Merod Volvf, the Representative for the L2 colony cluster and one of Relena Darlian's top supporters on the Council sat at his solid oak desk in his private offices at his estate looking over Miss Relena's proposal for what she termed "Planned Independence" and sighed. The girl was one smart cookie. He was surprised that no one had ever thought of something like this before, it was so simple yet so elegant. If it passed, no when it passed, it would save on a lot of bloodshed in future generations. No longer would precious lives and resources be lost on wars for independence.
Miss Relena's proposal was for the Mars Terraformation Project, a fledging step out into the stars and Humankind's first attempt to settle another world. Her reasoning was, and she had a very good point, that wars for independence in the past were wasteful. She felt that independence and equal representation and sovereignty should be given to colony settlements instead of withheld creating oppression and resentment. Cooperation, she maintained, was the key to a stable lifestyle. There was a difference between doing something because you wanted to and doing something because you are compelled to do it, of the two every person would naturally choose the former over the latter. It was like the difference between having a friend who helps you and keeping a slave who serves you. One may dominate and get results but the ones being dominated will never lift a finger to help you when you are in need unless you use force to make them do so. This in turn means you must exert more will to keep the slave under your thumb. It was far better to work together for mutual cooperation and gain, that way both sides would benefit.
Her proposal was a plan for the future. She outlined that eventually the Terraformation Project would be successful and that mars citizens, who would by this time have been there for generations, would be self-sufficient and no longer require assistance from Earth and the outlying colonies to survive. Instead of demanding tribute from the citizens for creating the settlements and treating a bustling society like so much field labor, thus causing resentment and unrest, the Earth Sphere Unified Nation should give the now still young and unsettled colony a goal to work for. She proposed a set of standards to be met by the young colony settlement, things like a certain degree of agricultural development, decent housing and a stable government, before the colony could be granted its independence and open free trade negotiations on its own behalf. This she claimed would bypass the needless battles for independence, by giving it freely once a settlement had reached maturity the Council would create a useful friend and ally where it would once have made a resentful enemy.
Needless to say, all of the colony cluster and moon base representatives were unanimously for it. There were however many conservative Councilmen who wielded a lot of power who were concerned about the impact of an unknown like this into a system that had, for them, worked quite well. They were for the most part, earther-types. They spent their entire lives on Earth and had never been to outer space, they didn't understand what it was like to slave away at a difficult and wearisome existance in a positively hostile environment, trying to eke out a meagre living for a land that was only marginally grateful. The Colonies had only just recently gotten a full and equal voice on the council, and gotten it at great cost of life to both sides. They were eager to avoid future bloodshed and a proposal like this one was the exact way to do it.
It's genius, he thought, reading over the proposal once more, gleefully. Why didn't anyone think of it before? A plan like this can have everyone looking forward to a future of prosperity and peace. At last, we will know peace in our time. If only we could win over those last few conservatives to make the proposal unanimous.
The Earl of Warchester, Cerrid Velsink was the one who worried him the most. He was one of the few aristocrats left over from the Romafeller Foundation that had managed to retain his position and all of his authority. It was also rumored that the Earl was one of Duke Dermails old cronies and that he had also been on the olds goats war committee. He wasn't certain it was true, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was…he was one sneaky old bastard. He never came out and said anything accusatory outright about Miss Relena or any of her ideas but he was always there, in the background, making insinuations. He'd suggested, several times, in that oh so reasonable voice of his that perhaps the nineteen year old Vice Foreign Minister was a trifle too young and tender to be spending all of her time closed away in council meetings when she should be out with her friends enjoying her youth. She was his only major rival as far as power and influence went, and like Duke Dermail before him, Merod was sure the man was up to something. Relena never said so in so many words, but Merod also got the feeling she agreed with him, for he had caught her watching the Earl through narrowed eyes when she thought no one was looking.
I also wish I knew what the man was up to, he thought worriedly. He hated to think that a fellow council man could stoop to suck low practices, but as the date drew nearer and more people went over to miss Relena's side, the attempts on Miss Relena's life had taken a dramatic increase. Then again, If wishes were horses beggars would ride.
He was about to turn his attention to another document when he got a sudden chill up his spine, like he was no longer alone in his room. The room was suddenly plunged into darkness and the shadows seemed to shift and move on their own.
"Guards?" he called. "Guards!"
"Your guards cannot save you from my shadow," a voice whispered from the darkness. It had an odd hollow sounding quality to it, as if it came from the bottom of a well…or a grave.
A hand shot out from the darkness, it's grip implacable as a steel vice. Merod screamed and called for help.
"Yes. Yes. Scream all you like. No one will hear you beyond my sphere of silence," the echoingly eerie told him. The shadows surrounding him seemed to slide about, like a living thing. Parting to reveal the shape of a man like a curtain drawn aside. Merod must have been in a state of panic by then for he could have sworn that the man had a faint glow surrounding him, that his eyes were glowing with an unnatural light that had nothing to do with reflection and nothing to do with personality.
"Your life essence now belongs to me, said the voice, with an air that said the outcome was never in doubt. "And oh yes…Cerrid Velsink says to tell you hello and goodbye."
And with that, the man with the unshakable grip brought his left hand forward. There was a mark on it, a symbol that almost seemed to glow luminescently as it was brought up to his forehead, right where the third eye would have been. Then Merod could not have begun to explain what happened.
There was an odd wrenching feeling, and he began to start feeling weak and dizzy. In vain he struggled against the force, against the man holding him captive. His strength felt as though it were being drained from him. He was getting weaker and weaker until all he could do was hang there, suspended by the one armed grip of the assassin (which for a man of Merods weight and girth was quite an accomplishment in and of itself) as his life was slowly drained away from him. His breathing got shallower and he felt his heartbeat slow, pounding in his ears…low…muffled…beat….beat…….beat……….beat……………..beat.
Silence.
* * *
The unhappy visage of Lady Une, the head of the Preventors, appeared on the screen when Noin accepted the call.
"Hello Une," said Noin. "I can see by the expression on your face that this isn't a pleasure call."
"I need you and Milliardo down at headquarters immediately," she said.
"Immediately, that bad huh?" said Zechs, appearing beside her. The two of them had returned from Mars a month ago at Une's behest…actually it was at Relena's pleading look, her brother was the last of the family she'd had and Noin was one of the few people she trusted. After getting shot at and almost stabbed and almost blown up in the course of her job, Relena had been just a little bit on edge. She said that having her big brother around to keep her safe made her feel better. Zechs had been pleased and surprised, he figured that with their recent history that she would sooner see him as far away from her as possible. But he had underestimated Relena's compassion, belief and capacity for forgiveness.
"You might want to make it quick, we do have a slight situation," said Une.
"Oh really? What kind of situation?" asked Zechs riffling a hand through his platinum locks. He hated it when Une said situation, that usually meant there were bodies involved.
"The no longer breathing kind," said Une succinctly.
"We're on our way," said Noin. "Oh! And Miss Relena is still safe?"
"We just checked in with Sally, and she says that Relena is in perfect condition…although she did remark that she should take a break or she's going to work herself into a breakdown. No threats, no guns, no bombs, although with the information Quatre just gave us, that's subject to change and quickly."
