With you permission, sir.

[keire_ke]

*hides* Please don't hurt me.


Sooner than Sanzo would have liked West approached Galatea. The planet was fairly unimpressive, a brownish mass of continents against grey-blue waters. Her one remarkable feature was the currents visible in the upper stratosphere. Not that they worried Sanzo. The landing was in Yaone’s capable hands, all that the captain had to do was to watch the proximity alerts. Every now and then the device fizzled with sparks, but the readings were still discernible.

“Remind me to get a new one,” Sanzo said, waving his fingers in the air. “Fucking piece of crap.”

“I reminded you, sir. On Bob, Persephone and on Zao Jun,” Yaone said.

“I was busy.”

“Which is why I didn’t nag. With your permission, I shall begin now.”

“Whatever.”

Yaone smiled to herself. “We’re getting a wave,” she said, frowning. “From- Twelve?”

“Hey man, how are things at your end of big ol’ nothing?” Duo’s voice sounded through the speakers, as soon as Yaone put the signal through. A couple of seconds later the screens flickered into life.

“Fucked up as usual. We have Galatea in sight,” Sanzo said.

On the screen Duo smiled, but there was a strange quality to his smile. Even Heero’s neutral expression seemed somewhat strained. “Good. Uh. ‘Cause well. I’m mainly just calling to let you know we’re probably not gonna meet you on your way back.”

“The fuck?”

“Apparently, we’re in a bit of a situation here.”

“Situation?” Sanzo repeated, the frown on his face getting more pronounced.

“You could say that, yeah.”

“What kind of a situation?”

“Of the unpleasant kind. Sucks to be us, but when doesn’t it?” Duo paused to scratch his chin. He looked down, at the unruly mop of hair he was treading his hands through. “Scratch that. It never sucks to be us. We rock. And win. Which is why now feels so weird. Anyway. Good thing our superiority won’t be bothering you much longer, eh, Sanzo?”

“Duo, what the fuck is going on?”

“We have the UEG fleet a’ knocking,” Heero’s smooth voice cut in. “And they’re being awfully insistent.”

“What- Fuck! Get out of there!”

“Dude, trust me when I say I would like nothing more. But unfortunately escape is, weirdly enough, what they thought we might try to do, no idea how the thought entered their brains, and they planned accordingly. Colour me shocked, they’ve seen through the elusive mind of man. So basically we’re fucked. Not as fucked as they’re about to be, ‘cause woohoo for free will, but pretty much fucked.”

“Duo!”

“Sorry man. I sure wish I could bug you some more.” On the screen Duo’s arms wrapped around Heero’s neck a little tighter. Sanzo could see Heero’s hand pause in its typing and raise briefly, to touch Duo’s comfortingly. “Still, I think we’ve build up enough karma to see us into the next couple lives. See ya. Remember to look after your monkey.”

“Goodbye,” Heero said calmly. Suddenly their image was overrun by static. Distant sound of explosions could be heard. It lasted a couple of seconds, and then the signal returned. Not as strong, or as clear, but the vision was back. Duo and Heero were looking back, presumably in the direction of the explosions.

“Don’t tell me. Those were our engines,” Duo said, decidedly upset. “Man, I hate those bastards.”

“Pretty much. Most systems are down. I’m sending you the coordinates to some of the more useful system backups I’ve made, Sanzo,” Heero added in the camera’s direction. Duo blinked down at him.

“I thought it was the meek that were supposed to inherit?”

“Do you know any of the meek?”

“Never bothered to talk to none. Bored me outta my pretty braided cranium.”

“Exactly. How much time do we have?”

“Some four minutes, I’d think, before they manage to blow us apart. How much do we need?”

“Two work with you?”

“Two’s good.” Duo smiled brightly and looked – it seemed – straight into Sanzo’s eyes. “Dunno if I’ve ever said thanks. For helping to hook us up,” he said, indicating Heero with his chin. “Thanks, man. Go kill them all with your inherent charm. Say goodbye to everyone for me.”

“Fucking hell, you bastards! Don’t you dare die,” Sanzo growled, resisting the urge to punch the grinning face on the screen.

“Not much choice at the moment. Not sure they want us alive. In fact, I’m pretty sure they don’t.” Another very distant explosion could be heard across the communicator. “Wow. Judging by the noise, they want us very much dead.” Duo grinned brightly and looked back to Sanzo. “Send in two extra bullets for us.” On the screen they could see him reach out and flip something. The signal died.

West’s cockpit was silent as the grave.

