Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Price They Paid ❯ Opening Gambit ( Chapter 39 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Price 39

~ * ~

Betaed by skippyscatt

~ * ~

Heero poked Duo, "Be still. The sheriff is a nice guy. I don't want you to scare him.

Duo snorted. "Ok, sure. Nice guy. Right."

Wufei got out clutching at his stomach. It hurt again.

"'Fei? You ok?"

Zechs leaned over Wufei concern etched on his patrician face.

"Airline food should be illegal. My stomach is all upset."

Zechs fished in a pocket, finding the small tube he opened it and handed Wufei a couple of
antacid tablets.

"They taste nasty but they do the trick."

Wufei chewed the chalky, mint flavored digestive aids and grumbled. "They've been around for
five hundred years and they still taste god awful."

"Been around longer than that. But . . . oh," Heero had finally gotten impatient and gently poked
Zechs in the back. "Sorry."

Heero exited the Hummer next hauling Duo after.

Duo eyed the sheriff, assessing him carefully.

What he saw was a man used to being in charge. Sheriff Haskins looked back and saw a child.

Duo poked Heero in the side. "Talk to him. I'm going to find the coffee. And a cot. A . . . four
cots in a single room. Ok?"

Heero nodded distractedly. "Sure. Wufei?"

Wufei stepped up beside Heero and Zechs took a place behind him.
"Sheriff."

"Yuy?"

"Yes. Do you remember me?"

"Sure do. You're the miracle boy. The runner."

"That's me. This is Chang Wufei." Heero held his hand across his chest palm up, indicating
Wufei. "And that's Zechs Merquise." Heero jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

Sheriff Haskins eyed Zechs, then nodded. He gave Wufei a sour look and asked, "Who's the
young hot spur that went inside."

"Duo Maxwell, my lover. There's a problem, what is it?"

The sheriff opened the door to the station and led the way to his office. He offered coffee around
and sent someone to find Duo.

"I'll wait until he's here, then I'll have my say. Don't feel like repeating myself. Sugar?"

He raised the basket holding packets of sugar, powdered creamer and artificial sweetener. No
one took the offer.

Duo entered with a soft whoosh of closing door. "Coffee. Great just what I need." Duo took the
cup that the sheriff silently offered him. "Heero, there's a ready room just off the intake section.
We can set up there. Cots, facilities everything. Take a look."

Heero pulled Duo against him. "In a minute, sheriff wants to have a word with us." Duo turned
bird bright eyes on the man, pinning him with another assessing look.

"Sure. I just hope it's not that 'you all look so young' crap. I'm so tired of that I could puke. I'm
ready to work. We need to get this over with before someone hurts Relena. If she's got so much
as a scratch, I'm gonna have someone's guts for garters. 'Ro? What's a garter?"

Heero, used to Duo's random stress induced questions, ignored it.

"Garter is an elastic band old-fashioned women use to keep up stockings." Wufei blinked at the
sheriff for a second then snickered. Zechs thumped him on the back of the head with a finger
snap.

The sheriff intervened sternly. "Boys, that'll be enough of that."

Wufei flushed, Zechs just smirked at the sheriff. Heero sighed, this wasn't starting out well at
all.
Duo bumped his head against Heero's shoulder. "This isn't starting out well, is it?"

Heero shook his head. "Sheriff, why don't you just spit it out and get it over with? We got things
to do and people to kill."

"Yeah, and you're kids. I don't like this. When the war was over, you were promised things. I
saw what they done. I don't like it at all. You should get to . . . retire. Go to school, do kid stuff.
Instead, you're here, getting ready to put your lives in jeopardy for . . . what?"

Duo was shaking his head. " 'Ro, you wanna start or shall I?"

Zechs cleared his throat. "Let me."

The sheriff turned weary eyes to Zechs and nodded. "Yeah, your lordship could explain things to
the country bumpkin."

