(Author: They are all set to go on the expedition. Elyn's Gundam can move through space quicker than simply driving a large ship there. During the process of planning J and Marion sneaked away to build the other Gundams(again) They got chewed out royally by the rest of the group but they were put onboard anyway. And on with the show!)
"Right! Let's get to it then!" J and the other doctors cried as the ship launched out of the Colony space doors.
"Sigh, I hate this part," Elyn growled. She pressed the button in her gundams cockpit that activated the time fusion. One minute they were next to the colony, then they were next to the planet that they were to explore.
"Why do you hate this part?"Duo asked her.
"The recoil."she sighed as the massive ship bucked under everyone. Duo ended up on his butt. Everyone else in similar circumstances. The only ones not off their feet were Heero holding Relena to keep her balance, Elyn whom was used to it, and Zechs and Noin who were sitting in the couch.
"Alright there Duo?" Jessica asked politely.
"...Fiiinnne. Just fiiiinnne."
"We're heeeeree." Dr's J, Marion said at the same time.
"Oh shut up." came their reply from about half of the ship.
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Relena POV
The planet was even more beautiful up close. The northern continent was enjoying a cool summer. It reminded Relena of a flying dragon. The southern continent was half covered in shadow while the eastern half was nice and warm, according to the sensors.
"Unfortunately we didin't think to bring the sensor-cams," Marion murmered to no one in particular. All the other doctors were taking a nap. They hadn't slept in three days. The rest of the group was either in the gym or snoozing too. Only Duo, Elyn, Heero and Zechs were awake besides her. Heero was trying to stay awake anyway. He was sitting in the captain's chair, kindof aloof; a leg flung up on the armrest while he crossed his arms in the usual manner. Duo was getting his fourth cup of coffee. Elyn was at the computer console looking at the sensor readouts. Zechs was looking at the planet on the other screen.
"Beautiful isn't it?" she said to him as Heero finally nodded off.
"Hm? Oh, yes it is." Zechs seemed distracted so she tried another topic.
"How along is Noin?"
"She's seven months pregnant. Relena?"
"Hm?"she said as she spotted Elyn still typing away in her cubicle. Duo finally passed out. "What?"
"How are you and Heero getting along?"
"Oh, were fine. Just fine," she said quickly.
"I see that you're making him work for you though,"he smiled slightly.
"Huh? Oh, heh, yeah. ... He still hasn't fully recovered from the week vacation two weeks ago," she added quietly.
Zechs looked at her oddly. 'She really loves him' He then looked over to where Heero was. He was totally asleep. His arm draped over the chair's seat, no one would have thought that he was an ex-gundam pilot.
Relena's eyes softened and she gave a small smile to no one, but herself. 'Heero, you do to much. Why don't you let someone help once in a while at least?'
Elyn stood up for once since that morning; stretched, then glared at the sleeping form of Duo. Her eyes though, if you looked at the right moment softened ever so slightly. When she noticed Relena watching, her eyes became cool and calculating again. However when she spotted Heero, she slumped her shoulders and sighed exasperatedly. "You really tamed him huh Relena?"
Smiling she said,"No one can ever tame him. Not even me."
"Hn." <Hey Heero!>
"Daah!" *thump!* "Ouch." <What the hell was that for!?>
"Elyn!" Relena reproached her. She bent over him from his place on the floor and asked <You alright Heero?>
"...omae o korosu Elyn." he grimaced."One day."
"hn..."then, she smirked. But it wiped from her face faster than a gundam. <You ok?>
<Fine.>
<No your not. ... I warned you.>
<Yeah yeah.>
"Heero?"Relena asked him again. <Heero, what's wrong?>
He got up and gave Elyn a glare, Relena reasurrance and got a cup of coffee like nothing happened. <I'm fine Relena.> But his back was turned so she didn't see him wince when he drank his cup.
