Gundam Wing: Altered Times
By
Future_trunks_vs (a.k.a. Syrous)
This fanfic is based upon the Gundam Wing universe, except, this is an altered timeline. This takes place around the beginning of OZ, at the start of the show. In this timeline, rather than try to take the Gundams down with their conventional mobile suits, they take a new approach: building their own Gundams.
There are no main characters in this fanfic (at least, none that are focused on more than others). I have added several characters of my own, but did not change any of the character from the show. I hope you enjoy.
(Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the other parts to the Gundam series[shocked? =-]. All of them belong to Bandai. Happy them. =- Anyways, the only things that actually are mine are the names: Michael Caper, Emily McKeon, Guardian Kilroth, and Kinchoban Sword[well, those are the only ones I actually care about. There are probably others, just don't feel like listing em. =-]. You can put this fanfic wherever you want. You may not change any part of it, nor use those names without my permission, but other than that, you can do whatever ya want with it. [you just gotta let me know if ya do post it somewhere, so I can tell everyone. g =- ]. My e-mail is Future_trunks_vs@yahoo.com.)
Gundam Wing AT: The Guardian Kilroth
"Moving in on attack approach vector. Alliance Aries in sight. Ready to attack on your orders!"
Zechs sat motionless in the cockpit of the Tallgeese. He, along with 14 OZ Leo Mobile Suits, waited under camouflage nets in a patch of woods near the New Edwards Base for the Earth Sphere Alliance's MS forces to get within attack range. Normally OZ would not make this kind of strike, especially since OZ had only been around for several months. However, the Alliance had begun encroaching upon OZ territory more and more, probably for an attack. Lady Une decided that rather than waiting for the Alliance to attack them, they would attack first.
Slowly the Aries suits began to fly one by one over the woods. Zechs was ready for them. "Now..."
Every OZ Mobile Suit, including the Tallgeese, instantly stood to full height and began firing out upon the oncoming Aries units. The Aries that had flown by already had yet to realize what was happening. Once they did, however, they quickly spun around and opened fire on the Leo troops. The Tallgeese was taking down Aries with one-shot kills, while the Leo MS had formed a tightly-nit group and were firing rapidly in all directions, as not to get picked off one by one.
Zechs was completely focused for this fight. Every shot hit, every hit destroyed a target. No wasted energy, at all. "Leo's 1 and 2, proceed to way-point alpha and hold position. Leo's 3 and 4, guard your current positions. Leo's 5 and 6, proceed to waypoint beta. Leo's 7 and 8, proceed to waypoint gamma. Leo's 9 and 10, proceed to waypoint epsilon. All remaining Mobile Suits, follow me."
Each of the Leo MS went to where they had been ordered, and the Tallgeese, along with 4 Leo's, began a march towards the Alliance base of operations. Halfway there, however, they ran into an unexpected surprise.
Multiple objects suddenly hit the Leo to the left of Zechs Tallgeese, causing it to fall backwards to the ground, where it exploded. The radar began to scream out with a wild array of beeps as the screen filled up with little red dots. The Leo suit to his right began firing blindly in the direction of the onslaught. Zechs aimed out towards what appeared to be movement ahead of him. He followed the object until he was sure he would hit, and then fired. There was a quick explosion as the object he hit was destroyed.
"We're outnumbered!", one of the Leo pilots screamed out.
"Fall back to the LZ (landing zone)!" Zechs ordered, as he continued to open fire upon the almost invisible forces. The Leo behind him then lost its leg in the fire, and became an open target. It was destroyed soon after. Then, the shooting stopped.
"Hold your fire.", a strange voice exclaimed over the intercom. Most likely the commander of the enemy forces. The accent seemed somewhat Middle Eastern. Zechs waited to see what the reason was for the enemy to stop shooting. Then, his communication intercom filled with an unfamiliar voice. "Abandon your mobile suits and we'll spare your lives." The voice seemed to be that of a young boy, definitely not the same person that came over the first time. It sounded like the voice of a boy around 16, maybe 17 years old.
"All Leo Mobile Suits, close in on this position and give backup fire. Leo number 13, retreat now! I'll cover you." However, it was too late. The Leo had already begun to fire at the enemy suits. Finally, Zechs could see the suits for himself. They were a type of Leo model. An older model painted with desert camouflage.
Zechs also opened fire destroying 4 of the enemy suits. Then, from behind the Tallgeese, weapons fire came out hitting the other Mobile Suits. His backup had arrived. Unfortunately, however, he ran out of energy in his rifle. He then dropped the rifle and drew out his beam saber. The engines on the back of his MS opened up and propelled him forward, and with one quick slice, destroyed one of the lead Leo's. From behind him, there were 3 explosions: all from the same area, and on-after-the-other.
"It's a Gundam! A Gundam is attacking us!" Zechs spun his MS around in time to see a Gundam model, wielding two crescent shaped blades. The smoke around it answered Zechs question of what happened to the 4 Leo Suits standing there. He quickly flew forward, towards the Gundam. The Gundam barely slipped out of the way, swinging it's blade and catching the Tallgeese on the left side of its torso.
Then, from above, 5 carriers swooped over the area, dropping OZ Leo Mobile Suits as they went. The enemy Mobile Suits, including the Gundam, then began to back away, trying to make as safe a retreat as possible.
"Permission to follow them, sir?", one of the OZ pilots asked.
"No. Our mission is to relieve the area of Alliance forces, not to battle them. That Gundam could do considerable damage to our forces under these conditions. It would be far to dangerous to follow them now."
"Yes, sir."
Slowly the enemy Suits moved out of sight and the shooting stopped.
"What is the situation with the Alliance Mobile Suits?"
"All Alliance Mobile Suits have abandoned their respective battle points and begun a full retreat."
"Very good. Send 15 Leo Suits after them. The rest of you, return to base." Zechs wondered what a Gundam was doing here. Why would a Gundam group get into the middle of a battle between the Alliance and OZ. It made no sense at all.
Duo waited patiently on the park bench for the engineer to arrive. Who would have thought that a Gundam as advanced as his, could go down because a simple core reactor power-cell burned out? Not only that, but had been waiting for this engineer to come and sell him this part for over two hours. Even the God of Death had bad days. However, always keeping to his never-quitting cheery disposition, he did not get angry.
He had heard on the news that other Gundams had been attacking different OZ bases around the world. Heero Yuy. Yes, that was the name of the Gundam that destroyed the OZ plane carrying Field Martial Noventa. His death was the worst possible thing that could have happened to the colonies. Without him, there would be no one left on the Earth willing to make peace. Not only that, but the world and the colonies looked at the Gundam pilots as terrorists. Now, the people they came to fight for didn't even want them.
Duo pounded his fist on the bench. "Damn! How could we let them use us like that?!" We had fallen into their trap. It was as simple as that. Everything was set up, from beginning to end. They had predicted our every move. Used us like puppets to turn the world on us. We were our own executioners. How could we..."
Just then, a short man with slightly gray hair walked up and sat on opposite side of the bench from Duo. "You Duo Maxwell?"
"Yeah, that's me. You're the one with the part, right?"
"Yes, I am. Your lucky. Not too many parts like this left on Earth."
Duo gave a confused look at the old man. "Why? Are they being destroyed or something?"
"No. I shouldn't be telling you this, but... well, OZ had put out orders for these last week. Since there are no Mobile Suits that need something this powerful, no one makes them any more. So, once they're gone, they're gone."
"What would OZ need these for?" Duo asked to no one in particular, motioning toward the box that the engineer was holding. "Wouldn't a power cell like that overload a conventional Mobile Suit?"
"Yes, your quite right. Which is the confusing part. All I know is, the parts were sent to OZ's Lunar Base."
The Lunar Base? What could be so secret that they would have to build it on the Lunar Base? "You know anything else about it?"
"No, that's all I know"
"Fine. Thanks." Duo sat thinking for a second then stood up and reached out to the old man. The man handed Duo the box. "You got the money, right?"
"Yeah. Sure did. I deposited in the account you gave me."
"Good.", replied the now very happy engineer. With that Duo nodded and then walked off carrying his box.
So, there are three possibilities here. First: they know the Gundams use them and so they are trying to get them all so we can't have them. Second, and most likely: they already have a Mobile Suit that uses them and they want to make sure they never run out. Third, and least liked: they are planning on building a new type of Mobile Suit.
After walking and thinking for almost an hour, he came to the conclusion that he had a new objective. He would go to the Lunar Base himself and find out what was happening.
"Sir, here is the pilot roster you requested." the young private exclaimed as he handed Zechs the clipboard.
Zechs held it up and started reading it. "Thanks." He continued to scan over the chart, reading name after name. "Twenty-four casualties. Not good. Send letters to each of the families with my sincerest condolences."
The soldier let down a quick nod and replied with "Sir!". Zechs continued to pace around the room staring down at the roster. He stopped on one of the pilots. "Caper, Michael J. Private First Class. Kills: 41.", he read aloud. Zechs looked up from the paper and turned to the private in front of him. "This can't be right.", Zechs told him. "There is no way a private could have forty-one kills. Not on his first mission. Go to the hangers and report this to the head engineer. Have him double check this. Report to me when the results are in."
Once again, the soldier let down with a quick nod. "Sir!". Zechs handed the roster to the soldier. "Dismissed", he said as he turned towards the window, putting his back to the soldier. The soldier then soluted and left.
Who could those Mobile suits have been? Not only that, but why would they serve with a Gundam? It didn't make sense. The Gundams were from the colonies. So, why would a Gundam have that many mobile suits to back him up on earth? Had we missed some? But, so many. This means that either the leaders of the Gundams have some control on earth, or that Gundam pilot was originally from earth. This opens a whole new perspective on things. We had been underestimating their skills because we thought they were used to fighting in zero gravity only. But, if he is used to fighting in Earth's gravity as well, that would explain why OZ had been having so much trouble with them.
Quatre sat in his tent, thinking to himself. Rashid came in, looking somewhat glum as well. Their encounter that morning had not turned out as well as they had hoped. The retreat had cost them many lives. Quatre hated for people to die, no matter what side they were on.
"Master Quatre," Rashid began, "allow me to bring together a group and attack them again. They wouldn't expect another attack, now. Not so close to the place..." Quatre stopped him mid sentence.
"No, Rashid. I think it would be best if we just waited. The other pilots will come soon, and then we will be able to fight. For now it would be best if we just waited until they arrive. I don't want any more unnecessary deaths. Understood?"
Rashid let out a sigh. "Yes, Master Quatre."
Quatre stared out towards the exit of the tent, and finally, after waiting for the appropriate time, got up and headed out. Quatre walked out towards the sand dune nearby. After climbing a little way carefully, so as not to fall, he reached the top and look out across the desert. He stood there for some time, watching and thinking.
The soldier marched proudly back to Zechs' room. He stood at the door for some time, allowing the other soldiers to see who he was visiting. He felt as though he was the greatest there was, just for being Zechs' little worker. After waiting for what he felt to be a sufficient amount of time, he knocked on the door. After hearing an "Enter" come from inside the room, he opened the door and headed in closing it behind him.
