Disclaimer: I do not own the title for Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, the Character Names, or places.
Six Years after Colony 175
Heero Yuy, once the pilot of Gundam Zero looked down at his table and sighed. It had been a long time since he had helped destroy OZ, and destroyed Gundam Zero in the process. His wife, Relena, was always busy help keep the government of the United Earth Alliance in peace. It sickened him to the point that he would cry most days, and today was turning out to be one of those days. Mobile Suits were outlawed by the Alliance Pact that he and Relena had drafted, but he knew that some where still out there. Deathscythe; Heavyarms; Sandrock; Shenlong; and Tallgeese were still in one piece. Though Relena had no knowledge of this, Heero was always in contact with Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Chang.
"Heero?" the sing song voice of Relena said from the now open door of their shared suite on Colony 23. He turned and smiled, looking at his wife of five years. She had barely changed in any sense of the word, except that the stress had made shear her hair a little shorter than was the norm.
"Yes love?" he asked, standing and moving over to embrace her. "Is there something wrong?" Her smile told him all there was to know and he shook his head. "Who this time?"
"Colony 169, they've started making Mobile Suits for defense. They think that there is something to worry about with the new 175." Her sigh broke his heart, but he kept his calm. After the first couple of years, he stopped rushing out the door, and getting arrested for attacking this or that numb skull that was declaring war. "They refuse to dismantle them, and have withdrawn from the Alliance." These words made Heero perk his ears some, which was all the outburst that he had for his wife now.
"And what can I do?" he asked her, leaning down and kissing her softly. They had love left in their marriage, even with the constant travel, and the futile attacks on her life. Shang had taught Heero how to fight a little better than just a street brawler, and he was used to protecting Relena every other week. In fact, he had some bruises from an assassination attempt from just the other day.
"Get a hold of the other Pilots, I think it's time to make 169 see some reason." Heero was surprised that she knew that he still talked to his old associates. They had had some fights in the past, but for the most part, they worked themselves out for the greater good. "I want all five of you to go there and see what kind of fire power they truly have. As former opponents of OZ, you hold a lot of power with 169, and they even said that you were the only ones they would talk about the issues with." Heero shook his head again, wanting no part of this new mission. Usually it was just photography, but some of the old points had taken some more terrorist tactics to calm down.
"And you want us to do what with this new Colony? We don't need another 175 to crash down around our heads. We don't have the time, money, or war machines to take care of another civil war." Relena nodded but her smile remained fixed.
"I don't want you to blow them up Heero, just go and talk to them. If you can, get some data on the suits that they say they have." Nodding, Heero kissed his wife again and smiled. "And come back to me quickly. I have some good news for you." Almost pushing him out the door, Heero just looked bewildered. Sometimes it was just easier to go with what she had to say, and this had to be one of those times. Grabbing his traveling jacket, he walked from the suite, down to the one place that he knew that his friends would be waiting for him. They always picked some new bar, or even an eatery to meet at and discuss what they had heard recently. Walking with his hands in the pockets of the jacket, he made his way to the Ore Tavern. Colony 26 was a mining colony, so most of the Inn's and Taverns had to do with mining.
"Heero!" Duo exclaimed as he walked into the tavern. The man had changed far more than any of the others, since he had been out and working for the Alliance Security, as its chief. It was good to have friends that ran the government some times. "We were just talking about you! Remember when we first met?" The conversation always was the same, with Duo trying to blow up the same target that Heero had given himself. They always got a good laugh out of recounting the experience, but this time was going to be different.
"Yea, I remember, but we have work to do." The smile fell off of Duo's lips, something that made him look older than just 22. "We have to go look at a Colony. Part of the perks of working for Relena." They all knew what that meant, since they had all taken odd jobs from the woman, even destroying Armor depots left over from the days of OZ. They took pleasure in finding and destroying them, since it usually meant that they would get to fight something or someone.
"169?" Chang asked in his usual bored voice. Time hadn't changed him either, since he still refused to talk to anyone. And if he had to talk, it was simple words and sentances. He had a habit of giving them something to think about before any mission. It was enjoyable, but this time it grated on Heero's nerves.
"Yea, they laid claim that they have an Armor Depot that they're building. They even gone as far as to withdrawl from the Alliance. Some of the information that they passed to Relena doesn't speak very highly of the type of Armor, but for safeties sake, we've been told that it needs to be taken from them." Nodding one and all, they left the Tavern. People rushed to get out of their way, since they were known to work for the Alliance, and often for the personal jobs of Relena Peacecraft Yuy. Shang Wufei smiled and broke from the group as soon as they exited the building, heading to his own mode of transportation. As one of the original Gundam Pilot's, Shang kept Shenlong in perfect working condition. He would be the only one taking a Gundam Fighter to the Colony, since they were outlawed, and thought destroyed.
