Chapter 23: Revenge
December 2, 2023 11:15 AM
Isabella barely even felt the cold as she headed out of the barracks and toward the mess hall. The mess hall had been remodeled from terminal B of the old airport and was not too far away. Her, Alice, and Gabby all headed into the main building which connected to all the old terminals. The old lobby had been completely remodeled and looked nothing like it had before. Instead, it was a security checkpoint and behind the checkpoint were a number of rooms holding different offices and other things. Even the Society had bureaucratic red tape at times and needed offices to run said tape. What had been the main lobby and check-in of the airport were now offices and meeting rooms where the day to day activities were logged and filed.
The three passed through security and down the many halls of the office part of the building. A few of the doors had warnings signs hanging on them with giant and normal people on them, warning of normal-sized people working inside along with giantesses. Isabella ignored them and made a beeline for the mess hall.
They arrived at the entrance to the old B terminal and Isabella stopped them from going in. Gabby look none to pleased with that as she glared at Isabella.
"We might miss them if we go in from the same direction. Me and Alice will go in this way. Gabby, since you can handle them all alone if needed, you go around to the other side. We will meet in the middle at the food line," Isabella instructed. Alice nodded in understanding and Gabby grinned to herself.
"They better hope I am not the one who finds them first," she said before cracking her knuckles and going down another hall to swing around to the back. With Gabby gone, Isabella opened the door into the mess hall.
The mess hall was a large open area with windows lining its left wall and a wall separating it from the kitchen on the right. At the back was another entrance, the entrance Gabby would come from. Tables and chairs were scattered about everywhere and groups of women were scattered amongst them. At one point, the tables had a "proper" layout, but trying to keep them there was all but impossible. Now, pretty much everyone just let the tables and chairs wind up where they did and only bothered the move them when the mess hall was cleaned.
Isabella looked through the women there, but didnt' see Lutice or her friends yet. Isabella sighed as she forced her face into her usual slight smile and headed in. She didn't want Lutice seeing that something might be wrong if she saw her first. Alice didn't look like she had to try at all as her face remained completely impassive.
They moved into the mess hall and the dull roar of people talking filled their ears. The welcome smell of food greeted them right along with a few other Shields. Isabella waved and gave them usual pleasantries while Alice just nodded back to them. They moved past the group and headed for the food pick up area in the middle of the right wall.
Isabella passed a number of groups of both Swords and Shields, including a few that were made up of both members. A few nodded or waved to Isabella or Alice and both returned the greetings. Lutice and her friends, however, were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they had skipped lunch today or they got here too late. Isabella was just starting to get worried when she spied a girl with short brown hair moving away from the tray return. Three girls were with her, a blue haired one, a brown haired one, and a black haired one. Isabella squinted her eyes and recognized them all once they turned around. Lutice, Monet with her blue hair, Tracy with her brown hair, and Susan with her black hair...the four bitches who had attacked her scouts and killed one. The four bitches who were dead women walking...
Isabella had to fight to keep her face from twisting from the anger that flared in her. She speed up her walking as Alice noticed them too and fell in beside her. The Swords turned from the counter and began to head for the back entrance. Isabella cursed as she didn't see Gabby waiting for them there. Where the hell had she gone? No matter, she would rather fight them outside the mess hall anyway to prevent anyone from trying to stop them.
Isabella and Alice moved after the talking and laughing murderers and tried to stay out of sight. The group didn't seem to notice them as they headed out of the mess hall. Isabella and Alice stormed after them and Isabella throw open the door leading out. The bitches turned toward the flying open door and saw Isabella and Alice enter into the hallway. The door closed behind them as Isabella stared down at the slightly shorter Lutice. Lutice smirked at Isabella and shook her head.
"What is this? Didn't have enough last time? Want a rematch to pay us back for having some fun with your tinies? Please, don't you Shields have better things to do than worry about specks?" she said as the other three laughed. Isabella's rage flared white hot as her fists tightened.
"Sanders was no speck, he was a person! A person, YOU killed! He is dead because of you and your childish, wounded ego, you self-centered monster!" Isabella said her anger only getting worse as she talked. Monet, Susan, and Tracy all glared back at Isabella and began to get ready to fight, but Lutice's look of anger vanished at the mention of Sanders being dead.