Zechs was working on some papers on the desk. The soldier came to attention in front of the desk. He slowly looked down at the papers, and noticed that they were shipping manifolds. Obviously parts for a large mobile suit. "What did you find" Zechs asked, snapping the soldier out of the daydream state.
"Sir! I had the head engineer run a check on the Aries' black box. He confirmed the report. Not only that, but the MS didn't even have so much as a scratch on it."
"I see. Where is this pilot located, now?"
"He was ordered by Lady Une to report the Lunar Base tomorrow, sir. He should still be here.", the soldier replied.
"Find him. I wish to speak with him. While you're at it, send in a request from me to Lady Une that this pilot be kept here. Tell her I will send someone else in this one's place."
"Sir!", the soldier said with a solute. Slowly the soldier turned, and then marched out of the room. Zechs turned his chair and stood up. He slowly walked over to the window near the desk, and stared out from it.
Michael Caper. A Canadian, born in Ottawa. His parents were killed in the last major war between the nations when he was only 7. He joined the military forces and started pretaining at age 9, and trained non-stop until he was 18, when he joined officially. His first mission was with me. Over forty kills. He's good. Very good. To make that kind of fight without being touched shows true skill.
The new parts for the Gundams will be arriving soon. I need pilots. This soldier may well be just what I need.
The soldiers walked down the corridor. The made a turn to the left at the end of the long hall just to find a stranger waiting for them. They barely had time to scream before they were knocked out.
Duo searched through the pockets of the soldiers, hoping to find a key to one of the doors. After tracking down a level 4 keycard, he took the gun dropped by the soldier. He had planned on stealing one of their uniforms, but none of them were remotely close to his size. He decided that instead he would try to find some kind of locker room. He ran quite a distance, looking down corridors as he went, making sure he wasn't spotted. After traveling some distance, he came to a dead end. There was a door at the end of the hallway. Some kind of engineering bay, he guessed. He, however, would get far too much attention in his current outfit, so he continued on his search for a military uniform. After running a little farther down he found a room with an engineer in it. The engineer was the perfect size, and while it wasn't quite what he was planning on getting, it would do well enough. Duo sneaked into the room slowly, quickly got up behind the engineer, and slammed the butt of the gun into the man's neck. He drug the engineer into a closet nearby, put on the uniform over his own cloths, and left the gun with the body. He then proceeded out the door and down the hall to the bay he had found earlier.
Duo slowly opened the door. Assuming his hair didn't give him away, he should be able to remain anonymous. These mechanic types sometimes let their hair go too, so he should be able to go without problem. He came up to the door quickly. The door slid open, allowing him to enter quickly. It was as he thought: a huge bay, and inside were two large construction areas. The areas were meant for two mobile suits, and they were partly done. The body had not been constructed yet. It was simply the internal areas that were ready to go.
Duo walked cautiously among the engineers and soldiers. He walked over to a computer console to see what he could do there. He pulled up the blueprints for the models. He quickly began going over the specs, hoping to find some kind of weakness. He would destroy these things here, and save himself the trouble of dealing with them after they had been fully built. He saw that the core was near the cockpit, which meant that dropping a grenade in the cockpit would trigger the core to explode, eliminating the whole Suit.
While Duo was poking at the computer, a soldier came up behind him. "You there, what are you doing? That's the design computer. Do you have access to use it?"
Duo was not in the least bit expecting this kind of interruption. "Ah, well, you see...", he began as he turned around, "I was just looking at some of the...", and suddenly he threw his fist out at the soldier, connecting right in jaw. The soldier dropped to the ground quickly, unconscious. Duo looked down and the gun the soldier was carrying, and wondered whether he should take it or not. "Don't mind if I do", he said as he reached down and took it. The engineers began to scatter in all directions, and at some point one of the pulled an alarm switch, causing a siren to scream across the whole base.
Duo looked frantically around the room, trying to find some means of destroying the suits. Then he noticed that at the top of the room was a hatchway which opened to the airlock leading into space. He could dump the remains out there once he destroyed them.
He quickly ran to one of the armament sections and took some of the warheads. He then ran to both Suits, placing the warheads in each of the cockpits. Normally he would have brought his own explosives, but he was in a hurry today. After loading each of the Suit's cockpits with warheads, he ran to the other side of the room to where the warhead control switch was. He looked around the control panel, trying to find the proper switched. At that moment, the door opened and 4 soldiers ran in, each with machine guns. Duo jumped to the side as the opened up a hail of bullets towards him. He fired his own gun at them, causing the to scatter. One of the soldiers was hit dead on.
Two of the soldiers tried to run on either side of his and attack him. He shot the one coming from his left, and then hit the other in the face with his elbow. He looked around and realized he had lost track of the fourth. He quickly moved back to the console, and began looking it over again.
Suddenly, from above, the last soldier jumped down and planted his elbow right into Duo's back. Duo hit the control panel hard, damaging it, and dropped to the ground. He quickly got up, to find the soldier standing in front of him. Duo quickly jumped at the soldier and punched, yet the soldier's reaction speed was greater than he had ever seen before in a man. The soldier quickly stepped to the side and punched, landing his fist onto the side of Duo's face, sending him sprawling. Duo almost instantly jumped to his feet, spun and went again. He jumped for a punch, yet secretly threw in a kick. The soldier cought Duo's hand with ease, yet Duo could feel his leg make contact with the soldier. Duo's sense of victory, however, was short lived, as he realized that he had connected with the soldier's now raised leg, defending against Duo's kick.
He had never seen anyone quite this fast before. No one in this soldier's rank should be this good. His speed was almost super-human. Through the corner of his eye he noticed a pipe wrench lying on the top of the console. Duo lunged out at the soldier with his left fist, and at the same time grabbed the pipe wrench with his right as he passed it. The soldier swiftly dodged the punch, with speed that even Duo could not match, however the speed was not enough to dodge the next attack, which he had stepped right into. The pipe wrench made a loud cracking noise on the soldier face as Duo continued forward, hitting the him as he ran. The soldier hit the ground.
Duo got up and walked towards the control panel. As he passed by the soldier the man let out his foot, creaming Duo in the stomach. It was a quick, sharp hit, knocking him back. The soldier then jumped to his feet and turned to face Duo, and landed a second hit right into Duo's nose, knocking him to the ground. Duo tried to get up, but was too dizzy to move. He could hear the sound of the door opening, and soldiers running in. He found himself being picked up, and then taken out of the room by several soldiers.
Michael Caper stood in the engineering bay, his cracked jaw bleeding rather badly through an open gash on his cheek. One of the soldiers ran up to him, and suggested that he go to the med-bay. He stayed a few more minutes to explain to the soldiers about the warheads that had been planted in the Neo-Gundam model's cockpits and how to disarm them.
Once he was sure he would not be needed there anymore, he allowed one of the other soldiers to escort him to the med-bay. He walked into the bay, somewhat woozy at first. He was then taken by a nurse to one of the bed- tables nearby, and asked to sit down on it and wait for the doctor, who arrived soon after.
"What happened to you?", the doctor asked as he looked at the side Michael's face. Michael, however, remained silent. "What base did you just transfer from? I need to get your medical records from them."
"Ottawa, sir."
"Oh, they stationed you in your hometown. I wish I could do that. I bet that made you happy."
"Nah. Bad memories...". Michael stared out the window toward his left, looking out at the stars. "Anyways, I prefer the zero-gravity over Earth's gravity any day."
The doctor continued typing away on the computer at his desk. "Kid, you got strange tastes." The doctor typed for a few more minutes. "Ah, here we go. Caper, Michael J. Age: 18. Height: 6'2". Weight: 195lbs. Eyes: Aqua blue." With that the doctor looked up at Michael. "Huh, so they are. Oh, anyways... Hair: Black. Rank: Private First Class. That you, kid?"
"Yeah, that me." Michael looked somewhat distracted.
A nurse came in from the room behind him. "Private Caper, if you will please follow me, I need to get a few x-rays."
Michael quickly got a look of unease. "That, uh, won't be neccessary, really. It's fine."
"Private Caper," the doctor said, "please understand that we must do this. Now, as your commanding officer, I order you to allow her to do those X-rays. I find it hard to believe that someone with your stamina would be afraid of a little X-ray. I promise, it won't hurt."
With a slight look of irritation Michael stood up and proceeded out the door into a small room. A few short minutes after, another soldier came into the med-bay.
"Excuse me, doctor. I am sorry to bother you, but do you have a Michael Caper in your care, right now?" the soldier asked quite politely.
"Why, yes I do. He's in the back in the x-ray room. It will only take a few more minutes, then you can speak to him."
"Oh, that won't be necessary. Could you please tell him that Colonel Zechs is waiting to meet with him in the Colonel's quarters, and to report there as soon as he is out."
"I sure will.", the doctor said with nod.
"Thank you." The soldier let out with one final solute before heading out the door. Several minutes later, the nurse, accompanied by Michael, came out into the room. The nurse was carrying several pictures with her.
"Please take a seat right over there." the doctor said to Michael as he met with the nurse. Michael went and sat down on the table-bed once again. While the doctor was looking over the x-rays he said: "My goodness. You must drink a lot of milk there, kid. Not so much as a fracture. The worst you got out of that fight was that cut on your cheek."
Michael reached up and touched the cut with his fingers. No, it wasn't bone strength at all. It was luck. I had managed to see wrench coming through the corner of my eye, and move away from it in order to dull the blow a bit. I should have paid more attention, then I wouldn't have been hit at all.
"Wait a second...", the doctor said, looking suddenly quite shocked. "What's this? Some type of foreign object in the frontal cranial lobe and just above the spinal column. They look almost like mechanical devices. What are these?"
Michael gave the doctor a sharp look. "Nothing you should concern yourself with... sir. Military matter."
"I see. Well, if it has to do with the military then I guess I would be better off not knowing." Michael relaxed slightly. In all truth, that excuse shouldn't have worked, since it WAS the doctors concern. Luckily this doctor didn't seem to care much. "Well, kid, just make sure you take care of that cut and you'll be fine. The nurse will clean it up for you. Oh, and before you leave, a soldier came in and said to tell you to report to Colonel Zechs' quarters after leaving here."
Michael nodded. The nurse came up with a small medical swab and began to wipe off the blood from around the wound. Why would the colonel want to see me?, he though to himself. Most likely about my confrontation with that intruder this morning. I wonder who that guy was. He was about my age, but he was amazingly strong. No one should have that sort of speed and strength.
The nurse finished what she was doing and patted Michael on the shoulder. "All done. Make sure you keep it cleaned and you'll be fine." She moved to the side allowing him to stand up.
"Thank you", he said as he got up and headed for the door. The door slid open, and he passed through, quickly taking a left once outside. There was a guard waiting for him there.
"Private Caper?", the soldier asked.
"Yeah. You the one who is supposed to take me to Colonel Zechs?"
