Indigo League, Mt. Moon, Unspecified location, 0300
A heavy rain poured across the land in the mountainous area, drenching everything in sight. But that was the least of the problems for the group of bound Team Rocket tamers. They never saw their attackers coming and the fight was over before they could react. The group moved with the same fury the storm carried, striking with a razor’s precision and overwhelming them in an instant.
The pokégirls that subdued them never spoke or moved unless they needed to, just standing by and waiting for some sign from the human in charge. A single human clad in black rain gear was somehow able to keep his cigarette lit in the rain. Beside him stood three women, pokégirls from what they could tell, all continuing to look towards the area where the Team Rocket outpost stood. They had moved everyone far away from the site and now just stood silently, basking in the sights and sounds of the rain.
Suddenly the Rocket tamers could feel the ground underneath them rumbling and then from the spot their outpost sat was a massive explosion. Just as quickly as they could blink the base was gone, vaporized to nothing but a hole in the ground. One of the shorter pokégirls standing beside the human stepped forward and put her hand out. Seconds later an object fell from the sky and landed in her hands, she was quick to place it on the ground in front of the human then steped away. The Rocket tamers watched as the human bent down and started running his hands back and forth over the object. A hand full of seconds was all it took for the object to form into a pokégirl, one who appeared to be quite out of it.
Leaning forward the human kissed the girl on the head then recalled her. His attention then turned to the tamers. He was hard to see or hear due to the rain but he’d spoken to the girls standing next to him. Fear crept through their bodies as one stood before them, her face shrouded by rain gear like all the others, her hand went out and before they knew it they were unconscious.
~~~~~
Avalanche Office, 0330
Marco and the rest of Avalanche stepped in from the outside and removed their rain gear, setting it aside to dry and be cleaned later. The first strike had gone off without a hint of issue and as other military teams checked in from different sites it appeared to be the same for them too. All together six different outpost had been targeted and hit that evening, securing a number of travel routes and capturing over a dozen tamers with harems.
It was a small step as far as Marco was concerned, they had dared to attack his family and he was going to pick them apart until there was nothing left. The unit knew that the explosion wasn’t really necessary and wasn’t to make a point either, just another way for him to let out some frustration after the events that had happened over the past weeks.
As far as Alexis was concerned he had been taking things rather well. His discovering Nadia was in taming shock didn’t result in loss of blood or limb from anyone who knew about it. While he yelled for a bit he knew it was going to happen eventually and actually agreed with Kelly’s decision to ask her brother and to keep him out of it until all was said and done. When Nadia was able to talk again the two of them sat down and had their own private talk about things. What was said between the siblings was unknown but in the end they appeared to be closer than ever.
This came as a relief to Kelly. The Duelist had been walking on eggshells since Marco struck her the way he did and in truth things still weren’t complete between them. But now that they were actively striking against Team Rocket again they had to set aside their differences and work together. Kelly’s talk with Alexis had been helpful in her attempts to try and bridge the gap that had been created due to his actions. Now all she had to do was bring herself to sleep with him again.
Marco checked his watch before addressing the others. “Ok ladies, that was good work out there. Everyone’s dismissed until training tomorrow. Alex,” he addressed the cherub before handing her Kim’s pokéball. “Take care of her if you will.”
“Of course sir, goodnight.” She said, acknowledging his command.
Kelly stood by next to Marco and waited until the others had left to speak. “Running more information or will you be going to bed?”
“There’s always more data to process so I’ll be up for another few hours. You’re welcome to help or just keep me company while I plan out our next wave of attacks.”
Kelly nodded and started towards the kitchen. “If I’m going to be up then I’ll need to make some coffee... I know it’s not really your thing but I can make it tolerable for you.”
As she walked Marco followed behind her, unzipping his tactical vest and rotating his arm. The harem had informed him of his slacking on his personal training and as a result Henrietta and Chesra worked him overtime. It was odd but the physical exertion had made him feel better, helped him clear his head and focus his mind on what needed to be done. It had also helped him dismiss the idea that he was pushing them away. He knew that he’d been far worse than normal but they had stuck by him the whole time.
Marco took a seat on the edge of the table and looked at the Duelist as she moved back and forth around the kitchen. Because of her height she needed a stool to reach the cups in the cabinets. She’d avoided looking at him, standing with her back to him as she placed the pot on the coffee maker. Suddenly she felt a pair of hands on her hips then let out a sigh as they started massaging her lower back. This had continued for several minutes until she was forcefully turned around, picked up, and set on the edge of the counter.
While it wasn’t intentional the action reminded her of him being mad at her in his parent’s home. Her eyes traveled down, refusing to meet with his. This didn’t go unnoticed by Marco, his hand traveling up her side until it was just below her chin and raising her head up. “It took far too long for me to say this and you deserve to hear it. I’m sorry I hit you.” He spoke, his voice coming out in a soft and gentle tone. “I was frustrated and angry, but I never should have taken it out on you the way I did.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.” Kelly replied sharply. “All this time, all these years, that was the first time I’ve ever felt like a pokégirl. You’ve treated me with nothing but respect and then replaced that with love. But in that one instance I couldn’t feel anything from you, nothing but anger and disappointment.”
‘I guess this is the time for all out honesty.’ “Well I was angry and I was disappointed. You were keeping things from me. Nikki being taken; one of our own was gone and you kept it from me. The others had told you to come to me the second it happened and you kept putting it off. But that was where your fault ends.”
Kelly’s eyes softened and for once she finally looked back into his. “What?”
“Even if you had come to me when it happened we wouldn’t have been able to get her back in time. Andzral still would have gotten the information out of her and my family still would have been attacked. I wouldn’t have known to send anyone there, I’m not going to lie to either of us and say I would have.” He explained sadly. “Maybe is all I would have had to work with and that wouldn’t have been enough.”
“Maybe. Maybe we could have gotten there sooner, maybe they would have sent Nikki back to try and kill us, maybe your family… our family wouldn’t have been attacked, maybe. Like you said, maybe wouldn’t have been enough to work with.” She nodded in agreement. “I was hurt when you hit me, when you shoved me against the wall like that. But you were hurt too, the same failure I felt for losing Nikki, you felt the same way about not being able to protect your family. If… if something had happened to you and I thought the others were responsible I would have acted the same way.”
The hand that was on her chin slid back to massage her neck as his other hand began to move the zipper holding her vest closed down. “I’m not going to be sorry for being mad, only for reacting the way that I did.”
Kelly’s breathing caught in her throat for a moment as her body reacted against his touch. Through force of will she fought the urges that pulsed in her body. “This is the last time I’m going to fail at my position as Alpha. If it happens again I want you to remove me from the position and give it to someone more deserving, someone who won’t let their pride get in the way.”
“I told you before; you’re the only one I trust to do the job, in spite of your mistakes. Chesra; I love her dearly but she would have let me walk right into whatever trap could have been set back in Celaboner; she won’t defy or question my actions properly. Rietta; her normal reaction to situations is to keep shooting or hitting it until it works the way she wants it to. Mina; … just a simple no is all I have to say there. We could sit here all night and run through everyone in the unit or harem for that matter and you would still be my number one pick for the position.” Marco explained, all the while working his hand past her vest and under her shirt to reach her back.
Marco’s actions had caused her to scoot forward on the counter and before she knew it her legs were on either side of his waist. The blood was rushing to her head and until then she had forgotten how long it had been since she last tamed with him. Her hands seemed to be moving on their own, clutching at his arm and pulling at his shirt in a feverish attempt to reach the skin underneath. “I… I thought you were going to be inputting more data, planning, and … oh shit…” She gasp, the hand that was once on her back had come forward and pinched her nipple, sending a small tremor of pleasure through her body.
“I’ve been neglecting you… your feelings and your body. That, that was just part one of my three stage apology. Team Rocket will appreciate me taking a night off from planning their complete and utter destruction.”
“Are… are we going to do this right here in the kitchen?”
“Of course not, the others will be trying to sleep and hearing you begging and moaning for the next three hours would be sure to keep them awake.”
Kelly’s body went rigid at the very thought. She knew he would make good on his boast. “Three hours?”
“There might be a short water break.”
_____
Team Rocket Base of Mr. G
Haures, Andzral, Campbell, and Angelica had been called into a conference call and judging by the look on their boss's face things were far from good. Being outplayed while trying to capture Marco was one thing but having half a dozen of their outpost taken out in one night was nothing more than a slap in the face. No one could be certain that it was him who had organized the strike but given the precision of the hits and that the bases were off the grid; Colonel Readman was the primary suspect.
