“What’s up?” Seohyun asked, following her commander towards the meeting point.  They had left the Control Room

“New mission,” Taeyeon answered.  “That’s all I know.”

“That’s it?” Hyoyeon asked.  “You usually know more than that.”

“Not this time,” Taeyeon retorted.  “Need to know basis.”

“Don’t we ‘need to know’ what we’re facing?” Hyoyeon sniped.  Taeyeon gently hit her with her board.  “Hey!” she shouted.

“So you can feel pain, you can touch objects and objects can touch you, correct?” Taeyeon asked, returning her attention to her screen, pushing areas around and analysing the data she was being fed, whilst navigating the maze of corridors.

“Uh, yeah,” Hyoyeon answered, bemused as to the point of Taeyeon’s passive outburst.

“Good,” Taeyeon smiled.  “So now, imagine the pain and the sensations of me ing a pineapple up your , leafed end first.”

The cadet’s eyes widened in shock.  Although she knew that Taeyeon would never cause her such harm, it stunned her to hear her talking like this.  “Sorry ma’am,” she mumbled, keeping silent for the rest of the journey.  It wasn’t long before they reached two tall black double doors, both presenting the same winged heart emblem that adorned their pendants, only in a very dark grey.  Taeyeon walked up to the control panel to the right of the door and waved her hand in front of the sensor, prompting the doors to slide open.  The walked through and into the off-white meeting room, where 29 other angels were waiting, all already grouped into their respective Units.  Taeyeon dropped her pad by her side and walked towards the remainder of her group: Sunny, Tiffany, Yuri, Yoona and Sooyoung.  Hyoyeon and Seohyun joined them as they discussed the events of their last mission, including the guy who Jessica had spotted.  Minor groans of disappointment went around the group for her punishment, but nobody dared to question Taeyeon’s judgement.  Their leader, however, stood with her back to the group, her feet shoulder width apart and her hands behind her back, her pad supported in her right hand.

The room was quite impressive.  It could easily have fit 200 people in there, and was very clear of clutter.  It was well lit, not with the bright neon lights one would expect in such places as seen in movies, but with a soft, diffused, daylight-esque light.  The Angel Units took up about half of the length of the room.  The half opposite was bare, save for a small podium, behind which sat an inset, off-white entrance.  Behind the Units sat four doors, all black and all inset.  On the right hand side of each of the doors sat the same control panel as appeared on the outside of the room.

The angels were all talking amongst themselves, all dressed in their own styles.  Some dressed rather chic, some practically, some relaxed, and some smart.  Some wore boots, some sneakers, some shoes, and some heels.  Some wore jeans, trousers, skirts, dresses, blouses, hooded sweaters, short sleeved t-shirts, long sleeved t-shirts and some wore tank tops.  There was a real mix of fashion statements in one room, but none displayed any hint of branding that would be recognised back on Earth.  There were no Nike clothes, no Reebok, no Converse, no Levi, no Vans, no Gucci, just the same winged heart emblem on only the more sporty of garments.

At the far side of the hall, the white door opened and the room hushed, save for the sound of shuffling feet, jostling for position and order.  Sunny, Yuri and Seohyun stood directly behind Taeyeon, the remaining angels behind.  All stood in the same stance as Taeyeon.  Two tall, broad shouldered men, dressed in black suits, white shirts and black ties entered the hall and stood at either side of the podium, adopting the exact same stance, but facing the cadets.

This was bad.

Pegasus, the man stood to the left of the podium, was the sort of General rank, presiding over the entire Angel Cadet Academy.  His partner, Optimus, managed the upper ranks of the Academy, managing those who were believed to be ready to enter the Elite forces.  Optimus took the lead of one of the cadet Units present, where Pegasus led the remaining three.  Many cadets could remember one, the other or both giving mission details, overseeing training exercises or delivering pep talks at Academy Assemblies.

Neither of them stood at the side of the podium.

Ever.

The door remained open as a shorter, slimmer man walked out.  He was about 5ft 4, with short, greying hair, but youthful features.  He wasn’t as pristinely dressed as his commanding officers, opting for a slightly wrinkled, grey-blue suit with white open-buttoned shirt and no tie.  In his hand, he carried a pad, similar to the cadet leaders.  He stood behind the podium as the door slid closed, placed his pad on the lectern’s shelf, nervously ran his fingers through his hair and looked at the awaiting cadets.  After a moment, he made his announcement.

“Cadets, we have a situation.”

Nobody was under the impression that anything was right, but having Helix, the Academy’s top dog telling you that there was a “situation” told everyone exactly how bad it was.

“We’ve received intel that The Fallen are looking to target areas of ancient history,” Helix explained.  “Specific areas, locations, and timeframes.  The Greek Empire, the Egyptian Empire, the Mayans.  These are specific targets that they are trying to impact and corrupt.  These aren’t just any targets; each of these has played an important factor in influencing modern civilization as we know it, more so than any other era.  Changing these points in time and the course of these civilizations will not be the best of outcomes.”

‘Like how having a massive circular saw cutting you in half whilst you’re alive and conscious would “tickle a little”,’ Sunny reasoned silently.

“Each Unit has its own directives,” Helix continued, trying to suppress a smile.  “And each event is inextricably interlinked.  We can’t redirect our Elite forces to these areas because they’re already engaged in neutralisation of other areas.  We’ve already taken significant collateral damage in the Crusades and in both the First and Second World Wars.  We don’t have enough Elite forces to take on such a challenge.  That’s why we need you.”  Helix slowly looked along the line, from left to right.  “You’ve been chosen for these missions because you are the best cadets the Academy has.  No other cadets have matched you in combat.”  He reached Taeyeon’s gaze.  “You’re the best hope we have.”