"Sure am. Follow me, please." The soldier turned and began walking down the corridor, Michael close behind. "They locked that boy you caught in the brig a few hours ago. They say he might be a Gundam pilot"
Michael looked up quickly. A Gundam pilot? Here? How could he have found out about OZ's Neo-Gundam project? An even better question: if he knows, do the others know?
The two made a sharp corner down the hall, and got into an elevator. The soldier pressed a button on the control panel, sending them down the shaft. Michael stood there, silently thinking to himself. I'll have to ask that boy some questions once I get a chance. "Have they questioned the boy, yet?" Perhaps I will let them ask for me.
"Not yet. The interrogator hasn't arrived yet."
Hmph. Interrogator! They might as well just be honest and call him a torturer. Only about a quarter of the people who are put before the "interrogator" actually come out alive, and that is just because they were ordered to keep them alive. In a way, I feel sorry for the boy.
The turbo lift came to abrupt stop. The soldier continued out once the door slid open, and Michael continued after him. They continued down the hallways until they came to a set of doors. The soldier walked up to one of the doors and pressed on the buzzer next to it. A very familiar voice came over the intercom. "Enter". The soldier stepped one step closer, causing the door to slip open. The soldier then walked through the door, and into the room, with Michael following. Sitting on a couch in the room was a tall man, wearing a Red Military Jacket with long black boots and an oddly shaped metal helmet. At first glance one would think him to be a mental case, but his piloting skills and decisions on the battlefield told differently.
Zechs stood up and turned toward the two. He nodded to the soldier, who immediately left the room. Michael stood in attention, looking past Zechs. "So, you're Michael Caper? Younger than I thought." He walked a few steps towards him, got a good look at him, then said "As you were." Michael relaxed somewhat, and whatched Zechs pace towards the window. "Do you think that boy is a Gundam pilot?"
"His reflexes are far superior than those of any person I have seen before. He was quite strong, too. He also knew exactly where to put explosives to effectively blow up a mobile suit. I'd say there is a better chance that he is, than the chance of him not being one."
Zechs nodded, and then changed the subject. "Your record in this last battle is incredible. I have to say that I am greatly impressed. How did you get to be so good?"
"I trained non-stop through the past eleven years of my life, sir."
"So I have seen. I have new orders for you. Lady Une decided against letting me keep you here. Instead, she has decided to use your age to our advantage. She wants you to keep an eye on the daughter of the former Vice Foreign Minister. You will attend school with her."
"But sir, I've already..."
"I'm quite aware of what you have done, private. However, you shall reattend school for now. You will be given you're own room at their dorm. There is a military base near where you will be at. If there is anything you need, report there. Understood?"
"Yes sir. Understood."
"Good. You will remain there until the new Gundam models are completed, then one of them will be sent to the base where you will be stationed. You will be the new pilot of that Gundam."
Michael looked up with a look of shock. "Sir?"
"I looked over your flight record. You aced all exit exams with perfect scores and accomodations. You came back from this last battle without a scratch and destroyed over forty enemy MS. You're skills definitly seem worthy to pilot one of the Gundams. You will be told the moment they arrive. Understood?"
"Yes sir. Thank you sir."
"Lastly, we think it would be best if you were to try to blend at the school, but we don't want you getting too close to anyone, so they won't find out who you are. I have assigned Emily McKeon to accompany you. She will assist you in keeping watch over the girl, and then will take over your position there, once the new gundam arrives."
Michael looked somewhat uneasy at the thought of someone else tagging along. "So, what particular role will she play in relation to me?"
Zechs smiled slightly. "I'll leave those details to you two. She is already at the school. She will meet you there. You will be allowed full access to her military records. She has also been given yours."
Great, so this girl already knows everything about me, and we haven't even met. Aren't I lucky? "Thank you, sir." Of course, I just had to get a hard mission, didn't I? Heh. Sucks to be me.
"One last thing: there have been reports of Gundam sightings near that area. Be ready at any time to be called back to the base to assist in defense, should it ever be attacked. Also, don't take any uniforms. I trust you have some civilian cloths?"
"I've spent most my life on military bases, so I don't have many. Though, I can make do."
"If you need any supplies, talk to the guard outside when you leave. He will get whatever you need. You'll leave tomorrow. Good luck. Dismissed." Zechs nodded to Michael, who gave one final salute and walked out of the room. Back to school, and right when I thought I was free of it. The soldier outside then began to walk to the elevator, and Michael followed. He would obviously be escorted to wherever he was supposed to be.
I can't complain, I guess. I mean, I've seen pictures of this Relena Darlian. She lives up to the Darlian part. She's cute for sure.
Michael let out a slight chuckle in spite of himself. He was forgetting that she was his target. He wasn't exactly watching her to make sure she wasn't hurt, he was watching her to make sure she couldn't hurt them. Ever since Lady Une's mistake of letting that girl see her kill the Vice Foreign Minister, everything about her became a threat. They were preparing to launch a military assault on the school she was in and then claim it to be a colonial terrorist assault, but then the neo-gundam project was started and Lady Une was recalled here to make sure the base was well defended.
The lift stopped at the thirteenth floor. The soldier motioned for Michael to go ahead of him. Michael did so, and found the room filled with computers and such. "This is the main information terminal for the Lunar Base. You can get files from anywhere around the world, here. Each computer is attached to a computer system somewhere on the Earth Sphere.", the soldier said as he walked towards one of the consoles. "This is the one you'll be using. It has all the information you need."
Michael walked up to the computer, thanked the soldier and sat down. The soldier then left the room and reboarded the elevator.
Michael typed in Emily's name into the computer. It lagged slightly, which was to be expected since he was several million miles from the point of the information sending. Finally, after loading for almost a minute, the files were brought up. He opened up her personal file, in which he received quite a shock.
"Oh my god, she's gorgeous.", he blurted accidentally, after which he looked around quickly in an embarrassed manner to make sure no one heard him. He crouched back down in front of the monitor and looked over all her information.
Name: McKeon, Emily Sarah. Age: 19. Height: 5'9". Weight: 136 lbs.
Eye color: Amber Hair color: Light Brown. Birth Place: Derry, Ireland.
This girl is something else. Her military record is quite nice. In the past year she has had seven encounters with the Gundams. Everytime there is an assault predicted, she requests a transfer to that area. Yeah, I bet she will be real happy stuck with me baby sitting Relena in some remote school. She has taken quite a few hand-to-hand combat courses. She knows how to fight, that's for sure. This is definitely going to be interesting. She's cute, but her record makes her out to be one tough girl to hang with.
Michael poked through her files for a few more minutes, making sure to learn all he could about her, especially since she probably did the same with him. Once he finished reviewing her files, he switch off the monitor and headed off to the elevator.
Heero laid on his bed staring at ceiling. No matter how hard he tried, sleep wouldn't come. He laid there, sprawled out across the bed with arms out in both directions and legs off the end so his feet were on the floor allowing him perfect reaction movement, staring and waiting for the next mission. It had been a while since he got a mission. Ever since that day...
Word had spread about the death of Field Martial Noventa and the others. The Alliance was calling the Gundams terrorists, the colonies were on the verge of forsaking them, and worst of all, OZ was becoming a major government, all thanks to his actions. They used him. Led him right into a trap. "What...have I done...?" was all he could mutter. There was quite a bit of movement outside the door of his dorm room. This movement did nothing to calm his tension.
His decision to return to school was not spontaneous. He had planned on transferring schools, and in essence, did so. But, after the rumor of the Neo-Gundams came through, he decided it best to return to the school where Relena was. Her school was near a secret OZ construction factory. Supposedly no one knew about it, but it didn't take Heero long to figure it out. There would be a good chance one of the Gundams might be built there.
The noise outside his room began to fade off, and suddenly there was a loud knocking at the door. This surprise, of course, threw Heero clear out of bed and into a "kill everything around me" mode. Once he had calmed himself, he went to the door, still overly cautious. He slipped up to the door, making little to no sound so someone wouldn't be able to find him by his footsteps and shoot him through the door. He leaned up against the door and looked through the eye-hole. It was that girl. Darlian's daughter. Ever since she had seen him that day, she had returned to him over and over again. She acted as if she had a deathwish. At times, her actions surprised and even startled him.
Heero walked away from the door, deciding not to answer, but somehow knew that not giving her a warm welcome would in no way stop her from entering his room. He was, of course, correct in that. She opened the door immediately after and closed it behind her. Heero continued about his business, working pointlessly on the computer in front of him, just trying to look busy so she would go away.
"So many times you could have killed me, but you haven't, Heero. Why?", Relena asked, still standing in the middle of the room in her normal school uniform. Heero sat silently, asking himself the same question over and over again. Why didn't he kill her? She knows far too much. She even knows about Dr. J. "Heero, please, I... don't care if you want to kill me. In a way... I want to die. But I need to know, why did you let me live? Even when I know so much."
Heero stood up from his chair and turned towards her, startling her greatly. He walked up to her and then past her, and opened the door. "I don't know why." was all he said to her as he headed out the door, leaving it open.
Relena stood in the room, staring out where Heero had just past. "Oh, Heero..." She knew she was starting to fall in love with him, but he was too mysterious for her to be sure how he felt. This, however, was more than enough to tell her he felt the same, even if he didn't know it. However, even knowing this, she would like to, at least once, hear him say it.
The shuttle came to an abrupt landing at the spacepod dock. Michael stared out the window with a glazed look in his eye. He had been through hundreds of training courses, passed everything with perfect scores, but one: space reentry. Why had he failed it so many times? It was due to the fact that every single landing, he would short out the console because he puked on it. Space sickness was nothing to him, but switching from zero G to Earth's gravity was no fun matter. He was proud of himself this time, for he had not puked. Perhaps he was getting over his weak-stomach problems.
He got up with great care, and headed for the exit. He would receive his bags at the dorm of the school. He walked in and looked about the spaceport. Travelers walked about the building. He began looking for the person who would be meeting him. Miss Emily McKeon. She wasn't here, which suprised him greatly. He continued to walk through the airport until he got to the spot where his bags would arrive. He patiently waited, expecting the bags at any moment. Once the bags arrived, he quickly grabbed them and made his way to the door. People were running all over the airport, so it was very difficult for him to get out of there. Once he got to the door and made it through, he immediately waved down a cab, and asked the driver to take him to the school.
This place doesn't seem so bad. I mean, it's lively enough. That's part of the problem though, I guess. There is no overpopulation on the colonies. Never have to deal with crowds like that.
The cab pulled up to a large building, almost resembling a mansion. There was a patio with tables covered by umbrellas outside. There were kids everywhere, all in very odd looking uniforms. Michael looked out across the group, in awe at all the people there. He stepped out of the car and went to the back for his bags. He had decided to wear casual clothes upon arrival, rather than the school uniform. He wore all black, looking almost in a gothic theme. A black T-shirt, black jeans, black shoes, black sunglasses, and even black gloves. He was never good with colors, so he decided to avoid them all together. Anyways, he didn't wear casual clothes much, so it really didn't matter. This made him feel like he was still in a uniform, which in a way was more comfortable to him, speaking that all he really knew was the military.