“Six sites, all wiped out within minutes of each other, and no one has any information?!” Mr. G yelled into the monitors.
“What do you want me to say? It’s been weeks since we’ve heard from Readman. After the attack against his family I figured he was laying low.” Andzral tried to explain. “Besides, we’ve lost a lot of tamers; any one of them could have given up those locations while in the custody of the military.”
“Don’t you bullshit me Andzral! Do you expect me to believe that the military suddenly decided to check these remote locations, all at the same time, and then have them destroyed? It was Readman and you know it. Now, against the multiple protests of several breakers I still made you the leader with Haures overseeing your actions.”
“You did, and in one afternoon I cleaned up a massive cluster fuck of an operation. Now I’m not saying Angelica is at fault, her plan was solid until we had to split the ambush force. But there is no way any of us could have known that those posts would be hit and there’s no way to anticipate where he’s going to strike next.”
Campbell had continued to sit with his feet propped up and a disinterested look on his face. “Well based off the information Evelyn extracted from that one bitch we have the location to Readman’s base. So, how about we get some forces together and take it out. Blow the whole damned thing up and call it a day.”
“Knowing where something is and being able to get to it are two completely different things Campbell.” Angelica replied. “If it were so easy then Andzral and Haures would have already done that. The fact that they didn’t means there’s more to it than just walking up and knocking on the door. Right Andzral?”
“Angelica shows her brilliance once again.” Andzral quipped. “We know the roundabout area the base should be in but I’m almost certain that whatever security they have is going to be off the charts.”
“If that’s the case then we send scouts to the area and figure out where the base is. From there was can stage a strategic strike and wipe them out all at once.” Mr. G suggested.
“That is a horrible idea. There is no other way to put it, just a plain horrible idea.” Sighed the Bondage Elf. “Colonel Readman’s had enough of our tamers captured as it is. Why not make it easier and just send them to him wrapped in a bow.”
“That’s enough Andzral.” Haures warned. “I think the best possible option in all of this is to just wait him out until he goes for another gym battle, at least then we won’t be fighting on his turf. Not to mention the fact that we know who the traitor was on our side.”
All four of their screens flickered for a moment then returned to normal. Mr. G’s eyes narrowed but he shook it off thinking it to be a slight glitch. “Delilah… Angelica, where are you on dealing with that traitorous Dark Queen?”
“Traitorous is a bit of a given, she is a Dark Queen after all. As for how things are going, I haven’t been able to get in contact with her yet. I do believe that Haures has the right idea in waiting until Readman goes for another gym battle.” They all watched her slump down in her seat and take a sip of her drink. “I’ll swallow my pride and admit that Andzral handled the recovery of the last operation better than I could have. If she continues heading up the operations then I have no issues going along with whatever she suggest.”
Everyone’s expression went blank as they tried to process the fact that Angelica had given the Bondage Elf an actual compliment. The shock was finally wearing off Andzral and she nodded in agreement. “This is agreeable but we’ll have to see how everything goes first. There are only so many gyms left for Readman to visit and the more badges he gets the lower that number goes.” She flipped through the folder containing his information then tossed it on the desk again. “Three more gyms to go? What the fuck, it hasn’t even been a full year… and he spent two months in a coma.”
“He doesn’t have to physically travel to each city and town. He’s got military teleporters so he can go to where ever he pleases. I guess if that wasn’t the case we would have killed him in the wilderness a long time ago.” Haures explained. “Campbell, what about that girl you planted in Readman’s harem?”
“Quinn, she’s still giving me updates but there doesn’t seem to be any plans for him to hit gyms too quickly. She said that he was still busy dealing with everything that happened with his family so no telling when he’s going to be on the move again.”
Angelica’s brow furrowed when it dawned on her what had happened. ‘Campbell managed to get one of his girls into Readman’s harem?’ She pulled up the file with Marco’s harem composition and unit compositions then compared it to what she knew Campbell used. ‘It must be the Airmaiden, and her name is Quinn after all. I’m impressed he was able to get her into the harem. I wonder if Delilah knows about this?’
“Did you hear me Angelica?” Mr. G asked in an irritated tone.
“Sorry sir, I was just thinking about the remaining gyms and which one he’s the most likely to hit.”
“Whatever, just get with Andzral and come up with a plan. I want all hands on this one, no screw-ups this time. Are we understood?”
Everyone nodded into each monitor before they clicked off but suddenly Mr. G’s screen turned back on again. There was no shroud or silhouette of the person who would be speaking, just a red and gold [R] slowly rotating. The voice was low and firm, filled with a different kind of authority than that of Mr. G. “I thought I told you to let this go Gerard. All you’ve managed to do is turn your division into a bottomless pit of resources and I’m fucking fed up.”
“But sir, the Avalanche unit will more than make up for everything that’s happened, just give me a little more time and you’ll see. All I need is one more chance!” Mr. G yelled towards the screen.
“Who do you think you’re raising your voice to?”
“Sorry… Father…”
“Don’t call me that you idiot! One chance, I’ll be damned if you deserve it but I’m giving you one last chance to make good on all of this waste. But I warn you… if you fail one more time YOU will make up for it. Am I understood you fool?!”
“Yes sir. I promise; this will be the last time.”
“I already know it won’t be. Just remember, YOU will be the one to clean up this mess.”
______
1530, Maximum Security League Corrections Facility, 'Big Jenny'
The prison’s reconstruction was nearing completion following Haures’s escape. Of course none of the staff was aware that he was gone. A charred body was found left in his cell and that was all they really needed at the time. Aside from getting the prison fixed their new focus was trying to find the one prisoner that escaped. Warden Barnett was understandably pissed that his perfect record had been destroyed along with part of the prison itself and was now equally confused about his current visitors.
Marco, Alexis, Ariel, Chris, Carrie, Henrietta, Jean, Isabella, and Bernadette continued to stand in the waiting area while their information was being processed. Getting access to the prison was a pain in its own right but trying to bring his girls with him was proving to be extremely problematic. Isabella’s body was partly made of metal and it was giving the metal detectors all sorts of hell, add to that the fact that Bernadette and Carrie refused to be disarmed and a lot of concessions were going to be made.
Body scans and searches out of the way the group was lead towards the room the warden set aside for staff meetings. They thought it was slightly ironic that they were looking for information in the same prison they sent most of the Team Rocket tamers they captured. If not for Isabella’s cross referencing program they never would have thought to go there but a pattern had emerged and the lead was worth checking out.
After a half an hour of waiting around Warden Barnett entered, accompanied by his Lawfoxx and Fight Rider. Bringing up the rear was a confused looking OfficerJenny carrying a box of files. With Marco and his group seated at one end of the long table Barnett’s party sat at the other end. Barnett looked them over with a stern expression before trying to relax. He’d had investigators visiting ever since the internal attack on the prison but the Indigo Military was something new.
“Colonel Readman, not to sound inhospitable or anything but what exactly are you looking for? The IGS and SII have already come through as well as the Internal Affairs division. Was there something they missed?” Barnett asked while motioning for the OfficerJenny to set down the box they were told to prepare.
“We don’t mean to impose and appreciate you putting time aside to indulge us. Our investigation may be linked to the breakout that occurred here.” Marco explained as best as he could while leaving out the important details.
Barnett clasps his hands together and leaned forward on the table. “There was an attempted breakout but to my knowledge none of the prisoners escaped.”
“Mr. Barnett, we have reason to believe that one of your prisoners escaped that night. Alphonso Haures, former Chief of the League, this claim had been substantiated by an agent of SLOI. Now what can you tell us about that night?”
The LawFoxx began typing at her data pad then glanced towards them. “Our records show that Haures was killed the night of the attempted breakout, his body was discovered the next morning, burnt to death in his cell. While we won’t argue against a claim made by an agent of the Shadow League we find it highly unlikely that this particular prisoner managed to escape somehow.”
Alexis folded her arms. “The fire would destroy any kind of DNA evidence and I wouldn’t be surprised if he magically sustained enough damage to his teeth to screw up his dental records. Now everyone here knows he didn’t just magically walk out of this place by himself. There was someone helping him to escape from the inside. It’s also the only way to explain how the prison sustained so much internal damage.”
