Her plan hadn't exactly gone off without a hitch – Hell it hadn't even gone half-way right - but she was still in fairly good spirits. She walked into the Ranger's one-time base, that had been converted to Masaki's and Shinji's main party headquarters, and exploded into the main shower block, where her two partners in crime were showering.

"Mission accomplished, guys," she announced as she turned on the tap and walked, fully clothed, into the stream of hot water. "Phase one is complete."

Anson wiped suds from his eyes and peered at her with a narrowed gaze as he fashioned his hair into a shampoo Mohawk. "You got him in the sack? Damn, girl, you are good. After the way he was behaving last night, I didn't think you stood a chance."

She ran her hands over her hair and lightly squeezed her hair of water. "It wasn't easy."

Alex opened his mouth to take a mouthful of water from the shower stream and spat it at the wall. "So how was the White Shadow? Worth the trouble?"

She groaned and leaned against the wall, letting the full shower stream beat down onto the front of her shirt. "Honestly? Not really."

Anson coughed and leaned a hand on the wall in a manner to suggest he wanted every little tiny bit of information about the inadequacy of the famed Eagle leader. "Share the info, girl."

She kicked at the water and leaned heavier against the wall. "It was all going great. He had it hard and was as aggressive with me as I could have hoped. We were so close to actually doing the damn deed, and he got all "Oh Princess, Princess" on me." She pointed at the smirk on Alex's face. "Not funny, Alex. It doesn't do much for your confidence when a man is calling out another woman's name."

Anson chuckled and thrust his head under the water to rid his hair of shampoo. "Keep going, girl"

She groaned. "Yeah, well. So he's practically biting chunks out of my neck and chest and tearing at my clothes, and then just stops. He starts trying to push me away saying he just couldn't do it to her …" she adopted a whiney voice. "How he loves her and wants her to be the mother of his children and how he would die for her." Her voice returned to normal. "You know that typical drunken hero shit."

"And?" Alex pressed as he fumbled with the soap and watched with horror as it fell to the floor. He looked at Anson, who pointed at the floor with a smirk. "Fuck you, I'm not picking that up, man."

"Anyway," she groaned in continuance. "So I told him I was Princess. I was his lover and we were role-playing."

Anson raised a brow. "And he fell for it?"

"Well he was pretty drunk, Anson. And you did spike his burger with four ecstasy tablets."

Alex looked at him accusingly. "What, you trying to kill him, Anson?"

Anson waved his hand defensively. "The dude's got high tolerance to that shit cause of the implant. You really, really have to dose him to get him high."

"Nice, man. Nice."

"Don't worry, it won't kill him. I saw Jason pull this shit on him once. How do you think he ended up with Princess in the first place?"

"Ekky?"

"Damn straight. All the woman had to do was brush past him in the bar, and he pounced."

Alex looked confused. "So you all saw him drag Swannie home by the hair like a Neanderthal, and he still thinks he can deny it?"

Anson shrugged, "Jacked if I know. I guess Anderson's got some rule against it. You know Mark, boy scout pretty boy."

Melissa grunted. "Uh, guys. I'm still telling my story here."

The boys chuckled. "Sorry Mel, keep going."

She inhaled to continue. "Anyway, so he started getting all hot and passionate again, and then, just as I got his pants off, splat. He hit the floor."

"In what way?"

"He passed out. Out cold. No performance from the Eagle."

Alex frowned. "So you didn't get the long and slick from Mark?"

Anson chortled, "You mean short and insignificant."

Melissa cleared her throat in Mark's defense. "They call this man Commander for a reason, Anson. And I don't think it's all about his leadership abilities."

Alex raised a brow and pointed crotchward. "Reputation is accurate, Mel?"

"Understated by a couple of inches."

Both guys immediately burst into laughter. "Damn! So he is like the old man, then."

Melissa raised her hand and shuddered. "Oh, guys, I don't want to know."

Alex turned off the shower taps and reached for a small towel to wrap around his waist. "So why'd you not come back till now, girl?"

