Chapter 5

Hilde watched as the scenery sped by, contemplating on what had happened only moments before. Cathy was talking with the others as well. She was going over the schedule of what was to happen the next day. Evidently, Hilde had a different schedule to follow, which made this entire situation slightly more interesting.

"And as soon as Hilde gets her head out of the clouds, I can begin the planning procedure for the infiltration of the enemy headquarters, if that is all right with her." Hilde was stunned out of her reverie and thrown back into the current conversation. She was obviously not paying any attention.

"I'm sorry, I missed all of that. Can you start over?" Cathy blew out of the side of her mouth in an exasperated way and rolled her eyes, waving her hand around in Hilde's face.

"My boss has informed us that there is a huge masquerade ball tonight held within a major OZ branch of headquarters. Our job is to infiltrate and steal as many pieces of information relating to the whereabouts of the political leaders as possible. Are you following me so far, Hilde?" The dark haired young woman nodded, not taking it lightly at being treated like a little girl. She was about to say something rather obscene and cynical, but she was quickly I interrupted by Dorothy, who gave her a pointed look from the side.

"Cathy, if I may ask two questions…" Cathy nodded. "First, who is your 'boss' that you keep on mentioning and two why were we picked in particular?" There was a dead silence filling the room as Cathy licked the top of her lip, obviously thinking of how she can answer this without leaving these women in the dark. With characters like these all sitting in the same room, they're all liable of leaving on the spot if they are not given all the information that they desire. Just as Cathy was opening her mouth to make a quick reply, the door slid open. Everyone turned to stare at the figure standing in the doorway. Cathy smiled, visibly relieved. She raised her hand in introduction.

"Ladies, I'd like you to meet my boss." Gasps flew through the room as the eyes took in the person in charge. Cathy smiled slightly in satisfaction.

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Lady Une stood immobile over the monitor as she reviewed the tapes that earlier recorded an attempt of infiltration of the OZ offices. Several guards and soldiers were injured in the attempt. The man who had tried this reckless act had immediately committed suicide when he realized that he was trapped and his plans had been foiled. Lady Une's scoured the screen, looking for any evidence leading to where this man had come from or what rebel group he had been involved with. The infiltrator had wired himself to self-destruct with a single push of a button, there was little left of him afterward, nothing to show his identity or his origin. Lady Une had run over these tapes for many hours. This man was obviously looking for confidential information as well as looking to hurt or kill several of the officials.

Lady Une's eyes narrowed as she went backwards in the tape, something catching her eye. She zoomed in closer. It was a tattoo; tiny in size, no bigger than the nail of a pinky finger. It was carefully hidden behind the ear. She zoomed in closer still. It was beginning to come into focus as she enhanced the image. It was a tool, or a hook of some kind. Closer still… It took her several hours more before she had finally enhanced the picture to perfection. It was clearly a reaper. She had found who sent this culprit. Within one hour she had written a report and filed it away for his Excellency to examine. Until then, she would go and confront the organization's leader. The words felt like poison on her lips; Sepple, leader of one of the most notorious mobs formed within the colonies and Earth. He had men throughout every political system imaginable. He bought up tons of markets in research, business, politics, and commercial products. She would have to pay a visit to him once more. They had tried many years earlier to uncover his operation, but he had eluded the investigation with his own tricks and acquaintances within OZ. He was a man to be feared.

Lady Une glared down at the papers and the file before her, displaying Sepple's picture. He was not smiling, but he was dressed in a fine tuxedo and wore fine silk underneath. His face was gaunt and his hair was balding slightly on top. He was rather robust, almost thought of as heavy, yet he was considered very dangerous. Lady Une would have to be very careful with how she handled this case. She quickly scribbled a note and left it for Treize, his Excellency, to find on his desk. She would be back before he finds it, hopefully.

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Natria was the first to react. It was not pleasant in fact. Her face of shock turned to one of annoyance and irritation. She stood quickly to lean on the table towards Cathy.