Chris on the other hand began scanning the file they had on the breakout. “Of course there was someone helping from the inside, we have the report of the line breach from the SRT. The big questions are how did they get in and how long were they in while they were here? The only wings affected were the male wings but there were over half dozen bodies found at the back of one of the walk in freezers and each of those bodies had either an arm missing all together or bites taken out of them.”
“Don’t forget about the report from the Night Nurse. She said she got attacked by one of the Elf staff while trying to tend to her wounds and when she woke up there was a large chunk bitten out of her arm, that same Elf was also found dead in the back of the freezer. And then there’s you…” Ariel pointed at the OfficerJenny who had brought in the box of information. “You claimed to have been abducted and your arm was cut off. Now your coworkers out there say they saw you at work during the time line where you say you were abducted, what can you tell us?”
Sarah took a seat at the table and rolled up the sleeve to her uniform. Everything appeared to be ok until they could see just above her bicep; the difference in skin tone was unmistakable. Her arm had obviously been cut off and removed for a long period of time then regenerated. “I was out at a bar when I got approached by this girl. She bought me a few drinks and we got to talking. Next thing I know I’m being drug into some house.” She closed her eyes as she reached for the memories. “I’m not certain of where it was but I know it was near the beach; I can still smell the salt water. The two in charge, Andzral and Kaia, Andzral was the one who abducted me I don’t know what breed she is. Kaia; she’s a Mousewife; she was the one that was in charge of taking care of me. There were also girls named Tessa, Vicky, Evelyn, and Jaleen. Kaia seemed to be the one in charge, making sure I was fed and everything. Well… that first night was nothing but questions. Andzral was asking about my job, what I did at the prison, guard rotations, everything… and then she chopped my arm off.”
Marco nodded, understanding exactly what had happened and how the prison was infiltrated. “Andzral, she’s a Bondage Elf, a Hunter Bondage Elf. If you understand what that is then everything else makes sense. All things considered I’m surprised you survived your ordeal, all of our ordeals with her have been… more than a little bloody.”
Barnett cleared his throat to get their attention. “If this is the same person who infiltrated our prison then she’s responsible for the deaths our employees. I want her found and executed for these crimes.”
“I understand that you’re upset, trust me, given the chance I would do a lot more than just execute her. Sarah,“ he called, to get the attention of the OfficerJenny. “Would you be willing to spend some time with Alex here and go over the full details of your ordeal?”
The OfficerJenny nodded and glanced at the warden. “If I can get cleared for the time then I’d have no problem with that. There were… doubts about my claim and I hope this will help to put them to rest.”
“I guess that explained why she was specifically asked to attend this meeting.” Barnett sighed while holding his head. “She can take all the time she needs to get everything cleared up and I would like to be the first to apologize for any issues you may have had since your return.”
Marco rose from his seat then motioned for the others to do the same. “Normally we could just drop her into Dream Time and get the information like that but I would rather have it on camera to put into evidence. It’ll take a little bit but we can set up a time to conduct the interview. Thank you for the time though; this has helped to answer some underlying questions we’ve had.”
“Not a problem Colonel, the other agencies have been less than helpful in ascertaining the cause of the breakout. If there’s anything else that comes to mind or when you catch those responsible please let me know.”
“Considering most of our arrest end up here anyway I’m sure you’ll be the first to know.” Marco chuckled as they began to leave. Once out of the meeting room Henrietta moved to his side. “So, Andzral infiltrated the prison as Sarah and managed to break Haures out. It’s a damn shame she’s evil.”
“And why is that a shame?” Henrietta asked with a hint of irritation.
“Well, not to put too fine a point on it, she’s pretty damn smart. It was a fairly well thought out and ingenious plan, even the part where she’s planning on using Nikki’s form to get close enough to kill me.”
Chris moved to his side. “How is she doing that?”
“She’s a special member of her breed that can shape shift into the form that they eat a piece of. That’s why there are bite marks on some of the arms that weren’t removed completely. I can only assume that if the arm was taken off then it was because she would need the form for future use.”
“Still, you make it sound like you’d want her to be part of the unit… or something else.” Henrietta griped again.
“The only thing I want from her is her head on a stick… no euphemism intended.” He laughed before sliding an arm around her side. “We’ll relay our findings to the others so they’ll be on the lookout during my next battle.”
As they were heading towards the outer corridor they could see the prisoners out in the center courtyard. The debris had finally been cleared from the explosions so the prisoners were finally allowed to use it again. Avalanche had been responsible for sending a couple of them there in the first place and their faces weren’t important enough to remember. There was one though that was getting all of Carrie’s attention.
Marco could feel a ping of intense aggravation coming from the Mistress and was about to ask her what was the matter when she grabbed her sword and kicked the door leading to the outside clear off its hinges. Fire and darkness swirled violently around her as she blew past guards and inmates, knocking everyone in her path aside. The guards began to mobilize but a massive psychic pulse sent them sliding away.
“YOU BASTARD!” She screamed in uncontained rage and grabbed the older man by his neck. “I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!”
Marco rushed to catch up to her but the swirls of power held him back. “Carrie, Carrie stop!”
“Back the fuck off! He’s got to die!” She cried out, her eyes flipping through colors and her grip tightening on his throat.
Warden Barnett and his girls rushed out to the yard to figure out what was going on and rushed to Marco. “Stop her Colonel; get a hold of her right now before my guards are forced to act!”
“I’m trying to but she’s intent on ending his life.” Marco growled. “Carrie calm down, what’s wrong!?”
Carrie’s eyes settled into a deep red and her voice came out in a malevolent growl. “It’s David, this bastard kept the Mistress locked away for two months, two months!” Tears stung at the corners of her eyes as her thoughts replayed the events. “For two months… the things he did to me…”
It finally began to dawn on Marco. After Haures got sent to prison the investigators must have gone through his cases and repealed any decisions that he passed concerning alleged Team Rocket members. ‘The Doc’ David would have been sent to Big Jenny after they discovered the immediate connection to Haures, but until right then Marco never expected to see him again, and the more he thought about it the less inclined he was to stop her.
“What’s she talking about Colonel?” Asked the Fight Rider Desiree.
Marco unclipped his pokédex and highlighted the Penance breed. “Read that then follow the breed line.” He explained before tossing the device to her and struggling to get closer to the Mistress. “Carrie, I remember, I was there when you got away. You want to kill him and he deserves to die, but I can’t let you do it.”
Carrie forced David against the wall and continued to clench his throat. “You said you loved me, if you love me like you say you do then you’ll let me do this!”
“I can’t damn it! There is nothing I would like more than to see what you want to do to him. To give you the opportunity to repay what he did to you tenfold, but I can’t.” His hand moved to his belt and removed her pokéball. “Let him go now before I recall you.”
The Mistress didn’t appear to budge as Marco spoke, she couldn’t hear him anymore. Her rage was reaching a boiling point and the Mazouku was taking the opportunity to feed her frustrations internally. Henrietta, Alexis, Jean, Bernadette, and Ariel had broken through the field and surrounded her, each taking a defensive position and closing in.
David strained his neck to look down at her; there was fear in his eyes. She looked familiar to him but he couldn’t place where he saw her from. Marco on the other hand was instantly recognized, one tends to not forget the person responsible for putting them in jail. He grabbed at her wrist to try and break the hold but couldn’t. She was too strong and too angry.
Fire ignited from Carrie’s sword and began to climb up her arm, licking with fury as it approached David’s throat. Inches away from reaching her hand her wrist was seized by Henrietta, the fire flowing into the Blaze Rider. She squeezed with enough of her strength to break Carrie’s hold then spun sharply and forced her against the same wall Carrie once had David pinned against.
“Get a hold of yourself!” Henrietta yelled in her face.
Carrie cried out and struck her Alpha as hard as she could with the fist that still clenched the blade but stood stunned when Henrietta didn’t move an inch. “Get your hands off me! I’ve got to kill him; he can’t have the chance to go free again!”
With Carrie distracted Marco moved forward, taking hold of the hand Carrie held her sword with. Power surged through him for just a moment before her struggling ceased and she released the blade. Tears fell freely from her eyes now, the memories of the first time made contact coming to the forefront. Her hands trembled when Henrietta finally let her go and she instinctively put it around Marco.
“Those cries, that voice, the little Diva? Yes, yes you would be with him.” David taunted through gasps for breath. “I could never forget that lovely voice of yours, that silver hair, how you cried and squirmed at my hand.”
Prison guards had formed a perimeter around the group to keep the other prisoners at bay while Warden Barnett’s Fight Rider, Desarae, moved in. She’d finished reading the sections Marco had given her and now that the prisoner was speaking she knew why the Mistress was so upset. “Get him on his feet and out of my sight!”
