Chapter Text
Chapter 12: Stormford Prison Infiltration
After leaving the Temple in the airship, the Celestine Archer, Aeger, the Guardians, and the Paladins flew toward Stormford Prison. The Archer was beautifully designed, sleek, elegant ship that would put most jets on Earth to shame. It flew quietly and handled amazingly. Along the way, Aeger gave the Guardians and Paladins descriptions of Rama and Grimclaw. To make sure they weren’t seen, Aeger landed the Archer miles from the prison, and the team walked the rest of the way. After hiking for a few miles, the heroes arrived at a hill, from which they could view Stormford Prison in the distance.
Stormford was a tall, imposing tower, standing about 10-stories tall, and was painted completely black, with various small windows around the tower. There was an outer wall with an open space, all constantly patrolled by sentries.
“Damn!” Angelus grunted. “Calling this place a fortress is putting it lightly.”
“It’s the one of the primary reasons we couldn’t launch an attack before,” Aeger explained.
Mercury activated her scanner. “Wow. The Nova upgrades really updated my visor more than I realized.”
“What’s the word, Mercury?” Jupiter asked.
“Among the many prisoners and guards, I can definitely detect two really strong individuals. But… there are strong powers near them, probably the guards. And… the numbers of prisoners I’m detecting is… worrying.”
Ziel groaned. “Sadly, we may not be able to save them.”
Angelus sneered, “Doesn’t mean we can’t try, boss.”
“You seriously are nothing but trouble,” Jupiter laughed.
“I mean… yeah!”
Ziel analyzed the prison. He sighed. “No lack of defenses. Getting in may be easy… leaving won’t be.”
“One of the strongest power sources is at the top,” Mercury informed. “The other is far beneath the first floor. About 8 stories down.”
“They split them on purpose.” Ziel looked at Aeger, “That way, even if you did mount a rescue, you would be forced to choose who to save.”
“Bastards…” Aeger growled, lowly.
“Let’s completely ruin that plan!” Angelus smiled.
Ziel grinned. “Agreed. Myself, Resonance, Venus, Mercury, and Terra will take the top of the tower. Angelus, Mars, Jupiter, and Halcyon, you’ll take the basement.”
“Should I not join you?” Aeger asked.
“Actually, Sir Aeger, it’s best if you go back and stay with the Archer.”
“He’s right,” Venus agreed. “You can fly the ship. None of us can. We’ll probably have to make a quick getaway.”
“Actually,” Mercury said, “we’ll have to make a quick escape. We can contact you when we’re ready to go and you can fly in.”
Aeger nodded, “Understood.” He studied the group. “Thank you. May the Moon guide you to victory.”
Minutes later, the Guardians and Paladins entered Stormford without detection. They made it past the open courtyard and into the tower itself, finding an empty room to duck inside of.
“Alright,” Venus sighed. “So far, so good.”
“What’s the game plan, Mercury?” Angelus asked.
Mercury activated her visor and computer. “From here, things should be relatively straightforward.” She motioned toward a hallway, “There’s stairwell and an elevator-like structure that way that will go down the bottom dungeon. I can lead the rest of us to the top of the tower.”
“Better if we all take the stairs, no matter what,” Ziel advised. “Yes, we may be seen. But it will be harder for them trap us.”
The group nodded.
“Alright,” Mars exhaled. “Good luck, everyone.”
Angelus, Mars, Jupiter, and Halcyon headed for the path to the bottom dungeons. Soon, they found the passageway: a long stairway descending down in a rectangular design.
Staring down at the darkness, Angelus smiled, dangerously.
Catching Angelus’s grin, Halcyon groaned, “Oh, no.”
“What?” Jupiter asked.
“We can either walk down normally…” Angelus began. “Or!” His grin spread. “We can make this fun.”
“Why are you the way you are?” Halcyon asked.
“Messed up childhood and love for combat sports.”
Jupiter smiled. “I’m down for the fun way.”
“Of course,” Mars rolled her eyes.
“Besides,” Angelus said, “taking the long way will take forever and leave us tired. This is better. There will definitely be a fight waiting for us, and we need to be ready.”
“I’m in!” Jupiter made a fist.
Mars giggled and looked at the other Paladin, “Sorry, Halcyon.”
“Don’t worry,” Halcyon sighed. “I get it. I just can’t believe how many people are as crazy as him.”
