The screen in front of Eagle opened to reveal a most annoying enemy. Commander Octopus was not old, nor was he young, he had one of those faces where age was difficult to tell. He was a cowardly enemy whose tactics were ruthless and destructive; he had no regard for children, women and the aged; Eagle was glad Owl was no longer among them.
"General Eagle," Octopus began, his smile revealing all his teeth, "are you satisfied with the merchandise?"
General Bear grunted at the crude use of the word. Since when were people considered merchandise?
"Yes very," Eagle replied coolly, ignoring the taunt.
"Hmm, you don't seem that pleased," Octopus observed. "I told you Owl was a useless creature and yet you insisted."
"I could have given you anyone of my pawns but you chose her," he sighed, as though Eagle had committed a foolish mistake.
"In any case," he continued, "I've fulfilled my side of the bargain, now it's time you fulfil yours."
"Denied."
The comical look that came over Octopus' face was almost too much to bare. Eagle could hear one of his men trying clear his throat, obviously trying to stop himself from snickering.
"I seem to recall saying that she be delivered to me unharmed and yet," Eagle continued, " she came in thinking she was on a mission."
Eagle rose from his seat and slowly made his way closer to the screen, wagging his finger at his enemy.
"She was almost shot down by my men," he explained. "And that," he paused for a moment, " is unacceptable."
"But you have her now!" The Rebel commander growled.
"Yes," Eagle agreed, " but you broke the rules. And now," the General leaned forward, his palm on Octopus' digital face, "if you do not disappear, I will have to break you."
A sliver of fear passed through Octopus' eyes before he regained his composure and hid behind his mask of arrogance.
"Well played," Octopus conceded, "but I won't forget this," he added, before the screen went black.
There was silence among all the members present.
The sound of slow clapping suddenly started echoing all around the room. General Eagle turned to General Tiger who continued to mockingly celebrate his friend's victory.
"What?" Eagle questioned, an innocent look on his face.
"You were so nice to him the first time, was it because Owl was still on his side?"
"What do you think," Eagle replied.
"You know, she may never see you the way you see her."
General Eagle wasn't looking at Tiger anymore, but at the thick ring on his right index finger. The smile was gone too, replaced by a brooding look.
"She will," he stated. "I'm the only one who truly cares about her."
"Yes, but you are also The Enemy."
"For now," he conceded before walking by his friend to the exit.
"He could have anyone he wants, but he sticks to that one like glue," General Bear growled as he watched his fearsome leader leave the communications room. It was ridiculous for someone so high and powerful to be swayed by a puny unknown rebel.
Ridiculous.
"Tiger, who is this woman?"
"I believe it has something to do with that time he went to Earth," General Tiger replied, turning to look at his comrade.
"Earth? But that was over ten years ago!"
"I am aware, but there could have been no other point of contact,"Tiger maintained.
"She is human, there is no other location she could have come from," he added.
"I see,"Bear said slowly, rubbing a large hand over his beard.
"Earth," the gruff man repeated, the word coming out strangely, as though it were a foreign word.
"I haven't heard about that planet in years," he said more to himself than anyone else.
"Naturally,"Tiger agreed. "It was destroyed ten years ago, no one wants to talk about that disaster."
"Yes, " Bear agreed. "A political and humanitarian disaster."
General Wolf approached his brothers' in arms, although he had been promoted to General more recently compared to his older counterparts, he too had heard of what had happened on Earth. Despite the fact that the the main culprits for the destruction of that planet were the Rebel terrorists, specifically Commander Octopus and Commander Vulture, the two still managed to convince the humans that the real reason they lost their planet was because the Empire had considered them a nuisance. Hence all the humans that were left decided to seek shelter in the arms of the Empire's Enemy rather than the Empire itself.
A great mistake, but an understandable one. Vult and Octopus were unbelievably good at bending weaker beings to their will, especially in their moments of weakness.
"What do you make of this Brother?" Wolf addressed Tiger, who looked like he was trying to piece something together.
