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Mellisa had to admit she was impressed by her surroundings. And a little overwhelmed too. Her people might have the more advanced technology but Crystal Dell had them beat in size. This base is huge, far larger than she had expected. And this isn't the largest facility by a long shot.

The Mountain had dominated the skyline long before she had arrived in Crystal Dell, even if it was soon lost by the towering buildings and structures around it. Not a real mountain, but the towering peak of metal is still an impressive sight.

Privately, Mellisa was glad that Hiromi had sent a car to pick her up. She could have found the city easily enough, but found her way through it..that would have been more problematic. That just left the issue of finding her way through the base. It seems that Hiromi had thought of that too Mellisa guessed as her eyes settled on the vixen approaching the slowing jeep.

No, not a vixen. A Kitsune; Mellisa amended as she climbed out. She wasn't up on the Dellian Army ranks exactly but she was pretty sure she was a Sergeant Major. She looked the part, already standing to attention with her paws clasped behind her back; her long black hair tied into a pony tail with a delicate red ribbon.

'Good morning. You must be Lieutenant Lockwell.' the Kitsune stepped closer, her dual tails swishing behind her. Her attitude calm and focused. Professional but not stiff. Mellisa approved of that. Even if she wasn't going to stand on ceremony of her rank here. The greeting certainly had put her at her ease. Maybe she wouldn't feel as out of place here as she feared. Even if her uniform did make her stand out like a sore thumb. Or made her feel she did.

'Mellisa is fine.' The tigresses extended her paw, finding it clasped a second later in a strong yet soft grip. 'Thanks for meeting me. This place is pretty confusing.'

'You get used to it. It was the same for me when I first got here. Oh, I'm Ilya by the way.' The Kitsune glanced back with an understanding smile. 'I do hope you decide to help us out. It would be great if you joined us.'

'So, you work with Commander Miyasaki too?' Mellisa asked, already having fallen instep beside her.

'Yeah, I only joined pretty recently. Well, everyone did really. The Commander has been recruiting from all branches of the military, as well as our allies.' Ilya replied. 'I'm a tech. Mostly working with communications gear and stuff. But I can fix just about anything in the field. This isn't quite what I imagined myself doing. But when Hiromi asked me to join I couldn't say no.'

'So..this group is pretty new?' Mellisa said, her curiosity returning. It is starting to sound like this group is bigger than she thought. So..what does that say about the events she is getting involved with? She added that to the questions she needed answered.

Ilya nodded. 'Uhuh. It used to just be Commander Miyasaki, Lady Natsuki, Captain Munroe Alice and Lieutenant Thrai . Back at the start anyway.'

'I've met Captain Munroe, Alice.' Mellisa said thoughtfully. 'Briefly. Don't know this Lieutenant though.'

Ilya seemed to dodge that last statement. Or at least didn't respond to it. 'Well, you won't be seeing her today. Alice is out of the city for a bit. But you can still meet the others. Well, here we are.'

As they talked, Ilya had led her into one of the low buildings identical to the others around her, her heavy boots almost thumping on the wooden floor. Mellisa had to admit she was feeling a bit more nervous now, unable to keep herself from thinking about the group she was about to meet. She never did well with new people even if she hid it well. The one thing she was clinging too was that she would at least know Hiromi and Ilya, so that was something.

What she saw still threw her a bit as Ilya slid the door open. She hadn't been expecting to meet a whole platoon or anything, but the ten furs inside were more than she had been expecting. Their uniforms weren't exactly..well...uniform, she could see ground crew, techs, medics as well as infantry. But they were close enough to be a united army; the symmetry of their uniforms just made her feel more out of place in her blue jacket and trousers. A blue dot in a sea of dark green and tan.

It was the dragons that caught her eye first, just as she had caught theirs. It wasn't like they could miss each other. The smallest of the three, a female with blue scales and bright red hair, seemed to give her an almost friendly smile. Certainly compared with the scowls the other two shot her. She bristled, starring down the black and green scaled reptiles steadily. Until something else caught her eye. Well, someone.

