Author's Note: We're getting down to the big conflict. That's right, the other side of the main plot is introduced and the countdown begins at last. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: strong language, violence

Taking Over

Katsaris scoffed in contempt when the E.S.A. Siberia docked into the north section of the Sanc Kingdom port. Pacifism must have made these people stupid. There was hardly anyone around. No security personnel, no gathering of workers ready to tear the Siberia to pieces, only an official there to make sure that the ship had arrived.

That was all going to change soon.

He strode off the warship in broad daylight, dressed in combat gear along with two men holding automatic weapons.

And the man didn't look up from his fucking clipboard. Pity.

"What are the damages?" he said conversationally when he was only five feet away, his men maneuvering to either side of the man.

The official now looked at him, ready to retort, and got a good look at him. "You're not the admiral," he stated, a frown on his face.

"No shit," Katsaris replied as one of his men jammed the barrel of their weapon into the man's side and fired. The official's body muffled the normally loud gunshots, thus making sure no one knew what was about to take place. To make sure that they would gain a little time, the corpse was thrown into the sea with weight added to it to ensure that it sunk. Once the deed was done, Katsaris sprang into action. "Get the rest of the men and secure the area. Lock down the north sector of the port immediately. Make sure no one knows we're here until it's too late."

The men saluted him and returned to the ship. Katsaris paused and surveyed the immediate surroundings. Grant had been smart choosing this place out of countless others. From the feel of the wind blowing against him, he knew that no one would strike against him without risking the release of the VX. The poisonous gas would spread further with the winds helping. So many casualties that the government wouldn't risk, especially under Relena Peacecraft's leadership.

A moment later, his men returned, this time with a heavy following which split into small fractions that would search and secure the port. Katsaris returned to the bridge on the Siberia, already planning the next move.

Half an hour later, his men returned, a few remaining at the entrance to the north sector to prevent any unwanted intrusion. He had as many as was possible on the bridge when he began speak.

"Listen to me and listen well," Katsaris spoke. "What we are about to embark on will make all of us wanted fugitives for the rest of our lives. However, there is an upside. When this is over, each and every one of you will be paid a fee of ten million dollars. Is this something you can live with?"

He paused and waited for an answer that he wasn't disappointed to hear. A thunderous "YES SIR!" followed mere seconds after he had voiced his question. He smiled to himself. These men would follow him to Hell and back, wouldn't they? Well, now to get down to business.

"Now we have crossed the point-of-no-return. I want eight rockets unloaded and set up around the north sector of the port. The other ten will be set up around the Siberia. Make sure all have a clear way out to the sky. In this room, I want all the equipment concerning the launching system set up along with all electronic security measures that are implemented, and I want everything operational by eighteen hundred hours. Am I clear?"

"YES SIR!"

Turning to his second-in-command, he ordered, "Colonel Ottsman, split the men up as you see fit and get to work."

"Yes General Sir!" Ottsman answered before turning to the men. "You heard the General. I want…"

At this point, Katsaris tuned everything out as he gazed at the vast expanse of ocean, marking how far up the sun was, calculating how long before the deadline was up and everything was ready.

Phase Four was almost over. Phase Five would soon be on its way…

---

Relena rubbed her temples in exasperation. Damn, this session was already long past the point of being dismissed. Even though she seemed a bit of an airhead out in the real world, she was a veteran in the political world, despite her young age.

Lately, Representative Grant had been making more of a nuisance of himself in the past couple weeks. In fact, he seemed to spring up out of nowhere about the time of the CLAF declaration of independence on L2 with a voice calling out for the reinstitution of the military. He had staunch supporters on his side who had been advocating the revival of the military ever since the Mariemaia incident and convinced many of those in the middle to join his side.

It seemed as if her policies of Pacifism were being tossed aside in this new attitude. She couldn't let that happen but even now, she was beginning to hear voices of doubts among her own staunch supporters. How long could she hold on before Grant was able to replace her as Speaker?

She was lost in her thoughts, letting others hold up the front lines, so maybe that was why she didn't hear somebody calling for her.

"Speaker?"

Jerking back to reality, unaware that she was receiving a lot of stares, she answered, "Yes? What is it?"

