The two groups had managed to calm down long enough to get seated. Avalanche had taken up the majority of the tables while Philips group only needed one. The men sat at a table near the center and were joined by the pairs of girls who had issues with each other.
"So you're Phillip Wade, I guess I owe you a thank you." When Phillip gave him a questioning look he decided to elaborate. "You brought Henrietta back to life?"
"Oh that, think nothing of it. Delilah insisted that we do so, she felt responsible. We were also hoping it would keep you from attacking us on sight."
Marco understood where he was coming from. Considering his current stance on government organizations it wouldn't take much to provoke him. "Fair enough, Kelly, what's your issue with her?" He asked motioning to Minerva who was still hiding behind Phillip.
"That's Minerva; she broke into our home the night Henrietta died. She was working with Richard then. As a matter of fact Richard told me that she had been killed... by Delilah... one of that man’s harem." She explained while trying to piece together the information in a way that made sense.
"That's where I remember her from; she was on the bus we took from Pewtit. Were you stalking me that whole time?"
"Um... kind of. I had come up with a plan to take Avalanche away from you and was told to take charge of it. After I lost you in Stone Town I was in a lot of trouble. Then I was given a chance to redeem myself in Cerulesbian but after she kicked our ass I was going to be killed as a warning to the others. That was when I discovered that Delilah was never working with us from the start and introduced to Phil." Minerva rattled off quickly before looking back and forth between Marco and Kelly. "Are we past the part where she tries to kill me?"
"Yes, Kel let it go." He watched both girls relax and turned his attention to Cindy. "Your ax with Henrietta?"
"She broke a door, said the blood of everyone she killed was going to be on my hands if I didn't let her leave, then she sucker punched me, shot a guard, knocked out her team, and stole a prototype hover-bike." The night nurse explained in a huff and crossed her arms.
Marco gave Henrietta a dumbfounded look and shook his head. "Really?"
"Hey, in my defense, I didn't have my memory at that time." She fired back defensively.
Wade chuckled to himself. "You were askin for it Cindy. We told her if she made it out of that room she could leave and she agreed not to kill anyone on the way out. Henrietta held up her end of the deal in spite of you standing in the way. You should have known better after we mentioned how much trouble she gave Clair and Delilah."
Kelly slapped her hand down on the table in frustration. If she was understanding everything correctly then then they were much closer to getting Arianna back than they initially thought. "I want to meet this Delilah, right now!"
Phillip pulled out his phone and nodded. "Calm down, give me a second and I'll try to reach her. If she's still undercover then she won't just be able to answer." He dialed the number then waited for her to answer. Eventually she picked up and he spoke quickly. "Where are you? ... Good, how quickly can you get to the park near the coliseum in the Indigo Plateau?"
The area in the center of the park hazed over and the Dark Queen appeared before them. "As quickly as you like." She quickly took stock of the girls around her then spotted Phillip. She was about to make her way over when she was suddenly grabbed around the collar and lifted off the ground. The girl holding her was over nine feet tall and quite furry, starring at her with pain and rage filled eyes. "Can I help you?"
"YOU REEK OF MY SISTER, WHERE IS SHE?" Zianna growled out in her battle form.
Her eyes pulsed as she stared down at the Lupina. "Release me."
"That won’t work on me. Where is she?!"
"Zianna! She isn't the enemy, let her go!" Marco commanded.
For a moment it didn't seem like she would let go but slowly she began to shrink down. Without her fur they could clearly see the tears coming down her cheeks. "She smells like Ari... and sex. I want her back."
Once Zianna finally let go of Delilah she made it over to Phillip as quickly as possible. Chesra gently pulled the sobbing girl over to where the Fallen Angel and Alexis were sitting. Marco looked back to his girls then turned his attention to the Dark Queen. The surprise was wearing off quickly and she ran a finger across the claw mark left on her collarbone.
"Please excuse the unfriendly greeting. All the same, I trust her nose more than I trust your words. Explain please." Marco said with his normal, forceful tone.
She rubbed her neck again then looked to Philip. "I understand that you can't contact us while you're there. All the same, if her nose is accurate then I also want to know the situation." He explained in a much gentler tone.
She took a seat next to him then rotated her neck. "Colonel Readman I presume. After your victory in VerMuffEatin' I returned to the base of the Gentleman with the purpose of figuring out their next move. I was surprised to discover that they had captured one of your units, Arianna."
"How in the hell did they ever manage that? We all have our special qualities and even after Henrietta's resurrection, thank you by the way; Ari is the fiercest of us all." Kelly stated.
"You’re welcome. From how it was explained to me, she managed to track them down and broke into his office. I'm sure at least a few of you remember the Bondage Elf Andzral?"
"I'm going to kill her." Both Kelly and Henrietta muttered while something similar but with more swearing came from Chesra.
"Taking that as a yes. The two of them wound up fighting. From what I understand Arianna started winning then got teleported into their stronghold. From there Tessa, a Neo-Iczel, joined the fight and she was over taken. When I arrived they'd had her in custody for two weeks."
'Two weeks? That means she was caught just as I was coming out of my coma.' Marco thought grimly, knowing exactly all the things that could happen in such a time period. "What's happened to her?" Delilah hesitated for a brief moment, just long enough to irritate him and make him think the worse. "I'm asking you what they have done to her."
"From what I understand the first few weeks were spent trying to turn her through taming. After it was clear that she couldn't be turned they turned to torture to break her will." She could feel an intense wave of anger radiating off Marco and stammered. "Please bear in mind that I wasn't around for any of this. I know a lot of pokégirls and I read her file. She's too tough to be broken by torture. On top of that she had been making their lives hell sense the moment they captured her. She’d almost killed most of them during tamings which is why they stopped that."
A hint of pride shown in Marco's eyes and he cracked a smile. "That's my girl."
Delilah took a deep breath and continued. None of them were going to like what she said next but they needed to know. "That kind of brought on a good news bad news situation."
Phillip was almost afraid to ask. "What could possibly be the good news?"
"I can confirm their allegiance to Team Rocket with 100% certainty. But that's because when they couldn't break her they contracted a Breaker; Evan Domico of Tri Fotia."
"Son of a bitch." Marco groaned; they all knew the name quite well. Rumors were wide spread about a group of tamers that could completely destroy the will of any pokégirl. "How long?"
"Excuse me?"
"How long has he been with her?"
"Five days, I got there on his second day. He already understands that it's futile to beat or tame her into submission. He started by trying to appeal to her sense of honor. Torturing kits in front of her, telling her that she was the reason they were suffering, and that he would stop if she gave in. After that he tried magical manipulation of her senses to make her believe you had come to rescue her. He had her going for about ten seconds, then she broke his arm and leg then killed his Nekomata by snapping her neck."
"How did he think that would work? She's been around me too long for that to work unless they were reading my mind. Too bad she didn't kill him."
