*Author's Note: The GW characters are not mine, though I wish they were. Tyler Mackey, however, is mine. If anyone would like permission to use her, please e-mail me. This takes place one year after Endless Waltz and includes my takes on the Gundam boy's pasts and the reasons for which the Gundams were created. While the idea for the story was influenced by plot lines I've seen in other fanfics, the plot in my story is entirely mine.
Preview: In the year AC 197, peace has finally been achieved, and all weapons, including the Gundams, have been destroyed. But what if that peace was threatened, not from within, but from without. A threat from outside the solar system has been discovered, and the Gundam boys again find themselves preparing for battle. But this adventure will take them to places they never imagined, facing the truth about their pasts and purposes, and finally, with friends and former enemies alike at their side, they will join with a new pilot to face the ultimate fight for the future…
Operation Omega Shadow:
Part One
By Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior)
Preventer Lucrezia Noin, code-named Fire, glanced out the window of the shuttle, staring off into deep space. "How did a space station get so far away from Earth? Neither the Alliance nor OZ ever reached this far beyond the Earth-sphere."
"A more important question would be 'Why is there a space station just beyond Mars' orbit?'" her companion, Zechs Merquise, Preventer Wind, also known as Milliardo Peacecraft, commented. "And 'Why is said space station contacting us?'"
"I suppose we're going to get those questions answered." Noin turned back to him. "Aren't we nearing the coordinates?"
Zechs nodded. "We're approaching Ceres¹ now. According to these coordinates, it's just on the other side."
"Aren't you worried that it could be a trap? If they've been out here as long as they claim, why reveal themselves now?"
"It could be a trap." Zechs turned to face her. "We won't know until we get there. Be on your guard, though. Just in case." Noin nodded, her eyes on the asteroid as the shuttle swung around it. When they reached the rendezvous coordinates, her jaw dropped.
"Oh my God," she said softly.
"I don't believe it," Zechs agreed.
–
Lady Une walked into her office in time to see the new message icon start flashing on her computer screen. She took one look at the subject and immediately opened it. A normal mission report from Zechs and Noin would not have been labeled urgent. Whatever it was, it was important enough to warrant her immediate attention. She quickly read through the message.
Lady,
The Mars base received an interesting communiqué from a space station that claims to be out beyond the Mars orbit, perhaps within the asteroid belt. The coordinates we received for a rendezvous directed us to Ceres. At the meeting coordinates, we found something… interesting. Pictures are sent with this. Do not let them out.
Preventer Wind
Lady Une quickly scrolled down to the pictures, and stared at them for a moment, shocked. Regaining her composure, she came to a quick decision. She picked up her phone and paged her secretary.
"Get me Chang Wufei. I want him here ASAP. Tell him it's urgent."
–
Duo stood and wiped his gloved hands together, before swiping at his brow. The pile of salvage that still needed to be cataloged just seemed to keep growing. It was hard work trying to keep up with it, even with Hilde's help. That never stopped him from trying. Hardly anything ever stopped him from trying something.
"Duo!" Hilde called up from the bottom of the pile. He glanced down at her smiling. Their relationship had not gone in the direction everyone had assumed it would go, instead forming a sort-of brother-sister relationship. "Wufei's here to see you. He's waiting in the main office."
"Thanks, Hilde." Duo clambered down the pile and hurried into the building, stripping off his gloves as he went. "Hey, Wufei," he greeted as he came upon his friend. When he noticed the look on Wufei's face, he suddenly turned serious. "What's up? You look like the end of the world is coming."
"That assessment may not be far off."
"What do you mean?" Duo frowned at Wufei in confusion.
"Take a look at these." He handed Duo a couple of photos. Duo took the photos and glanced at them, doing a double take as his mind registered what they were showing. He stared at Wufei.
"It's… That's a…"
"We know. Lady Une has asked me to gather the Gundam pilots. We're going to get to the bottom of this." He took the pictures back from Duo.
"I'm in. What about the others?"
"Sally Po has gone to get Trowa, and I will be leaving for L4 to retrieve Quatre in a few hours."
"What about Heero?"
"We were hoping that you might know where he is."
"Actually, I don't. But I think I might know how to find him. Leave it to me."
"As you wish." Wufei turned to leave. "You have three days to meet us at Preventer Headquarters on Earth. Oh, and Maxwell, try not to do anything stupid."
"I'm insulted, Wufei. You know me."
"That's exactly what I'm talking about." The door closed behind Wufei as he walked out.
"What was that all about?" Hilde asked as she came in.
