"Manifestations"
By: Isis
Chapter 18

"Just how chummy did you two get on Libra?"

"Huh...?"

"I wouldn't have given it to her," she muttered, taking the offered hand to steady her against the docking hatch.

"She'll do whatever is needed."

"Yeah, and she'll spout bad philosophy the whole time."

Zechs specifically didn't answer her remarks as he descended into the walled off colony section.

"Where do we start?" she asked instead, looking out at the expanse of the dark, curved space in front of them.

"If they want to make it look like another accident they will need something to blame it on."

"Power grid? Operations office?" she asked. "It's all halfway around, and it more than likely wouldn't hurt the finished section."

"Convenient."

"This whole plot is too convenient," she muttered. "It's too bad Marcus didn't learn the same people-skills Dorothy did."

Zech's helmet swiveled over to look at her, but in the dim lighting, she couldn't make out his expression. Ok, so she might be a little bitter about the whole meeting. Heck, she was a little bitter about everything by now.

They had been stuck in hiding for four days now. Many of her friends and acquaintances were blown to dust orbiting the foreign planet outside by a bomb that was meant for her and Zechs, as well as the rest of the officers. And if she ever found Ferra Delmare alive and well again, she was going to break the woman's nose.

And maybe a few other appendages.

"Marcus isn't the one I'm worried about."

She breathed, calming herself. "Me either."

Digging quickly through the pack they had brought, he shook a glow-rod to life and then pushed himself off from the wall with a kick. She followed after him as they plunged into the dim interior.

"Duo?" Quatre blinked twice to make sure the person coming down the hall towards them was really his friend. He was still feeling dizzy, and his entire body ached in time with his heartbeat. But attempting to convince the others that he was all right meant that he was trying valiantly to keep them from noticing that he was shaking from his sudden level of activity. The drug had obviously taken its toil on him, and it wasn't finished yet.

"Yo Quatre!" he called, stopping himself to stand in the middle of the hall to wait for their approach. "The Lady Cat must be better than I thought."

He smiled slightly, catching up to him. "She always has perfect timing."

"Great," the other dismissed the compliment. Looking at him closer he knitted his eyebrows together. "What happened to you?"

Quatre shook his head, and then regretted the motion. "I'll be fine. I had a run in with Ferra and Commander Delmare."

Duo smiled, "Here's a news flash you'll enjoy, guess Ferra's last name."

The group moved off again, continuing their conversation. "What's that?"

"Delmare."

Quatre stopped himself again. "His daughter?"

Duo chuckled merrily, floating backwards down the corridor, "Nope, his wife."

Quatre blinked and then continued on after them. "Somehow, that makes sense."

"So what'd you do with Dorothy and the others?" he asked, glancing back at the empty hall behind them.

"I sent them back to the Star Grazer with him."

Duo started. "You caught him?"

"I think he was just about to have us moved somewhere we could be shut up permanently."

"Crud. Yeah, I've got a feeling where that might be." He turned back over his shoulder again as they turned a corner, "But we need to stop by and see Heero first. I think he needs to know what I didn't find."

He blinked, "What's that?"

His eyes hardened a bit, "Enough explosives to shut a lot of us up."

"Miss Relena," the messenger was quickly cut off from coming any farther into the meeting room as Ry and Del physically blocked his way. "Um…" he stalled, looking at the two officers.

"I'm sorry," Relena stated for the twentieth time since she had been placed under 'solitary watch.' House arrest is what she'd been calling it. "What is it that I can do for you?"

"Ma'am," he started again, at least attempting to look between their closed shoulders, "there are two men requesting—adamantly—to speak with you."

Relena blinked and stood up from her seat. "Who would that be?"

"Mr.'s Winner and Maxwell, I believe."

Relena started, headed towards him. "Where are they?"

"On the command deck, Ma'am. Would it be all right if I have them sent—?"

She didn't bother to let him finish as she physically moved Ry and Del apart. "I'm coming," she stated.