Zechs shook his head. "Not a bumpkin. Just a man. A kind man. But, you see, we're not
children. We're old. Old in experience. Old in war. We're the go to guys when the go to guys
can't fix it. Duo can . . . blow up anything with stuff most people don't even know is explosive.
Heero is stronger than you and I put together. Wufei is a trained martial artist. And me? I'm not
a lordship anymore. I'm a Gundam pilot and an embarrassment to my family. Among other
things. So, you see, while we appreciate your concerns, do you really think Commander Une is
stupid enough to risk all on children?"

Sheriff Haskins rubbed the back of his neck with a chagrined expression. "Yeah, well, that's
what I was afraid of. So . . . what do you need? I'll give you whatever you need, if I have it."

Duo and Heero glanced at each other. 'That was easy' was a common thought. Wufei grimaced
and wished his stomach would calm down.

"What's wrong, love?" Zechs rubbed Wufei's shoulder gently.

"Upset stomach. Got any antacids left?"

Zechs silently handed over the requested bottle. Wufei chewed, swallowed and grimaced without
taking his eyes off the sheriff. Zechs made a mental note to find out how often Wufei should be
taking the stuff, and how long it should be taken.

~ * ~

It didn't take long for word to get out that the Gundam Pilots were there. They had to endure a
stream of officers trailing past the break room on the flimsiest of excuses. Zechs finally got up
and closed the door.

Heero got out his computer and set it on a desk. "I'll go through all the information and organize
a mission report. We'll need to know . . ." he trailed off as he started identifying files and
opening windows on his desktop. Wufei, Duo and Zechs set out identical personal computers on
their desks. They knew Heero would have a Preliminary Mission Plan completed as soon as
possible.

Wufei started identifying sources of supplies. He wasn't sure what they might need so he
compiled lists of places to get machinery, weapons, explosives and anything else he could think
of. Duo started hunting up blue prints of the prison, hoping to find an easy way in and out. He
also got a topographic map of the area. Zechs made contact with every newspaper, vid station
and radio station in the area and as many ESUN wide ones as possible.

There was little comment other than 'hand me that' or 'look at this'.

The sheriff checked in on them once, he got a four way glare that made him rethink several
ideas, and pull his head back. "Those boys are seriously scary. I've never seen the like." The
passing deputy nodded, remarking, "I saw Maxwell once, during the war. Looks like he's half
his age, but he's one crazy kid. Charged a half dozen men with nothing but a knife. He won.
They died. And Yuy? Colder than an iceberg. Don't know anything about the other two. Gotta
go."

Heero opened the door the sheriff had just closed and checked the hall. He glanced up then down
the hall. He didn't see anything unusual so he shrugged and shut the door.

"What was that? Anything we should worry about?"

"No. Someone talking in the hall. I thought I heard our names mentioned so I checked it out.
Have you got the prints yet? And the topog?"

Duo shrugged. "I called them up. There's a remote printer somewhere in the building. I sent
them there. I'll have to go out and find the machine. How soon do you need the paper?"

Heero cracked his back and sat back at his computer. "Soon, but not right now. Why don't you
take a stroll around and see if you can't make contact with the special ops team? See if there's
going to be trouble with them. I'd like something besides coffee. Juice? Whatever you can find.
Ok?"

"Sure thing. I'll get the prints and topog, some juice for you. 'Fei? Zechs? Want anything?"

Wufei asked for some tea 'if it's not from a cheap bag', Zechs decided he didn't want anything.

~ * ~

Duo entered the cafeteria just in time to hear, "And that long haired one, the braid boy? He's
what? All of ten? What the hell is Lady Une thinking sending that bunch of juvenile delinquents
to take care of a job like this?"

Another voice piped up before Duo could take exception. "Better not let one of those juvies hear
you talk like that. They were all of them Gundam pilots. Deadly. That little, fairy looking, braid
boy, well . . . last time I heard anything about him, he'd just blown up a mobile doll factory and
cleaned out a nest of Ozzies single handed. Sneaked in, set charges, blew up the building then
came in with his Gundam and squashed the rest. Really a sharp deal."