"D-Dead? That's...you're lying. Sanders can't, oh god..." Lutice said looked away as if she had just been struck. Isabella was taken back by the reaction as was everyone else. Even Alice had a look of confusion on her face as Lutice looked on the verge of tears. But as quickly as it came, the look vanished as she began to softly chuckle.
"I..I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I..I did try to drop him from my hand and that far of a fall...hehe, and then nearly killed his friend...hehehehe," Lutice said before looking back at Isabella with a look that sent chills down her spine, "Oh well, guess I won't be getting repaid for saving his life and will just have to make do with a new kill mark for my shoe, hahaHAHAHAHA!"
"Crazy," Alice said as she crouched down to get ready to fight. Isabella nodded in agreement as she raised her arms to get ready as well. Lutice only laughed again at them getting ready before raising her own fists. The other three didn't seem disturbed by Lutice's obvious madness at all. In fact, they looked more comfortable with it than they did when she looked regretful.
"Crazy? HA, that is just your opinion. In mine, you are the crazy ones. Trying to treat little specks like they're people when we tower over them like living mountains. How can you not use that power to your advantage? How can you not abuse them and treat them like playthings? How can you consider them human when they are smaller than your pinkie toe?!" Lutice said as the group began to move toward them. Isabella frowned as she realized they were outnumbered 2 to 1 again, but it turned to a smile a second later.
"By not being a psychopathic monster!" a voice said from behind the group. They turned around just in time for Gabby to reel back her right hand. She yelled in effort as she throw her whole body into a punch that smashed straight into the stunned Monet's jaw. The punch causing a sickened crack to come from Monet's jaw as it broke and sent the Sword flying back onto the ground. Monet hit with a loud smack and skidded a few feet before stopping, her jaw out of place and blood leaking from her mouth. Monet gave a groan of pain before slumping to the ground, unconscious.
Gabby didn't smile at her OHKO, instead she simply took up her combat stance. She glared at the three remaining Swords and cracked her knuckles and neck.
"And I am going to beat that monster out of you or kill you trying!" Gabby added before rushing the group. Tracy was the closet to her and barely ducked to avoid the straight punch Gabby let fly at her face. Tracy began to stumble and looked about to fall. Lutice cursed and kicked out at Gabby, forcing her back as Tracy regained her balance. Isabella moved forward, not going to let Gabby fight three to one, and made a beeline for Lutice. She was going to pay for killing her scout, for taking another person away from her! And Isabella was going to make her last moments pure agony! Alice joined the fight as well and headed for Susan.
"Turn around, Lutice. I want to see your face when I kill you!" Isabella said, getting Lutice to turn as she swung a right hook at her face. Lutice dodged back a second too late as Isabella's fist clipped her check. Lutice growled in anger as she swung a wild counter-punch at Isabella's side. Isabella blocked the punch with her arm, the impact nearly leaving her arm numb. She had forgotten how strong Lutice was despite her appearance. Isabella fired back hammering her free hand into Lutice's side. Lutice took the blow surprisingly well and, rather than double over, simply cursed at the hit.
Lutice didn't counterattack immediately from the blow. Instead, she backed off a bit and made a bring it motion. Isabella charged after her, her rage blinding her to the obvious trap. Lutice ducked down and sweep her leg under Isabella's. Isabella stumbled forward, off balance, and Lutice raised her arms to grab Isabella as she fell. She smirked as she grabbed Isabella's uniform before flinging Isabella over her head.
The world went upside down as Isabella went sailing through the air. She was about to raise her arms to protect her head when her back smashed into something and the air was knocked out of her. Isabella gasped in pain as she slid down toward the ground. She managed to get her arms up just in time to stop from landing on her head. Instead, she flopped to the ground in a heap in front of the wall Lutice had thrown her into.
Isabella struggled to pick herself up, the lose of oxygen making it hard to move, and looked up just in time for Lutice to kick her right in the forehead. Isabella's head flew back before slamming into the wall and her world was sent spinning in pain and stars. She heard Lutice laugh, but it sounded far away and muted as the pain nearly blinded her to all else. Isabella tried to push the pain down, but the searing pain in her skull would not fade. She opened her eyes to see Lutice rearing back for another kick when, suddenly, Susan stumbled into her.