She smiled dangerously. "I spent the night with him. In his bed. When he woke up he freaked."

"So you told him you'd ridden him all night?"

Her head ticked to one side in the affirmative. "Oh, yeah. He honestly believes he screwed around on Princess."

He chuckled. "You little tramp."

"Hey, he feels as guilty as shit right now."

Anson smirked. "That's as good as we can get right now. And with Princess on assignment for the next couple of days, we have time to play with."

Melissa frowned. "Is she actually on assignment, or in the mountains like Mark was told."

He shook his head. "She's in something really deep, Mel. I caught the end of a conversation at the hangars when the ex-Prince of Riga was leaving. They've got her ass deep in some shit that they really don't think she's coming home from."

Melissa tilted her head and stared at him with wide eyes. "And they told the team something else?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Wish I had more info on it. It sounds pretty dangerous if you ask me." He looked between his two team mates who were suddenly looking very guilty and remorseful. "Oh come on, this is Princess. As soon as she gets into trouble she'll send out a birdscramble and the boys … Mark … can go play hero."

He turned off the shower and walked brazenly out of the stall as one of the hungover lieutenants staggered into the bathroom. He grunted and waved at the trio as he turned the shower on and stepped under it.

"Yeah, hey Shinji, rough night?"

"Fuck off."

Anson rolled a shoulder and made to end the conversation. "Don't worry, guys. She'll get out and it'll be game on. For now we just need to set some more groundwork to make this a lot more interesting."

3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3G3

The tip of Princess' tongue peeked out of the side of her mouth as she gently used both thumbs to manipulate the modeling clay into her desired design. She could claim boredom made her do it, made her play with a substance best left un-molded and in its natural, or preferred, state, but she really couldn't say she was bored.

Much.

She'd spent a little under a week, thus far, exploring the factory-style Spectran base trying to mind-plot the correct and most dangerous positions for her small charges. During this time, she also felt the need to perform a small amount of Intel for the Federation big wigs. It hadn't been exactly difficult to gather such intelligence, all she really needed to do was stand all innocent, batt her lashes and ask questions in a purely … blonde … manner. The posted goons shared the information freely.

Easy.

Too damn easy.

Spectran soldiers really weren't all that bright, she deduced after the second day. If anyone had walked into Centre Neptune and started pulling the same thing, they'd be under heavy surveillance and suspicion immediately.

Princess knew for a fact she wasn't being monitored. She'd visited the security station many times and found little or no evidence to suggest Cronus' cell or she were being watched. Her belt buckle, which would indicate when there were bugs within a 100 foot radius of her remained still and silent.

The only indication she had that she were under the watchful eye of someone else, was from a handful of guards also assigned to her cell-block. Initially she believed it was just male leering over a pretty girl, but recently she'd seen the quintet whispering and staring at her when she passed. They were suddenly very close-mouthed and leery when she was present.

It was a warning sign she really should have taken a little more seriously than she had.

But, meh, they were only Spectrans, she could kick their asses easily enough if she needed to.

She smiled as she took her hands from the model and sat backward in her chair to admire her handiwork.

"What do you think, Colonel? I think I missed my calling."

He peered over the top of a ratted old Tom Clancy novel and squinted his eyes for better focus. "A Swan? How very original of you."

She dipped her shoulder to look over it at him. "Swans are very dangerous, Sir."

He smirked and went back to his reading. "So I hear."

She pulled a small wire from her pocket and gently clamped the ends of it with her lips as she reached for a very small transistor unit from the top of the table. She spoke distractedly as she concentrated on fitting the wires to it. "How are you feeling?"

He grunted. "A little antsy right now, Princess. Wondering when you were going to actually get me out of here."

"In time," she smiled. "Not too long now and you'll be kicking the boys asses back in to line."

"My men not behaving?"

She chuckled and stood slowly, cradling the swan in her hands. "About as much as when you were leading them."

He chortled and flipped the page. "Who's in charge now?"