Once he had gotten his bags and paid the driver, he headed for the entrance. Waiting there, was one of the students. A young girl with light blond hair. He immediately recognized her.
It's her. The Darlain girl. She's a lot cuter than the picture gave her credit for. He slowly walked up to where she was standing, and set his bags down.
Relena slowly approached him, smiling the whole way. Once she was within a proper distance, she curtseyed to him. "My name is Relena Darlain. I would like to be the first to welcome you to our school.", she said, with a degree of calmness, elegance, and innocence that almost frightened him.
"Ah, thank you very much.", he said, trying to mimic the almost perfect stance she held. "My name is Michael Caper.", he let out as he bowed. After completing the bow, he straightened himself and looked around. He could sense most of the students looking at him from all over. Nothing to worry about. I'm the new kid here, that's all it is. He looked at all points on the school, getting a mental map of it. As he looked, however, he came to one window in the dorm section. In the window was a boy, around Michael's age, staring out at him. The boy wore a green tank top with shorts. He had a horribly serious look on his face. What's with him?, Michael thought to himself. That look in his eye is... almost frightening. Could he suspect who I am? No, that's impossible. My arrival here is no different than the arrival of anyone else. I'm only 18, so there is no way he would consider me to...
Suddenly, the sound of Relena's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "...need anything at all, please tell me.", she said to him, as a sign of departure.
"Ah...uh, oh yeah, sure. Thanks.", he stumbled out, as he tried to regain his thought. Once again he looked up to the window, yet the boy was gone. "Excuse me, but, before you leave..."
Relena turned around and looked at Michael. "Yes?" She noticed he was looking up towards the dorm rooms.
"Who's room is that? Right up there, near the statue."
Relena looked up to where he was pointing, and after a few seconds, finally came to the place he was pointing at. "Oh, why, that's Heero Yuy's room."
Michael suddenly took a look of shock as he turned back to her. "Did you say Heero Yuy? Oh, you mean that the room is named after Heero Yuy, right?
"Um... I'm not entirely sure what you mean. No, I mean that it is Heero's room. Heero stays there."
"Look miss, Heero Yuy was the grand leader of all the colonies. He was assassinated twenty years ago. There is no way Heero Yuy could be upstairs in your dorm room.
Relena then remembered what Dr. J had told her, about Heero being his codename and why he was named it. "Oh, you see," she began, trying to think of something to cover it up, "his parents were great supporters of Heero Yuy, so they named their first child after him."
"I see..." Sounds like colonial fanatics to me. How interesting that this boy should be named Heero Yuy. Might want to watch him. Children of colonial fanatics often turn out to be terrorists or worse, and if there is anyone here I would suspect of being a terrorist, it would be him. That look in his eye...
"Is that all you needed?", Relena asked, once again ever-so-politely.
"Oh, uh, yes. Thank you." Once again Michael bowed. "It was nice to meet you."
Relena turned and walked off, her group of friends following close behind. He picked up his bags and began walking into the building. Once inside, he removed his sunglasses and reported to the main office. The principle greeted him in the doorway.
"Ah, you must be the young Michael Caper. It's nice to meet you. It isn't often we get someone of your age in for high school. Normally student have graduated by your age.", the principle said, obviously suspecting Michael of having failed at some point.
Doesn't surprise me. I am almost too old all together for this assignment. It's close to being embarrassing. "I started school late, I'm afraid."
"Ah, yes, I understand. All right, let me see here...", he said as he flipped through a group of papers, "Aha, here we go. You are in room 218. Jennifer!" Suddenly a young girl poked her head around the corner looking into the office. "Ah, good. Would you mind showing this boy where room 218 is?"
"Why, not at all!", the girl replied, quite cheery. Such a happy school this is. How weird. So different from life in military camps.
"You'll begin classes tomorrow. Good luck.", the principle said, sitting back down.
"Thank you, sir." He quickly turned and walked back outside, took his bags, and followed the girl.
Jennifer walked up many stairs until she finally got to the 200s section. She began looking around for the proper number. Suddenly, from behind them, a female voice said "Hey Jenny, don't worry about him. I'll help him. The horse riding class is about to start, and you'll be late if you stay here."
Both Jennifer and Michael turned and looked to see who said it. "Oh, ok. Thanks, Emily! He's looking for room 218!"
"Alright, not a problem.", Emily said. Jennifer ran off in a hurry.
Michael look at Emily for a second, making sure she was the one. Yep, thats her. Well, took her look enough. "You're room is right down the hall.", she declared as she headed down the hall, with a very wide, very happy stride. Her cheeriness threw him completely off guard. She's nothing like I expected. I mean, to have a record like that, but to be this... spunky. There's no way.
He followed her to room 218, where he pulled out the key he had been issued and opened up the door. He walked in, followed closely by Emily, who shut the door behind them. Michael walked up and put his bags down on the bed. "I thought you were supposed to meet me at the airport.", he said as he put his bags down.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, too!", she said in a tone overflowing with sarcasm. "As it so happens, I was on my way to leave for the airport, when I heard a news report that a suspected Gundam pilot had escaped from the Lunar base this morning.
Michael froze after hearing this. He escaped. There is a chance he might know of my plans, since he was on the Lunar base at the time. I'll need to be careful. I bet they didn't even get a chance to question him.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. You were the one who caught him, so I bet that doesn't make you too happy. Sorry about that." She walked up and looked at his cheek where the cut was. She lightly reached up and touched above it, examining it. Michael tried his best not to spaz out from the stinging, and by some miracle managed to keep himself posed and continued about his business as if he didn't even notice it. "Wow. That's a nasty little cut. He got you pretty good, didn't he?"
"Yeah, it hurt little", understating it greatly. "I guess I deserved it, though. Should have seen him coming at me with that wrench. Doesn't matter, though. I'm just glad I got the first hit."
"Yeah, I heard he was pretty strong. He knocked out thirteen of our troops while escaping, and he was unarmed. You did very to take him on your own."
"Nah, I just got the first hit, that's all. He was too messed up from that hit to fight back."
Emily looked at him for a second, trying to decide what to make of him. She couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth, being modest, or trying to hold something back. She had been told he often held back many secrets. "Well, anyways,", she said, trying to move the subject toward something less frustrating, "we need to begin watching Relena."
"Have you made contact with her yet?", Michael asked, hoping that she would say yes.
"Yes, I have. As a matter of fact, we have become good friends."
Michael let out a sigh of relief. This meant that Emily could watch Relena and Michael would be able to back her up from afar. He just couldn't see himself trying to get a date with the daughter of the former Vice foreign minister, just so he could watch her."Seems like you really thought ahead, huh?"
"Yep!", she said happily. "I figured you would have a hard time getting close, so it'd be better if I did it!" She continued to smile.
She has a beautiful smile. A little spunky, but that's ok. We need someone like that on this mission. She'll fit in more. "Yeah, you figured it right. Heheh, I can just see myself trying to get a date with Darlains daughter. You know Colonel Treize would just love that."
Emily laughed. "He would probably pull you out thinking you to be some kind of skirtchaser who could care less about the mission."
Michael let out with what sounded to be an "ACK!", which caused Emily to laugh more. A beautiful laugh, too. Yeah, I think I can handle working with her for a while.
Emily stopped laughing long enough to notice Michael looking at her. "What is it?", she asked curiously.
Michael immediately snapped out of it. "You just look so different in that school dress, compared to the picture I saw of you in the military uniform.", he lied.
"Oh, well, I kinda like it.", she said as she spun around, showing it off. "It's not the same as wearing the military uniform, but it has a certain amount of class about it. What do you think of it? Be honest."
"I think you look cute in it." The words came out faster than the realization of what he was saying did. Once her eyes widened he figured it out. Woops. Did I say that? Um... uh-oh?
Emily stared at him in a amazement. She had been told he was really closed off from everyone else. Never talked to anyone after his parents died, but then he said that. This completely through her off guard. Then she saw it. He was blushing, and that was when it hit her. He didn't mean to say it. She decided rather than to change the subject, she would embarrass him even more. Might as well get him used to not being in a military institution. "You really think I'm cute?!", she asked with feigned surprise. "Wow, I've never had anyone say something like that to me!", she said, lying with every breath, and as she expected, it was working. He was completely red with embarrassment.
I had always been told to watch my mouth. "It'll get you in trouble one day. You'll see." That's what they said, but I didn't believe em. I do now. "Um, anyways, uh... I think we should just... uh, go watch Miss Darlian. You do that and, uh..." Right as he was about to finish, he made the mistake of looking over at her. She was staring at him with a look amusement. She is so beautiful... she... Then it hit him. She's making fun of me!!! "HEY! NO FAIR! You knew I didn't mean to say that!!"
Emily burst out laughing. She wondered how long it would take him to figure it out. She continued to laugh, wiping tears away. "I'm... heheh, I'm sorry. You just walked into that one." She continued giggling.
This is going to be one hell of a long mission. "Argh, forget it! Just go watch the Darlian girl!", he said, completely frustrated.
Emily continued laughing and patted him on the shoulder as she turned to walk out. "Oh, by the way, if you plan on making it anywhere around here, I suggest you learn how to see if someone is making fun of you." Michael simply grumbled.
Emily closed the door behind her, leaving Michael standing in his room, frustrated beyond belief. I probably have more to fear from her than I do those Gundam pilots.
He walked slowly over to the window, looking across to admire the view of the huge courtyard and relieve some of the recently applied stress. The horse riding classes had already begun, and Jenny was out there giving it her all. He watched them ride back and forth. A collage of elegance, grace, and clumsiness. Most of the girls had seemed to pick up on riding quickly, but the guys were a different matter. Among all of the student was Relena. He watched her ride throughout the area, admiring her gracefulness. She seems to be good at everything she does. It's a pity she's against us. I'm sure she could make a difference somewhere in the world, if she just put her mind to it.
As he watched her ride, he noticed something else move in the distance beyond the class. he looked up across the field, into an open area. A horse was running at full speed there, the rider acting as if it were nothing at all. "Heero...", Michael said, realizing who it was. He rides as if it is more for work that pleasure. He's training it, I guess. As he continued to watch, Heero brought the horse to a stop. Michael looked on with curiosity. Suddenly, Heero turned and looked towards the building, straight to where Michael was. The two stared at each other for some time, before Relena called out to Heero, snapping his attention away from Michael. This also broke Michael's train of though, so he quickly closed the blinds and walked to the other side of the room.
That boy had a seriousness about him not at all common to your average highschool student. He may well be a Colonial terrorist. The only reason one would be here would be to snatch Relena, so that they could blame it on us. I better watch him.
Michael continued to unpack, thinking about how he should attempt to fit in. He put all his cloths in the closet, and found that his room had many uniforms placed in it. Well, at least they thought ahead. He slowly pulled out one of the uniforms, looking at it closely. Well, at least it isn't very colorful. I won't feel too out of place in it.
He continued to unpack his belongings, thinking out plans for the days ahead, and trying to figure out where the Gundam pilot that escaped might be headed.