It was just a flash of colour, black fur and white hair before she even saw the face, recognising them both a second later. 'Arty?' Mellisa whispered as she stepped forward, the dragons forgotten instantly.

The word might have been whispered but the panther's ears twitched anyway. A subtle flick before he turned, his face lit by a smile of obvious recognition. 'Mellisa? Mellisa is that you?'

The surprise in his voice was mirrored in her but that didn't stop her pulling him into a soft hug. 'I could ask you the same question. I didn't expect to see you here. I knew your current assignment had come to an end but..'

'It did. And I was looking for something new to sink my teeth into. And this sounded like a good cause. I'm guessing you though so too.' Arty compressed her lips into a wry smile. 'Funny how life does that huh?'

Mellisa would have followed up on that. If Hiromi hadn't arrived at that moment, resplendent in her uniform, completely immaculate. Her presence was impressive. She quickly caught everyone's attention, not just Mellisa's; the whole room going silent. 'I won't keep you all waiting. You have all heard about the events of a few days ago. I'm afraid we don't have much more information than we did then. What we do have comes from our guest here.'

Mellisa had moved to stand next to Arty, feeling more than a little uncomfortable under the sudden scrutiny; all eyes turning towards her. Especially the two male dragons who were still looking at her dismissively. The stares of the others were more..neutral, but not exactly friendly.

Mellisa fought not to bristle, a ripple running through her fur and down her tail. Apart from the blue dragon, Arty and Ilya her reception had been pretty frosty. So..how will they take what she has to say? It isn't like they even know her.

'Captain Lockwell was actually present for the attack.' Hiromi let that sink in as she looked over the assembled crowd. 'More than that she was there before it started and saw the one that triggered the incident.'

That sent a ripple of surprise though the group, but it was the blue dragon that spoke first with a gentle tilt of her head. 'So..you are saying that this was another attack? But on a civilian target?'

'Another attack?' Mellisa muttered under her breath, her gaze swinging from the dragon to Hiromi and back again. She hadn't heard about this. She didn't have time now to ask about it though because Hiromi continued.

'Yes. This one had some striking similarities to the first given what Captain Lockwell told me.' Hiromi said. Her face hadn't changed but she had suddenly closed up, her emotions locked away tight inside her; presenting a blank face to her audience.

'And what did she see?' the dragon asked, seemingly focused on what was being said. Mellisa let her mind brush hers and felt..curiosity and openness and a complete lack of hostility. Which was reassuring in more ways than one. Still, she didn't press further in case she sensed it.

'It wasn't just a civilian target. A civilian was at the heart of the attack. In fact, from what we know, she caused it.' Hiromi continued, her tone still collected.

'How could that be?' That was the green dragon, his wings rippling then curling right around his back again. 'Surely you aren't saying that a civilian smuggled a bomb inside and..

'I'm not. But Captain Lockwell can answer that better than I can. Mellisa, if you would tell us what you saw.' Hiromi nodded to the tigress encouragingly.

'It was..like nothing I had ever seen.' Mellisa said, her throat suddenly tight. The images flashed in her head like she was right back there and it was very hard to not get caught up in her memories. With an effort, she locked them away. 'She..a girl barely 18 years old..wasn't doing anything wrong or odd. Then..it changed..so did she. Something changed in her. She radiated this..power. Power she hadn't had a second before. I tried to help, to reach her or stop her..but..it just...I don't know...overloaded. Or exploded. I..didn't see much after that.'

'Sounds like you didn't see much of anything.' The green dragon half snarled.

'Drake, that's eno...' Hiromi began.

'No, he has a point.' the black dragon joined in. 'You bring her here, saying she had useful intel. And all she can tell us is nothing that helps us. Nothing. We are no closer to getting an answer than we were yesterday.'

'I said that's enough.' Hiromi barked. 'Both of you. Knock it off. Captain Lockwell is here trying to help us. And what she saw tells me a lot. Can you not see what this means? We have people, ordinary people, being practically turned into weapons without any knowledge on their part or being able to do anything about it. And if they can't, we have to.'

