Last Resistance to Peace
Chapter 20

A.C. 205

April 1

The following day, Queen Relena stood on the tarmac, flanked by Major Sally and Lieutenant Noin. She had hoped that her brother would reappear from where ever he had been hiding, but no one had seen him. Not even Noin. No one knew where he was.

A large white mobile suit carrier with the OZ emblem had landed just a few minutes ago and was in the process of being unloaded. Relena watched as the two Gundams were rolled out of the plane and onto the tarmac, to be stored in Relena's mobile suit hanger.

A stairwell was rolled up to the passenger door of the plane, and the two pilots stepped out: 01 and 02.

Relena released a long breath through her teeth. Sally laid a hand on Relena's shoulder. "It'll be okay. We'll get rid of the suit, and they'll leave."

"I want to believe that it'll be that simple, but I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe this is just the start…"

Beside Relena, Noin fidgeted. Her eyes were on the two pilots who were now crossing the tarmac towards the Queen. Noin knew that Milliardo would end up fighting these two, and her stomach twisted in fear that they would turn out to be better pilots than him. And if Epyon was found and destroyed, then Milliardo would be unable to complete his plan. Noin glanced sidelong at Relena, wishing she could tell the Queen everything that was happening behind her back, but she knew Relena would be furious, and perhaps Milliardo would end up back in that prison cell. Noin had worked too hard to get him released to just have him thrown back in. But with these Gundam pilots in the country, Milliardo's plan was going to be even more difficult to carry out.

The two pilots came to a halt a few feet from Relena and bowed. "Your Majesty, m'name's Duo Maxwell, and this is my cohort, Heero Yuy. It's a pleasure to meet you," the braided pilot said, flourishing his bow with a wave of his hand. The other pilot, Heero Yuy, merely nodded.

"I'd like to introduce you to Major Sally Po and Lieutenant Lucrezia Noin. Should you require anything while you are here, you will contact them," Relena said, and she turned to Sally. "I'll leave them with you." Sally saluted her, and Relena turned away towards her waiting car.

"We have set up rooms for you in the officers' quarters," Sally informed them. "If you'll come with us, we will show you to them."

"Pretty decent digs, huh?" Duo Maxwell asked, leaning on the doorframe to Heero's room. His partner was already sitting at the standard issue desk, typing away at something on his laptop. If Duo knew Heero, then his meager clothing was already unpacked and stacked neatly in the dresser across from the bed. Two pairs of boots stood ready beside the door.

"Hn."

"I can see you're talkative. I was just going to find out where I can get some food. You wanna come along?" Duo asked. Heero glanced at Duo out of the corner of his eye, sighed, then tapped a few keys on his laptop and closed the lid. "Great," Duo said, acknowledging this as an affirmative.

The two pilots left the room and walked down the hallway they had been led down by Major Sally and Lieutenant Noin.

"You really think the Queen is behind that Gundam?" Duo asked, glancing at the doors along the hallway as they passed.

"Seems fairly obvious," Heero replied.

"I don't know, man. I thought she looked pissed when Quatre showed her those pictures," Duo said.

"She was caught."

Duo shrugged. Not that he knew much about this Queen, but he wasn't getting the feeling that she was behind the Gundam Epyon.

The two reached the end of the hall, and still had not see anything that would direct them towards the mess hall. Duo looked left and right, until a young soldier appeared in the hallway. It was a woman, a bit on the shorter side, with short dark hair. She was striding down the hall with purpose.

Duo hailed her.

"'Scuse me, ma'am!" he called, waving an arm. The soldier halted, and Duo watched her eyes travel over their uniforms. Her face progressed through several emotions, until she settled on skepticism, her hand resting on the grip of the gun at her hip.

"OZ soldiers? What are you doing here?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. Duo raised his hands so she could see he wasn't armed.

"We're Gundam pilots, here on orders from Romefeller," he said. The soldier scoffed, her hand drifting away from the gun. "The Queen knows we're here. We were just looking for some food."

The soldier looked very conflicted. She glanced around, but there was no one else in the vicinity. Duo watched as she made her decision, sighed, and bowed.