By
Future_trunks_vs (a.k.a. Syrous)
This fanfic is based upon the Gundam Wing universe, except, this is an altered timeline. This takes place around the beginning of OZ, at the start of the show. In this timeline, rather than try to take the Gundams down with their conventional mobile suits, they take a new approach: building their own Gundams.
There are no main characters in this fanfic (at least, none that are focused on more than others). I have added several characters of my own, but did not change any of the character from the show. I hope you enjoy.
(Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the other parts to the Gundam series[shocked? =-]. All of them belong to Bandai. Happy them. =- Anyways, the only things that actually are mine are the names: Michael Caper, Emily McKeon, Guardian Kilroth, and Kinchoban Sword[well, those are the only ones I actually care about. There are probably others, just don't feel like listing em. =-]. You can put this fanfic wherever you want. You may not change any part of it, nor use those names without my permission, but other than that, you can do whatever ya want with it. [you just gotta let me know if ya do post it somewhere, so I can tell everyone. g =- ]. My e-mail is Future_trunks_vs@yahoo.com.)
Gundam Wing AT: The Guardian Kilroth
"Moving in on attack approach vector. Alliance Aries in sight. Ready to attack on your orders!"
Zechs sat motionless in the cockpit of the Tallgeese. He, along with 14 OZ Leo Mobile Suits, waited under camouflage nets in a patch of woods near the New Edwards Base for the Earth Sphere Alliance's MS forces to get within attack range. Normally OZ would not make this kind of strike, especially since OZ had only been around for several months. However, the Alliance had begun encroaching upon OZ territory more and more, probably for an attack. Lady Une decided that rather than waiting for the Alliance to attack them, they would attack first.
Slowly the Aries suits began to fly one by one over the woods. Zechs was ready for them. "Now..."
Every OZ Mobile Suit, including the Tallgeese, instantly stood to full height and began firing out upon the oncoming Aries units. The Aries that had flown by already had yet to realize what was happening. Once they did, however, they quickly spun around and opened fire on the Leo troops. The Tallgeese was taking down Aries with one-shot kills, while the Leo MS had formed a tightly-nit group and were firing rapidly in all directions, as not to get picked off one by one.
Zechs was completely focused for this fight. Every shot hit, every hit destroyed a target. No wasted energy, at all. "Leo's 1 and 2, proceed to way-point alpha and hold position. Leo's 3 and 4, guard your current positions. Leo's 5 and 6, proceed to waypoint beta. Leo's 7 and 8, proceed to waypoint gamma. Leo's 9 and 10, proceed to waypoint epsilon. All remaining Mobile Suits, follow me."
Each of the Leo MS went to where they had been ordered, and the Tallgeese, along with 4 Leo's, began a march towards the Alliance base of operations. Halfway there, however, they ran into an unexpected surprise.
Multiple objects suddenly hit the Leo to the left of Zechs Tallgeese, causing it to fall backwards to the ground, where it exploded. The radar began to scream out with a wild array of beeps as the screen filled up with little red dots. The Leo suit to his right began firing blindly in the direction of the onslaught. Zechs aimed out towards what appeared to be movement ahead of him. He followed the object until he was sure he would hit, and then fired. There was a quick explosion as the object he hit was destroyed.
"We're outnumbered!", one of the Leo pilots screamed out.
"Fall back to the LZ (landing zone)!" Zechs ordered, as he continued to open fire upon the almost invisible forces. The Leo behind him then lost its leg in the fire, and became an open target. It was destroyed soon after. Then, the shooting stopped.
"Hold your fire.", a strange voice exclaimed over the intercom. Most likely the commander of the enemy forces. The accent seemed somewhat Middle Eastern. Zechs waited to see what the reason was for the enemy to stop shooting. Then, his communication intercom filled with an unfamiliar voice. "Abandon your mobile suits and we'll spare your lives." The voice seemed to be that of a young boy, definitely not the same person that came over the first time. It sounded like the voice of a boy around 16, maybe 17 years old.
"All Leo Mobile Suits, close in on this position and give backup fire. Leo number 13, retreat now! I'll cover you." However, it was too late. The Leo had already begun to fire at the enemy suits. Finally, Zechs could see the suits for himself. They were a type of Leo model. An older model painted with desert camouflage.
Zechs also opened fire destroying 4 of the enemy suits. Then, from behind the Tallgeese, weapons fire came out hitting the other Mobile Suits. His backup had arrived. Unfortunately, however, he ran out of energy in his rifle. He then dropped the rifle and drew out his beam saber. The engines on the back of his MS opened up and propelled him forward, and with one quick slice, destroyed one of the lead Leo's. From behind him, there were 3 explosions: all from the same area, and on-after-the-other.
"It's a Gundam! A Gundam is attacking us!" Zechs spun his MS around in time to see a Gundam model, wielding two crescent shaped blades. The smoke around it answered Zechs question of what happened to the 4 Leo Suits standing there. He quickly flew forward, towards the Gundam. The Gundam barely slipped out of the way, swinging it's blade and catching the Tallgeese on the left side of its torso.
Then, from above, 5 carriers swooped over the area, dropping OZ Leo Mobile Suits as they went. The enemy Mobile Suits, including the Gundam, then began to back away, trying to make as safe a retreat as possible.
"Permission to follow them, sir?", one of the OZ pilots asked.
"No. Our mission is to relieve the area of Alliance forces, not to battle them. That Gundam could do considerable damage to our forces under these conditions. It would be far to dangerous to follow them now."
"Yes, sir."
Slowly the enemy Suits moved out of sight and the shooting stopped.
"What is the situation with the Alliance Mobile Suits?"
"All Alliance Mobile Suits have abandoned their respective battle points and begun a full retreat."
"Very good. Send 15 Leo Suits after them. The rest of you, return to base." Zechs wondered what a Gundam was doing here. Why would a Gundam group get into the middle of a battle between the Alliance and OZ. It made no sense at all.
Duo waited patiently on the park bench for the engineer to arrive. Who would have thought that a Gundam as advanced as his, could go down because a simple core reactor power-cell burned out? Not only that, but had been waiting for this engineer to come and sell him this part for over two hours. Even the God of Death had bad days. However, always keeping to his never-quitting cheery disposition, he did not get angry.
He had heard on the news that other Gundams had been attacking different OZ bases around the world. Heero Yuy. Yes, that was the name of the Gundam that destroyed the OZ plane carrying Field Martial Noventa. His death was the worst possible thing that could have happened to the colonies. Without him, there would be no one left on the Earth willing to make peace. Not only that, but the world and the colonies looked at the Gundam pilots as terrorists. Now, the people they came to fight for didn't even want them.
Duo pounded his fist on the bench. "Damn! How could we let them use us like that?!" We had fallen into their trap. It was as simple as that. Everything was set up, from beginning to end. They had predicted our every move. Used us like puppets to turn the world on us. We were our own executioners. How could we..."
Just then, a short man with slightly gray hair walked up and sat on opposite side of the bench from Duo. "You Duo Maxwell?"
"Yeah, that's me. You're the one with the part, right?"
"Yes, I am. Your lucky. Not too many parts like this left on Earth."
Duo gave a confused look at the old man. "Why? Are they being destroyed or something?"
"No. I shouldn't be telling you this, but... well, OZ had put out orders for these last week. Since there are no Mobile Suits that need something this powerful, no one makes them any more. So, once they're gone, they're gone."
"What would OZ need these for?" Duo asked to no one in particular, motioning toward the box that the engineer was holding. "Wouldn't a power cell like that overload a conventional Mobile Suit?"
"Yes, your quite right. Which is the confusing part. All I know is, the parts were sent to OZ's Lunar Base."
The Lunar Base? What could be so secret that they would have to build it on the Lunar Base? "You know anything else about it?"
"No, that's all I know"
"Fine. Thanks." Duo sat thinking for a second then stood up and reached out to the old man. The man handed Duo the box. "You got the money, right?"
"Yeah. Sure did. I deposited in the account you gave me."
"Good.", replied the now very happy engineer. With that Duo nodded and then walked off carrying his box.
So, there are three possibilities here. First: they know the Gundams use them and so they are trying to get them all so we can't have them. Second, and most likely: they already have a Mobile Suit that uses them and they want to make sure they never run out. Third, and least liked: they are planning on building a new type of Mobile Suit.
After walking and thinking for almost an hour, he came to the conclusion that he had a new objective. He would go to the Lunar Base himself and find out what was happening.
"Sir, here is the pilot roster you requested." the young private exclaimed as he handed Zechs the clipboard.
Zechs held it up and started reading it. "Thanks." He continued to scan over the chart, reading name after name. "Twenty-four casualties. Not good. Send letters to each of the families with my sincerest condolences."
The soldier let down a quick nod and replied with "Sir!". Zechs continued to pace around the room staring down at the roster. He stopped on one of the pilots. "Caper, Michael J. Private First Class. Kills: 41.", he read aloud. Zechs looked up from the paper and turned to the private in front of him. "This can't be right.", Zechs told him. "There is no way a private could have forty-one kills. Not on his first mission. Go to the hangers and report this to the head engineer. Have him double check this. Report to me when the results are in."
Once again, the soldier let down with a quick nod. "Sir!". Zechs handed the roster to the soldier. "Dismissed", he said as he turned towards the window, putting his back to the soldier. The soldier then soluted and left.
Who could those Mobile suits have been? Not only that, but why would they serve with a Gundam? It didn't make sense. The Gundams were from the colonies. So, why would a Gundam have that many mobile suits to back him up on earth? Had we missed some? But, so many. This means that either the leaders of the Gundams have some control on earth, or that Gundam pilot was originally from earth. This opens a whole new perspective on things. We had been underestimating their skills because we thought they were used to fighting in zero gravity only. But, if he is used to fighting in Earth's gravity as well, that would explain why OZ had been having so much trouble with them.
Quatre sat in his tent, thinking to himself. Rashid came in, looking somewhat glum as well. Their encounter that morning had not turned out as well as they had hoped. The retreat had cost them many lives. Quatre hated for people to die, no matter what side they were on.
"Master Quatre," Rashid began, "allow me to bring together a group and attack them again. They wouldn't expect another attack, now. Not so close to the place..." Quatre stopped him mid sentence.
"No, Rashid. I think it would be best if we just waited. The other pilots will come soon, and then we will be able to fight. For now it would be best if we just waited until they arrive. I don't want any more unnecessary deaths. Understood?"
Rashid let out a sigh. "Yes, Master Quatre."
Quatre stared out towards the exit of the tent, and finally, after waiting for the appropriate time, got up and headed out. Quatre walked out towards the sand dune nearby. After climbing a little way carefully, so as not to fall, he reached the top and look out across the desert. He stood there for some time, watching and thinking.
The soldier marched proudly back to Zechs' room. He stood at the door for some time, allowing the other soldiers to see who he was visiting. He felt as though he was the greatest there was, just for being Zechs' little worker. After waiting for what he felt to be a sufficient amount of time, he knocked on the door. After hearing an "Enter" come from inside the room, he opened the door and headed in closing it behind him.
