***RB***
"As far as we are aware, Copy X is taking the two fires legend seriously." Ciel stood before the entire rebel group, her hands behind her back and a concerned look on her face.
"He has already ordered his guardians and their lieutenants to watch for them...and they have already put a target on Raven for reasons that only Copy X can answer."
"Does he believe that Raven is one of the fires?" Colbor asked, putting his hand up quickly. "That legend is of human origin, right?"
"Well, she is a human, right?" one of the soldiers asked. "Would it be possible that she IS one of the lights?"
Raven glanced at the soldier before waving him off. "Oh please. Don't try to insult me."
"Yeah, in order to be one of the lights, the human has to be pure in heart and blameless in deed!" Jaken pointed towards Raven. "Something that Raven CERTAINLY can't check off her bucket list!"
The girl's eye twitched heavily and she put her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, and you're a MODEL citizen, aren't cha toadstool butt?"
"MY NAME IS JAKEN!"
Ciel quickly put her hands up and tried to settle everyone down. "Please please, everyone. There's many things about this legend that still needs more research, but as off now, we need to keep a close eye on Copy X's movements and what plans he has in mind, should he actually find one of them."
Zero kept his arms crossed from where he was standing. "So you're saying this little fairytale is true then?"
"Zero, at one time even Reploids themselves were considered a fairytale." Ciel replied soundly, making a motion with her hand. "And yet, here we are." She looked back towards the group.
"We don't need to search for the lights themselves...we simply need to keep Copy X from finding them."
"If we don't search for them, then how will we keep Copy X from them?" Jaken asked putting his hands on his short little hips. "By your very definition, the lights are human with no flaw!"
"Well then that SHOULD rule me out, right?" Raven asked sarcastically, giving Jaken a death glare. "If there's no flaws."
"Exactly!...Wait what kind of flaws are we talking about?" Jaken started counting with his fingers, taking a step of challenge towards Raven. "Sins? Looks? Or just plain squelched personality?"
"Why you little…"
"And Neo Arcadia is FILLED with different kinds of humans!" Jaken continued, COMPLETELY ignoring the glare he was getting from Raven. "It could be any one of them!"
"You know...Harpuia's little pilot seemed well educated when I spoke to her…" Zero pondered, looking towards Ciel with a frown on his face. "Maybe she has some answers on her."
Raven glared towards Zero, while Ciel winced lightly. "Well...yes, Foxfire is advanced when it comes to her research...though she is near impossible to get to, since she's non-combative."
"Plus Phantom keeps a leash on her." Raven suddenly spoke up, waving a hand in dismissal. "A TIGHT leash. There's no getting our hands on her, so might as well look elsewhere!"
Zero rose an eyeridge at Raven. She dismissed that suggestion...WAY too quickly…
"We'll worry about the lights later, Zero" Ciel made a motion towards Colbor and a handful of other soldiers. "Right now we have to focus on obtaining more supplies. We're running low, and there's only so much we can do if we aren't prepared to continue sabotaging Copy X's plans."
Ciel looked towards Colbor. "I need you and your team to go with Raven and Zero to the southern supply base of Neo Arcadia. It's rather barren, so you won't have to worry about Neo Arcadian Civilians. However, that area is run by Fefnir's soldiers."
"HA! Fefnir?" Raven put her hands on her hips and grinned. "Fefnir has little to NO brains in his head. This will be EASY!"
"But his soldiers are strong, Raven." Zero glanced towards Raven, before looking towards Ciel. "Are you sure she's recovered enough to go on this type of mission?"
Before Ciel could even open her MOUTH, Raven stepped in front of Zero and put a finger in his face. "Oh you BET I am, Firetruck butt! I'm done being cooped up, and I'm ready to handle REAL missions, got it?"
Zero only stared at Raven evenly for a few moments, before he turned. "Fine. We're leaving now."
"That's more like it" Raven smirked, following Zero. Behind her followed Colbor and four other soldiers. Colbor quickened his pace to walk beside Raven and put a hand up. "Um...Miss Raven? Two questions."
"What?"
"Are you sure you're alrigh-"
"I've been resting for over a month while only accepting scouting missions." Raven looked towards Colbor. "I'm board. I'm going."
"O-Oh- Ok then...Oh and second?" Colbor pointed towards Zero. "...Why do you keep calling Zero 'Firetruck Butt'?"