She smiled and nodded. "That's what I said. But a few days ago he got his hands on a Killer Queen; her only job is to bring Arianna under her control and by proxy his control. She got started this morning and said she would be finished in twelve hours."
Chesra made her way over after comforting Zianna and stood behind Marco, rubbing his shoulders so he would relax. "A Killer Queen, one of the few breeds that are capable of breaking a dark-type. We have to get to her as soon as possible. Can you take us to her?"
"I'm sorry; there is no way for me to get you to her. The base has high tech teleport jammers that are constantly running and are only turned off for a small window when someone is coming or going. Oh... I finally have a name Phil, well... part of one. Haures."
"Alphonso Haures, Chief of the League. We already know." Marco tapped his fingers on the table. "By the time we get all of this taken care of Ari will be lost."
"I spent the morning trying to figure out some sort of plan to help her escape but couldn't come up with anything solid. In the time I spent with her I tried to make her as comfortable as possible and make sure she got decent food. I think she knew that I wasn't a danger to her."
"I appreciate what you did for her. We're going to get her back as soon as we're done with Haures. But now that I know who was behind this; what does SLOI want with me?"
Phillip nodded and pulled out a small folder. "It started with us simply trying to figure out who was responsible for the increase in Team Rocket activity around Indigo as well as their brazen actions as of late. Before, the Rockets would keep fairly quiet about their activities but lately they have become a lot more opened. SLOI managed to infiltrate their ranks using Delilah as a Fixer of sorts. Even though they view pokégirls rather harshly they can't deny the services of one who can manipulate people and get them what they want. A while back the leader of Team Rocket requested that they procure the best girls they could get their hands on and military pokégirls fit that mold rather nicely. That is where you come in."
"Avalanche is considered one of the better units in the military so they want them. The problem would be me I guess. When I planned on leaving the military there was a big stink over what was going to happen to them. I can only assume that they were planning to kill me and try to acquire Avalanche after their time limits ran out.” He got his answer when Minerva shivered. “Wouldn't have done them any good though."
"That was something Arianna said that they were wondering about. Said that even if they did manage to kill you they would never get their hands on Avalanche." Delilah said as they remember a discussion the others were having over the War Hound.
"Of course not, when he dies we instantly become free pokégirls. Same thing happens when his service to the military is over." Kelly stated plainly. "The papers were drawn up after we got moved to Black Ops."
"Oh... Well as far as I can figure the second they crack Arianna they will have all the information they need. Then they'll come after you next Mr. Readman and given the reputation of Tri Fotia they will start with your friends and family."
Marco chuckled to himself. "Then they are biting off way more than they can chew. Either way we're planning on throwing a wrench into their plans right now."
Phillips eyes narrowed as he looked to Marco. He had his own operation running and didn't know what Marco and Avalanche were planning. If things didn't go right he would be left with nothing. "You mentioned that you all were planning on taking care of Haures, he's currently our only link to Team Rocket. Can you be more specific on what that means?"
"There is a meeting that will be held in another hour and he's going to be there. I'm going to out him after the business is over and have him taken into custody. From there it's only going of be a matter of time before he talks and tells us where Arianna is. I would like your cooperation though. You've had someone on the inside that knows his face and can substantiate my claims. If you don't want to help then that's fine, we can do it without you. But with you is much easier."
"We'll do what we can but I can't risk blowing Delilah's cover."
"I'm not going back once Haures is in custody. That would just leave me to deal with Domico and I'm not sure what kind of harem he's running. Even if Haures goes down I'm sure you'll still be the primary target so you'll still be in danger." Delilah said harshly.
"True, but with him out of the picture that should bring an end to Team Rocket’s government support. They would have to come after me directly and that I can deal with. First things first we need to speak with the directors of the IGS and SII, they would be the ones taking him into custody and both have an invested interest."
Phillip flipped through his folder and stopped near the end. SLOI had been keeping tabs on the investigation so he had the necessary information on hand. "Right, SII is heading the investigation into Spencer's attack on you and the director of the IGS is giving them her full cooperation. They should be in the city somewhere seeing as they are in the same meeting my director is in."
"Which explains how you knew I was here. I can find them quickly enough. Let's go."
Delilah fished her pokéballs out of her pocket and handed them to Phillip. "Recall me while I'm in the city, I can't afford to be seen until this is all taken care of. Team Rocket has eyes everywhere."
Marco got up and moved away from the table to make his call. Butcher and the others had left together so if he found him he could find the others. There were other calls he would have to make too just in case things went sideways like the Dark Queen predicted. If everything Delilah said was true then he would still need to make sure contingency plans were in place.
~~~~~
With the time limit set for when meeting would start again it didn't come as a surprise that they weren't too far away from the main office of the IRS. The problem came when they realized that anyone else who was in the meeting would be going for lunch also and with it being a nice restaurant over half the directors from the meeting were there.
Marco, Philip, and Chris entered the restaurant while the others waited outside. The building looked cramped enough and it wasn't necessary that they all be there. On the outside the groups were looking back and forth at each other. Minerva was still hesitant about being around Kelly and Cindy was still giving Henrietta the eye.
"You got something to say?" Henrietta huffed out.
"You're a bitch ya know that." Cindy replied.
"Yep, and proud of it. If you have some kind of issue with me then spit it out."
"First of all I owe you a punch; secondly we want that hover-bike back."
Clair stepped between the two of them. "I don't think our Masters would appreciate the two of you fighting in the middle of the street. Can't you try to play nice?"
"This is me playing nice, I want to shoot her but I have other things to worry about. One of our family members is being turned against us as we speak and sooner or later we'll have to deal with her. It's just the reality of situation."
"The possibility of having to fight one of your own... I can't imagine how difficult it must be."
"It’s not like a harem." Jean sighed. "I've been in dozens of harems and the idea of fighting or killing at least one of my harem sisters was always very tempting. But not here, it's more a family than a harem and even if they don't always get along with each other no one has ever been out to intentionally kill another. I would hate to be forced to fight one of my sisters to the death."
"You think you would feel bad, imagine how Master would take it." Ashley said as she loosened her tie. "I think he's been to enough graves this year."
Kelly scratched the back of her head in deep thought. "When it comes down to it... If we have to kill Ari... I'll do it. I can live with the burden. She left because of me and I'll have to take responsibility for that."
"None of you will lay a hand on my sister." Zianna growled. "She'll come back to her senses and rejoin the unit."
"Zi..." Kelly started softly but was cut off by the Lupina abruptly turning towards her.
"I don't want to hear it! She's coming back alive."
"What if she attacks Marco, what if she gets away and goes after his family? I can't just stand by while she tries to kill him. I'm not saying it’s a fight I would enjoy, hell it’s a fight that I have a good chance of losing. But if it comes down to it we all have to be prepared to do what we must."
"And I'm telling you I'm not going to let you kill her!"