She set the swan into the corner beside a gas stove and smiled as she changed the position a couple of times for better aesthetic appeal. "Your two drunken lieutenants."

His eyes shot up over the book, but his position didn't change. Had he been wearing glasses, he'd have been staring over the rims at her. "Drunken? As in never sober?"

She stood back and admired the model. "I only ever seem them on rec. leave, Sir, so I don't really know."

"Well that'll change on my return."

She giggled and wandered lazily over to the cell, where she leaned a shoulder on the bars to attempt to read over his shoulder. "Only a day or so now, Sir. I promise."

"I'll be ready."

"I know." She covered her mouth to yawn and glanced at the doorway. "I just want to get some more information on the second base, and we'll be gone."

"You know," he muttered as he closed the book and leaned his forearm on the back of his chair to look her over. "You should probably rest up a bit before you pull your stunt. I notice you haven't slept since you got here."

She shrugged. "I don't really need to, Sir. These implants make us able to remain awake for days at a time."

"Seven," he corrected as his eyes flicked to the calendar on the wall. "Seven and then your implant will shut your system down. You're pushing that limit already."

She winked. "We figured out, long ago, how to override that feature."

"Dangerous, Princess."

She shrugged. "So's this," she muttered as she swept her hand in the air to indicate their present circumstance.

"You know, there is a reason we set a seven-day limit on it."

She waved her hand dismissively and droned as if reciting a long worn out lecture. "I know, I know. All human beings need sleep. The brain requires shutdown in order to survive. Death occurs after approximately 8-10 days without any discernable sleep. Anderson has repeated that warning over and over again."

"Maybe you should listen to him for a change."

"I listen to my Commander, Sir, and he is the one who showed us the override."

He smirked. "I hope that was on a mission basis, Swan and not …"

His words were cut off by the noisy arrival of her five co-workers.

"What the…?" He questioned as they immediately stalked the young woman and pulled her harshly form the bars.

"Time for your induction into Spectran forces, bitch," one snarled as he threw her back up against the wall.

She blinked and gasped. "What? Is this a hazing or something?"

He held her in place with his forearm against her throat and flicked his other wrist at the door. "Keep an eye out, will ya?" His attention remained on Princess' confused and frightened face. "Let's call this a "something" shall we?"

She frowned and gagged at the pressure on her throat. She brought both hands up to attempt to pry him away from her. "Get the Hell off me, you asshole," she spat as she struggled for freedom. "When Zoltar finds out…"

The goon laughed and forced his forearm harder into her throat. "When Zoltar finds out what, little woman? That you're a spy for the Federation. That you're the Swan?"

Her eyes widened in time with Cronus' "fuck."

She tried shaking her head. "What are you talking about. I am not the Swan."

"We're not fools," one of the other goons behind her attacker snarled. "We've watched you, your interaction with the prisoner. You have been digging for information since you arrived."

Her lip curled. "I'm a conscientious employee. I want to know where to run next time G-Force arrive."

"Bullshit!" her attacker boomed as he took his arm off her and backhanded her across the face. "You are a liar. I know you're the swan. I can smell it on you."

She hit the floor hard, landing on her hands and knees with a sickening thud that forced a wince out of Cronus. She remained in a crouch and shifted her jaw to stretch out the sting of the hit. "Ow."

A third man joined the other two and took advantage of the victim's current position. He swung his leg to kick her in the abdomen. The action drew a painful yelp and expulsion of air from Princess throat, and a long begging moan from Cronus.

"Oh come on, leave her alone. She's not the Swan, I can guarantee you that much."

He turned on the prisoner. "You keep your mouth shut, or you're next, Colonel."

"Take me on, beat me all you want. But leave the woman. Shit, she's a woman."

A dark look crossed over the original attacker's face. "Yes," he purred dangerously. "A woman." He took a fistful of her hair and hauled her to her feet. "And it's been so long since …"

The glare of the woman in question as she was pulled to her feet halted whatever he had left to say. Her usual glistening green eyes had taken on a glassed and hard look. Her hands were clamped tightly to his as if to take the pressure off the pull of her hair, but her face read no emotion, no pain. Even the forming bruise on her mouth and cheek failed to highlight any soreness.

