The hatch opened, and Heero cautiously got out of the battered fighter. He was in a large bay with all sorts of personnel bustling around. Everybody wore a deep blue uniform. Heero knew that Earth's forces wore green, and the rebels didn't have any uniforms. So this must be...
"Heero Yuy, it's so good to see you again."
Heero looked down to see Dorothy standing in front of his fighter looking entirely too pleased with herself. Heero jumped down to the floor, gun still in hand. He didn't know whether he should trust the Pax organization or not.
"You can put that away. We're fighting for the same thing, after all." She smiled, "I'm to take you to see Mr. Powell. He's very eager to meet you."
Heero lowered the gun, but he didn't put it up. He conceded that he didn't have much choice in the matter. He was stuck here, and this was a good opportunity to get some information. He gave a slight nod, and Dorothy turned around to lead him to Powell. He followed behind her.
"I understand Miss Relena's ideas about total pacifism," Dorothy said. "However, I think that it's just a dream. After all, look where we are now. Earth was not prepared to fight because they, in their naivete, threw away all their weapons. Thank goodness Mr. Powell started Pax. Otherwise we'd all be in a tight pinch, now wouldn't we?"
Heero was only half-listening to her. He was keeping track of where they were going so he could find his way out again, if need be. Besides, she didn't understand Relena's ideas at all.
"We were on our way to Earth when we came across the debris from your battle. We decided to stop to see if there were any survivors. Lucky thing we did, right?"
It was a large ship. The ship itself was heading to Earth, presumably to fight the rebels there.
"Here we are," Dorothy gestured into a room.
She followed him in as Heero entered. It was a medium-sized room with a window showing the stars. A man was standing behind a desk, looking out the window. He was about middle-aged. Heero could tell that he used to be muscular, but was now out of shape. The man's brown hair was tinged with gray.
"Mr. Powell, this is Heero Yuy." Dorothy introduced him. Then she bowed slightly, "I'll leave you two to talk."
Dorothy left quietly. Heero remained standing, waiting to see what Powell would say. Heero supposed he could thank him for the rescue, but he wasn't sure if it was genuine or not right now.
"Isn't she annoying?" Powell turned and said.
Heero didn't say anything. He didn't know what this man's intentions were, and he didn't plan on acting friendly towards him.
"But she's very passionate about the cause. Fighting for peace and all that. I suppose that's why I made her my second."
Heero knew this all had to be a lead-in to something.
"Still, I'd like to get rid of her. Intelligent though she may be, I'd rather have somebody with a better understanding of the colonies' plight."
"'Plight'?" Heero finally spoke.
"Yes. Dorothy was born and raised on Earth. She can't possibly fully understand the colonies' position. You, however can.
"The colonies want peace, but they also want more than they're getting from the current government. It's the Earth-Sphere Alliance all over again. Thus, the rebellion comes. Much like when you Gundams were sent to Earth to free the colonies. History does have a tendency to repeat itself, doesn't it?"
"This is different."
"Of course it is. Now the Earth is full of pacifists, making them an easy target. Fortunately, I created Pax so that we may defend the naive Earth."
"An independent group buying weapons on the Black Market with the intention of 'defending' Earth. Sounds suspicious to me."
"Then I suppose that is your refusal to join us?"
Heero nodded.
Powell looked out the window again, clasping his hands behind his back. "Very well, then. We'll take you to Earth."
"That's it?"
"That's it. No tricks. We aren't going to force you to join us. We are fighting on the same side, regardless."
"So I've heard," Heero muttered.
Powell turned to him with a quizzical look. Then he smiled, "You may go. Dorothy will show you to your room. We'll work on repairing your fighter. Rest before we get to Earth."
Heero nodded. It would be stupid to refuse their hospitality. He turned, without saying thanks, and left.
****
Noin cursed as her fighter strained to make the tight turn she was making it do. They had had some extra fighters available, but they weren't in the best condition. It was taking Noin a while to adjust to that, and she kept overestimating it's abilities.
A shot hit her port side as Noin pulled up sharply. Things were not going well. Even with the help of the Pax group, the Earth forces were being trounced.
"Noin, the rebel ships." She heard Zech's voice come through over her headphones.
She looked down at her scanners. The rebel ships were leaving, but they weren't going back to the colony. "The Pax ships seem to be following them," she replied. "Where are they going?"
"They're taking this battle to Earth." Zechs said.
"Earth?"
"It seems that that's where the stage has been set for the final scene."
Noin nodded, though she knew he couldn't see her. "Then that's where we're going." She prepped her ship to follow the others.
Over her headphones, she heard Zechs giving orders to the rest of the fleet to fall back to Earth.
****
"We need to get to the capital. Once there, we can find out who's the ringleader of this thing and get rid of them." Wufei crossed his arms and looked out the window. They had made it to a small town and rented a motel room. They couldn't stay long. There'd be an investigation into the crash. But they needed a place to discuss their strategy.
"Shouldn't be that difficult with you two," Duo said. "I bet you guys know your way around the capital real well."
Sally and Wufei looked at each other. "We know the capital as it was under Earth rule. However, the rebels might have changed things when they took over. We can't rely on our knowledge." Sally said.
