A cool, autumn wind blew across the plains of Stonehenge, the sun relatively high in the sky.  It looked to be around noon, and tourists had flocked to the attraction in their usual droves.  Two groups of secondary school children wandered around with their teachers and tour guide, unimpressed at the stone arches.  The nearby visitor’s area held significantly more people, with tours of the Neolithic Houses and interactive exhibits taking place.  The air seemed quiet, with the often-told mist starting to build on the ground.

With the same flash of light as when they left, and with a slight blast of wind, four female bodies appeared in the centre of the misshapen circle, themselves in a smaller circle.  As the light and air passed, the quartet held their pendants for a few moments, their faces briefly contorted in agony and confusion.  When angels travelled from Heaven to Earth, they found themselves bombarded with the thoughts and cries of every creature in existence, although this became easier to contend with both with time and experience.  Being celestial beings, they were blessed with the abilities to hear the thoughts of creatures at will, as well as sensing distress in creatures.  At the beginning of their training, cadets were taught to silence these thoughts, focussing their energy into the core of their souls, and taught to focus their abilities onto targets of their choosing, enabling them to adequately protect their marks.  As the noise died down into the background, the group released their grip on their pendants, turned and assessed the site.

“We need a better vantage point,” Sunny declared, instinctively walking to the longer set of arches, reaching into her backpack and pulling out her grappling gun.  Pointing it towards the stone arch facing her, she fired the hook and watched as it expertly attached itself to the uppermost stone.  Equally expertly, Sunny climbed the stone face and clambered onto the arch, reeling her rope back into her pistol.  Sooyoung walked away from the group, towards the gap in the outer ring.  Yuri and Hyoyeon followed Sunny’s lead, climbing the arches on the inner ring.  They surveyed the area from their vantage points, high above the mist on the ground.

Yuri tapped the small, silver-black earpiece resting in her right ear, turning the indicator light on, illuminating it in a light pink.  “Comms check,” she announced.  “Sunny?  You read me?”

“Loud and clear,” Sunny replied.

“Hyoyeon?”

“Sure do.”

“Sooyoung?”

“Right here.”

A second tap of the earpiece changed the light to a baby blue.  “Omega Control, this is Omega One.  Do you read me?”

“Omega One, this is Omega Control,” Tiffany replied.  “Reading you loud and clear.”

“Vantage points taken, no initial signs of distress,” Yuri reported.

“Roger that,” Tiffany answered.  “We’ll keep you up to date with anything we get here.  In the meantime, check in every thirty minutes, minimum.”

“Understood,” Yuri nodded.  “Omega One out.”  With a third tap of her earpiece, the light returned to its original pink hue.  “Right, angels,” Yuri ordered, “this is going to be a quiet watch.  Stay alert.  We don’t know what we’re facing.”

“Should we send a scouting party to the local area?” Sooyoung asked.

“That’s a negative,” Yuri replied, looking behind her.  “Next check in is in twenty-nine minutes.  We can assess the situation then and take orders from Control.  Until then, we stay put.”

“May as well make the most of it,” Sunny smiled, placing her backpack on the floor.  Her black, thick-heeled, ankle boots felt comfortable on her feet, her black sun-visor protecting her eyes from the glare of the dull October sunlight.  Her black cotton leggings with deep cerise calf ties around the legs, black, sleeveless tunic, black elbow-length fingerless gloves and cerise sash tied around her waist was her combat outfit of choice in practically every mission, or at least some variant of black trousers, short top and long gloves.  Her hair was tied up into a simple ponytail and poked through the top of the sun-visor, her katana sheathed in its scabbard and resting across her shoulder.  Ever since she arrived at the Academy many years ago, she trained hard in Angelic Martial Arts.  She was immensely interested in it on Earth and found she had a real talent in it as a Cadet.  She was incredibly spiritual and immersed herself into her combat with strength and gusto, but always made sure that she would come out on top before doing so.  She stood upright, feet shoulder width apart, hands held together behind her back, back straight and closed her eyes, pushing her head upwards slightly.  She deeply inhaled and exhaled with a steady rhythm for a few moments, centring herself ahead of her observation and impromptu preparation.

Sooyoung could not have been more opposite to Sunny.  On Earth and in Heaven, she remained as stylish as possible: her black and white floral pattern kimono-style dress reaching to her wrists and her mid-thigh.  Her chosen footwear was usually a thin, delicate heel, as it was today – white, with a two-inch high heel.  Like Sunny, she wore her hair in a ponytail, although hers was higher and quite tight.  Her slender frame and cute features, coupled with her outfit truly gave the appearance of a sort-of modern geisha, only without the entertainment value or the make-up.  This often caused all manner of hilarities for the group, given the ferocity of her attacks.  She often would lure unsuspecting victims into her trap, before launching her attack, keeping short blades hidden in her equally short outfits.  She patrolled the grassy knoll with ease, despite her heels.  It was something that only Sooyoung seemed to be exceptionally skilled in – others opted for thicker heels or sneakers to traverse organic paths.

