| Gundam Wing is property of
Sotsu Agency, Bandai Studios, and TV Asahi. Sainan no Kekka and all
original characters and plot copyright 2000-2002 by Quicksilver and Gerald
Tarrant. Please ask permission before reposting.
Act 9.3 was posted on Monday, 27 May, Memorial Day in the United
States. This day is set aside to honor all of those who have given their
lives in service to their country. Just like we have tried to depict the
Gundam pilots in this story, they as military members willingly set aside
their own desires to answer a higher calling, and their sacrifices should
not be forgotten. This does not apply only to American soldiers and
citizens. No matter what nation or what ethnicity you hail from, no matter
where you were born, throughout the ages there have been soldiers from
your homeland who have perished in combat or as prisoners of war. It is my
hope, as a member of the United States Armed Forces, that someday all the
people in this world will be able to lay down their arms and realize the
peace that we have all been fighting for. Sainan no Kekka is going on sabbatical for the summer since Ger will be
away, but Quicksilver will still be around to answer the Email. Next week
will be the Mission logs for this act, and then adieu! This is our
Memorial Day post… dedicated to Veterans like Carrington, who are haunted
by the past, and those who never made it back. May we never
forget. SAINAN NO KEKKA
--Gundam Wing, Brave Eyes
Of the deep-seated self-directed frustration; All it does is promote fear and consternation." -- Bad Religion, Them and Us
Well, honestly, it was worst then that. It had been… unbelievably rotten. The day before, his sister had died, and the next day he turned seventeen. It was a rotten experience, planning your sister's funeral when traditionally you would be cutting cake with your family and friends. Not that he could, this time. A few hours before he had been in a room with an assassin who'd been in love with his sister, and found out one of the most shocking secrets yet. His sisters had been sleeping with one of his best friends, had died because she loved him. He was jealous. Lilah -Atsuki- hadn't come for him, like she had said. He knew it was petty, he knew he shouldn't be upset that Lilah had lied, and he knew he shouldn't blame Heero for the decisions of another, but…fuck it. His sister was dead, Heero was alive, and Quatre was angry. Quatre had expected more of Heero. How could he use a vulnerable woman? Had the boy who he had once called the true heart of space really fallen so far in such a short time? How could he have let it happen? Had Quatre been wrong? Was Heero no better than a killer? Quatre clenched his fist, remembering how Heero how even hadn't attended the memorial services. Darkflight had, the beautiful and sorrowful assassin, had, dressed in somber black clothing that was so ill-fitted that Quatre had a sneaking suspicion that it had been stolen…. But he didn't care about that. At least he had come, and it seemed fitting that stolen clothes be worn to a funeral for a life that had been stolen away too soon. The other pilots were supposedly on base, but he had seen none of them, with the brief exception of Wufei. And that had been before the terrorist attack, which had caused such changes in his life. The Preventers had put him in seclusion, and he'd only seen Yaminah, a few Preventer agents, and a reporter whose name he couldn't even remember. Relena had arranged some kind of propaganda campaign to show the "real" Gundam pilots, and since he was technically the only one who had been "found", he'd been subjected to an excruciating interview. He knew he had done well, since he'd been trained since birth for that, but that didn't make him any more comfortable with it. "Quatre?" A voice startled him out of his reverie, and he turned to see his sister Jaffa. It was the first time he'd seen her since the funeral. "Yes?" "It's time." He sighed and attached his cufflinks, the ones his father had given him on his fourteenth birthday. "Can you help me with my tie? I can never get these things on right…" Jaffa laughed and walked over, the swish of her skirts echoing in the large room. "You always do fine," she said. He got the second cufflink into place, and caught onto her hands. "I usually have Kasserine make sure I'm in one piece." He stared into her dark eyes and caressed the back of her palm. "Neesan, I'm scared," he whispered. She hugged him, abandoning the tie. "It's no surprise. What you do now decides the rest of your life. I'm sure it'll be okay, though!" He laughed and pulled away, and she took up the task of fixing his blue tie again. "It's not me I'm scared for. I'm worried about the precedent this will set- if they manage to pin me, they can get the others. And if they punish us for doing what was right, what will happen when Duo goes on trial? Or Trowa? They don't have the financial resources to mount a defense…" "You always worry about others first…" Jaffa said as she finished with his tie. "Because I love them." Jaffa gave him another hug. "You're too good," she said. "We don't deserve you." He smiled. "I don't deserve any of you, so I do my best to make myself a better person so I can be more worthy of you." Jaffa laughed as he opened the door, gesturing for her to precede him. Guards and Preventer agents quickly joined them, and he scowled. I hate having them shadow me like I'm something breakable, he thought. "Are we going to meet anyone else?" he asked. "Carrington, Yaminah, Rashid and Ree are going to join us." She waved to them as they turned a corner and the four previously mentioned people joined them. To his surprise, Reeshya was wearing the traditional Arabian veils, and Carrington was smartly turned out, her hair sleekly pulled back into a no-nonsense chignon, and her numerous medals and ribbons shining against the dark green of the Preventers dress uniform. "Master Quatre!" Rashid rushed forward to shake his hand. "Have you been all right? Would you like some of the Maguanacs to serve as your guards?" Quatre smiled at him. "No, I'll be fine. It's enough to know that you're here supporting me." Rashid frowned, looking like a cranky bear just roused from his sleep. "This is a farce." "This is government in process. This is what we fought for- the right to a fair trial." "Still-" "It'll be okay," Quatre assured him. "No matter what they decide, I'll accept it." He gave them his sunny smile, and all of them felt a renewed confidence in themselves. Quatre had that ability. He straightened his blue jacket and started to walk again, but was pulled up short by the sight of another young man lurking in the shadows. It was someone he'd been longing to see for over eighteen months, one of the few people he truly felt understood him. "Trowa?" he whispered.
