Later that day, Preventer Commander Lady Une used her pointer to direct Hilde, Releena, and several other officers' attention to the map at the front of the room. "Agents Sally Po," she said, "and Trowa Barton, went to check out rumors of a possible insurgency in this region." She paused, and pointed at the section of the map. "They encountered three modified Virgo mobile suits, and attempted to open communication. They received only what they thought was white noise, but a few moments later, their Peacemaker suits suddenly shut down. Only critical life support functions were left on-line." ‘So, they’re still working together I see’, Hilde mused. It was one of the open secrets at Preventer HQ. Sally finally got sick and tired of Wu-Fei’s condescending attitude towards women and her as well. After all Sally had done to get the ungrateful S.O.B. in Preventer, he never even said thank you. Finally, the blond field surgeon woke up and publicly dumped him, right in the middle of the HQ parking lot. The Chinese pilot’s rage was unimaginable. Sally was better skilled in hand-to-hand combat than most, and just as good as some of the very best, but Wu-Fei was THE best of the best in this field, and the doctor wasn’t going to be much of a match for him. Before anything could get started however, Trowa Barton had stepped in between them. After a few blows between them, the fight was broken up and Wu-Fei was briefly suspended pending a full psychiatric evaluation. At the same time Trowa and Sally were assigned together. Partnership turned to respect, then friendship, and finally into love. There was a betting pool in HQ as to when they would get married. "So the virus was transmitted to the Gundams over the radio," Hilde said thoughtfully. Une then shot her an irritated look. "The Peacemakers aren't Gundams. No gundanium allow, just similarly designed," Une corrected. "Sorry," Hilde offered. "So what do we know about the enemy?" "They're a previously unknown faction of former OZ soldiers, mercenaries, White Fang members, and ex-soldiers looking for a war who call themselves 'The Ghosts of Valhalla’," Lady Une said with a stern look on her noble face. She continued "They have a rather unusual demand: that Earth's government reverses the general amnesty offered to both sides after the war. They want war-crimes trials for White fang members and OZ soldiers who support the E.S.U.N. as well as the Gundam pilots." Releena looked honestly confused. "But why on Earth would they want that?" she asked them, surprised. Une turned to Releena. "You see, because there were no trials, the OZ soldiers believe that in the eyes of the public all OZ soldiers are regarded as criminals. In a way, they feel their honor is in question." She continued, "If we don't give in to their demands, they say they will try to assassinate Releena, who they regard as the primary source of their troubles." Une smiled and shrugged. "Hilde, as your bodyguard, and I have decided to embark on a three stage plan. First, we'll put a double in place, second, we remove Releena from the public eye, and third, we dismantle these so-called 'Ghosts'. Hilde, you're job will be to move Releena into a secure location and guard her." Hilde nodded grimly. Lady Une's lips twitched, as if she was resisting the urge to smile "And here's our Releena double", who was followed by her braided boyfriend, Duo Maxwell. The young woman walked in wearing Releena's typical uniform, and a long brown wig matching Releena's own hair. But Releena didn't think she had ever that dejected a look on her face. "Hello, Catherine" Hilde said, smiling. Catherine just rolled her eyes. "This is NOT going to work, people. I don’t even look like Releena." She then turned to her lover, "Remind me HOW I got drafted into this DEAR? I’m not even in Preventer." "Well babe, you were the one who said you wanted to know what my job was like," Duo stated, "aaannnnndd you complained that the circus wasn’t as exciting as it used to be." Cathy sighed, "Remind me to keep my big mouth shut around you." Duo offered, "That wouldn’t be any fun. I’d end up being the one doing most of the talking." "So what?" Hilde offered jokingly. "That never stopped you before." "Alright, alright knock it off," Une stated. "Let’s get this thing started so it can be over and done with." As Releena and Hilde left, Releena saw Une walk over to Catherine. "We'll try to keep this as short as possible," Une said to her with big- sisterly gentleness. "Thank you very much, ma'am," Catherine said to her with mock formality. Une laughed a bit, and rolled her eyes taking a step back, giving Catherine the opportunity to leave while Duo caught up with Hilde. "So, how’s life been treating you ‘sis’?" Duo said in his usual jovial manner. "It'll be much better when we nail these thugs that have popped up," Hilde continued. "‘Sis’?" Releena asked. "Something of a running gag between us. When we split up, we decided we were better as friends and the ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ we never had, being war orphans and all," Duo answered. "I think my future ‘sister-in-law’ is signaling you to get moving," Hilde said, pointing to a waving Catherine. "Well, duty calls. Catch ya later, ladies!" Duo then trotted off to be beside his love, giving her a peck on the cheek as they walked off arm and arm. Hilde nodded her head wistfully. "They do make a cute couple don’t they?" "I guess it still hurts seeing him with someone else, huh?" Releena offered sympathetically. "Nah. Other than sex, we never had all that much in the end. He’s too irresponsible and I need someone who is more down to Earth", Hilde stated. "What he needs is more of a big sister type to take care of him. Besides, Cathy needs someone to put some laughter in her life and who better to do that than Duo Maxwell", she finished with a smirk.
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