Lutice cursed and barely keep her balance as Alice followed Susan, still on the attack. Susan lashed out with a quick kick to try and stop Alice's assault. Alice was quicker, however. She leap over the kick and delivered a drop kick straight into Susan's chest, sending her and Lutice sprawling to the ground. Alice leap back to her feet before turning to Isabella and offering her a hand, which Isabella gladly took.
Alice pulled Isabella to her feet as the pain in her head dimmed enough to function and stars stopped invading her eyesight. Lutice shoved Susan off her with a yell of anger before they both got back to their feet. Isabella could hear Gabby and Tracy fighting behind her and from the sounds of Gabby's taunt she was dominating the Sword.
Alice motioned toward Lutice and Isabella shook her head in response. Lutice was her's and she was going to be the one to send the killer to hell. BUT...but...but she couldn't let her rage blind her. She had nearly paid for that once. Lutice was a killer and no pushover in a fight. She would have to fight smart, not angry. She took a deep breath as the four of them stared each other down, waiting for an opening and daring the others to make the first move.
Alice was the first to dare and made to be going for Lutice. Lutice raised her arms to defend only for Alice to shift toward Susan and lash out with a kick to her shin. Susan managed to move back, barely, to avoid it, but Lutice was not as quick. Isabella used the distraction to rush Lutice and deliver a kick to her knee. Lutice cried out in pain as she fell to her knees just in time for Isabella to smash her fist into her face. Lutice managed to keep her knees and growled in rage before diving for Isabella's legs. Isabella tried to jump out of the way, but Lutice grabbed her foot before she could get away. Lutice chuckled as she jerked Isabella back, causing her to fall on her back. Stars flashed in Isabella's head again as her head hit the ground. Lutice's laugh died as Isabella lashed out with her unheld leg and struck Lutice in the neck. Lutice gasped from the hit and let go before stumbling back to catch her breath. Isabella scrambled back to her feet as well.
The two eyed each other as they waited for the other to make their move. Lutice broke the stare as she let out a yell of rage before charging Isabella. Isabella deflected Lutice's first punch and fired back with her own. Lutice saw it coming and managed to shift out of the way before swinging back with a nasty upward blow. Isabella ducked back, barely avoiding the blow, and managed two quick hits to Lutice's sides. Lutice grunted from the blows before backhanding Isabella across the face. The blow nearly sent Isabella spinning, but she managed to avoid that and just stumble back. She shook off the confusion from the hit just in time to see Lutice rushing her again, her arms outstretched to grab her neck.
Isabella reacted on pure instinct and let herself fall back. Lutice followed her down as Isabella brought her legs up to catch Lutice. Lutice's face of anger turned into worry as she landed right on Isabella's feet. Isabella smirked at her before letting Lutice's and her own momentum carry Lutice over her body. Once Lutice passed her head, Isabella kicked out with both of her legs and sent Lutice flying back behind herself, back toward the door to the mess hall.
Isabella got back to her feet just in time to see Lutice go flying through the doors into the mess hall. Isabella rushed after her, ignoring Gabby and Tracy's one-sided battle, and burst through the doors.
Lutice was lying in a heap on the steps groaning in pain as she struggled back to her feet. Isabella didn't give her a chance as she kicked Lutice in the stomach, forcing the air back out of her. Lutice gasped and tried to get up again, but Isabella was already on her by then. She sat down on Lutice's back and wrapped her arm around Lutice's neck and began to squeeze. Lutice gasps were cut off as her arms began to flail for air trying to force Isabella to let go. Isabella held on despite the struggles of Lutice, she was not going to be denied! She was going to straggle the life out of her just like she had taken the life of Sanders! She tightened her grip on Lutice completely oblivious of where she was and who was watching.
Suddenly, Isabella felt arms grabbing her from behind and trying to pull her off Lutice.
"LET ME GO! STOP!" she screamed in rage as the arms began to loosen her grip on Lutice. Lutice managed a gasp for air as the mass of arms pulled her off. Isabella yelled in rage and tried to lash out at the people holding her, but there were too many people gripping her now. She struggled to get free, but there were at least five people holding her while two others, a Shield and a Sword, checked on Lutice.
