Track 23 - Operation Flashbang, Part 2 - Execution

Solitary Confinement was a dark place. A simple concrete cell, small door and a single window looking outside. There was a single cot and mattress, a light bulb hanging from the ceiling that barely lit the whole cell.

The guard, still terrified of Ruv asked if he wanted anything. Ruv asked for a bottle of vodka.

Now alone, he sat down and prayed.

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Artist: McMaNGOS

Song: I Have No Talent

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"You got it Mr. Emerald!" S shouted from the intercom. Unable to come up with a proper nickname for Sol he started calling him a 'Chaos Emerald'. It was yet another reference that was lost on everyone, but Nikku and S. Solazar didn't care so long as S did his job. He had been called plenty of things. Mr. Emerald was not the worst.

"Give 'em hell." Nikku muttered.

"That's right!" The warden spoke up. "Hell is exactly what those in solitary describe it as!" The warden continued on even as Updike turned back and glared at Nikku threateningly.

S ported into the Theo's copter. It was stationed on a nearby building courtesy of Nikusa. Charged and ready to go, it took off. It wasn't very big, about the size of a trashcan. Painted black, it hid across the darkening sky.

It took flight, the chorus of blades against the horizon.

The copter was equipped with several bombs. Some non-lethal ones were attached some containing sleeping gas, some others containing fairy powder. One large one sat under the caboose, a traditional explosive, meant to break Ruv out.

It took a bit of focusing but S managed to scramble the frequencies so it would be undetected. A few minutes at most. He flew off, spark in his eye for victory. He had no problem piloting the machine. To him it was the exact same as that '1941' video game he beat Kapi at.

Tabi looked up. He couldn't see any copter in the sky, disguised well. Aldryx couldn't hear it either. They were both waiting in an alley for Kapi to pull up. Thanks to Updike's people he was able to secure some extra prison guard outfits. They had helmets too, both custom made to suit them.

S saw the towers from the distance. White concrete, in the dampening sunset they glowed somewhat. He put the copter on autopilot as he moved to their systems. The top of the tower had 3 guards each, including one patrolling the wall itself, walking from one tower to another.

"Bomb one, b-line to second...but then the middle will run or call...Hmm..Okay, drop a third bomb then. But what about the walkers from north and south?" S muttered to himself as he looked over. "They could run to towers west. Hmm. Maybe I should just bomb all of them."

"S. Just bomb both east towers. That is the plan."

"Yeah, yeah, Emerald. Got four bombs, plus I could crash the plane and take out some people."

"S! Stay to the plan. You cannot crash that plane yet!" Sol pleaded.

"It's not gonna work bub. We bomb them, some lackey's gonna go running and ring the alarm. We gotta kill them all."

"S. Just stick to the plan."

You whisper into the comlink. "No killing. Remember?"

"Ah, you're both such killjoys. Alright. What if we re-direct the middle guys? Oh! I got it. Nikku! go makes your calls."

"Huh?"

"Yeah." S said through the link. "Go pretend to be the warden, I'll patch you through, you tell the guards to leave, then I bomb the towers."

"We didn't plan for that. Don't." Solazar cut in.

"Well we should! Dude sees towers getting bombed he's gonna call in the big ones. C'mon it'll take like 2 seconds."

Solazar sighed. "Okay. Nikku. Go to the washroom as per the plan. Start making your calls. Make note of the warden's voice too. I will walk you through what to say."

Nikku tapped Updike's shoulder. He stopped. She whispered that she had to go to the washroom. "Is there a problem?" The warden asked, noticing everyone stop.

"Where is the nearest washroom?" Updike asked. The warden shot him an annoyed look. He motioned to one of the guards. "He'll show you."

"Roger. Go with her too. Just in case." Updike said.

Roger being your code name.

You nod. At first the warden refused but relented when Updike spun it that he didn't know if it was safe here.

The warden took it as an opportunity to boast that Updike didn't even need his extra security, gladly accepting Updike send you and Nikku away.

You wait outside the washroom as Nikku made her calls. Much to your relief the other guard said nothing, just standing motionless and armed.

Despite the fact S changed the plan he quickly grew bored of waiting. It took some time to get to the washroom and then a minute just to convince one of the east walkers to leave. He ended up telling her to quit it and he'd follow the plan.

The copter hovered above the southeast tower. S rode it high enough that they wouldn't see it, not to mention systems were intentionally avoiding it. He moved a little to the left of the tower and readied the bomb. He watched as the walker made his way to the northeast tower, now having been dismissed.

Controlling the copter he lurched forward dropping the bomb. With the change in direction it dropped diagonally landing perfectly into the outpost.

The watchmen had no time to react to the exploding mass. It blew up into a collage of green and purple gas. The solution was concocted by Rosie who really wanted an excuse to manufacture fairy powder. She intentionally changed the recipe so instead of the pink glow it was purple. Those watchmen who avoided the sleeping gas were immediately hit with hallucinations, passing out seconds later.

It was a success. S flew to the northeast tower quickly, readying to deploy. Solazar had banked on a windy night to help disperse the clouds. This was not the case, the gas cloud hovering there menacingly.

