Take Off
Sank Kingdom- Preventers Head Quarters
January 20, 200-A.C.
Heero stalked through the hanger. He had arranged to get a Helicopter, he had to fly to some place called 'Texas'. Supposedly Animal and her crew forced many civilians to either leave there homes or put up with these people as their 'protection'.
And as the 'governing body' they had chosen not to join Earth Sphere's new alliance.
He knew he had his work cut out for him. First, he had to get himself and his Gundam in without any unwanted attention. Which he doubted was possible. Second, he had to get to Animal without getting killed. Which seeing she was in charge of the 'Blood Cats', the group that had over run the states that made up the 'Old South' and the neighboring states. North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and even as far north as Montana. The task would be close to impossible for one person. But he wasn't any other -normal- person. He was Heero Yuy, Captain of the Gundam squad.
His job was made simpler by the knowledge that their 'Capital' was in the region in Texas known as the 'Hill country'. But every good leader spends time with the troops on the front line. So he was at a toss-up. Go into the center of enemy territory or patrol their borders.
But if he was caught with a Gundam they should take him to where ever another Gundam and its pilot is so if push came to shove they would have some one to combat him. That would mean taking him to Animal.
* * * *
Quatre watched as the Crewmen loaded Shenlong and SandRock into the back of a shuttle. It used to be that he and his fellow Gundam Pilots would be doing it them selves under the tight time frame of a raid. But that was then. Now he and Wufei would have to get on to L2, or what was left of it, and find Techy.
Rumor had it- meaning the information was not confirmed- that Trigger was staying with her 'big sister'. The two girls being in the same place would probably mean tougher defenses but they were prepared. Mechanical and Demolitions scanning devises. Anti Missile projectiles and an arsenal of their own toys. Oh armor, too, when going against an armed colony you can never have enough armor.
The blonde stood there as the Chinese man walked toward him.
"Winner." Wufei greeted with his usual stiff respect. "Are the shuttles ready?"
"Just about. They only have the Gundams left. I have one question."
"Yes?"
"How do we know they still have their Gundams?" The other man seemed to think about it.
"They had the good sense to take their weapons of Mass destruction with them. Why get rid of them once they have served a minimal purpose? And how would they sell it with out it coming to someone's attention?"
Quatre nodded. "Yeah but why not _use_ them if they have them? I doesn't make sense."
"Winner, they are onnas! They don't have to make sense. Trust me I was married Its what makes them onnas."
Quatre stared that had probably been the most Wufei had ever said in one breath the had nothing to do with good and evil or justice. And the other man had obviously forgotten Quatre was raised with 30 women. But… "Okay. I'll give you that one. I guess they could be doing the Rattle Snake thing."
Wufei gave him a funny look and all he could read was utter confusion. So he continued. "Rattle Snakes only strike when you come too close to their den."
Wufei's expression was now worried. "And we'll be walking right into a crazy, female snakes lair."
A revelation hit him. His comparison had hit the nail on the head. And in this case that was a bad thing. A very bad thing. He could feel his eyes widen. "Two snakes."
He and Wufei looked at each other. They both had the look of a child that had learned the monster under the bed was very real and taking up permanent residence.
Wufei gulped audibly- trying to clear his throat. "We'll need more weapons." They both looked at their ship.
"More armor." Quatre added. His gaze met Wufei's once again. "A bigger ship?" his voice came out as a squeak.
The other man nodded weakly and they left to arrange it with Noin.
Both of them were frightened and both of them knew it. And all it would change was the size of their arsenal.
* * * *
Duo reclined in the seat of his plane. He, Trowa, and Heero had been lucky, their targets were on Earth. C4 had taken over the Antarctica base. Why some one in their right mind would open that forsaken place and volunteer to live there was beyond him, but it wasn't his choice.
They had given him a special Smart-Plane. Its painted solid white with Icy blue scribbles on it so it would match into the ice. He named it the Snow Owl. The Snow Owl came complete with G.P.S. guided auto-pilot, Self adjusting Weather control -meaning it would de-ice its own damn wings and keep the engine warm enough to start even below 0- and leather bucket seats.