"Hilde, I'm gonna hafta go away for a little while. Think you can handle the junk yard?"
"Of course, but what is it? Why do you have to go? Where are you going?"
"I don't know, yet. But whatever it is, it's big. Something's happening; something that involves the Gundams. We have to get to the bottom of it."
"All right. Take care, Duo." Hilde patted his arm.
"I will. Just keep things around here running smoothly."
–
The nameless boy who called himself Trowa Barton stood and picked up his bucket. Feeding the animals was one chore he did not mind performing. It gave him time alone with creatures that he felt understood him. He turned to leave and was surprised to find Sally Po standing a few meters behind him.
"Trowa Barton," she greeted. "It's good to see you again. I've come to ask for your assistance."
"For what?" Trowa asked as he walked up to her.
"Take a look at these." Sally handed him a couple photos, identical to the ones Wufei had. Trowa's eyes widened just a bit as he looked at the pictures. "They were taken near Ceres in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter by Zechs and Noin."
"What does it mean?" he asked as he handed the photos back.
"We don't know, but we intend to find out. Care to come along?"
"Of course. Give me a few hours, and I'll be ready to leave." He headed toward his trailer.
"I'll meet you back here in two hours," Sally called after him. "You'd best be prepared to be gone awhile; we don't know how long this will take. Hopefully, it's not as much trouble as it appears to be."
–
Quatre was surprised when Rasid informed him that Wufei was at Winner Industries' headquarters to see him. While four of the five pilots—Heero having faded into the background with no intent of being found—still kept in contact, it wasn't very often that they saw each other in person. It usually meant something important was happening.
"Wufei, it's nice to see you," he greeted when Rasid showed Wufei into his office. "Please, have a seat." He gestured to the chair across the desk from him.
"I don't plan on staying long," Wufei said as he sat. "I just have something to show you." He handed the Quatre the same photos he'd shown Duo. Quatre studied them for a moment, his jaw dropping.
"Who took these?"
"Zechs and Noin, out by Ceres."
"What do they mean?"
"We don't know." Wufei took the pictures back. "But we are going out there to find out what is going on. Lady Une has requested the Gundam pilots' help. Duo has signed on and is currently looking for Heero. I just received word from Sally before arriving here that Trowa has agreed to come."
"Give me a little while to make arrangements, and I'll go with you."
Wufei nodded and stood. "Be at Preventer Headquarters in three days. We will be leaving then."
Quatre nodded his understanding, and Wufei left. Rasid came back in moments later. When he noticed Quatre's troubled look, he asked, "What is it, Master Quatre?"
"Something's coming, Rasid. I can feel it. Some new danger is about to threaten Earth, but we might not be as unprepared as you might think."
"Does it have to do with what Wufei showed you?"
"Yes." Quatre stood. "I have to go away for a little while. Make the arrangements."
"Yes, Master Quatre."
–
Duo growled low in his throat as he made his way to the spaceport. He'd been looking for Heero for two days already, trying everything he could think of, and hadn't had much luck at all. He was fresh out of ideas for finding their lost compatriot.
Heero Yuy was just too damn good, he decided, and Duo himself was no slacker. He sighed, remembering that he only had one more day before he had to be on Earth. He stopped to buy a soda from a vending machine, figuring that he would need the caffeine.
"You've been looking for me," someone said from behind him just as he was taking a sip, causing him to spill most of it on himself.
"Jesus, Heero, don't do that! You scared me half to death!" Duo whirled to face the Japanese teenager. Heero stood only a few feet away, calm as ever.
"Why did you want to find me?"
"Hello to you, too. Listen, it wasn't my idea. Something's going down, and the Preventers seem to need all the Gundam pilots. All I know is that we're supposed to be on Earth by the end of the day tomorrow." He then grinned cheekily at Heero. "Are you coming?"
"Baka. I've already made arrangements for a flight. It leaves in ten minutes." Heero started walking towards the boarding gate.
Duo gaped after him for a moment. "Wha… How did…?"
"Baka," Heero said again. "Wufei and Sally Po go to both Trowa and Quatre, after which both make arrangements to go to Earth. Then you come looking for me. It wasn't hard to figure out."
"Remind me never to try to pull something over you," Duo mumbled as he followed Heero. If he'd been paying attention, he would have seen the slight smile on Heero's face that died before it could truly be born.
–
"I'm glad you've all come," Lady Une said as she took a seat at her desk. "As you've been told, we have a potential situation on our hands and would like your cooperation in this matter."
