The next heartbeat, she felt someone rushing nearer to her and saw Kelly drawing out her gun. Dropping to the ground while she made a shelter for her little girl, she turned her head to watch for what was behind her. The heavy weapon in the hand of the small girl boomed together with another heavy handgun and behind her, Maura heard a body falling. Turning around, there was Fairfield lying next to her, a small pistol still in his hand, blood coming from the holes in his chest and from the corner of his mouth. Unbelieving he looked at Maura, trying to speak. From the door, Will called out with pure joy, "Jane, you are here! I told them! I told them that you will come and kick their asses!" Jumping up at Jane, he placed his arms around her neck. "I love you Ma!" He finally said. This was the last Fairfield heard in this live and it was the most devastating sentence that his ears ever picked up!

Walking closer, carrying the little boy in her arms, Jane stopped next to her wife. Maura had returned to a standing position, her daughter holding in her arms, she gave Jane a nervous glance.

"You are aware that I am royally pissed?" Jane tilted her head as she growled at Maura.

Silently, the blond in front of her could only nod.

"Okay, let's get away from here, your taxi is waiting on the roof and the clock is running!" Jane turned and started to walk away and a single tear started to run down Maura's face. Taking Will along to her Mech, Jane entered her giant fighting machine with the ease of long experience.

"Don't be mad at mommy!" Will started as soon as she had him strapped in his seat.

"Will, mommy scared me nearly to death, I had problems to breathe and to think straight. What if I lost all three of you there? How should I live without all of you?" Tears were streaming down her face and her façade fell down like an old dead tree.

He reached out to her, giving her a wet kiss, he said, "I love you ma and I love mommy and most of all, I love to have you both next to me. Please, don't be mad."

Crying, Jane shook her head and gave him a kiss in return.

While Jane walked down to her Mech, Kelly led Maura and Sofia to her Battleaxe. Making sure that both were secure in their seat, she placed herself on her chair. As soon as she was connected, Kelly jumped her big war machine down. Steering away from the palace, she turned on the internal communication gear.

"You know that Jane won't stay mad at you for long?" The girl sounded relaxed and happy. Which she probably really was as far as Maura knew her.

"She probably hates me by now." Maura answered her depressed. "I endangered the whole unit."

"Let me tell you – the way Jane had a plan at hand as soon as she knew you were gone? She had the whole attack planned out while you were sleeping. I know her; she was excessively pissed by those guys. She already had figured out how to sneak in to attack the barracks. Additionally, you have four very big advantages to cool her down – you know?"

"Four?" Maura asked irritated. "Which four should that be?"

"Will is your first line of defense – I'm sure he is already working on it. He loves you both excessively much and wants both of you at his side. Second line is this sweet little girl you are holding in your arms." Maura heard a snicker coming from Kelly, showing that the next thing to come was a little bit sex oriented and that the girl in the pilot seat still was a teenager with all the insecurities a teenager displays. However, a little bit embarrassed, Kelly continued, "Those two boobs you are carrying in your blouse. I recognized that they always made Jane - hm, I would like to say – yes, absentminded. Every single time you gave Jane a look at them!"

Maura wasn't convinced, crying in silence, she held Sofia tight to her and hoped that Jane wouldn't kick her out.

Six hours later, they were back at the compound and had the chance to take the inventory from all they had taken along from the barracks. Nina stood in front of Jane, her eyes bright and she was nearly jumping up and down.

"Okay Nina, spill it, what did we get?" Jane sat on a folding chair, tired and emotionally spend. Maura and the kids were in a room to get some sleep, her mother in another one with Korsak to keep her company – Jane wasn't willing to imagine them doing more then to hold hands.

"We took along twenty Mechs of different sizes and types, a lot of parts, we lost not one Mech completely, contrary, we can repair some of the ones we had to hide because the parts were missing. With the machines we started to dig out from our little surprise – we are nearly back to our strength. I guess we only need twenty-eight more hours and we can pay our friends another visit. At the fight for the palace and the barracks, we took the twenty Mechs and destroyed twelve. Sixteen were more or less heavy damaged. From the hundred and eighty machines, they brought to this planet, ninety we took over or destroyed them. We are back to sixty, sixty-one exactly. Our infantry was able to take over a couple of tanks too, most of them SRM-Carriers and Galleons but who cares, they don't have them as an asset any longer and we have some guns more to play with. We were also able to destroy fourteen of their space fighters and killed many of their infantry. At the moment, they are withdrawing their Mechs from the country side to protect their major assets as the bigger cities."

Jane could not resist smiling about the enthusiastic manner Nina displayed.

"Though I think we are lacking more pilots than Mechs?" Jane wanted to know. Receiving a nod from Nina, she led out a sigh.

"I wished those damned Steiners would come. This is costing us a lot!" Jane shook her head.

"By costing us a lot – how are you doing with Maura?" Nina asked. Jane looked at her like a wounded deer.

"I don't know." She finally said with a sigh.

"Okay Jane, in this case, I call Susie." Jane was confused about this and said so.

"Because that way, you get doctors orders to move your fat ass over to your wife and your kids! Take them in your arms and stop behaving like a hormone driven teenager who got her brand new little red corvette taken away from daddy because she showed her tits to the boys!"

"Hey, I'm not behaving like a teenager!" Jane started only to being interrupted by Kelly.