A hand was raised by Chen, one of the other leaders.  His was clearly the most able Unit in the Academy, being under the sole supervision of Optimus.  “How connected are these events?” he asked.

“Your mission directives will be given individually,” Helix answered.  “Everything you need to know will be in there.  We can’t say anything more at this moment, except that this mission depends on each situation being neutralised.  One mistake could cause untold problems elsewhere.”

Taeyeon switched her pad to her left hand and raised her right above her head.  Helix gave her his full attention.  “Sir,” she started firmly, “with all respect, if the missions are connected in such a way, surely we should be told how.  We can’t complete the missions effectively without that knowledge.”

“Everything you need to know will be in your mission directives,” Helix repeated tersely, but with a gentle undertone.  Pegasus and Optimus both glowered at Taeyeon, her arrogance not welcome at a time of such emergency.  “If there are no more questions, Cadet Leaders will now be given their control room access keys.”

The four leaders presented themselves before Pegasus and Optimus, before being handed a solid silver bracelet, possibly a centimetre in width, and half as thick.  Chen’s Unit took control of Alpha, Karrie’s Unit Beta, Simon’s Delta and Taeyeon’s Omega.  In silence, the Leaders stood in front of their doors, slipped the bracelet onto their wrist and waved it in front of the sensor.  Doors opened, and Units entered the room.  Each was similar in design: a fairly large, empty room with dark grey walls, monitors along the walls with video feeds from Earth, a large holographic table in the middle, and eight pads on the table, one for each member, each glowing the same pink as their own pads, each containing mission directives.

Every room except Omega’s.

In design, it looked like any other, but it wasn’t empty; four agents were already waiting inside, standing to attention.  And there were eight pads on the table, but these were a pale blue.  As the cadets looked around, the door opened again and Pegasus entered the room, followed by Helix.  The cadets and agents stood to attention.

“Sit, please,” Helix requested as he walked towards the head of the table.  “Taeyeon,” he directed as the cadets obeyed his request, “I’m sorry I was terse.  You are right, I should have explained how they were linked, but I said all I could in there.  Everything Units need to know is explained in the directives.”  He swallowed hard.  “The problem is,” he took a deep breath, “we don’t know just how connected they are.”

The room fell silent.  For all of the intel they had, for all of the knowledge they possessed, the very leader of the Academy was now telling them that they effectively knew nothing.  Something Yoona was quick to pick up on.

“Effectively,” Helix admitted.  “What we do know is the nexus point for these events: October 21^st, 2015, at Stonehenge, in England.  Which is where we’re sending you.”

The angels looked at each other in stunned silence.  “What’s happening there?” Tiffany asked.

“At the moment, not a lot,” Pegasus answered.  “There are reports of Fallen forces gathering in anticipation, but in terms of activity, there isn’t much.  We don’t know what will happen, though.”

“So,” Yuri started, “we’re basically going to this nexus point and waiting for something to happen?  They get to go to enjoy prom and we get to sit on the benches, waiting for someone to ask for a dance?”

“I don’t know about ‘prom’,” Helix comforted her, “but your mission is the most important.  We know nothing about what will happen, so you’re both intel and possible neutralisation.”

“We’re the prom clean-up committee and the teachers,” Sunny added, putting Helix’s statement into Yuri’s analogy.

Sooyoung raised her hand.  “So what’s our objective?” she asked.  “Or are we just winging it?”

“There are no set objectives,” Helix reported.  “There is no target artefact, no mark, no charge, nothing.”

“Sounds fun,” Hyoyeon seethed sarcastically.

“Sir,” Taeyeon addressed Helix, “why were we selected for this mission?  I have absolute faith in my team, but surely this would be better suited for Alpha, given their status as future Elite forces.”

Helix smiled and shook his head.  “Optimus is a great leader, and one of our best,” he admitted.  “But Alpha needs true leadership from within.  This mission needs a team, a Unit, one force behind one leader.  Individually, Alpha has immense talent, and great strategy, but they have no unity.  They play to strengths.  You, on the other hand, cover weaknesses.  You support each other, you look after each other, you, Taeyeon, lead your Unit as a Unit.  You’ve earned this.”

Taeyeon pushed her chest out slightly in pride.  The Academy’s top brass had noticed exactly what she was trying to do.  No group could function without all of its members, and she tried to keep them all together.  It was fate that had brought her Unit together, but it was she that kept them there.

“We have agents here to assist in the intel and strategy.  Pegasus will be here, as will I.  You will know everything about their missions, but they will only know their own.”  Taeyeon nodded firmly.  “Any questions?” Helix asked.  The silence in the room told him there were none.  A nod to Taeyeon passed control over to her.

“Sunny, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung,” she directed, “suit up.  The rest of you, intel and reserves.”

On cue, the Unit stood and attended their positions, with the named foursome collecting their weapons of choice, their mission documents and meeting together in the empty space at the foot of the table.

“We’re being sent somewhere where we don’t know what’s going to happen or what to expect or who will be there, and we’re expected to fix whatever it is,” Hyoyeon captioned.

“Sounds impossible,” Yuri sighed.

“Sounds like fun!” Sunny corrected, excitedly joining the circle.

“Ok guys,” Sooyoung added, taking hold of her pendant.  “Time for some thrilling heroics.”

The others took hold of their pendants, closed their eyes and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the remaining cadets and agents to try to fill in the chasmic gaps in their knowledge.