Hyoyeon and Yuri were equally different to Sooyoung and Sunny, but were almost identical to each other.  However, where Hyoyeon opted for lighter shades, Yuri favoured darker ones.  They wore matching long sleeved t-shirts, Hyoyeon in white and Yuri in black.  They wore matching jeans, Hyoyeon in pale blue jeans and Yuri in darker blue.  Both wore sneakers, Hyoyeon in white with pink details and Yuri in black.  Hyoyeon’s blonde hair was tied loosely, like Sunny’s, where Yuri’s flowed into the wind.  As Sunny, Yuri opted for a black sun-visor to protect her eyes.  Both were trained in all forms of hand-to-hand combat, although carried a weapon for safety: Hyoyeon opted for nunchaku, compared to Yuri’s Angel Sword – a two foot long silver blade with silver and gold highlighted grip and an angel heart cross-guard.  Unlike the pendants and the attire, the heart emblem on Yuri’s sword was made up of a green emerald, outlined in gold, with silver wings.  Both weapons rested against the Cadet’s thigh, ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice.  Something that each of them knew would happen sooner than they hoped.

-----

The activity in the Omega Control Room was chaos, although it was rather quiet.  Small groups talking together, passing pieces of intelligence to superior officers.  Around the holographic table stood Helix, Pegasus, two angels from Elite and Taeyeon.  Taeyeon, being the most junior, remained quiet, acting little more than a messenger between the cadets and the commanders.  The cadets and intelligence agents watched their feeds, passing notes and communications between each other.  One cadet and one agent sat with each set of screens, pointing out areas and jotting notes.

Seohyun watched the action unfolding, covertly monitoring Delta Unit’s mission in Ancient Greece.  It seemed almost routine: find the charge and stop them from being found by the Fallen agents that would be present.  It was not easy to keep them hidden, but it was much easier to at least sabotage the Fallen’s plans.  Whilst all Angels were armed, none of the weapons could cause fatalities.  Killing an Angel, fallen or otherwise, resulted in immediate banishment by a force greater than Helix, Pegasus, Optimus and the leader of the Fallen regime combined.  They were forced outside of all known realities, all known Universes and all known existences.  Effectively, this was death for the dead, and nobody mourned you for being there.  As Seohyun watched, her mind started to wander, her attention not solely focussed on the action in ancient Egypt that she had been tasked to assess with her Elite colleague.  What was the connection between these events?  To the untrained mind, the targets seemed inconsequential to each other: the Greek philosopher Socrates, the Egyptian polymath Imhotep, and the Mayan ruler K'inich Janaab' Pakal.  And yet, even the most trained and perceptive minds in the Angel business couldn’t connect the dots.  None of the highly ranked Elite intelligence officers could bring the three events together to the civilization-crushing crescendo that was predicted to unfold in 2015.  Not even Helix himself could bring them together.

“Is there a problem?” Helix asked, standing directly behind Seohyun.

“No, Admiral,” Seohyun quickly pulled herself from her reverie, returning directly to her work.

“Cadet, let’s talk,” Helix ordered in his usual manner that at least projected the illusion of choice.  Seohyun obeyed and followed her Commander aside.

“Is there a problem?” Helix asked again.

“Sir,” Seohyun stood upright, “are you able to read our minds, as we can sense the minds of humans?”

Helix chuckled and nodded.  “I have had many aeons to perfect my skill,” he admitted.  “Especially with smartly placed comments such as Sunny’s.  She has a real sense of wit around her.”

“Then surely, Sir,” Seohyun continued, “you are aware of my trepidation.”

Helix shook his head.  “I have the ability to read the minds of all, but that doesn’t mean that I always do.  More often than not, my focus is on my work.  I have had aeons to refine my skill, but also to assess the more appropriate times to do so.  In core missions, such as this, it isn’t always appropriate.  But it’s obvious with you, my dear.”  He smiled sweetly at her.  “You weren’t focussed entirely on your tasks.”

Seohyun bowed.  “My apologies,” she blushed.  “I won’t let it happen again.”

“That doesn’t answer my original question,” Helix grinned.

Seohyun smiled and took a few seconds.  “Are we so sure that there is a causal link between these events?” she asked.

“Of course there is,” Optimus interjected, having joined the room.  “We would not be sending our agents into these areas if they were unimportant to the central objective.”

“I understand, Sir,” Seohyun bowed respectfully, “but I fail to see such an intricate link between the targets.”

“You’re a cadet,” Optimus responded conceitedly.  “Elite forces could see a connection.  Even my team could see a connection.”

“Then why isn’t your team here?” Taeyeon abruptly interrupted.

“Cadet Leader,” Optimus turned to face his accuser, “this was a decision made by Admiral Helix.  I have no questions in his leadership.”

Helix turned to face Taeyeon, raising his hand to silence his General.  “What do you think?” he asked.  “Seohyun questions whether there is a causal link between the events.  Do you agree?”

Taeyeon looked at Seohyun.  “I can’t see one,” she confessed, “but my mind is not as analytical as your intelligence officers.”

“There,” Optimus boasted.  “That settles it.”

“However,” Taeyeon continued, “I believe that Seohyun’s is.  And if she fails to see the causal link so strongly advocated by Commander Optimus here, then I must side with her.  I think an alternative theory might need to be considered.”

Helix nodded to her, whilst Optimus fumed.  “Well, Seohyun,” Helix answered, “your leader has faith in you.  As do I.  Commander Optimus, do we need two officers to assess the situation in Stonehenge for the moment?”

“Sir?”

“Do we?”

Optimus took a moment.  “No, Sir, we don’t.”

“Good,” Helix nodded.  “Transfer the cadet for Stonehenge to Egypt.  Seohyun, I have a more suitable job for you.”