I do not own Gundam Wing.  This fan fiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this.  

Chapter 11

Heero terminated the videophone connection with Dr. J just as Duo let himself into the room. “Feel better?” Duo asked.

Heero turned to look at him, the only remnant of his alter ego was the blonde hair hanging down in its usual style, the familiar expression of concentration on his face. “No.”

“What did you find out?”

“Jacob’s gone, Dr. J doesn’t know where. I have a feeling he and Relena are in the same place.”

“Why?”

“If Tavey is after the Gundams, and they think Jacob is me….”

“Oooh!” Duo exclaimed.

“…then he’s probably dead by now,” Heero finished.

*             *             *             *             *          *          *             *             *             *             *

“I’ve had enough of your stalling!” the General yelled. “You’ll tell me where the Gundams are hidden, or you’ll die.”

“I don’t know where they are,” she said defiantly. “Only their pilots know what happened to them.”

General Tavey raised the gun to her head. Relena blinked and lowered her gaze. “Go ahead, I’m not afraid to die.”

“Wait!” said Hugh.

“What is it, soldier?”

“Can’t we ransom her for the Gundams?”

“To whom?”

“Her brother. He also piloted a Gundam, and if he doesn’t know where they are, then he probably knows who does.”

“Hn…” the General said, considering what his first officer just proposed.

“Get Mr. Peacecraft on the line,” Tavey commanded before lowering his pistol.

*             *          *          *             *             *          *          *             *          *          *

Milliardo took the call, and pressed the button to broadcast the conversation to his “inner circle”. A large, rather ugly man in uniform appeared on screen, making his demands. As emphasis, he brought out Relena, arms shackled, and pointed his gun in her face. Inwardly, Milliardo seethed.

“So, do we have a deal?” Tavey asked menacingly.

“No!” Relena shouted. “Don’t do it, Milliardo. My life is nothing compared to the thousands of lives that will be lost!”

“Relena…” Heero murmured. He flipped a few switches, and broke in on the audio transmission.

“Tavey! Only a coward would threaten someone that can’t fight back! I’m on my way there. I’ll give you what you want. I’ll give you the Gundams, but you’d better not harm one hair on her head…or I will kill you!”

Tavey put his weapon back in his holster. He smiled maliciously. “Who are you, how do I know you have that information?”

“Don’t insult me…. This is Gundam pilot 01, out.” Heero replied, and terminated the connection.

            Relena looked up at the blank space where the image of her brother had been a few moments before. “Heero…?”

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *

Heero’s shuttle docked in the main hangar. He emerged with his arms up, in a gesture of surrender. Soldiers sent to greet the former Gundam pilot conducted him to the control room, where the General waited.

“Hn. If you’re pilot 01, who did I kill?” Tavey asked Heero suspiciously.

“My rival,” Heero smirked.

“You’re…? Ah, for the young lady’s affections, no doubt. Then I suppose I’ve done you a favor.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. Where is she?” Heero demanded.

“She’s right here,” he said stepping aside as Hugh brought Relena forward.

            Heero’s gaze was cold as he eyed her. “You’ve hurt her,” he said icily.

“No, I would never do such a thing,” Tavey responded sarcastically.

“The deal was…”

“No, the deal is that unless you want both of you to die, you give me the coordinates of the locations of the Gundams.”

Heero pulled out a disk. “No, Heero!” Relena cried.

“You can have this when she is safely aboard my shuttle on her way back to earth,” Heero instructed.

“How dare you tell me…” he stopped when he saw the determination in Heero’s eyes. He knew the Gundam pilots' reputations and decided it would be best not to push him at this early stage in the game.  “Fine, have it your way. You realize once I have that information, I’m going to kill you.”

“Go ahead and try,” Heero thought as he glared at his enemy.

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *

Sally brought the shuttle to a halt. “These are the coordinates Heero sent me. I guess I’ll wait here until I’m told different.”

Just then, Wu-fei appeared on her video screen. “You in position, woman?”

Sally sighed, “Yes, Wu-fei. How’s Nataku?”

“It’s like seeing a long lost friend, huh Wu-fei?” Duo broke in with a grin.

“Maxwell, try to concentrate on the mission!” Wu-fei barked as Deathscythe flew past him.

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *          *          *         *

Heero sat facing the General as Relena was placed aboard the shuttle.

“All right,” Tavey said.

“Launch the shuttle,” Heero commanded.

They watched the monitor as the shuttle took off.

“Now, the disk…”

“Not until I have word from my people that she is safe.”

“WHAT?”

“I have another shuttle waiting. When she is on board that shuttle, you can have your disk,” Heero said flatly.

“That’s not part of the deal.”

“Yes it is. ‘When she is safely aboard my shuttle’ was part of the deal. As long as one of your soldiers is on board her craft, she isn’t safe. So, we’ll wait. It won’t be long.”

“Damn you! I’ll kill you now and take the disk,” he said, pointing his gun at Heero.

“Go ahead. And it will take you too long to bypass my security encryption for the data to be of any use to you,” Heero said undaunted.