"Understood," said Noin.
Preventors HQ was the usual "hive of activity" (meaning it was a screaming mad house) when Wind and Fire arrived. Une was waiting for them, surprisingly enough Quatre was standing behind her wearing a Preventors uniform and his "pensive face" he only got that look when he was really worried about something.
"Hey Quatre," said Noin to her young comrade. "I thought you were back on L4 for the business meeting."
"This concerns that," said Quatre.
"We shouldn't talk here," said Une. "My office. It's quieter."
They followed the brisk lady to her office where Mariemaia sat in one of the comfy office chairs. Mariemaia had this habit of popping in unexpectedly and being very difficult to remove. Mariemaia had taken to clinging to Une and/or Relena whenever she could. She hadn't had any real gestures of kindness in all of her seven short years and now that Lady Une and Miss Relena had shown her what real love and family was like Mariemaia couldn't seem to get enough of it. She'd follow them around like a lost puppy until one of them finally paid attention to her. Une had had to banish the child from her office just to get some work done on occasion. Une looked at her ward sternly and said
"Mariemaia, what have I told you about coming to my office in the daytime while I am working?"
"Not unless it was an emergency," she answered. "But this time it really is an emergency Lady."
"Very well then, what is it?" asked Une tolerantly. It wasn't her fault the child was starved for real love and affection.
"I-I well, I kinda…that is, I…" she stuttered. Mariemaia looked guilty about something. "I was eavesdropping on a phone call made by that snake Earl Worcheschire—"
"Warchester," corrected Une absently. "And he's not a snake, he's a very influential government official." Although the expression on Lady Une's face said she privately agreed with her daughter.
"Yeah, and he was talking on a secure line to someone whos voice I couldn't make out. Anyway, he was talking about special assassins an' stuff and he said that 'all twelve packages have come through the gate.' Then he mentioned something about 'the Winner brat' and Miss Relena! I think he's sending assassins out after them."
Quatre grew even more pensive looking and murmured
"That falls in line with everything I've been able to pick up so far."
"Okay, let's not panic," said Une calmly. "We need to get everyone up to speed so we can go about putting out this fire in a more organized manner. Mariemaia, I want you to find Duo and Hilde and tell them that I want them to come to my office and guard you. You're now a witness and we might need your testimony later. Everyone else, we'll need to use the receiving room, it should be large enough to hold everyone."
Mariemaia scampered off to find Duo. She liked Duo, he always told her the funniest jokes. Noin, Milliardo, Quatre and Une proceeded on to the receiving/conference room. It was a comfortable room with plush couches in beige, tasteful art-deco prints on the walls, and soft berber carpeting underneath a custom made rug in matching neutral tones. Noin and Milliardo took the shorter couch on one side of the coffee table Quatre sat in the larger couch on the other side and Une sat in the high backed chair at the head of the coffee table.
"Now, let's get down to business," said Une, not wasting time on formalities. She rarely did if she could help it, Milliardo and Noin appreciated that about her. "The subject was located this morning in his office, slumped over his office desk. Merod Volvf, a representative from the L2 cluster."
"I recall Relena mentioning him. He's one of her staunchest allies," said Milliardo. "Cause of death?"
"Unknown," said Une. At Noin and her mate's looks of sursprise Une nodded gravely. "The autopsy came out clean, there was no sign of a struggle, no stab wounds, bullet wounds, or marks of strangulation. The blood work-up came out clean, no poison or disease. There's no record of heart conditions in his family. He was a healthy man, still vigorous even and he just suddenly died."
Noin examined the coroners report that Une had handed her, Milliardo reading over her shoulder.
"The coroner put down heart failure as the cause of death," Noin noted. "Volvf was getting on in his years, it's not unheard of for a heart to simply go out on a person at his age."
"But you see there's the catch…" said Une. "He wasn't the only one."
"What do you mean?" asked Zechs sharply.
"Merod had four guards posted outside of his office that night. They're all dead."
"Dead how?" asked Noin, growing nervous.
"Suffocation. But there was no sign of a struggle against an attacker. Any kind of gas would have left a residue on the walls and a scub turned up nothing. The victims were clutching their own throats as though they were choking, but there was nothing for them to choke on." Une Sighed and massaged her head.
"There was another victim, located in L4," said Quatre quietly. "He was also influential, he was also a supporter of Miss Relena and myself. I was staying at a hotel in preparation to leave for my council meeting this morning and I felt a darkness, a chilling cold horror of death and remorseless hunger. It was the single most disturbing thing I've ever sensed with my Empathy before. It felt…inhuman. I went out into the hall to track it down and see what was going on and I saw the bodies of the guards posted outside Councilor Yerith's rooms. I reached one of the men in time to see him breathe his last, he was struggling against something, something was choking him…but there was nothing there. Nothing but that horrible dark presence. I heard the man's last words."
"What were they Quatre?" asked Noin.
"The shadows are alive."
"How can that be? It makes no sense. Shadows do not live, they can't. They're only the absence of light," said Noin. "He was near death, he must have been hallucinating."
"Then what was that thing I sensed?" countered Quatre. "Anyway, I tried to get into The Councilors rooms, but the door wouldn't open no matter how hard I kicked at it. I could hear nothing inside the room and that made me even more disturbed so I went and called for security but by the time we got there, he was already dead. I called Lady Une and she told me about Merod so I said I'd catch the next shuttle to Earth and come down to help."
"And let me guess, his death looked like natural causes too, right?" said Noin.
"That's what the coroner put down," said Quatre. "But I just know that their deaths were anything but natural…which is why I did a little digging on the ride over."
"Oh?" said Une, looking interested.
"Yes. As I'm sure you have guessed my company does a lot of reasearch, either funding it or developing a product outright. It's one of the reasons the Winner corporation is so successful, they want to own everything that isn't bolted down or on fire."
Noin chuckled.
"Well anyways, Winner corporation, has in the past under my father, funded certain researches into science…black projects if you will. One of them I discovered was ah, reseach into transdimensional travel."
"Transdimentional? Translation please?" Said Noin wryly.
"Well you see, it's been hypothesized that there are alternate dimensions to our own, places where the time line was skewed and things happen differently, history happens alternately," explained Quatre. "It's also been thought that it might be possible to travel in between dimentions. Well, it's not only possible, it's been done. My company developed what we call an "Alternagate" that opens a small rift in time and space and allows people to pass through. We've got all of the patents, but I deemed it unwise to go mucking about in someone else's timeline, so all use and further research has been banned."
"Yeah, what does this have to do with these murders?"
"Everything," said Quatre. "I contacted Heero."
"Yuy? How'd you drag him out from whatever rock it is he found to hide under?" inquired Zechs arcly. Noin shot him a reproving glare.
"And as a favor to me he did a little digging in someone else's databanks and it turns out that that some other company a little less scrupulous has been mucking about with the alternagates. Crover company, who gave such a generous donation to Cerrid Velsink to get him elected, who has profited greatly from certain bills passed by the man, has the secret to communicating between worlds, although they can't travel to them yet."
