Author: Merula
Pairings: 1x2
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: AU, Pirates...
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine.
A piratey ficbit... I have no idea if this will be continued....
Bottle O'Rum
"Yo Ho Yo Ho a pirate's life for me...."
The young man aboard the merchant ship shivered and looked out one of the port windows. Blackness, stars, empty space...
But empty space could be deceiving as anyone who signed up for the Sphere's Navy knew... for out in space, between the colonies, between the Sphere and Mars lurked pirates.
Pirates who liked nothing better than to capture ships like this one and take all the cargo... It didn't matter how the ship was armed, it didn't matter how many decoy ships went out- the pirates always found the right one and the pirates always won...
"Captain!" One of the crew members turned around met the young man's eyes. "We're being hailed."
"By who?" He asked.
"Unidentified ship. There's no visual and I can't get a reading...." The crew member licked her lips and looked nervous.
"Put them through." He took a deep breath. Hopefully it was simply a ship in distress- maybe one of the decoys? "This is Captain Flaga, of the ship HMS Catalonia."
The screen in front of him stayed dark. "The HMS Catalonia? The supply ship for Mars?" A cheerful baritone voice asked.
"We are the HMS Catalonia," The Captain replied. "Identify yourselves!"
There was no answer.
"Identify yourselves or we will take aggressive action!"
Laughter echoed over the link. "Oh, I don't think so captain. Not only are you all by yourselves out here..." The screen suddenly lit up, showing not the speaker, but the area around the Catalonia.
"Captain!" One of the crew shouted. "Radar is showing several large objects..."
At that moment, the empty space on the screen seemed to ripple and several large ships appeared out of nowhere... as well as several things that Captain Flaga had thought long gone...
"Mobile dolls!"
"Exactly captain," the screen changed and the Captain found himself looking at a man he'd seen only on wanted posters.
"Duo Maxwell!"
The man smiled. "Exactly so, captain. And if you know who I am- then you know what comes next. You want to preserve the life of your crew don't you?"
Captain Flaga took a deep breath. So, that part was true. "Yes."
Maxwell smiled. "Then prepare to be boarded."
~*~
Heero watched the last of the crates get loaded into their hold and looked at the manifest. They had left just enough on the Catalonia to keep the crew fed until they managed to limp back into port on L3. All the rest of the cargo was now on one of their three ships.
"How's it going?" Duo leaned over his shoulder.
"We're loaded. Eight has reported that they are full, I'm still waiting for Chum to report in..." The receiver in his ear crackled into life. Heero listened for a moment and then nodded. "They're loaded too. Tell Quatre to pull the dolls in and we can go."
Duo nodded and touched his own earpiece. "Trowa? We're ready- tell Quatre."
"Got it."
Duo waited until Heero shut the transport droids down and secured the hold before he spoke again.
"This is really odd."
"What do you mean?" Heero asked as they headed for the lift.
"You think by now they would've gotten better at dodging us or something."
Heero smiled. "Duo, they are trying, but as Une pointed out, we're dealing with a bureaucracy and things move slowly- so slowly that it's easy to guess what their next moves are."
Duo sighed. "I guess so, but I still keep thinking one of these captains is going to show a backbone and fight back..."
"Some of them have," Heero reminded him, his hand brushing down Duo's back, lightly tracing the scar he knew was there.
"Some- but not many." Duo frowned. "It just... I mean when we first came up with this plan, I honestly thought we'd all be dead or imprisoned in a year..."
"Really?" Heero looked surprised. "I thought six months."
Duo laughed. "Then why did you agree?"
"You know why I agreed." Heero tugged Duo's braid. "You asked."
Duo shook his head. "Sucker."
~*~
Trowa and Quatre were on the bridge, leaning over a screen. "We're just about set..." Quatre was saying as Duo and Heero joined them on the bridge. "You guys?"
"We're ready," Noin answered.
"Us too," Howard laughed. "That one was a quick one."
Quatre lifted his head and looked towards Duo. He flipped a quick salute and Duo shook his head at him, grinning. "Pieces of Eight and Chum Bucket report that they are ready to move out, Captain."
"Tell them to go stealth. We'll vanish once the Catalonia moves out of range and Wufei gives us the all clear. We'll meet back up at the usual spot." Duo took his seat and buckled himself in, as Heero did the same beside him.
Quatre relayed the orders, and on the screen the other two ships vanished. The door to the bridge slid open and Wufei stepped in. "The Catalonia is out of range." He said as he went to take his seat.
"Then we should be on our way too." Duo engaged the stealth drive as Heero fed the coordinates into the computer. Wufei took his seat, flipping the screens in front of him into life to keep an eye on the space around them.
Once they were well on their way, Duo leaned back in his seat and sighed. "This still seems way too easy," he said and heard Wufei snort.
"Easy? Are you kidding? Duo, you know the planning that goes into one of these attacks..."
"I don't mean that," Duo shook his head. "I mean... these guys just kind of roll over- or at least the last few have..." He amended as Wufei snorted again.
"I was going to say- you haven't forgotten the ones that tried to ram us?"
"Or the ones that tried to pop a hole in the Chum's air supply and hit the fuel instead?" Trowa added.
"Or the ones that tried to jump us in the hold with broken pieces of boxes?" Heero rolled his eyes. "They weren't even sharp pieces..."
"Or the ones that tried to attack the dolls?" Quatre touched the helmet beside him.
Duo waved his hands. "I know, I know, it hasn't always been easy, but seriously- lately it just seems like they've given up. Which is just odd when you think about who is in charge of the government..."
"They have their hands full," Trowa pointed out. "It may not be hitting the news but you know that the rioting on Earth is getting out of hand..."
"Not to mention on the colonies," Quatre turned and smiled at Duo. "Plus- I think you are forgetting something- we have a... reputation now."
"I thought we always did." Duo laughed. "The ex-pilots that turned their back on the government they helped set up...."
"I think Quatre means that the Navy is scared of us. We've been at this for five years- long enough to have stories circulate." Trowa said. "We're the bogeymen."
"We haven't lost yet," Heero agreed. "So now they face us knowing they are going to lose."
Duo looked skeptical. "That can't be it- and even if it is- we can't rely on it."
"Agreed," Wufei nodded. "We can't get soft. Not now."
OWARI
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