Tavey growled his displeasure as he holstered his weapon and sat back down.

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *

Relena’s shuttle approached the rendezvous point with Sally’s vessel. The Preventer appeared on the monitor of the videocom. “Relena, get into the space suit, you’re changing ships.”

The officer onboard hailed General Tavey. “Sir, there’s another shuttle instructing Miss Peacecraft to change ships. What are your orders?”

Tavey glared at Heero. “Let her go, and return here. Over.”

“Roger that,” the officer replied.

A few moments later, Sally broke in on Heero’s wrist com-link, “Heero, I’ve got her, and we’re en route. The other shuttle has left, we shouldn’t be in any more danger.”

“How is she, Sally?” Heero asked in his usual monotone.

“She’s in good spirits, but…”

“But what?”

“She’s been beaten rather badly. She has a cracked rib, and lacerations across her back. Some of them have become infected, so she’s in a lot of pain – but it’s nothing that won’t heal.”

“I know you will take care of her,” Heero said and abruptly terminated the link.

“All right, Tavey,” Heero said. “I am satisfied that she is safe.” He moved over to a terminal facing away from the General, and plugged in the disk. Heero hit a few keys quickly.

“Not so fast. I don’t trust you, Gundam pilot.” Tavey said, pointing his gun at Heero again.

Heero stood up, placing his hands behind his head. “Fine, but it would be faster if I did it.”

Tavey motioned for Heero to step back. He did so, and calmly gave the necessary passwords to the soldier that took over the terminal. After several minutes, two sets of coordinates finally came on screen. They punched the first set into the main system. The computer brought up empty space. “If this is some kind of trick…” Tavey began. Suddenly, Deathscythe came into view – Heero had given them the coordinates of the Gundams coming to attack the L6 base. “What?” Tavey exclaimed angrily. He turned back towards Heero and found himself looking down the barrel of a glock 22.

*             *             *          *          *          *          *             *          *          *             *

Deathscythe and the Altron Gundam were coming up on the L6 colony. Suddenly, mobile suit units resembling the old Taurus designs surged towards them. The battle began.

            Duo encountered a number of suits, outmaneuvering them before viciously slicing through them with his massive scythe. Nataku’s dragons extended, exploding suits on either side. Waves of enemy mobile suits advanced on the two Gundams, but they were holding their own. “Damn it! How many more of them are there?” Duo yelled through his comlink to Wu-fei.

“Maxwell, can’t you fight without engaging your mouth?” Wu-fei yelled back as he destroyed two more suits.

            *                *             *             *             *             *             *         * *             *             *

The control room was dark. An explosion had knocked out the power, and everyone off their feet. Heero made a grab for his gun, and turned to see the General pinned beneath some rubble. Satisfied that the enemy wouldn’t escape, Heero left for the hangar, but he had a bit of unfinished business to take care of.

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             * *             *             *

Duo and Wu-fei were tiring quickly, and mobile suits were still coming at them. “I don’t know how much longer we can hold out, Wu-fei. Where is Heero?”

“Just keep fighting! He’s never let us down before.”

Just then, a small shuttle burst through the enemy’s defense line, drawing fire.

“There he is, I’ll go back him up!” Duo exclaimed.

Deathscythe slashed through the shuttle’s main pursuers, but not before the little craft sustained damage. Heero continued on, but Duo was overwhelmed and a couple of attackers eventually got past.

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             * *             *             *

The shuttle containing Sally and Relena held their position near the point of re-entry, waiting for Heero. Finally, his damaged shuttle appeared onscreen. “GO!” He yelled at Sally. “They’re following close behind! Get Relena out of here.”

“But Heero, you’re ship has sustained too much damage, you won’t make it through re-entry!” Sally protested.

“Never mind about me, just get Relena to safety.” His craft seemed to take another hit onscreen, and they lost their connection.

“NO!” Relena cried out. “Sally, we can’t go without him!”

“You have to go without me,” Heero was back on the video screen.

“Were you hit?” Sally asked.

“No, just lost another engine. I’m a sitting duck out here, they’re not far behind.”

“You’re in range now, you can board our shuttle.”

“I can’t do that,” he said, and Sally noticed he was grimacing slightly.

“Why not?”

“My leg is pinned, I can’t move it. Go on, they won’t be able to make it through.”

Sally didn’t like it. “I’ll come get you,” she said.

“There’s no time. Besides, you have to pilot the shuttle.”

“Then I’ll come and get you,” Relena said determinedly.

“That is a negative. You are not leaving that ship,” Heero growled through clenched teeth.

It was too late; she had already opened the hatch, and shot the cable across to connect the two vessels.

“Relena!”

Relena boarded Heero’s ship, and gasped at the damage. It was a miracle the thing was still moving. She made her way to the cockpit. It had caved in on the right side, just enough to pin Heero’s right leg. He glared at her from inside his space suit. She moved to him, and gently worked his leg out from under its restraints. She noticed the odd way it was bent, and figured it was broken. She helped him up, and they made their way to the exit.

“We’re too late!” Heero cursed. Two enemy mobile suits had arrived and were taking aim.