Dawn of a new era

Chapter 6

Dawn smiled as the rumble of her jet filled her ribs, the sun starting to rise over the clouds as she flew above them, cloaked from the world and existence outside Rise. Her plan was to meet a contact she (stole) knew from Bobbi, and have him show her where this supposed 084 was supposed to be. Apparently it was the original. The eighty-fourth item seized by the SSR when red skull fell. And now it was out in the world again. Fury wanted this kept quiet. The fact that it's even missing isn't known by anyone except him and herself. These were the missions Daybreak was used for. Dawn changed into a pair of bullet proof leggings and a tight shirt, slipping her bullet proof vest on over top while Rise landed. She walked off her jet and drove to the location she was given by Fury.

She walked into the temple, pulling her gloves on and tossing her hoodie to the ground, it was a shield issued one she'd taken from The Battle before leaving earlier that morning. Daybreak secured a grappling hook and began making her way down into the temple, using a giant glowstick type of thing to help her see as she descended. When her boots hit the ground, she marked the wall with spray paint and started on her venture, using the coordinates and marking corners.

About halfway through her exploration of the temple, she felt a tug, not someone pulling at her clothes or anything. But a metaphorical, emotional tug in the direction her compass was pointing. She assumed her instincts were taking over and put the out dated piece of equipment away, following the tug from her body. It was like an itch she couldn't scratch, she couldnt figure out how she knew to go left or right, just that that's where she needed to be going. And so she went.

She was tugged to the centre, it was a circle in the temple and it held what looked like a slab of rock or metal in the middle of it, on a pedestal. She walked over, pulling off a glove with her teeth and picked it up. It came to life, symbols glowing and moving, as if reading her biology, reading her thoughts. Daybreak had no clue what any of the symbols meant, she didn't know what any of them did or if they held any significance to anyone. They were just.. Breathtaking. After taking a few pictures for documentation, she tried to leave, but it floated back to the pedestal. Day jumped and grabbed the slab of mystery medium and shoved it in the case.

She walked halfway back to Rise, quite quickly thanks to all her markings. But once she hit the halfway point, the case snapped open, pieces going flying, one of the outer casing shards landed itself in Day's stomach, having been blasted upwards and under her protective vest. She didn't notice and sprinted after the 084. Daybreak had a way of pushing pain to the side until her mission was complete, until she reached her objective. Call it extreme compartmentalization.

She reached for the slab again, the movement causing the shard of metal in her stomach to cut further into her abdomen. She felt it this time. She groaned quietly, but couldn't stop. Not until she got the 084 back to her jet and on it's way to a shield compound. Gasping for air to try centre herself, she made another leap at the 084, the shard inside her tearing through her muscles and soon her organs. With a shuddering breath she made another attempt, falling on the ground instead of landing on her feet. And not too gracefully at that. Day picked herself up off the ground, ripped her vest off and applied pressure to her stomach, forcing herself to keep going after the 084.

The 084 landed on the pedestal again, the symbols began glowing and moving. Like when she'd touched it, as if it was reading the underground structure. The rock around her began to move, enclosing her in a circle with the 084. This was it, she thought to herself. This was how Daybreak dies.

In a temple
With no one around her
No fight scene, no loved ones.
Just rock around her and metal in her abdomen.
Seemed fitting, no? The girl that always pushed people away to try protect those she loved, now dying alone in an underground tunnel system. Either by way of her injuries, or the suffocation of the stone moving around her and forming an airtight seal.
Either way, this was goodbye for Daybreak.

The 084 opened, unfolding like a blooming flower. Inside, was a chunk of blue crystals, they were marbled with the same colour gray as the 084 casing was made of. The sides of the 084 slowly fell to the pedestal, making the crystals inside the focal point. Daybreak held her stomach, staring at this.. Interesting turn of events. She'd heard that most people couldn't touch the 084, but she'd been able to. She'd been stabbed in the gut, and was about to die. But hey, lucky her, she's one of the few people able to touch the damned thing. fabulous.

The crystals expelled a gas, quickly, in a gush, causing Daybreak to stumble backwards into the rock wall. Her shirt was soaked in blood, her vision was beginning to fade, her energy was depleting. She'd felt like this before, last time she'd nearly died. But this time she wasn't near any clotting agent, any medical supplies at all. She had no chance of getting out, no chance of making it back to her line, climbing up the wall and then back to her jet to her emergency medical supplies. She would die down here. Dawn looked up at the roof, tears in her eyes. "I love you mum, so much" She said the same thing, with her brother Lance's name. With her brother benedicts name, with her father, with both sister in-law's names. With stone creeping over her body, over her injuries, Dawn came to terms with her impending death.

And then the world went dark.