Yep. He had it made. Now all he had to do was get in, undetected -of course-, and come out alive. Survival. What a great privilege. And it was all because a bunch of OZ ex-agents didn't want to loose their poster boys.
Why did that thought bring a smile to his face? Because their old enemy wanted to line them up to take snap shots? Naw. That couldn't be it.
He laughed to himself as he laid his seat back. It would be a long mission and he would need his rest.
* * * *
Trowa was standing outside his plane, staring at what was left of the Victoria base. When Oz was destroyed it was abandoned. But OZ records said Fighter had taken up there.
It was still in the half-blown-to-smithereens condition the Pilots had left it in.
As he got closer he could feel eyes on him. Right, his wasn't the best plan. The Walking-in-the-front-door-with-your-duffel-over-your-shoulder plan was never good for your survival but based on the profile from Oz's old files she would take this approach as the least threatening. 15 feet from the entrance he stopped. 'Announce yourself Trowa.' The little voice in the back of his head said.
That little voice had saved him countless times during the wars. He liked that little voice. Very, very much.
"My name's Trowa Barton. I'm here to talk to a woman known as Fighter." He got no response. He was grasping at straws. "I mean no harm." Still no response. Now he was grasping at straws and making a fool of himself. "I'll let you search me."
There was a sense of movement. He was standing in a clearing in mid-day, some one was aiming at him, he had no defense and There was nothing he could do about it.
"Trowa Barton." He looked up. Standing there, in a third story window, with a long barrel sniper riffle trained on him was a woman. She was -by his guess- about 5' 9" -2 inches taller then Quatre, the shortest of the pilots- with dark brown hair, a deep mahogany color. He couldn't tell its length -she had put it up in what he had guessed was a pony tail. And he didn't know her eye color -she was too far away- but he guessed it was green. And that made her Fighter.
"You wanted to talk?"
He nodded.
"You're a Gundam Pilot?"
It was more of a statement but he nodded any way.
She jumped down. Straight down onto the ground. She stood and looked at him. Trowa raised his eyebrows and nodded toward her once. She took the unspoken compliment and opened the door.
"Come on. Walk real slow, keep your hands where I and see'm and I won't shoot you…Yet." The rifle was over her shoulder. She looked relaxed but he could see the beginnings of a shooting stance as she leaned on the door so she didn't have to burn her hands. Her feet were apart and she had her left hand settled on the belt of her pants and the right perched on the inside bar of the door. She was positioned so she could grab the rifle with her right hand and fire with her left.
She was treating him like a dangerous man. It was a new and annoying experience. Well, not new, but its different when your out side a raging Gundam with your nearest weapon 30 yards away, inside an air plane.
She was obviously fighting to stay loose. His stillness was bothering her for some reason. She probably thought he had a weapon and was calculating how to get it with out being killed. He started walking forward.
He could see her almost visibly relax. She had gotten rusty in her 5 years of freedom. He couldn't blame her, it gave him an edge. A small one, yes, but an edge is an edge, no matter the size.
She was eyeing him steadily. "You know, 03, if you had lied to me I would have dropped you were you stood."
He nodded. "I also noticed that you, unlike most of your sisters, have not tried to start a following, gang, whatever. Why?"
She looked at him. For a moment he thought he had pushed it. The woman might be rusty. But in some ways being rusty was just as dangerous as being at the top of your game. To his surprise, she answered.
"People need leaders. The States were being ravaged by bandits, thieves, and murderers. L2 was falling apart. OZ had abandoned its people in Antarctica." She shrugged. "Those were the three real trouble places. I helped them clean their places up and organize followers. But I didn't, and don't, want to be one of those followers." She glared at him. "Besides. The only one that could stop any of us -at all- is Animal and it takes a lot to please her. She'll take nothing less than all you can give. Loyalty, Hard Work, Respect. All of it. But she doesn't ask her men to do anything she's not willing to do herself, so its not that bad."
He had now reached her. She looked directly into his eyes. He realized he was about 5 inches taller then she was, putting her at 5'7" in stead of 5'9". The height he liked in a woman.
He shook his head. No time for _that_ kind of thinking. He had to plan how he was going to survive the next few days…then he might get back to that.