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Location: Inside Ktan, Micronauts HQ, Light Kingdom. "Yoctonaut Zero, you are entering the blood brain barrier zone. Our imaging is detecting a vessel similar to the one you've already captured that is within the centimeter square area of your ship. I'll have Wessi guide your system for you." Jodak announced over the comms. "I think I see it." Lynka mentioned when she noticed a glowing dot in the horizon which was quickly being approached by their vessel. "Approach with caution, ladies. This could be the big one." Peli said. After a few minutes, the Yoctonaut Zero approached the vessel which appeared similar indeed to the previous one, only it had large mechanical arms and a series of probes attached to its underside. "Maybe it's still attempting to break the barrier membrane?" Lynka suggested. As the team and their vessel flew between red blood cells and hovered what appeared to be leagues and fathoms above the red of the membrane that protected Ktan's brain, and in reality was only a few micrometers below them, they were able to get a retained mental image of the apparatus. Even with the vessel being remotely guided by Wessi, something seemed amiss when Theo attempted to manually slow down the Yoctonaut when they approached it quickly. "Hey, Bombshell! Can you slow us down a notch, please?" Theo asked Wessi over the comms. "Unfortunately it seems the speed isn't going to reduce." Wessi lamented. "I think it's pulling you ladies in." Jodak suggested. "I think you're right..." Groaned Neya. "What do we do?" Asked Allie. "I'm fairly certain that they know we are for real now. They probably want their other ship back." Said Theo, pointing to her chest. At the bottom of the grenade-shaped vessel among the many bright lights, a large door swung open to suck in the Yoctonaut Zero, whose controls suddenly powered down when they crossed the threshold of the interior. Inside they remained suspended above a large metal platform and hovering in the center of a bright green light. From the hidden windscreen, the agents observed several of the Ingolians who appeared to be about their size. All wore various colors of jumpsuits that were plain in form, covering their feet and extending to the top of their necks. "So these are the little bastards that Ktan rescued?" Asked Theo. "She only had a handful of them. They must have very advanced size change technology like we do." Said Rammy. The rear hatch opened on its own, the locks had been undone and a group of the Ingolians walked briskly toward the back of the craft and as the agents drew their stun guns and prepared for a conflict, the Ingolians pretended to want nothing but peace. As soon as the hatch was finished rising open, one of the Ingolians in a yellow suit stopped in plain view and held up his hands, showing the palms of his hands to appear metallic. "I am but a harmless researcher!" He said with a somewhat squeaky voice- fitting for how tiny he was just like the Micronauts. Another Ingolian, a woman in white, and with a very thin face and large nose approached the back of the vessel and greeted them with a bow. "We have been expecting your arrival, our dear leader would like for you to accompany him on the main deck." "Are you hearing the same thing that I'm hearing, ladies?" Asked Neya, unsure if she was hellucinating. "Rattan and dear leader Zeryz would be delighted to meet you. We have been ordered to receive you with utmost care and respect." The female Ingolian continued. "Please." Said one male in a gray suit. "I don't suppose our comms is not being disrupted. I guess we're going into the belly of the beast." Theo relented and holstered her Micro Stinger, causing the others to do the same. "Excellent, we shall inform dear leader that you and your family will be joining them soon. Please follow." The woman said to the Micronauts. The situation was absolutely bizarre by every sense. Microscopic aliens who could communicate in the Light language already was in league of it's own, but to be received as guests of honor in some form felt like a setup. The agents couldn't help but already feel trapped like prisoners. Outside of Ktan's body, as Jodak and Wessi continued attempting establish contact with the microscopic team, Ktan continued to embarrass Shamid at cards. "Bullshit" Ktan called Shamid's bluff in the game whose titular name was the aim. Shamid growled, actually growled, and threw her hand down in frustration. "I don't understand it. You have the luck of a little devil." "Maybe one day you shall be as good as Ktan!" Sheri joked with her, now being joined in the games by Nila and Tarten. "Easy, ladies! I know that look on Shamid's face. The last time I witnessed it, she completely trashed the inside of a store over a cold cup of coffee." Saffron said when she entered the lab and saw how frustrated Shamid appeared. "Saffy! Hana!" Peli called to the two when they walked in with Kangi following close behind her. "And of course, Kangi!" "Well?" Asked Hana when the trio approached Ktan's body. "Kekekekekeke!" Laughed Ktan. "Oh dear, is she a troll too?" Asked Saffron. "A troll of the highest magnitude." Shamid admitted. "I envy this girl." "Wow, Shams! That's a first for you!" Saffron teased her best friend. "What have you ladies found out?" Peli inquired of their recent bout in the bank of South Arkland. "Ah! Your policy of keeping the guilty connected for the sake of keeping the innocent connected has paid off again!" Saffron suggested as Kangi approached. "The President, Mr. Waba, will kindly arrange for the team to meet with the Sabretooths in South Arkland." Kangi explained. "Excellent!" Peli smiled. "We wait. When he sets us up for the meeting, he will send for us." Hana explained. "My goodness are you ladies, you naughty little ladies playing cards on Ktan's boobies?!" Saffron joked when she saw that Ktan had a deck split on her left breast. Ktan nodded and smiled. "I'll say! If she helped Shams run the gambling side of our business, I'd be very happy." Said Wessi. ""Kekekekeke!" Again, Ktan chuckled. "Tchah!" She saluted up to Wessi. "A very quirky girl." Hana remarked. "Hmmm... You don't know the type. Zanzhi