Alexis had stood by while the two argued and lowered her head. "I would rather she find peace in death than to continue her life as the unwilling slave to a monster who butchers kits. I don't want this anymore than you do but we have to be realistic about what a fight with her is like. Eighty percent of the unit would lose a fight with her, and what if she just grabbed one of us and teleported away. You, Chesra, Henrietta, Mina, and maybe Kelly are the only ones who could bring her down and it would still be a challenge."
Cindy scoffed at the Cherub. "She can't be that tough of an opponent. I bet Delilah could take her down."
Henrietta glared at the Night Nurse. "I had just been resurrected and had no idea who I was or what I was really doing, it took Delilah and Clair to bring me down and I still shot both of them first. Sorry about that by the way.” She said glancing at Clair. “Arianna has been around longer than me and would have full use of her powers. You wouldn't last thirty seconds against her. So I would appreciate it if you kept your damn mouth shut."
"Cindy, don't you say another word. We don't need to be on their bad side right now." Said Clair with a warning look.
Seconds later all six of the humans were walking out of the restaurant. As luck would have it Butcher and the directors were just getting ready to leave when Marco's group found then. It was just as well, it didn't seem like a good place to discuss what they were going to talk about. Both Ledda and Caswell were hesitant to see him again but if what he had hinted at was true they would be over it soon enough.
"Colonel, there was some new information you had?" Asked Butcher. "And who is this?"
Marco took a deep breath and started to explain as best as he could while limiting the information given. "Phillip Wade of SLOI. We now know the identity of who has been hunting me as well as the one who’s been holding one of my team captive. This person is also linked to Team Rocket."
Ledda was biting at the chance to get to the bottom whose been manipulating her agency but Caswell was slightly more reserved. "Well if you know all this then why aren't you doing something about it? You've proven yourself to be quite capable of handling things on your own... well with the help of your unit of course."
Marco's eyes narrowed and twitched for just a second as he eyed the older man. The urge to knock him flat on his butt was a strong one but he held off. "I'm still not going to apologize. You asked me to use due process which is why I'm trying to explain things to you right now. But if you want a full blow political nightmare where I will happily state you sat on your hands and dismissed me when I came to you then I will be happy to handle it on my own."
Caswell put up a hand a backed away. "You win, you win, who am I going after?"
"That's the tricky part, I can't tell you."
"What, why the hell not?"
"To be blatantly honest it’s because I don't trust you. I don't know how far their reach spreads and I can't afford to give up the element of surprise. You just have to be ready to act when I give the signal."
Caswell gave Marco a sly grin and nodded. "You trust me enough to tell me that you know who they are but not tell me who they are. Considering your timing and the heated discussion that your team over there seems to be having, I'm going to guess it’s one of the officials in the meeting we'll be returning to soon. Since we're the only people who you've told this much to if this person suddenly goes missing before the meeting and we're not there then we get the blame also. Furthermore, the fact that you're telling us means that they are in such a position that you can't just go after them directly." He took Marco's raised eye brow as a sign that he was at least partially correct.
Chris chuckled lightly at Marco's expense. "He's pretty sharp."
"I'm not the director of the SII just because I look good in a suit. You said that you and Ranger Wade have evidence of this person’s involvement in the attack on you, the missing member of your team, and is involved with Team Rocket. That's got to be some damned good evidence."
Marco noted that Caswell knew Wade was a ranger but didn't press the issue. "Part of it is loose but can be confirmed. The second part is a lot more solid but can’t be discussed until the accused party is in custody."
"Ranger Wade is holding the keys to the second part of evidence then? He's running an investigation as well and something he knows ties everything together." Said Ledda. "SLOI Rangers have access to a wealth of information so this will be worth looking into. What do you think Leo?"
"I think that no matter how this goes someone's career is going to be over before the day is. The Colonel is certain of whom he's targeting and if we don't act with him he'll act on his own. With him means a lot more paperwork for you two but it also means you'll get the answers you need."
Caswell and Ledda shared a look and a single head nod. "We'll back you as long as you're certain about their involvement." Warned Caswell.
"I'm 100% certain. I'll do the setup near the end of the meeting. All goes well and everyone gets what they want." Marco looked back at his group to see Chesra and Henrietta holding back Zianna. "I'll see you in the meeting room; I think I need to handle this."
"Good luck with that Colonel, see you there." Butcher called to his retreating form.
Marco quickly made his way across the street and stood right in front of Zianna. Her fur was beginning to form and she was getting bigger by the second. "What the hell is going on here, you're embarrassing me!" He said in a low harsh voice. "Stand down!" The Lupina didn't seem to hear his words and continued to try and get to the Night Nurse. His hand went around the back of her head quickly, taking her by the hair and pulling her head forward until her forehead touched his. His voice had gotten even lower and rumbled as he spoke in a growl. "I SAID STAND DOWN."
The look of intensity in his eyes caused her to lose focus and she broke down, falling limply and being held up by Chesra and Henrietta. Her cry came out softly and she rests her head on his shoulder as she shrank down again. "Don't let them kill my sister, I beg you Colonel, don't let then kill Ari."
His face held a blank look for a moment while he tried to process what she was saying. "Why in the world would I let anyone kill Arianna? Who said that?"
Kelly sighed and stepped forward next to Alexis. "It was us. We were just trying to be realistic about what to do if or when we have to face her. She knows how to fight all of us and is hard to bring down. She knows where the base is, where you live, where your family lives. She could even abduct us one at a time by teleportation. None of us want to harm her but she possess a giant risk."
"That explains that. What they're saying is true, but trust me killing Arianna is an absolute last resort. Why were you trying to get to the Night Nurse?"
"I can explain that." Clair said quickly. "Cindy's been running off at the mouth and antagonizing her."
Phillip glared at the Night Nurse he'd known her for a long time and knew she had a mouth that could dig her into trouble he would have to get it out of. Today wouldn't be one of those days. He glanced at Marco to catch his eyes and craned his neck towards the nurse. "Let her go, one free shot."
"What!?" Came from Henrietta, Chesra, and Cindy in stunned surprise.
"Release Zianna." Marco spoke again in his low tone and stepped aside. The two girls grip had barely loosened when Zianna flew from them and struck the startled nurse in the side of the face. The force of the hit was enough to knock her sideways and against the brick building with a heavy thud. "Feel better?"
She nodded meekly and walked back to her group. "I'm sorry about that sir. We're so close to getting Ari back and still so far away."
"We'll talk about it later. Right now we need to get back to the meeting, just try and clean your face up a little. Ready to go?"
Phillip had already recalled Cindy to keep her from bitching at him and handed to ball to Clair. "I need to talk to my director so I can get in but my clearance is high enough. Let's go."
~~~~~
All concerned parties had reconvened in the meeting room and gotten seated. They would be watching the video footage of the mission taken from the points of view of the Avalanche members. Suffice to say, at the end of the video there were a lot of questions floating around.