Raven paused at the question and she gave Colbor a weird look.
After a short moment, Zero glanced back as he walked to the teleporter. "Yeah, I've been wondering that myself, Raven. How would you know my aft looks like a firetruck anyways? You lookin?"
Raven went beat red and flailed her arms, fuming. "DUDE! Your ARMOR is RED! IT'S LOGIC!"
"Though the area you're referring to is white…" Zero droned, raising an eyeridge.
Raven shook her fist at Zero, before she plain stormed past him, a red blush on her face. "You know what? I'LL lead!" she grumbled, marching ahead of the group.
***NA***
The sounds of weapons clashing against each other filled the training room of the Strong Air Battalion. The clashing of weapons were accompanied by the sound of Harpuia's yelling, and sometimes taunts.
A yell...the clang of weapons...a thud...another yell…
Foxfire ran from side to side, panting quickly in an effort to dodge one of Harpuia's special attacks. THANKFULLY he wasn't using the tornado on her today, however he WAS dive bombing at her a lot!
She slid to the side and tried to slash her sai at Harpuia; however, the air Commander swiftly snatched her by the waist.
"Got'ya!" He called, quickly flying into the air with Foxfire's back tightly against his chest. She struggled, but he was far too strong. Bracing herself quickly, Foxfire felt Harpuia diving and DROP her on the ground.
"Stay down!" Harpuia called out as he let her SLAM to the ground. Foxfire tumbled a few feet away and lay on the ground, panting for a moment, before she pushed herself up and grabbed her sai.
Turning, Foxfire got herself ready…
….only to be looking at an empty room.
Foxfire's eyes widened and she took in a breath, before quickly performing a backflip. Sure enough, Harpuia had been right behind her and almost had grabbed her from behind. Almost as if in slow motion, she saw him look upwards towards her…
...but then he SNATCHED her left wrist and grinned at her. "Keep your eyes on your opponent, Lieutenant!" With a yell, he THREW Foxfire to the ground, making her land with a hard grunt.
Foxfire lay on the ground, panting heavily and feeling Harpuia place his knee on her back, while resting one of his blades at her shoulder as she panted.
"And I believe that concludes our training, Foxfire."
He only got a low groan in reply. This made Harpuia put his weapons away and get off her, before staying kneeling, making sure she was at LEAST moving properly. "I'm impressed, Foxfire! You've been able to dodge twice as many of my attacks as last time! HECK! I think you dodged at LEAST five!"
"Oh spare me." Foxfire muttered, slowly trying to push herself from the floor, her arms shaking. Harpuia helped Foxfire stand, before he himself stood, putting his hands on his hips and grinning.
"Keep this up, and you may even be able to dodge an attack from PHANTOM some day!" He teased, a smirk on his face.
Foxfire scoffed and glared at him. "Don't even JOKE like that, Commander Harpuia. There's no way I'd be able to dodge an attack from Commander Phantom."
Harpuia smirked slightly as Foxfire turned away from him and rubbed her right shoulder slightly, a slight hiss of pain leaving her. "Well I mean, you've dodged him in every other way, might as well be able to dodge his moves, right?"
She suddenly stopped walking away and made a face, looking towards Harpuia, a look of disdain on her face. "Wh-...Oh come ON Commander Harpuia!" She turned to face him, waving her hands around in the air for emphasis. "PLEASE not this again!"
"What?" the green armored reploid asked innocently, his own hands resting on his hips. "I'm just stating the facts. I mean, you had the PERFECT opportunity to confess to my brother on the ice last Tuesday, but nope."
Foxfire's face fell, her expression reflecting pure horror. "Y-...You...SAW THAT?!"
Harpuia only smirked at her, before she flailed her arms wildly. "THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT! THAT WASN'T EVEN MY FAULT! SOBEK TURNED THE FREAKING FLOOR INTO ICE AND I SMASHED INTO YOUR BROTHER UNINTENTIONALLY!" Foxfire positioned her hands in a stressed, almost twitching manor. "Commander Harpuia...PLEASE...I'm begging you...Please stop this…"
There was a moment of silence from Harpuia, before he looked thoughtful.
"...You know what, Foxfire?...You're right."
