Defenders Once More 3

Defenders Once More 3

Kitsune Maxwell led the remaining four pilots to their new base. Ben, Alexia, and Dan, followed in silence as Hell Bringer moved away from the city. When they thought it was clear, they opened up the comm. line.

"Does she know where she's goin'?" Dan asked skeptically.

"I'm sure she does. Let's trust her." Alexia replied, never taking her eyes off the gundam in front of her. Zeon Legacy. She didn't doubt in the slightest of Kitsune's abilities. She was more worried about Ben. He hadn't said anything, since they abandoned the hanger. Had it really messed him up that badly?

Kitsune brought Hell Bringer to a halt and everyone stopped behind her. Her voice came over the line, crackling with static. "This is it. Stand by." She put in a few commands into Hell Bringer, and the floor ahead of them, much to their surprise, opened up to reveal an underground hanger.

Alexia nodded. "Good job, Kit. Okay, everyone. Let's get settled in." She hit the button that activated her wings and burniettes and jumped down, followed by Dan, Kitsune, and finally Ben.

After shutting down the gundams, Dan jumped down besides where Kitsune and Alexia were talking. He grinned. "Thank you, ladies, for being so patient so as to wait for my arrival."

Alexia rolled her eyes. "Oh, Lord."

"You called?" Dan replied, giving a short laugh.

Kitsune crossed her arms, unimpressed. "Don't you have some work to do?"

"Pushy, pushy." Dan took of his sunglasses. "I'll get on it right away." He turned around and started walking away. "Sheesh, women. So bossy." He suddenly jump-flipped into the air, barely avoiding a boot swinging at his head, and twisted to face the girls again.

Alexia was right where he had just been, glaring at him. She had run up and attempted to kick him, but he had been ready. She growled in frustration and slackened her stance.

Dan winked at Alexia with a smile. "Better luck, next time." Then he left to the WFO MS."

Kitsune walked over to Alexia. "Let him go. Don't get so worked up."

Alexia sighed in defeat and turned to face her comrade. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She looked around the room with a frown. "Ben-kun doko ga?" (Where is Ben?)

Kitsune shrugged. "I didn't even see him leave the hanger." She saw Alexia start to leave the hanger. "Doko ni ikimasu ka?" (Where are you going?)

Alexis half turned with a small smile. "Where ever Ben is." Then she ran off.

Kitsune sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Anything at all for the one you love."

Lunaria walked down the halls of the new base and was very impressed at what she saw. She had discovered research rooms, command war rooms, and a fairly well equipped training facility. I'll have to come back here later…

Deciding to cut corners, Alexia closed her eyes and tried to sense where Ben was. She had been able to locate people in this fashion since she was very small, maybe five years old. She could feel Ben's blue aura that his body gave off in one of the many living quarters, just about 100 meters ahead of her.

She walked over to the door and felt him tense up. Can he feel me coming? She shrugged it off and tapped the bulkhead. "Salazar? You in there?"

The doors opened up and Ben was standing there, wearing a comfortable pair of jogging pants and a muscle shirt. Alexia's heart pounded faster and she took a deep breath. "I-I came to check on you, Salazar. I assume you found your quarters comfortable?"

"No need for formalities, Alexia. I am no more your superior than you are mine." He replied.

"You are our leader. I must show you the proper respect." She said, keeping her gaze off his expose biceps.

Ben snorted. "Yeah, leader. Some leader I am." He turned and went back in and plopped down with a sigh onto his couch. He looked up and saw Alexia stay at the doorway. "Well, don't just stand there. Come in."

Alexia slowly walked in and closed the door behind her. "You can't be responsible for everyone. Kentos would have defected whither you or even I was leader." She pointed out.

"I should have seen it coming though." Came his pessimistic reply. "What's next? Dan? Kitsune?" He paused. "You?"

"No."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I have a sense of loyalty to you and to this team." She said confidently.

Ben stood up. "Loyalty?" He walked closer to her and her heart started beating faster again. "Just how far would your loyalty extend?" He questioned.

Alexia took a step back. "I would sacrifice my life." She managed.

"Why? You barely just met any of us. Where does this devotion come from?" He was now inches from her face.

She knew she was blushing and she tried to back up, but hit the door. Uh oh… trapped…

Ben put two hands on either side of her head, leaning against the wall. "I thought you didn't trust people."

Alexia glared at him and was about to retort that comment, but looked away instead. "This…last battle gave me a lot to think about." She confessed.

"About what?" Ben inquired.

She thought back to the battle before…how he had called out her name…

"I…didn't see that attack coming from behind." She started. "But you…" She glanced up and saw his handsome features right near her face. She reddened and averted her gaze once more. "You defected the blast and s-saved m-me."

"I couldn't let them hurt you." He said in a gentle voice. "You mean too much to me…err…the team."

