Well, Quatre's out drifting in space, when he drifts into the territory of an asteroid mining colony. Either they've moved asteroids in closer to the other colonies to mine 'em, or he's WAY the heck out of the way. His suit is retrieved, and he's patched up in the outpost's hospital by a cheerful orange haired woman. He insists on leaving as soon as possible, but she manages to persuade him to hang around and heal a bit first.
During their banter, the woman mentions that the mining outpost isn't in the jurisdiction of either the Alliance or OZ, but is far enough out to be ignored. Hmm. Maybe they ARE in the asteroid belt. Way to drift, Quatre.
Elsewhere, Lady Une, her chief minion, and Trowa are in the OZ space fortress, watching reports of the Talgese zipping merrily about in space. The minion suggests sending out the Mobile Dolls, but Trowa remarks that they should test the two new suits. The minion wants to be the second pilot, but Trowa insists on being allowed his own choice - a mobile suit this powerful will need a truly superb pilot. The minion protests this a bit, but Une decides it's a keen idea.
And, sure enough, Trowa goes and hauls Heero out of jail. Une has the Five Doctors rig up a detonation device in the Mercurius, which Heero will pilot, with remote capability, so that they can make him go boom if he gets snarky. Then, with Trowa in the Veii and Heero in the Mercurius, they head out to face Zechs. The minion continues to protest that this is mind-bogglingly stupid, but is ignored by everyone.
Out in space, Trowa and Heero, surrounded by a swarm of Mobile Dolls, muse about how they would destroy the automated mecha. Heero lazily wastes a few of them, until Trowa tells him to stop, already, or he'll have to blow Heero up. Is nobody watching these two? Sheesh.
At last, they run into Zechs, interrupting the surly pilot's nap. Some of the Mobile Dolls are sent ahead, giving Zechs something to whomp on. Then Heero and Trowa get involved. Neither of them can land a hit on the nimble Talgese, but Trowa's enormous beam cannon allows him to stay way out of Zechs range and plink away, while Heero's shield protects him from Zechs' ranged attacks. Zechs decides to pull out the beam sword and get in close, until he realizes what's going on - Trowa's plinking is missing him, sure, but is conveniently obliterating the milling swarms of Mobile Dolls that got sent along with the two. Zechs, suspecting who this might be, surrenders, giving his real name, Millard (snicker) Peacecraft, and remarking that he comes in peace. The two haul him back with them as a prize.
Meanwhile, Quatre and the orange-haired woman go to see Quatre's father in another of the asteroid mines. This is revealed as the source of his family's enormous wealth - they own pretty much all the asteroid mining operations. Quatre's father gripes a bit about Quatre's going out in a Gundam, and they have a bit of an arguement about wether peaceful negotiation or violent confrontation is the key to ending this. The orange-haired woman is inexplicably revealed to be Quatre's sister. Well, ain't that convenient. They go wandering off, and his sister (Yuria?) remarks that all of them are rooting for him, even if his father is a bit surly about the whole Gundam thing. Quatre goes down to the secret base where his Gundam was built, and begins making plans to rebuild it to continue the fight.
Meanwhile, Quatre's father is addressing the colony council of the small space colony attached to this particular mine. They're of a mood to join OZ's defense pact, but he's opposed to getting involved, especially with the weapon industry provisions that this will require. However, despite his influence, he's voted out - unanimously - and the colony accepts OZ rule. Outside, crowds riot a bit, demanding Quatre's father give up his power (apparently, as he sort of owns the place, he's been their benevolent dictator until now).
Quatre and Yuria hide in an alley as the crowds mill about, as Quatre gets really baffled - his family, he believes, have always done the right thing, nothing but the right thing, and he just can't understand why nobody cares. Yuria remarks that they practically gave away the raw materials that built the colonies, but nobody much cares about that, either.
Quatre's father, meanwhile, engages in a last act of "nyah, nyah" by detaching the asteroid mine from the living section of the colony. Quatre and Yuria go out in a shuttle to try and talk him out of it, while the new OZ governor asks for, and gets, permission to act from the colony council. Quatre's father remarks over the radio that this is really just running away from the problem, as he knows he'll probably die, but he can't see an end to this new conflict, and can't bear to participate in the inevitable total war. Quatre and Yuria try to talk him out, but the colony's defenses are suddenly brought to bear, and obliterate the command module of the mine, killing Quatre's father. The shuttle is knocked for a loop, sending Quatre (who forgot to wear his seat belt, the fool) flying around the cabin. Yuria leaps out of her seat and gets behind him, cushioning his impact with the back wall--
And now, a brief intermission while we retrieve the reviewer's suspension of disbelief from the core of the Earth.
Thank you.
Yuria, horribly injured by being smooshed between Quatre and the back wall, shares a brief, tender moment with her younger brother before expiring. And Quatre... loses it. I mean, really loses it. He won't forget this day, he swears, and he'll make sure the colonists don't forget it, either. This time, it's personal. And then he dissolves into insane, maniacal laughter. Whoa!
Rant 'o the day contains no additives, preservatives or alien spores of any kind. Use only as directed. Do not expose to direct sunlight. Do not fold, spindle, multilate or remove identifying tags. Handle with care. Contains less than 3% milk fat by weight, not by volume. Certified 'Syndicate Approved'. Squeeze the lemon. Remember, kids, only users lose drugs.
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