The group jumped down, landing at the base of the stairwell. They looked up to see a large man-like being holding a large, metal maul. In an instant, the group focused on the mission, readying themselves for a battle.
“Who goes there?” the muscled-being known as the Warden asked.
Angelus glared at the Warden. “Just a couple of troublemakers. Why don’t you step out of the way? We’re taking the prisoner from that room.”
“The prisoner stays where he is! Only my masters command me! You are trespassers and you will be destroyed!”
“Oh, I hoped you’d say something like that!”
“FIRE SOUL BIRD!”
“SUPER SUPREME THUNDER!”
Jupiter’s and Mars’ attacks struck the Warden simultaneously, forcing him back but not knocking him down.
Halcyon grunted. “I was really hoping that would work.”
“We’ll just have to try again!” Jupiter declared.
Mars froze when she sensed something. “We’ve got company!” The heroes looked up to see Agonia guards and monsters heading toward them.
“Whelp!” Angelus exhaled. “We got their attention.”
“That was part of the plan?” Jupiter asked.
“Plan C.”
“There was a Plan B?” Mars asked.
“That went out the window when big boy wasn’t destroyed immediately when you and Jupiter attacked him,” Angelus answered.
“How many plans do you ‘currently’ have?” Halcyon asked.
Angelus saw the Warden ready for battle. “I’ll let you know,” Angelus entered a battle stance.
Quietly yet hastily making their way up through the upper floors, Ziel, Mercury, Venus, Resonance, and Terra heard a commotion on the floors below them.
As Resonance laughed a bit, Ziel sighed, “Victor!”
“I mean, c’mon, Ziel, we’re gonna get caught sooner or later,” Venus giggled.
“All of you only excuse him because you like him so much.”
“Well… yeah!”
Resonance paused a moment. “Boss, we got a few headin’ down this way.”
“How do you know?” Terra asked.
“Sound vibrations. This whole place is made of stone. It’s an echo chamber for me. I just focus on what I’m listening for so I don’t hear too much.”
Terra blinked. “That’s cool.”
Resonance smiled.
“Any behind us?” Ziel asked.
“They’re heading down,” Resonance answered. “The second we start fighting, you know they’ll head both directions.”
“Right. Cover us from the rear, Resonance. We must keep moving up.”
“Got it.”
“Mercury, let us know if you detect anything else. Venus, Terra, we’ll keep fighting our way forward. Everyone ready?”
The team nodded.
Ziel drew his sword. “Let’s go.”
They battled their way to the top of the prison. Sure enough, more resistance followed after them, just as Resonance predicted. However, the Agonia’s forces were not strong enough to keep the Guardians and Paladins back. They arrived at the door leading to the chamber. Ziel opened the door and he and Mercury peered into the chamber. In the center of the room, they saw someone chained up, hanging in the air, with their arms outstretched, the light from the night sky shining dimly on the person.
The team entered the chamber and Mercury scanned the prisoner, “That’s Grimclaw. But we’re not alone.”
“I can hear something else breathing in here,” Resonance pointed out.
Ziel grunted in agreement. “I can sense it. Whatever or whoever it is, it’s strong.”
The laughter of a female voice was heard above them. “Such strong warriors,” a woman descended down on a long chain. She was dressed in dark red and pink, holding a halberd. She had long, lanky limbs and long, thin white hair. Her skin was pale and her eyes dark. “You managed to fight your way here, unscathed. You’ll be wonderful to my collection.”
“And you are?”
“I am the Warder. You’ve come for my prize, I assume.”
“We came to save Grimclaw,” Venus declared, boldly. “He’s not a ‘prize’. He’s a person.”
“In his current state…” Warder motioned toward the hanging Grimclaw. “…he’s a prize. And barely that.”
“He’ll look better after we free him!” Terra retorted.
“Ah! You’re allies of the Lotuses. But… you’re not natives of Utria. Interesting.” The Warder smiled an unnaturally enlarged, fang-toothed grin. “Even grander prizes!” She shrieked, jumping from the chain to launch herself directly at the team.
Angelus blocked the Warden’s maul with his Shadow Echo. “You’re strong, child!” the Warden growled.
“Thanks for the compliment!” Angelus grunted.
“But foolish! You dare interfere with the will of the Agonia?!”