Just based on the shots and how the video was put together it was obvious it has been edited. Marco would hope they would assume that it was done to give the viewers the best look at the action. But it was also fairly obvious that there were large chunks of information missing. Especially the end where it cut off after Kim's explosion and started again with the tour of the facility.
After the last shot of the base was taken the IRS official cut it off and he moved to address the assembled people. "We will now open the floor to any questions for Colonel Readman."
One man from the Investigator Generals office raised his hand. "Yes, we have quite a few actually." He paused and clicked a few buttons on his console to bring up Readman's tamer data. "Before this mission you were registered as only having three non-military pokégirls in your harem but when your pokédex updated upon your return to Indigo it showed a Piratit by the name of Bernadette having been added. This leaves us to believe that you captured one of the pirates on the island. Where is she now?"
"She's currently in a pokéball and is a part of my harem." He replied quickly.
"Why would you allow one of the Limbec pirates to join your harem, and what information does have about Sanctuary?"
"She was screened by Alexis and was confirmed to have no information pertaining to Sanctuary. As for her being in my harem, why shouldn't be I able to keep her. A lot of girls who are in the Limbec didn't voluntarily join and given the choice would leave. She didn't want to be there and when given the option she decided to come with me."
The official grumbled something inaudible and glanced to the woman from PRAD who then stood up. "Never the less she should have been conditioned. Being a part of the Limbec Pirates is tantamount to being on a criminal team. There is no good that comes from a past like that and everyone would be a lot better off."
Marco's eye twitched in irritation. He knew from the start he wasn't going to like this woman but now she was pushing the limits of his good nature. "You seriously believe that don’t you?" He asked in near amazement.
"Of course, you tell me then. What possible good can come from a past like that?"
He looked back at the ladies he had shared the last ten years with and shook his head. "Please forgive me." Then turned his attention back to the woman. "I'll tell you what good comes from it. Behind me are the members of the elite unit Avalanche, a former bounty hunter, and a former criminal team member, an exiled member of the Wet Elf colony, and some unlucky thresholds who did what they had to do just to survive. These are the ladies with a checkered past who did that mission and brought back all the Intel and captures from Sanctuary. Their skills are unmatched and these skills come from a past that you say was better off forgotten. And who knows, you might be right. But their past is what gave them these skills and it's because of these skills that we could do what needed to be done. So while I find your opinion on destroying the minds of those who haven't led a pure life, flawed, I'll respect it as long as you respect the fact that good does come from it."
The inspector cleared his throat before addressing them again. "We're getting off topic. Another issue has us rather concerned." He motioned over to his assistant who started running selected segments of the video. Specifically the segments with Alexis using the code to open the security door while mentioning Victoria and the She-Captain herself mentioning a deal during the fight with Mina. "Who is Victoria and what is this deal she was talking about?"
"Victoria is a She-Captain and the Captain of that particular group of pirates. I believe I mentioned on page nine that I made a deal with the pirate captain."
"What were the specifics of this deal you made with them?"
'I guess reading is a lost art after you become a bureaucrat.' Thought Marco and earning a snicker from Henrietta and Kelly. "The deal we made was for her to pull her forces while we dealt with the Sanctuary forces. Given the powers of the Sanctuary Goths I also agreed to spare Victoria and the other three captains if they came under the Goth’s control and we had to fight them."
"Right, and apparently you did have to fight them. You had to pull two of your Betas from the main battle to deal with the pirates. Because of this you were left short manned and lost one of your teammates."
Marco bit back his anger and replied. "To be fair I had those two go after her because she could force the pirates to attack us, against those numbers even our team would have problems. That is why I made the deal with the pirates in the first place."
"Well what exactly did you say to this, Victoria?"
"Threatened to purge the island of all life. After that she agreed to leave the island, leaving the three large ships but being able to keep anything they stole before our arrival and the wooden ship. Before they could leave I had a beacon attached to the ship, if they enter Indigo waters again they can be dealt with swiftly."
The investigator gave Marco an odd look and ran another clip of the footage. This one on the ship where the four captains were clearly defeated. "But here, they had them beaten. Why didn't they capture them?"
"Because the captains had an agreement with me. They fell under the Goth’s control and didn't want to fight. So as per our agreement," He paused and flipped the paper to page nine to make sure he had the right one. "Which is indeed written on page nine, I told her if that happened I would spare them."
What Marco was saying just didn't make sense to the man. 'He had the girls down and the forces to capture them and he just let them go?' "Why would you let them go when you could have captured them? It would have taken a full crew of Limbec pirates out of the ocean and made the sea just a little bit safer."
This particular investigator seemed to be making it a point to rile Marco and it was starting to work. "Maybe it's because we made an honor bound deal that I didn't do that. Being a proud member of the Indigo Military means that I'm bound to my word and I won’t disgrace that by reneging on a deal I made with a pirate who also has a code of honor." His eyes shut tight as his Rebel blood surged for a moment. "Or it could be than I'm not an underhanded bureaucrat?"
In room full of bureaucrats it may not have been the best choice of words but never the less he had a point. He had operational control over the mission and it was his call to make. A General that was present nodded in agreement then raised his hand. "After reviewing the composition of your unit as well as the specialties that your teams are divided into I must ask, why didn't you split the teams instead of attacking all out?"
"We were fighting against a group that we had very little Intel on and whose power was thought to be greater than our own. The only logical option was to bring all arms to the battle in the hopes of quickly overpowering them. Had we done otherwise I'm certain the casualties would have been much higher."
The investigator that had been asking most of the questions sat back smugly. "And you still managed to lose one of your units to combat. How did you let that happen?"
Marco clenched his fist as he thought back to that night. "The S. Goths have unique abilities that can force others to do as they command; it's why I sent my Betas after the one who went to get the pirates. One of them was starting to take control of women on our side and make them open fire on us. Leona's abilities allowed her to counter their mental assaults but also turned her into a target that needed to be eliminated."
"The video didn't show what happened. Please explain."
"She was... she managed to gain the upper hand against both Goths from what I remember. One of them was the mistress of the Tyrannodame and ordered her to kill Leona. Renae was moving to intercept when she saw I was under attack by a Dameosaur and Nessidame. In the time it took for her to push me out of the way, almost get killed herself, and subdue those two... the Tyrannodame had bitten Leona in half and swallowed her." He let out a tense breath as the image came flooding back to him.
He held Marco in a critical eye. He knew that he was making him upset and wanted to see just how far he could push it. "So because you were out in the field with them you became a liability and caused the death of one of your units?"
"I've always been on the front line with my unit. How else can you give a sound tactical assessment if you can't see what's going on in person?"
"It's your tactical assessments I have a problem with. You're making deals with pirates, taking it upon yourself to become personally involved with the battle, and allowing the only member of your team who could combat the Sanctuary Goths without succumbing to their aura attacks to be killed. Couldn't you have sacrificed another one of the girls without losing such a valuable asset?"