"May I sit here, Relena?" The Queen of Cinq looked up at the familiar voice. "Dorothy?" she said, amazed. They had had breakfast together that morning, and Dorothy hadn't mentioned showing up for Quatre's trial, even though she had known Relena would be there. It would have made sense for the two of them to ride in together… The pale blonde smiled down at her sometimes-rival, sometimes-friend. "In the flesh." She tapped her foot impatiently, and Relena released belatedly that she was waiting for permission with uncharacteristic courtesy. "Yes, yes!" Relena said, waving to the seat to her right. "I have a political ally coming who'll need the other seat," she said by way of explanation, since the left was nearer to Dorothy. "She prefers to be close to doors- I think it's post traumatic stress, but I don't press the issue." "Who is it?" Dorothy asked curiously as she arranged her flowing pale yellow dress on the chair around her so she could rise without stumbling on it. Appearance was important- it led to power. A secretive smile danced across Relena's lips. "You'll see soon enough. What are you doing here?" Dorothy knotted a locked of her pale golden hair around her fingers. "I had a little… chat with Duchess Noventa, and claimed our family's hereditary seat. Silly thing, those, seeing as how the World Nation hasn't been in action for more then two years and already some families have permanent seats… but I'm not going to complain at the moment. I'll be holding the Catalonia seat until I get married. I managed to work around the stupid laws about marriage and inheritance… so far." "Isn't your mother going to battle you about that?" Relena asked with a little concern. Dorothy wasn't one of her favorite opponents, but at least she was rational and fair. Duchess Noventa tended to be something of a bitch, and power hungry. She didn't care for the good of the people she was suppose to be governing- only for what she could earn for herself. It was an attitude that disgusted Relena. "I don't think so," Dorothy said. "Emily and I have come to an understanding- she's getting the hell out of my life, and in return, I'm not going to look too closely at a number of… questionable business transactions she made with my finances." "What?" Relena asked in surprise. "Oh, it was nothing too extreme… just enough to ruin any political aspirations she may have." Dorothy paused, and the gleam in her pale blue-gray eyes sent a shiver down Relena's spine. "You're cold," Relena said. "I have no filial feeling for my mother. She's a cold, cold woman. She doesn't love me- why should I love her?" "She's your family…. You're lucky to have one," Relena said softly. "You can have her." "Still-" Relena didn't get to complete the sentence, for a young woman dressed in a traditional European gown came up ad curtseyed to Relena. "Greetings, your highness." "Hello, Lady Noventa," Relena said, turning in her seat. "Have you met Lady Dorothy Catalonia? This is Lady Sylvia Noventa. She currently holds the Noventa seat in the World Nation." "We haven't met formally," the young woman said nodding slightly to acknowledge Dorothy's presence. "Greetings, cousin." Relena frowned a second before laughing. "Yes, you would be related, wouldn't you?" Sylvia smiled shyly. "Her mother married my great-uncle. That makes us relatives of a sort. Then again, all the Catalonias and Khushrenadas and Noventas have a long history of intermarriage, so we were probably related before." Dorothy carefully maintained a blank expression as Sylvia took the seat at Relena's right. "Was Lady Noventa the ally you were waiting for?" she asked. "Yes," Relena said. "I've found Lady Noventa most helpful." "I must admit I find that… rather surprising. Considering you are known to support the Gundam pilots, and…" "… and my grandfather was killed by them?" the perceptive girl asked, leaning forward slightly so she could look at Dorothy. "They were tricked by Oz." "Still… it must be hard to put aside the natural hatred you must feel for your grandfather's murderers." "Dorothy!" Relena exclaimed. Sylvia shook her head, soft wisps of hair highlighting her brilliant eyes. "I always heard that you were an interesting woman, Lady Catalonia…" "That's one of the polite things I've been called." Their eyes met and Relena felt like she was sitting in the middle of a minefield, unsure of which way to step. Her back went rigid, and she wondered why she ever decided having Dorothy sit near Sylvia would be a good thing- their philosophies were just too different for a civil alliance. Then something shocking happen. The two burst out laughing. Sylvia's eyes teared up, and Dorothy's deeper chuckle made a pleasant counterpoint to Sylvia's bell-like laughter. "It's really rather ridiculous for you to call me Lady Noventa," Sylvia said. "Call me Sylvia, and I'll call you Dorothy." "Agreed." Dorothy produced a handkerchief and handed it to Sylvia, who gratefully accepted, using it to dry her eyes. Relena felt like she'd been hit by a two-by-four. "What just happened here?" Sylvia and Dorothy exchanged amused looks. "You wouldn't understand," Dorothy said. "Sylvia, why are you supporting Relena?" "I met Heero Yuy during the war, after my grandfather died. His grief… was sincere. He was… how can I describe him? I really can't." "That's Heero," Dorothy said. "Heero is something profound." Relena, uncharacteristically, was quiet. "From all reports, Quatre Raberba Winner is even more empathetic. I've never met him, but he deserves a trial, and many people want to hang him for everything that's been wrong. It's not his fault- he was one of the few people who tried to make a difference. "I hate war- but he's not a coward. Hanging him is the wrong way to solve the mistakes of the past. The only penance he can make is to live, and contribute to society. And he was doing that, until we dragged him out here for this mockery of a trial." Dorothy smiled at her. "I may not agree with your reasons, but I do agree with your ends. I say that between the three of us, we can rule this room." Relena raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" "Just watched. You thought you were Queen of the World under Romafeller? Trust me, that was nothing. When we're done, people are going to ask 'how high' before we say jump." Dorothy gave the other two women a wicked grin. Sylvia and Relena found themselves responding in kind.
Quatre stopped walking, feeling Reeshya bump into him abruptly from behind. "Trowa?" he whispered again, feeling an odd sensation rising up in his chest. "Trowa…what are you doing here? I thought you were in-" "The hospital?" said the familiar quiet voice. "I was, but they let me out for the trial. There was a bandage wrapped around the other boy's head, but that wasn't what made Quatre do a double-take. Trowa had…grown up. Granted, the former Heavyarms pilot had always had a bearing that made him seem older than he really was, and he really wasn't that much taller, being a gymnast. But there was something about him that was…different than Quatre remembered, and it wasn't just the dark blue suit and shiny dress shoes that Trowa wore, making him look more like a businessman than Quatre himself ever would. His uchuu no kokoro throbbed and he winced, not sure if it was from pleasure or pain. "Are you all right?" Trowa said, pushing himself off from the wall and taking a step forward. He felt Reeshya steady him from behind. "Yes…I…yes." Quatre took a deep breath. "It's just…well." He paused. "I've missed you," he said all in a rush, feeling a little uncomfortable admitting it in front of all these people who were here to escort him to a trial, not to see him meet an old friend. To his surprise, Trowa smiled easily, and Quatre felt his heart give another little jolt as he felt…happiness? coming from the other pilot's sense. "They actually weren't going to let me out," Trowa admitted, sounding rather sheepish. "But I…insisted." Quatre felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a grin, his first real smile all day since he'd woken up this morning at 5 AM and decided that it was useless to pretend to sleep anymore. "Thank you Trowa," he said, and suddenly stuck out his hand, not sure what to expect from the other boy. "I'm glad you're here." Trowa reached out his own hand solemnly and shook it. "I needed to be here. You know that." "It's been two years," Quatre said, looking into the sharp green eyes and trying to read the emotions behind them. "I wasn't sure." The hand grasping his tightened until it was almost painful, and then abruptly Trowa released his grip, stepping back. "You know me better than that." A tapping on his shoulder made him look around. Jaffa was standing there, looking partly touched and partly harried. "Quat, I don't want to intrude but we should-" "-get going?" he finished. "I know." He glanced back at Trowa, saw the enigmatic smile playing on the other's face. "You'll be in there, right?" "Where else would I be?" came the quiet response, and he felt the throbbing in the uchuu no kokoro ease away to be replaced by a sense of peacefulness. Jaffa put an arm around him. "Quatre? We need to go now." "I know," he said, taking a deep breath. "Let's make this a good entrance."