Duo's snoring broke the tension in the room. Relena didn't realize Zechs had left until afterwords, when she took her nap curled next to Heero in their room since he hadn't slept that long. She still was concerned about him. She had seen him wince when he got up after he fell from the chair before.< Don't over do it Heero>
"Don't worry, I won't." he whispered in her ear. She fell asleep after hearing his whispered promise, and hugged him tighter to her as she dreamed.
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On the planet, ...
F'lar flew with his wings of dragonriders and their dragons to the spot where the disgruntled lords were forming their small band of panicked holders. Their runnerbeasts were panicked and squealing in terror. F'lar smiled at this once organized march against the Weyr. The lords dismounted with difficulty, and F'lar told the first wing to land. when the dragons landed they furled their wings with an enormous rustling sigh. Mnementh told F'lar that the dragons were excited and pleased. This was much more fun than Games.
F'lar told Mnementh strenly that this was not fun at all.
(Going to make this a little short,...sorry :-? )
--- When the lords spoke their demands, F'lar then brought up their women from the holds.
(Let's just say, :Read the stinkin book! in small voice... I don't want to get killed over rewriting somenone elses book
)_______________________________________________________________________
Somewhere on the ship...
"Heh, I can't believe they haven't found us yet."
"Don't get cocky, we don't know where we are." Said his comander.
"Besides," a sultry female voice called out from behind them," We don't want them to find us, remember Taccer?"
"I know Turmoil. But---"
"Enough. Both, of you. Taccer, get the men ready. Turmoil, start the show in 2 hours, got it?"
"Yes comander," they said together.
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Heero's POV
Unh, he groaned quietly so as not to wake Relena. 'Isn't it ironic, he thought to himself. 'That she says to becareful, but it's her doing the hurting.' His thoughts disappeared however when he looked at her sleeping form snuggled against him. As did his pain in his ribs. 'They're only cracked,' he shided himself. He had survived longer with worse. Though he wasn't as exsausted as he was now. He leaned back on the bed with Relena still gripping him like a teddy bear. In her sleep she snuggled as close as she could get. This unfortunately, made her grip tighten. Heero winced. Her grip relaxed faster than he expected.
<Sorry,>she thought to him quickly. Even if she was half asleep when she opened her eyes, she was instantly awake when she saw him wince in pain.
<Don't be,>was his reply. "Go back to sleep Relena." He whispered as she tried to loosen her grip on him.
"If you followed your own advice you wouldn't be in the state you're in." she growled as she released her deathgrip on his ribs. Relena bent over him so that her hair hid her tears. She had never hurt him before. At least not intentually. Heero sensed that she was angry at herself and tried to sooth her.
<It wasn't your fault that I have these injuries and you know it.>
<Yes it was. If I hadn't gone and taken Greaham's offer to go to that stupid ranch, you would never had to use that ring and you wouldn't have been ridden by that jerk.>
<Your confidence in my ability to protect you is touching,>his thoughts became sarcastic. <Relena,>he went on.<Dr. J would have given Duo and me those rings even if you hadn't taken that vacation. Besides, that oaf couldn't break me. Or have you forgotten that I put him in the hospital after that ride?>
She smiled slightly as she remembered his flight over the grandstand there. He had landed in the Manure spreader. < I haven't. But you were worn out after our run to escape them too, or did you forget that?... You are the fastest thing on four legs, you know that?>
<Heh, and look what that got me. A few cracked ribs and cut lips.>
<Exactly, and that is ->
<Why you blame yourself?>He finished for her.
<... It does sound silly when you put it that way.>she admitted grudgingly.
<So why are you crying?>
< I hurt you.>she sobbed.
<Relena, ... Heh, guess Wufei was right about how women were weaklings.>he tried to rile her. It worked, and she glared at him rebelliously.
He wearily smiled at her,<Now go to sleep. You're going to need it.>
<Look who's talking>she remarked caustically. She put her arm gently on his ribs, and defiantly glared back into his eyes. She wasn't sleeping until he did.
Heero sighed and nodded to her, that in itself telling her that he was to tired to even thought-argue.
As they both were starting to sleep, the alarms went off.