Foxfire suddenly blinked, looking surprised by the air commander's response. Harpuia put a finger to his chin as though he was deep in thought. "This DOES need to stop, doesn't it?" He was silent for a brief moment, before he turned his back on her...and smirked.
"Welp. If you're not going to confess to my brother, I'll just do it for you then, Lieutenant."
"W- WHAT!?" Foxfire near shrieked and paled as Harpuia started heading for the door. "NO!"
Like lightning, Foxfire swiftly SNATCHED her sai from the floor and ran for Harpuia. He managed to glance behind him…
...before Foxfire completely flipped over him, landed in front of him...and swiftly positioned her sai right in front of him to get him to stop.
For a few moments, there was only silence between Harpuia and Foxfire...although, the Lieutenant was panting shallowly.
"...Keep your eye...on your opponent…" she panted.
Harpuia slowly grinned. "VERY good, Lieutenant….I'm impressed." He took a single finger and lightly pushed her sai away from his face. "...I'm still telling Phantom though."
"PLEASE DON'T!" Foxfire all but whined, lowering her sai and giving Harpuia a desperate look. "I'm BEGGING you!"
Harpuia took one of Foxfire's sai from her hands and casually started twirling it around, raising an eyeridge at her. "What are you so scared of, Lieutenant? Phantom already knows about-"
His words were cut off when he spotted a figure walking into the room. Lumine strolled in, hands behind his back and standing tall as he walked. The teasing and light air that Harpuia had vanished in meare seconds, his optics narrowing and his own demeanor straightening.
"What is it, Lumine?" Harpuia growled, lightly handing Foxfire her sai back, who sheathed her weapons and stayed put while Harpuia took two steps forward. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of training with my Lieutenant?"
"Oh...because I stole your Lieutenant, you had to try and groom Phantom's? How like you Harpuia." Lumine made a wave of his hand, which made Harpuia scowl. "I guess a pretty boy's complex never goes away, hmm?"
"As long as Foxfire is under my command, she is my responsibility." Harpuia crossed his arms and glared at Lumine distastefully. "What do you want, Lumine? Surely you're not in here to train." He made a motion towards his blades. "Because if it's training you want, I will be MORE than happy to assist you."
"Such a generous offer, but I am here to ask your Lieutenant a few questions." Lumine glanced over towards Foxfire and held out a hand towards her, a sly grin on his face. "My dear, please accompany me to the intelligence agency. I've been told you have experience with the Raven"
Foxfire winced at the statement. Phantom hadn't told this creep that she had previous experience with Raven...had he?! Why would he DO that to her!?
Before she could make any move or reply, the door suddenly opened and in ran Sobek- who all but PLOWED into Lumine.
"HEY FOXFIR- BLAH!"
"GAH!"
The two reploid mechs sprawled on the ground, groaning, breaking the tension in the room and getting strange looks from Foxfire and Harpuia.
"Get...OFF...me...you lousy- GAH!"
"Foxfire!" in ran Fefnir, now standing on top of Sobek and Lumine, quickly pointing towards Foxfire and grinning widely. "It's your LUCKY day! You get to be with the big boys today!"
"Commander Fefnir, you're on my shoulder." Sobek muttered.
"BOTH OF YOU ARE CRUSHING ME!" Lumine all but snarled.
Foxfire watched the happenings with a perplexed look on her face...while Harpuia had a smug smirk on his own face for a moment, before looking towards Fefnir. "Hold on...what are you talking about, brother?"
Fefnir looked up at Harpuia, putting a finger in the air as if impersonating Abe Lincoln or something. "Master X just sent Sobek and I to the southern supply base to check on the conditions, as well as grab important files from the systems."
"GET OFF ME I SAID!" Lumine cried out, Sobek and Fefnir STILL on top of him.
Harpuia blinked. "...Can't you just...tell the workers to send those data files to our system?"
"Actually, no." Sobek said, still sprawled on the ground. "Those systems are old and never synced with our own...That's why we need Foxfire there with us!" He grinned. "She knows how to work those systems!"
"YOU'RE CRUSHING MY PLATTING!"
Foxfire crossed her arms and gawked at Fefnir and Sobek. "So let me get this straight...You're asking me to go along with you...so I can do your job for you…"
"Pleeeeease?"
"Oh come oooon Foooox?" Both Sobek and Fefnir gave Foxfire pathetic puppy eyes.
