Chapter Sixteen: Guns Are For...

Outside the Foundation in outer space, Federation ships gate out and the entire area became full with them. On the bridge of the Durandal, Mary watched from the large screen. ''What a strange welcome,'' she said. ''Are they escortin' us in this time?'' Shelley turned to look at her blonde haired counterpart. ''They're blocking the way?! This is no welcome!'' One of the Federation ships fired photon beams at the Durandal. The entire area of the ship blacked out for a moment then turned back on.

''Confirmed Photon Torpedo detonation in immediate vicinity. We're being surrounded by a fleet of Federation vessels.

Shane fell against the wall, groaning as MOMO and Jr. fell to their knees. ''Aw, geez, what now?!'' The silver haired girl asked aloud in anger. ''The lights dimmed...'' The red-head helped the Realian up. ''Come on,'' he said. ''We better get to the bridge.'' The three ran to the bridge as the rest of the group were already there.

''Shion!'' The brown haired woman turned to Shane's voice. ''Shane...'' She turned her head as the group listened to the Federation on the large screen. ''What's going on?'' The silver haired girl asked. Shion shook her head. ''I don't know,'' she said. ''We were hit with Photon Torpedoes a few minutes ago.''

So that's why the lights dimmed...

"In accordance with Federation law, we hereby place the Kukai Foundation under arrest for the suspicion of violating Article 798, Chapter 37: Collection and Concealment of Defense Information, and Article 2153, Chapter 105, Acts of Aggression against Federation Vessels, and hereby revoke all rights previous granted. Shut down your engines and relinquish your weapons,'' a male voice said.

" "Acts of Aggression against Federation Vessels"?!" Jr. yelled. The male voice continued. "Furthermore, should the Miltian government allow the Kukai Foundation to dock the Durandal, we will issue a state of emergency notice under Article 2384, Chapter 115, Part 18…"

"W-what in the world is going on?" Allen asked in an panicked voice. "It looks like they think the Durandal conspired with the Miltian government in an attack on the Federation fleet,'' chaos told him.

"Huh? What Federation fleet?"

"Hey! Check out the network news on the sub-monitor. You're not gonna believe this!" Mary cried out as she brought up a monitor. On the network news, it showed when the Durandal attacked the U-TIC Battleship but something was a bit off.

''Hey...'' Shane said as she pointed at the screen.

"On the morning of the 21st, it appears that the 177th Marine Division flagship Woglinde, of the Galaxy Federation's Tessodora division, came under attack by a heavily armed ship belonging to the Kukai Foundation,'' a female's voice, obviously the news reporter, said. Shion's eyes went wide. "The Woglinde?! What?! I thought the Gnosis attack had been reported already…?!'' The woman continued. "The company has been identified as operating in conjunction with the Second Miltian government. And considerations for the possibility of treason have forced the Federation Parliament to dispatch a fleet…"

Shane folded her arms with a look of anger on her face. ''Dude, what the hell is this?!'' chaos looked at the silver haired girl then at the monitor. "They did a good job doctoring that video. But how did they synchronize the battle coordinates as well?''

Jr. slammed his hands on the console. "Damn! That's from when we fought the U-TIC Organization! Those bastards were recording it!"

"I see. That would explain how the absolute coordinates match. I guess that's their indisputable proof. Even I'm starting to think that we did it,'' Gaignun said. "Considering the situation, you don't sound very worried."

"In any event, this is confirmation that the remnants of the U-TIC Organization have infiltrated both the Federation government and the military,'' Shelley said. "Which means…their next target is…" Shion gripped her fists tightly. ''This is such a blatant lie, it's ludicrous,'' she said. "As survivors if we testify…"

"They'll just claim that you survived because you were in on the conspiracy."

"This is insane…" Allen held his head, panicking more. "Do you think this is why Headquarters hasn't communicated with us…?!"