"Yeah, and Heero took the hit later. Guys, I don't want to step on any toes, so, you got a
grievance let me know now. We don't have time to fuck around here. Is there any juice, green
tea?" Duo rummaged in the cooler, finding tea in a bottle and some juice, he turned to smile
sunnily at the gathered group of gapping men. "What?" No one noticed that the smile didn't
reach his eyes.

There was some foot shuffling and rib poking until one man stood out from the group. "Well,
there's no question that we're in over our heads. But . . . well . . . shit. I don't give a damn what
Une says, you're too young to be in this sort of business. We'll . . . but."

Duo took pity on the red faced man. "Heero has been in this business all his life. I grew up on
the streets of L2. Wufei comes from a warrior clan and Zechs is a natural. We're capable of
handling this. Don't let our looks fool you. We were all involved in the war up to our necks. We
can't handle this, it can't be handled. You got more problems?" He let his gaze drift over the
group again. No one looked like they wanted to say anything else.

Duo picked up his drinks and paid the clerk for them. He asked her where the printer was. She
didn't know, but one of the special ops team said he'd show Duo where it was.

Duo dropped the drinks off at their office, kissed Heero and left with the man, who told Duo his
name was Connor Long.

"You and Yuy doing the horizontal tango?"

Duo nodded, distracted as he kept looking around, committing the layout to memory. "Yeah, you
got a problem with that?"

"No. Keeps your eyes off my boyfriend." Connor stopped at a door. "Here. I can hear it
printing."

Duo twitched as Connor opened the door, letting it bang against the wall. The room was dark
and windowless. Duo waited as Connor turned on the light and crossed the room to the printer.
The big plotter was chugging quietly to itself as it drew the outline of the top floor of the prison.

"Well, let me see. . ." Duo flipped through the pages that were finished. "We've got the topog,
and that's the last floor to be done. How long will it take to finish?"

Connor thought for a second. "About two more minutes. But you didn't need that topog. We got
a bunch of them. We're always having to search for some stupid hiker who manages to get lost
in the mountains. We issue them to all the searchers."

Duo nodded absently. "Yeah, but how often do you update your set?"

Connor blushed. "Haven't the foggiest."

Duo just looked at him for a second. When the printer dinged that it was finished, he took the
pile of three foot by four foot sheets and put them on the big table that took up most of the center
of the room.

He checked the blueprints to make sure that they were all there and in the right order. He folded
the topographical map correctly, bit his lip and cued the printer to printout several more. He
crossed his arms over his chest, cocked his hip on the table and crossed his ankles too.

"I'll wait for the copies, if you like. You got more to do than stand here waiting for crap."

Duo gave Connor a genuine smile. "Thanks. I'm going to go see if I can't fix up a bivvy for us.
That room just off the intake . . . we could use it."

Connor shook his head. "Naw, don't want to use that. It's Friday night. All the drunks and fools
are out. Full moon, you know. You'll never get a wink. We have a regular dormitory on the
second floor. Some of us live fairly far away and have trouble getting back and forth in bad
weather. Some guys are on watch and watch. I'll see you up there in a few. Help you figure out
which beds you can take." Duo thanked him and left.

~ * ~

Heero looked up as Duo came into the room. "Hn. What now?"

"Connor, the guy that showed me the printer room, says that they have a dorm upstairs. He says
we can have beds there. We'll never get any sleep in the room I wanted because of the drunks
and crazies. Come with?"

Heero nodded, checked his computer and went to Duo. "Sure. I'll be glad to get away from that
screen for a while. It's collating just now and it'll probably take a while. Let's go."

They both spent the walk to the upper floor thinking; about different things to be sure but the
silence was companionable and warm.

The dorm was good sized but not huge, divided by shoulder high walls into cubicles that held a
bed, foot locker, chair and workstation. Heero looked around and pointed. "There."