"The truth is, when Eagle had returned from Earth something was different about him, but he never mentioned anything about a woman."
"I had just assumed he was angry over all the unnecessary destruction that had occurred around that time. He sighed, "perhaps I should have given it more thought instead of assuming things."
"You can't be blamed brother," Bear disagreed. "Having known Eagle for many decades, not once have I seen him show true interest in a being of another race."
"You were justified in your assumption."
"I suppose, but now we must keep an eye on this woman before she becomes a problem. Already Eagle's thoughts seem to be littered with her presence."
Wolf laughed at Tiger's choice of words. It was clear to him, General Tiger had no soft spot for the women in question. He himself felt nothing but was interested to see how things would play out. After all, what kind of a woman was capable of melting the Great General Eagle's heart, a man known to only be married to his duty to the Empire.
Finally, it seemed something interesting was about to play out before his eyes.
-O-
Mouse was starting to get more and more antsy as yet another day passed with no news of Owl and no news of what was to become of them. It wasn't helping either that Fish had taken it upon herself to describe in detail how the Empire was planning on executing them. Mouse had told her to stop but Fish eventually confided in her that by talking about what their future might hold, she was eliminating the element of surprise, which made her feel more comfortable in some strange way.
Mouse kept thinking deeper and harder about what may lay ahead of them when seemingly out of nowhere, a voice broke through her increasingly negative thoughts.
" I can assure you both, no executions await you."
Fish didn't move from her position on the floor, but Mouse jumped to her feet. There standing in front of their cell, in complete military uniform was General Eagle and he was alone. He was looking at both of them with something akin to pity; which didn't sit well with Fish. The firecracker of a woman slowly got up from the floor, dusting her ripped uniform, her eyes never leaving the General's form.
"Oh ho ho, looky whose here Mouse, aren't we blessed." Fish sneered as she glared at the much taller man.
Mouse closed her eyes for a second, wondering how she always got paired up with the hothead on all her missions. She sighed and approached the glass prison wall, facing her enemy leader.
"General Eagle," she started, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. "Where is Owl?"
" It's not her you should be concerned about, "he answered almost gently.
"But I am, " Mouse countered, her brown eyes never leaving his icy blue ones.
He raised a brow at her and began circling the cell, like a predator eyeing its prey.
" Are you now?" He chuckled, stopping behind them ; they had refused to follow his movement and simply stood their ground.
" Very well, since I respect your courage I will answer your two most important questions."
Both women turned to Eagle; Mouse had her hands clenched into fists while Fish crossed her arms giving the General a haughty look.
" First off, " he began non-nonchalantly. "Owl is fine and in my care, where she will remain. No harm will befall her so long as she behaves."
" Secondly, " he continued, raising a hand to silence whatever Fish was about to say. " I plan for no harm to befall either of you as well. I wish to let the both of you go on our next stop."
"Are you serious!" Fish exclaimed. "You think you're gonna fool us by being nice to us!"
"It doesn't matter what you think, I am simply telling you what has been planned for you two."
"So why are you letting us off the hook so easily? " Mouse countered.
"I've told you what you need to know, unfortunately the rest is not your concern."
"I see," Mouse murmured more to herself than anyone else. She was trying to piece things together but nothing was making sense. Owl was not a high ranking officer so why were they going to keep her but let Fish and herself go?
"I still don't buy it!" Fish's angry growl broke the silence.
Eagle smirked.
"No I suppose you wouldn't." The general agreed before turning and making his way out of the prison area.
Fish and Mouse stared after him, not quite sure if what just happened had been real.
Mouse suddenly plopped down on the ground; she was quite shaken up. Nothing that had just happened made sense to her.
"So I guess we won't be dying then huh..." Fish said aloud, as though she too was in shock.
"No my friend, somehow I guess not." Mouse reluctantly agreed, but she knew deep down something much bigger was brewing and Owl was about to play a centre role in it.