Fatima bint Narish sat quietly, something she was unaccustomed to doing. She held one of the seats on the first row, an honor that she was accustomed to. Behind her were arrayed around 150 other delegates in an ascending semi-circle of seats, groups together by alliances. Had she had her choice of seats, she would have preferred to sit in the back, where she could watch the various interactions, and see what alliances were forming, and which ones were dissolving. She couldn't, though. She was currently one of the lead prosecutors in the trial, and this trial would make or break her career. She'd been delighted when it'd fallen to her, and even more pleased when she'd heard who the first defendant would be. Quatre Raberba Winner. God, she hated the brat. She'd give anything to nail his hide to the wall, and Allah had dropped him into her lap, practically gift-wrapped. All she had to do was put on a semi-decent case and she'd win. Her career would be assured. Half the World Nation already hated him. All she needed to do was swing the necessary votes for the requisite too thirds, and BAM! She'd be able to get a seat on whatever committee she fancied. Or perhaps… she might even wrangle the presidency of the World Nation. She smiled and glanced down at her perfect nails, the French manicure elegant in its simplicity. She knew that Winner's sisters would likely be donning the more traditional garb that the Winner family favored, so she'd chosen to wear a cutting-edge designer suit by Vedanta. The brilliant red stood out in the crowd, and her long mass of black hair was caught back in an elaborate arrangement with ruby clips that had taken her stylist two hours to perfect. Being beautiful was a bitch. Her notes were perfect, and she glanced over at her legal team, the best that money could buy. They, too, realized the stakes that were riding on this. "Are we ready?" "We'll fry him," one female attorney said. "Don't get cocky," Fatima warned. "Winner is a charming bastard, and he's got the money to drag this out for years. We need to make him evil. We need to make him vile- we need to show people that he's not innocent, and that behind those sweet blue eyes lives the Devil himself." "He's a Gundam pilot. That does sort of speak for itself." "You'd be surprised. We have some opposition against us- Relena Peacecraft, most notably, but the Preventers support him, and he's popular with a lot of the little people. A lot of the elected World Nation senator may support him if their constituents speak up loudly enough." The lawyer looked up to where Relena was sitting. "Is that Queen Relena talking to Lady Noventa and Lady Catalonia?" Fatima turned slightly and caught a glimpse of the trio out of the corner of her eye. "Well, shit," she said, unable to think of anything more intelligent to say. "That's bad, isn't it?" "We just lost the Catalonia seat," Fatima said, turning back. "There's no telling what Lady Dorothy will do, and Lady Noventa being there as well… well, politics makes for strange bedfellows." She looked down at her notes again. "I think Duchess Noventa pushed her daughter a little too far at the wrong moment. Damn that woman." She straightened her notebook, which was already in perfect alignment, and refrained from sighing as the heavy floor-level doors opened. Two Preventer guards opened the double doors in unison, and then the Winner bodyguards entered. Quatre Winner walked in, wearing a blue suit that cost more than a small colony, expensive leather shoes, and golden cufflinks. The outfit highlighted his startling cornflower blue eyes, but there was a serenity in his face as he took his chair. "And the prince arrives," Fatima murmured under her breath. "Let the battle begin."
Quatre was well aware of all the cameras on him, and knew his image was being broadcast to billions of people. He remained composed but not icy, knowing that image was important and could work for or against him. "Are you ready?" Yaminah asked as she sat next to him. "As I'll ever be." The President of the World Nation, Sidney Alderman, rose to his feet and knocked the gavel three times. "Come to order. This trial is a public trial in the fullest sense of those words, and I must, therefore, remind the public that the Tribunal will insist upon the complete maintenance of order and decorum, and will take the strictest measures to enforce it. It only remains for me to direct, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter, that the indictment shall now be read. Ms. bint Narish?" Fatima rose to her feet, holding out her notes. She looked over at Quatre with veiled eyes, and he barely kept from glaring back at her. He could feel the vengefulness she was projecting at him in waves, and didn't like it. Fatima spoke clearly, her voice ringing through the chambers via the sound system, as she glanced occasionally at Quatre, President Alderman, and the cameras:
It was official- his trial had begun. There was no going back. May Allah help them all.