Duo checked the area and gave it his approval. "Yeah, nice."

Most of the cubicles were open on one side, in this area they were open on two and they opened
into a small square making a semi private place for their group. They could see each other, but
still have a modicum of privacy.

"I'll ask Connor if we can bivvy here. I don't see any personals so it should be all right."

Heero tested one of the cots, it was firm but not hard, two sheets neatly mitered covered it, along
with a blanket. Another blanket covered the foot. Duo had opened one of the footlockers while
Heero was testing the bed. It was a standard military locker, deep enough to hold plenty of things
with a half length sliding tray for small items.

Duo nodded his acceptance. "Why don't you get Wufei and Zechs up here to take a look? I've
got to go back and pick up the rest of the topog maps. They should be finished printing by now."

Heero just headed for the door calling back over his shoulder, "Zechs will like it. He and Wufei
can move their cots together; at least they can touch each other while they sleep."

Duo followed after him saying, "Yeah, like we're so not."

Heero's laugh floated over his shoulder.

~ * ~

Duo picked up the neatly folded maps, the blueprint and a hand full of odd papers that Connor
had left for him. Shuffling through them as he walked caused him to bump into a big man who
caught him before he hit the floor.

"Thanks man. I should be watching better. Sorry about that. Are you hurt?'

The man snorted softly. "Little guy like you? Not a chance. You better find your daddy though.
There's trouble here and you shouldn't be wandering around." He noticed the armful of papers
Duo was carrying. "What's all that? You need help with it?"

Duo shook his head. "No. Thanks." He decided to avoid an argument. The man was just trying
to be nice. He headed for their ready room and made it without further incident.

Heero turned his head just in time to jump up, grabbing at papers to keep them from slipping out
of Duo's arms.

"Thanks. Man, I'm starving. Let's go to the cafeteria and get something to eat."

Heero grimaced, cafeteria food was usually all starch and grease. He didn't much care for it.

"We could go for sushi. We passed a place on the way here."

Duo vetoed the idea. "Not good. We're not here and something happens, we're out of the loop.
Not worth it."

"Ok, you're right. We could order in?"

"Yeah. Sounds good. Well, I'm shut down."

"Me too. Let's find Zechs and Wufei. They might like some too."

Heero and Duo went in search of Zechs and Wufei. They found them in their new quarters sitting
on one bed just holding hands.

Duo eyed Wufei doubtfully. "You ok? Don't look so good."

Wufei shrugged rather grumpily. "I still have indigestion. I wish I had some of those old-
fashioned pills my grandmother used to give me. They really work."

Heero thought for a moment. "You know the name. If you do, we could look for them on the
net."

Zechs brightened. He was really worried about Wufei. He was too young to be having
indigestion so much.

Duo swore softly, they couldn't access the net, everybody's personal computer was busy
working on various facets of their mission. He looked for a phone book, perhaps there was a
Chinese pharmacy nearby. They might be able to get what Wufei wanted quickly.

"I'll call around and see what I can find. Oh, and 'Ro and I are in the mood for sushi. You guys
want?"

Zechs nodded, Wufei shrugged one thing was as good as another. "I'm not really hungry, but
maybe if I eat something this indigestion will ease off. Whatever you three want is good by me."

Duo looked at Heero who just shrugged. He'd eat just about anything. Duo decided to find an
office and make his calls there. Wufei needed to sleep and Zechs was looking droopy, too.

"I'm going to find somewhere to make a call. Heero?"

"I'm going back to the ready room. Check on the computers, start compiling results. Call me
when the food gets here."

They went their separate ways. Heero to the ready room and Duo in search of an office he could
use.

~ * ~

"Hey kid."

Heero turned to look indifferently at the skinny man standing in the door. "Yeah?"

"You shouldn't be in here. It's reserved for adults and official . . . officers." The man's slightly
confused look put Heero off.

"Well, I'm official. Yuy."

"Who y?"

