Goomie's capture was indeed more of a whimper than a bang. With the remnants of the GMG either burned completely or frozen for further storage and study, it looked as if the day would become another victory for the MFF. Not only that, but reports were already filed in from one line to another about the capture of a second GMG on the beach. Soon enough, Goomie's victims were escorted en masse towards the cave's entrance, leaving behind the dark and dank rocks. As the newly promoted and of high rank now, it fell upon Akari to clear the way for stragglers and provide the last layer of clean up for the cave. And clearly the redhead was able to handle herself if need be, most of her troops leaving her to the last scanning and retrieval of whatever lingering specimens resided in the cavern system.

"Well, it seems that things don't change so easily whether or not you get a promotion, huh? A grunt will always be a grunt," Akari said to herself as she was left behind, tasked with "coordinating the retreat". In practice, it was a little more than a flowery way of saying that she was on cleanup duty. Just as expected. Good thing she was used to it. And that the job was mostly to check whether or not there was anyone left behind before torching the place clean, to make sure that none of Goomie's toxins would leave a permanent damage on the island. After all, it would do them no good to deal with one GMG only to have another pop up from the trash they left behind.

Cleanup or not, Akari must have been something right, because the cave was picked clean with nary anything of use or potential harm, at least so far. The job was simple enough, if not tedious in its nature but surely someone as studious as Akari wouldn't have minded. At least, that's what the second person in the cave thought. A low chirp of air brushed against one of Akari's ears, lingering just enough to sift through her hair. The MFF were long gone by now with Goomi's leftovers taken clean, leaving the redhead alone in the darkness. A moment of silence passed over before the air shifted once again, brushing over Akari's other ear now.

Akari was just about ready to do the final job she was left behind for, raising a flaming hand—ready to burn the place down—when a sudden chill ran up her spine, causing the redhead to recoil instinctively. "Wha—!? What the heck was that? Is there anyone else here? If you are hiding, please come out. The rescue ships are going to leave soon, it would be terrible if you got left behin—Ahh!" Akari tried to assure herself that she was alone once more, speaking with kind words in case anyone else was still hiding in the darkness, but her speech was interrupted by a sharp scream—coming from herself no less—when she felt a second breeze grazing her neck.

What in the world was happening there? This place couldn't be haunted, could it? "Monster girls are one thing, but ghosts can't be real... right?" Akari said in a voice that didn't sound so sure of her own words.

"I don't think I look like a ghost, do I?" said a voice further in the darkness. Out of the shadows as if melted into thin air walked out a girl with a confident smile. She looked much too clean-cut to have been one of Goomie's weird pets, yet she wasn't wearing any uniform that indicated she was MFF as well. "Nah, no ghosts here. Just us two girls looking for the way out, heh. What's the matter? You look like you've seen a real ghost," the girl said, not stopping in her tracks; no, she continued to close the distance between them casually.

Akari sighed a sigh of relief when another person walked out of the darkness. She didn't even consider the weirdness in the other girl's appearance before saying, "We—Well, I didn't mean it like that," as she tried to clear up the misunderstanding. "I can show you the way out," Akari said in a friendly voice, trying to be as reassuring as she could. "I'm, Akari, one of the MFF members who came here to help. Would you mind telling me what you are doing this deep in this place? I'm pretty sure none of the other victims were kept so far away from the entrance. Or so clean as a matter of fact," she said as she aproached the other girl, offering a hand for her to hold.

The girl's expression lit up. "I wasn't sure if you were MFF just from the suit alone, but it's good to see you are. Actually, I've been looking for an MFF agent actually. You a high rank?" The girl tilted her head, coming closer. "Maybe, maybe not. What kind of organization makes a pretty girl like you do the clean up duty. Sounds like a crime!" The new girl chuckled, taking Akari's helpful hand. "Sure, sure, let's escape out of here together." All smiles, the girl suddenly pivoted on her heel, dragging Akari's arm with her until it was tightly pinned and held against her back. Before the redhead could move away, the new girl crossed her free arm around her throat, putting pressure from the inside of her elbow. "High rank or not. I think you'll do fine if you're worth anything to the humans."

"Oh, yeah. This is kind of a custom model. The red finish makes it at least three times more amazing than usual. It's quite cool, right?" Akari blushed lightly, scratching the back of her head as the began to walk towards the exit. "Actually, it just happens that I got a promotion recently. But this kind of job is important as well. If I wasn't here we wouldn't have found you would we—Ahh!" she tried to make the clean up job sound cooler than it was, but before she could finish her explanation she was interrupted once again, this time by an unexpectedly strong grip holding her.

"He—Hey, if this is meant to be a game, it isn't very fun," Akari said when she noticed that the one holding her was none other than the mysterious child. How could be strong enough to make it impossible for Akari to escape even when she was wearing her suit? Something wasn't right here.

"Woah, you're still talking and conscious? Now I know you're not one of those low level grunts. This is perfect, hahah!" The mystery girl tightened her hold just a little, eye drawn to Akari's uniform now that she was mentioning it. She pondered getting a closer look, knowing it might be risky; before shrugging and doing it anyway. Her arm holding Akari's arm released, only to dip down and brush against one of the shiny metallic bits of Akari's arm. She brushed a finger against her thigh armor, other arm still keeping Akari in her choke hold. "So you need technology to keep up. Humans really are so fragile. A human pretending to be a beast; imagine that," she said with a grin, fangs glimmering in the lowlight as they leered over Akari's face.

Now things were beginning to get just a little complicated. Akari wasn't able to get everything the other girl said, but she was sure of one thing. "You can't be—Argh!" Even if the girl's words didn't make it clear, the fanged grin shining against Akari's face would have done. How could she be tricked like this? Even though Akari knew the truth about the GMGs, how could she expect that there would be yet another one in this island. However, even though she was barely holding on to her consciousness, there were some things that Akari couldn't miss, like the touchy hand getting a feel of her. "Let go of me already, you pervert!" she said between gritted teeth.

"Pervert? Now that's just rude." If the girl was offended, she didn't look or sound the part. But her hand did move away from admiring the armor, settling behind Akari's head to complete her choke hold. "What, I can't admire the tech you humans came up with~? And like you said, it's a custom model. Must have took time for the paint job, eh?" Chuckling, she was sure her voice was the only thing Akari's mind was clinging to at this point, especially when she increased the pressure and lifted Akari slightly up off from her boots, dangling inches from the ground. "Go to sleep now little fire spitter. I'mma make sure your flame gets snuffed out."