Where do you go?" --Life of Agony, Ugly
That was, after all, why he had been a Gundam pilot. It was fully dark by the time she returned to the main part of the base, to a headquarters full of chaos. The main building, she was told as she pulled into the area, was locked down until a sweep could be conducted, and General Une was away to Bern. She was directed to the temporary main control center which was a mess of flustered guards trying to direct lost civilians, babies crying, people demanding to know when and how everything would be fixed again. Li paid them no heed, and the few who began questioning her backed off when they saw her major's ranks, the hard set of her face, and the death glare she fixed on them. She had grabbed the nearest available Preventer officer, a young captain who was calmly giving directions and looked like he had a brain in his skull. "Where's General Po?" she demanded. "Next building over, ma'am," he said, then recognition dawned in his eyes. "Major Li! General Po was asking you to report to her. Should I radio her that you're coming?" Li opened her mouth to say no, then reconsidered. "Yes. Please tell her I'm on my way." It would be wise to make everything look normal. For now. Until the computers were repaired. That was her worst fear, her every nightmare come true. It wasn't the base that concerned her, but the computer system. The terrorists had violated her personal territory when they'd slipped that virus into the systems, and they would pay, if it took her a million years to track them down. Those in their right mind did not anger Aidoru. She fought down the overpowering wave of fury and despair at the temporary loss of her domain and ducked into the next building, searching for Sally's office. It didn't take her long to locate it. The door was open and she could hear the muted clicking of keys from within. She knocked lightly. "There you are." She took those words as a signal that she could enter, walked in to find the general seated at the end of a long conference table in front of a laptop computer. They'd set up some temporary servers in the office - nowhere near the power of the central base system, but adequate. There was a staff sergeant standing there by Sally's chair, taking notes. Li ignored him, turning her attention back to the honey-haired woman who was gazing at her with a weary expression. "General, the computer systems are completely down. The base is a sitting duck." "I'm well aware of that fact," the general had snapped back, her voice raspy and tired. "Major, I'm glad to see you're safe. I asked you to come see me precisely because of this issue. I'm putting you in charge of getting those systems back online as soon as possible." "It could take weeks," she said. "Ma'am." Looking Sally in the eye. Sally knew how important those computers were to her, but there were some things that even the Preventers' second-in-command couldn't fix. "One week, Li," Sally said, not looking. "If not less. You're good, Li…that's what I told Une. Now I want to see how good." Li saluted, feeling the tension in her muscles as she did so. "Yes, ma'am." Sally hadn't wanted to admit in front of the sergeant how central the computer systems were to base operations, but Li knew. Sally's tired posture had told her that much, but there had also been something else there, something that worried her. Something that said, we're running out of time. Li didn't want to believe that. There had to be more time…for her, at least, to do what she wanted done. This Preventers Headquarters would not go down without a fight, and when she had won this battle, she would go after the bastards who had dared to venture into her territory. It was personal now. It took less than four days to fix the system, after Li had personally gone down and set up camp in the information headquarters. Her first act after seeing Sally was to march down to see the system chief, a lieutenant colonel that had sneered at her when she'd walked in and had been almost reduced to tears as she walked back out. It was nice knowing that she had the power to do that. On the network, she had the power to do even more than that. More than the power to cause fear, even more than the power to kill. Once she set her mind to it, she could destroy a life. Erase someone as if they had never existed. On the fifth day after the attack, she went to see Sally again, to inform her that the computer systems were online. Not fully complete, but online and fully secure. To her relief, the security walls had held even through the electric and network blackout and none of the classified information had been hacked into. Perhaps the lieutenant colonel was more competent than she'd given him credit for. She'd gone to see him again after reporting to Sally with a cautious congratulations and a promise of promotion if he could get the system fully up and running, even more smoothly than before, in the next two days. He exceeded her expectations. He did it in one. Even she was impressed. She'd have given him a promotion herself if she had had the time, but there were more pressing matters to take care of. The main building was still off-limits, so she'd had to settle for the rigged-together system in her makeshift office in the temporary building, but it was enough. She'd remembered to take her VR goggles with her out of the building, though everything else, including all the correspondence locked in that drawer of her desk, was still inside. No one should be able to get into those files, but then again, Une's Gundam pilot files were supposed to have been confidential as well. As soon as she moved back into the main building, she would have to destroy any evidence that those files in the drawer existed. Six days after the attack, she'd tested the system to find it sufficiently ready for what she had been planning to do a week before. The delay did have an advantage…Masamune would have had more time to find good assassins for her. His reputation was good…she was about to find out how good. The rest of the base was still asleep at 0400 hours, and she kept the lights out in her office as she slipped inside, closing and double-bolting the door. There were no security cams in this room, which was one less thing she had to worry about. Her computer was on standby and as she sat down, the motion sensors detected movement and the CPU hummed to life. She plugged in the goggles carefully, adjusting the brightness on the screen so that it wouldn't be seen from under the door. "Activate," she said quietly. The screen flickered and the lines of familiar code began scrolling down. So far so good. She took the long way, just in case she was detected by the security 'bots that she'd personally ordered the lieutenant colonel to place on the system. Nothing like a show of bravado after the storm to keep people on their toes, and she was pretty sure that if she'd continued working on that system, she'd have the lieutenant colonel eating out of her hand before long. If he wasn't already. She slipped on the goggles, and the lines of code abruptly became a long corridor of red sandstone with an iron door at the far end. She hurried down the corridor, hearing her footsteps clicking on the stone floor, not concerned with her appearance. She'd adjust that later. Her fingers flew on the keyboard and through the goggles, she saw her virtual fingers move, producing a key, unlocking the heavy metal padlock, throwing open the door. Heard it slam behind her as she stepped through into black nothing. She was in. Drawing a deep breath, she swallowed. The network looked the same as it had a week ago, the liquid mercury shimmering as waves of light passed through its murky, transparent depths, but it was nearly deserted. Instead of the familiar patterns of Holes, Bugs, and tracers, there were mostly "shadows," faint traces of Holes that had once been there and had been closed up. Plunging into the eerie quiet, she kept alert for any foreign presence that would explain the sudden disappearance of most of the network's population, but except for the lapping of the mercury ocean, there was nothing. Li would gladly have lingered in the shallower parts to do some readings and tweak some code tracings, but she had no time for that today. Plunging directly into the data sea, she was prepared this time as the sensation of Pulling overtook her, watched as the blackness of the Dungeons dissolved into…a tropical rainforest. Disoriented, she blinked and glanced around her, turning in a slow circle to take in the landscape. She was standing in a small clearing surrounded by towering trees wrapped in thick, heavy