"Yet," came another voice just behind them. There leaning against the doorjamb with his arms crossed across his chest stood Heero Yuy. "I got that other information you asked about Quatre. It seems that there have been some communications made recently between Crover Corp and Mister Velsink. I wasn't able to retrieve all of it, their encryption systems are too good, but I've got enough to give us a starting point."
"What is it Heero?" asked Quatre, looking down at the code garbage filling up the pages Heero had handed to him.
"A conversation between Velsink and The head of Crover Corp. Velsink is asking about when the twelve packages from the alternity are going to start going after their targets," he said.
"That sounds like the conversation Mariemaia overheard," remarked Une.
"Apparently Quatre and Relena are on the list, although Relena is the main one. Velsink doesn't like her Planned Independence proposal at all."
"He sees it as a threat," said Milliardo absently as he studied the code, decrypting it in his head. "Is there any thing else?"
"Yes. The assassins coming over from the other alternaty are supposedly invulnerable. Their methods of assassination are untraceable and undetectable."
"No body's invulnerable," said Noin. "And as for the undetectable part…" she gestured to the reports. "We can see for ourselves that that isn't true."
"Hold on a minute Noin," cautioned Zechs. "What if the guards hadn't died along with the Councilors and Quatre hadn't sensed whatever it was he sensed? The circumstances wouldn't have seemed unusual enough to warrant calling in the Preventors and the deaths would have been ruled out as natural causes and dismissed."
"Exactly," Une said. "Very observant of you. It's impossible for us to tell which are deaths by natural causes and which ones are the product of these new assassins from the other Alternaty. We don't even know how they operate and so can't anticipate when and where they will strike, aside of the fact that they want to see Miss Relena dead."
"I was not aware of this," said Heero frowning darkly. "I presume someone is guarding her."
"Sally Po is over thereright now," said Une. "Although Relena won't let Wufei within ten feet of her."
Heero looked puzzled until Noin said
"She and the China man don't precisely get along. I believe the last time she saw him she told him precisely where he could shove his Gundam. They haven't gotten on since the incident with Dekim Barton where she discovered one of her "allies" was on the wrong side. Bad blood there."
"I see," said Heero. He didn't suppose he could really blame her, Relena was the type who took loyalty seriously. Still, he couldn't let her walk around with only Sally watching her back. Sally Po was good, there was no question of that…but she wasn't assassin trained.
"I'll go see to my sister then," said Milliardo. "If there are assassins from another Earth hanging about with Relena top on their list of targets I want to see to her safety personally."
"Good suggestion Zechs," said Une. "You and Noin join Sally and escort Miss Relena to all of her functions. Heero, Quatre, I want you two to find a way to open up communications with the government of this other Alternaty and see how they've handled the problem. See if they'd be willing to lend up some assistance as one Earth to another, but please…do it quietly."
"Right," said Quatre brightly before Heero could say another word.
* * *
Relena Darlian greeted Sally Po, the Preventor assigned to guard her for the day, cheerfully; in blissful ignorance of all the things going on behind her back to keep her safe. She reasoned that, even with the recent upswing in assassination attempts made on her she must not be doing too badly…Heero Yuy had yet to make an appearance. That was when she knew that the shit had hit the fan. When Heero showed up to save her life…otherwise it was business as usual.
"Good Morning Miss Relena," said Sally. Relena liked Sally, she was friendly, confidant, capable and always willing to share the latest bit of gossip with a girl who was always working and so therefore always out of the loop.
"Good morning Miss Sally," Relena said cheerfully. "Anything new and interesting happen while I was away?"
"You could say that," said Sally, hedgingly. "So…how was your meeting yesterday?"
"It wasn't as bad as I was expecting," she said optimistically. "But not as good as I was hoping. There are still those few stubborn old goats who refuse to see that things will have to change if peace is to be maintained. They seem to think that nothing should ever change! It so frustrating sometimes. But, the good news is, I did get two more on my side. It's small but it's another step. I just have to keep trying."
"Good for you," said Sally encouragingly. "That's the way to do it, one step at a time."
"Where's my brother and Miss Noin? They're usually here by now to say hello," asked Relena.
"They got tied up by some things down at HQ, they won't be able to drop by until later today."
"Oh, I hope everything's okay."
Sally sighed. She might as well tell her instead of putting it off.
"Well, the truth is…everything's not okay. I'm sorry to have to tell you this but, during the night two councilmen died. Councilor Volvf and Councilor Yerith. I'm sorry."
"Oh…Oh my," said Relena sadly, sitting down slowly. "Why I just talked to Councilor Volvf earlier yesterday…he was very enthusiastic about that proposal I made. And…"
and the tears started welling up in her eyes. Followed by sniffles then full fledged sobs. Relena was a very emotional creature. Sally patted her shoulder, letting her cry herself out. They were there for twenty minutes before Relena gathered herself up enough to dry her eyes one last time and take a deep shuddering breath. Then she straightened her suit, composed her face (which was still splotchy from her recent crying) and siad
"Okay, I think I'm better now. We should get going."
And they did.
"You know Miss Relena," said Sally on their way out to the limousine after scouting the area in and around said conveyance carefully. "You really should let me bring Wufei in to work with me. He's not so bad once you get to know him, really."
Relena had that stubborn expression on her face.
"Oh come on, he's been working with me for the past three years, he's trustworthy. Can't you let old enmities go to rest?"
Relena seemed to consider it for a moment then said,
"Well, I've forgiven about everyone else…I guess I can forgive him too. But if he insults me like that again I won't be held responsible for the mess I'll make of his face," she warned.
Sally chuckled and said
"I'll tell him."
The atmosphere inside the council chamber was subdued, even sad. The loss of two of its more respected members was a blow to everyone and Relena wasn't the only one showing visible signs of grief. The few women there were on the council were blotchy-faced just like Relena and the men, even though they showed no signs of weeping, were obviously just as saddened. Relena was privately outraged to note that Earl Cerrid Velsink was using the tragedy to his own advantage, was manipulating them in a weakened emotional state. Of course she acted quickly to counterbalance the little snake.
Honestly! Is there no level that man won't sink to! It's enough to make me sick! she thought in private outrage. Then the Earl announced that he would be hosting a memorial service for their two departed comrades later that evening, fully formal.
Which I'm sure he'll be using to further his own ends, she thought in annoyance. I'll just have to make sure I'm in attendance. Not only because it's the right thing to do but because I need closure.
She also needed to be there to balance Miset Velsink's influence and temper his greedy enthusiasm. Relena got the sense that her esteemd collegue fancied himself becoming much more than a mere duke and councilman. He probably thought that if he gained enough influence he could lull his supporters into complacency and quietly take over the council. Hah! That ploy was even older than the joke "why did the chicken cross the road?" Even so, it had worked in the past…Relena would just have to make sure it didn't work there in the present.
* * *
The ball room of Velsink's mansion was done completely in polished marble. The wet bar to one side was a long marble counter that, it was said, had taken an entire construction crew and all of their machinery to lever into place. It hadn't been moved since it was put in .The polished marble of the floor itself was so shiny that Relena could see her reflection in it. There were polished marble faux columns built into the wall that "supported" the ceiling which was tiled in more marble. An enormous crystal and brass chandelier hung from the ceiling with matching sconces in between the faux columns.
