Sally Po pushed brown hair out of her eyes, leaning up against the wall of the small room that had been converted into a cell for both her and her companion. "What do you think they're going to do?" she asked softly, her plain jumpsuit spotlessly clean. The black haired woman looked up from where she turned the gleaming rose signet on her finger, her expression grave, "Wish I knew, Sally." Lt. Noin smiled faintly, her eyes gentle, "You know, you don't need to be here." "I'm not taking an offer from them if you don't ma'am," Sally said firmly. "Just Noin, here," she sighed. A faint smile, "Or if you must, Lucrenzia." "Eh?" Sally blinked. Noin sat up on the bunk, her expression amused, "My hated first name. You can guess why I prefer just Noin." "It's not that bad," Sally said diplomatically. Noin laughed softly, her eyes twinkling. "Oh yes it is," she said mildly. "And how do you shorten it? The best you can do is Lucy, and I certainly don't look like a Lucy..." "Oh, I don't know...," Sally teased her softly, the two exchanging a warm smile. There was a moment of silence as they sat there, then Sally sighed softly and asked a question on both of their minds, "What do we do about Dorothy?" "When we get out of here, I'm going to track her down and kill her," Noin's voice was suddenly ice cold, much like her eyes. "Noin?" Sally actually looked startled. "I knew Catalonia was ambitious," Noin said grimly, "I was nervous about having her at our backs from the start." A pause, "But after she crippled our suits she could have just moved on... instead, she put additional rounds in our suits intending to kill us." "I thought so," Sally conceded softly. She met Noin's eyes, "You know she's going to have a cover story in place if we turn up again." Noin nodded but said, "I don't care. I am not willing to let her get away with betraying us.. or trying to kill you." A faint blush colored Sally's cheeks as she looked away from the sudden warmth in Noin's voice, hinting at what had been growing between them over the months they had worked together. "I'll be there to help," she said, voice husky. Noin looked troubled, her expression as uncertain as Sally had ever seen it. "You were with me when we stopped those," she paused a second, "calling them just murderous scum seems too mild, somehow...." Sally flinched. She and Noin had participated in a joint operation with several of the Specials Troops, one that had gone badly wrong. Several of their own soldiers had attempted to massacre their unarmed captives, and only Sally and Noin had been there to stop them. She knew it had troubled Noin almost as much as it had her, but she had rarely talked about it. "More and more I find myself wondering if we're on the right side anymore," Noin admitted something that both of them had been thinking. She smiled wryly, "I'm certain Treize and Zechs have the best of intentions, but we both know what the road to hell is paved by." "We're loyal soldiers, it's not our place to be questioning our command," Sally said, feeling odd playing the devil's advocate. Once upon a time it would have been her asking the questions that Noin was, and in truth it all bothered her, too. "We were only following orders," Noin smiled grimly, "isn't a good enough excuse." She sighed, "I may not be prepared to throw my lot in with the colonies, but I'm actually glad we've been taken out of the fight." Meanwhile, back on Earth, a figure gazed out of the window of a luxurious villa, his expression unreadable. Treize Khushrenada turned as he heard someone enter, his brown hair and clothes as neat as they ever were. "So," he asked the new arrival smoothly, "how long am I to be under house arrest?" "You're not under house arrest," Dorothy Catalonia said mildly, "I believe you've retired to your villa to recover from illness." The regal blonde actually looked apologetic as she said, "This really wasn't my idea." "I know," Treize conceded. The political maneuvering on Earth had grown wild with the declaration of war by the colonies, along with the ongoing conflicts between the Specials and the regular military. In the end a compromise had been worked out, but part of it involved Treize's removal from command replacing him with a regular military general. It was a considerable mess, considering his inexperience with the Specials capabilities, but there was little choice. "I'm not getting many updates," Treize said as he waved Dorothy to a seat, "can you tell me how the war is going?" "Stalemate," Dorothy answered simply. "The Colonies lack the forces required to take Fortress Barge, while they've been able to beat back any attacks from our forces." Treize noted her tone of voice, "But that's changing?" Dorothy nodded, a smile on her face. "The Gundams have initiated a new tactic," she said, "they're disabling and capturing Leos, refitting them and fielding them on their side." "The tide is shifting to their side," Treize mused. "Is the battleship Libra ready to be deployed?" he asked thoughtfully. "The reluctance to deploy Mobile Dolls is slowing things down," Dorothy said, "as is the technical difficulties with the new Gemini armors." A scowl, "The Gundam designers are reluctant allies at best, and are dragging their feet." A faint smile, "They have done a good job on my project, however." Treize looked thoughtful, "I suspect it's the challenge, more than anything." "Creating a suit that can defeat the Gundams?" Dorothy smiled, "Yes, that challenge would appeal to them." Treize hesitated a moment, "And how is Colonel Une?" Dorothy sighed, wishing he had not asked her that. "Colonel Une has been relieved of her duties," she said grimly. "What?" Treize blurted. "She wouldn't let go over what happened to you," Dorothy explained to him patiently, "and even publicly threatened Romafeller over it, quite reasonably surmising that they were behind your situation." Quickly she added, "I'm pulling whatever strings I can, she should be all right." "Thank you, old friend," Treize sighed. He looked down at the rose signet he wore, turning it thoughtfully, "And Zechs?" "He's reluctantly taking on the role of Miliardo Peacecraft," Dorothy related, "as planned. I think he'd rather have Releena in that role, but our attempts to contact her failed." "That's a nice way of putting it," Treize chuckled, "she's joined the colonies, correct?" "I thought you were mostly cut off...?" Dorothy looked concerned. "Even without my regular information sources I can speculate," Treize said dryly. He sat back, "Releena was already in their camp due to her association with Arisugawa, and I suspect her experiences in the colonies only helped push her along." Dorothy made a face, "You should be running things still, sir." "It will happen soon enough," he reassured her. Treize smiled, "So Miliardo is advocating peace while his sister speaks for war. It's an amusing reversal for Zechs, at least." "He and Ambassador Darlain are working together in a rather unholy alliance," Dorothy confirmed, "while I understand Releena Peacecraft will be presenting a list of the Colonies' peace demands to the Earth soon." "It's going to be an interesting time," Treize agreed.
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