"So once we get there, we see what they have, take out what they're not supposed to have, and make sure that everyone is happy with the outcome," Quatre said bringing up the rear. As the youngest of the group, he was always in the back.
"Not everyone is going to be happy with the outcome," Duo said looking behind him. "I'm sure that 169 isn't going to be too happy when their weapon depot goes up in flame." The group laughed and continued to the Private Alliance shuttle that would take them the entire way to Colony 169.
"And what about you Trowa? I haven't heard a peep from you so far." Heero looked back as he took his seat, looking at his old friend.
"I'm just not sure that we're going about this the correct way. Sometimes people need to break away to see how hard it is to survive on their own. 169 is almost like a teen aged child that has been spoiled their entire life, then when one thing goes wrong, they think they're being pushed off to the side on purpose. When that happens, the easiest thing to do is cut them lose and sit back and watch them flounder. Another Colony could just as easily do this job for us." The three remaining pilots chuckled as Trowa said this. Then Quatre was the first to speak up.
"That young woman you've been spending time with has got you tied to her doesn't she?"
"Shut up Sandrock," Trowa said, using the code name that Quatre had gone by when using his Gundam. It wasn't common knowledge that they still used the names, so they only did so during missions.
"Make me Heavyarms. You're the one that keeps ditching us for this woman."
"And what about Tallgeese? He keeps running behind Relena like a little lost puppy."
"That's because I'm married nit wit," Heero said without turning around to face the others. "You'd follow your wife around like a little lost puppy if she kept having assassins come out of the wood work for her." The complaints stopped at the point as the others sat there and thought about what had been said. "Now like I said, the operation is easy. Go in, see what they have, and then blow the depot into deep space if there is one. If not, then no one is to be harmed. We'll most likely receive a hero's welcome, since they praise us for what we did against OZ."
"So does half of the Alliance," muttered Trowa. Heero ignored him at this point and continued on with the weapons that may be used, and the exact amount of explosives he would be carrying. "But I have a question. If they do have a depot, and we do have to fight our way in, then what? Do we just go in like no one can stop us, and kill everyone in our way or what?"
"That's what Shenlong is for." Heero said, turning around finally. "He's going to lay in wait, and if we need to take something out that's too heavily guarded, then he'll come in, destroy it, and we'll all escape." Turning his back to them again, Heero closed his eyes, and dreamt of when he would be back with Relena.
Sixteen long hours passed by as they ran the shuttle to it's limit, trying to get to Colony 169 as quickly as possible to avoid another civil war. It was only a matter of time until another Colony thought that they would be the next under threat, and the attacks would begin. No one wanted this, since they would call for the building of Armors again, to protect anyone from the fighting. Though the men had slept, none had done it well.
"Welcome to Colony 169," the pilot, who had been silent the entire ride, said at last, making each man open his eyes. They were still in space, and knew better than to look for Shenlong. Shang could be anywhere, keeping his presense unknown until he had been signaled to attack. "We'll be landing in six minutes. I suggest you put on happy faces gentlemen, we have a guard flying us in." Looking to each other, they all knew what that meant. Nothing would be going to plan any time soon. As the shuttle landed, Heero, Duo, Trowa and Quatre stood and moved to the door. Each had a small weapon strapped somewhere, and the ability to remotely call for their own mobile suits, which Shang would have brought with him in the travels.
"Welcome, Ambassadors," a voice said as the door swung open, and the steps on the bottom of the ship lowered to the ground. "We're glad that someone has come to see the crisis that is Colony 169. Now if you don't mind, guards, take them." The four men looked to one another as a set of guards moved forward, weapons raised. This wasn't something that they had planned on. "Once the searches have been finished, you'll be taken to your quarters to await Chancellor Constan's arrival for your questioning to begin. We don't want, or need Relena Peacecraft Yuy's help here. We're leaving the Alliance, and nothing you say or do is going to stop that."
Author's Note: As writing is a passion of mine, I do like to hear CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, from people who actually read to help other writers. If your only goal in life is to bash people's writing styles, then I do not want to hear from you. Your less than worthless in the writing world, and need to leave my stories alone. I thank all of you in advance for reading my work, and adding anything that you think I could do better. I am only human, so I expect grammatical errors and the like to be in my stories. If that is all you're going to say, then don't bother writing anything as a review.