He was barely aware of the extra weight on his grasp as she shifted in order to look down her nose at him.

"And the drought goes on, asshole, because you still aren't going to get any." The end of her sentence was punctuated by a hard kick of her feet against his chest.

He immediately relinquished hold on her hair and fell backward into another goon.

As her feet touched feather-soft onto the concrete floor, her body fell into a low crouch. Her hand swept along the floor in search of a weapon. Her finger tips found a short piece of rope and she tilted her head just slightly to plot her attack.

It helped that the five men immediately banded together to give her a smaller zone of attack.

She smiled and leapt high from her crouch, cartwheeling with her hands taut on the rope, feet first into one of the attacker's faces. She used the foothold to launch herself backward over the head of another goon, catching his throat with the rope.

Clumsier than her yo-yo string, and with a larger area to grasp a hold, the rope slid and burned at her hand. She kept a firm hold, however, and twisted it across the man's throat. She yanked it back hard and grunted as she felt the neck snap against the rope.

There was barely a second in between her dropping the first victim and choosing another. Her teeth gritted as she pivoted on one foot and raised the other into an unsuspecting face.

"She is the Swan!" another yelled to his friend as he watched the second man go down in front of him. "Send out an alarm to the troops!"

There was a loud click of a firearm behind her that caused her to skid mid-attack and stop just shy of a man on the ground.

The one with the gun smirked and purred low as he spoke. "And let our ruler have all the fun with this little girl?" He made an exaggerated gesture of the weapon being pointed at Cronus. "I say we have our time with her than hand her to Zoltar for a large reward."

"I don't think so," Princess responded, keeping her eyes on the weapon and on a new target to her left. "I will have the rest of my team in here in less time it would take for you to blink." She stooped to pick up a weapon and pointed it at her third attacker. "Don't you think for a second I am the only one in here." She cocked the weapon in preparation of firing. "If you don't drop your gun I'll shoot him."

"And your Colonel will be dead before you could aim the gun at me."

She smiled. "And face the wrath of your leader for killing his prize? I don't think so." In calling his bluff, she squeezed the trigger and dropped a third goon. "Three down, two to go."

"I don't think so," a voice hissed from behind her as the very first man to attack took her by the hair to throw her face first against the wall. He twisted her arm behind her back to immobilize any further defense from her. "You can't call them if you can't use your communications device."

She grunted as her cheek scraped along the rough cinderblock wall. "Get off me, asshole."

He chuckled into her ear and snarled at his partner as he tugged her shirt from the waistband of her pants and threaded his hand up under to fondle her breasts. "If she makes one wrong move, kill him."

His partner snorted. "And the Sire will kill me."

He grunted and pressed himself into her back. "She's here for him. Obviously they know where we are. If he's dead they'll leave us the Hell alone."

He nodded. "Good point."

Princess groaned in pain as she felt her cheek scratch heavily along the wall. "Kill me, then. Give me to Zoltar. Just leave Cronus alone."

Cronus had to interject to that order. "Fuck that, Swan. Kick their asses and get the message to the team. Don't worry about me."

"I … can't do … that." She struggled to talk as the man behind her made moved to assault her in ways she hoped would never happen. "I'm here for your rescue, not mine." She let out a cry as her arm was twisted harder behind her. "I can't fail."

Cronus implored the men to leave her alone. "Come on, guys. She's just a woman. Leave her alone. If you use her as bait, you'll get the whole lot of them."

"Not until I take what I want from her first," he grunted as he fumbled with his belt. "A woman deserves no break. She has only one role in life, and that's to make a man's life pleasurable." He licked at her ear, thrilled at the tiny squeal of displeasure she gave. "I'll force it from you, bitch."

She choked out a whimper, horrified she had fallen so easily. "Please, don't do this."

