MS Gundam Wing: Revolution

Book Three, Part Five

Casval Winner piloted her Gemini smoothly, the attractive blond sitting in the cockpit a bit stiffly. Her hand was still slightly bruised from punching her brother and breaking his's nose, but she felt the pain was worth it.

"All ship, move out," Quatre Winner ordered nasally, his still broken nose bandaged and visible bruising on his face.

'Oh, yes it was worth it,' Casval smirked.

Her Gemini, as well as the Tallgeese units of her comrades, were in the process of being loaded into Mobile Suit transports. While the thrusters on their various suits were powerful, they didn't have the 'legs' to catch up to Libra's orbit.

Dorothy Catalonia came up on her squadron's viewscreens. "We are moving out to support the teams acting against Libra," she reminded them, "there is a truce in effect, do not put me in a position where I have to stop you. Because if that happens, I WILL use lethal force."

"Understood," Casval nodded.

Dorothy had also lectured Casval about slugging her brother. It would have been more effective if Dorthy hadn't been fighting back a smile the whole time.

After a moment, she privately hailed Dorothy. "Ma'am?" she asked politely.

"Casval," Dorothy nodded back, "what can I do for you?"

"I haven't encountered this Akio Ohtori before. Is he as dangerous as the other pilots say?" she asked grimly.

"Go to scrambler," Dorothy ordered. Once she did Dorothy continued, "Please don't discuss him on open frequencies. We don't know how good Libra's intercept technologies are."

"Understood," Casval acknowledged.

"Akio is a very mysterious figure," Dorothy told her, "and I've had very little luck tracing his background. He simply... appears about twenty or so years ago. He approached various figures both in the colonies and on earth, offering financial and political support."

"If he just appeared from nowhere, how could he do that?" Casval blinked.

"I don't know," Dorothy admitted, "but the money and influence were both there. He contacted me about providing influence to assist Romafeller Foundation interests, and he fully delivered on all his promises."

"And is he a physical threat?" Casval mused.

"Haven't seen him pilot a Mobile Suit," Dorothy said, "but he fenced against both Treis and Zechs. Beat them both."

Casval gulped. "That's... not good," she said quietly.

Dorothy herself frowned thoughtfully as something occured to her. "Wait a minute...," she said, "you never met Akio?"

"No, ma'am," Casval acknowledged.

"When you joined OZ you already had a duelist ring... where did you get it?" the somewhat perplexed woman asked.

Casval shrugged slightly. "A pink haired woman gave it to me..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Utena?" Releena blinked as she and Juri lay in bed together. They had arranged to share a room due to 'crowding' but everyone pretty much knew what was up. Still, the illusion that they weren't involved was maintained, mostly for political reasons.

"She was one of the duelists at Ohtori academy," Juri told her, "she disappeared under mysterious circumstances."

"But there's been sightings," Releena noted.

"Yeah," Juri agreed as Releena snuggled in beside her. "Her and Anthy are apparently popping up again, tho why...?"

"You don't sound happy," Releena observed.

"I guess I don't know if I trust their agenda," Juri finally admitted. "If I understand correctly, they are also handing out duelist rings, and Anthy has appeared to talk to Treise of all people. What are they up to?" she wondered.

"Hmm," Releena agreed. "Could be they are just opposing Akio, but otherwise staying out of our fights?" she suggested.

"Maybe," Juri agreed, "but that's not very... noble, of them."

"I'd say neither are we, so...," Releena shrugged.

"Point," Juri agreed reluctantly.

"Now," Releena reached over to play with a lock of Juri's hair, "since I think we're both rested up, how about we get back to what we were doing before?"

Juri grinned as she pulled Releena on top of her, "Your wish is my command, my Queen."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Quatre paused as he manipulated the communications system. He was trying to put a call through to his family, but he was suddenly left wondering if that was such a good idea. If what Casval told him was true...

Quatre shook his head, deciding he had to know what had happened, one way or another. He pressed the final keys, then waited for the connection. A moment later the screen flickered to life and he started to say, "Father...?"

"No," the attractive older woman shook her head.

"Iria?" he recognized his older sister, despite her head being bandaged. She looked like she had been through a war. "What happened?" he asked.

"What do you THINK happened?" Iria snapped back at him, "The colony leaders decided to no longer support the opposition to OZ, especially once economic sanctions hit. Father was attacked by rioters and hospitalized."

"I...," Quatre started.

"Do NOT say you're sorry," Iria growled, "we both know you'd be lying."

"Well, yes," Quatre admitted. "Is he...?"

"Recovering," Iria answered grimly, "the mob didn't go that far, thankfully. And ironically OZ itself has moved in to restore order here."

"There's a pleasant thought," Quatre grumbled.

Iria leaned forward, "After the attack, Casval said she was going to find you. Did she?"

Quatre gestured to his broken nose.

Iria snickered softly.

"Thanks for the sympathy," Quatre sighed. He sat up as he seriously asked, "Do you need me to send help?"

Iria shook her head, "The situation is stable, I think. Besides, you have your own troubles."

"We do," Quatre agreed, "Please, take care of yourself and father."

"Will do," Iria nodded. She smiled wryly, "And take care of Casval. I know she's angry at you, but she's still family."

"I'll do my best," Quatre replied.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The attractive blond wore a colonist military uniform, her long hair braided back and her cap pulled down to hide her distinctive eyebrows. Dorothy Catalonia strode down the hall confidently but not arrogantly, the perfect way to sneak around. The trick to getting into places you shouldn't be in was to look like you belonged, and people didn't question it.

Finding the quarters she wanted had been the hardest part, interestingly enough. Hacking the databases was easy, but matching up a half remembered photo to a alias? THAT was hard. She reached out and keyed open the door, revealing darkness.

"Hello?" Dorothy asked as she stepped inside.

"Don't move," the voice ordered as the lights came up, a pistol pointed at her.

"Well, hello Anthy," Dorothy raised her hands, "it's been a long time."

THAT made the purple haired woman jerk a bit, but she calmly answered, "Who is that?"

The pink haired woman was also armed, tho not dressed. "Who are YOU," she demanded, "and why are you in our room?"

"You're not THIS stupid, Utena," Dorothy answered, "and I'm here to talk. Unless you'd like me to tell Juri you're skulking about?"

There was a moment of silence, then Utena raised her gun. "How did you find us?" she asked, waving for Anthy to holster her gun too.

"It wasn't that hard," Dorothy said, "I have a memory for faces, and the colony's files weren't hard to search."

"And how did you find our faces?" Anthy wondered.

"You've done a good job eliminating records of you," Dorothy conceded, "but I found a portrait of you and Akio. And there are still school records for Utena."

"Huh," Utena grunted, grabbing some clothes. "All right," she asked, "why are you here?"

"Because there are already three factions in this war," Dorothy said dryly, "and I just found out you two are also a factor. What's your agenda?"

To be continued...