Papa Zechs - Chapter 8~ Of Prisoners and Madmen

Cecil Research Colony, On the other side of the Earths Orbit, hidden by the sun

Carter watched out of his cell window as Randolph Cecil gave the orders to his captain, Davis. The whole situation bothered him. When he signed on, he was told that he would be working security in a private research colony, yet.. this wasn't security. This was an army.

He resigned the moment her realized that he wasn't there to safeguard scientific research. He refused to fight and quickly became just one of fifty imprisoned on the colony, unable to leave. Each of them was guilty of treason against the Cecil Research Colony.

During the war, he had been one of the 'specials', trained by Lucrezia Noin, herself. When Oz fell, he had no choice but to reevaluate his life. He had found, surprisingly, that he believed in peace. Unfortunately, with no skills but fighting, he worked menial jobs until he had spotted the ad for this.

Now this. Unjust imprisonment while this madman decided to conquer the planet. He leaned his head against the bars in the window, praying for a miracle.

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Duo's Cottage

Heero stumbled through the door, followed closely by Duo. It had been a hard week, but they had managed to get the satellites in position, upgraded, and reprogrammed, ready to go at the touch of a button. Hilde had already informed them that her hacking was complete, so all they had left to do was wait.

Trowa and Quatre had already left for their respective homes, and Wufei, Hilde, and Heero would leave in the morning.

He breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the end in sight.

"Duo, I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow before we leave."

"Do you think you can convince Relena that we still have the gundams?" He asked, biting his lip. He didn't like keeping the minister in the dark, but she would NOT tolerate this little bit of trouble.

"It's just a matter of catching her at the right minute. If she's been closeted with calls from ESUN dignitaries, then she'll be worried. The prospect of the gundams existence will be welcomed, and she wouldn't think too closely about it's improbability."

Duo grimaced, still not enjoying this. He had a firm policy of not lying, no matter what.

Heero's eyes narrowed as he watched the play of emotion on his friends face. "Don't even try to back out, Maxwell. This was all your idea, and it's too late now."

"I'm not backing out.. I just feel a little guilty."

"Don't think about it, Duo. Just think about finally getting Hilde all to yourself again."

As if cued, the black haired pixie called down the stairs. "Duo? Is that you?"

Maxwell followed her voice with his eyes, yearning shining through. Resigned, he glanced back towards Heero, and nodded.

"Yeah, Babe! I'll be right up."

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Cecil Research Colony

Carter watched as the mobile suit spun out of control and headed directly towards the prison. He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact as the wicked war machine started spewing bullets towards his cell.

Harv, his 'room mate' and a fellow former special, grabbed the back of his tunic, pulling him down into the corner. The arm of the MS crashed through the wall, and was instantly engulfed in the rubble. Seeing their only opportunity, they both ran out of the hole, keeping to the shadows.

In the distance, they could see others running towards the scene. As if practiced, they split up, each heading in the opposite directions. Which ever one managed to escape the colony, if either of them did, would head straight for spaceport. It was possible that they could steal a shuttle and escape.

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five hours later

"What do you mean, two prisoners escaped?" Randolph, 'NEVER call me Randy' Cecil glared his maddened eyes, nearly spitting out his rage. "Don't I pay you enough to keep a couple of half starved traitors under control?"

"You pay me plenty, Mr. Cecil." Davis replied, "But we should have been allowed to kill them when they first refused to fight for us. This would not have happened if we had been."

"Are you saying that it's my fault, Davis?" Randolph asked, insulted.

"No, sir! I understand that you are not a violent man.. but it IS standard procedure to kill the traitors. It discourages further rebellion."

"Fine. You may execute the remaining prisoners tomorrow. In the meantime, FIND THAT SHUTTLE!"

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Colony L4

The shuttle came in, dangerously erratic as it landed on it's side and spun around on the empty landing field. Zechs, playing at being a shuttle hand, ran towards the wreck, dodging the arcs of electricity coming from it's landing mechanism.