Relena herself was dressed in a conservative gown of black silk, edged with beading to catch the light. Personally, she didn't like the color black on her…it was one of those colors she could wear…but not wear well. Quatre, or Dorothy would look better in the color, Relena didn't have the hair color suitable for it, although she could pull off sapphires and emeralds, any of the deeper colors on the cool side of the spectrum even royal purple in the right light. She was surprised to note that Lady Une actually looked good in deep purple, not many people could pull of purple and make it look good. But as for her, she liked lighter colors, light blue, white, grey, peach… Black was so depressing. That was probably why it was the color of mourning.
Quatre, escorting her to the memorial party, was dressed as somberly as she in a conservative dark suit with a black silk shirt under the equally dark jacket. He was looking around, as if worried about something. Relena slipped her arm into his and squeezed his forearm lightly, she was glad she wasn't going to this party by herself for once…she needed a good friend right then.
"It'll be alright," she murmured reassuringly. She gestured to the various Preventors mingling among the guests, including Sally, who had insisted on wearing her uniform because "there was no way she was going to subject herself to a too-tight- too-constricting dress and those torture devices trying to pass themselves off as footwear."
Relena privately agreed with her. It had been a while since she'd been to a formal event and she knew that her feet would be killing her by the end of the night.
Quatre smiled tightly back at her. He was worried about something…Well, she couldn't blame him, Cerrid Velsink was really something to worry about in her opinion. Still, she wasn't certain what the big idea was with all of the Preventors. Sure, there had been a few more attacks on her than usual…but Relena had counted seventeen faces she recognized as belong to Preventor personnel mixed in among the council elite.
But I haven't seen Heero, so things must not be that bad, she thought.
He was her walking, sometimes talking trouble barometer. If Une wasn't worried enough to call in Heero things were still manageable. There was no need for her to panic. Besides, I should just stick to what I know I can do, if there is going to be an attack here at this party, there isn't anything I can do about it. That's what the Preventors are here for.
With that Relena set herself to her own task with determination. Said task being the monitoring of Velsink's activities and the countering of his insinuations and the soothing of some troubled councilors. She strolled on Quatre's arm, listening into the conversation and inserting a well-timed comment here and there…
*
"I'm in position," Quatre murmured from his position beside Relena. There was a small mike in his tie pin, sensitive to pick up his voice, on the other end was Heero, who was monitoring the situation from a curtained balcony on the second floor.
"I'm getting vague interference…" the voice in his tiny earpiece said fuzzily, the static cleared. "There. Signal clear. Status?"
"Relena's safe here with me, don't worry Heero. She won't leave my side."
"See that she doesn't," he said distinctly. "Now of all times would be a bad time for her to go haring off on one of those sudden notions she gets. We can't afford to let her out from under our guard."
"Right."
Quatre had granted Heero access to the labs at the Winner Corporation that the alternagates had been developed in. He had opened up communications with the President of the equivalent to the Earth Sphere Unified Nation in that alternate reality, President Takahashi, and found out precisely what the assassins that had been bought by Relena's covert enemy really were. It was the only time he had ever seen Heero blanch.
The assassins brought over from that alternity were some kind of experiment in enhancing human capabilities sort of a super-human. The "Nightsiders" as the assassins had named themselves, were the product of a program to create the perfect assassins, untraceable, undetectable, deadly and unstoppable. The experiment had succeeded, beyond their creator's ability to control. The group responsible for them had been over-run by them.
Quatre wasn't precisely certain what made them so powerful, the president had been a little vague about that, but when he got down to the numbers of people who had been killed and injured trying to restrain them Quatre's eyes had bugged out of his head. On one attempt to kill a Nightsider Assassin, the President had sent a team of twenty of his most elite soldiers in full riot gear with the most high powered portable plasma sidearms that could be brought to bear at the time…five had made it back alive and of those five two died later in the hospital. In their alternity the Nightsiders required some kind of "vital energy" to remain alive and powerful. In the case of the experimental subjects the only viable form of energy they could absorb that would allow them to continue living and feed themselves had to come from other human beings. Understandable in a way, if the only purpose that these Assassins had been created for was to kill other people… but unfortunately that meant that these Nightsiders, now that they had broken loose from their creators went about killing people left and right to absorb their energies. These energies were what fueled their enhanced capabilities, from what Quatre understood.
They would have been completely unstoppable but for one thing. The president had one of them on his side. He called it (Quatre didn't know if it was a man or a woman) the Executioner. President Takahashi signed Mandates for the death of a Nightsider Assassin "Draining" innocent civilians and the Executioner hunted them down and carried out the execution. President Takahashi had said that it was the only way he had found to stop them without sending half of his forces to their deaths by going against one of the Nightsiders.
"Heero?" Quatre murmured when no one was looking. "Do you think they're really that bad?"
"I wish we weren't going to find out," he replied.
"Do you see anything yet?"
"No. No unfamiliar faces have been identified Quatre."
"Good, that means the assassins aren't here yet. I knew that mucking about in alternate dimensions was going to be nothing but trouble."
Heero didn't say anything further, he never did. Quatre turned his attention back to Relena. It wasn't such a bad place to turn his attentions really, there was no denying that she was a lovely young woman. It was just too bad she was already spoken for (whether she knew it or not), if Heero hadn't been so obviously trying to deny his deep feelings for her, Quatre just might have tried his luck at winning her heart. But no, he would never betray a friend like that. And besides, Relena was one of the very few friends he had that he could be completely honest with, that was worth far more than gold in any situation. He couldn't betray her own trust in him either.
"Don't you think so Quatre?" Relena asked, turning to him. What had she been talking about? Oh yes, the Treaty with the Nation of Vanta. She'd probably just asked whether he thought that the exchange of natural resources for skilled manual labor was a good example of cooperation between tow nation in the spirit of the alliance.
"Yes, it was wise of the council to agree with it. Sometimes getting fresh produce out on some of the outlying colonies is difficult," Quatre said glibly. Judging by the grateful look Relena shot him, his answer was precisely what she'd been needing.
She continued on with whatever point it was she'd been making. Quatre continued scanning the room for trouble.
Trouble wasn't long in showing itself.
Just as that pompous ass Cerrid Velsink began some long winded speech about their dear departed comrade and how he had tried his best to ensure the peace and prosperity of his constituents as well as look out for the best interests of the Earth Sphere as a whole, there came a faint rumbling sound. Then, almost without warning, the solid marble wall that separated the ballroom from the gardens exploded inward, but Quatre's well trained ears had not detected the sound of an explosive device. Was he losing his touch? There was not time for further pondering as a streak of light shot out from the misty shadows of the hole in the wall and struck the stem of the chandelier, the part anchoring it In place on the ceiling. The guests started screaming and panicking, stampeding this way and that, trying to get out of the room. Well dressed women were sherieking as the room was plunged into semi-darkness.
Quatre had Relena securely in tow as he tried to make his way over to the place where Heero was waiting.