She nodded slowly. "Well, n-now that you are settled in and feeling better, I-I'd better go get some quarters for myself…before the squirt claims them all for him and his ego." She stood straight and Ben put his arms to the side. She turned around and opened the door.

"Alexia…" She turned to him. "Thanks."

She nodded and smiled. "No, thank you." Then she walked down the hallway and disappeared.

Ben sighed. "Do you really trust me now, my koibito? (Sweetheart)"

Dan plopped down into the cockpit of the captured MS, and quickly hooked up his hand held PC and began typing. "Let's see what you have to share, shall we?" He continued typing when his PC began to beep. "Wha-?"

He realized he had run into one of the defenses and gasped as WFO began to try and trace back the network to find out his location. "Oh, you want to find me, huh? Good luck!" He quickly rerouted their traces and sent them on a little wild goose chase.

"Now…" Dan continued to go through the WFO network until he came to sensitive information, which had many passwords. "Hmmm…whoever did this is good…very good. I've seen this kind of work before…but where?"

Dan shrugged it off and uploaded a little program of his own. "Let me ask you a little question. What does five minutes, five fingers and a hand held PC equal?" He hit the "enter" button and the computer responded. "ACCESS GRANTED"

"…All your secrets, boys!" He began skimming through the information, until he found something interesting. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" He smiled. Ben would want to know about this…

Alexia leaned intently over the tarot cards displayed in front of her. Kitsune tried to conceal how anxious she was about the results. Kitsune had earlier asked Alexia, stiffly, almost uncaring, is she would do a reading on her. Alexia had smiled. So, she let her curiosity get the best of her, ne?

Alexia had agreed and invited Kitsune into her room. She had gotten out her cards, shuffling them as she took a seat across from Kitsune on the carpet. She dealt the cards in a confusing and hidden pattern, that only she understood. She turned over a card and glared at it.

Kitsune squirmed. "Ja?" She asked quietly.

Alexia glanced up, as if just realizing she wasn't alone. She cleared her throat, and pointed at the card in the center of the configuration. "The Nine of Swords. This card represents violence." She pointed to yet another card. "This card reveals the past, experiences you may have had. Coupled…it generally means a violent and unpleasant past." She said the last part quietly. Kitsune's eyes darkened to the deep black of secrets.

"And this card is of the future…" Alexia continued, trying to lighten Kitsune's sudden dark mode. "You will meet someone from your past in your near future. They-" Kitsune was suddenly at her feet. "K-Kitsune?"

"This is a load of bullshit. A pack of lies created by fools with too much time on their hands." She grabbed the doorknob and threw the door open, making a hole in the wall.

She ran out the door, head down and braid flying out behind her. She ran, furiously out of control, not really having any direction…just the need for physical activity and solitude.

Alexia sighed and walked over to the wall to inspect the damage. The doorknob had embedded itself a good two inches into her wall. "Well, that's gonna need to be fixed." She said.

Right when was going to close the door, Dan Crimson came running down the hall, reopening her door. "Alexia I-"

"Can't you knock first?" Alexia slammed the door, making it hit Dan in the head, and then went to her bed to sit down. "Now, what did you want?" She crossed her legs and pretended to be interested.

Dan winced and rubbed his head. "Remember that MS that I so elegantly captured?"

Alexia rested her head on her hand. "Yes, I remember. What about it?"

"I got some information that might be useful."

Alexia raised an eyebrow. "Well, if that's true, then we should tell Ben." She got up and walked past him, out the door.

"But I-"

"Well, he is our leader, correct?" Alexia asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Dan grumbled, falling in step behind her.

"Then he will want to know about this." She said simply, going straight to where his quarters were.

She raised her hand to know on his door, and once again felt no surprise evident from Ben. Does he know we're coming or what? That's twice now.

"What are you waiting for?" Dan opened the door without any hesitation and revealed…

Alexia's eyes widened and she turned her blushing face away form the sight before her.

Ben let out a yelp and pulled up his brown slacks to quickly cover up his light blue boxers. "Can't you knock first!!??"

"He has a bad habit of doing that." Alexia said, not daring to look behind her.

Dan looked down with a smirk. "Sorry if I interrupted you."

Ben sighed. "What did you two want?" He zipped up and buttoned up before sitting down.

Alexia turned when she thought it was safe. "Crimson here says he found out some valuable information. We might have another mission on our hands." She said.

Ben nodded. "We should have a meeting then, to discuss the details." He suggested.

Dan turned to Alexia. "So, where's Kitsune?"

Alexia sighed. "She ran off after we had a disagreement."

A grin appeared on Dan's face. "Ooo, a lovers quarrel."

"Shut up." Alexia glared at him.

Ben loaded up his pistol and threw on his flight jacket.