Heero rolled his eyes. This guy was going to be trouble. He just didn't want to deal just now. He
stood up and strolled to the door.

"Heero . . . Yuy . . . Gundam 01. You got something you need? Or are you just here to bust my
chops?"

The man spread his hands in a conciliatory way, saying, "Easy there. Don't go off half cocked.
Just saw the light. No one's supposed to be here this time of day."

Heero grunted, eyed the man, disliking the look in his eyes, then turned to go back to his desk.
He felt the hand on his arm before he heard the sputtering. He just stood for a moment as the
man tried to turn him around. Of course it was in vain, Heero stood stock still so it was like
tugging on a wall.

"I have work to do. I suggest you let go of me, before I get pissed."

"Get pissed kid, what ya gonna do about it?"

Heero took the man's hand and twisted it back on the wrist. He cramped it over until the man
yelped in pain.

That's what I'm going to do about it. Now, you have two choices; get out, or let me break it. And
I'm not too particular which at this point. I'm tired, hungry and worried about Relena. Make up
your mind."

The man whimpered softly then relented. "I'll go. But I'm telling the sheriff. Let go of my arm."

Heero let go and waited until the man left the room. He went back to his desk wondering if the
sheriff would do something to him, or was that idiot in trouble. He didn't much care one way or
the other. He'd rather have the sheriff's cooperation but they could do without it.

~ * ~
Duo managed to find a small office that wasn't locked. He could have gotten into any office he
wanted but he didn't want to alienate someone by messing with a locked office. All he wanted to
do was order sushi, not start an interdepartmental pissing contest.

He entered the office and realized that it probably belonged to a civilian assistant of some sort.
All it contained was a desk, chair and several filing cabinets. He settled at the desk and searched
it for a phone book. Finding what he wanted, he called the restaurant and ordered a traditional
bento box for each of them. When he gave the address the man on the other end of the line just
grumbled, 'you're not a cop. They don't eat sushi.'

Duo replied in Japanese, "No, I'm sure they don't. But my friends and I do. Please deliver it to
the side door. Someone will meet you and pick it up. Thank you very much." The restauranteur
told him thirty minutes and hung up.

Duo examined the office for a second time then went to the door to wait for their food.

~ * ~

"'Fei, are you all right?"

"Zechs, stop worrying. I'll be fine. That airline food just upset my stomach. And I'm always a
little nervous at the beginning of a mission. And you'll have to admit that this is a hell of a
mission. What are we going to do for backup? You know that these people are good officers but
they just aren't prepared to deal with something like this. We need equipment like we had in the
wars. That place is a fortress. I don't like it."

Zechs sighed, ran a hand through his bangs and agreed that the whole situation was liable to
blow up in their faces. "We'll just have to wing it."

"Wish we could."

"Huh?"

"Wing it. . . Wing would be good. Or Shenlong. Or 'Scythe."

Zechs nodded, longing for his Gundam or any Gundam for that matter.

"Yeah. But you know damn good and well that one sniff of a Gundam anywhere in ESUN and
the lemmings would all panic. We don't need that. . . Gott, I wish . . . no, never mind. Wish in
one hand and shit in the other, see which one fills up first."

Wufei sighed. When Zechs got crude it was a sign that he was worried. "What about this
assignment worries you the most?"

Zechs shrugged irritably. "Lack of resources, lack of back up, lack of experienced support
personnel. Need I go on?"

"Heero and Duo are . . . well, they. . . ow!"

"Wufei? Why is your stomach still upset? I thought you took something."

Wufei grimaced. "I did. Seems ancient Chinese medicine can't sooth me either. I'll take some
more in . . ." Wufei glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes. Until then, I just want to go to sleep
until Heero finishes that mission statement."

Zechs decided he was going to sleep too. There was no use in either he or Wufei losing sleep if
there was no reason. They might regret it later.

~ * ~

Duo collected the food and took it up to the dorm. He called Heero on his cell phone and then
woke Zechs.