vines, tropical flowers bursting with raucous color. Somewhere overhead, a bird cawed. Her present garb was beginning to make her feel hot and uncomfortable, so she discarded it, pulling up the android visualization, giving herself a darker metallic skin than the bright silver she usually preferred. Taking a step forward through the thick, muggy air, she found the ground under her foot was spongy, squelching slightly at the pressure. She made a face. "You don't seem to like our current landscaping." Li jumped before she could help herself, then swung her head around to glare at the man emerging from the curtain of vines that swung at one edge of the clearing, a man who could only be Masamune. He was dressed in the same Japanese shogun costume, but instead of looking incongruous, a man out of place, he blended right into the colorful swirl of vegetation that now seemed to her more than anything like a backdrop, a scenery set, a curtain for a stage on which he was the central player and she the helpless audience. She didn't like that feeling. "Whatever you deem suitable," she said coldly, reminding him that she was the one in charge, the one with more power. Or at least, she tried. She saw the look of amusement in his eyes as she did so, knew with annoyance that no matter how powerful the name Aidoru was, the Dungeons were Masamune's domain. "I've found your assassins," he said, not bothering with the niceties of a formal greeting. He knew what she was here for. "I was wondering when you would come back to claim them." "I was…delayed." He raised an eyebrow. "Actually, you couldn't have come back at a more opportune time, Aidoru. They're just about to make their move." She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?" He smiled, that thin, watchful smile that would have made her skin crawl, if androids had skin. "This particular group was…a bit anxious to get the job over with, especially with the amount that I offered. They also seemed to have personal reasons to take the deal. Whatever the case, they're already on mission." "What?!" He gazed mildly at her. "Should I have waited?" Li stared at him, fuming. It wasn't the issue that he had somehow found out the information of who she was trying to kill before she had had the chance to tell him. It was the Breaks, after all, and someone would have found it sooner or later. She'd dropped hints around the place while looking for assassins on her own. But the fact that he had let the assassins go after the target before she had the chance to speak with them… "I sense you're angry with me," Masamune said abruptly. "I thought you would be." "You bet I'm damn well angry with you!" Li snapped. "I haven't even personally talked to these assassins of yours yet! How do I know they're reliable?" "They are reliable," Masamune said coldly. "Trust me." "I don't even know you," she countered, just as coldly. "Trust is something that one builds up over time. I don't believe we've had that time yet." "What if I told you," he countered, "that these two assassins were relatives of Seki Hikaru?" For the umpteenth time that day, she did a double take. "They're what?" "Relatives," he said. "A great-nephew and a grandson." He smiled again, showing his teeth. "Rivalry is strong in the Breaks. What better way than to pit snake against snake?" "You're a bastard," she said, but she knew he could sense her grudging admiration, and didn't bother to hide it. "So where are they now? Are you monitoring them?" He gave a curt nod. "If you'd like, you'll be able to witness the final kill." "If it's not an inconvenience," she maintained, putting emphasis on the last word. He was still smiling. "Not at all. You've paid me well, and I told you that you could trust me. This way." He led the way along a trampled footpath of jungle foliage, through a jumble of exotic plants thriving in the ever-humid air that condensed on her metal android body, rolling in large dewdrops down her arms and legs and torso and becoming uncomfortably ticklish on her face. She ignored the sensations, focusing on the mission, on getting there, making sure the job was completed, and getting out. She'd argued against this being done at all - in fact, she'd argued against using the Breaks and the Black Diamond Cartel as a resource in the first place - but now that it was in the works, she was damned if she would let it fail now. We can't let someone like him run loose on us anymore. I was taking a big gamble with him, and it's worked out so far, but I don't know how far he'll test his leash. I don't want to find out. Seki Hikaru was a big fish, but in the end, he was only a fish. She had to admire the ruthlessness and the unwavering mindset of her employer. She herself would have let Seki alone, but she could see now that he was too dangerous, that he knew too much, and that knowledge could destroy them, should he ever try to use it against them. And that was why he had to die. "Here," Masamune announced, as they stepped into a second, smaller clearing. There was a blinking vidscreen on a pedestal of some kind, and both of them seemed to be made up of the same shifting, glowing mercury of the network ocean. He didn't seem to notice her surprise as he motioned her towards it and adjusted the display. "We shall be able to watch their progress here." "I'd prefer to watch alone, thank you," she said harshly. "Leave." She expected him to argue, but instead he simply bowed in the traditional Japanese manner. "As you wish." She stared after him as he departed the clearing, but he didn't look back, and sighing, she turned her attention to the vidscreen. At first it didn't show much - a bunch of squiggly lines that spoke of a broken connection, and she was about to stalk into the forest after Masamune and tell him that she was deducting half his pay - but as she watched, the lines resolved themselves into shadowy forms, forms that cleared and lightened into human bodies. The first was clearly still a boy in his teens, no more than sixteen or seventeen, she guessed, but she wasn't surprised that he was one of the assassins on this mission. Children grew up quickly in the Breaks, she'd heard, or they didn't grow up at all. The second was a little taller, broader in the shoulders, with the ease of motion of an adult male. His facial features looked very familiar and she struggled to place him for a moment before she realized where she'd seen him before. He looked like Shinobu. Before she could begin to digest the significance of that, the figures were already moving, almost too quickly for the virtual camera to keep up. She squinted her eyes to keep track of them for a moment, then noticed the blinking buttons on the side of the camera pedestal, fiddled with them for a moment. The top one apparently allowed the camera to connect directly with the VR goggles, and she adjusted the settings and switched it on. There was a moment of disorientation as the network maneuvered around the Preventers' system security walls, and then she was connected. It was an odd feeling. She had now essentially become a tiny, invisible, floating camera in the Breaks itself. She'd heard of such technology before, and knew more or less the specifics of how to make something like this work, but she'd never actually been inside it. It was only the very experienced and the very brave who would ever try something like this, and in a place like the Breaks, if someone was caught manipulating data flow like this by the cartels, it would mean instant death. Her respect for Masamune went up a tiny notch. The boys (yes, they might be old enough to be adults in the Breaks, but they were still boys to her) were making their through a hallway inside some building, which she assumed was the Black Diamond's headquarters building, with the bare gray functionality of the walls and the sparse décor. She'd heard that Seki was quite a cultured man, but there was nothing here that indicated culture, only monochrome color and greenish fluorescent lights guiding their way. The boys traveled smoothly, lightly, as if they were on a walk around the park instead of a journey to assassinate the most powerful man in the Breaks. It would be interesting to see what happened after Seki died. Would there be a power play, as with the Shionji cartel? Would the Black Diamond Cartel fall as well? Criminals pitted against criminals would make an interesting spectacle. Li smiled tightly to herself. She shouldn't be talking…if she were caught here doing this, she would be considered a criminal as well. She thought of the files still locked in her desk drawer in the main building and wondered how many of those would be