"CAN YOU NOT HEAR ME, YOU OVERGROWN-"
"Did you ask Commander Phantom by any chance?" Foxfire motioned towards Harpuia. "Or better yet...run it past Commander Harpuia? I mean...I'm not combat-ready-"
"Harpuia's standing RIGHT THERE, I think he's fine with it!" Fefnir grinned, earning a sarcastic look from his brother.
Foxfire rubbed her forehead and sighed. "...fine...but this better be quick, because I still need to meet up with Shadow later and go over some things of his."
"YES!"
"You're the best Fox!" Sobek grinned. "Don't EVER let anyone tell ya you're a stubborn party pooper!"
Foxfire made a face. "Yeah, because we all know where THAT term originated."
"I'm sure I have NO idea what you're talking about!" Sobek quickly stood up and pranced over to Foxfire, offering his hand. "M'lady!"
Foxfire rolled her eyes and glanced towards Harpuia. "Sir, could you please inform Commander Phantom of my whereabouts" She paused for a moment, and pointed at him. "And JUST that, PLEASE?!"
Harpuia shrugged, a grin on his face, while Foxfire walked right past Sobek and followed Fefnir out the door, Sobek behind her.
Harpuia watched them walk off...before looking towards the ground, crossing his arms and smirking at Lumine...who was STILL flat on the ground. "As for you Director Lumine; I'm sorry, but my Lieutenant is currently occupied. Why don't you find another soldier to help you?"
He turned and headed out of the room from another door….leaving Lumine seething on the ground.
***SB***
Zero looked around at the area, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the hallways of the building that Ciel had transported him to. For a while he made sure everything was still and silent...before he glanced behind him and made a motion with his hand.
Running up to him from the shadows was Raven, who stopped when ran past him and to another part of the hall, Naginata ready to strike. She glanced down a different hall that looked like it was exposed to a larger room below and waited for a moment, before looking back towards Zero and signaling him.
Zero nodded and looked behind him, making another signal; to which a line of rebel soldiers quickly made their way towards the hall that Raven was currently down and placed themselves behind her, waiting for Zero to go in front and scout the next hall.
Once Zero went past them, Colbor gently tapped Raven's shoulder to get her attention.
"Miss Raven; I meant to give this to you when we were still at base, but you kinda...took off."
Raven gave Colbor a flat expression for a moment, before she looked to what he was handing her. In his hands was a silver and black blaster with red highlights here and there. From the looks of it, the weapon looked like it had a variety of different uses in it.
Raven took the weapon from Colbor and looked over it. "Wait...I thought Foxfire took my blaster?"
"Yes ma'am, so I've been working on a new one for you" Colbor pointed towards it. "It's rapidfire, it can change elementals, and it even has a-"
"Less product selling, and more mission-focus, please." Zero called out in a hushed tone.
At the command, Colbor quickly zipped it, but Raven gave the rebel soldier a rough PAT on the back. "Thanks kid! I can't wait to shoot Phantom in the foot with this!"
She quickly stood and directed the rest of the rebels down the exposed hallway, all of them heading into the supply room…
...and not 5 seconds later, Fefnir, Sobek and Foxfire teleported one story below, Sobek letting off a stretch.
"Aaahh! I LOVE messing with that guy!" Sobek laughed, putting his hands on his hips and grinning in Fefnir's direction. "I can see why Commander Harpuia hates him so much! What a blow-hard!"
Fefnir grinned and made a motion with his hand. "Lumine is self absorbed and is always talking about the 'new generation' stuff. He doesn't really seem to have any attachments for humans, which makes me wonder WHY Master X bothers having him around."
"It's probably because Lumine is decent at his job." Sobek muttered, allowing Foxfire to walk past him and to a specific area with tech around it. "Although one would THINK all Lumine is good for is…" He stopped and struck a pose. "...I-LUMINE-tion!"
Fefnir let out a hardy laugh and SMACKED Sobek on the back, making the Lieutenant lurch forward a few steps. "NICE one Lieutenant!"
"May I get 10 seconds of peace, please?"
Fefnir and Sobek looked up towards a small platform that Foxfire had made her way to. She was glancing back at them while she typed and looked somewhat annoyed. "If I'm going to do your job for you, I need to be able to concentrate."
"Sure thing!"
"Do what cha gotta do, Lieutenant!"
