Okiday (feel free to kill JarJar later . . .), I'm back boys and girls. This is Chapter One of Book Two of my never-ending Fic. I'm experiencing a slight slowdown in creative energy right now, so please bear with me. After much thought, I decided to leave this rather short. This is the prologue, so you can use it as kind of a catch-up as well.
Geez, what can I say when the first review I get is a bad one? I guess I should say a few things on my behalf, shouldn't I? I apologize, because I know this isn't the best chapter, but I'm having a bit of Writer's Block right now. I'm not particularly good at politics, and I've never been in the armed forces (I'm 15, give me a break!). Last but not least, this is a prologue, put to set the stage for the rest of the book, so it's going to be kind of short. All I'm trying to do is show each major element of the story that will be coming into play.
Disclaimer: This applies to all chapters, mind. I DO NOT OWN GUNDAM WING OR THE CHARATERS, although I couldn't say the same for all the merchandise *Tee-hee.* Also, if you would like to re-post my story, please ask me. I'll probably say yes, but I do get a little paranoid about that. It's takes 2 seconds, so please tolerate me. I think my writing's worth it *coughs.*
Soooooooooo anyway . . . please R&R! Go ahead and flame me. (I'll find a way to get u back.)
Well, don't flame me if you like it, you know.
Book Two of Threads of Time
Prologue: AC 207: The Hands of Fate
Milliardo Peacecraft stood on the balcony of Heero's house, which his former opponent had graciously offered to his wife's brother. "This big house seems so empty now that it's just our family here again," He had said.
Noin was asleep. It was well after midnight, and the cold breezes were common to early spring on Northeastern Honshu Island, former Japan this time of year. There was still a bit of snow on the ground, though it was more frost than flake. Last time he'd been on Earth, the first snow of the winter hadn't even started.
It had been exactly three weeks and five hours since they'd received that fateful phone call; three weeks of gnawed fingernails and split hairs that Milliardo could have happily done without. For three weeks, Earth had been at war with colony clusters L-7, L-8 and L-9. Mobile suits were beginning to appear again, despite the vow that another would never be seen.
"History is very much like an endless waltz. When you begin is your choice, but once you're on the floor you can't stop. It is a pattern of footsteps and twirls; so beautiful to the beholder but more deadly than arsenic if you aren't careful. Somebody just tripped." Mariemaia had said that when the crowd around the videophone, Heero, Relena, their daughter Akiko, Noin, and himself, had collectively gasped in horror. She'd taken the responsibility on herself to tell them all, leaving her uncle, Trowa, and his lover Quatre to try and settle themselves down. Looking at her face, which he hadn't seen in over ten years, he saw his old friend Treize more clearly than probably even he knew. Her handsome bold frame, a strong expression and wise, all-knowing eyes, combined with the deep passion for a universal peace had shocked him. What Treize had felt for war, she felt for peace. She knew it would be. "People are doing this for my father. The message that was sent by the colonies said 'In Honor of Trieze Kushrenada.' I have the feeling I'm going to be the one that has to stop all this." He had comforted the child— not yet even eighteen! — but he knew that she was right. "I'm not ready for that responsibility yet," she had whispered.
From out in the country, with the lights low and the stars out, everything seemed so peaceful. Appearances are deceiving, but this was downright contradictory. He'd been awake ever since Duo and Sophie, visiting from Los Angeles in the former United States, had left for Tokyo, following a few hours after Heero and Relena had left. His niece hadn't awakened, although she had a tendency to be quite sensitive to where her parents were (or weren't).
Milliardo took a long glance at Tallgeese III, which stood to the west of the house alongside Wing Zero Custom-Rebuilt and Deathscythe-RB. He'd retrieved it from its hiding place in Antarctica last week, with Lady Une's help. It was an old friend he would have hoped to never see again. Sighing with remorse, he went inside and crawled into bed beside Noin. Tomorrow, they would follow the others into the city.
As he tried to snuggle up to Noin, he encountered an obstacle. Six-year-old Akiko was curled up under the blankets between them, still holding on to a brown teddy bear he recognized as Relena's from long ago. He sighed. Perhaps Noin didn't know it, but he wanted the little body between them to be his own someday. That is, if he wasn't killed first.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Erik Beliv stood at the bridge of the Gayla, his flagship. He was out today to sample the new mobile suit models, the Amphiter and Drake. There was an excess of a hundred of each type below decks in Cargo, and were being loaded in the moment with the colony's best and brightest pilots.
Beliv had left Earth after that disastrous episode in Rome, where his attempt to make Relena Darlian his were spoiled by that selfish little Jap Heero Yuy. Beliv was barely Relena's age, but they had gone to school together for a time, although Beliv severely doubted she remembered. She hadn't made a public appearance since Rome, and Beliv knew why: she was pregnant. It had taken him a moment to notice, but he had seen the slight telltale bulge when he'd carried her off. I would bet all my dead father's money that Yuy's the father of the brat, too, he thought, hiding a mad smile behind his thick black beard. What sweet revenge it would be to announce that to the entire world.
He was no Treize Kushrenada, true, but his father had been a good officer under him and Beliv had learned the man's habits of thinking. Treize was one of a kind, sure enough, and he'd never equal the man's greatness, but he could damn well do his best to maintain any sort of decent OZ-like foundation. The Colony Alliance could well be his path to glory.