"Out...fighting..." Lutice stammered through gasps pointing toward the door. Ten more girls rushed out the doors and Isabella could hear shouts and curses coming from outside now that the mess hall's usual din had mostly vanished. One of the girls who had gone out, a Sword Isabella didn't know, came flying back into the hall.
"TRY TOUCHING ME AGAIN, BITCH!" Gabby yelled from outside as another girl, this one a Shield, came running back in looking terrified. More yells, curses, and sounds of fighting came from the hallway before it suddenly fell silent. Those in the mess hall looked around between themselves before the mess hall door opened.
Matriarch Cathrine stood in the doorway and glared down at Isabella with a look that sent chills down her spine. She turned her glare to Lutice before turning back into the hallway.
"Bring Isabella and Lutice. Make sure they are cuffed so they don't try anything else stupid," she said as four security guards came into the hall. They paired off and headed for both as the other Society members backed off. Isabella was tempted to lunge at Lutice again once freed, but knew all she would get is a beating for her trouble. She didn't resist as she was cuffed and pulled to her feet. At least Lutice was getting the same treatment.
They were escorted back out in the hallway where Alice, Susan, and Gabby were all cuffed and being watched over by two guards each. Tracy was in a corner being patched up by a medic, but was not cuffed yet. Monet was being loading onto a stretcher while two medics began to reset her jaw. Three other people were on the ground looking roughed up as well, most likely Gabby's work.
Cathrine stood in the middle of the room glaring at everyone involved like she wanted to rip them apart. She whispered a few things to one of the guards, a Shield, before turning back to them. The guard took off down a hallway, though Isabella couldn't say where she was going.
"Take them to the prison. Put them all in separate cells well apart from each other. Make sure everyone else gets treated and then start getting reports on what happened," Cathrine ordered, her anger obvious in her voice.
The guards nodded before beginning to escort them away. Isabella cursed in her head at not having been quicker or not realized what would happen if she had thrown Lutice into the mess hall. Dammit, stupid stupid STUPID! She probably wouldn't have even noticed Flonne appearing if Alice hadn't spoken up.
"Flonne?" Alice said in confusion getting Isabella to look back. Isabella could just barely make out Flonne flying about the area before Cathrine came over and started to speak with her. She tried to turn back, but the guards stopped her and pushed her forward. She cursed as she faced forward again as they turned the corner.
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December 4, 2023 1:34 PM
It had been two days since the fight and a day since she had told Matriarchies Cathrine and Angela what had happened. Neither had shown even a hint of how they had taken her story or whether they believed her. Angela had just worn her usual soft smile while Cathrine had glared at her the entire time. Once she had finished, they had sent her back to her cell and left her to stew on doubt and worry. But mostly, she just worried. About Aviel, Flonne, Alice, and Gabby. This wasn't what she had intended to happen...but what else did she think would happen? What did she think would come out of trying to murder a fellow Society member?
Isabella sighed as she leaned against the wall of her cell. She was such a fool. Letting her anger get the best of her and striking out like that. Why had she not just reported it? Why had she dragged Gabby and Alice into her own mess? Of course, some part of her knew why. Because she had been so angry, so furious, so confused by the lose of Sanders that she hadn't thought at all. Just rushed straight ahead with nothing more than revenge on her mind. And now...now she and her friends were paying for it. Dammit...DAMMIT!
Isabella was shaken out of her thoughts as she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. She waited till the footsteps had arrived at her cell door to bother looking up. A security guard was there and opened the door to her cell.
"Matriarch Cathrine wants to see you," she said as she stepped aside from the door. Isabella sighed as she stood up and stepped out of the cell. The guard motioned her forward and Isabella headed back up the hallway to leave this prison hall. Only one or two other women were in the cells and didn't pay them any mind. Isabella didn't know any of them so she keep going.
The guard signaled a camera above the prison door and Isabella heard its latch unlock. Isabella pushed it open and the guard followed behind before closing it.
"She is in interview room 3," the guard said before pointing the room out to Isabella. Isabella nodded and headed inside.
Cathrine was sitting on the far side of the room at the interview table. Her hands were steepled in front of her and her eyes glared out at Isabella. Alice sat on the right side of the table and nodded to her. Gabby was busy pacing about near the one-sided mirror on the left side of the room. She stopped as Isabella stepped in. She looked about to say something when Cathrine gave her a look that stopped her.