"There's a General Victor Katsaris on the line for you. He said that he wanted to speak with you in front of the legislature, saying he had something important to tell you.'

Her eyes widened slightly. General Katsaris? Wasn't he the person who was in charge of the CLAF on L2? What did he want to speak with her and the council? "Put him on the vid screen," she ordered.

With that, a screen began to be lowered from the ceiling through a slit. Once the screen had been completely unveiled, a flicker flashed on it, a picture slowly accumulating, pixel by pixel, until everyone saw the image of the General, lounging in what seemed to be a captain's quarters. He was smug, which was the first thing everyone noticed, his posture challenging.

"Live from onboard the E.S.A. Siberia, it is I, old General Katsaris. It's a pleasure to finally speak with you, Relena Peacecraft," Katsaris greeted.

"What is it that you want, General Katsaris?" Relena snapped, her patience already worn. There was some murmuring among the rest of the representatives at this action but Relena could hardly care less.

"Straight to the point, aren't you?" Katsaris commented dryly. "Very well then. I have eighteen guided rockets, all loaded with VX poison gas, and each and every one of them are just begging to be set loose upon the population of the Earth."

"Earth?" Relena questioned.

"Yes, Earth," Katsaris retorted. "Being the head of a rebellion wasn't as much fun as I had originally thought it would be so I'm falling back to simpler things."

"Such as?"

"No time for chit chat?" Katsaris replied. "No opportunities to give out a monologue? You are such a fun killer, you know that."

"None of us have time for this," Relena snapped. "Just say what you want to say."

"You people are in Sanc, are you not?" Katsaris asked instead. Upon receiving an affirmative, he continued. "I'm in Sanc as well. And trust me, I have at least a couple rockets aimed in your exact location and at any moment I will launch one of them straight into the very room in which you stand. Understand?"

Relena had paled. Politicians were beginning to panic. Katsaris's smugness seemed to increase.

"Don't even think about trying to leave the building," he stated, well aware of the growing hysteria. "A rocket will be there before you take a step out of it so sit back and relax. None of you are going anywhere, at least anywhere anytime soon. Don't even try to evacuate, yourselves or the innocent civilians here."

Finally regaining a bit of her wits, she asked a question, dreading the answer. "What is it that you want?"

"Money," was Katsaris reply. "Cold, hard cash. A lot of it as well, let's say…ten billion in the strongest currency on this planet and the Colonies. Don't even think about denying that you can get that amount of money. You spend that much ever day and I just want a piece of it, that's all. I know you won't be able to…get it all in a single day so I will give you a deadline. Seventy-two hours. For you slow people out there, it means three days. I will call you back then and give you instructions on what to do once you have it all. And please, this time, no funny business. The moment I hear that you try something, I'm going to launch a rocket and kill a lot of people and it won't just be the population of Sanc that you'll have to worry about. I have a few of the most important and largest cities on Earth targeted as well.

"I know this is extortion…or is it blackmail? I get those things mixed up. But ask yourselves this. What's more important: the money or the people? Make the right decision and nobody has to die anytime soon. See you later."

The screen blacked out. Katsaris was no longer on the line. Instead of mass panic among the bureaucrats, it was silent. Then a single voice shattered it.

"So, Speaker, what does Pacifism say we do now?"

Relena's eyes fell down to meet those of Representative Grant.

"Are there any answers that peaceful means can do to solve this, outside of us giving this lunatic that amount of money? Please, Speaker, I'm would love to know what you're going to do."

She didn't have an answer for that and it seemed to encourage the politician further.

"I told you all. I was the first to say it. We need a military. A government practicing the principles of Pacifism just isn't equipped to handle this sort of situation. It's the Mariemaia Incident all over again."

"Enough of your insolence," an elder politician snapped. "While you have a point, you do not have the authority to berate the Speaker's beliefs or political practices. What we need to do know is figure out how we can get through this crisis. What do you suggest we do, Speaker?"

Relena was silent only for a moment before her eyes hardened in determination. "Contact Director Une and brief her of the situation, leave no details out. We need to get accurate information of what VX is and how it can be destroyed. Just in case, we should also get the ransom money that General Katsaris has demanded, just in case there is nothing we can do. We only have three days and we can't afford to waste them."