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"Preventer Fire here, come in, Une," Noin said into the communicated.br
"Preventer Une here," came the reply.br
"How are things at your checkpoint?" Noin asked, still looking around the area.br
"All clear, lieutenant," Une responded. Noin switched communication.br
"Preventer Fire, come in Wind," Noin asked again.br
"Wind here," Zechs' voice was clear and soft.br
"All clear?" Noin asked.br
"Clear," Zechs replied, signing off. Noin sighed and closed the communicator. It had been a long day. Standing outside the conference room, she could here the conversation. Zechs, Une, Duo, and Heero stood posted at each corner of the facility, on look out for any enemy. Noin sighed again, imagining the beautiful young girl in the conference room right now. Relena loved Noin more than anything else in the world, but right now, their schedules were very hectic. Noin hardly got to see the diplomat in leisure time.
p
Suddenly, the communicator beeped. Noin flipped it open and stared into the screen. Heero's face appeared. The background around him was crackling blue.br
"Heero! What's wrong?" Noin asked urgently. A few gunshots were heard, and it took Noin a fraction of a second to realise they were from inside the conference room. Noin strapped the communicator to her waist and pulled a gun from its holster.
She burst inside, quickly surveying the room. Three soldiers in uniform held pistols. They turned the weapons on Noin as she entered. She fired off once and ducked down, but not before catching a bullet in her shoulder. The man she had hit fell to the ground. br
"Noin! Are you there?" Heero came through. "What's happening?" br
"Under… attack! Need backup!" Noin answered. br
"Right away. But Noin, there's this thing outside the east gate,"br
"Backup!" Noin screamed. br
"Accepted," Heero clicked out. Noin managed to muster the energy to jump up and shoot another soldier. There was another crack from behind her and the third man fell.br
"Noin, are you all right?" By the voice, it was Zechs.br
"Noin!?" Relena crawled towards her.br
"Relena, are you hurt?" Zechs asked.
p
"I'm fine," Relena answered. She put her hand on the wound in Noin's shoulder.br
"There is something outside, near Heero," Noin whispered.br
"What ever it is, it can wait," Zechs answered coolly. He gently picked Noin up.br
"You need a medic right away," he hurried off and Relena followed. Noin fainted. At the east gate, Duo, Heero, Une and Sally faced the crackling blue energy.br
"It's just… standing there," Duo whispered, his face alive with the blue reflected on it. Heero finally raised his gun and fired. Nothing happened.br
"Where's Zechs?" Sally asked.br
"He went to help Noin," Heero answered. He stared at the energy, and suddenly, an image appeared. In it, he was piloting Wing ZERO, but the controls were stuck. He was helpless as the Epyon destroyed him. The pilot was a girl, blond and blue-eyed, a determined look on her face…
p
Duo looked hard into the energy and saw something that shocked him. Hilde was lying in his arms, dead, a round, bleeding hole in her chest. It marked where her heart was. The God of Death drew back in horror, letting the image settle and fade.
p
Sally saw herself amid a destroyed Preventer HQ base; her allies and friends dead around her. A black haired woman stood in front of her, strange purple lines crossing her face. The woman raised a hand… Sally turned away, unable to face her own death, even in the dream-like sequence.
p
Une eyed the energy, and having seen her friends cower in fear, wondered if there really was something to be afraid of. The answer came immediately. She was floating in space, a destroyed colony around her almost lifeless body. The mobile suit responsible flew near; the Heavyarms fired its last round of bullets into her.
p
Une pulled her own gun and fired. A hand appeared on her wrist.br
"No, Une. It doesn't help," Sally whispered. "Let's find Noin and the others. I'm sure there's going to be an injury," Heero nodded and all four ran off.
p
Slowly, Noin opened her eyes. Zechs, Heero, Duo, Une, and Sally all stood around. Relena was sitting beside her.br
"What happened?" Noin sat up quickly, immediately realising the mistake as pain shot through her shoulder. Relena gently pushed her back down.br
"Assassination attempt," Trowa stepped in. "I flew in as soon as I heard. There's still this blue energy thing outside,"br
"How do you know about the plans?" Zechs asked.br
"I sneaked into a conference room," Trowa answered. "Managed to hear a lot, and I caught the next flight over,"br
"Thanks, Trowa, you tried," Noin sighed. "Who did you hear it from?"br
"I think it was another rebellion White Fang group. They're cropping up everywhere. Just last week Quatre had to arrest a group on the natural resource satellite," Trowa answered quietly.
p
"Three of the Representatives were injured during the conference attack," Une informed her. They're recovering now," br
"Thanks," Noin sighed. "And what about that thing outside?"br
"I think you should come see it," Heero answered, without meeting her eyes. Against the doctor's intentions, Noin shrugged on a jacket over the tank top and followed the others.
p
"We have no idea what it is, or where it came from," Duo said. Noin stared up at the crackling ball of blue energy. Against the dark night it glowed a brilliant white around the edges. br
"There's another thing, I see images in it," Heero said. br
"We all do," Sally added.br
"Let me see…" Noin stepped closer. The energy blinked white, flashed a dark blue, then an image appeared.br
"See something?" Duo asked. Noin nodded yes. In it, she was floating in space, the colonies destroyed. A mobile suit that looked far superior to the Gundams appeared. It fired, and Noin couldn't see the blast, but she could see where it hit. The Earth exploded into oblivion, and there was nothing.p
Noin stumbled back and grabbed her wounded shoulder. Sally stepped up to support her.br
"How come I don't see anything?" Relena asked. She was staring hard at it.br
"Trust me, you don't want to!" Duo replied with a shaky laugh. br
"I still wonder what it is," Zechs managed after a few minutes.br
"Have you seen anything?" Heero asked.br
"I haven't looked clearly at it. I don't want to witness my own death before it happens," Zechs answered. Trowa suddenly fell to the ground.br
"You saw something?" Duo asked, helping him up.br
"Yeah. Destruction of the earth, or around those lines," Trowa answered.
p
"I've never seen anything like it. We'll tackle it in the morning," Noin stumbled inside and up to her room, slowly stretching out on the bed. br
"Noin?" it was Relena.br
"Mm?" Noin muttered, her eyes closed. She could hear Relena walking over.br
"How's your shoulder?" Relena asked.br
"It hurts," Noin muttered. Relena knelt down beside Noin.br
"Will you be okay?" Relena asked.br
"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Noin replied.br
"Because you're my knight in shining armor," Relena kissed Noin gently then left.
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