Isabella moved to the table and was about to sit in the chair opposite Cathrine when she noticed two tiny figures on the table. Two very familiar figures...but... there should only be...
"Sanders?!" Isabella said in complete shock as she recognized the tiny form of Sanders standing next to Aviel.
"Hi, Captain. I...I'm sorry for making you worry and...just sorry, I ...I guess This is kinda my fault in a way...," Sanders said, his voice coming through the speakers built into the walls. Isabella shook her head at his apologies and had to stop herself from snatching him up to embrace him.
"No, no. Don't apologize just....just being alive is more than enough. You had nothing to do with this," she said as tears began to form in her eyes. She so wanted to hug him or kiss him or just...just ANYTHING to show how glad she was he was not dead, but...but anything she could do would put him in danger. Isabella had never hated being like this more than now, save for...for that other time...
Sanders nodded and made to hid his tears. The moment was broken, however, as Cathrine cleared her throat. Her face had not softened at all and she pointed to the table as she looked between Isabella and Gabby. Both got the message and sat.
"As much as I would like to give you time to catch up, Isabella, we have more pressing matters at hand. Your reunion will have to wait. Myself and Angela have made our decision on how to handle your...incidents with Lutice," Cathrine said, keeping her fingers steepled in front of her. Isabella whipped her eyes clear as her relief was replaced by worry. She didn't like the sound of this...
"When are those bitches getting shrunk?" Gabby asked, completely oblivious to the undertones Cathrine was giving. Cathrine's eyes turned to her and seemed to flare a bit at the question.
"They are not," she said simply.
"WHAT?!" Aviel yelled as she moved toward Cathrine. "How can they not be getting shrunk?! They nearly killed me, Sanders, AND Flonne! They attack fellow Society members in c-" She was cut off as Cathrine slammed her fist onto the table knocking her and Sander to the ground.
"I KNOW THAT! Do you think this is the first time those four have pulled something like this? They are loose cannons, constantly instigating fights, putting scouts in danger, AND have been involved in a number of normal-sized people's disappearance. I have wanted them gone for MONTHS now. This was the one, ONE TIME, I had proof of their involvement in something like this and WHAT do you do?!" she yelled pointing at Isabella. Her face had changed from a glare to complete and utter rage causing Isabella to instinctively lean back in fear. None of them even noticed how the yelling was causing both Aviel and Sanders to cringe in pain.
"You go off, half-cocked and ATTACK them! And right outside the damn mess hall! Hell, you even throw Lutice into the hall, which was full of witnesses, and then tried to straggle her to death!" Cathrine yelled before slamming her fist on the table again, "DAMMIT! You couldn't have ruined your credibility any worse if you had nailed a signed paper saying you were lying to your forehead!"
"Wait, how does us attacking Slutice and her fuckbuddies ruin or credibility? We attacked them because they attacked us, why else would we?" Gabby asked, the only one in the room not looking terrified or cringing from the noise. Cathrine took a deep breath as she tried to calm down, having remembered Aviel and Sanders were in the room.
"Because, what sort of relationship did all of you have with Lutice and her friends BEFORE this incident?" Cathrine asked. Isabella took a moment to recover from being on the receiving end of Cathrine's wraith and tried to think. It was bad, and that was no secret...it was not secret...oh no...
"Hostile, implications of potential motive for lying. Use attack as excuse," Alice said letting out a soft sigh. Cathrine nodded as Gabby muttered a curse under her breath.
"That explains them, but what about us? Why would we lie?" Sanders asked as he got back onto his feet. He rubbed his ears a bit as if to get the pain out of them.
"You are Isabella's scouts. And since Isabella lead this...attack it is not unthinkable she convinced or forced you to go along with it," Cathrine stated.
"That's ridiculous! Isabella would never force us to do something!" Sanders shoot back. Cathrine didn't seem to mind, though, and keep her cool.
"You know that, I know that, but High Command wouldn't see it like that. And that, ultimately, is our problem. In these kinds of situations, High Command is generally the arbiter of such conflicts. The member High Command would send would know nothing about anyone here and would be instructed to only go by the facts presented to her. Simple conjecture that it is out of character for Isabella to force you to obey her would not stop them from considering it. And that is ignoring the fact that you and Aviel might be lying simply because Isabella convinced you to or out of loyalty to her. Put simply, everyone's reports in this room would be considered, at best, hearsay and ignored," Cathrine stating causing everyone to go silent. Isabella couldn't believe this... Five people would say Lutice and her friends nearly killed people, only to have their testimonies struck out because of her mistake.... How could she have been so stupid?!
