I do not own Gundam Wing, and make NO MONEY from this story. GW belongs to Bandai and Sunrise, not me. Now, this is AU, so please don't write me to tell me that there are no barbarian knights in chain mail in the series. This, you see, is not the series.. it's my wickedly warped imagination! Have fun!
~Leeko

The Capture - Chapter 6
By Caliko

Duo held his hand up, stopping the men at the foot of the mountain. Leaving it hang in the air, he listened, then shook his head. Motioning his second over, he looked around, looking for any sign of a trap.

"It's too quiet." He told Riley. "I keep expecting someone to jump out of the brush with a pike, but there's nothing. We're almost to the spot where the kings messenger sent us, yet we haven't been stopped!"

"Do you think it was a ruse, Lord Duo?" The burly man asked, his hands tightening on his reins.

"I don't know." Duo looked over his troops, then the surrounding area. "Send four scouts out. Two to scout the area ahead, the other two to go check on Castle Hell. We'll camp here until we hear word."

Riley tugged his forelock, then bellowed out the orders. Soon, the warriors were setting up camp while Duo spoke with the chosen scouts. Then, orders given, he nodded his dismissal and closeted himself with his captains.

Six hours later:

"LORD DUO!" The rider pulled his mount in, stopping a hairsbreadth from the makeshift table. "The castle has fallen! I managed to sneak in, pretending to be one of them, and found Dekim Barton with the leader."

"Damn snake. I should have killed him." Duo cursed, hurling his knife into the table.

"There's more, sir! The rebel leader is Will Schbeiker... and he's searching for his sister, Hilde."

Duo started to smirk, a satisfied thought entering his head. "I take it he didn't find her?"

"No, My Lord." The scout failed to smile back, his small dark face lay lined, solemn and worried. "And I can only hope he never does. When I left, he was calling her a whore, saying that she disgraced her family. Sir.. He plans on executing Lady Hilde."

"Was Captain Chang anywhere about?"
"No, sir. Neither was Lord Bastion."

"Good, then he followed orders." Motioning to Riley, he gathered his battle plans together. "My wife is well away from the man. Now, have the men mount up. We have a castle to retake."

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

Martin Richards watched the advancement of the rebel army from his console in space. Schbeiker's forces had surrounded the dark castle, some started to tunnel under the walls, while others went over. Outnumbered, the battle was already decided, but still, the fight went on. It promised to be a long, bloody battle if the keep failed to surrender.

He quietly chewed his knuckle, hoping that Sally had made it out without being caught in the fray. He had promised the elder Po that he would keep the girl safe on her first inter-planetary voyage, and hated the thought that he might have failed his oldest comrade, as well as the girl he thought of as family.

"Sir!" Ensign Lutz shouted, causing Captain Richards to jump, "I have a lock on Lieutenant Schbeiker's implant, and she's with Major Po!"

"Try to get them on screen." The Captain waited for the satellites to adjust, then stared intently at the monitor. "How far are they from the rendezvous?" He asked the officer, watching the wagon roll across his console.

"About an hour, sir. Do you want me to send someone to meet them?"

"Who's in the area?"

"Catherine Bloom"

"Alright. Have her meet them about halfway... just to be sure that they are coming to us."

"Yes sir!" The young officer glowed, as the helplessness he felt over Hilde's disappearance receded.

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

Hilde itched at the woolen tunic that she was being forced to wear. After a week of wearing nothing at all, she was over-sensitive to the feel of the rough cloth. Desperately, she pulled the tight material away from her skin, scowling. Figures. She finally get's some clothes, and she's allergic to them.

Sally looked over, laughing. "We should be almost there. Maybe about another half-hour. Can you last that long, Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, but I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to putting on a uniform!"

"Now I know she's desperate." The voice came from up a tree. Suddenly, a lithe figure jumped down, landing in the bed of the wagon. Her curly brown hair was pulled into a tight ponytail with her bangs framing her blue eyes. Rising up to her feet, she bowed, smiling. "Welcome back! Captain Richards sent me to escort your group to the rendezvous point."

"Another woman." Wufei snorted, slapping the reins against the nags back. Obediently, they jerked, then picked up speed.