Zechs was working on some papers on the desk. The soldier came to attention in front of the desk. He slowly looked down at the papers, and noticed that they were shipping manifolds. Obviously parts for a large mobile suit. "What did you find" Zechs asked, snapping the soldier out of the daydream state.
"Sir! I had the head engineer run a check on the Aries' black box. He confirmed the report. Not only that, but the MS didn't even have so much as a scratch on it."
"I see. Where is this pilot located, now?"
"He was ordered by Lady Une to report the Lunar Base tomorrow, sir. He should still be here.", the soldier replied.
"Find him. I wish to speak with him. While you're at it, send in a request from me to Lady Une that this pilot be kept here. Tell her I will send someone else in this one's place."
"Sir!", the soldier said with a solute. Slowly the soldier turned, and then marched out of the room. Zechs turned his chair and stood up. He slowly walked over to the window near the desk, and stared out from it.
Michael Caper. A Canadian, born in Ottawa. His parents were killed in the last major war between the nations when he was only 7. He joined the military forces and started pretaining at age 9, and trained non-stop until he was 18, when he joined officially. His first mission was with me. Over forty kills. He's good. Very good. To make that kind of fight without being touched shows true skill.
The new parts for the Gundams will be arriving soon. I need pilots. This soldier may well be just what I need.
The soldiers walked down the corridor. The made a turn to the left at the end of the long hall just to find a stranger waiting for them. They barely had time to scream before they were knocked out.
Duo searched through the pockets of the soldiers, hoping to find a key to one of the doors. After tracking down a level 4 keycard, he took the gun dropped by the soldier. He had planned on stealing one of their uniforms, but none of them were remotely close to his size. He decided that instead he would try to find some kind of locker room. He ran quite a distance, looking down corridors as he went, making sure he wasn't spotted. After traveling some distance, he came to a dead end. There was a door at the end of the hallway. Some kind of engineering bay, he guessed. He, however, would get far too much attention in his current outfit, so he continued on his search for a military uniform. After running a little farther down he found a room with an engineer in it. The engineer was the perfect size, and while it wasn't quite what he was planning on getting, it would do well enough. Duo sneaked into the room slowly, quickly got up behind the engineer, and slammed the butt of the gun into the man's neck. He drug the engineer into a closet nearby, put on the uniform over his own cloths, and left the gun with the body. He then proceeded out the door and down the hall to the bay he had found earlier.
Duo slowly opened the door. Assuming his hair didn't give him away, he should be able to remain anonymous. These mechanic types sometimes let their hair go too, so he should be able to go without problem. He came up to the door quickly. The door slid open, allowing him to enter quickly. It was as he thought: a huge bay, and inside were two large construction areas. The areas were meant for two mobile suits, and they were partly done. The body had not been constructed yet. It was simply the internal areas that were ready to go.
Duo walked cautiously among the engineers and soldiers. He walked over to a computer console to see what he could do there. He pulled up the blueprints for the models. He quickly began going over the specs, hoping to find some kind of weakness. He would destroy these things here, and save himself the trouble of dealing with them after they had been fully built. He saw that the core was near the cockpit, which meant that dropping a grenade in the cockpit would trigger the core to explode, eliminating the whole Suit.
While Duo was poking at the computer, a soldier came up behind him. "You there, what are you doing? That's the design computer. Do you have access to use it?"
Duo was not in the least bit expecting this kind of interruption. "Ah, well, you see...", he began as he turned around, "I was just looking at some of the...", and suddenly he threw his fist out at the soldier, connecting right in jaw. The soldier dropped to the ground quickly, unconscious. Duo looked down and the gun the soldier was carrying, and wondered whether he should take it or not. "Don't mind if I do", he said as he reached down and took it. The engineers began to scatter in all directions, and at some point one of the pulled an alarm switch, causing a siren to scream across the whole base.
Duo looked frantically around the room, trying to find some means of destroying the suits. Then he noticed that at the top of the room was a hatchway which opened to the airlock leading into space. He could dump the remains out there once he destroyed them.
He quickly ran to one of the armament sections and took some of the warheads. He then ran to both Suits, placing the warheads in each of the cockpits. Normally he would have brought his own explosives, but he was in a hurry today. After loading each of the Suit's cockpits with warheads, he ran to the other side of the room to where the warhead control switch was. He looked around the control panel, trying to find the proper switched. At that moment, the door opened and 4 soldiers ran in, each with machine guns. Duo jumped to the side as the opened up a hail of bullets towards him. He fired his own gun at them, causing the to scatter. One of the soldiers was hit dead on.
Two of the soldiers tried to run on either side of his and attack him. He shot the one coming from his left, and then hit the other in the face with his elbow. He looked around and realized he had lost track of the fourth. He quickly moved back to the console, and began looking it over again.
Suddenly, from above, the last soldier jumped down and planted his elbow right into Duo's back. Duo hit the control panel hard, damaging it, and dropped to the ground. He quickly got up, to find the soldier standing in front of him. Duo quickly jumped at the soldier and punched, yet the soldier's reaction speed was greater than he had ever seen before in a man. The soldier quickly stepped to the side and punched, landing his fist onto the side of Duo's face, sending him sprawling. Duo almost instantly jumped to his feet, spun and went again. He jumped for a punch, yet secretly threw in a kick. The soldier cought Duo's hand with ease, yet Duo could feel his leg make contact with the soldier. Duo's sense of victory, however, was short lived, as he realized that he had connected with the soldier's now raised leg, defending against Duo's kick.
He had never seen anyone quite this fast before. No one in this soldier's rank should be this good. His speed was almost super-human. Through the corner of his eye he noticed a pipe wrench lying on the top of the console. Duo lunged out at the soldier with his left fist, and at the same time grabbed the pipe wrench with his right as he passed it. The soldier swiftly dodged the punch, with speed that even Duo could not match, however the speed was not enough to dodge the next attack, which he had stepped right into. The pipe wrench made a loud cracking noise on the soldier face as Duo continued forward, hitting the him as he ran. The soldier hit the ground.
Duo got up and walked towards the control panel. As he passed by the soldier the man let out his foot, creaming Duo in the stomach. It was a quick, sharp hit, knocking him back. The soldier then jumped to his feet and turned to face Duo, and landed a second hit right into Duo's nose, knocking him to the ground. Duo tried to get up, but was too dizzy to move. He could hear the sound of the door opening, and soldiers running in. He found himself being picked up, and then taken out of the room by several soldiers.
Michael Caper stood in the engineering bay, his cracked jaw bleeding rather badly through an open gash on his cheek. One of the soldiers ran up to him, and suggested that he go to the med-bay. He stayed a few more minutes to explain to the soldiers about the warheads that had been planted in the Neo-Gundam model's cockpits and how to disarm them.
Once he was sure he would not be needed there anymore, he allowed one of the other soldiers to escort him to the med-bay. He walked into the bay, somewhat woozy at first. He was then taken by a nurse to one of the bed- tables nearby, and asked to sit down on it and wait for the doctor, who arrived soon after.
"What happened to you?", the doctor asked as he looked at the side Michael's face. Michael, however, remained silent. "What base did you just transfer from? I need to get your medical records from them."
"Ottawa, sir."
"Oh, they stationed you in your hometown. I wish I could do that. I bet that made you happy."
"Nah. Bad memories...". Michael stared out the window toward his left, looking out at the stars. "Anyways, I prefer the zero-gravity over Earth's gravity any day."
The doctor continued typing away on the computer at his desk. "Kid, you got strange tastes." The doctor typed for a few more minutes. "Ah, here we go. Caper, Michael J. Age: 18. Height: 6'2". Weight: 195lbs. Eyes: Aqua blue." With that the doctor looked up at Michael. "Huh, so they are. Oh, anyways... Hair: Black. Rank: Private First Class. That you, kid?"
"Yeah, that me." Michael looked somewhat distracted.
A nurse came in from the room behind him. "Private Caper, if you will please follow me, I need to get a few x-rays."
Michael quickly got a look of unease. "That, uh, won't be neccessary, really. It's fine."
"Private Caper," the doctor said, "please understand that we must do this. Now, as your commanding officer, I order you to allow her to do those X-rays. I find it hard to believe that someone with your stamina would be afraid of a little X-ray. I promise, it won't hurt."
With a slight look of irritation Michael stood up and proceeded out the door into a small room. A few short minutes after, another soldier came into the med-bay.
"Excuse me, doctor. I am sorry to bother you, but do you have a Michael Caper in your care, right now?" the soldier asked quite politely.
"Why, yes I do. He's in the back in the x-ray room. It will only take a few more minutes, then you can speak to him."
"Oh, that won't be necessary. Could you please tell him that Colonel Zechs is waiting to meet with him in the Colonel's quarters, and to report there as soon as he is out."
"I sure will.", the doctor said with nod.
"Thank you." The soldier let out with one final solute before heading out the door. Several minutes later, the nurse, accompanied by Michael, came out into the room. The nurse was carrying several pictures with her.
"Please take a seat right over there." the doctor said to Michael as he met with the nurse. Michael went and sat down on the table-bed once again. While the doctor was looking over the x-rays he said: "My goodness. You must drink a lot of milk there, kid. Not so much as a fracture. The worst you got out of that fight was that cut on your cheek."
Michael reached up and touched the cut with his fingers. No, it wasn't bone strength at all. It was luck. I had managed to see wrench coming through the corner of my eye, and move away from it in order to dull the blow a bit. I should have paid more attention, then I wouldn't have been hit at all.
"Wait a second...", the doctor said, looking suddenly quite shocked. "What's this? Some type of foreign object in the frontal cranial lobe and just above the spinal column. They look almost like mechanical devices. What are these?"
Michael gave the doctor a sharp look. "Nothing you should concern yourself with... sir. Military matter."
"I see. Well, if it has to do with the military then I guess I would be better off not knowing." Michael relaxed slightly. In all truth, that excuse shouldn't have worked, since it WAS the doctors concern. Luckily this doctor didn't seem to care much. "Well, kid, just make sure you take care of that cut and you'll be fine. The nurse will clean it up for you. Oh, and before you leave, a soldier came in and said to tell you to report to Colonel Zechs' quarters after leaving here."
Michael nodded. The nurse came up with a small medical swab and began to wipe off the blood from around the wound. Why would the colonel want to see me?, he though to himself. Most likely about my confrontation with that intruder this morning. I wonder who that guy was. He was about my age, but he was amazingly strong. No one should have that sort of speed and strength.
The nurse finished what she was doing and patted Michael on the shoulder. "All done. Make sure you keep it cleaned and you'll be fine." She moved to the side allowing him to stand up.
"Thank you", he said as he got up and headed for the door. The door slid open, and he passed through, quickly taking a left once outside. There was a guard waiting for him there.
"Private Caper?", the soldier asked.
"Yeah. You the one who is supposed to take me to Colonel Zechs?"