Indeed, the sound of this girl's voice was the only thing keeping Akari from passing away. However, the increased pressure would soon make sure even than wouldn't matter. She had to wonder how the little psycho could even lift her from the ground, no matter how strong she was. Even that thought would be leaving her in a moment, though, when Akari's body finally went limp on the girl's grip, the only proof that she hadn't died being her slow breathing.

"There we go, up and away!" The mystery girl loosened her hold as soon as Akari was sent to sleep. Idly, she slung the redhead over her shoulder and turned the opposite way from the cave entrance. "Huh, you're lighter than expected. The MFF drafting kids or something?" Shrugging to herself, she whisked Akari off and away from her companions and soldiers. She wondered how long it would take the MFF to realize one of their higher ups were missing, but the longer they did, the further away they'd get to finding her.

For all their preparation, the actual engagements upon Goomie's island was the affair of just minutes, yet in such a short span of time had the MFF achieves such monumental victories even McNair would confess to feeling as though she were walking upon air. In twenty four hours, they had captured three GMGs, two of which were alive and intact, perfect for behavioral studies and the such to make their operations even more effective. She had men repairing Terrorkeat's cage immediately after the invisible feline was incapacitated and now both were shipped back to base under heavy guard.

That said, their victory wasn't clean by any stretch, as they had to deal with the sheer number of captives Goomie had taken. The pinkette had thought there would only be a few remaining alive, the rest eaten over the time of Goomie's raiding, but everyone she'd ever taken was there and in surprisingly good health. So much so they weren't in the least bit grateful for their rescue. An imperious and violent part of her wanted to discipline these treacherous people for sympathizing with their captor, but they hadn't resisted liberation much either. Civilians were little more than lambs before figures of authority, she mused idly, all the while passing orders to have all the captives kept in quarantine after their stint in cages.

It would mar their victory to have these people released so soon and spread word of their pleasant stay with Goomie. Better to keep them under observation and make sure the slime didn't have some undue effect on their mental health. For all they knew it rendered them passive and easily suggestible!

---

"She never left the island?!"

Days later, and McNair was snarling with fury over a corporal who didn't deserve it, but bore the dubious honor of delivering bad news. That being that the hero of the hour, Akari, had never reported in after clean up operations in Goomie's caves. Somehow despite an entire naval blockade around the island, one of their own was plucked from the caves and whisked away. Naturally she had her suspicions much earlier then the present hour, but with the many moving parts, some things were bound to slip through the cracks in the midst of such upheaval. Only now that she'd sent a team to search the caves and island proper could they definitively say Akari was well and truly Missing in Action.

Realizing she was still terrifying the poor enlisted, she dismissed him with a strict order not to speak of the contents of his report till the command staff could make an official announcement, but she had her suspicions the word would be out before lunch regardless. Too many people involved with the search and her recent promotion made it impossible to hide for any length of time within the MFF ranks. Instead McNair turned her mind to the likely perpetrators as her heels clicked upon the halls towards Kusanagi's labs. A place that was frantic with excitement given their recent acquisitions.

She found the Commander where she always was when not engaged in supporting an operation, slumped over her desk looking like she hadn't known the touch of a pillow since she got her doctorate. Wasting no time she set the folder with the search team's reports beside the Commander and stated bluntly, "Either there was a fourth Monster Girl on that island who could fit into those caves like Goomie could, or our mysterious friends with a cloaked airship have paid us back for taking Terrorkeat. Either way, we can't abide hostile human actions getting in the way of our mission, and I'm not going to abide one of my officers being a prisoner to an extremist group."

---

Utena sat alone at the cafeteria, picking away at her food. It had been like this for the past hour, the whole mood was this strange mix of somber and elated as various groups talked about the recent accomplishments and victories the MFF had managed to score of the dangerous GMGs. It was a turning point in the "war", they had finally managed to score a string of wins against their dastardly foes. But there was always this backdrop of anxiety as everyone skirted around one simple fact.

Commander Akari had never made it back. At some point during the rescue mission on the island, Akari had gone entirely missing. A sweep of the island revealed no trace of the red head, they had been patrolling the surrounding ocean for a while now to see if she had maybe somehow been swept away. But no word so far, absolutely nothing. Utena got up from her seat and started walking a familiar path, left at the first turn, right at the third, another right past the vending machines. So it went until she found herself in that warehouse once again, scientists bustling around as she looked up at Terrorkeat and their new "acquisition" Schrodinger. Not a cute name at all honestly, Utena would have gone with something like... Tigris. Like a tiger, but a girl.

She moved closer to the cages, questions buzzing in her mind as she stared the two GMGs down. Utena looked around nonchalantly, making sure nobody was too close by. And then she began to whisper. "I'm going to ask some questions. Blink once for no, blink twice for yes. Now then, do you both understand me? Starting out easy." Utena asked as she crossed her arms seriously, constantly watching out for eavesdroppers and busybodies. "Second question, do you know where Commander Akari Yashiro is? Red haired girl with twin tails, a bit shorter than myself. She disappeared when we... captured you." There was a slight grimace as she glanced over at Schrodinger, it was quite evident she didn't agree with how the MFF had done things. But there was one more question that needed to be answered.

"And lastly. Do you have anyone who could take you in if you got free?" This was the most important question of all, as it would determine just how Utena would go from here. If they did have some kind of larger association they could go to after getting free, there was absolutely no doubt Utena would likely join them after this latest event. The way the MFF was engaging GMGs at this point was setting a dangerous precedent for future engagements, if it wasn't for the fact that Goomie seemed quite literally immortal they might have even killed her with that assault. But if they didn't have anywhere to go, then Utena would have to harbor them in her own home until she could figure out a better plan, which could work for a time if they can all transform into humans like Utena suspected. But it was a short term plan at best.

A few days went by after the disastrous event that ended with Yeshua's capture. Haruka spent all this time on HART's headquarters, trying to keep a low profile. She would have gone after Goomie if she could, at least to try to get the other GMG to give up on her ways before it was too late, but that would likely put the two of them in danger, so she was obviously denied. While she waited for something to do, she had no choice but spend most of her time reading but even that could only get her so far.