“She was such an innocent thing when I first got her. Team Rocket didn’t have any use for a Diva and Divas don’t have a strong enough will that it needs breaking, what I did to you was all just for me.” He laughed when Carrie glared at him. “I remember those eyes; they weren’t so fierce when I had her. They say that for every breed rule there is an exception… If not for how things turned out I would have been happy that Domico never showed up to get her.” He sighed in reflection, the guards picked him up by his arms and began to drag him away. “Good-bye my pretty diva, I shale relive my time with you in my dreams.”
“Oh no, I don’t believe we’re quite done here yet.” Marco growled, looking over a sobbing Carrie’s shoulder. “Warden, I’m taking this man into our custody for interrogation.”
“On what grounds Colonel? Your girl is upset, I get that, but I can’t just release a prisoner on those grounds.”
“This particular prisoner is in possession of information on a terrorist organization, if you need more information than that then you’ll have to be read in. I’ll have the directors of the IGS and SII give you a call.” Releasing Carrie he glanced at Henrietta then nodded towards David. “Until then I don’t want him let out of my sight. I’ll send Carrie back for now to make things easier but no matter what, he’ll be coming with me.”
“You go ahead and make those calls Colonel; I’ll have him on standby to be transferred.”
David could hear the two men talking and began to struggle more as Henrietta and Alexis got closer to him. “I don’t know what the fuck he’s going on about and I don’t have any information on any terrorist organization.”
Henrietta grinned maliciously while Alexis shoved her hands in her pockets. “I know you’re lying, but don’t you worry, it shouldn’t take long for her to get the information the Colonel seeks. But until Alex gets started you’ll be in my tender care again. Remember the fun we had last time?”
Fear crept into the older man’s eyes. He remembered Henrietta from Two Heart Ranch and wasn’t looking forward to a repeat performance. “I’m telling you I have no idea what he’s talking about!”
The Cherub was already rummaging through his mind and came across the memories of what he did to Carrie. It was no surprise that she evolved into a Penance given the things he did to her and she was more than justified in wanting him dead. Her eyes hardened as she looked at David, he was imagining doing the same to her as well. “Whatever you say.”
A half an hour had gone by and everyone moved back to the conference room. The calls had gone through but after a discussion the details of the transfer with Barnett the directors decided to send a legal representative to make sure David was properly taken care of while he was in the custody of Avalanche. There was a sharp knock at the door and when it opened Marco had to bite back a sigh and a string of obscenities.
“Miss. Baswell, always a joy to see you.”
“Colonel Readman, when they said I was to report to Big Jenny to see to a prisoner’s safety I half expected them to be joking. Then they said you were the one requesting the transfer and that there is unpleasant history between members of your personal harem and the inmate.” She explained as she took a seat next to David. “I do trust that there is no ulterior motive to the request of this transfer.”
Marco hesitantly nodded. “Of course not, while your client was running off at the mouth he dropped the name of a Team Rocket member who was wanted all across the world. There is a chance that he has more information that would be of great help to our current operations and we would like to interrogate him to recover this information.”
“Uh huh… and is there a possibility of harm coming to him during this interrogation?”
“You know as well as I do that the rules of interrogation change as needed, if he’s willing to give up the information without a fuss then no harm should come to him. If he’s uncooperative then necessary steps must be taken.”
“I’ll interpret ‘necessary’ in the loosest of terms.” Baswell spoke flippantly. Her glance passed over David and she could feel her skin crawl when he looked back at her.
“You’re right to be disturbed.” Alexis whispered to the lawyer. Her hand gently touched both Baswell and David as she linked their minds. There it was, every depraved thought the old man was having, everything he wanted to do to her and everything he had done to others.
“… I see… Colonel, do whatever you must to get the information you need.”
“It all depends on how cooperative he decides to be.”
-----
Carrie continued to pace back and forth at the front of the Avalanche office. Her nerves were more than rattled; she’d disobeyed her master and struck against Henrietta. She knew he’d sent her home with good reason but now she had to wait for him to deal with her when he got back. Mina and Bernadette continued to watch the Mistress work herself into a full blown fit but didn’t know how to help. Alexis would have been helpful but she was still busy at the prison.
Kelly stepped out and her eyes fell upon the frazzled girl. “What the hell happened out there?”
“Aye, she ran into the scurvy ridden bastard that turned her into a Penance and flew off the handle. Nearly killed him, disobeyed the Cap’n, and attacked Henrietta. Now Marco be makin a bid to have the rat released into our custody.” Bernadette summarized. “Calm down lass, gonna walk a hole to the center of the earth.”
Kelly shuddered at the thought of such a thing happening. Most of the unit had come from difficult situations before Marco got them but Carrie’s had been far worse than anyone else. “Carrie, relax, if Marco wanted you punished he would have sent word to me. Go see Renae; she’s got quite the gift for making tea to calm ones nerves.”
“Are you sure that’s ok, I think I should wait for him.” Fear and anxiety plagued her voice as she spoke but there was also a sense of relief.
“It’s fine, just go ahead and if something comes up we’ll come get you.” Carrie only stayed around for a few more seconds then went into the building leaving the other three to talk. “I doubt Marco’s going to get consent to have this prisoner transferred, what were the grounds that he cited?”
“Bastard was running off at the mouth and dropped the name of Evan Domico. Marco said that he may have important information that would assist in our current campaigns. Solid ruse if I be sayin so myself.” Explained the Piratit.
“I doubt it was a ruse as you would say. Evan Domico isn’t a name that just gets passed around, just mentioning him is enough to raise some eyebrows so if Marco thinks he has extra information then there’s a good chance that he does.”
Mina continued to spin a kunai on her fingers before tossing it into the air and catching it. “Given that knowledge what are the chances that we’re going to get a new house guest?”
“Fair, go ahead and prep the interrogation room.”
_____
1900, Avalanche Interrogation room
David sat alone in the darkened room waiting for someone to come to him finally. It wasn’t often that he regretted his actions but today was turning into one of those days. An impartial Alaka-Wham was brought to the prison to ascertain whether or not he actually had any information and though he tried to like he failed miserably. Now not only had Baswell allowed him to be taken for questioning she had given them permission to do whatever was necessary to extract the information they wanted.
Much like with Sarah, Alexis could have just dove into David’s mind to get the information they wanted but Internal Affairs wanted video evidence that the interrogation was conducted. Unfortunately for David there was no upside to answering the questions. If he cooperated then he would be sent back to prison and if he didn’t then he would be tortured until he talked, and then sent back to prison. The fact that the ones who would be asking the questions had a personal grudge against him didn’t help either.
The lights flipped on in a blinding flash and one by one his interrogators entered. Marco was the first to step in, followed shortly by Alexis and Henrietta. Carrie was the last to enter, pushing a metal cart along with her; she kept silent and avoided making eye contact. She’d been allowed to stay under the condition that she not say or do anything but now that she was there it was becoming increasingly difficult to not hop across the table and strangle the man.
Marco and Alexis took their seats while Henrietta moved behind David and Carrie moved to a darkened corner of the room. “Please state your name for the record.”
David tried to cross his arms but they were chained to the table. Sensing he needed a slight attitude adjustment Henrietta slapped him in the back of the head. “David Frapp.”
“Thank you, and what was your job with Team Rocket?”
“I’ve never worked for Team Rocket and have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Now that’s funny. You mentioned the name of one of their top secret operatives in front of more than a dozen creditable witnesses. Then there’s your link to Alphonso Haures, a known and proven Team Rocket operative, which also links you to Team Rocket operations that were dismantled.” Marco left his chair and moved around to sit on the edge of the table closest to David. “Now I’m going to ask you nicely one last time. What was your job with Team Rocket?”
David straightened up and tried to slide back in the seat but the handcuffs held him in place. “And I’m going to tell you again, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking abou…” His denial was cut off when Marco reached forward and grabbed him by the hair before slamming his head face first into the table.
“Here’s how this is going to go. The more times I have to ask you the more impatient I’m going to get, and the more impatient I get the more I’m going to hurt you. Now I have absolutely no issues doing this and we can get the information we need without it, hell we don’t even need you to be conscious, but you will talk.”
David was able to maneuver enough to rub his head where it impacted the table. He could feel a lump forming and glared back at Marco. “You can’t do this!” He yelled before receiving a ruthless backhand.
