Ben thought he felt more tired today. He thought his love making session with Honey was more exhausting. He thought sometimes he could go through multiple women in different positions and still be okay. However, with Alvida and Honey, it was different. He might have a quick chat with them.
He then walked into the room and saw everyone had gathered. He saw Kaya, Honey, Alvida, Mikita, Nojiko, Vivi, Marianne, Zala, Robin, Saphir, Conis, Raki, Maya, Kalifa, Ashivra, Perona, and the newest additions, Uta and Carina.
"Morning, everyone," Ben said as he heard the clatter of silverware. He pulled out a chair and sat next to Maya and Conis.
He grabbed by their waist and pulled them closer to their waist.
"Ben," Conis remarked as she felt his hand. Her wings fluttered slightly as she took a bite of toast.
"Hey," Maya yelled in surprise. She was caught off guard. However she did not struggle and leaned in.
"Is he always like that?" Carnia questioned as she had another bite of her porridge.
"He is the bold one," Uta added.
"He pretty much is," Kaya agreed as she cut her pancakes up.
"And we like him for that," Zala said as she walked towards Ben with a plate of pancakes and put it in front of him. She leaned and kissed him.
"Sexual harassment," Kalifa said as she looked up and back to her food.
"His hands are on their waist, how is he going to eat?" Mikita teased.
"Like this," Robin said as she spawned two hands in front of Ben. Her spawned hands cut the pancakes and moved it towards Ben. She then fed Ben.
"That is unfair," Nojiko remarked.
"Such a cheat," Marianne pouted as she drank her tea.
Robin giggled. The other girls looked in slightly jealously. "You can feed him with your hands," Robin said.
Ben thought he was being fed. He smiled. He chewed the food and swallowed. "Zala, these pancakes are incredible," Ben said.
Zala smiled. "HQ made these for you," she said.
"Thank you HQ," Ben said as he winked at her.
"Today is going to be a long day and you had used so much energy yesterday," HQ responded.
Mikita let out a playful snort as she balanced a lemon tart on her fork. "He certainly did use a lot of energy. He slept through Perona shrieking about her missing teddy bear at six in the morning" she said.
"Horo-horo-horo," Perona said. "I was not shrieking, I thought it was not cute," Perona added as she ate her bowl of sugar-heavy cereal.
"Those ones will never be cute, there is one which will be cute," Alvida replied.
"Which is?" Perona questioned as she ate her cereal.
"A teddy bear which looks like my love," Alvida responded.
"We have that?" Vivi questioned as she held her cup of tea.
Some of the girls giggled.
"There is no such thing as that," Ben responded. He thought this conversation could go differently.
Vivi slightly blushed.
"I knew it," Perona said as she had another spoon of her cereal.
"No such thing yet," Alvida responded. She smiled and then looked at Ben. "My love was certainly tired last night after his Captain`s duty," she remarked.
"Careful, Alvida," Nojiko teased as she leaned over to steal a piece of toast from Ben's plate. "If you flirt with him any harder, Vivi might choke on her tea," she said.
Vivi did, in fact, cough into her cup. "I was just thinking about the teddy bear," Vivi said. "No I meant mission," she quickly added.
"Of course Princess," Mikita laughed. "We all saw how you were looking at him when he walked in," she said.
"We all did," Zala added.
Raki looked around. "Everyone seems to be full of energy," she remarked.
"I think that is good, like Vivi said we have a mission," Saphir added.
Ben smiled and saw she was right. This was the best atmosphere one could have. He looked around to see beautiful women all around him, smiling at each other and looking at him with loving eyes.
He then cleared his throat. "Yesterday, Helsing said that Lytton, who was Helsing's former captain and Scratchmen Apoo have taken over, and King Cello is being held hostage," he said.
At the mention of the name Apoo, a loud crack echoed through the room. Alvida had clenched her fist so tightly that the wooden table edge beneath her hand began to splinter. "Him," Alvida hissed.
