Failure is not an option.

Stage 6

Failure is not an option.

Aerlina had been standing at attention while Carmen kept her eyes fixed to the horizon. She was the first to be flogged for their failure. She tried to take full responsibility and spare those under her command, but Carmen was in no mood to compromise. Aerlina could feel the pain of her wounds upon her lower back and buttocks and involuntary tears appeared from time to time. The pain would be bearable enough as soon as she was in the care of the local medical facility. But until then, she was to stand at attention until she was relieved by her commanding officer. She cursed herself again. Next time, Miranda wouldn't slip from her grasp.

As for CTC Carmen all she could do by the time their reports spelled out yet another blotched job was get yet another reprimand from her superiors. This time she wasn't as lenient with her subordinates as before. She had them severely punished save one who had already been punished enough. Carmen had sent her best Unleasher to take care of Miranda Grey, and though she didn't approve of her overly sadistic methods, Carmen had expected so much more of her. What she had not counted on was her still being in the ICU barely hanging on to life

Her hand still held the medical examination report. And even after so many hours, it still quaked with anger..

This was not what I had foreseen. Are my visions failing me?

The Colonial jumper was eventually found in a large forested area about six hundred and fifty kilometers from a small hiker's community on Sanctuary, the only planet she had not sent a team to. Upon closer inspection of the jumper, there was a notable absence of the emergency supplies, and three of the five emergency parachutes were missing.

Additionally the ship's autopilot had been activated, but it wasn't clear where it had originated. There were several points of origin and departure and clear signs that data had been erased. Even with the tech teams working on recovering any lost information, Carmen knew it would take days to sift through all the data.

They weren't able to officially identify Miranda, find her actual jumping off point or if she had backup.

Like chasing a phantom through the twilight mists.

She crumpled the report in her hand, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Carmen took some small pleasure in the fact that Miranda was at least hurt, but she still didn't know where Miranda was.

For the second time in her life, she felt that all too common human emotion known as uncertainty. An emotion that only fueled the larger questions that surrounded Miranda Grey: why was Commander Third Class Carmen Zigfler, commanding officer of Broken Laurel, Gifted classification Clairvoyant Precognitive Level IV, unable to predict her exact location.

A pang of fear touched Carmen. What kind of paradoxical Gift prevented a Level Four Ca.P. from picking up its prey?

Could it be that Miranda Grey was in fact…?

Carmen shook her head, dismissing the insane notion that Miranda Grey was anything other than a pawn in a bigger game. She would have known about it, nobody could have kept that from Broken Laurel. Not only was it their holy rite, their heavenly mandate as the aristocrats of the Colonies, but as the Inquisitors, guardians of the Realm sent to destroy such admonitions.

Yet because of this confusion, she had remanded her previous order and established a new one. Miranda Grey had to be neutralized and taken into protective custody.

"Aerlina." Carmen's voice was stern and cold.

"Yes, Commander Third Class." Aerlina did her best not to show in her voice the amount of pain she felt.

"Authorization to activate Infractus has been given. You are to take functional command of unit codename Creo Flamma."

Aerlina gasped and felt her heart slamming in her chest. "C-Commander, I must—"

The look that CTC Carmen Zigfler gave Aerlina's made her blood run cold. She quickly changed her response. "—n't delay a moment. It shall be as you order."

Carmen's lips turned upward into a tight smile. Had the view through the plate glass windows behind her been of deepest winter, it would have matched the quality of her smile.

"Don't fail me again, Lieutenant Major." Carmen turned her gaze to the horizon.

Out of the office within seconds; shocked by the order she had been given, "How could Zigfler fathom such an order? The Infractus!"

Time was of the essence now, she couldn't fail again. The only thing that kept her from going AWOL was her position within Broken Laurel. Despite the pain she felt, she couldn't help but smile at the thought that had sustained her since she was a little girl, the fuel that powered her and her family's cause.

Limping as quickly as she could, she made headway to the medical station. The idea that her flawless skin would be scarred made her sick to her stomach. She knew full well the implications if left untreated. But that was of secondary concern to her now.

She had to reach Miranda before Broken Laurel.