"How's Wufei? He wasn't feeling so good in the car. I noticed that you gave him some
antacids."

"Not much better. I'm worried. As soon as this mission is over, I'm taking him to a doctor."

"Good luck."

"Don't need it. I'll crack him on the head and drag him if I have too."

Duo laughed softly. "Take him to Po. She can handle him . . . welp . . . wake him up. Here
comes Heero."

Heero stalked in with a sullen glare plastered across his face. He took the bento Duo handed him
and settled on his bed.

"We're in trouble." At the looks he got he frowned. "That prison is a fortress. Built during the
war. It's set up to keep people out as well as in. I've run several scenarios . . . they all failed."

Duo ran a hand through his bangs. "Well, fuck."

Wufei grumbled as Zechs settled next to him on the floor. "Damn. We need to get up close and
personal with it."

Zechs nodded. "Nothing like on the spot intel. We'll have to go on site tomorrow."

Duo grumbled, "And we better make a show or we'll have the same trouble we've had here. We
all look way too young to be who we are. I don't feel like fighting off every fool who thinks
we're kids. It gets tiresome real quick."

Zechs smirked at Wufei, "My beauty works against me. It's a burden I've learned to bear."

Duo opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was a wheeze. Heero snickered
and Wufei just groaned.

~ * ~

They finished the sushi quickly then put the bentos out for the clean up crew to take

After showering and changing into sweats and t-shirts they all settled down for some much
needed rest. Duo lay awake for a while listening to Heero sleep. Zechs and Wufei were quiet, but
they were far enough away that he couldn't tell if they were asleep or not. Duo wished the bed
was wide enough that he could cuddle with Heero.

Heero meanwhile was wishing the same thing as well as wishing this whole mission was over.
He didn't have a good feeling about it. The back of his neck kept crawling.

~ * ~

The next morning they all dressed in BDU cammo urban. They looked more like soldiers than
they had the night before. Somehow uniforms instead of jeans and t-shirts seemed to impress
people.

Instead of scrambling down for breakfast they lined up and entered the cafeteria two by two,
quietly joining the end of the breakfast line. They were lucky that the sheriff's office had a
cafeteria, many didn't. This station was in a small town but it served a large area and had many
officers who had to drive long distances. The cafeteria was a god send especially on Sundays and
holidays when the local restaurants were closed or crowded.

The line moved slowly but steadily through the serving area. Each station offered something
different. They made their choices and settled at a table to eat. There was no horse play or
foolishness. They were all business. It was time to go to work.

After eating they picked up their trays and deposited them at the bus window.

They met their driver at the front door. He'd watched them as they came down the hall, quietly
leaving the building. Their bearing was all business which impressed the deputy. He saluted.
They saluted. He opened the door, then entered the Hummer.

"I'm sure you gentlemen are aware that we can't drive all the way to the prison. They have been
keeping watch on the road. Any traffic and there's a dead body on the wall. We haven't taken the
chance that those maniacs are serious. We've been going in a back way. We can drive to within a
half mile of our Command Post. The terrain is too rough for even the Hummer the rest of the
way. It's the best vantage point. We've got several tents and all available equipment. It's under
cover too. Lots of trees."

He continued to ramble, obviously nervous. Wufei eyed the man and wished idly that he'd shut
up. Zechs just rubbed his shoulder.

Duo finally took charge of the nervous deputy, asking him questions about the lay of the land.
His astute questioning filled in some blanks for the foursome.

"And how's the sheriff really taking the idea of us doing the job?"

"Shit, sir. He couldn't give a rat's ass. All he wants is Miss Relena safe and those radicals out of
Hellcreek, or locked up in there. You're really the Gundam pilots? You look so young. But I
heard that none of you were more than 16 when OM started."

Duo grinned at the man in the rearview mirror. "I was probably fifteen. Trowa might have been
sixteen."

Zechs laughed. "I was all of nineteen. I think. And while we're young in age. We're old in . . ."