enough to earn her a court martial. Ten? Two? One? The boys stopped in front of a low, narrow metal door, and she watched as two men slipped out of the shadows and conferred with them for a few seconds. Bodyguards? Whatever the case, the boys must have been deemed trustworthy because the bodyguards slipped back into the shadows and the older boy produced a key from his pocket and inserted it into the electronic lock on the door. It beeped and the lock clicked. She let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. For a moment there, images had flashed through her mind of the guards stopping them, not letting them through, seeing all her hard handiwork gone to dust. It was absurd, of course - they were relatives…but nothing was impossible. The door slid open automatically and the boys entered. The room was dim and dark and at first it took several milliseconds for the camera's lens to adjust to the sudden decrease in light - milliseconds that her networked linked vision interpreted as far longer than they actually were. She was still trying to orient herself when she was suddenly aware of a strange glow filling the room. The walls were glowing. That wasn't true, of course, the data linked to her brain insisted. The walls were coated with some phosphorescent material that emitted a soft, natural light…but the overall effect was impressive. Glancing around the room, she found it was an antechamber of some sort, the kind of eighteenth century meets science-fiction outer room that one could only find in movies nowadays, with strangely shaped and weirdly beautiful statues and paintings scattered artistically around the walls. The ceiling was a dome made entirely out of one sheet of smoked glass, and she noticed a switch on the wall, which her data sensors told her controlled the tint of the glass. She now understood why they called Seki a cultured man. A vidscreen stood in the middle of the room, but it took her data sensors a moment to realize it was a vidscreen. The stand was in the shape of a slender tree trunk with a blinking keypad set just below the screen, and the screen itself was merely a wide metal ring balanced vertically. She saw in an instant how it worked: the image was projected from photon emitters around the inside of the ring, shooting towards the center and creating a picture suspended in midair. It was a new state-of-the-art design, almost priceless, but then again, being one of the richest men in the world, Seki could probably afford ten of these things. The boys had crossed the anteroom now and Li tore her eyes from the vidscreen, hovering just behind the two as they stopped at what seemed to be a piece of flat sheet metal set into the shimmering walls. On second glance, her data sensors revealed that it was a door of smoked glass, the same kind as the glass in the dome, but reinforced with steel. She'd seen these before, where the person inside the room could see out but those on the other side could not see in. The set up reminded her of Une's office in the main building. The older boy knocked. There was a silence and then the door swung open. Seki's office was as sparsely but elegantly decorated as the anteroom, and the theme here seemed to be oak and velvet. An oak desk, wine-colored velvet drapes and carpet, oak bookcase. In the leather chair, facing the door, was the crime lord himself. He rose as the boys entered. He wasn't as elderly looking as she had imagined him to be, but his face was heavily lined and his shifty dark eyes had wrinkles around the corners. He was wearing a severe-looking traditional Japanese hakama in blacks and grays, the fabric molding smoothly around a form that was surprisingly muscular for a man of his age. Here was a man who was powerful, and knew it. A man who was not only powerful, but supremely secure in his power. Not for long, Li thought grimly. Your usefulness is about to come to an end. The boys stopped in front of his desk, bowed. Li felt the data sensors tingling as they analyzed the scene, found herself wondering just how the two were planning to conduct this mission. The camera was obviously not equipped with soundwave sensors, because Seki opened his mouth and spoke, but she heard nothing. The older boy answered him, then gestured to the younger one, who looked faintly angry, crossing his arms over his chest. Seki laughed. She saw the younger's hand twitch slowly, realized he was wearing a gun strapped to his belt. Her heart plummeted. Surely they weren't that stupid, to think that they could just march into Seki's office and shoot him? He would have guards against that sort of thing. How had the gun gotten past the guards, anyway? She fixed her gaze on the older boy, hoping he had something else up his sleeve, but he seemed to be too busily engaged in conversation with Seki, who looked bored. The younger boy was tapping his foot against the carpet impatiently. Seki said something else and it was the elder's turn to be angry. He spat something and the younger one frowned, answered. Seki pointed a finger at him, glaring at both of them, and the older boy rolled his eyes. The younger one was shouting now, advancing at the desk. Li watched in fascination. Whatever they were, these boys were great actors. Seki pointed his finger at the younger boy and the boy spat something, and as the older one lunged forward, the other pulled his gun and fired. It would have been too fast for her to follow if she'd been watching this with human eyes, but the data feed to her nervous system alerted her to the fact that the bullet had not been aimed at either Seki or the older boy, but in fact at an almost hidden security camera in the wall. She saw the bullet leave the gun, saw it hit the camera and saw the camera lens shatter into thousands of tiny slivers. She watched as Seki glanced scornfully at the camera, then flicked his glance over the two boys. At once, Li realized two things. One, that Seki knew the gun was not dangerous and had allowed them to bring it into his office, because the antechamber was equipped with sensors that would not allow any real weapon to pass through. Therefore, the gun had not been loaded, at least not with any kind of bullet the sensors would recognize. And two, the thing that had hit the camera lens had truly not been a bullet of any sort. It was a capsule. A poison capsule. Her camera lens zoomed in to Seki, saw the tiny slivers of the lens, almost microscopic, burying themselves in the exposed flesh of his head and neck. Saw, as if on an x-ray, the poison creeping through his bloodstream. But if Seki had been hit, surely the two boys…? She zoomed out and saw that the older boy had fallen to his knees. Looked up at Seki again and saw the dawning understanding on his face as the boy's eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed against the velvet carpet. The younger boy was still on his feet. She could feel the fear rolling off of him, not from any program, but from his very stance and the look on his face. For the first time, Li wondered if the scene before the shooting had been scripted at all. This was a cartel, and the older boy clearly had had some kind of high standing in the family. Perhaps Seki was not the only one who had been tricked. She saw the cartel leader sway on his feet, press his hands to his desk to keep himself standing. She expected him to rant or rage, perhaps pull out a gun and shoot the younger boy, who seemed to be frozen, watching the still form of his cousin. But instead, the drug lord simply smiled. Then began to laugh, and as she watched his shoulders shake, she couldn't rid herself of the feeling that he knew he was being watched. That he knew, and was enjoying her discomfort, as if instead of being the loser here, he had in fact won. She was glad that the camera was not equipped with sound as his head lolled back on his shoulders and he slumped against his chair, his eyes wide and staring but the smile still on his cunning face. The door to the office burst open and bullets from the guns of the bodyguards struck the younger boy, but Li had been expecting that. As he crumpled to the ground and as the blood began staining the wine-colored carpet, she was already stepping back from the screen, keying her way out of the Dungeons and out of the network. Her fingers trembled as she hit the final keys out of the system and, pulling the goggles from her face, she rested her head on her hands, trying to calm her heart. Even though there had been no sound, even though she was kilometers away from L1, even though she was no longer connected through the mercury ocean, she thought she could still hear Seki laughing.