The man's eyes widened even farther and then nodded as he stepped aside, letting her squeeze between the two bodyguards.

"Miss Relena—" Del tried.

"Come along or stay here."

She knew it was against lock down protocol as she dislodged their holds on her and paced out the door and down the hall, but by now, she was very, very tired of not knowing what was going on, and she couldn't take that room anymore. Heero could give her all the annoyed speeches he wanted… annoyed glares more likely… Well, she didn't know what he'd do, but she'd deal with him later.

She rounded the corner, bringing the door to the command center into view, two officers standing at attention beside it. "Vice Minister," one recognized her.

"We have orders to not allow you to enter," the other stated quickly, placing himself into her oncoming path.

Relena didn't even slow down. "I am overriding that order," she stated with far more authority than she actually had. In truth, she had no authority whatsoever to order the Preventer officers around, and apparently the one in front of her knew her bluff.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Please have these officers escort you back to a safe area."

When she still didn't slow down he cringed and reflectively positioned his hand over his sidearm. At that, Relena stopped, close enough that she could stare into the older man's eyes. "Shoot me or open the door," she demanded.

The man lost the composure he had left as he stared down at her, wide-eyed.

"We will vouch for the Vice Minister," Del added from directly beside her. 'Thank you,' she inwardly sighed.

The other officer swallowed and then slowly moved aside. It was all the opening she needed. Not giving him the chance to change his mind, she continued, brushing past the two men and leaving them dumbfounded in her wake.

Entering the center she took a quick inventory of the room. Quatre and Duo were there, exactly as expected, four other Maguanac soldiers stood nearby, most likely part of Quatre's crew. Spotting her, the two ditched whatever conversation they were having with another flight officer and met her halfway.

"Finally!" Duo cried, coming up and hugging her off her feet for a moment. Setting her back down he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her out to arms-length. "Where's Heero? They won't tell us."

She blinked up at him, momentarily disturbed that they didn't know either. "He left," she stated shortly.

Quatre came up to her side, looking worried and…

"What? Why can't that man ever listen to me?" Duo huffed, letting go of her.

Relena ignored his protests a moment. "Quatre, are you all right?"

He nodded shortly, but there were telltale signs of bleeding on his right temple area. He had obviously cleaned a cut rather quickly, and from the looks of it, it hadn't been medically checked. "I'm fine. Do you know where he went?" he asked instead.

Blinking back to the situation she let the worry ease. "No, he… didn't say," she replied instead. The two certainly didn't need to know that she had been 'distracted' from getting that answer from him. "But he knew something about Milliardo and Miss Noin," she stated instead.

Someone had to know more than she did.

"Unfinished side," Duo muttered. "Exactly where I bet those mines went."

Quatre turned sharply to the rest of the room, the others milling around giving their assembly a good deal of space to talk. Not to mention that between her three Preventers and the four Maguanacs encircling them, she wouldn't want to stray too close either. Turning back to her he lowered his voice. "Can you get the Captain to order the fleet to un-dock and take up their own orbit?"

Relena blinked. "I can try."

His sea-blue eyes turned calculated, and she waited, knowing that look out of any of these men meant trouble. "Please do. With the amount of explosives on the loose, the whole fleet could be jeopardized if we're too close together."

"Explosives?"

"Heero doesn't tell you a whole lot either, does he?" Duo muttered, apparently still bitter over something.

She gave him a sympathetically annoyed glance but didn't bother to answer that.

He sighed, turning back to Quatre. "What is he thinking?"

The other gave him a worried look. "Least chance of success..."

He rolled his eyes, "So do we go save his thankless butt or not?"

"From what you said, he's already the backup," Quatre answered. "We could be in their way."

Duo shook his head and sighed. "Would someone please tell that man he isn't made out of gundanium anymore?"

Quatre shook off the comment and eyed her closely. "Miss Relena?"

"I'll get the ships moved," she stated purposefully.

