The shuttle made it’s way through space, following the back trail of the Earths orbit. Inside, seven people rode, correcting navigational blips... or just holding the stealth system together with bubble gum and string....

“I thought you were a genius, you idiot!” Wufei growled at the braided pilot.

“I am! It’s not my fault that HE needed this thing installed on a antique system like this shuttle! Not EVERYTHING is compatible, you know!”

“If it wasn’t compatible, why didn’t you say something?” Zechs asked, overhearing the mumbled conversation.

“It’s working, ain’t it? If I had more time, I could have gotten it better.”

A zap of energy flew out of the makeshift console to burn his fingers.

“SHIT! That hurt!” Duo yelped, hitting the side of the console until all the red lights turned to green. “There! That’s a good girl!”

“I think he was stuck with Professor G too long..” Trowa mumbled, watching as the God of Death lovingly stroked the spot he just hit.

Zechs sighed, silently agreeing. “Are you sure it’s working, Maxwell?” he asked, fingers crossed.

“Well, we’re about to find out, aren’t we?” he pointed to the blip on the screen signaling that they were about an hour away from their destination.

Everyone grew tense, knowing that if anything were to happen, it would start now. Waiting patiently, they slowly relaxed as seconds stretched to minutes. It was working.

“Since we’re almost there, we had better decide who is going on what team.” Sally said, not wanting screw ups at the last minute.

“Woman, it’s obvious. You, Zechs, and I will go on search for this imbecile. The demolition crew will take care of everything else.”

“No, Wu. I want you along with Heero, Duo, and Trowa. I need Quatre’s diplomacy when we confront Cecil, and they need your badge to legitimize their destruction.”

“Zechs can go with them. I’m not leaving your side.” Wu insisted, stubbornly not giving in.

Sally melted, just a tad at that. “Wufei...” she blushed...

“After all,” Wu went on, “I have to make sure you make it home so that you can start making it up to me for that honor remark.”

“Chang Wufei!” Sally raged, not noticing the laughter that lay banked in his gaze.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As expected, Wu got his way, and Zechs joined the demolition derby. They circled around to the dark side of the colony, to the sector that had never been finished, and gently entered it’s gates.

Trowa sent out the grabbling magnets, attaching the shuttle to the unused bay. They locked down their helmets, turned on their air, and were soon traveling to the maintenance duct that would take them into the inhabited areas.

Upon reaching the point that they would separate, Heero took out his palm size computer and checked his map against Sally’s. Nodding that it was identical, he pointed out where they would meet afterwards. Sally nodded, then tapped out the emergency signal on the comm link.

“If anything happens, signal. We’ll try to double back and give a hand.”

“No. I‘ll signal, and you take Cecil out. Without him, there would be no invasion. We will try to get Davis.”

Sally nodded, no liking it, but agreeing on the plan. If something should go wrong, they had to cut their risks.

They separated, each team slowly making their way through the ducts to their appointed assignments

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The demolition crew climbed out of the ductwork, and quickly shed the cumbersome space suits. Placing them back inside the duct, they replaced the grate and marked it with an infrared paint.

“Heero..” Zechs said, “We should be reaching the mobile suit hanger soon. Can you get an infrared readout on the area?”

The pilot stopped, aimed the hand scanner in the direction of their target, and pressed the button on the side. A blue holographic field formed over the scanner, showing a skeleton system of walls and furniture. Three red forms were heading towards them, causing the team to duck behind the corner.

They pressed up tightly against the wall, waiting to see what would happen next. They could not give away their position just yet.

Metallic footsteps sounded at the end of the hall, thumping closer in a tight formation. They had interrupted the morning guard, it seemed.

The threesome came closer, until they could hear them breath. Trowa, on the end closest to the corner, signaled with his hand.

“On three!” he mouthed, counting off with his fingers. One finger rose, then a second. As the third came up, their prey came into view.

Trowa slammed the first one into the wall, and laid a hard right into his jaw. The impact sent the man’s head back against the wall, knocking him out. He slowly lowered his victim to the ground, then reached into his rear pocket for his handcuffs.

Fastening, he looked around to see Heero and Duo doing the same.

“What do we do with them?” He asked. “We can’t just leave them here.”

Heero looked down the hall. Spotting something, he checked the plans, then walked over to the wall and opened up a metal bin.

“Garbage shoot.” He smirked, holding it open as their victims were soon deposited out of the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, on the other end of the maintenance duct, Sally, Wufei, and Quatre were just climbing out. Shedding their suits, they too deposited them back inside their escape route and duly marked it.

Sally opened up her mini computer and took an infrared scan. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she motioned the other two on and took up the rear.

“According to the map,” She whispered, “His private quarters are at the end of the hall. Our best bet is to lay in wait for him to come to us.”

“Hmm... Yes.. if we went looking for him, we would never find him.” Wu agreed, creeping towards the door.

Still scanning, Sally opened up the door to his empty quarters and went inside. It was an opulent suite, with deep blue carpeting and silver gilt molding. Chaise lounges were scattered throughout the living room with an triangular table in the center. One entire wall was covered by a mural of the tropical rainforest.

“He certainly likes his comforts.” Wu said, fiddling with the buttons on the CD player.

“You should see the bed.” Sally remarked, looking into the next room.

Quatre was silent and tense. Looking down at the plate of cookies on the table, he asked,

“Did either of you notice that the heads have been broken off of all the animal crackers?”

Looking at each other, the two Preventers quietly sat down and awaited the arrival of their prey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How many are there?” Duo asked, staring at the missing MS’s.

“About 200.” Zechs replied, ducking and pulling the braided pilot down with him. The Mercenary passed right by, his nose buried in an old porno magazine.

Trowa and Heero each opened their backpacks and started taking out supplies. Laying out about 30 devices, Heero explained what they had to do.

“Each of these are a highly explosive bomb, set up on the same signal. I press one button, and they all go off. What we need to do is set each one down between two suits. Then, we each steal a suit as far away from them as possible. I press the button, and we destroy what ever is left standing.”

“We should be able to destroy 35 suits each before the Mercs know what hit them.” Trowa went on. “Afterwards, we wait for Sally’s signal, and then take the control room.”

“Yeah, and then what?” Duo asked, wondering what they were supposed to do with the survivors.

“We’re not equipped to arrest everyone, Duo. Just nip this in the bud.” Heero said, flatly avoiding his eyes.

“Wait.. are you saying we execute them, AFTER we already won?”

“No, you idiot! We give them two hours to get off the colony. Afterwards, we get off ourselves, and implode this monster.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” Duo said. “Killing in battle is one thing, but executing survivors is just murder.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scanner blipped, warning the trio that someone was approaching the door. Quickly, they moved to stand behind the door.

As the door opened, Sally glanced back, cursing as she realized that they left the scanner there on the otherwise empty coffee table. Her eyes met Wufei’s, and he nodded, noticing at the same time.

Cecil stepped inside. Quatre quickly shoved the door shut, while Wu and Sally drew their guns.

“Randolph Cecil, you are hereby under arrest for treason against the Earth Sphere Unified Nations. Put your hands behind your head, and kneel with your knees spread apart.” Sally ordered.

Cecil ignored them. Visibly getting hold of himself, he walked to the chase lounge and sat down. Playing with the arm, his hand disappeared for a moment, causing Wu to fire a warning shot.

The villain quickly raised his hand into view again.. but he was holding something.

“This,” He said, “Is a detonator. One click of a button, and this entire facility is gone.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~