And there's dust in my eyes, that blinds my sight And silence that speaks so much louder that words, Of promises broken." -- Pink Floyd, Sorrow
"It could be better," Carrington said. She had just arrived from the third day of the trial in Geneva to give Une a first person perspective, and Une was relieved for her presence, for a change. Carrington would not bother with any flowery platitudes- she would explain the situation without glossing over any of the lumps. "Quatre is both the best and worse pilot who could be the first to go on trial. People want to hate him, but he's honest, and looking into his eyes makes you weigh yourself- and usually find yourself wanting. Still, they want someone to blame for the war, and he did destroy two colonies single-handedly… it'd be worse if it was one of the others… most likely." "Maxwell would rant about being the God of Death, Chang would lecture about justice and the strong surviving, and the other two would stare ahead blankly or do something just plain scary. Trowa and Heero aren't precisely the two most… normal individuals I've ever met." Une spoke precisely, her tones clipped and very factual. "That was my reading of the situation. Still, Winner is listed as one of the ten wealthiest individuals, and that makes people jealous. Getting the chance to bring him down makes some people salivate at the thought." Carrington flipped through the notes on her legal pad, the neat hand writing standing out against the amusing doodles and SD depictions of Fatima bint Narish getting her head whacked off with a herring. "What do you think the members of the assembly will say?" "Relena Peacecraft, Sylvia Noventa, and surprisingly Dorothy Catalonia seem to be very much on our side. I'm relieved that Lady Dorothy replaced her mother- Duchess Noventa is not a kind woman and bint Narish has her in her pocket, no matter what the Duchess thinks. Keets has become vehemently opposed to the pilots and Preventers due to their daughter's death, bint Narish is vocal in her opposition. Lord Jareth, Tatsumi-ou, and Dancing Horse seem to be taking the moderate stance… the others are either taking their usual stances or being unreadable. It was just opening arguments, though, so…" "How long should we anticipate this lasting?" "Weeks… months… as long as they can drag it out, they will. I hope Winner is prepared to be crucified, because that's what's going to be happening." "Quatre always did make a splendid martyr," Une said dryly. "That wasn't that funny." "...you know, I'm not sure it was supposed to be." Both women remained in their seats for a moment, thinking on the usually serene pilot. "I feel sorry for him…" Carrington admitted after a moment. "I think I feel sorry for all of them. And I respect them even more." "You?" Une asked in surprise. Carrington nodded solemnly. "I respect few people. Respect is something that must be earned. Who else has done more to earn it then they? Did you watch any of the trial footage?" Une shook her head, wondering where Carrington was going. "I was there… and when Fatima lit into Quatre, I wasn't sure what to do. But he remained calm, and… it was like he was centered. He's at peace with himself- he'd confident. He's here to tell his side of the story, and while he'd like us to believe him, he won't wilt away and die without our approval. "It's not just Quatre, though. The night of the attack, Chang was out helping. I see how loyal Barton is to his sister, or how much Maxwell cares for his friends. There's something in them… something deep. For a while I was wondering about Yuy, but all the others seem to respect him most of all. And he did stop the Libra from falling…" Une looked at Carrington. "Were you at that fight?" "Anyone who could fly a MS was there. That battle… well, I'm now on the ineligible list for combat duty. Look at my file much, Une?" Une shook her head. "I don't have time to. Sally's in charge of personnel." "Well, if you've ever taken a look at it, you'd seen that I've got PTSD. They wrote it in nice, big red letters all over my profile- the shrinks wanted me to retire, but I told them where to shove it. I need to keep working here…" Une was surprised. "What happened?" she asked. Carrington had always stuck her as tough-as-nails major who wouldn't let anything get her down. "I never met Treize- I envy you that," Carrington said, in her usual abrupt change of topic. Une tried not to flinch at the unexpected mention of the man she had loved for so long…. No one had said his name to her in ages, and hearing it aloud hurt, especially now that she had screwed up all of the ideals he had worked so hard for. "Treize was a very special man," Une agreed after a minute, setting aside the stack of papers she had been toying with. She wasn't going to be getting any work complete with Carrington there, and there was no point in keeping up the pretense. "I know," Carrington seemed to grow softer, and for once her hard features took on an edge that seemed to make her look almost attractive. "I saw him speak once, though… in London. It was before the Gundams descended, back when I was still an officer for the Federation." Her blunt fingers toyed with a strand of her graying hair, and she seemed to be looking for the right thing to say. "It was magical." "Treize was like that," Une agreed. "He believed in himself, and caused others to do so as well." A smirk transformed Carrington back into the woman Une was familiar with, something that relieved the general greatly. "It was more than that," Carrington admitted. "I think I was a little in love with him. Who wouldn't be? He was everything that I joined the military dreaming I'd follow. Handsome, intelligent, and with ideas- he had plans, and he meant to carry them out. He wanted to make the world a better place, and he offered me a chance to help him, even though he didn't know me. I wasn't a part of Operation Daybreak- didn't have a clue it was coming, though I should have. Anyone with a brain should have known something like that was coming- the Colonies sure saw it." "We often don't see what's right in front of our face," Une said, still speaking softly. "Heh. I was forty-two years old, and a career soldier. I thought I knew what I wanted, but as soon as Treize rose, I followed him…. I was probably a little in love with him, even though I was old enough to be his mother." "Anyone who saw Treize most likely was…. Some of us more than a little." Une blushed guiltily. "Some people are like that. Burning brightly, they illuminate us all. Entrancing, but those that burn brightest, burn quickest. Or something like that." Carrington shivered. "I saw Chang kill him. I see Chang kill him. I think I will see Chang kill him…." "What?" Une wasn't able to make sense of what Carrington was trying to say. "PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A noise, a sight, something triggers it…. And I'm back there, watching the light leave the universe. It took me six months to get it under enough control. I still have to get weekly counseling and I'm on a few anti-anxiety medication." "How… how close were you?" Une asked, pained. She had never talked to anyone who had actually been that close to Treize as he died, had never been ready to. She never dreamed that the brash Carrington would be the first person she'd speak to. "Within half a mile. Close enough… sometimes I dream that I could feel the heat from the explosion… and then, the world just went insane." Her hands dropped like lead weights onto the desk. "Sometimes I wonder if it'll ever be sane