“Message incoming,” Yaone said quietly. The computer beeped its approval and a substantial file appeared on screen. Then- “I’ve lost contact. No response to our waves. They’re gone.”

Sanzo tore away from the console. “Fuck.”

“Sanzo?”

“You just focus on getting us down safely.”

“Sanzo, what are we going to do?”

“We’re gonna go down there and get the data,” he said. His voice was completely steady. Yaone and Kougaji looked at him, worried. Sanzo wasn’t entirely predictable at the best of times, but none of his crew had ever seen him this closed off.

xxx.XXX.xxx

Sanzo’s freaky composure disappeared the moment he walked away from the bridge. He managed to get as far as the common area, before something snapped and his fist ended up in the wall. His training might have been a lot less intense than Goku’s, but he knew how to punch a wall and not hurt himself. He wished he could smash Duo’s face in. Fucking moron! He should have known better than to allow UEG to track them, he should have known better.

“Fuck!”

“Sanzo? What happened?”

Goku. Standing entirely too close for comfort. Sanzo’s teeth gritted. “Leave me alone.”

“What happened?”

Sanzo didn’t think. He turned on his heel and sent a left hook into Goku’s head. In retrospect it probably wasn’t a great idea, trying to hit someone who didn’t remember anything beyond being taught to fight. Hell, the whole fucked up situation could be over this minute, if he managed to trigger yet another “kill them all” episode. Sanzo was half hoping to see the empty look in Goku’s eyes. He had an inkling that it meant a swift and clean death, the kind that any soldier wished for. Particularly when he was between a white-hot metal and a hard place lined with spikes. What chances did they have, when the UEG managed to track down Heero Yuy and outfly Duo Maxwell? Letting Goku kill them now was a piece of mercy.

He wasn’t really sure why he stopped himself from landing that punch. Maybe he didn’t really want to die, but he genuinely didn’t want to dwell on it. His hand landed on the collar of Goku’s shirt, twisting the material. Sanzo used it as leverage to slam Goku into a wall. Good as Goku was, Sanzo was more than half a head taller and a little heavier. When the kid didn’t fight back, he had no trouble manhandling him. Sanzo made a mental note to eat more – he didn’t like being outclassed by scrawny kids.

“You are more trouble than you’re worth,” Sanzo snarled. “Nothing but fucking trouble.”

Goku said nothing. Sanzo almost wished he had. At least then he could get angry and unload some of the aggression. “Why do I bother with you,” he whispered. “Why the fuck do I bother?” His hands tightened in the folds of Goku’s t-shirt, bringing them even closer. The hold was not hard enough to make breathing difficult, but tight enough to make it the forefront issue on anyone’s mind. Anyone’s but Goku’s, it seemed, as he still did not move. He was staring into Sanzo’s eyes, calmly, as if nothing was wrong, waiting for the captain to make a move.

As Sanzo stood there, holding Goku against the wall, he felt something change. He still wanted to put a bullet in someone’s skull, or at least punch someone hard enough to break a couple of essential cranial bones. He didn’t think that desire would leave him anytime soon. But as he gazed into the wide golden eyes he realised the fury settle into a low simmer. The red obscuring his vision receded, leaving the universe sharper than ever before. He would do what he set out to do, then he’ll figure out how to keep the UEG off their back. And if anyone got in his way, well.

Sanzo took a deep breath. His hands unclenched, letting Goku go, but neither of them stepped away or broke eye contact.

“Get a room,” an amused voice said. Sanzo turned his head – Gojyo was standing on the far side of the room.

Sanzo couldn’t get away from Goku faster if he tried. He didn’t say anything though. He walked out, leaving Gojyo staring after him in surprise.

“Now I know something is wrong.” Gojyo joined Goku by the window. He might enjoy teasing their dearest captain, but he knew him well enough to know when to shut up. This would be the first time he was forced to do so.

“I don’t know what happened. He’s very angry,” Goku replied.

“Good thing you were around then. Shit. What got him so furious?”

“Heero and Duo are dead,” Kougaji said, walking into the room. “UEG fleet caught up to them, they had no chance of escaping.”

Gojyo said nothing. Goku looked down and clenched his fists.

“We’re very close,” Kougaji continued. “Go to the bridge, we need to plan this.”

xxx.XXX.xxx

West were hovering above a deserted-looking village, close to the North Pole of Galatea, observing, from a safe distance, a small craft scuttle from house to house. “Scavengers.” Yaone reached up and flipped a couple of switches on the overhead panel. “A few ships only, but the colours they’re wearing are- Let’s just say we don’t want to meet any of them.”