''H-hang on, what about me?'' Shane asked as the group turned to her. She felt a tightening in her chest, clutching her shirt tightly. ''I mean...I wasn't there when the Woglinde was attacked...'' chaos walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. ''It'll be okay, Shane. Don't worry.'' She looked back at the monitor as it showed the Durandal destroying the ''Woglinde''. Outside, a group of Federation ships surrounded the Kukai Foundation.

Back on the bridge, a female captain and her soliders appeared from the elevator. The soldiers walked and pointed guns at everyone as the female captain stepped forward. ''I am Captain Lapis Roman of the Galaxy Federation's Special Ops Command Headquarters Intelligence Bureau. I hereby place this ship under custody of the Galaxy Federation,'' she told everyone. The soldiers pointed guns at everyone, making them put their hands up to their heads as one handcuffed Ziggy's hands to his back. Captain Lapis turned to Shion and Allen. ''I understand you're from the Woglinde. I'll take you in as witnesses. All Vector property will be temporarily confiscated as evidence.''

''KOS-MOS...'' Shion murmured.

A soldier grabbed MOMO's right arm, saying, ''Here's the 100-Series Realian under warrant!'' He pulled her arm and made her move with him as she whimpered. ''Hey, don't hurt her!'' The soldier holding Jr. tried to restrain him but the red-head managed to free himself. The soldier struck him with the butt of his rifle as he fell to the floor. The other soldier aimed his gun at the Jr.'s head, the boy stopping himself.

''Oi, don't make things worse for us!''

''Be quiet, girl!'' A soldier said to Shane. He moved back when she shot an death glare at him. ''Detain them in a single room, and watch them carefully,'' Captain Lapis ordered. ''All of them?'' The soldier asked. She nodded. ''Splitting them up will only serve to underman our guardposts. Investigate as much of the ship as possible before we rendezvous with the others.''

''Yes, ma'am.'' The soldiers took the group into custody, as the female captain walked over to Gaignun. "Gaignun Kukai, you are hereby under arrest for suspicion of treason against the Galaxy Federation. Come with me,'' she told him.

"As you wish."

The group sat in a room after being placed on house arrest. Shion sat with MOMO; Jr sat a table with Allen and chaos; Ziggy stood near the wall and Shane was pacing the floor with her thumb in her mouth, nibbling on it. "It's all orchestrated too well,'' the blonde cyborg said. The silver haired girl and Shion looked up at his response. ''Huh?'' "The fleet deployment came too quickly. They must have been prepaered to ensure that MOMO would return to them regardless of what happened...or perhaps ensnaring Second Miltia was part of their plan from the very beginning.''

''As a neutral territory, Second Miltia was invested with a whole bunch of rights and legal privileges after the Miltian Conflict. There are a whole lot of folks who still have problems with that, even outside of the U-TIC Organization,'' Jr. said as he folded his arms. "The asteroid where MOMO was imprisoned…I wondered where the information about that place came from…now it seems like it was all part of the plan from the very beginning." Shane looked at Ziggy then to MOMO.

"Do you mean…from when Mommy sent you to rescue me?"

"You don't think there are U-TIC members within the Subcommittee itself…?"

Allen shook his head. "It's not inconceivable. Perhaps it was the very person who arranged for MOMO's rescue, Dr. Juli Mizrahi herself…" The pink haired girl looked at him with a worried and scared look on her face. "No! Mommy would never do something like that!" She exclaimed.

"Allen!"

"I…uh…sorry…" Shane walked over to the brown haired man and smacked him across the head. ''Don't put your feet in your mouth, baka! Or you'll never get her that way!''

''...Shane, it's bad to talk to yourself outloud, you know.'' She glared at Jr., mimicking him as she sat down on the floor. ''And it's bad for you to have weapons around a minor.'' She told him, pointing at MOMO. ''Hey! They're for protection, bipolar girl!''

''...'' She stood up, grinning at him. ''So which gun is for shooting and which gun is for fun?'' The entire room went silent as Jr.'s face was red. Shane folded her arms, looking at him. MOMO looked up at Shion.

''What did Shane mean by that?''

Chapter Sixteen: End (Short chapter, huh? R&R, as always. )