again, with him gone. We pinned all our hopes on him, and he died." A knocked sounded on the door, but before Une could give permission to enter, Brown entered, trailed by the ever-present Lopez. Brown's face was tense with stress lines, and Lopez looked like he'd been sampling arsenic to get his skin the pure white that it was currently boasting. "What is it?" Une asked testily. "I thought you, Lopez, at least had the manners to knock." "Pardon us, Lady, but this is a little bit too urgent to observe the formalities." "Oh?" Carrington asked with interest. Une shot her a dirty look, but Carrington just shrugged. "Should I leave?" the unrepentant major asked. "No," Brown said. "I need everyone I can trust in here, and right now, I can count that number on one hand." "What's wrong?" Une asked, sobering up, forgetting her anger. Brown rarely got stressed, and she couldn't remember ever seeing him look this grim before. The two men pulled up chairs as Carrington hitched hers over, creating a half-circle in front of Une's desk. "Seki Hikaru died two days ago." "Seki Hikaru… I should know that name…." Une said, trying to place it. "He was the head of the Black Diamond Cartel," Lopez said. "Fuck," Carrington said. Une felt the same. "Great. How is L1 taking it?" "Not well. He was killed by one of his likely heirs, who died in the attempt. There's no clear succession- a few nephews, a granddaughter, a missing grandson… and lots of factions all wanting the power. The fight is starting to spill out of the Breaks, and L2-C is experiencing the repercussions, and the Black Market planet side is going to be hit within the next two days." He paused. "Why do I feel like you're not telling me the worst of it?" Brown and Lopez exchanged glances, communicating on the level that members of the same gender used to say something the opposite sex couldn't understand. "It gets worse," Lopez said softly, ignoring the towering difference in their ranks to speak freely. "Much worse," Brown agreed without humor." "Can it with the build-up and spit it out!" Carrington spat. Brown shot her a Look, reminding her who was the general and who was the major. "Seki was a vengeful bastard. As far as I can tell, he had some kind of system rigged up… if he didn't enter some kind of passcode every 48 hours, it would trigger a data dump of his files into mine." "WHAT?" Une exclaimed. "I have no clue how he got my personal account number, but he was one of the best. I've got months worth of information to dig through- I'm going to be able to make a lot of arrests, assuming the Preventers are still operating." "What do you mean?" "Seki knew he was dealing with people as dangerous as he was… he wasn't sure exactly of the name, but he knew that if he dumped into my system, I'd be able to combine it with what I knew, and be able to pin the bastard." "What do you mean?" "Une, we have a traitor." Une's mind reeled. "What? Who?" "Let me and Lopez break it down, and you'll see." "Seki was involved in supplying the rebel faction of A007," Lopez said. "He also planted operatives in various groups to incite anti-Gundam sentiment, hired the assassins for Chang Wufei, and has been doing other actions to undermine the World Nation." "Why?" Carrington asked. "I thought he was happy enough playing in the Breaks." "There's been a lot of power plays there- no ones' been able to keep what's been going on there straight. What I think happened is that he's afraid that the L1 government is actually going to keep its promise to attempt to clean out the Breaks- and that would have been very bad for his business. Criminals thrive on chaos." "So he gambled… and lost. He got himself killed," Carrington said with a bit of satisfaction. "What does that have to do with a traitor?" "Someone inside the Preventers was working with him- several someones. I'm starting to think that there is actually a rather large organization of people within the Preventers who are working to bring down the World Nation." "Why?" "Nationalists." It was Lopez who spoke. "Many people believe that the World Nation is just a return to the Federation under a different name. Some of the fighters feel… gypped by what happened. They fought during the war, and all the sudden everything returns to a status quo that seems frighteningly familiar." "So… we have traitors. That's no surprise." "It's more complicated than that. From the data dump I received, the person who is in charge of the anti-Preventer activities is very high up in our organization. High up enough to reassign personnel to where they become ineffective, or plant their agents where they can do the most damage." Une's blood ran cold at the thought. She herself didn't have time to do everything in the organization, so had learned to delegate to people she had thought were worthy of her trust. Apparently her feelings had been misplaced. "Who?" she demanded. Lopez spoke again. "The person had to have high security clearance. Personality-wise, it would be someone above suspicion, with an intense loyalty to his or her country of origin. This person would be able to place Banks near your office as a security guard, send Lucrezia Noin away, since she would likely catch on, rearrange staff whenever they started to catch on, keep agents off-balance with their postings, be able to divert military resources…" "Only three people have the security clearance high enough to do all that needed to be done. I didn't have any reason, you built the Preventers, so that leaves the third…" Brown trailed off to let Une put the final piece into place herself. She opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a priority one message flashing to life on her screen. "What is it?" she snapped. Etille's tired face flashed onto the screen. "Etille?" Une asked, wondering what else could go wrong. He blinked once, the only sign that he was surprised to see her. "I was calling for General Brown. I have some… unpleasant news." "MORE unpleasant news?" Une asked. Her mind still refused to come to the conclusion Brown was trying to lead her to- it was simply unacceptable. Brown rose and went over to where he could look over Une's shoulder into the view screen. "What is it? Did you get her?" He shook his head. "Negative. Apparently the information leaked, and she had a chance to escape." "WAIT just a second. Would you mind explaining what's going on?" Une demanded. "I issued an arrest warrant as soon as Lopez pieced enough information together. We didn't want to risk our bird flying the coop… even though she still managed to…" Une placed her head in her hands. Her head was throbbing, but she couldn't deny the reality anymore. Slowly she raised her head to look up at Brown in horror as all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle clicked in an alarming and all-too-plausible whole. "Sally Po."
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Sainan no Kekka Tragedy's Consequence
By: Gerald Tarrant and Quicksilver
The longest canon-based GW fic on the net. The pilots must deal with their identities being exposed to an unforgiving world, as the rest of the cast struggles with life, death, war and peace. Complete GW cast.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Drama/Sci-Fi - Heero Y., Sally P. - Chapters: 49 - Words: 575,500 - Reviews: 161 - Favs: 138 - Follows: 17 - Updated: 10/1/2008 - Published: 3/8/2001 - Status: Complete - id: 224296
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Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
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