“Why am I even here anyway? It's not like anyone knows my true identity. I could go around and gather some information about Yeshua or Goomie,” Haruka said to Tomoko as she entered the command room. She glared at the smallish blonde with an inquisitive look in her eyes, trying to sound as serious as she could. “Also, what's that?” she asked when she took a look at many flashing monitors showing images of a distant island.

It was a balancing act trying to accomodate Diva's needs especially when she insisted to go out and help every day. While only a few days had passed from Goomie's incident, none of it helped to still the GMG left behind from her bold antics, even as soft-spoken as she was. Even now Tomoko was scrambling, trying to deduct their next step of action for a plan while at the same time giving Haruko the proper accomodations she needed. Of course, she suspected nothing would sate her except for some fresh air. "This is for your own safety," Tomoko answered, the speech rehearsed in her head as she barely contained a yawn. "We've lost a total of two GMGs in the last week so it's a bit more complicated in higher command to let slip another one so easily." A pause. "Not that we see you as a weapon. We just don't want to risk your safety too Haruka," she sighed. Thankfully she was the only one in the command room at the moment, ensuring no one else could see her this disheveled.

“Oh yeah, yeah my safety.” Haruka said in a disinterested voice as she continued to stare at the monitors. “I'm not as weak as you think I'm, y'know? In a scale of one to ten, I think I'm at least a seven, maybe an eight,” she joked, turning her attention back to Tomoko momentarily before going to one of the command consoles, looking at all the lights and shining buttons.

“Hey, if I can't go out, why don't you let me at least help around here? Who knows, I could be a better support than you imagine,” she said as she touched one of the buttons, causing the ship to shake for a brief moment. “Oh well, we all have to begin from zero, don't we?” Haruka said before laughing it off in a cutesy way.

Tomoko gave Haruka an almost annoyed look as the SS Silencio was sent rocking for the briefest of moments as a result of her "help". "Um, I don't think we should-"

"Haha! An eight? You've gotta be kidding me." A new voice joined the conversation between the girls, accompanied by a new face as she entered the command room. Tomoko immediately bristled, not at all recognizing the girl with internal alarm bells going off on how she even got to the command room, let alone the ship. "You're never one for fighting Sis, so don't try to be tough now. Oh, and if that's your idea of a support role, I think this place's doomed already, hahah!" exclaimed the new girl, raising a hand up before Tomoko could speak. "Name's Aika before you jump to conclusions," she announced with a wink to "Haruka". Aika stood in the doorway, a great "weight" saddled over her shoulders.

“Oh come on, just a little won't hurt righ—” Before Haruka could continue begging for something to do, a gruff laugh interrupted her. She turned around to see who was the source of that, only to cast a narrowed eyes look at the newest arrival. “Hey, what are you doing here?” she said to Aika, bringing a hand to her hip. “Also, that's not real and you know it. I might not be the best at fighting but I can be pretty tough when I want to. Also, I'm cuter,” Haruka said flashing a shining smile at Aika.

“Oh, by the way, I apologize for her bad manners. This is my sister, Aika... I guess. I don't know how she got here, but I guess that now you have more than one GMG lying around, right?” Haruka said to Tomoko when she remembered that her sister hadn't introduced herself properly, even though she just broken into HART's base.

"Wow, just gonna name drop me as a GMG, just like that? Really, you lack any and all tact for a strategist Sis," Aika said with a roll of her eyes. For her part, Tomoko visibly calmed down a little but still kept her guard up. There was something about this GMG girl that rubbed her the wrong way, and it wasn't the "weight" she had slung over her shoulders. "I just stopped by to see if my sister was in trouble again. Seems alot of our kind are these days, if you catch my drift. Oh, and just in case you had any doubts about me, that's why I brought a peace offering for you...HART you said you were? Consider it an olive branch for now." Aika huffed up her shoulder and stepped into better view as she revealed an MFF agent unconscious over her shoulder.

Tomoko immediately recognized her as the recently promoted Akari whose flames were apparently lower than her bite. "Got this cutie back on Goomie's island. Like I said, I'm doing you guys a favor with this free hostage here," Aika mused with a slap to Akari's idle behind before dropping her unconsicous form like a sack of potatoes to the ground. Idly, she nudged the girl closer to the stunned Tomoko with the edge of her boot. "Let it not be known Hyper Fang doesn't consider peaceful negotiations," she laughed and with it, a chill up Tomoko's spine.

"Wait. You're codename Hyper Fang?"

"In the flesh, yeah."

“Hyper Fang? Pfft... Couldn't you come up with a better idea? This one looks like you just picked the name of a move in one of those monster collector games,” Haruka laughed out loud when she heard her sister's codename. She could think of a lot of names that would sound better, but none that would actually be funnier. “Also, I'll let you know that strategy is my forte. Y'know, I get it all from the books,” she said, replying to the earlier insult.

“Anyway, don't you think it's a little creepy even for you to introduce yourself with kidnapped people? I mean, she's kinda cute, but that's a little too extreme,” Haruka said as she got closer to the unconscious redhead. “You didn't hurt her too much, did you? She doesn't look to be hurt, but that's always worth asking when it's you we are talking about, Sis.”

Tomoko felt unnerved by how casually Haruka was conversing with the other GMG, though she supposed it was her sister. So she claimed. "Hyper Fang is considered a red level GMG, Haruka. Um...she goes out of her way to specifically damage cities and take human casualities." Whether or not the other GMG was aware of this was hard to say, but Tomoko was already dipping down to help Akari, wondering what she should make of this "gift".

To her words, Aika only grinned, flashing a fanged smirk. "Hah, well, if we're supposed to be monsters in this place, why not act like them. I'm no stranger to taking things for others and conquering them you know," she said, though her look, knowing as it was, was directed at her sister. Tomoko opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by Aika's raised hand again. "Nah, I'm not here to join your group like my Sis. I'm a bit more hungry than she is. I just came for a temporary peace treaty or whatever until some certain GMGs are free. After that, well, there's no telling what I might do. Burning a few more cities sounds fun, and it's clear you humans don't have any way of stopping me," she challenged, Tomoko having no words to that. "As for little miss tomato over here, she's fine. I just bonked her on the head whenever she complained too much!"