"Don't mind us"
"We're just over here"
"And try not to think TOO hard"
"Or you may end up thinking about Phantom."
The two snickered and fist bumped each other, leaving Foxfire to groan to herself, a light blush on her cheeks and a scowl on her face.
Forcing the thought of these two bozos out of her mind, she typed at the keyboard and watched the computer accepting the passwords that she was providing it and think about the requests she was giving. For a while, her eyes narrowed, focusing on her job, and only her job.
After a moment of typing, she took out a disk and connected a wire to it.
Connecting one part of the wire to her datapad, and the other part to the main computer, she resumed typing for a moment...before she stood up and crossed her arms, watching the screen.
As she worked, Sobek made his way beside her, his eyes scanning the screen. "...So what exactly will these files provide?"
"They're supposed to be a line of information of our citizens of Neo Arcadia" Fefnir replied, taking the other side of Foxfire and putting his hands on his hips. "All information about past and present residence."
"Hold on." Sobek looked towards Fefnir, raising an eyeridge. "Information about our Citizens?...Why the HECK do we need to come all the way out HERE to get that information?"
"We only have information on our CURRENT Citizens back at headquarters." Fefnir looked towards Sobek and made a motion towards the computer that Foxfire was working on. "This facility has records that predate even US. Back before Master X created us and was the only leader of Neo Arcadia...HECK it has information that predates Neo Arcadia itself."
"Dang." Sobek looked towards the screen. "The heck do we need information on the citizens for? Aren't the humans happy?"
Foxfire paused her typing at the question...before continuing.
"They should be...but Master X heard a rumor that the two lights only originate from Human sources." Fefnir crossed his arms and frowned. "...which means if it's true, we may have to disregard the Raven all together and start looking amongst our people for the holders."
Sobek frowned. "...We aren't planning...to harm our own citizens, are we?"
"Of course not." Fefnir replied seriously. "Master X knows what he's doing...I'm sure of it."
Foxfire stood up straight and looked at the screen...before turning towards Fefnir. "Commander Fefnir I've started the downloading process. This should take about 10 minutes to fully download." She made a motion with her hand. "In the meantime, I'm going to try and find Anubis and see if he has any reports I need to forward to Commander Pha- Harpuia."
Fefnir looked towards Foxfire and nodded lightly. "You do that, Lieutenant. We'll be right here."
Giving Fefnir a salute, Foxfire walked down the steps and headed for one of the hallways.
"She misses her Commander Phaaaaantooom"
"And Phaaantooom misses heeeeeerrr"
Foxfire's shoulders sagged and she grumbled as she heard the two boys snickering as she exited the room.
Deeper in the building, the rebels were in the process of transporting several cases to their original warping point. Raven kept an eye on the openings. They had already successfully taken out a group of scout reploids, but no doubt the leader of the area would start noticing their silence.
They had to move quickly.
"Raven."
She turned and looked towards Zero, who had his saber out and was motioning towards a parallel hallway. "I'm going to check the status of our allies back at point one. Keep an eye on Colbor, Chateau and Jaken."
Raven smirked. "Oh I don't need to keep an eye on ol' blender butt. All I have to do is listen for him."
"MY NAME IS JAKEN!"
Raven made a motion with her hand. "See what I mean?"
Zero smirked and shook his head, before heading down the previous hallway, leaving Raven in the room with the other rebels. She looked towards her three allies to make sure they were doing alright, before looking down the hall she was originally watching.
"Raven!"
Raven glanced towards Colbor, who was now holding a rather large container in his arms. "Whoa, there buddy...maybe that's too big of a load for you…"
"We'll need this though!" Colbor smiled. "It's full of necessities that our soldiers will benefit from! I'm going to transport this and group with Zero for the come back"
"...well…" Raven glanced down the hall that Zero had gone down...if it was quiet, it was probably fine. "Ok, but BE CAREFUL"
"Ma'am Yes Ma'am!" Colbor made his way down the hall, leaving the eyesight of Raven and the others, panting as he held the large container.
Man...this thing was heavier than he originally thought. Maybe he should have asked Zero to help him with this thing….
Nah, then Zero wouldn't be able to watch his own back, much less his.
Colbor winced, his circuits beginning to feel the strain of his load. He attempted to adjust it...but he could feel it slipping from his fingers. He cursed inwardly and glanced behind him. He was already too far from the room Raven was in…
...how much farther was Zero?
