Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Tank Police Division 195 ❯ Secret Scramble ( Chapter 23 )

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Tank Police Division 195
Chapter Twenty-Three: Secret Scramble

The kind of connections you five have at your disposal scares me. Milliardo
commented. Duo grinned at him.

Aren't you glad we use our powers for good and not evil?

What about that thing with Une?

That was revenge. It doesn't count.

If we had done this sooner we would've wrapped up this case by now. Captain Scot quipped.

We'd also be unemployed. Quatre pointed out. What we're doing is in violation of the rules.

But if we pull it off, we'll be heroes! Duo chirped.

Unemployed heroes. Quatre muttered. We'll get canned right after the parade.

Must you be so negative, Q?

I'm not so sure you fully grasp the implications of what we're doing.

Oh, but I know full well what we're doing. Duo smirked. We're disobeying a direct order to not interfere, going above our superior's head without first going through proper channels, engaging in vigilante activities, involving non-police personnel in a highly sensitive operation, and hacking into private company files without government authorization. I'd say I understand perfectly.

You're loving it, aren't you. Trowa said.

Damn right I am!

I give up. Quatre sighed.

Back to the matter at hand Heero coughed.

Yes. Milliardo nodded. What have we learned?

It had been two days since the order for the police to, in essence, mind their own business. Somehow,though, they had managed to find many of the missing pieces in their investigation. Captain Scot attributed it to the fact that they were doing real police work instead of nancing around filling out forms and filing reports. At the moment, they were using Trowa's house for their base of operations while they were off duty. If Catherine suspected they were up to something she didn't say; as far as she was concerned it was tank police business and, therefore, none of hers.

My old co-workers from the Red Commandos were able to give me the rundown on the fireworks factory. Trowa said. It's owned by the DBO Syndicate, the same
company that did contractual work for the government until legislation was
passed to stop the manufacture of weapons by private companies.

I hacked into the city's databases with some help from an old buddy of mine from the army to see if I could get a blueprint of the building. Heero said. It's built on top of an old military storage facility and could very easily be
converted into a lab for manufacturing anything from lawn fertilizer to a
hydrogen bomb.

So you think DBO is behind the anti-bacterial bomb. Noin said.

It's highly plausible, yes. One of Quatre's, father's business partners was able to tell us that last year DBO bought the old pharmaceutical company where we found those bomb components. They may have been using it as their main lab, but then moved to the fireworks factory when it looked like we were getting too
close.

That's a lot of speculation on our part though. Quatre said. We need to be able to prove it, and the only way to do that is to get into that fireworks factory. They may have packed up and moved out of there already, but in their rush they may have left something behind.

That sounds like a plan. Captain Scot nodded. Anything else?

Yeah. Duo said. We won't have access to the equipment at the station, so Wufei and I are going to see if we can't scare up a few things.

I think I can give you a hand with that. Heero said. I know a few people
that have access to some military surplus.

Great! Duo grinned.

While they do that, Noin suggested. why don't we run surveillance on the building so we know how the place runs during the day, captain?

Good idea. Captain Scot agreed. Winner, you and Barton stay here so we can
relay information to you and vice versa. Also, give Sally a ring every half hour
to find out what's going on at HQ. Hopefully Une still hasn't heard anything about this.

Yes, sir. Quatre saluted.

>Elsewhere, Vice Mayor Beckel and his staff were busy trying to quell the media
uproar. Apparently many people were highly unnerved that, seemingly, nothing
was being done to stop the terrorists.

I assure you, Beckel stated. that we are doing what is in the city's best interest. This is a highly delicate situation and we cannot afford to make any hasty actions.

What assurance do you have that these people even have a bomb?
one of the reporters asked. How can you be confident that this isn't an
elaborate scheme to blackmail the city of millions of dollars?

Before the tank police were removed from the case they had already been investigating the matter, and their findings show that an anti-bacterial bomb had at least been partially constructed.

Then why remove them from the case?

At this time I am not at liberty to answer that question fully, I will say, however, that it was in everyone's best interest. The reporters immediately started firing out questions.

Is it true that the mayor was killed because he had some kind of connection to the terrorists? another reporter shouted above the clamor.

I have no knowledge of any such thing so I cannot answer that question. Beckel
said wearily. I'm afraid that I don't have much time left to spend on this. So
I'll take a few more questions

Relena, who had been standing near the doorway to the room during the press conference, sighed heavily. This whole affair was causing a huge amount of chaos and not even she had been safe from it; she had worked directly with the mayor and her brother was a tank police officer. The reporters hadn't stopped haranguing her with questions she couldn't answer or caused her to have questions of her own. She needed to get away.

But where she murmured. Suddenly, she frowned and reached into her purse pulling out a business card. Sylvia.

Sylvia was sitting at her computer typing up her column for her newspaper when her phone rang. Hello,Sylvia Noventa speakingRelena! How's it going?

It's going all right. Relena said, sourly. You must be the only reporter not at this press conference.

Edward Neely is covering it instead. You sound upset, 'lena. What's wrong?

I'm not really sure myself. Everything is just so crazy around here. First the mayor is murdered, then these terrorists are threatening the city, and then my brother and his squad are taken off of the case. I've got way too many things to think about at once and I just need to get away somewhere.

Sounds like what you need is a girls' day out! Sylvia said cheerily. I'll tell you what, tomorrow, after I drop off my column why don't I swing by your place and pick you up. We'll go shopping, spend some time at the spa, and then we can troll for men at the club. Sound good to you? Relena chuckled.

Sylvia, right now, being chased by wild boars would sound good to me.

Oh come now, it can't be that bad, can it?

No, you're right. It's not. Relena said, wryly. It's worse.

Then I'm glad you called me before you were driven completely insane.

Thanks Sylvia, you're a lifesaver.

Hey, what are friends for?