"I take what I want, bitch!"

A shot rang out from beside them both. She let out a horrified cry as she heard the thud of a lifeless body on the floor. There was a brief shuffle of feet and the tension on her body was released as her attacker was pulled off her.

There was another shot and a gentler thud as her attacker fell to his knees, yelling in agony.

Princess turned, half expecting to be pulled into the arms of her lover.

He'd come for her.

He'd found her.

She turned and pressed her back into the wall, ready to fall into his arms.

As expected she was drawn into a set of arms … But not those of her lover.

"Are you okay?" a soft, but desperately pissed off voice asked her.

She peered up through sodden eyes into the mask of her enemy. She gasped and struggled to get free. "Stay away from me!" As she pulled away, she fell into a crouch, ready to attack. "I will kill you, I promise!"

He appeared to raise a brow, and raised a hand to her to assure her he meant no harm. "I am not going to hurt you."

She panted and wiped clumsily at her eyes, ready to call for her team if he made one wrong move.

He glared down at the groaning man on the floor, who held his hands at his bloody crotch.

"This is not acceptable behaviour, soldier," he ordered calmly at the man. "I don't condone it for a prisoner, and I definitely don't condone it for employees."

"But Sire …"

Zoltar raised his hand and flared his eyes to order the man quiet. "There are no excuses for that kind of filthy behaviour." He pointed a gloved finger at Cronus. "I would expect that behaviour from his kind, but not from my own men."

Princess gingerly pulled herself from her crouch and approached, wary of the fact that this goon could spill her identity at any moment. She prepared herself to both attack and defend.

Zoltar waited for a response from the man, whose entire attention was taken by sobbing and screaming in agony and realization he had lost the one defining feature of his masculinity.

"What is your excuse, soldier?!"

His eyes darted to princess, and he raised a bloody finger to point at her. "She's … she's…"

Princess immediately leapt into action. She pounced on the wounded man, driving her knees into his chest. With a bellow of a predator announcing its catch, she drove her elbow into the side of his head to break his neck.

He instantly stilled, his mouth and eyes frozen in a glare full of accusation at her.

Both Cronus and Zoltar winced at her action.

"Damn," the Colonel whispered in awe. "Where've you been hiding this one?"

Zoltar expelled a short, impressed breath and shook his head. "I don't know, but are there more of her?"

Princess finally shuffled off the man and skittered her ass along the floor to sit against the wall. Her breath was panicked and haggard. "G-Force would treat me better than this."

Zoltar ignored the comment and looked around at the array of bodies on the floor. He raised his brows underneath his mask and shook his head. "Did you? How?"

She ran her hand shakily through her hair. "I … I … uh … I grew up with four brothers. I learned to defend myself very quickly."

He nodded. "I can see they trained you well."

She slid herself up the wall and cast a glance to Cronus. He offered her a nod to say he was okay, so she stepped unsurely toward the cage. "They had big friends."

Zoltar clicked his fingers at a small handful of men that had gathered at the doorway. "Clean this mess up, for our guest." He laid a hand on her shoulder and gave a short squeeze for comfort. "I will assure you this will never happen again. I hope this doesn't turn you off working for Spectra."

Her eyes widened. This was not what she expected from the ruthless Zoltar. She answered with a shake of her head. "Um. No, Sire."

"Now," he muttered as he raised his eyes to Cronus. "While this place is cleaned up, I think the prisoner should be allowed to do the same." He pulled a key from the neck of his cap and unlocked the cell. "After my soldier's display of skill, I assume you will not try anything stupid on the way to the showers, Cronus."

The Pilot shook his head and raised his hands in a defensive manner. "Oh Hell no."

"Not that you'd ever strike a woman, anyway, would you?"

He swished a hip in a joking manner. "And break a nail?"

Princess groaned and poked him in the rib to tell him to walk. "Come on, Princess," she muttered, smirking at what she would definitely call a deliberate pun. "Let's get you all pretty for dinner."