Colbor yelped when he stumbled over his own feet and felt himself falling forward...only for someone to quickly grab his load across from him.
"Whoa!...Careful! That's a big load you got there…"
Colbor sighed in relief at the sound of a friendly female voice. "Oh my goodness, thank you so much. I know I was told not to take too big a load, but I was certain I could handle it." He chuckled.
A chuckle was heard from the other side of the load. "Well I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you shouldn't sacrifice your own safety when it comes to loads like this."
"Yeah, I keep hearing that. I'll definitely know better next time." Colbor replied. "Would you mind helping me with this please?"
"Certainly. Where are we going?"
"Oh, point A of course."
"Point A?"
"Yeah, Point A." Colbor shifted his weight.
"Oh...The Point where Commander Fefnir is?"
"The point where Zero is"
The two spoke at the same time...but then paused upon hearing what the other person said. For a moment, Colbor was frozen stiff…
...wait...who...the heck was he talking to?
"...um…" Colbor squeaked lightly, slowly peeking his helmet over the side of the load. "...wha-uh...what did you say your name was?"
There was a moment of silence from the other side...before someone looked over the load…
...revealing to be the Lieutenant of the Cutting Shadow Squadron. For a moment she was silent...before her eyes narrowed.
"...Lieutenant L. Foxfire." she replied dully, letting the load go and unsheathing her sai. The movement caused Colbor to stumble and drop the load, landing on his toosh. He looked up fearfully at the Neo Arcadian Lieutenant, his breath quickening.
"Second in command of the Cutting Shadow Squadron."
"O-...Oh God...Oh God…" Colbor backed up a bit as Foxfire approached him and stood over him. He managed to fumble out a blaster, but Foxfire SLASHED the weapon in half, leaving the terrified Colbor trembling at her mercy.
Foxfire gazed at Colbor for a moment, before pressing a button on her wrist. At the touch, suddenly the main alarms started blasting throughout the building, alerting any and all Neo Arcadian soldiers of an intruder present.
Colbor panted and winced as she reached down and picked him up by his scruff. "...please spare me…" he managed to say in an airy voice, making Foxfire shealth her weapons, but keep her grip on him.
"I don't like to kill...but I do have some questions I'm going to ask." she replied. "For one...you mentioned Zero was here...where is he?"
"Right here."
Foxfire's eyes suddenly widened when she felt the tip of a blade touching her back. She winced and glanced behind her, seeing Zero glaring at her.
***SW***
"AHH!"
Jaken was blown back a few feet and covered his head as Raven quickly got in front of the older, and shorter reploid, opening fire on Sobek. "No you DON'T, Blue Ink!"
"What kind of insult is THAT?" Sobek shot back, firing his own attack towards Raven.
Raven dodged to the side and hid behind storage containers, continuing to shoot at Sobek. "It's the FIRST thing that came to mind! Sue me!"
"Well in order to do that, I'll need that ink, sweet cheeks!" Sobek called back, ducking from an explosion coming from his side.
From that same explosion, Fefnir charged for Raven, blaster ready. "THIS time, you're not getting away, pipsqueak!"
Raven quickly jumped in the air and let Fefnir just bulldoze the storage units under her, landing on top of other units and wagging her finger at him. "Yeah, LAST time, you kinda shot me out a window, Bull-for-brains."
Fefnir's head popped out of the wreckage, and he pointed towards Raven accusingly. "YOU THREW ME OFF! I HAD NO TIME TO REACT!" That much said, he jumped out of the wreckage and charged for Raven again.
Once again, Raven jumped from the pile of storage she was on and landed on another pile, smirking slightly. "Clean up on aisle 4!" she called out.
Sobek rubbed his head slightly, seeing the debris of all the fallen storage units. "That's gonna take forever to clean up…" he muttered before quickly jumping from platform to platform, trying to catch Raven.
Raven was much too agile to be caught by Sobek however, and she smirked as she dodged from side to side. "What's the matter, big guy? Too fast for you?"
"Maybe so." Sobek grinned, taking out a staff. "Maybe you should CHILL!"
At the pun, a shot came out of his staff and suddenly ice appeared at Raven's feet. The girl flailed a bit, before SLAMMING on her butt and making a weird face.