Anger burned through Marco so quickly that his Cool Head blood had no chance of catching up. Kelly, Chesra, and Carrie let out a tense breath while flames slowly flickered off Henrietta's collar. The Penance was about to reach forward to grab him but he was already up, forcing his chair back as he stood. "What kind of fucked up question is that?! Do you think I wanted Leona to die, to die like that?! You think I could just say 'hey you, trade places with her' and be able to look at myself in the mirror the next morning?! You ignorant, worthless..." Two sets of hands grabbed him from behind and pulled him back into his chair. The presidential guard had mobilized and two of them appeared at Marco's sides. If not for the mask and visors obscuring their faces he would see intense and warning looks.
The investigator shook his head. "Now I see how you managed to lose control of the situation in such a spectacular fashion. Maybe if you could keep better control of that temper that girl of yours wouldn't have died."
The president cleared his throat and gave the investigator a stern glare. "You will refrain from intentionally trying to antagonize a member of our armed forces who’s recently lost one of his own in combat. Furthermore, I personally find your line of questioning disgraceful. It doesn't matter if it's a human or a pokégirl, no life is just expendable. Colonel, I must ask, is there any other information you would like to give us at this time?"
Marco was finally starting to calm down and grabbed the bridge of his nose. He was still trying to collect his thoughts after his outburst and appreciated Chris and Kelly pulling him back when they did. "No sir, I don't have anything more pertaining to this mission. All items are covered in detail in the data files that were distributed."
The president looked around the room across the large number of officials in attendance. Everyone seemed to be satisfied with the information that was given and were ready to leave. "Thank you again, Colonel Readman and Ladies of Avalanche, for your hard work and dedication to Indigo. If there is no other business then I would like to bring this meeting to a close. We will reconvene if new and more important information comes about."
Marco raised his hand and stood up from his chair. "There is another matter I would like to bring to the table since I have everyone here." The directors started to grumble amongst themselves as to what the issue could be. Caswell, Ledda, Butcher on the other hand had sat up in preparation. "I'm sure that we can all agree that Indigo as a whole carries a pretty dim view on pokégirls. I know this may not be the view point of everyone here, certainly isn't mine. All the same we count on them to do things we can't and help us in our daily lives. Take the Officerjenny and Growlie teams in our police force."
"If you're trying to lobby for Parity can you save it for another day? We all have a lot of paperwork to do thanks to this incident." Exclaimed one of the presidential staff.
"Fine then, Kelly bring up the poll?" The Duelist set to her task and brought up a list of yes or no questions that displayed on everyone's consoles. "Just answer these few questions for me and I'll make my point." He stood and waited the few minutes it would take for everyone to answer and Kelly put the results up on the large holographic projector. Marco grinned evilly when he saw the results of the most important question. "Thank you all. A hundred percent of us agree that the senses of animal-type pokégirls can be critical in a police investigation. Director Caswell, why is that?"
Caswell favored him with an uneven look and nodded. "As I'm sure you know, and your team demonstrated during that mission, the olfactory senses of certain pokégirls is sharp enough to pick up trace amounts of a scent and can track it down to its source with minimal effort. There have even been cases solved solely on the scents picked up from police scent detecting pokégirls."
Haures suddenly felt the same tension that he'd gotten since Readman entered the room intensify. Then there was the fact that he was sure he had caught his girls looking at him. He thought for a second about what they were talking about then heard the sound of the air conditioner click on. 'Tracking the scent... fuck I smell like that War Hound! Just stay calm I can get out of here.'
"Thank you. Then I formally accuse you, Alphonso Haures, of abducting a pokégirl from my unit! As well as having ties to Team Rocket!"
The commotion from the officials was almost deafening and for the first time the IRS official had to bang his gavel to bring them to order. The pokégirls from the presidential security detail began changing positions in the room, two going behind Haures and the rest moving to Marco's part of the room. "Everyone quite down! Colonel Readman, that is a very serious claim you're making, I trust you have sufficient proof to back it up."
"At this moment all I have is the scent of my War Hound Arianna on him, picked up by her sister Zianna. If you would like to call in an impartial judicator to substantiate my claim then please feel free."
"And how would we do that if she's missing Colonel?"
"She has personal effects and a sleeping area, neither that have been touched since she disappeared nearly three months ago."
The president stood from his seat to address the group. "If that's the case then we will settle this matter right now. Eight and Fourteen, please take a sample of the scents coming off of Chief Haures." Two of the pokégirls made their way over to Haures and began to sniff around him.
"I object to these outlandish accusations! I have never seen nor heard of this girl!" Haures yelled and tried to stand only to be forced back into his seat.
"Then we will prove your innocence." The two girls said through filtered voices. They finished with him and made their way over to Marco and smelled him to before going back to the president and whispering.
"Colonel Readman, they need one of her personal effects to get a better scent of this missing pokegirl."
"I understand, Major Kelly can teleport them to our base so they can check her locker."
The president nodded and looked to Kelly. "I understand she's a Duelist correct?"
Marco nodded, not quite sure why he was asking. "Yes sir she is."
"Fine, Five, go with them just in case. I don't foresee her giving you any problems though."
Kelly rose from her seat and saluted. "No sir, I will not." The three girls came around to the much shorter Duelist and placed a hand on her. In an instant they were gone.
While everyone waited for their return Marco felt a faint soft voice in the back of his mind. Though she had no psychic ability Carrie had forced her way in due to the delta bond. 'Wouldn't a psychic-type just be able to screen his thoughts Master?'
'Not for certain government officials. They are forced to take special classes to strengthen their mental defenses; those who are bad at it are given magical charms that block mental intrusion.' Marco thought back.
'Why did he order a third to go with Kelly?'
Henrietta had picked up on the conversation and joined in. 'Because Duelist are casters with unpredictable abilities. Since he watched the video he knows that Kelly is incredibly strong and won't chance one of his team getting hurt if she attacked them.'
'Then what did he send to counter her?'
'Either a magic or a bug-type.' Marco replied. 'Another mage could dispel her cards before she could use them while she's weak against bug girls. There's a possibility of it being a fighting-type but doubtful all things considered.'
A few more minutes went by and the four girls suddenly teleported back in. Kelly immediately went to Marco's side while the others went to the president and started whispering again. A full minute went by while they had their conversation and everyone waited in silence to hear what would happen.
The president shook his head in something between disbelief and irritation then looked up at Haures. "Take the Chief into custody pending a full investigation. Director Caswell, I want you to look into this matter personally."
The directors started talking again after the decision was made. Haures was furious and apprehensive, he hadn't expected to be found out and needed to figure out a way out of the mess he was in. "This is preposterous. You can't just accuse me of kidnaping a pokégirl based solely off of a smell that happens to be on me."