“You never change, do you? You can't go around causing drama just because it's entertaining for you, especially if it envolves hurting other people. The next thing you'll say is that you are going around turning normal people into others like us,” Haruka said in a more serious voice after she put two and two together. “But I have to say that I still kinda like your taste,” she added, after letting out a deep sigh as she looked at the unconscious Akari.

“We will have to deal with your destructive instincts later, though. Right now, we have to think what to do with this girl. I don't suppose you have cells here, do you? Or maybe an infirmary, anything like that could help,” Haruka said as turned her attention away from her sister for a moment and looked at Tomoko. They certainly couldn't keep a captive MFF agent lying around on the floor until she woke up. There was no telling what she would do when she did so, after all. “Actually, how do we take this thing off her? I'm sure, it might be safer to remove her suit, this way she's unlikely to cause any trouble, I think.”

Aika's only response was another toothy grin as she slowly backed away from the two of them. She'd come and said what she needed to and would eagerly await what was to come next. And if it meant facing her sister in battle, she knew the other knew which of them was the stronger. "Sure, whatever you say Sis. I'm just doing my job, as you know. And if that means having some fun with it, I'll take that chance~" Aika was all but gone at this point, dispersed in the shadows like a ghost as quickly as she'd come. "Oh, by the by, the control for her suit is in the middle of her back. Trust me, she loves that spot~" were the last words of Aika's voice in the air.

"Somehow I doubt she got that informaiton willingly," Tomoko deadpanned as she lifted Akari up more. "Come on Haruka, let's get her dealt with before discussing your deranged sister. We have a few cells in the other chamber. Oh...and I think we may have just found a use for you Haruka."

---

As everything on the S.S. Silencio finally calm down to a point, some of the staff members would notice that one of the GMGs that was brought onto the vessel had seemingly vanished. Well, not so much vanished, more like just hidden herself. In a far corner of the ship, Eris had curled up and had gone to sleep, snuggling her Tsuchinoko plush. She had managed to find what she believed to be the quietest part of the ship and had just plopped right down for a nap. It was almost bliss, until the ship suddenly started to rock back and forth a bit. Eris opened one eye to look around, who the heck was piloting this thing?

She let out a loud yawn and sat up, bearing the same bland expression she had when she first arrived on the ship. She decided to investigate around the ship to see what had happened while she was asleep and stood up with her Tsuchinoko in hand. It didn't take long for her to overhear that Terrorkeet/Yeshua had been captured. "Mmm... How long was I... Out for?" She mumbled to herself as she continued to look around the ship.

Although the good doctor appeared to be sleeping, she was actually staring blankly at a spot nobody else could see. Slouched over her desk, she was no stranger to taking creative blank periods of rest as she numbly stared at…something. Either way, her reaction time wasn’t impaired in the slightest, snapping to McNair with a speed that might have been acquainted to a GMG’s behavior. After all, no one knew such creatures inside and out better than the good doctor.

“Why can’t it be both,” she asked simply, already sitting up and stretching in her seat. Despite her minutely disheveled appearance, her tone didn’t fluctuate or change from its normal pace. And despite the dark circles growing under her eyes, she stared at McNair just as intensely as ever. “Think of it. Consider the possibility outside of your sights for once little loyal ‘general’. Goomie is nothing extraordinary. In fact, from our data studies, we can conclude she’s nothing short of average among GMG-kind.” A pause to see if McNair was catching on. Probably not.

“Therefor we can conclude that, if Goomie can change her size enough to fit into cave entrances, then it is an ability commonly shared by other GMGs. Thus, the possibility of a GMG who can do precisely that should not be ruled out.” Kusanagi reclined back in her chair, eyes unmoving and unblinking as they stared forward. “Furthermore, it is highly likely this third group is involved given their efforts to cripple us before. Striking so suddenly again will be their weakness.”

A snap of her hand and she was on her feet, standing from her desk and moving briskly past McNair. The pinkette shouldn’t have been surprised for the good doctor found it rather fun to drag her around and lecture her about the inner workings of her studies and MFF command; if one could say Kusanagi had an idea of what fun was. “There’s something else I’d like to bring into your attention. Your missing cadet aside, I believe there may be a key to linking this mystery together. A missing link, you could say.”

The MFF base layout was no stranger to them and as such, they were led back to the ramp that was above the segments sectioned off for GMG containment. Kusanagi stopped, turning away to peer through the glass and straight into the cage sectors. “Tell me commander, what exactly do you make of that,” she mused, pointing out Utena in proximity of Terrorkeat and Schrodinger’s cells. “This isn’t the first time I’ve caught her doing this, as you will remember. Nor is it the first time I’ve seen Terrorkeat behave like that either,” she spoke, narrowing her eyes right onto Utena.

center][/center]

While Terrorkeat had been a model prisoner, internally her temperament had gone from resignation to anxiety, nerves twitchy to loud machinery that her flinched. Her gaze frequently turned to the being the MFF called Schrodinger, but who she doted upon as sisters often do. Talons flexed and her nostrils flared from the effort to constrain herself and not lash out. She was a lidded pot simmering over heat, knowing it would only take a few degrees more pressure to evoke a reaction that would not be contained.

Into this mess of nerves stepped Utena, drawing the GMG's eyes downwards to her minuscule figure. Strange that she hadn't sold out the GMG's ability to change their shape yet when they were already captured. Wasn't that the kind of thing that would get her promoted, loads of luxurious rewards and perks? Yeshua thought the human was strange before, but she shifted suddenly when Utena was outright conspiring with them.

---

McNair could now affirm to herself that Kusanagi was a prickly woman. Unsurprising given the fields they work in, but it was important to have made certain of this and the doctor's need to needle McNair like she thought the pinkette was some brainless neanderthal. If she was going to take time away from her desk and show the Commander the ropes, then she was going to be the last person who turned down an informative tour of their workplace.

And honestly, after being made to scrub toilets with tampons, this was downright inspirational behavior in comparison to past superior officers.

"Hmm? What I see is an officer ignoring standing orders to poke a dangerous GMG in its-" The Pink Tyrant choked, the words lost as she saw the typically implacable Terrorkeat lower it's head to the nearest point of the electrified cage and deliberately close it's eyes twice in rapid succession. It settled a minute, head taking a quizzical turn as it visibly mulled something over before blinking once.

Then it concluded with two more blinks before rearing back to it's resting position.

