14: Execution orders
(December 23, A.C. 199, Mountain region; 8:34am)
Margaret's eyes averted toward the young man with the braid with a questioning expression reflecting in her eyes. Duo remained where he was awaiting his question to be answered, he watched as the older woman's face went from questioning to amused. The edge of his mouth twitched in annoyance as the woman came forward.
"That girl that accompanied you?" She chuckled. Duo said nothing as he restrained himself from lunging on the woman right then and there, fearing that she would completely injure his arm worse than it was. Margaret's slender fingers rapped against her arm her patience wearing thin, the boy hadn't said a word since she spoken and it was beginning to gnaw her. Rising up from against the wall she walked over toward the young woman her hand itching to injure him further. "If that's who your referring to, she's--- how do I say -- indisposed at the moment, but not dead mind you," Margaret added the last part the moment she saw his hand form a fist.
It wasn't that she didn't want to get hit -- no---- she just didn't want to kill him right then and there, her boss would kill her. "Getting off that topic----- I have an employer that has been interested in you young fellows." Heero continued to glare at the woman listening intently to the words that came from her mouth. Trowa wanted to fold his arms across his chest but his bound hands prevented him from doing so.
Instead he flexed his arms in an attempt to remove the binding from his already bloody wrists. "And?" The Latain American trailed off arching an eyebrow. Margaret decided to continue. "The time for peace in the world is over, a new Earth Sphere will be created the moment the Vice Foreign minister is assassinated or rather executed and another take her place, our armies will rise and stand like looming shadows over the once-peace oriented land and you'll all be apart of this beautiful, just by saying 'yes' to the offer," Margaret implied. "No strings attached."
Wufei scoffed. "I'd rather die," He uttered to himself. Margaret looked over his way with a smile. "Which brings me to the next part," She sighed. "Make sure that you know this is what you want, because if you refuse this generous once-in a lifetime offer, you are to be executed along with Miss Relena Darlain (though separated), which I said we should have done in the first place because I know how you all think; Infiltrate the enemy base, gain their trust and then bring them to their plans ruin. But this is not my call. So my question to you know is; what's your choice?"
Heero stared at the woman with his intense gaze as his mind formulated a plan to escape their prison and get Hilde and Relena to safety wherever they were inside what the Japanese teenager thought to be another elaborate base with more twists and turns than he could care to remember. Duo gave the woman a devious smirk his hand grasping upper part of his broken arm doing his best to ignore the pain that had been created by his movement.
"What makes you think we'll be so eager to join your misguided bunch of would-be soldiers?" The American's tone was sarcastic and threatening. Margaret met his cobalt gaze with her brown one studying him for a moment, he was daring her to shoot him, she could see it by the look of his eyes. Walking back up the stairs Margaret left them all in silence, but before the woman could leave the cell Heero came up from behind his comrades so fast, that he almost knocked Quatre down.
Margaret turned back around to face them once more looking impatient. "Your answer?" She said calmly. Heero stared at her for a brief moment before shifting his eyes toward his friends, they seemed to be expecting a rejection from him, but if he was ever going to rescue Relena or put a stop this chaos he would actually have to accept her terms of agreement at the expense of his friends trust knowing they would not accept it. Forgive me....., The Japanese teenager shifted his eyes back to Margaret. "My answer is yes, Margaret Cypher. If anything I'd like to live unlike them," He said darkly.
The 44-year-old woman continued to smile at the other four teenagers, happy that they appeared to have rejected her offer, she wanted nothing more than to kill them. "Very good, follow me," Turning she stepped out of the cell the door. Heero rushed up to the door exiting the cell, the door shutting automatically behind him shrouding the former pilots in darkness. Trowa managed to get his wrists free of his bondage. Ignoring his injuries he rushed up the sitars and placed his hands into the small crack of the door and attempted to pry it open, he tugged at the door relentlessly until his fingers were raw with pain. He growled and slammed his foot against the door angrily cursing.
Duo averted his eyes toward the ground sitting himself down upon on the stairs with a groan. Trowa calmly continued to try to open the door, he grimaced at the feel of his own blood tracing the lines of the palm of his hands glancing briefly over at his American comrade whom had ceased all movement of any kind. He was unsure what the braided young man was thinking at that very moment, his silence disturbed him. Trowa's lips parted letting a brief sigh escape his being. That was a foolish thing to say, Heero, he thought balling his hand into a fist. "It would've been wiser to say nothing. Now there's no telling what they'll do to us or Relena." Trowa uttered to himself. "He's given himself an Achilles heel."