"That... how could they just ignore this?! I mean, they have to see there is SOME grain of truth to what we are saying! How could we tell the same story even when apart then?" Aviel demanded. Cathrine sighed as she looked down at Sanders.
"They would believe that you were separated and barely survived, however... Sanders gave them to perfect grain of truth to gleam when he told that Sword girl he had been separated from all of you by Resistance forces. They would consider that to be the truth and ignore the rest," Cathrine said as she glared down at the tiny Sanders. Sanders shook his head and tried to stammer something out as Aviel whirled on him. Aviel began to stalk toward him rage.
"I...What was I supposed to tell Morgan? "Help me I was nearly killed by your friends?!" I had no idea who she was o-or if she was as crazy. If I told her I was attacked by Lutice and the rest she might have taken me to them or just killed me outright, so I lied!" Sanders said backing away from Aviel. Aviel's features softened before she slumped a bit. She cursed under her breath as she fell to the ground. Isabella couldn't fault Sanders for what he did, even if it had made them all look like liars.
"Don't blame yourself, pipsqueak. No way you could have known that would come back to bite us in the ass. Besides, better you didn't take the risk and suffer the consequences," Gabby said trying to reassure Sanders. Sanders didn't look too reassured though as he covered his head with his hand and slumped to the ground too.
"Yes, unfortunate as it was, it was the proper course to take in the situation. However, it does mean that your suggestions that Lutice and the rest nearly killed your scouts would be dismissed and ignored in favor of the Resistance causing the separation. Which would only leave the fact that you three attacked, with the intent to kill, Lutice, Monet, Susan, and Tracy. With the witnesses in the mess hall and the wounds you all suffered from the fight, there would be more than enough evidence to see all of you judged guilty. And...and there would only be one punishment fit for that crime, discharge and shrinking," Cathrine said, her glare fading to be replaced with a sad look.
Fear cut through Isabella, though whether it was from shrinking or being kicked out of the Rangers, she could not say. The shrinking surgery was dangerous and a number of people had not survived it. Removing the shrink immunity gene was a complicated and delicate operation, but it was the only way for a restored person to be reshrunk. Usually, it was only administered by chose, those who wanted to get back to a normal life or to start a family...like she had planned too... But, but sometimes it was used as punishment for particularly heinous crimes. Like the one they were accused of.
The group was silent as they digested the information. Gabby actually looked worried as she rubbed her hand through her hair. Alice's face was unreadable, but Isabella got the feeling there was fear in her eyes. It was Aviel who finally broke the silence.
"Would Lutice even be punished?" she asked getting a strange look in her eye. A look Isabella didn't like at all.
"There would be enough outside testimony to prove she, at least, instigated you all to this end. She and the others would, likely, be suspended from active duty for a few weeks and separated into different units so as to try and stop them from repeating this. A slap on the wrist considering what they did," Cathrine answered, her hands tightening on each other in anger. Aviel looked as if about to get angry, but it suddenly faded as she simply slumped back down.
"So...so what do we do? Is this...is this it?" Sanders asked looking worriedly between them all. Cathrine shook her head.
"No. That would be the end of this IF we tried to solve this through High Command. Luckily, neither I nor Angela want that outcome. I would lose you three, infuriating as you all are, and Angela would have one of her best hunter-killer squads broken up and their members side-lined for a few months. Its a lose-lose scenario," Cathrine said getting Isabella to look up and feel a bit of hope coming back. The others must have felt it too as they all looked up.
"Instead, we are going to handle this ourselves and have agreed to the terms of your punishments. Do not ask what punishments Lutice and the other have. Part of the agreement was neither side would know what the other got. I can say, though, that they will have no contact with any ti- normal people anytime soon," Cathrine said catching herself at the last second. That didn't make Isabella feel any better about how this was ending, but she guessed it was something. Aviel, however, didn't look pleased with it in anyway and smacked away a comforting hand from Sanders. Cathrine ignored them.