"Ice? Seriously?" She pointed at Sobek. "If I wanted a SNO-CONE, I would have gone back to that stupid RIVER your Commander shot me in!"
"Can you FOCUS, Raven?!" Jaken called out, flailing his own arms from behind the storage units. "We're kinda being ATTACKED!"
"Wait your turn, grandfather clock!"
"MY NAME IS JAKEN!"
"HA!" Fefnir quickly made his way beside Sobek and aimed towards Raven. "NOW we've got you!"
"SOBEK!"
The sudden shriek made Fefnir and Sobek pause, before looking towards one of the open hallways…
...where Zero was entering the room, holding Foxfire tightly to himself and resting the point of his blaster at her side.
Fefnir and Sobek's eyes widened...and Zero's eyes narrowed.
"Drop your weapons." He droned, twisting Foxfire's left arm further behind her, and keeping his blaster aimed at her side. She winced and attempted to struggle...but Zero tightened his grip on her.
At the action, Jaken quickly made his way towards Zero, taking note that neither Sobek nor Fefnir dared to move…
...Though Raven had an absolutely aghast look on her face.
"Zero!" she hissed under her breath. "What are you doing?!"
Zero didn't seem to notice the question, he was too busy focusing on the two Scorched Earth Squadron soldiers. "...Few steps back…"
Fefnir scowled, and Sobek gritted his teeth, both of them slowly doing as told.
"Get...your hands….OFF….her" Sobek growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Sobek…" Foxfire gritted her teeth, still in Zero's strong grip.
"You'll get your Lieutenant back." Zero replied calmly, narrowing his eyes and glancing towards Raven. She was gritting her teeth at him...but she quickly made her way over.
Once she got to him, she hissed again. "What are you doing?!"
"Trust me." he replied lowly, making Raven pause only briefly.
Sobek growled and took a step up. "...Give us our Lieutenant!" He snarled, slowly reaching for his weapon. "...Or I will sell bits and pieces of your corpses to the ends of the EARTH!"
"You'll get her back I said." Zero replied...before narrowing his eyes. "...just not today."
"SOBEK!" Foxfire yelled-...as she Zero, Raven and Jaken disappeared from sight.
"NO!" Fefnir yelled.
"FOXFIRE!" Sobek screamed, reaching out for the area they had once been standing in.
***NA***
Phantom made his way to the Strong Air Battalion, looking over the reports that he had received from his different soldiers. Strangely enough, he hadn't received Foxfire's reports. It was unlike her to be late at reports. Meetings, sure, but NEVER reports.
Maybe trying to juggle his orders and Harpuia's orders at the same time was stressful for her.
Really in all reality, the very fact that he HAD no Lieutenant was beginning to weigh on him.
He counted on Foxfire for everything...and Hanumachine was NOT the best at gathering all the data that he needed. Phoenix was...OK...but none of them did the work quite like Foxfire…
Phantom paused his pondering when he heard yelling coming from the room he was approaching.
...The heck was going on in there?
Reaching out and activating the door, he walked in to find Harpuia practically LOOMING over Fefnir and Sobek, looking like he was going to EAT them or something.
"...EVEN CONSIDER THAT POSSIBILITY!?" Harpuia yelled, his hands shaking at the two. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE PROTECTING HER!"
"We WERE!" Fefnir countered, putting up his hands. "We were fighting off the rebels that were stealing our supplies! She was there! She was RIGHT with us!"
"I am going to rip Zero APART for this!" Sobek snarled, his usual happy-go-lucky demeanor GONE, and a look of enraged FURY in his eyes. "Commander Harpuia! Let me look for her! I'll find their base and blow it SO FAR OFF THE PLANET-"
"And HOW do you expect to do that?!" Harpuia snarled. "SHE'S WITH THEM, YOU IDIOT!"
The three heard the door open and they all looked towards the opening...where Phantom was now watching them all with his eyes slowly getting wider.
Harpuia cursed, before crossing his arms and looking towards Fefnir and Sobek. "SO! WHICH of you are going to tell Phantom that you LOST his Lieutenant, and she's now a prisoner of the rebels?"
Fefnir and Sobek glanced at Harpuia, before slowly looking back towards Phantom….who had dropped his data pad. For a moment he just stood there, before his optics started burning red.
"WHAT?!"