“Dude, can you just stop talking? Your breath smells like you died a year ago and they just discovered the body!” Angelus pushed the Warden off. He surged the Echo again. He realized the others were still dealing with the Agonia soldiers, but they didn’t seem to be faring badly at all. Angelus turned back to the Warden. “Listen, pal… you’re getting on my nerves!” He increased his powers more, “I’m giving you one last chance to get the hell outta my way.”
“You have no right to command me!” the Warden argued.
“Command you? Maybe not. But you’re getting out of my way.”
“You’ll have to destroy me.”
“Your call. HALCYON!”
Halcyon jumped into the air and aimed his hand at the Warden, “SUDDEN IMPACT!” A strong telekinetic force crashed into the Warden. While not enough to knock him down, the attack greatly damaged the Warden and decimated the ground at the Warden’s feet.
Angelus’s eyes flashed, “RAVEN’S!” He ran at the Warden, “SHADOW!” He slammed his palm into the Warden’s chest, sending the attack surging through and out the Warden’s body in the form of a large raven and destroying him.
Mars and Jupiter defeated the last of the Agonia present and rejoined Angelus and Halcyon.
“You guys are incredible,” Mars noted.
“He did all the work,” Halcyon motioned toward Angelus.
“But you were a big help,” Jupiter patted Halcyon’s shoulder. “Good to see our buddy has good friends he can trust.”
Halcyon smiled.
Angelus looked at the prison door. He formed his Echo again and punched the door off its hinges. “We need to work fast,” Angelus informed. “I’ll bet another set of bad guys is on the way.”
They hurried inside the chamber to find a small room inside of the chamber. Angelus ripped that door open as well to find Rama shackled to the wall. Rama’s long, unkempt hair hung in front of his face and he was in an emaciated state.
“Allow me.” Halcyon aimed his powers at the shackles and shattered them.
“Nice!” Angelus said to Halcyon. He hurried over, kneeled next to Rama, and began lightly tapping him, “Hey. Hey, buddy!”
Rama groaned. He barely managed to lift his head and open his eyes. He looked up at Angelus. “Who…” he whispered, “who are you?”
“You must be Rama. I’m a friend. Prince Kenshin and Noriko sent us. We’re gettin’ you outta here.” Angelus picked Rama up, putting him over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry style.
“You got ‘im?” Jupiter asked.
“Oh, gimme me a break!”
Jupiter laughed while Mars smiled.
“I’ll need you to fight our way outta here,” Angelus said to Mars and Jupiter. “I’ll guard him.”
“You’ve done plenty today,” Mars complimented. “We got it.”
“Halcyon, cover us.”
“Got it,” Halcyon nodded.
“Let’s get the hell outta here,” Jupiter rushed for the door, with the others right behind her.
Ziel, Resonance, and Terra fought up close against the Warder while Venus used her Crescent Beam to try and hit the Warder. The Warder made every effort to not take any damage, and she was succeeding. After another exchange, Ziel, Resonance, and Terra landed next to Mercury and Venus.
“Damn it,” Ziel growled.
“She’s got those damn chains all over this place making her impossible to hit!” Terra declared, irritably.
Mercury gasped. “I got it!” She looked at Resonance, “Resonance, how clearly can you hear the chains?”
“Pretty easily,” Resonance replied.
“How quiet can we be on the communications?”
“Very, I believe,” Ziel responded.
“What are you thinking, Mercury?” Venus asked.
“Everyone, be ready!” Mercury summoned her power. “BUBBLE! SPRAY!”
The chamber was immediately covered in a heavy fog. The Warder grunted, “Fools!” She moved to another chain, “You think this will help you? I serve the Agonia! We will not be defeated by—”
“VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!”
The heart-shaped energy struck the Warder, causing her to scream and fall to another chain.
“POWER WAVES!”
The Warder was struck again, this time cutting her chains and sending her plummeting to the floor.
The Warder tried to push up to her feet but looked to see Ziel rushing out of the fog toward her.
Ziel’s sword was imbued with fire and ready to strike. “Judgement.”
Ziel flashed though the Warder, appearing behind her, and the Holy Fire engulfed her, causing her to scream until she was reduced to cinders. Ziel turned and looked at the decimated remains. “Strong… but not strong enough.”
Mercury’s fog dissolved and the others hurried over to Ziel. They looked at Grim.
“Can we get him down carefully?” Terra asked.