“Actually I can, I had to make a deal with the head of the IGS to keep her from sending one of her interrogators to do the job. So since I have you here and have free reign to do to you how I see fit, we’ll go ahead and get started. Rietta, Alex, take your positions. Carrie, I need you to bring that cart over here.”
Alexis came from around the table while Henrietta stepped up from behind, both of them taking David by the arms and holding his hands flat against the table. Carrie grabbed the cart and rolled it next to Marco then removed the cover. There was a myriad of tools and devices on the cart. Giving it a quick glance over Marco reached for a hammer and an extra long nail. David struggled with every ounce of his strength but there was no way he could overcome the power of the girls holding him.
“WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS!”
Alexis glared at David with a look of contempt and tightened her grip till she could feel the bones in his wrist creek. “You had your chance to talk; besides I know the things that ran through your mind when you saw me. So pardon me if I don’t shed a tear for you.”
“Carrie, would you like the honors?” The Mistress hesitated when Marco handed her the hammer then held the nail over David’s opened hand. “Just try not to miss.”
She didn’t need any more direction than that, bringing the hammer down and driving the nail through David’s hand and into the table. The pain was beyond comprehension, his mouth was opened to scream but no sound would come out. It was just as well, Henrietta’s hand clapped over his mouth to keep him quiet. Marco and Carrie then switched to the next hand, driving another nail through it. David’s rushed breathing was music to the Mistress’s ears, reveling in the pain he was feeling.
With David’s hands nailed to the table and the heads of the nails poking up Marco attached a cable to each one. The adrenaline was wearing off and he began to slump down in the chair but a sharp slap from Alexis brought him back. “Ok ok… I’ll talk, whatever you want to know…”
“You sure will. Carrie, be a dear and retrieve Ashley for me.”
~~~~~
0900, Operation Control Room
Marco sat staring at the league map and shook his head. The area David had pointed out was near the middle of the Route 9 desert area. It would be just as good a place as any to setup a secret base. Slumped down in the chair to his right laid Carrie, the Mistress had been up the whole night assisting in the interrogation and was exhausted. The last day had been excruciatingly stressful on the young girl and while she had gotten momentary satisfaction from what she did she felt conflicted afterwards.
A soft knock was heard and Kelly entered the room holding a tray with cups of coffee and a glass of juice. “What’s it look like?”
Marco took the glass of juice and settled back into the chair. “I doubt I could have picked a better location for a secret base. It’s going to be nearly impossible to sneak in undetected.”
“Who says we have to sneak in. We just kick the doors open and take the facility by force.” Kelly suggested as she ran her fingers through Carrie’s hair before taking the seat next to her and massaging her scalp.
“You’re starting to sound like Henrietta, impetuous. If we rush in and get detected then they’ll have time to destroy any critical information contained inside.”
“True as that may be how are we going to find and infiltrate? Using Isabella would be the obvious choice but if they have radar detection she may be spotted before she gets a fix on the location. A ground party is risky as well, the desert isn’t the most hospitable of places and depending on the terrain we could stick out like a sore thumb.” Leaning forward she clicked a few buttons on the table to bring up the grid of Route 9. “Sand dunes, there’s going to be an entrance above ground but finding it would be just as troublesome as anything else.”
A quiet yawn was heard as Carrie rubbed her eyes and pushed her head harder into Kelly’s hand. “Get Nikki to use Tremor Sense to try and find the location.” She grumbled. “Then we do just like last time and air drop in.”
Both Marco and Kelly regarded the half awake girl with looks of surprise. Ever since the SexSlash was level-fived they really hadn’t properly included her in the equations. Not only had it been a major oversight on their part but was also shameful. Everyone had agreed to not treat her any differently than before but as leaders their concern for the girl had them doing just that.
Marco nodded in agreement. “That’s a good idea; Nikki will already be use to the terrain and can survive the heat without a fuss. Hell, she can travel underground and remain undetected. Good work Carrie.”
Kelly thought it was a good idea as well but as more concerned for the Mistress’s mental wellbeing at the moment. “How are you feeling, I mean with David still being here and all?”
“I’m fine…” She spoke quickly though with a lack of a convincing tone. “I still think he got off lucky. Bastard should be forced to suffer every indignity he forced me to.”
“Worry not Love, his time will come.” Marco said with a gentle tone. “As for the air drop, I’ll want all of the harnesses thoroughly checked. I don’t want another break like last time.”
“It will be done. After the morning training session I’ll have everything checked and place an order for replacements. When should I have everyone ready to move?”
“They won’t know we’re coming so there’s no reason to rush. I’ll need to report our current findings to Butcher and Caswell. Worst case scenario we’ll be ordered to hold the facility until they send recovery teams to the location.”
“And the best case?”
“We blow the whole damn thing up.”
_____
Three days later, Indigo League Route 9, 1800
The moon was up but a light glow could still be seen over the horizon. Without the lights of a city near by the stars shone brightly, even if she didn’t have her compass the girl would have been able to find her way around. She checked her gear one last time then continued towards the North West. There would be a few hours of twilight left before night set in and the temperature dropped. Nikki had the basic idea of where she was heading and her orders for when she found the location, now she had to get started.
Hours of travel had passed and she’d been moving at a fairly quick pace. The sand had done nothing to slow her down before but once she reached the sand dunes she was forced to slow. She was amazed at how little the travel had tired her; there were doubts on her end when she first set off but her Colonel and Major had assured her she was perfect for the job. Dropping to the ground she could feel the shifting sands between her fingers and toes. Her tail struck the sand and sent a massive pulse through the ground, she didn’t quite understand how or why but she could feel everything, every rock or body moving across the area.
Nikki checked her map and GPS, she was on the first spot that needed to be checked but try as she might she couldn’t get a ping on any buried structures. “One down and twelve more to go.” She sighed before taking a drink from her canteen. “I appreciate the fact that they trust me with this but this sucks.”
“I’ll be sure to relay your displeasure to them.” Isabella chimed in over the comm. unit.
Nikki coughed and choked when she heard the voice come through her headset, she’d been on her own for so long that she had forgotten about her headset. “No that’s ok… how long have you been monitoring me?”
“Ever since you crossed out of the standard league patrol area. But if it makes you feel better you were actually right on top of the first checkpoint. How’d you do that by the way?”
“Internal Compass, one of my perks, did the Colonel ask you to keep tabs on me?”
“Nope, though with everything we’re planning on I’m surprised he didn’t. This is just me keeping tabs on you…” Regret filled the voice of the Mecha Musume. “I won’t lose track of you again.”
Nikki paused as thoughts of her first memories came back to her. She was held captive and raped by a group of tamers, her arm was cut off, and her eye was missing. A short explanation was given on how she was captured but she could tell things were being left out. Rather than press the issue she merely accepted the fact that the people who she was with now were friendly and willing to help her. “You don’t need to worry, I trust you.”
‘I don’t deserve it.’ “Ok, well your next point is six miles north of your current position. I’ll be on the other end if you want to talk but the further off the path the worse our connection is going to be. You’ll hear a tone sound off when you cross out of bounds; when that happens and you need to contact us or you find the base unpack and deploy the drone you were given. It will take off and boost your signal then lead us to your location when you signal you’ve found the base.”
“If you’re going to stay around then thanks, I could use the company.”
~~~~~
Indigo League Route 9, 0400
Nikki let out a sigh of relief and smiled when she felt the large metal block stuck miles beneath the sand. The others had mobilized and said they would be in the area within the hour, which gave her plenty of time to find the above ground entrance. The base was large but not large enough that she could miss the oddly spaced tree and rock formations.
Another half an hour went by and she had buried herself underground to stay out of sight. A soft ruffling caught her attention and gave her reason to surface just in time to duck down before being kicked in the head. The other’s had parachuted in from high altitude just like last time except with a safer landing. Surfacing again she gave herself a quick dust off then waved them over.
Marco was the first to arrive and greeted her with a kiss to the cheek. “Great work Nikki, need a break or are you going to hang with us?”
“I found it, going to see the mission through to the end.”
A hint of pride was shown in his eyes. “Some things never change. Bella, how long till you land?” The soft beeping from her beacon sounded and in a flicker Jean teleported away and back with the Mecha Musume. “Nice of you to join us on the ground. I want you and Kel on the door; we need to get in without triggering any of the alarm systems.”
“On it, just give me a second.”
Nikki cleared her throat to get his attention. “Colonel, the base itself is buried two miles underground. I wanted to let you know before someone falls.”