girls just love to have fun. It's in their nature." Saffron explained. The door to the lab opened and in stepped Nairys and Maia who were visibly agitated from their hearing in the Parliament. Peli saw it but dared to inquiry about it in front of the group. She didn't have to pry very much. "It went well, I take it?" "We thought it did!" Maia proclaimed. "They want a reason to end our program, Dr. Vallus!" Nairys revealed her observation, which got the attention of the others. "Are you joking?!" Asked Hana. "If only! Listen to this, as they are questioning us, they're implying that we are both incapable of and unwilling to protect the public with our tech! I'm sure the papers will have a ball of a time with it!" Nairys explained. "Was it brutal?" Asked Sheri. "Something is very wrong. I have faith that you ladies performed perfectly well. Usually the ministers don't need to be talked into funding us, but I have been sensing a change in the wind." Said Peli. "Narb usually handled it. She's out for the time." Saffron explained to Peli. "When you were imprisoned, about five years ago the Parliament demanded we be audited and inspected. We were totally against it but the little fuck they sent to inspect us for so called 'environmental concerns' was too much to bear. We just let Shamid and Neya have at him." Explained Hana. "Have at him?" Peli repeated. "We fucked him to death!" Shamid boasted and leaped out of her chair, causing Ktan to giggle. "You what?" Peli silently asked for clarification. "You heard her. We just told the little dweeb that to gain full access he has to have sex with one of us. You know, sort of like being a part of the island tribe..." Saffron said. "You... And Neya?" Peli muttered. "46 times in one night. Had a heart attack." Shamid replied. "Second most times I've done it in one night. That's almost enough to tire a Shiqaw boy." "Kekekekeke!" Chuckled Ktan. "Oh my goodness." Muttered Peli. "It was a scandal but it got the Parliament off our backs." Grumbled Nila. "Oh my goodness." "And since that day, they've been trying to get rid of us through funding." Hana admitted. Peli had to let it sink in that her unit, her family that she loved, killed a government inspector in spite of the games the Parliament played. She was at a loss for words, and stood up from the chair beside Ktan's bed. Her disappointment was easily felt like a new force of gravity, and Shamid felt somewhat ashamed seeing the look on Peli's face. "You killed someone who was just doing their job, rather than... What??" Peli seemed beside herself. Peli didn't wait for an answer, she walked away and headed for the doors back out into the main body of the bunker. Nila chased her out into the corridor outside and stopped the red Marshal from entering her office. "Peli!" "I am very hurt by that tale, Nila." Peli calmly said to her without so much as turning to look at her. "Don't be a fool." Nila groaned and crossed her arms, approaching the woman from behind. "A fool?" Peli repeated and looked down at the cement floor. "Yes, you!" Nila continued and walked around to the front of Peli, cornering her in a conversation. "Don't be the damned fool. You knew this wouldn't last forever when you created the unit! How long did you seriously believe we could operate under a hidden black budget and no red tape before government stooges start poking their hook noses into our business?" "This is why my hearing several months ago was so tense. I had no idea what they were talking about." Peli said, referring to the ministers who questioned her last. "They'll have us finished. Parliament controls the budget." "They told Narb, told her point blank in a hearing, in several in fact, that they didn't want to see you freed because they were afraid of the consequences! They're gutless! Besides, that little pipsqueak, was not a real inspector anyhow!" Nila argued. "He was a spy sent to do a political hatchet job!" Nila stomped her little foot onto the floor. "We will not have our family broken up by petty politics!!!" "I agree." Peli quietly said. "Listen to me." Said Nila. "Give me one chance. All I need is one. Let me scare them and I'll end this monster that seeks to put an end to what you and we have built. I don't even need to wear the suit. Do you think it's worse that Shamid and Neya fucked a political spy's brains out, or the rumor that they have secretly put targets on our backs after all of these years? Because, Marshal, that is the one discussion you haven't had with us. All of us agree that sooner or later, the sick bastards who faint at the mention of conflict will have us killed to appease the enemies of prosperity." "What are you suggesting?" Asked Peli. "I want to be the big bad villain one more time. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. I want you to make our defection look real." Nila suggested. "Our?" Peli repeated. "Come to my office and I'll show you the plan that we have devised. If we pull this off, they won't ever come for us again. Because Peli, I don't think I can bare to watch my daughter be put back into an orphanage because the Parliament tried to say I was killed in action when I wasn't. These psychos are out of control and the Queen can't constitutionally do anything to them without proof of treason." Said Nila. "You're asking me to approve your defection? To whose side?" Peli wondered. "Nila, this is a very dangerous game to play." "Now that we know she has a clone. We don't have to tell the world about Nakenga being killed." Said Morning Star who entered the corridor from her office. "It's simple, we have to first kill Nila's clone and then our little friend in the paper will run with the story that Nakenga got away and is establishing a new tyrannical regime somewhere." "They'll send their best, I'm sure." Nila said with a wink up to Peli. Peli had much to consider since the future of the unit was now financially in doubt. Her trust in her team went so deep that Nila was believable. "Okay, Nila. Show me what you and the team had in mind." She said, feeling no different than a person who sold their sould to a devil. "I've already prepared a final edition only to ever be seen by you." Nila assured her.