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Benjamin loved working in his office. He intentionally designed it with a balance of comfort and visual appeal that did not distract him from his tasks. That, and the couch was big enough to take a quick nap on.

Ben was not on the couch. He was at his beaten-up, sturdy desk and dutifully conquering the paperwork that had gotten past Jessica and Gina. Fortunately, it wasn't much: just a few things to sign off on after a quick review. Jess did an excellent job making sure that the day-to-day items were taken care of, and Gina excelled at implementing his policies.

So, Benjamin was just wrapping things up when Gina came in. Ben immediately flashed her a smile, but Gina wasn't returning it. In fact, Ben noticed that she looked pretty grim. He felt his smile slip as he saw her followed by the Jessica Ayanami; Commander of his senshi, Anika Springfield; the Commander of his Fezigs, Brownwynne Foulkes; and his Mother, Kaitlyn Jones.

Gina took her regular seat in the large plush chair at the head of the coffee table. Everyone else took seats on the couch across said table from Ben's desk.

Benjamin blinked. "Okay, the last time all of you came in here at once like that, it was because Lilo and Stitch accidentally waved you and everyone else, Mom."

"It's pretty drastic, son," admitted Kaitlyn. Gina nodded towards the briefing monitor mounted on the wall opposite of her. There, a series of documents appeared, easily readable on the handwaved plasma display.

Benjamin read the documents, mumbling the words to himself. Finally, "Ah nuts!"

Gina rolled her eyes. "I don't think invoking McAuliffe is going to make it go away."

"No, but we did win the Battle of the Bulge." Benjamin then scowled, both thoughtful and rueful. "I guess I should say 'They' now."

Benjamin saw his mother giving him a deeply concerned look. He wanted to maintain ties to the good old US of A, but the politics wasn't working in his favor and in the end, and with the help of the Australian Government, he renounced his citizenship for his sake and Gina's. It didn't help that his mother's father was a World War Two veteran - something she took no small amount of pride in.

My Mother and I are… Were patriots, thought Benjamin bitterly.

"This needs to be fought," Ben said quietly, but clearly. "It needs to be fought by whatever means necessary. Even if it means actually going to war against the country we love, because this is evidence that people are forgetting what it means to be Americans. They need to be reminded of what that truly means.

"That said, on to what this means for us. I can think of one primary object that Senator Asshat would come gunning us down for. The Midnight."

Anika's eyes went wide at that. "You mean they're still sore at you for that even though it was the SOS-Dan that did it?"

"So-so," he replied. "Senator Asshat is just throwing gasoline on spent coals. Unfortunately, gasoline only needs a tiny spark. They'll try their damndest to take Midnight back, and me as well."

"But what could they possibly want with the Midnight?" said Anika thoughtfully.

Kaitlyn sighed wearily at that. "They're gonna tear her apart. People like this Senator are the sort that will use this kind of thing to his fullest advantage. Imagine what the United States could do with a fleet of hardtech Blackbirds. And to think that the Russians were right to think of people like him as Imperialists."

"And that's not the half of it," chimed in Jess. "Coming from where I did, I've had my share of dealing with politics. They're going to try and get everyone of us for anything they can imagine from high treason to tax evasion to mail fraud."

"How would they make mail fraud stick?" asked Kaitlyn.

"I'm not a certified postal carrier," answered Ben breezily.

"Oh you're kidding!"

"Would you honestly put it past them, Mom?" Kaitlyn didn't have anything more to say about that. "I'm not saying that the charge actually would stick since I was a private carrier, but they'll definitely try."

"This is OUTRAGEOUS!" shouted Anika all the sudden, jumping to her feet in a near-apoplectic rage. "These people in all their fear and warmongering think they can walk all over us! And after all the things we've done done for them during the War!? For Love and Justice and in the Name of Atalante: I - Will - Punish THEM!"

"Sailor Atalante, dear," said Jessica primly and with a smirk, "your fuku's getting the best of you again." The flaming red-head's cheeks began to burn, matching her hair color within just a couple of shades.

"Oh… Sorry." She then sat down, looking sufficiently mortified.

Ben smiled for the embarrassed senshi. "That's okay, Annie. Now, game plan…" At this, Ben fell silent for a moment and took on a thoughtful appearance. "Okay, Jess, you're our best legal eagle. Your degree was from, what? Stanford?"

"Harvard, Valedictorian." Answered the blue-haired girl with a touch of pride.

"Right," said Ben with a grin. "You just got an extra set of hands. Ruri will be your assistant."

"She never went to law school," said Gina.

"You think that matters to her?" answered Ben.

"Hrm, point," conceded Gina.

"Jess, I also want you to get in touch with the Blue Blazers and ask them to keep us in the loop. If and when these bastards come after us I want to be ready to make them choke on their own rhetoric."

"You got it, Boss," replied Jess with a sly grin.

"Annie, I want you to go to Venus and have an audience with Her Majesty. Get her view on this situation and see how much of her support we can muster up."

"What are you expecting?" asked the named senshi.

"I'm hoping for the charges to be cleared," answered Ben. "But I will also prepare for the worst. War."

Annika gasped at that. "Are you serious!? War with the Mundanes will not go over well!"

"But you heard what he said earlier, right?" said Gina grimly. "This needs to be fought because these people have forgotten what they are."

Jess could only nod and add, "I know this myself for a fact. Even when my family vacationed in places like the Grand Caymans, my Father's only real concern was making more money. He couldn't care less that there were starving people in Ethiopia, ethnic cleansing in Darfur, war in Iraq and Afghanistan, or people going to space at random. All he cared about was how he could make a legitimate profit out of it."

Kaitlyn nodded as well. "Also, there is the fact that all our factions out here exist beyond the control of organizations like the UN and the WTO and the WHO. We don't depend on any of their economies or their trade goods, and that worries all the Mundanes."

"But is war the only solution?" wondered Anika.

"No," said Gina. "It's the last resort. And if worst comes to worse, there's plenty of room out there outside the Sol system. I don't like it myself, but if we have to we'll leave and never come back."

Benjamin didn't like the sound of those words. They almost sounded prophetic, leaving him feel hallow inside so those words could echo and reverberate inside him.

"Anyhow," said Benjamin, shaking off the feeling, "that said, let's start making things happen. At eighteen-thirty I want a full department head meeting. Anything else? Alright then, carry on everyone."

After that, a little red-winged blackbird appeared on Ben's desktop monitor with an inquisitive chirp. She seemed worried. With a sigh, Ben pulled his keyboard up and started typing.

Don't worry, my girl. I won't ever let those bastards clip your wings again.

Thank you. I wish that I could express how much that means to me.

Don't worry over it too much, Midnight. Later we can go for a romp in the Belt. That sound good to you?

Of course! Anytime you're up for it!

Ben grinned. You've become awfully emotive over the last couple years, haven't you?

I have?

Sure. I guess it's only natural though. But trust me, it's a very good thing. Human emotions are a special gift.

Are you saying I'm becoming human?

As close as someone like you can get, yes.

Oh, I see… I think I like it.

At that, Ben chuckled indulgently. That's great. I'll see you later at around twenty-hundred, okay?

Sure thing!