He blinked at her, a bit surprised, but nodded. "We have the Commander in custody aboard the Star Grazer, but I don't think that will stop Ferra from their plans."

"The Delmares?" she blinked.

"Madam Darlian, are you all right here?" the Captain peeked into the group between the makeshift circle of protectors.

"Captain Ontra, we have an emergency situation and we need your assistance," she stated sharply. She had one task and she intended to do it. "We need to disengage all ships from the colony and move them to individual orbits."

The man balked, eyeing her incredulously. "Surely there is no need for—"

"Captain, this is a precautionary step. We have reason to believe that explosives have been placed in the colony and could jeopardize the fleet," Quatre added quickly.

The man blinked. "Who are you?"

"Captain," she interrupted. "Please, I need you to believe me on this. If I have to get a Preventer order I will, but that's time no one is sure we have."

The man gazed at her respectfully, obviously noting the worried edge to her voice, and then glanced at the surrounding group. "By your orders, Ma'am," he stated and turned back to the bridge officers.

Duo gave her an appraising look. "You're rather handy at this stuff."

"What else can I do?" she asked quickly.

"Stay safe," Quatre stated quietly. "We have no way of knowing how far this goes."

"Speaking of going," Duo muttered.

The other nodded, his mouth creasing to a straight line, "Right."

"Be careful," she whispered, the words more of prayer than a request.

"Don't worry," Duo patted her on the shoulder as he passed. "These are the best odds we've ever had."

She tried to return his smile as the group disassembled around her.

But his grip on her shoulder tightened instead as the decking suddenly rocked beneath them. "What the…?" The group kept their feet but turned to stare up at the display screens, searching for an answer.

The Captain barked out orders from the front of the room, calling for an explanation. Quickly the screens changed to show an outside view. Secondary fireballs could be seen coming from the colony itself on the far side of their vantage point.

"We're too late," Quatre whispered.

Relena grabbed onto Duo's arm beside her to help suppress the violent shudder than ran down her back.

Twenty-six. Three times more than he expected to find… if any.

"Commander, can you move?" Noin asked as the man tried to elbow his way into position. They had not only found a combination of the most noteworthy people on the Romulus, they had discovered half of the original command team. No wonder Marcus needed them out of the way.

The man grunted a response and she helped him upright with some of the others. They were all terribly dehydrated and the oxygen supplies were all but depleted. Getting them to move freely would be a task, even in zero gravity.

Some of the more dangerously depleted oxygen cells were replaced with the ones he had brought, but there wasn't enough for everyone.

Zechs shook another body, free floating towards the back of the operation's building's meeting room where they had been kept. There was no response and a raspy voice whispered out, "She's been gone two days. Internal injuries. Nothing we could do without taking the suit off."

He felt slightly nauseous as he took the oxygen cartridge out of the back of her suit and checked its levels. Half full was better then most right now.

He moved the unfortunate woman over to the other three they had discovered as… 'unresponsive.' There was no way to verify that they were dead at the moment, and even if they were, they at least deserved to have their bodies brought back.

Space was lonely enough; it could just wait for another soul.

Noin paired off the group, selecting stronger survivors to take care of the weaker, or unconscious, members. In twos or threes, she took them out of the building and pushed them off towards the 'floor' and the access hatch at the bottom. There was no time to waste here, and they wouldn't be spotted descending through the dark colony interior.

There was a near silent buzz of static in his ear as Zechs tied the four bodies together, linking them as one floating unit. He paused, freezing his breathing to listen. It was a moment before the buzz came again, but it was enough of a warning.

He clasped a hand onto Noin's shoulder and spun her around, holding a finger up to silence her. Pointing to his helmet he made sure she was speaking through vocal only, and not short-range. "Someone's coming," he stated shortly.

"Let's get out of here then." She grabbed hold of the last two conscious survivors and moved them through the building's hallway to the exterior decking and then shoved them off into the blackened abyss.