"Villainy." Wufei interjected. "I was fifteen."

Heero just shrugged. He really wasn't sure how old he was. J. had set his age at an arbitrary
fifteen when Operation Meteor started.

The deputy just shook his head. "That's the problem. Everybody is convinced that you're just
kids. Most of the guys in the know are willing to give you a chance based on your reputations.
But some of the higher ups got their panties in a bunch over this."

Duo yawned and stretched ignoring the jouncing caused by the terrible shape of the road. Heero
negligently braced himself next to Duo. Zechs had braced his long legs against the back of the
front seat and was holding Wufei as he took notes. They were all glad they had a Hummer
instead of a jeep. Riding in a jeep would have been unbearable. The Hummer was tolerable.
Moreover, it had room for their gear.

The driver stopped in an open field, parking next to several four-wheel drive pickups and a jeep.
Duo clambered out of the Hummer and started digging out the packs. He handed each man his
pack and they strapped them on, making sure that the chest and belly bands were tight.
"Ok. Ready?

Wufei called cadence and they started for the command post, nearly a mile away.

They made good time over the rough terrain. They had to climb a ridge and take a trail that ran
along it for some distance then they started down the front side of the ridge. It didn't take them
long to make the final leg of their hike.

Zechs made a suggestion before they got into the command post proper. "We ought to make a
little show of respect to the sheriff. He's a good man and we don't really want his nose out of
joint."

Duo nodded, saying, "Sure thing." Heero and Wufei just grunted their assent.

They drew abreast of the central tent and Wufei called out, "Halt, right face. Attention"

They stopped, made a military force turn and came to rigid attention. They saluted and waited
for the sheriff to salute back. He did and they entered the tent.

"You boys don't have to salute me. I'm just a sheriff."

Zechs shrugged. "We're not military or Preventers. We're WEI Security. We salute whoever we
think deserves it. You get saluted. . . . Now, we need the rest of your intel. We've got the
blueprints and some profiles. Do you know who all the perps are, or are we still working that
out?"

Sheriff Haskins sighed. "We don't know how many or who. We just know that they are there
and that they have all of the Peacecraft party except for that one intern they sent out with their
demands. Mostly we've been flailing in the dark. My men aren't trained for this sort of thing.
They're trained for the incidental type of 'drugged out crazy' rescue. You know, out of control
boyfriend thing. They're good at that and they're all good men."

Zechs held up a hand. "This isn't something you should even consider having to deal with. This
is out of your league, no offence intended. Your men are in shape and all that, I've seen them.
This is a military operation. We're actually storming the fort so to speak. So you did right and
called in experts. Relax. We're not here to pick faults or criticize your operation in anyway. So,
Heero will set up . . ." Zechs turned to find Heero. "Oh, he already has."

Heero had set his computer up while Zechs was talking with the sheriff, he smiled at them then
went back to work.

Wufei was watching some of the deputies working out. He was going to have to set up a
demonstration to show the men how good they were. Psychologically it was good public
relations. The men would see that they were as good as they were made out to be. He sighed. *I
hate politics*

Duo was also set up. He was going to back up Heero if he had to hack a system. It was easier if
one of them hacked while the other covered whatever traces were left and helped shut down
security systems. The two of them could hack anything. They'd proved that over and over during
the wars. This time they hoped to get legal access to whatever information they needed but they
weren't taking any chances.

They spent most of the morning hunched over their laptops, hacking furiously. Wufei spent the
time tending to their needs and checking legal precedents. Zechs spent the time smoozing with
the locals.

Their consensus was; they didn't like it. They were sure they couldn't handle the situation, but
they were equally sure that a bunch of kids couldn't do it either. They wanted to know if Une
was crazy or what.

Zechs spoke to Wufei and they agreed, a demonstration of martial arts and shooting was in
order.
~ * ~

Since I have joined Nano, chapters are going to be shorter for the month of November. That way
I can update each of my stories and still complete the 50,000 words necessary.