
The elderly man sizes her up as he cleans one of his glasses, "Are you even old enough to drink?"
She looks up at him and smiles sweetly, "Yes I am. I'm Jessica," she holds out her hand
"Pytar," the elderly man said in response, shaking her hand
"Nice to meet you Pytar, now; give me the best drink you have,"
The barkeep nodded, he grabbed a glass and poured a blackish liquid into it and slid it in front of her,
"One Black cobra, on the house ma'am," the barkeep says, suddenly confused by his own actions,
"Leave the bottle," Jessica says to the barkeep,
"Of course,"
Jessica put the glass to her lips and downed the whole thing at once, as she slammed the glass back on the counter, she let out a deep sigh.
That stuff burns so good.
"Oh, Jasmine…," she moaned quietly to herself as she blushed, she wished Jasmine was there with her now.
Then, a small gang of men barged into the bar. They crowd around the counter, causing a ruckus and disrupting the quiet and tranquil atmosphere the bar just possessed.
"Hey darlin', I'm Deke! What's a pretty thing like you doing in a dump like this?" called a man with dark skin who looked like their leader,
"Just passing through," she said as she poured herself another glass of the black stuff.
"Whoa, the old man let you have the good stuff? He only saves that for the mayor or his gambling buddies," the man named Deke said. "Let's have a drink?"
"Sorry, it's just for me," she said
"Aw, can't you share?" Deke asked, "We could have a party,"
"Actually, I'm already celebrating, and you're not the company I had in mind," Jessica said
"C'mon, baby, I could be just the kind of company you need if you give me a chance," Deke said with a confident grin, as he rubbed her shoulder
"Deke, stop breathing," she commanded
Immediately, he started to choke. He wheezed and hacked, his gang started to panic, trying to help him as Jessica took a sip of the black drink.
"Oh, there isn't anything wrong with you," she told him, "I'm doing that to you; I'm the one making you suffocate."
Some of the gang members drew pistols and knives and aimed them at her, "You're a goddamned magik user, aren't ya!?"
"I am, a magus to be exact, and I can kill the lot of you before you even have time to blink, so put those silly things away," she ordered.
The men all looked at themselves unsure, even without using her magik, she could still control people.
Begrudgingly, the men obeyed
Deke was now on the ground, choking and already turning blue.
"I'll let you live if you kiss my boot," she cooed,
He glared up at her, she grinned merrily as she wagged her foot in front of him,
"Go on; Kiss. My. Boot."
Deke brought his lips to the toe of her boot and kissed it,
She smiled, "Isn't that a good boy, now breathe."
The man gasped, greedily taking in air as he was just seconds from asphyxiation.
"You… crazy… bitch!"
"Now that wasn't very nice." She said, she then looked at all the men that were gathered, sizing each one up. "Hey, I'm new in town –just passing through, really— and I'm looking for something. So here's an idea; why don't you all help me while I'm around?"
Deke tried to laugh but started to cough, "My crew is loyal to me,"
"But I need them," Jessica whined, "I just broke out of prison a few days ago and no doubt they'll have already started the manhunt to bring me back. And I need them to help me out before then,"
"You just broke out of prison?" one of the men said, "Which one?"
"Attraxus Prime,"
There were murmurs between the men.
"Boss, if she's from Attraxus, if we turn her in there might be a huge payout," one of the men said to Deke.
"You're right, Sal," Deke said
"You could do that," Jessica said with a small grin, "But then I'd have to kill you all, and i'm really not in tthen your families. Not in that particular order though."
"You're bluffing," one of the men said nervously, "you don't even know our families,"
"I don't need to; you'll kill them from me." She said, she then looked at one of the gang members who she had overheard talking, "Your name is Sal, right? Kill that guy over there," she pointed at one of the other bar patrons,
The man named Sal then pulled a knife from his waistband and lunged at the bar goer, stabbing him multiple times.
"See?" Jessica said, "making you little puppets follow my every command would be so easy, but I like a challenge, so just do it willingly. It'll be more fun that way. Plus, none of your families have to die to prove my point."
"You're crazy,"
"I've been called worse before by my psychiatrist." Jessica shrugged as she poured herself another drink, "which really says a lot about how society treats the 'mentally ill'." She added with air quotes.
"Like I told you; these men work for me," Deke said, "They only do what I tell them to, and I don't want to work for you,"
"Oh, but I don't need you," she said. Then in a heartbeat, she shatters the bottle of alcohol against his head, then, while he'd disoriented, she uses a jagged shard and slashes Deke's neck open.
Deke goes down, his blood spewed all over Jessica, who just ignores it. As he lays on the ground bleeding out, Jessica looked down at him, her eyes burning with a silent cold fury, "Just so you know; I'm killing you because you dared to touch me. Only one person is allowed to touch me, and you're not her," she snarls.
When she saw the light of life fade from the man's eyes, she turned to the others, "So, here's the deal; you work for me, or you all die horrible death by each other's hand. Those are your choices."
The one named Sal looked at their former leader and then at Jessica, who was painting her nails with the Deke's blood.
"Wh-what's the plan, b-boss?" he gulped
"So, does that mean you'll work for me now?" she asks, batting her eyelashes
The men nodded, unsure of whether what they were about to do.
"Good enough," she said, "First off; introduce yourselves, that's a requisite. Then, clean this mess up; we are not animals. And finally, someone fetch me a towel and some fresh clothes; we got a lot of work ahead of us before I'm ready to see her."
"See who… boss?" one of the men asked
"The person I broke out of prison for." Jessica said as she blushed, "The love of my life; Jasmine Sumner."
Some time later, as Jessica stepped out of the bathroom from the inn on top of the bar, she was giddy. She could almost feel Jasmine's determination to find her.
She picked up a picture of her and Jasmine shortly after Jasmine first came to the Sanctum; she was so cute back then, so innocent. She couldn't wait to see how much Jasmine had grown since.
)]≥(
In her room, Jasmine was asleep, having a dream of a memory from when she was younger, learning how to be a tracker from Jessica.
The young Jasmine was waiting on the branch of a tree with her bow and arrow ready while Jessica was on the ground, stalking their prey. Jessica signaled Jasmine to wait as she approached.
Suddenly, the savage they were hunting caught their scent and lunged at Jessica. Startled, Jasmine fired her arrow and hit the ravager right in the neck, but did nothing to stop it from pouncing on her mentor.
As Jessica and the ravager went down, Jasmine was terrified. She quickly climbed down the tree and went for where she saw them go down, when she saw movement. Jasmine froze as the savage's body rose from where it had gone down and Jasmine wanted to cry, then the body bursts into flames and disintegrates and Jessica sits up, coughing and spitting, "Ugh, I got ravager ash in my mouth,"
Jasmine runs to her side, tears streaming down her cheeks as she sees the bloody wounds around Jessica's left arm and chest
"Jess I-I'm so sorry. I-I should've acted faster, I should've…" the words were rolling from her mouth.
Jasmine stops when she sees Jessica laughing, "Whew, that ugly bastard almost got me, it's a good thing somebody put this in its neck for me." she presents the arrow Jasmine fired, "Gave me just enough of an advantage to destroy it before it could kill me."
"But… I…?" Jasmine stammered, Jessica rubbed her shoulder with her good arm.
"Don't sweat the small stuff Jazz, you saved my life," her mentor beamed at her, "Now let's get me some medical attention; I am in soo much pain right now," She laughed
The dream fades and Jasmine's eyes snap open.
She's done waiting.
She needs to end this herself.