"Sure am. Follow me, please." The soldier turned and began walking down the corridor, Michael close behind. "They locked that boy you caught in the brig a few hours ago. They say he might be a Gundam pilot"
Michael looked up quickly. A Gundam pilot? Here? How could he have found out about OZ's Neo-Gundam project? An even better question: if he knows, do the others know?
The two made a sharp corner down the hall, and got into an elevator. The soldier pressed a button on the control panel, sending them down the shaft. Michael stood there, silently thinking to himself. I'll have to ask that boy some questions once I get a chance. "Have they questioned the boy, yet?" Perhaps I will let them ask for me.
"Not yet. The interrogator hasn't arrived yet."
Hmph. Interrogator! They might as well just be honest and call him a torturer. Only about a quarter of the people who are put before the "interrogator" actually come out alive, and that is just because they were ordered to keep them alive. In a way, I feel sorry for the boy.
The turbo lift came to abrupt stop. The soldier continued out once the door slid open, and Michael continued after him. They continued down the hallways until they came to a set of doors. The soldier walked up to one of the doors and pressed on the buzzer next to it. A very familiar voice came over the intercom. "Enter". The soldier stepped one step closer, causing the door to slip open. The soldier then walked through the door, and into the room, with Michael following. Sitting on a couch in the room was a tall man, wearing a Red Military Jacket with long black boots and an oddly shaped metal helmet. At first glance one would think him to be a mental case, but his piloting skills and decisions on the battlefield told differently.
Zechs stood up and turned toward the two. He nodded to the soldier, who immediately left the room. Michael stood in attention, looking past Zechs. "So, you're Michael Caper? Younger than I thought." He walked a few steps towards him, got a good look at him, then said "As you were." Michael relaxed somewhat, and whatched Zechs pace towards the window. "Do you think that boy is a Gundam pilot?"
"His reflexes are far superior than those of any person I have seen before. He was quite strong, too. He also knew exactly where to put explosives to effectively blow up a mobile suit. I'd say there is a better chance that he is, than the chance of him not being one."
Zechs nodded, and then changed the subject. "Your record in this last battle is incredible. I have to say that I am greatly impressed. How did you get to be so good?"
"I trained non-stop through the past eleven years of my life, sir."
"So I have seen. I have new orders for you. Lady Une decided against letting me keep you here. Instead, she has decided to use your age to our advantage. She wants you to keep an eye on the daughter of the former Vice Foreign Minister. You will attend school with her."
"But sir, I've already..."
"I'm quite aware of what you have done, private. However, you shall reattend school for now. You will be given you're own room at their dorm. There is a military base near where you will be at. If there is anything you need, report there. Understood?"
"Yes sir. Understood."
"Good. You will remain there until the new Gundam models are completed, then one of them will be sent to the base where you will be stationed. You will be the new pilot of that Gundam."
Michael looked up with a look of shock. "Sir?"
"I looked over your flight record. You aced all exit exams with perfect scores and accomodations. You came back from this last battle without a scratch and destroyed over forty enemy MS. You're skills definitly seem worthy to pilot one of the Gundams. You will be told the moment they arrive. Understood?"
"Yes sir. Thank you sir."
"Lastly, we think it would be best if you were to try to blend at the school, but we don't want you getting too close to anyone, so they won't find out who you are. I have assigned Emily McKeon to accompany you. She will assist you in keeping watch over the girl, and then will take over your position there, once the new gundam arrives."
Michael looked somewhat uneasy at the thought of someone else tagging along. "So, what particular role will she play in relation to me?"
Zechs smiled slightly. "I'll leave those details to you two. She is already at the school. She will meet you there. You will be allowed full access to her military records. She has also been given yours."
Great, so this girl already knows everything about me, and we haven't even met. Aren't I lucky? "Thank you, sir." Of course, I just had to get a hard mission, didn't I? Heh. Sucks to be me.
"One last thing: there have been reports of Gundam sightings near that area. Be ready at any time to be called back to the base to assist in defense, should it ever be attacked. Also, don't take any uniforms. I trust you have some civilian cloths?"
"I've spent most my life on military bases, so I don't have many. Though, I can make do."
"If you need any supplies, talk to the guard outside when you leave. He will get whatever you need. You'll leave tomorrow. Good luck. Dismissed." Zechs nodded to Michael, who gave one final salute and walked out of the room. Back to school, and right when I thought I was free of it. The soldier outside then began to walk to the elevator, and Michael followed. He would obviously be escorted to wherever he was supposed to be.
I can't complain, I guess. I mean, I've seen pictures of this Relena Darlian. She lives up to the Darlian part. She's cute for sure.
Michael let out a slight chuckle in spite of himself. He was forgetting that she was his target. He wasn't exactly watching her to make sure she wasn't hurt, he was watching her to make sure she couldn't hurt them. Ever since Lady Une's mistake of letting that girl see her kill the Vice Foreign Minister, everything about her became a threat. They were preparing to launch a military assault on the school she was in and then claim it to be a colonial terrorist assault, but then the neo-gundam project was started and Lady Une was recalled here to make sure the base was well defended.
The lift stopped at the thirteenth floor. The soldier motioned for Michael to go ahead of him. Michael did so, and found the room filled with computers and such. "This is the main information terminal for the Lunar Base. You can get files from anywhere around the world, here. Each computer is attached to a computer system somewhere on the Earth Sphere.", the soldier said as he walked towards one of the consoles. "This is the one you'll be using. It has all the information you need."
Michael walked up to the computer, thanked the soldier and sat down. The soldier then left the room and reboarded the elevator.
Michael typed in Emily's name into the computer. It lagged slightly, which was to be expected since he was several million miles from the point of the information sending. Finally, after loading for almost a minute, the files were brought up. He opened up her personal file, in which he received quite a shock.
"Oh my god, she's gorgeous.", he blurted accidentally, after which he looked around quickly in an embarrassed manner to make sure no one heard him. He crouched back down in front of the monitor and looked over all her information.
Name: McKeon, Emily Sarah. Age: 19. Height: 5'9". Weight: 136 lbs.
Eye color: Amber Hair color: Light Brown. Birth Place: Derry, Ireland.
This girl is something else. Her military record is quite nice. In the past year she has had seven encounters with the Gundams. Everytime there is an assault predicted, she requests a transfer to that area. Yeah, I bet she will be real happy stuck with me baby sitting Relena in some remote school. She has taken quite a few hand-to-hand combat courses. She knows how to fight, that's for sure. This is definitely going to be interesting. She's cute, but her record makes her out to be one tough girl to hang with.
Michael poked through her files for a few more minutes, making sure to learn all he could about her, especially since she probably did the same with him. Once he finished reviewing her files, he switch off the monitor and headed off to the elevator.
Heero laid on his bed staring at ceiling. No matter how hard he tried, sleep wouldn't come. He laid there, sprawled out across the bed with arms out in both directions and legs off the end so his feet were on the floor allowing him perfect reaction movement, staring and waiting for the next mission. It had been a while since he got a mission. Ever since that day...
Word had spread about the death of Field Martial Noventa and the others. The Alliance was calling the Gundams terrorists, the colonies were on the verge of forsaking them, and worst of all, OZ was becoming a major government, all thanks to his actions. They used him. Led him right into a trap. "What...have I done...?" was all he could mutter. There was quite a bit of movement outside the door of his dorm room. This movement did nothing to calm his tension.
His decision to return to school was not spontaneous. He had planned on transferring schools, and in essence, did so. But, after the rumor of the Neo-Gundams came through, he decided it best to return to the school where Relena was. Her school was near a secret OZ construction factory. Supposedly no one knew about it, but it didn't take Heero long to figure it out. There would be a good chance one of the Gundams might be built there.
The noise outside his room began to fade off, and suddenly there was a loud knocking at the door. This surprise, of course, threw Heero clear out of bed and into a "kill everything around me" mode. Once he had calmed himself, he went to the door, still overly cautious. He slipped up to the door, making little to no sound so someone wouldn't be able to find him by his footsteps and shoot him through the door. He leaned up against the door and looked through the eye-hole. It was that girl. Darlian's daughter. Ever since she had seen him that day, she had returned to him over and over again. She acted as if she had a deathwish. At times, her actions surprised and even startled him.
Heero walked away from the door, deciding not to answer, but somehow knew that not giving her a warm welcome would in no way stop her from entering his room. He was, of course, correct in that. She opened the door immediately after and closed it behind her. Heero continued about his business, working pointlessly on the computer in front of him, just trying to look busy so she would go away.
"So many times you could have killed me, but you haven't, Heero. Why?", Relena asked, still standing in the middle of the room in her normal school uniform. Heero sat silently, asking himself the same question over and over again. Why didn't he kill her? She knows far too much. She even knows about Dr. J. "Heero, please, I... don't care if you want to kill me. In a way... I want to die. But I need to know, why did you let me live? Even when I know so much."
Heero stood up from his chair and turned towards her, startling her greatly. He walked up to her and then past her, and opened the door. "I don't know why." was all he said to her as he headed out the door, leaving it open.
Relena stood in the room, staring out where Heero had just past. "Oh, Heero..." She knew she was starting to fall in love with him, but he was too mysterious for her to be sure how he felt. This, however, was more than enough to tell her he felt the same, even if he didn't know it. However, even knowing this, she would like to, at least once, hear him say it.
The shuttle came to an abrupt landing at the spacepod dock. Michael stared out the window with a glazed look in his eye. He had been through hundreds of training courses, passed everything with perfect scores, but one: space reentry. Why had he failed it so many times? It was due to the fact that every single landing, he would short out the console because he puked on it. Space sickness was nothing to him, but switching from zero G to Earth's gravity was no fun matter. He was proud of himself this time, for he had not puked. Perhaps he was getting over his weak-stomach problems.
He got up with great care, and headed for the exit. He would receive his bags at the dorm of the school. He walked in and looked about the spaceport. Travelers walked about the building. He began looking for the person who would be meeting him. Miss Emily McKeon. She wasn't here, which suprised him greatly. He continued to walk through the airport until he got to the spot where his bags would arrive. He patiently waited, expecting the bags at any moment. Once the bags arrived, he quickly grabbed them and made his way to the door. People were running all over the airport, so it was very difficult for him to get out of there. Once he got to the door and made it through, he immediately waved down a cab, and asked the driver to take him to the school.
This place doesn't seem so bad. I mean, it's lively enough. That's part of the problem though, I guess. There is no overpopulation on the colonies. Never have to deal with crowds like that.
The cab pulled up to a large building, almost resembling a mansion. There was a patio with tables covered by umbrellas outside. There were kids everywhere, all in very odd looking uniforms. Michael looked out across the group, in awe at all the people there. He stepped out of the car and went to the back for his bags. He had decided to wear casual clothes upon arrival, rather than the school uniform. He wore all black, looking almost in a gothic theme. A black T-shirt, black jeans, black shoes, black sunglasses, and even black gloves. He was never good with colors, so he decided to avoid them all together. Anyways, he didn't wear casual clothes much, so it really didn't matter. This made him feel like he was still in a uniform, which in a way was more comfortable to him, speaking that all he really knew was the military.
