I'm sooooooooo sorry for such a delayed update! I sprained my wrist and was incapable of typing correctly for a while. Don't give up on me! I promise to finish this story before too long.


Chapter Twelve

She didn't panic. This was all too commonplace for her and after all the extensive practices Heero had put her through in case anything like this happened again made her feel at ease. It wasn't much different than the man she loved pretending to be a terrorist. Heero had been quite stern about her not panicking and doing anything stupid that would get her killed. He was also very firm that she do as they said until he came to get her. She did as Claudio demanded, which wasn't much since they were still on the shuttle. He mostly told her not to try anything and that he had removed all of the Preventer trackers. Relena thought that was ridiculous since that would alert Heero immediately and he would be on their trail much faster. Obviously Claudio had never done a kidnapping before.

He kept the gun aimed at her, but she remained unfazed. Hell, she was fifteen when Heero aimed a gun at her for the first time and she hadn't panicked. She was fifteen when she accepted death and now wasn't any different.

"May I ask what the plans are?" She asked calmly, leaning back her seat slightly.

Claudio simply grunted and continued to stare at the TV ahead. She shrugged, deciding to try to get some rest before their arrival. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep deeply, but resting her eyes was just as good. Towards the final days of the war she ran on zero sleep and she was sure she could function normally while in this situation. She had only hoped that it would take less time than Mariemaia's coup de tat.

:::

Heero paced Une's office. He was still on the road when he was alerted that all of the trackers had been disconnected from Relena's luggage. His usual stoic face was beat red from the rage he felt. Although his expression was still blank, the blood had rushed to his cheeks and everyone knew he was in a fit of rage. Commander Une was refusing to take any kind of immediate action. She still wanted to plan, but Heero was beyond planning. He knew Duo would be right behind him if he said "go". Quatre was still relatively calm, but he was still making mistakes while planning. The stunt from Epyon de Telos wasn't anything concerning; since the blonde haired man knew Zechs was undercover. Libertatum, however, seemed different. Wufei had been sure to inform Quatre and the other pilots about the Carters involvement with the revolt group.

"Heero, please calm down. We need your full attention for this."

"I've already given you everything I know. I need to go. Now." He said, still sounding unfazed.

"Miss Relena will be all right. You taught her what to do in these kinds of situations. Besides, the sooner we have everything planned the sooner we can infiltrate."

"I already know what we're suppose to do. I can lead Duo and Wufei, along with some back up into the colony. Quatre, you need to find the control room and find the nuclear weapon. Trowa will slide in as a new recruit and get as close to the Carters as he can."

"That's always the plan." Duo said, tilting his chair back.

"It always works." Heero snapped.

"I think Trowa should be the one to find the weapon. I could go in as bait. I know Sarah would like to see me again and I can make myself announced." Quatre suggested.

"Fine. You'll need a bodyguard, though. A billionaire doesn't walk around without some kind of protection even if he was a Gundam pilot."

"All right, I'll take a couple more Preventers."

"Is that it? Can we go now?" Heero asked, gripping the back of a chair tightly.

Quatre sighed heavily. "We need to clear it with Une first."

Commander Lady Une had been sitting silently behind her desk as the pilots argued amongst themselves. She knew it was better to remain silent and let them figure it out instead of trying to coax them differently. They were better soldiers than her anyway, there was no denying it. She was good for strategies, but left most of the fighting up to them. She was a soldier for Treize, but she mostly stood by his side and dealt out his orders. Even when he went into battle the last time, she was to stay behind and command. She also knew that Quatre was the brain of the five of them and if he approved of the plan then she wasn't really needed to help.

She had heard the entire plan, but to make it official, she had to hear it back and needed a hardcopy. Hell, with these last minute ideas and the now kidnapping of the Vice Foreign Minister, she would accept a handwritten copy from Duo, who had the handwriting of a five year old.

Trowa handed her the paper as Quatre began to speak.