“Can we? Not meet any, I mean.”

“There’s just one, smaller than us, around the North Pole. We should be safe.”

Generally, scavengers wouldn’t attack a craft bigger than their own, unless they were certain they had the upper hand. And by upper hand they understood the craft being piloted by a ten year old and manned by people under eight and over eighty-eight years of age. Despite their controversial work ethic, however, on the whole they were quite useful, if unpleasant.

“Someone needs to stay on board,” Sanzo said. He was staring out the window, at the blackness outside. He barely acknowledged anyone since he arrived on the bridge.

Kougaji gave Sanzo a look. “Someone?”

“You. And Jien. If the facility is as well hidden as they said, I can go alone. Goku and Hakkai are going with me.”

“And me,” Gojyo added. Sanzo gave him a look that rivalled the vacuum in its ability to freeze.

“No fucking way.”

“I can handle myself. Maybe not against them scavengers, we’re not exactly taught fighting with broken bottles and planks with nails, but I can fight. And, no offence Hakkai, you might need an additional gun.” His eyes shot to Goku briefly and then to Hakkai. “Just in case someone flips a switch and wants to rip out your pretty eyes, or something.”

“I don’t mind,” Hakkai said. The crew gave him a series of incredulous looks. He returned them calmly.

“And I don’t care,” Sanzo said. “Gojyo, you are not going.”

“Try and stop me.”

Sanzo stared. And then offered his rebuttal, in the form of a handgun pointed at Gojyo’s forehead. “You are on my fucking ship. You agreed to my rules. You will do what I say. Is that fucking clear?”

“Yessir, captain, sir.” A pause. “When do we leave?”

Kougaji calculated how fast would he have to be to get the gun away from Sanzo and escape unscathed. It would have to be pretty damn fast and there were no guarantees as far as the wholesomeness of his arms was concerned. Luckily for him, he needn’t have worried. Before any blood could be spilled, Goku stepped up, grasped Sanzo’s wrist and removed the gun.

“It’s not a bad idea,” he said quietly. “Gojyo can see things.”

Sanzo had to admit he had a point. Gojyo really could see people change their minds before they even realised they had. If he was to go into unknown territory with people he wasn’t sure he could trust, a trained whore was not such a bad idea. He didn’t have to like it.

On the other side of the bridge Hakkai watched the expressions on the crew’s face with detached interest. They varied from completely stupefied to slack jawed. He made a mental note to ask later, if only to confirm his suspicions. It must have been unusual for Sanzo to give in that easily.

“See if I haul your stupid ass out,” he told Gojyo, snatching the gun from Goku’s hands and holstering it. “If you want to get killed, it’s your own problem.”

“Yessir, captain, sir.” Gojyo was grinning, even if his mind was reeling a little. Oh, he did want to go, it wasn’t in his nature to declare things he didn’t mean. He was expecting the convincing to last a little longer and not end without a black eye or two. “We are definitely keeping you, kid,” he told Goku and ruffled his hair. “Ladies, gentleman and the rest of you thugs, we have got ourselves a Sanzo-controlling device.”

“You will shut up if you know what’s good for you,” Sanzo suggested. “I never said I wouldn’t shoot you.”

“See, this is why I work here,” Yaone told Lirin and Jien. “The pay is crap, but the show is free.” She smiled at her boyfriend when he gave her an exasperated look. “I don’t think landing is a good idea. Too easy to hit us, once we’re on the ground. I can circle the perimeter and wait for a signal.”

“Will you get a signal? Heero said there’s scramblers here.”

“Good point.” Yaone flipped the keyboard open, tapped the screen and listened attentively. “But, here’s the good news: short-range communication should be fine, at least on the surface.”

“Wonderful.”

“How big is the facility?” Sanzo asked.

“One and a half thousand square meters, altogether,” Goku replied immediately.

“We need to get to the main switchboard, first. Then a computer terminal.”

“Which will be useless, without passwords. I only have clearance for the data I already have,” Hakkai reminded them.

“We can deal with that when we have power,” Sanzo said. “Alright, touchdown in ten minutes. Yaone, take us to the ventilation shafts. Jien, I want ropes and harnesses. Kou, you monitor the scavengers. Anyone comes too close, you run. If you get out of range, make contact every hour.”

“What about me?” Lirin asked. Sanzo looked at her.

“You stand watch with the duct tape.”

He almost smiled at the choral “yessir” that punctuated his speech.

“Nine and a half minutes,” he said looking at the clock. “Move.”