"S. Good job. Continue on. Rosie. Pomona. You two are up. Get ready. This will be the apex point." Sol commanded.

"You get him Pompom!" Ronan and Amelia shouted from the behind Solazar.

It didn't take long for the opposing towers to notice the clouds. One called in an emergency. S aimed the copter for the exact cell Ruv was in and left. He ported to Nikku's phone, hanging up her call, deciding it be better if he followed the new plan instead..

"Nikku!" He shouted. "Change voices. I'll intercept this call. Tell them everything's fine."

"Got it!"

Originally parked nearby, Rosie and her crew now moved into position. From the east streets they drove up. They rented a few cars. The order was done cash-only, in-person to ensure anonymity.

Pomona was situated in the furthest car with one of the Belladonnas. As much as she wanted to get closer her role was defense. Sitting in the back seat, the other one was covered in books and notes she had brought. She had several spells ready, for all sorts of occasions.

The Belladonnas acted quick. With the fairies collaborating with them they strapped explosives and magical charms to the chain-link fence. The guards on the ground had their attention taken by the purple-green clouds plaguing the opposing watchtowers.

The copter started to descend. It was finally spotted, S dropping control of the air systems. The guards on the ground noticed a small helicopter barreling towards the prison walls. There were shouts, screams and bullets but none stopped it.

For the finale, a mixture of white phosphorous and C4 had been equipped in the copter. When they explained what it would do, S was gleeful and became proud of his mission. Tabi's work, knowing the right amounts of chemicals to mix. As a joke Rosie remarked he should work for her. He didn't see the humour in it.

With a blinding white light it smashed into the prison wall, exploding and burning flames so hot the concrete and brick could not hold.

"Go girls!" Rosie shouted and they charged forward, igniting a second, more magical explosion.

With the final call made Nikku got out just as both explosions were heard. You took control, ordering the guard to go see whatever the hell that was and that you and Nikku would get to the warden. He seemed to agree, nodding and running off. His comlink came alive and you heard screaming. From off in the distance you could hear alarms going on, surveillance rooms starting to pick up on an attack.

With the fence open the Belladonnas drove in, guards jumping out of the way, other guards opening fire. It was the fairies turn now, casting magic to cause others to fall asleep and knocking out others.

The explosion barely did anything to Ruv, who merely took a deep breath as he felt the rush of cool air into his cell. Turning back he saw plainly that S missed, cracking open the cells beside him, smashing a small hole in the corner and cracks on his. Knowing it didn't matter he got up and started punching through the concrete, wall buckling under his fists.

The Belladonnas wore masks and unique cloths. In the time they invaded the east courtyard turned into a warzone. Pompom casted her first spell, a smoke cloud that would help conceal the attackers. She was panting after it cast, a spell of that size rare for her. While it was the plan for her to stay back the fairies encouraged her to step up, taking a spot near Rosie as the battlefield decided.

Back on the tour the warden looked rather alarmed. With you and Nikku returning to the fold, Updike turned to the warden.

"Tell me what is going on."

"Nothing. We are all fine."

"You know you simply cannot ignore those quakes. Those were explosions. I could feel it." Updike said sternly. "Allow me and my people to take over."

"Absolutely not." There was a glint in the warden's eyes. "In fact. Come with me. I shall show you how we manage incident response. Far better than your people."

"I am following. Would you permit my people to watch from surveillance? They will report to me their actions later."

"Sure!" The warden snapped his fingers. "Take them to the security operations center, the SOC." Despite the apparent chaos, the warden remained wholeheartedly confident.

The guards moved with a sense of urgency now as they herded you and Nikku to the surveillance center. As you moved, you tried to think of how to go about deleting the footage. Updike had explained that while the surveillance centre had the cameras it wasn't backed up there. Within the SOC was a small room that that functioned as a backup centre.

The doors parted and in you and Nikku entered security operations. It was the most modern room of the building, clinical white walls, rows and rows of computers and a gigantic monitor covering the entire north wall depicting and overview of the prison. From it you could see the courtyard where Rosie and her troops were fighting.

Thanks to your IR helmet it interfaced with the floor plan, indicating exactly where the backup centre was located.

"Dammnit where is he!" Rosie shouted as she opened fire. Pomona had been forced to the back, the crew members having her avoid the gunfire. As much as she wanted to help she needed to recharge for the teleportation.

Rosie had been engaging in a standoff for a few minutes now, slowly running out of ammo. thanks to the rubble from the explosion the guards had cover, and the whole thing turned into a smoky standoff. Fortunately, with the surprise the reinforcements hadn't arrived yet allowing for Rosie to turn it into a stalemate.

Finally, after what seemed like way too long, Rosie spotted a figure in the distance. "Is that him?" She shouted amongst the gunfire. The crew member shrugged. They had no clue.

She shouted as loud as she could. "GET OVER HERE!" and Waved Ruv over. Some of the guards saw Ruv lumbering over, and one put it together. He paged it in fast, the call going straight to the warden. Ruv was escaping.

