Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! The droning was constant, steady, loud; and extremely annoying. Cassian rubbed his eyes and flung out a lazy hand towards the source of the noise. Oddly enough it wasn't his alarm clock. His hands fumbled around his beside table and his phone slid off the bolted on, wodden table and onto the ground with a dull thud. "Gah! Five minutes, all I want is five goddamn minutes." He muttered to himself before, in a flurry of motion, throwing the covers off of his clothed body and sliding his fingers. Through squinting eyes, he peered at the phone on the ground, it's brightness practically illuminating the bedroom and also partially blinding Cassian in the process. Fighting sunspots, Cassian grabbed his phone and glanced at the caller; his Boss. If there was one thing Cassian hated more than being awoken midsleep, it had to be being awoken midsleep by his Boss. Cassian thumbed the answer button and lifted the phone to his ears. "Cassian Vickers." He said in a monotone voice, before the voice on the other end of the line erupted into a barrage of words that practically bounced off of Cassian's head. Death, Talos IV, Ritualistic, and 0730 Hours stuck out the most in Cassian's head. He turned and glanced at the clock; 5:13am. It was too early for this.

Cassian tossed the phone aside after hanging up and slide down his soft pillow, his bodly once more sagging into the soft, welcoming sheets of his bed. He was enveloped in the tempting, seductive grasp of his bed once again but Cassian had been down this road before. He gave himself 4 minutes, then another minute to procrastinate about getting up. 3 minutes later at 5:21am, Cassian slipped out of his bed. He wore a pair of fleeced pyjamas and grasped around for a shirt to drape over his averagely toned upper body. Now fully clothed with a cream coloured half-sleeve over his chest. Cassian quietly, flicked on the lights that were absolutely essential for him to get by. He didn't want to wake anyone else up. He probed around the kitchen, hissing quietly as his bare-feet met with the cold marble floor. He easily had the height for even the tallest of cupboards. He set himself a breakfast of cereal that tasted like cardboard and orange juice that left a metallic tinge in his mouth. God, he really needed to upgrade where he bought his things from.

Cassian Vickers, 32, lived in Frontier. One of the most forward Towns on terraformed Mars. Mars had been Earth's first expansion, it's colonization and terraforming taking years to perfect until a habitable section of Mars was created. At first Frontier was created within the safety of a BioDome, which created an artificial atmosphere over the city allowing for the populus to live within it safely. Today, The BioDome was used as a sort of deterrent to the occasional storms that would sweep through Mars ever so often. His rather large sized apartment gave a perfect view to the C.I.D Headquarters, situated around 2 blocks, North-East of Cassian's Apartment Complex. He lived in a relatively nice neighbourhood with restaurants and authentic cuisine littering the sidewalks. It sort reminded Cassian as a hybrid of New York and Central London mixed in with German and Italian and slight hints of Greek architecture giving the city a contemporary feel to it. Hell there were even some cobbled roads for that homely feeling. Cassian couldn't quite grasp that type of feeling, as he downed his metallic orange juice. It was now around 5:42am and Cassian was shrugging on a plain coloured shirt when he heard the squeak of a door. Cassian began to button his shirt up as he looked through his door, he found a small girl around the age of 4 with amber coloured hair. She was dressed in pyjama bottoms and an oversized shirt that for all purposes was probably Cassian's. She rubbed her tired eyes and simply stared at Cassian, who couldn't help but crack a small grin. "You're up early," He said after a brief pause of silence before fishing around for a tie. The girl walked forward a slight quiver in her lip. "Where are you going?" She asked, a timid and meek voice. Cassian found his tie, and folded it around his neck. "Boss called in early, I've got to go to work, sweetie." He said in a loving tone. The girl pouted and hugged Cassians leg. "Please don't go." She said in that cliche tone.

Cassian exhaled, he'd travelled down this path many times over. It never got easier. "I'll be back before you know it, kiddo. Be good to Aunty Theresa." He said almost hurriedly as he felt familiar feelings stir within him every time he looked at his daughter. She had the same big, round, dark eyes as her mother with a smile that could light up an entire room. Cassian would give anything just to see his Wife's smile again. He blinked several times before brushing his child's hair. "Be good, Samantha." He said before picking her up in his arms. She rest her head on his shoulders as he carried her back to her room, laying her on her bed and tucking her in. "Back before you know it, kiddo." He repeated before kissing her on the forehead and rising. He then dipped back into his room to grab his briefcase and blazer before donning a slightly large, brown coloured, long overcoat, then writing a note in neat cursive; half of it directed to Samantha and the other to his Sister-In-Law Theresa, who would swing by the house at 8:00am as she did everyday. It got surprisingly chilly at times in Mars, or maybe it was just the effect of the BioDome.