"You are – I should know, I'm a teenager myself! Now get your ass in gear boss and don't you dare to come back without being good with your wife. I pick up the kids in an hour, after that, you two can talk and after that make out. As I was told, sex after such an event is great!" The girl blushed to no end but still held her ground against Jane's stare. Finally giving up, Jane threw her hands in the air and walked to where her family tried to get some rest.

Sneaking in, Jane found the kids sleeping close to their mother. All of them only wearing some underwear to sleep in. Slipping out of her overall, Jane carefully moved under the blankets and spooned her wife, closing her arms around all three of them. Feeling that Maura stiffened up, she murmured in her ear to relax and sleep. Pressing a quick kiss at the back of Maura's head, she whispered into the blond's ear that she had to be fit for the make-up sex that would follow their argument. With a soft snicker, Maura relaxed and only seconds later, all four of them were asleep.

Jane and Maura had only slept for half an hour when Frost burst into their room.

"Jane, Maura, wake up!" He called out, storming to their bed and started to shake them.

"Frost, I swear I will kill you if you are not gone in a second!" Jane growled angry. The kids were scared and Maura tried her best to calm them down.

"Jane, we have to run over to the warehouses the Kurita soldiers stocked, we have to pick up as much as possible before the incoming house unit has a chance to lay their hands on them!" Frost ignored the angry looks and growls he got from both women.

"House unit? What house unit?" Jane wanted to know.

"There is a whole regiment of the Skye Rangers coming down; the snakes are hurrying to load as much as possible into their ships to leave. The Rangers and us – that is too much to stand against, at least after the beating they got today and with the Tai-sho dead or in hospital. We have to hurry Jane!" Frost was jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas and Jane told him to call all who could pilot a Mech with jump capacity or high running speed. Not a complete quarter of an hour later, they assembled in the factory hall they used as a hangar. Nineteen people stood in front of Jane, more Mechs with jump jets or high running speed weren't available in a fighting shape.

"You people ran as fast as possible, try to be at the warehouses as soon as possible. The other Mechs fast enough will follow as soon as possible. All you have to do is secure those warehouses that still contain material but be careful, possibly they will try to blow all the things they couldn't take along up. Now go, go, go!" Jane made shushing moves with her hands to make them run, after the group with the fastest Mechs, she send out the second group, giving a sigh when she realized that she wouldn't be part of this operation in any way.

Walking slowly back to the mess hall, she saw Maura sitting alone a little bit by the side, holding a cup in her hands. Sneaking closer, Jane saw the tears streaming down Maura's face. Very slowly, her arms curled around the blond and pulled her against Jane's body.

Giving her a kiss on the top of her head, she said with a stern voice, "You owe me Doctor, you remember?"

Turning her head, Maura gave her a questioning look.

"The 'all is fine again' sex – what else?" Jane pulled her up, slipped around and sat on the chair Maura had before. Pulling her onto her lap, she held the blond close. Maura wasn't able to look at her and silently cried on.

Finally, Maura had all tears spend she had inside her and Jane still held her in her arms. Maura turned now her head to Jane; exhausted she asked, "How can you still be this nice to me?"

"Because I love you. There are a couple of questions and I am sure a couple of things we will be pissed at each other but in the end?" Jane shrugged, "I love you and I married you. Should mean something, don't you think?"

The answer she got was a kiss, burning on her lips like fire, stirring up her arousal.

Four hours later, they had secured three warehouses, mostly filled with armor plates but in one of them, there were weapons, parts of inner structures, gyroscopes, reactor parts and electronics as well. Still there was nothing from the incoming Steiner unit and Jane used this fact to secure everything they could lay their hand on. Another two hours later, they had a fight with the Kurita troops for one warehouse and the snakes were able to blow it up instead letting it fall in the hands of the Razors. The luck turned shortly after when their Mechs reached another one early enough to take over before the defenders were able to place the explosives. There they also were able to have a complete set of parts and got a chance to secure three damaged Mechs. Those were only a Panther, a Locust and a Jenner but no one complained. One lance had rounded the city and won the jackpot. A complete lance of Mechs, waiting for transport fell into their hands, together with three LRM-Carriers, two SRM-Carriers and two Galleons. The Mechs they could lay their hands on were a Crusader, a Zeus the Kuritas had somehow been able to take over from house Steiner, a Marauder and an Awesome. All of them were in no shape to fight and the DCMS-Soldiers preferred to retread – probably because there was only one platoon of rifle-infantry.

Short after this coup, the CO of the incoming Rangers called out to them, informing them that all and everything the leaving Kurita unit left was theirs, quoting the contract. Jane confirmed it and informed her people.

"Are there all of our newest possessions correctly saved?" Jane turned to Nina who acted as her 2IC in the time.

"Yes, including the sixteen Mechs still under the avalanche. Whatever state they may be in. Mostly I expect them only be delivering some spare parts but who knows." She looked over to Maura who smiled relaxed.

"With those seven Mechs we got now, we are at sixty-eight. If we can repair only four of the ones we salvage, we have a complete sixth company." Maura confirmed, shaking her head. "We were extremely lucky!"

"Yes, we were. Even if I have to say that I am still pissed that you didn't trust me enough to get the kids out without the stunt you made." Jane watched Maura turn to her,

"But I did trust you, you see. I trust you that you would come and rescue us, otherwise I would never have been able to keep me strong." Maura stood in front of her, her eyes open wide in innocence. "Jane, without the trust I have in you, I would have done whatever he told me to do in the absurd hope that eventually I could keep them save but with you in the back? I KNEW that we would come out the other side – alive and well. So please Jane, never ever assume that I do not trust you!"