Zechs maneuvered the four unfortunate crewmembers over the edge of the walkway as well, and sent them on their way. Grabbing Noin around the waist from behind, he launched them away, faster than the others. Once in motion, they kept their momentum, but the colony, although small comparatively, was still a long way from one point to the other, and with nothing to speed their decent, it took several minutes before they could see the 'floor' come into view.

"What will they do when they figure out their gone?"

"Either find us, or run into hiding themselves," he mussed as he felt her arms cross over the top of his.

"The only chance we have is to go directly to the command's supply ship with Relena. We can't trust any of the other ships to let us in."

"Relena will have most of the medical personnel set up there as well. If Dorothy was successful in warning her, they should be on the look out for us anyway."

"It won't be easy to get in to see her."

"We'll deal with it." He wrapped his arms a bit more securely around her. Even if there was nothing to really feel through the spacesuits, it didn't matter. He knew it was her, and that was enough. Zechs turned them around as the floor came into focus, the work lights on the wall illuminating their target area.

They landed gently enough, fighting a few moments to keep from ricocheting, as the first groups down caught hold of them. Piling them together the two led them out the emergency access hatch and onto the face of the colony. Across the surface sat the Mars supply ship, docked with manual clamps to the sidewall. With a clear line-of-sight, thruster packs wouldn't be necessary, and the group moved off.

Zechs kept himself to the back as Noin helped them out and sent them ahead, specifically watching. When the last group was in her hands, she turned back to find him at the hatch controls.

"We can't let them try to hide," he stated quietly.

"What are you saying?" she asked, an edge of shocked panic in her voice. She knew him too well.

"The group will need help getting to the ship, they are in no shape to do it alone."

"Zechs, what are you—?"

He moved back enough to let the hatch slowly close down. "Be careful, Lucrezia."

"Zechs! Don't!" Her form attempted to fight past the last crewmembers as she clawed her way back towards him and the closing entryway. "Let me come with you!"

"Not this time," he stated softly. "Be safe."

It was the last thing that she would have heard as the hatch closed and he purposefully locked it down, from the inside and out.

He pushed himself off again and angled his way towards one of the few building structures completed on this side of the colony. Halfway up the short-range kicked over again and static turned to noises and those turned to voices as he caught himself on the underside of the building.

"They'll be in need of medical attention and they haven't shown up on the other ships yet. There's only one place they can go."

"They would have needed help getting out of here in their condition."

"I realize that."

"What do we do?"

There was an indignant snort. "Find them."

That was Ferra alright. The young blond was never one to be out maneuvered. Well, she would have her hands full soon enough.

"This section has four access hatches, cover all of them. Start with the one below and the one we entered through, they're the closest. Check for signs of tampering and stand guard."

She also knew her way around the blueprints.

"But… if someone knows what we've done—"

Snap.

"Do not make me repeat myself."

Zechs watched four men plunge themselves down towards the floor. Allowing them to go he pulled himself up onto decking opposite of them. Another two moved off farther into the colony, and a group of three began to make their way back towards their entrance hatch.

The third lingered behind, moving cautiously along, scanning the buildings around them. Had to be her. Those were a fighter's instincts, something that would tell her she was being watched…

Ferra was better than he thought she was.

He moved steadily along, trying to keep close, but between her and the rest of the group. If he could take her down without the others noticing, it would be easy to round up the rest. But suddenly she stopped. With a hand on a projecting girder, she watched the two hired thugs move off before turning back to the building they came from.

Zechs waited, pressing himself into a shadow and staying quiet. She was contemplating something, but what he couldn't know.

And then she broke. Grabbing the beam, she used her legs and pushed off like a shot. The amount of equipment and un-fleshed building corpses gave her cover as she disappeared from sight.

'Forcing me to follow her instead. Very cleaver.'

There was a low chuckle in his ear. "Let me guess. Mr. Marquese… I didn't figure you'd die so easily."

Zechs switched his frequency back, and let a smirk tug at his lips. "Touching that you think so highly of me."