"Everybody down!" shouted Lady Une. She whipped out her gun and started shooting at the shadows dancing in front of the hole. She'd already marshaled her Preventors into herding the panicked and terrified guests out of the ball room but things were far from quiet or calm or controlled.
Out of the shadows another flash of light, like a ball of blue lightning, shot out and struck Lady Une square in the chest. She fell backwards, gun skittering across the floor from a limp grip. Sally was at her side seconds later, checking for vital signs, her partner Wufei standing over both of them, gun ready, prepared to lay in cover fire.
"She's…burned," said Sally in bewilderment. "But she still breathing. Preventor Ice, call in a medic unit!"
Wufei opened fire on the shadows before Sally could stop him. Wufei had a protective streak a mile wide, and his sense of honor was deeply offended by seeing a woman hurt, no matter that her occupation was bound to include danger.
"….keep it moving people…one at a time that's right…"
"…most important is that you remain calm…"
The Preventors were handling the situation rather well, all things considered.
Quatre looked around for Heero, all he was getting in his earpeice was static.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Wufei was still firing. Whatever it was that was lurking there in the shadows had to be dead by then…
Quatre heard Relena gasp…
He looked over at the shadowed corner, the shadows seemed suddenly alive, shifting moving as if they had a life of their own. It was imposible, but it he saw one of the Preventors suddenly start choking in nothing. There was nothing there but shadows and darkness.
"It must be a gas," he muttered. If that was the case it wouldn't be long before the choke gas reached their position, he had to get Relena out of there, before—
"Relena Peacecraft…" there came a voice. It was like it came from all around them. It was resonant, empty sounding…chill as a wind across a grave. "I have come for you."
Relena was wearing that determined 'I will get to the bottom of this' look. Quatre was certain that if she tried she wouldn't like what she found there.
"I'm h-mph!"
Quatre clamped a hand over her mouth and secured the other arm around her waist, lifting her from her feet and dragging her away from the assassin who called her name. She struggled at first.
"It's just me," Quatre reassured her. "Please calm down. You have to keep quiet."
He released her, she glared at him and said
"I'm not afraid of-"
"You should be," he told her. "Miss Relena, you don't know how dangerous these assassins are."
"I've come for Relena Peacecraft," said the voice. "If she is not brought to me immediately the entire crowd will not last the night."
That did it. The assassin knew precisely which nerve to touch to spur Relena into an appearance. Her own death was one thing, someone else's was another matter entirely. Relena went to answer the Nightsiders challenge personally…
"Oh no you don't," said Quatre, re-clamping an arm around the headstrong girl's waist effectively pinning her arms.
"Lemme go!" she demanded kicking and struggling ineffectually. "Quatre!"
"Hold still, and don't call attention to yourself Miss Relena. I'm sorry to have-urg- restrain you –uhf!- like this –ow!- but it's the onl-urg- way to -erf- Keep you –gurgh- from –hey watch it- danger." To give her credit, Relena was a fighter and she struggled for all she was worth, but in the end, Quatre was taller and stronger than she was. Lord knows Heero would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you, he added silently.
"Quatre, let go! Qua-tre!" she demanded, still kicking.
"I'm sorry Miss Relena, but I can't. Please, won't you hold still?"
"No I won't! I- Mph mrph mphhh mrrrrrph, mph mrph!" He had to clamp his hand over her mouth again.
It was too late, the assassin hiding in the shadows had noticed her, struggling and kicking.
"There you are…" Suddenly the hole in the wall surrounded by rubble and motes of settling plaster lit up. Quatre, witnessing it with his own eyes, could hardly believe what he saw. There, where the shadows had hung the thickest stood the outline of a person…and it was glowing luminecently. The light surrounding the body was pulsating hungrily and the shadows seemed to shift and slither about him, shadows and light converged in a twisting miasma framing the outline of a person. It was a man, figure slim as a blade, not tall and not short, broad-shouldered, muscular.
The shadows surrounding Quatre seemed to suddenly thicken and coalesce…he swore he felt something touch his neck.
Darkness.—
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
The cracking noise of a shotgun rang out from over head. Relena looked down at the unconscious Quatre, there were marks on his neck, but there had been no one to put them there. She hadn't done it, of that she was sure. She'd been pulling in the other direction.
His shots were right on the mark, the assassin jerked from the force of the blow his torso rolling backwards.
The room was filled with the sound of eerie laughter. It rolled and boomed like a growl of thunder from one end of the room to the other.
All of the Preventors still in the room coalesced in front of Quatre the Prone and Relena, forming a human shield to protect them from the assassin who laughed at all of them as they shot at him.
The assassin kept laughing. Heero kept firing until his gun clicked, he was joined by others, but the creature just kept advancing it's torso no longer even jerked as the bullets ripped into it.. Relena's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as the assassin grabbed the solid marble wet bar, that weighed more than some trucks she was sure, heaved it from it's bolted-in bed and hurled it to where they were standing. The Preventors got out of the way, but Relena stood frozen in fear, like a deer caught in the headlights as the marble wet-bar made its impossible way over to her. It just wasn't possible. There was no way anyone could lift that thing!
"oof!" Relena grunted as she was knocked to one side. Arms wrapped around her waist and she was rolled along the ground with someone out of harms way. The wet bar went crashing into the ground where she had been a moment ago.
"Quatre!" she called. She'd left him there!
"He's fine," the blunt voice reassured her. Indeed, as she looked over she saw his friend Trowa Barton ducking into the shadows with Quatre slung over his tall, broad shoulders. Relena looked over at her savior.
"Oh god…It's you!" Heero. Relena looked up in relief and a little dismay. Heero was here, that generally meant the end of the world or something close to it. "Should I be panicking right now?"
"No. You can't afford to panic, you saw what he did to the wet-bar," Heero pointed out. He pulled out another gun and continued firing, but the bullets didn't even seem to be hitting the light-covered assassin.
"Everybody down!" Heero ordered. He activated the countdown sequence on thermal grenade and threw. The little ball tinked and skittered to rest at the feet of the assassin, where it should have exploded. Heero looked up after a few seconds of shielding Relena from a blast that never came.
"Heero…you did remember to pull the pin didn't you?" Relena asked innocently. He glared and said
"Yes. It was a plasma bomb, and not a dud. He must have disarmed it somehow. And why aren't the bullets even penetrating him?"
From the shadows the attacker said with a voice that dripped supreme confidence bordering on arrogance
"Puny powerless Mortal! Weak, insignificant entrée! Your stupid little toys can't harm a Nightsider. I should kill you for your stupidity, but tonight, I am feeling generous. Give me the girl I seek, and I'll let you walk away alive. I do not make such a magnanimous offer often."
Heero, in answer, looked around. There was a whisky bottle, still full, lying nearby. He picked it up, inserted one of his explosives fuses, and lit it. With a smirk he lobbed it at his "magnanimous" opponent.
Heero's jaw nearly dropped in shock as, instead of shattering onto the man and lighting him on fire, the bottle was caught by an impossibly fast maneuver. He hadn't even seen the man move! He was just suddenly there.
"Foolish boy," he said. "I will feast of your essence, and then I will feast of the girl."