“Shit…” Isabella sighed. “There’s no way that calling the elevator for such a structure won’t go unnoticed. Opening the doors will trigger the elevators and while we can cut through the doors there is a definite chance a passerby could notice the falling sand.”
“And that’s a fuck and a half, how about some suggestions people.”
Henrietta stepped up and cracked her neck. “Nikki, can you make me a tunnel to the top of the elevator doors? I got an idea that may work but the hard part will be the beginning, after that we can do the teleport chain.”
Nikki went rigid. “Ma’am, it’s a two mile drop straight down. If you’re not certain…”
“Risk vs. reward Staff Sergeant, this goes right and we all get in undetected.”
“And if it goes wrong Rietta?” Grumbled Marco.
“On the one side of the scale I comeback pissed off that it didn’t work, on the very unlikely ten side of the scale… I fall for two miles and you mop up my body at the bottom.”
“Guess it better work then.”
Nikki got to digging and soon both she and Henrietta were standing on the top of the elevator doors. Now that she was standing there the Ghost Rider hesitated, she hadn’t had a lot of opportunity to use Jean’s training until now. The Kyubi was the only other ghost-type around and while her training sessions went well enough Henrietta didn’t have the same gift for it she had for fighting and shooting, at least not yet.
Placing her hand against the door she began to concentrate. “The door is here but it’s not important, I don’t have to break through it, I can just pass through it.” She chanted slowly for several seconds and began to sink through the door when a thought hit her. Once she sank down she activated her magnetic field and stepped on to the ceiling to become magnetized to it, standing upside down. Pressing her comm. unit she spoke quickly while looking down a darkened shaft. “Alexis, Isabella, any of the smart people up there… how long does it take to reach terminal velocity?”
Isabella was quick to break out her calculator and began tapping away with vicious fury. “Near about 15 seconds, after that you’ll travel at a speed of 1 mile every 30 seconds… why?”
“No reason… Nikki, are you certain that this is two miles deep?”
“Yes, two miles or maybe a little bit deeper… what are you doing?”
“Don’t worry about it, Bella; give me a one minute countdown timer on my mark.” Henrietta took a deep breath. “Are you ready?”
“Countdown is set; just tell me when to start.”
‘This is dumb; this is easily the dumbest thing I’ve ever done… oh well.’ “Start the timer… now!”
She released her magnetic field and began to free fall down the shaft counting in her head and spreading out to increase her wind resistance. On the surface Marco’s helmet alerted him to her rapid drop in altitude. While it was cold on the surface the heat was beginning to pick up the further down she went. It wasn’t enough to bother the Blaze Rider and she was certain that once they were actually in the base they would have some kind of cooling system running.
The countdown timer went off just as she had mentally reached one minute and she threw all of her energy into magnetic field, forcing it down and outward to slow her descent. At her current height she could see the actual elevator but was continuing to fall. She’d slowed down significantly and reversed the magnetic polarity to attach to the wall. The elevator was another hundred yards down and lit up enough for her to teleport onto the platform. Goal achieved she teleported back to the top and was quickly seized by the vest.
The angry stare of her master bore into for just a moment before he let her go. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“That falling was much faster than walking all the way down.”
“And what would have happened if you miscalculated?”
“I would have teleported to the sky and summoned my bike in mid air, then rode it back down.”
Marco’s stare went blank; despite the fact that she just scared him senseless she wasn’t in any real danger. Then another thought occurred to him. “And if the elevator wasn’t’ where you thought it was?”
“Fine, I took a stupid risk, one mistake and I would have been killed… again. Mission now, yell at me later.”
“I plan to, go ahead and take down Kelly, Jean, and Alexis. They’re the strongest teleporters.”
“Let's move people!”
~~~~~
Everyone was shuttled to the bottom of the shaft in short order but with no layout of the facility they would be flying dark again. Jean phased through the first set of doors just enough to see on the other side as was surprised to find a stark white room. Contamination suits were hanging on the walls but from the size of the overhead fan and the nozzles for the air showers the suits were there for a hazmat breakout. Pulling back into the elevator and shuffled everyone to the sides just enough to bring up a miniature illusion of the next room.
“That’s what the next room looks like, any ideas?”
Alexis gave the illusion a quick once over. “It’s a decontamination room… why would a base like this have a decontamination room?”
“I don’t think this is as much a base as it is a research facility, now what they’re researching is anyone’s guess.” Isabella suggested to the surprise of everyone else. She was neck deep in the control panel attached to the wall and didn’t bother to come out as she responded. “I’ve read about places like this, they keep the base far enough underground so that there’s nowhere to escape if something happens. Something being an outbreak of sorts.”
“Outbreak… sounds lovely.” Marco quipped. “We keep our eyes open as we move around. Bella, how long will it take you to patch into the security systems?”
“I can’t do it from here; this panel only controls the elevator… why would I expect it to do anything else?” She asked herself as a side note. “I’ll need access to one of their security cameras or the actual security station if I wanted to be lazy about it.”
“Lazy is efficient at times, Jean and Alex, you two feel like hunting for the security room?”
Alexis nodded to Jean and started towards the doors. Between the powers both of them used the chances of getting stopped were relatively low. It didn’t take long to phase through the doors in the second room and soon they found themselves in the middle of a long hallway. As luck would have it there was a facility directory on the wall with the always helpful ‘you are here’ marking their current location. The security room was close enough for a rapid response team to already be in place if they were discovered so the pair was fairly sure about their safe entry.
“Looks like we are here; and the security room is down the hall. I’ll slide in first and check it out then let you in when the coast is clear.” Jean suggested.
“Sounds good to me, not like anyone’s going to be on the lookout for us.”
The two girls approached the room but stopped short when they saw the camera over the door. Thinking through their options Jean reached up and unplugged the wire connecting the camera to the wall then turned invisible and waited in front of the door. Soon enough the door opened outward and a short woman stepped out and looked up to see what was wrong with the camera. She’d opened the door just wide enough for Jean to slip in unnoticed then went back inside the room. On the inside sat another female watching over the other cameras as well as two more much further back sleeping on cots.
“What’s the matter with the camera?”
“It came unplugged, where’s the step stool?”
“Supply closet.” The girl said as she continued to not watch the monitors in favor of her crossword puzzle. The short woman had retrieved the step stool but still had to get on the tips of her toes to reach the cord. “Hey, what’s a six letter word that means to fall?”
The short woman had just reached the cord when Alexis appeared hovering in her face. “Topple or Tumble.” She announced as she shoved the girl off the stool to land on the back of her head with a yelp.
Alexis quickly moved out of sight as the other girl jumped from her chair to check on her coworker. Just as she started to move forward both of her feet were yanked out from underneath her, causing her fall face first to the ground. Not taking any chances, Jean struck her in the back of the head to be sure she was out then turned her attention to the two girls that hadn’t woken up yet. Alexis had retrieved the handcuffs from the pouches the girls wore and restrained them before healing the head wounds they sustained. While she was doing that Jean was busy cuffing the two girls that had been sleeping before teleporting away to get Isabella.
The Mecha Musume’s eyes lit up when she saw the console and she instantly began digging items out of her pack. “I can definitely work with this.” Her eyes shifted around before finding the alarm’s central control hub. A few spliced wires, some leads, and a sip of water later she was hooked into the alarms. “Good to go, as long as I know what doors you’re about to open I can keep the alarms from sounding.”
Little did she know that Marco and the others had been brought in while she was busy and nearly jumped out of the chair when his voice startled her. “Good work, can you give us a digital overlay of the facility?”
Isabella reached into her pack again and fished out a camera then took a picture of the directory that was bolted to the wall in the room. Next she handed a laser scanner to Ilene. “Can you get a scan of the hallway in both directions?” Next she pulled four miniature holographic projectors and handed them to Mina, Kelly, Zianna, and Rebecca. “If you could move our captives out of the way and set these up?” Both the scans taken from the hallway as well as the picture of the directory came up on her laptop then sent them to the projectors to be processed. A few minutes went by and projectors went into action, setting up a 3D representation of the building to the most reasonably accurate scale. “And there we go.”
“I swear, if you all keep working at this level of proficiency I may have to start handing out tamings as rewards.” He said jokingly before realizing the implications it may have. “But let’s not get into that right now. From the look of things there is going to be a lot of ground to cover. Alexis, I want you leading the team heading towards the Medical Research section; you, Ashley, Carrie, Chesra, Jean and Renae. Henrietta, Ari, Zi, Ariel, and Emaline, I want you to take over the Living Quarters. Try not to kill anyone unless you have to. Tam and Bernie, you two to stay with Isabella and Ilene,” He turned his attention to the Mecha Musume. “They are to follow your orders unless you two come under attack, then they will be defending this position.”