Once he had gotten his bags and paid the driver, he headed for the entrance. Waiting there, was one of the students. A young girl with light blond hair. He immediately recognized her.
It's her. The Darlain girl. She's a lot cuter than the picture gave her credit for. He slowly walked up to where she was standing, and set his bags down.
Relena slowly approached him, smiling the whole way. Once she was within a proper distance, she curtseyed to him. "My name is Relena Darlain. I would like to be the first to welcome you to our school.", she said, with a degree of calmness, elegance, and innocence that almost frightened him.
"Ah, thank you very much.", he said, trying to mimic the almost perfect stance she held. "My name is Michael Caper.", he let out as he bowed. After completing the bow, he straightened himself and looked around. He could sense most of the students looking at him from all over. Nothing to worry about. I'm the new kid here, that's all it is. He looked at all points on the school, getting a mental map of it. As he looked, however, he came to one window in the dorm section. In the window was a boy, around Michael's age, staring out at him. The boy wore a green tank top with shorts. He had a horribly serious look on his face. What's with him?, Michael thought to himself. That look in his eye is... almost frightening. Could he suspect who I am? No, that's impossible. My arrival here is no different than the arrival of anyone else. I'm only 18, so there is no way he would consider me to...
Suddenly, the sound of Relena's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "...need anything at all, please tell me.", she said to him, as a sign of departure.
"Ah...uh, oh yeah, sure. Thanks.", he stumbled out, as he tried to regain his thought. Once again he looked up to the window, yet the boy was gone. "Excuse me, but, before you leave..."
Relena turned around and looked at Michael. "Yes?" She noticed he was looking up towards the dorm rooms.
"Who's room is that? Right up there, near the statue."
Relena looked up to where he was pointing, and after a few seconds, finally came to the place he was pointing at. "Oh, why, that's Heero Yuy's room."
Michael suddenly took a look of shock as he turned back to her. "Did you say Heero Yuy? Oh, you mean that the room is named after Heero Yuy, right?
"Um... I'm not entirely sure what you mean. No, I mean that it is Heero's room. Heero stays there."
"Look miss, Heero Yuy was the grand leader of all the colonies. He was assassinated twenty years ago. There is no way Heero Yuy could be upstairs in your dorm room.
Relena then remembered what Dr. J had told her, about Heero being his codename and why he was named it. "Oh, you see," she began, trying to think of something to cover it up, "his parents were great supporters of Heero Yuy, so they named their first child after him."
"I see..." Sounds like colonial fanatics to me. How interesting that this boy should be named Heero Yuy. Might want to watch him. Children of colonial fanatics often turn out to be terrorists or worse, and if there is anyone here I would suspect of being a terrorist, it would be him. That look in his eye...
"Is that all you needed?", Relena asked, once again ever-so-politely.
"Oh, uh, yes. Thank you." Once again Michael bowed. "It was nice to meet you."
Relena turned and walked off, her group of friends following close behind. He picked up his bags and began walking into the building. Once inside, he removed his sunglasses and reported to the main office. The principle greeted him in the doorway.
"Ah, you must be the young Michael Caper. It's nice to meet you. It isn't often we get someone of your age in for high school. Normally student have graduated by your age.", the principle said, obviously suspecting Michael of having failed at some point.
Doesn't surprise me. I am almost too old all together for this assignment. It's close to being embarrassing. "I started school late, I'm afraid."
"Ah, yes, I understand. All right, let me see here...", he said as he flipped through a group of papers, "Aha, here we go. You are in room 218. Jennifer!" Suddenly a young girl poked her head around the corner looking into the office. "Ah, good. Would you mind showing this boy where room 218 is?"
"Why, not at all!", the girl replied, quite cheery. Such a happy school this is. How weird. So different from life in military camps.
"You'll begin classes tomorrow. Good luck.", the principle said, sitting back down.
"Thank you, sir." He quickly turned and walked back outside, took his bags, and followed the girl.
Jennifer walked up many stairs until she finally got to the 200s section. She began looking around for the proper number. Suddenly, from behind them, a female voice said "Hey Jenny, don't worry about him. I'll help him. The horse riding class is about to start, and you'll be late if you stay here."
Both Jennifer and Michael turned and looked to see who said it. "Oh, ok. Thanks, Emily! He's looking for room 218!"
"Alright, not a problem.", Emily said. Jennifer ran off in a hurry.
Michael look at Emily for a second, making sure she was the one. Yep, thats her. Well, took her look enough. "You're room is right down the hall.", she declared as she headed down the hall, with a very wide, very happy stride. Her cheeriness threw him completely off guard. She's nothing like I expected. I mean, to have a record like that, but to be this... spunky. There's no way.
He followed her to room 218, where he pulled out the key he had been issued and opened up the door. He walked in, followed closely by Emily, who shut the door behind them. Michael walked up and put his bags down on the bed. "I thought you were supposed to meet me at the airport.", he said as he put his bags down.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, too!", she said in a tone overflowing with sarcasm. "As it so happens, I was on my way to leave for the airport, when I heard a news report that a suspected Gundam pilot had escaped from the Lunar base this morning.
Michael froze after hearing this. He escaped. There is a chance he might know of my plans, since he was on the Lunar base at the time. I'll need to be careful. I bet they didn't even get a chance to question him.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. You were the one who caught him, so I bet that doesn't make you too happy. Sorry about that." She walked up and looked at his cheek where the cut was. She lightly reached up and touched above it, examining it. Michael tried his best not to spaz out from the stinging, and by some miracle managed to keep himself posed and continued about his business as if he didn't even notice it. "Wow. That's a nasty little cut. He got you pretty good, didn't he?"
"Yeah, it hurt little", understating it greatly. "I guess I deserved it, though. Should have seen him coming at me with that wrench. Doesn't matter, though. I'm just glad I got the first hit."
"Yeah, I heard he was pretty strong. He knocked out thirteen of our troops while escaping, and he was unarmed. You did very to take him on your own."
"Nah, I just got the first hit, that's all. He was too messed up from that hit to fight back."
Emily looked at him for a second, trying to decide what to make of him. She couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth, being modest, or trying to hold something back. She had been told he often held back many secrets. "Well, anyways,", she said, trying to move the subject toward something less frustrating, "we need to begin watching Relena."
"Have you made contact with her yet?", Michael asked, hoping that she would say yes.
"Yes, I have. As a matter of fact, we have become good friends."
Michael let out a sigh of relief. This meant that Emily could watch Relena and Michael would be able to back her up from afar. He just couldn't see himself trying to get a date with the daughter of the former Vice foreign minister, just so he could watch her."Seems like you really thought ahead, huh?"
"Yep!", she said happily. "I figured you would have a hard time getting close, so it'd be better if I did it!" She continued to smile.
She has a beautiful smile. A little spunky, but that's ok. We need someone like that on this mission. She'll fit in more. "Yeah, you figured it right. Heheh, I can just see myself trying to get a date with Darlains daughter. You know Colonel Treize would just love that."
Emily laughed. "He would probably pull you out thinking you to be some kind of skirtchaser who could care less about the mission."
Michael let out with what sounded to be an "ACK!", which caused Emily to laugh more. A beautiful laugh, too. Yeah, I think I can handle working with her for a while.
Emily stopped laughing long enough to notice Michael looking at her. "What is it?", she asked curiously.
Michael immediately snapped out of it. "You just look so different in that school dress, compared to the picture I saw of you in the military uniform.", he lied.
"Oh, well, I kinda like it.", she said as she spun around, showing it off. "It's not the same as wearing the military uniform, but it has a certain amount of class about it. What do you think of it? Be honest."
"I think you look cute in it." The words came out faster than the realization of what he was saying did. Once her eyes widened he figured it out. Woops. Did I say that? Um... uh-oh?
Emily stared at him in a amazement. She had been told he was really closed off from everyone else. Never talked to anyone after his parents died, but then he said that. This completely through her off guard. Then she saw it. He was blushing, and that was when it hit her. He didn't mean to say it. She decided rather than to change the subject, she would embarrass him even more. Might as well get him used to not being in a military institution. "You really think I'm cute?!", she asked with feigned surprise. "Wow, I've never had anyone say something like that to me!", she said, lying with every breath, and as she expected, it was working. He was completely red with embarrassment.
I had always been told to watch my mouth. "It'll get you in trouble one day. You'll see." That's what they said, but I didn't believe em. I do now. "Um, anyways, uh... I think we should just... uh, go watch Miss Darlian. You do that and, uh..." Right as he was about to finish, he made the mistake of looking over at her. She was staring at him with a look amusement. She is so beautiful... she... Then it hit him. She's making fun of me!!! "HEY! NO FAIR! You knew I didn't mean to say that!!"
Emily burst out laughing. She wondered how long it would take him to figure it out. She continued to laugh, wiping tears away. "I'm... heheh, I'm sorry. You just walked into that one." She continued giggling.
This is going to be one hell of a long mission. "Argh, forget it! Just go watch the Darlian girl!", he said, completely frustrated.
Emily continued laughing and patted him on the shoulder as she turned to walk out. "Oh, by the way, if you plan on making it anywhere around here, I suggest you learn how to see if someone is making fun of you." Michael simply grumbled.
Emily closed the door behind her, leaving Michael standing in his room, frustrated beyond belief. I probably have more to fear from her than I do those Gundam pilots.
He walked slowly over to the window, looking across to admire the view of the huge courtyard and relieve some of the recently applied stress. The horse riding classes had already begun, and Jenny was out there giving it her all. He watched them ride back and forth. A collage of elegance, grace, and clumsiness. Most of the girls had seemed to pick up on riding quickly, but the guys were a different matter. Among all of the student was Relena. He watched her ride throughout the area, admiring her gracefulness. She seems to be good at everything she does. It's a pity she's against us. I'm sure she could make a difference somewhere in the world, if she just put her mind to it.
As he watched her ride, he noticed something else move in the distance beyond the class. he looked up across the field, into an open area. A horse was running at full speed there, the rider acting as if it were nothing at all. "Heero...", Michael said, realizing who it was. He rides as if it is more for work that pleasure. He's training it, I guess. As he continued to watch, Heero brought the horse to a stop. Michael looked on with curiosity. Suddenly, Heero turned and looked towards the building, straight to where Michael was. The two stared at each other for some time, before Relena called out to Heero, snapping his attention away from Michael. This also broke Michael's train of though, so he quickly closed the blinds and walked to the other side of the room.
That boy had a seriousness about him not at all common to your average highschool student. He may well be a Colonial terrorist. The only reason one would be here would be to snatch Relena, so that they could blame it on us. I better watch him.
Michael continued to unpack, thinking about how he should attempt to fit in. He put all his cloths in the closet, and found that his room had many uniforms placed in it. Well, at least they thought ahead. He slowly pulled out one of the uniforms, looking at it closely. Well, at least it isn't very colorful. I won't feel too out of place in it.
He continued to unpack his belongings, thinking out plans for the days ahead, and trying to figure out where the Gundam pilot that escaped might be headed.