"Chief Haures, based off of the pole you just took that came back at a full 100%. You agreed that scent alone is probable cause to investigate as well as convict a suspect in a case. If you're innocent of these allegations then I will prove just that." Caswell stated coldly. He hadn't expected it to be one of the higher ranking government officials but in hindsight it made sense.
"Feel free to check whatever you like, I am not in possession of a pokégirl belonging to the Colonel. All the same I don't see why I should be detained."
The president sat back in his chair and cast an appraising eye over Marco. "Under normal circumstances no, the investigation into the possession of a pokégirl not belonging to you wouldn't be justified cause for detaining someone. But the accusation of being in bed with Team Rocket is a serious matter and a security issue. That is why you'll be detained until the full investigation is concluded. But I warn you, Colonel, what you've started is very serious and if you're wrong it will cost you more than just your military career."
Despite the knowledge Marco had and the fact that he knew they had the man they were looking for he felt a lump form in his throat. The threat the president made was a very real one and the lives of everyone in the unit were at stake. "I understand sir. I wouldn't make such a claim unless I was certain."
"That's both refreshing and disappointing. Take the chief away." The two girls standing behind Haures stepped forward and placed their hands on his shoulders. In an instant they were gone, taking Haures and the chair he was sitting in. "None of what transpired here is to leave this room. That is a direct order. Colonel I'm going to see you directly, as well as Directors Caswell and Ledda. We're going to get to the bottom of this. Now."
The room quickly emptied out leaving only Avalanche, the two directors, the president, and his personal guard. The two girls that had left with Haures reappeared and moved back to spots behind Avalanche. Marco had made it a point to view the girl's auras and each of them was registering in a deep purple with the exception of the dark-type whose couldn't be seen.
Another pair of people hadn't left the room yet. One was obviously Phillip and based off their positioning the other was his director. Two of the guards made their way over to address the men. "Unless your business is urgent we need you to leave the meeting hall." The first one announced.
"Our business coincides with the Colonel's and we hold irrefutable evidence that ties Chief Haures to Team Rocket and substantiates the claims made by Colonel Readman." Philip stated quickly.
"Sir?" The guard asked, turning to face the president.
"If they have bearing on the investigation then they can stay." He nodded. "Colonel, my guard informed me that Haures does indeed carry the scent of your missing girl in a degree that's far too high to be incidental. This was compounded by the fact that despite living and working out of the same area you hardly carry her scent at all. But a more pressing matter has come about."
Marco held a questioning gaze for a moment before speaking. "Sir?"
"The Major informed her that she believes he's also responsible for the recent attacks on your life as well as the potential or most probable reason behind them. Such a thing shouldn't occur, but ties to Team Rocket would explain it. The burning question is this then, what proof do you have that can tie him to all of this?"
Marco's eyes cut to Kelly who shrugged meekly. He knew that if she was asked directly she would either have to answer directly or attempt to lie, and she was a horrible liar. "We can produce solid testimony from at least two pokégirls. One who was formerly in his service and the other is an undercover SLOI agent. With the cooperation of Director Ledda of the IGS we could possibly add more to the list."
Ledda nodded vigorously. "Of course you will have my full cooperation. Just tell me what you need and I'll try my best to accommodate. I want answers just as badly as you do."
"I understand and appreciate it. We would need you to bring in Richard Spencer, he's the only known human to have close personal contact with Haures, whether he knows it or not."
The president sat back in his chair and closed his eyes in deep thought before opening them again. "That is potentially a lot of damaging evidence. As I said before I'm going to leave it to Director Caswell to head the investigation. What's going to be your first move Director?"
"A quick interrogation of Haures to figure out exactly what I'm dealing with. From there we can stage raids on his home and office in search for the Colonel's War Hound. Once that's taken care of we can use whatever information we find to start chipping away at Team Rocket."
"That's a solid plan." The president checked his watch and let out a sigh. "It's been a long day; I trust your agency will keep us posted while you get to the bottom of this mess. For now I need to come up with a plausible reason for the former Chief's disappearance and appoint someone else to head up the department. I wish you all the best of luck in dealing with this matter."
"Thank you sir!" They all said in unison, with the military members giving a salute to his exit. The majority of the security guard left with him, leaving only the two that had transported Haures to detainment.
The smaller of the two guards made her way over to Caswell. As with all the others her features were completely hidden and with such a short stature she didn't look to be much of a threat, they all knew better. "Former Chief Haures is currently in a detainment room here, we will transfer custody to you after we get him to SII headquarters."
Caswell regarded the guard with complete seriousness. "Thank you... Miss?"
"Eleven, Mr. Caswell. Now, not to sound pushy but you all must exit this room. The sooner you return to your office the sooner we can bring him too you." She reached into one of the concealed pockets of her uniform and produced a card. "Dial this number and we will bring him in."
"Thanks again. Let's go people before they start being forceful."
Once the group was outside everyone let out a sigh of relief. Most of the unit just wanted to get out of their uniforms and the harem members had already started loosening things. Marco had Kelly standing right in front of him and she was busy trying to look at anything or anywhere but him. He wasn't angry per se, but needed to figure out what gave her cause to give up that information.
"So..."
"Right, one of the guards had alluded to the fact that even if he had Arianna it wasn't enough to hold him. I couldn't risk the chance that they would investigate the Team Rocket claim later and give him time to dispose of her. So I told her enough to give them a reason to detain him. If he can't leave then we have time to find her." Kelly stated quickly while still avoiding eye contact.
"Good job then. Directors, where do we go from here?"
Ledda checked her watch and looked around. "I can have Agent Spencer brought in within the hour and meet us at the SII building. I know this may be asking a lot but can you two be in the same room and not fight with each other?"
Marco nodded without hesitation. "I don't think there will be any more problems between he and I. On both occasions that's he's been in our custody he's never been harmed and while his Dark Lady did indeed kill one of my subordinates SLOI brought her back and she got her revenge. As long as there is no aggression on his end there will be none on ours."
"That's good to hear." Caswell remarked before turning his attention to Phillip. "When do we get to meet these pokégirls that hold our key information?"
"Not until we're in a secure building and behind closed doors. There is always a chance she can be reinserted back into Team Rocket and, no offence; we don't know where all their eyes are. Given the level of political leverage we just ripped away they could have plants in other agencies."
"So it's much the same as running a CI (Criminal Informant), their use is invaluable as long as they don't get found out. When that happens a lot of lives are at stake. I understand the Shadow League’s stance on pokégirls is a lot more liberal than Indigos, present company excluded, so we won't risk the life of your agent. I want to get started on Haures while he's still off balance so I’m going back to HQ, please join me within the hour." He started to leave before turning back to face Marco. "I'll also need your help on another matter. But we'll discuss it behind closed doors."
"I'll do what I can." He paused for a second to collect his thoughts. "Now I'm going to apologize. Not so much for snapping earlier in the meeting but for not giving either of you the benefit of the doubt. If you look at things from our side there was no way I could trust anyone. But you've both proven to be trust worthy, sorry I gave you a hard time."