"As for the rest of you. Sanders, Aviel, and Flonne are clear of any punishment. They did not take part in the attack and have no part in its punishments," Cathrine said before turning to look at Alice. Apparently their survival out alone was not worth praise or mention... Aviel looked none to happy with that and glared up at Cathrine.
"Alice, you are to be sent on a recon mission to patrol the highways between here and Savannah. You are to travel down them, document any potential problems, report them to the Matriarchs in Savannah, assist them with any pressing matters, and then return. You are to leave tomorrow at first light," Cathrine said making it sound like a mission. Isabella and Alice were not fooled though as Alice actually frowned at the "mission".
The highways between Savannah and Atlanta had been cleared a number of months ago and shipments between the two cities were sent out about every month. It was busy work, busy work that would take a month or more thanks to the Savannah Matriarchs being notorious for finding "other things" for visiting Society members to do. Things that were usually their job, but they were too lazy to do. The last member who was sent down there was only sent back when Cathrine herself went down to demand her return. Such a move was unlikely to repeat in this situation...
"Gabriella, you are relieved as Security Chief and are to be assigned to one of the new outlying farms. You will remain there for two months at which point you may return, if you wish. However, you will be demoted back down to Security Guard if you do," Cathrine said getting a look of utter shock and disbelief from Gabby.
"Wha-...relieved?! You can't-... a FUCKING FARM?! And who the hell is going to replace me?!" Gabby said looking ready to kill someone. Cathrine pressed on as if she hadn't said anything at all.
"That is none of your concern. I will give you directions to the farm tomorrow and you are to leave once you have them. Refuse or cause trouble and I WILL see you sent to a desk job and have you chained to said desk, understand?" Cathrine said getting a glare that made even Gabby calm down and nod. Gabby was still fuming, but knew better than to voice it. That left Isabella....
"Isabella, for being the ringleader of this, you are to be suspended from active duty immediately. Your squad is hereby disbanded, you are demoted to C-Rank, and you are removed from the Rangers Division. Your suspension is to last for two weeks, in which you are not allowed to leave this base. At the end of the two weeks, you may decide to join the Shield Research Division or our Communications Division. All other divisions, including the Rangers, are barred to you till such a time that I and Angela decide they are not. Your scouts will be reassigned to new squads ASAP and your fairy will be reassigned as well," Cathrine said, each sentence feeling like a hammer blow to Isabella. Isabella sat there in stunned silence as everything she had worked for began to fall away. They were taking everything from her...her squad, her rank, Flonne, even her job... She tried to say something, but nothing came out. She was...at a lost.
The others all stared at Cathrine in disbelief at what she had just said to Isabella. Gabby and Sanders looked about to protest when Cathrine held up her hand.
"Your other choice is for me to report to High Command and all of you to face shrinking. You know just as well as I do this is a better option. If you want to be angry with someone, be angry at your own stupidity for attacking those Swords. Sanders, Aviel, you are dismissed and on a week vacation starting tomorrow. I will send your new assigned squads next week. Alice, Gabriella, return to your rooms and begin to pack. Isabella, go back to your room and stay there," Cathrine said before standing up. The group was still in stunned silence as Cathrine walked past them, opened the door, and left them to process what had just happened.
Article of ReShrinking:
While rare in the Society, reshrinking of a giantess is not unheard of. Originally discovered by Society scientist some seven years ago, the process itself is classified information, but the basic knowledge is somewhat known. From what has been leaked, the process involves causing the shrink immunity gene to go back to a "dormant" state thus making a person affected by the shrinking wave again. The person reshrinks to their mini-size and can go back to living with normal people.
There have been a few scientific minds who find this idea completely ridiculous, however, and demand the process unclassified. Professor Stephen Martin was one of the more outspoken opponents to this theory, stating that it made no sense genetically. He tried to start a campaign to get the information, but it died along with him. It should be noted, as well, that Martin was a Professor of History so his opinions on the matter were most likely false. His death five years ago at the hands of one of the first Resistance bombings ended his calls for better explanations and only a few other people still keep up his call.
Whatever the truth, the process seems to be rather dangerous. Many people who have tried the process have died during it and those few who do survive say that is quite painful. Those that do return to normal size are, also, unable to return to their giantess-size. For some, however, the ability to be with people again is worth that sacrifice.