BRREEEEEP BREEEEEPP!!!!! BREEEEP!!!!!
They jumped up and imediately started to dress. Heero a little slower than Relena. But they were up and out of the door faster than everyone;Except for Elyn and Duo. Elyn was dragging him through the corridors to his cubicle in the control room. Heero was already in his when the others got in.
"What's wrong?" Quatre and Lurana asked of Rashid as Wufei and Trowa checked the armory.
"Master Quatre, we may have picked up stowaways." he grumbled as he gave orders to the other maganacs.
"They have the lower decks." Elyn said as Heero quickly shut off the systems in the areas.
"Guess breakfast is out of the question then." Duo kidded. Jesse was cutting off the unnesessary electricity in the lower power grids. Heero called out," Lower decks have been locked off from their acsess. Shutting off the emergency escape routes in the area now." He was doing things as if he had never been injured before-hand.
"Zechs, they're all yours." Wufei and Trowa told him as they left to join the maganac corps. Mei Linn followed and pointed to Catherine to tell her to stay there. Noin came up behind Relena and Sally.
"Shit, they got to the engine room." Elyn yelled out to Duo.
"I'll shut off the extra systems in there." Heero replied.
"I'll do that Heero. Find out how many were dealing with." Zechs said as he furiously tapped the controls to the enigne room.
"Rodger."
The lights suddenly turned off.
"Emergency lights on." Duo called out to the computer.
"Shit! They got the landing controls turned on!" Jesse yelled to Duo.
"This ship is to large for landing. Try and disconnect it." Zechs called out as he pressed the final button to stop unnesscessary systems in the engine room.
"I'm trying! Duo help me out here."
"They got passed doors 12 and 13." Heero said as he tapped away on the control panel. "They have 10 in the caferteria and 20 in the corridors. 10 more in the engine room. 40 in all."
"How did they get so many on board?" Sally asked. Dorthy just arrived. She had a army vest on and had with her a machine gun. "What did I miss?"
"Dorthy, where have you been?" Noin asked incredually.
"In my room," she said simply."I had to kill two guys hovering near the escape hatches nearbye though."
"38 left then," Relena said to no one. She was watching Heero work. He had some sweat on his brow and he hadn't stopped typing in ten minutes. Then it occured to her. : Heero was the only one that looked tired.
"The maganac corps and Wufei & Trowa have pushed them back. Wufei says that we need to shut the emergency doors to the lower decks asap." Jesse said as she did so.
"I can't stop the ships landing, but I can stop it from burning up." Zechs said as the planet loomed a little more ominously then the night before.
"You're going to split the ship?" Duo asked.
"If we do that, can we stop one half from going with the gravitational pull?"Noin questioned as she walked up behind Zechs.
"Possibly." Was her answer. "Heero, get the emergency shuttles prepped."
"Right."
"Hold on, where are the docs?" Duo asked Jesse. She shrugged.
"Right here. We were in the living room section."Marion and J told them all as the other docs assessed what was going on.
"Emergency shuttles? They're that good?" Marion asked, but didn't really expect an answer.
Trowa and Wufei came in panting. Gunsmoke swirled inside the corridor lik a whirlwind."We have a problem. It appears they planned ahead for this."Trowa said as Wufei locked the door.
"Where are the Maganacs?" Quatre and Lurana questioned Wufei. Before he could answer, the door came open. Mei Linn and Rashid with some of the corps came in. With her carrying one on her back.
"Don't all come and help me all at once," she grumbled. Rashid took the wounded to Sally.
"Take them to the escape shuttles," Elyn said."WE might as well get them settled on board."
"Did anyone remember the gundams?" Mei Linn asked.
"Did that the first sec that I got in here." Duo stated. "They are already in orbit, close to that, ... Ancient hull?"
*BAMMM!!!*
"What was that?" Elyn yelled.
"The lower deck doors." Wufei said as he opened the corridor to the shuttles. "Come on, don't know how long Trowa's traps will hold them off."
"Traps?" Catherine asked as she helped them get the men into the shuttles. Trowa winked at her and assisted.