Ledda cracked a smile, the first one since she had been in Marco's presence. "I won't say your distrust and harsh attitude wasn't justified. I honestly never expected the Chief of the League to be the one behind this mess. Apology accepted."
"I on the other hand won't be letting you off the hook that easy. But you'll be able to make up for it later." Caswell said with a chuckle. "I'll see you all soon, Mel, the cars around back if you want a lift."
"Thanks, I'm sure Leo is waiting for us too."
______
1900, Secure Indigo Intelligence Headquarters
Richard barely had time to sober up and shave before heading to the SII building. Suspension hadn't been kind on him or his harem for that matter. The four pokégirls had to contend with the fact that they had been being used and then got their asses handed to them. The real sting came from knowing that three of the four girls they fought weren't real military.
Then there was Gwyneth. She had recovered from being beaten by the Warrior Nun. But then the secondary beating by a girl she was sure she had killed came as a complete shock. On top of that, having to cut off her long flowing pitch black hair had turned her into a relentless, bitter, bitch. Something her sisters were loath to deal with.
When Richard had gotten a direct call from Melanie Ledda to meet at SII headquarters he'd figured that they had finally made a decision on what to do with him. There were far too many in answered questions to fire him out right and the psychics that scanned him agreed that he was only following order like he was supposed to. Still, it wasn't the kind of incident that could be overlooked.
"Afternoon, my name’s Richard Spencer, I'm supposed to be meeting Director Melanie Ledda and Director Anthony Caswell." Richard calmly stated to the desk clerk. "This is my Alpha, Gwyneth."
"Yes sir, your name is on the list. I just need to call an escort for you." The older and balding man said while pressing a button on his receiver then handed him a visitor’s badge. A few seconds went by and a pair of large pokégirls came from behind the secured door. "Mr. Spencer for Directors Ledda and Caswell. Please take him to meeting room O-302."
The two girls nodded and motioned for them to come along. Everything was simple enough until they got into the elevator. Both girls pulled out a set of keycards and slid them into the panels on both sides. Suddenly the elevator started to descend. From the outside no one would ever figure that the building had three floors beneath it. After disembarking the pair of girls led the way a short distance to a pair of frosted-glass doors and stopped before running the cards again.
"Here you go sir; everyone is waiting for you inside."
"Thank you both." He nodded before opening the door and walking through. His first reaction upon seeing Marco and his harem was to slowly back out the same door and walk away but a stern look from his boss kept him there. "Madam Director."
"Have a seat Spencer, and release the rest of your harem too. We need to speak to everyone."
Richard did as instructed and released the rest of his harem. Each of them saw their opposite number sitting at the table and looked to each other. They didn't quite know how to handle the situation and observed their master for instruction. It did little good since he was trying to get a handle on things himself. Finally they got seated and waited to see what was going to happen from there.
Richard leaned forward and poured himself a glass of water then settled back. "I'd like to know what we're doing here if you don't mind. I honestly want nothing more to do with Colonel Readman or Avalanche."
"Relax Spencer; as long as you're not a danger to him he isn't one to you. You're here to help get to the bottom of this whole mess and help confirm a suspect who we believe was giving you the orders you attempted to carry out."
"That bastard left us to die out there. I'll do whatever you need to throw him into the deepest pit you can find. But why are they here then?"
Marco took a breath to maintain his composure. "He managed to capture one of my unit and we don't know where he's holding her."
Caswell took over from there. "Well that's almost completely accurate. Ranger Wade has all the additional information we need. But it does tie all three of you together. Speaking of which, those pokégirls you spoke of, can you bring them out?"
Without missing a beat he released both Minerva and Delilah. The first reaction from Richards’s harem was stunned surprise, though they weren't sure which part was the most shocking. Seeing Delilah, who kept her own time and always worked alone. Or for that matter seeing Minerva, who was thought to be dead by the Dark Queen's hand.
Delilah gracefully took her seat and smiled to the girls sitting across from her. "Good evening ladies, you all look surprised to see me."
Gwyneth was the first to recover from her shock. "You... you've been lying to us all this time! Have you ever been honest with any of us? What about all those people you've killed?"
"Dead, they were of no importance to me and working for Team Rocket. That's what they get for attempting to tame me by force." She replied without a second thought. "Minerva was requested personally by my tamer. Otherwise she would have been level fived and be floating around in some new tamers harem. As for lying to you all, it's my job. Be as offended as you like, just remember that the power I hold is real."
"I can testify to that." Minerva responded in a monotone. "That bastard ordered her to kill me and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on him either."
Caswell cleared his throat to get their attention. "Well you can file those thoughts under not going to happen. What I need from you all is to identify the man we are currently holding and confirm he's the one who was giving you the orders. Mr. Spencer, you'll only be hearing his voice since you never saw his face. Then anyone who has seen his face can view him through the interrogation window."
Marco held a questioning look. "Well that explains them. What do you need from me?"
"My teams have been busy all day trying to pry information out of the girls you acquired. As you can imagine the Dames are simple enough to deal with, the Goths are a bit of a hassle. I want you on hand as a potential bargaining chip."
"What? If they don't answer your questions you're going to hand me over to them?"
"Actually the threat is the other way around." Caswell chuckled. "Your team makes a hell of an impact. One of them was frantic to get away until she saw that it wasn't you standing there."
"Oh this I got to see." Marco replied with a shake of his head.
~~~~~
Haures was sitting in the chair and awaiting his interrogator. It wasn't how he expected the day to go when he started. The work on the War Hound was near completion, now he was kicking himself for spending so much time around her. The more he thought about it the more trouble he was in.
The only thing working for him would be there was little evidence of his connection to Team Rocket. There was a chance he could talk his way out of whatever allegation that were thrown his way. The hidden evidence on the other hand had him worried. He couldn't think of anything Readman could have acquired that would link him to the criminal team.
The doors to the room opened and Caswell walked in calmly, followed by two pokégirls. He took a seat and sat a large folder down while the girl took a spot in corner of the room. Haures impatiently drummed his fingers on the metal table he was cuffed to. "Come on Tony, I've got nothing to do with Team Rocket and I have no idea how the scent of Readman's pokégirl got on me."
Caswell nodded and set the folder aside. "I know you're not. This is all circumstantial evidence we're working with but we have to check it out. Sorry about the cuffs, rules and shit." He knew better.
"Good, then let me go so I can get back to work. This Sanctuary business is a nightmare. It’s my department’s job to figure out how to best utilize them as a resource.”
“You think you got it rough, I have to deal with reining them in. A group of pokégirls that are hard to bond and don’t react normally to taming. Then being left in charge of dealing with this mess Readman got you into.” He let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. “So let’s just get this over with.”
“Fine by me, how does this work?”