Cathy balanced easily, laughing at the obvious attempt to make her fall. "Will take more than that, Mister."

"Is there any word of Castle Hell?" Hilde asked the girl, worried.

"It doesn't look good, Lieutenant. According to our reports, your brother has taken it. Other than that, no word."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will roared through the now empty tower, throwing plates and goblets against the wall. The rest of the apartment showed testimony of the general's bad temperament. The silk bed hangings hung in tatters off of the canopy, the cushions were slashed open, and still, the Rebel leader hadn't worked through his bile.

"I want her found!" Will ordered, pointing out the door. "No one rests until she is in chains at my feet!"

He stormed through the doorway and down to the common room, ignoring the warriors pressed against the wall. Little by little, the men were starting to doubt their leaders sanity. He was acting more like the nobles they dispossessed, and less like the freedom lover they had voted to follow. His temperament was irrational, scary to behold, killing for the slightest reason.

There were few prisoners left to question because of it. Will Schbeiker killed most of them when they took the keep, cutting them down in a berserker's rage. His reasoning? They fought out of loyalty to their earl, condemning Will as a traitor.

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

Wufei stared around him, afraid to touch anything, lest he break it. He stood in the middle of a circular room made out of metal, with wide windows in the walls that looked out into the darkest night he had ever seen. Lights blinked across tables that were bolted to the floor. The crew that piloted this monstrosity sat at chairs in front of the tables, their eyes wandering to stare at their visitors.

Sally Po wrinkled her nose at him, amused by his reaction. She came over to him, newly showered and dressed in a coat and pants made out of some strange, shiny material.

"Believe me now, Wufei?" she teased, laying her palm on his shoulder. Strangely, her touched centered his thoughts, calmed his emotions.

:::I'll have to think about that, when this is over.::: He swore, staring at her hand until she removed it. "Don't ask silly questions, Woman. I can see that you were telling me the truth!"

Her eyes went dull, trying to hide the pain his curt words caused.

"I was only teasing you."

"This is war, Sally. We do not have time to play." He softened his tone, letting her know that he didn't mean to be cruel. "I'm worried about Lord Maxwell."

Sally tilted her head, considering the man in front of her. "That confuses me." She admitted, leading him to a set of chairs against the wall. "What is it about this Maxwell that inspires such loyalty? The people from the other domains practically helped Schbeiker conquer their nobles, and yet, the people of Hell Keep held out until the bloody end. Why?"

Wufei thought about it, comparing what he knew of the other holdings to what he saw since he moved to the keep. Finally, he sat back, considering how to explain.

"Lord Maxwell is fair in his dealings. He doesn't break his word, or lie. He will kill for what he believes in, and he protects those he considers his. Before he left the keep, his main worry was Lady Hilde. He told me to let the keep fall, just make sure that she was safe." Wufei sighed, then met her eyes. "In short, he see's people, not serfs."

"And that is different from the other Lords?"

"Hmmm.. Yes. You say that your people want to reach an understanding with mine? The easiest path to take would be to enlist Maxwell's aid. He is the most tolerant of them all, and would be the first to see the benefit in an alliance."

Sally nodded, seeing that he believed what he said. "Make sure that you mention that to Captain Richards when you speak to him. Right now, he doesn't favor a rescue mission, but he detests failure more. If you point out that this Maxwell could help him succeed in bringing your world back into the Alliance, then he might decide that it is worth the risk."

"He sounds cautious."

"Like your Lord, he cares about the welfare of his people."

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

The eyes of death stared out onto the burning landscape, promising retribution. His people, his crops.. gone in hours at the hands of this madman. He had no knowledge of where his wife or his brother hid, nor the stoic warrior that helped them to escape. All he knew was that the people he was responsible for, the people that he vowed to protect, lay dead and disposed of in a mass grave.

:::Will Schbeiker:::

The name echoed in his mind like a funeral bell. If this was what he was capable of, he could readily understand why Hilde claimed to be clan-less. He was like a rat, small minded and infested with disease, ready to be exterminated.

Determination ruling his mind, he cautiously eased down the back of the cliff, away from his castle and towards his men.

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