"Good job, Team Vartis!" Jeremy's voice could be heard over the airwaves.
"Thank you Commander!" Jesse responded, a bit breathily.
"Bring your dozen over here and let's figure a way to haul these babies over to their family's starship."
"Yes Sir!" Jesse's voice was charged with excitement.
Alekai took a deep breath and gave a sign of gratitude to the Universe.
Now that the danger was subsiding, Jesse was turning back into a little minx. Alekai was happy to see that although something within him chaffed at the fact that she was so happy responding to Jeremy.
"Jesse. Contact the Captain of the scorpion starship and ask her how she wants the scorpions."
"Will do." Jesse responded and then went quiet.
As Alekai waited for her to finish her communications with the scorpion captain, he began lining up the scorpions from his most recent haul.
"Hey, Alekai."
"I'm here."
"We can divide 172 by two which would give us 86. Think you can handle 86 scorpions, or should we just do a couple of trips?" Jeremy's voice came through on his individual voice feed.
"171."
"Sorry?"
"I had to cut loose one of the twelve so we only got eleven out. It got stuck and we didn't have enough time to get it unstuck."
"Hey man, it's cool. We were just going to deliver the original 160. Another eleven is just bonus."
"I'll take 86." Alekai mused. "You can take 85. Not like it makes any difference, man."
They both laughed.
"What's going on with Robbie?" Alekai asked.
"Nothing man. I muted his ass 'cause he was just being too rude to Jesse. There's no call for that kind of behavior."
"Hey guys?" Jesse's voice came on the main line.
"I just finished talking to the Captain of the Skrillz. We have a choice. Either we stand down and allow their fighter scout ships to enter our territory to evacuate their babies, or we haul the babies out to where they are."
"Haul out." Both Jeremy and Alekai said at the same time.
Jesse paused for a moment.
"'Kay. I just spoke with them. Any time we're ready."
"Alright. Let's load them up."
Alekai switched back to individual voice with Jesse.
"I'm switching navigation back to you. I have to start gathering the scorpions."
"I'll get us closer so you can snag the rest of them."
As Alekai began shifting his attention on the tractor beams, Jeremy was hailing both of them again.
"Sorry guys. It looks like you're going to have to haul this entire load yourself."
"What happened?" Jesse gasped. "Is your Gear's navigation having issues?"
"No. It's not my navigation system. It's my navigator!" Jeremy growled. "He's refusing to budge from this spot. Says he's not a scorpion taxi service."
Alekai clicked his tongue with impatience.
"Don't worry Jeremy. Just hang out here and wait for us. Watch my back so you can at least make sure I don't get blindsided by something."
"I'm not leaving you two out here by yourselves!" Jeremy exhaled harshly. "Just do what you have to. I'll be here."
As soon as Jeremy said those words, his Elite Gear began to shift and move away from them.
"What the hell!" Jeremy yelled through the console at his Shield. "Bring the Gear back into position Robby! That's an order!"
Alekai and Jesse could not hear what Robbie's response was, but the fact that their Elite Gear was not stoping or even slowing down was indicative of how out of control Jeremy was with his subordinates.
"It's cool Jeremy. I'll just make a couple of trips. No big deal."
"It is a big deal! I cannot leave you two out here by yourself!" He yelled as his Gear began speeding up and moving back towards the Anastasia.
"Looks like you don't have a say over whether you stay or leave. He's the navigator and he's leaving whether you want him to or not."
"I'll call another Gear to come out and help." Jeremy retorted.
"Don't bother. By the time another Gear can get to where we are, me and Jesse will be done with the transport."
Alekai continued to set the tractor beams onto the closest
"You two be careful!" Jeremy's voice was filled with fear and anger.
"No worries Commander! There are still two tiny media pods here with us."
"All they have are visual receivers. They cannot help you if something drastic happens!"
"We'll be fine. Don't forget, this is an Elite Gear."
"Okay. Keep me in the loop, although the media blitz about the both of you are much more interesting to look at than just hearing your blow-by-blow account as to how many scorpions you've managed to set tractor magnets on."
"Are we in the news?" Jesse gasped.
"Not just the news. You're featured in all the major media outlets, on almost every channel except for educational channels and kid shows."
"They can't really see us, can they?" Jesse's voice was almost desperate.
"We can see your cute little white nightgown."
Jesse gasped and did not respond.
Alekai grimaced. He was going to get an earful from her later, he just knew it.
"I've loaded up the first grouping. Let's head on out, Jesse."
"I'm on it." Jesse responded.
As she worked her navigation pad, the media pods zeroed in on her serious concentrated face. They knew she was an ace navigator and they could barely contain their excitement at seeing her work.
They had seen the kind of maneuvering she had done at tight spaces and places. She had to be one of the best navigators they had ever seen.
As for the Striker. He was more than just a Striker. His first KO punch that killed two scorpion ships with one shot was now massively shared throughout the galaxy.
This latest attempt to return the enemy babies back to the enemy ship was something that had never been done before.
It made them turn into something that was more than just the average fighter Elite Gear Force.
It showed their humanity and willingness to extend a hand of friendship even to staunch long time enemies.
Or so that was how the media was spinning this latest development because to be truthful, nobody knew why the Striker didn't just torch the entire lot of them and call it a day.