"I...to think we'd have troops so sympathetic to the enemy. Has Utena made past attempts to report there was some greater intelligence to the GMGs? Perhaps this isn't outright treason. She's a decorated officer. She could be looking to make a breakthrough on her own and ride the accolades to further her career." McNair said, wringing her crop between her hands like the neck of a chicken. Outrage warred with worry, and she looked to Kusanagi as though the doctor would put her concerns to rest. Losing an officer to the enemy was bad, but having a decorated veteran turn traitor would stunt the momentum they'd worked so hard to build up. "We need to interrogate her."

---

Two blinks for first response. Good, communication has been established, Terrorkeat at the very least could understand her in GMG form. That had been an initial worry of Utena's that perhaps she could only understand humans while in human form. Second answer was concerning, but also somewhat relieving at the same time. Knowing that the two had nothing to do with Akari's disappearance took a load off her shoulders, not once did she consider the possibility that Terrorkeat might have been lying. She seemed too honest to lie, too kind hearted. Maybe a bit too naive as well considering she only appeared when other GMGs were around. Utena always got the feeling she was trying to help, she just wasn't good at it.

Last question, most important one of all. One blink. And then another to seal the deal. The back of Utena's neck tingled as McNair and Kusanagi watched her from above, one developed this kind of sixth sense after spending so long on the battlefield. Utena turned around and looked up into the eyes of McNair, face blank as she stared down her commanders. Her frown deepened, it was now or never. She turned back to Terrorkeat and Schrodinger, each one struggling to keep their limbs close to their bodies, lest they be zapped by that which confined them. The constant trembling from Terrorkeat, a bundle of nerves ready to explode at any moment. Yeah, it was never much of a choice if Utena was being honest with herself. "Alright, get ready then." Utena mumbled, more to herself than either of the GMGs as she walked to the nearby control panel for the cages. A scientist looked up from his clipboard as Utena approached, his smile upon seeing her quickly disappearing as she shoved him aside.

"H-hey, what do you think you're doing?! That's-" His words went in one ear and out the other as she studied the panel, unsure of what buttons did what. Fuck it, no time for any of this nonsense. Utena unsheated her sword from her side and jabbed the edge of it into the controls, sparks flying everywhere as power to the cages was cut. At this point people really started to take notice of what Utena was doing, panic quickly spreading amongst the crowd as scientists and soldiers alike realized what this meant.

A loud click heralded freedom for the GMGs as the cages unlocked. Utena turned back to the two sisters with a nervous smile. "I really hope you guys are taking me with you." Utena said as she began to run for the warehouse doors, sheathing her sword once more and warming up her wings.

"I wonder how do you even know that, Sis?" Haruka asked as Aika slipped back into the shadows after letting them know how to remove Akari's suit. She felt tempted to do that then and there but it would be kinda rude to undress a girl in public like this. Better wait for when she was in a more reserved place.

"You can count on me for that. If there's a thing I'm good at is caretaking," Haruka said, replying to Tomoko's suggestion. "However, ugh...!" She let out a soft grunt as she picked Akari in her arms after Tomoko helped her lift the unconscious redhead. "I don't know if I'm that good at handling weights..."

A few moments later...

"Oh, hi there! I was beginning to wonder if you'd gone into hibernation or something like this," Haruka said as she came across Eris while she was on her way to the cellblock, taking the unconscious Akari along with her.

"Things got a little—well, a lot—rowdy while you were sleeping. I can tell you all about it but first I have to take this cutie here to a cell before she wakes up. We don't want an armed and ready MFF agent wrecking havoc around the ship do we?" Haruka said as she continued to carry Akari in her arms, seemingly with some effort, despite the redhead's dollish looks. "Wanna come along? I just have to get her there and then find some clothes and other necessities. The poor thing seems to have had it quite rough."

---

Evidently, as it turned out, Schrödinger did not appreciate being bundled and hobbled into an overdosed electrified cage. The humans were lucky she was mostly incapacitated when they captured her, and lucky still to put her with her sister. Throughout her captivity, she spent her time glaring at the humans that looked and pointed, making notes in their little clipboards and talking amongst themselves. Her claws idly traced against her cage’s floor from time to time in efforts to keep herself from being bored; and if she was being honest, it was also to try and calm Terrorkeat’s nerves down. Despite being the eldest, she wasn’t taking this in stride.

That was why she managed the darkest death glare she could possibly throw when Utena approached their twin cages. A monstrous and suspicious huff was all she gave to the human girl. She didn’t even know her, let alone knew the answers to her stupid questions. Thus, she continued to stare her down, unresponsive and uncaring even as she inquired; though Terrorkeat seemed to have some familiarity with her, a notion that piqued Schrödinger’s interest. But what was most interesting was Utena’s final verdict, telling them both to get ready. She blinked in confusion. Get ready for what? She was to find out soon, because unbeknownst to either GMG, Utena was being judged.

General Kusanagi tuned out McNair as she watched the girl beneath them. What McNair said was valid and fair; perhaps Utena really was just curious and taking research matters into her own hand. However. “I’m a woman of rationale and logic above all else Commander. I can tell the difference between an astute researcher and a sympathetic,” she all but hissed. Indeed, even as Utena looked up at them knowingly, her features furrowed. She gave the young girl a stare that could pierce Dragon Queen’s scales, daring her, just daring her to reveal herself a turncoat.

There would be no going back now. Utena seemed to understand this perfectly because her next set of actions soon had the entire lower floor panicking, the controls smashed as power was disengaged to the GMG cages. “Idiots. Every single one of them.” Kusanagi pressed into the intercom at her coat’s collar. Soon her voice boomed over the entire MFF base. “Attention everyone, this is your General speaking. Aerial Diver Utena Soriyu has turned rogue and is attempting to free the GMGs. Bring her in by any force necessary. I will not repeat myself.”

And so it was said, the MFF scrambling onto one of their own now. It wasn’t long before troops appeared in the lower floors, already raising their guns on Utena, most set to stun. “Somebody reroute emergency power to the cages,” Kusanagi barked. A moment later and it was done as well; although electricity no longer crackled in Terrorkeat and Schrödinger’s cages, more and more metal rose up to reinforce it with another layer of metallic mesh.

"Oh, hi there! I was beginning to wonder if you'd gone into hibernation or something like this,"

Eris looked up lazily at Haruka and just gave a nod to her statement. She then tilted her head upon noticing the girl that Haruka was carrying. She didn't feel like someone who was from around here.