“Thank you Colonel, I’ll have one of them monitoring the holographic projector once your beacons go active on it. I’m not losing track of anyone again.” She proclaimed with stern assurance.
“I trust that you won’t, everyone else is coming with me to the Technological Research area. Are there any questions?” No one said a word; their only response was to check their weapons again, set their jaws, and give a firm nod. “Good, Bella, keep your eyes on the monitors and call the targets as we approach them. Let’s move out people.”
The map of the facility was transmitted to HUDs in their visors and showed their locations and destinations as well as where the other teams were. Each team started off in their own respective directions but judging by how slowly the blips were moving on the map the facility was huge. They would have preferred to shut down the lighting but without knowledge of what kind of pokégirls or firepower was held in the facility it was best not to alert anyone to the presence.
Back in the security room Ilene had gained access to the employee list and work schedules. It was a good thing they decided to strike when they did. With the exception of a few dozen scientists everyone else would be in their sleeping quarters. This would make things considerably easier to manage. On the other hand the security teams were on an earlier rotation and would be coming to change out within the next hour. If they had any kind of reasonable training in Team Rocket then that hour was actually more like forty minutes.
Isabella continued to run through the programs for the security system while checking the monitors and smiled briefly when she hit upon the building’s security clearance access checklist. “Bernie, I need you to bring me a badge from off one of the guards.” She spoke quickly before clicking her headset. “Everyone stop where you are and don’t move until I say so.”
The teams came to a halt, waiting for word from their tech specialist. “Isabella, what’s the hold up?”
“Give me one second Colonel, the facility security is run off RFID badges that grant a specific level of access to any given badge. If the badge doesn’t have the right access level then the doors won’t open. Naturally the badges have to be kept on the personnel at all times; I can track each individual signal and have them displayed on your HUDs. They will ping anytime facility personnel comes within 50 yards of your location then zero in so you can stage your attacks.” As good as her word white blips popped up in sections of the facility. The living areas were almost completely covered in white while small blips dotted different rooms.”
“Copy that, great work. Keep your eyes on the monitors in case someone is wandering around without a badge.”
“Will do colonel.”
Now that the teams had the exact locations of the bases occupants they were making swift work of cleaning them up. Any one by themselves was simply overwhelmed while small groups were taken out with tactical precision. With the exception of the security forces none of the people were a threat, but unknown to Isabella and Avalanche there was another player in the game.
Marco and his team were already in the Technological Research room looking over the weapons and gadgets in development. In another area Henrietta and her group were keeping things under control. Those who had the inclination to fight back against what were seemingly overwhelming odds were quickly and savagely dealt with. They were gracious enough only to break bones in non-life threatening areas.
Due to the living arrangements of the facility it was normal for tensions to run high and tempers to fall short. For that reason the security forces had their weapons locked away until it was time for their shift. This was the main reason they were decimated the way they were. Now the five girls stood in the center of the stacked circular hallways keeping guard. There wasn’t much going on but there was an ominous pressure in the air.
While Alexis’s team had also done a sweep up of any stragglers while heading towards the Medical Research wing her group had also used a different approach with the staff contained inside. Jean was more than capable of taking care of the illusions while Alexis was filtering information to keep them a step ahead of any questions raised.
“And you’re all from the Review and Oversight Division?”
Jean had darkened her hair to a shade of brown, dismissed her tails and ears, and formed the illusion of lab coats for herself and Jean while the others had their patches removed. “Yes Dr. Oliver, I’m Jeannette Melnitzs and my assistant Alexis Blake, the others are with our personal security.”
Dr. Oliver scratched her head and suppressed a groan of irritation. It had been a long time since anyone from ROD came to check on them but she still hated them. “Yes, I got that the first time… but why are you here?” ‘Idiot investigators coming in to look over our work… like they could even comprehend what we do.’
‘She’s offended that we’re here and thinks we’re idiots.’ Alexis spoke telepathically to Jean. ‘I don’t believe she has any idea what’s going on in the outside world.’
“Dr. Oliver, do you have any idea what’s been going on out there?” Jean asked sternly, she waited until Oliver was about to open her mouth and cut her off with a threatening tone. “I’ll tell you exactly what’s been going on out there. Our tamers, trainers, and team members have been getting rounded up and arrested or killed. You are currently standing fifteen feet away from a mass spectrometer in an undisclosed location two miles underground. Now in the event that someone has a big mouth or can’t stand up to the horrible horrible things that get done to captured terrorist,” her tone became harsher as she stepped forward, backing her into the desk. “All I’m asking is that you show us what kind of countermeasures you have set in place to prevent you from getting the death penalty in the event that this facility is breached and you’re taken in.”
Oliver stammered for a few seconds and slid back from the desk and into her chair. “You… you know what kind of countermeasures we have set in place, why do you have to be here to check them?”
Alexis took a seat at another desk and pulled her laptop out of her pack. “Because we also have to preserve this data. Any and all files associated with work done in the facility are to be copied twice and then taken to another secure facility.” She plugged her laptop into one of the main computers then turned towards Oliver. “But we are idiots of course, so what exactly are you all working on here?”
“Psychic…” She muttered silently to herself. “I didn’t mean any offence by that.”
“Then you wouldn’t have been thinking it and you wouldn’t be lying about it. But that’s not important, tis the nature of our job, to be hated by the people we come to investigate. So I’ll ask you again, what are you working on?”
“Ma’am, this part of the facility is used for research in to genetic engineering. A lot of the staff hale from different leagues with stringent regulations involving the study and practice of honing pokégirl DNA. Me personally, I’ve been charged with picking up where one of our more prestigious scientists left off. While Dr. Frapp’s methods were deplorable and what eventually got him kicked out of the program, he was at the top of his field for harnessing the pokégirl genomes behind their powers and enhancements then inserting them into human embryos for the development of blood gifts.”
Alexis kept herself from reacting when she heard about Dr. Frapp’s involvement. She’d been under the impression that he was just a massive pervert but now knew there was more to the story. “I see, well considering the fact that you’re taking over his work I guess that means he was fairly successful in his research.”
“Quite, he successfully developed four human subjects and two pokégirl subjects over his forty plus years here. He was thought to be quite the prodigy for a time, then it was discovered that he had Longevity blood. The full details are rather hush hush but I heard there was a spat between him and the chairman over one of his experiments.”
‘Jean, I need you to get her attention and keep it for a while. I’m still going to be downloading the data but I think there’s more to Frapp than even Oliver is aware of.’ Alexis suggested mentally as she started trying to access Frapp’s research notes. It came as little surprise to find out that they were encrypted but that was why she was using the laptop Isabella gave her and not a regular one.
Several minutes went by but the folder finally opened. Its contents seemed normal enough but the thing that got her attention first was the file marked Creations. Contained in that folder were six folders containing audio files. The oldest file was created over 37 years ago and the first to be opened. Not having time to listen to the rather lengthy audio files she skimmed them instead.
‘This is my first attempt at tailoring Blood Gifts to human subjects. Due to the unwillingness of the organization to provide me children to use I’ll be forced to use my own blood in this first attempt. Off to the side I have the first set of pokégirls; an Armsmistress, Water Maiden, Rack-sasha, and Dominatrix. With any luck this will yield positive results for my theories.’
Alexis felt a chill run down her spine as she continued to listen, skipping hundreds of hours of talking.
‘Evan Domico, our relation would be obvious to everyone if we were together but things have appeared to move beyond my control. He’s strong the people are saying, far stronger than a child his age should be and after an ‘accident’ he’s been discovered to be tough too. No matter, he’s gone now; I’ve gotten a new project to work on. I’ve been told to create a new pokégirl; one that surpasses the Ninja and Elf breeds in terms of stealth, a monumental task even if I knew where to start. We got some extra felines and psychics I can use and then see where things go from there.’
Ten years forward
‘I’ve been receiving reports on my experiments. Evan seems to have a gift for getting into the minds of pokégirls and molding them. But I’ve seen that look before, it’s the same look I have when I see something innocent. I can see the gears turning as well, the thoughts of what he wants to do to them. That failed experiment Angelica though, that was nothing like what I was expecting and rather than keep her around here I sent her off. My side projects on the other hand have turned out quite nicely… not that the chairman cared. He burst into my office ranting and raving about what a screw job we did on Angelica, I mean there’s still a chance that she will go through threshold. At any rate they both are exhibiting signs of Blood Gifts far above the average number found in a human, I don’t think I’m mistaken in my belief that with time I can ensure certain Blood Gifts.