“Behind me is a psychic, all I need you to do is answer my questions honestly and we can send you on your way.” The heavy chested girl moved from one end of the room and took a spot in the opposite corner. Due to the nature of SII Caswell already had all the baseline information pertaining to Haures’s life. “I’m going to start asking you questions, they are simple yes or no questions. Just answer truthfully.”
“Go right ahead.”
“Is your name Alphonso Haures?”
“Yes.”
“Are you currently in the position of Chief of the League?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever heard of First Sargent Arianna, the War Hound for Avalanche, before this day?”
“No.” Haures didn’t know it but the girl standing behind him was nothing more than a stand in with a different job. The real lie detector was Alexis who had been within three feet of Haures the entire time and shook her head at his response to the question.
“Are you currently the owner of a Bondage Elf name Andzral?”
This was an iffy question for Haures. While it was true that he owned Andzral, she had been kept off book in the most recent years. Thinking quickly he gave the answer that made the most sense. “Yes.”
“Have you ever been in contact with Agent Richard Spence of the IGS?”
“No.” Once again Alexis shook her head.
“Are you 57 years old?”
“Yes.”
“Do you currently or have you ever worked for Team Rocket?”
“No.” This time Alexis held a questioning look and canted her head to the side. She knew he was lying but he believed it so whole heartedly that it was difficult to tell.
“Thank you Chief. We’re going to go review the data and come back when we have the results of the test.”
The three of them made it back out into the viewing room where the others were waiting. Spencer instantly recognized the voice as the man who had been giving him orders and Minerva couldn't forget his face after having slept with him for so long. The same went for Delilah, though not having been tamed by him she knew the face and the voice well enough to confirm that he was the one.
"So?" Caswell asked to the Alaka-Wham who had been screening Alexis.
"She was completely unbiased in her assessment of Haures and confirmed that he was lying about several of the questions you asked. He's your man."
Alexis regarded both of them with a looks of skepticism. "So she was screening me while I was screening him. You didn't trust me to be honest?"
"It wasn't that I didn't trust you Alexis. I wanted to see in person how you handled an interrogation... which was rather pointless considering I couldn't see you. But more to the point, since you've had more experience dealing with the agents he's used you have a better understanding than we do." Caswell plainly stated.
The Cherub regarded the director with a measure of her honed patience and twitched her tiny wings. "You can't lie to me any better than he could lie to you. If you didn't trust me then you could say so, I believe my track record speaks for itself."
Richard laughed to himself as he watched the Cherub. "There is no use in trying to deceive her, trust me on this."
Marco ran his fingers through her hair, letting them massage her scalp. "Don't be offended Alex. It's only natural that any reading done by you would have to be scrutinized and taken with a grain of salt. We are all deeply involved with this and are fortunate to have the chance to participate."
"Understood sir. At the end of the day he's lying about everything important... but..."
"But?"
She let out a sigh and twitched her wings again. "But he's a politician... he's untrustworthy to begin with and would lie about what he had for breakfast. The only reason I can read him is because of my powers and experience. These aren't everyday questions he's being asked and he can't hide his responses from me."
"We have some time before we have to get back to him. Now we have another issue to deal with.” Caswell turned on a set of monitors in the opposite end of the room and more interrogation room appeared on the screens. Each monitor was a taming room containing one of the Sanctuary Goths. Even though it was well known that taming was useless against the Sanctuary Goths for bonding or information gathering. All the same there were certain procedures that needed to be followed so a thorough taming was done. Not like there was much the Goths could do about it. "We know your stance on pokégirls so what we're asking isn't invasive. Just help us get some useful information out of them."
Enough time had gone by that Marco had come to terms with what happened that day. All he could do was pity them. They would never see their homes again, their ideals would be laughed at, and their lives as they knew them were over. "I'll do what I can to help."
_____
Evan sat back with his hands behind his head, staring at the head bobbing up and down on his shaft. Her eyes stricken with tears and disgust as she set to the task of pleasing the man before her. The collar she wore bit into the exposed skin around her neck, intentionally a size small just for her continued discomfort.
Her body had been fully restored to its original condition before she arrived there. Her bushy tail and ears lay flat and lazy, showing no enthusiasm for what she was doing. The Killer Queen sat on her back, reveling in the fact that she had brought the hound in line and running her fingers over the gemstones in the crown atop her head. It was at this time that Tessa finally understood what the War Hound had talked about earlier. Falling into the same position that she had been stuck in all those years.
Andzral bursting through the door had startled them all and caused teeth to strike against Evan's skin. He quickly removed himself from Arianna's mouth and struck her in the face with Pamela's whip. "I said no teeth!" He then turned to give the Bondage Elf his attention. "There had better be a good reason for interrupting my personal time."
"As Delilah said, it's not personal time if there are a bunch of people watching. Anyway, Master hasn't called for a pick up yet and I'm worried."
"Well then, maybe something came up. That doesn't explain why you came to bother us."
"Because Readman and Avalanche were in that meeting he had to attend and I think he may have been captured you moron!"
He sat forward and gave her a stern look. "Moron? Since when did you get the idea that you could just talk to me however you like?"
"Since you keep proving your ignorance? It also helps that I'm not bonded to you and have never been trained by you. So trust me when I say you don't pose the same danger to me that I can to you." She responded sharply and with enough tone to guarantee she was taken seriously.
Even set aside his irritation to lift Arianna's chin with the butt of the whip. "Chances that Haures was taken prisoner by Readman?"
Despite her chin being lifted Arianna's eyes were still cast down. She didn't want to answer but she had already given away her oath of loyalty. "Zero, though I'm certain that he knows that Haures has me I don't think he would act without irrefutable evidence. Otherwise he would run the risk of committing treason, and unlike that bastard Haures, my Colonel isn't a traitor."
Evan's correction of Arianna came swift, taking the length of whip and hitting her and by proximity Pamela across the back. "He isn't your Colonel anymore, you understand that?"
Tears began to stream down her face, but not from the pain. Pain was something she could deal with; these were the tears of a betrayer. "Yes... Lord and Master Domico..."
_________
|
Alpha- Kelly- Duelist |
|
Delta |
Echo |
Indigo |
|
Beta- Chesra- Fallen Angel |
Beta- Henrietta- Ghostrider |
Beta- Mina- Kunoichi |
|
Emaline- FireMaiden |
Field Beta- Selena- Caphoochie |
Zianna- Lupina |
|
Kim- Bombshell |
Rebecca- Smokey |
Renae- Ice Maiden |
|
Nikki- SexSlash |
Alexis- Cherub |
Isabella- Mecha Musume |
|
Arianna- War Hound- MIA |
Lily- Gloomy |
Tam- Catgirl- School |
|
|
|
Leona- Lamia- KIA |
Harem
Chesra- Co-Alpha
Henrietta- Co-Alpha
Carrie- Penance
Ashley- Peekabu
Jean- Dark Kitsune
Bernadette- Piratit
Handler
Christina Reynolds
Ariel- OfficerJenny