"My love, I will defeat him for hurting our crew," Alvida added. "I will crush his ribs," she added.
"I will poke him," Zala added.
"And I will crush him," Mikita added as she got her Gauntlets out.
Robin set her tea down gracefully. She was also feeding Ben. "If they've taken the palace, it won't be a simple walk to the throne room," she warned.
Kalifa touched her glasses. "He must have had help from the inside," Kalifa responded.
"That means the building will be heavily defended now," Raki said.
"That's why we're bringing out the big guns. We will use Lexie, Pau Ra Pa, Rose General, Howitzer and Ballista," he said.
"They are all amazing," Marianne said.
"This will be like the siege against Simon`s base?" Saphir questioned.
"It will be similar," Ben replied.
"A full-scale siege sounds much more our style," Nojiko said.
"We'll take points and establish firing positions around the main plaza," Raki remarked.
"That sounds like a plan," Honey agreed. She looked down to her stomach and smiled. She could feel something there.
Vivi looked at Ben. "We have to save King Cello before Lytton does something desperate," she said. "I know he puts his people at risk but he does not sound like a bad person," she added.
"The princess cares for others," Nojiko teased.
"Okay, we will finish breakfast and then head out," Ben said. "Let's show Lytton and Apoo what happens when they try to hurt and steal from us," as he punched his fist.
"Yes, Captain," they all responded.
Ben looked at Uta, who was sitting quietly near Carina. He wondered if she had her devil fruit. "Uta, you mentioned having a Devil Fruit power before, right?" he asked.
Uta looked up, a bit startled. "Oh! Yes, the Uta Uta no Mi," she responded. "But, I'm not really sure how to fight with it like you guys do. I just know that when I sing, strange things happen. I mostly use it for my performances," she added.
Ben thought she had not unlocked its true potential yet. He thought she had the power to trap people in a dream world. "Okay," Ben responded. "We should make groups," he said.
All the girls turned to Ben. Ben thought it was his time again. He thought for a second. "I will be with Honey, Vivi and Lexie from the north," Ben said.
"Okay, Captain," Honey responded.
Carina leaned her cheek on her hand. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes. "The Princess gets to go with her Captain again," she remarked.
"She always does," Robin agreed. "It seems the North is always the most 'strategic' route for our Princess," she added.
"Hey," Vivi pouted as she smiled. "It's a tactical decision! Right, Ben?" she asked.
"Tactical decision," Mikita giggled.
Ben cleared his throat."Alvida, Mikita, Zala, and Marianne, you will be in the South with Pau Ra Pa," Ben said.
Alvida nodded. "Okay my love," Alvida responded.
"Okay," Mikita nodded.
"I am hoping Apoo will be there," Zala remarked.
"I have a feeling he will," Alvida replied.
"Next," Ben continued, "Robin, Saphir, Ashivra, and Perona you will be with the Rose General from the East."
Perona let out a high-pitched laugh. "Horo-horo-horo. I'll have them all depressed," she said.
"Okay Captain," Saphir replied.
"Conis, Raki, and Maya, you will take the Howitzer and use it from the West," Ben said. He thought seeing it in action would be interesting.
Raki nodded. "Sure, we'll provide cover fire," Raki added.
"The Goddess will guide them," Maya remarked.
"Kalifa, you're with Kaya and Nojiko with Ballista from a vantage point, parallel to Conus, Raki and Maya, to give fire support," Ben said.
"If we fire from different directions, they will be disoriented," Kalifa said.
"That is a smart plan," Kaya said.
"He does have a brain there," Nojiko remarked.
Ben ignored the last comment. "HQ, BM, Carina, and Uta. You stay with the Miss Love Duck. Protect the ship at all costs. If Lytton has a backup plan to strike our base, you are the last line of defense," she said.
Uta looked at the others. "So we stay here?" she questioned.
"I thought it was tradition to send the newbies out first," Carnia teased.
"No, never," Ben responded. "You both are precious to me, I will protect you both," Ben said. "All of you," he added.