"Apologies, sir. My name is Hilde Schbeiker. I can show you to the mess hall," she said.

"Thanks!"

Hilde walked past them and headed left down the hall, with Duo and Heero behind her. Duo grinned, watching the young soldier keep her poise.

"Some service, huh?" Duo asked, leaning towards Heero, who stepped away.

"This isn't a vacation, Maxwell," Heero grumbled. "We're here to do a job." Duo waved a hand at him.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll get the job done, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the amenities."

Heero flashed Duo a very dark look. "If you fraternize with anyone here, I'll kill you myself."

Duo rolled his eyes. It wasn't the first time Heero had made a threat against his life, and certainly wouldn't be the last. "Sure thing, buddy," Duo said, his eyes falling back on the soldier leading them to the mess hall.

A.C. 205

April 1

After depositing the Gundam pilots in the officers' quarters, Noin slipped away to try and get a hold of Milliardo. She returned to her room and unearthed an old phone. She turned the thing on and dialed the only number programmed in the contacts list.

The call was eventually picked up.

"Hello, Noin," Milliardo said, his voice sounding distant through the speaker.

"Where the hell are you?" Noin asked. "I can't believe you weren't here to help protect the Sanc Kingdom yesterday." She couldn't find the anger that was building in her chest.

"I know I should have been there, but as soon as the Gundams showed up, I left to move Eypon to a safer location. He can't fall into the hands of OZ," Milliardo said.

"Is that where you are now?" Noin asked.

"Affirmative."

"Two Gundam pilots are here," Noin said. Milliardo made a noise of surprise. "They'll be here until they find Epyon and take it into custody."

Milliardo was silent for a while before speaking again. "Where is Relena letting them stay?"

"In the officers' quarters."

"My plans will have to be accelerated then," he said. Noin wished she knew more about these plans, but Milliardo continued to leave her in the dark. Her anger ebbed away.

"Please, let me join you!" she pleaded. "I can help you."

"I need you to stay in Sanc and keep an eye on Relena," he said. "We can't allow anything to happen to her, or we'll lose an important edge in this war." Noin felt her bottom lip quiver, in spite of her attempts to calm herself.

"I understand… it's just… I've waited so many years for you… I don't want to wait longer."

"I know how you feel, Noin. I really do. But we've talked about this - I won't be able to give you the life you deserve. Once I begin my plan, I'll be on the run, maybe for the rest of my life," Milliardo said.

"I don't care about any of that, and you know it," she cried. She heard Milliardo chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Then just give me a little longer. We have to stop this war, and Relena's going to need the kind of support only I can give her," Milliardo said.

"And after?"

"After, we can be together."

A.C. 205

April 1

Relena sat at her desk in the administration wing of the Peacecraft Palace. The sun was slipping behind the horizon, casting long shadows through the large windows of the room. She held her head up in her hands, staring down at the stack of papers that had just been delivered to her office. The initial reports of the damage from the Gundam attack had come in, and it was not a pretty sight. Nor a cheap one.

And those two Gundam pilots were probably making themselves comfortable right now in her officers' quarters.

And she still had to confront her brother.

And somehow still run a country.

Relena released a long sigh and looked up from the papers. She wouldn't be weak. Her father had taught her that much. Everything was just an obstacle, and obstacles could be overcome.

But all at once?

She stood up from her chair and turned to look out the window, which gave her a view of the Peacecraft Palace gardens. Even the sight of the summer flowers couldn't wash the darkness lingering in her mind. How did any one person do it all without crumbling under the pressure?

"Oh no…" The tears began to burn in her eyes. Her chest tightened. "I won't cry." Taking deep breaths, she tried to control the overwhelming emotions within, but her efforts were mostly useless. Relena pressed a hand to her eyes. She could feel the hot tears leaking from her eyes and trailing slowly down her sheets, landing on the front of her uniform. "I'm sorry, father," she whispered, lifting her eyes to the gardens once more. She knew that out in the middle of the gardens was a statue dedicated to her peace-advocating parents.

She was already ruining their legacy within the Sanq Kingdom, and now she was crying about it.

-SE