[img]https://i.ibb.co/rtvdswm/divider-line-02.png[/img]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/cd4y4K5.jpg[/img][/center][img]https://i.ibb.co/rtvdswm/divider-line-02.png[/img]
The click of heels laid forth an ominous precedence among the MFF personel and got closer the more the three senior officers conversed amongst themselves. Louder and louder the footfalls became until a striking figure approached the group of Akane, Akari, and McNair. [color=00aeef]"You ladies look to be having fun,"[/color] came a dry, almost emotionless voice in deadpan. Despite a labcoat that displayed her as a woman of science more than anything else, only a fool would mistake her as such when she, [url=https://i.imgur.com/1kAVqQS.png]General Kusanagi[/url], was the highest ranking body in the underground base. [color=00aeef]"I take it you've mixed well enough around here McNair? Clearly enough to ignore the fact there is indeed a crisis on our hands. Or, maybe you forgot about the several civilian lives codename Goomie took with her,"[/color] she said with tired eyes. 

The second highing ranking person on base stiffened upon hearing her direct superior intercede into the conversation, freeing Akane and Akari from further inquisition as they scurried away to freedom. McNair pondered how best to approach this irritable and haggared looking Kusanagi, ultimately deciding upon honesty. [color=pink]"If I don't make the effort to know my subordniates, they have no reason to make the same towards me. Whether they like what they find is up to them, but I like them well informed regardless."[/color]

[color=pink]"And a crisis? Perhaps it is just my unfamiliarity with this operation, but I was under the impression civilian casualities were a clear and present danger in all GMG engagements. I grant that it is an awful fate, but you can't suggest they remained alive? If they didn't suffer a slow death by digestion then they likely will later when the blob grows hungry."[/color]

[color=00aeef]"Oh, I'm not so sure. Judging by our level of technology and our studies regarding GMG behavior, I predict we should be giving results to our quarries right about...now."[/color] General Kusanagi yawned as the base's lights flickered to an ominous red, the familiar droll of alarm bells singing in the corridors. Immediately the MFF moved about like a colony of insects as they ran to situate themselves to their posts. [color=00aeef]"I like to think those two ladies felt the change in the air too and rushed to the scene of actions. Your senses are growing dull, McNair. In fact, I predict we've even located Goomie-"[/color]

[b]All MFF personel are to prepare for departure. Codename Goomie has been located on a remote island to the western seas with multiple human life signs registered. I repeat, all MFF personel are to-[/b]

[color=00aeef]"Ah, there it goes. You had best be moving out as well, new commander,"[/color] said the general, still yawning and moving away to prepare her own tasks in the next coming engagement. [color=00aeef]"Truly, the MFF knows no rest for our weary bones."[/color]

[color=pink]"Oh do you really think the GMG is that dim-Well, I'll be damned."[/color] The pinkette deadpanned under the glow of warning lights, the sudden shift in the base's mood rattling her bones in a way that made her want to rush after the grunts and join them in the field. An urge better left suppressed as she followed after the leader of the MFF. [color=pink]"Commander, how do you expect us to even attempt a rescue mission? Almost all our equipment proved useless and we don't even have the advantage of local infrastructure and response units this far off shore. What, do you want to ask the caged bird if it'll fight for us?"[/color]

She snorted, finding the very idea of letting the bird out of it's cell for anythingg short of dissection to be laughable.

[color=00aeef]"You're still following me commander. You either have some very valuable topics of interest to discuss or you like wasting my time-ah, there it is."[/color] General Kusanagi didn't break her stride just because the eager pinkette wanted to talk to her. There were too many variables to consider that didn't allow for such luxury. [color=00aeef]"To begin with, the last woman in command was, frankly, an idiot who didn't consider Goomie's body type. Thankfully for you all, I've brought with me the appropriate equipment needed to incapaciate the GMG, perhaps exterminate if deemed otherwise. Some cryo-engineering should assist you."[/color] The second notion might have even made the general laugh if she didn't know the motion was wasting precious breath.

[color=00aeef]"Don't be ridiculous McNair. Unless we employ a method of absolute obedience, I wouldn't risk employing a bird to do our work-"[/color] The general stopped in her tracks. By now they were walking across a bridge that connected several floors, high above the ground level of the base. Great glass windows allowed them to have a good look of the going ons of the base, most notably the flow of MFF soldiers moving about like ants. But to the trained eye of the commander, her sight was narrowed on the whale in the room, literally, as Terrokeat's cage took up a great deal of mass in the base.

[color=00aeef]"Curious,"[/color] she said, more to herself than her haphazard accomplice, seeing what no other person could. [color=00aeef]"The bird is twitching. There's something in its face that almost resembles [i]human[/i] emotion. I wonder..."[/color] 

It was a relief to hear that the arm chair leader had more forethought then the one she had let take command while Kusanagi holed up in her lab. McNair could and would fight a hopeless battle if ordered to but lacking the arms to even make an impact made any sacrifice a truly pitiable one. Her back straightened and she could walk even prouder knowing this first operation since her transfer wouldn't be a complete farce. [color=pink]"If that is the case then I have every confidence in our success here. I'll begin arranging a coordinated relief effort to transport the victims home and rehabilitate them. Our successes and morale shall compound exponentially."[/color]

They seemed to come to a pause over their greatest achievement to date, both woman looking down to see the odd facial ticks of the GMG. McNair's reaction would have hbeen to denounce such notions of the General, but the pinkette was a pet lover, and none could claim that their doberman didn't hold the same capacity for love, spite, jealousy, and anger as a human. [color=pink]"Can I call that thing fully intelligent? Perhaps not yet. But...it did surrender. Perhaps even a beast such as Terrorkeat could be conditioned. See how she avoids thrasing against the cage? She's already learned it causes pain and avoids it."[/color]

[color=00aeef]"If that thing was fully intelligent, it wouldn't have let iself be caught in the first place,"[/color] the general dismissed. Ignoring McNair's wax poetic, she studied Terrorkeat's body language carefully. The MFF was clearly lacking in specialists regarding GMG behavior though perhaps that was why the general herself was ultimately put in charge of these major operations. [color=00aeef]"The way its face moves almost makes it appear like it's listening to something. A wavelength only it can hear..."[/color] Her voice trailed off as Kusanagi focused on the MFF operative next to it. She stared down the girl; even if she'd never talk to her face to face, she knew enough stories to recognize this was Utena. How interesting.

[color=00aeef]"Bring that bird to the battlefield,"[/color] she ordered, already turning on her heels and briskly walking to the MFF command chamber. [color=00aeef]"Do not release it from its cage. I want all eyes on its behavior for every moment it's on that island."[/color]

[color=pink]"If it was averse to pain, it made a decision remarkably intelligent. A cornered animal would lash out till the end."[/color] The pinkette mused softly, watching Kusanagi's back as she stormed off before turning on her heel. She had her own to work to do, troops to organize and a relief flotilla to requisition, supply, and send off to the island at precisely the right time to give their main force time to engage Goomie's full attention. 

Now she just needed several cargoe plains to haul a cage as well. Evidently, it wouldn't have taken too long for the MFF to deploy. Soon enough, several of their air and sea forces began to enter the isolated island's territory. Finding Goomie wouldn't have been hard when the island itself appeared relatively uninhabited. True to Kusanagi's word, Terrorkeat was transported as well. Still locked in her cage great cables held the massive structure aloft as it was carried by several helicopters. There they would keep her upon the island's beach side, hovering over the mass of MFF forces gathered between her and the island.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/rtvdswm/divider-line-02.png[/img]