'So..what do we do?' the female dragon asked, her tone much calmer than the other two of her kin. 'Do we have any new leads?'

'Not yet. So we have to keep doing what we have been doing. Chasing down the leads we do have. You all have your duties. So, get to it.'

'Well, that was fun.' Mellisa quipped as she walked towards Hiromi.

'Yes. I'm sorry about that. Drake and Fireheart can be..hot-headed at times. They've never liked waiting.' Hiromi looked her in the eye. 'Much like yourself I'd imagine.'

'Well, I won't deny that. I'm just not sure what I can do.' Mellisa sighed.

'Well, I might have something you could do. There is a place here for you, if you want it.' Hiromi said steadily.

'Me?' Mellisa was rocked back on her heels. Whatever she had expected to hear, it wasn't that. 'You mean that?' her words sounded weak but her mind was racing, leaping ahead of her mouth, trying to take in what that offer could mean.

'I do. I think you could be a big help to us.' Hiromi said earnestly.

Mellisa had to admit she was tempted, she really was. It wasn't like there was anything to stop her. Well, almost nothing. 'Well, it's not me you have to convince. It's my mother I'm afraid.'

________________________________________

The office was silent, the only sound the scratching of her mother's pen across the paper as Mellisa stood straight to attention in front of it. The silence was as oppressive as the atmosphere around them both. Tiffany hadn't moved, finishing what she was writing. Only when she set the pen down slowly did she look up. And it was with a stern look that had made her tremble as a child, a focused look of disapproval.

'So..did you come here to tell me this just to spite me?' Tiffany raised her head slowly. 'Or is this just another part of the rebellious streak you have been showing recently?'

Mellisa bit back a retort. It would have been so much easier if her mother had snapped or raised her voice. But this cool dispassion..that was something else. 'This has nothing to do with being rebellious. It has to do with doing what is right. And right now, this feels right to me.'

'More right than the duty to your people?' Tiffany pressed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose, a sure sign she was building up to a dressing down.

'I haven't forgotten our duty. We are pledged to protect our people. And this is exactly what I am doing. And yes, I'm protecting the people of Crystal Dell too. Just because they aren't in our city, doesn't mean they shouldn't be under our protection. Are we allies or not?'

'Our relationship with them isn't the issue here. It..' Tiffany replied coolly.

'It's always the issue.' Mellisa flicked her tail sharply behind her. 'They did so much for us. They gave us a home, a safe haven after we fled from Pluvia. They took us in when they had no reason too. But you, you never seem to see that. You just keep us here and deal with our own issues and ignoring everything else. There is whole world out there. And you would just want to bury our heads in the sand.'

Tiffany sighed, her tone still as steady and calm. Yet Mellisa could hear the disappointment under it. 'What I do, I do for us. For our people. How are we going to grow strong if..'

'Why do we need to grow strong?' Mellisa nearly snapped. 'And who says we need to do that alone? We could be helping Crystal Dell, sharing technology, our knowledge and they could be sharing our burdens. Maybe you are okay with that, but I'm not. I've met people who are willing to do something, what we should be doing. We used to be like that. And just hiding away is not right for us. It's unbecoming..no, it shames us. And I'm not going to be part of this anymore.'

'She has put you up to this.' Tiffany said shortly

Mellisa bristled, knowing she meant Hiromi and pressing down the urge to leap to her defence. 'No one put me up to this. Maybe she opened my eyes to what is going on around us, and I won't ignore it any longer. No, I will not.'

'We aren't ignoring anything here. I'm just putting our people first. Which is what you should be doing.' Tiffany retorted.

'Why? You are doing that enough for both of us. And if there is a threat out there, we have to do something.' Mellisa rose up to her full height, her ears standing tall. 'And that's what I'm going to do. We have to fight against this. Something is coming."

'You would walk away from your people?' Tiffany asked.

'I'm doing this for them, for us.' Mellisa said shortly.

'Very well. I can see your mind is made up.' Tiffany sighed. 'I suppose there is nothing more to say. Is there?'