Alexia smirked. "Very dashing."

Now it was Ben's turn to blush. "Thanks. Now, we need to find Kitsune. She's an important part of this team."

Alexia volunteered. "I'll go get her." With that, she turned and ran down the hall.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me." Ben said, walking out of his room."

"Unfortunately." Dan muttered under his breath, as he followed Ben out.

Alexia was frustrated as- Well that was Kitsune's phrase. And speaking of Kitsune, she was not in any of her usual hiding places. She had checked the library, the gym, her room, and the cafeteria… So she had found herself coming to the gardens for the second time in the pursuit of Kitsune.

She walked forlornly along the gravel path that wove in and out of the perimeter of the lush gardens. Sighting a very tempting bench beneath a large willow, she sat with a huge heaving sigh. Where could she be? There were only a few places a person could hide! "I wonder what I did wrong… What could possibly make Kitsune act that way? I wonder what could make her explode like that? Could it be that someone has surfaced from her past…?"

"I would advise that you not delve further into that question."

Alexia gasped, and looked up above her.

Kitsune was lying against a branch that perfectly fit the curve of her spine. With her arms crossed, eyes closed and dangling braid, she looked as if asleep. If she hadn't just spoken, Alexia would have thought so.

"Kitsune! We've-"

"Been looking for me, I know." She opened one cobalt eye to look down at Alexia who had unconsciously sprung up from her seat. "You look surprised to see me." She swung her legs over the branch, steadying her weight on her hands. Suddenly, she swung backwards and hung onto the branch by her knees. Kitsune chuckled to herself. Alexia looks funny upside down…

Alexia crossed her arms and pouted. "Just what is so funny, hmm?"

Kitsune crossed her arms, her long braid brushing the ground. "Just thinking about how odd you look upside down. " She smirked.

Alexia took in the sight of Kitsune, hanging by her knees, twisting her torso so she could look at her, arms crossed, and her long braid sweeping the ground. "You don't look too dignified yourself, you know."

Kitsune put on a mock hurt face and put a hand to her chest. "Lunaria, I think I'm hurt." She swung her legs off the branch and landed in a crouch before Alexia. She sprung up, inches away from Alexia's surprised face, brushing off her hands. "Well, why did you need me?"

Alexia quickly recovered. "I didn't know you did gymnastics." She said calmly.

Kitsune allowed the barest wisp of a smile to cross her face. "I don't." Alexia got an Anime-ish confused look on her face. Kitsune crossed her hands behind her back and leaned in confidentially. "I'll tell you a secret." She winked. "When you're running with stolen goods in your hands, you get to know how to hide." She stood back up, letting her hands fall to her sides. "So, let's go! If it's so important that you can waste your time looking for me, then it must be eminent!"

Alexia grinned from ear to ear. "I think we have a mission you may be interested in."

Kitsune raised an eyebrow nonchalantly. "Oh? Nani? (What?)"

Alexia nodded. "It involves blowing up one of WFO's ammunitions depot with some C-6…Huh?" Alexia looked around, but Kitsune had already vanished upon hearing the word "C-6" and "blowing up". Alexia sighed in defeat. "I finally find her and she runs off on me!"

Kitsune peeks her head out from behind Alexia. "You coming?" Before Alexia could reply, Kitsune grabbed her hand and dragged her back inside.

Kitsune entered the war room, followed by an out of breath Alexia. "Geez, Kit. Did you have to run all the way here?"

Kitsune turned to her friend and replied with a straight face. "You said C-6 and blowing something up, right?" Alexia nodded. "Then it requires my immediate attention." She replied in a serious tone, but Alexia saw the slight twinkle in her eye.

Dan and Ben were already seated at the large table in the center of the room. "Man, leave it up to girls to be late." Dan commented.

Alexia glared at him. "Leave it up to little boys to make unnecessary sarcastic remarks, that result in them getting castrated and cauterized."

Dan visibly paled and stayed silent.

Ben sighed. "You two can have your battle match later. We have business to do here."

Alexia and Kitsune took their seats and Dan took the responsibility of explaining what he had discovered.

"Alright, while I was inside the Enemy MS, I decided to take the opportunity to search their computer systems." Dan smiled, hoping that he was impressing the stony girl across from him. "They have a pretty advanced system of locks, tracers, and what are called Dobermans: viruses that follow you back to your location and kill your information."

Alexia rolled her eyes and said, "Alright, alright, we get the point, it was difficult. Now move on, please."