Heero shoved Relena behind him as the shadows gathered again. He had one final trick in reserve. He pushed the communicator button.
"Feast on this."
Suddenly one of the walls and most of the ceiling came crashing in, the "Nightsider" or whatever he was, looked over in time to stare up the enormous barrel of Wing Gundam's buster rifle.
"I know you're from a world away so perhaps I should explain what it is you're faced with," Said Heero, his voice deadly calm. "The suit is known as a mobile suit, most specifically a Gundam."
Relena looked puzzled, hadn't all of the Gundams been destroyed? Obviously not or Zero wouldn't be here.
"The buster rifle is capable of not only obliterating a battlestation out in space but of annihilating you, me, and this entire estate. Even all of your supposed invulnerability could not stand up to that."
"You are a fool," said the Nightsider arrogantly. "If you fire, you will not only destroy you and myself, you will destroy the one you have come here to protect. And you are twice a fool for underestimating the power of a Nightsider. You weapon is useless now boy."
Heero had the unpleasant feeling of perplexity once again. This assassin was every bit as bad as the other Alternity's president had said.
"Heero-man…" the voice of Duo said via his earpeice. Duo was in the cockpit of the Gundam, his last and only trump card against and enemy that had neutralized an entire team of Preventors as if he were swatting away flies. "The locking mechanism on this buster rifle has been armed and I can't disarm it. The thing won't fire no matter what I do."
"Stand-by," said Heero. He faced his opponent sharply. "Clever, you've succeeded in deactivating the buster rifle, but that is not the only defense of this mobile suit. Would you survive having the ceiling dropped on you?"
"Of course," said the assassin, as if it were only natural. "But you wouldn't, and neither would your charge. I am stronger than you, superior weak Normals in every way. You will die and I will grow even stronger. When I have overrun your Alternity's pitiful defenses I will be so powerful that Nightlord Thanatos himself will be forced to stand aside and cede the title of Nightlord to me. I will be so powerful that no First Circle Nightsider could touch me."
"What are you babbling about?" demanded Relena in annoyance.
"Without Executioner Nightheart to stop me, I have free run of your Alternity. No mere Normal will be able to stop me from Draining them and with the vital energy I can gather freely without fear of being hunted down by the Executioner I will grow even stronger. When I get so powerful that even Nightlord Thanatos fears my power and abilities I will return to my own kind and rule the entire Nightsider Council. There, is that thorough enough for you?"
Relena felt even more confused, but obviously Heero understood.
He's been keeping things from me…again, she thought shooting an annoyed glare over at him. I really hate that. I should have the right to decide what information I need to know and not be protected and kept in ignorance "for my own good." I'm the only one who has the right to decide what my own good is. I shall have to have a long talk with him when I get he time to.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The sound of a gun ringing out in the empty and trashed marble ball room echoed against the stone. There stood Hilde,AK-47 in hand, shooting at the Nightsider Assassin. Instead of penetrating his flesh, the bullets ricochet off a sheild that swirled with orange and white energy, like iridescence on a soap bubble. The Nightsider looked over at her and, as if here were waving at a pesky insect swatted in her direction. Hilde went flying backwards with the force of some kind of invisible blast. Her body was lifted off the ground and landed hard rolling a few feet then coming to a stop near a door way with her unconscious. Through his earpeice Heero could hear Duo's cry of "Hildeee!" quite well. But the cock pit didn't open, Duo was obviously being torn between his perceived duty and his very real concern over his…friend.
"Get out and go to her," Heero ordered shortly. "The Gundam will be useless in this battle, it's destructive abilities are too great for such a small area."
"How perceptive of you boy," said unnatural human. "Now, I could use brute strength to destroy you both now, but then I wouldn't get the recharge I want from draining you. So why don't you just make it easy for yourself, spare yourself a lot of pain from me beating you into unconsciousness and your lady from the pain of seeing you beaten and surrender to me now. I promise you both a painless death."
"Only the weak prey on helpless women," said a voice from behind the Nightsider. Wufei, and he had his katana out. "Only those with no integrity fight for personal gain and not for honor. You have no sense of justice that you attack from the shadows and not fight in the open like a true warrior."
"So…you have guessed at our single weakness then boy? I see you bring a bladed weapon. Your challenge, insignificant one, is accepted," said the Nightsider. From across his own back he drew his own blade, a sword forged by the hand of Dotomo. Master Dotomo was the finest craftsman of the dying art of weapons forgery in his alternity, and his dotomo blade was nothing short of perfection. Each was different from any other and each was created for a single user. It was said that when the bearer of one of Master Dotomo's blades died in combat, he blade turned to ash and drifted away on the wind.
"But first, allow me to ensure that there are no distractions from our match…" The Nightsider whirled to face where Heero stood in protective stance over Relena and whipped his blade downward and across through the air. Heero was blown bodily backwards. Careening through the air in a rather eerie repeat of when he had self-destructed his Gundam he hit the wall with his shoulder blades and slumped to the floor, unconscious.
"You-you-you…monster!" Relena cried and picked up the nearest rock she could find and hurled it at the Nightsider. It flew way wide of the mark, and even if her aim had been true it would have done no good.
"Silence weak Normal, or you will be joining him," said the Nightsider coldly. Relena quieted and went over to check on Heero while the Nightsider turned his attention back to his waiting challenger who was glaring balefully at him from smoldering dark eyes.
Wufei attacked first, lunging at him, katana swinging wide and cutting across. His swing would have decapitated the Nightsider, if the Nighthsider had been standing there, unfortunately for Wufei, the Nightsider had moved with a speed that defied al reason and had slipped in behind him. The Nightsider struck next, making a series of small shallow cuts, his movements were impossibly quick, he was one second there and the next not only to reappear again as if by magic. He was obviously toying with Wufei as the attacks he made were all in non-vital areas, a slice on the arm, a cut to the shoulder.
"Hold still, damn you!" Wufei shouted.
Obligingly the Nightsider stood his ground, feet planted shoulder width apart. He was smiling mockingly at Wufei. He taunted him, saying
"To make things easier for you Normal, I could tie both of my hands behind my back and fight you with my blade in my teeth."
"Shut up and fight me!" Wufei said, rushing in with a fast and furious flurry of attacks, that left the few spectators there awed at his speed and agility. The Nightsider however, simply blocked all of Wufies thrusts and jabs as if the young man were moving in slow motion.
"I grow weary of this," said the Nightsider in a bored tone. He moved, faster than a cobra could strike, and slapped Wufei with the flat of the blade sending him sprawling into the dust. Wufei lay there unmoving amidst the debris of what was left of Velsinks ballroom.
"Wufei!" Came the cry off to the side. There stood a very pissed off looking Sally Po with a rocket launcher on her shoulder. Heero recovered his senses just in time to haul himself up and drag a shocked Relena down behind the marble wet bar top turned on its side creating a convenient shield. Heero furthermore shielded her with his own body from any debris that might rain down on her from above.
"Take this you bastard!" she shouted and Sally launched the rocket at where the Nightsider stood, smiling.