"Infiltration of the colony 06E3 will start immediately. Senior Preventers will be as follows: Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, and Wufei Chang will lead the takeover coming in from the south entrance with volunteer Preventers. Trowa Barton will come in from the east entrance in search of the rumored nuclear weapon. And I, Quatre Rabebra Winner will be the decoy. I will be guarded by volunteer Preventers, Alec and Eric and we will arrive from the north entrance."

Une simply nodded, signed Trowa's draft and watched as the five young men walked out. Even though they would be fine without her, she still felt the need to join them. If something went awry, she would be left to blame. As Lady Une walked down the Preventer corridors, she called for all available Preventers and told them to rendezvous at the space port immediately. Regardless of the Gundam pilots being experts, there was going to be a war. Five young men wouldn't be capable of fighting off all of the rumored Libertatum members.

Heero was surprised how quickly everyone organized the takeover. He counted on all the other Preventers slowing them down by an hour or so. Instead, his shuttle took off only a half hour after Une's approval. Duo was sprawled out across an aisle of seats, talking to whoever would listen. Wufei was hunched over a laptop in the front of the shuttle. Although, Duo was nervous, he still continued to be obnoxious. Heero knew that it was just to hide the nerves and excitement. Terrorist threats were almost a daily occurrence for them, but it never escalated into something like this. Heero wasn't about to admit that Libertatum were actually a well thought out and discretely organization, but they were. They hadn't caught wind of the group until it was almost too late. He was lucky that he had been accepted at all. He didn't tell Preventers that the new recruits actually went through a thorough screening process. He was fearful at first that Libertatum would discover he was an ex Gundam pilot. Whether they found out or not, he never knew. They never said anything about it and the majority of people who do find out always comment on his previous occupation.

He was staring out of the window, trying to fight off the adrenaline. He was shaking his leg, wishing the time to go by faster when Duo sat down next to him.

"I wouldn't worry about the Princess so much, buddy."

Heero only cleared his throat as a response.

"I mean, you didn't know that this was going to happen. Une didn't know either and she feels horrible about sending that Claudio guy now. You taught her not to overreact to this kind of situation, right?"

He nodded, keeping his gaze on the stars.

"She'll be fine. You're the best, Heero."

"Hn."

"All right, I'll leave you to your thoughts, but I just wanted to get you to stop worrying." Duo patted him on the back roughly and walked back to his aisle of seats.

:::

Claudio restrained her the moment the shuttle landed. Relena wasn't quite sure why when she wasn't resisting whatsoever and even told him she would do as he said. Luckily, he hadn't pulled her arms behind her back so she was still able to walk with some dignity. She wasn't sure where in the colony she was, but she knew it wasn't a main entrance just from the sight of all the construction still going on. She was pushed by Claudio every so often when she was to turn right or left, but he still was silent towards her. Relena was starting to think he had to take her hostage against his will. Usually the captors would taunt her or abuse her in some way, but not him. Either he was fearful of his leader in Libertatum or of Heero's wrath.

Finally, Claudio put a hand on her shoulder, making her stop in her tracks. She was staring at a large metal door. There was no handle, but after surveying it quickly she saw the touchscreen. Claudio moved in front of her and placed his hand on it. But the door didn't open. He touched it again. And again. Finally, he removed the restraints from her and forced her hand on the screen.

Immediately, the door slid open.

She really didn't know what to expect. She knew that behind that door was either going to be a large and expensive office or a cell-like place to keep her until they were ready for her. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she finally saw the former.

"Minister Darlian, I'm so happy you could join us." Charles said from inside the room.

Claudio pushed her to move forward and now Relena could see the whole excessive décor of the room. It was almost repugnant for an office to be decorated like so. And the fragrance of the room was giving her a headache. She'd almost prefer a cell instead of this.

"So, this is the girl that all the pilots protect?" A woman said from the corner of the room.