"So what's going on?" Trowa asked point-blank. "We've all seen those pictures."
"I honestly do not know what is going on. Zechs and Noin sent me those pictures without much information, saying it was too sensitive to just broadcast. We'll have to go out there if we want to know what is going on. Howard has agreed to let us use his new Peacemillion, and will be accompanying us. Vice Minister Darlian will be coming as well."
"Hail, hail, the gang's all here," Duo quipped. "Excluding the scientists, of course, may they burn in hell."
"We leave in one hour," Lady Une informed them. "ETA to the space station is five days. Then we shall get to the bottom of this." Sally Po stayed behind as the five Gundam pilots filed out. "Is there something else?" Lady Une asked her.
"You know a bit more about this than you're letting on."
Une sighed, placing her elbows on the desk and folding her hands. "I spoke more with Howard. He knows more about what's going on out there than we do. Apparently, the five Gundam scientists had something to do with this. I also found out that the records concerning Tallgeese were altered. There was one more scientist working on it. Howard called him 'M', and believes that this scientist is on that station."
"That would explain the pictures. I suppose that what we're going to find is more than it seems."
"Yes. The question remains as to whether that is a good thing or not."
"If it concerns those pilots, it can't be all bad. We'll find out for sure in five days."
–
Duo put his feet up on one of the consoles on the bridge of the Peacemillion and looked at Howard. "So, what do you know about all this?" he asked.
"You'll find out when we get there."
"Oh, come on. You know something; I can tell. This has a lot to do with the Gundams, doesn't it?"
"I would think that was fairly obvious," Quatre said as he came onto the bridge with Rasid, Auda, Abdul, and Afmahd. The four Maganac had insisted upon accompanying him.
"Well, yeah, but why does it have a lot to do with the Gundams? I mean, the Gundams were built to go and wreak havoc on Earth. What's the point of having one out this far?"
"Back-up?" Auda suggested.
"Still doesn't make much sense," Quatre replied. "If things got bad enough for us to need back-up, it's pretty far out to get to Earth in time to help. It's something else."
"Getting weird vibes, man?" Duo asked.
"Something like that," Quatre said, smiling at Duo. "There's just something odd about all of this."
"You're telling me." Duo pulled up the files with the pictures in them on one of the screens. "What could another Gundam be doing out here? And why did someone build it?"
"Yes, why?" Quatre echoed. "Especially if it wasn't meant to go to Earth."
"Perhaps it was meant for something greater," Howard said. "Something much more important than the petty conflicts between Earth and the colonies. Perhaps it was meant to save us all."
–
"This is Peacemillion. Requesting permission to dock."
Zechs smiled at the ship on the screen, the smile growing wider when he heard Howard's voice. "This is Space Station Omega," he replied. "Permission granted. You can dock on Airlock One. Noin and I will meet you there."
"We copy. It's good to hear you again, Zechs."
"It's good to hear you, too, Howard." Zechs put down the headset and turned to Noin. "We'd best go meet them." Noin nodded. As they walked down the corridors of the station, Zechs looked behind him. "Does she know…?"
"She knows," Noin answered before he finished. "I saw her leave the Command Center after she saw Peacemillion arrive. Probably went to inform the Sensei."
"Then he will most likely meet us at the airlock." He laughed wryly. "Those pilots are in for a shock." They reached the airlock just as the five Gundam pilots, Rasid, Lady Une, Sally, Howard, and Relena stepped out of it. Zechs greeted his sister with a curt nod as he walked up to Lady Une. "Welcome to Space Station Omega," he said.
"It's amazing," Sally commented. "What's it doing so far out, though?"
"What is the purpose of this station?" Lady Une added.
"I believe I can answer that," another voice said. An older man stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, with black hair that was streaked with gray. He wore a white lab coat over black pants and a black shirt. He was also a few years younger than the five Gundam scientists had been, but no less brilliant. "You may call me Sensei M. I am also one of the Gundam scientists."
"So you're the one who built the Gundam we have pictures of," Lady Une commented.
"Yes, quite."
"Where is it?" Heero asked. M smiled knowingly at him.
"This way," he said, leading them down another corridor. It came out in a gigantic mobile suit bay, where the controversial new Gundam stood in its dark glory. The five boys wandered closer, studying it in detail. While smaller than the other Gundams had been, they noted that it was no less powerful, its construction lending a certain fluidity that spoke of great speed. A beam gattling and shield lay to one side, both black in color, like the Gundam itself. Heero found himself particularly interested in the wings.