"Things got a little—well, a lot—rowdy while you were sleeping. I can tell you all about it but first I have to take this cutie here to a cell before she wakes up. We don't want an armed and ready MFF agent wrecking havoc around the ship do we?" Haruka said as she continued to carry Akari in her arms, seemingly with some effort, despite the redhead's dollish looks. "Wanna come along? I just have to get her there and then find some clothes and other necessities. The poor thing seems to have had it quite rough."

Eris's curiosity was peaked. "Ok... Mm..." She snuggled her plush and walked along with Haruka to the cell block. "Mm... Haruka... How long have you... Been with these humans... In this world?" She asked curiously. It would be nice to get to know her new friend before anything else happened.

Ever since the MFF had successfully captured not one, but two, live GMGs, Akane had been bouncing around the lab nonstop with all the energy of an excited school girl. Mug of tea in one hand and a piece of fried tofu in the other, she would cross the lab to anything she could help with or that caught her interest. The MFF commander's normally well-kept appearance seemed to get more and more disheveled with every passing day. She sometimes came into work wearing pajamas and would a lab coat over them and call it good. Fortunately, the MFF's dress standards were pretty lax, and no one either cared enough--or was ranked high enough--to correct the officer. Except for McNair, but Akane ignored the small pinkette with something like vindictive glee.

Despite her burning work ethic, there was a lot of work to be done, so she was working almost non-stop around the clock pausing only for the necessities, like sleep, and when she ran out of tea. Still, she thrived, driven by the fact that their knowledge of GMGs all but doubled overnight. Of special interest to her was their DNA, which they were slowly but surly sequencing. It bore a remarkable similarity to humans, and to each other, despite being vastly different creatures. She even compared them against her own, disguised under the identification of 'an unknown GMG' with similar results. As an added precaution, she purged that data immediately after.

She did hear of the disappearance of Akari, which upset her immensely, as the girl had been under her command, but she was unable to join the search and be in the lab, so she reluctantly left it to others. She also took immediate note of Utena wandering into the lab day after day. The emotions the girl was giving off when she looked on their prisoners alone was enough to tell Akane that the girl was planning something stupid. From flashes of thoughts Akane was able to glean from the occasional close proximity, she figured out her plan, such as it was. Akane had to work really hard not to sigh when she put it together. Utena's "plan" wasn't just stupid, it was reckless, impulsive, and dangerous. Not only that, but it had a very small probability of working. But, it could be entertaining, and she was growing ever more mistrustful of McNair, and to a lesser extent, Kusanagi. In the interest of keeping her options open, she made three plans and prepared accordingly: one to help, one to hinder, and one to do nothing. Then, she watched Utena a hawk and waited for the seditious Aerial Diver to make her move.

She did not disappoint. A quick "conversation" and a sudden dash later, and the MFF had two loose, angry Kaiju. In that moment, Akane made up her mind; she was going to give them a fighting chance, but without revealing herself. But only a chance. In the confusion and chaos that followed the GMGs out of their cages, Akane let herself be bumped, sending her mostly full mug of tea spilling over several control panels. They gave an angry hiss and sparked. She disappeared into to the panicking mob to grab her mask and sword.

Meanwhile, the mesh of metal that was moving into place suddenly ground to a halt.

I wonder how far they will go.

Terrorkeat didn't dare to breath after giving her affirmation to the Utena, eyes boring holes into the human as she moved to the control panel. A part of her didn't want to believe it and expected to the human to lose her nerve, but the moment the power came down, she knew she wasn't being mislead.

The GMG exploded with plumage, feather's with a mono molecular edge bursting from her wings and limbs to shred the bars of her cage as she reared back and screamed. Going beyond the range of deafening, she harmonized her screech to a pitch meant to shatter glass. Not the hardened glass of holding cells, but that of monitors and control terminals, setting the open area and all its adjoining spaces a ringing with a cacophony of shattered glass. Screams came after as technicians sporting glasses now had silica lodged in their eyes, but such sounds of pain went unheeded by the GMG.

She swung her arm in a vicious uppercut and shredded the cage with derision, the pinions firing out to pierce everything from floor to the distant ceiling many floors up. Yeshua's eyes flashed with an alien malice that was felt by the pinkette Commander. McNair was struck by the recollection of Schrodinger's attempted assassination and found herself moving. The Commander crashed into Kusanagi's side and threw the both of them to the ground as a feather longer then a speedboat pierced the balcony like a knife through butter and rose through to the next level above them.

"We need to withdraw. You just marked yourself as the commanding officer and they can tell!"

Haruka looked up as they reached the rather high tech cells in the ship. She wondered who in the world could be behind HART, and more importantly how they even had the resources to build this ship. However, those questions were set aside as she laid Akari in one of the cells before locking it up.

"Oh? That's kind of a long story, but I guess we have nothing better to do right now, do we?" Haruka answered Eris' question with a smile on her face as she looked around a nearby infirmary. "I guess you can say I've been here as far as I can remember. Like four or five years ago? I mean, I got a name for myself and all that. Don't say you have never heard of me~" she joked as she brought a first-aid kit and a fresh change of clothes—or rather a hospital gown and underwear that was likely Tomoko's back to the cell.

"Ok, let's see what kind of number my sister did on you, cutie... Please, excuse me," Haruka said as she followed Aika's instructions on how to remove Akari's suit. Thankfully, it didn't look like Aika had been too rough with her. Though, the poor unconscious redhead could probably use a bath now, which is exactly what Haruka did as she cleaned the other girl before changing her clothes.

As she took care of Akari, Haruka's attention never wavered away from Eris, though. The way her hands worked deftly made it quite clear she was well acquainted with this nursing job. "Anyway, haven't you been here for a while too? You actually got me curious there. What could a cute girl like you be doing before?" she asked in a curious voice as she continued to take care of Akari while keeping any prying eyes away from the three of them—especially the currently-naked redhead—with a curtain she borrowed from the infirmary.

---

---

Yep, this was not a great plan. Actually calling it a plan was really an insult to plans in general, this was more of a snap decision with little to no thought put into it, maybe a bit of daydreaming while eating lunch if she was being generous. But it was what was happening now, so all that was left to do was to go through with it and hope she didn't end up in a cell somewhere. Maybe if she was lucky they would throw her in the cell with Terrorkeat. That wouldn't be so bad really. But that wasn't going to happen! Because they were all going to escape, every single one of them!