The Dome had been up for the past 2 days, meaning there was a large storm brewing up. Cassian glanced at his timepiece again, 6:11am, and picked up the pace. Considering his departure flight was in an hours time, that meant the Storm had lessened to atleast allow emergency flights. Cassian was familiar with these types of flights, he'd seen them all through his posting both before and after joining the CID. They were almost always done by Military Personnel and in highly-advanced transport ships. The towering buildings of Frontier rose upwards from the concrete sand, towering upwards towards the "Sun". He was familiar with his route. He'd take a left and walk up towards Main Street before following it down for two blocks and turning left before checking in at the Checkpoint then advancing into the awesome creation that was the Headquarters for the Criminal Investigations Department for Outworld Colonies. On Cassians person were a variety of different items. The first of which were a box of ominous looking mints, that left a weird taste in your mouth, then there was his service weapon, a sort of USP looking futuristic pistol firing 11mm bullets. There were rumors about special weapons utilised by the Military, only the most Elite Units were allowed to operate with them. It was all mainly NCO gossip but there was some truth. Cassian knew for a fact that U.S Department of Defense possessed a high-powered weapon that in layman terms could be called a plasma-rifle; it's bolt able to pierce through even the toughest of armours. However in the need for self-preservation Government Agencies denied such a weapons existance and only allowed specific Tier-1 Units to know of its presence and properly operate it. Even the Vice-President doesn't know it exists.

Cassian felt a slight twang of reminiscance at the thought of the U.S, his home or rather true home. But duty called, as it always does. Moving on, aside from the ominous mints and Service Weapon, there was a small radio; standard issue to CID Detectives due to un-mapped terrain in which they operated. Cassian chuckled as he imagined in his head; Space Police! It could've been the title for a hit comic series. But that was the layman terms to describe the CID. Cassian flipped up his badge at the Checkpoint where Guards with bristling Machineguns in hand. They opened up the gates and waved him in. Several blacked-out cars passed Cassian in a convoy, exiting the Facility. The flags on the sides of the central vehicle stood out in his view and he raised his hands in a salute, standing still; military style. The Car passed and Cassian moved on, heading towards the giant steps that were situated past the Statue Of Justice, depicting a Woman dressed in ancient greek robes and holding a pair of scales and a hoplite sword. Cassian gave it a faint nod before walking up the stairs and into the main lobby of the Department. On his left were the Attorney Rooms where Attorneys and their Clients would discuss their game plans before being taken into Court to argue their cases. That was not where Cassian wanted to go, instead he was taking the right side which seemed much more mundane and quieter. It had its own Security Checkpoint, due to it being only accessable to Members of the CID.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

 The Right-Wing of the building was the epitome and culmination of years of hardship and invention. Tricked out with the latest of technology in both departments of decor, architecture and security it was quite the marvel of engineering. Cassian pushed past the checkpoint, through the large double-doors that lead past the Administritive Department and towards where the Elevator was. Thankfully due to how early Cassian was, there weren't that many people in the building yet. Two men were currently waiting for the Elevator. Cassian knew the first as Omar Al-Hassad, and the other as Edi from TechOps. Omar was tall, dark, muscular and looked rather uncomfortable in a suit whereas Edi was chubby, short and looked absolutely in his pasty, white element in his rather relaxed clothing; fitting right in with the rest of TechOps. He didn't mind the Techies, so long as they didn't go off on a tangent about something off-topic, he didn't quite care. But Cassian's opinion was not shared amongst his fellow Enforcers, TechOps was frowned upon as a sort of Inter-Branch rivalry.

PING!

 Even with all the technological advancements, they still couldn't quite perfect Elevators. The seemingly normal metal doors parted wide and the trio stepped in. The configuration of the  Right-Wing was fairly simple. From ground up it went with the structure of; Administration, TechOps, Miguel Gomez' Magic Shop, Armoury, and then Primary-Tier Detectives with the Commissioners Office being the whole top-floor with a secluded section as Chambers for when work demanded him to stay, or the wife kicked him out. Either option was valid, Commissioner Kruger's wife was very obsessive at times, and then the next she wanted nothing to do with Kruger. It was all rather confusing to Cassian. Edi got out of the Elevator first, nodding to both Omar and Cassian as he left. No point in small talk. From there they waited a minute or so before Omar too left, and finally Cassian rode up to the Commissioner's Office in silence, contemplating his assignment. The Elevator shuddered to a halt with a similar ping, and the doors opened with a sharp metallic slice. Cassian cleared his throat and adjusted his tie before stepping forward, onto the soft yet weathered carpet where the plump, bovine assisstant, Marianne,  greeted him with a broad smile and questions about dear little Samantha.