As for my side projects, it was a strange stroke of luck coming into possession of a copied G-stylist. Dizzy, the hybrid of a Video Girl and Super-Bra Genius, was perfectly fused though a little bit crazy. There was a pristine innocence about her that makes my mouth water which is more than what I can say about the other that was created by my assistant. She used the Armsmistress I used to create Evan and combined it with an Applepie; on top of that the damn G-Stylist malfunctioned and didn’t fuse her properly. To make up for it she used the G-stylist again and added a giant Trollop but the item continued to fail. I’ll be sending a review to the Tech department explaining our findings on the copied G-Stylist before it goes into mass production. For now we’re going to discontinue its use.
Ying, as we’ve come to call her, should be euthanized but considering her unique styling she will be kept for observation. She is incredibly strong though not to the level of the Giant Trollop breed and the same can be said about her durability. More testing will be needed to extract the exact limits of this particular mistake.
That’s not important right now. The Chairman has given me one last chance to make good on my development of that pokégirl he asked for… Oh dear… the director must have cut his hand on the beaker. There isn’t much blood but there’s enough for an experiment.’
Another ten years forward, near the end of the file
‘Charles has become quite the ladies man in the facility, it was never intended for that failure to receive such a blood gift as charmer. While he’s been my greatest success, having been given a higher than average set of Blood Gifts, he is not what The Chairman wanted. My contacts have informed me that both Evan and Angelica have been moved to the Breaker division, that whore never did go through threshold. As for my extra experiment he’s still developing his Blood Gifts, more testing is necessary to… oh… Mr. Chairman… I wasn’t expecting you for another…’
Alexis heard a different voice now, she was sure she’d heard it before but couldn’t quite place where from.
‘I’m sure you didn’t… where’s the boy?’
‘What boy?’
‘The boy you created using my blood… what’s with that look, did you think I wouldn’t find out? This is my facility, my equipment, and my property. I am the fucking all mighty god you serve; who do you think you are to use my blood in one of your experiments… and a failed experiment at that. You’re through here!’
‘But sir, this is my life’s work…’
‘No, your work belongs to me. Those experiments are part of the organization. That boy you created using my blood is coming with me now. Dizzy and Ying will stay here at this facility and as for you…’
Alexis backed away from the computer when it started to flicker and as she looked around the other computers began flickering as well. Each monitor blinked out then switched to the view of a strange pokégirl on the screen. Thinking quickly she disconnected her laptop from the system.
Back near the living quarters a loud wailing was heard by the team looking over the area. Zianna looked around and readied her weapon before aiming at a large blank spot on the wall. Henrietta moved to the wall and reared back before striking it hard, she could tell it was hollow a ways through and began to phase through it. The wall was far deeper than she expected and there was no way the others could follow through it, she started to turn back but the wailing was louder on that end.
One by one large metal doors slammed down locking off their exits from the Living Quarters. The same was happening in the other locations as well. Isabella was scrambling as the control terminal started to go haywire and then there was the concerned voice of her Colonel coming in through her headset. “Bella, we’ve just gotten locked in. What the hell is going on?”
“I have no idea Sir, give me a moment and I’ll have this sorted out.”
A sudden high pitched giggly voice could be heard over their comm. units. “Oh it’s not going to be that easy. Good evening members of the Indigo Military who’ve managed to infiltrate our secure facility. My name is Dizzy and you’re all intruding in my home.”
Alexis turned sharply towards Dr. Oliver then pressed her headset. “Everyone keep on guard, she’s not a normal AAAHHHHH!” She yelled and threw her comm. piece out.
“No snitching you tiny snoop. As for the rest of you, well one of you is about to be introduced to my big sister. The rest of you can either sit quietly while I contact the reinforcements to retake the facility or… Hey!”
Isabella’s fingers were flying across the keyboards in an attempt to retake control of the facility from the G-spliced. “Don’t think I’m going to make this easy on you you sugar coated hyper bitch.”
Back in the passage way Henrietta hadn’t received any of the most recent transmissions. It wasn’t important at that particular time; she was more concerned about the loud wailing. The closer she got the more the sound began to worry her. “The fuck is that?”
The sound of the intercom squeaked to life over her head. “Hellllllooooo Henrietta! I’m going to need you to keep going forward… not that you have much of a choice. The teleport jammers have been activated and the walls are now electrified, so you won’t be leaving too soon, may as well say hello to Ying.”
“Listen here you little cunt, I don’t know who you are…
“Dizzy.”
Henrietta grit her teeth as flames licked at her hand. “Funny, I bet there’s a smug little smile on your face that I’ll be sure to knock off when I find you.”
“Yeah yeah, you have a half mile of running ahead of you so you better get moving. Of course, if you’d like to die now I can seal off the section you’re currently in and fill it with poison.”
Relenting, Henrietta summoned her hover bike and shot towards the end. It didn’t take long for her to reach the massive opening and there she was. The room was as massive as the girl inhabiting it, easily taller than Zianna. Earth tone green hair and purple eyes, she was bulky but Henrietta knew she was fast too. The G-Splice’s hands were bigger than Henrietta’s chest and judging by the state of the room and the bodies thrown about she was only there for one reason.
A massive door slid down from behind the Blaze Rider but she kept her eyes on the girl who was still chained in place. “So what’s you deal?”
“I’m sorry, big sis hasn’t gotten living company in a long time and is quite feral. But don’t you worry about that, I’ll release the mechanism holding the chains and you two can have a good old time.”
True to her word the chains released with a hiss of hydraulic fluid and as the girl was busy discovering her freedom Henrietta was preparing for the fight. “Mark my words… that smile, off your face.”
~~~~~
Marco was scrambling to get a hold on the situation. They were just getting ready to break through the doors when the strange girl appeared in the corner of their HUDs. “Sorry about that, making sure your dear Henrietta was getting settled. Now your friend in the security office is keeping me from contacting the outside so were going to play a little game.” Her voice switched from the comm. units to the facility intercom. “Attention all staff and personnel, this is your dizzy DJ Dizzy with a special announcement for you. If you’re not aware by now then I will fill you in, this facility has been infiltrated and more or less taken over by the Indigo Military, and yes Dr. Oliver, that includes the ‘RODs’ that are in the room with you. Now since one of them is keeping me from calling for help this is what’s going to happen. You all have a half an hour to deal with them, after time is up I’m going to activate the hidden safety protocols and flood this whole place with gas… all except my room of course. If you want to live you better fight for it.”
Back at the Living Quarters the doors that were once sealed by Isabella began to open. At first there was no movement at all; then one by one people began to pour into the hallways. The four girls from Avalanche all backed into each other, each one taking a different direction.
“Isabella this is Arianna, shut down the lights in Living Quarters, switching to night-vision.”
“On it.” One by one the light began to switch off until the only ones on were the ones leaving them illuminated in the middle of the room. “What the, why won’t they shut off?”
Dizzy appeared in the HUDs again. “That’s not fair, if my people have to fight in the dark then so do yours.” All the optical enhancements for the helmets flicked off. “Fair is fair.”
A loud crash was heard through all the headsets when Isabella slammed her hand down on the console. “I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR STUFF, BUT NO ONE FUCKS WITH MY TECH!”
_____
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Alpha- Kelly- Duelist |
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Delta |
Echo |
Indigo |
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Beta- Chesra- Archangel |
Beta- Henrietta- Ghostrider |
Beta- Mina- Kunoichi |
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Arianna- War Hound |
Field Beta- Selena- Caphoochie |
Zianna- Wolf Queen |
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Kim- Bombshell |
Rebecca- Smokey |
Renae- Ice Princess |
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Nikki- SexSlash |
Alexis- Cherub |
Isabella- Mecha Musume |
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Emaline- Fire Maiden |
Lily- Belle Awesome |
Tam- Catgirl |
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Ilene- Imp |
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Leona- Lamia- KIA |
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Harem
Chesra- Co-Alpha
Henrietta- Co-Alpha
Carrie- Mistress (M)
Ashley- Peekabu
Jean- Kyubi
Bernadette- Piratit
Handler
Christina Reynolds
Ariel- LawFoxx