"What do I have to do to get rid of you?"

He moved slowly, cautiously easing himself into a better vantage point. "Go to prison where you belong. I promise not to visit."

There was a good-humored giggle. "Been there, done that, didn't stay."

There was a flash of movement to his right. He couldn't make out the position for sure, but something was better than nothing. Easing in, he crept between the riggings, bringing the deck railing into view again. If she went over the side, she could be nearly fifty meters out before the range circuit would fade.

"That explains a few things," he muttered, more to see if she was still close then to continue the conversation.

There was a sigh in his ear. "You're really rather fun, Mr. Marquese. I'm actually going to hate getting rid of you."

"I'm surprised Marcus sent you out here yourself. I figured clean up duty would be beneath you." His eyes searched the dimness, she had to be close.

"Well, I had a package to deliver, but it seems that nobody's home. I guess I'll have to leave it with the neighbor."

Package? They wouldn't do anything that drastic while there were outsiders around. They should have been looking for nothing but a quiet disposal…

Unless someone else suddenly made their list.

He mentally cursed. "Did someone stumble too far in?"

Sigh, "My dear husband is just far too popular."

"Poor judgment of character on your part." Come on, get ruffled, make a mistake.

"Speaking of which, did she make it through as well? I'm sure she did. You're rather… domesticated. It'd be a shame to break up such a lovely pairing; where is that new bride of yours?"

That ruffled something alright.

Another flash of movement caught his eye from the side of the building. Something metallic by the glint.

It wouldn't take much to die out here. Even a harmless grazing could tear a hole their spacesuits and send them to depressurized oblivion. Except that he hadn't noted a gun on her before… That didn't mean she didn't have one. Besides, even a crowbar could break a faceplate.

"She's fine, I wouldn't want you to worry over her."

Sliding out of his position, he moved back along the equipment sitting next to the structure. He circled easily back around, coming in behind the unfinished walls at the edge of the complex.

"Well, it's nice to know I'll be running into her again," she chuckled. "I'll be sure to let her know every detail," she trailed off to a whisper.

"You're not exactly her favorite person right now. If you do see her, she won't be in the mood to listen."

Closing in on the corner, he sunk low to the decking and peeked around the edge, hiding in the shadows. Just beyond the building, over the railing, he spotted movement again—

A hand tool of some sort pin wheeled innocently out into the openness of the dark colony structure.

His curse echoed inside his head as he snapped back to the shadows just as a pair of boots clipped his shoulder. The jolt sent him cart wheeling until his outstretched hand caught a piece of the foundation, which stopped his momentum but smacked him bodily into the decking.

A giggle resounded, bouncing around with the ring in his ears from his helmet's concussion. Tracking back to her he found her shadow melding in with the others as she attempted to move out sight again.

"Too slow," he muttered.

His position on the decking allowed a perfect launch point as he pushed off at greater speeds then she was obviously counting on. He flew after her retreating form. Floating free she had nothing to change her position with.

Zechs clipped onto her shoulder and made a grab for her arm. Latching on, he found the construction site looming in front of them both. Snagging a foot onto an outcropping of a machine, he turned them both, flinging her around and releasing her into a half-finished wall. The secondary add of momentum sent her straight through it, her back hitting first, giving him the satisfying sound of her shortened cry.

His own motions were thrown askew by the release, but he fought it down enough to bounce harmlessly off the space next to the broken wall. Not pausing, he turned himself around and faced the hole, attempting to find her in the absolute dark of the interior.

He didn't get the chance to see it coming as a broken piece of board hurled itself into his chest. The small plank did no damage, but it distracted him long enough that the same pair of boots smashed into his chest.

The connection sent him backwards, crashing through an unplaced sheet of paneling, and back farther until the railing came into view, and beyond that, the emptiness of the rest of the colony.