He was by all means a handsome man, although quite cold and heartless at times. Beliv tended to be on the selfish side— it is only human nature. The man who had controlled this ship before him had died mysteriously, and Beliv had seized his chance to regain military and political power. Back on his feet after being convicted and sentenced on Earth to ten years' imprisonment for attempted rape, he surveyed his underlings with a sense of smugness. Nothing would stop him now.
"Captain Ingraham, are we ready?"
"Indeed, Sir." Ingraham saluted sharply, clicking the heels of his spit-polished boots together. "We await your command."
Beliv walked over to the command station and braced his hands on the board, squaring his wide shoulders with another dangerous smile. "This is the Admiral speaking. Commence test 1 of Amphiter and Drake mobile suits!"
His command was followed by a flurry of crisp "Yes, Sir!"s. Now this is a military, he thought, standing straight to look out the viewport.
There was a series of loud thumps from the belly of the Gayla as the suits were ejected into space. They had come near to an old minefield, and as soon as the suits got close enough to the space mines, they would be tested. These were the rare intelligent mines that were so incredibly expensive to set that Beliv had considered trying to neutralize some of them to take home as door-prizes.
Both the Amphitere and Drakes were of much different and far better design than the earlier mobile suits from the Earth Sphere Alliance days. The bodies were slimmer, which made them lighter, faster, and more graceful, able to fight better in direct combat. They carried both long range and short-range weapons. The armor was a new design, said to be stronger even than Gundanium. It was, in fact, only made of carbon, but harder than a diamond. The atomic structure, due to recent incredible advances in molecular science, was enhanced to deflect any type of energy. The unique reflective property gave the suits a sleek oily-sheen look. Beliv was quite proud of them.
The suits came into view of the ship, spots of energy in a black void. The mines were too small to view at this distance, of course, but the cameras in the mobile suits would give him a good look soon enough.
The Amphitere were the first to reach the minefield, as they were smaller and faster than the Drakes. The tiny explosives were still evidently in perfect condition, because they began to track the suits almost immediately. Amp-01 twisted around and fired one shot; the mine pursuing him blew up
Beliv smiled again. He couldn't wait to play with his new toys on Earth.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Test pilot A-38 snickered at the ease of which he destroyed the enemies, swinging his beam saber in an arc to smash two at once. This was fun. He'd never been in a Drake model before in his life, but he could immediately see why the Admiral liked them so much. They were marvelous new machines.
With a smooth easy move he never would have accomplished in a Leo, A-38 drew his energy rifle and blasted a burst of plasma into the nearest swarm of targets headed for him. They were outnumbered a million to one, but he was sure they wouldn't lose a single man.
Behind them pilot D-12 screamed in fear when an explosive escaped his mark and hit his armor. The explosion blossomed, and A-38 cursed. That was too stupid, to tempt fate like that. However, a second later, the suit emerged from the fire-cloud, not even scratched.
"Brilliant!" A-38 shouted to himself. "This is brilliant!" Laughing could be heard from his officers across channels. "We're invincible!"
An hour later, not a single scrap remained functional. "I'd say that's a successful run," A-38 sniggered, going in to dock.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Lady Une swallowed hard and fought the urge to insult the damn man. "We can't give weapons to the gundam's pilots. They won't accept them! You heard Heero's speech, the same as the rest of us!"
"Yes, Lady, but Mr. Yuy never agreed to do anything once a war had been started."
"But they have possesion of the gundams now. You have to clear it with them first! I must insist!"
Elder Representative Tyer raise a bushy white eyebrow. "Indeed, Une? What right do you have to insist anything from us? Didn't you just recently lose eight officers to an unknown terrorist faction?"
"I lost six. The other two have been recovered," Une said coldly, though she knew he'd won that round. "I nevertheless protest," she said, surrendering.
"Your protest is logged. Moving on, we must address the issue of new mobile suit models. General Newell, what say you?"
The blonde, thickly built Newell stood and cleared his throat. "Five new models of mobile suits have been proposed: space models Karkadann and Kirin, a land model Urisk, a water model Naoka, and a strictly air model Slyph. The Karkadann and Kirin resemble the two models the colonies have been working on, as I found out through inside sources, and are quite formidable in zero-G combat. These units can be mass-produced quickly and efficiently due to their smaller stature and advances in mechanical technology. The Urisk is slow moving and heavily armed, designed for blockade tactics rather than a fast getaway. The heavy armor and weaponry makes it cumbersome, but they could be put to good use against a space model. The Naoka is useless above the water, but it is extremely fast and agile, much like a Pisces or a Cancer. They could be dispatched to an underwater wreck more than likely before the enemy could even confirm the crash. The Slyph is a design based on the "bird mode" first experimented with on the gundams. It is more like a fighter jet than a suit, capable of the fastest speed achieved yet by humans in an atmosphere. I can transform itself into a more human-shaped form for combat, but only if absolutely necessary." Newell clicked slides past on the projector.
Une sighed, depressed. So this is what it's come down to, has it? Heero, Relena, Quatre . . . where are you when I need you most?
******************************************
Heh heh . . . I don't know why I'm laughing. Well, we figured out where Beliv went, didn't we?
Also, if you have any great MS designs, I'll be happy to have them, because I am NO GOOD at mechanical planning (right now at any rate . . .). I'm always open to suggestions, guys. Audience input is WAY welcome.
Well, as MOST of you are aware, Relena, Heero, Duo and Sophie have disappeared to somewhere, and it doesn't take a genius to figure things out (does it?) Also, Quatre teams up with the Manguanac Corps, back on his father's colony. There's a little character turn-around at that point, so don't miss the next chapter: AC 207: The Hands of Fate: "New Arrivals, New Ideas".
