(Just as a notice.  I’ll be going to Anime Expo this week, so from 6/28 to 7/2 you won’t be seeing me.  That includes Damarus and Jack Walker as well.  Sorry it has to be during the middle of all this plot!)

Proton had done what was requested of him by driving the rental car to Veilstone and getting hotel rooms.  Hopefully this would be the last of it as their mission was coming to a close.

Which brought up his next orders, given to him by The Boss.  Apparently some things happened that not even Sird was aware of.  There was a deal with Charon that officially took in the Galactics as their employees.  Proton still harbored some resentment towards that old man, but that wasn’t who he was to be concerned about.  He was to focus on the first leader of Galactic, if the man showed his face, and capture him.

Preparations for that were made.  Proton issued a request for back up and, more importantly, transportation.  The Executive had a feeling Giovanni was going to want to speak to Cyrus personally.  But why not have Sird be the one to bring the man in?

‘He doesn’t trust her.’ He told himself as he was perched up in the trees near the border of the Galactic HQ.  ‘She was Galactic first, after all.’ The way she flitted between each team was enough to make anyone question her loyalties.

Proton clicked on his walkie-talkie, set to a private station so as not to be picked up by any others.  “Status check.” 

“We’re in route, sir.”  Came the reply.

“Good.  Once you arrive, remain in standby until further notice.”

“Yes sir.”

Patiently he waited.  Keeping a close eye on the base for any signs of Sird, J, and possibly Cyrus.  They were probably already inside by the time he got there.

Sure thing, Sird.  I can handle that, no problem.

galactarded:

ladybeastsird:

Notes regarding the black pawn had been completed. What was to be done with her was another matter entirely. What would become of that poor little thing once she was in custody? One thing was for sure. She’d never be going back to Kanto, not with that full report being forwarded to Silph Co.

She had also spoken with another key piece. The white king had left the Distortion World and returned to the tangible one. Although he was in poor shape, he did appear to be on the mend by the time Sird left him. It would have been nice to give him a physical, just to make sure she knew what the hell was wrong with his body, but that would have to be dealt with another time. Cyrus so hated to be touched.

Her own pieces were starting to come together, but the next part of Operation Huxley would deal with the White Rook: Commander Mars herself. Mars would recognize her outside of uniform, wouldn’t she? It turned out that Sird and Cyrus had only been a couple of streets away from where Mars and Proton had been. Two chance meetings at the same time? How convenient!

“My apologies for the delay!” the androgynous Commander called out, taking a few steps closer to the two. “I had some unforeseen business to attend to, and it couldn’t wait. What did I miss?”

Mars looked up at the other woman, a blush on her cheeks from the unexpected compliment from Proton; not many people ever told her she was pretty. “You didn’t miss anything, really,” Mars said, “We’ve just been getting acquainted with each other.” It was hard not to laugh aloud at Sird’s ridiculous attire, but contained herself for the time being. She kind of wished the other Commander - or whatever Sird was considered - hadn’t shown up; she had wanted to learn more about Proton and found it easier to learn such things without the presence of others. But no matter; she had come to meet with Sird. “I take it everything’s taken care of, then?”

Proton looked up at Sird and nodded.  “Yeah, just some chit-chat over a couple of drinks.”

The Executive didn’t seem phased by Sird’s choice of attire.  He had grown used to seeing her in colors that were either drab or gaudy, she had yet to find the middle ground.  Proton wasn’t one to criticize another person’s fashion sense, that was something he imagined Ariana or Petrel doing instead.

“If I’m no longer needed here I can be on my way if you wish.”

Alright, we’re still here.

galactarded:

Mars had jumped ahead of herself, although she couldn’t keep a smirk off her face. “If you don’t want me with you, just say the word and I’m gone. You can catch your Buizel and wait for Sird all by your lonesome. I just thought you might like some company from someone familiar with the area.” Mars knew how lonely and boring it could be as a Commander, and any friendly company was always welcome in her books.

“Now why would I do such as thing as to tell a pretty lady to leave?”  He leaned forward on the table, put his elbows upon it, and interlaced his fingers to rest his chin upon them.  “That wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me to do after I was asked to keep you company.”

“How about this?  Once Sird gets here I’ll go to change and get some pokeballs for the capture.  Then, when you two are done talking, you and I will go out to find that Buizel.”

galactarded:

“Luxio’s are super cute!” Mars grinned her face lighting up with excitement, always a big fan of the feline-pokemon.

“Route 213; that’s right!” Mars smiled, “We’ll just have to be a little careful, because Crasher Wake likes to train around there sometimes and uh…he really doesn’t like me.” She tried to laugh it off, but last she checked she wasn’t on friendly terms with any of the gym leaders. “But you might want to catch a Buizel and evolve it. That is, if you do EV training with your pokemon. If not, it won’t make too much of a difference.”

Proton returned the smile at her enthusiasm. How cute it was when her face lit up like that.

“We?  Are you planning to make a trip of it with me?”  The smile turned into a mischievous grin for a moment.  “If that’s the case, I’ll have to change into something more appropriate.  One doesn’t usually go catching pokemon in business suits.”

Who was Crasher Wake?  “Avoiding people is no big problem.  With a title like that I think I can guess he isn’t hard to miss.  Hmm… I suppose I could get a Buizel first and train it up.  It’s usually better that way.”

Alright, alright.  I’ll get them done.

Which is why I’m not you, Archer.

Fooling around?  Me?  I know you won’t believe me when I say it, but I haven’t been fooling around over here.

Stable is good, that’s as much as we can ask for nowadays.

Of course, I wouldn’t be around if I didn’t.

Yeah, yeah, I know how you are.  You just send me the paperwork and I’ll get it done.

What about you?  Anything interesting going on in homebase, or am I the one getting all the fun as usual?