Having finally escaped the death-grip and inquisitor styled questions, Marianne offered, Cassian knocked upon the Briefing Room. Due to its fledgling status as a Department, the CID didn't have the benefit of extreme amounts of funding. Cases in which discretion was advised were often always handed to Senior Detectives, and overseen personally by Operational Director Valerie Marais or Commissioner Kruger. Though ever since The Shadow Wars, a rumoured yet starkly true period of time in the early colonisations of Planets, Commissioner Kruger has never really overseen a case. This too would not be such a time. Cassian entered the briefing room a few faint seconds after knocking, coat in hand as he lay it on one of the luxury leather chairs of the Boardroom. Operational Director Marais had seen better days, lines were becoming more apparent in her skin and she could swear that she was finding grey hairs everywhere. Her dark, amber eyes were now sunken and illuminated by dark circles under her eyes and her lips looked dull and lifeless. That to be said, she was still at work, driving herself forward with will and integrity most people only dreamed of. In her hand was a perfect white mug, steam rising out of it; presumably tea since she detested coffee with a passion. In her mouth were two pills, aspirin probably to help with her headaches that had become an ever constant reminder that she needed a vacation. She slid across a thin, tan coloured file along the dark, rich mahogany table. Cassian paused it with the tips of his index and middle finger, opening it and cracking a shy grin. "Is that it?" He asked, glancing at the thin sheets of paper. He had expected a much bigger file, considering his meeting was with The Operational Director, otherwise known as the Dragon Lady.

Marais simply smirked and walked over to the handbag, sitting on the chair at the head of the table. She set her mug down and bent over; reaching into the bag to take out a bulging, practically bursting, file. "That's the official version you're holding." She said, walking over to hand him the second file. "That's all the unofficial stuff. I don't have to remind you that if you talk about anything you read in there to anyone, it'll be denied and yourself imprisoned?" She asked, inviting him to answer. Cassian remained steadfast and nodded, turning the pages carefully. It seemed Talos IV was more than just a pretty planet. "I've arranged a shortened version for you, consider it reading material for your flight." Marais offered, a hint of genuine joy in her voice. Cassian grinned and nodded, "My thanks," He said before picking up his coat and checking the time once more; 6:57am. "You should be leaving now, Vickers. Flyboys from the 5th Star Corps simply adore punctuality." She said mockinly, with a hint of a laugh as she picked up her mug and walked over towards the floor-to-ceiling windows that dotted the eastern facing wall. It gave a rather dreary view into the centre of the City, but that all depended on perspective.

With that, Cassian felt the next half-hour buzz by and he found himself blinking rapidly to wake himself from a day-dream. He was sitting on a metallic crate with a briefcase beside him and a suitcase at his feet; watching as the ground crew loaded in similar looking crates into the behemoth that was his ticket to Talos IV. The Cargo-Ship was roughly the size of a Antonov 125, yet it was triangular in space; resembling designs of the Lockheed Martin X-33 in the late 20th Century. It's engines were at the rear and two fins jutted out at angles from the back. The ramp leading into the cargo bay came down from the front, underneath the cockpit and was absurdly large. Mechanical Loaders with assistance from the ground crew were loading the crates into the Ship when the Co-Pilot, Flight Lieutenant Oscar Morrison, came over to Cassian. Morrison was a cheery person, sporting a bushy moustache and a short trimmed haircut. He was short and easily likeable with his "gift of the gab" as he put it. "Aid Supplies for the survivors of Acteon II." He said, explaining the large crates. What the public would shortly be told was that an unforseen natural disaster had occured on the Earth-like planet of Acteon II. However, Cassian had his doubts given that he'd read the reports first hand about Insurgent movements across the Colonies. Small Ghost Crew moving from System to System, raiding Military vehicles and stocking supplies. He nodded and rubbed his forehead.

Five minutes and a difficult, awkward and almost one-sided conversation later, Cassian sat buckled into his seat listening to the thrum of the gravity generators that were soon to be drowned in the roar of the engines. He reached into the briefcase he had on the seat beside him and took out the shortened file. It was brief and detailed the history of Talos IV, along with classified letters from a one such, Major Rolland Winters. It was all in all, an interesting read. "Talos IV, your ideal destination for relaxation and fun! Take a break away from work and treat yourself to a soothing swim in the thermal waters of Lake Tibiros. Or see the sights! Soak in the culture!" Cassian chuckled as he remembered the pamphlet he had read about the planet, earlier in his life. It was still vivid in his memory due to it's relation with his wife. His smile soured, but he read on. Aside from a booming tourist industry, Talos IV was also a mining planet in origin. But it's mines had long since dried up, but a recent break had been found and those bored with the life of Tourism had become miners for slightly less pay but better working conditions, or atleast that was Cassian's ideas. He always harbored a thought that Tourism wasn't all the nice industry it was cracked up to be. Nonetheless, Cassian turned the page, getting into the juicy bits now; The Shadow War.

The United Colonist Front, was a rebel movement that had started a good couple of decades ago, and was still active in some parts though it was a remenant of its former self. In some ways it could be compared to the Slave Revolution that occured in the 17th-19th Century, specifically in North America. However this time, the slaves were crushed and Earth remained on top, utilising it's combined force to crush the uprising. On a human level, many people agreed with the UCF's beliefs but the way they conveyed those beliefs was out-of-line and so they were deemed a terrorist movement. It was almost like Star Wars, except the Empire won, and examples were made to say the least.