“Allow me.” Ziel jumped over and grabbed hold of the chains. He cut the chains with Defender, holding on to them so Grimclaw didn’t drop. Ziel slowly lowered Grimclaw to the floor, where Resonance and Terra helped lay him down while Mercury checked on him.
Mercury tapped him lightly. “Sir Grimclaw! Sir Grimclaw!”
Grim slowly opened his eyes and looked at Mercury.
“Hello. I’m Sailor Mercury. Prince Kenshin and the Lotuses sent us. We’re getting you out of here. Can you understand me?”
Grim slowly inclined his head.
“I can carry him,” Resonance suggested.
“Okay,” Mercury nodded. “I would usually say ‘be careful’, but we really need to go. Just… be as careful as possible.”
“You got it, doc!”
“Let’s hurry!” Ziel suggested. “Venus, Terra… we hit anything that isn’t an ally.”
“You got it, boss!” Venus smiled.
Ziel activated the communicator, “Sir Aeger! We have Grimclaw. You can make your way here.” They rushed out of the cell, hurrying down the stairs.
Halfway down the stairs, Ziel’s team saw Angelus, Mars, Jupiter, and Halcyon rush toward them. “Boss!” Angelus shouted.
“Well done!” Ziel smiled at seeing Rama.
“Thanks. He’s a bit out of it.”
“Same with Grimclaw.”
“How close is Aeger?” Jupiter asked.
They heard the sound of the airship moving outside.
“I’d say that close.” Ziel aimed his hand at the wall and fired a concussive fire blast, blowing open the wall. The Archer hovered just before them.
“Let’s get outta here!” Jupiter cheered.
Ziel looked down the stairs. “Resonance, Halcyon, take Rama and Grimclaw.”
“Yes, sir,” Halcyon took Rama from Angelus.
“What are you thinking, boss?” Resonance asked.
“Me and Angelus will cause a ruckus and delay the enemy,” Ziel replied.
“Oh, yes!” Angelus said, excitedly. “The ol’ ‘set fires’ plan! I love it!”
“Angelus…” Mars said, nervously.
“Don’t worry,” Angelus smiled. “We do this a lot.”
“Halcyon, Resonance,” Ziel said, “follow Aeger’s and Venus’s leads. We’ll catch up. Sir Aeger, take the airship and hover out of sight. We shouldn’t be long.”
“But—” Aeger began.
“Don’t worry, sir,” Angelus preempted. “We got this! See you soon!” He hurried off with Ziel, back inside of the prison.
A few minutes later, while Mercury and Terra made sure Rama and Grim were secure, the team sat in the Archer’s cockpit, watching as the prison seemed to be in a state of total chaos.
Aeger groaned, “The Agonia will send more soldiers soon. We may need to leave.”
“Not without them,” Mars defied.
“We’re waiting, Sir Aeger,” Venus added. “Sorry.”
A few seconds later, various explosions occurred throughout the walls of the prison tower. Soon, the team could see Ziel and Angelus launch themselves from one of the holes they left in the prison. They landed in the courtyard and defeated every Agonia that attempted to attack them. After a few minutes of combat, most of the former prisoners escaped through the destroyed prison walls, fleeing the area.
“That should be enough!” Halcyon suggested.
“Let’s pick ‘em up and get outta here!” Venus proposed.
The Archer lowered down; once it was close enough, Ziel and Angelus jumped up to it, entering the door Jupiter opened for them. Once inside, Ziel and Angelus rushed for the cockpit.
“Great job!” Mars smiled.
“Thank you,” Ziel replied.
“You better had been right about the rest of those prisoners being innocent,” Angelus joked. “We just caused one heck of a prison break, Sir Aeger.”
Aeger sat in stunned silence. “You… you did it. You… deposed… Stormford Prison.”
“A bit of a difficult task,” Ziel shrugged. “But not impossible.”
Aeger just sat back, looking out of the windshield of the cockpit. “We-we must hurry and flee.”
“That’d be best. We have made a grand mess of things.”
“Just another night for the Crimson Paladins?” Venus smiled.
“Sailor Venus, you have no idea!” Ziel smiled back.
As he piloted the airship away from the area, Aeger fully realized what had just taken place: in one night, in a matter of hours, Rama and Grimclaw were saved and Stormford Prison was practically destroyed. Aeger recognized that, for the first time, in so long, there was more than just hope they could survive this war. There was a chance.
They could win and defeat the Agonia and the Maw.
They could win the war.