Then the world exploded into light and sound, Relena could feel the hot wind rushing by over her head despite Heero's smothering of her. She was reminded uncomfortably of the death of her father, how the room had smelled of smoke and explosives. The furor died out quickly and Sally looked expectantly at the gaping crater where the Nightsider had stood cockily only moments before. The air was clouded with dust and plaster it hung like mist about the room.
Then the bone-chilling sound of the Nightsiders laugher emerged from the pit, and he rose, like some hulking legend, like a zombie from an old B-flick. Like a nightmare he emerged from the mists of destruction. He seemed to stagger a bit, but he advanced.
Relena, thrown to the ground behind the marble wet-bar shield, couldn't peer above the confines of her shelter for Heero's weight was holding her down.
"Um…Heero?" she said hesitantly. He made an inquisitive noise from his protective position at her person.
"Could you possibly, please….get your face out of my breasts?"
Heero, almost reluctantly it seemed, raised his face to look at her.
"Are you undamaged?" he inquired, his fingers probing expertly for broken bones, a cracked rib, something out of joint.
"I'm fine. If Sally with a rocket launcher couldn't take that guy out don't you think it's time we surrendered the field and made a strategic retreat?" she suggested. Heero frowned, but looked up over the rim of the shield at what remained of the ballroom and had to accede to the wisdom of her suggestion. What little information he had hurriedly been able to gather about their new enemy had recommended avoidance of them in place of direct confrontation.
Heero spoke into the communications device attached to his collar.
"Preventor Wing here, Relena is with me is there an escape route clear?"
"That's an affirmative, all forces are pulling back to secure an escape route," said the voice on the other end of the com-unit. It sounded vaguly like Trowa, Relena imagined it probably was Trowa.
"Ask him if Quatre's okay," Relena hissed. "And Hilde and Sally while you're at it."
"Later. I'm sure their partners have seen to their safety," siad Heero. He really did not have time at the moment for a gossiping session over his com-link. "Let's go."
He scanned the area quickly before he hustled Relena out of the shelter of the upturned wet-bar and towards the door.
"Oh, you wouldn't be trying to leave me would you my dear?" inquired the voice of the assassin sent to kill her. He was right in front of them! Relena finally got a good look at his face. If she thought Heero had looked cold at times, this person seemed downright inhuman. His eyes held no warmth, only the reflection of a hundred deaths. His movements were predatory and he looked at her as though he were seeing not a person, but a meal. It sent a shiver down her spine.
"I'm your nothing," she hissed back spiritedly. "Now why are you harassing me?"
The assassin sighed impatiently. "We've just been through my reasons, now hold still like a good little morsel and I'll finish you off quickly."
"Don't touch her," Heero growled, leveling his gun at the assassin.
The Nightsider simply looked at the gun, cocked his head to one side…then met Heero's eyes with a look that seemed to penetrate all of his shields.
"You won't shoot me…in fact, you want to lower your gun…"
Heero, hand shaking and jaw clenched, lowered his gun. The Nightsiders look grew even more predatory, more vulturine, as he said
"And now you will hand over the girl to me so that I may be on my way…"
Heero suddenly snapped to attention, looking for all the world like a man who had been startled from his sleep. His hand jerked reflexively and the gun reassumed its position pointed at the Nightsider. In one swift, fluid movement, Heero aimed and fired.
But the Nightsider was no longer standing in front of them. He stood off to one side, unharmed. His outline shimmered with light and shadow as he examined his prey and the one standing in the way of his prey with vexation.
"Well, I suppose I should resume this some other night then. The primitive weapons in your alternity will not be able to withstand my abilities. The Executioner is no threat to me here…I will have all the time in the world to see to the completion of my task," he said with the confidence of one who knows that his eventual victory is inevitable. He looked at Relena. "Look out for shadows pretty one, you never know what they hide."
And with that he just…disappeared. Relena blinked, it had been like a conjurers trick, he was there one moment and then in the next gone as if he'd never been.
"Nut's," she muttered. "As if my life wasn't complicated enough!"
"Let's go," was Heero's terse reply. Relena looked at him a trifle resentfully. She did not like being ordered about as if she were some kind of menial…but she really had nothing better to do at the moment so she would simply follow him. For now. After all there was no point in fighting with him about it at this time, he'd probably get all stubborn if she refused to cooperate. And then do something like throw her over his shoulder and carry her off caveman style and Relena had no desire to make a scene at the moment.
Heero showed her to a nondescript car being driven by one of the preventors who promptly reported that the building was clear of all agents. Heero told him to take a round-about Route to the safe house that had been set up for the night. Everyone was regrouping there.
The "safe house" as it turned out was one of Quatre's villas located in an out of the way place in the countryside. Relena would have liked to have been able to see where she was, but it was dark out, so she figured that the exploring would have to wait. She was received at the door by one of Quatre's Maguanac man-servants and she and Heero were conducted to the library without so much as a by your leave.
"Drink this," Heero ordered, handing her a glass of water.
Suddenly the events of the day, evening and night hit her like a ton of bricks. It was as if his terse order was the triggering devise on all of the emotions she had shoved aside in order to survive her recent ordeal. Out of all the assassination attempts, this one was the closest that had come to killing her and she was feeling just a tiny bit shaken. But Relena's reaction to such things was rarely to sit down and weep like some tragic heroine from a romantic novel. No. Generally Relena just got very stubborn and a little upset. She didn't like it when people who were supposedly her friends kept things from her either.
"No!" she said pounding the cup on the table. "I won't. You drink it! Now, I would like very much to know what precisely is going on here and why all of you felt the need to keep me in the dark about it."
Relena scowled at the room at large, which was an unusual expression for her to wear. Quatre looked up from his reclining position on one of the plush couches in the library, Trowa in a chair nearby and Rachiid standing attentive service at his right arm. Lady Une was in another room checking on Mariemaia, and Duo was off somewhere smothering Hilde. Sally was examining a frowning Wufei but looked up at Relena in her uncharacteristic outburst. Relena was just getting warmed up.
"And as for you," she said whirling around to face her rescuer with an unamused frown, poking him in the chest. "Why are you here…" then she turned to address the room. "Why is he here?! I've been ambushed, my car's been blown up, my house has been attacked, I've gotten threats in my mail and poisons disguised as roses. The day police step in I know that things have gotten pretty bad. The day you Preventors get up in my business waving your badges around like some holy talisman of carte blanche I know that things have gone from bad to worse!" Her temper was obviously up at this point and she was pacing the room like a caged lioness. "But the day Heero Yuy shows up on my door step is the day I know things have gone from worse to catastrophic!!" At this point she had worked herself up to a shriek, she was obviously feeling the anger at this point and no one in their right minds wanted to call attention to themselves by trying to reason with her.
"Now I'm a little sick of all you people keeping things from me for my own good without having the slightest notion of what my own good is. I'm a little tired, a little upset and I think that I deserve some answers! NOW!"
Then as an after thought she whirled back on Heero, frowning suspiciously, and said
"And where's my brother?!"
(At this point Heero was thinking he'd sooner take his chances with the Nightsider.)