The warden, a few armed guards and Updike were in the command room near his main office. A medium-sized room, it had windows overlooking the prison and console, screens and terminal, glossing over the buttons as he watched. As soon as he heard the call he slammed his fist on the console.

"This was you wasn't?" The warden demanded. "Try to show me up?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Updike said monotonely.

The warden walked right up to Updike and stared daggers at him. "You know exactly what is up. You're busting the 'Exorcist' free aren't you? How convenient the prisoner you LOBBIED FOR is escaping."

Updike shook his head. "This is preposterous."

The warden raised his hand. "Don't let that man out of your sight."

He picked up a microphone and pressed various buttons. "I hereby authorize the use of lethal force on both those attackers and any prisoners seen escaping. If you see a Russian guy there, shoot to kill." He turned back to Updike and winked at him.

Updike remained unmoving.

Pushing a few more buttons he shouted. "Send in tank squad. Then send an armed unit to collect those TGG agents in the surveillance room. Assumed them armed. Shoot if resisting."

Again he turned to Updike. "Let's see how good your people are now." He grinned.

"Send in Nikusa." Solazar said from the comlink.

It was inaudible to the warden and guards. Updike's comlink was buried deep within his hair, invisible to the naked eye.

From outside the gunfire was loud. Sirens blaring and the prison had begun to go into lockdown. With Aldryx and Tabi in the front seat with him they barely made it in before the gates closed.

"You came at horrible time man." The guard said as he waved Kapi in.

"What's going on?"

The guard gulped as he watched the gates close, an extra metal one now presents for good measure. "Some war in the east tower and apparently somethings going on in the west. They're reporting all guards to either one to help."

"Got it! What about you?"

"I'm gonna head soon. Just wanted to make sure everyone got in."

"Well good luck!" Kapi cheered and drove towards the medical dock.

Tabi reminded him of the plan. "You stay here till we get Agoti. I don't care if God himself comes by. You. Do. Not. Move."

"I got it, geez." Kapi said, kicking his feet up onto the dash as he waited. "Hurry up too." Kapi turned the van off, trying best to stay invisible.

Aldryx and Tabi stepped out and ducked under the truck door and entered the medical bay. It was abandoned, most forces elsewhere. "You're coming home bro." Aldryx muttered.

The signage was obvious as they ran down hallways to sick bay. They only turned a few corners before bumping into Springheel.

Aldryx and Tabi immediately got ready for combat until Springheel let out a laugh, realizing who they were.

"I see you all have been engaging in quite the commotion." Springheel said happily. "I quite like a good show."

"Where's Agoti?" Tabi said.

"He is in my personal examination room. It is far safer there."

"Let's go then." Aldryx said.

As he led them down the corridor, Springheel couldn't help but notice their helmets.

"You two are anthros? Goat and I'm not sure."

"I am not a stinkin' anthro. I just look like this. That's the way I am." Tabi said, now annoyed.

"My, my, so irate. There is nothing wrong with being an anthro. It is the modern era; we are long past those trivialities. No need to be a racist."

Disgruntled, Tabi removed his helmet. "Not. Anthro."

"My goodness!" Springheel said, bewildered. "You are just as fascinating as the other one. I apologize." He stopped and went right up to Tabi's face looking at how the bone was animated. He poked it before Tabi moved away.

"What the hell?"

"Oh my, I seem to have gotten carried away. My apologies. Let us continue." He gave a bow. Tabi, not expecting such submission muttered a thanks and put his helmet back on.

"And what of you?" He asked as they continued.

"Nah, digidevil. Like my bro. I'm red through." Aldryx said.

"Oh, oh my. So you digidevils have different colours too? What an interesting species." He said, practically giddy. "I must simply know how you both function later."

"Sure man. After this." Aldryx nodded and they kept moving.

Passing a medical corridor they made it to a large metal door, the words 'EXAMINATION' written on them.

With a heave of the door, Springheel opened it. "It is specially designed so that escape is hard. Makes it quite a safe place." The door had a wheel on it that Springheel pushed aside.

"After you." He motioned to Tabi and Aldryx. They stepped in, eager to see their brother and best friend.

Lying on the operating table was Agoti. He was bound to it, tears in his eyes and a wrap across his mouth. His eyes shone fear and he struggled against the restraints. He started to shout as soon as he saw Tabi and Aldryx, trying to rip the shackles off.

"MHHHMMHMHHM!"

Tabi and Aldryx froze in shock of what they were looking at. "What the hell?" Tabi said and removed his mask again. That was when Aldryx noticed the bandage along Agoti's head. The bandage covered one of his tentacles where it once was. It was currently lying on a metal dish just next to him, scissors next to it dripping in a black blood.

They both ran up to him.

The two crew members heard the door shut behind them, a loud bang keeping them in the room.

As they turned around they saw Springheel standing there with a scalpel in his hand.

"There is still time before I need to deliver you. I apologize but I simply must know more about you wonderful creatures."

A purple liquid dripped from his beak, hitting the ground, drooling. "I. MUST. STUDY. YOU."

The next chapter will be called The Doctor Is In.