Duo felt a twang of anger rise within him at Trowa's words; the cobalt blue-eyed boy began to believe his Latin American comrade wasn't thinking straight anymore, he wasn't thinking like a soldier anymore, he was thinking like a human while Heero remained steadfast in all the ways of a solider. He wondered if the others thought the same as he did. Duo wondered if Quatre and Wufei thought If they were going to die then it was all on his head, it was because of Heero's stupid mouth that they would meet an untimely demise.
"Well, I didn't hear anyone speaking up to accept her terms," Duo retorted coldly. "Maybe because we all figured there was a chance she'd give us more time to think her offer over if we didn't say anything," Wufei retorted. Duo rose from his place and sent a glare in Wufei's direction. "Hey, lay off will ya?" Duo barked, sounding unpleased by the all the unreasonable comments his friends were saying. "He only did what he thought was best. Maybe he thought we were going to accept her offer out of panic so he decided to---." Trowa cut Duo of abruptly when he approached from him and grabbed him by the collar of his sweat shirt.
Duo felt as thought the bone in his face shattered the moment Trowa's fist collided with it, the braided teenager landed on the ground hard. He looked up at Heero with a maddening look in his eyes. "What the hell was that for?!" He exclaimed angrily. "We don't need you to explain his actions, Duo," Trowa snapped. "Just shut up for once in your life." Duo climbed off the ground taking a sharp intake of breath though his mouth when his nose began to drip with blood. "Trowa that was uncalled for!" Quatre proclaimed. Trowa said nothing he headed back to the door but made no move to try and open it. Quatre sent Duo a sympathetic yet knowing look that the braided-teenager ignored.
He whipped his nose with the back of his hand staring angrily at the young man before him. "Well, excuse me, for trying to defend a friend when no one else would!" Duo sneered heading over to the far side of the cell, away from the others. Quatre who remained standing beside Wufei watched as the stoic teenager headed slumped against the wall beside the door way. He bowed his head in dismay at the sight of his friends coming undone because of the situation they were in. Wufei remained silent knowing nothing he said would make things any better than they already were. Trowa shut his eyes tightly banging his head against the wall. How could've Heero had been so stupid?
Elsewhere inside the compound, Relena stood against the wall her wrist bound by a hand cuff attached to a conveniently placed drain pipe at the end of the bland prison cell she resided in. Relena groaned as she tried to slide down into a crouched position but the pipe below on the one the cuff was attached to prevented her from going halfway near the ground so she was forced to stand. They had left the door open, believing she or her friends would be unable to escape their bondage, which Relena thought to be a stupid move on their part.
Across the dimly lighted cell laid Hilde and Dorothy their unconscious bodies sprawled across the floor like rag dolls overdosed on sedatives, also handcuffed to a pipe. Relena's eyes began to water as her worry for Heero grew stronger with each passing moment the longer she stood there, chained to a pipe. She wondered where they had put him inside the elaborate base, she wondered if they had hurt him beyond recognition, she also wondered if he was even alive.
The few people that knew they were Gundam pilots under the alias of the Preventer five disliked the fact that they were treated as heroes instead of the terrorists they knew them as in the war. And to those who didn't, Relena explained to them inside meeting rooms and live on television whenever the question of the Gundam pilots whereabouts were brought up, that they died after the rebuke against Dekim Barton when their Gundams self-destructed.
It was biggest lie Relena had ever told in her life, but for the sake of her friends she'd lie any day. Running her hands through her hair, she left her mind drift back to Heero in an attempt to keep her mind off her own demise whenever that was. As the hours past Relena found that focusing all her thoughts on Heero only reminded her that she was probably going to be killed, the young woman growled in frustration giving the cuff a yank. It didn't budge but it certainty was a way for her vent her frustrations at the expense of her already sore wrist.
The sound of footfalls caught the young woman's attention, she looked up toward the door almost swallowing her tongue when her blue eyed gaze fell upon the tall stoic figure that had stopped in front of the door way. Her uncuffed hand went up to her mouth in an attempt to hide the shock on her face. "Heero...," She whispered unsure if he was a simple figment of her imagination or the real deal. His hard gaze locked with hers as if they were trying to say something to her, Relena's heart thumped against her chest. It hurt, but she couldn't care less. The moment her hand dropped from her mouth Heero resumed his stride and vanished from sight, Relena was speechless, her mind went blank in that very moment. "Heero...?" She mouthed silently.
"Is she inside?" The voice made Relena's ears twitch.
"Yes ma'am, she's inside," Came the voice, of the man who had captured her and the rest of them. Relena's watery eyes focused on the door as a woman strode inside the cell flaming red hair and a black trench coat that shrouded her figure. Relena's gaze hardened at the sight of her tall body as she came up to her. "I thought there was something fishy about you miss Cypher but I couldn't put my finger on it," Relena's voice was unkind, but Margaret couldn't care less. The older woman grinned clearly amused by the girl in front of her.