The entire base was surely on high alert now, dozens of soldiers already surrounding her with more surely on the way, but these guys were grunt soldiers, bottom rung fodder that was only good for putting bullets into GMGs while the trained professionals kept them occupied. And that was also important to note, they were trained to take on GMGs, not humans. The hesitant expressions on many of their faces, the fact that most of them hadn't even put their fingers on the triggers. This was one of their commanding officers going turncoat, it was enough to make everyone think twice before firing. And those few seconds of hesitation would cost them as Terrorkeat screamed.

It was enough to rattle her skull as Utena's knees nearly buckled, her eardrums shaking and her vision swimming under the force of Terrorkeat's audio assault. She distantly heard monitors shattering one after another, all electronics in the area shutting down as their delicate internals shook themselves apart and were torn apart by broken shards of glass. Many soldiers dropped their guns just so they could cover their ears, some began firing with reckless abandon, shakily pointing in the general direction of Terrorkeat to try and silence her. There was a lot to focus on in the room, Utena honestly being the least of their worries as they turned on the escaping GMGs.

Utena capitalized on this as she grabbed a gun off the floor, firing off several rounds into the crowd as she fought her way to Terrorkeat and Schrodinger, and I do mean fight. Punches were thrown into the crowd to move people out of her way, she body checked several grunts onto the ground as she swung the butt of the rifle into the heads of those less willing to move. The world wasn't wobbling nearly as much as it had been before, looks like her training as an Aerial Diver was coming in handy in regards to recovering from Terrorkeat's sonic scream. Sonic scream, would have to remember that one.

Terrorkeat was doing a fine enough job at freeing herself from her cage, but Utena had two GMGs to worry about busting out after all. Her sword was pulled from her belt as she stood in front of the captured Schrodinger, its frost blue edge glowing as she began to carve through the metal slowly. "COME ON WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO WASTE!" She shouted just a bit too loudly, hacking away at the metal of the cage to give the catgirl somewhere to start. She most certainly didn't need the help, but Utena didn't like feeling helpless, and it really felt like she was making a difference now!

Several things were happening at once and while they weren’t unexpected in the grand scheme of an attempted GMG prison break, it was no less chaotic all the same. Kusanagi wanted to sigh at just how incompetent everyone was but was too busy raising her hands to her ears as Terrorkeat screeched into the base. Even muffled as her hearing was, Kusanagi still heard glass breaking as machinery was overridden and shattered. She constituted that as the reason why the second layer of metal grating halted, failing to keep either GMG in their emergency cage.

A second later and she was tossed to the ground, tackled by McNair as more metal being wrenched clear was heard, this time much closer. Kusanagi dully regarded the pinion sticking out the floor, clearly aimed for her. So, the bird could feel emotion? More than that, it could experience a human sensation of revenge and vindication. Kusanagi wished she had a pen and paper on hand. “With all due respect Commander, I can handle myself. You should take care of our little renegade problem before she makes things worse,” Kusanagi commented.

She slowly pushed the pinkette off her, already getting back up and pointing downwards. Utena, who seemed to first be escaping for herself as she barreled through MFF troop alike, now turned right back around to free Schrödinger from her cage. “Dead or alive, whatever you see fit,” she hissed, already heading back to the other side of the bridge, suspecting Terrorkeat’s rampage was only going to keep the good doctor in her sights and nobody else. “That girl’s bleeding-heart sympathy will be her downfall,” she muttered, uncaring if McNair heard.

Indeed, Schrödinger gave Utena a narrow-eyed stare. Just because the girl shut off the cage controls didn’t automatically mean the cat was trusting of her. Nor did she need the help of some human to free herself, especially when the cage’s second layer was stunted. Schrödinger flexed her muscles and haunches once before enlarging her claws. With one fell sweep, she smashed through the cage, sending bits of metal flying and cutting through Utena’s frost. The cat snarled and hissed, slashing away randomly, uncaring if she blew Utena back as she leapt out her cage.

A lack of gratitude was just something McNair found herself expecting from the commander, the pinkette pushed off her scientifically inclined superior with a tongue lashing for her trouble. A less committed commander might have expressed regret over pushing Kusanagi away from her death by bifurcation, but McNair was not careless with the lives of her peers. Rising to her feet she un-holstered her sidearm and sighted down the now mangled railing to see what was going on, only to be stricken by the sight of Utena returning to the fray.

It was treason enough to show sympathy to the enemy, even worse to act upon it, but now she was openly firing on her former comrades before they had even escalated to lethal measures. Her blood went from cold to incandescent in the time it took for her pupils to dilate and lips to snarl a furious command into her communicator. "All forces in the containment area, capture Utena immediately. Your weapons are useless on those GMGs, so bring me that traitor. Bring her alive."

Then McNair was hurtling down the nearest stairwell, all but foaming at the mouth to wring the traitor's neck while cooler heads contended with the kaiju in their midst.

---

Terrorkeat's emotions were getting the better of her, or surely she wouldn't have missed the scientist tormenting their kind so zealously. Eyes narrowed on Kusanagi's form, the woman had the gall to attempt crossing the bridge right over Yeshua's own head? Sheer arrogance.

The destruction of Schrodinger's cage told the avian kaiju it was time leave and she chirped to her sister, "Grab the human and climb. We are leaving together, with a little something extra."

A flap of her arms sent her airborne while flattening those unsteady beneath her with a sharp downdraft. She rocketed upwards with claws trailing at her side, intent to not just take Kusanagi, but to take the entire section of bridge she was on up with her as claws shredded steel and carried the sundered platform along for the ride. Yeshua cast a baleful look towards her captive passenger before turning upwards, a drill of air forming before her and growing thicker as she rocketed towards the ceiling between them and freedom.

---

Well the cage was broken in the end, even if Utena's help hadn't been strictly necessary by any means. The cage was smashed open in one fell cleave of Schrodinger's claws, sending shrapnel and frost flying into the crowd and nearly maiming Utena's beautiful face if she hadn't thought to curl her wings around herself as a shield. A few pieces of metal did manage to slip through her hasty guard, but they were dulled by the thick padding around her limbs. No the main concern was the rampage Schrodinger was going on, swiping and clawing at the crowd around Utena. "Hey come on, there's no time to start wrecking the place! Reinforcements are on the way, we need to get going now!" The turncoat officer yelled as she rushed closer to Schrodinger's body, a common tactic she employed to make sure a GMG couldn't smack her out of the air.