Making a desperate grab, he snagged it in a one-handed hold. Again, he was brutally slammed onto the edge of the metal decking, his left hip meeting it painfully. Zechs looked up in time to see a purple spacesuit coming directly for him, and bit back the pain as he turned himself around and placed two hands on the rail for a pivot. Pushing off with his legs, he swung himself over the edge and straight into her.

He kept his grip as the momentum nearly tore his arms from their sockets. But Ferra flew backwards, her surprised cry cut off when his boots met her stomach, knocking her air out. Her body sped through the construction zone, clipping equipment here and there. Only her pained exclamations told him that she was still conscious.

Setting his feet down, he pushed himself off after her again, not daring to let her get her bearings when she landed.

Stretching out an arm, she grabbed onto a girder, and cried out in pain when the force slammed her back up against it. Zechs was right behind her, which she must have known as he came over the foundation work. Gasping, she moved aside as he slammed a foot and then a fist into the spot she had been.

In a flash, she had popped over his head, landing on the beams above them. He started after her, only to see her push herself off, directly out from the construction area and into the emptiness of the center.

He was about to go after her when she pulled something from her belt and held it out in front as she flew backwards.

"I hate to cheat at this, Mr. Marquese. But I just don't feel like playing any more," she gasped out.

"What?"

He narrowed his eyes as he deciphered her thumb depress towards her hand—Detonation switch! He started, snapping around to gage the distance between himself and the operations building, needing to know which way to jump.

He didn't get the chance as a fast moving body brutally slammed into his shoulders and threw him over the edge. By then the concussion of the blast ripped past, deciding for him which way he went.

The fireball exploded around him as he angled down, the force needing to eat through the amount of equipment and materials in the way before reaching him. But that meant that debris danced around him, coming dangerously close to the protective suit.

The flame expanded past him, and the thermal insulation fought to keep up with the sudden heat. But at soon as it came, it died, leaving the flickers of secondary fires to staccato through the rest of the colony structure. A line of explosions followed down the power lines, creating a crease in the outer wall.

His knees hit something solid before he realized that the colony floor had come up on him faster then he would have thought. Bracing himself, he tucked his body to roll as he landed hard against the outside wall, getting a cry of pain out of him as his hip and side were again bashed in.

Being slowed somewhat; he lashed out an arm and brought himself to stop, gasping at the pain in his shoulder at the jerk. He secured himself as best he could as he fought against the spots that clouded his vision. He looked up in time to see something else roll by him, and land in much the same fashion, a stifled gasp resounding in his helmet from it as well.

He didn't have time to contemplate it as he fought against the pain burning through him. He didn't notice until it was already too late that shrapnel had begun to rain down. A hand clasped over his arm and he was jerked upright as he was pulled forcefully off the colony wall. The trajectory was enough of an attempt to out maneuver the pin-balling chunks of metal and building equipment.

The hand on his arm jostled him. "Zechs, you alive?"

That voice… "Yuy."

That, just, figured.

He sighed, letting the scene slow to a normal pace. "Couldn't have shown up five minutes earlier, could you?"

"I'm getting tired of coming after you." The hand on his arm pivoted as the other spacesuit came into view in front of him. "How bad?"

He bit back the obscene reply and instead did a quick inventory on himself. "I'll live."

The other nodded. "I don't want to have to convince them I didn't do it."

Zechs let the smirk run over his face. "Really Heero, you're too concerned."

"Hn."

The younger man looked up and extended a hand to the looming curve of the wall. He too positioned himself to slide along the gentle slope until they both came to stop. "What the hell brought you out here?"

The reply was slow in coming. "You should know better than to worry her."

Relena. Of course, what else?

He chuckled through his erratic breathing, attempting to keep his mind off his injuries. "You've let her get to you." Even through the suit he understood the former pilot well enough to tell that he bristled. He knowingly waved it off. "They have that effect," he muttered, clutching at his left side.

"Every life is a march from innocence, through temptation, to virtue or vice." - Lyman Abbott

"True friends stab you in the front." - Oscar Wilde