"Fishy, good word usage Miss Darlain," She chuckled stopping a foot away from the girl. Relena stared at the woman, she should've trusted her instincts and simply mistrusted the woman, but at glance Margaret looked like a kind woman despite the icy demeanor her faical expression held, it was the woman's attractive and kind eyes that got her thinking her instincts were being over cautious. Now she knew Margaret wasn't to be trusted at all. "Why have you brought us here?" Relena said, yanking at the hand cuffs once more.
Margaret's brown eyes shifted toward her red wrist before shifting them back to the vice foreign minister herself; the 44-year-old knew at heart she was beginning to loose sight of what exactly she was doing but she would see it through until her mission was done or she died. Bringing herself back to the current situation Margaret began to speak. "Isn't it obvious? Your a distraction, by tomorrow, news of yours and the so-called preventer 4 murders will be reported nationwide, it will be a heavy blow to the ESUN's governing nation," Margaret explained, growing tired of doing so.
Relena glared at the elderly woman not in anyway disgusted by her own hatred toward her, if anything Margaret deserved to be killed but she wouldn't wish that upon her not matter how much as she hated the woman's guts. "How does Jin fit into all this?" Relena asked. "He doesn't," Margaret replied haughtily. "I believed that he had important information concerning an untested mobile suit system created years ago, but he has amnesia and probably never knew about it. He was only a child then." Relena's eyebrow arched in question at the solemn expression on the elderly woman's face. Only a child?
"Just what did you mean when you said 'only a child,' miss Cypher?" The 17-year-old European inquired. "Did you happen know this boy or his parents before now?" Margaret stared at Relena over her dark sunglasses with a look of annoyance, wishing she hadn't said anything. She could feel the guilt rising up within her all over again. "That's.... None of your concern, minister," She sneered stepping out of the prison cell. Relena watched the woman vanish around the corner. Relena cupped her chin with her hand as she pondered on Margaret's words. Had she know him before? That's impossible, the colony was destroyed ... was it possible that she knew him before then? Relena's eyes narrowed in confusion.
Une stood in the center of the communication's room with a stern look upon her face, her brown eyes stared upon the large map on the large plasma screen above her, her arms folded across her chest. At the control panel several preventers tapped away at the key board effortlessly at the command of Lady Une herself. Noin stood beside the older woman concern etched across her face. Une stared motionlessly at the screen as the red circular ripples expanded out and inward with each passing minute.
"Have you got it?" She asked unable to hold back her impatience. "Almost there," Came a response. Une groaned chewing the bottom of her lip while her fingers wrapped against her arm. "If you don't mind me asking Une, what is it your looking for, exactly?" Noin piped up, deciding to make her presence known. Une turned to the 22-year-old halfway cracking a grin before looking back up at the screen. "Are you aware that the badges upon your uniforms have homing beacons installed in them?" Une asked.
Noin glanced down at her badge giving it tap then looked back up at the back of her commander. "No, not really ma'am...," Noin replied sheepishly. Une stopped chewing her bottom lip for a moment her brow furrowing in puzzlement at her comrade's response. "I know Zechs is in the mountain region where Relena and the rest of them went to, he's the rapid moving blue dot on the left side of the map of the mountain," Une pointed out the barely visible dot to Noin before resuming her speech.
"I don't where the preventer 5 or the vice foreign minister are anymore though. They vanished from the tracking system that was installed in the Satellite about a week ago. One moment their one place, another gone as if they never existed." Noin shrugged, unsure where Une was going with her explanation, although she understood the woman's concern; Relena missing usually meant chaos would ensue, which wasn't a good thing. But the pilots would vanish when there was never a crisis so why was Une worried? "What's your point?" Noin asked. Une groaned again.
If Noin was that oblivious to the goings on around her, she wouldn't have bothered to explain it to her. "My point, Noin, is that Chang Wufei has developed a nasty habit of carrying his badge around wherever he goes (even on vacations). I have a bad feeling that their disappearance has something to do with this group that illegally confiscated the rebuilt Wing Zero, so if Mr. Chang has his badge with him (despite the possibility of it being taken from him due to his supposed capture) I'll be able to pinpoint where they are and send a unit in, once I get authorization," Une finished exasperatedly. Noin's feature's brightened considerably marveling her commander's brilliance, she gave the woman a small applaud. "Good thinking," Noin was truly impressed. Lady Une just smiled when one of the preventer's announced they had locked on Wufei's badge's signal. The two women looked up at the screen, their eyes narrowed. The signal was coming from an abandoned Alliance Military base of operations.