Andy and Russ cut the door open, and Zechs went in. Tim and Michael followed closely, all three intent on getting any passengers out before it exploded. Accidents were rare. but they did happen. Each man worked quickly, knowing thier job.

The pilot was a sandy haired youth, not much older than his wards. He groaned, opened his green eyes, and smiled.

"Colonel Zechs..." he muttered, "I'm glad I reached you.. mobile suits.. attacking..."

He fainted, leaving the rest of the dock workers staring at him in amazement as they realized that Zechs was not who he claimed to be.

Giving up his masquerade, he started to give orders.

"Ok, get them out. Andy, contact the Preventers.. ask for Preventer Po. Tell them that Zechs Marquis needs her on L4, ASAP!"

The situation was getting complicated. No one would stage a wreck like this. Both wreck victims were underweight, malnourishment obvious in their sallow skin tones and sunken eyes. The man in his arms was little more than a skeleton with skin, his survival due only to stubbornness. Both men wore coveralls, with the Cecil Research logo on the back.

Zechs knew that his boys couldn't be involved with this. They might be demons on the battlefield.. but they had honor. Not one of them would treat another human being like this.

::::Damn.. there really is an invasion...::: He thought, the clues coming together in his mind.

An ambulance drove onto the field, and opened it's rear doors. Zechs placed his burden on a stretcher, and crawled in after him. He needed to be there if either of them woke up. He had more than a few questions for them.

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The next day, at the Marquis mansion

"Heero!" Relena looked up from her paperwork, thankful for the distraction. There had been so many rumors flying around ESUN, with so little actual fact. The latest news, of the shuttle crash, had just made it to her desk.

"Are you alright, Princess?" Heero asked, ignoring the guilty feeling lying in the pit of his stomach.

"Yeah, I've just had some bad news..."

"Want to talk about it?"

She looked sharply at him, unaccustomed to him offering to talk.

"There was a shuttle accident on L4 yesterday. Zechs had helped the survivors." She said, choosing her words. She knew that nothing she said to him would leave the room.

"Relena, it happens. I understand that it's horrible, but it's a fact of life in space." He reminded her, unsure of how he was supposed to react.

"No, Heero.. you don't understand. The pilot claims that they escaped from a research colony that no one seems to know anything about. More to the point.. both he and his passenger claim to have seen the missing mobile suits.. and watched them prepare for war. The invasion has been confirmed."

Heero's face went white. Duo's plan had backfired.

::::DAMN IT!! I KNEW BETTER THAN TO GET INVOLVED!::: He thought, turning on his heel and leaving. He had to get Wufei and Duo.. It looked like they were heading back to L4.

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"What do you mean, they reached L4?" Randolph Cecil demanded, "Did they reveal anything?"

"I don't know, sir. They were unconscious when they landed, and are being isolated in the hospital ward. I can't even get close enough to silence them."

Davis was thankful that he had the vastness of space between him and his employer. Randy Cecil was not a fun boss when upset. The last guy who captained the mercs was shot in the gut and left to die when he had screwed up.

Mr. Cecil turned around in the view screen, watching a view that only he could see.

"We have no choice. We launch the invasion at the end of the week." He said, not bothering to turn around. "End transmission."

Static met Davis's eyes as the communicator shut down on the other end. He was starting to get serious doubts.

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The man in the hospital bed could be insane, but Zechs didn't think so. For one thing.. he named coordinates. That research facility was so top secret, he had to go through Relena's contacts to get any information. For another.. he knew Randolph Cecil.

He never liked the man. He was.. too plastic, too loud, too fake. He always seemed to hide something... was it this? Has he had the missing mobile suits all along?

His pager sounded on his belt, drawing his attention. Unclipping it, he noticed the number, a strange

:::I was wondering how long it would take him to find out....:::

Zechs picked up the phone, and dialed home.

"Heero... Is there something you needed?"

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