"They were originally modeled after Wing's," a female voice said from behind him. A girl his age, dressed in a mechanic's jumpsuit, came up to stand next to him. "After your custom job to Wing Zero, we redesigned them. A combination of both. Ability to fold into a fighter "bird" mode, but still maintaining the power and speed of the wings in their normal state."
"Strengths?" he asked.
"Stealth and speed. It was designed for space combat." Heero raised his eyebrows, and the girl caught his look. "It was never meant to go to Earth. Planetary combat abilities are still at a higher level than OZ's mobile suits, but not quite at where the other Gundams were. The design is similar to Wing's," she finished.
"What are you, the engineer?" Duo asked jokingly.
"Meet Tyler Mackey," Sensei M introduced her to them all. "Tyler here is the centerpiece of our operation out here."
"I'm the pilot," Tyler clarified. "I pilot Gundam Shadow."
"If the Gundam was not meant to go to Earth, why was it built?" Lady Une asked.
"I will explain that in a short while," Sensei M answered.
"Wait a minute, back up," Duo interrupted. "The pilot of that thing is a girl?"
"Do you have a problem with that?" Tyler asked.
"Of course not," Quatre answered, attempting to ward off an argument. "It's just a bit of a surprise. If I'm not mistaken, this bay looks like it could hold up to ten mobile suits," he commented, changing the subject.
"It was designed to service all six Gundams, when the time came," Tyler answered wryly. "But we currently don't have all five of your Gundams."
"Currently?" Trowa asked, picking up on the adverb. Tyler looked to Sensei M, who nodded.
"You should show them. I'm sure Zechs and Noin would like to see how work is going on their mobile suits."
Tyler gave one sharp nod. "I'll bring them to the Command Center when we're done." Glancing behind her to make sure everyone was following, she left the maintenance bay and followed another corridor through the station.
Relena walked beside her brother as they followed the female Gundam pilot. "Milliardo, what is going on here? I thought we had finally achieved peace."
"Earth and the colonies have," Zechs agreed. "But out here, a much bigger war is going on. One that our family's beliefs have no place in. There is a much bigger picture out here than one sees from Earth. Noin and I have only just begun to understand what it is they do here."
At the same time, Wufei was walking beside Tyler. "How long have you been out here?" he asked.
"A long time." Wufei forced himself to be content with the appropriately vague answer. It was typical of one involved in a secret project. And there was obviously some big secret out here.
Tyler stopped by a large door. "This is the construction bay. My Gundam was built in here. The Tallgeese and Noin's Taurus are currently being refitted in here, along with a project that began when we learned that you had destroyed your Gundams."
"Project?" Heero asked warily.
Tyler narrowed her eyes at all of them, excluding Noin and Zechs. "Noin and Zechs have already joined our operation. I want your word that you will not interfere with our operation, no matter what you see."
Howard chuckled. "You can count me in, if I'm right about what I suspect is behind that door. And I believe that I am."
"You were never in doubt, Howard. What about the rest of you?"
"If we don't agree?" Wufei asked.
"You don't get in."
"We will comply with your wishes," Lady Une answered for the Preventers, after talking briefly with Relena.
"As will we," Quatre added. He glanced at the other pilots. "For now," he amended. Tyler turned, apparently satisfied with their answers, and pushed a button on the panel by the door. It opened, and she led them inside.
"Tallgeese and Taurus are there," she said, pointing to the two mobile suits, both of which had some armored plates and various other items missing. "We're attempting to refit them for deep space battles. Gravity fields are different out here compared to nearer the Earth." She then turned to the far end of the construction bay. "When you destroyed your Gundams, we began a much bigger project. This station has a gundanium refinement center, which was used when Shadow was built. It recently started working again."
The five Gundam pilots were already at the other end as she spoke, transfixed by what they saw. The frameworks for five mobile suits stood, surrounded by scaffolding, some systems already in place. The designs of the five suits were unmistakable. As one, the pilots turned to look at Tyler, who now stood directly behind them.
"You've seen and piloted Wing Zero, your original Gundams, the remodeled versions, and your custom versions," she said as she walked past them. She smiled slightly to herself. "Meet the Omega models." She turned to face them. "You five were Operation Meteor. I am Operation Omega Shadow."
End Part One
¹ Ceres is a charted asteroid in the asteroid belt beyond Mars.
Questions? Comments? Send them to me at Omega_Shadow197@yahoo.com. Feedback is always welcome. Many, many thanks to my friends Faith and Ashley for proofreading. You helped a lot!