"This is your boss!" she cried. Cathy's smile did not fade. She only nodded slowly, crossing her arms as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "You have a lily-handed pacifist as a boss! The orders are going to come as petting the enemy soldiers over the head and asking them politely to put down their weapons while we stand there and get used as target practice!" Cathy only shrugged and nodded at the figure still standing in the doorway.

"I think you'll be surprised by the extensive knowledge that my boss has with tactical procedures in battle. She's not naïve. Isn't that right, Miss Peacecraft?" Relena stood smiling slightly from the door, leaning against the side, arms crossed, feet intersected at the ankles. She didn't seem like the Relena everyone knew.

"Yes, I've studied quiet a bit as well as going on a few of my own missions." Natria wasn't satisfied with this. She pounded her fist against the hard surface of the table.

"I refuse to take part in such an affiliation as this! It's suicide." Throughout this entire exchange, Dorothy had remained calm as ever. She turned to Natria slowly in her swiveling chair and crossed her fingers, placing her elbows on the arms of the chair, leaning her chin against the side of her interlocked fingers.

"Shut up, Natria," she said simply. It had the desired effect. Dorothy continued to address her. "I have seen Relena in action before, grant it, it was for a brief time, but I believe that she knows full well in what she is doing, but what I still have to be answered, is why did she pick us in particular?" Relena finally moved away from the door and towards the head of the table, which Cathy gave up willingly. Relena stood, hands gripping the edge of the surface, her eyes moving from one woman to another.

"Every one of you has a connection to the Gundam pilots. I had to do a lot of digging to find all of you. For some of you, it was a shock that you had any connection whatsoever." She looked pointedly towards Dorothy, who looked rather uneasy. Relena continued. "I won't go into particulars, from what I heard a lot of it was explained for the majority, some in the meeting with the Gundam pilots." Now her eyes landed on Natria, who blushed, but turned her head away, the pride still firmly in place. She was interrupted by Hilde suddenly.

"I can understand Cathy, Natria, after yesterday's display, and even you Miss Peacecraft, but Dorothy," Hilde turned to the woman sitting across the table from her. "What connection do you have with the pilots?" she asked curiously. Dorothy seemed to shrink slightly, but quickly regained her ground, sitting straight and staring ahead. She shrugged slightly.

"I knew Quatre when we were children. I doubt he remembers me." Everyone's attention was riveted on Dorothy. Relena pulled a chair up, knowing that this was going to take a spell. "My mother was hiding from my grandfather, trying to keep my brother and me out of his clutches. She took us under false identifications and set up a small bar where we played pool. Timmy and I became quite good at it actually. We had a young boy that would come in all the time as well, to get away from his terrible life, is what he used to tell us. I never believed him, but I knew that something was bothering him all the time, like a dark cloud that followed him everywhere he went. We knew each other well enough to be able to sit down for an afternoon and talk. He never got that close to me or my brother. It was as if he was afraid of us. Eventually, my grandfather found us. He was after my little brother, but in the attempt of extracting us, he was killed. I was only left, so I was to become my grandfather's heir. He wasn't expecting me to be so rebellious. I heard that Quatre came back several times to find me, but finally realized that I was gone for good. I don't think he would recognize me now. It was a long time ago." Everyone sat silently, hardly believing what was being said. Hilde felt rather suspicious of the information being given. Dorothy Catalonia had been far too open about all of this. She was leaving something out, something that Relena knew, but chose not to point out. Hilde snorted, but didn't say anything further. She would find out later if at all possible. Until then, the case was closed. They were all in on a mission now and they had to cooperate with one another. Relena cleared her throat.

"I'm sure all of you are aware of part of your mission, but Cathy was just about to tell you the other part that we left out from telling the pilots." Everyone's eyes were now on her once again. She leaned back in her chair, staring out at the others. "One part is to keep control of the other rebels who are being radical in their movements, but the other section of this mission is to keep the Gundam pilots under control as well. By having people they know and care about from some point in the history, we have a better chance of having a controlled environment to work with." Natria spoke up suddenly.

"What about Heero? As far as I am aware of, he has no one he cares for in particular." Relena smirked slyly.

"You leave that to me," she said mysteriously.