Thankfully it looked like the twin GMGs were just about done with their revenge as Terrorkeat chirped something to her sister and took off into the air, crashing through the bridge above as she headed straight for the ceiling above. Ah, so that was the plan then! Utena grinned as she unfurled her wings once more, aiming the tips at the ceiling Terrorkeat was heading for and unloading a volley of missiles to open a path for the great bird. Sure it wasn't strictly necessary, she could probably bust up the ceiling no problem herself, but Utena liked helping.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of a gunshot ringing through the air, followed by a lance of pain shooting up her leg as it buckled out from under her. They were using live rounds already! Utena panicked as she rolled onto her back, looking in the direction where she had been shot and seeing a group of very angry soldiers aiming straight at her. She looked back over her shoulder and up at Schrodinger, before activating her wings with a rush of energy. She took off from the ground at a low angle, colliding with the cold GMGs stomach and clinging to the thin string of clothing that covered her. "Time to go time to go time to go!" She yelled, much more urgently now as the soldiers aimed for another round of bullets.

While chaos reigned inside the MFF base, Akane slipped into a side door, and down a short hallway to a room that served as her temporary office while overseeing the captured GMGs. The door shut with a dull thump, immediately cutting though the noise outside. It was, as expected, messy. Papers covered just about every spare surface that wasn't the floor, some were fresh and new, others were crumbled and had tea stains. She passed through like a whirlwind, snatching gear; her sword, leaning against the desk, her mask, mounted on a hook among other mask, and uniform bodysuit, which she changed into in record speed, tossing her lab coat, shirt, and skirt to the floor. Then she pulled her hair up and secured it in place with some hairbands. She checked the ammo in her sheath-gun and grabbed a few spare, then the edge of her sword. From a drawer on her desk, she also grabbed two smoke grenades and a flashbang, which went on her best around her waist. From a different drawer, she pulled a USB drive and an unmarked keycard, both she tucked out of sight. Then, she was out the door again, seemingly a totally different woman than the one that went in.

She immediately turned invisible and made a hard turn into an empty room. She located the computer inside, and woke it up. Humming a child's tune to herself, she used the manufactured keycard and Utena's stolen credentials, to log in under the now turncoat Aerial Diver's ID. Then she inserted the USB and ran the program on it. Quietly, throughout the base, about half of the weapons, defense, and support systems, including surveillance, shutdown and began running update cycles. Nothing was going to update, but all affected systems would be down for around fifteen minutes. There was now a very large and intentional blind-spot centered on the GMG's holding area. Lastly, she had the surveillance cameras dump the last few minutes of their tapes. She logged off, and pulled out both the USB and the card. Both of which, she melted on Kogitsune-maru's blade and flicked aside. The burnt remains would be found, but little else evidence was left. Not even fingerprints, thanks to her gloves. This will certainly throw them for a loop. Such fun toys humans have, and how much they rely on them.

Invisible still, she left the office and emerged back into the chaos of the main room. Pieces of ceiling were falling, gunshots were ringing out, and just about everyone was shouting something at once. Pure, delightful, chaos. Utena's single rebellious act had caused all this. The kitsune had to admire the girl for that much. Still, Akane didn't have time to bask in the moment. She skirted the edge of the room to the doors leading up and out. Her plan was simple: wait outside and if the three renegades made it out alive and uncaptured, she would follow them, hopefully leading her to the mysterious organization that had blind-sided them all during Goomie's attack. Yeshua, at the very least, seem to have some connection to them, and it seemed logical that they would turn to them for safety.

And if they didn't escape?

Then, they would be her's again. Utena too.

It was maddening to think such a poor, pathetic, and simple-minded creature actually believed it could get the better of the MFF; the more Kusanagi ran through the events in her mind, the more illogical it all became. Nothing about this added up, and that was just an indicator that something was afoot. Something was being spurned for foul play, as if Utena’s sudden betrayal wasn’t so blatantly indicative of that truth. But she had more important things to worry about; one of which included balancing on the bridge now ripped out of its holds and carried by Terrorkeat.

“Tch.” So, the bird truly believed it was smart enough to outwit her? While true, the good doctor was slowly regaining balance, especially now that the torn bridge was dangled only by Terrorkeat’s claws, it was foolery nonetheless to expect the head of the MFF to simply let a monster do what it wanted. “Patch me into the mainframe…yes. I see. Idiots.” Kusanagi hissed out the words as she spoke to the scrambling personal running and checking things via the earpiece in her coat collar. Apparently, there was a blind spot in the hanger, among other suspicious lapses in their technology and other systems. That confirmed it then.

“Two. There are two turncoats.” Kusanagi didn’t much care if she was spilling this information to the other lines. Even as she spoke, she was putting on gloves as black as coal over her hands, fetched idly out of her pocket. Something banged above her, no doubt the ceiling being rendered apart by Utena’s missile barrage and Terrorkeat’s mass. “Yes, I understand. Noted. Yes, redirect all power to me.” She flexed her gloved hands, a whirring noise and a spark emanating from them. “Engaging in three.” She opened her palm. “Two.” She bounced up, carried to the bridge’s ceiling due to the inverted gravity. “One.” Kusanagi planted her hand along its surface.

A crackling sound pierced the ears of everyone remotely close to Terrorkeat as electricity surged upwards, unseen but certainly not unfelt by the bird. Pulsing from Kusanagi’s gloves, the full brunt of the base’s emergency power pounded into Terrorkeat and would have stopped her heart dead if her claws didn’t drop the bridge almost immediately, severing the electrical connection. “Bracing for impact,” Kusanagi told the other line, curling and keeping her head low as the bridge dropped back to solid ground.

“Sis!” Not even noticing Utena clinging to her body, let alone her squeaky screams, Schrödinger leapt up immediately as Terrokeat was jolted and fried. She made to latch onto Terrorkeat’s wing before slamming into the upper walls, quickly crawling out into the entrance made by the bird and Utena towards freedom. Terrorkeat herself remained dragged by the cat’s fangs, a manic attempt at escape. It wouldn’t be long before all three would head Akane’s way.