Catherine wanted to do nothing but scream in a desperate attempt for help, but her vocal cords wouldn't react to this feeling, she was completely frozen in her place oblivious to Ryuusei's wailing. Her eyes were transfixed on the three men coming toward them with menacing looks upon their faces, her body trembled in their presence knowing she would be caught unless she decided to snuff her life out like a candle by jumping over the cliff.
It wasn't something she wanted to do, she had already hurt Trowa with rejection, she didn't want to hurt him anymore with her death. The three men had come up to her and attempted to grab her, Catherine's paralysis dissipated, she almost threw herself over the cliff if it had not been for the strong grip around her waist. She finally let out a scream the moment Ryuusei was pulled out of her grasp and she was pulled down the ground.
"Get the sedative!" Cried the first man who had had pinned Catherine down beneath him. Catherine struggled screaming to be free of his grasp randomly crying out names that came to her panicking mind. The second man searched his vest for the sedative while the third man held Ryuusei in his arms. Just as the second man pulled out a sedative out of his vest's left pocket a gunshot rang through the air followed by the first man falling against Catherine's chest, obviously dead. The third man was next, the second one last.
They both fell to the ground at the same time, Ryuusei climbed out from underneath the man and rushed over to Catherine seeking comfort. "Kami!" Catherine cried throwing the limp man off her. She scrambled to her feet stumbling backward until she hit an oncoming figure. Catherine would've screamed but the figure whirled her around to face him, her scream was smothered by a gasp of relief and surprise. "Zechs!" She blurted as Ryuusei hid herself behind the older woman's legs.
Zechs glanced down at the small girl hiding behind Catherine clearly puzzled by her presence, she hadn't been with them when had arrived. "Are you all right?" He asked checking her over. Catherine nodded wearily before stepping out of the older man's grasp, she kneeled down and picked Ryuusei up off the ground with little effort. Zechs had been studying Catherine's blue lips during the time she had done this, he also noticed that her hair was stiffer than it usually appeared, not to mention she was cold to the touch.
"Where's the cabin?" He asked. Catherine looked about her studying the space-ish area before glancing at the threes behind the blonde. "It's past the ice-ring, about a mile or two away from the other lodgings," Catherine said breathlessly. Zechs nodded before grabbing her by the wrist leading her down the hill. "Wait, where are we going?!" She blurted. "Back to the Tallgese, we'll get to the cabin much faster that way, If it's not damaged beyond use," Zechs added the last part mentally. Catherine held Ryuusei in the crook of her arm letting the tall European lead her back to the mobile suit. Zechs knew Une would probably kill him for what he was about to do but the well being to Barton's sister was more important to him than the mission at the moment.
Margaret strode inside the second control room greeted by two armored men who stood beside a fairly wide control panel decorated in flashing buttons and an assortment switches. The 44-year-old woman came up to the panel her hand shaking slightly with anticipation at the thought of what she was about to do. Before her resided two controls to all of the prison cells' air systems.
Although most of the men she worked with preferred to kill those they captured with bullets, Margaret preferred to do kill their captured in a slow and painful away that way it didn't involve spilling blood, suffocation was her specially. Pulling on her leather gloves she reached over and pulled downward on the handle for cells twenty-two through fourteen; where the gundam pilots resided. She smirked watching the air status on the screen go from blue to red in a second. Behind her Heero stood at the door memorizing signs of the corridor he stood in along with every detail of the room Margaret stood in. Slowly he stepped away from the door and headed down the corridor that read; Cells twenty-one through one unnoticed by either of the three inside the room.
Margaret's brown eyes glanced toward the two men who looked a bit uneasy at the alarm attached to the air system's control panel, brushing her hair out of her face Margaret mentally congratulated herself for a job well done when the sound of the base's alarm ripped her out of her mind. "Miss Cypher, Wing Zero has returned! I repeat, Wing Zero has returned!" She turned toward the door way and dashed out of the room heading for main control room where surveillance resided. She was unaware that Heero was no longer at her side.
Quatre blinked wearily, feeling a bit light in the head, he scanned his surroundings taking a deep breath to make sure his body was still functioning correctly before he heard the sound of Wufei chuckle with disdain. "What's so funny?" The Arab asked. Wufei looked over to the blonde shaking his head. "Isn't it obvious?" Wufei said sounding annoyed. Quatre shook his head in response. "Isn't what obvious?" He repeated. At the other end of the cell Quatre heard Duo cough slightly. "They've cut off the air to the cell," Duo said blandly. Trowa whom had been silent for the longest time blinked with a look of indifference. So that's why he felt so lightheaded.
TBC......