"Damn! That explosion knocked the auto-disengage for the ship's seperation. It'll crash into the planet with it this way." Zechs said as he got into the pilot seat. "It can't be helped Zechs," Noin said as she belted herself in.
"Heero?" Relena asked as she walked over to their assigned shuttle."Come on, we can't go until you're in."
"...Go without me."
"What!? Not in your life!" She growled as he walked back towards the corridor. When she got infront of him he kept on going, not meeting her eyes. "Relena, go back. I have to seperate the ship alone."
<Look at me damn it!>
His eyes looked straight into hers and she swallowed hard. 'He's doing it again. He's going to kill himself to protect us and the planet.' "I'm going with you. And that is final!"
Heero looked at her pose in front of her and sighed. Nodding he went ahead of her. Relena gripped his hand as they went towards the control room. Zechs must not have seen them leave because the shuttle started to move out.
"Don't worry, there's an escape pod in the control room." <That's why I said 'Go without me'>
"Why, didn't you say so in the first place. We wouldn't have had to go through that drama."
"There's only room for one person to lay in it comfortably."
The control room wasn't in any danger yet. The terrorists hadn't gotten through to this level. Heero got to the control panel as an explosion racked the ship. The door was holding, barely.
"You in there! This is the Chaos faction. You're completly surrounded. Give up now or you will not live to change your mind!" A man called out to them as Heero typed furiously on the panels." Finished. ...Relena, take this." He handed her his gun. "Hold it like this." He showed her how and then pulled out another from his jacket.
"Alright... Heero," But her words were cut off. The door broke down.
"Relena!" Heero pulled her out of the way as gunfire shot through the now useless door. Heero and Relena ended up in the corner next to the escape pod, but they couldn't get to it without being in range of their machine guns.
Three officer looking terrorists herded their soldiers into the control room, surrounding them even further. Then Relena got a good look at one of them, despite the smoke and sparks coming from the thrashed computer consoles. "Can't be."
"Hmmph. Guess they left their men. They're not really ranger material eh Turmoil?" Taccer kidded as he sneered at Heero's attempt to protect Relena.
"Shut it, Taccer," Turmoil growled as she leveled her gun right at Relena.
Heero growled and pointed his gun straight at her head.
"Turmoil, any weaknesses in these two?" Comander asked as he glared at Relena. Relena was still in shock. 'Couldn't be. It just can't be!'
"Want to do the honors Taccer?" Turmoil smirked as she lowered her arm slightly.
"No," Commander said suddenly."You do it. Kill them both."
She nodded. When Turmoil leveled it at Heero, she yelled.
"Hilde Stop!!!"
Relena's scream however, was ill-timed. Turmoil, Hilde, turned it towards her, trying to see who she was.
"Relena!" Heero lept in front of her just as the bullet reached her.
The bullet hit Heero in his side. Relena was on her knees when he slumped to the floor. The bullet went through him and hit her shoulder."Aaah!"
"R-relena?" Hilde choked out. "Oh, no. No nonono!!!" The clatter of the gun was heard all around. The soldiers looked at her like she was a ghost. She had shot the perfect soldier. And the queen of the world at the same time.
"Grrr." Heero grunted as he got up. Slowly, with Relena in his arms. "Relena," he whispered. She looked at him and nearly cryed. He was bleeding. Bleeding all over her. Her shoulder ached, but he was her only concern. "Heero!" She looked at Hilde, who was staring at him in horror."How could you?" Heero used the last of his strength, he threw himself with Relena into the pod. Relena passed out in his arms when the pod door closed. Muffled cries of anger and cuonfusion erupted behind the door.
"No! How did they... An escape pod?!"
"Shoot it!"
"Hold it, it's gundanium!"
"Shit!"
"...Relena, forgive meeee!"
Heero's conciousness faded as the pod slipped out to the planet, the planet they were to explore. Relena
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Chapter 3 coming soon.
Elyn Yuy
So are Heero and Relena going to become dragonriders? 
Please continue! 