Kitsune leaned in and in an uncharacteristically enthusiastic voice continued, "Yeah! What's this I hear about C-6? And blowing things up, hmm?" Seeing everyone's curious stares she sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. "I just think we should get to the important stuff first." They all nodded in agreement and thought in their heads: Well, I guess someone's gun and explosion happy…

Dan cleared his throat and all attention was on him again. (Exactly where he wanted it.) "I found some pretty interesting stuff in their archives… Like where they keep their ammo… And the best way to get their depot destroyed." Kitsune was finding it increasingly difficult to sit still, unbeknownst to anyone else in the room. Dan took out what at first seemed like an ancient… what were they called… Palm Pilot! Yes it looked like a Palm Pilot. He placed it face up on the table and pressed a button, entering several access codes. He stood back as a display of enormous proportions burst forth from the small contraption's screen, a huge revolving display of light and information. The mouths of everyone at the table had fallen to the floor in pleasant amazement.

"What the hell…."

Dan smiled at Kitsune's absent-minded remark. "That would be a projector." He shrugged. "A take off on a late Earth model. It serves my purposes though. This is the lay out of the depot." He scrolled down the line of available images, until he found what he was looking for. Instantly, a blueprint of enormous proportions shot up in the center of the pilots.

Kitsune peered critically at it. "There are a number of places that we can drop our bomb, that would cause a great deal of damage. But there is no singular place that we could drop it that would take out the whole depot."

Ben cocked his head at her and gave her a confused look. "Couldn't we make two bombs and drop them at different locations to destroy the whole depot?"

Kitsune gave him a 'you-must-be-joking' look. "Do you have the materials to make two bombs? Because I sure as hell don't. And there is no we. That is, unless you have had extensive training in demolitions." She leaned back in her seat with a contented smile.

Well excuse me, Miss Know-It-All. Ben thought.

Alexia leaned forward. "You already figured this out?" She asked.

"Hai. I've been extensively trained in this kind of stuff, you should know that." She turned to Ben. "So when do we go? I need a time frame in which to assemble the bomb, and the materials."

Ben smiled unexpectedly. "Well, I know you'll be happy about this, Kitsune: tomorrow night."

Kitsune's eyes lit up, though her face stayed stoic. "I should get started then. We don't have a lot of time, between now and tomorrow night." And with a flash of braid, she was gone.

Alexia, Ben, and Dan rolled their eyes and sweat dropped. She tried so hard to hide her emotions, but in rare moments like this, her true feelings shone clearly… A face peered sheepishly around the corner, big cobalt eyes looking in from her place from the doorframe. "Anou… bakuhatsubutsu doko e?"

Ben and Dan turned to Alexia expectantly. She smiled benevolently at Kitsune. "Second floor in the West Wing, the fifth door on your right."

Kitsune smiled, scratching her bangs, and laughing nervously. "Heh… heh, arigatou gozaimasu."(Thank you) She ran off again.

Alexia turned to Ben and Dan. "She merely asked where we keep the tools of torture, that's all." Alexia laughed as the two boys blanched. "No, really, she asked where we keep the explosives. So I told her, except in English."

They both blushed and sat straight up again. "Oooo~ohhhh." They said thoughtfully, simultaneously. And perhaps even a bit grateful…

Sergeant Carter ran into the navigation room, where General Yarseea was bent over one of the command consoles issuing orders. "General!" He shouted.

Kamran coolly stood up and faced the officer. "Sergeant Carter, when you address me, you will do so in a calm manner, not acting like an MS with its head cut off."

Carter nodded and saluted. "Yes, General!"

"Now…" The General placed his hand at the small of his back. "What was so urgent?"

Sergeant Carter brought out his report. "At 2100, out system's computers were accessed by an unknown source. We attempted a back track tracing, but we were unsuccessful. Out central computers were accessed and the following files copied…"

"That will be enough. Hand me the report." Kamran interrupted.

Sergeant Carter handed over the report, and Kamran skimmed over it with his hazel eyes. His eyes widened and he used the report to backhand Carter across the face, sending him reeling.

"You imbecile!!! That idiot accessed our shipment records!"

The sergeant cowered. "We didn't think it would pose a problem."

"You didn't think?" Kamran shouted. "You didn't think!!!! Since when was an organic carbon based life form such as yourself incapable of elementary subconscious deduction?"

Sergeant Carter paled and stuttered to try and come up with an answer.

General Yarseea looked back at the report. What would that bastard be after? He scanned over the files and looked up to another officer. "Send your troops to LX-1398. The pilots will attack there."

The officer nodded and left the room.

"And you…" Yarseea wrapped one hand around Carter's neck and slowly raised him off the ground. "If you ever delay in reporting an intrusion such as this…I will make sure the use of your arms and legs will be permanently removed. Is that clear?"

No response.

The General released his hold and the sergeant fell limp to the floor. He sighed and turned around, his back to the body. "Remove that trash, will you?"

Two other officers ran up and dragged Sergeant Carter away.

"What happened to him?" One whispered.

"I heard a crack. I think his neck is broken." The other replied, both exiting the room.

General Yarseea smiled. I have you now…