"Feel better?" asked Quatre finally. Relena took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Yes I do actually," she said in a normal-cheerful tone, as if she hadn't been yelling at the top of her lungs a moment ago.
"Tea?" Quatre inquired genially.
"Please," she replied with perfect civility, settling into the chair across the coffee table from the couch where he lay. Rachiid poured tea for her in a china teacup with a saucer.
"Sugar?"
"Not this late thank-you," she said in a convivial manner.
"Ah, yes, it is quite late. One tends to lose track of time easily on these things."
Relena sipped. "Oh my! This is remarkably good tea."
"Thank-you, it's my own special blend," said Quatre. Heero was simply standing there in the doorway, taking in the entire scene with an air of bewilderment. Trowa was chuckling, apparently at the expression on Heero's face. Quatre called over to him.
"It's alright now Heero, the hurricane is over with. You can come and sit in for the planning session."
"Oh come now Quatre, I hardly think an outburst of stress and temper counts as a hurricane," Relena objected. "I didn't throw anything, nor did I kick, hit, overturn or shred anything within my vicinity. If you wish to see a hurricane, watch Mariemaia when she's having one of her temper tantrums. It's truly a sight to behold. Though I must give the young one credit, they are getting much fewer and farther between."
"Yes, Lady Une has truly been good for the child," Quatre agreed affably. "Heero sit down, she doesn't bite."
"I could make a remark about that, but I won't," said Relena with a smile that was positively impish. "Now, my good friend Quatre…will you please tell me what's going on and don't spare me on the details."
"Yes of course," he said. "I'd like to start out with the small consolation that you are not the only target of these new assassins. But I'm getting ahead of myself…"
And Quatre explained to Relena about the alternate dimension…
"But why, if these guys are so eager to escape their own dimension, don't they simply open up a portal of their own?" Relena interrupted.
"Because, the door has to be open from both sides. The other corporation now possesses the means to do that. They only asked for twelve Assassins to come over because they figured that that would be all that it would take to get rid of their political targets. I've locked the door from our side so no more can cross over, but there is still the twelve here to deal with."
"So tell me about these Assassins, what are they?"
"The analogy that Alliace President Yoshi Takahashi used was that of a vampire. You are of course familiar with the old myths about vampires?"
"Yes. Beings that are supposedly Immortal, come out only at night and drink the blood of Humans in order to stay alive over the centuries. They can be stopped by a stake through the heart, daylight, garlic, silver bullets, running water and…so on. I'm familiar with the tales, it's said they can change their shape…are you saying these assassins are really Vampires Quatre?" Relena looked at his skeptically.
"Not in the traditional sense no. As I said it is only an analogy. There are certain parallels between the legendary Vampires of myth and story and these experimental Assassins that call themselves Nightsiders," was Quatre's reply. "These Nightsider Assassins were originally the result of a top secret experiment by an organization known as the Committee. President Takahashi told us that the committee is a powerful government organization that tracks, controls, and trains Telepaths in their society. The Committee was trying to create the perfect assassins, untraceable and undetectable. They abducted innocent people off the street, poor people, homeless who would not be missed, and bonded them with a non-corporeal energy form they called a Symbiont. The experiment had a high death rate and, according to the files President Takahashi sent us, not many survived. The ones that did make it through what they called "Transition" from normal human to Nightsider Assassin were put through a rigorous training program called "Conditioning," which they used to erase all the Humanity from their assassins, make them into killers. Any who resisted were mind wiped and reprogrammed."
"How terrible! How could anyone do such a thing?" said Relena in dismay.
"Perhaps she does not need to hear this part," said Heero stiffly.
"You stay out of this. I'm still upset with you," Relena told him.
"Over what? I just saved your life."
"My hero. Pardon me while I swoon," she said acidicly. "You were saying Quatre."
"Yes well, the assassin's health and well-being is dependent on the health and well being of their Symbiont. The Symbiont grants them incredible abilities, it doesn't say what they are, but one of them is an amazing rate of healing and even some regenerative capabilities. Nothing comes without a price however. The Symbiont requires the absorption of Life energies in order to stay alive and so, too, do the Nightsiders. Therefore, the Nightsiders require human life energies to continue to live. For a while in their alternity, the Committee had them under control, but they eventually broke free of their masters and an entire population of remorseless and hungry killers was released into the general population to feed at will."
"Oh my. That can't be a good thing. I saw one of them in action, however did they manage to keep the death toll down?"
"Well, fortunately for them, one of the Nightsiders had escaped conditioning with their personality and ethics intact. This person, President Takahashi hasn't mentioned if it's male or female, offered to track down and take out the dangerous Nightsiders that were feasting on the peoples lives. You see, the more lives a Nightsider took, the more powerful their Symbionts made them, the more it enhanced their abilities, and the more powerful they became. Soon, the Nightsiders had a little society of their own set up and they gained status by feeding of Human life energies and gaining power. The Executioner is the only one set up to stop them, she can detect their energy signatures and track them from their kills. She gets a Mandate for the Execution of a Nightsider from President Takahashi, and then she tracks the Nightsider down and…well. I think you can guess the rest."
"Oh, I see. How sad," said Relena. "So these Nightsiders are over here to kill me? And from what the Assassin at the party said earlier, I don't think they intend to stop there."
"Not just you," said Trowa. "There's an entire list of people they are going to eliminate. And you're right. President Takahashi believes that once they have finished with the people on their list they will move on to choicer prey."
"Oh."
"And as for where your brother is," said Heero his voice sounding a little stiff with offended dignity. "He has been sent over to the other Alternity to borrow their solution for a few days. He should be back tomorrow with their Executioner."
"Well, that's good. There isn't anything more that I can do tonight, so I wish to go to bed."
"I am to escort you to your quarters," said Heero, he still looked displeased. Relena ignored him and his offended dignity in favor of bidding everyone else in the room a calm goodnight. Heero left with her to escort her to her quarters.
Just outside her door Relena paused and looked up at him.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier Heero," she said sincerely. "I really am grateful for all that you've done. I was just…unsettled, and a little bit wrung out. My temper was frayed and I snapped. It wasn't you, I promise. Sweet dreams," she said then patted him absently on the shoulder as she smothered a yawn and turned into her assigned guest quarters.
Heero was left on the other side of the door, looking surprised and uncertain of what to think or do. Then he shrugged and took to his own room across the hall. He would be sleeping lightly that night.
"…Generally where the story ends," he overheard Sally remaking to Hilde down the hall. "The girl's been rescued, the assassin identified, and the princess reunited with her hero."
"Or in this case Heero," Hilde punned.
"You're as bad as your partner. But seriously. You saw how that thing took an explosion from a rocket launcher then just laughed at us, as if our attempts to kill it were funny. I don't know if even the five pilots can stand up to these things, I've never seen anything like it."
"We'll just have to hope that this Executioner of theirs is as good as President Takahashi claims. But you're right, it isn't fair. The story should be over right now. We scared off the bad guy, the princess is safe with her knight in shiny armor…this should be the end, instead, it's just the beginning."
And with that disturbing sentiment, Heero closed his eyes and willed himself into sleep.
* * *
Disclaimers: See chapter one.