"It still shouldn't be that hard," Hilde spoke up. "You just need a couple people to go in ahead of you two and scout out the place. Right, Duo?" She grinned.
Duo scratched his head, "You know, Hilde. This is sorta dangerous. Maybe you should - "
"I'm not sitting out on this one. I'm here. I'm helping," she said.
Duo sighed, "Yeah, thought so. Figured I might as well try. Okay, so how's that sound? Hilde and I'll go in first and see what's there. We're both pretty good at going unnoticed."
Wufei tossed a communicator to Duo. "The capital isn't far. You two go on ahead. We'll be nearby and ready to move in at your word."
Duo smiled, "Sounds like a plan to me."
****
The capital city was very large, very crowded, and very rich. Duo felt like he barely fit in. Especially since he was wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing for a day or so. Still, Hilde and he managed to look inconspicuous among the crowd. You couldn't even tell there was a rebellion in the city. Everybody was going about business as usual. Duo wondered if they even knew what was going on.
The capitol, itself, was a collection of large buildings in the middle of the city. It was practically a city in itself. There were residences, recreation facilities, medical facilities, schools, and, of course, the government buildings. This was where things got tricky. The buildings were enclosed by a rather tall fence. Normally, the gates would be open to allow the people freedom to move in and out. Now, however, the gates were closed, and there were armed guards all around the fence.
"How are we getting in?" Hilde asked, noticing Duo's look of concentration.
"Well, I don't think the straightforward route will work. Those guards aren't likely to let anybody in. We could actually climb that fence. It isn't that high. We'd just need to get the guards away from one area long enough to do it." He scanned the fence. "Got your pack, Hilde?"
"Yeah."
"Good. I'm taking a page out of Heero's book."
"What?"
Duo smiled at her, "We're going in loud and flashy."
****
As expected, the guards rushed to the explosion at the East end of the fence. Meanwhile, there was a small area of the West fence covered by tall trees. Two people jumped stealthily down from the fence and ran to the closest building.
"Hey, Dragon," Duo whispered into his communicator. "We're in the West Building. What's here?"
"Swimming pool. Not much else. Try to get to the center building. That's were the government offices are." Wufei's voice came back.
"Gotcha. Lotsa guards around here."
"Figured there would be. Be careful."
"Hey, it's me!" Duo said. Then he switched the communicator off. "Come on, Hilde. We gotta get from here to that big building in the middle without anybody seeing us."
"No problem!"
****
Quatre didn't know quite what he expected to see when he woke up. He remembered jumping between a bullet and Trowa. In retrospect, Quatre decided that that wasn't the smartest thing for him to do. However, he decided that it was worth it if Trowa was unharmed. He opened his eyes slowly, getting adjusted to the soft light of...wherever he was.
"Trowa?" He was in a bed with blankets tucked around him and bandages wrapped around his chest. He assumed that Trowa had gotten him here.
"Good! You're awake!" That wasn't Trowa's voice.
Quatre opened his eyes all the way and saw that woman, Catherine, sitting beside him. She looked very relieved to see him awake. Quatre wondered how long he'd been out.
"How are you feeling?" She smiled.
Quatre just shook his head. His back ached, and even the slightest movement sent pain through his body. The bullet must have hit a nerve.
Catherine stood up, "You wait right there. I don't think Trowa's left yet."
Left? Where was Trowa going? Quatre tried to sit up, but decided that that was a bad idea. Instead he looked around to see where he was. He was in a small trailer, probably in Trowa's circus. Quatre noticed a clown suit in the corner and figured that this was Trowa's trailer.
"Trowa!" He exclaimed when he saw Trowa walk in. He blushed. He'd realized that he had a bad habit of saying Trowa's name a lot.
Trowa just smiled. He sat down in the chair that Catherine had been in. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," Quatre said.
Trowa looked doubtful. "Your wound got infected on the way here. I didn't want to take you to a hospital because the rebellion seems to have spread past L2. The circus is a very low-key place, and Catherine will be able to take care of you."
"Where are you going?"
"I have to find the others. It's the only way now. You're in no condition to go anywhere, though. You stay here, and I'll come back for you."
"But Trowa - " Quatre knew that Trowa was right, but he couldn't stand knowing that the others were out fighting while he was stuck in bed.
"Quatre," Trowa said to quiet him. Then Trowa leaned over and put a hand on Quatre's shoulder. He bent down and kissed Quatre softly on the cheek. "You just get better," he sat back up.
That had wiped all arguments from Quatre's mind. He just stammered, "Um...okay."
Trowa smiled, then stood up and left the room. Quatre remained still, a bit dumbfounded, before Catherine walked in a few minutes later.
"Are you okay? Your face is a little red." Catherine looked concerned.
Quatre shook his head and smiled, "I'm just fine."
****
Catherine had argued with him about leaving now, especially about leaving Quatre behind. But Trowa really had no choice. The situation was getting worse, and it seemed that the fight was moving to Earth. Trowa was sure that he'd be able to find the other pilots once he got there.
Trowa smiled. The look on Quatre's face had been priceless, and he regretted having to leave him. He was sure that he could use Quatre's help. But Quatre needed to rest now.
Trowa checked his watch. Only a couple hours flight to Earth. Hopefully he'd get there in time.